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THE journal;of the
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
VOLUME XXIV
1924
Published bimonthly by
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

NEW YORK CITY
1924
An illustrated magazine devoted to the advancement of natural history, the
recording of scientific research, exploration, and discovery, and the development of
museum exhibition and museum influence in education. Contributors are men emment
in these fields, including the scientific staff and members of the American
Museum, as
well as writers connected with other institutions, explorers, and investigators in
the
several branches of natural history.
'NATURAL HISTORY" IS SENT

TO ALL CLASSES OF MUSEUM
MEMBERS AS ONE OF THE
PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERSHIP
CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXIV
Januart-Febktjaet, No. 1
Australia, the Land of Living Fossils William K. Gregory 4
Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and Tasmania Harry C. Raven 16
Bird Personalities of the Australian Bush R. T. Littlejohns, R.A.O.U. 29
Reptile Life in Australia Charles Barrett, C.M.Z.S. 42
The Vanishing Wild Life of Australia 60
The Great Barrier Reef of Australia Charles Hedley 62
Rotorua and the Geyser Region of New Zealand Edmund Otis Hovey 70
Some Plays and Dances of the Taos Indians Florence Merriam Bailet 85
The Eland and Its Bird Sentinel Herbert Lang 96
Turret-Building Termites R. W. Doane 98
The Public Museum of Staten Island Charles W. Lbng 101
"Birds of the New York Region" Witmer Stone 105
"In Brightest Africa" Herbert F. Schwarz 109
Notes 112
Map of Australia and New Zealand opposite 128
March-April, No. 2
The Discovery of an Unknown Continent Henry Fairfield Osborn 132
Living Animals of the Gobi Desert Rot Chapman Andrews 150
Geological Reconnaissance in Central Mongolia Charles P. Berkey 160
Jungle Life in India, Burma, and Nepal Col. J. C. Faunthorpe 174
Stalking Tsine in Burma Arthue S. Vernay- 199
The Disappearance of the Wild Life of India Col. J. C. F.aunthorpe 204
Fossil Animals of India - William D. Î.atthew 208
Hainan Clifford H. Pope 215
Through the Yangtze Gorgesto Wan Hsien Anna G. Gh.\nger 224
In the Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear W.\ldemah .Iochelson 236
Some Drums and Drum Rhythms of Jamaica Helen H. Roberts 241
Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper E. W. Gudgeh 252
The Schoolhouse of the World William K. Gregory 254
The Coming Five Years, 1924-28, of the Third Asiatic Expedition Roy Chapman Andrews 256
"A Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster" G. Clyde Fisher 258
"Galapagos: World's End" H. F. Schwarz 259
Notes 260
May-June, No. 3
Martin Johnson and His Expedition to Lake Paradise Carl E. Akeley' 284
Scenes from the Plains and Jungles of Africa 289
Reproductions in duotone from photographs by Martin Johnson
The Highlands of the Great Craters James L. Clark 297
The Vanishing Wild Life of Africa Herbert Lang 312
Profiteers of the Busy Bee James P. Ch.apin 328
Amateur Entomologists and the Museum Fr-ank E. Lutz 337
A Beaver Colony of Yellowstone Park M. P. Skinner 347
American Men of the Dragon Bones Henry F.urfield Osborn 350
Wintering Over a Fire Basket in Szechuan Province Anna G. Granger 366
Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain Goat William T. Shaw 381
Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines William Peterson 388
Dean's "Bibliography of Fishes"
A Review Raymond C. Osburn 392
A Historical Sketch E. W. Gudger 395
Notes 402
July-August, No. 4
The Andes A New World
: Frank M. Chapman 420
The High Andes of Ecuador H. E. Anthony 429
Frederic E. Church, Painter of the Andes H. F. Schw.arz 442
Alexander von Humboldt 449
Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador Wilson Popenoe 454
Into the Interior of British Guiana Herbert Lang 467
Peruvian Pets Hilda Hempl Heller 479
Hunting Stingless Bees Frank E. Lutz 494
Bird Hunting among the Wild Indians of Western Panama Ludlow Griscom 509
A Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella hombycina William M. Savin 520
Notes 523
September-October, No. 5
Frontispiece, A New Kingfisher from the Tuamotus opposite 539
From a painting by Courtenay Brandreth
The Whitney South Sea Expedition Robert Cushman Murphy 539
The Oceans Willi.am Morris D.wis 554
The Northern Elephant Seal and The Guadalupe Fur Seal Charles Haskins Townsend 566
A Trip to Guadalupe, the Isle of My Boyhood Dreams Laurence M. Huey 578
The Seal Collection Frederic A. Lucas 589
Hunting Corals in the Bahamas Rot Waldo Miner 594
The Coral Gardens of Andros opposite 600
Duotone reproductions of photographs taken through the Williamson Submarine Tube by Roy W. Miner
and J. E. Williamson
A Submarine Cable Among the Corals Charles Haskins Townsend 601
" Pearls and Savages" Willi.am K. Gregory 603
Bird Banding Maunsell S. Crosby 605
Notes 618
iv CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXIV
Noveaibeb-December, No 6
Tertiary Man in England J- Reid Moih 636
Note on J. Reid Moir's "Tertiary Man in England" Sib E. Ray Lankestee 654
What an Eolith?
Is George Grant MacCurdy 656
Alpine Flowers of Arctic Lapland G. Clyde Fisher 659
Wild Flowers of the Uplands of Lapland opposite 664
Duotone reproductions of photographs taken by G. Clyde Fisher
European Prehistory N. C. Nelson 665
The Jardin des Plantes Bashfoed Dean 673
Relationships of the Upper Palaeolithic Races of Europe Louis R. Sullivan 682
Man from a New Viewpoint
Fossil Chbistine D. Matthew 697
Edmund Otis Hovey James F. Kemp 704
The Museum of Tomorrow George Sakton 710
Natives of the Russian Far East 713
Pictures from studies made by V. K. Arsenieff
Notes 719
Vol. XXIV JANUARY- FEBRUARY, 1924 No. 1
iNATURALl
iHISTORY^
BKv^-m/
71 AUSTRALIA I
THE LAND OF LIVING FOSSILS by William K.
Gregory-mammalian life in Australia and
TASMANIA BY Harry C. Raven— BIRD PERSONAL-
ITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH by R. T. Littlejohns
—REPTILE LIFE by Charles Barrett-THE VANISHING
WILD LIFE OF AUSTRALIA by A. S. Le Souef-THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF by Charles Hedley
ROTORUA and the geyser region of new ZEALAND -some

PLAYS AND DANCES OF THE TAOS INDIANS-THE ELAND AND
ITS BIRD SENTINEL-TURRET-BUILDING TERMITES -THE
PUBLIC MUSEUM OF STATEN ISLAND - REVIEWS OF
"BIRDS OF THE NEW YORK REGION" AND
J "IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA"
4
The American Museum is greatly indebted to the naturalists
and officials of Australia for their cooperation in assembling

materials representative of their great continent
J C/ V^' ^/ 1 VI >y VJL-r V_y 1 IIIJL^/VIYILÎVI KÎ VJ N ^
Q MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

h EXPLORATION RESEARCH-EDUCATION /^
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $3.00 SINGLE COPIES 50 CENTS

The American Museum of Natural History
Board of Trustees
Henry Fairfield Osborn, President William Averell Harriman
Cleveland H. Dodge, First Vice-President Archer M. Huntington
J. P. Morgan, Second Vice President
Adrian Iselin
George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer Arthur Curtiss James
Percy R. Pyne, Secretary Walter B. James
George F. Baker Ogden Mills
Frederick F. Brewster A. Perry Osborn
Frederick Trubee Davison George D. Pratt
CLE^ÊLAND Earl Dodge Theodore Roosevelt
Walter Douglas Leonard C. Sanford
Childs Frick John B. Trevor
Madison Grant Felix M. Warburg
John F. Hyl.^-, Mayor of the City of New York
Charles L. Graig, Comptroller of the City of New York
Francis D. Gallatin, Commissioner of the Department of Parks
Scientific Staff for 1924
Frederic A. Lucas, Sc.D., Honorary Director
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Acting Director and Executive Secretary
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc, Assistant Director (Scientific Section)
J.AMEs' L. Cl.'^.rk, Assistant Director (Preparation Section)
I. DIVISION OF MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY, Coinparative and Human Anatomy

AND GEOGRAPHY William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
S. H. Chubb, Associate Curator
History of the Earth H. C. Raven, Assistant Curator
J. Howard :McGregoe, Ph.D., Research Associate in
Edmund Otis Hovey, Ph.D., Curator
.Chester A. Reeds, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Inverte- Human Anatomy
brate Palaeontologj'
III. DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Minerals and Gems Science of Man
Herbert P. Whitlock, C. E., Curator Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
George F. Kunz, Ph. D., Research Associate in Gems Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
N. C. Nelson, M.L., Associate Curator of Archeeology
Extinct Animals Charles W. jMead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Archae-
W. D. Matthew, Ph.D. Curator-in-Chief ology
Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu- Louis R. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Physical
rator Anthropology
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals Clarence L. Hay, A.M., Research Associate in Mexican
Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles and Central American Archaeology
Charles C. jNIook, Ph.D., Associate Curator MiLO Hellman, D.D.S., Research Associate in Physical
Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology Anthropology
Animal Functions
II. DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE- Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator
OGRAPHY IV. DIVISION OF ASIATIC EXPLORATION
Marine Life AND RESEARCH
Roy W. Miner, Ph.D., Curator
WiLL.ARD G. Van Name, Ph.D., Assistant Curator
Third Asiatic Expedition
Fr.ank J. Myers, Research Associate in Rotifera Roy Chapman Andrews, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Horace W. Stunkard, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para- Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Palaeontology
sitology Frederick K. Morris, A.M., Associate Curator in Geology
A. L. Tre.adwell, Ph.D., Research Associate in Annulata and Geography
Charles P. Berkey, Ph.D., [Columbia L'niversity], Re-
Insect Life search Associate in Geology
Frank E. Lutz, Ph.D., Curator Amadeus W. Grabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
A. Mutchler, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera
J. Research Associate
Fr.ank E. Watson, B.S., Assistant in Lepidoptera Clifford H. Pope, Assistant in Zoology
William M.Wheeler, Ph.D., Research Associate in Social
Insects V. DIVISION OF EDUCATION AND PUB-
Ch.arles W'. Leng, B.S., Research Associate in Coleoptera LICATION
Herbert F. Schw.\hz, A.]M., Research Associate in
Hymenoptera Library and Publications
Fishes Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Ida Richardson Hood, A.B., Assistant Librarian
Bashfobd Dean, Ph.D. Honorary Curator
.JohnT. Nichols, a. B., Associate Curator of Recent Fishes Public Education
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D., Associate in Ichthyology George H. Sherwood, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Ch.arles H. Townsend, Sc.D., Research Associate G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D., Curator of Visual Instruction
Gr-A-CE Fisher Ramsey, Assistant Curator
Amphibians and Reptiles
G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D., Curator Public Health
Charles-Edward Amory Winslow, D.P.H., Honorary
Birds Curator
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief Mahy Greig, Assistant Curator
W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator Astronomy
Robert Cushman Murphy, D.Sc, Associate Curator of G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D. (In Charge)
Marine Birds
.James P. Ch.apin, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Birds of the Natural History Magazine
Eastern Hemisphere Herbert F. Schw.^rz, A.M., Editor and Chairman
Ludlow Grisco.m, ^LA., Assistant Curator A.Katherine Berger, Assistant Editor
.Ion.\thax Dwight, M.D., Research Associate in Xoith Advisory Committee
.American Ornithology
Elsie M. B. Naumburg, Research Associate
H. E. Anthony, A.M. Frederick K. Morris, A.M.
James P. Chapin, Ph.D. G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D.
Mammals E. W. GuDGER, Ph.D. George N. Pindar
of the World
H. E. Anthony, A.M., Associate Curator of Mammals of Public Information Committee
the Western Hemisphere (In Charge) George N. Pindar, Chairman
Herbert Lang, Associate Curator of African Mammals George H. Sherwood, A.M.
Carl E. .\kelet. Associate in Mammalogy Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc.
NATURAL
HIST D
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
DEVOTED TO NATURAL HISTORY,

EXPLORATION AND THE DEVELOP-
MENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
THROUGH THE MUSEUM
JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1924
[Published February, 1924]
Volume XXIV, Number 1
Copyright, 1924, by The American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.

ATURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV CONTEXTS FOR JANUARY- FEBRUARY Xumber 1
Australia, the Land of Living Fossils William K. Gregory 4

A.Sexemplified in the proposed Australian Exhibition, American
Museum
or already completed
Witii photographs of some of the exhibits that are contemplated
Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and Tasmania Harry C. Ravex .

16
American Museum
\n account of the ^york carried on by the First AustraUan Expedition of the
With hitherto unpublished pictures of the primitive native mammals and of Australian
scenes
photographed by the author
R. T. Littlejohxs, r.a.o.u. 29
Bird Personalities of the Austrahan Bush
Some favorites of the photographer , , û iv.
With pictures of the birds in their natural en\aronment taken by the author
Reptile Life in Australia Charles Barrett, c.m.z.s. 42

Interesting land and marine species observedby the author
With original photographs by A. H. E. Mattingly, C. P. Kinane, and the author
The Vanishing Wild Life of Austraha 60

The causes of the scarcity of certain of the native animals explained by A. S. Le Souef
The Great Barrier Reef of Australia Charles Hedley 62

The largest single structure ever built by coral
With photographs of some of its points of interest
Rotorua and the Geyser Region of New Zealand .... Edmund Otis Hovey 70
a one of the outstanding features of interest in a land of scenic attractions
visit to
With original photographs by the author and by lies Photo
Some Plays and Dances of the Taos Indians . . Florexce Merriam Bailey 85
Picturesque ceremonies that are held in one of the pueblos of our Southwest
With photographs depicting the customs of the Taos Indians, taken by Bert C. Phillips,
A. E. Weller, and C. G. Kaadt, and a sketch by K. Morita
The Eland and Its Bird Sentinel Herbert Laxg 96

Reciprocal benefits derived from the association of the eland and the oxpecker
With a photograph supplied through the courtesy of V. Forbin
Turret-building Termites R. W. Do axe 98

The structures erected by Reticulitermes hesperiis
With photographs by the author
The PubHc Museum of Staten Island Charles W. Lexg 101

A treasure house of local natural history, art, and antiquities
With photographs of the exterior and the interior of the Museum
"Birds of the New York Region" Witmer Stoxe 105

A review of Mr. Ludlow Griscom's recently published handbook
"In Brightest Africa" Herbert F. Schwarz 109

A re%-iew of Mr. Carl E. Akeley's new volume on what has been misnamed the Dark Continent
Notes 112
Map of Australia and New Zealand opposite 128
Published bimonthly, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.

Subscription price S3. 00 a year.
Subscriptions should be addressed to George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum
of Natural History, 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Natural History is sent to all meynhers of the American Museum as one of the privileges of
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Entered as second-class matter April 3, 1919, at the Post Office at New York, New York,
under the Act of August 24, 1912.
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of
October 3, 1917, authorized on July 15, 1918.
Asi
sia
Natural History for March-April, 1924, willbe made up to a

large extent of articles dealing with the American Museum's work in
ASIA, upon by many as the probable
a continent that has been looked
cradle of the human and which investigations tend to show was
race
also the center of distribution from which many forms of animal life
spread westward into Europe and eastward into North America.
Mongolia, until recently assumed to be devoid of fossils, has proved,
as a result of the work Third Asiatic Expedition, to be one of the

of the
richest depositories of the zoological records of the past. The recovery
from this region during the last year of no less than seventy skulls and
ten skeletons of primitive horned Ceratopsian dinosaurs and contempo-
rary carnivorous dinosaurs, as well as three nests and twenty-five
dinosaur eggs —the first ever unearthed — is proof of the vast legacy of
information that the past has bequeathed to the present, conserved in
the Mongolian sands. The discoveries of the Third Asiatic Expedition
in this area will be featured, according to present expectations, in the
March-April issue by contributions from Professor Osborn, Mr. Roy
Chapman Andrews, and Prof. Charles Berkey.
The Faunthorpe-Vernay Indian Expedition, which has already
yielded the American Museum a representation of the big-game animals
of India that would be exceedingly difficult to duplicate, has been
it
conducted with a sumptuousness that dazzles the imagination, and the

dramatic incidents connected with it, as related by those who gave their
time, their experience, and their funds to assure its success, will prove
fascinating reading.
Another Museum undertaking that is yielding astonishing results

is the fossil-gathering expedition to the Siwalik Hills of India under the
Mr. Barnum Brown. On the basis of the specimens that
leadership of
have reached the Museum an article is being prepared by Curator
William D. Matthew, indicating the importance and interest of the
finds.
Other articles that deserve more than passing notice are the account
prepared by Mrs. Walter Granger, of her journey up the bandit-infested
Yangtze and a narrative of hunting in Kamchatka, the home of the
black bear, recounted by Dr. Waldemar Jochelson.
Phoiographiby Harry C. Raven
THE FALLS OF THE GUY FAWKES RIVER AT EBOR

This inspiring scene will be the setting for a group of fljîng phalangers, planned as a part
of the Australian exhibition in the American Museum
NATURAL HIST
Volume XXIV JANUARY-FEBRUARY Number 1
Australia, the Land of Living Fossils

AS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE PROPOSED AUSTRALIAN EXHIBITION,
AMERICAN MUSEUM
By WILLIAM K. GREGORY
Curator of Comparative Anatomy, American Museum
DIRECTOR Lucas once said that "bush" (or open forest) of eucalypt
his favorite occupation in trees, with the sunlight streaming
heaven would be the planning through the thin foliage. In the fore-
and arranging of a museum in ground a dingo, or wild dog, has just
which each of the great continents bounded into view and is hurling him-
would be represented by a single large self at the nearest kangaroo, an old male.
hall containing exhibits illustrating Two of the females, one of them with a
the physical geography, geologic struc- large young one in her pouch, are leaping
ture, the animal and plant life, and the frantically in different directions. A
human inhabitants of that continent. little way back, still another kangaroo
But if the plans now being engineered is raising its head in a startled way, and
by President Osborn go through, as his in the distance a few are feeding quietly.
other plans have. Director Lucas may As most of the Australian mammals
have the opportunity of fulfilling his are nocturnal in habit, it is the plan to
aspiration in this world. have a moonlight scene with the beauti-
The return of Mr. H. C. Raven from ful gorge and falls of the Guy Fawkes
Australia with his priceless collections River in the background. Standing in
intact brings us one step nearer the front of this exhibit, the observer will
acquisition of a hall devoted exclusively imagine himself near the brink of the
to that island-continent. Ordinarily gorge with his eye on a level with the
it is better in an article of this kind to upper parts of some of the trees that
write about what has been done rather are down the slope. Dimly seen in the
than about what is hoped for, but in moonlight are several flying phalangers,
this case a preliminary indication of the which are hitching themselves up the
plans may possibly help a little toward branches in their characteristic way.
their realization. One of them has just started on a long
In brief, our object is to give the skimming flight, his arms and legs out-
visitor a vivid impression of the more stretched and the skimming membrane
salient features of Australia rather held taut as he swoops downward
than to overwhelm him with the vast toward a near-by tree.
deposit of details that conceals Austra- Other groups will show the interest-
lia in encyclopaedias. We want him to ing tunnels and underground chambers
view, as if he had been there, some of of the duck-billed Platypus, as well as
the more characteristic scenes. its nest with the eggs that this most
The centerpiece of the mammal reptilian of mammals lays. In other
exhibit will be the Kangaroo Group. groups the visitor will see the wombats,
The background will be the Australian the native "bears," the tree kangaroos.
6 NATURAL HISTORY
and some of the other marsupial oddi- wholesale extinction has been arrested,
ties for which Australia is justly famous. we should and do find many stages in
Nor will the needs of the more serious the development of a particular struc-
student be neglected. The Australian ture. In Australia competition has
marsupials have a very high scientific doubtless eliminated many forms but
prestige on account of the exceptionally we still have a surprising number of
clear evidence they afford concerning intergrading conditions.

the evolutionary history of the group, This fact can readily be demonstrated
and in these times they would doubtless in the Australian hall in several ways.
have a considerable public interest if There will be presented, for instance, a
this fact were more widely recognized. series of large models of the feet of
It so happens that in that out-of-the- various marsupials. The visitor will

way corner of the world the marsupials be able to see at a glance how, for
have been shut off and protected for example, the five-toed foot of the
long ages from the overwhelming com- phalangers, although already highly
petition of the higher, or placental, adapted for climbing, leads into the
mammals. Under these conditions the elongate hopping foot of the wallabies
struggle for life within the continent and kangaroos. He will see how gradu-
has not been very bitter until relatively ally the grasping great toe diminishes
recent times nor has extinction been on and finally disappears, and how at the
such a vast scale as in other parts of the same time the fourth toe becomes
world. There is much evidence to greatly elongated. He will see how
show that evolution has always pro- even in the most advanced types of
ceeded at unequal rates in different kangaroos the two little toes, the
members of a natural group, some out- second and third of the ancestral foot,
distancing others in the development still persist, although their long bones
of particular structures. Wherever are reduced to mere threads. Why, the
After Bensley
The gradations between the five-toed foot of the phalangers adapted
(left), for chmbing,
and the elongated foot of the wallabies and kangaroos (right), specialized for hopping, will be
shown in the Austrahan exhibition
A skeleton of the giant extinct marsupial Diprotodon, mounted in the American Museum
from replicas of the original bones of this animal supplied by the South Australian Museum' at
Adelaide
A provisional restoration of Diprotodon by E. Rungius Fulda. The body of Diprotodon

was like that of a wombat but vastly larger
NATURAL HISTORY
From a sketch by E. Rungius Fulda
An Arkôlogical Epic
Father Noah and his sons, they invited to the Ark

A mammals, all placental.
distinguished group of
But they snubbed the duck-billed platypus and jumping kangaroo
In a manner that was very far from gentle.
To the Talgai boy they hinted he was nothing but a moron

Whom principles eugenic would condemn.
That they'd better let him perish than continue as a menace
To society, and Japheth, Ham, and Shem.
So he called the big Diprotodon and on his back he climbed,

And he whistled to the friendly dingo, too;
The platypus and wombat and the rest fell in behind,
As frequently the simple-minded do.
They jumped upon an island that kindly floated by

And they drifted far to southern seas unknown,
Where these brave Marsupiaha in a land we call Australia
Formed a doughty Uttle kingdom of their own.
Now the scientists pedantic who defend the bridge Atlantic,

When they hear this tale authentic I'd advise
To apologize quite meekly to these creatures who uniquely
Controverted an hypothesis so wise.
E. H. Fink
AUSTRALIA, THE LAND OF LIVING FOSSILS 9
visitor may well ask, does the foot of remains of the gigantic dinosaurs of the
the kangaroo retain these vanishing Upper Cretaceous in western North
side toes? Is it merely to baffle the America. These, together with re-
curious, or is it not because nature mains of related animals found in South
everywhere leaves her imprints or true America and in Europe, indicate that
vestiges by which comparative anato- at some period, probably late in the
mists and palaeontologists are slowly Age of Reptiles, the opossum tribe had
but surely deciphering the record of life? an almost world-wide distribution.
The visitor who will take the trouble When Australia was cut off from the
to examine the next exhibit planned rest of the world, probably through the
will see that although nature has sinking and fragmentation of the
fashioned the marsupials into many southeastern extension of the Asiatic
different forms, adapted for running, land mass, primitive opossum-like mar-
leaping, climbing, skimming, digging, supials, together with the ancestors of
etc., she has nevertheless built all these the still lowlier duckbill and spiny
diverse forms around a common struc- anteater, were the only types of mam-
tural plan. He will see that marsupials mals in that part of the world. There
are born in a relatively early stage of they found themselves in forests of
development and that they are fas- eucalypts, ancestral to the gum trees
tened to the teats in the mother's of today and closely related to trees
pouch. He will see that notwithstand- and shrubs that have been found as fos-
ing the great differences in the general sils Upper Cretaceous of North
in the
form of the skulls and in the dental America. Here in the old Australian
apparatus of the grass-eating, carnivor- land mass the primitive opossums were
ous, leaf-eating, and gnawing mar- safe for many hundreds of thousands of
supials, all these skull forms show many years from the competition of the
curious and striking details in common, newer, or placental, mammals which
which in the judgment of all modern were developing in the Northern
students of the group have been in- Hemisphere. But under the stress of
herited from a remote common ancestor competition with each other the primi-
that lived before the diverse modern tive marsupials began that great de-
lines had become differentiated. ployment, or adaptive radiation, which
Zoological science has long since finally resulted not only in the highly
sketched with considerable confidence diversified marsupials of today but also
the chief characteristics of this remote in the many strange and gigantic
common stock of the marsupials. types that flourished inthe broad
Huxley predicted that the common Australian plains of Pleistocene times,
ancestors of all the existing Australian when the northern world was passing
marsupials would be found to be re- through a succession of alternating
markably like the existing opossums of glacial and interglacial periods.
North America and this judgment has
; Among the most interesting of the
been confirmed and amplified by the giant extinct marsupials were the
brilliant investigations of Dollo and of Diprotodoji and allied genera. Replicas
Bensley. But it is only of late years of the original bones of Diprotodon
that palaeontologists have found true have been sent to the American
American opossums, or very close rela- Museum by the South Australian Mu-
tives of them, in association with the seum at Adelaide, and after careful
ji
study the skeleton was mounted as peted with each other in field and under-
shown in the picture on page 7. This brush, so that today we find five genera
was the first specimen to be prepared and about twenty species of rats and
for the AustraHan exhibit; it is mice pecuHar to Australia. A little
temporarily placed in the hall of the later perhaps came the bats; and
Age of Man, since it was probably a con- finally the —
dingo a wild dog, remains
temporary of the oldest races of men. ofwhich have been found fossiHzed in
The Diprotodon has been called the New South Wales. All of these placen-
marsupial elephant, because its molar talmammals competed with, or waged
teeth somewhat resemble those of the war upon, the old marsupials. But the
mastodon. But on the whole the latter were never seriously depleted,
Diprotodon more nearly resembles a not even with the coming of the an-
giant wombat, with molar teeth more cestors of the Australian aboriginals,
like those of a kangaroo. who, as we know from the Talgai skull
By means of colored maps and relief and other evidence, have been in
models the visitor will be able to see Australia for thousands of years.
graphically that even at the present Finally, late in the eighteenth century,
time Austraha is connected by shallow there arrived in Australia by far the
water with New Guinea on the north most destructive placental mammal the
and with Tasmania on the south. The world has ever seen, namely, Homo
very close relationships of the animals sapiens, variety europxus, who has
of North Queensland to those of New devastated the continent and is now
Guinea leaves no doubt regarding a completing the work of destruction.
former connection of these lands. The The significance of the Australian
connection with Tasmania is indicated mammal fauna, our intelhgent and,
not only by such strong faunal evidence we hope, still interested visitor, will
as the occurrence of closely allied readily comprehend from the exhibits
species of thehuge herbivorous marsu- that we shall gladly prepare for him.
pial Nototherium and of wombats on But he by
will this time doubtless be
opposite sides of Bass Strait, but also willing to turn to some of the more
by the plain geological evidence indi- spectacular scenes that we are holding
cating recent submergence of the land in reserve. We shall show him the
beneath the strait. beautiful lyre bird, the
amazing con-
The descendants of the old settlers, structions of thefamed bower bird,
the marsupials, did not forever remain the great mounds heaped up by the
in undisturbed possession of the land of lowans, the "Mound Builders" of the
their fathers. Australia today has bird world, for the incubation of their
adopted the slogan ''Keep out the eggs. Nor shall we omit the ostrich-
Asiatics," but in the distant past the emu of the plains.
like If possible, we
''Asiatics" in the form of various shall place at the visitor's disposal a
placental mammals somehow got in. phonographic record of the "song"
First came the rats, ages before man. of the astonishing kookaburra, or
When the rats began to branch out, laughing jackass. It will be an in-
some of them became water rats fallible test. If the visitor is a child, he
(Hydromys), some (Conilurus) became will want to hear that "song" (?)
hopping forms hke certain of their again and again. If he is a normal
marsupial rivals, while others com- adult, a single performance may suffice.
14 NATURAL HISTORY
Cunrtisii of Mr. J. W. Beatty

The Tasmanians, who nearly a half century ago died out as a people, represent a type far
down in the scale of human evolution. The last survivors were wards of the government
There are many curious and even of the most primitive of all recent
terrible reptiles in Australia, which will races of mankind. The last few
by no means be neglected in our future survivors of the race, after a long and
Australian hall. bitter warfare with the white settlers,
We hope to show our some-
visitors were induced to surrender themselves
thing of the life of the Australian and to the care of the government and lived
Tasmanian aboriginees. In the case of for many years in a small settlement.
the latter not much can be done, for the Fortunately a few enlightened in-
simple reason that the last of the Tas- dividuals seem to have realized the
manians died in 1876 at a time when extraordinary human
and scientific
the museums of the world had secured interest of these people and took a
extremely little material illustrating number of photographs of them, which
the appearance, habits,and bodily in our time have been carefully brought
structure of what was undoubtedly one together and preserved by Mr. J. W.
' uu,t,-y uj Ml J. \\ . Beatty

Front and side views of Truganini, the last of her race, who died in 1876
Beatty of Hobart, Tasmania. Mr. the island-continent and were driven

Beatty kindly supplied the American south, before the sinking of Bass
Museum with an excellent set of prints Strait, by the Australians coming from
from the original negatives and it is the north.
the intention to exhibit these pictures The life of the Australian aboriginees
in the Australian hall, together with will be represented by several mounted
several death masks and some of the groups. A model of a man about to
very primitive stone implements that throw a boomerang at a fleeing wallaby
the Tasmanians were still using when seems a prime necessity, while if the
the island was settled by the white material can be secured we should like
colonists. The photographs here re- to illustrate some of the curious cus-
produced of Truganini, the last sur- toms of the natives, such as the kanga-
vivor of the race, and of some of the roo dance or the dingo dance or one of
companions of her later days, show very the elaborate initiation ceremonies.
well the racial traits of the Tasmanians. Finally we hope to give our visitors
They differed from the aboriginal some idea of the vital and stimulating
Australians in having short and woolly Australia of today, so that he may
hair instead of long and wavy hair; realize that another America or, more
their noses were excessively wide and precisely, another Canada, is being
somewhat gorilloid in appearance, and built by the Anglo-Saxon stock upon
there is also something ape-like in their an ancient platform of the world.
very wide mouths and retreating chins. In striving for the realization of
They were allied in cranial and facial these plans we confidently count upon
characters to the Papuans and Negritos. the continued generous cooperation
There is some evidence for the view of our many and colleagues in
friends
that they preceded the Australians on Australian museums and universities.
A view from Point Lookout, northern New South Wales, on the upper edge of the es-
carpment and about forty miles from the Pacific, which Ues beyond the farthest mountains
visible in the picture
Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and

Tasmania
AN ACCOUNT OF PART OF THE WORK CARRIED ON BY THE FIRST
AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM^
By harry C. RAVEN2
Field Representative of the American Museum in Australia
AFTER a railway journey from South Wales. .

It was July, the coldest
/-\ Sydney northward along the month of the Australian winter, and we
coast, then inland to the top of were in what is one of the coldest parts
the escarpment and along the great pla- of the continent, due to the elevation
teau to Armidale, followed by a fifty- of slightly more than 5000 feet. Never-
mile ride, partly by motor car and partly theless, the utter barrenness of a
by cart, over muddy roads, a wait of northern winter was lacking. The
several days for floods to subside, and monotonous gray-green of the euca-
then a resumption of the journey for a lypts could be seen in every direction.
few additional miles through forest and Their rather scant foliage, added to the
across streams, Doctor Gregory and I fact that the trees as a rule grow several
reached the site of our first camp in the yards apart, allowed an abundance
open eucalyptus forest of northern New of sunlight to stream through the
'Although the author visited many types of country in Australia, from the humid tropical jungles of North
Queensland to the almost Alpine woodlands, bogs, and rugged hills of Tasmania, in the present article only the
coastal belt of the eastern part of the continent and western Tasmania are considered, and not the great arid
plateau of the interior of Australia, where mammals are relatively scarce. The account is also limited to four
of the types of country visited, with the native mammals found in these various habitats.
-The photographs accompanying this article were taken by the author.
16
Flood of the Guy Fawkes River in northern New tSouth Wales. — Though
this region, where the expedition began its work, is not one of exceptionally heavy
rainfall, winter floods are common and rivers rise suddenly, inundate fields, wash
away bridges, and frequently make travel impossible
An open eucalyptus forest in northern New South Wales, haunt of the flj-ing
phalanger and the great gray kangaroo. Much of the country has been cleared
by ring-barking the trees
17
flying phalaiiger {Ptlauruules volans) is a beautiful animal
that inhabits the
The
eucalyptus forest, hiding in hollow trees during the day, feeding on eucalyptus
open
leaves by night
The pygmy flying phalanger (Acrobates pygmaeus) of northern New South Wales
is a tiny relative of Petauroides volans. It isabout as small as a mouse while the larger
phalanger is comparable in size to a cat. Both of these animals were found in the
first type of countrj^ visited
18
MAMMALIAN LIFE IN AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA 19
branches striking the Hght-colored want to stock the land with cattle or
trunks and the pale, bleached dead sheep to its fullest capacity. Thus the
grass beneath. native wild animals are driven back
It was here that we first saw the into unsettled country, rocky hills and
great gray kangaroo {Macropus gigan- ravines, or sometimes completely ex-
teus) . When sighted, the animals were terminated. The principal factors in
close to the ground, on all fours, quietly the destruction of the kangaroos and
feeding. A moment later, aware of our wallabies over thousands of square
presence, they sat upright looking in miles of territory are, in the order of
our direction; then suddenly turning, their importance: man, the dingo, the
made off, leaping with amazing speed fox, and the cat, while to these aggres-
and grace, their small fore limbs sive agents must be added the pacific
pressed close to the body, their great competition of the rabbit, which, itself
hind legs working in unison like gigan- a grass-feeder, limits the available
tic springs to throw the body forward. pasturage by its incessant nibbling.
An adult female kangaroo was secured, There are, however, still extensive
with a tiny young one in the pouch. areas of uncleared land in the coastal
The clearing of the forests by the belt where the marsupials take refuge.
settlers produces a better crop of grass The flying phalanger (Petauroides
and the kangaroos and wallabies are volans), like our flying squirrel, lives
quick to take advantage of this im- and in the moonlight may be
in trees,
proved food supply. Favored by such seen making long gliding leaps from
conditions, they multiply greatly, only tree to tree. This animal is about the
to be persecuted by the settlers, who size of a cat but extremely slender.
The common "opossum" (Trichosurns vulpecula), which in many locahties of Xew

South Wales has been almost entirely exterminated, is still common in parts of Queensland
o
Possibly it has developed its gliding its habits, sitting quietly by day on
habit to avoid the peril of a slow trip the branch of a large tree, usually where
along the ground to the next tree. it is protected from the sight of its
Fortunately, its skin is of little enemies by gnarled lianas, orchids, and

value commercially. For this reason leaves. When night comes on, it
it is not persecuted while its relative, descends the tree trunk, tail first, to
the common vulpine phalanger or hop along the ground among the thick
'
'
' opossum '
( Trichosurus vulpecula) underbrush, the leaves of which com-
has fallen in millions to the fur hunter prise most of its food. If alarmed or
and has disappeared from many locali- otherwise disturbed on the ground at
ties. The pygmy flying phalanger night, it immediately takes to the trees.
(Acrohates -pygmxus) is a little animal, On the other hand, when the Australian
the body of which is about three inches blackfellow climbs up the tree after it,
long. It makes its nest in the ''spout" it will sometimes jump down to seek
of a tall gum
tree and is very difficult safety on the ground, leaping from a
to find. These flying phalangers, with height of thirty feet or more.
the ''opossum" {Trichosurus) the na- , Another denizen of the tropical rain
tive "bear" (Phascolardos) and the , forest is a little animal not as large as a
tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi), rabbit, called the musk kangaroo
present peculiar adaptations of the (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus). To the
marsupial type for life in the trees. evolutionist it is the most interesting
The second typeof country that I of all the kangaroos, because of the
visited (Doctor Gregory had returned characters that establish its place as a
to the United States to resume his connecting link between the family of
duties in the American Museum) was phalangers and the more specialized
the tropical rain forest of North Queens- kangaroos.
land. These tropical "scrubs," as The third type of country in which
they are called, are humid, dark jun- collections were made was the cleared
gles —
the haunt of the cassowary, the alluvial plain, resulting from the de-
bird of paradise, and the tree kangaroo. struction of the tropical rain forest, for
Here there are no eucalypts but many the cultivation of sugar cane and other
huge tropical trees take their place, crops, principally the former. The
trees that are very valuable for their country best suited for cane-growing
timber. From their branches hang in the Cairns district to which I refer,
long lianas and rattans. There is a is the alluvial plain at the base of the
great profusion of ferns and epiphytic mountains. Here there is a great depth
plants, all rich green in color, usually of soil in a region of very heavy rain-
dripping with moisture, looking fresh fall —more than one hundred inches a
and clean from nightly baths of heavy year. fields have become the
The cane
dew and frequent tropical showers. favorite haunt of bandicoots (Pera-
The flora of the rain forest suggests meles), which are peculiar, long-nosed,
relationship with that of the tropical pouched animals about the size of a
islands of the north. New Guinea, rabbit. They make their nests among
Celebes, and others. the cane and feed upon the larvse of
The tree kangaroo, one of the most beetles which they find about the roots
curious of all marsupials, was found in of the plants. The cane growers con-
this rain forest. It is nocturnal in sider the bandicoots an asset, for the
22 NATURAL HISTORY
grubs they eat are said to be destruc- heavy rainfall —from to one hun-
fifty
tive to the cane. Prior to cutting the dred inches a year — though the area of
cane, it was the practice of the cutters the heaviest fall is comparatively small.
to burn off the leaves. When this was The suddenness, frequency, and se-
done, all the animals that secluded verity of the storms were always a
themselves in the cane fields were source of surprise. The great eucalypts
obliged to flee if they wanted to avoid would sway back and forth as the wind
being roasted. By waiting on the out- that accompanied the rain or sleet
skirts of the field at such times it was swept howling through the branches,
possible to gather in many a fine speci- which towered in some cases more than
men. Of course, with the destruction two hundred feet above our tent. The
of the original forest, all the arboreal foi'est was not composed entirely of
forms, such as phalangers and the tree eucalypts or of evergreen myrtles,

kangaroo, were driven away; only those which are really beeches (Fagus). In
animals that adapted themselves to the most cases the low hills and better
changed conditions are today found in drained slopes were forested with the
this new environment. pale-colored giant gums, beneath which
The fourth variety of country which were thickets composed of shrubs of
I explored was that of western Tas- several varieties, bracken, and acacias.
mania, where I spent more than four On the flats, where the soil was deep
months. It is a region of exceptionally and very rich, were growing evergreen
A Tasmanian forest of beech, or evergreen myrtle, with undergrowth of tree ferns, It

is in country hke this that the Tasmanian "devil" is at home
myrtles, with their straight trunks and melsena sphaerocephala) and innumer-
small leaves of much darker tone than able small plants with pink, white, and
those of the gums and acacias. Be- yellow flowers.
neath the myrtles were a dense under- These plains are the favorite haunt of
growth and many palmlike tree ferns the wombat, which digs its deep bur-
with their thick trunks dripping mois- rows near the edge of the plain and
ture. Then there would be flats where feeds at night on the vegetation. Here,
there was no forest —just a boggy plain too, is the haunt of the thylacine
with bunches of button grass (Meso- (Thylacynus cynocephalus) the largest
,
A Tasmanian forest of eucalypts, principally stringy-barks (Eucalyptus ohliqua) and

peppermint gums {E. amygdalina) . The banks of the streams in Tasmania are frequently
overgrown with wattles {Acacia)
The Tasmanian wombat makes deep burrows in the sand}' and rockj' hills that surround
the Arve Plain. A fox terriercan easity crawl into these burrows but cannot dislodge
a wombat, should one be located. To do so, a man must dig in front of the animal
A young Tasmanian wombat. — It took three men digging from 3 p.m. till 1 a.m. to
catch this youngster and his mother
The Tasmanian "devil" is doubtless a terror to the rats and small marsupials upon
which it preys, but in captivity it is rather an interesting pet and gives no strong evidence
of Mephistophelian traits
The native cat or spotted dasyure {Dasyurus maculatus) is one of the larger preda-
tory marsupials of Australia. It is now being replaced by the domestic cat and the
fox, both introduced by man
25
26 NATURAL HISTORY
The spiny anteater (Tachyglossus setosus) feeds on ants and termites. With its powerful
foreUmbs it puUs apart the decaying logs and thrusts its narrow snout into the passageways
made by the insects
living carnivorous marsupial, locally decline of the Australian marsupials,

known as the "tiger," now, however, it may be well to note that broadly
exceedingly rare. The Tasmanian there are three main lines along which
"devil" was found in the forest, where marsupial adaptation has taken place.
it prej'S upon rats, small marsupials, First, and relatively primitive, are the
and whatever other fleshand carrion arboreal forms, which feed mostly on
it is able to' obtain. One of the most leaves. From this primarily arboreal,
curious of all the mancmials of Tas- phyllophagous stock some groups de-
mania was the spiny anteater (Tachy- veloped terrestrial habits (e.g., the
glossus setosus). clumsy little
This extinct Diprotodon, the wombats, etc.)
monotreme wanders about the coun- and became highly specialized for
try both by day and by night, seeking nipping and grinding tough vegetation.
its food, termites and ants, on the The second line of adaptation includes
ground and in decaying vegetation, the small, chiefly ground-living, in-
especially among fallen tree trunks, sectivorous forms — pouched mice
which are favorite nesting places of (Phascogale, Sminthopsis, etc.) grad-
these insects. I was surprised to find ing to large, thoroughly terrestrial,
this animal a good climber, an expert carnivorous forms represented by the
swimmer, as well as a marvelous bur- native cats, the Tasmanian "wolf,"
rower, able to dig straight down into and the Tasmanian "devil." The
firm soil. In climbing it makes use of third line is the essentially grazing-and-
its spines and snout to brace itself hopping type, represented by many
while securing a fresh foothold. species of kangaroos and wallabies.
Before summarizing the rise and The tree kangaroo is only a specialized
The spiny anteater is an expert swimmer and a brook proves no obstacle to its traverse
of the country
member of this group that has become arrival of the blackfellow and the dingo
secondarily adapted for arboreal life. in Australia, prevented the latter two
Another group of animals character- from ever reaching Tasmania. The
istic of Australia and of great interest Tasmanian natives (now extinct) were
consists of the monotremes, or egg- probably in Tasmania long before the
layingmammals. They take the place present blackfellow and dingo came to
both of aquatic mammals and of ant- play a part in Austraha's history.
eaters in other parts of the world. What may be the first evidence of a
Everywhere may be found evidences defeat of the marsupials at the hands
of the vast damage done to the main of the invaders is the discovery of
lines of the adaptive radiatioji described skeletons of two species of flesh-eating
above, and of the struggle that has marsupials (Sairophilus and Thyla-
been going on between the Australian cynus) in cave deposits in
,
South New
marsupial mammals and the compara- Wales. These animals are no longer
tively recent invaders, the higher mam- found alive on the mainland of Austra-
mals. Probably the Australian black- Ka but are still extant in Tasmania,
fellow of today and the wild dog, or where the dingo did not get a foothold.
dingo, arrived on the scene at about the By their habits they would naturally
same time and were the first mamma- have come into direct competition with
lian competitors of the marsupials. The the dingo. I have seen a small dog
separation of Tasmania the from quickly kill a Tasmanian "devil" and
mainland, perhaps near the time of the therefore do not doubt that the larger
28 NATURAL HISTORY
dingo proved more than a match for the died off at that time have been found
marsupial carnivores. The blackfellows in various parts of Australia.
were apparently never sufficiently nu- The land the white people now oc-
merous to endanger the marsupials as a cupy is naturally the most fertile part
whole, and as they preyed upon all of the continent, consequently the part
sorts alike solely for food, the destruc- which supported the greatest number
tion of the native animals was not so of native animals before they were
marked. driven off. Now these animals must
With the advent of the white man occupy the less fertile areas and besides
conditions changed again. Probably are killed by hundreds of thousands
the settlement of Austraha by Euro- yearly for their skins; then, too, man
peans will account for the destruction has introduced dogs, which have be-
of more species of native animals than come feral, strengthening the ranks of
did the growing aridity in recent geo- the dingo. He has also introduced
logic times, when many large marsupials other animals, — the
fox, cat, and
perished apparently through lack' of rabbit,which have taken to the
vegetation for which they were adapted. "bush" and strengthened the current
The skeletons of many forms of the that has already set against the native
large herbivorous marsupials which fauna.
Unlike most of the Australian marsupials

the small insectivorous forms (Phascogale and
Sminlho'psis) have no real pouch, just folds of
integument surrounded by long hairs which
cover and protect the young when they are
very small. There may be as many as ten
young in a Utter
Bird Personalities of the Australian Bush
SOME FAVORITES OF THE PHOTOGRAPH ERi
By R. T. LITTLEJOHNS, R.A.O.U.
Assistant Editor of The Emu
AMONG those city dwellers who fully employed, until sooner or later
/_\ find"a pleasure in the pathless some hapless grub or insect betrays its
woods" there is a growing un- presence by sound or movement. Then
easiness because civilization has spread there is a heavy and rather slow flight
gaunt arms through the "bush" and to earth, the landing being effected
has swept aside the wild life from many literally on the stout bill. But if his
of its accustomed haunts. But the methods are a little clumsy, they are
seasoned nature lover knows still a few efficient and his period
nevertheless
spots, quiet and undisturbed, where he seldom in vain.
of watchfulness is
may shake the dust of the city from his In the ranges about twenty miles
feet and the worries of business from his from Melbourne another camera en-
brain. During the last fourteen years thusiastand I had the use of a week-
my own invasions of the wild have been end cottage a few years ago. Each
made with a camera as constant com- Saturday our arrival at the house was
panion, and the present article speaks noted by one or the other of a pair of
of some Australian birds as a photog- kookaburras that resided in the vicinity,
rapher knows them. The species I and their jovial, rather unmusical
have selected are not the most remark- chorus sounded down the gully. By
able nor yet the best known but simply the time our luggage was unpacked
those which, by
their habits and their they had taken up their favorite posi-
characteristics, have most endeared tions near the back door in anticipa-
themselves to me. Many of them pos- tion of the weekly distribution of raw
sibly will be unknown even by name, meat. In return for our hospitality we
to American nature lovers. considered ourselves entitled to their
The kookaburra, or laughing king- portraits, but they regarded the camera
fisher {Dacelo gigas) on the other hand,
, with suspicion and continued snapping
is one of Australia's best-known birds, up the meat with expert beaks while
though that is not the reason for his on the wing. Eventually they were
inclusion here . It is because the quaint- outwitted when we tacked the meat to
ness of his appearance and manner a stump.
appeals to me. He is a slow-moving, The only circumstance which ruffled
easy-going, thoughtful old fellow whose the temper of these old birds was to
one aversion is to be hustled. His have the impudent introduced starHngs
search for breakfast lacks that dis- peeping into their nesting hole in an old
play of energy which characterizes gum tree near by. Thej^ appeared to
the efforts of most species. He sits, regard the curiosity of certain small
pensive and motionless, on a limb or on native species with good-humored tol-
a stump in earnest contemplation of the erance. But those "furriners"; Ugh!
ground. Despite the nonchalant atti- The yellow-breasted shrike robin
tude, however, both eyes and ears are (Eopsaltria australis) is another bird
'All of the pictures accompanying this article, with the exception noted, are by the author.
29
30 NATURAL HISTORY
with much the same thoughtful ex- the vicinity of Probably, almost
it.
pression. It is not in any way related humorist occasionally

certainly, the old
to the kookaburra; in fact, the little makes a meal of young "yellow Bobs.
yellow robin settles the closer on her That is one of the few things I have
nest should the kookaburra appear in against him. But nothing can be said
A bird of thoughtful expression is the old kookaburra, He is rather famous, too, —one
of Australia's best-known species
BIRD PERSONALITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH 31
Photographed by Mrs. R. T. Littlejohns

The yellow-breasted shrike robin isa quietly beautiful bird and a great favorite among
nature lovers. "Breakfast in bed" is the human counterpart of the httle ceremony here
pictured
against the yellow robin. For quiet volumes for his popularity. As a
beauty he is unsurpassed and he is at songster, however, he is an absolute
once the most trustful and the most vocal efforts
failure, his being devoted
Hkable of our birds. Certainly he is the almost entirely to one piping note,
one most photographed and that speaks oft repeated.
32 NATURAL HISTORY
A
few years ago I cherished hopes flight is an erratic zig-zag, partly by
that cinema pictures of Austrahan reason of the extreme length of their
birds would be popular with or receive tail and partly because of many side-
some support from Australian picture ward dashes after passing insects. The
managements. I was quickly dis- white-shafted fantail (Rhipidura fiabel-
illusioned but, after much pleading, I lifera) is one of the commonest of these
did induce one firm to give me a trial. birds and its pleasant metalHc song is a
Even this firm was not greatly kindled feature of creekside music. The
by my enthusiasm, so that it was ex- photograph shows the head of a trust-
tremely necessary that my first attempt ful individual, the subject, also, of a
should be a success. Without hesita- "movie" film. Even if the picture

tion I sought the nest of a yellow robin conveys Kttle idea of the appearance
and was not disappointed. A cinema of the bird, it illustrates the character-
camera in action rattles and roars isticcobweb and bark nest and shows
prodigiously and, when operated but clearly the stem,which is added appar-
two feet from a nest, is sufficiently ently for the sake of stability. Three
fearsome to terrify most bii'ds. Yet in fuUy-fiedged young fantails, piled high
a very few minutes those yellow robins on the woefully overcrowded nest, is a
were performing their domestic duties sight to be remembered.
with scarcely a trace of suspicion in The yellow robin is my favorite
their large brown eyes. The completed bird; but there is another species of
film showed clearly the breathing of the somewhat similar build which runs it
birds and photographically was as very close in my regard. This is the

successful as I could have wished. The brown fiycatcher (Microeca fascinans)
picture on page 31 was taken by my famiharly known as the ''Peter Peter"
wife with an ordinary camera while because its nesting call note may, with
the cinema whirred. It depicts that some imagination, be said to resemible
most touchingly human of all bird those words. It is a dainty bird in
habits, the male feeding his mate upon every way with a very musical Httle
the nest. I am anxiously awaiting the song and plumage of soft browns and
day when educational films of this class gra3'S. "WTiile on the lookout for insects
will be commercially possible in the brown fl^^catcher habitually swings
Australia. its tailwith a curious circular move-
The head of the yellow robin is a ment, during which two white outer
slaty gray while theback and wings are feathers are prominently shown.
a greenish brown. The breast and The brown flycatcher is also a
underparts are lemon-yellow, the whole builder in bark and cobweb and its
blending to make a pleasant picture. nest, too, is a study in daintiness. It is
The nest, too, is a beautiful example of a shallow structure, built so flat upon a
natural architecture. It is built of horizontal branch as to be almost
bark in an upright fork, usually near invisible from beneath. Often a small
the ground, and is decorated externall}^ brown head peeping inquisitivelj^ over
with lichens and hanging shreds of the edge of the nest just above one's
bark. head leads to the discovery of the
Then there are the fantails, small home. The brown flycatcher usually
fussy birds with tails which account for chooses to make its dwelling in lightly
about half of their entire length. Their timbered countr}?-, where small gum
The nest of the white-shafted fantail is a delicate structure of bark and cobweb, deep in
the bowl and with a stem or tail added. This particular bird refused to leave her eggs even
when handled
trees,with their lower branches dry ''Peter Peters" gathering insects with
and dead, are a feature. such enthusiasm that I knew there
When the young are hatched and must be young birds somewhere near.
clothed in streaked gray feathers, the There were but three or four trees in the
difficulty of locating the nest is in- vicinitywhich provided the class of
creased rather than diminished. One nesting site that I knew the birds
stormy day last spring I found a pair of favored, yet I searched most carefully
34 NATURAL HISTORY
The brown a small daintj^ bird of soft browns and grays, whose nest when
flycatcher is
newly built is By the time the young birds have grown to the stage shown
rather attractive.
in this picture the house presents a dilapidated appearance
for ten minutes without result. It was plumaged birds of graceful soaring
only when one of the adult birds visited flight. The white-browed species (Arta-
the nest and fed the young ones that I mus superciliosus) , one of the visitors,
discovered the little flat platform is illustrated on p. 35. It is a striking

heaped high with young flycatchers. bird with gray back, almost black head,
After much battling against the ele- and a bright cinnamon-brown breast.
ments the accompanying picture was A conspicuous white eyebrow and a
obtained. It will serve to illustrate the dark-tipped, slightly curved, blue
shallowness of the nest and its usual beak give it a rather ferocious appear-
position. The choice of a dry branch as ance. In point of fact it is unusually
a foundation is prompted almost cer- ferocious in the protection of its nest,
tainly' bj' the fact that the eggs would and often the photographer is subjected
be in great danger of rolling over the to a prolonged attack during which his
edge were the nest built on a swaying hat may be dislodged several times by
leafy bough. an angry bird. The nest is a flimsy
The wood-swaUow family is a typical one of twigs and rootlets, built with
and widely distributed one in Australia. much haste in a fork, usually near the
In the southeastern corner of the ground but sometimes as high as twenty
Commonwealth there are three species, feet above it. As a rule a dozen or a
one a permanent resident and two sum- score of pairs of birds make their homes
mer visitors.'^ All three are smooth- in an area a few acres in extent, but
The Australian wood swallows are characterized bj'- their graceful flight.
The male
white-browed wood swallow is here shown near the frail nest in a native
shrub
never are two nests closer together than proud defiance of their attitude which
fifty yards or so. From a photogra- would induce me to go miles out of my
pher's point of view wood swallows are way to see a nesting colony.
not satisfactory subjects, yet there is In suitable country one may find a
some subtle attraction about the dozen small holes drilled in a creek
36 NATURAL HISTORY
bank within a distance of a quarter of a species have ridiculously short tails;
mile. Each small tunnel is the special in fact, short tails are characteristic
property and the anxious care of a pair of all the pardalotes.
of pardalotes, whose cosy nest of grass Where the soil is very hard or other-
and bark has been built in the darkness wise unsuitable, the plainer bird, known
eighteen inches or two feet in the earth. as the red-tipped pardalote, will nest
The nearness of these nesting tunnels to in the hollow of a tree or even in a fallen
one another is not an indication, as in branch upon the ground. Such a posi-
the case of the nests of wood swallows, tion was chosen by a pair of birds whose
ofany gregarious habit. Rather is it an domestic routine was interrupted, not
evidence of the number of pairs which once, but on two or three occasions,
take advantage of a suitable nesting during a fortnight. On the last occa-

ground. sion young birds with lusty voices
Around Melbourne there twoare could be heard about two feet from
species of these small birds. One is the small round entrance hole.
much spangled with white and con- Besides a pleasant, if rather monot-
spicuously marked with red orange and onous, call, usually interpreted as
yellow. The other species is less "wit-e-chew," the pardalote has a
gaudy, a plain brown bird with but a plaintive little note specially reserved
suggestion of yellow markings. Both for pathetic occasions. Thus, when
The red-tipped pardalote builds a complete nest in the darkness of a tunnel, either
in the ground, in a tree, or, as in this case, in a log lying on the ground. pre-When
vented, temporarily, from reaching its home, the bird affects a pathetic attitude and
utters a plaintive note of entreaty
The mistletoe bird builds a wonderful nest of feltlike texture. The small bird is
here shown bringing two sticky mistletoe berries to the young in the nest
access to the nest was barred tempo- Pardalotes perform much useful
rarily by a piece of stick, one of this service among the gum trees by attack-
pair of birds sat upon the topmost point ing the noxious scale insect that plays
of the branch and called most piteously havoc with the leaves and small
in its distress. Each entreaty was branches. Although scarcely four
accompanied by a peculiar stretching inches long, the bird has an enormous
of the neck and a sidewise turn of capacity for this particular pest.
the head, which I have attempted Related to the pardalotes and like
to illustrate in the accompanying them in shape and size is the mistletoe
photograph. bird {Dicseum kirundinaceum) , a bril-
3S NATURAL HISTORY
liant species not altogether uncommon slender branch above is the only sup-
but seldom observed closely. The port afforded to the breeze-swung home.
height and speed of its flight may ex- Of protectively colored species there
plain the fact that the bird is not better are many, and all are interesting. The
known. Some years ago, after much dotterels are particular favorites of
searching, Mr. S. A. Lawrence and I mine, whose primitive nests among the
discovered the wonderful home of a pebbles of a creek hold some irresistible
pair of these birds about twenty miles charm. In many of the old gold-
from Melbourne. At the end of four mining whole

districts of Victoria the
days of hard and patient work we were countryside is strewn with stones and
able to take back with us pictures of pebbles disturbed from their rightful
both the male and the female; not places deep in the earth. Streams now
only that, but these birds, admittedly meander through wide flat wastes of
among the least trustful in Australia, these pebbles and the usual creekside
eventually fed their young ones while undergrowth has disappeared entirely,
perched upon our hands. — a desolate enough scene.
The male mistletoe bird is beauti- When the dotterel's eggs lie un-
fully colored. The throat is a brilliant attended in the nest, they harmonize
scarlet while the back and wings are so well with the acres of pebbles that
a gloss}" blue-black. The female is detection by natural enemies is most
very soberly garbed in brown and gray unlikety. In similar manner the sitting
and is scarcely recognizable as the con- dotterel by its coloration enjoys almost
sort of the male. During the summer complete protection. Even the downy
months the birds are very partial to the youngsters, born open-eyed and able to
sticky seeds of the parasitic mistletoe run, are clothed in protectively colored
(Loranthus) as an article of food. In down. At a note of warning from the
fact, when the berries are available, ever-watchful parent they sink, with
the birds appear to feed on little else. outstretched neck, flat upon the
It is a curious partnership between bird pebbles and appear literally to dissolve
and plant. In return for its gift of into the surroundings.
food the parasite receives the assist- Now! I had not intended to men-
ance of the bird in distributing its tion the lyi'e bird {Menura novaehol-
seed. It would appear, even, that the landids), that greatest of all Australian
mistletoe is spread primarily through bird wonders. Much has been written
the agenc}^ of the mistletoe bird. regarding it by ornithologists of stand-
The nest of the species deserves men- ing, so that my only excuse for in-
tion. It is the most wondei'ful piece of troducing pictures of the bird and its
work I have seen. Builtwhere of wool, nest is my liking for the species. It is
obtainable, and woolly substances taken almost useless to attempt a description

from plants, it is woven so closely of the charm of ''lyre-birding," — I mean
as to resemble felt. It is difl&cult to it in the harmless photographic sense.
understand how the structure, lacking Imagine a half-mile climb from the
the long fibers we find in most other main gully up the steep course of
nests of the closed-in type, stands the a trickling crystal stream. Realize
strain wind and weather besides
of that dignified progress is rendered im-
supporting three young birds and one possible by tangled undergrowth, fallen
adult. It will be noticed, too, that the tree ferns, and the sodden spongy
nature of the soil. Picture silver mists The half-mile climb up the stream
sweeping this way and that like great probably occupies half an hour and at
captive balloons and leaving twinkling the end of it a change is noted in the
drops of water on the tips of every fern character of the country. On3 may
frond. In the distance all the time now walk upright with ease and the
ring the laugh of kookaburras, the ground is free of undergrowth and
carols of the magpie and the butcher debris. The fern fronds form arches
bird, the screech of cockatoos and par- overhead and shed a soft green light
rots, all falling one over the other in the over a scene which rivals fairyland.
ecstasy of the singer. Singer, I say, Above the ferns, myrtles and musk and
i
40 NATURAL HISTORY
Although the lyre bird is credited with being exceedingly shy, the nesting female, at least,
exhibits little more than a curious interest in intruders
for this mysterious bird. All is quiet, when nesting, belies that reputation
for,remember, most birds, being lovers which she and her consort have earned,
of light, shun these places where sun- rightly or wrongly. Speaking from my
shine is unknown. Then soberly, personal experience I can only say
sedately down a natural path between that, unless one adopts fundamentally
the ferns walks the bird we seek; not wrong tactics and scrambles through
the singer, but his mate. If she Hved the undergrowth after them, both male
up to her reputation, she would turn and female lyre bird are almost as
and vanish like a shadow. But her easily observed as other species. When
nest is near and the female lyre bird, her nest is near, the female looks upon
P The large nest of the lyre bird is usually built near the ground but in a position which
commands a view of all avenues of approach. The female was sitting in the nest when the
photograph was taken
intruders simply with wonder, curi- culty that I have not yet seen a satis-
osity, and perhaps a Httle anxiety. factory picture of a lyre bird. The
Under such circumstances the only photograph reproduced is the best of
difficulty of the photographer is lack of three obtained after an expenditure of
light. But so serious is this one diffi- fifty plates.
Photograph by A. H. B. Mattingley
THE CARPET SNAKE
In the tropical parts ofits range Python variegaius sometimes attains a length of four-
teen very rarely fifteen feet; in the more southern part of Austraha seven or eight feet
feet,
is its average size, though specimens measuring ten feet occasionally occur
Reptile Life in Australia'
By CHARLES BARRETT, C.M.Z.S.
ON the trail of birds in Australian

wilds with field glass and camera
neck, thus intensifying the terror of
those who fear all serpents should they
Imeet with many members of encounter one at close range. Nor is it
the "cold-blooded" tribes. And, wise for anyone to fence with this
being one of those ''eccentric persons" species in its rage. Strike swiftly, if
who feel kindly disposed toward lizards you have the good fortune to carry a
and snakes, I linger to watch their stick, and see that the blow gets home.
ways. I make no claim to the title of Many a snake have I spared, but never
herpetologist; I am an observer only, a venomous one in fighting humor.
and my budget of notes on reptile life When camped near a jungley swamp
is mainly for nature lovers. in New South Wales a year or two ago,
Though fatal cases of snake bite in I met with black snakes daily. The
Australia are rather rare, we have our swamp was an ideal home for them, and
share of venomous serpents, and some also for some harmless species of snakes.
kinds are abundant even near populous Orchid-hunting among ti trees {Mela-
towns. In sparsely settled districts,
where conditions are favorable to rep-

tile life, snakes, both harmless and
deadly, are very plentiful.

I have encountered many snakes in
my "bush" wanderings, and with few
exceptions have found them fearful of
man, or at least decidedly anxious to
avoid him. This applies to some of our
deadliest species, including the black
snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) , a
formidable foe indeed, were it eager to
stay and fight instead of avoiding
trouble. This, our commonest species
bearing the poison fang, often grows to
a length of six feet, but the average
length is sixty inches. Occasionally,
"seven-footers" are killed; and snake
stories record monsters worthy of ex-
hibition in a dime museum! Courtesy of A. H. E. Mattingley
The black snake is rarely aggressive The black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus)
beautiful in its coloring: purplish black or
unless cornered, or molested in the mat- is
dark slate on the upper surface; on the sides

ing season, when most serpents are in-
and abdominal plates, crimson-lake red, with
clined to take the offensive against "Black
the hind tips and edges blackish.
intruders. Pseudechis porphyriacus, Beauty," a snake-lover has called this dreaded
when angered, flattens and expands its reptile, which has taken its toll of human life
illlustrations, with one exception, from photographs by A. H. E. Mattingley, C. M. Z. S., and the author.
43
44 NATURAL HISTORY
leuca sp.), slender-boled gum trees dock not far from Melbourne, the
(Eucalyptus sp.), and splendid fan- second largest city of the Common-
leaved palms, I splashed along on the wealth, a child gathering wild flowers
first morning without a thought
afield, was fatally bitten by a copperhead. I
of reptiles. Suddenly, as I stooped to see this species every year, in the hot
gather a lovely little bog orchid, a black months, when rambling over heath
snake glided past, almost touching my
feet. I was startled, I confess, and for
a while after that went warily. Then
another "Black Beauty" appeared;
and fiveminutes later, a third. At
brief intervals thiêe more were sighted,
and I decided to quit the swamp. It
was gloomy among the trees, and I
might easily have found trouble.
On a track near the swamp, I sur-
prised still another black snake. It
glided toward cover, but was headed
with the aid of a stick into a shallow pool.
And there, like Brer Rabbit, it ''lay low"
for a time. It is a habit of the species
to lurk, completely submerged, in
swamps and streams. Some other
serpents have the same power of iê-
maining long under water. The black
snake is viviparous, and its family may
number from fifteen to a score. Its
food consists mainly of lizards, frogs,
and small mammals; it has a liking
for young water rats, and in the
stomach of one specimen sixteen of
these were found.
Another deadly species, the brown
snake (Diemenia textiUs), has a wide
distribution in Australia. It attains a
length of six feet, and is greatly dreaded.
The young are not produced "alive,"
the eggs, about a score to the clutch,
being laid on the ground and con-
cealed beneath twigs and dry leaves.
The Austrahan copperhead {Denisonia
superba), whichmust not be confused
with the American copperhead, meas-
ures from four to six feet, and is
plentiful in many parts of southeastern
Australia, even close to the cities.
This water lily swamp is located near the
During the summer of 1923, in a pad- Murray River in New South Wales
REPTILE LIFE IN AUSTRALIA 45
lands by the sea. One day, when out and struck. The entomologist missed
with a butterfly hunter, I learned to death by a few inches.
respect the copperhead. We came Yet the copperhead is not regarded
upon one basking, and my friend as our boldest and most aggressive
'
stirred it up " In a flash the snake shot
'
.
reptile. That honor belongs to the
forward over the iron rim of the net tiger snake (Notechis scutatus), which
Photograph by Vharieti Harreti
The edge of a "flood" islet in the swamp is seen on the right of the picture. Hither
large snakes come, chiefly to prey upon rabbits and other small creatures
46 NATURAL HISTORY
also is one of the most venomous antardica). Tawny crossbands and
serpents in the world. It is partial to its vicious, aggressive nature explain
fairlydry areas, but is not confined to the popular name. The tiger snake is
them, and ranges widely over the Com- brownish oHve to dark brown on the
monwealth. Large specimens measure upper parts, with many ''tiger" bands,
more than five feet from tip to tip, and below king yellow to pale straw
but the average length is much less. yellow, or yellow tinged with green
Ferocity, not size, makes the tiger the handsome coloring.
most dreaded of Australia's poisonous The tiger snake abounds in places
snakes with the exception, perhaps, of well suited to its needs. A mile or two
the sluggish death adder {Acanthophis from a crowded suburb, I have known
it to attack a Boy Scout belonging to a
camp in This species
its territory.
probably has taken a heavier toll of
human life than any other reptile in-
habiting Australia. It is said that its
venom is more swiftly fatal than that
of the cobra.
Far from avoiding man, the tiger
snake is usually "looking for a fight;"
in the mating season especially it shows
its At all times its fury
aggressiveness.
becomes unbounded if it be attacked
without a chance to retreat. Under
such circumstances its neck is flat-
tened, and expanded laterallj^ to twice

the normal width, reminding one of a
cobra, with hood spread, ready for
action, and if you are facing this tawny-
banded terror, and are within its range,
act swiftly or your fate is certain.
It is strange to read of a tiger snake
being killed by a mouse; but this
Photograph by Charles Barrett
The great brown
actually occurred. The late Prof.
kingfisher or kookaburra
(Dacelo gigas) is a foe of small snakes, and Frederick McCoy put a five mouse into
sometimes kills fairly big ones. Young of the a box containing a specimen of Notechis
black, browTi, and copperhead species doubt- scutatus,and on the following morning
less are included in its menu. The author of was astonished to find that the little
this article has seen a "laughing Jack," which
rodent had dispatched the snake by
is another alias of this bird, perched on a
fence post, with a snake three feet long dang- biting the back of its neck and, more-
ling limply from its bill. It
is generally beheved over, had eaten some of the flesh!
that snakes are carried aloft by the kooka- The professor kept several tiger snakes
burra and dropped to the ground, so that
together in a box, and frequently saw
they may be disabled, and thereupon safely
and easily dispatched. This the author has
them bite each other viciously when
not himself observed; but there is no doubt they had been purposely disturbed;
at all that "Jack" is a snake killer. That is but the poison fangs produced no ill
one reason why he is protected effects.
The death adder is one of the smaller Among the snakes that are impres-
serpents of Australia, seldom attaining sive because of their size is the carpet
a greater length than two feet. Its species. Python variegatus. This big
body is thick and rounded, the head rock snake is, of course, non-venomous,
broad and flat, while the tail ends in a but not "perfectly harmless," as some
—
horny spine, harmless of course, but naturalists aver. We captured one
in popular belief the adder's deadly nine feet in length on a river isle in
weapon. "It stings with its tail," Queensland, three men grasping the tail
folks say; and no logic has power to and hauling Python variegatus from its
convince them of their error. The retreat in a bed of swamp lilies. It was
death adder is one of the most venom- an exciting tug of war, but the snake
ous Australian snakes; a large dog lost. Later the specimen was shipped
will succumb to the effects of its bite to Melbourne, and became for a time a
in eighteen minutes. household pet. I tested its crushing
This deaf adder, as it is commonly powers one morning, and very soon
called, has a dangerous habit of lying repented. Shining, merciless coils were
still, often on soil with which its color about my waist, and the snake's flat,
harmonizes. Thus, it is not easily ugly head came gliding over my

detected; and as it obstinately de- shoulder. Constriction increased, and
clines to yield the right of way, a the snake bit savagely at my coat.
pedestrian may tread upon it —and Tighter still it pressed, and breathing
suffer death, for the adder strikes as became difficult. I called on a watch-
swiftly as a furious tiger snake. One ful companion, and our united strength
summer's day, when a holiday party was exerted to unwind the reluctant
was rambling in the "bush," a laugh- coils.
ing girl placed her hand idly on a bowl- But unless one is rough and careless
der. Next moment, when she chanced in handling the carpet snake, it is
to look down, her face grew pale and she harmless enough. Recently I photo-
trembled. The hand was lifted in a graphed one of these reptiles, which
flash —
it had lain within six inches of a allowed me to pose it, without protest
basking death adder beyond a mild threat from open jaws.
Though the death adder is not ag- This Australian python (we have
gressive, it will, when aroused, snap several species of Python) is handsomely
swiftly from side to side alternately, as colored, pale brown with a greenish
I have seen a horned viper {Cerastes gray tinge and darker markings in
cornutus) strike, out on the Libyan irregular carpet pattern. Its tail is
Desert. But the Australian snake does short and prehensile, and, like the
not move its body sideways, in the American boa, the "carpet" coils it
peculiar manner of the Egyptian around a branch, and hangs by it as
species. Sandy places are favored by easily as a ring-tailed phalanger per-
Acanthophis antardica, which is widely forms the same feat. A firm hold is
distributed in Australia; it is found gained (says Professor McCoy) with two
also in the great island of New Guinea little leglike spurs acting in opposition.
and its attendant islands. It was Small mammals (wallabies, etc.) and
plentiful on an isle off the coast of birds are the carpet snake's chief vic-
North Queensland, where I camped for tims, but it is fond also of poultry and
a while. raids henhouses in country townships.
48 NATURAL HISTORY
Still, renders good service as a rat

it house." When my friend entertained,
hunter, and often its presence is he delighted in giving the guests a little
welcomed in places where rodents surprise: the snake was coiled on a

abound. chair at the dinner table, and as a rule
The diamond snake {Python varie- it behaved very well.

gatus spilotes) a subspecies restricted
is I come now to my favorites, the
to portions of the eastern coast of our beautiful, slender tree snakes, — one
This swamp in central Tasmania a well-known haunt of snakes as well as a nesting

is
place of crakes and rails. Undeterred by the proximity of the reptiles, a settler has built
his cabin at the edge of the swamp
island-continent. It is darker than the being colored green, the other brown.
carpet snake, and has a different color As they glide among leaves of the
pattern : normally, diamond-shaped jungle trees or, more rarety, over

spots occur in clusters at more or less swampy ground, they resemble un-
regular intervals. Northern Australia dulating tubes of tinted glass. All their
is the home of the black-headed python movements are graceful, and their
{Aspidites melanocephalus) ,which at- charm is enhanced by the knowledge
tains a length of eight feet; and another, that they are harmless. The common
smaller, species {Aspidites ramsayi) is green tree snake {Dendrophis punctula-
restricted to a district in north central tus) may grow to seven feet, but its
New South Wales. more usual length is five or six feet.

Pjrthons sometimes are kept as pets. This species is abundant in subtropical
A friend of mine had a small diamond and tropical "brushes" on the eastern
snake, which enjoyed the "run of the coast. I have seen a dozen during a
morning's ramble among palm trees and waters. My own slight knowledge of it
cedars in a northern ''brush." The was gained in North Queensland.
swamp described on pp. 43-4 where White-bellied sea eagles (Halixtus
black snakes were so numerous, was also leucogaster) are great enemies of sea
a haunt of green tree snakes. I found a snakes. On an isle of the Capricorn
pair at home in a hollow log, and saw Group, off the coast of Queensland, I
many others gliding through water- found beneath the nest of a pair of sea
laved grass and ferns or among the eagles scores of skeletons of sea snakes.
foliage of trees. Small birds and lizards Sharks, also, it is said, prey upon these
and the tree frogs so plentiful in their serpents. Their own element is some-
haunts are victims of these snakes, but times their enemy; for after a storm
their diet is, perhaps, varied with other sea snakes have been found cast up on
littlebushland creatures. The brown ocean beaches.
tree snake (Dipsadomorphus fuscus) is a Of crocodiles we have two species,
nocturnal hunter of small birds, lizards, Johnston's {Crocodilusjohnstonii), a na-
and amphibians. Its maximum length tive of Northern Territory and North
is seven feet. The tree snakes are Queensland, and the salt-water croco-
oviparous. dile (Crocodilus porosus). The length
In tropical Australia there are four of the former is from six to seven feet;
kinds of true fresh-water snakes, placed it is mainly a fish eater, harmless to
in four genera by systematists; but I man. One of my naturalist friends has
have no personal knowledge of the bathed often in a Queensland river pool
ways of these reptiles. among the "little crocs." This prac-
Sea snakes, which prey chiefly upon tice is not exceptional, for the folk who
fishes, are not uncommon in our tropi- live in where Johnston's
districts
cal waters, especially among coral reefs, crocodile abounds have no fear of it.
where have seen them during trips to
I Crocodilus porosus, on the other hand,
islands of the Great Barrier. They are a monster often measuring seventeen
found, also, in salt-water estuaries. I feet or more from the snout tip to the
will freely admit that I prefer to view end of the powerful tail, is regarded
sea snakes at a little distance. They with due respect. It frequents the
are highly venomous; and in travers- tidal mouths of creeks and rivers, and
ing water lanes that run through coral sometimes is met with at sea. It is not
causeways or along the reef's edge confined to northern Australia, being
in a blue lagoon one. is wise to be a native, also, it has been stated, of
cautious. India and Ceylon, some Pacific islands,
Our most familiar species among the and the southern portion of China.
Hydrophinse is the yellow-bellied sea Mr. A. H. E. Mattingley, C. M. Z. S.,
snake (Hydrus platurus), which rarely a noted Australian naturalist, relates

grows to a length of more than three an adventure with a salt-water croco-
feet. It is black on the upper surface, dile.^ He was hunting birds in the
yellow on the sides of the body and the mangroves, when he came upon a fe-
lower parts, while the tail varies in male crocodile in a wallow beside her
color pattern, — yellow with black spots, nest. She made a savage rush at him,
or the reverse. This species is found in with " a kind of hissing, grunting noise,"
the Pacific and Indian Oceans, authori-
^The Animals of Australia, Luoas & Le Sou'^f, pp
ties say, and is recorded from Panama 190-91.
50 NATURAL HISTORY
Green coming ashore from the lagoon at Masthead Island,

turtles in the Capricorn Group,
Queensland, where they deposit their eggs in burrows
but was blinded by a charge of small to fresh water and travel far up-
shot and finally dispatched. stream.
When North Queensland,
living in I am more at home in writing of
my wife from a grateful
received green turtles (Chelone my das), for I
person, whom she had nursed through have camped on their nesting isles,
an illness, a baby crocodile. The gift, swum among them in the lagoons, and
from a rough but kindly old miner, even commandeered them for ''joy
arrived without warning in a box the rides" on the beaches. The green
lid of which was nailed down. My wife turtle, which frequents tropical and
and her friends of the household were subtropical seas, is so abundant in the
curious as to the contents, and bent breeding season among our north-
over the box as the top was pried off. western and northeastern islands that
When the crocodile's head popped up, hundreds sometimes are seen at a
the sharp-toothed jaws agape, all the sweep of the eye. One morning I
human heads were lifted high in a actually counted nearly two hundred
flash. The gift, with a polite note of on the beach at Northwest Island, in
thanks, was returned to the sender, the Capricorn Group. Many were
who later explained, "I thought you'd coming ashore, too, and dark heads
like it for a pet." dotted the sea as far as my eyes could
Wild and devoured by
pigs are killed range. was easy to steal to a basking
It
the salt-water crocodile, and it has the turtle and leap upon its carapace. If
reputation of being a man-eater when you gained a firm seat (kneeling on
the chance occurs. It is not particu- and grasping the front of the carapace),
larly conducive to long life to swim in, a brief ride to the sea was possible.
or wade through, pools in crocodile- In the water the turtle triumphed.
haunted water courses, for the reptiles It might swim for a time with head
sometimes seek a change from salt uplifted, but presently it would sub-
REPTILE LIFE IN A USTRALIA 51
merge, forcing its rider to loose his

hold or drown. I never could rival De
Rougemont in turtle-riding feats; but
many a big Chelone mydas has borne
me over the beach to the sea.
At night, on the edge of the jungle
zone, the female turtles excavated big
holes in the sand and therein laid their
eggs. Then they scraped damp sand
into the hollow again and smoothed
the surface, using their hind flippers
adroitly in these operations. All was
safe now, they believed, and accord-
ingly they returned to the sea.
Many nests are robbed, of course;
and turtle hunters often capture the
luckless owners, as they hasten sea-
ward after laying and hiding their eggs.
Rarely, among the islands, we saw the Photograph by Charles Barrett
logger-head turtle {Thalassochelys ca~ The carapace of a green turtle found on

the beach of Coral Island
retta), noted for its shell-crushing beak.
We have in Australia some inter-
esting tortoises that inhabit lakes and webbed between the toes, and provided
rivers and the large lagoons. The long- with long, acute claws. In a lake in
necked river tortoise {Chelodina longi- northern Victoria I saw in early
collis) is one of the most remarkable

summer time a host of Murray tor-
species, common in rivers of southern

Australia, especially Gippsland, Vic-
toria, where I have met with it. The
length of the snake-like neck, from the
front edge of the carapace to the occi-
put, is about three inches, six lines,
sometimes shorter, rarely a line or
two longer. This is rather a handsome
reptile, very dark brown above, with
the plastron and under surface of
marginal plates a rich yellow, the bor-
ders to the sutures being dark brown.
The pure white eggs (from seven to
more than a score) are deposited in a cir-
cular hole excavated in a bank, the tor-
toise using its hind feet for the work.
The Murray River tortoise (Emy-
dura macquarise) is popularly known
as the Murray "turtle," but a glance
The burrow from which these eggs of the
at its feet shows the naturalist that it Murray tortoise were removed is seen to the
is one of the walking tortoises, wide- left rear of them
52 NATURAL HISTORY
big bowlders, geckoes are found. Some
kinds, especially in the subtropical and
tropical parts of the Commonwealth,
take up their abode in houses, huts, and
outbuildings, where they prey upon
moths and flies. Their adhesive foot-
pads enable them to run up and down
walls, and across the ceiling of a house.
Sometimes they lose their hold and fall.
One night I was seated, reading, in a
Queensland bungalow, when a gecko
dropped on the table, an inch from my
book. He did not stay to apologize,
but scampered down a leg of the table,
across the floor, and up the wall, back
to his hunting ground the— ceiling.
In the country of central
arid
Australia found our strangest
are
Photograph by A. H. E. Mattingley geckoes. One is Nephrurus asper, pale
Supported by its adhesive toe pads, the
pinkish brown on the upper surface,
AustraUan gecko is able to hang head down-
with a black band on the neck, and
ward from a branch
black lines in network pattern on the
toises. They were gathered in warm, head. It is under five inches in length.
shallow water along the shore, and I The small tail has a "terminal en-
followed the tracks for fifty yards until largement"; at the base it is swollen
I came upon several nests excavated in in a curious manner, then it tapers,
dry soil. From one of these nests and ends in a globe-shaped knob.
nearly a score of eggs, white and Rhynchoedura ornata, of northwestern
soft-shelled, were taken. Egg fights Australia, is more remarkable for the
are held by schoolboys living in the shape of its head than for that of its
neighborhood of the lake; but the tail, though the latter organ is suffi-
turtle population does not decrease ciently strange, —thick, and in outline
perceptibly though hundreds of eggs like a malformed leaf. This gecko's
are destroyed. head suggests that of a baby bird, with
Australia is so rich in lizards —nearly bulging eyes and short, blunt bill.
four hundred species, and many of Some of our lizards are gorgeously
them abundant — that I can mention colored, — for example, the painted
only a few, notable for their quaint dragon (Amphiholurus pictus), which
appearance or their engaging ways. inhabits dry regions mainly, in western,
Our geckoes are queer little creatures, central, and southern Australia. The
with grotesque tails and in the case of male, on the upper part of the body, is
some species ogre-like heads, so that it brick red, with leaden-blue vertebral
is not strange that many persons regard stripe; the sides are blue with yellow
them with aversion. But I like every spots ; the limbs bluish black with some
kind have seen.
I Under bark on living yellow markings; and the long, taper-
tree trunks and gray old logs on the ing tail leaden blue, barred with light-
ground, in rock crannies and beneath colored, narrow bands. Truly, a
Though living close to the ground, the bearded dragon, Amphibolurus barbatus, likes to
bask on logs and stumps and fence posts. Annoyed or cornered, it expands its "beard" —
—
frill of spines and faces the foe open-mouthed, hissing viciously the while. It will bite, too,
in savage earnest, but without causing much pain. Its display is largely bluff, but succeeds
sometimes in scaring very timid persons. The "dragon," although about twenty inches in
length, has no chance of life when pounced upon by even a small dog. A fox terrier will dis-
patch two full-grown specimens in less than five minutes
dandy; but not the only one among Another kind, of the purely Australian
Australian lizards to qualify as such. genus Egernia, varies greatly in color-
One small species has an orange-red ing; one form is bright brick red above,
tail, and blue-and-black striped body. with some black spots; while the sides
54 NATURAL HISTORY
of the body are pinkish brown, also The horned dragon {Moloch horri-
spotted with black, and the under dus), under nine inches in length, is a
surface of a rich, creamy-white hue. contrast to the frilled lizard in its
Brown, blue, red, yellow, and many sluggish ways. It is difficult to de-
other colors are exhibited by our scribe this quaint little reptile, with
lizards, largeand small. rows of large and small
its spines, neck
We have some lizards, however, that hump, and horned eyes. It is of a
are ''plain." The bearded dragon yellowish color, with chestnut-brown

(Ajnphiholurus barhatus) is as soberly markings. The Australian Moloch
colored as a Quaker's coat. Dingy lizard resembles the Texas horned lizard
brownish or yellow gray is the prevail- (Phrynosoma cornutum)
ing tone, with darker markings in some The horned dragon, often called
cases. I have met with this queer "thorny devil," makes a pleasing pet.
lizard, which attains a length of about One of these lizards had the freedom
twenty-one inches, in many places, but of my house for a month, when it met
most often in the wonderful Mallee with an untimely death crushed by a —

country of northwestern Victoria, careless foot. Another specimen I
where the lowan (Leipoa ocellata) still purchased for a shilling from an
raises mounds of soil and debris as aboriginal at Coldea station, on the
incubators for its eggs, ranged in tiers Trans-Australian Railway. I kept the
in a hotbed. The bearded dragon, lizard in my sleeping compartment on
however, is found all over Australia, the train, and when we stopped for
except in the areas farthest north. It some minutes at a station, I would step
is so common in the Mallee that a score out and place it on the ground among
may be seen in a morning afield. A ants of different species. But it de-
dozen or more eggs are laid by this clined to eat in the midst of plenty.
species. Later I learned that the Moloch has a
Fortune has favored few naturalists special liking for the small black
with pn introduction to the true frilled "sugar" ants, which commonly nest
lizard (Chlamydosaurus) in its native in our gardens and invade kitchens and
wilds; and I am one of the luckless larders. Given its favorite food, this
majority. Chlamydosaurus kingii, sole lizard develops an amazing appetite,
member of its genus, inhabits certain often devouring more than one thou-
areas in and northwestern
western sand ants at a meal. The insects are
Australia, and Queensland. Its body picked up one by one by the reptile's
is slender, and the tail, proportionately, slender and sticky tongue, which
of remarkable length; from tip to tip flashes in and out of the mouth tire-
an adult may measure almost three lessly till the feast is ended.
feet. The big frill is wonderful; but a Dr. J. Bequaert^ refers to Moloch
still greater claim to distinction is this horridus in his fascinating paper on
lizard's habit of running erect on the "The Predaceous Enemies of Ants."^
hind legs. Saville-Kent, who closely I have evidence that our horned lizard
observed the species, states that in lives solely upon ants, though appar-
running the frilled lizard places on the ently it is highly selective and never
ground only the three central digits of troubles the great majority of species.
each hind foot; thus its tracks re-
^Bulletin, Am. Mus. Nat. History, Vol. XLV (1921-
semble those of birds and of dinosaurs. 22), p. 296.
A captive specimen was tempted with their display must serve to frighten
living ants of several species, but de- some of their natural enemies. In the
clined to eat until it was placed beside a Mallee scrubs, have seen a "blue-
I
nest of the small black ants alreadj^ tongue" smaller and more brightly
mentioned. colored than the common species
My brother, in camp on a western {Tiliqua scincoides) the average length
,
gold where
field, fortunes were lost and of which is nearly two feet.
made, kept, as a mascot and "servant" "Shingle-back," "stump tail," and
combined, a fine little Moloch. It was "sleeping hzard," are the popular
tethered lightly to a tent peg and rarely names for the most sluggish of all the
strayed to the end of its tether. It Australian reptiles (Trachysaurus rugo-
cost nothing to keep and needed no sus),which enjoys a fairly wide range.
attention; but it rendered welcome In northwestern Victoria and South
service in devouring hosts of black Australia (near the coast), I have ob-
ants. served shingle-back lizards in number.
Australia's sluggish blue-tongued In one spot, more than twenty were
lizards {Tiliqua) are unfriendly in their present, not in association but within
haunts, but in captivity become more a few yards of one another. The place
sociable. I have had several and have must have had some special attraction
found them rather engaging despite for the lazy, dull-colored reptiles.
their indolent ways. A "blue-tongue The stump-tailed lizard measures
is never in a hurry; but if you irritate from a foot to fourteen inches in length.
him, he instantly shows bold resent- Its curious, broad and short, stumpy
ment. The jaws are opened and the tail might be mistaken at a distance for
bright purplish-blue tongue flickers the lizard's head, though smaller and
while the body swells and a fierce more rounded. In some districts,
hissing noise is uttered, as were
if it indeed, the species is known as the two-
being pumped from These
the depths. headed lizard. Its appearance plainly
reptiles, of course, are harmless, but indicates that nature never intended
Photograph by C. P. Kinane
A blue-tongued lizard {Tiliqua scincoides) in angry mood, with its purplish-blue tongue
in action
56 NATURAL HISTORY
This brood of young brown hawks (Hieracidea berigora) was fed mainly on stump-tailed
lizards (Trachysaurus rugosus). There was a half-devoured specimen of this lizard in the
nest when the photograph was taken
that it should hve an active hfe; nor "drags its slow length along"; only
does break her law. A snail might
it it is short instead of elongated; it
win a race with Trachysaurus rugosus. waddles on its stomach, one might say.
The lethargy of our stump-tailed lizard In my latest trip to the Mallee
is so great as to be diverting to an ob- (October, 1922) I noticed that brown
server of its ways. Like some creature hawks (Hieracidea herigora) were feed-
of a poet's fancy, this indolent reptile ing their broods on stump-tailed lizards,
varied with larger, and very active,
species. Remains of several specimens
of rugosus were found in a hawk's nest,
and the mother bird was seen approach-
ing with a young monitor lizard
(Varanus sp.) dangling from her beak.
Stumpy has no defence against a bird
of prey; he may be sighted and cap-
tured at leisure for the mere trouble of
alighting on the ground to pick him up.
Photograph by Charles Barrett It is different with the monitor.
The stump-tailed lizard is also known as the This brings me to our largest lizards,
double-headed
name as
lizard, a not inappropriate
any one taking a quick unanalytic
in popular parlance "goanas" — a cor-
glance at this picture will admit. The photo-
ruption of iguana, I suppose. We have
graph was taken in the Mallee country, Vic- no iguanas in Australia,as every
toria, and shows the slugglish lizard stretched naturalist knows; but "guanas" our
on the sand monitors will be called for many years
Photographs by Charles Barrett
THE MONITORS OR "GOANAS"
The genus Varanus includes the largest of Australia's lizards. One species, V. variiis, attains
alengthofsix feet; scarcely less impressive is V.gouldii, which is more than fom- feet in length.
There are also intermediate and small species in the genus. The lace monitor (varius) is
essentially a tree-climber and takes ruthless toll of birds' nests, the yoimg birds as well as
the eggs being eaten. When the close of the nesting season puts an end to its raids among the
trees, this hzard takes to the ground, preying upon rabbits and other animals. Gould's mon-
itor, [on the other hand, lives habitually on the ground
57
58 NATURAL HISTORY
to come. It is difficult to lay the ghosts smaller (length up to about four feet)
of popular errors. Of these long-headed and more handsomely colored than
Hzards we have several species and Varanus varius. Another fact in its
varieties. At least two of the species favor is that it is less voracious and
are of considerable size, as "big as vicious than the larger "goana."
alligators," to quote a newspaper head- Furthermore, this lizard livesmostly on
ing; others are from two to three feet the ground; alarmed, it seeks as a rule
in length and finally, there are species
; safety in holes in the earth instead of
smaller still. climbing a tree. Although it swims
The lace monitor (Varanus varius), well, it is most plentiful in waterless
mainly an arboreal lizard, inhabits areas. Captive specimens hiss loudly
eastern Australia. It varies in length, when irritated, but do not attempt to
full-grown examples measuring about bite; at other times, to quote Professor
six feet. This reptile is a great enemy McCoy, they give "a gentle snuffing
of birds. It climbs the tallest trees sort of such as babies emit
cough,
with wonderful and few nests
facility, before they are weaned."
are safe from its raiding. Sometimes Many rivers and creeks in eastern
the big robber is driven off by bold and Australia (from Queensland to southern
powerful birds, such as the cockatoos; Victoria if varieties of the species about
the smaller birds can only threaten and to be mentioned are disregarded) are
loudly protest while their homes are frequented by a strange reptile, Physig-
devastated. Very often, of course, nathus lesueurii, known as the water
the parents are away, and the moni- lizard, or water dragon — the latter
tor gets his meal without any annoy- name seems most suitable when the
ance. reptile is seen "at home." Lately this
When harvest time for eggs and reptile has become famous among thou-
nestlings is over, the lace lizard seeks a sands of people previously ignorant of
living hunts rabbits
on the ground. It its very existence. Its claims to the
and small native mammals, snaps up title "bunyip" were advanced by
of
"unconsidered trifles," and in the some "bush" dwellers during a dis-
settled districts visits poultry yards, cussion in the columns of the Melbourne
stealing both eggs and chickens. Often Herald regarding that mysterious crea-
I have been startled by the sudden rush ture of native legendary tales and white
of a "goana" that had been lurking in men's camp-fire stories.
long grass or among rocks and scrub on Maybe, there is a real bunyip, an
a hillside. In a second, if a tree be animal remotely resembling the imagi-
handy, a monitor surprised on the nary creature feared for centuries by
ground will be racing up the trunk. It the aborigines, if indeed they had per-
will dodge round if you watch it, fect faith in their tribal tales. A seal
keeping on the side of the bole you can- astray far inland, in river or lake, may
not for the moment "Goanas"
see. have given rise to the bunyip legend,
have been numbers for
killed in large and the boom of the bittern may echo
the sake of oil distilled from their fat, in its "terrible voice." Descriptions
which is valued as a remedy for various of the bunyip vary among the tribes;
aches and pains. but the legend is wide-spread, and
Gould's monitor {Varanus gouldii), many persons, even today, believe that
which ranges all over Australia, is Australia is the home of a large and
wonderful animal, unknown to science of their vocal powers.

but familiar to black fellows! "Blood- The color of the water lizard on the
curdling screams," heard at night in upper surface of the body is dark
the "bush" not far from Melbourne, oHve, with cross bands light and dark.
were attributed to the bunyip. Most The cheek pouch is vividly colored in
probably they were uttered by a lines of rich yellow and blue. An expert
powerful owl {Ninox strenua) or a swimmer and diver, this reptile is not
koala (Phascolarctus cinereus), both entirely aquatic in its habits. It fre-
noted for making unearthly noises. quently is seen on the banks of streams
Dozens of theories were advanced, or basking on rocks in the current. At
but the mystery remains unsolved. the least sign of danger it dives into
The theory that interested me was that the stream and swims out of sight.
propounded by some young men Rambling beside a rocky Gippsland
camped near a creek frequented by creek on a hot day, I came suddenly
water dragons, and published in the upon a "colony" water dragons.
of
Melbourne Herald. "A lizard is respon- Before I could focus the camera every
sible for thebunyip scare," the campers lizard had splashed head first into the
declared; and they described how the water. The prey of the species seems
reptile, the length of which is about to consist chiefly of insects, including
thirty inches, rested upon a rock in the native bees.
creek, and inflating its cheek pouch,
produced "unearthly sounds." I have Only vignettes have been given of
seen many water dragons in their reptile life in Australia; the subject
haunts, but have no personal knowledge deserves large volumes.

A creek in Gippsland, Victoria. — The rocks in the
stream and along the
banks are frequented by the water dragon (Physignathus lesueurii)
The Vanishing Wild Life of Australia
THE CAUSES OF THE SCARCITY OF CERTAIN OF THE NATIVE ANIMALS
EXPLAINED BY A. S. LE SOUEF
THE troduced
preceding articles have in-
the reader to the
(b) Shooting and trapping for the
fur market.
mammals, (c) Opening up the country by

strangely primitive
settlement.
the birds, and the reptiles of Australia,
(d) Disease.
and the doom of extinction that has (a) The Marsupials are representa-
overtaken some species and that tives of animals that appeared very
threatens others has been alluded to early in the history of evolution;they
here and there. By way of supple- were in process of time completely
ment to this phase of the subject, it
superseded by the more advanced
animals that we know today. The
seems in order to print a substantial
isolation of Australia at a time when
portion of an article entitled "The the Marsupials were predominant,
Australian Native Mammals," which allowed them to remain unmolested,
Mr. A. S. Le Souef contributed to a except for the later introduction of the
recent issue of the Australian Zoologist}
dingo. With no competition except
among themselves, they have stayed
The fact that some of our native
animals are getting increasingly scarce
in their primitive state —
remarkably
harmless and with a low instinct of
is well known to those familiar with
self-preservation
them in their native haunts. Mr. W. When animals of this class suddenly
W. Froggatt drew attention to this find themselves placed in competition
matter (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 1913), with such advanced forms as the fox,
but little else of an authoritative
nature has been published. Much un-
—
the cat and the rabbit types that are
far ahead of them in the evolutionary
certainty and misapprehension has
been caused by many people writing
scale— it is just as inevitable that they
should go down before the invader, as
and speaking about the matter with- that the aboriginal should give place to
out having any basic knowledge of the the white man.
subject. The fox is by far the greatest menace
Actual facts are rather difficult to that our wild animals are faced with.
secure, as comparatively few people It is widespread, uncontrollable, and
take sufficient interest to make observa- reaches places where man has not pene-
tions, or can recognize any but the com- trated. Its progress towards northern
mon species when seen. In the absence and central Australia will be watched
of any comprehensive survey this
with interest; if it can establish itself
resume is only approximate. in the dry and also in the tropical
The cause of the disappearance of areas, then a great many of our ani-
some of our animals can be stated to
be (in order of importance^) :
—
mals some hardly known to science
will disappear. So far there is no evi-
(a) Introduction of the fox, the
dence that it can live away from per-
cat and the rabbit. manent water or in the tropics. It is
1V9I. Ill, Pt. 3, issued June 7, 1923. significant that most of our animals
^Different students of the Australian fauna will as-
sign a different order of precedence to the agencies of live in the driest areas, getting their
destruction. In the article which Mr. Raven con- moisture from roots, bark and insects.
tributes to this issue, first place is assigned to man,
while the fox is subordinated as a destroyer to the The rabbit, the cat and the European
dingo. Though such differences of viewpoint will
continue to prevail according to the experiences of the mouse have already spread over the
indiviciual writer, there is no difference of opinion on
the point that all of these agencies are tending to de-
continent; the rabbit thriving in
plete the native wild life. Editor. waterless areas in good seasons and
60
THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AUSTRALIA 61
being swept off again in dry times but — absorb only the natural increase, but
I do not think that they have any the machinery for control is lacking,
marked effect on the native animals. and the laws make very little differ-
ence in the number of skins taken and
Mr. Le Souef then alludes briefly to
exported.
the presence, in the eastern coastal (c) The opening up of the country
areas extending from Victoria to North by settlement has had its effect on the
Queensland, of the poison tick {Ixodes native game. The first stage, after
upsetting the balance of life, was an
holocyclus), which is of aid to the mar-
enormous increase in the Marsupials,
supials in that it is ''fatal to canines
but systematic killing and the advent
and somewhat less harmful to cats." of the rabbit and the poison cart soon
He calls attention to the fact that stopped this.
Tasmania and the islands off the coast (d) Under normal conditions there is
a very correct balance of life among the
are free from the fox but that this
wild animals. Occasionally, in the
animal has spread along the south of
absence of natural enemies, a species
Australia and has reached as far north will increase to such an extent as to
as -Geraldton in Western Australia. overtake the food supply; then in their
The depredations of the fox as they weakened condition, disease is apt to
animals are
break out in a virulent form and sweep
affect particular native
them off in thousands.
then considered:
After citing several local instances of
In New South Wales the only species
the decimation of particular animals
that are holding their own, as far as I
through disease and after recapitulating
can judge, are the larger kangaroos,
the Wombat^- and the Platypus. The some of the statements previously
Red and the Gray Kangaroos, owing made, Mr. Le Souef suggests certain
to their gregarious habits and their size, remedies, including a zoological survey
are fairly s^-fe. The Wombat is too and the restriction of exports to the
doughty ah animal for the fox to tackle,
surplus or ordinary increase of each
while the Platypus is protected by its
environment. A large animal that species. Toward the end of his article
seems to be affected is the Wallaroo; he states
this species lives singly or in pairs or at
The asset of the fur trade has given
most three or four together, and the
Australia millions sterling in the past
female is often alone. It has been
and will; if preserved, do so in the
stated by observers in the Monaro
future; but unless control is based on
District, that when a fox finds a female
accurate knowledge, it may be frit-
with young in the pouch, he chases her
tered away. At present it is nobody's
until the "Joey" is thrown out; this
business to ascertain what species
is then secured and killed. . . .
of animals' skins are leaving the
(b) The insatiable demands of the fur
country, but if a small export tax were
trade form the second heavy drain on imposed, they would have to be
our native animals. This trade should examined. The funds so collected
'In the northern part of New South Wales the wom- could reasonably be used to preserve
bat is now practically extinct. Editor. the asset.
The Great Barrier Reef of Australia
By CHARLES HEDLEY
Principal Keeper of Collections, the Australian Museum, Sydney
is only in the warm seas that corals cold, the greatest enemy of the coral is
ITgrow, and the warmer the water, mud. Thus, a mud line formed by the
the more luxmiant is the bank, or Papuan rivers limits the coral islands
technically reef, which they build. of the Great Barrier. The soft corals,
Thus, as we sail southward in the or Alcyonaria, can endure more mud
Atlantic and pass the Bermudas and than the stony corals. The eastern
Bahamas, first one kind of coral and face of the Great Barrier is also sharply
then another appears, till in the West defined. From the coast of Queens-
Indies the coral becomes rich enough to land a continental shelf, from twenty to
display its architecture of reefs, atolls, eighty miles in breadth, extends to the
and lagoons. But even in the West edge of the coral sea or, more strictly
Indies the coral does not attain per- speaking, the Carpenter Deep, and
fection. During the warmer phases of there plunges down steeply to the
the Tertiary, there were many genera abyss. Along the edge of this con-
and species of coral in the Caribbean tinental shelf is built the seaward wall
Sea which now have become extinct in of the Great Barrier.
those waters. For the most part these The Great Barrier does not, as its
extinct forms are, however, still repre- name might suggest, hug the coast of
sented in the Pacific, so that to find the the mainland. It is roughly parallel to
full development of coral growth we the continent, but the space between
must leave the Atlantic and traverse reef and main is as wide as that be-
the other great ocean. As one travels tween England and France.
west, the variety of coral becomes The outside edge of the Great Barrier
greater, till a maximum is reached in takes the form of narrow banks, each a
the Philippine-Papuan-Solomon region. few miles long followed by a break or
The greatest single structure which the channel of a mile or two, and con-
coral has achieved, now or in the past, tinued in a general north-south direc-
is the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. tion by a chain of similar banks, most
This extends along the coast of Queens- of which are covered at high water.
land for more than a thousand miles. Meeting this sunken obstacle, the
At the tropic of Capricorn, the southern ocean swell from the Pacific leaps up in
end of the Great Barrier fades gradu- a tremendous wave and falls with a
ally away, the species of coral becoming crash and a smother of foam upon the
fewer and the reefs smaller and more reef. Passing in a vessel through one
widely separated as the colder water of the breaks or passages, the traveler
represses their vigor and finally ex- receives an impression of an endless
tinguishesthem. In the north the ribbon of foam, arising from no appar-
Great Barrier Reef terminates more ent cause and running across the ocean
suddenly. From the high mountains from horizon to horizon.
of NewGuinea numerous large rivers Outside of these banks and passages
pour into Papua Gulf, and their muddy soundings fall away steeply to the
waters extend far out to sea. After abyss. Few mountain ranges present a
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF OF AUSTRALIA 63
A channel between two islets hedged in by mangrove
wall so huge and steep. Probably a and the existing rivers have no relation
high rampart of coral has here grown to the passages through the reef.
up from a foundation of the slowly Between the outer Barrier and the
sinking continental shelf. As yet next mainland lies the Lagoon Channel re-
to nothing is known of the thickness of ferred to above; this is the narrow

the coral at the margin of the Great waterway used by the coastwise ship-
Barrier, but soundings indicate that it ping. Tropical Queensland rises from
is at least many hundreds of feet deep. the sea in steep forest-clad hills. The
The channels through which ships heavy rainfall of the latitude is shed by
may traverse the Barrier Reef from the numerous streams. Their muddy water
Lagoon Channel to the open sea mark, is injurious to the coral polyps and so a
it is popularly supposed, the site of old zone along the land is maintained com-
river beds. A brief examination of paratively free of coral, to the comfort
these channels will dispel this theory. of the sailor. Between the mud zone
Doubtless the Australian continent and the outer Barrier is an area of clear
once extended seaward to the present water of from twenty to fifty fathoms
margin of the Barrier and, if so, the deep, overgrown by a most intricate
lost fringe probably carried a normal maze of coral patches, various in size,
proportion of river channels. But the shape, and spacing. The term Great
remodeling of the coast has completely Barrier apt to be misunderstood,
is
obliterated these rivers; the present suggesting, as it does, a compact con-

passages through the reef are merely a tinuous structure running without
continuation of the lagoon floor that interruption like the Great Wall of
has not been built over. Soundings do China. The reef, or as one writer
not carry any trench across the reef, would call it, the reeferies, is reallj'
64 NATURAL HISTORY
composed, as was indicated above, of the crescent thus grows first into a
an infinite number of separate banks horseshoe and ultimately into an oval,
and shoals of coral. thus enclosing a lagoon. If the process
Some of these have an interesting of evolution is continued, the lagoon is
bearing on the theory of atoll structure. filled up and the atoll becomes a solid
No marvel reported by early explorers cay. Finally, seeds drift ashore and a
fascinated the northerners in the home- forest clothes the new island.
land as did the tale of the atoll. Pic- These coral islands can be distin-
ture a hollow island, a lake surrounded guished as far as the eye can see, be-
with a coral ring, on which grows a cause they are always low and flat. Far
forest of pahns,
—
"a garland thrown away they seem like a black horizontal
upon the waters," as Dana prettily line. Nearer, they appear like bushes
expressed it. The origin of the atoll afloat on a raft.
was a prize puzzle for scientists. and complicated coral
All these great
Darwin wrote one of his first books structures are the work of small and
about it, and dreamed of a volcanic feeble animals. It is a popular mis-
peak sinking under the sea, while a take to assume that the reef is the
crown of coral grew upwards till only result of coordinated by the design
the coral tombstone was left to show coral-builders much as a honeycomb
where the drowned peak lay. Sir John is the result of cooperative work by
Murray assumed that originally there bees. But coral polyps are mere ani-
was an island of solid coral, the center mated lumps of jell}^ and deposit
of which had been hollowed out by the coral as unconsciously as other animals
solvent action of water upon lime. make bone. A branch of dry coral is
Darwin failed, however, to consider pitted all over with small cells; each
that atolls are confined not only to is the cast of the body of the polyp
warm seas but to the narrower regions which sat there when the coral was
of invariable winds, and to explain why alive. A skin went from polyp to
the windward side is normally better polyp so that though each individual
developed than the leeward. Murray had a separate life, all were of one
failed to notice that a solvent which flesh. The living polyp has a circle of
would remove the center of the island waving arms set round somewhat like
would also remove the margin and the petals of a flower, with a mouth in
would even prevent its formation in the disk. As animalculse float past,
the first instance. the polyp darts little poison javelins at
The inner Barrier displays a long them. The paralyzed victim is then
series of miniature atolls in various seized by the petal arms, pushed to the
stages of growth. These models show central mouth, and swallowed whole.
the course of construction. First a Only when the is very low are the
tide
point in the reef grows upward till it beds of living coral laid bare. Then a
breaks the surface of the water, then wonderful spectacle is displayed, like a
the waves pack round it a mass of garden in which the plants have been
drift stones and sand, and the islet so turned to stone but where the soft
formed assumes a crescent shape with background of foliage is absent. Sea-
the back to windward and the horns to weeds are so small and scarce that in a
leeward. The waves continue to general view they are unseen. The
sweep along further drift matter and coral masses assume the aspect of
gigantic mushrooms, of elegant vases, the chance that it may contain some
of flowing draperies, of stalactites and food. These animals are boiled, peeled,
stalagmites, or of tufts of heather. A dried, and exported in great quantities
general tone of brown and yellow is to China, where a palatable soup is
brightened by a few vivid patches of made from them.
blue, orange, pink, or purple. Such fields of coral as are described
Among the coral is strewn an endless above are seen only at low spring tides.
variety of animal life, some forms being That part which is uncovered during
quaintly shaped and richly colored. ordinary tides is not beautiful at all,
Conspicuous for their great bulk are for it consists solely of piles of dead
the giant clams, two, or even three, feet
across. Gaping wide, these display a
myriad eyes like gold-green beads on
the brown velvet mantle. There are
stories of luckless divers drowned be-
cause a hand or a foot was caught in a
clam shell. Other smaller clams bur-
row deep into the stone, till only the
grinning "jaws" are seen.
Lying in shallow pools there are
black sea urchins with sharp poisonous
spines as long and slender as knitting
needles. There are starfish of many
forms, the commonest being a sky-blue
Linckia. Some have long snakelike
arms which writhe about and which at
a himian touch are broken and thrown
off till dismemberment is complete.
A great sea anemone, the size of a

dinner plate, shelters a small fish
which is a brilliant scarlet with a

vertical white stripe. Any ordinary
fish would be severely stung or even
killed by the sea anemone, but the
scarlet fish is immune and when danger
threatens, darts to the bosom of its
host and nestles with perfect safety in
the midst of poisonous tentacles.
Other anemones similarly shelter little
prawns.
In the shallow pools or buried in
the sand are many kinds of Holothuria,
locally called beche de mer. In shape
likea great sausage, in color black,
In the upper picture is shown the clam, Tri-
brown, or yellow, they extend a circle
dacna crocea, sunk its full depth in the coral.
of feelers and mop up sand and weed, The exposed mollusk appears in the lower
which is swallowed indiscriminately on picture
HHHIiaiHHHHil
A much worn "nigger-head," or block tossed up by a hurricane
Beach of one of the Howick Islands; about 14° S. This is a characteristic scene on a
coral cay. In the background is a low forest of mangroves and other growth; in the foreground
is the coral-sand-rock, formed by solution and redeposition of lime under a cover of coral sand
and broken coral and drifts of sand. ucts. An important pearl fishery is
Here and there along the crest of the based on the giant pearl shell (Pinc-
reef are blocks of coral blackened and tada 7naxima), which may reach a
weather-worn, ranging from the size of diameter of a foot. Though numerous
a table to that of a cottage, that have and valuable pearls are obtained, the
been torn from the living reef and flung industry's chief source of revenue is
up by a hurricane. Locally these are the shell. This is exported in large
called ''nigger heads." Viewed from quantities and is manufactured into
a distance as one sails past a reef, they knife handles and other articles of use
stand out sharply against the sky,
A coral reef is not exclusively a mass
of coral. The coral may be regarded as
a framework in which are packed the
remains of all sorts of animals and
plants. Every storm tears off masses

of coral and grinds them to shingle and
sand. These are swept together and
transformed into beach rock by per-
colation, solution, and redeposition of
lime.
In contrast to the low coral islands
are the high islands which are stationed
between the and the mainland like
reefs
sentinels along the coast.Sometimes
they stand alone but often they are
clustered in groups or extend along
avenues. Rarely does a voyager lose
sight of one before the next appears.
They represent the peaks of a drowned A beach with a Pandanus tree. —The hne
coast range. In a late geologic period of surf in the distance marks the reef at the
edge of the lagoon
the former coast was inundated by the
sea, and as the Barrier Reef commenced
to form, these peaks were isolated. or ornament. The fishery is conducted
These high islands afford enchanting by a large fleet of luggers manned
scenery: they are often several miles chiefly by Japanese. The diver, fitted
long and may rise to more than a with dress and diving helmet, descends
thousand they are watered by
feet; in several fathoms of water, and as air
brooks and clad with dense forests of is pumped down to him, he walks along
palm and vine. Their bays and sandy the bed of the sea and gathers the
beaches are pleasure grounds beyond pearl shells in a bag. Another in-
compare. dustry is based on the Trochus sheU,
The wide expanse of shallow, warm, a large gastropod striped with white
and sheltered water included within and red, and nacreous within. This is
the Barrier Reef and Torres Strait exported to Japan, and cut by machin-
offers a field for several tropical prod- ery into buttons.
lies Photo. Protected 3-8-03
WAIMANGU GEYSER
For thirt.v years this gej'ser, which opened on the eruption rift after the outburst of Tarawera
volcano in 1886, was the largest in the world. Its column of muddy water was thrown upward at
u-regular intervals to heights varying from 900 to 1500 feet. It ceased erupting after Frymg
Pan Flat blew up in 1917, and a pool of boihng water spread over the area formerly occupied by
the Flat. This pool is presumably a safety valve, preventing the eruption of the geyser
70
Rotorua and the Geyser Region of New Zealand
By EDMUND OTIS HOVEY
Curator of Geology and Invertebrate Palaeontology, American Museum
ZEALAND
NEW natural wonders.
is a
Crowded
land of
into
within the traditionary periods of the
Maori, that is to say, for the past six
the 103,000 square miles of hundred years.
area comprising the North and South The great thermal district of the
islands are many of the scenic marvels Dominion lies almost in the center of
of the world: volcanoes, active and the North Island, extending in a zone
extinct, which are impressive because some twenty miles wide for 150 miles
of their great size or towering height; northeastward from Mt. Ruapehu, a
one of the three famous geyser regions dormant volcano more than 9000 feet
of the earth; beautiful river gorges and high, nearly to the seacoast at the Bay
canons, their walls heavily forested to of Plenty. White Island along the
their summits; an Alpine area that same line in the bay is a volcano in the
rivals Switzerland with its lofty, snow- solfataric stage. Much of the zone is
clad peaks and its great glaciers; a lake an elevated plateau lying from 1000 to
region that is surpassing in its loveli- 1500 feet above the sea, over which are
ness; a series of somber fjords that scattered thousands of steam vents,
rival those of Norway and Greenland thermal springs, geysers, and mud
for depth, grandeur, and picturesque springs, visible evidence of the close
scenery. And all this is set in a frame- proximity of the earth's internal heat.
work of pastoral and agricultural Rotorua, a resort with a population of
beauty that is entrancing to the eye of about three thousand, is the center
the beholder in the vision it gives of from which tourists usually visit the
fertihty, prosperity, and peace. region or where they stay for longer or
A large part of the North Island is shorter periods to take the numerous
volcanic in origin, numberless cones hot mineral baths and to drink the
and craters dotting the land, which is medicinal waters. The village lies
composed of great sheets of lava, scoria), upon the borders of one of New
pumice, and ash. The Auckland dis- Zealand's most beautiful lakes, from
trict alone contains at least sixtj^-five which it derives its name, and is close
old vents, many of which still pre- to the old Maori settlement of Wha-
serve their craters intact, revealing karewarewa, more commonly known to
the origin of the mountains even to the the EngHsh residents of Rotorua as
layman. The volcanic activity began Whaka. The Maori, a people of Poly-
in Miocene time and is still manifest nesian origin, have occupied this region
in reduced form. Severe explosive for generations, covering a period the
eruptions have taken place at Tarawera beginning of which long antedates the
in 1886 and at Ngauruhoe in 1907, advent of the white man, and have
with a small outbreak at the latter utilized the springs for bathing and the
place in 1923, but no streams of lava steam vents for cooking their food as
have issued from any of the New well as for warmth in winter.
Zealand volcanoes since the islands Ohinemutu, also on the lake and
have been known to white men or immediately west of the village of
Photograph by E. O. Hovey
The Maori Church of England edifice atOhinemutu, with the parish houses adjoining.
The boiling spring that steams in front of the church had not made its appearance when the
site for the church was chosen; it is indicative of the unstable conditions in the geyser region
^lmm*»mM6A
A
Maori whare, or community dwelling, built in the old style, but of materials procured
from the white man. Native carvings adorn the front, the posts, and the rafters
72
ROTORUA AND THE GEYSER REGION OF NEW ZEALAND 73
Rotorua, is the original Maori settle- Maori woman, who collected a shilling
ment of the region. It is built on land from each of us as an entrance fee to the
which abounds in hot springs, new ones Maori village which lies below the
breaking out from time to time to geyser region. The houses in this
offset old ones that have ceased their settlement are not at all native in
activity. A native mission church was construction, being built in rough
built on a point jutting out into the fashion from sawn boards obtained
lake, and later a strong boiling spring from the white man. Here, however,
burst into life in the road in front of the the Maori live in somewhat their
building, obscuring the view with a primitive manner and carry on carving
steam column that seems incongruous in wood and stone and weaving in
in such a setting. grass and fiber.
Lake Rotorua lies 915 feet above sea Soon there came up to us Georgina,
level and though it is one of the larger a handsome middle-aged Maori woman
lakes of the Dominion, it is also one of with iron-gray hair, the tattooed lips
the shallowest, being but 84 feet deep. and chin of a married woman, and a
Low environing mountains give a pleasantly modulated voice denoting
lovely setting to the lake and nearly in refinement. Georgina is one of the
its center rises the sacred island of official guides to the geyser region,
Mokoia. On Mokoia were celebrated which is a government reservation, and
the great ceremonies of the Arawa tribe she has many Maori legends and myths
of the Maori; there, too, was situated to relate. She showed us the green-
a stronghold often besieged in the stone tiki, or family talisman, which
frequent tribal wars, and it was the she wore suspended from a cord about
scene of many a cannibal feast. A her neck. The tiki is greatly prized
pleasing legend attaching to the island and the longer it has been in the
isthat it was the place to which the family, the more highly is it valued;
Maori princess Hinemoa swam from but the Maori is canny and will part
the mainland when her parents refused with his tiki for a sufficient considera-
their sanction to her union with her tion. Georgina offered us hers for
royal suitor Tutanekai. Exhausted by thirty shillings.
her long swim, she sought recuperation We were shown the village bathtubs
in a hot pool on the island and there —the —
hot pools where native boys
was discovered by a slave of her lover, and girls love to dive for coppers and
who summoned him to the rescue. sixpenny bits thrown into the steaming
Marriage soon followed and many of water. All the Maori love bathing.
the inhabitants of Ohinemutu claim An innocent-looking pool with conical
to be the descendants of the happy walls and waters of clear aquamarine
couple. Visitors are now taken to the hue was pointed out to us as the place
famous bath on their tour of the lake. where Georgina's uncle had met a
One rainy afternoon we strayed over tragic end. Returning to the village
to Whakarewarewa, and crossing a late one night, he had stumbled into
primitive wooden bridge, found our- the spring, which lay along the path-
selves in the midst of a native reserva- waj^ to his house, and had been cooked
one and one-half miles from town.
tion, to death before help could reach him.
Itwas as if we were in another world. Since the occurrence of the accident
We were immediately approached by a an iron railing has been built around
Photograph by E. 0. Hovey
General view of a portion of the composite sinter mound and terraces built up by the
geysers at Whakarewarewa, near Rotorua
The vent of the great Wairoa Geyser, which at intervals of about twenty-four "hours
spurts up a column of boiling water to a height of 80 or 90 feet
74
Photograph by E. O. Hovey fl
The cone of the Prince of Wales Geyser at Whakarewarewa, with a cauldron'of violentlyj
boiling water below it
The Devil's Cauldron, a strongly active "paint pot" about 20 feet in diameter. —
The
paint pots, of which there are many at Whakarewarewa, are pools of ebullient mud, formed by
decomposition of the rocks through fumarole action. They are well named, for the mud
ranges from pure white, through various shades of red and orange, to graj^ and black
75
!D
ROTORUA AND THE GEYSER REGION OF NEW ZEALAND 77
the spring, but it is in sad disrepair. it issues from the ground is, further-
One must be careful as he walks about more, highly mineralized and forms
among these springs and not wander deposits not only of the familiar chal-
from the beaten paths. The necessity cedonic silica — siliceous sinter — which
for the exercise of such caution was comprises the principal portion of the
shockingly brought home to us a few cones, mounds, and crusts, but also of
days later through the scalding to sulphur, iron oxides, alum, and other
death of a young woman visitor who minerals. The orifices whence steam
strayed from the recognized routes at alone issues show an abundance of
Tokaanu, on Lake Taupo, and broke crystals of sulphur in their walls.
through the crust over a boiling spring. The number of paint pots, or mud
Our guide indicated a little Catholic volcanoes, in the region is large. A
chapel beneath which a steam vent paint pot a place where but little
is
had opened after construction had steam and only enough hot water
issues
begun. Were the Maori builders rises to saturate the ground thoroughly
disturbed by this event? Not at all. and make a paste of the rock which
They merely fashioned an outlet for has been decomposed by the chemical
the steam beside the chapel and went action of the hot water and steam
on with their work. and reduced to an impalpable powder.
The government reservation, or It is a phase of fumarole action.
park, lies in a shallow valley in the The "paint" pure white or gray, or
is
midst of which the geysers have built again, its color may be yellow, orange,
up a low mound of siliceous sinter a or red, due to the presence of small
few acres in area. There are many hot amounts of iron oxide. Some of the
springs here, someof which throw paint pots are pools of very liquid mud
boiling, or nearly boiling, water at through which occasionally rises a
frequent intervals 10 to 20 feet into the bubble of steam breaking with a quiet
air. About once a day the great little puff at the surface of the pool,
Wairoa, or Pohutu, Geyser erupts to a as in gently boiling pea soup. In
height of 80 or 90 feet, but occasionally other pots the mud is so thick and
it remains quiet for weeks at a time. viscous that the pathway, or conduit, of
Just below the throat of the Prince of the ascending steam is left open near
Wales Geyser lies a cauldron of its top, the mud being thrown out of
violently boiling water, which shows theway in gobs or splotches, which fall
well the strength of these springs and about the conduit and build up a more
gives some hint of the amount of hot or less unstable cone. Tikitere, twelve
water issuing from the ground at Wha- miles northeast of Rotorua, is noted
karewarewa and swelling the volume for its craters of boiling mud, while at
of the stream which flows through the Waiotapu, thirty miles to the south
native village and empties into Lake of Rotorua, near the road to Wairakei
Rotorua. It is now considered that and Taupo is a large mud volcano
the water of these hot springs and which has built up a cone about twenty
geysers is mainly ''juvenile" in origin: feet high with a crater in its top that is
that is, it was contained in the volcanic sixteen or eighteen feet in diameter.
rocks when they were in a molten Perhaps the most interesting excur-
state and has been given off gradually sion to be made from Rotorua is that
as the lavas have cooled. The water as called the "round trip." It takes one
Photograph by E. 0. Hureij
THE CHAMPAGNE POOL

of ascending bubbles that burst at the surface suggest
the sparkUng
The constant stream
the most interesting in the Geyser Valley of Wairakei, is
beverage after which this pool, one of
rising in orderly fashion, sometimes the bubbles ascend in
such numbers
named. Although usually
effervescing dome'one or two feet above the
that their united force Ufts the surface water into an
general level of the pool
SO
;^'n
Photograph by F. G. Radcliffe
THE ORIFICE OF THE DRAGON'S MOUTH GEYSER AT WAIRAKEI
82 NATURAL HISTORY
over a route about forty miles long by half mile of our viewpoint lies Frying
the Blue Lake of wonderful ultramarine Pan Flat, now a seething pool twenty-
hue, the Green Lake, and a bit of fiveyards in width, where for years had
luxuriant "bush," or forest, to the site been an area of dry mud dotted over
of Te Wairoa, a Maori village, which with small orifices, which were the
was overwhelmed by mud thrown out outlets of hissing steam, giving the
during the eruption of the volcano whole the appearance of a frying pan
Tarawera on June 11, 1886. From Te on a hot stove. On April 1, 1917, with
Wairoa one goes by motor launch across but warning the Flat blew up,
little
Lake Tarawera, which lies at the west covering immediately adjacent

the
foot of the great volcano of the same hills with mud and wrecking the
name, and over a spur of the mountain Accommodation House three hundred
to Lake Rotomahana. Here a second feet above it. Its place was taken by
launch is boarded that cruises along a deep pool of actively boiling water,
the shore where the Pink and White which seems to be the safety valve
Terraces, once the most famous sight preventing the eruption of the great
in all New Zealand, lie buried beneath Waimangu Geyser. Very near the
one hundred feet or more of ash thrown Flat one sees the dead vent of Wai-
out during the same great volcanic out- mangu. This geyser had opened on
burst, and past steaming cliffs, the the eruption nft after the outburst
waters of which make a portion of the of Tarawera and for thirty years was
lake too hot for bathing and are the largest geyser in the world, at
responsible for the Maori name which irregular intervals throwing a broad
it bears, Rotomahana signifying ^'warm column of muddy water to heights
lake." Leaving the lake, the trail varying from 900 to 1500 feet. Its
ascends the valley in which was the last eruption took place in 1916, over-
Waimangu Geyser and halts at the whelming a guide and two visitors who
Accommodation House, four hundred had ventured to the edge of the orifice
feet above the lake. for the purpose of taking photographs.
The view from this house, now in Their bodies were found afterward in
ruins, is most interesting. We are the stream carrying the overflow from
standing on the line of the rift which the geyser itself and other hot springs.
opened in the volcano of Tarawera in Beyond the valley we see the lakes
the eruption of 1886 and extended Rotomahana and Tarawera with the
southwestward through Lake Roto- cone of Mt. Tarawera rising 2500 feet
mahana and Waimangu Valley, out of above the lake and deeply cleft by the
which were thrown vast quantities of eruption rift, which left six great
ash and lapilli, covering many square craters in the mountain alone.
miles of the surrounding country with a An automobile ride of fifty miles
thick mantle of debris. It is a scene of southward from Rotorua brings one to
.
desolation, with here and there a patch Wairakei, a center of thermal activity
of green where nature or man has more interesting in some respects than
made an effort at reforestation. The its better-known neighbor. The geyser
hill slopes have been furrowed by the region is in a little valley a half-mile
new drainage, which has assumed a from the hotel, and is traversed by a
dendritic pattern with main channels small stream fed by hot water from boil-
and branching tributaries. Within a ing springs in its banks. At least ten of
Photograph by E. 0. Hovey
THE CROW'S NEST GEYSER ON THE BANK OF THE WAIKATO RIVER,
FLOWING OUT OF LAKE TAUPO
Every four hours a fountain 80 feet high plays from a sihceous cone about 5 feet high and 10
feet in diameter
83
84 NATURAL HISTORY
these springs are true geysers, which The banks of the stream flowing
throw up fountains of water from 10 to through the valley are coated with
25 feet high at intervals which at the silica near the vents, and bits of wood
different vents vary from five to twenty immersed therein are soon coated
minutes in duration. The Champagne with stone. The dead branches of
Pool is a spring about twenty feet in trees assembled around the orifice of
diameter, where myriads of small the Eagle's Nest Geyser have been
bubbles rise, usuall}^ in quiet fashion, hardened with a deposit of the same
suggesting the sparkling beverage for mineral. Petrifaction is going forward
which the pool is named; but occa- before one's eyes.
sionally they crowd together and raise One of the most peculiar sights at
an effervescing dome of water one or Wairakei is the Blow Hole, two miles
two feet above the general level. from the hotel. Here, in the side of the
The Prince of Wales Feathers is the valley, there an opening about one
is
name given to a small vent at Wairakei foot in diameter from which live steam
which well illustrates the principle upon issues with a noise like that made
which all geysers work. Ordinarily the by steam escaping from the safety
balance of forces issuch that the out- valve of a locomotive. The guide
flow of the spring is underneath the silica states that the steam exerts a pres-
cone, but when action is desued, the sure of eighty pounds to the square
guide puts a temporary dam into a little inch. This may well be doubted, but it
stream which trickles down the bank is difficult to hold a bush in place in
above the geyser, thus diverting an front of the vent. The visit to the
excess of water into its throat. In locality is usually made at night and a
about twenty minutes the temperature weird effect is produced by igniting a
and pressure in the conduit have risen kerosene-soaked cloth and allowing the
and an eruption lasting for several smoke, and finally the sparks, from
minutes is the result. Somewhat the the burning mass to mingle with the
same principle animates the familiar steam. Strange fire works, indeed!
percolator coffee pot, and we thus have A similar blow hole is in the northern
an artificial geyser in action on the flank of the volcano Tongariro, forty
breakfast table every morning. miles to the southwest.
Paint pots abound in the valley, It cannot be said that the geyser
while in several places the overflow region of New Zealand equals in at-
from the hot siliceous springs has tractiveness that of the Yellowstone
produced beautiful terraces. The con- Park. The lofty mountainswhich char-
tent of silica in solution in the water is acterize the American region are lack-
considerable and builds up fantastic ing in New Zealand, and the geysers,
forms while constructing the cone while more frequent in their activity,
about the vent of a geyser. At the are far less important in the volume of
Dragon's Mouth Geyser a toothhke water erupted and the heights to which it
stalagmite of siliceous sinter projects is thrown. There are, however, more
in weird fashion part way across the paint pots in the Rotorua-Wairakei
mouth of the conduit, receiving con- district than in the Yellowstone. The
stant accretions through deposits from New Zealand region is well worth study
the erupting water. by geologists and a visit by tourists.
Photograph by C. G. Kaadt
The North pueblo of Taos, an ancient fortress of the Taos Indians
Some Plays and Dances of the Taos Indians

By FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY
THE famous pueblo of Taos, well

called the Queen of the Pueblos,
natives in flaming scarlet or vivid blue
were climbing the ladders from story to
stands at the foot of noble peaks story or walking about on the house-
in northern New Mexico. The pueblo tops in all the splendor of their old-
consists of two great clusters of ter- time costumes. What color! What a
raced houses with their associated setting! We seemed to be looking at a
smaller buildings, one architectural scene on the stage, representing the
group lying a little way to the north, days before the intrusion of the white
the other somewhat to the south of the man.
Rio de Taos that flows between. With The first glimpse was enough to
the general form of the pueblo we were arouse the keenest enthusiasm but our
familiar, as are most travelers who have interest was further fired by an artist,
crossed New Mexico, but when we one of the pioneers of the well-known
first looked upon it, the height and colony that has established itself in
breadth of its many-storied piles the neighboring hamlet of Taos. He
historic precursors of our modern apart- told us of some of the plays and dances
ments — filled us with astonishment. he had witnessed. On going over to
Against the dark-brown background of the pueblo one day, he happened on one
the adobe walls, which, like the neutral of the comedies. A large group of men
monotints used for backgrounds in stood on the housetop. Climbing the
halls of statuary and painting, gave ladders to join them, hesaw that they
strong relief for statuesque figures and were looking eagerly toward the moun-
living pictures, gorgeously blanketed tains where a band of Taos Indians
85
86 NATURAL HISTORY
dressed like Pawnees could be seen now trade for bread. At this the
scouting along from rock to rock. visitors brought out a supply of trin-
They came on until they reached the kets which they had collected and the
pueblo, when they proceeded to climb Pueblo women came up with great
up the walls. The men on the .roof baskets loaded with bread, which
went forward to greet them and shake they had been busy baking for days in
hands with them, but the "Pawnees," preparation for this comedy.
We were fortunate enough to witness
the symbolic sunset dance, called by
the Indians the Foot-racing Dance, as
it is preliminary to the religious relay
race of San Geronimo's Day. When we
reached the plaza, the afternoon light
was already on the north pueblo warm-
ing its brown walls and lighting up a
doorway in which was seated a young
Indian girl in a soft, dull-blue dress,
a picture for a painter. When we
looked over to the south pueblo, on the
very topmost roof there stood two
splendid figures, a girl in flaming red
and a man in vivid green. The Indians
below were busy finishing their tasks,
and while we were watching them, our
attention was arrested by the loud
heraldic voice of a tall stately man who
walked back and forth on the top of the
south, pueblo admonishing the people
in their own tongue to leave their
l'lH,h,,ii;ii,l, hi, A. E. Weller work and prepare for the vesper service
Taos men in native costume. — Eagle Star, which was to precede the dance. Rais-
wearing the bone breastplate, is straightening
ing our field glasses we saw the red
an arrow
paint on his face and the red stripe
as if suspecting treachery,came up down his toga-like blanket, and caught
timidly, some shrinking back as they the glint of the large silver earrings
shook hands, others standing, sullenly which showed him to be a member of
refusing to shake hands, while still the Big-earring Clan. As the herald
others remained on guard with arrows in strode back and forth on the house-
bows ready to shoot. When all of the top like a Tribune addressing the peo-
visiting band had reached the house- ple, the young girl in red leaned on a
top, one of the Taos headmen stepped brown chimney top, making a splendid
out and announced in a loud voice lay figure. Soon after this summons
that the Pawnees had come and that from the south pueblo, the lieutenant-
they had brought with them goods governor, a dignified figure in a dark
—
taken from palefaces meaning soldiers purple blanket, crossed the square.
and those traveling in the overland Reaching the north pueblo he mounted
—
wagon trains which goods they would the ladders to the housetop and in his
SOME PLAYS AND DANCES OF THE TAOS INDIANS 87
turn called the people to vespers as' led out by dignified Indian officials,
the other herald had done. and when an old blind man tried to
But the priest who was to officiate grope his way out, a young Indian
had not yet arrived; accordingly, came quickly forward and took him
utilizing the interval, two young gently by the hand, guiding him
Indians jumped on their horses and through the doorway.
sped away on some belated errand; a At the close of the vesper service
woman with a baby on her back hur- came the short but beautiful, symboHc
ried across the square; and an Indian Foot-racing Dance, the relay race of
whom we had seen previously on his the following day being the last of a
threshing floor passed on his way to series of foot races which are explained
the underground kiva to finish dressing as "a, sacrifice to our father the Sun,
for the dance, his face being already to help him on his long run, so that he
decorated with red paint and his will give us light forever." Two bands
hair arranged artistically, one slender of dancers in ceremonial regalia came
braid hanging down the middle of his up from the kivas that are at the north-
forehead. Small groups of mounted east end of their respective pueblos and
ranchmen gathered near the mission, formed in solid rank, each band at the
wagons of sightseers came slowly drift- foot of its own wall, presenting splen-
ing in, and the mission bells began to did masses of color striped by figures in
ring at intervals. red, white,and yellow, and topped by
Finally the priest arrived, the bells branches of yellow and green aspens
rang more clamorously, and an old which had that day been brought from
Indian took his stand by the mission high up on the mountain-sides. These
door beating on a buffalo-skin drum. branches, we were told, were used by
The courtyard filled with a motley each of the rival sides to signify that
assembly of Indians, Mexicans, and their respective representatives in the
white men, prominent among whom ceremonial relay race of the following
stood the tall war chief and the gov- day would sweep their way to victory.
ernor in all the dignity of their rich " Ha-yah '-ha-y ah '-ha-y ah '-ha-y ah V
ceremonial robes. the two bands broke out in high shrill
As we entered the dusky interior of chorus, advancing in converging lines
the mission, a glow of candlelight in with branches waving and drums beat-
front of the chancel revealed figures ing till they met in the courtyard of
of the devout kneeling upon the floor the mission, when nothing could be
while vespers were being chanted by the seen above the white walls but the
choir. When we became accustomed bright swaying aspens.
to the dim light, we could see that the In coming out of the mission the
choir standing inside the chancel in- dancers formed in one compact band
cluded several Indians whose blankets of two facing rows, those from the
contrasted strangely with the white north pueblo on one side, those from
vestments worn by the priest and his the south on the other. Then began
assistants, while white men in citizens' the dance, which was merely a slow
clothes and the statue of the Virgin progression of the whole color mass by
added to the picture. During the short sidewise steps, the movement
service a simple-minded man who accompanied by a strange but truly
wandered in beating a drum was quietly musical Indian chant. From the front
n^
92 NATURAL HISTORY
of the north pueblo the cokimn moved
slowly across the square to the front of
the south pueblo. We watched the
beautiful spectacle with intense enjoy-
ment, marvehng at the rare aesthetic
sense of a people who could originate
and find satisfaction in a ceremony of
such pure artistic and religious quahty.
Another phase of the imaginative
endowment of the Taos Indians was
illustrated theday after the relay race
by a play of humorous character given
by the Chifonetti, or Delight Makers.
In preparation, a forty-foot pole had
been brought from the mountains and
set up in the plaza between the two
pueblos, and at our arrival a pictur-
esque group of blanketed figures in
orange, red, and green, stood at the
foot of the pole looking up at an Indian
in a red shirt, who was seated on a
crossbar near the top arranging the
prizes for which the Chifonetti were to
climb the pole — a string of watermelons,
a great bag of bread with a long red
streamer dangling from it, and the
whole carcass of a sheep in its wool.
The Chifonetti, with bodies and
limbs fantastically banded with black
K-Trt'^tA
Climbing the pole to obtain the prizes at

the top. Drawn from a photograph
and white, their faces, with their noses

as centers, blackened in radiating lines
or concentric circles, and their ears
decorated with bristling bunches of
corn husk, made a bizarre group. At
first they went" about playing pranks on
the people, their fun being taken in
great good part by all except one old
woman, by a flying
accidentally hit
apple, who them roundly,
scolded
much to the amusement of the crowd.
F)ivtijgr(ii)h hi/ Bert G. Phillips
Chifonetti shooting straw arrows at a man When tired of making sport of the
climbing the pole onlookers, one of the Delight Makers
walked up under the pole on which the in the hunt, the buffalo song before
sheep was hanging and made sheep the hunt being sung "to gentle the
tracks with his fingers in the dust. herd." This was peculiarly impor-
Then the acting began. Another of tant at Taos, which was one of the
the band strolled by, and, discovering pueblos whose warriors for many long
sheep tracks, began trailing the ani- generations hunted on the
buffalo
mal eagerly, looking everywhere until, plains east of the Rocky Mountains.
glancing up, the dangling sheep caught Gray Buffalo, a former war chief,
his eye. Then with tiny straw bows whom we saw, was one of the last of
and arrows the actors began shooting these. Another of the old hunters of
at the sheep with great glee and horse- whom we were told had kept a valu-
play. Afterwards, they went through a a;ble and much-sought buffalo robe to
long performance pretending to climb be buried in, stoutly refusing all offers
the pole. When the first man slipped for it. Finally, like a patriarch he was
down, they put earth on the shaft, carried to his grave wrapped in the
and when he had climbed part way up, great robe, a relic of his own prowess, a
the others dropped on all fours, acting relic of the hardy race which he had
the part of furious bulls, pawing, throw- known and which was gone. In the
ing up the earth, and bellowing to Dance the young men act out
Buffalo
discourage the climber's descent. After what the old men have recounted to
this they went for a short ladder and them regarding the habits of the
one of the group, climbing it, raised his animals. The actors, representing a
hands in mock dramatic manner buffalo herd, at one point stop short,
toward the sheep and melons beyond swaying their heads from side to side
his reach. All sorts of clownish play to simulate the grazing of the herd,
and a j-unning fire of jokes followed, but accompanying the motion with a low
finally a long ladder was brought and munching sound like the cutting of
when a chain of men had reached the grass with the teeth. After this the big
upper rungs of this and then mounted drums beat loudly for the stampeding
on each other's shoulders, the top man of the herd.
climbed a few feet and successfully The Deer Dance, full of charming
reached the crossbars. mythological suggestion, is considered
The Pueblo dances, in distinction one of the most beautiful of the many
from the comedies, are, like the Foot- Taos dances. The first scene opens
racing Dance, mainly of a serious with the camp fire of a party of Indian
character, — really not dances at all biit, hunters. Then comes the procession
as Bandelier explains, religious cere- of the deer, impersonated by Indians
monials, with incantation and invoca- wearing antlers, followed by Indian
tion, the least detail of which has children dressed in skins of rabbits,
symbolic significance. Even the Buffalo foxes, coyotes, wild cats, and owls.
and Deer dances, which were described Flanking the procession are figures in
to us by the artist who witnessed the buffalo skins, representing the spirits
Pawnee comedy, while having the that guard the deer herd, to outwit
same dramatic quality as the comedies, which the hunters carry charms that
were religious ceremonies, performed render them invisible. In the play,
"as a sacrifice to the game gods." when the unsuspecting deer, supposed
They served for incantation to help to be dancing in the woods, are dis-
GRAY BUFFALO
This strong-faced old hunter, with abalone shell earrings, when asked how
many buffaloes he had killed, said that he had lost count
94
covered by the hunters, the guardian their own religion, must come at ap-
spirits try tostampede the herd, and proximately the same dates. As my
as the animals run, they endeavor to friend puts it, "When we were forced
keep between the pursued and their to do this in those old days, the Indians
pursuers. Unable to secure a deer, a agreed to celebrate the summer saints'
hunter will run in and snatch a rabbit days by dancing Corn Dance. They
or coyote, but when he puts it behind had to dance Corn Dance anyway.
his back, the watchful spirit sneaks up The Spaniards thought it was a dance
and snatches it away. for pleasure in such hot days, but it is a
The necessarily seasonal character of sacrifice that we do to the rain gods
the most important of the Pueblo or angels, so that we may get plenty
dances, which has been lightly put aside water and rain for our crops, not only
in the suggestion that the dances be but for all over the world
for this place
relegated to the winter months, has been for the benefit of every living thing and
carefully explained to me by one of the plants." (Here we see the broad out-
Taos Indians. As he shows, the specific look and the generous spirit of the
dates were originally fixed by the Indians.)
Spanish priests who came with the Another important dance, given in
explorers and, finding the Indians with lateAugust after the corn dances and
only ''their own Indian religion," also concerned with the crops, is the
imparted the Catholic religion to Blue Lake Dance, "to please the rain
them. With shrewd psychology the old gods that are in that big lake."
priests told the Indians to celebrate The Buffalo and Deer dances are
certain appointed saints' days with given respectively on Christmas and a
dances or feasts, as for instance Santa January saint's day, because before
Cruz on the third of May, San Antonio there were restricting game laws, the
on the thirteenth of June, Santiago on Indians, having the leisure, hunted in
the twenty-fifth of July, Santa Anna winter. So important is the perform-
on the twenty-sixth of July, San ance of these various religious dances
Geronimo on September thirtieth, that, my friend says, "If the Indians of
Christmas on the twenty-fifth of this place, Taos, give up and break the
December. While the Mexicans have rules of their religion, according to their
dropped most of their observances, traditions, they (especially the old
the Taos Indian says, "We are still people) fear the end of the world will
celebrating those saints' days." soon come." And he concludes with
But in accepting the white man's the touching appeal
— "Now hope you
I
dates for their dances, the Indians de- willhave a better idea about why the
cided to give those which, according to Indians insist to dance those dances."
An
eland cow grazing on a termite hill (white ants' nest with three oxpeckers on its
J
back. Photograph taken near Donya Sabuk, Athi Plains, British East Africa. Courtesy of
Monsieur V. Forbin, Paris
The Eland and Its Bird Sentinel

By HERBERT LANG
Assistant Curator, African Mammals, American Museum
OF all the magnificent sights on

the East African plains, none
cares little for sentry duty, apparently
conscious that no watchdog, however
can rival in beauty the spectacle keen, could render her better service
of vast herds of game. Antelopes, than the three tiny birds perched upon
though less conspicuous individually her back. These oxpeckers (Buphagus
than giraffes, elephants, rhinoceroses, erythrorhynchus) which in the picture
,
and zebras, occur there in such numbers appear as dark specks, also accompany
and variety that they are among the other game and cattle. Feeding on
most impressive of the herds. No ticks, they clear their hosts of their
other continent offers such suitable tiny tormentors, and also keep watch
conditions for their development. The with an unabated vigilance that can
herds graze, browse, and move about seldom be foiled. Their sharp, shrill,
apparently in perfect indifference to warning notes send the eland off at a
any possible danger, confident that the gallop, and your chances of coming
scattered outposts of their number are closer to your quarry are gone. Noth-
always on the alert to give the warning ing is gained if you try to follow, for
signal. it is a well-known fact that even during
In the accompanying photograph is their undulating flight high in the air
shown an eland cow that has strajêd these little sentinels still utter warn-
away from the herd to graze upon the ings, thereby increasing the speed of
more succulent grass growing upon a their proteges.
termite hill. Engaged in feeding, she The elands are the largest of exist-
96
THE ELAND AND ITS BIRD SENTINEL 97
ing antelopes. The old, nearly hairless, Although often common in dry dis-
"blue" bulls, with the dewlap reaching tricts, the elands prefer the country of
close to the ground, attain the size of luxuriant pasturage and on the plains
an ox; the brownish or rufous females, frequently mingle with other antelopes
with their lighter horns, are less heavily and with zebras. Elands are heavy,
built than the males and show the cumbersome-looking animals and are
lateral stripes more clearly. not speedy in a long run. The surprise
The East African eland here pictured is all the greater, therefore, to see them
is of the northern race, discovered in leap one over another's back apparently
1860 by Speke and Grant, who became as playfully as gazelles. Such leaps are,
famous for clearing up the mystery however, the result of excessive fright
regarding the Victoria, Nyanza and due to their being suddenly startled
some of its affluents. Not until many rather than a deliberate exhibition of
years later, in 1902, was this eland skill.
named Taurotragus oryx patter sonianus During the heat of the day these
by Lydekker in honor of Colonel Pat- antelopes frequently rest by lying
terson, well-known for his fascinating down in the shade or by standing among
volume, The Man-Eaters of Tsavo. the bushes. In regions where zebras
This form ranges from Tanganyika are abundant elands suffer little from
Territory northward through British the depredations of lions, though in
East Africa to about the Lorian Swamp certain high plateaus where game is
and Laikipia Plateau, and westward scarcer and where the elands come
all through Uganda and along the east regularly to the water, their ranks are
side of the Nile as far as Mongalla. more frequently depleted.
Eight races of eland are known, extend- Although elands are easily tamed,
ing from South Africa to East Africa, as the experiments of different govern-
stated, and westward to Senegambia. ments have proved that domestication
Before the rinderpest swept these is not practicable. When subjected to
regions in the nineties, herds of sev- confinement in the regions they in-
ei-al hundreds of the Patterson eland habit, they succumb to various diseases
were recorded on the plains and high much in the manner of corralled zebras.
plateaus, where in diminished numbers In European zoological gardens, how-
they still graze at an altitude of 8000 ever, elands thrive and reproduce fairly
feet; but though greatly decimated well, having either one or two young;
along their northern range, all reports but they cannot be trained to render
confirm the fact that in later years any useful service, though mildness is
they have again increased. one of their chief characteristics.
The turret on the left, housing a colony of termites, was erected by the insects at a
distance of about two feet from the concrete foundation of a house. This turret reached
a height of S^ inches. The turret on the right shows that the termites do not exercise
very good engineering ability, for in this instance at least they failed to keep the center of
gravity over the base of the turret
Turret-building Termites
By R. W. DOANE
Associate Professor of Entomology, Leland Stanford Jr. University
April, 1919, 1113- attention was the rest standing entirely free from the
INcalled to some unusual turrets that pillar or any other support. Around
were being made bj^ termites in the the base of this turret were other
basement of a house in Palo Alto, smaller ones rising to a height of from
California. The first one of these was two to five inches.
found rising from a concrete wall that Later additional groups of these
surrounded the lower part of the base- turrets were noticed in other parts of
ment. It was nearh^ fifteen inches the basement. In one of these groups
high, the first three inches tying against there were several turrets varying in
the beveled base of a concrete pillar, height from three or four inches to
iWith photog raphs by the author
AN INSECT SKYSCRAPER
Termites, misleadingly known as white "ants," differ from the true ants m manj^
other respects besides color. Yet hke the ants they lead a communal existence, have
[different castes, and erect structures that may well excite
admiration. The large
shown in the picture reached a height of nearly fifteen inches,

the first three
turret
inches lying against the [beveled base of a concrete pillar, but the terminal twelve
standing entirely free
100 NATURAL HISTORY
seventeen inches. These rose directly had been driving sticks in one of the
from the ground about two feet away walks between the benches. When he
from the concrete foundation of the attempted to pull up these ''sticks," he
house. was surprised to find them crumbling
All of the turrets were very brittle, a to pieces and to see the white "ants"
slighttouch being enough to send them crawling out. Some of these structures
crumbling to the ground. In order that were about three inches high. Most
they might be taken to the laboratory of them consisted of a slender, up-
for further study, some of them were right shaft; others were broader and
sprayed with very thin shellac. Only a branched like coral.
few could be saved even in this way, A little later three additional colonies
however, as the light blast of air from were found building low turrets from
the atomizer that was used for spray- one half to one inch high in cracks of
ing caused most of them to topple over the sidewalk in the business district of
and break into small fragments. Palo Alto, where the streets have all
As soon as any part of a turret was been paved for many years. These
broken, a few termites would crawl out turrets were destroyed every day by
and wander about until they could find people walking over them but they
some crack or crevice in which to hide. would be rebuilt during the night.
Nearly all of these turrets were popu- Still another colony was located on
lated by workers, soldiers, and winged the University campus. These turrets
individuals. were in exposed places and were only
Soon after the turrets referred to one or two inches high. The winged
were observed, some smaller ones were termites were issuing from them.
discovered in a greenhouse. When The termites that built these turrets
they were first seen, the owner of the belong to the species Reticulitermes
greenhouse thought that the children hesperiis.
A group of turrets found in a greenhouse

The Public Museum of Staten Island, though small in size, has a distinct sphere of use-
fulness because of its emphasis on things local. The basement and first story have been
built by contributions from 126 citizens of Staten Island; a second and third story are
planned but not yet erected
The Public Museum of Staten Island

A TREASURE HOUSE OF LOCAL NATURAL HISTORY, ART, AND
ANTIQUITIES
By CHARLES W. LENG
Director of the above-mentioned institution and Research Associate of Coleoptera, American Museum
THE Public Museum

though the smallest of
Island,
of Staten chief concern is with things pertinent
to Staten Island. The arts, industrial
Greater New York's museums, and fine, on Staten Island;
as practised
has, viewed from one angle, a broader natural history, botanical and zoologi-
scope than any of them, for it must cal, as exemplified on Staten Island;
combine within itself interests as con- the civic history and antiquities of
trasted as natural history and art, Staten Island, —these are the prime
which in larger communities are repre- objects of its collections, researches,
sented by different institutions. How- and publications. The progress of arts
ever, a scheme apparently so embracing and sciences elsewhere in the world is
is made feasible by the fact that the the subject of many of its lectures and
102 NATURAL HISTORY
of occasional comparative exhibits, tionary relics have aided the writing

but Staten Island is its basic endeavor. of the history of the events of that war
Its library includes, in addition to in the vicinity of New York; the new
standard works for reference purposes, species of insects that have been
a fine collection of books and pamphlets described from the collections of Staten
on Staten Island history, genealogy, Island entomologists are too many to
and natural history. This policy was recount; and Staten Island records of
of course, not reached completely when occurrence for both plants and animals
the parent association started Novem- are constantly being cited. Thus,
Photograph by William T. Davis

The natural history division of the Pubhc Museum
Staten Island, with the cases of
of
local minerals and birds, and the drawers containing insects, shells, and other material, is well
worth visiting
ber 12, 1881, but has been gradually whether viewed from the practical
evolved and is now succinctly expressed side, as interesting the people of Staten
in the charter. Island, or from the scientific side, as
The intensive study of a limited area producing results of value, the policy of
produces results that interest many restricting the scope of the Museum to
others besides those living within such Staten Island, but covering that small
an area. The discoveries of Indian area in every phase, has proved wise
relics made by local students on Staten and a prime cause of the Museum's
Island have been quoted wherever the prosperity.
subject has been treated, and the stone While the pursuance of such a poUcy,
head found in 1884 remains almost combined with the small amount of
unique; the discoveries about the old space available, has necessitated at
British forts on Staten Island of revolu- times dechning objects, especialh^ large
THE PUBLIC MUSEUM OF STA TEN ISLAND 103
ones, of value, it has also resulted in the by Dr. Frank E. Lutz, of the American
acquisition and preparation of some Museum), their metamorphoses, their
exhibits of importance. Among such nest structures, and the benefits which
are the types of fossil plants described insect friends confer and the injuries
from the Cretaceous beds at Kreischer- which insect enemies inflict upon man-
ville by Dr. Arthur Hollick, and the kind. Although only about two hun-
great display of fossil amber from the dred specimens are used, they have
same locality. These have been visited been selected with a view to presenting
by geologists from many lands. The the principal types in each order. As
herbarium contains many historic speci- far as possible comparatively large as
mens. Its foundation dates back to the well as common forms have been
early collecting by Dr. N. L. Britton chosen for the purpose, so that the
when many species, since exterminated visitorsoon feeh at home and is led
by fire and vandalism, could still be from seeing insects he knows to an
found. Of terrestrial orchids, for in- appreciation of the relationship of
stance, it contains twenty-three species, those less known to him, and from
though it would be hard to find more that to a knowledge of the immature
than three today growing wild on stages and the work that insects do.
Staten Island. The same is true of the Other exhibits of even greater local
beetle collection, made by Mr. Davis interest are three historical groups
and the writer, containing many modeled by Edward J. Burns while a
species caught forty years ago which member of the museum staff, showing
certainly could not be duplicated now. respectively Indian Hfe on Staten
The bird collection contains the pas- Island three hundred years ago, Indian
senger pigeon and Carolina parrakeet Wars, and the Billop House Conference.
that once lived on Staten Island but The museum is a center of activity
live there no more. The geological for numerous local societies mth objects
collection contains amastodon's tooth, akin to its own. Sections of fine arts,
dredged from the Arthur Kill in the history, engineering, and natural
days when the oyster industry was science were early formed and are in-
thriving, and another found at the timately connected with the museum.
bottom of a kettle hole in the Middle- Twenty-six art loan exhibits have been
town forest when the locality in ques- held at the museum during the last
tion still deserved the name. These few years as a result of the labors of the
and many other similai specimens give section of fine arts; and about five
the collection of the Staten Island thousand ecclesiastical records and
Museum an historical value that will epitaphs have been copied and indexed
increase as time goes on. Its treasures by the section of history.
include no less than sixty maps of the The Staten Island Bird Club takes a
island beginning with 1610, one year monthly nature hike for the purpose of
after its discovery by Hudson. observing birds, plants, and insects;
Among the recently arranged ex- the Horticultural Society is interested
hibits that appear to be especially use- in growing fine flowers. The Nature
ful to visitors is one comprising all the —
Study Club a collection of "tramps"
common insects of Staten Island, of all ages and both sexes —exists
arranged to show their classification happily, without by-laws or dues, for
(following that in Field Book of Insects the purpose of an informal interchange
104 NATURAL HISTORY
of information and enthusiasm over as well as superintending the work with
the camp fire or in the museum, with or children in the museum and the schools.
without coffee, but preferabty with. The membership in the institute
The Children's Museum League, in- supporting the museum and its
augurated by Miss Pollard, of the affiliated societies exceeds six hundred.

museum staff, is composed of the An additional four hundred individuals
children who visit the museum. These are connected with organizations that,
children choose their own officers and while not affiliated, enjoy the mu-
speakers, and with little guidance from seum's hospitality. A monthly Bulletin
adults, develop a love of nature and is mailed to all members, notices aie
the spirit of individual research. Em- sent to schools, libraries, and other
phasis should be given to the Women's special centers, and the local press of
Auxiliary, an influential body which Staten Island is kept supplied with
has directed several important exhibits, items regarding the museum's activities.
VVo\t\.U,\lNl^'\ÔwOSS
This miniature group (actual size 3/2 ft. wide by 2 ft. high) was recently completed by
Mr. Edward J. Burns.
It represents the early morning of September 16, 1655, when the Dutch settlers on
Staten Island, about ninety in number, under the leadership of Capt. Adriaen Post, represen-
tative in the colony of Baron Hans van Capelie, were attacked by a large number of Indians.
The Indians had been angered by the shooting of a squaw for stealing peaches on Manhattan
Island; their assault upon the population of Manhattan had been repulsed on the preceding
day, but their attack on Staten Island was so successful that the local settlement was
destroyed, a few settlers being killed and about fifty taken prisoners.
The group are 6/2 inches tall, modeled of beeswax and colored with oil
figures in the
paints; the tree trunks are modeled in plaster; the stockade is carved in wood; the cabin is
partly wood, partly plaster; the background represents an autumn sunrise over the forest,
studied from nature on early September mornings along the water front on Staten Island
where the settlement was located
"Birds of the New York Region"
A REVIEW OF MR. LUDLOW GRISCOM'S RECENTLY PUBLISHED HANDBOOK
By wither stone
Executive Curator, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
THERE lished, as
has recently been pub-
one of the Handbook
In other words, the keynote to the
whole study was the collecting of
Series of the American Mu- specimens.
seum of Natural History, an attrac- All this has now changed. The ne-
volume by Ludlow Griscom
tive little cessity-^yes, in most cases even the
on the Birds of the New York Region. excuse, for collecting no longer exists
It is intended to take the place of Dr. except in the case of ornithologists
Frank M. Chapman's pamphlet of working in our larger museums or
similar title published seventeen years carrying on original research, and the
ago as a guide to those studying the binocular field glass has taken the
wild birds of the metropolitan district. place of the gun. We
do not mean to
In the nomenclature of ornithological intimate that Mr. Griscom is one of
works volume would, we suppose,

this those who would not under any cir-
be a "local list," but it
classified as cumstances kill a bird, but he realizes
is far more than that, and differs in that for the great majority of our local
many essential particulars from any bird students collecting is unnecessary.
local list of our acquaintance. In these His aim has been to render their work
very points of difference, moreover, it without a gun as free from errors as it is
accentuates the marked changes that possible to make it, but he believes in
have taken place in methods of bird collecting specimens when a critical
study, changes which, while for many scientific question can be settled in no
years evident in practice, are only just other way. As a Kentucky moun-
beginning to make themselves apparent taineer friend of the writer once said
So
in local publications of this kind. to him in another connection, "This is
admirably indeed does Mr. Griscom's a perfectly law-abiding country; no

little book reflect the modern methods man is ever killed here unless he needs
that it stands as perhaps our best ex- killing." However, in spite of the
ponent of what we might term the great army of bird students who are
"new ornithology." studying the live birds, most of our
In the annotated list of the last books still foUow the old model and
generation a general statement of the minutely describe museum specimens
character of the occurrence of each instead of giving us the field marks by
species of bird in the district under which we may most easily recognize the
consideration, with dates and localities bird inlife, and in breaking away from
of such specimens of the rarer species this custom Mr. Griscom's book comes
as had been shotby the author or others, nearer to what the field ornithologist
seemed to suffice; and if descriptions of today needs than anything we have
were deemed necessary, they were seen. For some years he has been
drawn up from specimens and were making a special study of field identifi-
mainly of value in identifying other cation, determining just what species
specimens which might be collected. can be positively identified from the
105
106 NATURAL HISTORY
living wild bird, and what color mark- counts for Central Park and the Bronx,
ings or other characters in each species favorite resorts of city bird students
are best suited to serve as identifica- unable to go farther afield; and (3)
tion marks. a general statement for northern New
Such information is what the field- Jersey, with special details for Engie-
glass ornithologist needs and what wood, the home of Doctor Chapman
ornithology needs in order to eliminate and other active bird students. The
errors in sight records, and it is upon results of an intensive study of the
sight records that most of our studies bird life of a limited field are always
of migration, distribution, and similar more satisfactory than generalizations
problems are going to be based. We covering a larger area, as all local
require a vastamount of data for this students will testify, since each locality
work, far more than could ever be has its peculiarities, and when these
secured by collecting specimens, but are known to the bird student, each
the observer must be instructed how to of his observations takes on an add-
identify positively the live birds which ed value. Moreover, Mr. Griscom's
he sees. In this book on the birds of method indicates just which areas
the New York region Mr. Griscom has about New York City are still in need
embodied much of the results of his of intensive study — such as Orange,
studies along these lines, and the Rockland, and Putnam counties. New
volume becomes therefore of much York State, and the most northern
wider importance than its title would portion of the New Jersey coast — all in-
indicate and should really be in the cluded in Doctor Chapman's fifty-mile
hands of every serious field student of limit. Doubtless Doctor Chapman's
our eastern avifauna. general statements — all that it was
Another important point in Mr. possible for him to make at the time
Griscom's treatment of his subject is his list was published — cover the bird
that he carefully delimits the country life of these regions fairly well, but
he covers, including only areas with now that the fact of their neglect is
which he or his associates are reason- forcibly brought out, intensive studies
ably familiar, and refrains from mak- wdll undoubtedly be made there and
ing any "blanket" statements sup- the detailed results will be most inter-
posed to cover a given circle of so esting when compared with those
many miles radius, in portions of given in the present work for the other
which perhaps the details of bird life sections near by.
are quite unknown to him. We find Considering the bird life of the entire
therefore in his text (1) a general state- region covered by Mr. Griscom, many
ment on Long
of each bird's occurrence persons will doubtless be surprised to
Island, which has long been a Mecca learn that no less than 377 species have
for the ornithologists of New York, been recorded as occurring so near to
with more exact data for Orient, New York City, and that of these only
Mastic, and Long Beach, three sta- 12 are rated as now extinct in this area
tions where much intensive work has and 84 as casual or accidental. Cali-
been carried on; (2) statements cov- fornia with her immense territory has
ering the bird's occurrence in that but 530 kinds of birds, of which 120 are
portion of New York in or just north closely related geographic races and a
of the city proper, with detailed ac- number of others are casual or acci-
"BIRDS OF THE NEW YORK REGION" 107
dental, so that our eastern avifauna is dant transient throughout; common

not so poor after all. winter resident near the coast and
Of several of the localities where in- along the southern boundary of our
tensive study has been carried on, we area, decreasing inland, and unrecorded
find that Orient is credited with 283 at this season in the extreme north
species, Mastic with 227, and Long- and northwest." There are also ex-
Beach with 239, Central Park 186, treme dates for all of the special locali-
Bronx 227, and Englewood 232, while ties previously mentioned. A more ex-
on a single day no less than 66 species plicit account could hardly be desired
were seen in the "Ramble" in Central The life zones and species character-
Park. The summary further shows istic of each have been considered with
that, of the entire list, there are 37 much care, the difficulty of delimiting
resident species, 89 summer residents, them in this region being fully dis-
6 summer visitants, 30 regular winter cussed. This is due, of course, to the
visitants, 20 irregular winter visitants, fact that New York City lies just on the
78 regular transients, 21 irregular border line between the Carolinian,
transients, 18 casuals, and 66 acciden- an austral or southern zone, which
tals, together with the 12 now extinct followsup the coastal plain, and the
near New York. Alleghanian, a more northern zone.
Let us now take up the author's The Canadian or Boreal element ap-
account of one of the familiar species pears mainly on the higher mountains
to ascertain just what information the of New Jersey and upon eastern Long
student may obtain from the work. Island.
The white-throated sparrow, for ex- Most interesting to the amateur
ample, is not dismissed with the state- bird student is the careful and detailed
ment that it is an "abundant transient account of the migrations and the
and less common or local winter resi- grouping of the species which migrate
dent." On the contrary, we find that: together and form the so-called "bird
"It arrives in the fall with the first waves" of spring. Students in other
decided drop in temperature in Sep- "regions" will eagerly compare these

tember. By the middle of November lists and dates with their own.
only the wintering flocks remain. The painstaking work which field
These break up about the middle of students of birds have been doing in
March, and then it is often impossible the New York region and which has
to find the species locally, until the made possible the detailed statements
transients arrive from the South the presented in this volume, is shown by
middle of April. The last individuals the fact that one of Mr. Griscom's
retire northward with the height of the collaborators, Miss Anne A. Crolius,
migration in May."
Besides this we visited Central Park in search of bird
Long Island it is
learn further that on records more than 250 times annually
an "abundant transient, fairly com- from 1895 to 1915. The sifting out and
mon winter resident, particularly at the summarizing of the vast amount of
western end; September 10 to May 30." data that the author has collected
In the rest of the New York area it have been an enormous job, of which
winters "commonly near the coast, the consideration of the pubHshed
rarely up the river to Ossining," while records has constituted no small part.
in the New Jersey area it is an "abun- To decide which sight records to accept
108 NATURAL HISTORY
and which to reject is a difficult and ruined for birds." " Over a sufficiently
thankless task. We can usually detect long period," says our author, "the
the careless and unreliable observer, survival of any species depends upon
but there are many well-meaning itsadaptability to a changing environ-
students who, lacking the knowledge of ment, but how acid the test which man
how best to recognize birds in the field, has furnished in the New World There !
make errors by trying to find characters isno doubt that some [birds] could not
that are to be seen only when the bird endure this test; they have utterly
is in the hand And again many of our
. , , disappeared from this region. Many
popular names prove to be sources of others are retreating as a great city
error. Misled by the names, the be- sends out ever-stretching tentacles into
ginner tries to separate the yellow- the rural districts. No bird can live
billed and black-billed cuckoos by the on asphalt and concrete. But if city
color of the bill, whereas it is the tail blocks are contrasted with primeval
that furnishes the best distinguishing forest, most of this area may be re-
character; or, to take another case, garded as a half-way compromise.
many an adult male white-throated This compromise a great majority of
sparrow, differing somuch from the our birds have accepted."
more somber-colored female and "May the time never come," Mr.
young male, is recorded as a white- Griscom concludes, "when I can hear
crowned sparrow, for has he not a only the harsh chatter of the Star-
splendid white stripe down
crown? his lings from my house in the suburbs.
Doubtless just such cases as these im- May the time never come when I
pressed Mr. Griscom with the import- stand some May morning on the beach
ance of setting forth the real field char- and miss the little Sandpipers trotting
acters of each species as an aid to field innocently ahead of the tide, and gaze
students of the future and to eliminate out to sea over a birdless ocean."
errors in the constantly increasing An aroused public sentiment is
mass of sight records being published. our greatest reliance in preventing the
The sad side of Mr. Griscom's annihilation of our wild bird life, while
account of the bird life of the vicinity the increase of bird students is the best
of New York is his reference to the way to arouse sentiment, and Mr.
changing conditions inevitable in the Griscom's volume, which will stimulate
vicinity of a great city. The Florida and increase bird study in the New
gallinule, coot, and pied-billed grebe, York region, will aid not a little in
we are told, are disappearing or have warding off that evil day against the
disappeared as breeding birds because coming of which he cries out.
the marshes "are constantly being The volume is attractively gotten
drained or filled in to 'improve' the up, well printed, and illustrated with
neighborhood by providing another thirty bird portraits from photographs
slum district on the outskirts of the from life by various contributors, half
metropolis"; while "Staten Island, a dozen colored plates selected from
which fifteen years ago was chiefly the National Audubon Society Leaflets,
unspoiled country. . . is now almost and a good map.
"In Brightest Africa"
A REVIEW OF CARL E. AKELEY'S NEW VOLUME ON WHAT HAS BEEN
MISNAMED THE DARK CONTINENT^
By HERBERT F. SCHWARZ
Editor of Natural History
A
tastes
TRAVELER
country sees in the landscape
the things that accord with his
and training.
through
An artist
a new
has an
elbows in her armpits spreading her
front legs apart so as to render futile her
frantic clawing.
the reader who
And with this incident
kindles to the narrative
eye for its pictorial beauty, its group- of dangers heroically faced will couple
ings of color, its strength or delicacy of the dramatic account that Mr. Akeley
contour, its contrasts of light and gives of the time when to escape being
shadow under the ever-changing play gored by an infuriated elephant, he
of the clouds. To the historian, on the swung himself between the animal's
other hand, the same region is the scene tusks, only to be flung down to earth
of great events of the past or the as the elephant drove its tusks into the
present; the topographical features ground in an attempt to crush him, an
stand out not for their beauty of form attempt that failed providentially be-
but as points of vantage from which an cause these ivory weapons struck a
occupying force succeeded in turning rock or other resistant object and thus
the fortunes of battle. To a geologist prevented the mighty head from mash-
the same stretch of territory is a ing the intended victim.
tablet on which has been inscribed the Perhaps the reader is an inventor or
story of the ages antedating the coming one interested in invention. To him
of man. the volume will present a different
So in journeying through Carl E. angle of interest, for he will see in it
Akeley's Brightest Africa different the record of a man who in the course of
points of significance will be seized opening up a new field of achievement
upon by different readers, for this had to devise new tools, and who when
unusual volume is as many-sided in its confronted with a mechanical diffi-
appeal as its author is versatile in his culty that threatened to arrest further
attainments. The sportsman will read progress never failed to puzzle out the
it, feeling that it is a collection of means with which to overcome it. In
adventures such as few big-game hunt- 1909, Mr. Akeley endeavored to get
ershave been fortunate enough to live moving pictures of the Nandi spearing
through and relate, culminating in the lions. His results were unsatisfactory
account of a bare-handed fight with a because "to have even a fair chance of
leopard when with his right arm chewed following the action with a camera you
along practically its entire length, Mr. need one that you can aim up, down, or
Akeley still struggled on, the leopard in any direction with about the same
beneath him, his right hand in her ease that you can point a pistol."
mouth, his left hand clutching her There being no such camera, Mr.
throat, his knees on her lungs, his —
Akeley, relying and not vainly on —
'In Brightest Africa. By Carl E. Akeley. With a Foreword by Henry Fairfield Osborn. Published by
Doubleday, Page & Co.
109
no NATURAL HISTORY
his supreme resourcefulness, proceeded bronze unless he had a real story to
to construct one. In like manner years tell, and most of the dramatic stories
previously he had invented the cement that he has carved in the plastic clay
gun to meet a special emergency, elabo- are based on his personal experiences
rating it from a device he had used in in the wild.

connection with the making of mani- That brings us to another phase of
kins. In the course of the world war, interest which this volume presents,
he was a specialist on mechanical de- the surprising richness of its informa-
vices and optical equipment in the Di- tion regarding the great jungle beasts.
vision of Investigation, Research, and It is the record of one who has gone to
Development of the Engineer Corps, Africa with an alert eye and, more
and among other achievements, devel- important still, a mind that welcomes
oped a device for searchlight control. the opportunity to study animals under
Again, the volume may be viewed natural conditions. An ivory hunter,
not from the standpoint of the hunter, he tells us somewhere, sees only the
nor as a record of invention, but as the tusks of an elephant; Mr. Akeley sees
account of the birth of a new art, the his animals whole. The trunk of an
art of taxidermy. When Mr. Akeley elephant, the front legs of a lion — how
began his career in Ward's Natural easily theymight be slurred over in a
Science Establishment, taxidermy was general description by some one less
merely a trade and the taxidermist "a keenly sensitive to their marvelous
man who took an animal's skin from structure and their functions than is
a hunter or collector and stuffed it or Mr. Akeley! The natural impulse of
upholstered it." It is thanks largely to an animal to defend itself how often —
the tireless energy of Mr. Akeley, to his has it been libeled by writers whose
unfaltering fidelity to an ideal, to his interest in the great beasts of the jungle
practical sense and his artistic outlook is merely as objects of the chase! Mr.
that the world owes the marvelous Akeley knows as few have known the
transformation in the methods and strength and fury of a wild animal's
technique of mounting animals. To charge, and yet from cover to cover
any one who has stepped into Mr. his book teems with evidences of an
Akelej^'s studio, it must be obvious understanding of, and interest in, the
that taxidermy to find its highest form animals among whom he has moved,
of expression requires the convergence again and again hazarding his life to
of a number of qualities and special obtain a fuller knowledge of them.
talents that only now and then are The question may be asked, has a
summarized in a single individual, and volume so many-sided as this is, unity
that of these artistic vision is not the of appeal; is it not merely a series of
least important. papers raked together and labeled with
While Mr. Akeley has taken a lead- a general title more or less pertinent?
ing part in creating the new art of taxi- To ask the question reveals an ignor-
dermy, he has been a successful expo- ance of the goal of all of Mr. Akeley's
nent of an art that antedates Phidias. varied activities. Among the several
His animal sculptures owe their appeal things he lists as prerequisites of a real
not only to truth of conception and taxidermist he places first experience as
beauty of form but to the fact that, as a field man, for a field man can, col-
he tells us, he decided never to make a lect his own specimens, take accurate
'7A^ brightest AFRICA'' 111
measurements of them, and study the should be on ''Roosevelt African Hall."

animals in their own environment as a The work demanded for the reahzation
prehminary to making natural groups. of this dream is on so vast a scale that
That is why Mr. Akeley went to Africa itwill require the cooperation of many
that is why the African chapters have a hands, but the directing mind assures
close connection with the portions of absolute unity of plan. There will be
the book that are devoted to taxidermy. forty groups, dominated by the mag-
In like manner animal sculpture is a group that is at present
nificent elephant
natural product of the field experiences on the second floor of the
installed
of one who in the coui'se of establishing American Museum, and as part of the
an art of taxidermy has found that the architectural decoration of the hall
modeling of animal forms is a pre- there be twenty-four bas relief
will
requisite of the effective mounting of panels in bronze, each six by eleven feet.
skins. His inventions are essentially The association of Roosevelt's name
devices which he needed for the success- with this splendid memorial recalls the
ful prosecution of his work or their fact that it was through Mr. Akeley's
extension with modifications to meet glowing description of Africa that the
other emergencies as these arose. I^resident was influenced, upon com-
At the Mr.
close of his first chapter pleting his term of office, to go to that
Akeley says: "When I got back from continent in preference to any other.
Africa in 1911 I was dreaming of a "Sculptor and Biographer of the
great African Hall which would com- vanishing wild life of Africa " is the way
bine all the advances that had been Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn describes
made in taxidermy and the arts of Mr. Akeley in the eloquent foreword he
museum exhibition and at the same has written for the volume, and those
time would make a permanent record who turn the pages of In Brightest
of the fast-disappearing wild life of Africa will find among the illustrations
that most interesting animal kingdom, (several of which are photographs of
Africa." One cannot help feeling that Mr. Akeley's masterpieces) full justi-
the hope of realizing such a hall has fication for the former designation, and
been the main incentive of Mr. Akeley's in his text, so replete with admirable
later work, and it is fitting therefore records of animal life, indisputable
that the final chapter of the volume support for the latter.
NOTES
ASIA been asked at the inception of the expedition
Welcome by the Geological Society of what he desired to secure in the way of collec-
China. — During Prof. Henry Fairfield Os- tions, he would have deemed it "an act of
tyranny to request ^Nlr. Andrews to obtain
born's sojourn in Peking he was, with Mr.
just what he has brought back." Professor
Roy Chapman Andrews, a guest of honor at a
On Septem- Osborn then spoke of the objectives still
number of brilliant functions.
ahead of the expedition and ventured the
ber 27 he addressed the Geological Society of
opinion that if primates are found in any of
China on the topic "The Broader Aspects of
the deposits, they will prove to be of the higher
the Work of the Third Asiatic Expedition."
men of science as well as resident
type. Another discovery that, it is hoped, the
Chinese
European and American scholars, leaders in expedition may be able to make is of the
different fields of intellectual endeavor, assumed five-toed ancestors of the early
four-toed mammals. Professor Osborn closed
attended the gathering in numbers and ex-
tended a warm welcome to him as he arose to
with awarm tribute to the character of the
deliver his address at the conclusion of the

men engaged in the expedition and to the
cordial words of introduction spoken bj' Dr.

splendid generalship of ^Nlr. Andrews. The
lattersucceeded him as speaker and was fol-
V. K. Ting, the president of the society.
Professor Osborn expressed the deep indebted-
lowed in turn by Mr. Granger and Doctor
ness of himself and his colleagues of the Third
]Morris. Mr. Andrews in the course of his
Asiatic Expedition, who were present at the
remarks dealt with the problems of organiza-
tion, the equipment, and the field work of the
gathering, for the hospitahtj^ extended to
expedition, while ^Nlr. Granger and Doctor
them by the Geological Survey and the
Geological Society of China, which, he said,
Morris spoke respectiveh^ of the palse-
memory as one of ontologieal and geological work undertaken
would be treasured in their
the pleasantest experiences of their sojourn in
and the ob.servations made.
a land "where scholarship and learning have
At a dinner held at the conclusion of the
always been held in high esteem." Turning day's proceedings Doctor Ting presided and
to the subject of his address, "The Broader

Mr. Andrews, Dr. W. H. Wong, director of
the Geological Survey of China, Prof. J. S.
Aspects of the Work of the Third Asiatic
Expedition," he compared the survey made in Lee, of the Geological Institute of the Na-
Mongolia by Mr. Andrews and his associates tional Universitj", and Professor Osborn
wath that conducted by Hayden, the middle dehvered addresses. In closing his remarks.
of the last century, in the then virgin field of
Doctor Ting announced that the Geological
our own West. The astounding results ob- Society of China had unanimouslj^ elected
Professor Osborn an honorary' member of
tained in Mongolia within a period of only a
few months as contrasted with the span of that body. He referred to Professor Osborn
years required by the Hayden survej' were as "the man most prominent in carrying on
made possible bj' the effective modern means the Huxleyan tradition."
of transportation at the command of the Ax Estimate of the Moxgoliax Dis-

expedition. coveries. —Under date of December 3 Prof.
Mongoha, Professor Osborn pointed out, W. B. Scott of Princeton A^Tote Prof. Henry
has been a continent ever since Jurassic time, Fairfield Osborn as follows:
and this stable condition was conducive to a I was dehghted to get your letter, posted at
Seattle, and congratulate you most heartily on
continuous development of life. Some of the
the magnificent success of your ^Mongolian
deposits containing fossils are, moreover, of expeditions. To me one of the most gratifying
enormous thickness, others of surprising features of your results is the fact that they
extent, and these deposits have j-ielded types all go to confirm the inferences which we
had made from .American data and do not
of animals adapted to all varieties of environ-
require us to tear down all the building which
ment that existed in the successive periods of we have been so laboriously erecting. The
the sedimentation. During the second j'ear of discovery of Loxolophodon is precisely in line
the expedition the sites located in the recon- with what one might expect, but the Paleocene,
which will surely come to light some day,
naissance of the first j'ear have been worked
willbe the key to the whole storv. The dino-
systematically and with such a marvelous saur eggs are delightful, all the more so for not
abundance of vield that had Professor Osborn being revolutionary. When Professor Pum-
NOTES 113
pelly (of whose recent death you have doubt- the tiger, and of tracking the tsine. In read-
less heard) was here a couple of years ago, I ing the article one cannot escape the feeling
inquired particularly whether in Central
Asia, or the Gobi Desert, he had ever dis-
that the Museum has been singularh^ fortunate
covered any signs of fossil mammals or rep- in enlisting the interest oftwo sportsmen who
tiles, explaining that we had every reason to proved themselves such splendid organizers,
believe that Central Asia would prove to be
such expert marksmen, and such devoted
the cradle of the higher mammalian groups.
He replied that he could give me no hopes of workers in the field of science.
such discoveries, as he had never seen a sign
of fossil bones in those regions. Isn't it GEOLOGY
wonderful how blind eyes, not trained to see
particular things, can be toward these things? The Geological Survey of China. —
His answer disappointed me very much, but, President Henry Fairfield Osborn of the
as it turns out, quite unnecessarily. American Museum brought back from the
The Faunthorpe-Vernay Indian Ex- Far East not only the recent publications of
pedition OP 1923, which members of the the Geological Society of China but also
American Museum were privileged to view in those of the Geological Survey.
In order to
all its superb equipment through the motion avoid duplication of work and assure the
pictures that accompanied Colonel Faun- most useful cooperation between these
thorpe's informing lecture, has interested the organizations and the American Museum's
press of both England and America for, in Third Asiatic Expedition, Mr. Roy Chapman
addition to its importance as an expedition, Andrews acceded to the wishes of Director
the fact that it should have been undertaken V. K. Ting and Dr. J. G. Andersson of the
by two English gentlemen at great personal Survey to a regional division of the field of
sacrifice of time and money so that an Ameri- research. Thus the Museum's expedition,
can institution might reap the benefit is an equipped with rapid motor transport, agreed
example of international good will of which to work in the outlying areas which cannot be
both sides of the Atlantic rightly take readily reached by the Chinese Survey.
cognizance. We note that the Survey and the Society
Mr. Vernay on his return from India was have not only accomplished much in recent
interviewed both in England and America, years but that they have outlined a very
and interesting accounts based on his extensive program. To Dr. H. C. T'an has
spoken and his written word have appeared been confided the important task of the new
in these countries. Among the more detailed topographical survey of China. He has
narratives was that which appeared over mapped the entire province of Shantung and
his name in The Spur for November 15, most of that of Shansi, scale 1:100,000, and
1923, accompanied by twelve illustrations. ispursuing this work with vigor. Dr. V. K.
In this article Mr. Vernay paid high tribute to Ting has just returned from a study of
Colonel Faunthorpe as "probably the finest Yunnan, where he has made detailed cross
shot in India at a running animal, and a most sections that throw much needed light upon
able organizer," adding that "organization in the structure of that most complex region.
an expedition of this kind means half the Mr. George B. Barbour reports a study of the
battle." So jealously are certain of the intrusive of Tsinan Fu. This is a great mass
animals in India guarded that a native who of dark-colored volcanic rock that has cut
kQls a rhino, for instance, is fined a thousand through thick beds of limestone, and now lies
rupees and for a second offence is put to death, exposed by erosion north of the town of
while permission to shoot an elephant is given Tsinan Fu in Shantung. The molten rock
only in extraordinary circumstances. Yet, and the volatile matters that rose from it have
thanks to the influence of the leaders of the attacked the limestone, changing it to a series
expedition, groups were obtained not only of of rare and interesting minerals.
these animals but of a number of others. Of special importance is an analysis of
Dramatic is the account which Mr. Vernay recent earthquake records in Chinaby Dr.
gives of the hunt of the rhinoceros and of the W. H. Wong. He has plotted the centra and
care which Colonel Faunthorpe and he took to isoseismic lines from all the data available.
study its anatomy prior to entering the field, It will interest readers of Natural History to
be assured of aiming the bullet at the
so as to learn through his research that the terrible
most vulnerable spot. Equally absorbing is Kansu earthquake of 1921, in which more than
his narrative of elephant hunting, of ringing 100,000 lives were lost, was on a wholly differ-
114 NATURAL HISTORY
ent geologic structure from that which con- The mineralized skullcap and part of a jaw
ditioned the recent earthquake in Japan. that were discovered at Boskop in the Trans-
vaal some years ago and that are now in the
The Survey has also pubhshed papers by
Port Ehzabeth Museum, baffle anthropolo-
Dr. G. Andersson, notably,
J. "The Cave gists because the find stands alone as a type,
Deposit at Sha Kuo T'un," Early "An no other ancient skulls being comparable
Chinese Culture," and "Essays on the Ceno- with it. I have now found two very impor-
tant links to support the theory that the
zoic of Northern China." In the last paper
Boskop man typified the race which originally
Doctor Andersson discusses eighteen fossil inhabited South Africa, and made the
eggs of the extinct ostrich, Struthiolilhus bouchers and other large, roughly chipped
chersonen&is. found at
All of these eggs were stone implements scattered so profusely over
the country.
Find
various locaUties in the loess of China.
In digging out some rock shelters in the
No. 15 is in the American Museum. These cliffs at Zitzikama on the seacoast, I found
eggs are somewhat larger than those of the remains of two men with palaeolithic
the living ostrich, Struthio camelus. Some implements that had been buried with them.
These were fourteen feet below in the midden
eggs have been found as broken shells in
of ash, sea shells, and remains with which the
association with the culture of early man, rock shelter was filled from the floor to within
others in pairs in a nest which the loess a few feet of the roof. From the area extend-
covered up and preserved for thousands of ing from the surface to a depth of about
twelve feet there were taken out large
years. The conditions of entombment and
numbers of skeletons of an altogether differ-
preservation of these remarkable bird eggs ent race, closely related to the Pygmy Bush-
are not unlike those of the much older dino- men of the interior rock shelters. The two
saur eggs which the Third Asiatic Expedition skullcaps are those of men with exceptionally
big brains. The Boskop man possessed a
found in the desert plains of Mongoha and
phenomenally large brain, and it is significant
brought back to the American Museum. to find two palaeolithic men, deep down in a
It has been arranged that Prof. A. W. rock-shelter midden, with similarly large
Grabau, who serves China in the joint capac- skulls. It would seem that there was a very
early type of man with a brain as large and
ity of pateontologist to the Geological Survey
even larger than that possessed by modern
and professor of palseontology in the National men of genius. It is worthy of note, however,
University' of Peking, will report upon the that the bulk of brain in the skulls of these
invertebrate fossils, collected by the Mu- ancient men was located at the base, back,
Mongoha. In 1922 the
and sides, and that in modern men of excep-
sexun's expedition to
tional mental attainments the brain is massed
Survey pubhshed Professor Grabau's paper in the forehead and temple regions.
on "The Sinian System," a review of the
In times far remote there roamed over the
second volume of the monumental work of karoo and high veld a buffalo that was of
Ferdinand von Richthofen on the Geology of enormous proportions compared with the
China (Berlin, 1882), as well as "The Ordo- living species of today. Remains of this
animal were first discovered forty feet below
vician Fossils from North China" and "The
the surface on the banks of the Modder River
Paleozoic CoralsChina."
of At present in the Orange Free State and were described
Professor engaged upon a very
Grabau is as Bubalus bainii by Prof. H. G. Seeley in the
large work. The Palseogeography of Asia. In Geological Magazine, New Series, Decade
III, Vol. VIII, page 199, 1891. The speci-
his opinion the greatest discovery that the
men in question is remarkable for the enor-
Third Asiatic Expedition has made in Mon- mous length of the horn cores, each of which
goha is that of the Permian geosynchne. measures 5 feet. 2 inches in length. It is now
The directors of the Geological Survey of in the possession of the South African Mu-
seum. Another specimen has just come to
China, Dr. V. K. Ting and Dr. W. H. Wong,
light. Mr. Herman Bekker discovered the
are to be congratulated on the splendid work head huge animal and notified me of the
of a
that they and their staff are accomplishing fact. Later he sent the remains to me, and
for the Republic of China. — C. A. R. on examination they proved to be those of the
large buffalo. The skull is fragmentary, but
OTHER MUSEUMS one horn core is sufficiently intact to make
possible a measurement of the length, which
Port Elizabeth Museum. — To Mr. F. W. is 5 feet, 3 inches. The forehead between the
FitzSimor.s, director of the Port Elizabeth horns is 8 inches. This means that, when
Museum, South Africa, Natural History is alive, the beast had a pair of horns 11 feet,
indebted for the two Notes printed below

2 inches across from point to point. A
buffalo
with such monstrous horns could not have
recording recent palaôntological discoveries lived in forests or even in the bush-veld. It
in Africa: must have been a dweller on the open plains
NOTES 115
of theOrange Free State at a time when that hunger, how their strength ebbed, and how
country probably had a regular rainfall and the taking of desperate chances was favored
many flowing rivers.
by the more reckless members of the party
all this is told in Captain Tyson's fascinating
THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE volume. On April 30, after more than six
"POLARIS" EXPEDITION months of exposure, they were picked up by
A recent press report to the effect that Mr. the "Tigress" and subsequently the party
J. W. C. Kruger, believed to be the last that had been left behind in the north was
survivor of the "Polaris'' expedition, has rescued by the "Ravenscrag."
died, justifies a few words of comment re- The American Museum, the depository of
garding one of the most remarkable feats of so many interesting mementoes of explora-
adventure that the annals of exploration con- tion, to the inclusion ofone of the sleds with
tain. It was on June 29, 1871, that the which Peary made dash to the Pole, has
his
"Polaris," a screw propeller of only 387 tons, at least two reminders of the heroic adventure
left the Brooklyn Navy Yard, under com- of the "Polaris," —
a whale boat abandoned
mand of Captain C. F. Hall, on the United at Thank God Harbor and there found by
States North Pole Expedition. The premature Peary, and a large painting of the "Polaris"
death of Captain Hall, who succumbed to a at Thank God Harbor executed bj' William
mj^sterious illness shortly after the expedition Bradford, justly celebrated for his vivid
reached Thank God Harbor, Greenland, was depiction of northern scenes.
but the prelude of many misfortunes.
Of these the most spectacular had its in- THE HARRISON WILLIAMS
ception on the night of October 15, 1872, when
GALAPAGOS EXPEDITION
the "Polaris" ran into a storm and was sub- A special exhibition of paintings, collec-
jected to the deadly constriction of the in- tions,and other material pertaining to the
pressing ice. The boat seemed to be in im- Harrison Williams Galapagos Expedition was
minent danger and ill-advisedly orders were held at the American Museum Decem-
given to throw the provisions and other neces- ber 1-14 under the auspices of the ladies'
saries on the ice. A party under the direction auxiliary of the New York Zoological Society
of Captain George E. Tyson descended to the (Mrs. Henry Fairfield. Osborn, chairman) in
ice to place the salvaged articles at a safe cooperation with the Museum. Due to a
distance from the boat, which as it rose and shortage of water and the unexpected difficul-
fell threatened to grind to pieces any luckless ties in replenishing the supply, this expedition,
object that came in contact with it. While sent out by the department of tropical re-
they were thus engaged, working amid the search of the New York Zoological Society
darkness and the storm, scarcely able to under the direction of Mr. Wilham Beebe,
distinguish the things they were handling, was able to spend only one hundred hours
the ice on the starboard side gave way, re- altogether in the archipelago; but judging
leasing the ship, which almost immediately by the impressive might
exhibit, the sojourn
lost contact with the group that had dis- well have been one of weeks. Of special
embarked. Next day the "Polaris" was interest were Miss Isabel Cooper's superb
glimpsed by the men on the ice floe but in- studies in water color of the animals of the
stead of steering toward the desperate group, region, ranging from marine forms to ter-
unaware of their location, she disappeared restrial forms like the spectacular giant land
behind the land. iguana, and Mr. Harry Hoffman's inspiring

Now began one of the most remarkable of landscapes, seascapes, and skj^scapes, one of
voyages. Here was a party of nineteen, the most exquisite of the pictures being an
including women and children, a party having overhead view of fljang frigate birds seen
neither compass nor chart, with inadequate against the cloud-flecked blue of the sky.
food, semi-mutinous, adrift on a floating island A sketch model for a group of marine iguanas
of ice on a journey that was to consume assembled on the rocks and in the sand of a
months and cover 1500 miles. How these lava-rimmed patch of beach was the work of
people endured, without warmth, in snow Mr. Wâlter G. Escherich, the background
igloos they constructed, how they came to having been painted by Mr. A. A. Jansson.
look even upon the frozen raw entrails of a There were also relief models of the several
seal as something desirable to still their islands visited, placed with the marine and
A PAGE FEOM "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES"
This sheet, written by Charles Darwin for the first edition of his epoch-making
book, was recently presented to the American Museum by the author's son. Major
Leonard Darwin, and has been placed on exhibition in Darwin hall
116
NOTES 117
land birds taken by the expedition. A col- Blanche Bay westward to the Mermentau
lection of insects and numerous impressive River, a belt about eighty miles in length and
photographs were other features of interest. from ten to fifteen miles in width. As a step
toward the fulfillment of this plan the acquisi-
A PRECIOUS MANUSCRIPT tion of the tract owned by the Louisiana Gulf
Coast Club is essential, and it is to be hoped
A page of the original manuscript of The
that public sentiment may be sufficiently em-
Origin of Species was received by President
phatic and public support of Mr. Pearson's
Henry Fairfield Osborn under date of Sep-
efforts sufficiently potent to assure the realiza-
tember from Major Leonard Darwin,
21, 1922,
tion of his plan.
whom themembers of the American Museum
will remember as the retiring president of the The Status of the Antelope. —For years
the prong-horned antelope, one of the most
Second International Congress of Eugenics.
The page in question, a reproduction of which distinctive and beautiful of American game
animals, has been decreasing in numbers so
appears herewith, corresponds with the sub^
rapidly that it is threatened with extinction
ject matter on pp. 187--88 of Volume I, Chap-
in a comparatively brief period unless some
ter 6, of the original edition of Darwin's epoch-
definite steps are taken to insure its perpetua-
making work. In later editions changes were
introduced, altering to a large extent the
tion. The decrease in these animals has been
wording' of the upper part of the manuscript

so alarming that many of those interested
page.
have expressed a desire that a meeting be
called for the purpose of considering the
This precious gift has a double significance:
present situation and, if possible, to formulate
in the first place as an historic document of
the greatest interest, and in the second be- plans which may result in the conservation of
the animals.
cause of the fact that it has been bestowed by
the author's son, who through own con-
his
Such a meeting was held on December 14,
tributions in the field of science has added new 1923, at U. S. National Museum in
the
laurels to the name of Darwin.

Washington. Representatives of all the
The manu-
principal conservation organizations of the
the copy of the original edi-
script, as well as
eastern United States, in addition to a repre-
tion ofThe Origin of Species, has been
sentative of the Canadian Government, and
mounted and placed on exhibition in Darwin
hall, American Museum, beside the bust of the
representatives from state game commissions
great naturalist.
in various parts of the country attended the
conference, was sponsored by the
which
Bureau It was agreed
of Biological Survey.
CONSERVATION at the meeting that conservation work in
A Necessary Step to Safeguard the favor of the antelope could best be carried
Birds of Louisiana. —A tract of land 100,000 out through existing conservation organiza-
acres in extent, which because of its location tions, aided by the Bureau of Biological
ought to be a link in the chain of Louisiana Survey, which would act as a clearing house
wild-life sanctuaries, has recently been ac- for information on the subject.
quired by a group of sportsmen, who con- The Bureau of Biological Survey during
template converting it into a private hunting the last two years has been conducting a
reserve, to be known as the Louisiana Gulf census of the remaining herds of antelope and
Coast Club. Although those promoting the has practically all of them located and the
scheme were actuated not merely by the approximate number in each herd determined.
desire for sport but by the hope of developing Dr. E. W. Nelson, chief of the Bureau of
the possibihties of the area as a wild-life Biological Survey, to whom Natural His-
center, the proposal is incongruous, and the tory is indebted for the data contained in
only proper destiny of this tract is as an this Note, expects in the near future to prepare
essential element in a larger scheme for the a bulletin which will set forth the information
protection of the birds of the Gulf Coast. As available at the present time. The bulletin
visioned by Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson, presi- will also give maps of each of the sixteen states
dent of the National Association of Audu- in which antelope occur, with the location of
bon Societies, the existing bird reservation the herds, the number in each, and other
should be extended so that the territory em- information, in order to afford a definite
braced may stretch without a break from Cote basis for conservation work.
118 NATURAL HISTORY
A model three-horned American dinosaur, Triceratops prorsus, that, palm-embowered, greeted

of the
President Henry Osborn on his return to the American Museum after his sojourn in Asia, the home
Fairfield
of the ancestral ceratopsians. The model was designed and prepared by Messrs. Charles Lang and Otto
Falkenbach
VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY which nature has ever invented and with a

Welcomed Home by
a Dinosaur. — bony frill at the back of the head designed to
A dinosaur head, emerging from a
life size, protect all the nerve centers of the upper part
bower of palms and ferns arranged in one of the spinal cord.
corner of the Osborn Library greeted the That a model of a three-horned American
eyes of Honorary Curator Henry Fairfield dinosaur of the verj' closing period of the
Osborn of the department of vertebrate Age of Reptiles was chosen with which to
palseontology, on November 7, on the occa- welcome the return of Professor Osborn from
sion of his welcome home from Asia bj- a visit to the fossil beds of Mongolia was most
themembers of the laboratory force of the appropriate, because Tricerato'ps prorsus is

Museum. probabh' a direct descendant of the already
This model of the head of Triceratops famous egg-lajdng dinosaur Protoceratops
prorsus was designed and prepared as a andrewsi of western Mongolia, described by
surprise by two members of the laboratory Dr. William K. Gregory. The head was
force, Charles Lang and Otto Falkenbach, modeled exactly after the superb skull and
who discovered a new method in the use of bony horns of the complete articulated Tri-
papier-mache materials for the frill and for ceratops skeleton which is now on exhibi-
the polished horns and polished horny beak. tion in one of the halls of vertebrate palse-
Other members of the department force, ontologj'.
headed by Curator Matthew, had assembled Replicas of Baluchitherium Distrib-

in the Osborn Library just before the honorarj^ —
uted. A replica of the minute tooth of
curator was led in to witness this wonderfully Hesperopithecus presents the widest possible
lifelike reproduction. The eye of this cera- contrast to the facsimile cast of the gigantic
topsian was represented as quite genial, be- skull of Baluchitherium. The story of Balu-
cause the animal enjoys the reputation of chitherium as described by Professor Osborn in
having been entirely defensive in its habits; the issue of Asia for September, 1923, is a
it did not seek trouble but went about avoid- romance in itself:
ing it, with the most effective piercing horns It took several days to work the skull out
NOTES 119
of the earth. It was transported across the Expert identification and study of these
desert of MongoKa and reached Peking on scanty and fragmentary remains require a
October 20, 1922. It reached the American thorough knowledge of the comparative
Museum on December 19, 1922— a red-letter
osteology of birds such as very few orni-
day in the Department of Vertebrate Palte-
ontology, which received it. The scientific thologists possess. The American Museum
preparation began immediately and continued has been very fortunate, therefore, in being
unremittingly in the hands of two, three, and able to place some recent finds of Tertiary
sometimes four preparators, until its comple-
tion on April 6, 1923. It was then ready to
Mr. Alexander Wetmore
birds in the hands of
be reproduced a thousand-fold in still photo- of the Bureau of Biological Survey at Wash-
graphs and by the moving-pictures of Mr. ington for study and description. An article
Shackelford, and thus distributed in this by Mr. Wetmore in the Bulletin of this
country and all over the world.
Museum has just appeared, describing the
It required several months of additional
remains from the Snake Creek and x4.gate
work to prepare and color in facsimile this
fossil quarries in Nebraska. Among the
superb skull and jaws. The casting was done
most interesting of these are bones of an
by Mr. Otto Falkenbach, the coloring by Miss extinct species of Urubitinga, a large hawk
Helen B. Cox, who made constant reference now found only in Central and South
to the beautiful colors of the original. Finally
America, and of a small milvine hawk, or
the facsimile copies were finished and sent to
kite, whose nearest modern allies are the
the following institutions —the Museum of Mississippi and Everglades kites.
Cambridge University, the Museum of the These, therefore, are to be added to the
Academy of Sciences of Petrograd, the British
long list of birds, mammals, and other animals
Museum (Natural History), the National
which, inhabiting North America in the Age
Museum, Yale University, and the University of Mammals, were driven southward, whether
of California —the first one going to Mr. C.
by changing climate or by the competition of
Forster Cooper, the discoverer of the genus
invading races from the north, and have left
Baluchitherium and curator of the Museum of
more or less modified descendants in tropical
Cambridge University. America or along our southern borders. Such
Fossil Birds from Nebraska. Bird re- — are the tapirs, peccaries, and llamas, the
mains are exceedingly rare fossils, save in a alligators and crocochles, certain turtles and
few exceptional deposits. In certain former lizards, fishes, insects, and mollusks of which
lake beds, such as the Christmas Lake, or we are so fortunate as to have the fossil
Fossil Lake, of eastern Oregon, or at St. records. Without doubt many other animals
Gerand-le-Puy in France, the bones of and plants will in time be added to the list.—
aquatic birds are as common as those of W. D. M.
mammals; and among the fossils of the
asphalt deposit at Rancho la Brea near Los Paleontology in Russia. — American
Angeles are numerous birds of prey and a few palaeontologists are deeply interested in the
other birds which were trapped in the asphalt. progress of palaeontology in Russia and will be
In the swamps of New Zealand, Madagascar, gratified to learn that Mme. Marie Pavlow
and Australia numerous remains of extinct has for four years past held a professorship of
gigantic ground birds have been found: palaeontology in the University of Moscow
Dinornis and its relatives in New Zealand, and that at the present moment she is deeply
JEpyo7-nis in Madagascar, Genyornis in engaged in preparing for the publication of her
central Australia. But in most of the courses of palaeontology, beginning with the
Tertiary formations of our West bird bones invertebrates and following with the verte-
are almost unknown. The discovery of the brates. Under date of August 25 she writes
skeleton of the giant ground bird Diatryma in enthusiastically of the reception in Russia of
Wyoming was a bit of rare good fortune. Professor Osborn's volume The Origin and
,
Aside from this, the results of fifty years' Evolution of Life, as translated into French
collecting in the badlands of the West by by M. Felix Sartiaux and now in its third
Cope and by the representatives of the printing. Her own field of work in recent
American Museum are two or three trays years has been principally among the rich
of specimens, none of them complete, most collections of proboscideans, including both
of them consisting of single bones or parts the elephants and mastodons, in the more
of bones. recent Quaternary formations of Russia. We
120 NATURAL HISTORY
owe to ]\Ime. Pavlow the recognition of the Observations of the Bees of Panama. —
true mastodon, very closely related to M. Dr. Frank E. Lutz, curator of entomology,
americanus, in Russia. In addition to issuing returned December 6 from Panama, where he
in instalments her work on the Tertiary spent a month studying the insects, especialh^
mammals of Russia, she has from time to the native bees, of the Canal Zone.
time published resumes of the progress of A part of the time was passed on Barro
vertebrate palfeontology in that country, Colorado, the largest island in Gatun Lake.
which are invaluable to American workers to It contains about twelve square miles of dense
whom much of the original literature is not and absoluteh' primitive tropical jungle.
available. The only even partially cleared areas are
several verj^ small farms along one edge of the
PUBLIC EDUCATION island. The government of the Zone has

recently made Barro Colorado a biological
The Xew York State Federation of
reservation, both hunting and
prohibiting
Workers for the Blixd held its annual
any extension In view of the
of agriculture.
convention in New York City, October 23-4.
facts that, although an island and therefore
Dr. G. Clyde FLsher represented the American
readily protected, it is fairly accessible to
Museum at the meetings, which wêre held
visitors and that agriculture is rapidly de-
at the Lighthouse, 111 East Fifty-ninth Street,
stroying jungle in the Zone, this action by the
and at Stuyvesant High School. Through the
government is particularly fortunate.
Jonathan Thorne Memorial Fund, the Mu-
Through the courtesy of the U. S. Army,
seum has been able during the last fifteen
Doctor Lutz was able to explore the reserva-
5'ears to carry on valuable work with classes
of bhnd children and the sight conservation
tion from an aeroplane. He also established
a camp from which he cut and fullj' blazed a
classes in the pubhc schools, and with the
trail across the island. This trail, the first to
adult blind of New York City and its \acinity.
be blazed in this jungle, was laid out in such a
way as to lead through different types of
INSECTS vegetation and by other points of interest,
The a. Cressy Morrison Prize Awarded. including a large settlement of leaf-cutting
— At the annual dinner of the New York ants.
Academy on December 17,
of Sciences, held Doctor Lutz reports that the island, which
1923, announcement was made by Dr. Ernest isreally the top of a mountain that became
Ellsworth Smith that the A. Cressy Morrison surrounded by water when Gatun Lake was
Prize had been awarded to Dr. Frank E. Lutz, flooded in the construction of the Canal,
curator of entomology', American Museum, naturally contains a great variety of birds and
for his paper entitled: Apparently Non- mammals, such as parrots, monkeys, and
Selective Characters and Combinations of tapirs..Almost any Panamanian animal that
Characters, including a Study of the Ultra- may be found to be lacking can be introduced.
violet in Relation to the Flower-Visiting Habits The jungle is so dense that it is practically
of Insects. The competing papers numbered impossible to penetrate it without first cut-
fourteen and were representative of original ting a way through the vines, prickly stems,
research in several distinct branches of and other vegetation.
science. L'nder such circumstances a deci- In addition to making a general collection
sion is necessarily difficult, for differences of of insects, including those bees that do not
opinion may readily arise as to the relative live in colonies. Doctor Lutz was successful in
merits of studies in such varied fields as securing nests of several species of native
physics, astronomy, biology, and the Uke. It social bees (MeUponidse). These latter live in
is a tribute to the intrinsic importance of colonies, each colony having a queen and
Doctor Lutz's contribution that aU of the numerous workers, much as does the Asiatic
judges were in accord in placing his work at honeybee that man has domesticated. They,
the head of the hst. This is the second year are not, however, closely related to the
that the prize has been awarded, and the Asiatic bee. They do not sting but they
interest that the contests have aroused and do bite, and certain kinds eject a fluid that
the high standard of the essays submitted are severely burns the human .skin.
convincing testimony of the -wisdom of Mr. Bees of this group store honey in special
Morrison in establishing the prize. cells about the size of grapes. There is often
NOTES 121
a considerable quantity in a nest and in some pigeons of wonderful diversity, some with
cases has a good flavor but, depending on
it white crests, others with red or piu-ple, or red
the species of bee that made it, the honey may rimmed with yellow, as well as harmonious or
be rather tasteless, or too acid, or even poison- spectacular changes of coloration in other
ous. Some of these bees make their nests in parts of their plumage; and finally an excep-
cavities, such as hollow trees, the walls of tionally rich representation of interesting
houses, or holes in the ground; others build marine birds, such as noddies, terns, petrels,
largehanging nests somewhat like those of and shearwaters.
the white-and-black hornet of om- northern While primarily an ornithological under-
woods; while still others estabhsh their taking, the Whitney South Sea Expedition
colonies in the large nests made in trees by secured much interesting material falling
white "ants." within other fields. A number of mounted
The most populous nest of which there is an specimens of identified Polynesian plants
available record contained about 75,000 bees were shown in one case; examples of the land
and, although they do not sting, a thousand crabs, certain fish, and shells were exhibited
or so of these bees covering one's face, in another; and finally the excellent photo-
hands, and even the inside of one's clothing, graphs taken by Mr. RoUo H. Beck and his
each more or less gently biting, are rather associates, selections from which were placed
uncomfortable. upon a screen in back of the cases, showed not
only the bird hfe of the islands but their
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA scenic attractiveness, the physique and mode
EXPEDITION of dress of the natives inhabiting them, and
In connection with Dr. Robert Cushman their ancient stone idols. A Polynesian having
Murphy's on the Whitney South Sea
lecture seven toes and six fingers was represented in
Expedition, there was installed in memorial one of the pictures.
hall, American Museum, an exhibit epitomiz- It was fitting that, by way of correcting the
ing the achievements of the expedition and belief that the South Sea islands have come
offering at the same time a bird's-eye view of into public cognizance only in this generation,
the wealth of scientific material supplied by some impression should be given of the abun-
this interesting region of the world. Ranged dant literature devoted to this area of the
in cases were examples of the bird Ufe of world in earlier decades. Among the more
Polynesia, notable not only for its diversity arresting publications displayed were one of
but on account of the restricted range of the twelve extant volumes of the suppressed
certain forms, — for instance, the warblers of issue of Titian R. Peale's account of the mam-
the genus Coiiopoderas with twelve represen- mals and birds of the United States Exploring
tatives, each confined to a single island or a Expedition of the forties and Lady Belcher's
small group of islands. Rare birds like Peale's volume on The Mutineers of the Bounty. Of
petrel, of which only three specimens had been direct bearing on the Whitney Expedition
found prior to this expedition, the fruit pigeon were the Field Note Books of Mr. Beck and
of Rapa Island, known previously from only a his major contributions to Natural History,
single skin, and the Tuamotuan land king- the Field Journal of his associate, Mr. Ernest
fisher, interesting not only because it is new H. Quayle, totaling five substantial volumes
to science but because, departing from the of typewTitten sheets, and a volume of Notes
piscatorial habits of most of its fellows, it on the Geography and Fauna of Eastern
feeds on insects were among the
and lizards, Polynesia prepared by Dr. Charles W.
prized acquisitions of the expedition. Of Richmond.
spectacular interest were the specimens of
feral poultry, —
descendants of the Asiatic BIRDS
jungle fowls which the Polynesian people Dr. F. M. Chapman's Expedition, to
carried to the South Pacific islands on their Chile.— On November 29, Dr. Frank M.
migrations; the red-tailed tropic bird, the Chapman, curator of the department of
long appendages of which are in
scarlet ornithology, American Museum, sailed for
some countries legitimately added to the stock Chile, accompanied by Mrs. Chapman, Mr.
of the milliner, like the down of the eider and F. C. Walcott, and Miss Helen Walcott. Two
the plume of the ostrich, seeing that they can scientific purposes will be accomplished by
be plucked without injury to the bird; fruit this trip. The sojourn in Chile will enable
122 NATURAL HISTORY
Doctor Chapman to continue in a new area homa, not far from the Missouri state Une.
the field studies that he has been making in Here a small representative collection was
connection mth his work on the origin and obtained.
distribution of Andean bird hfe. The initial This completed the summer's program, but
volume of this comprehensive piece of re- Mr. Nelson took advantage of the occasion on
search The Distribution of Bird-Life in his way home to inspect the famous Cahokia
—
Colombia has already been published; a mound group near East St. Louis. As the
second volume, deahng mth the birds of guest of the Alammoth Cave Estate, he spent
Ecuador, is well advanced; and a third three weeks also in Kentucky, where he ex-
volume, to be devoted to the avifauna of amined a number of caves as well as other
Chile, will take shape as a result of the sitesreputed as sho-wing evidence of Indian
present studies. occupation. The principal discovery here
The expedition will not confine its attention was a flint quarry-and-workshop, apparently
to Chile. The second purpose that it has set of considerable antiquity. Lastly, by invita-
out to accomplish is the securing of material tion, the wonderful Luray and Endless caverns
for a habitat group representing the bird life in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, were
of the Pampas of western Argentina. Miss visited, but here nothing was found of archae-
Walcott, in the capacity of artist to the expedi- ological interest.
tion, will make the field sketches for this Incidentally, Mr. Nelson was given oppor-
group. Mr. Walcott will act as photographer tunity to see two exceptionally fine private
to the expedition, and Mrs. Chapman will archaeological collections, viz., that of Dr. H.
assist in the preparation of specimens. H. M. Whelpley in St. Louis and that of
the late General Gates P. Thruston, now ex-
ANTHROPOLOGY hibited at Vanderbilt L'niversity, Nashville,
Dr. William W. Graves, of St. Louis, Tennessee.

Missouri, well knowTi for his anatomical re-
searches, especialh'on the human scapula,
MAMMALS
itsform and relation to disease, represented J. A. Allen Memorial Fund. —This fund,
the American Museum at the inauguration of established in honor of the Nestor of American
Herbert Spencer Hadley as chancellor of mammalogists, Joel Asaph Allen, late curator
Washington LTniversity, November 10, 1923. of mammals in the American Museum,
has now reached a total of nearly $5200
Mr. N. C. Nelson, associate curator of
toward the S 10,000 desired by the committee
archaeology, returned to the American Mu- in charge. The income from this fund is
seum after a ten weeks' field trip which took to be used for the annual publication, as
him to various states, including New Mexico, special numbers in the Journal of Mam-
Oklahoma, Missouri, Ilhnois, Kentucky, and
malogy, of scientific papers dedicated to the
Virginia. Commencing in New Mexico in memory of Joel Asaph Allen. The Journal
late August, he initiated Dr. Louis R. Sullivan
of Mammalogy is the only periodical in the
into the art of recovering ancient Indian
world devoted solely to this branch of natural
skeletal material from one of the Pueblo ruins,
history. The remaining .$4800 necessary to
an imdertaking which fortunately resulted in a
complete the fund will be secured, it is hoped,
considerable collection. Following this, three
through invitation to all the mammalogists
weeks were devoted to excavations at Jacobs
of the world and to members of the Ameri-
Cavern, in the Ozark foothill country near
can Museum and the New York Zoological
Pineville, Missouri. The object here was to
Society.
verify the apparent evidence fa bone with an
Among the first contributors to the fund
engraved figure of a mastodon upon it) of
were the President of the American Museum,
Pleistocene man, discovered in 1921 and pub-
Prof. Henrj^ Fairfield Osborn, and several
lished in Natural History, Vol. XXI, No. 6.
members of the Board of Trustees, including
Expectations failed completely, inasmuch as
Messrs. Cleveland H. Dodge, Childs Frick,
nothing was found to indicate that man had
and Madison Grant, the last-mentioned being
hved in the cave in times prior to the arrival
of the present fauna. Later, a remarkable
'Checks should be made payable to the J. A. Allen
Indian quarry-and-workshop of prehistoric Memorial Fund. They may be addressed careVof
H. E. Anthony, Secretary and Treasurer, American
date was examined in Ottawa County, Okla- Museum of Natural History, New York City.
NOTES 123
also chairman of the central committee for the contemporaneous with the Pleistocene fauna
J. A. Allen Memorial Fund. Among the isa point to be determined by careful com-
members of the American Society of Mam- parisons after the skull has been cleaned and
malogists, the chief contributors, in addition prepared for study. At any rate, the speci-
to those just mentioned, were Miss Annie M. men is a very interesting one and is bound
Alexander, Messrs. S. Prentiss Baldwn, to bring forth a great deal of suggestive
Thomas Barbour, George B. Grinnell, Ernest speculation.
Thompson Seton, and the Hon. George Mr. Tate is now collecting along the line
Shiras, 3rd. Among the non-members of the of the old mountain trail from Guayaquil to
Society, Mr. James B. Ford was most gener- Quito, which has been little used ever since
ous in his support. the railroad was built.
The were three
largest single contributions
of $500; next came one one of $125
of S200; REVIEWS
nine of $100; thirteen of $50; one of $40 "Birds in Legend, Fable and Folklore."—
twenty-nine of $25; six of $20; one of $15 A volume thus entitled by Ernest Ingersoll,
thirty-nine of $10; one of $7; fifty-seven published by Longmans, Green and Co., is
of $5; and twenty-seven of less than this entertaining as well as informing. We are all
amount. Interested friends and admirers of familiar with the time-honored fiction that the
Doctor Allen who are not members of the ostrich hides its head in the sand, but to get a
Society contributed $1250, which represents proper conception of the perverse ingenuity
approximately one-fourth of the present sum of the human mind in explaining nature not
subscribed. by observation and legitimate inference but
Mr. H. E. Anthony, associate curator of by letting the fancy run wild, one must turn
mammals of the Western Hemisphere, re- to the pages of this book, in which are pre-
turned to the American Museum early in sented a large number of curious misconcep-
December from field work in Ecuador. About tions about birds, ranging from accounts en-
four and a half months were spent in that graved on the clay tablets of Babylon to the
country with Mr. G. H. H. Tate, field collector superstitions of the Southern darkey. That
of the department of mammalogy, who re- geese grow on trees, bursting fuUy fledged
mained in Ecuador to carry on the work after from fruit resembling apples; that the stork
Mr. Anthony's departure. The material and other "season-observing birds" mnter in
brought back by Mr. Anthony included the moon; that the ostrich hatches its eggs
about 1450 mammals, 450 botanical speci- not through the warmth of its body but by
mens, as well as small collections of birds, the concentrated gaze of its eyes; that rooks
reptiles, fossil mammals, and about 250 are the ghosts of bad old landlords, —these
photographic negatives. The collection of are but a few of the quaint behefs cited by
mammals comprises about 150 specimens of the author, some of which enjoyed a wide
the rare genus Csenolestes, an animal formerly vogue and were honored by picturesque
regarded as so rare that the taking of a single variants.
specimen was considered an achievement. Observations of a Bird Photographer.

The mammals collected range in size from a — To secure a good picture of some little
mouse up to a large deer, and were taken for creature in the wild requires so much more
the most part in the high mountain region skill and patience than to lodge a bullet in
about Quito. the broad target offered by some unsuspecting

The fossil mammals were obtained from moose or deer that, taking into account
beds of volcanic ash near Riobamba and man's joy in overcoming difficulties, it is
represent the fauna of the Pleistocene. This surprising that the camera is not replacing
part of the collection includes the one-toed the gun more rapidly. But after all, the
horse, camel, deer, mastodon, wolf, possibly exercise of skill is not the only consideration.
bear, and small forms such as rabbits, rats, The more intimate contact with nature en-
and mice. Perhaps the most interesting joyed by one who records in contrast with one
specimen among the fossil material is the who destroys weighs overwhelmingly in favor
human skull that was found associated with of hunting with the camera.
the remains of the Pleistocene mammals. What the bird photographer may glean
Whether this skull should be considered as from his close approaches to the nest is in-
124 NATURAL HISTORY
dicated in a volume by Dr. A. H. Cordier pages, of which 169 are devoted to the
recently published bj^ Dorrance under the minerals and the remainder to the rocks.
title of Birds — Theii' Photographs and Home The minerals are grouped on the basis of their
Life. The author has included in it brief chief metals, bringing together the silver
sketches of a great number of birds that he minerals, the lead minerals, and so on.
has observed in the course of his field trips, H. P. W.
extending from the Aleutian Peninsula to the
Gulf of Mexico, and near his home at Kansas
Wood's "Illustrated Natural His-
While only incidentally a guide to the
City.
birds, the primary function of the book being
tory." —
That a volume of systematic zoology,
issued somewhat less than a decade before the
to present a readable record of the habits of
publication of Darwin's Origin of Species,
different species, the descriptions given of
should still be read, not flippantly, with the
birds, their nests,- and their eggs should be
thought of discovering quaint misinformation,
helpful in making identifications. Chapters
but respectfully, for the substantial amount
on the principles involved in photographing
of fact it contains, is rather remarkable. Yet
birds and the equipment that is essential or
such is the distinction that attaches to the
desirable will be of advantage to the prospec-
Rev. J. G. Wood's Illustrated Natural His-
tive nature photographer, for, as Doctor
tory, which, first issued in the early fifties of
Cordier's pictures give evidence, the informa-
the last century and subsequently expanded
tion he now imparts to others he has himself
into a series of volumes, has recently appeared
applied with singular success. The author's
in a handsome new edition under the imprint
love for the birds is bound to kindle the
of E. P. Dutton and Company. In the prepa-
reader's sympathetic interest, for it finds
ration of the new edition, which consists of a
expression not merely in an abstention from
single volume, there has been necessarily ex-
injury but in repairing injury done, witness
tensive elimination of material, both text and
his surgical operation upon a white ibis that
illustrations, but by way of compensation
had broken and that was anaesthetized
its leg
there have been added eight colored plates.
before the knife was applied.
An unfortunate error has resulted through
A New Popular Book on Minerals. — the introduction of division titles in the sec-
One of the most significant tendencies in our tion on insects. The Neuroptera, already
present-day life is the urge to get out of doors burdened by the inclusion of several groups of
and learn about the things we see in the insects that have since Wood's day been
woods and on the hillside. A number of placed in distinct orders, has by error taken
popular books have appeared from time to into its fold also the Hymenoptera, which
time which have met, or in part have met, even in Wood's time was a well recognized
this need for non-technical information about independent order; while the important order
the plants, the birds, and the animals. Prof. of beetles, like that of the bees, wasps, ants,
Frederick Brewster Loomis, of Amherst and sawflies, appears without an introductory
College, has added to this rapidly increasing heading.
book and very under-
shelf a really practical
One of the reasons doubtless for the great
standable book on minerals and rocks,
little
vitality ofWood's work is the fact that it is
entitled Field Book of Common Rocks and
presented in so simple and readable a form
Minerals, published by G. P. Putnam's that it has won its way among circles of
Sons.
readers that are repelled by the heavier
One of the first requisites of
such a field language of the technical writer; but its
book is that it should be small in compass, substance too, though necessarily in many
and Professor Loomis has succeeded admir- details out of date, entitles it to respectful
ably in producing a volume to fit the pocket,
consideration.
and incidentally the pocket-book, of the
Boy Scout, which tells him in language that
he can understand what he wants to know HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS OF THE
about the rocks and the minerals that make AMERICAN MUSEUM
them. A very attractive feature of the In March-April issue of Natural
the
Field Book are the many reproductions in History the exploits and achievements of the
color of minerals, which are for the most part various expeditions working in different parts
admirably executed. The book contains 271 of Asia on behalf of the American Museum
NOTES 125
will receive emphasis. Honorary life member- the knowledge of wild life in Asia through the
ship has recently been conferred by the Board interviews which he has accorded representa-
of Trustees of the Museum upon several tives of the press and through spirited articles
individuals who, because of their services in descriptive of remarkable six months'
his
the field or because of their invaluable aid in hunt with Colonel Faunthorpe. The splendid
facilitating the work of exploration, were qualifications of Mr. Vernay not only as a
selected for this distinction. To the reader sportsman but as a naturahst are evidenced
of the Asiatic number it will be of interest to in his writings; his article on "Stalking Tsine
know in advance something of these individ- in Burma," which will appear in the March-
uals, who have contributed so much to the April issue of Natural History, may be
success of the Museum's undertakings in that cited as an instance in point. By his own re-
continent quest the expedition in which he was one of
Col. J. C. Faunthorpe first visited the the joint leaders is known as the Faunthorpe-
American Museum in 1919, and was so Vernay Indian Expechtion, but in the case
delighted with the manner in which the mam- of the photographs and films of the under-
mals were shown in the exhibition halls that taking, the copyright is held in the name of
he conceived the idea of sending some of the the Vernay-Faunthorpe Expedition to India
game mammals of India to the American Mu- and Burma. Beautiful examples of the pic-
seum. This initial resolve led step by step to tures obtained by the expedition have been
the cooperation of his friend, Mr. Arthur S. published in Illustrated London News
The
Vernay, and to the plans for the Faunthorpe- (August 18, 1923) and The Illustrated Sport-
Vernay Indian Expedition of 1923, which has ing and Dramatic News (August 11, 1923 and
brought such splendid results to the Museum. August 18, 1923) as well as in periodicals in
An account of this expedition, written by this country.
Colonel Faunthorpe, will be one of the Mr. Vernay is at present on his way from
notable features of the March-April issue of Moulmain to Bangkok. He has been spend-
Natural History. ing several months in that area, collect-
In the intervals of his long service in India ing additional specimens for the American
Colonel Faunthorpe has become famous as a Museum.
sportsman, especially through his success in Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews. —
Seventeen
tiger shooting, and mam^ a fine specimen sent years ago, after graduation from Beloit
to the Museum is a tribute to his marksman- College, Wisconsin, Mr. Andrews ap-
ship. In unanimously electing him an honor- proached the front of the American JMuseum
ary life member the Trustees considered his as an unknown young naturaUst, wondering
record of service, some of the principal features how he would be received and whether
of which are here briefly indicated he could find work within its doors. He
Subsequent to his graduation from BalUol was fortunate in entering immediately into
College, Oxford, he became connected
in 1892 the service of the venerated curator of
with the Indian Civil Service. In 1914, at mammalogy. Dr. Joel Asaph Allen. Early
the call of his country, he joined the Army, in his scientific career Mr. Andrews became
having previously served in the United interested in whales through the acquisition
Provinces Horse. He was on duty in France by the Museum of the large whale kiUed off
and Belgium until 1918, when he went to the Long Island coast at Amagansett, and
America on the War Mission. During 1919 of the smaller specimen obtained at Wain-
and part of 1920 he was attached to the British scott. The two skeletons were collected by Mr.
Embassy at Washington, D. C. Since 1920 Andrews with the aid of Messrs. James L.
he has been ably administering his office as Clark and John T. Nichols. During eight
Commissioner of Lucknow. years subsequent to this experience Mr.
Mr. Arthur S. Vernay was elected to the Andrews gave much attention to whales, a
rank of honorary life member at the same group of mammals that will receive emphasis
time as his friend and fellow sportsman. in the proposed hall of ocean Ufe. The work
Colonel Faunthorpe. A great lover of sports, of collecting and studying the cetaceans carried
Mr. Vernay has traveled widely in search of Mr. Andrews "twice around the world, as
big game, including in his field trips certain well as northward on two expeditions to
of the wilder parts of North America and Alaska, and southward to the tropic waters
various areas of Asia. Mr. Vernay has spread of Borneo and Dutch East Inches." The
126 NATURAL HISTORY
last-mentioned places were visited during memorated through the association of his
1909-10 when Mr. Andrews was cruising in name with the specimens obtained in Burma.
the Far East on the U. S. Fish Commission It was he who gave the expedition his sanc-
steamer, Albatross. In 1911-12 Mr. Andrews tion to shoot any animals necessary to
continued his studies in the East by exploring the collection and who deputed Mr. D. F.
northern Corea, but in 1913 returned to Hopwood, M.C., to arrange all the bandobust.
Alaska to secure northern species of whales. He showed the greatest interest in the work
The next two years were devoted to working generally and his helpfulness has extended to
up the whale collections, the year 1914 being the expedition of Mr. Vernay that is now in
signalized also by his marriage to Miss Yvette progress, to which he has given every encour-
Borup, sister of Mr. George Borup of Arctic agement and support.
fame. In March, 1916, he organized what has To General His Highness Maharaja Sir
come to be known as the First Asiatic Expedi- Chandra Shumshere Jung, prime minister
tion, and spent nineteen months in conducting and marshaU of Nepal, the Faunthorpe-
it through southern and western China, Vernay Expedition is under special obliga-
Fukien, and Yunnan, and thence into western tions for the invaluable assistance he gave in
Burma, to proceed down the Irrawaddy River the collecting of the rhinoceros specimens.
from Bhamo to Rangoon. In 1919, Mr. In India the rhinoceros is royal game and the
Andrews headed the Second Asiatic Expedi- privilege to hunt it is one of the most difficult
tion to northern China and outer Mongolia, to obtain. The Maharaja not only accorded
and this undertaking led in turn to the highly this permission but with regal generosity
successful Third Asiatic Expedition, with the supplied the expedition with Nepalese officials,
progress of which readers of Natural His- coolies, elephants, and food supplies, indis-
tory are familiar through articles contributed pensable to the carrying out of the project.
by Professor Osborn and Mr. Andrews and The group of the great one-horned rhinoceros
through numerous Notes. Mr. Andrews is the will, with the Maharaja's permission, be
author of a number of works dealing with his presented in his name.
field experiences and scientific studies. Among
Mr. a. p. Kinloch, a coffee planter of
these are: The California Gray Whale, The India, has been of great aid to the Faunthorpe-
Sei Whale, Whale Hunting with Gun and Vernay Indian Expedition, to the collected
Camera, Camps and Trails in China, and fauna of which he contributed certain rare
Across Mongolian Plains.
birds that he obtained in the KoUengode
His Excellency The Earl of Reading, Division. Mr. Kinloch is a keen ornithologist
G.C.B., Viceroy of India is too well known and the fact that the material he collected
for his statesmanship and the potent role he has was accompanied by field notes adds to its
played in the political life of the British Em- value. He is particularly interested in the
pire to require an introduction to our readers. avifauna of the Nelliampathy Hills, to the
As president of the Anglo-French Loan Mis- literature of which he has been a contributor.
sion to the United States in 1915, as special Mr. Franz A. Larsen went to Mongolia as
envoy in 1917, and finally as high commis- a missionary more than thirty years ago. The
sioner and special ambassador to our country country and its people appealed to him so
in 1918, he is especially well remembered, greatly that he decided to make his home there.
although these offices were but a few of the Mr. Larsen eventually gave up his missionary
posts of responsibility that he has held in the work and entered business, becoming manager
course of his eventful career. As viceroy and of the Anderson and Mejêr Company. He
governor-general of India he gave the Faun- organized a branch office in L'rga and carried
thorpe-Vernay Expedition invaluable support, on the work of the company successfully
and the tiger group is to be presented to the under the most disadvantageous conditions.
American Museum in his name as a constant Leaving the employ of the company in 1922,
reminder to the public of his part in making he organized the firm of F. A. Larsen and
the expedition a success. Company for the export of furs, ponies, and
His Excellency Sir Harcourt Butler, other Mongolian products. During Mr.
G.C.I.E., is governor of Burma, and the Larsen's long residence in Mongolia he has
practical assistance which he gave to the taken part in almost every pohtical event of
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition will be com- importance in that country. He has enjoyed
NOTES 127
the entire confidence of the MongoUan govern- Friend, Alfred J. Frueh, John I. Hart,
ment and has acted as an intermediary in James Mott Hartshorne, Elizabeth Herb,
setthng many poUtical questions between the Nancy C. Lange, M. A. Litwin, Mabel P.
Mongols and Chinese. In 1922, Mr. Larsen Miller, Charles D. Norton, Wm. R. Pitt,
accompanied the Third Asiatic Expedition S. T. Shoneman, and Hutton Williams;
for a part of the time it sojourned in MongoUa, Sister M. Thomasina; the Misses M. A.
and it was largely through his active work on AspiNWALL, H. Broadbent, B. G. Brooks,
behalf of the expedition that permission to Sarah E. Bruce, Angela Diller, Julia R.
carry on its investigations was granted by the Hall, Mary E. P. Haynes, M. T. Lippin-
Mongolian government. COTT, AND Mary T. Tower; Doctors Theo-
Mr. C. Badmajapoff, who is Mongolian dore J. Abbott, James W. Babcock, Ernest

minister of justice, accompanied the famous S. Bishop, Richard Blum, Henry Brodman,
Russian explorer, Colonel Kozloff on a three-,

Eleanor A. Campbell, Albro R. Carman,
year tour of exploration in Mongolia and Arthur F. Chace, Solomon De Sola,
Tibet. He was a member of the Third Asiatic Martin Dewey, William H. Dieffenbach,
Expedition during part of the summer of 1922. Jacob Heiman, A. B. Jamison, Edmund R. P.
Occupying an important position in the Janvrin, Howard Lilienthal, and Wm. H.
Mongolian government, he assisted the mem- Woglom; Prof. Herbert R. Moody; the
bers of the expedition very greatly by obtain- Reverend Winfred Douglas; Messrs.
ing permission forthem to work in Mongolia B. Abbot, Samuel N. Abbott, Paul Strong
both during the seasons of 1922 and 1923. Achilles, H. M. Addinsell, Albert J.
Appell, Charles F. Ayer, John V. Bacot,
Since the last issue of Natural History Jr., Sydney H. Ball, Edwin De T. Bechtel,
the following persons have been elected mem- E. S. Beck, Pope B. Pillups, D. Borgia, J.
bers of the American Museum, making the A. Bower, Otho S. Bowling, John Hall
total membership 7260: Bowman, Leo Brecher, Hiram Burling-
ham, Robert E. Carrick, Norman Wilmer
Patron: Mr. Arthur S. Vernay.
Chandler, C. L. Chester, Hawley T.
Honorary Life Members: Mrs. Mary White
Chester, Charles S. Clausen, Arthur J.
TsipouRAs; General His Highness Ma-
Cohen, L. W. T. Coleman, P. D. Collins,
haraja Sir Chandra Shumshere Jung;
Dudley N. Condit, James Bliss Coombs,
His Excellency the Earl of Reading,
J. E. CooNAN, Mark Douglas Currie, De
G.C.B. AND His Excellency Sir Harcourt
Witt A. Davidson, Samuel D. Davis, Clar-
Butler, G.C.I.E.; Dr. Joseph Bequaert;
ence M. Day, David B. Dearborn, Jr.,
Messrs. Roy Chapman Andrews, C. Bad-
R. E. Deeks, Paul A. Degeneb, Wm. R.
majapoff, A. P. KiNLOCH, AND FrANZ A.
Delehanty, Edwin H. Denby, Benjamin P.
Larsen.
DeWitt, Fred'k E. Donaldson, Arthur
Wilson Wilcox;
Life Members: Prof. Alice Simeon Doying, Mansfield Ferry, John R.
Mesdames George Temple Bowdoin, E. L. Flanagan, W. A. Gardner, Carleton
DicKERSON, George F. Kunz, Carson C. Greene, William Hare, A. Abbott Hast-
Peck, F. Sullivan Smith; Dr. Henry H. ings, Karl Heisenberg, Charles E. Heydt,
Covell; Messrs. Beecher S. Bowdish, Leo H. Hirsch, Louis L. Horch, Henry T.
George T. Brokaw, Walter W. Holmes, Hunt, George B. Huron, George W. Ja-
Mason M. Phelps, and Albert T. Stewart. coby, Leeds Johnson, Ralph Jonas, Bas-
Sustaining Members: Mesdames Hanna E. SETT Jones, Edwin Artimus Jones, W.
Belden and Henry W. J. Bucknall; Miss Strother Jones, Philip Kachurin, Saml. M.
Elizabeth D. Bowen; Messrs. Wm. W. Kaplan, Bernard Karsch, Max Kaskel,
Carman and Charles E. F. McCann. Adolph Kastor, Charles B. Kaufmann,
Annual Members: Mesdames Phineas Hill- Charles G. Keller, James J. Kennedy,
house Adams, Barrett Andrews, W. D. John N. Ken yon, Alphonse Kloh. Julius
Baldwin. John E. Bates, Joseph Bates, F. Klugman, Emil' W. Kohn, Jacques Kra-
Wilder Bellamy, W. W. Benjamin, I. KEUR, John F. Krauser, Michael Lerner,
Block, William M. Bradshaw, Mary O. M. Samuel A. Lerner, Harrison Lillibridge,
P. Brown, Durant Campbell, Ernest T. Oscar Lion, C. C. Loomis, Amos Morrill,
Carter, John McClure Chase, Percival Frank J. Muhlfeld, William C. Mumford,
W. CowLES, Henry E. Crampton, Arthur Charles J. Paine, Geo. W. Phillips, Jr.,
128 NATURAL HISTORY
Edward R. Rather, Stanley, M. Rum- Chandler M. Brooks, Chester K. Brooks,
bough, LuDWiG Stern, W. H. Stevens, H. E. E. H. Brooks, Frank L. Connard, S.
Stump, Walter S. Sullivan, Frank E. B. CoPELAND, H. N. Davock, C. W. de
Thompson, Oscar von Passavant, W. M. Rekowski, B. H. Dibblee, Alex Dow,
Wadsworth, Ralph Wolf, Ernest Wolk- Harold Hunter Emmons, Horace H.
WITZ, AND FiFIELD WoRKUM. EssELSTYN, E. G. Ewing, Calvin Fisher
Associate Members: Mesdames Florence Pencil, William S. Green, Guy S. Greene,
M. Dow, Wm. Preston Johnston, Alphonse Rae T. Hadzor, Samuel H. T. Hayes, J. M.
Le Due, Helen J. Lee, Caroline B. Shoe- Heiser, Jr., George M. Hendrie, Charles
maker, AND Grace E. Valentine; the E. Hilton, Joseph H. Hunter, Robert L.
Misses Matilda Geddings Gray, Clara Kemp, Robert Kent King, Clarence H.
H. Many, Katherine McEwen, E. Virginia Knowlton, John M. Lazear, Roy C. Man-
Smith, and Mary B. Whiting; Judge De son, Clifford Marburger, Robert R.
Witt H. Merriam; Doctors James L. McMath, Arthur McMullen, III, Robert
Gamble, William E. Gamble, R. S. Manley, A. Morton, W. Howie Muir, Hashime
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American Museum^ of Natural History, New York City
NATURAL
HISTORY gi^^^
ASIA
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTI-
NENT BY Henry Fairfield Osborn— LIVING ANIMALS
OF THE GOBI DESERT by Roy Chapman Andrews—
GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL
MONGOLIA BY Charles P. Berkey-JUNGLE LIFE IN
INDIA BY Colonel J. C. Faunthorpe— STALKING TSINE
IN BURMA BY Arthur S. Vernay-THE DISAPPEAR-
ANCE OF THE WILD LIFE OF INDIA by Colonel J. C.
Faunthorpe-EXTINCT ANIMALS OF INDIA by William
D.Matthew-HAINAN-AN ISLAND OF FORBIDDING
REPUTATION by Clifford H. Pope-THROUGH THE
YANGTZE GORGES TO WAN HSIEN by Anna G.
Granger-IN the realm OF THE KAMCHATKA
BLACK BEAR by Waldemar Jochelson i** i** iii^
The American Museum is greatly indebted to naturalists and officials
of India, China, and Mongolia for their cooperation in assembling mate-
rials representative of the great continent of Asia
^^
H JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ^S>
kîilJaaLlJAlnJflfAMiiJrliaHBuaupjut
EXPLORATION -RESEARCH-EDUCATION
fû^^n^^mm
Henet Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., President
James L. Clark, Assistant Director (Preparation Section)
I. DIVISION OF MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY, Mammals of the World

AND GEOGRAPHY H. E. Anthony, A.M., Associate Curator of Mammals of
the Western Hemisphere (In Charge)
Herbert Lang, Associate Curator of African Mammals
History of the Earth Carl E. Akeley, Associate in Mammalogy
Edmund Otis Hovey, Ph.D., Curator Comparative and Human Anatomy
Chester A. Reeds, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Inverte- William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
brate Palaeontology
H. C. Raven, Assistant Curator
Minerals and Gems J. Howard McGregor, Ph.D., Research Associate in
Herbert P. Whitlock, C. E., Curator Human Anatomy
George F. Kunz, Ph.D., Research Associate in Gems
Extinct Animals Science of Man
Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu-
Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
rator . _,, .
, Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
W. D. Matthew, Ph.D. Curator-in-Chief N. C. Nelson, M.L., Associate Curator of Archaeology
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals Charles W. Mead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Archae-
Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles ology
Charles C. Mook, Ph.D., Associate Curator Louis R. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Physica
Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology
Anthropology
Clarence L. Hay, A.M., Research Associate in Mexican
and Central American Archaeology
DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE- MiLO Hellman, D.D.S., Research Associate in Physical
II.
Anthropology
OGRAPHY
Animal Functions
Marine Life Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator
Roy W. Miner, Ph.D., Curator
WiLLARD G. Van Name, Ph.D., Assistant Curator IV. DIVISION OF ASIATIC EXPLORATION
Frank J. Myers, Research Associate in Rotifera AND RESEARCH
Horace W. Stunkard, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para-
sitology . . Third Asiatic Expedition
A. L. Treadwell, Ph.D., Research Associate in Annulata
Roy Chapman Andrews, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Palaeontology
Insect Life Frederick K. Morris, A.M., Associate Curator in Geology
Frank E. Lutz, Ph.D., Curator and Geography
A. J. Mutchler, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera Charles P. Berkey, Ph.D., [Columbia University], Re-
Frank E. Watson, B.S., Assistant in Lepidoptera search Associate in Geology
William M.Wheelee, Ph.D., Research Associate in Social Amadeus W. Grabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Insects Research Associate
Charles W. Leng, B.S., Research Associate in Coleoptera Clifford H. Pope, Assistant in Zoology
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Research Associate in
Hymenoptera V. DIVISION OF EDUCATION AND PUB-
LICATION
Fishes
Bashford Dean, Ph.D., Honorary Curator Library and Publications
JohnT. Nichols, A.B., Associate Curator of Recent Fishes Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D., Associate in Ichthyology Ida Richardson Hood, A.B., Assistant Librarian
Charles H. Townsbnd, Sc.D., Research Associate
Public Education
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Amphibians and Reptiles G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D., Curator of Visual Instruction
G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D., Curator Grace Fisher Ramsey, Assistant Curator
Birds Public Health

Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief Curator
W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator Mary Greig, Assistant Curator
Robert Cushman Murphy, D.Sc, Associate Curator of
Marine Birds Astronomy
James P. Chapin, Ph.D:, Associate Curator of Birds of the G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D. (In Charge)
Eastern Hemisphere
Ludlow Griscom, M.A., Assistant Curator Public Information Committee
Jonathan Dwight, M.D., Research Associate in North George N. Pindar, Chairman
American Ornithology George H. Sherwood, A.M.
Elsie M. B. Naumburg, Research Associate Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc.
Natural History Magazine
Herbert F. Schwaez, A.M., Editor and Chairman
A. Katherine Berger, Assistant Editor
Advisory Committee
James P. Chapin, Ph.D. Q. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D.
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D. George N. Pindar

THROUGH THE MUSEUM
MARCH- APRIL, 1924

[Published April, 1924]

ATURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR MARCH-APRIL Number 2
The Discovery of an Unknown Continent Henry Fairfield Osborn 132

The past history of Gobia revealed through the fossil finds of the Third Asiatic Expedition
With restorations by Charles R. Knight and E. Rungius Fulda, photographs of the region, and explana-
tory maps
The Living Animals of the Gobi Desert Roy Chapman Andrews 150
With special emphasis upon some of the fleet-footed types
Illustrations by J. B. Shackelford, official photographer of the Third Asiatic Expedition
Geological Reconnaissance in Central Mongolia .... Charles P. Berkey 160
How the data are gathered from which the past history of the region may be read
With original maps, diagrams, and photographs
Jungle Life in India, Burma, and Nepal Col. J. C. Faunthorpe 174
Some notes on the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition of 1923
Pictures of big game and of the type of country in which some of the animals are found, by G. M. Dyott,
photographer and cinematographer of the expedition
Stalking Tsine in Burma Arthur S. Vernay 199
One of the most arduous hunts in which the members of the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition participated
With photographs of the animal and of the bamboo jungles through which it is tracked
The Disappearance of the Wild Life of India Col. J. C. Faunthorpe 204
a survey of the dangei s that menace that country's superb fauna
With a photograph of one of the representative animals of India
Fossil Animals of India William D. Matthew 208

The importance of the collections made by the SiwaHk Hills Indian Expedition under Barnum Brown
With pictures of some of the finds
Hainan Clifford H. Pope 215

An island of forbidding reputation that proved an excellent collecting ground
Scenes of the region and portraits of some of the Chinese that participated in this undertaking of the
Through the Yangtze Gorges to Wan Hsien Anna G. Granger 224
A colorful account of the adventures that await the collector who visits out-of-the-way places in China
With photographs of scenes along the route
In the Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear Waldemar Jochelson 236
Observations made in the course of the Kamchatka Expedition of the Imperial Russian Geographical
Society
Illustrated by photographs taken along the mountainous Osernaya River and at Lake Kuril, the objective
of the expedition
Some Drums and Drum Rhjd^hms of Jamaica . Helen H. Roberts 241

Observations made during a field trip under the auspices of the Folklore Foundation of Vassar College
and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
With photographs of drums in the collections of the American Museum
Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper E. W. Gudger 252
A common West Indian fish
With a photograph by Elwin R. Sanborn of the New York Zoological Society
The Schoolhouse of the World William K. Gregory 254

With a humorous sketch by Erwin S. Christman
The Coming Five Years, 1924-1928, of the Third Asiatic Expedition
Roy Chapman Andrews 256
"A Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster " G. Clyde Fisher 258
a review of a volume with an educational mission
"Galapagos: World's End" H. F. Schwarz 259
a Re%'iew of Mr. William Beebe's new book
Notes 260

Subscription price $3.00 a year.
Natural History is sent to all members of the American Museum as one of the privileges of
membership.
Acceptance for maUing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of
The Cover Design Explained
The cover design of Natural History, fittingly commemorating
by Chinese character the important discoveries made in that general
its
area of the East by the Third Asiatic Expedition, requires, in order that
it may be properly appreciated, a word of explanation. This has been
supplied by Prof. Frederick K. Morris, of the Third Asiatic Expedition,
to whom the editor is under obligations not only for his helpfulness in
connection with the cover design but for valued counsel throughout the
preparation of the issue.
Below the panel at the base of the cover appear the Chinese words
for "American Museum of Natural History," between the handsome
circular symbols expressing "long life." The undulations that extend
just above the Chinese characters and between the long-life symbols are
the conventional sea waves of Chinese design. Along the upper border
of the basal panel clouds are shown, these being invariably introduced in
association with the wave motive. The royal dragons, rising, as they
should, from the waves through the clouds, enclose at the top of the cover
the Chinese word Asia, the continent to which the subject matter of the
issue is predominantly devoted. -Read symbolically, the cover may be
interpreted as denoting "Long life to the work of the American Museum
of Natural History in Asia!"
The elements of the design were suggested by Prof. Henry Fairfield

Osborn. Their assemblage into an attractive ensemble and artistic
embellishment is the work of Mr. William E. Belanske. To Dr. Lucius
C. Porter the magazine is indebted for valuable help in preparing the
Chinese symbols. Doctor Porter is dean of Yen Ching University,
Peking, and during the present year is exchange professor of Chinese at
Columbia University.
Africa
Africa has been the objective of a number of expeditions sent out by
the American Museum, some of them consuming years. The experiences
and observations of those participating in these expeditions might fill
volumes, but from the generality of memories have been culled a few of
outstanding interest for inclusion in the May-June issue of Natural
History.
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NATURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV MARCH-APRIL Number 2
The Discovery of an Unknown Continent

By henry FAIRFIELD OSBORN
Honorary Curator of Vertebrate Palseontology, American Museum
The name Gobia, alluding to the Gobi Desert of southern Mongolia, is given by geologists
to a hithertoimknown continental surface in the heart of Asia, the history and life of which is
being made known by the explorers of the Third Asiatic Expedition. The present article is a
summary of the outstanding discoveries already made and of their significance in elucidating
the past history of the earth. It is also a forecast of discoveries which may still be made in
the projected five-years' work of the expedition.
THE the
ancient continent of Asia in
early part of the Age of
a period ''before the mountains were
brought forth or ever Thou didst form
Dinosaurs was so entirely differ- the earth and the world" was also in
ent, both in geography and in climate, the mind of Shakespeare, for in Henry
from the present continent of Asia that IV occurs the remarkable passage.
the familiar modern geographic names
King Henry. O heaven! that one might read
would have no Conse-
significance. the book of fate;
quently, the palseogeographer forms a And see the revolution of the times
league with the palaeontologist to Make mountains level, and the continent
describe the animal life; with the Weary of solid firmness, melt itself
Into the sea! and, other times, to see

palseobotanist to describe the plant
The beachy girdle of the ocean
life; with the palaeometeorologist to Too wide for Neptune's hips; how chances
deduce the climate from the plant and mock,
animal life; and together they give all And changes fill the cup of alteration
the information they can to the geol- With divers liquors!
ogist, on whose rugged shoulders falls The period we are interested in is that
the final responsibility of describing in which the previously unknown con-
the past history of Asia, the "mother of tinental surface of Mongolia emerged
continents." It is this friendly con- from sea level. The palseogeographers
spiracy of the scientists which is Edouard Suess of Vienna, Bailey Willis
surveying Asia as it were from a very of the United States Geological Sur-
lofty aeroplane, visualizing it it was
as vey, and Amadeus Grabau, formerly of
long before there were any such moun- Columbia University and now of the
tain ranges as the Altai or the Hima- Geological Survey of China, have named
laya, when the seas flowed over the the elements of a titanic archipelago
areas of the present mountain tops, which preceded the present continent of
when the present great plains, steppes, Asia. To the north of Gobia was the
and table-lands were nonexistent, when solid land of the Angara of Suess,
not a single form of animal life known taking in a large part of Siberia; to
today existed, even before what seems the west was the MongoUan insular
to us the far-distant Age of Dinosaurs. plateau, embracing the Gobi, the Tarim,
It is most interesting to note that such and Dzungaria; to the southeast was a
133
134 NATURAL HISTORY
great plateau corresponding with exist- rose in the heart of Asia during the
ing Tibet; occupying a large part of the early period of the Age of Reptiles and
present peninsula of India was the has persistently been rising despite
hypothetical Gondwana land mass of the erosion of the mountain summits
Suess, which, according to the hypo- bordering its sides, rather than sinking
—
Palseogeography of Asia. To the north, are the remnants of the granitic continent named
Angara by Suess to the south, the remnants of the continent named Gondwana by Suess,
;
who beUeved that it encircled the Southern Hemisphere; in the center, the continent of Gobi a,
which corresponds with modern Mongolia. Between these ancient land masses there flowed
the tides of epi-continental seas directly over regions which are now the mountain summits of
the Himalaya, the Altai, and other great mountain ranges. These mountain ranges are relatively
youthful; they arose during the Age of Mammals. (See the pictorial table on p. 139.)
thesis of this distinguished author of back to sea level. Gobia, therefore,

The Face of the Earth, extended around hitherto a reputed but historically un-
the southern hemisphere like a great known continental surface, is that
girdle, bridging both the South Atlantic portion of the heart of Asia of which the
and the Pacific oceans. Between these Third Asiatic Expedition is writing the
ancient land masses were areas of shal- history.
low seas, known to geologists as geo- It requires constructive imagination
synclines, and finally destined to tempered by cold facts, as well as some
emerge as great mountain ranges. It moral courage, to put forward a map
remained for Grabau to give the name of Gobia at the present time. ''Fan-
GoBiA, derived from the present Gobi tastic and useless" will be the first
Desert, to the great land mass which criticism of many scientists, while
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTINENT 135
others will regard it more truthfully as may be indicated by reference to

a tentative or working hypothesis that present life conditions, or rather to
will be very materially altered by the conditions which prevailed before civil-
time the Third Asiatic Expedition has ized man destroyed the life zones which
completed its thorough survey of he found encircling the Northern Hemi-
Mongolia. In the meantime, let us sphere. For example, (2) the life zone of
imagine that such an unknown con- the stag of the genus Cervus (see zonal
tinental land mass existed, raised three map p. 136) extends between the
or four thousand feet above sea level, fiftieth and sixtieth parallel of lati-
thus enjoying a relatively dry and tude, from

Great Britain directly
stimulating climate. The mountains across northern Europe, central Asia,
which bordered it on the north and south and North America as far east as New
furnished a double shelter, serving to York and New England. Similarly,
give it a relatively temperate climate just north is (3) the life zone of the
and a moderate rain supply. One of moose of the genus Alces, which ex-
the most interesting conclusions already tends from Maine through northern
reached by the geologists is that this United States and southern Canada
great plateau had only a very moderate directly across to Scandinavia. Also
rain supply from the very beginning of in (3) to the north is the life zone of the
its history and even passed through reindeer of the genus Rangifer, extend-
certain long periods of aridity. ing from Scandinavia across northern
Europe, Asia, and North America.
FORMATIONS AND LIFE ZONES
South of the natural zone of the stag
These secular cycles of moisture and practically parallel with it is (1) the
and drought are recorded in the kinds of life zone of the bison, a typical animal
rocks scattered in very broad but rel- of the plains. The reason each of these
atively thin layers or formations over animals keeps to its own life zone is
the borders of this great upland coun- that each seeks forms of plants and
try. These formations are known as degrees of temperature which it most
epi-continental because they are laid on en j oys . All animals have their pleasures
the surface of the continent and con- in life, their likes and dislikes in food
tain land fossils, as distinguished from and in climate. As humorously ex-
those laid along the sea borders of the pressed in the Munich adage: Ein
continent, which invariably contain jedes Tierchen hat sein Plaisirchen; that
marine shells. A formation is local; is, each little beast has its feast. This
it may be one hundred miles or several natural principle of the enjoyment of
hundred miles in extent, whereas the life—that like seeks like — -is of very
'life zone' may extend around the great aid to the geologist and palae-
world. ontologist because it applies not only in
In the list of popular and scientific recent time but far back into the most
papers which have already been written remote periods of geologic time.
about the Third Asiatic Expedition, as As " birds of a feather flock together,"
shown at the end of this article, are in- and mammals of the same species
cluded those containing preliminary migrate together, so dinosaurs of
descriptions of the various assemblages similar forms found
and habits of life
of life to which we give the collective their way into similar environments
name life zones, the meaning of which around the whole Northern Hemi-
The Northern Hemisphere, showing the three great life zones which encircled the polar
regions. (1) Fortieth to fiftieth parallel: favorite zone of the dinosaurs during the Age of Rep-
tiles and of the hardy bison, or northern cattle, during the Age of Mammals. (2) Fiftieth
to sixtieth parallel: zone near the southern border of which dinosaurs have been discovered;
zone of the Cervus, the hardy northern stag, and the wapiti in the Age of Mammals. (3) Area
north of the sixtieth parallel; zone in which Cretaceous terrestrial life is Still unknown; zone of
the reindeer, Rangifer, and of the moose, Alces, in recent times
136
Map of Mongolia (heavy black lines) superimposed upon map of the United States.
Both regions are drawn to the same scale, and their latitudes, fortieth to fiftieth parallel,
coincide. Dotted lines show the route of the expedition. The chief fossil dinosaur locali-
ties of the United States are indicated by solid black triangles and the chief fossil mammal
localities by solid black circles; those of Mongolia appear as open triangles and open circles,
with index numbers signifying: (1) Ashile, (2) Ondai Sair, (3) Djadochta, (4) Iren Dabasu,
(5) Gashato, (6) Irdin Manha and Arshanto, (7) Shara Murun, (8) Ardyn Obo, (9) Hsanda
Gol (west) and Houldjin (east), (10) Loh, (11) Hung Kureh, (12) Olan Diske
sphere. They may have wandered the great life-zone belt of the horned
out of their favorite Ufe zone — they dinosaurs lies chiefly between the forti-
—
probably did but their remains are eth and forty-fifth parallels and extends
found in greatest number between the like a broad ribbon of dinosaur domi-
parallels of latitude and along the nance over the ancient continent of
ancient isotherms of climate where life Gobia eastward and westward. The
was most agreeable to them. This very reason why this belt of dinosaur life is
interesting observation of the general broken is that most of the formations

likeness of past life zones with existing that contained these fossils at inter-
life zones is made clear when we pro- mediate points have all been washed
jectan outline map of Mongolia upon away and destroyed by water erosion or
an outline map of the United States by the great glaciers of the Ice Age.
as indicated in the map figured above. We know that dinosaurs closely re-
Taking the line of the fortieth parallel lated to those found in Mongolia in the
as a key, we observe that the very Upper Cretaceous occur as far west as
richest dinosaur beds of the close of the Great Britain and as far east as the
Age of Reptiles that have been dis- New Jersey coast in the United States.
covered in United States and
the These remnants of the dinosaur belt
Canada during the past half century do not prove by any means that these
are not far distant in latitude from those reptiles lived in colonies or in isolated
we have found recently in Gobia. Thus patches; on the contrary, it is highly
138 NATURAL HISTORY
cessive divisions of time. For example, zones represents a very long period of
dinosaur time in Mongolia is also dino- time in which it is possible for a com-
saur time to the far east in New Jersey munity of mammal life to be estabHshed
and to the far west in Great Britain. by eastern and western migration.
The Age of Dinosaurs is succeeded by In the diagram on the opposing page
the Age of Mammals, when we find these life zones are indicated by black
Periods Dates of lioun+ain Life Z ones Dfscovei-€d

-Making in Asia. Oy +lit. E>tpedi + ion
"y^ Detr.Horse, Ostrich

"Si V
Primitive mo5todon
Baluchitherium
Titanothere
Primitive Mammois
TrQchodont Dinosaurs"
Dinosaur Eqqs
(Much enlartjtd)
Souropod Dinosaurs
Popularized summary by Prof. Frederick K. Morris of the chief palaeontologic discoveries,

of the Third Asiatic Expedition during the seasons of 1922-23. The reader is referred to the
map on p. 134 for comparative study
closely similar species of mammals bands placed in a Rocky Mountain

occupying these broad east and west column and a Mongolia column. Bands
life zones along similar climatic iso- across both columns indicate those life
therms. By means of this great palae- zones already discovered in both Mon-
ontologic clock we are able to sub- golia and North America. It will be
divide the ages more closely. For ex- seen that there are still a great many
dawn period of the Age of

ample, the gaps in the Mongolia column; to fill
Mammals is known as Eocene time, these gaps is one of the main objects of
derived from Greek rjois (dawn) and the continuation of the Third Asiatic
Katvos (recent). In the Rocky Moun- Expedition for the next five years.
tain Eocene we have discovered during THE NEW CONTINENT OF ANCESTRAL
the past thirty years no less than six- DINOSAUR LIFE
teen distinct mammal life zones, one In the lower half of the table on
above the other; each of these life p. 138 the reader will see a series of en-
140 NATURAL HISTORY
tirely new epi-continental life zones, there is also evidence of skin armature
which are of Lower Cretaceous age to protect the side of the jaw and the
new, because upland formations of this sensitive throat, which leads to the
age have never before been discovered belief that this little leaf -eating animal
and the upland life has not been known was developing in the direction of
before. This part of the column corre- defense by means of dermal arma-
sponds in time with rocks deposited ture rather than of escape from its
near sea level in North America to enemies by speed. In contrast, there
which the name Comanchean has been is the Protiguanodon, also a leaf-
applied because they are now best eater, which was apparently developing
known in lands formerly inhabited by rapid powers of locomotion upon its
the Comanche Indians. Gobia is not hind limbs; this animal was found
only a new continent; it is a new world eighty-five miles distant from Psitta-
of ancestral dinosaur life. Here we are cosaurus, but may be of the same
in the halfway period of dinosaur evo- geologic age. Psittacosaurus was dis-
lution —the great amphibious dinosaurs covered in the year 1922 in a formation
of the preceding Jurassic Period are 1500 feet in thickness. Among these
dying out ; we are now in the beginning beds were deposits of fine paper shales
of the reign of land dinosaurs and espe- containing insects which will give us
cially of the upland dinosaurs living an insight into the climate; this was
away from the sea. Among the hitherto probably humid. Evidence of humidity
unknown dinosaurs of various kinds is found in the presence in the same life
are those listed in the table on the zone of giant amphibious dinosaurs,
opposing page. surviving from Jurassic time and known
The first four dinosaurs listed in as Sauropoda, which could have lived
this table are the only ones thus only in great swamps or shallow lakes.
far described from the wonderful A
wet period is indicated also in the
collection of seventy-two skulls and Ondai Sair beds, 500 feet in thickness,
eleven complete skeletons found in the in which the leaf-eating Protiguanodon
life zone oiProtoceratopsandrewsi, which is found. This superb skeleton oc-
is destined to become one of the classic curred in deposits of gray sands and
life zones of the world. gravels, overlying which were paper
ANCIENT DINOSAUR LIFE ZONES OF THE shales containing remains of both the
LOWER CRETACEOUS insectand fish fauna of the time. The
Below this classic Protoceratops life animal most nearly allied to the Proti-
zone are the two dinosaurs named at guanodon is the dinosaur known as
the bottom of the list on p. 141; they Hypsilophodonfoxi, found in the Lower
may prove to be of similar geologic Cretaceous or Wealden, named after
age, probably Upper Jurassic or Lower the "weald" of Sussex, England. This
Cretaceous. The httle animal Psit- dinosaur has teeth adapted to leaf-
tacosaurus, about a yard's length, eating like those of certain iguanid
is superbly preserved exactly as it lizards.
coiled up before being overtaken by THE ANCESTORS OF THE HORNED
sudden death. A really remarkable DINOSAURS
feature is the presence of two bony The overlying Djadochta beds,
horns bristling out at the side of the which contain in such abundance the
head as a warning to hungry carnivores; Protoceratops andrewsi and the three
PERIOD
142 NATURAL HISTORY
i^^^^^^^^^^,,,^,,^^,,,,^..,^
ff»"^
»"^p
The American Museum camp on top of the Lower Cretaceous formation of Ashile. The —
elevation extending along the back is Oshih Mesa, which gives the region its name. It was here
that the Third Asiatic Expedition discovered remnants of a giant amphibious dinosaur repre-
senting the order Sauropoda
playa lakes such as we now observe in eyes to which the family name Cera-
Nevada. The Djadochta formation, topsidse refers. In life these were
which was deposited in this way, is 500 covered with dermal horns serving as
feet in thickness and is now eroded defense against the carnivorous dino-
into chffs of glorious flame-color, at the saurs. The bony frill at the back of
foot of which dinosaur remains were the skull protects the most sensitive
found. This will become one of the part of the neck, that which was most
classic formations of the world, because exposed to attack among the reptiles
of the extreme richness and variety of and among the mammals. The three
the found there, giving us an
fossils kinds of carnivorous dinosaurs already
insight into the entire life of the un- found were incapable of attacking
known period. Absolutely unique in the Protoceratops. Doubtless in time
the records of palseontologic discovery we shall discover carnivorous dinosaurs
are the stages of development of the of larger size.
frill-necked Protoceratops andrewsi, the DINOSAUR LIFE ZONES OF UPPER
species named for the leader of the CRETACEOUS AGE
Third Asiatic Expedition, because it The animals described above are all
gives us all stages, from the little skele- new to science they are doubtless an-
;
ton contained in the egg up to the fully cestral to the great dinosaurs of the
matured animal, which had the general Upper Cretaceous, which extended
appearance shown in the frontispiece of their sway over the whole Northern
this article. Only the very closest Hemisphere, chiefly in traveling east-
examination of the skull above the ward and westward between the for-
orbits and above the nostrils reveals the tieth and forty-fifth parallels of lati-
minute rudiments of horns above the tude. Fortunately we discovered at
i^merican Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
This locality yielded the ancestor of the iguanodont family known as Psittacosaurus. The
superbly preserved skeleton of this animal, which is about seven feet in length from head to
tail, was found somewhat to the right of the picture, in the deep cut that extends in that
direction. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
Iren Dabasu an Upper Cretaceous dino- topsian dinosaurs in this bed, probably
saur bed containing at least three kinds because it represents a shore level
of carnivorous and herbivorous dino- deposit rather than the upland deposit
saurs, the remains of which were exca- in which the horned herbivorous dino-
vated from several great quarries near saurs would naturally occur.
SCIENTIFIC NAME
144 NATURAL HISTORY
J'
ttifn OSo Shiit^Tukk Ubu Ostn'k
(âika_f s
Page from the diary of Mr. Walter Granger. —In all Mongolia Urga, the capital, with
20,000 inhabitants, is the only city. Two towns, Uliassutai and Kobdo, correspond in size
Other localities indicated on maps as towns are merely wells or springs of salt
with our villages.
deposits —stopping places for caravans.These localities have picturesque names; for example,
Iren Dabasu, "Valley of the Salt Lake," Irdin Manha, "Valley of the Jewels."
dinosaurs of Iren Dabasu have close Europe. The result of these differences
relatives among the dinosaurs of in migrating habit is that in western
Wyoming and Montana. When dino- Europe we find large shore-living, leaf-
saurs migrated, they did not change eating iguanodonts very different in
their characteristics; it is possible that details of structure from their con-
we may discover either identical or temporaries in America.
very closely related species in Mongolia In Upper Cretaceous time the land
and Montana, as we did among the
in dinosaurs were absolutely dominant in
mammals of more recent age. In Iren the great life zone encircling two-thirds
Dabasu also there will be found dino- of the Northern Hemisphere. Rem-
saurs of less adventurous spirit, which nants of this dinosaur empire have been
did not migrate to America at all but discovered in Great Britain, France,
preferred to travel in the direction of Belgium, Austria Hungary, and Mon-
golia. It is highly probable that when CHIEF LIFE ZONES OF THE AGE OF
the whole high plateau region of Asia is
MAMMALS THAT HAVE BEEN
known, the geographic gaps in this great DISCOVERED
life zone will be filled; at present we The extinction period of the dino-
depend chiefly upon the extraordinary saursmarked the dawn of the Age of
yield of the Cretaceous dinosaur beds of Mammals. The life conditions in
Alberta,Montana, Wyoming, Colorado Gobia, wonderfully favorable to the
and northern New Mexico for our production of a great variety of dino-
knowledge of the entire dinosaur world. saurs, were no less favorable to the origin
In its majestic forms —such as the and development of highly varied mam-
great carnivore Tyrannosaurus, the malian life, and especially does this
three-horned herbivore Triceratops, the apply to the five-toed ancestors of the
slow-moving and heavily-armored hoofed animals. Discovery of the an-
Ankylosaurus, the stately shore-living cestral five-toed horses, tapirs, rhinoc-
and amphibious trachodonts, the fleet- eroses, and titanotheres, which we are
footed, bird-mimicking Ornithomimus confident will be found on the border
and the ostrich-mimicking Struthio- line between the Age of Reptiles and the
—
mimus it presents an assemblage of Age of Mammals, is another of the main
life not paralleled before or since in reasons for the continuation of the
the whole history of the earth. The Third Asiatic Expedition.
only life period approaching it is that The chief fossil sites thus far dis-
which marked the close of the Age of covered have been enumerated in
Mammals, when the horses, giraffes, descending geologic order in the follow-
elephants, hippopotami, and other inglist. The localities (1) to (4) have
quadrupeds reached the acme of their been omitted in this connection as
evolution. they are treated elsewhere in the text.
At the very moment of this great life The geographic position of these several
climax, which had been in the process sites is indicated in the map of Mongo-
of evolution during the entire Age of lia that has been superimposed upon
Reptiles, namely, during Triassic, the map of the United States (see p. 137)
Jurassic,and Cretaceous times, the Olan-diske [or Disek] (12). These beds
whole dinosaur world became extinct. were investigated by J. G. Andersson and are
Among the many theories as to the reported in his "Essays on the Cenozoic of
Northern China" (Memoirs of Geological Sur-
cause of this extinction not the least
vey of China, Ser. A, No. 3, March, 1923). The
probable are that the dinosaurs failed localities are in southern Mongolia, not far
to protect their young, either during from Tabul, in the level country south of the
the nesting stage or immediately after American Museum camp No. 1. At Olan are
hatching, or that some new marauder sands, well stratified, and exposed to a depth
of 50 feet; with clay intercalations, and, at the
(such as we named Ovoraptor) of the
base, layers and lenses of angular gravel.
dinosaur nests arose which sought out
Large bones, which, it was inferred, belonged
the eggs and fed upon their rich food to an elephant or mammoth, were collected
supply. In this connection the dis- here. A rhinoceros skull was brought in from
covery of three kinds of dinosaur eggs DisKE. So far these are the only undoubted
Pleistocene fossils of which we have record in
in three separate nests is extraordi-
Mongolia.
narily interesting, and of this we shall
Hung Kureh (11). The fauna of this
speak more fully in another number of formation is scanty. The most notable of its
Natural History. animals is a fine stag related to the wapiti
146 NATURAL HISTORY
This restoration by Mr. Charles R. Knight shows a Mesonyx preying upon the skull
of a Loxolophodon. The Mesonyx is a Rocky Mountain relative of the giant carnivorous
mammal Andrewsarchus, named after Leader Roy Chapman Andrews (see p. 147)
or "elk," but fragmentary remains of two or Baluchitherium; the ancestral type of the deer
more antelopes, a small horse, perhaps three- family; amember of the giant pig family.
toed, a large camel, a proboscidean of some Ardyn Obo (8) These beds are 500 feet in
.
kind, and a beaver show that the animals of thickness, consisting of sands, gravels, and
Mongolia at that time were related to the clays. The lifezone resembles that of the
faunas of the late Pliocene of Europe and early Phosphorites beds of France, containing
Pleistocene of North America. To decide especially the amphibious type of rhinoceros
how close the relationship may be, more com- known as Cadurcotherium. Here too are found
plete specimens are needed. the first of the chalicothere family with split
LoH (10). In these beds have been found hoofs, known as Schizotherium; also many
remains of a primitive mastodont which may primitive wolves, Cynodictis, and the type of
be related to the Trilophodon of France; also deer, Eumeryx, important because it may be
of a rhinoceros whose particular relationships the ancestor of the deer family, which un-
are not yet known. It has been proved that doubtedly arose in Asia. These beds are re-
this animal is a small Baluchitherium, of garded as of Oligocene age.
Middle Miocene Age. Shara Murun (7). This horizon is 150
HsANDA GoL AND HouLDjiN (9). This is feet in thickness, consisting of sandy clays
the life zone of Baluchitherium grangeri, the and moulding clays, with sandstone beds at
giant tree-browsing, hornless rhinoceros. From the top. The clays are rich in fossils, especi-
this zone Matthew and Granger have described ally titanotheres, which resemble those of
eight genera of carnivores resembling those Lower Oligocene age in northern Wyoming
in France and in our Rocky Mountain region and South Dakota. This seems to be the
nine genera of rodents, including an African climax of the titanothere period in Mon-
family; two genera of insectivores; a small golia. The species Protitanotherium mongo-
hornless rhinoceros, companion of the giant liense is almost identical in tooth structure
A restoration by Mr. Knight of Loxolophodon, from the Rocky Mountain region. The
presence in Mongoha of an animal belonging to the same order was estabhshed through the
discovery of two of its upper teeth, one by Leader Andrews and the other by Professor Osborn
with Protitanotherium superbiim of northern the discovery in these beds of two teeth, un-
Utah. There are also extremely long-limbed doubtedly belonging to one of the giant uinta-
rhinoceroses in this formation, possibly ances- theres of the Rocky Mountain region. One of
tral to the long-limbed Baluchitherium. the teeth was found by Leader Andrews, the
Irdin Manha—Arshanto, and Pang other by the present writer. The American
KiANG (6). The Irdin Manha is the most tooth strongly reminds us of the genus Loxo-
majestic Upper Eocene formation thus far lophodon, named from its yoke-crested teeth.
discovered, probably of flood-plain origin, The Arshanto beds consist of reddish clays,
extending for a hundred miles north and south lying at the base of the Irdin Manha, and
like a gigantic platform. Its life zone is have thus far yielded only the remains of
extremely and bears very close re-
rich small odd-toed ungulates, probably ancestral
semblance to a similar Upper Eocene life to those which occur in such vast herds in the
zone of northern Utah, due to the presence of Irdin Manha formation. The Pang Kiang
primitive carnivores, insectivores, and two beds are probably older than the Irdin
kinds of primitive even-toed ungulates. The Manha beds, and are not at all rich in fossils.
two kinds of odd-toed ungulates which domi- They have thus far yielded only the small
nate are the large titanothere known as jaw of a rodent, not improbably of Middle
Sphenocoelus and the diminutive cursorial Eocene age.
Desmatotherium —these animals are
little Gashato (5). This formation, 200 feet in
extremely numerous. In this fauna occurs brown and red sandy clays, lies
thickness, of
the giant carnivorous animal named Andrews- above the Protoceratops zone of Djadochta.
archus after the leader of the expedition, far To the keen eye of Mr. Walter Granger it
surpassing in size the largest of its American disclosed a number of small fossil jaws, from
relatives, Mesonyx. Even more surprising is four inches to less than one inch in length,
148 NATURAL HISTORY
found onty in small pockets. So far as expected to find ancestral four-toed horses
amined, these animals are of archaic type and in some of these formations; not a
we hope to prove that they are the long-sought
single horse has thus far been found.
mammals of either Upper Cretaceous or
Lower Eocene age. If we find hoofed animals This leads us to suspect that the great
at this period, we may surely anticipate that horse-breeding country may have been
they will have five digits on both the front farther north, on the continental mass
and hind foot and we shall be in the presence of Angara. Surprising also is the ab-
of the greatly desired life zone of the five-
toed ungulates.
sence of proboscideans, — of mastodons
or ancestors of the elephant family,
which first appear in the Loh formation
MAMMALS STILL TO BE DISCOVERED of Lower Miocene age.
It is possible that a five-toed period many
Surprising too is the fact that
in the evolution of the higher type of of the mammals thus far discovered are
hoofed mammals may be recognized not new to science, but are more or less
in the Gashato formation (5); it is closely related to mammals previously
also possible that this cradle of the known either in the Rocky Mountains
five-toed hoofed race may be in some or in France. It is not surprising that
other more northerly part of the plateau we have thus far found no primates,
. region of Asia. All that we can feel because these animals are always the
sm-e of today is that these long-sought most difficult to discover. We might
five-toed horses were evolving some- expect to find them in suitable en-
where in a dry upland countr}^, because vironment of Lower Miocene or later
it is only in such a country that the loss age, because in some older beds of
of the first digit of thehand and foot France lemuroid primates are rela-
would occur. Thus we are seeking in tively abundant.
Gobia or to the north a country where Therefore, among the chief objects
the thumb on the hand and the big toe of the remaining five years of the ex-
of the foot were lost, because when pedition are the search for primates,
these quadrupeds arrived in America, especially those which may point
in Lower Eocene time, they had with- toward human ancestry, and the search
out exception left their thumb and big for Basal Eocene and Upper Cretace-
toe behind them. ous ancestors of the higher types of
Surprising as is the great list of quadrupeds of the Northern Hemi-
mammals akeady discovered, a list sphere. During the remaining period
which includes representatives of up- of the expedition the most dihgent
wards of thirty genera and forty species effort wiU be made and the keenest
of many different families, the long powers of observation will be devoted

hst of undiscovered mammals no less
is to filling in these two great gaps in our
surprising. We had confidently ex- knowledge of the mammals of Gobia,
POPULAR AND SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES

In Natural History have appeared several articles from the pen of Mr. Roy Chapman
Andrews dealing with the work of organization and the achievements of the Third Asiatic
Expedition. Among these contributions are "The Motor Truck in Central Asia" (January-
February, 1921), "Scientific Work in Unsettled China" (May-June, 1922), and "Hunting
Takin in the Mountains of Shensi" ( Jul j'- August, 1922). Under the title of "The Extinct
Giant Rhinoceros Baluchitherium of Western and Central Asia" Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn
wrote for the issue of May- June, 1923, an account of one of the most important discoveries of
the expedition, comparing the specimen with other rhinoceroses, hving and extinct.
Beginning in 1922, a series of articles on the Third Asiatic Expedition appeared in
ASIA Magazine as follows: by Mr. Andrews, in 1923, "Setting out for the Buried Treasure of
Mongolia" (April), "A Paradise for Dinosaurs" (May), "Untying Red Tape in Urga" (June),
"Tenting in Lama Land" (July), "A Kentucky Derby in the Gobi Desert" (August), "A
Fossil Hunter's Dream Come True" (October), " Winter-cooled Ardor for Fossils " (November);
in 1924, "Where the Dinosaur Hid Its Eggs" (January), "The Lure of Mongolia" (February);
by Professor Osborn, in 1922, '''Proving Asia the Mother of Continents" (September); in
1923, "Giant Beasts of Three MilUon Years Ago" (September).
In addition to these popular articles and those in the illustrated weeklies of England and
France, the Third Asiatic Expedition has issued a series of twenty-two scientific papers, in-
cluding thefirst scientific notices of important discoveries of new species of fishes, amphibians,
and mammals in China, and of new genera and species of extinct animals in
reptiles, birds,
Mongolia. —
These papers by various naturalists and geologists Nichols, Andrews, Bangs,
—
Fowler, Granger, Berkey, Gregory, Osborn, Allen, Mook, and Matthew have been published
chiefly in the American Museum Novitates, of which copies may be secured from Dr. R. W.
Tower, librarian of the Museum.
The geological work of the expedition has been presented also in papers read before the
Geological Society of America at its thirty-sixth annual meeting in Washington, D. C. On this
occasion there were presented a joint article by Prof. Charles P. Berkey and Mr. Frederick K.
Morris on "Basin Structures in Mongolia" and a paper on the "Physiography of Mongolia"
by the latter author.
Finally, to sum up the great results of the expedition in worthy form, there is in prepara-
tion a series of demi-quarto volumes under the title Mongolia — Its Past History, the first vol-
ume of which. Geology and Geography, will go to press during the present year.
Living Animals of the Gobi Desert'
By ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS
Leader of the Third Asiatic Expedition
the last decade exploration has It is the purpose of the expedition to

INassumed a new aspect. The great make collections of reptiles and fishes
geographic land areas, with the in every province of the Chinese
exception of certain regions surrounding Republic, for no correlated work has
the North and South Poles, have been ever been done in China in these
visited by white men, and their topo- branches of zoology, and the wealth
graphic features more or less perfectly of new material which Mr. Pope has
described. The new era of exploration obtained gives abundant evidence of
concerns itself with intensive work in what remarkable opportunities await
the little-known areas of the world, in us. Mongolia and the Gobi Desert
order to make them known scientifically have such a limited fish and reptile
and economically. Other expeditions fauna that Mr. Pope confined himself
have done work of this character but I to China, leaving to the other members
believe that the Third Asiatic Expedi- of the expedition the task of collecting
tion is unique in the fact that it was the few species that exist in the
composed of a group of specialists in desert.
various branches of science, all of whom The extant mammals are extremely
were concentrating their efforts upon a important in relation to the palae-
single problem. ontology of Mongolia and to the exist-
The great object of the Third Asiatic ing forms in other parts of the world.
Expedition was to test the theory of the Just as the fossils show that many
central Asian origin of the mammalian groups of reptiles and mammals orig-
life Europe and America. It was
of inated in central Asia and migrated
concerned with no department of to Europe and America, so do the
science which did not bear directly living mammals indicate a similar
upon this problem. Palaeontology, trend. The Rupricaprinse, or goat
geology, geography, and zoology were antelopes, an excellent example.
are
represented by the staff of specialists This group in a measure stands inter-
during 1922 and 1923. mediate between the true goats and
In this issue of Natural History the true antelopes, and comprises five
other members of the expedition are distinct genera. In Europe there is
giving reports on their special lines of the chamois; in America we have the
work, and it is left for me to present a Rocky Mountain goat; while in Asia
general view of the zoology, which was three genera still remain, —the goral,
my particular concern. Reptiles, ba- takin,and serow. Without doubt the
trachians, fish, and mammals occupied chamois and the Rocky Mountain
the special attention of the zoologists goat are migrants from the central
of the expedition. Studies and collec- Asian stock, one going to the west
tions in these groups were made most and the other to the east.
efficiently by Mr. Chfford Pope, who is The wild argali, or mountain sheep,
relating in an article in this issue his which reaches its highest development
experiences on little-known Hainan. in central Asia, has sent migrants
'Except where specification is made to the contrary, the pictures accompanying this article were taken by
Mr. J. B. Shaclfelford, the official photographer of the Third Asiatic Expedition.
150
LIVING ANIMALS OF THE GOBI DESERT 151
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
Members of the Third Asiatic Expedition in their encampment at Irden Manha in

MongoUa. Those seated in the middle row are, reading from left to right, Mr. Walter Granger,
palaeontologist of the expedition, Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, Leader Roy Chapman
Andrews, Prof. Frederick K. Morris, associate curator of geology and geography in the
division of Asiatic exploration and research, and Mr. Peter Kaisen. The four white men in
the group that is standing are, reading from left to right, Mr. C. Vance Johnson, motor ex-
pert, Mr. Albert F. Johnson, Mr. J. McKenzie Young, motor expert, and Mr. George Olsen,
discoverer of the first dinosaur nest. In the foreground at the left are the three Mongol
interpreters, two in skull caps and the third (at the extreme left) with his queue encircling his
head. This individual, named Tcherim, was the best hunter connected with the expedition.
It is interesting to note the more robust build of the Mongols in contrast to the more slender
stature of the Chinese. Among the latter is Buckshot (the young man toward the center of
the front row with hair brushed back) Huei (seated to the right of him) Chow (the Chinese
, ,
on the left of Buckshot), and Chi (standing under the tip of the flag). These are referred to in
Mrs. Granger's article in this issue. Buckshot and Liu (at the extreme right of the upper
row) are now employed in the American Museum. The photograph is included by courtesy
of Mr. Walter Granger
through Siberia to Alaska, and south- amples of the large animals which are
ward into the Rocky Mountains and familiar to every sportsman, but my
some of the coastal ranges. The Ameri- remarks apply also to less-known
can caribou and moose are certainly smaller forms. It is evident that if we
migrants from Asia, being very closely are to understand the past life of
related to the reindeer and moose of central Asia in its relation to the rest
Europe and Asia. Our American wapiti of the world, we must know the exist-
probably came from the Asiatic stock, ing mammals as well as the extinct.
which may have given rise also to the Only by making extensive collections
red deer of Europe, which will be available for study can
I have mentioned only a few ex- this knowledge be acquired. The
152 NATURAL HISTORY
Although yielding preeminence in speed to the antelope, which can beat an auto-
mobile going at forty miles an hour, the wild ass is one of the speed marvels of the
desert, and combines with its fleetness an endurance that would make it a coveted
draft animal if its wild nature did not preclude the possibility of its being domesticated.
To maintain an average speed of
thirty miles an hour for sixteen
miles calls for extraordinary
reserves of energy, yet that was
the record made by a stallion
which was pursued in an auto-
mobile. The pictures reproduced
herewith give an impression not
only of the gaits of the animal
as it exerts itself to escape the
strange hobgoblin of metal that
keeps relentlessly close to it,
but also of the open country it
inhabits, the sparse vegetation

of which furnishes, one would
imagine, all too little nutriment
for so virile an animal. The

photographs are controlled by
the American Museum of Nat-
ural History and Asia Magazine
Asiatic expeditions have already ob- which have never before been visited
tained nearly 10,000 mammals, manj'^ by a zoologist. Although the great
ofthem representing species which are majority of the specimens will be kept
new to science. These are by far the purely for scientific study, others will
largest collections that have ever been be mounted for exhibition in the new
made and many of the species
in Asia, hall of Asiatic life. The groups to be
composing them were taken in regions constructed will have a geographical
as well as a zoological value, because several hundred miles to the east.

typical scenes in the deserts, moun- They are splendid beasts, about the
tains, grasslands, and forests of Asia size of a MongoHan pony, standing
will be selected. thirteen hands in height. They repre-
The superb collections which have sent a wonderful adaptation to hfe in
been presented to the American Mu- the desert, being able to maintain them-
seum by the Faunthorpe-Vernay Ex- selves on the scanty vegetation of sage
pedition will give us an unequalled brush and thorn bushes, which would
|RF

Fagged out by pursuit, the wild ass acknowledges itself beaten. Somewhat later, how-
ever, refreshed by a rest, it galloped off to join its fellows in the desert
opportunity to illustrate groups and not seem to furnish nourishment

single specimens representative of the enough to keep a wooden animal from
vast area of India and southern Asia. starvation. Much of the starch in
Therefore, the Third Asiatic Expedi- their food is converted into water in
tion has concentrated its efforts on the stomach, so that they seldom have
China and central and northern Asia. to drink. Although we camped for
One of the groups for which material fiveweeks on the banks of the Chagan
is already in the Museum will be called Nor, a lake of considerable size in the
the Gobi Desert Group. This will show center of the Gobi, we saw no evidence
the MongoHan wild ass (Equus hemio- that the wild asses were accustomed to
nus and the Gobi gazelle (Gazella suh- come to the water, and, indeed, they
gutturosa). Although wild asses are were found in greatest abundance in
found also in Africa and Thibet, very parts of the desert where there is no
little was known about the Mongolian water whatsoever. During the months
species until our work in Asia. We of July and August, when we studied
found these animals in considerable them particularly, they were in herds
numbers in the central Gobi and ex- composed largely of females and young,
tended the known range of the species with one or two adult males. Very
154 NATURAL HISTORY
often we would find individuals living I have been asked by many people if
alone and almost invariably these itwould be possible to catch wild asses
proved to be stallions. when they are young and use them for
The young are born during the end breeding purposes. I do not believe
of June and the first part of July, and that this would be practicable, due to
are able to run with their mothers the extraordinary wildness of the
almost immediately. We captured one animals. Certainly, it would be diffi-
baby wild ass, which was only three or cult totame an adult wild ass.
Their speed and endurance is almost
beyond belief. One fine stallion which
we followed in the motor car while
obtaining photographs and motion
picture film, maintained an average
speed of thirty miles an hour for the
first sixteen miles of the race. He
reached forty miles an hour in short
dashes when crossing in front of the
motor car.
After many experiences in chasing
these animals, we came to the conclu-
sion that all wild asses can exceed
thirty-five miles an hour, but that only
a few can attain a speed of forty miles
even for a short distance. When the
young are two or three weeks old, they
can run almost as fast as the adults,
A baby wild and the one individual
ass
toward whom the animal was really
little but their endurance is not so great.
friendly. Photograph controlled by American Like all the animals of the plains, the
Museum of Natural History and AsiaMagazine wild asses evinced curiosity rather than
fear when they saw a motor for the
four days old; he was not able to keep first time. They would invariably try
up with the herd, so that we had no to cross in front of the car, and it was
difficulty in overtaking him with the only when they discovered that it was
car. We kept the little fellow as a pet impossible to get away from their
for six weeks, and had hoped to be able pursuer that they became thoroughly
to bring him to America and place frightened. We usually found the
him in the New York Zoological Park, Gobi gazelle associated with the wild
but owing to the impossibility of ob- ass, and whenever a chase was begun,
taining proper milk, he died at the end gazelles would appear seemingly from
of six weeks. I have never known an nowhere, and we would have herds of
animal so difficult to tame. He became both animals running in front of us.
really friendly only with Buckshot, The gazelles are extraordinary crea-
the Chinese boy who fed him daily, tures. Their speed is incredible and,
and would have nothing to do with the after repeated demonstrations, we
other members of the expedition, all became convinced that they act-
although he received the greatest ually can reach a pace of sixty miles
kindness from everybody. an hour for a short dash. Mr. J. B.
This picture shows an antelope

in repose. When in action this
animal evidences a well-nigh
incredible capacity for speed.
On one occasion a herd made a
semicircle about Mr. Andrews'
car, which was moving in a
straight line at the rate of forty
miles an hour, and the speed of
the animals, therefore, was prob-
ably not less than fifty-five or
sixty miles an hour. The desert

species never gathers into great
herds but its relative of the plains
may form aggregates consisting
of thousands of individuals.
Photograph controlled by Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History
and Asia Magazine
Shackelford, the official photographer many as six or eight thousand indi-

of the expedition, and I followed a —in some instances even more
viduals
splendid buck for ten miles on a chase —which travel slowly to the flat plains,
straight across the plains. At first the where they disperse.

animal easily ran away from us, On the great plain near Turin during
although the car was traveling at forty the summer 1919, my wife and I
of
miles an hour. After three miles, we saw one enormous herds and a
of these
began to overtake him and the last few days later the plain was ahve with
seven miles he maintained a steady baby antelope. As we rode along on
speed of forty miles an hour. This was our ponies, the Httle fellows would
as rapidly as the car could go, and how jump up in front of us and go bobbing
much faster he could have traveled, we away like rabbits. We would often see
cannot tell. them lying flat upon the ground, with
The Gobi gazelle (Gazella sub-gut- their necks stretched straight out and
turosa) is a fine-Umbed, clean-built their long ears drooping, and in this
animal and is entirely a desert species. position they would remain absolutely
On the grasslands lives the Mongolian motionless until they were certain they
gazelle (Gazella gutturosa), which has had been discovered. Even when only
very different habits. It seems not to a day or two old, the babies can attain
be able to exist on the dry and sparse a speed of twenty-five miles an hour, as
vegetation of the desert, but is found in we demonstrated many times by fol-
great numbers on the grasslands of lowing them in the car. Their greatest
Inner Mongolia and those just south enemy is the wolf, and speed is their
of the northern forests. During the only protection. Almost as soon as
spring, immediately before the young they are born, they must be able to
are born, the Mongolian gazelles gather outrun the wolves, and the mothers
into enormous herds, composed entirely select the flattest part of the open plains
of females. These may include as so that their babies may not be ex-
posed to the crafty approach of a wolf to approach but they are so tenacious
under cover. Wolves, by the way, can- of life that if a bullet does not reach a
not reach a higher speed than thirty- vital spot, it means a long chase for the
five miles an hour and can only main- hunter.
tain this for a very short dash. The expedition has not as yet
When the expedition was returning reached the country inhabited by wild
to Peking last September, we saw half camels, wild horses, and the rare
a dozen great herds of antelope. In saiga antelope. Wild camels were re-
one there appeared to be at least ten ported from a place in the desert about
thousand individuals, both bucks and one hundred fifty miles from where we
does. The Mongols told us that these shall begin work in the summer of
herds would remain intact until late in 1925. They live in a sandy region and
the fall, when the mating is over. it is doubtful if we shall be able to
Apparently the desert species, Gazella follow them in the motor cars as we
suh-gutturosa, never gathers into great have been doing in the case of antelope
numbers, probably because there is no and wild asses, but other means of
region of the desert which would hunting them will be devised. The
provide sufficient food. wild camels are very similar in appear-
On the Altai Mountains we had the ance to the domestic two-humped
unique opportunity of seeing argali, Bactrian camels of MongoHa but are
or mountain sheep, and ibex on ranges somewhat smaller. The wild horses
where no white men had hunted before. are only about one hundred miles to
Both these animals were in great the west of the region where we shall
abundance and we obtained a splendid begin work, and doubtless the expedi-
series for groups that will be installed tion will have little difficulty in obtain-
in the new hall of Asiatic life. During ing specimens of them. The extra-
the summer the male sheep and ibex ordinary saiga antelope —an animal
retire to the highest peaks, leaving the with a great wrinkled Roman nose
females and young to carry on their lives in the west, not far from the
lives alone until the mating season habitat of the wild camels. It is one
about the middle of September. Al- of the most grotesque of living animals
though the argali reach enormous size, and also one of the rarest in museums.
some of them having horns 20K inches We are hoping to be able to obtain a
in circumference at the base, and more complete group for the new hall of
than 60 inches in length on the curve, Asiatic life.
such individuals are by no means In this short article it has been pos-
common. During last summer I sup- sible to mention only a few of the more
pose we saw at least two hundred interesting large mammals of Mongolia
argali in a single locality but not more but in China proper there are dozens of
than ten or fifteen of them had horns others which will find a place in the
more than 50 inches in length. Asiatic hall. Group material and study
The Mongols hunt both sheep and collections of mammals, reptiles, ba-
ibexes continually and the result is that trachians, and fish are being obtained
the animals are always wary. The with such rapidity and completeness
ibexes, which are true goats, are among that already the American Museum
the most difficult to kill of all moun- holds a unique position in the field of
tain animals. Not only are they hard Asiatic zoology.
Map of the basin regions of Mongolia. — Mountainous areas are shaded with slanting lines;
the great lowland regions are white, and the deeper depressions, called talas, are stippled. The
still smaller sedimentary basin units, called gobis, are located mainly within the talas, but are
too small to be indicated on a map of this scale
Geological Reconnaissance in Central Mongolia

By CHARLES P. BERKEY
Chief Geologist of the Third Asiatic Expedition
PRIOR to the reconnaissance and recrossing this very region

crossing
undertaken by the Third Asi- that is largely unknown.
still Some
atic Expedition the geologic have been collectors in search of anv
story of Mongolia was almost wholly
—
unknown, not because the region was
beyond reach of observation, but be-
cause both those who lived there and
those who had traversed it had not seen
the significance of its features. Mon-
golia is not all a wild uninhabited im-
possible desert; on the contrary, large
areas are as beautiful plains country as
the arid regions of the world afford,
and primitive peoples have roamed over
itsgreat open spaces ever since man
began to migrate.
This country lies athwart the great
routes of trade connecting centers of
early civilization, and from earliest
times to the present there have been
and
Key map of Asia. —The area in solid black
travelers traders, adventurers and is that of the basin regions of Mongolia, shown
messengers, caravans and expeditions in detail in the map at the head of this page
160
GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL MONGOLIA 161
rare or new thing; some have been lay out an exploratory traverse delib-
hunters in pursuit of sport; some have erately into a region of such reputation.
been restless souls simply in quest of But to the geologist there are no
adventure. Occasionally in recent hopeless regions. Wherever rock is to
Tertiary Plioce
Lava Clay
Cross section from Tientsin to the Wan Hsien Pass above Kalgan. The section is designed —
to emphasize the step-like approach to the Gobi region from the plains of China. With it is
indicated something of the underground geologic structure and the relation of the principal
rock formations. These fall made of sand and
naturally into three groups: (a) a simple delta,
clay built out into the China Sea; complex rocks emerging from beneath the delta silts
(b)
at Nan K'ou, and continuing a little way beyond Kalgan; (c) the gravels and sands, capped
with basalts, at the Wan Hsien Pass. It is particularly noteworthy that the uppermost forma-
tions of both the plains of China and the plateau of the Gobi are simple sediments that lie
unconformably over a floor of much more complicated rock
times exploratory expeditions have be seen or the surface of the earth has
gone out, nominally for scientific in- features, there some sort of story is to
vestigation, —actually, some cases
in be read, and there the desolate aspect
at least, to make military and economic of the present day may be but a
observations. passing phase in a succession of greater
Thus, after untold centuries, in a events. So in the face of discouraging
land not new but old, in a land not advice, and in full appreciation of the
isolated except by its own immensity nature of the task, the expedition set
and barrenness, virtually everything is out to lay a line of geologic observation
still unknown, and one may project, as across the Desert of Gobi and bring
was done by the Third Asiatic Expedi- back, if possible, the major secrets of
tion, a traverse of three thousand miles, its story. A region of such intimate
and not touch a single spot the scientific relation to the historic and prehistoric
story of which is known. migrations of man and beast ought
It was common report that the itself to have an important contribu-
desert countries of central Asia were tion to make.
particularly unpromising ground for What was promised can be told in a
geologic exploration. Caravans cross- word; what was found we shall prob-
ing the country found what was to ably take years to explain. In one
them a wearisome stretch of wind- year central Asia has become one of the
driven sand, and travelers returned great fields of geologic research and
almost exhausted by long weary central Mongolia is already classic
months of toilsome journeying. It is ground.
not surprising, therefore, that the Under patient study the sands of the
verdict of even the best-informed was desert have resolved themselves intO'
that ''the Desert of Gobi is a hopeless strata with definite structure and a
place," and it took some courage to long story of changes, while their fossil
162 NATURAL HISTORY

Nan K'ou Pass, with the Great Wall. —This is the place marked "Pass" in the cross section
on the preceding page, and shows the rugged country of the southern barrier, just before the
level Kalgan basin is reached. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
content makes it possible to populate are indeed islands, surrounded now by

this barren-looking waste with as the sands and silts of the plain where
strange an assortment of living things Beyond
of old the sea lay at their feet.
of former time as this earth of om's has them the same low plain, with the
ever produced. The desolations of the. same monotony, continues.
desert are softened by the hand of Farther inland, beyond Peking, one
Time, whose course we shall follow comes abruptly to a mountain barrier
backward to the paradise of long ago. looming high above the plain, as if a
great broken block of the earth had
APPROACHING MONGOLIA been lifted there to bar one's progress.
The most effective approach to the This is, in fact, about what has hap-
region from the plains of China,
is pened, as one who looks closely may
low-lying, monotonous, just barely see, although the reason for it is not
above the sea. There the great rivers so simple. It is here that the great
of China, —the Yangtze and the Hoang- wall of China was built, doubtless to
ho, coming from central Asia, have add still greater difficulty to the pass-,
been engaged for ages in carrying age of this natural barrier. But at Nan
sediments from the plateaus and moun- K'ou Pass one may climb to a new level
tain ranges of the interior to the border- lying beyond, two thousand feet higher
ing plains below. And there they have and almost even with the tops of the
slowly dispossessed the ocean waters frowning mountains. And then on this
and, in the course of time, have built higher level one finds himself again on a
all this fiatcountry lying between the plain, though a much smaller one, a
mountain uplands and the Yellow Sea. broad open country through which
Here and there a hill or a mountain one runs half a day by rail to Kalgan.
ridge rises out of the plain, as an island Here, as abruptly as at Nan K'ou, a
would stand out of the ocean. Thev new escarpment, even more formidable
THE RUGGED COUNTRY OF THE NORTHERN BARRIER, WITH

THE OUTER GREAT WALL NEAR KALGAN
This picture was taken fifteen miles south of the Wan Hsien Pass (shown
on p. 161) on the borders of MongoUa. Photograph by Charles P. Berkey
163
164 NATURAL HISTORY
than the other, stands across the leys, mountain barriers, and difficult
course. Here other and still more passes such as have been encountered
primitive walls mark the efforts of in reaching this land, one looks out
Chinese civilization to protect itself over a great rolling plateau. It gives
from the invaders of the desert. a curious impression of endlessness,
If one is to go farther into Asia, it is and this picture from the edge of the
necessary again to toil over the passes escarpment sinks into one's soul. It
of the new barrier. When this is will steal into the mind over and over
done, one finds himself not on a moun- again, even though one be hundreds of
KALGAN .PANG ilREN TUERINi ARCTIC I

URGA
^PACIFIC DIVIDE JKIANG DABASU DIVIDE I I
600 WILES
Profile across the Great Basin of the Gobi from Kalgan to Urga. —
The base line is sea level.
The profile itself is founded on nearly 1000 altitude readings reduced to scale, so that the vertical
measurements are exaggerated ten times over the horizontal. At the south, the Pacific divide
at Wan Hsien Pass (see map on p. 161) stands at about 5000 feet, and parts the waters that
flow into China from those that flow into the desert basin. At the north the Arctic divide
stands at about 6000 feet, and parts the waters that flow northward into Siberia from those
that flow southward into the desert. Between the two divides lies a great cradle-like sag,
descending gradually to the depression at Iren Dabasu, where the elevation is not much more
than 3000 feet. This is the Great Basin of the Gobi
tain range at all, but on the edge of a miles from the region, making one feel
great plateau 5000 feet above the first quite unaccountably that this land is
low plains of China and the sea; and the veritable roof of the world and that
now for a thousand miles one may go a little way ahead, just beyond the
forward without encountering another next rise of ground, one must be able
such barrier. This is the outer rim of to look over the edge and see the rest
one of the great interior basins of cen- of the world spread out before him.
tral Asia, —this is the border of Mon- It is not as endless, of course, as it
golia, the edge of the Desert of Gobi. appears to be, but as far as one can see,
and indeed for hundreds of miles
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE GOBI beyond, it is a gently rolling, open
It is comparatively easy to give a country, with stretches of level, monot-
mental picture of the essential features onous plain between other stretches
of the great basin region of central with more variety of relief. Here and
Mongolia, to the edge of which we have there hilly country or a mountain
now approached. The Gobi is only ridge replaces the flatness, but this is
one of a series of great basins, all of certain to be succeeded only a little
semi-desert character, which together way beyond by the gently rolling Or

stretch across the continent of Asia. level, monotonous plain.
It is the easternmost and the largest Thus, the trail stretches over hun-
of them. dreds of miles of desert to the mountain
As one stands on the edge of the divides of the north, which separate
plateau and turns toward the Desert of the wooded Siberian slopes from the
Gobi, the view is entirely transformed. desert basins of central Asia. From all
Instead of rugged country, deep val- sides these lands slope to the interior.
Central Mongolia is truly a basin. It has now come to be applied to the

is2000 feet lower in the central portion whole desert region of central Mon-
than on its uphfted margins. But it is golia, the Desert of Gobi.
nearly a thousand miles across, and on Across this bare, open, unprotected
such a scale its basin form is not at all plateau region fierce winds seem to
apparent. Such streams as there are blow interminably. Dust is swept
now, behaving just as other more entirely away to settle down again in
ancient streams have behaved for ages distant regions, while the heavier
past, flow out into the basin, whenever sands, formed by the disintegrating
ANCIENT MOUNTAINS
I
WORN DOWN TO A PENEPLAIN
wmm^mmm^m^mmmm
WARPED TO FORM A BASIN
This diagram is intended to illustrate successive stages in the development of a Gobi basin.
The upper section shows the complex structure and rugged profile of the original land, the
second indicates the effect of erosion in wearing this ancient land down to a peneplain, and the
third illustrates the development of sedimentary beds of still later date on the down-warped
portions, after the region had been lifted and warped into basins
they flow at all, losing most of their action of the weather on exposed rock
waters as they go, either by evapora- ledges, accumulate near by in dunes.
tion by sinking
or into the sand. Great quantities of the lighter material
Here and there a trickle struggles must have been swept off the Gobi and
bravely through to some salt lake, carried to the lower border lands of
but for the most part there is no China. Other great quantities of
surface water. sand shift about over certain tracts of
This large, basin-like region is itself the desert, making travel slow and
a complex of smaller basins, each one of difficult.
which marked by a smooth, fiat,

is Thus ithappens that such rain-wash
level surface and is separated from its erosion as there is, together with the
neighbor basins by rolling hill country work of the wind, has swept from the
or by semi-mountainous ridges. These rock floor almost everything that in
secondary basins, with their great other countries would have made a
open stretches of level ground, some a soil,and one may travel mile after
hundred miles across, are characteristic mile and day after day over the nearly
of the region. Such an open, smooth barren surface of the rock formations
plain is called gohi by the people of that make up everywhere the solid
Mongolia, and this is the name that "crust of the earth." True it is that
Typical rock desert along the Urga caravan route. —The floor is solid rock, and is virtually
bare. Residuary boulders of granite lie scattered about, left by the disintegrating action of
the weather. There isn't an inch of real soil under the wheels of the motors. Photograph by
Charles P. Berkey

The far-flung landscape of the Gobi. — A characteristic view in the center of the desert,
looking across a sediment-filled basin. These are the boundless plains that impress one so
much on the plateaus of central Asia. Photograph by Walter Granger
166
there is much drifting sand,, so abun- only to be destroyed in turn like those
dant in certain belts that it is impos- before them. To tell this as it should
sible to cross successfully except with be told is much too long a story for the
camel caravans. For the most part, present purpose. It must suffice to
however, the Gobi is not strictly a sand catch merely a glimpse of these mighty
desert. In all essential respects it is a movements reaching back farther and
rock desert, with the underlying geol- farther into geologic time.
ogic formations so near the surface Between this ancient series and the
that one trained to see such things is later one a long interval is lost. Every-
not confused by the thin veneer of thing since that remote time is simpler
sand. Looking through this he soon and easier to read. The continent has
learns to unravel the underground been more stable. Strata formed since
structure, and read, with as much then are little disturbed, and tell a
success as in other regions, the geologic clearer story. They lie on the up-
story that is hid away in the strata turned edges of the older series, and
beneath. form the smooth plains of the Gobi.
Our immediate interest is directed
GEOLOGY OF THE GOBI particularly to these level gohi areas
One soon learns, for example, that that we have now discovered are under-
the rolling, hilly, and mountainous lain by simple sediments of later date.
portions of the country dividing the It is quite worth while for us to find out
Gobi plains are underlain by complex, how these sediments are related to the
comparatively ancient rocks, and that more complicated rock formations of
the smooth, level, monotonous stretches the hilly districts forming the divides
between are underlain by much young- and to determine whether either of
er sediments with much simpler struc- these formational groups carries min-
ture and a very different story. erals of value or fossils of scientific
Together they must carry the secrets interest, or evidences of any kind that
of the geologic history of central Asia. will help us to unravel and understand
If these strata do not, then it must be the whole geologic story.
that the story is lost. For this purpose there is little
Thus the geologic formations of promise in the smooth level tracts of

Mongolia consist of two grand divi- unbroken plain. But not all portions
sions, —
one an exceedingly complex are so monotonous, — not all of the
series of ancient rocks carrying the plains areas are unbroken. Here and
story back to the very dawn of geol- there, in former times, streams have
ogic history, the other a simple series cut down into the deposits, and have
of sediments recording the last chapter. scooped out valleys across the plains,
The older story is much the longer and gulches have been carved that still
and more complicated one, involving remain as evidences of former erosion
foldings of strata and upheavals conditions. If one stops, therefore,
into mountains, outbreaks of vol- at such a place on the margin of an old
canoes and igneous activity in the valley, one may find the edges of the
ground below, the sinking of lands strata exposed, and these beds can be
beneath the sea and their emergence inspected one after another. One has,
again, followed by the making of therefore, occasional opportunity to see
mountains a second or a third time, not only what these sediments are and
168 NATURAL HISTORY
m>nm--'im*mm,iia^

Horizontal strata in one of the Gobi basins, where erosion has exposed the edges of the sedi-
mentary beds as effectively as if one had dug trenches through them. Such places as these are
the normal hunting grounds for fossils. Photograph by Walter Granger
how one layer differs from another, essentials of the whole story of the
but also what they carry. Still more basin sediments and to determine what
rarely erosion has cut through to the relation this story has to the much
very floor, exposing the underlying more complicated one of the still more
basement rock on which the sediments ancient floor.
were originally laid down, and one This is a part of the story, —almost
can then see that this basement, or the closing pages of it. Long before the
floor, is the same complex of older Age of Mammals, doubtless many
formations that was before noted in million years ago, northern Asia had
the rolling divides between the basins. been worn down, chiefly by the slow
Everywhere, therefore, there is this work stream erosion, to the monoto-
of
complex old floor that was once a land nous a peneplain (a low erosion
relief of
surface itself, until changes took place plain). In still more ancient times, it
that permitted some of it to be covered had been three times at least a moun-
with later sediments. At such places tainous continent; but the steady
the character of the bottom sedimen- wear of weather and rain, of wind and
tary beds can be seen and, if one's water acting through immensely long
search continued far enough, other
is intervals of time had destroyed these
and higher or younger beds will be mountains and carried off their waste
seen. If conditions are particularly and had carved out a new plain of its
favorable, it may be that nearly every own design across the complicated
individual stratum in the whole basin rock formations that then made up the
can be thus examined at one place or structure of the continent. This was
another. By piecing together bits of accomplished almost as perfectly as if
evidence, then, from one outcrop after one had taken a great knife and had
another, it is possible to formulate the pared the continent down, throwing
the shavings into the adjacent sea. gravels and muds were laid down there,
Thus the mountains were shced off, year after year, age after age, until the
but one can still see the complicated smaller basins were filled and united
structures of the roots of them in the with their larger neighbors, to make a
rock floor of the present desert and still more extensive cover of sediments.
beneath the sediments of the basins. These are now the strata that lie on
At that time the continent may not the old rock floor, and this in a word is
have stood very high above sea level, the origin of the "later sediments" that
but at a certain stage some powerful lie beneath the gohis.
This diagram represents a rectangular block sliced out of the earth, exhibiting the features of
a warped and faulted basin. The front of the slice shows the cut edges of all the rock structures.
The center of the slice is the down-sinking area, and here the sediments have accumulated. A
has developed near the left-hand end, and the old crystalline rocks are heaved up,
split or fault
making a long straight mountain front. Volcanoes have broken out along this fault zone; the
foremost volcano is pictured sliced in half, exposing bedded ash and lava flow. A breached cone
stands farther away along the same zone and two perfect cones are seen in the distance. New
sediments are being carried down from the uplifted block by streams, which are depositing their
load in the form of alluvial fans on top of the previously formed lava flows. In time these sedi-
ments. will form a new series of overlying strata
internal earth forces caused the con- At times in the course of this process
tinent to be lifted higher and higher new warping took place, making still
above the sea to something like its greater unevennesses, developing new
present position. In the course of this basins where therehad been none
movement it was raised more at the before, deepening some that were not so
margins than in the middle, and it was deep before, and lifting up places that
warped enough so that took the it had been level before. Then the work
form of a great shallow basin. This must begin all over again. Uplifted
warping was not very uniform either, places where sediments had already
so there came to be small basins within been laid down were thus exposed and
the larger one. eroded, so that these beds were de-
Then the rivers that had aforetime stroyed almost as soon as they were
flowed to the sea began to flow inland, made, and the erosion debris was
into the basin which had been made carried off tofill in the adjacent, newly
where previously there had been out- formed depressions.

ward-sloping upland. And the sedi- Not infrequently an area that had
ments that these streams carried were thus been «the seat of deposition and
now deposited in the basin instead of had subsequently been uplifted so that
being borne to the sea. Sands and its sediments had been in part removed,
170 NATURAL HISTORY
found itself later, after another change, along fractures where there was con-
the seat of deposition for a second time. siderable dislocation. One finds abun-
Thus there are often exhibited two or dant accumulations of ashes and cin-
three series of sedimentary beds, one on ders, now forming beds of tuff, lava
top of the other, with erosion intervals flows, and all sorts of intrusions of once
between. Streams sometimes cut deep molten rock. This complicates the
channels into these new deposits, story. Occasionally one finds old
uncovering their internal structure, lava fields, covering hundreds of-
showing up their peculiarities of com- square miles, and, still more rarely, a
Sketch of the range Baga Bogdo, one of the Altai chain, seen from the north at a distance of
forty miles. It is a fault-block mountain, like that shown diagramatically on p. 169. In this
view we are looking southward at the steep front face of the block, which rises to 7000 feet above
the floor of the basin. The remarkably even sky line, sweeping gently up from either end to the
highest peak represents one of the ancient peneplains, carved upon hard rock, and now uplifted.
In the broad basin of the foreground lie several thousand feet of sedimentary strata, some of
which have proved to be veritable treasure houses of rare fossil forms. There are Cretaceous
beds bearing dinosaurs, fossil fishes, and fossil mosquitoes; Oligocene beds carrying the monster
Baluchitherium, and a Pliocene formation in which are the bones of horse, deer, and ostrich
position and their evidences of changes volcano, so recent that the weather
of level or of shiftings of centers of has not yet destroyed the gloss on the
deposition. glazed surfaces of some of the rocks at
In some places, also, earth disturb- the vent, where hot gases must once
ances were much more pronounced. have poured out. But volcanoes are at
Instead of gentle warping the floor was best transient things. The loosely built
broken. On one side of the fracture pile is soon destroyed. So it happens
the earth dropped down and the other that the old ones have been demolished
side was lifted until it stood as a frown- and only the less destructible evidences
ing escarpment. Of such deformations remain.
there are all grades, from a gentle warp Such changes can be read from the
that simply tilts the strata or a dis- structure of the rocks alone, but an
location that displaces the strata only a added interest attaches to the sedi-
little to great fault blocks uplifted till ments of the basins, because of the
they stand as mountains. The fine fact that these same strata carry fossil
north face of Baga Bogdo of the eastern forms representing the living creatures
Altai, standing majestically above the of that time. The bones of the animals
adjacent basin plain, is such a faulted that roamed over the continent of Asia
block. It has been pushed up out of during the period when the deposits
the plain at least 7000 feet above its were being made were sometimes
former level, and for all we know the buried in them, and may be dug out
movement may still continue. again if one finds the places where
At many places where such move- they have been entombed. These
ments took place, volcanoes broke out places are the fossil fields of Mongolia.
One learns where to find them and To this end a route map is kept, on
how the strata of one field are related which is sketched the course of the
to others by unravelling the geologic traverse and the bordering topography.
story that interprets the ground. From aneroid barometer readings,
made with everj^ change of level, a
METHOD OF WORK running profile is constructed mile by
But the story is to be read, if at all, mile. On this the geology is sketched
only by most careful and painstaking in cross section, representing as true .
work. no base from which to

There is to life as possible the succession of
start —
there is no map worthy of the formations, the underground structure,
—
name to guide one and if there is to and the interpretation of their rela-
be an explanation, it must be built tions one to another.
470 1 460 9 8 7 6 5 454

MILES FROM TSA6AN-N0R
< TRAVELLING 5-4.0°
ALTITUDES IN FEET
A page from one of the note books, showing a fragment of the 3000-mile geologic cross sec-
tionmade on this reconnaissance. This illustrates the method of representing certain geological
data en route. The profile is constructed from aneroid readings; the underground structure is
an interpretation based on the outcrops of rocks examined while driving over the surface. This
particular section shows a portion of the eroded and warped old rock floor, once doubtless com-
pletely covered with sediments of later age, now uncovered again at its highest points by
recent erosion
up from the ground itself. This re- When the expedition is moving
quires constant watchfulness for every rapidly,such an undertaking is ex-
bit of evidence. During a few minutes tremely trying and exhausting work.
of inattention one may pass by the One must spend every minute, when
best find that the region affords. One the expedition can be halted, in examin-
must make literally thousands of ing the ground, while notes and sketches
observations and inspections and judg- must be made largely on the move.
ments and trial studies as rapidly as it One must jump out and examine an
is possible to work. It is not an unusual outcrop, or run to the top of a hill or
thing to make a thousand examinations collect a representative specimen or
of rock outcrops in a day, and record detect the presence of fossils or take
their meaning in whatever way is a measurement and be off again, while
practicable, considering the speed of the rest of the caravan moves leisurely
travel imposed by the movements of on. Then one must drive all the faster
the expedition. These records must be to catch up if he can, making his notes
kept in a running account, so that they like the wayfarer, — on the run! Sev-
can be picked out again in their proper eral timesmore than a hundred miles of
setting, and so that the succession of such cross section work was done in a
changes can be reproduced. single day.
172 NATURAL HISTORY
Route studies covering more than turns, and without them the whole
3000 miles have been made, and these effortwould be reduced to simple re-
form the basis of the related explora- connaissance, because the moves of
tory investigations, and of what is the expedition are made too rapidly to
known about the distribution of the allow adequate checking of the more
later sediments and other strata in the difficult and critical points. In these
Desert of Gobi. Where a promising places, chosen for special study, the
fossil find is encountered, there a structure can be worked out in detail,
longer stop can be made, and the the succession of strata with their
geologist, for a time, turns fossil- fossil content can be much more ex-
hunter with the rest. But at the first haustively determined, and the geo-
opportunity he is off again to extend logic story can be pieced together with
the section and locate new fields. great assurance.
Thus exploration for new sites and Altogether the task is an arduous one.
development of proven ground go The heaviest work comes when it
hand in hand. would be much more convenient to
These route studies must be carried ride along with the rest of the expedi-
everywhere and must be kept continu- tion and enjoy the scenery. It is one
ous so that one does not find himself thing to bowl along for a hundred
geologically isolated in a completely miles over a rolling plain, musing on
unknown country. But special local the fortunes of the day or the fame
studies may be made wherever there of the morrow, and quite another to be
are longer stops. These may take the responsible for the geologic record of
form of joining in more diligent search the route and of the meaning of the
for fossils or of engaging in a detailed ground over every mile of the journey.
examination of the succession of strata, It is a severe tax on endurance, and on
or the}^ may making a local
result in devotion to science, but the success of
geologic map as a method of recording the enterprise is quite as much de-
more complicated data in a form suit- pendent on this kind of persistence as
able for reference and record. on any other factors.
If a locality proves to be particularly If one has such work, it is physically
critical and productive, so that all impossible to record all of the observa-
interests may work together for a tions and assemble them in presentable
longer time, then a much more elabor- form during the day's operations, and
ate, special areal study is made of as as soon as camp is pitched, one must
large a surface as can be covered in therefore retire to his tent and con-
the time. These special areal studies tinue on the day's notes far into the
become the key maps, or standards of night. Maybe exploratory work is
reference for future work, and the attempted in a less strenuous manner,
areas chosen for them are always select- but it is not done that way if the
ed because they give special promise responsibilities of the expedition are
of returns in unravelling the history of suitably cared for, and if the expecta-
the region. At least 700 square miles tions of the men at home who vouched
were thus mapped in detail during the for it and who foot the bills are fully
intervals of travel in the first season. to be met.
It is such studies as these which really There are few better places in which
give the most reliable scientific re- to sleep than the Desert of Gobi, but —
it does not fall to the lot of a geologist the earth or any trickiness or unre-
to take full advantage even of that liability of the rocks themselves that
opportunity. After the other members mistakes are made. Their story is
of the expedition have all turned in, always there, and one must learn how
the geologist must wait for the proper to read it from the few scattered
time, set up the instruments and records still preserved in the only
''shoot Polaris," so that by means of symbols that the earth knows how to
the stars he may determine where this write.
place is. After all of these things are One reads this language, if he is an
done, little enough time is left for rest. explorer, he does not learn the
else
One gets his inspiration from the story; and one follows these obscure
work, and from a belief that if it is pointers of the ground, otherwise its
well done, we shall by and by unravel choicest treasures will not be found.
the story recorded by the rocks, and The earth does not respond to a
the expedition will find what there is whim. One may search blindly, to be
to be found. sure, and make an accidental find.
If one has learned to interpret the But it would not be to the credit of a
meaning of the features to be seen, scientific expedition to search in that
then, after these keys have been found, way. One cannot make a discovery
one can tell with considerable assur- where there is nothing. And one
ance where the more promising fields should not seek where it can be shown
are and where, on the other hand, it that the earth has not produced. But
would be wasted time to stop. if there are hidden treasures and if
It is always a most satisfying thing there is a new story and if it falls to
to appreciate that the rock formations one's lot to cross such ground, then
of the earth are just as they ought to one must not fail to find what there
be. This is because they have been is to be discovered.
made through processes and by agents It is not good fortune alone that
and under laws that can be understood. leads to discovery. Clairvoyance and
If one can read his geology in these magic will not do. Back of it all is a
terms, and if one's interpretation is lot of plain hard work. Through it aU
sound, the rock formations behave runs a lot of vigorous discussion, an
just as they are expected to behave, endless amount of revision of hypoth-
and they occur where they ought to be, eses and many a try out of new
and they carry what they ought to theories, many a ruthless rejection,
contain. Rest assured it is not be- and many an hour of groping thought.
cause of any wizardry or supernatural Fortunate are they whose
indeed
competence in the investigator that ground has been favored and whose
the strata begin to reveal their secrets. final working hypotheses are true
And it is not because of any erratic or enough to solve their major problems
mysterious or accidental behavior of and lead to contributions of real value.
A RHINO AND HER CALF
It is believed that this is the only photograph ever secured of the one-horned] Indian
rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) in a mid These two animals lived in a patch of thorn and
state.
bush cover near the camp estabUshed by the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition.

They might easily
were desired and the horn of this female was poorly de-
have been shot, but only good specimens
her again and agam
veloped and her calf too small. Because the members of the expedition saw
during their sojourn, they came to feel for her a familiarity that was untainted by contempt.
They named her Lizzie
174
The leaders of the expedition, Colonel Faunthorpe on the right and Mr. Vernay on
the left
Jungle Life in India, Burma, and Nepal

SOME NOTES ON THE FAUNTHORPE-VERNAY EXPEDITION OF 1923
By lieutenant COLONEL J. C. FAUNTHORPE

Late Commissioner of Lucknow, India
THE PICTURES ACCOMPANYING THIS ARTICLE WERE TAKEN BY MR. G. M. DYOTT, THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND
CINEMATOGRAPHER OP THE EXPEDITION
THE fauna of India have until now

not been well represented in the
plete disappearance of
in the
game animals
United States is, of course,
American Museum of Natural notorious, but the same thing is going
History, and it was to remedy this on practically all over the world.
deficiency that the expedition to India Sir H. H. Johnston, in his introdtic-
was undertaken by Mr. Arthur S. tion to Schillings' book. With Flash-
Vernay and myself in 1923. The speci- light and draws atten-
Rifle in Africa,
mens collected will be shown in the tion to the "ravages of European and
Asiatic hall, which is one of the addi- American sportsmen, which are still
tions to the Museum now being built. one of the greatest blots on our twen-
Amatter to which Prof. Henry tieth century civilization." He adds,
Fairfield Osborn is devoting much "All the wrongdoing does not rest
attention is the deplorable rapidity with the white man. The Negro or the
with which the wild animal life of the Negroid, armed with the white man's
world is being destroyed, and recent weapons, is carrying on an even more
"Can We Save
articles of his entitled, senseless work of devastation," and
the Mammals?"! and "The Close of "Public opinion should strengthen
the Age of Mammals"^ have attracted as far as possible the wise action of
widespread attention. The almost com- governments in protecting the world's
fauna all the world over, wherever the
-" Can We Save the Mammals?" by Henry Fair-
field Osborn and Harold Elmer Anthony. Natural creatures thus protected do not come
History, Vol. XXII, Number 5, pp. 388-40.5.
-" The Close of the Age of RIammals," by Henry into dangerous competition with the
Fairfield Osborn and Harold Elmer Anthony. Journal
of Mammalogy, November, 1922. welfare of human beings. Moreover, it
175
176 NATURAL HISTORY
is for the welfare of humanity in general It was the consideration of these
that this plea is entered. The world facts which led the American Museum
will become very uninteresting if man authorities to plan an Asiatic collection
and few domestic animals, together
his and to welcome the offer made by two
with the rat, mouse and sparrow, are Englishmen to provide the Asiatic
its only inhabitants amongst the land wing, adjoining the Roosevelt hall,
vertebrates. Man's interests must with a representative collection of the
come first, but those very interests animals of the plains of India and
demand food for the intellect." Schill- Burma.
ings himself writes: ''Already a The idea of the Indian collection be-
great number of the inmates of our gan as far back as 1918 when, owing to
zoological museums have been struck a disagreement with my superiors as
out of the book of living things, though to the proper administration of the
they existed in .millions in the time of branch of the Intelligence Department
our fathers. The work of destruction of which I was in charge, I left the
entered upon by civilized man goes on Army in Flanders and went to New
with terrible swiftness. . . . To-day York on the British War Mission. One
there is still time in the case of many of my fellow passengers on the good old
species. In a few years it will be too ''Baltic" was Mr. Arthur S. Vernay,
late." an Englishman who has been in busi-
And the extermination of wild ani- ness in New York for the last twenty
mals is not confined to Africa, nor to years or more. Another was Mr.
the United States, where it is already William Beebe of the New York
practically complete. Particularly Zoological Society, author of the well-
since the introduction of the "Re- known Monograph of the Pheasants.
formed" government in India, which Through him I met Prof. Henry Fair-
has resulted in a generally slackened field Osborn, who showed me over the
enforcement of existing laws and American Museum, including the taxi-
rules (the Arms Act and Forest Act dermy rooms. I was much impressed
among others), the dimunition of game, by the perfect system of taxidermy
as I can state from mj^ own personal in use and by the manner in
artistic
observation, has been rapid. There are which the animals were shown in groups
many more guns in the villages than in a reproduction of their natural
formerly and I know many districts surroundings, as well as being struck
where game animals and birds, abun- by the fact that the fauna of India were
dant not many years ago, have now represented by very few specimens,
practically disappeared. Within a and those of a very poor quality.
measurable space of time there will be Later, on my return to India after a
no game in India, except in preserves period of duty with the British Em-
maintained bj^ native chiefs and in the bassy at Washington, I wrote to
more inaccessible of the government Professor Osborn and offered to make
forest reserves. And even in the gov- a collection of Indian animals, if he
ernment forests, the depredations of would provide me with a capable taxi-
the Indian poacher are becoming con- dermist. Vernay came to India on a
tinually more extended and at the same shooting trip shortly after this, and we
time are less resisted by the Forest discussed the matter, with the result
staff. that when he returned to America, it
JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA, BURMA, AND NEPAL 177
Route of the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition to India, Burma, and Nepal, with the
hunting areas indicated in sohd black and designated by numbers showing the order in
which they were visited
was arranged that a collection should in the wilder parts ofSouth America,
be made. The Museum promised us a and during the War was a commander
taxidermist, and Vernay, who not only in the Naval Flying Corps and special-
has ideas but the energy and the means ized in aerial photography.
to carry them out, undertook to finance Dyott had his first introduction to
the expedition. the Indian jungle when we were collect-
was obvious that photographs and
It ing specimens of swamp deer. Wearing
cinematograph films would add greatly a pair of rubber thigh boots (surplus
to the value of the collection, especially government stores), he took station,
as the American Museum makes a with his movie camera, in about two
feature of lectures, illustrated by films. feet of water to await the arrival of the
The Museum's educational activities deer, which we undertook to drive in
with the schools reach yearly, I believe, his direction. Vernay having roused a
about a million and a half people. The fine stag, the line went off in a different
services of Mr. G. M. Dyott, f.r.g.s., direction, and the unfortunate photog-
as photographer and cinematographer rapher did not get his pictures until
to the expedition were fortunately se- about three hours later. Although the
cured. Dyott has done a great deal leeches are rather active in those
of exploration and photographic work swamps, he made no complaint.
178 NATURAL HISTORY
He was always ready "to take a approval to the expedition, and the
chance on anything" in order to secure local governments and native chiefs
a good film. On several occasions he provided generous help. The India

was posted on the ground when tigers Office persuaded the Indian govern-
were being beaten out of the thick ment to place me on special duty
growth, and twice, when in this pre- (without pay) to assist the expedition
carious position, he secured an excel- for a period of three months.
lent film of a tiger galloping across the After completing the swamp deer
open, as well as "close ups" of ele- and the nilgai groups, Vernay made a
phant, rhinoceros, tiger, and many special expedition into the lower range
other animals. of the Himalayas on the Ganges to

I had arranged to have a shooting shoot a big tusker elephant which the
party in the Ranee of Khairigarh's year before had chased the Forest
jungles in the Kheri District at Christ- Officer and would undoubtedly have
mas, and was fortunately able to se- killed him had the officer not succeeded
cure Jonas, a taxidermist sent by the in scrambling across a nullah, which
American Museum, in time for this. the elephant could not cross. It is
I was successful in obtaining fine curious, by the way, how small a

specimens of that beautiful and rare ditch will prove impassable to an
animal, the swamp deer, as well as some elephant. In the old days, in some of
other mammals and certain rare birds. the forest divisions, deep and square-
It was a good omen for the success of cut but surprisingly narrow, ditches
the expedition that one of the two stags used to be dug around the forest
I shot carried very massive antlers, bungalows to keep the elephants out.
having twelve points and measuring I don't think an elephant can get over
39K inches, which is, I believe, a record a six-foot ditch; one of seven feet will
for the province. It is certainly by far certainly defeat him.
the best head I have ever seen. This big tusker was, no doubt,
Vernay and Dyott arrived early in somewhere in the neighborhood, but
January, and assisted by Turner, the could not be located, which is perhaps
Forest Officer of Kheri, and by Kunwar not surprising considering the great
Dillipat Shah of Khairigarh, completed density of the Sal Forest up north,
the swamp deer group, and secured compared with the forests in the Billi-
some other specimens as well as good girirangan Hills in southern India, in

pictures. which we got our elephants later.
The chief difficulty which con- The next place visited was Bhopal,
fronted us was how to obtain groups of where Her Highness the Begum and
the maximum number of species in the her ministers were most helpful, and
short time available, for, owing to the Vernay was fortunate enough to secure
extreme heat and the rainy season, a sambur stag with a massive and sym-
shooting in the plains of India must metrical head of 41-inches, and also
practically cease by the end of Maj^, specimens of the Indian antelope and
and in Burma by the end of June. We gazelle. A 41-inch sambur is a fine
had only about five and a half months trophy in these days.
in which to do our work. I fear that game has become very
The India Office and the government scarce in Bhopal, as His Excellency
of India had already given their the Viceroy, who visited that state
about the same time, and no doubt single specimen is, I believe, to be
had the pick of the jungles reserved for found within two hundred miles. As
him, did not succeed in securing a regards British territory, only a few
sambur. still survive in Assam.
While Vernay was hunting in Bhopal That enlightened ruler, my friend
and elsewhere, I was continuing to do a His Highness Maharajah Sir Chandra
bit of useful staff work (in addition to Shumshere Jung of Nepal, fully appre-
my ordinary duties of misgoverning ciated the importance of the expedi-
the Lucknow Division) by arranging for tion. He first arranged that we should
future trips. The chief point was to visit the tract of country where His
get the specimens in the shortest time. Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
This depended mainly on selecting the and staff had recently shot tiger and
best locality and season for obtaining rhino, but later proposed that we
each species. Colonel O'Connor, the should enter the more inaccessible
British Envoy to Nepal, had offered Gandak Valley, where there was a
to help and very kindly asked Vernay probability of our obtaining better
and Dyott to join his tiger shoot in specimens in a shorter space of time,
eastern Nepal, where Vernay bagged a once we got on the ground. But getting
couple of tigers and Dyott got some on the ground was not so easy. This
good films. The permission of the interesting tract of country is cut off
government of Madras was obtained to from the plains by ranges of broken
shoot one tusker and one female ele- hills, through which the Gandak River
phant, and the bison required for the cuts a tortuous way to the plains,
group, in Madras Government Forest, flanked in its by a series
course of
and the Maharajah of Mysore allowed precipitous gorges. The valley is
us one tusker elephant in his territory. inhabited almost entirely by Tharus of
Our object was to obtain a group of a very fine type.
each animal. For instance, of the The only ways of entering the valley
bison — one bull, one cow, and One calf ;
areby boat, towed up a swift-running
and, in addition to this material for a stream, which takes two days, or on
group, one skeleton of an adult bull. foot over the hills, where there is no
The skeleton series is of great interest road. 'In many places the trail re-
for anyone studying the evolution of sembles the dry bed of a mountain
types. In the case of elephant and stream more than anything else. We
rhino we omitted the calf; in the case took fifteen hours to do the first march
of the smaller deer and antelope, we of eleven miles. We came out by boat
added an additional male or female or in five hours.
both. The Maharajah provided us with
THE RHINOCEROS HUNT coolies and six elephants for transport,
The animal of which we were most but although I have for the last fifteen
anxious to secure good specimens was years been accustomed to riding ele-
the great Indian one-horned rhinoceros, phants over all sorts of country, the
now extremely rare in British territory, going was so bad that we did practically
and decreasing rapidly in Nepal. In the whole march on foot, picking up on
the Morang the Nepal
District of the way a very fine specimen of the
Tarai this was plentiful
rhinoceros Indian sloth bear, which luckily fell
not many years ago, but now not a to a single shot from a .275 Rigby
Typical rhino country in the Gandak Valley of Nepal. — The female obtained by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition was shot a short distance from the tree with broadly forked
branches that is conspicuous on the right of the photograph
Rhino tracks deeph^ impressed in the soft soil
180
Mauser, the only weapon we had whom we met frequently and whom
actually with us when we sighted the we called Lizzie, we became quite
bear. friendly, but I think she was glad when
The Nepalese government keeps six we left. Vernay on one occasion
or eight ofits elephants in the Gandak crawled up to her private mud bath
Valley, near where we camped on the and watched her at about four yards'
second day after entering Nepal, and range. Dyott with his movie camera
some of the mahouts have the reputa- sat over the mud bath for the next
tion of being expert rhinoceros track- two afternoons, but Lizzie did not
ers. We first started beating for rhino appear. She had a distinctly peevish
with elephants and drove out a female expression when I last saw her.
rhino with a small calf that lived in The local trackers did not seem keen
some patches of thorn and bush cover to show us big rhino, but a little heart-
near the camp, which was on the to-heart talk and the promise of good
river bank. We refused to shoot them, rewards to the trackers and also to the
as the calfwas very small and the cow villagers induced the former to take us
had a very short horn, and we wished to a large solitary male rhino, that was
to make certain of obtaining good speci- located in a valley in the Sal Forest,
mens. The trackers expressed surpi'ise containing heavy bush cover and sev-
and regret. With this lady rhino, eral pools of water. This enormous
This rhinoceros, wounded by the first shot fired by Mr. Vernay, turned and charged him,
but was dropped by his second bullet
182 NATURAL HISTORY
slate-colored beast, apparently quite there is any bird shooting to be done, I
unconcerned at the presence of several will do it myself." They then ap-

men in the trees who were watching proached the supposed bird under
him, allowed us to approach on ele- cover of the heavy jungle on the bank
phants to within about seventy yards, above the pool, only to find that it was
from which range both Vernay and I the horn and ears of a rhino which lay
fired, with the result that after gallop- soaking in the water.
ing about a hundred yards, the rhino I jumped into a boat and hustled
pitched over dead. He was a big and down stream. It was rapidly becoming
very old male, whose horn had been dark, and after a hurried scramble for
splintered and worn down to about 8 about half a mile over most uncom-
inches by digging or fighting. This fortable pebbles, I saw the rhino still
rhino was shot several miles from camp, in thewater and managed to get up
and the taxidermist and his satellites near him just as he was leaving the
had to spend the night by the carcass. pool. This proved to be a fine male
The trackers were bitterly re- with- a horn measuring 12}^ inches.
proached because we wanted horns of He had evidently been fighting and
at least 12 inches,and it was decided had festering incised wounds on flank
that it would be more sportsman-like and in stomach.
and also more effective to stalk the On returning to camp I found that
remaining specimens on foot rather Vernay had accounted for the other
than to shoot at them from somewhat rhino, also a very fine male, with a
unsteady elephants. horn more than 12 inches in length.
The next day, after a fruitless ex- This animal after being wounded had
pedition under the guidance of the tried to charge him but had been
trackers, we were informed by the dropped in the grass on the river bank
villagers on our return to camp that a by another bullet from his .465 Hol-
rhino had been seen drinking in a pool land. I was using a .400 Jeffery rifle.
on the other side of the river. The The great Indian one-horned rhinoc-
energetic Vernay immediately crossed eros is, of course, the biggest rhinoc-
in a boat. I sat down and ordered tea. eros in the world. His horn is smaller
Shortly after arrived the Nepalese than are those of the African rhinoc-
Munshi (the District Officer's assist- eroses, either the black or the white,
ant) who had gone out with the local
, but in height and bulk he far exceeds
Nepalese Lieutenant to shoot birds the African species. The males we
with my gun. He brought us the news shot measured well over seventeen
that there was a big rhino wallowing hands at the withers. The one-horned
in a pool not far from the river, about rhino is a curious animal to look at.
a mile down stream. The Munshi was With its shields and warty protuber-
breathing heavily from excitement and ances it has a kind of prehistoric ap-
exertion. His account of how they pearance.
came was amusing.
to see the rhinoceros It seems to be extraordinarily regular
He said hesaw what he took to be a in its habits. In the evening or late in
black water bird in the pool and said the afternoon the rhinos of the region
to the Lieutenant, ''Give me the gun where we hunted emerge from the
and I will shoot that bird." To which heavy jungle and wallow in the nu-
the Lieutenant replied, "Brother, if merous pools and backwaters near the
Gandak They spend the night

River. was nearly over, dashed across the
in feeding and in the early morning are nullah, and was knocked over by a
to be found at the edge of the heavy lucky shot at about one hundred and
covers, into which they retire during fifty yards, but recovered herself and
the heat of the day. went on. Dyott was in time to secure
We had now obtained our male a picture of her galloping up the bank.
rhinos,and the unfortunate taxiderm- We put an end to her in the heavy
ist had his work cut out. We had forest not far from the bank. She had
brought down from Lucknow a good been practically crippled by the first
Indian skinner, named Pancham, a bullet, which had hit her in the hind
servant of my old friend, the Ranee of quarters. She was a beautiful heavy-
Khairigarh, but we were able to find coated animal measuring nine feet,
only a very few Chamars (low-caste and will be immortalized in the Ameri-
Hindus who skin dead cattle) in can Museum.
the valley to do the rough work. The Another day we beat for a tigress
villagers are almost entirely Tharus. farther north, also in a strip of heavy
We still had to obtain a good speci- bush, thorn, and tree jungle, which
men of a female rhinoceros, but it was narrowed down to a point to the south
necessary to wait a day or two in order and was there separated by a broad
to enable the taxidermist to deal with nullah from the covers in which our
the skins of the males. friend Lizzie habitually lived. This
Stimulated by the rewards which we tigress had come from the north and
had paid for the rhinos, an intelligent the trackers said it was impossible to
headman of one of the villages, assisted beat her southward. On the other
by the Munshi, who, by the way, spoke hand, there was no hope of obtaining a
a weird mixture of Nepalese, English, picture of her except by forcing her out
and Hindustani, had volunteered to to the south, for to the north the jungle
some tigers.
locate broadened out continually and was
impossibly thick with heavy thorn
THE TIGER HUNT undergrowth. About fifty Tharus
We went out after a tigress next day were enlisted for the purpose of beating
and beat for her in a patch of tree and and placed in batches between the six
bush jungle, along the edge of the elephants with instructions to make a
Gandak River. I posted Vernay on the good deal of noise, while the Nepalese
point and put Dyott, with his movie Lieutenant, armed with my gun, main-
machine, in the broad nullah that tained an intermittent fire of shot
divided this strip of cover from the cartridges. The tigress was forced out
heavy forest. I myseK took up a posi- at the southern end of the jungle and
tion on the edge of this nullah, to one galloped across the broad nullah, giving
side of the patch. The tigress, curi- Dyott an opportunity of which he took
ously enough, was not in the patch at fulladvantage, obtaining a beautiful
allbut lying in a little thorn bush out- motion picture of her dashing across the
sideit, and Dyott, when he got off my open, including the splashes of dust
elephant with his movie camera to go kicked up by bullets ineffectually fired
and stand in the nullah, must have at her. This tigress was now in the
passed within two or three yards of her. upper section of Lizzie's home, which
She rose behind me when the beat we knew well.
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188 NATURAL HISTORY
Dyott was then posted with his way up the neck. For this shot a soft-
movie camera on a fallen tree in the nosed bullet is best. The rhinoceros
center of an open space to the south, proved to be a fine specimen, but her
while Vernay and I on elephants took horn was much worn down, measuring
one corner each. The tigress, came out only about 8 inches. The taxidermist
first of all, in front of Dyott, but with- outfit spent another night out with this
drew in horror when he started turning specimen, as in the darkness they could
the handle. He secured, however, a not return through the swamps. The
brief picture. Tharus built shelters of branches for
She then tried each corner in turn them.
and found both stopped; the final was now March 14 and getting
It
shock to her nerves came when, upon fairlywarm and the skins were giving
showing herself, she was immediately us some anxiety, as portions of the
charged with violence bj^ my elephant. epidermis had begun to slip on one of
With morale absolutely shattered she them, but with a liberal application of a
then made a bee line to the Gandak mixture of salt and alum this deteriora-
River and swam across this swift and tion was arrested and, I believe, they
broad stream. We did not grieve over arrived in New York in practically
her escape. We did not want her as a perfect condition.
specimen, and she had given us a film Wecame out of Nepal by boat
probably unique in the history of cine- through most picturesque scenery.
matography. The river is frequently flanked by
precipices and in places runs very swiftly
RESUMPTION OF THE RHINOCEROS HUNT through the gorges. Where the river
Having now given the skinners two bed widens, there are banks covered
or three days of comparative rest —for with crocodiles of both species, and
a tiger is a mere trifle to cope with in some good films were obtained on the
the taxidermy line —we got two female way down.
rhinos marked down to the south of
camp, about five or six miles away. THE ELEPHANT HUNT
The first one retreated into impene- Our next trek was a long and weary
trable thorn scrub, but after wading one to the Billigirirangan Hills, which
through a swamp, we found the second lie partly in Mysore territory and
standing in a dense clump of low trees. partly in the Coimbatore District of the
She had a half-grown calf with her, Madras Presidenc3^ This is the coun-
which was wandering about making try described by Sanderson in the well-
most extraordinary noises, resembling known book^ in which he teUs of his
the squawking of some large bird. We life among wild animals while in charge
could see the mother dimly through the of the government kheddah operations.
saplings, and Vernay stalked her on Our ground was more than seventy
foot and shot her through the neck, at miles from the railway. It is a charm-
a range of about twenty yards, killing ing tract of country averaging about
her with one bullet. The neck shot is 4500 above sea level, with the
feet
the most deadly for rhino, aim being higher running up to 6000 feet.
hills
taken between the deep neck creases, We were dependent here on the help
which are such a marked feature of this of the coffee planters, especially Cap-
curious animal, about two-thirds of the ^Thirteen Years Among the Wild Beasts of India.
tain Fremlin and Mr. Ralph Morris, we had Pancham, the Ranee of
who made allarrangements and pro- Khairigarh's skinner, four expert Indian
vided us with skilled Sholaga trackers. skinners provided by Van Ingen, the
We went up into the hills some seven taxidermist of Mysore, and twenty
miles from Morris' coffee estate, to a Madigas, low-caste men similar to the
spot where he had built grass huts in a Chamars of Upper India, to do the
shola close to one of the many routes rough work. We also had ropes and
used by the herds of wild elephants. pulleys to enable us to turn the ele-
But the first tusker elephant was phant's body over when necessary.
bagged before we went there. Two An elephant is skinned in three
elephants had been for some time haunt- pieces; first the head and neck are
ing Fremlin's coffee estate and the stripped and then thebody skin is
neighborhood. One was a muckna, or taken two pieces by skinning
off in
tuskless elephant, and the other a down the backbone and along the
large tusker with one tusk only. It was center of the stomach. There still re-
decided to shoot the latter for the mains a good deal work as the skin
of
skeleton series in the American Mu- is of great thickness and has to be con-
seum, and he fell to Vernay's rifle on siderably pared down.
the day of our arrival. The Sholagas When on the way to the grass-hut
were pleased, for this elephant used to camp Hool Patchi Hulla we were
at
come and ravage their banana planta- lucky enough to fall in with a large
tions. The lament, ''Yes, we have no herd of wild elephants, which contained
bananas" in Canarese (a most un- no really big tusker (for these are gen-
melodious language) was often heard erally found living solitary or semi-
in the land. solitary lives) and obtained some won-
We regretted afterward that we had derfully fine cinematograph pictures,
not shot the muckna instead for the including one of a tusker that came so
skeleton, as he was a magnificent ele- close to the camera that a had to
rifle
phant, — I think the finest I have ever be fired into the air to turn him off.
seen, either in the wild or in captivity. This herd eventually left the shola in
An elephant has as many points as a which they were temporarily staying
horse, and huge muckna was not
this and made off at a rapid pace down one
only perfectly shaped, but had a of the beaten tracks which the ele-
smooth and effortless action, reminding phants have made and regularly use in
one of a really good race horse. It is this neighborhood. These elephant
extraordinary how noiselessly a huge tracks are, in fact, the only paths of
beast like this can move through heavy any kind available in these jungles.
forest and how invisible he is when Our big tusker specimen was a
standing motionless. When in move- stranger that arrived one day from some
ment he resembles a shadow and when distance and was reported by one of the
at rest might well be mistaken for one Sholagas as having taken up a position
of the biggray rocks which are abun- under a large and shady tree in a valley
dant on the hillsides. two or three miles from our camp.
Warned by our difficulties with the Making a very early start the next
rhino skins, we were taking no chances morning, we found him within a few
with the elephant hides. In addition hundred yards of this spot. Rain had
to Jonas, the American taxidermist, and the forest was open enough to
fallen
190 NATURAL HISTORY
This tusker (Elephas maximus) was shot at a distance of not more than forty yards. He
sank into a sitting posture and even in death, which was practically instantaneous, looked
singularly lifelike
enable us to see from some distance ing to destroy this splendid animal.
this magnificent animal loafing slowly We took comfort, however, from the
along on the hillside, plucking and eat- thought that he will attain something
ing a branch at intervals. The stalk near immortality when set up under the
was an easy one on the damp ground Akeley process of taxidermy in the
and we got up to within forty yards American Museum, where he will be a
without any difficulty. We were slightly worthy counterpart to the fine African
to his left rear. We had arranged that tusker in the group prepared by Mr.
Vernay should take the brain shot. I Akeley. was with even more
It
supplemented this by one behind the regret that Vernay later shot a very
shoulder, but Vernay's .465 bullet had fine female elephant. This completed
reached its mark. This magnificent our elephant group, namely, one tusker
tusker slowly extended his forelegs and and one female, and one tusker for the
then slowly sat down, stone dead. He skeleton.
was supported in a sitting position
by a stout tree and as he sat there THE BISON HUNT
dead, looked singularly lifelike. Owing to the grass having been very
I have had so much to do with tame little burned, bison tracking was
elephants that I never wanted to but on March 30, a big soli-
difficult,
shoot one, and we both regretted hav- tary bull was located in the lower
The elephant, when viewed at close range, looms so large that one is apt to have one's
attention absorbed by bulk and proportions to the neglect of the details of his anatomy.
his
Yet a closer examination reveals many points of interest. In the upper picture is shown a
section of the hide, rugose and tough in character. The head of the animal is not bald but, as
indicated in the lower picture, is covered with a rather plentiful growth of upstanding hair
192 NATURAL HISTORY
country. To approach him involved tained some really good pictures of
not onlj^ chmbing an awful mountain, herds of chital, antelope, and nilgai.
which almost invariably had to be In the meantime Dillipat and I were

negotiated before one could get any- concentrating on getting a bear group,
where, but also walking along the and at first were singularly unsuccess-
ridge with a similar descent at the ful, not because there were no bears
other end. I shall never forget that about, but because we seemed to be
mountain. Walking up and down hill unable to hit them. Very few ele-
never was one of my favorite recrea- phants are steady to bear, and those
tions; Vernay seems to enjoy doing so. we had were not. Dillipat is, as a
The Sholaga trackers took some time matter of fact, an exceptionally good
picking up the bull's tracks and by the shot at a running animal, but both he
time they did so the sun was well up and I missed several bears before I
and we had to hurry, as the bull, they eventually hit a large male in good
said, was making for some heavy cover coat, worthy of being included in the
where he would probably lie for the bear group in the Museum. This bear,
day. After crossing a couple of low when hit, stood up and bit through a
ridges we came up with him on a steep sapling before he fell dead. The fe-
hillside. The stalk down hill was a male bear we had previously obtained
simple one and he was disposed of in Nepal when after rhinoceros. Turner
without difficulty, a fine old black shot another very big bear, which,
solitary bull with horns measuring although it had a bad coat, was desired
more than 20 inches in girth at the for the skeleton series.
base, but considerably worn and The sloth bear is a very bad-tem-
splintered at the tips. pered animal and will frequently attack
human beings absolutely unprovoked,
SLOTH BEAR, TIGER, AND LEOPARD as will also the wild boar at times.
We still had to get another bison bull, The jungle people are much more
a cow, and a calf. These Vernay and afraid of the sloth bear than they are
Morris undertook to shoot and, as it of the tiger and leopard.
was now April, I was anxious to get up One day we were beating ratoa grass
north in order to secure the required patches (ratoa is a very dense grass
specimens of sloth bear, tiger, and somewhat resembling sugar cane) for
leopard. There was also a better bear when the elephants gave sign of
prospect of getting good cinematograph the presence of tiger and I was for-
fihns, especially of deer, up north. tunately able to shoot a fine male in
Dyott and I left the Billigirirangan good coat, measuring 9 feet 8 inches,
Hills and made the long and wearisome which was immediately earmarked for
journey up to Oudh. Here we were the Museum tiger group. I also shot a
joined by Turner, the Forest Officer, very fine leopard close to camp one
and by Kunwar Dillipat Shah of evening.
Khairigarh. Turner undertook to Quite by chance I found one morning
arrange cinematograph pictures of deer a place which provided us with very
in a small block of outlying forest, beautiful pictures of deer and pig com-
which had been carefully kept undis- ing down to drink at a pretty little
turbed. Dyott and he put in three or pond just inside the forest. I saw a
four daj^s of strenuous work and ob- herd of chital there and we found a
tree in which Dyott could sit with his cealing itself and evading the line when
movie camera and command the pond. being beaten with elephants, had us at
He spent about three days in this tree, a disadvantage.
and the results are, I think, the most Dyott had an interesting experience
beautiful cinematograph pictures I one day. One of my men who had
have ever seen. been sent to a place eight miles away
On April 19 we were joined by Ver- came in with the local forest guard and
nay, who brought with him as I had — reported that early that morning they
a shooting pass for tigers and certain had seen a large tiger asleep by a pool
other game in Nepal across the border of water near a patch of ratoa grass
—Fremlin and Morris, the coffee plant- just inside the forest.It was a terribly
ers who had been so good to us in hot day but was decided that, if the
it
Mysore. They had shot tigers before men thought it worth their while to
but never had seen the method of walk eight miles, it was up to us to go
beating them out with elephants, and investigate matters.
which is practically the only method —
Four elephants all that were avail-
employed in my part of the country. able — were therefore sent off at once
They secured three tigers. and Dyott and I followed in a light
Vernay had, as anticipated, com- Overland car, which is a first-class
pleted the bison group in addition to conveyance over unmetallecl roads and
shooting a big leopard, and had safely forest tracks.
delivered the skins and skeletons of Thetiger, which, judging by the
bison and elephants to Van Ingen of smell, had a kill in an extremely high
Mysore, who undertook to pack them condition, was duly aroused, ran out of
forshipment to New York. the grass, and stood in the forest with
No one who has not seen the enor- his head and shoulders concealed by a
mous size and weight of a big elephant's
bones and hide can appreciate the
labor involved in transporting them
across country. We were about 5000
feet up in the hills and the whole col-
lection had to be carried six miles by
coolies and twenty miles by bullock
carts. For the balance of the distance
to the railway, motor lorries were
fortunately obtained. It required a
good deal of organization.
Curiously enough, although leopards
are numerous in that neighborhood, we
failed to obtain a female leopard and
two cubs, which were wanted for the
group, although we spent some time
trying to get them. Conditions had —
A chital faun. This beautiful animal
been unusually wet at the time when {Axis axis) retains the white markings in the
adult stage and is popularly known as the
the grass outside the fire-protected
spotted deer. The chital is inclined to be
forest is usually burnt, and
the gregarious in habit and this little faun showed
leopard, extraordinarily skillful in con- no timidit J' when handled by its captors
Typical tiger country on the Nepal border
One day a tiger, though wounded, succeeded in secreting itself in the high ratoa grass.
Four elephants moving abreast were directed toward the area where the tiger was supposed to
be. Colonel Faunthorpe, gun in readiness, was mounted on one of them. Suddenly the tiger
jumped from its place of concealment right up on the elephant's head, but its claws had
scarcely touched the thick hide when it dropped back dead, shot by the Colonel in a vital
spot. The picture shows the elephants approaching the place where the tiger lies crouched,
invisible in the high grass
194
tree. I was, therefore, compelled to phant's head, but a snap-shot, as he

shoot him through the center of the landed, took him between the eyes, a
body instead of getting a deadly and very lucky fluke which saved old
crippling shot at the center of the ''Lachma" from a severe mauling.
shoulder, which is the most effective She received only one almost invisible
shot of all, as it not only brings the puncture from a claw. Throughout she
animal down with a broken shoulder stood like a rock, otherwise I should no
but alsokills him. doubt have missed the tiger.
The wounded tiger dashed back into
the grass, where for him for
we hunted
some time without his showing a sign.
The men, who had had a long trek in
great heat, were getting rather dis-
heartened, especially when one of them
found a bullet mark in a tree where the
tiger had been standing when I fired.
Examination proved, however, that
this was merely the base of the nickel-
covered soft-nosed .400 bullet, which
had clearly, therefore, gone through the
tiger. The men, of course, did not be-
lieve this, but we went on beating up
and down this extremely dense grass.
I was, personalty, confident that the
tigerwas either lying very close in it
or was actualty dead, and the grass
was so thick and matted that had he
been dead, he might easily have es-
caped notice. We were beating the
grass for the third time, when there was
a sudden snarl and a rush at the edge of
the grass and the tiger jumped on the Not always is the tiger ringed or driven out
of the jungle by the heavy approach of ele-
flank elephant and clawed her severely
phants. Another method of hunting is to
across the top of the trunk. The beast place a platform, known as a machan, high
was now located. There happened to up in the fork of a tree and from that point of
be a forked tree close by, into which vantage await the return of a tiger to his kill
Dyott climbed and lashed his movie

camera. While this was going on Dyott was
The four elephants were formed in turning the handle of the movie camera.
line and, with extreme reluctance, ad- We hoped for a wonderful film. It is
vanced on the place where the tiger one of the greatest disappointments of
had settled down. Each mahout was my life that, owing to the height of the
trying to keep a little bit behind the grass, the tiger does not show in the
others. They were eventually per- film when on the elephant's head,
suaded to advance with a little more though one can clearly see that some-
speed and the tiger, with another thing has charged the elephant and has
snarl, jumped right up on to my ele- been shot.
196 NATURAL HISTORY
the thamin, or brow-antlered deer, and
succeeded in getting both in the Magwe
District. We also obtained a group of
the barking deer and added several
interesting specimens to our collection
of the smaller mammals, birds, and
reptiles. We did not succeed in finding
a hamadryad, but secured several speci-
mens of that beautiful but dangerous
snake, the Russell's viper.
It took a lot of work on foot to get
the tsine. In fact, I think this animal
is the most difficult to stalk that I have
ever met. He is very active and when
grazing and wandering about, appears
to move much faster than the bison,
and when he has settled down for the
day, is so wary that it is ahnost impos-
sible to approach him. Hunting the
tsine was really hard work, and it was
infernally hot.
Our work for the season was now
complete. The collection totals about
450 specimens, of which 129 are mam-
mals. We have also some 26,000 feet
A common Indian squirrel {Funambulus)
of cinematograph film, including many
animal pictures which I beheve to be
CONCLUSION OF THE SEASON
absolutely unique. Nor was the cine-
The expedition concluded work
its
matograph work confined to shikar
with a visit to Burma, where the Gov-
subjects. We took a very large nmnber
ernor, my old friend Sir Harcourt But-
of pictures illustrating native life,
ler,gave us every possible assistance. which, when shown in America, will
We wanted groups of tsine, an lead to a better comprehension of the
animal akin to the Indian bison, and of true condition of India and Burma.
The movie camera used was an
" Akeley,'' which, because of its simple
and rapid elevating and traversing

mechanism, is by far the best for this
kind of work.
We obtained groups of all the larger
animals of the plains of India, with the
exception of the Indian buffalo and the
Indian lion, and we hope to secure these
this year.
The expedition is not over. Vernay
The bamboo rat (Rhizomys) ofBurma lives is now going from Moulmein on the
in holes in the ground under bamboo clumps coast of Burma across the Ta-Ok
Plateau, which Kes partly in Burmese As for the collection made in India,
territory and partly in Siam, to the Burma, and Nepal last year, complete
Meping River and thence to Bangkok, groups were obtained in nearly all
and hopes to obtain some valuable cases and the collection as it stands is
specimens. The Ta-Ok Plateau is very probably unique for this reason.
little known and has never been prop- The elephant, bison, and rhino speci-
erly explored from a natural history mens are exceptionally fine ones and
The bla ckbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is one of the most beautiful of the Indian antelopes.
The popular name does not apply to the young males. These are tolerated by the lord of the
herd until th ey begin to turn black, when he forces them out of the family circle
point of view. It is believed to be both the tiger and tigress are un-
particularly rich in birds, and an orni- usually good specimens, with good
thologist, obtained from the British coats. Among the deer, we have sev-
Museum, is accompanying the expedi- eral specimens which approach the
tion. I, myself, shall probably visit record in horn measurement; for
India to complete the Indian collection instance, a 39}^-inch swamp deer and
this yearand it is possible that both a 38-inch spotted deer.
Vernay and I may also visit French In addition to the mammal groups,
Indo China. numerous specimens of reptiles and
198 NATURAL HISTORY
birds were collected — some of the that a specimen may yet be secured.
latter in particular being of rare species. It only remains to add that, with the
We made particular efforts to obtain exception of three or four tigers and
the pink-headed duck but the nearest here and there a specimen required by
we came was hearing of
to this rare bird Mr. Vernay for his private collection,
one which had been eaten by a planter we shot nothing which did not go to
two years before. Renewed efforts are the American Museum. And we are
being made this season to obtain it and, proud to be able to say that not a
if it is not extinct, I am not without hope single animal got away wounded.
Russell's viper (Vipera russellii), a beautiful but dangerous snake, of which the expedi-
tion secured several specimens
Stalking Tsine in Burma
By ARTHUR S. VERNAY
Joint Leader of the Faunthorpe-Vernay Indian Expedition of 1923
ONE of the objects of the

thorpe-Vernay Indian Expedi-
Faun- in which he writes of his life while in
charge of the keddah operations of the
tion of 1923, was to obtain repre- government. Our actual hunting ground
sentative groups of the bovines of the was seventy miles from the railroad, in
plains of India, and also of Burma. To a country of irregular steep hills, from
accomplish this purpose it was neces- 4000 to 6000 feet above sea level. One
sary for us to secure specimens of the can readily imagine that a wild country
—
gaur (Bibos gaurus) known to sports- of this kind with obstacles in the shape
men as the Indian bison, the bant- — of precipitous hills and heavy jungle
ing or tsine {Bibos banteng), and make the tracking of bison a somewhat
the buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). The arduous but at the same time fascinat-
mithan {Bibos frontalis) which in parts, ing pursuit.
of Assam is domesticated and even in Colonel Faunthorpe and I came to
its wild state breeds very freely with the conclusion that was pretty stiff
it
tame cattle, we did not consider worth going, and that the bison is a wily and
pursuing. The yak {Poephagus grun- difficult animal to stalk. However,
niens) we excluded because its habitat the bison is a mere novice in compari-
is principally and northern
Tibet son to the tsine. I had heard from a
Ladakh, and these regions on account friend of mine who had previously
of their remoteness did not figure in hunted tsine, of the difficulty of track-
our plans. We were fortunate in being- ing them. He had told me that he con-
able to obtain in Mysore magnificent sidered the tsine the best sporting ani-
specimens for a group of the gaur. mal of the bovine family, for apart
The buffalo requires a special bando- from being gifted with a wonderful
bust; this has been arranged for and sense of smell, perfect eyesight, and
will take place in the spring of 1924, acute hearing, it is of a most uncertain
when, it is hoped, the material neces- temper and, even when un wounded, is
sary for a group may be secured. The Hable to charge on sight, and, when
tsine we decided to hunt for in the dry wounded, will fight to the very last.
zone of Upper Burma. Consequently, after finishing our shoot
had a good deal of experience two
I in India, it was with great interest
years ago, and during the last year, in that we journeyed to Burma to hunt
pursuing the gaur and found this this animal.
animal sufficiently wide-awake to We arrived in Rangoon in May,
require considerable effort on the part hoping vainly that the would
rains
of the hunter. The ground where we descend so that tracking might be
hunted, the BiUigirirangan Hills, easier. Going up the Irrawaddy to
southern Mysore, which lie partly in Migyaungyi, we turned east to Taung-
Mysore territory and partly in the dwingyi, where we fitted out and pro-
Coimbatore District of the Madras ceeded through the jungle to a place
Presidency, is the country which Sand- called Zilon. The weather still con-
erson described in his book, Thirteen tinued fair. We hunted for several days
Years Among the Wild Beasts of India, without result, and decided that we
199
200 NATURAL HISTORY
WHERE THE TSINE IS AT HOME

To pursue the wary animal through the trackless bamboo jungle that is littered with wind-
falls of hollow stems, hour after hour in the heat of the day, requires patience, endurance, and
no small measure of devotion to one's task
would move our camp to a place called made tracking extraordinarily difficult.
Shweban; and here the serious track- The ground was dry and hard, with
ing began. Unfortunately the rain the result that tracks showed very in-
would not come, a condition which distinctly, making pursuit extremely
STALKING TSINE IN BURMA 201
baffling, for the tsine, being almost necessary to start before daybreak so
always on the move, naturally goes a as to get on the tracks made during the
great deal faster than the tracker. If night. Quiet going is extremely difficult
by chance the wind is in the wrong as one follows these tracks through the
one hears is a loud snort
direction, all jungle, which is, as a rule, bamboo,
as a huge animal crashes through the and is cluttered with leaves and with
jungle. That is the end for the time windfalls of the hollow stems. One
being of one's efforts; the only thing morning we started out at 4 a.m., and
one can do, once the tsine has been at about 7 o'clock came upon the tracks
alarmed,is to rest for an hour and a of what must have been an enormous
half or two hours without making any solitary bull. The mere fact of seeing
noise whatsoever, and then again take such large tracks is exciting in itself.
up the tracks with the hope of coming One mentally compares the hoof marks
up to the animal. Notwithstanding, with other bull tracks one has seen,
we eventually secured one good herd and visualizes the size of the animal
bull, but what we wanted was a fine that made them. After stalking this
old solitary bull, which is of a chocolate bull for an hour, we came across the
color, the herd bull being of a pale tracks of a smaller bull, and a few yards
brown, somewhat like the brown of the from the point where they had met
Ayrshire cow. were the evidences that a battle had
Generally in hunting the tsine, it is been waged. The tsine, always ready
The tsine is one of the members of the bovine family that was especially desired by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition and that proved more elusive and diflBcult of pursuit than
most of the other big-game animals collected by this expedition
202 NATURAL HISTORY
to fight,had come face to face with an greatest evidence of battle I had ever
antagonist of his own stamp, and the seen.
issue had to be decided there and then. We were cheered by the thought that
The whole place was trampled down; the solitar}^ bull must be tired after all
small trees were crushed and broken; and we took up the pursuit
this fighting
large trees were scarred; bits of bark, hopefully. We followed on and on.
which had been ruthlessly torn from The sun was hot, and no glimpse of the
the wood, hung down like great brown animal rewarded our efforts. At 5
ribbons; and the ground bore the o'clock, after having made a huge
imprint of a multitude of hoofs. Event- detour (and one can never know exactly
ually, the signs indicated, the smaller where one is going in this bamboo
combatant had been driven off, and jungle maze), we came back to exactly
the solitarj^ bull, doubtless still snort- the same spot where the old bull had
ing with anger, had gone on his way fought the battle. He had
started out
victorious. The record of happenings probably he had given his
satisfied that
in the jungle can be read by any one foe a thorough beating, but on mature
used to hunting. In the case of tiger, consideration had decided to return
elephant, rhinoceros, and bison, the to the place of combat and see if his
various struggles, the hours of sleep, adversary required any more attention.
and the hours of standing still and feed- Apparently he did not ; but our expres-
ing are all indicated, but this was the sions of disgust, if repeated, would
Native helpers enjoying a brief respite in the course of the day's tramp
STALKING TSINE IN BURMA 203
shock the reader. Apart from the phys- than does the gaur, and although an
ical fatigue, we had no ambition to extraordinarily good climber, is not
continue the pursuit because we figured quite such an adept as the latter. If
the bull might repeat the performance, any sportsman has the ambition to test
and that would become rather tiresome. his patience, determination, and skill in
Also we thought that eight hours of tracking, I suggest that he visit the
solid tracking of this particular animal habitat of the tsine. He will then have
entitled him to exemption from further every opportunity of testing himself
annoyance. out, and if he obtains a good specimen,
We obtained besides the herd bull a I think it willbe placed in his trophy
fine specimen of a cow, which is to be room as the most treasured of his ac-
used in the American Museum group.
Still come as a result,
the rain did not ;
during twelve days we tramped over

more than 200 miles tracking tsine, and
only saw the two which we shot,
although we heard several others of
which we did not get a glimpse.
As our next expedition into Siam will
give us the opportunity of obtaining a
large bull including its skeleton, we de-
cided to go back to India and catch our
boat for England. I left, having the
greatest admiration for the tsine and
with an ardent desire to come to close
quarters withhim once again. I hope
when the next hunt takes place it will
be raining.
The home of the tsine is throughout
Burma and the Malay Peninsula, as
well as in Sumatra, Siam, Borneo, and
Java. The tsine is very like the gaur,
but with a smaller dorsal ridge and
This structure, typical of the architecture
legs that are longer in proportion to the of Burma, brings to mind the settlements of
body. The cows and young
color of the that land just as the tsine recalls the bamboo
bulls is a rather bright reddish brown, forests and life in the open
but it varies greatly. The old bulls

are darker, but not black as is generally quisitions. The tsine asks no quarter
asserted. Both sexes have a whitish and gives none, and though the hunt
oval area on the buttocks extending to ends successfully, one cannot but regret
the root of the tail. The tsine, which is that such a fine animal has been killed
about 5 feet, 4 inches at the shoulder, at the same time the trophy serves as a
shows a greater preference for the grass reminder of a great event in a sports-
plains and the flatter bamboo jungles man's life.
The Disappearance of Wild Life in India
By lieutenant COLONEL J. C. FAUNTHORPE
Although much of the wild life of India has disappeared and what has survived is in
jeopardy, the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition has made possible the perpetuation in the form
of lifelike groups of a number of animals that might otherwise to a large extent have passed
out of ken. Altogether it obtained 450 specimens, of which 129 are mammals.
It was particularly fortunate that Messrs. Faunthorpe and Vernaj- when in the field, chose
wath a rare sense of discretion just the representatives of this magnificent fauna that Pres-
ident Henrj' Fairfield Osborn was most anxious to have on exhibition in the Museum's new
Asiatic hall. Especially noteworthy among these are: Indian elephant (Elephas maximus),
one-horned rhinoceros {Rhinoceros unicornis), gaur (Bibos gaurus), chital {Axis axis), thamin
{Rucervus eldi), sambur {Samhur unicolor), the swamp deer {Rucervus duvaucelii) tiger {Tigris
,
tigris)
Other invaluable contributions are a bull and cow tsine {Bibos banteng), nilgai {Boselaphus
tragocamelus) and blackbuck {Antilope cervicapra)
, Among the series of deer we cite the
.
barking deer {Muntiacus muntjac), the hog deer {Hyelaphus porcinus), and the pygmy musk
deer {Tragulus). The Artiodactyla also include the Indian gazelle {Gazella bennettii) and
fine horns of the ibex {Capra sibirica). Besides the tiger mentioned above, there are other
carnivores, such as the leopard {Panthera), hyaena {Crocuta), sloth bear {Melursus ur sinus),
woK {Lupus pallipes), jackal {Thos aureus), and a number of smaller forms. A few bats, ro-
dents, and Primates bring this collection up to about forty-two species. Herbert Lang.
a previous article of this issue I tivation is so universal that there is

INstated measurable
that within a not even enough waste land to provide
space of time there will be practi- grazing for the village cattle, which in
cally no game left in India, except in many heavily populated districts are
preserves maintained by native chiefs now stall-fed. This cannot be helped
and more inaccessible
in certain of the nor, indeed, is it to be regretted : there
tracts of Government Forest Reserves. is plenty of jungle left.
I believe that this statement is no ex-
aggeration. Causes of the disappear- DISEASE

ance of wild mammals, and of game and Owing to the fact that the Hindus,
other birds are as foUows: who form the majority of the Indian
1. The destruction of the jungle in which population, consider the cow to be a
they owing to the expansion of
live,
sacred animal, enormous numbers of
population and the placing of larger
areas under cultivation.
feeble and worn-out cattle are kept
2. Disease. alive. Foot-and-mouth disease is com-
3. The demand for skins and feathers by the mon; rinderpest occurs less fre-
and plumage trades respectiveh".
fur quentl}'. ^^Tien fodder and water are
4. Destruction of game by firearms.
scarce, the village cattle are pastured
I shall deal with these causes seria- in the jungles, where thej^ would not
tim. usually penetrate, and may communi-
THE DESTRUCTION OF JUNGLE cate these diseases to such wild animals
In manj" parts of India the dis- as are susceptible to them. In times of
appearance of game was inevitable famine, the government must neces-
as population increased and all the sarily throw open to cattle reserved
arable land came under the plow. forests which in normal times are
There are now large areas where cul- closed to grazing.
204
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WILD LIFE IN INDIA 205
In the great famine of 1897, when the result of this has undoubtedly been
practically all the drinking water, ex- to diminish very largely the number of
cept in the larger streams, dried up snow leopards in India and across the
over large areas in the forests of the border. This animal lives only in the
Central Provinces, as described in higher hills ofthe Himalayas, most of
Kipling's Jungle Book, cattle and wild which are beyond the British border,
animals had to use the same drink- but native hunters from Thibet and
ing places,and the buffalo (Buhalus elsewhere bring skins of the snow
huhalis)and bison (Bihos gaurus) were leopard to certain markets in British
attacked by rinderpest and much territory.Such a skin is now worth,
reduced in number. In most of the in the local markets, about fom* times
forests of the Central Provinces the as much as it was fifteen years ago,
bison have recovered, but the mortality and even so it is difficult to buy good
among the wild buffalo, a rarer animal, skins.
was greater, and even now buffalo exist The demand for the white egret's
only in small numbers. In the Bil- plumage (that of the Herodias alba,
ligirirangan Hills in southern India, intermedia, and garzetta) brought
where the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedi- about the almost complete extinction
tion obtained specimens of bison and of these beautiful birds. Wandering
elephant for the American Museum, gangs of plumage hunters used to
there was considerable mortality among scour India for them. Their modus
the bison two or three years ago. operandi was to catch one with bird-
Cattle infected with foot-and-mouth lime and peg it down on the ground.
disease had been pastured in remoter The other egrets in the colony would
jungles than usual. then fly around the tethered one and
I remember, also, local epidemics of were caught in nets without difficulty
foot-and-mouth disease among antelope and killed. As the plumage develops
and swamp deer. The mortahty, only in the breeding season, when the
however, from this disease is not very young are dependent on -the parent,
high. Only a certain proportion of the the extermination of the birds was
animals are attacked and it is probable rapid. Legislation was introduced
that of these some recover. Disease eventually, prohibiting the export of
alone will never exterminate the game egret feathers, and I am glad to say
of India. that in a few places the plumage-bear-
ing egrets are now on the increase. I
THE FUE AND PLUMAGE TRADE find,however, that egret plumes, like
Few Indian animals have valuable whiskey, are obtainable in New York.
fur, and not so many, therefore, are
destroyed by the pelt hunter as in DESTRUCTION OF GAME BY FIREARMS
some other countries. Demand, how- The disappearance of game is fre-
ever, creates supply, and if there is a quently ascribed to over-shooting by
popular desire for the skin or plumage sportsmen, but moderate shooting by
of any animal or bird, the effect soon sportsmen will never exterminate game,
becomes noticeable. For instance, because the sportsman does not kill
about ten years ago the skin of the females or immature males and does not
snow leopard {Uncia undo) became takegame in the closed season. When
fashionable in England as a fur, and game is exterminated in places where
206 NATURAL HISTORY
suitable cover for it remains, it is, as ful animal is found in considerable
far as my experience goes, invariably numbers.
due to the ravages of the local pot- In the Magwe District in the ''dry
hunter. The number of guns in the zone " of Burma, where the Faunthorpe-
villages has of late years greatly in- Vernay Expedition went in search of
creased; the use of modern rifles by the brow-antlered deer, or thamin
Indians of the upper and middle classes {Rucervus eldi) we found these beauti-
,
has become common; and the rules ful animals very scarce indeed, and in
about the closed season, etc., have many jungles in which they undoubted-
practically become a dead letter. In ly occurred in large numbers a few
the Lucknow Division, the District years ago, not a single specimen is now
Officer of Sitapur District told me to be seen.
recently that partridges, both black and In several districts in the United
gray, formerly abundant, had been Provinces, the Indian gazelle, t)r chin-
almost exterminated. In the Hardoi kara (Gazella bennettii) has been largely
,
District of the Lucknow Division, the reduced in numbers by netting. This

Indian antelope (Antilope cervicapra), animal lives in ravines. A net is
formerly abundant, is now very rare. placed across a steep ravine and the
I made careful inquiries last year in gazelles are driven into it. A similar
several districts where the great Indian method is employed for antelope,
bustard {Choriotis edwardsi) used to which are first forced or maneuvered
be found, but was unable to come upon into a field of millet, or other high ci'op,
anyone who had seen any of these and then driven into a net erected
birds recently. The pink-headed duck around one corner of the field. The
{Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) which is a , destruction thus wrought is, however,
nonmigratory bird with a very local trifling compared to the damage done
habitat, is either extinct or very nearly by firearms. Netting will not exter-
so, and this fate will no doubt overtake minate game.
other nonmigratory ducks and other The great Indian one-horned rhinoc-
edible birds. eros (Rhinoceros unicornis), formerly
In the Nepal Tarai, the low-lying abundant in the swampy country of the
tract of country between the Himalayas Tarai all the way from north Oudh to
and the British border, it is extremely Assam, now survives in British terri-
unusual to see any deer at all. These tory only in a small portion of the
have all been shot out by the Tharu Assam province. Its survival in cer-
villagers, who, armed with guns, have tain tracts of Nepal is due solely to the
been accustomed to sit in trees over fact that in that country it is con-
every game path and drinking place. sidered royal game and is rigorously
The Carnivora now live practically preserved. And even in Nepal it is, I
on cattle. The swamp deer

entirely believe, rapidly diminishing in num-
(Rucervus duvaucelii) in some of the bers. In Burma, where the Dicero-
best grounds in the Kheri District of rhinus sumatrensis and Rhinoceros
the Lucknow Division have similarly sondaicus both occur, there is demand
suffered from the proximity of Tharu for their flesh and, on the part of the
villages, and in the Kheri District it is Chinese, particularly for their horns,
now only in the preserves of the Rani which Mr. Douglas Burden tells me
of Khairigarh that this rare and beauti- are also in demand in French Indo
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WILD LIFE IN INDIA 207
China. As a result these mammals seen that in places where suitable

have been slaughtered to such an jungle for animals stillremains and—
extent that last year the Burmese there are many such localities — the only
government prohibited the shooting of cause which can lead to the extermina-
rhinoceros altogether. Whether this tion of game is the more or less un-
prohibition will be effective, in view of restricted use firearms by the
of
the difficulty of supervision over the natives. As things stand now, there is
tracts where these interesting animals very little game in British India (I am
remains to be seen. A native
still survive, not referring to the native states) except
forest guard requires a lot of supervision, in the Government Forest Reserves.
and a gift of rupees or meat by the These are likely to be provincialized,
poacher naturally appeals to him. and who can tell what will then be their
The Governor of Burma, Sir Har- fate? Especially as (I quote from a
court Butler, has, however, given recent report to a Royal Commission)
special permission to Mr. Arthur S. "it is not unlikely that the lawyer will
Vernaj^, who is now collecting for the soon dominate the political world in
American Museum in Burma and Siam, India." Government Service in India
to take specimens for that institution. is becoming increasingly unpopular
If Mr. Vernay can get these rhino with the causes for this it is unneces-
specimens, he will be lucky. sary to deal in an article of this kind,
CONCLUSION but the disappearance of wild life in
From the above remarks it will be India is one of the reasons why.
The chital {Axis axis) one of India'.s most characteristic animals

Fossil Animals of India
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE COLLECTIONS MADE BY THE SIWALIK HILLS
INDIAN EXPEDITION UNDER BARNUM BROWN
By W. D. MATTHEW
Curator of Vertebrate Palseontology, American Museum
INDIA today vies with central Africa many years and is notable for the great
as the home of many magnificent number and variety of large animals it
types of large mammals. Yet its contains. Many of these are among the
great game animals, hardly rivaled classic examples of geologic textbooks,
elsewhere in the world, are but a piti- and the giant tortoise Colossochelys,
ful remnant in comparison with the the extinct elephants, stegodons, and
fauna that inhabited the country mastodons, the Sivatherium and other
toward the close of the Age of Mam- extinct giraffes, the hippopotami and
mals. These extinct animals are prin- hornless rhinoceroses, were familiar in
cipally known from the fossils preserved the last generation to freshmen taking
in the Siwalik Hills, or Sub-Himalayan Geology 1, and even perhaps to that
main range of the
ranges, south of the remarkable schoolboy that Macaulay
Himalaya Mountains, and hence are used to write about.
generally called the Siwalik Fauna. The the Siwalik Hills were
fossils of
This fauna has been well known for discovered about ninety years ago.
They were made famous by the great
collections brought together and de-
scribed by Sir Proby Cautley, an
English army officer, and Dr. Hugh
Falconer, a very able and active Scotch
palaeontologist. The chief discoveries
were in the foothills along the southern
flank of the great Himalayan range,
from the Sutlej to the Ganges. The
Nerbudda River in central India, the
Irrawaddy River in Burma, and Perim
Island in the Gulf of Cambay, were
also some of the early dis-
sites of
coveries, and in more recent years
great finds have been made in the
Salt Range of northern India and dis-
tricts in Baluchistan, as well as in the
classic Siwalik Hills.
The specimens are mostly in the
BritishMuseum, London, and in the
collections of the Indian Geological
Survey in Calcutta. A few were sent
Skull of the extinct Siwalik hippopotamus.
It differs from the modern hippo in having to the Edinburgh, Oxford, and Dublin
three, instead of two, upper incisors on each museums. They were described and
side. After Falconer and Cantley illustrated in a magnificent series of
208
FOSSIL ANIMALS OF INDIA 209
The Sivatherium as restored in H. N. Hutchinson's Extinct Monsters from remains found

in the Siwahk beds of India. The animal was related to the giraffes, although very different
in appearance and as large as a rhinoceros
folio plates issued under the joint cordial welcome and valuable assistance
auspices of the British government and in manyways. The question may well
the East India Company, and later in a be asked, why should we wish to do
series of memoirs of the Indian Survey. over again a task that has been done so
Until last autumn there were no well by Anglo-Indian scientists many
Indian fossils in the American Museum years ago. Well, there were several
except for a small collection received reasons. First, that the field was prob-
in an exchange, and a number of casts, ably far from being exhausted and a
mostly of very poor quality. So far as new search would almost certainly
the writer is aware, there are none of disclose many new or little-known
any importance in any other museum animals, in addition to those already
in this country or on the continent of well known. Second, that it was
Europe. Professor Osborn had hoped important for the researches of this
for many years to make a collecting Museum to have a large series of these
campaign in India, but the opportunity extinct animals of India for comparison
to carry out these plans came only two with those of other parts of the world,
years ago through the generous support especially of China and Mongolia.
of Mrs. Henry Clay Frick, who has Third, that the methods and technique
met the entire costs of the Siwalik Hills of collecting specimens and the exact
Indian expedition. recording of the geological horizon of
The Indian government authorities each specimen have been very greatly
responded most courteously to in- improved by American
in recent years
quiries made by the Museum as to collectors,and we believed that we
collecting in that country, giving us a could secure more perfect specimens
210 NATURAL HISTORY
Sketch map of India, showing the location of the Siwalik Hills, Re-drawn from a
map published bj^ Falconer
and a more certain knowledge of the the difficulties of a region somewhat

succession of faunas that inhabited the from our usual collect-
different in tj^pe
region than was possible under the old ing grounds gave the best promise of
methods.' Fourth, that we might secure success.
additional evidence bearing on the evo- The Siwalik terrane is one of enor-
lution of man. mous thickness (about 14,000 feet). It
The field campaign was undertaken was made up of the outwash from the
by Mr. Barnum Brown, whose prac- main ranges of the Himalayas at a time
tical experience and skill in overcoming when the}^ were rapidly rising, although
Skull of Stegodon ganesa, the finest of the extinct Siwalik proboscideans. The tusks
are nine feet long. The original skull is in the British Museum; casts of it may be found
in many of the "older scientific museums of Europe and America. After Falconer and Cantley
Skull of a Siwalik mastodon in the —

Brown collection, partly prepared. It will be described
and figured in Professor Osborn's forthcoming memoir on the extinct Proboscidea. Courtesy
of Professor Osborn
212 NATURAL HISTORY
Jaw fragment of an anthropoid •
primate found by Mr. Bamum Brown

in the Middel SiwaUk beds. Remains
of the higher Primates are very rare
fossUs in any of the Tertiary forma-
tions, but of extreme interest because

of their bearing on the problem of the
ancestry of man. The three spec-
imens secured by Mr. Bro-rni add
materially to the scanty evidence
availablefrom the Siwahk beds. They
are being carefully studied and com-
pared by Dr. Wilham K, Gregory
and Dr. Milo Hellman and will
shortly be described. These illustra-
tions made by Mr. Malcolm Jamieson

under their direction, is pubhshed in
advance through their courtesy. The
drawings show the top and inside
views of the jaw fragment, natural size
not so high as they are now. The for- Miocene and PHocene. The middle
mation has shared in the later up- portion about equivalent to the
is
heaval, so that it is exposed in a long famous Pikermi beds near Athens,

range of considerable mountains, the Greece; the lower division begins with
uptilted edges of the strata facing the Sansan and Simorre faunas of
toward the central ranges. There are France; the upper Siwalik beds com-
immense exposures, most of them as pare with the Montpellier of France
barren of fossils as they are of vege- and Val d'Arno of Italy. '. ,
tation, but here and there are areas or These Siwalik faunas give a fairly
pockets where fossils are to be found. consecutive history of the life of India
Some of these areas were known to the from the middle Miocene to the end of
Indian Survey and we are deeply in- the Pliocene. Through comparison
debted to the Survey for information with the record in other parts of the
as to their location. Others were dis- world we get a good line on the origin
covered by Mr. Brown in the course of and dispersal of various races of ani-
extensive prospecting. The best season mals during this time.
for such work is the late winter and The finest series in Brown's collec-
spring; in the rainy season of autumn tion is that of the proboscideans, includ-
nothing can be done, and summer is ing elephants, stegodons, various kinds
almost unendurabl}^ hot. of mastodons, and dinotheres. Of these
The Siwalik Fauna belongs to the there are 142 catalogued specimens,
later part of the Tertiary, or Age of including five skulls.
Mammals. It was at one time sup- Two mastodon skulls are nearly
posed to be a unit, but later researches, complete and of very large size; one
especially those of Dr. Guy H. Pil- of them has the tusks ahnost entire.
grim, have shown that it consists of There are also two stegodon skuUs,
three distinct stages, covering the later them with the
equally large, one of
FOSSIL ANIMALS OF INDIA 213
-tusks preserved. These four skulls are first to last, in a direction leading more
from the Middle Siwaliks. From the toward the type of the modern gorilla
Lower Siwaliks there are numerous and chimpanzee than toward the
jaws and teeth, and one skull with tusks human type. If these jaws are really
complete but not full-grown. From the in a line of descent, it is one that points
Upper Siwaliks was obtained a large not so much toward man as toward the
series of palates, jaws, and teeth of gorilla.
stegodons and primitive true elephants. There are several antelope skulls and
An extract from one of Mr. Brown's two of the singular extinct giraffoids,
letters shows some of the obstacles one rhinoceros and three or four
skull,
overcome in collecting these skulls. of hippopotami. There are two or three
"Some of the difficulties I have en- skulls of the three-toed horse, one of
countered in making this collection will them with an associated skeleton that
interest you. It took one week to is probably nearly complete. Remains
build a passable road for carts out of of carnivorous animals are extremely
the bad lands and then required four scanty, but there is one good skull of a
bullocks and twenty-one men to move very rare primitive carnivore (Dis-
each mastodon skull. Fourteen days sopsalis), of which only a few frag-
were consumed in transporting these ments of jaws had previously been
skulls sixty-five miles, thirty-five of known. In addition to the series of
which were without road. The Indian skulls, about forty in all, there is a
countryman does not know how to great number of jaws, fragments of
work except in the grain field, and as he jaws, and teeth of various animals,
eats nothing but bread and chili, he some of which, when carefully studied,
has the strength of a small boy. . . will doubtless prove to be new or rare
Traveling is done at night now, for the types. A point of especial value to the
daily temperature in the Punjab aver- student is that the exact locality and
ages from 100 to 115 in the shade, and distance above the base of the forma-
around 200 in the sun. It is the most tion is carefully recorded for every
taxing heat I have ever endured. . . . specimen, great or small, in the whole
It is difficult to secure adequate boxing collection, so that each can be placed
lumber for big specimens. Part of my in its exact time relation, be it earlier,
material came from America and the later, or of the same age as that of
rest had to be sawed by hand on the others of its kind.
spot. I have used flour paste for It has been a common criticism of the
bandages, as plaster is not obtainable." older palaeontological researches that
Three jaws of anthropoid apes are of specimens in an evolutionary series
extraordinary interest because of the were arranged arbitrarily in accordance
evidence they give regarding the evolu- with their progressive structural or
tion of these animals and their rela- anatomical differences, but that there
tion to the line of human descent. Mr. was no evidence that these differences
Brown's exact records of locality and coincided with their real geological
show that these three
geologic level succession or sequence in time. The
specimens come from three successive criticism was sound enough as applied
horizons or geologic stages, and the to the older work, which followed too
teeth of the three indicate in some much the methods of comparative
respects a progressive evolution from anatomy and traced the evolution of
214 NATURAL HISTORY
structures but not the real evolution of and a large part of the carapace and
a race of animals through mutations of skeleton of the huge extinct tortoise
species in successive stages of geological (Colossockelys) of India, thought by
time. not true as applied to the
It is some to be recalled in the ancient
more recent work in America, where, legends that couple the elephant and
with exact data for every specimen, the the tortoise as gigantic figures in
progress of the race is traced continu- Indian mytholog3\
ously, through comparisons and aver- ]\Ir. Brown's collection is not so large
ages, often based upon some hundreds London and Calcutta
as those in the
of specimens from each geological level. museums; but some of its specimens,
It is this kind of work that we hope to notabh" the skeleton of the three-toed
do with the Indian collections, and to horse Hipparion and the skull of the
obtain more exact and more certain primitive carnivore Dissopsalis are much
results as to evolution, migration, and finer than anything of their kind hereto-
extinction of races than has heretofore found in India, and some of the
fore been possible. We shall also be skulls of proboscideans and other large
able to make direct comparisons with animals are quite as fine as anjiihing
the from Mongolia and
collections in the older collections . It gives us a mag-
China, and with those which we hope nificent representation of this classic
to secure from other regions. fauna, will make a splendid exhibition
In addition to the mammalian fossils, series, and wiU be of very great impor-
there are skulls of crocodile and gavial tance in researches upon fossilmammals.
Sketch made bj^ Prof. Edward Forbes in

one of Dr. Hugh Falconer's notebooks. It
shows the earth resting upon the head of an
elephant, which in turn is supported on the
back of a tortoise, as the ancient Indian cos-
mogonies declared
Hai
ainan
AN ISLAND OF FORBIDDING REPUTATION THAT PROVED AN
EXCELLENT COLLECTING GROUND
By CLIFFORD H. POPE
Assistant in Zoology, Third Asiatic Expedition
EARLY
Peking
in November, 1922, we
for the island of
left
Hainan,
Late one afternoon, after a weary
day's march through rolhng, bushy
China's southernmost territory. country, we saw in the distance on a low
First to bementioned in the party is our hill foreign houses, and beyond, blue
artist,Mr. Wang, who had for more mountains standing out against the sky.
than a year been making drawings Our porters made a bee line for these
from life of Chinese fish, reptiles, and houses, not even waiting for directions.
amphibians. He had already stood Of course, foreigners were coming to see
the test of work under great difficulty foreigners! Once inside the compound,
and capture by bandits, so we felt we I was greeted by name and told that
could place full reliance upon him. my dinner would soon be ready. The
Next came our assistant, whose missionaries at Hoihow had sent a
name was also Wang. Though only message and so we were expected.
twenty-three years old, he had attended Mr. Leverett showed me a room that
to the purchase and preservation of he said was to be mine and also an
thousands of specimens. Wang not empty one in which we might store our
only showed work but did
skill in this equipment. In time, not only half of
very good skinning; he too had faced hisbungalow had been turned over to
bandits. Kang and Jong, though new us, but also various rooms in other
to our party, were tried ''taxidermists" buildings. We even invaded the hos-
and promised to keep up their end of pital compound and before we were
the work —
trapping and skinning. ready to leave, it seemed to me that
On the fifteenth day after leaving we had used, in some way or other,
Peking, we disembarked at Hoihow, every bit of the entire compound.
Hainan's only port. I soon decided Doctor Salsbury's assistant very pa-
to head for Nodoa, a small inland town tiently put up with bad odors re-
situated in the hilly country inter- sulting from the preparation of bats,
mediate between the island's rolling rats, porcupines, hares, muntjacs, mon-
northern plain and its wild southern gooses, genets, wild cats, wild pigs,
highland. Members of the Hoihow monkeys, a varied assortment of
branch of the American Presbyterian squirrels, and many other mammals, all
Mission not only gave much-needed of which took place in the room next
advice, but actually hired a boat that to his.
would take us to Fa Hi, the head of My thankfulness increased and also
navigation on the Golden River. my surprise, for the Chinese had only
We reached Fa Hi after three days of discouraging tales to tell of the sup-
slow traveling up the river, and then a posedly dangerous interior. It is said
two-day journey overland brought us in Peking that the Hainanese have
to Nodoa. short tails and live on snake meat.
215
216 NATURAL HISTORY
A typical central Hainan landscape. — The ornament in the foreground is a native cart. The
screeching of these carts, though ear-splitting and nerve-racking, is effective, the natives assert,
in frightening away evil spirits. When a few Hainan roads have been traversed, it is readily
understood why such carts are used. They are perfectly adapted to their environment and well
able to cope not only with the roads but with the lack of roads, the crossing of flooded paddy
fields or newly cleared areas being easily achieved. Because of the enormous size of the wheels,
the shocks caused by small holes and bumps are hardly noticeable, while the effects of the deep
mud holes and the many gullies are lessened by the snail's pace of the draft animals
Even in Hoihow it was hard to get a mission. During the following months
"boy" sufficiently venturesome to make Ah-sen handled nine dialects for me.
the journey with us as interpreter. Some of these could justly be called
The one we finally induced to accom- distinct languages. He could not
pany us, proved, before the end of a write Chinese nor could he speak a
week, to be unable to cope with the word of English, but he knew a little
local dialects and was therefore use- northern Mandarin. No other Chinese
less. We soon learned something of the in the district could speak so many
difficulties. In Nodoa, which is the dialects, nor was any quite so courage-
district's market town, no less than ous as Ah-sen. He was invaluable.
five distinct dialects are spoken one — While with me, he had two encounters
for the town itself and one for each with bandits and congratulates him-
point of the compass. The so-called self on having come through with
Mandarin spoken by the people of his life and without having taken that
Nodoa is a corrupt form of the northern of a single bandit —
a distinctly Chinese
language. Hainanese, Hakka, Dom- way of thinking. Ah-sen was famous
chiu and Lim-ko Loi, Cantonese, and for two exploits: once he had carried
the local Mandarin all may be heard water, bare-footed and bare-legged
on the one ''street." The missionaries but with an old, high silk hat balanced
have to study three and four dialects. on his head! On another occasion, in
Mr. Leverett, anticipating my need his "table boy" days, he had ap-
for a local man to act as both guide and peared at dinner, tray in hand, and a
interpreter, had engaged Ah-sen, one discarded corset drawn snugly about
of the old, faithful servants of the his waist.
HAINAN 217
Through the cooler winter months we miles from Nodoa. When Ah-sen
spent most of our time studying and asked the hunters wh}^ they had not
collecting mammals, but before Febru- brought the animals to us, the men
ary had passed, hot weather set in and said they had not been sure that we
we turned our attention to reptiles, wanted leopards.
amphibians, and fish. There were
some days of warm weather before the
endless rains began, and during these
few days fish collecting was good. All
the creeks and small rivers were so
low— a result of the dry winter
—
weather that the fish were trapped in
the deeper pools. The Chinese raced
with us to the best places. They
dumped quantities of lime into the
water and thus forced the fish to the
surface. Onl}^ a few days of the mild
weather had passed when the spring
rains came down; the thin trickles of
water that barely connected the pools
became torrents; and the fish that
had escaped dynamite and lime were
liberated.
With the mission compound for a
base, ponies at our disposal, and the
missionaries ^ver ready with advice and
help, we were fortunate indeed. Kang Though totally illiterate, Ah-sen could
converse in nine tongues and was the only
and Jong were busy setting out and
man who would do night-watching alone.
taking in traps, bargaining with local
watchmen work in pairs, but
Ordinarily
hunters, and skinning, while Wang was Ah-sen drew a double salary because
occupied with the boys, many of whom he dared watch unassisted. Once he
had become expert in catching snakes wandered north to Shantung and at
Chefoo was emplojêd as table boy in a
and frogs. A local man had been
foreign household. To Ah-sen is due a
hired to help with the trapping and had
great deal of the credit for the collection of
himself become a good trapper. One 1150 mammals taken out of Hainan by the
day he put down his bag and, cautiously Third Asiatic Expedition
opening it, took out a rat trap in which
a large cobra was securely caught by At one time the Nodoa merchants
the neck! Ah-sen was kept more than accused us of having cornered the
busy hunting and circulating the news wild-cat market. To these Chinese
among local hunters that the new each kind of wild animal has its own
foreigner at Nodoa would buy all peculiar virtue as a medicine or tonic;
kinds of animals. If the village people therefore each species has a more or
were not reminded frequently, they market value. Monkeys,
less definite
would stop bringing in their catch. though common enough, are expensive
Two large cloudy leopards were killed and especially hard to secure because
and eaten on a mountain only seven of the great demand for ''monkey
218 NATURAL HISTORY
but when it came to buying an un-
common toad or lizard or snake — well,
the problem was far from simple. Any
little slant-eyed boy would be glad of
the chance to earn the fraction of a
cent by gathering a few common frogs,
but if a large or rare creature was
brought in by a farmer, we hardly
knew what to do, and generally left
the decision to Wang. Under such

circumstances, Wang, apparently not
even deigning to turn from his work
thus appearing to be as unconcerned
as possible —
would quickly size up the
object by glances out of the corner of
his eye. The captor of the prized
specimen would, on his side, lose no
time in trying to impress Wang with
the scarcity, difficulty of capture, and
good condition of the animal. The
next stage would be an effort on the
part of each to force the other to name
"Taxidermist" Jong and assistant Wang
are skinning a python (Python molurus). In
a price first — neither having the slight-
est idea of the other's conception of a
spite of rumors of gigantic snakes on Hainan,
none of the several pythons secured exceeded
twelve feet in length. Python steak was tried
and found to be delicious.There is always a
ready sale for the meat, and it is said that the
gall has remarkable medicinal value. Pythons
though not extremely rare, are uncommon
and hard to catch. They are generally dis-
covered and held at bay by dogs
paste." We are told that this medicine

is made of the entire animal. After a
—
monkey's whole body bones, hair,
skin, and all —
has been reduced to a
uniform consistency by some special
process, the resulting compound is
The cobra's attention is being attracted by
assistant Wang, who stands just outside the
administered to the decrepit old and
picture. This is an example of the smaller
the lazy young. The monkey is one and common kind of cobra found on Hainan,
of the most active and agile of animals A specimen of the larger variety was not
and the "paste" certainly contains secured although a headless skin measuring
the very essence of monkey. He who eleven feet was brought in by a farmer. It is
kind that is dreaded by the natives,
this large
eats the "paste" will, it is believed,
who sometimes carry pieces of sulphur around
become more active and agile.
with them as a protection against attack. The
In the case of animals having this Chinese are very fond of snake meat, and dis-
set market value, purchasing was easy, carded bodies were often taken by them
Scene on a stream fished by the Third Asiatic Expedition. The boat, built by popular sub-
scription,was to serve as a ferry. The men are soldiers who came along to guard the gentle-
man (not in picture) who volunteered to show us a good fishing stream. Mr. Li dared not go
even a short distance from Nodoa alone for fear of being kidnapped and held for ransom. He
comes of a wealthy family
From this compound, at the very edge of a central Hainan forest, pioneering Cantonese
manage one of their new tobacco plantations. Kang, one of the "taxidermists" of the expedi-
tion, made the compound his headquarters for many days. These thatched houses, with walls
made of upright saplings, are the coolest and most economical houses that can be built. The
compound is protected by a living stockade. In the center of the picture a few skins may be
seen sunning
219
220 NATURAL HISTORY
fair figure. After some moments of to name his price, Wang in his turn
deadlock; the one finally forced to would have shown similar symptoms of
name his pricewould have to bear the varied and violent emotion. After
brunt of the fierce sarcasm certain many minutes of alternate emotional
fairly to radiate from the other. For explosions the purchase would be
instance, if Wang had, as a starter, concluded by Wang shouting after
offered fifteen cents, the farmer would the fast-disappearing and thoroughlj^
immediately have appeared to be disgusted Chinese that his last price,
either mortally wounded in pride, though ridiculously high, would be
—
given because and here would follow
a long series of apologetic and condi-
tional excuses for giving in, duly punc-
tuated with anything but compli-
mentaiy remarks about the mental,
moral, and physical make-up of
Hainanese in general and one snake-
catching farmer in particular. In all
such bargaining the figure finally
arrived at is sure to be about half-way
between the two original conceptions
of value. One wonders why it would
not be simpler at the very start to
subtract one figure from the other,
divide the difference by two, and add
the result to the smaller sum, thus
arriving more promptly at the inevit-
able half-way point.
Through all the many ups and downs
Although Mr. Wang is a thoroughly trained of our efforts while on Hainan, Mr.
artist, he had always drawn in a purely Wang worked steadily, never for an
Chinese school; never before joining us instant becoming slack. He drew with
had he been introduced to scientific concep- a steadiness that only an Oriental can
tions and methods in art. It can barely be
show. One afternoon he came up to
seen that Mr. Wang holds in one hand two
brushes. He changes from one to the other me with a most worried expression
without putting either down or using his left something unusual for him and told —
hand. He is able to hold even three brushes me that the toad on which he was work-
at once, easily shifting
ments of the fingers.
them about by move-
By no means does Mr.
ing appeared to be seriously ill —yes,
but he hardly dared breathe it, the
Wang consider this sleight of hand, but merely
one of the numberless things that everj' well creature was already almost dead!
trained artist must be able to do. The frog I hurried with him to see just what
being drawn is in the glass vessel on the table could be the trouble. Sure enough,
at the right
there it lay all rigid, its legs stretched
out in a pitiful manner. Could it be
overcome with burning disgust, or that the toad had actually ''passed
choked with convulsive laughter at on?" Then Mr. Wang began sadly to
the very idea of such a ridiculously low- relate how it had happened.
price. If the farmer had been forced "About an hour ago," said he, "the
HAINAN 221
A bridge on the highway to Nodoa. —^This was a favorite place for robbers to lie in wait.
One robber, taken here, was duly tried but, though found guilty, was granted further trial in a
higher court. However, on his way to the district city, he got no farther than the scene of his
crime. Here he was asked to step to one side— he took his last step. The three men with hats
are doubtful as to the prudence of being photographed by the foreigner, but the one on the
right, an old mission servant, is quite familiar with cameras
toad began to scratch its sides and ago, if he would go in the field with a
rub its mouth in a peculiar way. I foreigner to draw living animals, Mr.
couldn't imagine what was wrong. Wang wanted especially to know
'Surely it is suffering or is very sick/ whether he would have to handle
I thought. Soon a thick substance snakes. That was one thing he could
began to ooze out all over its body. not do. Last year it was most amusing
This puzzled me still more. Then I to see him lovingly caress and nurse a
saw what I could hardly believe, —tears little snake he was drawing.
appeared in its eyes and I told myself A remarkable and beautiful tad-
that the poor toad must be actually pole, its body a mixture of rich browns,
crying. I felt sorry for it and said was brought in. On its back was a
'That's all right; don't cry, don't crj^ delicate pink frill which even the weak-
—you mustn't cry!'" est current swayed. The two tiny
All his encouragement failed, how- legs with their fully webbed feet were
ever, to save its life, for the creature kept moving in a truly unusual man-
had been chilled while shedding its skin. ner—not as ordinary polUwogs are
But how should Chinese artists know wont to move theirs. Mr. Wang be-
that toads shed and eat their skins? came interested at once. Surely this
When first asked, more than two years tiny creature could not be merely a
222 NATURAL HISTORY
tadpole; certainly it was the child of Nodoa. The first victim was rushed to
some weird dragon! So, day by day, the mission with a stab
hospital
as he watched the development, Mr. —
through the kidney all had happened
Wang gave rein to his fancy. What in broad dayhght on a crowded street.
manner of strange fog dragon^ would it I was strongly reminded of the doings
turn into? Its parents were certainl}^ in and about a small town in my native
hidden deep in some wild jungle! state of Georgia. The spring fighting
But alas, what disappointment! As season had evidently opened and from
the hmbs slowly developed, the rich then on the monotony of collecting
colors blended and faded, finally dis- was broken by frequent rumors of
appearing altogether. Ordinary shades battles and raids.
of dull green gradually appeared and The intense heat and the violence
the head assumed a decidedly ''froggj^" of the sudden storms made work during
aspect. Wang's dragon dreams
All the dsij difficult. Foreigners who have
were and quickly melted
shattered lived in Indo-China and latitudes as
away. We had before us only a tiny, far south in the Orient well know how
ugly specimen of the commonest frog carefully the white man has to guard
on Hainan, the frog that nightly against the heat of spring and summer.
makes the air alive with its incessant Yet one often passes Chinese working
calhng from the paddy fields. while the noonday sun beats down
In the spring a band of about one upon their bare, shaved heads. One
hundred deserters worked their way feels foolish beneath a thick pith helmet
inland from the coast and threatened and wet towel and is tempted to find
to give trouble. They laid an ambush out by experiment just how much
along the highway one day and, after truth there is in the belief that a
blowing off a sergeant's head, looted foreigner cannot stand the sun. How-
the loads of some fift}^ carrying coolies. ever, experiment invariably convinces
The ten privates of the command had one that though the Chinese farmer
dissolved upon seeing their leader fall may be quite sunproof, the foreigner
to the ground headless, and, of course, is The Chinese sometimes catch
not.
the defenceless coolies wasted no time small fish and snails by bailing out
in disappearing. The mission suffered shallow swampy stretches. This they
a loss of property valued at $500. will do in themiddle of the day under
Worse, than this, such a bold attack, the hottest sun. Often a whole vil-
perpetrated so near, threatened to cut lage will appoint a time for fishing and,
off our line of supplies. Carriers did putting aside farm work for the day,
not dare to travel that road alone and descend upon a stream, shut off a sec-
there was no other. For some time tion from above and below, and then
we had to take turns in escorting loaded make a raid on the fish, the men work-
coolies through this dangerous region. ing in the deeper pools with nets and
No one knew just when the outlaws the boys among the rocks and grass in
would return or others appear. To the shallows. As the day goes on, the
make things worse, a feud broke out in fish become more and more exhausted
iln certain parts of China salamanders are called by from constant fright and gradually fall
the natives foggy-air dragons. They are worshipped;
incense is burnt before their haunts and people kowtow
;
victims to either the boys or the men.
to them because it is thought they control the rain.
During the rainy season one might safely catch them In the preparation of the rice fields
without arousing suspicion but let a drought set in., and
the part of prudence is to leave them alone. it is necessar}' for the men to wade
HAINAN 223
around in the souplike mud of the graphs, and abundant notes. Mr.
flooded fields for hours and hours and Wang had illustrated the life histories
one soon becomes convinced that the of 15 species of amphibians and had
skin of these farmers must be as water- painted many fish. About fifteen
proof as their heads are sun-proof. local —
men cooks, frog catchers, and
The hot season, when work in the fishermen, —had helped in the work,
day is most diflacult, unfortunately while innumerable hunters had taken
coincides with the fighting season, part in the collecting of our 1150 mam-
when night work is dangerous. All mals. Countless boys were responsible
the patches of jungle have villages in for the thousands of frogs, snakes,
them and at night the roads are care- lizards, and the like, packed away
fully guarded and keptclear of stragglers. in our tins.
Lookouts are posted on high places Early in July news of the reassem-
and, because of the vigilance of the blage in Peking of the members of the
watch kept at all quarters, it is the part Third Avsiatic Expedition reached me
of prudence to be extremely careful as and I prepared to leave Hainan. It
to prowling about after dark. One is was not easy to part from the good
more apt to be shot for a robber than people who had for so many months
taken by robbers, and the Chinese can- helped us in every way. Each member of
not be persuaded to go about at night. the mission, not excluding seven-year-
Our collection steadily grew. Con- old Chalmers Salsbury, himself an
siderably more than 100 species of ardent collector, had joined in making
reptiles, amphibians, and fish were our efforts fruitful and our on thelife
represented. A large series of all the "Isle of Palms" pleasant way.

in ever}^
common forms had been secured. Not only the writer but the American
Besides specimens we had measure- Museum itself owes a debt of gratitude
ments of all the mammals, many photo- to these unselfish workers.
A good idea of the size of this lizard may be obtained through a comparison of its length with
that of the foot-rule lying beside The Hainan monitor belongs to a dwarf race, and, though
it.
similar in appearance to its Indian and Malayan cousins, in size it is not to be compared with
some of them. The monitor, a big bluffer, is quite devoid of poison and harmless in spite of
its habit of thrashing the keen tail about and blowing ominously. The natives beUeve that
anyone struck by the whiplike tail is in danger of "dying about ten days later"
Through the Yangtze Gorges to Wan Hsien
By anna G. granger
Third Asiatic Expedition, American Museum
w
said
'AN HSIEN! The
any
gives us more worry than
other spot in
Mr. Willys Peck, first secretary of
the American Legation in Peking, when
place that
China!"
by rail, should have been accomplished
in thirty-six hours.
the second evening.
retiring for the night
came to a halt
All went well
We
until
were just
when the
and remained at a stand-
train
he learned where the past winter's still the next forty-eight hours, the
work had taken the American Mu- interval being requhed to chase an
seum's party. Doubtless the legation army of bandits numbering several
is concerned about the unsettled state thousands from the immediate vicinity
of Szechuan Province, but the traveler of the raihoad tracks not many miles
who ventures into it soon loses con- ahead of us. Throughout the first day
sciousness of its protecting arm and of our stay on the siding, trainloads of
learns to be his own diplomatist as fast Chinese soldiers from the North passed
as he can. Almost the first remark that us on their way to the scene of action.
the few foreigners in Wan Hsien made When finally we were able to proceed,
to me on my arrival in that city of ten it was dark, and although we all were
thousand smells (as everybody dubs it, anxious to see what had taken place in
although the literal translation is the area where the bandits had
"ten thousand district") was, "You operated, we could make out nothing
were brave to venture down here except the numerous red glows on the
when you didn't have to come." Two horizon indicating the spots where
American gunboats, stationed alter- buildings were still in flames.
nately at Chungking and Wan Hsien, November 15 was a late date to be
seemed alone to offer a definite zone of thinking of securing good accommoda-
safety, and even one of these was re- tionson the Upper Yangtze steamers.
cently fired upon by bandits when the The had long since stopped
large boats
captain, exercising his prerogative in running on account of the low water.
releasing a Standard Oil junk which The delay of forty-eight hours in the
had fallen into theh hands, incurred middle of the province of Honan caused
their displeasure. In this case the out- us serious concern, and we were greatly
laws paid dearly for their temerity. relieved to find, upon reaching Hankow
Such was the place we were headed on the morning of the thirteenth, that
for on the evening of November 9, the steamer "Kiang Wo" would leave
1922. Mr. Granger's experience in this for Ichang that same evening. Four of
Upper Yangtze valley in the preceding the Chinese members of the party had
year had prepared him for the pos- been sent on ahead to Hankow. These
sibilities in the line of moving armies were Mr. James Wong, our inter-
and flying bullets which awaited us, preter; "Chi," the taxidermist;
but for me the trip had all the zest of "Buckshot" (so christened b}- an
the unknown. officer in the AmericanGuard in Pek-
The first stage of our journey, the ing, for whom he had worked as a bojO ',
overland trip from Peking to Hankow and "Huei," our accomplished cook.
224
THROUGH THE YANGTZE GORGES TO WAN HSIEN 225
"Chow," the table boy and general In certain stretches of this part of the
handy man, had made the journey from Yangtze, high mud dikes, thrown up to
Peking with us. keep back the summer flood, hide
By vigorous efforts on the part of all, everything from sight except the tops of
banking business was attended to, ad- the tallest trees, but for the most part
ditional supplies of tinned goods bought, we had an uninterrupted view of the
and our formidable array of baggage low flat plains and could see the Chinese
transferred to the upriver steamer by performing their autumn chores about
nightfall. Hankow carrying coolies are their farmhouses. We could not help
a men to deal with. It
difficult set of feeling sorry for some of these industri-
took all of Mr. Wong's unfaihng good ous people when we observed how
humor, tact, and much talk to effect a steadily the river was stealing away
reasonable bargain for their services. their property. Even as we passed,
When the last packet was put aboard, many feet of earth tumbled into the
itwas with a great sigh of relief that water, intensifying its chocolate color
we ourselves clambered up some steep and adding to its burden of silt. I
stairs aft. We managed to reach the find the following entry in my diary for
cabins assigned to us without stepping November 16: ''Saw a cormorant,
on any of the sleeping coohes who paved blue heron, swan, besides literally
the way. It was past the tourist season. clouds of duck and geese." Mr.
We were the only first-class passengers, Granger's notebook makes special
and no better means of entrance was mention of many birds seen at this
provided. same point in August, 1921.
The next three days gave everyone The sky had been overcast ever
opportunity to be lazy. Chi, Huei, since we had come in sight of the
Chow, and Buckshot spent much of Yangtze, a condition usually prevail-
their time playing mah-jongg. Mr. ing as winter approaches. On the
Wong had long confabs and several seventeenth, however, the sun shone.
dinner engagements with the ship's Also, the country became more hilly and
compradore, a man whose good will it is interesting. The river banks, instead
well to cultivate. Mr. Granger and I of being abrupt, here sloped away
found endless entertainment in watch- gradually from the water and were cul-
ing the native life along the river, as the tivated down to the farthest limit.
steamer, following the deepest channel, Only such crops were planted as could
went close to one shore or the other. be safely garnered before the summer
Often we were near enough to be with- rise. We anchored opposite the city of
in speaking distance. At such times Ichang about three o'clock. This was
there was always a crowd of children fairly quick time, considering that we
running along the bank, crying out to us moved only from dawn to sunset.
to throw them empty bottles. The Unless there is a clear moon to guide,
captain, as well as we, tried to hurl some captains do not usually attempt to ne-
over to them, but never succeeded, all gotiate the ever-changing channel a ter
falling in the swift current, much to their dark. It is a common incident to hear
disappointment and ours. Tossing arti- of a steamer stranded on a sand bar.
cles shoreward to the eager children is The "Kiang Wo" had hardly come
one of the regular diversions for passen- to a standstill in midstream when
gers on the Hankow-Ichang run. Monsieur Kaplain, then director of
View of the bund at Icliang, photographed at the time of medium high water. Extreme
high water floods the bund
The Yangtze, taken from the bund at Ichang during the period of low water. —Under
these conditions mud flats of considerable extent are exposed
226
posts at Ichang and formerly at Wan without any argument as to the

Hsien, stepped aboard to greet us, and fare. To my eyes,accustomed only
to carry us ashore in his sampan as to Northern Chinese all the boat-
soon as we should be free. He brought men looked capable of making daring
word that the steamer "Shu Hun," holdups, and it was not difficult to
flying theFrench flag, would leave for picturehow badly we would fare in a
Wan Hsien at daybreak the following sampan on a dark night, surrounded
morning. Mr. Wong was at once dis- only by those who turn a deaf ear to
patched to see if any first-class cabins cries for help.
were still available and, if so, to bargain The " Shu Hun " had been under way
for them with the compradore. Earlier about half an hour when I awoke and
in the season, while the large river looked out to find that the marvels of
steamers are running, tickets are sold the Gorge scenery were already begin-
and baggage is carried at a fixed rate, ning to unfold. Hastily donning
but when these boats are taken off and enough clothes to keep warm and wrap-
competition ceases, one is obliged to ping a steamer rug around me, I went
pay whatever the comprador may out on deck. Captain Bienami, to
demand, and his price is frequently whom we had had a card of introduc-
excessive. Mr. Wong was instructed tion from Monsieur Caplain, was
to say that rather than pay an ex- already about. He stopped to chat
orbitant sum, we would hire a junk. with me. It was quite evident that he
Fortunately we did not have to resort had seen nature enthusiasts before
to this slow and dangerous method of and was accustomed to early morn-
reaching our destination. There ing apparitions! Mr. Granger was
proved to be ample room in the first- taking a much-needed rest, and could
class cabins, but in the second- and not be persuaded by any of my bursts
third-class sections not space enough to of delight to leave his berth before
make it possible for our Chinese even breakfast was called.
to spread out their bed rolls. However, The two days that followed were full
as nothing else offered, and the Yangtze of wonder and intense satisfaction at
was getting lower every day, there was nature's handiwork, of awe in the
nothing to do but accept conditions as presence of a waterway requiring so
they were, and our men did so cheer- long a period of time in the making,
fully. and of astonishment at the powers of
Leaving Mr. Wong to complete destruction still inherent in the mighty
arrangements, we went to have tea stream. We were fortunate in seeing
with Monsieur Caplain and his wife at the Gorges at just this season when, by
their home, returning to the "Kiang reason of the low water, the precipitous
Wo" for dinner, and later going over to chasm were revealed in their
sides of the
the ''Shu Hun" with Mr. Wong to full, when the
majestic height, and
sleep. During the little sampan ride autumn colorings were upon all the
from one steamer to the other, I was various plant growths that find lodg-
surprised to notice that Mr. Wong's ment in these rocky uplifts, even in the
pistol was more in evidence than usual. most unlikely places. The beauty was
He explained that this show of arms enhanced by a bright sun, an all-too-
was simply to insure our being taken rare circumstance in these parts. At
where we wanted to go, and that, too, times, owing to the sharp turns in the
228 NATURAL HISTORY
river, we seemed to be traveling on a ing the passage of the rapid, it would
harmless lake, with further progress have eased our minds. Next, the wood-
barred by encircling mountains. Not a work immediately touching the boiler
ripple ruffled the surface, the great stacks was dampened to prevent
depth of the water apparently making scorching while the engines were under
the whole body move as one mass. forced draft. Mr. Granger made some
Here one forgot its power. It was at private preparations for the fray by
the wider places along our course, taking off the heavy ulster he was
caused by the palisades having slipped wearing. In the event of an accident,
out of position, fflhng the bed of the which was not unthinkable, he felt it
stream with rock piles, that the dash- would be expedient to be as unham-
It is no easy matter way up this seething rapid (the Hsin

for a small craft to fight its
T'an), even though under full steam and directed by a Chinese pilot who has attained his
position only after long experience with the difficult waters of the Upper Yangtze
ing spray and vicious-looking whirl- pered as possible. Finally everything

pools made one aware of the presence of on the lower deck was made tight, and
a strong current. our prow entered the seething water.
Going up the Hsin T'an (new rapid) Each of us now chose some fixed spot
gave us all genuine excitement. As on the shore by which to measure our
has already been said, we were carry- advance, and watched breathlessly to
ing a super cargo of human beings. see which of the contending forces
Some were asked to place our-
of us would be the stronger. The captain
selves in the forward part of the boat, had said he wasn't sure he could
the better to distribute the weight. If ''make it" under his own steam alone,
therehad been any means at hand for and for several moments our boat
removing about half our number dur- showed no gain whatever, but just
when we thought that the water would in China a trial. The plan was to leave
conquer, we began creeping slowly the steamer's side before she would
ahead, and the struggle was won. get under way the next morning. Our
Captain Bienami came around di- four Chinese were glad to abandon their
rectly afterward to enquire pleasantly cramped quarters and to spend the
if we had been sufficiently thrilled. We night in the sampan, guarding the
replied that indeed we had and that we luggage, which would otherwise have
didn't wonder that the mail for Wan been stolen. No one slept soundly for
Hsien, carried in tiny post boats, ar- thinking of our early start on the mor-
rived at its destination frequently in a row. A patter of rain, which we had
soaked condition. We then invited been dreading, awoke us in good season.
him to share a box of chocolates with By five-thirty our hand grips had been
which some good friends in Peking had lowered over the steamer's side and we
provided us and which we had opened ourselves had dropped into the sampan
in celebration of the safe transit. One by descending a hatchway even more
other box had served to beguile the thickly strewn with human forms than
idlehours on the side track in Honan. had been the one on the "Kiang Wo."
It was during one of these sociable The nearest shore toward which we
moments with this most genial of must go first was only faintly discern-
skippers that we learned that the actual ible when we said our final good-byes to
control of the wheel is not in the cap- the captain and pushed off. He waited
tain's hands, but is left to the Chinese until we had reached our position of
pilots, who have attained their position safety, then the siren blew, and a dis-
only after many years of experience in tinctly eerie feeling settled over us as
dealing with the special difficulties of we watched the twinkling lights dis-
the Upper Yangtze waters. appear.
We should have enjoyed continuing We had been cautioned not to cross
on to Chungking under this friendly to Wan Hsien until the swells caused by
guide had there not been work requir- the propellers had had time to go to the
ing our presence at Wan Hsien. We bank and return again, since many a
reached that city some time after dark small boat has been known to founder
on the nineteenth, too late to do more in the second commotion after safely
than hire a sampan, selected from the weathering the first. We were content
many that always swarm about so to follow instructions, especially .on
thickly as to hinder rather than facili- noticing, as it became lighter, that we
tate disembarking, and put the camp were more heavily loaded than we had
equipment aboard it. This was not supposed, because of some freight which
effected without some little unpleasant- the boatman had added on his own
ness. It seems that an attempt was account. About the time that our
made on the part of some of the ship's pilot decided it was safe to start to the
crew to prevent the removal of our opposite shore, another shower came
goods unless an extra fee was paid. on, which did not add to our feeling of
•Mr. Wong was obliged to threaten to well-being, for there was no shelter on
use violence before our men were our boat. Midway across we entered
allowed to proceed with the work of the swift water. Our course was
unloading. It is such unexpected alter- directed diagonally upstream. The
cations as this that make moving about current took care of the rest, bringing
230 NATURAL HISTORY
A view along the river front at Wan Hsien
US down again and butting us sharply Szechuanese jargon with the carrying
against some sampans, by whose side coolies, I had time to look about. Hap-
we had to moor want of a free space
for pening to glance toward the river and
on the shore. The "excess" freight seeing how madly was careering
it
nearly slid off by the impact. had not in the

along, I realized, as I
Daylight had now fairly come, or as half dawn when we were actually upon
much Wan Hsien often
of daylight as it, the danger to which we had been
gets before noon. While the men were exposed.

busy separating the boxes which were If anyone wants to visualize the'
to be taken to a place of storage from "pestilence that walketh in darkness,"
the pieces that were to go to the China he should certainly visit Wan Hsien. It
Inland Mission, our headquarters, and has the reputation of being the dirtiest
Mr. Wong was getting in some of his city in China. We found it fully as
A river divides the town of Wan Hsien into two parts. During high water the Yangtze
backs up in this stream channel to the full height of the bridge arch seen in the background
black as it is painted. It is loathsome of the Tan families at Yen Ching Kou

yet to recall that first ride in a sedan for another season's occupation by the
chair from the landing place to the Museum party, Mr. Granger and Mr.
Mission. There is only one thing worse Wong remained at Wan Hsien. It was
than being carried over the unspeak- necessary to pay respects to General
able filth and running the risk of being Chang Tsong, commander of the
dropped into it, and that is to have to Szechuan military forces in that city,
trail through it on one's own feet. Even and to the local magistrate. Upon the
along the fore shore and on the steep presentation of our credentials, a pass
banks of the stream that divides the was issued, permitting travel in the
town, where one would think the sweet neighborhood. This accomplished, we
airs of heaven might predominate, called on all the foreigners (they were
the odors were scarcely less noxious only a handful) who had the ill luck to
than they were in the paved alleys and be billeted in Wan Hsien, and made the
endless stone stairways within the acquaintance of the officers on the
town Subsequent rides in other
itself. gunboats, British as well as American.
showed that outside of the
directions I should like to record that all of these
compounds under the control of for- people, including Mr. and Mrs. Dar-
eigners there is not such a thing as a lington and their fellow workers at the
clean spot anywhere. Mission, were unfailing in their courte-
During the time which it took our sies to us throughout our stay in the
Chinese to prepare the ancestral hail province of Szechuan.
232 NATURAL HISTORY
It was not until December 21 that I of the troublesome little rapid known
made my first visit to the Museum as the Fu T'an. By means of two oars
camp at Yen Ching Kou. Mr. Granger attached by a loop of bamboo to up-
came to Wan
Hsien to accompany me. right pegs abouttwo feet high, a bam-
Practically a whole day is consmned in boo tracking rope, which it was the
going between the two places, although small boy's lot to carry ashore at
the distance is only twenty miles. intervals, and several long poles tipped
The attraction of the ride consisted with iron and used to thrust into holes
in keeping so close to the shore that we in the rocks, a forward motion was
could land at ahnost any moment, and teased out of the water. The last-men-
we were glad to alight several times, to tioned instruments have been used for
warm our chilled bodies by a brisk so many generations of boatmen that
walk. It was watch
interesting, too, to in places the rocks are fairly honey-
the. methods of propulsion which the combed with holes four or five inches
Chinese have developed to overcome deep made by the repeated use of the
the swift current. Our crew consisted same spots as points of leverage. When
of two men and a boy; all three stood we came opposite the lower end of the
to their work during the whole of the Fu T'an, we had to cross the river.
four hours that it takes to reach Pei The two older men of our crew took
Shui Chi, the small town at the head the tracking rope, and with the assist-
Deep holes have been worn in the rocks where successive generations of boatmen have
thrust their kon-tipped poles in order to force their sampans forward against the swift current
The sampan bearing the Museum party and flying the American flag is being tracked
and poled over a difficult place on the Yangtze between Wan Hsien and Pei Shui Chi
A mute testimony to hard labor are the grooves worn in the stone by the bamboo ropes
used by trackers
233
234 NATURAL HISTORY
A section of rice paddies high up on the mountain face. —The entire slope was
similarly carved. The T'an ancestral hall is seen in the foreground
ance of a Chinese from another sampan — Mr. Granger and Chow on foot and
and of Mr. Granger too, om- boat was I in a sedan chair. Before setting out
hauled over. we stopped at a so-called Chinese inn,
Quite a sizeable stream, spanned by a in this case simply a matting-covered
beautifully arched stone bridge, enters shed containing two tables, benches
the Yangtze at Pei Shui Chi. The resembling sawhorses to sit on, a
same water flows as a small brook past Chinese bed, called a kang, and the
the Museum camp at Yen Ching Kou. usual cement stove. Here we obtained
We were soon following up its course, hot water for our tea and delicious
native tangerines and peanuts to out to vegetables, as is the custom in the

supplement our luncheon sandwiches. winter season. Night shut down upon
By three o'clock we were started up the us about two-thirds of the way up. As
twelve miles of stone-paved trail, I could no longer see where the pitfalls
narrow and in a bad state of repair, were ahead, I gave up worrying and
passing by highly cultivated mountain- contented myseh with drinking in long
sides that are truly nothing less than drafts of the sweet-smelling mountain
marvels of agricultural architecture. air. At about seven o'clock Mr.
One slope must have had more than a Wong's cheery welcome was heard in
hundred terraces carved upon its face, the darkness, and we knew that the
some filled with water, others planted Museum camp was at hand.
(In a later issue of Natural History Mrs. Granger will give an account of life as she
lived it in a Chinese ancestral hall converted for the time being into a Museum camp, and of
excursions to fossil pits in the neighborhood from which of old the "dragon" bones of Chinese
medicine were taken and which more recently have supplied specimens of extinct animals to
the Museum.)
The ancestral hall and a part of the village of Yen Ching Kou. — It was here
that Mr. and Mrs. Granger lived while Mr. Granger collected fossils in the region
A black bear strolling by, at a distance of about thirty yards from the camera
In the Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear'
By WALDEMAR JOCHELSON
Leader of the Ethnological Division of the Kamchatka Expedition of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society
THE Kamchatka Peninsula to the —

mixed blood a cross between Kurilians
south of Petropavlovsk is at and Kamchadal. Just as I had antici-
present ahnost uninhabited. The pated, I found there evidence of the
natives have either died out or were historic and cultural connection of the
exterminated by the Russians. Only old local population, on the one hand
on the western shore are there three with the Kurilians, Ainus, and other
small villages, and one of them at the ancient inhabitants of the Japanese
mouth of the Osernaya River was re- Islands, and on the other through the—
cently established by Russian settlers. Kamchadal, Koryak, and Chukchee
From this settlement I had to ascend with the Indians of northwestern
the mountainous Osernaya River to America.
Lake Kuril, fiftj^-five miles from the Our party consisted of myself as
shore of the Sea of Okhotsk. leader, Mrs. Jochelson, M.D., as
The purpose of my going to Lake assistant and physician to the party,
Kuril was to excavate the site of an and eleven laborers, of whom seven
ancient village which existed in pre- were Russians, three Kamchadal, and
historic tunes on a small promontory one Japanese.
on the eastern shore of the lake. This The Osernaya River, with its slant-
village was inhabited by natives of ing bed, rocky banks, rapids, falls,
'Illustrations by the author.
236
IN THE REALM OF THE KAMCHATKA BLACK BEAR 237
tree branches, and on the ground we

found left-over pieces of fresh salmon,
the remnants of the bears' meals.
The animals are very nervous and
easily become alarmed. They have
sufficient reason to be afraid of a man
with a gun.
It is well known that at Lake Kuril
and in its vicininity scores of bears are
to be found. The abundance of fish
and of many kinds of berries furnishes
them ample food and favors their in-
crease in number. The sparsity of
human population is also favorable to
the multiplication of the bears, al-
though the few hunters of the coastal
villages kill them annually by the
hundreds.
Unloading the boats, preparatory to After five days of painful effort we
ascending the rapids of the Osernaya River
finally reached our destination. It was
a windy day and our frail boats nearly
and curves, forms a most difficult and capsized on the stormy lake, which is
dangerous route of travel. We had surrounded by the peaks of extinct
two boats and two canoes. One of the volcanoes.
boats was for Mrs. Jochelson and my- We were entertained every day by
self; the other boat carried the tents, the sight of bears fishing and gathering
instruments, food, and other supplies.
The canoes served for reconnaissance
and errands requiring dispatch. It was
very difficult to make progress on the
boisterous river, particularly on the
way up. Several times we had to dis-
embark and carry our freight on our
shoulders while the boats were pulled
by ropes through the rapids.
While there are no human habita-
tions anywhere in the country, we
were amazed to find well-beaten paths
in the forests and on the mountains
above the river, as if there were numer-
ous human settlements. But realizing
that these were roadways made by
bears, we walked cautiously amid the
dense vegetation with rifles ready for
action. We did not see any bears while When rapids were encountered, the
following these paths, but we heard the occupants of boat disembarked and
the
breaking and cracking of bushes and pulled at the ropes instead of at the oars
238 NATURAL HISTORY
An inner pond in the Lake Kuril region, with Doctor Jochelson's encampment in the
foreground
berries, particularly when we increased once I allowed two of them to go for a

our field of observation by the use of night hunt and they secured a little
opera glasses. The bears stood with bear cub. The meat they cooked and
their hind in the mountain
legs ate.
rivers and and with their front
creeks, The morning of our contemplated
paws they managed to throw out on the departure from Lake Kuril, when all the
banks sea salmon that in order to specimens found in the excavations had
spawn ascend the rivulets that flow been packed, the lids of the boxes
into the lake. Then they went after nailed down, and the boats loaded, I
their prey and, eating off the heads was tempted to linger just a little
and spines, which are the most palat- longer upon seeing two she-bears with
able parts of the fish, cast away the their cubs playing on the other side
remainder. Their movements, turn- of a pond in the rear of the promontory.
ings, leapings, and jumpings, were so I accordingly delayed my departure
amusing that we could not restrain our until the afternoon and singling out
laughter. two of the best marksmen from my
My laborers were anxious to hunt party and equipped with a stereoscopic
bear, but I could not allow them to go camera and a motion-picture camera, I
on such an undertaking as my time was started in the direction of the bears.
short and a government steamer was We had to undress in order to cross the
expected on a certain date at the river in the rear of the promontory,
mouth of the Osernaya River to take and to carry on our heads the bundles
my party to Petropavlovsk. Only of clothing, the rifles, and the cameras,
IN THE REALM OF THE KAMCHATKA BLACK BEAR 239
ol
Doctor Jochelson's Newfoundland dog intent upon catching fish, a practice

in which the bears of the region also indulge
SO that they might not get wet. We were still too far away, I told one of
reached the other bank of the river, my two men to make a circuit about
dressed ourselves, and tried to pass as them and frighten them from the rear
noiselessly as possible through the little so that they might come nearer to us.
up to the open meadow
jungle that led Both cameras were in readiness to take
where the she-bears were playing with pictures when suddenly at a distance of
their cubs. about thirty yards appeared a young
We stopped on the outskirts of the black bear quietly passing by. I
forest and put up the cinema and quickly took a stereoscopic snapshot
stereoscopic cameras. As the bears and was about to start with my cinema,
240 NATURAL HISTORY
Salmon were abundant at the entrance of the lake
but the bear was frightened by the the idea of another attempt to approach
clatter of the falling shutter of the bears with peaceful intent. The bear
photographic camera and, instead of that was killed appeared to be not
running away, rushed in our direction. more than three or four years old. I
We had no choice but to aim at his took the skin and the meat of a hind
head and fire as he neared the cameras. leg for the laborers.
After ascertaining that the bear was We returned to our camp late in the
dead, we looked around. None of the day and were compelled to spend one
other bears were to be seen they had
: more night on the promontor3^ Next
been frightened by the shooting and had morning, our archaeological mission ful-
disappeared. As I could not remain on we started on our journey to the
filled,
the lake any longer, I had to give up sea.

Some Drums and Drum Rhythms of Jamaica'
By HELEN H. ROBERTS
SELDOM does one pick up a book them are either missionaries, to whose
dealing with travel among negro untiring efforts we owe the greater
peoples and fail to find some allu- part of our knowledge of far-away
sion to their music, to their remarkable lands, or scientific explorers, —both
untaught ability to harmonize, or to primarily interested in other fields,
the strangely fascinating effect pro- and rarely sufficiently trained in music
duced by the complicated rhjrthms, to report in more than a casual way
especially of their drums, of which there regarding what they hear.
are many varieties. The drums which I have always wished that I might
attract the most attention are of huge have the opportunity of listening to
size. Often their deep tones may be those great drums and of feeling the
heard many miles and are conveyors mysterious effect of their rhythms.
of messages to those versed in their Although that experience has been
language. The hollowed tree trunk denied me, I had the privilege recently
has provided the sounding cavity for of becoming acquainted with the drum
many types, and while in some dis- as the negro of Jamaica makes and
tricts animal skins, such as those of plays it.
the goat, furnish the vibrating mem- Jamaican negroes are, despite all of
branes, in others nothing was so prized Britain's civilizing influence, very
as the skin of a human being. African still beneath the veneer. They
Throughout Melanesia as well as have retained many characteristics of
Africa drums play a very important their former home; words, supersti-
part in ceremonial life. Some illus- tions, folklore, customs, love of music,
trated volumes contain pictures of remnants of songs sung with words now
huge hollowed-tree specimens standing unintelligible even to the singers,
on end in groves, almost as the original peculiar methods of planting, of house-
trees grew. These drums are played building, and of making musical instru-
by priests who take as keen delight ments, and other mementos of their
in the varied responses obtained from past too numerous to list. The people
them as an organist in his different of the more remote districts, where
sets of pipes. little contact is had with the outside
Although we have many photo- world, live in a manner scarcely

graphs of these instruments and the changed since early slave days.
museums contain actual specimens, and Immediately upon our arrival two
although we read of the weird effect days after Christmas we proceeded to
their throbbing notes produce on the Lacovia, hardly more than a ''four
nerves and emotions of whites as well as corners" in the southwest-central part
blacks, practically no notation has been of the island. Although situated in the
made of the rhythms, tempo, or tones. midst of great and very old plantations
Most of the travelers who have heard and near a log-wood dye factory,
'The information presented in this article was gathered during a field trip to Jamaica in the winter of 1920-21,
made under the auspices of the Folklore Foundation of Vassar College and of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, for the purpose of collecting folk songs.
241
242 NATURAL HISTORY
Lacovia is remote from any real town most, —in the public markets, along the
except that of Black River, an im- roads, and at all sorts of gatherings,
portant port before the days when including revival meetings.
Kingston at the other end of the island We found the John Canoe dance (a
wrested the supremacy from her, but pagan survival) and other festivities
now a quiet little community dreaming in full swing in the back districts,
in the sunshine on the edge of the although in the larger tourist towns
turquoise Caribbean, of the days of these have to a great extent disap-
pirates and rich galleons, while it peared.^ In the market places were
waits peacefully for the only occasional erected hand-driven merry-go-rounds
of ancient design upon which all but
the very old rode with an utter aban-
don to joy in the motion, the drum
rhythms, and the music. There were
several little bands of strolling players
that took turns in providing music for
this popular pastime in the market
place, near the estate where we were
fortunate enough to be guests. The
bands were usually composed of a
flutist with an instrument of bamboo,
a triangle player (who sometimes had a

real triangle, sometimes merely a piece
of iron suspended from a string), and
two drummers, with what corresponded
to side and bass drums. These, al-
though of home manufacture one was —
constructed from an old keg were —
unlike most African drums in that
A keg-shaped drum of native manufacture both sides were covered with skin.
Although our visit to the market
ships that now put in for coffee, all- place attracted considerable attention,
spice, and other produce, or to unload I succeeded in finding a seat not far
supplies. from the merry-go-round, and after
The negroes are still in the habit of some time the novelty of my presence
holding some pagan festivals during the ceased to draw onlookers or to disturb
Christmas holidays, although the con- the players, who may have taken my
sent of the government is given reluc- quiet sitting under a thatch shade as a
tantly. It is generally admitted that sign -that I was merely resting. During
the festivities unsettle the people for the hour that I was able to remain
weeks afterward, and permits for the there, I succeeded in noting the follow-
performances are granted to cover only ing rhythms played by the side drum-
a limited length of time. It is during mer, a few combinations achieved by
the holidays, when factories and plan- the little untaught band, as well as four
tations make no pretense of work for at triangle rhythms. These were by no
least two weeks and general idleness 'An article on the John Canoe festival is being pre-
pared by Miss Martha Beckwith but has not yet been
prevails, that the drums are beaten published.
SOME DRUMS AND DRUM RHYTHMS OF JAMAICA 243
means all that were played in that nature is intuitive. I was not able to
space of time, for changes were con- writedown many combinational effects,
stant, and whilewas concentrating
I otherwise his ability in holding his own
to hold in memory and
note down one and shifting his pattern while always
set of rhjrthms, another would often keeping the would be more
beat
be substituted for it, which would be apparent. He gave me informa-
later
changed in turn by the time I had tion about the songs, and it was then
recorded the first. discovered that his beautiful voice had
The chief or side drummer was un- a range of more than three octaves,
usually musical, with a rhythmic sense for he had a rich and pure falsetto. His
rare even among negroes, whose feeling appreciation of melody and of harmony
for rhythms of the most complicated was very evident. When drumming, he
3)rum Bca^ls. Ls^covla^

J= IK
1 *
244 NATURAL HISTORY
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CombinaHons of Beats. L^^covi^^.

Triangle Sna^re , ^ndi. Bass Pra-ms
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played as though inspired, his head merry-go-round were all about the
turned to one side, as if he needed the same, as I have indicated by the
keener hearing of one ear, while his metronome mark, and few if any other
rapt expression showed that he was piecesmoved more slowly. The move-
obHvious to all but the task in hand. ments might be described as a vigorous
The most significant feature of these pushing on as in rather rapid walking,
rhythms and of the majority of others about mm
120 to the beat. A curi-
that I heard throughout my stay is that ous strengthening of this impression is
most of them revolve around two- and gained by the bass or heavier drum tak-
four-part meters, of which the two- ing the quarter notes in alternate
part are the more common. The markedly heavy and light strokes. An
tempos of the pieces played for the effect very common in Jamaican drum-
246 NATURAL HISTORY
ming, in addition to the sounding of pected to remember them and jot them
notes on the second half of the beat in down later, but they would soon be
syncopation, is that produced by what supplanted by others, and so forgotten.
I am tempted to call the syncopated One rhythm which stands out in mem-
measure, although real syncopation ory came from a remote meeting place
does not exist in that sense. This effect in the brush when the thick, warm,
is obtained by playing notes of very pulsing blackness hid even the white
small value in the first part of the road beneath our feet. Its joyous,
measure, followed by those of larger bounding vigor is but poorly indicated
value in the last part, thus throwing by the notes.
the weight of the notes at the end, in
much the same way as a note half a J = 100
beat in length at the beginning of a
measure followed by one a whole beat miuuis aiiuuir
in length throws weight on the last half
of the first beat carrying over into the The drums used in revival meetings
second beat. In the former case, how- and by the John Canoe companies at
ever, the beats are not split by notes Christmas time deserve more than pass-
which hold over the points of beginning ing notice, especially the curious little
and ending, nor is the beginning of the drum that appears in the less sophisti-
new measure obscured by a holding cated John Canoe companies. The
over from the last, as is the case in drums when used at revivals have a
beat S3rncopation, which is as common different significancethan when played
as is this false measure "syncopation." for secular occasions to the accompani-
The variety of rhythmic patterns of ment of Jdmal songs, as the black
which Jamaican drummers are capable people call the selections that are then
seems almost infinite, and while in the sung. I believe they are also different
music to which I listened some patterns in identity, though in design they are
might be continued long enough to the customary side or snare and bass.
enable me to note them clearly, the Two of the former and one of the latter
rhythms shifted apparently without supply "plenty powah" as I learned
rule any number of times in the course on one occasion when attending a meet-
of a tune as if the leader were guided ing. We were given seats of honor,
solely by caprice. The triangle player mine being directly in front of the
was plainly not so versatile as his chief, drummers, but strange to say, after the
whose shimmering rhythmic changes first few deafening moments when the
were woven around the regular beat vibrations threatened to sever my

of the heavy drum. spine, I found the rhythms drums
of the
The flutist played various tunes stealing over my senses to such an ex-
known to the people as sha-shas (pro- tent that all the blare was forgotten
nounced shay-shays), catch-me-times, in the supreme electric effect they en-
mentos, reels, lanciers, two-steps, and gendered. The whole dusky audience
others. Many of these dance tunes are pressed closer and closer around the
presumably taken from Scottish airs or drummers in the smoky torchlight,
from old English dance music. singing with more and more abandon.
For two weeks one heard drum Religious fervor mounted high and had
rhythms everjovhere, and always exit not been for faithful Morrison, our
black guard, I should have feared to The gumbe is square and resembles a
remain. We left the gathering before it milking stool not a little except that it
had reached its highest state of exalta- has four legs, two of which, forming
tion, and although in that district at opposites, are shorter than the other
least, fanatical outbreaks, during which pair. While this disparity does not
the more zealous cut themselves with appear to be necessary and might seem
knives and beat one another, are pre- the result of crude measuring, it was a
sumably unknown, they do occur in noticeable feature of both the Lacovia
others. Although the rhythms em-
ployed in connection with church
singing are, as a result of contact with
the hymns, reduced in their syncopa-
tions to the minimum possible in the
case of negro performers, syncopation
is never totally absent.
We were able to see and hear three
John Canoe companies, composed of —
strolling singers and drummers and a
triangle player at Lacovia, of drummers
and singers at a still more remote place
called Prospect, and of flutists and
drummers at Brownstown, which is a
community of some importance al-
though far from the railroads. The framework of the gumbe before the
The company at Lacovia in addition goatskin has been stretched over the top and
to a bass and side drum had a curious the inner square of wood inserted from below
little instrument which they called the and pushed upward. Note the difference in
the length of the two pairs of legs
gumbe (pronounced gumbay). The
people assert that all their equipment
is destroyed each year after the season and Prospect specimens, preventing the
of festivities, and they parted with it, drum from standing unsupported. The
little temple and drums, without any player holds it slanting away from him
apparent regret after bargaining for a as he crouches on his heels and thrums
considerable sum.^ But while it may it with slaps of his broad palms near
be true that the temple is made afresh the base of the hand or with his fingers
each year, the drums are certainly and broad splay thumbs, in almost
preserved from season to season, for unbelievably quick and complicated
those purchased were quite old, the rhythms, which I found it quite im-
gumbe especially, as is evidenced by the possible to take down in longhand
fact that its originally thick goatskin and for the recording of which the
membrane had been worn through in phonograph was not available at
many places and patched. When it is Lacovia and at Prospect.
realized that this instrument is played The gumbe is African in general plan
with the hands only, the wear is all the but the particular specimen which I
more indicative of age. examined was the crude product of
more clumsy Jamaican handicraft. A
'The specimens are in the American Museum together
with a fine old bamboo flute. brief description will be of interest.
The fundamental frame is square, of wedges between the two sets of cross
boards about three inches wide fast- slats at the slots in the legs.
ened together at the ends. To the Considerable sound can be derived
outer surface of this frame are nailed from the gumbe, especially on account
the four legs, placed not as one might of the force with which the negro slaps
suppose at the corners but at the it, although there is no sound cavity of
middle of the sides of the frame, the any size and what there is, is open
two short legs being opposite. Into toward the ground.
each leg for a portion of its length has I have mentioned the fact that the
been cut a broad slot; the top of each gumbe is probably African in plan.
slot terminates on a line with the bot- There seems little doubt but that it is
tom edge of the board frame, which we one of the survivals from the past.
might call the seat of the stool. Over Maud Cuney Hare, writing of the drimas
this frame the goatskin has been mentions a gumbia as being an
of Africa,
stretched, and after being roughly- instrument of Sierra Leone. This fact
shaped around the tops of the legs, has might not prove anything in itself, for
been nailed along the lower edge of the some of the lawless Maroons of Jamaica
frame. Another frame which just fits who resisted capture and subjection by
within the first but the sides of which the British after the latter took the
are wider, is slipped inside the first island from Spain, were eventually
frame from underneath and pushed as sent to Sierra Leone. I have examined
far up against the skin as possible but ; Newland's Sierra Leone in vain for
even after it has been forced upward its any mention of it, or for much about
lower edge is considerably below that any of the music. It is known, how-
of the outer frame, due to the difference ever, that some of the tribes originally
of width. Two cross slats, grooved transported to Jamaica were from that
slightly in the center where they cross part of West Africa where the so-called
so that they may not shp past each Tshi languages are spoken. Ellis in
other, are run through the legs of the The Tshi-Speaking Peoples of the Gold
"stool" by means of the and slots, Coast of West Africa refers on pp. 326-
another pair is same way,
inserted in the 27 to finger-played drums and the
the distances between the pairs on all language of drums. A. Werner, who
four sides being maintained by wedges wrote the introduction of Jekyll's
driven into whatever intervening Jamaican Song and Story, which com-
spaces may be left in the slots of the pares Jamaican music and folklore with
legs, thus keeping the inner frame of African, deals with the music at length
the seat as tightly pressed as possible in his own Natives of British Central
against the goatskin. As the skin Africa. He says on page 225 that
stretcheswith use and the wedges Central African drums do not have
become loosened, others are inserted, more than one head, that some are
either in their place or additionally, so played by hand and that there is a four-
that eventually the device has the legged drum, like a small round stool,
appearance of being more. complicated which is beaten with two sticks as it
than it really is. Sometimes very small stands on the ground. Most of the
wedges are inserted between the edge of better-known authors of large treatises
the inner frame and the first cross slat, on African life say little if anything
instead of being added to the other about the music or mention it only in
250 NATURAL HISTORY
"R.?!, Jph^ Canoe Music. HutezmdDiîm.BrDwnstowa. Company from OranJeHill
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(l) The notes enclosed by- parentKcses are recoi\struclcd from a. similar passage later in the
son6 There was a fauU ii\ the record covering the twites that Have been replaced
.
passing as being impressive. The Leipzig, 1904, pp. 60 ff., mentions no

article by Algernon Rose entitled "A drum like the gumbe.
Private Collection of African Instru- Finally, an examination of the
ments," pubHshed in the Zeifec/in/^/wr Crosby-Brown collection of musical
die Internationale Musikgesellschaft, instruments from Africa, in the Metro-
politan Museum of Art, reveals several, although I have noted that in revival
which if not like our Jamaican speci- meetings, when the singing has been
men, show where the idea for its leg going on for some time, the boom of the
structure originated, coming, as these bass drums seems to influence the
museum specimens do, from the very choice of a key so that its fundamental
part of Africa from which the Jamaican and the drum are in close accord.
negroes were taken. One has for its I made a final effort to record on the
base a wooden ring in one piece with phonograph the music of the John
two stubby pointed pegs which are Canoe company of Brownstown, where
stuck in the ground as the driun is there were drums and flutes but no
played. Many drums have legs of some gumbe, and this time indoors. One of
sort, but all are round and none has the these records was clear enough to
inner frame and the slots and wedges. transcribe although only one of the
The name gumbe is strangely like drums is audible. Subsequent experi-
that of Senegambia and that of ments have shown me that the sounds
Gambia, respectively, a province and of drums or other instruments of per-
an island within the province, near the cussion below a certain pitch are not
Gold Coast from which the Jamaican caught by the ordinary hand phono-
negroes came and from which the graph. The transcription of flute
Metropolitan Museum of Art has speci- music with the rhythm of one of the
mens of drums with legs and but one drums is given on the opposing page.
vibrating surface. The rhythmic pattern adopted by
The gumbe has no definite pitch but the drum will be apparent with a little
emits a sound like"thwank" in vary- study, and actual perusal of the notes
ing degrees of volume. As for the will reveal the peculiarities better than
other drums of Jamaica it can hardly a description. I have made no men-
be said that they are pitched. Particu- tion of the flute other than in passing,
larly does thisapply to the side drums for enough flute music was collected,
some of the larger bass drums, on the together with several instruments and
other hand, have more musical tones. data concerning them, to justify in-
There is not, so far as I am aware, any dependent treatment. The present
attempt to tune the drums other than example is the only one where the
to keep the skins taut, and no conscious combination of flute and drums was
attempt to sing in tune with them, secured.
Courtesy of New York Zoological Society
Photograph, taken by Elwin R. Sanborn, of a gray snapper in the New

York Aquarium
Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper, a

Common West Indian Fish
By E. W. GUDGER
Associate in Ichthyology, American Museum
THE Tortugas islets are
flung last of the Florida Keys.

the far- lurk in the tangles of mangrove
probably to catch the crabs that crawl
roots,
They form an archipelago of in and about these roots. They are

coral sand roughly surrounding a among the most abundant of the fishes
lagoon of comparatively shallow water, found about the Florida Keys, where
and are situated on the outer, or west- they patrol the shores in schools. In this
ern, end of the great submarine plateau connection it is interesting to note that
of Florida, seventy miles west of Key members of these bands are approxi-
West. The westernmost of these islets mately of the same size and that the
is Loggerhead, so named because of the bands include no small specimens.
great number of turtles of that name Being very abundant, going in
that used to "haul out" on sandy
its schools, and patrolling the shores, they
shores to lay their eggs. Loggerhead are of all fishes at the Tortugas perhaps
Key is a flat crescent with the concave the easiest to study. And of all that I
side facing the west; it is about three- have observed there, none seemed more
quarters of a mile long by one-quarter from the standpoint of their
interesting
wide at the middle of the crescent. behavior. About two or three dozen
The Biological Laboratory of the used to I
"hang around" the wes-
Carnegie Institution of Washington is tern dock at Loggerhead, playing or
situated near the tip of the northern seemingly resting under its shadow.
horn, and it was at this institution that Their chief purpose in remaining there
the observations recorded in this article was, however, to feed on scraps thrown
were made. overboard by the cook. The fish ap-
The gray snappers {Neomxnis parently knew this individual and
griseus) are so called because of their manifested no fear of him whatever,
color. Another name applied to them for whenever he appeared carrying a
is "mangrove snappers" because they bucket or pan, the gray snappers were
252
NOTES ON THE BEHAVIOR OF THE GRAY SNAPPER 253
all eagerness, and as he raised this sandy beach on the east side of the
utensil, there was a grand rush and island directly in front of the station.
the scraps and the snappers arrived at Here a dock, which ran out into the
the surface at the same time. water five or six feet deep to support
Let some one else, however, walk out the intake pipe for the pump, acted
on the dock (which was about eight as a springboard for diving and as an
feet above the water) and some of the observatory for watching the fish.
snappers (generally those nearest) Around dock and in and around
this
would turn slightly on one side, thus the reef of oolitic limestone, which
keeping a wary eye on the intruder. extended from it roughly parallel with
If now he stooped to pick up some- the shore, large numbers of fishes
thing, the snappers would move off, played, presently becoming quite tame.
and if the object picked up was the Among these fishes were probably a
grains (a pair of which was nearly al- hundred gray snappers, which had col-
ways kept at the pier head), the more lected seemingly to be sociable among
timid fish would depart for deeper water. themselves and toward us. When the
The bolder, however, seemed to like other men had swum away, I used fre-
the game and held their positions until quently to stand quietly on this ledge of
the grains were thrown, when in a flash rock, whereupon the gray snappers
they were gone. None, so far as I can would swim all around me, playing with
recall, were ever taken thus though each other and seemingly with me, for
our most expert strikers were continu- they would often come within a foot, so
ally practising on them Some of the fish
. close indeed that I momentarily ex-
presently seemed to recognize that pected them to nibble at my fingers
there was little danger and would hardly and toes.Then, when I turned and
move six feet away when struck at. swam toward shore, a band of them on
Many were the attempts to take either side would fearlessly accompany
them with hooks, especially on the part me into water that was no more than
of newcomers, to whom they were an knee-deep. This happened not once
ever-present temptation. For years but a score of times.
these efforts were unsuccessful but at Gray snappers are fond of ghost
last, in the summer of 1915, our cook's crabs (Ocypoda arenaria), and used
assistant, a professional fisherman from to catch them in the following fashion.
Key West, was able now and then to It was our custom after supper to
hook one at night. On one occasion walk to one end or the other of the
a number were taken by being sur- island. The best footing was afforded
rounded with a seine, but when they by the hard sand between high and low
were cooked and brought to the table water marks. As we strolled along on
there was a general outcry of condem- land, the gray snappers would parallel
nation, led by the man who had been our course in the water, and when,^
working longest at the laboratory and as not infrequently happened, ghost
who phrased it that these fish were our crabs, by our approach,
frightened
companions and playmates and that it was a quick
scuttled into the sea, there
was an outrage thus to take advantage rush by the snappers and the crabs
of their friendliness. never came back. In this way the fish
Our favorite bathing place was at a secured their suppers.
"The Schoolhouse of the World"
Curator of Comparative Anatomy, American Museum
THEby interesting picture reproduced herewith
the late Erwin S. Christman, of the department of

was made
vertebrate palaeontology, American Museum, in 1920.
It was originally intended for a newspaper article regarding
the Museima, but was not used and has never been published
before.
The picture shows the Museum as a "schoolhouse of
the world," toward which all sorts of strange animals and

people are heading in lines that converge from various parts
of the earth. In the sky one sees on the right a long line of
flamingos, and on the left several of the largest flying
reptiles (Pteranodon) . In the distance a dog team is driving

across the Arctic wastes toward the Museum, while Eskimos
are pulling a walrus out on the shore. Near the center a long
line of horses is dragging a section of the "big tree" (Sequoia),
which a giant gorilla is pushing from the rear. At the left we
see the huge dinosaurs of varied form, the gigantic Bronto-
saurus overtopping the rest. In the foreground a mammoth

is being hunted by men of the Old Stone Age, while at the
right a procession of African and other mammals is followed
by the Haida canoe and its strange company of Northwest
Coast Indians. The insect world is represented by some giant
dragon flies and other forms, and herpetology is symboHzed by
the serpent. The department of invertebrates is represented
only by the lowly starfishes, but the artist could not find
room for everything, and the minerals also are neglected.
The picture as a whole is very characteristic of Mr.

Christman's joyous outlook on life, and of his devotion to
the Museum and its interests.
255
The Coming Five Years, 1 924-28, of the
By ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS
September 1923, President Henry Fair- To carry out our plans it is necessarj- to have
INfield Osborn inspected the personnel and $50,000 a year. As this issue of Nattjeal
management of the Third Asiatic Expedi- History goes to press, a sum equivalent to
tion and visited some of the most important $40,000 annually has been subscribed, and
fossil deposits in east-central Mongolia. He only $10,000 a year remains to be obtained.
agreed with the leader and the entire scientific Iwant to take this opportunity to express my
staff that its work could not be completed in personal appreciation of the interest in the
the two years which remained of the five-year expedition which the members of the Ameri-
period, 1921-25, originally planned for the can Museima have shown. I speak for the
expedition. In every branch of science the entire staff of the Third Asiatic Expedition
results were so gratifying and so profoundly when I say that we shall do our utmost to
important that it was obvious that at the carry on the work with the same enthusiasm
termination of the original period of five years with which it has been begun.
the work should be continued for an additional I shall sail for China on Jime 10 on the
three years. Pacific Mail S.S. "President Cleveland," and
Moreover, the vast collections and the shall reach Peking about July 4. Almost
wealth of new scientific data which had been immediately I shall have to go to Urga to
obtained made it highly desirable to bring all conclude the diplomatic arrangements for the
the members of the scientific staff to New York next summer's work. Then the vast quantity
where there could be an assembling of the of supplies and equipment must be assembled
results, with a view to their pubhcation, and and packed, for the caravan must start its
where a new perspective of the future work long march across the desert by January 1 if it
might be gained from what already had been is to reach its destination by the time I arrive
done. Theentire staff is now at work in by automobile in April. The other members
New York and a large part of the collections of the staff will leave New York for China in
have reached the American Museum in safety. February, 1925.
Nineteen preliminary papers have appeared We shall begin work at Chagan Nor, nearly
in the Museum pubhcations. A series, to be a thousand miles from Kalgan, where we left
entitled Mongolia, is projected and will in- off at the end of last year. This means that
clude the complete scientific results of the the organization and preparation of the ex-
expedition in twelve volumes. A certain sum pedition must be more carefully considered
will be set aside each year so that publication than in the past when investigations started
may be on coincident with the field
carried almost at the door of Kalgan.
investigations and the results thus given to the In 1922-23 we worked extensively in strata
public as rapidly as possible. It is my inten- of the Age of Reptiles and the early part of
tion to write a popular account, in two or three the Age of Mammals. We plan now to give
volumes, of the general field work and the especial attention to the last part of the Age of
results attained. Mammals, and to add to the scope of the
In order that we might plan intelligently for expedition other branches of science: archae-
the next five years' work it was necessary to ology, anthropology, botany, and ornithologj'.
have the funds assured in advance. In the What the future has in store for us no one can
belief that the members and friends of the say, but we shall go forth with enthusiasm and
American Musemn would be glad to assist high hope to meet the next great adventure.
financially if it were brought to their atten- The names of those who are making possible
tion, I addressed them a letter which is meet- the continuation of the work of the Third
ing with a most gratifying response. Already Asiatic Expedition during the coming five years
$17,500 has been obtained through this letter (1924-28) are listed on the opposing page.
alone and pledges are still being received. The country-wide support that has been
256
[THIRD ASIATIC EXPEDITION 257
given the expedition is indicated by the fact work of the expedition: Arizona, California,
that the contributors represented no less than Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Ken-
twenty-three states, and even from distant tucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Porto Rico a contribution was sent. In addi- Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New
tion to the district of Columbia, residents in Jersey,New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsyl-
the following states contributed to the fund vania, Rhode Island, South CaroHna, Ver-
that will make possible the continuation of the mont, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
List of Contributors
Mh. Fkitz Achelis, American Asiatic Association Mr. T. W. Lamont, Mr. Francis G. Landon, Mr.
AND Asia, American Museum, Mrs. John Storm Clarence A. Ludlum, Mr. Arthur J. Mack, Mr.
Appleby, Mr. E. J. Armstrong, Miss Carrie Ethel Charles E. Manibrre, Mr. Geo. E. Marsh, Mr.
Baker, Mr. George F. Baker, Mr. George J. Bald- John G. Masson, Mr. Wallace E. Meyers, Mr.
win, Mr. Louis Bamberger, Mr. John Edw.^^rds HoYT Miller, Mr. Arthur N. Milliken, Dr. Adolph
Barbour, Mr. James H. Barr, Mr. George D. Bar- Monac-Lesser, Mrs. Benjamin Moore, Miss K. T.
ron, Mrs. F. O. Barton, Mrs. Daniel Beckwith, Mr. Moore, Mr. J. P. Morgan, Mr. Dwight W. Morrow,
William F. Beller, Mr. Henry J. Bernheim, Mr. Mrs. Jay C. Morse, Mr. Philip A. Mosman, Mrs.
AND Mrs. Charles L. Bernheimbr, Mr. Edward John B. Mott, Mr. Gilbert S. McClintock, Mr.
Lyman Bill, Mr. James L. Blackmer, Miss Eliza- W. S. McCrea, Dr. Arthur B. McGraw, Mr. C. F.
beth B. Bliss, Mr. Charles C. Bolton, Mr. George MacMurray, Mr. Charles H. Nettleton, Mr.
T. Brokaw, Dr. Henry Brodman, Mr. Gabriel Can- Arthur E. Newbold, Jr., Mr. George Notman,
non, Hon. George A. Garden, Mr. C. L. Carpen- Mrs. John C. Olmsted, Mr. George J. Openhym,
ter, Mr. Edward Pearce Casey, Mr. George Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, Mr. Arthur A. Os-
Agnew Chamberlain, Mr. W. F. Chandler, Miss borne, Mr. Geo. E. Osterhout, Rev. Endicott
Cornelia Van A. Chapin, Miss Mary Cheney, Mr. Peabody, Dr. James Pedersen, Dr. Arnold Peskind,
Paul H. Cheney, Mr. JPercy Chubb, Mr. E. D. Mrs. Armistead Peter, 3rd, Mr. Armistead Peter,
Church, Miss Ella Mabel Cl.^rk, Miss Louise H. 3rd, Miss'Isabel M. Peters, Miss Julia J. Pierre-
Colburn, Mr. Harry N. Cole, Mr. Russell Col- poNT, Miss Katherine Pomeroy, Mr. Abram S. Post,
gate, Mr. Sidney M. Colgate, Mr. Walter B. Cong- Miss Margarethe Watson Potter, Mr. and Mrs.
don, Dr. Henry H. Covell, Miss Louise G. Crabbe, John T. Pratt, Mr. Edward Prizer, Mr. Ralph
Mr. Henry M. Crane, Rev. W. T. Crocker, Mr. Pulitzer, Dr. Helen C. Putnam, Mr. Samuel Rais-
Albert H. Crosby, Mr. J. S. Cullinan, Mr. Franklin LER, Mr. W. E. Ramsey, Mr. H. G. Ramsperger, Dr.
CuRTiss, Miss Mary O'Hara Darlington, Mr. R. O.Raymond, Mr. Arnold F. Riegger, Mr. Chand-
Waters S. Davis, Mr. Henry P. Davison, Mrs. ler RoBBiNS, Mrs. C. L. F. Robinson, Mr. John D.
Elizabeth B. Davenport, Mr. Richard H Day, Rockefeller, Jr., Mr. Saul E. Rogers, Mr. Max L.
Miss Pauline H. Dederer, Mr. William P. Deppe, Rosenberg, Mrs. E. L. Rosensohn, Mrs. Arthur
Dr. Charles A. Dewey, Miss Ethel Du Bois, Mr. Ryerson, Mr. Homer E. Sargent, Mrs. Herbert L.
F. L. Dunbar, Mr. Kimball G. Easton, Miss Eliza- Satterlee, Mr. Ewald H. Schniewind, Mr. Howard
beth S. Edwards, Mr. H. A. Elsberg, Mrs. Edward A. Scholle, Miss Emily E. Schwarz, Mr. Archibald
W. Emerson, Miss Julia T. Emerson, Mr. R. Erbs- T. Scofield, Mrs. James A. Scrymser, Mr. George
LOH, Mr. Thomas G. Farrell, Mr. R. I. Farrington, St. John Sheffield, Mr. C. Sidney Shepard, Miss
Miss Eleanor Ferguson, Mr. George L. Fordyce, Mary A. Skeel, Mrs. Roswell Skeel, Jr., Mr.
Mr. Theo. Foulk, Mr. Noel Bleecker Fox, Mrs. Albert Ernest Smith, Mr. F. Drexel Smith, Miss
Cyril Francklyn, Mr. George C. Eraser, Mr. Harriet Otis Smith, Mr. W. Hinckle Smith, Mr.
Childs Frick, Mr. A. S. Frissell, Mr. William E. Francis Arnold Snell, Mr. Ekko Sollmann, Mr.
Fulton, Prof. Simon H. Gage, Mrs. Charles W. Howard W. Starr, Dr. Colin C. Stewart, Mrs.
Gale, Hon. John W. Garrett, Mrs. Frederick M. Hugh Grant Straus, Mr. Arthur Hays Sulzberger,
Gilbert, Mr. Robert J. Goodenough, Mrs. George Mrs. J. Andrews Swan, Mr. Henry N. Sweet, Dr.
A. Goss, Mr. Joseph C. Grew, Mrs. Edward A. Carl G. Swenson, Miss MaryTaber, Mr. Frederick
Grossmann, Mr. Harry Peale Haldt, Mr. Harold M.P.Taylor, Mr.GeorgeF.Titus, Mr. A.W. Thomp-
V. W. Halsey, Mr. N. A. Hardee, Mr. E. Roland son, Mrs. J. Todhunter Thompson, Mr. S.B. Thorne,
Harriman, Mr. William Averell Harriman, Mr. Mr. Carl J. Ulmann, The Veltin School, Mr.
Hancke Hencken, Mr. Walter Hidden, Mrs. Annie Fred Vogel, Jr., Mr. George Voigtlander, Mr.
L. Hoe, Rev. George G. Hollingshead, D.D., Mr. Hugo Weigert, Miss Amy Ogden Welcher, Rev.
Charles L. Holmes, Mr. Walter W. Holmes, Hon. W. D. Westervelt, Dr. William B. Wherry, Rev.
George C. Holt, Mr. Clement S. Houghton, Mr. AND Mrs. Eliot White, Mr. Ralston White, Mr.
Roland Jackson Hunter, Mr. Franklin C. Irish, Harold O. Whitnall, Mrs. Eli Whitney, Mrs.
Prof. Henry S. Jacoby, Mr. Arthur Curtiss James, Delos O. Wickham, Mr. Albert H. Wiggin, Mr.
Mrs. Adrian Hoffman Joline, Mr. Philip Kachurin, James B. Wilbur, Mr. Frank C. Willard, Mr. Ellis
Dr. W. W. Keen, Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Mr. Walter D. Williams, Mr. William Williams, Dr. Charles
Schuyler Kemeys, Mr. William M. Kern, Mr. K. Winne, Jr., Dr. Lemuel Fox Woodward, Mrs.
Darwin P. Kingsley, Dr. William B. Kirkham, Mr. Eva Edgar Wright, Miss Jessie Ziegler, Miss Elsie
Alexander H. Kridel, Hon. E. Henry Lacombe, Ahrens Zinsmeistbr.
"A Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster"-
A Review'
A penetrating book on the education of suggested in the Letters that the museum can
children has appeared under the title, A and should play a vital part, not only in
Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster, the intro- contributing as it now does to the general and
duction having been written by the author of especial interests of men, women, and children,
Mind in the Making. Besides being thus through the various aspects of natural science
earnestly vouched for by James Harvey and natural history, but in establishing special
Robinson, has been enthusiastically en-
it exhibits in order to emphasize the develop-
dorsed by other men in the forefront of the mental character of civilization and to create
—
educational field among them G. Stanley an intelligent interest in the familiar objects
Hall, Albion W. Small, Thomas E. Fine- and ordinary processes of everyday life. In
gan, and John Dewey — and it fully merits this connection the author says
the great praise bestowed upon it by these If we are ever to take hold of education as
educators. enlightened beings, with a firm intention to
The book contains a severe criticism of most use it definitely as a training-experience for
thinking and for life, a generator of social
of our present-day system of education, with enthusiasm, an uprooter of inherited preju-
definite, practical plans for radically improving dices, a stabilizer of social attitudes, we must
the situation. Fads and untried theories are first put the fund of our knowledges in simpler
not advocated, but simplified and fundamen-

array. We must assimilate it to our best
social ideals, to the immenser retrospect which
tal things to do are pressed for consideration.
modern historical research has given us, to the
The author has that thorough knowledge of new outlook which modern scientific discov-
child psychology that enables one to express eries have disclosed.
psychological truths in plain language. In A "finding-out" basis of learning, whereby

this respect her presentation suggests that of children will "live while they learn, and learn
Huxley in his biological lectures to working as they are living," is especially pleaded for,
men. Not only is it clear and sound, it is and this includes the utilization of every
intensely interesting. agency that will feed their curiosity and
The function of museums as educational inventiveness and develop their powers of
institutions is appreciated and they are given observation and discrimination. The author
their proper place in a modern scheme of proposes such "exhibits of man's thought in
education, correlating with the idea that nat- action" as can be suppUed by the museum,
ural history should logically take the leader- the motion picture, and the children's theater,
ship in a curriculum for elementary schools. with whatever other agents of dynamic teach-
In proposed curricula for children's coming will "effectively broaden, elevate, stimu-
munity centers (which the author of the book late and stir the minds and hearts of children."
would substitute for the traditional type of The following quotations indicate the
school) the museum is provided for as a de- appreciation of a teacher's spirit and function:
finite adjunct to every one of the child's "One finds out just what truths base his
activities. A "chart of civilization" classifies convictions when he attempts to explain them
these activities not after the traditional to a child." "Any one who really loves what
manner according to academic subjects, but she has to impart, who herself finds things
under simple sociological terms readily under- interesting through and through, will always
stood by the child mind and calculated to find ways of imparting which will make her
lead children to an intelligent comprehension work as inspiring and as individual as any
of the world they are living in. These terms other work of art."
are shelter, sustenance, clothing, barter, com- Bernard Shaw's trenchant remark, "He
munication, transportation, government or who who can not, teaches," does
can, does; he
behavior, recreation and the arts, information. not apply to the one who realizes that teaching
It is claimed that children learning to think is a joyous mission. It has been said that
of knowledge terms rather than as
in these great art invariably conveys a sense that the
"subjects" apart from life and its ordinary artist had a superb time over his work,
activities, will develop breadth, tolerance, and and this is just as true in the art of teaching
world-mindedness. In this connection it is as in any other. — G. Clyde Fisher.
lA Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster, with an Introduction by James Harvey Robinson Published by
Alfred A, Knopf,
258
I
Galapagos: World's End — A Review'
Galdpagos: World's End, the title of Mr. bizarre black sea lizards that in their rugged
William Beebe's latest book, is well chosen, contour suggest animated blocks of lava; the
for this volcanic archipelago, sundered from seabirds that in numbers nest on the floor of
the rest of the world by more than five hun- the Daphne Crater; and the lone specimen of a
dred linear miles of ocean, has no material giant tortoise that rewarded the search for a
riches to attract the covetous, and those who reptile at one time among the most abundant
have reached its shores have for the most part in the islands.
been shipwrecked voyagers, buccaneers, exiled Like all of those who have visited the Gala-
revolutionaries, law-breakers, and scientists. pagos, from Fray Tomds de Berlanga, Bishop
More than a dozen have
scientific expeditions of Panama, who drifted there in 1535, to the
visited the islands since Darwin's memorable present, Mr. Beebe was impressed with the
voyage in the "Beagle" nearly a century ago, trustful unconcern of the native creatures in
but none which in so brief a time has accom- the presence of man. Ayoung mocking bird
plished so much as the Harrison Williams picked a grain of wet sand from Mr. Beebe's
Galdpagos Expedition of 1923. on the lens of
shoe, a little flycatcher alighted
While Mr. Beebe's personality dominates his Graflex whilehe was focusing the camera, a
the volume, the work is a composite produc- short-eared owl sought a perch on his helmet,
tion, affording an insight into the special and on another occasion as Mr. Beebe stood
talents of those who were associated with him motionless, a Tropidurus lizard approached
in the undertaking. There are vivid pictures and snatched an ant from his shoe.
in color by Miss Isabel Cooper superbly — A brief passage regarding an octopus must
reproduced by the publishers photographs — suffice as an example of the author's incisive
of technical excellence by Mr. John Tee- Van, descriptions:
three chapters written buoyantly as well as Nothing animate is comparable to this
informingly by Miss Ruth Rose, a chapter on sight. The bulging mass of the head or body
game fishing by Mr. Robert G. McKay, and a or both, the roimd staring eyes, as perfect and
expressive as those of a mammal, and the
prefaceby Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn of the horrible absence of all other bodily parts which
American Museum, who, though not a member such an eyed creature should have, nothing —
of the expedition, is particularly well fitted to more but eight horrid, cup-covered, snaky
weigh its achievements because of his broad tentacles, reaching out in front, splaying side-
ways, and pushing behind, while one or more
interest in zoological exploration.
always waved in the air in the direction of
Mr. Beebe is not a closet scientist; his suspected danger, as if in some sort of infer-
laboratory is the world of out-of-doors. nal adieu.
Through his work at Kartabo he has shown The scientific material gathered by the
what an inexhaustible field for observation expedition is being worked up by numerous
even a small patch of jungle affords for specialists. Among the 60 species of shore
seeing eyes. Imagine, then, the bewildering fishesbrought back, 20 are new to the Gald-
wealth of interest offered by the sixty or more pagos and 2 are new to science; while, in the
islands and islets of the Galdpagos and the case of the insects, an hour's collecting at the
necessity for utiUzing every precious second head of Tagus Cove yielded 20 forms new to
when one's total time for observation on land the islands and 10 not previously described.
is limited to a hundred hours! Necessarily There is promise, therefore, that when the
only a few of the islands could be studied in scientific reports make their appearance, they
the time available, yet thanks to the impres- a substantial number of species hither-
will list
sions flashed back by Mr. Beebe's many- to unknown. But an equally important side
faceted mind, one gets a picture that years of of Mr. Beebe's work, well exemplified in
less inspired study would fail to give. There Galdpagos: World's End, is making more
are accounts of the volcanic clinker fields fully known the recognized forms of life in a
radiating heat; the cacti that like barbed region which because of its inaccessibility,
wire entanglements protect the unpenetrated few readers of the book will have an oppor-
interior of islands like Indefatigable; the tunity personally to visit. — H. F. Schwarz.
^Galdpagos: World's End by William Beebe. With 24 colored illustrations by Isabel Cooper, and 83 photographs
mostly by John Tee- Van. Pubhshed, under the auspices of the New York Zoological Society, by G. P.
Putnam's Sons.
259
NOTES
ASIA
Addresses by Prof. Henry Fairfield
OsBORN IN Peking, September 21 to
—
October 11, 1923. On his return from Mon-
golia to Peking, Professor Osborn was be-
sieged by societies and institutions of all
kinds in northern China for accounts of the
Third Asiatic Expedition. It was agreed
between Professor Osborn and Mr. Roy
Chapman Andrews, leader of the expedition,
that Professor Osborn should do all of the
speaking in Peking and in other parts of
northern China, while Mr. Andrews would be-
come the spokesman as soon as a landing was
made in America. This gave Professor Os-
i
NOTES 261
On the same evening, an official dinner to requested to be at the Hotel promptly at

Professor and Mrs. Osborn and to Mr. and twelve thirty.
Mrs. Andrews was tendered by Minister The most prominent Americans in North
Schurman at the American legation, represen- China were gathered at this luncheon, as
tatives of the several foreign governments were also some of the British. Being called
and leading Americans being invited. In the upon to speak, Professor Osborn chose as his
meantime active preparations were made for a subject "American Science in the Far East,"
series of public addresses. briefly alluding to the rapid extension of ex-
As was eminently appropriate, the first ploration in various parts of Asia and the East
scientific addresses were delivered before a Indies during the past twenty years by Ameri-
large audience assembled in the building of can explorers, geologists, and zoologists.
the Geological Survey of the Republic, the On the morning of the same day. Professor
meeting being held under the auspices of the Osborn gave an address to the students of
Geological Society of China and presided over the Chinese University of Peking, who were
by Dr. V. K. Ting, honorary director of the assembled in a large hall under the leadership
Geological Survey. The opening address was of Chancellor Li, professor of geology, and
made by Professor Osborn on the general Doctor A. W. Grabau, professor of palae-
scientific results achieved by the Third Asiatic ontology. Chancellor Li made a beautiful
Expedition, and was followed by briefer address of introduction and Professor Osborn
addresses by Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews, by chose as his subject "Observations and Dis-
Mr. Walter Granger on the palseontologic and difficult
coveries," pointing out the long
and by Mr. Frederick
results of the expedition, pathway of preparation for exploration such
K. Morris on the geologic and geographic re- as had made the Third Asiatic Expedition
sults. On the evening of the same day, a a brilliant success. This address included
memorable dinner was given by the Geological a warm acknowledgment of the inspiration
Society in honor of Professor Osborn and Mr. that students of the University of Peking were
Andrews, the principal address being made by receiving from the talented instructor. Doctor
Doctor Ting. In clear and elegant English Grabau. A somewhat similar note was taken
he paid a warm personal tribute to Professor at the American Association tiffin, namely,
Osborn and made glowing references to the that the Third Asiatic Expedition had really
work of the Third Asiatic Expedition. been forty-six years in preparation; that
On Friday evening, September 28, a per- young American scientists, having conquered
sonal dinner was given to Professor and Mrs. their own continent, were now going beyond
Osborn in the American Museum's headquart- into Asia, because "Westward the course of
ers by Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, to which were science takes its way."
invited the principalmembers of the American Meanwhile Professor Osborn was preparing
and British colony. Within a large blue by far the most difficult of his series of
Mongol tent that was suspended from the addresses, namely, that for the Wan Yu Hui,
ceiling of the dining room, were five tables, or Friends of Literature. This group of men
which seated the forty guests. The occasion includes all the leading thinkers and writers in
happened to be the forty-second wedding anni- Peking, belonging to no less than thirteen
versary of the principal guests of the evening, different nations —Chinese, Japanese, Rus-
Professor and Mrs. Osborn, and the speeches sians, Hungarians, Scandinavians, French,
and dinner cards were all of a delightfully British, Germans, and Americans. For this
humorous and sentimental character. distinguished and intellectual audience Pro-
In the meantime the members of the fessor Osborn prepared his most penetrating
American Association of North China ar- address, choosing to make a fresh prophecy as
ranged a luncheon, which was announced in to the life of central Asia, under the title
the Press as follows: "Why Mongolia May Be the Home of the
A large gathering of the American Associa-
Human Race." In the course of this address,
tion of North China is expected, at the Grand he tried to show that the palaeontologic dis-
Hotel des Wagons Lits for tiffin to-day when coveries already made revealed the Mon-
Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn, the famous palae- golian plateau as a savanna country, partly
ontologist and head of the American Museum
forested, partly open, highly favorable to the
of Natural Sciences of New York, which
organized the Third Asiatic Expedition, will most intelligent and resourceful primates of
be the guest of honour. The members are the kind which led to our human ancestors.
262 NATURAL HISTORY
A popularized presentation of this same sub- President Theodore Roosevelt. He referred
ject under the title "The Prehistory of Man to the cooperation of govern
the British
and the Original Home of the Human Race" ment with the two American Mu-
in India
was set forth the following evening in the seum —
expeditions there the Faunthorpe-
Peking Y. M. C. A. building, on the invitation Vernay Expedition and the Siwalik Hills
of Mr. Robert Gailey, head of the Princeton- Indian Expedition under Barnum Brown. He
in-Peking movement. The audience was also spoke of the cordial spirit of helpfulness
almost purely Chinese and it was necessary to shown to the American Museum parties
have an interpreter, who repeated sentence by working in Australia.
sentence Professor Osborn's address; the Professor Osborn's final address was given
meaning was skillfully translated into beauti- on the evening of Thursday, October 11,
ful and eloquent Chinese and the translator before a very large and distinguished audience
was frequently interrupted with outbursts of in the beautiful hall of social welfare of the
applause. The young Chinese listened with Peking Union Medical College, erected by
the closest attention to this first exposition to the Rockefeller Foundation. The speaker
them of the principles of evolution as applied was introduced by Dr. Howard Houghton,
to the ancestry of man. director of the Peking University Medical
The address before the Wan Yu
Hui was College, and spoke on "Recent Discoveries in
pubUshed in full in the Peking Leader by Mongolia." In the course of this lecture
Grover Clark and was reproduced widely in Professor Osborn showed a series of slides
the press of North China. It will be published illustrating the work in the field. The audience
in modified form in the not distant future. crowded the large hall and even stood in the
Professor Osborn wrote for the China Journal aisles listening, with occasional outbursts of
of Science and Arts another article entitled enthusiastic applause, to the narrative of the
"Significance of Recent Discoveries in Mon- second and third seasons of the Third Asiatic
Expedition. Doctor Houghton described the
'
golia. This j ournal is under the editorship of
'
Mr. Arthur De Carle Sowerby and of Dr. results of the expedition as "thrilling," and it
John C. Ferguson, an eminent Sinologist. may be said without exaggeration that the
On the subject of "Evolution and Religion," thrill which the Museum's representatives
Professor Osborn addressed the students of felt because of the splendid recognition given
the University of Peking as well as the stu- in North China to the expedition's discoveries
dents of the Woman's College in Peking and the cordial welcome accorded to Professor
a most intelligent and responsive audience. Osborn, to Mr. Andrews, and to all the mem-
The former institution represents a union bers of his party, helped to start them on their
of American schools and colleges in North homeward journey to America with bright
China, starting originally with the educational anticipations of a no less cordial welcome
work of the missionaries. It attracts a very at home.
superior class of young Chinese, both men
and women. Professor Osborn again chose Mammals Collected by the Museum's
for his subject "Modern Aspects of the —
Asiatic Expeditions. In the course of the
Evolution Question," touching upon the ques- expeditions conducted by Mr. Roy C. An-
tion raised by the fundamentalists at the drews, collections of mammals have been
present time in America. made that prove to be particularly rich in new

On Wednesday, October 10, a second lunch- forms. Already 21 of the mammals have been
eon was given at the Wagons Lits Hotel by described as new to science; 9 of them are
the Anglo-American Association, another bats' and 12 insectivores.^
distinguished audience drawn principally In the bat collection, which, by the way, is
from the legations and leading professional the largest ever made by any one expedition
and business men of Peking. Professor Osborn in China,an unusual opportunity is afforded
chose for his subject "British and American forcomparison of wide-ranging forms. This
Science in the Far East." He cited many comprehensiveness is due to the fact that Mr.
cases of the manner in which Americans and Andrews and his party have industriously
Britishers had worked side by side in various worked the coastal lowlands as well as the
parts of the eastern world, especially of Lord i"New Chinese Bats." By Glover M. Allen, 1923,
Cromer's aid to his own expedition in the Amer. Mus. Novitates,No. 85, pp. 1-8.
2"New Chinese Insectivores." By Glover M. Allen,
Fayiim in 1907, inspired by a letter from 1923, Amer. Mus. Novitates, No. 100, pp. 1-11.
NOTES 263
uplands of the interior. Some of the bats were that the discovery of the dinosaur eggs has
even gathered in Chinese temples. occasioned:
The series of insectivores contains an es- some time since curiosity was first
It is
pecially good representation of rare and piqued,and fancy was stimulated, by the
interesting types from the Palsearctic as well announcement that dinosaur eggs, estimated
to be something like ten million years old,
as from the Indo-Malayan region. These
had been found fossilized in the Gobi Desert.
results give a fair idea of the consummate There has been no underrating of the rare
skill of the naturalists in the field, for such scientific value and importance of the dis-
animals too often are overlooked, chiefly on covery. But it has also, what all things
scientifically valuable and important have not,
account of their small size and elusive ways,
its lighter side, for which a nation in the throes
most of them being nocturnal or subterranean. of an election campaign may be duly grateful.
Of great scientific interest are the representa- The misguided may, indeed, see design, or a
tives of the genera Neotetracus, Hylomys, strange fatality, in the fact that the discovered
Scapanulus, and Scaptonyx, and among the relics are now
made visible, at any rate on
paper, to the people of this country in the
Menotyphla the fine series of the squirrel- midst of their electioneering. The facile
like Tupaia chinensis. Neotetracus sinensis, humorist will not be restrained from alluding
known from only a few specimens, is a small, to the traditional connexion between elections
soft-haired, highland hedgehog with a long
and eggs of uncertain age, or the serious-
minded from administering to him the rebuke
slender tail, and resembles in general size and that dinosaur eggs are at once too precious
color our common meadow mouse (Microtus and too hard for his nefarious purpose. If
pennsylvanicus) was discovered as re-
. It anything more is wanted to complete the
jester's discomfiture, doubt may be expressed
cently as 1909. Hylomys peguensis is another
whether even eggs of a less exaggerated age
scarce member of the hedgehog family Erina-
any longer figure in the armoury of electoral
ceidse. Originally this genus was discovered argument, unless as a quaint survival at the
in the Indian Archipelago, in Sumatra and election of Lord Rectors; and whether their
Java. northern place has not been taken by the verbal or
Its distribution in the
oratorical egg, surpassing its material proto-
Chinese highlands furnishes to zoologists
type in antiquity and yielding little to it in
added proof of the probable derivation of the offensiveness, but, unlike it, possessing a resil-
more southern fauna. Hylomys, though a iency which makes it capable of repeated use.
short-tailed form, otherwise resembles its
But the dinosaur eggs have no merely elec-
toral flavour. They also revive, in a new, and
close ally Neotetracus. Also noteworthy for therefore attractive, form, the old question,
its rarity is the specimen of Scapanulus oweni beloved of the schoolmen, whether the hen
from Tai-pei-shan, Shensi, the second to be came before the egg, or the egg before the hen.
It is reported that one item of the Mongolian
recorded, and of Scaptonyx fuscicaudatus
discovery is an egg containing the embrj'ô of
affinis from To-mu-lang, Chungtien, the third
an unborn dinosaur. The spirits of the meta-
specimen thus far found. Furthermore, physical advocates of the egg rise in triumph
Scaptonyx is of more than ordinary scientific at the news. But the uncompromising up-
interest as belongs to the Urotrichine series
it
holders of the hen are quick to retort that the
complete skeleton of a mature dinosaur was
of genera which, with Uropsilus, forms the
found hard by, and the problem remains to
connecting link between the families Soricidae vex us. The interest of the discovery appeals,
(shrews) and Talpidse (moles). Both the however, far beyond the world of scientists,
electors, and philosophers. It touches chil-
Scapanulus and Scaptonyx, which are included
dren, and many of those who once were chil-
among the moles, were taken in the moun- dren. Few of them will be able to think of
tains at an altitude of 10,000 feet. the unborn baby dinosaur without conjuring
Dr. Glover M. Allen, of the Museum of up the picture of that friend of childhood,
Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Massa- the missionary who
" sits him down
chusetts, who undertook the working out of . . .
To breakfast by the Nile."

this part of the scientific results of the Mu- Though '
seum's Asiatic expeditions, has a number of " His heart beneath his priestly gown
other groups under examination. His pre- Is innocent of guile,"
liminary reports on new species are very en- it will be remembered that his saintliness is no
—H. L.
couraging. defence against the stern decrees of Nature.
And so it comes that presently he is seen no
longer pursuing a comfortable meal, but
Ancient Eggs. —A spirited editorial that
scouring "the sandy Libyan plain."
has recently appeared in the London Times " As one who runs to catch a train,
may be quoted as showing the lively interest " Or wrestles with internal pain.
264 NATURAL HISTORY
"Because he finds his egg contain, biological work. Ever since the Clark Expedi-
"Green, hungry, horrible, and plain, tion in western China, in 1908-09, Mr.
"A baby crocodile."
The connexion between the clerical profession Sowerby had been exploring in China, Mon-
and the ancient egg is indeed so lost in the goha, and Manchuria, making extensive
mists of antiquity that a daring thinker might biological collections. These were presented
venture to speculate whether the skeleton of a to the Smithsonian Institution by the gentle-
curate may not yet be unearthed in^Mongolia.
man who financed the collector.
Honorary Membership in Geological Mr. Sowerby returned to China with a view
—
Society of China. Honorary Curator Os- to exploring the central and southern provinces
born has recently received the following com- so as to complete his survey of the country
munication from Peking: and roimd out the biological collections.

After making a collection of marine animals
The Geological Society of China
Ping Ma Ssii at Pei-tai-ho on the northern coast of Chihli
9,
W. Peking, China. Province, Mr. Sowerby established his head-
January 15, 1924. quarters at Shanghai, whence he visited
Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn, American Fukien Province in the winter of 1921-22,
Museum of Natural History, New York,
U. S. A. again in the late spring and early summer of
Dear Sir: 1922, and once more in the summer of 1923,
•-
We have the honor to inform you that you making very extensive collections of birds,
were unanimously elected the first honorary beasts, reptiles, fishes, and invertebrates.
member of Geological Society of China as an
appreciation of the great work you have done Owing, however, to subsequent political
to further Chinese Geology and Palaeontology. disturbances throughout south and central
We hope to receive your formal acceptance China, he was prevented from undertaking
and shall send the Bulletin of the Society to
more extensive journeys, but contented him-
you regularly.
self in the meanwhile with making collections
Respectfully,
Wong wenhao, President. of birds and fish in the Yangtze Delta.
Y. C. Sun, Secretary. Early in 1923, the Smithsonian Institution
Professor Osborn has formally accepted this sent Mr. Charles M. Hoy, well known for the
honor in the following letter: fine collections of mammals he made in
Australia, to China to carry on collecting work
The American Museum of Natural History,
New York. in the Yangtze Valley. This able young
February 25, 1924. American spent a busy time in the late spring
My dear Sirs: and summer in the Tungting Lake district,
indeed a very great pleasure to learn
It is
by your letterof January fifteenth that I have
where in 1914 he discovered the remarkable
been unanimously elected the first honorary cetacean popularly known as the "white
member of the Geological Society of China. flag" dolphin, and described by Mr. Gerrit
I assure you that this is one of the greatest
Miller under the name Lipotes vexillifer. Late
pleasures of my scientific life, and is a very
great encouragement for my future research. in the summer, Mr. Hoy was taken seriously
I am deeply interested in the work which is ill, an operation being necessary. This
being done by the Geological Society of China proved fatal, and the Smithsonian Institution
and shall hereafter do my utmost to aid in lost one of the most promising young field
every way, especially through the cooperation
of my colleagues in the Third Asiatic Expedi-
naturalists and collectors of the day.
tion of the American Museum.
I shall look forward to receiving the Bulle- Mr. Arthur de Carle Sowerby, f.r.g.s.,
tin of the Society with great interest. editor of The China Journal of Science and
In the meantime, I remain Arts, has expressed his readiness to send to
Cordially and respectfully yours,
Henry Fairfield Osborn, President. Natural History from time to time Notes
of scientific interest concerned with China.
Smithsonian Collections in China. — We take pleasure in printing below certain

Representatives of the Smithsonian Institu- paragraphs recently received from him regard-
tion have been busy for the past year or so in ing natural-history teaching in the Far East:
China making biological collections. In the The teaching of natural history in China has
summer of 1921, Mr. Arthur de C. Sowerby, always remained in the background of West-
ern education for the simple reason that the
who had been away from China in connection
Chinese have not been able to see its practical
with the War in Europe since the end of 1917, value. Foreign languages, mathematics, and
returned to that country to continue his such sciences as chemistry, geology, and en-
NOTES 265
gineering in all its branches, they have taken

up with avidity; but zoology and botany
—
The China Society. At the eleventh
—
the study of living things have been neg-
annual dinner of the China Society of America
the Third Asiatic Expedition was represented
lected.
Nevertheless, steadily during the past by President Osborn, who spoke on the gen-
decade or so, those responsible for the educa- eral purposes of the work in China and Mon-
tion of Young China in the large colleges and
many of which have been founded
goHa, and by Curator Roy Chapman Andrews,
universities,
by missionary societies, have introduced the who gave a brief account of the expedition.
study of natural history in all its branches Of the several observations Professor Osborn
into the curricula of their institutions, and made during his journey in China, the most
today there are several such institutions where important is that China is in far more danger
biology forms an important subject of tuition.
Notable among these are Amoy University, from the "White Peril" than America is or
Fukien Christian University, Foochow, both ever will be from the Yellow Peril. The bogy
in Fukien Province, and Shantung Christian of united Japan and China with an army of
University, Tsinan, Shantung. In the first
countless millions sweeping like the ancient
of these. Professors S. F. Light and Chung are
giving extensive instruction in zoology and forces of Genghis Khan westward across
botany respectively, while Prof. C. R. Kellogg Europe, destroying its civihzation and finally
is teaching zoology in Fukien Christian Uni- engulfing the United States, is fading every-
versity, and Prof. A. P. Jacot in the Shantimg
where. In the opinion of Professor Osborn it
Christian University.
is not now nor will it be at any future time to
St. John's University in Shanghai also
provides splendid courses in biology, as do the the interests of either China or Japan to form
Southeastern University at Nanking and the an aggressive military union. On the other
Union Medical School in Peking. hand, both China and Japan are seriously
It is still uphill work, however, to make
Chinese students realize the value of biology, threatened with what may be called the "White
and many of them take up the subject half- Peril," namely, the absorption of certain of
heartedly, and apparently only to fill in time. the finest of their cultural and sesthetic char-
This is all the more remarkable, since the
acteristics by the mechanical and commercial
Chinese are essentially nature lovers, as wit-
ness their art, and are extremely fond of both spiritof western Europe and of America.
animals and plants. But the cult of these is Very slowly American taste in dress, in house
looked upon as a pastime and not as part of decoration, in the smaller articles of household
the serious business of life.
furnishing, tends to invade and replace the
Another contribution from Mr. Sowerby
impeccable taste of China and Japan, founded
deals with the proposed natural history mu-
upon thousands of years of sesthetic develop-
seum in Shanghai. Regarding this he says:
ment More rapidly still American and British
.
For some time past, agitation has been

advertising methods are invading China, and
taking place in Shanghai for the erection of a
museum, art gallery, and reference library some of the most picturesque buildings and
combined, but so far little support has walls are being covered with advertisements of
been given it by those financially able to oil and tobacco. The "White Peril" is also
do so. Up to the present there have been only
invading the ranks of labor and introducing
two museums in Shanghai that of the Royal
:
Asiatic Society (North China branch), situ- new economic factors in the form of labor-
ated in the heart of the International Settle- saving machinery and factory life.
ment, and the Zikawei Museum, belonging to The Chinese are not caring for their reli-
the Jesuit Mission, which is situated well out-
gious monuments, their superb temples, gate-
side the town. The former is seriously handi-
capped for lack of funds and accommodation, ways, triumphal and memorial arches, their
while the latter, being a working museum and statues and images, which, with some excep-
not open to the public generally, does not tions, are not being protected from the depre-
fulfill the needs of the town for an institution
dations of vandals or from the vicissitudes of
to which everyone may have access. There is
also a lamentable lack of good Ubraries in the weather. A splendid opportunity for the
Shanghai while such a thing as an art gallery Archaeological Society of America is to estab-
is non-existent. Considering the size to which branches in more than one city of
lish active
Shanghai has grown, this is deplorable, and
there are many who are working to bring
China and cooperate with the cultured and
about a change in the right direction. The intellectual classes ofChina in the preserva-
need of such a museum and art gallery, not to tion of these marvelous monuments. These
mention the reference library, is very great, were some of the ideas which Professor Osborn
for there are a large number of people in
China to whom such institutions would be of conveyed in his brief address before the China
untold value. Society.
266 NATURAL HISTORY
—
The Lion of India. In the issue of Natu- that has suffered little from use, so that should
ral History for September-October, 1923, the Museum fail to secure a fresh skin, it is
Colonel C. Faunthorpe presented an inter-

J. possibleby modern methods of taxidermy to
esting note on the "Vanishing Lion of India," convert this rug into a mounted specimen
stating that while it was once quite abundant not so satisfactoi-y as could be made from a
in certain parts of India, it now occurs only recently killed animal, but one that fifty
in the Gir Forest, Kathiawar, Bombay years ago would have been looked upon as a
Presidency. triumph of art.
Through the kindness of Lord Lamington Whether or not the lion of India is distinct
the American Museum has obtained a speci- from that of Africa a debatable ques-
is still
men of the Indian lion taken by him, or by one tion; so far as looks go, there seems to be
of his party, in this very forest seventeen little or no choice between them: "Perhaps
years ago, Bombay.
when he was Governor of the largest lion ever seen in England was one
Lord Lamington writes that on this same day, caught when very young in Hurriana by
Doctor Carnegie, Political Officer, was General Watson and presented to George IV.
mauled and killed by a wounded lion. This was the 'King George' of the Tower
"^
collection. Its mane was superbly developed,
as is shown in the illustration reproduced
from a beautiful wood cut in the Tower
Menagerie. —F. A. L.
MINERALS AND GEMS
A Free Course of Six Popular Illus-
trated Lectures on "Gems and Gem
Minerals" is being weekly, on
delivered
Thursday evenings at from February 28
8:15,
to April 3 inclusive, by Mr. Herbert P.
Whitlock, curator of minerals, American Mu-
seum, at lecture room 604, 32 Waverly Place,
under the auspices of New York University.
The is represented in the volume
lion of India, as it
.
The subjects considered are "The Diamond
entitled TheTower Menagerie. The picture is based on
a specimen that was an inmate of the Tower Menagerie
and How It is Polished," "Precious Stones
about one hundred years ago Other Than "Some Semi-
Diamonds,"
"The Quartz Gems," "The
precious Stones,"
There are practically no examples of the Opaque Gem Stones," "The Art of the
Indian lion preserved in museums certainly — Lapidary."
no really good specimen^this being one of the
too numerous instances when a species has LONG ISLAND BIOLOGICAL
been exterminated, or reduced almost to the ASSOCIATION
vanishing point, before it was realized that
A meeting of the Board of Managers of the
this point had been reached. The process of
Long Island Biological Association was held
extermination was indeed rapid in some re-
on February under the chairmanship of
29,
gions. For example. Major Brown, in 1837,
Colonel T. S. Williams. Dr. G. Clyde Fisher
writes that the lion which once "infested"
represents the American Museum on the-
the country about Hurriana (now Hansi)
Board and reports that at the meeting by-
had become extinct south of the Cugar River.
laws were formulated, officers elected, and a
This he ascribes to the fact that "Having no
budget adopted. The appointment of Mr.
secluded dens to retire to during the hot
Reginald G. Harris as director of the biological
weather, the lions, from necessity, took up
laboratory of the association was confirmed.
their abode where water could be found; and
as places of this description were rare, and
generally near villages, their retreat was easily THE MARSH DARIEN EXPEDITION
beaten up and their entire destruction easily Mr. R. O. Marsh has organized an expedi-
effected." tion that will work along the Rio Chucunaque
The specimen received from Lord Laming- in the San Bias country of southwestern
ton is in the form of a rug, but fortunately one Quoted from A ManvMl of Indian Sport.
NOTES 267
Panama. This region has never been explored tion, returned to the site and made careful
scientificallyand several white men who in excavations.
recent years have attempted to penetrate it About seventy miles in an air line from
have not returned. Presumably they were Pueblo Bonito of archaeological fame, existed
killed by the hostile Indians living there, who this unsuspected treasure house of ancient
resent intrusions into their country. The things, which,by way of belying its designa-
present expedition will be protected by a de- tion Canon del Muerto (Canon of the Dead),
tail of soldiers and will undoubtedly secure conferred upon it to commemorate a massacre
results of great anthropologic and biologic of Navajos by Mexicans early in the nine-
interest. Representing the Smithsonian In- teenth century, has yielded data for the
stitution on the expedition is the anthropologist resurrection of a vanished period of history.
Dr. John L. Baer, while Prof. H. L. Fair- For here, in an unusual condition of preserva-
child, of the University of Rochester, accom- tion, was the record not of a fragment or
panies the expedition as geologist. The episode of the past but of a long succession of
American Museum has been privileged to developmental stages that enables one to
send as its representative, Mr. C. M. Breder, visualize how the pre-pueblo people evolved
Jr., who devote his efforts mainly to the
will from the "Basket Maker" level to the "Black
collecting of amphibians, reptiles, and fishes, and White Ware" stage that stands at the
and to the gathering of life history data. The very threshold of pueblo history. Sandals
specimens secured in the course of his antici- with beautiful woven color patterns are among
pated sojourn of three months will become the very oldest material collected. By way of
the property of the Museum. is the box
contrast to such articles of apparel,
Mr. Breder's letters from the Canal Zone, of a medicine man, from the tightly sealed
written on the eve of the expedition's depar- interior of which were taken the feathers of
ture for the wilderness, indicate that his work —
various birds as fresh and glossy as though
has been well begun, for although seasonal they had been purchased but yesterday at a
conditions were unpromising for the collecting milliner's shop. To give more than a hint of
of frogs and it seemed probable that Bufo the basketry, pottery, and textiles that com-
marinus would be the only amphibian found pose this collection is premature before the
breeding in the Zone, he collected a large material can be worked up, but it may be
number of small frogs and some well advanced stated that among the most exquisite of the
tadpoles "with what appears to be a vibra- objects collected are two ornaments of wood
tory tail tip," a peculiarity of the more grace- with beautiful turquoise inlay, belonging to
ful swimmers among the tadpoles. A semi- the "Basket Maker" period. Most interest-
arboreal salamander {(Edipus) was also ing of however, is the instance of a turkey
all,
secured. Several geckos were shipped to the — to the Pueblo Indians and apparently to
Museum alive and reached their destination in their forebears a bird of sacred significance^
good condition. Enjoying, as a substitute that had a broken leg carefully placed be-
for the tropical sun, the warmth that comes tween splints to enable recovery. This, it is
from the radiator near which they are placed, believed,is the first discovered instance of an
they bid fair to survive, the more so as they attempt by the Indians to set the bone of an
are showing a real relish for the fruit flies animal and, taken in connection with the
with which they are daily fed. examples of trepanned skulls from Peru, is a
not unworthy indication of Indian surgery.
SCIENCE OF MAN
A Collection from the Canon del CAUSES OF EVOLUTION
—
MuERTO, New Mexico. One of the most re- Doctor Kammerer Explains His Ex-
markable collections of pre-pueblo material —
periments. On January 7, Dr. Paul Kam-
ever made in the Southwest is being assembled merer, the well-known experimental zoologist
in the American Museum by Mr. Earl H. of the Biologische Versuchsanstalt, Vienna,
Morris, to whom is due the credit for the was the guest of the Journal Club, in the Os-
discovery of the site in the course of the born Library, American Museum, and gave
Third Charles L. Bernheimer Expedition to a very interesting resume of his experiments
the Southwest. This expedition was led of the last twenty years, which he interprets as
and financed by Mr. Bernheimer. Later, demonstrating that characters acquired in the
Mr. Morris, on a regular Museum expedi- course of the lifetime of parents are trans-
268 NATURAL HISTORY
mitted to their offspring. The types he used During 1923 four new national monu-
with illustrations and photographs were the ments have been established: the Fossil
following: Salamandra maculosa, S. atra, Cycad National Monument in South Dakota,
Alytes obstetricans, Proteus anguinus, Ciona the Aztec Ruin National Monument in New
intestinalis. The paper was followed by a Mexico (generously donated to the govern-
discussion in which President Osborn, Doc- ment by Mr. Archer M. Huntington of the
tors W. D. Matthew, R. W. Miner, G. K. Board of Trustees of the American Museum),
Noble, and Mr. William Beebe, a guest on the Hovenweep National Monument, Utah-
the occasion, took part. All the zoological Colorado, and the Pipe Spring National Monu-
departments in the Museum were represented ment in Arizona.
in the meeting. The general impression The setting aside as national parks of areas
created by Doctor Kammerer's address and of commanding interest has been of such im-
personality was very favorable. Although measurable educational, recreational, and

few members of the Journal Club are con- inspirational value that it is eminently desir-
vinced as to the conclusiveness of his inter- able that the park system be extended to in-
pretations, all were impressed with his sin- clude those spots of outstanding scenic or
cerity and directness, with the beauty and scientific significance that are still independent
precision of many of his experiments, and with of that system. Among places of this type
his courtesy and moderation toward those that Director Mather has at this time in
zoologists who have more or less violently mind are the Mammoth Cave area in Ken-
opposed his theories and attacked his evidence. tucky, the territory in New Mexico included
in the so-called Bandelier National Monu-
CONSERVATION ment, the Bryce Canon region in Utah, al-
The "Report of the Director op the ready proposed as the Utah National Park,
National Park Service" for 1923 is of in- areas along the Great Lakes showing typical
terest not only for the survey it gives of the sections of inland lake and dunes, the redwood
work of the year but as an index of the recent section of upper and central California, a
growth of public interest in the scenic splendors typical portion of the Appalachian Mountains
of cur land. It is more than fifty years since in the East, an example of the Everglades of
the Yellowstone was created a national park; Florida, or of the forested lands and hills of
but for decades, only an insignificant fraction the South.
of our population visited the great aggregate One notes with pleasure that during the
of marvels represented by that region. Nearly year there was an increase among all the
twenty years went by before a second national species in the Yellowstone National Park,
park, the Sequoia, was set aside for the bene- especially marked in the case of the elk, prong-
fit of the nation, and approximately another horn, and deer. By way of offset to this feel-
decade elapsed before the third link in the ing of satisfaction is the indication that there
national park system was forged through the has been a wanton disregard of the limitations
establishment of Mount Rainier National under which hunting was now and then to be
Park. By the middle of 1916, the year when permitted in Mount McKinley National
the National Park Service was created, the Park, in Alaska. As one of the principal
national parks had increased to 14 and the objects in establishing this park was to accord
national monuments to 18. In the eight years a degree of protection to its vast herds of cari-
that have since elapsed 5 additional national bou, mountain sheep, and other game, the
parks and no less than 10 additional national killing of large numbers of these animals by
monuments have come under the administra- visiting prospectors calls for an adequate
tion of the Service. Although this is an im- patrol service that will be possible only if the
pressive growth, it is the figures of attendance present annual appropriation of $8000 granted
that are of particular interest as an indication for the park is increased.
of the success of the publicity work of the Museums exhibiting local specimens are an
Service and of the reorganization of the tourist important factor in the educational program
facilities in the parks that has taken place of the Service. During the past season the
during the directorship of Mr. Stephen T. museum established in the Yosemite proved
Mather. The number of individuals visiting an attraction to 55,811 individuals. In the
the parks last year totaled 1,493,712 in con- Mesa Verde National Park a museum build-
trast to an aggregate of 356,097 in 1916. ing is under construction to house objects
NOTES 269
found in the ruins of that area. The museum abundance. There the land owner does not
in the Yellowstone is outgrowing its present permit the birds on his property to be reduced
quarters and hoped that the old barracks to the danger point the " poacher is severely
'
it is ; '
may be available for its purposes. In the dealt with. By way of contrast Mr. Pearson
Casa Grande National Monument a small mu- cites New York State, where any one having a
seum has been constructed during the past state shooting license may wander over his
year, and is being filled little by little with neighbor's fields in search of game birds unless
pertinent exhibition material. The nature restrained from doing so by "no trespass"
guide service offered in some of the parks has signs of prescribed dimensions or through the
been of great value to those who want to know official establishment of the area as a bird
more about the natural forces that have been sanctuary, and not every land owner has the
or are still operative in the several areas, or go to the expense, to secure
initiative, or will
about the wild creatures that make these areas such protection for his wild fowl. A public
their habitat. campaign of education, in which newspapers
and public-spirited private agencies, as well as
The Game Birds of the United States. — the federal and state authorities, are called
The title, "Can We Save the Mammals?" upon to participate, is urgently needed if our
selected by Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn for game birds are not to follow the great auk and
the article which he prepared, with the collab- the dodo to extinction.
oration of Mr. H. E. Anthony, and published
in Natural History for September-October, The Waterfowl of Back Bay, Vir-
1922, is paralleled in the heading, "Can We ginia. —Back Bay, Virginia, is a gratifying
Save Our Game
Birds?" which Mr. T. Gil- illustration of what conservation can accom-
bert Pearson, president of the National Asso- plish when public sentiment is squarely be-
ciation of Audubon Societies, has chosen for his hind the law. Mr. Ludlow Griscom, assistant
contribution to The World's Work, November, curator of birds in the American Museum, has
1923. The similarity of the wording of these recently returned from a trip to this famous
titles serves to emphasize the common danger winter resort for wild fowl, made in the com-
to which the mammals and the game birds of pany of Mr. M. S. Crosby, and reports that
our country are exposed. The wild turkey, ducks of all kinds are, if anything, more abun-
once so characteristic of America that it might dant there than they were ten years ago. In
fittingly have served as our national emblem one day nineteen species were counted; can-
instead of the eagle, is today found in only a vasback, baldpate, Canada geese, and whis-
few out-of-the-way places; the heath hen, tling swan were present in thousands, and
formerly an important source of food supply, many other species were common. Mr. Gris-
is dwindling in numbers in its last place of com in his analysis of the situation says
refuge, Martha's Vineyard; the partridge is When we consider that this state of affairs
exists in spite of the fact that every marsh is
being persistently hunted and the reduction of
owned by a gun club, every little island is a
its numbers to a dangerous level is rapidly
prized shooting ground, that the bay is cov-
being brought about; even the quail, exempt ered with floating blinds and batteries, that
from persecution in some states on the ground one is never out of sight of houses and villages,
—
that it is a songster and who that has heard
and that these conditions have prevailed for
many years, it will be apparent that the con-
the cheery call "bob-white" in some meadow, tinued abundance of waterfowl requires some
could fail to love the bird that utters it? — is explanation in addition to the natural ad-
hunted in others. The draining of our vantages of the territory. Primarily, of course,
still
swamp lands has deprived the ducks and geese

—
the abolition of market hunting that great
scourge of conservationând of spring shoot-
of breeding places but, due to the fact that the ing is a necessity before waterfowl can be
summer home of most of them is in the north, maintained in a settled district. Next, -^âse
they have escaped the ravages to which they and proper game laws must exist, and in this
respect Back Bay has the best and the most
would have been subjected in more settled
restrictive I know of in eastern America.
areas. Laws, however, are of Uttle benefit unless
What is the solution? Can we indeed save pubhc sentiment and respect are back of
our game birds? Over large areas in Europe, them, for at present neither the federal nor
Mr. Pearson points out, the land is more any state government has sufficient funds to
employ a staff of game wardens adequate to
densely populated than in America, yet up- enforce the law in localities where public
land game birds are in relatively greater sentiment is against it.
270 NATURAL HISTORY
The most gratifying feature of hunting m The administration in the public interest of no
Back Bay is this: that particularly restric- less —
than nine properties three belonging to
tive laws have the approval of sportsman and —
the society and six to New York State has
layman alike. The latter has outgrown his
bitterness over the abolition of market hunt- claimed a large part of the attention of the
ing, which deprived him of a hving, as steady society during the past year, but the scope of
emplovment with the hunting clubs has given its work has by no means been limited to this
him a' better one. While the pubUc cannot group.
shoot from the shore marshes or islands, as
they are all private property, the bay shoot- A feature of the annual meeting was an
ing'is not to be despised by anyone, and con- illustrated address on "The Scenic Beauties
sequently there is no feeling against the clubs, and Engineering Difficulties of the Grand
as is the case, for instance, on Long Island.
Canon of the Colorado River," delivered by
The natives realize that these clubs bring
money and employment, that they do not Mr. E. C. LaRue, hydraulic engineer and
spoil the shooting, and that people who are photographer of the party of eleven men of the
not millionaires and cannot afford a share in United States Geological Survey, that sur-
the property-owning clubs still flock to Back
Bay during the hunting season, bringing more veyed 1800 miles of the Colorado River and its
money and more employment. The majority afiiuents from Wyoming to the Gulf of Cali-
unquestionably reahze that the decrease of fornia. The perils faced by the party while
the ducks means inevitably a decrease in in- their boats, as helpless seemingly as wisps of
come and employment, and see that the game
laws insure a goodly supply of game. straw, were swept along by the tumultuous
In three visits of several days each to this waters of therapids,wererealisticallypresented
region over a period of ten years, I have never in the motion-pictures. The adventurous char-
seen a violation of the law. In hundreds of
acter of the survey and the importance of
trips to duck fields in central New York, and
to scattered localities from Labrador to its results had attracted a large audience,
Florida, and from Florida to Texas, I have so large indeed that the lecture had to be re-
never spent a similar amount of time in any peated for the benefit of those who still
one place without seeing some violation of the
packed the approaches to the auditorium after
law, or finding it held in contempt and dis-
regard if the game warden's presence else- the doors had been closed for the delivery of
where was definitely established. This un- the first address. On the platform, in addition
fortunately is particularly true of the Gulf to the trustees of the society, were a num-
Coast and the prairies of southern Texas.
ber of distinguished guests, including Mr.
Although in variety of species and abundance
of individuals these regions still exceed Back Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, who accompanied
Bay, a depletion of the waterfowl, inevitable Major Powell on his second expedition through
unless public sentiment is aroused and edu- the Caiion, Mr. W. H. Jackson, the photo-
cated, will result along the Gulf coast and in
grapher of the Hayden Survey, and the Rev.
southern Texas when the population increases
and natural conditions are destroyed through Robert E. Jones, who was associated with the
the encroachments of civilization. Geological Survey in the Grand Caiion region
in 1880-82 as topographer.
The American Scenic and Historic Pre-
servation Society held its twenty-ninth The American Bison Society. —So fruit-
annual meeting in the auditorium of the ful in resultshas been the work of the Ameri-
American Museum on January 28. The part can Bison Society that whereas in 1903 there
that this society has played in New York were in the United States but 41 herds with a
State and in the nation at large deserves total of 969 animals, in 1923 according to the
more than casual mention, for, as Dr. George census for that year there were 147 herds,
F. Kunz, its president, pointed out in his comprising 3878 head. Twenty years ago
address, it was one of the first societies to there were but 24 states in which bison were
arouse public interest in the preservation of to be found, today all but eight states of the
sites that appeal on the score of their beauty Union have examples of this animal. It is in
or their historic significance, and throughout Canada, however, that the bison is preponder-
the three decades of its existence it has given ant, with a resulting total for North America
forceful aid to the movement that has resulted of 12,457 animals.
in the establishment of national and state With the perpetuation of the bison fairly
parks. In New York State alone there are well assured, the society is earnestly devoting
today more than seven times the number of its energies to saving the pronghorn,a much —
scenic and historic reservations that existed more undertaking due to the fact that
difficult
when the society first began its campaign. the animal is more delicate by nature and is
NOTES 271
today beset by many agencies that threaten toshow that the Fort Cassin rocks constitute,
its existence. The annual report of the society not a single formation known as the Beekman-
for 1922-23 contains the first census of Hving town, but a terrane consisting of two forma-
pronghorn, compiled by the secretary of the tions, neither of which is Beekmantown; and
society, Mr. Martin S. Garretson. It shows a to demonstrate that the Providence Island
total of 10,099 of these animals within the rocks, which have mostly been assigned to the
United States and of 11,749 within the United Beekmantown, have very few if any beds of
States and Canada combined. Although this Beekmantown age, but belong to higher
aggregate is comparable to that of the bison, horizons."
the forces of destruction arrayed against the
pronghorn call for unrelaxed vigilance on the WILLIAMS GALAPAGOS EXPEDITION
part of those who would safeguard this animal. Many New Species of Moths Obtained
Driven from its natural habitat on the plains IN —
THE Archipelago. In his resume of the
and foothills, it is today subjected to the at- Williams Galapagos Expedition (Zoohgica,
tack of the sheepherder and the homesteader, Vol. V, No. 1) Mr. William Beebe reports that
while the wolf and the bobcat take their toll the insects taken by the expedition totaled
of the antelope when it is helpless in the deep 3000, of which no less than 626 were moths
snow. In the Guano Valley, Lake County, (exclusive of Microlepidoptera). For the
Oregon, seventy-five of these animals were most part these had been lured to their doom
wantonly shot by Basque sheepherders, and by a powerful searchlight which nightly bored
during Mr. Garretson's trip through south- a tunnel of radiance through the darkness. Of
western Idaho, made with a view to ascertain- the moths of the Galapagos Archipelago com-
ing the suitability of the region as a sanctuary, paratively little was known prior to the work-
indubitable evidences presented themselves ing-up of this collection, evidenced by the
that the Basque sheepherders of that section fact that of the 52 species into which Mr.
too are spelling the doom of these fine ani- William Schaus, honorary assistant curator in
mals. In the report for 1922-23 Mr. Ed- the United States National Museum, divided
mund Seymoiir, president of the society, the material, exactly one half are new to
alludes to the purchase of six antelopes in science, while only 4 of the remaining 26
Canada and their successful transportation to species had hitherto been reported from the
the Wichita National Preserve in Oklahoma archipelago. There were 38 Microlepidoptera,
as themost notable achievement of the society which, as determined by Messrs. A. Busck and
during the year, but in many other ways the C. Heinrich, added 9 species to the total.
society has given evidence of its devotion to Of the new species 2 have been named for Mr.
the cause of our disappearing wild life. Harrison Williams, who initiated the under-
taking and generously placed at the disposal
HISTORY OF THE EARTH of Mr. Beebe's party the steam yacht "Noma"
Mr. Edward J. Foyles, of the department inwhich the cruise was made, 2 for Miss Isabel
of geology and vertebrate palaeontology, Cooper, and 2 for Miss Ruth Rose, who par-
American Museum, has recently issued in the ticipated in the expedition, while the name of
Thirteenth Report of the Vermont State Geologist Mr. Beebe has been associated with a speci-
his "Preliminary Report on the Ordovician men representing a new genus. Mr. Schaus's
Formations of Vermont." The report is —
study of the material with a classified list of
based on a study of the Fort Cassin rocks and the species, the number of specimens of each,
fossils in the American Museum, as well as on the date and locality of capture, and, where
field work undertaken in the Lake Champlain the species are new to science, the detailed
region during the summers of 1921 and 1922. —
description has been published in Zoologica,
Two of the principal localities, Shoreham and Vol. V, No. 2; field observations regarding
Fort Cassin, lie to the east of the lake; the the material collected are graphically present-
third, Providence Island, is located somewhat ed by Mr. Beebe in Zoologica, Vol. V, No. 3.
north of these points in the lake itself. The Among the most striking of Mr. Beebe's ob-
purpose of the papers, as announced in the servations are those relating to the remarkable
introduction and worked out in the text, "is partiality shown by birds of the islands for
the Beekmantown
to suggest the limits of butterflies and moths, a phenomenon not to be
formation of the Lower Ordovician as it explained by an absence of other insect food,
occurs in the Champlain valley of Vermont; for grasshoppers were present in abundance.
272 NATURAL HISTORY
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY desirable localities. Still as well as motion
Tropical Research Station. On Febru- — pictures will be taken to illustrate the ecology,
topography, scenery, and natives.
ary 11 Mr. William Beebe and his staff of
assistants sailed on the "Mayuro" to under-
take another season's work at Kartabo.
The Paradise Racquet - Tailed Hum-
British Guiana, the Tropical Research Station
—
ming Bird. Through an exchange of ma-
terial with Mr. A. L. Butler the department
of the New York Zoological Society.In addi-
of birds, American Museum, has secured four
tion to the director, the party included Dr.
Alfred Emerson, assistant director; Mr. John specimens (2 mature males, 1 immature male,
Tee-Van, research assistant and cinematog- and 1 female) of the unusually interesting
rapher; Mr. William Merriam, assistant in and rare humming bird {Loddigesiornis
field work; Mr. Harold Tappin, assistant in
mirahilis) , known as the paradise racquet-tail.
entomology; Mr. Herman Rogers, assistant This bird has several claims to distinction.
in photography; Mr. Harry Hoffman, artist;
Known only from the Chachapoyas Valley of
Miss Isabel Cooper, scientific artist; Mrs. Peru and obtainable there only when a certain
Helen Tee-Van, assistant scientific artist; shrub on which it is dependent for its food is
Miss Ruth Rose, historian and technicist; in flower, it is a species much coveted be-
and Mrs. Katherine Rogers, assistant micro- cause of its rarity. Excepting an immature
scopist, and Mr. Serge Chetyrkin, assistant female in the collections of the Museum of
field naturalist. Among the objects Mr. Beebe Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, the
has in view is the rounding out of his notes on four specimens mentioned are the first to
the ecology of the quarter of a square mile of come into the possession of a scientific
jungle to which he has been giving intensive institution in America.
study during his previous sojourns. He plans, Yet its interest on the score of rarity is
also, if possible, to bring back to New York subordinate to that which it has as one of the
living specimens of the hoactzin, a bird that in few cases among birds of marked sexual di-
the young stage has two toes on each wing as morphism. All other humming birds have
aids in climbing and literally moves about on not less than ten tail feathers; but the male of
aU fours. Finally Mr. Beebe is completing Loddigesiornis mirahilis has but four. Yet
plans for a trip to Mt. Roraima, to be m.ade the striking elongation of two of these feathers
either on this or on his next trip to British in the male bird is compensation, from the
Guiana. aesthetic standpoint at least, for the reduced
number. Only the racquet-shaped end of the
BIRDS tail feather is visible in the immature speci-
Mr. Ludlow Griscom, assistant curator of men but in the mature male this appears as a
birds, American Museum, sailed on February culminating ornament at the end of a long
5 on an expedition to Veragua, western Pana- thin upward-curved feather-shaft of graceful
ma. He is taking three assistants: Mr. Rud- sweep. The shape of the elongated tail
yerd Boulton of the University of Pittsburgh, feathers of the female is, on the other hand,
Mr. George Albert Seaman, field collector, and strikingly different and less spectacular, and,
Mr. J. Manson Valentine of the Peabody in contrast to the male, she has the normal
Museum, Yale University, volunteer assistant. number of tail feathers (ten). The glittering
The party hopes to reach the subtropical or blue crown of the male, which shows purple
cloud-forest zone in the unexplored mountains in certain lights, and its shimmering emerald
of the interior, to determine its extent and throat are other points of beauty.
ascertain whether it is disconnected from the The four specimens originally found place
high mountains of Chiriqui. Little is known in the collection of Count von Berlepsch,
about this region, and no collection of its having been obtained by his collector, O. T.
birds exists in America. Somewhere in Baron. In addition to Loddigesiornis, four
Veragua the tropical lowland fauna of eastern other species of humming birds new to the
Panama meets a limited fauna known only collections of the American Museum were
from southwestern Costa Rica and Chiriqui, obtained through exchange, as well as several
but the location of the barrier separating them specimens of species which exist in America
and the factors causing it await determination. only in this Museum. The collection of
Mr. Griscom expects to leave Mr. Seaman in humming birds in this Museum is now the
the field to make thorough collections at all most nearly complete in the world.
—
The paradise racquet-tailed humming bird, an interesting case of sexual dimorphism. The specimen in the
upper right-hand corner is an immature male, in which only the racquet-shaped end of the taU is visible. The
ornamental elongation of the tail is a conspicuous feature of the two adult males (at the left and at the base of
the picture respectively) The female (center) differs strikingly in appearance from her mate. The specimens
.
were recently acquired by the American Museum
MUSEUM LIBRARY such artists as A. Thorburn and J. G.

A Valued Gift to the Museum Library. Keulemans. Lord Lilford was for many years
—Through the generosity of Mr. Ogden Mills president of the British Ornithologists'
the library of the American Museum has ob- Union, of which he was one of the founders,
tained a set of Lord Lilford's sumptuous work, and the monumental work presented by Mr.
Colored Figures of the Birds oj the British Mills is one of the standard contributions to
Isles. This gift from one who has enriched ornithology.
the Museum by many volumes of great

rarity, beauty, and scientific interest, is
EXTINCT ANIMALS
particularly valued for the magnificent series Ape of the Western World Restudied.
of 421 plates which it contains, contributed by — It would seem that Hesperopithecus is a
274 NATURAL HISTORY
name well chosen by Honorary Curator Henry tooth found in the same locality is pretty surely
Fairfield Osborn for the genus of anthropoid an upper molar and probably the third or back
apes, known from two fossil teeth (one of molar of Hesperopithecus.
which is very much worn) discovered in In the meantime the leading anatomists of
Nebraska in 1922. The actual discovery had the world have been given an opportunity to
been made some time before but the type fossil study this question for themselves through
tooth actually reached the Museum only two beautifully prepared casts. Among the
weeks after Professor Osborn had advised authorities who have received replicas of the
William Jennings Bryan to study the fossils tooth are distinguished anthropologists and
themselves and not the disputations of the palaeontologists of Europe, such as Boule,
doctors about them. This advice was summed Deperet, DoUo, Abel, Forster Cooper, Smith
up in the Scriptural verse, "Speak to the earth Woodward, Elliot Smith, Keith, Pompeckj,
and it shall teach thee," and by way of show- Broili, Capellini, Plate, Leche, von Huene,
ing the pertinence of this counsel there arrived Sergi, Dubois, and Martin, and in this coun-
at the Museum the first recognized anthropoid try, Hrdlicka, Miller, Boas, Merriam, Lull,
ape tooth found in America. and ^Sinclair. This reciprocity and inter-
As in the case of numerous other dis- change of facsimile casts of original materials
coveries of this kind, authenticity was chal- enable, in this case, twenty-six different in-
many scientists. While the Ameri-
lenged by stitutions in various parts of the world to
can Museum staff agreed that the tooth repre- examine for themselves and to form their own
sented an upper molar of an anthropoid ape, opinion as to the possible relationship, or
other palaeontologists, both in America and lack of relationship, of the find to human
Great Britain, questioned this conclusion. ancestry.
Several authors sought to relate it to the fossil
type of bear known as Hysenardos; others FISHES
thought it had affinities with the Carnivora, Sea Dragons from Australia. —Through
especially the panda of Asia or the raccoon- the courtesy of Dr. C. Anderson, director of
like Potos of South America; some suggested the Australian Museum, the American Mu-
that it was not an anthropoid but related to seum has recently come into possession of a
the South American monkeys; it was even most wonderful example of nature's handi-
intimated that the tooth belonged to one of work, in the shape of a little sea horse or sea
the ancestral horses. dragon, known scientifically as Phyllopteryx
In view of these striking differences of eques. As the Rev. Tenison Woods writes in
opinion, the American Museum specialists, Fishes and Fisheries of New South Wales,
Dr. W. K. Gregory and Dr. Milo Hellman, "One step more, in evolution, and it would
subjected the tooth to a more searching have been a bunch of kelp." If this be not
analysis and finally reached the following mimicry, there is no such thing.
conclusions, published in the Bulletin of the If the reader will imagine a small child
Museum, December 4, 1923: first, the tooth in clipping off bits of kelp, sticking them here
all probabihty belongs among the higher and there on a good-sized sea horse, adding a
Primates known as anthropoid apes; second, few tufts of sea weed, and finally inserting a
the greater number of resemblances of the number of spines for good measure, he will
tooth appear to be with the gorilla and the have a pretty good idea of this extraordinary
chimpanzee rather than with the orang. little creature.
Doctor Gregory leans toward the view that the Accompanying it were three specimens of a
anthropoid ape affinities of the type predom- relative of this sea dragon, — less elaborately
inate while Doctor Hellman still regards re- decorated, though to make up for this defi-
semblances to a human tooth as being of con- ciency, they were in life brightly colored.
siderable significance, and they state that the These strange fishes are seldom seen: as Mr.
range of variation in the crown and root char- McCuUoch writes in the Australian Museum
acters of the molars both in the human Magazine, for April, 1923: "Whenever the
family and the anthropoid ape family is great winds blow harder than is usual from the sea,
enough to warrant either viewpoint. The the waves churn up the animals and plants
type tooth is probably a second upper which below the lowest limits of the
live just
molar, as decided by Professor
originally tides. Our ocean beaches
at such times be-
Osborn, while the second very much worn come strewn with an assemblage of marine
NOTES 275
Kelplike in appearance but a fish in reality, the sea dragon (Phyllopteryx eques) is one of the examples in nature
which one is tempted to ascribe to protective mimicry. On the.left is another sea horse {Phyllovteryx foliatus)
from Australia. Thejspecimens were obtained by the American Museum through the courtesy of Dr. C.
Anderson, director of the Australian Museum
organisms which are rarely exhibited to our In view of the rarity of these fishes, it is
view under any other circumstances." And somewhat surprising to find that one of them,
this flotsam and jetsam now and then includes Phyllopteryx foliatus, was described as early
examples of these strange little sea horses. as 1804,and the other, Phyllopteryx eques, hx
276 NATURAL HISTORY
1865. The name Phyllopteryx, leaf-finned, The Iron Age of La Tene. —A notable
in allusion to the flowing appendages with recent addition to the Osborn Library is a
which these fish are decorated, is very appro- monograph by Professor Paul Vouga (1923) on
priate, but it is a pity that the term foUatus, La Tene, the famous Swiss tj^pe station on
bearing-foliage, could not have been applied Lake Neuchatel. Originally intended as a de-
to the species described in 1865, which is far tailed accovmt of the results of excavations
more like an animated bit of kelp than is its pursued from 1907 to 1917, the author ex-
relative. Scientific names, once given, must tended the scope of his work to include an
not be changed, even though they cease to be account of all the known discoveries belong-
fitting, but it is a pity the names cannot be ing to the Helvetian site of La Tene, and has
transposed. produced an invaluable work of reference.
This recalls the case of the great eggs from Associated from early youth with the pioneers
Madagascar which were christened JEpyornis of Swiss archffiologyâmong them his father,
maximus, though later discoveries have shown Emile Vouga, to whom the work is dedicated
that while the eggs are still maximus, the bird —Professor Vouga is singularly fitted to give
that laid them was surpassed in size by some an authoritative account of the various ex-
of her relatives; science is sometimes in too plorations at La Tene since its discovery in
much of a hurry in applying adjectives. 1858. His book is lavishly illustrated with
F. A. L. two excellent maps and several cross sections,
a few well-chosen text figures, and no less
than fifty plates picturing over 600 of the
EUROPEAN ARCHEOLOGY various articles found at La Tene during the
A
Gift from M. Zachakie Le Rouzic. — excavations of recent years, in which the
Through the active interest of Mrs. Henry author took part. Not only are all these
Fairfield Osborn, the department of an- articles drawn to scale, but the plate descrip-
thropology, T^merican Museum, recently re- tions give page references to the text concern-
ceived a collection of archaeological objects ing every specimen pictured. The text is a
recovered by excavation in the region of the model of clearness and brevity, and scrupu-
great megalithic monuments of Brittany or, to lously observes a fine distinction between the
be more specific, that part of Brittany known record of facts in regard to the specimens
at present Department Morbihan.
as the described, and the advancement of hypotheses
The specimens came as a gift from M. which might conceivably explain those facts.
Zacharie Le Rouzic, curator of the Musee The volume opens with a description of the
J. Miln, situated in the village of Cariiac in geographic situation of La Tene and a brief
the midst of some of the most wonderful of the historic sketch recounting all the various
Late Stone Age antiquities. It will be recalled excavations made from its discovery down to
that President and Mrs. Osborn visited this the present time. Then comes a detailed
locahty in 1921 and that President Osborn account of the topography and geology of the
published an illustrated article in Natural site by Professor Auguste Dubois. In less
History for May-June, 1922, giving an than three pages Professor Vouga outlines
account of his observations. the causes which led to the wide dispersal of
The collection appears to include specimens specimens from La Tene, and to much con-
typical of both the Early and Late Neolithic fusion in identifying them. The first part
periods and comprises roughly worked flints closes with a classified inventory of all the
cores, flakes, and scrapers; several mealing articles found at La Tene, indicating the
stones, hammer stones, rubbing stones, and thirteen different institutions where seventy
polished celts; pottery fragments, and some different kinds of artefacts may be found, rep-
—
minute bits of bone perhaps human bones resented by more than 2500 specimens. The
from a burial urn. Included in the collection main body of the work is devoted to describ-
are also a number of glass beads of various ing the specimens discovered from 1907 to
types belonging evidently to a much later 1917, and these are grouped with such excel-
period of culture and possibly buried for lent judgment that the very chapter titles
magical purposes in the vicinity of the great supply a vivid picture of the life of prehistoric
stone monuments, which are still held in awe man in the settlement of La Tene. The
and veneration by the surviving Bretons. weapons, or fragments of weapons, include
N. C. N. swords, lances, pikes, javelins, bows and
NOTES 277
arrows, the metal scales for coats of mail, and remains of no less than five individuals asso-
the bosses and hand-grips of wooden shields. ciated with implements of Aurignacian type
Toilet articles are represented by shears, and embedded in the deposits immediately
razors, and tweezers, and ornaments by beneath the great horse magma, which is also
fibulae, bracelets, torques, pins, beads, etc. of Aurignacian age. Three complete skeletons,
The fisherman's activities are represented by two male and one female, were laid out as for
fishhooks, harpoons, tridents, and boat ceremonial burial, each placed with the body
hooks, and the agriculturist's by sickles, lying in a west to east direction, and each
scythes, —
and pruning hooks perhaps harrows burial place marked by two large slabs of
as well. Then there are mills for grinding meal, limestone, which must have stood well above
mortars or presses for extracting the juice of ground at the time of sepulture. Close to the
bronze reinforced with iron,
fruits, kettles of woman's skeleton were found skeletal frag-
jars of pottery,and various wooden dishes. ments belonging to two very young children.
A knowledge of basketry or weaving is in- One of the male skeletons was embedded in an
dicated by fragments of fabrics made of extensive "hearth," or layer of ashes and cal-
woven or plaited straw. The wheelwright's cined bones, in which there were also foimd
work is shown in the fragmentary remains of 316 flint implements of very indifferent work-
vehicles —
among them a perfect wheel illus- manship. Inside the bones of the other male
trated in situ, while bits and spurs, and some skull, embedded in earth, there was found a
fragments which may possibly be the re- flintarrow point. Particular interest attaches
mains of a pack-saddle testify to the work of to the anatomical features of these skeletons
the harness-maker. Carpenters and joiners which show some marked deviations from the
left their mark on slabs of wood, notched or Cro-Magnon tjê as observed in the hiunan
bored for use as piles, beams, and other remains from the type station in the Vezere
purposes which can only be conjectured. Valley, and those of similar type more recently
Spikes and braces for fastening wooden struc- discovered in the Grottes de Grimaldi and
tures, and many wood-working tools are described by Verneau. The general propor-
found, as well as tools for working leather and tions of upper and lower limbs, as weU as the
metal. Among several bizarre objects figured, peculiar features of their several bones which
which may have
been used in games of some are characteristic ofall Cro-Magnon types of
sort, it is quite a shock to find two fairly Aurignacian age, are not found in these Aurig-
recognizable dice, one of bone and one of nacian skeletons of Solutre.
bronze. Is it possible that prehistoric man The height estimated for the two male
played a primitive game of craps? Some degree skeletons is considerable (6 feet, and 5 feet,
of commercial activity is inferred from the 9 inches respectively), and in this regard, as
presence of gold coins, weights, and balances. also in certain characters of the skuU —namely,
There are three supplementary chapters the large cranial capacity, the outlines of the
one by R. Forrer on the gold coins, one by C. sagittaland horizontal curves, and the shape
Keller on the fauna, and one by E. Pittard on —
and lower jaw they resemble
of orbits, nose,
the human remains found at La Tene. In the established Cro-Magnon type. But in
summing up the evidence which he has been two important points they differ widely. In
so largely instrumental in collecting. Professor the Cro-Magnon type the cheek bones are
Vouga reaches the conclusion that La Tene high and prominent and project laterally in
was a fortified, garrisoned trade depot, that such manner as to add very considerably to the
the remains found there represent only one breadth of the face, which thus becomes " dis-
cultural phase, that of La Tene II, and that its harmonic" with the long and narrow, or
occupation may be dated approximately as dolichocephalic, skull. In the skull figured
lasting from 250 B.C. to 100 B.C.— C. D. M. from Solutre (No. 2) the cheek bones show no
pronounced projection, but lie ver^- smooth
AURIGNACIAN SKELETONS DISCOVERED AT and close to the side of the face. The latter
SoLUTRE, France. —Reports lately received is broad but not disharmonic with the skuU,
give particulars in regard to a recent dis- as that also is decidedly broad. In fact,
covery of the greatest interest, made by MM. perhaps the most striking anatomical feature
Deperet, Arcelin, and Mayet at the famous of these Aurignacian skeletons of Solutre
—
type station of Solutre namely, the skeletal is the mesaticephalic, almost sub-brachyce-
278 NATURAL HISTORY
phalic, shape of the skull, since all the Aurig- distribution. Some forms show a remarkable
nacian skulls hitherto known are invariably variety in the arrangement of the lengthened
dolichocephalic. hair forming the head crest and shoulder
These are by no means the first human re- patches. The general color of this species is
mains to be discovered in the great prehistoric grayish brown with darker hands, feet, and
deposits of Solutre, as a number are recorded tail.The hair of the eyebrows and crown is
from earher times. Unfortunately the present much lengthened and together with that of
exact methods of determining stratigraphy the nape forms a conspicuous crest.
had not then been developed, nor was the Probably these are the first skins of these
surpassing importance of these human docu- monkeys This may
to arrive in this country.
ments fully reaUzed. Consequently there is appear strange considering that in the wake of
now no means of determining the stratigraphic Colonel Roosevelt's successful African explora-
position of many of these remains, while tions, so many Americans made collections in
others —such as the complete human skeleton British East Africa. But these Primates are
interred with Solutrean leaf points, reindeer very local in their distribution, being confined
bones, and a figurine of a reindeer, discovered to the forest galleries along the few water-
in 1868 by the Abbe Ducrost have been — courses near the east coast north of Mombasa,
lost beyond recall. It is a great satisfaction chiefly along the Tana River. —H. L.
to know that the further excavation of the
The Sixth Annual Meeting of the Amer-
great type station of Solutre is now being
ican Society of Mammalogists is scheduled
prosecuted so vigorously, and that it is in such
to take place in Cambridge and Boston, April
expert hands. We may confidently hope for
15-17. The sessions during the first two days
further discoveries to increase our knowledge
will be held in the Museum of Comparative
of the fossil men of Solutre. —C. D. M. Zoology and will be devoted to the reading of
papers, discussions, and business. As a part of
MAMMALS OF THE WORLD the general program a symposium has been
Monkeys from British East Africa. — planned on "The Scientific and Economic
Recently the American Museum received a Importance of Predatory Animals." On the
valued accession to its great primate collec- evening of April 15 the society will hold a
tion, which through the efforts and personal session in the building of the Boston Society
attention of Dr. Frederic A. Lucas has been of Natural History, and on the last day of the
steadily increased in recent years and put in session, thanks to the kind invitation of Prof.
such fine condition that the exhibits are now, W. E. Castle, a visit will be made to the
it is believed, the best in any museum. Genetics Laboratories at Bussey Institution.
The gift consisted of five skins, three skele- Forest Hills, Massachusetts.
tons,and two skulls of British East African
A New Volume by Ernest Harold
monkeys, presented through the generosity of
Captain Neite Caldwell of Nairobi.
—
Baynes. Jimmie, the Story of a Black Bear
Cub, by Ernest Harold Baynes, has recently
Colobus rufomitratus, Peter's red-capped
been put into book form by the Macmillan
Colobus, represented by three of the skins,
belongs to the reddish, generally more short-
Company. It is a companion volume to
Polaris, the Story of an Eskimo Dog, and is one
haired group of the" Colobinse, ranging across
of the author's most fascinating narratives.
equatorial Africa. Its bright rufous crown,
Mr. Baynes's admirers and friends, especially
bordered with black, and erect bunches of hair
those who have heard him tell about Jimmie,
give it a distinctive appearance. The seal
brown, nearly black, fine hair of the upper
will be delighted to know that the story is
parts and tail contrasts with the gray of the

now setdown, so that they may have it
permanently available The book is copiously
imder side and limbs. It was discovered as .
illustrated with photographs by Mr. and Mrs.

early as 1879 but for many decades was known
Baynes, and these appealing pictures make the
only from a single specimen preserved in the
narrative doubly telling. It is hoped that
Berhn Museum.
This is also true of the second species pre-
Mr. Baynes's stories of "Sprite, the Red
the
Fox," and "The Little Wild Boar," and others
sented, crested mangabey, Cercocebus
galeritus, to which the other two skins refer.
will also be put into book form. —
G. C. F.
It is theeasternmost representative of the The Elephant in War. —There has always
mangabeys, a group really West African in been some question in the minds of historians
NOTES 279
as to the source of Hannibal's elephants, range in Morocco and on the south side of the
range found "swarms of elephants in the
those which he took into Spain and used in the
Atlas forests." These may have been the
conquest of northern Italy. We are indebted same species as the "pygmy elephant " or they
to a member of the Board of Trustees of the may have been a larger species but, at all
American Museum, Mr. Madison Grant, for events, we have there a definite record of the
occurrence of African elephants in Morocco
an informing Note on this subject and we
and, personally, I beheve that this is the
shall be glad to have further data from others source from which Hannibal drew his supplies.
who are interested:
The animals used by the Carthaginians
Since the last issue of Natural History the
could not have come from Asia without having following persons have been elected members
left some record of their progress across Syria, of theAmerican Museum, making the total
Egypt, and Cyrene on their way to Carthage. membership 7422:
The only possible way of getting the Sudan
or Abyssinian elephants was to float them Benefactor: Mr. Childs Frick.
down the Nile as was done by the Romans Associate Benefactor:Dr. Bashford Dean
much later. As we have no record that this Patrons: Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt and Mr.
was done, I am convinced that we must look to
the west or south of Carthage for the source Ludlow Griscom.
of supply.
Fellows:Mrs. Jay C. Morse; Dr. Henry
Hannibal brought his elephants into Italy
through Spain in the year 218 B.C. Pyrrhus, H. Covell; Messrs. Guerdon S. Holden
at an earlier date, about 281 B.C., brought and Keith Spalding.
elephants across the Adriatic from Epirus,
and this was the first time the Romans met Honorary Life Members: Messrs. Edwin H.
the elephant in war. The source of these ele- Blashfield, Charles F. Forsyth, Elgin
phants was Asiatic and their origin is defi- W. Forsyth, Daniel Chester French, and
nitely known. After Alexander's death his
Joseph Rack.
successor in the extreme eastern part of his
empire obtained by war and as tribute Indian Life Members: Mesdames Charles Kaye,
elephants from Indian rulers in the neighbor-
James A. Scrymser, John Wood Stewart,
hood of the Indus River. A certain number
of these are known to have been sent across J. Andrews Swan^ Eli Whitney; the Misses
Asia Minor to Macedonia and hence to Maky Cheney, Mary O'Hara Darlington,
Epirus. Bettina Warburg, the Reverend Endicott
In a later communication Mr. Madison Peabody; Messrs. Frank E. Aiken, Henry
Grant supplies additional information regard- J. Bernheim, Charles C. Bolton, W. F.
ing the elephant in war and in domestication Chandler, Paul H. Cheney, Russell Col-
The Indian elephant, so far as we know, is gate, J. D. Cox, Henry M. Crane, F. V.
the only one that has ever been domesticated.
The elephants the Romans had in their cir- Du Pont, George C. Eraser, Archibald
cuses were, like the rhinoceroses and other Harrison, James Marshall, William P.
bulky animals, floated down the Nile from McPhee, Eugene M. Moore, Thomas F.
what is now the Sudan, and nothing of this Murtha, James W. Packard, Ralph
sort seems to have occurred to supply the
Pulitzer, and C. Sidney Shepard.
Carthaginian army with its numerous ele-
phants. Mabel Clark;
Sustaining Members: Miss E.
All this a matter of fairly definite record.
is
Messrs. David Blankenhorn, Joseph A.
If elephants at this time or earlier had been
transported across the Arabian and Syrian Duffy, Frank Johnson, and Ernest T.
deserts, from Egypt and eastern Libya to QUANTRELL.
Carthage, there would have undoubtedly been
some record, especially as we know the his- Annual Members: Mesdames Charles W.
tory of Egypt under the Ptolemys in detail. Belt, Joseph J. Benjamin, Edward R.
Hannibal's elephants, it wiU be recalled, Burt, Margharita Derfelder, I. H.
started from Spain and it would seem as though
Dixon, George F. Dominick, Jr., Virginie
they had been drawn from the northwestern
corner of Africa. India or the Sudan would Ferier, G. Y. Glave, Wm. Van Valzah
have been too remote a source. Some years Hayes, Albert C. Hencken, A. Barton Hep-
ago, a "pygmy elephant" was discovered burn, E. B. D. Kohn, Grinnell Martin,
in the Congoîn fact, the New York Zoologi-
Charles Morgan, Walter S. Reynolds,
cal Park had the type specimen, and at the
present time there is a small specimen on Daisy L. Rosenberg, Henry C. Ross, David
exhibition in the park. This is the species of C. Townsend, Katherine T. Turner, C. S.
elephant now living nearest the northwestern Walker; the Misses Martha Casamajor,
corner of Africa.
It appears that a Roman general, Suetonius
Helen Crocker, Bella Dainoff, Miriam
Pauhnus, about 45 a.d. reached the high Atlas Sachs; Doctors Samuel Bookman, Ralph
280 NATURAL HISTORY
CoLP, John C. Graham, W. Morgan Harts- Carrie Ethel Baker, Ella Buegin, Adele
horn, Otto V. Huffaian, N. S. jAR\as, S. H. M. Dill, Alice M. Foote, Dorothy Fur-
Lanchner, Samuel M. Landsman, Robert long, L. W. Knight, M. Frances Pinney,
Lewis, Josef Saxl, Montgomery H. Sicard, Elizabeth Sands, Mary Sayle; Sir Rat.
Edgar E. Stewart, Edgar S. Thomson; Lankester; Doctors W. Wayne Bab-
the Rea^rend Francis P. Duffy, D.D.; cock, Royal W. Bemis, H. M. Brundage,
Messrs. Richard F. Allen, C. W. Be all, Joseph M. Caley, Charles W. Creaser, A.
C. W. Bingham, Delos A. Blodgett, 2d, G. Ellis, H. P. Howard, J. S. Jamieson,
Gail Borden, L. M. Borden, Alfred C. Paul S. Leinbach, R. S. Manley, D. Gregg
BossoM, Ralph N. Buckstaff, Robt. M. Methany, Leroy M. S. Miner, Charles
Burton, Edmund H. Cahill, Melville H. F. Nassau, C. C. O'Hara, T. S. Palmer,
Cane, Max M. Canter, Frederick R. Adolph H. Schultz, Theodor Stingelin,
Childs, G. H. Conze, Warren J. Davis, Geo. Omar A. Turney; Professor William T.
T. Delacorte, Jr., David F. Derringer, Shaw; Messrs. Ludwig G. Auger, Frank
Jr., Ralph H. Dick, Julius Feiss, Albert W. Bedard, Earl W. Bemis, A. Berkman,
Jean F^rier, Robert M. Ferns, F. H. MoRiz Bernstein, Frank E. Billings,
Filley, Northrup Fowler, Jerome W. Walter G. Borton, J. C. Fenner Bridgham,
Frank, Henry Fuld, James N. Gamble, A. B. Brown, E. R. Buckell, James M.
E. Stanley Glines, Allen J. Graham, M. A. Butler, Alfred M. Campbell, Robert C.
Healy, I. C. Herman, Jeremiah Hunter, S. Chapin, Edgar A. Church, Gordon
J. Hunter, Reginald M. Johnson, Nathan Cochran, Fred. G. Coddington, Francis
Kalvin, William F. Kip, Frederick Wm. A. CuDMORE, Evan C. Dressel, G. Farrar,
KoBBE, R. H. Kress, John W. Lewis, Jr., Geo. a. Fay, Jos. Feaster, U.S.N., Albert
W. H. Lough, Henry A. Lumb, W. H. M. Fuller, A. H. Gross, George E. Halli-
Lyman, Harry C. McCarty, William O. DAY, W. J. Hayward, Edward F. Henson,
P. Morgan, A. B. Morley, Loe Nash, H. Samuel Hubbard, J. Harlan Johnson,
de B. Parsons, W. U. Parsons, Frank A. Orville M. Johnson, John Jonas, E. R.
Peterson, W. C. Porterfield, G. P. Jones, Woodruff Jones, Neil M. Judd,
Putnam, W. D. Redwood, Charles A. Charles Monson Justi, L. M. Klauber,
Rich, A. M. Sakolski, R. H. Shreve, Edward La Budde, Eugene P. Lake, E. P.
Albert M. Smoot, Chauncey B. Spears, Langley, David Henry Leavitt, Henry E.
Richard H. Swartwout; Master Franklin Lee, Francis Lieber, Lewis G. Little, N.
CuRTiss; and The Library, Southern H. Mapes, Walter T. Moore, J. H. Mull,
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mer, Bruno C. Petsch, C. V. Piper, Mica-
Associate Members: Mesdames Frederick JAH W. Pope, Wallace E. Pratt, L. L.
Brown, Frances S. Davidson, W. D. Frish- Redick, Kelley Rees, H. C. Reynolds,
muth, Gardiner Hall, Harry W. Harrison, Charles G. Root, F. F. Runkel, Ralph J.
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Pitcher, John Reilly, E. Remington, SocHis, A. V. Taylor, Henry A. Thompson.
David Townsend, R. A. Walker, E. G. AsHBEL Welch, Geo. D. Wenner, and J.
Wallace, George G. Wenrich; the Misses W. Winson.
FOUNDED IN 1869
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AUTUMN AND SPRING COURSES OF POPULAR LECTURES

Series of illustrated lectures, held in the Auditorium of the Museum on alternate Thursday
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A room on the third floor of the Museum, equipped with every convenience for rest, reading,
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than fifty years of pubHc usefulness, during which its activities
have grown and
occupies a position of recognized importance not only in the
broadened, until today it
community it immediately serves but in the educational life of the nation. Every year
brings evidence— in the growth of the Museum membership, in the ever-larger number
visiting exhibits for study and recreation, in the rapidly expanding
of individuals its
activities of its school service, in the wealth of scientific

information gathered by its
world-wide expeditions and disseminated through its publications— of the increasing
influence exercised by the institution. In 1923 no fewer than 1,440,726 individuals
Museum as against 1,309,856 in 1922 and 1,174,397 in 1921. All of these
visited the
people had access to the exhibition halls without the payment of any admission
fee
whatsoever.
The EXPEDITIONS of the American Museum have yielded during the past year
results of far-reaching importance. The fossil discoveries in Mongolia made by the

Third Asiatic Expedition, the representative big-game animals of India obtained by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition, the collections of fossil vertebrates made in the Siwalik
Hills by Mr. Barnum Brown, the achievements of the Whitney South Sea Expedition,
and of other expeditions working in selected areas of South America, in the United
States, in the West Indies, and in Panama, are representative of the field activities of
the Museum during 1923. Many habitat groups, exhibiting specimens secured by
these expeditions, are planned for the new buildings of the Museum.
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preliminary scientific announcements, descriptions of new forms, and similar matters.
For a detailed list of popular and scientific publications with prices apply to
The Librarian, American Museum of Natural History,
New York City
ôl. AAIV MAY-JUNE No. 3
fRSH
Henry Faikfield Osborn, LL.D., President


H. E. Anthony, A.M., Associate Curator of Mammals of
AND GEOGRAPHY the Western Hemisphere (In Charge)
Chester A. Reeds, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Inverte-
brate Palseontology
William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu- Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals Charles W. Mead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Arche-
Charles C. Mook, Ph.D., Associate Curator Louis R. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Physical
J. Alden Mason, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Mexican
Archaeology
Clarence Hat, A.M., Research Associate
L. in Mexican
II. DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE- and Central American Archaeology
OGRAPHY Mild Hellman, D.D.S., Research Associate in Physical
Anthropology
Marine Life Animal Functions
Roy W. Miner, Ph.D., Curator Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator
WiLLARD G. Van Name, Ph.D., Assistant Curator
Frank J. Myers, Research Associate in Rotifera IV. DIVISION OP ASIATIC EXPLORATION
Horace W. Stunkard, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para- AND RESEARCH
sitology
A. L. Treadwell, Ph.D., Research Associate in Annulata Third Asiatic Expedition
Insect Life Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Palaeontology
Frederick K. Morris, A.M., Associate Curator in Geology
Frank E. Lutz, Ph.D., Curator
and Geography
A. Mutchlek, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera
J.
Charles P. Berkby, Ph.D., [Columbia University], Re-
Amadeus W. Ghabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Insects
Research Associate
Hymenoptera
V. DIVISION OF EDUCATION AND PUB-
Fishes LICATION
JohnT. Nichols, a. B., Associate Curator of Recent Fishes Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Charles H. Townsend, Sc.D., Research Associate
Public Education
Amphibians and Reptiles George H. Sherwood, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D., Curator G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D., Curator of Visual Instruction
Grace Fisher Ramsey, Assistant Curator
Birds Public Health
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief Charles-Edward Amory Winslow, D.P.H., Honorary
W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator Curator
Mary Greig, Assistant Curator
James P. Chapin, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Birds of the G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D. (In Charge)
Eastern Hemisphere
Ludlow Ghiscom, M.A., Assistant Curator Public Information Committee
Elsie M. B. Naumburg, Research Associate Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Editor and Chairman
Advisory Committee
James P. Chapin, Ph.D. Q. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D.
HI ID

THROUGH THE MUSEUM
MAY-JUNE, 1924
[Published June, 1924]

TURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR MAY-JUNE Number 3
Martin Johnson and His Expedition to Lake Paradise . . Carl E. Akeley 284
culminating chapter in the history of wild-Kfe photography, with a
survey of some of the earlier
A
stages in the development of its technique
With a portrait of Mr. Johnson
Scenes from the Plains and Jungles of Africa 289

Reproductions in duotone from photographs by Martin Johnson
The Highlands of the Great Craters James L. Clark 297

With special reference to the vast crater of Ngorongoro
marvels of the region and
,..,,.
herds of game
its
Photographs, by the author, of the geologic
The Vanishing Wild Life of Africa Herbert Lang 312

The rapid extermination of some of the world's most impressive animals
With a frontispiece of a large herd of elephants photographed by Irving K Taylor, and pictures taken
by Mr. Lang, in the wild and in menageries, of some of the animals threatened with extinction
Profiteers of the Busy Bee James P. Chapin 328

Observations on the honey guides of Africa . ^^ j .
j j ,
Original photographs by the author and by Mr. Herbert Lang, and drawings of the birds made, under
°the supervision of the author, by Mr. William E. Belanske
Amateur Entomologists and the Museum Frank E. Lutz 337

a survey, from the half-century mark, of the Department of Entomology, American Museum
With photographs illustrating the exhibits, the field work, and the opportunities for amateur work
offered by the department
A Beaver Colony of Yellowstone Park M. P. Skinner 347

One of the features of zoologic interest in this great wild-hfe sanctuary
American Men of the Dragon Bones Henry Fairfield Osborn 350

Personal impressions of a field trip to Mongolia with the Third Asiatic Expedition
Illustrated by a map of the route, photographs of scenes along the way, and a sketch of the camp at
Irdin Manha
Wintering Over a Fire Basket in Szechuan Province . . Anna G. Granger 366

Reminiscences of a sojourn in a Chinese ancestral hall
Photographs by Walter Granger
Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain Goat William T. Shaw 381

An experience among the high peaks of Washington
With a remarkable picture of the animal and several views of the general region
Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines William Peterson 388

A strange phenomenon noted in Utah and Colorado
With photographs and diagrams
Dean's "Bibliography of Fishes"

A Review Raymond C. Osburn 392
A Historical Sketch E. W. Gudger 395
Notes 402

ofNatural History, 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
membership.
nnder the Act of August 24, 1912.
South America
South America, the continent to which the July-August
issue of Natural History is to be devoted, has long been a favorite
field of zoological exploration, thanks to the diversity of animal life that
such contrasted environments as tropical jungle, Andean height, and
desert coast afford. Dr. Frank M. Chapman, who has but recently
returned from the tip end of the continent, where he has been pursuing
his study of the South American birds, will contribute an entertaining
description of some of his experiences in that part of the world. The
heart of the Andes of Ecuador has been explored by Mr. H. E. Anthony,
in charge of the department of mammals, American Museum, who will
tell through his beautiful pictures and his no less vivid text some of the
attractions of the region. A feature of interest will be reproductions

of several of the inspiring landscapes of Frederic E. Church, painter of
the high Andes, and excerpts from the journal of his travels. From
the snow hne the next contributor, Mr. Herbert Lang, associate curator
in the department of mammals, invites the reader to descend to the
tropics and journey with him along the forest-flanked Mazaruni River
into the heart of British Guiana, the interest of which he reveals in a
well-illustrated article. Articles by contributors connected with in-
stitutions other than the American Museum are promised, and the
magazine is glad to have the opportunity of giving recognition to the
important work they are doing. Mr. Wilson Popenoe, of the United
States Department of Agriculture, will describe some of the fruits that
he has studied in Ecuador with a view to their introduction and culti-

vation in the United States, and Mrs. Edmund Heller will give an
account, full of sprightly incidents, regarding some of the wild animals
which became important members of the expedition that Mr. Heller and
shemade through Peru on behalf of the Field Museum.
Panama a region that has affiliations with South as well as
is
North America notwithstanding the fact that a masterpiece of engineer-

ing has consigned it to the latter. To Panama the American Museum
has sent several expecHtions. Dr. Frank E. Lutz, recently returned from
the region, will tell, with delightful touches of humor, about his field
studies of the stingless bees, —
studies which have contributed to the
knowledge of these interesting insects. Mr. Ludlow Griscom, who ven-
tured into a portion of Panama that is forbidden territory to the white
man, will contribute an account of his adventures and observations.
2
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Volume XXIV MAY-JUNE Number 4
Martin Johnson and His Expedition to Lake Paradise

A CULMINATING CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF WILD-LIFE PHOTOGRAPHY,
WITH A SURVEY OF SOME OF THE EARLIER STAGES IN THE DEVELOP-
MENT OF ITS TECHNIQUE
By carl E. AKELEY
WE of today have but a faint con-

ception of the Africa of fifty
South Africa was
years ago.
slaughter
combat
—for gain,
one of many pretexts.
is
"sport," or some
Hardest of
the claim that the
all
game
to
then known to the world as a land animals carry and spread the diseases
teeming with game. On the veldt occu- of domestic stock. The perennial cry,
pied by the Boers the game was being "The game must go; this is no longer
used for food and clothing. The the world's zoo but an agricultural
"hinterland" was untouched except by country," is heard throughout Africa.
missionaries, ivory hunters, and trad- There is just one relieving circumstance
ers. Equatorial Africa was almost un- in this doleful prospect: what man
known. Only in recent years when the seems bent upon destroying with his
game of the south had been killed off gun can at least be rescued from com-
and driven back and some of the species plete oblivion and given the illusion of
had been exterminated, were the game realitythrough the camera operated by
fields of the equatorial region explored the right kind of individual.
— and exploited. And now the great Forty years ago, shortly after George
game fields of the past are but a Eastman had put the first dry plates on
memory. Here and there are "game the market, no one, perhaps, dreamed
pockets" where, in a congested area, of the possibility of making a photo-
may be seen what appears to be an in- graph of a live wild animal. Even
exhaustible number of animals, but twenty-seven years ago, when I started
once one of these pockets is "dis- on my first African journey, there was
covered" and made known to the much discussion as to the advisability
world, the slaughter begins, the pocket of encumbering the expedition with a
is emptied. Such a pocket was Stewart camera, fortunately decided in favor
Edward White's "Undiscovered Terri- of the camera. Compared with those
tory;" Ngorongoro, the great crater of used at the present time, photographic
Tanganyika Territory, and Lake Para- lenses were slow, and plates and fihns
dise, referred to later in this article, are likewise. Telephoto lenses were in
similar teeming centers of game Others. their infancy. We made practically no
willbe located, each one doomed in its attempt to photograph live animals.
turn, unless Herculean efforts be made But few pictures of wild game had
to arrest the progress of destruction. come out of Africa at the close of the
Where there is one individual eager to nineteenth century, and most of these
conserve, there are a dozen bent on were of dead or wounded animals that
285
286 NATURAL HISTORY
could not escape the camera man. A and last and best
better results since,
few photographs of free hve animals by Martin Johnson. In the interval
had been made by Lord Delamere, between Rainey and Johnson, James
Mr. E. N. Buxton, and others, that Barnes with Cherry Kearton gave us
were interesting in their suggestion of a good im-pression of the waterholes
further possibilities. in their photographic journey across
Toward the close of the nineteenth Africa from the east coast to the mouth
century C. G. Schilhngs began the of the Congo. Bengt Berg made a
work in German East Africa which, beautiful series of pictures of the birds
after about seven years of arduous of the Nile. Dugmore and Harris
effort, resulted in his book, Flashlights came back a year ago with a good
in the Jungle. This was the greatest film of East African game. There are
contribution of wild-life photographs many fine bits of film scattered about
that until then had been made by any in the collections of a score or more of
one man. Before that, wild was life others who, as sportsmen or travelers,
recorded for the most part with pen have made conventional trips to Africa
—
and pencil too often combined with in recent years.
hearsay and imagination. In A Breath In the forty or more years that have
from the Veldt by J. G. Millais, pub- elapsed since the achievement of East-
hshed in 1895, we have the finest man above alluded to, photographic
example of pen and pencil records of equipment has been devised that,
African wild life. Few indeed have com- placed in the right hands, assures
bined the keen powers of observation results formerly unattainable. With
and pictorial skill of Millais. A Breath the and the kodak amateur
roll film
from the Veldt is a work of enduring photography was launched. Devel-

value and charm. The serial sketches, opment of the flashlight photograph,
'
such as Springbuck Crossing a Road,
'
'
made possible by the magnesium flash
"Evening Play of the Bush Khoorhan," powder, fast lenses, and highly sensi-
are real "motion pictures," convincing tive film, stimulated interest still more.
and pleasing. Dugmore gave us a In 1892, after several years of experi-
wonderful record of several months of menting, George Shiras 3d, a pioneer
strenuous work with flashlight and in wild-hfe flashlight photography,
camera in British East Africa. In advanced its technique to a degree of
1908, with James L. Clark as a body- efficiency that resulted not only in the
guard, he secured material for a book beautiful examples that he produced,
replete with remarkable photographs. but also in a great popularization of
The first of the noteworthy motion that form of photography. Today, as
game to come to this
pictures of African a result of the development of the
country were those brought by Paul celluloid gelatin film of high sensitive-
Rainey. The waterhole pictures were ness, fast lenses, telephoto lenses, and
a revelation, although technically they motion picture, it is possible to make
were far from good. They were made records of wild life that are of infinite
by Mr. Lydford of Nairobi, who had scientific value and popular interest.
not previously taken motion pictures I say possible. At the present time all
and whose photographic equipment the necessary tools are available, but
was inferior. The waterholes have been a complete outfit of cameras, lenses,
photographed frequently and with and necessary equipment for making
MARTIN JOHNSON AND HIS EXPEDITION 287
general wild-life studies costs many of animals that await the man with
thousands of dollars, and when such an the skill, perseverance, and backing to
equipment has been assembled, it is not record their fascinating life stories for
of much use except in the hands of a science and the world at large.
man of vast experience, gained of Martin Johnson, the American Mu-
necessity through years of hard work seum believes, is a man who measures
prompted by an unquenchable desire up to these standards. Through years
to carry on.The rare elements of this of hard but joyous work "on his own"
combination required to secure the he has gained the experience and dem-
priceless records of a fast-vanishing onstrated to the world his ability to
wild life an "A" man to do the
are meet the most exacting requirements
work and a man, or men, with vision as the "man behind the camera."
and idealism to see that he is backed Seventeen years ago he was with Jack
financially. London, voyaging in the "Snark"
To make a life-history picture of an through the South Seas. There he
animal such as the elephant, for in- came in contact with a motion-picture
stance, is a tremendous undertaking. camera that was in the hands of some
It involves photographing the animal men who were tired of their job, and
in its various moods and under condi- took it over; ever since that time he
tions that are as varied as the types of has devoted all his energies to the
country it inhabits, from the low-lying production of motion-picture films.
coast lands to the snow fields of the He made splendid records of primitive
equatorial mountains; pursuing the life in Polynesia, the New Hebrides,
animal as it travels over thirst lands Borneo, and Africa. Much of this
where at times for water it is dependent material is of inestimable value. Be-
on the moisture contained in aloes or cause of rapidly changing conditions in
other plants of the arid regions, or the these lands some of it could not now be
seepage that results when the powerful duplicated, and its preservation for all
beast digs holes in the sand of the dry time for the benefit of the world is
stream beds. At other times the assured, for Johnson with characteristic
photographer may be half-submerged generosity has turned over all his
in swamps and marshes, or trekking the negatives, still as well as motion, to the
grass lands of the high plateaus or the American Museum.
bush veldt, or lost in the somber shad- A year ago Mr. and Mrs. Johnson re-
ows of the great forests, or clamber- turned from their first journey to
ing up steep cliffs, or "tobogganing" Africa and gave to the world a photo-
down a greasy slope. He will have to graphic record of African game that
seek out the mother elephant with her was of greater interest and beauty
new-born babe in her retreat away than any that had been brought out of
from the trails of her kind, where she Africa before.
remains until the youngster is strong As a result of the American Museum's
enough to join in the treks of its elders. appreciation of the importance of
To make such a life-history picture Johnson's work, a group of men,

requires a great deal of time, infinite headed by Mr. Daniel E. Pomeroy and
patience and enthusiasm, and a willing- including two of the Trustees of the
ness to dice with death; and the ele- American Museum, Mr. F. Trubee
phant is but one of hundreds of species Davison and Mr. A. Perry Osborn
288 NATURAL HISTORY
undertook to send him back to Africa We

will bring back with us a vivid portrayal
of untouched Africa —
a picture of the beauties
for a period of five years to do the of the last of the great continents to be ex-
things he wanted to do to make pictorial
:
—
plored a picture of the natives and the
animals as they live their lives all but un-
hfe-history records of the people and —
touched by civilization unaffected by the
the wild animals of the jungle, plain, worries of the outside world. We
will get a
picture that will be a record for a thousand
and forest, unhampered by the neces- years to come, of Africa as God made it,
sity of paying tribute or of catering to before the white man penetrates further into
itsbeautiful wilds, and before the natives and
purely financial interests. To Mr. the wild animals have disappeared.
Pomeroy and his associates the Mu- Our prime, purpose is to photograph Africa
—
and the inhabitants of Africa to photograph
seum and the public owe much, not them as they normally exist to photograph —
only for making possible the work them in their wanderings, in their play, in
ahead but for that already
their migrations and their congregations in —
that lies their natural relations to each other and to the
accomplished. world in which they live. Thrills in plenty we
will have — and hope
I photograph many
we'll
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have reached of them —but they are incidental to our main
the spot that will be the scene of their purpose, which is to secure a truthful, ac-
curate, complete, and interesting picture of
activities during the next five years. It —
Africa as it is not a picture of " The Adven-
has been named by them Lake Paradise tures of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Johnson."
and is a small cjater lake somewhere There is no question that Martin

near the northern border of Kenya Johnson is the man to do the work
Colony. To them it is a veritable that has just been outlined. The
paradise, for it is a region that has not American Museum is seeing to it
been invaded by the sportsman, where that he has the moral support and
animal fife is abundant and unfright- Mr. Pomeroy and his associates are
—
ened an ideal place for Johnson's generously supplying the financial
work. And what he proposes to do backing to make the great undertaking

there cannot be better indicated than possible. The negatives of the pic-
in his own words. ^ tures, both and motion, that the

still
Eor seventeen years I have been wandering expedition secures, will become the
here and there in the tropics, and for fourteen property of the American Museum, to
years Mrs. Johnson has been with me, photo-
graphing the strange and interesting things be held as a permanent record of
we have seen. But neither of us is content African wild life, and the films before
with thinking of the things we've seen or the
pictures we've taken. What we've done is passing into the regular channels of
done, and while we feel that we have done distribution will be edited by members
something to create a better understanding of
the out-of-the-way spots we have visited, we of the scientific staff of the Museum,
are not satisfied that we have done our best. with a view to making them error-
To us what we have done seems now as if it
were a course of training, and now we want proof and of as great educational value
to do something better, something more valu- as possible. Public appreciation of
able, and more permanent. If it is not done
now, will never be done, and so it is that this
it what has been done already, and of the
expedition is being financed. importance of the undertaking, should
'The passage that follows is taken from World's Work
for August, 1923, but the order of the paragraphs has be such as to guarantee that the work
been changed somewhat to meet the present require-
ments. of Johnson may go on indefinitely.
Scenes from the Plains and Jungles of Africa
REPRODUCTIONS IN DUOTONE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
By martin JOHNSON
Leader of the Martin Johnson African Expedition
THE AFRICAN BUFFALO

The buffalo is better equipped to take care of itself under adverse conditions than are
most animals. Several decades ago the rinderpest swept off vast numbers, but the isolated
small herds that escaped this scourge were apparently suflBcient to restock the country.
The animal shown in the picture is probably a straggler from a herd!. Lone bulls and
small bands of old bulls often wander about independent of the main herds, which may con-
sist of many as 500 individuals. Some herds habitually live in swamps, rarely moving
as
far afieldon the hard ground; others live in bush country and go to swamps and streams only
for water; and still others roam over the open plains but promptly take to the bush if hunted
289
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O C
ELEPHANTS IN FORESTED COUNTRY
Martin Johnson intends among other things to record in motion picture the life history of the
elephant. Lake Paradise, where he is encamped, offers exceptional opportunities for the study of
this animal.
One of the elephants in the picture is raising his flexible trunk to pull down a branch, —one of
the many functions that this adaptable organ performs. As Mr. Akeley has pointed out, an
elephant "drinks with it, feeds himself with it, smells with it, works with it, and at times fights
with it"
296
"Lone Tree Camp," on the crater floor near the northeast wall, looking southwest across
the crater, with Oldeani at the left
The Highlands of the Great Craters'

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE VAST CRATER OF NGORONGORO
By JAMES L. CLARK
Assistant Director (In Charge of Preparation), American Museum
NEARLY due south and less than great expanse of arid African plains,
150 miles from the well-known are the perfect remains of the largest
and active little town of Nairobi, crater in the world —Ngorongoro or, as
and just within the northern border of the natives call it, Ngoro.
Tanganyika Territory formerly Ger-— In 1909 I spent months hunting
man East Africa — lies one of those iso- along the border that separates the
lated bits of interesting and beautiful Highlands of the Great Craters from
country that are so characteristic of British East Africa, yet I heard noth-
Africa. It is known as the Highlands ing that even indicated the existence of
of the Great Craters, so named on this place, and to my many queries,
account of the many interesting craters addressed to men who should have
that break its great surface into an known, as to what lay beyond, I re-
almost continuous series of immense ceived only one answer: "A God-
basins, splintered peaks, and deep forsaken, low, hot country, where there
ravines. Resting like a crown on the isnothing except bush and fever."
peak of this wonderful stretch of moun- For the past fifteen years big safaris
tainous highland country, that rises have been radiating from Nairobi all
green as an oasis in the center of a through this East African section in all
iThe photographs accompanying this article were taken by the author with the one exception noted.
297
298 NATURAL HISTORY
r.c TT5?«ai»«WiSBtf®
Phot graph by Captain Hurst
Oldonyo Lengai, "The Mountain of God" in the language of the Masai. This peak in —
the group of the great craters lies about fifty miles north of Ngoro. It erupted twice during
the late war, the last time being in 1917, and still lies barren for the most part in its cloak of
colored muds. Only here and there a bit of vegetation is doing its best to get a start
directions, shooting and reshooting krater) in the monograph that he

over the same ground and trekking issued in 1913.
far north for possible new and less- Geographically there is no barrier to
disturbed fields, yet this beautiful the region: the great Athi Plains roll
spot with unmolested herds of game

its south through the southern game
—
lay untouched safe, for a time at preserve, over the border, and far be-
least, from the onslaughts of the yond. Way to the east stands the
sportsman. great mountain of Kilimanjaro and its
During my sojourn at this time, I smaller but more rugged companion,
was perhaps less than a hundred miles Mt. Meru. This section was fairly well
from this locality, being then in the known, as the fertile slopes, fed by the
the great southern preserve of British melting snows that flow from these
East Africa, which on account of its peaks, drew adventurers and settlers
great abundance of game was set aside to this land of promise. But to the
as a source of replenishment for all west and between was still a blank so
outlying districts. The general ignor- far as the EngHsh-speaking world was
ance of this wonderland's existence aware.
seems somewhat surprising when ac- After the War a few scattered reports
count is taken of the fact that in 1894 began to be circulated of a wonderful
there had appeared a publication in country that lay in the center of this
German by a Dr. Oscar Baumann, in supposedly barren area. The first
which reference is made to it. It had English-speaking party to enter the

also been explored by Dr. Fritz Jaeger Highlands of the Great Craters was
in 1906-07, who conferred upon it the that of Sir Charles Ross, who in the
name of the Highlands of the Great winter of 1921-22, accompanied by
Craters (Das Hochland der Reisen- Mr. T. Alexander Barnes, made the
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE GREAT CRATERS 299
Kilimanjaro photographed with a seventeen-inch telephoto lens from Moshi, about fifteen
miles distant. An extinct volcano, 19,456 feet high and 3° 40' south of the equator, it is the
highest of all the mountains of Africa and with Mt. Kenia (17,040 feet) and Elgon (14,140 feet)
forms one of the three great landmarks of the East African section. Its blanket of snow, esti-
mated to be 200 feet thick on the top, extends down its slopes for 6000 feet
tripand brought out information re- reaches its lowest level in a hot flat
garding their marvels. That fall, bush country, about a hundred miles
equipped with the maps and informa- from the mountain. Confronting us at
tion Sir Charles had given me, I this point an escarpment 2000 feet in
made the same trip, being a member of height rises sheer; it is the western
what, I beUeve, is the first American wall of the great Rift Valley, which
party that has visited the region. The runs north and south, more or less
fact that it is located as it is, away from distinctly traceable for a thousand
the beaten routes of the trading and miles, and is the result of a great
hunting safaris, and with the uninvit- slump that took place in some pre-
ing, arid plains about it, explains per- historic time. At the base of this lies
haps why it has enjoyed its years of Lake Manyara, which today has shrunk
secluded peace. to a fraction of its former size, and in
Our route started from railhead at its retreat has left a floor as flat as a
the little town of Moshi, that nestles on table and miles in extent. Around the
the southeast slope of Kilimanjaro, at shores of this lake extends a great
about 2800 and proceeded thence
feet, tsetse fly belt, which for safety's sake
to the delightful little post of Arusha is traversed at night, and as there is
on the slopes of Mt. Meru, where the no camping ground until the top is
climate bids one linger as long as his reached, the precipitous wall is climbed
time will permit. in darkness by following a native trail.
From Kilimanjaro west the country In the morning one looks down on a
rolls along in rather hot arid plains, great relief map, over which he has been
only occasionally relieved by small trekking for days. The climate has
broken hills, which are the eroded re- changed, and the traveler finds himself
mains of small volcanoes, until it in a rich green rolling countr}'^ the —
Looking northwest from the floor of the Rift, the old bed of the receded Lake Manyara
to the —
left with the shore line showing distinctly on the right. The clean-cut western escarp-
ment of the Rift is clearly seen running north and south. Ngoro is the great bulk in the back-
ground that rises from the escarpment into the clouds that obscure it. The distance from
the point where the picture was taken to the crater is about thirty miles. The three elevations
are well defined: floor of the Rift, 3000 feet; escarpment, 5000 feet; crater edge of Ngoro,
8000 feet
After leaving Mbulu the safari trekked northward over the rolling upland shelf
300
Looking north from "World's View." —The great sweep downward between "World's
View" and Ngoro mountain is indicated in this picture
land of the Wabulu (the People of the To the north the country makes a
Mist), —which supports fine, well-fed great sweep downward, retaining its
herds of cattle, sheep, and goats, is well olive green tinge except in the lowest
supplied with water, and is covered where it becomes a bit parched,
valleys,
with great patches of forest. and terminates in the great mountain
Emergence into such a delightful of Ngorongoro. One sees the crater's
environment after the trek over the southern edge, rising to 8000 feet ele-
heated plains below, has an invigorat- vation, extending far to the east and
ing effect, and at this elevation of west. It appears like an unbroken
about 5000 feet, one gets a more re- mountain ridge stretched between two
freshing sleep in the cool of the night higher volcanic mountains (Ololmoti
air. and Oldeani) the crater edges of which
,
Turning northward and traveling show sharp against the sky, but these
through these rolling highlands for are indeed merely blowholes on its
three or four days, one nears the Great sides. These peaks rise to 10,000 feet
Crater. A height of land is reached on each, and although great mountains in
the third day, and after the ascent to themselves, they are dwarfed into in-
its great ridge, we stand on what is significance when viewed later as pro-
justly named "World's View." Look- tuberances upon the crater ridge.
ing back over the green upland shelf To the east the descending slopes
just traversed, the traveler sees far be- make their way unbroken until they
low and beyond the expanse of yellow terminate abruptly at the edge of the
plains, obscured in the haze of heat. great rift; then there is a sheer drop
302 NATURAL HISTORY
—
Oldeani as it appears to one approaching from the southeast. The ridge to the right is
the start of the crater edge of Ngoro, which continues unbroken to the east. Viewed from
this point of observation, the crater seems to extend for a distance about four times that of
the width of Oldeani mountain. To the west the slope is gradual. In the foreground is the
great sweep of rolhng countrj^ between "World's View" and the crater. From the point of
observation to the crater the ground rises steadily until it approaches that formation, when it
makes a rather steep grade to form the outer wall. One does not enter dense forest until this
outer wall is reached
into the plains far below that lets one's may encounter a rhino or a buffalo, or
vision range on and on over the rolling even an elephant moving about on
country that ripples off to the horizon. the morning feeding grounds. The
To the west the slopes descend grad- vegetation is so dense that man and
ually to arid plains of scattered bush beast may meet unexpectedly at close
lost in the distance. So it is that one quarters.
stands almost in the center of this The whole morning is consumed in
immense and views the great dry
oasis this uphill jungle trek, with frequent
plains that have been the barrier to its rests for our safari, for the altitude of
penetration. about 8000 feet is beginning to make
We descend and trek toward the itself felt. The top is reached by
Great Crater, to make camp at the noon. There the open glades become
edge of the forest that enshrouds its larger and more frequent. Finally we
rim. As we make our way down and discover a level spot, and halt for a
are shut in by the rolling hills, we lose noonday rest. There is an opening in
its form, and ahead there seems noth- the trees beyond; going to this and
ing but hilly country. We camp for making our way forward through some
the night and obtain a good rest, for bushes, we find ourselves on the brink
the morrow means a stiff climb up the of the crater, and gaze over.
steep grade of the outer slopes, through A feeling of awe grips one upon
the winding trails of a jungle forest. looking for the first time into this
Our guns are always ready: we great basin. Can it be possible? Was
—
Looking north toward the outer edge of Ngorongoro crater. This picture is virtually a
panoramic continuation of the one on the opposing page, there being only a slight break in the
vista. The horizon line is the crater edge proper, which extends nearly as far again to the
right. Its outer wall, blanketed in dark green, is well defined from the rolling plains that rise
very gradually to meet it.
Hartebeest, gnu, eland, and some of the smaller antelope, zebra, and lions roam these
plains, while occasional rhino and elephant trek across them on their way to and from the
forests of Ngoro
this tremendous hollow once a great vol- the west was a shallow mirror-like
cano of molten lava and seething fire? rain pan bordered by white shores of
I leaned forward, still clinging tightly volcanic earth that dried and baked in
to the bushes; below me the forest- the hot sun wherever the waters had
covered wall seemed to drop almost receded through evaporation. The
straight. view the entire inner
I could floor, which is 6000 feet above sea
wall of the crater with one sweeping level, lay 2000 feet below us. Every-
glance: it seemed almost a perfect thing was dwarfed: the rain pan,
circle, its slight irregularity lost sight which seemed so small, is miles in cir-
of in its magnitude. The two volcanoes, cmnference and the tiny acacia forests,
;
Ololmoti and Oldeani, rested like sen- that hardly intrude on this great
tinels on its sides, just back from the surface, are so large that in them one
rim. The rim itself is remarkably could easily get lost. Dense forests
even, maintaining its almost perfect that cover the outer slopes and rim
edge without a single break or outlet. jut down in great spurs through the
The floor, which totals about 110 square steep valleys of the inner waUs of the
miles in area, lay perfectly flat and crater until their apices nearly reach
treeless, except for two small forests the base. Mirror-like patches, fringed
near the south and east walls. with vivid green, told where the level
The areas of differently colored floor held smaller pans of water that
grasses made a patch-work quilt that nestled in beds of reeds. Way to the
spread over the entire floor. Way to western side lay a small flat parasitic
>>
cone —the only one within the crater rocks was tiresome indeed, and it was a
walls. relief to arrive finally at the base,
Local showers and morning mists where there was level going.
above the forests are the main source of As one looked up from the bottom,
water supply, if a gusher spring be the walls seemed even higher than they
excepted that comes boiling from the did from above, and the expanse with-
ground on the eastern side and feeds in greater than ever. Even then its
a large swamp in which a herd of hip- size was not fully appreciated; some-
pos make their home. No streams thing like an adequate conception

flow in or out of the crater except two of it was formed only as we trekked
minor ones that come hidden through across one little corner of the floor.
deep ravines, more as a percolation We walked and walked, and appar-
from the rain forests above than as an ently were getting nowhere making —
outflow from any reservoir of supply. no impression on the great expanse. A
Minute specks that covered the floor given point seemed to stay right by us
of the crater like pepper sprinkled on a in spite of steady plodding.The more
plate, proved to be through the — we walked, the larger the area seemed
glasses —
its sheltered herds of game, to grow. The floor lay remarkably
that extended more or less concen- flat; only occasionally was there the
trated, yet unbroken, over its entire slightest undulation.

area, suggesting a great zoo, or an We marched to the southern side
immense cattle ranch, where there is not far from the wall, and began to go
room and feed for all. upgrade over the broken ground of an
From where I stood to the opposite old lava flow that had come down from
rim was about twelve miles: the rim Oldeani, resting near the southwestern
itself is some thirty-five miles in cir- rim. Farther along, almost at the base
cumference. I gazed and wondered, of the wall, we camped on a little flat
wondered at this, probably the greatest table-land by a small stream of fine
crater in the world, until I fancied I cool water. Here we obtained a clear
could picture it a great molten mass of view of the whole crater floor from
crackling,moving lava. What a fire within: just in front was one of the two
pot must have been! And at night
it acacia forests. We looked right over
how dazzling must have been its un- and could see how little it really is
this
canny beauty, with great clouds hang- when compared with the great expanse
ing over the molten mass, blazing reds of the crater.
and pinks refiected on their billow Straight across to the north, the
forms, lighting the sk}^ for miles around, wall is less distinct : it rises in a series
and, when seen from great distances, of low rounded hills that blend into
appearing Hke a floating setting sun in the slopes of the volcano Ololmoti.
the blackness of the firmament! These hills appear to be the results
After feasting upon the sights from of a series of lava flows from this outlet
above, we descended by a broken path or, again, they may originally have
that went zig-zag down the precipitous been smaller cones that through long
rocky walls as best it could, winding in erosion in time took on the form of hills.
and around big trees that clung to the Over the floor to the northeast and the
sides with difficulty by their tenacious northwest are scattered a few vol-
roots. Stepping down over the uneven canic rocks that break the otherwise
First view of the crater basin obtained from the southeast wall. —
The lighter areas are
the dried mud fiats left exposed by the receding water. Darker areas in the foreground are the
grass patches and reed beds. The opposite rim is twelve miles distant
Looking north across the crater floor from the author's camp at the south side. —Ololmoti
is visible in the distance. One of the two acacia forests is seen in the foreground
306
Game within the crater. — It is estimated that there are 50,000 or more wild animals in
this great natural zoo
Scattered volcanic rocks on the crater floor. —The one in the foreground is well worn,
having long been used as a "rub rock" by the animals
307
ii^..
Northeastern wall of the crater
14 -** V
Looking from the northern rim of Ngoro up the southeastern slope of Ololmoti
308
exceptionally smooth surface. discern through the growth of vegeta-

The slopes that extend upward from tion that covers it, any sign of stratifi-
the crater floor are covered with a rank cation of the old overflowing lava.
bush growth, which gives way to forests On the floor the grass, growing lux-
as the upper edge is approached. On uriantly from the volcanic soil, has
the top, open glades and grassy rolling been cropped short by the countless
country are interspersed with patches herds of wildebeest, gazelle, and many
of acacia and other big timber until other kinds of antelope as well as zebra
the slopes of the two big volcanoes are that move about on every side. Occa-
reached. There the tree growth is sional beds of reed, like our cat-o'-nine
suddenly replaced by a solid thicket of tails, are the only vegetation breaking
small bamboos, from fifteen to twenty the even landscape. At onlj^ a short
feet high, that extends clear to the distance the dancing heat rays as they
peaks. These bamboos are the home of rise make these growths inconspicuous
buffaloes, rhinoceroses, and bush ante- and one passes through them, only to
lopes, as well as of many monkeys. continue over the undifferentiated
The sides of the crater are very steep plain with its herds of game.
and even when entering or leaving by There were not the usual series of
one of the three or four possible routes game trails going definitely to vari-
of approach, a stiff zig-zag climb is not ous feeding grounds or water; instead
to be avoided. The inner surface of the terrain was tramped over like a
the wall is so eroded that only in one barnyard by the herds that tread it
place, and there very faintly, can one aimlessly as they feed in all directions.
-
<
\
V
•v^.^ l'/
V ^^. ..
A Thompson's gazelle fawn "in hiding " on the open plains. — Left by its mother while she
goes off to feed, it instinctively lies perfectly flat and without the shghtest movement. Its
immobility and color make detection of the animal difficult. Only the fact that Mr. Clark
came very near stepping on it revealed its presence to him.
The photograph was taken at about three feet distance but the fawn made no attempt
to run away, trusting to the last moment in the possibility of escaping detection
310 NATURAL HISTORY
ft
.^JVPHtlKSAet^fLKLfi
The author's safari trekking across the level crater floor with the northeastern wall rising
in the distant background
The reed beds, with the bush and tions that have made possible such a
long grass that border the forest, just great concentration of game and that
off the floor's edge, are the haunts have assured its perpetuation. Into this
by day of the many Hons that steal perfectly sheltered basin with its high
forth at night to prey upon the abun- —
rocky walls where the nights are cool
dant herds. These retreats also shelter and the days warm, where the grazing
the reedbuck and the little duikers as is perfect and water is relatively plenti-
well as the numerous hjênas and jack- ful— game has drifted from the more
als, that finish up the leavings of the arid country around. It is undoubtedly
lion's kill and pick up the scraps that from the surrounding great plains that
lie strewn about. these animals have come, lured by the
Herds of hundreds of the little scent of sweet grass and waters, drift-
Thompson's gazelle that blend so well ing in a few at a time and increasing
into the color of the ground, suddenly under ideal conditions while others less
;
appear right before you as if they had fortunate in their selection, drift north-
been conjured out of the air, and scat- ward to the grassy but less-watered
ter, on your approach, only to blend area of the Athi Plains and pass
and disappear again right before your leisurely through the great southern
eyes. Eddies of wind pick up the light game preserve and into the hunting
volcanic dust and carry it along in tall fields of British East Africa.
vertical twisted columns across the The expanse of the crater is great,
level ground or blow it up in dust clouds and the animals have no reason to leave.
and silhouette black wildebeest that More come from without while there is
had escaped your notice. a natural increase within. Estimates

It is the exceptional natural condi- give the game within the walls of this
Îf^ffili?^^^
One hundred fifty blaelvs of tlie Mbugwea tribe were used in the transportation of the
supplies
great natural zoo as 50,000 — person- herds that breed faster than their
ally, I believe there are more— but enemies can take toll. Elephants and
what do a few thousands
difference theirbush companions, the treacherous
make when many animals
there are so buffalo and the powerful rhino, are
that you cannot even estimate them, present in moderate numbers in the
and the great herds are so big that the virgin forests that clothe the crater
distant ones fade into the ''blue" be- walls. Even the little animals contrib-
fore your vision can reach the end ute their share to the multitude, and in
Birds of many kinds abound in the great areas the ground moles are so
pools of still water, that remind one of numerous that they honeycomb the
the great aviaries of the zoos into which earth, so that with every other step
have been crowded the birds of the one breaks through into their tunnels,
world. or stumbles over their little mounds.
Perhaps nowhere in Africa is there Ngorongoro is the greatest extant
such a concentration of lions: on one natural zoo, and should be set aside as a
morning, just at the break of day, a preserve. To see this —probably the
pack of seventeen was seen making greatest of all craters in the world — a is
its way back to cover after a night of wonderful privilege, and to see it in
raiding, and at another time eleven association with its thousands of
were observed entering a bed of reeds beautiful birds and beasts, for the
for their daytime nap. Leopards and protection and perpetuation of which
cheetahs, and the smaller beasts of one would like to believe it was created,
prey, gorge themselves and live in is something that seems almost too
contentment until their next mealtime, marvelous in these days when the world
yet make no impression on the great is being stripped of wild life.
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The Vanishing Wild Life of Africa'
By HERBERT LANG
Associate Curator, African Mammals, American Museum
EVER since white man set foot and cumbersome, mingled with the
upon African soil to make his most graceful and fleet of tropical
own trails across the trackless wanderers. Stubborn brutishness and
jungles, the world has been astonished unexcelled virihty in some were con-
by tales of an apparently inexhaustible trasted with defenselessness in others.
wealth of game. Beasts of prey, powerful, strong, and
As one of the oldest of the large stealthy, singled out the weaklings and
land masses Africa is remarkable for its the careless, to whom less chance was
compactness and the lack of indenta- thus given to dispute the leadership of
tion inits coast line. A comparatively those that alone would insure a vigor-
great stability, with relatively slight ous race.
fluctuations of the land area since When the Roman triumphs had
Tertiary times, must have assured an achieved the acme of cruelty and
exceptional continuity of favorable fastidiousness, the victorious leaders
breeding grounds for its marvelous of stalwart legions could still add to
array of beasts. Here was the ideal their glory by displaying in the arena
setting for the evolution of a unique African beasts either so wild or so im-
fauna, which fossil records indicate posing as to drown the popular dissat-
was essentially vigorous and more isfaction. To think of five hundred
truly African than had formerly been lions and twenty elephantsin a single
believed. orgy of savage destruction almost sur-
Furthermore, as a result of its passes the capacity of our later-day im-
practical isolation, Africa offered un- agination, yet that is the inauguration
welcome competitors among the mam- record of Pompey's theater in 52 b.c.
mals little chance for invasion. Except Hundreds ofhave passed,
years
in the Mediterranean regions man him- exacting their heavy Northern
toll.
self was not able to people successfully Africa, long the part most accessible to
the vastnesses which proved so in- Europe, has lost its gigantic mammals.
hospitable to him. Only after the The hordes of despoilers would find
introduction of satisfactory staple foods much of it a desolate wilderness today.
from other continents — an accomplish- With this in mind, the admirers of
ment credited chiefly to the Arabs and nature at her best and other right-
the Portuguese — did his scattered set- thinking men and women now look
tlements in the wilderness of the great with alarm upon the rapid decimation
forests flourish. and threatened extinction of the game
Thus for many centuries Africa animals in the remainder of Africa.
remained a paradise for vast herds of South of that fiery furnace, the
game. In no land has nature offered —
Sahara the greatest continuous desert
such an impressive aggregtee of mam- in the world —
lies the Ethiopian region
mals. Countless indeed were their of zoologists. It extends more than

numbers. Gigantic brutes, ungainly three thousand miles from the north
'Photographs, with the exception noted, by the author
313
314 NATURAL HISTORY
to the Cape of Good Hope in the south, African rain forest, an equatorial
and even for a greater distance from belt about 400 miles in width and 1800
west to east across Senegal to the miles in length. In this steaming hot
SomaK coast. The fairly uniform complex, with its lofty canopies mostly
warmth of the climate throughout one hundred fifty feet above the ground,
virtually the entire length and breadth seasonal changes are but slight. The
of this region favored the development dense vegetation makes gregariousness
of free-roaming animals. The margins here as impracticable as it is advan-
of the raging sea and the desert wastes tageous on the plains.
were the only limits to their realm. No For days and weeks one might travel
bleak high mountain chains barred in these forests and catch but few
the way. Only four glacier-bearing glimpses of its wild denizens. In
peaks arise hke snow-capped islands striking contrast with the level plains,
from the blue equatorial haze. At the hiding places in the tall and lux-
certain seasons their foothills offered uriant forest are multiplied beyond
a welcome change from the torrid sun measure. Elephants and buffaloes in
that scorched the plains. Equally small troops, the huge, black, forest
welcome were the lofty hills and the boar, and the most beautiful of all
invigorating freshness of the high pla- pigs, the red river hog, though lost
teaus in the south, east, and north. to the eye, can be heard as they seek
Thus nature extended a matchless safety in the depth of the jungle. Of
domain to the throngs of grazing and the bands of monkeys, occasionally
browsing creatures. chattering and gamboHng, only an
Roughly speaking, there are but two inquisitive old male dares to scruti-
kinds of abode in all the land: the nize the intruder. With a saucy, cock-
grass-covered regions, or savannas, and sure air he puckers his face and con-
the tropical forests. Both offer an temptuously dismisses the idea of
ample variety of food and shelter: escape. There are antelopes, great
their differences depend chiefly on the and small, porcupines, squirrels, and
amount of rainfall and humidity. an array of smaller mammals. Chim-
Some animals, like the elephant and panzees herald the morning with loud
the buffalo, can live in the dry savanna calls and shrieks.
as well as in the humid forest. Others, On the whole, however, these forests
like the rhinoceros, the giraffe, and the are a far too unsatisfactory scene of
zebra, and most of the antelopes are at operation for the white hunter, who
home chiefly in the grasslands, which must linger long to reap his reward.
include about two-thirds of the entire The uncongenial climate and the diffi-
Ethiopian region. On these open, cult}^ of getting about rob the sport of
sunny spaces, sprinkled over more or any enjoyment. In such a retreat wild
less with bushes or trees and dotted life in general would long be safe if
with park lands between the hills and gun and powder were not distributed
ravines, Africa's chief wealth of game among the natives.
had stamping ground. Of the nearty
its But impediments
in spite of all these
one hundred kinds of antelopes, vary- nature danger of losing a few of her
is in
ing from the size of a hare to that of a rarest mammals. In vain has she been
bull, each lived in its peculiar sphere. able to hide and shelter them through
A vitallv different area is the "West untold ages. The white man has set
THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AFRICA 315
about rudely wrenching from her the most remarkable of large African mam-
last remnants that have survived from mals might be able to hold its own.
bygone days. Foremost among them Pohcing its habitat is quite out of the
are the okapi (Okapia johnstoni). the question, but the characteristically
pigmy hippopotamus (Chceropsis liberi- marked skin is so easily recognized that
ensis), the gorilla (Gorilla), and the confiscation would not be difficult and
chimpanzee (Pan). would help in assuring the survival of
The okapi is as rare as it is inoffen- this interesting creature. It seems a
sive, and being nocturnal is seldom pity that an animal that has weathered
seen. Its haunts are confined to a small the storm through probably millions
portion of the gloomy West African
forest, a narrow strip about 700 miles
long and 140 miles broad, in the hilly
regions of the headwaters of the north-
eastern afHuents of the Congo.^ In
about
spite of its relatively large size,
that of a mule, the okapi was not
known to the outside world until 1901
when it was discovered by that distin-
guished African explorer. Sir Harry
Johnston. Instead of being a forest
zebra — as was for a while the impres-
sion, based on the striped pieces of
skin secured— proved to be a short-
it
necked giraffe, small-eyed, and with a

delicately modeled deerlike head. Its
A young male okapi (Okapia johnstoni)
dark brown velvety coat, with whitish at Niapu, northeastern Belgian Congo. —
Just
stripes chiefly across the limbs, was captured, he is bleating hke a sheep for his
mother, disproving the belief that muteness is
highly prized by the natives for super- the unalterable fate of the giraffe family
stitious reasons, and the skin of its
hind limb, with the striking pattern, of years should be wiped out within a
would purchase a wife. Only a power- few decades after being recorded in the
ful chief was permitted to sit upon annals of science.
the hide or use the pretty parts as Were it not that the pigmy hippo-
ornaments. potamus has been able to hide in the
So elusive a quarry was in no danger depths of miasmal swamps in Liberia,
of being successfully hunted by the it might long ago have followed in the
white man. Its rarity, however, and its footsteps of the Madagascan form, now
peculiar fame made him place so high a known only as a fossil. Major Schom-
premium upon a good skin that the burgk was the first white man to study
magnificent hermit creature has been a pigmy hippopotamus in its haunts.
hounded by the natives into its most This was in July, 1911, and he sub-
distant retreats. If equally enticing sequently captured several specunens
rewards were made to the chiefs to alive. Three of these fine examples,
protect the okapi in their sphere, the exhibited in the New York Zoological
^Lang, Herbert. 1918. "In Quest of the Rare Park, responded to the excellent care re-
Okapi." Zool. Soc. Bull., New York, XXI, pp. 1601-
14, 11 photos, map of distribution. ceived there by adding to their number.
316 NATURAL HISTORY
From Schomburgk we learn that in- chimpanzees, appear to be of a rather
stead of making good its escape by vigorous race, as the family groups of
continuous diving, the animal seeks from eight to twenty or more members
refuge in the dense forests bordering the would indicate. Contrary to general
river. It is fortunate that the inhabi- statements, they reach maturity rather
tants of Liberia hold it in high fear, and earty, somewhat in conformity with the
its rather ugty hide is not a desired natives living in the same regions.
troph^^ These have
circumstances Parenthood is assumed apparently at
perhaps contributed as much toward its ten years of age or less. According to
preservation in the past as legal regu- data published by Doctor Blair, of the
lations made in its behaK Avill, it is New York Zoological Society, in the
hoped, aid it in the future. case of the first chimpanzee born
The gorilla, the largest of the man- there, the mother Suzette was then in
like apes, is fortunate in having lately about her tenth year, weighing 130
been championed by those interested pounds; the father, Boma, in about
in its protection. Of the two widety his eighth, weighing 145 pounds. Other
separated areas in which the animal most important observations in this
is still to be found, that of the western respect have been made on chimpan-
race {Gorilla gorilla) is by far the zees at the home of Senora Rosalie
larger. from the hilly sec-
It extends Abreu, owner of the " Quinta Palatino"
tions of Cameroon southward along estate atHavana, Cuba, where they
the coast into the northern border of have been raised to the third genera-
the Belgian Congo and eastward to the tion. There the apes seem to have a
Sanga River. The last remnants of the pronounced preference for monogamy.
central African mountain race {Gorilla It is highty gratifying that the
heringeri) have been holding out in the French government has now issued ordi-
forested volcanic peaks north of Lake nances prohibiting the capture, sale,
Kivu and northwest of Lake Tan- and exportation of live chimpanzees in
ganyika. The reopening of the Dares- Africa. Should the Belgian and Eng-
salaam-Tanganyika railroad in recent lish authorities join them, and extend
years, together with the introduction this policy to include the gorilla, and
of Ford automobiles, has made access stop the shooting and exportation of
to that country so easy that the gorillas dead specimens as well, it should save
have been placed in danger of rapid from a speecty death warrant the great
extermination. Mr. Carl E. Akeley, African apes in which man has a deep
who made valuable observations and and justified interest.
took the first moving pictures of these One might think the smaller mon-
apes in the wild state, has made per- keys would be safe from wholesale
sistent have the Belgian
efforts to destruction except in the neighborhood
authorities set aside the gorilla haunts of settlements, where they frequently
as a sanctuary, and these efforts cause havoc among crops. But the
should pave the way for their power of the clink of gold spurs man
eventual survival. on. In the year 1892, no less than
Consolation is found in the fact that 188,000 skins of the Colohus monkey
some of the huge primates, like the were exported from the Gold Coast.
2Buxton, E. N. 1903. "The Preservation of Big
'Akeley, Carl E. 1923. " Gorillas— Real and Mythi- Game in Africa." Journ. Sor. Arts, London, Vol. LI,
cal." Natural History, Vol. XXIII, pp. 428-47. p. 576.
How mercilessly their annihilation was

carried on is best proved by the fact
that five years later only 1067 skins
figured in the records. The silky-
haired, black-and-white mantled skins
had become the fashion. Thus two of
the most strikingly beautiful forms of
West African forest monkeys (Colobus
satanas and C. vellerosus) were cruelly
hunted down. In Eastern Africa their
near relatives with the magnificent,
generally white tail brush would prob-
ably have been wiped out completely
had legal protection not come to their
assistance in the nick of time. A young female Colobus abyssinicus ituricus
from Faradje, northeastern Uele, Belgian
Often it happens that I'elatively
Congo. On account of the beauty and con-
small and obscure nocturnal forms, sequent market value of the long silky black-
and-white pelt these monkeys were slain by
hardly represented in any museum,
the thousands until protective measures
become the object of intense pursuit. were taken in their interest
From a range of high hills along the
Gold Coast, with deep gorges and and the frightful advance in the con-
ravines covered with almost impene- struction of firearms has made even the
trable bush, no less than 200 pelts of most dangerous hunting a sport to be
the rare spiny-tailed flying squirrel carried on recklessly.
(Anomalurodon pelii) were brought In one of the previous numbers of this
down by two native hunters in about a journaP citation is made of a paragraph
month's time.^ Yet their silky, chin- by the author to the effect that at least
chilla-like fur is absolutely worthless, two of the larger African mammals
the skin being extraordinarily thin and have been completely done away with.
fragile. The last of the quaggas {Hippotigris
To return to the real hunting grounds quagga), a nearly unstriped South
game, the savanna country and
of big African zebra, was killed in 1878 in
wooded patches bordering the great Orange Free State. Of the blaubuck
forests, there havoc has been
sad (Egocerus leucophxiis) , apparently al-
wrought. Attractions beckoned from ways from

scarce, the last record dates
so many sides that, the climate permit- about 1800, when the animal was re-
ting, the white man
was not slow in ported from the Swellendam district
heeding the invitation. However, of Cape Colony. Only a dozen speci-
the influx of settler and hunter is not mens of the quagga and five of the
to be held solely responsible. India blaubuck have been preserved in the
furnished a splendid example of the museums of the world.
survival of herds of game during cen- There is a long list of hard-pressed
turies in the midst of a dense popula- South Africa which deserve
sufferers in
tion. But now transportation facilities to be kept alive. Perhaps the same
have lessened the hazards of travel pride South Africans take in their
lAdams, W. H. 1894. " On the Habitsof the Flying- Ôsborn, H. F., and Anthony, H. E. 1922. "Can
Squirrels of the Genus Ayiomalurus." Proc. Zool. Soc. We Save the Mammals?" Natural History, Vol.
London, pp. 243-46. XXII, pp. 398-402.
go; a
achievements in developing the country One of the worst of fates has been
will manifest itself in granting the meted out to the square-lipped or
remnants of big game a definite lease- "white" rhinoceros (Ceratotherium
hold, free from all future encroach- simum). Extremely common in suit-
ments. The four hundred mountain able sections of South Africa in 1817,
zebras (Hippotigris zebra), the few when it was first made known by
bontebuck (Damaliscus pyqargus) bles- , Burchell, this rather stupid, quiet beast
buck (-D. albifrons), and the white-tailed was recklessly butchered from the very
gnu (Connochsetes gnu) are on the verge beginning. During the course of a day's
of extinction. But the most magnifi- trek from fifty to one hundred could
cent of all antelopes are those pursued be sighted. The shooting of ninety
hardest. The larger kudu {Strepsiceros rhinoceroses, most of them of the
strepsiceros) , the nyala (Nyala angasi), square-lipped kind, in one journey,
the sable antelope (Hippotragus niger), was an event to be proudly heralded by
the roan (H. equinus), and a few two famous sportsmen; another game
others in different regions, need more hog killed sixty, considering it a feat
adequate protection, especially when to be recorded in the annals of hunting.
they answer the requirements of a Today perhaps not a dozen are left,
sportsman's trophy. A case in point the very preserve set aside for them
is the newly discovered Angolan race of having been opened to slaughter.
sable antelope (H. niger variani) with Between the two Umfolozi rivers in
horns measuring on their front curve as Zululand, their last stand, they have
much as sixty-four inches. little rest, for the farmer covets the
The abundance of the beautiful land and their ultimate survival seems
springbuck (Antidorcas marsupiahs) at , extremely doubtful at the present time.
the beginning of the last century would Of the Upper Nile race of white
seem well-nigh unbelievable were it rhinoceroses {Ceratotherium simum cot-
not for Gordon Cumming's accoimt, toni) several thousand were still left
amply corroborated by others. For in 1910.^ But recent reports as to their

two hours he saw vast legions of these status give cause for alarm. Unless
animals streaming through a neck of drastic measures are soon taken to
the unbroken phalanx. The
hills in prevent traffic in the hides and horns,
hillsideswere covered ''not with herds this huge representative of the Pleisto-
but with one mass of springboks." As cene age will shortly be extinct.
far as the eye could strain, the land- In former days it ranged to the ex-
scape was alive with them. "Some treme north of Africa as shown by fossil
hundreds of thousands were within the records and was even contemporaneous
compass of my vision" until they faded with Neolithic man, who engraved its
into a dim red mass of living creatures. image on the rocks.- It is difficult to
Flocks of sheep becoming intermingled understand how such splendid ex-
with them were swept along without amples of nature, practically harmless
hope of escape. Even the lion may though possessed of formidable weap-
thus be entrapped. Such inspiring ons, should suddenly be brought to the
sights are of the past. Springbuck can verge of extinction.
iLang, Herbert. 1920. "The White Rhinoceros of
be shot for sport, but so typical a
still the Belgian Congo." Zool. Soc. Bull., New York. Vol.
XXIII, pp. 66-92, 31 photos, 1 map, 1 text figure.
South African animal deserves pastures 2Lang, Herbert. 1923. "Recent and. Historical
Notes on the Square-Lipped Rhinoceros (Ceratothe-
offering a secure refuge. rium simum)." Journ. Mammalogy, Vol. IV, p. 159.
320 NATURAL HISTORY
Among the bigger game the most dis- The uniformly mild climate is accom-
tressing losses have been inflicted upon panied by no such seasonal inclemencies
the elephant and the hippopotamus. A as the habitual wintry rigor of colder
continuous toll has been exacted by regions. Even violent tornadoes and
armies of hunters. Literall}^ hundreds destructive hailstorms are few and far
of sportsmen annually visit Africa from between. In ordinary dry seasons, the
every point of the globe. They will no game is wont to repair in great numbers
Young bull of the square-lipped or "white" rhinoceros {Ceratotherium simwn cottoni)

—
near VankerckhovenviUe, northeastern Belgian Congo. Close approach arouses in even so
stolid an adversary- the signs of a charge, usually preceded by the twisting of the tail. The
value of the horns and the relative lack of danger with which so large an amount of meat could
be secured brought about the doom of the South African race of this giant even before civiliza-
tion reached the fields it roamed
longer find the great tuskers nor the to more satisfactory pasturage or to a
thousands of river horses. Elephants few isolated waterholes. The yearning
have no opportunity to grow old. of the animals at such times to quench
Governments have reaped the benefits their thirst eliminates much of their
of increased income derived from taxes habitual wariness. On such occa-
on permits and the exportation of sions game photographers, hiding in
ivory, and have thus consented to ''blinds." have made the most success-
their doom. And this has gone on in ful pictures. True it is that destruction
spite of all assurances to the contrary. of thousands upon thousands of game
Among the causes of destruction of animals by drought has been recorded,
wild Hfe in Africa the natural agencies, but only as extremely rare occurrences
however severe, have proved to be during a period of consecutive dry
relatively unimportant, chiefly because years. Such a calamity, being local at
of the infrequency of their occurrence. most, does not influence the general
status of the continental herds, though, latent for the first few days. Intense
judging from Gregory's account,^ acres fever, swollen mucous membranes, the
may be covered with the bleached development of small papular ulcers,
bones of the victims. and extreme prostration are common
The increase of drier areas in Africa, indications. In the early days rinder-
especially in the north and south, as a pest raged unchecked, but future
result of gradual desiccation, has been
frequently cited as an important factor
limiting the distribution of some of the
mammahan fauna. The data so far
advanced seem to point toward a
change of cHmate causing drier condi-
tions and especially a more intensive
drainage. The result is well exempli-
fiedby the dry areas formerly covered
by lakes Chad and Ngami. Perhaps
many of the migrations of great herds
of game, as described by the earliest
explorers, were due to the setting in of
such modifications in the regions cited.
A very encouraging contribution
-toward the preservation of game
animals in Africa is the long list of
scientific achievements in curbing the
rapid spread of various diseases. The
successful use of immunizing sera is
Taken at the New York Zoological Park
one of the noteworthy results. Rinder-
Formerly found astounding numbers on
in
pest, formerly considered the most the plains in the southern parts of Africa, the
deadly of the infectious scourges, filled blesbuck (Damaliscus albifrons) now exists
only on certain farms in the Orange Free
with dismay and terror those interested State, Transvaal, and Bechuanaland
in wild life, but it is now fairly well
under control. Apparently of Asiatic catastrophies are improbable as its

origin, it reached Africa by way of occasional outbreaks are now quickly
Egypt. As usual it was introduced by localized and the heavy mortality much
infected live stock and proved to be reduced. The most hopeful point of all
extraordinarily virulent in its swift is that in less than fifteen years African
progress. In about fifteen years it game without exception recuperated,
traversed the entire length and breadth especially in those regions where
of the continent. From 1886 to 1898 organized slaughter was stemmed.
it caused the most frightful losses in In 1891, when the ravages of rinder-
game and cattle alike, generally ninety pest were greatest in East Africa,^
per cent of the animals attacked suc- buffaloes came down to the Tana River
cumbing within a week. The difficult}^ literally in thousands to die. A grue-
and uncertainty of diagnosis is chiefly some sight were the attending vultures
due to the fact that incubation is and marabout storks gorged to reple-
iGregory, J. S. 1896. The Great Rift Valley. ^Hobley, C. W. 1922. "The Fauna of East Africa
London (John Murray), p. 268. and its Future." Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Vol. I, p. 2.
322 NATURAL HISTORY
Taken at the Dresden Zoological Garden

Burchell's zebra {Equus quagga burchelli), the closest relative of the extinct quagga.
This magnificent stalUon was considered one of the last of its kind living in captivity in 1905
tion. Hardly any of the game animals tribe at Faradje. He told me in 1911
escaped. Giraffes, and most of the that when the disease reached his
antelopes, including waterbiick, eland, country and killed nearly all the cat-
kudu, and bushbuck, as well as pigs and tle, the hook-lipped, black rhinoceros
rhinoceroses, were victims. Appar- (Dicer OS hicornis) that feeds on bushes

ently zebras, oryx, sable, roan, wilde- died out and never appeared again.
beest, and hartebeest did not suffer in The square-lipped, or white, rhinoc-
such numbers. Elephants and hippo- eros (Ceratotherium simum), however,
potamuses apparently escaped un- though greatly decimated like the buffa-
scathed. loes, elands, wart hogs, and other game,
Twenty-odd beasts were the sole became sufficiently numerous once
survivors of many thousand head of more, and for a time held its own, only
cattle in northeast Kitui. The desic- to be nearly wiped out subsequently as
cated carcasses of those which fell were the result of a native uprising during the
up like a wall outside the villages.
piled war. From this it might appear that
Famine was the natural consequence for the two kinds of rhinoceroses formerly
cattle-herding tribes such as the Somali, shared the range in the Uele, where now
Suk, Masai, and Dinka. Rinderpest only the square-lipped one is known.
apparently reached the northeastern The black rhinoceros is still common in
Uele in the early nineties, according to the Shari-Chad region.
information supplied by Maruka, an Anthrax, another of the sporadic
intelligent native chief of the Logo infectious diseases often fatal to game
and marked by nasty ulcers and intense ravages there. At present two of these
prostration, is to a large extent de- parasites are known to infect man in
prived of its danger nowadays by Africa Trypanosoma gambiense and
Pasteur's method of protective inocula- T. rhodesiense —
but several others pro-
tion through anthrax serum, which duce disease in animals. Apparently
offers an immunity lasting nearly a all African game, including the zebras,
year. The last serious outbreak^ though not free from the germ, have
occurred in 1905, killing several thou- become immune to it. It has been held
sand head game, chiefly Coke's
of that, acting as the chief reservoir of the
hartebeest on the Athi Plains in Kenya virus, the game may indirectly become
Colony. Formerly such disastrous the most dangerous source of infection.
visitations aroused the hostility of the But judging from experiments and ob-
settlers against the game, which they servations the probability is great that
held responsible for the spread of the there are other channels assisting the
disease among their own live stock. In spread of these diseases. Unfortunately
the face of such opposition one can real- the cattle, though as a rule not affected
ize what a boon it has been to the game by the parasites causing human sleep-
that the disease is at last well in hand. ing sickness, readily succumb to those
Strange to say, there are scourges causing "nagana." The impossibility
which have really served Africa's of raising live stock in all regions so
game as a protection. The formidable infested becomes a weU-nigh insur-
diseases borne by tsetse flies, in con- mountable obstacle to effective coloni-
junction with malarial fever and a host zation by the white man, inasmuch as
have hindered most
of other afflictions, it prevents any extensive agricultural
of the white man's efforts to establish exploitation. Of domestic animals,

his home and take over large tracts of only goats and chickens are able to
the country. There is no underesti- thrive under such conditions, though
mating the really important role played in the northeasternCongo dogs also
by tsetse flies, chiefly Glossina palpalis appear to be immune.
and G. morsitans, which occur in a Some years ago in certain of the
broad belt across most of tropical regions most concerned, the indiscrmi-
Africa. 2 They are the well-known inate destruction of all the bigger game
carriers of a fatal virus, the former was urged for the eradication of dis-
species transmitting the dreaded hu- eases due to trypanosomes. Only by so
man sleeping sickness, the latter that of drastic a method, it was argued, could
"nagana," or trypanosomiasis, a similar man and cattle be freed from the
infection in cattle. Inoculation gener- dreadful scourges borne by tsetse
ally takes place as an incidental result of flies. For the game, the reign of
the flies feeding on or sucking the blood. terror came with overwhelming force.
Whenever they sink their mouth- A cause that was apparently in the
parts into the blood vessels of their interests of humanity was able to enlist
victim, the trypanosomes or flagellate the frenzied support of the fanatic.
protozoan parasites they carry may The big game was done away with, but
enter its system and cause terrible all to no avail. At present it does not
iHobley, C. W. 1922. "The Fauna of East Africa seem possible to prove that no other
and Its Future." Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Vol. I, p. 2.
^Chapiii, James P. 1922. "A Naturalist on Lake repositories of the virus, for instance
Victoria: A Review." Natur.4-L History, XXII, map of
distribution and text figs, of tsetse flies (pp. 60 and 61) among the smaller mammals, exist.
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It may be interesting to state that preserves. They should be set aside as

Doctor Roiibaud of the Pasteur Insti- permanent sanctuaries, free from all
tute in Paris, one of the foremost tampering through political whims.
investigators of human sleeping sick- Inclusion of suitable and sufficiently
ness, was led, as a result of his exhaus- large areas that border on the natural
tive studies in the field, to propose, as a range of wild animals is also imperative
means of combating the disease, the to ward off inbreeding. The interest
increasing of the number of domestic and beaut}^ of such preserves would in
animals about the village. These the future attract admiring visitors in
would then attract the tsetse flies in as great numbers as hunters have been
preference to man, who might thus attracted in the past. Were there a
more easily escape infection. united great nation in Africa, with all
One of the latest outbreaks of savage people acting in concert, perhaps the
and utterly useless carnage of game problems would not be so difficult.
occurred in 1920 in Zululand, its object It is encouraging that twenty game
being to make the country "fly-proof" preserves, comprising nearly 200,000
for the cattle. Like the massacre of square miles, are to be found scattered
the Addo Bush elephants in 1919, all over the continent, mainly in British
this wholesale butchery was officially territory. But the status of even per-
authorized. Since the drive included haps the most important one, the
many inexperienced hunters, much Southern Game Reserve of Kenya
game was wounded and some scattered Colony, is woefully unsatisfactory. It is
over all the country, without accom- used as a reservation not only for the
plishing the result desired. wild animals but for the Masai natives,
The many discussions as to the pos- and their herds of cattle have prefer-
flies by
sibility of eliminating tsetse ence over the game, large numbers of
the removal of biggame seemed to have which, when a drought comes, have to
found satisfactory support when con- move outside and are foredoomed. In
ditions were examined in regions where 1910, according to Hobley, the zebra
rinderpest had been most severe. But and hartebeest from this reservation,
many experienced observers, among in their frantic search for water,
them Sir Alfred Sharpe,maintain that marched into the town of Nairobi,
in certain parts of Africa the ''nagana" regardless of man. The lions followed
tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans) is found close in their wake and killed them
where there is absolutely no game.^ nightly in the public square.
We cannot help but admire nature's It is on such occasions that as many
peculiar ways. Had it not been for as twenty-three lions, as at Lukenya,
such diseases, much of eastern Africa and even more than thirty, as at Simba,
and parts of Angola and the Sudan have been seen together, as vouched
might long ago have become a white for by Sir Frederic Jackson and Bron-
man's country. Of course it would sart von Schellendorff respectively.^
then have been swept as clean of game These huge do not ordinarily
felines
as the populated parts of South Africa. come together to hunt in packs, but do
The most hopeful agencies in pro- so in smaller family parties. Such
tecting wild life in Africa are the game large gatherings are exceptional and
'Selous, F. C. 1908. "Big Game in South Africa -The reader is referred to the article by Mr. Clark in
and its Relation to the Tsetse Fly." Journ. African this issue, who records seeing a pack of seventeen lions
,Soc., Vol. VIII, p. 129. at Ngorongoro.
326 NATURAL HISTORY
usually occur in connection with the few are left in the Gir Forest, Kathia-
shifting of game from one region to war, Bombay Presidency.^
another. The success that attended the sport
How difficult it is to regulate abnor- of hounding lions, as practised by the
mal conditions after man has disturbed late Paul J. Rainey in East Africa, was
the balance of nature becomes clear too far-reaching. Thereafter packs of

again when we read that Tanganyika dogs were not allowed to help in the
Territory in the first half of the year decimation of the big feline. Kenya
1923 paid a bounty for three hundred Colony could not afford to lose its lions
lions and eight hundred leopards. In by such swift proceedings, for they are
one district alone the lions killed sixty- its great attraction, making the country
seven natives. During the war there a Mecca for who spend
sportsmen,
was wholesale slaughter of game as thousands of pounds in the country.
food for the contending parties. Car- Powder and rifle, traps, poison, fire-
tridges were not to be spent upon brands, and electric flashlights harassed
carnivores, unfit as provisions. The these huge carnivores. From behind
scarcity of game undoubtedly drove impregnable fences and walls, or from
these carnivores, left unchecked for the security of trees or other lofty
years, to attack the natives. perches blazed the shots that spelled
So dangerous were they in 1898 the doom of the prowling lions. These
that they held up the building of the animals ran the risk of being trailed
Uganda Railroad, but how many are even when they dragged their kill under
there today in the localities of
left cover to hide it from vultures, mara-
their former abundance? During the bout storks, and the rest of the hungry
Pleistocene the lions reached as far horde. They were not the raging
north as Great Britain and eastward despoilers. Any kind of meat, even of
over a large part of western Asia. its own kin, the carcass of an elephant,
Glacial conditions forced them south- as well as carrion, is palatable to the

ward with the herds upon which they king of beasts. The same is true of
preyed. Babylonian art points to leopards. Under the greatest difficul-
their relative abundance and suggests tiesthey sometimes drag their kill up
that even then lion-hunting was a trees, not merely out of reach of
sport practised by the reigning class to famished hyenas and jackals but even
secure the plaudits of the masses. In out of that of the lion.
Africa the lion was once common The international organization for
everywhere except in actual deserts safeguarding game was de-
African
and heavily forested areas. Now it finitely initiated by the convention of
is extinct in South Africa south of 1900, attended by all the powers own-
the Orange River, throughout North ing territory in that continent. The
Africa including most of Egypt, also essential features of efficient protection
along the mouth of the Congo and the were thus passed upon. Game sanctu-
coast of northern Angola. Needless to aries; closed seasons; the sparing of
say, it is greatly decimated wherever females, young, and the rare species;
the white man
has established himself. restricted export of the skins, horns,
The lion went even before the game on and tusks of certain forms; prohibition
which it preyed. In Asia it is nearing
actual extinction; iFaunthorpe, Colonel. 1923. "The Vanishing Lion
it is said that only a of India." Natural History, Vol. XXIII, p. 524.
of particularly destructive methods,

such as grass fires, pits, snares, and
game traps, made up the list. These
regulations were all designed to limit
or prevent unjustifiable slaughter of
game or otherwise to foster its welfare.
As elsewhere, however, conditions in
Africa have changed since the war.
The tide of destruction is far from
ebbing. The sheer impossibility of
policing such immense territories, often
without the slightest financial aid,
woefully lames all such legislative
measures. Recent decades have fur-
Tn/crn nl the New York Zoological Pork
nished decisive proof that real results in The wild dog {Lycaon pictus) is distributed
African game preservation largely de- over the major part i>f the savanna region,
where it hunts in packs of as many as sixty and
pend on winning active support for the is very destructive
cause among those living in and visit-

ing Africa. The negro population is who have helped create a sentiment in
not, as a rule, as dangerous as one might behalf of the preservation of Africa's
expect from general reports. Their wild animals. Prof. Henry Fairfield
traps, snares, and mongrel dogs do Osborn, president of the American
much less damage than the iron heel of Museum, espoused the cause many
civilization. years ago. By his influence and en-
The gigantic size of some of the couragement much has been done,
animals and the uncertainty of their crystallizing into definite results. Dr.
temper is one of the biggest obstacles William T. Hornaday, director of the
the movement for African game preser- New York Zoological Park, has
vation has to deal with. Besides launched many forceful pleas. Lately,
devastating crops, elephants by merely in cooperation with Dr. A. K. Haagner,
walking over wooden bridges may president of the Transvaal Game Pro-
cripple traffic, and giraffes may inter- tective Association, he has sent out to
rupt communication by breaking tele- the South African people a handsome
graph wires. Zebras stampede through and well illustrated pamphlet^ on the
the strongest fencing and endanger vanishing game of that region, in which
both crops and domestic stock. Rhi- an eloquent appeal is made for safe-
noceroses and buffaloes may become guarding what still remains, —an appeal
dangerous by their numbers. But all which one would like to see heeded
such local difficulties will find easy not only in South Africa but throughout
adjustment by wise and moderate the continent.
regulations. ^Hornaday, W. T., and Haagner, Alwin K. 1922.
"The Vanishing Game of South Africa. A Warning
Posterity will be grateful to those and an Appeal." New York and Pretoria.
Photograph by Herbert Lang
ONE OF THE STRANGEST CHARACTERS OF THE BIRD WORLD

The common African honey guide {Indicator indicator) performs a useful but not unselfish
man to some hive it has previously located. How this bird came to know
service in conducting
that man could be of help in obtaining the food it prefers is still a subject for conjecture, but
through his willing aid the honey guide is often enabled to feast upon the bee larvae, which it
probably covets more than the honey. Whether the wax that Indicator indicator so often
swallows also serves as food seems very doubtful. That the substance is beeswax is apparent
from the way it melts on a hot knife blade, only to congeal again as the blade cools.
Birds of both sexes act as honey guides, but the female, in addition to this rather com-
mendable habit, has the more questionable one of laying her eggs in the nests of other birds
and thus of avoiding the responsibilities of motherhood. Although resembling our cowbird
in this practise, Indicator indicator is a near relative not of this malefactor but of the wood-
peckers. Nevertheless, it rarely if ever climbs about on the trunks of trees, preferring to
perch on twigs and boughs. As in the case of the woodpeckers, only two toes of each foot are
directed forward, two being pointed to the rear.
The picture that of a female and was obtained in the northeastern corner of the Belgian
is
Congo. It is about two thirds natural size. The female lacks the throat patch of pure black
by which the male is readily distinguished
Profiteers of the Busy Bee
OBSERVATIONS ON THE HONEY GUIDES OF AFRICA
By JAMES P. CHAPIN
Associate Curator of Birds of the Eastern Hemisphere, American Museum
WERE a facetious journalist to

attempt to endow a mythical
skin so tough that it has often been
considered a cuirass against the stings
bird with some startling but of bees.When fully grown, both sexes
imaginary instinct, he would hardly be have half-concealed epaulets of yel-
likely to go to the lengths to which low; and the male bird is then distin-
nature has gone in the case of the com- guished by a large black throat patch.
mon honey guide of Africa. The strange The immature birds are somewhat
behavior of this bird has so long been greener and until a few years ago were
known, moreover, that it surprises one regarded as a distinct species. The
to findhow little has been written about nearest relatives of the honey guides,
it beyond simple accounts of the way in our North American fauna, are the
the bird attracts the attention of men woodpeckers; yet the honey guides
and reveals to them the location of have neither stiffened tail feathers nor
beehives. Sparrman, who traveled in an extensile tongue.
South Africa as long ago as 1775, gave How well the honey guide is known
one of the best descriptions from his and esteemed by the natives of the
personal observations, and was able to countries where it dwells maj^ easily
quote a still earlier account of the be imagined. By the Azande tribe of
bird, accurate in the main, by Father the northeastern Congo the bird is
Jerome Lobo, who had gone as a mis- called turubwa, and I was told that
sionary to Abyssinia in 1625. As before the arrival of Europeans an

Sparrman concluded, the moroc, or Azande chief would have cut off the
honey bird, of the Abyssinians could ear of any man so stupid as to have
be none other than the common honej^ killed a honey guide. Mr. Herbert
guide. This testimony has been con- Lang and I had many experiences with
firmed by a great number of travelers, honey guides attracted by our cara-
sportsmen, and trained ornithologists vans or hunting parties. It is the habit
who have since visited the open grassy of the bird to locate one or more .bee
regions of Africa, over which the bird colonies and then wait for the passing
is so widely distributed. of men, whose attention it attracts by a
Avoiding the heavy forests of the persistent chattering. At such times it
Congo basin and other parts of western is relatively tame and will alight in
Africa, the common honey guide small trees only a few yards off. If a
{Indicator indicator) ranges from Cape man wishes to learn where the hive is,
Colony to northeast Africa, and then he follows the bird, whistling occasion-
across the Sudan to Senegal. It is ally to it.
a plain-colored, brownish-graj^ bird, Here I may quote an instance from

scarcely larger than our American my own notes. One afternoon in
bluebird, but much more stockily November, 1911, in a small wooded
built, with short dense plumage, and a swamp near Faradje, a post in the
329
330 NATURAL HISTORY
A —
beehive placed in a tree by members of the Logo tribe. Perhaps the general scarcity of
large hollow trees in the region renders an artificial hive attractive to the bees. It is so con-
structed tliat it can be pulled apart at the middle and put together again without entirely
discouraging the occupants. The latter enter through a hole in the earthen partition at the
larger end, to the left
northeastern corner of the Congo, we tall grass and scrub, were led out on to
came upon a male bird, who at once higher ground. Now our feathered
started his chatter, and then flew off guide would fly noisily ahead about
to some distance, returning shortly as fifty yards until out of sight, perching
though to assure himself that we were on top of a bush and repeating the
in earnest. We replied with low performance as soon as we came up.
whistles, and following him through the Presently another male bird joined him.
PROFITEERS OF THE BUSY BEE 331
We had gone about six hundred yards have not had occasion to verify it
when both birds stopped in a tree too even among the Logo of the eastern
small to harbor bees in its trunk. Yet Uelle District, who attract bees with
by their short aimless jflights and re- hives made of reeds.
peated returns to the tree, the honey The assertion has also been made
guides impressed upon us that this that the honey guide will sometimes
was the spot. The buzzing of passing lead a man up to a snake or a leopard,
bees now was heard and the insects but this has been vigorously denied by
were traced to a small hole in the experienced naturalists. A story far
ground close by. During these pro- better founded is that of the honey
ceedings the birds allowed us to ap- badger (Mellivora capensis) following
proach within ten or fifteen feet of them. the honey guide. Major Stevenson-
We prepared to make a fire, and our Hamilton^ describes it as though he had
birds retired noiselessly for the time. often observed it himself. "You may
A little later I saw them again, sitting be resting in the bush in the cool of the
with puffed-out breasts and open bills, afternoon, or on some cloudy day,
uttering a low chwee-r-r, which I when your attention is arrested by the
had not heard before. They seemed to persistent and approaching chatter of
be quarreling, and one soon chased his one of these feathered spies. Presently
rival off at top speed. the bird itself comes fluttering on to a
With the aid of some burning grass branch some thirty yards distant, where
two of my black helpers quickly had the it perches, flapping its wings, and dis-
hive unearthed, paying a penalty of playing every sign of impatience.
only six stings. The comb contained For a moment it is silent, and then a
no honey, only pollen and bee larvae. sound
less familiar strikes the ear: a
It was in a cavity previously occupied light sibilant hissing and chuckling,
by termites. We placed some of the which at first you find yourself unable
comb in the forks of a tree and went to identify . . . The honey-guide under-
off to escape an impending shower. stands, and having, with undulating
An hour or two later we found that the flight, sought another tree some thirty
two birds had returned to peck at the yards further on, renews his invita-
comb; and the following morning I tion. Keeping quite still, and looking
watched them come silently', the one steadily, you presently spy a little
after the other, to seize a piece of the gray and black form, moving along at a
comb and fly off with it. Without steady jog-trot; the tail is carried
crediting the birds with actual fore- slightly above the level of the back,
sight or intelligence, I do not hesitate and the head, except when raised to
to say that it is for this reward that glance up at the guide, is held a little
they have worked. low. Every time the bird utters his
It is said that in sections where the monotonous refrain, which, translated
negroes have artificial hives hanging into feathered language, means Come '
in trees for the use of bees the honey along, come along, don't be so slow,'
guide makes no distinction and will the follower replies, 'All right, my
lead to occupied hives established friend, don'tbe alarmed, I am com-
through man's agency as readily as to ing.' And thus the strange procession
natural cavities housing wild bee passes on out of sight to the hollow
colonies. This I believe, though I Ânimal Life in Africa, 1912, pp. 247-48.
332 NATURAL HISTORY
log where the unkick}- insects are in- master lies in distress, although the
dustriously slaving, only ultunately to motive is, of course, entirety differ-
satisfy the appetites of bird and beast." ent. It brings to mind also the story
The favorite food of this badger is so widely circulated by the newspapers

honeycomb, and it has powerful claws a year or two ago, of a gander on a
with which to tear open the hive. farm in Alabama which used to lead a
Alap showing the distribution of two African honey guides, one (Indicator indicator) an
inhabitant of the open grass country, or savanna, the other (Melichneutes robustus) restricted
to the equatorial forest
The instinct of the honey guide is blind ox to the watering trough every
unique among birds. It is far more day by its cackling. I cannot vouch for
complex than the "guarding" of the truth of this narrative, though
buffaloes and rhinos by the oxpeckers photographs of the strangely assorted
(Buphaga). There the birds have couple appeared in a New York paper
come to feed on the ticks that cling to of good i-epute.
the animal's hide, and they merely No doubt the specialists in animal
alarm their hosts by their cries when behavior have an explanation that does
they take flight at the approach of an not require any reasoning on the part
enemy. The honey guide, on the other of the honey guide. The guiding is
hand, recalls the action of a dog in instinctive, for it has become hered-
leading a stranger to a spot where its itary with at least one species of
Indicator, and is practised by old birds stomachs in the Congo, as has Mr. G.
of both sexes, and apparently by im- L. Bates in the Cameroon, that more
mature birds as well. The fact that it often than not these other species have
is a characteristic form of behavior swallowed beeswax, just as does the
throughout the whole range of the common honey guide, which has
species argues for its remote origin hives opened for it by men. Other
and leads us to believe that the instinct insects, such as winged termites and
grew up slowly with the evolution of perhaps adult bees in the open, are
the family, though man is not always also preyed upon occasionally, but bee
the beneficiary. The honey guides comb and bee larvae seem to be pre-
must have preyed on bees long before ferred. The stomach contents not
savage man reached Africa, and we infrequently smell of honey, and we
may speculate, quite properly, as to the may suppose that the wax is swallowed
origin of the guiding instinct. incidentally —
not by preference.
The honey guide family (Indicator- The one evident exception to these
idse) is not a large one; it comprises, tastes is seen in the genus Prodotiscus,
nevertheless, five genera"^ and about which differs in many respects the —
twelve species, of which two are found bill and plumage especially —
from all
in the Oriental region, the remainder the other genera of the family. It does
in Africa south of the Sahara. None not eat bee larvae, and one of the species
of them exceeds seven and a half frequents, it is said, trees of the genus
inches in length. I myself have Sterculia when they are in flower.
secured specimens of six species for the How then do the normal honey
American Museum and may thus claim guides procure their favorite food?
a speaking acquaintance with four of The only bees in Africa from which the
the genera. Yet none save Indicator wax could come are the common honey-
indicator ever offered to guide me to a bee. Apis mellifera (represented by a
beehive. A patient search of books somewhat smaller African race), and
and articles dealing with African the much smaller species of Trigona,
birds reveals only one other species. which are stingless. The honeybees,
Indicator variegatus of East and South we know, nearly always store their
Africa, which according to reliable sweets in a secure place, — a cavity in a
authority,^ renders the same service tree, among rocks, or in the ground,
to mankind. Sir John Kirk^ seems to where the birds unaided have little
have used the name Indicator minor chance of stealing them. The nests of
in his oft-quoted account through mere Trigona are usually in hollow trees,
accident, this being the only species in and are if anything harder to get at.
the collection upon which he was re- Had the honey guides the strong chisel-
porting. His description of the habits shaped beak of their allies, the wood-
is quite clearly based upon I. indicator. peckers, they might hew their way
It is entirely safe to say that the through the wood; but, as it is, they are
majority of honey guides do not guide, without any tools for use in such a direct
or at least do not guide men. Never- attack. Birds of the genus Meligyiothes,
theless, I have noted in examining their for example, have an exceptionally
blunt beak.
'Melignothes, Melignomon, Indicator, Melichneutes,
and Prodotiscus, Thus all the typical honey guides eat
n^ry, Ibis, 1901, p. 21.
nbis, 1864, pp. 327-28. honevcomb and yet are apparently un-
334 NATURAL HISTORY
able to secure it without help. What of the parasitic cuckoos of the Old
else can we conclude save that they World North American cow-
or of our
adopt some method similar to that bird. Each white egg is deposited
reported from South Africa, of enhst- in the nest of some other bird, pref-
ing the aid of the honey badger? In the erably that of a barbet, which is
forests of western equatorial Africa hewn out like a woodpecker's hole.

this mammal is extremely rare or Where possible, the adult honey guide
breaks the legitimate eggs, it is said,
and when the young is found, it is
always the sole occupant of the nest.

In the two species which lead men to
hives, Indicator indicator and Indica-
tor variegatus, Dr. Alwin Haagner^ has
found that the nestling has both upper
The head of the lesser honey guide, Melig- and lower mandibles armed with a
yiothes minor, natural size.—Note the extremely
sharp, curved hook, as though for
blunt beak, serviceable perhaps for tearing
honej'comb apart, but of little use in pecking seizing any competitors and ejecting
open the tree where it is hidden. Drawn
from a specimen by W. E. Belanske
them from the nest it has usurped. It
is said that these hqoks are shed at
wanting, and therefore we may only about the time of leaving the nest.
guess that squirrels, small carnivores, In two other members of the familj^,
lemurs, or monkeys, are the creatures Melignothes and Melich-
conirostris
with which the honey guides carry on neutes rohustus, I have examined skins
this commensal existence. This seems of nestlings partly fledged, but found
a bold assumption, but it is the best only the usual egg-tooth on the upper
explanation I can offer of what we mandible.
know to be their food habits. An Among the honey guides of the West
alternative would be to suppose that African forests, from the Cameroon to
the honey guides simply happen upon the upper Congo, there is one with a
the hives after they have been robbed most unusual development of the tail,
by some other animal. I doubt if Melichneutes rohustus. The four middle
they would get as much plunder in tail feathers are curved outward at the
this manner as we know they secure. tip, and the three outermost on each
It seems credible that the partner- side are greatly narrowed and short-
ship began in such a way, but that sooner ened, reminding one of the outer
or later the birds took to accompany- rectrices of some snipe. This lyrate
ing bee-hunting mammals until finally tail of Melichneutes has been compared
the bird became the leader. The to that of the black cock of Europe,
theoretic bearing of observations on but it is the small snipelike feathers
the honey badger and its bird guide is that prove most interesting.
now evident. Once the method had In this forest region of the upper
been well worked out with certain Congo one may hear throughout a
lower mammals, man would have been large portion of the year a reiterated
admitted into the association as a note of tin-horn quahty, the double
matter of course. sjdlables rising slowly in pitch, then
The breeding habits of the Indica- dropping off, and repeated from twelve
toridaj are bizarre, and similar to those ^Journ. S. Afr. Dm. Union, Vol. Ill, 1907, p. 3, PI. 1.
to thirty times. It may be heard afar, be; and then, on the occasion when I
certainly at a quarter of a mile, and secured my only specimen of Melich-
seems to come from above the forest neutes, I heard the strange noise given
canopy. The natives I consulted were after a second bird of the species had
all ignorant of the common honey flown off from the same high tree in the
guides of the grasslands and could not forest. It is almost certain that the
tell me what kind of bird we were nyete is none other than our lyre-tailed
listening to. Some ventured the honey guide. The "bleating" of
opinion that it might be a woodpecker certain species of snipe, it has been
but all were familiar with the sound shown, produced by their narrowed
is
and had a name for its author, the outer feathers during flight, by
tail
Azande of the southern border of the vibration of the webs as the air passes
Uelle District calling it nyete in between them.^ Is it not likely, too,
imitation of its voice. From 1910 to that the nasal, tooting call of Melich-
1914 I wondered what the bird could iBahr, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1907, pp. 12-35.
A young honey guide of the genus Indicator, only a few days old. — This drawing, about
natural was made by W. E. Belanske from a photograph by Dr. Alwin Haagner, director of
size,
the Pretoria Zoological Garden. The young bird, the feathers of which are beginning to sprout,
was found in the nest hole of a diamond sparrow, Petronia superciliaris; and from the fact that
an adult of the scaly-throated honey guide {Indicator variegatus) had previously been seen in
the tree, it was inferred that the young bird was also of that species.
The extraordinary hooks at the tips of both mandibles may be homologous wdth the exten-
sive calcareous cap which at first covers the entire tip of the upper mandible of young wood-
peckers, although the latter have nothing of the sort on the end of the lower mandible.
Doctor Haagner later received a live nestling of the common honey guide (Indicator
indicator) almost fully fledged, which still retained both hooks on its beak. After a few days
that on the tip of the lower mandible was shed, and the upper one would doubtless soon have
followed suit, had the bird survived.
The foot was not shown in the photograph, but has been introduced in the drawing from
a somewhat older nestling of Indicator in the American Museum collection. Note the roughened
—
heel-pad, which recalls those of young barbets and toucans neither of them very distant
relatives
336 NATURAL HISTORY
neutes is made by the air rushing past easy. For I suspect that when the
the edges of the same feathers? We life history most remark-
of this
know that Melichneutes, while perching, able of honey guides is more fully
emits a hoarse chattering vocal note, known, it will be found that it sum-
which is entirely different. For future mons by its curious note some mam-
field naturalists in equatorial Africa I malian accomplice to aid it in rob-
would suggest a thorough investiga- bing the hoard of an industrious
tion, though it will be anything but colony of bees.
Adult male of the lyre-tailed honey guide, Melichneutes robusius, about seven-tenths
natural size; drawn by W. E. Belanske from the single individual secured by the American
—
Museum Congo Expedition. Only three adult specimens and two young are preserved thus
far in museums. There is very little difference between the sexes, even in respect to the curi-
ous modifications of the tail feathers; and the tail of the young foreshadows clearly that of
the adult, though the young in first plumage differs in having the head and breast blackish
instead of olive and gray.
The feathers here seen extending out beneath the middle of the tail are merely coverts,
the true middle tail feathers are somewhat lyrate. If, as the writer suggests, the tail
serves as an seolian sound-producer, the "strings" are placed outside instead of between the
arms of the lyre, in the form of narrow, relatively stiff feathers on each side.
This specimen was shot by the writer from its perch in the top of a tall tree in the Ituri
forest, after he had .scrutinized the extraordinary tail through a binocular
Amateur Entomologists and the Museum'
A SURVEY, FROM THE HALF-CENTURY MARK, OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
ENTOMOLOGY, AMERICAN MUSEUM
By frank E. LUTZ
Curator of Entomology, American Museum
ONE of the very pleasant features

of thework on insects in the
supplemented in 1874 by a
collections,
collection ofabout 2000 species pre-
American Museum during resented by Mr. R. A. Whitthaus with
cent years has been the cordial co- the wish that it should be set aside
operation of amateur entomologists. exclusively for the use of persons espe-
I have recognized and warmly cially interested in entomology —in
appreciated this aid but not until I other words, that it should be a study
had reviewed the steps by which the collection —were the start of our work
Museum's collections of insects ad- in this field.
vanced in fifty years from nothing to a Apparently, however, these splen-
place near the front rank did I realize did foundations were not built upon
how important such aid from amateurs speedily. Little seems to have been
had really been. done until in 1884 Mr. Joseph W.
Baron Osten Sacken was Russian Drexel, a Trustee of the Museum,
consul general in New York City from presented some butterflies and moths,
1862 to 1871. Doubtless he did his which, together with the previous gifts
diplomatic work well but his fame rests (except for types and rare species)
upon his recreation, the study of insects. were exhibited in newly constructed
His particular interest was Diptera, the cases and, according to the Annual
group to which flies and mosquitoes Report for that year, formed one of the
belong, and of these he described nearly most attractive features of the "main
four hundred new species from North hall."
America alone. He was evidently No one in particular seems to have
much interested in the newly estab- been in charge of insects after Mr.
lished American Museum of Natural Robinson's death until the appoint-
History, for in 1870 he presented to it ment of Mr. E. B. Southwick in 1886.
specimens representing about a thou- The following year the collections were
sand species of insects. placed in charge of Mr. L. P. Gratacap,
At about the same time Mr. Coleman then assistant curator of the depart-
T. Robinson presented his collection ment of geology, and in 1888 Mr. Wil-
of about "3000 species and served as liam Beutenmiiller was engaged to
curator without salary until his death give his whole time to entomological
two years later. Mr. Robinson's hobby work in the Museum. Naturally,
was butterflies and moths and he col- much of the valuable material received
laborated with Mr. August R. Grote, had been destroyed by
in the seventies
one of the foremost authorities on moths" and other misfortunes during
'^
Lepidoptera at that time. These two the time when no one was in special
iThe author is indebted to Mr. A. J. Mutchler, assistant curator in charge of Coleoptera and the oldest
member, in ooint of Museum service, in the department of entomology, for bringing together the facts connected
with the history of entomology in the Museum.
337
/
INSECTS AS ALLIES AND AS ENEMIES OF MAN

Insects are frequently set down in the mass as man's enemies and, indeed, certain
injurious species are among the most irrepressible of his foes, devastating his crops as aggres-
sively as an invading army. But the damage wrought by such insects is more than out-
weighed by the good done by others. A vast number of plants upon which we depend for
food, or which bring cheer into our lives through the beauty of their blossoms, would disappear
from the earth if they were not visited by insect poUinators.
In the upper picture is shown the codhng moth, Carpocapsa pomonella, which annually
takes a heavy toll of our apple crop; but there would have been no crop at all if other insects
had not cooperated.
Below is an old-fashioned straw beehive, suggesting the activities of one of the most
useful of msects. Apis mellifera, which was domesticated by man centuries ago and has been
mtroduced by him into America, where it is today so well established that the uninitiated are
apt to look upon it as one of our native insects
AMATEUR ENTOMOLOGISTS AND THE MUSEUM 339
charge, and many of the specimens that he was the editor of Papilio, a journal
had survived were in poor condition, devoted exclusively to butterflies and
but a sufficient number of them are still moths, and he was also the author of a
in existence to show what a splendid large number of valuable papers on
start had been made. these beautiful creatures, his last con-
With the appointment of a regular tribution to entomology being a Bihlio-
curator and thanks to the keen in- graphical Catalogue of the Described
terest of Mr. Morris K. Jesup, then Transformations of North American
president of the Museum, entomologi- Lepidoptera. His last appearance on
cal activities were briskly revived. the stage was in New York as Sir Oliver
Exhibition work along new lines was Surface in The School for Scandal. After
begun, the life history and other phases was purchased,
his death his collection
of insect biology being shown and made nearly $10,000 having been given by
more valuable by the use of artificial friends of Mr. Edwards in response to
leaves as accessories. Reflecting one appeals from Mr. Palmer and other
of Mr. Jesup's particular interests, members of the stage. Though once
these new exhibits were largely con- noted in his profession, he will be re-
cerned with insects injurious to trees. membered, like Baron Osten Sacken, as
The next few years brought several long as science exists for the things
notable accessions, all the work of which he did as recreation.
amateurs. Mrs. M. Schuyler Elliot In 1897 The Very Reverend E. A.
presented the butterfly and moth col- Hoffman became interested in the Mu-
lection that had been made by her son, seum's entomological work, generously
Dr. S. Lowefl Elliot. It is chiefly re- contributing to its support until his
markable for the large number of death in 1902, and his son, Mr. Samuel
reared specimens, many of the rarer V. Hoffman, continued this support
forms being represented by entire for several years thereafter. The re-
broods showing the variation within a sults of this flnancial aid were a large
species. The collection of Mr. James collection of butterflies, each in a plaster
Angus, a resident of West Farms, New mount, and a number of field trips by
York City, contained a large number of Mr. Beutenmliller to the Black Moun-
local species and was also a gift. tains, North Carolina. The butterflies
^But the most notable accession was that were put on exhibition, but recently we
in 1892 of the widely known ''Harry felt that most of them were more valu-
Edwards Collection," containing about able as scientiflc specimens than as

250,000 specimens from all parts of the" exhibition material and, as they were
globe. fading because of their exposure to
Mr. Edwards was an actor and had light, we have placed them in light-
been connected with various companies proof cases in the study collection.
in the United States, Central and South They are safe there and may be seen
America, and Australia. He went to by anyone sufficiently interested to ask
Australia as a manager for A. M. permission.
Palmer's Lord Fauntleroy organi-
Little In 1903, Prof. Wilham M. \^Tieeler
zation, returning in 1890 to join Austin became curator of invertebrate zoology,

Daly's company. During his travels he a department separate from entomol-
personally collected many specimens ogy, but Professor Wheeler was then,
and purchased others. For three years as now, one of the leading entomologists
340 NATURAL HISTORY
Although spiders are not insects, they rival them in interest, and in the popular mind are
grouped with them. The webs spun by spiders are usually of so fine a texture that we are
unable to trace them in detail unless they are sprinkled over with dew or powdered with dust,
and even then only inadequately. Webs mounted on a dark background, with their strands
—
thickened so that they are distinctly visible a process devised by Mr. C. H. L. Gebfert are —
among the striking exhibits of the department, as the accompanying picture of the web of
Eustala anastera gives evidence
of the world. Although not officially terest in and connection with the
connected the department of
with Museum.
entomology, he continued his most Prof. Henry E. Crampton succeeded
valuable studies on ants and presented Professor Wheeler as curator of in-
to the department his collection of more vertebrate zoology and the hitherto
than a thousand species of Diptera, independent department of entomology
including about two hundred type was put in his charge with Mr. Beuten-
specimens of species which had been miiller as associate curator of Lepidop-
described by Wheeler, Melander, and tera. The writer was appointed assis-
Brues. On his resignation in 1908 to tant curator of invertebrate zoology
become professor of economic en- and given charge of insects other than
tomology at Harvard he presented to Lepidoptera. Mr. A. J. Mutchler re-
the Museum his wonderful collection of mained, as he had been for six years,
ants but took with him as a loan in
it Mr. Beutenmliller's assistant, and Mr.
order that he might continue his studies. Charles Wunder was engaged to help
Fortunately, as research associate of with the other insects.
social insects, he still retains his in- In the twenty years that had elapsed
—
Aphids those pests of the gardener are —
beloved of the ants, which protect them as
sedulously as man destroys them. The
aphid gives forth a sweet secretion —the
"honey dew" of the ancients —and it is be-
cause of this that they are favored by a
group of insects notable for having a sweet
'
'
tooth." Some species of ants even stroke

the aphids with their antennae to induce
them to void the honey dew, a procedure
suggestive of milking. Hence Linnaeus ap-
propriately referred to aphids as ants' cows.
A forward step in the domestication of the
aphid is shown in this photograph, taken by
the author at Ramsey, New Jersey. It rep-
resents a "cow shed," or protective struc-
ture built about the aphids. So that the
"cattle" might be revealed, the roof was
partly demoUshed before the photograph
was taken. Field work forms an important
part of the activities of the department of
entomology and, as this photograph in-
dicates, one does not have to stroll far from
home in order to see matters of interest
Photooraph by the author
As applied to humans the term "book worm"

has a definite connotation; it is less specific when
used in describing insects. Certain members of a family of beetles {Ptinidse) are among
the principal destroyers of literature. One member of this family has a record of having
"penetrated directly through twenty-seven large quarto volumes in so straight a line
that a string could be passed through the opening and the whole series of volumes
suspended." In the tropics termites rival the Chinese emperor of old who made a holo-
caust of the then-existing hterature, in ruthlessly attacking books as well as many other
things. The retardation of knowledge in some countries has been ascribed in part to
the lack of respect of these insects for the printed word
341
THE POLISTES EXHIBIT IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
The genus Polistes, like Vespa, is made up of social wasps but, in contrast to Vespa, the
nests of which are enveloped with a wrapping of "paper," Polistes builds nests consisting of an
exposed comb. The nest is started by an over-wintered queen, who may select as her building
site the under side of a porch roof, the eaves of a house, or any other protected place. In the
exhibit pictured above, an old shoe was chosen; but the Polistes mother, unlike the old
woman who chose a similar domicile, finds a use for the numerous daughters that constitute
her family, to whom is entrusted the care of the larvas and the enlargement of the nest. In the
can is shown a nest that was started but subsequently abandoned
A NEST OF VESPA EXHIBITED IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Although nests built in the open by social wasps of the genus Vespa, which includes the
hornets and the yellow jackets, are frequently noticed, those built under ground are revealed
—
only to him who has the enterprise to excavate them, a somewhat hazardous undertaking if
attempted before the wasp colony dies out in the fall. The "paper" that surrounds these
protected nests is not nearly so tough as that made by species which build above ground.
Moreover, in Europe and North America it is the short-cheeked species of Vespa that for the
most part build in burrows in the ground, the long-cheeked forms constructing as a rule
aerial nests. This exhibit shows a nest of yellow jackets that was started by the mother wasp
in a mouse burrow, the cavity being enlarged as the needs of the colony grew
34.3
344 NATURAL HISTORY
since the first appointment of a regular
curator of entomology the collections
had grown immenselJ^ I have men-
tioned only a few of the larger steps in
this growth, for to do more is impossible
at this time. Not at all as a criticism
but as a statement of fact, it may be
said that the collection of insects had
been enlarged out of all proportion to
the staff (a curator and one assistant)
that had it in charge. Mr. Wunder and
I were confronted with a total of more
than 300,000 specimens most of which
required labeling and few of which were
classified even as to order. These were
exclusive of Lepidoptera and the
''arranged" collection of other insects.
That this condition of affairs does not
now exist and that, although our col-
lection of insects has had since then an
average growth of about 50,000 speci-
mens a year, practically every speci-
men is labeled and ready for study is
due to the conscientious work of Mr.

Wunder and the cooperation of the
entomological assistants, Mr. Mutchler
(appointed assistant curator in 1922),
Mr. John A. Grossbeck (deceased), and
Mr. F. E. Watson, aided, as other
work permitted, by the entomological
typist. The splendid and welcome
accessions to the collections since 1908
are matters of such recent record that
they will not be repeated here.
In 1921 entomology was again made
a separate department, the staff con-
sisting of a curator, two scientific assis-
tants (Mr. Mutchler and Mr. Watson)
a general assistant (Mr. Wunder), a
typist and three research associates
(Prof. Wheeler in social insects, Mr.
Charles W. Leng in Coleoptera, and
A more uncomfortable position in which to
take one's rest than that here illustrated Mr. Herbert F. Schwarz in Hymen-
would be hard to imagine. While this Sphex optera) who serve without psiy. In
wasp dozes, its jaws do not relax their hold
on the support. It.s attitude suggests an addition, I am most happy to say, the
acrobatic performance, but it is the way the
department is aided by a number of
insect takes its ease. The exhibit was ar-
ranged by Mr. Henry Bird amateur entomologists, members of
AMATEUR ENTOMOLOGISTS AND THE MUSEUM 345
the New York Entomological Society hundreds of different kinds found in a

and others, who
liberally give us time town lot only 75X200 feet in extent.
and specimens money— many of them Recently an enclosed space within
do not have to give —
receiving no other the exhibition hall has been set aside
reward than the pleasure of helping the
institution help others to learn about
the creatures which are of so much
interest to them.
Some amount of
indication of the
work accomplished may be
scientific
had from the amount of publication.
It is of interest to note that in the last
fifteen years the Museum's entomologi-
cal activities have contributed approxi-
mately 5500 pages to the Bulletin —
about one-third of the total number of
pages of that publication. Other papers
have appeared elsewhere. This rela-
tively large contribution could not have
been made solely by the Museum's
small entomological staff and, as a
matter of fact, more than half of the
articles, although based upon Museum
material, were written by outside

workers, either amateur entomologists
or members of the staff of some sister
institution.
We feel that the Museum owes a
great debt to amateur entomologists
and to the public from which the
amateurs of the future are to be re-
cruited. One of our rooms has been
fitted out as a meeting place for the
New York Entomological Society and
a collection of insects found within
The auditory organs of insects are located in
fifty miles of New York City has been
unexpected places. Grasshoppers have on
placed in charge of that society. This the first segment of their abdomen a mem-
brane that serves as an ear. The male mos-
collection is freely open to amateurs for
quito Culex, on the other hand, uses its anten-
study. In the exhibition hall we are nse to detect sound. The antennal hairs
vibrate sympathetically to certain tones, and
trying to present insects not as often their response is greatest to the note repre-
beautiful and sometimes curious sented by the female's hum. No stranger
location for a hearing organ suggests itself,
creatures, but as having most in-
however, than the leg. Yet a number of
teresting habits, —
a fascinating group insects, including crickets, long-horned grass-
hoppers, ants, termites, and stone flies have
the study of which many lifetimes will
their auditory organs situated on the forelegs.
not exhaust, a group, moreover, that is The model of a cricket's foreleg, prepared by
Mr. Ignaz Matausch, illustrates clearly the
represented on every hand as is shown light-colored membrane that probably func-
by the exhibit (now being arranged) of tions much as does our ear drum
346 NATURAL HISTORY
Adjoining the insect exhibits on the third floor of the American Museum, is an enclosed
space that has been reserved for the exclusive use of Boy Scouts. Here they may keep their
working materials and their specimens, which include not only dead insects to be mounted but
live insects in the larval, pupal, and adult stages, also formicaries, and even animals other than
insects that are being studied by the Scouts. Here Mr. B. T. B. Hyde, educational director,
Kanohwahke Scout camps. Palisades Interstate Park, has established his winter headquarters,
and the picture shows him and a number of his Scouts engaged in their indoor activities
for the use of Boy Scouts interested in in recent years, to the Rockies and
entomology. Here they may mount other parts of the West. A number of
insects they have collected and watch friends, especially Mr. B. Preston Clark,
the development of live specimens they have kindly given financial aid to
have captured in the larval stage here ; these trips and now, through the
too they may get that wider acquaint- generosity of other friends, the depart-
ance with the insect world which is ment has an automobile fitted up as a
offered by the exhibition collections. camping-collecting car for use in field
Our scientific work, including the work.
field trips, is not being directed pri- Naturally, we hope that our depart-
marily toward studies of any particular ment may continue to enlarge its col-
orders of insects but centers about the lections and, what is even more needed,
problems concerning evolution, particu- its curatorial staff; but our most earn-
larly those of geographic distribution est hope is that we may be increasingly

and the and
interrelations of insects helpful to the amateur entomologist. It
their environment. These studies have is from this class of naturalists that we
taken us to Labrador, Florida, the derive much of our support, and hon-
West Indies, and South America, and, est}^ demands efforts to repay our debt.
The colony of beavers at Lava Creek, Yellowstone National Park, have erected a dome-
shaped house of impressive size. The dam seen in the foreground is enlarged a little each
year by the beavers, and as a result the government engineers are compelled each j'-ear
to raise the road that runs along the shore of the creek
A Beaver Colony of Yellowstone Park^

By M. p. skinner
Park Naturalist, Yellowstone National Park
Inhabiting two centuries ago the greater part of the North American Continent, ranging southward as far
as the Rio Grande and extending northward into the Arctic Circle, the beaver was subsequently threatened with
extinction due to the merciless demand for its fur. Today, thanks to the respite from persecution that it has
enjoyed, it again occupies half of its original territory. It is a pleasure to note that it has built in the security
of some of our national parks. Visitors to the Rocky Mountain National Park, for instance, are familiar with the
structures erected by beavers within that sanctuary. The wild life of Yellowstone National Park rivals in appeal
the geysers of the region, and the establishment some years ago of a beaver colony near a roadway, where it
might be viewed by the thousands of people who annually visit the park, was a development of interest. That
colony has nowjgrown to proportions that justify a review of its history. Editor.
WHEN I first
herein referred to
knew the
willow —a
locality himself with a burrow in the bank of
Lava Creek. A few years later he
"
meadow, hard and firm most was joined by a second beaver,' and in
of the time but swampy in spring no — the spring of 1914 the trees cut down
beaver were to be seen in it. About for food and the twigs stripped of bark
1910, I noticed beaver signs near the became more conspicuous. Soon after
bridge below the meadow, and I that the beavers began moving up a
assumed the beaver concerned had small stream flowing in from the east
come up from the river three miles through the swampy meadow. Late
away. I doubt if there was more than that summer small dams were built
one animal at first and he contented and a series of little ponds was de-
iPhotographs by the author.
348 NATURAL HISTORY
veloped, but still there was no house The locahty had little beaver food
visible. except a few aspens, the willow bushes,
During the following September the and some water plants, and with the
beavers started work on the main dam increasing population these were soon
and although they did not build it in danger of giving out. So the
high at first, the barrier was sufficient beavers started new works to the south,
to cause the water to back up. Whole forming two more ponds and gaining
branches were used, the branchlets and access to a fine grove of aspens. In
twigs sticking out and interlocking 1921 they built another house in the
with those of adjoining branches and middle pond, and in 1922 they started
thus offering resistance to the stream. yet another. During these operations
The larger branches and trunks of much pine and fir land was flooded and
aspen were placed in the lower part of the trees killed, with the result that the
the dam with some willows on top. scenery is somewhat marred by the
(In other places, where aspens are dead trees.
scarce, beavers have shown them- In Yellowstone Park beavers are
selves adaptable and have built with protected, but it takes time for them
willows only, or even with mud if the to find it out. At first beavers were
better materials could not be had. glimpsed only on moonlight nights, but
When obtainable,stones have been now they are becoming so tame they
used to weigh down the branches.) are easily seen in daytime by the
Each autumn during the following four thousands of tourists that frequent the
years the dam was built a little higher, park. When the intelligent animals
and additions were made to the found that people did not molest them,
house, which had evidently been started they came out earlier and earlier, and
at the same time as the dam although now they often appear as early as three
it was so small at first that it failed to o'clock in the afternoon. But they
attract attention. still make their repairs and additions
By 1919 the colony had increased to to house and dam at night, so that it is
twelve beavers, and, needing bigger not often that they are seen at work.
accommodations, the animals all set At present they number about twenty.
to work tearing down the old house and Usually the first indication of beavers
erecting in its stead one of the largest is the sudden appearance of a small
houses I have ever seen. The site was round head shooting up to the surface
the highest part of the pond bottom near the house, followed by a long,
and the new house was a domed struc- flat, brownish back. A V-ripple silvers
ture of mud with interlaced aspen the surface as the beaver circles about
branches of fair size, so placed that it the house, and sometimes around the
would be exceedingly difficult for a pond, to see if all is safe. Then the
coyote or a wolverine to dig through. animal makes a straight course to
While the building was going on, the the upper end of the pond where the
entrance burrow was dug out and the willows grow. When a willow is found
interior chamber roughly shaped, the to his liking, he rises up on his legs,
finishing touches being given later. braces himself with his strong tail,
This house is still the main home of the grasps the willow with his paws, and
"original settlers," although several cuts it off with one or two bites of sharp
colonies- have left it to go elsewhere. teeth driven by powerful muscles. The
After the house was finished an branch is taken by the butt and the
addition was built to the dam, and beaver, with head higher and back
each year since, a little more has been lower than usual, swims off to a favorite
added to keep the water at least three eating place with the branch trailing
feet deep over the mud and silt that behind. Arrived there, he crouches
each spring freshet brings down. This half in and half out of the water, grasps
complicates the work of the govern- the willow crosswise with his fore paws
ment engineers, who each year must (I almost said "hands," so soft and
raise the road along shore to keep above free from hair are they and so expertly
the rising water. used) and turns it rapidly about as the
A BEAVER COLONY OF YELLOWSTONE PARK 349
teeth strip off the bark. He works the opposite direction. The task of
fast,and soon a peeled switch is left to the beavers was a hard one and when
mark the feast. Sometimes the branch they started bringing the aspens back,
is taken to the house, or dam, and the they found it necessary to cut them
switch left there to strengthen the into short sections, from one to four
structure. feet long, after trimming off the
After a hearty meal, the beaver is branches. Even so, many a time it
apt to wash and smooth his fur. A took two or three workers to master a
peculiar split nail on the second toe of load. Then their engineers began
the hind foot is used, it is said, in building canals from the pond towards
combing the hair; I cannot vouch for the "wood lot," for they found it easier
this from personal observation, but I to tow logs by water than to drag them
have seen our little friend dress his fur over land. Also it was safer, for a
with his paws, afterwards washing beaver disturbed by wolf, bear, or bob-
them, his arms, and face cat-fashion. cat could escape much faster by water.
On the score of personal cleanliness, Unlike the bear and some other
I am inclined to place the beaver very animals, beavers do not hibernate and
high indeed. Living as he does in must eat all winter. Accordingly in
close, crowded quarters all winter, he the autumn, on the approach of cold
must be cleanly, or vermin would make weather, they busy themselves taking
his life miserable. branches and tree sections to a pile
Willows did not always satisfy the near the house, where they are sunk
beavers, and they craved aspens; but to become available as food in winter
aspens grew farther away from the when the pond is closed by ice. At
water and the animals had to go over- Lava Creek, not so much food is stored,
land to secure them. They were rather for there is a spring near the road
awkward on land in walking their toes
: and the comparatively warm water
were turned sharply out, and the high prevents the formation of ice over an
arched body swayed from side to side area of a few feet. The patch of clear
on the short legs, while the broad, water permits the beaver to leave his
heavy tail swung side wise also but in winter prison if food becomes scant.
A beaver taking a willow branch to the storage pile near the house, to
be used as food when the pond freezes over
American Men of the Dragon Bones
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF A FIELD TRIP TO MONGOLIA WITH THE THIRD
ASIATIC EXPEDITION
By henry FAIRFIELD OSBORN

—
Foreword. Barely escaping the catastrophe in Yokohama, Professor Osborn arrived in
Shanghai Tuesday, September 4, and received from Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews the following
telegram: "Greatly worried about you. Am holding entire expedition in Mongoha awaiting
jôur arrival." This anxiety was due to the failure of the American wireless station in Peking to
get detailed news of the casualties of the Yokohama disaster. On receiving a reassuring
reply, Mr. Andrews wired, "Thank God, you are safe! Awaiting you in Peking." In Peking
at last, after two years' delay, Professor Osborn was greeted on the platform by Mr. and Mrs.
Andrews. Mr. Andrews was full of suppressed excitement over the discovery of dinosaur
eggs, a relatively small but ultimately momentous incident in an expedition so full of great
discoveries. Messrs. Osborn and Andrews outfitted at once and started September 12 by
train to Kalgan, close to the Mongolian frontier, at which point these notes from a week's
diary crowded with interesting entries begin.
LEAVING Peking September 12 at pressed with the Chinese struggle for

half past eight, we arrived in existence, with the evidence of over-
Kalgan at three-thirty that after- population, triumphs of
with the
noon and were met by John McKenzie Chinese agriculture —triumphs
which
Young, chief of the motor fleet of the have doubtless been accumulating for
Third Asiatic Expedition of the Amer- the last 12,000 years, since the first
ican Museum and Asia Magazine. colonists settled on the Yellow River,
Highly trained as an expert mechani- Every bit of land is intensely culti-
cian, with a fine record in the United vated ; every mountain-side is terraced
States Marine Corps service. Young to the very summit, although there is
succeeded Colgate of the 1922 expedi- no water with which to irrigate. We

tion and, ably assisted- by C. Vance passed by an old grandly walled town,
Johnson, another United States Marine a monument of Chinese brick masonry,
Corps veteran, brought the fleet of five every line and angle in perfect sym-
motor cars over six thousand miles of metry. We had never been told enough
rough Chinese roads and Mongolian of the Chinese as architects, as design-
bowlders and sands triumphantly to ers, as masons, as builders, as engineers.
the end of two years of service, and in The entire interior of this walled
such splendid condition that the entire town, whicliuprobably resisted centuries
fleet was sold to Chinese merchants at of Mongol attack from the north, is
half the original cost. virtually deserted, very likely because

From Kalgan, dusty and prosperous, infested with diseaseand with vermin,
Young guided our four-passenger Dodge but a new Chinese town is springing
car along the center of a dry river bed, up about a quarter of a mile distant.
where not a drop of rain had fallen for From this point, where we rested to
months, through canons bordered by cool off and enjoy some fruit, there
ancient towers, fortresses, and walls, begins a sharp and rocky ascent to the
over the first mountain ridges, and into summit of the pass, the ancient border
broad open plain. We were deeply im- between China and Mongolia — an
350
AMERICAN MEN OF THE DRAGON BONES 351

This map shows the hne Kalgan-Urga Telegraph that flanks the route over which
of the
Professor Osborn and his companions, Messrs. Andrews and Young, traveled from Kalgan
to the Museum camp at Irdin Manha, and thence to the fossil site of Iren Dabasu, 21 miles
beyond. The roads were bad from Kalgan to Miao Tan, 35 miles; extremely variable from
Miao Tan to Pang Kiang, a telegraph station, 139 miles; perfect from Pang Kiang to Iren
Dabasu, in the eastern part of the Desert of Gobi, 87 miles— a total of 261 miles from Kalgan
to Iren Dabasu. Iren Dabasu, signifying "Valley of the Salt Lake," is the chief spot indi-
cated in the Encyclopsedia Britanica map of the Gobi Desert of Mongolia
ascent where the stoutest automobiles of roads as civihzing media and as

are put to the severest test, because of channels of distribution for agricultural
both the grade and the terrible char- products. Roads were built onh' to
acter of the road. We chmbed slowly the tombs and palaces of the emperors.
upward through the dust, but in the The automobile is now welcomed on
wet season no automobile can make this the single Kalgan-Urga route over the
ascent. It is highly distinctive of pass because the heavy tuchun tax on
Chinese civilization, past and present, this vehicle enables the local military
that this people is blind to the value magnate to make a pretense of keeping
A section of the dry river bed north of Kalgan under a cUff crowned by a Chinese temple.
Beyond rises a hill surmounted by one of the outer Chinese walls. The stern rock hill in the
center and right of the picture is of Jurassic porphyry, the result of a series of volcanic flows,
now tilted steeply up. The lower hills to the left of the hard rock are wholly composed of
loose gravel. In the upper beds of these were found sands containing real "dragon" bones
dinosaurs. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
American Museum of Natural Hisionj and Asia Magazine

These 'Stout walls of an ancient Chinese city doubtless repelled Mongol attacks from the
—
north throughout centuries. They still stand, a memento of the past but serving today no
practical purpose, for the city they guarded is deserted, while the tide of invasion has reversed
itself, and the Mongol military pressure of old is being replaced today by the peaceful
penetration of Mongolia by the Chinese. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
352

Eastern side of the crumbling frontier wall between northern China and Mongolia, wdth a
ruined watchtower in the center. Just beyond, as one looks into Mongolia, one may see the
rich agricultural lands of the Chinese colonists. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
the road in order. The Chinese carts querors clambering over or breaking
with shining steel-studded wheels are through the wall, descending with little
forced aside into their own rutted road- resistance to pass the line >f fortifica-
ways, through which men and animals tions which culminated irj the Great
struggle along, for a single train of Wall fifty miles to the sjuth. The
Chinese carts would completely destroy hardy and warlike Mongols have
even the rudimentary motor road that always held in contempt the peace-
extends from Kalgan seven hundred loving agriculturists of China, and
miles north to Urga. even now the Mongol sajdng runs,
Reaching the summit of the pass at "One Mongol is good for ten China-
one o'clock, we were faced by the men and a Mongol troop of 300 is
ruins of one of the outer walls guarding amply able to rout a Chinese army of
the passage from the Mongolian plains 3000." In fact, in 1921, not far north
north of the mountains to the great which has been crossed
of this barrier,
plain of China on the south. To the and recrossed so often in the past three
right of the narrow road are the ruins thousand years, the entire Chinese
of a tall watch tower and to the left army was virtually annihilated, the
the "Temple of the Gateway," which few straggling remnants being driven
contains three once formidable and back by Mongol troops armed with
revered gods of war, somewhat dilap- Bolshevist weapons.
idated now as a result of the wave The present peaceful invasion of
of irreverence for ancient deities which Mongoha by China is, however, far
is sweeping all over the Celestial Empire. more formidable than the warlike in-
Infinitely more impressive is it to vasions of the past. The Chinese
look southward from the temple over farmer is pushing northward the
the rich and fertile plains of Cathay Mongol herdsman and horseman, just
and imagine the hardy Mongol con- as the American farmer and settler
354 NATURAL HISTORY
slowl}' pushed back the Indians of Chinese motor car station of Miao
North America. This agricultural Tan at haK past three, which gave us
invasion is irresistible; it is at the rate an opportunitj^ before dark of study-
of from five to ten miles a year, along a ing a typical Chinese frontier town,
very broad frontier, which has now into which the Chinese peasants re-
reached a point between eighty and treat from their widespread fields at
ninety miles north of the actual geo- nightfall for protection. The harvest
graphic hne between Mongoha and was in full tide. Women stumped
China. The advancing invader is the along on their diminutive bound feet,
adventurous Chinese with his plow; for this region has not been penetrated
he goes well beyond the nearest Chinese by the foot reform wave, Chinese
settlement, selects what seems to be a mothers do not want to jeopardize the
promising piece of land, throws it into future matrimonial prospects of their
furrows, and plants the first crop of daughters by allowing their feet to
seed that has ever been put into this attain a natural size, the small foot
virgin which the nomadic Mongols
soil, being one of the emblems of feminine
have used for thousands of years as beauty even in this farming community.
grazing grounds. The next yeax the Some of the women and girls, though
Chinese officials take over the land and moving about as if on stilts, appear to
estabHsh corner posts, and in another have overcome the pain entirely;
season the Mongol yurts slowl}^ dis- others, their faces drawn, show that
appear and Chinese mud-walled towns they are hfe-long sufferers from the
suddenly '^"
ring up. The present mandates of this strange fashion.
Chmese in-'i-ion, it is said, extends at Returning from the fields under the
least 125 i:;.bs east and west and from brilliant rays of the setting sun the —
50 to 80 miles north and south, con- first of the incomparable MongoHan
stituting an area of not less than 6000 sunsets which greeted us we had —
square miles. splendid appetites for om' first truly
Nowhere is there a more startling Chinese dinner, and the doorwaj' to the
transition than that presented by the guest room honor seemed nrost
of
landscape as one leaves the terribly inviting even though the square win-
arid hillsides of northern China and, dows of the room were covered with
passing through the barrier wall, paper instead of glass, thus affording
finds himself among beautiful, richly poor ventilation.
fertile slopes and fields, superbly cul- It was represented to our Chinese
tivated. The melting snow of the host in the inn of Miao Tan that the
preceding winter starts the crops in party was headed by no less a person-
spring; then there is a period of age than the president of "the Ameri-
drought, followed by an early autumnal can Musemn of Heavenly Creations,"
rainy season. As we rolled along, a man who had come an immense dis-
passing entrancing golden fields, we tance and must be duly impressed not
were pelted by a heavy shower of hail, only with aU the delights of Chinese
exactly as in the uplands of Colorado cooking but with the exotic comforts to
and Wyoming in the midsmnmer be found between the baked-mud walls
season. The roads are almost perfect of the principal guest room, where one's
and we bowled along at thirty-five bed is placed on top of the Chinese
miles an hour, reaching the important oven before the fire is kindled within.
But the dinner was a simple one com- was entirely with us. By their majestic
pared with the elaborate banquet and well-timed entry our motors had
prepared for us at this same inn on our taken all the "face" out of the other
homeward journey a week later, be- cars. The yard bustled with life
cause on our departure for the north motor men, Chinese attendants, Mon-
the host was duly warned that when gols, little Chinese soldiers, and dogs
we returned there should be such a full of curiosity; while from the paper
dinner as had never been served before

in this inn.
This great feast on our return to
Miao Tan was celebrated on the
evening of September 19, when the
entire fleet of automobiles was rolling
southward. I may be permitted to
digress for a moment in order to stress
some features of that return trip.
Andrews and I arrived in advance of
the fleet and found the courtyard
pretty well crowded with three north-
bound Russian-American motor cars,
including an imposing French double-
tired truck, utterly unfit for Chinese
furrows or Mongol road bogs. It
was evident that the were
cars
terribly overloaded and that, with a
very rudimentary knowledge of motor
construction, the chauffeurs were more
intent on making loud explosions and
thereby creating a great impression on
the Chinese than in the care of their
machines. One of these cars, with At the Chinese inn in Miao Tan. ^Pro- —
twelve northbound Chinese passengers fessor Osborn in the doorway of the mud-
walled room reserved for distinguished
on top of its load of freight, started out visitors. Photograph controlled by the
of the yard to the accompaniment of American Museum of Natural History and
Asia Magazine
loud engine explosions, carrying with it
a considerable part of the gateway. windows of the Chinese kitchen there
At this moment my American heart were wafted the most delectable odors
throbbed with pride as I heard the of roast pig, mingled with the acrid
familiar toot of our own motor fleet fumes of the camel-dung fuel. And
and there swept into the yard in perfect never was there such a dinner as that
order and at a rapid rate our two Fulton celebrated that evening, with Ubations
trucks and three Dodges, grandly now to the gods of Mongolia, now to the
driven by their bronzed, blue-eyed American men of the expedition force,
giants, J.McKenzie Young and C. now to the president of the "American
Vance Johnson. The cars lined up Museum Heavenly Creations."
of
side by side in military order, and for To return to our northbound jour-
the remainder of the afternoon prestige nev. We were off before sunrise in the
356 NATURAL HISTORY
morning and soon passed the northern cluded of modern type
earthworks
boundary of the Chinese agricultural designed by German engineers and
lands to enter the hilly grasslands, proudly surveyed as impregnable by
where the Mongol herders still are to be Chinese soldiers marching with the
seen with their horses, sheep, and German goose step, so that the safe-
goats, and where one must be on the guards against Mongol attack were
lookout for bandits. This hilly country faultless — if only the Mongols had fol-
is probably the remnant of a once lowed the orthodox methods of war and
grand mountain chain, from the south- attacked from the front! But, greatly
ern slopes of which were eroded the to the bewilderment of the Chinese
rich agricultoiral rolling plains now in soldiers, they violated all established
possession of the Chinese, while from rules and swept around the forts, at-
the northern slopes were deposited the tacking from the rear. It was a series
fossil beds. A traverse of 139 miles of infantile military blunders of this
brought us to Pang Kiang, where the kind which led to the destruction of
single mud-built inn was so uninviting the Chinese army.
that we pitched our tent amid the We could not greatly regret the out-
ruins of a Chinese fort, from which the come, because we were in a country
Mongols had driven the retreating which we felt belonged historically to
Chinese army nearly three years be- the Mongols, and under a glorious sky,
fore. Tlie fortifications had been
! in which the stars seemed so near that
erectejd with mihtary skill. They in- we coul(J almost touch them, we made
Ameriran Mu.seum of Natural llisti, i] A.-îa Magazine

Roy Chapman Andrews, chief of the Men of the Dragon Bones," in the
"American
Desert of Gobi, pointing out Iren Dabasu, "The Valley of the Salt Lake," where the first
dinosaurs were discovered in Mongolia in the season of 1922. Photograph by Walter Granger
our way through the darkness toward sacred titles bestowed upon the em-
the httle telegraph station of Pang perors was "the true dragon." Con-
Kiang, which is at once a sanctuary sequently, I felt that the giving of this
for the caravans and a point of com- title American Museum expedi-
to the
munication with the outer world. tion was a mark of reverence and
As we walked, I suddenly noticed a respect, both for the animal whose
small group of men in the darkness bones were sought and for the men who
pointing toward Andrews and myself. could pursue such a difficult and ad-
I asked Andrews to listen to what thej^ venturous calling.
were saying, and it was here that The rosy hues of dawn were tingeing
I learned the Chinese designation of the sky next morning as I left my blue
our party, for the words were " There tent, and soon we were again under
go the America?! MenDragon of the way. Before us was the line of roll-
Bones. '^ This did not mipress Andrews
' ing hills which intervened before we
as it did me I was delighted with this
; reached the borders of the desert; our
Chinese christening, because it seemed motor car quickened its pace as it
to me both a tribute to the valor of our sped along the uplands. There were
men and a wonderfully apt designa- valleys leading outwards, no canons,
tion of the main objective of the Third only broad flat basins surrounded by
Asiatic Expedition as it impressed low-rimmed hills. This was a revela-
itself upon the Chinese.
For what tion to an eye accustomed to the well-
purpose were we in Mongolia? Ob- drained canon basins in Wyoming,
viously enough to the Chinese mind, Colorado, and all the Rocky Mountain
to collect the bones of dragons —the region. These flat basins are, however,
dragons which for ages past had the geographic key to the southern
ruled the sky, the air, the earth, —
borders of Mongolia in fact, to central
the waters of the earth, and which Mongolia itself. The water supply is so
even today are beHeved in implicitly scanty that it sinks into the soil and
by the Chinese. Of course we should never accumulates in lakes and rivers
find small bones corresponding to to cut its way out; the water is never
small dragons, large bones corre- seen, but lies in quantity below the
sponding to remains of large dragons it can be reached every-
surface, so that
— also of vast dragons, some of which where by wells. These have been dug
according to Chinese myth leave their by the nomadic herdsmen for thou-
tails in the eastern part of the Desert sands of years past; from fifteen to
of Gobi, while their heads rest on the twenty feet below the surface an abun-
slopes of the Altai Mountains, four dant supply of pure water may be
hundred miles distant! Here is the found, and on this the domesticated
sum of the palaeontology and zoology herds of camels, goats, sheep, and
of the native Chinese —
the dragon and horses have always depended. In the
the phcenix. UnHke
the dreaded Rand-McNally map of Mongolia the
dragon of western Europe the dragon numerous little circles indicate these
of .central Asia is a beneficent creature, wells as mapped by the Russians and
a friend of man, which brings the rain are not symbols for towns or villages
to produce crops and in turn supplies as one would suppose. It is only in the
food. This creature is, in fact, so height of the very brief rainy season
highly revered that one of the most that pools occur on the surface; con-
358 NATURAL HISTORY
sequently, all the wild animals have speed, the gazelles crossed in front of us,
become accustomed to a waterless making for a break in the plain to our
desert and live on the moisture they left. Andrews suddenly slowed down
find in the plants. to avoid a dangerous gully and as he
Wesoon entered the southern bor- swung around to the head of the gully,
ders of the great Desert of Gobi, which we witnessed a very rare sight: a
I have always desired to see above all gazelle that had dashed away from the
deserts, especially after travehng in the herd reached the edge of the break,
Libyan Desert flanking the Nile Valley whereupon a wolf sprang out from its
of northern Africa and in the desert place of concealment and, quite oblivi-
wastes of the Rocky Mountain region. ous of our presence, made a tremendous
We passed on to this vast Mongolian sprint for the which was
gazelle,
desert, incredibly level as far as the already somewhat fatigued by our

eye can reach, and before long sighted previous pursuit of several miles. It
our first herd of antelope or gazelle, was an exciting moment; in another

of the species Gazella suh-guttiirosa, instant, however, the two animals
and immediately gave Although
chase. swept around the break out of sight and
the speed of the car rose from thirty- we could not see which creature won
five to forty, then to forty-five miles out in the struggle for existence.
an hour, the gazelles easily kept their At three o'clock on September 15
distance on the absolutely level plain. we witnessed another unusual sight: a
They went through the manoeuvre of camel caravan of four great divisions,
crossing in front of our car, after the with more than a hundred camels in
manner described by Andrews in his —
each division, 420 in all. It was
volume Ac7'oss Mongolian Plains and majestic. Throughout his experience
elsewhere, —a trait also of the wild in Mongolia Andrews had never seen a
asses when pursued. Andrews, who camel train equal to this in size,
at that time had replaced Young at stretching for two miles in perfect
the wheel, drove the car with incred- alignment. It was a fitting introduc-
ible skill, as if by instinct. ''This tion to the climax of this first step of
is just the ordinary speed of the my journey, namely, the approach to
gazelle," he said, "I'll throw them the American Museum camp. Andrews,
into top speed by a rifle shot." He who well knew its location on the edge
then fired and a fleck of dust marked of the great Irdin Manha plateau, told
the plain just to the left of the herd. me we were nearing it, but it
that
Then I witnessed a wonderful me- was concealed by a glassy mirage, and
chanical change; the whole herd flat- it was only when we came within a
tened down
into an entirely different mile of the camp that the American
speed, which Andrews estimated at flag and the blue tents were discernible
sixty miles an hour by taking into in the distance. We were now going
account the ease with which the at a very high rate of speed and in a
animals ran away from our car travel- few moments / ivas there after two —
ing at forty-five miles an hour. years of enforced delay!
Altogether we had this exciting men were drawn up in line
All the
experience three times; on the third to welcome us^six Americans, nine
occasion near our Irdin Manha camp, Chinese, four Mongols; part of our
when we were going at a high rate of Mongol section was still with the camel
American Mveun of Natural History and Asia Magazine
Motor trouble on the Mongolian plains at Irden Manha. —
The rear housing of Dodge
car No. 2, strained from overloading and severe jolting, is being straightened by C. Vance
Johnson, chief mechanician, over a fire of camel dung. From left to -right: C. Vance
Johnson, Peter Kaisen, George Olsen, Professor Osborn, J. McKenzie Young, Albert Johnson.
Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews

The Mongol interpreters of the Third Asiatic Expedition. —
Two of them are proudly
dressed in American clothes in anticipation of the return to their homes at the close of the field
work of 1923. The individual on the left is Tcherim, strongly of the American Indian type,
courageous and loyal, a keen huntsman and fine example of the best unspoiled native
Mongol. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
359
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362 NATURAL HISTORY
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Maga

The expedition headquarters from which Professor Osborn set forth to Mongoha and to
which he returned after his adventures in the desert. The picture represents a corner of the
front court, and a ghmpse into the Chinese rock garden beyond. The building in the center is
Leader Andrews' office. Photograph by Yvette Borup Andrews
caravan on its way from western Johnson of Montana,

Sweetwater,
Mongolia. Every man showed his "Montana Johnson," an expert
also
j
'
oy at the arrival of the president " I
'
.
bone man. These with C. Vance

shook hands in order of seniority Johnson, former United States marine
with Walter Granger, veteran palae- and now first mechanician under J.
ontologist for thirty-two years in the McKenzie Young, and Young himself,
service of the American Museum with ; who drove us out, completed the party
Frederick K. Morris, geographer and of "American Men of the Dragon
geologist, formerly of Columbia Uni- Bones."
versity; with Peter Kaisen, sturdy This was one of the really great
fossil-bone expert, whom I found thirty moments of my life, to see these men in
years ago in central Wyoming; with splendid health, each bursting with
George Olsen, another sturdy Dane and, some triumph in the way of fossil dis-
hke Kaisen, a native of Medicine Bow, covery, each modestlj^ giving all the
Wyoming, scene of Owen Wister's credit to his fellows. After a glorious
novel, The Virginian; with Albert sunset that gradually gave waj^ to a
American Museum of Natural History ami A-<iii Magazine
Within the front court of the headquarters of the Third Asiatic Expedition. The ivy- —
crowned entrance leads to the spirit door beyond, in the sun-ht distance. The spirit screen,
which closes the view, stops the invasion of ghosts, for in China spirits can travel only in a
straight line. Photograph by Yvette Borup Andrews
wonderfully clear starlit night and the vation, followed by a large slice of
superb brightness of the Mongolian tempting pumpkin cooked over a
pie
moon, we drew into our large Mongol tiny Mongol brazier with unrivaled
dining tent and feasted on a delicious Chinese skill, sent me to bed with the
dinner of roast gazelle, sirloin cut, with happiest thoughts, chief of which was
a tenderloin cut for ''the chief." As I the complete success of the Third
looked around the table, feebly illum- Asiatic Expedition under its incompar-
ined by a central line of candles, I able leader, Roy Chapman Andrews.
observed even by the dim light what I
have noted in the case of other groups THE RETURN JOURNEY
of explorers — all the hunters of the The three following da^'s were
dragon bones were blue-eyed whether ; devoted to a rapid review of the three
from Denmark or from Wyoming or great fossil fields which lay to the north,
Montana or Vermont or Wisconsin, all to the east, and to the west of our
were of the same adventure-loving Irdin Manha camp. In the meantime
northern exploring stock. This obser- the last specimens were taken out of
364 NATURAL HISTORY
the various quarries, the packing boxes observed four men approaching through
were closed up, a final overhauling was the darkness with rifles, ob\aously not
given the macliinery of the five auto- peasants. Were they soldiers or were
mobiles, and on the morning of Sep- they bandits? We did not know, and
tember 18 we started on the long home- it was not a moment to take any
ward journe}^ to the American Mu- chances, because the smTOunding hills
seima via Kalgan and Peking. On the would have facihtated a bandit attack.
afternoon of the same day, the fleet As I stepped out in my pajamas,
rolled into camp in the hilly country Andrews emerged from his tent, his
on the border of Mongolia and China, revolver in his right hand and in his
which is more or less infested with left an electric flashlight, which he
bandits. It was splencUd to see the cars gleamed in the faces of the approach-
run into position, each in its place, and ing armed MongoHans. Out of every
the men spring out to create the camp. tent at the same moment emerged a
Although the men wêre simply follow- peace-loving American, each similarly
ing the usual instructions, I was struck equipped with a revolver and flash-
hj the rapicUty of their work and took light. Andrews is known as an abso-
out my watch to time them. At lute dead shot with his revolver; he
quarter to five the fleet came to a occasionally practises in camp on
stop; at two minutes past five seven cans and other small objects, and the
blue Mongol tents were fined up in Mongols far and wide know that he
order, ready for occupation — exactly never misses. A reputation for accur-
seventeen minutes. ac3^ and steadiness of aim is very
Suddenlj' we discovered that we were helpful. As in every other case of this
accidentally camping on a. Mongol kind, a show of preparedness was all
cemetery, consisting not of graves but that was necessary; Andrews waved his
of skeletons and skulls, —remains of the hand across the flashlight and the
bodies thrown out to the dogs according approaching band unmediately put
to custom but which were none the less down their rifles and thus became
sacred to the natives. Our men began harmless. One of our Mongols then
to bring in some of the skulls, precious went forward and friendly relations
in their record of pm'e Mongol traits; were soon established.
they were immediately stopped by It was this combination of firmness
Leader Andrews, who was aware that and kindness during eight jêars in
our party could do nothing more cal- —
northern China three of which were
culated to hurt the spirit of Mongol devoted also to eastern and central
reverence for the dead, which is not less —
Mongoha w^hich resulted in an ever-
than that of the Chinese. increasing respect for the power of
This spot among the hi]ly grasslands ''the American Men of the Dragon
was also the site of the first American Bones" and an ever-increasing welcome
Museum camp in Mongolia, as it was as their honest purposes and peaceful
there that the expedition made its initial methods became more widely known.
halt in April, 1922. In high spirits we T\Tien our fleet of motor cars returned
aU assembled in the large blue Mongol on September 20 through the narrow,
mess tent, and after our pipes and dusty streets of Kalgan. with small
stories we turned into our I'espective American weatherworn from long
flags
tents for the night. At this moment I exposure to the hot sun and sand of
the Mongolian desert, the Chinese the combined efforts of Mr. Larsen and
were confirmed in their impression that Mr. Badmajapoff we were able to
we were friends on a friendly mission, preva.il over counter influence in Urga
friends always ready for a critical and to penetrate during the first and
emergency along the way or to do a second years to Outer Mongolia, the
deed of kindness, but not to be trifled northerly and westerly desert, where
with by bandits or outlaws. the most startling discoveries were
Our methods have- also won for us made, namely, of the giant Baluchi-
the respect and friendship of officials therium and of the great horned or
and men of prominence throughout ceratopsian dinosaurs and their nests
China and Mongolia. When our and eggs.
privilege to explore was seriously As the result of a long evening con-
challenged in the spring of 1923, Leader ference I had with Mr. Larsen, meas-
Andrews renewed his pledge to the ures were planned to assure the success
Mongol government that in case of a of our coming five years of exploration,
discovery of economic importance 1924-28, to obtain a continuance of
coal, oil, or other mineral wealth — it Mongol support, and to cement the
would first be communicated to the Mongol government.
friendship of the
Mongol government and not to Ameri- We examined Mr. Larsen's Kalgan
can or foreign corporations. As inter- compound and assured ourselves as to
preter of the goodwill and of the the safety of boxes 1 to 35 —the early
determination of the expedition to numbers of the great total array of
thrust its way through unknown 135 boxes of fossil riches which have
Mongolia, Mr. Franz A. Larsen, of slowly made their long journey from
Urga and of Kalgan, has for three western Mongolia across the Pacific
years been giving his. staunch support; through the Panama Canal to New
he now enrolled as one of the honorary
is York. One cannot examine these
life of the American Museum.
members converted Standard Oil boxes with
Also on the roll of life members of packed in
their delicate fossil freight
the American Museum is the name camel hair without a thrill over this
of Mr. C. Badmajapoff, Minister of American and Mongolian romance,
Justice of the Urga government, who is this new bond that connects the young,
friendly because he is thoroughly con- eager, expert explorers of America
vinced that we are working entirely for with the most venerable dominion of
the welfare of his country. Through Mongolia.
Irdin Manha, with the flag-topped encampment of the Third Asiatic Expedition
Wintering Over a Fire Basket in Szechuan
By anna G. granger
Third Asiatic Expedition, American Museum and Asia Magazine
Foreword. — Thefire basket {huo lant zu) of China is a wicker-encased clay pot contain-
ing glowing coals. Held between the knees, its warmth helps one forget that the thermometer
stands at 28 degrees above zero and the mountains are snow-covered. As the hearth is used
symbolically for the home, so in the title of this article the fire basket epitomizes the quaint-
ness yet attractiveness of that substitute for home which Mr. and Mrs. Granger found in a
Chinese ancestral hall in Szechuan Province. Mrs. Granger's article in the March-April
issue brought the reader almost to the threshold of this building; he is now invited to step in.
TJOWEVER much one may in- conduct and built a charming temple
veigh against the pohtical and close by, which is dedicated to all
dimatic conditions of Szechuan, flowing waters and commemorates
no one can gainsay its scenic beauty. their beneficence to mankind.
The tiny settlement of Yen Ching Kou The mountains in this region would
(Salt Well Valley), where the Ameri- naturally have been clothed with a
can Museum camp was located, had dense and somber growth of evergreens
rounded mountains,
for its setting high, if the pine and a species of cedar or
cultivated slopes, and glistening rice arbor vitse which grow thickly had been
paddies. Under the magic of the sun's left to flourish as nature intended.
rays, no more charming spot could Where these surround a temple or a
be imagined, but even when viewed burying ground, they are usually
through the almost constant mists, it respected, but elsewhere Chinese
was impossible to have other than a squeeze enters in and they are robbed
friendly feeling for the pleasantly un- of their branches as high up as it is
dulating ranges, or to take seriously the safe to climb. The result of this
smaller isolated cones that have come pruning is a shape strongly suggestive
into existence at odd places in seem- of the imitation fiber trees that come
ing defiance of natural laws. Whether with a child's set of building blocks,
these conical mounds really presented except that the triangle of green which
any geological problem to the ''chief is silhouetted against the sky, or mir-
of staff," I know not. To my mind rored in the paddies, is elevated on a
they were simply a caprice of nature, proportionately The
taller trunk.
and enjoyed as such. A bona fide effect when by
the trees stand alone is
phenomenon did occur in the vicinity, no means unpicturesque, and when

though. It was a spring of cold water they are massed a degree of airiness
issuingfrom under the floor of a small i% attained, which would be less pro-
cave and emptying into our valley nounced were the light not able to pen-
brook. You could pass it one hour etrate to their bases. Also, it seemed
and the flow would be mediocre; a to me that the presence of so many
little later, and the volume would be surfaces of water at high levels assisted
increased tenfold, only to fall back in creating a more luminous atmos-
again after a few minutes to the original phere than is usual under gray skies.
amount. As yet this intermittent Two other trees helped to maintain
action is unexplainable. The Chinese a cheery, all-the-year-round greenness
long ago noted the spring's strange in this neighborhood. These were a
^Photographs accompanying this article were taken by Mr. Walter Granger.
367
368 NATURAL HISTORY
American Museum of Natural Ht^tonj and Asia Magazine

The square stage that faced the altar platform on the opposing page. —The stage served
as laboratory and oflBce, as dining room and conning tower. To the left of the picture, be-
neath the gallery are ranged two or more empty coffins, which, according to Chinese custom,
are selected by their future tenants while still in the flush of life and reserved for use on the
inevitable day
species of palm and a bamboo. The once you stepped the Tan
inside
latter is highly esteemed, and with good families' ancestral hall.The structure
reason. Its grace is beyond compare, boasted only two round windows and
itcan be cut and cut and still sprouts these were placed high up in a deep-set
out anew, and its uses are endless. No wall and covered with a fretwork which,
farmhouse tucked away up on the while delightfully ornamental; render-
mountain-side on its man-made plat- ed them utterly useless as a means of
form without a cluster of
of stones is observation. What light there was
these sunny-stemmed, feathery trees. came from the uncovered court in the
Had it not been for these plants, center. The plan of the roofed portion
the sight of the white-plastered, dark was very simple. A square stage, sup-
timbered buildings, often with thatched ported on high pillars, jutted out into
roofsand bearing the general form of a the court over the entrance. Opposite
Swiss chalet, might almost have per- this was a platform given over to the
suaded us on a snowy morning that practice of ancestor worship. An altar
we were spending the winter in Switzer- and tablets inscribed with eulogies to
land rather than in Asia on a parallel the departed were placed against its
a little north of the city of Cairo. rear wall.Here Mr. Tan, the inn-
All this scenery was lost to view keeper who lived next door, came every
WINTERING OVER A FIRE BASKET IN SZECHUAN 369
The altar platform in the ancestral hall, with the tablets eulogizing the departed
placed against the rear wall. —
On the table is the camp pet, a bamboo civet
{Paradoxurus) that interested visiting children of the neighborhood
morning and evening to light fragrant necessary for peaceful rest in one of the
joss sticks, to beat a drum, and to draw wooden coffins which already awaited
bell-like tones from a bronze urn by the family in a row under the gallery.
taps with his wand. Ordinarily this It was only when this devotion led
little ceremony seemed a very pleasing him to set off a small-sized cannon at
way of saluting the rising or departing break of day during the New Year
sun. To him it meant essential gain festival period that we weren't so sure of
in the amount of ''acquired merit" our enthusiasm for this ancient custom.
370 NATURAL HISTORY
coated with wet mud. The
stage was
Mr. Granger's special domain, but
aside from its usage as laboratory and
office, it had also to be dining room and
conning tower.
Considerable consternation was
caused in the Tan family when it
became known that I was expected to

visit the camp. At first my coming
was not going to be allowed at all. A
conference of the elders was held and
finally a compromise was arrived at.
If I would onl}^ not sleep in the temple,
even though I dressed and ate there,
the wrath of the gods would be averted
So it happened that Mr. Granger and I
put our cots in Mr. Tan's inn next door
and had a chance to see, or rather
These air}^ graceful trees, with their feathery hear, a phase of Chinese life not
tops, are characteristic features of the land- originally on the program. In many
scape. The natives lop off all but the highest
branches for fuel, leaving the trunk denuded
of verdure. This picture is controlled by the
American Museum of Natural History and
Asia Magazine
To reach the stage one crossed the

court, ascended seven stone steps to
the altar platform, turned either to
the right or left, mounted a ladder of
four rungs, and traversed either one of
the two galleries which connected these
main sections.At each end of the
altar platform was a small room. One
of these was used as our No. 1 boy's
apartment, and the other made a very
dark kitchen. Back of the stage were
two spaces rendered partially private
by some openwork wooden grills of
interesting pattern. These served as
bedrooms for Mr. Granger and Mr.
Wong during the second winter. One
gallery was given up to taxidermy and A native Szechuanese carrying a baby on
sleeping quarters for the remaining his back and a fire basket in his hands. The
Chinese. The other was utihzed for wicker on top of the basket is strong enough to
support an individual seeking warmth and
storage of equipment and as a place to
comfort by sitting upon it. This picture is
keep alcoholic specimens and to spread controlled by the American Museum of Na-
out the fossils, which always came in tural History and Asia Magazine
Amcriraii Museum oj Natural History nnrl Ana Magazine

A —
view from the front of the ancestral hall. On the top of these mountains are the pits
that supply the "dragon bones" of Chinese medicine or the fossil treasures sought by the
palaeontologist
inns, as Mr. Archibald Little's books this sally came generally from the
will testify, the guest room is situated kitchen, where Mr. Wong had been
over the pigsty. Had it been so warming his shins for an hour, awaiting
located in this instance, my trip to this hint of the approach of breakfast
Yen Ching Kou would have had to be This bit of pleasantry over, hsi lien
abandoned. Barring the fact that shui (wash-face water) was demanded
Chinese never want to stop talking and in a few minutes we three were
until about one o'clock, that they begin enjoying as nice a meal as if we had
scraping their throats at the first been in Peking, with the additional
streak of dawn, that a flock of ducks treat of a variety ofpersimmons much
was put to sleep every night in a superior to those grown in the north.
corridor just behind our heads, and be- The Szechuan fruit is smaller and
gan squawking to be let out at an early shaped somewhat like a very large
hour, and that rats and bats coursed plum, and is extremely sweet and juicy.
freely through the two doorways of our (A foreigner eats it by cutting a thin
room, we passed very comfortable shce off the top and scooping out the
nights in these make-shift quarters! soft contents with a spoon.) Coffee,
The camp day was usually begun at cereal, pancakes followed each
eggs,
eight o'clock by Mr. Granger calling other in courses. A hard life, we calledit
out, as soon as we reached the gallery In the intervals between expedi-
floor, ''Get up, Jim! " The response to tions to the bone pits, which during this
372 NATURAL HISTORY
second season were a long distance nated by two slender green tail feath-
from camp, or when the weather was ers, carefully sharpened to tiny points.
too wet to make a trip practicable, It must be understood that in rent-
Mr. Granger busied himself making up ing this temple for museum purposes,
the smaller, more difficult bird skins. it was not expected that the native
With the thermometer standing in the population of the village would be
thirties, a damp wind blowing, and no prevented from coming into the lower
sun to give warmth, this was a chilly part of the enclosure as long as they
business. When his fingers got too didn't make any noise. The one excep-
a walk was in order so as to restore
stiff, tion we made was at meal times. At
circulation, but he would never desist other hours the altar steps were rarely
from his labors until he had finished his without a group of curious onlookers.
day's work, often taking the last Most of what they saw must have been
stitches in a skin and smoothing every a great puzzle for their untutored
feather down to a nicety after Chow minds, but at least our being there
had brought out the supper lamps. brought a break in the frightful
Sometimes the wind blew out their monotony of their lives.
small flames before the label was After breakfast usually the first
written and the wee thing wrapped in people to appear were the patients to
its blanket of cotton. I never tired of whom " Doctor Chow " was giving first-
watching this skilled performance. aid treatment for sores of various kinds,
Buckshot, Chi, and Mr. Wong were many of them the result of dog bites.
the ones who kept the supply of bird The weaver might be the next to fill
specimens going strong, the interest the space on the altar floor with an
being stimulated by the attractiveness apparatus for winding his spindles, or
of the birds and the ease with which a with some large skeins of white cotton
new species could be obtained. So to be dipped in a stiffening solution and
keen were we all to see the new ad- hung up The dyer had found
to drain.
ditions that the returning hunters were that a long bamboo pole placed under
questioned as to their success before the eaves of the gaUery roof made a
they were haK way across the temple fine place from which to suspend his
court . If the report was an " aye " e ven ,
freshly dipped pieces of blue coolie
the cook joined the eager circle while cloth. Idle curiosity brought many to
the game bag was being examined. see the lao tai tdi (old mother), as I
We shall not soon forget the day am always calledby the Chinese.
that one of the Chinese brought in a Most had never seen
of the inhabitants
bird which more nearly resembles our a foreign woman before. In the town
American hummer than anything else. of Wan Hsien I was one of three
Its flame-colored throat gleamed so English-speaking women. When the
brightly that not one of us could for- wives of the gentry came, Mr. Tan
bear to pass a flnger over the spot as if made no objections to their mounting
to assure ourselves that the feathers the stage to have a closer look at me.
were not really on fire. A marvelous My tan leather walking shoes and my
purplish blue on the back of its neck many layers of wool clothing interested
next attracted the eye. Everywhere them, while their cleverly embroidered
else an iridescent green shimmered, and cotton suits and fancy hair ornaments
its little body was appropriately termi- were no less entertaining to me.
The biggest commotion was caused a few nights previous and a genuine
when a farmer on whose land a bone holiday atmosphere pervaded the scene
pit was being exploited arrived with because of quantities of a shrub bear-
some baskets of fossils which he hoped ing bright red berries similar to those
would be salable and Mr. Wong was of our holly. Buckshot had brought
hurriedly summoned to do the inter- branches of these to the temple a week
preting, to oversee the process of before, when he and I had fashioned
weighing (they are sold at from $18 to Christmas wreaths out of evergreens
—
$23 a picul equal to 133K pounds and had transformed the stage into a
depending on the quality of the bones semblance of an American home at the
and the amount of mud and rocks Yuletide season.
adhering to them) and to advise as to As we climbed upward we met many
how much cwnsha above the sale price carrying coolies coming down with
it would be proper to give so as to en- their loads of wood, wood oil, and rice.
courage the bringing of more material. There was hardly anyone who with-
During my first visit of twenty-eight held a friendly greeting, or who would
days at the camp the . sun shone not, with the slightest encouragement,
brightly for three whole days and as commence conversation, though what
many half days, a better average than itwas all about we seldom knew. Mr.
the winter months of some years show. Granger would invariably reply with a
Mr. Granger grew so tired of writing lingo as completely unintelligible to
in his diary "cloudy, cold, and damp" them. It often form of
took the
that he said he fully intended having a "Hello, Mike! Sure! Same
you!" to
rubber stamp made of this legend, so that if the speakers had not been
should the Fates ever send him to polite enough to say something agree-
Szechuan again! When a warm bright able, their evil thoughts would descend
day did come, the villagers turned out upon them in turn! This answer,
en masse to make a thoroughgoing delivered in his gay manner, always
investigation of the live stock that had brought a smile to their earnest,
accumulated on their persons since the patient faces but I could never help
last sunshiny day! At our camp also regretting a httle that the real humor
unwonted activity appeared in the line of the jest from our point of view was
oflaundry work and bed airing, and the lost to their minds. If the natives of
opportunity was not lost for taking and Szechuan have, as I believe, the same
printing pictures and for giving our childlike curiosity that the Chinese
own selves the chance of a sunning. population has in Peking, these way-
On the first favorable day I was farers were in all likehhood simply
taken to see some of the nearest bone asking us whither we were going,
pits, a half-day's journey from the whence we had come, and what our
temple. They lay in some high up- errand was.
lands on the farther side of the range By the time twelve o'clock had come
of mountains in sight from our front round, we had conveniently arrived at
door, and were reached by a trail of a small temple at the entrance to a
stone steps which for steepness left large cave. Here we warmed ourselves
nothing to be desired. and ate our lunch around the care-
It was still early in January. taker's open fire while the rice-eating
Patches of snow lingered from the fall members of the party prepared their
W t^
376 NATURAL HISTORY
food over a cement stove in the disguised by plants and vines that their
opposite corner of the kitchen. A wide true nature was not apparent.
doorway looked out upon the cave, To anyone interested in keeping
the opening of which was hned with fossil bones whole, and related ones in
niches carved in the hmestone and juxtaposition, the utter disregard of
set with brightly painted gods, among these matters by the Chinese during
them one representing the moon and the process of removal from the pits or
another the sun. A scientific interest afterwards was most trying. Their
attached to the cave on account of the sole object in digging them was to sell
bats which it had yielded in the winter them to wholesale druggists for medic-
of 1921-22. inal purposes, and since the final state
Soon after leaving the temple we of the bones would be powder, why
came upon the first fossil pits. As had take any particular pains? The number
been anticipated, none of them were of pits was too great, the areas contain-
being worked at the time, but these ing them were too widely separated and
excavations showed as well as any how the quarries were worked by too many
deep and dark the holes were and how different people to make it practicable
easy it would be for the sides to fall in, to do much in the way of instructing
since nothing was used to shore up the operators as to the reasons for
the wall of earth. In diameter a hole exercising special care in taking out
of moderate size may vary from four to fossils for the American Museum col-
sixteen feet; the depth, from twenty to lection. The situation could have been
sixty feet. —
Old pits that is, those remedied only by obtaining entire
that have been worked a long time control of the pits, and that was out of
are apt to be much wider and deeper. the question.
As the pits deepen, water gathers in The crowning treat of the day was
the bottom, often forcing a discon- the view we had as we began the
tinuance of work. The darkness of descent to the camp. Never before
the wells is overcome by the use of had been given me to look down on so
it
tiny wood-oil lamps. vast a sea of peaks as were spread out

Where, as in some instances, the pits below us. Had the air been clearer
were in more rocky surroundings and an even larger number would have
the probability of a cave-in less been included in a picture which, as it
imminent, there was still a strong was, will always be treasured in my
element of danger in trusting oneself memory as one of the very finest.
to the frail pulley which was erected My next visit to the camp was in the
over the top, and which served the middle of February and gave me an
Chinese as a means of descent and as- unusually good opportunity for ob-
cent. It looked hardly stout enough to serving the Chinese during their New
raise the baskets of wet bones. A little Year festivities. The holiday period
later in the winter a report reached us begins solemnly, with front doors
of a workman who had been killed by a closed and sealed with paper, and
collapsing pit, and
was very glad that
I decorated with paper emblems. An
my usually intrepid bone-diggerwas unwonted stillness is about everywhere.
willing to use discretion and keep out. On the second day groups of men and
The whole region seemed permeated boys are seen playing gambling games
with deep pits, many of which were so at tables set out in the street. The
quiet is broken on the third day by the altar platform, and all of the court
setting off of firecrackers, and a time of not actually needed by the performers.
real sociabiHty ensues. Calls are paid Three tables were piled on top of one
and gifts of foodstuffs exchanged, another to obtain a stage high enough
principally eggs, puffed rice, and a to permit the crowd to see everything
large round rice cake, highly varnished well, and to add, as I suspect, a spice of
and brightly colored. During this risk for the participants. Part of the
season the more well-to-do people make show consisted simply of feats of
their annual visit to relatives living at balancing. In the latter half, however,
a distance. At our temple members of two of the men united in impersonating
the Tan family came to offer special a lion. This was done by covering
joss at the altar. Many of them themselves with a variegated satin
brought along a present for Mr. robe to which a huge lion's head with
Granger, and all were bidden to sit long mane was attached. A few bells
down for tea, sweets, and smokes, dis- sewed somewhere in the folds gave out
pensed by Mr. Wong, who acted as a pleasant tinkle as the "animal"
master of ceremonies. In the village leaped about, trying to intimidate
two large feasts were given by families another man, disguised as a monkey.
who wanted to do honor to the gods in By six o'clock it became so dark that
memory of departed ones. When, in the manager of the show lighted three
fulfillment of this purpose, the house is pretty, round, swinging lanterns and
hung with embroidered panels and several four-sided ones set in the top of
painted scrolls, and men are hired to tall poles, in form not unlike our street
come to make paper facsimiles of things gas lamps of some decades ago. These
used by the deceased during life, and were supplemented by all the lights
priests and musicians are engaged for a which the Museum outfit could mus-
period of three days, the expense is ter two carbide lamps and four or five
:
large. Although it is easy to under- kerosene oil burners. Even at that it

stand the glamor surrounding the part couldn't be said that we outshone the
of the celebration which took place out Hippodrome! An orchestra of four
of doors under a full moon, when shrill pieces beat out an accompani-
candles and lanterns and sparks from ment which seemed to please everyone
firecrackers were all reflected in the though it was wearisome
else mightily,
waters of a near-by brook, we should to us. was not until seven-thirty
It
have been better pleased to see the that the audience was satisfied and
funds used for the purchase of that dispersed to their homes. So little
rare article in Szechuan, a piece of out of the ordinary happens in these

window glass, to lighten the dark far-inland places, it is not surprising
homes of the present generation. that the entertainment does not have
One of the chief events of the New to be of a very high order to win appro-
Year festival is the arrival of a troop bation.
of itinerant acrobats. They appeared On March 3, I reluctantly returned
in the temple one afternoon at five- to Wan Hsien and remained at the
thirty followed by the occupants of Mission that is located there until our
both the upper and the lower village and final departure from Szechuan. This
everybody from the neighboring farm- month was an anxious one for both Mr.
houses, who entirely filled the steps, Granger and myself. Five days after
378 NATURAL HISTORY
my return the war clouds which had still lay moored at Pei Shui Chi, and
been gathering broke, the place it meant a wait of several more days
where the clash came being about while negotiations were being completed
twelve miles from the camp. At this for getting it through the blockade.
point the defeated Wan Hsien troops All was in readiness on March 22 for
cut a dike which prevented the success- the journej^ down river. Owing to a
ful Northern army from following their band of robbers who, reports said,
retreat for several hours. This cir- infested a place called P'an T'ou,
cumstance probably had much to do twenty-five miles below Wan Hsien, it
with the orderly procedure of both was planned to go only as far as that
armies through Yen Ching Kou. For point the first day, and to remain there
four days and nights Mr. Granger and overnight under guard of the American
Mr. Wong could not relax in their guard gunboat "Palos," Captain Simpson
at the temple. One night about fifty commanding. The junk was a half
soldiers were given shelter from the rain day in covering the distance. We
in the lower part under the gallery, arrived in time for tiffining with the
but they departed at daybreak without captain and his officers.
committing any depredations. Among After lunch everybody who could

the last of the Northern troops to pass left the ship to amuse himself as best
by the steps of the temple was a sol- pleased him. Some of the crew played
dier whom Buckshot recognized as a baseball on a wide sandy beach with
Pekingese by the strong burr of his Captain Simpson and the ship's doctor;
accent. A friendly exchange of courte- others made up a duck-hunting party
sies took place on the strength of to a place not far away. A visit to an
their common birthplace and the visit old temple high up on a cliff on the
ended by his being intrusted with a opposite shore under the guidance of
letter to me to say that alUwas well at Lieutenant Connolly appealed to us.
the camp. was unable to send out
I Dinner on board the '' Palos " and after-
any news my safety from Wan
of ward a game of hearts finished the
Hsien because no messenger would day. The weather had been perfect
contract for the trip on account of the and as we sat in comfortable easy chairs
fear of being drafted as a carrying on the forward deck and watched the
coolie for the new army of occupation. evening lights fade on a scene which for
It was not until five days after the peaceful loveliness was unrivaled, it
evacuation Wan Hsien that a
of was hard to realize that only a week
coolie sent infrom the Museum camp before bandits had popped out from
(in special uniform to make clear his their hiding places and had robbed one
identity) took back the news that the of the Yangtze River inspectors
Mission, though threatened, had been of nearly all that he had, even
unmolested, and that the military had taking the clothing of the crew of his
placed a bridge of boats across the house boat. A luxury which Mr.
Yangtze a short distance above the Granger will always remember in con-
city. This was done to facilitate the nection with Captain Simpson's
movement of Northern troops into gracious entertainment was a chance to
Wan Hsien, but it very decidedly have a really-truly American shower
hindered our plans, for the junk which bath, with hot and cold water. In
was to transport us down to Ichang fact, there wasn't anything about the
ship that didn't look good to us, and had a bunk high up in the extreme
we were loath to leave her side the fol- stern,but the rest of the men lay down
lowing morning. The captain's last at night on almost the identical spots
thought for us was to us up with
fill where they had stood to their labors
coffee and egg sandwiches, for our own during the day. They were protected
breakfast was to be delayed until we from the elements by pieces of rush
had walked around the Hsin Lung matting ingeniously erected on poles in
T'an, reached a half hour after getting about three minutes after the boat
under way. was tied up for the night. We marvel-
En route between Wan Hsien and ed at the contentedness and even joy-
P'an T'ou a Chinese soldier had begged ousness of these men who worked at
us to take him with us (he had a mes- the oars and sang to the strokes, fed
sage to deliver to an army officer in only on meager iâtions of rice and
Ichang) and at Captain Simpsons' green vegetables with occasionally a
suggestion we also took on board as very little pork. Culinary operations
"
passengers two sailors from the " Palos by two separate cooks on two sorts of
who had finished their term of service stoves were also conducted on that
and were homeward bound to America. much overcrowded forward deck.
This increased our number to twenty- The Hsin Lung and the Hsin T'an
five. When we were all stretched out are the only rapids bad enough in the
for the night, there wasn't a great deal spring season to warrant passengers
of superfluous floor space, and we con- disembarking. Our junk, being well
gratulated ourselves that the weather manned for its size and guided by a
during the five days of the trip down special pilot, took the rough water of
river was exceptionally good. Had it both of these rapids splendidly. Just
rained, there would have been little below the Hsin T'an is another very
chance for shifting our positions to short but troublesome rapid. This
avoid the leaks in the mat covering. time two special pilots were hired, one
A sort of boudoir was devised for to handle the tiller and one to manip-
me by partitioning off,by means of a ulate the forward sweep, usually in the
large piece of canvas, a third of the hands of our captain. At this last
space in the cabin which occupied the place, a steamer was tied up. to the
center of the boat. Mr. Granger and shore and her crew was steadily
Mr. Wong had on the other
their cots bailing out water. She had come to
side of this improvised wall, but by grief while trying to get up this rapid
folding up one of the beds in the day a short while before.
time, their erstwhile dormitory was Assuredly the'' god of flowing waters"
restored to its proper use as a passage- was ranged on our side throughout this
way from bow to stern, except indeed wonderful trip. The only accident we
when we blocked it again while gath- had to report was a broken oar, and this
ered there for our meals. The two had happened where we could easily
sailors and our Chinese assistants slept stop for repairs. The god of bandits,
on the floor just beyond the cabin. though, was not quite so mindful of our
All of the forward part of the junk welfare. At the town of Kuei Cho,
was needed bj^ the crew, consisting of where we moored the second night, we
twelve rowers, two steersmen, and the were told that we were liable to meet
crew's cook. The laodah, or captain, trouble on the morrow. Shortly after
380 NATURAL HISTORY
lunch came. AVe were then passing
it We reckoned that they had the surprise
through the middle of the inspiring of their lives when so great a racket
Wu Shan gorge. So great had been came forth suddenly from so peaceful-
mj^ joy at having a chance to see this looking a junk. The bandits were
long gorge — the most interesting of all armed (Mr. Wong tells me) with high-
the gorges — at a slower pace than was power modern sn'uiy rifles, whereas our
possible when we came up in the steam- complete outfit consisted of only two
er, that I had completely forgotten the No. 12 shot guns, one 25-caliber
danger that threatened. Not so with Savage sporting rifle, four automatic
the wiser heads of our party. Even as pistols (including the two carried by
the first shot was fired, Mr. Granger the sailors) and a small, short range,
was out on deck conning the cliffs with combination 22- and 44-caHber gun.
his field glasses for suspicious figures. Twentj^-five li (about eight miles)
The was evidently intended for
shot below this point of attack was another
the man who was up on the running place with a bad reputation for robbers
board holding the tiller. Two others and here Chi and Buckshot prepared to
followed in quick succession and these have some fun at Chow's expense by
were aimed at the two sets of rowers. making him stand up with the little
All three shots fell in the water. By combination gun. He and the Chinese
this time everybody who could shoot soldier passenger had flattened them-
had grabbed his gun and the return selves on the floor beside me during
salute commenced. From my position the actual engagement at P'ai Shih and
on the floor of the cabin the reverbera- that had not accorded with their ideas
tions sounded tremendous and as I was of valor. Fortunately the rest of the
unable to tell which party was doing afternoon had nothing further in store
the firing, I assumed it must be largely for us of a militant nature but the
the bandits and was naturally full of uncertainty as to what might happen
alarm. In reality all of the noise had kept us all watchful. Darkness had
proceeded from the junk, and it proved long since fallen when we reached a
to be as effective in scaring the bandits place where it was considered safe to
as it had been in frightening me. Mr. tieup for the night.
Wong held the only long-range rifle If anyone should ask us whether we
and he was the to open fire. Soon
first can recommend a similar jaunt down
one of the (who had taken a
sailors this age-old river when peach and plum
prize for good marksmanship) took the blossoms deck the banks and spring
weapon from him and he was successful adds a deeper hush to the silence of the
in scattering the straw thatch off a gorges, we should have no hesitancy in
little hut which had evidently been sajdng, as the Chinese phrase goes,
sheltering our assailants. This put k'o i (can do), but should the question
the finishing touch to their rout. be as to whether we wish to renew
That there were no more than five experience with Chinese bandits, the
men seen by our party was no guarantee reply would be emphatically, yu yao
that a larger force was not in hiding. (not want).
Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain Goat'
By WILLIAM T. SHAW
Professor of Zoology, State College of Washington
ONE object dominates the land-

scape east of Bellingham Bay,
Dropping down a thousand
climbing back over a
feet and
trailless slope of
Washington. This is Mount moss, brush, and sliding granite flakes,
Baker, sun-bathed and radiant in the is an endurance-testing feat; so when
glory of its Beyond, standing
oneness. pockets were turned out and found to
scarcely a score of miles away, is produce only one English walnut and
Shuksan, all but hidden and little two peanuts —
last remnants of trap-line
known, slightly less in altitude, in — bait — as the day's meal for
two toiling
ruggedness and inaccessibility quite men, we had to look the problem
the equal of the greater dome. Be- squarely in the face but decided never-
tween, lies Austin Pass, of such remote- theless to continue our journey up-
ness as to challenge the visits of ward. At last the old crater ridge was
mountain-loving men from far up and reached, and the tripod planted squarely
down the Pacific Coast. Here, pro- in fine view of Baker, but just as the
tected in its Arctic fastness, the slowly focusing was finished, my companion
diminishing species of wild mountain said, "Goat!"
goat in western America is making Yes, it was a goat, a big wild moun-
one of its last stands. tain goat, wary and unhampered, with
Biological research had taken me no park affinities to dull his instincts
into this region during mid-August of or lessen his aversion for man. There
1922. At first my camp was solitary. he stood, squarely in the field of the
Then, one evening a troupe of pack- binoculars, quietly from a
grazing
laden boys came in "to do the peaks" patch of snow grass growing on the
and after they had enjoyed a brief canon-side, though quite a mountain
space of rest and a cup of steaming mile from us.
coffee, we were " pards " in the fortunes Goats, — well did you ever try to
of the forests and friends for life. photograph one?
One morning soon after their arrival, To back up endurance a walnut and
one of their number, Mr. Henry any number of peanuts are no fit sub-
Howard, Scout chief at Bellingham, and stitutes for bacon; yet down came the
I dropped over the Pass down into one tripod, and soon we were under the
headwater forks of the Swift We
of the . packs once more. By this time the
carried with usan outfit of traps and goat had apparently finished his pastur-
photographic material. After an hour ing and had taken on some degree of
or two of investigation in the grass
. stabihty, —
just what we could not
meadows of the Swift, we left the trail determine from our distance. At least
and headed straight up for Crater he was not moving away.

Mountain, where we hoped to arrive in We went along as quietly as possible
time for a certain afternoon lighting on the lower side of the ridge, walking
on the great ice dome of Baker. on the sun-softened snow whenever it
iln popular parlance this animal is referred to as a goat, but from a scientific standpomt this is not an ac-
curate designation, for this ungulate is a member of a group more or less intermediate between the typical goats
and the true antelopes. Like the American robin, which is not a robin but a thrush, the Rocky Mountain goat
is the victim of a popular misconception.
SSI
Copyrighted 1923 by William T. Shaw
CONFRONTING THE INTRUDER
This picture gives an excellent idea of the habitat of the animal: the great
height of thecliff, the depth of the carion, and the mountain landscape in the back-
ground. The animal stands as if in a shadow box produced by the niche in the
rock. Its sturdy mountain-climbing limbs are firmty placed, and the body form,
massive shoulders, and head are well indicated by quartering light
384
AIMING A CAMERA AT A WILD MOUNTAIN GOAT 385
led in the direction in which we were ever noticed how hobnails grate against
tending, grateful always for the gentle a slanting floor of granite? We were
breeze fanning full in our faces.' When keenly aware of it, and presently dis-
the distance was about half covered, carded the shoes that bore the nails.
we parted, and Henry dropped down With careful step we approached the
through the timber to reconnoiter, last outstanding face, now creeping
while I kept to the up-running ridge, along the trail, again flattening against
hoping to get above the goat, — a difficult corner of jutting rock, listen-
principle the value of which is well ing to our own heartbeats, as a dis-
known to hunters of these animals. lodged pebble went clattering down the
Passing a little grove of high-mountain canon-side, expecting to hear at any
hemlock, my attention was attracted moment a greater clattering of pebbles,
to a well-marked trail leading out along loosened by a justly suspicious and
the bluffside. Within this clump of alarmed goat. But the expected did
trees was a veritable lair, where the not happen, and I shall never forget
goat had undoubtedly spent many a the expression on Henry's face as he
warm summer afternoon. Going back, turned around to me after looking over
I awaited my partner, who soon came the ledge, saying in a whisper, ''There's
up, reporting no sign of the goat, but your goat." And there, in a beautiful
expressing the belief that the animal coat of snowy hair, glistening in the
was somewhere beyond a second or sun of a late afternoon, lay the
third prominence of rock reaching out dozing animal, on the flat upturned
from the main bluff side. stump of a tree that had been storm-
I showed him the trail, but no need wrenched from the mountain-side. He
the incident of the walnut had long was probably not more than twenty-
since been forgotten. We were after five or thirty feet away.
goats now! Slowly and cautiously we The sun was warm enough to pro-
crept out along this path, and I still duce marked respiratory^ movements
remember distinctly the pertinent over his flanks. His expression, well —
things that passed keenly through my it was that of boredom, as with half-
mind as we went carefullj^ along. Here closed eyes, and wearily twitching ears,
was vegetation such as had been found he occasionally swung his head slowly
along a deserted goat on Rainier
trail in evasion of a large fly that buzzed
two years before. This was goat about him.
country to be sure. There were the Just one satisfying peep and we
patches of snow with lush grass of began work on the camera, a five by
tempting greenness such as goats seven, fitted with a Zeiss Tessar lens.
would drop low to procure. Far below Series lib. Moments were moments
we looked into the canon of the Swift. now, for what if the fickle wind of
Out and out we went, as cautiously a mountain canon should suddenly
and silently as is possible on a granite- change? Fortunately there was a fiat
chipped goat trail. At one point we rock just man-high in front of us.
left a pack sack, at another a tripod or Beyond was an open space past which
trapping bag, — whatever would lighten we could not Here was our last
go.
our burdens. Finally we passsed the stand. slid the camera
Cautiously we
second of the outstanding faces, with up on the rock and with equal care
still a hundred yards to go. Have you leveled it with bits of flat stone flakes.
Photograph by William T. Shaw
MOUNTAIN HEMLOCK
This locality is within a short distance of the region where the picture of the mountain
goat was obtained. The photograph was taken from Crater Mountain, looking northwest
across the valley of the Nooksak to the Church Mountains. Two splendid examples of the
mountain hemlock occupy the foreground. This tree is usually found in high altitudes, not
infrequently growing in exposed places
386
AIMING A CAMERA AT A WILD MOUNTAIN GOAT 387
The finding cloth was worked over with swung around and, as I saw the sharp
scarcely an inch to spare, the chief tips of his beautiful black
horns stand
anxiety being to place the goat well out vividly against his massive white
in the middle of the field and to secure shoulders, something told me the
a careful focus. psychological moment had come and I
Only two plates remained from the pressed the bulb.
day's work. One of these was at once Just two hours before, we had been
exposed. The other, a postcard size in somewhat indifferently viewing this
a kit was the next and last. Again animal with the binoculars from Crater
focus and other adjustments were gone Mountain.
through and every precaution taken to Sequel.— Not far back along the goat
make the best of the situation on this traillay an object we had not dis-
greatly narrowed field and one remain- carded, —a gun, with ammunition of
ing plate. We
were ready, but why sufficient power to have served our
make a duplicate exposure? In whis- needs. Over in camp was a State
pered consultation we talked it over paper giving us the privilege of collect-
and decided to take a risk. Cautiously ing for scientific purposes. Again we
I began showing myself above the rock. held a council of war, — yet was it not a
At first the goat paid no attention, but parley of peace?
in a few moments he began to look my Three thousand feet below, from the
way and then, half-suspicious, he little silver thread of the Swift, came
gazed at me with a keen steady stare the peaceful murmur of running waters.
from his clear black eyes. I made no Far over the intervening weathered
sudden movement and he was not canons lay silent Baker, flooding our
alarmed yet, still eyeing me, he got up
;
wall with a warmth of reflected light
and after a moment silently drew his and heat, shared by all alike, in that
body into one great muscle-straighten- lovely, closing, summer day. Over to
ing stretch. What a huge creature he the east stood Shuksan, calm and
was Without moving from his tracks he
! patient in its vigil, a vigil maintained
looked calmly about, up and down and through countless ages. Our council
far out over the canon. Slowly his head was a council of peace.
Courtesy of Mr. Watts, Utah Fuel Company
A track imprint in the roof of a coal mine; the spread between the toes is twenty-four inches
Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines

A STRANGE PHENOMENON NOTED IN UTAH AND COLORADO
By WILLIAM PETERSON
Director and Geologist, Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah Agricultural College, Logan, Utah
TO view the tracks

ceous monsters
of ancient Creta-
is not an entirely
While he was examining the under-
ground workings of many of the mines,
new experience, but to view these attention was called to certain protu-
tracks from beneath instead of from berances from the coal seam roof. A
above is somewhat of a novelt^^ This definite shape had been recognized in
is a privilege open to those interested in the case of some of these, though most
the ancient life of the Cretaceous seas of them were spoken of as "'carbuncles,"
of Utah and Colorado. It was the "nigger heads," and under similarterms.
writer's good fortune to spend three In areas where the coal was low these
summers in a detailed survey and in- protuberances had to be removed to
spection of the coal deposits of Utah. give room for the mine hauling, for
388
DINOSAUR TRACKS IN THE ROOFS OF COAL MINES 389
some of them projected as much as a foot

below the roof of the coal seam. In
some places the projections appear in
groups while in others they are solitary.
After inspecting hundreds of these
protuberances, the writer agrees with
some of the mine foremen and super-
intendents that these peculiar forma-
tions undoubtedly had their origin as
tracks of ancient which
monsters
tramped through or around the border
of the Cretaceous sea. The tracks
seem to have been made at a time when
the peat accumulation was covered
with a foot or more of mud. The layer
of mud was not sufficiently thick to
support the weight of the animal walk-
ing overit. The feet sank through the
mud several inches, or even more than
a foot at times, into the soft, yielding
peat underneath. Some mud was
pushed into the peat as the animal
brought down its weight, and as it
drew out its foot, the footprint would
be filled with mud from above. As
time went on, nature's distillation re-
duced the peat to coal, and the mud
with its track projections was con-
verted into solid rock. In most places
the coal is easily sepaiâted from the
roof, leaAdng the track-shaped protu-
berance extending partially or wholly
as a definite appendage from the ceil-
ing. When the coal is completely re-
moved, the tracks appear in various

forms. In some cases the footprints
project only part way through the roof
and in others they project so far that a Consecutive tracks in the roof of the old
clear space is shown between the Ballard Mine on the propert}' of the Amer-
ican Fuel Company
portion of the track represented by the
toes and the solid roof. It is interest- The animals seem to have walked for
ing to note that, as far as observed, the the most part along trails or definite
largest tracks are the ones which pro- paths. It was noted that some of
trude farthest from the rock roof. The these paths are twenty or thirty feet
material filling the track varies slightly in width, and the exposures in many
but is for the most part an arenaceous entriesand rooms of the coal mines
shale or argillaceous sandstone. show them to be comparatively straight
390 NATURAL HISTORY
in alignment. The individual tracks in with a 12-inch rule placed on it for
the paths are seldom clearly outhned comparison. The track measures 31
and only when one of the animals has inches between the spread of the outer
traveled independently does every im- toes and 32 inches from the heel to the
print become distinct. In several places front of the middle toe.Near the point
it has happened that an entry of the coal of separation the toes are from 6 to 8
mine has followed approximately the inches in diameter, and the toes are so
path of a single animal, thus exposing pointed as to indicate the presence
several of the tracks for measurement of rather sharp claws on the end of
and comparison. Seven consecutive each toe.
tracks are shown in the old Ballard In the mine at Castle Gate, Utah, a
IMine on the property of the American photograph was taken of one of the
Fuel Company, located on the Denver tracks as it appeared in the roof of the
and Rio Grande Railroad about eight mine before removal. The photograph
miles north of Thompson Springs. (see p. 388) is by courtesy of
furnished
These tracks are among the largest Mr. Watts of the Utah Fuel Company.
observed and the measurements are This track, which is similar in char-
shown in the diagram on p. 389. acter to mentioned above, is
those
In a different entry of the mine, somewhat smaller than the}^, being
by
tracks of similar size are found, and only 24 inches between the spread of
company one of these
courtesy of the the toes and extending for about the
was taken down and shipped to the same distance if measured from the
Geology Museum of the Utah Agricul- heel to the front of the middle toe.
tural College at Logan. On this page Only one track smaller than this
is shown a photograph of this track has been measured, that in the mine at
Standardville in Spring Canon, the
length of which is onlj^ 16 inches;
however, it is similar in other respects
to the Castle Gate track. Two casts
of tracks have been obtained
recentlj'-
bj^ workmen of the United States Fuel

Company at the Panther Mine.^
The tracks referred to in this article
have been observed by the writer at
intervals over an area more than one
hundred miles in extent and in differ-
ent seams of coal, which represent a
stratigraphic thickness of more than
two hundred feet of sandstone includ-
ing three or four beds of coal. The
coalseams total in thickness approxi-
mately thirty-five feet. The deposit
is near the base of the Mesa Verde
formation of the Upper Cretaceous.
The tracks are all of the three-toed type
The12-inch rule, laid on this track after it
'There are unauthenticated reports that similar
had been removed from the roof of the old Bal- tracks have been observed on the roof of the coal
lard mine, indicates the huge size of the track mine at Somerset, Colorado.
DINOSAUR TRACKS IN THE ROOFS OF COAL MINES 391
and seem to have been made by an tion of the giant flesh-eating dinosaurs.
animal that walked only on its hind It reached a length of 47 feet and in
feet. In one place, where the roof of bulk must have equalled the mammoth,
the mine was badly caved, careful mastodon, or the largest hving ele-
examination was made for any trace of phants. The massive hind limbs, sup-
either front feet or tail track, but no porting the whole weight of the body,
evidence of either was found. exceeded the limbs of the great
The most startling thing about the proboscideans in bulk, and in a stand-
tracks is their enormous size. The ing position the animal was from 18 to
writer has examined painstakingly the 20 feet high as against 11 feet or so for the
feet of the mounted skeletons of the largest African elephant or the south-
Apatosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Claosaurus, ern mammoth. The head was 4 feet,
Hadrosaurus, and others, but none ap- 3 inches long; 3 feet, 4 inches deep;
parently have feet large enough to fit and 2 feet, 9 inches wide. The long
these tracks. deep powerful jaws are armed with
Dr. W. D. Matthew of the Amer- teeth from 3 to 6 inches long." The
ican Museum interprets the tracks front limbs were small and were prob-
as having been made by a member of ably used only in capturing and gather-
the deinodont familj^ of dinosaurs, of ing food. The great bulk of the body
which the Tyrannosaurus is the largest would imply slow movement, and that
known type. He further describes the food was obtained from the shallow
Tyrannosaurus as "the climax of evolu- water of the Late Cretaceous sea.
~!
The skeleton of Tryannoscmnts in the American Museum

Dean's ''Bibliography of Fishes''
A Review
By RAYMOND C. OSBURN
Professor of Zoology, Ohio State University
BIBLIOGRAPHY usually consid- The Authors' List of signed publications,
A
is
ered the driest and most uninteresting since the period of Linnaeus, occupies all of
matter that can be reduced to print. Volume I (published in 1916) and nearly all of
The subject of the present review is Volume II (1917) with the Addenda
and this,
much more than the usual catalogue of of 199 pages in Volume makes an
III (1923),
scientific writings in a particular field, for its authors' catalogue of 1693 pages, covering the
completeness and manner of treatment lift it titles since the publication of Linnaeus' tenth
entirely out of the category of ordinary edition of Systema Naturse in 1758. At the
bibliographies and make it an outstanding end of Volume II and the beginning of
contribution, not only to the subject of Volume III is a list of Anonymous Works,
ichthyology in its various phases, but to covering 29 pages. Volume III also contains a
every field of work connected with the lower list of Titles of Pre-Linnaean Publications,
vertebrates. totaling 134 pages; a list of the General
The prefatory remarks by Dean in this Bibliographies Referring to Fishes, 4 pages;
Bibhography indicate that he and his collab- Voyages and Expeditions Which Relate to
orators have taken this work very seriously Fishes, 5 pages; Periodicals Relating to Fish
and that the almost limitless task has often and Fish Culture, 6 pages; Errata and Corri-
appalled them, as well it might. The quota- genda, dealing chiefly with the correction of
tion from Wood's preface to his History of the names of foreign writers and with dupli-
Oxford, given in Dean's preface to Volume cation in reprints, 7 pages. This is followed
III, is certainly well chosen: by a Subject Index of 305 pages and a Finding
"A painful work it is I'll assure you, and Index of 40 pages.
more than wherein that toyle hath
difficult, In the general Bibliography explanatory
been taken, as no man thinketh so no man notes are inserted frequently under the titles.
believeth, but he that hath made the triall." For example under Mast, S.O., "Vision in
The fishes occupy a unique position in Flounders" is the following: "Simulation of
zoological work, for they are the fundamental background regulated bj' visual stimuli.
group among the vertebrates and must be Evidence of color vision. Motion vision as
investigated with regard to the evolution of acute as in man." After Okada, S., " Catalog
every important anatomical, embryological, of vertebrated animals of Japan," is the note,
and physiological character shown by their "Classification in Latin; species in Latin and
higher relatives, and of the vertebrates,
all Japanese," The Authors' List is thus
with the exception of our domestic animals, rendered much more useful than would be
they have the most important economic re- the case if there were merely citation of the
lation to man. Approximately 45,000 titles titles and place of publication as in ordinary
are included in Dean's Bibliography, the dates bibliographies.
from the time of
of publication extending In the section of Pre-Linnaean Publications
and this list does not
Aristotle to the present, these notes are more numerous. For example,
include the vast amount of literature on under Leeuwenhoek, Antony van: "Con-
marketing or utiUzation unless the papers are tinuatio arcanorum naturae detectorum,"
of special interest. Delft, 1697, the note, "Sexes of eels, circula-
The Bibliography is a stupendous affair in tion in eels, and scales of fishes." Under
three volumes, totaling 2127 pages, a truly — Marcgrave, George, (1610-1644), are given
astonishing compilation of the sources of the various ways of spelling his name and
information, but so well arranged and digested references to biographical notes concerning
that it affords easy access to the mine of his life and work, and under the first of
knowledge regarding this group of animals. his titles,
—" Brasilianische Naturgegenstande
.392
DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES" 393
(Collectio rerum naturalium Brasilise) c. covering almost any question that might be
1643," "these water-color drawings of the asked as to fish behavior.
animals and plants of Brazil, made by Marc- Underthetopic "Habits of Fishes" (covering
grave, are preserved in the great library of nearly two pages), besides the usual cross
Berlin, labeled 'Libri Picturati A. 36-37.' references and general references, we find the
There is reason to believe that Count Maurice papers dealing with habits classified imder
of Nassau-Siegen made some of these paint- the natural order to which the fish belongs.
ings. On at least some of the figures of fishes For example, the papers devoted to the habits
there are notes in his handwriting. They are of the various sharks are brought together,
(in part) the originals of the figures in Marc- and similarly those pertaining to the eels, the
grave's great work." perches, etc. Other sub-headings are: vari-
These copious notes on Pre-Linnsean works, ous specific habits, such as burrowing, fight-
including historical items, biographical notes, ing, inflation, and water throwing.
brief digests of the contents of papers, later Further references are also given at the
editions and translations, etc., are sufficiently proper place in the catalogue to such topics as
useful and important to justify the space sleeping habits, resting habits, nest-making,
occupied by and the care and labor expended care of eggs and young, and all of the
on this study of the ancient literature devoted thousand and one things that the general
to fishes. reader, as well as the ichthyologist, may wish
The Subject Index is naturally of the great- to know about the habits and mode of life of
est interest and importance, not only to various fishes.
ichthyologists, but to students of vertebrate "Anghng" embraces general treatises, in
zoology, anatomy, embryology, parasitology, Dutch, English, French, and German, and
ecology, physiology, and teratology. The bibliographies and catalogues of angling litera-
fish culturist, the angler, and the general ture; historical matter, subdivided into Pre-
reader will find a guide to special topics in this Linnsean treatises, general treatises, books
index. A careful analysis of the literature on husbandry, early laws pertaining to ang-
dealing with every subject pertaining to the ling, dictionaries and encyclopedias, guides,
life, structure, development, and habits of handbooks, etc., piscatory eclogues; fly-
made; the various theories of
fishes is here fishing; sea-fishing; angling for salmon and
development, phylogeny, etc., that have been trout; angling for various fishes; angling
proposed are outlined, and the most im- classified by regions —North America, Europe,
portant papers indicated by a star. The and other localities. Here is sufficient material
amount of material that has been digested for to point the way to the student of angling
this purpose not the least of the astonishing
is from the historical or any modern phase.
features of this unusual Bibliography. To the Systematic Section of the Subject
The treatment Index leaves
of the Subject Index given the same scrupulous care as to
is
little, if anything, to be desired. As examples the other sections, often with special refer-
of the arrangement, the discussion of behavior, ence to particular species that are of the great-
habits, and angling will serve as well as any. est interest, though in general no attempt is
"Behavior," comprising the comparative made to index farther than genera, — and, in
psychology of fishes, covers about two pages, fact,another series of volumes would be re-
with cross references to other headings, such quired if such references were to be included.
as: reactions to chemical stimuli, hearing, As examples of the treatment of the system-
commensalism, and parental care. There is a atic portion we may call attention to the sub-
paragraph containing general references to heads under the Salmonidse and Anguillidse.
works on animal psychology, and following " Family Salmonidse " (six pages); distribu-
that appears the special literature, grouped tion, embryology, fossil forms, taxonomy;
under such sub-headings as the following: subfamily Salmoninse, American trouts,
accounts or narratives depicting unusual European trouts, Atlantic salmon, references
actions or behavior; behavior of various types, to American forms, references to European
chiefiy instinctive; color perception; intelli- forms, general treatises, growth, metabolism
gence; memory; and the effects of stimula- during sojourn in fresh water, feeding, migra-
tion by electricity, gravity, light, touch, and tions, reproduction; Pacific salmons, gen-
water currents. In fact, the materials are so eral, death after spawning, growth and
assorted that one may readily find a reference reproduction, migrations; Salvelinus, Ameri-
394 NATURAL HISTORY
can forms, European forms; miscellaneous way could the vast and varied literature on
papers on salmon and trout, in various lan- the fishes be made available.
—
guages Danisli, Norwegian, Dutch, EngUsh, No one would expect such an extensive
French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Latin, compilation to be absolutely perfect, the —
Russian, and Swedish. And so on through the authors least of all would make such a claim.
other subfamiUes of the Salmonidae. Yet the reviewer has run down many sub-
The eels ("Family AnguiUidse") are given jects, in which he may claim to have some
somewhat different treatment, as foUows: knowledge, without finding any serious errors.
principal literature; life history of the eel It is in cross-referencing, naturally, that such
(more than a page devoted to outlining the shps are likely to occur. For example, in the
history and indicating the literature of this Finding Index one finds " Batrachus, see
phase of the subject) sexes of the eel; vari-
; Opsanus," but under Opsanus, where the page
ous leptocephali; general literature; taxon- references are given to both Batrachus and
omy; other genera of the Anguillidae. Opsanus, there is no indication that these
The Finding Index is merely an index to the terms are equivalent. Also there is a refer-
Morphological and Systematic Sections of ence to Opsanus, p. 410, but on turning to this
the Subject Index and refers therefore only to page no reference to either Opsanus or
part VIII, or pp. 361-665 of Volume III. Batrachus can be found. Under " Fins " in the
Naturally it is a very useful portion of the Subject Index one is further referred to
work. Dependent upon the Authors' List "Limbs." This heading does not appear in
alone, one would have to know the name of the Subject Index, and upon turning to it in
the author before locating a particular title: the Finding Index one is again referred to
even with the addition of the Subject Index, "Fins," where all references are given.
one might have to look for a long time before Guided by the Subject Index the reviewer has
finding all references to a particular topic followed up in the Authors' List the references
such, for example, as "Fins." In the Finding to the papers of various writers with whose
Index one is referred to the page in the Subject work he is familiar, but has failed to locate
Index where the topic is mentioned, and the any errors.
most important of such references are in bold- In the prefaces to Volumes I and III are
faced type. Under " Fins " seventy-four such explained the origin, purpose, and methods
references are found, and these are arranged pursued in the compilation of this great work,
for convenience in twenty-four groups, such and credit is given to those who have rendered
as: paired fins, vertical fins, locomotion by, assistance. The most prominent among these
abnormal, primitive, etc. are Doctors Louis Hussakof, Charles R.
If the student of fossil fishes wished to look Eastman, Eugene W. Gudger, and Mr.
up Dean's work on Cladoselache, he might Arthur W. Henn. The debt of science to
turn to the Authors' List in Volume I, where Professor Dean and his collaborators is great
he would have to scan nearly five pages of indeed, and acknowledgments would not be
titles by Dean— and titles unfortunately do complete without reference to the broad-
not always indicate all the contents of papers. minded poUcy of President Henry Fairfield
If he knew the systematic position of Cladosel- Osborn and the Board of Trustees of the
ache, he might turn to the proper place in American Museum in providing funds to
the Systematic Section of the Subject Index, finance the publication and to pay the salaries
where under the "Order Pleuropterygii " he of the editoral staff.
would find Dean's three papers on this genus A resume work would be incom-
of this
given in such form that he could locate them plete without special reference to thework of
in the Authors' List without delay. If he Dr. E. W. Gudger, editor of Volume III, and
tiumed at once to the Finding Index, he would the associate bibliographer, Mr. A. W. Heim.
come upon page references not only to the The tremendous task of bringing together the
Systematic Section, but to three other refer- Subject Index of 274 pages might have been
ences in the Morphological Section, where even the most experienced
sufficient to deter
special points in the structure of Cladoselache from undertaking But no mere technical
it.
are mentioned. Though this may at first bibliographer could have succeeded with this
seem a httle complicated, anyone with ex- phase of the work. It required the expert
perience in tracing out the literature of a knowledge which only a well-trained zoologist,
subject will realize at once that only in this thoroughly familiar with the fishes, could
DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES' 395
bring to the performance of the task, which it; Quousque tandem! Our hope is only that
required not only a careful indexing, but the references we now provide wiU be of con-
a full appreciation of the contents of the stant service to workers everywhere, for when
papers hsted in the authors' catalogue. all is said and done, an elaborate bibhography
That the task has been admirably done is the strongest scaffolding upon which any
no one will gainsay, and this portion of research can be built." The only exception
the work wiU stand as a lasting monu- one may take to this is in regard to the thank-
ment to the service which these scientists lessness of the task. In this we cannot agree
have rendered in the field of ichthyology. with Professor Dean, for we feel sure that
In closing, the reviewer cannot do better countless workers will have occasion to heap
than to quote the final paragraph of Dean's silent gratitude upon him and his staff of
preface to Volume III, "The present volume collaborators for generations to come. Such a
terminates a task, infinitely painstaking, landmark in vertebrate zoology wiU hardly
thankless, insistent, withal necessary, which cease to be useful until science m
this field
has been upon our table for over thirty years. has progressed far beyond even our present
It seemed never to end, and we grew old with conception of its possibilities.
A Historical Sketch
By E. W. GUDGER
Editor of Volume III
1890, Dr. Bashford Dean, then instructor 20,000 entries, and was by far the most ex-
INin zoology at Columbia University, began tensive catalogue of ichthyological literature
his career as the leading American student in existence.
of the anatomy, embryology, and palse- Doctor Dean's students made free use of it
ontology of fishes. and added citations of their own where any
In exchange for papers from his prolific were found lacking. Correspondents wrote in
pen, articles on fishes came from students of for hstsand in turn sent in hsts of their own,
ichthyology all the world over. From these and students of ichthyology even came to
and from the bibliographical hsts of papers New York to constdt the entries. By 1910,
cited in his own pubhcations, he began to this card bibliography, which in the meantime
build up for the use of himself and his students had been removed to the American Museum,
a card catalogue which formed the nucleus of had reached a critical stage in its development,
the present Bibliography of Fishes. for it had become too immense to be carried
In 1895, Doctor Dean published his weU- on by one man, upon whose time and energies
known book Fishes, Living and Fossil. In this multifarious duties made demands. It was
was a twenty-page bibliography of the em- also clear that it had become a great reservoir
bryology, morphology, and palaeontology of of references which ought to be made acces-
fishes, composed of the most important cita- sible to workers not merely in America but all
tions found in his card catalogue. Notwith- over the world. To achieve this end it would
standing the fact that these references were have to be published.
put in the most abbreviated form possible, It was clear, however, that in the form in
this bibliography was often referred to in which its entries were set, it could not be put
ichthyological articles during the next twenty into print. The material required re^dsion
years. and additions. It was imperative that the
In 1903, Doctor Dean was made professor earher bibhographies —those Agassiz, Bos-
of
of vertebrate zoology in Columbia Univer- goed, Carus and Engelmann —be checked up.
sity,and in 1907 curator of fossil fishes in The cards of the Concilium Bibliographicum,
the American Museum. Two years later and the entries in the Zoological Record, the
(1909) he became curator of ichthyology and Royal Society and other recent
Catalogue,
herpetology in the Museum. In the meantime bibliographies would have to be examined
the roster of his pubhcations on both fossil criticaUy- Then in many cases citations would
and recent fishes grew as did his card cata- have to be compared with the original titles
logue. By 1900 this catalogue contained about in order to clear up discrepancies, and
396 NATURAL HISTORY
bibliographies in special outstanding books tune. Dr. Charles Rochester Eastman, the
and articles would have to be reviewed. Final- distinguished student of palaeontology, having
ly, it would be necessary to ask specialists just finished certain special researches on the
in ichthyological subjects all over the globe to fossil fishes in the Carnegie Museum, Pitts-
send in lists of their publications. All this in burgh, was persuaded to assume the editor-
order that nothing might be omitted, that this ship. Not only was Doctor Eastman a
work might be truly a Bibliography. But distinguished palaeontologist, but he was
how was all this to be done? almost equally well known as a palaeo-
Then the man and the opportunity met. bibliographer —having knowledge of the
a
President Henry Fairfield Osborn, with a Pre-Linnaean literature fishes probably
of
great vision of what might be done for science —
unequalled in America all this due to his
in general and for ichthyology in particular, researches not only in ancient fishes but also
brought the resources of the American Museum in the older literature of this subject. His
to the aid of this great enterprise, and funds wide experience as a student of fishes, his
were made available to provide a secretary extraordinary linguistic attainments, his
for the work of checking up, verifying, and natural critical facultj^ and his ability to do
transcribing references. Later, when publica- an enormous amount of work made him an
tion began, certain friends of the enterprise, ideal editor for the Bibliography of Fishes.
M. Dyckman, Mrs.
particularly Mrs. Isaac Under Doctor Eastman's hand there went
Bashford Dean, and Doctor Dean himself, steadily forward the enormously detailed
generously contributed funds. work of compiling and editing into definite
About 1910, Doctor Dean, being occupied and uniform style the 37,000 titles found in
with many other matters, entrusted the Volumes I and II. No one who has not had
responsibility of supervising the work of the the experience can realize the prodigious task
secretary. Miss Eveljoi Tripp, to Dr. Louis involved in such editorial work. A uniform
Hussakof, associate curator in the depart- style had to be decided upon for titles;
ment. During the next five jêars the scientific capitalization, spelling, abbreviations, punc-
literature of the world was minutely searched tuation, and styles of type had to be stand-
for ichthyological titles. The largest single ardized. And when these standards had been
contribution was made by the Smithsonian estabhshed, the task of editing the mjTiads of
Institution, which turned over to Doctor cards according to these standards was truly
Dean the huge manuscript bibliography col- Brobdingnagian. But Doctor Eastman was
lected and compiled by the late Dr. G. Brown not to be discouraged, and when Volume I
Goode, who for manj- years before his death appeared in the spring of 1916, it is not putting
had been engaged in working up a fish bibliog- it too strongly to say that it created a sensa-
raphy along similar lines. In the meantime tion among American men of science, and
letters had been sent to 468 leading specialists particularly among students of fishes. This
the world over, asking them to send in titles volume embraces the letters A-K and covers
of all their papers dealing with fishes. Of this 720 pages.
number 304 complied with the request, and In 1916, Miss Engler retired from the posi-
thus a vast amount of data came at first hand tion of secretary and her place was taken by
to the Bibliography. Miss Florence Schwarzwaelder, who devotedly
In 1914, Doctor Dean, who had previously served the Bibliography until the summer of
been made curator of arms and armor in the 1919. .\lso late in October, 1916, Mr. .\rthur
Metropolitan Museum of Art, felt obliged to W. Henn, at that time a graduate student in
retire from the headship of the department of zoology at Columbia University, began half-
fishes in theAmerican Museum, and became time work on the task of noting on the proof
its honorary curator. Doctor Hussakof was sheets alongside each citation the entries for
promoted to curator, and because of his in- the Subject Index.
creased duties as head, was obhged to give up Doctor Eastman having brought Volume
the supervision of the Bibhography. About II, comprising the letters M-Z, plus the
this time Miss Tripp resigned and was suc- Anom-mous Titles — a total of 702 pages
ceeded by Miss Marguerite Engler, who through the press in 1917, sailed about June 1
served as secretary during 1915-16. having at the
for Brazil to collect fossil fishes,
At this critical period in its history, the same time, however, a connection with the
Bibliography was certainly favored by for- intelligence branch of the United States gov-
DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES' 397
eminent. Doctor Dean had entered govern- secretary, and the work of completing Volume
ment service as major in the ordnance division, III went forward imder a full head of steam.
where his special knowledge of armor was of At this point it was decided on the urgent
the greatest service. However, Mr. Henn and advice of Doctor Dean to limit titles in our
Miss Schwarzwaelder went on with the work Addenda to the close of the year 1914, which
of indexing. The present writer having ex- marks a great break in scientific work and
pressed his warm appreciation of the great literature due to the World War. In Volumes
value of Volume I of the Bibliography, and I and II Doctor Eastman had included titles
having sent in a good many missing titles, of works that appeared later than 1914, with
was invited to come up and hunt for others, the idea that the Addenda should bring the
and at this task he spent the months of June Hteratureup to the time of going to press with
and July, 1917. Volume III. That Doctor Dean's judgment
The summer of 1918 brought Doctor East- was sound, and that it saved us a world of
man back from Brazil, but he at once "joined trouble, has since been reaUzed a thousand
up" with the War Trade Board in Washing- times by everyone concerned. In two sets of
ton. Doctor Dean was up to his eyes in the cases only have we violated this rule. There
work of making invaluable improvements in have been included all the papers of Eastman,
helmets and gas masks for the ordnance divi- Steindachner, and others who have died since
sion of the War Department. During the 1914, so that their lists might be complete;
winter and spring Mr. Henn continued to and in the second place such outstanding
work on the Subject Index, but in April went epoch-making works as Boulenger's Fresh-
to France with the American Expeditionary water Fishes of Africa and Jordan's Genera of
Forces. I had devoted much time during Fishes have been listed. For the same reason
the winter to the collecting of missing titles, we have set in the Subject Index such authori-
and toward the close of May again came to
I tative works as Radcliffe's Fishing from the
the Museum, bringing 1400 titles with me and Earliest Times (1922), Phisalix's Animaux
spent the months of June and July in this Venimeux et Venins (1922), and others of like
work. Then in September Doctor Eastman, standing, because these review the literature
who during the war had been subjected to at extensively and are literallythe last word on
times dangerous and always nerve-exhausting the subjects considered. This was done even
duties,was drowned at Long Beach. In con- though these titles came to us too late to be
sequence of all these things, work on the included in the Addenda.
Bibliography was almost at a standstill during When I came to the Museum from Greens-
the winter of 1918-19. boro in 1919 with a year's leave of absence, we
It was at this stage in the history of the all thought that the Bibliography could be
enterprise that Doctor Dean sent in the fol- finished in fifteen or eighteen months, but in
lowing quotations for ultimate setting on the the spring of 1920, it became clear that at
page immediately preceding the preface of least two years more would be needed for the
Volume III. task. In the meantime (spring of 1920) the
"Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy college authorities in North Carolina were
waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows pressing me for a declaration of my plans.
are gone over me."— Psalm XLII. Matters were complicated by the fact that
"Tetzel, the Bohemian, gazing at the sea at
Doctor Dean was in Constantinople and
Cape —
Finisterre, remarked as if he had our
President Osborn in Honolulu. However, the
Bibliography in his mind's eye— 'The end of
it no one knoweth, save God alone!'" The task had to be finished, so I sent in my resigna-
Bohemian Ulysses (1477); Mrs. Henry Cust, tion to the college and continued work on the
Gentleman Errant, 1907, p. 87. Bibliography.
On June 1, 1919, 1 came up from the North During the winter of 1919-20 I checked up
Carolina College at under
Greensboro, about 50,000 pages of new and hitherto un-
promise to Doctor Dean to stay with the touched bibliographic sources, especially in the
Bibliography as editor until it was finished. Pre-Linnsean literature of fishes. With the
A few weeks later Mr. Henn returned from completion of this checking, the search for
France, was discharged from service, and missing titles ended, and the work of edit-
began on a full-time basis the work of finishing these cards into standard form began. On
ing the index notations. In August Miss August 20, 1920, the first batch of Addenda
Francesca La Monte assumed the duties of cards —4029 in number —was sent to the
398 NATURAL HISTORY
printer. Other titles came to us later and inci- or less fallen within my lines of investigation,
dentally in the course of the work, and were and worked

in the intervals of proof-reading, I
added from time to time until the Addenda steadil}ôn these with Mr. Henn for the next
now embraces in round numbers 4500 titles fifteen months.
and covers 203 pages of Volume III. In Meanwhile Mr. Henn had finished the task
the same way the section of Pre-Linnsean of annotating the proof sheets of Volmnes I
titles (i.e., from the beginning of printing and II, and of the Addenda and the Pre-
imtil 1758),which (left incomplete at Doctor Linnsean sections of Volume III for the index
Eastman's death) numbered about 1000 cita- cards. These were typed and distributed
tions, was expanded to 2300 entries covering under the great headings to which they sever-
130 pages. This Pre-Linnsean material is of ally belonged. Now began the tremendous
value mainly, of course, because of its histori- task of digesting these 150,000 or 200,000
cal interest, but as it was reahzed that in all index references into an intelligible and usable
probability never again would an effort be form. This was done by Mr. Henn first for
made to " bibliograph " this ancient litera- the great section Palaeontology. The classi-
ture, I endeavored to make it as complete as fication of this large mass of material was
possible. fairly easily worked out, but the choice of the
During the fall and winter of 1919 "copy" types perplexed us considerably. Had we
steadily went forward to the printers (The had an unlimited amount of money, enabling
University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts), us to use all the styles and sizes of types in the
and proof came back, and the interminable print shop, and could these have been set by
work of proof-reading began. At this time hand, this problem would have been compara-
and in fact for the next year, one great tively easy of solution. However, as it was,
difficulty was to keep all parts of the Bibliog- we were limited for our great headings, our
raph}^ moving simultaneously. This was sub-heads, and sub-sub-heads down to the
particularly true with reference to getting the most subordinate paragraphs to the two sizes
Addenda and Pre-Linnsean sections along so and three styles of type which could be set
that they might not delay the notations for from two plates on the monotype machine.
the Subject Index and the making of the These limitations of types called for the
cards. utmost ingenuity on the part of Mr. Henn, to
Final page proof had been read on the whom is mainly due the credit for the format
Addenda and Pre-Linnsean sections and these of the Subject Index as well as for the majority
were ready to go to press early in March, of the subjects therein contained. The accom-
1921, when a printers' strike occurred in the panying reproduction of a page of the Subject
Boston region and prevented our printers from Index gives some idea of the sizes and styles
doing anything but piecemeal work for more of type used.
than nine months. Fortunately, however, this " Palseontology " went to the printer on
did not cause us any ultimate delay, for the January 13, and early in February
1921,
editorial work went steadily forward. We we received the proof. Mr. Henn was now
were particularly lucky in having page proof at work on another great section "Fauna
sheets of the Addenda and Pre-Linnsean of the World," but before it could be set the
sections wherefrom to complete the notations printers' strike in Boston occurred. Gal-
for the index cards. ley and page proofs covering the Addenda
By June, 1921, I had finished the four and Pre-Linnsean sections had, however, been
small sections of "General Bibliographies read and we were therefore prepared to go to
which Include References to Fishes," "Voy- press with these 338 pages. In the meantime
ages and Expeditions which Relate to Fishes," the work of arranging the vast material under
"List of Periodicals Relating to Fish and Fish the headings in the Morphological Section of
Culture," and "Errata and Corrigenda." the Subject Index went steadily on.
These subjects in all cover but twenty-two In September, 1921, Miss La Monte re-
pages —
a space out of all proportion to the signed to go abroad. Her place was taken by
time and trouble required to gather the data Miss Elsie M. Heinrich, who gave us loyal
and present them in proper form. As soon as service until she was forced to resign by
these sections were off my hands, I gave reason of ill health in June, 1922. However,
attention to those topics of the Morphological Miss La Monte returned to the Museum in
Section of the Subject Index which had more October, 1922, and devoted her attention to
VIII
SUBJECT INDEX
SYSTEMATIC SECTION
CEPHALOCHORDATA (LEPTOCAR- — Amphioxus a slightly metamorphosed
DII OR LANCELETS) tu7iicate {with consideration of homologies)
Marine acraniate fish-like chordates.

Wijhe, J. W.
1906.1, 1914.1, .2. — "Am-
phioxus and the ancestry of the vertebrates."
General Delage, M. Y. &
treatise.
Willey, A. 1894.1.
Herouard, E. 1898.1; Willey, A. 1894.1. Asymmetron. Natural history notes.
Classification and geographical distri-
bution. Tattersall, W. M. 190.3.1. For — •Andrews, E. A.
W. B. 1901.1,
1893.1;
1901.2;
Benham,
Mark, E. L.
a map showing the geographical distribution 1904.1; Romer, F. 1896.1; Willey, A.
of the Cephalochordata, see Herdman, 1896.1.
W. A. 1904.1 (p. 138).
Taxonomy of forms from Maldive — Epigonichthys. Natural
ing, P. 1877.1;
history.
Passzlavsky, J. 1877.1;
Hart-
and Laccadive Islands. Cooper, C. F.
1903.1; Parker, G. H. 1904.3. —Japan. Peters, .W. C. H. 1876.1.
Jordan, D. S. & Snyder, J. O. 1901.12. — CRANIATA
Ceylon. Tattersall, W. M. 1903.2.
Animals (Vertebrate) distinguished by
Family Amphioxididse the possession of a definite "head."
Araphioxides {A pelagic form). Tax- CLASS CYCLOSTOMATA, OR MAR-
onomy and relationships. *Goldschniidt, SIPOBRANCHII.
R. 1905.1, 1906.1, 1909.1, Add. 1905.1.
— Review of the above. Willey, A. 1906.1.
Aquatic craniates without true jaws.
For parasitic habits of Cyclostomes, see
Family Branchiostomidae under JParasitic Fishes, also pp. 416 and
Marine littoral forms 500.
Taxonomic revisions of genera and Natural history. Dumeril, A. M. 1812.1,
species. Gill, T. N. 1895.2; Jordan, D. S. .2; Partiot, L. Add. 1848.1; Thomson,
J. A. Add. 1912.1.
& Snyder, J. O. {Japan) 1901.12; •Kir-
Taxonomy and systematic relationships.
kaldy, W. 1895.1, Add. 1894.1.
J.
Dean, B. 1900.1; Gill, T. N. 1883.7;
Amphioxus (Branchiostoma) . Nat- •Howes, G. B. 1892.1; Woodland, W. N.
ural history, descriptions of young, etc.
Bert, P. 1867.1,-5; Clark, H. J. 1865.1;
1911.4. —
Supposed gnathostome ancestry
of Marsipobranchii. Woodland, W. N.
Harting, P. 1876.1; Kemna, A. 1906.1; 1913.2.
Krause,
1857.1;
W. 1898.1;
Miiller, J. 1839.1,
Lindsay,
1841.2; Quat-
A. Taxonomy of species found in
— — Russia.
Berg, L. S. 1906.10. Japan. Jordan,
refages, J. L. 1845.1; Reiohert, C. B. D. S. & Snyder, J. O. 1901.12. —Aus-
1870.1; Rice, H. J. 1878.1; Schultze, tralia. Ogilby, J. D. 1896.2.
M. J. 1851.1; Schneider, A. F. 1878.1;
Sundevall, C. J. 1840.1; Sundewall, F. OBDEB MYXINOIDES
1843.1; Willey, A. 1891.1, 1901.1; Yung, (Hyperotreti)
E. J. 1906.1; Putnam, F. W. Add. Hag-fishes or Borers
1865.1. For a map showing the geographical
Phylogenetic relationships. Relation — distribution of the Myxinoides, see Meek,
toBalanoglossus. MacBride, E. W. 1897.1. A. 1916.1 {p. 31).
1 Arranged in general according to the system used in the Cambridge Natural History — this for
convenience.
Confined chiefly to natural history, occurrence and the larger and more recent papers on fossil
forms and taxonomy. Rarely going below genera, save in the case of the fishes of great economic as
well as scientific importance (i. e. Anguilla, Pleuronectidse, Salmonidae, etc.).
For further data on natural historj- see Habits, Reproduction, etc., in Morphological Section.
.
For further references to fossil fishes, see the elaborate section Paleontology, also Hay, O. P. 1902.1,
and Woodward, A. S. 1889.2. and also the Bibliography of North American Palaeontology cited in
Part IV, General Bibliographies. For further data, on taxonomy and occurrence, see section Fauna
of the World, and for particular regions, see .such great faunistic and taxonomic works as Day, F.
1875.1, Boulenger, G. A. Add. 1909.1. Eigenmann, C. H. 1912.2, Goode & Bean, 1896.1, Jordau &
Evermann, 1896.1. For new species, see Zoological Record.
For all other subjects, see the Morphological Section.
A PAGE FROM DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES"

This page, only one of .305 that constitute the Subject Index of the monumental
Bibliography, serve as a suggestion of the painstaking editorial labor required in
may
dividing the vast literature of fishes into sub-headings and sub-sub-headings and in selecting
for each entry a style and size of type that enables the reader at a glance to associate it with
entries of corresponding value and to differentiate it from larger or from subordinate classifi-
cations
399
400 NATURAL HISTORY
the Bibliography until the last card was ready And now was realized how wisely the poet
to be sent to the printer in 1923. wrote when he said, "To err is human." Mr.
Mr. Henn's work on the Subject Index was Henn asked that the final proofs be sent to
twice considerably interfered with. In 1920, him at Pittsburgh, and these received the
he was appointed curator of fishes in the benefit of his careful reading.
Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With this off our hands there yet remained
Dr. W. J. Holland, then director, seeing how undone one large section which Mr. Henn (far
badly Mr. Henn was needed for the Sub- better fitted to handle it than I) had left in-
ject Index (the work of which he had complete. This was the Systematic Section,
initiated and had carried on alone until I of which only the sub-sections Anguillidse,
joined him in June, 1921) and fully appreciat- Salmonidse, and part of Pleuronectidse were
ing the value of the Bibliography to science, done: However, there was no one else to do
kindly agreed to let him stay with us until this Systematic Section, so with the con-
this index was completed. It was necessary, stant advice and help of my colleague in the
however, for Mr. Henn to go to Pittsburgh department, Mr. John Treadwell Nichols,
at intervals to examine the fish collections and this was finally arranged, following the gen-
see that everything was in proper order. He eral classification set out in the Cambridge
was away for about -two months in the fall of Natural History.
1920 and for about four months in the winter This work was lightened and its bulk re-
of 1921-22. During his second absence I duced in two ways. First, there had been left
worked over all the index material not com- in the Systematic Section great masses of
pleted and in the hands of the printer, and got material which were now brought out and
it into shape for more rapid handling on Mr. inserted under various sub-headings of the
Henn's return. Morphological Section, or made into such
In the meantime the strike had ended and great group headings as "Aquarium Fishes"
early in 1922 we began to receive proof with and "Anatomy and Morphology." This re-
fair regularity while on January 24 the bill of lieved the situation greatly, and furtherreduc-
lading was received for the printed sheets of tion was obtained by following Doctor Dean's
the Bibliography up to page 320. In the fall advice that we confine our taxonomic refer-
of 1922, Doctor Holland, feeUng that Mr. ences almost entirely to revisions of famihes,
Henn had been permitted to remain with us genera, and species. For most genera and
as long as he could possibly spare him, and species the " natural, history " references were
that the work of the department of ithchy- retained, and where the fishes mentioned
ology of the Carnegie Museum was suffer- were rare or unusual or of great interest and
ing by reason of his absence, called for him to value, there were listed in addition all the
come to Pittsburgh, and on November 9, citations. For the complete literature cov-
Mr. Henn severed his connection with the ering all fishes the searcher is referred to
Bibliography for good. such great faunal works as Boulenger's
At the time of his departure the situation Freshwater Fishes of Africa, Jordan & Ever-
was not exactly reassuring, for notwithstand- mann's Fishes of North and Middle America,
ing the help that I had been able to give in etc. This plan seems to have won almost
the fifteen months that I had worked on the unanimous commendation as has our adop-
Subject Index, there was much left unfinished. tion of the classification used in the Cam-
Naturally, as the work progressed, omitted bridge Natural History. Finally the large
items were picked up, errors were detected, Systematic Section was completed and the
faulty and erroneous titles were cleared up, last cards sent to the printer on April 27, 1923.
resulting in considerable changes in various During all these years of prolonged brain-
sections of the Subject Index, through cutting deadening work, Doctor Dean visited us every
out here and adding there. This material week or ten days and was the court of last re-
was held until the last; insertions and dele- sort in settling doubtful and disputed points.
tions were then made in the galley proofs of His advice and his optimism sustained us on
the Morphological Section, and at that time, many an occasion when we were almost ready
too, the sizes and styles of type were made to give in rmder the strain. Furthermore, he
uniform throughout. These proofs had to be read all the proof and gave us much valuable
read not merely word by word and date by advice and help in that connection. Indis-
date, but letter by letter and figure by figure. putably he was the Deus ex machina.
DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES" 401
The Subject Index, which is the summa max- been melted and that this matter would all
ima of our work,composed of two sections:
is have to be set up afresh, causing another
a Morphological and General Section of 254 delay. However, the forms had been held,
pages with its 118 great headings and the new sheets were printed, shipped at once, and
Systematic Section of 51 pages a total of 305 — received promptly.
pages wherein the literature of fishes is Due to these delays, a new complication
minutely analyzed into hundreds of small had arisen. The Bibhography was to be
headings and smaller sub-headings. To this bound in the Museum bindery but had now
there is a Finding Index of 41 triple-column lost its turn to the current issue of Natural
pages in alphabetical arrangement. The total History, which was just coming from the
pagination of our combined index is therefore press, and to pile Pehon upon Ossathis issue of
346 pages. Natural History was a special edition, and
While this work was progressing, Miss La therefore taxed the bindery to its capacity.
Monte had for months, in the interval of However, on November 13, 1923, the first
other duties, been at work on this alphabetical bound copy of the Bibliography was put into
Finding Index to the Subject Index. With my hands, and our book was formally
the sending of the last of the cards of the published.
Systematic Section to the printer, she devoted And now that our task is done, too much
herself almost exclusively to the Finding Index cannot be said of the far-sightedness and the
until it was finished, and she finally left the faith in the ultimate success of ourwork and
service of the Bibliography about the first of of its value to science shown by President
July, 1923. Too much cannot be said of the Osborn and the Board of Trustees, who
intelligent, skillful, and faithful service she through all these years of work long drawn —
gave the Bibhography. out, thanks to the war —
have furnished the
I was out of my office on account of iUness money to pay the salaries of those of us
from May 16 to June 15, 1923. On my return who have been privileged to do the task,
I at once set to work on the editing of the and to provide for the far larger costs of
Finding Index cards and as soon as possible publication. The debt of science to them
in July sent them to the printers. Galley is certainly very heavy.
proofs came promptly and were as promptly At this writing the Bibliography has been
read and sent back. Final page proofs were distributed to a large number of ichthyologists
returned August 14 and orders given to print and reference librarians, and from every
everything up to the word finis. After some quarter of the civilized world letters and re-
delay this was done, but to the very last the views are arriving that speak in the heartiest
Bibliography proved itself the child of mis- terms of the inestimable and enduring value
fortune, for by an inadvertence when the final of our work —
which covers every subject
printed sheets were forwarded to us, the wherein fishes touch the life of man — and
"front matter" — page, preface, table of
title that declare it a landmark in the bibliography
contents, etc. —was not included. The miss- of scientific literature. And so the editors
ing part was sent, however, at once by ex- feel that, asHonorary Director Lucas wrote
press. On its way here the containing crate us on hearing that the final volume had come
was smashed and a large number of the sheets from the bindery,
badly damaged. Sick at heart, I wired the
printers, fearing that the monotypes had Finis coronal opus.
NOTES
SCIENCE OF MAN scientific usefulness of the materials gathered
Professor von Luschan and His Superb during his long would be greatly enhanced
life
Collection of Anatomical Specimens. — by placing them in America and in this Mu-

Prof. Felix von Luschan, a distinguished Ger- seum. So at the time of his death Professor
man anthropologist, died last February. For von Luschan was superintending the packing
of this collection for shipment to New York.
many years he had been professor of anthro-
pology in the University of Berlin and had Needless to say, this addition to the Museum's
held a corresponding position in the national anatomical collections will make the institu-
anthropological museum of Germany. Though tion one of the very best places in which to
he was interested in all phases of anthropologi- study human biology.

cal research, his best-known contributions are Mr. Clarence L. Hay, who for many
in racial anthropology and the archaeology of years has been engaged in archaeological re-
the Near East. He was a true field man and search in Mexico, was elected a member of the
inspired all those around him with the spirit Board American Museum at
of Trustees of the
of inquiry. Naturally these qualities made the annual meeting in February. Formerly a
him an ideal teacher and drew to his labora- graduate student in Harvard University,
tories many foreign students, especially from where he speciahzed in Mexican archaeology,
the United States and England. The most Mr. Hay has for several years been carrying on
interesting scientific contribution made by his researches in the department of anthropol-
Professor von Luschan was his demonstra- ogy, American Museum. In that connectionhe
tion, before the modern theory of heredity has made frequent collecting trips to Mexico.
came into general notice, that in mixed popu- He isnow developing plans for an extension
lations the two constituent original human of theMuseum building on Columbus Avenue,
types will continue to appear century after in which are to be housed, in artistic setting,
century instead of all individuals being leveled the Museum collections from ancient America.
down to a uniform blend. For example, when President Henry Fairfield Osborn has ap-
a long-headed people mix with the round- pointed a committee to assist Mr. Hay in
headed, we may expect a number of medium working out the architecture and other details.
heads to appear in their progeny, but also, ac- In general, the plan is to use full-scale repro-
cording to the now accepted laws of heredity, ductions of the best-known examples of Mayan
there should be represented both long heads and Aztecan sculpture as integral parts of the
and round heads. Thus it was that Professor inner wall faces, thus in the end housing the
von Luschan first saw in human data what exhibits within walls that are representative of
through the researches of De Vries and others their own time and place. In Mexico and
led to an epoch-making discovery in biology. Yucatan were reaUzed the highest types of
On the other hand. Professor von Luschan aboriginal American civilization and it is
was a great explorer and collector. He pos- fitting that the proposed new hall, which will
sessed one of the largest and most complete house examples of the archaeology of these
collections of anatomical specimens in exist- areas, should form the west entrance to the
ence, —the work of a Ufetime. His series of Museum.

human crania is representative of all living Dr. J. Alden Mason, of the Field Museum,
races of men fromthe extinct Tasmanian to has been appointed assistant curator of
the modem European and thus contains in Mexican archaeology in the American
the story of man's racial differentiation.
itself Museum. Doctor Mason has carried on ex-
Accompanying the material is a large series of tensive researches in Mexico and northern
photographs, extensive notes gathered during South America and is well prepared to take
von Luschan's wide travels, and an un- up the development of new work in this field.
usually complete library. Just a few months Almost from the first, the American Mu-
before his death, Professor von Luschan com- seum undertook the accumulation of collec-
pleted arrangements to transfer this magnifi- tions illustrating the wonderful cultures of
cent series of specimens and books to the aboriginal Mexico. Its first collection of
LTnited States and to deposit them in the Central American antiquities, that of the
American Museum. He believed that the Hon. E. G. Squier, one of the early students
402
NOTES 403
of the ancient American civilizations, was So the appointment of Doctor Mason as

acquired in 1875. Later, under the generous assistant curator in charge of Mexican archse-
patronage of the Due du Loubat great im- ology inaugurates a new period in the de-
petuswas given to research in the field of Mexi- velopment of the department of anthropology.
can and Central American archaeology, and
the collections were greatly enriched both by
exploration and by purchase. Among the NEW ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE FAUN-
early acquisitions made possible through the THORPE-VERNAY EXPEDITION
Due du Loubat were casts of prehistoric Additions to the Mammal Collection.
sculptures from the Valley of Mexico, Chiapas, — Mr. Arthur Vernay, who is extending the
Yucatan, Guatemala, and Honduras, pottery work of the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition
and stone objects from Mexico and Guate- into new areas of Burma, Assam, and Siam,
mala, and reproductions of ancient codices, has sent to the American Museum several
now on view in the Mexican hall of the Ameri- reports, conveyed by bearers from the depths
can Museum. of the jungle, regarding the progress of the
In 1896 a concession for archaeological undertaking. In addition to Mr. Vernay and
exploration was obtained from the Mexican the ofl&cers and scientists associated with
government, and work was begun under the him, the expedition has a complement of 72
direction of Prof. M. H. Saville, who explored —
men Indians, Shans, Korens, and others
the famous ruins of Mitla, and those of Xoxo and no less than 30 elephants for transporting
and Monte Alban in Oaxaca, and of Xochi- the equipment and for driving out the con-
calco in Morelos. Professor Saville returned cealed jungle beasts through an approach in
to Mexico in 1898 and again in 1900-03, and line formation.
during these periods explored the curious Writing from a camp established at Lampa
cruciform structure among the ruins at in the Tenasserim Division of Lower Burma,
Mitla, a model of which is in the Museum. Mr. Vernay states that he has secured in that
After Professor Saville withdrew from the locality specimens of the giant bamboo rat
Museum, Doctor Herbert J. Spinden, now of as well as of the smallest of these rodents,
Harvard University, was appointed curator in several interesting squirrels, a wild pig, and
this field, and carried on explorations from three bats (Pteropus intermedius) —the last-
1909 to 1920, not only in Mexico, but in mentioned being caught in mouse traps
other parts of Central America and the appropriately baited!
adjacent sections of South America. In a later letter sent from a camp estab-
In recent years, the Central American sec- lished on theLa-oh Plateau he mentions that
tion has been greatly enriched by the un- he obtained a fine young bull bison, standing
rivaled collection of Mr. Minor C. Keith, 5 feet 3)^ inches at the shoulder. This animal
consisting of stone carvings, pottery, and gold rounds out admirably the proposed bison
objects. group, for which there are available, in addi-
It isnot possible to enumerate here all the an adult bull, a cow, and a calf. When
tion,
expeditions sent out by the Museum to gather Mr. Vernay wrote this letter (January 5),
materials for the Mexican hall, but acknowl- the specimens secured already totaled 280.
edgment can be made to the generous donors Among the animals alluded to are gibbons,
who financed these undertakings and to the several monkeys, and specimens of the large
many distinguished archaeologists who made squirrel (Ratufa giganteus). A cable dated
the field studies. Among the patrons are: March 14 contained the news that a prized
Willard Brown, Austin Corbin, R. P. Dore- specimen of a rare Malayan tapir had been
mus, Anson W. Hard, Archer M. Huntington, bagged and that Mr. Vernay was about to
Morris K. Jesup, James H. Jones, Minor C. leave for Assam to hunt buffalo.
Keith, the Due du Loubat, William Mack, Not only is Mr. Vernay zealously collecting
Henry Marquand, Dr. William Pepper, A. D. himself but, desirous that no important area
Straus, I. McI. Strong, Cornelius Vanderbilt, in or near India should be without faunal
Henry Villard, William C. Whitney. The representation in the American Museum, he
archaeologists include George Byron Gordon,
: arranged to have an expedition sent to Kash-
Algs Hrdlicka, Carl Lumholtz, Francis C. mir, with the result that the Museum has
Nicholas, Marshall H. Saville, Eduard Seler, come into the possession of many desiderata
Herbert J. Spinden, and John L. Stephens. from that area.
404 NATURAL HISTORY
Birds Collected by the Expedition. — Straits of Magellan, Doctor Chapman had
Although the present expedition of Mr. an excellent opportunity to view the country
Vernay has been fortunate in obtaining a where Darwin made observations during the
representative collection of the smaller mam- memorable voyage of the "Beagle." From
mals, it has devoted its energies with con- Punta Arenas a crossing to Tierra del Fuego
spicuous success also to the collecting of birds. was effected by gunboat. There American
Itwas with the purpose of securing, if possible, motor cars met the party and when later the
as complete a representation of the avifauna travelers returned to the mainland, other
as of the mammalian fauna, that Mr. Vernay motor cars took them northward 150 miles
induced Mr. Willoughby Lowe of the British along the eastern base of the Andes.
Museum, to accompany him. Seventy-five On the way from Puerto Montt to Santiago
different species of birds were represented in a stop was made in the Cordillera east of
the collection made during the first week in Temuco for the special purpose of viewing the
the field and a daily average of from twenty Araucaria forests. Doctor Chapman ob-
to thirty specimens in subsequent days has tained an excellent series of photographs of
resulted in the addition of many other species, the fruit and habit of growth of this tree, but
some of them being of great rarity. Among he could not discover that any birds are associ-
the more spectacular birds obtained are the ated with it. In Santiago he rejoined Mr. Wal-
Burmese peacock and peahen and specimens cott, who had completed most successfully his
of the hornbill Dichoceros bicornis. side trip in search of the flamingoes, and the
party proceeded to Puente del Inca, a station
BIRDS at an elevation of 9000 feet on the Argentine
Bird Collecting in Chile and the side of the Trans- Andean railroad.
—
Argentine. Dr. Frank M. Chapman, cura- Here studies and collections were made for
tor of the department of birds, returned to the what should prove to be a most impressive
American Museum in April after an absence habitat bird group. The background will
of more than four months in Chile and offer a superb view of Aconcagua in a setting
the Argentine. Sailing from New York which naturally lends itself to group con-
on Thanksgiving Daj% accompanied by Mrs. struction. The dominant bird will be the
Chapman, Mr. F. C. Walcott, and Miss condor, with other characteristic upper Ufe-
Helen Walcott, he joined Lord William Percy zone species, including seed snipe and a
on Christmas at Puerto Montt, the end of — humming bird.
rail service in Chile. Here the party char- At Chascomiis, only three hours south of
tered a small steamer and for ten days Buenos Aires, material was obtained for the
explored the islands south and east of the is- construction of a group representing the bird
land of Chiloe, where an expedition from the life of the pampas and lagoons. Here a coni-
Field Museum of Chicago was engaged in bination of grassland and lake brings together
collectingsome time ago. Motion pictures such forms as the rhea, various tinamous, the
taken by Mr. Walcott, studies of the flightless crested screamer, the black-necked swan, the
steanier duck made by Lord Percy, the dis- flamingo, and other almost equally interesting
covery of penguins nesting in luxuriant forests types. This locality has the additional
associated with humming birds, and specimens advantage of being in the region of which
as well as still pictures of nearly all the Hudson wrote All the species in the proposed
.
species observed are the principal results of •

group appear in his books and as a result the
this cruise. popular value of the group is greatly enhanced.
A return was made to Puerto Montt and As a further evidence of the success of the
there the party divided, to reassemble later. trip it remains only to state in conclusion that
Lord Percy continued his study of ducks Doctor Chapman succeeded, in addition to his
along the coast of the mainland, Mr. Walcott field work, in arranging certain important
went to Bolivia to investigate flamingo exchanges, which will add several species and
"rookeries," and Doctor Chapman accepted at least one genus to the collection of birds
an invitation from the Hon. William M. in the American Museum.
Collier, the LTnited States Ambassador to Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy, assistant
Chile, to accompany him Punta Arenas.
to director of the American Museum and asso-
Crossing the Gulf of Penas and sailing along ciate curator of its department of birds, has
the coastal islands and the mainland on to the been elected a member of the Association of
NOTES 405
American Geographers, which is devoted to Marshal Earl Kitchener, agriculturists in

the cultivation of the scientific study of geog- Lower Egypt would probably ere this have
raphy in all its branches and is limited as been deprived of the services of a useful ally.
regards its membership to individuals who The name from the fact that
birds derive their
have done original work in some branch of they are usually found in association with
this science. There are at present 138 individ- cattle, but they may be seen also with other
uals who have been honored by membership domestic and wild animals, snapping up the
in this society. insects, especially grasshoppers, that are
The Cattle Heron. — Mr. James P. driven out of the high grass by the quadrupeds
Chapin in an article of this issue has called as they move about grazing. Sometimes the
attention to the service which one African birds will alight on the backs of elephants,
bird (the honey guide) performs while seek- finding thesepachyderms a convenient perch
ing its own ends. To the cattle heron (Bubul- in country where dense, high growth of vege-
cus ibis) man is indebted in even larger tation makes progress over the ground rather
difficult.
measure, though its good actions, confined to
the control of insect pests, have not the
spectacular interest that attaches to the PUBLIC EDUCATION
behavior of the honey guide. It is estimated An Expedition to Sweden and Lapland.
that in 1920 these insectivorous birds saved in -
—Thanks to the generous cooperation of the
Egypt alone crops to the value of £2,000,000 Swedish State Railways, the American Mu-
or £3,000,000. Yet only eight years prior seum has been enabled to send an expedition
thereto had been dangerously re-
herons to Sweden for the gathering of important data.
duced in numbers through the persistent Dr. G. Clyde Fisher, curator of visual in-
persecution of plume hunters and, had not struction, has been entrusted with the leader-
protective measures been set on foot at that ship of the undertaking, and is fortunate in
time under the patronage of the late Field haviag associated with him Mr. Carveth
Courtesy of Dr. L. Bayer

Cattle herons at Entebbe, Uganda
406 NATURAL HISTORY
Wells, F. R. G. s., whose sparkling lectures Doctor Fisher saw for the first time the inter-
have on more than one occasion delighted esting long-tailed tropic birds that had
members of the Museum and their children. attracted the notice of Burroughs during his
Doctor Fisher and Mr. Wells sailed May 10 sojourn in Bermuda, and by a curious coin-
on the S. S. " Drottningholm," Swedish Ameri- cidence he viewedthem from the very spot
can Line, for Gothenburg, whence by the where Burroughs had gazed upon them, and
River and Lake Route of the Gota Canal thej^ in the company of the Bermudian novelist,
will proceed to Stockholm. Miss Minna Caroline Smith, who was with
As one of the purposes of the trip is to make Burroughs when he made the observation.
a study of the Swedish educational system,
they will visit elementary and secondary ERRATA
schools, universities, museums, and other The attention of the editor has been called
centers of learning. Attention will be paid to to an error in connection with the full-page
sloyd work in its native home, for it is pro- picture on p. 221 of the issue of Natural
posed to inspect one or more of the schools History for May-June, 1922. The picture
in which this system of manual training is shows a party collecting fossils in a cliff near
emphasized. Upsala, the seat of one of Peking, and as it is credited to Mr. Walter
Sweden's complete universities, founded Granger, palaeontologist of the Third Asiatic
before Columbus discovered America, will be Expedition, a reader would naturally draw the
included in the itinerary. An added interest conclusion that it represents the activities of
here is the fact that Upsala was the home of that expedition.The photograph was,
Linnaeus, "The Father of Modern Botany," however, not taken by Mr. Granger but by
who is perhaps as well known to zoologists as Dr. J. G. Andersson, of the Geological Survey
to botanists due to his system of scientific of China, and depicts the work of that organi-
names animals and plants, which he
for zation at Chou-K'ou-Tien, in the Province of
devised in the middle of the eighteenth cen- Chihli. The picture had been presented to
tury and which is still the basis of our scien- Mr. Granger and for the sake of convenience
tific nomenclature. The university center of placed with photographs of his own work.
Lund will alsobe visited. During Mr. Granger's absence in Szechuan,
Leaving southern Sweden behind, Doctor Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews, desirous of giv-
Fisher and Mr. Wells will travel northward by ing emphasis in the article he was then prepar-
rail to Por jus, from which point they will go by ing for Natural History to Mr. Granger's
motor boat up the Stora Lule-alv River as far achievements, selected from among the photo-
as it is navigable; thence into the wilderness graphs this print, not unnaturally believing
quite off the beaten track of the casual tourist. itto be Mr. Granger's. The unfortunate error
Here it is hoped that both a still- and has at least this offset, that it gives oppor-
motion-picture record of the country and life tunity again to direct attention to the impor-
of the Lapps may be secured. Doctor Fisher tant work that is being done by the Geologic
and Mr. Wells will also make a study of the Survey of China. In the issue of Natural
extremely interesting and, in some ways, History January-February, 1921, a
for
unique flora and fauna of the region. Since detailed account was given of this organiza-
they will be working within the Arctic Circle tion, while in the issue for January-February,
during June and July, not the least of the 1924, mention was made of some of the valu-
points of interest will be those correlated with able results which it has achieved and of the
"The Land of the Midnight Sun." program of work still to be undertaken.
It is only recently that Doctor Fisher and Confession is reputed to be good for the soul,
Mr. Wells visited Bermuda and there made incidentally it is good for a proper under-
motion-picturerecords of the wonderful understanding of the facts. An additional error is,
water life —the coral gardens and angel fish therefore, noted: the formation shown in the
in addition to obtaining many excellent still picture is described in the caption as loess;
pictures. On April 3, the occasion of John it should have been referred to as limestone.
Burrough's birthday. Doctor Fisher lectured The picture of the excavations at Chou-
to Bermudians and sojourners in the islands K'ou-Tien has been used by Dr. Otto Zdansky
upon the great naturalist, of whom he has so in his account of this fossil locality published
many intimate memories and such a fine series in the Bulletin of the Geological Survey of
of pictures. It was on this anniversary that China, No. 5, October, 1923.
NOTES 407
CONSERVATION of two piles of hay of equal attractiveness and

The John Burroughs Memorial Asso- of equal proximity it would munch. It was at
ciation held its third annual meeting in the this crisis in the bird's affairs that Mr.
American Museum on April 3 under the Burroughs helped her to concentrate her
presidency of Dr. Frank M. Chapman. The activities by demolishing two of the uncom-
association is dedicated to the purpose of pleted nests.

preserving, in the spirit of John Burroughs, The slides shown by Doctor Chapman were
the places with which his life and work are as supplemented by others illustrative of the
irrefragably linked as is Selbourne with Gil- environment in which Burroughs spent his
bertWhite or Walden Pond with Thoreau. days, and finally, as a culmination of the
Thanks to the vigilance of the special com- session, the artist, Mr. Wickenham, explained
—
mittees of the association the one charged the circumstances connected with the several
with the preservation of Woodchuck Lodge, admirable oil paintings from his brush of
the other with the maintenance of Slabsides — subjects near Burroughs' birthplace that
these two dwellings are being safeguarded as ornamented the walls of the room in which
much as possible from the assaults of time the gathering was held.
and weather and, when renovation becomes The Farne Islands, lying off the northeast
imperative, the replacements are either coast of Northumberland, have been used as a
duplications of the original parts or harmoni- breeding station by more than twenty species
ous additions thereto. of sea birds, that congregate there in numbers.
The abiding interest in Burroughs is well The nearest island of this group of fifteen is
illustrated by the fact, reported by Dr. Clara only three miles from the mainland and, as
Barrus, of the Woodchuck Lodge Committee, often happens under such circumstances, the
that from the middle of September to the bird life has become imperiled through the
last of —
October at a season, in other words, visits of individuals who are wantonly de-
when the summer pilgrimages to different structive .the proposal to purchase these
It is
—
places are at an end nearly 1200 people islands and to have them more adequately
visited the spot where Burroughs spent his guarded than is now possible. Funds in sup-
boyhood and where he lies buried. port of this worthy object may be sent to
After a report by Mr. John Shea, chairman Mr. CoUingwood F. Thorp, of Belvedere, Aln-
of the Slabsides Committee, regarding the wick, England.
steps taken to keep Slabsides as nearly as The National Conference on State
possible as Burroughs left it. Doctor Chapman Parks was held in Gettysburg, Pennsylva-
read an entertaining letter from Theodore nia, from May 26 to 28 and was attended
Roosevelt, assistant secretary of the Navy, by an interested group of delegates. At the
telling of a visit which young Roosevelt paid request of Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, Mr.
at the age of eleven, when his distinguished Barrington Moore represented the American
father was governor of New York State, to Museum at the gathering. The success of
the home of the naturalist. This visit had a these conferences may be gauged by the grow-
curious sequel, which Doctor Chapman illus-
ing response on the part of official bodies and
trated through lantern slides. A phoebe, private associations to the measures urged.
rather needlessly resentful of the fact that a Since the last conference, for instance, Ken-
littleboy had taken a peep in her nest, flew tucky has passed a state park law; West
to a house near Slabsides and there started Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas have created
a new home on one of the numerous beams state park associations; in Tennessee there
under the roof of the porch. Presently she is a movement under way to establish a state
lost her bearings, bewildered by the series of park around Reelfoot Lake: and California
parallel beams of hke structure that offered is working on a plan for its state parks. It is
support for a nest. In her perplexity she laid to be hoped that the developments of the
the foundations of a second home and then a months ahead may reflect in Uke manner the
third. With three nests under way the de- interest shown by the present conference in
luded bird flew from job to job, not knowing the extension of the park movement
how to divide her time between her several
building projects, —
a dilemma similar to that NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
of the donkey which, dialecticians claim, In Memory or Mrs. Russell Sage. —
starved to death while trying to decide which An impressive ceremony took place on April
408 NATURAL HISTORY
15, near the well-known rocking stone^ in the British Guiana, to the Empire Exhibition
New York Zoological Park. An oak tree was recently held in London, both as testimony of
planted by the Conservation Committee of the nature of its undertakings and as a tribute
the New York City Federation of Women's to the continuous support which the govern-
Clubs "in grateful memory of Mrs. Russell ment Guiana has given to the sta-
of British
Sage, foremost woman philanthropist of the tion.Included in the material sent were a
world in the bestowal of wisely chosen benefits number of pictures, for it was felt that through
upon science, art, literature, education, and such photographic records could be conveyed
the welfare of humanity." Although Mrs. more effectively than in any other way the
Sage's benefactions had the broad foundation natural interest of the site and the facilities
indicated, conservationists will feel that her for scientific work that the station offers.
memory is more fittingly preserved through The studies in water color made by Miss
the planting of a tree than through any other Isabel Cooper of insects, reptiles, birds, and
sj'^mbol of her public-spirited interests. Just mammals, were and a large oil
represented,
as the memory Burroughs and Muir is
of painting of the station was a prominent
hterally kept green through the pin oaks feature.
planted in front of the American Museum,
so the important part Mrs. Sage has had in EXTINCT ANIMALS
assuring the preservation of the wild hfe of A Survey of Pliocene Fauna and Strati-
the country will be commemorated each re- graphy. —The department of vertebrate
curring spring in the beauty of foUage of this palaeontology, American Museum, has been
memorial tree, a symbol of her perennial engaged since 1910 in making a very accurate
interest in the world of living and growing survey of the Age of Mammals, beginning
things. Through the permanent wild-hfe with the Eocene of northern New Mexico,
protection fund she established; through the Utah, and Wyoming, which has been explored
Sage Game Sanctuary on Marsh Island, in the greatest detail, especially through field
Louisiana; and other wise provisions in the expeditions under the direction of Mr. Walter
interests of conservation, she has made a Granger. Precise study of these collections
lasting contribution for which all nature lov- in the Museum by Professor Osborn, Doctor
ers are deeply grateful. Matthew, and Mr. Granger has yielded the
The tree-planting ceremony was preceded entire hfe history of Eocene time, showing
by a procession and the delivery of a eulogy especially the connections with western
by Dr. WiUiam T. Hornaday, director of the Europe and with Mongoha. The next period,
New York Zoological Park, and was followed the OUgocene, is now being studied with great
by the recital, by Mrs. Charles Cyrus Mar- precisionby Professor Sinclair of Princeton.
shall, of the poem "Park Trees," written by The Miocene east of the Rocky Moimtains
Margaret E. Sangster. is being especially surveyed by Curator
In the afternoon the New York City Matthew, with the cooperation of Mr.
Federation of Women's Clubs held a session, Harold Cook. West of the Rocky Moim-
under the chairmanship of Mrs. Marshall, on tains, the Miocene is now being examined,
conservation of wild Hfe. Mrs. Thomas likewise with great thoroughness, by expedi-
Slack, president of the organization, delivered tions under the direction of Dr. John C. Mer-
the greeting; Mrs. Otto Hahn, the secretary, riam, president of the Carnegie Institution,
presented the report of the conservation com- who has also conducted epoch-making explora-
mittee; Senator Elwood M. Rabenold, chair- tions of the PUocene in the Great Desert of
man of the State Senate Committee on Con- the Pacific Slope, that have resulted in the
servation, spoke on "The Conservation Out- discovery especially of unsuspected migra-
look Today," the St. Cecelia Choral Society tions of Asiatic antelopes into North Amer-
sang Joyce Kilmer's "Trees," and Doctor ica. The Pleistocene, or Ice Age, has been
Hornaday delivered an address on "Our studied in detail during the past twenty
Campaign for Retrenchment and Reform." years by Dr. O. P. Hay of the Carnegie
The Tropical Research Station of the Foundation.
New York Zoological Society has contributed There remains the problem of the Pliocene
an interesting exhibit of its work at Kartabo, east of the Rocky Mountains, from the Mexi-
'A photograph of this stone appeared in the issue of can border northward into Nebraska; also
Natural History for September-October, 1922, p.
433. the Phocene of Florida. This is the least-
NOTES 409
known and the least-understood part of the concentrated to make its removal profitable.
Age of Mammals in this great region, because In the "hard rock phosphate" district these
the fossil deposits are so sparse and so scat- deposits are in pockets and lenses upon the
tered. Yet we feel confident that it contains a very irregular surface of marine limestone,
fossil store of surpassing interest, because of and covered by a layer a few feet or yards
great migrations both from Asia and from deep of surface soils. Farther south in the
South America. "land pebble phosphate" district these phos-
For the purpose of making possible re- phatic beds have been overrun by the sea.
search in this period of the Age of Mammals, the phosphates broken up into pebbles and
one of the Trustees of the American Museum, redeposited as conglomerate lenses and layers
Mr. Childs Frick, has contributed the Plio- over a limestone floor planed down by the
cene Fund, in addition to conducting field waves to a more uniform surface. As in the
work of the utmost importance and interest, district farther north, a surface covering or
especially in southern California. Mr. Frick overburden, ten, twenty, or sometimes fifty
has been working for several years, with the feet in thickness, overlies the phosphate bed.
assistance of the staff of preparators and The river pebble phosphates, dredged from
artists, upon certain papers that will be pub- the channels of various streams, are due to a
lished in Bulletin and Memoir form. These similar concentration of the phosphate con-
include: (1) "Description of New Material —
cretions pebbles, fossil teeth, and bones
from the Pliocene of Eden, California, and the through the action of rivers and streams.
Pleistocene of El Casco, California," (2) The mining is done on a huge scale, with
"Description of New from the
Material sand pump, dredges, hydraulic jets, elaborate
Barstow Region of California," (3) "Bears machinery for crushing, washing, sorting, and
and Aberrant Dogs of the late Tertiary and concentrating the phosphate, which is then
Quaternary," (4) "Horses of the North shipped off to be treated with sulphuric acid
American Pleistocene." or otherwise made available for fertilizer.
The plan of the present year includes the Fossil teeth or bones show up every now and
survey of the Pliocene of Florida by Curator then, occasionally a lower jaw, and even
Matthew, whose recent visit to Florida is the fairlygood skulls have been found, but prob-
subject of the following note, and the explora- ably far more has been destroyed in the course
tion of the Pliocene of northern Arizona and of operations than has been preserved. There
central Texas by Dr. James W. Gidley and is no practical safeguard against such loss
Curator Matthew. except to maintain and increase the interest
Fossil Localities in Florida. — Dr. W. D. that is quite generally shown by the managing
Matthew spent the month of March in staff of the principal mining companies, and
Florida, examining various localities for fossil by the more intelligent workmen, in any
vertebrates and studying specimens in mu- fossils that are seen, especially the unusual
seum and private collections. Many fossil ones. The American Museum and other
mammals have been found in different parts institutions are under obligations to these
most of them in a fragmentary
of the state, but gentlemen for various important or interesting
condition and scattered, and their exact fossils saved and presented to them. The
geologic age has often been doubtful. Most American Museum in particular is indebted
of the fossils come from the phosphate work- to Mr. Anton Schneider and Mr. H. L. Mead,
ings in the central part of the state. Flor- present manager of the pits of the American
ida, as many readers of Natural History Cyanamid Company at Brewster, Florida,
know, is the great phosphate state of the and to Prof. C. R. Halter of Southern College,
Union. It supplies about nine-tenths of the Lakeland, for a number of very interesting
phosphates mined and used in the United fossilmammal specimens from the pebble
States, and a great part of the European phosphate district.
supply. The later Tertiary formations that The phosphates probablj^

concretionary
cover a great part of the state contain almost have been forming wherever the conditions
everywhere a considerable percentage of were favorable ever since the land emerged
phosphate of lime, but not enough to be above sea level, and the bones and teeth of
profitably extracted. The workable phosphate the animals associated with them have been
deposits are concretionary layers and masses buried, preserved, and petrified at various
in which the phosphate of lime is sufficiently times from the middle part of the Tertiary
410 NATURAL HISTORY
period down to the present. Under such cir- various items to the later faunas. Neverthe-
cumstances, there is sometimes an admixture less,our acquaintance with the extinct Flor-
of species of very different age, especially in idian mammals is still extremely scanty and
beds that have been reworked by marine or fragmentary, and a great deal will probably be
river action. As a general rule, however, added to it in the near future.
most or all of the fossils found in one pocket In a later number some account will be
or excavation are of the same age; or, if not, given of the interesting fossil finds recently
the earher remains and the later intrusions made in Florida by one members,
of our life
can usually be distinguished by differences in Mr. Walter W. Holmes.
their preservation. With exact records of the The Excavation of the Peale Masto-
finds and a practical knowledge of the faunas —
don. Readers of Prof. Henry Fairfield
found associated in the Western Tertiary for- Osborn's article on " Mastodons of theHudson
mations, it is possible to distinguish several Highlands," contributed to the issue of Nat-
different faunas among the fossil mammals of ural History for January-February, 1923,
Florida. Doctor E. H. Sellards, the former will recall the historic painting by Charles
state geologist, has done a great deal of very Willson Peale that appeared in connection
excellent work along this line, and it is to be with that article. The picture has recently
hoped that the present staff of the Geologic been lent to the American Museum by Mrs.
Survey will be enabled to continue the work in Harry White and has been placed in the hall
cooperation with various institutions and of horses on the fourth floor. In addition to its
individuals interested in learning more of the artistic value —the work of a painter to whom
geological history of the state. To the three Washington gave fourteen —this
sittings
faunas distinguished by Doctor Sellards picture has documentary significance, for it
Miocene, Phocene, and Pleistocene Doctor — records an event of interest in the history of
Matthew was able to add a fourth and older palseontology and among those represented in
one, at the base of the Miocene, and to add the group of individuals witnessing the exca-
The excavation of the Peale Mastodon. — This historic painting has been lent to the American Museum
by Mrs. Harry White
NOTES 411
vation are the artist himself and members of both by reason of its accuracy and because of
his family. Charles Willson Peale is the the primitive form on which the researches are
conspicuous figure with the right hand ex- based.
tended and the left holding the diagram of the In both these papers Doctor Allis pays high
leg bones. The other figures immediately on tribute to Mr. Jugiro Nomura, his Japanese
the right of him are Mrs. Peale, Mrs. Rem- assistant, who made the dissections and draw-
brandt Peale, Titian Ramsay Peale, who was ings, and who has since died.
the naturalist of Long's Expedition and later These papers are of great interest to the
of Wilkes's Expedition to the Antarctic and scientific staff of the American Museum,
Pacific, the daughters of Rembrandt Peale, particularly to those
connected with the
and Rembrandt Peale himself, who wrote a departments of ichthyology and comparative
memoir on the mastodon. anatomy, not only on account of their
morphological bearings, but also because the
FISHES material on which Doctor Alhs worked was
Edward Phelps Allis, Jr. —Thirty years supplied to him in large part by Dr. Bash-
ago Edward Phelps Allis, Jr., began his career ford Dean, honorary curator of ichthyology,
as the leading student of the head structure from specimens in the American Museum or
of fishes —
skull, bones, muscles, nerves, blood secured by that institution.
vessels, sensory organs, foramina, cavities, Fishes Taken by the Congo Expedition.
mouth parts; practically all the organs of the —Some years ago there appeared several re-
head except the brain and the eyes. He ports deahng with the fishes brought back by
founded the Lake Laboratory in the early the Congo Expedition of the American Mu-
nineties of the last century and was one of the seum (1909-15). The first,i by Messrs.
founders of the Journal of Morphology. About John T. Nichols and Ludlow Griscom, was
twenty-five years ago, however. Doctor Alhs based on the collection of about 6000 fresh-
moved his laboratory to Mentone, France, in water fishes. Among the 234 forms repre-
the Riviera region, and from it has poured sented, 4 genera and 29 species proved to be
forth an unceasing stream of articles of the new to science. The second,^ by the late Dr.
highest class along the various lines noted Charles R. Eastman, noted many interesting
above. and peculiar structures in the skull of Hydro-
Two papers are of particular interest. In cyon, generally caUed the "water leopard,"
1922 there appeared his great memoir on the the whole mouth is edged with an
of which
cranial anatomy of Polypterus, published in armature of long, dagger-hke teeth. Compari-
the Journal of Anatomy, Cambridge, England. son was made with the Cretaceous genus
Of so great value was this paper, that the Onchosaurus and the recent South American
Journal Club of the American Museum sent a Hoplias. The third,^ by Dr. L. Hussakof,
letter of congratulation and good wishes to referred to the discovery of a new fossil fish.
Doctor AlUs on the completion of this im- Lepidotus congolensis, from the Lualaba beds
portant piece of research. of the Upper Triassic near Stanleyville. This
However, the particular paper calHng forth report also recorded from the Paleocene strata
this note is his "Cranial Anatomy of Chlamy-
of Landana the first indication of teleosts in
doselachus anguineus, pubhshed in Acta that formation.
Zoologica, Stockholm, 1923. In this contribu- In the large collection of fish were included
tion,99 pages in length and illustrated by 23 about 250 salt-water specimens, collected
magnificent plates (19 of them colored). near the mouth of the Congo River by Mr.
Doctor Allis deals in a masterly fashion with Herbert Lang while he was waiting there for a
the skuU, visceral arches, muscles, latero- ship to take to New York the rest of the
sensory organs, circulatory organs, and material gathered during more than sLx years
nerves. The Japanese frilled shark —the of field work. Recently the study of this part
subject of the paper — is designated by Samuel of the fish collection was undertaken by Mr.
Garman, its original describer and first Henry W. Fowler, the well-known ichthyolo-
student, as a "living fossil." It is an archaic
^Bulletin, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XXXVII, Art. 25,
shark, not greatly changed in its general 1917, pp. 653-756, 31 figs., 3 maps. Pis. LXIV-
form and structure from its Devonian an- LXXXIII
'-Bulletin, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XXXVII, Art. 26,
cestors. Hence such a work as that of Doctor 1917, pp. 757-60, 3 figs., Pis. LXXXIV-LXXXVII.
"Bulletin, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XXXVII, Art 27,
Allis is necessarily of a fundamental character, 1917, pp. 761-67, 7 figs., PI. LXXXVIII.
412 NATURAL HISTORY
gist of the Academy of Natural Sciences of An important feature of the expedition is
Philadelphia. the undersea tube which has been made
In his preUnnnarj" report just issued,^ Mr. available for thework at Andros through the
Fowler describes one genus and four species courteous cooperation of the Submarine Film
as new to science. Especialty noteworthy Company, whose general manager, Mr. J. E.
among these discoveries is a shark Mustelus Williamson, will with Doctor Miner's
sail
oshorni, named in honor of President Henry party on June 6. Mr. Williamson is the
Fairfield Osborn, who encouraged the pub- pioneer in undersea photographj' and will
lication of the series of reports on the scien- operate the tube, which was invented by his
tific results of the Congo Expedition. This father. His cooperation will add greatly to
series has now reached the seventh volume the success of the undertaking.
and reports for the next three volumes are Valuable assistance has also been rendered,
practicallj'- ready for the press. Later, when through Mrs. WilUam Belknap, by the firm of
the full series of volumes as originally planned A. Schrader's Son, which has donated a com-
by the president is published, the work will plete diving outfit "ndth pump. This will
appear under the title The Zoology of the greatly facilitate the problem of securing
Belgian Congo. undersea specimens.
Centrarchops, a new genus, belongs to the A week will be spent in outfitting at Nassau,
famity Serranidse, carnivorous fishes of warm after which boats •nill be hired for the passage
seas. Its description is based upon Centrar- across "The Tongue of the Ocean" to Andros,
chops chapini, so called after Mr. James P. where a coral reef sixty miles in length follows
Chapin, the second member of the expedition. the coast of the archipelago at a distance of
Paradoxically enough, this, although new, is about a mile. Here is an unlimited source of
one of the common fishes of the Congo estuarj' supply of the living material needed for the
and like its near relative Lates nilotica of the photographs, sketches, and other data to be
Upper Congo, one of the large and most highly collected. And here Mr. Wilhamson will
prized food fishes. In addition to these there bring his marvelous undersea tube, which
aretwo new forms belonging to families repre- forms an open-air passage through which one
sented by a multitude of small species in the may descend to the observation chamber
shore waters of the tropics : Gobius bequserti — attached to its base, and sit comfortably with
named in honor of Dr. Joseph Bequsert, an en- two or three companions gazing out over the
thusiastic collaborator in this extensive series ocean floor fathoms below the surface. Here
of reports —and Blemiius langi, named after one may study, sketch, and photograph the
the leader of the Congo Expedition. tropical marine life in its natural environment
MARINE LIFE and direct the work of divers in collecting

corals under such favorable circumstances as
Bahaman Coral-Reef Group Expedi-
scientist never enjoyed before.
Tiox. —
An expedition under the leadership of
The group to be constructed as a result of
Dr. Roy W. Miner, curator of lower inverte-
this trip wiU be a repUca of a West Indian coral
brates, sailed for theBahamas on June 6 to
reef, planned on a huge scale that will embrace
prosecute work on the coral reefs at Andros as
both the floor and gallery of the hall of ocean
a preUminary step in the work of constructing
life,rising to a height of thirty-five feet and
a large coral reef group to be placed in the
extending to a width of thirty feet. On the
splendid hall of ocean life, now nearing
new
gallery level nnll appear the coral island as it
completion. In order to collect trustworthy
might look to an incoming boat, with its
data for this group. Doctor Miner is under-
palm trees, expanse of beach and lagoon,
taking a six or eight weeks' trip, accompanied
waves breaking over the outer reef, and in the
by Messrs. Chris. E. Olsen, Herman Mueller,
distance trade-wind clouds blowing over a
and George H. Childs, modeler, glass blower,
tropical sky.Then, in descending to the
and artist respectively on Doctor Miner's
lower one puts on, as it were, a diver's
floor,
staff. The expedition will be financed by the
suit and descends to the submerged part of
Angelo Heilprin Fund, the Morris K. Jesup
the reef, where countless plants and animals
Fvmd, and the Trustees' Emergency Prepara-
of varied colors crowd over the ocean bottom
tion and Exhibition Fund.
and gay-hued fishes dart in and out among
^Novitates, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., No. 103, 1923,
pp. 1-6. the rocks.
NOTES 413
INTERMUSEUM PROMENADE other solution has been or can be suggested.

To my eye the colonnade should be on a
A BROAD AND SAFE PATHWAY FROM THE MET- larger scale than Mr. Hastings has planned it.
ROPOLITAN MUSEUM AT 80tH STREET He intends to develop his plan with the aid of
EAST TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM AT our Fine Arts Commission. In this matter of
79th STREET WEST the War Memorial I speak from my own
individual experience and judgment and
President Osborn's Appeal.—On Mon- represent no one but myself.
day, March 31, a public hearing was held by In the matter of the Intermuseum Prome-
the Board of Estimate and Apportionment nade and the redemption of the southern
reservoir and its conversion into thirty-two
on the matter of the proposed War Memo-
acres of new playground, however, I speak
rial, the reclamation of the lower reservoir, officially. This matter has been repeatedly
and the construction of the Intermuseum before the Trustees of the American Museum
Promenade. President Osborn appeared on and I, have had their authority in strongly
Museum, in connection with the
reconimending it to the city. In fact, the
behalf of the
American Museum has spent years of time
Intermuseum Promenade and the develop- and effort and a large amount of money to
ment of the lower reservoir space into a develop this plan. On May 10, 1916, the
children's playground. An excerpt from his Museum first secured from the Department
of Water Supply, Gas, and Electricity a
address is appended:
promise to release the southern reservoir and
Since 1911 I have been promoting by every return it to the park. The Museum is now
means in my power the present movement to taking the best professional advice obtainable.
turn the southern reservoir back into Central It is considered by tne Museum an essential
'P^'rk space, to cioate a new and large play-
feature of the great Roosevelt Memorial plan
ground for the children of the city, and to that the Roosevelt Memorial should have a
design an Intermuseum Promenade between safe, adequate, and beautiful approach from
East 80 and West 79 Streets to enable the the east side of the City. In its promise to
great population of the east and west sides the state the city is pledged to the Inter-
of the city, respectively, to visit our two great museum Promenade plan, which will, I am
museums. I have closely observed this great confident, have the unanimous support of all
area of the park for thirty-two years. It sepa- our citizens.
rates two of the finest museums of the world
by a barrier dangerous by day and impassable President Osborn brings to the considera-
by night. School parties now pass through tion of this subject an experience gained
the park subway to attend the morning and through association with many park projects.
afternoon lectures of the American Museum.
Since 1898 he has been an honorary member
Within the last two years parties of schoolboys
have been attacked and robbed in passing of the Boone and Crockett Club, founded by
through this area. When the State Roosevelt —
Theodore Roosevelt, a club that played its
Memorial Commission met two years ago, I part in furthering the great national park
told them that this part of the park was very
dangerous; two nights later a man was robbed system in the United States. Since 1896, as
and murdered within a stone's throw of the chairman and president of the Zoological Soci-
American Museum. With all these facts in ety of New York, he has supervised the plan-
mind, the mayor, the comptroller, the presi- ning for the city of New York of an incomparable
dent of the Borough of Manhattan, and the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment have park and aquarium with an annual attend-
had before them since 1911 the question of ance of 5,000,000 people. Since 1869 he has
the redemption of this space. The plan now been visiting and studying the park systems
presented by Commissioner Whalen and Com- of the great cities of Europe and America. In
missioner Gallatin represents ten years of con-
tinuous and conscientious study for the wel- laying out the Zoological Park he had twenty
fare of the people of New York. years of experience with many landscape
One of the leading newspapers of the city architects of America, including the landscape
has been opposing the promenade plan since architects of the park, Heins and Lafarge,
February 9, 1916. Since then the colonnade
known as the War Memorial has been sub- the endeavor being to create a park at once
stituted for the Mitchell fountain originally beautiful, inspiring, educational, and prac-
planned by Mr. Hastings. If you look at the tical. Since 1907 he has been a warm .sup-
site, you will see at once that the use of the Parkway movement under
porter of the Bronx
open colonnade and lagoon is the only possible
landscape-architectural solution of this prob-
Madison Grant, which has given to New York
lem. Between the upper reservoir and the the most beautiful exit parkway in the world,
lagoon there must be some dominant feature. fifteen miles in length, and has solved a most
It cannot be a forest, because a forest will not
difficult engineering problem. In 1915 he was
grow there; it can only be some form of
building, and of all forms of building none
chairman of the national movement to save
solves the problem as does the colonnade. No the Hetch Hetchy Valley of California, ad-
414 NATURAL HISTORY
joining Yosemite Park, from invasionby a and two papers, one entitled "Variation in
municipal water plant. In 1917 he started, the Cranial Characters Due to Age in the
with Madison Grant and John C. Merriam, African Viverrine Genus Civettictis," and the
the national movement known as "Save the other "Comparison of Ecological Conditions
Redwoods," which at present under Cali- in theWest African Rain Forest with those of
fornia leadership is redeeming the glorious the British Guiana Forest, with Remarks on
redwood forests along the Pacific Coast. the Mammal Life," presented by Mr. Lang.
Mr. H. E. Anthony, associate curator in
MAMMALS charge of the department of mammals, has
The American Society of Mammalogists been unanimously elected an honorary hfe
held its sixth annual stated meeting in Boston member of the Sociedad Colombiana de
and Cambridge from April 15 to 17. The Ciencias Naturales of Bogota, Colombia.
sessions of April 15 were devoted to a sym- This honor has been voted Mr. Anthony in
posium on the scientific and economic im- recognition of his researches in South America.
portance of predatory mammals. The sub- The Colombian Society of Natural Sciences
ject was opened by Mr. H. E. Anthony of the was founded some years ago largely through
American Museum and among the speakers the efforts of Brother Apolinar Maria, who
that followed him was Mr. Herbert Lang of was recently made a corresponding member
the same institution. Attention was called of the American Museum because of his active
to the energetic measures which the Bureau of interest in South American zoology. The
the Biological Survey is taking, over a large society is made up of a group of earnest and
part of the United States, to exterminate the enthusiastic students of natural history who
predatory animals as well as to complete the have done much to bring to the attention of
destruction of certain so-called mammal pests. the world the interesting character of their
The majority of the speakers deplored the far- native fauna.
reaching character of the measures taken and
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION
rather questioned their necessity, expressing
OF EUGENICS
the belief that the situation called for judicious
The International Commission of Eugenics
control rather than complete extermination.
So strong was the sentiment in favor of a less
is —
composed of four officers Major Leonard
Darwin (president), Prof. Henry Fairfield
drastic mode of procedure that a committee
Osborn (vice president). Dr. Albert Govaerts
was appointed, with Dr. Charles C. Adams as
(secretary-treasurer), and Mrs. C. B. S.
chairman, for the purpose of drawing up
suitable resolutions.
Hodson (assistant secretary) and twenty- —
three other members, representing fifteen
The resolutions as drafted called attention
countries. The function of this commission is
to the fact that there is a dangerous propa-
to determine the place and time of the next
ganda abroad in the land because of this
ensuing congress and to function as an interim
federal activity and that private interests are
committee, authorized to act on other inter-
seizing the occasion to exploit the destruction
national eugenical matters that require action
of mammals, being actuated by hopes of
financial gain. In view of these circumstances
in the interval between congresses. The first
International Congress of Eugenics was held

the president of the society was authorized to
in London twelve years ago. The Second
appoint a committee to go into the question
International Congress, which took place in
and ascertain whether there are not some areas
in which predatory animals might be spared
the American Museum in September, 1921, is
from measures of extermination.
still fresh in the minds of those who attended
The symposium was attended by reporters it and who listened to addresses of distin-
guished scientists from all parts of the world.
from the Boston papers, who gave wide
publicity to the views presented. NEW MEMBERS
April 16 and 17 were devoted to subjects of Since the last issue of Natural History
a more miscellaneous character, including the following persons have been elected mem-
an account of " Small Mammals from the Asi- bers of the American Museum, making the
atic Expeditions of the American Museum," totalmembership 7610
presented by Dr. Glover M. Allen; a resume Life Members: Mrs. Frank Stephenson
of the work now being carried on by the Voss; Messrs. Leo Feist, John Hemming
Museum in Ecuador, given by Mr. Anthony; Fry, John P. Grier, Benjamin Lowenstein,
NOTES 415
Philip G. McFadden, R. A. F. Penrose, Jr., Levy, Lewis, Walter Loewenthal,

C.
George F. Porter, R. S. Robertson, Louis William Jay Madden, Gustav Manz,
A. ScHREiNER, John F. Sheridan, A. B. Arthur E. Marsh, Robert P. Marshall,
Spreckles, Charles H. Swift, and Norman Charles N. Mason, Wm. W. McAlpin.G. W.
F. Torrance. Mead, Albert Meister, David Metzger,
Arthur S. Meyer, J. E. Miller, Isidore
Edward H. Squibb;
Sustaining Members: Dr.
MossoN, Charles F. Murphy, Jr., Henry
Messrs. Wm. Carnegie Ewen, Fred. P. KiLLAM Murphy, Harry T. Newcomb,
Geyer, L. Nachmann, G. A. Pfeiffer, James F. Newcomb, Leo H. Newhouse,
Lansing P. Reed, Wm. Rhinelander David E. Oppenheimer, Lowell M.
Stewart, Jr., Robert G. Stone, and H. E. Palmer, Jr., Silvian Palmer, John S.
Ward. Parker, B. Henry Pelzer, W. Stanwood
Annual Members: Mesdames A. de Bonne- Phillips,Frank Poel, Austin E. Pres-
VAL, Jules S. Ehrich, James Wall Finn, singer,Edgar S. Pretzfeld, H. H. Ramsay,
Edward Ford, Bernard F. Gimbel, M. Oran Winthrop Rice, Charles A. W. Rin-
scHEDE, Abraham Rosenberg, John M.
Grundner, M. Kennerley, Edward V. Z.
Lane, S. D. Lesser, Carl Levi, E. Spencer
RoYALL, Edward Sachs, Francis B. San-
ford, S. A. Sarafian, F. a. Sarg, Hugh
Mead, Byron D. Miller, Clarence Mill-
Satterlee, Leopold Schepp, Armin A.
HiSER, J. B. Patton, M. Russell Perkins,
Charles H. Platt, Norman Putnam Ream, Schlesinger, Philip Schleussner, Her-
Carl A. Richmond, George Schneller, H. bert S. Schoonmaker, a. R. Searles, Clif-
ford Seasongood, John S. Seymour, Al.
C. Schwab, Charles Seasongood, J. K.
Ogden Sherwood, Adam Weber, Alex. H. M. Silverstein, Chas. Spiegel, Carl B.
Spitzer, Edwin S. S. Sunderland, Geo. N.
Williamson; the Misses A, P. Benjamin,
TiDD, Robert R. Titus, William T. Vander-
LuciLE G. Denison, Sarah L. Kirby,
Lipp, William H. Von Bergen, James H.
Emilie O. Long, Mary G. Millett, Luella
A. Palmer, Ernestine Piez, Eugenia R.
Wainwright, Henry L. Walker, James
Seabury, Mary E. Warner; Sister M. Knox Warnock, S. J. Weiss, Henry G.
Evangelista, Sister Agnes Xavier; Doc-
Weltzien, Philip Weston, Sidney S.
tors Ernest Brehaut, H. G. Chappel, Whelan, a. D. Whiteside, Henry D. Wil-
liams, Thomas H. Wilson, Herman H.
Alfred E. Cohn, Gustav G. Fisch, Louis
Hauswirth, Wm. C. Johnson, W. H. Wolff, M. Wolff, Martin Wortmann,
Kahrs, Leon M. Lesser, Jacob Munter Richardson Wright, Howard E. Wur-
LiTZER, H. J. Wyatt, W. W. Wyckoff,
LoBSENZ, William P. Macleod, Warren C.
MacFarland, John P. McParlan, Eli James A. Wylie; and Master Todd Harris.
Moschcowitz, James B. Murphy, Lillian Associate Members: Mesdames Francis W.
Delger Powers, Frederick W. Rice, A. I. Bird, Stephen Bonsal, E. Norman Curry,
Ringer, Augusto T. Rossano, H. H. Sea- Edward G. Gardiner, L. Y. Long, Ridley
BKOOK, Edwin S. Steese, Alfred Walker, McLean, Edward Morrell, R. H. Palmer,
Freeman F. Ward, M. M. Waterhouse, Annie G. Porritt, Pauline Rissmuller,
Carleton W. Woods, Jacques E. Zipser; W. H. W. Skerrett, Clara Farmer Waitt;
the Reverend Joseph P. McComas, the THE Misses Maria L. Corliss, Martha
Reverend Edgar Whit aker Work; Messrs. Gamble, Rachel A. Husband, Hortense
Carl J. R. Ahrnke, Milton L. Bernstein, Levy, Ann Morgan, Elizabeth M. Murray,
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416 NATURAL HISTORY
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Vol XXIV JULY-AUGUST, 1924 No. 4
LW^VUM^V^SgTiP
iNATURALi
iHlSTORYl
SOUTH AMERICA
THE ANDES A NEW WORLD by Frank M. Chapman-
:
COLLECTING MAMMALS IN THE HIGH ANDES OF

ECUADOR BY H. E. Anthony-FREDERIC E. CHURCH,
PAINTER OF THE ANDES by H. F. Schwarz-ALEX-
ANDER VON HUMBOLDT, SOUTH AMERICAN EX-
PLORER-HUNTING NEW FRUITS IN ECUADOR by
Wilson Popenoe-INTO THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH
GUIANA BY Herbert Lang-PERUVIAN PETS by Hilda
H. Heller i# ^ d^ i# j# ^ i#
PANAMA
HUNTING STINGLESS BEES WHERE EAST IS WEST by
Frank E. Lutz-BIRD-HUNTING AMONG THE WILD IN-
DIANS OF WESTERN PANAMA by Ludlow Griscom d^ ^
A HUNTRESS OF SPIDERS by William Savin
The American Museum is under especial obligations for the generous

aid accorded its expeditions by representatives of the South American gov-
ernments and of Panama and for the hospitality and friendly spirit mani-
fested by individuals in the regions where the explorations were conducted.
r^/9wurwnuwr/vwuuw^
^1 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ^
EXPLORATION RESEARCH-EDUCATION
ANNUAL subscription $3.00 SINGLE COPIES 50 CENTS

Henry Faiufield Opbokn, LL.D., President
DIVISION OF MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY, Mammals of the World

brate Paleontology William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
LII. DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu- Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
rator Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
W. D. Matthew, Ph.D. Curator-in-Chief N. C. Nelson, M.L., Associate Curator of Archajology
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals Charles W. Mead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Archa;-
William K. Gregory, Assoiiate in Palaeontology Anthropology
Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology J. Alden Mason, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Mexican
ArohiEology
Clarence Hat, A.M., Research Associate
L. in Mexican
II. DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE- and Central American Archteology
OGRAPHY MiLO Hellman, D.D.S., Research Associate in Physical
Anthropology
Willard G. Van Name, Ph.D., Assistant Curator
Frank J. Myers, Research Associate in Rotifera IV. DIVISION OF ASIATIC EXPLORATION
Horace W. Stunkard, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para- AND RESEARCH
sitology
Insect Life Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Paleontology
A. J. MuTCHLER, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera Charles P. Berkey, Ph.D., [Columbia University], Re-
William M.Wheeler, Ph.D., Research Associate in Social Amadeus W. Grabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Hymenoptera V. DIVISION OF EDUCATION AND PUB-
Fishes LICATION
Puhlic Education
Amphibians and Reptiles George II. Sherwood, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D., Curator of Visual Instruction
G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D., Curator
Birds Public Health
•
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief Charles-Edward Amory Winslow, D.P.H., Honorary

W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator Curator
Robert Cushman Mdrphy, D.Sc, Associate Curator of
Mary Greig, Assistant Curator
Eastern Hemisphere
Ludlow Griscom, M.A.. Assistant Curator Puhlic Information Committee
Natural History IVIagazine
Advisory Committee
H. E. Anthony, A.IM. Frederick K. Morris, A.M.
ATURAL

THROUGH THE MUSEUM
JULY-AUGUST, 1924
[Published August, 1924]

Copyright, 1924, by The American Museum of Natural History, New York/N. Y.
1ST
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR JULY-AUGUST Number 4
The Andes: A New World Frank M. Chapman 420

Glimpses into a biological laboratory where nature is conducting intensive experiments in distri-
bution and evolution on a continental scale
Photographs by the author and by Harry Watkins
The High Andes of Ecuador H. E. Anthony 429

Episodes in the travels of a mammalogist among the great snow-clad peaks
With scenes of the region, photographed by the author
Frederic E. Church, Painter of the Andes H. F. Schwarz 442

With full-page reproductions of some of the artist's most notable canvases
Alexander von Humboldt 449

South American explorer and progenitor of explorers
With a frontispiece in color of Humboldt as he looked during the period of his travels in the
New World, and a reproduction in black and white of the portrait painted by Julius
Schrader during the last year of Humboldt's life
Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador Wilson Popenoe 454

Some of the pomological delicacies that a sister republic can offer for cultivation in favored sec-
tions of the United States
With pictures of the fruits and the regions where they grow, supplied by the author
Into the Interior of British Guiana Herbert Lang 467

A journey along the Mazaruni River, with some comments upon the different aspects presented
America and those of Africa
by the tropical forests of South
Pictures, by the author, of the life along the river and in the diamond-mining sections, as well as
of the plants and animals that lent interest to the trip
Peruvian Pets • Hilda Hempl Heller 479

An account of the ways of some of the traveling companions of Mr. and Mrs. Heller on their
South American explorations
With portraits of the wild animals they befriended
Hunting Stingless Bees Frank E. Lutz 494

Where East is West
With numerous photographs by the author of scenes on Barro Colorado Island, the site of the
recently established station for biological research, and a picture taken by the United
States Army Air Service, showing how the island looks when viewed from an aeroplane
Bird Hunting Among the Wild Indians of Western Panama

Ludlow Griscom 509
Incidents of an expedition made in the interests of the department of birds, American Museum
With a map of the author's route and photographs by Rudyerd Boulton of the country traversed
A Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella bomhycina William M. Savin 520

Observations on a member of the family Psammocharidse
Notes 523

of Natural History, 77th St. and
Central Park West, New York City.
membership.
The Oceanic Issue
In the previous numbers of Natural History published this year

great continental areas — Australia, Asia, Africa, South
America have —
successively received emphasis. In the September-October issue the
reader will be invited to step off terra firma and to cruise with the Whitney
South Sea Expedition in the island-dotted Pacific. Dr. RobertCushman
Murphy, associate curator of marine birds in the American Museum,
will tell of the significance of the work of this expedition, which has
been engaged for four years in studying the bird life of Polynesia.
Marine mammals like the whales and seals that, departing from the
ways of their landlubber relatives, have made the ocean and its shores
their home, find a proper place in an Oceanic Issue, and special articles
will be devoted to them, while it is hoped that some attention can be
given also to those empire builders of the sea — the corals — which Dr.
Roy W. Miner has recently been collecting at Andros Island in the
Bahamas for the projected hall of ocean life in the American Museum.
Features of this hall will be features also of this issue.
Finally, the great oceans themselves, occupying as they do more of

the earth's surface than the combined land masses, will be treated from
certain novel standpoints by Prof. W. M. Davis, the eminent geographer.
Photograph by F. M . Chapman
NORTHWEST SLOPE OF PICHINCHA, ECUADOR
The photograph, taken from an altitude of 11,000 feet, shows in the foreground a forest
of the Humid Temperate Zone, the bird Kfe of which is of tropical origin. The treeless
slopes immediately above timber line are in the Paramo Zone, and their bird life is chiefly
of Patagonian origin
420
NAT
Volume XXIV JULY-AUGUST
TORY Number 4
The Andes: A New World

By frank M. chapman
Curator-in-Chief, Division of Zoology and Zoogeography, American Museum
the press despatches should report In a general way it may be said that,
IFa heavy snowfall on the Amazon, as we proceed from the equator toward
we should question their accuracy. the poles, the mean temperature de-
Nevertheless, snow does fall so fre- creases one degree Fahrenheit with
quently in Amazonian latitudes that each degree of latitude. But as we
great areas there are covered with it ascend a mountain, the mean tempera-
throughout the year. This apparent ture decreases one degree with each
anomaly is to be explained, however, three hundred feet of altitude. That is,
not in degrees of latitude but in feet of approximately 300,000 feet of latitude

altitude. The whole problem can be equal 300 feet of altitude. If, therefore,
encompassed in a glance when from our trip from Guayaquil is made up
the sweltering heat of Guayaquil we Chimborazo, we shall be traveling,
look upward to the eternal snows of somewhat more than one
climatically,
Chimborazo; or, to take another thousand times faster than we should
example, when from the tropical have journeyed had we started for
coastal forests of Vera Cruz we see the Panama
white crown of Citlaltepetl, the "star Now, if we bear in mind the fact that
mountain" of the Aztecs. These, in- the flora and fauna of a region are to a
deed, are notable views. In both in- large extent an expression of its
stances, faunally and climatically we temperature, we shall have some con-
are, as it were, standing on the equator ception of the rapidity with which the
and gazing at the poles nature of the plant and animal life
Let us make this journey from end- changes as we proceed from sea level to
less summer to perpetual winter. If we snow line.
measure our progress by the changes in It is not my present purpose to dis-

climate which we shall encounter, we cuss here the factors which determine
shall be traveling at a space-defying the limits of the faunal zones, or bands,
speed. was von Humboldt who first
It which we shall find in ascending a snow-
determined the relations between lati- capped, equatorial mountain. The
tudinal and altitudinal climates and, in very fact that the mountain is snow-
his De Distrihutione Geographica Plan- capped is graphic, convincing evidence
tarum (Paris, 1817), he gives a diagram- of the relation between altitude and
matic representation of the plant zones temperature. But just as rainfall,
on Chimborazo which might have been slope-exposure, topography, proximity

made by an ornithologist, so closely to and temperature of the sea will
does the distribution of birds conform determine the amount of snow, and the
to that of plants, —
evidence that both distances to which it descends on differ-
are subject to and obey the same laws. ent sides of a mountain, so these and
422 NATURAL HISTORY
A panoramic view of the Inca Mine at Santo Domingo in southeastern Peru
other govern the altitudes

factors of the governing influences that they
which mark the boundaries between evidently control the distribution of
faunal zones. The point I wish to make these active creatures just as rigidly
here is that these zones exist as well- as they do that of quadrupeds or even
defined bands of life the limits of which plants and trees. Indeed, the potential
are subject to the control of natural mobility of birds combined with their
laws. To discover those laws is the unusually sensitive, responsive natures
aim of the faunal naturalist or zoogeog- makes these animals particularly valu-
rapher. In no other place will he find able indices of the effects of those forces
them more vividly expressed than on and circumstances which are or have
mountain slopes, where, as we have been active in producing faunal areas.
seen, the phenomena ordinarily spread With this preamble, and avoiding
over many miles of latitude are com- details not essential to a general under-
pressed within a few thousand feet of standing of the more important facts
altitude. concerning mountain life zones, let
My own investigations in this field us as ornithologists make the proposed

have been made almost exclusively ascent of an equatorial mountain. We
with reference to the distribution of shall first pass through the Tropical
birds; and it is a tribute to the potency Zone. The lowlands at the base of our
THE ANDES: A NEW WORLD 423
Photograph by Harry Watkins

This is a famous collecting locality in the Subtropical Zone
mountain may vary greatly in char- member isthat when the habitat is
acter. There may be arid plains, favorable, we shall find that most of the
marshes, and luxuriant forests, all at birds of this Tropical Zone have so wide
the same level and within a short a latitudinal range that we might
distance of one another. These, how- travel for weeks and still see them daily,
ever, mark different types of habitats whereas their altitudinal range is so
in the same life zone and we are not limited that within a few hours we
here concerned with the causes respon- may leave them wholly behind, that is,
sible for them. As we reach the foot- below us.
hills, we shall find further variations in When we have reached an altitude,
habitat, which we may also disregard, usually of 4000 or 5000 feet (though
other than to observe that due con- under exceptional conditions it may be
sideration must be given to habitat much less), we shall begin to observe
requirements in our broader study of birds we have not seen before and at
distribution. Birds that are associated the same time note the absence of
with sandy plains are not to be sought others which were previously abundant.
in marshes; nor shall we come upon We shall miss, for example, the great
forest-haunting species where there are macaws, the harsh voices of which re-
no trees. The significant fact to re- sounded through the forests lower
424 NATURAL HISTORY
The Subtropical Zone is remarkable

not only for the richness of its life, but
also for the high percentage of species
found only within its boundaries.
Thus, the American Museum's expedi-
tions collected about 360 species of birds
in the Subtropical Zone of the Colom-
bian Andes, of which approximately
three-fifths are practically confined to
this narrow stratum of mountain life.
This is about one-third as many as
were encountered in the forests of the

Tropical Zone. Comparison of the
areas occupied respectively by the far-
reaching tropical lowlands and the
narrow subtropical belt further em-
phasizes the wealth and distinctness of
the bird life of the Subtropical Zone.
At an from 8000 to
elevation of
9000 feet we from the Sub-
shall pass
Photograph by Harry n ailins tropical into the Temperate Zone.
Camp American Museum Expedi-
of the
tion at Maraynioc, in the Humid Temperate
The former is uniformly humid and
—
Zone forests of eastern Peru. More than forested; the latter has humid and
a score of new species of birds have been dis-
covered at this locahty, and of these a num- arid divisions, the first of which is
ber have not as yet been found elsewhere
down. Some of these birds are found

in wooded regions from Bolivia to
Mexico that is. they have what may
:
be termed a horizontal range of nearly

2500 miles. But their vertical range,
as we have just discovered, is less than
a mile.
We are now reaching an altitude
where decrease in temperature pro-
duces condensation with resultant rain-
falland an incredibly luxuriant vege-
tation. Every available foot of ground
is claimed by trees and undergrowth,
and every available inch of the trees is

claimed by parasitic or epiphytic
vegetation. This is the Subtropical
Zone. It is a marvelous stratum of life
Photograph by F. M. Chapman
occupying the mountain slopes, usually
Scene in the Subtropical forest on the
between the altitudes of 4000-5000 summit of the western range of the Andes
to 8000-9000 feet, and extending from of Colombia. —
Note the moss-covered tree
trunks indicating the extreme humidity of
Bolivia to Mexico. the locality
Photograph ly F. M. Chapman
Guaillamba Canon is a few miles north of the equator. This picture was taken from the
Arid Temperate Zone looking down into the Subtropical Zone, where sugar cane is growing
wooded, the second treeless. Both it is the equivalent of the tundra, that
divisions may occur at the same alti- vast area which extends from the
tude, the difference between them being northern limit of forests to the shores
chiefly due to rainfall. Some of the of the Arctic Ocean. While few in
most distinct species of Andean birds numbers, nearly every bird of the
are found in the dense, scrubby forests of Paramo is confined to this zone.
the Humid Temperate Zone. On the Without going further it is clear that
other hand, the species inhabiting the in our vertical journey of less than
plains of the Arid Temperate Zone three miles we have run the gamut of
have changed but little from the types chmatic and faunal zones: Tropical,
represented by their ancestors, — Subtropical,Temperate, and Arctic
phenomenon which forms an illuminat- or Antarctic —for the Paramo contains
ing contribution to the study of evolu- both boreal as well as austral elements.
tion by environment. The upper limit The first and most significant fact
of the Temperate Zone corresponds for us to consider in connection with
closely to the elevation at which Andean life, and the one which makes
agriculture ceases, that is, about 12,000 its study of such surprising interest,
feet. Between this altitude and the is the comparatively recent origin of
lower level of permanent snow, which that life. It cannot, of course, be

averages about 15,000 feet, lies the older than the region it occupies, and
Paramo, or Puna Zone. In a measure geologists tell us that the Andes did not
Mt. Aconcagua, Argentina, with an altitude of 23,000 feet, is the highest peak in the
Western Hemisphere. The photograph was taken from an elevation of 11,000 feet in the
Paramo Zone, at its base
This locahty in the Paramo Zone at an altitude of 14,000 feet is immediately north of
La Raya Pass, which separates Titicacan and Amazonian drainage in, southern Peru.
The Urubamba River, second longest tributary of the Amazon, rises in the small openings
shown in the middle distance.
Photographed from the platform of a car on the railroad to Cuzco
426
attain their full elevation until the It is obvious, then, that in a study
latter part of the Tertiary, at which of the origin and distribution of life
time the continent of South America we can associate cause and effect far
had essentially its present outline. more often in the Andes than in those
There is, consequently, good reason great continental areas, the early pages
for calling theAndes a New World, or of the geological and zoological his-
possibly we might better term them a tory of which are lost in an incalculably
recent annex to the world. Not only remote past. We ask, therefore, what
have we comparatively definite knowl- are the factors which determine with
edge of the age of the Andes and of the such surprising definiteness the bound-
character of the area from which they ariesof these Andean life zones?
arose, but it is probable that at the Whence came the hundreds of species
time they had attained a sufficient eleva- which are confined to them?
tion to support zonal life, the bird life For some years the American Mu-
of South America, in its major aspects seum has been conducting explorations
at least, did not differ materially from in the field and researches in the study
that which exists there today. Hence designed to answer these questions. It
it follows that not only can we give was found that previously existing
the Andes a geological birthday but data were too inaccurate to be of value
we can form a fairly exact conception in determining exactly the ranges of
of the character of the avifauna from the species to which they referred. It
which the hundreds of species of birds was necessary, therefore, to begin
that have evolved in them were nearly at the beginning and work in-
derived. tensively at station after station from
Furthermore, we must remember base to summit of the three ranges of
that the value of the Andes to the the Andes in Colombia, where our
biologist is increased by the regional survey was inaugurated. The outline
compression or concentration of the of the life zones presented above is
forces which control distribution and based chiefly upon our labors in that
promote evolution, and by the con- country. I shall not here go further
sequent definiteness with which these into this phase of the subject but
forces manifest themselves. refer the interested reader to Volume
We must also take into considera- XXXVI of the Museum Bulletin, where
tion the topography of mountains as, the results of the work in Colombia are
through altitude, enclosed valleys, or presented in detail.
disconnected summits, they supply the Satisfactory treatment of the origin
isolation which permits environmental of the birds of the Andes is too wide a
or mutational factors, acting continu- problem to be handled locally. We
ously on a comparatively limited have discovered, for example, the
number of individuals, to produce new apparent ancestor of a subtropical
forms. For instance, a distinct muta- Colombian motmot in the Tropical
tional form of tanager-finch {Buarremon Zone of eastern Mexico. Again, a finch
inornatus), confined to the Chimbo of the Paramo Zone has evidently
Valley of Ecuador, and a humming come from Patagonia. It is obvious,
bird (Oreotrochilus) on Mt. Chimborazo therefore, that we have to deal not only
are cases in point. Many others with the height of the Andes but with
might be cited. their length. While at present this is
428 NATURAL HISTORY
coextensive with that of South America shown by the birds of the forested and
itseK, our researches indicate the form- treeless divisions of the Temperate
er existence of a range connecting the Zone to which I have previously called
Andes of Colombia with the mountains attention. Obviously in extending their
of western Panama and Costa Rica, range from the Tropical to the Tem-
and these in turn seem to have had a perate Zone the tanagers, trogons, fly-
fauna! relation with those of Mexico. catchers, and other birds making this
Our field, therefore, reaches from one journey have experienced as pronounced
extremity of the Western Hemisphere a change in environment as though,
to the other. let us say, they had gone from Ecuador
Since birds could not develop in to Ontario, and their differentiation
space, it follows that the Andes have from the ancestral type is correspond-
been populated from below upward. ingly pronounced.But the birds that
But in hunting for ancestral types we came from Patagonia, by increasing
must consider not only place of origin their altitude as they approached the
but also the matter of habitat require- equator have merely advanced from
ments mentioned in the earlier part the South Temperate Zone to the
of this article. That is, the ancestors Andean Temperate Zone, and thus,
of forest-frequenting birds must be not having been subjected to marked
looked for in other forests those of the
; environmental change, show com-
plains, in other plains. To illustrate: paratively slight differentiation from
the tanagers, flycatchers, parrots, the ancestral type. It seems apparent,
trogons, toucans, and other forest therefore, that the evolution of these
dwellers of the Temperate Zone, while forms is not a question of time or
very distinct, are all obviously descend- of distance from the point of origin,
ants of forest-inhabiting ancestors. but of the extent of the change in sur-
Similarly the ancestors of the finches roundings to which they have been
and ovenbirds of Temperate Zone subjected.
plains we should expect to find in other This is the type of problem which we
plains. The only available forests are hope to solve by our explorations in the
those of the Subtropical and Tropical Andes. We are still on the threshold
zones and the only available plains are of our subject, but already we believe
those of the South Temperate Zone. we have discovered in these mountains
As a matter of fact it appears that the a biological laboratory where nature is
Temperate Zone forest birds did origi- conducting intensive experiments in
nate in tropical forests while the Tem- distribution and evolution on a con-
perate Zone plains birds came from tinental scale and producing results
Argentina and Patagonia. with such directness and rapidity that
Here, then, we have a clue to the we may hope to gain an insight into
widely varying degree of distinctness by which she
the methods operates.
The High Andes of Ecuador'
EPISODES IN THE TRAVELS OF A MAMMALOGIST
By H. E. ANTHONY
Associate Curator of Mammals of the Western Hemisphere
HOMER tells us that

giant sons of Poseidon, Otus and
when the find himself a long distance
summit even then, for the elevation at
below the
Ephialtes, warred against Urbina, the highest point attained by

heaven, they planned to pile Ossa on the railroad, is 11,400 feet. Chim-
Olympus and Pelion upon Ossa, borazo has been scaled by but few
attempting in this way to reach the persons, —a distinction it has main-
abode of the gods. These mountains tained because of its great elevation
massed upon one another would have rather than because of any prohibitive
attained a height of a little more than feature of topography.
21,000 feet above the sea. If Homer The visitorto Ecuador takes the
had known of Ecuador, he could have train at Guayaquil and in a com-
pointed to Chimborazo as the fulfill- fortable coach soon finds himself leav-
ment of this aspiration, for the snowy ing the tropical lowlands to enter the
summit of this Andean peak towers gorge of the Rio Chanchan. Higher
almost 21,000 feet above the Pacific, and higher the engine toils, now in the
and in very truth seems to raise its heart of the western Andes, and for the
head to heaven. Nor in Chimborazo greater part of the two days' ride to
alone does one find evidence of a vast Quito, the end of the line, the traveler
exercise of energy, for there are in does not descend below 8000 feet.
Ecuador many lofty-crested mountains By marvelous feats of engineering the
and elevated regions where the rough, track climbs up over ridges and divides,
wild topography, characterized by follows up watercourses until the rivers
gaping craters and abysmal gorges, dwindle to brooks and the brooks to
looks like a scarred battle field over mountain springs, and crosses elevated
which the gods themselves have plateaus more than two miles above the
struggled. And in a sense this im- sea. During most of this time, if the
pression is justified, for here the forces day be clear, one or more snow-clad
of vulcanism, the fires of the inner peaks will dominate the horizon. In
earth, have cast off the restraining one ravine the engineers have been
hand of gravity and raised mighty forced to ascend in a zigzag course,
mountain masses, or blown away into switching and running the train back-
ash the rock which once filled the now ward a short distance in order to reach
dead or dying craters. the pass above.
One of the features that will appeal During the field season of 1923 the
Ecuadorean peaks is the
to a climber of American Museum Expedition to
ease with which one may arrive at the. Ecuador visited several of the highest
base of a high mountain. It is possible of these Andean monarchs and col-
to ride in a railroad coach across the lected specimens right up to the fine of
very flank of Chimborazo. It is no perpetual snow. I was accompanied
less true, however, that one would still during this time by Mr. G. H. H. Tate,
'Article and illustrations copyrij ;hted, 1924, by H. E. Anthony
429
430 NATURAL HISTORY
Up the ravine of the Rio Chanchan the trains of the Guayaquil and Quito Railroad puff
their way, the heavy exhaust from the laboring engine roaring and echoing in the rocky
defiles. Looking backward from the last coach, one sees an ever-changing panorama
reminiscent of our own Royal Gorge
the field assistant of the department of climbers prefer to devote two days to
mammals, and we secured such native the trip. Quito itself has an elevation
help as was needed to tend camp, care of about 9400 feet and one can ride a
for the pack animals, and perform good horse or mule most of the way
similar Our headquarters
services. from Quito to Pichincha.
were at Quito, where we had as host The Museum party spent some days
Mr. Ludovic Soderstrom, who has camped on Pichincha, the lower camp
studied the natural history of Ecuador being at about 11,500 feet, the upper
formore than fifty years. at 13,300 feet. The latter station was
lies upon the margin of a vast
Quito called Verdecocha, and here we were
interandean basin, rimmed by rugged practically in the ancient crater of
peaks thrust upward from 16,000 to Rucu-Pichincha. The mountain has

19,000 feet. Fairly overhanging Quito two peaks: one called Rucu-Pichincha,
is Mt. Pichincha, 15,918 feet^ above sea or the Old Pichincha; the other,
level, which is easily climbed from this Guagua-Pichincha, or Baby Pichincha
city. It is said that some men go up — guagua being Quichua for baby.
and back the same day, but most Strangely enough the Baby Pichincha
All of the important elevations mentioned in this is slightly the higher and takes its
article are taken from the volume Travels Among the
Great Andes of the Equator, by Edward Whymper. name from the fact that its crater still
THE HIGH ANDES OF ECUADOR 431
steams and consequently appears to be and billowing up out of hidden ravines

younger than the burnt-out crater of and valleys the morning mists and
Old Pichincha. white, night-heavy clouds stirred at the
At Verdecocha we seemed to be atop beckoning of the sun god and began the
the world. Soon after sunrise and long upward struggle which brought
before the clouds had swirled up from them about our camp later in the day,
the valleys far below, it was possible when their clammy touch was poor
to obtain glorious views of distant fulfillment of the soft downy promise
peaks. To the southward we could they gave in the far distance.
just catch sight of Chimborazo's Our camp at Verdecocha was set on
rounded summit, but the finest spec- the grassy sod of a small valley which
tacle lay to the eastward. Looking headed up against the high andesite
out from the grassy hillsides of Ver- cliffs of Rucu-Pichincha. Great con-
decocha one saw the swelling flanks dors wheeled majestically along these
of Pichincha running down to meet the crags and sometimes perched on some
parti-colored fields below, where green out-jutting promontory to pass pro-
pastures alternated with thickets of fessional judgment on the two-legged
scrubby brush or met the rectangles of creatures below. We were poor pros-
ripened stands of grain in patterns hke pects, however, and the condors had
to the quilts our grandmothers made. little encouragement. Only by ex-
To the right a long ridge dropped away treme good fortune, nevertheless, had
to swing up again to the sky line at the the condors been robbed of a meal
summit of Mt. Atacazo, while Mt. when some days previously we had
Corazon peeked at one over the trun- moved camp up to Verdecocha.
cate summit of Atacazo. Across the With our camping equipment packed
Quito plain and the Chillo valley the on four mules and ourselves riding two
stark outlines of Ruminahui rose above more, we had begun the climb from San
a basal blanket of fluffy cloud, the long- Ignacio. We had completed about one-
dead crater at the summit cold and third of the distance when we had to
forbidding in the early light. Lowell's swing north from the so-called trail
line about "burnt-out craters healed —
a mere bridle-path at best and take
with snow " came to mind and we could to the crest of a steep narrow ridge,
not help wishing that such a ghastly knifelike in its proportions. At the
scar on the earth's surface were con- steepest point along this upthrust edge,
cealed under a soft white bandage. one of the pack mules pulled back on
As a background to the torn and the lead rope, jerked it from the hand of
gashed ramparts of Ruminahui, the the arriero in a series of stiff-legged
symmetrical outline of lovely Cotopaxi jumps, and disappeared over the edge
reached up and towered against the of the ridge, amidst a wail of "Aye,
sun-flecked eastern horizon, a superb Aye, Aye," from the Indians. We
elevation of 19,613 feet. A'ntisana, to expected to see the animal roUing head
the north of Cotopaxi, 19,335 feet of over heels to certain death, for there
snow-draped grandeur, and Cayambe, was a continuous steep pitch for at
north of Antisana, 19,186 feet, com- least hundred feet.
five Sounds of
pleted a triumvirate of mountain peaks crashing impacts came to our ears
of unsurpassed splendor. All over the but no mule appeared from behind the
lower slopes of the mountain ridges little shoulder immediately before us.
432 NATURAL HISTORY
Then hundreds of feet below one of rain! Amidst all the wreckage one egg
our pack containers flashed into sight. had preserved its integrity.
Whirling end for end, it touched the The errant mule was repacked with
earth only to rebound in great leaps what could be salvaged of the cook
and I had a sickening vision of frac- supplies and the rest of the trip was
tured cameras and ruined equipment. one series of mishaps after another
Even as we were looking, the pack until long after sundown, when we
caromed over a slight rise and vanished. pitched our tent at Verdecocha. How
Tate was certain that the pack had that mule escaped apparently certain
been completely destroyed and that the disaster twice that day can be answered
very bottom of the ravine had received only by the special providence that
the fragments, but I thought that it watches over the destiny of these hardy
might have been checked by some low Ecuadorean song birds.
brush out of which I had seen nothing We climbed to the crater of Guagua-
issue. I made up my mind that the Pichincha, on foot from Verdecocha,
mule was dead. And now follows a se- and after a long arduous ascent over a
quel hard to believe. barren waste of ash, at an altitude that
The mule had rolled about fifty feet, made climbing unusually tiresome,
over and over, when it had managed reached the lip of the vast cauldron,
to check its fall somewhat, but the which steamed with sulphurous fumes.
strain had burst the pack harness, We could not see to the bottom on
which slipped from the animal. The account of the dense vapor, but as far
mule, freed of its burden, then came to as the eye could penetrate, were huge
a full stop and saved itself. The pack blocks of andesite. It is possible to
was made up of two square containers, descend deep into the crater, and
one of which fell flat and stopped. scrubby vegetation grows within where
The other was thrown on edge and there is soil.
given right of way to the bottom. A later camp brought us near to the
Nearly a quarter of a mile down the great bulk of Cotopaxi. The symmetry
slope I followed it, by means of
at first of Cotopaxi, while beautiful, does
the gashes it had made and
in the turf not have the grandeur that a more
earth, and then, as fastenings had rugged character gives to such peaks
given way, by means of sundry articles as Antisana.
of ecjuipment. My
was great to
relief From our camp on a broad, ancient
discover that the pack was the one lava flow Llavepungo, we could
at
containing the kitchen equipment. look across a wide stretch of beautifully
Flour dusted the grass, rice was green paramo to where the regular
sprinkled under vegetation
lavishly outlines of Cotopaxi were momentarily
that never grew it before, while un- revealed by the kaleidoscopic shifting
recognizable odds and ends festooned of heavy cloud masses. Although not
the margin of the course. Finally, the very active volcanically now, Cotopaxi
container had struck squarely against has erupted with considerable violence
a small clump of brush and burst wide within comparatively recent times,
open. How I regretted our conserva- and Whymper, the noted English
tive use of eggs in the camp below when mountain climber, who ascended the
I saw the reckless way in which they peak in 1880, comparing his measure-
were now distributed over the ter- ments with those of earlier explorers.
434 NATURAL HISTORY
Guagua-Pichincha sharply to an ash-rimmed crater. Within the crater the descent

rises
is equally abrupt. Upon lip of this vast inverted cone the mountain climber is assailed
the
from one side by faintly sulphurous steam, while from the other side the strong wind brings
the billowing white clouds chaiged with refreshing ozone
concluded that Cotopaxi in the previ- done at elevations above 13,500 feet
ous century and had built up its
a half and up to 16,000 feet. Small rodents
height about seven hundred feet. were trapped almost at snow line,
Our most intimate association with about 15,500 feet, where there were
high Andean peaks began when we scattered patches of low shrubs, grassy-
hunted and trapped on the slopes of nooks, and low, dwarfed flowering
Antisana Here all of our work was plants. The flowers of these high
Short-stemmed white flower^, a species ot Although high elevation sets a limit

the Compositse, dot the greensward of upon plant growth, the foliage of Ecuador
Chimborazo near Urbina. Beautiful hum- fights for the last inch. At Antisanilla,
ming birds of many different species visit an elevation of 11,500 feet, the trees were
the blooms of these high mountain meadows stunted, but vines and ferns luxuriant
One most characteristic growths

of the The dwellers on the high Andean slopes
mountain paramos is the hum-
of the high encounter a problem in providing fuel.
mock formed by close-set clusters of one of The only source of wood for fires is the low,
the wernerias. The foliage of this plant is dwarfed shrubbery scattered in favorable
rather hard and spinelike basins or pockets
elevations are especially interesting A large deer, quite similar in appear-

and occur in great variety. Many of ance to our Virginia deer, makes these
them are species of the Compositse high paramos its home, while a large
and all are so dwarfed that they are tawny "wolf" ranges throughout the
practically stemless and grow close same region. Caracaras, which are
against the ground. large, strikingly marked hawks, walk
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The upper slopes of Antisana command a glorious view of mile upon mile of Andean
scenery. Over most of the plateau lies a beautiful green covering of paramo grass inex-
pressibly restful to the eye. Distant peaks stand out in crystal clearness and mountains
twenty miles away seem close at hand. Sincholagua in the foreground rises to a height
tof 16,365 feet, while Illiniza boasts an elevation of 17,405 cloud-piercing feet
i0^
About Punin, where the Museum party camped while excavating fossils, there was a
large population of Quichua Indians, descendants of the Incas. Water being scarce and
local, the Quichuas drove their flocks to a spring in a ravine, where countless rains had
deeply eroded the volcanic beds, and where the bones of mastodon and saber-toothed tiger
w&v% mute witnesses to a former use of the spring
438
about on the green slopes; and along pinnacles against the horizon — Illiniza,
the numerous watercourses and boggy Quihndaiia, and Sincholagua^ not to
areas one meets with ducks, a large mention the better-known peaks, such
species of ibis known to the natives as as Cotopaxi, or the nameless ones of
handuria, and the clarion-voiced, spur- the wild hinterland to the southeast.
winged plover. When the sun shines But no account of the high Andes of
brightly on this Andean upper-world, Ecuador is complete without something
it is a region of fascinating beauty and about Chimborazo.
attraction but, when the clouds drop We spent several days at Urbina,
low and the guarua, or mist, rides the where we were almost under the sum-
land, the traveler draws his poncho mit of Chimborazo. We were too close
closer and yearns for shelter and a fire. to appreciate theimmense height of
There are many things to be written this mountain and, furthermore, the
of Antisana, of the bold-fronted glacier shepherds who have livestock on these
that ever creeps down its southern high pasture lands were setting fires
slope, of the fierce wild cattle that roam everywhere to burn away the old
from Antisana over into the jumbled with the result that the air was
grass,
mass of deep ravines and rugged peaks murky with smoke. To the north we
known as the Cimarrones, of the moun- could see Carihuairazo, a lesser brother
tain lake that gives birth to the Rio of Chimborazo, but a high mountain in
Napo, and finally of Antisanilla near by, any company.
where for several miles one can trace
an eruption of the past and note how a
mighty volume of lava has poured
forth, been checked in its flow by
cooling, and frozen into the stream
lines of its original course.
So many are the beautiful peaks of
the Ecuadorean Andes the writer
scarcely knows which to single out, and
pages might be penned on the moun-
tains seen from Antisana alone, from
which the eye picks up a host of white
The bleak cold which grips the paramos

of Antisana whenever the sun does not
shine calls for warm clothing. The sheep-
herder of Antisana when he came out of
the hacienda on a frost}^ morning looked as
Csenolestes fuliginosus is the scientific rough and shaggy as one of his own sheep.
name of one of the most primitive of These people must be of hardy stock to
Hving South American mammals. It is a withstand the constant hardships they
marsupia,!, distantly related to the opossums encounter
440 NATURAL HISTORY
Chimborazo standing out against a cloudless sky is far less impressive than Chimborazo
bulking huge above the clouds, its shoulders parting the white masses
Our best view of Chimborazo we them by more than name. These

obtained from Punin, near Riobamba. include San gay, sometimes spoken of
Here, on a barren hillside, we could as one of the world's most active vol-
look out over a great stretch of deso- canoes, El Altarand Tungurahua, all
late-appearing terrain, a rain-carved more than 16,500 feet and the highest
bed of volcanic ash, to where the more than 17,700 feet.
mightiest of Ecuador's high mountains The great extent of high country in
overtopped and dominated the land, Ecuador forms a life zone of interesting
—
seeming to hang in the very sky, above characteristics, and the higher peaks
the massive line of ridges which formed such as Chimborazo, Antisana, and
the backbone of the Cordillera, above Cotopaxi, might be likened to high-
the heavy banks of cloud which rolled altitude islands in a low-altitude sea.
along this mountain chain, above the That is to say, the mammal life of the
highest of the lighter clouds that drifted peaks is confined to its proper zone be-
in the upper air currents. cause, in attempting to migrate, the
A
number of high mountains lie to mammals must pass down into regions
the east and southeast of Chimborazo, of lower altitude where the conditions
but lack of space forbids mention of are not so much to their liking. To
Although the clouds all too frequently shut out the mountains completely and thus
destroy a view, no scene in the Andes is at its best without a proper cloud setting
many species a barrier of this sort, one beyond the zone of high craters,
is
namely, an altitude difference, is not this mouse has perforce had to adapt
very effective, but other mammals are itself to lower elevations if it was to
held as closely to these mountain areas live in that region at all; there,
as they would be to true islands by the accordingly, we find species of the same
surrounding seas. Isolation of this genus but quite distinct from the
sort has brought about development of mountain-loving forms of the north.
separate and distinct species of mam- A very tiny deer, the Ecuadorean
mals on some of these peaks, and it was Pudu, is known only from high coun-
to determine the extent of this develop- try near Antisana.
ment of species that our season's The working out of the problems of
work was planned. For example, mammahan distribution furnishes the
large-eared mice of the genus Phyllotis zoologist with sufficient incentive to
were found only on the arenales, or undertake expeditions into the field.
ash-strewn crater slopes, and were not When his field work brings him into a
living on the great stretches ofparamo region of such fascinating possibihties

which link the craters of the Andean as Ecuador, he finds his days are all too
system. In southern Ecuador, where short, his visit terminates too quickly.
Frederic E. Church, Painter of the Andes
is fitting that a South American caution of indicating on a great many
ITissue of Natural History should of the sketches the precise color de-
present some of the pictures of sired. Thus one finds such jottings as
Frederic E. Church, for, although this "dazzlingly white," ''dark blue shad-
artist in his search for the awe- ow," "warm shadow, russet with re-
inspiring and the beautiful, eternalized "smoky orange," "buds
flected lights,"
with his brush the fleeting glory of the and ends green gray," "remember the
northern lights, transferred to canvas . black rocks and brown grass," and
the columnar stateliness and grace of the like. It is interesting to note that
the ancient ruins of Greece, and de- now and then in his South American
picted the majesty of the irresistible sketches these jogs to the memory are
sweep of waters at Niagara, it was the in Spanish instead of English.
region of the high Andes that furnished Church was born at Hartford, Con-
the inspiration for several of his most necticut, on May 4, 1826, and at an
notable paintings. early stage of his development as an
Telling effects produced by color artist came under the influence of
the dazzhng beauty, for instance, of Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hud-
the rainbow hues that sparkle in the son River school of painting, that cul-
vapory dissolution of a waterfall, the minated in the art of George Inness,
misty softness of mountain valleys, Alexander Wyant, and Homer D.
and the dimmed brilliancy of the sullen Martin. Church went to live with Cole
red sun staring through the dark in the latter's house in the Catskills
billowy swirl from a smoking volcano and worked under his precepts and
are necessarily lost when a picture is influence until the time of Cole's
reproduced in black and white, and yet death. Subsequently, in his search
it is the hope that the photographs for ennobling scenes of nature, he
inadequate as they are —that appear visited many of the far places of the
in connection with this article may world, as a mere enumeration of some
convey something of the beauty of the of his more important paintings will
originals, or at leastprompt those who indicate: Falls of Tecendama (1854),
are not familiar with the works of Cotopaxi (1854), Mountains of Ecuador
Church exhibited in the Metropolitan (1855), Niagara (1857), Heart of the
Museum and in the Public Library of Andes (1859), Twilight in the Wil-
New York, to seek their inspiration derness Chimborazo (1864),
(1860),
direct by a visit to these institutions. Aurora Borealis (1865), Rainy Season
Nor should the opportunity be over- in the Tropics (1866), Lava of St.
looked in this connection of studying Thomas, Jamaica (1867), The Parthe-
the artist's work in the making by an non (1871), El Khasna Petra (1872),
examination of the preliminary sketches Valley of Santa Ysabel (1875), El Ayu
in pencil and gouache on view in the (1876), Morning in the Tropics (1877),
Museum for the Arts of Decoration at The Monastery (1878), Valley of Santa
Cooper Union. To insure the attain- Marta (1879), /Egean Sea, Damascus,
ment of the proper color values in the Jerusalem, The Great Mountain Chain
paintings subsequently prepared from of New Granada, Morning on the
these sketches. Church took the pre- Magdalena.
FREDERIC E, CHURCH, PAINTER OF THE ANDES 443
Courtesy of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration, Cooper Union

On
July 9, 1857, Church started out from Riobamba for the volcano Sangay and was
fortunate enough to obtain an unobscured view of it for twenty minutes just before sun-
down on July 11. He has left a record of his impressions in the sketch reproduced here-
with. Supplementing this sketch, there is at Cooper Union a work sheet of the artist on
which appear three rough drafts of the columns of smoke emitted by the volcano, with
such notations for the artist's future guidance as, "2, smoky orange," "3, beautiful creamy
white," "4, cloud pearly grey," and the like, the key figures referring to designated areas
of the sketches
The preponderance, in this list, of away into the azure; the other, black
South American subjects indicates the and sombre,piled up in huge, rounded
influence which that continent exerted forms cut sharply against the dazzling
upon the art of Church. Twice in the white of the column of vapor, and,
fifties he visited its west coast and has piled higher and higher, gradually was
left in his journal an animated record diffused into a yellowish tinted smoke
of his experiences. That Church could through which would burst enormous
paint with words as well as pig- heads of black smoke that kept ex-
ments, let the following extract witness. panding, the whole gigantic mass gradu-
Reading it, one has the feeling that ally settling down over the observer in
Church is setting down his impressions a way that was appalling.
with quick verbal brush-strokes that " I conunenced a sketch of the effect,
nevertheless convey a vivid picture. but constant changes rapidly foHowed

"My sketch finished, I turned my and new beauties were revealed as the
face, and Lo! Sangay, with its impos- setting sun crested the black smoke
ing plume of smoke stood clear before with burnished copper and the white
me. I was startled. Above a serrated, cumulous cloud with gold. At inter-
black, rugged group of peaks which vals of nearly four or five minutes an
form the crater, the columns rose one : explosion took place; the first intima-
creamy white against an opening of ex- tion was a fresh mass of smoke with
quisitely blue sky — delicate white, cir- sharply defined outlines, rolling above
rus-formed flakes of vapor hung about the dark rocks and followed b}^ a heavy,
the great cumulous column and melted rumbling sound which reverberated
t*«r
448 NATURAL HISTORY
about the mountains, I was so im- achievement that seemed assured to
pressed by the changing effects that I him was barred through physical dis-
continued making rapid sketches; but ability. His right hand could no longer
allthe time I had, from the moment guide his brush. Undaunted, he taught
I saw the first of them until the sun himself to paint with his left, but the
set,was twentj^ minutes.' Dense clouds inflammatory rheumatism with which
again settled over the mountains and he was coping took insidious hold upon
night took the place of day." that member, too, and rendered his
Church had made his reputation at a gallant fight useless. Prevented from
time of life when many another painter realizing his full ambitions, he never-
is only beginning to arrive at the theless could contemplate with satis-
maturity of his powers. A quarter of a faction the substantial contribution he
century elapsed between his first South had made to art and the appreciation
American trip and the culmination of which his works had won not only in this
his career as an artist. The path of country but abroad. H. F. Schwarz. —
.1
i M (oja
ifiî.
./^
,<L U.... ..M
"
-^Yr?f)
Courtesy of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration, Cooper Union
A page of botanical sketches made by Church during his journey to South America in 1853
Courtesy of Prof. Henry Fairfield O shorn
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
As he appeared at the time of his sojourn in Quito, Ecuador, in the early part of the
nineteenth century
Alexander von Humboldt
SOUTH AMERICAN EXPLORER AND PROGENITOR OF EXPLORERS
npi'HE greatest scientific traveller studied; analyses were made of their

who ever "the
lived" and gases, and measurements of their height
parent of a grand progeny of and crater circumference were taken
scientific travellers" were the terms whenever it proved possible to do so.
Darwin thought fit to apply to Alex- On June 9 the ascent of Chimborazo
ander von Humboldt in writing to J. was attempted. The Indians that
D. Hooker in 1881. Humboldt had accompanied Humboldt, Bonpland,
then been dead nearly a quarter of a Carlos Montufer, and one of Hum-
century; and more than eighty years boldt's attendants on this exhausting
had elapsed since in the ardor of young climb, deserted before the final stage,
manhood he had set forth with the declaring that the white men were
botanist Bonpland on their voyage of trying to them in urging them on.
kill
discovery in the New World. Humboldt and his companions con-

Sailingfrom Spain on June 5, 1799, tinued alone, weary but hopeful, until
and making stops at Teneriffe and an impassable chasm blocked their
at Cumana, Humboldt and his com- ambitious effort and robbed them of
panion ultimately reached Caracas the conquest of the summit.
and from there, early in 1800, under- The South American explorations
took their eventful trip into the of Humboldt were rounded out with
interior, exploring the course of the the journey which he and Bon-
Orinoco and tracing the network of pland undertook by way of Riobamba
rivers that finally link this great and Cuencato Lima, in the course of
stream with the Amazon system. Four which they spent a month near the
months were consumed in the journey, headwaters of the Amazon.
in the course of which the adventurous It has been possible to give only the
travelers penetrated the forests that barest outline of Humboldt's wander-
lie between the Rio Negro, the Orinoco, ings in South America, and to try
and the Amazon to a depth five hun- to indicate the results of his explora-
dred miles greater than that previously tions within a brief article presents
attained by Loffier. even greater difficulties. In one of his
After a sojourn of several months in letters Darwin speaks of him as "more
Cuba, Humboldt and Bonpland set sail remarkable for his astounding knowl-
in March, 1801, for Cartagena on the edge than for originality." It is be-
north coast of South America and made cause of the vast scope of his investiga-
their way up the Magdalena River and tions — as comprehensive as men- his
across the cold wind-swept heights of tality —that hard to attempt even
it is
the Cordilleras to Quito in Ecuador, a summary of his work. Accustomed

where they arrived in January of 1802. to the restrictions of an age of speciali-
In and about Quito the travelers made zation, one feels amazement that Hum-
their abode for nearly eight months, boldt could apply geology, astronomy,
during which they ascended the vol- meteorology, zoology, botany, and
canoes of the region. Pichincha, even linguistics in passing judgment
Cotopaxi, Antisana, and Ilinica were upon the different phenomena that
449
450 NATURAL HISTORY
came under his observation. His much as reading Humboldt's Personal

painstaking study of the volcanoes of Narrative.''
the New World was perhaps his In another connection he makes this
greatest contribution to geology. His statement
observations of the remarkable meteor ''During my last years at Cambridge,
shower at Cumana on November 12- I read with care and profound interest
13, 1799, laid the foundations of our Humboldt's Personal Narrative. This
knowledge of the periodicity of this work and Sir J. Herschel's Introduc-
phenomenon. He studied the effects tion to the Study of Natural Philosophy,
of guano on the productivity of the stirredup in me a burning zeal to add
soil, and to his writings is due largely even the most humble contribution to
the fact that this fertilizer was intro- the noble structure of Natural Science.
duced into Europe. His researches on No one or a dozen other books in-
climate, pursued with vigor during the fluenced me nearly so much as these
South American journey, were of the two."
greatest scientific importance. Darwin One might go on quoting other refer-
wrote: "I have always looked at him ences to Humboldt scattered through
as, in fact, the founder of the geographi- The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin
cal distribution of organisms;" and in and Alore Letters of Charles Darwin.
delivering this opinion gave recognition Not all of these are so laudatory as the
to one of Humboldt's principal claims excerpts just given. In one Darwin
to greatness. Three folio volumes of expresses a certain degree of dis-
geographical, phj^sical, and botanical appointment upon meeting Humboldt

maps; twelve quarto volumes, devoted personally; in others there is qualified
to the nonbotanical results of the praise or divergence of opinion from

trip; and thirteen folio volumes re- some Humboldt's scientific conclu-
of
garding the botany, as well as many sions. Yet such phrases as " I venerate
smaller pubhcations, furnish additional him" and a reference to Bates as

evidence of the magnitude and sig- "second only to Humboldt in describ-
nificance of Humboldt's exploratory ing a tropic forest" indicate Darwin's
work in South America. high estimate of his predecessor in the
At the beginning of this article cita- South American field.
tion was made of Darwin's designation The influence of Humboldt upon

of Humboldt as "the parent of a grand Darwin can be traced, furthermore,
progeny of scientific travellers." Of this through the dozen or more references
progeny Darwin himself was the fav- to him that occur in the South Ameri-
ored son. The inspiration of Hum- can portion of Darwin's Voyage of the
boldt's example had a determining Beagle. Imbued with the writings of
influence upon his life. Writing to Humboldt, Darwin compares his own
Wallace in 1865 regarding the progress observations with those recorded by
of Wallace's journal of travels, Darwin the earlier scientific traveler or enters
remarks into brief discussions regarding the
" I have always thought that journals validity of his conclusions.
of this nature do considerable good by That the appreciation was not alto-
advancing the taste for Natural His- gether one-sided, however, is evident
tory; I know in my own case that from the following letter, which Hum-
nothing ever stimulated my zeal so boldt wrote to Mi's. Austin some eight
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT 451
years after the "Beagle," its five-year traveler's knowledge and the com-
cruise completed, had put into Fal- prehensiveness of his views, even in
mouth : cases where the progress of science led
"Alas! you have got some one in to a different interpretation of the facts.
England whom you do not read A man whose fame in his own day
young Darwin, who went with the was second only to that of Napoleon
expedition to the Straits of Magellan. was naturally a favorite subject for
He has succeeded far better than my- portrait painter and sculptor. There is
self with the subject that I took up. a statue of Humboldt in Central Park,
There are admirable descriptions of and within the American Museum there
tropical nature in his journal, which are two reminders of him, the bust —
you do not read because the author is a by William Couper that occupies a
zoologist, which you imagine to be niche in Memorial Hall and the paint-
synonymous with bore. Mr. Darwin ing by Julius Schrader that is on the
has another merit, a very rare one in left of the visitor as he steps out of the
—
your country he has praised me." elevator on the second floor. This
The concluding sentence throws an portrait, depicting Humboldt in old
interesting sidelight on Humboldt, age (the very year of his death, 1859)
whose vanity was so frank that it dis- but against a background of snowy
armed criticism, while the general peaks associated with his youth, is re-
tenor of the letter reveals another and produced on p. 452. Among others
more pleasing trait, namely, his gener- who had the privilege of painting Hum-
ous encouragement of young scientists. boldt in advanced life were Karl
While Darwin was the heir apparent Begas, who made the celebrated por-
in that "grand progeny of scientific trait of him for the Gallery of Knights
travellers," one must not omit mention of the Order of Merit, Eduard Hilde-
of another nature indent of conspicu- brandt, and Madam Emma Gaggiotti-
ous rank, Louis Agassiz, who came Richards —a young Italian artist of
under the Humboldt.
influence of talent, who resided in Berlin during
Agassiz records that when he was a the closing years of Humboldt's life.
student at Munich he was filled with a It maynot be without interest to

passionate desire "to accompany Hum- quote from the record left us by the
boldt on his projected trip to Asia." artist M. Wight, to whom Humboldt
Denied the realization of this ardent accorded sittings in 1852.
wish, he nevertheless had the oppor- "Humboldt was at that time eighty-
tunity later of meeting Humboldt and three years of age. The first interview
of learning from him "How to work, was on the occasion of his sitting for the
what to do, and what to avoid; how portrait in February of that year
to live; how to distribute my time; [1852]. I found him a man rather
what methods of study to pursue." below the medium stature, dressed
In subsequent years Agassiz himself with the utmost simplicity, in black.
explored the Amazonian valley, pass- His step was moderate, but firm and
ing so near the scene of Humboldt's decided, with his head a little inclined
field researches that he was able to forward. In conversation his face
check up his own results with those would glow with enthusiasm, and his
recorded in Humboldt's narrative and small clear eyes sparkle with anima-
to recognize the extent of the great tion. He was apparently very tena-
PORTRAIT OF BARON ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
PAINTED BY JULIUS SCHRADER
In the year 1857 Mr. Albert Havemeyer, of New York, being then in Berhn, called on
Humboldt, then in his eighty-ninth year, and requested him to allow his portrait to be
painted. Although the Baron had declined frequent solicitations for a similar favor, he
was made to feel that his many personal friends in the United States would be gratified by
his compliance and he consented to have the eminent artist, Julius Schrader, paint the pic-
ture here shown. The background was of his own selection, his remark to the artist
being, "I will be painted sitting here," designating the spot with Chimborazo in the distance.
The artist commenced the picture at once and at its completion in 1859 the Baron
expressed himself as well pleased. It is Humboldt's last portrait and has been copied
many times. It was presented to the American Museum by Mr. Morris K. Jesup and
hangs above the president's oflBce on the second floor
452
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT 453
cious of time.
his There were five family were still living in 1859, and
sittings. found him always prompt
I although more than half a century had
to the minute. Knowing that he had elapsed since the time of Humboldt's
received several decorations from visit, they had vivid recollections of the
crowned heads, I asked him if he wished young explorer. Prof. Moritz Wagner
me to represent any of them in his interviewed them in that year, and in
portrait; he replied that he preferred his account there is a reference to a
it should be painted without any orna- portrait in the possession of the
ment whatever." family. The reader is invited to com-
The concluding sentence is of interest, pare Wagner's minute description of it
for in the portrait by Julius Schrader, with the details of the frontispiece of
there is a similar absence of insignia. this article and see for himself whether
More interesting from our standpoint it isnot probable that the painting
than the pictures of the mature scien- described served as the model for
tist —
the man acclaimed by the world Rafael Sabas' copy, which might still
— is the portrait in color that serves as be referred to as faithful even though
the frontispiece of this article, showing —
some minor details for instance, the
the explorer in the full vigor of his —
book have been omitted.
adventurous young manhood, at a time "The family of Aguirre have still in
of life when he was making the dis- their possession a half-length portrait,
coveries and gathering the materials life-size, of their distinguished guest,
that, subsequently worked up, were to painted by a native artist, which is
establish his fame. This painting, the preserved in their country house of
work of a South American artist, Chillo, half a day's journey from
Rafael was
Sabas,secured by Quito from whence Humboldt used to
Frederic E. Church during one of his make excursions in the pursuit of
trips to the west coast of that con- geology and botany. The young
tinent and was subsequently presented German baron, at that time (in 1802)
by Mr. Louis P. Church to Prof. Henry thirty-three years of age, is represented
Fairfield Osborn, by whose courtesy in a court uniform of dark blue with
it is here included. The picture was exe- yellow facings, a white waistcoat, and
cuted in 1859 and bears the inscription white breeches of the fashion of the
that it is a faithful copy of a portrait last His right hand rests
century.
of the explorer painted at Quito by upon a book entitled Aphorism, ex
Jose Cortes early in the century, at a Phys. Chim. Plant. His thoughtful
time when Humboldt was climbing brow is covered by long dark brown
the snowy peaks of Ecuador and hair. The features in the youthful
studying the volcanoes. Among those face are strongly marked, especially
who went up Chimborazo with Hum- the nose, mouth, and chin. The peculiar
boldt was mentioned Carlos Montufar expression of the eyes is the point of
of the distinguished family of Aguirre resemblance most readily traceable in
y Montufar, with the members of this picture to Humboldt as I saw him
which Humboldt was on intimate fifty years later, then a venerable old
terms. Two of the ladies of this man."
A SCENE IN THE VILLAGE OF BANOS, PROVINCE OF TUNGURAHUA
The climbing plant which covers the balconies of the small house in the foreground is
Passiflora Ugularis, the common granadilla. Its hard-shelled fruit, the size of a hen's egg,
contains translucent pulp of delightful flavor and delicate aroma
Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador'
By WILSON POPENOE
Agricultural Explorer, U. S. Department of Agriculture
THE principal civilized peoples of

pre-Columbian America, Aztec, —
as a field for agricultural exploration.
One whose interests lie along pomo-
Maya, and Quichua, were agri- — logical lines cannot imagine a region
culturists of no mean order. Remark- more replete with thrills than Ecuador.
able skill was shown by the Quichua, To begin with, there exists near Naran-
who converted into productive land the jito, not far from Guayaquil, one of the
barren mountain-sides of their Peru- most remarkable collections of Asiatic

vian home. On these rocky slopes they fruits inSouth America. In fact, the
built series upon series of stone ter- only bearing mangosteen trees on the
races, filled them with rich alluvium continent are to be found at this place
from the fertile valleys below, and — the Hacienda Payo. Those familiar
irrigated them artificially from the with the mangosteen need not be told
mountain streams above. They that it is the queen of fruits, and that
brought many wild food plants into it has long been famous as one of the
domestication and through conscious or finestproducts of the Malayan region.

unconscious selection carried some of In relatively recent years, it has been
them to a high degree of agricultural transplanted to the West Indies, where
excellence, with the result that such a few trees are now in bearing.
plants as the potato and the sweet During the first years of the present
potato, the tomato, and the peanut are century, the elder Madinya, owner of
now cultivated and prized in many Payo, occasionally made trips abroad
parts of the world. and, returning to Ecuador, brought
We may be in danger, however, of with him seeds and plants of many
giving the Quichua agriculturists too rare fruits secured through nurseries in
much credit. Perhaps they were France and the West Indies. Besides
fortunate, above other American the mangosteen, he established in
peoples, in occupying a region where Ecuador the litchi, the rambutan, and
wild plants of potential economic the carambola — all Asiatic fruits of
value were particularly numerous. extraordinary merit, little known in
Even after many centuries of Quichua America.
occupation, and the domestication of Even more interesting than these
more than a score of plants, the high- are the native species which are found,
lands of Ecuador and Peru still con- wild or in cultivation, in the Ecuado-
tain many wild species of horticultural rean highlands. Chief among them are
promise. It is this fact, together with the cherimoya, the capuli, the Chi-
the added circumstance that numerous lean strawberry, the babaco, several
cultivated plants of the Quichua have blackberries and raspberries, and the
not yet received attention in other naranjilla.
parts of the world, that makes the For years I have been familiar with
Andean region extremely attractive the cherimoya. It is cultivated in
'Photographs by the author.
455
456 NATURAL HISTORY
Mexico and Guatemala, and excellent chUled and served as a dessert. It has
specimens have been produced by the combined flavors of pineapple,
trees planted in southern California. strawberry, and banana, and for sheer
Not until I reached Ecuador, however, lusciousness is excelled by few other
had I seen the cherimoya in its native products of the vegetable kingdom.
home. As a wild tree, it grows in pro- The cherunoya tree can be grown where
fusion along the valley of the Rio the lemon flourishes. Its cultivation in
Malacatos, at the southern end of the California has proved practicable, but
country, and in neighboring parts of the several small orchards which have
Peru. From this region it was carried been established in that state have
to southern Peru probably before the failed to yield their owners profitable
arrival of the Spaniards, who took it returns, due to the fact that they have
northward to Central America and borne very scantily. The pollination
Mexico. under cultivation in the
of this fruit
The cherimoya is a remarkable United States will have to be solved
fruit. It has often been described as before the cherimoya can become a
vegetable ice cream, because of its familiar sight in our markets.
white which has the consistency
flesh, Blackberries and raspberries are
of a firm custard, and is strikingly generally looked upon as northern
suggestive of delicate ice cream when fruits. At least, this had been my own
impression before visiting the Andean
region, where I found to my surprise
berries vying in excellence with the
best produced in the United States.
Two years before visiting Ecuador, I
had seen in Guatemala a remarkable
berry, known to the Indians of that
country as tokan uuk. The plant re-
sembled a raspberry in growth and
appearance, while the fruit was like our
loganberry but less tart in flavor. On
reaching the Ecuadorean Andes, I
found this same species, Rubus glaucus,
playing the role of an important cul-
tivated plant in the gardens of many
highland towns. In fact, the inora de
Castilla, as it is there called, may be
considered one of the favorite fruits of
the Ecuadorean highlands.
The cherimoya has been termed a "master-

Just why this berry has never re-
piece of nature." For its luscious flavor, ceived horticultural attention in other
suggesting a combination of pineapple, countries is beyond my comprehension.
strawberry, and banana, and the smooth It is too fine a thing to be overlooked
texture of its white pulp, which suggests ice
by any one who has an eye for fruits
cream, it is entitled to rank among the best
and, unlike certain other plants of the
Its native home is in
fruits of the tropics.
southern Ecuador and the neighboring parts Ecuadorean Andes, its propagation is
of Peru simple. To the end that it might be
HUNTING NEW FRUITS IN ECUADOR 457
popularized, the Department of Agri- occasionally seen in cultivation.

culture propagated a large number of Neither of these, however, is superior
plants from seeds I secured in Ecuador to the typical form.
and has distributed them in those Seventy years ago the English botan-
parts of the United States where they istRichard Spruce spent several years
seem likely to thrive. Already the in the Ecuadorean Andes. He had
Andes berry, as we have decided to call been collecting in the Amazon Basin,
the mora de Castilla, has borne fruit where he did a remarkable piece of
in California and is doing well in the pioneering work. At the request of the
Gulf States and in the Southwest British government, he came up the
The town of Banos, which lies at the foot of the volcano Tungurahua, is one of the most
picturesque in the Ecuadorean Andes, and a classic resort of naturaUsts since the days
of Richard Spruce. Close by are the magnificent falls of Agoyan. The Pastaza River, which
flows past the town, is a tributary of the Amazon
generally. It is remarkable for its eastern slope of the Andes to Ambato

immense growth, as well as for the fine and then went southward to Loja
quality of its fruit. A single plant will Province, where he carefully investi-
cover the side of a small house or, if gated the source of quinine, with a
left to itself, will form a mound of view to obtaining seeds of the trees
verdure ten feet high and fifteen feet in which yield this product. His labors
spread. during a period of more than two years
Under cultivation in Ecuador sev- and his final success in transplanting
eral horticultural varieties have origi- the best quinine-yielding species to
nated. The common, or wild, one has India form a romantic chapter in the
berries of deep maroon color. A rose- history of plant introduction. Present-
red variety and a light pink one are day botanical explorers who complain
458 NATURAL HISTORY
The moist, fertile slopes of the Ecuadorean Andes are cultivated up to elevations of
12,000 feet. This photograph shows a prosperous agricultural community near El Angel,
province of Carchi. The principal crops grown in this region are barley and potatoes
of the discomforts suffered in crossing the Pacific, secured a few plants of this
the Andes should read Spruce's notes, berry at Concepcion, Chile, and carried
and reflect upon the between
difference them with him to Marseilles. Their
Andean travel in the middle of the progeny, when crossed with the small-
last century and that of today. fruited strawberries then cultivated in
During his stay in Ambato, Spruce Europe, yielded the first large-fruited
was struck by the excellent quality of strawbei'ries of the type now grown
the strawberries grown in that region both in Europe and America. There is
and by the fact that they were on the a Chilean strain, therefore, in our own
market every day in the year. He cultivated varieties, but the fraction is
told of large fields devoted to this probably a small one.
plant near Guachi. This region still Previous to the Conquest, this berry
produces strawberries in abundance, was not known in Peru or Ecuador. It
and the traveler to Quito is certain to was carried to Cuzco shortly after the
be greeted by the sight of large baskets Spanish established themselves in that
of them, no matter what day or month city, and later was taken to Ecuador,
he passes through Ambato. where it has been cultivated ever since
The casual tourist assumes that these and held in high esteem.
berries are of the same species as those The Chilean strawberrj^ is rather
grown in the United States. He does exacting in its requirements. It does
not know that they represent the not tolerate a moist climate. In
Chilean strawberry, Fragaria chiloensis, Ecuador it bears all the year round,
which is cultivated onty in South but this is not the case either in Peru or
America. In 1714, a Frenchman in Chile. This peculiarity can be attrib-
named Frezier, who was voyaging on uted, therefore, to the lack of seasonal
A sphagnum bog on the paramo near El Angel, province of Carchi, at an elevation of
approximately 13,000 feet. This is typical paramo scenery; the two characteristic plants are
ichu, the bunch grass shown in the foreground (botanically Stipa ichu) and the thick-stemmed
;
composite which fills the background, a species of Espeletia known locally as frailejon
—
Strawberry pickers at Guachi, near Ambato. Large fields are given over to the Chilean
strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) in this region. The fruits, which are of good size and flavor,
are remarkable for their ability to withstand shipment. They ripen throughout the year, and
are grown on sandy soil without irrigation in a region where the annual rainfall is scarcely
more than eighteen inches
459
THE ANDES BEREY
Rubus glaucus grows wild in mountainous regions from southern Mexico to Peru.
It is cultivated in Colombia and Ecuador, where its dark maroon, juicy, richly flavored
fruits are highly prized. They are used Hke northern loganberries, which they resemble
except for the fact that they are sweeter in flavor and slightly different in form. (Natural
size.)
460
CLUSTERS OF CAPULI
A cultivated form of the black cherry, Primus serotina, is commonly grown in Mexico,
Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Ecuador possesses better varieties than other
countries; the one shown here, from Ambato, has fruits as large as Cahfornia oxheart
cherries, and of excellent flavor. (Natural size.)
THE ANDEAN BLUEBERRY
Vaccinium floribundum, called mortiiio in Ecuador, grows profusely in northern
South America at elevations between 10,000 and 12,000 feet. Its small fruits, while not
more than a quarter of an inch long, are of pleasant flavor. The pink flowers and deep
green foliage give the plant a handsome appearance. (Natural size.)
462
The granadilla de Quijos {Passiflora popenovii) grows along the tributaries of the Amazon
in eastern Ecuador. has flowers of unusual beauty, white, blue, and hlac
It in color, followed
by good-sized oval fruits of delicate and aromatic flavor. (Natural size.)
changes in the Ecuadorean chmate. Chilean strawberry in the hope of

Plants yield freely when grown without securing, through crossing it with our
on the sandy plains of Guachi.
irrigation own cultivated sorts, varieties adapted
but when grown on good garden soil to our climate, yet having the texture
and watered frequently, the berries are of the Chilean form.
few, small, and of inferior quality. At The traveler in the Ecuadorean
Guachi they are usually an inch and a Andes —the region popularly referred to
half long, of remarkably firm texture, as the ''Sierra " — soon becomes familiar
and of sweet and peculiarly aromatic with the capuli, a tree seen about culti-
flavor. The texture is a characteristic vated places from one end of the country
of extreme value to plant breeders, to the other. Teodoro Wolf, who spent
forNorth American strawberries are twenty years in Ecuador and wrote an
much less firm and do not stand ship- excellent book regarding the country,
ping nearly so well. It is for this spoke of the capuli as characterizing
reason that several breeders in the the Andean region just as the coconut
United States are now working with the palm is typical of the coast.
464 NATURAL HISTORY
I do not believe the capiili is in- native home of the species. I have
digenous to Ecuador, in spite of the never seen in Mexico or in Guatemala
fact that Ecuadoreans commonly claim capulis more than half the size of the
it Strangely enough, it
as their own. most luscious grown in Ecuador, nor
is a southern form of a plant well any half so good. The Ecuadorean
known in the eastern United States, capuli at its best is a fruit nearly as
extending as far north as Nova Scotia. large as the oxheart cherry of the
— Prunus serotina, the wild black Pacific Coast. It is borne in clusters of
cherry of this country. History records from two to and is juicy, sweet, and
ten,
pleasant to eat. How well I remember
the afternoon spent by Abelardo
Pachano, Jose Antonio Montalvo, and
myself under the famous Gonzales
capuli tree near Ambato! We picked
and ate the fruits until we could eat no
more, and I was convinced that the
capuli is worth cultivating not only in
the southern United States but also in
all subtropical regions where European
cherries do not succeed.
Ambato is the center of the greatest
fruit-growing region in Ecuador and,
because of its dry and relatively cool
climate, it is suited to the cultivation
of many temperate, as well as subtropi-
cal, species. Its elevation of 8000 feet
will not permit the rearing of strictly
tropical fruit-bearing plants since hght
frosts occur every once in a while.
In Andean villages several remark-
The babaco (Carica pentagona), closely able species of Carica are cultivated.
related to the papaya of tropical regions, is These are related to the common
cultivated in numerous highland towns of
papaya of tropical countries but, unlike
Ecuador. The plant resists hght frost, and the
yellow fruits, which attain a foot in length, the latter, will resist frost. The best
are made into an excellent preserve of them is the babaco, grown prin-
cipally in the Ambato region, but occa-
that the Spanish first took it to Peru, sionally at Quito and elsewhere. The
where it is now as common as in babaco is produced by a half-woody
Ecuador. In both these countries it is plant that attains a height of ten feet.
known under a name taken from the The fruit is cylindrical in form, nearly
Aztec language, and its cultivation by a foot in length, and suggests a musk-
that people in pre-Columbian days is a melon in character. It has highly
recognized fact. Assuming, therefore, ai'omatic flesh and a large hollow
that this plant was carried to Ecuador cavity in the center, which one would
from Mexico, it is interesting to note expect to contain many seeds but which
that the first-named country now pro- rarely has any at all. In fact, the
duces much finer capulis than does the babaco is a curiosity. The two sexes
are or should be found in different Ecuador up was loath to

to that time, I
plants. The pistillate, or female, believe the unwiUing to
story but
plants bear fruits. In spite of having ignore it. So I rode to Ibarra and
searched I have never
extensively, thence down to the Chota River,
found a single staminate, or male, notorious as a hot and malarial region.
plant. Apparently, the flowers pro- I was rewarded by finding avocados of
duced by pistillate plants are never unusual character and quality. Three
properly fertilized and, in consequence, trips to the Chota resulted in my secur-
no seeds develop. The usual thing in ing budwood of the best varieties and
such cases would be that fruits also introducing five into the United States,
would fail to develop, but the babaco where they are now being tested.
does not conform to the general rule in In the Chota Valley is another ex-
this respect. cellent fruit, cultivated elsewhere in
Throughout the highlands are to be Ecuador but not in such perfection.
seen trees of a wild walnut, which re- It is the pepino, related to the potato
sembles in foliage as well as fruit the and the eggplant. The elliptic green-
black walnut of the United States, ish-yellow fruits sometimes attain the
more particularly that of California. size of small cantaloupes, and strongly
The Ecuadorean species, Juglans suggest the latter in flavor. They are
honorei, however, is quite distinct produced by plants which look like
from those of the United States. Its potato vines but live for three or four
thick-shelled nuts contain richly years and bear fruit during most of
flavored meats, which are made into that time.
delicious sweets by Ecuadorean house- Another member of the same family
wives. popular in Ecuador and little known
Most avocados grown in the
of the elsewhere, with the exception of
Ecuadorean highlands are of the Mexi- Colombia, is the naranjilla, botanically
can race, probably introduced by the known as Solanum quitoense. This
Spanish in early days. There is an old fruit, which has the size and appear-
tree in the Patate Valley, not far from ance of a small orange (whence the
Ambato, which, it is believed, was name naranjilla — little orange) is borne
planted more than two centuries ago by by a half -shrubby plant with enormous
Jesuit priests. En passant, it is worth hairy leaves. The fruit is used to
mentioning that the priests and friars, prepare refrescos, or cooling drinks,
who came to the New World along which suggest in flavor a mixture of
with the Conquistadores, were active pineapple and lemon. Attempts to
in establishing the best European fruits grow the naranjilla in Florida have
and other food plants wherever they been unsuccessful. For some reason
went, and in transporting native species, as yet unknown to us. the plant does
such as the avocado and the capuli, not bear fruit in that state, though it
to regions where they had not previ- grows quite satisfactorily.

ously been grown. Colombians, to a greater extent than
While at lunch one day in the Metro- Ecuadoreans, appreciate and use the
politan Hotel in Quito, I was told by a tacso, but the latter are by no means
fellow-traveler that the Chota Valley blind to its merits. This fruit, which
produced avocados of superior quality. belongs to the passion-flower family,
'Having found no avocados of value in is of the size and shape of a small
466 NATURAL HISTORY
banana. It contains numerous seeds, extensively in California, where it has
each surrounded by juicy, acid pulp of already been tried and found to
aromatic and somewhat acid flavor. succeed.
In Bogota, housewives put this through The Spanish early brought their own
a sieve and by adding sugar and milk Ambato, and the descendants
fruits to
make a delicious sherbet, which they of the original trees are seen everywhere
in that region. Peaches, apples, plums,
and apricots are abundantly produced,
while a few miles farther down the
Patate River are small orchards of
citrus fruits. Nowhere in the higher
Andes, however, are good oranges
produced. Afew spots, such as the
warm Chota and Guaillabamba valleys,
are favorable for orange culture, but
the best region is on the coast. Ecuador
can produce excellent citrus fruits and
some day may rank among the coun-
tries which export them. Ever since
the production of cacao became less
remunerative, due to increased plant-
ings in Africa, Ecuadoreans have
realized the necessity of diversifying
their crops. Even now there is a small
export trade in bananas, oranges, and
pineapples, particularly the first-named,
which are being grown on an ever-
The favorite tacso of the Andes, Passi- increasing scale for shipment to Peru
flora mollissima, isproduced by a handsome and Chile. The pineapples of Guaya-
vine, and is used to prepare excellent ice quil are famous; indeed, they probably
creams and desserts. Its orange-colored equal in quality those of any other
pulp is acid and highly aromatic
region, and they excel most. Fruit
culture hascome to the fore as one of
call crema de curuha.I did not come the most hkely sources of income, and
across this dish in Ecuador nor the within the next quarter of a century
equally delicious ice cream which can serious attention will certainly be
be made from ripe tacsos. Both for its devoted to the establishment of fruit
fruit and the ornamental appearance of industries both in the highland regions
the vine, the tacso is worth cultivating and along the coast.
The last gleam sun leaves a narrow pathway of molten silver between the unbroken dark-
of the setting
ness of the forest wall and mellowed reflection. Even before the fast-moving clouds have cleared the ridges
its
of distant Kamakusa mountain, this glistening streak will have been blotted out by the spreading darkness.
What great discoveries still await the adventurous traveler below the canopy of forest that stretches for more than
a thousand miles into the farthermost limits of the valley of the Amazon
Into the Interior of British Guiana'

By HERBERT LANG
Associate Curator, African Mammals, American Museum
more memorable was the

FEW other parts of South America
can boast a more romantic his-
shores. Still
virtual exchange, after theDutch war,

tory than the Guianas. Even to- of Guiana, or "Surinam," for what is
day the lure of riches easily attained now New York, under the terms of
there still claims -'its victims. Far the Peace of Breda in 1667.
back, in the year 1616, so well Later the sober-minded, laborious
seasoned a knight as Sir Walter Dutch by skilful efforts succeeded in
Raleigh was blinded by the dazzling transforming much of the coastal strip
tales of the fabulous wealth of that of Demerara into rich plantations, rely-
phantom "El Dorado." Apart
city of ing upon the fertihty of the alluvial
from personal disillusion and failure in soil, in some parts now known to be
his particular quest, his last heroic more than 1400 feet thick. After more
efforts were not altogether in vain. Did than a hundred years of continuous
he not whet the appetite for the pro- subjection to the soil-impoverishing
verbial wealth of these lands and un- culture of sugar cane, and without
wittingly lay the corner stone for stimulation of productivity through the
England's only colony in South Ameri- use of fertilizer, the land still gives
ca —the present-day British Guiana? bountiful returns.
That in olden times the Guianas With the temporary collapse of the
were not without appeal as a field for sugar industry after the World War
colonization is evident from the councils and the incidental release of labor,
of the Pilgrim Fathers, who considered those who were sufficiently energetic
the tropical luxuriance of these parts and enterprising tried their luck in the
before they decided to exert their diamond fields of the interior. The
mighty influence upon New England results have been astonishing and a
'Illustrations, with the exception mentioned, from photographs by the author.

467
A typical diamond mine. — Sand piles and water holes surrounded by a chaos of tree trunks and bowlders
in the midst of virgin forest are the distinguishing characteristics of the diamond mines of British Guiana. A fee
of a few dollars paid to the government gives the prospector the right to stake out his placer claim of 800 by 1400
feet. Removing only three feet or so of overburden may uncover the loose, diamantiferous gravel, which is
washed in the"tom," a rough wooden box having an iron screen with half-inch holes at the front of it. Through
them the smaller particles are passed and hand-sieved. What remains in the sieve is carefully looked over for
the precious stones.
There are no iron fences, guarded compounds, or burglar-proof safes as in South Africa. The entire police
where about 4000 miners in 1922 dug out more than 84,000,000
force consists of half a dozen negroes, in a region
worth of diamonds in the rough, valued at S2.5 a carat. No machinery, laboratories, or hospitals are provided,
and everyone Uves peacefully in temporary shelters. Trading companies supply the miners with salt pork, beef,
fish, rice, beans, biscuits, and other goods, most of them paid for in diamonds, which in general the companies
also purchase
Fifty thousand dollars' worth of British Guiana diamonds, in the rough.— This harvest was gathered
by a crowd of fortune hunters of every description, —most of them negroes and mulattoes, some Chinese and
Hindus, and a few whites. With unfailing hope and under the most trying conditions, these miners, generallj'
called "tributors" or "pork-knockers," have struggled, toiled, and suffered hunger in order to add their part to
this glittering pile. Some of these rough stones are of the "first water," without flaw or tint. Once lifted from the
loam and rendered doubly attractive by cutting and setting, they become the most cherished of treasures. The
largest stone pictured weighs sixteen carats; single stones of as much as forty-eight carats have been un-
earthed along the Upper Mazaruni River
468
—
Makreba Falls, the head of navigation on the Kurupung River. Between the rocky walls of forest-clad
mountains that rise abruptly several hundred feet above the water are these falls, opposing farther advance by
boat. From here famous Mt. Roraima can be reached within ten days. The route proceeds overland for some
distance, with Indian "droghers" carrying the loads, and then by water in native "woodskins," or small boats
made of the bark of trees, each accommodating eight or ten men. During the first few weeks of the stay, Mr. La
Varre and the writer, who is shown in the above oicture, made a preliminary reconnaissance and were fortunate
in meeting many of the Indians who later joined the party at Kamakusa
—
Rapids below Kaburi Rock. The gallant little craft "Kamakusa," in which the author journeyed, passed
most of the rapids under its own power. Only a few times did this staunch " rift-climber " have to be taken in tow.
Every year the Mazaruni River exacts its heavy toll in boats and men. Only strongly built canoes, not more than
forty feet in length and manned by experienced captains and bowmen, are allowed to engage in the traffic.
The ever-changing water level, depending on the season's rainfall, and an essentially rocky bed are the main
hazards. Every crew has its expert swimmers who, going in advance, drag the ropes with which the boats
are guided and puUed across the rocks whenever the drudgery of portage can thus be avoided
469
470 NATURAL HISTORY
credit to the adaptability of the negro with embankments of soil, sand, and
population, which outnumbers all other gravel, attest to the success achieved.
races among the miners. It is true that The lucky miners stay at their task only
extravagant hopes of fortunes easily a few months before returning to the
made and manj^ dismal failures are a coast and Georgetown. They usually
part of the storj^, but native improvi- escape fever, dysentery, and the host
dence is happily linked with a ready of other illnesses brought about by the
desire to share good fortune with others extraordinary hardships, especially
and at any time to extend cordial that of working hip-deep in water for
assistance to those in need. From 1919 an extended period. The journeying
on, the production of diamonds jumped back and forth involves but httle ex-
in three years from $478,555 (16,706 pense to the individual miner, who
carats in 1919) to $4,126,425 (163,640 works his way up river by paddling
carats in 1922). As it happened, I boats engaged in transporting traders'
was making the tripup the Mazaruni merchandise, and for whom the home-
River^ at the height of this great rush, ward passage is usually free.
when dozens of boats were on their way British Guiana's fame is linked with
to the diamond fields in the interior. its great rivers: network
they are its
One of the most surprising facts of communication in the interior. In

about diamond mining in British former times no one but the daring and
Guiana is its extreme simpUcity of fearless would brave the thousands of
operation, with an equal chance for all. swift channels, pilot between the hidden
Ax, pick, shovel, a miner's pan, tom- rocks, and cross the dangerous whirl-
iron, pail, and sieve are the only imple- pools. These pioneers needed courage
ments used to bring the precious stones and dexterity to ascend the torrential
to light. After the miner has success- rapids and overcome the steeper falls.
fully probed, b}^ means of a tough sap- Even now considerable skill is required.
ling, the water-soaked ground to locate After a few months of the monotony
the harder layer of diamond-bearing mining fields, however, one wel-
of the
gravel, the digging commences, con- comes the excitement of river travel.
tinuing until the promising level a few There, at least, is the dare-devil joy of
feetbelow is reached. There is great trusting to luck more than to experi-
expectancy as the first sample of ore ence. The return run is made with the
or "pay dirt" is tested. There may hurrying floods and across swirling
be merely what the miners call "in- rapids in as many exciting hours as it
dications," pieces of tourmaline, crys- took dreary days of toil to fight one's
tals of quartz, and pebbles of various way upstream against the strong
heavy minerals, also traces of gold. currents.
Should there be a diamond, however Along the rivers the solid walls of
tiny, in the first pan, it is an encourage- luxuriant vegetation are silent wit-
ment for the "crew," as small parties nesses to the constant struggle of
working together are generally called. practically every leaf to reach the sun-
Not many months thereafter the light. In this spectacular mosaic
deserted square or oblong, water- flowers are richly scattered, decorating
filled holes in the ground, surrounded the green curtain like delicate embroid-
lA preliminary Note, together with a map of the eries. Tints of yellow and shades of
itinerary, appeared in Natubal History for July-
August, 1923, pp. 409-11. blue in October are the prevalent colors,
INTO THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH GUIANA 471
bright red and white being scarcer. sive even though the minute details
Tall palms are rare along the Mazaruni of so magnificent a tapestry were
River, and even the slender manicole confusing.
seldom waves its glittering fronds. In Ever since I had returned from the
the foreground are floating grasses and Belgian Congo, where I had spent the
stockades of giant arums, a maze of years 1909-15 studying conditions in
sedges and palms climbing upward the West African rain forest, it had
over their more powerful neighbors. been my desire to see comparable
Every day before nightfall we made South American forests. The oppor-
fast to one of the few high places tunity, extended to me by Mr. William
along the banks out of reach of sudden J. LaVarre, of visiting those of British
floods. Tarpaulins and hammocks Guiana was, most welcome.

therefore,
were the only equipment needed for Furthermore, was favored with an
I
passing the night. Following the first introduction from President Henry
roars of the howler monkeys at the Fairfield Osborn, of the American
coming of daylight, fires were kindled Museum, to his Excellency, Sir Wilfred
in preparation for breakfast. A bus- Collet, governor of British Guiana.
tling half hour saw our fifty men and From Director F. A. Lucas of the
their belongings ready to start again.
Soon the busy purr of the boat's
engine and the rhythmic stroke of
paddles broke the quiet, continuing
until noon, when a stop was made for
luncheon.
As we landed and passed through
the dense curtain of verdure, the
mighty tree trunks loomed up like ma-
jestic colonnades. Innumerable leaves
of all sizes and shapes, impenetrable
thickets, and other objects limited
the range of our vision. Glimmer-
ing shafts of light set off the grace-
ful contours of the rows of saplings
and tangles of bush ropes. In the
diffused soft light fantastic flashes This yoxxnir male howler moiikey iAluuattn ."fiiicula
macconnelli) was photographed at Kamakusa in De-
plajûUy danced upon the leaf -strewn cember. Most young monkeys in South America
are not inchned to manifest the frolicking gayety or to
ground. Clumps of white, orange, or indulge in the capricious and fantastic tricks that char-
acterize the behavior of Old World monkeys of corre-
brown fungi, flowers that had fallen spo nding age and size. Their actions remind one rather
of the slow, serious, well-seasoned manners of old
from the trees above, and a scattering people. Shortly after being taken these howlers refrain
even from biting and become affectionate pets. But
of dead leaves furnished dehcate they should never be made captives as it is almost im-
possible to keep these leaf-eating primates in good
touches of color among the few plants health.
The adults are the strongest and most heavily set
that strove in vain to escape from the monkeys of the New World and evidently for this
reason have been dubbed in British Guiana "baboons,"
gloom and decay of the forest floor. a term which the negroes have brought over from Africa,
where it is applied correctly to a large powerful ape of
The moisture-laden atmosphere and chiefly terrestrial habits. Troops of these reddish-
brown howlers are especially famous for their vociferous
constant heat were overpowering. Yet sunrise serenades. Energetic in this performance, they
show less virility in climbing about in their high leafy
the infinite beauty and matchless homes, seldom moving in great haste although they are
by nature nimble-footed and are assisted by a prehen-
grandeur of the scene were impres- sile tail
American Museum I received other on ground once cleared by man. Here

valued privileges. At Kartabo, Mr. W. there are a few predominant types. In
Beebe, director of the Tropical Re- South America the groves of "Congo
search Station of the New York Zoolog- pump" (Cecropia) and the "bastard
ical Society, extended his hospitality. plantain" (Heliconia) play the role
The more important ecological dif- assumed in Africa by the "umbrella
ferences between the two regions are tree" (Musanga) and what remains of
striking in their essential features.In plantains and bananas formerly under
both countries the temperature cultivation; and many large-leafed
throughout the year is about the same, marantaceous and gramineous plants
85° Fahrenheit, with but slight changes are common to both.
day or night. The average annual rain- In equatorial West Africa, at least
fall also differs little, being always in the northeastern section of the
more than sixty inches, and the dry Belgian Congo, where I spent several
season lasting less than three months. years, the rain generally faUs within a
In the formation of these forests, few hours, and often this occurs during
however, the relative amounts of rain the night. At any season, therefore,
and sunshine, humidity and heat, are there an abundance of sunshine. In
is
significant factors. this area the gigantic trees are more

In South America the generally more scattered, the crowns of many reaching
inundated condition of the ground above the general leafy roof and
is as marked as are the greater variety appearing, as one looks down upon
of plants and the denser and more them from some height, like islands
united forest canopies. The larger rising from a green sea. Such an
number of pahns and especially the arrangement admits more sunlight in
conspicuous display of luxuriant epi- the lower strata of the forest and rather
phytic plants, such as bromeUas, favors the development of rapidly
aroids, peperomias, orchids, ferns, and moving, gregarious, diurnal forms of
mosses have no equal in Africa, where monkeys. With the exception of a few
the . larger air plants Platy cerium, lemurs the African primates are chiefly
Asplenium, and other ferns that attach diurnal. They are much less specialized
themselves to trees are more widely — than their South American relatives
and orchids are inconspicuous
scattered, and show no such parallel development
and few and far between. with other groups as is indicated by
Excluding the vegetation of moun- different kinds of the smaller South
tainous areas and sections along rivers, American "squirrel monkeys."
the rain^forest formations in both In British Guiana, on the other
regions can be roughly divided into hand, the rain, during what is called
three types: (1) the higher-lying, the "dry" as well as during the wet
drier forest with magnificent columnar season, descends in frequent showers,
trees, about 150 feet in height, and and the hours of sunshine are con-
relatively little undergrowth; (2) the siderably reduced by a more or less
intermittently inundated forests, gen- continuous drizzle.
erally considerably lower, with a more These conditions may have brought
impenetrable and diversified flora, about the peculiar arrangement of the
containing numberless climbers and air vegetation. Certainly the dense clus-
plants; and (3) the secondary forests tering of leaves toward the roof of
LARGE-LEAVED AROIDS CLINGING TO TREE TRUNKS
Sunny exposures on tree trunks are always apt to support clusters of air plants. Marvelous is the adjust-
ment of the long-staDced, huge leaves, all placed so as to take advantage of every bit of sunshine. Were it not for
their vertical position and remarkable surface structure these immense leaves — the larger are nearly two feet in
—
length could not meet the torrents of rain unscathed. Accidentally one of the vertical absorbing roots has
been torn from the adjoining tree trunk to which it was previously attached by small, horizontal, anchoring roots,
such as are seen on the tree trunk in the center
474
—
of purplish young leaves in a leguminous tree.
Long, pendent clusters In October and the months follow-
ing,
somber
— —
patches of bright foliage green, pink, brown, and other colors give pleasant variety to the otherwise
forest walls. One is naturally reminded of the riot of colors in the woods of temperate regions during
the renewal and the shedding of the leaves. The exceedingly rapid growth in the tropics of these freshly emerg-
ing leaves is probably correlated with their relative limpness and their propensity to cluster. Botanists
have often ventured to delve into what is evidently one of nature's protective devices. Are these pecuUar
assemblages of drooping, tender leaves better enabled than would be scattered individuals to escape the ravages
of heavy rain showers, strong sunlight, or excessive heat?
the forest in one unbroken canopy, or really of Asiatic origin, — a region where
wherever there are open spaces, the sit- a prehensile tail is a not uncommon
uation of the air plants, abundant and appendage of mammals although less
luxuriant mainly on the sun-exposed so than in Australia, where many of the
side of the tree, and the large size of the marsupials are provided with such a
leaves of many of them, as well as their grasping organ.
position, would indicate adaptation for The peculiar environmental condi-
deriving the maximum benefit during and
tions in the tropical rain forests
the short time that the sunlight is both Africa and South
their outliers of
available. America have undoubtedly had still
The gloom of these forests shelters a further influence upon the evolution,
relatively large number of nocturnal habits, and distribution of the principal
mammals. Few are swift and many types of their distinctive mammals. In
of the arboreal types in the different West Africa the essentially greater
groups have a prehensile tail. The extent of the higher-lying forests (those
and woolly-monkeys
spider-, howler-, of the first type) allowed a variety of
porcupines, opossums, and anteaters mammals of large size to become estab-
include characteristic instances. In lished. Thus we have there elephants,
Africa the only mammals which have buffaloes, a host of antelopes, several
any claim to a prehensile tail are two large carnivores, and —most represen-
species of scaly anteaters, and they are tative of all —the large endemic an-
476 NATURAL HISTORY
While in Africa the antelopes have
produced through adaptive radiation a
large number of different forms, in
South America it is the rodents which
exemplify such a development.
As a rule in the immense areas of
contiguous tropical rain forests of the
equatorial belt mammal and bird life
appear much scarcer than along clear-

ings and river fronts, and on the open,
more diversified stretches, which help
to foster the gregarious instincts of
herds and flocks. In rain forests,
howêver, the fauna is scattered over
many levels, from the ground upward
to as much as 150 feet in height. To
the newcomer it may indeed seem that
mammal life is totally absent. A
white man's through such
progress
dense vegetation, no matter how care-
ful, is generally heralded from afar,
so that most mammals seek covert

long before they can be discovered.
JH^^
Conspicuous in the midst of their leaf-bearing neigh-
bors are the gigantic trunks of dead trees, often more
than a hundred feet in height, covered with formations
resembling reddish soil. Myriads of termites, or "white
ants," burrowing in the tree, have transformed the dead
wood on which they feed into these structures, the num-
berless tips of which, reminding one of the reversed points
of a coronet, drain oil the rain when it descends in
torrents and thus assure the tiny builders a secure abode
and shelter. Every particle the insects devour serves
to reinforce their home externally and to extend the Peripatus is a most puzzling creature with the rare
immense network of galleries through the
tree, until the distinction of having been considered at different times
final collapse ofthe trunk seals the fate of the aerial a worm, a mollusk, and an insect, though, according
abode of these ruthless tunnelers removed from the millipedes.
to present belief, not far
Fond of darkness, moisture, and decay, it lives in or
thropomorphic apes, the gorilla and — about hollow, crumbling pieces of wood.
velvety brown, extensible body has in life a peculiar
The dull,
the chimpanzee. In South American iridescent "bloom." When the creature raises the
anterior portion of its body, the feelers take an active
forests the swamp-loving tapir, a few
part in directing the course. Thus the Peripatus readily
deer, and a jaguar are the largest avoids obstacles and though moving slowly, assisted
by the tiny, terminally clawed legs, can assume any
mammals. Most other good-sized ter-
kind of position. A secretion of slime, withdrawn into
restrial forms are either aquatic or the buccal cavity whenever the Peripatus stops, marks
the glimmering trail and apparently furnishes an in-
cursorial in adaptation, which allows dication to others of kind.
its prey — insects and
Its
their rapid escape in times of flood, spiders —may also be captured with slime that can be
ejected from the oral papillae for a distance of about
when the change in water levels some-
six inches. Sixteen of these primitive arthropods were
times amounts to more than forty feet. secured
INTO THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH GUIANA 4:11
puma crossing the path of our boats,

though later when on land we were
more fortunate.
Time and patience, however, stood
me in good stead. My efforts to secure
comprehensive information about dif-
and about the
ferent groups of animals
forests were successful beyond my
fondest hopes. I was also able to
The black puff bird (Monasa nigra). — These birds

loved the edge of the large forest clearing that faces the
river at Kamakusa, and proved to be rather confiding.
Seldom were there more than three or four of them in
sight at one time, and even then they would perch at
considerable distances from one another. They fre-
quently remained in the lower branches of the trees,
returning to a chosen site even after chasing passing
insects. In both sexes the dark, slaty-black plumage
with a grayish under side is sharply set off by the bright
scarlet bill. During January the short but melodious
song of these birds, resembling that of the European
black-bird, was by far the best vocal performance in the
jungle. Furthermore, one or another of these birds was
apt to gush forth its sweet whistUng notes at any time
—
from sunrise to sunset, even at noon when the noisiest
of birds preferred to remain silent. Although their song
was so prevalent, Mr. Lang was surprised to find that
apparently they had not been given credit for it. Only
their sharp call had previously been recorded.
These six tiny bats {Rhynchiscus naso) clinging to a
Evi-
dently the beginning of the year, when Mr. George K.
snag were photographed near Kamakusa. On the
Cherrie and Mr. Lang enjoyed the singing many times,
Mazaruni, as on other rivers of tropical South America,
several kinds of small bats rest exposed to daylight on
is the courting season of these birds on the Upper
the larger branches or roots projecting above the water
Mazaruni.
near the banks. Though dark in color, they were not
readily detectable until they fluttered up. disturbed by
the approach of our boat. Some would shift to the
In the immediate neighborhood of opposite side of their perch, as they habitually do when
much-fiequented watercourses mam- bothered by the sun This manner of roosting is peeuhar
.
to these small insectivorous bats of the Neotropical

mals are naturally scarce. It was a sur- region. Such an unusual trait may be due to the abun-
prise to see the leisurely moving, reddish- dance of bees and other hymenopterous insects that ii:
South America preempt the available hollow trees and
brown howler monkeys, and the much cavities which in other countries serve as the head-
quicker, small sakis. A few sluggish, quarters of bats of this type. In other respects these
bats are as nocturnal as their close relatives in Africa,
rough-haired, three-toed sloths, resting Eurasia, and Australasia, all of which seek retreat in
huddled up in the fork of a tree might dark or at least well-shaded places, although members of
the family Megadermidffl are sometimes about during
have been mistaken for a termites' the day. At dusk they certainly prey upon the untold
nest. Never were we so lucky as to numbers minute nocturnal insects on the great flow-
of
ing highways. These bats have a body length of about
see herds of peccaries, a tapir, or a one and a half inches
478 NATURAL HISTORY
enrich the collections of the American the creatures proved new to science but
Museum in many different branches all were most welcome, for from that
through the presentation of mammals, part of the Guianas hardly anything

birds, turtles, snakes, frogs, fish, butter- had reached the Museum previously.
flies, ants and many other insects, as What to some has been an awe-inspir-
well as lower invertebrates, not to ing, fearful wilderness, to me was a
mention plants and a series of photo- magnificent playground. For months

graphs and moving pictures. Some of I was repeatedly thrilled with joy.
A —
female tree frog Hyla evansi vAth a cluster of twenty-four eggs on her back. The future frogs, visible
in someof the jelly-like spheres, are still in the stage of tailed larvse with rudimentary limbs. According to Dr.
G. K. Noble, they have a primitive type of air-breathing gill, to be described in a scientific paper that is in
course of preparation. The eggs adhere to the frog's finely granulated skin by means of their gelatinous cover-
ings that in the case of the outer ones form a narrow rim around the egg mass. The eggs are the size of a large
pea, about one-quarter of an inch in diameter, and the body length of the frog is about three inches.
The frog was found at Kamakusa toward the end of January, sitting in the gloom of her self-chosen moist
retreat, a large decaying tree trunk open on one side. Here she was probably able to feed upon the numerous
insects always infesting such sites. Far from being hampered by her load of eggs, she could clear several feet
at a jump without dislodging her burden. This species was previously known only from a single specimen in the
British Museum
Photographed and copyrighted by H . H. Heller
Cholita, a little bigger than life size
eruvian Pets
By HILDA HEMPL HELLER
Foreword. — Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Heller journeyed to the interior of Peru to collect
specimens of mammals for the Field Museum of Natural History. Their route lay from
Callao and Lima to Cerro de Pasco by rail, over the Andes, and down the Amazon. Sev-
eral months were spent at different altitudes in the valley of the Huallaga River. The
first were made at La Quinua and Chiquerin, a Httle below timber line at an
collections
altitude of about 12,000 feet. Ambo, a small town at the junction of the Yanahuanca
River with the Huallaga, was then taken as a base. It is about 8000 feet in altitude and the
climate is dry, not unhke that of southern Cahfornia. Later followed a three months'
expedition to the wet tropical valleys of the Chinchao and Cayumba rivers (2000-.3000 feet)
and to the flat plain below at Tingo Maria on the Huallaga. Collections were then dis-
patched from Ambo, and the expedition emerged from the valley of the Huallaga by way of
the high Cordillera to the east. Pozuzo, at an altitude of 2000 feet in a rich tropical valley,
was an excellent collecting site for a month. Then navigable water was sought at Puerto
Mayro on the Palcazu, a raft was made, and the expedition fared down stream to Puerto
Victoria on the Pachitea River, where additional collections were made. From Puerto
Victoria down the Pachitea and Ucayah rivers to Iquitos on the Amazon, was a voyage
of a week on a barge towed by the mail launch. Thence a two-weeks' voyage down the
greatest of streams to Para brought the travelers to the Atlantic Ocean.
is a very sad fact that if one is so he ponders over the bodies of the
ITdevoted to animals that he renounces beasts as he skins them by the lantern
the world for the sake of studying light,wondering how they lived and
them, he eventually finds himself in the hunted, how they fed and loved, and
unhappy position of killing the very how they reared their babies, and he
things he loves. And though he kills wishes they were alive again. Always
for the sake of the science that is eager through his mind the thought runs,
to know the shapes and sizes and colors ''We might have been friends, you
of the wild things of remote districts, and I, if things had been different.
480 NATURAL HISTORY
The museum will be glad to get such doorsill or by the sash at night enter
a rare specimen as you, but what will small yellow-bellied weasels to feast
it know of the real you from your skin on the helpless rodents within. Some-
and skull?" times a mother weasel is followed by a
Myhusband and I were two that baby two or three inches long. The
loved animals. We hunted in the high people love to catch these baby weasels;
bare mountains, in the wet steep forests they tie a cord about their neck and
of the eastern Andes, in the flat tame them very easily. If taken young
Amazonian plain. But the animals enough, it is said, the weasels will
that came to us in sound condition, remain with their captors free of any
most of them by purchase, we kept restraint, but Cholita, who was caught
aHve, and made members of our house- half-grown by Old Basan of the neigh-
hold, giving them every comfort in our when the
boring village, was freed only
power and spending such spare mo- room was carefully closed. Young
ments as we could in observing their Basan sold her to us. She was a beau-
behavior and in photographing them. tiful creature. At first my heart did
It was a rich experience. not warm to her, for she escaped from
a close-barred parrot cage and very
CHOLITA shortly buried her teeth in the scalp of
The houses of the Indians in the Maria Louisa, one of our opossums.
dry portion of the|[Huallaga Valley are After that we kept her tied.
She lived
solid mud structures with few chinks in a wool sock, turned double for
for the passage of small animals. Their warmth, and spent much of her time
kitchens are the dwelling places of in sleep. Every morning we had break-
innumerable guinea pigs. Under the fast at my bedside and Cholita's leash
was transferred to a rod of the bed.
Fried egg, placed on the edge of my
plate, was her breakfast, and always
she seized it and dragged it away.
After breakfast she played. To see
her play but once was to love her.
Sometimes she reminded one of a
kitten, and was always lithe and grg,ce-
ful with a marvelous command of every
movement. She had a pattering
gallop about the counterpane, following
a hand with incredible rapidity, or
turned on her back and clawed and bit
a finger gently, always very gently.
With the whisking of a handkerchief
she becamemadly active, transporting
herself from point to point of its swing
with almost invisible flashes of her
brown body. Her joy in life was in-
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H. Heller fectious; it made one long to be a
Cholita playing.— She would put her little weasel and to use one's muscles with
forepaw on her string to balance herself her exquisite precision and grace.
PERUVIAN PETS 481
The day came when we had to take a was not to be her game, and I took the
long journey on mule back, and Cholita opossum away. However, her mechan-
was chosen to accompany us. She ism of attack had been sprung, and she
traveled in a canvas game bag that assailed blindly, not the opossum, but
contained her sock, and was slung on me. Her tiny mouth grabbed fully a
my back. At night she reposed in my chunk of skin on my wrist and then she
sleeping bag, nose-to-tail in a ring of started to kill that wrist. From side to
the proportions of a doughnut, and lay side she wrenched her head and should-
between my knees and chest as I was ers violently and with force incredible
curled up in the army blankets. Some- for a thing so small. For several
times, waking, I feared I had crushed seconds this continued till she came to
her in turning while asleep. Then I her senses, and "was friends"
let go,
would pick her up to see how she was. again. Her short teeth almost went
Always I had to manipulate her limp through the skin, and points of blood
body for some seconds before I could appeared. I believed she had suffered
find a sign of life. Such a sleeper! a brain storm and did not punish her.
She never went to sleep in the open, On another occasion, however, I
apparently for good reason. tried to see if she could be trained at all.
We found that one of Cholita's I wanted to have her with me, and was
habits, perfectly harmless in the up- at work stuffing mouse skins. On the
lands, was very inconvenient in the table lay a tiny skin well rubbed with
montana. She always dragged some arsenic and rolled tight. This she
portion of her meat into her sock with seized. I took it away and gently
her in order to keep it for further feast- snapped her nose. She grabbed it two
ing. Here in the tropics the ants soon or three times more, each time receiv-
found it and we were obliged always to ing a snap, and once she threatened
remove all traces of meat when she was mildly by opening her mouth as a cat
through eating. It was funny to see does. Then she let the skin alone and
her attack food that was covered with I had no more trouble.
ants. She would make a grab, shake Wewere always afraid diminutive
the meat and drop it in a clean place, Cholita might meet her end by some
then shake it again till it was free. animal's attack, or by being stepped on.
When the ants bit her hind feet, she But we should have looked out for
stamped the floor rabbit-wise with both smaller enemies. The wet montana
feet repeatedly. was not her country, for she was a
Cholita did not defend her food child of the desert. She abandoned her
from us. Neither did she thank us for sock one day for a tunnel at the base of
it. She beheld it, grabbed it, almost a stump. "How nice!" I thought,
saying, "That's mine," and ate raven- "Just the way weasels like to five."
ously. If we took it away, she made no And I let her enter her hole and stay
threat. One day, however, I had a there for a time. The next day came a
surprise. Her cord, as usual, was mad voyage down turbulent rapids in a
—
pinned to my blouse I wore her much ponderous dugout. Time and again
as one does a watch. In my left hand we shipped water. My blouse was
I held a tiny opossum; on my right, soaked; Cholita, inside my clothing,
at the end of her leash, was Cholita, was none too dry. The following
straining to reach her game. But this morning my husband saw her lying
482 NATURAL HISTORY
on the earth outside of her sock and tudinally striped with tan spots. Its
began a loud lament. She was unable manner attracted more attention than
to move and he thought she had been its shape. It was angry, and made
stepped on. I felt the little body a noise of great protest, more like
but nothing was crushed. She was that of a fox squirrel scolding a cat
breathing very fast. Pneumonia! I than anything else. It was set before
put her in my blouse and in five minutes us by the cook, a plump Indian girl.
she was dead. Two very sad people It objected to being introduced, fled to
worked silently and tearfully at the the skirts of the cook, and when I
skinning that daj'. tried to pet it, charged my feet abruptly.

"That is called 'rugupi,'" said the
EUGUPI^ administrador.
One of the first obstacles the travel- "That is called by the cientificos
ing naturalist must overcome is that of ' husband.

Di7iomys,'^' ssiid my
vocabulary. Each valley has some A month later we were the fortunate
animal names different from those of possessors of Rugupi. The kind ad-
the next and each has some creatures ministrador presented her to us in the
distinct from those in the last. The and of friendship. I
interest of science
people one encounters know some of carried her up the mountain to our
the animals by sight and some by camp on horseback in a gunny sack, to
description. Occasionally these de- which she objected and in which she
scriptions are very weird, for one may fought. She was hot and winded and I
hear of a beast combining many of the put her in a dark corner and wet her
attributes of a bush-running rodent and head. Later she scolded me furiously
a tree-climbing carnivore. The natural- when approached her but, when I sat
I
ist must inquire constantly, weigh quietly without touching her, she fell
hearsay evidence carefully, and hunt instantly asleep.
for material evidence unceasingly. Rugupi was a great prize and we
Late in the afternoon of a perfect day guarded her carefully. First on the
of wandering we arrived at San An- list of mammals desired by the museum
tonio, one of a string of coca haciendas was the Dinomys. For nigh fifty years
owned by Don Agusto Durancl. With the unique family of rodents to which
the gentlemen of the hacienda we had a it belongs was known by one soHtary
spirited conversation concerning the skin in the museum at Warsaw. Then
animal population of the vaUey. Sud- there appeared at the Zoological Gar-
denly the administrador of the hacienda dens in Para two strange creatures that
turned to his companion, saying, "Shall were greeted with great interest by
we show them the anunal?" And he the director. Doctor Goeldi. Frantical-
sent for it. ly he searched his texts. "At last,"
was a beast such as I had never
It he wrote, "I reahzed that I had
dreamed of. About ten inches long, before me the ahnost mythical Dino-
disproportionately wide and corpulent, mys hranicki." When an animal that
with a massive rodent head, a curious until recently was "almost mythical"
chopped-off chunky tail, gray extremi- comes to eat with you, sleep with you,
ties, and a blackish-brown coat longi- and travel with you, you start walking
iThe word is spelled "ruoupi" by the Peruvians, but on air right away. I passed Cholita to
the "o" is slightly voiced, and the spelling "rugupi"
better expresses their pronunciation. my husband's cot, Rugupi slept on
PERUVIAN PETS 483
mine. We observed her every movement ponderous body and always sought to
and spoiled her as one spoils only that remain on the firm earth.
which is given him by divine favor. Rugupis live in caves and rock piles,
We became obsessed with our research and want walls behind them. Once we
into the habits of rugupis in general camped by a cliff with caves in it and
and of our Rugupi in particular. Rugupi deserted my couch for a cavity
Rugupis are dwellers in chffs of the into which she fitted better than a
wet forest country. They are Andean snail fits its shell. She always loved the
only, and cross to the western slope of seclusion of a cupboard and if she ever
the Cordillera solely in Ecuador, where saw one open, she observed which way
Photographed and copyriijlited by Edmi^nd Heller
Rugupi had a firm attachment for the cook, a plump Indian girl
the forests cover the western declivities. its door swung and later gnawed the
They can exist only in steep places, for outside of the cupboard doors by the
to escape their enemies they must rely latch in order to open them, and did not
on their single acrobatic feat, which is gnaw near the hinges. In many other
to balance themselves cautiously where ways she showed a iliarvelous memory
others cannot climb. Even when well for location.
grown, Rugupi's fastest pace was When we met Rugupi, she had a
slower than our walk. Usually one firm attachment for the cook which she
could observe that whenever Rugupi was me. She
later able to transfer to
placed a foot, she felt of the ground but hghtly. Although we
slept all day,
first before bringing her weight to bear. left her apparently dormant in a re-
It irritated her terribly to be lifted or mote corner, she soon started to gnaw
carried. She had little control over her the inside of the door once we were
484 NATURAL HISTORY
She was then less than half grown.
Luckily there were two blankets to
protect me and the teeth did not cut
through them. The pain was intense
and the black and blue spot that fol-
lowed was very long-lived.
Another local name for rugupis is
carron, and yet another is machetero.
The latter refers to theii habit of clearing
their trails of branches they trim away
;
all the twigs and their trails may thus

be distinguished from those of pacas.
With us Rugupi had no trails to clear.
T>»kga>""*o '""^ --*»*- v '<jp""""w "«'"™*'
So her cutting energy was diverted to
whatever else she could reach. There
was not a piece of furniture or harness,
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H. Heller
a boot or camera case or reachable
Mr. Heller and Rugupi
trinket that did not show nicks or
slashes or holes. Even the mud walls
outside. When I wished to extract her
of our room suffered.
from her snail-shell cave, I sent the
At table, if we gave her a plate with
others away and remained silent near
various vegetables, fruit, bread, and
the opening. In three minutes she was
meat, she always ate the meat first,
out, calling, "Oop? oop?" Her fear
and was impartially devoted to the
of being alone was always apparent;
she followed us in our walks, often at a
rate unsuited to her short legs and
shorter wind. She also loved smaller
animals and was exceedingly gentle
with them, which she was not with us.
Because they cannot run, the rugupis
are intensely cantankerous and bel-
ligerent. Their signal of defiance is a
loud sudden blast of air through the
nose, sounding exactly like that of a
bear. They wheel and charge on very
slight provocation, but try to keep a
wall at their backs. Rugupi 's milder
slashes, made in pettish moments, were
like knife cuts and produced many
scars, for her teeth were as sharp as
broken glass. Once, in the night, I felt
the full force of her angry bite. We

were in a colder country than hers, and
I wished to cover her when she crawled
from her usual station at my feet up Photographed and ropyn'f/fded hy Ed
beside me. She did not understand Mrs. Heller and Rugupi, whose glossy-
and bit my thigh with all her power. second coat is appearing
PERUVIAN PETS 485
other foods. I shall not venture to would have been the ball of her thumb
state how much she ate, as no one if there had been a thumb served very
would believe me. In camp she wan- well instead.

dered at will and preferred shrubs and I carried Rugupi five days on my
the roots that she dug to grass. In the back over the most difficult trails
evening after a long day of travel she imaginable to Tingo Maria, and four
would go out in the brush and feed. days on the return journey over the
At intervals of about three seconds she same trail, and then on muleback to
uttered a cozy little musical call that Ambo. When we started on the next
may be transcribed, "Oop?" and if we expedition to the far-off Amazon, she
called to her, she invariably answered, was too big for me and we hired a man,
" Oop " .
When we retired and the light then a horse, and later another man to
was out, she promptly re-entered the bear her, and she was somewhat ex-
tent and, if we slept on the ground, pensive as the journey was long. But
took her station for the night in a she was worth it, and anyway we loved
sitting posture between our heads, or, her and do yet. She is now in Lincoln
if I were on a cot, she slept under my Park Zoo in Chicago; her coat is sleek
head. gray and black with white spots; she
Most remarkable was her use of her sleeps all clay; and, sad to say, has no
tail, feet, and hands. She was almost furniture or leather goods, toothbrushes
as much of a tripod as is a dinosaur or a or pencils to investigate at night.
kangaroo. The tail was an indispen-
sable part of her sitting equipment. I TIMMIE
make no claim that it was prehensile, Timmie was a zorro de las alturas.
but she used it often in negotiating Zorro means fox, and Timmie was much
around rocks and would
difficult places like a fox in appearance. His closest
push with it, and to some extent bal- relatives, however, are the wolves, not
ance with it, and even hook it on to the foxes, though his scientific name is
rock edges for an instant. We found it not Cams but Pseudalopex. We called
exceedingly useful as a handle, and him a wolf.
often remarked that Rugupi probably Timmie came to us in the arms of the
wished she were a paca. She was super- sturdy son of our former arriero, or
plantigrade. Her hind feet were like muleteer, Mais. The home of Mais was
rockers, she did not place the whole high on the mountain above Ambo,
foot on the ground at once when walk- perhaps at 11,000 feet. The family of
ing, but used the front two-thirds of it. Mais had had Timmie for two weeks
But if she stood on her hind legs and and the animal was well-nigh starved.
tail to reach, the higher she stretched, Timmie 's twin sister had died from
the higher her toes went into the air. lack of food. In addition to being
All food except the veriest liquids she famished, Timmie was covered with
took into her hands. She made an fleas and very dirty. I filled a large
awful mess of soup which she regarded photograph tray with water, put on a
as a solid. She usually picked up food rubber apron, sat down in a good light
in her mouth and then seized it with with Timmie and a box of pyrethrum
one hand if it were small, or sat up and powder, and did murder on innumer-
grasped it in both hands if it were able fleas. Then I went to the sole
large. She was thumbless, but what practitioner of medicine in the village,
486 NATURAL HISTORY
a Japanese, and bought santonin of Moreover, I made the mistake of

him, which I administered. After he supposing that he could be mildly
had been a few days on a diet of milk chastised for biting, and early set
and fresh birds there was a marvelous about training him not to bite. It
change in Timmie. From a shadowy didn't work. Timmie was not a dog.
bedraggled wisp of life he became a His sole reaction to my caresses was to
bite me; and to my slaps, to hate me.
My husband started to handle him
with gloves when he was ridiculously
small. I laughed at him but he was
right. Timmie bit him frequently,

both in play and in fear, but as they
grew better acquainted, there was more
play and less fear: later Timmie grew
to love and trust my husband and be-
came a veritable one-man dog to him,
but my husband never abandoned the
gloves.
Only when we first had him, did
Timmie utter any kind of call: a
high-pitched clear succession of de-
scending notes, only a few, that stirred
the heart with memories of Wyoming
hills. It resembled the opening notes
of a coyote's call, but was high and
faint.
When Timmie was first brought into
the room, Rugupi beheld him from a
considerable distance. "Woooo,
Photographed and copyrighted by Edmund Heller
woooo, woooo," she low and
called,
The son ot our arriero brought us a
starved wisp of life which he called a zorro affectionately. We placed him before
her and she buried her teeth in his
dainty brisk little wild thing that played wool caressingly. From that moment
about the room whenever he thought she appropriated him. She deserted
he was unobserved. my couch and slept with Timmie. She
The keynote of Timmie's character was infinitely patient with him and his
was fear. His name Timmie was nips at her heels spurred her on into
derived from timido, not Timoteo. He playful lumbering gallops about the
was an adept at hiding, and to win his room. Rugupi was not built for
confidence was a labor that I did not gallops; invariably they ended in her
understand as well as my husband did. colliding with some obstacle. Rugupi
I was, for one thing, too interested in always defended her food from us.
keeping Timmie clean. He did not One morning at breakfast she was
want had not the remot-
to be clean, he presented with a piece of bread, the
est aspirations that way, and to clean first bite she had had since the day
him I had to handle him and comb him, before. She rose on her hind legs,
and he did not want to be handled. deliberately adjusted her balanced

PERUVIAN PETS 487
sitting posture, and bit into the bread.

Timmie darted alongside, grabbed her
breakfast, and made off with it. She
accepted this as demurely as though it
had been a favor.

Later we acquired another small
wolf, that lived with Timmie. We
journeyed to Huanuco to find transport
for our next expedition. We lived in a
windowless room that had not even a
pane in the door. It was on the ground
floor of the patio where everyone passed.
Photographed and copyrighted by Edmund Heller
We called it our cueva de moscas, or
Rugupi appropriated Timmie for her own
fly cave. Oh, the misery of that room
The two little wolves were, mildly
speaking, dirty nuisances. The dainty
opossums, immaculate Cholita, prudent
clean Rugupi, —
it was only a pleasure
to live with them. We kept a trunk

before the door to keep the wolves in.
Their scissor-like teeth tore holes in

my beautifulnew highland wool blan-
kets. They mauled each other all night
I would put Rugupi on my bed to save
her from their too boisterous play, but
she would walk the edge of the bed
awhile and then jump down. One
night Timmie killed the other wolf.
He meant well, but didn't express him- Photographed and copyrighted by Edmund Heller
self tactfully enough. The next morn-
Timmie, the Pseudalopex, in his woolly
ing he disappeared, possibly in search infancy
of his missing companion. My hus-
band walked the courts disconsolately
seeking his beloved pet. I must tell no
one he was lost, as zorros are very
famous chicken thieves, and the place
swarmed with chickens. In the after-
noon my husband fell asleep. When he
awoke, Timmie was beside him.
There was a boy from Llata that
served our meals. One night he said,
" That zorro will be very useful to you."
That Timmie could ever be of any
use had not occurred to my most active
imagination. "How?" I asked. Phutoiiniplied and copyrighted by H. H. Heller
''When you he will bring you
travel,
Timmie was long in losing his bluish
chickens," he answered. "We raise wool and changing to a reddish wolfling
NATURAL HISTORY
them for that. "WTien jôu travel, you the schoolhouse opposite. My hus-
let the zorro free at night, and in the band's ingenuity was taxed to the
morning there will be a row of chickens utmost to devise ways to keep him tied.
by yom- bed, six, eight, ten." His scissor-like teeth cut every rope,
"But how about jôur own chickens, his lungesbroke every available chain.
at your village where you raise zorrosf" He was a watchdog of the first order,
"Oh, one must have a permit from growling and snarling at all passers-by.
the sub-prefect," he answered, "And But to my husband he would come
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H . Heller
Timmie grew to be a fine little one-man dog to Mr. Heller
swear never to let them go free there. trotting to be petted. If he got loose,
But when one travels, that is different." he hid till my husband called him, and
Oh, Peru, Peru, Peru! did not molest any chickens.
In Pozuzo it was warm and Timmie We traveled six days afoot to the
grew fast and lost his downy gray wool Palcazu, Timmie in a box tied above
and became a reddish-yeUow, coyote- that of Rugupi, and later reached the
like beast. I loved Timmie, but he was Pachitea. We had no cage for Timmie
such a trial! I banished him from our and he was tied in a launch towed on
Hving quarters and he was tied near the right side, of the mail launch, while
PERUVIAN PETS 489
we were in a barge on the left. One "There is an animal here, let us see
night as I slept a live mass of wriggling if the Sefiora knows what Ques-
it is."
small wolf jumped on my ribs,

then on tions were useless; he only repeated,
my husband's ribs, and then on our ''See if you know what
it is," and led
—
boy's ribs, leap, leap, leap from bed us to a mud There
hut. on the floor
to bed. "Timmie's loose, tie him up," I was a small black animal, running free
woke my husband. But the knots he but with a string tied to his neck and,
made were useless. Timmie cut them, as he ran, he muttered, "Up-bup-bup,
and in the morning was gone, into the bup-bup-bup, bup-bup-bup."
mighty Ucayali probably, and we were
sad again.
SENOR HUAMASHU
When Chohta died, we missed her
very much. On the trail from Tingo
Maria as we stopped to rest and take
Rugupi from her bag to let her walk
about, my husband would say, ''When
we rested here before, I had Cholita,
and let her run around on that log."
We wanted another weasel if we could
find one.
In the valley of the Chinchao we
bought a couple of skins and skulls of a
giant relative of Cholita's, black, with a
gray-brown head, short legs, and a long
tail. This animal was called by the na-
tives huamatdru or huamdshu. The two
names were usually given, both in the
valley of the Chinchao and that of the Photographed and copyrighted by Edmund Heller
Pozuzo. From the skins and meager Rugupi and Timmie were carried by a
textbook descriptions we made out that coca-soaked cargador on the journey to Pozuzo
this animal must be thetayra, or Galictis.
There was a fascination about the Delight filled my heart. Did I
black musteline skins from the Chin- know? "A huamdshu! A huamdshu!'^
chao, and gradually my wish for I seized him and showered him with
another weasel transformed itself into caresses. I kept him with me and made
a still stronger desire for a tayra. What too great display of my joy. Nisefero,
would one be like: would it be gentle his owner, lent him to me for two
and playful like Cholita, and might we days and then asked three pounds
be friends with it? as his price. I beat him down to one
We started on our second expedition and a half pounds, and paid for my
for the montana and one day reached a treasure.
high valley of the puna, at 10,000 feet, "Mejor pagar primer o, carinar des-
and stopped at the pastoral village of pues," (Better pay first, show your
ChagUa. There we were met by our affection afterwards) was the pat re-
contractor of arrieros, Dpn Antonio. mark of Don Antonio.
490 NATURAL HISTORY
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H. Heller

WHAT NEXT?
There is no happier-natured creature than a tayra unless it be a baby taj^ra
I passed Rugupi to my husband's were injuring his foster mother, and

care and took the baby creature for my he was on a diet of crackers and coffee.
own. The Uttle tayra's home had been Soon we learned what an appetite, a
in the high forests over the great divide hearty genuine appetite for food, was
that lay before us at an altitude of like. Never did a creature defend his
about 8000 feet. Nisefero's brother property so savagely and blindly from
had shot the mother, and on her back, a all comers as did Huamashu. A
little
little before the tail, found a tiny baby, dish of was set down; he
crackers
blind and helpless except for the fact pounced on it and began gobbling
that it was able to chng tightly to the furiously but, as he gobbled, there was
mother's hair. The man was bound a constant accompaniment of coughlike
for the highlands, a long journey, but sputtering sounds —one could hardly
he kept the baby warm and, when he call them growls — and a hand
if
arrived in ChagUa, it was still alive. approached him, it was immediately

Nisefero had a large bitch with seized and bitten with a tenacious
puppies; he killed the latter and gave mangling bite.
the mother the tiny black stranger, who, At other times our new pet was the
blind though he was, had not the most amiable, jolly, affectionate, and
slightestdoubt as to what course to lovable creature it has ever been our
pursue. When we arrived, he had pleasure to know. He would not be a
just been weaned because his teeth musteline if he were not playful, and he
PERUVIAN PETS 491
played all the time that he was not Although many of his relatives are
engaged in sleeping. Like Cholita, strictly carnivorous, our new friend

he slept very soundly, and it took was anything but that. The tayras are
seconds to wake him, but unlike her he known as chicken thieves, but are also
slept curled up in the open and only famous fruit eaters. Along with their
sought cover for warmth. His play omnivorous habit goes a marked social
consisted in climbing wherever he could one ; there is food available for families
climb to he was able to proceed sloth-
; traveling together. An elderly woman
wise upside down as well as right side ofPozuzo told me that in her youth she
up, and to do so much faster than a had seen twenty-five huamdshus in one
sloth. A
hand he always seized in all Annona tree, eating annonas. Prob-
four feet and mouthed, closing his ably like the weasels they are great
teeth on it, biting it and shaking it, wanderers — the fact that a blind baby
always gently. Toys were a great de- rides in his mother's fur would indicate
light to him, and once, when he had such a habit. Huamashu ate any
embraced a roll of paper and was claw- cooked vegetable, bread, or rice.
fruit,
ing and biting it, I started to remove his He a banana with more
defended
plaything and that strange frenzy of courage than a piece of meat, but
defense of property took possession of freshly killed game with more ferocity
him; he gave my thumb a terrible than a banana.
punishing. Tayras have comparatively narrow
The mustelids, which include the skulls and broad heads. A gigantic
weasel, mink, fisher, martin, skunk, masseter muscle curves over the skull;
wolverine, and otter, respond to the in the adult the middle of the top of the
presence of a possible victim by a blind head shows a deep depression between
furious attack, during which they are the masseters. I often wondered what
electrified by an all-compelling power, the killing bite of a grown tayra would
and perform unbelievable muscular be like when I remembered Huamashu's
feats.So strong is this instinct that formidable baby efforts, made with un-
it often lures them to their own destruc- developed muscles and milk teeth. The
tion. They frequently attack creatures jaw is very short and broad, the
larger than themselves and can endure muzzle does not resemble at all that
a terrific amount of battering. It was of a weasel or fisher. When a tayra
impossible for us to punish Huamashu. bites your finger, the feeling of great
Any slaps we felt cruel enough to in- power is behind the grip. He nervously
flictwere taken cheerfully as part of shifts the bite frequently, but in such
the game and had no disciplinary effect short time intervals and for such short
whatever. One night Huamashu was distances that, even though you hold
tied to a balcony on the third floor of him in one hand and pull on your
the high-ceilinged hotel in Iquitos. A tortured finger with the other, it is
thunderstorm frightened him and he some time before you can free it. The
leaped. His head sUpped the collar tayra is the bull dog of the mustelids.
and he fell to the ground. The next The neck is powerful, almost as
day I found him in a shop more than large as the head, and built for shaking
half way around the block (he would heavy prey. The shoulders and fore-
not cross streets) and his only hurt arms are well muscled; heavy muscles
gave him a slight limp. reach to the wrist. I never saw Hua-
492 NATURAL HISTORY
mashu dig or grub in the earth hke a their country is frequently inundated,
coati,but frequently that which could while Huamashu's is not, he came —
not be reached with the jaws could be from the mountain-sides. A long bushy
touched with the claws, what could tail is an excellent balancing organ
be touched with the claws could be but an impediment in the water. When
hooked closer and grasped with the I told a zoologist that Huamashu was
hands, and brought to the mouth. not particularly aquatic, that he had
Huamashu was always reaching for, learned to run through puddles but
refused to enter deep water, the gentle-
man was surprised, saying that the
animal's feet are webbed. The feet
are not webbed like those of an otter
or a duck, but the broad fiat fore paws
are somewhat loosely built and the toes
are connected by skin to amore distal
joint than are those of dogs and cats.
Perhaps we may conclude that our
Huamashu belongs to a species derived
from one of mixed aquatic and climb-
—
ing habit a habit almost necessary to
a hunter in the Amazonian country
and that his branch of the tayra family
has become more strictly one of tree
dwellers. I have no doubt his broad
paddles would have served him very
well in the water.
He was entirely plantigrade in front,
and the whole front sole was covered
with a pad clear to the wrist, whereas
the hind foot was padded only half
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H. Heller way, and he trod only on the padded
—
Looking out and below. Ât the time this portion.
picture was taken Huamashu's tail had Huamashu's tail was not prehensile
already become an effective balancing organ but he could push strongly with it,
exerting force along at least half its
grasping, and holding things; he also length. When he was frightened, which
explored cracks with the claws of his was whenever he saw a horse or cow or
middle digit. I shall never forget automobile, his tail hair stood on end
what happened to a georgette crepe like that of a cat, giving the member a
dress that one night in the dark floated tremendous size, but he did not elevate
within his reach. the tail as a cat does hers.
Some of the tayra's morphological When he was not excited, especially
adaptations are exceedingly puzzling. in his youth, Huamashu's attitude
In eastern Brazil and the Guianas the toward other animals was exactly what
tayras are quite different from our it was toward us, friendly and plajrful.
Huamashu. Their tails are much Rugupi and he were great chums and
shorter and not so heavily haired; he played with such dogs as were
PERUVIAN PETS 493
willing to play with him, and with our walked, following a porter and pulhng
ocelot, Tammany. His play was, how- me by a string. His endurance was
ever, always a little too rough and astounding, his vitality magnificent. I
persistent for the other fellow. He and taught him to climb the logs instead of
the pet coati, Nita, played jojûUy going beneath them by lifting him a bit
together, but Nita must be freeand on the string but, when he got on top,
Huamashu tied, otherwise it was not he recognized the log as his natural
safe for So long as another
Nita. highroad and usually started to run
animal showed no fear or fluster he had along it. After a few miles in the rain
no inclination to attack it but, if it and puddles he consented to go to sleep
tried to elude him, he grasped it in play in a sack on my back for an hour.
and, if it struggled, he then became In Para Mr. Fisher made a cinemato-
excited and was transformed suddenly graph of him and some of the other
into a magnificent killing engine. Thus animals for Mr. Newman, the lecturer,
a small or defenseless animal had no and in Chicago Mr. C. T. Chapman
chance with him. Nearly every time photographed his playful antics for
he got loose he killed something. The the Pathe Company, who exhibited the
bill we had to pay for pet parrots
that film in their weekly news. Huamashu
and monkeys amounted to quite a Uved for ten months in the Lincoln
sum. He was never permitted to eat Park Zoo in Chicago and never lost^his
any of them, though to separate him affection and gentleness toward his
from his prey the protection of a pair of friends, though I confess one had to be
jaguar-skin gloves was needed. rather hardy to call his play gentle.
When Huamashu was three months The Field Museum is about tolmount
old and about nine inches long, not him for exhibition purposes, and I hope
counting his tail, we took a six-day his expression of bright interest and
journey on foot through the drenching friendly playfulness will there greet all
forests over a trail criss-crossed by lovers of vital, hearty, affectionate wild

fallen logs. Most of the way he animals.
Photographed and copyriglited by H. H. Heller
There never was a better companion than little Huamashu

Hunting Stingless Bees
WHERE EAST SEEMS TO BE WEST^
By frank E. LUTZ
Curator of Entomology, American Museum
ONE of the numerous advantages "Sunday net" in my pocket — it being

of the study of insects is that reallySunday started to — explore.
interesting and important ma- Interesting insects are to be found even
terial is near at hand wherever we may in cities. It is just as I said in my
be — on land, at least. When
hundreds opening sentence and here is a proof of
of difTerent species in our own back it. Not
a hundred yards from the
yards are living as yet unrecorded lives, Tivoli I saw a stingless bee a red- —
probably full of curious ways that pos- bellied Trigona —
fly up from the edge
sibly man may never quite understand, of the cement pavement; then another
journeys to distant lands are not and a third.
essential to success. Fabre, the most As a matter of fact these bees had a
widely known of all entomologists, nest under the pavement, and the sur-
showed what a stay-at-home can do; prising thing about its location was
his work illustrates also how narrow that the species concerned was sup-
such an one may become and how desir- posed to nest in hollow trees. I wanted
able it is to see beyond the confines not only specimens but a close look at
of Serignan. the entrance to the nest. Thirty-odd
At any rate, a museum man does not years of collecting insects has some-
always have a choice in this matter. It what hardened me to the gaze of pas-
was my task to get the nests and young sers-by, but this was my first day in the
of several species of stingless honey- country and it was Sunday and the
bees, as well as notes on their habits'. streets were rather crowded and, what
Such tropical creatures as Trigona are is more, it really is not quite the thing
not to be expected in New Jersey even for a dignified,bearded American to be
though I did once catch in the north- seen on his hands and knees on the pave-
ern part of that state an equally tropical ment that close to the boundary be-
bee, a magnificent Euglossa, feeding at tween Ancon and Panama city. People
my Such being the case, I
petunias. might not understand.
Panama. We called at ten
started for Fortunately, there was a low iron
Haitian ports on the way, and the rail along the edge of the walk, so I
cordiality of the people at these ports sat on the rail as though I were resting
and the attractiveness of the country or waiting for some one. It is all right
would under different circumstances to do that. And if one drops some-
have strongly tempted me to cancel thing in the grass, it is all right to
the rest of the trip; but, while Haiti stoop over to hunt for it. Watching my
is noted for many things, I could not chances, I was frequently able to take
persuade myself that the particular my net out of my pocket, catch a bee,
kinds of stingless honeybees I had set and put the net back again without
out to get were to be found even there. attracting much attention. Once or
In due course of time, I reached the twice I even had a chance to blow
hotel at Ancon and, putting my little tobacco smoke down the hole in order
'Photographs by the author
495
496 NATURAL HISTORY
Where the ocean hners now cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific, there was formerly a
barrier of jungle. A dwindling, denuded remnant shows above the surface of
of this forest still
the water. Note the bird perched on one of the forking branches of the most conspicuous tree,
undisturbed by the approaching steamer
to make the bees come out in greater SO that Imight get the nest. Although
numbers. he had already granted me many
'* The next day I suggested to Acting favors, his only reply to this suggestion
Governor Walker that it would be nice was a cordial might find a
hope that I
to have the cement pavement taken up nest of the same some less
species in
expensive place. This seemed reason-
able and, with the kind help of Mr.
James Zetek, I made arrangements to
go to Barro Colorado.
Before the Canal, including Gatun
Lake, was constructed, Barro Colorado
was a high hill. Flooding the surround-
ing country made it an island, the
largest in the Canal. Recently the
government has set it aside as a
biological reservation, and steps have
been taken to establish there a station
for students of tropical animals and
plants. The nearest point on the rail-
road is Frijoles, the location of a
plantation in charge of Mr. John
English.
Mr. English came to Panama from
On the left is Mr. James Zetek, to whom the Jamaica to work with the French on
expedition of the American Museum to Barro their canal and, except for short inter-
Colorado is indebted for counsel and other aid vals,has been in Panama ever since.
in carrying out its plans. Mr. John EngHsh,
on the right, also gave valued assistance His skin is black but, like many of his
HUNTING STINGLESS BEES 497
Unrelaxing attention to problems of sanitation, epitomized in the cam-

paign against the mosquito, made possible the building of the Canal. Today
the construction of ditches for the purpose of drainage and in the interests of
disease-prevention still goes vigorously on under the direction of Mr. J. B.
Shropshire, Sanitary Inspector of the Army; and others
[ace, he is "white" in his deahngs; The cayuca having been loaded

kind, efficient, interested in nature, with our camping outfit and other
and eager to help. It was through him duffel, Murillo and I started for the
that I bought a cayuca, or native island late one afternoon. However,
dug-out canoe, and hired Murillo. when we reached the more open water
Murillo was also black and kind, but of Frijoles Bay, we found that a wind
not much else. was ruffling the surface of the Canal to
498 NATURAL HISTORY
Murillo paddling a native cayuca near the scene of his initiation into the trials and tribu-
lations of an assistant in scientific collecting
such an extent that riding in an over- short time, the trail to his shack was
loaded cayuca was exciting. Murillo already partly overgrown. However,
assured me that he was not afraid for we made a landing after unintentionally
himself but that he did not want any- disturbing an alligator or one of its
thing to happen to me. Neither did I, near relatives, and Murillo started to
so we went back to Frijoles and I clear the trail. He had gone only a few
stayed with Mr. English until the next yards when he yelled "Pica! picaf"
morning. and came back running, jumping, and
On our second attempt we reached sliding. He had cut into a bush con-
the island after about two hours of taining a wasp's nest, and pica means
pleasant paddHng in the early Hght of sting or something of the sort. I was
the sun, rising in the east, to be sure, having a little pica ofmy own because
but out of the Pacific, this confusing I had carelessly caught hold of a
phenomenon being due to the twisted prickly stem to keep from sHpping, so
position of the isthmus. Mr. Shannon he received scant sympathy and a
of Washington had been working on the request to leave the wasps' nest alone
island earlier in the season and had until I had time to collect it. This was
built a small shack at the head of an a new angle to him, for he had never
inlet, which we named Shannon's Cove. before been out with an entomologist.
The shore of the island, being the old The shack had a floor and a roof.
mountain-side, is "Barro"
steep. The three open sides were screened
means clay in the dry season and with copper mosquito netting except
sHppery mud in the wet, the season in doorway, and there was no door
for the
which we were there; and, although in the way, so that, on the whole, the
Mr. Shannon had been gone but a enclosure made a rather good trap for
SHANNON'S COVE
This inletDoctor Lutz named Shannon's
Cove in honor of Mr. Shannon of Wash-
ington, who earlier in the year had con-
structed a shack at its head. The view-
shown on the that on which the eye
left is
rested as one looked out from the shack.
The picture gives a good idea of the sculp-
tured coast of the island with its many
indentations.
Before the construction of the Canal,
Barro Colorado was a hilltop, and although
water today covers its base and reaches
far up on mountainous char-
its side, its
acter traceable in the steepness of
is still
the banks up which the traveler scrambles

— often painfully, for the support at which
he grasps to steady himself may easily
prove to be a prickly growth
THE CAMP IN THE COVE

The unoccupied shack of Mr. Shannon,
discernible in the center of the picture on
the right, simplified the housing problem
of the expedition, affording a roof overhead,
even if a leaky one, and plenty of fresh air,
which, along with sundry other things,

found free admission through the doorless
entrance. Indeed, due to the fact that the
shack was screened on three sides, it
proved an excellent insect trap, being
visited even by the stingless honeybees
which the expedition wanted particularly
to study.
The incisions made in the jungle by
and in time
trail-cutting are quickly healed,
not even a scar remains, abundant verdure
covering over the area laid bare by the
machete. The trail to Mr. Shannon's
shack, which had been only recently cut,
was partly overgrown at the time of Doctor
Lutz's visit
499
500 NATURAL HISTORY
insects. As the roof leaked, I pitched a
tent inside of the shack and, with an
air mattress to sleep on, was very com-
fortable indeed. There were no mos-
quitoes. When night came, Murillo
was somewhat disturbed by the absence
of a door and he was quite alarmed
when he discovered that I had no gun.
He blocked the doorway with a poncho
and took his machete to bed with him.
The vegetation of Barro Colorado is
jungle of the hilltop and a

type;
tropical jungle gives us a feeling which
is difficult to describe. Apparently it is
not possible to describe even the jungle

itself so that those who have not been
in one can understand. It is more than
monotonously varied dense woods
bound together with vines, many of
which become trees. Its essential
features are not moisture-dripping
leaves and gloom. Monkeys may
swing from the branches and brightly
colored birds may make noises that are
as unpleasant as the appearance of the
birds is but they are not" the
pleasing,
jungle. •
but may
Life's struggle seems,
not be, more strenuous there than else-
where, but jungle is more than all of
these. It is jungle, indescribable,
fascinating, and, to the biologist, an
environment of extreme interest.
However, travelers in the tropics
have been so impressed by the jungle
and have so impressed their readers
with it that many people think of the
tropics as one vast jungle except where
man has made a clearing which he must
continually defend against the jungle's
The thorny protuberances with which the

return. That is not the case. Savan-
trunk of this tree is armed are suggestive of na, grassland, desert, and open swamp
the spikes of ancient armor, and it is easy to in the tropics are just as truly a part of
yield to the temptation of thinking that their
the tropics, and each has its interest.
function is protective. The bulbous formation
near the base is a termites' nest. The struc- Another mistake is the idea that one
tures made by these insects are now and then cannot get about in a jungle without
—
occupied by stingless honeybees sometimes
cutting a trail. Usually one can, but a
as joint tenants with the builders, at other
times as their successors trail is a great convenience. Making
A wall of verdure rising from the water's edge and crowned by the graceful, spread-
ing fronds of a palm
one's way through a jungle is some- fully, it is foolish not to have a trail.
times almost or even quite as bad as Furthermore, many jungle insects

going through a tangle of cat briers or a gather in such open spaces and are
swamp thicket in New Jersey, and when more easily caught there.
you have a negro whose chief virtue is Accordingly, I set Murillo to cutting
his ability to swing a machete success- a trail straight across the island,
JUNGLE CONFLICT
Plants of many kinds are competing for a root hold and are crowding one another in"
an attempt to win a place in the sun
CLIMBING PLANTS OF THE JUNGLE
Climbing plants use tree trunks as their ladders; and lianas, like taut tent ropes,
hang from the upper branches of the lassoed trees
503
504 NATURAL HISTORY
directing his course with a compass. it was safer when we were together,
This trail led and down gully.
us up hill especially as we had no gun.
Even when completed, it was not ex- The second evening on the island I
actly a place for a thoughtless stroll, collected the wasps that had so fright-
especially at that season of the year ened him when we arrived. Apparently
when the almost continual rain made he had been watching me during the
day because, after we had gone to bed
and I was nearly asleep, he asked if he
might speak to me about something.
He recalled that out on the trail I had
held my hand so that a large and "very
bad" black ant crawled on it and then
I had let this terrible creature walk up
my bare arm while! examined it with

mj^ glass. I not only did not die but
did not seem to suffer any pain. Then
I caught hundreds (a gross exaggera-
tion) of wasps and took their nests

without being stung. What he wanted
— and if I gave it to him, he would work
for me without further pay —
was some
of the "medicine" I used to keep from
getting hurt. I told him the only
medicine had was a moderate amount
I
of "gray matter" and that I could not
spare any, but, as my Spanish was not
much better than his English, he did
not understand. In following days,
when I was not quite so sleepy, I tried
to show him that wild things are not
dangerous if you act properly toward
them, but still he did not understand.
Stingless bees of several species were
common on the island. A certain
kind, a small black one, was very
abundant and very fond of our food-
stuffs, getting into everything from
bacon grease to sugar and condensed
A which was cut from
section of the trail
milk. These bees would enter the
one side of Barro Colorado to the other under
the direction of Doctor Lutz
shack and then buzz against the wire
netting like flies on a window pane.
harro slippery, but it did serve as a good This was an opportunity for large ants
collecting ground and I swung the net like the one that did not hurt me to
as Murillo cut. In fact, whenever I pounce upon and eat the bees, thereby
started back for camp, he came too, securing a combination of meats and
assuring me that he was not afraid to sweets that must have been very good.
be on the "mountain" alone but that However, though these bees were
abundant, they were of the same species and, as I could not reach them with
that occurred on the mainland; the my net without placing myself at a
density of the jungle on the island made tactical disadvantage by climbing the
it difficult to locate nests; and the threw a stick against the nest by
tree. I
dampness made it necessary to keep all way of inviting them to come down.
specimens of insects on a rack over a They came, directly and numerously.
slow fire so as to prevent molding. Swinging my net around my head like
In Ancon a very convenient, electri- an Indian club I easily got all the wasps
cally heated drying closet was available I wanted and, fortunately, did not get
and the cooking at the restaurant was stung. When things quieted down, I
somewhat better than either Murillo's looked around the horizon for Murillo,
or mine; so, after about a week, I re- but I was mistaken. Instead of trying
turned to Ancon. to match his speed against that of
Another reason for leaving the justifiably enraged hornets, he had
island, was that in our trail-cutting we dropped face-down on the ground. His
had found nothing but jungle. Other dirty clothes were a good match for the
types of environment also were desir- earth, and his head seemed to be a rock
able. Realizing that our trail covered covered with black moss. He was
only a small part of the ten or twelve certainly "protectively colored," but
square miles that constituted the is- his immobility was what counted and
land, I thought would be well to
it he maintained it until repeatedly
explore Barro Colorado from the air.
Accordingly, through the great courtesy
of the Army Air Service, Lieutenant
Foster took me up in a plane after I
had signed a lengthy document which
clearly and definitely placed upon me
all blame for any unfortunate thing
that might happen and told survivors

what to do with my remains. The
flight was disappointingly pleasant
and without thrills, but I satisfied
myself that the island's vegetation is
fairly homogenous except for several

small plantations along the edge. It is
a magnificent piece of Panamanian
hill jungle and, in view of the rapid
extension of cultivation in the Zone, it
To prevent molding in this region of
is most fortunate that such a place
much rain the insects that had been collected
has been set aside for future genera- were placed on a rack and dried over a slow
tions. The fact that it is now an island fire
makes preservation particularly easy.

Returning to Frijoles, I heard of a assured that all was well. I really
large nest of some very vicious hornets think Murillo was relieved when his
on a tree in the plantation. They term of employment with me ended.
turned out to be of a sort that inspires On a tree near the one which con-
caution, but I wanted some of them tained the hornet's nest there had
1
been two nests of stingless honeybees, these bees obtain most of the material
the same small black species which was for making honey from flowers. An
so abundant on the island. Some one observation made near Sabaiias was
had cut off the branch holding one of therefore of interest. While waiting
the nests but, although the nest was for a car I noticed many Trigona flying
lying sideways on the ground, the bees in and out of a brush pile in which grew
were still using it after having made a rambling Solanum, a plant related
certain interesting alterations. These to our potato and tomato. Thinking
nests had been made by ants but the
ants had moved out and the bees had
moved in. Curiously enough, the en-
trance which the bees make to the
interior of the nest is on top and
funnel-shaped as though designed to
catch rain, and this seems foolish.
The brood cells are arranged in hori-
zontal layers within. Now, the nest
which had fallen and was lying on its
side had two entrance holes: the old.
one, which was on what had been the
top of the nest, and a new one, which
was on what was subsequently the
top. Furthermore, when the nest was
opened, it was found that the layers
of brood cells were in two planes: one
the old horizontal and the other the
new.
Some stingless bees make use of
termite nests. Beautiful examples of
such use were seen in a swamp jungle
near France Field, which I visited
through the kindness of Mr. J. B.
—
A nest of stingless honeybees. The nest
Shropshire, Sanitary Inspector of the covering has been removed on one side to
Army. There the termite nests were reveal the arrangement of the combs within
two or three feet in diameter and built
on the trunks of trees not far from the there might be a nest there, I carefully
ground. The termites were still using parted the brush and found not a nest
most of the structure,but the bees had but the thing that was attracting the
made an entrance of their own and bees. It was a colony of immature
were using the remainder. "insect Brownies," small, curiously
Some stingless honeybees are not shaped creatures belonging to the
very choice in their diet. Raids on our family Membracidse, that were feeding
larder in camp have already been men- on the Solanum and having their
tioned but the garbage cans in Panama secretions fed on in turn by the bees.
City were also popular and I have Some of our ants attend colonies of
caught such bees on manure and on plant lice in much the same way.
dead snakes. As far as I know, all of Just before leaving the Zone I made
508 NATURAL HISTORY
a trip, again through the kindness of species of Trigona which the Acting
Mr. Shropshire, to old Fort Lorenzo, Governor had hoped I would find in a
with its damp and dismal dungeons less expensive place than under a pave-
still bearing evidences of the Spanish ment in Ancon. Here it was and in a
tortures, its battlements, and, from hollow stump as it should be. Un-
my standpoint not the least interesting, fortunately, my an excess of
guide, in
its bees peacefully nesting in the ruined righteous but misguided zeal, had
masonry. A
better than Murillo was opened it the day before in order to
my Mr. Shropshire had told
guide. make certain that it was worthy of the
him I was coming and what I wanted, attention of one of Mr. Shropshire's
so he had located numerous nests. In friends. In doing so, he had broken
taking me to them he saved the best the large entrance funnel but the pieces
nest for the last, and the fact that it was were still there and from the nest itself
necessary to wade through swamps I obtained some interesting biological
with water nearly to our waists in order material. There was also a quantity
to get to it was of little moment be- of rather acid honey with which we
cause the rains had soaked us already. refreshed ourselves before wading back
The nest belonged to that red-bellied to higher ground —
and home.
The protruding top of a submerged stump, upon which a number of different plants have
estabhshed themselves, forming a beautiful natural jardiniere. A wasp's nest of elongated
shape is seen near the center of the picture. This nest was collected with the hesitant co-
operation of Murillo, who paddled the unsteady canoe in which the approach was made
V
P a T\ a. Itu a
Into a little-known area of western Panama the expedition of the American Museum
penetrated during February and March of 1924. After gathering valuable data, Mr.
Griscom and his associates were compelled to make a hasty exit due to the hostile attitude
of the Indians. Their route is shown on the map, which was prepared under the super-
vision of Mr. Griscom by \^ E. Belanske
.
Bird Hunting Among the Wild Indians

of Western Panama'
By LUDLOW GRISCOM
Assistant Curator, Department of Birds, American Museum
BETWEEN the Volcan de Chiriqui mountains of Veraguas, and this has

and the Pico Calovevora in stimulated curiosity as to what kinds
Veraguas Hes a mountainous of birds occur in the intervening un-
country unexplored and unvisited by explored country.
white men, inhabited only by wild With Dr. Frank M. Chapman's
Indians. No knowledge exists regard- cordial and approval I
cooperation
ing its topography. The courses of the left New York February 5, 1924, ac-
rivers of the interior and their tribu- companied by three assistants, to make
taries are pure guesswork, the location a preliminary reconnaissance of the
peaks varies from map to
of the higher region. Mr. Rudyerd Boulton, of the
map as much as twenty miles, and University of Pittsburg, an experienced
their altitude asmuch as 2000 feet! student, was invaluable not only be-
While the avifauna of the Volcan de cause of his scientific knowledge, but
Chiriquiis essentially that of the Costa also in his capacity as photographer
Rican highlands, Arce secured sixty of the expedition. Mr. George A. Sea-
years ago many peculiar types in the man, a young was
collector of promise,
iPhotographs by Rudyerd Boulton
509
510 NATURAL HISTORY
to remain in Veraguas to make thorough friend, Don Rafael Grajales, the lead-
collections at the localities of special ing citizen of Remedios, who tele-
interest. Mr. J. Manson Valentine, of graphed most emphatically that the

Yale University, was a volunteer, who trip to Cerro Santiago in the unfre-
excelled all of us in his ability to make quented region was possible, that he
an artistic and perfect birdskin. In could obtain guides, and that his house
Panama I was fortunate in securing and assistance were at my disposal.
The Indian chief in front of his hut at Cerro Iglesia, Mr. Benson on his left, the
author on his right. Huts of this type never have side walls. The rain is kept out effec-
tually by means of a very thick, overhanging thatch of dried banana leaves and stalks.
When the thatch leaks, it is usually due to the tunnels made by rats, a colony of which
can be found in almost every hut
the services of Mr. R. R. Benson, who It was a great relief to arrive in
had lived for years in Veraguas, and Remedios after a hard five days' ride
acted as a most efficient mayor domo. with the pack train from Santiago One .
At Balboa Mr. James Zetek, the gov- of the inconveniences of an ornitho-

ernment entomologist and director of logical expedition is the bulk and
the recently created research station at weight of the baggage, and poor Ben-
Barro Colorado Island in Gatun Lake, son almost tore his hair in his efforts
was most kind in helping me secure the to reduce the loads of the few animals
necessary permits and other papers he had been able to find.' Nothing
from the Panamanian government. could have surpassed the hospitality
He happened to have an intimate and cordiality with which we were re-
BIRD HUNTING IN WESTERN PANAMA 511
ceived by Senor Grajales and his kind tainly appreciated their point of view.
lady. But our fond hopes of at last For four centuries bitter experience has
obtaining definite information about done nothing but confirm it. Their
the mountains of the interior were association with strangers has invari-
doomed to disappointment. Nobody in ably resulted in trouble and disaster.
Remedies had ever heard of the Cerro The craze for gold has led to inrushes
Santiago, and they called the mountain of outsiders, who by some extraordi-
back of the town the Cerro Flores. nary hocus-pocus, declare they own the
Nor had anybody ever been in the inland which the Indians have considered
terior, and two years before a couple of theirs from time immemorial. All too
Panamanians who had gone there to frequently the arrival of strangers in
take a census of the Indians had been their midst has been attended by more
killed. Unless the Indians themselves, flagrant types of outrage and abuse,
therefore,would guide us into their own and they know that the stores in the
country, there was not the remotest coast town systematically cheat and rob
prospect of our reaching the mountains, them, though they are too ignorant to
much less of making a sojourn there. devise ways to prevent it. May they
It was in this connection that Senor long enjoy the quiet possession of their
Grajales was able to be of the great- country in their primitive simplicity,
est assistance. A certain number undisturbed by a civilization which
of the Indians had been coming they cannot assimilate and which would
for years to Remedios to trade and probably destroy them
some among them spoke Spanish. Armed, then, with our letters and
Senor Grajales, by dint of years of fair documents, we set out on February 28,
and honest dealings with them, had conducted by a friendly alcalde to the
won their confidence and respect; they hut of an Indian on the border of the
trusted his word and accepted his Indian country. This Indian was to
recommendations when they would guide us next morning to his chief. It
follow the counsel of no one else. He was with the greatest difficulty, how-
knew the chief of the whole district, ever, that he was induced to do so, and
who lived at Cerro Iglesia, a particu- it was obvious that our presence was
man, who had been at

larly intelligent strongly resented. The following day
Remedios a good deal and spoke Span- an arduous trail brought us to the Cerro
ish fluently. To him he wrote a letter Iglesia, where we were to have the all-
introducing us, stating the purpose of important interview with the chief. In
our and that we were friends of
visit, spite of the fact that we had cut down
the President of Panama. The im- weight by every possible expedient,
portant part of the letter, however, and that our provisions were reduced
was that we were North Americans to little else than rice, beans, coffee,
from a distant country, that we were sugar, and lard, my two mules and five
not looking for gold, that we would horses were barely able to make the 70°
stay in his country not more than thirty grades of the trail, which was a mere
days, and would then leave never to footpath for bare-footed Indians. The
return again. This will acquaint the loads were constantly shpping or
reader with the main objections of the tumbling off altogether, the tired ani-
Indians to strangers. Poor victims of mals were forever falling, and were ex-
the white man that they are, we cer- hausted at the end of the day.
512 NATURAL HISTORY
View from the chief's hut of the country penetrated by the expedition. -The Indians —
have repeatedly cleared the country for agriculture, but the low invading scrub in the fore-
ground, full of ticks and "jiggers," has tended to defeat their efforts
Our arrival at Cerro Iglesia occa- nameof chicha. The mash is thoroughly
sioned no surprise. The chief, whose chewed and spat into a fresh calabash,
Spanish name was Aquile Sanchez, re- and then put in the sun and allowed to
ceived us with all hospitality, for he had ferment. The taste is nasty and, need-
been informed three days before that less to state, the drink is the reverse of
we were coming. Indeed, I had occa- appetizing, due to the manner of its
sion increasingly to admire the re- preparation ; but it is a mortal insult to

markable manner in which news refuse it or to show disgust. An Indian
traveled among these Indians. Aquile of proper spirit would have drained a
was less squat and low-browed in whole calabash filled to the brim, but
appearance than the majority of his I satisfied requirements with a few
compatriots, and his face was orna- mouthfuls. As leader of the expedition
mented with blue paint. I was forced to "sound off" under the
Indian hospitality has its decided eyes of my lieutenants, but as I
critical
drawbacks. These people live very succeeded in maintaining outward calm

largely on corn prepared in various and equanimity, was in the strategic
ways, one of the commonest being position of requiring them to do the
that of soaking the cracked kernels same under threats of dire penalty.
in water until the fluid becomes milky. They trooped up in line, for all the
The drink of ceremony is made from world like children to take their castor
this mash, and is known by the Spanish oil, though my opinion of the latter
This photograph is virtually a continuation of the view on the opposing page. The
higher mountains, covered with clouds, show dimly about thirty miles away.
in the distance,
The bird hfe in the intervening area proved to be very scant because of the deforestation
beverage has soared since sampling the least as handicaps, and I suspected
Guaymis Indian chicha! he thought that failure to effect a
After the proper interval of small prompt cure would prove I was not a
talk that etiquette —
demanded for un- scientist after all. Experience in
due haste would have been most un- Nicaragua had taught me, however,
—
seemly we addressed ourselves to the that most ailments among such people
business in hand. The letters were were of a very simple kind. I accord-
read to the chief, and our business and ingly produced ten grains of aspirin,
desires were explained; but he could ten grains of quinine, and a powerful
scarcely believe we really were inter- laxative pill, confident that one of them
ested in birds, never having heard of would fit the case, and the other two
any such lunatics, and he wanted to do no harm. My orders were to take
know if my prism glasses were not gold the whole lot before going to bed!
detectors that would reveal the presence They were given and accepted with the
of the precious metal at a distance or greatest solemnity on each side, and
underground But learning that I was
! the Indians were impressed with my
a scientist, he asked me to cure one portable medicine case, which I pro-
of his wives who was sick. The fact duced with as many airs and flourishes
that she was a day's journey away, and as possible. I had the satisfaction of
that he was quite unable to describe finding out later that the following
her symptoms, did not appeal to him in morning the patient was cured.
514 NATURAL HISTORY
In the meantime we had found tively arid; there were practically no
Aquile a more and more Hkeable and trees and the slopes, excessively steep,
trustworthy fellow, and made a strong were sparsely covered with brown grass,
bid for his friendship. my- I exerted while the escarpments of red sandstone
self to him to
the utmost to persuade were naked. This section formed a belt
come along as guide, philosopher, and or zone about ten miles wide just before
friend, and see for himself that we were the main range was reached. Here con-
really going to do what I said. As an ditions changed with startling abrupt-
inducement I offered him about twice ness. Influenced apparently by the
as much in the way of wages as a cloud-and mist-zone above, the barren,
Panama Indian ever received before. stony slopes became covered with
He would have no duties to speak of, heavy forest without the slightest
but I calculated that his presence zone of transition, and this forest
would insure our safety, and that he stretched unbroken to the Caribbean.
would obtain food for us when the The photograph shows this condition
Indians would sell us nothing. He camp, which

of affairs near our base
finally promised to join us in three days, was pitched just inside this forest,
and in the interval assigned us one marking the northern .limit of the
Toribi as guide. As
turned out, the
it Guaymis country. Aquile informed me
trip could not have been made without that on the other side of the mountains
Aquile. dwelt other Indians, who were very
The next three days we spent in a wild, bad people with whom they had
ceaseless struggle to get the pack train nothing to do!
over the narrow Indian trail, which did Penetrating the barrier of dense
not deviate from the crest of the ridge, forest, we camped on the slope of the
as though it were insistent upon follow- Cerro Flores at 3700 feet, and here we
ing the path of adventure. It was prob- spent ten fruitful and fascinating days.
ably centuries old, as in places it had We were in the heart of the subtropical
been worn down to a canon ten feet zone, and the avifauna was entirely
deep and three feet wide, and at such different from that of the lowlands.
depressions the packs had to be un- Every morning the party scattered in
loaded and the baggage carried through four or five directions, and it was very
piece by
piece. The farther into the exciting to meet at noon, and see what
interior we advanced, the drier the the combined bag contained, and who
country became and the steeper the had done the best collecting. Every
slopes. Water was at the bottom of the day brought additional species, or
gullies, and after one had obtained a another specimen of some choice
drink it required a half hour's exhaust- rarity, such as a thrush, tanager, or
ing climb to return to the heights. Our quail dove.
compensation was a magnificent view. Collecting was, however, difficult.
The whole country to the east, west, The ground birds were shy and secre-
and south lay open before us, the tive and exceedingly hard to find in
shimmering Pacific in the distance, the dense jungle. Most of the others
and some sixty miles to the northwest were in the tops of the tallest trees,
the gigantic Volcan de Chiriqui practically out of gun shot, or scarcely
loomed purplish in the haze. The visible because of the abundance of the
last day the country became posi- intervening leaves. Thus while the
This photograph shows the abrupt change from the open grassy slopes to heavy prime-
val forest. Note the steepness of the slope. The camp of the expedition was just inside
the forest area at the left of the picture
A view of the camp at 3700 feet in the heavy mountain forest shown in the preceding
picture. The blackness of the shadows and the intensity of the hght in the little clearing
made photography difficult
516 NATURAL HISTORY
bell bird was common, and its ex- moldy, and everything gave way at
traordinary note, like the clang of a one's touch. The slopes were markedly
hammer on an anvil, rang out con- precipitous, with the result that water
stantly over the forest, only two speci- was unreachable in some gully 1000
mens were secured. One day a great feet below. There was not a square
flock of was discovered
giant swifts yard of even gently sloping hillside and
darting around the summit of a bare there was no dry wood. A camp in the
peak, their wings making a humming cloud forest was impossible.
sound, audible for a mile. The diffi- The bird life was utterly unexpected.
culty of shooting ducks on the wing Not a single one of the mountain
paled into insignificance beside the feat species found farther east occurred
of hitting these arrow-swift darters, here. Instead, the fauna was obviously
which, as though shot from a bow, were that of the Costa Rican highlands, but
carriedby their momentum for several with this difference, that isolation and
hundred yards. That day we tried remoteness were accompanied by a
giant-swift, pie for lunch, as every certain amount of variation. Several
morsel of meat was precious. Although at least of the birds obtained are new
quite tender, it tasted like a cross subspecies. Benson shot a new species
between ashes and string, which I of Scytalopus, small wrenlike birds of
trust did not impair its nutritive secretive habits, and I collected a very
value. distinct new species of a peculiar finch
In the meantime I spared no effort (Pselliophorus) hitherto the only
, mem-
to devise some way of reaching the ber of its genus. It was the reward of
cloud f (orest above us . A day's scouting the explorer that, at the very least,
trip with Benson and the Indian chief every bird found automatically ex-
furnished experiences which any natu- tended its range far to the east.
ralist might envy. We reached the con- The highest point at which a camp
tinental divide at 6000 feet, and could could possibly be established was 4500
look off forty miles or so to the north- feet. Here Valentine and I spent two
west, where lay the Caribbean lowlands. days, ascending to the cloud forest
To the west about ten miles away rose a and collecting each day. An Indian
cone-shaped peak about 1000 feet runner carried our birds to the base
higher than the crest on which we were camp to be prepared by those remain-
standing, with a big break in altitude ing below. At the end of the second
between. Perhaps was the real Cerro
it day we returned to the base camp for a
Santiago. The forest had changed rest, expecting that two of our party
with the altitude to a gnarled and who had remained below would have
stunted one, and every tree was loaded their turn up above. But our reduced
with parasitic plants of many kinds. food supply was sufficient only for five
Above 5000 feet the very ground had more days, our three Indian porters
been left we struggled up-
behind, and had melted away, and the chief was
ward bed of moss of un-
in a gigantic leaving at dawn. Something was
known depth, with manholes between wrong! Next morning, when I paid
the roots of the trees, through which off Aquile, I added a considerable
we could have dropped as much as gratuity with my expressions of friend-

fifteen feet. Everything dripped with ship,hoping he would be induced to
moisture, everything was slimy and say something definite. His response
was to send back a message by means Indians, who helped us load the ani-
of a boy from the nearest Indian hut to mals. At 11 P.M. in bright moonlight
say that we must not leave camp and to the retreat started. The Indians
keep watch night and day. Our mule- dropped off to their homes about 1 a.m.,
teer was dispatched to the hut, and and Aquile turned off, too, to pick up
came back with the information that his wife, whom he had left in some hid-
the whole country was seething over ing place, promising to catch up with
the fact that strangers were in their us later, by means of a short cut im-
midst. The chief was accused of be- passable for our pack train. Going all
traying his country and of having sold that night and all the next day, we
the Cerro Flores to us for the gold it arrived at Cerro Iglesia about 5 p.m.,
was supposed to contain Poor people,
! men and animals thoroughly worn out.
they could not believe we were collect- A brief stop for coffee was made during
ing birds, and our tents and belongings the morning, and here Aquile and his
were so nmch better than anything wife overtook us. All during the
they had, that they were convinced we night we had heard the Indians halloo-
were permanently settled. So the ing and calling in peculiar tones and
chief was to be killed and we were to be cadences from ridge to ridge, and we
gotten rid of. But the chief's brother, felt sure they were signalling our de-
overhearing these plans, slipped out the parture. The following day we were
night before to bring Aquile word. glad to reach the hospitable quarters of
While was impossible to verify these
it Senor Grajales at Remedios. To our
rumors, common sense and the fate surprise, the chief insistedon accom-
of our two Panamanian predecessors panying us. Once out of the Indian
compelled us to take them into con- country, he talked freely. The rumors
sideration. To stay at all, would have proved to be absolutely correct, and we
necessitated splitting the party to ob- had the satisfaction of knowing we had
tain more provisions. Benson and I done the right thing. In fact, so trust-
would have had to make a flying trip worthy did the rumors seem to the
to Remedios, meantime leaving the chief, that he had not the slightest
three younger men alone. Under the intention of returning home without
circumstances this would have been various documents from officials, re-
sheer folly. The council of war had stating the objects of our visit, the
no trouble, therefore, in reaching the services he had performed for us, and
conclusion that there was nothing to the fact that we had gone home, never
do but depart at once, and run no risk to return again.
of jeopardizing the equipment and our After several days' rest at Remedios,
precious collections, not to mention we proceeded to Santiago, chiefly by
our own lives. boat so as to see more of the coun-
Sending to the Indian pasture for the try. After re-outfitting we proceeded
horses started the word that we were by launch to the San Lorenzo River
leaving. We broke camp at once and on the coast. Here for two weeks we
packed up in a pouring rain, I had to were the guests of Mr. A. R. Wilcox,
ascend to the higher camp and bring it president the Tropical Lumber
of
all down on my back. Toward evening Company, who could not have done
a significant event was the sudden re- more to make our stay a success. The
turn of the chief and three other camp was in the heart of a heavy
518 NATURAL HISTORY
'y*I
A
superb mahogam^ tree on the land of the Tropical Forest Products Company. —
]Mr. Wilcox measured this tree, which, he ascertained, was 7 feet in diameter 6 feet from
the ground, and 152 feet from the base to the first hmb. It took a gang of laborers nearty
a day to clear the forest growth about the tree so that a picture might be taken, and
a platform 15 feet from the ground had to be constructed to enable Mr. Boulton to
include the first limb in his negative. The perfectly symmetrical trunk had all the
grandem- of a cathedral column. There were bigger trees near by with even thicker
trunks, but they were more irregular in outhne and branched much nearer to the ground
primeval forest, and one of the com- cellent idea of the superb proportions
monest trees was a recently discovered of one of these trees.Another was 13
species of mahogany of gigantic size. feet in diameter 6 feet from the ground.
The photograph above gives an ex- In this forest wild life abounded. At
least 200 species of birds occurred in concluded, the objects of the expedition
the surrounding country. Howling had been attained. Seaman and Ben-
monkeys were heard daily, and wild son are now. actively collecting, on a
peccary was a welcome addition to our schedule that will take a year or more
bill of fare. When tired of the forest to complete. Three days later in the
we took the launch, and had an inter- bustle of Panama City, the moun-
esting day with aquatic birds and sea tains and the wild forest seemed far
snakes. away, like the incidents in a pleasant
Mv reconnaissance work was now dream.
Brown pelicans inspecting the boat in which the expedition made its return over the
Gulf of Panama
Ageniella bombycina, like other psammocharid wasps, specializes in
the capture of spiders. Her long legs enable her readily to drag her prey-
along the ground
The Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella bombycina'
By WILLIAM M. SAVIN
TO one unfamiliar with the fact

that related insects are fre-
ground, while of one species at least
has been recorded that in crossing a
it
quently of widely divergent size, body of water the wasp will fly close to
it is somewhat surprising to learn that the surface, ''trailing the spider and
the little Ageniella bombycina belongs leaving a wake that is a miniature of
to the same group as the large Pepsis, that of a passing steamer."
the tarantula-killer of our West. Both A number of species of Psammochari-
are soKtarj^ wasps of the family Psam- dse dig burrows in which the wasp
mocharidse; —the Pompilidse of the entombs the spider, destined to be
older classifications. All the female devoured piece-meal by the wasp larva
members of this family specialize in that presently emerges from the egg
capturing and paralyzing spiders, but attached to the victim. But other
in their method of carrying the helpless species, instead of excavating in the
victim as well as in the technique of ground, establish their nursery in the
nest construction they differ somewhat crevices of stone walls, under loose
from species to species and sometimes bark, logs, or rocks, in the mud nests of
even from individual to individual. Sceliphron, their competitor in spider-
Many of these wasps drag their spiders hunting, and even in the interior of an
as they make their way walking back- oak gall!
ward through a forest of grass, over When digging the tunnel the wasp
irregularities of the ground, or even up often leaves the spider in the crotch of
the sheer wall of an embankment, some near-by plant, or on the ground
mountain-high when compared with close to the nest, or hidden under a
the size of the insect; others manage to lump of earth, and during the work of
carry their burden by half -running and excavation, she frequenth^ visits the
half -flying, but without rising from the captive to inspect it.
'Illustrations from photographs by the author.
520
Mud nests of Ageniella hombycina attached to the underside of a log Ij'ing in a held.
Each has been stocked with a single spider left there by the mother wasp as food for
cell
the larva which, if all goes well, will emerge from the egg that she lays on the spider.
When these cells were opened, it was found that four of them held spiders and three of
them wasp larvae which had devoured the food provided. After pupation the wasp emerges
from the fiat end of the cell
The underside of three cells removed from the log to which they were attached by the
mother wasp. The pupa, in the silken cocoon spun before pupation, is visible in each cell
521
522 NATURAL HISTORY
Psammocharid wasps have chosen a wasp was able to capture a number of
difficultand at times perilous occupa- The following year when
this species.^
tion in limiting their captures to the I found another cluster of cells of
spiders. Certain solitary wasps of Ageniella, all contained Lycosa spiders.

other families specialize in seizing In each instance one might be tempted
flies, beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, to think that the wasp had come upon a
etc., nonewhich offers any serious
of spider cocoon from which the young
resistance. Of all the psammocharids, were just emerging, but the size of the
the Pepsis of our Southwest runs victims made that belief untenable.
perhaps the greatest risk, for she All the spiders were adultand must
attacks the tarantula, which inspires have been long separated from their '
almost universal terror. A false move brothers and sisters.
Lycosa spiders which were

taken from two cells of Ageniella
homhycina; one spider has an
egg on the dorsum, the other a
larva which has hatched and is
devouring the spider.
Before placing the captive
spider in a cell this wasp re-
moves some or all of its legs.
One of the spiders here shown
has had all of its eight legs sev-
ered from the body, the other
one only four. The two leglike
appendages (called pedipalps)
near the mouth of the spider
were unharmed
on her part, giving an opportunity for Ageniella homhycina breaks most, if
the spider to bite her, would mean not all, of the legs of the captive
certain death. spider. There may
be some good rea-
The little Ageniella homhycina — the son for this but not apparent. It
it is
psammocharid to which this article is may be simply to enable the wasp to

primarily devoted —often secures spi- pack the spider in the nest more readily.
ders larger than herself. She is indeed The spider's legs are long and there is
a skillful huntress, for one year in a not much spare room in the cells.^
cluster of nests that I located under a Most of' the spiders that I have found
log I found a grass spider (Agelena in the cellshad some of their legs re-
nxvia — in every which a victim
cell in moved, but the wasp had not damaged
was presît. This spider, thanks to the the pedipalps, leglike appendages near
character of its nest, seems better the mouth of the spider.
able to protect itself than most arach-
iPhil and Nellie Rau mention in Wasp Studies Afield
nids, and of the many nests of the (p. 125) that on four occasions they have found dead
Chalyhion cseruleum in the webs of spiders.
mud-dauber wasps (Sceliphron and ^George W. and Elizabeth G. Peokham in their ac-
count of Pompilus fuscipennis on p. 143 of Instincts,
Chalyhion) that I have opened none and Habits of Solitary Wasps ascribe the corresponding
habit of this huntress to the fact that "she makes a
contained a grass spider, yet this little very small nest in comparison to the size of her prey."
NOTES
FISHES a bibliography of each of the vertebrate
Encomia for "The Bibliography of classes" and expresses the opinion that "not
Fishes." —
In the May-June issue of Natu- only will the men interested in fishes be under
ral History a review and an historical great obligations to Doctor Dean and his
sketch were presented of the recently com- colleagues, but comparative anatomists will be
pleted Bibliography of Fishes and it is not also, for the anatomy of the primitive verte-
necessary to retrace the facts that were there brates fundamental
is to an understanding of
set forth, but by way of supplement there all anatomy."
should be some indication of the reception In the Bulletin of the New York Zoological
accorded this monumental work by the scien- Society Dr. C. H. Townsend, director of the
tific world, as evidenced by the reviews pre- New York Aquarium, pays tribute to the
pared by the foremost ichthyologists. It is a Bibliography as a work "of such a character
tribute to the comprehensiveness of the that all students of fishes and fishery subjects
Bibliography and its adaptability to the needs must turn to it, if they would know what has
of special investigators, that it should have already been accomplished by those who have
been praised by authorities representative of a preceded them."
number of different branches of research, each Mr. H. T. Sheringham, leading authority in
viewing it critically from his own angle of Great Britain on angling, and angling editor
interest. These reviews, could they be printed of the Field contributes two spirited reviews,
would constitute a significant expression
in full, one to the periodical just mentioned and
of approval, but even the few excerpts from another to the London Morning Post. In the
them for which space is available cannot fail latter he refers to the salutary effects of study-
to convey the unanimity of the judgment ing the Bibliography, which has disclosed to
regarding the Bibliography, a judgment — him the fact that "besides the trickles of
which sustains the steady faith maintained printer's ink in which I have been able to
by President Henry Fairfield Osborn through- wade without discomfort [pursuing the fish]
out the years of its preparation that the com- there is a great and wide sea also
'
' where you
pleted work would prove one of the greatest want charts, and lighthouses, and pilots, and,
scientific undertakings in the history of the I begin to think, lifeboats as well." The
American Museum. multiple services rendered by the Bibliography
J. Graham Kerr, professor of zoology in the to him who starts on a voyage of discovery in
University of Glasgow and leading student in the domain of ichthyology could not be more
the British Empire of the embryology and the pithily and picturesquely summarized.
morphology of the vertebrates, points out in Mr. WilHam Radclifi'e, author of Fishing
Nature that "The great Bashford Dean from the Earliest Times, in which are presented
Bibliography .will form an admirable
. . a host of interesting facts bearing on the folk-
guide to the investigator and learner through lore and mythology of fishing among the
the otherwise impenetrable labyrinth of ancients, opens his review in the London Times
detail," and refers to the work as "one of the Literary Supplement with the comment "This
most important contributions to zoological is a great and thorough work. If its title ran •
science which has been made in recent jêars." 'The Bibliography' instead of 'A Bibliog-
Dr. David Starr Jordan, president emeritus raphy' few could object, for it differs from
of Leland Stanford and the dean of American all its predecessors in that it is concerned with
ichthyologists, contributes to Science a review —
but a single subject fishes and all particulars
in which he characterizes the Bibliography wherein they touch the life of man. Further,
not merely as monumental but as "majestic, of no other branch of the animal kingdom does
commanding, and, above all, insistently use- there apparently exist so complete a com-
ful,"adding that "no one in the future can at- pendium of its literature or one so minutely
tempt research in ichthyology without having digested for the reader."
these volumes at his elbow." A bibliophile's opinion regarding the work is
The leading American student of the osteol- registered in Public Libraries by Mr. H. M.
ogy of fishes, Dr. E. C. Starks, commenting on Lj^denberg, reference hbrarian at the New
the Bibliography in The American Naturalist, York Public Library. Referring to the sec-
says that "It might well serve as a model for tion containing the pre-Linnsean titles, he
523
524 NATURAL HISTORY
says, "Biologist, anthropologist, student of The Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal. The —
any student
folklore, historian, psychologist, warm approval accorded The Bibliography of
of beliefs of former days will have far to go Fishes by the scientific world finds summary
before he finds so extensive and accurate a expression in the award to Doctor Dean, its
guide to the sources for scientific thought of and editor, of the Daniel Giraud
originator
yesterday." ElliotMedal. This coveted distinction, be-
Dr. R. P. Cowles, associate professor of stowed each year for a published work of
zoology in the Johns Hopkins University outstanding zoologic or palaeontologic in-
closes the appreciative review he contributes terest, was given to Doctor Dean as of 1921.
to The Johns Hopkins Alumni Magazine with The prize for 1922 was awarded at the same
these words: " I can not praise too highly the time to Dr. William Morton Wheeler for a
Subject Index, which makes it possible for any work that, like the Bibliography of Fishes, was
zoologist to get in touch quickly with the a Museum undertaking, namely his monu-
literature dealing with almost any phase of our mental Ants of the American Museum Congo
knowledge of fishes." Dr. Arthur Willey, Expedition. Dr. Ferdinand Canu, of Ver-
professor of zoology in McGill University, sailles, France, was honored with the medal
contributes a thoughtful review to The Cana- for 1923. Of the seven awards made since
dian Field-Naturalist in which, after expressing the institution of the prize, three have been
his general approval of the work, he adds bestowed upon scientists connected with the
"But mere words can hardly do justice to an American Museum, the previous recipients
arduous undertaking such as this, although being Dr. F. M. Chapman, curator of birds
its merits are conspicuous." in that institution, Mr. Wilham Beebe, Mr.
Not only in English-speaking countries is Robert Ridgeway, and Prof. Othenio Abel.
the Bibliography winning adequate recogni- "Description of Eighteen New Species
tion but from other parts of the world as well OF Fishes from the Wilkes Exploring Ex-
are coming emphatic expressions of approval. pedition Preserved in the United States
Dr. Ernst Ehrenbaum, leading student in National Museum" by Henry W. Fowler
Germany of the migration and distribution of —
and Barton A. Bean. We are doubtless war-
fishes, opens his review in Die Naturwissen- ranted in calling this paper a belated report,
schaften with the comment "A mighty work since the fishes described as new and to —
liescompleted before us, the fruit of most in- these the authors have confined their atten-
tense labor throughout years, carried on by a —
tion were collected more than eighty years
group of highly qualified experts with a pene- ago. So far as localities are given, the
trating grasp of the subject, and resulting in a species described are, with two exceptions,
survey of the literature of a particular field of from South America and Polynesia. Having
knowledge that from the standpoints of final- been taken before the days of deep-sea dredg-
ity and completeness would be hard to dupli- ing, they are naturally species belonging to
cate in any other subject." Jacques Pellegrin, the shore region. The exploring expedition
foremost French ichthyologist, closes his re- under the command of Wilkes was afloat from
view in Bulletin de la Societe Centrale d' 1839 to 1842. While other zoological material
Aquiculture et de Peche with a special word of from this important expedition was reported
recognition for Dr. E. W. Gudger, editor of upon long ago, and in the case of some groups
the Index Volume: "One cannot praise too very fully, the collection of fishes seems to
warmly Mr. E. W. Gudger for having brought have been disregarded by the naturalists of
to completion such a work, which will greatly that day. This paper, is, however, only pre-
engaged in research
facilitate the task of those liminary A timely letter from Mr. Bean con-
!
by enabling them quickly to orient themselves veys the information that the authors have
regarding the bibliography of all questions already prepared a full report for publication.
concerning ichthyology which they desire to This is of decided interest to students of fishes,
approach." Finally in Jornal of Rio de especially as accounts of the fishes of Polyne-
Janeiro, the leading student of the fishes in sia, where the expedition did its greatest work,
South America, Alipio de Miranda Ribeiro, are decidedly limited in number. It appears
from the fullness of his knowledge concludes that fishes were collected in all regions visited
that " The Bibliography of Fishes is going to be by Wilkes, including both coasts of South
of great service to students of the subject." America, many of the islands of Polynesia,
NOTES 525
and from New Zealand and Australia west- THE FAUNTHORPE-VERNAY

ward to Ceylon. The collection is a large one EXPEDITION
and many of the specimens are still in excel- Gaps That Are Being Filled in the
Charles H. Townsend.
lent condition.
—
Museum's Collections. Until very re-
cently the greatest gaps in the bird collection
VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY of the American Museum were among the
Charles W. Andrews, for many years a avifauna of tropical Asia and the islands
distinguished vertebrate paleontologist of south of that continent. Almost one-third of
the British Museum staff, assistant to the genera the Museum lacked were those of
Keeper Arthur Smith Woodward, passed birds inhabiting that general region. A very
away on May 25, at the age of fifty-eight. great service is therefore being rendered the
When last in the British Museum he was en- institution by the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedi-
gaged in mounting and describing a gigantic tion, which has now collected a total of 847
skeleton of the straight-tusked elephant birds from localities extending from the south-
(Elephas antiquus), which may some time ern foot of the Himalayas to the southern end
appear as his last published contribution to of the Indian Peninsula and eastward to
vertebrate palaeontology. Tenasserim and Siam.
The work which him an enduring
will give The first three shipments were from the
reputation is and
his share in the discovery northern part of this area, comprising 220
description of the Upper Eocene and Oligo- skins prepared by Messrs. Jonas and Kinloch
cene fauna of the Fayum, Egypt, following the in 1922 and 1923. They represented approxi-
original discovery of Hugh Beadnell. With mately 128 species, and formed a most wel-
the cooperation of Beadnell, he visited Egypt come and important addition to the collection
and made the great collections for the of Indian birds in the Museum.
Egyptian and British museums, which formed Mr. Vernay next sent a dozen specimens
the basis of his remarkable memoir: A (partridges, sand grouse, and a Macqueen's
Descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Verte- bustard) collected by Major Stockley in Sind
brata of the Fayum, Egypt, published by the and Hissar, and a great Indian bustard from
British Museurn in 1906. This is a monu- northwest India.
mental work, establishing for the first time in Still more remarkable are the collections
the history of science the original home of the recently received from Tenasserim and Siam,
Proboscidea, as well as the probable center of where Mr. Vernay is accompanied by the
evolution of Hyracoidea and of the
the veteran collector for the British Museum,
Sirenia. The principal conclusions reached in Mr. Willoughby P. Lowe. First came a
this great volume will stand as a monument to couple of Burmese peacocks, the male of
his keen perception of the affinities and rela- which is being mounted for exhibition, and
tionships among the vertebrates. The names two gigantic hornb ills, of which one ^îll
which he gave to these animals, Palseomas- also fill a gap in the moimted collection.
todon, Phiomia, Moeritherium, and Sagha- Two cases recently unpacked contained
therium, were sagaciously chosen. 596 bird skins, giving a wide representation of
Vertebrate palaeontologists the world over the avifaima of the Malayan region, from the
will mourn the untimely loss of this genial and smallest flower-peckers to the pheasants and
helpful fellow worker, and will extend to his eagles. A great variety of families and gen-
colleagues on the staff of the British Museum era was included, and it was noted with special
and to his family their sincerest sympathy. pleasure that the shipment contained the
falcon-like Poliohierax, several beautiful pheas-
President Henry Fairfield Osborn ants of the genus Polyplectron, some exceed-
of the American Museum has been notified ingly large nightjars, not less than fifteen
by Dr. Serge d' Oldenburg, permanent secre- species of woodpeckers, one of the very rare
tary of L'Academie des Sciences de Russie Indian honey guides, and a splendid series of
that, "filled with high regard for his scientific passerine forms. The broad-bills are espe-
works" the academy has inscribed Professor cially well represented (by five species), as
Osborn's name upon the Hst of its correspond- are also the babbling thrushes (TimeliidEe)
ing members and that the diploma signalizing the bulbuls (Pycnonotidae), and the thrushes
this appointment will be sent to him soon. (Turdidae).
—
Mr. Arthur S. Vernay seated in front of his grass hut. At the left is the head of one
of thetwo buffaloes that he succeeded in securing for the American Museum
A Malayan tapir in the Rangoon Zoo. —-Among the prizes obtained by Mr. Vernay was
a specimen of this species, which he shot by moonlight
NOTES 527
Among the mammals obtained by Mr. though one lived for some years in the London
Vernay unusual interest attaches to a speci- Zoological Gardens. Contrary to what one
men of the Malayan tapir,, which was secured might expect, D. sumatrensis is totally differ-
in the northernmost part of the range of this ent from the great, one-horned, Indian rhinoc-
species. Sureness of aim such as that re- eros {Rhinoceros unicornis). In the structure
quired to lay low this animal has few parallels of its cheek teeth it shows a closer relationship
in the annals of marksmanship, for Mr. to the black, or hook-lipped, African form
Vernay shot the tapir by moonlight as it was (Dicer-OS bicornis) . Like the latter it has two
splashing about in a water hole near his camp. horns and in connection with its life in the
A cable from Mr. Vernay dated April 24,
later confirmed by letter, contained the impor-
tant announcement that two splendid speci-
mens of the buffalo had been secured, a bull —
with horns that, measured from the tip of one
horn downward along its wide curve, then
across the skull and upward in similar manner
to the tip of the other horn, registered 110
inches, and a cow with a horn expansion only
one inch less.
Keen interest was aroused by the state-

ment in yet another communication that not
only the American Museum, but the New York
Zoological Society as well was to be the bene-
ficiary of Mr. Vernay's enterprise and devo-
tion. Two young male gibbons, the one black,
the other white, are on their way to New York
to join the menagerie in the Bronx. Mr.
Vernay writes that they became so tame after
a week of kind treatment that when he re-
leased them from confinement, they would
climb the highest trees only to return at meal
times and in the evening, when they would
enter the box that was provided for them.
"The black one," he adds, "is called Myonk
(the Burmese for monkey) and the white one
Disha (Deeshah) after one of our elephant
men who resembled the ape." Two small
crocodiles are also being shipped at the same
A skeleton being conveyed to camp for
time.
ultimate shipment to the American Museum
A summary of the number of different speci-
mens secured by the Faunthorpe-Vernay forest has adopted similar browsing habits.
Expedition discloses the fact that there is a It is the smallest of living rhinoceroses, re-
total of 246 mammals, subdivided among the markable for its fairly dense hairy coat and
following orders: Insectivora
Carnivora 37,
7, the slight development of the folds of its
Artiodactyla 58; Proboscidea 3, Perisso- rough granular hide. The Sumatran rhinoc-
dactjda 5, Rodentia 101, Chiroptera 4, eros inhabits the countries east of Bengal,
Primates 31. ranging from Assam through certain parts of
Burma and Siam into the islands of Sumatra
Asiatic Rhinoceroses Secured by the and Borneo. The equally rare, but more
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition. Under — widely distributed, lesser one-horned Indian,
date of May 27 Mr. ArthurVernay cabled
S. or Javan, rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus)
President Henry Fairfield Osborn that he had has extended its haunts into the island of that
succeeded in obtaining a female and young name.
male of the rare Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicero- Not only are the life histories of these three
rhinus sumatrensis) . Few specimens of this Asiatic rhinoceroses rather imperfectly known
interesting form have reached museums. but the specimens preserved in museum collec-
528 NATURAL HISTORY
tions are inadequate and scientists have con- head up, muzzle and lower lip drawn back,
sequenth' been handicapped in their efforts and mouth open, the tushes are bared for
to solve many vexing questions concerning action. Considering the tremendous impact
these animals.Such valuable contributions as of the body and the unwonted rapidity of
those made by the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expe- motion of the. head under such circumstances,
dition are, therefore, of the highest importance. a rhinoceros is liable to inflict terrific wounds.
For many years Professor Osborn has de- Indeed, it makes a boar's ripping look hke the
voted himself to the study of rhinoceroses effects of a mild display of temper when it
and has published extensive works upon the puts into action these sharp, chisel-like
different problems presented by them, espe- weapons. It even cuts open the legs of ele-
cially those of the relationship and evolution phants employed to force it from its retreat.
of fossil forms. Continued comparison of The mode of attack of the great Indian
recent vnih. prehistoric forms is most neces- rhinoceros is, therefore, totally different from
sary. Only in this way can one satisfactorily that of the two African rhinoceroses, which,
interpret the habits of rhinoceroses of the deprived of incisors, depend entirely upon
past, now known only through skeletal re- charging with head lowered, occasionally
mains, often incomplete. goring their enemies with their often sharp-
In the evolution of different groups of pointed horns. Bulls of the African "black"
heavy, gigantic mammals a variety of rhinoceros may
fight to the death. Bronsart
grotesquely shaped horn structures has been vonSchellendorf gives us the following account
developed, partly to clear a way through the of such a contest: "In the next moment both
jungle, partly as a means of defense against bulls rushed around each other in a circle,
enemies, and finally as weapons in the com- furiously snorting, and each one trying to
petitive battles among the bulls during the plunge its horns into the body of the other.
rutting period. Guided by these facts Profes- The older of them suddenly stumbled. Im-
sor Osborn suggested that the great Indian mediately he received two deep thrusts in the
rhinoceros alsomay use its horn, which some- breast and belly. The long, sharp, dagger-
times attains a length of as much as twenty- like horn of his adversary' had entered him
four inches, for purposes of defense. for about two-thirds of its length. In vain
It is most interesting that his belief is con- did he try to raise himself. Quick as a flash
firmed by a naturaHst so well versed in the he received another well aimed thrust in the
habits of Indian biggame as Colonel Faun- middle of the neck. After several piercing
thorpe. This sportsman has no doubt that shrieks he lifted his heavy head up and down,
occasionally the Indian rhinoceros uses the trembled and died." H. L. —
horn to inflict wounds upon adversaries
such as elephants. He himself shot a rhinoc- PUBLIC EDUCATION
eros in Nepal which had a large deep punc- The Expedition of the American Mu-
ture in the abdomen, as well as other injuries seum TO Sweden and Lapland has begun its
in its hide. These looked as though they were work under conditions that are an assurance
the result of a contest in which horns played of success. Thanks to the friendly assistance
the important role. They did not resemble of Legationsradet Hendriksson, a letter was
wounds inflicted by the triangular, forward- secured from the head of the educational de-
and upward-directed, two lower incisors, partment (Eklesiastik Departementet) of
generally called the tushes, which are of Sweden, requesting all those connected with
service also in partly cutting to pieces the the schools, colleges, and universities to give
tubers and other vegetation on which the Dr. G. Clyde Fisher every assistance within
animals feed. their power. Doctor Fisher is, furthermore,
For a long time it has been known that the being aided in his visits to the schools by Miss
tushes are the chief weapons upon which the Stael von Holstein, who in addition to her
great Indian rhinoceros relies in an attack knowledge of the Swedish language and of
against its enemies including man, as Mr. Swedish educational institutions has a view-
Roderick T. Mackenzie has kindly pointed point regarding American educational stand-
out in a letter to Professor Osborn. Mr. ards gained through several years spent at
Mackenzie states, furthermore, that the horn Columbia University. One of Doctor
isalways more or less worn away by digging Fisher's main purposes in visiting Sweden is to
up roots. As the animal rushes forward, obtain an insight into the Swedish educational
NOTES 529
system, regarding which he will lecture before South America, has been
to the west coast of
the Museum on his return, and there can be from time to time in Natural
referred to
no doubt that, as a result of the privileges History, and readers of the magazine are,
extended to him, he will accomplish more therefore, conversant with his record up to
even than he had ventured to hope. November, 1923. Since that time he has
Many attentions have been shown Doctor taken three field trips: (1) from Ambato to
Fisher and his associate in the expedition, Guayaquil, for the purpose of making a cross-
Mr. Carveth Wells, by eminent individuals. section of the region to the north of Mt.
They have been entertained, among others, Chimborazo, (2) to the Island of Puna, off the
by Baron De Geer, the distinguished geologist, coast of Ecuador, (3) to the Oriente side of
and Baroness De Geer, and also by Mr. Cord the Andes.
Meyer, secretary of the A^merican Legation, It is the last-mentioned trip that deserves
who invited for the occasion Dr. Robert especial emphasis, forit consumed a period of
Andrews Millikan, upon whom was recently three months and yielded valuable specimens
bestowed the Nobel prize in physics, and Mrs. and interesting observations. Mr. Tate
Millikan. A dinner was tendered the repre- established eight camps in all, lingering at
sentatives of the American Museum by the each for a sufRcient number of days to study
Swedish-American Foundation, of which the faunal conditions. The first two camps
Professor Arrhenius is president, and at the were in the high temperate forest, the second
banquet Doctor Fisher had the honor of being pitched at the base of the volcano
being seated beside Mrs. Arrhenius. The Tungurahua, which erupted violently some
public press, reflecting the popular interest, years ago and sprinkled ashes even during
has devoted many a column, with portrait Mr. Tate's sojourn.
insertions, to the expedition. From this altitude he worked down the
The Teacher and the Museum. —In Pastaza River, past the falls of Agoyan, which,
conformity with its established custom, the 30 feet in width, tumble from a height of
department of public education, American about 150 feet, on to the third camp at
Museum, tendered a reception to the faculty Mirador at an elevation of approximately
and the graduating class of the New York 5000 feet. This spot is the subtropical type
Training School for Teachers on June 19 and locality worked by the old collectors Simons
to the corresponding groups of the Maxwell and Palmer. The fourth camp, established
Training School for Teachers on June 20. at La Palmera, was maintained for two weeks
It is of prime importance that prospective and yielded important collections.
educators should know of the various ways in Th^ce Mr. Tate moved down to Mera, the
which the Museum is prepared to assist them, center of the wet belt, where there is rain
and at these gatherings the graduating classes nearly every day of the year and the traveler
have the opportunity, not only of estabhshing wades about mud that is perennial. Sev-
in
contact with those within the Museum who forms were discovered in this
eral interesting
are engaged in educational work, but also of locality. Due to the forbidding character of
seeing through the illustrated addresses that the country mules could not be depended
are a feature of the day's entertainment the upon beyond this point and it became neces-
facilities in the way of slides and similar sary to send to the Indian settlement at
lecture materials that are at their disposal. Canelos for bearers.
Members of the Museum staff guide the visi- The first day's travel beyond Mera brought
tors through the exhibition halls and the de- the party to Puyo, a place somewhat disUked
partment of education, and the activities by the Indians on account of the prevalence
terminate with the serving of tea. there of vampire bats that make their insidi-
ous attacks at night. On the second day a
MAMMALS stop was made at Indillama, a station erected
Mr. G. H. H. Tate, field collector of the by the Ecuadorean government for the con-
department of mammals, American Museum, venience of travelers. On the third day the
has returned to the United States for a brief party reached Canelos.
sojourn after an absence of fourteen months in Canelos is an Indian settlement with a
Ecuador. The progress of his work, both in- population of 300. Large well-thatched
dependently and in collaboration with Mr. H. houses are scattered about in the forest, and
E. Anthony during the latter's recent visit each accommodates several families. The
530 NATURAL HISTORY
floors are earthen and the principal articles of Among the 588 specimens of Carnivora
furniture are beds and cots of bamboo. Each represented in this West African collection
house contains at least a half dozen bodoqueras Doctor Allen recognized two genera and eight
(blow guns), on which the Indians rely for forms as new to science. In view of his con-
their meat supply. The work of preparing servative attitude in the matter of new
the soil and the planting of yuca and platano descriptions, the proportion is large. Though
is left to the women. he considered that some of the specimens,
Mr. Tate collected for ten days at Canelos temporarily referred to forms already known,
and then, through the kind arrangement of were worthy of subspecific distinction, he did
the resident Dominican priest, was conveyed not feel justified in thus designating them at
by canoe to Sarayacu, a similar settlement the time, due to a lack of adequate compara-
three days' travel down the Rio Bobonaza. tive study material. Throughout the report-
From was made overland
this point a journey stress is laid on the great need for a satis-
to Rio Copataza, another type locality, factory basis of differentiation. In extensive
where Mr. Tate had the assistance of six series of a single form collected in one locality
Indian collectors. or district, it is remarkable how great can be
The rainy season was now drawing to a the range of individual variation.
close and accordingly a return was made to One of the noteworthy discoveries figuring
Mera. After eleven days of continuous travel in the report on the carnivores is that of a
Mr. Tate reached this spot and, securing fish-eating genet, Osbornictis, illustrated by
riding animals, made his way over the Andes an excellent color plate showing the uniform
back to the coast. During the three and a dark-brown tone of its pelage. This genet is
half months consumed in this trip to the one of the many examples of adaptation
Oriente, Mr. Tate collected about 550 mam- pecuhar to African mammals. The new
mals, not to mention reptiles, batrachians, genus which it represents Doctor Allen named
and plants. in honor of Professor Osborn, who made it
possible for him to devote his entire time dur-
"The Allen Memorial Volume."— In ing the last years of his Ufe to the working up
recognition of the important services of Dr.
of the Congo material. As a result of this
J. A. Allen during the thirty-six years of his
generous provision Doctor Allen was able to
curatorship in the American Museum, Presi-
complete his study of so large a proportion
dent Henry Fairfield Osborn and the Trustees of the mammals collected by the Congo
have decided to devote one of the volumes of Expedition.
the Bulletin, under the designation of "The The new form requiring generic dis-
other
Allen Memorial Volume," to the pubhcation
tinction, Xenogale, falls within the herpestine
of the posthumous papers of the distinguished group. In external appearance it so closely
mammalogist. Two of the four articles resembles Atilax as to have been mistaken
—
proposed for inclusion that on the insec- for it in the field, but in cranial characters
tivores and the one on the squirrels collected
and dentition the two forms present little
by the American Museum Congo Expedition similarity.
— made their appearance two years ago. A feature of this report is the extensive
To these has now been added the third series of comparative drawings of the skulls
report, deahng with the large collection of
of the various genera represented. Comple-
Congo carnivores, and only one more report, menting these drawings are the many photo-
therefore, —
that concerned with the primate
graphic illustrations, for the most part taken
collection from the same region, —
is necessary
in the course of the expedition. They en-
to round out the volume. This fourth report
hance the value of the report, especially for
is nearing completion.
those who desire to make use of it as a guide
The carnivores were one of the last groups
among the Congo material to which Doctor
for future study in the field. — H. L.
Allen gave his attention. After the author's East African Trophies Given by Mr. E.
death the manuscript was arranged for publi- —
Mallinckrodt, Jr. The American Museum
cation by Mr. Herbert Lang, associate curator recently secured through Mr. Edward Mal-
of African mammals, who had had the privilege linckrodt, Jr., the first specimens from the
of assisting Doctor Allen in the working up of eastern Umits ofLake Victoria Nyanza, near
the report. the Mara River, that have found place in its
NOTES 531
collections.* 'Among the objects presented are Work, Secretary of the Interior, the Hon.
the skull and scalp of an especially fine bull Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce,
eland (Taurotragus oryx pattersonianus) the — and the Hon. James J. Davis, Secretary of
largest of antelopes and a member of the Labor. The executive chairman of all the
tragelaphine group, —a fine long-haired pelt sessions was the Hon. Theodore Roosevelt,
of a spotted hyaena {Crocuta crocuta germinans, whose vigorous and stimulating quahties as
and —even more desirable —an exceptionally presiding officer were reminiscent of the lead-
large skull of the hook-hpped, or "black," ership exercised by his father before him.
rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) from the neigh- Official delegates representing more than one
borhood of Lolgorien. hundred associations interested in wild fife,
in the park and playground movement, in
HISTORY OF THE EARTH child welfare work, and related activities,
La Societe Geologiqxte de Belgique were present and hstened to addresses on
invited the American Museum to participate different phases of the common problem that
in the semi-centennial celebration of the designated speakers had been invited to
founding of the society, held at Liege, July contribute. Dr. Frank M. Chapman, of the
27-30. President Heiu-y Fairfield Osborn American Museum, dehvered an address on
requested His Excellency J. Malfeyt, a life "Birds and Man" in the session devoted to the
member of the Museum, to represent the "Wild Life Resources of the United States."
institution on this important occasion, Gen-
eral Malfeyt having evinced his interest in the Four Hundred Years of Growth De-
Museum through the great assistance he stroyed. —In constructing a road to the North
rendered some years ago to its Congo Expedi- Grove of Calaveras "big trees," the highway
tion. The geology of the Congo and of the engineer found confronting him a magnificent
regions bordering upon it was one of the prin- —
specimen of a sugar pine, a species that
cipal topics presented during the gathering, Muir has designated "the noblest pine yet
another being a survey of the activities of the discovered." In height it grew to 240 feet,
society during the fifty years of its existence. in circumference it measured more than 25.
Excursions to points of interest and a ban- With an estimated age of 400 years, it must
quet were other features of the celebration. have begun life about the time when Balboa
first gazed upon the Pacific; but the centuries
CONSERVATION had not robbed it of its storm-defying
A National Conference on Outdoor strength. The unimpressionable engineer
Recreation, called by President Coolidge, was not deterred by consideration for its
was held in Washington, May 22-24, and beauty or its age. The tree had no message
as an outgrowth of its dehberations there has for him. Not even the thought that the road
come into being a permanent organization, he was commissioned to construct was to
made up of associations that are interested in serve as a highway to the lofty splendor of one
wild life and out-door activities and that of the world's most magnificent groves of
through such a super-organization can best trees could win respectful treatment for the
correlate their efforts. A meeting is planned age-old sentry that stood just outside of the
annually at which the constituent associations precincts. A slight curvature to the right or
will pass upon the common policy, each asso- left,and the tree would have been spared.
ciation irrespective of the number of its But no, the road must follow its undeviating
delegates present having but a single vote. course, and the merciless swings of the ax in
That the organization has started with short time laid low a firmly rooted giant that
every prospect of continued success is indi- the tempests of the past had failed to budge.
cated by the standing of the men who attended One is glad to note that indignation over
the conference and the earnest spirit and this thoughtless act of sacrifice has been wide-
desire for harmonious cooperation that char- spread. The Stockton Record has voiced its
acterized the gathering. President Coolidge protest in a vigorous editorial and the St.
delivered the address of welcome and the Paul Daily News writes trenchantly of the
honorary chairmen of the successive sessions incident under the heading "He Sawed Down
were the Hon. John Wingate Weeks, Secre- 400 Years' Work." Even if a new sugar
tary of War, the Hon. Henry C. Wallace, pine were planted on the spot where the old
Secretary of Agriculture, the Hon. Hubert tree stood and succeeded in withstanding all
532 NATURAL HISTORY
of the vicissitudes of the centuries, genera- prehistoric man. The recent attacks upon the
tion upon generation of men would grow from doctrine of evolution —especially as it affects
childhood to manhood and wither away in —
man's ancestry have greatly augmented this
old age before the new tree could reach the interest and increased the demand for trust-
venerable stage represented by its predecessor. worthy and understandable accounts of the
But if we cannot conjure back what is de- life and times of those peoples who lived
stroyed, an awakened public conscience can before the dawn of history.
at least take measures to render less likely a A notable contribution to such literature is
repetition of such inflexible destruction. 0^lr Forerunners'- by Dr. Miles C. Burkitt,

In contrast with this incident may be cited presented by its author to Prof. Henry Fair-
one for which The Shevlin-Hixon Company field Osborn and recently placed in the Osborn
of Minneapolis deserves honorable mention. Library of the American Museum. This
Along the highway leading into Bend, Oregon, brief account of the civilizations of Palgeo-
was a growth of timber controlled by this lithicman in western Europe and along the
lumber company. The company would have shores of the Mediterranean gives, as it were,
been within its private rights if it had a bird's-eye view of man's prehistory. Within
chopped down this stand to the last tree, but the covers of a small and inexpensive book
this corporation had a soul that responded to that will easily slip into the average pocket,
the appeal of beauty, and in the public inter- the author has contrived to outline the history
very handsome timber.
est set aside a strip of of discovery, the geologic conditions, the
In addition, it gave as a memorial to the late climate and fauna, the technique of working
Thomas Shevlin a whole grove of trees in the flint, the principal types of tools, the main and
Tumalo Caiion in Oregon, and thereby aided minor cultural divisions, the fossil human
the Save the Redwoods League in its struggle remains, and the art of Palaeolithic times.
to preserve the scenic beauty of our North- And with all this, he is yet able to devote a
west. Another recent gift which the League chapter to the motives for Palaeolithic art, as
deeply appreciates is that of the Pacific they may be conjectured from the practices
Lumber Company, which on February 4 and beliefs of existing primitive tribes, and to
deeded to the State of California a magnifi- present vividly picturesque descriptions of the
cent tract of 289 acres of Redwood timber course of daily life during the Stone Age.
located in the heart of the State Redwood In order to achieve such condensation only
Park and known as South Dyerville Flat. main outlines of the principal features of
The grove is a memorial to Simon J. Murphy, prehistory could be given, and much that is of
founder of the Pacific Lumber Company. great interest has necessarily been omitted.
Through this gift and the purchase of an It is, perhaps, a little surprising that the para-
adjoining grove known as North Dyerville graphs on " Mousterian or Neanderthal Man"
Flat, there has been completed a stretch of fail to mention the skull of Gibraltar found
twelve miles of highway lined by giant trees in 1848, as this is not only the earliest known
and set aside for all time for the enjoyment of discovery of Neanderthaloid human remains,
visitors to the region. Finally, through the but also the best preserved female skull of
generosity of a donor who modestly with- that type. On the whole, this little book gives
holds his name
the League has been able to a careful, conservative presentation of our
acquire 113 acres on which are some of the present knowledge of Palaeolithic man, and in
largest and most perfect trees of the entire its simple, non-technical language is admirably
region. calculated to make

the results of recent re-
Important as these donations have been, search available to readers unfamiliar with
the League wants to extend its activities and scientific terms but none the less keenly in-
looks forward to the day when a National terested in all that concerns Our Forerunners.
Redwoods Park, containing at least 20,000
THE MARSH DARIEN EXPEDITION
acres, may be an accomplished fact.
Under date of March 24, Mr. C. M.
ARCHEOLOGY Breder, the representative of the American
"Our Forerunners." — Of all the various

Museum on the Marsh Darien Expedition,
wrote from Yavisa, Panama: "As soon as the
branches of scientific research there is none
boat comes to take our stuff and this letter,
that excites more general interest than that
iBurkitt, M. C. Our Forerunners. Williams & Nor-
concerned with the origin and development of gate, London. 1923.
NOTES 533
we shall leave for parts unknown." The Cuna "Marsh arrived Colon with three white
country, the objective of the expedition, has Indians, golden hair, hazel blue eyes, white
had an evil reputation. Ithas been said that tender skins: two boys with liver spots, girl
parties that entered it in the past have not comparatively clear; gums pink, skulls un-
returned from its fastnesses and the behef usual in size and shape, large, round, decidedly
prevailed that they had been killed by hos- different from typical San Bias.
tile Indians. was the possible danger from
It Breder."
this source that was uppermost in the minds Early in July these Indians were brought to
of thosewho followed with interest, mingled New York and anthropologists from leading
with concern, the progress of the expedition. institutions were invited to meet them and
Serious obstacles on the part of the natives give collective consideration to the problem
were not encountered: but the evil reputation presented by their physical pecuHarities.
of the Cuna country is nevertheless justified The pubhc interest in these abnormal repre-
on other grounds. A more sinister foe than sentatives of the "red" man was indicated
savage man has claimed its victims among by the number of newspaper articles devoted
those who dared to cross the boundaries of this to the ichite Indians.
forbidden territory. The first to succumb was Though other phases of the work of the
a representative of the Panamanian govern- expedition yield in spectacular appeal to this
ment assigned to the expedition, whose death anthropologic investigation, much of scienti-
may possibly be ascribed to disease contracted fic interest was discovered also in the field of
before the journey was undertaken. Over- zoology. Brief mention may be made of some
strain, infection through the bite of an insect, of the results achieved by Mr. Breder during
and the tropical climate completely under- the week spent at Yavisa prior to the pene-
mined the health of Mr. John L. Baer, the tration of the interior. Here he had a rare
ethnologist of the expedition. For a time the opportunity to make an
intensive study of a
hope was entertained that it might be possible small section. When
he first arrived, all the
to carry him, fever-racked as he was, out of the frog streams save one were dry, waterless
interior to Caledonia Bay on the Atlantic beds, and the outlook was discouraging. But
Ocean and thence take him by ship to some two sohd days of rain transformed the scene,
port where he might receive medical attention. and before his departure he was able to obtain
But this hope proved vain. Mr. Baer died a life-history data regarding seven species of
martyr to science in a region the mysteries of frogs, as well as photographs and specimens.
which he had set out to penetrate. Of four of the species he managed to secure a
Mr. Breder himself did not escape un- developmental series. After leaving Yavisa he
scathed. He developed a case of typhoid gathered data regarding several other species.
and malaria, which nece.ssitated his return to Mr. Breder's collecting is not confined to
Colon. For a time grave anxiety was felt b}^ amphibians. He has been taking also reptiles
his family and friends, but in answer to their and fishes, and incidentally birds. Preliminary
hopes for his recovery, he is today restored examination of the material he has brought
to health and strength. together indicates that there are included at
While the results attained by the expedi- least several new species of fishes and reptiles.
tion cannot be weighed in the balance with
the sacrifice of life that it has entailed, it is,
AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES
nevertheless, some consolation to know that A Sphenodon Group for the American
the brave men who faced disease and death Museum. —After more than ten years of cor-
in their devotion to science have helped to respondence and efforts on the part of a
attain the objects for which the expedition number of scientists, the American Museum is
set out. at last to have a group illustrating the home
The chief purpose was to locate the blond life of the —
Sphenodon that "living fossil"
Indians which, it was known, lived somewhere which has the appearance soniewhat of a
in the area selected for penetration, and to lizard but is actually more closely allied to the
inquire into their origin and mode of hfe. crocodiles. The final arrangements for secur-
Complete success attended this search as ing this material were made bj' Doctor Hovey
indicated in the following cable received by during his recent trip to New Zealand.
the department of anthropology, American Sphenodon is the only hving representative
Museum, under date of June 18: of that order of rep tiles known as the Rhyncho-
534 NATURAL HISTORY
cephalia, a group which appai'ently reached its conspicuously from Cameroon specimens of
ascendancy during Mesozoic times. Spheno- H. which have much greater leg-
boettgeri,
don is found today only on some of the small length, enlarged lateral tubercles, broad heads,
islands off the coast of New Zealand, where it and indented webbing of the digits. The
frequents the burrows of a petrel (Puffinus other two are known only from the forests of
carneipes). This association of reptile and the Ituri district, many miles farther inland.
bird has probably, to a large extent, permitted One them, Hyperolius langi, named after
of
the survival of Sphenodon to recent years, for Herbert Lang, leader of the expedition, is
the reptile not only secures the protection of reddish brown above with an indistinct stripe
the petrel's home but feeds to a large extent of pale yellow about the eye and the shoulder.
upon the food that the parent birds bring to The other, Rana Chapini, named in honor of
their young. Although some writers have Mr. James P. Chapin, Mr. Lang's associate in
claimed that these odd companions get along the expedition, proves to be larger than any
in perfect harmonj', other investigators report related form.
that the petrels frequently try to drive the While no comprehensive work on African
reptiles out of their homes. The group of Amphibia has appeared since Boulenger's
Sphenodon in the American Museum will catalogue was issued in 1882, papers on the
represent just such a home scene, for, thanks subject have been appearing with consider-
to the kindness of Doctor Speight and Mr. able frequency during the four decades sepa-
Sladden of New Zealand, the American Mu- rating that date from the present and the
seum now has specimens of the petrel and its bibliography incorporated in the report will,
eggs as well as Sphenodon and its eggs, and all therefore, be a welcome aid to many. Another
accessories necessary for such a group. In outstanding feature of the report is ^ check list
addition to illustrating a curious case of para- of the Amphibia of Africa. The accepted
sitism, the Sphenodon Group will have inter- opinion as to the status of the various species
est because of the extreme scarcity of the is indicated and the ranges are given in so far
specimens. as it is possible. Finally, mention should be
Today Sphenodon is rigorously protected made of the series of batrachian portraits
by the NewZealand Government; it is, taken in the field by Mr. Lang, which con-
nevertheless, almost extinct, for a large hawk stitutes a striking pictorial contribution to the
{Circus gouldi) has become naturaUzed on the report.
island and feeds to a large extent upon this The reports dealing with the American Mu-
reptile.Formerly the natives of New Zealand seum Congo Expedition, several of which are
considered Sphenodon a great table delicacy, still in course of preparation, will require, it is
and as the reptiles are easy to catch, these estimated, twelve Bulletin volumes for their
people made great inroads upon them. It is presentation. It is the plan to adopt for the
highly doubtful whether Sphenodon will sur- completed work a series title: The Zoology of
vive in spite of the present strict protection the Belgian Congo.
enforced by the government.
Amphibians of the Congo. —Dr. G. K. MARINE LIFE
Noble, curator of the department of amphib- Diving for Corals at Andros Island. —
ians and reptiles, American Museum, has Dr. Roy W. Miner, curator of lower inverte-
on the Amphibia
recently issued his report brates, American Museum, writes from
collected by the American Museum Congo Andros Island in the Bahamas, that on a beau-
Expedition. The report constitutes Part III tiful calm moonlight night the expedition of
of Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian which he is in charge crossed the- sixty-five
Congo, the two preceding parts, devoted miles that separate Andros from Nassau,
respectively to "Turtles, Crocodiles, Lizards, arriving off the reefs south of Mangrove
and Chameleons" and to "Snakes," having Cay at daybreak on June 17. The purpose of
been prepared by Mr. Karl Patterson Schmidt. the expedition is to obtain material for the
Doctor Noble's report treats of 2170 speci- coral group that is to be a feature of the pro-
mens, distributed among fifteen genera and jected hall of ocean life, American Museum.
fifty-three species. Of the three species The equipment required, including the Wil-
described for the first time, one (Hymeno- hamson tube, is of an elaborate character, as
chirus curtipes) comes from the open country may be inferred from Doctor Miner's descrip-
near the mouth of the Congo, and differs tion of the strange assortment of craft that
NOTES 535
were towed in Indian file to the scene of clump and it fell at his touch. He then
operations: attached the cluster to a rope lowered by the
"En route our fleet consisted of the men above, and the corals became a part of
'Lady Cordeaux,' which is the government our collection.
tug, and without which it would have been "We have also used the 10-ton chain hoist
impossible for us to have negotiated 'The most effectively. In fact, it is only by means
Tongue of the Ocean second, the submarine
'
; of this apparatus that we can get up the
tube barge, 'Jules Verne,' with its odd-looking heavier and larger pieces. It permits a direct
tower and ventilator; third, the pontoons pull and the corals are drawn up between the
bearing the chain hoist, an extremely impor- two paraflel pontoons. These have a very
tant unit in the fleet; fourth, the 'Bitter shallow draft and the corals are easily floated
End,' a heavily built hfeboat containing a to the beach irrespective of their weight.
motor; fifth, the 'Standard,' our floating There Mr. Mueller takes them in charge and
headquarters. Captain Joe Bethel's fine 45- starts the bleaching process, while the sea
foot gasoline launch, with sleeping quarters fans andfgorgonians are hung up on lines to
for seven people including the captain; sixth, dry.
the 'Nautilus,' a small but powerful gaso- "We have to take our chances on the outer
line tender for the barge; and finally, two reef as the wind often rises
and prevents opera-
dinghies." tions there until calm weather again prevails.
Such a fleet would occasion remark even in At other times we work inside the reefs and in
New York harbor; imagine, then, the furor its the more protected channels. Williamson has
must have created in a little settlement
arrival spent hours under the water in his diving
where nothing usually occurs to break the helmet and has been indefatigable in the
monotony except the biweekly mail schooner, securing of specimens. The Museum owes a
an occasional hurricane, and the periodic great deal to his cooperation and unquench-
deaths among the oldest inhabitants! able energy."
On June 19 the members of the expedition
saw the outer side of the Andros reef from the BIRDS
tube for the first time and its beauty thrilled At the annual meeting of the National
Doctor Miner, who thus describes it: Education Association held in Washington,
"The main reef is composed of a dense D.C., Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy, assistant
forest of Acropora palmata, for all the world director, American Museum, addressed an
like an orchard of apple trees but much more audience composed of eight hundred teachers
closely set with interlacing branches rising of geography, gathered from all of the states
from the reef platform from twelve to sixteen of the Union, on the achievements and pros-
feet and breaking the water surface at low pective work of the Whitney South Sea Expe-
tide,— a jungle of marble trees fading into the dition under Mr. RoUo Beck, —
an expedition
opalescent blue of the watery fog. Clearings which has been making a painstaking study
in this stony woodland are dotted with clusters of the bird life of Polynesia and in the course
and clumps of posthke growths of Orbicellidai of its cruises has contributed incidentally to
combined with symmetrical fronds of deer- making more widely known the interest of the
horn corals and gorgonians. Large tracts of island-dotted ocean that lies beyond the
the reef floor in front of the forest are com- reach of the generaUty of travelers. The
pletely covered with grotesquely branching lecture was one of two which the National
elkhorns, their weird spikes contorted and Geographic Society arranged in honor of the
interlaced like a defensive barrier. Troops of gathering.
brilliantly colored fishes filed past in solemn
processions, and a great trumpet fish glided
NEW MEMBERS
past in sohtary state. Since the Natural History
last issue of
"Into the midst of this strange world the following persons have been electedmem-
Williamson fioated down in his diving helmet bers of the American Museum, making the
and advanced with peculiar half -gliding total membership 7693
strides among the coral clumps. An immense Life Members: Mrs. W. R. Grace; Messrs.
crowbar was lowered to him on a rope. Pois- William Shepherd Dana, Desmon Fitz-
ing this as an armored knight might place his gerald, Francis L. Higginson, David G.
lance in rest, he attacked the base of a coral Joyce, and Joseph F. Stier.
536 NATURAL HITSORY
Susan M. Sturges.
Sustaining Member: Miss E. Reggio, Lucretia S. Watson; Prof. E. B.
Annual Members: Mesdames Max Far- Babcock, Judge Marcus Morton; Col.
rand, Horace Westlake Frink, Joseph J. A. D. Akin; Rev. C. K. Benedict; Doctors
Klein, Charles Howland Russell, Harry Randolph K. Byers, Elmer T. Learned,
J. Smith, K. B. Spencer, E. S. Steinam, S. J. Mixter, Francis W. Palfrey, Wil-
Edmund A. Stirn, Arthur L. Strasser, liam L. Richardson, Stephen Rushmore,

Edward E. Thalmann, Josephine A. Wilfred Sefton, Harold C. Stuart,
Thibaut, Alden H. Weed; the Misses Howard T. Swain, James C. White, Francis
Katherine Bigley, Margaret S. Remsen, H. Williams; Messrs. E. W. Allen, Albert
Helen R. Sloan, Margaret E. Turner; F. BiGELow, Nathan D. Bill, Allison
Doctors Samuel J. Kopetzky, Philip W. Bishopric, L. F. Brigham, D. R. Bullen,
Nathan, Charles Norris, George T. Joseph C. Degiorgio, J. De Witt, Robert
Strodl, a. McI. Strong, Walter Timme; E. Dexter, Theodore S. Dohrmann,
Messrs. Boris A. Bokhmeteff, Alfred T. Walter A. Draper, W. S. Westerman
Beals, William F. Bishop, H. Blair-Smith, Edgar, A. O. Elzner, Grenville G. Gar-
F. Rhinelander Brown, Stefan de Kosen- CEAu, Haring White Griggs, John L. Hall,
KO, IsiDOR Greenwald, Angelo Hirsch, Leslie Hastings, John Heard, Jr., Frank-
Jacob D. Jais, Fred'k Lowenheim, John C. lin W. HoBBS, A. R. HoRR, John K.
Lyeth, Stockton Mulford, Elie Nadel- Howard, E. W. Howe, Robert W. Hunt-
MAN, Arthur K. Ohmes, J. E. Ridder, ington, Ralph B. Ives, Arthur M. Jones,
Albert R. Rogers, Dederick H. Schmidt, RoBT. Ralston Jones, Roger S. Kellen,
Charles Green Smith, James A. Smith, Carl T. Keller, B. M. Kinser, Hugo
Chas. p. Soden, H. Boardman Spalding, M. Klauber, John A. Knowles, Morris F.
Spark, Fred F. Steinhardt, Samuel C. LaCroix, Joseph P. Livermore, Henry Loy,
Steinhardt, William H. Steinkamp, George Armstrong Lyon, Albert Mat-
Harold W. Stevens, Louis Stieglitz, thews, Walter J. Mitchell, Cabot
Charles G. Strater, M. B. Streeter, J. Morse, J. M. Morton, Jr., B. P. P.
Walter E. Strobel, Malcolm Sumner, MosELEY, Francis S. Moulton, George S.

Edwin S. S. Sunderland, Woodburn Mumford, John B. Paine, Richard C.
SWORMSTEDT, EmILE TaS, ArTHUR W. TeELE, Paine, Frederic Parker, Cyrus E.
James P. Thomas, Brainard Tolles, Paul Phillips, Philip L. Reed, F. L. W. Richard-
R. TowNE, James H. Turner, Langdon B. son, Jr., Alfred L. Ripley, Wm. Prescott
Valentine, E. R. Van Sickle, A. Whit- Rogers, Richard Sears, Ed Sewall, Clar-
ridge, and Albert Wortm AN. ence R. Shoemaker, Charles Wilkins
Associate Members: Mesdames W. H. Short, Claude De Witt Simpson, R. Paul
CooLiDGE, Jr., Arthur S. Eldredge, Snelling, Nathan B. Talbot, Chas. H.
ThomasJ. Emery, S.B. Grinnell, Arthur P. Taylor, Geo. R. Tennent, Benjamin W.
Nazro, George P. Sanger, E. C. Streeter, Thoron, George H. Timmins, Joseph R.
John L. Thorndike, George Upton, I. Walker, Bentley W. Warren, Fiske War-
De Ver Wabner, J. Bertram Williams; ren, Samuel D. Warren, Frederick S.
THE Misses Katrine Rosalind Greene, L. Whitwell, and Winthrop C. Winslow.
FOUNDED IN 1869
Board of Trustees
Henky Fairfield Osborn, President

MEMBERSHIP NEARLY SEVEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED

membership are:
Associate Member (nonresident)* , annually S3
Life Member 100
Fellow 500
Patron 1,000
Associate Benefactof 10,000
Benefactor 50,000
*Persons residing fifty miles or more from New Yoik City

FREE TO MEMBERS
Natural History, Museum, is sent to all classes of members
published bimonthly by the
as one of their privileges.Through Natural History they are kept in touch with the activi-


than fifty years of public usefulness, during which its activities have grown and
community it immediately serves but in the educational life of the nation. Every year
brings evidence — in the growth of the Museum membership, in the ever-larger number
of individuals visiting its exhibits forstudy and recreation, in the rapidly expanding
activities of its school service, in the scientific information gathered by its
wealth of
world-wide expeditions and disseminated through its pubhcations of the increasing —
whatsoever.
results of far-reaching importance. The Mongolia made by the
fossil discoveries in
and of other expeditions
working in selected areas of South America, in the United
these expeditions, are planned for the new buildings of the Museimi,
and through the opportunities it affords classes of students to visit the Museum
girls,
in theMuseum and in many school centers; through its loan collections, or "traveling
The POPULAR PUBLICATIONS of the Museum, in addition to Natukal His-
and Guide Leaflets, which describe some exhibit or series of exhibits of special intei'est
The Libearian, American Museum of Natural History,
New York City
Vol. XXIV SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1924 No. 5
CSSr^SBTE^^SCSSTT^SSZTi^
iNATURALi
iHISTORYl
THE OCEANS
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION by
Robert Cushman Murphy— THE OCEANS by William
Morris Davis-THE NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL AND
THE GUADALUPE FUR SEAL by Charles Haskins
TowNSEND-A TRIP TO GUADALUPE, THE ISLE OF
MY BOYHOOD DREAMS by Laurence M. Huey-THE
SEAL COLLECTION OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM by
Frederic A. Lucas-HUNTING CORALS IN THE BAHA-
MAS BY Roy Waldo Miner-THE CORAL GARDENS
OF ANDROS pictured by Roy Waldo Miner and J. E.
WiLLiAMsoN-A SUBMARINE CABLE AMONG THE
CORALS BY Charles Haskins Townsend— "PEARLS AND
SAVAGES," A REVIEW by William K. Gregory i^ ^
BIRD BANDING by Maunsell S. Crosby
The oceans unite all shores and bring the world more closely together.
The expeditions of the American Museum have ranged over many seas and
have enjoyed the aid and hospitality of maritime nations from the poles to
the equator. To all of these the appreciation of the Museum is hereby ex-
tended. A* i# i# d# i# i# A* i* ^
wis?srt:^s?rss7
3 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN g

Q MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY p
EXPLORATION -RESEARCH-EDUCATION (1
f\
annual subscription $3.00 single copies 50 cents

free to MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATE MEMBERS OF THE MUSEUM
Henry Faiefield Osbohn, LL.D., President

Herbert Lang, Associate Curator of African ^lammals
Chester A. Reeds, JPh.D., Associate Curator of Inverte-
brate Palseontology William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
Herbekt P. Whitlock, C. E., Curator Human Anatomy
Henry Fairpield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu- Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
rator Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals Charles W. Mead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Archee-
William K. Gregory, Associate in Palaeontology Anthropology
Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology J. Alden Mason, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Mexican
Archaeology
Clarence Hay, A.M., Research Associate
L- in Mexican
II. DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE- and Central American Archaeology
Anthropology
Horace W. Stunkaed, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para- AND RESEARCH
sitology
A.J. MuTCHLER, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera Charles P. Berkey, Ph.D., [Columbia University], Re-
Amadeus W. Grabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Hymenoptera
V. DIVISION OP EDUCATION AND PUB-
Fishes LICATION
E. W. Gudgbr, Ph.D., Associate in Ichthyology Ida Richardson Hood, A.B., Assistant Librarian
Public Education
G. KiNGSLEY Noble, Ph.D., Curator Grace Fisher Ramsey, Assistant Curator
Birds Public Health
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief Curator
W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator Mart Gbeig, Assistant Curator
Eastern Hemisphere
Natural History IVIagazine
Advisory Committee
H. E. Anthony, KM. Frederick K. Morris, A.M.
NATURAL
D I

THROUGH THE MUSEUM
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 924 1
[Published November, 1924]

1ST
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER Number 5
Frontispiece, A New Kingfisher from the Tuamotus opposite 539

From a painting by Courtenay Brandreth
The Whitney South Sea Expedition Robert Cushman Murphy 539

A sketch of the bird life of Polynesia
With photographs of the birds and their habitats by Rollo H. Beck, leader of the Whitney South
Sea Expedition
The Oceans William Morris Davis 554

Their origin and significance, their surface phenomena, and the character of their depths
Headpiece from a photograph by Juhan A. Dimock, and explanatory diagrams drafted by W, E.
Belanske
The Northern Elephant Seal and the Guadalupe Fur Seal.

Charles Haskins Townsend 566
An historic sketch,with special reference to the expedition of the " Albatross " in 1911
With a picture of the Elephant Seal Group, made possible through the generosity of Mr. Arthur
Curtiss James, and photographs of the living animals, on the beach and in captivity, taken
by Doctor Townsend
A Trip to Guadalupe, the Isle of My Boyhood Dreams.

Laurence M. Huey 578
Impressions of a recent soj ourn on an island where man has upset the balance of nature, with an
account of the present status of the elephant seal herd described in the preceding article
Photographs by the author
The Seal Collection Frederic A. Lucas 589

A feature of the Hall of Ocean Life, American Museum
With a reproduction of the Fur Seal Group and portraits of some of the seals described
Hunting Corals in the Bahamas Roy Waldo Miner 594

Undersea experiences along the barrier reef of Andros Island
With a color plate by W. E. Belanske prepared, under the direction of the author, from a photo-
graph of living corals, as well as several illustrations indicative of the work of the Museum ex-
pedition
The Coral Gardens of Andros opposite 600

Duotone reproductions of photographs taken through the Wilhamson Submarine Tube by Roy
W. Miner and J. E. Williamson
A Submarine Cable Among the Corals . . . Charles Haskins Townsend 601

A gauge of their rate of growth
With a coral-encrusted section of the cable photographed by permission of the Commercial
Cable Company
"Pearls and Savages" William K. Gregory 603

A review of Captain Frank Hurley's book on New Guinea
Bird Banding Maunsell S. Crosby 605

A survey of its development and its application in the solution of problems that puzzle the
ornithologist
Photographs of methods of trapping and banding, as well as portraits of banded birds, by S.
Prentiss Baldwin, L. R. Talbot, T. D. Carter, G. Clyde Fisher, R. H. Howland, and
Arthur A. Allen
Notes 618

of Natm-al History, 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
membership.
From a painting by Courtenay Brandreih
A NEW KINGFISHER FROM THE TUAMOTUS

Todirhamphus gertrudse, a hitherto undescribed kingfisher obtained during the Whitney
Expedition at Niau Island of the Tuamotu Group, South Pacific Ocean. The bird at the right
is an adult male, the other a female in not quite fully mature plumage; the reproduction is
one-half natural size. The Polynesian kingfishers previously known to science are chiefly
native to more or less mountainous islands. This species, however, inhabits a wooded atoll
less than five miles in diameter, which encloses a mouthless lagoon.
The kingfisher has been named in honor of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (Mrs. Harry
Payne Whitney)
Volume XXIV SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER NUMBEK 5
The "France" under motor pnwer among coral islets of the Tuamotus
The Whitney South Sea Expedition

A SKETCH OF THE BIRD LIFE OF POLYNESIA
By ROBERT CUSHMAN MURPHY
Assistant Director (Scientific Section) , American Museum
theIphotographs used as illustrations of this article wehe taken by rollo h. beck, leader of the
whitney south sea expedition
EASTWARD from Australia and

New Guinea, stretches the great-
rimmed
shelves,
successively by narrow coastal
sandy beaches, coral fringes,
est assemblage of islands upon moatlike lagoons, and barrier reefs.
earth. The separate archipel- Still others, like the majority of the
agoes, which lie mostly between the Tuamotus, are low-lying bars and
outer borders of the tropics, are too atolls, upon which mangroves and coco-
varied to be considered as a unit and, nut palms make up the conspicuous
like Gaul, are divided according to vegetation. The several tj-pes occur,
racial characteristics of the native too, in hybrid stages, and they are
peoples into three major parts, of which sometimes further comphcated by up-
the easternmost is Polynesia or the thrusts from the sea bottom which
domain of "Many Isles." Roughly cause such coral formations as iMaka-
speaking, this group comprises land tea and Mangareva of the Tuamotus,
areas of the Central Pacific Ocean which and Rurutu of the Australs, to resem-
are situated east of a diagonal line ble superficially the product of out-
connecting New Zealand with Hawaii. pouring lava.
Although all share the blood-stirring But whether a mere spit lying in
tradition of the true ''South Seas," perpetual jeopardy of engulfing waters,
the Polynesian isles are by no means of or a green and craggy mountain in the
one type; rather, they illustrate three sea, each isle of Polynesia seems to
or more stages in the birth or dis- have inherited some of the spell of
integration of oceanic land. Some, Eden. ''Few men who come to the
like certain of the Marquesas and islands leave them," said Stevenson,
Austral islands, are little more than who exemplified his own belief; "they
bold rocks rising from profound depths. grow grey where they alighted. The
Others, such as Tahiti, are lofty, palm shades and the trade-wind fans
heavily forested, volcanic peaks, them till they die, perhaps cherishing
53»
540 NATURAL HISTORY
to the last the fancy of a visit home, ploration has, in fact, only begun to
which is rarely made, more rarely en- go beyond its primitive stage. Dis-
joyed, and yet more rarely repeated. covery, high-handed annexation, the
No part of the world exerts the same claims and bickerings of world Powers,
attractive power upon the visitor." travel for its own sake, missionary
activity by numerous sects, phosphate
THE SOUTH PACIFIC AS A FIELD FOR digging, agriculture,commerce in copra,
EXPLORATION pearls, —
and trepang these have gone
With the continual dwindling of un- on here and there for a hundred years,
known areas on the continents, the but the increase of exact knowledge has
Pacific islands stand, in a sense, as the been relatively small. Whole tribes of
last rich field for scientific exploration. splendid aboriginal peoples have melted
This does not mean that many islets, away under the blights of civilization
however insignificant, remain to be before their traditions could be recorded
found and christened by adventurous or their relationships determined. With
voyagers. Most of them, indeed, have the decimation of the native Polyne-
been pricked, generations ago, on well- sians, some of their culture plants,
worn charts, and have been named and such as many varieties of breadfruit
renamed from two to ten times by sea- which require human nurture, have also
farers of five centuries Perhaps no! tended to disappear. Abnormal con-
tiny spot of land now exists the shores centration of copra gatherers or pearl
of which have not shown the ephem- fishermen upon small islets has worked
eral footprints of half a thousand free- its evil effect upon the face of nature.
booters, explorers, slavers, whalemen, Moreover, the acclimation of alien
and beach combers from the white fruits, and of weedlike shrubs, such as
man's world. But the greater part of the guava and lantana, has changed the
whatever spoil or impressions these entire aspect of the flora on certain
wanderers brought away has passed islands. Nor has the fauna suffered
with them into oblivion. less severely. In the path of the heed-
True geographical science, in the less white exploiter many a defenseless
words of Sir Archibald Geikie, is not a ground-living bird vanished so long
"chronicle of marvellous and often ago that it is now only an obscure
questionable adventures by flood and name in the annals of ornithology.
fell. . . Foreign animals, doinestic or wild,
''It requires more training in its have added to the destructive changes.
explorers abroad, more knowledge on The introduction of sheep, dogs, cats,
the part of its readers at home. The and even of the mongoose, into islands
days are drawing to a close when one which had no indigenous mammals,
can gain undying geographical renown together with the rapid spread of
by struggling against man and beast, starlings and weaver finches, and of a
fever and hunger and drought, across b awk transported from Australia, makes
some savage and previously unknown it inevitable that still more of the
region, even though little can be shown original Polynesian birds are doomed to
as the outcome of the journey. All go the way of the lost species, perhaps
honour to the pioneers by whom this even before they are known to science.
first exploratory work has been so In short, from earliest times the
nobly done! They will be succeeded study of natural history in the Pacific
by a race that will find its laurels more has been subordinate to other aims.
difficult to win —
a race from which The all but mythical Spanish naviga-
more will be expected, and which will tors of the sixteenth century, such as
need to make up in the variety, amount, Alvaro Mendaiia de Neyra, who dis-
and value of its detail, what it lacks in covered the Marquesas Islands about
the freshness of first glimpses into new 1595, carried no savants in their gal-
lands." leons. So far as we know, their travels
These comments apply with particu- were spurred on by the incongruous
lar force to Polynesia. Pacific ex- medieval motives of conquest and sal-
^^"""""'wwrn^
iJ^^'ilt
ROLLO H. BECK, LEADER OF THE WHITNEY 80UTH SEA EXPEDITION

Mr. Beck is notebook in hand, recording a find on Fakarava Island. The
seen, nest is
that of a brown booby (Sula leiicogaster plotus). The "France" is in the offing
541
542 NATURAL HISTORY
vation, both to be ruthlessly imposed seize within the span of the present
upon allthe brown-skinned infidels. generation if it was not to slip away
The voyagers of the Golden Age of irrevocably.
exploration, like Bougainville and
James Cook, were accompanied by THE WHITNEY EXPEDITION IS LAUNCHED
naturalists who brought back to Four years ago, Dr. Leonard C.
Europe the first examples of many Sanford, a Trustee and Honorary
historic plants and animals, but their Fellow of the American, Museum with
expeditions were mainly concerned, an ardent interest in oceanic birds, in-
nevertheless, with pure geographic duced Mr. Harry Payne Whitney to
discovery and with observing as- support a notable project in the Pacific.
The choice of a leader in the field was
fixed by virtue of former accomplish-
ment upon Mr. RoUo H. Beck, a
veteran exploring naturalist who had
previously served the Museum on
expeditions in South American waters
and elsewhere. Fortunately, the plan
appealed to Mr. Beck, and so, in
August, 1920, the Whitney South Sea
Expedition was launched.
Space will not permit an account of
the argonautic travels of Mr. Beck
and his successive associates, Messrs.
Quayle and Correia, but brief glimpses
of their experiences have been given
Mr. Quayleand his Polynesian guide search- by the leader himself in various issues
ing for the breeding ground of the nohud, or of Natural History.^
Tahitian petrel (Pterodroma rostrata), among Suffice it to say that after a recon-
lofty, forested ridges on which Titian Peale
first discovered the species more than eighty
naissance of the classic isle of Ta-
years ago hiti, and of several neighboring parts
of Polynesia, Mr. Beck purchased the
tronomical phenomena such as a transit auxiliary schooner "France," a step
of the planet Venus. Subsequently, which made the expedition independent
land collecting of an incidental sort of sailing schedules and trade routes.
has been undertaken by oceanographic Flying the burgee of the Museum, the
expeditions, such as those of Darwin's "France " has since visited more than a
ship, the "Beagle," the fleet under hundred islands of the Society, Mar-
command of Wilkes during the United Tuamotu, Austral, Cook,
quesas, Line,
States Exploring Expedition of 1838-42, and Samoan groups, and has now pro-
or the Bureau of Fisheries steamer ceeded to the rich field of the Fijis,
"Albatross" during her several Pacific in Melanesia. Collection and study
voyages. Finally, naturalists on long of the birds of the South Seas have
yachting cruises, or working entirely been the primary objects, but many
as free lances, have added sporadically other animals and a large assemblage of
to our knowledge of the Polynesian plant specimens have likewise been
groups. Most of the South Pacific obtained. The camera, moreover, has
collections in modern scientific mu- been brought constantly into use, and
seums consist of fragmentary material the photographs illustrating the en-
derived from such sources, and, so far vironment, the animal life, and the
as birds are concerned, no other part appearance and customs of the human
of the world still affords so many spe- inhabitants, are of utmost value,
cies either inadequately represented 1" Visiting the Nests of Seabirds by Automobile"
(July-August, 1921); "A Visit to Rapa Island in
or totally lacking in all museums. Southern Polynesia" (January-February, 1922); "Bird
So much for the opportunity an — Collecting in Polynesia" (November-December, 1922);
"The Voyage of the Trance'" (January-February,
opportunity which it was necessary to 1923).
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION 543
especially those made at localities land so close together that they

—
regrettably numerous in which the may be within sight of each other.
state of the fauna and of the people is Mr. Beck's instructions were to take
altering materially in response to nothing for granted, but to obtain
external transformations. examples of the entire avifauna at
Enjoying the cooperation of the every islet on which he landed, regard-
Bishop Museum of Honolulu, present- less of whatever duplication this might
day headquarters for Pacific research, seem to involve. The procedure has
and with courteous assistance from been thoroughly justified by the results
French, British, and American officials duplication has been relatively slight,
among the far-flung archipelagoes, the and the collections illustrate the ex-
Whitney Expedition has been enabled traordinary plasticity of numerous
to carry out its mission in a manner types of both land and sea birds,—
hitherto impracticable owing to prob- truth not generally suspected until re-
lems of time, distance, and expense. cent years, even though Darwin long
The specimens and notes thus far ago described similar phenomena evi-
received at the Museum provide data dent at the Galapagos Islands.
for comprehensive reports upon Pacific
birds, and for distinctly new exhibits; SEASONAL VISITORS FROM THE ARCTIC
they also put us in the happy position The birds ofPolynesia naturally
of being able to supply sister institu- exemplify a wide variety of both
tions in other parts of the world with marine and terrestrial forms. Dividing
species which they might otherwise the avifauna in another way, we may
never acquire. distinguish the indigenous breeding
Although several thousand birds species from seasonal migrants which
have been collected in the course of the come regularly to the South Seas from
field work of the Whitney Expedition, nesting grounds in Alaska or Siberia,
emphasis should be placed upon the or which wander northward from south
fact that no excessive destruction of temperate or subpolar regions. To
life has been countenanced. In the these travelers we can here give only
case of sea birds, the specimens have passing attention, but it is a marvel
been taken mostly on the open ocean how such shore birds as our familiar
or in colonies made up of thousands of sanderling, the turnstone, wandering
their kind. The majority of the land tattler, bristle-thighed curlew, and Pa-
birds have had a natural protection in cificgolden plover, make almost incred-
the rough country or almost im- ible flights from the Arctic tundra to
penetrable jungle in which it has been smiling islands far south in the greatest
necessary to seek them. Moreover, of oceans. The golden plover is as
the determination of Mr. Beck to much at home in dry uplands of the
collect as many kinds of birds as Marquesas as it once was on the downs
possible at each island, has in itself of Montauk. The eggs of the wander-
limited the representation of any one ing tattler have only recently been dis-
species from a single locality. In the covered in Alaska who would suspect
;
past, most ornithologists have shot the distance of its birthplace if he saw
two or three warblers, flycatchers, the little gray snipe skimming above
doves, or what not, at the first island the thundering reef of Raiatea? The
in their itinerary, and have thereafter boreal breeding ground of the bristle-
been content to record in their note- thighed curlew is still wrapped in
books that the same sorts were ''pres- mystery, although the bird was made
ent" at islands subsequently visited. known a century and a half ago from
But it is now known that many Poly- the heart of its winter range, a fact
nesian birds vary unaccountably from commemorated by its specific name
island to island, and that distinct Phceopus tahitiensis.
species, or geographic forms of the Besides the snipes and the plovers,
same species, are often mutually ex- a few birds of more pelagic life make
clusive occupants of two bodies of the long journey from the Arctic.
544 NATURAL HISTORY
Both the parasitic and the pomarine ists worked their way through the
jaeger, for example, come to Polynesian jungle-covered steeps to altitudes above
waters to harass the native terns. six thousand feet, and there found the
From the opposite direction, certain homes of a new species of brown and
albatrosses and petrels retreat before white petrel which Titian Peale named
the Antarctic twilight at least as far Procellaria rostrata} This bird, the
as the southerly border of the area. nohud of the Tahitians, was redis-
covered by Beck and Quayle in the
TROPICAL WATER BIRDS same mountain ridges after many weeks
The resident water birds of Poly- of hunting, and subsequently was dug
nesia belong to the families of the out of its burrows on the western
Stegano-
petrels, terns, sandpipers, the Society Islands.
podes or oar-footed swimmers, the A smaller though similar petrel,
herons, ducks, and rails. The make-up likewise described by Peale, is Ptero-
of several of these groups is as notable droma parvirostris, which seems to be
for its omissions as for its representa- confined to islands of scanty vegetation,
tions. Gulls, cormorants, pelicans, thus avoiding competition for nesting
geese,and plovers, for instance, are sites with the preceding species. It
wanting at the southern oceanic
all has been obtained during the Whitney
archipelagoes, although some of these Expedition at Christmas Island, close
occur in New Zealand or Hawaii. to the equator, and among the Tuamo-
tus, as well as on the leeward or dry
slopes of some of the Marquesas,
Several exceedingly rare relatives of
—
these two birds rare in the sense that
they have always been poorly repre-
sented in museum collections are the —
"gadfly petrels" of somewhat more
southerly latitudes, which nest upon
the surface of the ground. The
descriptive appellation is derived from
the genus name (Estrelata, by which
these birds were formerly known, and
relates to the fact that their swift,
twisting flight suggests the actions of
creatures goaded to madness by such
an insect as Hera sent to torment
lo. Among the Austral Islands, espe-
cially at Bass Rocks, the last outpost
between eastern Polynesia and the
Antarctic, members of the expedition
found several species of gadfly petrels
in great abundance, while at the un-
inhabited islands of Henderson, Oeno,
and Ducie, not far from Pitcairn
A gadfly petrel (probably Pterodroma neg-
lecta) on its breeding ground at Ducie Island lonely home of the "Bounty" muti-
'This species is now called Pterodroma rostrata. All
shear- but a few copies of the work in which it was described
Tropical types of petrels, — Volume VIII in the reports of the United States Ex-
waters, and Mother Carey's chickens ploring Expedition, Mammalia and Ornithology, 1848,
the most truly oceanic of all birds

—
by Titian R. Peale were destroyed by fire before dis-
tribution. The volume was never reissued, but was
replaced ten years later by a work of the same title
are common throughout Polynesia. from the pen of John Cassin, who quotes much of
Many kinds nest in burrows, either in Peale's text. Peale's own work, which is filled with
the original descriptions of birds and mammals, has
the coral sand of atolls or in the moist therefore always been one of the rarest and at the same
soil of mountain rain forests. When time one of the most important reference books on
systematic zoology. Until last year the American Mu-
the United States Exploring Expedi- seum Library did not possess it, when an extraordi-
narily fine copy was purchased at auction and pre-
tion visited Tahiti in 1839, the natural- sented to the institution by Mr. James B. Ford.
!' ^
546 'NATURAL HISTORY
—
neers the soil beneath thickets of are extraordinarily numerous at prac-
gnarled and stunted trees was covered tically all the Pacific islands, while the
with tens of thousands of the white size of the breeding colonies of the
eggs or powder-puff chicks of the birds. soot}'' tern, or wideawake {Sterna
Of smaller petrels, the swallows of fuscata), beggars description. Suffice
the sea, numerous interesting species it to say that the Yankee whalemen,
from many localities have been sent to who were accustomed to gather the
the Museum. Some of the specimens eggs of this bird for food, reckoned the
have already thrown new light upon population by "acreage" rather than
classification and distribution, and by numbers, and so recorded the extent
have shown that the demarcation of of the colonies in their log books.
ranges is no less sharp on the sup-
posedl}'' uniform and ''boundless" THE WRAITHLIKE FAIRY TERNS
ocean than on the highly varied sur- Antitheses of the dark noddies are
face of a continent. Winds, water the exquisite fairy terns of the genus
temperatures, differences of salinity, Leucanous, perhaps the most delicately
and other physical characteristics, beautiful and ethereal of all sea birds.
with all that they imply in the ecology The Spanish voyagers likened them to
of oceanic life, are the fences of the sea; the dove in which the Holy Spirit
and maritime birds of specialized feed- became incarnate. The adults are
ing habits cannot stray outside their pure white, with dark bills and feet,
own peculiar sphere anj^ more regularly and exceptionally large eyes. When
or successfully than birds of mountain their wraithlike forms flutter overhead,
woodland can thrive on grassy plains it seems as though the sunbeams or the
or desert-dwellers in the marshes. We glow of the tropical sky were penetrat-
can stop to speak of but a single one ing their bodies like x-raj^s, for the
of the Mother Carey's chickens of the thinly covered bones of the wings be-
Pacific, namely, the historic, streaky- come visible through filmy plumage.
breasted bird known as Peale's petrel. The fairy terns have reacted in a
The type specimen was taken at Samoa subtle manner to their environment,
in 1839, and onlj^ one or two additional for a distinct race of very small size
examples had been reported during the seems to be peculiar to certain of the
decades that intervened until Mr. Beck Marquesas Islands, while those in-
shot one off the Marquesan island of habiting southern Polynesia, beyond
Huapu on September 15, 1922. The the zone of trade winds, differ in other
species had been known hitherto by ways from the ordinary equatorial
the generic name of Pealea, created representatives. All, however, are
especially for it, but a comparative tree or shrub dwellers, as are also the
study now discloses the fact that the noddies. But the noddies build plat-
bird is in realitj^ closely akin to various forms which, by courtesy, may be
other small Pacific petrels instead of called nests, while the fairy tern lays
being a highly aberrant offshoot. Only its single egg upon a broken stub, the
the dearth of pertinent material in bark of a bare limb,^ or even on the
museums prevented an earlier appre- slippery shaft of a palm frond.
ciation of this fact.
The absence of gulls among the MAN-O'-WAR AND TROPIC BIRDS
islands is offset by the abundance of In the rather heterogeneous order of
terns, no less than ten different mem- sea birds known as Steganopodes, the
bers of this familj?- being found in Polynesian members comprise three
eastern Polynesia. One, the crested species of boobies, two of tropic birds,
tern (Thalasseus hergi), is as large as and two of man-o'-war birds. All of
some of the gulls. The others are these belong to wide-ranging species,
smaller, two of them, the blue and the with forms of close affinity in other
gray ternlets, being among the tiniest warm oceans. The Pacific man-o'-
of terns. Noddies of two kinds, one iPor a photograph of such a precarious nest site the
reader is referred to the issue of Natural History for
prevailingly brown, the other black, January-February, 1923, p. 40.
A fairy tern of Fakarava, Tuamotu Group.— This species (Leucanous albus), with its
snowy plumage, blue and black extraordinarily large eyes, and unsuspicious mien, is
bill,
one of the loveliest of sea birds. It is a perching tern, usually alighting on twigs or
crags.
Its single egg is deposited on the rough bark of a horizontal limb, upon
a broken stub, or
even on the shaft of a palm frond. More rarely it is found in a niche of a coral ledge
war birds are of two kinds, one con- upon the same islet. The boobies are
siderably larger than the other, but more definitely separated in their
their habitats seem not to be sharply manner of life, for the red-footed
differentiated, for sometimes both nest booby nests in trees, whereas the
548 NATURAL HISTORY
Eiao Island, one of the Marquesas

Man-o'-war birds resting above the shimmering waters of
brown booby and the blue-faced booby bird (Phaethon ruhricaudus) . The
lay their eggs on the ground. Thus in latter, which garbed in rosy plumage
is
breeding habits the red-footed booby is of satiny sheen, can neither perch nor
associated with the man-o'-war birds, stand up. It nests on the ground,
while the other species align themselves often in good-sized communities, and
with the handsome red-tailed tropic it must shuffle away on its breast be-
fore taking flight. The long red plumes —

blue vault, to disappear but only for a
of this tireless flyer have always been moment —
beneath the water. Much
prized ornaments of the South Sea smaller than the red-tailed species is
people. Readers of Herman Melville the yellow-billed tropic bird (Phaethon
may recall that when the Marquesan lepturus), which has broader, white
chief, Mehevi, sought to impress the tail plumes, and which differs also in
captive author of Types, he came to confining its nest sites to niches in the
him with his head gloriously crowned face of lofty hills.
with the erect, crimson feathers. Ben- Of other water birds, a teal which
nett and other voyagers tell us that looks like a small edition of the North
islets prolific in this special source of American black duck is widely distrib-
wealth, such as Tubal of the Society uted among such islands as have fresh-
Islands, were monopolized by the royal water ponds or marshes. A small
Polynesian rulers, and considered the '
fly-up-the-creek
'
'
{Butorides
' stag-
hereditary lands of their families. It natilis), akin to our green heron,
may be added, however, for the benefit haunts the vales of running streams,
of more civilized wearers of avian and is therefore lacking on the atolls,
millinery, that the islanders never while the reef heron, notable for its
took the life of the bird which supplied puzzling color phases white, dark —
the treasure; they merely plucked out blue, and mottled —characteristic of
is
the tail of the fearless or stolid creature lagoon shores. On broad coral rings of
while it sat upon its egg, causing no the Tuamotus this bird sometimes
damage whatsoever, unless the bird's temporarily forsakes its salt-water
pride be taken into account. fishing for a banquet of lizards from
The genus of the tropic birds has the palm boles.
been appropriately named after that Without dwelling further on the
daring son of Apollo whose sky-riding Pacific water fowl, we must say some-
ended in a headlong plunge. Just so thing of the all but unknown native
the birds drop like arrows from the sandpipers and rails, before turning to
Frigate, or man-o'-war, birds (Fregata minor 'palmerstoni) nesting at Hatutu Island of

the Marquesas
550 NATURAL HISTORY
in flocks before him along the breezy
strands, or perched within arm's
reach on the mangrove branches while
he was eating his lunch, is thrilling to
an ornithologist who previously had
known only vague bookish descriptions
of the bird's appearance.
Several kinds of rails and gallinules
were native to Polynesia. At least two
of these are now extinct, and still
more have never been represented in
the museums of America. One small
secretive, red-legged, black rail has
been given an assortment of scientific
names, according to the place of origin
of the respective specimens; but a
study of skins obtained during the
Whitney Expedition at seventeen dif-
ferent islands between Oeno and Samoa
indicates that a single unvarying form,
which should be called Porzanoidea
tabuensis, ranges throughout numerous
archipelagoes. The stability or fixity
of certain supposedly ancient types of
The red-footed booby (Sula piscator), a
long-tailed, perching species and the only Pa- birds, when contrasted with the re-
cific booby which constructs a nest in trees markable geographic variability of
or bushes. Coast of Hatutu Island, Marque- others, is hard to interpret; the fact
sas Group
merely stands as one of the unsolved
strictly terrestrial birds. Two or more problems of evolution. However,
forms of diminutive shore birds be-
longing to genera called Prosohonia
—
and JEchmorhynchus and related, it is
alleged, to a rare snipe of the southern
—
Andes! were found by the early voy-
agers at many South Pacific localities.
In some of the less sophisticated writ-
ings they are referred to as "quails."
Although too small to be worth shoot-
ing in a region where edible pigeons and
ducks abounded, the sandpipers in one
way or another became generally
exterminated. Prosohonia has never
been rediscovered, and the only exist-
ing specimen is treasured in the Leyden
Museum. Previous to the Whitney
Expedition not more than five or six
examples of the other genus were
scattered through ornithological col-
lections of the world, but at certain
remote atolls of the multitudinous
Tuamotus Mr. Beck encountered
Peale's species, Mchmorhynchus parvi-
rostris, as a yet common bird. To
read in Beck's notes of how these An incubating blue-faced booby (Sula dac-
tylatra), largest ofthe Pacific species and a
sandpipers, which remind one of tiny ground-nesting bird. Photographed at Maria
upland plovers (Bartramia) scurried , Island, Tuamotu Group
at Henderson Island, which is partly had become established on all the

surrounded by the insular range of wooded islands.
larger
Porzanoidea tahuensis, there exists a Indigenous species belong to the
larger, quite distinct black rail which families of the fruit pigeons, tooth-
has completely lost the power of flight billed pigeons, quail doves, lories or
through a reduction in the size, number, brush-tongued parrots, true parrots,
and stiffness of its wing and tail quills. barn owls, swifts, kingj&shers, cuckoos,
This strange bird, known only since swallows. Old World flycatchers, star-
1908, is sufficiently different from its lings. Old World warblers, and sev-
small cousin to be placed in a new eral others; but not all of these occur
genus, and it has been described by the in any single cluster of islands. Thus
writer as Nesophylax, the "island the remarkable tooth-billed or dodo
guardian." pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris) —not
A quaint home of the widely distributed reef heron {Demiegretta sacra), built in the hold
of a wrecked hulk at Tahiti
LAND BIRDS OF POLYNESIA to be confused with the extinct dodo

The land birds of the South Seas are inhabits only the main islands of
obviously of Asiatic origin, but, quite Samoa. It was at one time greatly
aside from the unique avifauna of reduced through hunting by the newly
Hawaii, many peculiar species and armed natives and the ravages of their
genera have had time and impetus to half-wild domestic cats, but is now,
develop in different island groups. The perhaps, increasing.
invading white man, furthermore, is Most exquisite of all Pacific birds
responsible for the recent introduction are the fruit pigeons, clad in soft
of hawks, weavers, the so-called mina, feathers of gray, blue, yellow, metallic
rock pigeons, Indian bulbuls, and green, and pastel hues, with caps of
others. The ancestors of still another white, or lilac, or tnauve, or blazing
interloper, the jungle fowl, were brought violet-rose. Some of these, such as
by the savage Polynesian navigators on the purple-crowned pigeon (Ptilopus
their early migrations, and, long before coralensis) of the Tuamotus, and the
the advent of Europeans, feral poultry white-crowned pigeon of the Marque-
552 NATURAL HISTORY
sas (formidably named Ptilopus dupe- passes description; even their dried
tithoiiarsi in commemoration of the skins, in the words of a visitor to the
naval officer who took possession of Museum, remind one of blood oranges,
the islands for France), have relativel}^ of peacock's tails, of precious stones!
wide ranges. Others, like the Tahitian The quail doves are no less fascinat-
species (Ptilopus purpuratus) are con- , ing than the fruit pigeons, and are
fined to two or three islands. In still even more rare because their ground-
other instances, magnificent forms are living habits have rendered their j'oung
restricted to a single dot of land in the easy victims of cats and hogs. Five or
wide sea their destruction throughout
; more kinds have thus far been taken
a few square miles would mean the by the staff of the "France," of which
blotting out of a wonderful unit of the Marquesan species (Gallicolumba
creation. One of this category, Ptilopus ruhescens) is for historical reasons the
chalcurus, found only on the uplifted most important. This bird was dis-
coral isle of Makatea in the Tuamotu covered by the Russian explorer,
group, leads a naturalist to suspect Krusenstern, in 1813. He brought
back no specimens in his ship, but
published a crude drawing of the bird
in the Atlas of the voyage. From that
date until October, 1922, the Marque-
san quail dove was not seen by a
naturalist. Its appearance, relation-
ships, its yery existence, indeed, were
all doubtful until Mr. Beck found it
still frequenting the brushy hiUsides of
Hatutu and Fatuhuku.
THE KINGFISHER, BIRD OF AUGURY

The small, blue and green Polyne-
sian kingfishers, the colors of which
change astonishingly according to the
angle of light, seldom if ever wet their
wings by diving into streams. They
prefer to forage for insects and for the
lively lizards which scuttle thi-ough
the vegetation. No species has an
Purple-crowned fruit pigeons (Ptilopus cora- extensive range; the kingfisher of
lensis) of the Tuamotu Ai-chipelago, accepting
of the "France"
Tahiti is even different from that of
berries from the captain
neighboring Moorea. In the Society
that the topographic and consequent Islands the kingfishers were regarded
floral change resulting from geological as sacred birds, ''givers of good and
disturbance was in some way respon- bad fortune," according to Sir Joseph
sible for the evolution of this bird from Banks, who accompanied Cook on the
the stock of Ptilopus coralensis, for the latter's first voyage of circumnaviga-
latter lives on all the lower islands tion, a tradition perpetuated in the
round about. technical name of the Tahitian species
A long-tailed, raspberry-breasted — Todirhamphus veneratus. The im-
fruit pigeon of Rapa, the southernmost mortal Cook himself, in recounting a
islet of eastern Poljmesia, was known human sacrifice which he witnessed,
previously from only one specimen in states that the officiating priests
the museum at Turin, Italy. It repre- awaited the voice of a god, which was
sents the type of a new genus which finally expressed through the rattling
has been described from Whitney Ex- call of a kingfisher.
pedition material as Thyliphaps, the Hitherto aU the known South Pacific
''
pigeon of Uttermost Thule." The have come from more or less
kingfishers
beauty of aU of these birds in life mountainous islands, but the '\^'llitney
Expedition has obtained at Niau, of lands or, sometimes, upon a single islet.
the Tuamotus, the new species por- Large, yellowish types, represented by
trayed in the frontispiece, which has certain subspecies of the Society and
been dedicated to Mrs. Whitney. Marquesas, are at one end of the series,
Of other land birds we can speak here and the very small, gray warbler of
but briefly. Merchants of Papeete, Christmas Island is at the other end.
the metropohs of French Oceania, tell Even more diverse in size and pattern
of their boyhood sport of trying to are the insular flycatchers of the genus
knock down with switches the low- Pomarea, named for the old kings of
flying opeias, or edible-nest swifts Tahiti. The Tahitian flycatcher (Po-
{Collocalia thespesia), which were for- marea nigra) is one of many South
merly common in the streets of the town Sea species included in Lord Roth-
This bird, one of a group famous as the schild's monograph on Extinct Birds
source of Chinese bird's-nest soup, has (1907) but Mr. Beck has shown that it
;
now disappeared from Tahiti, although still thrives in the mountain fastness
it still holds out elsewhere. The par- of the queen of isles.
rots of eastern Polynesia apparently
vanished long ago, but lories the size of WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS IN STORE
sparrows, and bizarre in red, blue, and With reference to opportunities still
emerald plumage, still inhabit the less- before the Whitney Expedition, Doctor
settled islands. Some of the lories are Richmond, of the United States Na-
favorite pets of the Polynesians, who tional Museum, has reminded the
have transported them hither and writer that for many years the belief
thither until little clue remains as to prevailed that the bird life of Hawaii
their natural distribution. A speckled, —
was well known that the ornithology
pale-blue species (Coriphilus smarag- of the group was, indeed, a ''finished
dinus) is still peculiar to the Marque- product." Then, about 1887, one or
sas. A dark blue, white-throated lory more naturahsts began to investigate
of the Society and Tuamotu Islands these islands in the modern, intensive
was evidently first brought to Europe manner, and ten new genera were dis-
without a label, for in 1776 the zoologist covered. We may hope for a similar
Mtiller described it as Psittacus peruvi- prospect in the South Seas. Hundreds
anus! Despite the anachronism, the spe- of islets have not yet been searched by
cific name has priority over others more trained men. In the secluded moun-
appropriate, and the libel on this paro- tains of even the largest and ''best
quet's nationality must stand forever. known" islands there may well be
A similar error accounts for the unknown secretive birds which have
name of the sweet-voiced Tahitian not yet withered away before man and
warbler (Conopoderas caffra), which the the pests he brings with him. The
eighteenth century naturalist, Sparr- Whitney Expedition has demonstrated
man, evidently jumbled with birds ob- its effectiveness;its results will arouse
tained in the land of the Kaffirs (i.e. a public sentiment which may become
South Africa). The bird is related to the only means of saving certain birds
the reed warblers of Eurasia, and its from extinction; it is assuredly paving;
genus has run riot in Polynesia, for a the way for a fuller understanding of
distinct race, differing in size, propor- biological and zoogeographical prob-
tions, or color from all relatives, seems lems in a long-neglected quarter of the
to occur at each small assemblage of is- globe.
Photograph by Julian A. Dimmock
SUNSET AT SEA
The Oceans
By WILLIAM MORRIS DAVIS
Sturgis-Hooper Professor of Geology, Emeritus, Harvard University
WHEN primitive man, wandering

over the solid lands that sup-
charted, and few,
islands remain to be discovered;
if any, oceanic
the
ported his tread so well, came depths of the oceans have been sounded
upon the ''great waters" which would at many points, and samples of bottom
not support him and which could not deposits have been brought up to the
be drunk because of their saltiness, he surface for study; movements of
the
must have regarded them as very the oceans in waves, currents, and tides
mysterious if the human mind had at have come to be fairly well understood.
that early time acquired the capacity But new mysteries now confront us;
of conceiving anything so abstract as a and of these, the most fundamental
mystery. The unseen extent of the is what is the origin of the vast sheet
:
waters beyond the smooth horizon of water that so evenly covers three-
line must have seemed utterly un- fourths of the earth's surface to an
knowable; if other lands lay on the average depth of about two miles?
farther side of the waters, they could Older and newer hypotheses have been
not be reached. framed to answer this question, but no
Those early mysteries are now solved. certain knowledge has been reached. A
The extent of all the oceans has been generation ago, when most geologists
measured, their shores have been confidently believed the earth to be a
554
THE OCEANS 555
cooled-down aggregation of hot matter lava; and in so far as these gases in-
slowly gathered from an ardent chaos, cluded water vapor, a large part of it
the ocean was supposed to have been cooled and condensed in clouds and
first formed, after the temperature of fell as rain; then — -as was also sup-
the earth's crust had been reduced posed in the earlier hypothesis —the
enough to allow water to remain upon rain water gathered into streams and,
it, by the gradual condensation of even with greater fluidity than the
rainfall from the heavy, steamy at- molten lava, ran down the slopes of
mosphere which had long shrouded the the lands and spread out with a level
globe while it was still glowing with surface in the primitive depressions.
heat. But today the confident accept- Thus explained, the oceans began to
ance of that earher view is shaken by form from a supply of interior or tel-
the introduction of a very different luric not of exterior or at-
water,
concept, according to which the earth mospheric water; and thus they have
has been built up slowly of scraps of continued to grow to greater and
cold matter —planetesimals—loosely at greater volumes through the geologic
first, when mass was small and its
its ages; thus they may, according to the
gravity was therefore weak, more be growing still. It is
later hypothesis,
compactly as it grew to greater and impossible to say which one, if either,
greater size and the cold exterior of these explanations is true; but in
weighed down more heavily on the cold this sort of long-range archery, it is
interior more compactly still when the

; well to have two bow.
strings to one's
increasing outer parts crushed the The present relation of the uneven-
inert inner parts and thereby gen- nesses of our planet's surface to the
erated a growing store of interior heat, volume of the ocean waters is such that
thus providing for a beginning of the the oceans are deep enough to cover
various processes of vulcanism. Even- the greater part of that surface in a
tually, as the present size of the earth continuous sheet, and that the lands
was approached and reached, volcanic emerge in only one quarter of the
eruptions became powerful and fre- whole. The continents have generally
—
quent enough as they still are to — been built in large patterns who can —
expel great volumes of gases from the —
say why? and most of them are con-
interior and to pour out vast floods of tiguous in one hemisphere. The other,
The. globe may be divided into a land hemisphere (left) and a water hemisphere (right).
London is close to the pole of the former; the pole of the latter is in the ocean near New
Zealand. Drawn by W. E. Belanske
556 NATURAL HISTORY
or water hemisphere, in which New first five are all characterized by wind-
Zealand Hes near the pole, is almost driven, slow-moving, clockwise-turning^
wholly oceanic; it includes all the currents of small depth, which eddy
Pacific as well as the adjoining waters around their central and relatively
known as the Antarctic Ocean, and a stagnant sargasso The small
seas.
good part of the Indian Ocean; of circum-Arctic eddy, rimmed in by the
larger land areas it includes only the continents, is in gear with and therefore
outlying masses of Australia and Ant- turns opposite to the North Atlantic
arctica, and the narrowing part of eddy. The much greater Antarctic
—
Map of the world, showing the ocean currents. In the monsoon region of India, the
winds reverse their direction every six months, and therefore two sets of ocean currents are
shown for this region. After Davis
farther South America. The land hemi- eddy, which rims an ice-covered conti-
sphere, in which, curiously enough, the nent, is in gear with and turns opposite
capital of the greatest colonizing nation to the three southern eddies.
of the world lies near the pole, has for The two Atlantic eddies are pecu-
its oceanic area only the winding, canal- liarly related: they become confluent
like Atlantic with its gulflike Arctic in the torrid zone,but by reason of the
termination and its mediterranean different of western Africa
relations
attachments, east and west, along with and eastern South America to the
an oblique northwestern slice of the equator, a large branch of the southern
Indian Ocean. eddy is diverted obliquely across the
Although the salt waters of the world equator to the northern eddy; evi-
—barring certain inland lakes —are an equivalent branch
dently, therefore,
thus continuous, they are naturally di- must be diverted from the northern
vided by a system of ocean currents, side of the northern eddy, west of
and also artificially for purposes of na- Ireland, and directed past Scandinavia
val administration, into seven oceans, 'It is often stated that these eddies turn clockwise
in the Northern Hemisphere and counter-clockwise in
the North and South Atlantic, the the Southern; but it may be truly said that they both
turn clockwise if we only remember in the case of the
North and South Pacific, the Indian, Southern Hemisphere to look at the other side of the
clock, just as we there look at the other side of the
the Arctic, and the Antarctic. The plane of the equator.
THE OCEANS 557
to form the Arctic eddy. This diverted this perhaps gives confirmation to the
branch, improperly called the Gulf second hypothesis, above stated, of the
Stream —a name that should be re- ocean's origin. Let no one, however,
stricted to the hurried and relatively place too great confidence in this very
deep current that issues from the tentative conclusion; for if what is now
GuK of Mexico between Florida and the unknown about the greater part of the
Bahamas —and properly called the ocean bed ever comes to be known,
northeastern branch of the North our present views about it may be
Atlantic Drift, is of moderate depth greatly modified if not altogether over-
and of loitering movement, but still thrown.
retains an exceptionally high tempera- Although the volume of the ocean,
ture because of the long passage of its however formed, is very small relative
supply current through latitudes of to that of the whole earth, and although
strong sunshine; and as a result the the ocean depth is, therefore, compar-
surface water of the Atlantic off Nor- able only to the thickness of the paper
way and the air lying on it have a cover on a good-sized terrestrial globe,
greater excess of temperature over the such is the extraordinary mobility of
mean than is the case
of their latitude water that the ocean smooths itseK out
in any other part of the world all be- — to a perfectly level surface, which is
cause of the asymmetry of Africa and taken as the standard surface of refer-
South America. ence for all calculations of the general-
The existing distribution of land and ized shape of the earth as a somewhat
water on the globe has not always ob- irregular spheroid, or "geoid," as
tained for the continents include many
: geodesists call it, and for all measures
stratified rocks which, as their fossils of the altitudes of the land. The tides
indicate, have been laid down in the periodically sway the ocean margins a
oceans of different geological ages; little out of the level; and storm winds
but these strata are relatively shallow- may locally brush up the surface into
water deposits and therefore indicate waves that rise for a tirne ''mountain
only moderate changes of level. None —
high" for so indeed they seem when
of the lands, with the possible excep- their rapidly advancing crests are
tion of certain Australasian islands, viewed from their deep-sunken troughs,
has been uplifted from oceanic depths although their actual height is hardly
so great as to exhibit true deep-sea fifty feet at the highest —
but these tide
deposits. On the other hand, certain and wind waves are minute wrinkles
continents have lost part of their compared to the huge undulations of
former extent, for their border struc- mountain ranges that are excited by
tures are clearly truncated by the shore slow-working geological storms of de-
line, just as the end of a board is formational forces in the earth's crust;
cut across its grain; they must have and, moreover, the ocean waves soon
originally continued into what is now quiet down again after the exciting
the ocean, and in some regions into storm has passed by, while the huge
what is now the deep ocean; hence inequalities of the earth's crust on the
their lost portionshave been strongly lands, even though much degraded by
warped downward. The deep oceans erosional processes during their slow
thus seem to have been enlarged during production, long remain as eminences
the geologically recorded ages, and before they are very slowly worn down
558 NATURAL HISTORY
to lowlands; and by that time, new by the winds and to support birds and
inequalities are produced elsewhere. airplanes if they move rapidly enough
Not only has the ocean a uniformly through it, its upper layers are like a
level surface, but the greater part of its vacuum in their extreme tenuity. On
volume is uniform in various other the other hand, in spite of the pressures
respects also. The lands are made of of two, three, or four tons to the square
many kinds of minerals and rocks, inch that are exerted at the greater
mostly of complicated chemical com- oceanic depths, the bottom water is
position, and varying from place to only about as much denser than the
place; but the ocean is made of one surface water as the surface salt water
substance, water, of very simple chemi- of the ocean is denser than the fresh
cal composition, the same everywhere. water of lakes. Hence any object that
True, the ocean contains in solution a is heavy enough to sink at the ocean sur-
small quantity of a great variety of face will pretty surely reach the bottom;
—
substances of which the most abun- the old idea that even an anchor would
dant is the very soluble mineral salt, cease sinking when it had descended to
and among which even gold is minutely a depth where the water is compressed
included —found in the continental to the density of iron is a fable, with
parts of the earth's crust during ages of only about three per cent of trust-
the most assiduous search by percolat- worthy basis.
ing ground waters and brought by The ocean surface shares every-
rivers to the ocean, where they have where with the surface of the lands the
very slowly accumulated to their changes of solar illumination from day
present quantity, as is further told to night and the irregular fluctuations of
below. As a result, ocean water is the weather. With the changes of the
about 2.6% denser than fresh water; sky from clear to cloudy, the color of
but these many dissolved substances the ocean surface also changes wonder-
give no variety to the great volume of fully. Even the surface salinity varies,
the ocean, because they are everywhere for drinkable water has been dipped up
distributed in almost exactly the same by ships at sea directly after a heavy
proportions, partly by the circulation equatorial rain. But the great under-
of the ocean currents, which in time volume of the ocean, below depths of
mixes and remixes the whole content of two hundred or three hundred fathoms,
the ocean, partly by the spontaneous knows little or nothing of these super-
diffusion of the dissolved substances ficial changes. It is not only every-
themselves, in virtue of that extraordi- where one substance and uniformly
nary physical process according to salt, as already stated; it is also per-
which a solid dissolved in a liquid be- sistently dark, for sunlight rapidly
haves like a gas. weakens with increasing depth of pene-
Water is, moreover, so little compres- tration. Some illumination of the

sible that the ocean is of almost uni- deep ocean, it is believed, comes from
form density from surface to bottom; the pale light of luminous organisms;
in this respect it contrasts strongly and that the deep ocean is not so dark
with the gaseous atmosphere, which is as terrestrial caverns may be inferred
so easily compressible that, while its from the fact that many deep-sea
lower layers are dense enough to permit organisms have eyes and colors, while
seeds and sailing vessels to be propelled various species of land animals which
THE OCEANS 559
have taken caverns as their abode, ceptional disturbances are also caused
lose their colors and all but vestiges of by submarine volcanic eruptions, but
their eyes and become gray- white, these are so infrequent that quietness
sightless creatures. The deep ocean, may still be considered a prevalent
however, probably has no experience of condition.
day and night, and is, therefore, with- The deep ocean is not only dark and
out the convenient measure of the still, it is persistently cold; for by
passage of time that is based on the means of the vertical convectional cir-
period of the earth's rotation, which the culation above mentioned the surface
inhabitants of the land everywhere water that is chilled in the frigid oceans
recognize. sinks and creeps very slowly to the
The deep ocean is also a very quiet torrid zone, where it must slowly rise.
region; for the movement of surface Be it remembered in this connection
waves and currents, like the penetra- that unlike fresh water, which has its
tion of sunshine, rapidly diminishes maximum density at 39° F. or 4° C,
downward. The bottom waters would salt waterdensest at its freezing
is
be absolutely still but for the slow and point, about 28° F. or -2° C. Hence
steady creeping of deep polar water the great under-volume of the ocean in
toward the equator, of which more is all latitudes has a temperature of
told below, and but for the slight tidal between 30° F. and 40° F. or -1° C.
oscillations. The
latter must be ex- and 5° C. The only significant excep-
tremely but they are of interest
faint, tions to this rule are found in the basins
as being, in the presumable absence of of the enclosed mediterraneans, like
diurnal changes of illumination, the the classic between
Mediterranean
only periodic phenomena there ex- Europe and American medi-
Africa, the
and hence the only phenom-
perienced, terraneans known as the Caribbean
ena by which the passage of time is Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and several
marked. Deep-sea organisms must, others in the Australasian region; the
therefore, as far as they take cognizance deep water of these basins, instead of
work on half -moon time
of their tides, being frigid, is only as cold as the open
and in they bear a resemblance to
this ocean at the level of their deepest
myriads of Crustacea and Mollusca on entrance.
tidal shores, where in spite of the sun's Moreover, the greater part of the
determination of day and night, the ocean bottom is smooth and nearly
moon regulates the order of animal level. Its levelness is locally interrupted
life by its control of high and low here and there by volcanic cones, which
water; and the same set of conditions have been slowly built up by countless
governs mariners on coasts of strong eruptions, and which may or may not
tidal range, like the Bay of Fundy and rise above the ocean surface as islands
the Channel Islands. and in a larger way by occasional

Rare and small departures from flexures of large-curved cross-profiles,
ocean-bottom stillness may be caused one of the greatest of which stretches

by earthquake waves, but in the watery northeastward from New Zealand, in a
depths they, like the tides, can show long swell adjoined by a deep trough,
nothing resembling the activity with to the Tonga Islands in the South Pa-
which they withdraw from and sweep cific. Near certain continental shores,
in upon the shores of the lands. Ex- soundings discover the occurrence of
560 NATURAL HISTORY
valleys and other erosional features, reddish clay in the greater depths.
as if the continental border had been The ooze composed of the delicate
is
depressed in recent geological time, one framework minute organisms which

of
of the best-certified of such features live everywhere near the surface and
being the submerged valley of the Hud- which, on dying, sink slowly through
son, which trenches the continental the water, very much as a fine misty
shelf southeast of the river mouth of rain sinks through the atmosphere ; but
today. while such a rain is only of occasional,
Apart from these inequalities, how- local, and short-lived occurrence, the
ever, the ocean bottom, as now known, fine organic rain in the oceans is perpet-
is monotonously flat over large areas. ual and universal, and thus constitutes
But it is well not to generalize too another of the many oceanic uniformi-
confidently on this topic at present; ties. The analogy goes a step further:
for oceanic soundings are for the most for just as a fine rain, fed from lofty
part few and far between. Areas as clouds, reaches a mountainous highland
large as Australia still remain in the and yet may be evaporated before it
Pacific without a single sounding to descends a mile farther to the neigh-

the bottom. He must be a bold man boring lowlands, so the fine organic
who ventures to draw a generalized rain of the oceans reaches the lesser
chart of ocean depths! It is to be depths as calcareous ooze, but is dis-
hoped that much more will soon be solved before reaching greater depths,
learned of oceanic depths by means of probably because of increasing pres-
the "sonic depth finder," an instru- sure, and only an insoluble reddish
ment recently perfected in the research residue, the so-called red clay, sinks to
laboratory of our Navy and now in use greater depths; its accumulation there
on a number of our naval vessels in must be extremely slow.
different parts of the world. This In but one respect is the ocean less
instrument measures depths in terms of uniform than the rest of the earth: it
the time interval between the emission is made of the only substance with
sound and the return of its

of a surface which we have familiar experience in
echo from the bottom. A vessel the three states that matter can assume.
equipped with it does not have to stop The surface water may freeze into ice
a few hours to make a sounding, as is of slight thickness in the frigid oceans;
the case when piano wire and a de- and then, as solid water, it holds its
tachable sinker are used, but may take shape as well as its volume. As a
successive measurements every few whole, the ocean is liquid water,
minutes while under full headway, even which maintains its own volume but
in rough weather. accepts any shape and surface that
Not only are the deep oceans per- external forces impel it to take; thus,
sistently dark, still, and cold, and their under the force of terrestrial gravity,
deep floors prevailingly flat, but their it is given the convex spheroidal sur-
bottom deposits, asbrought up in face which we call level. From its

sounding tubes and dredges, have liquid surface, largely by the aid of the
small variety of composition. They winds which bring drier air to replace
consist chiefly of calcareous ooze over damper air on its ruffled surface, a
vast areas of lesser depth, down to small amount of ocean substance
about two thousand fathoms, and of a pas?os off as invisible gaseous water,
THE OCEANS 561
LITTORAL DEPOSITS CALCAREOUS OOZE DIATOM OOZE RED CLAY

3 wmmm
—
Map showing the distribution of the oceanic oozes and clays. Reprinted by permission,
from Textbook of Geology, Part II, by Pirsson and Schuchert, pubhshed by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Redrafted, with substitution of new symbols, by W. E. Belanske
which has neither definite shape nor vol- form, as weU as of nearly every other
ume, but which diffuses itseK through quality, over the uniformity of the
the enveloping atmosphere, only to ocean.
be sooner or later condensed into The atmosphere, dampened by the
clouds and to fall here or there as addition of water vapor from the ocean,
rain or snow; and this leads us to is an effective collaborator in this
examine the great scheme of terrestrial scheme of things; first, in that it
economics in which the waters of the gives forth its store of vapor as rain or
vast oceanic reservoir play a leading snow in great abundance and fre-
part. quency wherever the continents ven-
It is as if the ocean, proud of its own ture to raise their mountain ranges
level uniformity,wished to see the highest ; second, in that the dampened
continents also laid low and smooth, air occasionsthe superficial disintegra-
and with this object sent forth its tion or weathering of the continental
vapors so that those which descend on rock masses, for it is the rock waste
the lands should bear back, when they thus loosened that the streams of the
return to the ocean, all the land waste land sweep down to the sea; third, in
they can carry; but the continents, re- that, quite apart from the work of
senting such reduction to low equahty running streams, the weathered rock
with the level ocean, slowly writhe and waste is superficially washed downhill
rise in new highlands as older highlands by rainstorm rills, and also that
are worn down, and thus strive to weather changes from wet to dry and
maintain their superior diversity of from warm to cold cause the rock waste
562 NATURAL HISTORY
to a depth of several feet to creep slowly ocean-fed rivers. Even the trees of
down every slope toward and eventu- mountain-side forests, slowly as their
ally to reach the stream below hence in : successive generations follow one an-
this long-range view of the earth's other, may be conceived as floating on
affairs, all the rock waste of the lands the extremely slow soil current which,
should be envisaged as in slow motion as the earth itself looks at these super-
on its way to the sea. ficial changes, is continually flowing off
The streams of the land are the the lands.
most active agents in the great task of The ocean has plenty of space in
smoothing down the continental high- which to deposit the waste of the land
lands to ocean level; and admirable swept in by the rivers, as well as that
engineers the streams are, for they worn from the shores by the waves;
grade their valley floors to a nicety but the land waste that is delivered in
with regard to the work that they have solution is treated very differently
to do. The largest rivers reduce their from that delivered in suspension.
courses to a gentle declivity: indeed, The suspended waste, chiefly gravel,
to just such a declivity as will give them sand, and clay, is spread out in succes-
a velocity sufficient to sweep along the sive layers or strata near the shore,
rock waste, mostly fine-grained, that is where its accumulation forms the so-
delivered to them by their headwater called continental shelves, of very
brooks; and the headwater brooks gradual slope to depths of forty or
retain a greater declivity, so that, in fifty fathoms and of somewhat steeper
spite of their small volume, they shall pitch to greater depths. It is these
have a velocity sufficient to wash down shallow-water strata, in which siliceous,
the rock waste, often of coarse texture, argillaceous, and calcareous deposits
that is delivered to them from the val- are found, that are often restored to
ley-side slopes. the continents, as when an upheaval
Be it noted that in this scheme of reveals them in coastal plains, or as
things, which presumably began its when deformational forces crumple
operation long ago in the history of them in new mountain ranges. On the
the earth, all the life of the lands de- other hand, the dissolved substances
pends directly or indirectly, in its strug- are, as already stated, uniformly
gle for existence, on that part of the spread through the entire ocean, and
weathered rock waste which, in its re- there they would remain indefinitely,
lation to plant roots, is called soil. The slowly increasing, if it were not for two
rock waste would undoubtedly be im- very unlike processes by which some of
pelled to continue its slow motion from them are withdrawn.
the lands to the sea even if there were It occasionally happens that an arm
no plants to live on it; but plants could of the sea is cut off by an upwarping
not live on the lands if there were no of the ocean bottom; and if the lands
weathered soil to grow in. The plants by which the sea arm is enclosed have a
of the land may, therefore, be regarded dry cHmate, the enclosed sea water may
as taking advantage, for their own pur- be evaporated away slowly and its dis-
poses, of the weathering device by which solved salts will then be precipitated.
the atmosphere, in its cooperation with Thus, it is supposed, beds of rock salt
the ocean, crumbles the rocks prepara- have been formed; but this process is
tory to their being swept seaward by so exceptional that salt is still the most
THE OCEANS 563
abundant dissolved substance in ocean The red clays andjthe calcareous

water. On the other hand, it hap- ooze deserve a further paragraph in
pens that another dissolved substance, explanation of their contrasts with the
limestone, continually brought in solu- littoral deposits on continental shelves,
tion from the lands to the oceans, has and of their geologic relations. In the
been adopted by many marine organ- first place, the continental shelves are
isms as the chief component of their the depositaries of nearly all of the
solid framework, and it is therefore and most
silica of the cla}^ that is
continually withdrawn to satisfy their washed from the lands, but of only the
needs. Thus mollusks and other smaller part of the dissolved limestone;
creatures, living mostly on the con- the deep oceans are the depositaries
tinental shelves but also at greater of the greater part of the limestone and
depths, secrete the dissolved limestone of a smaller part of the clay ; the little
to make their shells. Their remains silica that reaches them is chiefly
constitute the calcareous strata of withdrawn from solution by the micro-
continental shelves above alluded to, scopic plants known as diatoms, the re-
particularly near low coasts, where the mains of which are found chiefly in the
supply of sandy and muddy detritus far southern oceans. In the second
from the lands is small. More im- place, the limestone that is deposited on
portant are the minute Foraminifera — the shelvesmay be returned to the con-
Glohigerina being one of the commonest tinents by upheaval and then may be
—
genera which float near the surface, carried back to the oceans in solution,
and the delicate shells of which, sinking thus being available for organic use over
after the occupant's death, constitute and over again but the deep-sea calcare-
;
the greater part of the wide-spread cal- ous ooze is a relatively permanent acqui-
careous ooze, or yield a small undis- sition of the ocean floor ; hence the supply
solved residue to form the red clay of of limestone in solution in the ocean
the greater depths, as already described. would in time be depleted if it were not
Remarkable also, but less widespread, renewed from calcareous minerals in the
are the reef-building corals which, to- older fundamental rocks of the earth's
gether with limestone-secreting algse crust and in the lavas outpoured from
and other organisms, thrive in the volcanic vents, which thus for the first
shallow waters of the torrid zone, time experience superficial analysis.
either near continents, as along north- Whether the processes of renewal are
eastern Australia, or around oceanic now gaining on the processes of deple-
islands,mostly volcanic, as in Fiji, or in tion, who shall say!
the open ocean, as through to the Cen- In the third place, the deposits of
tral Pacific. They construct fringing the continental shelves are of relatively
reefs of gray limestone, attached to the rapid accumulation in varying com-
land, or barrier reefs rising offshore and position and great thickness and with
enclosing a lagoon, or most extraordin- well-defined stratification under the
ary of all, atoll reefs, in which the lagoon active processes and fluctuating con-
has no central island remaining. The ditions that prevail near the coasts.
wonderful nature of these structures Here the successive thinner and thicker
and the various explanations that have layers record every tick of a second
been suggested for them would require and every striking hour in the passage
a special article for the telling. of geological time; but the deep-sea
564 NATURAL HISTORY
deposits are accumulated in slow and their leaves and decompose with the
uniform continuity, with hardly per- aid of sunlight; also that in their
ceptible changes of composition from competition for this sustenance many
millenium to millenium and presum- land plants have developed seK-sup-
ably without stratification. They porting stems or trunks, which hold
record, therefore, only the patient them up a little way in the air; third,
passage of pelagic eternity, in which that all terrestrial animals and plants
there isno ticking of the seconds, no derive the energy needed for their life
striking of the hours, and in which work by combining a part of their

time simply goes evenly and end- organic substance with atmospheric
lessly on. And yet these monotonous, oxygen in the continuous process of
deep-ocean deposits, accumulating in respiration, a slow process in plants,
everlasting uniformity, must as they more active in animals; fourth, that
approach the coasts merge into the land plants are prevailingly rooted in
much heavier and more variable con- weathered rock or soil, partly because
temporaneous deposits of the con- their chief sustenance comes to them in
tinental shelves, which vary from place the ever-moving air, partly because a
to place, and from time to time. What minute mineral constituent dissolved
a boon it would be to geological in ground water, must be brought up
science if the on-shore deposits, in from the soil; but land animals are
which every different stretch of a rarely rooted; they must move about
coast records the passage of its own in search of food, and in doing so most
chapter of time in its own particular of them must support their weight
fashion and in which unlike strata and while walking, running, or flying;
fossils are laid down on different coasts when they are fatigued, they lie down
at thesame time, could be correlated or perch to rest.
with and dated by the corresponding So again in the oceans, all animal
portion of the steady-going, deep- life depends directly or indirectly on
ocean deposits, and thus given their plant life. Second, marine plants,
proper place in a standard chronology commonly known as seaweeds, derive
of earth history! the carbon dioxide for their sustenance,
The activity of marine organisms in and both sea plants and sea animals de-
connection with the formation of rive the free oxygen for their respiration,
pelagic deposits brings us to the great from a supply of those atmospheric
chapter of oceanic life which properly gases that is dissolved in the ocean
belongs in another article by another water; and the occurrence
of animal
writer, but which may be here briefly life deep ocean as well as the low
in the
touched upon in its physical relations temperature prevailing there prove the
and in their contrasts with the physical vertical circulation of the ocean waters,
relations of life on land. Let it be for without such a circulation the sup-
recalled, therefore, first, that all the ply of free oxygen would have been ex-
animal life of lands depends for its hausted long ago and the deep oceans
sustenance, directly or indirectly, upon would be dead. This free oxygen
plant life; second, that all terrestrial must not be confounded, however,
plants derive their sustenance chiefly with the oxygen that is chemically
from the carbon dioxide of the at- combined with hydrogen to form ocean
mosphere, which they take in through water, and the marine animals here
THE OCEANS 565
mentioned must not be understood to animals, large, small, and minute,

include those air-breathing aquatic chiefly living at smaU depths in the
mammals, and whales, which
like seals open ocean, are free swimmers, and as
appear to be derived from land quad- they have the same average density as
rupeds, modified for marine existence. seawater, they float at ease: hence
Third, as the assimilation of carbon they do not know the fatigue of sup-
from carbon dioxide demands the aid porting their own weight, nor do they
of sunlight, marine plants live only need to lie down to rest.
in shallow water and at the surface of As to the deep sea, modern explora-
the ocean: the deep ocean has no tion has shown that it is not lifeless,
flora; but as if partly to make up for as was formerly supposed, but that it
this lack, the frigid oceans have lit- has a varied and fairly abundant
toral thickets of seaweeds at latitudes fauna, in spite of the monotony of
higher than those in which land plants existence where there is no variety to
caD flourish on the continents. Fourth, give life its spice. Perhaps the most
unlike land plants which support marked physical characteristic of the
themselves in the non-supporting air, deep-sea creaturesis their abihty to
seaweeds are supported by the water withstand the enormous pressure ex-
in which they grow; hence those that erted by the overlying water; but they
live in very shallow waters rise to their do this in much the same way as we
full height at high tide, and lie down, land-dwellers withstand the pressure of
as if to rest, when the tide is ''out." the atmosphere; that is, by admitting
Finally, nearly all marine plants the surrounding fluid within their
but not the microscopic diatoms bodies and through and through their
and also a vast number of marine tissues. Great as the pressure is at
animals are "rooted," in the sense of the ocean bottom, the mobility of the
being attached to the sea bottom, compressed water is so perfect that a
not because
they gain nutriment delicate fin or slender tentacle can
from their attachment, but because move through it. Finally, it remains
all the nutriment they need is brought volume of the
to be said that the great
to them, often in microscopic doses, ocean, between the well populated
in the moving water; they do not have surface waters and the more scantily
to go in search of it, but they have to populated bottom, is almost lifeless;
search through a great deal of water to thus another element, that of dead mon-
obtain as much food as they need. otony, is added to its darkness, its cold,
But another large number of marine and its quietness : it is a vast desert.
Gigantactis vanhoeffeni, one of the inhabitants of the deep

sea, dweUing at depths of from 1 to li miles. —
The light at the
end rod extending from its snout serves, it is be-
of the long
lieved, as a lure to attract prey. (Approximately hfe size)
m <U
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ID 02O
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^
The Northern Elephant Seal and the Guadalupe
Fur Seal
By CHARLES HASKINS TOWNSEND ,
Director of the New York Aquarium
THERE
native
are two
west coast of
to the
species of seals believing
of year.
it
Any
useless to do so at that time
further search should be
North America that in the past made late in July, before the young take
were harassed with reckless disregard to the water, and should include all the
of their possible extinction : the north- caves along the water line. The hope
ern elephant seal (Mirounga angusti- that, if still surviving, it may re-
rostris) and the Guadalupe fur seal establish itself, is reenforced by the
(Arctocephalus townsendi). The form- fact that Guadalupe Island is now a
er, as the result of freedom from mo- guarded reservation. This valuable
lestation during recent years, is at seal formerly inhabited the islands of
present slowly increasing in numbers; Lower California and those of Cali-
the latter may be extinct, as it has not fornia northward as far as the latitude
been seen since 1894, when several of San Francisco. In 1892 the writer
were killed for their pelts.
seals secured from men who had participated
The fur seal is known to science in sealing at Guadalupe and the San
only from the weatherworn skulls ob- Benito islands certain records which,
tained by the Guadalupe
writer at supplemented by researches he made
Island in May, 1892.i
Of the few fur subsequently at San Diego, indicate
seals seen afloat at that time not one that 5575 fur seals were taken between
was secured, and none was seen on land 1876 and 1894.
during a prolonged examination of their To the records of fur seals known to
former haunts, although a search was have been killed by sealers at Guada-
made of all the beach caves around lupe, San Benito, and Cedros (Cerros)
the island. islands, may be added figures which the
There is a possibility, however, that writer found recently in the third edi-
stragglers of this species still exist, as tion of William Mariner's account of
the habit of this seal of lying in caves the Tonga Islands, published in London
serves to keep it out of sight. Our in 1827.3 Mr. Mariner was on board
hunt through the numerous caves of the British whaler "Port-au-Prince,"
Guadalupe Island in May was futile, which took 8338 fur-seal skins at
doubtless because it was made in Cedros, San Benito, and Guadalupe
advance of the breeding season, which islands, between August 1 and Sep-
occurs in June and July. We looked tember 19, 1806. Another record is
for the animal again in March, 1911, that of the ship " Dromio " of Boston in
during the expedition of the ''Alba- 1807, which at ''Shelvock's Island,"
tross,"^ but did not examine the caves, alleged to be southwest of Cape San
iTownsend, C. H. 1899. "Pelagic Sealing." Ex- Lucas in latitude 21°, ''in a fortnight
tract from The Fur Seals and Fur-Seal Islands of
the North Pacific Ocean, Part III, pp. 223-74. killed 3000 fur seals." Belcher (1837)
2This old ship, after a long and eventful career, has
recently passed into private ownership. Its record of
service is commemorated in a Note contributed to this ^Mariner, W. 1827. An Account of the Natives of
issue by Doctor Townsend (p. 619). the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean.
667
THE "ALBATROSS" DREDGING AT SEA
The dredging boom may be seen out to [starbord; the port boom is rigged for sur-
face towing. The "Albatross," after nearly four decades in the service of the
government,
scientific expeditions,
in the course of which she participated in a number of important
recently passed into private ownership. (See Note on p. 619 of this issue)
568
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL AND GUADALUPE FUR SEAL 569
and others failed to find ''Shelvock's by the writer in 1911 and from a—
Island" in the position described. It study of the old and young estimated
may have been Guadalupe Island, the size of the herd, present and absent,
farther to the north, but whatever its at about 1000 animals.^
identity, in this region the species The casual reappearance of the ele-
taken must have been the Guadalupe phant seal at other islands, from
fur seal. While the scattered records Cedros northward to the Santa Bar-
of the long-continued hunting of the bara Islands, may reasonably be ex-
Guadalupe seal account for large pected. As the protection now afforded
numbers, Mariner's statement and by the Mexican government is limited
the record of the ''Dromio," so long to Guadalupe Island, the animal may
overlooked, seem to indicate that the not find very safe quarters when it
speciesmay have been much more extends its present range. It is, there-
abundant than has hitherto been sup- fore, desirable that precautions be
posed. There is further reason for taken to insure the safety of such
this inference in the fact that the stragglers as may appear among islands
islands where the species —of the same of the Santa Barbara group, where in
genus as the Antarctic species devel- — the absence of restrictions it is liable
oped, remained unexploited until whal- to molestation by fishermen. The
ing in North Pacific waters began late elephant seal should be given the full-
in the eighteenth century. Dr. E. C. est opportunity to return to its ancient
Starks^ has shown conclusively that haunts north of the boundary. It is not
the great numbers of fur seals killed on only commercially valuable but also
the Farallon Islands, off the coast of inoffensive and of great scientific
California, during the earlier years of interest.
the nineteenth century were of this The ancestors of the northern ele-
species. phant seal, like those of its associate
While the very existence of the in habitat, the Guadalupe fur seal,
Guadalupe fur seal is in doubt, the wandered from Antarctic waters and
preservation of the elephant seal seems successfully ventured across the equa-
assured. As a result of representations torial barrier in times sufficiently re-
made to the Mexican government after mote to have enabled their descendants
the re-discovery of this seal in March, to acquire new characters in a strange
1911,. by the "Albatross" Expedition environment. The account of the
and again by the joint American and northern elephant seal, pubhshed by
Mexican party of biologists^ that visited Scammon^ in 1874, continued for many
the island in the Mexican patrol boat years to be the main source of informa-
"Tecate" in July, 1922, Guadalupe tion respecting the creature. Only a
Island was made a reservation and pro- few immature specimens were to be
vided with a resident guard. found in museums, and naturalists
The expedition of the "Tecate" assumed that t had become extinct.
found 264 elephant seals at Guadalupe Much more is known about the Ant-
— more than twice the number counted arctic species.
iStarks, E. C. 1922. "Records of the Capture of ^For an account of the status of the herd in 1923
Fur Seals on Land in California," California Fish and the reader is referred to the article by Mr. Huey in
Game, Vol. VIII, pp. 15 -60. this issue.
^Hanna, G. Dallas, and Anthony, A. W. 1923. "A *Scammon, Charles M. 1874. "The Sea Ele-
Cruise Among Desert Islands," National Geographic phant," The Marine Mammals of the North-Western
Magazine, Vol. XLIV, No. 1, pp. 71-99. Coast of North America, pp. 115-23.
570 NATURAL HISTORY
The discovery of a small herd at and pictorial material, previously lack-
San Cristobal Bay, Lower California, ing, was also secured. The numerous
in 1880, created an immediate revival photographs were, indeed, the only
of sealing, which resulted in the killing ones of the elephant seal that had until
of more than three hundred animals then been taken, with the exception of
during the next four years. These a few made by Harris in 1907 at the
facts were reported to the National same island. Six young elephant seals
Museum in 1884 by the writer, who captured by this expedition were ex-
thereupon was sent at once in a char- hibited at the New York Aquarium,
tered vessel, the schooner "Laura," in where some of them lived nearlj^ two
search of specimens. Sixteen seals years. These are now preserved as
all that were found during a cruise of specimens in the American Museum,
two months — were taken for scientific the United States National Museum,
purposes, as the only alternative to and the Brooklyn Museum.
their slaughterby sealers.^ In 1922 the expedition of the
The elephant seal was then lost sight "Tecate" to Guadalupe took place, to
of for nearly a decade. In 1892 a small be followed a year later by a second
band was found at Guadalupe Island visit of this ship to the island.
by the writer while in search of fur Having given this brief summary of
seals under the direction of the Depart- recent expeditions concerned with the
ment of State. Some of these elephant elephant seal, let us cast our eye back
seals were secured and the identity of over some of the earlier narratives.
the fur seal — the object of the expedi- In Mariner's account referred to above,
tion —was established. it is stated that the "Port-au-Prince"
From 1892 information respecting was proceeding to "the island of
the elephant seal was lacking, so far as Ceros" (Cedros) for the purpose of
were aware, until 1907, when
biologists "laying in a cargo of elephant oil and
Guadalupe Island, long uninhabited, seal-skins" but the account contains
was visited by Charles Harris in the no further reference to the elephant
interest of the Rothschild Museum.^ is known, was abundant
seal which, it
There about forty of the animals were there at that time (1806).
found. Scammon,^ in writing of the animal
The next important event in this life at Cedros Island, says, "Seals and
history of the northern elephant seal sea-elephants once basked upon the
was the visit of the "Albatross" to shores of this isolated spot in vast
Guadalupe Island in 1911. Thanks to numbers, and in years past its sur-
the generosity of Mr. Arthur Curtiss rounding shores teemed with sealers,
James, of New York, the American seal elephant, and sea-otter hunters.
Museum of Natural History had the . . . But those innumerable herds of
privilege of cooperating in this expedi- sea-elephants have long since been
tion, as a result of which the Museum nearly exterminated, and here seals
obtained its splendid habitat group of likewise are found only in compara-
these huge animals. Much descriptive tively small numbers,"
iTownsend, C. H. 1885. "An Account of Recent Scammon states that the elephant
Captures of the California Sea Elephant and Statistics
Relating to the Present Abundance of the Species." sScammon, CM.
1869. "Report of Captain C.
Proc. U. S. N. M., pp. 90-4. M. Scammon, of the U. S. Revenue Service, on the
2Rothschild, Hon. Walter, Ph.D. 1908. "Mirounga West Coast of Lower .California." Appendix, pp.
angustirostris (Gill)," Novitates Zoologicse, Vol. XV, 123-31, of Resources of the Pacific Slope, by J. Ross
p. 393. Browne.
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL AND GUADALUPE FUR SEAL 571
seals come to shore at certain seasons twenty-four feet in length. The same
of the year to shed their coats and author refers to one twenty-two feet
to give birth to their young. He tells long which yielded 210 gallons of oil.
of the method of hunting: how the The three large males taken by the
seals ashore were driven farther land- ''Albatross" Expedition at Guadalupe
ward by men advancing from the water Island in 1911 were each sixteen feet in
to slaughter them. Their number in length. During the past half -century
the days of which he speaks was great the northern species has had little
enough to give ''full cargoes to the oil- chance of attaining large size. Under
ships." The smaller animals were the protection now afforded, it is
killed by clubbing, the large males by possible that 7nonsters twenty feet or
shooting. There is considerable evi- more in length may reappear at Guada-
dence that the former abundance of the lupe Island. The writer found the
elephant seal in the Lower California blubber of the three males mentioned
region has not been overestimated. to be four inches thick about the fore
Many whalers and sealers frequented part of the body. Cleveland says that
the shores and islands of Lower Cali- the fat of the Antarctic species, taken
fornia between 1808 and 1840 under by him at Kerguelen Island, was seven
American, British, French, and Rus- inches thick and that the largest speci-
sian flags, and it is known that the men might yield as much as 245
elephant seal was much hunted for a gallons of oil, while Murphy^ indicates
few years after the discovery of gold a maximum of about eight inches for
in California and that, as a conse- the blubber. As the oil is superior to
quence, became scarce.
it whale oil for lubricating purposes, there
Except for some recent observations can be no doubt about the great value
by members of the ''Tecate" expedi- of the elephant seal as an oil producer.
tions,^ the natural history of the north- Few large animals are so indifferent
ern elephant seal apparently is record- to the presence of man as these great
ed only in the writings of Scammon^ seals. They showed little inclination
and the reports of the "Albatross"^ to move' as members of the "Alba-
expedition. Rothschild's remarks on tross" Expedition walked among them.
the specimens collected by Harris are When disturbed, they
intentionally
limited to a single page. Scammon's soon quieted down, often throwing
descriptions deal largely with the Ant- sand on their backs with their flippers
arctic elephant-seal fishery. and completely ignoring our presence.
The northern elephant seal is the Even when roughly prodded and
largest of all seals, with the possible forced into the sea, they usually re-
exception of the Antarctic species, an turned promptly. While in the water,
extremely large specimen of the former they were equally unconcerned about
measuring, according to Scammon, the coming and going of the ship's
boats. A common attitude in the
iHanna, G. Dallas, and Anthony, A. W. 1923.
"A Cruise Among Desert Islands." National Geo- water, especially with those of smaller
graphic Magazine, Vol. XLIV, No. 1, pp. 71-99. Also
Anthony, A. W. 1924.- "Notes on the Present Status size, is to float with only the nose and
of the Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga Angusti-
rostris," Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. V, No. 3, pp. hind flippers above the surface.
145-52.
2Soammon, Charles M. 1874. "The Sea Elephant," Getting out of the water is difficult
The Marine Mammals of the North-Western Coast of
North America, pp. 115-23. *Murphy, R. C. 1918. "The Status of Sealing in
3Townsend, C. H. 1912. "The Northern Ele- the Sub-Antarctic Atlantic." The Scientific Monthly,
phant Seal." Zoologica, Vol. I, No. 8, pp. 159-73. August, 1918.
View of the northernend of the elephant seal rookery on Guadalupe Island. Males, —
females, two-year-olds, and yearlings are lying about on the beach. The two males in the
middle distance with heads erected are in fighting attitude, the proboscis being retracted
and the mouth wide open. In the distance is seen the "Albatross." This photograph sug-
gested the background for the Elephant Seal Group shown on p. 566
The old males are usually sleepy and disinclined to move unless forcibly disturbed
572
Adult male and female elephant seals. — The male assumes a threatening attitude
only when deliberately aroused
The calloused surface in front is the result of fighting.—This part of the body is often
deeply scarred and unsightly
574 NATURAL HISTORY
for such heavy-bodied and short- The proboscis of the elephant seal,
hmbed animals. In passing through relaxed and pendent when the animal
the shallow water the hind flippers are is crawling, or lying in a fiabby mass
raised and spread to take advantage of when the animal is at rest, is capable
the pushing effect of the low waves. of many muscular expressions when
When the creatures are on the dry the seal awake and moving about.
is
beach, progress is still slower, but It may be withdrawn and wrinkled up

under crowded conditions individuals in various positions on the head, or if
have actualty crawled inland several the head be thrown back completely,
hundred yards. In moving up the may hang relaxed toward the rear.
beach the animal arches its back and, The proboscis is only slightly devel-
rising on the fore flippers, draws the oped in the hah-grown males, suggest-
hind quarters forward. Its progress is ing that it does not become fully devel-
interrupted by frequent pauses. oped until sexual maturity is reached.
During the mating season the large In the females the proboscis is lacking.
males engage in considerable fighting, Anatomical study of the proboscis is
especialh^ those accompanying females. desirable, as there is uncertainty
When within striking distance of each whether it really can be 'inflated."
other, they rise as high as possible on During the skinning operations of the
the fore limbs, draw the flabby probos- "Albatross" Expedition no inflatable
cis into folds on top of the head, which air sacs, or chambers, were noted, but
is held aloft, and strike quick blows at it is possible that such may have been
each other's necks and shoulders with overlooked.

their large canines. The attacks are The very young elephant seal is
accompanied by considerable nasal black and is so excessively fat as to be

and vocal noise. The animals of fight- almost helpless. The yearling is gray-
ing age and size bear the marks of ish brown in color, and is about four
many previous encounters, the skin feet in length. None of the six year-
of the neck and breast being rough, lings brought to the New York Aqua-
calloused, and hairless as a result rium was more than five feet long.
of the punishment received from In weight they varied from 167 to
adversaries. 301 pounds, the males being heavier
The fighter makes attempt to
little than the females. Their capture was
protect his fore quarters, which seem to effectedby simply rolling them sepa-
serve as a shield for receiving blows; rately in nets and lifting them into
but he is careful to strike quickly and the boats. They showed no inclination
withdraw his precious nose out of to bite when on the beach, on the deck
harm's way. There is apparently no of the "Albatross," or during their
actual seizing and tearing of the skin, life at the Aquarium, although when
the offensive blow being a quick bite approached, they would assume a
with the large canines. The com- threatening attitude by opening the
batants soon separate; there is none of mouth very widely.
the prolonged tussling and fierce Nothing very definite is known re-
scrimmaging indulged in by male fur garding the feeding habits of this seal.
seals, which often leave them with In the stomachs of those killed at
gaping wounds. A fur-seal fight is of various times the writer found nothing
the dog-fight sort. but a little sand. It is stated in some of
The bulky object on the beach in front of the boat is a j'oung seal rolled up in a net
to render it helpless. Thus secured, itwas rowed to the "Albatross" and with five of its
fellows started on the long journey to New York
Yearling elephant seals in the pen especially constructed for them on the deck of the
"Albatross"
575
w
§•3
p
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL AND GUADAL UPE FUR SEAL 577
the accounts of the Antarctic species It is possible that the elephant seal is
that seaweed and the remains of squid more active at night than by day. It
have been noted in the stomachs of may be that it feeds only at night,
these seals. Murphy found, in addi- which would account for the lack of
tion to squid, the remains of small evidence as to the food of those killed
fish in thestomachs of animals killed in the daytime. Its eyes are suggestive
as soon as they had come to shore.^ of those of nocturnal animals, being re-
Harris observed "tiny sardines not markably large, dark, and lustrous.
more than two inches long" in his Although the elephant seal apparent-
Guadalupe specimens. Anthony^ ally does not wander far from shore, like
young male,
ludes to the capture of a the fur seal and some other species, it
three-quarters grown, had ''which has at least one enemy in the shark.
recently bolted a bass of about two A specimen secured by the writer at
pounds weight." He adds that "a San Cristobal Bay was disfigured by a
few fragments of kelp, taken perhaps gash on the rump in which were the
at the same time as the fish, and a few marks of a shark's teeth. Sealers
pebbles were the only stomach con- told the writer that fully one fourth
tents." The yearlings brought to the of the smaller animals captured there
Aquarium ate nothing but fresh fish. bore such marks.
Usually this food was given them cut The total number of elephant seals
into pieces, but they preferred the live killed during the past forty years at
fish that were occasionally supplied. San Cristobal Bay and Guadalupe
The daily ration for each of the seals Island —the only places they were
was six or seven pounds of smelt, tom- known to frequent during that period
cods, roach, and cod. They ignored — appears to have been 454. Since
absolutely squid, live crabs, and sea- 1884 none has been found at San
weed. Unlike most seals, they crushed Cristobal.
their food before swallowing it, often Comparison of the large skulls
turning on their backs in the water secured in 1911 at Guadalupe with
during the process of mastication. those of the Antarctic species has
They would take the food from the hands shown the distinctness of the northern
of theirkeeper with no signs of fear. species. This is also apparent when
In swimming about the large pool the excellent photographs now avail-
the fore flippers seldom came into able of living animals of both species
action, the hind flippers being em- are compared.
ployed much as a fish uses its tail. Naturalists have not seen enough of
These young elephant seals often slept the northern elephant seal to determine
under water, stretched out on the floor whether it is polygamous to the ex-
of the pool. tent of the southern species. It is
iMurphy, R. C. 1914. "Notes on the Sea evident that much remains to be ascer-
Elephant, Mirounga leonina (Linn6)." Bulletin,
tained in regard to this interesting
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. XXXIII, pp. 63-79.
Ânthony, A. W. 1924. "Notes on the Present mammal before its complete life his-
Status of the Northern Elephant Seal." Journal of
Mammalogy, Vol. V, No. 3, pp. 145-52. tory can be written.
A WARD OF GUADALUPE ISLAND
In 1922 the island of Guadalupe was declared a government reservation by the author-
ities of Mexico City, and it is to be hoped its elephant seal population will escape in the
future the persecution to which it was subjected in the past

A Trip to Guadalupe, the Isle of My
Boyhood Dreams'
By LAURENCE M. HUEY
Curator of Birds and Mammals, Natural History Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, California
Note. —The preceding paper, recording the visit of the "Albatross" to Guadalupe in
1911, will have whetted the reader's interest for an article dealing with the later history of
the herd of sea elephants. The main purpose of the expedition of 1923 in which Mr. Huey
participated was to take a census of these animals. They had then been enjoying gov-
ernment protection for about a year and their number had increased from 264 the total —
counted by members of the cooperative expedition in July, 1922, to 366. —
Since preparing the present article, Mr. Huey has again visited Guadalupe and spent
the day of August 30, 1924, on the elephant seal beach. He writes that, at that time, the
count showed but 124 animals, of which only 9 were large adults. The majority were of in-
termediate size and there were 6 yearlings. Whether the fluctuations in the beach census of
the past three summers reflect with any accuracy the relative abundance of the total living
elephant seals cannot, in the judgment of Mr. Huey, yet be determined. He feels that these
facts depend upon a much greater knowledge of the movements, breeding habits, and food
of the elephant seal than has as yet been secured.
had been a restless night despite After I had been watching for hours,
ITthe quiet sea and the even roll of the far to the southwest a dim outline
boat, for the long-hoped-for trip commenced to take shape about eight
to Guadalupe, the island of my boy- o'clock in the morning. Finally land-
hood dreams, was really taking place. marks began to appear and these were
In the early gray of dawn, I was on the pointed out to me by different members
bridge peering into the west with the of the party who were familiar with
hope of seeing the dim outline of the the place. As I scanned the rockj^
enchanted isle. During my early boy- slopes, I noticed that moving things
hood, while wandering about the water were in evidence everywhere for the —
front of San Diego, I had heard many island was swarming with goats!
tales of this out-of-the-way island, It appears that in the old whaling
which lies off the Mexican coast about days goats were introduced on Guada-
180 miles southwest of San Diego, and lupe as a source of meat and have
thatI was now actually on my way to increased to such an extent that they
itwas due to the courtesy of the Mexi- now completely overrun it. At this
can government. I had been invited season, when everything was dry, they
to join a party in charge of Prof. J. were invading the sheer faces of the
M. Gallegos, of the National Museum cliffs some stray bit of
in search of
of Natural History, Mexico City, that moss on which to feed. We
lichen or
was planning to visit the island. The marveled at their agility and their
voyage was made aboard the Mexican ability to cling to the precipices — al-
Fisheries Patrol Boat ''Tecate," which most as tenaciously as a jQy ascend-

started from San Diego on July 10, ing a windowpane. However, their
1923, and, after touching at Ensenada, adventures were not without peril,
Lower California, set her course on the for, while we were steaming slowly
open Pacific. near the shore, searching for a suit-
^Photographs by the author.
579
580 NATURAL HISTORY
able anchorage, we saw several car- result of a cooperative expedition made
casses of goats floating in the water, in the summer of 1922, this rugged
an evidence that the animals had fallen island, which is only 20 miles long and
from the bluffs which overhang the sea. 6 miles wide, was created a federal re-
Om' anchorage was made within serve by proclamation of the Mexican
fifty yards of the east shore of the government.
island, near the site of the old penal It was with no little interest that we
colony that is today occupied by a landed in the late afternoon. With
garrison of soldiers, placed there to another member of the party, I set out
guard the surviving elephant seals and explored a canon for half a mile
(Mirounga angustirostris) which in-, inland. A rocky, rugged waste it
habit a small beach on the opposite proved to be, with reeking carcasses of
side of the island. These animals goats scattered about in various stages
were brought to the very brink of ex- of decomposition. The narrow canon
termination by the old whalers, who was at times nearly stifling due to the
sought them for their which before
oil, heat of the reflected rocks, and there
the days of petroleum was used ex- was no breeze to stir the air. We saw
tensively by the gold hunters of Cali- but two species of birds, the Guadalupe
fornia for lighting. The small herd rock wren (Salpindes guadeloupensis)
which exists on Guadalupe Island com- and the Guadalupe house finch (Carpo-
prises the only representatives of this dacus amplus) Both these birds proved
.
species now upon the earth. As a fairly abundant. They might be seen
The houses of the old penal colony, with a sign posted on the officers' quarters pro-
claiming in both Spanish and English that, by presidential decree, the kiUing or capturing
of elephant seals is prohibited
A TRIP TO GUADALUPE 581
in a small flock or family searching our thirst at a pool that had been safely
for maggots in the carcass of some fenced from pollution and were pleas-
dead goat. antly surprised at the qualitj^ of the
The eastern sky was cloudless next water. A question that naturally
morning, and the sun rose in almost occurred was why the spring should be
tropical splendor. Professor Gallegos located so near the crest of the high
and Iwere landed through the surf slopes. Investigation of the rock strata
with our lunch, guns, and cameras, for told the story. The water came from
this day had been designated as the the forests above, on the westward
one on which the top of the island was slope of the island, which were contin-
to be explored. A boy and pack burro ually drenched in fog. The moisture,
were placed at our disposal by the condensing and dripping to the ground
commander of the garrison. As we from the leaves of the trees, is concen-
gained altitude on the steep and rocky trated by strata of hard rock which
trail, a grand view of the northern end slope gently through to this point on
of the island was spread before us, the eastern side of the island. These
while banks of fog were swept over strata are impervious to water, and
the northern head by the incessant thus carry the moisture to the out-
western winds. cropping where the spring occurs.
On reaching the floor of a small Through this agency alone is life able
valley', I was much impressed by its to exist on this desolate island. Even-
desolation. Not even a spear of dry tually the goats themselves will be
grasswas to be found among the rocks, their own undoing, for with the passing
and only one or two green bushes could of the forests —which is inevitable
be seen hanging by their strong roots the water supply will also cease to be,
from crevices in precipitous cliffs and with it will disappear the terres-
out of the reach of the ravenous goats. trial life on the island.
Though safe from destruction, these Of ten species of birds and mammals
bushes were not unobserved, for well- which have been recorded as endemic
traveled goat trails led to the cliffs both —
on this island, namely the Guadalupe
above and below them, where the fur seal (Ardocephalus townsendi), the
shaggy beasts had evidently been feast- Guadalupe wren {Thryomanes hrevi-
ing with their eyes if not with their cauda). the Guadalupe towhee (Pipilo
teeth. About half a mile from the consohrinus) the Guadalupe caracara
,
spring, which is situated on the eastern {Polyhorus lutosus), the Guadalupe

slope of the island near the summit, was flicker {Colaptes rufipileus), the Guada-
found what had been part of Guada- lupe petrel {Oceanodromamacrodadyla)

lupe's beautiful cypress forest, but the Guadalupe rock wren (Salpinctes
which consisted now only of dried, guadeloupensis) , the Guadalupe house
naked tree trunks. This was another finch {Carpodacus ampins), the Guada-
result of the ravages of the ubiquitous lupe junco {J unco insularis), and the
goats; for when the season of the dusky kinglet {Regidus calendula ob-
annual grasses has passed each year, scurus), —the five first named are now
the beasts resort to the bark on the gone forever. The goats are respon-
trees, and are fast devastating the sible for the passing of three of these
small forests which crown the island. the Guadalupe towhee, Guadalupe
Arriving at the spring, we quenched wren, and Guadalupe caracara. The
582 NATURAL HISTORY
p»#- "^ ^'
If manj^ dry years reduce the annual growth on the island to a minimum, there will be
little left of the forests, for the goats gnaw the very bark from the trees, and even climb to
the more accessible hmbs
towhee and wren were exterminated bleak, leafless skeletons of the cypress
by the complete destruction of the treesthrough which we passed was
underbrush by the goats. The cara- impress upon us the fact
sufficient to
caras preyed upon the new-born kids that the end is near for what Dr.
and were destroyed by the men who Edward Palmer in the seventies de-
had been granted the concession of scribed as a naturalist's paradise.
exploiting these animals for their hides After lunch Professor Gallegos and
and tallow, for they thought the birds the pack boy went on to the top of the
were limiting the increase of the goats. island to collect specimens of the cy-
Thus, indirectly, the goats caused the press and take photographs, while I
extermination of the caracara. The stayed about the spring to observe the
flicker was brought to its doom by the birds. I later joined them near the
introduction of house cats by the early summit and had opportunity for a
Russian sealers, who also introduced hasty glance through the forest and for
the common house mouse (Mus mus- the making of a few pictures. I was
,
culus musculus). Both of these ani- much impressed by the appearance

mals, in addition to the goats, have presented by the cypresses, for dead,
run feral over the island, causing un- leafless limbs hung to the ground in a
told destruction to the birds and plants. thick, inter-locking mass and the goats
A glance at the barren landscape and had tunneled through these masses,
A TRIP TO GUADALUPE 583
much as meadow mice tunnel in a island in its entirety. Now, for the
grassy swamp. In places I saw evi- first though at a distance, I
time,
dence that the goats had adopted even beheld the rugged pines in their strong-
arboreal tactics, and had climbed well hold, strugghng for existence on the
into the trees to gnaw away the bark. brink of the precipitous cliffs. Their
Dripping with cypress pitch, the trees wind-swept limbs were all stretching to
presented a sad sight, for their very the eastward, for the prevailing western
life blood was oozing away. Nothing winds would scarcely permit a leaf to
but old trees were found in this forest, face them. The small endemic palms
for the hungry goats do not allow the were also noted, fighting for life against
seeds to sprout. It remains only for the elements and the goats, on the
the now-existing trees to live out their sheltered slopes wherever their exist-
lives, when this species also will pass ence was possible. Goats were seen
away on Guadalupe. everywhere and occasionally a sudden
As we made our journey downward cloud of dust would rise from the faces
in the cool of the late afternoon, of the cliffs where, frightened at our
goats were seen everywhere journeying approach, the animals had, in the haste
—
toward the spring from the north, of their departure, started an avalance
the south, and all directions. I fired of stones toward the sea.
my gun toward one large flock to After we had passed well around to
frighten the animals, and they scurried the western side of the island, the sea
off across the precipitous gullies and became reasonably quiet and we all
were soon out of sight. began peering at the shoreline in
At daybreak the next morning we search of elephant seals. Those of the
set sail for the beach on the northwest part}^ who were acquainted with the
part of the island, where the elephant place called my attention to a loud
seals are to be found. As we were snorting, which sounded plainly from
approaching toward the north head in the shore though we were fully half a
the lee of the island, the wind ripped mile away. This noise, I was told, was
through gaps in the crest and descended made bj^ the elephant seals.
in what is known to the mariner as The long-awaited cove was soon
"woolies." Several of these were so reached and its short, sandy beach
violent that the awning on the after- seemed covered with the huge beasts.
deck of the boat had to be furled, and I could hardly wait while the anchor
at times I thought the very rigging was dropped and the skiff got ready.
would be torn from the masts. After It required a bit of skilled seamanship
we had passed from the shelter of the to make a safe landing, for the break-
island, we were met by a veritable gale erson the west side of the island were
and a frothing, heaving sea, which swept shoreward violently by the
dashed over the ship, causing all of us western wind. Once on the beach, I
to seek a seat of safety with a con- found myself face to face with the
venient handhold. We were sailing huge creatures of the sea. It was with
close to the rocky coast, and the tower- a great deal of timidity at first that I
ing cliffs, rising like spires into the sky, walked in their midst, but I finally
made an impressive scene. The fog ventured to pat one enormous fellow
had risen and, as we passed along, we as he lay dozing in the mellow heat
were able to see the summit of the of the sun. It amazed me to find that
.4 TRIP TO GUADALUPE 585
the beasts were not only not vicious such heavy animals. Others that were
but allowed us to walk freely among not disturbed flipped sand onto their
them and to talk to each other without backs with their front flippers to free
taking alarm. Their sense of hearing their peeling skin from the irritating
seemed to be only slightly developed, flies and to protect it against the warm
but a very few grains of sand kicked sunshine. One beast that I had under
over their slumbering faces was sure to observation for some time, while I
arouse them. was making photographs, used his
The majority of the animals were a- front flippers much as a person would
dult or nearly adult, and there were only use his hand, to scratch his side or his
five seen that could be classed as year- nose or any part of his body that was
lings. The whereabouts of the breed- within reach. The action of the digits
ing females and "pups" was a mystery. of the flipper reminded me very much
The difference in the ages of the of fingers, especially when the animal
seals was easily discernible, for the was rubbing the more sensitive parts
younger individuals were bluish gray of his nose.
while the old ones were of a yellowish On the second day of our stay at the
cast. The older animals were in a state seal beach, I witnessed a combat from
of moult with the hide peeling, hair start to finish and was much amused
and all, from their backs, much as a and impressed by the way the animals
sunburned bather peels on our pleasure fight. The combat was provoked by the
beaches at home. All showed evi- attempt of one huge beast to get to sea
dences of having fought and their by crawling over the back of his neigh-
necks, shoulders, and faces were seared bor, who much resented the extra two
!)3^ deep scars, made either by the rocks tons of weight bearing down upon his
against which they bumped or by back. The animals began to grunt
their opponents' great canine teeth. and snort, and rose threateningly
However, they seemed placid now as on their front flippers with their heads
they rested in the sunshine on the erect and their huge cavernous mouths
beach. It did not apparently matter opened menacingly. Near-by seals,
in their case which side was up for as — realizing what was about to take place,
many were lying up-side-down as gave room and the battle commenced.
right-side-up —
nor whether the left The two combatants struggled, neck
side or the right side was toward the and neck together, each attempting to
sun, for any part of their round body bite the other or working for an ad-
seemed to flatten enough in the sand vantageous position on the sloping-
for comfort. beach. These aggressive tactics car-
After our party had viewed the herd, ried them ever nearer to the surf,
we made a census of the seals, which and finally the}^ reached the wash of
totalled 366 individuals. We then the waves. Here each would endeavor
walked boldly in their midst, purposely to take advantage of an on-rushing
frightening many of them into the wave as an aid in hurling his bulky
water. With no little interest we body against his antagonist. For fully
watched the actions of the beasts, for five minutes they sparred in the surf,
they ambled to the water almost agilely until one of them, apparently thinking
by the use of their front and rear that discretion was the better part of
flippers, making remarkable speed for valor, went into deeper water, where he
586 NATURAL HISTORY
rolled lazily in the swelling waves, each national emblem was dipped in
while the other ambled back to his honor of the other. We proceeded to
place on the beach. an anchorage in the quiet waters of
Our work on the seal beach being South Bay, on the shores of which we
finished, we again returned to our found a party of bluejackets with the
anchorage on the eastern shore and the commanding officer of the Eagle Boat
following morning set sail to the south- hunting goats to stock their larder.
ward, steaming as close to the island On our cruise around the island we
as possible in the hope that a last had planned to spend the night at this
remaining Guadalupe fur seal (Arcio- anchorage, going up the western coast
cephalus townsendi) might be disin the morning. There we intended
covered. How bleak and barren the to capture a couple of the smaller
landscape appeared as we moved elephant seals and to bring them back
slowly along just beyond the reach of alive —
one for the Zoological Garden
the breakers! Hardly any bird or in San Diego and the other for Mexico
animal life, excepting goats, was seen, City. Our visit to the seal beach had
though an occasional dark-mantled sadly shaken our hopes of being able to
western gull {Larus occidentalis livens) cope with or carry even the smallest
or Farallon cormorant (Phalacrocorax of the seals we had observed in the
auritus alhociliatus) was observed, herd. However, when we talked with
and a single California sea lion (Zalo- the commander of the Eagle Boat and
phus was seen basking
californianus) found that it was possible to obtain
in the sunshine on the top of a rock the help of twenty or thirty energetic
near the water. The tide was low at sailor boys and a vessel of good dis-
this morning hour and many flocks placement to bring back the captive
of goats were observed at the water's seals, our expectations were again
edge nibbling at the kelp. So scarce revived.
is food for them on the island that they Two fair-sized islets mark the south-
descend during low tides to feast upon ern end of Guadalupe Island, and as
the kelp and they no doubt quench soon as we had rounded these, we were
their thirst with salt water. From our again buffeted by the west winds. How
vantage point on board ship we the boat pitched and rocked in this
were able to study the geological for- turbulent sea! At times the sweeping
mation of the island. In many places spray passed clear over our ship,
could be seen large craters surrounded wetting the decks and everyone on
by black streams of cold lava that had them. During the four-hour journey
once been belched forth red-hot from up the western shore of the island,
the earth. One area was of cinder red the Eagle Boat and our craft went
color, as though still aglow with the bow to bow, and the only event of
fiery heat which marked the birth of natural history interest on our journey
this island. was the flushing of a few pairs of
Upon rounding the southern end of Xantus' murrelets (Endomychura
the island, we saw to our surprise a hypoleuca).
United States Eagle Boat lying at We landed at the seal beach and
anchor with the Stars and Stripes were soon followed by a dozen or more
floating above the taffrail. As we lusty bluejackets in their whaleboat.
passed almost within hailing distance, Theirs was the fiery enthusiasm of
When teased, the seals would open their cavernous mouths and act as though they
would like to devour the aggressor with one gulp
It takes more than a single elephant seal to beat a detail of jôung naval reservists
provided they have tackle enough
587
588 NATURAL HISTORY
youth, and action was what they After all hands were again safely
wanted. Accordingly the seals were on board, each ship blew three blasts
quickly scattered and driven into the of the whistle as a farewell. The
sea when once these boys started to Eagle Boat put out to sea for San
work in their midst. Selecting one of Diego and our ship went back to its
the smallest seals, they tangled him anchorage near the garrison. Here we
in a large rope cargo net, which was spent the night, and departed the next
then lashed to a broken oar and carried day at noon for Ensenada on our way
to the whaleboat. As there was not home. Thus ended the trip of my boy-
enough tackle to cope with the second hood dreams to the isle of Guadalupe,
animal, the bluejackets departed from and, though there were disappoint-
the beach with only one captive. ments, my pleasures were many.
The queer proboscis from which the elephant seal derives its name is here seen to good
idvantage
The Seal Collection
A FEATURE OF THE HALL OF OCEAN LIFE, AMERICAN MUSEUM
By FREDERIC A. LUCAS
Honorary Director, American Museum
A PROMINENT
Hall of Ocean Life, the con-
struction of which
completion, will naturally be the seals
feature of the
is drawing to
lack in the
means
the
collection, may
to supply the deficiency.
Aside from the fur-bearing species
majority of seals, both as to
provide
and their relatives and, while there are number and species, are found in
gaps that we should like to see filled, northern waters and, as these lie near
yet, when the doors are opened, a good- at hand or are easily reached, it is not
\y portion of the seal population of the surprising that seals from the North-
world will be represented. Chief among ern Hemisphere form the bulk of the
them are — or will be —the groups of collection. Our northernmost repre-
sea elephants, Steller's sea lion, and sentative is the ringed seal, small in
the Alaskan fiir seal. The story of the size but once of prime importance to
sea elephants is told elsewhere in this the Eskimo as an article of food —in
issue, the sea lion will be described and days gone by it might almost
fact, in
figured at some future time, while a have been termed the Eskimo's "staff
picture of the Fur Seal Group must of life." Stefansson, too, relied largely
suffice for this account, which is re- on this seal for his food supply. The
stricted to the general collection of ice may force the bulky walrus south
seals. to dig his clams, but the little ringed
In poetical parlance it might be seal bores through the ice floes for air,
said that the series of seals reaches from while beneath them he manages to
pole to pole; in plain prose it contains gain a scanty livelihood. Associated
examples from the Arctic to the Ant-
arctic —
but they are scattered along at
intervals with numerous gaps between.
This is partly because seals as a rule
occur at widely separated localities,
partly because they dwell in places
difficult of access, and largely because
there have been no definite attempts to
collect them. Also there is little
The ringed seal (Phoca Jcetida) has been
attraction in the chase of the seal: the "staff of hfe" of the Eskimo during
where seals are abundant, it is mere many a winter of the past
slaughter; where they are rare and
wary, it is a trial of one's patience. with him, but far less common and
Moreover, seals have this advantage much more difficult to capture, is the
over most animals, they can slip into big bearded seal, or square flipper,
the water and elude pursuit. Never- which reaches a weight of five hundred
theless, it is to be hoped that friends of pounds. Neither of these seals is found
the American Museum, seeing this in sufficient numbers to be important
589
o
o
<
THE SEAL COLLECTION 591
commercially, which is doubtless for- shiny steel gray. Those from one to
tunate for the Eskimo as well as the three years old wear a more or less
seal. mottled coat of short hair, like that of
Found with the ringed seal in the the ordinary hair seal, the conspicuous
southern part of its range is the black saddle of the adult not being
Greenland, or harp seal, commercially assumed for several years. But why
the most important of the true, or ear- call the young seals bedlamers? Judge
less, seals. This is the species that at Prowse suggested that it was because,
breeding time assembles in thousands when attacked, they were so frightened
on the ice floes and drifts southward that they acted like Bedlamites —
to be slaughtered by the hardy New- plausible suggestion but, like many a
foundland fishermen. And while the similar explanation, not the right one.
killing of the seals is mere butchery, The correct etymology was furnished
yet such are the attendant conditions by some one better versed in the queer
of wind and weather that it is a most twists that have befallen many New-
hazardous occupation and many a —
foundland names such, for example,
ship and many a man have been lost as that which transformed the Bay of
in its prosecution. This hazard is to Hope, Bai d'Espoir, into Bay Despair
the advantage of the seal herd, a bad —and we learn that "bedlamer" is
season for the sealers meaning a good only a corruption of the French
season for the seals, and it is the writ- bete de la mer, really very simple.
er's belief that but for these "bad Scattered among the harps —though
seasons," the seals could not for so long less numerous —are the big hoods, so
have withstood the yearly drain upon called males have the
because the
their numbers —
even though there are power blowing up a sack on the end
of
wise laws restricting the length of the of the nose. These form but a small
killing season and forbidding vessels to portion of the catch.
leave St. Johns, the headquarters of What becomes of all these seals?
the sealing fleet, before a given date. The majority of them are converted
What this drain is may be gathered into leather, and the finer grades of our
from Levi G. Chafe's Report oftheNew- sealskin belts and pocketbooks come
foundland Seal Fishery, from which it from the hides of the young. A few are
appears that on an average about transformed into wolf- and bearskin
125,000 seals are taken yearly, the furs, but the fur is too woolly to make a
smallest catch on record being just un- really good imitation. The fat, or
der 34,000 and the largest over 350.000. blubber, is reduced to a very clear,
The harp seals taken fall into various tasteless oil —

some of which, it is
categories —
white coats (those under whispered, passes as cod liver oil.
two weeks old), gray coats (from three, The big gray, or horsehead seal,
weeks to a year), bedlamers (from one though shy and scarce, is present in
to three years), and old harps (the the American Museum collection but
adults) The newly born seals are clad
. there is Httle to be said about him.
in a white coat of thick woolly fur Rarest of northern seals, though also
hence their name. At the end of about included in the collection, is the
two weeks this peels off —
as does the strangely marked ribbon seal, a strag-
down from many sea birds leaving — gler from the Siberian coast. His
the young clad for a year in a suit of boldly marked coat is, or was, in de-
592 NATURAL HISTORY
mand to supply the well dressed take fish and, after they have depleted
Eskimo with holiday apparel. the shore fisheries by their wasteful
Finally, among our northern seals and destructive methods, discover that
we have the harbor seal, the one most it is really the seal which is to blame
familiar to residents and summer and. forthwith put a price upon his
visitors on our Atlantic coast. Once head, or rather upon his tail, that being
the end that must be presented by
claimants for bounty. For several
seasons some Penobscot Indians did a
flourishing business right in Boston
Harbor but, since the seal became an
outlaw, he has been rare not only there
but elsewhere. Not that seals do not
eat fish —for they do — but the damage
they is slight compared with
inflict
A male ribbon seal {Phoca fasciala) . —The that done by the fishermen, and they
female is somewhat larger and her markings
are much fainter do not waste the fish and it is a fairly
easy matter to keep the seals within
itwas common in New York Harbor, bounds.
where its name still survives in Robbins The Caribbean seal is noteworth}^ for
Reef, a corruption of the Dutch robben various reasons: first, because he and
(seals) denoting a place where seals his immediate relatives are exceptional
''haul out" to bask in the sun, and among hair seals in that they dwell in
even in recent years an occasional seal tropical waters instead of icy seas, and
has found its way into the Hudson. secondly because he has the distinc-
Formerly plentiful along our eastern tion of being the first animal to be
coast, the seal has become compara- described from the New World, having
tively rare, owing to trhe fact that seals been noted on the second voyage of
and fishermen do not agree on the fish Columbus in 1494. Of course Colum-
question. The fishermen consider bus must have seen other new animals
that they have the exclusive right to but apparently they were not described.
A male Caribbean seal (Monachus tropicalis) obtained at the Triangles by Henry L. Ward
in 1886. —The blotches are not the result of any skin disease but are patches of old hair
that has not yet been shed
THE SEAL COLLECTION 593
As for the seal, it is recorded in the log dell's seal being the sole representative
book that on the islet of Alta Vela, off of those found on the
ice that fringes
the coast of Haiti, the sailors came the shores of the Antarctic Continent.
upon a band of "sea wolves," eight of The Museum needs examples of the big,
which they killed thus was the Carib-
: active sea leopard —one of the largest
bean seal made aware, in the usual man- of the earless seals, quick
enough to
ner, of the coming of the white man. escape the whale and quick
killer
Still another point of interest lies enough to catch and devour the am-
in the fact that while one relative phibious penguin. Especially does the
of the Caribbean seal is found in the Museum need specimens of the various
—
Mediterranean provided he has not southern fur seals that were so ruthless-
been recently exterminated another is — ly and wastefully killed by the hardy
found on Laysan Island in the Mid- sealers of New London, who made
Pacific. How did his ancestors get so theirway into the Antarctic long before
far from home? Did they come it was charted.The killing is termed
through the strait that for a time con- wasteful because no attempt was made
nected the Gulf of Mexico with the to preserve the race —males, females,
Pacific? If so, why did none of them and young being killed indiscrimin-
tarry by the wayside and populate the —
ately and because thousands of skins
Hawaiian Islands? Once abundant not were lost through improper treatment.
only on many of the West Indian This is doubly unfortunate because the
Islands but also on the Bahamas, the southern seals do not seem to have the
Caribbean seal, unused to man and recuperative power of their northern
easily killed, was soon reduced in- relatives, and their former breeding
numbers, thanks to the demand for oil grounds still remain the barren wastes
and hides, and for many years past they were left by the sealers nearly a
has led a precarious existence at one century ago, the only protected colony
or two places in the Gulf of Mexico, being found on an island in the La
especially at some rocky islets known Plata River belonging to the Argentine
as the Triangles. Even here it is in Republic, which yields several thou-
danger and recently the Mexican gov- sand skins yearly. The only eared seal
ernment has called upon our own for of the south that the Museum has is
aid in preventing its extermination. the southern sea lion, obtained by the
So much for the northern seals; Harrison Williams Expedition to the
those of the Southern Hemisphere, Galapagos.
aside from skulls and skeletons, are but So here we stop for want of material,
scantily represented in the Museum hoping in time to add another chapter
collections, a single example of Wed- to the storv of our seals.
-J
_i-l
Hunting Corals in the Bahamas
By ROY WALDO MINER
Curator of Lower Invertebrates, American Museum
—
Note. The expedition, the achievements of which are recorded in this article, was made
possible through the Angelo Heilprin Exploration Fund and through the general funds of
the American Museum. The success of the expedition was assured through the generous
The Submarine Film Corporation and its parent company, the Williamson
cooperation of
Submarine Tube Corporation, as well as through A. Schrader's Sons, Inc., which donated a
complete diving outfit.
HUNTING corals with a sub- a pontoon with chain hoist, and two
marine tube, diving apparatus, dinghy s. This fleet was towed by the
and pontoons fitted with chain "Lady Cordeaux," a sea-going tug
hoists is doubtless a unique experience, of considerable size, owned by the
though many collections have been Bahaman government, which courte-
made in the past by means of more ously lent conduct our fleet
it to
primitive apparatus and native divers. across the dangerous arm of the sea
The writer has just had the privilege known as the Tongue of the Ocean.
of leading an expedition of the former There was a full moon and a calm
kind to Andros Island in the Bahamas, sea, so the trip was made without
where, through the efficient coopera- we arrived off the reefs at
incident and
tion ofMr. J. E. Williamson, manager Mangrove Cay about daybreak, June 18.
of The Submarine Film Corporation, Andros "Island" is really an ar-
a large collection of corals was ob- chipelago, for it is intersected by
tained, together with photographs, three bights, extending completely
sketches, motion pictures, and other through the land mass from east to
data, to be utilized in constructing a west, and by many subsidiary channels,
reproduction of a typical Bahaman that cut it up into a multitude of cays
coral reef as an exhibit in the American of various sizes, and form a veritable
Museum's new Hall of Ocean Life. labyrinth of waterways. They are so
The expedition, which included in ad- narrow, however, as to give Andros
dition to Mr. Williamson and the writer superficially the appearance of a single
the following Museum artists, Mr. body of land, extending in a general
Herman Mueller, glass modeler, Mr. north and south direction for about one
Chris. E. Olsen, modeler and artist, and hundred twenty miles, and forming
Dr. George H. Childs, colorist, left New the largest land area in the Bahamas,
York on June 6, reaching Nassau in The "island" is for the most part
the Bahamas three days later. After low-lying, with no elevations greater
eight days in this beautiful and historic than one hundred feet, and is composed
West Indian port, spent in arranging mostly of coral limestone of relatively
for the cooperation of the Bahaman recent formation. There is much low
government and in outfitting and organ- and scrubby vegetation with occasional
izing for the trip, the party left for Man- forests of large trees of exceedingly
grove Cay, Andros, on the evening of hard wood, called by the natives
June 17, with a fleet consisting of a "horseflesh" because of its red color.
forty -five -foot gasoline yacht, the In the interior there are extensive
"Standard," two motor boats, the mangrove swamps, some of them still
Williamson submarine tube apparatus. occupied by large colonies of fiamin-
696
596 NATURAL HISTORY
goes, which are now protected by the A description of the submarine tube
Bahaman government. The western will aid in understanding our methods
shore shelves off gradually to form the of work. This remarkable apparatus
Great Bahama Bank, composed of was invented by Mr. Williamson's
shallow coral and sand fiats, one of — father and was adapted by the son for
the most important sponge-fishing submarine photography. It consists of
grounds in the West Indies. The east- a barge, the "Jules Verne," surmounted
ern shore, on the other hand, rises by a tower containing chain hoists.
abruptly from the Tongue of the Ocean, Beneath the tower is the well, through
—a depth of a thousand fathoms. which is lowered a tube composed of
At a distance of about one to two miles flexible sections securely bolted to-
from the eastern shore is the most gether. These are about two feet in
typical barrier reef in the West Indies, diameter and readily admit the body
extending the entire length of Andros. of a man. The lower end of the bot-
This remarkable coral reef was the tom section opens into a spherical
immediate objective of the expedition. chamber five feet in diameter, in
We pitched our work tents on Little which two or three persons can be
Golding Cay near a beautiful sandy comfortably seated. From it they
beach on the sheltered side of the gaze out through a plate glass window
island, while the fleet anchored in the an inch and a half thick into the world
lagoon near by. at the bottom of the sea. A ventilator
Little Golding Cay is an islet situ- at the top of the tube draws fresh air
ated out on the reef itself near one of into the chamber by means of a canvas
the entrances to the lagoon. The outer chute, so that one breathes easily and
side is exposed to the trade winds, comfortably many feet below the
which blow almost continuously from surface of the water. Sections added
the southeast, dashing the waves at the top permit the lowering of the
against the coral rock which forms its chamber to any desired depth. This
shore and eroding it into fantastic tube was a most important factor in
pinnacles. The greater part of the cay the success of the expedition as used
is covered with low vegetation, in conjunction with the subsidiary
mostly fragrant bastard logwood, apparatus and the Schrader diving
gumbo limbo trees writhing in fan- equipment.
tastic shapes, rose apples with their I shall never forget my first view of
scarlet blossoms, seven-year apples, the barrier reef as seen through the
and sea grape along the shore, bor- window of the tube. Great trees of
dered by bay lavender and other low the reef -forming coral (Acropora pal-
shrubs. Terns nest in the hollows of mata) rose from the reef platform con-
the rocks, and herons, called by the stituting a veritable stone forest with
natives "poor Joes," perch in the trees. closely interlacing branches, a marble
So tame are they that one may ap- jungle which melted into the pearly
proach them closely. On the lagoon blue haze of the watery atmosphere,
side of the island is the crescent- the wide branches often breaking the
shaped beach mentioned above, com- surface of the water at low tide, espe-
posed of white coral sand, and form- cially on the side toward the lagoon.
ing an admirable landing place for the Multitudinous schools of reef fishes
coral specimens. were swimming in and out through the

HUNTING CORALS IN THE BAHAMAS 597
forest aisles in stately procession, each assailed a large branching coral. The
species keeping much to itself in ex- bar was not needed, for the coral fell
clusive fashion. Jacks, yellowtails, at a touch from the point and, fastened
black angels, blue angels, blue parrot to a lowered rope, was quickly hauled
fishes, groupers, red snappers, and to the surface. A bucket was now let
countless smaller brilliantly colored down and filled with smaller pieces
species were visible in great numbers. while we signaled directions from the
Once an enormous jewfish came slowly window of the submarine chamber.
into view around a coral tree trunk, its On other occasions the pontoon was
huge mouth gaping as it swam slowly towed out and the chain hoist lowered.
toward the tube and gazed at us with The diving equipment would be util-
bleary eyes. As the tube was moved ized to fasten a chain sling around the
slowly back and forth by the men base of a heavy coral. The chain
above, an ever-changing panorama would be pulled taut from above and
revealed itself to our view. At times we would wait for the next wave to
the forest opened to disclose submarine lift the pontoon and jerk the coral
glades dotted with coral growths of loose. The coral would then be hauled
fantastic shape. Posts of coral rock to the surface and towed ashore on the
topped by dome-shaped heads of pontoon. Our largest specimens were
Orhicella reminded one of huge mush- secured in this way. The record speci-
rooms, while beautiful fronds of the men measures twelve feet and, it is
fan coral (Acropora 'prolifera) crowned estimated, weighs about two tons.
mounds adorned by sulphur yellow
Pontes and waving sea fans of magenta
and gold. The great staghorn coral
(Acropora cervicornis) covered exten-
sive areas of the reef platform, espe-
cially in front of the coral groves, its
sharp, branching spikes forming inter-
tangled masses menacing in every
direction, like a complicated and con-
fused chevaux defrise. Immense domes
of the star coral (Siderastrsea) and the
brain coral (Meandra) showed here
and there, diversified by brown, white-
tipped fronds of stinging coral growths
(Millepora aldcornis)
Suddenly into the midst of the
strange beauty of the submarine
jungle Williamson came floating down
equipped with diving helmet. Now
he advanced like some strange monster
with slow half-gliding strides, gro- Raising a coral sp(>cimen to the deck of
the pontoon by means of steel tongs and a
tesquely peering at us through the gog- '
Though very heavy

ten-ton chain hoist.
gle-eye windows of the helmet. A long specimens were successfulh' Hfted in this
way, the tough steel of the tongs was finally
crowbar had been lowered to him and,
bent in an endeavor to secure an unusually
placing it like a lance in rest, he large example
598 NATURAL HISTORY
Bleaching and packing corals on the shore of Little Golding Cay. In the right fore-—
ground a box is being built around the twelve-foot specimen. In the distance may be seen,
from left to right, the Williamson Submarine Tube, the yacht, the pontoon, and other vessels
of the Museum fleet
As soon as the corals were collected, But we arranged with native sloops to
they were towed to the sandy beach on bring us lumber from Nassau. Sponge
Little Golding Cay and stranded at clippings from a sponge establishment
high tide. Here they were put through at Mangrove Cay five miles away
the bleaching process by Mr. Herman furnished us with an admirable pack-
Mueller, the glass modeler of the Mu- ing material, showing that even in the
seum staJEf, who is also an expert in outer islands natural resources of the
the preparation of coral specimens. As environment will occasionally quite
the bleaching proceeded, the speci- unexpectedly solve the problems that
mens were gradually moved up the arise.^ Sponge clippings are the
beach, until finally they rested,snowy waste pieces of sponge resulting from
white, above the high-tide limit. One the process of trimming which com-
of the coral heads, a Siderastrxa, was mercial sponges go through in being
so heavy that it required twelve men prepared for the market. First the
to roll it up the beach, which soon corals were swaddled in burlap. Then
assumed the appearance of a coral cases were built from rough lumber to
reef as it bristled with our accumu- fit the specimens, which were anchored
lated specimens. Long festoons of dry- securely in position and packed tightly
ing sea fansand sea plumes, stretched in the sponge clippings, smaller corals
between the tents, added a gay touch being fitted in the spaces about the
of color to the scene. larger ones as the work proceeded.
Then came the problem of packing, Thirty-one cases of corals were pre-
which was no small undertaking in pared in this way, requiring three
this out-of-the-way corner of the thousand feet of lumber and ten boat-
world. We were sixty-five miles from loads of sponge clippings. The total
Nassau, the nearest port from which ^Reference may be made in this connection to the
way in which the Third Asiatic Expedition solved its
supplies could be obtained, and our packing problem in Mongolia, by using the camel's
wool gathered from the animals of the caravan to pro-
forest of corals looked formidable. tect the fragile fossils.
HUNTING CORALS IN THE BAHAMAS 599
weight was estimated at more than water-color sketches, which will be

forty tons. invaluable in constructing the proposed
The submarine tube was also util- group.
ized for the important work of photo- Photographing and sketching in the
graphing the coralfrom be-
reefs tube could be carried on only in calm
neath the sea. More than a thousand weather outside the reef. Unfortu-
photographs were taken during the nately we were considerably hindered in
trip, including under-sea pictures as this part of the work by the almost con-
well as miscellaneous photographs of the tinuous trade winds, which prevented
surrounding region and those illustrat- us from anchoring the barge outside.
ing the methods employed. About On one occasion, however, we made the
two thousand feet of motion pictures attempt and worked while the tube
were also secured. The tube was was swinging like a pendulum among
employed for the first time on record the coral heads with the motion of the
for making water-color sketches of waves as they dashed against the reef.
living corals and associated forms be- This was too risky to repeat as there
neath the sea. Mr. Chris E. Olsen and was constant danger that the glass
Dr. George H. Childs, artists on the window would be forced against sonae
Museum staff, were charged with this projecting coral and broken. Luckily
work and painted more than sixtj^ some calm days were given us when the
The Williamson Submarine Tube, viewed from the "Lady Cordeaux."— Boxes of corals
cover the deck of the barge. The low-lying shore of Andros Island shows in the distance
600 NATURAL HISTORY
wind blew off shore, and in one instance boat hardly large enough to contain
we were able to work for hours at a them, and looked much like the three
stretch in the tube, photographing wisemen of Gotham as they strove to
almost continuously under perfect keep their balance in their tiny craft.
conditions. Not a little work was done At one time there were nineteen men
among the coral clusters in the more in our party busily engaged in pre-
quiet waters of Hog Cay Channel, at the paring the collections for shipment.
northern side of Middle Bight Entrance. Finally, the morning of July 15, the
As may be inferred from the number "Lady Cordeaux" arrived to take us
of fish seen about the coral reef, fishing back to Nassau and found us all pre-
in the lagoon brought quick returns. pared. We lightered our sixty-two
Our table was always plentifully cases of corals and equipment out to
supplied. On one occasion I told a her at the reef entrance, by means of
little native boy who was helping us, the barge and the pontoon, and the
to get us some fish for next morning's next morning we were all safe in Nassau
breakfast. He asked me what kind I Harbor.
wanted. I said, "Red snappers." During our stay Andros we re-
at
Within an hour he brought me thirty- ceived much and many
assistance
four of these fish At times we feasted
! courtesies from Commissioner Elgin
on green turtle. Sharks were abundant W. Forsyth, whose knowledge and
and we had an adventure with one of experience of the reefs were invalu-
them. Some of our men were sent able to us, as well as his services in
ashore in the small motor boat to securing native helpers and fresh
obtain a supply of water. A shark provisions. The Bahaman govern-
apparently mistook the fishlike bottom ment, through Administrator Burns
of the boat for legitimate prey and and other officials, gave us every fa-
darted for the moving propeller. He cility, and the people of Nassau
was thrown completely out of the generally took much interest in our
water, revealing a deep gash under the enterprise. The capable work of
jaw. He turned over two or three times Captain Lewis Isaacs of the "Jules
as he fell back, and then disappeared. Verne" and Captain Joseph Bethell
The motor stopped completely as the of the "Standard" was most impor-
men felt the shock of the impact, and tant to our success in acquiring the
it was found afterward that the propel- collection. The final ten days of
ler shaft was sprung and that the our trip were spent first in visiting the
stuffing box leaked. The boat was put remarkable coral formations known as
out of commission as a motor boat for "boilers" at Harbor Island, and
the remainder of our stay. secondly in organizing our collec-
We found the Andros natives of tionsand equipment for the homeward
help to us.
considerable Three of tripon the "Munargo" on July 27.
them came to us every morning a Three days later we arrived in New
distance of five miles in a little sail- York.
The Coral Gardens of Andros
PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH THE WILLIAMSON SUBMARINE TUBE
By ROY WALDO MINER AND J. E. WILLIAMSON
[/ A bank of branched Porites corals. — Thousands of close-set mdividual specimens make

up these formations
Mr. Williamson, of The Submarine Film Corporation, collecting corals in a Schrader

—
diving suit. He is looping a rope about a fine specimen of fan coral (Acropora prolifera)
so that it may be hauled to the surface of the sea
Coral posts crowned with dome-shaped living colonies of Orbicella rise beside the more
foliateexpansions of the stinging coral, Millepora
Glimpse through the branches of a submerged coral forest, composed of the palmate
coral, Acropora pahnata
Sunlit aisles of the sea-forest floor with reef fishes swimming about the fronds of the
treelike gorgonians, or sea bushes
Waving masses of many-fingered gorgonians grow luxuriantly among the corals,

adding color and grace to the scene
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A Submarine Cable Among the Corals
By CHARLES HASKINS TOWNSEND
Director of the New York Aquarium
WHEN Tahiti
the
'
in
' Albatross
'
1899 during the

' reached The preceding remarks are made
merely by way of introducing some
Tropical Pacific Expedition in comments on the photograph, illustra-
charge of Alexander Agassiz, Mr. tive of coral growth, which appears on
Agassiz's first move was, in his own the following page. When passing the
words, 'Ho determine, if possible, the office of the Commercial Cable Com-
on Dolphin
rate of growth of the corals pany at Fifth Avenue and 46th Street,
Bank from the marks which had been New York City, I noticed in the win-
placed on Point Venus by Wilkes in dow a section of cable bearing a mass
1839." of coral with the following label:
We had finished a month's work Section of cable overgrown with coral,
among the atolls of the Low Archi- picked up by the Cableship "Restorer" in the
pelago, during which corals and the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 8, 1923. The Commer-
cial Pacific Cable extending from San Fran-
formation of coral islands had been the
cisco to the Philippines was completed July
principal subjects of conversation.
4, 1903.This section was part of the orig-
The stones and marks set up by inal and was picked up in shallow
cable,
Wilkes at Tahiti were readily located water just off Honolulu in the course of a re-
but proved a disappointment. There pair. Thus the coral grew around the cable
in the course of twenty years.
were only a few scattered heads of
coral growing on Dolphin Bank. Its With the kind permission of Manager
choice as a standardby which to meas- Thornburg the specimen a species of —
ure coral growth was unfortunate. As —
Pocillopora was photographed. The
Mr. Agassiz reported the findings: mass of coral measures 24 inches in
''An excellent opportunity had been length by 16 inches in greatest width, the
lost to determine the growth of corals diameter of the cable being 2^ inches.
during a period of sixty years." There is no information at present
Among those who attacked the prob- available as to the depth at which the
lem of thegrowth rate of corals by cable lay on the reef, nor do we know
setting up marks, was the late Dr. when growth upon it commenced,
coral
A. G. Mayor, who accompanied Mr. for the cable was not examined for
Agassiz on the "Albatross." Dr. T. W. twenty years. According to Mr.
Vaughan's experiments with several Thornburg there is a marked irregu-
species of shallow-water corals at May- larity in the growth of coral; at times
or's laboratory at Tortugas and also in it appears to proceed very fast and at
the Bahamas soon showed annual other times and in other places there is
growths of as much as 95 mm. in no growth at all. He also states that
diameter. Doctor Mayor's studies on coral growth on cables placed in shal-
the reefs at Samoa served to confirm low water around the Hawaiian group
those of observers in other parts of the has occasioned trouble but that cables
Pacific, that Pacific corals grow at located in deep water have not been
about twice the rate of corresponding affected.
genera in the Atlantic. The Commercial Cable Company
601
602 NATURAL HISTORY
Courtesy of the Commercial Cable Company

A section of cable laid in 1903. — The
age of its growth of coral (Pocillopora) falls,
therefore, within the two decades that have since elapsed and, according to an eminent
authority, may be less than ten years. The coral mass measures 24 inches in length by 16
inches in greatest width, — an indication of the rapidity of growth
has no other specimen of this kind and date of fixation of the larvae is unknown,
no photographs of corals attached to and suggests that the growth pictured
cables, but such growths are often here might be less than ten years old.
found when submarine cables are lifted. It is probable that the galvanized outer
The Halifax-Bermuda Cable, which lay strands of the cable would not offer an
on the Bermuda reef for twenty years attractive surface for the attachment
at a depth of twenty feet, was raised of coral larvae until they had "weath-
in 1923. came up heavily loaded
It ered " for a time in sea water.
with both stony and gorgonian corals, It would seem that sections of old
some of the latter being the common submarine cable, long enough to be
"sea fans" that are often sold to easily recovered, would be ideal ma-
tourists. Doctor Vaughan tells me terial for the gathering of evidence
there is nothing very conclusive in the as to the time required for coral growth
finding of coral growths on cables which if placed in favorable locations and
have been long under water, as the examined at suitable intervals.
"Pearls and Savages"
A REVIEW OF CAPTAIN FRANK HURLEY'S VOLUME ON NEW GUINEA'
Curator of Comparative and Human Anatomy, American Museum
New
THE one
great island of
of the least-known quarters
Guinea, ing life of the coral reefs;
greater part of his Pearls and Savages
but the
is
of the globe, forms a link between devoted to his experiences with the
Australia on the south and the Malay- natives of the southeastern prong of the
sian region to the northwest and west, island and of the Iâke Murray region.
and is therefore of the greatest interest In the course of Shackelton's South
to the geologist, anthropologist, zoolo- Polar expedition Hurley had been one
gist, and botanist. Not very far back of a shipwrecked party that had finally
in geological time it was undoubtedly won its way back to the base camp
connected with Austraha as we may — after the most intense struggles and
infer not only from the relative shallow- sufferings. In these bitter Antarctic
ness of the waters that now separate temperatures some of the men had
these land masses, but also from the dreamed of the steaming tropical
presence in New Guinea of a number of jungles, and thus was born Hurley's
animals and plants the nearest relatives determination to explore New Guinea.
of which hve in Queensland. Perhaps After his arduous and brilliant record
about the time that the Glacial Period as a photographer in the Antarctic
was coming on in Europe there were and in the Great War, Hurley might
terrific disturbances in the region well have been excused if he had picked
of New Guinea. The very foundations an easier objective for his next bit of
of the earth gave way, great blocks of exploring than the interior of New
rock strata were faulted downward and Guinea, but it is fortunate for the world
others were pushed upward, giving rise that he made the choice that he did
to the precipitous rock cliffs, many and lived to bring back the superb
thousands of feet in height, which in photographs which now adorn his book.
some places in the existing mountains Starting from Sydney, Australia,
of the interior still attest the magnitude Hurley first made a preliminary recon-
of these displacements. At the same naissance covering a period of ten
time the land toward the south subsided months, during which he cruised in the
beneath the sea level, the waters of the Coral Sea and visited the costal villages
Indian and Pacific oceans rushed in of Papua, or southeastern New Guinea.
from either side and, cutting off New Thus he secured the motion pictures
Guinea from Australia, formed the which brought him the means of equip-
Coral Sea and Torres Straits. ping his second and more extensive
It was in these now fairly tranquil expedition. On this expedition he was
tropical waters that Captain Frank accompanied by the naturalist Alan
Hurley descended into the sea with the McCuUoch, of the Austrahan Museum
pearl divers and secured many beauti- of Sydney, and the equipment included
ful photographs illustrating the swarm- a flat-bottomed, shallow-draught vessel
^Pearls and Savages by Captain Frank Hurley, With eighty illustrations and a foreword by G. P. P. Pub-
lisiied by G. P. Putnam's Sons.
603
604 NATURAL HISTORY
with an auxiliary engine, and two sea- ceremonial dances, in which the dark-
planes presented by a patron of the skinned savages were adorned with
expedition and operating in conjunc- the most elaborate feather head-
tion with the vessel. Radio apparatus dresses, each feather being carefulh^
on board gave the Australian news- articulated so as to wave up and down
papers a daily account of the expedi- with its owner's movements. The
tion, which was followed with tense author describes how these people
interest by thousands of people in the fashion pottery without a potter's
great cities of Australia. wheel, and gives excellent pictures of
The seaplanes eventually had to be the ingenious process of making sago
sent back because the steaming atmos- out of the pulp of the "sago palm,"
phere was fast rotting their very fabric, the latter being the chief source of food,
but not before many notable flights clothing, and shelter for the major
had been made and some wonderful portion of the Papuan population.
moving pictures secured, showing the The author frequently comments
vast delta of the Kikori River and the upon the "Semitic features" of the
native pile dwellings and ravis. As for people about Lake Murray and of
the latter, imagine a structure made of many of the coastal people, but here,
mangrove saplings bent over at the as elsewhere, his viewpoint is rather
top and thatched with leaves, that unscientific and the book lacks illumi-
stretches like a vast crocodile, in some nating comparisons. Nevertheless,
cases 400 feet long and with a yawning the reader who desires to compare the
entrance 70 feet in height ! Into these natives that Hurley met with those
dark communal clubhouses Hurley of other parts of New Guinea, and
and his intrepid companions ventured who is further interested in such larger
and secured in exchange for tin cans, problems as the relationship of the
axes, and tobacco, much priceless Papuans with the peoples of New
booty for the anthropologists artfully
: Britain, Australia, and Tasmania,
prepared human heads, "bullroarers," will find in Captain Hurley's book
and other magic-making material. a wealth of instructive detail re-
They also witnessed many dazzling corded by his camera.
Bird Banding
By MAUNSELL S. CROSBY
DO the same birds return year

after year to the same place?
range extends from northern Mackenzie
and Ungava to southern Montana and
Is the phoebe which is now rais- the mountains of Connecticut, south-
ing its second brood of the season on ern New York, and Pennsylvania. Its
top of the column on my piazza the winter range is from Missouri and
same bird which built there last year, Massachusetts to northeastern Mexico
and is her mate the same? Will her and Florida. Do the far-northern
children come back next year, nest as breeders winter in New England and
near as possible to their birthplace, and are the birds found on the Gulf Coast
perhaps quarrel with their father for from the lower ranges of the spe-
possession of the oldhome? In a few cies, or do the northern breeders make
cases,where a bird has shown albinism a thorough migration from the top
in its plumage or has possessed an to the bottom of the ranges, while
individual song that could be mem- those that nest in the Catskill Moun-
orized by the observer, it has been tains of New York simply drift toward
recognized in a succeeding year, or at the warmer coast until the warmth of
least the probability was strong that if spring enables them to drift back?
not the same bird, it was one of the Do birds always winter in the same
descendants of that bird which had place year after year? Do they make
inherited the white feathers or pecu- what to us seem unusual wanderings or
liarity of song that distinguished the migrations, not in line with the stereo-
progenitor. We usually assume that typed flights we have learned to expect
the robins, the wrens, and the chippies, of them? How long do free, wild
which we find so regularly about our birds normally live — ducks, owls, jays,
homes each year, are our old friends, catbirds, robins? What percentage of
but how often are we right? birds annually survives natural mor-
On the other hand, where do these tality plus the toll levied by our vast
birds spend the winter? We have army of sportsmen and gunners? How
learned that these delicate creatures do we account for so-called accidental
annually immense flights to
take visitants? Are they wind-blown wan-
escape the cold and starvation of our derers, or inexperienced or lost young
northern winters and that they reach birds, or explorers? Whence have they
the warmth and plenty of southern come and how far may their caprice or
climates, and some of us have been that of the elements carry them away
surprised during a winter visit to from their proper course?
the South to discover such northern No ornithologist can as yet begin to
acquaintances ruby-crowned
as the answer most of these questions, but a
kinglet and white-throated sparrow means has been found whereby some
perfectly at home in the apparently answers have already been suggested,
incongruous surroundings that are and possibly all may some day be
afforded by live oaks, cacti, and pal- satisfactorily cleared up. This means
mettos. The whitethroat's breeding is bird banding.
605
Photograph by S. Prentiss Baldwin
The drop trap, or net trap, is propped up by a wooden peg, to which is attached a string,
the loose end of which is held by the bird bander. When a bird has been lured beneath the
trap by the food there spread out, a tug at the string causes the trap to fall. The gathering
box, seen at the left of the photograph, is then apphed to the little door in the upper left-
hand corner of the trap and the bird is coaxed into this receptacle for banding This trap
should be used only by an expert
Photograph by S. Prentiss Baldwin ,
Mr. Baldwin, widely known for his activities in bird banding, is here seen at
S. Prentiss
Thomasville Station B inducing some captured birds to leave the sparrow trap and enter the
gathering cage to the left of it. Sometimes such birds are reluctant to leave the banquet of
bread crusts. The trap is placed within a guard fence, erected to keep out cats and dogs
606
BIRD BANDING 607
More than two hundred years ago a cal Survey of the United States De-
heron was captured in Germany bear- partment of Agriculture, so as to per-
ing on its legs several metal rings, one mit the work to become nation-wide.
of which, according to the legend on it, In the meantime, Mr. S. Prentiss
had been attached some years earlier Baldwin, of Cleveland, Ohio, one of the
in Turkey. A hundred years later a most ingenious and indefatigable of
Dutch naturalist named Brugmann bird banders, had made such remark-
marked a number of storks, hoping to able return records by using sparrow
find out if they would come back, but
his results were negative, for no birds
that returned had marks on them.
Until 1899 no systematic effort was
made to band and then recapture birds,
but in that year Herr Mortensen, a
Dane, captured birds of several species,
banded them, released them, and kept
a record of the banding. His success in
recapturing banded birds interested a
number of ornithologists, so that soon
a score of individuals and organizations
were drawn into the study. Many
had to be worked out
practical details
a suitable non-corrosive metal had to
be selected for the bands, methods
determined upon for numbering, mark-
ing, and recording, and also various
means of trapping devised. Truly
remarkable success along these lines
A tree trap, baited with suet and devised
has been obtained, and the published for the capture of woodpeckers, nuthatches,
results are most encouraging as well as and creepers. A pull of an attached string
closes the doors at the. top and bottom
interesting.^
Let us now turn our attention to the traps, in which birds could be recap-
United States. Aside from the sporadic tured again and again without injury,
experiments of a few investigators, that a new impetus was given to the
probably the real pioneers were the study, for hitherto most returns had
members of the New Haven Bird Club, been made through the finding of
which had a number of bands made, and dead banded birds or the shooting of
used them somewhat locally during the wild fowl by sportsmen. The old
years immediately preceding 1909, at method of recording, which was de-
which time, through the efforts of Dr. pendent upon the destruction of the
Leon J. Cole, the American Bird Band- bird, thereby putting an end to its
ing Association was formed. This scientific as well as its economic and
organization came under the guidance aesthetic usefulness, has been replaced,
of the Linnsean Society of New York, through the employment of the trap,
but supervision was officially taken by a system based on the return records
over in 1920 by the Bureau of Biologi- of living birds, which maj' subject
>Lincoln, Auk, XXXVIII, 1921, pp. 217-28. themselves to capture repeatedh' with-
608 NATURAL HISTORY

A device of a more elaborate character than those previously shown is the house trap, in
which a man can stand erect. There is an outer door at the right and there are two inner
doors bejônd. All of these are left ajar and the bird is induced to follow the trail of food
through the several portals until he loses his way in the interior
out putting their lives in jeopardy. the number of banders, attack local
Through the baiting of traps with suit- problems, and perform other useful
able food and with water for drinking services. Already many hundreds of
and bathing, a large number of species members have joined these associations,
have already been caught. Chiefly a great number have satisfied the gov-
through the interest aroused by Mr. ernment requirements and secured
Baldwin, three associations have been permits to trap, and accurate data on
formed during the past two years as the movement and life of thousands of
convenient units, all governed by the birds of many species are accumulating
Bureau of Biological Survey, which in the files of the Bureau of Biological
issues bands, permits to trap under the Survey Washington.
in
Migratory Bird Treaty, and up-to-date A word about the bands used. They
advice on banding, and also keeps the are very light, made of aluminum, and
card records of all the banded birds. are marked with a serial number and
These smaller North
societies are the the words ''Notify Biol. Surv.,
Eastern, Eastern,and Inland Bird Wash., D. C." An amusing transposi-
Banding Associations, while on the tion of vowels in stamping an early set
Pacific Coast the work is being fost- of bands caused them to be known as
ered by the Cooper Ornithological the "Boil, Serve, and Wash" series.
Club. They are able by their char- As now made, they are sufficiently
acter to stimulate interest, increase pliable to be opened and closed with the
BIRD BANDING 609
fingers or a small pair of pliers, and coasts and the Connecticut, Hudson,
sufficiently rigid to prevent a bird from and Mississippivalleys, the more
removing them or from tightening chance therewill be to trace individual
them by hammering with its bill, through the capture of banded
histories
thereby restricting the circulation or specimens and thereby judge the whole
causing other injury to the leg. Prop- movement.
erly attached, they slip loosely along
the tarsus, are no impediment to the
bird, and are not noticeable on a freed
bird except at close range.
Slowly, but surely, as return after
return is made of birds recaptured after
having been previously banded, a
wealth of facts is being stored away.
Formerly average dates of arrival and
departure of migrants over a wide
area gave us a general idea of how fast
birds traveled. Wells W. Cooke com-
piled exhaustive and accurate lists
contributed by scores of observers,

showing dates of arrival and routes
taken. But now we have an oppor-
tunity to find out how fast the in-
dividual travels —how far it actually
has flown in one day. I may band a
bird today and you may catch it at
your station tomorrow many miles
north or south. It may rest at your
station and go into your trap a number
of times, finally tomake another long
Mr. L. R. Talbot, who operated the
flight on way, or it may leave you at
its Thomasville station in 1922, is seen in the
once, covering a more moderate dis- upper picture with a brown thrasher
(Toxosto?na rufum) This bird, No. 19247,
tance each day. A fox sparrow, one of
.
was first banded in 1915, was captured with

the first March arrivals, was promptly its mate in subsequent years, and was last
taken by Mr. Talbot in 1922, being then
banded. It returned several times to at least eight years old
the trap and did not leave until the
very end of April, while in the mean- An example of this still rare trap-
time large flocks of the same species ping of another person's bird is the case
arrived, stayed a day or two, and of a purple finch banded at Norwalk,
passed on. The bird was solitary when Connecticut, during the winter of
it and apparently the influence

arrived, 1922-23, and recaptured a few weeks
of the bounty spread before it was later at Demarest, New Jersey. The
greater than that exercised by its purple finch is a particularly erratic
relatives swiftly moving by. The bird, being abundant during some
more people band birds, especially winters and nearly absent in others.
along well-known highways of migra- Possibly food supply may affect its
tion, such as the Atlantic and Pacific movements, but at all events, during
HOW TO HANDLE A BIRD
These four photographs of a
captive blue jay (Cyanocitta cris-
tata) may serve as a guidance
to those who contemplate engag-
ing in bird banding.
In (1) the bird is held for

examination with its neck between
the first and second fingers, while
its feet find a perch on the Httle
finger.
After a bird has been handled for a few moments it
becomes impassive and will hang quietly, head down-

ward, without attempting to escape (2).
If is to be banded, (3) is the proper method of

a bird
approach. For the purpose the little finger is placed
over the neck to keep the bird quiet, and the leg is held
by the thumb and forefinger
until the band is put on.
When the bird is released it

may not at once grasp the fact
that it is free, lying inthe open
hand (4) for some time before
bestirring^îtseK.
Photographs by S. Prentiss Baldwin
610
BIRD BANDING 611
the winter of 1922-23 it was remark-

ably common throughout southern
New England, New York, and New
Jersey. In December, 1923, and
January, 1924, a banded purple finch
was seen in company with an unhanded
one at a feeding station four miles
south of the writer's traps at Rhine-
beck, New York. The presumption
is that was a bird banded by him
it
during previous winter, as no

the
purple finch had been banded by him
subsequently. There were practically
no other purple finches about last
winter. Why had this one returned
and why had it moved to such a distant
station? Had it overflown its mark or
was the change deliberate? Did its
daily foraging area cover both places,

or was it originally caught while en
route to the second station?
It has been definitely established by
trapping that a certain percentage of
birds do return, not only to their nest-
ing sites in spring, but also to their
winter quarters in autumn. Mr.
Baldwin's Cleveland house wrens (the
genealogies of which he is recording In the upper picture, taken by T. D.
is shown a male Brewster's warbler.
Carter,
and the actions and relations of
This bird, No. 48866, was captured at
which are most interesting and Wyanokie, New Jersey, three successive
amusing) are examples of the former, years: June 10, 1922, "'June 10, 1923, and
June 15, 1924. On each occasion its nest
and his whitethroats at ThomasviUe, was also located. Its mate was a golden-
Georgia, are examples of the latter. winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) and
one of their offspring is shown in the lower
On the other hand, it can be stated picture, taken by G. Clyde Fisher
that the percentage of returns is rather
lower than might be expected. Many or learned much wisdom. Even though
factors may account for this. To begin they successfully survive this period,
with, there is mortality. On the whole, sooner or later some enemy will catch
where the balance of nature is not them or they will perish through the
interfered with, the number of a effects of the elements, for in nature
given species is likely to remain the there is no such thing as dying a
same from year to year; that is to say, /'natural" death. Even so, nature's
the deaths tend to offset the births. It ruthlessness is often less cruel than
is believed that the period of greatest our lingering kindness to our doomed
mortality among most birds is the sick ones.
time just after they have left the nest, Then there is the question of over-
before they have reached full strength crowding on the breeding grounds.
612 NATURAL HISTORY
Most birds that do not nest in colonies interesting records. In spring he has
have a home area which they jealously seen banded nuthatches and chicka-
guard from trespass by others of their dees entering their nests to feed their
kind, though often unconscious or young within a few rods of the spot
careless of the presence of other species where they had been trapped. But
the habits of which do not conflict with the most continuous history he can re-
their own. Thus a pair of kingbirds will late from his own experience is that
hold their orchard against all other of the wintering j uncos that have
kingbirds, besides driving off hawks entered his traps since he started using
and crows, but will permit robins and them in January, 1920, after hearing
bluebirds to nest there unmolested; Mr. Baldwin tell of his success.
while a single pair of kingfishers will The table on page 613 gives the num-
patrol their stretch of creek to the ber on the band of each junco which has
exclusion of all others of their kind. returned in any season subsequent to
No doubt if their young come back the that of its original capture, and gives
next season to the same orchard or every date on which it has been caught.
stream, there will be a battle, and Dates in parentheses are those occurring
the loser will have to look elsewhere for during the winter when the bird was
a home and a mate. Even so, a per- ''new," or first banded, and therefore
centage of banded birds may be forced do not constitute true returns. Dates
out of their home area, while unhanded not in parentheses indicate that the
birds will similarly filter in. A barred bird was captured during a previous
owl, one of young banded in
four winter, that had gone away in the
it
May, 1921, at Rhinebeck, was shot the spring —how we wonder and
far? —
following winter by a hunter a dozen come back safely to the very spot where
miles away, where very likely it had it had been fed before.
taken up its abode after being invited How many questions come up at this
to leave home by its parent, for it is point Why does the number of returns
!
not considered a migratory species. vary? Why have only three of the
In this part of the country, the birds 1920-21 birds come back, and only
of prey seem to have fairly definite one of those which were ''new" in
individual territory, due perhaps to 1921-22? (This last one succumbed to
the limitations of a particular food the frenzy of a gray squirrel which got
supply which must not be overtaxed. into the trap with it.) So far as trap-
Barred owls have been present winter ping is concerned, the flock would
and summer near the writer's house for appear to range in size between twenty-
twenty-two years, but in winter there is nine and forty-seven individuals. How
at first only one bird, to be joined by an- much larger is it actually? How many
other as the mating season approaches. j uncos, in other words, avoid capture
The writer's experience in bird entirely? Is there more than one flock?
banding has been limited by the time Why did No. 27137 fail to register in
at his disposal chiefly to the trapping 1920-21, seeing that in other years he
of winter birds.Chickadees and white- has been so faithful? Was he absent,
breasted nuthatches in abundance and or was the winter so open that he
a certain number of blue jays, purple found plenty of food outside the traps?
finches, tree sparrows, and song spar- If the latter was the case, he should
rows have visited his traps and made have stayed away also in 1923-24.
2 -c" I
•3 O^
W.
o
o
•-5
Q 2
"o
PQ
^ O ^
O
O
o
o
w
Q
Q
o
o
§ o ^
614 NATURAL HISTORY
Where was No. 48213 in 1921-22 and impelled the birds to pay the traps a
1922-23? This last winter he has been visit and that a few remembered the
caught seven times, having at so late a place in subsequent winters, but that
date acquired the ''trap habit." now they either have sufl&cient food
Quite different has been the experi- or roam in another direction when it is
ence with tree sparrows, although other scarce, no longer realizing where plenty
banders report greater success. Dur- lies awaiting them?
Photograph by R. H. Rowland
This Juvenal sparrow hawk {Falco sparverius), a female, was captured at
Upper Montclair, New Jersey
ing the winter of 1919-20, twenty were Although we have now seen that
banded. The following winter only "returns" are to be expected of old
three were caught, but all three were friends both in winter and in summer
banded birds from the previous winter. quarters, transients —that is, birds
In 1921-22 one of these three birds which nest north of us and winter
was recaptured and one new one, while —
south of us have hitherto proved
yet another unhanded bird was seen. much harder to recapture. Not that
Since then only one or two tree spar- they avoid the traps, for they are at all
rows have been noted anywhere near times tempted by suitable bait, but
the writer's place in winter and none the captures are nearly always new
has been in his traps. What has be- birds, a circumstance which perhaps
come of the flock? Has it been wiped shows that migrating birds, until they
out? Or is it not likely that its regular reach their destination, alight for the
headquarters are some distance away, day's rest and food in the first attrac-
that the deep snows of the first winter tive spot they find after the light of
BIRD BANDING 615
Photograph by G. Clyde Fisher
An immature red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) with a band on its leg.
It was caught near South Waterford, Maine, in August, 1923
day makes it proper and safe to halt. going south for the winter. Young
So it would be mere luck if the same birds seem especially prone to this
transient ever stopped a second time in habit and they are likely to wander
the same place during its semi-annual north instead of south. Young black-
trip. However, even banding new crowned night herons were seen in late
transients brings its reward, for by July and August in places where, it was
keeping a record of those which ''re- known, they did not breed and to the
peat," the arrival and departure of north of which, it was believed, no
waves of migrants may be noted and heronries existed. The puzzle was de-
their relation to meteorological condi- finitely solved when some of the birds
tions studied. Further, as more and were shot by fishermen who objected to
more people along the main migration their feeding habits, and it was found
routes join in the banding, the prob- that they bore bands placed on them in
ability of their catching birds that others a heronry situated south of the place of
have banded approaches a certainty. capture. Doctor Cole, in the Wilson
It has been known for some time two
Bulletin for June, 1922, published
that certain species of birds, notably lettersfrom men who had shot night
the herons, wander during the late herons and they are worthy of being
summer before it is time to think of reproduced in this connection:
616 NATURAL HISTORY
"Gentlemen dear sirs Youi' bird was shot
state. The band on its leg, however,
by me Albert Bailey for which I
here to day
was more than Sorry when I found it had a read: "The Auk, New York, 3429,"
ring on. I took it for a Hawk as It flew so the reporter assumed that the bird
several times over myyard as I thought after
chickens and Gentlemen all I can say that I had flown nearly three thousand miles
am sorry If I did wrong In so doing and also westward in its wanderings. In a
beg Pardon.
Yours with Rees recent lecture Mr. Howard Cleaves
Albert Bailey." reported that robins banded in Canada
"Gentlemen: The bearer of the enclosed and Iowa had been captured in Louisi-
was found in one of our traps yesterday ana, and a meadowlark, banded in
morning. Now will you please tell us if you
are raising these pests or did you simply cap- spring on Staten Island, New York,
ture and tag it to see how far it would had been found in winter 180 miles
migrate?"
south of its home, although the species
winters in numbers on the Island.
Banding should determine if the winter-
ing birds do not come from farther
north and whether all the breeding
birds go south or not.
The banding of wild ducks in Ontario,
Canada, and subsequent reports of
birds shot during the autumn season by
gunners, showed not only that sixteen
per ce"nt were shortly killed by man
alone, but also that these ducks flew
south by two different routes, part
down the Atlantic Coast and part
down the Mississippi Valley, while one
bird, a blue-winged teal, was shot in
Trinidad, off the coast of South Ameri-
ca.^ It is thought that bird banding
will eventually show that there is
Photograph by T. D. Carter actually a considerable east and west
This song sparrow {Melospiza melodia) No. ,
migration in certain species. An easy
24702, was first taken in a government trap
on March 26, 1922, at Boonton, New Jersey. explanation is that such birds follow
Up to July 22 of that year it revisited the coast lines and rivers even when they
trap no less than thirty-two times'
deviate from a north and south line,
An astounding example of the extent and may thus stray many hundreds of
to which a bird may wander was the miles from their original longitude,
finding of a common tern floating but there are other cases more obscure,
dead in the Niger River in western which may be the result of habits
Africa. This bird had been banded in formed in glacial times. Such a case is
Maine! More amusing and less scien- that of the woodcocks banded near St.
tific was the report in a newspaper that Petersburg, Russia, which use three dif-
"Wren Crosses Continent." Doctor ferent routes in going south and winter
Cole found that the facts in this case in three different localities. Such also
are as follows: Mr. Finley banded a is that of the storks in Germany:
wren in Oregon and it was later found those breeding west of the River Weser
dead in a watering trough in the same iLincoln, Auk, XXXIX, 1922, p. 329.
BIRD BANDING 617
winter in Spain, while those nesting itself, SO as to attract species which will
to the east go all the way to South not enter the ordinary "fly-trap"
Africa.^ types and drop traps. No doubt the
A more could be written
great deal surface of the subject has only been
of what can be learned by bird band- scratched, and banders in future will
ing, —
such as the progress of molts as find so much to interest them that
noted in "repeating" birds, the re- some may have to specialize along cer-
placement of accidentally lost tail tain lines of study to the exclusion of
feathers, whether birds use scent or others. Incidentally, every new bander
sight in picking out food (why does a becomes a bird protectionist, feeds his
chickadee gobble up cracked peanuts charges, and keeps vermin and tres-
which it has probably never seen before passers away. Ordinary care in the
and neglect the other more familiar handling and watching of traps makes
seeds offered to him?), the effects of accidents to birds rare and unlikely
parasites and bird diseases, —for in- events.
stance, that malady which had attacked Some one has suggested the'motto,
the feet of chipping sparrows caught by "Let us band together." The writer
Mr. Baldwin in Thomasville. The feels sure that a trial will prove the
building of suitable traps is a study in game not only worth while but act-
is
iQberholser, Auk, XL, 1923, p. 438. ually absorbing and fascinating.
Photograph by Arthur A. Allen.
A banded green-winged teal {Nettion carolinense) and

canvas-backs (Marila valisineria) at a feeding station, Ithaca,
New York
NOTES
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY impressive and remarkable phenomena, and
Dr. Edmund Otis Hovey, curator of the secured an important series of photographs
and observations. His later visits enabled
department of geology in the American Mu-
him to record the waning activities of the
seum of Natural History, died suddenly volcano and subsequent changes, and he was
September 27, 1924. He was sixty-two years planning to make a final visit next year to
of age and had been a member of the Museum correct and check up various details and note
the changes of twenty years before publishing
staff for more than thirty years. The scientific
a final memoir upon the eruptions.
staff of the Museum adopted on October 14
Arctic Exploration. —Doctor Hovey had
the following minute and resolution: long been interested in Arctic exploration,
Doctor Hovey was appointed as assistant was a director of the Explorers Club, and as
curator in the department of geology on chairman of the committee in charge of the
January 1, 1894, and was second to Doctor Crocker Land Expedition of the Museum, took
Chapman in order of seniority among the an active part in its organization and equip-
curators of the Museum. He was appointed ment. A succession of misfortunes and
associate curator in 1901 and curator in 1910. difficulties which befell this expedition made it
His time in his earlier years at the Museum desirable for him to go personally upon the
was largely given to the cataloguing and ex- relief expedition sent out in 1915, and this in
hibition arrangements in the department. turn met with unexpected difficulties which
The catalogue of types and figured specimens enforced a prolonged stay of nearly two years
of fossils in the department collections, a in the camp at Etah. Since his return he had
volume of 500 pages, was completed and made a series of field trips in connection with
published in 1898-1901 in collaboration with the physiographic relief maps planned and
Doctor Whitfield. Doctor Hovey's pi-incipal under way, and at the time of his death was
contribution in later years has been the series about to leave for a trip to southwestern Texas
of relief maps illustrating various typical to study the details of the Van Horn model.
phases of physiographic geology. These —
Secretarial Service. Doctor Hovey was
maps, carefully studied and planned in ad- for fifteen years (1907-22) the secretary of the
vance, and executed with a high order of Geological Society of America, and was very
accuracy and scientific insight into the largely concerned with advancing the growth
processes that they illustrate, are regarded as and prosperity and maintaining the high
exceptionally instructive and reliable. Ar- standards of that great and influential asso-
tistically and technically they are far ciation of working geologists. The high value
above the ordinary type of relief map, con- placed by his associates upon his services to
stituting a permanent contribution of solid American geology was evinced in an address
merit to the science of geology. and loving cup presented upon the occasion
Editorial Service —Doctor Hovey was edi-
. of his retirement in 1922. He was also re-
tor of the American Museum Journal (now cording secretary of the New York Academy
Natural History) for the first ten years of of Sciences from 1907-16. Here also the
its existence from 1900 to 1910, and continued value of his highly competent and efficient
up to the time of his death a valued adviser service was greatly appreciated by his fellow
and contributor to its pages. He was editor members. He was a regular attendant at the
of the Annals of the New York Academy of International Geological congresses from
Sciences from 1908-16, supervising the nine 1903 until their temporary cessation during
volumes published during those years. At the war period, taking an unostentatious but
the beginning of this year (1924) he under- always influential part in the discussions and
took, with some reluctance, the editorship of proceedings of the congress. As delegate from
the scientific publications of the division of the Museum he attended in 1920 and 1923 the
geology, palaeontology, and mineralogy in the Pan-Pacific congresses in Hawaii and Aus-
Museum. He had organized and initiated this tralia respectively.
and was busied with it in his
editorial work Doctor Hovey's wide personal acquaintance
last days. among geologists, and the respect enter-
Studies of VoLCANOES.-Doctor Hovey had tained for his knowledge, experience, and
for many years been especially interested judgment, enabled him to do much to advance
in volcanic phenomena, had studied some of the influence of the American Museum both at
the volcanoes, living and extinct, of Europe, home and abroad. His colleagues have learned
.and in 1902, 1903, and 1908 spent consider- through many years of collaboration to value
able time in Martinique and St. Vincent, his straightforward honesty of mind and
making a scientific study of the great out- purpose, his unselfish devotion to the interests
breaks of Mont Pelee and the Soufriere. The of the Museum and of science, his fair-minded-
preliminary results of this study were published —
ness and temperate expression and his death
in the American Museum Bulletin and in the leaves us all with a deep sense of personal loss.
Proceedings of the Vienna International Be it therefore resolved that the scientific
Geological Congress. When the news arrived staff of the Museum desires to record its deep
of the utter destruction of St. Pierre, he took appreciation of Doctor Hovey's character
the first boat for the West Indies, leaving and services and to mourn the passing of this
upon a few hours' notice and, arriving at the colleague and friend as a heavy loss to the
islands while the eruption was still in full Museum, to science, and to the large circle of
force, was an eyewitness of many of its most his associates and steadfast friends.
«18
NOTES 619
THE PASSING OF THE "ALBATROSS" If ever the American people received the
After nearly forty years devoted to ocean- fullest possible value from a government ship,
ography and fishery service in Atlantic and they received it from this one. The benefits
Pacific waters, the steamer "Albatross," a to science, the fisheries, and commerce spring-
twin-screw, brigantine-rigged vessel of 1100 ing from her almost continuous investigations
tons displacement, has passed out of the —the results of which have aU been pubhshed
control of the Bureau of Fisheries. and widely distributed throughout the world
Her career as a deep-sea exploring ship has
been a notable one. With her launching in
1883, the field of marine investigations of
American naturalists was extended from the
shallow waters of coasts to almost the great-
est known depths of the sea. During three
long cruises in the tropical Pacific under the
direction of Alexander Agassiz, dredging was
carried on in deeper water than ever before,
animal hfe being brought up from a depth of
4173 fathoms (more than four and a half
miles). Her deepest sounding was 4813
fathoms (nearly five and a half miles).
Agassiz described her as "the best deep-sea
dredger in existence," and later wrote, "I
can hardly express my satisfaction at having
had the opportunity to carry on this deep-sea
work on the 'Albatross.' While of course I
knew in a general way the great facilities the
ship afforded, I did not fully realize the
capacity of the equipment until I came to make
use of it myself. I could not but contrast the
luxurious and thoroughly convenient appoint-
ments of the laboratory of the Albatross for
'
'
work by day and by night with mj^ previous

experience."
Never actually out of commission except
for a year or more before her sale, her record
of service includes, besides many winters
devoted to deep-sea investigations in tropical Photograph by C. H. Tou-m
waters, long summers spent in surveying The beam trawl of the "Albatross" coming up
northern fishing banks, remote Alaskan from a depth of 1760 fathoms (two miles)
harbors, and the estuaries of valuable salmon

rivers, fur-seal investigations in Bering Sea,
—are incalculable. The results of her deep-
surveys of the Cahfornia-Hawaiian cable
.
route, and gunboat service during two wars. sea work — overshadowed, it is true, by those
While dredging was done in the deeper of thefamous "Challenger" Expedition,
waters adjacent to all fishing grounds inwhich were embodied in fifty quarto volumes
vestigated, there were many voyages for —would assume even larger proportions
purely oceanographic research. The oceanic could they have been published in the same
regions included in such explorations were uniformly sumptuous style as those of the
Newfoundland "Challenger." The "Challenger" was a
the western Atlantic from
pioneer ship in oceanographic work and must
and southward through the Caribbean Sea
to the Strait of Magellan; the eastern Pacific
remain the leader in the literature of the
off the coasts of North, Central, and South science. The "Albatross" entered the field
America; the tropical Pacific through Poly- much later, but thanks to her more modern
nesia to Japan; and the western Pacific from
equipment and longer service, her collec-
tions were naturally much more extensive and
the Japanese Archipelago to China, the
Philippines, and Borneo. the bulk of her published results was perhaps
620 NATURAL HISTORY
also greater.^ Comparisons are not in order, It is tobe regretted that funds could not have
but it is of interest to record that once from a been found for the continuance of her deep-
depth of 1760 fathoms (two miles) the sea investigations, for which no vessel is
"Albatross" brought up more specimens of better fitted. The Commissioner of Fisheries
deep-sea fishes at a single haul of the dredge told me that any qualified group of American
than the "Challenger" collected during her scientific men could have had her for the
entire period of service. The writer and his asking. Her buyer says she will not be
assistants counted them at the time and, —
broken up.- C. H. Townsend.
having the "Challenger" reports on board,
looked up the record. There are in the Na- CONSERVATION
tional Museum and in the widelj^ scattered The Gorilla Sanctuary An Accom-
laboratories of specialists many "Albatross" —
plished Fact. A large area, embracing
deep-sea collections awaiting examination. 250 square miles, has been set apart in the
While serving as resident naturalist of the Lake Kivu district of Africa as a sanctuary
ship, the writer sorted, packed, and shipped for the gorillas and other wild animals that
to the Bureau of Fisheries and to research inhabit it. Protection will be extended even
workers in museums and universities at home to the flora, so that for aU time the natural
and abroad, actually carloads of Spolia features that lend interest to this region may
Albatrossia. have an unimpaired appeal for the visiting
Naturahsts connected at various times with naturalist. The reserve is situated in the
the scientific staff of the "Albatross" were northeastern part of the Belgian Congo
Agassiz, Mayor, Kofoid, Bean, Jordan, between Lake Kivu and Uganda and includes
Gilbert, Evermann, Bigelow, Sumner, and —
the three volcanoes Mount Mikeno, Mount
more than a score of others. The writer, after Kirisimbi, and Mount Visoke. It is the region
several agreeable years on board, reluctantly described in the article "Gorillas Real and —
left the ship when assigned to duty at head- Mythical" contributed by Mr. Carl E. Akeley
quarters. Among the score of naval officers to the issue of Natural History for Sep-
detailed to the "Albatross" during her earlier tember-October, 1923.
years of service were many now on
the list of Impressed with the unique interest of this
rear admirals, including Benson, Rodman, locality —
for nowhere else in the world can
Eberle, Wilson, Hughes, Burrage, Anderson, the great apes, regarding which man has still
and Johnston. Captain Tanner, her notably so much to learn, be studied to better ad-
efficient and devoted first commander, con- —

vantage Mr. Akeley on his return from Lake
tributed more than any one else toward the Kivu made it his aim to secure the proper'
perfecting of the vessel's equipment. protection for the goriUas still survi'ving in
Occasionally a beam trawl-net was torn the area. The estabhshment

of Albert
awaj^ by the weight of its load, but I do not National Park (Pare National Albert) marks
recall a single break in the five-mile-long the consummation of his zealous effort.
wire cable. Tanner was a master at this sort Accompanied by Dr. W. K. Gregory and Dr.
J. H. McGregor of the American Museum, and
of work but succeeding naval commanders
learned to do the task as well. It was reserved by Prof. F. Tilney of the College of Physicians
for Captain Moser to make the deepest and Surgeons, Mr. Akeley went to Washing-
successful haul —
more than four and one half ton and convinced the Belgian Ambassador,
—
miles and all accomplished in ten hours. Baron de Cartier de Marchienne, of the un-
Think of reaching that far down through the usual opportunity within the grasp of his
darkness of the ocean for a load Imagine an !
country to serve science through the creation
air-ship similarly equipped and miles above of a gorilla sanctuaiy. His Excellency, who
the earth letting down a cable in the night- was then on the point of saiUng for
time for a haul from the surface of the earth Belgium, became the enthusiastic advocate
In spite of its four decades of service the of the proposal abroad, pleading with such
"Albatross" is still stanch and seaworthy. effectiveness that he finally succeeded in
achieving his purpose. Seconding his efforts,
'A bibliography of the "Albatross,'' compiled by the
writer in 1901, contained nearly three hundred titles, 2An interesting coincidence in connection with the
including documents in preparation; since then, the passing of the "Albatross" was the sale of the "Hiron-
number has been more than doubled. Many of the delle," the splendid steamer built by the late Prince of
publications on the results of dredgings by the "Alba- Monaco for o eanic research. In accordance with the
tross," more particularly those issued by the Museum terms of his will, the proceeds from the sale of the ves-
of Comparative Zoology, are large quartos superbly sel were applied to the endowment fund of the Oceano-
illustrated. graphic Museum at Monaco, which he founded.
NOTES 621
with unrelaxing devotion, was the Belgian upon thousands of individuals annually
Consul at Baltimore, Mr. James G. Whiteley. spend their hohdays. With their curiosity
Thanks to the vision and persistence of stimulated by the wonders of nature surround-
those interested in the realization of this plan, ing them on all sides, they have the chance
and of Mr. Akeley in particular, who first through the exhibits of the museum to gain
conceived it, the gorilla sanctuary awaits authoritative information regarding the local
only the definite demarcation of its boundaries rocks and stones, the characteristic animals
and the signature of King Albert before being of the area, the flowers that grow in rock cleft
formally proclaimed a national park. or stream-bordering meadow, and the Indians
New Groves Acquired by the Save the who were the original discoverers of the region
Redwoods League. —
On August 24, the long before the days of the white man.
Frankhn K. Lane Memorial Redwood Grove, All of these phases of interest will, as the
a beautiful two-hundred-acre tract of giant plan develops, be represented in the prospec-

trees on the Redwood Highway, at Ket- tive building in the Yosemite. It is not con-
tintelbe (Phillipsville) , sixty -five miles south templated, however, to make the museum a
of Eureka, in Humboldt County, California, substitute for the park but rather a key to its
was dedicated with suitable ceremonies. The features of interest. In furtherance of this
grove was acquired through a fund contributed purpose it is proposed to label the trees of
by a group of friends of Franklin K. Lane, the park and to mark geologic formations that
headed by Mr. E. E. Ayer of Chicago. In are especially worthy of attention.
addition to its magnificent stand of redwoods The American Museum is represented on
this grove has areas suitable for camping and the c ommittee in charge byjDr. Clark Wissler,
the privilege of using these for the purpose vice chairman, by Honorary Director Frederic
will be extended to the public. A. Lucas, and by Mr. George D. Pratt, one
The Save the Redwoods League announces of its Trustees.
also that through a generous gift from Mr. G.

The Paul J. Rainey Wild Life Sanctu-
Fred Schwarz of New York, supplemented by
funds supplied by the League from dues and
ary.—^The name of Paul J. Rainey was certain
to have an abiding place in the memory of
contributions of members, it has acquired a
those interested in wild hfe through the part
splendid tract, 157 acres in extent and con-
he played in first making known to the stay-
taining more than 12,000,000 feet of redwood,
at-home population the interesting habits
located on the Redwood Highway, ten miles
of African game animals as revealed by the
south of Crescent City.
motion-picture camera supplemented later
A Museum
for the Yosemite. A grant — by pictures no less interesting of animal life
been made available through
of $75,000 has
in the Arctic Circle. In yet another way
the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial
his name will henceforth be linked with the
for the erection of a museum building in the preservation of the records of nature. Forty
Yosemite National Park, for its equipment square miles of territory in Vermilion Parish,
and furnishing, and for the maintenance, Louisiana, have been presented to the Na-
during the first three years of its existence,
Audubon
tional Association of Societies by
of the personnel in charge. The plan con- Mrs. Grace Rogers, Rainey's sister, with the
templates the eventual absorption of the stipulation that they be maintained in perpe-
museum by the National Parks Service and
tuity as a haven for birds, to be known as the
the establishment of similar local museums Paul J. Rainey Wild Life Sanctuary. The
in other national parks.
land bounded on the east bj* the State Wild
is
The maintenance of museums in our parks
Life Refuge and on the west by the hunting
isnot an untried experiment. In fact, last
marshes of Edward A. Mcllhenny.
year more than 55,000 people visited the
Not only hunter be kept out of the
will the
shack in the Yosemite that tentatively housed
guarded but through the immediate
area,
the nucleus of the collections planned for
planting of duck foods in large quantities,
instalment in the building now made possible.
every allurement will be offered to birds to
In other parks, too, the foundations have
enter it.
been laid of what promises to be a movement
of far-reaching educational importance. It is The Biological Survey Solicits Aid. —
particularly fitting that museums should find Have migratory wild fowl been increasing or
place in our national parks, where thousands decreasing in number during the last few
622 NATURAL HISTORY
years? Drainage has deprived them of needed To his valued gift of the macaw Doctor
water and has resulted in their concentration Barbour has added that of another rare bird,
in imdrained areas, thus making for density the extinct New Zealand blue duck, associated
of bird population in some places with corre- with the mountain torrents of that country.
sponding sparsity in others. Accurate figures This duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchus) is
are needed regarding the various species not remarkable from two standpoints: its in-
onl}^ of water fowl but of other migratoiy birds
dividuahty of structure has earned it the
in order that the Migratoiy Bird Treaty Act and status of a monotypic genus, while its bluish
Regulations may be efficientlj^ administered. gray color is unique among ducks and swans.
To this end the Bureau of Biological Survej'
solicits detailed reports of observations, THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM
particularly of wild ducks and geese, dating Report of the Director for 192.3.—To
from 1913, when the first migratory bird law one unfamihar with the difficulties of main-
became effective, or from any year subsequent taining captive fishes in a healthy condition
thereto when notations were commenced by the equipment that is necessary and the care
the individual observer. The reports should that must be exercised are in the nature of a
contain special reference to the annual in- revelation. In the tanks of the New York
creases or decreases and to the condition of Aquarium there were at the close of 1923 no
the habitat of the birds. They should include less than 3727 specimens representative of
a statement regarding the opportunities the 116 species. Many of these came from Sandy
individual has had to make observations and Hook Bay and it might at first thought seem
the dates when and the places where thej^ were that the harbor water would answer their
made. A questionnaire is furnished bj' the needs. But because of its low salinity and its
Bureau of Biological Survey covering the increasing pollution, this water would be a
points of special interest and value. menace and the Aquarium is therefore de-
pendent on its reservoir of pure sea water to
BIRDS supplj' the needs of the marine fish entrusted
The Extinct Cuban Macaw. Through — to its care. Many of the fish come from the
the generosit}^- of Dr. Thomas Barbour the tropics and require water of a temperature
American Museum has come into the pos- higher than that obtaining in northern seas.
session of a specimen of the extinct Cuban In consequence water supphed to these fishes
macaw (Ara Only four specimens
tricolor). has to be artificially warmed. Lake and river
of this bird are represented in American fishes need non-sahne water, and in the case
collections, one being in the Museum of of trout and other northern forms this water
Comparative ZoologA^ and two in the Na- must be artificiallj^ cooled during about five
tional Museum, the newly acquired specimen months of the hot spell.
making the fourth. Nor have the museums of To meet these several requirements the
the Old World a representation noticeably New York Aquarium has four water systems,
better. Five is the number of specimens with ideal equipment for circulation. fUtration,.
mentioned in Rothschild's Extinct Birds as aeration, heating, and coohng. Constant
the ascertained total in European collections, vigilance is required to guard against acci-
though the author adds that there are prob- dents and to this end employees serve in
ably others of which he is not aware. eight-hour watches, guarding pumps and fil-
Ara tricolor, formerly confined to Cuba and ters, taking the temperature of the water,
the Isle of Pines, became extinct as long ago and observing its flow.
as 1864 when apparently the last specimen During the past year the attendance at the
was shot at La Vega. Like all the West Aquarium totaled 1,813,647, —greater by
Indian macaws it was ruthlessly sought for nearly 400,000 than the number of indi\'iduals
food until its extermination resulted, its that visited the American Museum during the
striking plumage hand
failing to restrain the corresponding period. Even so, the number of
of the destroyer; but while the other West visitors to the Aquarium was nearly 300,000
Indian forms were blotted out, not a specimen less than in 1922, the explanation being the
remaining to serve as a reminder of their greater inconvenience by the
occasioned
former existence, the Cuban macaw survives extensive renovations of the Aquarium build-
at least in the form of a decimated remnant of ing. These renovations, when completed,
museum specimens. will, however, greatly enhance the attractive-
NOTES 623
ness and substantiality of the setting, in REVIEWS

addition to making more space available
exhibition purposes, and it is safe to predict
foi-
"FoTJNDEES OP Oceanography." About —
a year before his death on July 26, 1924, Sir
that the influx of the pubUc through the iron-
William Herdman wrote in the preface of his
studded doors that commemorate the former
Founders of Oceanography^: "1 have myself
use of the building as a fortress will in the
lived through the period that has seen the
future be greater than ever.
development of the Natural History of the
The interest of the Aquarium is not only in Sea into the Science of Oceanography, and
its fishes. At the close of the year housed in
it
have known intimately most of the men who
addition 99 aquatic reptiles, representing 18
did the pioneer work."
species, 58 amphibians of 8 different species,
Among the founders of the science of the
544 invertebrates, belonging to 16 species, a
sea, he speaks at length of Prof. Edward
marine mammal, and two water birds from the
Forbes, Sir Wyville Thomson, Sir John
—
Galdpagos Islands, a penguin (Spheniscus Murray, Alexander Agassiz, and the Prince
mendiculus) and a flightless cormorant {Phala-
of Monaco. When the next volume on ocean-
crocorax harrisi).
ography is written, the work of Sir WiUiam
The services rendered by the Aquarium are
Herdman himself will constitute an important
not confined to the exhibition of specimens.
chapter.
It has helped other communities plan aquaria,
We have read his admirably written book
has through exchanges and gifts furnished
with such absorption that it is fitting, in
specimens to other institutions not only in this
describing it, to use as far as possible the
country but abroad, has supplied during 1923
language of the author. In his chapter on
no less than 800,000 whitefish fry to Lake
Forbes he says "the best description in brief
Champlain, 100,000 yellow perch fry to
form is that he was the pioneer of ocean-
Prospect Park Lake, Brooklyn, and sundry
ography." Thomson's name, he very prop-
thousands of trout fingerlings to Palisades
erly states, "will go down through the ages
Interstate Park, and finally through the
as the leader of thefamous Challenger Deep-
written contributions of its scientific staff
Murray's
sea Exploring Expedition."
notably the illustrated article on "Our
period was continuous with that of Thomson.
Heritage of the Fresh Waters" prepared by
It fell to his lot to complete the work of
Director Charles H. Townsend for the Na-
Thomson, the two having guided the destiny
tional Geographic Magazine, — has dissemi-
of the greatest single undertaking of ocean-
nated knowledge of many of the interesting
ographic exploration. To Murray's tremen-
forms represented in the institution at Bat-
dous energy must be credited the excellence of
tery Park.
the fifty quarto volumes constituting the
incomparable "Challenger" reports. This
MAMMALS
expedition was a national undertaking.
Mr. George G. Goodwin of the department
As outstanding examples of the enterprise
of mammalogy, American Museum, has pre-
of private oceanographers. Sir William selects
sented to the institution 162 mammals which
he collected in New York State during his va-
two names —those of Alexander Agassiz and
the Prince of Monaco. Both of these men
cation. The first specimens were taken at
devoted most of their fives and much of their
Berlin, on the Massachusetts border, and
private fortunes to marine explorations, and
included a series of smoky shrews {Sorex
their investigations and sumptuous pubhca-
fumeus) —a species hitherto unrepresented
tions carried forward without pause the
in the Museum collection —
a water shrew, and
development of the new science of ocean-
a fine series woodland jumping mice
of
work was done with both
ography. Agassiz'
(Napeozapus). From Berlin Mr. Goodwin government and private vessels, while the
went northward by automobile, passing the
Prince of Monaco built three vessels for
southern end of Lake George and proceeding
marine investigation, each larger and more
thence up the valley of the Hudson River to
perfectly equipped than its predecessor. He
Minerva. From Minerva he followed a trail
also founded and endowed the Ocean-
for eighteen miles that led through wooded
ographic Museum at Monaco and the Ocean-
country and it was here that he secured
ographic Institute at Paris.
several larger animals including beaver and
raccoons. 'Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1923.
624 NATURAL HISTORY
The science of oceanography has gained sudden death, just as he was about to start
much during the last half century from ob- for the meeting of the British Association
servations made at biological establishments Advancement of Science, is a matter of
for the
on shore. The author naturally devotes most profound regret. In the book he has left us,
of the chapter regarding these stations for we have the most recent summary of ocean-
marine research to the celebrated Stazione —
ographic science. C. H. Townsend.
Zoologica at Naples and to Anton Dohrn, "the "Woodland Ckeatxjkes" by Frances
founder, benefactor, director, the centre of Pitt. —A book of intimate studies of some of
all its activities, the source of its inspiration."
the forest-dweUing mammals and birds of the
There is no other laboratory where the study British Isles has just been issued under this
rooms are occupied by investigators of estab- title by E. P. Dutton and Company. The
lished reputation from all parts of Europe and author not only a keen and independent
is
America, attracted by the fame of the institu- observer of animals in the wild but at great
tion and its director. Its Aquarium on the pains she has reared at various times all of the
ground floor is one of the sights of Naples. mammals and several of the birds she de-
All of the first seven chapters are filled with scribes, so that her sketches, in addition to
interesting details respecting the men, the
reveaUng a comprehensive background of
ships, and the laboratories that have con-
woodland knowledge, have the special interest
tributed to the creation of the modern science that attaches to the biographies of individual
of the sea. The succeeding chapters more — animals. The badger, the dormouse, the- fox,
than half of the book —are
devoted to the the rabbit, and the squirrel are each assigned
physical characteristics of the oceans, under a chapter or more, while alternating with the
such headings as hydrography, ocean cur- accoimts of these mammals are chapters
rents, plankton, submarine deposits, coral
devoted to the woodpeckers, the bullfinch, the
reefs, the sea-fisheries, etc., all discussed by a
Sparrow hawk, the kestrel, various owls, and
master in oceanography who has devoted a the magpie and the jay. The book is at-
lifetime both afloat and ashore to gaining a
tractively illustrated.
knowledge of the sea.
"Outwitting the Weasels" by Helen
To the plankton, which no one has studied
more assiduously than Herdman himself,
—
Harrington. Two plays adapted by Helen
Harrington from stories by Clara D. Pierson
two chapters are devoted. The name is used
have recently been issued by E. P. Dutton
to include all the small animal and plant
and Company. Both of them are well suited
organisms that drift aboiit in the sea. The
for presentation by children and both incul-
importance of the plankton in the scheme of
cate wholesome ideas in a non-didactic, hu-
nature can scarcely be overstated. Abundant
morous, and delightful way. " Outwitting the
in most seas, its innumerable and varied
Weasels," one of the two plays, has as its
organisms constitute the food of young fishes
of many kinds and also of great schools of
theme the protection of the birds on the —
one hand, from the deUberate aggressor,
migratory fishes such as the herring and
represented by the boy with the sUng; on the
mackerel. The luminescence of. the sea
other hand, from that slipshod negligence, un-
surface is due largely to light-producing
fortunately not confined to childhood, which
organisms composing much of the plankton.
There is not space here for remarks on such
fails to replenish the empty drinking fountain
or provide other necessities upon which the
important chapters as applied oceanography,
the fisheries, and food matters in the sea.
birds have come to depend.
The present had the privilege of

writer THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION
knowing Herdman Washington when the
in MEETING
specimens obtained by some of the Pacific For the fourth time in its history the British
dredgings of the "Albatross" were being un- Association for the Advancement of Science,
packed. Later on there were pleasant meet- which was founded in 1831, held its annual
ings in New York in company with the late session in Canada. The Toronto meeting
Doctor Mayor. opened on August 6, under the presidency of
Like his associates in oceanography, Mur- Major-General Sir David Bruce, K.C.B.,
ray, Agassiz, and "Monaco," Herdman F.R.S., the successor in office of Prof. Sir
devoted much of his private fortune to the Ernest Rutherford, F.R.S., and was attended
furtherance of marine investigations. His not only by many scientists from the Ojd
NOTES 625
World but by Canadian savants and repre- announced that he had secured a female and
sentatives from the institutions of learning in young male of the rare Sumatran rhinoceros
the United States. Through the papers read {Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) In a letter dis-
.
before the several sections and their subse- patched by Mr. Vernay a fuU report of this
quent discussion opportunity was given for a achievement, which he describes as the
broad interchange of knowledge. grand coup is given. These rhinos are very
The American Museum was represented at carefully protected because of their scarcity
the gathering by President Henry Fairfield and it was only thanks to the generous inter-
Osborn, who took part in the sections of est that Sir Harcourt Butler, the governor
zoologj^ and anthropology, and by Dr. W. K. general of Burma, has taken in the expedition
Gregory, who participated in the discussion that permission to secure specimens for the
regarding "The Origin of Land-living Verte- American Museum was accorded. The dis-
brates" and presented before two of the trict chosen for the hunt was the Pegu
sections a paper, prepared in collaboration Yomas, a rough, precipitous region of shale
with Dr. Milo Hellman, on "The Dentition and sandstone, in the south-central part of
of Dryopithecus and the Origin of Man." Al- Burma. Arrangements for the successful
though unable to be personally present. Dr. prosecution of the hunt were made by Mr.
WiUiam DUler Matthew contributed an ac- Hopwood, the conservator of forests, Tenas-
count of his recent find in Texas under the serim Circle, sixteen elephants being provided
title of "A New Link in the Evolution of the for transportand a detail of six military pohce
Horse." A paper by Dr. Clark Wissler on mounted on ponies being ordered to accom-
"The Segregation of Racial Characters in a pany Mr. Vernay.
Population" was presented by title. The plan of campaign was to work up each
The Museum has had the privilege of of the main streams that flow into the Pegu
welcoming a number of the delegates on their River, in the hope of coming upon wallows,
way to and from the British Association and also to explore in similar fashion each of
gathering. Among those who visited the the feeders of these streams. For six days a
institution and estabhshed contact with its careful survey of the country was made with-
scientific staff may be mentioned: Prof. E. S. out reveaUng the presence of a dark form.
Goodrich, of Oxford, and Mrs. Goodrich, On one occasion the party came upon a wal-
Mr. F. A. Bather, who has recently succeeded low that had been used twenty-four hours
Sir Arthur Smith Woodward as keeper of geol- before. They settled down near it to await
ogy, British Museum (Natural History), Prof. the possible return of the animal that had
J. W. J. Dakin, Prof.
T. Cunningham, Prof. used it but although they lingered till the
Walter M. Tattersall, of Cardiff, Doctor late evening, no rhino appeared to reward
Pritchard, of Melbourne, Austraha, Prof. their vigil.
George HickUng, Dr. Clarence Tiveney, Dr. On the seventh day the party scoured coun-
C. C. Hentschel, Dr. Kenzo Iguchi, of the try covered with creeping bamboo, a favorite
Imperial University, Sapporo, Japan, Lady food of elephant and rhino. The going was
Henderson, Dr. Cuthbert Christy, Prof. J. exceedingly difficult and not even a rhino
W. Gregory, of the University of Glasgow, and track was discernible as compensation for the
Prof.D. M. S. Watson, of University College. arduous search. Time was getting on and it
was decided to make for camp. The way

COMPARATIVE ANATOMY thither lay along a stream known as the Bah-
Dr. Heichiro Motohashi, of the Imperial
maUk Chaung. Mr. Vernay writes:
CoUege of Agriculture, Tottori, Japan, has
been in attendance at the American Museum, After a mile or so we found that the water
in the stream was suddenly tinged with mud.
studying the osteology of the wild asses of Asia We followed the discolored water upstream
and using for the purpose skulls and skeletal for 475 yards and ascertained that a feeding
material obtained by the Third Asiatic stream that flowed into the Bahmalik at that
Expedition. point was responsible for the brown tinge.
Beyond the feeder the water in the Bahmalik
ASIA was clear. We discussed the matter and came
Hunting the Sumatran Rhinoceros. — to the conclusion that the muddy discharge
must be due to one of three things: (1) a
in the July-August issue of Natural His-
local rainstorm, (2) a landshde, (3) elephants
tory, p. 527, allusion was made to a cable —
wallowing the discoloration seemed too
sent by Mr. Arthur S. Vernay in which he heaw to be caused by rhinos. Although the
Photograph by Arthur S.Vernay
A rough climb along the course of a muddy mountain stream to ascertain whether the brown discoloration
of the water was due to a local rainstorm, a landslide, or a wild animal wallowing
Photograph by Arthur S. Vernay

—
One of the rewards of the effort depicted in the upper photograph. This Uttle rhino {Dicerorhinus suma-
trensis) was adopted by Mr. Vernay and the other members of his expedition. The tiny fellow came to feel
quite at home in the bamboo enclosure set aside for his use
626
NOTES 627
hour was late, an occurrence such as this near the nest. President Henry Fairfield
needed investigation. Osborn is to give the general scientific descrip-
We started up the stream.
little The
tion of the eggs and the microscopic study of
ascent was difficult, even formidable, and to
us in our impatience to reach the goal the the shells is to be undertaken by Dr. Victor
chmb seemed interminable. After a time Van Straelen of the University Libre of
there appeared in front of us a stretch worse Brussel s. Doctor Van'^ Straelen^^ has recently
than any we had previously traversed. The
published a paper regarding the structure of
water was now very thick. It confirmed our
conclusion that there must have been a some fragments of supposed dinosaur eggs
landsUde and, as we were feehng very weary, from the Cretaceous of southern France and
we sent our two natives up to investigate. is well equipped for the task assigned to him.
These men climb like cats and soon were lost Plaster casts of three of the MongoUan
to sight.
After ten minutes or so they reappeared eggs have been made and sets have been sent
gesticulating wildly. We knew that the big to the following institutions: Geological
moment had come. Slowly we made our way Survey of. China, Peking; British Museum,
up. We wanted to save om: breath for the
London; Natural History Museum, Brussels;
final effort, when steadiness of aim is all-
essential. At length we reached our natives. U. S. National Museum, museums of Yale,
They informed us they had heard a grunt. Princeton, the University of Cahfornia, and
We listened, and presently we too heard a the State University of Iowa, Buffalo Society
sound that meant rhino. ofNatural Sciences, and the Cincinnati Zoo-
The way beyond was narrow and steep.
We thought that over the top of the rocks logicalPark Association. Also a single cast
about twenty yards above us there must be has been sent to each of the more important
a flat place, for beyond was an old landslide. museums of Australia.
We wanted to have a look at this flat place
without being observed ourselves. As there
was room for only one individual at a time, HISTORY OF THE EARTH
I led the way and Percy-Smith followed close
behind. I clambered to the spot and with the
The Geology of [Greenland. A con- —
utmost care peeped over. Not ten yards away tribution by Dr. Edmund Otis Hovey,
was a rhino in a wallow. I pulled back, late curator geology and invertebrate
of
fortimately found a place that offered good palfeontology, American Museum, is printed
support for my feet, and then straightened up
as the leading article in The American Journal
again. As I came into view this second time
— —
the rhino a female saw me. She made one of Science, Fifth Series, Vol. VIII, No. 46.
plunge, when a lucky shot in the brain kUled It is entitled "Geology of Northwest Green-
her. land and Its Relation to the Flora, Fauna,
As Mr. Vernay approached the wallow, a and People of the Region" and is a timely
small object emerged from behind the fallen article on an area which at the present time is
animal. It was a baby male rhino about one attracting attention in connection with the
month old. charged viciously but ineffect-
It recent return of Captain Donald B. Mac-
ually. This little rhino was transported to Millan from its fastnesses. As the head of the
camp in a bamboo basket, quickly and skill- party sent out to relieve the Crocker Land
fully made by the two natives. It took milk Expedition, Doctor Hovey gained knowledge
out of a bottle and was a camp pet for several at first hand of Greenland and its phases of
days. It was then sent to Rangoon, to be interest, and this knowledge has been supple-
placed in the Zoo. But it did not survive and, mented by extensive and painstaking read-
as a consequence, it will be mounted with its ing.As a result his article gives an informing
mother in an American Museum group. picture of this Arctic land where the condi-
tions of life are comparable to those along
The Dinosaur Eggs.- —The famous dino- the edge of the continental glacier during the
saur eggs collected in MongoUa last summer Ice Age. The account closes with this signif-
by the Third Asiatic Expedition have recently icant statement:
been prepared for exhibition and are now
"The recent possession of fii-earms by the
on view. They belong t o nine' different groups Eskimo has exterminated caribou from the
and show considerable variation in size southern portion of the Smith Sound area and
and surface markings. The largest and by restricted the musk ox to the more inacces-
sible north coast of Greenland and the wilds
far the most important group consists of '
of EUesmere Land to the west, while it already

thirteen eggs in the rock, two weathered out threatens the numbers of seal and walrus in
but still intact, and at least two more repre- the sea and the polar bear on the sea ice. The
sented by broken shells lying on the surface possession, furthermore, of the steel trap at
628 NATURAL HISTORY
the same time imperils the existence of the Bramford Pit (not far from FoxhaU), are
fox and the hare. If these animals be elimi- described in the same paper.
nated from the country through these
improved agents of destruction which the A second paper describes and figures in
Eskimo obtains through barter with the white natural size six especially large flints found on
man, the Eskimo too must disappear unless the foreshore at Cromer. These specimens in
he is supported by his civilized brother. The part resemble the coup de poing, or hand axe
Danish trader has to some extent replaced
type, of the Lower Paleohthic industries and
caribou and musk ox hide with imported
reindeer hide, but the contribution of the are so regarded by the author. It is assumed
seal, the walrus, the hare and the fox to — and doubtless properly so that these —
human never be made good by any-
life will flints were washed from the exposed Cromer
thing that the white man is likely to furnish
Forest Bed deposits, which Moir regards as of
in the way of food and suitable clothing. The
balance of nature will be disturbed and the Late Pliocene origin; while others, such as
amelioration of existence which has led to the Lyell and Osborn, consider the formations as
increase of population in the present day of early Pleistocene date. A third paper
Polar Eskimo will result in^ his ultimate
describes an early paleohth (a hand axe)
extermination."
found in situ in the Glacial Till bluff at Side-
Dr. Chester A. Reeds, associate curator
strand in Norfolk. The specimen, together
American Mu-
of invertebrate palaeontology,
with its matrix, was derived, it is thought,
seum, was elected an honorary member of
from an older geological formation, perhaps of
the Sociedad Geografica de Colombia at the
the same date as the Cromer Forest Bed
session held on June 27. Doctor Reeds'
series, which, as indicated above, contains
proposer was the president of the society,
flints of the same general character.
Don Jose M. Rosales.
Dr. Kurt Ehrenberg of the University of
—
Pleistocene Man. A fourth paper by
Moir concerns the discovery, in a single exca-
Vienna, and Mrs. Ehrenberg, have been for
vation near Ipswich, of no less than five suc-
some weeks guests of the American Museum,
cessive " occupation floors," or buried land sur-
where Doctor Ehrenberg has been studying on
the one hand the fossil invertebrates, with a
faceson which ancient man camped or which
he temporarily occupied. The bottommost
view to determining their adaptations to a
sessile hfe, and, on the other, the osteology of
of these "floors" contains traces of fire and of
the bears, with special reference to the cave
flint flakes of an indeterminate industry; the
next three levels yield flints of distinctly
bear. Doctor Ehrenberg is the son-in-law of
Dr. Othenio Abel, whom the Museum will
Mousterian and the uppermost level
affinities;
have the pleasure of greeting in February, is by specimens having Aurig-

distinguished
nacian characteristics. Above the top floor
1925.
are found scattered Solutrean blades and
EUROPEAN PREHISTORY finaUy, the surface soil gives implements of
Pliocene Man. —The Osborn Library has Neohthic type. One remarkable feature of the
lately been favored with several new pubhca- investigations at this site is the discovery of
tions by Mr. Reid Moir of Ipswich, England, crude pottery (fragments) in the upper
describing his most recent work in the Red Mousterian level. The fifth and last paper
Crag and related dejaosits of East Anglia. describes seven flint blades of early Solutrean
The American Museum two years ago con- type, found mostly in Suffolk, at varying
tributed funds to Mr. Moir's investigation at depths in the gravels ranging down to eighteen
the famous Foxhall station^ and in due time feet. Some of the specimens are fine examples
received a share of the recovered specimens, of workmanship and, but for the depths at
which are now on exhibit in the hall of man. which they were discovered, would most
The finds of 1922, figured and described in one naturally be regarded as of Neohthic date.
of the present papers, consist of ordinary Truly, fifteen years of labor were never
cores and flakes, also a number of chipped more amply rewarded than those of Mr. Reid
forms in the shape of hand axes, scrapers, Moir in his own home district! After decades
and perforators— all apparently bearing the of heated argument about eoliths and Ter-
earmarks of human handiwork. A nearly tiary man, the facts are now more or less
parallel series of flints, obtained from the frankly admitted by competent opinion both
'The reader is referred to the article by Prof. Henry Continental and American. Perhaps the only
Fairfield Osborn entitled "The Pliocene Man of Fox- embarrassing feature of the situation is the
hall in East Anglia" that appeared in the issue of
Natural'History for November-December, 1921. comparative indifference of English scientists.
NOTES 629
And yet, as if to contradict this statement, J. V. Burgevin, agrees with President Henry
there comes to our desk, at the moment of Fairfield Osborn that the tree that deserves
writing, a booklet by J. W. Gregory, professor this place of honor is the Ginkgo, or maiden-
of geology at the University of Glasgow, en- hair tree. a striking fact that this
It is
titled Evolution of the Essex Rivers and of the ancient tree, which like the cycads and the
Lower Thames. This intensive study of local big trees of California is reminiscent of the
geological history contains a brief chapter on flora of the Mesozoic, is
one of the trees best
the geology of East Anglia with special referable to withstand the hostile environmental
ence to the advent of man. In the course of conditions of New York City. In this con-
his remarks on this subject Professor Gregory nection we quote from the delightful work of
accepts, at least in general terms, the vahdity Dukinfield Henry Scott, recently pubUshed,
of the conclusions of Mr. Moir and other East entitled Extinct Plants and Problems of
Anglian archaeologists. Evolution: —
Miocene Man. —One of the first Con- The family of the Maidenhair Tree is ... .
tinental authorities to accept Mr. Moir's only represented in the living Flora by a
work was Prof. Louis Capitan of the Ecole single species, Ginkgo biloba, a beautiful tree
with leaves Hke magnified leaflets of the
d'Anthropologie in Paris. Characteristically
Maidenhair Fern. There is some doubt
his enthusiasm has not allowed him to rest whether this species is actually known in the
satisfied with proofs of the Phocene antiquity wild state; to a great extent it has been pre-
of man; he now champions the long-rejected served from extinction by the piety of the
Buddhists, who grow it as a sacred tree in the
evidence for Miocene man. In a recent letter
precincts of their temples, in China and Japan.
to Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn he tells of The Maidenhair Tree is the last survivor of a
having made new excavations last October at group of Gymnosperms of considerable im-
Puy de Boudiou, Department Cantal, France, portance in long-past geological times.
where is situated a flint-carrying deposit of Then we come to the Cycads, a family little
known except to botanists or travellers in
recognized Miocene date; of having studied warm countries. A magnificent collection of
the local geology of this as well as of the con- these plants will be found at Kew, chiefly in
temporary neighborhood site of Puy Courney, the Palm-house. .The Cycads often bear
. .
a superficial resemblance to Palms, and some-

of long-standing fame; and finally of having
times are called by the absurd name of Sago-
examined and reexamined all the extant col- palms; really they have nothing to do with
lections from the two sites. "All this," he the true Palms, and their sago is not of much
writes, "results for me and my friends who account. For the most part the Cycads bear
cones; they are fine handsome plants.
have viewed the pieces objectively that not . . .
The Mesozoic Age, however, is justly called

less than forty of them present all the char-
the "Era of Gymnosperms." Besides the
acters of worked flints, and well worked, Cycads, there were in those days very many
recalling the Mousterian types grattoirs, — Conifers overspreading the world, and a con-
racloirs, knives, perforators of which the — siderable number of Maidenhair Trees or
their relations. This last group is of much
flaking and retouching resemble indisputably interest, from the fact, already mentioned,
voluntary and intelligent workmanship. This that it is now represented by a solitary sur-
is my positive opinion; but this gives an viving species. The zenith of the Maiden-
hair Trees (Ginkgophyta) was attained in the
earlier date than the known species of man or
Jurassic. At that period, various species are
his precursors and enables one to understand
found which cannot be distinguished from the
the hesitation of scientists. Nevertheless, recent genus Ginkgo, while there were also
the flints are there and their stratigraphy is others, with more divided leaves and some
indisputably contemporary with Hipparion, further differences, indicating distinct genera.
Dinotherium, and the mastodon." — N. C. N.

EXTINCT ANIMALS
THE APPROACH TO ROOSEVELT Fossil Horses from the Texas Pliocene.
MEMORIAL HALL — The American Museum Expedition in
Park Commissioner Francis D. Gallatin is northern Texas has secured from the Blanco
planning the approach from the West Side formation, LTpper Phocene, a fine skeleton
drive to the Roosevelt Memorial Hall. A representing a stage in the evolution of the
spacious carriage way, with broad flanking horse intermediate between that of Plio-
pathways, will lead directly up to the great hippus of the Lower Phocene and that of
facade. A
double row of trees will line these Equus of the Lower Pleistocene. Pliohippus
pathways and the landscape engineer, Mr. is the earUest of the one-toed horses. In it
630 NATURAL HISTORY
the splints that represent the side toes of the
earUer ancestors of the horse are abnost as
long as the cannon bone; in Equus they are
about half as long. Pliohijrpus and represen-
tatives of all the earUer stages also retain a
small sphnt or nodule of bone, the last rem-
nant of the fifth digit of the fore foot, which is
a complete toe in the Eocene horses; in
Equus this has wholly vanished. PUohippus
is considerably smaller than Equus, its teeth
are shorter, its feet more slender, and in vari-

—
ous particulars it is more primitive, that is,
nearer to the earher evolutionary stages. The
size and proportions of the skeleton obtained
from the Blanco formation are those of a rather
small Equus, the pattern of the teeth is inter-
mediate but nearer to PUohippus, a tiny
nodule of bone remains to represent the fifth
digit of the fore foot, and it is expected that
when the skeleton is prepared and studied, it
will be found to be intermediate in many other
details. The geological succession of the
stages in the evolution of the horse is as
follows:
NOTES 631
presence of fossils of the appropriate stage of NEW MEMBERS

Equidse, and of the various other animals Since the last issue of Natural History
the evolution of which has been traced. the following persons have been elected mem-
The sequence in the case of the horse is bers of the American Museum, making the
merely one item out of a vast mass of evidence totalmembership 7764.
which proves the correctness of the geological Ldfe Members: Mrs. William Belknap;
procession as accepted by competent geologists. Messrs. Harry Burrell, John H. Hall,
A third important find made by the Mu- Jr., Ellis Stanley Joseph, Arthur N.
seum party in the Blanco formation is a fairly MiLLIKEN, AND WiLLIAM ReNNULT.
complete skeleton of a fossil camel. Various
Honorary Life Member: Doctor H. Schoute-
fragmentary remains of larger and smaller
DEN.
species of horses and camels, mastodons,
ground sloths, glyptodonts, peccaries, etc.,
Annual Members: Miss M. Parsons; George
will aid in the study of this interesting fauna. Clinton Andrews, M.D.; Messrs. John
The party consisted of Dr. WilUam Diller Burden, Alfred J. Crane, Joseph N. Early,
Matthew, Mr. G. G. Simpson, and Mr. Charles Frank Phillips, E. C. Smith, Noel Statham,
Falkenbach. The friendly interest of many and Charles B. Williams.
residents in the various localities examined
aided considerably in the success of the expedi- Associate Members: Mesdames Preston
tion. The Museum is indebted especially to BoYDEN, Richard H. Day, Emilie L. Heine,
Messrs. Parke and McAdams of Clarendon, A. Howard Hinkle, Paul Jernigan,
and Judge Daniels of Silverton; and the Walter Hines Page, Fry Strohl; the
Messrs. Webb and R. B. Smith of Crosbyton, Misses Nellie P. Carter, G. H. Emery,
Texas, for various courtesies. —W. D. M. Minna Frotscher Koch; Bishop Boyd
Vincent; Doctors Stanley C. Ball,
Dr. George Hickling, one of the delegates
Samuel C. Harvey, Matthew F. Kreisle,
to the meeting of the British Association
Alfred Resch, Harris H. Vail; Henry
for theAdvancement of Science, stopped at
T. Smith, D.D.S.; Prof. Alfred Rosen-
the American Museum on his return journey
blatt; Messrs. J. Earle Bacon, Francis
to work on the fossil shark skulls from Texas
N. Balch, Thomas Alexander Barns, J. C.
represented in the collections of that institu-
Basak, Edward M. Brewer, Peter Bul-
tion. Dr. D. M.
Watson, another dele-
S.
THOUSE, Clifford Coles, S. B. Gibbs,
days in the department of
gate, spent several
Floyd C. Hach, Rush N. Harry, Edward
vertebrate paleontology in conferences with
Murdoch James, David M. Johnson,
Doctors W. D. Matthew and W. K. Greg-
Harper Kblley, R. T. Kellogg, Geo. K.
ory and with Mr. Walter Granger.
Lehner, Thornton Lewis, James W. Lowry,
William M. Matthews, Benj. L. Miller,
A NEW GIFT TO THE MUSEUM C. O. G. Miller, Robert Watt Miller,
LIBRARY P. M. Norton, H. Eugene Parrott,
The Library of the American Museum is
Robert Livingston Resor,RemingioRigal,
again indebted to Mr. Ogden Mills for a gift Geo. T. Ruddock, W. Kesley Schoepf,
of books that will be of great service to re- Lee W. Sexton, Wm. Short, E. B. Stan-
search workers visiting the institution as ley, Jose Steinbach, George F. Stern-
well as to the Museum staff. The volumes berg, Will Sutton, W. O. Wayman,
were originally part of the Ubrary of the Frederick S. Webster, Robert Welles,
English ornithologist, Major W. H. Mullens. AND H. A. Worcester.
632 NATURAL HISTORY
The European Number

In the successive issues of Natueal History for 1924 the reader has been
given the opportunity to make a scientific tour of the world, necessarily not
exhaustive but serving to call attention nevertheless to some of the wonders of
nature in Australia, Asia, South America, in the oceans and on their islands, as
well as to the part that the American Museum and other institutions have had
in making known the interest of our globe.
With the November-December issue a return is made to Europe, the birth-
place of our civiUzation, the land of our forebears. It is the anthropological and
archaeological interest of that continent that will have especial emphasis in this
number. Mr. J. Reid Moir, who has devoted years of conscientious study to the
problem of the eoliths, will discuss the evidences of Tertiary man in England, while
some supplementary remarks on the subject will be appended by Sir Ray Lan-
kester, formerly director of the British Museum (Natural History) These essays
.
are to be followed by a paper contributed by Dr. Louis R. Sullivan, associate

curator of physical anthropology in the American Museum, devoted to the
"Relationships of the Upper Palaeolithic Races of Europe." The Museum has
been accumulating throughout a long series of years a valuable collection of Old
World archaeological material, and Mr. N. C. Nelson, associate curator of
archaeolog}^ who has charge of this collection, will call attention to some of its
points of interest. Obermaier's recently published volmne Fossil Man in Spain,
will be reviewed by Miss Christine D. Matthew.
The papers above mentioned are actually in hand and their publication is
therefore assured, but it is the hope that one or more eminent authorities, in
addition to the contributors specified, may find it possible to fulfill promises
tentatively made by writing articles deahng with other phases of the archaeology
of Europe.
The American Museum's recent expedition to Lapland, undertaken by Dr.
G. Clyde Fisher and Mr. Carveth Wells, will be commemorated by a beautiful
series of illustrations of Arctic flowers preceded by a brief introductory article.
Finally, the natives of the Russian Far East will be represented in a series
of decorative pictures prepared under the supervision of V. K. Arsenieff.
FOUNDED IN 1869
Board of Trustees

John F. Hylan, Mayor op the City of New York
MEMBERSHIP NEARLY SEVEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED

membership are:
Life Member 100
Fellow 500
Patron 1,000
Associate Founder . . 25,000
Benefactor 50,000

FREE TO MEMBERS


than fifty years of pubHc usefulness, during which its activities have grown and
it
brings evidence —
in the growth of the Museum membership, in the ever-larger number
world-wide expeditions and disseminated through its publications —of the increasing
Museum as against 1,309,856 in 1922 and 1,174,397 in 1921. All of these
visited the
whatsoever.
and working in selected areas of South America, in the United
of other expeditions
the Museum during 1923- Many habitat groups, exhibiting specimens secured by
and girls, through the opportunities it affoixls classes of students to visit the Museum;
and the study of its collections, comprise the devoted to mono-
Memoirs, of quarto size,
The Libearian, American Museum of Natural History,
New York City
/OI.AA1V JNUViiMBER-DECEMBER, 1924 No. 6
•^4
^s^s^ss.
EUROPE
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND discussed by J. Reid
i
MoiR AND Sir E. Ray Lankester— WHAT IS AN EOLITH?
ANSWERED BY George Grant MacCurdy— WILD FLOWERS
OF THE UPLANDS OF LAPLAND pictured by G. Clyde
FisHER-EUROPEAN PREHISTORY reviewed by N. C.
Nelson— THE JARDIN DES PLANTES repeopled by
bashford Dean-relationships of the upper
PALAEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE traced by Louis
R. Sullivan-fossil MAN FROM A NEW VIEWPOINT
discussed by Christine D. Matthew— NATIVES OF THE
RUSSIAN FAR EAST pictured from studies made by
V. K. Arsenieff <U^ <i^ ^ ^ .i^
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY, 1862-1924, by James F. Kemp-

THE MUSEUM OF TOMORROW by George Sarton
To the many friends in Europe who have enriched the collections of

the American Museum, stimulated its studies through their scientific con-
tributions, and extended hospitality to members of its staff during their
travels abroad, the appreciation of the Museum is hereby tendered d* <i*
#r MBVgwra:-</^wiuvy^v:nwa />syngg>
r 5
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN

MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Q
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ivTT-v A oc/-v/-'I A TT R/inv/IDITDC r»C TUIT R/TI TCITI T1\/f
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Comparative and Human Anatomy
brate Palaeontology (In Charge)
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George F. Kunz, Ph.D., Research Associate in Gems Human Anatomy
Extinct Animals III. DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Henry Fairfield Osboen, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu- Science of Man
rator Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
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Archaeology
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and Central American Archaeology
Anthropology
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sitology AND RESEARCH
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and Geography
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William M.Wheeler, Ph.D., Research Associate in Social Amadeus W. Grabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Insects
Research Associate
Hymenoptera
V. DIVISION OF EDUCATION AND PUB-
Fishes LICATION
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Public Education
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Eastern Hemisphere
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H. E. Anthony, A.JVI. Frederick K. JMorris, A.M.
NATURAL

EXPLORATION, AND THE DEVELOP-
THROUGH THE MUSEUM
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1924
[Published December, 1924]

ATURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER Numbee 6
Tertiary Man in England J. Reid Moir 636

A review of some of the evidence that man in Europe existed prior to the Pleistocene
With sketches and photographs of early human artifacts found by the author, and views and
diagrams illustrative of the geology of the region considered
Note on J. Reid Moir's "Tertiary Man in England"

Sir E. Ray Lankester 654
Points of agreement and divergence in the views of two students of early man
What Is an Eolith? George Grant MacCurdy 656

a consideration of the claims of those who say that eoliths are the work of nature and those who
contend that they are the work of man
With reproductions of some of the evidence in the case
Alpine Flowers of Arctic Lapland G. Clyde Fisher 659

Impressions gathered in the course of the expedition of the American Museum to that region
Illustrated
Wild Flowers of tho Uplands of Lapland opposite 664

Duotone reproductions of photographs taken by G. Clyde Fisher
European Prehistory N. C. Nelson 665

With special reference to the work of the American Museum
Hitherto unpubUshed illustrations of incised figures of animals presented to the American
Museum by Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn
The Jardin des Plantes Bashford Dean 673

Intimate memories of a spot with which are associated some of the great names of science
With views of the garden and its buildings, and an original sketch of Prof. J. L. A. de Quatre-
fages by Doctor Dean
Relationships of the Upper Palseolithic Races of Europe

Louis R. Sullivan 682
A of the physical types from the Aurignacian through the Azilian epochs
comparative study
With reproductions of cranial casts of earlj'man in the hall of the Age of Man, American Mu-
seum, and of skulls in the somatological collections of that institution
Fossil Man from a New Viewpoint Christine D. Matthew 697

A Review of Obermaier's "Fossil Man in Spain"
With a colored illustration and several reproductions in black and white showing the concepts
of Palaeohthic man of the Iberian Peninsula
Edmund Otis Hovey James F. Kemp 704

A survey of a life of abounding interest and achievement
The Museum of Tomorrow George Sarton 710
How the educational mission of the museum label may be extended and supplemented
Natives of the Russian Far East •

713
Pictures from studies made by V. K. Arsenieff
Notes 719
Published bimonthly, by the American Museum of Natiu-al History, New York, N. Y.

Natural History is sent to all members of the American Museum as ojie of the privileges of
memhershi'p.
Acceptance for maiUng at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of
The North American Number
In the issue of Natural History January-February, 1925, a
for
return will be made to our homeland. In the successive numbers of
1924 some of the wonders that lie beyond our shores were brought to the
attention of the reader, but the marvels of nature that are a part of our
North American heritage have a more intimate appeal. We return
from a journey of twelve months, with our interest quickened, it is to be
hoped, for the activities of nature that are going on at our very door.
We say ''door," but the word is misleading. We live in a mansion

with many At one extreme these open upon the Arctic tundra,
doors.
at the other upon a region of tropical warmth. And some of our doors
even lead to the remote past, when a fauna now extinct was in posses-
sion of the land. Through one of these portals Prof. Henry Fair-
field Osborn will conduct the reader to the age when the mastodon
was a dominant form of Hfe. Through another door, opened by Mr.

Alfred M. Bailey of the Colorado Museum of Natural History, the
reader will view the snowy owl in its northern home.
In an article contributed by Prof. Frank G. Speck, of the University

of Pennsylvania, acquaintance will be made with the dogs of the Labra-
dor Indians. Mr. Ludlow Griscom, of the Museum's department of
southern Texas,
birds, will tell of a recent visit to the coastal prairies of
with their interesting bird Mrs. N. C. Nelson will describe how
life.
phoenix-like two hundred fragments of Indian pottery took shape as a

beautiful bowl. An account of the celebration of the Navajo Night
Chant, as depicted in the recently installed groups in the American Mu-
seum, will be contributed by Dr. P. E. Goddard, curator of ethnology.
Mr. William M. Savin will offer some interesting observations on the
social wasps. The story how the yellow warbler escapes the respon-
sibilities of foster parenthood that the cowbird tries to thrust upon it,
will be told by Charles Macnamara. Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, of the
Field Museum of Natural History, will trace the origin and growth of
the curious "hoop snake" story.
The articles above mentioned are a few of those presenting various

aspects of North America, but others no less attractive in subject
matter will also find place.
A LAEGE CHOPPER OF EARLY CHELLEAN AGE
It was found upon the foreshore site at Cromer and is here reproduced natural size
636
Volume XXIV NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
Tertiary Man in England

By J. REID MOIR
THE the
whole
earth's
series of strata
crust has
forming
been
tion of the antiquity of
among English scientific
man obtaining
men prior to
divided by geologists into four the above-mentioned discoveries was
great periods — the Primary, Secondary, that the well-known Palseohthic flint
Tertiary, and Quaternary. Each of implements of pointed and oval form,

these divisions is made up of a number found usually in the terrace gravels of
of sub-periods, ranging from the most existing river valleys, represented the
ancient Archaean, the first sub-division earliest efforts of man to shape flints
of the Primary, to that of the Late intentionally. It is, however, some-
Pleistocene, which is the last sub- what remarkable that this view should
division of the Quaternary. In geologi- have ever received such widespread
cal parlance the present is termed the acceptance. The earhest Palaeolithic
Recent Period, and, going back in time, implements exhibit evidences of con-
we find in successive order, the siderable skill in and it
flint-flaking,
Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene, OHgo- was unreasonable to regard such well-
cene and the Eocene epochs. Below made artefacts as representing man's
the Eocene is the chalk which marks first attempts at implement-making.
the passage from the Tertiary to the The results of the researches in the
Secondary Period. Pliocene deposits of England, and espe-
In England no evidence has been cially those conducted in recent years
found of man's presence in deposits in East Angha, have gone far to show
older than those referable to the the justice of the foregoing criticism,
PUocene, so that there is no need in and appear to have provided archae-
this article to deal with any strata of ologists with the long-looked-for types
pre-Pliocene date. It is now many leading up from the most simple arte-
years since man's existence in the though elaborately
fact to the earliest,
Pleistocene, or Quaternary, became flaked, palaeohth, and to demonstrate
generally accepted,and a large and a slow but continuous improvement in
ever-increasing number of scientific the art of flint-flaking.
people now beheve that human beings
were present on this earth during the THE KENTIAN EOLITHS
latter part of the preceding period, the In the year 1889 the late Sir Joseph
Tertiary. It is the purpose of this Prestwich —
one of England's greatest
article to give a description of some of —
geologists made known to the scien-
the flaked flints of Pliocene age that tific world the nature of the flint imple-
have been found in England and that ments found by Benjamin Harrison in
have convinced many competent ob- and upon the highest portions of the
servers that man existed in the plateau of Kent.^ It was shown that
Tertiary Period. Prestwich, Sir Joseph. Quarterly Journal of the
Geological Society of London, Vol. XLV, May, 1889,
The general opinion upon the ques- pp. 270-97, and Vol.XL VII, May, 1891, pp. 126-63.
637
638 NATURAL HISTORY
the place of occurrence of these imple- where, in the detritus bed at the base
—
ments to which the name 'eolith' of the Red Crag, have been found
(dawn stone) was given indicated — examples of the Harrisonian type of
that they were of vast geological implements in a rolled and abraded
antiquity, and it was claimed that the state, pointing to the fact that these
whole of the great valley known as the specimens had a long history before
Weald of Kent, lying between the their arrival in this Pliocene deposit.
North and the South Downs, has been The eoliths themselves are of the
formed by denudation since the makers simplest possible description, being for
of the eoliths Hved. This highly prob- the most part naturally fractured
able supposition is illustrated diagram- pieces of tabular flint exhibiting human
matically in Fig. 1, which shows the flaking along one or another of their
EOMTAtC
L CJ^flU. aicWt^êREENSftNlJ, S.V^tAU^SWBES^.

Fig. 1. Diagrammatic section, not drawn to scale, of theNorth and the South Downs, and
—
and the Weald of Kent. The makers of the eoliths hved upon the high chalk dome (indicated
by a dotted hne) which at one time extended over the Weald. Enormous denudation has thus
taken place since these early flint-using people existed
contour of the country between, and edges, which were apparently used for
including, the North and the South scraping and cutting purposes of a
Downs. ^ It will be seen that the rough and primitive nature. Never-
eoUthic gravel occurs upon the sloping theless,though simple, these specimens
surface of the chalk, and there seems are of great importance in that they
littledoubt that this gravel was laid indicate a profound antiquity for the
down by water running off the high human race, and as providing the basic
chalk dome, indicated by dotted line in forms from which all the later types
Fig. 1, which at one time existed over of flint implements were evolved. I
the Weald of Kent. It is thus apparent have dealt with this question in detail
that the makers of the eoliths lived in one of my published books, ^ but it is
upon a chalk surface many hundreds of necessary here to give a brief outUne
feet above the present level of the of my views upon it. To flake flint
Weald, and that all this vast mass of with precision, it is necessarj^ to provide
strata has been removed by denudation oneself with a more or less flat striking
since Eolithic times. There is thus platform upon which flake-removing
very striking evidence in Kent of the blows with a hammerstone may be
vast geological age of the eohths, and dehvered with success. If blows are
this evidence finds support in Suffolk, directed on to the rounded surface of
'This illustration is adapted from a similar section in 2J. Reid Moir, Pre-Palaeolithic Man. Harrison,
'Ightham.' The Homeland Association, London. Ancient House Press, Ipswich, England.
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND 639
a nodule, it will be found that the appears that the stability of this keel
hammerstone cannot home/ and
'get and its usefulness as a cutting edge were
the blows glance off ineffectually. The soon recognized by early man, for in
provision of a striking platform in the rostro-carinate specimen we see
flint-flaking has always been and must
forever remain a fundamental require-
ment, and the makers of the eohths
were fortunate in finding ready to their
hand large quantities of natural tabular
flint which provided them with two
more or less flat surfaces upon which to

direct their flake-removing blows.
The simplest form of eolith is illus-
trated in Fig. 2 and is merely a piece

of tabular flint flaked along its left
margin to a cutting edge. This speci-

men, together with a large number of
others of the same type, comes from the
plateau of Kent, and represents the
earhest form of 'side scraper,' called by
French writers a racloir. Another very Fig. 2. The most primitive type of im-
well-known type of Eohthic implement —
plement known to science an EoUthic side
scraper from the Kent plateau. (Natural
is shown in Fig. 3. This is of pointed size)
form, but is in reality a double racloir

in which the two cutting edges have
KE£L
coalesced at the narrowest portion of
the flint and have accidentally formed
a pointed implement. These speci-
mens may be regarded as the ancestral
forms from which all the later Palaeo-
Hthic "points" of different ages have
been developed.
The Eohthic point, however, gave
rise to another type of implement,
named by Sir Ray Lankester 'rostro-
carinate,' which in its turn developed
into the Early Palseohthic hand axes
that are so famihar to prehistorians.
In the production of the two cutting
edges of the implement illustrated in
Fig. 3, the resulting flake scars inevit-
ably met and formed a gable, or
ridge, (marked keel in Fig. 3) and
^6.tTiowft-B
gave rise to the triangular section of the
specimen through the Une A B. The Fig. 3. An Eolithic point from the Kent
apex of the triangle represents the plateau. —Note the keel of this implement,
and its triangular section through the Une
gable, or ridge, mentioned, and it A-B. (Natural size)
640 NATURAL HISTORY
this featm-e extended and becoming in fore, of fundamental importance to
fact the functional portion of the imple- students of prehistoric man.
ment. In addition to the side scraper There would seem Uttle doubt that
and the point of EoUthic times definite the eohths were flaked by means of
borers, the pointed end of which was blows delivered with a hammerstone
formed by blows delivered upon both as was the case with nearly all the
the upper and the lower surfaces of the implements of the Stone Age and —
pieces of tabular flint, make their their forms do not suggest that they
appearance. Thus in the Harrisonian were used as weapons of offence or
eoKths we see the earhest and most defence. It may be that rough un-
primitive flint implements known to flaked fhnts or pieces of wood were
science. Their great antiquity is utihzed for these purposes, but, if so,
evidenced by the position in which they the discovery of such remains has not
been recorded hitherto, nor have any
mammalian bones yet been found asso-
ciated with the eohths.
Though the evidence points to the
great antiquity of the Kentian eoliths,
yet, as these specimens have not been
found there in any geologically datable
deposit, it is not possible to say with
certainty to what period of the past
they must be referred. It is fortunate,
therefore, that, as has already been
mentioned, implements of the Harri-
sonian type occur in the detritus bed
Fig. 4. A
rolled Eolithic point from be- resting at the base of the Red Crag
neath the Red Crag at Bramford, near Ips-
wich. (About i natural size.) Compare with
a marine deposit of PHocene age. One
Fig. 3. of these sub-Crag eoHths is illustrated
in Fig. 4 and, if it is compared with that
are found, and by the enormous denuda- shown in Fig 3, the very close resem-
tion resulting in the formation of the blance of the two specimens to each
Weald of Kent that has occurred since other will be readily recognized. There
Eolithic times. When the specimens is thus, as will be seen, very good reason
themselves are examined, they prove for assigning these first efforts of man
to be — as
might be expected of the — to flake fhnts intentionally to at least
simplest forms, such as would be made an early portion of the Pfiocene and it
by a creature just emerging from a may be that further research will result
simian condition, who had sufficient inin the relegation of the eoliths to the
teUigence to flake fhnts and to use them end of the still more ancient epoch,
for cutting and scraping pm"poses of a the Miocene.
primitive natmê. Further, though the
eoHths are so rough and simple in type, THE SUFFOLK BONE BED
they nevertheless provide us with the It is now necessary to turn om' atten-
basic forms from which all of the later tion to the remarkable deposit known—
flint implements were evolved, and the as the Suffolk Bone Bed, or detritus
Harrisonian specimens became, there- bed —that occurs chiefly in shallow
depressions in the surface of a very old actually replaced by the deposits of the
Tertiary accumulation, the London Red Crag Sea. Occasionally, however,
Clay, at the base of the Suffolk Crags. the former escaped complete destruc-
It will be noticed that the London and at Sutton, near Woodbridge,
tion,
—
Clay an Eocene deposit is overlaid — was opened by Sir
Suffolk, a section
in East AngUa by the much later Ray Lankester and myself in 1911
Phocene Crags, and there is reason to
believe that the top of this clay was a
land surface over an immense period,
mO \\\ O \\\ O *^^
SECOND
duiing which the OHgocene and Miocene
beds were being laid down in other II O C UÔ
O
Ml
\u
\\\
^^^
\\\ \\\
parts of the world. Toward the latter
part of the Pliocene this London Clay
mQ O u\ O MO
\\\
land surface was, it appears, slowly

v/AKn. First
submerged beneath the sea, and the
various remains (bones and teeth of &i.pw:\ftL,
both terrestrial and marine animals,

conglomerate, phosphatic nodules, ?
foreign rocks, flints, and flint imple- COUD.
ments) occurring, possibly, in super- '/X/^^_CÂfrS^
ficial deposits on that surface were
quietly washed into the shallow hollows

where they are now found.
The sea that first overwhelmed the V<RRr^-
East Anglia land was evidently of a
warm temperature, because the shells
found in its deposits are those of Mol-
lusca that can five only under non-
boreal conditions. The denuded rem-
nants of the deposits of this sea, which Fig. 5. Diagrammatic section, not drawn
to scale, showing the succession of the Pho-
are known in Suffolk as CoralHne Crag, cene deposits of East Angha. The drawing —
a whitish deposit differing greatly in also indicates the chmate obtaining during
the laying down of the various deposits, and
appearance from the later Red Crag, their relationships to the glacial deposits of
are separated from the London Clay by Cromer
a detritus bed, which, however, has
not yet been examined extensively which exposed the following beds in
for flint implements.^ vertical succession: (a) London Clay,
As the sinking of the land continued, (b) detritus bed, (c) CoralHne Crag,
the land bridge, which cut off the area (d) detritus bed, (e) Red Crag, and
of the Coralhne Sea from the cold (f) present land surface (see Fig. 5).
waters of the Arctic Ocean, was broken It is thus clear that the Coralline Crag
through or submerged, and the deposi- is definitely older than the Red, and,
tion of the Red Crag During began. further, that thetwo detritus beds are
this period the Coralhne Crag was more ancient than the respective crag
greatly denuded, and over large areas deposits beneath which they occur, and
must not be confused with them. Dur-
^Moir, J. Reid. Proc. Prehistoric Society of East
Anglia, Vol. II, Pt. 1, pp. 12-31. ing the deposition of the Red Crag the
642 NATURAL HISTORY
East Anglian area was evidently sink- Forest Bed) of East AngHa is shown
ing toward the north, and rising to the diagrammatically in Fig. 6, but it is
south; so that the oldest beds of the probable that at one time the Crag
Crag occui' in the southern part of accumulations extended much farther
Suffolk and the north of Essex, while the to the west. Beneath the Red Crag
latest are found resting upon the chalk, beds of Norfolk, the shells of which are
the London Clay and Lower Tertiary almost exclusively boreal, there occurs
being absent in Norfolk. It is neces- a detrital deposit, known as the Nor-
folk Stone Bed, which contains a
number mammalian remains, to-
of
gether with certain humanly flaked
flints, first found by Mr. W. G. Clarke
of Norwich in These imple-

1905.^
ments, which may
be said to be of the
same order as those found by me in
1909 in the Suffolk Bone Bed beneath
the Red Crag, are nevertheless pos-
sibly somewhat later in date.
the' sub-crag implements

The sub-Red Crag detritus bed,
which sometimes as much as three
is
feet in thickness, is, as its name imphes,

composed of materials of different
periods occurring prior to the time
Fig. 6. Diagrammatic outline of the East

when the deposit was laid down. Sir
Anglian area. —The position of the PUocene Ray Lankester has shown^ that these
deposits is indicated by the shaded portions
varying materials have been derived
sary here to repeat that the Red Crag

from the following sources: (a) the —
chalk, (b) the London Clay, (c) a
is essentially a cold-water deposit. It
Miocene land surface, (d) a marine
is true that warm-water shells are
Pliocene deposit (the Diestian Sand),
found in the oldest layers of this Crag,
(e) the earher sweepings of a land sur-
but considering the essentially boreal
face which submerged after the Dies-
character of the bulk of the shells
tian deposit, and (f) later sweepings of
contained therein, it seems reasonable
the same land surface. It will thus be
to suppose that the non-boreal forms
seen that the implements, now to
flint
were derived from the breaking up of
be described, that were found in the
the Coralline Crag or survived only for
detritus bed, may be referable to any
a short time in the Red Crag sea.^
of the periods represented by c, e, or f
The approximate area now occupied
by the PHocene deposits (the CoralUne
of the above list. We have no reason
to think that at the epochs when the
and Red Crags, and the Cromer
chalk and the London Clay were being
Î should like to state in this connection that the
_
views above expressed regarding the boreal character of laid down, man was present upon this
the Red Crag and its marked divergence from the
older CoralHne deposit are those of Sir Ray Lankester ^Clarke, W. G. Proc. Prehistoric Society of East
(^Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of Lon- Anglia, Vol. I, Pt. 2, pp. 160-68.
don, Series B, Vol. I, 1912), whose researches in this ^Lankester, Sir Ray. Philosophical Transactions of
subject are so well known and with whose opinions I the Royal Society of London, Series B, Vol. CII, May,
am in complete agreement. 1912, pp. 283-336.
planet nor can he well be associated regard the detritus bed as a glacial
with marine accumulation (d).
the accumulation, redeposited by marine
These deposits need not, therefore, action, and the Red and Normch Crags
enter into our speculations. It is, of and their underlying detritusbed as
course, not possible in the present state representing the first glacial epoch of
of ourknowledge to assign the sub-Crag East Anglia (See Fig. 5.).
implements to any particular one of the Unlike their Eohthic predecessors,

periods, c, e, or f; all we can say is the people who made the implements
that they must belong to one or more found beneath the Red Crag had Uttle
of them, and that the specimens are or no tabular flint with which to work.
sealed down beneath a deposit hitherto The great bulk of the fhnt in the detritus
regarded as of Pliocene age.^ It seems bed is of nodular form, and it is of much
reasonable, however, to suppose that interest to note how this material was
the implements of Harrisonian Eohthic broken by cleaving blows into pieces of
type found in the detritus bed are refer- a more or less tabular form from which
able to either c or e and that the later the implements were made. This
type of artefacts in the same deposit method of fracturing the raw material
are referable to f. was probably 'handed down' from
The mammahan remains found in generation to generation, and resulted
the detritus bed are not present in from the need to provide suitable
and
great quantity, but are of interest striking -platforms upon which flake-
importance nevertheless. Among them removing blows could be dehvered with

may be mentioned Mastodon arvernen- precision.
sis, Rhinoceros schleiermacheri, Hyae- A typical example of the method
narctos, Hipparion, hyaena, tapir, tri- described the rostro-carinate (Figs.
is
lophodont mastodons, and the Pliocene 7a and 7b), which is the outstanding
beaver. These animals are not, of implement of the sub-Crag detritus
course, referable to one and the same bed and derives the ''rostro " part of its
period, and we are not at present able name from the fact that its front
to state with which of the faunas portion is shaped like the beak of a
represented the sub-Crag implements bird of prey. Its lower surface repre-
are to be associated. sents one of the original areas of frac-
The detritus bed, which is an in- tm-e produced in cleaving the fhnt
coherent deposit, contains very numer- nodule, while part of the other area is
ous examples of striated flints and many preserved as an upper or -dorsal sur-
far-traveled erratic rocks, often of large face (D.P. in Fig. 7b). The func-
size. These facts point to glacial tional portion of this type of implement
conditions, a conclusion supported by was the keel, which no doubt was used
the evidence of the shelly sands sur- for cutting and chopping purposes.
mounting the detritus bed, which, as It is to be noted that the rostro-cari-
has been shown, contains an ever- nate, though bigger and more elabo-
increasing number of cold-water mol- rate, is of the same type as the Eohthic
luscs, as the zones of the Crag are point of triangular section (Fig. 3) and
traced northward from Suffolk into it is equally clear that, as time went on,
Norfolk. I am inclined, therefore, to this keel graduafly was extended

farther and farther backward until it
iSome observers would place the shelly sands of the
Red Crag in the Pleistocene.
reached from one end of the imple-
644 NATURAL HISTORY
ment to the other and gave rise to the of implements that make their appear-
earliest PalseoUthic hand axes of tri- ance in the detritus bed. The speci-
angular section. By a further develop- mens were evidently flaked by means of
ment, as a result of which the fiat heavy, though well-directed blows, de-
under-surface of the rostro-carinate Hvered with a weighty hammerstone of
was transformed into a cutting edge, flint, and the resulting flake scars are
the earliest palseohths with two cutting generally large. It is evident that the
KEEU
Figs. 7a and 7b. The left lateral, and upper dorsal, views, and section of a rostro-
carinate flint implement obtained from beneath the Red Crag at Bramford, near Ipswich.
Note the keel of this implement and its triangular section through the hne A-B. (About f
natural size).
edges were invented.^ The rostro- method of flaking a block of flint, and
carinate, it is thus seen, is of funda- of afterwards detaching a portion of
mental importance in the evolution of the flaked surface, producing what is
the PalseoHthic hand ax. Further, known as a flake implement, was

it is clear that implements with a more already in vogue in pre-Crag times,
or less flat base, hke, for instance, the and such a specimen is illustrated in
well-known carinated planing tool of Fig. 8. This though so
specimen,
the Aurignacian (Upper Palseolithic ancient, is comparable with
quite
stage) are closely related in tj^pe to the manj^ of the rougher flake implements
rostro- carinate of pre-Crag times. of the Earlj^ Mousterian (Palseolithic
In the sub-Crag industry we see a Period). A number of scrapers of a
great advance from that of the Eohthic type similar to that existing through
both in an increased proficiency in the greater part of the Stone Age have
flint-flaking and in the greater variety been found beneath the Crag, and one
lAIoir, J. Reid. Philosophical Transactions of the of these specimens is shown in Fig. 9.
Royal Society of London, Series B, Vol. CCIX, 1920,
pp. 329-50. In Fig. 10 we see a very definite side
, Fig. 8. A flake implement found beneath Fig. 9. A scraper with rounded cutting
the Red Crag in the brickfield of Messrs. A. edge from beneath the Red Crag at Bram-
Bolton Co. Ltd., Ipswich. (Natural size) ford, near Ipswich. (Natural size)
Fig. 11. A borer from beneath the Red

Crag at Thorington HaU, near Ipswich.
(Natural size)
less clearly related to the side scrapers

, Fig. 10. A side
scraper, or racloir, from be- of later PalseoHthic times. A borer
neath the Red Crag in the brickfield of Messrs.
A. Bolton Co., Ltd., Ipswich. (Natural size) from beneath the Crag is illustrated
in Fig. 11, and represents a type of
scraper from the detritus bed, which is implement used throughout the Pa-
clearly developed from Eolithic speci- leeolithic and the NeoHthic periods.
mens of similar form (Fig. 2), and is no The specimens (Figs. 9, 10, and 11)
646 NATURAL HISTORY
r\vi>i>i.e fcLfttini, tRnveu - fo »SK^
ZDECaLClFlEls REti CRflfr-tb iSh'^t
kOV<6K EOCENE las- to iSfiit
N<KlTt CMPiLK- to looît
Fig. 12. View of the great pit at Bramford, near Ipswich, showing the plateau beds of East
Suffolk , and the position of the implementiferous detritus bed, beneath the Red Crag
are made from which exhibit the

flakes -
^ ""^-^ ' ''
-
T
plain area of fracture produced when .
/,-" ' ^ •s.N
'
the flake was removed from the parent '/; .
'
block of flint. They were no doubt
used for scraping and cutting purposes
—such as, perhaps, the 'preparation'
of the skins of animals. The imple- ff^^7^
ments above described (Figs. 8 to 11)
have all been found in the detritus
bed beneath the Red Crag at various
places in Suffolk.
One of the most famous sites is that
situated at Bramford, near Ipsmch,
where a magnificent section of the
plateau beds of East Suffolk is to be
seen. A photograph giving a general
view of this large excavation is shown
in Fig. 12, and it will be seen that the
Fig. Another \'iew of the Bram-
13.
PUocene detritus bed rests there upon ford pit. — The
lowermost figure is Prof.
Lower Eocene beds (which in their H. Breuil, the well-known French pre-
historian. Immediately above him is Prof.
turn lie upon the chalk) and is covered J. E. Marr and at the extreme left is the
by (a) a considerable thickness of decal- wi'iter of the present article
cifiedRed Crag, (b) a stratum of

Middle Glacial Gravel of Pleistocene Bramford pit. The lowermost figure
age, and (c) a deposit of contorted is the famous French prehistorian,
claj'-ey gravel representing probably the Prof. H. Breuil, who, with the imple-
Upper Bowlder Clay of glacial origin. ment in his right hand, is pointing to
The photograph reproduced as the sub-Crag detritus bed. Immedi-
Fig. 13 shows another portion of the ately^ above him in the picture is Prof.
J. E. Marr, F.R.S., whose left hand trated again. The Foxhall imple-
rests upon the base of the Middle ments which were associated with a
Glacial Gravel, while I am shown workshop debris, and burnt flints,
standing further to the left. The showing that an actual occupation
photograph was taken on the occasion level is present at this spot, are gen-
of the last visit of Professor Breuil to erally of a yellowish-white color, and
Ipswich, when he definitely accepted are more deHcately flaked than the
the view that the sub-Crag imple- majority of the specimens found at the
ments were made by man. base of the Crag. It is also clear that
the Foxhall pieces are later in date than
THE FOXHALL INDUSTRY the mahogany-colored implements from
In addition to the implements found the detritus bed, as in several cases the
in the detritus bed at the base of the former have been made out of the latter,
Crag, I have discovered another series a fact revealed by the differing patina-
THOR\(^feToW
ÔXKi^LU fOXJ\RUL
1
\ f
f
f f
\ f
ir-
^yÂ^y^y^^y^/'y'^^/^ 'î^D CRaS.
<!ô7^»r>^ÔoOoQoQo<3.,
Fig. 14. Theoretical diagram, not drawn to scale, showing the probable relationship of
the detritus bed beneath the Red Crag at Thorington Hall and the i6-foot level at Foxhall
to the lower detritus bed at the latter place
occurring at a depth of sixteen feet tion of the flake scars of the two periods.
from the surface, in the Crag itself at But the between the forms
difference
Foxhall, near Ipswich.^ Some of the and those from
of the Foxhall flints
best of these specimens, together with beneath the Crag is not really very
photographs and drawings of the Fox- marked, and it is not justifiable to
hall site,have already appeared in an regard them as representing a totally
article in Natural History^ by Pro- distinct culture.
fessor Osborn, and need not be illus- Further, beneath the Crag at Thor-
ington Hall, near Ipswich, the imple-
^Moir, J. Reid. Proc. Prehistoric Society of East
Anglia, Vol. Ill, Pt. 3, pp. 389-430. ments and flakes, both in color and
Ôsborn, Henry Fairfield. Natural IHIstort, Vol.
XXI, No. 6, November-December, 1921. flaking, are in every way comparable
648 NATURAL HISTORY
with the Foxhall examples, and in Fig. found also in it. After the deposition
14 I have given a theoretical diagram of the lower detritus bed the land con-
offering an explanation of the oc- tinued to sink, and the implementifer-
currence of specimens beneath the ous level at Thorington Hall and the
Crag at Thorington Hall, which are 16-foot level at Foxhall represented a
evidently of the same kind as those land surface occupied by man, — only
found at Foxhall in the Crag itself. The upon Crag,
at the latter place he lived
detritus bed at Thorington Hall rests while at the former the surface was
upon the London Clay, as does the composed of London Clay.
lower detritus bed at Foxhall. Un-
fortunately the great prevalence of THE CROMEE FOREST BED
water at the latter place has prevented From the above short survey we see
me from examining this lower bed, but, that in pre-Crag times a marked ad-
from commercial diggings carried out vance in human status had been made,
years ago, it is known to rest upon the and that this is shown by the appear-
Eocene clay. If this detritus bed could ance of several new types of flint imple-
be examined, the mahogany- colored ments, many of which in their form and
implements which have already been flaking are clearly prophetic of Chel-
mentioned would in all probabiHty be lean (Early Palaeolithic) times. After
Fig. 15. View of a portion of the flint spread at Cromer, beyond the seaward extension
of the beach and exposed at low water
the deposition of the shelly Crags over at the very base of the Cromer Forest
the old land surfaces occupied by pre- Bed series of deposits, which form the
Crag man, and the final sealing in of his lowermost strata of the high bluffs of
relicsby these marine deposits, the the Norfolk coasts The shore fine in
East Anghan area slowly rose and the this area is slowly receding
owing to the
Crag deposits were subjected to sub- combined effects of underground springs
aerial denudation as a land surface. and marine action; and the hard ferru-
In the northeast portion of Norfolk ginous deposits at the base of the bluff,
this denudation was so extensive as to which offer resistance to these disin-
leave only a few feet of the shelly tegrating agencies, are finally left upon
Crag intact, while in places the whole of the foreshore and are exposed when the
the Crag was removed and the under- tide is at its lowest. In some places,
lying Stone Bed, very rich in large as at East Runton, about two miles
masses of flint of fine quality, exposed. northwestward of Cromer, large areas
At this period the configuration of the of the implementiferous bed can be
land of the Norfolk district was very seen in situ upon the chalk, and from
different from what it is today. In this deposit have been recovered several
place of the wide North Sea and the very definite examples of Early Palaeo-
high bluffs of the Cromer coast was a hthic hand axes. But in most cases
—
broad and shallow valley a northern- this bed is not intact and is represented
flowing extension of the present river merely by a large quantity of flints
—
Rhine inhabited by herds of animals evidently derived from the breaking-
and also, as we now know, by parties up of the deposit by modern sea action,
of primitive men engaged in making which removes the ferruginous material
flint implements and in hunting. These holding the flints together. A portion
people, as they progressed up the valley of the great flint 'spread' at Cromer is
of the then-existing Rhine, came upon shown in Fig. 15 : the seaward exten-
the above-mentioned exposures of sion of the shingle beach is clearly
Stone Bed flint, and proceeded to observable, and vast numbers of flints
flake it into various types of imple- of all sizes are seen lying beyond it.
ments. We have seen that the out- The artefacts found among these flints
standing implemental form of the are often of massive size, and exhibit
sub-Crag detritus bed was the rostro- either a very marked yellow-ocherous
carinate, and even in that
also that, color or a glossy black surface, which
ancient deposit, some of the specimens gives the specimens an appearance of
were beginning to assume an Early having been blackleaded.
PalseoUthic character. In the culture The position of these implements
now to be described the rostro-carinate upon the foreshore at Cromer, and their
is no longer the predominant form; a relationship to the cliff deposits is
roughly flaked hand ax has taken its shown in Fig. 16. The sohd rock
place. underlying the whole section is the
The Cromer specimens are found white chalk, and upon its sm-face can
chiefly upon the foreshore, beyond the be seen the denuded remains of the
seaward extension of the sand and Crag with the Stone Bed at its base.
shingle beach, exposed at low water. On the top of the Crag is the old land
They lie upon the chalk, and have evi- iMoir, J. Reid. The Great Flint Implements of
Cromer, Norfolk. Harrison, Ancient House Press,
dently been derived from a formation Ipswich, England.
r^?^"-' ^^^2^^^^?^^^^^^?^^^^^?^^^^^^^?^^^^^^ ^^SatBE
1
CUflUK
^Fig. 16. Diagrammatic section, not drawn to scale, of the cliff, beach, and foreshore at
Cromer, showing the relationship of the implement-bearing bed exposed at low water, to the
cliff deposits. The Early Ghdlean land surface is located upon the top of the Crag
/\- '-B
SECTION A-i;. SECTION ft-B

Fig. 17. —
(left) An Early Chellean hand ax from the foreshore site at Cromer. The
ridges and outstanding portions of the implement have been greatly worn down by modern
sea action. (About f natural size)
—
Fig. 18 (right). An Early Chellean hand ax from the foreshore site at Cromer. The
ridges and outstanding portions of this implement also have been greatly worn down by
modern sea action. (About I natural size)
^50
surface to which the foreshore flints in many cases to which of the three
are referred,and this in its turn is divisions of the Forest Bed (so called
covered up by the Cromer Forest Bed from the quantity of remains of trees
deposits consisting of three divisions: found in it) these fossils are to be re-
a Lower Freshwater Bed, an Estuarine ferred. The following list of mammals,
Gravel, and an Upper Freshwater Bed. while not complete, will give a general
These were each laid down by the idea of the land fauna.
ancient Rhine and the fossil contents of LAND FAUNA
the demonstrate that the
deposits Southern elephant Elephas meridionalis,
climate was warm and temperate, thus (not common).
offering a marked contrast to that ob- Straight-tusked Elephas antiquus,
taining when the underlying Crag, elephant (abundant).
Mammoth Elephas primigenius,
which is full of cold-water shells, was
(very rare).
being accumulated. Etruscan rhinoceros Rhinoceros etruscus.
Above the Forest Bed deposits occur Hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphih-
the Glacial Tills and Bowlder Clays of ius.
Cromer, which represent the second Fossil horse Equus fossilis

European bison Bison bonasus
glacial episode of East AngUa. These
Red deer Cervus elaphus
Bowlder Clays are often hollowed out European beaver Castor veterior
by running water from the melting ice Cave bear Ursus savini
and the depressions filled with gravel, Sabre-toothed tiger Machairodus sp.
sand, and brick earth, showing that a Monkey Macacus sp.
more genial cUmate (that of the Middle It is possible, and in fact probable,
Glacial Period) had set in. Such a that the southern elephant is a derived
hollow is shown in Fig. 16, and the fossil older than the Cromer Forest Bed
general succession of the PUocene beds and, if this is the case, we have here an
of East AngUa, together with the posi- Elephas antiquus fauna of Early Palaeo-
tion in the series of the two earliest lithic (Chellean) times. The Forest
glacial periods, is illustrated in Fig. 5. Bed is the only place known to me in
It is of interest to note that the Cromer East AngHa where such a fauna occurs,
area gives us evidence of excessive or where we have definite indications
deposition of strata since the early of the warm cUmate which we know
Palaeolithic people lived (see Fig. 5), obtained in early Palaeolithic times.
while in Kent the evidence is equally
clear that, since the much more ancient CROMER (forest BED) IMPLEMENTS
Eolithic races existed, excessive denu- When we examine the implements
dation has made itself manifest (Fig. 1) coming from the Forest Bed, we see
that their forms support the evidence
CROMER (forest BED) FAUNA
of the fauna; they are, in fact, of
The fauna represented in the Cromer —
Early Chellean type, such as occur
Forest Bed is extensive and important.
in quantity as derivatives in certain
A large number of mammahan bones ancient Palaeolithic gravels in East
have been found upon the foreshore at
AngKa. We need, however, to have
Cromer and have been described by
the term Chellean, as apphed to flint
Owen, Falconer, and others.^ Un-
implements, such as hand axes, rigor-
fortunately, however, we do not know
ously defined. For some the word
lOsbofn, Henry Fairfield. The Geological Magazine,
Vol. LIX, No. 10. October, 1922, pp. 433-41. signifies a very well-made implement
652 NATURAL HISTORY
approaching the Acheulean in excel- Cromerians, using probably large ham-
more easily-
lence, while for others it is merstones of flint, were able to detach
applied to altogether rougher and less in some cases enormous flakes of flint,
elaborately made specimens. I am and the whole industry is on a large
one of those who favor the latter inter- and massive scale. On the foreshore at
pretation and I propose therefore Cromer the contents of a workshop
and in this I am supported by many site were found, comprising hand axes,
—
competent archaeologists to regard the choppers (see frontispiece of this
Cromer artefacts as Early Chellean. article), side scrapers (Fig. 19), points,
Figures 17 and 18 illustrate two and numerous flakes. From the large
examples of the hand axes recently size of many of the implements recov-
found. ^ The former has flaking on both ered it is reasonable to conclude that
surfaces, and is of more or less rhom- their makers were people of great
boidal section, while the latter is strength. Their skill in flint-flaking is
approximately flat on the under surface evidenced by the immense flake scars
and has evidently been struck from a produced by the primary quartering
larger mass of flint previously prepared blows, the well-formed striking plat-
by flaking. forms, and the regular and accurate
There is no doubt that the Cromer secondary flaking.
industry shows an advance from the The only skeletal remains of man
sub-Crag culture, but it is nevertheless referable to the Cromer Forest Bed
closely related to it. The ancient (First Interglacial) period is the famous
'These figures are reproduced by kind permission of Heidelberg jawbone,2and it is possible
the editor of Nature, in which journal they originally
appeared (August 16, 1924). that this very primitive individual may
represent one of the race of Ancient
Cromerian fhnt flakers.
In Fig. 20 is reproduced a photograph
of the cliff, about seventy feet high,
and the foreshore at West Runton.'
The arrow in white points to the level
at which Mr. Savin found a well-made
Palaeolithic implement at the base of
the glacial gravel. This gravel rests
upon and underneath this
glacial clay
deposit the Upper Freshwater Bed is
exposed at the foot of the cUff. The
arrow in black indicates the position
of the implementiferous horizon on the
foreshore. Though earlier observers
have not been so fortunate, perhaps, as
to make such an extensive find of
humanly flaked flints in the Cromer
Forest Bed as has fallen to my lot
since 1920, it is in order, nevertheless,
^Schoetensack, O.Der Unterkiefer des Homo Heidel-
Fig. 19. An early Chellean side-scraper, bergensis aus den Sanden von Mauer, bei Heidelberg.
Leipzig, 1908.
or racloir, from the foreshore site at Cromer.
^Reproduced by kind permission of the editor of
(About f natural size) M n, from Vol. XXII, March, 1922.
to record the fact that it is now many the Cromer Forest Bed and described a
years since the first intimation of the flaked found by him in "the
flint
discovery of such flints in this deposit Forest-Bed on the foreshore at Over-

was pubhshed. The first find of flaked strand," of which specimen he states
flints, claimed as of human origin, in that "one margin bears marks pre-
Fig. 20. View of the cliff and foreshore at West Runton, near Cromer. —
The white arrow
indicates the level at which Mr. Savin found a well-made Palaeohthic implement at the base
of the glacial gravel, while the black arrow shows the position of the foreshore implements.
The bluff is about seventy feet high
the Cromer Forest Bed, was made by cisely comparable to the finer working
Mr. W. J. Lewis Abbott, who issued on an undoubted chert flake, or scraper
his original paper in Natural Science^ in (of the type of Le Moustier) obtained
hj me in a cave
'
1897. Mr. Abbott has also pubhshed at Gibraltar. ' Finally,

more recently a further account of his I described in Man"^ a piece of humanlj'
discovery and a description of four of shaped wood, found by the late Mr. S.
the specimens.^ In 1911 Dr. W. L. H. A. Notcutt, who dug it out of

in 1916
Duckworth^ published an account of the Cromer Forest Bed, where this
lAbbott, W. J. L. Natural Science, Vol. X, 1897, deposit was exposed at the base of the
pp. 89-96.
Âbbott, W. J. L. Proc. Prehistoric Society of East cKff southeast of Mundesley.
Anqlia, Vol. Ill, Pt. pp. 110-13.
1,
^Duckworth, W. H.
'
Cam. Antq. Sac. Com-
. ^Moir, J. Reid. Man, Vol. XVII, November, 1917,
munications, Vol. XV, 1911. pp. 172-73.
654 NATURAL HISTORY
This brief account of the evidence in the profoundly ancient Tertiary
that man existed during the PUocene Period, is now definitely established,
in England will, I hope, enable Amer- and remains for further researches
it
ican readers to gain an understanding in East AngUa to bring to Hght some

of this highly important division of human bones that will enable us to
prehistoric archaeology. It may, I see the type of man who inhabited
think, be claimed that the presence England in the far-off days of the
of flint-flaking man upon this planet Pliocene.
Note on J. Reid Moir's "Tertiary Man in England**

BY SIR E. RAY LANKESTER, K.C.B., F.R.S.
The only matters in which I do not separation of the later deposits from
altogether agree with Mr. J. Reid Moir's the Pliocene and underlying Tertiary
statement in the preceding article, have strata, which is in any way equivalent
to do with nomenclature and termin- to the separation of the Tertiary from
ology. Serious misunderstanding is apt the Secondary series of strata, or of the
to arise from the want of an agreed Secondary series from the Primary.
nomenclature, accepted by those who The rejection of the convenient and
write upon a given and this is
subject, familiar classification of strata into
obviously the case where new dis- Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary is
coveries and views are accumulating as not useful. On the contrary, it leads to
the result of study in separate areas misconception and confusion, as when
and under the influence of separate and the term "Tertiary Man" is used to
independent investigators. An authori- separate older examples of mankind
tative list of terms, with clear definition from those occurring in the deposits
of their significance, is urgently needed known as Pleistocene. Why should we
in regard to the study of the antiquity call Pleistocene Man "Quaternary"
of man. Such a list can only be estab- and not "Tertiary?" It suggests a
Hshed as the result of an international degree of separation and distinctness
conference and agreement similar to which goes far beyond the actual facts.
that which has legislated in reference (2) In regard to the appHcation of
to the generic and specific names of the terms "Phocene" and "Pleisto-
plants and animals. I do not put for- cene," Mr. Reid Moir states that he is
ward any claim to impose the nomen- in agreement with me as to the fact
clature which I think preferable or that the marine deposit known as "the
justified, but I will point out two in- Red Crag of Suffolk" was laid down by
stances in which I do not agree with a refrigerated sea, differing greatly from
Mr. J. Reid Moir. that which deposited the so-called
(1) I regard the use of the term White, or Coralfine, Crag. This latter
"Quaternary" to indicate a group of had a molluscan fauna, in many
strata later than the Pliocene section respects with that of the
identical
of the Tertiary "Period" as objection- deposits distinguished by the marine
able. The later and even recent " Pliocene." It should be so designated
deposits are all adequately classified as and the Red Crag should be assigned to
"Tertiary." There is no natural the Pleistocene. But Mr. Moir refuses
to take this step. I think, on the con- been supposed) cotemporary with the
trary, that it is high time that the Mollusca of the Red Crag sea, but were
misapprehensions of Lyell and his fol- of several successive ages, —
Eocene,
lowers should be discarded and the dis- Miocene, and Pliocene. Stripped of
coveries of the last fifty years given these derivative fossils, which were
their true significance, by definitely accumulated in the bone bed (often
assigning the ''Red" and the "Nor- called coproHte bed) at the base of the
wich" Crag to Pleistocene, while the Red Crag, that deposit was clearly
White, or Coralline, Crag is recognized revealed as of later date than any of
as the sole stratified deposit, represen- them and was entitled to association
tative in East Anglia, of the Pliocene. with the yet later gravels and sands of
Lyell and most of his followers errone- the Pleistocene. It could no longer be
ously considered the shells derived by grouped with the Coralline Crag, which
the Red Crag sea from the denudation has a moUuscan fauna, including forms
of Coralline Crag deposits, as not de- characteristic of Pliocene and warmer
rived but as living members of the Red seas.
Crag fauna. Similarly they regarded The fact that neither the Coralline
the cetacean bones and teeth and the Crag nor the Bone Bed of Suffolk ex-
remarkableteethof terrestrialmammals tend into Norfolk, accounts for the
(which have been derived by the Red absence of their contents in the Nor-
Crag from earlier deposits) as part of wich Crag. In fact, that deposit rests
the Red Crag fauna, cotemporary with on the chalk, from which it is separated
its boreal Mollusca. The importance by a densely packed deposit of more or
of the Suffolk ''Bone Bed" (as I called less fractured flint pebbles, called "the
it sixty years ago^ was not appreciated, Stone-bed" by the Rev. John Gunn.
and the fact that it consists of the The Norwich Crag is the true and puri-
"detritus" or wreckage of a vast mass fied Red Crag minus those deceptive
of earlier strata, together with the contributions which it received in the
wash-up of a land surface persisting Suffolk area from CoraUine Crag and
from Eocene times, was ignored. The Bone Bed. The Norwich " Stone Bed "
Eocene contribution of clay nodules is approximately the equivalent of the
and well-known Eocene fossils to the Suffolk Bone Bed deprived of those
"Bone Bed" and so to the shell banks constituents. Flint nodules are present
of the Red Crag area, was recognized in both and among these there are in
by But the derivation of the
Lyell. both many fashioned by human agency.
cetacean bones and teeth from a I will only say further that an agreed
destroyed Pliocene deposit, like that and intelUgible nomenclatm'e of flint
existing in an undisturbed condition implements is urgently needed. Terms
near Antwerp, was not known until I are now applied to them in a haphazard
showed that this was the fact by a way. One set of terms is based on the
careful comparison of the fossils in shape of the implement, another on the
question. Then, too, it became appar- use to which it is supposed that it was
ent that the terrestrial mammals, the applied, a third merely descriptive of
is
teeth of which are found in association geological age or of locaUty. It should

with the Red Crag, were not (as had be possible to draw up a nomenclature
of an authoritative and intelHgible
^Proceedings of Geological Society of London, Vol.
XXVI, 1870, pp. 493-515. character.
What Is An Eolith?
By GEORGE GRANT MacCURDY
Director of the American School of Prehistoric Research in Europe
THERE
long
was a time, not very
when even polished
ago,
so period
cene,
is
or
co-extensive with the Pleisto-
Quaternary Epoch, of the
stone implements were looked geologic time scale. The possibility, or
upon as the work of nature. Then came even probablity, of a Stone Age culture
Thomsen in 1836 with his triple divi- antedating the Pleistocene had not
sion of prehistoric time into the Ages of been anticipated. In the event that
Stone, Bronze, and Iron. Later it was such a culture should exist, a third
found necessary to divide the Stone period of the Stone Age would have to
Age into two periods: the Palaeolithic be created; and if a consistent nomen-
and the Neolithic. clature were to be maintained, this
Broadly speaking, the Neolithic period would of necessity be called the
Period is by implements
characterized Eohthic Period.
in which pohshing was employed as a Granted that there be an Eolithic
final shaping process; the Palaeolithic Period, the definition of an eolith be-
Period is by the complete
distinguished comes a comparatively simple matter.
absence pohshing as a shaping
of An eolith is a flint (or other stone) that
process. There are also other differ- has been shaped or utilized by man or
ences, based especially on typology, his precursor during the geologic period
associated and stratigraphy.
fauna, known as the Tertiary. Having de-
Palseohthic implements occur in un- fined the term, one can now proceed
doubted Pleistocene deposits, while to the question as to whether eoliths
NeoUthic cultural remains are of later actually exist and, if so, whether any
date. Stratigraphy is, therefore, the have been found.

basis on which Stone Age chronology FHnt played an important role in
rests. cultural evolution throughout the Stone
Recognition of the authenticity of Age. To primitive man it is the most
palseolithswas scarcely more than utilizable of all stones because of its
achieved when a new struggle broke hardness and mode of fracture, which
forth over the question of the nature of leaves a sharp, comparatively straight
certain chipped flints found in situ in edge. Moreover, flint flakes are pro-
Tertiary deposits. This struggle has duced by purely natural means and
lasted for nearly sixty years and the thus form ready-to-hand tools inviting
end is not yet in sight. One of the use. Did a human precursor, capable
causes of confusion and differences of of taking advantage of such ready-to-
opinion has been the lack of precision hand tools, exist during the Tertiary
in the definition of terms, especially Period? The men of Heidelberg and
of the term "eohth." Piltdown were obviously not the first
The Stone Age of Thomsen was later users, or even makers, of tools. That
found to be only the closing period of the first tool users existed as early as
that age, A second much older and the Tertiary is not impossible, or even
longer period —the PalseoUthic —had improbable. The finding of skeletal
to be created; ' chronologically this remains in association with cultural
656
WHAT IS AN EOLITH? 657
remains in situ in a Tertiary deposit exist fortuitously favoring the play

would solve the problem of eoliths. of natural forces. According to the
Until such a discovery is made, the Abbe Breuil, such conditions do exist
question is destined to remain an open at the base of the Parisian Eocene
one. (Thanetian) on the estate of Belle-
Assuming that a tool-using precursor Assise in the suburbs of Clermont
did exist in Tertiary times, he would,
more often than not, have made use of
a flint flake only once or twice and then
have cast it aside or lost it without
leaving any unmistakable traces of
utilization. Even
he did leave such
if
traces or took the trouble to shape or

retouch an implement, experiments and
observation prove that nature, un-
trammeled though blind, is ever ready
to take advantage of conditions, even
to the chipping of flint. One should
not, however, on the other hand lose
sight of the fact that thereis one signal
difference between man and nature,

namely, man can produce conditions as
well as take advantage of them. Nature
may fail a million times before pro-
ducing one retouched and serviceable

edge ; whereas it is possible for man to
exercise a control over conditions to
such an extent as to achieve the result Examples of non-human flaking produced in
at the very first attempt. Obviously, a natural eolith factory by the grinding of one
flint against another under pressure. Both
the only element of control over condi- of these specimens, as well as numerous others,
tions is that of intention exercised by a were dug out of the so-called Bullhead Bed,
in Essex, England, by Mr. Samuel Hazzledine
tool-using human precursor. Warren, from whose paper, "A Natural
That chipped flints are to be found 'Eohth' Factory Beneath the Thanet Sand,"
the figures are reproduced. The upper flint is a
in certain Tertiary deposits is conceded scraper comparable in workmanship to a man-
by both sides to the controversy; made eoUth. Of the lower flint, a trimmed-
flake point, Mr. Warren remarks: "If con-
that some of these are practically sidered by itself, upon its own apparent merits,
identical with flints admittedly of hu- and away from its associates and the circum-
stances of its discovery, its Mousterian
man workmanship and belonging to affinities could scarcely be questioned."
later periods is beyond the realm of
controversy. What agency is respon- (Oise). S. Hazzledine Warren has
sible for this class of chipped flints, found similar conditions in the Bull-
blind nature or a being with an object head Bed at Grays in Essex. The Bull-
in view and capable of controlling con- head Bed is at the base of the Thanet
ditions to the extent of realizing that Sand, hence of the same age as the
object? The chances would seem to be deposit at Belle-Assise. Warren states
very much in favor of the latter except ; that if the best selected flakes from the
possibly in situations where conditions Bullhead Bed were mingled with flakes
658 NATURAL HISTORY
from a prehistoric workshop floor, they and Capitan have both recently an-
could never be separated again unless swered in the affirmative. Capitan
it were by their mineral condition. finds not only flint chips that suggest
On the other hand, Breuil is authority utilization but true types of instru-
for the statement that conditions ments which would be considered as
favoring the play of natural forces do characteristic of certain Palaeolithic
horizons. These not only occur but re-
cur: punches, bulbed flakes, carefully
retouched to form points and scrapers
of the Mousterian type, disks with
borders retouched in a regular manner,
scratchers of various forms, and, finally,
picks. He concludes that there is a
complete simihtude between many of
the chipped flints from Cantal and the
classic specimens from the best-known
Palaeolithic sites.
Similar conclusions were reached by
prehminary study of the
Sollas after a
unrivaled Westlake collection. Sollas
is once more going over the whole
question in the light of new evidence,

gleaned from the same collection placed
in hishands for purposes of study after
Westlake 's death. All prehistorians
will await with much interest his final
conclusions, which should go far toward
answering the question as to whether
the chipped flints from le Puy Courny,
This flint, obtained at le Puy Courny, in le Puy de Boudieu, and Belbex are
Cantal, France, is assigned to the Upper
artifacts or only freaks of nature.
Miocene, yet the high degree of excellence
shown in its workmanship would entitle it, It must be borne in mind, however,
in the opinion of Dr. Louis Capitan, who made
the above sketch, to find place with honor in
that a final decision in regard to the Up-
an Aurignacian series. (Reproduction nat- per Miocene flints of Cantal represents
ural size)
only a part of the sum total of evidence
for and against eohths. The question
not exist in certain Pliocene deposits of
isone of the most difficult in the whole
East AngHa, where J. Reid Moir has
realm of cultural evolution. In many
found worked flints. ^ If these flints
respects it is as confusing in its com-
cannot be ascribed to nature, and
plexity as the question of the spread of
apparently they cannot, they would
culture itself. But the difficulty of
seem to fit the foregoing definition of
drawing a hard and fast line of demar-
an eolith.
cation between the artificial and the
Can the same thing be said of the
natural, cannot be regarded as either
chipped flints from Upper Miocene
proof or disproof of the existence of
deposits near Aurillac (Cantal) . Sollas
man-used eoliths. It is a case where
iThe reader is referred to Mr. J. Reid Moir's article
in this issue. both sides to a controversy can be right.
Midnight sun viewed from Mount Nuolja
Alpine Wild Flowers of Arctic Lapland

IMPRESSIONS GATHERED IN THE COURSE OF THE EXPEDITION OF THE
AMERICAN MUSEUM TO THAT REGION^
By G. CLYDE FISHER
Curator of Visual Instruction, American Museum
THE abundance
Arctic regions
of flowers in the
is usually a
Nuolja is situated near Abiskojokk in
the northern part of Swedish Lap-
surprise to those who dwell far land, and is almost of the same altitude
south of the polar circle, for we do not as Slide Mountain, the highest peak
associate these delicate growths with in the Catskills. Professor Du Rietz,
iceand snow. On a recent expedition who is an ecologist and plant geog-
to Lapland made with Mr. Carveth rapher, with a special interest in
Wells, I had the opportunity to lichens, says it is botanically one of
observe many of these flowers under the richest mountains in all Lapland.
conditions that rendered them most On our climb we confined our atten-
attractive. tion mainly to the flowering plants.
During our entire journey we had Many plants were observed in this
with us Dr. Erik Bergstrom, who part of the Arctic region that I had
knows the plant and animal life of the seen on Mount Washington in our
region thoroughly. His keenness as a White Mountains, but this is not
naturalist added much to our interest surprising when we recall that many
and enjoyment. A special botanical' boreal species grow on the peaks of the
excursion up Mount Nuolja, made in the White Mountains, and that formerly
company of Prof. G. Einar Du Rietz there must have been quite a free
of the University of Upsala is also interchange of plants around the pole,
remembered with pleasure. Mount for every family of Arctic flowering
'The expedition was made possible through the generosity of the Swedish State Railways, the American-
Swedish News Exchange, and the Swedish American Line. The photographs are by Doctor Fisher.
659
A bit of Trollius meadow near the timber line on Mount
Nuolja. In the background
are straggUng white birches, and in the middle ground, on the right and on the left, may be
seen a few leaves of a large plant of the parslej' family, which the Lapps eat as we do celery.
The characteristic and prevailing flower (Trollius europseus) is more than two inches in
diameter, and both by its color and its shape justifies the Swedish name, which, when
translated, is butterball
The yellow mountain violet [Viola biflora) is the most abundant violet in Lapland. It
is an alpine species, reaching an altitude far above timber line
Orchids are usually thought of as temperate or tropical plants, but there are several
species in Arctic Lapland. The flowers of this one (Gymnadenia conopsea) are a delicate
purple and have a delightful fragrance
The Swedish name of the mountain cranberry (Vaccinium Vitis-Idxa) is "lingon," and
the fruit takes the place of our cranberry. It grows abundantly in the higher ground of
Sweden, including Lapland. Considerable quantities are consumed in Sweden and large
supplies are exported to other countries.
The mountain cramberry grows also in rocky places in the higher mountains of New
England and in the Adirondacks.
Two species of true cranberries occur in Sweden, at least in small numbers, but appar-
ently they are not utilized commercially
664 NATURAL HISTORY
plants is circumpolar in distribution, regions, can hardly recover from the
and there is hardly a genus that is not. surprise at finding these diminutive
On the mountains of Lapland, as is representatives of plant groups he has
doubtless true elsewhere, it is inter- known dwarf willow
: (Salix herhacea)
esting to note how the length of time and net-veined willow (Salix reticu-
that the snow lies on a given area lata) only two or three inches high,
influences the flora of that area. and, in bloom or in fruit, Lapland
Some places well below the timber rhododendron (Rhododendron Lap-
line are treeless or show retarded ponicuni) only a very little taller,
growth because the deep snow con- dwarf birch (Betula nana) scarcely a
tinues there so long each season. foot high,and alpine azalea (Azalea
Frequently one will see in the summer procumbens) lifting its pink flowers
a group of dwarf birches, for example, hardly more than an inch above the
in full leaf, while adjoining it may be a ground. By far the commonest
group just in bud, that got its late heath plant in Lapland is the crow-
start due to the duration of the snow. berry (Empetrum nigrum) This plant
.
It is also interesting to note which has almost the same range as the
flowers are first to bloom after their cloudberry (Rubus chamsemorus) and
coverlet of snow has melted away. both occur at Montauk Point, L. I.
Upon Mount Nuolja the earliest are Another surprise is occasioned by
the snow buttercup (Ranunculus niva- finding the Arctic flowers blooming so
lis) and the purple mountain saxifrage close to the snow; it is almost as
{Saxifraga oppositifolia) amazing as the discovery of a living
A necessary characteristic of boreal —
plant right on the snow, the so-
and alpine plants is the small size of called 'red snow,'which is a tiny alga
the vegetative part, although the (Sphxrella nivalis). These minute
flowers are not correspondingly re- plants are so abundant in Lapland,
duced. One who goes from the tropic at least during July, that large patches
or temperate zones into the Arctic of snow have a noticeable red tinge.
Lapporten — a conspicuous pass formerly traversed by the Lapps on their migrations

Wild Flowers of the Uplands of Lapland
PHOTOGRAPHED BY G. CLYDE FISHER
THE NORTHERN DWARF CORNEL

cousin the dwarf cornel^^^^^
This plant {Cornus suecica) is similar to its more southern
former seem to haveâsl^M^^^
bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), but the petal-hke bracts o^tê
greenish-yellow tinge, and the cluster of flowers m
the center is of
hardly expect to find the species of Sweden and Lapland m f^P!.'^.^^°"„^;.^pXelIs,
North Ameuca nevertheless it
from Labrador to Alaska, is more northern than that
grows on this continent, where its range,
of Cornus canadensis
THE WILD
GERANIUM
I
The beautiful
rose-purple flowers
of Geranium silvati-
cum closeljr re-
semble those of our
wild or spotted
cranesbill. The
generic, like the
popular, name of
these plants owes
its origin
to the fact
that they have long
slender fruit-bear-
ing "beaks," Gera-
nium being derived
from a Greek word
meaning crane.
In the manner of
their seed dispersal
both the Lapland
species and ours are
noteworthy, for
they belong to that
interesting group
having explosive
fruits. The seeds
are discharged by
the sudden separa-
tion and upward
coiling of the five
parts forming the
seed capsule. With
such violence does
this explosive ac-
tion take place that
the seeds are shot
out to considerable
distances.
Sprengel, the
great German bot-
anist, discovered
that the nectar of
the Geranium flow-
ers isprotected from
the rain bj' fine and
delicate hairs. Thus
it is preserved pure
for the insects that
visit the flowers
WHITE
MOUNTAIN-AVENS
This prostrate,
tufted plant {Dryas
octopetala) , with
white flowers about
an inch and a half
in diameter, is a typ-
ical alpine species
of the Arctic re-
gions. The flowers,

which nearly al-
ways have eight
petals, proclaim its
position in the rose
family.
The styles, about
an inch long, are
plumose and con-
spicuous when in
fruit, reminding one
of those of the
graceful virgin's-
bower {Clematis vir-
giniana) of our
roadside fences and
those of the pasque
flower {Pulsatilla
patens) of our
prairies. In all three
cases the feathery
style constitutes a
flying apparatus,
the tail-like plume
resembling the
parachutes of the
seeds of the dande-
lion or wild lettuce
in its behavior in
the air. As in
man-made para-
chutes, so in these
parachutes of the
plant world, the
resistance to the air
in falling is consid-
erable, so that winds
are apt to carry the
seeds for some dis-
tance
a
S £
o ^
The reindeer flower (Ranunculus glacialis) is a white buttercup which forms the chief
food of the reindeer in the higher parts of the mountains reached by these animals. Photo-
graphed on the top of Mount Nuolja bj' the Ught of the midnight sun
Hi' mBt 1
^ -mm
THE FLOWER NAMED FOR LINNÛS
Linnsea borealis was a special favorite of the great Swedish botanist whose name it com-
memoiates. In Lapland it grows in countless numbers and here, on his visit in 1732, he saw and
enjoyed it. It appealed to him because of its modest, retiring nature, and because of its beautiful
little bell-shaped flowers with their delightful fragrance.
The American species, which is called twinflower, differs from the European in having the
flowers funnel-form rather than bell-shaped, and the calyx shorter
Engraving on a limestone block, about three feet in length, detached from the overhang-
ing wall of an anciently inhabited rock shelter at Sergeac, Department Dordogne, France.
The outhne of the horse, rude but firm and vigorous in execution, is representative of the
second phase of this type of Palaeolithic art. The first phase of the art rendered animal
figures with no attempt whatever at perspective; while in the above instance the artist has
sought to convey the idea of depth by representing all four legs of his subject. The work be-
longs to the cultural stage known as the tipper Aurignacian, and dates from about 20,000 B.C.
The specimen was presented to the American Museum by President Henry Fairfield jOsborn
European Prehistory
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORK OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
By N. C. nelson
Associate Curator of Archseology, American Museum
THE prior
existence
to
of man
written history
in times
won
wishes to inform himself thoroughly on
the subj ect must in the end go to Europe.
recognition at last as a scientifi- The history of prehistoric studies has
cally demonstrated f actin theyear 1858. much in common with that of any
This momentous event took place in other new branch of natural science.
Europe, where most of the pertinent It is a record of intense collective and
discoveries had been made, and Europe descriptive activity, with a respectable
ever since has been the chief center of amount of scholarly interpretation and
prehistoric studies. Other parts of the not a little even of popularization.
world — and especially America have — odd years that
Briefly, in the sixty-j&ve
contributed to the elucidation of the have elapsed since was
this research
European story, but hardly more than begun, the discovered and recorded
that. Whether man and his culture monumental remains of ancient date,
originated in Europe is still an unsolved such as dwelling sites, workshops,
problem. To date, however, Europe quarries, mines, forts, temples, and
alone furnishes the necessary facts for tombs, have come to be numbered by
anything approaching a complete ac- thousands; and the movable relics of
count, and, consequently, whoever all kinds now gathered and housed in
665
666 NATURAL HISTORY
public and private museums —including great deal. In the first place, but
those of America —must be reckoned for the discovery of America and as —

by hundreds of thousands. a result of the voyages that followed
The interest aroused by these disin its wake — the discovery of the
coveries is boundless. Men in all Pacific Islands, Europe would hardly
walks of have taken up archaeology,
life as yet have perceived the reality or even
more hobby it is true but
or less as a ; the possibility of the Stone Age. In
not a few today devote nearly their confirmation of this it is necessary
entire time to the sub j ect In the mean-
. merely to point out that for a period of
while the professional archaeologist has three thousand years —
the entire span
appeared and already a certain amount of Europe's written records all the —
of specialization is noticeable: some common stone artifacts, such as axes
are interested chiefly in prehistoric and arrowpoints, were well-nigh uni-
art, others in industrial and tech- versally regarded as of superhuman or
nological problems, and still others in celestial origin, suitable only for magi-
man strictly as a member of the animal cal and medicinal purposes. That such
species. A vast body of descriptive objects could have been used by man
literature has developed and within for practical ends was deemed pre-
the last years there have
fifteen posterous. The fact that stone as a
appeared from the presses of different substance implements had not
for
countries, including the United States, entirely gone out of use even in Europe
no less than twenty compendiums passed unnoticed. Nor did the in-
or general —partly interpretative formation brought by the discoverers
treatises on prehistory. Nor is this all. and early explorers of America, where
Prehistoric man has taken his place not the natives everywhere were observed
only in schoolbooks and bedtime stories using stone weapons and implements,
but in fiction and poetry as well. Not at once convince the learned world of
many months ago there was published its error An entire century passes
in New York City the translation of a before we observe in the literature so
five-volume novel (really five epic much as a glimmering of light, and the
narratives) presenting in admirable darkness was not entirely dispelled
fashion the origin ofman and his rise when,
until the red letter year of 1858,
from animal beginnings down to the with the acceptance of a "prehistoric
discovery of America. The European of human existence, the theoret-
'
period '
author, a man of eminence in his ically necessary conditions were auto-

profession, has taken the known facts matically provided for the recognition of
of anthropology and in the light of the Stone Age in the Old World.
modern biology and psychology has In the second place, the American
produced a fairly plausible and cer- peoples occupy a unique position with
tainly a very stirring and suggestive reference to European prehistory. First
account of the whole racial and cul- of all, are, most of them, sons
they
tural process. Surely, prehistoric man and heirs of Europe, and for that rea-
has come into his own son, if for no other, have a special in-
And what, it may be asked, has terest in her past. Then, Americans
America contributed to the advance- have been peculiarly favored by cir-
ment of European prehistory? The cumstances that have facihtated their
answer is directly or indirectly a very
: ready understanding of things pre-
EUROPEAN PREHISTORY 667
historic. The notion of a Stone Age, opened in 1877, what is now the bird
for example, did not present itself to group gallery was occupied almost
us as a debatable subject; it was and exclusively by prehistoric archaeology.
isan obvious fact. For while in Europe Indeed, during the first twenty years
this primitive phase of human culture the anthropological activities of the
passed out some three to four thou- Museum were devoted chiefly to the
sand years ago, leaving not even a bare acquisition and exhibition of archae-
tradition of itself, among the aborigines ological material. Not until 1888 did
in America it has survived in some the institution — backed by popular ap-
measure down to the present day. In proval, expressed in terms of liberal
view, therefore, of these two special money contributions—invest any in
incentives, supplementing the normal large ethnological collections; and plans

interest in searching out explanations for the present expansion of the de-
of human Americans could
origins, partment of anthropology did not take
hardly do otherwise than make notable shape until 1895.
contributions to the development of
prehistoric studies. THE EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS
There remains to be recounted more The first European archaeological
precisely what has actually been done specimen arrived at the Museum on
in America, aside from the general dis- April 29, 1872, and was the gift of
semination of verbal information about Dr. F. W. Lewis of Philadelphia. It
our early European ancestors. In was a fragmentary implement of deer

attempting this the writer can do no antler, taken from a Lake Dweller site
some of the salient
better than to recite in Switzerland. From that day until
European prehistory as
facts regarding some time in 1884, when accessions from
pursued and developed by the Ameri- Europe suddenly ceased for a period of
can Museum. eleven years, the Museum received by
gift and by purchase no less than 8000
MUSEUM BEGINNINGS specimens, representing all the then
From foundation in 1869 the
its known prehistoric stages of CLilture. In
American Museum has sought to keep 1895, European objects once more began
abreast of both the scientific and the to dribble in and ever since have been
popular interest in all matters relating coming faster and faster until at present
to the early history of man. "It is to the American Museum possesses ap-
be a temple of Nature," said Prof. proximately 15,000 specimens. The
Joseph Henry at the laying of the corner accessions represented were obtained
stone in 1874, "in which the produc- from more than five hundred different
tions of the inorganic and organic world, sites,scattered over all the countries of
together with the remnants of the past ages Europe, excepting Portugal, Holland,
of the human family, are to be collected, Finland, and certain of the Balkan
classified, and properly exhibited." states. Actually, however, the bulk
Before these words were spoken, while of the material comes from the British
th'e Museum was still housed in the old Isles, Denmark with southern Sweden,
Arsenal in Central Park, a sizeable Switzerland with southern Germany,
exhibit had already been installed of —
Belgium, and France the regions, in
both European and American antiq- short, which have been most thoroughly
uities and, when the present building investigated to date, and possibly also
668 NATURAL HISTORY
the regions which especially favored the Feuardent, the Marquis de Vibray,
life of early man. These precious relics Prof. Louis Capitan, Prof. Henri Breuil,
illustrate the whole gamut of human Dr. G. Lalanne, M. L. Didon, M. D.
invention, from the crudest hypotheti- Peyrony, the Count de Limur, Dr.
cal flint implements of Miocene date Henri Martin, M. V. Forbin, Dr. Paul
say twenty millions of years ago down — Wernert, M. Estanove Jacques, and
to the modern-looking iron tools and M. Zacharie le Rouzic, of France; Dr.
weapons from La Tene Lake Dwelling Ferdinand Keller, Dr. Paul Vouga, and
deposits of about 500 B.C. Hr. Otto Fehrlin, of Switzerland; Hr.
Carl Gail of Germany; Dr. Aladar de
COLLECTORS AND DONORS Kovach, of Hungary; Prof. Hugo
The story of the acquisition of these Obermaier, of Spain; Prof. E. H. Gig-
collections is not without interest, lioli, of Italy; M. Speros Condounes,
human as well as scientific. In the of Greece; and many others.

case of the older accessions very little A smallerbut equally important
is known as a rule beyond "locality of group of American names are in one
origin" and the name of the donor. way or another intimately connected
Many •individual pieces, to be sure, with the collections, for the most part
carry marks to indicate that they were as donors. These names, in the order
discovered as far back as 1851, but the in which they appear on the records,
attending circumstances, as well as the include Mr. Robert L. Stuart, Dr. J. C.
name of the actual discoverer, are Dalton, Mr. Andrew E. Douglass, Mrs.
usually lost beyond recovery. It is Robert L. Stuart, the late President
only within the last twenty years that Theodore Roosevelt, Mr. H. E. Win-
properly authenticated archaeological lock, Mr. Charles W. Furlong, Mrs.
specimens have begun to come in; Y. P. Lee, Prof. C. T. Currelly, Prof.
and it is these recent acquisitions which J. H. McGregor, Mrs. Charles Sprague
alone make it possible for us to arrive Smith, Prof. George Grant MacCurdy,
at a correct classification of the earlier President Henry Fairfield Osborn, and
collections. Mrs. Henry Fairfield Osborn. Valu-
Theavailable list of names of col- able gifts have also been received from
lectorsand donors is nevertheless both such institutions as Columbia Uni-
formidable and interesting. The group versity, the American Numismatic
residing in Europe includes such dis- Societj^, and the American Ethnological
tinguished and more or less well- Society.
known personages as the late Oscar It seems but fitting to remark in this
Montelius, of Sweden; Dr. C. Neer- connection that the most generous of
gaard and M. M. J. Mathiassen (the all the donors were intimately related to
discoverer of Maglemose culture), of the institution. Mr. Robert L. Stuart,
Denmark; Prof. Nicholas Roerich, of who served the Museum as its second
Russia; Sir Hercules Read, Mr. Thos. president, set an example in 1876 by
W.U. Robinson, Mr. J. Reid Moir, Dr. presenting the first collection of Eu-
Arthur Smith Woodward, Mr. Ben- ropean antiquities, a collection that
jamin Harrison, and Mr. S. Hazzledine has the additional distinction of being
Warren, of England; Prof. A. Rutot the largest that the Museum has ever
and M. G. De Konincke, of Belgium; received. It consisted of "over three
M. Henry de Morgan, M. G. L. thousand carefully selected specimens"
and weapons,
of Palaeolithic flint tools To do this however, requires a number
brought to America by M. Henry de of things not always available even in
Morgan from Amiens and other classic the largest and most pretentious of in-
archaeological stations of the Somme stitutions, —
time and patience coupled
Valley in northern France. At the with both knowledge and ingenuity.
time, this collection was described as The first step toward making an
"the most complete and valuable series exhibit intelligible as well as interest-
of such objects extant (that of Boucher ing is to classify the material. Here
de Perthes at Abbeville excepted) — several possibihties present themselves
an estimate which, it is safe to say, we may group our specimens according
holds good even today, at least so far to the substance of which they are
as America is concerned. But, as if to made — as bone, stone, shell, etc.;
make certain that the series should not according to the form of the objects,
be excelled, Mrs. Stuart, in 1883, added irrespective of their use; or according
to more than two thousand speci-
it to their function or pm-pose. We may
mens, in part from the same region. also group simply according to locality
of origin or according to relative an-
CLASSIFICATION AND EXHIBITION tiquity. Each of these systems of
Having acquired these valuable col- classification has its special advantages
lections, the next problem confronting and disadvantages — if at all applic-
the Museum was what to do with able; but, obviously, the last three
them, how to insure their continuous are themost fundamental. The aver-
interest for the public. No museum, age man, on being confronted with an
so far as the writer knows, has ade- archaeological specimen, invariably asks
quately solved this question of ulti- three questions about it : Where did it
mate treatment, although one or two come from? How old What was
is it?
European institutions have made exit used for? Any adequate museum ex-
cellent beginnings. Up to the present hibit must seek to answer all three of
time, it is true, the situation has not these legitimate questions.
been especially urgent the more or less
: For a number of years the Ameri-
startling and spectacular facts about can Museum has been experimenting
prehistoric man have been new, and with this exhibition problem. On
public interest has responded to any the assumption that archaeology is
miscellaneous display of ancient relics. fundamentally a historical science and
Doubtless these displays will continue, that history is incomprehensible ex-
forsome time to come, to attract the cept as a great continuous process,
maj ority of museum visitors as fascinat- the chronological relations of our vari-
ing collections of "curios" if nothing ous prehistoric collections have been
more. But, obviously, if the material is deemed of first importance. For-
to justify its existence, is to make a tunately the available archaeological
permanent appeal to the general public, data lend themselves admirably to a
as well as to the special student, some concrete demonstration of the histori-
order and simplification must be in- cal viewpoint as regards the material
troduced. The least attractive ob- phenomena of culture. Today no less
jects, such as rudimentary stone and than twelve easily distinguishable cul-
bone implements, have an important ture stages (not to mention numerous
story to tell, if only we can bring it out. subdivisions) are recognized in western
670 NATURAL HISTORY
Europe alone and their time sequence countries affording the best material for
isdetermined beyond all possibility of certain of the culture stages have been
dispute by their stratified occurrence in grouped to suit the chronological re-
undisturbed deposits, both natural and quirements. Thus France comes first,
artificial. The fact of stratification or at the near end of the hall, and is
superposition does not, of course, prove represented chiefly by a full inventory
that the implements of any particular of Palaeolithic specimens. Denmark
level in a given deposit
were derived by and southern Sweden come next with a
a process of modification from those fine Neolithic series. Finally, at the
immediately below, although detailed far end of the hall, Switzerland is
study of the artifact contents of con- introduced as furnishing, besides a
tiguous strata has shown that such good Neolithic exhibit, the best avail-
genetic relationship commonly exists. able specimens of the Bronze and Iron
But whether traceable or not, these ages. Similarly, incomplete but parallel
successive steps or stages in the evolu- exhibits from other countries, such as
tion of ordinary human inventions Spain, Belgium, and the British Isles,
seem designed by nature to serve as are placed in certain of the adjacent
primary subdivisions in the classifica- upright wall cases. The subdivision
tion and arrangement of museum ex- within each of these local unit exhibits
hibits of this character and have isstratigraphic, a table case or a sheff,
accordingly been so used at the Ameri- according to circumstances, being given
can Museum. The hall of prehistoric to each culture level.
man, as it happens, lends itself fairly Each of the culture level exhibits,
well to this mode of treatment: the moreover, consists of two parts: one,
portion occupied by the Old World typological -the other, distributional and
collections is oblong and is furnished comparative. The former, placed at one
with two rows of parallel table cases, end of the case, furnishes a small but
each series of cases sufficiently spacious comprehensive display of typical speci-
to accommodate a moderate-sized dis- mens, such as characterize the par-
play of all the various culture levels, ticular culture horizon dealt with
arranged in their precise order of strati- Chellean, Acheulean, Mousterian, and
graphic occurrence. so on; the latter, occupying most of-
One of these two rows of cases has the available space in the case, is
been devoted to the strictly scientific made up of segregated groups of repre-
presentation of cultural evolution as sentative specimens of the given hori-
afforded by the antiquities of several zon as they occur in different parts of
different countries. No single country, the country treated. The one exhibit
however, is represented in our collec- is designed to show the visitor at a
tions by adequate data for all of the glance all the known essentials of any
twelve culture stages above referred to particular culture stage; the other is
—in fact, in some instances such repre- designed to emphasize at once the wide
sentation never can be effected, as geographic distribution of identical
certain of the stages do not exist. In forms of implements and such minor
order, therefore, to illustrate the general local variations as occur.
evolutional process for Europe as a The second row of table cases in the
whole, as well as to indicate the actual hall of prehistoric man is devoted to a
events in particular localities, the somewhat schematized comparative
exhibit, covering the entire Old World. methods of haf ting, as well as to suggest
The aim here is to do for the Old various uses for the prehistoric forms.
World what was done for France, Carried to completion, this plan of
Switzerland, and other countries in the arrangement would present a combina-
preceding geographic exhibit, — to show tion time-ancl-space distribution, and
the apparent intercontinental distribu- would show at a glance the grand
tion of many identical or nearly iden- sweep of elementary human culture.
tical culture traits, as exemplified by
ancient as well as modern primitive PUBLICATIONS
tools, weapons, household gear, and The subject of publications calls for
other data. A strictly scientific pre- but few remarks inasmuch as our col-
sentation is impossible here at present lections remain practically undescribed.
but if science has been sacrificed, it is A few papers bearing more or less
hoped that the achieved simplicity of directly on the European material
arrangement may be more intelligible have, however, appeared from time to
to the general visitor. time in Natural History. The Mu-
The basis of the arrangement of this seum collections also deserve some
exhibit is stratigraphic. It opens with credit having helped to inspire
for
eoHths at the entrance end of the hall President Henry Fairfield Osborn for
and closes with iron objects at the far the great task of writing his well-known
end. Each of the seven double table book. Men oj the Old Stone Age, the
cases consists of three sections, the first general treatise covering this field
middle one of which devoted to is to be produced in America. This work
European objects, while the two end has stood for a decade as the only con-
sections are reserved for material siderableAmerican contribution to the
from Asia and Africa respectively. subject and not until the past twelve-
The central, European, section of the month have any American students of
case, it must be further explained, is prehistory sought to supplement it.
furnished for each of the twelve culture Now, however, we have all at once
levels with genuine specimens from one three new American publications cov-
or more localities, according as the ering the same field and rumor has it
available collections permit; the Asi- that other treatises are in preparation.
atic and African sections are supplied,
as far as practicable, with similar but CONCLUSIONS
as yet not positively proved ancient The and most obvious conclu-
first
artifacts. Wherever our Asiatic and sion to be drawn from all this intense
African prehistoric resources have failed activity concerned with matters pre-
to fill their allotted sections, materials, historic would seem to be that the world
in part of recent date, from Australia is mightily interested. Doubtless it
and the Pacific Islands have been in- always has been interested in human
troduced, partly for the purpose of origins and will continue to be. Poets
filling the vacant spaces and partly to are not alone in believing that "the
suggest the survival of ancient conti- greatest study of mankind is man."
nental forms of implements in these The second conclusion is that the
outlying regions. Incidentally, the in- world having rather suddenly had re-
troduction of ethnological specimens vealed to it a vast body of new and
also serves to show the possible ancient pertinent knowledge, certain far-reach-
672 NATURAL HISTORY
ing effects are bound to follow. Al-
thoughts. In the light of all this, what
ready the materialistically inclined, original contributions to civiHzation
who are prone to gloat over recent has modern man made, the germ of
achievements and recent progress, have which was not already present among
experienced a rude shock. For if the our prehistoric ancestors? Some, no
fragmentary rehcs in our museums tell doubt; and yet certainly not so many
anything, that the foundations of
it is
as most of us are wont to think.
our whole modern existence economic, — If this effect of the past is discernible
social, and religious— were laid deep in the essentially material side of
and secure in the unrecorded past. modern culture, how much more cer-
The primary inventions relating to tain, if less tangible, must the effect
hunting, fishing, and food production; have been on the non-material side?
the protective devices against envi-
The belated recognition of prehistoric
ronmental conditions, represented by man—or in other words the admission
clothing, houses,
and strongholds; the that things human were not placed on
domestication of plants and animals earth ready-made some six thousand
as basic to agricultural and animal years ago—has unmistakably taken a
husbandry, making man relatively powerful hold on the modern min^.
independent of nature's bounty; and, Every department of thought, if not
finally, the discovery and successful of action, has been more or less
visibly
treatment of various metallic ores, affected by the new knowledge. Some
resulting in tools and weapons both departments have been shaken to their
durable and efficient— all of these foundations and are being rebuilt on
material equipments were developed
new and broader fines. We do not yet
and more or less perfected before (some know what the end is to be; but those
of them long before) man had the most famifiar with the new knowledge
leisure or the need for devising a about man of the distant past look
mechanical method of recording his eagerly and confidently to the future.
JâustiMMiBSSsSil^SSSis'.
LIBERTE, EGALITE, FRATERNITE.
MUSEUM NATIONAL
D'HISTOIRE NATURELLE,
Early letterhead of the Jardin's Museum of Natural History, on a letter addressed by

Lamarck and Geoffroy to Charles Wilson Peale, 1796. From the Osborn collection in the
American Museum
The Jardin des Plantes

A PARNASSUS OF NATURALISTS
By BASHFORD DEAN
Honorary Curator of Ichthyology, American Museum
/.
NATURAL history, like any other John S. Newberry in the fossil fish gals^
had its great epochs.
history, has lery of the American Museum recall-
One them had its flowering
of such a generation; in fact, no one who
time in the year 1859, when the doctrine knew this eminent scholar could soon
of evolution was expounded clearly and forget that his training was French.
convincingly. Another epoch followed He showed it in his lists of authorities,
the discoveries of Leidy, Marsh, Cope, in his manner of working, in a courtesy
and Osborn, when a new palaeontology which suggested the Second Empire,
was built up. Still another centered even in the little mannerisms which
about cellular research. Of earlier dated from Cuvier himself.
epochs none were more fruitful than Professor Osborn has asked me if I
those which grew out of the scientific would prepare a brief article for this
soil of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. journal on the Jardin des Plantes in its
"^lere it was that whole lines of natural relation to the development of natu-
history diverged during the first third ral history, suggesting that I write it,
of the last century from the brilliant not as a problem in research, but as
researches of Buffon, Lamarck, Geoff- a matter of personal knowledge and
roy Saint-Hilaire, and Cuvier. Indeed, experience.
there is scarcely an institution in the None the less such an article should
New, no less than the Old World, require careful bibliographical studies,
which is not in the debt, directly or in- for personal experience is apt to have
directly, of this great French pepiniere. little more than personal interest,
Just as many of our professors found though one may well come in contact
their zoological inspiration in Germany with greater things during numerous
during the eighties and nineties, so our visits to Paris in the course of the past
earlier generation gained its best re- thirty-five years. Indeed, no one can
sults in Paris during the sixties, fifties, visit the Jardin des Plantes frequently
forties, and thirties. The bust of Prof. without making interesting notes on
673
674 NATURAL HISTORY
General view of the Jardin des Plantes
The House of Buff on (right), corner of Rue Buff on and Rue Geoffroj^ Saint-Hilaire
early French zoology. And no one can Parnassus of naturahsts: indeed, he

stand at the corner of Rue Buffon and may safely assume that almost every
Rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and see noted zoologist or botanist during the last
before him the venerable House of the eight generations has at some tnne stood
Iron Cross, where Buffon lived from at the same point and 'passed through the
1739 to the day of his death in 1788, same iron gate in his search for greater
and fail to realize that he is close to a knowledge.
THE JARDIN DES PLANTES 675
I remember clearly my own first my way into the study of the director
visit to the House of Buffon in 1887, who was then
of the Jardin des Plantes,
when I stood in front of the door and Doctor de Quatrefages, a savant re-
hesitated to make use of a formid- nowned for his researches in anthro-
able knocker in cut steel which had pology and evolution. The professor,
stood sentry there since the days of I found, was a kindly gentleman, then
>^.,
.^.^t"*^ '
^ . v'
Prof. J. L. A. de Quatrefages (1810-1892) in the House of Buffon. Pencil

sketch by Dr. Bashford Dean
Louis XIV. I wondered even what about eighty years of age, who professed
might happen to me after the hammer to have time to devote to a visiting
fell and the reverberations in the old youngster. He invited me in, took his
hall ceased. Luckily, however, I place comfortably in an elbow chair
discovered that the door could be which had been used by Buffon him-
opened by any visitor, so I climbed at self, and talked to me of the history of
once the ancient staircase and found the Garden.

676 NATURAL HISTORY
The Museum of Zoology in the Jardin des Plantes
"Yes," said he, "in those olden palace, so you must picture the Jardin
times (the days of Louis XIII) one des Plantes as a king's glorified garden
had a primitive idea of natural history. and menagerie. Indeed, our early
It should arouse curiosity, or it should botanists and zoologists were little more
be of medical interest. Its philosophi- than people of the royal household; for
cal side was ignored. Indeed, it was just as each king furnished quarters
the medical side of the Garden which for his body phj^sician, so also he
then gave it its start —it was the Jardin provided for his herbalist, who was then
du Roy, where medical plants were littlemore than an apothecary, and
cultivated, where queer seeds from his zoologist,who was but a learned
distant lands, gathered often by Jesuit huntsman charged with the care of the
priests, were received and propagated. wild birds and beasts 'patronized'
In fact, some of the earliest plants sent by the royal family. In this regard, if
from America found their abiding one considers the animals of a royal
place here. Almost from this window I menagerie, he has at once before him
can show you a locust tree which dates quite a nmnerous family. Even as
from the seventeenth centmy; and such a naturaUst should know the
yonder are great cedars of Lebanon habits of birds that hunt and are
planted a century and a half ago by hunted, which include a large part of
Bernard de Jussieu. So it goes. our feathered friends, so he should be
"Our menagerie is itself an out- f aixdUar with mammals that hunt and
growth of the lion dens and bear pits are hunted, which make up a goodly
which in early times flourished beside proportion of the guests of our mod-
every kingly castle. Just as you recall ern menagerie. Into this company, of
that the great zoo of London grew out course, enterednmnerous exotic forms
of the hutches of wild animals in the which came to a prince by gift for —
Tower of London when this was a royal just as today your president will be
Jardin des Plantes from the side of the Seine, with the statue
of Lamarck
given a young bear if he travels in is true, many lean years in our work.
the Rocky Mountains, so would the Thus during the siege of Paris" (and
European monarch in the eighteenth the old professor,who had risen from
and seventeenth centuries receive his chair,eyed the horizon and tapped
tokens of interest and affection from his finger slowly on the window sill)
subjects, and especially from foreign ''we very nearly emptied the menag-
ambassadors, wherever they happened erie;we had no food for our animals,
to be. A moufflon would come to the sowe ate them. In the Httle restaurant
Grand Monarch from Corsica; a yonder you could have eaten roast
Barbary ape would be brought by a monkey (almost cannibals we were) for
loyal sea captain from Gibraltar; or very Httle as money goes today. You
an ostrich would find its way from the could have tasted the meat of kanga-
sands of Egypt to Paris through a roo and camel and bear. I am told
delegation sent to a caHph. that many of our beasts were unpal-
"In any event, it is safe to say that, atable notwithstanding the best efforts
when we look from the window of this of a competent cook, but they were
ancient structure, we can actually surely better than rats, and you re-
trace the origin of botany and zoology member that, when food became scarce,
in France. Most of the buildings, it is many rats appeared on our menu as
true, have been greatly changed, and 'game patties.'"
for this we have to thank the great The professor turned, sat down again
Napoleon, who took a personal interest in the great elbow chair, and continued :
in our Garden and gave us the means "In this room Buffon himself wrote
to construct houses for our Hving beasts and entertained. A wonderful man
and museums for our collections. And he, a courtier by trade even to the tips
these, indeed, have survived most of the of his immaculate ruffles. I am told
vicissitudes of Paris. We have had, it that he dressed with great formahty
678 NATURAL HISTORY
when he wrote and that his elegance of early botanies.And here it was that
style (le style c'est Vhomme meme) was Lamarck saw the light of evolution and
dictated by the elegance of his costume, published his Philosophie Zoologique
though one can hardly comprehend (1809), which might well have caused
today in this dusty room how great the acceptance of evolution fifty years
ruffles and lace jabots could long re- before Darwin. One may even con-
main spotless. Here it was, I have clude that if Lamarck had had the
been informed, that he entertained cordial support of Bonaparte at that
Louis XV, when on state visits, accom- time, when all manner of dreams came
panied by his lady friends, the monarch true, the history of the acceptance of
was pleased to spend an hour in order the philosophy of animal Hfe might
to hear M. de Buff on tell of the wonders have been widelj^ different.
of his Garden and of his dehghtful It happened, however, that he gained
experiments. A favorite ape, which the enmity of the great man instead
adroitly stole the king's handkerchief —and in a curious way, midst
for in the
and at once presented it to a particular La-
of other philosophical researches,
lady of the court, it is said, amused the marck studied meteorology and, as an
king immensely and was the cause of early ''weather man," he prophesied
a royal donation, —to the Garden of fair clays and foul, and, alas, his pre-
course." dictions were wrong! Indeed, we can
Starting from the house of Buffon, picture the wrath of Napoleon at these
one has not far to seek for interesting unhappy guesses, and we can see
memories of great naturahsts. Streets Lamarck at his meeting
reception
and monuments speak of Buffon, blazing eyes and hearing sharp words
Robin, de Jussieu. de Candolle, Chev- which told him to 'mind his business'
reul, de Lamarck, Geoffr 05' and and not 'make a fool of himself.'
Isidore Saint-Hilaire, Daubenton, Lin- "Go back to your herbs, M. Lamarck,"
naeus, de la Brosse, Haliy, Jacquemont, and good day to you." This is said
Brongniart, Claude Bernard. In one to have been the last interview which
of the buildings professors of botany the Emperor accorded him, an un- —
drew their students from all quarters pleasant memory which embittered his
of the world, and no peak was too high, last days, when, poor, blind, almost
no desert too vast, no jungle too dense forgotten, he lived in a street near the
to furnish for them herbaria. There Jardin des Plantes, cared for by his
in the lecture room a chance remark of —
devoted daughter, a scientific Milton,
a stranger caused a great teacher to call dreaming of evolution as a Lost Para-
out "Who are you that say that? You dise. "The day will come," said the
must be Linnaeus himself!" And he, daughter, "when the world will ap-
indeed, it was, for the fame of the preciate you" —
a prophecy which came
Swede had penetrated from remote true in when a monument
1909, of
Hammarby even to Paris. There it Lamarck was formally dedicated in
was that Lamarck carried on his the Jardin.
botanical researches, sending his Flore Here it was, then, that modern
Francaise to every great worker in the sciencesaw the beginnings of evolution.
world, with its curiouslj^ artificial keys Buffon himself had formulated distinct
for finding the names of plants, which evolutional theses as early as 1750, but
some of us remember even today in our he failed to maintain them in the face
Letter written by Daubenton regarding a rhinoceros "dedicated" to the service of

science — its organs to be dissected and its skin and skeleton exhibited. From the
Osborn collection in the American Museum
of a powerful orthodox church, for he his evobitionary views in spite of fierce

was too much of a courtier and too criticism, desertion, persecvition, and
httle of a martyr,
— "give the church failure. he did he gained the
Still, fail :
all the persiflage it wishes," he said enmity of Bonaparte; he was unable

irreverently, "for this makes stupid to collect and marshal facts which bore
people quite happy." But Lamarck upon his theme. Nevertheless he came
was of sterner stuff. He maintained within a measurable distance of sue-
680 NATURAL HISTORY
The Gallery of Palaeontology
The Gallery of Comparative Anatomy
cess. For one thing, evolution was following the death of Lamarck)
then in the air. Even as early as there came about a crisis in views
1796, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was, with regarding the origin of species which
Lamarck, corresponding with foreign shook the foundations even of the
naturalists (as with Peale in Philadel- French Academy!
phia) in order to enlist their help in The cardinal fact about the Jardin
demonstrating evolution; and we do des Plantes is, as already noted,
not wonder that by 1830 (the year that it personified great epochs in
THE JARDIN DBS PLANTES 681
natural history. At the time of the casual visitor can see behind all these
French Revolution, and just before things (representing vast and devoted
and after, it was the home of an extraor- dynamic genius of Cuvier,
labor) the
dinary outpouring of knowledge con- little man, thick of neck,
the stocky
cerning man and his universe. It then with a mop of reddish hair, whose
witnessed the upbuilding of a new luminous eyes no student could forget,
anthropology; produced vast cata-
it whose strong personality turned back
logues of "animated nature," seeking, the tide of evolution. Even in the third
describing, and classifying animals and
plants from all parts of the world (bear
witness the great volumes on Egypt) it ;
outlined an evolutional philosophy;

it foreshadowed in certain researches
the work of Pasteur in disproving

"spontaneous generation" —in fact, it
was upon this earlier foundation that
Pasteur was able to place the key-
stone of success. In physiology it
paved the way for a Claude Bernard;

in anatomy, and especially in compara-
tive anatomy, its service was monu-
mental. Under the leadership of
Cuvier, it brought together facts con-
cerning the structure of animals, both
living and fossil, which served to build
up a philosophy of animal structure
and to demonstrate the doctrine of
evolution — although Cuvier himself,
curiously had not a mind
enough,
unbiassed and agile enough to follow
the path which his own researches
mapped out. One thinks of this as
one walks in Cuvier 's galleries among
anatomical preparations and skeletons,
which, for the rest, are today not
inspiring to one who has not a zoo-
logical instinct, —for what is less at-
tractive than a skeleton imperfectly
degraisse, turning black in spots, or a
taxidermic specimen of 1830 from which
all color has faded, or a ruminant's
stomach standing waxy in a jar of
yellow alcohol. None the less, even a
Relationships of the Upper Palaeolithic Races
of Europe
By LOUIS R. SULLIVAN
Associate Curator of Physical Anthropology, American Museum
Note: This review is based largely upon an examination of the remarkable collection of
cranial casts of early man Age of Man on the fourth floor of the American
in the hall of the
Museum. The most part photographs of these casts and of modern
illustrations are for the
skulls in the somatological collections of the department of anthropology of the Museum.
In this article only anatomical relationships are discussed. The reader who wishes a more
detailed consideration of these problems in a cultural background is referred to Men of the
Old Stone Age by Henry Fairfield Osborn. The chronology of that book has been used as the
basis of arrangement of this review. Professor Osborn's book contains detailed references to
the abundant hterature on the subject, which are omitted from this brief summary. The
writer's indebtedness to such literature will be obvious. Grateful acknowledgment is also
made of the privilege of reading an unpublished manuscript on the physical anthropology of
Teneriffe in which the Cro-Magnon question is discussed by Dr. E. A. Hooten' of Harvard
University, and of the assistance of Dr. Milo Hellman in measuring the cranial casts.
FEW chapters in the history of hu-

man development offer so much
Palaeolithic was quite different
that of any of the modern existing
from
of general interest as does the races. This race is known as the

chapter dealing with the history of Neanderthal and is usually assigned to
man in the Upper Palaeolithic Period a species distinct from modern man.
of Europe. The remarkable carvings Neanderthal man, or Homo nean-
and paintings of this period have derthalensis, was a short, thick-set,
evoked universal admiration and a coarsely built man. His head was
desire to learn more about the people massive and flattened, with heavy
who made them. All of us are anxious overhanging eyebrow ridges, a large
to know what these people were like, broad nose, and a receding chin. He
what their racial affiliations were, had many other peculiarities which set
what became of them, and whether or him apart from Homo sapiens.
not they left any descendants. While In striking contrast to this race is
much more work remains to be done the prevailing type of man in the
before all of these questions can be early Upper of Europe.
Palaeolithic
answered conclusively, some of the This type has been called the Cro-
probabilities and possibilities can be Magnon race after the type specimen,
stated at this time. ''Old Man of Cro-Magnon," or "Cro-
Osborn includes four great cultural Magnon No. 1."It was characterized
periods in the Upper Palaeolithic of by very great stature, averaging at
Europe :Aurignacian, Solutrean, least and more in
5 feet 10 inches
Magdalenian, and Azilian. It will be some localities. The head was long
convenient to discuss the peoples of and low, but much higher than that of
each culture period separately and in Homo neanderthalensis. The brain
the order given above. case was unusually large, in keeping
with the enormous bodies of this race.
THE AURIGNACIAN RACE OF The face was broad, but relatively
CRO-MAGNON low in vertical dimension, the orbits
be recalled that the prevail-
It will were excessively low, the nose was
ing type of man during the Lower well arched and narrow, and the chin
682
UPPER PALEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE 683
unusually well developed even when Cro-Magnons have been held by

compared with modern European various authors to be identical with
man. The femora (thigh bones) were the Nordics, Mediterraneans, Celts,
very robust and very wide and flat in Deniker's Littoral race, the Basques,
the upper portion of the shaft; the the Finns, the Esthonians, the Ameri-
tibiae (lower leg bones) were saber- can Indians, the Semites, and the
like, flattened from side to side, and Egyptians. They have alternately
unusually long in proportion to the been described as blondes and bru-
length of the femora, a decidedly— nettes. The one criterion seems to be
negroid character. The radii (fore- a vague something called disharmony.
arms) were also rather long in propor- Without going into negative detail
tion to humeral (upper arm) lengths. it is fair to say that few of these claims
As described above, this type has are accompanied by convincing proof.

been found chiefly in France and While all such claims are interesting
adjacent countries. It is found most possibilities, few of them are probabili-
frequently with Aurignacian cultural ties and they should not be taken
remains and has been generally seriously until accompanied by de-

credited with bringing Aurignacian tailed and convincing evidence.
culture and art into Europe. Some So far as skeletal remains testify,
authors credit it also with the develop- very few modern ones have been
ment ofMagdalenian culture. Be this described that correspond in all
as it may, we know that the repre- respects to the Cro-Magnon type of
Cro-Magnon type
sentations of the the Upper Palaeolithic of France and
become less common as we pass up- Italy. There is, however, one type
ward through the Magdalenian and smaller in size and differing from the
Azilian, although individuals belonging Cro-Magnon in several other details,
to this type are found even in Neo- but corresponding to it very closely
lithic times. The factsnow available on the whole, which was quite wide-
indicate that the Cro-Magnon type spread in Neolithic times and even in
"had its day" in Aurignacian times. very recent times in areas around the
What became of this type? Did it south and west of the Mediterranean.
become extinct or is it represented The transition to living peoples is
among the living peoples of Europe not so easily made. One of the great-
today? More sheer nonsense has been est sources .of error in anthropology' is
written on this subject than on any the attempt to link up skeletal re-
other anthropological problem. Some mains with the living population of an
idea of the degree of absurdity to area. In the past such linkings have
which the discussion has degenerated been made usually on the basis of
may be obtained from a summary of some one criterion, such as the cephalic
the nations and peoples identified index. Now that the extreme com-
with the Cro-Magnons. Cro-Magnons plexity of human race relationships
have been claimed among the living is beginning to be appreciated this
populations of the Canary Islands, practise is no longer approved of.
North Africa, Spain, Italj^, Portugal, In short, we are not now so certain of
Bulgaria, France, Belgium, Holland, some of the things that were accepted
Germany, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, as facts twenty years ago.
Wales, and Scotland. In addition the Although the Cro-Magnons differ
684 NATURAL HISTORY
from the modern Em'opeans in sev- types," "fringe races," "vanishing
eral details, they were in many races," or whatever sort of races one
essentials Caucasian or Caucasoid. prefers to call them, to herd together
We are a.ecustomed to think of them and mix up in inaccessible areas.
as a Caucasoid race related rather There are several such ethnic islands
closely. to the Nordic and Mediter- —
which are well known, notably the
ranean. Certainly there is only a Pyrenees, the Caucasus, Madagascar,
short structural gap between the Cro- South Africa, the Malay Peninsula,
Magnjons and the Mediterraneans and the Philippine Islands, and the inte-
Nordics. However, at present I do riors of several Malay island groups,
not fqel that it has been demonstrated the northern Japanese Islands, some
that the Cro-Magnon of the Upper Polynesian groups, southern South
Palaeolithic of France is identical with America, and many other places.
or ancestral to either the Mediter-
ranean or the Nordic races. I believe THE AURIGNACIAN RACE OF GRIMALDI
that -it is best at present to regard Associated with the Cro-Magnon in
the Gro-Magnon as an end form in Mentone, Italy, is another race,
evolution. represented so far by only two in-
It does not follow that the type is dividuals. But these two individuals
—
extinct in fact, this is highly improb- are of such exceptional interest that
able. It is almost a certainty that they have been taken as types for a
the blood of this race flows in the new race called the Grimaldi race. As
veins of some of the European peoples I have already noted, the Cro-
today. Probably small colonies of Magnon race was negroid in certain
the type, more or less mixed, will be respects: its low face with a tendency
found in widely scattered parts of to prognathism insome individuals
Europe. The smaller related race and moderately long forearms and
above mentioned exists in parts of lower legs. But the Grimaldi in-
France, Spain, and northern Africa. dividuals were negroids indeed. By
But these identifications of osteo- this I do not mean that they were
metric types with living types must ordinary negroes, for it cannot be too
be carefully and cautiously made. In strongly emphasized that there are
spite of all the work that has been as many or more well defined types of
done, our knowledge of the living peo- negroes as there are well defined types
ples of Europe is most elementary. of Caucasians.
It has been predicted that when we do If we may judge from the two in-
know more of the extant peoples of dividuals found, one an adolescent

the earth, colonies or islands of Cro- male and the other an aged female,
Magnons will be found not only in the Grimaldi race was a fairly tall one.
Europe and Africa but in other parts The woman was about 5 feet 3
of the world as well. inches in height. If she was any-
Another factor which complicates where near being representative for
the problem of identifying modern the race, the men must have been at
racial remnants with osteological least 5 feet 7 or 8 inches tall on the
types is the widespread and almost average. The heads are very long
universal tendency of several groups and also rather large for negroids.
of "racial remnants," "marginal The brain cases are relatively high.
CRO-MAGNON NO. 1 CHO-MAGNON FROM GRIMALDI GRIMALDI NEGROID YOUTH

(After Verneau) (After Verneau)
AURIGNACIAN ATTRIGNACIAN AURIGNACIAN
Two crania of the Cro-Magnon type are compared with one of the Grimaldi negroid type. The Cro-Magnons
approach the modern European types in the contour of the profile, in the marked development of the chin, elevation
and projection of the nasal skeleton, sharp lower border of the nasal opening, and enlargement of the mastoid
processes. They differ from modern Europeans in the excessively low orbits and very low, broad faces. The
Grimaldi negroid youth on the right cannot be regarded as a variant of the Cro-Magnon type. The differences are
too great and too consistently negroid. Some of the Cro-Magnons show evidences of Negro admixture. The
Grimaldi negroid type approaches the Hottentot type
The faces are large, but low; the Cro-Magnon. It apparently was
noses, broad and depressed at the never a ver}^ important race numeri-
root; the lower nasal borders are not cally in Europe. Several Neohthic
sharp as in most Europeans; the skulls of this type have been found in
faces, below the nose, project quite and near-by countries.
Italy, France,
markedly; the chins are not promi- Even some modern crania from
of the
nent; and the teeth are large. The Italy approach this type. The in-
long forearms and lower legs of the habitants of several provinces of
Cro-Magnons are exaggerated and Ital}^ have been identified with the
truly negroid in this tj^pe. The pelvis Grimaldi race, but here again the
also is narrow. identifications have not been based
The indications are that this race upon detailed and accurate observa-
appeared, in Italy at least, before the tions. In general such identifications
686 NATURAL HISTORY
mean merely that the individuals late this idea hasbecome unpopular
identified Grimaldi are negroid.
as and Neanderthal man is regarded as
Any one familiar with the history of a side branch of the human family
Italy or the Mediterranean borders which diverged from the main stem
will appreciate the sources of error in Pleistocene times and soon be-
involved in such procedure. came extinct. This is in accord with
Another interesting observation is the abrupt change of physical type
that the Grimaldi race resembles between the Mousterian and Aurig-
most closely craniometrically skulls nacian periods mentioned at the be-
from South Africa described as Hot- ginning of this review. Some later
tentot. The identity or relationship finds of Mousterian, Aurignacian, and

of these —
two groups the ancient Gri- Solutrean man, however, make this
maldi and the South African Hot- transition seem less abrupt than it is
—
tentots are more than a possibility. usually portrayed.
The identification is made difficult by In the first place, there is consider-
the fact that the living Hottentots able variation within the Neander-
and the skeletal materials attributed thal race. Some of the specimens
to them are each badly mixed. Whole approach much nearer than do others
series of skeletons described as Hot- to Homo sapiens. This is true both
tentot are apparently predominantly of Spy I and of the Mousterian youth
Bushman. This is another example of in different degrees. In the second
the difficulty of making the transition place, skeletal remains from the
from osteometry to anthropometry. Aurignacian and the Solutrean have

This possible relationship is the more been found which, while undoubtedly
interesting because in some respects closer to Homo sapiens than to Homo
the Aurignacian art is similar to a neanderthalensis, show unmistakable
South African art usually attributed relationships to Homo neanderthalensis
to the Bushmen. But the Grimaldi as well as to each other.
crania resemble Hottentot crania One such skeleton is that of Combe-
much more closely than they do Capelle, called Homo aurignacensis
Bushman crania.is not agreed
It hauseri. While the supra-orbital
upon just what Grimaldi race
this development in this specimen is not so
contributed to Aurignacian culture. great, it suggests the Neanderthaloid
form. The frontal region and face
THE AURIGNACIAN TYPE OF COMBE- also indicate relationship. Yet in the
CAPELLE AND BELATED RACES totality of its characters it is un-
OF THE SOLUTREAN doubtedly Homo sapiens and clearly
When skeletal remains of Neander- of the European variety. The stature
thal men were found in sufficient is not great, but the brain is of good
numbers to prove that they were the size, the head long and high, the face
remains of normal representatives of a high and narrow, the nose relatively
race and not pathological specimens, narrow and pinched up, the orbits
it was the opinion of scientific men are low, the dental arch is reduced in
that they represented an ancestral size, especially from side to side, yet
type of man, a connecting link, as it the arch is not that of a modern

were, between Homo sapiens and some European There is little prognathism
.
such form as Pithecanthropus. Of or projection of the face. The mastoid

UPPER. PALEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE 687
LA CHAPELLE-AUX-SAINTS COMBE-CAPELLE MODERN EUROPEAN-

NEANDERTHALOID TRANSITION TYPE
MOUSTERIAN AURIGNACIAN
The Combe-Capelle cranium is unquestionably related to the Pfedmost cranium shown in the figures, that
follow. In some respects it is more primitive than the Pf edniost cranium, yet in others it is more highly evolved and
speciaUzed. The chin is not so well developed as that of Pfedmost, yet the frontal region and the whole brain case
is higher than that of Pfedmost. These types (Pfedmost, Combe-Capelle, and related types) would indicate the
possibility thatmodern European man may have been evolved from Homo neanderthalensis or some such form..
At the present time this seems a reasonable hypothesis
processes are large. The chin is not cranium from La Chapelle-aux-Saints

marked, but it is nevertheless per- and on the other with a long-headed
ceptibly developed. While the ex- European skull from Germany. The
ternal chin is not so well developed transition from the Combe-Capelle
as that of some related forms, skull to the modern German skull, is
or of Cro-Magnon and of modern not very abrupt. The Combe-Capelle
Europeans, the internal development skullis either the representative of a
of this region is very similar in all of type actually ancestral to the race
these types. The genial tubercles are represented by the modern skull or
very well developed. The ramus of corresponds very closely to such a
the jaw is massive. Above are stage in the evolution of the modern
shown the main views of this cranium races. The transition to the cranium
compared on the one side with the from La Chapelle-aux-Saints is the
NATURAL HISTORY
LA CHAPELLE-AUX-SAINTS PBEDMOST CRO-MAGNON NO. 1

NBANDERTHALOID TRANSITION TYPE
MO0STBRIAN SOLUTREAN AURI6NACIAN
The theory has been advanced that the Pf edmost cranium shown in the center above is a hybrid between some
such types as the Neanderthal represented on the left and the Cro-Magnon on the right. Although in many respects
itapproaches the form such a hybrid might be expected to take, it qualifies much better for a transiton type re-
lated on the one hand to Homo neanderthalensis and on the other to Homo sapiens, more especially the long-headed
European varieties. The face of the Pf edmost cranium is more like the face of the modern European types than
it is like that of Cro-Magnon
more abrupt, to be sure, yet I believe took place in Europe and I do not
the photographs will show the general agree with those who claim that the
similarities of the Neanderthal man type of Neanderthal man known to us
and the one of Combe-Capelle. If we from Europe is ancestral to all modern
insert Spy I between the specimen mankind.
from La Chapelle-aux-Saints and The anatomical objections to such
that from Combe-Capelle, the transi- a line of evolution — Neanderthal
tion is not so abrupt. I am inclined man, Combe-Capelle, European man
to agree with those (most recently •
—are, not insurmountable
I believe,
Doctor Hrdlicka) who maintain that and consist in some dental
chiefly
Neanderthal man is ancestral to differences about which we know very
modern European man. It does not little either in modern man or in
follow that the evolution necessarily Neanderthal man. 1 wish to empha-
LA CHAPELLE-AUX-SAINTS FBEDMOST MODERN EUROPEAN

NEANDERTHALOID TRANSITIOX TYPE
MOUSTERIAN SOLUTKEAX
The Pfedmost cranium is here compared with the Neanderthaloid La Chapelle-aux-Saints and a modern
European physical type. The relationships of these three types are much clearer than those of the preceding figure.
The relationship of Pfedmost to the Neanderthal form is indicated by the supra-orbital development. Its relation-
ship to modern man is indicated by the elevated brain case, incipient retraction of the face, development of the chin,
enlargement of the mastoids, and reduction of the nose and face in width. On the whole Pfedmost man stands
nearer to modern man than he does to Neanderthal man
size,however, that the hne of evohi- ern Europeans, may have evolved
tion indicated is by no means com- outside of Europe and migrated into
plete and well balanced, for the Europe, or a part of the evolution
transition types so far known are may have taken place outside of
much closer to one type {Homo Europe and a part within. All that
sapiens europgeus) than to the other such a claim of relationship means is
type (Homo neanderthalensis) that Homo neanderthalensis with the
There are no cultural objections to Combe-Capelle and related types
such a line of evolution, for, as I have represent stages in the evolution of
stated above, it does not follow that modern European man of the long-
the evolution took place in Europe. headed variety.
The Neanderthal, Combe-Capelle, Closely related to the Combe-
and related forms, as well as the mod- Capelle man are several other skele-
690 NATURAL HISTORY
CHO-MAGNON NO. 1 OBERCASSEL MALE SMITH SOUND ESKIMO

AURIGNACIAN MAGDALENIAN MODERN
The male Obercassel cranium iscompared with the Old Man of Cro-Magnon on the left and an eastern Eskimo
from Smith Sound on the right. The most striking similarities in general form are with the Eskimo. The orbits
approach the orbits of Cro-Magnon and the chin approaches that of the Cro-Magnon chin. If this similarity of a
Magdalenian cranium to that of an Eskimo were an isolated instance, not much could be made of it, but another
Magdalenian skeleton, the Chancelade, resembles, it is said, the Eskimo even more strikingly. Similarities of the
culture of the Magdalenians to that of the Eskimo have also been noted. While it is possible that we have here a
case of parallelism or convergence, it is at least equally within the range of possibility that we are dealing with a
true racial relationship
tons from the Solutrean Period and nose very narrow, and the chin well
from culture levels not satisfactorily developed. Like Cro-Magnon it has a
determined. Such finds include the long facial base (not a high face),
Briix, Briinn, Galley Hill, and some which gives a pseudo-prognathism
it
of the Pfedmost remains. not revealed in the facial angle. The

The cast of a Pfedmost cranium in mastoid processes are large.
the hall of the Age of Man shows Again, while the affinities of this
slightly closer affinities to the Cro- type are close to Cro-Magnon and
Magnon type than does the Combe- closerstill to the modern Europeans,
Capelle cranium. It is long-headed, its more distant affinities on the other

but not so long as the specimen from side to Homo neanderthalensus are
Combe-Capelle, the brain case is indicated in the supra-orbital develop-
lower, the orbits are also low, the ment, type of face, frontal region.
OLD MAN OP CHO-MAGNON OBBRCA8SEL MALE EA8TEBN ESKIMO

(topmost row) (center row) (lowest row)
The lower jaw of the Obercassel male is compared with that of Cro-Magnon No. 1 above and that of an
eastern Eskimo below. In width and massiveness the Obercassel mandible resembles most closely the Eskimo
mandible. But the Eskimo jaw shown here has what is called a lateral (square) chin while the other two jaws have
pointed median chins. The profiles of the jaws may be seen in the preceding plate
form of brain case^ and dental types rank considerably above the
arches. The photographs of these Australians and several other modern
specimens on pp. 688 and 689 will types in the racial scale.
help the reader to draw his own con- An alternative theory of hybridism
clusions. One thing will be obvious has been advanced. Some anthro-
and that is that the group of skulls pologistshave accounted for Briinn,
generally known as the Briinn race Briix, Combe-Capelle, Galley Hill,
(Briix, Briinn, Galley Hill, Combe- and Pfedmost remains by inferring
Capelle, and Pfedmost) are not more that these forms represent hybrids
primitive or lower evolutionary types resultingfrom the crossing of the
than modern Australians. In the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon races.
totality of their characters these Of all the finds mentioned in this
692 NATURAL HISTORY
group the Pfedmost remains are the with a race like the Neanderthal,
only ones which could reasonably be which, according to some authorities,
accounted for in this way. If they may have had no articulate language.
stood alone, wê might regard them as But apart from all this and looking
the remains of a hybrid or hybrids. upon these skeletal remains as a re-
But they are unquestionably related lated group, the evidence seems to
to the Brtix, Brtinn, Galley Hill, indicate that Briinn, Brtix, Galley
Combe-Capelle, remains, which can- Hill, Combe-Capelle, and Pfedmost
not be accounted for in this way be- forms are transitional ancestral forms
and not hybrids.
Physically the types of the Solutrean
should precede the dominant types
of the Aurignacian. The Solutrean
types continue on from the Mousterian
rather than from the Aurignacian.
THE MAGDALENIANS
The acme of accomplishment in
Upper Palaeolithic art was reached in
the Magdalenian Period. Hence, it is
of interest to know which races con-
tributed to the culture of this period.
The race of Cro-Magnon is usually
associated with this period and it is
true that many of the skeletal re-

mains recovered with cultural remains
from this period are of the ordinary
Cro-Magnon type. Up to the present
time no skeletal remains of the
An idea what the Obercassel man must have looked
Grimaldi or Briinn types have been
likemay be obtained from this portrait of an eastern recovered from this culture period.
Eskimo. That the Magdalenians of the type represen-
ted by the Obercassel and Chancelade skeletons were Yet it is not without its problem.
related to the Eskimo is still a debatable question, but
there is no doubt that in face form they resembled the The skeletal remains of this period
Eskimo here shown
show a high degree of variability.
cause they have some characteristics Many anthropologists early pointed
which could not possibly be derived out analogies between the skeletal
by direct inheritance from either the remains of this period and certain
Neanderthal race or the Cro-Magnon Arctic or Sub-Arctic types of man such
race by any known laws of heredity. as the Eskimos, Lapps, and Finns.
In fact, the theory of hybridism has as One of the best of such presentations
many or more obstacles in its path of is that of Testut, who showed that a
acceptance as has the theory of tran- skeleton known as the Chancelade
sitional form. Many anthropologists skeleton from Dordogne, France,
have difficulty in believing that a race resembled very closely the skeleton
like the Cro-Magnon, which has been of an eastern Eskimo. The re-
lauded to the skies and portrayed as semblance of the Chancelade cranium
almost a race of gods, intermarried to the Eskimo cranium is striking.
The high scaphoid vault of the This skeleton, together with a female
brain case is in marked contrast to of the same type, has been admirably
the low and relatively flat brain case described by R. Bonnet in the memoir
of the typical Cro-Magnon. The of M. Verworn. Interest in this
stature also is short, although the specimen centers on the fact that its
brain case isvery large. As recon- skull too is Eskimoid. It so happens
structed, it estimated that the
is that we have in the American Mu-
stature is from 150 to 160 centi- seum an Eskimo skull that resembles
meters. Testut's own figures show the Obercassel skull very closely.
clearly how this type diverges from The Eskimo skull is a male (Cat. No.
the Cro-Magnon toward the Eskimo. 99-105) from Smith Sound. It is
TESTUT S COMPARISON OF THE SKULL OF CHANCELADE WITH THE CRO-MAGNON TYPE

694 NATURAL HISTORY
'k^''}^^^^
OPNET SHORT-HEADED TYPE NEOLITHIC SHOBT-HEADED TYPE MODERN EUROPEAN (aLPINE)

AZILIAN NEOLITHIC MODERN
There is a very close similarity in the three skulls shown above. The Neolithic brachycephal and the modern
European (Alpine) are almost identical in every detail. The Ofnet brachycephal also resembles the other two very
closely but differs from them in certain details of face form and chin development. The Ofnet brachycephals are
usually regarded as ancestral to the modern and Neolithic Alpines. This is perhaps a reasonable hypothesis if we
make allowances for certain changes which have probably taken place in modern man in the course of his develop-
ment
While the resemblance of the two esting. The fact that strong similari-
skulls is very close, the Obercassel ties Magdalenian and Eskimo
in
differs from the Eskimo and resembles culture have been pointed out makes
the Cro-Magnon type in a greater us hesitate to brush aside too hastily
glabellar development, lower orbits, the conclusion that we may indeed be
and a more median and pointed chin dealing with a true racial and cul-
—in contrast to the lateral square tural relationship. The modern Eski-
chin of the Eskimo under discussion. mo may be related to a type of man
The relatively longer forearins and occurring in the Magdalenian of
legs of the Obercassel skeleton also link Europe. The alternative, of course,
itmore closely to the Cro-Magnon. is that bodily form as well as culture
The problem, of com'se, is to decide are very flexible and easily altered or
whether we are dealing with a case of molded by environment. The accept-
remarkable parallelism or real racial ance of such a conclusion would have
relationship. Whatever the solu- far-reaching effects upon our ideas of
tion, the result will be equally inter- race relationships. If I were to
OFNET LONG-HEADED TYPE rUHFOOZ MALE NO. NEOLITHIC LONG-HEADED TYPE

AZILIAN AZILIAN NEOLITHIC
The relationships of the long-headed types of the Azilian and NeoHthic are not so clear as the relationships of
the short-headed types. It is usually assumed that they are Mediterranean forms, but this has not been very clearly
demonstrated as yet. Certainly they differ considerably from both the modern Mediterranean and Nordic types.
It is difficult to tie up the Furfooz crania with any of the types so far shown. While they are rather short-headed,
the male cranium shows some resemblances to the Ofnet and Neolithic long-headed skulls above
choose between the two evils at contain casts of the Ofnet and Furfooz
present, I beheve I should prefer the finds and this review will be confined
hypothesis of race relationship be- to a discussion of these remains.
tween the people of Magdalenian The Ofnet remains do not represent
Europe and the eastern Eskimo. It is any of the races so far mentioned.
certain that in facial form, at least, Some thirty-three skulls have been
the Obercassel man looked like the found at this site, but less than half
Eskimo on p. 692. of these are adult.
Three of these adults were mark-
THE PEOPLE OF THE AZILIAN AND edly short-headed.One of these
LATER PERIODS brachycephals is shown on p. 694 with
The Azilian is usually considered a a Neolithic and a modern brachy-
transition period from the Palaeolithic cephalic European cranium. The re-
to the Neolithic. Somatologically it lationships are apparent. It seems
is characterized by the appearance safe to say that in the Ofnet remains
of several new races. Our collections we have true representatives of a
696 NATURAL HISTORY
FURFOOZ MALE NO. 1 MODERN EUROPEAN ALPINE FURFOOZ FEMALE NO. 2

AZILIAN RECENT AZILIAN
The Furfooz crania usually give the name to the short-headed type of Europe. The Of net and Neolithic bracy-
cephals are classified as representatives of the Furfooz race. Yet this identification is made with some uncertainty
The Furfooz remains were those of very small individuals and in many ways were untypical, especially those of the
female. If we may judge by the mandible and other features, they were probably Caucasoid. While it is within
the range of probability that the male skull shown above might represent an aberrant specimen of a group ances-
tral to modern European Alpines, considerable imagination is needed to make this transition and even more in
the case of the female
type related and probably ancestral Their relationships to the Ofnet

to inodern Alpine European man. brachycephals and to modern Alpine
The relationships of the long- European man are rather doubtful.
headed Ofnet remains are not so Certainly if they belong to the Alpine
clear. They have frequently been type they are very aberrant individuals
identified as Mediterranean, but and do not approximate the average
this is by no means a certainty. of this type very closely. The small
The same is true of some of our size of the individuals is also confusing.
Neolithic dolichocephals. They dif- Yet, if one may judge from the asso-
fer quite perceptibly from both the ciated lower jaws, they are undoubted
modern Mediterraneans and the Caucasians.
modern Nordics. Before the relationship of the
The Furfooz remains are even more Azilian and Neolithic types can be
confusing. They have a tendency to determined for a certainty, much
short-headedness and consequently more work must be done upon the
have been assigned to the Alpine race. historic European races.
A GROUP OF MEN, MOST OF THEM ARMED
This painting is reproduced from an original in the great rock shelter of
the Cuevas del Civil, near Albocacer, Castellon
A wounded warrioi-, painted in the rock shelter of Saltadora
Fossil Man from a New Viewpoint

A REVIEW OF OBERMAIER'S "FOSSIL MAN IN SPAIN"!
ILLUSTRATIONS HEPEODDCED FBOM THE VOLUME
By CHRISTINE D. MATTHEW
DURING the past century our quently of unquestionable Pleistocene
knowledge of fossil man has age, were to be found widely distrib-
passed from the domain of uted throughout the Old World as
speculation to that of demonstrated well as in the New. Beneath the
scientific fact. The abundant dis- industrial remains of the precocious
coveries of human fossils and human Age of Metals in the valleys of the
industries in western Europe pre- Nile and Euphrates, along the coasts
sented in the main such orderly and of the Mediterranean and within its
homogeneous development as to in- ancient island empires were embedded

cline some to the belief that the the tools and weapons of men of the
smallest of continents — structurally a Old Stone Age. The remote wastes
mere peninsula extending westward of the Sahara, the veldt of South
from the huge land mass of Asia Africa, the Siberian steppes, and the
had indeed staged the first act in the river valleys of distant India — all
great drama of human civilization and have yielded typical implements of

industrial evolution. Further re- these ancient hunters. And thus it
search not only disclosed certain became clear that the range of Palaeo-
discrepancies and variations in the lithic culture was far greater than was
supposed orderly industrial develop- at first realized, and that its origin
ment in western Europe, but showed might be more probably attributed
also that implements typical of Early to Asia or Africa,from which it ulti-
Palaeolithic workmanship, and fre- mately extended into Europe.

^Fossil Man in Spain, by Hugo Obermaier. With an Introduction by Henry Fairfield Osborn Published
by the Yale University Press for The Hispanic Sooietyof America.
697
698 NATURAL HISTORY
We are therefore familiar with the traveled highways, by which he
picture of Palseohthic man domiciled entered Europe. In Fossil Man in
in Europe, and with the more recent Spain this view is made accessible to
aspect of Palaeolithic man in still English-speaking readers. Originally
earlier times established in the East. published in Madrid (1916) by the
It remained for Hugo Obermaier to Junta para Ampliacion de Estudios
supplement these with a view of e Investigaciones cientificas of the
Palaeolithic man on one of the main- Spanish Ministry of Education, under
A stag hunt, from a painting in the Cueva de los Caballos

FOSSIL MAN FROM A NEW VIEWPOINT 699
the title El Homhre Fosil, the appear- and versatile genius of the Spanish
ance of this English translation is clue people.
to the initiative of The Hispanic The book is dedicated to the Duke
Society of America, and in particular of Berwick and Alba in graceful
to its president, Mr. Archer M. acknowledgment of the warm interest
Huntington.
Owing to the number and import-
ance of the Palseolithic discoveries
made in Spain since the publication of
his work, it became necessary for
Professor Obermaier to subject it to a
sweeping revision which included not
merely the correction and amplifica-
tion of the original text, but the addi-
tion of much new material embodying A human figure, painted in the
accounts of, and conclusions drawn rock shelter of Saltadora
from, these latest Spanish discoveries.
Consequently the English version he has taken in Professor Ober-
contains much not to be found in the maier's explorations in Spain.
Spanish work, and devotes so much Following the plan adopted in his
space to Palaeolithic discoveries in earlier work Der Mensch der Vorzeit
the Iberian Peninsula that it has been and in Professor Osborn's Men oj
appropriately entitled Fossil Man in the Old Stone Age, Professor Ober-
Spain. maier gives a concise account of the
An appreciative introduction by fourfold evidence afforded by geol-
Henry Fairfield Osborn shows with ogy, palaeontology, anthropology, and
rare insight that, not only in historic archseology regarding the life and
but also in prehistoric times, the environment of Palaeolithic man in
Iberian Peninsula was a debatable Europe. The geologic record showing
ground, subject to many invasions the extent and character of the great
and characterized by a great variety glaciations of the Pleistocene, the
of racial and cultural elements, each plants and animals of the Ice Age,
contributing its quota to the amazing the climatic changes indicated by
these, the fossilized human remains,
thesuccessive cultural stages indicated
by implements found embedded in the
deposits of ancientcamps and rock
shelters,and the notable artistic
achievement displayed in painting,
engravmg, and sculpture all these —
are briefly described in the light of the
most recent discoveries.
The origin, extent, and relation of
Palaeolithic cultures are fully dis-
cussed, and are most effectively

This wild ass is engraved on rock at Alba-
illustrated by maps and charts which
rracin show the chronologic succession, dis-
700 NATURAL HISTORY
In this painting from the Cuevas del Civil a war dance of archers is represented
tribution, and probable migration acterized by implements of the newly

routes of the various industries. discovered Asturian industry. Being
Fossil human remains of proved or in close touch with other leading
probable Pleistocene age are enum- investigators of Spanish sites, he has
erated with comments on their racial been able to give a detailed account of
characteristics and relationships, and the latest discoveries in the river
the closing chapter gives a most en- Manzanares near Madrid,
drift of the
lightening account of the various and a most extensive report of the
industries marking the close of the numerous stations broadcast through-
Palaeolithic and the transition to the out the Iberian Peninsula from north
Neolithic, to south and from east to west. His
The unique feature of the work is work therefore bears the hallmark of
that part dealing with the Iberian personal experience, and his testi-
Peninsula. For years past Professor mony is that of an eyewitness.
Obermaier has been a recognized During the Ice Age the great moun-
authority on the Palseolithic sites of tain ranges of Spain gave rise to a
the Cantabrian region, and has taken number of glaciations,
local the
a leading part in many important extent of which evidenced by their
is
excavations. More recently he has terminal moraines. All these are

devoted himself to the exploration of described, from the Pyrenees in the
the rock shelters of eastern Spain with north to the Sierra Nevada in the
their remarkable mural paintings, and south, including those explored by
the shell mounds of the north, char- Professor Obermaier himself in the
f
"S-^-'
^^•
A boar hunt, painted in the shelter of Charco del Agua Amarga

Picos de Cornion, and the estimated limited,and consequence they

in
of the snow Hmit during would have effect upon the

little
height
Pleistocene times is illustrated by climate of the lowlands and the
cross-section diagrams of the Iberian Mediterranean coasts, where a sur-
Peninsula. vival of those species characteristic of
Saltadora (above)
Archers painted in the PalseoUthic rock shelters of
and Alpera (below), in eastern Spain
The Pleistocene and present fauna a warm or temperate climate might

of Spain are compared, and it is reasonably be expected.
shown that the characteristic "cold There is also a detailed list of
fauna" of the glacial stages is found Palaeolithic sites in the Iberian Penin-
In regard to sula, classified according to regions

only in northern Spain.
the ''warm fauna" found at various and provinces, with particulars of the
Palaeolithic sites in Spain, Ober- industrial deposits found at each site.
With this for background, the distribu-
maier considers that the area ac-
tually covered by glaciers was very tion of Early Palaeolithic industries—
702 NATURAL HISTORY
Chellean, Acheulean, and Mousterian industries, with Solutrean and Mag-
— is described and their probable dalenian in the north apparently
origin discussed. The far more diffi- contemporary with Capsian in the
cult question of the late Palaeolithic south and east, is amply illustrated
by maps showing their probable origin
and distribution, and
>,/ ' ^ ^
'^
offering a very convinc-
ing interpretation of the
problem they present.
In the closing chapter,
dealing with Epipalseo-
lithic and Protoneolithic
cultural phases, Spain
still plays an important
*'
part. The final Capsian
I, of Africa and southern

and eastern Spain is
identified with the Tar-

denoisian of northern
France, and the origin of the Azilian
industry is attributed to the Canta-
brian region.
To the same region belongs the
—
Asturian industry distinctly Pro-
toneolithic in characterand believed
to be contemporary with the Campig-
nian of France. The scanty remains
of these huge shell mounds have been
extensively explored by Professor
Obermaier, and the illustrations which
show both their former extent and
also the incrustations of breccia that
still bear witness to it, are from his
own drawings and photographs.

But, after all, the dominant in-
terest of the book lies in the chapter
on "Palaeolithic Art," for this deals
largely with the mural paintings in the
rock shelters of eastern Spain which
offer a striking contrast to
those previously discovered.
The realistic paintings in the
Representations of animal tracks: — The caves of southern France and north-
large picture, that of a well-defined spoor
ern Spain include numerous portray-
which a hunter is following, finds place in the
als of animals, but are marked by the
rock shelter of Morella la Vella. The in-
serted picture represents three traps or cor- almost complete absence of any gen-
rals from the cave of Pileta uine group compositions, and also of
portrayals of human figures. The de- Europe, especially of eastern Spain,

signs found in the shallow caves and constitutes one of the most important
recesses of the wild rocky gorges of east- and fortunate discoveries ever made
ern Spain include numerous spirited in behalf of archaeology" and that
groups and frequent representations
of human figures. And these daring,
impressionistic sketches of warriors,
archers, and hunters supply first-hand
informationinregardto the dress, orna-
ments, weapons, and methods of hunt-
ing affected by the men of the Old Stone
Age. A spirited stag hunt, a gather-
ing of armed men, a gentleman in
great haste pursuing a wild boar,
another pounding his fist and saying
(presumably) ''I told you so," a
wild ass etched in careful detail, a
"war dance" (or could it be a pre-
historic "daily dozen"?), corrals with
tracks of trapped animals inside, a
hunter following a well-defined spoor
in the open, a wounded chieftain
falling in his death agony —
these are
some of the pictures portrayed by
fossil man.
In discussing the psychology of this
Palaeolithic art the author is careful
to remind us that this can be only a
Perforated staves of stag horn ornamented
matter of conjecture, but presents a
with engravings of fish, ibex heads, and other
most interesting and reasonable inter- decorative designs. From Cueto de la Mina
pretation of its probable motives.
It is safe to say that no reader of "Day by day it becomes clearer that
Fossil Man in Spain will question that Spain is destined to play a most
Professor Obermaier fully proves his interesting role in all that concerns
claims that "The cave art of western the study of Palaeolithic Man."
Photograph by Julius Kirschner
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY

For more than thirty years associated with the department of geology, American iVIu-
seum and for fifteen of those years its curator; editor of the American Museum Journal
(now known as Natural History) during the first ten years of its existence; an officer
and active worker in several societies devoted to science and exploration, and the author of
—
important contributions in his field of investigation, Doctor Hovey served the cause of
learning with devotion and efficiencj^ up to the day of his death
704
Edmund Otis Hovey
1862-1924
LATE CURATOR OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY,
AMERICAN MUSEUM
By JAMES F. KEMP
Professor of Geology, Columbia University
THE sudden death of Dr. Edmund

Hovey on September 27,
Otis
early youth. Regarding these forma-
tions he left several contributions, in-
came as a great shock to a very cluding a guidebook to the Mammoth
wide circle of colleagues and friends. Cave of Kentucky. Some twenty-
To an extent not often equalled by a seven titles are attributed to him in
geologist, Doctor Hovey had been for the bibliography of North American
many years a traveler and observer, geology ; his earUest papers began dur-
and his journeyings extended from the ing the boyhood of his son, whose
extreme north of Greenland to the thoughts were not unnatiu-ally directed
southern latitudes of Australia and toward geology.
New Zealand. The official positions Edmund Otis Hovey received his
which he had held during the thirty- earlier education in the pubhc schools
five or forty years of his scientific of Peoria, IlUnois;Kansas City, Mis-
activity were such as to give him an souri; and New
Haven, Connecticut.
exceptionally large acquaintance at He entered Yale in the fall of 1880 and
home and abroad; hence, the grief and was graduated with the class of 1884.
regret at the all-too-early termination Thereupon, he taught school for two
of his work are world-wide. years, serving as principal at Janesville
Doctor Hovey was born in New and Elk River, Minnesota. In 1886 he
Haven, Connecticut, September 15, returned to Yale to pursue graduate
1862, and thus was at the time of his work in geology, looking toward the
death just past his sixty-second year. Ph.D. degree, which he received in
His father, the Rev. Horace Carter 1889.
Hovey, was a minister who occupied During this period he was for two
Presbyterian and Congregational pul- years assistant in the mineralogical
pits, and, like Doctor Hovey's mother, laboratory and came into close asso-
whose maiden name was Helen L. ciation with one of the choice spirits of
Blatchley, came of colonial New Eng- American science, the late Prof. Samuel
land ancestry. The Rev. Horace L. Penfield. He wrote his dissertation
Hovey had strong geological interests under the special charge of Prof.
and was a Fellow of the Geological James D. Dana and chose for his sub-
Society of America. He was graduated ject, ''The Trap Ridges of the East
from Wabash College, Indiana, in Haven-Branford Region." The paper
1853; attained his D.D. in 1883; and, was pubhshed in the American Journal
in consequence of holding pastorates in of Science, pp. 361-83, November,
the drainage basin of the Ohio River, 1889. It is an accurate and careful
was able further to develop an interest record of the detailed geology in a

in caves that dated back perhaps to his district eight or ten miles by four or
705
706 NATURAL HISTORY
five, embracing not only matters of and of the coals, fire clays, and other
petrographic interest, but some struc- products of this very richly endowed
tural problems calling for skill in interstate. On January 1, 1894, after the
pretation. The young geologist gave exposition had closed. Doctor Hovey
evidence of conscientious fidelity in his joined the staff of the American Mu-
descriptions and of much independence seum of Natural History, serving at
in his interpretations, which differed first as assistant curator in geology,
in important respects from those given under the late Prof. Robert Parr
the phenomena by preceding, older Whitfield. In 1901 he was promoted to
observers. associate curator, and on the decease of
For the three years, 1888-91, Doctor Professor Whitfieldin 1910, succeeded to
Hovey was assistant principal of the the curatorship, anoffice which he held
Waterbury High School in Connecticut, and in the active duties of which he
and then, for a year, its principal. In was engaged at the moment when, near
this busy manufacturing city he gained the noon hour of September 26, he was
many friends and is well remembered suddenly stricken and removed to the
even to the present day by those who Roosevelt Hospital. There, twelve
became attached to him so long ago. hours later, he passed away.
While on leave from his school duties, In his thirty years of service with
he passed the year, 1890-91, in Europe. the Museum Doctor Hovey became
Instead of constantly traveling, Mrs. thoroughly experienced in the instruc-
Hovey and he took up their residence, tive and effective display of geological
for periods of a month or more, now in specimens and illustrative materials.
this city, now in that. In Naples, for During his earlier years he was largely
example, with its great opportunities occupied, in collaboration with Pro-
for the study of Vesuvius, they estab- fessor Whitfield in cataloguing the types
,
lished their home in a small apartment and figured specimens of fossils which
and kept house, learning, thereby, in- had found their final resting place in
cidentally much of Italian life and the rich collections of their department.
customs. In the same way they found When, was often the case, the writer
as
quarters in Heidelberg, where Doctor of these linesdropped in for a brief call
Hovey matriculated in the university or consultation, he usually found Doctor
and worked during the semesters in the Hovey busied, during these years, over
laboratory of the famous teacher. Pro- trays and trays of specimens, searching
fessor Rosenbusch. Among his fellow out and verifying those that were
students was J. J. Sederholm, now direc- figured subsequently in the issued
tor of the Geological Survey of Finland volume of record, a work of five hun-
and Doctor Hovey's life-long friend. dred pages. In his later years Doctor
Doctor Hovey's ambitions lay in the Hovey did much editorial work for
line of work;
professional geological the Museum, and for the ten years,
accordingly, in 1892 he accepted the 1900-10, was editor of its magazine,
appointment as superintendent of the then calledThe American Museum
Missouri State Exhibit of Minerals at Journal, but now known as Natural
the Columbian Exposition, which was History, and one of the most attrac-
opened in Chicago in 1893. Doctor tive of American publications.
Hovey brought together a notable dis- In the service of the Museum,
play of the lead, zinc, and iron ores, Doctor Hovey traveled widely and
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY 707
aided in securing some of its more enjoyed the excursions in the eastern
notable treasm'es. Prominent among Alps. He was at the Mexican Congress
these is the Willamette meteorite. In of 1906 and joined in the preliininary
order to bid for this specimen effectu- excursion to the volcano of
active
ally, he went to Portland, Oregon, in Colima, which possessed special attrac-
the neighborhood of which the meteor- tions for him. After the week of
ite had been found. At another time, scientific meetings, he took part in the
he visited Bisbee, Arizona, so as to three weeks' excursion north on the
study the geology of the great Copper Mexican Central Railroad, then east-
Queen Mine and its environment, in ward to Monterey, and, finally, south
preparation for the building of the on the Ferrocarril Nacional Mexicano.
exceedingly instructive model in the He next visited the Isthmus of Tehuan-
Museum, the gift of the late Dr. James tepec. From all these trips he returned
Douglas, president of the company. with specimens and photographs of
At the destructive outbreak of Mont great value in the exhibits and lecture
Pelee, Martinique, in 1902, Doctor courses of the Museum. Following the
Hovey was promptly dispatched to Congress of 1906, he was elected one
study the volcano and collect for the of the corresponding members of the
Museum a suite of illustrative speci- Sociedad Cientifica Antonio Alzate of
mens. He brought back many volcanic the City of Mexico.
products, including a number of bombs, Doctor Hovey was a delegate to the
and a remarkably good series of photo- First Pan Pacific Scientific Congress,
graphs, from which the vivid painting which met in the Hawaiian Islands in
of the famous ''spine," by Charles E. 1920, and again viewed his favorite
Knight, was prepared. This picture subject of study, a volcano. In 1923
now hangs on the walls of the meeting he attended the Second Pan Pacific
room of the New York Academy of Scientific Congress, in Australia, and
Sciences, in the Museum. The study traveled extensively in New Zealand,

of volcanoes, begun at Vesuvius in bringing back many instructive photo-
1890, became a subject of special graphs, which served to iUusti'ate his
interest to Doctor Hovey and was lectures in the Museum courses.
carried on by him whenever the oppor- In the spring of 1915 Doctor Hovey
tunity was afforded. went with the reUef expedition dis-
Doctor Hovey was a delegate to patched to bring back the party which
several of the meetings of the Inter- had been sent out the previous year to
national Geological Congress, which explore Crocker Land. Doctor Hovey
offer such exceptional opportunities reached Etah, the station in the ex-
for forming international friendships treme north of Greenland whence
and for seeing the most significant Peary, several years before, had started
geological features of other lands. He on his dash for the Pole. Unfor-
attended the St. Petersburg Congress tunately the conditions made the
in 1897 and took part in its long excur- return of the Crocker Land Expedition
sion to Armenia and the Caucasus. in the summer of 1916 impossible; so
He cHmbed Mount Ararat and brought that it was not until the next year that
back a series of fulgurites from one of the party, after a long, overland trip
its high peaks. Again, in 1903, he was with sledges, was picked up by the relief
a delegate to the session in Vienna and ship. Doctor Hovey made one earlier
708 NATURAL HISTORY
attempt to move southward, but the practically all the working and produc-
physical strain proved too severe, tive geologists of the North American
and he was forced to return to the continent and not a few residing abroad.
central station, A vevy interesting It is strong, active, and influential.
account of the geology of northern Since its founding in 1888 up to 1922,

Greenland appeared from his pen in the only three men had served it as secre-
issue of the American Journal of tary. John J. Stevenson occu-
Prof.
Science^ for September, 1924. In clear pied the office from 1888 through 1890.
and interesting language, and drawing Ill health compelled him to diminish
both upon his own observations and his cares so that, after seeing the
those of the most recent explorers, he Society safely through its infancy, he
gives a review of our knowledge of this retired in December, 1890. Prof. H.
Httle-known region. L. Fairchild succeeded to the duties
In 1907, when a reorganization of and remained in office seventeen years,
executive offices was undertaken in the until 1907. Doctor Hovey was then
New York Academy of Sciences, Doctor elected, and for sixteen years was the
Hovey was elected recording secre- officer who more than any other was
tary, and to the duties of his office were responsible for the conduct of the
transferred those formerly discharged society's affairs. His administration
by a separate editor. For nine years was marked by a careful and systematic
Doctor Hovey held this office, a change management. His knowledge of its
being occasioned only when his pro- history, its policies, and the spirit
tracted stay of two years in the Arctic actuating its successive councils was
made the appointment of a new and thorough and accurate. No subject
regular occupant of the double office came up in his later years of adminis-
unavoidable. The services that Doctor tration, affecting in any way the
Hovey rendered to science in this con- pohcies of the society, without his
nection were very important . Not only prompt citation and quick finding in
was the annual volume, the Annals, the records of all previous related
yearly put through the press under his action. The society had to face grow-
direction, but thanks to his efforts the ing specialization and subdivision of
results of the Academy's Scientific old interests, once brooded under the
Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin wings of the parent organization. The
Islands began to reach completed form. palaeontologists first organized an
Doctor Hovey was above all things a affiliated body, in close association
careful and systematic worker and with it. The mineralogists followed
managed to carry these responsibilities suit. The petroleum geologists were
as well as those towhich we next pass field and
mostly in the mid-continent
so that no confusion or delay resulted. became inevitably a separate body,
Undoubtedly the relation in which but with cordial relations with the
Doctor Hovey came in touch with Geological Society. Many geologists
geologists most extensively and in the were and are members of both. The
most important way was as secretary economic geologists formed a separate
of the Geological Society of America. society in 1919 and maintain toward
The society includes in its membership the Geological Society a position inter-
'A notice of this contribution appeared in the issue
mediate in intimacy between that of
of Natural History for September-October, 1924,
pp. 627-28.
the palaeontologists and mineralogists,
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY 709
on the one hand, with whom the rela- of theAmerican Institute of Mining
tion is close; and the petroleum and Metallurgical Engineers, in the
geologists, on the other, with whom the membership of which were many of his
connection is one of sentiment and not friends. In later years, he made his
organic. All these questions of poHcy home in Yonkers, coming daily to his
came up dming the years of Doctor office in Museum.
the
Hovey's incumbency and in their Doctor Hovey was a prolific con-
decision he played an important part. tributor to the Uterature of geology,
At the annual dinner of the Geologi- and about one hundred fifty titles stand
cal Society, held during the Ann Arbor to his credit. Perhaps the most no-
meeting of December, 1922, a loving table contribution related to Mont
cup was presented to Doctor Hovey in Pelee, in and to La
Martinique,
token of the appreciation felt by the Soufriere, in St. Vincent. Soon after
members for his sixteen years of faith- his return from an inspection of these
ful service and their high regard for him; volcanoes, he read, at the International
and at the dinner, during the Washing- Geological Congress in Vienna, an
.
ton meeting, in December, 1923, a account of his observations. It was his

beautifully engrossed testimonial from plan and ambition again to visit the
the council, as representative of the Lesser Antilles in 1925 and then, with
society, expressed in a more extended the old notes and the new, to prepare
way the feehng of indebtedness of the his complete report.
society's guiding body. In no one of Doctor Hovey was married Sep-
the many connections which Doctor tember 13, 1888, in New Haven,
Hovey had during his life, has he left Connecticut, to Miss Esther A. Lan-
more numerous or more devoted friends craft, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke
than in the Geological Society of College and, in later years, president of
America. its Society of Alumnae. She died in
Doctor Hovey entered zealously into 1914. On October 23, 1919, Doctor
many home city. New
activities of his Hovey dispelled the loneHness of his
York. He was an active member of and home by his marriage with Miss Dell
a worker in the Presbyterian Chm'ch. G. Rogers, of Springfield, Massachu-
At the Century Club and the Ex- setts. Mrs. Hovey, with one daughter,
plorers Club he was a familiar figure; Constance, four years old, survives,
at the time of his death he was vice and to them the thoughts of Doctor
president of the latter. He was also Hovey's many and devoted friends
connected with the New York section have often turned in recent weeks.
The Museum of Tomorrow
By GEORGE SARTON
Editor of Isis
THE arrangement of
has been considerably improved
museums couple of hours examining the objects
on exhibition and reading carefully
within the last fifty years. every label. This visitor would come
Their scientific and their educational out of the Museum with a good in-
value has grown in proportion. They troductory knowledge of the subject.
have now become, not simply con- He would then be very well prepared
servatories, but true universities. to read a book connecting and organiz-
And when I say that, I am not thinking the information already obtained;
ing of those museums such — as the and having acquired some familiarity
Paris museum for example — which with the objects described, he would
organize complete courses of lectures read it with real interest and profit.
and which are thus in every respect Indeed, even if the book were as up-
the equivalent of a university faculty; to-date as the museum — which not
is
I am thinking of museums only as by any means — he would

certain
museums, not as lecture halls or class- already have something which the
rooms. Their silent teaching is prob- book could not give him, for he would
ably their best teaching. Its value have seen the objects themselves, or
consists in its perfect adaptation to perfect models of them, the very
the special needs of each individual. testimony bearing on the questions
Every thoughtful visitor to a museum discussed, —
and no book illustration
gets out of much as he chooses or,
it as can possibly take their place.
more exactly, as much as he is capable One of the many problems which
of assimilating, as much as he de- museum curators have to solve is to de-
serves. There is no constraint what- termine the degree to which the silent
ever, there are no obligations but teaching can be extended or, more con-
inner ones. The museum is entirely cretely, what amount of information
open to him and ready to answer it is advisable to print on the labels.
every question which he may ask. They have to assume that the visitor 's
More than that; it is ready to knowledge very limited. Yet their

is
awaken his mind, to raise questions explanations must remain relatively

itself; to introduce new subjects, new short, in the first place, because it is
thoughts; to open, as it were, windows impossible or inexpedient to teach a
offering him new vistas, broadening whole subject apropos of a special
his mental horizon in every way. topic and, in the second place be-
For example, let us imagine a man, cause labels of inordinate length
an intelligent man, knowing nothing would rarely be read. Even the
of palseoanthropology —
nay, having most zealous visitor would find it hard
never heard or thought of it finding — to read, standing, many such labels;
himself by some combination of cir- fatigue would soon relax his attention.
cumstances in the hall of the American I love museums and have visited
Museum devoted to the Age of Man. carefully agood many. I have read
He would be at first startled, then innumerable labels relative to subjects
fascinated, and would spend perhaps a with which I was very familiar, and as
710
THE MUSEUM OF TOMORROW 711
many others regarding subjects of number clearly marked on the label

which I knew much less, if anything. should refer the visitor to the cor-
My general impression is that the responding card and would enable
art of label-writing is on the whole him to buy it easily before leaving.
very well understood. I have seldom The reading of a label would then
seen bad labels. The greater number become much less tiring because the
are very well composed but many are far visitorwould not make any serious
too long. Yet, even when their length memorize it. Neither would
effort to
fatigued me, I did not see how they he be dismayed if he did not under-
could have been materially shortened. stand it well at once, for having noted
Labelswhich are too short are its number on a slip
of paper, he would
bound to be misunderstood, except by depend on the possibility of obtaining
experts, or to remain enigmatic; if a copy of it, to be perused at leisure.
they are too long, they will not be read The reform which I advocate is
or they will exhaust very quickly the very simple and very humble; yet
reader's zeal. Is there no way out? its introduction would imply a great
I believe I have found one. progress. It would increase con-

Most museums, aside from their siderably the teaching value of mu-
scientific publications, print various seums. To illustrate this, let us
leaflets for theuse of the average visitor suppose for a moment that a museum
and also post cards. The sale of such has been organized according to my
post cards must be very considerable, views. That is, the main objects on
especially they are really good.
if exhibition are explained, as much as
Each of these cards, as soon as it is possible, on labels placed close by, at
sold, becomes a memento which ex- a convenient height, and printed in a
tends the educational influence of beautiful and very legible type. Some
the museum into thousand of homes, other are added, whenever
labels
scattered all over the world. necessary, to give more general in-
The problem would be ad-
label formation relative to a whole group of
mirably solved by a more systematic objects. Thus far I have simply
and intelligent use of these cards, described the practice followed in
and also of other museum publications. every progressive museum. In my
The main defect of the present system museum, however, each of these
is that the public does not know labels bears in the upper right hand
sufficiently which cards are available. corner a very legible number. As
This information should be given to soon as a visitor enters the build-
the visitor at the psychological mo- ing, he is given a card containing
ment, when he longs for it and is best on one side an explanation of these
prepared to take it in, that is, at the numbers and a plan of the museum
very moment when a certain object or a brief list of the main collections.
has awakened his curiosity and when The other side is lined and blank.
he is making a more or less painful The explanation reads as follows:
effort to read the explanatory label. When a label bears a number in the upper
right hand corner, it means that the museum
Long labels should not be suppressed
has published a post card (bearing the same
but supplemented by cards reproduc- number) representing the object in question
ing their text together with an illus- and reproducing the label with possibly some
tration of the object explained. A additional information and bibliographical
712 NATURAL HISTORY
references. Write on the back of this card comparisons, and solve the difficulties
label numbers of the objects interesting you.
encountered. It is not necessary to
The post cards (or other publications) rela-
expatiate on this. The reader will
tive to them may be obtained, by quoting
these numbers, at the office near the exit.
easily conceive many other possibili-
ties. It is clear this simple device
In this way the visitor is able to
would materially increase the edu-
acquire without fatigue and without
cational value of the museum.
trouble, the information which is of
He has also The application of my system would
greatest value to him.
be relatively easy. The labels are
the opportunity of increasing his
made, the objects have been photo-
knowledge, should he so desire, for the
graphed; in many cases, the cards
post card bears the title of the best
already exist. It would suffice to
book or paper devoted to the subject.
number them and to issue the little
I have spoken chiefly of cards,
plan card explaining the system. Of
which represent the most general and
course, it would be better to start with
the most important case, but other
a sufficiently large number of cards
publications and (chiefly in art mu-
seums) photographs could be referred
representing many aspects of the
to on the labels by appropriate

museum. Some of these cards might
be grouped into series and it should
symbols. For example, the number of
be made easy for visitors to obtain,
a label and post card being 245, the
according to their desires, the whole
symbols 245 A, 245B, 245C might
collection or separate series or in-
refer respectively to a photograph, a
dependent cards. ^ The initial cost
leaflet, or a larger memoir or book
would not be great and the system
relating to the same object. Thus the
would be soon self-supporting.
visitor reading in the upper right
corner the number 245AC would
I may point out, furthermore, that
the system is applicable to any museum,
know at once that he could obtain a
irrespective of kind or size. It would
post card, a photograph, and a book
be apply the plan
easier, perhaps, to
relative to that object. Moreover,
in larger museums, because there an
each leaflet or memoir published by
assistant would have no other duty
the museum would be referred to
than the sale and distribution of these
upon at least one post card.
Teachers visiting my museum either
cards. The scheme would be very
useful also in smaller museums, not
alone or with their classes could
merely in serving their local com-
make use of this system in many
munity, but likewise in spreading
ways. They might order cards in
their influence abroad, because inter-
large numbers to be distributed to
esting objects on view in small mu-
the children during a preparatory
lesson; or, better still, they might
seums are likely to be less known
than those sharing the vast publicity
take their pupils to the museum and
invite them to choose the most inter-
and prestige of the larger institutions.
esting objects. The corresponding Each card is not merely a document
for the student, a memento, a hint,
cards would be eventually ordered,
but a true representative of the mu-
studied, and discussed in the class-
seum, ahumble but faithful missionary.
room, as well as out of it, and a new
'This has been done with considerable success by the
visit to the museum arranged to re- British Museum. The influence exerted by the Brit-
ish Museum in that way is truly far-reaching. In 1922
examine the objects, make further the number of cards sold totaled about 700,000.
^>'<^^c'
A GILYAK
The Gilyaks, it is reported, individuals. Some time ago they occupied all the basm of
number 4649
the Amur River, but from there they were driven out by stronger tribes. At the present time they live
partly at the mouth of the Amur, and partly on the Island of Sakhalin.
They excel in wood carving and make artistic representations of the bear, an animal that plays an
important role in their religious ceremonies. Birch bark is also a material they employ in various ways and
like the Golds (see pp. 714 and 715), they make garments of fishskin
Natives of the Russian Far East

PICTURED FROM STUDIES MADE BY V. K. ARSENIEFF
an eastward extension of Europe.

Politically Siberia is It is not out of place, therefore,
in an issue of Natural History

in which Europe is given special emphasis to include
some reference to the far outposts of Russian dominion in eastern Siberia and beyond. The
illustrations introduced by the above picture have been supphed through the kindness of
Mr. V. K. Arsenieff under whose supervision they were prepared by the artists A. H.
Klementieff and N. P. Trafimoff for the great exhibition held at'Moscow in^l923.
713
A GOLD MAN
There are 5016 Golds, living partly on the Sungari and Usuri rivers but ch?efiy on the lower reaches of
the Amur River, not far from Lake Kizi. Though the Golds may be classed with the settled tribes rather
than with the nomadic, the tie that holds them to their place of abode is after all a loose one. They leave a
locality readily and migrate to another site.
The greater part of their lives is spent on the water, paddling in the inlets of the Amur or along this
and other rivers. In hunting the sable they make long journeys, penetrating even into the most desolate
parts of the Sikhota-Ahn Mountains, and thus they have come to know, better than do any of the other
ratives, the rivers, the paths and mountain trails, the ridges and watersheds of the region
714
I
A GOLD WOMAN
^'^'^"^dered garments, but this is not their only or
most characteristic apparel.
Decorated fiS-'"""'
Decorltti fishskm garments are also worn by them and
because of this the Chinese call the Golds Yupi-
°- '""'^ '°''' "'" '""^'^''"^ °" '^' '^'"^ fi^""- °f the American Museum,
and1; til TK'. r^'A''"
*° *h^ G°'ds may be seen also conical hats of the type of that
m the ntt ''''''ir'f worn bv the woman
"^ "'^'^' °^ ''''"''' '^^'"^ ^"^^ ^'^ ornamented with colored figures cut out of the
ZTnfl
bark of that^t f' .
tree. Another type of head covering is
that worn by the Gold man on the opposing page. This
""^''^"^
o^tte AreHcrMus:!
''' *°'"^' '''''' ^'^ ''' °^ ' ^^'^'^^ ^^ ^'^° ^^P^^^"*^^ ^" *^^ -"-*--
715
fefSfflW^MPP"
SS h M TnT*
m-
n,.=^ axcîii-kie
A LAMUT MAN
The Lamuts are seacoast Tungus and derive their name from the Tungup word lam, meaning "sea."
They live part of the time on the upper reaches of the right-hand inlets of the River Lena, in Kolymsk, and
in Kamchatka. Altogether they number 3130 individuals. Nowhere do the Lamutf= have their own land,
but they consider all land as belonging to them.
The bison supplied food, raiment, and shelter to our Plains Indians. The reindeer is no le.'^s useful to
the Lamuts. It forages for itself and provides food and clothing for its master, in addition to transporting
him from place to place. With its assistance the Lamuts are able to make their migrations
716
I JILiUI 'H. lil'lH HH .
A LAMUT WOMAN
The fur garments of the Lamuts are of rather striking appearance, being usually decorated with
designs produced by combinations of blue, white, and black beads. Both the costume of the woman above
and that of the man on the opposing page have ornamentations of this character The large spoon she is
holding is similar to one of wood on exhibit in the section devoted to the Lamuts on the third floor of the
American Museum_, and several smaller spoons of mountainsheep horn may there be seen. A flintlock
of
well
Russian manufacture similar to that grasped by the man is also on view in the section referred to, as
as wooden pipes with metal bowl of a type similar to that held in the right hard of
the man
717
AN AINU
This venerable individual is a member of a race once widely spread over Japan. Today his people have
dwindled to a few thousand, some of whom are on the island of Sakhalin, which up to the time of the Treaty
of Portsmouth, was exclusively under Russian control but is now divided between Japan and Russia. The
Ainus have a white skin and are heavily bearded, and in these respects form a contrast to the Japanese.
They are the most humble perhaps of all peoples, lacking aggressive qualities.
The man is shown tuning a tonkari, or mukko, an instrument belonging to the psaltery type. Unlike
the Japanese koto, which is laid on the ground or placed on a stand, the tonkari is held with the end having
the tuning pegs up over the left shoulder. It is played with the fingers of both hands after the manner of
the harp. The instrument that is most closely related to the tonkari of the Ainus appears to be the crocodile
harp of Siam and Burma. Specimens of the tonkari are on view in the Ainu section on the third floor of the
American Museum
NOTES
HERBERT L. BRIDGMAN too,he was of great assistance to the Museum,
Herbert L. Bridgman, who recently died at many a time bringing it to pubhc attention
sea in his eighty-first year, will be remembered through the Standard Union. In recognition
for many things, for he poured the rich stream of his unswerving loyalty to the Museum and
of his energy into a number of worthy activi- his never-failing helpfulness, he was accorded
ties and was the champion of many noble the unusual honor of being elected an Honorary
causes; he was, in the eloquent words of the Fellow of this institution.
Rev. Dr. Howard Dean French, "an adven-
turer in the service of mankind." His career INSECTS
in journalism, culminating in his affiliation An Insect Menagerie. — A departure from
with the Standard Union of Brooklyn, was the orthodox museum exhibit has been made
throughout distinguished, and the confidence in the American Museum through the in.stal-
and respect extended to him by the newspaper lation of a case containing a diversity of live
world were evidenced by his election to the insects. When the first specimens were
chairmanship of the New York Publishers introduced, they were allowed a free range of
Association and the presidency of the Ameri- the case, but with the pressure of population
can Newspaper Publishers Association. resulting from constant new accretions it
His interests, however, were not limited to became necessary to confine the different
his chosen profession. He was a member of groups in glass dishes, bowls, and aquaria,
the Board of Regents of the University of the so that the pertinence of the labels might be
State of New York and an earnest participant preserved and confusion avoided.
in public affairs. Throughout his life explor- Within the limits of a case a few feet square
ation claimed much of his attention. In 1897 the visitor has been able to observe a range of
he scaled the Enchanted Mesa in New Mexico. animal habit as great as that represented in
During the long years that Peary was stub- vertebrate menageries by the flesh-eating
bornly fighting his way to the Pole, Mr. Bridg- tiger and the herbivorous elephant, and a
man was actively assisting him. He com- range of structure comparable to that of the
manded two auxiliary expeditions in support water-living fish and the arboreal monke3^
of Peary's project, that of the "Diana" in Utethesia bella, one of the most beautiful of
1899 and that of the "Erik" in 1901, and as the moths, has developed from caterpillar to
-secretary of the Peary Arctic Club aided Peary adult in this insect menagerie. Beyond the
materially in accomplishing the purpose to glass dome in which it is housed ^^^th its
which he dedicated his life. principal food plant, the rattle box, is a dish
President Morris K. Jesup of the American in which Sitodrepa panicea is reveling. Be-
Museum was also president of the Peary cause of its ravages in pharmacies, where it
Arctic Club, and it was natural, therefore, will feed without apparent injury even upon
that the two organizations should be brought poisons, this insect is commonly known as the
into more or less close contact. Mr. Bridg- drug-store beetle. It appreciates as food what
man's interest in the American Museum re- man nerves himself to swallow as a medicine,
ceived its impetus at that time, and it re- but by way of indicating the omnivorous char-
mained strong to the end. To the Peary acter of Sitodrepa panicea, it is shown in the
Arctic Club and its officers the Museum is exhibit pasturing on corn meal. Insects of
indebted for the gift of one of the sleds that unsavory reputation like the cockroach and
made the journey to the Pole, as well as of the unspeakable bedbug are also exliibited,
photographic records and other valuable his- but with labels so informing that one is recon-
toric data. Thanks to the tact shown by Mr. ciled to their presence. A box of cigars
Bridgman in the course of his visit, at the ruined for the smoker bj^ a small beetle
age of sixty, to the interior of Africa, a {Lasioderma serricorne) that chews tobacco is
courteous welcome was assured other Ameri- another feature.
cans entering the same general region, and Farther along are the interesting water
thus indirectly the American Museum Congo insects, —the Belostomidse, some of which
Expedition profited from the reputation for attack even good-sized fish; the water strid-
fair dealing and good sense that had been ers that delight us bj' skating about on the
estabhshed by Mr. Bridgman. In other ways. calm surface of ponds and slowly moving
720 NATURAL HISTORY
streams; the water scorpion with a "tail" insect enemies. In this way, like shock troops
that serves as a breathing organ; and the held in reserve for some storming operation,
aquatic larvse of the dragon fly and damsel the beetles are sent to strategic points instead
fly. of being permitted to wage war in desultory
Specimens of the grass-green praying fashion.
mantis formed one of the most interesting A spring emergence of the kind above
features of the exhibit. As this Note is described is depicted in the most recently
written, one survivor on view, statu-
is still completed insect exhibit on the third floor
esquely waiting, with her traphke front legs of the American Museum. The scene is the
raised not in prayer but in readiness to grasp top of Green Mountain, near Boulder, Colo-
the hapless insect that may approach her. rado. In the foreground are the emerging
A foamy egg mass on her twig and another insect hordes,in the far distance are the
on the glass wall of her prison were deposited white peaks of the Snowy Range of Rocky
during her period of captivity and are an Mountain Park, and between are deep canons
evidence of the interesting biological happen- and rugged prominences. Yet the exhibit
ings which the visitor who lingers about the measures only about 3 feet by 4 feet!
live-insect case may have the opportunity to The illusion of vast distance and command-
observe. ing height is achieved in ingenious ways. The
window through which the scene is viewed is
One of the attractive features of the ex-
hibit very impermanence A visitor may
is its .
so narrow that the eye does not take in the
step in today and see a different group whole vista at one glance but has revealed to it
from that which he witnessed last week. Thus only gradually the features of the landscape,
there a constant replenishment of interest.
is thus simulating the conditions that obtain as
Yet from another aspect even the insects one looks from some height upon the beauties
that are replaced are permanently accessible. of nature that lie to the east and south and
The live-insect exhibit is in a hall filled with west. of the canon flanking Green
The depth
cases of insect specimens and the labels Mountain admirably conveyed through the
is
applying to the live insects frequently have inability of the eye to range very far down its
cross references to the collections, with the side, an abyssmal drop being suggested at
opportunities for more extended study that the point where the eye is denied a further
they offer the interested visitor. downward view.
The foreground of this effective group was
The Lady Beetle Group. —Among the made by Mr. Edward J. Burns, the back-
best friends of the farmer are the lady beetles, ground was painted by Mr. Arthur A. Jans-
whose consuming purpose in life, from infancy son, both under the direction of Mr. James L.
to old age, is to destroy plant lice and scale Clark, while field work and the general plan
insects. But for the vigilance and voracity of of the exhibit were the contributions of
these allies of the horticulturist, the ravages Doctor Lutz.
of some of our insect pests would be even Two other exhibits in the series in which
more appalling. In the mountainous regions the Lady Beetle Group finds place are near-
of our West untold thousands of these beetles, ing completion. One of these shows an un-
their beneficent summer's task completed, desirable alien from Europe, the white cab-
some height —the more
fly to the better
lofty, bage butterfly (Pieris rapae), in possession of a
—to secrete themselves in cracks and crevices patch planted with the vegetable to which it is
of the rocks for hibernation. Here, with the partial; the other illustrates phases in the life
return of spring, they may be seen pouring history of a butterfly that annually makes
forth from their winter hiding place, a great long migrations, the monarch {Danaus archip-
sprawling stream of life in which the later pus), here shown in association with its
outwellings may overflow those that preceded, favorite food plant, the milkweed.
until there is a piled-up struggling heap of in-
sects that can.be scooped up by the handful. BIRDS
In some parts of our country California, — The American Ornithologists' Union
for instance, —
the lady beetles thus hibernat- held its Forty-second Stated Meeting at the
ing are gathered, placed in cold storage, and Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
shipped at the proper time to horticulturists There was a large attendance of bird lovers
whose crops are threatened by invasions of from all parts of the country who listened
722 NATURAL HISTORY
with appreciation to the interesting papers, recently joined the department of prepara-
the presentation of which extended through tion, American Museum.
the morning and afternoon sessions of To Mrs. Walter W. Naumburg, research
November 11,and 13. Indeed,
12, so full associate in the Museum's department of
was the program that on the morning of two birds,was accorded the honor of election as a
of the days independent sessions were run member of the American Ornithologists'
simultaneously. The American Museum was Union, a distinction hmited to one hundred
represented by Dr. Frank M. Chapman and individuals and heretofore extended to only
the other members of the department of birds, two other women, Mrs. Vernon Bailey and
and in addition by Mr. H. E. Anthony of the Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright.
department of mammals, Mr. J. T. Nichols,
The National Association of Audubon
of the department of fishes, and Mr. F. L.
Societies held its Twentieth Annual Meeting
Jacques, of the department of preparation.
in the American Museum October 28. The
Of the fifty-six papers announced in the pro-
business session, with the presentation of the
gram, fourteen were prepared by members of
annual reports, took place in the morning,
the scientific staff of the American Museum,
the confidence of the association in its able
and were delivered in the following order
directorate being manifested through the
"Progress of the Whitney South Sea Ex-
reelection of those members of the Board
pedition" by Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy;
whose term of service had expired. After a,
"Mutation in Henicorhina" by Dr. Frank M.
buffet luncheon, an Educational Conference
Chapman; "The Status of Kumlien's Gull"
was conducted by Mr. Edward H. Forbush,
by Dr. Jonathan Dwight; "A Few Remarks
several of the members present discussing the
on Cyclarhis" by Mrs. Walter W. Naumburg;
opportunities for furthering the knowledge of
" Distribution and Relationships of the Genus
birds among young and old through the facili-
Zonotrichia" by Mr. Rudyerd Boulton;
ties at the command of the association. Mr.
" Descriptions of New Birds from Costa Rica"
Edward Avis then gave his delightful "Bird
by Dr. Jonathan Dwight and Mr. Ludlow
Song Recital," reproducing the notes of the
Griscom; "The Systematic Position of
field and forest with such astonishing faith-
Bubalornis and Dinemellia" by Dr. James P.
fulness that it seemed hard to believe that
Chapin; "An Ornithological Reconnaissance
tones of this liquid and flutelike quality could
in Southern Chile" by Dr. Frank M. Chap-
be engendered by the vocal organs of a man.
man; " Bird-hunting in Unexplored Panama"
Mr. Avis was not the only individual who
by Mr. Ludlow Griscom; "Breeding Seasons
added to the instructive entertainment of the
of Birds in Tropical Africa" by Dr. James P.
session. At the public meeting held in the
Chapin; " The Recent Status of the Bird Life
Auditorium of the Museum on the evening
of Cobb's Island, Virginia" by Mr. Rudyerd
preceding the official gathering. Dr. A. A.
Boulton; "The Interrelation of the Campo
Allen gave an informing talk, illustrated by
and Amazonian Faunas" by Mrs. Walter W.
many excellent lantern and motion
slides
Naumburg; "Some Problems of Geographic
pictures, of his recent visit to Texas and the
Distribution in Western Panama" by Mr.
Everglades of Florida, where he engaged in a
Ludlow Griscom; and "The Faunal Regions
successful search for some of the rarer birds
of the Western Hemisphere " by Mr. W. DeW.
of the southern region of our country.
Miller. Mr. J. T. Nichols was to have deliv-
Doctor Allen's address was preceded by one
ered a paper on " Naming Shore Bird Tracks"
delivered by Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson, presi-
but was prevented from doing so through the
dent of the association, in which Mr. Pearson
necessity of returning to New York earher
pleaded for sane conservation.
than he had planned.
One of the features of interest at the EDUCATION
gathering was an exhibition of paintings by Western Reserve University. —October
American bird and both from the
artists; 9 was an eventful day in the history of West-
standpoints of the number of artists repre- ern Reserve University. In the morning Dr.
sented and the quahty of their work this Robert Ernest Vinson was inaugurated as
exhibition marked a notable advance over seventh president of the institution and in
those held in other years. Among the new the afternoon the new building of the school
artistswhose paintings were particularly of medicine was dedicated. A large number
admired was Mr. F. L. Jacques, who has but of delegates representing universities, colleges.
NOTES 723
schools, scientific societies museums, and of Yale, Cornell, the University of Wiscon-
educational associations located throughout sin, New York University, and the Massa-
the country testified by their presence to the chusetts Institute of Technology, the presid-
interest of the learned world in these vital ing officers of leading engineering societies of
happenings. The American Museum was Great Britain, France, and Italy, of Canada
represented on the occasion by Dr. H. L. and the United States, the president of the
Madison, acting director of the Cleveland National Academy of Sciences, the Hon.
Museum of Natural History, and by Mr. Herbert Hoover, and Mrs. Elizabeth Van
Lewis Blair Wilhams, of Cleveland. Rensselaer Frazer, a lineal descendant of the
Doctor Vinson succeeds to an office left founder, were among the distinguished guests
vacant in 1921 through the retirement from who participated in the exercises commem-
active service of President Charles Franklin orating the event. A
pageant illustrating
Thwing, who had discharged his duties with significant steps in the development of the
vigor and distinction for more than thirty Institute and in the progress of science during
years. In the interval between the retire- the last hundred years was enacted on the
ment of Doctor Thwing and the inauguration campus.
of his successor, Doctor Williamson as acting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was not
president guided the fortunes of Western the first college United States to
in the
Reserve. With the heavy responsibihties offer courses in science,but it is the only
that his appointment involves Doctor Vinson educational institution devoted to the sci-
is especially well fitted to cope, for he has had ences which has had a continuous existence
not only an important career as a teacher but for ten decades. Nor does its distinction
also administrative experience extending over rest on this ground alone. As originally
many years during which he held the presi- planned by its founder, Stephen Van Rens-
dency of the Austin (Texas) Presbyterian selaer, it was to provide teachers for the
Theological Seminary and subsequently that instruction of "the sons and daughters of
of the University of Texas. farmers and mechanics" in "agriculture,
In connection with the dedication of the domestic economy, the arts, and manufac-
new building of the school of medicine, it is tures." It was thus the first school of agri-
fitting to recall that it is now more than culture in the United States, antedating by
eighty years ago that instruction was begun nearly thirty-five years its nearest rival, the
which sub-
in the Cleveland Medical College, Michigan State Agricultural College. How-
sequently became the medical department of ever, soon took a subordinate
agriculture
Western Reserve. The first medical school place in the curriculum and in time was
building was erected at a cost of $20,000 dropped altogether. Amos Eaton deserves
during 1846-47. The second building, the equal recognition with the founder, for to the
gift of Mr. John L. Woods, who donated and vision of this remarkable man
intellect
$243,000 to cover the cost of its erection, were due in no small measure the auspicious
was begun in 1885 and dedicated in 1887. beginnings of the institution. A pioneer in
Although in the course of the decades that educational methods, he was the first to
followed the facihties of the school were introduce field work and laboratory routine
extended through the erection of a chemical into an American college, thus adding another
laboratory building in 1898 and of the H. K. claim of primacy to the several already en-
Cushing Laboratory of Experimental Medi- joyed by the Institute. He looked upon it
cine in 1908, it was not until this year that a as "the common workshop for all colleges,
third medical building was presented to the academies, and other hterary and scientific
institution. This building, to the dedication seminaries of learning" and aimed to make
ofwhich the afternoon ceremonies of October it in fact a graduate school.
9 were devoted, was made possible through its alumni Rensselaer Polytechnic
Through
the sum of $2,500,000 generously donated for Institute has spread its influence and its
the purpose by Mr. Samuel Mather. educational standards far beyond the walls
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the of the institution. While its most distin-
and engineer-
oldest existing college of science guished triumphs have been in the field of
ing in any English-speaking country, cele- engineering, its hst of graduates includes a
brated the one hundredth anniversary of its number who have made contributions of
founding on October 3-4. The presidents enduring value to the natural sciences.
724 NATURAL HISTORY
CONSERVATION HaUinan, Mr. T. D. Carter, and Mr. C. H.
Spare the Holly. —The use of evergreens
Halter, it has been possible to present a scene
from' the home hfe of the gopher turtle if —
in the celebration of Christmas is of very
not on the same broad lines as those Miss
ancient origin. The mistletoehad its place
even in the ritual of the Druids and in Scan-
—
Dickerson wished at least in a way that
is sure to arouse the interest of the visitor
dinavian myth, the association of holly with
to the reptile hall.
the Yuletide is celebrated in ballads dating
Parts of two burrows are reproduced in the
back to the fifteenth century, and the Christ-
group, and in the case of one of them the
mas tree, adorned with its lights and decora-
tions, bloomed on Hoh' Night at least as
interior is shown. The gopher turtles are
represented as just starting out for a morn-
earh' as 1604.
We love the old customs of Christmas, but ing's forage for wire grass and other appar-
ently non-digestible vegetation growing near
our very love for them is putting their con-
tinuance in jeopardy. The number of coni-
their home. The eggs of a gopher turtle are
seen in their sandy chamber just below the
fers annually chopped down to contribute
to the Christmas cheer leaves a trail of desola-
entrance to one of the burrows. Such a
and with the progress of
tion in our forests,
chamber is independent of the burrow, being
the destruction we may be forced in time to
excavated by the turtle solely for the recep-
tion of the eggs. Another clutch of eggs has
the reahzation that a tree that wears its re-
freshing green throughout the year
already hatched and some of the young tur-
is prefer-
tles are represented wandering among the
able to one that is resplendent in glory for
but a single day. dead leaves and other litter which fill the hol-
More serious than the annual demand
lows between the dunes. Due to the size of
the group not all of its details can be shown
for Christmas trees is the yearly toU taken
in a photograph, and these young turtles could
of our depleted supply of holly. Nature
provided this plant with leaves the sharp not therefore be included in the accompany-
points of which are a deterrent to the attacks
ing picture. A gopher snake, disturbed from
his resting place in a shrubbery where he has
of animals, but its beautiful scarlet berries
have doomed it to destruction at the hands of passed the night, is lying very quietly until he
is sure that it is only a gopher turtle making
man. The outdoor Nature Club of Houston,
Texas, has sent an appeal to the "Fellow all the noise in the near-by bushes. Gopher
Lovers of America's Outdoors," pleading for snakes have as gentle dispositions as the com-
their cooperation in bringing about its dis- placent tortoises with which they chum. It
is only the rats and "salamanders," small bur-
continuance as a Christmas decoration in
order that this symbohc plant may be pre-
rowing mammals (Geomys), that ever feel the
full strength of their powerful coils and
served from possible In the
extinction.
interest of the very perpetuity of our time- sharp teeth.
honored Christmas customs it is imperative The group, which was constructed by Mr.
E. J. Burns and other members of the Mu-
that nature be allowed a chance to recuperate.
seum's department of preparation working
REPTILES under the direction of Mr. James L. Clark,
Home of the Gopher Turtle. — Some illustrates an interesting case of vertebrate
years ago the late Mary Cynthia Dickerson symbiosis. A large spotted frog, Rana assopus,
planned a companion group to her last master- crouches Hke a watchdog on a shelf which he
piece, "The Florida Group." It was during has dug for himself at the mouth of the bur-
a trip to Florida that she became interested row. When a shadow passes over the burrow
in the habits of the gopher turtle and realized entrance, the frog quickly hopsdown into the
the great possibilities in representing the lower depths. Whether or not he warns the
home life these strange subterranean
of turtle of the intruder is not known, but at
tortoises. Other undertakings, however, least the turtle tolerates the frog's presence.
interferred with the fulfillment of Miss The frog, unlike the turtle, does not breed
Dickerson's plan and the arrangement was near the burrow, but seeks for the purpose
practically abandoned at the time she with- some pond in the pine forest. Burrows of go-
drew from the American Museum. Recently, pher turtles are abundant in the pine woods
through the cooperation of several friends of of Florida, for it is here that we find sandy
the Museum, particularly Mr. Thomas soil. The distribution of both turtle and frog
26 NATURAL HISTORY
teems to be confined to this sandj' soil in which Data," in the Journal and Proceedings, Asia-
the turtle can easih' dig. ticSociety of Bengal (New Series), Vol. XIX,
There are three species of gopher turtles No. 4; "On the Proper Wording of the Titles
in the United States. Two of these turtles are of Scientific Papers," in Science, Vol. LX,
Westerners which frequent the deserts of No. 1540; "More About Spider Webs and
Texas, Arizona, Cahfornia, and Nevada. Spider Web Fish Nets," in the Zoological
The Florida gopher turtle is used extensively Society Bulletin for July, 1924, presenting
for food. An interesting account of "Gopher certain interesting data in corroboration of
Pulhng in Florida'' has been described in his previous articles regarding this astonishing
Natural Histoet bj'- Dr. G. Ctyde Fisher.^ use of spider webs; and "PHny's Historia Nat-
FISHES
uralis —
the Most Popular Natural History
Ever Published," in Isis (Brussels), Vol. VT,
The American Society of Ichthyolo- No. 18. Doctor Gudger has succeeded in trac-
gists AND Herpetologists held its Ninth
ing 222 editions of the Historia Naturalis,
Annual Meeting in Burton Hall, Smith that were pubhshed between 1469 and 1906
College, October 25, 1924. The follo\\ang Of these 190 were issued between 1469 and
officers were elected: president, Dr. Thomas In addition he
1799, a span of 330 years.
Barbour, of Harvard University; vice presi- has traced 281 items of Phniana (single books
dents, Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, of the United of Pliny's work, comments on his writings,
States National Museum, Prof. H. H. Wilder,
etc.), constituting a grand total of 503 publi-
of Smith College, Mr. J. T. Nichols, of the In view
cations of natural historj^ bearing.
American Museum; treasurer, Mr. Henrj^ W. of this impressive aggregate, there is justifica-
Fowler, of the Academy' of Natural Sciences
tion forDoctor Gudger's subtitle "The Most
of Philadelphia; secretarj-, Prof. Emmett R.
Popular Natural History Ever Pubhshed."
Dunn, of Smith College.
Among the papers presented was one by VERTEBRATE FOSSILS
Prof. Albert H. Wright, of Cornell Univer-
Dr. Friedrich von Huene of Tubingen
sity, devoted to the description of a rare Universitj' is kno^m to many friends of the
southern frog. The species in question is American Museum as an authoritj^ on dino-
very hke the buUfrog but its tadpole is quite saurs. Before the war he spent a year or more
uahke the "j-eUow tad" of the famiUar bel- in America, studying in different museums and
lower. Professor Dunn exhibited a series
visiting the fossil fields. In 1921 he opened
showing the development of a small West up a remarkable fossil quarry in southern
Indian tree frog (also found in Florida), Wiirttemberg from which he secured a series
wherein there is no tadpole stage, the young
of skeletons of the rare Triassic dinosaurs,
frog hatching directly from the egg. IMr.
dinosaurs
ancestors of the giant of later
Nichols spoke of the fresh-water fishes of These skeletons are now
geologic periods.
China, introducing the subject of geographical The collec-
being prepared at Tiibingen.
distribution. A discussion followed in which
tions were made under the joint auspices of
emphasis was laid on the importance of the
Museum and Tubingen Uni-
the American
faunal unit, an association of animals espe- be divided
versity,and the collection will
cially adapted to a certain area or climate The Museum
between the two institutions.
and there dominant. The difiicult}^ of de- a fine representation
looks forward to of
limiting so-caUed faunal areas except by the these primitive dinosaurs, known in this
dominance of one or another faunal unit in a from their footprints ip the
countrj" chiefly
given territorj' was stressed. Connecticut River and
sandstones of the
Papers by Dr. E. W. Gudger. — Among elsewhere. Only two skeletons of Triassic
the papers which Dr. E. W. Gudger has re- dinosaurs have been found in this country
cently issued, in addition to those that have the two species of Anchisaurus in Yale Uni-
appeared in Natural History, where his —
versity and thej^ are of small size and in-
contributions are always read mth interest, complete. The American Museum has ovly
are the following: "The Sources of the footprints, teeth, and a cast of the bigger
Material for Hamilton Buchanan's Fishes of Yale specimen as representatives of this
the Ganges, the Fate of His Collections, Draw- important group. Fairly complete skeletons
ings, and Notes, and the Use Made of His have been found in South Africa, but the
iNatueal History, May, 1917. Triassic dinosaurs are known principallj'
NOTES 727
from Trossingen in Wiirttemberg and Hal- It is a pleasure to note in his letters repeated
berstadt in Saxony. The best of the Halber- references to the courtesy and aid received
stadt specimens are in Berlin. Three fine both from the government and individuals in
skeletons from Trossingen and another place Argentina and South Africa. As a result of
are in the Stuttgart Museum; the new speci- his visit to the United States he has many
mens any of those men-
will equal or surpass cordial friends and admirers in this country
tioned. The preparation of two of the skele- who are appreciative that his high scientific
tons has been completed, Doctor von Huene standing and attractive personality are re-
informs us, and preparators are now at work ceiving recognition elsewhere as well.
on a third one. W. D. M.
Not long ago the Buenos Aires and La
Plata museums in Argentina invited Doctor ASIA
von Huene to study and describe the dino- Natural History Museum in Peking. —
saurs in their collections, and he spent nearly One of the indirect results of President Henry
a year on this research, working in the mu- Fairfield Osborn's visit to Peking is a marked
seums and visiting the localities where the revival of interest in the project of a natural
dinosaurs were found. The remains are for historymuseum for that great and historic
the most part those of gigantic amphibious city. Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews, leader of
dinosaurs, related to our Brontosaurus and the Third Asiatic Expedition of the Ameri-
Diplodocus, equally huge and of somewhat can Museum and Asia Magazine, \vrites,
later geologic age. Doctor von Huene writes, under date of August 11, that Wellington
however, that fragmentary remains of other Koo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Acting
kinds are also present. He visited the dino- Premier (at that time), a graduate of Colum-
saur fields and some of the fossil mammal bia University, is especially interested in the
localities in Patagonia, and writes of a re- movement. A mandate has been issued by
markable series of skeletons of giant dinosaurs the President of the Republic, a societj^ has
which were being taken out at the time he been formed, and the museum project now
left. He made number of very valuable
also a has the highest official sanction. It has been
observations on the geologic age and succes- approved at a meeting attended by three
sion of the formations in that region. These cabinet ministers, besides the Acting Premier
present a problem which has been much dis- and other prominent Chinese officials. It
puted, and his expert and unbiased observa- had previously been approved by Dr. W. W.
tions and conclusions wiU carry great weight Yen, Premier-elect of the Chinese RepubUc.
in deciding the controversy. He confirms It is essentially a Chinese movement, the
completely the view that the dinosaurs are only two foreigners in the society being Dr.
limited to the older Cretaceous formations, John C. Ferguson and Mr. Andrews. A con-
and the mammals are all of later age and not, siderableamount of money has been sub-
as was formerly supposed, contemporary by the Chinese officials personally and
scribed
with the dinosaurs. they are planning to secure government
On completing his South American work support.
Doctor von Huene went to South Africa, The museum wiU open as an exhibition and
where he spent some months visiting the educational institution and will take on func-
museums of Cape Town, Grahamstown, etc., tions of research in future years. A number
and the various collecting grounds of the of valuable and interesting specimens for
Karoo series of rocks, whence have come the exhibition and instruction were taken over
vast variety and numbers of primitive rep- by Mr. Andrews on his return to China and
tiles of Permian and Triassic age. The Ameri- these are highly appreciated by the Chinese
can Museum has one of the four well-known Among those deeply interested is
officials.
collections of these remarkable and interesting Dr. Kung Bah King, director of the Art
primitive reptiles of South Africa, and the Museum, which is now well established in
Moschops and Endothiodon skeletons in the one of the palaces of the Forbidden City.
exhibition halls of the Museum are a fair Chinese officials are giving attention to other
sample of their strange and curious character. vacant palaces with a view to securing appro-
Doctor von Huene secured a fine collection priate quarters for the natural history mu-
for Tubingen^ University, and is now on his seum, and as the specimens arrive they will be
immediately installed in the site selected.
way home.
728 NATURAL HISTORY
Particularly desired at the start are attrac- Fichtel, Jules A. Guillaume, Geo.
tive educational exhibits to make a showing Hamilton, Pascal R. Harrower, Julius
that will arouse and enlist public support. HoLz, Theo. C. Hovey, Arthur J. Jones,
Among the specimens to be sent by the Ameri- W. F. Marshall, I. D. Morrison, H. H.
can Museum are two of the original dinosaur Morse, Wm. T. Payne, Jason Seabury
eggs and some of the original protoceratop- Pettengill, Jesse F. Rosenfeld, Sidney
sian material; the American Museum also C. Valentine, Oscar M. Voorhees, Fran-
contemplates sending some animals and birds cis G. Wickware; Children's Univer-
which will make a beginning in zoology and sity School, Lawrence School, Liberta
will illustrate methods that the Chinese School; Sisters of St. Dominic.
preparators may learn to duplicate.
AssociateMembers: Mesdames James I.
NEW MEMBERS Kay, Walter A. Scott, J. R. Tindle,
Since the last issue of Natural History Hilda H. Wullen; The Misses Caroline
the following persons have been elected mem- A. Abbatt, Eunice R. Blackburn, Astrid
Museum, making the L. Johnson, Mary E. Stevenson; Prof.
bers of the American
total membership 7814: Clodoveo Carrion; Col. C. deJ. Luxmore;
Doctors Wm. Hewson Baltzell, Kennon
Fellow: Doctor Thomas Barbour. Dunham, August T. Gast, J. S. Kelsey,
Jr.,Chas. T. Vorhies; Messrs. Duncan
Honorary Life Members: Messrs. Don
Papade-
McArthur Anderson, Walter A. Angell,
Rafael Grajales, Dimitrios
Rene Bal, Gardner R. P. Barker, Charles
metrius, and a. r. wilcox.
H. Blatchford, Simon P. Bomgardner,
Life Members:Miss Louise W. Case, Dr. Roland S. Bond, Alan Boyden, F. C. Buck-
Malcolm H. Tallman; Messrs. Herbert master, Joel W. Burdick, Leland B. Case,

L. Aldrich, Henry Waldo Greenough, Harry A. Cash, W. L. Clause, T. W.
M. D. Howell, Arthur Newton Pack, Cloney, Louis W. Dalzell, F. G. Darling-
and William Rennult. ton, Jr., Walter Henry Daub, Jr., Jean
Delacour, Alan C. Dixon, G. Tyrwhitt-
Members: Dr. Joseph H. Abra-
Stistaining
Drake, W. J. DuGAN, John Erickson,
ham; Mr. Chas. M. Kohn. Philotheos K. Ferney, George M. Gray,
Annual Members: Mesdames Henry H. Frank A. Halladay, Edward C. Ham-
Allen, O. T. Barnes, George E. Brewer, mond, Wm. Albert Harbison, A. S. Hark-
Jr., Irving J. Fox, S. H. Hartshorn, NEss, R. Bruce Horsfall, William C.
Eugene D. Hawkins, Ernest Ingersoll, Huebner. Wm. Prescott Hunt, Jr., E. J.
Charles Mallory, J. S. Noffsinger, Keeble, Joseph W. Kennedy, Julian
David B. Ogden, Fred. Starr, William Kennedy, Jr., Henry H. King, John W.
Reed Thompson, L. Mc A. Thorn, Kinsley Lawrence, Thomas Liggett, David R.
Twining; The Misses Evelyn Boteler, Locke, John Howard P. Logan, William
Mary Bussing, Jessie Chase, M. Dressel, R. Maxon, Wm. L. Mitchell, Rodman
Laura B. Garrett, Gladys A. Reichard, WiSTER MOORHEAD, GeORGE NoRRIS
Emma C. Myra Valentine,
Reynolds, Morgan, Henry Jewett Orth, Jr., Hay-
Virginia Young; Doctors Ellis Bonime, wood Parker, James B. Peter, Curt P.
Magnus C. Ihlseng, Mary Keyt Isham, RiCHTER, Wm. Rindspoos, W. H. Robin-
Morton C. Kahn, Arthur Stein; Messrs. son, F. W. Severance, C. Bernard Shea,
Theodore S. Barber, Louis G. Bendick, W. K. Shiras, Crawford L. Smith, Chas.
Storrs Brigham, I. L. Broadwin, Edward A. Stanwick, Alan Stone, R. S. Sturte-
M. Brown, Geo. F. Brownell, Gordon VANT, William H. Wheeler, 2d., Gerrit
W. Burnham, Charles S. Crow, Mal- P. Wilder, S. Amory L. Wil-
H. Wilder,
colm B. Dutcher, Edgar Ellinger, liams, David Willoughby, Edward A.
P.
Edward R. A. Eschenbach, Frederic Woods, Hikoji Yanagida.
FOUNDED IN 1869
Board of Trustees

MEMBERSHIP MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED

membership are:
Life Member 100
Fellow 500
Patron 1,000
Benefactor 50,000

FREE TO MEMBERS

. Illustrated stories for the children of members are told on alternate Saturday mornings in

than fifty years of public usefulness, during which its activities have grown and
it
brings evidence —
in the growth of the Museum membe-rship, in the ever-larger number
world-wide expeditions and disseminated through its pubhcations of the increasing —
whatsoever.
results of far-reaching importance. The fossil discoveries in MongoHa made by the
and through the opportunities it affords classes of students to visit the Museum;
girls,
others for the schools, colleges, and the general public, are dehvered both in the
and Guide which describe some exhibit or series of exhibits of special interest
Leaflets,
staff of thedepartment of anthropology, and Novitates, devoted to the publication of
The Librarian, American Museum of Natural History, .
New York City

INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
TEXT
Names of contributors and articles are set in capitals and small capitals. Titles of works reviewed are set in Italics.
Abel, Othenio, 524, 628 Bergstrom, Erik, 659

Academie des Sciences de Russie, 525 Berkey, Ch.\rles P., Geological Reconnaissance in
Adams, Charles Cyrus, 414 Central Mongolia, 160-73
Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain Goat, 381-87 Bermuda, 406
Africa, 109-11, 114, 278, 279, 284-88, 289-96, 297-311, Bernheimer, Charles L., 267
312-27, 328-36, 405, 411-12, 620-21 Bibliography of Fishes, 392-401, 523-24
Agassiz, Alexander, 619, 623 Biological Survey, Bureau of, 117, 119, 621-22
Agate Quarry, 119 Bird Banding, 60.5-17
Akeley, Carl E., Martin Johnson and His Expedition Bird Hunting Among the Wild Indi.\ns of Western
to Lake Paradise, 284-88 Pan.ama, 509-19
Akeley, Carl E., 620-21 Bird Personalities of the Australian Bush, 29-41
"Albatross," The, 566-77, 601, 619-20 Birds: —
American Ornithologists' Union, 720-22; An-
Albert National Park, 620-21 dean, 420-28; Argentine, 404; Australia, 29-41;
Alexander, Annie M., 123 Back Bay, Virginia, 269-70; "Bird Banding."
Alexander von Humboldt, 449-53 60.5-17; "Bird Hunting Among the Wild Indians
Allen, Arthur A., 617, 722 of Western Panama," .509-19; "Bird Personali-
Allen, Glover M., 262-63, 414 ties of the Australian Bush," 29-41; Birds in
Allen, J. A., 122-23, 125, 530 Legend, Fable, and Folklore, 123; Birds of the
Allen Memorial Fund, J. A., 122-23 New —
York Region, 105-08; Birds Their Photo-
Allen Memorial Volume, 530 graphs and Home Life, 123-24; Burma, 404; Can
Allis, Jr., Edward Phelps, 411 We Save Our Game Birds? 269; census, 621-22;
Amateur Entomologists and the Museum, 337-46 Chilean, 121-22, 404; duck. New Zealand blue,
American Association of North China, 261 622; pink-headed, 198; "Eland and .Its Bird
American Bison Society, 270-71 Sentinel," 96-7; Fame Islands, 407; Faun-
American Men op the Dragon Bones, 350-65 thorpe-Vernay Expedition, 404, 525; Galapagos,
American Ornithologists' Union, 720-22 259, 623; Guadalupe, 581-82; heron, cattle, 405;
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, honey guide, 328-36; humming bird, paradise
270-71 racquet-tail, 272; Louisiana bird sanctuaries, 117,
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, 621; macaw, Cuban, 622; National Association
726 of Audubon Societies, 621, 722; Nebraska, 119;
American Society of Mammalogists, 278, 414 Outivitting the Weasels, 624; Panama, 272, .509-
Amphibians: —rCongo, 534; Hainan, 215-23; Hyla 19; Paul J. Rainey Wild Life Sanctuary, The,
evansi, 478; Panama, 267, 533; Rana sesopus, 621; phoebe, 407; Polynesia, 121, 535, opposite
724 West Indies, 726
; 539-53; "Profiteers of the Busy Bee," 328-36;
Anderson, C, 274 puff bird, black, 477; Puffinus carneipes, 534;
Anderson, J. G., 113, 114, 406 Whitney South Sea Expedition, 121, 535, opposite
Andes: A New World,
420-28 539-53; Woodland Creatures, 624:
Andes, 420-28, 429-41, 442-48, 463 Birds in Legend, Fable, and Folklore, 123
Andrews, Charles W., 525 "Birds of the New York Region," 105-08
Andrews, Roy Chapman, The Coming Five Years, Birds, Their Photographs and Home Life, 123-24
1924-28, of the Third Asiatic Expedition, 256-57 Bison, 270
Andrews, Roy Chapman, Living Animals of the Gobi Boulton, Rudyerd, 272, 509, 722
Desert 150—59 Breder, C. M., 267, 532-33
Andrews, Roy Chapman, 112, 113, 125, 260-61, 262, Breuil, H., 646, 668
265, 356, 357, 358, 364, 365, 406, 727 Bridgman, Herbert, 719
Andros Island, 412, 534-35 British Association for the Advancement of Science,
Anglo-American Association, 262 624-25
Anthony, H. E., The High Andes of Ecuador, 429-41 British Guiana, 467-78
Anthony, H. E., 123, 269, 414, .529, 722 Bruce, Sir David, 624
Argentine, 121-22, 404 Burgevin, J. V., 629
Arrhenius, Professor, 529 Burkitt, Miles C, 532
Arsenieff, V. K., Natives of the Russian Far East, Burma, 174-98, 199-203, 403, 404
713-18 Burns, Edward J., 720, 724
Ass wild 1 52—56 Burroughs, John, 406, 407, 408
Aur'ignacian skeletons, 277-78, 682-92 Burroughs Memorial Association, 407
Australia, 4-15, 16-28, 29-41, 42-59, 60-1, 62-9, 274- Busck, A., 271
76, 603-04, 627 Butler, Sir Harcourt, 126, 625
Australia, The Land of Living Fossils, 4-15
Avis, Edward, 722 Csenolestes, 123
Ayer, E. E., 621 Calaveras Grove, .531-32
Caldwell, Neite, 278
Bab, Mr., 260 Can We Save Our Game Birds? 269
Badmajapoff, C, 127, 365 Canon del Muerto, 267
Baer, John L., 267, 533 Capitan, Louis, 629, 668
Bahamas, 412, 534-35 Carter, T. D., 611, 616, 724
Bailey, Florence Merriam, Some Plays and Dances "Challenger," The 619-20,623
of the Taos Indians, 85-95 Chapin, James P., Profiteers of the Busy Bee, 328-36
Bailey, Florence Merriam. 722 Chapin, James P., 412, 534, 722
Baldwin, S. Prentiss, 123, 606, 607, 608, 610, 611, 612, Chapm\n, Frank M., The Andes: A New World, 420-
617 28
Barbour, George B., 113 Chapman, Frank M.. 121-22, 404, 407, 524, .531, 722
Barbour, Thomas, 123, 622, 726 Chapman. Mrs. Frank M., 121-22, 404
Barrett, Charles, Reptile Life in Australia, 42-59 Chetvrkin, Serge, 272
Barro Colorado, 120-21, 494-508 Chilcis, George H., 412, 595
Barrus, Clara, 407 Chile, 121-22, 404
Bather, F. A., 625 Chimborazo, 421, 427, 429, 439-41, 446, 449. 529
Bats, 262 China Society. 265
Baynes, Ernest Harold, 278 China, 112, 113, 215-23, 224-35, 260-62, 262-63, 264-
Bean, Barton A., 524-25 65, 265, 366-80, 406, 726, 727
Bear:— Kamchatka black, 236-40; sloth, 192 Chinese University of Peking, 261
Beaver Colony of Yellowstone Park, A., 347-49 Christmas ceremonies, 724
Beck, Rollo H., 121, 535, .539-53 Church, Frederic E., 442^8, 4.53
Beebe, William, 115, 259, 268, 271, 272, 472, 524 Church, Louis P., 4.53
Belknap, Mrs. William, 412 Clark, B. Preston, 346
Bequaert, Joseph, 412 Clark, Grover, 260
II INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
Clabk, James L., The Highlands of the Great Craters, Society, 236-40; Marsh Darien, K. O., 266-67,
297-311 532-33; "Martin Johnson and His Expedition to
Clark, James L., 125, 286, 720 Lake Paradise," 284-88; North Pole, 719; Pana-
Coal mines, dinosaur tracks in, 388-91 ma, 266-67, 272, 494-508, 509-19; 532-33;
Cole, Leon J., 607, 615, 616 Patagonia, 727; "Polaris," The, 115; Siwalik
Hon. William M., 404
Collier, Hills Indian, 208-14; Smithsonian Institution,
Colombia, 427-28 264; Sweden, 405-06, 528-29, 659-64, opposite
Coming Five Years, 1924-28, op the Third Asiatic 664; "Tecate," The, 569, 578-88; Third Asiatic,
Expedition, 256-57 112, 114, 126, 127, 132-49. 150-58, 160-73, 215-
Commercial Cable Company, 601-02 23, 224-35, 260-62, 350-65; Third Charles L.
Congo, 316, 320, 328-36, 411-12, 530, 531, 534 Bernheimer, 267; Whitney South Sea, 121, 535,
Contributors to archseological collections of American opposite 539-53; Wilkes Exploring, 524-26;
Museum, 668 Williams Galapagos, the Harrison, 115-16, 259,
Contributors to Third Asiatic Expedition, 257 271
Cook, Harold, 408
Cook, Wells W., 609 Fairchild, H. L., 267
Coolidge, President, 531 Falkenbach, Charles, 631
Cooper, C. Foster, 119 Falkenbach, Otto, 118, 119
Cooper, Isabel, 115, 259, 271, 272, 408 Fame Islands, 407
Coral, 62-9, 412, 534-35, 594-600, 601-02 Faunthohpe, J. C, The Disappearance of Wild Life in
Coral Gardens op Andros, The, between 600 and 601 India, 204-07
Cordier, A. H., 124 Faunthohpe, J. C, Jungle Life in India, Burma, and
Correia, Jose G., 542 Nepal, 174-98
Cowles, R. P., 524 Faunthorpe, J. C, 113, 125, 174-98, 199-203, 266, 528
Cox, Helen B., 119 Faunthorpe-Vernay Indian Expedition, 113, 125, 126,
Crampton, Henry E., 340 174-98, 199-203, 403, 404, 525-27, .527-28, 625-27
Cristy, Cuthbert, 625 Ferguson, John C, 262, 727
Cromer Forest Bed, 648-54 Field Book of Common Rocks and Minerals, 124
Crosby, Maunsell S., Bird Banding, 605-17 Finley, Wilham, 616
Crosby, M. S., 269-70 Fisher, G. Clyde, "A Mother's Letters to a School-
Cunningham, J. T., 625 master," 258
Cuvier, 673, 681 Fisher, G. Clyde, Alpine Flowers of Arctic Lapland,
659-64
Fisher, G. Clyde, Wild Flowers of the Uplands of
Darwin, Charles, 116-17, 259, 449-51, 542 Lapland, between 664 and 665
Darwin, Leonard, 116-17, 414 Fisher, G. Clyde, 120, 266, 278, 405-06, 528-29, 611,
Davis, William Morris, The Oceans, 554-65 615
Davison, F. Trubee, 287
Dean's "Bibliography of Fishes;" A Review, 392-
Fishes: — Allis, Jr., studies of head structure of fishes
by Edward P., 411; American Society of Ich-
95; A Historical Sketch, 395-401 thyologists and Herpetologists, 726; Bibliography
Dean, Bashpord, The Jardin des Plantes, 673-81 of Fishes, 392-401, 523-24; China, 215-23, 726;
Dean, Bashford, 392-401, 411, 523-24, 524 Congo, 411-12; deep-sea, 565; Galapagos, 259;
Dean, Mrs. Bashford, 396 Gudger, papers by Dr. E. W., 726; Hainan, 215-
De Geer, Baron, 529 23; " Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper,
De Quatrefages, Doctor, 675-78 a Common West Indian Fish," 252-.53; salmon of
Dellenbaugh, Frederick S., 270 Kamchatka, 238, 240; sea horses from Australia,
Description of Eighteen New Species of Fishes from 274-76; Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 524-25
Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 524 Fitz Simons, F.W., 114
Diamond, lectures on, 266 Flowers of Lapland, 659-64, between 664 and 665
Diamond mines, 467-70 Forbes, Edward, 623
Dickerson, Majy Cynthia, 724 Forbush, Edward H., 722
Dimmock, Julian A., 554
Dinomys, 482-85 Fossils:
—
Ford, James B., 123
"Australia, the Land of Living Fossils," 4-15;
Dinosaur eggs, 263-64, 627 Baluchitherium, 118-19; birds from Nebraska
Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines, quarries, 119; Boskop man, 114; Buhalus bainii,
388-91 114; buffalo, 114; dinosaur eggs, 263-64, 627;
Disappearance op Wild Life in India, 204-07 "Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines,"
Discovery op an Unknown Continent, The, 132-49 388-91; dinosaurs, Triassic, 726-27; "Discovery
Diseases of African mammals, 321-25 of an Unknown Continent, 132-49; Fayiim, 525;
Doane, R. W., Turret-building Termites, 98-100 Florida, 409-10; "Fossil Animals of India,"
Dodge, Cleveland H., 122 208-14; "Fossil Man from a New Viewpoint,"
Dohrn, Anton, 624 opposite 697-703; Hesperopithecus, 118, 273-74;
d'Oldenburg, Serge, 525 horse, 629-31; Loxolophodon, 112; mastodon,
Dunn, Emmett R., 726 Peale's, 410-11; Pliocene, 408-09; Protoceratops
Dubois, Auguste, 276 andrewsi, 118; "Relationships of the Upper Palae-
Du Rietz, G. Einar, 659 olithic Races of Europe," 682-96; Riobamba, 123;
Dwight, Jonathan, 522 Szechuan, 373-76; Triassic, 726-27; Triceratops
prorsus, 118; Urubitinga, 119; Zitzikama, human
Eastman, Charles R., 394, 396, 411 skeletons found at, 114
Eaton, Amos, 723 Pounders of Oceanography, 623-24
Ecuador, 123, 414, 421, 429-41, 443-46, 449, 453, 454- Fowler, Henry W., 411, 524, 726
66, 529-30 Foxhall, 647-48
Edmund Otis Hovey, 704-09 Foyles, Edward J., 271
Ehrenbaum, Ernst, 524 Franklin K. Lane Memorial Redwood Grove, 621
Ehrenberg, Kurt, 628 Eraser, David, 260
Eland and Its Bird Sentinel, The, 96-7 Frederic E. Church, Painter op the Andes, 442-48
Elephant, 183-91, 278-79, 296, »m, 527 Frick, Childs, 122, 409
Elliot Medal, Daniel Giraud, 524 Frick, Mrs. Henry Clay, 209
Emerson, Alfred, 272 Fruits of Ecuador, 454-66
Empire Exhibition, 408
Engler, Marguerite, 396 Gailey, Robert, 262
Eoliths, 628-29, 636-55, 656-58 "Galapagos: World's End" — A Review, 259
Escherich, Walter G., 115 GalApagos, 115-16, 259, 271, 593
Eugenics, 414 Gallatin, Francis D., 629
European Prehistory, 665-72 Gallegos, J. M., 579, 581
Expeditions:— "Albatross," 566-77, 601, 619-20; Garretson, Martin S., 271
Andros Island, 412, 534-35, 594-600; Chile, 121- Gazelle: —Gobi, 155; Mongolian, 155; Thompsons,
22, 404; Clark, (in western China) 264; Congo, 310
328-36, 411-12, 530, 534; Ecuador, 123, 414, 429- Geological Reconnaissance in Central Mongolia,
41. 454-66, 529-30; Faunthorpe-Vernay, 113, 160-73
125, 126, 174-98, 199-203, 403-04, 525-27, 527- Geological Society of China, 112, 113, 261, 264
28, 62.5-27; Guadalupe, 566-77, 578-88; High- Geological Survey of China, The, 113, 406, 627
lands of Great Craters, 297-311; Kamchatka Gevsers, 70-84
Expedition of Imperial Russian Geographical Gidley, James W., 409
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV III
Gifts to the Museum: —

archseological collections, 276, In the Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear,
668; "Colored Figures of the Birds of the British 236-40
Isles," 273; eland, 530-31; lion, Indian, 266;
monkeys from British East Africa, 278; rhino- Indians:
— "blond"
India, 113, 174-98, 204-07, 208-14, 266
of Panama, 533; Canon del
ceros, 530-31; sea horses from Austraha, 274-76 Muerto, 267; Jacobs Cavern, 122; Mammoth
Ginkgo tree, 629 Cave region,122; ISIexico, 402-03; Ottawa
Glimpses op Mammalian Life in Australia and County, Oklahoma, 122; Panama, 266-67, 509-
Tasmania, 16-28 19, 533; "Some Plays and Dances of the Taos
Goodrich, E. S., 625 Indians," 85-95
Goodwin, George G., 623 Ingersoll, Ernest, 123
Gorilla sanctuary, 620-21
Grabau, A. W., 114,261 Insects:
—
Insectivores, 262-63
"Amateur Entomologists and the Museum,"
Grand Canon, 270 337-46; bees, 120-21, 328-36, 494-508; beetle,
Granger, Anna G., Through the Yangtze Gorges to drug-store, 719; Beetle Group, Lady, 720-21;
Wan Hsien, 224-35 Belostomida, 719-20; butterfly, monarch, 720,
Granger, Anna G., Wintering over a Fire Basket in white cabbage, 720; exhibit, live insect, 719-20;
Szechuan, 366-80 Galapagos, 259, 271 "Huntress of Spiders, Af/eniella
;
Granger, Walter, 112, 261, 362, 406, 408, 631 bombycina, A," 520-22; mantis, praying, 720;
Grant, Madison, 122, 279, 413-14 Morrison prize, 120; moths, Utethesia bella, 719,
Graves, William W., 122 Panama, 494-508; termites, 98-100, 476; "Tur-
Great Barrier Reef of Australia, The, 62-84 ret-building Termites, 98-100; ultra violet in
Greenland, 627 relation to flower-visiting habits of, 120; wasps,
Gregory, J. W., 625 504-07, 508, 520-22
Gregory, William K., Australia, the Land of Living Intermuseum promenade, 413-14
Fossils, 4-15 International Commission of Eugenics, 414
Gregory, William K., "Pearls and Savages" A Re- — Into the Interior of British Guiana, 467-78
view, 603-04 Iron Age, 276-77
Gregory, William K., "The Schoolhouse of the
World," 254-55 Jackson, W. H., 270
Gregory, William K., 274, 620-21, 625, 631 Jacques, F. L., 722
Grinnell, George B., 123 Jamaica, drums and drum rhythms of, 241-51
Griscom, Ludlow, Bird Hunting Among the Wild James, Arthur Curtiss, 566, 571
Indians of Western Panama, 509-19 Jansson, A. A., 115, 720
Griscom, Ludlow, 105-08, 269-70, 272, 411, 722 Jardin des Plantes, The, 673-81
Guadalupe, 566-77, 578-88 Jesup, Morris K., 339, 403, 452, 719
GuDGER, E. W., Dean's "Bibliography of Fishes," An — Jimmie, the Story of a Black Bear Cub, 278
Historical Sketch, 395-401 JocHELSON, Waldemar, In the Realm of the Kam-
GuDGER, E. W., Notes on the Behavior of the Gray chatka Black Bear, 236-40
Snapper, a Common West Indian Fish, 252-53 Johnson, Martin, Scenes from the Plains and Jungles
Gudger, E. W., 394, 524, 726 of Africa, 289-96
Guiana, British, 467-78 Johnson, Martin, 284-88
Johnson, Mrs. Martin, 284-88
Haagner, Ahvin, 327, 335 Jones, Robert E., 270
Hadley, Herbert Spencer, 122 Jordan, David Starr, 523
Hahn, Mrs. Otto, 408 Joselyn, Paul, 260
Hainan, 215-23 Journal Club, American Museum, 267-68
Hallinan, Thomas, 724 Jung, the Maharaja Sir Chandra Shumshere, 126
Halter, C. R., 409, 722 Jungle Life in India, Burma, and Nepal, 174-98
Harrington, Helen, 624
Harris, Reginald G., 266 Kaisen, Peter, 362
Hay, Clarence, 402 Kammerer, Paul, 267-68
Hay, O. P., 408 Kartabo, 272, 408
Hedley, Charles, The Great Barrier Reef of Austra- Kemp, James F., Edmund Otis Hovey, 704-09
lia, 62-84 Kentian 637-40
eoliths,
Heinrich, C, 271 Kerr, J. Graham, 523
Heinrich, Elsie M., 398 King, Kung Bah, 727
Heller, Hilda Hempl, Peruvian Pets, 479-93 Kinloch, A. P., 126
Hellman, Milo, 274, 625, 682 Kivu, Lake, 620-21
Henderson, Lady, 625 Koo, Wellington, 727
Henn, A. W., 394, 396, 398 Kunz, George F., 270
Hentschel, C. C, 625
Herdman, Sir William, 623 Lamarck, 678-80
Hickling, George, 625, 631 Lamington, Lord, 266
High Andes of Ecuador, The, 429-41 La Monte, Franceses, 397
Highlands of the Great Craters, 297-311 Lane, Franklin K., 621
Hippopotamus, 320; pigmy, 316-16 Lang, Charles, 118 .
Hoffman, Harry, 115, 272 Lang, Herbert, The Eland and Its Bud Sentmel,
Holly, spare the, 724 96-7
Holmes, Walter W., 410 Lang, Herbert, Into the Interior of British Guiana,
Hooten, E, A., 682 467-78
Hornaday, William T., 327, 408 Lang, Herbert, The Vanishing Wild Life of Africa,
Houghton, Howard, 262 312-27
Hovey, Edmund Otis, Rotorua and the Geyser Region Lang, Herbert, 262-63, 278, 411, 414, 528, 530, 534 _
of New Zealand, 70-84 Lankester, Sir E. Ray, Note on J. Reid Moir s

Hovey, Edmund Otis, 533, 618, 627-28, 704-09 "Tertiary Man in England," 654-55
Rowland, R. H., 614 Lapland, 405-fl6, 528-29, 659-64, between 664 and 66o
Hoy, Charles M., 264 Larsen, Franz A., 126, 365
HuEY, Laurence M., A Trip to Guadalupe, the Isle of La Rue, E. C, 270
My Boyhood Dreams, 578-88 La Tene, 276-77 .
Humboldt, Alexander von, 421, 449-53 Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial. 621
Hunting Corals in the Bahamas, 594-600 La Varre, William J., 471
Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador, 454-66 Lee, J. S., 112 , ,
Hunting Stingless Bees, 494-508 Leng Charles W., The Public Museum of Staten
Huntington, Archer M., 268, 403 Island, 101-04
Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella bombycina. A, Leng, Charles W., 344
520-22 Le Rouzic, Zacharie, 276
Hurley, Frank, 603-04 Le Souef, A. S., 60-1
Hussakof, Louis, 394, 411 Library, American Museum, 273
Hyde, B. T. B., 346 Lion, Indian, 266
Lipotes, 264 ,...,.
Littlejohns, R. T., Bird Personalities of the Aus-
Iguchi, Kenzo, 625
tralian Bush, 29-41
Illustrated Natural History, 124
"In Brightest Africa," 109-11 Living Animals of the Gobi Desert, 1o0-o9
IV INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
Long Island Biological Association, 266 Moir, J. Reid, 628, 668
Loomis, Frederick Brewster, 124 Monaco, Prince of, 620, 623
Louisiana Gulf Coast Club, 117 Mongolia, 112, 112-13, 126, 127, 132-49, 150-59, 160-
Lowe, Willoughby, 404, 525 73, 256-57, 261, 262, 263, 350-65
Lower Invertebrates: —
coral, 62-9, 412, 534-35, 594- Monkeys, 278, 471
600, 601-02; Foraminifera, 563; Peripatus, 476 Moore, Barrington, 407
Lucas, Frederic A., The Seal Collection, 589-93 Morris, Carl H., 267
Lucas, F. A., 266, 278, 401, 471, 621 Morris, Frederick K., 112, 261, 361
Lutz, Frank E., Amateur Entomologists and the Morrison Prize, A. Cressy, 120
Museum, 337-46 A Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster, 258
Lutz, Frank E., Hunting Stingless Bees, 494-508 Motohashi, Heichiro, 625
Lutz, Frank E., 120, 120-21, 720 Mueller, Herman, 412, 535, 539
Lydenburg, H. M., 523-24 Murphy Memorial, Simon J., 532
Murphy, Robert Cushman, The Whitney South Sea
McCulloch, Alan, 603-04 Expedition, opposite 539-53
MacCurdt, George Grant, What Is an Eolith? 656- Murphy, Robert Cushman, 121, 404-05, 535, 722
58 Murray, Sir John, 623
McGregor, J. H., 620 Musee J. Miln, 276
McKay, Robert G., 259 Museum of Comparative Zoology, 622
"Museum of Heavenly Creations," 260, 355
Madison, H. L., 722-23 Museum op Tomorrow, The, 710-12
Malfeyt, J., 531 Mutchler, A. J., 337, 340
—
Mallinckrodt, Jr., Edward, 530-31
Mammals: "Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain National Association of Audubon Societies, 621, 722
Goat," 381-87; Andes, 434-41; ass, wild, 152- National Conference on Outdoor Recreation, 531
56; "Australia, the Land of Living Fossils," National Conference on State Parks, 407
4-15; bats, 262; bear, Kamchatka black, 236- National Park Service, 268-69
40, sloth, 192; "Beaver Colony of Yellowstone Natives op the Russian Far East, 713-18
Park," 347-49; Berlin, New York, 623; bison, Natural history teaching in China, 264-65, 727
270; British Guiana, 467-78; Burma, 199-203, Naumburg, Mrs. Walter W., 722
403; Ccenolestes, 123; Congo, 530; Dinomys, 482- Nelson, E. W., 117
85; "Disappearance of Wild Lifein India," 204- Nelson, N. C, European Prehistory, 665-72
07; diseases of, 321-25; Ecuador, 123, 429-41, Nelson, N. C, 122, 276, 628-29
529-30; "Eland and Its Bird Sentinel," 96-7; Nepal, jungle life in India, Burma, and, 174-98
elephant, 183-91, 278-79, 296, 320, 527; Faun- New Guinea, 603-04
thorpe-Vernav Expedition, 113, 174-78, 199-203, New York Aquarium, 574, 576, 622-23
403, 526-27, 527-28, 625-27; gazelle, Gobi, 155, New York City Federation of Women's Clubs, 408
Alongolian, 155. Thompson's, 310; Gobi, 150-59; New York State Federation of Workers for the Blind,
"Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and 120
Tasmania," 16-28; gorilla, 316; gorilla sanctuary, New York Training School for Teachers, 529
620-21; Guadalupe, 566-77, 578-88; "High Andes New York Zoological Society, 115, 122, 272, 279, 407-
of Ecuador," 429-41; hippopotamus, 320, pigmy, 08, 408, 574, 576, 622-23
315-16; In Brightest Africa, 109-11; "In the New Zealand, 70-84
Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear," 236-40; Ngorongoro, 297-311
insectivores, 262-63; "Into the Interior of British Nichols, John T., 125, 400, 411, 722, 726
Guiana," 467-78; "Jungle Life in India, Burma, Noble, G. K., 268, 534
and Nepal," 174-98; lion, African, 311, 325-26, Nomura, Jugiro, 411
Indian. 266; Lipoies, 264; "Living Animals of Northern Elephant Seal and Guadalupe Fur
the Gobi Desert." 150-59; monkeys, 278, 471: Seal, The, 566-77
Ngoi-ongoro, 297-311; "Northern Elephant Seal Note on J. Reid Moir's "Tertiary Man in Eng-
and the Guadalupe Fur Seal," 566-77; okapi, land," 654-55
315; "Peruvian Pets," 479-93; predatory mam- Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper, a
mals, 278-414; pronghorn, 117, 271; Pseudalopex, Common West Indian Fish, 252-53
485-89; rhinoceros, Indian one-horned, 179-83, Nuolja, Mount, 659-64
188, Sumatran, 625-27, white, 319-20; seals,
Caribbean, 592-93, elephant, 566-88, fur, 589-90, Obermaier, Hugo, 668, 697-703
Guadalupe fur, 567-69, harp, 591, horsehead, 591, Observations of a Bird Photographer, 123
ribbon, 591-92, ringed, 589-91; springbuck Oceans, The, 554-65
319; "Stalking Tsine in Burma," 199-203; Okapi, 315
tayra, 489-93; tiger, 183-88, 192-95; "Trip to Olsen, Chris. E., 412, 595
Guadalupe, the Isle of Mv Boyhood Dreams," "Origin of Species," page from, 116-17
578-88; "Vanishing Wild 'Life of Africa," 312- Osborn, A. Perry, 287
27; "Vanishing Wild Life of Australia," 60-1; OsBORN, Henry Fairfield, American Men of the
weasel, 480; Woodland Creatures, 62i; zebra, 317- Dragon Bones, 350-65
19 Osborn, Henry Fairfield, The Discovery of an Un-
Marchienne, Baron de Cartier de, 620 known Continent, 132-49
Maria, Brother Apolinar, 414 Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 111, 112, 113, 117, 118, 119,
Marr, J. E., 646-47 122, 126, 209, 259, 260-62, 264, 265, 268, 269, 276,
Marsh Darien Expedition, R. O., 266-67, 532-33 327, 394, 396, 397, 402, 407, 410, 412, 413, 414,
Marshall, Mrs. Charles Cyrus, 408 453, 471, 523, 525, 527, 528, 530, 531, 532, 625,
M.^RTiN Johnson and His Expedition to Lake 627, 628, 629, 651, 665, 668, 671, 672, 673, 682,
Paradise, 284-88 697,727
Mason, J. Alden, 402-03 Osborn, Mrs. Henry Fairfield, 115, 261, 276, 668
Mather, Samuel, 722-23 Osborn Library, 267, 276
Mather, Stephen D., 268-69 OsBURN, Raymond C, Dean's "Bibliography of
Matthew, Christine D., Fossil Man from a New Fishes," A Review, 392-95
Viewpoint, opposite 697-703 Our Forerunners, 532
Matthew, W. D., Fossil Animals of India, 208-14 Outwitting the Weasels, 624
Matthew, W. D., 268, 391, 408, 409, 625, 629-31, 631
Maxwell Training School for Teachers, 529 Panama, 120-21, 266-67, 272, 494-508, 509-19,
Mead, H. L.. 409 532-33
Merriam, John C, 408, 414 Pare National Albert, 620-21
Merriam, William, 272 Paul J. Rainey Wild Life Sanctuary, The, 621
Mexican archfeology, 402-03 Pavlow, Marie, 119
Meyer, Cord, 529 Peale, Charles Willson, 410-11, 673, 680
Millikan, Robert Andrews, 529 Peale's mastodon, 410-11
Miller, W. deW., 722 Peale, Rembrandt, 411
Mills, Ogden, 273 Peale, Titian R., 121, 411
Miner, Roy Waldo, Coral Gardens of Andros, t Pearson, T. Gilbert, 117, 269, 722
between 600 and 601 Peking, natural history museum in, 727
Miner, Roy Waldo, Hunting Corals in the Bahamas, Peking University Medical College, 262
594-600 Pellegrin, Jacques, 524
Miner, R. W., 268, 412, 534-35 Percy, Lord William, 404
MoiR, J. Rbid, Tertiary Man in England, 636-54 Peruvian Pets, 479-93
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV V
Pbtehson, William, Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Schwarz, G. Fred, 621
Coal Mines, 388-91 ScHWARz, Herbert F., Frederic E. Church, Painter of
Phosphate, 409-10 the Andes, 442-48
Pine, destruction of four-hundred-year-old sugar, ScHWARz, Herbert F., "Galapagos: World's End,"
531-32 A Review, 259
Pitt, Frances, 624
Pleistocene man, 628, 682-96
Schwarz, Herbert
Review, 109-11
F., "In Brightest Africa," —
Pliocene Man, 628, 636-55, 656-58 SchwarzwEelder, Florence, 396
"Polaris" Expedition, last survivor of, 115 Scott, W. B., 112
Polynesia, 121, 524-25, 535, opposite 539-53, 601-02 Seal Collection, The, 589-93
Pomeroy, Daniel E., 287-88 Seals, Caribbean, 592-93, elephant, 566-88, fur, 589-
Pope, Clifford D., Hainan, 215-23 90, Guadalupe fur, 567-69, harp, 591, horsehead,
PopENOE, Wilson, Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador, 591, ribbon, 591-92, ringed, .589-91
454-66 Seaman, George Albert, 272
Port Elizabeth Museum, 114 Sellards, E. H., 410
Pratt, George D., 621 Seton, Ernest Thompson, 123
Preliminary Report on the Ordovician Formation o Seymour, Edmund, 271
Vermont, 271 Shaw, William T., Aiming a Camera at a Wild Moun-
Profiteers of the Bust Bee, 328-36 tain Goat, 381-87
Pronghorn, 117, 271 Shea, John, 407
Pseudalopex, 485-89 Sheringham, H. T., 523
Public Museum of Staten Island, The, 101-04 Shevlin Memorial, Thomas, 532
Pumpelly, Professor, 112-13 Shiras 3d, George, 123, 286
Siberian natives, 713-18
Quayle, Ernest H., 121, 542, 544 Simpson, G. G., 631
Siwahk Hills Indian Expedition, 208-14
Skeletons, human, 114, 277-78, 402
Rabenold, Elwood M., 408 Skinner, M. P., A Beaver Colony of Yellowstone
Radcliffe, Wilham, 523 Park, 347-49
Rainey, Paul J., 621 Skulls, collection of von Lusohan, 402; L'pper Palse-
Raven, Harry C, Glimpses of Mammalian Life in olithic races of Europe, 682-96
Australia and Tasmania, 16-28 Slack, Mrs. Thomas, 408
Reading, the Earl of, 126 Smallwood, H. St. Clair, 260
Redwoods, 532, 621 Smithsonian Institution, 264
Reeds, Chester A,, 113-14, 628 Sociedad Geografica de Colombia, 628
Relationships of the Upper Paleolithic Races Societe Geologique de Belgique, 531
OF Europe, 682-96 Solutre, 277
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 723 Some Plays and Dances of the Taos Indians,
Reptile Life in Australia, 42-59 85-95
Reptiles:— American Society of Ichthyologists and Sowerby, Arthur De Carle, 262, 264, 264-65
Herpetologists, 726; Australia, 42-59; Congo, Spain, fossil man in, 697-703
534; Galapagos, 259; Hainan, 215-23; Indian, Springbuck, 319
197-98; Panama, 267, 533; Sphenodon, 533-34; Stalking Tsine in Burma, 199-203
Turtle Group, Gopher, 724-26 Starks, E. C, 523
Reviews: Allen Memorial Volume, 530; Bibliography Staten Island, Public Museum of, 101-04
of Fishes, 392-95, 523-24; Birds in Legend, Stejneger, Leonhard, 726
Fable, and Folklore, 123; Can We Save Our Game Stone Age, 276, 277, 532
Birds? 269; Description of Eighteen New Species Stone, Witmer, "Birds of the New York Region."
of Fishes from Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 524; - 105-08
Field Book of Common Rocks and Minerals, 124; Stuart, Robert L., 668
Founders of Oceanography, 623-24 Fossil Man in
;
Stuart, Mrs. Robert L., 669
Spain, 697-703; GalApagos: World's End, 259; Submarine Cable Among the Rocks, 601-02
Geology of Northwest Greenland, 627-28; Illus- Suffolk Bone Bed, 640-42
trated Natural History, 124; In Brightest Africa, Sullivan, Louis R., 122
109-11; Jimmie, the Story of a Black Bear Cub, Sullivan, Louis R., Relationships of the Uppe Pralae-
278; Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster, 25S; Ob- olithic Races of Europe, 682-96
servations of a Bird Photographer, 123; Our Fore- Sweden, 405-06, 528-29
runners, 532; Outwitting the Weasels, 624; Pearls
and Savages, 603-04; Preliminary Report on the Talbot, L. R., 609
Ordovician Formations of Vermont, 271; Wood- T'an, H. C, 113
land Creatures, 624 Tappin, Harold, 272
Rhinoceros: Indian one-horned, 179-83, 188; Suma- Tasmania, 14-5, 22-8, 48
tran, 625-27; white, 319-20 Tate, G. H. H., 123, 429, 529-30
Ribero, Alipio de Miranda, 524 Tattersall, Walter M., 625
Ridgeway, Robert, 524 Tayra, 489-93
Roberts, Helen H., Some Drums and Drum Rhythms Tee-Van, John, 259, 272
of Jamaica, 241-51 Tee-Van, Mrs. John, 272
Rockefeller Memorial, Laura Spelman, 621 Tertiary Man in England, 636-54
Rogers, Mrs. Grace, 621 Third Asiatic Expedition, 112, 114, 126, 127, 132-49,
Rogers, Herman, 272 150-58, 160-73, 215-23, 224-35, 256-57, 260-62;
Rogers, Mrs. Katherine, 272 350-65
Roosevelt Memorial Hall, 629 Third Asiatic Expedition, contributors to, 257
Roosevelt, Theodore, 407, 531, 668 Thomson, Sir Wyville, 623
Resales, Jose M., 628 Thorne Memorial Fund, Jonathan, 120
Rose, Ruth, 259, 271, 272 Thorp, CoUingwood F., 407
ROTORUA AND THE GeYSER ReGION OF NeW ZEA- Through the Yangtze Gorges to Wan Hsien,
LAND, 70-84 224-35
Rutherford, Sir Ernest, 624 Thwing, Charles Franklin, 722-23
Tiger, 183-88, 192-95
Sage, Mrs. Russell, 407-08 Tilney, F., 620
Sanford, Leonard C., 542 Ting, V. K., 112, 113, 114, 261
Sartiaux, M. Felix, 119 Tiveney, Clarence, 625
Sarton, George, The Museum of Tomorrow, 710-12 TowNSEND, Charles Haskins, The Northern Ele-
Save the Redwoods League, 532, 621 phant Seal and the Guadalupe Fur Seal, 566-77
Savin, William M., A Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella TowNSEND, Charles Haskins, A Submarine Cable
bombycina, 520-22 among the Corals, 601-02 .,,„„,
Scenes from the Plains and Jungles op Africa, Townsendf Charles H., 523, 525, 619-20, 623, 623-24
289-96 Trip to Guadalupe, Isle of My Boyhood Dreams,
Schaus, William, 271 A, 578-88
Schmidt, Karl P., 534 Tripp, Evelyn, 396 „ o .
, ,
Schneider, Anton, 409 Tropical Research Station, N. \. Zoological Society,

"Schoolhouse of the World," 254-55 272, 408
Schrader diving suit, 412, between 600 and 601 Tsine, 199-203
Schurman, Jacob Gould, 260 - ~~ Turret-Building Termites, 98-100
VI INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
U. S. National Museum, 622, 627 Whitney South Sea Expedition, The, opposite
539-53
Valentine, Mason, 272
J.
Whitney South Sea Expedition, 121, 535, opposite
Vanishing Wild Life op Africa, The, 312-27 539-53
Vanishing Wild Life of Australia, The, 60-1 Wickenham, Mr., 407
Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 723 Wild Flowers of the Uplands of Lapland, between
Van Straelen, Victor, 627 664 and 665
Vernay, Arthur S., Stalking Tsine in Burma, 199-
Wilder. H. H., 726
203 Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 524-25
Vernay, A. S., 113, 125, 126, 174-98, 199-203, 403, 404, Willey, Arthur, 524
527, 625-27 Williams Galapagos Expedition, Harrison, 115-16,
Vinson, Robert Ernest, 722-23 259, 271, 593
von Huene, Friedrich, 726-27 Williams, Lewis B., 722-23
von Luschen collection, 402 Williams, T. S., 266
Vouga, Paul, 276-77 Williamson, J. E., 412
Williamson Submarine Tube, 412, 534-35, 594-600,
opposite 600
Walcott, F. C, 121-22, 404 Wintering Over a Fire Basket in Szechuan, 366-
Walcott, Helen, 121-22, 404 80
Wan Yu Hui, 261 Wissler, Clark, 621, 625
Watson, D. M. S., 627, 631 Wong, W. H., 112, 113, 114
Watson, F. E., 344 Wood, J. G., 124
Wells, Carveth, 405-06, 528-29, 659 Woodland Creatures, 624
Western Reserve University, 722-23 Woodward, Arthur Smith, 525, 625, 668
Wetmore, Alexander, 119 Wright, Albert H., 726
What Is an Eolith?, 656-58 Wright, Mable Osgood, 722
Wheeler, William M., 339-40, 524 Wunder, Charles, 340, 344
Whelpley, H. M., 122
White, JNIrs. Harry, 410 Yen, W. W., 727
Whiteley, James G., 621 Yosemite museum, 621
Whitlock, Herbert P., 266
Whitney, Harry Payne, 542 Zebra, 317-19
Whitney, Mrs. Harry Payne, opposite 539, 553 Zdansky, Otto, 406
ILLUSTRATIONS
Africa: — cattle herons, 405; great craters, 297-311; Brandreth, Courtenay, kingfishers, color plate op.
honey guides, 328-36; Martin Johnson and natives, posite 539
284; Martin Johnson pictures in duotone, 289- Burma:—building, 203; stalking tsine, 200-01
96; vanishing wild Hfe, 312-27
"Albatross," The, 568, 575, 619 Carter, T. D., song sparrow, 616; warbler, 611
Allen, Arthur A,, green-winged teal, 617 Chapman, Frank M., Andes, 420, 424-26
American Fuel Company, dinosaur tracks, 389-90 Christman, Erwin S., "Schoolhouse of the World",
Andrews, R. C, camp at Ashile, 142-43; Mongolian 2.54
dog, 158; Mongolian scenes, 352-53, 369-61; Church, Frederic E., Andes, paintings of, 443-48
Nan K'ou Pass, 162; portrait, 151, 356 Clark, James L., Ngorongoro, 297-311
Andrews, Yvette Borup, headquarters Third Asiatic Cooper LTnion, sketches by Church in, 443, 448
Expedition, 362-63 Commercial Cable Company, coral-encrusted cable,
Anthony, H. E., High Andes of Ecuador, 430-41 602
Arsenieff, V. K., Natives of Russian Far East, 713-18 Corals: —Bahamas, 594-99, color plate and duotone
Asia: —
Burma, tsine, 200-03; China, Hainan scenes, insert between pp. 600-01; cable encrusted with,
216-23, Szechuan winter quarters, 366-75, 602 Great Barrier Reef, 63-9
;
Yangtze to Wan Hsien, 226-35; India, fossil

animals. 208-14, jungle life, 174-98; Kamchatka, Darwin, Charles, page from "Origin of Species," 116
236-40; Mongolia, geological reconnaissance, Davis, W. M., ocean currents, 556
160-71, Gobi Desert animals, 152-58, Iren Dabasu Davis, W. T., Staten Island Museum, 102, 104
field trip of H. F. Osborn, 351-65, outstanding dis- Dean, Bashford, Quatrefages, 675
coveries, 132-47; Siberian natives, 713-18 —
Diagrams: dinosaur tracks, 388; elephant and tor-
—
Australia: birds, 30-41; dances, dingo, 12; kangaroo, toise, 214; Tertiary man in England, 638-50;
Third Asiatic Expedition, 138-44; 160-71; 365
13; Great Barrier Reef, 63-9; mammals, 4-15,
16-28; reptiles, 42-59; scenes, 4-69; sea horses, Diamond mining in British Guiana, 468
275; Tasmania, 14-5, 22-7, 48 Dimmock, Julian A., "Sunset at Sea." 554
Baldwin, S. Prentiss, bird banding, 606-10 Doane, R. W., termite nests, 98-100
Barrett, Charles, Australian reptiles, 42-59 Dresden Zoological Garden, zebra, 322
Bayer, Dr. L., cattle herons, 405 Drums of Jamaica, 242
Beatty, J. W., Tasmanian natives, 14-5 d'LTrville, Dumont, dingo and kangaroo dances, 12-3
Beck, Rollo H., Polynesian birds, 539-52; portrait, 541 Dyott, G. M., jungle scenes in India, Burma, and
Belanske, William E., "Coral Fairlyland," color plate Nepal, 174-98
opposite 600; cover for March- April; hemi- —
Europe: England, Tertiary man in, 636-53, natural
spheres, land and water, 555; honey guide, 334- "eolith," 657; carvings by early man, 658, 665,
36; maps: Australia, insert opposite 128, India, 672; France, Jardin des Plantes, 673-81; Lap-
Burma, and Nepal, 177, oceanic oozes, 561, land, 659-64 and duotone insert between pp. 664-
Siwalik Hills, 210, western Panama, 509 65; Spain, rock-shelter paintings, color plate
Berkey, Charles P., Gobi rock desert, 166; outer wall opposite 697, and line cuts, 697-703; "Relation-
of China, 163 ships of Upper Palseolithic Races," 682-96
Bird banding, 606-17
Birds: —
booby, blue-faced, 550, red-footed, 550; Falconer, Siwalik Hills, 210
dotterel, 39; fantail, 33; flycatcher, 34; hawk, Falconer and Cantley, Stegodon ganesa, 211
brown, 56, red-shouldered, 615, sparrow, 614; Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition, 174-98, 200-03, 526-
heron, cattle, 405, reef, 551 ; honey guide, 328- 27, 626; portraits of leaders, 175
36; humming, 273; kingfisher, color plate Fisher, G. Clyde, hawk, 615; Lapland, 659-64 and
opposite, 539; kookaburra, 30, 46; lyre, 40-1; duotone insert following 664; warbler, 611
man-o'-war, 548-49; mistletoe, 37; oxpecker, 96; Fishes: —deep sea, 565; salmon, Kamchatka, 240;
pardalote, 36; pelican, brown, 519; petrel, gad- sea horse, 275; snapper, gray, 252
fly, 544; pigeon, fruit, 552; puff bird, 477; shrike —
Flowers: Ecuador, 435, 448, 463; water lily, 44-5;
robin, 31; sparrow, song, 616; swallow, wood, 35; Lapland, 660-61 and duotone insert following 664
teal, green-winged, 617; tern, fairy, 547, sooty, Forbes, Edward, elephant and tortoise, 214
.545; warbler, 611 Forbin, V., eland cow, 96
Boulton, Rudyerd, Panama scenes, 509-19 Fossil animals: —
tracks, 388-90; Diprotodon, 7;
Boy Scouts in American Museum, 346 egg-laying dinosaur, 132; Loxolophodon, 147;
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV VII
mastodon, Peale's, 410, Siwalik, 211; Mesonyx, seal,Bering Sea, 590, Caribbean, .592, elephant,
146; primate, anthropoid, 212, Siwalik, 208-12; 566-76, 578-88, ribbon, 592, ringed, .589; Sminth-
Szechuan, bone pits of, 374-75; Triceratops, 118, opsis, 28; squirrel, 196; tapir, Malay, 526; tiger,
Tyrannosaurus, 391. Indian, 184-87, 194-95; tsine, 200-02; weasel,
Fossil man: —
eoliths, natural and man-made, 657-58; 479-80; wolf, 486-88; wombat, 24; zebra, 292-
"Fossil Man in Spain," 697-703, and color plate 93, 322
opposite 697; Limeuil bone carving, 672; Palee- Maps :-p Africa: distribution of honey guides, 332.
olithic cranial casts, 686-96; Sergeac stone carv- Asia: key map, 160; Angara, Gobia, and God-
ing, 665; Tertiary man in England, 636-53 wana, 134; India, Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedi-
"France," The, 539 tion, 177, Siwalik Hills, 210; Mongolia, basin
Fulda, E. Rungius; Diprotodon, 7; egg-laying dino- regions, 160, Kalgan to L'rga, 351, Mongolia on
saur, 132; Noah's Ark, 8 United States, 137. Australia, Tasmania, and New
Zealand, opposite 128. Hemispheres, land and
Geysers, New Zealand, 70-83 water, 555, life zones of northern, 136. Ocean
—
Granger, Walter: Andrews, R. C., 356; diary page, currents, 556; oceanic oozes and clays, 561.
144; Gobi, desert, 166, basin strata, 168; Morris, Panama, western, 509
F. K., 361; portrait of, 151; Szechuan scenes, Martin Johnson African Expedition, 284-96
226-35, 366-75; Third Asiatic Expedition, Mattingley, A. H. E., black snake, 43; carpet snake,
members of, 151 42; gecko, 52
Griscom, Ludlow-, portrait of, 510 Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Church's Heart of the
Guadalupe Island scenes, 566-77, 578-88 Andes," 447
Miner, R. W., A Coral Fairyland, opposite 600, Bahama
Haagner, Alwin, honey guide, 335 corals, 597-99, Coral Gardens of Andros, duotone
Hainan, 216-23 insert opposite 600
Heller, Edmund, "Peruvian Pets," 483-84, 486-87, Morita, K., Taos, 92
489; portrait of, 484 Morris, F. K., 151
Heller, H, H., "Peruvian Pets," 479-80, 484, 487-88,
490,492-93; portrait of, 484 New York Aquarium, 576
Hemlock, Rocky Mountain, 386 New York Public Library, Church's "Cotopaxi," 445
Highlands of the Great Craters, 297-311 New York Zoological Park, gnu, 318, blesbuck, 321,
African wild dog, 327
Hovey, E. O., "Geyser Region of New Zealand,"
72-75, 80, 83; portrait, 704 —
New Zealand: geysers, 70-83; Maori church and
house, 72; Tarawera Mountain and Lake Rotoma-
Howland, R. W., sparrow hawk, 614 hana, 76
Huey, L. M., elephant seal, 578-88 Ngorongoro Crater, 297-311
Humboldt, Alexander von, color plate portrait opposite Noah's Ark, 8
449; portrait by Schrader, 452
Hurst, Captain, Oldonyo Lengai, 298 "Origin of Species," page from, 116
—
photo. Tarawera Mountain, 76; Waimangu
—
Osborn, Henry Fairfield: Chinese calling card, 260;
lies Church's "Mountains of Ecuador," 444; Hum-
Geyser, 70 boldt portrait, opposite 449; portraits of, 151, 355,
Indians:— Taos, 85-6, 88-9, 94; Panama, 510 359, 360; Siwalik mastodon, 211
Insects: —
aphid's cow shed, 341; beehive, Logo, 330, Osborn, William Church, Church's "Chimborazo,"
straw, 338; beetle, lady, 721; bookworm, 341; 446
grasshopper's "ear," 345; moth, codling, 338;
termite nests, 96, 98-100, 476; wasps, 342-44, Phillips, Bert G., Taos, 88-92
.506-08, 520-22 Panama: —Barro Colorado, 494-508; western, 510-19
Polynesia, scenes, 539-53
Jamieson, Malcolm, anthropoid jaw, 212; Williamson Pope, C. H., Hainan, 216-23
Submarine Tube, 594 Popenoe, Wilson, fruits of Ecuador, 454-66
Jar/din des Plantes, 673-81 Portraits: —
Ah-sen, 217; Andrews, R. C, 151, 3.56;
Jochelson, Waldemar, Kamchatka scenes, 236-40 Beck, R. H., 541; "Buckshot," 151; Chi, 151;
Johnson, Martin, filming, 284, duotone series of African Chow, 151; English, John, 496; Faunthorpe, J.
scenes, 289-96 C, 175; Granger, Walter, 151; Griscom, Ludlow,
510; Heller, Edmund, 484; Heller, H. H., 484;
Kaadt, C. G., Taos, 85 Hovey, E. O., 704; Huei, 151 Humboldt, opposite
;
Kinane, C. P., blue-tongued lizard, 55 449, 452; Johnson, Albert F., 151; Johnson C.
Klementieff, A. H., natives of Russian Far East, 714, Vance, 151; Johnson, Martin, 284; Jong and
716-17 Wang, 218; Kaisen, Peter, 151; Liu, 151; Morris,
Knight, Charles R., kangaroo group, 10; Loxolophodon, F. K., 151, 361; Olsen, George, 151; Osborn,
147; Mesonyx, 146 Henry Fairfield, 151, 355, 359, 360; Quatrefages,
Kirschner, Julius, portrait of E. O. Hovey, 704 675; Quayle, Ernest H.. .542; Talbot, L. R., 609;
Tcherim, 151; Third Asiatic Expedition personnel,
Lang, Herbert, British Guiana, 467-78; honey guide, 151; Vernay, Arthur S., 175, 526; Wang, artist,
328; mammals of Africa, 312, 315, 317, 318, 320, 220; Young, J. McKenzie, 151; Zetek, James,
321, 324, 327 496
LaVarre, Jr., W. J., Makreba Falls, 469
Littlcjohns, R. T., birds of Australia, 30-41 Quay'e, Ernest H., 542
Littlejohns, Mrs. R. T., shrike robin, 31
London Stereoscope Co. Rep., Barrier Reef of Austra- Radcliffe, F. G., Dragon's Mouth Geyser, 81
lia, 68-9 Raven, Harry C., Australian scenes and mammals,
Lower Invertebrates: — 594-99, color
corals, 63-9, 16-28; Guy Fawkes Falls, 4
Reptiles: —
frog, tree, 478; lizards, blue-tongued, 55,
plate and duotone insert between pp. 600-01
clam, giant, 65; Peripatus, 476 dragon, bearded, 53, water, .59, gecko, 52, stump-
Lutz, F. E., aphid's cow shed, 341; Panama, 496-508 tailed, 56; monitors, Gould's, 57, Hainan. 223,
lace, 57; snakes, black, 43, cobra, 218, gopher,
Mammals: —anteater, spiny, 26-7; ass, wild, 152-54, 725, python, 43, 238, Russell's viper, 198: turtles,
elephant and, 214, gopher group, 725, green, 50-1,
156; bat, 477; bear, Kamchatka black, 236;
beaver, Yellowstone Park, 347, 349; blackbuck, eggs of Murray tortoise, 51
Indian, 197; blesbuck, 321; buffalo, African, 289;
Csenoleês, 439; chital, adult, 207, faun, 193: Sanborn, Elwin R., gray snapper, 252
civet, bamboo, 369: dasyure, spotted, 25; dog, Saville-Kent, W., Barrier Reef of Australia, 68-9
African wild, 327, dingo, 10, fishing, 239, Mon- Savin, W. M., spider-hunting wasp, 520-22
goHan, 159; eland, 96, 290; elephant, African, "Schoolhouse of the World, The," 254
296-312, tusks, 324, Indian, 190-91, .527, elephant Schrader diving suit, duotone insert opposite 600
and tortoise, 214; gazelle, Gobi, 155, 157, Thomp- Schrader, Julius, "Humboldt," 452
son's, 309; giraffe. 291; gnu, brindled, 293, white- Schuchert, "oceanic oozes," map modified from, 561
tailed, 318: goat. Rocky Mountain, 384; hua- Shaw, W. T., scenes in Washington, 382-86
mashu, 490-93; impalla, 292; kangaroo group, Shuksan, 382-83
10, tree, 20; lion, Indian, 266; marsupial feet, 6; Skinner, M. P., beaver colony, 347-49
monkey, African, 317, howler, 471; okapi, 315; Skulls, human, 604, 686-96
opossum, 19; oryx, 292; phalanger, flying, 18, South America:— Andes, 420-26, 430-41, 443-48;
pygmy, 18; Phascogale, 28; rat, bamboo, 196; British Guiana, 467-78; Church paintings, 443-
rhinoceros, African white, 320, Indian one-horned, 48: fruits of Ecuador, 4.54-66; Peruvian pets,
174, 180-81, Sumatran, 626; rugupi, 483-84; 479-93
VIII INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
Speight, R., pink and white terraces of New Zealand, United States Army Air Service, Barro Colorado, 494
78-9
Spider, web, 340, Lycosa, 522 Vernay, Arthur S., elephant bearing skeleton, 527,
Staten Island Pubhc Museum, 101-02, 104 gâss hut, 526, portraits of, 175, 526, rhinoceros
and habitat, 626, tapir, 526, tsine, 200-03
Tasmania: —anteater, spiny, 26-7; devil,
swamp,
. , ., ,, „.
2o;
48;
forest, 22, 23; natives, 14, 15; reptile tit tt t /lor. oo -n -i
wombat 24
.
i
. . Watkms,
j.i
Harry, Inca tv/t-
Mine, 422-23; Peru camp site,
Taylor, Irving K., elephant herd, 312 „, î \/i ooo

Watts, Mr a-
dinosaur 4.
tracks, 388
i
Third Asiatic Expedition :-Hainan, 216-23; Kalgan

to Iren Dabasu, 350-65; Mongolia, 132-71; wui 'a^ u +^
d i- s mastodon ^^r>
White, Mrs. Harry, Peale 410
President Osborn's calling card, 260; Szechuan,
• i„„ +„„„ Qcc jr..
•
Vo„„to' ^"^^^^ +^
nn.y„a^ *° Whitney South Sea Expedition, 539-52
^^"S*'® Williamson, J. E., Bahama corals, 597-99, duotone
w«
Wan W?f.^ ZZb-6o.
ilsien, 99fi q'-^
'
ann cm
^^.,,. insert between 600-601
j. il
j.
Townsend,C.H., elephant seals, 566-76, "Albatross,"

g-jQ
< t-<
Williamson Submarine Tube, 594, 598-99
Trafimoff, N. P., Natives of Russian Far East, 713,
715 718 Yellowstone Park beaver colony, 347, 349
i-

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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

'NATURAL HISTORY" IS SENT

ROTORUA and the geyser region of new ZEALAND -some

and officials of Australia for their cooperation in assembling

J C/ V^' ^/ 1 VI >y VJL-r V_y 1 IIIJL^/VIYIL^IVI K^I VJ N ^

Q MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $3.00 SINGLE COPIES 50 CENTS

I. DIVISION OF MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY, Coinparative and Human Anatomy

DEVOTED TO NATURAL HISTORY,

Volume XXIV, Number 1

Copyright, 1924, by The American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.

Australia, the Land of Living Fossils William K. Gregory 4

Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and Tasmania Harry C. Ravex .

Reptile Life in Australia Charles Barrett, c.m.z.s. 42

The Vanishing Wild Life of Austraha 60

The Great Barrier Reef of Australia Charles Hedley 62

The Eland and Its Bird Sentinel Herbert Laxg 96

Turret-building Termites R. W. Do axe 98

The PubHc Museum of Staten Island Charles W. Lexg 101

"Birds of the New York Region" Witmer Stoxe 105

"In Brightest Africa" Herbert F. Schwarz 109

Map of Australia and New Zealand opposite 128

Published bimonthly, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.

Natural History for March-April, 1924, willbe made up to a

Mongolia, until recently assumed to be devoid of fossils, has proved,

as a result of the work Third Asiatic Expedition, to be one of the

conducted with a sumptuousness that dazzles the imagination, and the

Another Museum undertaking that is yielding astonishing results

THE FALLS OF THE GUY FAWKES RIVER AT EBOR

Australia, the Land of Living Fossils

clear evidence they afford concerning intergrading conditions.

It so happens that in that out-of-the- various marsupials. The visitor will

A provisional restoration of Diprotodon by E. Rungius Fulda. The body of Diprotodon

From a sketch by E. Rungius Fulda

Father Noah and his sons, they invited to the Ark

To the Talgai boy they hinted he was nothing but a moron

So he called the big Diprotodon and on his back he climbed,

They jumped upon an island that kindly floated by

Now the scientists pedantic who defend the bridge Atlantic,

Cunrtisii of Mr. J. W. Beatty

' uu,t,-y uj Ml J. \\ . Beatty

Beatty of Hobart, Tasmania. Mr. the island-continent and were driven

Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and

AFTER a railway journey from South Wales. .

to be persecuted by the settlers, who size of a cat but extremely slender.

The common "opossum" (Trichosurns vulpecula), which in many locahties of Xew

Fortunately, its skin is of little enemies by gnarled lianas, orchids, and

forms, such as phalangers and the tree eucalypts or of evergreen myrtles,

A Tasmanian forest of beech, or evergreen myrtle, with undergrowth of tree ferns, It

A Tasmanian forest of eucalypts, principally stringy-barks (Eucalyptus ohliqua) and

living carnivorous marsupial, locally decline of the Australian marsupials,

Unlike most of the Australian marsupials

pression. It is not in any way related humorist occasionally

Photographed by Mrs. R. T. Littlejohns

should be a success. Without hesita- "movie" film. Even if the picture

birds and photographically was as very close in my regard. This is the

blending to make a pleasant picture. nest, too, is a study in daintiness. It is