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i
 NATURAL
HISTORY
THE MAGAZINE OF THE
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

VOLUME LIl
June-December

^943

TEN ISSUES A YEAR

Published by

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

NEW YORK, N. Y.
 CONTENTS OF VOLUME LIl

June, No. 1

Albert E. Parr
An Editorial .'.'.'.".

Letters - Kenneth P. Emory

Every Man His Own Robinson Crusoe Elon Jessup
Pastures of the Sea Alan G. May
The Northern Sea Otter '"
Roland T. Bird
Recording Earthquakes . . .
Ernst Mayr
A Journey to the Solomons Henry P. Zuidema
Hunting Mountain Goats with Miniature Camera [[.....[[........... .John Eric Hill

Your New Books'. '.

September, No. 2

Albert E. Parr
An Editorial
Letters Cecilia M. Ecan
Martinique [
Harold N. Moldenke
Abaca or Manila Hemp -•
'

'
.Grace E. Barstow Murphy
Flight to Ecuador
The Largest Fish in the World .'.'.'.....'. !hobart E. Stocking
Nine-Day Wonders Edwin Way Teale
_

Hills That Walk "] !john L. Blackford

Wonderlands of Rock
Your New Books .John Eric Hill
Invasion " "
Mark Barr
Clover Hobby

October. No. 3

William K. Gregory 97
An Editorial ' 102
Letters Bahnum Brown 104
Flying Reptiles Donald Culross Peattie 112
America's Greatest Host Harold N. Moldenke 115
Vital Fibers ^^^ "^ and Ruth Besnhard 122
'

'mjI^Vk
Random Shells '
Curtis Zahn 143
America's First Air Mail '_
'
'.Frederick H. Podgh 134
Faricutin .John Eric Hill
. 143
HarvestHome 144
Your New Books

November. No. 4

. . Albert E. Parr 149

An Editorial .Arthur Loveridge 152
Pangolins as Pets • d' T ;.' ' '
Joyce and Josef Muejjch 156
W,'
Sierras— Kings Canyon National Park
;
J"
Treasure House of the g jj^^^^sted CHtTBB 168
Tools for Carpentry Versus Combat .John Eric Hill 171
Winter Coats .Clark Wissler 172
Wheat and Civilization Harold N. Moldemkb 182
Rubber 192
Your New Bopks 195

December, No. 5

^,. ., Albert E. Parr 197

An Editorial 200
Letters
War Zone
H ahoi n K Anthony 204
Wildlife and Weather in the Asiatic !Ihobar? E. Stocking 218
Up from the Depths :.'.'.:::... .Richard F. Trump
.
221
Ways of the Woodchnck .
.Harold N. Moldenke 226
Other Sources of Rubber jq„^ E,j,c Hill 233
Underwater Store .Charles M. Boosrt
;
234
The Beneficial Serpent ... 237
Your New Books ........... 241
Index
 : ;

INDEX TO VOLUME LII

TITLES, SUBJECTS, AND AUTHORS

(Titles of articles are in capital letters)

Abaca, 58 Campylognathus, 106

AbacA ok Manila Hemp, Harold N. Moldenke, 56

Chubb, S. Harmsted: Tools for Carpentry versus Combat, 168

America's First Air Mail, Curtis Zahn, 132

Clover Hobby, Mark Barr, 96
Animal "invasion," 95
Clovers, strange forms, 195
Anthony, Harold E.
Wildlife and Weather in the Asiatic War Zone, 204
Copepods, 16
Barr, Mark: Clover Hobby, 96
Cottonwood lint, 51
Beaver Engineers, John Eric Hill, 41
Cycnorhamphus, 106
Beneficial Serpent, The, Charles M. Bogert, 234
Dimorphodon, 106
Bernhard, Ruth and Roy W. Miner: Random Shells, 122

Dinoflagellates, 18
Bird, Roland T. : Recording Earthquakes, 24

Dorygnathus, 106
Blackford, John L. : Wonderlands of Rock, 86

Earthquakes, 24
Bogert, Charles M.
The Beneficial Serpent, 234
Ecuador, 62
Book Reviews:
Alaska — America's Continental Frontier Outpost, 239 Editorials:
American Land, Its History and Its Uses, The, 144
Animal Tracks, 90 Geography Begins at Home, 1
Archaeological Studies in Pern, 1941-1942, 92 Is Evolution Through Co-operation Enough?, 97
Beekeeping for Profit and Pleasure, 145 Our Research Obligations, 197
Chi^f Seattle, 94
Teaching and Research, 149
Chimpanzees : a Laboratory Colony, 94 Through Darkness to the Stars, 49
Coming Down the Wye, 237
Dune Boy, 240 Egan, Cecilia: Martinique, 52
Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America, 237
Ez'otntion the Modern Synthesis, 44
Family Treasures, 46
Garden Islands of the Great East, 193
Emory, Kenneth P.: Every Man His Own Robinson Crusoe, 8
Geography of Latin America, 193
Getting There: the Psychomotivateasc, 45
Grasshopper Book, The, 93 Euphausiids, 16
Green Earth, The, 44
Here Come the Elephants, 239
How to Know the Spring Flowers, 146 Flight to Ecuador, Grace E. Barstow Murphy, 62
How to Raise Rabbits for Food and Fur, 144
Irish Stogie Age, The, 144
Islands and Peoples of the Indies, 239 Flying Reptiles, Barnum Brown, 104
Islands of the Pacific, 145
Island Peoples of the Western Pacific, Micropsia and
Melanesia, 237 Geography Begins at Home (an editorial), Albert E. Parr, 1
Mammals of Colorado, The, 44
Mammals of Eastern United States, The Vol. 11, 44 — Through Co-operation
Man, Real and Ideal, 194 Gregory, William K. Is Evolution
:

Mans Unknown Ancestors, 94 Enough? (editorial), 97

Medieval American Art, 90
Meeting the Mammals. 93
Minerals and Rocks, 46 Harvest Home, John Eric Hill, 143
Minerals in World Affairs, 146
Naturalist at Large, 192
Our Living World, 194 Hemp, Manila, 56
Plants We Eat and Wear, 45
Raft Book, The, 192
Shelter Trees in War and Peace, 94
Henequen, 115
Shining Trail, The, 145
Sleeping Island, 47 Beaver Engineers, 41; Harvest Home,
Studies in the Life History of the Song Sparrow, II, 239
Hill, John Eric: 143;
Taxidermy, 240
Invasion, 95; Underwater Store, 233; Winter Coats, 171
Travels in Afghanistan, 1937-1938, 93
Tulsa: From Creek Town to Oil City, 92 Hills That Walk, Edwin Way Teale, 78
Under a Lucky Star, 144
Vertebrate Eye and Its Adaptive Radiation, The, 46
Waterfowl m
Iowa, 192 Hummingbird, Costas, 195

I'LrtNC Reptiles, 104 Hummingbird nest, 147

 INDEX TO VOLUME Lll

Hurricane, Galveston, 72 Pteranodon, 104

Invasion, John Eric Hill, 95 Pterodactylus, 106

Inventions, basic in civilization, 172 Random Shells, Roy W. Miner and Ruth Bernhard, 122

Ionosphere, 220 Recording Earthquakes, Roland T. Bird, 24

Is Evolution Theougii Co-operation Enough? (an editorial),

Rhamflwrhynchiis. 106
William K. Gregory, 97
Rueeee. Harold N. Moldenke. 1S2. 226
Jessup, Elon: Pastures of the Sea, 16
Sand Dunes, Indiana, 78
Journey to the Solomons, A, Ernst Mayr, 30

Scttphognathiis, 106
Kangaroo, Great Gray, 100

Sea Otter. 22
Kangaroo. Red, 100

Seismograph, 20
Kings Canyon Xational Park, 156

Shells, 122
Koala, 101

Sisal, 115
Largest Fish in the World, The, 70
Solomons. 30
Lerner Expedition, the Museum and Inter-American Relations, 5

South Sea fighters, U. S. troops learn native methods, 9

Lions, 103

Loveridge, Arthur: Pangolins as Pets, 152 Stocking. Hobart E.; Nine-Day Wonders. 72, Up frox
De 218

Martinique, Cecilia Egan. 52

Stratosphere, 219

May, Alan G.. The Northern Sea Otter, 22 Teaching and Research (an editorial), Albert E. Parr, 149

Mayr, Ernst: A Journev to the Solomons, 30 Teale, Edwin Way: Hills That Walk, 78

Miner, Roy W. and Ruth Bernhard: Random Shells, 122

Teeth sharpening, rodents, 168

Hemp, 56: Rubber, 182,

Through Darkness to the Stars (an editorial), AI))ert E. Parr,
lERS, 115
49

Mountain goats, 38
Tools for Carpentry Versus Combat, S. Harmsted Chubb, 168

Muench, Joyce and Josef: Treasure House of the Sierras-

Kings Canyon National Park, 156
lASURE House of the Sierras — Kings Canyon National
Park, Joyce and Josef Muench. 156

Mule deer, 102 Troposphere. 218

Murphy, Grace E. Barstow Flight to Ecuador, 62 Ways the Woodchuck, 221

:

Trump, Richard F.: of

Nine-Day Wonders, Hobart E. Stocking, 72

Underwater Store, John Eric Hill. 2ii

Northern Sea Otter, Alan G. May, 22

Up from the Depths. Hobart E. Stocking. 218

Nyctosaiirus, 106
Vital Fibers, Harold N. Moldenke, 115

Our Research Ooligations, Un editorial), Albert E. Parr, 197

Volcano, Mexican, 134

Pangolins as Pets, Arthur Loveridge, 152 \Vays of the Woodchuck, Richard F. Trump, 221

Paricutin, Frederick H. Pough, 134 Whale Shark, 70

Parr, Albert E. Geography Begins at Home, 1; Teaching and

: Wheat and Civilization, Clark Wissler, 172
Research, 149: Through Darkness to the Stars, 49: Our
Research Obligations, 197 War
Wildlife and We ic Zone, Harold E.
Anthony, 204
Pastures of the Sea, Elon Jessup, 16
Winter Coats, John Eric Hill, 171
Peattie, Donald Culross: America's Greatest Host, 112
Wissler, Clark: Wheat and Civilization, 172
Pigeons, and air mail. 132
Wonderlands of Rock, John L. Blackford, 86
Plankton, 17
Zahn, Curtis: America's First Air Mail, 132
Pough, Frederick H.: Paricutin. 134
Zuidema, Henry P.: Hunting Mountain Goats with Miniature
Ptenodracon, 106 Camera, 38
 ^S^;i

Pastures of the Sea • Mountain Goats • Sea Otte

VOtyME Lii. Ho, 1

Sorry, Sis. Mr. Smithers is next on the list.

Gosh, Daddy. If you'd tell our friends how to subscribe,

then NATURAL HISTORY could stay at home!"

 the awareness of a new and greater role in of advice. No one will listen very long to the counsel
INworld affairs our nation is turning with re- of one who does not know his own affairs and is un-
newed interest to the study of geography. The willing to have them discussed while advising others.
various branches of this broad subject are leaping to In our general educational neglect of geography
spectacular prominence in the curriculums of all in- the neglect of American geography has been even
stitutions of higher learning. The demands of our greater and more startling than our lack of concern
armed forces are great and insistent. It is urged that with the geographical problems of the rest of the
a G for geography be added to the three R's of ele- world. There is undoubtedly no other nation on a
mentary education. similar level of education which has required of its

This awakening of a great people to a full sense of pupils and its citizens so little knowledge of the natu-
their responsibilities to themselves and to the world ral and cultural geography of their own country. As
is a splendid fruit growing from the world-decay a result, our well-meant interest in the problems of
which gave soil for its seed and nourishment for its other peoples tends to find expression in a disem-
roots. All educational institutions may join whole- bodied voice speaking from the emptiness of space,
heartedly in the effort to satisfy a newborn craving without mundane problems of its own. We are inno-
for knowledge much neglected sub-
in a heretofore cently unconscious of our own national problems and
ject. The natural history museums obviously have a experiences because we have not been educated to
great contribution to make to this effort. know them. We are unable to establish a common
Having set as our goal a better and more mutual ground for discussion with members of other nations
understanding of the world and ourselves, we must because we do not know the ground on which we
also find the trail which will lead us most quickly to stand ourselves. We can only advise and advise ad
our destination. This trail was marked out for us nauseam.
long ago by a signpost which reads: "Understand It is therefore not only in the national self-inter-
yourself that you may learn to understand others." est, but also in the interest of what we may be able
There is a dual significance in this ancient bit of to contribute to the entire world, that it is so su-
wisdom. It does not only tell us that we can never premely important for us to remember that geog-
hope to attain any real understanding of the prob- raphy begins at home.
lems and actions of other individuals or other nations When we, also, have finally learned enough about
until we learn to translate them into the terms of our our own country for each of us to be able to comment
own national experience. It should also remind us upon the problems of other nations by reference to
that our counsel will find scant appreciation abroad, our own problems in Maine or Mississippi, New
beyond thankfulness for any gifts which may go with York or Oregon, — then, and then only, will the tone
it, so long as we remain unconscious or ignorant of of officiousness disappear from our voices and our
our own problems at home and therefore unable to counsel will at long last be welcome for its own
throw them into the discussion for an equal exchange worth in the forums of the world.

a
Director, the American Museum
of Natural History
 .

Which comes first

^ur second helping ?
or our second front ?
You WANT TO SEE THIS WAR WON — and WOIl
quickly. You want to see it carried to the
enemy with a vengeance. Okay— so do all of us.
Cheerfully co-operating with ration-
Butjust remember . .
ing is one way we can help to win

A second front takes food . . . food to feed our this war. But there are scores of
allies in addition to our own men. others. Many of them are described
in a new free booklet called "You
Which do you want — more meat for you, or and the War," available from this
enough meat them? An extra cup of coffee on
for magazine. Send for your copy to-
day! Learn about the many oppor-
your breakfast table, or a full tin cup of coffee for
tunities for doing an important
a fighting soldier? service to your country.

Just remember thar the meat you don't get — Read about the Citizens Defense
and the coffee and sugar that you don't get— are Corps, organized as part of Local
Defense Councils. Choose the job
up at the front lines— fighting for you.
you're best at, and start doing it!
Would you have it otherwise? You're needed—now!

Contributed by the Mana EVERY CIVILIAN A FIGHTER

 : —

LETTERS
Sirs: The our professions of
loss of faith in cies has thorny stems, and the flower
wish to express our vast appreciation
I most ancient
justice, the destruction of the clusters,large for an acacia, are borne
for your splendid magazine, which we al- living communities in the United States, singly or in pairs along the stems, not in
ways read from cover to cover, almost on and the loss of architectural treasures seem racemes. The species illustrated is appar-
the day of its arrival. a high price to pay for the slight material ently either A. Baileyana, the one most
The number contains an article of
x'Vpril benefits which the proposed dam would widely grown for its flowers in California,
special interest
—
"The Creation of an In- contribute to the local white population. or A. decurrens, also widely grown here.
—
dian Jar" showing the pottery making of H. L. Sh.^piro, Both these are Australian. As far as
. . .

the San Ildefonso Indians. Department of Anthropology. beauty is concerned, the one used on the
Congressman Clinton P. Anderson of The American Museum of cover much surpasses A. arabica.
New Mexico has introduced a bill (H. R. Natural History, George T. Hastings.
323) which has been approved and which New York, N. Y. Santa Monica, Calif.
if carried further will spell disaster for
hopes and homes of many Indians in New
George T. Hastings, formerly Edi-
Mexico. I will quote a letter just received
Sirs: tor of Torreya, is correct. The tree is

by a friend of mine from Adam Martinez

No one seems have commented on
to
apparently A. Baileyana, as the bota-
the cover for March, so I should like to
of San Ildefonso Pueblo: nist who originally identified the
say the beautiful picture does show an pic-
"We have just heard or learned of the ture now readily agrees. Ed.
acacia, but not Acacia arabica. That spe-
construction of a dam on the Rio Grande
which means that our village and farm
lands would be destroyed. This would not
only mean a loss to us Indians but to the
cultural life of New Mexico and our whole
nation. We Indians are again on the war
path with the rest of our country, fighting
and giving our lives for this country of
freedom and rights for every man. We
feel we have a right to our ancestral
lands and our way of living upon them, so
long as we do no harm to the other people.
So we are asking our friends to help us,
as we are much worried and don't know
what to do."
The Indians need our assistance. . . .

I am writing to you because I think that

you and your friends and associates may
be able to do something about it.
(Mrs.) Edn.^ B.^dgley Piper.
Long Beach, Calif.

Sirs:
Would it not be possible for you to point
out the danger that threatens the ancient
Pueblos of the Southwest by the introduc-
tion by Representative Anderson of a bill
(H. R. 323) proposing to dam the White
Rock Canyon in New Mexico. The project,
if passed, will destroy the farm lands and Sirs

even the homes and shrines of San Ilde- Last summer at our Piedmont Boy Scout
fonso and Santa Clara and partially flood Camp at Lake Lanier, near Tryon, N. C,
the lands of Santo Domingo and Cochiti. a pair of Carolina wrens (Thryothorus
Such action by our legislators would be moved into our
ludo'vicianus ludo'vicianus)
all too consistent with the reprehensible woodworking shop. With motor driven
Indian policy of the past which many of band saws and other craft machinery in
us had hoped was done with forever. The operation and with Scouts by the score
supposed advantages of such a project are hammering and working, these wrens in-
questionable and are clearly overweighed sisted on building right in the middle of a
by the harm which would ensue. Moreover, band saw as soon as it was stopped. At first

the moral issue is significant. The Pueblo the nesting materials were removed, but
Indians are a sedentary folk who have cul- the wrens would not be discouraged. S"
tivated their lands for centuries. Their the machine was covered over and ropeti
lives in every detail are bound up inex- off, and with the other saws and ma-
tricably with the land they occupy. The chines in almost constant operation, the
antiquity of their claim was recognized by wrens completed the nest and raised their
our government in the treaty of Guada- brood.
lupe. To drive them from their ancient It is needless for me to say that our Boy
fields now would be a distinct betrayal of Scouts find a great interest in jour pub-
trust and a procedure variance with
at lication.
the principles for which we hope our R. M. SCHIELE,
countrv stands. Gastonia, N. C. Scout Executive.

—
NOTICE Readers are encouraged to submit their own photographs of natural
history subjects. Those selected for publication on this page will be paid for at
$1.00 each, with full credit to the photographer. Return postage must be included.

LETTERS
Sirs:
When I was told that there were foxes at the entrance to its den. This was in late he whistled when he saw the fox, where-
in the vicinity I crept up Indian fashion spring. upon the little fellow sat up and looked as
and secured this photograph. It shows a The other photograph was taken by a you see him here.
Myrton S. Reed.
baby red fox sleeping and sunning itself friend of mine, Walter Haskell, who says Worcester, Mass.

^SK
 The Museum and
Inter -American
Relations
'
I *HE invitation to accept a distinguished
A honor on behalf of the Chilean Gov-
ernment has been extended to Mr. Michael
Lerner for his services to Chile in con-
nection with his Expedition of 1940 under
the auspices of the American Museum of
Natural History. This Expedition for the
purpose of studying marine fishes achieved
important results not only in the scien-
tificsense but in the cultural relations of
the two countries. The award is the deco-
ration "Al Merito" in the degree of
"Comendador."
Toward the success of Mr. Lerner's Ex-
pedition the Chilean Government and
press, as well officials and of-
as local
ficers of prominent industries, banks, and
transportation lines, vied with one another
in hospitality and assistance. In bestowing
this honor on Mr. Lerner, the Chilean
Government has chosen an impressive
way to show the feeling of mutual interest
that lies between the two nations.
The happy relations that originated in A.M.N.H. Photo
this scientific objective have been main- Mr. Michael Lerner (left) and Senor Anibal Jara, Consul
tained and furthered through the co-opera-
General of Chile, on the occasion of the announcement at the
tion of the Chilean representatives of the
American Museum that the former would be the recipient of a
International Game Fish Association an —
organization whose headquarters are in distinguished honor from the Chilean Government early in June
the American Museum.
Senor Anibal Jara, Consul General of
Chile, stated at the Museum on May 14
that it was highly gratifying to him, in
inviting Mr. Lerner to the ceremonyof
bestowal, to be the interpreter of the de-
votion and services of Mr. and Mrs.
Lerner to his country, and to transmit this Three words tell the story of Teacher's popu-
evidence of the esteem of the President of
the Republic, Senor Rios, and of the Minis- larity. Connoisseurs of fine scotch know . . .

ter of Foreign Affairs, Seiior Fernandez.

The bestowal will probably be made in
Washington early in June, when the Presi-
dent of Chile will be in this country. Wnkl&mul
ORDER NOW
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77th Street and Central Park West
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THE MUSEUM AND INTER-AMERICAN RELATIONS 5

 "Just getting the wire laid was a tough problem. Keeping it intact in bombings,
shellings and adverse iveather is a twenty-four-hour proposition. Wire repair
. . .

crews are made up of four men. Three stand guard while the other loorks."
(From story by Sgt. James W, Hurlbut, Marine Corps Combat Correspondent)

Telephone Exchange on Guadalcanal

Marine communications men built it under Telephone lines are life-lines and produc-
fire. And it has been kept built. The tion lines in a war. Thanks for helping to

"Guadalcanal Tel & Tel" covers well over a keep the Long Distance wires open for vital

thousand miles of wire. calls to war-busy centers.

That is where some of your telephone mate-

rial went. It's fighting on other fronts, too.
WAU CALIS COME FIUST
We're getting along with less here so they
can have more over there. BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM
NATURAL HISTORY The Magazine of the American Museum of Natural History

••••••
Frederick Trueee Davison, President

VOLUME HI—No. 1
Albert E. Parr, Director

JUNE, 1943

A Sea Urchin Cover Design

A Kodachrome by Jay T. Fox (see page 4S)

An Editorial Albert E. Parr i

Geography Begins At Home

Letters • 3

Every Man His Own Robinson Crusoe Kenneth P. Emory 8

United States Troops are instructed in native living

Pastures of the Sea Elon Jessup 16

S/ioiring the interdependence among creatures of the sea, from the tiniest "shrimp" to the largest iv/iale

The Northern Sea Otter Alan G. May 22

An interesting conservation program carried on by the Soviet Union at Gladskuvskaya

Recording Earthquakes ....Roland T. Bird 24

Hov: the seismograph at the American Museum records disasters

A Journe\- to the Solomons Ernst Mayr 30

Colorful birds and interesting natives in an area prominent in the day's nev;s

Hunting Mountain Goats with Miniature Camera Henry P. Zuidema 38

How to bring "Old Man Ji'hiskers" into your oven home

Beaver Engineers John Eric Hill 41

Beavers accomplish difficult engineering feats and leave a fertile meadow behind

Your New Books 44

You will find Natural History Magazine indexed in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
in your library

Publication Office: American Museum of Natural Manuscripts should be sent to the Editor, The
History, Seventy-ninth Street at Central Park West, American Museum of Natural History, N. Y.
New York, N. 1.
Magazine subscriptions. Membership applications,
Editor: Edward M. Weyer, Jr., Ph.D. and Advertising inquiries should be sent to

Art and Production: Frederick L. Hahn. Charles J. O'Connor.

Copyright, 1943, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.

Natural History published monthly (except July and August) at New York, N. Y., by The American Museum of Natural History,
is
Seventy-ninth Street and Central Park West. Subscription price $4 a year, single copies fifty cents. Subscriptions to Canada, New-
foundland, and all foreign countries $4.50. Entered as second class matter March 9, 1936, at the Post Office at New York, under the Act
of August 24, 1912.
 Pan-Pacific Photo
APLENTY if you
know how to get it. Instruc-
tion is increasing the safety
of our men and giving them
self-reliance where there was
fear of a new and unknown
world
< A NATIVE of Tahiti "can-
ning" wild pig meat. Pieces
of meat are put into a joint
of bamboo, and the opening
is then sealed by a ti-leaf as

shown at left. To preserve

the meat, the joint is rc-

cooked each day in the

ground oven
> Strings of dried Tridacna
clams: a provision against
Photo by Kenneth P. E:
stormy days
NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE,
Emo
Photo by Kenneth P.
 Every Man His Own
Robinson Crusoe
By A novel program to teach our South Sea

Kenneth P. Emory fighters how to fare for themselves in time

of need by use of ingenious native methods

COURSE South Sea Island fauna, flora, and native means of pro- They were introduced to the plant

A
in
adaptation, the curriculum de- viding food, shelter, and comfort and animal life of reef and shore, and
- termined by the Bernice P. would be of inestimable value in shown how these resources can be used
Bishop Museum of Honolulu, is now many situations. The stories coming towards solving problems of food, shel-
part of the training of the Ranger in from fliers forced down at sea or ter,transportation, and maintenance.
and Combat School in Hawaii, whose in the interior of islands prompted us After this, the men put on a demon-
function it is to prepare picked men to volunteer to talk to crews about to stration for the whole school, simulat-
for commando action. It came about go into action over the island areas. ing what they would do if sent on an
in this way. For reply, two officers were sent island patrol. They appeared loaded
After the Battle of Midway, when to me at Bishop Museum to obtain with the food they would have picked
Hawaii could breathe easier and we information to incorporate into a up on the way pandanus fruit, —
at Bishop Museum had finished the "Castaway's Baedeker to the South breadfruit, bananas, papayas, taro,
job of mimeographing manuscripts Seas."* Mr. Edgar Schenck, Direc- yams, sweet potatoes, ti-root, sugar
and putting specimens in what we tor of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, cane, tropical almonds, kukui nuts,
hoped were safer places, we had fre- heard of and conceived the idea
this and coconuts —
loaded into baskets of
,

quent opportunities to meet and talk
with men heading southward. It was
soon evident that our experience on
expeditions and our knowledge of
of my putting on at the Academy an coconut leaf they had plaited them-
exhibition, "Native Lore for Cast- selves and with some of the baskets
aways in the South Seas." This took slung on carrying poles. The spot
place in January as a joint effort of where they stood was to be the camp
the two museums. From the start we site. A ground oven was prepared,

were swamped with requests from ignited with a coconut husk which
various air units for gallery talks and had been carried along, one end
demonstrations in the court where a smouldering, from the hypothetical
sample camp site had been set up. The last camp. The husk punk was given
exhibition was moved to Bishop Mu- to one in the audience, who passed it

seum, where interest has continued for all to light cigarettes, thus illus-
unabated. trating how to conserve matches.
As a result of the possibilities While I talked on the virtues of
opened up by the exhibition, the the various foods, the men prepared
Ranger and Combat School asked them. Sprouted coconuts were husked
Bishop Museum to organize and on the flat, sharp point of a straight
supervise a course in "jungle living." stick thrust in the ground. Spectators
An experimental group of eight offi- were served the base of the sprout,
cers and men was assigned to me for "millionaire's salad" in embryo, as

a short, intensive course.At the end well as the delicate uto, or marshmal-
of a week of instruction at the Mu- low-like growth that fills the space
seum, took the class out onto the
I once occupied by the fluid of the coco-

shores where conditions most nearly nut. The half shells with their lining
approximate those in the South Seas. of coconut meat were laid out in the
sun to dry. This dried coconut meat,
*Printed by the Objective Data Section,
IntelligenceCenter, Pacific Ocean Area,
or copra, would serve as reserve food,
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. or after grating it, oil could be pressed

EVERY MAN HIS OWN ROBINSON CRUSOE

 < Its fronds taste like
cumbers: a tree fern which
might not be supposed to
yield food but does and
is easy to spot in the in-
terior of many islands
cu- out for relieving sunburn or prevent-
ing knives and guns from rusting.
Pieces of this dried meat, impaled on
a coconut leaflet midrib, made a per-
fect candle.
^lature coconuts were husked in
lessthan a minute, split evenly in half
by a blow with a stone on the center
of the rib running midway between
the "eyes," and shredded into a heap
of snowy white particles. The grater
was made of coconut shell. With a
pocket knife the shell was edged with
teeth and then firmly lashed by a
strip of bark to the end of a small log
raised oft the ground. The grated meat
vvascaught in a neat platter of green
coconut leaf and squeezed over a coco-
nut shell for its rich and tasty cream.
The foods were wrapped in ti-
leaves, placed on banana leaves laid

^ "Millionaire's sal.\d": the soft, white core

within the base of the head of coconut leaves.
Phcio by Harold
St. John A small tree like this will feed six men

Yank Photo, by John A. B;

 ^^^

:^ y^\j

Yank Photo, by John A. Bitshemi

on the nest of hot stones in the oven, A Pausing by a stream to

and covered over with and leaves roast a breadfruit over coals
earth then the second act began. This
;

was the setting up of a shelter made

entirely of coconut leaves. Thirty
green leaves served for the thatching
of this house, which was erected by
six men and was capable of accommo-
dating them. I demonstrated how a
leaf thatch could be plaited in two
minutes, while the men put up the
frame of the house. The thatch was
then tied on, beginning at the bottom,
pairs of thatch sheets overlapping each
other at intervals of six inches. In
less than half an hour the house stood
completed, floored with sleeping mats
of coconut leaf, closed in at one end
with leaf screens and at the other end
> Neith er starvation
with a mosquito netting of coconut NOR stomach-ache:
cloth (leaf stipule).
the author informing
Before opening the steaming oven a how green
student

to serve hot sweet potatoes, yams,

bananas can be eaten
bananas, and breadfruit to be dipped ifbaked in the ground
into the cups of coconut cream, one of oven
the men showed how he would pre-
pare himself to go out onto the reef
to collect shellfish. He made himself

EVERY MAN HIS OWN ROBINSON CRUSOE

 a coconut leaf eyeshade, a pair of hi-
biscus-bark sandals, a loin cloth of
coconut-leaf stipule, a satchel of coco-
nut leaf. Smearing himself with coco-
nut oil, he set forth, the satchel and
a drinking nut hanging from his belt,
a husking stick in hand.
These were some of the main points
of the demonstration. In the week fol-
lowing, the whole school was taken
out to an ideal location and the in-
struction received by the special class
passed on to all. Stress is constantly
put on the fact that the techniques
they are taught and the knowledge
given come originally from natives, and
that it is greatly to their advantage as
soon as they are on an island in the
South Seas to contact natives and add
to the foundation for tropical island

class in island adaptation

coming in from a
A The
plaited their own baskets
trip on which they have
their helmets with fern wreaths
and camouflaged
NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943
living given them while in Hawaii.
The skills they have acquired are a
source of pride, and the practice of
them a recreation. The men are also
taught what fruits to avoid, what fish

are likely to be poisonous, how to use

certain plants for cathartics, astrin-

gents, germicides, and antidotes for

fish poisoning, and how to negotiate

reefs without being knocked down by

waves, cut by coral, or nipped by a
shark. An unlooked for result of this
preparation is an entire change in the
attitude of the men who face the
prospect of fighting in the southern
islands. Dread of the unknown and
boredom of waiting are replaced by
lively anticipation and the pleasure of
learning to be self-reliant in a world
new to them.

A A LOAD of mature coconuts to be

husked and grated for coconut cream

< Grating the meat of a mature

coconut. The grating tool is a
piece of coconut shell edged with
teeth by means of a knife. It is
lashed with bark to the end of the
stick. The snowy white particles
fall on a coconut-leaf platter. Oil
can be pressed from them to pro-
tect the skin from sunburn and pre-
vent knives and guns from rusting

EVERY MAN HIS OWN ROBINSON CRUSOE 13

 Yank Photos, by John A, Bushemi

A Stripping wild-hibiscus bark for which will be

fibers A The author cutting coconut "cloth" from the base of coconut
useful in making and nets. The
sandals, ropes, fish lines, leaves. The castaway or reconnaissance man can use the cloth in many
policy is "In the South Seas, do as the South Sea Island-
: ways even as mosquito netting. Strips of
as a substitute for real cloth,
ers do;" they have perfected their methods through gen- the material are woven into sandals. Pieces are sewn together, using
erations of trial and error the midrib of coconut leaflets as needle and thread

'*'
Plaiting a coconut leaf for roofing, '^ Building a shelter entirely of coconut leaves to accommodate six men. The frame
mats, or baskets. Every other leafturned is is constructed of three pairs of leaf butts lashed together at the top, with a ridge
backward and placed beneath the upraised pole made of a midrib. Thirty green leaves provide a thick double thatch impervious
under-leaves to rain and guaranteed for six months. The cordage for tying the frame together
and tying on the thatch is strips of coconut-leaf stipule or the outer skin of the
leaves. Pre-fabricated by Nature, the house can be completed in half an hour
f A GRADUATE of the "jungle" school, unencumbered pole, and a basket. Outfitted for a trip along the

by cap, gown, or diploma. Standing before a hut con- reef, his husking pry shells loose.
stick will serve to

structed by himself and his comrades, he is ready for The two young him with
coconuts, husked, provide
whatever adventures may lie between him and the ideal drinking water. All in all, he gives convincing

comforts of civilization. He has made himself an eye- proof of the value of a "Castaway's Baedeker to the
shade of coconut leaf, a pair of sandals of hibiscus South Seas" and of the instruction being given by the
bark, a loin cloth of coconut-leaf stipule, a carrying Bishop Museum and the Honolulu Academy of Arts

**li. .

'^ j0h
# 1^;

^'^-^

J!^"^^^
""

'/f^ '
 — —

Pastures
of the

Sea
By ElON JeSSUP
Drawings by G. MILES CONRAD

Showiag that the chain of life is

no stronger than its weakest link
and that even a whale may be
"
helpless without a tiny " shrimp

One-celled animals and plants: an amaz-

ing assemblage of water life that was long
overlooked. Now it is recognized as basi-
cally the most important thing in the sea

THE less
modern version of Jonah,
spectacular than the origi-
if way, it is said, the finback
vast schools of herring have been ob-
whale and when schools of mackerel are feeding
on them, the Wilson's petrels flying
nal, must still be classed as sur- served working on the euphausiids in overhead apparently take advantage
prising. What does the whale actually what you might call shifts. However, of the opportunity to make it a general
eat? You listen attentively to the zo- since the finback isn't averse to a feast.
ologist's answer. Logic, you decide, has mixed diet, there are sometimes sad Both the copepods and the euphau-
once more turned topsy-turvy. consequences for the herring. In safer siids belong to that fabulously nu-
The whale's prevailing diet — if he territory, the herring have been seen merous assemblage of water life we
happens to be a whalebone whale practically climbing the Eastport docks have come to know as plankton
turns out to be a tiny crustacean which to get at the euphausiids. passively floating or weakly swimming
you will need a magnifying glass to ex- As for the copepods, they have other animals or plants. To you and me,
amine. Different kinds of whales pre- takers, even if the finback whale can't plankton may look pretty useless. But
minute
fer different varieties of these be bothered. Herring like them ; and not to the zoologists. Basically, de-
creatures, which in a very broad and
important sense make up the "pas-
tures" of the sea.
Far from living up to dimensional
expectations for the diet of the largest
animals alive today, one piece de re-
sistance of the whale world —
one of
the copepods —measures about one-
twelfth of an inch in length. Maine
fishermen gifted with good eyesight
know copepods variously as "red
seed" and "cayenne," owing to their
color.
It is only the so-called Pollock
Whale, otherwise known as the Sei
Whale, that cares much for copepods, They are so small that a three- FiSHERMEN interested only in
and it also consumes fairly large fish. inch bottle can hold five million. big fish should realize that there
Other whalebone whales such as the Yet some of the largest existing would be no fish but for the
finback, blue whale, and humpback, More than 15,000 kinds
animals live on them. They are plankton.
display marked preference for the
the foundation of the food ladder have been catalogued from the sea
tiny shrimplike euphausiids, which
are somewhat larger. Down Eastport

i6 NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

clare the zoologists, these organisms square meter of water in the Gulf sumably leak-proof Germany. Nazi
are the most important thing in the of Maine. Her estimate, it might be scientists have been reported to be pre-
ocean. explained, was made during their time paring a big-scale netting offensive
It must be granted that the number of greatest abundance in the spring. upon some of their newly acquired
of different varieties is quite impres- Abundant they were, indeed between : oceans with a view to turning the
sive, particularly since no one knew seven and eight billion diatoms under plankton harvest to good use in pep-
they were there until fairly recently. each square meter of water. ping up army and civilian diet. The
How the earlier zoologists overlooked After a while the tiny fish grows Norwegian coast is famously thick in
the most important thing in the ocean bigger, becomes slightly bored with plankton.
is surprising, but modern scientists its diatom diet and develops a car- Dr. George L. Clarke, of Harvard
have obviously been industrious in nivorous taste. For a time the plank- and the Oceanographic Institution, has
making up for lost time. A total of ton community itself can satisfy this troubled to make calculations upon
15,813 different species of marine with, say, the animal copepod. But these hopes. He grants that the drift-
plankton have been classified to date, even a copepod isn't as much fun as ing morsels are extremely rich in food
and a great many more are probably eating real fish. As for vegetables, the values. Some of the small crustaceans
on the way. Beyond this, the fresh- fish has long since ceased to find any exceed 30% in fat. He also points out
water plankton make another formi- fun at all in them. There aren't many that shipwrecked crews have been ac-
dable list. vegetarians among adult fishes. credited with holding a handkerchief
The whale's insatiable appetite for That the copepod diet can give the over the side as a net and thereby
such tiny morsels throws the earlier young an ambitious start in life
fish catching enough to subsist. But this
oceanic feeding chart slightly out of cannot be doubted when we see what latter point Doctor Clarke is inclined
focus. So does the similar taste shown copepods can do for a whale. It may to question. His figures disclose that it
by herring, mackerel, rosefish, and a come in pinhead portions, but when would take two and one-half hours of
number of other adult fishes. In its consumed in bulk this fare has what steady towing under power with the
simplest form, we might expect the it takes. The copepod group alone in- most efficient type of equipment and
chart to designate plankton as the cludes at least 6,000 different species under entirely favorable conditions to
special food of the young, the birth- — certainly no lack of variety. harvest a sufficientamount of nutri-
right of the little fellows among all Some whales, as noted, concentrate ment to sustain one man for one day.
kinds of fishes. on the euphausiids, another variously This would entail the thorough cover-
However, when a fish is very tiny, assorted group. But the young fishes age of at least 7,500 meters of water,
investigations have proved that even are less particular. If it's plankton, approximately the area of a football
a copepod will be declined. Some it goes. field, to a depth of 1.5 meters.
smaller form of plankton is then fa- Labor and other details considered,
Plankton as human food he doubts the practical value of such
vored as diet. This is the one-celled
diatom, a microscopic plant of which Now Nature proceed along its
let a plan.
there are a great many different way while we examine the case of Of course, there is nothing new
kinds. man, for the whales and young fishes about netting the seas for plankton.
Although a good many diatoms are appear to be threatened with competi- On our own coastal waters and in
needed to make a meal, the little fish tion. Every once in a while you will various other parts of the world, col-
has no need to go hungry if it picks hear of some tentative hope among lecting has been progressing for years,
the right place and season. Dr. Mary mortals to capture this vast storehouse sometimes on a considerable scale, as
Sears, of the Woods Hole Ocean- of plankton nutriment cruising the in the case of the Oceanographic In-
ographic Institution, estimates the seas in countless small forms. One of stitution's fine research ship "Atlan-
diatom population under a single the latest plans has seeped out of pre- tis," which periodically puts to sea

Both herring and finback whale Reports say Nazis plan to har- These weakly swimming or pas-

relish the small shrimp-like eu- vest the pastures of the sea for sively floating organisms are all

phausiids. Sea birds as well are human food. Estimates of man- called plankton. The animal forms
often attracted to a scene like hours needed for a square meal are apt to be larger than the plants,
this —for a fish dinner would seem to dash their hopes on which they sometimes feed

PASTURES OF THE SEA 17

 —

gether with about as many more of cryptically reflects. "And all fish is

another group of microscopic plants diatoms." If not diatoms themselves,

known as peridinians. That is slightly other similar kinds of one-celled plants
higher than the count for a drop of are at the foot of the food ladder.
water. One drop of water is credited This, in brief, is the zoological story
with holding only 200 diatoms. of ocean life. Scup and \veakfish
These diatoms differed funda- couldn't have existed unless there had
mentally from their predators. They been a diatom or comparable micro-
were neither fish, flesh nor good red — scopic plant to nourish the animal co-
copepods. Although as plankton they pepod, which in turn became a hearty
belong to the same over-all category meal for the hungry fish. Or, to intro-

as copepods, they are still basically duce a slight but important variation,
different. Copepods are zooplankton there wouldn't be any cod or haddock
that is, they are animals, meat. Dia- for your dinner if cod and haddock,

Big fish eat little fish; little fish

toms are phytoplankton — vegetable following their own
bottom-feeding
matter, plants. Being plants, they are inclinations,had not gorged on mol-
eat tiny animals and plants. The
able to elaborate inorganic matter to lusks, which concurrently were gorg-
tiny animals feed on the tiny
form the organic matter of their ing upon diatoms.
plants. The plants need sun-
bodies, while their animal neighbors No matter how many variations
light and inorganic nourishment
can only break it down again to the you bring in, it always seems to come
inorganic condition. out the same. "Fish is diatoms."
The investigation couldn't go any These many different kinds of small
from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, for
plants and animals have an upsetting
a two weeks' plankton cruise.
effect upon preconceived views. As an
But all this, naturall}-, is along re-
example, there are the great masses of
search lines. It appears that plankton
familiar, visible plant life in the sea.
collecting for consumption
personal
We have all seen them in one form or
will not threaten the whale in the im-
another, cluttering up or beautifying
mediate future. Meanwhile, you and
the tidal waters near any shore as the
I, without ahvays being aware of the
case may be. The immenseness of what
fact, continue to benefit greatly from
thismight represent in total bulk stag-
the plankton in indirect ways.
gers the imagination. But a plankton
A fish story from the sea-going lo- specialist steps forward with the dis-
cality where I happen to live will il-
illusioning information that all this
lustrate the interlocking chain of life
really doesn't amount to much. Help-
in which the pastures of the sea form
ful, yes, but as a contribution to the
such an important link. Here a rising
ocean food situation as a whole it is
generation of Cape Cod market fish-
of minor importance, you might say
ermen, aged lo years and upward, Some .\nimal plankton are
inconsequential. It is not the plant life
will now and again approach a resi- large enough to be observed with
you see but rather what j'ou don't see
the naked eye, such as the jelly
dent scientist with
time the offering turned out to be a
offerings. This
fish. Early in life, sea urchins and
that matters — the microscopic plant
life, drifting out yonder, which con-
big weakfish. starfish are plankton, but not later
stitutes to an overwhelming extent the
The scientist eagerly slits the weak-
edible vegetation.
fish open to see what is inside. He
finds to his slight surprise quite a re- further. Excepting the peridinians
spectable size herring. Well, what (dinoflagellates) and other groups of
could the herring have eaten? It turns microscopic plant life less numerous
out that the herring, evidently off its than diatoms, there wasn't anything
plankton diet, has consumed a young more left in the ocean to eat. In the
scup. And what would a young scup diatom our investigator reached both
eat? This time we find a collection of the end and the beginning of the chain,
copepods. the base of the pyramid. He had come
The situation now becomes a trifle to the producer of the primary food
involved. A two-millimeter copepod supply for all inhabitants of the ocean
doesn't offer much to dissect. But even —which would appear to be quite a re-
a copepod must eat to live, and science sponsible position to be held by some-
must learn. An intimate examination thing you can't even see.
with a microscope, attached to vari- To be sure, even the diatom must
ous parts of the copepod's person, dis- have had some means of keeping alive.
closes an assemblage of diatoms. But to find that out we would have Wind and tide are chiefly respon-

As to how many diatoms were pres- to investigate the fertilizing nutrient sible for movement of plankton
ent in this case, I cannot say. But one salts in the water itself and the powers from place to place. A form that
of the scientist's colleagues, during a of energy in the sunlight pouring gains respectable powers of lo-
similar examination of a copepod, re- down from overhead. So instead: comotion loses its plankton status
ported a count of 200 diatoms, to- "All flesh is grass," our scientist

N.ATUR.'VL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

 On a summer day's sail you may of copepods — the stock on hand, or
have been aware of the existence of the population before it has been in-
plankton without knowing exactly creased by new growths. His estimate
what you were looking at. The sea, of this is four million tons. It corre-
you noticed, was no longer a clear sky sponds to the quantity of grass stand-
blue but had turned to a soupier olive ing in a meadow where cattle are
green. There were your plankton, grazing. Between May and September
stretching perhaps for miles in every the growth of this standing crop will
direction, untold millions of living ob- have yielded eight million tons of cope-
jects. In the laboratories of the Ocean- pods. This, you will understand, is
ographic Institution I was recently from the Gulf of Maine alone.
handed a bottle about three inches First and foremost the plankton con-
high —estimated contents, 5,000,000 stitutes a drifting world. That is the
plankton. meaning of the name plankton,
literal

Or, perhaps you have found it fun a word borrowed from the Greek,
The waves of the ocean mix the
at the seashore in summer to swoop meaning the wanderers, drifters. Forms
nourishing elements for the pas-
here and there with a hand-net. You of ocean life that can swim, crawl,
haven't caught plankton with spe-
tures of the sea, much as a plough
; they've run creep, or are otherwise gifted
through the net. Substitute close- cialpowers of locomotion really don't
does when it turns over the soil

belong. To be sure, even some of the in a field

woven silk in place of the coarser net
and, provided an onshore breeze is microscopic plants are capable of fee-
blowing, the chances of making a fairly ble attempts at self-propulsion. The
substantial haul of plankton are in often resembles, the plankton world
your favor. After a scoop you will is subject to constant change. At one
observe, shining in the bottom of the time you won't find a single diatom.
net, a gelatinous film which exudes a Then of a sudden in the spring there

faint fishy smell. There they will be a tremendous "flowering," and

are.
In the Gulf of Maine, Dr. Henry the ocean will be teeming with dia-

B. Bigelow, of the Harvard Museum toms, literally billions of them under

of Comparative Zoolog>', reported that a single square meter of water. With-

there were an average of 30,000 to in a month the diatoms will again
40,000 copepods alone under each have vanished, giving place in sum-
square meter of surface water. In the mer to a rich peridinian flowering.
same region Dr. Alfred C. Redfield, Zooplankton also fluctuate markedly,
reporting on the findings of the re- though to a lesser extent. Doctor
search ship "Atlantis," gives some Bigelow, while making towings in the
astonishing intimations of the total
Gulf of Maine, would catch only 30
or 40 cubic centimeters of them each
plankton content. The area of the
Like a cultivated field, plank-
Gulf of Maine estimated be haul at the end of February or early
is to
ton pastures of the sea change Alarch. Months later he would catch
36,000 square miles. Of course the
with the calendar, but Nature 400 cubic centimeters at a haul. Doc-
plankton population varies with the
does all the work. The abundance tor Clarke after several expeditions
season. Doctor Redfield first figures
what he defines as the "standing crop"
varies greatly with the season along the Continental Shelf concluded
that the plankton was 20 to 40 times
more abundant during the warm half
diatoms, which are by far the most nu- of the year than in the cold half.
merous, remain completely passive, but He also found the plankton to be
surprisingly enough we find the dino- four times thicker fairly close to the
flagellates engaged in a sort of minia- coast than at a distance of 100 miles
ture fan dance. However, all such ef- out. There seems to be general agree-
forts are extremely feeble in comparison ment that the farther toward mid-
with the movement of fishes and other ocean you go, the scarcer the plank-
creatures of the sea. ton becomes. Commercial fishermen
There are drifters of considerable have long been aware of much the
size —jelly fish, suggestive of para- same ratios guiding the presence
chutes. Because of their essential aim- of fish. Obviously, more than a co-
lessness, these too are included in the incidence.
plankton community. But it is the Ocean currents are to be held re-
very much smaller forms of life that sponsible for horizontal rovings of the
predominate. In many instances the plankton, and great rovers some of
Plankton population is thicker
plankton status is only temporary. Sea them turn out to be. Despite their
close to shore than 100 nules urchins, star fish, worms, and other limited powers of locomotion, they
out. Commercial fishermen have organisms belong with the plankton seem manage vertical movements
to
long known that fish obey a while they are larvae, but when they as well. Some mysterious stimulus,
similar rule —
no mere coincidence develop they no longer qualify. still unexplained, will cause them to
Like the clouds in the sky, which it sink and rise, in some cases as a regu-

PASTURES OF THE SEA 19

 low in spring and summer. On the Cape Cod thin and poor? Why did
other hand, after a mild winter with they or didn't they hit a given stretch
a fairly stable, undisturbed ocean, the of coast at a certain time ? Not that
plankton crop inclines to be scantier. plankton research can show the fisher-

And with this scantiness the fish crop men how to catch fish where there
itself may fall short of expectations. aren't any. But at least it can throw
The remarkable failure of mackerel sidelights that may help a lot in the
in the spring of 1937 is a case in point. end. An instance will indicate.
Plankton specialists can give you Doctor Redfield speaks of the con-
reasons. Down in Davy Jones's locker nection between the arrival of mack-
lies a peculiar type of treasure — fer- erel in the Gulf of Maine and the
form of extractions from
tilizer in the presence of plankton in the same areas.
dead plankton and fish excrement that A great counterclockwise eddy is in-

had been plankton. This must be volved, operating Gulf around the
stirred up and distributed, carried up and moving at various rates up to
The plant forms require sun-
and about to where it will do the most seven miles a day. Three months are
light, so anything forcing them too
good. What is literally a manufactur- required for the complete circuit.
deep is apt to kill them. But most
ing process then begins. Nitrates and Plankton, naturally, hop aboard (they
can produce resting spores which
phosphates in the water combine with can't very well help themselves),
can survive darkness for a time
energy supplied by the sun to produce there to drift, live, die, and be re-

new growths of phytoplankton. Be- created.

fore long the ocean is once more teem- It is along the southerly shores of
lar habit. Doctor Bigelow found that the Gulf, usually in June, that zoo-
the copepods invariably would rise to plankton become spectacularly pres-
the surface at sunset, where they ent, chiefly copepods. At the same
would remain until midnight, and time, mackerel arrive and are caught
then sink again quite deep. in great numbers. Soon after, the
Between the surface of the water copepods steadily diminish. The zoo-
and 100 meters down is the realm in plankton again become abundant in
which most of the plankton are netted. late summer, but this time in a differ-
Zooplankton from as deep as 500 me- ent locality — along the northerly
ters and more have been studied. But shores of the Gulf and in the Bay of
here we find a remarkable point of Fundy. Coincidentally the schools of
difference between the animal and the mackerel put in a second appearance,
plant forms. Zooplankton can take it. not as previously on the southerly
Phytoplankton cannot. Being plants, shores but on the northerly shores,
they will perish if they lose complete where zooplankton are now abundant.
touch with the sunlight overhead. The correlation appears to be com-
Animal forms, on the other
When they sink too deep, they stop plete.
hand, do not need sunlight as
producing. To be sure, most of them This Gulf of Maine eddy is appar-
the plants do, so their range is not
some kind of resting
are able to form There are others
ently quite beneficial.
limited in this way. Specimens are
spores which, when brought up to that are detrimental. C. O'D. Iselin,
the proper level, produce new indi- found 500 meters or more deep leading authority on ocean currents
viduals. But depth is a much more with the Oceanographic Institution,
crucial factor in limiting the distribu-
tion of phytoplankton than it is with ing with microscopic plant life.

zooplankton. It is a cycle that will not sound en-

To the plankton world in general, tirely unfamiliar to a tiller of the
unavoidable accidents occur. The mor- soil. It is the reason why we think of
tality rate, as already suggested, is the plankton as the pastures of the sea.
tremendous. Something a little bigger So, here we have far vaster stretches
eating something a little smaller ac- of rich grazing than probably could
counts for a considerable share. You ever exist on land —and of which you
I

will recall that a copepod can easily and I frequently partake as the even-
accommodate 200 diatoms. As for the tual consumers. "All fish is diatoms,"
number of copepods a whale and vast no matter how you take it, even
schools of herring and mackerel can though a mollusk on the bottom of
stow away, imagination falters. Then, the sea has been the diatom's original
too, an occasional disrupting storm will consumer.
scatter and destroy great numbers. The importance of these relation-
The plant forms vary in abun-
Yet, contradictory though it may ships seems recently to have gotten
dance with depth somewhat as
appear, such scattering may instead through the conservative shells of
turn out to be a saving grace. It has Down East market fishermen. Erratic shown above in left-hand column.
been noted that on the heels of a hard habits of mackerel, for one thing, have The animal forms are more evenly
and blowy winter an exceptionally rich long kept them guessing. Why did the distributed, as in other column
and abundant plankton crop may fol- mackerel arrive in waters south of

NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

suggests that the success or failure of followed this practical slant. It is

an entire j'ear's class of market fish more particularly true of investiga-

may be closely related to the fluctuat- tions being conducted on inland wa-
ing strength of the Gulf Stream. He ters. For in fresh water as in salt, "All
points out that suction eddies period- fish is diatoms." Although numerous
ically appear along the northern edge species of fresh-water plankton differ
of the Stream as the strength of its from the marine forms, the general
flow decreases. These eddies are problems are basically the same.
thought to be peculiarly destructive to Let us inspect a fresh-water scene
plankton and young fish. Although vi^here the existing native plankton
the whims of an ocean may be difficult have never enjoyed the privilege of
to alter, it is useful to know when the any outside help. Studies in this direc-
whims are coming. And these appear tion were made on a number of Min-
on the way to becoming predictable. nesota ponds. Black bass were intro-
Then there are the storms at sea. duced to them, and a census of
In fresh water these tiny or-
Destructiveness in this case appears to fingerlings taken to determine the
ganisms are equally important.
hinge largely upon the direction in potentialities.
Addition of nourishment, such as
which the plankton are carried. The One pond produced less than loo
cottonseed meal, will increase them.
Boston Fish Market now and again fingerlings to the acre. This pond was
mourns a spectacular drop in haddock found to be extremely poor in plank- Fish then increase enormously

catches. Some of the plankton author- ton. The highest score was reached by
ities explain it by saying that a year's a pond producing from 6,000 to 9,000
class of young fish and the plankton An example or two will illustrate

have been swept off the banks down the trend in results. At a Government
into deep w^ater. hatchery in the South the fry of black
Marked disasters of this sort are bass made their appearance in one of
fortunately rare. It is the natural habit the ponds toward the end of March.
of the water of Georges Bank, for The pond was then fertilized to en-
example, to stay where it is, over courage plankton growth; about 50
Georges Bank. Plankton, fish eggs, pounds of cottonseed meal were added
and young fish remain relatively un- once a week. The water presently
disturbed. It is an ideal setting for teemed with phytoplankton.
propagation. That is why Georges Toward the end of May— after
Bank is a famous fishing ground. But only two months of growth —the aver-
once every few years there comes a age length of the bass was two and
Gulf
variation in the volume of the one-half inches. At
least four months
Stream that sweeps young fish and and possibly six would have been re-
plankton off into tremendous ocean Still water is poor in plankton, quired to achieve the same growth
depths and destruction. and the fish go hungry. Move- without the added crop of plankton.
Scientists argue quite understand- ments distribute the food all along Furthermore, there were appreciably
ably that if the food supplies of the the line, and the fish thrive. But more fish to the acre than in ponds not
fishes can be increased and maintained, strong storms can be unfavorable fertilized, and the fish looked better
we shall all get more and better fish. fed.

Much of the plankton research has Experiments carried on by Dr.

E. V. Smith and H. S. Swingle at the
fingerlings to the acre. This one proved Agricultural Experiment Station in
to be remarkably rich in plankton. Auburn, Alabama, disclose further in-
Like ratios held all the way through. teresting Two ponds
comparisons.
An important discovery shared by were observed under fish-rearing con-
both marine and fresh-water research ditions that were similar except that
has led to further experiments. Not one was fertilized to encourage plank-
only could you raise plankton in the ton growth and the other was not.
laboratory, but, like blades of grass, The plankton-filled pond yielded a
you could rear them right from total fish production of 578 pounds to
scratch, even where they hadn't ex- the acre, whereas the unfertilized pond
isted before. All they asked was nutri- yielded only 154 pounds.
ment and sunlight. Fish can't live on water alone, or
It was chiefly the fresh-water lab- exclusively on other fish. And if the
oratories that carried on from this water happens to be crystal pure, the
point with the introduction of actual nil. BuUrushes and pond
Animal forms are plentiful pickings are

in the southern part of the Gulf

fish. You couldn't do much about an weeds in abundance don't seem to ful-
ocean. It was too big and unwieldy. fill the requirements, although they
of Maine in June, and so are
mackerel. Late in summer both
A pond was different.
fresh-water are obviously good for a flourishing
Here, progress could be watched and mosquito colony. Something else is
arrive in abundance in the north
definite results recorded. The labora- usually definitely essential. Fish need
tories moved out-of-doors. their diatoms or other microscopic life.

PASTURES OF THE SEA

 The Northern
HAVE you ever
otter at close quarters
seen
?
a
Prob-
sea 45 to 70 pounds. The pelts give the
appearance of havirfg come from a
shore, they are rarely seen far out at
sea. The sense of hearing and their
abljr not, for there are none much larger animal, as the skin hangs eyesight do not appear to be exception-
on exhibition at any of the zoos or in loose folds on the body, and in the ally good, but this is offset by their
aquariums in this country. Few mu- process of drying and tanning they particularly keen power of smell.
seums even have a complete skeleton. stretch considerably. Although larger than the land otter,

The sea otter (Enhydra lutris, In color the fur runs from a deep the sea otter has characteristics of its

Linn.) was first discovered in the brown to jet black, the under part of land cousin and also those of the seal.

Aleutian Islands by the early Rus- the body and neck being of a lighter It might be described as an interme-
sian fur hunters. Vitus Bering's ship, shade. Often the guard hairs are diate between the two animals. The
the "St. Peter," was wrecked in 1 741 silver-tipped. The fur is soft, lus- rear legs and feet of the sea otter are
on the island now known as Bering trous, and glossy on pelts in prime constructed on much the same plan as
Island, while returning to Kam- the flippers of the seal, and resemble
chatka after his voyage of discovery a flipper more than a foot. Their
to America. Here the survivors found front legs and webbed feet are used
many sea otters. These animals at West of the Aleutians at with great dexterity.
firstwere unafraid of man, and the It is an odd fact that these animals
Gladskuvskaya the Russians
shipwrecked crew were able to kill also have some human characteristics,

them quite easily with clubs, in order are pursuing an interesting demonstrated by many of their ac-
to use the meat for food and the pelts tions. The manner in which they use
conservation program for
for building shelters. On returning to their front legs and feet is one such
the port of Petropavlovsk after seven
an animal which relatively characteristic, for they use them in
months on the island they took with few people have ever seen the same way we do our hands and
them over 700 sea otter pelts. The arms. A
male will caress a female
and which was once killed
arrival of these furs in Russia led to rubbing or "kissing," and
cheeks,
other expeditions in search of sea to the verge of extinction using his forefeet as hands in strok-
otters,and so it was, traveling east- ing the female. The mother sea otter
ward from the Komandorski Islands, nurses her pup at her breast in human
the animals were discovered in the fashion and also cradles her pup in
Aleutian Islands. In the mad rush to condition. Sea otters shed their fur at her "arms" as do human beings.
secure these valuable pelts the Rus- all seasons of the year. The pelts Mother animals have been seen to
sians killed both male and female have always had a high value and play with their pup by throwing it
alike, sometimes even the pups. This today are worth approximately one into the air and catching it again.
almost brought about the extermina- thousand dollars apiece. Naturally One Aleut reported having seen them
tion of the sea otter, as happened to enough these pelts are extremely rare, play with seaweed, tossing it into the
the sea cow by the year 1768. for these animals are now protected air to catch it as it fell.

The adult sea otter is a sleek-look- by the Government, none at all being The early Russian fur hunters
ing, playful sea mammal with a flattish permitted to be killed. stated that a mother would protect
head, small ears, long whiskers, and The sea otter lives mainly on crus- her pup with her life. If the pup was
a strong, thick, medium length tail. taceans, moUusks, octopuses, small killed and the mother escaped, she
It has an over-all length of between fish, and seaweed. Because this source would return and carry the dead pup
four and five feet, and weighs from of supply is only found close to the with her for many days, later dying of
 .

Sea Otter By Alan G. May

sorrow or a broken heart. On the When playing they have a preference more than one occasion and killed the
land the mother carries her pup by to be near large patches of seaweed, animals for their pelts.
the nape of the neck as does a cat into which they dive, remaining under On Meydni Island, one of the Ko-
her kitten, and when angry the sea water from two to three minutes. mandorski Islands under the jurisdic-
otter hisses like a cat. The swimming ability of the sea tion of the Republic of Kamchatka,
Steller, the great naturalist who otter equals that of the seal or is pos- U. S. S. R., there is a little settlement
accompanied Bering, was the first sibly better. It is a real joy to watch named Gladskuvskaya where the Rus-
white man to set foot on Alaskan soil. these graceful animals sporting in the sians have established the only Sea
He described the sea otter as "... a water. In play they seem to vie with Otter Experimental Station in the
beautiful, pleasing animal, amusing, one another in aquatic acrobatics, world. It was a great privilege for the.
and cunning in its habits." He re- turning somersaults, rolling over and writer to be able to visit this station
ported that if some of these animals over like a spinning log, so fast that in 1938 when working on an ar-
escaped into the sea after being chased they appear like a whirling blur. chaeological survey led by Dr. Ales
by man, they would wave one "arm" Like the baby seal, the sea otter pup Hrdlicka of the Smithsonian Institu-
in apparent derision at their pursuers. must be taught to swim. The mother tion.
Sometimes they would hold one of places the pup on her breast and takes Here, with the assistance of a few
their "hands" over their eyes to shade to the water on her back, then gently Aleuts, a Russian biologist is studying

them in order to see better. When pushes her offspring into the water. these interesting animals and also
watching something from the water, When pup is tired or in diflficulty,
the breeding them in captivity for the first

they have the habit of rising vertically the mother picks it up and allows it time in history.
so that almost half the body is out of to rest on her breast before repeating Gladskuvskaya is a small settlement
the water. the lesson. of less than a dozen inhabitants with
The molar teeth with which they The figures on the sea otter herds a few houses and a headquarters build-
crush shellfish are almost human in of the Aleutian Islands are confiden- ing which is used by the biologist as
appearance, although somewhat larger. tial.These herds, while not large at his laboratory and living quarters.
At irregular intervals the sea otters present, show every indication that Fine looking cattle and hogs roam at
will migrate a considerable distance with the full protection of the Govern- large around the buildings, while the
in large or small herds, returning to ment, they will be steadily increasing Aleutian Blue Foxes, which are suc-
their own locality after an indefinite year by year. Although sea otters can cessfully raised on the island, are al-
period of roaming. be seen occasionally on almost any of most as tame as dogs.
They sleep in the water on their the Aleutian Islands and also along About a half mile from the build-
backs with their front legs in the air, the coast southward, there are two ings some large pens have been erected
jaw resting on chest, and the rear legs islands in particular which they fre- on a salt-water lake in which the tide
or flippers lying in the water to main- quent. These islands cannot be named, rises and falls. In these pens the sea
tain their balance. When sleeping on as sea otter poachers still exist. The otters are kept segregated.
the rocks of the shore, one of their Japanese knew of one of these islands In order to determine whether the
number guard to warn of any
acts as and are known to have landed on
danger. They have few enemies, how-
ever probably only the killer whale
;
^ A RARE EXHIBIT: one of America's are four or five feet over-all. The
and sea lions. In groups or herds they "$ 1000-pelt" ranges from deep brown
few mounted specimens of the animal
are friendly and amiable creatures,
that has "flippers" like a seal yet re- to jet black, with guard hairs often
never fighting among themselves.
sembles its much smaller land cousin. silver-tipped. Strict laws forbid the
Sea otters weigh up to 70 pounds and killing of any sea otters

y^"'* Calif or nia State Division of Fish and Can rtesy of California Academy of ScienceA
 Recording
The seismograph on display in the American Museum
attracts much popular interest, especially when it is

recording a quake —an occurrence by no means rare

A.M.N.H. Photos
A Anchored in bedrock, the instrument rests
on an
island of concrete that has no contact with the
building. The Chinese invented an earthquake re-
corder working on the same principle in 132 a. d.

The seismograph is so sensitive that the touch of a feather will

By Roland T. Bird cause the needle to swing violently on the recording tape, as
Department of Geology and Mineralogy, shown here. The tape is moved along day and night by clockwork
The American Museum- of Natural History

FOR great
nearly 32 years after the
Mino-Owari earthquake
of 1 89 1, a tranquil calm had
rested lightly upon the islands of
Japan. Aside from one or two sea Tokyo ablaze during one of Japan's disastrous quakes
waves of seismic origin that had swept
in along the coast, nothing worse than
a few stiff shocks had tumbled an oc-
casional village or stone wall or tomb-
stone here and there.
For one of the most unstable spots
on earth, this was a long interval, but
it was drawing to a close. Below the

earth's thick crust, beneath deep Sa-

gami Bay, countless earth particles
pressed together a little tighter. Here
tremendous forces involved in moun-
tain-building uplifts strained at a 360-
square-mile area, just beyond where
Tokyo Bay opens into the sea.
In the busy, unsuspecting city of
Tokyo, so close to this focal point of
long-accumulated stress, a misty rain
was falling. Women went about their
tasks preparing a midday meal. In

24
 —

EARTHQUAKES
When an earthquake The needle is attached to
trikes Japan, it takes ap- the weight. The record-
•roximately 14 minutes ing ribbon is fixed to the
or the wave to travel base of the instrument
brough the earth to the and registers the vibra-
ecording instrument in tions after they have been
•Jew York City. OscLllat- amplified by a system of
ag the supporting base, levers, omitted in this dia-
his wave causes the en- gram for the sake of sim-
ire instrument to vibrate plicity. The line traced by
-with the exception of the needle on the revolv-
be heavy weight. The ing ribbon shows the ex-
/eight hangs free and is act time and nature of the
berefore undisturbed shock

Drawing by John C. Germann

JAPA;,
NEW YORK
Yokohama, some 17 miles south, sev- visualize the rest of this story as it the quake. In the lower part of the
eral tourists sat down to an early quickly happened. The time is approx- city,buildings are collapsing in clouds
lunch, expecting to sail on a Canadian imately 44 seconds after 1 1 158. A deep of dust so dense a man cannot see his

liner within the hour. Although a grumble has just been heard from the hands. The captain of a Canadian liner
typhoon raged over the western is- tortured earth and windows rattle offshore saw, "the whole city billow-

day was not very different

lands, the gently. In Tokyo many people instinc- ing . . . houses and vehicles drifting
from any other in September during tively hurry into the open streets. . . . the next moment clouds of dust."
the previous decades. Almost at once and without further Piers splash down along the water
It has been suggested that this ty- warning, the city shakes to a subter- front. The breakwater beyond sinks
phoon may have "touched off" the ranean blow so violent that it seems into the sea. The lighthouse at its

quake. Just before noon an arm of the to crumple walls by the mere physical end crumbles and starts to fall. Rail-

storm began to affect atmospheric impact from below. Buildings surviv- road tracks leading away from the
pressures over Sagami Bay. Actually ing this first shock sway until people city'srising dust look like coils of

we do not know that this put into ac- inside cannot walk across floors. Other rope where the earthquake has twisted
tion the earth forces that strained so shocks follow, and the first of several them.
tensely below, but it might have. bridges slumps into the river Sumida, In the rural areas along Sagami
In the bed of the bay, creeping frac- the Thames Tokyo. Trees are up-
of Bay, people standing on soft ground
tures in the earth's crust spread over rooted, roads fissured, water mains suddenly find themselves hammered
a wide area. These gradually increas- fractured. Water floods some areas into the earth knee-deep. Out on the
ing rifts traveled along lines of least waist-deep. Like broken cobwebs, tele- Manazuru Peninsula potatoes are

resistance, often running many miles phone and telegraph wires are left tossedfrom their hills, and on more
apart —forerunners of the great faults tangled on the ground or hanging from than one farm the entire harvest is
that were to split the bay's floor into poles. bumped about like balls. Equally fan-
several huge blocks of enormous depth A panoramic view of Yokohama tastic, farmers' wells are seen to rise

and size. What was in store for tlie shows even worse destruction, for it bodily from the badly pounded
surrounding land? is only 40 miles from the epicenter ground, their tile casings seeking posi-
Let us turn back the years, and the point directly above the focus of tions of equilibrium sometimes eight

RECORDING EARTHQUAKES 25
 or ten feet in the air, or collapsing in
bits. In the bay large fish are killed
by the compressive shocks. On near-
by Mt. Tanzuwa about eight square
How Far Away is a Quake? miles of forest go crashing down the ;

destruction in this area bafHes all de-

though those at the recording
The shock occurs at 12:00 noon, scription.
1. station do not know it yet.
For 30 long seconds this violence
than shear waves, persists.A moving locomotive and five
The "push" wave (P), moving faster
first
seconds la^. passenger coaches are hurled from the
2. leachefthe'recording station 8 nunutes and 21
through a steel track near Oiso. Another train not far
first wave passing
"Push" waves resemble the shat- from landslide-wrecked Yokosuka gets
"Shear" waves are twisting,
struck with a hammer.
baT caught in a falling tunnel. Pushed and
tering vibrations. tilted from below, a section of the
once on the under- island has moved upward, as if to
A second "push" wave (PP) is reflected se^nds
3. ide of theLrth's crust and arrives 1 minute and 41 compensate for those forces of erosion
reflected twice, is due 28 that forever strive to wear down
Ler. A third "push" wave (PPP),
all
land masses to the level of the sea.
seconds thereafter.
Some of these huge crust blocks
arrives. Then there is a
wait of 4
The third "push" wave have tilted more than others as they
while the "shear" wave (S), slower
4. ^^u^s and 35 seconds rose, and a 24-foot uplift at Misaki
the direct route.
than the "push" waves, follows connects Yoashima Island with the
mainland half a mile away. Now the
recording nation ^ote
The "shear" wave reaches the
first earthquake lapses sullenly into a long
seconds have passed since the first
5. Lt 6 minutes and 43
tells how far away the quake j. series of aftershocks, caused when
"piLh" wave. This interval
a second, "shear w^e
most of the displaced crust blocks,
"C" waves travel at about 5 miles
of the distance of a quake
having overshot positions of equili-
atTbout 3. For an approximation seconds by 7.5 brium, settle back from time to time.
multiply the interval in
in this Lneral range, We
whlS |^e:3023 'mies. TaLs prepared ^or P^^ °£
e next witness the water retreat-

determining the distance

give 3175 "^"^^hefimf
reflected ing a hundred yards from shore along
Sagami Bay. This mysterious event is
and 5 seconds after the
"shear" wave will arrive 3 minutes caused partly by the recent uplift of
direct "shear" wave. the shore. Subsidence in the bay's cen-

kin-U of »ave, >»"

ter is another contributing factor, for
Ato d-ese ». -^l^„f:.::tv.b
type or wive li water
This starts several cubic miles of
6. rUWA tvm. arrives—a "svirface" wave.
it

moving in from round about at the

same time. When the sunken portion
s»ke of clanly.
Mr* to l»M reduced slightly '<" die

12:08:21
HRS. MIN. SEC.

RECORDING STATION RECORDING STATION RECORDING STATION

.PPP

EARTHQUAKE
 ,

of the bay fills with this onrush of over Tokyo from south to west. A too, has experienced some rather tough
ocean, a great wave, like water slop- furious 40-mile gale wheeled and bore teeth-shakers. In the United States
ping up the sides of a dish, inundates in upon them. Soon surrounded by the California earthquake of 1 906, fol-
several small and hapless coastal vil- huge columns of smoke and flame, lowed by San Francisco's famous fire,

lages. The greatest height of this seis- these helpless victims had no way to remains the classic example, fortu-
mic sea wave was 36 feet at Atami, 34 turn. As far as was ever known, from nately with few others to back it up.
atMera, and 30 at Ito. Such disaster that one large area not a single soul All earthquake regions, in-
these
has taught persons living in earth- escaped alive. cluding Nippon, lie along very defi-
quake regions to seek the highest pos- This disastrous and historic quake nite belts. From the time Lake Cimini
sible ground when the ocean suddenly of September i, 1923, left more than engulfed a Roman city by the same
retreats after the earthquake shocks half the capital of Japan in utter name in 1 c, down to recent
450 B.

have passed. ruin, the principal seaport, Yokohama, times, these belts have given trouble.
Meanwhile, with no water left in destroyed, and 150,000 dead. How are earthquakes recorded and
the mains to fight them, hundreds of Within a little more than 20 min- located at great distances? According
fires were setting Tokyo ablaze. Now utes after the first shocks, it was being to occasional remarks overheard by
the still-advancing typhoon swung in recorded far and wide by the world's the writer while attending the seismo-
to fan this new terror. Then began seismographs (pronounced like the graph on display at the American Mu-
one of the great tragedies of the world. word "size"). In 5 minutes and 32 seum, the instrument might seem to
In Tokyo as well as Yokohama, seconds the advance waves, traveling defy comprehension by any but the
those not trapped in the wreckage of on a nearly direct line, reached Hong most profound minds. "What makes
their homes attempted to flee as best Kong. In 18 minutes and 21 seconds it run ?" the visitor wants to know, or

they could along littered, semi-flooded, they arrived in Calcutta. In the oppo- "Does this thing make earthquakes?"
or fissured streets. Western Tokyo site direction they pushed to California One observer, overlooking the explan-
was more or less protected by the in II minutes and 41 seconds. Less atory label, recently startled the writer
wind, but across the city many had than three minutes later they kicked with, "Are you making rubber?" An-
difficulty keeping ahead of fires. Those the American Museum's seismograph other asked, "Have you ever recorded
able to, escaped momentarily into into action. any oil under the city?"
parks or other open areas. One area These mistakes about the seismo-
Earthquake belts
in densely populated Hongo ward be- graph are excusable the instrument
;

came a haven for thousands, partly on Earthquake recording Instruments does look complicated. But basically it
account of its large size, partly be- have also registered large quakes from is simple. You will see two large 1000-

cause it seemed the fires might drive Spain, Portugal, the West Indies, pound weights suspended like pendu-
past it. Then relentlessly, just as the Mexico, Central and South America, lums. One can swing in an east-west
crowd filled it to overflowing with — particularly along the Pacific side. direction, the other north and south.
40,000 persons according to reports — China, India, and regions under the A simple but delicate system of levers
connects each ef these weights to a
the typhoon's whirling vortex rotated great south seas have likewise hurled
along its path enough to shift winds their impulses through the earth. Italy, needle touching a rotating ribbon of
paper. The girders supporting the of the two separate but simultaneous Newfoundland, and it shook fishing
weights are securely anchored in bed- records that have been obtained. One boats, freighters, liners. Here in New
rock. When impulses from an earth- of these, it will be recalled, records York the incoming oscillations were so

quake jar the base of the instrument, it east and components of the
west powerful that both recording needles
oscillates, whereas the heavy weights, quake, the other north and south. on the Museum's seismograph were
hanging inertly, remain unaffected. Both needles responded with approxi- thrown off the drums completely.
This movement is amplified in the mately equal force, so that we know Fortunately this great quake, pow-
levers of the recording mechanism, the quake must lie approximately mid- erful enough to destroy large cities,

and a line is drawn on the smoked way between the two components. We was was soon
far at sea. Its passing

surface of the recording paper. An must explore our globe along the di- forgotten by everyone but a few seis-
electrical device continuously moves rection suggested and, keeping in mind mologists and transatlantic cable com-
the paper on a drum and makes a dot the definite belts, we find an active panies, whose damages ran into several

beside the needle every minute and a zone at the right distance and in the million dollars.
dash every hour, so that the exact time right direction. We can then say with Artificial earthquakes in the form ,

can be determined. some assurance, "This quake occurred of man-made blasts are also easily

off the west coast of Mexico at exactly picked up by seismographs set in tune
10:45 this morning." with them, as are the vibrations of
The seismograph in action
But all quakes are not as easy as passing trains and traffic. It was the
Now let watch the instrument in
us this, and for more certain directional development of such delicate instru-
action. If we are lucky enough to be checks a third component, measuring ments that enabled oil geologists to
present when the oscillations arrive the up-and-down vibration, is useful. eliminate much of the guesswork in
from an unknown but quite conven- Italy and the Aleutian Islands are drilling for oil. Thus the seismograph

tional quake, the first indication is a both equidistant from New York, and might be called the first real divining
quiver on both recorders from the so- in a case like this it may be difficult to rod that ever worked. Not that it ever
"push" wave.
called compressional or place the quake with only the two detected oil itself ; it is far more subtle

This might be compared to the first basic components. When an observer than that. It tells where or where not
wave traveling through a steel bar can check with other stations, it is the underlying rocks lie in a position
struck with a hammer. Like a sound usually easier to trace elusive quakes. favorable to the accumulation of oil.
wave, it seems to pass through it ex- Again, the same region may frequently Offhand it would be difficult to esti-
tremely rapidly. The earthquake pro- send the same earthquake signature, in mate the great benefits that have been
duces also another kind of wave, which case it becomes an old friend, derived from this phase of seismology
which produces a twisting, shattering easily recognizable. alone.

vibration. This is called a "shear" Instruments more sensitive than the

wave. It travels only about three miles American Museum's seismograph some-
times employ a beam on sen-
The first earthquake recorder
a second, whereas the "push" wave of light
travels about five miles. Actually the sitized paper, thus eliminating the f ric- The history of the seismograph goes
velocity increases above these figures tional drag of the needle.The well- back to China in 132 A. D., when the
with depth. But the difference in time known seismological station at Ford- present pendulum system was utilized
between the arrival of these two waves ham University, presided over by to record earthquakes for the first

gives an indication as to the distance Joseph Lynch, S.J., is
of the quake from the instrument. Such instruments, however, cannot be
There is no mistaking the "shear" exhibited before the public as func-
wave when it comes poking along tioning units in broad daylight, which
some five minutes and several seconds is major purpose of the Museum's
the
after the "push" wave. The seismo- seismograph. This instrument was
graph fairly leaps into action. Other given to the American Museum by
"shear" waves that have been reflected the New York Academy
here and there along the undercurve
of the earth's crust come following
so equipped. time known. The designer of the curi-
ous instrument was a mathematician
and astronomer of Nan Yang Province
named Tyoko. As Director of the Bu-
reau of Almanac and History, his
duties included recording the many
earthquakes that then plagued China.
of Sciences. The machine consisted of an inverted
pendulum balanced so that the slight-
est movement would displace any one

along for several minutes. All of these

A large quake near New York
of eight small copper balls. These were
produce undulations of sharp and dis- Occasionally some itinerant quake set in holes equidistant in a circular
tinctive character. A
convenient set of will show up unexpectedly far from frame around crown, with which
its

tables has been compiled to give the the beaten path of quakes, but these contact was established through light,
distances of quakes for various time occurrences are rare. One such notable radiating arms or pins. Thus the in-
intervals between the arrival of the deviation took place on November 18, strument was prepared not only to in-
first and second waves mentioned. A 1929, when
tremendous quake, esti-
a dicate the occurrence of an earthquake
glance at this shows that our disturb- mated as probably one of the greatest wave but its direction as well. The
ance is centered some 2310 miles away. in history, occurred only 800 miles device was decorated with dragon
A final series of "surface" waves ar- from New York City. Out on the heads arranged in such a way that the
rive some time later (a combination of floor of the North Atlantic it snapped copper balls were balanced on their
the first two), coming around Robin twelve telegraph and telephone cables tongues ; and there were squatting
Hood's barn over the outer shell of like so many pieces of thread, some of toads below to catch the balls in their
the earth and leaving a weaving trail them in several places, as much as 1 50 yawning mouths if and when they fell.

on the recording drum. miles apart. The seismic sea wave it One naturally wonders how sensi-

Clues as to the direction of the created swept in as high as 50 feet in tive such a quaint but practical instru-
quake are derived from a comparison narrow inlets on the south shore of Continued on page 42

28 NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

 In What Direction is the Quake?
A The instrument has two separate A If the earthquake is from due east or A In between, both components re-
recorders. One waves coming
reacts to west, the east-west mechanism records A
spond, but to lesser degree. third com-
from north or south, the other east and it. The other needle merely continues to ponent for recording up-and-down vi-
west. A quake due north or south of the draw an almost straight line on the brations helps tell whether the waves are
station moves only the one needle smoked ribbon moving with or against the arrows

The Blind Zone

Stations between 7,000 and 10,000

miles from a quake do not receive all
the waves. When the direct "push"
wave meets the earth's core, it is re-
fracted so that it fails to arrive with-
in this zone.
It is interesting to note that some
"shear" waves, upon entering the
core of the earth, jump ahead at
"push" wave speed. On leaving the
core, they change back to "shear"
waves and complete their journey at
regular speed
 :

AJ OUE
forgot all about homesickness and the

impending hardships and inconve-

niences and cabled back a happy
"Yes."
But my trip to the Solomon Islands
had a bad beginning. We left Samarai
on the southeast tip of New Guinea
on July 10, 1929 to sail for Faisi in
the Northern Solomon Islands. Our
vesselwas the "France," the 76-ton
schooner of the Whitney South Sea
Expedition, a remarkably sturdy sail-
ing craft with a temperamental motor
which was out of commission most of
the time. On the first day out of port
we ran into a nasty storm which tossed
us around for two days and made life
on our crowded craft rather miserable.
When it finally cleared up, we were
thrown into the other extreme. The
wind died down completely. I remem-
ber that we heaved an empty box over-
board early one morning and it had
not drifted more than 50 yards away
from the ship when the sun went
down in the evening. Such a complete
calm is a rare thing even in the tropics.
The sun beat down unmercifully and,
unmitigated by a breeze, it nearly
fried us alive. But when we finally
reached the Solomons, we were amply
rewarded.
There is probably no island group
in the world that surpasses the Solo-
R. H. Beck photo
mon Islands for variety. Only one
general statement can be made about
them and that is that one cannot gen-
eralize. There are small coral islands

Scenes prominent in the day's A These dusky beauties are dressed and atolls there are larger islands
;

up in their "Sunday best." Most of the with undulating limestone hills; and
news figure in an explorer's story
ornaments have a tribal significance, there are still larger islands with high
of a region which until recently and the necklaces of dog teeth and mountains. Bougainville, the largest
was scientifically one of the least shells are used as native money, with island of the group, has an active vol-

known on earth which wives are bought. In the old cano with a high plume of smoke
days even murders could be paid for which is well visible from the sea on
with such money clear days. Such days are not very
By Ernst Mayr common, of course, in the humid trop-
Associate Curator of the
W
hitney-Roths child Collections, Having been in New Guinea for a ics, where the mountains are nearly
American Museum of Natural History
year and a half collecting birds and always enveloped in clouds. The high-
other natural history specimens, I was est mountain on this island, Mt. Balbi,
AN you join Whitney South

c I

Sea Expedition in explora-

tion of Solomon Islands?"
read a cable which reached me, several
weeks after it had been sent,
just about ready to go
ticing offer
home. The en-
meant spending another
year away from home and from my
was first climbed in 1928 by an Amer-
ican scientist. Dr. Hannibal Hamlin,
who was then leader of the Whitney
South Sea Expedition.
in a little job, yet it was a golden opportunity to

mountain village somewhere in the in- explore a group of islands that were The southern part of Bougainville,
known ornithologically than any the Buin region, is the only extensive
terior of New Guinea. less

whether other part of the world. lowland in the entire Solomon Islands.
I was not at all sure at first
ought to be happy about this offer. The temptation was too much! I Recent reports indicate that the Japa-
I

30
NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943
JEY TO THE SOLOMONS
S
G. E. Petersen photo

an air port in this area.

nese have built
This must have been extremely labori-
3US since the entire region is heavily
wooded. In fact, these dark forests are
the only place in the tropics in vi'hich
[ ever got completely lost.

I had left a small trail to follow the

roice of a particularly rare and desir-

able bird. It flew from tree to tree, al-

ways keeping out of reach of my gun,
and when I finally gave up the chase,
I realized that I had lost my bearings.

Since it was almost noon, the sun was

nearly overhead and was of no help at
ill. Not even a compass would have

helped me in getting back to the wind-

ing trail, since I had taken no bearings
when I had left it. Clearly it was im-
portant not to get panicky, so the first

thing I did was down on a log

to sit
for a quiet smoke. Then I made a
rlearing to which I would always be
able to find my way back. From here
I cut a straight trail, well marked
with blazes, in what I believed to be
the direction of the main path. I fig- A Guadalcanal: a native hut in a clearing in the forest. A pawpaw
ured that I had chased the bird for tree can be seen in the right foreground, and young palms farther back
about ten minutes, so when I failed to

find the trail after about fifteen min-

utes, I knew I had gone in the wrong
direction. went back to the little
I

clearing where I had found myself

lost, and started off a second time, in

a slightly different direction. This

time I hit the main path after about
ten minutes and continued my bird
collecting much relieved.
Nearly all of the Solomon Islands
are heavily wooded. It is only in the
New Georgia group and in western
Guadalcanal that grasslands are found.
There has been some argument among
botanists as to whether these stretches
of savanna are natural or owe their
existence to human activities. Where
the natives cut down and burn the
original forest a second growth forma-
tion springs up, which may appear like
an ancient grassland if the burning is
repeated regularly. However, the fact
that the grasslands of Guadalcanal are
the home of two endemic subspecies of
birds, a finch and a button quail, indi-
cates to me that this plant formation
is older than human colonization.
The Solomons are rather wet. /I // Beck photo

There are not many days on which it A A COCONUT PLANTATION west of Numanuma. Copra (dried coconut ker-
does not rain. In fact, they might nel) is being lightered out to a steamer, while native canoes idle near by

A JOURNEY TO THE SOLOMONS 31

 <An avenue of lofty palms and
beautifully flowering bushes adorns
the approach to the residence of the
District Officer on Bougainville Island

reputation is bad, have generally been

able to get sufficient workers, the big
companies, whose plantations are scat-
tered all over the islands, have always
had considerable difficulties. This situ-
ation will probably not improve until
contract laboris imported from places

likeSouth China, where there is much

unemployment.
The New Guinea gold fever has
also affected the Solomons, and there
has been much prospecting in recent
years. A few small "strikes" were
made, but it is still too early to deter-
mine whether the Solomons have a
real future as a gold country. Men-
dana, who discovered the Solomons in
1567, brought home glowing reports
of the fabulous riches of the isles of
Solomon, but we now know that his
reports were of the variety indulged
in by real estate operators. He wanted
to establish a colony on the island, and
a good dose of optimism was more per-
suasive than the cold truth.
Nearly all of the islands are now
under the control of the British Gov-
—
ernment at least they were prior to
the Japanese occupation —but the
Solomons had a checkered history un-
til this peaceful condition had been

reached. Nobody knows what the orig-

inal attitude of the natives to the white
man was, because whalers and traders
had visited the islands before any ex-
peditions had an opportunity to report
on really untouched natives.

qualify for that famous description of

the tropics which says that it rains
every day in the dry season and all the
time in the wet season The vegeta-
tion is
!

of tropical luxuriance, but the

BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND
SOLOMON ISLANDS
soilon many of the islands is not par-
ticularly good, especially on those that
.CHOISEUL ISLAND
are recently raised coral reefs. This
may be one of the reasons for the back-
ward state of agriculture in these
VELLA LAVELLA ISLAND A KULAMBANGRA
ISABEL ISLAND

islands. Copra, the dried kernel of

coconuts, is the main crop. Fishing for NEW GEORGIA ISLANDS^
Ml -Ti,a»

mother-of-pearl also yields some in- ^^MALAITy

MALAITA ISLAND

come, but most of the other tropical

crops like cotton, coffee, rubber, and
tea are either absent or insignificant. GUADALCANAL ISLAND
Another principal reason for the back-
wardness of agriculture is the difficulty
SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND
of getting laborers. Although individ-
ual plantation owners, unless their

32 NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

 The worst chapter in the history of
the Solomons was the so-called "Black-
birding" period. The sugar plantations
in Queensland needed great numbers
of colored laborers, and these were re-
cruited by more or less illegal means
from various islands of the western
Pacific. The "recruiting" often con-
sisted merely of luring groups of na-
tives on board a vessel and then weigh-
ing anchor before they had a chance
to escape. There was
a heavy mortal-
ity among Queensland workers,
these
and only a few of them ever returned
to their native shores. It is not sur-
prising that the next white visitor to
such a locality was greeted with spears
or arrows. Blackbirding is a thing
of the and recruiting for the
past,
plantations in the Solomon Islands is
now done by peaceful means.
The natives themselves vary as
much as the landscape. On Sikaiana,
Ontong Java, and Rennell —three out- A There is no more native warfare near the coast, but the natives
lying islands — the inhabitants have af- love to stage sham battles for the benefit of the photographer
filiations with Micronesians and Poly-
nesians in language, habits, and skin
color. The natives of most of the other
islands are properly classed as Mela-
nesians, with dark brown skin and
fuzzy hair.The inhabitants of Bou-
gainville and particularly of Buka are
even darker, almost as black as the
blackest African negroes. There is no
other place in the East in which the
natives are as black.
The natives of different islands
vary as much in temperament and
character as in physique. The old-
timers among the resident whites on
the Solomons assured us that the
Choiseul boys (all natives in the white
man's employ are called "boys") were
the laziest and the San Cristobal boys
the steadiest and most dependable.
The Malaita boys are potentially the
best workers (most of the stevedores
in Tulagi harbor were from Malaita), A The natives are fond of children and take them wherever they go. Older
but they are treacherous and often girls carry their young sisters while the mothers are busy in the gardens
disobedient.
Malaita is the only island with a
prosperous native population, which
is variously estimated at bet^veen
30,000 and 80,000 people. It is also
the only island in the Solomons in
which the population does not seem
to be decreasing rapidly. The gradual
extinction of the population was no-
where more apparent to us that on
Choiseul. In a section where there had
been prosperous villages only four or
five years before our visit, the Whit-

ney South Sea Expedition in 1929

found only a few rickety houses and
the few remaining stragglers of a lost
tribe. A The native handicrafts seem to be on the decline in most places.

A JOURNEY TO THE SOLOMONS The baskets offered to the tourist are not of very high quality
 < Pigeons are incredibly common
even though they raise only one or
two young in a brood. When certain
nuts ripen, thousands of pigeons con-
gregate in the nut tree groves

The reasons for such a catastrophic

reduction of the population are not
entirely clear. Foremost, of course,
are the epidemics of the white man's
diseases, against which these natives
have absolutely no immunity. Mumps
or measles may be an extremely serious
matter for them. The white man is to
blame more ways than one. He has
in
asked the natives to don cotton dresses
(of incredible dirtiness) which induce
skin diseases and probably increase
the likelihood of colds. He has
persuaded them to come from the
mountains to the unhealthful coastal
districts and has contributed in other
ways to their decline. Fortunately
there seems to be a turning point in
the vital statistics of most tribes
that have been in contact with the
\vhite man for a long time, and it is to
be hoped that the population of the
Solomons will become stabilized be-
fore too many tribes have disappeared.
To come into personal contact with
isolated and primitive natives is an
unforgettable experience. And the
native, of course, finds it equally

R. H. Beck photo or even more exciting to see his first

white man. A
white man's expedition
is just as big an event in a native vil-

R. H. Beck photo

A.M.N.H. Photo
A Working in coconut plantations is today the prin-
cipal source of money for the Solomon Island native

34
 lage as a circus in an American coun- had died and the pigs had been slaugh- canoe was caught in a breaker and
try town, bigger in fact, because it tered. So an expedition that had come capsized. Ail eight occupants were
may happen only once in a lifetime. all the way from America had to turn thrown into the water, together with
Everybody, or men and
at least all the back to let a savage peacefully fatten a considerable quantity of fresh pig
children, stand around us in groups, his pigs for his father's burial! As it meat. The blood from this meat at-
talking, gesticulating, smoking and turned out, the trail did not lead to tracted in a very short time a large
chewing betel nut, which causes them the best mountain area anyhow, and number of sharks, which began to at-
to spit copiously. Their remarks are in we finally approached by a different tack the natives viciously as soon as
their own language, which is unfor- route. they had gobbled up the pieces of meat.
tunate, because we would love to There are no wild beasts in the About five minutes later every one of
know what cracks they make about us Solomon Islands. One can stroll the natives had been killed by the
and what causes them to laugh fre- through the woods without having to sharks.
quently and uproariously. be afraid of being attacked by any- The boldness of the sharks is quite
It is not always easy to understand thing more ferocious than a mosquito amazing. saw one native on a planta-
I

the mentality of the native, and it may or a land leech. There is only one ex- tion on Bougainville Island who had
be even more difficult for him to un- tremely dangerous animal in the Solo- washed dishes at the edge of the reef.
derstand ours. Since it is most im- mons, but it is in the water. It is the A shark tore off half of his arm, and
portant on an expedition to avoid Australian man-eating shark. I know it was lucky for the native that he was
friction, one frequently has to orient my Will Beebe claims that
friend not pulled into the water and devoured
oneself with the native's point of view. sharks are cowards and that he was entirely. I heard a few tall stories
An incident on the Whitney Expe- never attacked by one during any of about a giant octopus which was sup-
tion may illustrate this. his numerous diving exploits on the posed to have attacked not only whole
On our way to the interior of Ma- ocean floor. However, this is true only native canoes but even small sailing
laita the only trail from our anchor- in American waters also there is good
; vessels but closer interrogation re-
;

age passed through the privately reason to believe that the noise of the vealed no creditable facts to support
owned property of an elderly man, escaping air bubbles of a diving helmet such stories.
who had a herd of pigs in this area. may scare the sharks away. In the The zoological exploration of Ma-
He was extremely polite but quite Solomon Islands about one dozen na- laita was one of the special aims of the
adamant that we could not pass tives are killed by sharks every year. Whitney Expedition. The natives of
through this territory. The commotion These beasts are particularly fero- this island have such a terrible reputa-
caused by the expedition would scare cious when they "smell" blood in the tion that no ornithological expedition
his 20 pigs, which would then bolt water. I recall one horrible situation had ever visited it before, in fact not
into the territory of a neighboring of this sort. Two fully laden canoes a single bird from there was known.
tribe. He explained to us gravely that returned to San Cristobal Island after Only two years prior to our visit to
he could not afford to lose them, be- a successful feast in a neighboring vil- the island the district officer and his
cause his very aged father was on the lage. To reach the shore, the canoes police escort had been ambushed by
verge of dying, and this would neces- had to pass a sunken reef, over which the treacherous natives and murdered
sitate a great burial feast. The area the surf occasionally broke. The first to the last man. Peace had been re-

would be ours as soon as his father canoe passed safeh', but the second established in the meantime, and al-

i "We found the Cristobal natives f Hard work probably more than the ^ The dances are generally the
)articularly pleasant and reliable, adverse climate makes the Solomon climax of the great pig slaughter-
rhe hunters proved skillful and kept Island women appear old at an early ing festivals. Each tribe develops
IS busy preparing their catch" age. A family scene on Savo Island its own dance "figures"

R. H. Beck photo R. H. Beck photo

A JOURNEY TO THE SOLOMONS 35

 R. H. Beck photos

mniii°»BM
!«..wi,«j,M - "j>.v.Tj 'r»»wta

though one of the government officials accompanied dad to the fields or to

his the Solomon Islands, and all other

did not give us better than a 50:50 the river to Every spare moment,
fish. animal groups are much more poorly
chance to come back alive from the in- however, he hung around our camp represented than on New Guinea, but

terior, the expedition encountered no and made it known by looks and otherwise the fauna of the two areas
trouble and returned with a splendid words that it was his greatest ambition is very much alike. Parrots and pig-
collection of natural history specimens. to go bird hunting with the "smart eons abound, and the nights are filled

Among the birds caught there were no set" of his tribe. He seemed so un- with the singing of cicadas and the
fewer than three new species and fif- suited for this work that we paid no curious noises of various tree frogs.
teennew subspecies. attention to him. Finally one after- Strangely enough not a single moun-
The mountain natives in general noon we gave him a gun that was idle tain bird was known from the islands.

are good woodsmen. We

employed in the camp and a few cartridges, It is therefore not surprising that the

their services as hunters whenever pos- partly out of pity and partly to con- Whitney South Sea Expedition dis-

sible and found that they were in some vince him that he was useless as a covered no less than thirteen species
respects superior to us, particularly in hunter. new to science. Including subspecies of
the collecting of the shy ground birds. Who can describe our amazement lowland forms, our expedition discov-
Barefooted, these hunters sneak al- when "Stupe" came back, a few hours ered 80 new kinds of birds in the
most noiselessly through the woods, later, with a couple of fine specimens islands, surely a remarkable record for

and if necessary they will sit with infi- including a rare black hawk — the best a single expedition.
nite patience for hours until a calling bird we had yet obtained. The other The tamest and therefore probably
bird emerges from a thicket. When hunters were green with envy, but the best beloved bird is the "willy
collecting in the mountains of San "Stupe" went hunting daily there- wagtail," a flycatcher about the size
Cristobal, we had such an excellent after. In spite of the keen enthusiasm which is found every-
of our kingbird,

group of hunters that we were kept and diligence of the other skilled where along the seashore and along
busy skinning their catch and hardly hunters, it was generally "Stupe" who lowland rivers. It is particularly fond

needed to leave camp. brought in the best and rarest birds. I of the vicinity of human habitations

The only son of the chief of the vil- have never been able to make up my and generally places its nest over wa-
lage at which we were camping was a mind whether "Stupe" was merely ter. It seems to be continuously on the

good-natured boy, but he looked and favored by incredible luck or whether move, and if the bird itself is not
acted so extremely stupid that we he was really quite clever in spite of changing its position, at least its tail
nicknamed him "Stupe." He was the his apparent stupidity. will be twitching left and right. I do
apple of his father's eye and generally There are no birds of paradise in Continued on page 48

36
NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943
 <The magnificent coconut
palm is the chief wealth of the
Solomon Islands. The islands
are prosperous as long as the
world market price of copra is

high, but they are depressed

when it is low

The seagoing canoes of the

Solomons are works of beauty
and art. The canoe house has
in some tribes a ceremonial im-
portance equivalent to the
church in our community

^ Most coastal and some in-

land tribes are Christianized.

The replacement of the old re-
ligions by the new is more of a
social than a spiritual revolu-
tion. These two scenes are from
Vella Lavella

A JOURNEY TO THE SOLOMONS 37

 —

\
\

< Nature's original "Old Man Whis-^

kers." Intentlywatching another human ^
intruder on a near-by trail, America's i

No. 1 mountain climber failed to notice

the photographer who was stalking him.
So, here he is —
a photographic trophy
complete with horns and whiskers

All photographs by the author

Mountain Goats
Hunting
With Miniature Camera
By Henry P. Zuidema
chose Goat Mountain in Glacier Na- to darkness and to me" —with films
tional Park, as a likely locality to ob- still unexposed.
THERE are two approaches the
study of that fascinating dweller
to tain photographs of these elusive In the intervening years, the pho-
animals. tographer sharpened up on goat psy-
of the peaks, the mountain goat He found there were no goats on chology and mastered the tricks in-
of the high ranges. One is the simple Goat Mountain, then, but discovered volved in stalking these best climbers
process of strolling over to the Hall of a fine herd up the valley, below Sex- in the Rockies. Small, compact cam-
North American Mammals of the ton Glacier. All day the chase went eras, easily carried beside the knapsack,
American Museum of Natural His-
tory to observe at leisure the splendid
on, with the goats —young and old came to his aid, and Mr. Eastman's
always just out of camera range. bright young men co-operated in sup-
habitat group ofOreamnos ameri- Finally, late in the day, a wise old plying faster films.
canus. The other method is to go di- buck was stalked. But just as the Last season, sad experience and a
rectly into therugged wilderness and young photographer approached and miniature camera combined to pro-
climb, and climb —
and climb ! set up his bulky, heavy equipment for duce the photographs here shown. The
When the writer was a young and a shot in the waning light, the sun equipment consisted of a Leica 35
inexpert mountaineer, innocent of the sank behind the awesome comb ridge mm. camera, with regular Elmar 50
wiles of the mountain goat clan, he of Matahpi Peak "and left the world mm. lens, a No. 2 (orange) filter,

38 NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

 ^ This small alpine meadow high on the
flank of Gunsight Mountain, in Glacier
Park, is a favorite browsing ground for
the mountain goat. Two adults and a
kid stand on the brink of a great cirque
wall, with an ice-fed cascade roaring
,
down the face of the distant precipice

HUNTING MOUNTAIN GOATS WITH MINIATURE CAMERA 39

and a light meter. The film was Pan- attack from below. Roving carnivores at certain chalets in the national park,
atomic X. sometimes attempt to stalk him but will bring them down from the high
Minor complications that confront seldom surprise the wary climber. places, even in winter.
both expert and novice are smoke and The howl of a coyote is enough to We might wish that the Rocky
haze and capricious mountain light, cause the "goats" to start toward the Mountain goat — so hardy, enterpris-
which is usually more brilliant than clouds, and I have observed them ing, and rugged an individualist of
the photographer surmises. Hobnailed making their way up the perpendicu- the wilds —
were a representative of
boots and patience are important ac- lar cirque wall at Iceberg Lake, in an old American family, but the
cessories. Glacier Park, until, after a sheer paleontologist says "No !" The moun-
The mountain goat is not a true climb of nearly 2,000 feet above the tain antelope is a rather late arrival
goat and has no near relatives on this lake, they were indistinguishable from in America, geologically speaking,
continent. He belongs to a group of the patches of late summer snow. and is probably an Ice Age immigrant
animals known as the goat antelopes, The young, usually born singly, from Asia.
which also includes the European come into the world in the spring and His adoption of our peaks as his
chamois. remain with their mothers through home was a fortunate event for the
His range extends along the west- the following winter or until the next mountain climber, nature enthusiast,
ern mountains from northern Mon- offspring are Mosses and li-
born. and photographer. In the Hollywood
tana far into Alaska, and almost chens, as well asand tender
grass sense of the word, he is an extremely
alone with the eagles, he frequents the browse, make up their food, and only —
"photogenic" mammal and a fine
high peaks and precipices, safe from the lure of salt, often placed for them actor, too.

"Friend or foe?" This big buck twitched his

tail nervously as he studied the photographer

40 NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

 BEAVER ENGINEERS

By John Eric Hill That they were produced by beavers is A stream entering quiet water like
proved by remains of the dams, the a beaver pond quickly drops the gravel
wood of which is sometimes found to it may be carrying. The side of the
Drawing by pond where the stream enters there-
be carbonizing or petrifying.
Beavers have justly acquired fame fore soon fills. The finer soil settles
G. Frederick Mason for theirlumbering work, but they farther on in the deeper parts of the
deserve less credit for intelligence than pond, and most of the ultra fine parti-

BEAVERS partly make and control for industry. A beaver does not always cles are filtered out by the dam. Wa-
the conditions under ^vhich fell a tree so that it will fall toward ter leaving the dam is usually crystal
they live, like men do, and the pond he makes the deepest cut on
;
clear, whereas upstream it may be
they have been doing it a lot longer. the side most easily reached, the down- quite cloudy, particularly after heavy
They do not use axes, saws, and bull- hill side. Now
and then a beaver will rains. A week may pass before the wa-
dozers, of course, and it takes them a cut down and divide part of it
a tree ter inan undammed stream loses the
long time to fill valleys and change into lengths that are much too heavy brownish tinge due to the soil it
the courses of streams. But up to his- to handle. But generally he works carries.

torical times the extent of their work with medium size aspens. The bark of All this sediment causes the beaver
has been greater than man's, and they these trees is the beaver's choice food, pond to fill up; and as it fills, plants
have produced results comparable to and the stripped branches and trunk grow on the new soil. Grass and pond
such engineering feats as building air- dam building.
sections are used in weeds invade the edges of the pond
fields. Indeed,Alaska and other
in The dams are often of great size, as and are soon followed by several kinds
mountainous regions the great mead- much as 20 feet high, and as long as of moisture-loving bushes. Organic
ows made by beavers offer level areas 1200 Logs and branches are piled
feet. material is added to the soil of the
of which advantage should, and doubt- across the stream in haphazard fash- pond by the plants that die, and the
been taken.
less has, ion, and the chinks are filled with mud roots of the living ones form a dense
In certain parts of the Rockies as and stones. As the water rises, the mat that holds the soil fast, even when
much as one-tenth of the country is beavers keep adding to their dam, un- the pond and dam are deserted.

flat meadowland built up by the con- til a balance is reached between the By the time the beavers have used
tinued activities of beavers.^ In size water that seeps through and what up most of the food trees, the pond is
the meadows vary from a few hun- flows in. The dam is extremely resis- pretty well filled in. The beavers then
dred feet to ten or twelve square miles. tant to floods and even to the thrust of move upstream to begin a new cycle,
the ice when it breaks up in the spring. leaving behind a meadow that gradu-
'
Such an area was studied and reported Any small leak that the beavers locate ally becomes dry land, fertile and al-
by R. L. Ives, 1942, Journal of Geomor-
is plugged. most flat.
phology, V, 191-203.

BEAVER ENGINEERS 41
RECORDING EARTHQUAKES act consistency of the core of the earth. waves. However, the direct "shear"
Continued from page 28 Is it fluid or solid? It is different wave will not be as conspicuous as in
merit could have been. The best an- enough from the outer crust for us to a nearer quake, and in its place ap-
swer lies in a story regarding its early define it as a distinct spherical core pears a new wave. This new wave
history. One day a copper ball fell with a measurable radius of about started through the earth as a conven-
into a toad'smouth at a time when no 2142 miles. But just what its proper- tional "shear" wave, but when it en-
tremor whatever was noticed in the ties are in terms of solids and fluids countered the core, it was refracted
vicinity. Tyoko had not expected that remains open to some debate. and converted into a "push" wave.
a distant quake could be recorded by On leaving the core, it again became
the dragons and the toads —
China's
"Shadow zotte"
a "shear" wave and arrived as such.
mystery symbols of heaven and earth. This wave travels somewhat faster
The designer of the instrument began The first real proof of a definite than a direct "shear" wave, because it
to question its reliability. But this had core to the earth is a "blind spot" that is speeded up while passing through

actually happened, and was cleared

all
up some time later when news filtered
in from a neighboring province that a
quake had been felt the very day the
little copper ball had fallen.
Thereupon Tyoko's seismoscope
came into general use and seems to
have been kept busy during his
time. But either due to a long period
appears in earthquake recordings. the core. It is known as an SKS (or
Within a belt more than 7000 miles shear-core-shear) wave and becomes a
from a quake and less than 10,000, prominent feature of our records at
seismographs are screened from some around 7000 miles. At this distance it
of the impulses as an automobile is may arrive as much as a minute ahead
screened from radio waves when pass- of a straight "shear" wave, even
ing under a bridge. Like light beams though it has to cover a longer, deeper
life- bent in passing through a glass prism, route. There may be still another deep
the missing impulseshave been re- core —
wave the SKKS wave which — ,

of seismic quiescence or other causes it fracted by the core, usually to appear has been reflected inside the core sur-
was laid aside and ignominiously for- elsewhere on the surface of the earth. face just as other waves are reflected
gotten for the next 1800 years. It is Thus the record of a typical quake inside the crust surface.
interesting to note that an exact dupli- 7000 miles away differs somewhat Beyond the shadow zone (more

cate of this instrument was recently from that of a closer quake. The first than 10,000 miles from the quake)
constructed in Japan, and until last "push" wave arrives as usual, having regular first "push" waves that have
accounts was
it spitting balls into grazed the core. This is followed been refracted into the core appear
toads' mouths in the Earthquake Re- about four minutes later by a reflected once more.These are followed by
search Institute of the Imperial Uni- "push" wave which has struck the un- "push" waves that have been reflected
versity of Tokyo. derside of the earth's crust midway in the usual way from the crust sur-

Much more is known of the interior between the quake and the station and face. Then two new waves appear
of the earth than was before the inven- been "bounced." Then, 2 minutes and close together, which strike, and leave
tion of the seismograph. On the other 18 seconds later, a "push" wave that the core in such a manner that one is
hand, there are some things we have has been reflected twice arrives. changed to a "push" wave, the other
not yet learned ; for example, the ex- All these have been conventional remaining a "shear" wave. The others

42 NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

 —

which follow are mostly similar to were sometimes as deep as 500 miles.
waves already discussed. Even at 40 miles it has been doubted
The reader may ask why "shear" that the consistency of crystalline
waves become "push" waves within rocks subjected to such pressures as
the core. Before the advent of seismol- exist there would permit the kind of
ogy, a fluid core, more or less molten, slipping that is necessary for an earth-
was considered a probability, and quake. In a brief article we cannot
there is evidence to support this theory. dwell upon theoretical answers that
And as has been hinted, a fluid have been suggested. can only say We
might not be expected to carry a that such quakes, regardless of their
"shear" wave. It must be pointed out, depth and other evidence to the con-
however, that a number of separate trary, do seem to be brought about by
investigators working on different the same agencies that cause normal
quakes from records gathered over the earthquakes.
whole world have all come to the con- The last feature of the seismograph
clusion that some "shear" wave does to discuss is one which reminds the
manage to squeak through the core writer that there is nothing dull even
although it has been said to resemble in the routine of changing records.
a drowned rat upon emerging. This The instrument is never still. It con-
being the case, just what kind of a stantly oscillates gently to movements
core have we? Is it a metallic body known as microseisms. These waves
under high pressure and therefore may be faint or pronounced but are
rigid enough to give a sort of solid invariably there, unceasingly swinging
solution —or are we just up a tree for the needle. Not fully understood but
a better answer ? generally accepted to be the surf
This being the Sixty-four Dollar pounding against continents, they give
Question of this article, upon which the observer the feeling that, however
various seismologists have pondered infinitesimal he may be on the vast
without absolute agreement, you may surface of this old globe as she goes
permit the writer to pass on to some- rocking and reeling along her path
thing simpler, such as "surface" waves. through space, he has a delicate finger
These are never bothered by the core on her pulse. Today her great heart
but come around the world unham- may be ticking fairly noticeably; to-
pered, to form the happy ending to morrow she may tremble and quiver
every distant earthquake record. In like a leaf, or, at any unexpected time,
fact, they sometimes continue around we may note the swift jab of a quake.
the world until they pass a station not
only once but twice, and in both direc-
She may then be relied upon to slowly ILLUSTRATIONS
"scratch herself" with a "surface"
tions, too. Watching the seismograph, wave, before again lapsing into a mood
one might say that these "surface" that fits her tempo at the moment. are printed from photo-
waves were doing a sort of Hawaiian The ancients used to think that
waltz even a couple of hours after quakes were caused by a monster turn-
the quake has finished. ing over in the earth or a wrathful
engraved plates made by
god venting his spleen on a people that

Deep-seated quakes
presumably might have needed chast- STERLING ENGRAVING
ening. The actual cause is now usually
One of the interesting topics dis- obvious, although the forces which
cussed by seismologists in recent years bring about the uplifts and displace- COMPANY, 304 E. 45th
is deep-seated earthquakes —quakes oc- ments which actuate these jolting
curring
supposed a
many miles below where it was breaks are not clearly understood. As Street, New York, N. Y.
slip along a crustal frac- manifestations involving several theo-
ture could take place. These deep retical explanations, they will un-
quakes were first noted when different doubtedly continue to shake man and COLOR PROCESS, BLACK AND WHITE, BEN DAY, LINE

stations disagreed on the location of a his works as long as he remains on

disturbance. What was wrong? earth.
The answer, as might be supposed, Within a few minutes after the big Above illustration —Nile River Group— showing Antelope
Deia,il

came through more detailed study of

a 1923 earthquake that hit Tokyo so Akeley African Hall —American Museum of Natural History
the records. It was possible to deter- badly, the Japanese had picked up
mine that some of these mysterious their scattered seismographs from the
quakes were too deep to produce the floor of the observatory and had them
usual surface effects. Furthermore, the back at work recording the various
actual depth was deduced from the aftershocks. In the years to come, we
time it took reflected waves to reach may expect earthquake research to
the station. continue to yield additional informa-
It remained difl^cult, however, to tion about this planet on which we
explain the occurrence of quakes that live.

RECORDING EARTHQUAKES 43
 YOUR NEW BOOKS
EVOLUTION BY HUXLEY • MAMMALS OF EASTERN U. S.
GREEN EARTH • MINERALS • THE INVERTEBRATE EYE

Evolution the modern manner designed

synthesis
_______ -by Julian
Harper & Brothers, $5.00
his first chapter Mr. Huxley reaffirms
IN belief
his oft stated in
validity of neo-Darwinian principles,
which consist of Darwin's three primary
laws with subsequent modifications aris-
ing from post-Darwinian studies in genet-
ics. The tenth and final chapter consists of
a strongly philosophical consideration of
evolutionary progress together with some
suggestions as to possible evolutionary
future.
Chapters Two to Nine cover a volumi-
nous but well integrated mass of data,
drawn from various scientific disciplines
and oriented toward the general prob-
lems of evolution. The findings of a great
number of genetic studies are discussed in
Chapter Three, ("Mendelism and Evolu-
tion") and Chapter Four ("Genetic Sys-
tems and Evolution"). General questions
of speciation are treateti under the chap-
ter headings: "The Species Problem; Geo-
graphical Speciation," "Speciation, Ecolog-
ical and Genetic," and "Speciation, Evo-
lution, and Taxonomy." "Adaptation and
Selection" and "Evolutionary Trends" are
allotted separate chapters.
A work of this magnitude
to evaluate. Mr. Huxley's constant will-
ingness to interject his own particular in-
terpretation of data gathered by other
workers might arouse some adverse com-
ment. On the other hand this very will-
ingness adds considerable grist to his mill,
with the result that the book provides a
to
to make
the well-qualified student of
the text useful
mammal-
The MAMMALS OF
ogy and tolayman who would learn
the COLORADO
Huxley more about mammals. The author has car- ------ by Edward R. Warren
ried on field work in 2i of the 27 states
included in the area, and is an active stu- Second (revised) Edition
dent of life histories.
Univ. of Oklahoma Press, $4.00
essential
Although most of the mammals inhabit-
the
ing the Eastern States have been recog-
nized by name for many years, there is
rHE Mammals
in the first edition
of Colorado
in 1910
appeared
and has
still great deal about them that is un-
a been a very useful book over the years.
known. Intensive field studies over ex- The present volume is a second and re-
tended periods of time are providing the vised edition which had reached the first
data to make us really acquainted with proof stage when the author was stricken
some of these creatures. Doctor Hamilton by a fatal illness. The final stages of
has carried on some of these projects, and publication were under the supervision of
his book will be a useful reference for the author's widow.
students and stimulation for others who The book
is a well-planned and pre-
may wish to fill in gaps in our knowledge. pared report upon the mammals of the
There exists a fair number of books State, written to give data for specialist
written about the mammals of a state or a and layman alike. The treatment follows
restricted area like the Adirondacks. Some the current systematic classification and
of these are classic accounts. But In gen- the characters of each subdivision or cate-
eral the Eastern States, because they were gory are given in a brief synopsis. Then
studied first and presumed to be better follows the section given over to distri-
known, have not received the attention in bution, life history, and other items of
literature given to the Western States, general interest. Common names and Latin
where forms new to science are still being names are given for each form.
discovered. There are today great oppor- The accounts of life histories are drawn
tunities for discoveries in data covering from various sources, a good deal of it
life histories in all the Eastern States. It from the author's personal field experi-
is high time we learned more about these While some of the text identical
ence. is
mammals, and Hamilton's book is a fine with that of the first edition, there Is much
start In the proper direction. new material and the book has a greater
is not easy
This volume is well illustrated with
content.
both drawings and photographs. Geo- It is well illustrated, has an extensive
graphic distribution is shown by numerous bibliography, directions for making study
good maps, and there is a well selected specimens, a section on life zones, a short
bibliography at the close of the book. glossary, and an index.
H. E. Anthony. T/ie Mammals of Colorado is a good
book to own for reference as well as for

somewhat new and extremely stimulating the one can find in reading the
interest

perspective on fundamental scientific prob-

THE NATURE LIBRARY nondescriptive text. It has its greatest use-

lems. Artcraft bound, decorations in gold, 5^^ x 8^2, fulness, of anyone most con-
course, for
1800 pages, 288 pages of Animals, Butterflies, cerned with the fauna of Colorado, but a
This is certainly a valuable and out- Flowers, Trees, and Birds in color. The 7
standing piece of work, and the test of Volumes include Nature's Program, the year great deal of the information applies with
time may indeed prove it to be a great around guide to Nature's calendar of events. equal force to the mammals of the West
Published at $19.50. THE
LITERARY or to North American mammals in general.
contribution.
FAB MART, 333 Fourth Avenue, New York, offers
this set toMembers for five days' free exami- H. E. Anthony.
nation. Price of set $14.00, payable S2.00
down, S3.00 monthly. Cash Price $12.00,
The MAMMALS OF EAST- same return privilege.
The green earth
ERN UNITED STATES. Vol. 2 D ANDUX An Introduction to Botany
- - - by William Hamilton, Jr.
J. TENTS AND CANVAS GOODS by Harold William Rickett
Handbooks American Natural History
of FOR ALL PURPOSES
Consult our nearest office for full information on The Jacques Cattell Press, $3.50
edited by Albert H. Wright
your canvas out tit requirements
The Comstock Publishing

THIS book on mammals deals with some

Co., $4.00 C. R.
Manufacturers
DANIELS, INC.
Everything of Canvas
of
44 West Street, New York, N. Y.
M R. RICKETT for nineteen
served
years as a professor of botany at the
University of Wisconsin, the University
253 species and subspecies in the east- of Missouri, and Reed College in Oregon.
CHICAGO DALLAS LOS ANGELES
ern United States, which is intended to Boston Cleveland Philadelphia As coauthor of a widely used textbook in
Buffalo Detroit Pittsburgh several botanical peri-
mean those states lying east of the Miss- Cincinnati Newark & other Cities botany, editor of
issippi River. The subject is handled in a Cotton Duck Mills: Daniels, Md. odicals, and author of many scientific

44 NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

 a

publications in his field, he has contributed running through it, which if followed
greatly to the more technical literature on would enable one to identify practically
In The Green Earth Mr.
the subject.
Rickett reveals decided talent as a writer
all of the plants that furnish us food or
clothing. The drawings are so clear, how-
1\N0 Important New Books
for nonscientific readers. has popular-He ever, that comparatively easy to locate
it is

ized his subject in the highest sense of a plant by the unorthodox method of leaf-
of Scientific Interest:
the word. The basic principles of botany ing through the book and looking at the
are so clearly expounded and so aptly
Clitje Fisher.
developed that the reader moves steadily
through the pages without any feeling of
effort and with the solid satisfaction of
knowledge gained. Getting there: the
The titles of the first nine chapters in-
dicate in a general way the contents of
psychomotivatease
the book: "Of the Green Color of Leaves A Textbook in Zoolog>" in the form of
and What Comes Of It," "Of the Anat-
a Poem with Pen and Ink Sketches
omy of Leaves," "Of the Architecture of
Plants," "Of the Growth of Plants," "Of ---.--_ by R. M. Yergason
the Purposes of Plants," "Of Flowers and
Their Fruits," "Of the Likeness of Peas Privately printed but "dispensed" by
in a Pod," "Of Names, Of Fern and Moss." Mrs. A. R. C. Yergason, 89 Van Buren
Chapter X deals with the evolutionary Avenue, West Hartford, Connecticut, $1.00 THE STORY OF
history of plants and touches upon the
topic of speciation. The eleventh and con-
cluding chapter introduces the reader to
problems of disease and parasitism in
A N impartial student of the arts and
'-^ sciences might well wonder why the
zoology of the textbooks has usually been
left to wander desert of tech-
in its own
THE MOON
plants.
The reviewer enjoyed Mr. Rickett's book nicalities, without benefit of music, verse, by Clyde Fisher
or jingle. Bright e-xceptions to the rule Honorary Curator Hayden
tremendously and recommends it unhesi- of the
tatingly to those who wish to make an
were the opuscule on Hoiu to Tell the Planetarium
acquaintance with, or to review the fasci- Birds from the Flowers by R. W. Wood,
nating subject of botany. now almost a classic, and Hoii: to Tell "This book belongs in everybody's library. Parcacs
need ic to aoswcr the questions of their children.
Your Friends from the Apes by Will
F. A. B. Ambitious youth can use it to eorich its romantic
Cuppy. appeal. The college professor will learn from it
With the praiseworthy motive of de- to prcscnr an interesting subject without drying it
up in academic jargon. From theories of the moon's
Plants we eat and wear glooming zoology, the author, a physician
and surgeon, who evidently knows the
origin, thr'J its motionj, its tidal effects, its func-

__.-_---- by H. E. Jaques value of brightening up his patients, tells

tions in eclipses to its intrusions into the literature
and folklore of the ages, the author leads his reader
us that on, both delightfully and profitably." Chicago —
Published by the Author Tribune. This is ths Fourth Tttle in thg Amsrican M-Uteum

709 N. Main, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa This is to stimulate the thought of Natural History Science Series. $3 .00

Brochure $1.50; Cloth $2.50 How 'Various forms of life cavort,

Hoping that you may hereby be
THE author
Iowa Wesleyan
is a professor of biology in
College, and this litttle
Awakening to activity.

volume is another of his attractive and And his opening verse gives the theme:
useful "Pictured-Key Nature Series." It One who surveys the active features
was a happy thought to bring the plants Of all the various living creatures
we eat and the plants we wear together in Becomes imbued voith great devotion
a little book. The only place, known to this
Toward studying forms of locomotion.
reviewer, where all this information can
be secured is in a work on horticulture After this auspicious start the verse
consisting of several large tomes. Our meanders pleasantly along the branching
present little book has a distinct advan-
tage in that nearly every species is illus-
trated with good clear line-drawings.
Here we find all of the surprising array ON YOUR RADIO SCIENCE YEAR
of vegetables of the cabbage family ar-
Programs of the American Museum and
ranged, described, and individually illus-
trated: cabbage, Chinese cabbage, kohl-
rabi, turnip, rutabaga, cauliflower, broc-
Hayden Planetarium, Summer, 1943.
WEDNESDAYS over WNYC
BOOK OF 1943
coli, mustard, Brussels sprouts, kale, etc.
Included here we find the cinnamon-tree
from 3 :30 to 3 :45 P. M. by John D. Ratcliff
from Ceylon, mate from South America, Science for the Seven Million
Here are the thrilling stories oi scientific discovery
the mangosteen from Malaj^a, the cheri- This program is now under the sponsor-
and advance that have appeared in leading maga-
moya from Ecuador and Peru, the litchi- ship of Natural History Magazine and zines during the past year —
written by such well-
nut from China, the baobab from Africa, is broadcast directly from the Museum. known personalities as Qucntin Reynolds, Claud R.
and many other plants that we like to Wickard, and many others. 2.8 separate articles
All members wishing to attend the broad- cover such topics as sulfa drues; a youth-retaining
know more about. vitamin; brain waves; torpedo pla
cast are cordially invited to do
The plants we eat figured and de- — so.
[heti This . the i

scribed, range from agar-agar and Irish • the scries of Mr. Ratcliff 's Science Year Books.
"Mr. Ratcliff is a human centrifugal separator. A
moss of the algae, through Iceland moss SATURDAYS over WNYC thousand and more popular articles on recent scien-
of the lichens, yeast, and a few mushrooms tific developments have poured into his brain, like

of the fungi, to the flowering plants — from 10:45 to 11:00 A. M. so much whole milk. Out came the cream in the
form of his SCIENCE "iTAR BOOK." Waldcmar
fascinating array. Among the plants we The Stars Will Tell
Kacrapffert, author of Science Today and Totnorrow.
wear there are included not only fiber
A quiz program, broadcast directly from S1.50.
plants, such as species of cotton, flax,
the Hayden Planetarium, which boys in At your bookseller's or direct from
hemp, and jute, but also those that fur-
and girls attending the morning show
nish dyes and perfumes, as well as a
may participate. Doubleday, Doran & Co., Garden City, N. Y.
number of rubber trees.
The book has a simple analytical key

YOUR NEW BOOKS 45

 highroads and bypaths of animal locomo- ized material. The reviewer feels that the
tion, and a reviewer has constantly to re- amateur naturalist, at whom among others
^-=— BY sist the temptation to cite such neat ones the book is aimed, would be unable to

lO&RROLL LANE FENTON as this: understand large sections of it. There is

a dearth of really original figures, and the
The Flagellates just luhip the tail,
author is too apt to invent logical expla-
And up and down, around they sail,
nations for everything. However, these
IVhich way to go it just depends.
minor faults do not detract from the great
S~ ^^PP^^^^ A delightful intro- For tails are on two or three ends.
value of the work as a reference book
l hB ill^HnSl duction to some
I
" ^PH^Ig^Mg^^ wonders of the na- In good time we arrive at the Primates: usable in many fields.
tural world that
lie close at hand. Our insectivorous Grandpa Shrew LiBEiE H. Hym.^n.
Informal and in- A life in trees resorted to.
formative notes on Late generations after him
more than a hundred flowers, trees,
insects, birds, and animals to be
Swung by the arms from limb to limb. Minerals and rocks
^'ith during a hike or ride
.along Nature's Highway, lllus-
From thence the ascent to the strato- __-._._.. by R. D. George
sphere and the descent in Doctor Beebe's
^ bathysphere follow in due course. D. Appleton-Century Company, $6.00

P$1.25
HKSHWAY _3
>N<S NATURE'S After these pleasant relaxations, the
book closes with a sober and well selected
list of references.
Notwithstanding the lilt of the verses
AS Professor
preface,
George remarks
few books survey the
field of earth material, though many are
available on such distinct topics as min-
in his
entire

and the neatness of the drawings, the

erals, ore formation, rock formation, and
'The tale of our * S A ^•«?^' collection does not really tell a connected
rocks. In this one volume of nearly 600
world's adventures story of the various methods of locomotion
pages he has made a new kind of compila-
nee it was pulled practiced by the creatures figured, chiefly
out of the sun tion of this information, aiming it alike
because fundamental principles are rather
3,000,000,000years at the college student and the advanced
ago —
a story of lost sight of amid the spectacular facts.
amateur.
ntemen t and Nevertheless this little book may be wel-
This is the only extensive recent work
constant change which stillcon-
come as a source book for texts or slogans
tinues, the endless alteration of which has the minerals classified accord-
the earth. Illustrated. $3.00 by biology teachers with a sense of humor. ing to their principal or valuable element,
W. K. G. in place of the widely used acid-salt se-
EARTH'S quence which commenced long before J. D.
ADVENTURES The vertebrate eye
Dana's work. After a discussion, with
numerous illustrations of the ore forming
processes and the origin of minerals, we
and adaptive
its are introduced to the many ininerals under
THE JOHN DAY COMPANY "r^i* radiation such headings as "Iron, steel and alloy
Sales Office: 2 West 45th St., N. Y. < "Major
------ by Gordon Lynn Walls metals,"
metals,"
non-ferrous industrial
"Precious and semi-precious
Cranbrook Institute of Science, $6.oo
metals," and so on. A section on the de-
termination of minerals precedes the lat-

y.CHIMPANZEES THIS
three
comprehensive treatise consists of
sections: anatomical-physiolog-
ter third of the book,
and
which takes up
treatment not only tells about all
this
rocks,

ical, ecological, and zoological.
A Laboratory Colony section deals with the structure and de-
velopment of the human eye and the mech-
anism of the visual process, including dark
adaptation and color vision; the Young-
Helmholtz trichromatic theory of color vi-
The first the rock types but their manner of forma-
tion. A classification by uses precedes a
useful glossary of terms that may be un-
familiar to the nonstudent reader.
Despite its ambitious claims, it is a lit-
tle disappointing in two scores. The many

sion is supported. illustrations are not as good as we should

By Robert M. Yerkes
For years Dr. Yerkes
twenty-five
and have conducted pioneer
his staff
studies of chimpanzees. In this book
he sums up his knowledge of the
most adaptable and quick witted of
the great apes.
The reader will learn from this
volume something not only about
chimpanzees but about himself as
well. For this ape resembles his hu-
man betters in more ways than one,
and while he is an experimental sub-
ject of tremendous resources in his
own right, under Dr. Yerkes' careful
analysis he becomes something even
more interesting.
Profusely Illustrated. $5.00
Yale University Press
^^^ NEW HAVEN • CONNECTICUT
The ecological part treats of arhythmic expect and the crystal drawings are often
(24-hour), diurnal, nocturnal, and crepus- crude. Its rather forbidding atmosphere is
cular habits, and the visual adaptations likely to discourage the amateur, and few
and mechanisms related to these habits. professors will adopt it for their college
Topics given detailed discussion include courses since few will care to follow this
retinal pigments and their migrations, pu- sequence. Though a fine and very concen-
pillary shapes and control, color filters, re- trated introduction to the entire rock and
lation of rods and cones to varied light mineral field, it is probably too strong a
conditions, various types of tapeta in ani- dose for the amateur and general stu-
mals, and the mechanisms of accommoda- dent, yet too broad for the specialist who
tion in the various vertebrate groups. Bi- will prefer rock or mineral books with
nocular and monocular vision receive fuller details about their especial interests.
adequate discussion. There is a large sec- H. POUGH.
F.
tion on vision in various media under —
water, in air, and in forms with amphibi-
ous vision. The question of color, vision Family treasures
among vertebrates is lengthily discussed
with reports of experimental work.
------ by David D. Whitney
The zoological section considers the The Jacques Cattell Press, $3.50
structure of the eye and the characters of
the retina throughout the vertebrate groups THE outstanding aspect of this popular
and should prove of great value to com- book on heredity is the liberal use of
parative anatomists. photographs to illustrate various physical,
There is scarcely any question which mental, and emotional traits that seem to
might arise about the eye and vision in "run in families."
the mind of laymen, naturalist, or zoolo- These pictures are quite useful in dem-
gist which is not considered. The result, onstrating familial physical resemblances
/^ however, is a somewhat unfortunate jux- as discussed in the first ten chapters, which
taposition of highly scientific and popular- deal with the following topics: The Fam-

46 NATURAL HISTORY, JUNE, 1 943

 ily;The Individual; The Hair; The treacherous rapids, packing canoe and
Eyes; The Mouth, Lips, Teeth, and Sleeping island heavy loads over portages, and following
Tongue; The Ears; The Nose, Cheeks, -------- by p. G. Downes a faint that could hopelessly lose
trail
Chin, and Jaws; The Hands; The Feet; them in vast labyrinth of lakes and
a
and The Body. Coward McCann, $3.50 rivers. Here they met the wandering tribes
In Chapter ii, which treats "Tempera- of Chipewyan Indians and their tradi-
ment and Special Abilities," the pictures THIS is man's travels by
the story of a tional enemies, the Inland Eskimos, that
are somewhat less effective since there canoe over on uncharted route from still live as they have from time imme-

may be some question as to whether such Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba north to —

morial free hunters, proud remnants of
traits as "artistic temperament," "musical Nuelton Lake in the Barren Lands north- a people that are rapidly disappearing.
ability," "superior ability of literary ex- west of Churchill. The Barren Lands is I enjoyed reading this book, and the de-

pression," "religious zeal," "natural grace the name for the vast area above the 60th scriptions brought to mind the hair-raising
and charm of manners," etc., are revealed parallel, crossing in a great arc from experiences had had on the Nahanni
I

by photographs.
The book includes a highly simplified
explanation of Mendelian heredity and a
brief discussion of polygenic traits.
Some readers may feel that Professor
Whitney has not sufficiently emphasized
the occurrence of familial
produced as a result of
ships. The existence of nongenetic trans-
mission of some traits does, however, re-
ceive treatment and the discriminating
reader may be expected to grasp the im-
plied distinction.
Hudson Bay northwest to the Mackenzie River Rapids of the Drowned and
at the
River. It is the north in which the endless Hell's Gate, where the reckless Indians
spruce forest at last surrenders to the drove our canoe through the surging green
gaunt, open, wind-swept land of the tree- water and white-capped rapids, and
less tundra, where the swarms of black laughed at the dangers where so many of
flies and mosquitoes tax the white man's their countrymen had perished.
resemblances endurance to the limit. Sleeping Island is written in simple
social relation- In the spring of 1939 Downes and his descriptive language, illustrated with 32
trapper friend John, drawn by the call of photographs taken by the author, and con-
the north, made their way up the Coch- tains 296 pages of text. Mr. Downes is
rane River and then across a chain of a native of Connecticut, a graduate of
lakes to Nuelton Lake of the Sleeping Kent School and Harvard, and he is at
Island. The narrative relates their ex- the present time engaged in war work.
F. A. B. periences in poling and shooting the George G. Goodwin.

SEA OTTERS Continued i,-om page 23 to wash its face carefully, even going would attempt to land on one of our
behind its ears like any human being. occupied islands.
sea otter can live indefinitely in fresh Finally, to complete the toilet, the The best laid plans of mice and men
water, one pen has been built in a whiskers were brushed off sideways. go astray in war time. It is to be
fresh-water lake near by. Over a cen- A
short time before we arrived one hoped that after the war is over we
tury ago Russian fur hunters reported sea otter was having great difficulty will be able to follow the Russians in
seeing sea otters in inland lakes of the in giving birth to her pup. Usually a similar program, which will lead to
Aleutians, but it is not known whether only one pup is born at a time, birth an increase in the number of sea otters
this was their natural habitat or taking place at any time throughout and give us more knowledge of these
whether they were visiting there. The the year. In order to save the life of interesting and valuable animals.
animals that we saw in the fresh- this mother sea otter, the biologist had
water pen appeared to be every bit as to operate. He was successful in sav-
active and healthy as those in the salt- ing the life of the mother, but he was
GET SET FOR THE
water pens. chagrined to lose the pup. Later in
The scientist in charge of this Ex- his laboratory he proudly showed us INVASION OF EUROPE
perimental Station is assigned to his his first attempt at taxidermy — the And All Global Offensives
post for three years. On this bleak, sea otter pup which he had been un- newspaper dispatches
dio commentators on
treeless, rocky island, with no other able to save. this remarkable and fascinating
white man for company, it was in- This e.xperiment at Gladskuvskaya
deed edifying to find this gentleman is obviously a most worth-while proj-
FIELD MARSHAL'S WAR MAP
with paper flags marking each
so content and gratified ^vith the ac- ect and is one that may, in a few day's shifting tide of battle,
which YOU, TOO, can now OWN
complishment of his task. He was years' time, succeed in obtaining all

proud of his work and only too happy the necessary information relative to
to show us all he could however, ; this valuable animal. This information
owing to the language difficulty, it in turn may be the forerunner of a
was hard to obtain much information prosperous fur industry for the Rus-
from him. sians. By using a similar conservation
At the enclosures the scientist threw program to that used by the Russians
a fish to one of the sea otters. The with the seal herds at Syevexnoe, on
otter deftly caught it in its "hands." Bering Island, it would seem most
Rolling over on its back, it took the likely that in the future the sea otter
Beautiful, full coloi.
head of the fish in one "hand," the herds will be maintained and at the to the minute World Map,
43" X 28 ^--2", is mounted on heavy, lacquered
tail in the other, and commenced to same time a certain number taken map-pin board, ready to hang on wall; with
80 colored paper flag markers of warring
eat it at leisure in a very dignified yearly for their pelts. nations. As regions are captured and re-
taken, you move these in accordance with
manner. Having finished, the sea otter Prior to the war, plans were afoot each day's headlines. Interesting and attrac-
tive combination.
carefully brushed the remnants of the to place men on one of the Aleutian
Price, $2.49, postpaid
meal off its chest then, dipping its Islands which the habitat of the
;

hands in the water, the animal rubbed sea otter.

is

While studying the animals,

De Luxe S+yle — framed with
Pickle Pine mou/d/ng— $7.50
them together just as a person does these men would also be able to pro- C. S. HAMMOND & CO.
when washing with soap and water. tect them from Japanese poachers, for 80 Lexington Ave., Suite 420, N. Y. C.
25c additional West of iillssissifpi
This finished, the creature proceeded it is very unlikely that the Japanese

YOUR NEW BOOKS 47

SOLOMON ISLANDS get additional specimens of this fabu- seems quite incongruous to picturl
Continued fr~ I page S6 lous bird and to learn something of its them as a scene of bitter fighting, wit|

not know whether it ever sleeps, since habitswas one of the tasks that had cruisers and airplane carriers ruliiu^
I have often heard it singing in the been especially impressed upon us by the seas which used to be the domaii
middle of the night. the authorities of the American Mu- of trading schooners and native canoes'

In the woods the most conspicuous seum. We went at it systematically. To be sure the aura of the Solomoni
bird is perhaps the whistler fPachyce- We combed the islandfrom one end was never as idyllic as that of Tahiti!
phala pectoralis) , whose ringing song to the other. We climbed the highest the Marquesas, or other of the Poly-|

is easily remembered. The male is of a mountain and, splitting up into sev- nesian Islands. There was always

beautiful yolk yellow underneath with eral parties each with its own camp, something virile about the Solomons,!

a broad black band across the breast, competed for success in the undertak- for a tradition of blackbirding andl

while the upper parts are olive. The ing. But alas, after three months of head-hunting is not easily overcome.l

female is of a duller color, more or the most diligent search we had to ad- But even without the typical SouthI

grayish or olive white. This spe- mit defeat. The older natives knew Sea Island romance, the Solomons are,'
less
incidentally, presents one of the the bird well, but they were unani- at least to a naturalist, a paradise. I|
cies,

most spectacular cases of evolution, mous in believing that it had disap- know of a few still unexplored places,

one that would have delighted Dar- peared completely. Why it should have and it is a secret ambition of mine to I

known become extinct is a mystery, since return there some day and collect a I
win, if he had it.

The whistler is different on every Choiseul Island certainly has not few of the birds that I know are still]

one of the major islands of the group, changed very much since Meek's days. awaiting discovery.
Incidentally, the Museum's desire for
breaking up into fourteen different
Microgoura was finally satisfied. Five
subspecies. Some of these are so dif- THE COVER THIS MONTH!
ferent that they might equally well be of Meek's specimens came into our
called separate species. On Malaita, possession, along with many other trea-
sures, when the priceless Rothschild
for example, the black breastband is

Collection was given to the American

missing on Nissan the throat is white
; ;

on Rendova the wing is black instead Museum.

of olive; on Vella Lavella the entire For the ornithologist each island has
upper parts are black and on Rennell ;
its special problems. There is a pecu-

Island the male is dull colored and in- liar kingfisher on Bougainville Island

distinguishable from the female. Simi- (with a yellow ochre bill) whose
of evolution are nearest seems to be in the
relative
larly striking cases
presented by many other species of Philippines. The Whitney
Expedition

Solomon Island birds. discovered a very distinct race of it on

Guadalcanal. Then there is the moun-
Solomon Island birds are not only
fascinating to the evolutionist, but also tain warbler of Kulambangra Island,

to the student of habits and behavior. an endemic genus (Mochthopoeus),

Much has been written about the which seems to have no close relatives. '"
NATURAL HISTORY '- 1

megapodes, the "incubator birds," San Cristobal, the easternmost of the

which lay their eggs in heaps of dead larger islands, has a fauna that is

leaves they scratch together on the peculiarly different. It lacks the crow,

forest floor. The fermenting leaves the cockatoo, and one or two other
generate sufficient heat to insure the species found throughout the rest of
On the Solomons, but it is the home of
successful hatching of the young.
Savo Island and in other volcanic some birds that are otherwise peculiar
places the birds lay their eggs in the to the New Hebrides or some other

hot ashes, evidently picking a spot group of faraway islands. Dr. Ernst
with just the right temperature. Hartert, the late director of the Roth-

What puzzles me most is that not in- schild Museum, assured me once that
after studying the birds of the world
frequently we found the eggs merely
between the for over 40 had come to the
years, he
buried in the loose soil

roots of some forest giant. These eggs conclusion that the Solomon Islands

seemed to be developing normally were the most interesting group of

islands in the entire world, ranking
even though the temperature of the
soil was, if anything, lower than that ahead even of the Galapagos and Ha-
of the air (not higher than 82°). waiian Islands.
And then there is the riddle of The nine months during which I
Microgoura. In January, 1904, Albert had the fortune to be a member of the

Meek, Lord Rothschild's enterprising Whitney Expedition passed like so

bird collector, landed on the eastern many weeks. And, when I finally left
end of Choiseul Island and in a few the islands, I knew that I had made

days collected seven specimens of a the right decision in joining the ex-
strange crested ground pigeon, a bird pedition. Thirteen years have passed

which was entirely different from any sincethen, and what a change has

other pigeon in the whole world. To come over the Solomon Islands! It
June 1 through June 30, 1943

m
Exhibition and Sale of Nineteen Rare

SWORDS KIIVES
from the Orient and the Congo

COLLECTED BY SAJJAN SINGH SARNA, ORIENTAL CONNOISSEUR

A. IISDIA LONG KMFE, 16 inches long. Plain K. THIBET DAGGER. 16 inches long. Hand-
bone handle, sharp straight pointed blade, somely designed and skillfully executed brass
leather scabbard. S16.50 handle with silver wire binding. Straight blade.
B. ANTIQUE PERSIAN DAGGER, 16 inches long. Sharp point. Finely decorated brass scabbard.
Elaborate and beautifully carved ivory handle, An unusual piece. S32.50
slightly damaged. Curved laminated blade, with L. AFGHAN DAGGER. 13 inches long. Sharply
Persian animal motif design on each side. Wooden pointed curved blade. Bone handle. Decorated
scabbard covered with worn cloth. S45.00 brass-plated scabbard, with turned up curved
C. INDIA MARHATTA DAGGER or Khaufer. point, S17.S0
About 14 inches long. Curved blade. Bone and M. CONGO SHORT SWORD. 24 inches long.
silver handle. Velvet scabbard, worn. S42.50 Wooden handle, and wooden scabbard closely
D. INDIA MARHATTA DAGGER or Khaufer. bound with narrow brass wire. Straight sharply
About 13 or 14 inches long. Curved blade. Bone pointed blade. $15.00
handle. Velvet scabbard, worn. A very good ex- N. CONGO WAR AXE. Handle 16 inches, blade
ample of this type of dagger. S40.00 8 inches long. Hammered copper blade, dec-
E. CONGO WAR AXE. Handle 13 inches, blade orated. Handle wound with copper strips. $16.50
6 inches long. Blade crudely decorated, handle
plated with dented copper. S16.50 O. INDIA DAGGER. 14 inches long. Bone I
die, triangular blade, decoration on back
F. TURKISH VATICAN, 31 inches long, wooden blade, sharp point. Leather scabbard with oi
handle, metal trim studded with coral, fine mental steel point. $27.50
curved blade inscribed with Turkish characters.
Leather scabbard with elaborate silver decora- P. INDIA CEREMONIAL DAGGER. 17 inches
tions on both ends. $3S.OO long. Brass handle, cross shaped. Straight blade.
Heavy Brass scabbard, with raised and indented
G. CONGO KNIFE. 18 inches long.
signs. $15.00
double edged curved blade. Handle bound with
brass strips. SIS.OO Q. INDIA DAGGER, from northwest frontier
H. INDIAN KORA, or sacrificial knife; beau- 13 inches long. Straight blade, sharp point. Bon«
tifully balanced curved blade (with weight to- and decorated brass handle. Leather scabbard
$18.00
ward the end, for chopping). Handle has round
guard and pommel, each skillfully inlaid with R. INDIA DAGGER. 14 inches long. Bone and
About 20 in. long. S20.00
fine designs in silver. decorated metal handle, straight blade with
I. INDONESIAN KRIS, 29 inches long, carved sharp point. Leather scabbard with raised
bone handle, wooden scabbard trimmed with motifs. $18.00
braided fiber bindings. Straight blade. S25.00 S. BALINESE PENGETAS, or ceremonial knife.
TURKISH VATICAN, 27 inches long, human 18 inches long. Elaborate silver-inlaid and
J.
bone handle with gilt trim studded with coral. pierced metal blade, with sharp edge. Used es-
Turkish characters inlaid in gold on the blade. pecially for opening the sarcophagi of Balinese
$32,50 nobles before cremating the dead. $25.00

BE SURE TO PLACE YOUR ORDER AT ONCE, indicating

second and third choices, as each piece is subject to prior sale. Your
money will be refunded promptly if you are not entirely satisfied.

The Book Shop

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
77th STREET AND CENTRAL PARK WEST, NEW YORK CITY
NLIST YOUR DOLLARS BUY WAR SAVINGS BONDS

This is an "Optical" War

^s, Pete Miller, glass The glass Pete Miller holds was made The Bausch & Lomb optical glass plant
inspector, is pleased to a special formula. It will be ground —
was born fighting developed at head-
with that chunk of and polished to become part of the prisms long speed during World War I to make
precious optical glass. He knows this is an for an Anti-Aircraft height finder. As this country forever free from foreign
optical war. He knows that accurate gun- fighting Americans dial this instrument sources. Operated by men like Miller,
fire control depends upon optical glass into focus, guns automatically will be guided by researchers and technicians,
. . . flawless and crystal-clear. brought to bear on enemy planes with this plant today makes possible the amaz-

But Pete Miller is not thinking of his deadly accuracy. ing effectiveness of thousands of scien-
skill as a glassmaker at Bausch & Lomb. Yet this IS but one of dozens of types of tific instruments.
In that glass he sees his friends at gun- Bausch & Lomb glass, made to meet
fire-control stations on battle cruisers, in exacting optical specifications. Bausch &
the turrets of tanks roaring
enemy position, or
down on an
making
aerial photo-
Lomb glass
systems
is also required in the optical
of binoculars, range finders,
BAUS MB
OPTICAL CO
graphs behind enemy lines. And always microscopes, colorimeters,refractometers,
he sees them peering into the sights of a metallographic and spectrographic equip-
Bausch & Lomb optical instrument. ment and scores of other products. ESTABLISHED 1853

AN AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC I PRODUCING OPTICAL CLASS AND INSTRUMENTS FOR MILITARY USE, EDUCATION, RESEARCH. INDUSTRY AND EYESIGHT CORRECTION
 WORKING FOR
VICTORY

..„„.. j^TURAL HISTORY 1943

Hills That JValk • Largest Fish • Nine -day Wonders

OLUME LM. No. 2 IFTY CEN
REPTILES
AKD

MPHIBIMS /{/(

SNAKES OF THE WORLD S2.39

REPTILES OF THE WORLD $2.39

by Raymond Ditmars
Written by the outstanding authority on snakes
and reptiles, these two books are thorough studies
of the subjects, readable and well illustrated with
photos.
BOOK OF LIVING REPTILES
by Raymond Ditmars and Helene Carter $2.00
FIELD BOOK OF SNAKES OF UNITED Colorful maps, with text, illustrating the distribu-
STATES AND CANADA tion of the world's living reptiles, with fascinating
by Karl P. Schmidt and D. Dwight Davis §3.50 information about them, for age 10 and up.

Excellent for classification and identification; treat, HANDBOOK OF FROGS AND TOADS
ments of bites, collection and preservation, etc.,
by Anna and Albert Hazen Wright $3.00
are covered. Convenient pocket size, with photos.
Keys for identification, with accounts of appear-
REPTILES OF NORTH AMERICA ance, range, habitat, life history, etc., of 98 species
and sub-species of North American frogs and toads.
by Raymond Ditmars $6.75
Numerous black and white illustrations.
New and revised edition of the recognized standard
work for study and identification of North Ameri- TURTLES OF UNITED STATES AND
can reptiles. Many photos, and several color illus. CANADA
trations. by Clifford H. Pope $3.75

SNAKES AND THEIR WAYS The only complete account of North American tur-

H. Curran and Carl Kauffeld

tles, treating in full detail each of 63 known species
by C. $3.50
in America. 99 photos.
All the amazing facts about snakes, in a book
which is at once fascinating reading and strictly SERPENTS OF THE NORTHEASTERN STATES
scientific. by Raymond Ditmars 50 cents

REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS A convenient and useful pamphlet, illustrated.

prepared by the Federal Writers Project $2.25 REPTILES 30 cents

Brief biographies of well known reptiles, and in-

formation on such oddities as flying frogs, sea
TOADS AND FROGS 30 cents

snakes, dragon lizards, etc. Many fine photos. Age Attractive and informative booklets, illustrated in
10 and up. color, for young readers.

BOOK
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Shop
The
NATURAL OF HISTORY
77th STREET AND CENTRAL PARK WEST, NEW YORK 24, N. Y.
 Through Darkness to the Stars

FACED with the terrible damage and destruction things temporarily taken away from them or threat-
inflicted upon cultural institutions everywhere ened at very close quarters. With this renewed in-
else in the world, we incline to look with tensity of appreciation they will be facing a world
gloom upon the future of civilization outside of our in ruins, in which their inventive genius can apply
own continent. Our more excitable commentators itself to the creation of entirely new works in all
make estimates of centuries lost in the cultural prog- fields of human endeavor, building upon a ground
ress of the nations most badly afflicted, and we tend which has been cleared of dust and tradition and
to accept the estimates because our hearts go out to physical obstacles, while we shall be hampered by
these people, both for their suffering in the present our undamaged and outmoded possessions and our
and for the long hardships we think we can foresee less severely tested concepts.
for them in the future. Often a tiny note of smug- Countries which have been invaded and again set
ness creeps into our pity, and the feeling gains free and countries forced to disregard habits and
we may relax in the
ground that efforts and sacrifices traditions of centuries in the face of danger, will
we make for our own cultural institutions, because not simply fall back to their old patterns. Both
of their greater physical safety. When the war is philosophy and engineering will find 'new problems
over they will still be here, undamaged in their phys- to solve and new goals to reach. In the task of physi-
ical possessions, while the rest of the world will cal reconstruction new architecture will develop.
have to build theirs anew. A little neglect of our New buildings will require new ornaments and deco-
cultural values while we concentrate upon the phys- rations. The arts will flourish, and it is unavoidable
ical war effort can, therefore, not seriously handicap that the stimulus of such intensive creative activities
our position in the postwar renaissance of civiliza- must spread through all the arts and through all the

tion. But such reasoning is false in its foundations intellectual efforts of man.
and terribly dangerous in its effects. After a period of correction for the more ele-

It is in the creation of new objects and ideas that mental physical evils which war leaves in its wake,
civilizations move forward, not in the possession of it seems certain that the suffering and devastation
these things. Where the greatest physical needs and of other continents must soon give rise to a cultural

spiritual opportunities for new creation are found, renaissance unequalled in the history of the vs'orld.

there also will the greatest cultural progress be made. If we, on our safer shores, wish to share fully in

But that will scarcely be here when the war is over. this renaissance, we must have the vision and the

On the contrary, our security now, — for which we courage to pioneer in spite of our possessions. And
must be forever grateful, — will become our liability because we shall lack both their opportunities and
then ; and the advantage must shift to those who their zeal when the war is over, it is of greater

have been more directly exposed to the ravages of importance for us than for any others to keep our
war, as a slight but just compensation for their far cultural institutions alive and active, alert and un-
greater suffering. While we must struggle to over- discouraged, throughout the emergency, so that they

come the complacency of safety, they are learning can be ready to secure for us a proper role in the

a new appreciation of cultural and civilized ways of great developments to follow.

life by having their right to the enjoyment of such

a.^.s'
or, The American Museum
of Natural History.

49
 :

LETTERS
Sirs: and about 50 feetbelow was a large sea Sirs:

I am tremendously impressed with the otter fast asleep. Iwatched him for some A short time ago I became acquainted
"The Museum Meets the Public." time till he awoke and, seeing me, dove with your publication Natural History.
editorial
into the sea and made off. I have read several issues kindly loaned
It is the realization of your statement
"this divorce between expert knowledge M. Hall McAllister. me by a friend and I am convinced that
it is the finest periodical of its kind pub-
and public comprehension is one of the Redlands, Calif.
lished.
severest obstacles to the further progress
of civilization," that has induced me to go
For people having a great amount of
Sirs:
reading to crowd into a limited amount
so heavy into the work of offering Junior Although there was no notice, I be-
California public school of time, these charmingly written articles
subscriptions to lieve my subscription to Natural History fully satisfy the reader without his having
children. I am now covering fifteen coun- has expired, and so that I shall not miss
to wade through a welter of the writer's
tiesand am hoping to find the funds for
an issue I am enclosing my check for its
emotional reactions.
some twelve more. c. M. Goethe. renewal.
Please accept the enclosed amount for
Sacramento, Cal. I would like to express my appreciation,
one year's subscription to N.atural His-
as a graduate biologist, of this magazine.
tory Magazine. j, £. Price.
Unlike so many "popular" scientific maga-
Fort Collins, Colo.
zines, it is not written entirely for non-
Sirs scientific readers so that any one with a
am in receipt of your notice enclosing
I little information feels as though he were
membership cards and literature. I ara reading a child's magazine, and yet my Sirs:
sorry to have to tell you that my husband friends without advanced scientific train- Your Magazine is my most prized pos-
died last June and I have changed my ing enjoy it as much as I do. session. ... I particularly enjoyed the
address from 62 Moorgate as indicated. I know that pleasing two such opposite story of the Wood Ibis, for I have spent
I am most anxious to keep on the sub- groups is a difficult task and one which much time watching them in Florida. . . .

scription, but I cannot find out how this is Natural History is doing very well. I watch eagerly for every issue. . . .

done, as we are so restricted in the matter

of sending money out of the country. My (Mrs. James) Jane W. Morton. (Mrs.) S. A. Gile.
bank manager is trying to find out how it Drexel Hill, Pa. Minneapolis, Minn.
was paid since the war, and I shall be
obliged if you could also tell me this. . . .

do not know why we have never re-

I

corded our deep appreciation of the maga-

zine long before this It has come through
!

most regularly in spite of all difficulties.

We have now been enjoying it keenly for
nearly 10 years! Just to feel its fine thick
paper is a delight, with our own maga-
zines getting thinner and thinner with the
war years. It is read from cover to cover
by my family and many friends as soon as
it arrives. We often recall the bitterly cold
day when we crossed the park in deep
snow and had to thaw ourselves out gent-
ly in the Central Hall before enjoying a
look round. We
became members that
same day, after being there for hours and
being shown great kindness by some of
your staff. The Museum is to me the cen-
ter of attraction in New York! I look
forward to the day when I shall see the
Empire State Building once again on the
horizon as my ship comes into the Nar-
rows, but as as I am allowed on
soon
shore straight for the queer
I shall make
old brown stone "set-up" that holds the
real beauty and treasures of America.
With best wishes and thanks to all who
contribute so much care and thought to

the magazine. Mary Hughes.

New Earswick,
York,
England.

Sirs:
Your June number "Sea Otter" article
reads
—
"Have you ever seen a sea otter Sirs:

at close quarters?" Yes, I saw a big one This picture shows a double-flowered thathad had the double flower had been
King on a large flat rock on the Pacific Cypripedium acaulis, which blossomed in chewed off by some animal to within a
Coast near Cape Mendocino, California. woods near my home in June, 1942. It few inches of the ground. I thought the
blossoming picture might be of interest, as no one
In the year 1872 I spent the summer was part of a colony of 25
at Noyo about 150 miles north of San plants and was one of a closely growing to whom I have shown it had ever seen
Francisco and loved to wander along the group of three blossoming plants. This or heard of a double Lady's Slipper.
June there was still the unusually large (Mrs.) Evelyn Bolles Phenix.
ocean cliffs.

One morning I looked over the edge blossoming colony, but that special group Chocorua, N. H.

NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

50
 —

J\ RETIRED PROFESSOR
of anthropology offers for
sale at great sacriiice lifetime
collection of

CALIFORNIA
INDIAN MATERIAL
Ideal for Museum Exhibit
or Educational Use

Communicate with:
ANTHONY ZALLIO
3749 FIRST AVENUE
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

Sirs: Sirs:
Enclosed is a photo taken on July 4. May I take this opportunity to say that
The Cottonwood lint was still "flying,"
I enjoy every issue of this magazine and It'seasy fo learn to speak, read and write
and on this morning I went on a hike. look forward to receiving it each month.
Spanish this popular new way... and ittaites
This particular spot was in a hollow on only M
of the time usually required to mas-
It has proved to be not only extremely in- ter a foreign language. Ploy Solitaire or
top of a mountain. It seemed as though teresting in the wide variety of subjects ploy theCoursewith a member of your fam-
ily or while you entertain friends. Prepares
the drafts hit this particular place and in its particular field but also very en- for the thousonds of post-war opportunities
deposited it. that will be avoiloble to Spanish-speaking
lightening in the articles on such places
men and women when trade with our tatin-
The lint was over 3 inches deep and as the Solomon Islands, etc., which, to Americon neighbors is at its peak. Remem-
had the appearance of snow. most pople, were practically unknown un-
ber. 2, 3 or 4 persons can learn at no extra
. .

cost. 4 decks of cords and Cloth-

It was quite an unusual sight in spite til the war brought them to our closer Bound Text Book, only *2 postpaid.
of the fact that last week there was snow attention. French course • • • also $Z.
on the mountains.
Ethel Towers.
ROOALE PRESS IS. Penna.
PvT. Th.^no a. Johnson. Svracuse, N. Y. Dept.

Camp Hale, Colo.

Cottonwood lint is the silk hairs of
the seeds,which are scattered by the
wind, and it gives the trees their com-
mon name. Ed.
^^^Tis nae secret!''
Everyone knows the reason for Teacher's excellence.
Sirs:
was extremely surprised and gratified
I
Tis expressed in just three short words .

to a copy of your magazine a

receive
week back. It was the March 1943 issue
and it arrived here intact in a remark-
ably short space of time. I am in civilian
life a biologist and you can imagine,
therefore, how welcome any current liter-
ature on Natural History is to me. 1
don't know how you came to send it to me,
but I sincerely hope you will continue to
send the magazine in the future. Thank
you so much.
(From a Prisoner of War.)
Somewhere in Italy.

Sirs:
Sorry I didn't get time to renew my
annual membership in the Museum the
last time I was home, so am writing my
mother to send you a money order for $10
to renew it as from March, 1943, to
March, 1944. Since becoming an Annual
Member 1 haven't had much opportunit>'
to attend the free lectures but I certainly 1830 by Wm. Teacher & Sons, ltd., Gl

do enjoy reading Natural History Maga-

zine and I would greatly appreciate it if
you will send me the numbers from
March, 1943, to the present date.
I am still employed as radio officer on

one of the "Liberty" ships of the U. S.

Teachers
Merchant Marine, and reading is about
Perfection of Blended Scotch Whisky
our only relaxation when at sea.
FoRMAN Lester Godown. SOLE u. s. AGENTS: Schieffelin & Co., new york city- importers since 1794
Ringoes, N. J.

LETTERS 51
 MARTINIQUE
By Cecilia M. Egan goat skin stretched over a circular frame.
The men held them in the crook of the
T HAVE been a subscriber
to Natur.al left arm and beat them with small whip-
A History for several months and have like branches. The sound was decidedly
found particular interest in your articles unpleasant and continued uninterrupted
on the islands of the war zone. Marti- throughout the whole ceremony. Soon the
nique, while not actually in this category, drummers appeared, abreast, and behind
is prominent in the international situa- them a majestic negress bearing a great
tion and important because of its strategic tray of food on her head. They moved
position on the approach to the Panama slowly down the road toward the temple
Canal. I spent some time there in 1939 where the priest and his assistants
and witnessed some very interesting waited. The procession two orcircled
things. three times in the space between the open
Martinique has a persistent fascination door and a little stone altar that stood a
that makes it merit its name of "L'lle des few feet in front of the entrance. Then
—
Revenants" the isle of those who return, the drummers stepped one side and the
to
A "Billiard" shape Kay- and with a double meaning, the isle of priest took the tray of food into the tem-
woodie, with Inner Bowl ghosts. For Columbus himself and the ple for the gods. Four or five images
of Meerschaum, $12.50.
names of many others who have added were leaning against the walls inside the
color to the pages of history are inter- tiny building. They were made of light-
woven in its past. weight wood, about three feet high. They
In some sections they still practice the were very primitive in design and were
old which they call Indian though
rites, painted a violent yellow with red and
they are more Neo-African, and directly black outlines. However, the stone idol
related to the Voodoo of Haiti and the outside was more durable and was doubt-
Macumba of Brazil. I was fortunate less of early origin —
a sculptured head
enough to witness one of these ceremonies. about fourteen inches in height. Beside it
I scarcely realized just what was in and not quite twice as high was an
store when a Creole couple I had met oblong stone block, the top hollowed out
there me
to drive to St. Pierre
invited and filled with a yellowish oil in which
with them the following morning to see the priest burned wicks and fresh flowers
some native "dances," as they put it. Of later in the ceremony.
course was delighted, but my enthusi-
I Unfortunately the original temple had
asm was somewhat dashed when they been destroyed the previous year, and
said that they would pick me up at 4 a.m. ! they had replaced it by a hideous cylin-
Nevertheless, surprised myself by being
I drical structure made entirely of sheets

/ Smoke ready when

was already
the car pulled in sight. It
light,
new highway through the lush mountains
and the drive over the
of corrugated zinc.
innocently
Paris street corners.
It
reminiscent
was
of
startlingly but
innumerable

a Kayys/oodie' was beautiful. The road was one S-curve

after another, with no letup for two
"With the exception of the dancers, the
participants wore no particular costume

Everybody says it. Says it's the best pipe

hours. It had been rushed to completion, -
— shirt,trousers, old fedora hats or none
and one of the current laughs of the at bare feet. The only concessions that
all,
there Says they wouldn't be without it.
is.
island was the fact that the telephone the priest himself made to ceremony were
Says it's got a flavor all its own.
poles had been cut and set in so rapidly a red and white printed apron and a
"&U get a pipe like this from just one
that they had taken root in the fertile soil white cloth tied over his nose and mouth
kind of wood — real Mediterranean briar.
and had begun to sprout new branches while he was serving the gods their food.
Kaywoodie brought it from Europe or
all the way up. We had breakfast in St. This consisted of bananas, a variety of
Africa before the war. It's been seasoning
in a safe place. Pierre with a friend of my hosts, a squash, and rice cooked in coconut milk.

If you have a pipe made of apple or dog-
wood, you know these substitutes do not
taste like your Kaywoodie, which has been
prepared for smoking with fine curing
agents that permeate the briar.
Frenchman who had had his native cot-
tage in France shipped over and recon-
structed on a hill in full view of Mt.
Pelee. Finally about nine o'clock we
started down to the clearing at the foot
One of the assistants lit a fire with a
twentieth-century match and set the rice
to boil in a pottery jug and a gallon tin.
While they waited for the food the other
assistant prepared a ram for the sacrifice.

Men all over the world say "I smoke of the hill where the ceremony was to It was a great bull-necked creature. First

a Kaywoodie!' How about you? take place. Then it dawned on me that they poured water over his back as a
this was one of those rites that are fast sign of purification; next a tray of some
Kaywoodie Co., New 'Vbrk and London smoldering substance was wafted under
becoming extinct. The people did not ob-
In New York, 630 Fifth Arenue, New York 20, N. Y.
ject toour being there. They were acting his nose several times so that he was

in good faith and accepted as a matter forced to inhale the smoke; finally the
of course that others would be. It was priest tied a garland of pink flowers
^H|^V WAR clear that they had never been ridiculed —
around his neck all with much bleating
^I^^V BONDS or looked upon as strange. protest and pulling at the short rope.
About 40 spectators of all ages waited By this time the food was ready and
near the road. The actual participants the altar fixed for the offering. The wicks
numbered only eleven, all under 30 years and blossoms were burning in the hol-
of age, to judge by their appearances. lowed stone, a lighted candle stood near
There were four drummers, also one wo- the idol, and bright banana palms had
man and the priest, his two assistants, been spread before it. The priest covered
and three male dancers. his nose and mouth with the mask and

Off to the left we heard the sound of slowly spooned the gleaming rice on the
the drums, high-pitched and metallic. I green leaves. Now that the food had been
learned later that they were made of offered, the priest was ready to com-

52 NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

 other tapped together. Three white-clad
dancers stepped into the clearing. The
oldest might have been 25, the next al-

he Isle of Those Who Return most 20, and the third a boy of about ten.
The costumes, similar and somewhat
makeshift, increased in ornateness with
the age and importance of the wearer.
The straight-cut skirts hung about knee
length. Pieces of painted wood, cut in
varying shapes and strung on cords that
tied behind the neck, hung to the waist
in front like segmented plastrons. The
headdresses of the two younger ones
were decorated with many crudely cut
Continued on page 96

enframed, 3 feet by 2 feet. 1 inch

ALL OF AMERICA and her riches

A.M.N.H. photo
on one magnificent MAP. painted . .
Martinique, strategically situated on the approach to the Panama
Canal, constantly fascinates visitors with its colorful native cere- by the great COVARRUBIAS!
monies. It has won for itself the name of "L'lle des Revenants"
NEVER BEFORE A MAP LIKE THIS!
A breath-taking picture of America —what
we ha produce, what we are. Spread
before you with ich abundance that you'll say,
municate with his god. Removing the soles of his feet, and that blade was my natr land!"
"Today I really
mask, he went into the temple and took sharp, as they proved shortly! However,
"The Covarrubias America" is a work of art
up a very small drum made as though his hands rested on the heads of the two so inspiring, so informative, that already it is m
men and his weight was no doubt more countless American homes, offices, schools, libra-
the points of two cones had been lopped this country we
ries Captures the greatness of
off about one-fourth of the way up and there than on his feet. At any rate the ef- fight for today! Only Miguel Covarrubias could
the cut surfaces fastened together to fect was good, and the expression of his conceive such a master work. The wealth of detail
and color is almost unbelievable. You'll spend
make a single drum with a head at each face was that of a man in agony. As soon weeks poring over it; always finding new, delight-
end. He held it in the center and used it as he jumped down, he took a bit of fire ful details!

like a primitive telephone, talking into in thepalm of his hand, put it in his you'// Treosure T/iis Greaf Work
one end and then gluing the other to his mouth and, with his head thrown back, Leading artists, educators, call this supreme
conception of The American Dream Displayed
ear to receive an answer from the god, let it burn for a few seconds, then swal-
with pride, reverence, even h' nor, is the whole
whose message he relayed to the people lowed it. majestic sweep of our nation The hundreds of
gem-like miniatures tell astoundingly complete
outside.Up to this time, what little talk Once again the ram was submitted to story. And for hildren, The Covarrubi;
had gone on was incidental to the cere- the water and smoke. This time they America is a wonderland! They learn from its
countless pictures and from Covarrubias' working
mony and had been in French or Creole; sprinkled a fine powder over him, and the
chart identifying each subject, each state.
but now the language of the priest was rope was placed high on the head and work now ... truly
You must see this great its
incomprehensible to me. Some of the spec- pulled taut, leaving the neck free. Then gorgeous coloring; heavy, fiat mounting; lustrous
tators declared that he was using the old, with one magnificent, lightening stroke of hand-varnished finish. Should you wish, a frame
can come later.
old Indian tongue of the island. The the machete, the assistant priest decapi-
priest continued his conversation for tated the animal. (It was said that there ^xam'ins It Now for 5 Days
See coupon below for easy, satisfaction-guar-
about ten minutes, and with each succes- were only three or four men left on the anteed plan. As a beautiful decoration-;— as a
sive exchange of words between himself island who could perform this feat.) At source of lasting enjoyment and pride let —
The Covarrubias America be one of the great
and his god his speech became quicker. once the head was placed on the altar experiences of your life! Address: ASSOCI-
His voice rose higher and he grew more with the right hind foot and a piece of ATED ARTISTS, Studio NH9,
AMERICAN
711 Fifth Avenue, New York 22, N. Y.
and more enthusiastic, gesticulating wild- the flesh from the leg. The other assistant
ly, until he worked himself into a verita- threw himself face down in front of the 1
I

ble frenzy that left him weak and trem- idol and, supported by his toes and his ASSOCIATED AMERICAN ARTISTS, Studio NH9 .

bling. Finallystepped out into the

he hands, raised and lowered his body sev- 711 fifth Avenue, New York 22, N. Y. |

light and began a sort of agitated dance, eral times in worship and prayer. Send THE COVAEHIXEIAS AMEEICA, and De- I

scriptive Chart, for 5 days' money-back examination.

hopping from one foot to the other, seem- There remained only the dancing to I enrlose ?2. If I beep it I ivill send $2 monthly
for 4 months. If I do not keep m.ip, will return
ingly tottering with weakness. His two finish out the ceremony. The sharp sound prepaid, you will refund in full. [

assistants held a great machete between of the drums was complemented now by
them, the sharpened edge up. The priest the deeper tones of a small barrel drum Address
stepped on it and stood for some minutes that a player slung over his shoulder and City State

shifting his weight from one leg to the beat with agile fingers, plus the rhythmic D Check here if ENCLOSING ten dollars,
return pi-ivileee for full refund.
other with no apparent damage to the click-click of two small stones that an-

MARTINIQUE 53
He has a promotion to report. Or a week-end
leave coming up. Or it's his mother's birthday.

Evening is about the only time he's free to call

and it's important to him.

Will you do your best to avoid Long Distance

calls after 7 at night, for the sake of millions of
Joes — and Josephines? They'll appreciate it.

BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM

NATURAL HISTORY The Magazine of the American Museum of Natural History

*••**•
Frederick Trubee Davison, President

VOLUME LII —No. 2 SEPTEMBER, 1943

Albert E. Parr, Director

Working For Victory Cover Design

From a Kodachrome by Ruth Gruber

An Eskimo Army seamstress of Alaska chewing the sole of a -^"''-»- "i "i

sealskin boot she is making for our armed forces in the north

An Editorial Albert E. Parr 49

Through Darkness to the Stars

Letters 50

Martinique Cecilia M. Egan 52

Ancient and strange native religious ceremonies persist midst modern life on this internationally important island

Abaca or Manila Hemp Harold N. Moldenke 56

The first in a series of articles on strategic plants

Flight to Ecuador Grace E. Barstow Murphy 62

You take the trip, see the country, and talk with the people ivhen you read this article

The Largest Fish in the World 7°

Y et he is harmless and has no enemies

Nine-Day Wonders Hobart E. Stocking 72

This hurricane iras one of North America's greatest natural disasters

Hills That W^alk Edwin Way Teale 78

Root and drifting sand fight an unending ivar on the Indiana Dunes

Wonderlands of Rock John L. Blackford 86

Mo7iume?its i?i the desert

Your New Books 90

Invasion John Eric Hill 95

The struggle for territory in the animal kingdom

Clover Hobby Mark Barr 96

A challenge for anyone who would set a new record in four-leaf and other rare clovers

You will find Natural History Magazine indexed in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
in vour librarv

Publication Office: American Museum of Natural Manuscripts should be sent to the Editor, The
History, Seventy-ninth Street at Central Park West, American Museum of Natural History, N. Y.
New York, 24, N. Y. Magazine subscriptions. Membership applications.
Editor: Edward M. Weyer, Jr., Ph.D. and Advertising inquiries should be sent to

Art and Production: Frederick L. Hahn. Charles J. O'Connor.

Copyright, 1943, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, 24, N. Y.

Natural History published monthly (except July and August) at New York, N. Y., by The American Museum of Natural History,
is
Seventy-ninth Street and Central Park, West. Subscription price $4 a year, single copies fifty cents. Subscriptions to Canada, New-
foundland, and all foreign countries $4.50. Entered as second class matter March 9, 1936, at the Post Office at New York, under the Act
of August 24, 1912.
 MANILA
n
By Harold N. Moldenke cross the seas with tanks and guns for
the armies fighting Hitler. They must
THE war emergency
again focused the attention of
has once
have millions of feet of rope. Without
binder twine there would be famine
the entire world on the tre-
in the midst of bumper crops because
mendous importance of plants in man's
the crops could not be harvested. The
economy and civilization. Of the thou-
farmers who grow the food we eat Hemisphere where labor costs are very
sands of kinds of plants used by man,
must have hundreds of millions of low. The occupation of the Philip-
some are so important to our present
feet of binder twine for their harvest- pines,Netherlands Indies, and Malaya
war-effort and so irreplaceable (or
by the Japanese and the difficulties of
ing machines."
almost irreplaceable) as to have earned
Fiber-growing has thus become one securing supplies from unoccupied
for themselves the designation of
of the most extensive agricultural and fiber-producing areas in the Orient
"strategic plants." This places them
industrial undertakings of the West- because of shipping hazards, render
in a rank co-ordinate with that of the
ern Hemisphere in many years. Fiber it essential Americas begin
that the
"strategic minerals" described in a
plants were originally scattered by to raise their own fibers. The program
previous series of articles in this mag-
nature quite widely over the face of to add many thousands of tons to our
azine. Without an adequate supply of
annual fiber production in the Amer-
the earth, but because of the difficul-
these plants or their products it will
ties involved in processing fibers, icas arose largely from the recommen-
be difficult, if not impossible, to win
hitherto requiring extensive hand dations adopted at the Rio de Janeiro
the war. Foremost among such are
labor, the cultivation of fiber plants Conference of American Foreign
the fiber-producing plants.*
has been concentrated in the Eastern Ministers in 1942.
If all the articles and products
manufactured from plant fiberswere
al Garden photo
to be suddenly eliminated from the
face of the earth, civilization as we
know it today could no longer exist.
The number of articles made from
plant fibers found in every home and
shop, in every factory and mine, in
every school and hospital, on every
farm and ship, is legion. The Office
of War
Information has truly stated:
"These unromantic-sounding fibers
are essential to the United Nations.
Without them we could neither fight
nor eat. Without rope no warship
could race to do battle against the
Nazis and the Japs, no cargo ship
*The writer is deeply indebted for copious
material on this subject to Mr. H. T. Edwards
of the Division of Cotton and other Fiber Crops,
Bureau of Plant Industry, to Mr. C. O. Erlan-
son of the Division of Plant Exploration &
Introduction, Bureau of Plant Industry, to Mr.
G. L. Wittrock, Mr. Joseph Monachino, and
to the releases of the Office of the Co-ordinator
of Inter-American Affairs and the periodicals,
AgricitUure in the Americas and Science News
Letter, which have been freely drawn upon for
material in the preparation of this series of
papers.

56
 Fthe first of a series of I

|_ARTICLES ON STRATEGIC PLANTS

J
The leading product of the PhiHppines is a plant fiber
of vital importance to the United Nations in the war

Lifeline of Our Forces

at Sea

<The abaca plant from which the

unexcelled Manila rope is made gready
resembles the banana plant, to which it
is closely related. But unlike the ba-
nana, it has not previously been culti-
vated extensively outside of the Philip-
pines, and the shortage presents a
serious problem Official U. S. Coast Guard photograph from International News Photos

MANILA HEMP 57
 Manila hemp being processed
by natives at the edge of a planta-
tion on Mindanao Island, F
pines
Fe)t>to Jacobs photo from Three L:

Nearly two thousand species of

plants yield fibers useful to man.

These are usually classified in three
groups hard or structural fibers
: ( I )

— the veins or fibrovascular bundles

extending from the stems through the
pulpy tissues of the petioles and leaf-
blades, found almost exclusively
among the monocotyledons; (2) soft
or bast fibers — those found in the in-
ner bark (the layer between the epi-
dermis or outer bark and the inner
stele or woody portion) of the stems,
found in gymnosperms and dicotyle-
dons, and (3) seed fibers those pro- —
duced on the inside of seed pods.
Most important of the hard fibers
is abaca or Manila hemp. Actually, it
is not a true hemp and it is not grown For the following 300 years it was
in the immediate vicinity of Manila. employed only locally as cordage by
The name "hemp," however, has un- the natives and the Spanish colonists.
fortunately been used very loosely for Early in the nineteenth century an
many years until now in some quar- officer of theAmerican Navy brought
ters it is almost synonymous with some specimens back to the United
"fiber." The word "Manila" in the States and its worth received imme-
name derives from the fact that the diate recognition. In 18 18 about 40
product was, in pre-war days exported tons of abaca were imported, and
to the world from Manila. The Ma- soon it became the leading export of
layan native name for the fiber, the Philippines. Early in the twentieth
"abaca," is less misleading and, there- century it represented two-thirds of
fore, preferable. the total value of all products ex-
The abaca plant (Musa textilis) is ported from the islands. The United
a perennial plant, native and endemic States has in recent years imported
to the Philippine Islands, and closely some 65,000 tons annually.
related to the banana (M. paradisiaca It was not until 1925, however,
var. sapientum), which it greatly re- that cultivation of abaca was begun
sembles in appearance. A mature abaca in the Western Hemisphere on a —
plant attains a height of 20 feet and plantation in Panama. In 1939 larger
consists of a group of from ten to plantations were set out in Panama
thirty "stalks" or "pseudo-trunks," Being so closely related to the banana,

each composed of the overlapping leaf- it is particularly well-suited for grow-

stems, arising from the bulbous un- ing in the banana-producing areas of
derground stem. The outer portion Central America. Fortunately, it does
of the leaf-stems, or petioles, contains not seem to be susceptible to the fatal
the fiber. The flower-spike is short "sigatoka" and "Panama diseases,"

and drooping. The inedible banana- which resulted in the abandonment

like fruit is only two or three inches of so many fertile areas in Central
long) 3-angled, curved, green, and America. Banana acreage is, therefore,
filledwith black seeds. Plants pro- being rapidly transformed into abaca
duced from the seeds do not run true plantations in Panama, Costa Rica,

to type, so the usual method of propa- Guatemala, and Honduras. Workers

gation is a vegetative one, by means for this project were luckily available
of suckers or rootstocks. in large numbers because of the slack

The famous explorer, Ferdinand resulting from banana export cuts due
Magellan, recorded that the abaca to shipping shortage and the low pri-
plant was being grown and used in ority rating of bananas. The United
the Philippine Islands when he visited Fruit Company has contracted to

there early in the sixteenth century. grow 40,000 acres of abaca in Cen-
 tral America and expects a yield of
at 40,000,000 pounds of dried
least
^ Enormous bundles of the fiber that will be ma de^^^^^^^ rope are carried fiber annually. Already about 20,000
out to the drying racks on the backs of the native workers of Mindanao Island acres have been planted in Panama,
Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guate-
Fcnno Jacobs photo fi
mala. Much of this land had formerly
been used for banana plantations but
was abandoned when diseases de-
stroyed the bananas. Now it must be
reclaimed often from a semi-jungle
condition, cleared, drained, and
burned-over before planting can begin.
The essential seeds and cuttings for
establishing this new crop in the
Americas were, fortunately, brought
from the Far East by farsighted
United States Department of Agri-
culture botanists before the Japanese
occupied the Philippines and the
Netherlands Indies (which also pro-
duced abaca commercially before the
war, although in quantities decidedly
second to the Philippines).
The combination of great strength,
durability, and high resistance to
water (in which it will not swell),
makes abaca the most valuable fiber
known for the production of naval
and marine cordage, where it is al-
most irreplaceable. It makes by far
the strongest rope known for use in
and around salt water. Besides its use
by the Navy and Merchant Marine
for hawsers, rigging, etc., it is most
valuable in industry and agriculture
as rope. Its use (like that of all hard
fibers) is now strictly limited by War
Production Board rulings to the most
essential war needs.
The tough pliable fiber of abaca
is difficult to "clean." In the Philip-
pines the outer fibrous portions of
each petiole are stripped off in the
form of ribbons. These ribbons are
then drawn between a dull knife
which rests on a block of hard wood,
in order to remove the pulp and other

waste materials. In the southern por-

tion of the islands a small machine
is used, which works on the same
principle. The comparatively high cost
of labor in the Americas makes all
hand-stripping and cleaning imprac-
tical, so here the large decorticating

machines of a type formerly used in

Sumatra are being employed. These,
with complete equipment, cost some
$15,000 each, but can be used both
for abaca and sisal (a fiber which will
be discussed in the next article in this
series). At least 2000 acres of plants,
however, are needed to keep one ma-
chine in full operation. Operators in
the East Indies ran their machines
on a 24-hour-a-day basis to reduce
 :

Fenno Jacobs photo from Three 1

A Vital fiber of the abaca plant

drying in the sun on Mindanao, now
in Japanese hands

< A MORO adjusting the fiber on a

drying rack in the Sulu Archipelago
a stage in the manufacture of a
product which the Philippines
shipped to all parts of the world in
peace. The world at war needs more
and has less

Emng Gallo'.uay photo

overhead costs. It is necessary, there- pumps, and baling machines are em-
fore, to cultivate the plants on a really ployed, as well as artificial driers.
i«i.4JiUjjS3
huge scale in order to be commercially Adequate housing, sanitation, and
practical. When the projected 40,000 hospitals are being provided for the
acres in Central America reach ma- thousands of workers — all of which
turity they should be able to provide attest importance attached to
to the
for a considerable part of the United this undertaking by the American
Nations' abaca requirements. governments involved.
Some eighteen months are required In addition to the large plantations,
for a new planting to reach maturity there are numerous smaller plots being
and begin yielding fiber. In the mean- raised by individual farmers, often by
time, reserve stocks are being very theirown more primitive methods.
rigidly conserved, and substitutes are [Next month: sisal, Salvador sisal,
being sought. One of the most promis- henequen, cabuya, and other hard
ing substitutes is the soft fiber, ordi- fibers.1

nary hemp (Cannabis sativa), which

f
will be discussed in detail in a sub- > The abaca plant was being
sequent paper in this series. Sisal rope,
grown and used by the natives
treated with a new preservative, is
even in Magellan's day, but pro-
also being used as a substitute for duction was small compared to
abaca on ships. The preservative gives
the thousands of acres given
the rope resistance to wear, as well as over to the needs of an indus-
protection against marine organisms. trial age
The actual fiber of the abaca plant
comprises only 3% to 4% of the
weight of the This means that
stalk.
in order to obtain 1000 tons of fiber,
25,000 or 30,000 tons of stalks must
be transported to the decorticating >•The strategic product being
establishments. To expedite this, per-
bundled for shipment in the
manent or temporary railroad lines Philippines
are being built and small diesel en-
gines used for the hauling. Speed is

of vital importance, because the stalks

should be processed within 48 hours
after being cut. This is accomplished
by running them through heavy rol-
lers, which crush out the water con-
tent. The fiber is then separated from ^ Interior of a rope factory
the waste material by a decorticating in Manila, showing the machines
process. Motor-driven conveyors, which wind the strands on
spools preparatory to final twist-
ing into rope. In response to the
^ Unloading Manila hemp needs of war many thousands of
from an interisland ship acres of abaca are being planted
on the waterfront at Manila in Latin America
 ; ;

''
Cameras were sealed in the airports,
so photographic record begins in
the
Quito. This is the Cathedral Plaza. Here
and everywhere are Indians in brightly
colored ponchos

FLIGHT TO ECUADOR
The speed of modern travel lent a magic charm By
to the scenes and adventures that unfolded on this Grace E. Barstow Murphy
journey to a tropical village at the foot of the Andes
trip broke through the wall of my
deafness with an eagerness doubled
EXPERIENCE is not measured by and Ecuador for two and one half by it.

time but by intensity and effect. months. The American Museum of On Sunday, my son brought Har-
The
long trip is not necessarily Natural History sent me on an official vard classmates to dinner in New
the most important one. I found this mission to join the Expedition on one York. On Wednesday I was plowing
true in my flight to Ecuador. of its infrequent landings. His oceano- through the intricacies of a Spanish
Quite aside from why I went, this graphic work and the Museum's af- meal in a primitive town on the coast
journey which began one week and fairs in sending me are not my story of Ecuador, below the equator.
ended the next was one of the most I write solely of my own trip as it On the first lap of my trip I said to
surprising and interesting things that stands vivid in my memory today. my hostess in Miami, "The Panama
ever happened to me. Every waking Probably not many almost wholly Clipper leaves at 6 145 a. m. Are we
moment of the 8000-mile trip was deaf women have ever taken such a near the airport?"
packed full of high-voltage experience trip as this one, entirely alone. As tlie "Very," she said.
every sleeping moment brought reju- thought of each of these thirteen days "Is it surely the right airport?"
venating rest. speeds through my mind, each moment "Yes, only ten minutes away."
My husband, Robert Cushman as clear-cut as the line of the Andes "Well, I wish to get there by 6:15,"
Murphy, had been on one of his ex- against a cloudless sky, it seems as said I.

peditions off the coast of Colombia though the happy associations of my So we got there at 6:15 —finding
62 NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943
no activity whatever. I showed my can keep up with them. Leaving the describes in stirring words the quality

ticket. The agent jumped: inland airport, we are soon over the of whiteness. The whiteness experi-
"You are at the wrong airport. The sea,following the lovely Florida Keys, enced by a flier surpasses anything on
!"
right one is fifteen miles away with their colors, varying from purple earth. Snow seems but dull stuff com-
I hauled out my Museum creden- through all the shades of lavender and pared to this infinite sea of clouds,
tials. It was then 6:20. "They must blue to green. Then into the clouds where the very softness increases the
hold the clipper, or I'll miss all my which glaze the windows, and above shining quality and blue shadows en-
connections and Doctor Murphy when them into the sun . . . hance the purity. Variety of form and
he lands in Ecuador." "The clouds spread out as a definite arrangement hold the eye, until one's
The taxi that was hurriedly called and solid entity with, nevertheless, a soul becomes a part of a cosmic unity
drove at sixty. At the airport they delicacy not at all of the earth. Shapes of white perfection —
an experience
rushed me through the formalities like hills and mountains tease the sufficiently absorbing to negate for-
and — five —
minutes late the clipper imagination, as they rise above the ever, at least to some degree, the trib-

rose,with me on board. cloud-terrain —shapes which cast blue ulations of lesser and lower levels of
If you don't believe in Heaven but shadows . . . existence . . . The occasional sea flows

would like to, fly over the Caribbean "We are flying at fourteen thou- golden, and the shadow of the plane,

in the early morning sun. You'll be sand feet, between two skies, the up- in a glistening halo, flies below like a

like the man who was asked if he be- per one definitely nearer than I have heavenly sprite."
lieved in infant baptism: "Believe in ever seen it before. Here and there an The Captain took me into the cock-

it!" he said, "I've seen it done!" opening gives a glimpse of the sea two pit to see all the charts of his course,

My notes, jotted as we flew, read: and a half miles below. Little cradle out of courtesy to the Museum.
"Looking out from the little window clouds appear to lie upon the water . . . Out of the clipper at Balboa, and
of the clipper, my seat carefully chosen "Herman Melville, in Moby Dick, into a smaller plane, we were off at

behind the wide wing where views once for Call, Colombia. followed We
are unobstructed, there lies a paradise the coast line, looking south to the
of beauty beyond anything my beauty- Pearl Islands, where some of the Ex-
loving eyes, which help make up for pedition's oceanographic work had
my ears, have ever witnessed . . . been done in February.
Views change faster than my pencil
 something very refreshing in the South
American attitude of ease toward
detail."
My friend and I hired a taxi for
an hour and drove through the lovely
city with its houses of every color of
the rainbow, garlanded with vines of
flowers. The main thoroughfare con-
sisted of two boulevards divided by a
river bordered by trees covered with
flaming red flowers, which I learned
are apparently relatives of the lowland
balsa that supplies the lightweight
wood. The promenades, brilliant col-
ors, sunshine, and fresh warm breeze

blowing down from the mountain

made it seem more like a stage-set than
a thing that was happening to me.
Later in a bookstall Isaw a New
York Times and hurried to it. The
February 24th was hopefully
issue of
awaiting sale on April ist. Well, why
not? Perhaps the wise South Ameri-
cans know more about time than we
do.
Everyone gets up early in Cali,
which again suggests a good use of
time. The town was alive soon after
we were called at four. It was 320
miles to Quito, one hour and forty
minutes, as against the old way, two
weeks, by mule-back. The new high-
way will strike a happy medium. "Up,
up, out of the fertile Cauca Valley, to
12,000 frosty and the Pilot oblig-
feet,
ingly wiggles the plane's wings to let
us know we are crossing the equator.
"And now I am in Quito, my earth-
ly Mecca, over which Bob and I have
A In the hilly outskirts of Quito, long flights of stone steps had many an argument for fifteen
look ancient and picturesque. Little girls help care for the babies years. He had been to Quito and I had
been to Arequipa, in Peru. Each in-
sisted neither could surpass the other.
The Captain explained to me that answered questions packed into one We were both right, for they are
we had to leave the coast and work single day of living. It is like looking equal — beautiful white cities, cradled
inland in order to be within safe reach at the index of a book, with no time in snow-mountains, full of the pic-
of the airport of Medellin. The wild for hungry perusal of a single separate turesque mountain life of the Andes."
scenery below emphasized the Cap- chapter. The mountains are increasing So here again were gay ponchos on
tain's words. We were now looking in height. They will exceed 20,000 the men, women with babies fastened
down from the cool heights of ii ,000 feet near Quito tomorrow." to their backs in bright shawls,
don-
feet into the dense equatorial jungle. The Cauca River Valley, along keys with huge packs, and baby
It seemed almost like trespassing, to which we were now flying toward donkeys trotting along beside their
get a good idea of real jungle without Cali, was broad and fertile, hill-edged. mothers. One's eyes snapped pictures
trial and toil of heat, insects, and hard We dropped down among the birds everywhere for memory's future use.
going. But we, in our heights, missed once more. The valley narrowed. Our There were several hours between
the detail of tropical birds and flowers wings almost touched the wild hills as and I said to the Grace Agent:
planes,
which makes such toil worth-while. we circled into the airport. "I want to see all I can of Quito this
Rolling hills gave way to wild, "We drive down, through avenues morning. What is the best way?"
deep-cleft valleys and razor-backed of palms and flowers, to town. A "I know the very man for you. Sr.
ridges. Lakes here and there were friend I have made on the plane, wife Santos has been in the States and is

strangely edged with vivid green, of the Chief Pilot of all Panagra, now a travel agent here."
doubtless some tropical water plant takes a room in the hotel connecting Awiry Ecuadorean soon dashed up
or alga. Finally, farmlands appeared. with mine. I discover to my delight the steps, and we hurried back to his
"One wonders what the farmers grow that there are no shower curtains, and car. By the time I had said, "I will
and how they live, and one regrets too each shower, if turned on, would sit in front with you, to hear better

varied experience and too many un- drench the whole bathroom. There is and see more," we were in perfect

64 NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

 : : : !

accord, he as eager toshow me every- versity. In our smug North American North
dians. Instead of the usual tall
thing as was to see.
I way, we forget the greater age of these American boy, I found that even the
Outside and above the city, picking South American institutions. The Grace Agent in Manta is an Indian,
my open camera off the seat, I said University of San Marcos in Lima speaking almost no English.
"Wait a moment; I want that bridge is nearly 75 years older than Har- My last link with familiarity took
over the quebrada^ Jumping out, I vard. With beautiful and valuable off and I turned to my dark com-
ran up the hill, snapped the picture, collections made in the best spirit of panions. They were nonplussed
and hurried back. I noticed that he the medieval Roman Catholic Church, strange women were not in the habit
looked at me quizzically. Late in the and with the hospitality extended to of flying into the airport of Manta,
day, wedged between an American us by our nearer neighbors, we have certainly not an unescorted gentle wo-
and an Englishman on the way back never needed to search these things man. We at once started on the long
to the airport, I heard the two men only in Europe. Perhaps the colossal drive to Manta. The road was deeply
discuss the effect of the 10,000- foot scale of Ecuador's physical geography gullied by tropical rains, as the rainy
altitude. is reflected in such values as these. season had just ended. Instead of
"Good gracious," I said, "I've been The fine old houses are mostly of bridges, two logs a car's wheels apart
running all day and never thought Moorish and Spanish architecture. were laid over each gully.
of it." The principal exports are hides and "Well," I thought, looking ahead
We all burst out laughing. We forest products, with the weaving of at the first of these ramshackle make-
could not decide whether my escape the beautiful ponchos and working in shifts. "They value their lives as much
from the usual effect was due to my silver, the main native crafts. as I value mine, so why worry?"
enjoyment and fun, or whether I had On a trip of this sort, everybody be- By that time we were over the first,

been permanently acclimated 16 years comes a friend. These new friends and the rest werewas soon see-
easy. I
ago in Peru, when I had had a bad were trying to keep me from going to ing my first houses in Manta, which
case of soroche, or mountain-sickness, Manta. The men said over and over were made of split bamboo up on
at 16,000 feet. "It is primitive there. Wait in Quito. stilts, just like the houses in our child-
Quito was founded about 1530 and Let Doctor Murphy join you here." hood geography books. What sur-
was for a long time the art center of "And waste his time!" said I. roundings for an almost totally deaf,
the New World. With the usual "There is only a bi-weekly plane. No, non - Spanish - speaking grandmother
Catholic background of South Ameri- I am on the job of joining the Expe- Driving off the road where a street
can cities, the ancient church art is dition and I must go." had been washed out, we chugged
particularly beautiful. The Jesuit Sr. Santos gave me a letter to his through some shallow water and
cathedral probably the most beauti-
is brother in Manta, which saved me climbed back the other side to find
ful Catholic church on the two con- enormous discomfort and was also the ourselves on the waterfront mole. We
tinents. The gold leaf and silver altar means of giving me a most wonderful stopped on a short piece of cement
casings, united with gorgeous colors time. roadway, which must have felt as

and medieval carvings and paintings, Ourplane was late in starting. The lonely and exotic as I did.
create an effect that stuns. Other flight down the mountains was cloudy. A gentleman speaking English
treasures and archives are contained We landed at five, the men on the came out to take my letter, saying he
in the Franciscan cathedral, which is plane chagrined at leaving me on
almost as beautiful, and in the Uni- the stubbly airfield in a group of In- M. Senor Santos with his pretty

wife and nieces standing beside

^ The first view of Manta, one the track in which the trip was
degree south of the equator on the made to Monte Cristi
coast of Ecuador, was not prepossess-
ing. The house walls are nearly all
of one thin layer of split palm or
Y The little town of Manta
bamboo practically flows into the sea, with
canoes like these along the beaches

1
 :

was Sr. Alfredo Santos. No man ever is made of stucco and is built on the school in Quito. With that book gone,
looked handsomer or kinder than did hillside above the town, catching all a high percentage of reading matter
he, — after that ride ! the breezes. Behind the white picket for foreigners has taken its departure.
"Mrs. Murphy, our home is full," fence and gate (only a yard high but "The house is airy, with very high
he said. "Our nieces are visiting." always kept locked!) is the little gar- ceilings and huge windows without
Warned that the hotel would be den and then the wide, welcoming screens. I have not seen one mosquito.
papered with newsprint and the plumb- door. Doubtless the steady breeze of this
ing incomplete, my eyes must have To quote from my notes: "As I pleasant dry season blowsthem away,
been beseeching, for he suddenly write, waiting here for my husband's yet imminence is proved by
their
warmed and said ship tocome in, I am sitting at mid- Inezita's bad malaria. The carabid
"No matter, we will manage. Come day in the living-room section of the beetles, which plump down like hail
to my home with me." four-square, open-to-the-air first story in all directions, are harmless. In the
Senora Santos was out, and I would of the pretty home. Outside the win- cool of the day, the family -sits on the
not, of course, touch my bags until dow, roses and dahlias and zinnias are upstairs terrace, which is finished in
her blessing was added to his. So in- in bloom, and through the dining- bright-colored tile. The wide expanse
grained is Latin American hospitality room door I can see a papaya tree of the Pacific so far offers no clue to
that no court-trained hostess could bearing its chain of green fruit. It is the whereabouts of the Expedition's
have outdone her thoughtfulness and no hotter than summer at home on schooner 'Askoy.'
courtesy. In thirteen years she had Long Island. The climate here is "I am North American at
the only
hardly been out of Manta and she much better than at Panama, and present inManta, whose boasted 10,-
spoke scarcely a word of English, but beyond the equatorial heat
infinitely 000 are nearly all Quechua Indians.
we found ways own to span the
of our and of Buenaventura or
heaviness The 23 foremost citizens have a Ro-
ill-doings of the Tower of Babel. The Guayaquil, to the north and south of tary Club, which is making things
meals, which she herself superin- Manta. happen. The planes have just begun
tended in the spotless kitchen, were de- "After 48 hours I am already part to come in. The exports of Tanama'
licious and were always fun, with all of the family life. Sr. Santos is the hats and tagua* are increasing.
of us laughing. only man in town who speaks English Through Rotary, the cement road-
Modern electric lights shine easily. It is hard enough for me to hear way is being extended, and the boil-
strangely through the split-bamboo English without delving into other ing of milk and water for drinking
house walls at night. The Santos home tongues, yet my small list of Spanish is encouraged. The Santos family
words is growing. Angela and Inez- would not touch an unboiled drop."
ita want to know how much every- The most famous of the miscalled
thing costs in New York. In all of "Panama" hats are made in Monte
Manta there seems to be no English- Cristi and in Jipijapa, Ecuador. On
Spanish book. Alfredo Jr., aged 12, * The ivory nut, the seed of a South American
palm, is used for turning and carving buttons,
has one with him in his boarding

f This parrot was offered the au-

thor for $8.00. When it was ex-
plained that United States law would
not permit entry of a parrot through
the Customs, the owner forgot his dis-
appointment by being photographed

A A VIEW near the main street of

Monte Cristi, where the finest hats
in the world are woven. Note the
flower-filled window boxes

^The visitors climbed up the "gangway" above into the house (at left)
to watch a family weaving the famous "Panama" hats. These children
learn early to weave belts and toys out of the same toquilla which goes
into the hats
 !

my first evening Sr. Santos informed

me he had ordered a car to take us
to Monte Cristi the next day to see
them made. Recent rains had washed
the road into a combination of ruts
and holes that made it resemble a vi-
brating machine. The car was a truck
with wooden seats, so we missed not a
jolt, and clung on, laughing. Some

of the holes we could leap across "full

steam ahead ;" others forced us to
detour, searching out faint tracks
through the lush growth. Halfway
along, in the open country, we came
on ^ of a mile of smooth asphalt,
carefully laid for no apparent reason.
The tangle of tropic flowers, the
great population of birds, and bam-
boo huts high on their stilts overlook-
ing the scattered fields made every
bump a thousand times worth-while.
The few farmers grow maize and cot-
ton, eating little else besides the corn.
Here is no balanced diet. The hat-
makers nearly all develop tuberculosis,
and one prays for more power to
Rotary and the introduction of mod-
ern nutrition. The scavenging of the
vultures very likely cuts the toll of
disease.
Indians passed us now and then,
carrying loads up to lOO pounds on
their heads. Some of them come into
town to be house servants. Sr. Santos
told me regretfully that they are paid
next to nothing ; that his wages to
Angel, the house boy, are higher than
most, being fifteen sucres, or one dol-
lar a month. Angel works all the
time, but as he is only fifteen, he is

required during school sessions to go

A These boys were full of fun and made the little
donkey gallop faster than would seem possible
to school. He sleeps on a clean mat
on the floor in an airy spot, far better
off than were the servants I saw in
Peru in 1924. He is well-fed and frequently wet in a half-filled coco- the underwater out-breathing, and a
looks happy. nut shell. The weaver straddles a few of the boys tried, but no one per-
Monte Cristi runs up and down a stool, leans his chest against a block, sisted. Rather a lark teaching the
hillside, and was charming in the and bending over, reaches to another crawl to Ecuadorean Indians! Failing,
brilliant —
sun just a tiny village made block on which is the hat. Fingers fly I swam farther out, and a cry was

of split bamboo, clean and neat and so fast one's eye cannot follow the raised, "Sharks!" There weren't any
self-respecting, with bright flowers strands. though my host was merely worried
;

growing in tin cans along the glass- The thought that "Askoy" might at the idea of a lady in really deep
less window ledges. The people are come in at any moment brought us water.
exploitedby the fat hat dealer far back to Manta in the early afternoon. As we sat at lunch the next day,
more than I was supposed to know I was worried that Bob might
a little the houseman came running
extra
about. They are desperately poor. miss me, not knowing about the grand down from his watch on the terrace,
We climbed the board runway to way I was gadding. So I broadcast eyes aglow, saying hehad raised "As-
the height of the stilts into one of the word in Manta that a reward would koy !" How
amazing that Bob out of
houses, and were received by three or be given to the man or boy who raised the Pacific and I from New York
four generations of one family of "Askoy." should meet on the exact day of plan-
hatmakers. Each person is assigned to That afternoon we went swimming, ning, down on the equator
a definite type and grade of weaving. and most of Manta went with us. Sr. Santos and I walked to the
Only by special privilege may the As I struck out in my usual crawl dock. The ladies, of course, stayed at
highest grade of hat be woven. That stroke, I found myself a cynosure. Ap- home South American ladies do.
as
they are woven under water is a mis- parently no one knew the stroke. I Manta donned every available uni-
conception; just the finger tips are proceeded to give a demonstration of form. By the time the schooner had

FLIGHT TO ECUADOR 67
 —
anchored in the roadstead, seventeen dorean food is good. The table was filledwith fresh water to wash my
Ecuadorean officers and men were es- beautifully arranged in the open court- face and hands in. Pink soap and a
corting me to her in the motor-tug of yard of the hotel, under the acacia blue towel were set under a tree. Bob
the Captain of the Port. The epaulets trees. Three of us spoke English, three washed in it too, and noticed that the
out-Gilberted Sullivan! Man-of-war Spanish, and two both. The long, in- water was full of mosquito larvae.
birds with forked tails, made an air tricate meal was delectable, the wines "A boy is setting places for our
convoy. And my husband played up excellent. A tiered birthday cake, almuerzo outdoors. Wrens and but-
to the curious throng in true Holly- done in pink and green and decorated terflies and flowers are around us,
wood greeting style. with flowering vines, stood in the and one forgets the poverty and
It was wonderful to be on board center. Bob and Inezita the tall — ghastly lack of sanitation. I tip the
and hear all the story, to see the work scientist and the eager little girl, children ten cents Ecuadorean, less
that had been done, and most of all whose birthdays both fall in April than one cent North American. I find
to meet the six other men. The town cut the cake together. out which is whose brother and sister,
swarmed out to the craft, and the To
quote again from my notes: and they are courteous over my single-
Santos family came to tea. "Sunday, April 6. The effort of get- word method of speaking Spanish.
The next day the Belgian mate and ting out notebook and pencil makes "The hen is still self-contained and
engineer and I went to the open mar- one wonder not that Ecuadoreans polite in the pretty little Indian's
ket built along the beach front, where don't do more, but that they get so arms. I believe she tried to sell her
tame pelicans make convenient gar- much done. If I stayed here, I would alive for our lunch. Not succeeding,
bage cans. The two young men bought sit in a rocking chair under an acacia she has tried to sell her to me. I don't
up all the available fruit and vegeta- tree, as I am now, with a dozen smil- know just what I am expected to do
bles, but avoided the fly-covered fresh- ing and quiet youngsters waiting to with a live hen. I have given her a
killed meat. The curiosity of the peo- do my slightest bidding. One is hold- coin, and now she and her little
ple toward us alien folk was always ing a white hen lovingly in her arms. brother are gone. Here comes al-
quiet and unobtrusive. The hen is equally quiet and agree- muerzo !"

Bob and I gave a dinner party to able. It took four of these, not count- The seven delicious courses cost 21
the Santos family that evening. Ecua- ing the hen, to get me a white bowl cents. Our dinner party last night
cost $10.00, including the wines and
large cake. We understand we were
fleeced.
Yesterday Bob quite took me off
my feet by saying he wanted me to
sail down the coast with him in "As-

koy." Of course I had longed to, but

had not expected to, for it was al-

A "Bob thought he was taking my picture,

but I caught him and the Customs House
of Manta"
> In the courtyard of the Hotel
Buenos Aires, the scene of the party
described in the article, a huge Gala-
pagos tortoise was the children's
playmate
NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943
 ! : !

ready crowded with seven men on a bench under an umbrella to escape through little mountain towns of
board. Later he said to me, "I told some of the closed-in heat of the warm, thick-walled adobe houses. Sr.
the men you are coming." tropical rain. The fun and laughter Santos stopped at one and beckoned
"Oh, Bob, how wonderful! What and the and the sun drop-
seriousness, me where a whole fam-
to the porch,
did they say? I'm terrified at what ping into the Pacific at night, with all ily were weaving rope out of sisal.
!"
they said hands at ease to watch it, combined to The mother was nursing a baby band-
"Well," teased my husband, "first make the two-day sail a magic thing. aged from head to toe in tight swad-
they fainted, then they swore." Late Tuesday we reached Salinas, dling clothes. The only part of that
They gave me a royalwelcome the new watering place of Guayaquil, child to move were the lips. Sr. San-
Commander Fallon, the Colombian where Spanish pieces of eight are still tos said.
Officer sent on the Expedition by his picked up now and then. The red tape "She has borne sixteen, and buried
Government, moved out of Bob's cabin over our one-night anchorage took eleven."
and bunked in the dining saloon. Un- long to untangle and cost a lot, but And my heart longed for a district
der such circumstances he did pretty "Askoy" needed supplies. nurse to teach her the way to keep
well to ask me to stay until June The
! As I had no reservations home, not her children.
Belgian boys, Oscar and Robert, knowing ahead when I would leave, We soon saw the monument that
shaved their beards, apparently in my the agent was properly shocked that was put up by the Ecuadorean Gov-
honor. Jose Correia, who makes the I wanted to travel by the early morn- ernment on the exact line of the
most beautiful birdskins in the world ing plane. Bob and I had talked of equator in memory of the French sci-
in the fastest time, could not get over my waiting over, but my job was entists who determined the line.

the fact that he and Bob and I had done, and it was right to hurry back I got out of the car and, standing
sailed together on the brig "Daisy," and tell my tale to the kind powers with one foot and half of me in the
in the Caribbean in 191 2, and were at the Museum. Northern Hemisphere and the other
all three here on "Askoy" in the Paci- As I walked out of the plane at foot and the other half of me in the
fic in 1941. The old skipper. Captain Quito, a familiar arm waved and the Southern Hemisphere, looked down
me
Connolly, was gracious in letting older Santos brother rushed forward the long valley to the everlasting and
take the wheel, and Doctor Arm- "Come on, Mrs. Murphy, I am go- glistening snow of the great Cotapaxi,
strong put up with my keen interest ing to the equator." 19,500 feet above sea level, a gor-
in the scientific attainments of the "Oh, but is there time?" I asked, geous, icebound inconsistency stand-
trip. "I am taking the plane to Cali." ing guard beside the equator. Three
There were porpoises and fish and "I'll get }'ou on!"
back —come days later I was in New York, the
birds, and the food was rough but An American engineer and I were whole experience an unreal reality,

good. Once I slipped out to sleep on the passengers in the car. We passed in my memory for all time.

A Angela and Inez on the waterfront

with Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy
> Heavy mourning is prescribed for
the women for long periods. The ex- A The writer in two
pedition's ship "Askoy" is in the mid- hemispheres at once
dle distance. The pelicans are keeping Latitude 00° 00' 00" in
the beach clean Ecuador

FLIGHT TO ECUADOR
 The Largest

Once seen, the world's largest The gills of the Whale Shark
species of fish is easily recog- are more important in feeding

in the World nized by

spots, and
its

tending toward the

wide mouth,
parallel ridges
tail
light
ex-
than are the teeth, which are
only 1/8 inch long and useless
for biting. As the water strains

THE Whale
typus) is
Shark {Rhineodon
the largest living fish.

This specimen recently caught

off the coast of Peru is almost the only
recorded specimen for that part of
the world.
The Whale Shark is estimated to
reach a weight of 25,000 pounds and
a length of 60 feet. It is harmless and
has no known enemies. It puts up no
fight when captured by man and ;

strange as it may seem, the teeth of

the world's largest giant among fishes
are only yi inch long and useless for
biting. The Whale Shark feeds on

70
Fish small organisms and sardines filtered
out of the water bj' its gill

This specimen, apparently a young

one, is about the same size as the
rakers.

mounted Whale Shark which can be

seen in the American Museum's Hall
of Fishes. The photographs of it were
^iM^
taken by Dick Norris, representative
of the International Game Fish Asso-
ciation for Peru. The only other rec-
ord concerns a specimen taken off
Callao 65 years ago and examined by
Prof. William Nation, who described
it in the South Pacific Times of Callao
for July 24, 1878.
The specimen shown was harpooned
for its liver, in a district where war Cabo Blanco, where the Whale Shark
conditions have given impetus to the was captured, is near the westernmost
quest for fish as food. The other point of South America. Burros and vul-
views, showing the locality, were taken tures are a common sight near the native
by the American Museum expeditions fish market on the beach. The balsa raft,
sponsored by Michael Lerner in 1 940 with sail hoisted, has just come through

and 1941. the surf

:hrough the gills, small organ-

sms and sardines are filtered
Dut and swallowed to give the
great animal nourishment

The type of raft on which the natives

brought in the Whale Shark is here
loaded with a dififerent kind of shark

A MAN could almost slide into the mouth

of even this young specimen, but the pon-
derous Whale Shark wouldn't think of
attacking and comes in without a struggle

71
 —

Nine-Day Wonde
B)/ HOBART E. STOCKING
The story of one of North Americs
greatest natural disasters, with a popul

explanation of how and why hurrican

roar up out of the breathless doldrur
one to twenty times each year to destri

what lies in their path

the newborn monster — offspring of

tropical calm, torrid heat, and ocean
—
moisture moved ten to thirty miles
an hour, west and north. Lean and
voracious at birth, it fattened on each
northward mile, eventually to gain a
diameter of destruction 300 to 600
miles in extent. Each league north-
ward increased the earth's rotational
effecton the storm path, deflecting the
disturbance from west through north,
toward the east.
It whirled south of Santo Domingo,
cut northward to rip across western
Photograph by Br02on Brothers
Wreckage caused by the famous Galveston hurricane of 1900 Cuba. It might have followed the path
of its predecessors up the Atlantic
coast, but a wall of high barometric
SEPTEMBER 7th, 1900, was a clear on the south shore of the Island at pressure to the north proved an insur-
day in Galveston, Texas, a type intervals of from one to five minutes. mountable barrier. Thwarted on the
which the city is famous. A
for There was an ominous overtone in Gulf side of the Florida Peninsula,
constant breeze from the Gulf pushed the monotony. the hurricane moved west, almost
back the continental heat and brought Somewhere in the doldrums west parallel to the Gulf Coast.
comfort to inhabitants of the Island. of the Cape Verde Islands, sometime South of the Mississippi Delta the
Only Mr. Cline, the weatherman, as during the preceding week, the sun tempest reached full maturity. Shaped
a part of his routine duty noted the beat down on a calm ocean. Heat like a cosmic phonograph record
high cirrus clouds moving from the waves rolled over the oily surface, hundreds of miles across but merely
southeast. and from it rose enormous volumes of thousands of feet thick the mael- —
Water front life moved in its usual heated air, saturated with ocean va- strom of screaming winds whirled at
bustle throughout the morning. The por. The air rose gently at first, for 120 miles an hour. At the ocean sur-
afternoon arrivalheavy swell
of a itsbuoyancy was slight. As each mole- face winds spun at steadily increasing
from the southeast caused only a cule mounted, another moved in from velocity toward the center of the
minor flurry among deck hands and the side to replace it ; the motion was storm. Near the vortex the centrifugal
dock workers as they shifted hawsers moderate but on a vast scale. The force of their rotation restrained
them
under strident voices of deck officers earth's rotation imparted a spin to the from closing in, and displaced by a
who sought a firmer bond with land. currents, and as the warmed air spi- following mass of air, they mounted
The waning sun gave way to dark- raled to higher levels of lower pres- vertically. At the vortex — the "eye"
ness, and Galveston settled to rest in
the ceaseless roar of breaking swells.
sure it expanded. With expansion of the storm — there remained a circle
came cooling; with cooling came pre- of incredible calm of sunshine on rag-
By five o'clock the following morn- cipitation; from precipitation came ing waves. And there, for the first
ing the city was awake to comment on latent heat to rewarm the air and time in hours, a captain on the bridge
the abnormal tide. In spite of a gen- quicken the movement. Light might see as far as the length of his
airs
tle breeze ofE the land, the sea per- flowing gently over the surface of the ship.
versely rose into lower portions of the ocean became a breeze, increased to a But this was no haven of peace.
city. Some were not only awake but wind, mounted to a full gale, rotating Within the eight- or ten-mile circle of
were busily engaged in rescuing stores counterclockwise. Thus a hurricane sunshine the confused ocean writhed
from salt water. Over all boomed the was born. from the torture of wild winds and
roar of surf, thundering persistently Caught in gentle Westerly Trades, torrential rain which, for the moment.
72 NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943
 Growth of a Hurricane
Drawings by G. Miles Conrad
> Somewhere in the doldrums
west of Cape Verde Islands an
^"d Galveston area of weak and variable winds.
Here the notorious Galveston hurri-
lies

cane of 1900 had its beginning. Ar-

rows indicate the prevalent trade
winds
,''="==5?2s.

The Doldrums »^

«.".,, f,« roofs '; ,?"»'l WWW

< Above the hot sea, molecules of
heated air rose in a column, and
° '"«'^..„
N other molecules leapt in from the
>^if^- espe-i
» ^"0-000 » — sides to take their place. The column
expanded at upper levels, forming a
had passed on. On land the "eye''
sort of cone
would be a breathless interlude be-
tween chaos and confusion, for the
marks
arrival of the windless vortex
the passage of only half of a hurri-
cane. Most tropical hurricanes in
Moving westward Gulfacross the the North Atlantic follow the broken
of Mexico, the roaring spiral held up line,but the famous Galveston hur-
a mound of ocean ten to twenty feet ricane met a barrier of high atmos-
high in the eye of the storm. Each pheric pressure in the region of
day of its life the hurricane lifted Florida and was prevented from
two billion tons of vapor from the curving northward here
ocean and each day poured back the
same weight; torrential rain fell an
inch an hour. At lower levels there
was no boundary between air and
water. Hurled by gusts mounting to
140 miles an hour, the mixture of < Westward the storm gathered
spindrift and rain struck with the STRENGTH and took the form of a
bruising impact of flung gravel. huge whirling disk. At the vortex
Winds raged with maximum vio- an opening, resulting from the cen-
lence in the front, right-quarter of trifugal force of the spinning, per-
the storm where forward movement mitted the sun to shine through
of the mass augmented wind velocity. upon seas tossing tempestuously be-
Air in the opposite sector, retarded neath relatively still air

by the same forward movement,

moved at lower speeds, from go to
no miles an hour.
Vicious air heaved the ocean into > The roaring spiral held up a
gigantic windrows that moved with mound of ocean ten to twenty feet
the speed of wind. Greatest confusion high in the center or "eye" of the
reigned in the following half of the storm. Each day it lifted two billion
hurricane for here waters buffeted tons of vapor from the ocean and
first by winds from the right of the
each day poured back the same
storm path were suddenly struck by amount in torrential rains
shrieking gales from the left. Con-
torted by wave motions from diver-
gent directions, the ocean leaped and
fell in mobile hysteria. Pyramidal
waves sank as abruptly as they had
risen, leaving vast holes bounded by
leaping masses of sea.
At the front of the tempest, titanic < Under the impact of the cy-
waves, moving with irresistible mo- clonic wind each square foot of ex-
mentum, escaped the grasp of the posed surface in Galveston received
storm and
fled from its fury. Moving a kick of 57 pounds. Mountainous
waves were picked up and flung
NINE-DAY WONDERS against the city, and destruction ad-
vanced street by street
 unk en in sa nd
•<The result of a "weather blitz:"
houses unseated and sunken in the sand
by the Galveston hurricane of August, 1915

^ Unwillingly "drydocked:" a steamer

washed inland by the 1915 Galveston
hurricane

was hed ashore

into regions of light airs and calm
seas, they were reduced in height and,
widened into broad swells. Travers-
ing live, four, two hundred
three,
miles, they thundered a warning on
the shores of the Gulf. When the hur-
ricane struck Galveston, the city had
prepared for the attack as best it

could.
Rain on beleaguered Galveston
fell

in the morningof the 8th, and from

that time on there was no relief from
the deluge. The winds shifted from
north toward east, and with each de-
gree of shift they gained in force and
velocity. Inhabitants living near the
beach sought safety in the center of
the city, and those already there chose 50 other terrified citizens vainly seek- rams as it leveled houses and with
the strongest shelters available. By ing a haven. Faithful to his duties these weapons devastated each suc-
three o'clock in the afternoon Gulf even moment, he made mental
at this ceeding row.
waters lay three to four feet deep on notes of the catastrophic phenomena At eight-thirty Mr. Cline's home
the city, and thereafter people moved about him. Even as he watched, there disintegrated, and most of the refu-
from shelter only under threat of im- was a sudden surge that lifted and gees within, including his wife, sank
minent death. A full gale howled held the water more than waist-deep. from sight. Struck by a flying timber
through the streets, ripping off a roof At eight P.M. there was a moment's he lost consciousness, but later recov-
here and there and using it to batter pause as the east edge of the vortex ered to find himself clinging to his
down walls to the leeward. Coastal passed over Galveston. Having dealt youngest child. Cline, three of his
folk, accustomed to the might of destruction with a colossal right hand, children, and his brother clung des-
storm waves on the beach, now hov- the tyrant in an instant rained blows perately to floating wreckage. Later
ered in terror as the waves battered on the island city with an equally they pulled a child and a woman from
their homes to kindling. deadly left. Striking abruptly with a the raging waters. For three hours
Mr. Cline, the United States force of 57 pounds on each square they moved with the storm, climbing
weather observer, stood in the door- foot, hurricane winds grasped waves from raft to raft, dodging flying tim-
way of his home, which rested on an already mountainous and flung them bers, sighting neither house nor in-
elevation fifteen feet above tide. On against the city. Destruction advanced habitant. It was by freak of fortune
the second floor were his family and street by street, creating battering and storm that these terrified beings

74 NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

invasion by tJie elements
> The Galveston causeway, de-
stroyed by the hurricane of August
17, 1915

U. S. Weather Bureau photograph ^

Pensacola, Florida, was struck by

"^

a hurricane on September 27, 1906,

which caused this damage at the foot
of Commendencia Street. One of the
two barks shown had to be sold for
$50.00
U. S. Weather Bn

>f|ked bark

ended their journey not 300 yards nothing unusual in the Galveston hur- In Jamaica there is a jingle which
from where it began, as their refuge ricane of 1900. Even the path which warns the inhabitants when to expect
of the moment grounded in subsiding led it to the Texas coast was not the big winds:
waters. unique. The had heard the roar
city Jmie too soon,
Six thousand people suffered Mrs. of big winds before, and confident July stand by;
Cline's fate3600 houses were
; totally that this was not the last, Galveston August look out you must,
destroyed and not a structure in the fortified itself with a sea wall which September remember,
city escaped seriousdamage. has since withstood similar attacks. October, all over.
The hurricane roared northward There is nothing new in hurricanes. But just as June is not always too
across Texas toward the trough of Columbus heard of the "big wind" soon, neither do hurricanes always
low pressure. Deprived of its nourish- from the Carib Indians who called it avoid Jamaica in October.
ing vapor, the tempest weakened, but Hunrakan, after their god of stormy Spaniards of Colonial times were
swinging sharply northeast it sucked weather. Before Columbus and since, aware of seasonal variations in hurri-
new life from fresh waters and lit- one to twenty times each year, some- cane paths. The Church decreed that
tered Michigan beaches with debris. times thrice in a single week, hurri- "Ad repellendat tempestates" be in-
It crossed the valley of the St. Law- canes have roared out of the doldrums cluded in all masses recited in Puerto
rence and moved out over the North into upper latitudes. They have ter- Rico during August and September
Atlantic. rific energy, and their average life but not in October, whereas the same
There was everything tragic but covers nine days of destruction. appeal was ordered in Cuban devo-

NINE-DAY WONDERS 75
 A The Pensacola hurricane of September 27, 1906,
tions during September and October. showing the wreckage at the Baylen Street wharf
Mighty tropical winds are not lim-
ited to the Caribbean they are a ;

common offspring of areas of calm the than the entire Spanish Navy. Get matter came quickly to the verge of
world over. The Chinese tai-fun (big this [hurricane warning] service in- actual combat.
wind), the Philippine baguios, the augurated at the earliest possible mo- At this moment a typhoon roared
Australian willy-willy, the Bay of ment . .
." Today no convoy leaves down the bottle-neck of the harbor
Bengal typhoon are all hurricanes un- the United States Coast, east or west, and, despite all anchors and full steam
der another name. In the Northern without full knowledge and careful into the wind, sank the six vessels.

Hemisphere these storms always re- consideration of the weather to be Forgiving Polynesians rescued Amer-
volve counterclockwise and move first encountered. ican and German sailors alike at the

northwest, later swinging northeast. Hurricanes have changed the course risk of their own lives. Lacking ships
Their cousins in the Southern Hemi- of history more than once. A south with which to carry on the dispute,
sphere rotate clockwise, moving first Pacific typhoon that struck Apia, the matter was submitted to negotia-
southwest, later recurving southeast. Samoa, in 1889 blew away a war then tion and the freedom of Samoa was
That there is less loss of life from brewing between the United States guaranteed for many years by the
hurricanes in the twentieth century and Germany. The United States was Treaty of Berlin in 1889.

than before due largely to the as-

is resentful when Germany, pushed by There was one innocent bystander
tuteness of Willis L. Moore, onetime Bismarck, captured the native ruler of who escaped harm and taught a les-
Chief of the Weather Bureau. At the Samoa and set up a Quisling a pre- — son. At the height of the storm, the
outset of the Spanish-American War, lude to complete confiscation of the force of the wind against the bare
Moore took a long view through his- island. The natives rebelled, and Ger- masts and yards of the American and
tory and saw that more armadas had many declared war against them. German warships was greater than
been destroyed by weather than by German warships shelled helpless the strength of their feeble engines
the enemy. He placed the facts before native villages and destroyed Ameri- and they were unable even to hold to

President McKinley in graphic form, can property in complete abandon- their anchorage. But the British war-
who, after he had examined the evi- ment. Very shortly three American ship "Calliope," one of the earliest

dence, stated to Moore: "I am more warships confronted as many German designed to move by strong engines
afraid of a West Indian hurricane men-of-war in Apia harbor, and the alone rather than by sail and steam.

76 NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

 Sfm r
steamed out of the harbor into the Land birds are sometimes
teeth of the typhoon and reached the blown far out to sea by hurri-
safety of the open sea. canes and forced to take refuge
This accomplishment opened the on any passing ship as shown
eyes of our Navy Department to the here
advantages of stronger engines and
^ This map shows the aver-
fewer sails on men-of-war, and the
age PATH of all hurricanes in
sunken vessels were replaced with
each of the months of the sea-
ships adequately powered. The pres-
son. The route of the Galves-
ent American Navy is a monument to
ton storm was but a moderate
the sailors lost at Apia, Samoa, on
deviation from the normal
March i6, 1889. Thus did a big wind
September path. It was unusual
in the South Pacific leave its imprint
chiefly for its long journey over
on the course of history.
continental North America
Draimnn hv Hohcirt E. Stocking

I caf e photograph

^ When three German warships shelled native villages in

Samoa in 1889, three ships of the U. S. Navy confronted them.
A war would have followed had not a typhoon roared in and
sunk all six vessels, one of which was the German "Adler" shown
here. As a result, stronger engines became the watchword of the
United States Navy, and our present fleet is a memorial to the
sailors lost in that storm. Most hurricanes enjoy a destructive life
of about nine days. But this storm influenced history for decades

Official U. S. Nai'y photograph

 HILLS
hat Wal,

'~>

?~i4ii^_

Root and drifting sand fight an unending war on one A Ghost forest. The only sound of bat-
tle was the whisper of wind-blown sand,
of Nature's strangest battlefields, a miniature Sahara but the devastation in this section of
only 50 miles from America's second largest city the Indiana Dunes is nearly complete

By Edwin Way Teale All photographs by the author

where I am sit-
FROM the spot
ting, beside a clump of parched
changing tide of
of
battle, the eternal
war between the vegetation seek- —
tug highest of the Indiana dunes
Tom, near Waverly Beach.
is

Its crest
Mt.

marram grass, the sand slants ing to anchor down the sand and the — is 190 feet above the waters of Lake
away for an eighth of a mile. It forms wind —seeking to carry it away. Michigan, and its base covers an area
a vast amphitheater, hollowed out by In one place the vegetation wins, of more than 100 acres.
the winds and piercing the long chain and wandering dune becomes sta-
a Viewed from an air liner, the dunes
of the Indiana dunes. Under the Au- tionary, carpeted with green. In an- have the appearance of a curving
gust sunset tawny flank has a cop- other place it is the wind that triumphs, string of green and golden beads. Seen
pery hue.
its

Noiselessly, a thin white

—
and the yellow sandhills "hills that from the motor highway to the south,
line of distantwaves creeps onto the —
walk" continue to move forward they look like a row of stooping giants,
shore out of the blue of Lake Michi- ponderously year after year, engulfing facing toward the east. For, as a rule,
gan. plants and bushes and even great trees the prevailing wind shapes the dunes
From time to time a breath of air that lie in the path of their advance. so that the longer slope is toward the
carries the freshness of the lake up the This battle has continued since the west and the more abrupt descent
arid slope. It sets the quartz grains glacial period, when bluffs on the toward the east. The dunes them-
rubbing together in a thin dry com- western shore of Lake Michigan were selves, as well as the great blowouts
plaintand pushes its way through the eroded by the waves. Currents, set up and the small ribbed patterns on the
plumes of the parched grass with a by the prevailing winds from the beach sand, are autographs of the
hissing murmur. Those two small northwest, are said to have carried the wind.
sounds — the lisp of the running sand debris to the southeastern tip of the To- anyone interested in the world
and the rustle of the sparse vegetation lake. There the action of ice and wave of Nature, this battlefield of wind
— are, like the cannonading of armies, forced the sand out onto the shore. and root has particular attraction.
the sounds of a deadly conflict. They Accumulating in great dunes, it cre- Birds heading up and down the great
are opposing forces made vocal on one ated the crescent of hills which bor- Mississippi flyway make it a stopping
of Nature's strangest battlegrounds. ders the lake's southeastern tip. Lit- point. Rare plants await the botanist
For nearly four decades, first as a erally thousands of these dunes, many in sheltered gullies and moist "pan-
farm boy on the outskirts of the Dune of them higher than an eight-story nies". among the dunes. Written in

Country and later as a frequent visitor building, range along sections of the grains of quartz, the story of the re-
drawn again and again to this area of Indiana shore and run northward up gion is of absorbing interest to the
endless struggle, I have watched the the Michigan side of the lake. The geologist. Its zones of life, its curious

N.ATUR.'VL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

A A HILL FORMED by the wind is now hunters in my boyhood used to tell of makeshift highways would quiver, and
being destroyed by the wind. The hearing the howl of wolves among the plants growing on the opposite banks
cover of grass clings tenaciously, but snowclad dunes on winter evenings. would tremble as though in a breeze.

the tide of battle has turned Few roads bridged the belt of Arriving among the dunes them-
marshland in the region of my grand- selves, we found surprises all around

father's farm,and those that did were us— just as surprises await the visitor

formed of rows of parallel logs placed today. Cacti, very like species found
inhabitants, its instances of adapta-
on the uncertain footing of the bog. along the Rio Grande, put forth their
tion an unusual environment, its
to
cream-colored flowers. Little lizards
As our wagons rolled over these "cor-
ecology —
all are engrossing to the stu-
duroy" roads on expeditions to the with blue tails and yellow stripes
dent of natural history. darted among the fallen leaves. Tiger
lake, I used to watch with fascination
In this region, Dr. H. C. Cowles, their metallic-hued bodies
the earthquake our passing produced. beetles,
of the University of Chicago, spent shining in the sun, raced along the
Water in the ditches beside these
years studying the struggle between
vegetation and moving sand. His sci-
entific reports are classics in the field
of botany. Victor Shelford
the life of this region as the basis for
hijwork on Animal Communities in
studied
wind patterns
Temperate America. Donald Culross
Peattie compiled a whole book on the
flora of the dunes for The 'Field Mu-
seum of Natural History, in Chicago.
And H. G. Wells, in his The Science
of Life, devotes space to the ceaseless
struggle which continues there for life
in many forms.
Even after the turn of the century,
this crescent of dunes, guarded on'the
north by the waters of Lake Michigan
and on the south by a wide belt of
swamps, remained a stronghold of
Nature. Although it lay hardly more
than 50 miles from America's second
largest city and less than two miles
Blades of grass, blown by the wind, trace beautiful designs ,
north of the tracks of the main line
between Chicago and New York,

HILLS THAT WALK 79

 —

hot sands and cardinals, bluebirds,

story in sand goldfinches,

mingbirds
valleys.
and ruby-throated hum-
nested in the sheltered

Because of the widely varied types

of habitat available here, bird life has
always been abundant in the dunes.
In the spring, when the birds came up
the Mississippi flyway and fanned out
over the Great Lakes region —and
again in autumn when they funneled
back into the same skyroad to the
—
South I used to see soaring hawks
and a multitude of small migrants
passing by. Occasionally I would see
snow geese and blue geese. It was my
habit to climb the long slope of the
farmhouse roof and, astride the rjdge,
spend hours watching birds now per-
haps completely gone from the region
— bald eagles and sand-hill cranes
wing their way above my head to
disappear among the yellow hills to
the north. Whooping cranes, long be-
fore my time, were abundant migrants
there, and great flocks of passenger
pigeons used to settle down among the
dune land trees.
Even today seem to be every-
birds
where. Piping and spotted
plover
sandpipers dart along the wet beach.
Black terns and herring gulls skim
above the waves. Bank swallows have
their nests in the sides of the blow-
outs, and orioles feed on the edge of
the open glades. South of the line of
dunes, the great blue heron, the coot,

^e^.a.^A^^

"Knee-deep" in sand, a thriving tree Looking like snow in the noonday In time the trunks, alternately
still produces rich verdure though glare but offering temperatures well buried and exposed, are barkless.
the battle for survival is hopeless. over 100° F., the invading dunes An infant plant tries to grow in the
The scene at top is a typical "blow- climb higher about the ill-fated protecting fork of the roots, but
out," with young vegetation trunks cannot

80 NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

 —
and the bittern as well as the rac- ing sands of the beach, through the Fortunately, in 1925, the state of
coon and the opossum dwell in the — reed grass and sand cherries of the Indiana obtained a 2,200-acre tract
swamps and hunt along the banks of dune-edge, through the pines and cot- in the heart of the dunes between
slow brown streams. Few, if any, tonwoods through
of the dune-flank, Gary and Michigan City. This In-
other sites of similar size in North the ridgetops and blowouts, through diana Dunes State Park extends from
America have as wide a range of plant the oak and maple and basswood of west of Waverly Beach to east of
and animal life as does the crescent the sheltered ravines, and on to the Paradise Valley, beyond the Big
of Indiana dunes. lush swamps and tamarack bogs be- Blowout. While concrete highways
More than 300 different species of —
yond each of these zones of life has have brought hundreds of thousands
herbaceous plants and shrubs make its individuality and its unique in- of visitors to the area and while
home. Trailing arbutus,
this area their habitants. Isolated plant communities Waverly Beach, at the far western
leading the annual parade of the flow- develop in the deeper ravines. Species end of the park, has become a sum-
ers, often comes so early in spring ordinarily found far north or far south mer playground for vacationists from
that it blooms by the edge of a snow- of the region grow side by side. A Chicago and Gary, the whole eastern
drift. By May there are great carpets wild rose with thirteen petals which, section of the park remains virtually
of blue and yellow- — lupine, marsh so far as is known, grows nowhere as it was.

marigold, dogtooth violet. As the sea- else on earth dwells in two small There, the work of the wind goes
son advances, there are rare orchids
^ communities among the dunes. The on. The swamps to the south are still
in the swamps, where pitcher plants flora of the region ranges from the untamed. Wild ravines await the
and sundew also dwell. Even on the most primitive plants to the most com- tramper who leaves the beaten path,
Sahara of a dunetop, where the sand plex of later species. As one botanist and large sections of the dunes are no
reaches a temperature of more than puts it: In a day's walk among these different today than they were 25,
120° F. at noonday, I have sometimes sand you can trace virtually the
hills, or 50, or 100 years ago. An excellent
come upon a stalk of common milk- whole history of 20 million years of hotel at Waverly Beach, nine marked
weed, rooted and growing, sprung plant development. trails, and nature guides who know
amazingly from some far-drifting
seed.
Each zone of life — from the sing-

Shorn of leaves and branches, the

tree above will someday topple over
to lie among the other fallen giants.
One of these is shown to the right,
its roots jutting defiantly into the
air. Wind and weather wear exposed
surfaces into curious forms (upper
right). Finally the whole tree is re-

duced to a humble vestige of its

former glory (right)

HILLS THAT WALK

studies in structton
Curious patterns are made by pitcher plants, and other interesting
1
thewind in the drifting sand of flowers
the "hills that walk"
Roots are exposed when a
Vistas through the twisted roots
4 change in the cycle undermines
2 and branches of fallen trees pro- a tree that was once buried alive
vide interesting compositions for the
The texture of timber polished
photographic explorer 5 by the winds offers an infinite
variety of camera studies in light
Through an overcast sky the
3 sun throws a weird light over
and shadow

the lonely scene. Despite the severity The sands have killed the
of the struggle, more than 300 spe-
6 growth that barred its advance,
cies of herbaceous plants and shrubs but Nature leaves a masterpiece of
make the dune area their home. In sculpture to commemorate the
the marshy areas dwell rare orchids, struggle
HILLS THAT WALK
 —

the area thoroughly are of assistance

to the visitor who wishes to explore
the natural
One
wonders
won-
of the strangest of these
of the park.
footprints
ders which
the vast "ghost forest"
is
A BIPED superimposed probably A two-legger with feathers: a croi
rises from the floor of the Big Blow-
by the six-footed track of a beetle crosses the path of a slowly moving weasf
out. At some remote time a wander-
ing dune engulfed a stand of great
pine trees. Preserved by their resin,
their trunks had remained buried for
no one knows how many decades.
Then stormwinds out of the north-
west, raging along the dunes, had
gradually cut a gap in the chain of
sand hills. The gales of succeeding
years opened it up like a fan. In a
yellow avalanche, sand grains poured
over the far edge of the blowout into
theswamp. And, in the wake of this
moving sand, the buried forest rose
into view.
It now lies scattered over the wide
amphitheater of sand stretching away
from the spot where I am sitting.
Some of the gaunt trunks seamed rise,

and weathered, to a height of 60 feet.

Others sprawl like fallen giants on the
floor of the blowout. Where stumps
are tilted on their sides, the twisted
roots are seemingly stilled in the midst
of action. This is a scene that I have
surveyed many times, at all hours of
the day and under varying conditions
of the year. It is most strange and
impressive of all at twilight, at such
a moment as this when the luminous
summer sky is tarnishing minute by

minute and the silence of dusk deepens

swiftly. Then the dunes like great —
darkening waves in a sea of sand
seem most wild and lonely, most time-
less and desolate.
The thought occurs again and again
that here everything is as it might
have been centuries ago. Then a
sweeping arm of white light passes
across the heavens overhead. It is the
beam of a great revolving beacon,
starting its night's work of guiding
A FOUR-FOOTED ANIMAL close tO the Where two leisurely skunks probabi
twentieth century ships of the sky to
ground; probably a ground squirrel pawed at the hole of a ground spidi

the landing field at Chicago. One of

these air liners passes high above the
dunes, the sound of its motors a faint ers during the last years of the nine- to as "The Crazy Man of the Sand
throb and its red and green riding teenth century. His researches pro- Hills." Yet,now, over these very
lights, barely visible, moving among vided the groundwork for the Wright hills, the throbbing engines of a metal

the stars. brothers. A few weeks before their sky liner symbolize success beyond his
Curiously enough, these solitary successful conquest of the air, Cha- furthest dreams.
dunes were the scene of pioneer re- nute visited them at their camp among Long before Chanute, great events
searches that helped make possible this those other dunes on the North Caro- and the lives of other great men were
plane rushing at three miles a minute lina coast at Kitty Hawk. linked with the dunes. Father Mar-
through the dusk. was among these
It As heard echoes of the
a child, I quette came to the region in 1675. The
sand hills that Octave Chanute, the thunder of ridicule which rose about great La Salle skirted the dunes on
engineer who built the first bridge Chanute's head when the countryfolk the old Pottawatomie Trail when he
across the Missouri River and for of the region learned of his fantastic began his 1,200-mile tramp to Mon-
whom Chanute, Kansas, was named, purpose in coming to the dunes. Most treal at the conclusion of an ill-fated
experimented with man-carrying glid- often the great engineer was referred expedition to the Illinois. Indians

NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

 the ghost forest continually repeats

n the sand itself. Even now, along

edge of wandering dunes, bushes and
trees are slowly disappearing beneath
the forward

OUR PAWS —beyond that, who knows? Four paws and a tail —a muskiat a resistless flood of quartz.
these trees have merely a
Some of
few inches
of the yellow tide washing about their
roots ; others have a dozen feet of their
trunks covered; and still others are
fighting against suffocation with only
their topmost branches in the open air.
Along the steep, wind-cut sides of
the blowouts, the trees are facing the
opposite extreme. There the sand is
slipping away from the grasp of their
roots. There every breeze helps to
undermine their precarious foothold.
Like clutching hands, the gnarled
roots, with roughened bark, cling to
their unsubstantial support. Finally,
the losing battle ends. Some gale or
gust tears away the tree and it plunges
into the valley of the blowout.
But everywhere throughout the
dunes, roots are fighting to the very
last. And when they lose, other roots
take up the endless battle. Seeds, re-
ceiving moisture from melting snow
and spring rains, push down their
little rootlets into the inhospitable
sand, and by some miracle a few be-
come established as herbaceous plants
or trees.Each is a green anchor to
windward. Each acts as a brake on
the flow of the sand grains. The swirl
of the wind around them leaves its
record in long ridges and webbed pat-
terns on the sand. Little mounds of
quartzrise around each rooted stem.

But once the plant is established it

clings tenaciously to its tiny foothold.
It has setup a forward position in the
land of the enemy.
Thus, through the years, the see-
saw battle rages. It is a battle that
never ends; a war without an armis-
Here a burrowing insect left its Near by among miniature dunes is
tice. "Hills that walk" and the varied
.iirious track in the smooth sand, proof that the "worm" wUi turn,
vegetation that seeks to bind them
showing many changes in direction even if he is a thousand-legger down have combined produce one
to
of the most diversified and fascinating
of Nature's strongholds.

moved stealthily along the same trail

before the Chicago Massacre. And
Daniel Webster unloosed his oratory
at the now-vanished port of City
West, not far from the present site
of Waverly Beach.
All these events, so important to
man, affected the dunes themselves
not at all. Nature's endless battle
went on just the same. The history of

> Tussocks struggle against the wind,

gaining here and losing there in the con-
stant battle against the "hills that walk"

HILLS THAT WALK

 ^U)&ndtyLaMdi,

A The splendor of mormon temple in southern Utah dazzling miracle in frozen stone. Though desert rainfa
surpasses a master artist's most ambitious day dreams. ismeager, cloudbursts and sudden streams carve the Ian
When evening's black shadows leap out from the base with vigor. Where scanty vegetation gives the drylant
of its polychrome towers, this gleaming pile becomes a little protection, running water strips away yielding la
^ ROCK By John L. Blackford

A Bold, jagged, soaring columns and towers dominate Chirkahua

National Monument in Arizona. Pedestal rocks, balanced boulders,
and "hoodoos"— the adorned with goblin faces— are the
latter often
result of weather's attack upon vertically jointed formations.
Horizon-
tal irregularitieshave been developed by unequal attack on planes of
varying resistance. Extremes in temperature sometimes cause the rocks
to crack; then frost enters the picture, prying with irresistible fingers

FANTASTIC castles, amazing canyons of gor-

geous color, vast arches and rainbow bridges of
stone, flaming mesas and marvelous monu-
—
ments these are some of Nature's miracles, wrought
during long ages, in her wonderlands of rock
throughout the Southwest.
In few regions of the globe have the processes of
erosion and weathering, promoted by favorable cli-
mate, sculptured so many varied and instructive
natural features. Weak and resistant rock layers,
and dissects enormous plateaus, hardened muds and clays, dense volcanic outcrop-
idblown sand etches fantastic pings, and' numerous types of surface topography
res on the rugged canyon walls, have here lent themselves ideally to this massive and
yce Canyon National Park) elemental landscape architecture.
A Tower bridge, in Bryce Canyon National itspower to sculpture the land is multiplied,
Park, a striking example of the persistence of
is regions of heavy rainfall, thick vegetation protec
hard layers as softer beds are washed away. It the soil; in arid regions, the sparse vegetatic
is a seemingly contradictory rule in the effect of offers slight resistance to the scouring effect
climate on landscape that where rainfall is scanty running water. Thus the rule that gives us son

NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1943

 A Hill of Spires: a hillside maze of colorful pinnacles typi-
cal of the Chiricahua wonderland. Unnumbered acres of sim-
ilarly fantastic groups and figures, closely ranked, crowd the
deep canyons and climb steeply to the ridge tops. Within their
grotesque cloisters is concealed a botanist's paradise

^ At one amazing bend of Aravaipa Creek bright, unbroken

cliffs, towering mesa walls, confront the eye. The inner
like
slopes of this southern Arizona canyon are studded with the
great spikes of the saguaro cactus. Below them is a paradise
of bowered cottonwoods and rippling coolness

*^^^^*.^
ir most spectacular scenery also provides an
)rtant lesson in conservation. Where land is
for farming or grazing, sufficient growth
: be maintained to hold the priceless soil
lace

WONDERLANDS OF ROCK 89
 MEDIEVAL AMERICAN ART • AFGHANISTAN • ANIMAL TRACKS

The list of animals treated ranges from enjoyable to a large group of readers, for
Animal tracks big —
game bear, deer, mountain lion, et itcan instruct the grownups and is under-
------- by George F. Mason cetera —
down through mammals of me- standable to children. It is a small book, a
dium size to include the smallest of all, convenient pocket size, and does not run
William Morrow & Co., $1.50 typified by the shrew. Forty-four common quite to one hundred pages. One should
North American mammals are sketched, not be critical of the length, however, be-
ANIMAL tracks are always interesting footprinted, and described in a brief text cause the animals selected are adequately
and can convey considerable infor- which outlines the most salient points in handled, and the price of the book is small
mation to those initiated in their myster- their life histories. too.
ies. And tracks can be present the year The author has had experience with H. E. Anthony.
around, if one knows where to look. In mammals, understands them, and has the
winter, the snow supplies a fresh white happy faculty of delineating character in
sheet upon which the animals trace move- his sketches. His book will be useful and Medieval American
ART
---..... - - by Pal Kelemen

The Macmillan Co., $22.50

THE publication Medieval American

Art by Pal Kelemen
of
an event is in the
intellectual history of American Indian
art. In two sumptuous volumes, one of
text and the other of plates, the finest
facets of aboriginal artistic genius are
made available to a far wider public than
they have hitherto known. The appear-
ance of this substantial work is but one
of an increasing number of signs that the
art of the American Indian is being res-
cued from a long and undeserved neglect,
a redress which Medieval American Art
itselfshould do much to achieve.
is an appropriate moment in which
This
to consider some general aspects of the
arts that Dr. Kelemen brings to our at-

A Olmec Jade Pectoral, Mexico

Recumbent Figure in Stone, Mexico

ments, escapes, tragedies; in summer, dust

and mud afford an impressionable surface
although they lack the continuity of the
snowy expanse.
Articles and books have been written
telling one how to identify the track-
makers and how to interpret their wan-
derings, but this literature is not exten-
sive, and Mason's contribution is a real
one. By well-executed line drawings and
simple text, he has presented the subject
admirably.

90 NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

tention. It is perhaps pertinent to enquire
why it is that the art of the American In-
dian should have been overlooked in the
past if it is indeed as significant an es-
thetic phenomenon as its enthusiasts claim.
The answer lies in the evolution of the
esthetic orientation of European culture.
When Indian art first came to the notice
of Europe, during the Renaissance, Euro-
pean culture was exceptionally active
discovering its own potentialities and ab-
sorbed in exploring a vast range of intel-
lectual and esthetic pursuits. If it con-
sciously looked beyond its own sources, it

was largely to classic antiquity. Indeed,

the imprint of Greece and Rome upon its

own inspiration left but little room in

European culture for the admission of
esthetic standards divergent from the es-
tablished canons. Despite this intense, if
parochial, attitude some few spirits did
perceive merit in the exotic art of the In-
dians, but their sporadic appreciation
failed to establish an enduring influence
for it.

Moreover, art in Europe had become a

highly individualized and personalized
activity. The artist was no longer an
anonymous craftsman as he had been in
the Middle Ages. He was a significant
personage who signed his work and ex-
pressed himself in a style deliberately his
own. Art had lost its communal and folk
character. It had become self-conscious
and often as not served as the medium of
expression for the artist.
The art of the American Indian, on the
contrary, was anonymous. The artist
worked deliberately in the common tra-
dition and distinguished himself more by
his superior skill than by any personalized
expression. Such an art, given the circum-
stances, would seem to lack the importance
that contemporary Europeans had learned
to attribute to a signed and personalized
art.
When Europe began to widen its per-

A A Portrait Vessel, Peru

•<Twin Gold Alligators, Panama

spective in the seventeenth and particu-

larly the eighteenth centuries, it is inter-
esting to note that it responded to such
exotic arts as the Chinese, which in many
ways possessed the sophistication and fin-
ish that seemed synonymous with fine arts.
It was not until the nineteenth and twen-
tieth centuries that Europe, somewhat
jaded in its esthetic sensibilities, was pre-
pared to receive and admire the strength,
vigor, and imagination of less refined arts
expressed in foreign idioms. Then it was
that the admirable bravura of African
art had its vogue, and it is only lately
that the arts of the American Indian,
treasured by group of connois-
a small
seurs, collectors, and archaeologists, have
widened their appeal in academic as well
as in more general circles.
It must be remembered in approaching
the Indian arts that they developed in
continental isolation, that they were pro-
duced by stone age tools, and that the re-
ligious and decorative traditions which lie
back of them are difficult for us to under-

YOUR NEW BOOKS 91

 stand. Much that seems crude and repul-
sive to our associations can be attributed
to these factors. One has the natural ten-
dency in contemplating the products of a
strange tradition to pick out as excellent
those examples that happen to conform to
our accustomed standards most closely.
Thus, the portrait pottery vessels of Peru
are readily acceptable because of their
straightforward realism. To rely too com-
pletely upon our standards in judging the
art of the American Indian is to overlook
A Large Pottery Figure, Mexico
the subtleties
genius.
and the essence of native
The adjoining illustrations were all
selected from Doctor Kelemen's book, but
they illustrate only a few of the many
aspects of the subject. Doctor Kelemen
has shown a catholic interest in American
art, and includes in his treatment archi-
tecture, textiles, modeling, sculpture, carv-
ing, jewelry, etc. He confines himself
largely to the area which centers in Mid-
dle America and extends on the south into
Peru and on the north into the southern
tier of the United States. Within these
geographic limits a wide variety of tribes
and cultures existed, each with a distinc-
tive esthetic expression, but more impor-
tant, this was the scene of the great civili-
zations and their influence. The various
arts found here are depicted, described,
92
and appraised. As the title of the volumes
suggests, the time factoris pre-Colombian
and for the most part contemporaneous
with Medieval Europe. There is a preg-
nant comparison latent within the title
which well deserves thought.
Medieval American Art is a monument
to the art it signalizes. Its ample riches,
its full documentation, and its breadth of
treatment render it a source book for those
who wish to explore this fascinating field.
H. L. Sh.^piro.
Archaeological
studies in peru, 1941-1942
by W. Duncan Strong, Gordon
- suffered the loss of nearly one-half their
R. Wiley and John M. Corbett
Columbia University Press, $3.75
spite of the vast amount of archae-
IN
ological material that has been
lected in Peru, our knowledge of the pre-
Spanish history of that country is far from
complete. From the contents of thousands
of graves, from studies of ruined struc-
tures, and from historical data, various
cultural sequences have been proposed by
students of this fascinating subject.
often the basis for conclusions has been
theoretical, being only the result of per-
sonal impressions. This has not been due
to the absence of concrete evidence but
rather to the fact that the securing of such
evidence involves a lot of unspectacular
and at times physically unpleasant exca-
vation. It is easy to understand the lack of
appeal of work of this type, but until
more of it is done many details of Peru-
vian prehistory will remain in doubt.
The present volume describes the re-
sults of the first serious effort along the
central Peruvian coast to determine the
chronology from stratigraphic studies of
accumulated debris. In the course of one
year of field work, excavations were made
at Pachacamac, Ancon, Chancay, and
Supe. Far more material was secured than
could be described in the time available,
so this report is largely confined to a dis-
cussion of the ceramic sequence.
The corroborate and amplify
results
some former conclusions on the pre-
of the
history of this area, and are especially
significant in that they demonstrate an
early succession of previously misinter-
preted local ceramic styles. Additional
evidence of what appears to be an ancient,
widespread influence of the Chavin cul-
ture was secured, though its connection
with the later cultures remains in doubt.
It is to be hoped that this demonstration
of the sound value of systematic collec-
tion and analysis in contrast to former
methods will stimulate the Peruvian ar-
chaeologists to similar endeavor.
Junius Bird.
Tulsa from creek ;
town to oil capital
-------- by Angie Debo
University of Oklahoma Press, $1.50
MISS DEBO is the author of The Rise
and Fall of the Choctaw Republic,
And the Waters Run, and The Road
Still
to Disappearance (A History of the Creek
Indians). Through these books she has
become one of the best known historians
of our Southern Indians.
Founded on the Arkansas River within
the old Creek Indian Territory, Tulsa is
emphatically a modern city with a dra-
matic history that could hardly have un-
folded with such spirit and energy in any
other part of the world. In 1836, the
Creeks were removed from Alabama to
the present site of Tulsa.
The Indians, destined to form the nu-
cleus of modern Tulsa, came from Locha-
poka, near the popular Creek Indian town
of Tallasi. In this forced migration, they
numbers. Miss Debo has given a vivid
description of the founding of Tulsey
Town, the dark days of the Civil War,
and the rapid evolution of the industrial
and cultural Tulsa.
col- The oil period had begun, and it was
on the eve of statehood. Before a commit-
tee of the United States Senators investi-
gating Tulsa Indian Affairs in 1906,
Chitto Harjo, a full-blood Creek orator,
spoke in a devastating manner. He quoted
from a copy of the treaty with the white
Too man, referring to the white man as "He."
"He told me," Harjo said, "that as long
as the sun shone and the sky is up yonder
these agreements will be kept ... as long
NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943
as the waters run it shall last; as long as
grass grows it shall last. ." The sen-
ators, although moved by the Indian's
desperate earnestness, tried to explain
that this old treaty had been abrogated,
and that it was hopeless to resist the
changes that were taking place in the In-
dian Territory. The author says that this
speech was the last flare of the Indian
spirit in the white man's town of Tulsa.
Te Ata and Clyde
The grasshopper book
------ by Wilfrid S. Bronson
will be very useful also for any wildlife
. . student whether he goes into the Parks or
not. The data given can be verified most
easily in the Parks for there the mammals
are more tolerant of man, but with the
knowledge gained by reading the book
one can expect to get more out of wildlife
contacts everywhere.
The introduction sketches in broad out-
line the scope of the book, the relations be-
tween mammals and park visitors, between
Fisher.
predators and prey, and other fundamen-
tal topics. Then
the author proceeds to a
systematic
He
treatment of species by spe-
gives a brief description of the
cies.
animal and habits, and lists the Parks
its

where it may
be found. Each account has
Harcourt, Brace and Company,
a pen and ink drawing done by Walter
New York, $1.75 A. Weber, who has been successful in
portraying character and graphic action.
THIS is good book disguised in a
a
The author has done very well in com-
poor jacket. It is for anyone from
their "-teens" through their "-ties" who bining the precise information required
is interested in grasshoppers and their for identification with the more readable

relatives. One is amazed at the amount and dramatic facts of life history, so that
of information about the life history and a wide range of readers will enjoy the

behavior of these insects, presented so

book. It is not juvenile in any sense but it

clearly in few pages. For the most is a book that children can understand and
so
part, the book is about the common grass- use, that is, if the parents will give it up.

hopper and its close kin, the katydids and H. E. Anthony.

crickets,although its distinct cousins, the
roaches, walking sticks, and mantids are
discussed briefly. Travels in Afghani-
Mr. Bronson describes how the well-
stan, 1937-1938
known short-feelered grasshoppers live
and grow, and how they use their special -------- by Ernest F. Fo.x
equipment to jump, fly, fiddle, lay eggs,
The Macmillan Co., $4.00
etc. His comparisons of insects to ma-
chines and his careful drawings make this
explanation of how they work very vivid.
THE remote mountain kingdom
ghanistan was once
Af-
gateway the
of

He tells also of grasshopper plagues, of
"locusts" used as food in various parts of
the world, and of some of the different
kinds of grasshoppers.
The chapters on the katydids and the
crickets, the long-feelered relatives, are
also extremely well-done. The sketches of
—
them in action washing, fiddling, dueling
— are excellent and reveal the author-
artist's sense of humor as well as his close
observation. His accounts of the activities
of his pets should make others want to ob-
serve and become better acquainted with
these cheerful insect musicians.
It is not a juvenile book. In fact,
Grasshopper Book might well be recom-
mended to some entomologists as an ex-
ample of a readable and yet concise pres-
entation of the subject.
Meeting the mammals
------ by Victor H. Cahalane
The Macmillan Co., $1.75
Tl/TEETING THE MAMMALS
-^ ''^^ attractive volume from
the conclusion. The
reader has an able
master of ceremonies in Mr. Cahalane,
who introduces each mammal by entertain-
ing text and well-executed drawings.
The author is in charge of the section
on National Park Wildlife, and the 66
mammals he selects are inhabitants of one
or more of the National Parks. They are
the species of outstanding importance, the
ones that a Park visitor will be most in-
terested in knowing better. As a guide
book to take into the Parks, this volume is
well-nigh a "must" for the visitor, and it
through which rich caravans passed to-
ward China, Persia, and India. Down
through the reaches of history Aryans,
the armies of Alexander of Macedon, and
the hordes of Huns, Turks, Arabs, Mon-
gols, and Persians passed through on their
ILLUSTRATIONS
way to the wealth of India. Ghazni was
once a great empire, and Herat the center
of art and learning in all the Middle East.
are printed from pholo-
In modern times, however, Afghanistan
has been completely closed to foreigners,
and it is only during recent years that it
has been reopened to the western world.
engraved plates made by
Few visitors have yet found their way
The there, and seldom have these strayed from
the two motor roads which encircle the
STERLING ENGRAVING
country.
Mr. Fox, as an American geologist en-
^ L B. gaged by the Afghan Government to ex-
COMPANY, 304 E. 45th
plore for minerals, made his difficult way
through remote regions entirely inacces-
sible to motor car and, as far as is known,
Street, New York, N. Y.
never before viewed by European eyes.
He is a practical man, and conjures up no
fanciful adventures with robbers, as at COLOR PROCESS, BLACK AND WHITE, BEN DAY, LINE
least one popular writer has done. Mr.
is an Fox found ample adventure in the prob-
the jacket to lems of the weather, irresponsible ser-
vants, arduous mountain trails, and na- Above illuslTation —Nile River Group—Detail showing Antelope
tives who declined any knowledge of Akeley African Hall —American Museum of Natural History
mines in their neighborhood lest their sol-
itude be invaded by alien industry.
One regrets that he did not take time to
observe more fully the Tadjik, Hazara,
and Afghan people among whom he trav-
eled.Perhaps his haste was necessary, al-
though there are instances when he seems
impelled by sheer American desire for
action and efficiency, in the face of the
leisurely Afghan tempo. However, Mr.
Fox writes well. His book makes interest-

YOUR NEW BOOKS 93

ing reading for the stay-at-home traveler ditions around industrial plants engaged prove that the animal can see the human
and gives extremely useful information in the war effort. Much of the tree loss range of colors but the ape responds more
for the would-be voyager to Afghanistan. could have been prevented if more time sensitively to the blue-green, or short-
for planning had been available and if wave, end of the spectrum than to the yel-
Elizabeth Bacon.
the fundamentals of tree growth were low-red, or long-wave. His sense of hear-
more generally understood. ing was found to be much wider in range
Man's unknown The author says that future
more important than
shelter than man's, and the animals are appar-
trees are possibly ently capable of responding to high tones
ancestors those of the immediate present. A war to which man is deaf. Concerning sensa-
- - - - b^' Raymond W. Murray may be precipitated without notice, and tion, Professor Yerkes believes from his
growing trees give the best possible pro- own observations that bodily injuries are
The Bruce Publishing Co., $3.50 tection from enemy fliers. Shelter trees less painful to apes than to man. How-
should be well located, and should have ever, so far asis known, the chimpanzee's
THIS book will undoubtedly be wel-
20 to 50 j'ears growth. world of sense impressions does not differ
comed by a great many people whose
Among the chapters are those on Pro- radically from man's.
interest in man's past has been awakened
tection Afforded by Trees, Shelter Trees Part III consists of practical instruc-
by articles in newspapers and popular
and Economics, Engineering and Trees, tions for the "Care and Handling" of the
magazines, but who find these articles too
The Parts of a Tree, Essentials of Tree animals in the laboratory and will be val-
sketchy and unsatisfactory. There are
Growth, How a Tree Grows, Shelter ued by students of the subject, but it is not
books enough in the same line as this from
Trees and War, Construction Work and of so much general interest.
which they could get all the information
Its Effect on Trees, General Care of The book can be recommended whole-
they want, but many people hesitate to at-
Trees, and Selection of Shelter Trees. heartedly to all those who are interested
tack scientific literature and if they do,
Lists of trees recommended for various in the evolution of animal behavior and
they are often discouraged by the many
localities and conditions are given, such the earlier stages of intelligence, as well
unfamiliar and unpronounceable words
as, trees that tolerate smoke, trees adapted as to those primarily interested in the
they encounter.
to the seaside, and for every section of chimpanzee.
In this book they will find not only an
the LTnited States from South Florida to H. C. Raven.
answer to all their questions, in so far as
the Pacific Northwest. More than 50 illus-
the scientists have been able give an
to
trations add to the value of the book.
answer, but they will find the explana-
Clitje Fisher.
Chief Seattle
tion written in easy to understand lan-
- - - - by Eva Greenslit Anderson
guage. The author has not tried to avoid
the scientific terms, but in a special glos-
ChIiVIPANZEES: A LABORA- The Caxton Printers, Ltd.,
sary he gives a clear explanation of the Caldwell, Idaho, $4.00
terminology and in another list the pro- TORY COLONY
nunciations.
by Robert M. Yerkes THE
whom
Suquampsh Indian chief,
Washington,
after
was
The book is absolutely up-to-date. It Seattle,
tells about the latest discoveries and the Yale University Press, $5.00 named, provides a good subject for a
effect they may have on the various stand- biography, and the American spirit of the
ing theories. Hence the book is also useful THIS volume is the work of one of the author is revealed when she reminds the
to the student of anthropology who %vants foremost comparative psychologists in reader that Seattle was to become "the
to follow the development in fields other the world, the man who founded and di- largest city in the world named for any
than his own. The book is written pri- rected the Yale Laboratories of Primate Indian chieftain."
marily for Americans, so naturally the Biolog>- and is now their Honorary Di- The book is copiously documented, and
prehistory of the New World has been rector. the appendix of nearly 50 closely printed
given a more detailed description than The first part of the book is concerned pages makes it evident that a prodigious
that of the Old World. with the objective and physiological as- amount of research has preceded the writ-
All through the book you feel that the pects of chimpanzee life. It takes the ani- ing of the story. These notes and bibliog-
author is trying to infect you with his own mals from the jungle to the laboratory raphy alone constitute a valuable contri-
enthusiasm and love for his subject. He and there acquaints one with the animals bution to the early Indian and pioneer
encourages you to visit the museums in as individuals, showing their reactions to history of the Northwest.
order to see the finds, and he tells you both ape and human contacts. The author The biography is full of the usual rec-
how easy it is to get to the famous archae- also gives a study of their physiological ord of the breaking of treaties and other
ological sites. If you are not already in- life from infancy to age, and concludes promises by the whites. In spite of the
terested in the most fascinating of all with a contrasting objective study of the greediness of the early settlers in cheating
stories —
that of the origin and develop- sexes. the Indians out of their best land and
ment of mankind —
you certainly will be
,
Part II is devoted to the mentality of fishing places. Chief Seattle, it seems, al-
after reading this book. the chimpanzee. Experiments seem to ways remained friendly and loyal to these
Helge Larsen. invaders. Had he at the zenith of his
power joined the hostile members of his

Shelter trees in war onyourTadio and the neighboring tribes, it is probable

that the British might have fixed the Co-
and peace Program of the American Museum lumbia River as the international boun-
----- and Hayden Planetarium, Fall, 1943. dary line.
by Ephraim Porter Felt
There is an interesting description of
WEDNESDAYS over WNYC building of the great potlatch house,
Orange Judd Publishing Co., $2.50
M.
the
from 3:30 to 3:45 P.
Man House, near the
known as the Old
FOR 30 years (1898-1928) Doctor Felt Science for the Seven Million present town of Suquamish across Puget
was state entomologist of New York. Sound from Seattle. This structure, the
This program is now under the spon-
Since 1928 he has been director and chief author says, "was thirty times as large as
sorship of N.^TURAL History Magazine.
entomologist of the Bartlett Tree Research the potlatch houses of the Iroquois." There
Laboratories. For 27 years he was editor is also a vivid description of the gambling
of the Journal of Economic Entomology. games of the Indians.
He is a leading authority on insect galls EXPERIENCE THAT COUNTS the whole, however, the writing is
On
the Govern-
—our thirdnowwar
going
as well as on the insects and diseases of our equipment
Most to
It lacks imagination, and
of is
ment war
for use during our
service disappointing.
ornamental trees and shrubs. years
fifty-one of outfitting experience. Its selection
the historical details seem to have gotten
proves reputation and quality. We
can still supply
This book has evidently been written certain items for expeditions or exploration trips. in the way. It is mechanical and obvious.
Write Dept. NH-9 what your needs are and w» will
because of the wholesale damage done to reply promptly what is available. The author fails to make Chief Seattle
trees by the establishment of the large
David T. Abercrombie Co. live as a strong character.
number of military and naval centers in
United States, as well as by the tree con-
Te Ata and Clyde Fisher.

NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

94
 ;

INVASION

By John Eric Hill Invasion on the other hand is com- blend. One kind will have fewer en-
mon. Some species are always extend- emies, better resistance to disease,
Drawing by ing their borders; others are forced more rapid reproduction, or better
to move back or gradually become ex- fighting ability. Even a small advan-
G. Frederick Mason
tinct. This conflict between species is tage is enough to give one species suc-

THISmeaning
ent
year invasion has a differ-
to us than it did a
not organized, but
gle for existence
it is

among
like the strug-
individuals,
cess over its rival. Changing climate,
the breakdown of barriers, the spread
few years ago. Then the pow- more like competition in business. of certain plants may produce condi-
erful forces of our enemies were over- The firm that produces a better tions helpful to one animal and injur-
running the countries of Europe, mousetrap in a freely competitive ious to another, and the history of
Asia, and the Islands of the Pacific. situation will sooner or later take mammals is filled with changes in dis-
Great Britain, Australia, and our over the other mousetrap factories or tribution. These movements of ani-
own West Coast wondered if they drive them out of business, and when mals take place slowly and they are
would be the next to feel the tread of two species meet which have similar only rarely observed happening.
the invader. Now the tide is running habits and the same requirements of A few years ago the Columbian
the other way and the Allies are in- food and shelter, one must give way to ground squirrels in the southern Ca-
vading, not without difficulty and the other. Distinct species, no matter nadian Rockies began to extend their
loss, but with full assurance of the how closely related, do not mix or territory. At that time the yellowish
final outcome. Richardson ground squirrels lived on
Among the animals there is noth- the floors of valleys that extend from
ing quite like the wars men fight. The the plains into the mountains, while
Columbian
flesh-eaters kill and eat their prey THE NATURE LIBRARY the larger, rusty colored
house rats in times of scarcity devour squirrels had the higher valleys and
Artcraft bound, decorations in gold. 5% x 8%,
the smaller and weaker members of 1800 pages, 288 pages of Animals. Butter- slopes for their homeland. Gradually
their own species ; and individuals of flies, Flowers, Trees, and Birds in color. The the mountain animals pushed out
almost all kinds fight in self-defense 7 Volumes include Nature's Program, the into the flats until they had occupied
year around guide to Nature's calendar of
or to secure mates and food. Man is
events. Published at $19.50. THE LITERARY
the valleys, once the country of the
the only creature, except for some in- MART, 411 West 125th Street, New York, yellow "gopher." Mammals "invade"
sects, that fights in fully social ways, N. Y., offers this set to Members tor five in this fashion, taking over a few
the individual becoming part of a uni- days" free examination. Price of set $14.00, miles here, a few acres there; the
payable S2.00 down. S3.00 monthly. Cash more rapidly, the
fied group, sacrificing himself, if need larger kinds spread
Price S12.00. same return privilege.
be, for the common cause. smaller ones more slowly.

INVASION 95
MARTINIQUE—
birds all inward, while that of
facing
Continued from page 5S
CLOVER HOBBY
the leader was a tall cone-shaped struc-
ture with a wing-flap on each side and
By Mark Barr
a single bird surmounting the whole
LIKE lots of other people, I have a num-
thing. Little mirrors were fastened to
ber of hobbies. They relieve me
both the upper part of the costumes and
from anxious thoughts in grooves. In these
the headdresses; and their faces were
days, a man without a hobby is at the
dotted with red paint on a background
mercy of printed headlines; his ears are
of the same sulphurous yellow as their
without refuge from sorely disturbing ra-
wooden gods.
dio talks. The hobby of which I write
The dance began slowly, the three side
provides a little sanctuary from troubled
by side first planting the foot flat before
concern. In power of relaxation it resem-
them, lifting it, and with a syncopated
bles sleep. It has something in common
motion, pointing the toe in back, and
with quiet conversation, with soft music,
repeating with the other foot. This was
and with the splendor of fine pictures. Yet
the basic step of the whole dance, with
it is a simple, almost silly thing. It is the
slight variations. The upper part of the
searching for four-leaf and other rare
body turned stiffly from the waist, only
clovers.
the arms swaying gracefully in rhythm.
Soon the tempo was stepped up and their Ithas been said that I hold the world's
record, but if I begin by mentioning my
brown feet beat and swirled in the dust;
record it will seem to be a matter of con-
but even at its fastest the dance remained
ceit. It is the opposite. I detest knowledge
solemn and dignified.
One of the most impressive things for its own sake, and the more I learn the

about the whole ceremony was the calm,

more I realize how little I know of our
infinitely mysterious universe.
accepting way everyone regarded the
proceedings. The only break in this al- The finding of rare clovers has a tech-
most stolid atmosphere was the momen- nique. Do not glance about, quickly moving
tary frenzy of the priest, which subsided the eyes. important, search where
More
quickly and evoked not a single response there has been an interference a dropped —
brick, a newly planted tree, or, best of all,
in anyone else. To them it was all a
well known ritual that they had probably along the edge of a footpath.
witnessed every August of their lives, One day in Essex, England, an old class-
and though they watched with what mate of mine saw me looking down as we
might be taken for disinterest, you felt walked through his clover field. "Ah, there
the pull of centuries past that made them you go Your curious hobby. Tell me, how
!

burn flowers to even as

their stone idol do you do it?"
they lit candles in their churches to the I mentioned the effect of a footpath.
R.\KEST OF ALL CLOVER LEAVES is the
Virgin Mary. The priest himself wore a "Come," he said, "I have a narrow, ash
cornucopia, seen at upper left. This
medal around his neck, and when
catholic footpath over there." He took out his
example was found in The Bronx
you asked any of them what their reli- watch and in less than 25 minutes I found
gion was they answered sincerely and 63 five-leaf clovers! Never before or since
simply, "Mais, catholique, bien entendu." have I had such luck. I was more aston-
—"Why, catholic, of course." The faiths ished than my friend. The clovers were
have become so fused that there is no promptly glued on a large sheet of bristol It has been possible in certain cases by

sense of some places the re-

conflict. In board, and twelve guests signed their crossing isolated plants of the same rare
gimes under which the natives have lived names as witnesses. sort to produce a permanent type. But
have forced the primitive beliefs into a Eighteen months ago near Croton, New many is, produce seeds
of these revert, that
secret cult. Obviously, this has not hap- York, I found 72 four-leaf clovers and six of the original common variety. In a bo-
pened in Martinique, for which we can five-leafers in 35 minutes. According to tanical garden in Switzerland, many years
thank not only the administration but statistics, five-leafers are 20 times more ago, came upon a large bed of four-leaf
I

the Church there as well for their truly rare than four-leafers, seven-leafers about clovers. Every plant had four leaves. A
French comprehension of the real hu- 100 times rarer, and six-leafers 300 times sign read "Do not touch these," or words
man concept back of their ideal of moral rarer. to that effect. I rushed in to see the head

liberty. If there is anything that weans Rarest of cornucopia leaf

all is the botanist, and he told me that after five
the natives from their old practices and shown in the photograph. Instead of a years of work, crossing and recrossing, he
beliefs, it is not necessarily the Christian leaf, it is a closed cornucopia •without a had got a four-leaf clover plant. "But
church but the inexorable march of "ci- midrib but of the same chlorophyll green alas,'" he said, "it reverts to the common

vilization," which unfortunately is apt
to bring with it as much dissatisfaction
for the heart and soul as it does satisfac-
tion for the mind and body. If only
some day we can learn to administer this
as the normal leaves. I found the first in
1886 and sent it to St. Nicliolas
Thirty-four years later I found the second
in England. Sir Daniel Hall, the botanist
of Rothamstead, said that none had ever
three-leaf type in the third or fourth year."
Magazine. So treat your clover prize differently
from your discovery of a preciously un-
common, closed gentian flower, or a rare
bird. Whenever you find a four- or five- or

civilization in by a kindly
small doses before been found there. And now, to my six- or seven-leaf or cornucopia clover,
hand and understanding of
with full amazement, this summer in the Bronx I pick it. parent plant may, next year,
Its

racial differences, perhaps we can avoid found eight more! I at once took them to produce nothing but three-leafers.
the breakdown and demoralization of Dr. H. A. Gleason of the New York Bo-
whole peoples who are decidedly worth tanical Garden, and he confirmed Hall's
preserving. statement.

Junior Natural History l\1agazine

$1.00 the year (12 issues)
—
NOTICE Readers are encouraged to submit their own photographs of natural Address: Circulation Department
history subjects. Those selected for publication on this page will be paid for at
$1.00 each, with full credit to the photographer. Return postage must be included.
AMERICAN MUSEUM
79th Street at Central Park West, New York

96 NATURAL HISTORY, SEPTEMBER, 1 943

 Is Evolution through Co-operation Enough ?

MR.NewClarexce York, writes

Johnson
to the
of Watertown,
Editors of Natu-
These in

gle for survival.

turn are thrown into the competitive strug-

ral History Magazine that "Prince Long ago the baboons worked out a closely co-
Kropotkin, who was Darwin's friend, asserts that operative clan, led by the biggest and most aggres-
Darwin in his later years became interested in the sive bully. This unpleasant individual demanded
idea of Evolution through Co-operation," and he and got the lion's share of everything, and left be-
suggests: "If you were to devote some issues of your hind him the greatest possible number of young bul-
magazine to this aspect of development, you would lies and weaker servitors. To such brutish patterns
open up new realms of thought. And you would the Nazis have added extensively : They have trained
make plain to your readers matters which at this their youth in brutality and ruthlessness ; they have
time the world sadly needs to consider." developed a swaggering sense of superiority over the
Our answer to this thought-arousing letter fol- "inferior" peoples; they have stopped at nothing in

lows. heaping ridicule, shame, disgrace, and destruction

Evolution through co-operation was assuredly upon those whom they have deliberately selected
not unknown to Darwin, who knew so well the ser- as scapegoats; and they have expanded the art
vices of bees to each other and the exchange of ser- and business of lying to intercontinental propor-
vices between bees and flowers, to say nothing of his tions.

citations of self-denying efforts and care on the part Nevertheless it is becoming increasingly clear that
of many birds and mammals toward their helpless the impersonal forces of Natural Selection are even

3'oung. now turning the scales of Justice and Retribution

Prince Kropotkin's book traces the long story of against the champions of mass murder, treachery,
co-operation, especially in the Middle Ages: of sol- and world subjugation. Doubtless the baboon-like
diers in pillaging civilians, of peasants, revolting code was an important factor of evolution in days
against the t\ranny of their lords, of citizens in de- not yet entirely past. The same evolutionary forces
fense of their cities, and the like. But very often these have likewise been transforming human social pat-

co-operative efforts involved or led to aggressively terns for thousands of years past but in various di-

competitive and destructive acts. And even now the rections ; and now a new general pattern is rapidly
interacting principles of co-operation and competition emerging through the close co-operation in war and
have parted most of the world into two great warring peace of the United Nations. Both history and pre-
groups. history suggest, however, that the United Nations

Sir Arthur Keith, in recent articles in the Ration- will succeed in defending and spreading their co-
alist Revieiu {194.2) sees the close co-operation operative Good Neighbor way of life, and that such
within the primiti\e familv, clan, and tribe, as well a happy state can endure, only so far as they can re-

as the hostility to foreigners displayed by most peo- strain their own destructive, competitive instincts

ples, as parts of Nature's method of promoting the and dedicate themselves to the unbiased and co-opera-
isolation of small communities, the inbreeding of tive discovery and practice of international Truth,
native strains, and the production of new varieties. Justice, and Mercy.

M^U^jij^

97
She Stm Has ''The Voice With A Smile'
War traffic keeps her busier than ever but she manages to

keep calm and pleasant.

She "The Voice With A Smile" even when the lights

stUl has
are thick on the Long Distance switchboard and the circuits are
crowded. Even when she has to ask you to —
"Please limit your call to 5 minutes. Others are tvaiting."

That's to help everybody get better service antl you couldn't

ask for a better reason than that.

BELL, TELEPHONE SYSTEM

 '

^,

J<^-

,
j-j^'i;
. r V
mw. .^^
:?'r.>
r«.y,
'
'k^-%::^ >'.
•'^5--^

s>X

oaour
NATURAL HISTORY 1943

/r^>^^ Reptiles ' Fibers • PFhither Man f by Gregory

irth of a Volcano • The American Buffalo • Shells

No. 3 F iFTY r P w T<;
A
mm
THE SHELL BOOK
by Julia Rogers
readable and comprehensive book on
5.00

the shells of the world, with many black

and white illustrations, and some in color.

UNITED STATES MOLLUSCA

by Walter F. Webb 2.50

The most complete book on North Amer-

ican shells with numerous black and AMNH photo
white illustrations. Good for identification.

FLORIDA SEA SHELLS

ARE YOU A SHELL COLLECTOR?
by Aldrich and Snyder 1.50

A small book, well presented, very handy CHAMBERED NAUTILUS (nautilus pompilius)
for collectors of Florida and West Indies Natural (unpolished) about 5 inches in diameter 2.75
shells. Black and white illustrations. Polished, with beautiful pearly finish, about 5 inches (shown above, center).
4.50
CHINESE GREEN SNAIL (turho marmoratus)
EAST COAST MARINE SHELLS Natural turquoise green streaked with slight touches of brown and white,
by Maxwell Smith 4.85 about 5 inches in diameter, edge of aperture cut 2.75

A thorough study of the subject, for those Polished, with pearly lustre, about 5 inches (shown above, right) aperture
with some previous knowledge. Profusely edge cut 4.50

illustrated in black and white. Polished, about 3% inches in diameter 2.50

ROOT MUREX (murex radix) heavy and handsome black and white
a shell,

WHAT SHELL approximately 4 or inches (not shown) 1.00

IS THAT 5

by Percy A. Morris 2.25

TURBINELLA SCOLYMUS, yellowish white on outside, with pink inside
A convenient pocket-sized book, with (good for flower arrangements), about 12 inches (shown above, left) 1.85

photos and descriptions of about 175

shells, many which are common on the
of
WHITE BRANCH CORAL for your fish bowl and decorative arrangements.
50 cents to $3.00, depending on size and shape.
northeast coast. Black and white illus-
trations.

THE SEA BEACH AT EBB TIDE

1 HE BOOK SHOP also carries numerous shells for
collectors, but no are available, as the shells on hand
lists
by Augusta Foote Arnold 5.00
change from day to day. It is difficult to procure shells
With a lengthy chapter on shells, and now, due to war conditions, but if you are especially
much material useful to those who wish anxious to obtain certain shells, let us know, and we shall
to know more about all kinds of creatures be glad to try to find them for you and quote on them.
and sea shore matters on the United States
east coast. Many black and white illus-
trations.

The BOOK SHOP

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
77th STREET AND CENTRAL PARK WEST, NEW YORK 24, N. Y.
NATURAL HISTORY The Magazine of the American Museum of Natural History

•••*••
Frederick Trubee Davison, President

VOLUME LII—No. 3
Albert E. Parr, Director

OCTOBER, 1943

Lion's Paw Shell Cover Design

From a Kodachromc by Ruth Bernhard

An Editorial William K. Gregory 97

Is Ei'olution through Co-operation Enough?

Letters 102

Flying Reptiles Barnum Brown 104

A nvcird ii-orld of flying reptiles is portrayed in a recently completed mural at the American Museum

America's Greatest Host Donald Culross Peattie 112

The story of Old Man Buffalo and his role in American history

Vital Fibers Harold N. Moldenke 115

Strategic Plants II

Random Shells Roy W. Miner and Ruth Bernhard 122

A photographic scries portraying some of tlie ocean's most beautiful mollusks

America's First Air ]\Liil Curtis Zahn 132

Despite adverse iirather conditions, these faithful pigeon messengers carried neius daily
betiL-een Catalina Island and the California Coast

Paricutin Frederick H. Pough 134

A vivid, firsthand account of Mexico's erupting volcano

Harvest Home John Eric Hill 143

How plant-eaters provide for times nvlien food is not abundant

Your New Books 144

You will find Natural History Magazine indexed in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
in your library

Publication Office: American Museum of Natural Manuscripts should be sent to the Editor, The
History, Seventy-ninth Street at Central Park West, American Museum of Natural History, N. Y.
ew or - 24, Magazine
. .
subscriptions, Membership applications.
Editor: Edward M. Weyer, Jr., Ph.D. and Advertising inquiries should be sent to

Art and Production: Frederick L. Hahn. Charles J. O'Connor.

CoPYRiGHTj 1943, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York 24, N. Y.
Natural History published monthly (except July and August) at New York, N. Y., by The American Museum of Natural History,
is
Seventy-ninth Street and Central Park West. Subscription price $4 a year, single copies- fifty cents. Subscriptions to Canada, New-
foundland, and all foreign countries $4.50. Entered as second class matter March 9, 1936, at the Post Office at New York, under the Act
of August 24, 1912.
 Seeing Nature through

A Broad jumper of Australia:

a Great Gray Kangaroo

A RED KANGAROO MOTHER with

her youngster in the pocket
THE CAMERA S EYE
R^<:n Roberts fl,.t.„..„u,..
Another native
"down under" :
of the continent
the koala, which also
f^^^^
has a pouch
 LETTERS

[a."' 'SSr^-'jiii^- ---•—...:- i-- -^Z'

I Smoke
a Kayv/oodie'
— because the flavor is so pleasing and satis-
fying. This is due to the Mediterranean
briar that Kaywoodie Pipes are made of,
and the particular seasoning and curing
given to them.
— because there are 121 things to do in
making each Kaywoodie Pipe, and they're
all done with the best "know-how" and
workmanship in the wood-carving trade.
— because the beauty of the grain of the
Kaywoodie briar identifies it anywhere.
smoke a Kaywoodie" all over
'Kiu hear "I
the world. How about yourself?
Kaywoodies are at your dealer's.
Kaywoodie Co., New 'i'ork and London
In New York, 630 Fifib Avetuie, Kew York 20, N. Y.

BUY
WAR
BONDS

NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

Sirs: dens. The pictures were originally taken
The three photographs accompanying on Kodachrome and then printed in
this lettershow two mule deer in Yosem- black and white. The camera used was
ite National Park— a spike buck and a an Exakta with a Zeiss f:2 Biotar lens.
—
doe and a pair of lions in the African Cpl. J. C. Williams.
Replica at the New York Zoological Gar- Camp Edwards, Mass.
Continued on page 147

The watch above is the Longines Chrono-

graph of Clyde Pangborn. Today, it helps
navigate bombers over the Atlantic. In 1931,
when ocean flights were branded as fools'
missions, it served a world-flight that made
front page news. Pangborn flew to Europe,
across Russia to Chitka and thence to'
Tokyo. There he was welcomed by the
police and lodged in the Tokyo jail! Japan
didn't like free-flying Yankees. ^The mat-
ter was settled by and Pangborn
a stiff fine
non-stopped his plane to Wenatchee, Wash-
ington, U.S.A. Pangborn had blazed a trail
to Tokyo ^ It was he and the other pioneers
of aviation who demonstrated the possi-
bilities of the airplane. And Longines first
pioneered the aviation timepieces which
now, as then, are essential in air navigation.
*From documents m our files

Longines-Wittuatter Watch Co.^ New York,

Inc.^
M.otitreal, Geneva; also makers of the Wittnauer
Watch, a companion product of unusual merit.

WINNER OF 10 WORLD'S FAIR GRAND PRIZES

AND 28 GOLD MEDAL AWARDS

LETTERS 103
 .

The airplanes of prehistoric times

FLYING
— their distribution and habits "Window to the past": the recently
completed mural in the American Mu-
seum portraying a weird world of long
OF the many strange creatures
that have inhabited the earth
during past ages, the most ex-
rookery of better known European
kinds mostly of Jurassic age (approxi-
mately 120 to 155 million years ago),
ago in which reptiles soared through
the air on enormous wings. William O,
Sweet, sympathetic to Museum activi-
traordinary as well as the most highly selected to show their great range in
ties and a sponsor of two expeditions
specialized were the winged reptiles, development.
in which he served in Alaska and
the pterosaurs, sometimes called ptero- Under the direction of the writer,
Texas, generously undertook to finance
dactyls. a celebrated Russian artist, Constantin
the mural as a memorial to his father,
Appearing suddenly as highly de- Astori, created many sketches, then
Frank Royden Sweet (1880-1936)
veloped animals more than 150 mil- painted the mural in collaboration
lion years ago in the Upper Triassic with the delineator Alastair Brown,
rocks of Europe, they flourished in who drew the animals.
1 PTERANODON
great numbers for millions of years The high narrow panel offered a
("Wing-without-Tooth")
and were widely dispersed over the considerable problem in composition,
2 NYCTOSAURUS
world. Then, as suddenly, they disap- but eventually the difficulties were ("Night-Lizard")
peared, approximately 60 million years turned to advantage in creating an il-
3 DIMORPHODON
ago near the close of the Cretaceous lusion of a window opening into a ("Double-Shaped- Tooth")
Period. We
know nothing of their vista of the past. 4 CAMPYLOGNATHUS
As the best known Jurassic ptero- ("Curved-Jaw")
ancestors, nor of their descendants.
The best preserved American and saurs ("Winged Reptiles") have been 5 DORYGNATHUS
("Spear-Shaped-Jaw")
European specimens of these strange found in Europe, and the best know n
American Cretaceous forms come from America,
6 SCAPHOGNATHUS
creatures are exhibited in the
("Hollow-Jaw")
Museum's Cretaceous Dinosaur Hall. we took considerable liberty in treat-
RHAMPHORHYNCHUS
7
At the northern end of this hall the ing the subject and locale in one paint- ("Beak-Bill")
visitor looks through an open doorway ing ; but after all, why not? Airplanes S CYCNORHAMPHUS
upon an arched inset panel 15 feet eliminate time and space. ("Swaniike-Beak")
high and 8 feet wide, framed in white Probably the most highly developed 9 PTERODA'CTYLUS
marble, on either side of which is a of these flying machines was the huge ("Wing-Fingers")

large vertical slab of dinosaur foot Dive Bomber Pteranodotij the largest 10 PTENODRACON
("Winged-Dragon")
prints. This panel, occupying a stra- figure in the painting. In this animal,
tegic position at the end of the exhibi- specialization was carried to extreme
tion hall, has long been reserved for limits. Its body was short and rela-
a mural painting of the winged rep- with only a rudimentary
tively small,

tiles as they appeared in life. This tail;and its legs were slender and
painting has now been completed and weak, with toes small and delicate.
is reproduced opposite. The skull was large but lightly con-
The view is of a rocky embayment structed, and the great crest extends

of an inland sea, 'with bold cliffs of backward almost as far as the long,
Cretaceous chalk rising above uncon- delicate, toothless beak projects in

formable harder water-worn layers of front. I interpret this highly developed

Jurassic slate below. At the base of crest as a sort of rudder which served
the cliff there is a narrow beach, with the animal when, on folded wings,
a trail of dinosaur footprints disap- he hurtled through the air for his pre_\

pearing in the distance. Evening ap-
proaches, and the sun casts a
rich colors over the scene.
Soaring home to roost on the rocks
are the toothless American fisherfolk
of Cretaceous times; a giant Ptera-
nodon (literally "Wing-Without-
Tooth") with 20-foot wing span and
crested head, followed by his smaller
contemporary Nyctosaurus ("Night-
Lizard"). The latter had a wing
spread of six feet and lacked the head
crest.
Clustered on the rocks below
The neck was moderately long, strong,
glow of and flexible. It had a remarkable series
of additional articulations unlike any-
thing found in the neck bones of other
animals, which gave great thrusting
and striking power to the beak. A
99
rigid framework of fused backbones,
10
shoulder girdle, and breastbone fur- ^ «
nished support for the enormous wiults
and for the attachment of the muscles
n
necessary to hold them in position, an
arrangement unparalleled for strength
among other animals.
is a The principal long bones of the

104
 Brown
REPTILES By Barnum
Curator-Emeritus, Department of
Amphibians and Reptiles,
American Museum of Natural History

A.M.N. H. Kodachrome
 body were hollow cylinders, with legs were relatively large and power- Cycnorhamphus ("Swanlike-Beak")
walls no thicker than blotting paper ful, terminating in large claws. The appears to have been an active little

and openings that permitted air to cir- fifth was well developed for at-
toe creature. Its total length was 19
culate as in the skeletons of birds. On tachment of the flying membrane that inches, and its wing spread about 48
account of the pneumatic character of extended along the moderately long, inches. It was a long-necked, short-
the bones and their thin outer walls, pointed tail. tailed from Ger-
Jurassic pterosaur
specimens are almost invariably crushed Campylognathus ("Curved-Jaw") many, which the wing membrane
in
flat, which makes it extremely difficult also portrayed on the lower rocks, is reached to the knee and the hand was
to reconstruct their exact form in life. found fossilized in the Upper Lias extraordinarily long. Its upturned
Exclusive of the 20-foot wings, the (Jurassic) beds of England. It was snout was armed with sharp, massive
body of the largest Pteranodon would closely related toDimorphodon, but teeth.

be no larger than that of an albatross its was less deep and the lower
skull Under the generic name of Ptero-
and in life would probably not weigh jaws were not fused in front a pro- — dactylus (literally "Wing-Fingers")
more than 25 pounds. Even when vision which, as in the ancient "sea are included no less than 23 different
petrified, the body of a 22-foot speci- serpents" known as Mosasaurs, per- species of pterosaurs, found chiefly in
men weighs less than ten pounds. In mitted the animal to swallow com- the Lithographic Slates of Germany,
the air Pteranodon was supreme as he paratively large prey. In this genus the but also in the Lias, Wealden, and
soared ovef the Cretaceous sea, search- first joint of the wing finger is more Kimeridge Clay of England. They
ing for fish m the waters below. A than twice the length of the forearm, are mostly small or of moderate size,
lower jaw recently prepared in the and the tail is extremely long. The varying from the size of a blackbird
American Museum contained the re- feeding habits of Campylogitathus to that of a goose. In one of the large
mains of a last supper backbones of — were probably similar to those of types the head is 8 inches long, and the
two species of fishes and the joint of Dimorphodon. wings could have extended at least 60
a crustacean, lying in the position of Dorj'(7nrt?/!«^ ("Spear-Shaped-Jaw") inches.
the throat pouch when death overtook was one of the early types that could The first remains of a pterosaur to
the animal. well have walked along the shore with be discovered were thought by Collini
Nyctosaurus, which lived at the its wings folded as it scavenged near to belong to an animal that lived in
same time Pteranodon, was very
as the water's edge. It was a long-tailed the water when he published a descrip-
much smaller. Its body was only about pterosaur but shorter than Dimorpho- tion of them in 1784. However, the
six inches long and four inches in di- don. Its large skull was about four same specimen was examined by the
—
ameter approximately the size of a and three-quarters inches long, with French naturalist Cuvier in 1801, and
pigeon —though the wing spread the opening of the nostril much smaller he recognized it as a flying reptile
reached six to eight feet. Nyctosaurus than a large opening in the skull in and named it "Pterodactylus longi-
was toothless, and its long, straight front of the eye. Its remains are found rostiris." As the name implies, the nose
ribs probably extended into and sup- in north and south Germany. is extremely long, and the head and
ported part of the flying membrane, as Scaphognathus ("Hollow-Jaw") neck are twice as long as the body and
the ribs do in the modern flying lizard. had wings that would measure four tail. The wings were comparatively
It was less specialized than Pterano- feet from tip to tip, and the skull of a short, and the legs relatively strong.
don, and probably had different feed- large specimen is seven and one-half This combination indicates that this
ing habits. inches long. Its wide-spaced teeth are tiny, big-headed creature was active on
At the base of the cliff" in the mural large, and the neck is short and thick. the ground and did not depend so
is Dimorphodon ("Double-Shaped- The front and hind limbs are large, much on flight.
Tooth"), the oldest and one of the the tail short. The animal is charac- The smallest pterosaur known is

best known genera found in the Lower terized by its massive skull, in which Ptenodracon ("Winged-Dragon") —
Lias (Jurassic) rocks of England. In there are three lateral openings of an animal about the size of a sparrow.
order to bring out more clearly its moderate size, the nasal opening be- The head measured little more than
peculiar anatomy, three individuals ing the smallest, and the eye socket the an inch in length. It is only known
are shown, two of them contending largest of the three. It found in the is from the Lithographic Slate of Ger-
for an ancient cockroach. The head of Upper Lias near Whitby, England, many.
Dimorphodon is very large and deep, and in the Lithographic Slates of Ba- As flying creatures, the pterosaurs
and the numerous teeth, as the scien- varia. show the highest degree of specializa-
tific name implies, are varied in Rhamphorhynchus ("Beak-Bill") is tion ever attained among animals with
shape. In the front of the jaw are one of the classic, best known repre- a backbone. The ratio between wing
large, irregularly spaced tearing teeth, sentatives of the long-tailed Jurassic surface and body weight in some has
followed by smaller ones behind and Pterosaurs from Germany. It was a been excelled only among some of the
little close-set, saw-bladed teeth at the powerful flyer. Its head was long and insects. All the bones of the body were
rear of the lower jaw. pointed, with enormous eyes, small hollow and lighter in construction
Dimorphodon on in-
possibly fed upward-directed nostrils, and forward than inany other animal that has ever
sects but could well have been an an- pointing teeth. The wing membrane, lived. No fewer than 14 genera and
cient beachcomber of varied feeding whose impression is preserved in sev- many species of pterosaurs are recog-
habits, for this animal is not so well eral specimens, extends to the ankle. nized in Europe and America. Among
constructed for flight as some other The long tail ended in an upright, them there is considerable variation in
pterosaurs. The neck was compara- kitelike rudder. It seems possible that the different elements of the skeleton,
tively massive, and there was a large this Pterosaur was adapted to the but the general plan of their frame-
pelican-like throat pouch. The hind catching of insects in flight. work is essentiallv the same in all.

106 NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

 —

A.M.N.H. photo

Nature's largest "animated flying machine": the dive-bomber anatomy are outlined in proper rela-
Fteranodon. Note the head crest which doubtless served as a rudder tion to the bones. In one classic speci-
when this prehistoric animal folded its wings and hurtled downward men in the American Museum, part
on its prey. The 22-foot wings supported a body that probably weighed of the body muscles overlie the bones
no more than 25 pounds as a film of delicate white threads. In
others, ultra-violet light discloses the

Quite clearly some kinds were bet- Other parachutists in this class are fly- throat pouch and body outline.
ter developed for air travel than ing fish which have greatly developed Unfortunately the bones are so deli-
others. Indeed, if we interpret cor- breast fins, and flying frogs, with cate and brittle and the stone in which
rectly they were specialized for differ- spreading fingers and toes connected they are found so hard that Museum
ent kinds of flight as are airplanes to- by membrane. Also there are flying practice does not permit the expen-
day. But they were all gliders. The lizards, whose ribs extend outward as diture of time necessary for laboratory
restrictions ofwing movement in the far as the arms and are connected by technicians to extract the bones for
skeleton did not permit them to beat membrane, and the flying opossums, free mounts. It is certain, however,
the air as do birds and bats. flying lemurs, and flying foxes. All that the study of free-mounted skele-
Many backboned animals of today these have flaps of skin extending out- tons would disclose principles of flight

are said to fly, but only a few possess
true wings capable of sustained, con-
most birds and
trolled flight, notably
one order of mammals the bats. In
birds the forearm or wing is con-
structed for the support ofmembranes
to which are attached feathers that
vary in size among different groups
and determine the degree of speed and
maneuverability in the
ward from the side of the body so as and relationships between wing load
to connect with the front and hind and body form and weight that would
feet. All these parachute-like acces- be of practical importance in the field
— buoy the body and re-
sories serve to of aviation. For example, the cross-
duce the shock of impact in landing. section of most of the wing-finger
As we see, however, long before bones in the great Cretaceous glider
these of the present era and before Fteranodon is round while that of
man's advent on earth. Nature was Rhamphorhyinchus, evidently devel-
experimenting with living airplanes oped for gliding movement, was
air. The bat the pterosaurs. That these experiments elliptical in cross-section.

wing is of entirely different construc- were successful is attested by the fact Near Solenhofen in Bavaria, south-
tion. It is a hairy membrane supported that the flying reptiles lived for no ern Germany, is found the Litho-
by the arm and greatly lengthened less than 40 million years and were graphic stone long used for etching
finger which spread like the
bones, dispersed over many parts of the earth, •- purposes. "These beds," to quote from
ribs of an umbrella. This membrane particularly in what is now western H. G. Seeley, "belong to the rocks
is further attached along the body, Europe and parts of the United which are named white Jura limestone
hind legs, and tail. States. Literally thousands of speci- in Germany, which is of about the

Several other kinds of backboned
animals are capable of suspension in
the air for a limited time through the
use of expanded skin tissues.
ing squirrel is a familiar example.
these lack the capacity for sustainetl
mens are preserved in the museums of same geological age as the Kimeridge
Europe and America, the most com- clay in England. Much of it divides
plete and perfect having been found into very thin layers, and in these
The fly- in the Lithographic Limestones near planes of separation fossils are found.
But Solenhofen, Germany. So perfect are They include Ammonites lithograph-
some of these that even the wing and a multitude of marine shells,
licus

flight and should not be called flyers. membrane and the soft parts of the King crabs and other Crustacea, sea-

FLYING REPTILES 107

 fA DELICATELY BUILT, crestless flying reptile,
Nyctodactylns, whose pigeon-size body was
small in comparison with the 6-foot wingspread

urchins, and other fossils, showing

that the deposit was formed in the

sea. The preservation of jelly-fish"
(and myriads of unbroken delicate
free-swimming crinoids, Saccocoma)
"which so soon disappear when left
dry on the beach, shows that the an-
cient calcareous mud had unusual
power of preserving fossils. Into this
sea, with its fishes great and small,

came land plants from off the land,

dragon flies, and other insects, tor-
toises and lizards, Pterodactyls with
their flying organs, and birds still
clothed with feathers. Sometimes the
wing membranes of the flying reptiles
are found fully stretched by the Aving
finger, as in examples to be seen at
Munich and at the Yale Museum in der whether these reptiles may not per Cretaceous rocks in Oregon, but
New Haven, in America. have been strongly gregarious. One the identification may prove to be er-
"The Solenhofen slate belongs to ^'isualizes rookeries like those of mod- roneous, for in many respects the sin-
about the middle period of the history ern penguins and other shore birds. gle known specimen is not typical of
of flying reptiles, for they range through In western United States flying rep- the genus.
the secondary epochs of geological tiles were numerous at the time when From Clark County, Kansas, a
time. Remains are recorded in Ger- the Pierre shales of Niobrara County, third genus, Apatomirus, is repre-
many from the Keuper beds at the Wyoming, were laid down in the Up- sented by a single bone, the head of
top of the Trias, which is the bottom per Cretaceous Period, sometime be- a femur, or thigh bone. This is a more
division of the secondary strata." tween about 60 million and 100 primitive type and more ancient, com-
In England the earliest remains are million years ago. They are better ing from Lower Cretaceous rocks
found in the Lower Lias of Lyme known and more plentiful in the Ni- (between approximately 120 and 100
Regis, in Dorset, and the Upper Lias obrara chalk beds in western Kan- million years ago).
of Whitby, in Yorkshire. Subsequent sas. Here thousands of bones and The oldest representative of the
ages are well represented in other lo- incomplete skeletons have been recov- race America is Dermadactylus,
in
calities ; and in the Cambridge green ered, representing types related to the whose name means literally "Skin-
sand there are thousands of fragmen- two shown in flight in the mural. Fingers" and refers, of course, to the
tary remains, which cause one to won- Pieranodon is also reported from Up- modification of the hand into a wing.

''
Three fingers of the flying reptiles were generally equipped
with claws for hanging onto rocks when at rest. The fourth was
greatly elongated for the support of the wing membrane, as
seen in this skeleton of Nyctosaurus. In birds, on the other
hand, overlapping feathers form the wing surface, with the
bones of the forearm acting as the main support. And in bats
the arrangement is still different: the fingers fan out like the
ribs of an umbrella to support a hair-covered wing membrane
A.M.X.H. t^hot
It is represented by several bones earliest representatives to the latest lationships and proper position in the
found in beds of Jurassic age (be- yet found, there is a gradual reduc- animal kingdom. Some thought they
tween about 155 and 120 million years tion in the weight of the bone struc- were birds, others amphibians. But
ago) at Como Bluffs, in Albany tures. In the specimen just mentioned now there no longer any doubt of
is

County, Wyoming. the bone tissue is only one-half mil- their reptilian affinity. Unlike other
A fifth genus, as yet unnamed, is of limeter thick, or about one-fiftieth of cold-blooded reptiles, however, their
especial interest because it represents an inch. circulatory and respiratory systems
the last survivor of this ancient race Another feature in the evolution of were probably as highh' developed as
in America and probably in the world. pterosaurs was the change from long- those of birds, and they may well have
It has been found in south central tailed types among the earliest repre- been warm-blooded.
Texas in rocks of Upper Cretaceous sentatives to short-tailed forms among In most respects, the skeleton is
age (Eagle Ford Limestone). The the last survivors. Notice the curious reptilian, but there are a few features
creature's identification is based on rudder-like appendage that Rhamplwr- common to birds and mammals. Al-
the upper part of an arm bone (the hynchus carried as illustrated in the though constructed chiefly for loco-
humerus), but there is no doubt of restoration. motion in the air, these animals could
its relationship. Here, in the culmina- The skeletons of the flying reptiles make some progress on land as quad-
tion of the pterosaurs, we reach the are so highly modified that there was rupeds. There is no evidence that they
acme of light construction. From the much earlv discussion as to their re- could swim.

<An ancient beachcomber

of varied feeding habits: Di-
morphodon. The flying reptiles
did not beat their wings like
birds but only soared, and were
probably able to rise from the
crest of a wave on thewind

^ An extraordinary kitelike tail, which probably was

used as a rudder in flight, distinguished Rhamphorhynchtis

Courtesy of the Sinclair Refining Company

.U^
I of the
is the enormous size
acteristic feature
wing in relation to the body
and the manner in which the wing
membrane is stretched along the
lengthened joints of the fourth finger
and attached along the body, extend-
ing to the hind legs. The first three
fingers are and are equipped
short
with claws at the end for hanging
onto rocks when at rest. There is no
"little" finger. Nearly all of the
known European varieties were pro-
vided with teeth, but the large better-
known American forms, and possibly
the late English ones, were toothless.

When one stands before the new

mural in the American Museum look-
ing upon the ancient scene, one is apt
to experience some of the emotions of
an explorer gazing out upon an un-
known land. This "window" to an-
other world presents a view unlike
Coin-fcsy of tlic Sinclair Refining Company anything man has ever seen, yet it is

ASharp, Massive Teeth armed the beak of Cycnorham- a faithful representation of that dis-
phus, an active little flying reptile with a four-foot wing- tant age when weird winged reptiles
spread. Note that the wing membrane extended only to large and small were masters of the
the knee air.In the world today there remain
no living survivors of this early ex-
periment in flight. One wonders why
Undoubtedly they were shore-living than living reptiles is attested by the
the flying reptiles did not last down
some Pteranodon remains
creatures, hut brain, which is developed as
as highly
through the ages. They had developed
have been found in the chalk beds of in the birds. There
no evidence as
is
some excellent principles in their ef-
Kansas lOO miles from the nearest to whether they laid eggs or gave birth
forts to overcome gravity and rule the
possible shore of that inland Cretace- to living young. Both methods are
air. One of the most noteworthy ones
ous sea. The opinion has been ex- common among living reptiles. Im-
is the tubular construction of their
pressed that once down on the surface mature specimens have not been rec-
of the water they could not have ognized.
bones —a principle used widely today

arisen, but if they are considered as In size the pterosaurs ranged from
in airplane design. But possiblyNa-
gliders, the great expanse of wing tiny little fellows no larger than spar- ture carried it too far and made her
could easily have lifted their light rows to huge creatures with wing animated flying machines too fragile.

bodies from the crest of a wave. spread of 22 feet. In all pterosaurs, This may have been what spelled their
That they were more intelligent indeed, the dominant and most char- defeat.

< A FLYING REPTILE scarcely larger than a

blackbird: the skeleton of Pterodactylus
elegans, as found preser\'ed in rocks many
millions of years old. The flying reptiles
had hollow bones with extremely thin
walls. The delicate remains are crushed
flat in the hard layers of rock, making it

difficult to extract the bones for free

mounts

>The hollow bones of the flying reptile

grew thinner until they were sometimes n<

thicker than blotting paper, as illustrated ii

the drawing at right. This is a cross-section o

the upper arm bone of one of the last of thi
Pterosaurs, found near Austin, Texas. Tubu
lar construction to gain strength withou
weight is effectively used in airplane con
struction today, but the flying reptiles ma;
have carried the principle too far
 A RESTORATION showing Pterodactylus as it appeared in life

> The smallest pterosaur

^0^.
known: Ftenodracon, a crea-
ture about the size of a spar-
row, with a head little more
than an inch long

Leading edge of wing bone

Rear edge of wing bone

After Buckland
America's
Greatest
Host

By Donald Culross Peattie

PROBABLY more than a million The largest animal in North America was 50 million strong
Americans toiled slowh' and when the white man undertook to conquer the continent
painfully over the prairies before
the railroads crossed the continent.
For over half a century America's pounds, but 2400 pounds are recorded. his explorers, and they were dumb-
greatest host served those million peo- The horns are not especially long founded at the incalculable multitudes.

ple, and served them royally. He fed amongst the cattle of the world, but Even the early cowboys could not find
them with juicy fresh meat, and sup- the breadth of the savage crown be- words for the hordes of these prairie
plied them with fuel where there was tween them is superb. One record monarchs. That great plainsman Colo-
not a stick of wood to burn. At night head displays a stretch of 30'/i inches nel Dodge describes a single herd 25
and in winter he covered them with from horn tip to tip. With those horns miles across, extending north and
rich robes. He
showed them the way a bull could rip the rope-tough prairie south as far as his eyes could see,

to the waterholes and to the fords sod to make himself a wallow, could which took all day in passing.

where the covered wagons could cross. toss awhole wolf pack, disembowel In their heyday there should have
At his own cost, he furnished sup- a horse, or even carry horse and rider been enough buffalo to stock the na-
plies to construction gangs that finally aloft for a hundred yards before hurl- tion's larder, especially if salted down
laid the railroad tracks. The United ing them to the ground. More dan- and preserved. But owing to greedy
States Army posts depended on him. gerous than a grizzly bear, a cow de- wastage of this tremendous meat sup-
Many great American fortunes were fending her calf can be one of the ply — the biggest game resource the
built in part on his good services. No world's most ferocious animals. As for Creator ever bestowed on a lucky
wonder this old hero is immortalized a herd of buffalo, no creature that country —not one third of the buffalo
on our five cent pieces. stood its ground to argue with a stam- slaughtered were ever utilized. Cer-
His name was "Old Man Buffalo." pede could live 60 seconds. tain epicures of the prairie slew bison
The
bison or American buffalo was, The American bison before the only for their delicious tongues, leav-
and is, the biggest animal on the white man came was undoubtedly the ing all the rest to wolves. Frequently
American continents. A full-grown most numerous of all the big land buffalo were slaughtered only for the
bull stands, on the average, six feet mammals of the earth. Naturalists hides. Pioneers killed them to fatten
at the shoulder and is from ten to have estimated its numbers variously, their hogs. Millions were slain simply
twelve and one-half feet long, tail but nobody suggests that there were to clear them off the land.

included. But it's in poundage rather less than 50 million of these monsters By 1 8 10 the bison were pushed over
than size that "Old Man Buffalo" in aboriginal America. The first white the Mississippi, and there was no trace
throws his weight around. A bull men who ever saw the vast herds of of them in the eastern forests except
weighs a mean —very mean — 1800 the Kansas plains were Coronado and the trails thev had made walking in

I 12 NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

A Only a few protected herds remain. Exhibits like this one in the To speed the work, they were stripped
ofif the carcasses by teams of horses,
American Museum of Natural History serve to acquaint city-bound citi-
until they were heaped beside the rail-
zens with the animal our forebears a few generations ago knew so well
road in piles high as Kansas haystacks,
mile after mile. But as profits dwin-
single file. Dan
Boone's Wilderness he came to be known as "Buffalo Bill." dled, the king of primeval America
Road followed in part a buffalo path Confronted with systematic attacks became the butt of sport. Toward the
from Tennessee, through Cumberland like this, the buffalo faced their tragic end it was fashionable for wealthy big
Gap to the salt licks of Kentucky. destiny. For the great beasts had to game hunters and titled visitors to
Many a city stands today where it is go, of course, when the white men "kill the last buffalo." For Grand
because the bison beat an ancient road- came. His farms, his fences, his cattle Duke Alexis of Russia, a hunt was ar-
way there. and sheep, his children and crops, ranged by General Sheridan, with
Doom came for the Plains herds could not share America with these General Custer, Colonel Cody, a pack
with the Gold Rush and the laying ferocious monsters. But the nearer the of Indian scouts, and a troop of U. S.
of the transcontinental railways. "Old buffalo came to extinction, the faster Cavalry to round up some of the
Man Buffalo" didn't take this invasion we drove them. The Santa Fe's "Buf- lonely survivors within range ; after-

as a sitting bull ; he met it head on. falo Jones" declared that in 1865 ward a buffalo barbecue was held,
He pushed down the new telegraph there remained 15 million bison and laced with champagne.
poles. He stood on the railroad tracks that in that single year, one million Now where once the sovereign herds
and actually stopped the trains charg- ; were slaughtered. Half of the re- had thundered, lay only their bleached
ing between cars, he broke the coup- mainder were gone by 1872, the peak —
bones acre after acre of them. Con-
lings. In the Missouri River, when of the kill. Still the great herds were temporary photographs show the
his herds were swimming across, early cornered and annihilated. In 1883, plains white with them far as the eye
steamboat traffic might be stopped for Montana's biggest herd of 10,000 was could see. And still, in this skeleton

several da\'s. methodically exterminated in a few form, "Old Man Buffalo" was friend
But the Kansas Pacific Railroad nights and days sharpshooters guarded
; to the pioneer. The bones had a high
hired Colonel William Cody at the every waterhole during the burning market value for use in sugar refin-
fancy salary of $500 a month to clear summer hours and by firelight at ing and for fertilizer, and many an
snorting brutes from the right of night, and when at last the thirst- early settler paid for his first seed,

way. With his gang of exterminators maddened brutes braved the bullets plow, and land fee, by selling the buf-
he decimated the herds. On a bet, to get at water, not one escaped. falo bones he cleared ofi his claim.

Colonel Cody killed 69 in one day. Much of this slaughter was for the For half a mile along the tracks would
In 18 months he had chalked up sake of the hides, which had soared in stretch a bone pile twice as tall as a

a score of 4280 bison. That's how- price as they decreased in quantity. man and of equal breadth. One dealer.

AMERICA S GREATEST HOST 113

 < The shaggy giant that made the
Buffalo Nickel famous has inspired
many an artist, as represented here
by an example from the brush of
William Gary. A large bull bison is
said to be capable of carrying a
horse and rider on his horns 100 yards

National Bison Range on the old Flat-

head Indian Reservation. Today there
are fine herds also in Nebraska,
Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Yel-
lowstone Park, and a herd has been
introduced into Alaska. In San Fran-
cisco and Washington, D. C, there
are good exhibition herds, and alto-
gether the bison population of the
United States totals today more than
5000, while Canada can boast about
A.M.N.H. photo
35,000 woods bison on its preserves.
There are actually more little buf-
known as "Old Buffalo Bones," falo. Walking Coyote roped two male faloes coming into the world today
shipped 3000 carloads to Kansas City, and two female calves, and from that than there is range land free to ac-
and made a fortune out of it. The beginning grew the great AUard- commodate them. So the rangers
Santa Fe in three years carried nearly Pancho and Conrad herds of Mon- eliminate all sick and superannuated
a million and a half tons of bones, tana, from which are descended many animals, and the herds are kept in

until the scavengers had gleaned the of the pure-blooded bison living to- fine condition. Unneeded calves are
last of this ghoulish harvest. day. In the Panhandle, Colonel sold to zoos. If there is still a surplus
Yet where Old Man Buffalo had Charles Goodnight, at the entreaties of buffalo, it goes to the Indians. And
passed, he gave light and vi^armth.
still of his wife, also savedfew wild
a this is fitting, for to the red men the
For years after the herds had van- calves which he lured home to pro- buffalo is a creature of divine origin,
ished, travelers across the treeless tection on his ranch, and soon other a gift of the Great Spirit, that plays an
prairies found fuel in buffalo chips. appreciative westerners followed suit. ancient part in their religious cere-
Over such campfires many a hearten- In 1905 the American Bison Society monies. To any American, "Old Man
ing meal was cooked and many a tall was founded by Theodore Roosevelt, Buffalo" is a prized fellow citizen,
tale told. And when even the chips William Hornaday, and others, and and the memory of his former great-
were gone, prairie settlers still could raised $50,000 to create the Montana ness will quicken our pulses, as long
thanks to the grim Old Man,
trace, as bunch-grass grows and the west
theway to the precious water holes. ^ Indian hunters, depicted stalk- wind blows and a single bison horn
The buffalo paths that led there, for ing their quarry under camouflage of is still turned up in the furrows of a

ages fertilized by the droppings of the wolf skins prairie ploughing.

great animals, were always marked
A.M.N.H. photo
by taller greener grass.
Now the prairie sod was broken
and fenced; the rails criss-crossed the

plains ; the very wind was harnessed

to the wells. The white man's cattle
chewed a placid cud where the buffalo
had roamed. Exiled, hunted, the last
few bison were facing extinction.
While President Grant vetoed a bill
to save them, while Congress wran-
gled the cost of their conservation and
shelved measure after measure for it,

there seemed small hope that these

survivors could brave out the storm.
But a few men who knew the West
perceived that some strength and pride
of our ovv^n, some American splendor,
would be gone when the last of the
buffalo went.
Perhaps it was Walking Coyote, a
Pend d'Oreille Indian, who proved
the first friend of the vanishing buf-

114 NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

 THE SECOND OF A SERIES
ON STRATEGIC PLANTS

VITAL FIBERS
Ewing Galloway photo

By Harold N. Moldenke Bahamas, the Netherlands Indies, and

East Africa. Enemy conquest and ship-
ping difficulties have, of course, seri-

RANKING close to Manila hemp, ously cut down on our imports, and
or abaca, in importance are vigorous efforts have been made to step
sisal and henequen. Both are up production of this fiber in the West-
close relatives of the well-known cen- ern Hemisphere. Haiti, for instance,
turyplant, noted for its habit of flow- exported over 25 million pounds in
ering only once and then dying. Read- 1942, and, as a result, the economy of
erswho have traveled in our extreme this island republic is undergoing vast
Southwest may be familiar with the changes.
tall, flower-crowned stalk of the cen- After flowering, the sisal plant, like
turyplant, rising from a bristling the centuryplant, dies except for
rosette of pointed leaves. numerous "suckers" left around its
It is from the leaves of the sisal base. These suckers are gathered and
and henequen plants that the valuable set out in rows on plantations. Harvest-
fibers for rope and twine are procured. ing of the first leaves comes about
So much was produced before the war three years later, and crops are gath-
that efforts were made to curtail pro- ered annually for from five to seven
duction and develop new uses. The years.
war has changed all this. True henequen is the product of the
The fiber from both plants is sold closely related Agave fourcroydes, a
as "sisal," but they are by no means slow-growing, drought-resistant plant.
identical. They require different con- It is cultivated in Cuba as well as in
ditions of climate and and are
soil Mexico, where production is centered
found in different regions. Both, how- in the arid state of Yucatan. It is pos-
ever, were used extensively by the sible to grow henequen in dry, lime-
Aztecs and Mayas at the time of the stone soil where almost any other crop
Spanish Conquest in the sixteenth cen- is impossible, and the fields receive
tury. The tedious, primitive methods only an occasional clearing of brush
of separating out the fibers originally and weeds. The plants do not produce
used by the Indians were later adopted until the fifth to seventh year, but then
by the Spaniards, but about 1830 a on which continue to yield for ten to twenty
simple cleaning machine was invented. years.Heavier rainfall in Cuba speeds
Its use led to a gradual spread of the up the cycle somewhat.
industry. In 1834 both sisal and hene-
the war effort El Salvador produces a fiber similar
quen were brought into cultivation in to henequen, known as "Salvador
Florida, and young plants were grown and home front sisal" (A. letonae). It is often used in
in large enough quantities to permit place of jute for sacks to ship coffee
distribution to the various other coun- and other staples. With the serious
tries where these fibers are now being economy hang shortage of jute from India, this Sal-
grown commercially. vador "henequen" is -filling a definite

Sisal (Agave sisalana) used chiefly need. About three-fourths of it is pro-

for
is

binder twine, hard-fiber twines,

or fall
cessed El Salvador's bag factory,
in
mattress pads, floor mats, and porch partly for use elsewhere in Central
furniture. It is produced in Haiti, the America.

VITAL FIBERS 115

 )

Both sisal and henequen are now

processed by means of the same large
decorticating machines used in process-
ing Manila fiber. These machines
scrape away the pulp, water, and
waste material from the fleshy leaves,
leaving the clean fiber (3 to 4 per cent
of the leaf), which is then dried either
in the sun for a day or so or by
means of mechanical driers. Superior
grades are usually baled separately
for the market. Growers in Mexico
are doing their utmost to avoid waste.
In contrast to other fibers that grow
in Latin America, little can be done

Frcc-Lancc Photogiapticis Oiiild

to increase production quickly, because J gave lophantha poselgeri (source

the plants are so slow-growing. Hene- of "Tula istle" fiber)
quen fiber is used chiefly in the manu- Agave funkiana (source of "Jau-
facture of twine for binding sheaves mave istle" fiber)
of wheat, oats,and other grain crops. Furci'aea g'lgantea (source of
Mexico's annual production is about "Mauritius hemp" or "piteira" fiber)
500,000 bales, of which almost one- Furcraea inairuphylla (source of
third is employed locally in Yucatan. "fique" fiber)
Surplus quantities are principally ab- Furcraea cabuya and F. cabuya In-

sorbed by the United States. tegra (source of "cabuya" fiber)

In the same family are found a The fiber known as "Palma istle" is

number of other economically impor- obtained from the plant Sainuela car-
tant plants, including the following: nerosana, which is closely related to
Agave cantala (source of "Java the yuccas. This plant grows wild in

cantala" or "Philippine maguey" the semiarid regions of north-central

fiber Mexico. Exports to the United States

A Only one-third of Mexico's

henequen used locally in Yuca-
is

tan, the surplus being absorbed

principally by the United States

> The light yellow fibers,

removed from the leaves, are
set out to dry on iron racks

116
 < Fiber cultivation expands in the Americas: Mexicans in the state of ''
Rope is sometimes spun on a sinir

Sonora taking up henequen plants for transplanting in another field. Short- pie machine in Yucatan like that
ages necessitate conservation measures. Wild plants are apt to be killed off shown below. Note the frames for
by fiber gatherers; a long-term policy of cultivation is prescribed receiving the rope

A Sisal, related to the centuryplant, is cultivated in

orderly rows and harvested annually. A narrow gauge .'I.M.N. ir. photos
Bowstring-hemp (from species of
railway aids in gathering the crop on this plantation by Frank U. Chapn Sansevieria) widely naturalized and
near Izamal, on the flat peninsula of Yucatan cultivated in Mexico.
These all offer possibilities for im-
mediate use during the war and for
have increased substantially follow- makes it most promising as a "cottage future development. In Latin America
ing favorable prices caused by war industry" which would touch the in- many of these fibers are actually used
demands. Countless small farmers terests of a large part of the popula- for bagging, although, being hard
collect and process it by hand. The tion. fibers, they are usually too rough for
fiber obtained from the young
is Colombia is speedily developing two bags that are frequently carried by
leaves, which form the central bud other native fibers, fique and pita, hand. However, several of these fibers
or cogollo. These leaves are collected which are used extensively for making have been combined successfully with
and are then steamed for about 12 coffee-bags there. Since this country is where bag-
jute, particularly in Brazil,
hours to soften the pulp, which is second to Brazil in coffee production weaving firms are now required by
scraped away by drawing the leaves in the Americas, the manufacture of law to mix ten per cent of native fibers
under a knife pressed against a block these fiber sacks is an important indus- with imported jute fibers.

of wood. The fiber is dried in the try. Although the fique plant requires Yatay palms, growing wild abun-
sun, tied in bundles, and packed into about four years for the leaves from dantly on the rolling plains of Argen-
hand-made bales for shipment to mar- which the fiber is obtained to become tina's "Mesopotamia," yield a fiber
ket. Palma istle is used principally suitable for harvesting, it may con- kno'wn as yatay or crin vegetal. This
for cordage purposes' and for coarse tinue to yield annually for up to about is believed to be an adequate substitute
fabrics. 20 years. for the true Algerian and Moroccan
In Ecuador the raising of cabuya In addition to these. Central and crin vegetal, used locally as a mattress-
promises to become an industry of South America produce a number of fillerand derived from the palm,
increasing importance. Originally thi^ other native hard fibers which are or Chamaerops humilis. The United
fiber was produced on a very small can be used for twine and rope. Among States imported 5,000 tons of the
scaleby the mountain Indians around them are: Moroccan product 1939 to stuff
in
Quito, who are reported to have ex- Caroa (from Neoglaziuvia varie- cheap mattresses, cushions, and the
tracted the fiber by placing the leaves gata) in Brazil linings of automobiles.
on roadways to be crushed by passing Gravita(from species of Ananas Fiber-growing has become one of
carts and automobiles. It is now and Bromelia) in Brazil the largest industrial undertakings of
planned to import decorticating and Formio (horn Phorrniuni tenax) in the Americas in many years, compar-
spinning machinery, and to set up Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile ing favorabh^ in scale with the pro-
a vocational training center where the Yatay (from Diplothemiuin litto- gram for increasing our rubber pro-
natives may be taught modern meth- rale) in Argentina duction. The wide utilization of wild
ods of handling this fiber. The plant- Maguey (from species of Furcraea) fibers, however, presents two difficul-

ing of cabuya is now being expanded. in Peru. The maguey fiber of the ties: (l) priorities on strategic metals
The small capital outlay needed for Philippines is taken from Agave can- make it difficult to manufacture the
processing cabuya by simple methods tala. machinery for separating the fiber

VIT.-XL FIBERS
from the rest of the plant, and (2) it carefully selected and developed in ex- good as, it not better than, sisal. It is

takes time to establish a mature crop perimental grounds, so that commer- easier to grow commercially, since the
under cultivation. Wild plants are apt cial plantations can be established in plants do not possess the thorns of
to be killed off by fiber-gatherers. regions of suitable climate and soil, sisal. Cultivation of it is being encou-
Productive strains, therefore, must be accessible to a labor supply and mar- raged in a section of Ecuador.
ket facilities. Early man must have felt that he
Bowstring-hemp is said to be as had made an important step when he
devised a simple bag in which to carry
his belongings. Primitive peoples
around the world have applied a great
<The basswood deal of time and thought to the use of
TREE, or American natural fibers. The Indians in North
Linden, was one of America employed at least 55 different
55 sources of useful fiber plants. From hard fibers they
fibers known to the manufactured burden-straps, cords,
American Indians. coarse bags, baskets, blankets, head-
Itgrows over a large bands, aprons, G-strings, mats, nets,
range in eastern braided and twisted ropes, sandals, and
United States moccasins.
A. M.N.H. photos

A A MINIATURE GROUP exhibited in the American Mu- Shredding the fiber by drawing it back and forth through
seum to show the basswood fiber industry of the Sauk a hole in the shoulder blade of an animal. (4) Drying it

and Fox Indians. (1) Peeling a young tree to get the on a rack. (5) Twisting it on the calf of the leg. (6)
inner bark. (2) Boiling it in water and wood ashes. (3) Weaving headband of a packstrap. (7) Weaving baskets

118 NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

 Soft fibers were used by them for nection with every cup of coffee you
making mats, bags, cords, ropes, cloth, drink and every yard of cotton cloth
fish-nets, wampum belts, burden- you wear.
straps, fabrics, thin matting, and Look, for instance, at the position
thread. of jute {Corchorus oUtorius and C.
In Argentina notable soft fibers are capsularis) in human economy. Few
being developed: ramie (from Boeh- Americans know what it is or where
meria nivea) and roselle (from Hibis- it grows. Yet it is perhaps the most

cus sabdariffa, a plant that has long important of all the soft fibers, and
been cultivated for its fiber through- hundreds of millions of gunnysack
out the southeast Pacific area). In bags are made of it every year to han-
Brazil, Belgian Congo, and Madagas- dle grain, cotton, coffee, sugar, and
car ffuaxima roxa (derived from Ure- other products. "A total elimination
na lobata) is cultivated and used. of the supply of jute bags," states
Hibiscus cannabinus has been utilized H. T. Edwards, "would require a
by the Russians for the past ten or general reorganization of the present
fifteen years for purposes where jute methods of handling and transporting
is usually required. "Colorado River many of the world's most important
Hemp," produced by the plant Ses- raw materials." A Hemp, the source of the drug

bania macrocarpa, yields a strong bast India alone produces large commer- marijuana, was grown extensively

fiber that was used by the American cial quantities of jute. There are in pre-Revolutionary days for cord-

Indians. numerous regions in the Western age. But hemp-rigged Yankee ships
A multitude of inventions has car- Hemisphere where climate and soil brought back cheaper fibers from
ried modern man into a world that are favorable to the raising of jute. the Far East, and the industry col-
could scarcely have been imagined a Argentina has recently planted extra lapsed. Emergency production has

century ago, but the age-old need of a acres, and it is likewise being culti- now been begun
piece of cord with which to tie some-
thing is just as urgent as ever. And in
a time of crisis we turn back through
the pages of Nature's ample catalogue
for a solution. Some of the plants the
Indians used could be used again.
Botanical science will discover and
adapt new ones. Meanwhile the econ-
omy of thousands of people will be
greatly altered in readjustment to an
industry which is important in con-

^./^:d^^^&^^SM^.'

G W Ackerman Extension Service, U. S - , i^rLidture

A Flax in Oregon. Although it is historically

the most important plant fiber, flax has not
been cultivated extensively for linen thread
and cloth in the United States in recent dec-
ades. However, the small industry has more
than doubled its acreage in the last few years

< A BUNDLE of flax from which Irish linen is made:

a fiber of exceptional quality that is shipped all over

the world and mixed with native flax to improve

the quality

119
 \'ated in the Amazon valley, whose
vast flood-plain is said to be almost
ideal for the growing of this fiber.
But the lack of a machine to clean the
fiber and the relatively high cost of
native labor to do the work impose
a serious handicap.
A possible substitute for jute in the
Americas is the plant called inalva,
iiialva blanca, or guaxima roxa fUreiia
J(ibata). This plant is widespread in
tropical America, and bags made from
it are claimed to be superior in some
respects to jute bags. An experi-
m.ental farm for itsgrowth has been
set up in Cuba, also a factory which
can make 6,000,000 bags a year. The
industry is expected to employ many
Cubans in the field.

In the long history of plant fibers,

flax and hemp have been used most
universally for ropes and other cord-
age products up to the beginning of
the nineteenth century.
Flax (Linuvi iisitaUssimuin) is typ-
ically a product of temperate regions
and has been cultivated in cool, moist
areas in many lands from Biblical
times to the present day. In recent
years, however, extensive production
has been confined chiefly to Russia
and the Baltic states. Flax provides us
with linen thread, linen fabrics, fish-
lines, and other products which re-

quire both softness and strength.

At one time almost out of cultiva-
tion in the United States, fiber flax

is now staging a comeback, thanks

largely to improved methods of disease
control and the utilization of modern
machinery. Alost of our flax, however,
is of a different variety, grown for
the production of linseed oil. Its fiber

is not suited for spinning into fabrics,

but only as a paper material. Cigarette

papers, formerly made principal!)'
from old linen rags, are now being
made from flax straw.
Retting, the first step in processing
flax fiber, is essentially the same today
as it was in Biblical times, but mod-
ern machinery has been developed for
use in later stages. The stems, first
dew-retted or soaked in water, are
dried and passed between or under
rollers. The broken straw is then
scutched with machines to remove the
broken woody portions and outer
bark. In the mill, the short fibers

(called tow) are combed out from

the longer strands (called line).
A Cotton one of the most critical plant products in the United
is It will be a long time before the
States today. Each soldier in our Army is estimated to need 120 yards ^Vestern Hemisphere will approacli
of cotton cloth per year. More important, cotton provides smokeless self-sufficiency in this strategic fiber.

powder for rifle ammunition and numerous other strategic products Fiber flax is more difficult to raise

N.ATUR.AL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

 .

than seed flax (for linseed oil), and

the Americas have depended almost
entirely on Europe for this fiber. How-
ever, the small United States industry
has more than doubled its fiber-flax
acreage in the last few years.
Another of the most important soft
fibers, or bast fibers, is hemp (Can-

nabis sativa) , not to be confused with

"Manila hemp."* Hemp is one of the
oldest of man's crops. The Chinese
were taught to cultivate it by their
emperor Shen Nung more than 4500
years ago. The early Greek historian
and traveler, Herodotus, spoke of
liemp as being used by the Thracians

> Unsuspected treasures are found in the com

monplace things of Nature. Scarcity of kapok, the
buoyant fiber used in life preservers, has forced us
to look elsewhere in Nature's catalogue. The
homely milkweed is found to be a good substitute.
Much floss was harvested in Michigan last year

i.M.N.H. pholo

and Scythians, and favorably com-

pared their hempen garments to linen
for fineness. Yet hemp seems to have
been unknown in Western Europe un-
til the beginning of the Christian era.
It was grown in France during the
Middle Ages, primarily for its seeds,
which were used as food.
In this day of ration-books and pri-

orities, we are apt to think that this

is the first time people have had to
work out production problems. The
colonists who came over in the "May-
flower," however, realized they would
have to grow their O'wn rope material
and brought several sacks of hemp
seed with them to America. Much of
the homespun worn by the pioneers
who pushed westward across our un-
settled continent was of hemp. It was
a flourishing crop for many years
along our Atlantic coast, but in a
sense it brought its own downfall. Tiie
hemp-rigged Yankee clipper ships,

sailing the seven seas, brought back

cheaper fibers from the Far East. Un-
able to meet the competition after the
Civil War, hemp production dwin-
dled.
Contiuucd on page 142

*The word "hemp" is also applied er-

roneously to sunn (Crotalarla juncca), an
East Indian plant of the pea family pro-
ducing a rope and bag fiber lighter and
A Cattail floss also has many of the qualities of
stronger than jute; to New Zealand flax
kapok. It is useful in life belts and floats, heat and (Phormium tcnax) and to sisal (Aijai'C
;

sound insulators, and as filling for cushions sisalana)

121
VITAL FIBERS
East meets West in shell sculp- The Murex belongs to a large fam- superfluous shelly material to enclose
ture: a study in contrasts. The ily of coiled sea snails, many of their soft-bodied inhabitant. The
Branched Murex (Murex ramosus) of which are noted for their elaborate scallop isone of the most active of
the South Seas and the Indian Ocean, spiny ornamentation. They include mollusks. Aided by its powerful mus-
ornate with branching spines, almost the species from which the ancient cle and an elastic ligament in its
Gothic in its shelly architecture, is Tyrians extracted their famous pur- hinge, it alternately and rhythmically
shown in close juxtaposition with the ple dye, which afterwards became the opens and closes its shells with spas-
Puritan simplicity of the edible Deep royal purple of the Roman emperors. modic rapidity, shooting out a stream
Sea Scallop {Pec ten magellanicus) pro- In contrast to this almost gro- of water from between them, thus
tected by streamlined paired shells, tesquely sculptured creature, the propelling itself in irregular flight
of purely utilitarian aspect. plain valves of the scallop waste no through the sea depths.

NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

 RANDOM Descriptions by

Roy Waldo Miner

rjt lis Photographs by

Ruth Bernhard

A Study in Shell Photography

THE as a
soft-bodied
moUusk acquired
animal known
the habit
an expression of
periodic cessations
all its activities.

of growth
The
are
always interesting. Even when picked
at random from a collection they are
of manufacturing carbonate-of- marked by concentric lines represent- sure to fascinate both student and
lime to form a protective shell at a ing the edge of the shell's aperture artist, whether the latter be a painter,
very early age in the earth's history. each time that growth stopped. Flar- sculptor, or photographer.
This faculty was already well devel- ing lip-spines, due to more or less fre- The remarkable and often surpris-
oped at the beginning of the Cambrian quent exuberances of shell formation ingly variable forms of shells and the
Era, for the rocks of that time con- just before certain of these waiting contrasts of light and shade presented
tain abundant fossils of mollusk shells periods, are completely preserved, by their sculpture are especially irre-
buried more than 600,000,000 years when growth is resumed, as conspicu- sistible to the skilled camera artist, as
ago. Doubtless, this shell-forming ous sculptural features. Colored pig- illustrated in this series of photo-
habit accounts for the fact that so ments deposited by special glands at graphs, so well executed by Miss Bern-
many species of moUusks have sur- the lip-margin remain, as the mollusk hard. Incidentally, the pictures pro-
vived extinction from their enemies shell grows, to form the elements of a vide an opportunity for commenting
to the present time. In fact, more beautiful pattern on each whorl. on some interesting features of the
species of mollusks are in existence to- Thus, shells may be beautiful or various species of shells which she has
day than of any other group of ani- they may be grotesque, but they are selected for portrayal.
mals except insects, about 90,000 spe-
cies having been recorded by scien-

tists.

it,
Since the mollusk shell
substance, and the animal outgrows
enlargement must take place by
addition to its margin to keep pace

with the tenant's requirements. This

function is performed by the soft man-
tle, a thin membrane that encloses
is of hard

the
^HHH
entire creature. Most of the shell en-
largement is due to lime secreted by
the relatively thick edge of this struc-
ture.
The shell, therefore, is actually a
record of the mollusk's past life and

^A WELL-PROTECTED OYSTER. Not

all bivalves (two-shelled mollusks)
are devoid of sculpture. The Thorny
Oyster (Spondylus pictorum) is

abundantly equipped with long, flat-

tened spines, curving outward in
menacing fashion, gayly colored with
rose, orange, and yellow. It inhabits
tropic seas, where its rich hues blend
with the multicolored setting of the
coral reefs.
It is usually attached to coral rocks
by one of its valves, and thus cannot
skip about like the Deep Sea Scallop
to avoid its enemies. Hence the need
for its formidable armature to repel
invaders.

RANDOM SHELLS
"*
A STUDY IN SYMMETRY. The remarkable > Versatile snails. The Swamp Apple Snail

Heart Cockle of the Mediterranean Sea {Isocar- {Ampullaria paludosa) is so called because it is
diti cor) is a bivalve with shells that display a about the size, shape, and color of a small green
most unusual symmetry. The umbos of the two apple. It inhabits the swampy regions about the

shells match each other perfectly as they curve tributaries of the St. John's River in Florida,

to their peaks in a faultless spiral, and as seen while other members of the family are found in
here they present a striking heart-shaped figure, I'resh waters of the tropics in both the Old and

from which this shell derives its name. New Worlds.

About five species are known to exist, exclu- These mollusks are quite amphibious, for they
sive of many fossil forms. The)' range from breathe by means of gills when submerged. >
Britain as far as China and Japan. Each sheil
about fits the palm of the hand.
hese are located in a large,
irtly enclosed chamber, which
lablesthem to retain moisture
hen out of the water or dur-
g dry seasons. At such times
ey breathe air, often for
onths. Thus they are said by
me authorities to represent a
ansitional stage in the evolu-
)n of land mollusks.

''
A DANDY AMONG MUREX SHELLS. crease successively in size until
The Frilled Murex (Alurex beam) they fan out around the aperture
is one of the most variable shells of of the shell like a great butterfly
this group. When it occurs in shal- bow. Each frill is adorned with
low or muddy waters it is quite plain, radiating ribs — expanded continua-
without any flaring adornments. But tions of the finer riblets with which
in clear, deeper waters, especially on the turns of the revolving spire are
rocky bottoms, it dresses up in quite sculptured.
a dandified fashion, with three rows This Murex occurs throughout the
of leaflike frills extending from West Indies from Florida to the Gulf
spire-tip to body whorl. These in- of Mexico.

RANDOM SHELLS
 ^ Internal architecture. A shell spiral course to fit its growing body. found along our Atlantic Coast. It
of the Giant Whelk (Bttsycon cana- The outer curve of the spiral formed devours oysters and other mollusks,
liculatum) has been broken open to the expanding outer shell surface. boring a neat, round hole through
show its interior, and, incidentally, The inner side was squeezed com- their shells with the rasplike teeth
to reveal the story of the shell pactly, resulting in the more or less of its proboscis and sucking out the
growth. When
newly hatched, the solid columella, or central spiral soft parts.
whelk possessed only the little knob- stem, the main mechanical support The Indians formerly carved the
like shell which still shows at the of the shell. This is shown clearly in columella of this species into white
summit of the spire. As the animal the photograph. beads for their wampum belts.
grew, it built the shell larger in a This is one of the largest mollusks

m^.
'^.^i^f^'^ii^^^^-'^iy-^'

#Hr:
AA PRINCE AMONG SHELLS. The found in tropical seas throughout to the careless hand that picks it up.
cones may be considered the royal the world, but especially in the Pa- These shells are much esteemed by
family of shells. The Cloth-of-Gold cific Ocean and the Far East. Most natives of the South Seas, one species
Cone (Conus textile), shown here, of these exhibit gorgeously contrast- being used for money, while another
is dressed in princely garments, ing patterns, adding greatly to the isreserved as a symbol of chieftain-
richly patterned in chestnut brown, colorful reefs where they are found. The rarest of all, the "Glory of
ship.
gold, and white, in contrasting zig- They prey voraciously upon other the Sea" (Conus gloria-mans), is
zag stripes crossed by broad revolv- mollusks by means of their cutting much sought after by collectors.
ing bands composed of pure white teeth. Not more than twelve specimens of
mosaic triangles outlined in deep One conical tooth, in particular, is this shell are known in collections,

brown. equipped with a poison gland, and is of which the American Museum
Four hundred species of cones are capable of dealing a vicious wound of Natural History possesses two.

< For a sea-goddess's tresses.

Venus'sComb (Murex tenuispina)
is an appropriate name for this spe-
cies, after the goddess who was born
of the ocean foam. The graceful shell
entitles it to be called the most beau-
tiful of the Murices. The slender,
tapering canal is equipped with three
rows of long, curving spines, alter-
nating with three other rows of short
ones, all arranged in parallel series,
strongly suggesting a most unusual
type of comb.
The conical spire, at the right, is

adorned with alternating rows of

large and small finely set ribs. The
shell aperture or "mouth" is a per-
fectly arched, lenticular opening. The
color of the living shell is soft
brown, often tinged with bluish.
This mollusk lives in the Indian
Ocean, ranging also to Japan and
Australia.

127
< The grotesque in shells. That shells may be weird as well
as beautiful is shown by the Spider Shell {Pterocera rtigosa).
First cousin of the West Indian Queen Conch {^Strombus
gigas), the adult shell, instead of developing the widely flaring
lip characteristic of the latter species, expends the momentum
of its shell-forming energy in producing the six long, curving
and tapering spines, which sprawl in various directions from
the lip margin. These spines are hollow when first formed,
but they finally become solidly filled with shell material. The
young shell can hardly be recognized as the same species as
the adult, for it has a perfectly ordinary smooth lip. Later, flat
budding projections appear, which develop into the extraor-
dinary adult condition.
The Spider Shells are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

1
 ,

A AWEIRD CONFERENCE FROM COAST bottom. It is often found, with others

TO COAST. Here, two American shells, of its kind, in great coiling masses,
one from the Atlantic Coast the perhaps for mutual protection.
other from California, are apparently At the right, the Three-cornered
trying to impress each other with Trophon {Trophoit triaugulatus)
their relative grotesqueness. from deep water off the California
At the left, the common Worm coast, displays its fragile, spiny shell.
Shell {Vermkularia spirata), which The photographer has posed it with
looks like a worm but is a moUusk its spire downward, buried in the
nevertheless, started off in life as a sand, and with its round aperture
perfectly respectable sea snail, as may facing the Worm Shell, doubtless to
be seen from the close spiral of the enhance its weird effect. Its delicate
coils at its tip. Then, apparently, its drab or soft brown coloration and
shell-building activities got out of exquisite sculpture make it one of the
control, for in the latter part of its most attractive of sea shells. It is

existence the shell wandered aim- quite unusual to get a perfect speci-
lessly in loose coils all over the sea men, because of its great fragility.

< Sea snail and bivalve. These formed by the curving canal which
shells typify two of the main classes terminates the shell aperture at its

of mollusks, the Pelecypoda, or bi- base. Sometim.es a hole is made near

valves, and the Gastropoda, or snails. the apex of the spire, and the shell
The Pelecypoda have two nearly can then be blown like a trumpet. It
equal shells, hinged together at the isone of the largest of the sea snails,
top, while the Gastropoda possess a often reaching a length of sixteen
single, spirally coiled shell. inches.
They are represented here, respec- The Hard Shell Clam, common
tively, by the common Hard Shell though it is, possesses a special

Clam {Venus mercenaria), familiar beauty of its own, because of the

on our Atlantic Coast as one of our graceful, symmetrically equal shells,
most welcome table delicacies, and with their evenly developed concen-
Triton's Trumpet Shell (Triton tri- tric growth lines. The closely locking

tonis) of the South Seas and East
Indies.
Tritons Trumpet is beautifully
marked with brown, yellow, purple,
and red arranged like lines of over-
lanoing scales along the whorls. The
Polynesian natives use it for a pot,
the horny operculum (not present
here) serving as a lid. The spout is
internal hinge and two powerful
muscles keep the shells tightly closed
against the opposing action of the
membranous elastic ligament, which
causes the shells to open when the
muscles are relaxed. This ligament
shows conspicuously in the photo-
graph, as an external feature at the
upper part of the shell junction.
 •<The Japanese star shell. This fragile Star

Shell {Astralium triumphans) of the Sea of Japan

is phantom-like in its delicate spiral
symmetry.
Around the flattened spire and body whorl radiate
slender tapering spines. The shell is relatively com-
mon within its region. It is about two inches or
more in diameter. While this particular species is
of comparatively limited range, other members of
the genus Astralium are widespread in tropic seas,
some occurring in the West Indies. Many are char-
acterized by a tendency to produce more or less
flattened spires and radiating spines or tubercles.
The filaments in the photograph are not parts of
the shell, but are threadlike seaweeds.

>The VENUS SHELL. This Queen of Beauty

among shells belongs among those devoted to
the goddess of loveliness. For it is one of
the

Cowries, included in the genus Cypraea, a name

derived from the Island of Cyprus, sacred to
Venus as her first home. The Cypraeas have
been
much sought after by collectors. Hundreds of
charac-
species are known from tropical seas, all
terized by the graceful oval shape, beautifully
patterned coloration, and the high natural polish
of their external surface.
The species shown here, the Spotted Cowry of
the West Indies {Cypraea exanthema), is cov-
ered with round pale spots on a background
clouded with chestnut verging into bluish drab.
Other species in the South Seas are bright
orange, or are banded and mottled with rich
hues of purple, brown, blue, or flesh color.
The living animal is even more brilliantly
decked out than its dwelling, for the mantle-
fold extending over the outside of the shell
is

gorgeously colored and patterned. This mantle

is responsible for the beautifully
polished sur-
face for which the Cypraeas are noted.

> Bull's mouth (Cassis riija). The aperture of

the Red Helmet Shell or Bull's Mouth suggests
the latter name because of the flaring red "upper
lip" and rolling lower one. The slitlike
orifice

with wrinkled modeling, narrowed in the center

and slightly expanded at the ends, is indeed
very suggestive of a bovine mouth!
The orange-red spire, when standing with the
aperture downward, is helmet-shaped. This is
one of the commercial cameo shells often seen
carved into has relief by skillful artisans.
This shell is well known as a household orna-
ment, often used as a doorstop. It is sometimes
equipped with an electric light for use as a table
lamp, the wonderful coloration of the shell be-
ing brought out by the light shining through it.
This species is common in the Indian Ocean,
especially off the coast of Zanzibar.

130
^ ACASTLE OF PEARL. The Cham- The graceful spiral is conspicu- pearly partitions, gradually increas-
bered Nautilus shell (Nautilus pom- ously patterned with reddish brown ing in size from the central chamber
pilius), famed by poets and artists, stripes, alternating with cream color. outward.
sought after by collectors and mer- There is a large black blotch at the The animal, a relative of the
chants of mother-of-pearl, is the center, near the shell-opening. squids and octopuses, lives in the
habitation of a noble mollusk of un- The lining, and, in fact, the entire outer chamber, and, when grown too
believably ancient lineage, reaching thickness of the shell beneath the large for it, seals up its former home

far back into geologic times. Scien- thin colored surface, is composed of and constructs a new one.
tists call it a "living fossil," because iridescent mother-of-pearl. The in- It is particularly abundant near the
its primitive make-up has persisted terior of the coil is divided into a Philippines, Fiji, New Caledonia,
to the present time with little change. succession of chambers by concave and neighboring islands.
 America's first AIK
Dur/no

MESSAGES
fo m oursioE womo

ne 001^
possibi,, ^^^^^^^^-^^^^^

" "^'""r.p,,,'" "'""'<= fiGEONs T"'' " "Pry

* £»-A MESs/rp ,.
'

7At*^^**********^***^^^^**^^*^^**^f*****^****^***^***^*^*^***^^^^^^4^^*^^^^*4^***^^

By Curtis Zahn then as was haphazard. My father

it

and uncle used to carry them in bas-

TODAY, as for centuries, homing of were delivered, regardless

letters kets attached to their bicycles and re-
pigeons are carrying messages and during the
of "flying conditions," lease them from points five, ten, then
into areas where all other means three seasons it operated, only two fifteen miles west of Los Angeles. All
of communication fail. As far back as failures are reported. of the pigeons would make the trip
Caesar's time they delivered messages The enterprise was formally opened home eventually, but some loitered
which helped change the outcome of in 1894. At that time Catalinawas a and had to be weeded out. On one
victory. Even in the United States, the fashionable resort, visited by tourists occasion, the two brothers had ridden
late James Gordon Bennett was ru- and sport-fishermen from all over the almost to the ocean, intending to camp
mored to have utilized winged mes- United States, but there was no or- out after releasing the birds. But the
sengers in building his journalistic ganized communication between the homing instinct was supplanted by de-
empire. island and the mainland. Wireless sire for human companionship, and
What may have been history's most was yet to be invented, and the cost the birds remained around the camp-
highly organized pigeon "telegraph of laying a cable was prohibitive. The fire until morning.
service" came and went almost with- writer's father and uncle, both pigeon- Finally through trading and breed-
out comment during the gay nineties fanciers and amateur ornithologists, ing, enough were acquired
fast birds
in California. Itwas the first regular had been experimenting with homer and soon they
to continue the project,
"air-mail" schedule of any kind. flights, and the idea of a mail service were being released from steamers at
The 48-mile route was from Cata- seemed feasible. Their first step was various distances from shore. When
lina Island to Los Angeles, with half an agreement with Western Union the weather was foggy, the birds
the flight over open sea, making meti- whereby that organization would not would climb above it, circle about,
culous training and breeding of the attempt to set up a wire service to and head for home. On one occasion
birds necessary. The service operated Avalon as long as the pigeon mail
. the entire flock lit on the ocean, re-
on a rigid timetable, leaving the island project refrained from competing on mained a few moments, and sailed for
resort of Avalon at 2 :oo P.M. daily other routes where telegraph was home. It was later learned that the
and arriving at the loft in Los An- established. steamer attendant had forgotten to
celes about an hour later. Hundreds Training the birds was as laborious give them drinking water.

NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 94,1

MAIL
[Veiling zero, visibility zero," but the faithful
< Orlando, one of the 50 well-trained
homing pigeons that linked Cata-
lina Island with the California Coast

lessengers preserved contact with the mainland,

immoning medical aid and carrying the day's
2WS before the invention of wireless telegraphy

^ One of the actual messages carried by

pigeon air mail in the "gay nineties"

CATALINA ISLAND
PIGEON MESSENGER SERVICE
TRANSMITTED AND DELIVERED AT THE SENDER'S RISK
VIE TO dL-.ii;.,., vJatji'iiKi flvlViii.^ CkM^ G is-ij^
SENT
y /) /V
I 1 )

'

f:

<A PRESS DISPATCH sent via

the Catalina Pigeon Service

*^0W^ii\
"^^ r*******#***#***##*#*######*#**###**##*####*###*####*##«^

tic as married fathers, and that correct was remote. The Los Angeles Times
feeding was necessary for maximum column of news daily, and
sent a full

[P <?eon -' eflScicency. doctors were often summoned for

•Clara W" o7^^^^^ Homing-
^'-Plireon Service h^^^'^""'^ Ca, - L There were other hazards, for emergency cases by this means.
'norning's
steamer h. ^'"•^ This 3 hawks were numerous and hunting Once only did the faithful birds
was a popular sport, the hunters often fail to start the trip, and once they
being not overly particular in what were held up along the route. On the
they sought. It was because of the former occasion all three birds (this
h^mo timo hore, o T t.h
'" «P^ndin^ J Avalon-Los Angeles messenger ser- number was usually dispatched simul-
vice that a state law was belatedly taneously) remained on the island for
Mr. and ^^""' ^'- Mich-
l'"^'-' Mr, t t1 passed, making it illegal for gunners the afternoon and roosted on the roofs
;r'"'-ned to the '"""""^'- '->"
cVty tod hJ to shoot homing pigeons. Even so, The owners were
• ampbell
'^^-'^'""^
went ^*'- Mrs. J.
^,
'° ""^"'^ 'he
w \t\
all night. mystified
celebtatil'' ,
i,,' fe? many birds came home wounded and until the steamer arrived next day
Thursday, still others failed to arrive. It proved bearing news that a freak lightning
when ^"^ ''''"^'"
return to""'"P
IJ'^Iand. she ^"1
u- necessary to dispatch three birds bear- storm and hurricane had raged
(heU
ing duplicate messages, in order to en- through Los Angeles.
"^"^ AXOLEKS. 3
J. -Vel'^p"

^^^^^"^V/Vv's.J!!"!
jor.
fe-^pu";.:-,^":,,^- -^Pare ^M
time gl
sure arrival of each letter.
Despite unfavorable conditions, the
The unique service operated until
i8g8, serving a genuine purpose.
service had immediate success. "Air- Then changes came to the island, and
Mail" letters on onion-skin paper the homing pigeons bowed to Mar-
Eventuall\- the came whenday were collected from a box in front of coni's wireless. The fee of 50^ to
pigeons could be released from Ava- the old Metropole Hotel. About an $1.00 per message had scarcely paid
lon City and would fly directly to-
—
hour later 50 minutes was record the overhead of the enterprise, and
ward the mainland. By then the own- time —
the birds rang the bell in the my father and uncle went into long-
ers had discovered that it was best to downtown Los Angeles loft. From distance racing. Even so, the valiant
release one or two old birds with the there a messenger boy dispat'-hed the birds that gave the world its first
beginning pilots. It was also found message to the recipient's address or "air mail" set a pace that today's war
that young swains are never as domes- had it telegraphed if the destination birds must exert themselves to excel.

.'vmerica's first air mail 1.33

 UNITED STAT

MEXICO

^^ All photographs by the aut

^ PARICUTIN

By Frederick H. Pough
Chairman and Curatov of Geology
and Mineralogy,
American Museum of Natural History

ON September 29th, 1759, the

residents of Jorullo, a small
community in the State of
eyewitness accounts are naturally col-
ored by the ignorance of the writers
and by their awe and fright. Not until
Michoacan, Mexico, were alarmed by 1803, long after all activity had died
the sudden eruption of smoke and down, was the spot visited by a scien-
flames from the bottom of a small gul- tist, Humboldt, and his studies were

ley. Heavy black mud fell on neigh- influenced by his championship of a

boring buildings, and in a few hours theory which has long ago been dis-
the land was ruined and the houses credited.
flattened by the soggy mixture of ashes Common as such cinder cones are,
and rain. Accompanied by earthquakes, as evidenced by the many volcanic
the activity rapidly increased, and in hills of that region, no repetition of
a few days the beginnings of the for- the dramatic events of that morning
mation of a volcanic cone were ap- took place until February 20th of this
parent. However, no one with geologi- 3'ear. Stories vary, but according to
cal training visited the scene, and the the most convincing, Dionisio Polido,

* Near-by Uruapan has gained tourist fame for its

^ Orchid plants may be seen in bloom in
inlaid lacquer bateas, and for its quiet woodland the woods through which one approaches
scenery. Now both may be destroyed by Paricutin's the volcano, or theymay be bought in the
ash, for the lacquer sources are dying under the ash market places for ten centavos, about two
load cents

^l^^l
 s Bo i? Mexico's new
scientist the rare
1000-foot peak gives

study a rapidly growing volcano

opportunity to

A^
a native of the small village of Pari- unfortunate Polido was strategically
cutin, was walking in his cornfield, situated on the road from Uruapan to
perhaps estimating his prospects for a Paricutin. Visitors commenced coming
good crop with the advent of the June as soon as the news reached the larger
rainy season, when he observed a small communities, and the early comers
from which dust and rumbling
fissure had the pleasure and the unique ex-
sounds were emanating. Frightened perience of being able to drive their
by this foreign product of his familiar cars almost to the foot of the rapidly
field, he ran to get his wife, his neigh- growing cone. Easy chair sight-seeing
bors,and the priest. On their return with considerable traffic congestion on
from the village two miles away they a road never intended for such wear,
are reported to have found the begin- continued for some weeks, while the
nings of a small volcano, giving forth volcano piled its hot blocks ever
loud rumblings, ejecting hot rocks higher.
and dust. The inhabitants of the vil- Early in its career a lava flow ap-
lage were considerably alarmed by peared, carrying with it the walls of
these events, and reports soon reached that side of the crater and moving
the more distant communities of steadily along, sometimes faster, some-
Uruapan, Morelia, and Mexico City. times slower, at about seven feet an
Don Felipe, Mayor of San Juan de hour. The Mexican geologist Ezequiel
Parangaricutiro, notified the governor Ordonez visited the volcano soon after
of the state, and official recognition of its beginning and watched the progress
the volcano was soon under way. of the early flow. It described a semi-
The now famous cornfield of the circle around the cone itself, but

< On clear days the dust column rises seven miles above the
cone and is a spectacular sight from the main Morelia-Uruapan
highway. At night its red bursts make a similar beacon to the
distant observer

y Some bulbous plants, lilies and Oxalis, have been able to

)ush their flowers through the one- or two-foot ash beds, for the
all of ash during the dry season could not harm the dead foliage
if the previous year. However, it will be interesting to see if the
ilants can long persist under so much extra cover
* With the road over which the early tourists drove now
deep in ash, the approach must be made by horse and burro,
from the town of San Juan de Parangaricutiro, about four
miles away. Even the maguey leaves collapsed under the
weight of the ash, and all the countryside is gray
 ;

stopped before it reached the village ishing touch on the trip. Few, if any, As each volcanic bomb fell, the dust

of Paricutin. Pushing along tremen- volcanoes, however, can ever give the rising from the slopes gave evidence

dous solidified blocks of lava, it formed effect of Paricutin, for here we have of the strong convection currents that

a jagged and irregular plateau with a friendly sort of cone with which were at work over this center, as did
50 or fco foot eminences rising above one can become very familiar without the winds blowing upward across the

the 15 to 20 foot general level. great risk. Only a thousand feet high, desolate, ash-covered lava flow and

After about three weeks, however, it can be viewed in comfort from a the billowing dust above the cone it-

the nature of the eruption changed. distance of not much over a mile. self. Ancient artists often pictured

The cone began to grow rapidly Near-by is a hill, another and now lightning flashes in the clouds above
higher, and vast quantities of ash and long dead volcano cone, which rises the volcano, and one wondered if they
cinders were thrown from the crater. a little higher than Paricutin, from let their fancies carry them away and
The auto road from Uruapan, about which one can almost look down its added other wonders of nature to the

18 miles away, was covered by some throat. The early lava flow is now all already awe-inspiring sight. Experi-
of the flow and deluged with ash, mak- covered by many feet of cool ash, and ence showed that they were right

ing it more difficult to reach the vol- can be walked upon with impunity. lightning does form in the dust col-
cano. But still the tourists came, and The foolhardy can get as close as they umn, probably from static electricity,

the cone grew ever higher and higher ; like to the cone, walking on the still quite unrelated toany storm condi-
yet as they recounted their adventures hot rocks of the early flow. There is tions. And so we add another sound
to their friends and to the press. no risk except that rare chance of be- to the many already noted — a short
Despite the grandeur of the sight, ing struck by a bomb. That is such sharp crack of thunder, over almost as
little was said in the American papers a remote risk that it is not worth con- soon as heard. The flashes are short

about the volcano, and even now few sidering, unless the rain of stones is and all the sound reaches you at once,

people appreciate the importance of \ery heavy. unlike the attenuated flashes of a sum-
this event. War work has prevented The writer, sent to visit the vol- mer thunder storm, with their rolling

most geologists from visiting the lo- cano by the Council Fund of the thunder claps.

cality, and very few scientists have American Museum, considers it a rare It is impossible to estimate the total
gone from the United States to ob- privilege to have seen this eruption in cubic volume of the material which
serve and record the happenings in all its grandeur, but it is quite impos- has been expelled by Paricutin since
this spot in Michoacan. It is to be sible to words, or even in
convey in February 20th, but an indication of
hoped that it will continue long colored moving pictures, the appear- its tremendous quantity can be gained

enough after the war for more geolo- ance of the eruption. The sound ef- by a measurement of the ash fall near
gists to see it at least that is the hope
; fects should have been recorded, for the cone itself and on the surrounding

of the geologists, though the residents it is a noisy monster, with many types land for a radius of many miles. With-
of the region would be glad to be rid of roar. When first we saw it, it was in a half mile of the cone, one walks
tomorrow of the growling, fire-spit- in a quiet mood, if one may use that at the level of the ridge pole of the

ting, dirty intruder, and Sr. Polido term, sending several bursts of rock primitive shingle houses built by the
would no doubt far prefer his corn- and ash each minute up to a height of Tarascan natives of the region. A
field and his quiet life. several thousand feet, while above depth of about nine feet of ash has
By the fourth month since its forma- billowed and towered the omnipres- been deposited in this once pleasant
tion the cone had risen to a height of ent dust column. The nearest compar- typically temperate forest of pine and
1000 feet. It seemed to have repaired able sound was that of a heavy surf on oak. Farther away, the ash fall is

all the damage caused to its symmetry the seashore. Each succeeding rock ex- less, and at five miles may be but a
by the earlier lava flows, re-forming plosion, however, was followed by a foot or so. The prevailing wind, blow-
a symmetrical cone about looo feet crackling noise like that of a sporadic ing the ash to the southeast in May
across at the top and about 3000 at rifle fire, as the ejected blocks fell back and June, undoubtedly causes irregu-
the base.Above this towered a tre- upon the slopes of the cone, or back larities in the deposit but all the neigh-

mendous column of black dust, rising into the crater, to rise again until borhood has received at one time or
over six miles in the air and shedding they added their bulk to the steadily another its dose of grit.
a shower of coarse and fine particles rising peak. As one approaches the volcano the
over an area of many square miles. Meanwhile, the dust cloud, gen- most impressive effect is perhaps psy-
The fine cinders in Uruapan were erally spoken of as smoke, rose steadily chological one ; feels a growing de-
thick enough to have been shoveled upwards, welling outwards and roll- pression as the desolation increases.

up into piles in the streets, and to have ing in and up as the propelling force Fields are deserted, the wild life is

been swept off the roofs. Even at of the explosion succumbed to the pull gone, the pine trees have all turned
Morelia, over 100 miles away, wisps of gravity, and the hot rising gases yellow and their needles are falling.
of black dust could be seen on the took over the task of lifting and No one lives in the houses. Any cattle
streets, and on clear days the dust col- spreading the finer material. The sun- one sees are starving, hopelessly wan-
umn was reported to be visible from light shining on the cloud showed it dering in search of an uncovered blade
the next town. to be gray or brownish, quite in con- of grass, eventually dying perhaps,

The visitor who has never seen a trast to the white clouds of water vapor from the poisoning of the vast quanti-

volcano in eruption is quite unpre- which it attracted or almost seemed ties of ash taken in with their scanty
pared for the grandeur of the spec- to form. These vapor clouds remained pine needle fodder. The sky is per-

tacle. The towering cloud by day is separate from the dust for many min- petually overcast as though a storm
awe-inspiring enough, but it is the utes, high up in the air, working in and were due to strike at any moment ; dis-

night view which really puts the fin- out among the dust column's puffs. tant rumbles sound like thunder. It

136 NATURAL IIISTORV, OCTOBER, 1 943

is no wonder that the visitor is truly
conscious of a feeling of relief that he
can get a.vay when he likes. He is
thank'ul he is not one of those doomed
to stay, hopeless and helpless in such a
place and wondering what he will do
for food, with the planting and rainy
season hard upon him.
Near the volcano, to leeward and
actually under the falling cinders,
conditirns are even worse. Fine dust
rises f.o.n the impact of each particle.
A steady rain of coarse and fine ma-
terial makes seeing difficult and breath-
ing worse. Here alone did we find it

necessar; to tie handkerchiefs over

our mouths and noses. Surprisingly
enough it was literally cold under this
ash sho \er and a handful of the par-
ticles from the sombrero caught in
the hand, as one tilted his head,were
chilled Apparently they had risen so

high that they had lost all of their

earlier heat and become chilled in the

upper atmosphere before descending
to the grornd. Anything much larger
than a nuarter of an inch stung as it
struck \ ou, and when, groping almost A Paricutin's cone is composed of loose boulders ejected by the volcano
blindly in the dust cloud, we came too and piled one upon the other at the angle of rest. Growth to a height of
close to the cone, we were terrified 1000 feet in four months shows it to be a vigorous baby. The very nature of
by the sudden fall of bombs, with a the cone precludes a strong structure, so rising magma merely pushes out
whirr and a thud, before us and be- the side in its endeavor to escape in each new lava flow, breaking the smooth
hind us. It didn't take us long to move contour of the crater's mouth
out of the range of Nature's artillery
fire. The stinging impact of the half-

or one-inch particles was enough to

explain the plight of a lone blue jay,

^ Toward dusk the red glow of the incandescent masses thrown thousands
fluttering along with a broken wing,
of feet into the air becomes more apparent against the darkening sky. There
and the otherwise total lack of life.
IS, or course, no flame in the usual sense of the word, for there is nothing to
'What wasn't buried under nine feet
burn. Incandescent rocks give the fiery effect, and binoculars show that the
of cinders was no doubt driven away
luminous cloud is made up of countless tiny glowing particles, like a mov-
or even killed by the falling masses.
ing, orange, milky way
More spectacular and potentially
dangerous were the so-called volcanic
bombs which are thrown as much as

a half a mile by the violent explosions

within the crater. In the early days
most of these seem to have been liquid,
and, whirling over and over in the
air, they solidified in elongated club-
like or rounded masses, generally to
shatter when they struck the ground.
Later bombs, characteristic of the
dusty phases of the eruption, were not
liquid but solid, even though they
came out red hot. Whirling over and
over in the air has no effect upon their
shape, and when they land they look like
simple, mechanically rounded masses
of porous basalt. With all this solid

material milling about in the crater,

one might well surmise that a partial
source of the dust cloud was from just
such mechanical erosion of the solid
rock masses, waiting their turn to be

PARICUTIN IS BORN
< Though most of the bombs are
solid whenthey leave the crater,
occasional resurgences of fresher
magma
tion of
sometimes cause the erup-
still liquid masses, which

shape themselves in flight and

1
At night the cone is out-
spread out when they strike the lined by the incandescent
bottom as shown here bombs that roll down its

flanks,breaking up as they
tumble along. Closer ac-
quaintance with these will
dissuade any daring souls
who might have thought of
trying to scale the peak
with the volcano still active

<The lava flows, contrary to

the popular conception, came out
as solid masses. The still plastic
interior thrust the outer, already
solidified portions forward, break-
ing them into ever smaller glow-
ing boulders and finally covering
them up as fresh material tumbled
down. When chilling finally stops
all movement, hot vents give off

gases which tell the secret of the

rocky wall, long after it has be-
come safe to climb upon the flow
Not
2
all of Paricutin's
flows have been solid. The
was thin and liquid
latest
and traveled far beyond
the older flow. Before it
broke loose it formed a vast
bed of coals surrounded by
the weak crater-like walls
of the earlier flow and its

ash covering

< Crystals of sal ammoniac, am-

monium chloride, coat the fuma-
role gas vents, forming from the
gases as they coolon mixture with
the air. Orange and yellow iron
chloride sublimates, forming at
lower temperatures, line other ori-
fices

A FEW
3
MINUTES LATER the
confining ridge collapsed
and a tremendous flow
poured forth, floating many
solid blocks of cooled ma-
terial on its surface and ad-
vancing rapidly over the
< Dr. W. F. Foshag of the United old flow. It reached the
States National Museum selects abandoned village of Pari-
specimens for analysis and for the cutin in a few days, surpris-
collection of some of the few ing many observers who
mineralogically distinct products had thought the village safe
of the volcano. The sal ammoniac when the earlier flow halted
crystals equal the best that have short of the nearest house
ever been found by some thousands of yards
 —

JL Incandescent bombs outline their paths like tracer bullets

2i This fiery bed was dammed by a weak wall

O The wall broke and the flow poured forth

PARICUTIN IS BORN 139

 finally thrown from the crater's
mouth, never more to return. During
most of the time, solid material alone
is ejected, binocular examination of
the "fire" seen from a distance resolves
it into a red, rising milky way of un-

countable particles of all sizes, some-

times here and there obscured by dense
black clouds like black nebulae in the
sky. Up, up, up the particles go, even-
tually cooling so that they go out,
while the still incandescent larger ones
fan outvv'ards and commence their
downward arc, taking
14 or 15 sec-
onds to reach the slopes of the cone
or the flow below. The big blocks fall
nearer the top, often shattering into
many fiery fragments, and all roll
downwards in sparkling trails.
By day the redness of the blocks is
far less apparent, but whenever the
cone is approached the number of
fallen bombs has increased, each with
its small crater around it, for all the
world like a moon crater, with a shat-
tered bomb at the center. The stones
may be but six inches across, but more
A Natives of the nearest town, San Juan de Parangaricutiro, learned cau-
tion from the collapse of a few ash-covered roofs weighted down by rain.
are in the one-foot size, and some may
be two or three feet. Though they
Now they clear off the accumulations before they reach dangerous thick-

came out hot, few show any shaping in nesses. The typical Tarascan shingles may shed most of the rainwater, but
the air. Some apparently had still
they were never built to support such muddy loads as ash and rain together

liquid portions, for cracks along their

surfaces are marked by porous, pum-
ice-like combs several inches high. Michoacan and our Southwest, more easy moments. The volcano was ob-
They look as if the force of the impact often the material that shows on the scured at that time by a cloud of dust,
had driven out still liquid matter from surface is so cooled that it is already but in the morning when the mists
the cracks, only to freeze to glass be- solid but nonetheless is steadily thrust cleared we saw at once that a land-
fore it could change its shape. forward by the pressure of the still slide had occurred in the night and
When later the volcano seemed to liquidmagma far inside. Hence, prog- that the front crater had
of the
have been rejuvenated, the bombs again ress is made by the thrusting of solid slumped down. This break became
became liquid, and tremendous flat- rocks, which steadily crumble away, deeper as we watched, and at its base,
tened masses could be seen which had out over already solidified rocks. These rocks kept tumbling downward, with
clearly solidified in that shape, after are covered in turn by more red hot, clouds of gray dust rising rapidly up
they had fallen. At this same time perhaps even plastic but still solid ma- the slope of the cone.
there was a renewal, in abundance, of terial. Such a flow took place at about While this was being watched, the
the basalt crusted, rounded, half as- 1 1 o'clock on the morning of June gray dust started to turn red at vari-
similated granite blocks which were loth, right at the base of a landslide ous areas because, as became appar-
;

first noted in the early days of the
eruption. The implication that a
uprush of magma from the subter-
ranean source had brought along more
fragments of the old earth's crust
seems inescapable.
The new phase of activity which
commenced on June loth was marked
by one other unique feature, the first
flow of liquid lava from the cone. The
early flow, as can be seen from the pic-
which had formed the night before,
new breaking away some of the cone.
Liquid bombs and violent, earth-
shaking explosions characterized the
activity of late afternoon
and that night. At this
was nearly and the large
absent,
masses that were thrown out spread
more widely above the cone and
moulded themselves in the air. Since
they were more brilliant than the hot
ent afterwards, the rocks were getting
hot and the iron in the rocks was oxi-
dizing to a red oxide form. Soon, a
big boulder cracked open and showed
on June 9th red within the crevice, and within a
time the dust few minutes, many rocks were crum-
bling down, exposing glowing sur-
faces on each new break. This flow
advanced down a gulley in the top of
the earlier one and progressed about
150 feet in four hours, merely by pil-

tures, was not the type which is com- rocks of the dust phases, they photo- ing one hot boulder after another for-
monly pictured by persons familiar graphed far better. This activity con- ward over its predecessor. Here was
with such volcanoes as those of tinued during the night, with ear a new sound effect, a steady tinkle
Hawaii. There, liquid lava actually shattering explosions, strong earth- from the sliding, falling rocks, accom-
flows out, often solidifying with the quakes, and shapeless bombs, until panied by a loud crackling like that of
ropy surface of the once molten mate- early in the morning, when it sud- a hot fire, as the cooling surfaces
rial. Such flows are the exception in denly ceased, and it gave us a few un- cracked open and the rocks broke up

140 NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

 into smaller masses. The surface of F. The iron chlorides formed at even could still clearly see the tornado of
the old flow, now coated with ash, was lower temperatures, perhaps around hot gas. The lava flow was the thin-
marked by long fault scarps six or 150° F. and definitely further out nest to date, not over eight or ten feet
eight inches high, showing that the from the orifices than the sal am- thick,but made a wall of lava over
new flow was pushing the old mate- moniac. One crevice in the old flow one quarter of a mile long, advancing
rial along beneath it, and that that still showed red glowing rocks, after over the earlier flow until it reached
was still sufliiciently liquid to yield three months, and a pyrometer gave a the still exposed tree-covered slope on
with a relatively small stress. The temperature for that spot of 1600° F. the other side of the little valley, where
cracks ran more or less parallel to the One would guess that it will be many it was by morning. Trees
to be seen
direction in which the flow was pro- years before that lava mass has cooled were surrounded and set to smoking,
gressing. off. and the flow then followed down the
Very little gas seemed to accompany The most spectacular event of the valley, following the course of the
this flow ; only a little steam formed, recent history of Paricutin was the earlier flow.
probably from rainwater which had birth of a new lava flow, the first From subsequent reports, this flow
on the cold ash during the night.
fallen liquid flow, which took place around seems to have continued until it

At the edge of the first flow, however,
there were many fumaroles, or gas
vents, some giving off steam, around
which yellow and orange iron chlo-
rides were forming, while others with
a bluer vapor, were bordered with
white crystals of sal ammoniac, am-
monium chloride. Specimens of that
mineral, better even
Vesuvius, were to be found along the
margins of the old flow, where it was
forming at temperatures around l8o°
Some of the Tarascans have
make the best of the misfortunes and have
moved to the site of the "Observatory" to
7:30 in the evening of June loth. It reached the now abandoned village of
has been variously reported as a new Paricutin. In any case, we should dis-
cone and as a new eruption. It appears count the stories of a new volcano and
to have been neither, though the source a new vent, for it seems to be just an-
of the lava is something of a mystery. other flow. However, the source of this
A steam or gas was visible in
lot of lava was a little indefinite, for after
the evening off to the west from the leaving the foot of the flow, the first
nose of the morning's flow, whose ad- ridge seen was found still to be intact,
than those of vance had about halted by that time. and was climbed in turn. Here the
As became darker, a glow was evi-
it flow was seen spreading out below, and
dent on the steam, and it at once seemed to be coming almost from be-
seemed probable that it marked an- neath the ridge. Gas still continued to
other flow which had been overlooked whistle and rocks to crumble
out,
by the day's interest in the nearer flow. away, but where all that lava came
resolved to The writer resolved that he would from no one can say.
have to have a look at it but after mak- ; Here was noted an interesting phe-
ing a wide detour to approach the glow- nomenon at its best — trickles of red

sell tortillas and frijoles. The nightly in- ing steam column, he found it rising hot sand following down as each block

flux of hardy tourists soon require refresh- from the top of a small pressure ridge, of red rock collapsed, and looking ex-
ments of some sort built up of loose faulted ash, rising per- actly like a liquid to the careless ob-
haps 50 feet above the general level. server. This is undoubtedly the ex-
Thinking that the lava front must be on planation of the mistaken impression
the other side, another detour was made of many that they have seen molten
and the identical condition discovered. lava, when there really was none.
There was, then, no alternative but to Fortunately, the region in which the
struggle up the slope, which felt cool volcano appeared is not thickly popu-
to the touch and safe to climb. lated. It is hilly forested land, the

On reaching the top, a bed of hot pines being principally used as a source
coals, looking for all the world like a of turpentine, with clearings in suit-
tremendous furnace bed lOO feet able places in which primitive agricul-
across, was seen, about ten feet below ture is carried on. Consequently the
the ridge. As the tripod was being set damage wrought is relatively slight,

up for some pictures, the ridge was felt and comparatively few people are af-

to move a bit, so little time was wasted fected. Ash falls of several feet within
after the pictures were obtained. a radius of about five miles will make
Within a few minutes, the hot bed the fields unsuitable for agriculture
thrust upwards and forward, toppling for some years. With the eruption still

the ridge over, and the first liquid flow continuing, it is, of course, impossible
came out, with solid rocks of various to say just how much the final deposit

sizes riding along on its
lava advanced very rapidly, for it was
coming down a moderate slope and
covered several hundred feet within
an hour. At the point where the ridge
had been, there was a tremendous out-
let of gas, which roared off in a spiral-
ing clockwise tornado perhaps 20 feet
in diameter and sounded as if it had
surface. The will be, and it would not be worth
while attempting to reclaim by deep
plowing the fields along the thinner
fringe until all activity has died down.
The only injury that has resulted
has been caused by carelessness and
thoughtlessness, and even the hut of
the Institute de Geologia suffered in
this way. Heavy ash falls near the

irresistible force. Dark as it was, with cone piled up upon the sloping shingled
only the light of the hot lava, one roofs in Paricutin, San Juan and at

PARICUTIN IS BORN 141

 the observatorj', but their danger was Paricutin will do as well. However, for smokeless powder, plastics, and
not appreciated until several collapsed Jorullo reached a height of 1000 feet numerous other essential products.
as the result of the added weight of only after all of this activity, while The purest known source of alpha-
rain. Some people have been injured Paricutin was lOOO feet high after a —chemical base
cellulose of many war
in this way; two were American tour- brief four months. Jorullo developed products — cotton is mixture linters, a
ists who were spending the evening several subsidiary or parasitic cones of long fibers and fuzz escaping re-
watching the eruption. Wiser now, along the fissure which gave rise to moval in ginning. Cotton linters have
the natives soon clear off the ash ac- the main volcano. Paricutin has yet to been classified as a "strategic" mate-
cumulations before they reach a dan- break out in this way, unless subse- rial of war by the Army since 1940,
gerous thickness. In near-by Uruapan quent activity and observation con- and they are rated as "most critical"
some tile roofs were taken up, piece firm the reports of a new vent. The by the War Production Board today.
by piece, and replaced after the ash writer's observations on the night of Most important of all the wartime
had been removed. June lOth make this seem unlikely. uses is in the manufacture of smoke-
It was difficult to leave Paricutin Perhaps Paricutin will continue for less powder. One bale of linters will
when so much was going on and when many j'ears, perhaps it will die down provide smokeless powder for I00,000
the volcano had really outdone itself shortly. When it is finished it will rounds of rifle ammunition. Linters
to give a fine show for the cameras. never erupt again, for the cinder cones are also essential in the production of
What the subsequent history of the which dot the countryside are clearly synthetic yarns. X-ray and photo-
volcano will be no one can say, for we the products of a single continuous graphic film, and the glasslike win-
have little data on which to base an eruption. So while it is active it should dows of bombers.
opinion. According to tradition, Jo- be studied in the greatest detail, and it More than 70 per cent of all the
rullo continued in activity for fifteen is well worth a visit, despite the many cotton fabrics are now produced for
years, until 1775, with its greatest inconveniences, for any who can get priority needs. Approximately 11,000
activity after about six years. Perhaps there. cotton items appear on the procure-
ment lists of the Quartermaster Corps,
ranging from shorts to ski suits and
from mosquito netting to the heaviest
tarpaulins. It is estimated that each
VITAL FIBERS Continued from page 121 spreads them on the ground in an even
soldier in our army requires about
mat, where they are left to rot for
That America can adjust its agri-
120 yards of cotton cloth per year.
3 to 8 weeks. Another machine gath-
culture sudden needs is being
to Varieties of Egyptian cotton (G.
ers them and binds them into bundles.
proved Kentucky, where a pre-
in
barbadense) with extra long staple,
The bundles are allowed to dry and
Revolutionary hemp industry is now valuable in the manufacture of para-
are then taken to the mills to be
expanding chutes and other aviation materials,
its acreage and proving processed during the winter.
that can supply are grown in Egypt and also in our
it fibers equal to any Hemp is used extensively in twines
from the Philippines. The acreage in Southwest. Another variety known
and rope, certain types of marine
the United States has increased 25- as Sea Island Cotton, with the long-
cordage, parachute ribbing for the air
fold in two years, and 71 new mills est, finest, and most valuable of the
forces, textile fabrics, thread for shoes
to process the hemp are under con- world's cotton fibers, is grown in
and harness, fish-nets, and carpet
struction. Puerto Rico.
warps and its tow is used in the
;

Emergency production of hemp in manufacture of oakum. According to Science News Letter

America was decided upon for several Chile and Argentina are also ex-
cotton rope, treated with a new pre-

reasons. Hemp
produces fiber from a panding their hemp industry.
servative, is now being used on ships,
single year's growth, and it grows well The fiber which is meeting more although it cannot serve the more
in the Midwest. yield per acre, important purposes for which Manila
Its vital war needs than any other crop
furthermore, is almost double that of !S cotton fGossypium hirsultuin) . It is
rope is needed. The preservative gives
flax, the only other fiber plant that the cotton rope firmness, resistance to
second only to steel among the coun-
grows well in this country. wear, and protection against marine
try's major weapons of war. Cotton
Hemp fiber more than organisms.
is like flax fiber has long played such an impor-
any other commercial fiber. Its culti- tant part in the everyday life of the Rayon is made either from wood
vation requires considerable labor, but average American that it has corne to pulp or from cotton linters and is pure
presents no great difficulties as long as be taken more or less for granted. Its cellulose. Other chemically manufac-
and an annual rainfall of
fertile soil dual role as a strategic military item tured fibers, under a variety of trade
30 to 35 inches are available. When and a vital home-front food, feed, and names, depend upon plant products.
the plant is grown for seed, it is chemical crop is not generally appre- Fibers as yet unnamed and unmar-
planted in rowsand the like corn, ciated. As an example of the impor- keted have been made by chemists
harvested shocks are dumped on tance of cotton, 1400
consider that from peanuts and from corn. These
squares of canvas and beaten with pounds of cotton produce 500 pounds are proteins and have properties re-
flails to knock out the seeds a process — of fiber for military, lend-lease, prior- sembling wool.
as old as farming itself. When grown ity, and essential civilian needs, 140 War is very hard on clothes. It is

for fiber, hemp is planted like wheat pounds of high-grade vegetable oil for stated that winter uniforms in active
or oats, and with similar machinery. food, 400 pounds of protein meal and service wear out five times as fast as
After a growing season of only 120 cake for livestock feed, 240 pounds did civilian suits. With wool becom-
days, the stalks are harvested by a of hulls for livestock roughage and ing scarcer, a substitute has now been
special harvesting machine which chemical use, and 81 pounds of linters found in soybeans (Soja max).
Continued on page 148
142 NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943
 HARVEST HOME

By John Eric Hill crop ; many of the thistle family bear Then backto the den goes the har-
their seeds late in the year. But dur- vester, and down into its winding
Drawing by
ing the winter and early spring there labyrinth. Each kangaroo rat knows
G. Frederick Mason is little or nothing to be found grow- the twists and turns of its home bur-

THE seasons are

favorable. At
not uniformly
times there is an
ing that the seed-eaters care to
Many years there is a scarcity of mois-
eat. row, and this one goes straight to one
of the storerooms, a rounded chamber
abundance of food for the plant- ture ; the spring flowers and their seeds at the end of a passage. Inside this
eaters, and then periods come when are few, while many of the later room the pouches are emptied by quick
little or no vegetation of edible sort flowers fail completely. The desert forward pressures of the paws. The
can be found. The little rodents that rodents must do something about this grass-heads are packed snugly into the
feed almost entirely on seeds are espe- problem, and they act as if they were pile already there, and in less than a
cially affected by the seasonal changes, as wise as we are. They lay in a store minute the kangaroo rat is back to
and those that live in the dry regions of food. gather more.
of the world are subject to the most Kangaroo rats are almost exclu- The storing habit is deeply in-

extreme variation. In the deserts and sively dependent on seeds. During the grained in the kangaroo rats. If one
dry plains of southwestern United periods when seed-crops are ripening is caught and then given the choice
States a rainy winter and early spring they are as busy as they can be. As between freedom and gathering up
cause the country to "blossom like the soon as the light of day completely scattered grain, if not frightened by
rose." I saw the results of such a sea- disappears, a kangaroo rat comes out sudden movements or noise, it will
son in the southern San Joaquin Val- of his underground home, and hops usually gather up both pockets full
ley, California, and shortly afterwards down well-worn path to a patch of
a before trying to escape from the
in the Mohave Desert. Standing on ripe grass. Standing on his long hind strange surroundings. Once it has
the mountainside it seemed as if a legs, partly braced by the long, white- "filled up," it will try to escape.
vast, brilliantly colored Oriental rug striped tail, he reaches up with his The amount of food that may be
were spread out over the country. small front feet and pulls down a stored away by a five-ounce kangaroo
Solid masses of bright violet blue grass-head. A snip of the sharp front rat is surprising.* A bushel basket
lupines,clumps of orange poppies, and teeth and the head is oft ; if it is long, may be with the piles of grass-
filled

the red, yellow, purple, and white of it is cut up into inch-long pieces and heads stored in an average den, and
other flowers made an unbelievable each section is put into a cheek pocket more than two bushels have been
spectacle. by a quick movement of the paw. found. Such stores are the results of
As the summer follows the spring, The pockets are fur-lined. They a thorough harvest of about lOO
the flo%vers fall oft and the seed pods open on either side of the muzzle, square yards, and may involve more
ripen ; and there is a far larger supply outside of the mouth, and reach back than half a million separate cuttings.
of seed than the seed-eaters can use up. to the shoulders. It takes only a minute That is pretty industrious harvesting!
Later the grasses ripen, also some or two to fill them. They hold about
summer flowers, which means still a heaping tablespoonful of grass heads *See, Vorhles, C. T. and Taylor, W. P.
more seeds. And the autumn has its apiece. 1922. U. S. Dept. Agric, Bull. No. 1091.

HARVEST HOME 143

 YOUR NEW BOOKS
ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS' AUTOBIOGRAPHY • THE AMERICAN LAND
MINERALS IN WORLD AFFAIRS • THE SHINING TRAIL

Under a lucky star attention: Rabbit Meat for the Family; is in many cases far from being ended.
Advice to Beginners; Location of the What he tells about over-grazing on the
A Lifetime of Adventure Rabbitry; Choosing a Breed; Breeding; western ranges, the squandering of our
- - - - by Roy Chapman Andrews Feeding; Prevention and Treatment of timber supply, erosion and methods of
Disease; General Management; Judging preventing it may not be new, but they
The Viking Press, $3.00 Rabbits; Preparing Rabbits for Market; are matters that need more attention and
Tanning Rabbit Skins; Marketing Meat more action.
'npHE title of this autobiography of Roy
and Fur; and How to Cook Domestic The
-*- Andrews modest,indicates
too a — Rabbit Meat. his
chief achievement of the author
remarkable success in describing and
is

—
modest, point of view on the part of the
There is very little that the reviewer picturing in a clear, concise, and interest-
author, for the life of this explorer has
can say about this volume except to note ing manner the present agricultural uses
been infinitely more than a series of
that the coverage of the main aspects of our land. He gives an especially good
lucky episodes. How appropriate the sub-
of the subject is exhaustive and the gen- description of the origin, history, and
title is Certainly few explorers have had
eral treatment authoritative. A few of the
!

methods of cultivation of the various

a life so full of real adventure.
author's attempts to explain in nontech- grain, fruit, and vegetable crops.
If any one read this book, it
starts to
nical language the scientific basis for The numerous attractive and well-
is a safe prophecy that he willread it
some of the advice given might be re- chosen illustrations deserve special men-
through to the end. The only trouble with
garded as too foreshortened to serve any tion. Without impairing the readable
it is that there is not enough of it. His
useful purpose. For example, the discus- quality of its pages, statements on the
stories are too short, and his friends will
sion of the basic factors of heredity is acreage and production of all important
know that there are other adventures that
limited to two and one-half pages, and, crops are included to an extent that
might well have been included. In one
in the opinion of the reviewer, adds makes the work a useful book of refer-
place he disposes of an experience with
nothing to the value of the book. How- ence as well as one that many people
eight Manchurian bandits in one sen-
ever, the detail in which the practical will enjoy reading through if they once
tence! And we should like to have known
problems are discussed more than com- open It.
more about some of the persons he men- WiLLiARD G. Van Name.
pensates for a few minor inadequacies
tions so briefly.
in the coverage of secondary problems.
Roy Chapman Andrews will rank with
the greatest explorers of the world, — with In times when a meat shortage is so
pressing in many parts of the country this
The IRISH STONE AGE
Peary, Nansen, Scott, Shackleton, Amund-
useful guide to the cultivation of an in- - - - - by Hallam L. Movius, Jr.
sen, and Byrd. He will always stand out
expensive source of fresh meat is to be
as a great organizer, a leader of men. Cambridge University Press, $7.50
regarded as a useful contribution to cur-
It was a most significant fact that after
he returned from one of his expeditions,
rent literature.
FAR THE core of this book is a brief, illus-
every member was ready and anxious to trated account of that part of the
go back with him on the next. It was evi- 1932-36 Harvard Irish Survey which
dent that he did not quarrel or fall out
with his men.
The AMERICAN LAND, dealt with the island's Stone
ology. Specifically it
Age archae-
describes the results
His success was largely due un- to his ITS HISTORY AND ITS USES of excavations at a cave in the south
bounded enthusiasm, for nothing great is near Cork, a northeastern inland habita-
- - - - by William R. Van Dersal
tion on the shore of Lough Neagh, and
ever achieved without this heaven-sent
gift. And this enthusiasm was contagious, The Oxford University Press, $3.75 four marine shore sites facing the North
and inspired his men to share his deter- Channel opposite Scotland. Twenty thou-
mination to succeed. THIS is a book that the reviewer can sand flint specimens, mostly of Mesolithic
This book is Roy Chapman Andrews, heartily recommend to readers of culture, were found.
written in the style of his lectures, and many different A more timely
interests. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately,
if only as many persons read it as ap- subject could hardly have been selected, the four rich marine shore sites were
plied for places on his Asiatic expedi- since the war has made the American secondary culture deposits piled up in
tions, it will have a wide public. public aware that the resources of our mixed condition chiefly by wave action
land are far from being unlimited and incidental to a temporary coastal sub-
Clyde Fisher. that efficient methods of land use are mergence in early po^t-Glaciai times. The
needed for the continued supply of our author gives us an admirable, detailed

How TO RAISE RABBITS needs. Mr. Van Dersal is one who can
be trusted to deal well with this subject.
FOR FOOD AND FUR He has been remarkably successful in
condensing intoa small volume an im-
------ by Frank G. Ashbrook mense amount of information about the
study of the interplay of human and
natural activities, which partly destroyed
cultural remains. As a result, we now,
for the first time, know something defi-
nite about when man first arrived in Ire-

Orange Judd Publishing history and development of American land, as well as how and under what
Co., $2.00
agriculture in its different branches, be- conditions he lived from the earlier times
THE
general
indicates quite accurately the
title

nature of this book. It is a

simply written, practical guide to the
raising of rabbits as an item of diet and
as a source of fur. The list of the chapter
titles shows that all important aspects of
the subject have received the author's
ginning with the clearing of the primeval onward.
forests and describing the great changes Briefly, the author rules out the alleged
that the occupation of the country has indications of the presence of Paleolithic
brought about. As might be expected, he culture in Ireland by showing that the
is strongly conservation-minded, and has first immigrants
brought a culture of
much to say In condemnation of the waste Azilian affinities at the end of the last gla-
of resources that has occurred and which cial retreat (about 7000 B.C.), when Ire-

144 NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

 —

land was
all but connected with Scotland. islands of the Pacific, reducing the better fact, lola Fuller's book is essentially
Descendants of these firstcomers are still bi-
known large ones to the same succinct ography, as she states in an introductory
regarded as recognizable in certain parts compass as he uses for the lesser known note: "The incidents in this novel leading
of the island. For a long period the early small ones. A brief description of loca- up to and following through the Black
people were out of contact with their Scot- tion, topography, population, products,
tish and British neighbors and thus natu-
Hawk War are based on historical fact,
and similar items of information are with no liberties taken except to add fic-
rally developed a somewhat unique flint given for each island. Since much of the tional characters and eliminate a
industry. data that Mr. Daniel has assembled is
few
real ones who played minor roles."
Doctor Movius, with V. G. Childe and scattered and often difficult to find, his In 1939 Miss Fuller won the Avery
J. G. D. Clark, stresses environment book serves a very useful function. Hopwood Award for her first historical
rather than typology. However, he had
in this case little choice, his culture mate- H. L. S.
novel, The Loon Feather the story of an —
Indian girl, the daughter of Tecumseh,
rial being qualitatively rather poor. The
during the fur-trading days on Mackinac
book contains several appendices, a valu-
able bibliography, and a good index. The
Compendium and Island.

description of the The Shining Trail is even a finer piece

only critical comment the reviewer can
of writing, and that is indeed high praise.
think of is that the subject matter
not quite correspond to the title.
does WEST indies Written with dignity and beauty, the

N. C. Nelson.
- by Antonio Vasquez De Espinosa Continued on page 146

Translated by Charles Upson Clark

Beekeeping for profit Smithsonian Institution, $2.50

TT ERE Come and meet

and pleasure ••-
isa great work, as diverting as
• Diaz and Thomas Gage.
.

the peccanes of the Mexican border,

.

desert pigs in
-------- by Addison Webb its
In spite of
sober jacket, its 800 pages of chron-
their pepper and salt suits ...
the tiny shrew
"t.gerpf the small animal world," and 64
more of
our principal mammals. Life histories; accurate
icles, travels, and every-day observations de-
scriptions; distinguishing characteristics;
The Macmillan Co., $2.00 of the natives and the early Spanish rule
habitats.

TpHIS is a guide
elements of to the
in Mexico, Central America, and the Inca "MEETING THE
-^ beekeeping. As such
good.
The style is definitely "popular" in
it is

—
lands deserve growing attention.
Espinosa died in 1630. As a Carmelite MAMMALS
is an attractive and valu-
missionary he had spent some years in able fiuide, enhanced by
places rather overpopularized. For ex-
America, returning to Spain in 1622. It Walter A. Weber's bril-
ample, it seems unnecessary and even
was known that he had compiled a work
liant drawings." N. Y. —
undesirable to violate our knowledge of Times Book Review.
on his travels, but for three centuries it 52 pen
insect psychology by saying that at the
approach of winter "the bees wander was considered lost. Mr. Clark's acci-
gloomily over the comb and look sourly dental discovery of the MS. is excitinelv
told,
'
^ MACM ILLAN
at the remaining unhatched eggs and 60 Fifth Avenue,
Espinosa visited the districts when New York H, N. Y.
baby brood. These, they know, increase
the problem of wintering. The more hard-
many of the temples and other public
buildings still stood. Some interiors ap-
hearted ones take an egg out of the
parently remained almost intact. Since
cells, and examine it, bitterly. Others
the author was a thorough we
ROY CHAPMAN
gather about her, watching, mutely. She friar, get
starts off with it, a few steps; the circle
a complete picture of the natives' transi-
tion from pre-Columbia culture to a con-
gives way, sorrowfully; an unborn bee is
about be
the colony."
to sacrificed
As an example
for the safety of
of a readable
dition
State.
dominated by the Church and
It is an unpleasant
picture but
ANDREWS
faithfully told. The author The Director-emeritus of the
book about bees that stays within the goes into the
Museum of Natural History
technicalities without being technical see lives of the people, their hardships, cus-
toms, superstitions (he displays a few of re-lives a life of high adven- J^^
Teale's The
Golden Throng (Dodd,
his own!), ture in strange places,
Mead & Co.), which does not, however, illnesses, cures, industries,
pictures for us the lands
deal with the mechanics of beekeeping. agriculture,etc. There is hardly a phase
he does not touch upon. He expresses few Western eyes have
On the other hand, Webb's book is
great admiration for their attainments; seen, the great friendships he
safe on the practical side, particularly
and he devotes many pages to their pre- was privileged to share. Here
who does not wish to
for the beekeeper
in this fascinating volume,
have more than one or two hives bee- — Columbia
Of
history.
interest to fossil hunters his fre-
are the dangers which befell
keeping chiefly for pleasure. If the reader is
quent mention of the bones of "giant him in the field, his experiences
is thinking of going into beekeeping for
men," and perhaps his most fascinating in the hectic international so-
profit on a really commercial scale he
pages are those "Of the Cuzco Fortress ciety of the Orient, the fas-
would do well to have a more complete
and Its Incredibly Huge Stone Blocks" cinating life which goes on
book such as Beekeeping by E. F. Phillips
(Ch. LXXVIII). It has baffled researchers behind the scenes of a great
(The Macmillan Co.).
how men museum. Viking ^3.00
Why not have all three? of a stone-age culture could
hew and haul the mighty boulders that
Frank E. Lutz. make up the Sacsahuaman fortification.
True or not, his story of its erection and
of how 20,000 men tugged at one stone
Islands of the pacific which broke loose and rolled back onto
------ by Hawthorne Daniel 3,000 of them —
is a saga in itself.

L. J. Salter.
G. P. Putnam's Sons, $2.50

'"pHERE
J-
has long existed a need for a
handy reference book to the multi-
T HE shining trail
farious islands of the Pacific. That need --_-_-._._ by lola Fuller
has, of course, become acute with public
interest
heard of
focused
in
on islands hitherto un-
most American homes. In '
I
' HIS
Duell, Sloan

historical novel
& Pearce, $3.00

is packed as full
a Lucwf
Islands of Mr. Hawthorne
the Pacific
Daniel provides such a compendium for
*- of dependable Indian
and strug- life ^J-4-'^^ A Lifetime
gle as was the recent excellent biography
ready use. He lists the major and minor of Crazy Horse, by Marie Sandoz. In
.^71x11 of Adventure

YOUR NEW BOOKS 145

 —

YOUR NEW BOOKS excellentmanual for those who are not

Continued on page 145 ambitious to become master botanists but

THE NATURE LIBRARY author speaks through the mind and

who would like to become acquainted
with the most common, the most beauti-
Artcraft bound, decorations in gold, 5^ x 8^, heart of the Indian in a prose that sings.
ful, and the best known spring flowers.
1800 pages, 288 pages of Animals, Butter- The characters are finel}- drawn and they
flies.Flowers, Trees, and Birds in color. The live. The injustice and treachery of the Clyde Fisher.
7 Volumes include Nature's Program, the land-grabbing, treaty-breaking whites, as
year around guide to Nature's calendar of abetted by pioneer politicians, is vividly
events. Published at $19.50. THE LITERARY depicted. Ml.INERALS IN WORLD
MART, 411 West 125th Street, New York, Black Hawk, Chief of the Sauk tribe,
AFFAIRS
N. Y., offers this set to Members for five was one of the great Indians of the last
days" free examination. Price of set $14.00, —
century great in war and great in peace.
------ by T. S. Levering
payable S2.00 down, $3.00 monthly. Cash He tried every honorable way possible Prentice Hall, $5.35
Price S12.00, same return privilege. to walk the trail of peace with the white
man. Naturally he and his people did not THE
and
combining of history, economics,
mineralogy in a single volume is
want to give up their beloved village of
Saukenuk, situated at the mouth of the a difficult task because an authority in

Rock River, where it flows into the Mis- one field is unlikely to be also an author-

Thomas sissippi. Here is the tragic story of

they were forced to surrender their an-
cestral homes and were driven beyond
how ity in another and relatively unrelated
science. In a work primarily concerned
with the world's mineral resources there

Barbour
Director ot the Agassis
the
like
children
"Father of Waters," hunted down
wild beasts. Even their women and
were pursued and killed on the
is little space to be anything hut dogmatic

about the events of history leading up

to World War I and subsequent develop-

way. ments responsible for the present conflict.

Museum, HarrartI Taking issue with the preliminary por-
University In spite of all the hopeless struggle
with its inevitable outcome, a charming tion of the book would be a fruitless task.
has written the zestful and moving love story runs through the However, the next chapter, dealing with
story of forty years as book.We have had very few authors geology gives a fine resume of the subject
who have written with so thorough un- for readers unfamiliar with the science,
naturalist and explorer in
and this is followed by a series of chap-
derstanding of the Indian way of life.
ters on different mineral resources.

NATURALIST Te Ata.
Here we have an excellent summary of
economic geology. The major deposits are
AT LARGE How TO KNOW described, also the uses, technology,
geological relationships of each substance.
and

/^ NE of the most famous living

THE SPRING FLOWERS Several maps show the world distribution
of deposits.More materials are included
naturalists, and one of the - - - - b\- Mabel Jaques Cuthbert than just the strategic group: coal and
most engaging personalities of our petroleum, for instance, iron and steel,
Published by H. E. Jaques,
era, tells with gusto and affection molybdenum, vanadium, copper, lead and
709 N. Main, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. zinc.
the story of his career. His book di-
Spiral Brochure $1.50; Cloth, $2.50. The author apparently intended his
vides into three sections. Part I,
book for students or reference, as few of
"The Making of a Naturalist," cov- THIS is the sixth little volume in Pro-
the interesting high lights which make for
ers Dr. Barbour's earlier expeditions fessor Jaques' Pictured-Key Nature
readability have been included. Illustra-
in South America and the Far East. Series. In the first five he was the author
tions of interesting ore specimens might
as well as the publisher. In this book
Part 11, "The Sedentary Naturalist," also have improved the general appear-
Mabel Jaques Cuthbert has attempted to
describes in human detail his work ance and attractiveness. The maps are
bring together the more familiar spring-
as a museum director, and the men interesting, but could have been made
flowering herbaceous plants of the United
he worked with. Part III, "The Lei- more informative with a diflferent ar-
States and southern Canada, and she has
rangement of symbols.
surely Naturalist," records his later succeeded in including many of the com-
In spite of these criticisms, however, it
voyages. The entire volume, filled mon and best-loved flowers of this large
is a very valuable book, for it is the only
with keen observation, lively anec- area. The and rushes are
grasses, sedges,
work of which the writer knows in which
dote and droll commentary, will de- not included. While no two nature-lovers
this information is to be found in such a
light and stimulate everyone inter- would agree upon which flowers to in-
compact form. It will be useful both as a
clude and which to leave out, one cannot
ested in the naturalist's world. $3-50. reference work and for occasional read-
help wondering why eight species of
'"S- H. PoUGH.
An Atlantic Monthly Trillium are included and only one true F.

: Book Lily. How could the Wood Lily and the

Turk's-cap Lily have been omitted? They
bloom about as early as the Canada Lily,
which is included. Or, why six species of.
Buttercups and nine of Violets are treated
ON YOUR RADIO
and no white Water-Lily, which blooms Program of the American Museum
as early as the Yellow Pond-lily, which and Hayden Planetarium, Fall, 1943.
is included.
Preceding the Pictured-Key to the WEDNESDAYS over WNYC
flowers are brief chapters on plant parts from 3:30 to 3:45 P. M.
and what they do, suggestions for plant Science for the Seven Million
y^LITTLE, BROWN &CO.,BOSTON=y how make a herbarium, how
projects, to
Oct. 6 Of Dogs and Hen ,Tohn R. Saunders—
to use the kevs,
ence books.
and a list of good refer-
Oct. ii—.4rn,-Chair Strategy —
EXPERIENCE THAT COUNTS Over 300 species of spring-flowering
De. Irene F. Cypher and .Than Wiedemer
.Most of our equipmentnow going to the Govern-
is
ment for war use— our third war service during our plants are keyed and illustrated. Mention
fifty-one years of outfitting experience. Its selection
proves reputation and quality. We
can still supply is made throughout the book of related
rerlnin items for expeditions or exploration trips.
Write Dept. NH-10 what your needs are and we will plants that have been omitted. The keys
reply promptly as to what is available.
are simple and clear and workable. The This program is now under the spon-
David T. Abercrombie Co. line drawings are fine, one of the most sorship of Natural History Magazine.
)II Broadway New York CUT valuable features of the book. This is an

146 NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

 —

LETTERS Continued from fage 103 ^ The nest of a ruby-throated

HUMMINGBIRD, the only humming-
Sirs:
This will be my second year to receive bird found in the eastern half of the
How important are
your fascinating magazine, and please United States. Because of the bird's
let me say that I have never before so
small size and its rapid wing move-
Mineral Resources?
thoroughly enjoyed a periodical. Natural
History is in a class by itself no other — ments, it is often mistaken for a moth.
magazine can approximate it. The tiny nest is a cup of soft, felted

Framingham, Mass.
Dorothy Macneil. material covered with bits of lichen.
Submitted by Edwin C. Meyenberg MINERALS
World Affairs
By T.S. LOWERING
Professor of Economic Geology
University of Michigan

• Here is a readable and timely dis-

cussion of this important question by
a well-known authority. Minerals are
treated from various points of view
economic, historical, political, socio-
logical, scientific —
in a way to give
you a new understanding of events
that might otherwise seem to have
"just happened." Includes abundant
data on world mineral distribution
and on production trends. Illustra-
tions and maps. Bibliographies. List
price, $5.35.

Prentice-Hall, Inc.
70 Fifth Avenue, New York

A.M.A'.H. photo

Sirs:

all
With most other magazines and with
newspapers stuffed full of war stories
l^et an auld ition tell ye
and information, it was a pleasure to see Mature men, discerning users of fine Scotch
that the editors of Natural History had,
consciously or not, been keeping this type
whiskies, will tell you that a single statement
of material out of the magazine. This explains their preference for Teacher's . . .

policy, if there was ever such a policy,

seems have changed with the intro-
to
duction of "Everyman His Own Robin-
son Crusoe," in the June issue. It is fine
to describe New
Guinea, the Solomons,
the Aleutians, but I believe that an
etc.,
article such as the above doesn't belong
in Natural History and would have bet-
ter been placed in the "Times" or in
"Life."
Let's have some more articles such as
"Pastures of the Sea" and "Environment
hnd Locomotion in Mammals."
Seymour D. Adams.
Long Beach, L. I., N. Y.

NOTICE— Readers are encour-

aged to submit their own pho- Made since 1830 by Wm. Teacher & Sons, Ltd., Glasgow
tographs of natural history
subjects.
lication

for at
Those
on this

$ 1 .00 each, with

to the photographer.
selected for pub-
page will be paid
full credit

Return post-
Teachers
Perfection of Blended Scotch Whisky
age must be included.

SOLE u. s. AGENTS: Schieffelin & Co., new york city • importers since 1794

LETTERS 147
 VITAL FIBERS Continued from page 142 Michigan last year, and the plans for
1943 call for the development of this
The soybean is an eastern Asiatic new source of fiber. Cordage and fab-
legume long cultivated for the oil, rics can be made from the bark fiber of
flour, and meal derived from its seeds. the stalks, and oil can be extracted
Two hundred pounds of soybean wool from the seeds. Cattail floss has many
can be produced on the same amount of the same properties. Truly can it
of land that will yield only five pounds be said that we are discovering un-
of sheep's wool. Before the war most suspected needs for the commonplace
of the cloth made of soybean wool things of Nature.
went into automobiles. At present INext month: Rubber-^
about lOOO pounds of soybean wool
are produced each day, and all this is
going to the armed forces. THE COVER THIS MONTH
Few plants have been overlooked in
the frenzied search for fibers. The
bark of redwood trees (Sequoia sem-
pervirens) yields a fiber like jute even ;

seaweeds yield fibers from which

thread can be made.
Lastly, kapok deserves attention, be-
cause of its uses in life-saving ap-
paratus and sleeping bags, as insula-
tion, and as a stuffing and filling ma-
terial. This cotton-like material is
taken from the seed-pods of the silk-
cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) Native .

to the tropics of America, it was intro-

duced to the Far East by early Portu-
guese navigators and is now cultivated -'»- NATURAL HISTORY -'
chiefly in Java and Sumatra. The tree
attains a height of lOO feet or more
and is spectacular because of its far-
/;/// / / / // / I if I '^l II

reaching and wide-flung

branches
flanges or buttresses, which sometimes
extend 30 feet or more up the trunk. The Kodachiome lepioduction b\
ILLUSTRATIONS The pods are gathered by hand, Ruth Bernhard shows the Lion's Paw
usually from wild roadside trees, dried, Shell (Pecten nodosus). This is one
and then the down and seeds are re- of the most striking of the large and
are printed from photo- moved. Kapok cultivation has been colorful family Pectinidae, which in-
undertaken in various parts of Latin cludes the scallops. The nine most
engraved plates made by America, where it may become a prominent of the series of radiating
profitable household industry, even ribs are adorned with conspicuous
though conditions do not give it prom- knoblike projections. This shell occurs
STERLING ENGRAVING ise as an important plantation industry. along the Atlantic Coast from Cape
The homely milkweed (Asclepias) Hatteras to the West
Indies and the

COMPANY, 304 E. 45ih and cattail (Tyfiha) are being ex- Gulf of Mexico, water 50 to 100
in

ploited as substitutes for kapok. The feet deep. It is often brought up by the

of these plants very similar to sponge divers on the west coast of

Street, New York, N. Y.
floss

kapok in spite of
is

their other differ- Florida.

ences. All have hollow fibers, which

explains the flotation power so impor-
COLOR PROCESS, BIACK AND WHITE, BEN DAY, IINE
tant in the manufacture of life belts.

Milkweed floss is five or six times as IJ R G E X T

—Nile River Group— Detail shomng Antelopi buoyant as cork, and a life jacket with
Above illuslTation
The Museum Library is in
Akeley African Hall— American Museum of Natural History a content of a few pounds of the floss
need of back issues of
will hold up a 150-pound man. It is
warmer than wool and six times
Natural History, partic-

Flying suits lined with milk- ularly the first four issues
lighter.
weed floss are warm and lightweight, for 1942. Copies sent to the
and if a flier falls into the ocean, the Librarian, Natural History,
suit will act as a life preserver, where- New York, will be greatly
as a sheepskin-lined suit adds to the appreciated.
danger of drowning.
Milkweed floss was harvested in

148 NATURAL HISTORY, OCTOBER, 1 943

 Teaching and Research

SixcE one of the main functions of education is vigor of his teaching, and keeping his knowledge
the diffusion of
knowledge and understanding abreast of scientific progress.
gained by research, one might think that a This lack of sympathy is particularly dangerous
union between teaching and research would be when it extends to advanced education in
institutions
looked upon as an ideal marriage approved by all. of higher learning, dependent upon public support,
But such, unfortunately, is not the case. A genuine because the need of applying the research method in
appreciation of the need for a personal and intimate such institutions is particularly great. The quality
relationship between the search for new knowledge of elementary teaching may be adequately main-
and the teaching of old seems even rarer than it has tamed by a reasonable system of refresher courses,
been before. by the writing of popular articles, and in hundreds
Among the general public it is quite common to of other ways. But even before admission to advanced
find the belief that wherever research and education teaching, the educator is supposed to possess a com-
are found together they can only exist in a state of mand of the knowledge behind and beyond the ad-
competition with each other. And a conscious or sub- vanced textbooks he uses. The only direction in
conscious opposition to the requirements for research which he can continue his mental progress is there-
in our educational institutions is frequently expressed fore on the path of original research into the previ-
in the acts, if not in the words, of the representatives ously unknown. Without opportunity to follow this
of the public interest, since education is something in path, stagnation becomes his lot, the vitality of his
which the entire public participates, \\hile only a teaching declines, and the validity of his knowledge
few can engage in research. In sheer self-defense the suffers in time.
scientifically inclined respond by intensifying their There is also a practical consideration. In institu-
preoccupation with research and minimizing their tions of higher learning, each member generally
educational obligations. And so the suspicion brings knows his own field better than any of his superiors
about the crime. or his colleagues within the same organization. Only
By
their liaison position between the general pub- in the scientific response to published research will
and the world of pure science, and their depend-
lic
such an institution therefore be able to take its own
ence upon the moral and financial support of both, measure, for the guidance of those responsible for
the public museums are particularly exposed to the its intellectual welfare and its progress. Original re-
ill effects of the failure to
understand the relation- search is therefore both the inspiration and the
ship between teaching and research. measuring rod of higher education.
He who ceases to learn also ceases to be a good The contents of elementary teaching are distilled
teacher of others. This was true even in the days from the sum total of human knowledge by a process
when human knowledge changed very slowly, since of simplification through omissions. Its illustrations
its truth is based upon the need for a continued sym-
and lessons need only be correct "as far as they go."
pathetic understanding of the difficulties of learning,
But there are no omissions behind which ignorance
based upon personal experience of the process. It is
doubly true today when the body of knowledge it-
can hide when the Museum presents the actual ma-
terials and specimens in their three-dimensional to-
self is so rapidly changing and progressing.

Having
tality, or when it undertakes to reconstruct the en-
provide for the continual education of
to
tire contents of an environment or the true sequence
the educators has therefore become one of the most
of a series of events. All levels of education are rep-
serious problems of modern teaching.
In the training of our children, the value of their resented in the audience to which the Museum ad-

own independent studies of the literature and other dresses itself. It cannot afford to allow errors which
sources of information is universally recognized,
might create false concepts in any visitor because the

without consideration immediate practical

of the visitor was a better observer than the Museum had
usefulness of the subjects on which they write their bargained For the proper performance of its
for.

themes. role in education, any museum must therefore have

But, in spite of this approval of the "student re- at its command a full knowledge of all it portrays,
search" method for the education of the pupils, there beyond any knowledge obtainable from schoolrooms
is little public sympathy for the educator's own need and textbooks. Its intellectual requirements are
to apply to himself the same method of individual re- those of an institution of higher learning, and only
search, as the only reliable means of maintaining the research can insure their fulfillment.

LX
Director,
•
^ . tSoyVTL
The American Museum
of Natural History
PLEASE LIMIT YOUR CALL TO FIVE MINUTES

When a Long Distance circuit is

crowded the operator will say: "Please

limit your call to five minutes."

Observing this time limit on essential

calls, and avoiding all unnecessary

calls, will help the whole war effort.

BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM k

November
MTURAT. HTSTORY 1943

Wheat and Civilization by IVissler • Strategic Rubber

Kings Canyon National Park - Nature's Armored Tanks

/'
l:imiMm:it. -r..ii....". tLi,— j|-.
"Henry has no interest in Junior's trains this year.
I gave him a gift subscription to NATURAL HISTORY!'
 NATURAL HISTORY The Magazine of the American Museum of Natural History

•*••**
Frederick Trubee Davison, President

VOLUME LII—No. 4
Albert E. Parr, Director

NOVEMBER, 1943

Ariel Toucan Cover Design

A bird of tropical America photographed at the Neiv York Zoological Park by Lila H ess

An Editorial ; Albert E. Parr 149

Teaching and Rcsearcli

Pangolins as Pets Arthur Loveridge 152

One of Nature's most expert "escape artists"

Treasure House of the Sierras — Kings Canyon National Park Joyce and Josef :\Iuench 156
A trip along the beautiful trails of one of our neic National Parks

Tools for Carpentry Versus Combat Harmsted Chubb

S. 168
Do you knoic that rodents deliberately sharpen their teeth?

Winter Coats John Eric Hill 171

Mammal "shopping season"

Wheat and Civilization Clark Wissler 172

Some hints on hoiv civilization began

^"bber Harold N. Moldenke 182

Strategic Pla?!ts III

Your New Books j„2

Letters j„-

You will find Natural History Magazine indexed in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
in your library

Publication Office: American Museum of Natural

^
*
Manuscripts should be sent to the Editor, The
History, Seventy-ninth Street at Central Park West, American Museum of Natural History, N. Y
New \ork 24, N. Y. ,^ •

iMagazme ,

subscriptions. Membership applications.

Editor: Edward M. Weyer, Jr.,
- Ph.D. __j
and aa-,,^,-^;^;^^
Advertising
•

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u u u
•' ' '
should be sent to
Art an'd Production: Frederick L. Hahn. Charles J. O'Connor.
Copyright, 1943, by the American Museum of Natural Historj', New York 24. N. Y.
Natural History published monthly (except July and August) at New York. N. Y.. bv The American Mu=eum of Xatnrat TTictnrv
is
Seventy-ninth Street and Central Park West. Subscription price $4 a vear. single copies fiftv cents Sub=crimioii" m rJ^=^,\Il'
foundland, and all foreign countries $4.50. Entered as second class matter March 9, 1936. at the Post Office a"t '\ew York nnrier th; Z,'
of August 24, 1912.
"
 ;

Pangolins
The animal whose hair has turned into armor plate
as PETS
value. Formerly each scale was worth
and which captures its prey with its tongue proves a rupee (32 cents U. S.), for it was
to be one of Nature's most expert "escape artists" commonly believed that a scale worn
about the neck protected the wearer

By Arthur Loveridge do serve a useful purpose, critics not- from a surprise attack by lions ! Many
Curator of Reptiles and Aniphilnans at withstanding! are the superstitions connected with
Harvard's Mnsettm of Comparative Zoology
Several years elapsed before I first the animal, among which is one that
<< ARE there anj' armadillos in set eyes on however
a live pangolin, it roars or cries out on hearing rain

J-\ Africa?" The question was then a native brought one to my camp and, at such times, is so strong that
*~- -*- put to me by a settler as he at Morogoro, Tanganyika Territory, nothing will restrain it. In South
walked into my office in the Natural wishing to sell it. An examination of Africa, where the creature was once
History Museum at Nairobi, in Kenya the strange creature now offered me fairly common but is now scarce, the
Colony. showed that was covered with leaf-
it natives credit pangolins with having
When I replied in the negative, he like overlapping scales from the crown some influence over their cattle.
wanted to know if I was very sure. of its head to the tip of its tail ; the Therefore, when a pangolin was cap-
"I don't wish to appear rude," said snout and belly alone were unpro- tured, the poor beast was put on a
he, "but could you show me a state- tected. The scales, being formed of fire in the cattle pen as a sort of burnt
ment to that effect in a book? I will hairs agglutinated together, reminded offering to increase the health and
explain later." one of the horn of the rhinoceros, fertility of the herd. It has been sug-
I showed it to him in a book and which has developed along somewhat gestedthat this superstition was to
then it transpired that a friend of his similar lines, though in a way less some extent responsible for the in-
had the five-foot skin of a scaly pan- obvious until a section is made and creasing rarity of the pangolin south
golin, which he insisted was an arma- examined under a microscope. The of Mozambique. The name pangolin
dillo. My interrogator had wagered scales of a pangolin are believed to be is derivedfrom the Malayan word
75 rupees (then about $24 U. S.) perfectly soft at birth, only harden- pengolin, referring to the creature's
to the contrary. Now he jubilantly ing on the second day, while the adult ability to roll itself into a ball.
departed to the Norfolk Hotel to animal supposedly has the power to When all was quiet, my animal
claim his bet. Presently he returned make them stand out from the body. cautiously unrolled, revealing a long
with the loser, so that the latter might It is these scales which are respon- pointed nose ; then it started to trot
be assured by the printed word. Ob- sible for the inflated ideas some na- away on the "knuckles" or sides of
viously museums and their libraries tives entertain regarding the creature's its feet. The forelegs looked painfully

^ From the crown of its head to the

'^ Mother Pangolin permits a hitchhiker even though her own feet
tip of its tail, the pangolin is armored
are constructed so that she has to walk "on her wrists." At birth, the
with overlapping scales. Only the belly
scales of this curious African animal are believed to be perfectly soft
and sensitive snout are unprotected
A MN H photograph by Herbert Lang Brian A. Love,

152 NATURAL HISTORY, NOVEMBER, 1 943

 A.M.N.H. photograph by Herbert Lang

A The Tree-climbing Pangolin uses its tail effectively in exploring the awkward, almost as if the pangolin
forests for termites. The under surface of the tail is armed with pointed scales, were trying to walk on its wrists, yet
which suppon the animal in climbing much like a telephone lineman's spikes despite appearances it managed to
move quite quickly. Its claws were
enormously developed for the pur-
^ Balled-up, a terrestrial pangolin becomes its own fortress
pose of digging out the termites
Photo by F. G. Carnochan
(miscalled "white ants") on which
it subsists, hence the necessity for
turning the claws inward when walk-
ing. Like the ant bear, the pangolin
captures its prey by means of its
tongue, which is elongate, glutinous,
and rather wormlike. Each time the
animal was disturbed by m}- inspec-
tion, it would give a little snort of
annoyance and abruptly roll itself up.
If I then attempted to pick it up, its
armored tail flew around with con-
siderable force, hitting the ground
with a resounding whack when there —
was nothing else in the way The ac- !

tion was very sudden, and the animal

immediately resumed its defensive pos-
ture,burying its sensitive snout in the
belly region as ahedgehog would do.
But the vendor wanted 27 rupees
•^ i^v
for it, a sum I was in no wise pre-
pared to give, so, much to my chagrin,
he departed. Five days later he re-
turned, doubtless having unsuccess-
fully hawked it round the neighbor-

PANGOLINS AS PETS
153
 climbs the sides and wrecks the net-
ting, it will still be safe," I thought,
as I put the case into a small stone
kitchen and saw to the fastening of
window and door last thing at night.
w Next morning, however, we soon
learned that the pangolin had left. It

had climbed the sides of its case, then

tugged and pushed at the netting un-
til enough nails were loosened to per-

mit it to squeeze out. From the box.

It had climbed to the narrow window

<The enormously developed

claws are used for digging into
termite nests. Then a long, sticky
tongue darts out to capture the
insects

A.M.N.H.
photo by
Herbei t Lang

hood m the inter\al. This time he

parted with it for a much more rea-

sonable figure. He arrived inoppor-

tunely at the close of a busy dav, but
with the help of my "boy" Salimu
I undertook to strengthen a chicken-
run sufficiently to retain the animal.

We worked for two hours, and dark-

ness fell before we had finished. The
pangolin was liberated in the run, and
I adjourned for dinner.
As soon as the meal was over I

took a lantern and went down to in-

Photo by F. G. Car
spect the latest addition to my menag-
A Sudden lashing of the tail causes bystanders to
erie. Lo! It was not! In great haste
keep their distance. This is the ground-living variety
I overturned the straw covering on
the bottom of the pen to see if the
pangolin was burrowing its way out,
though I had taken the precaution of result. The
pangolin was never seen sill, then reared up to claw at the

securely pegging wire-netting over the again ! was the recipient of much
I catch of the wooden shutters which,
beneath the sympathy from my native friends, who unfortunately, opened outwards.
entire ground surface
straw. There was no sign of the beast. told me that it was only to be ex- When the shutters flew open, the

attention to the pected, since nothing would restrain a pangolin fell to the ground outside.
Next we turned our
cage and so discovered that the
itself pangolin after it had made up its mind We trailed it for some distance into
creature had made its escape at a to depart. the bush until we could follow the

height of four feet from the ground Twenty years rolled by before once spoor no more.
again I was the proud, though tem- Within a month, strangely enough,
at a point where strips of netting
broadly overlapped but had been in- porary, possessor of a pangolin. On another of these curious armor-plated
Doubtless the pan- this occasion I was staying with a set- creatures came my way. This time I
sufficiently secured.
golin was pleased, even if I was not. tler at in central Tanga-
Saranda, was Dodoma, some 60 miles south-
at

Twenty provided with lan-

natives, nyika. Remembering past experience, I east of Saranda.At first I fed it on
terns and stimulated by the promise put the potential Houdini in a pack- minced raw meat and boiled rice, but
ing case, strongly screened across the ate so sparingly of the latter that
of a substantial reward, turned out it

to look for the truant —but without top with wire-netting. "Even if it for a time meat alone was provided.

N.^\TUR.-\L HISTORY, NOVEMBER, 1 943

 Then it occurred to me that boiled attempts proved unavailing, for at a new based on a male
race, {Pha-
meat and boiled eggs if minced to- last I had learned that only the strong- taginus tricuspis mabirae) which I ob-
gether might adhere to its sticky est of cages would hold such a crea- tained in 1938.
tongue better than the raw meat. The ture. Three months later was
it The lugave, as this pangolin is
change was greatly appreciated, and shipped to the United States, where called by the Baganda, is immedately
for a time the pangolin ate tremen- it arrived safely.
distinguished by its long and prehen-
dously. Presently, however, it dropped Besides the savanna-dwelling pan- sile tail, doubtless a considerable asset
back to about a cupful per night, golin (Smuisia teintninckii) of which to its owner when climbing about the
which seemed extraordinarily little for we have been writing, East Africa great forest trees in search of arboreal
an animal of its size —
for it was about can boast another species. For the ar- termites. Moreover, the lower surface
four feet in length. It drank fre- boreal pangolin of the West African of the tail, like that of the great flying
quently by putting its long C3lindrical forests occurs also in the great Mabira squirrels of this region, is furnished
tongue into a bowl of water. Often Forest, which covers 128 square miles with pointed scales, which serve to
itwould poke its tongue through the of Uganda. Cut off from the western support the climbing pangolin in much
wire screening of its cage and forests, this animal appears to be suf-
; it
the same way as do the spikes on the
spent much time clawing at the net- ficiently different from the West Afri- climbing irons of an egg-collector. In-
ting in an endeavor to escape. These can one to have merited description as deed the hind legs and tail can hold so
strongly to a tree trunk that the pan-
golin, letting go with its forelegs, can
lean over backwards almost to a right
angle with the trunk. It has been said
(but to me this sounds like a native
tale) that at times, rather than labori-
ously descend the main trunk, a pan-
golin will roll up and cast itself down,
erecting its scales so as to break the
force of the fall! Those scales which
have caused the wearer to be rather
aptly described as an animated spruce
cone!

<The overlapping scales blend

into the landscape a short distance
away. The animal is said to have the
power to make them stand out from
the body

^ Uncurling and ambling

off, the pangolin has been lik-

Brian A. Loveridgc
ened to an animated spruce
cone
A.U.N. H. photograph by Herbert Lang

PANGOLINS AS PETS
15:
 Treasure house of the Sierras
A camping trip along the trails of this newly estab- over 63 peaks over 13,000 feet in alti-
tude. Such a region can be knovi'n only
lished National Park reveals it as a shining addition from many points, and its trails must
to the heritage that is made permanent for our be traversed in leisure to be enjoyed.
Its streams must be fished to taste its
country in the preservation of its natural wonders
charm.
When was created March
the Park

The present road 4, Grant Park and

1940, the General
THE tional
name of Kings Canyon Na-
Park has such rich asso-
this primitive area.
only approaches the boundaries of the the Redwood Mountain area were in-

ciations for those fortunate peo- Park. To enter its great wilderness, cluded as the General Grant Section.

ple who have clambered over its rocky the visitor must go afoot or on horse- While they do not adjoin the main
from lush flowered back. section of the Park, they act as a gate-
trails or ridden
meadows to the very outposts of the Those who know this region of way to it from Sequoia National Park
flavor that of no great heightand sublime mountain or from Fresno. Shortly after leaving
sky, that its is like

other place — no, not in all the world. country hunger for the time when Grant Section, a fine state
brings the traveler to a crest in the
highway

One of California's natural treasure they will be free again to pile camping
it is only after 49 years of ef- equipment into their car and make for Sequoia National Forest where the
houses,
fort on the part of John Muir and the trails that carry one out of civili- high country of the Park stands in
sublime invitation. Deep gorges and
Stephen T. Mather that a large por- zation into these vast reservoirs of
has at last been designated peace. snow-blanketed peaks stretch as far as
tion of it
the eye can see._ Thirty-five miles
as aNational Park. Inherent in its es- Seven hundred and ten square miles
tablishment is the solemn promise that of incomparable mountain land, carved away we view the always arresting
no roads will climb out of the Valley by glacial action into the very heart of summit of University Peak 13,588 —
Fork the Kings. the Sierra Nevadas' 400-mile length! feet of granite rising in a glorious cli-
of the South of
Imagine three groves of Giant Sequoia max. This is visible all along the
Therefore, there will be no highways
four peaks over 14,000 and higher part of our route and from
to take away from the grandeur of trees, feet,
many other points in this section of
the park. To the northwest the out-
^ The swift waters of the South Fork of the Kings rush by as the visitor line of the country around the Mid-
approaches the point where he will set forth on foot or horseback. A scene dle Fork of theKings River looms on
near Windy Cliffs in the Kings Canyon Recreational Area the horizon, jagged, tumbled, awe-
inspiring.
We rolled quietly to the spot where
the wonderful road drops into Kings
Canyon. First there is the great pano-
rama of snow-covered peaks to entice
one with their air of calm detachment

and peace. Then, as the nose of the car

points down, the attention is riveted
upon the juncture of the Middle Fork
and the South Fork of the Kings.
Coming from "Himalayan" sources,
the Middle Fork fights its way
through a mighty gorge. The South
Fork hides its beauty for a later mo-
ment. Together they whirl away to
where later the North Fork joins

them, and off they go into the San

Joaquin Valley and ultimately to San
Francisco and the Pacific.
The river below is still a ribbon, a

thing upon which you gaze dizzily,

trying to guess how far below it winds
its tortuous way! Deep into the can-

yon the road sinks, past the needle

points of the high "Windy Cliffs."

Not until the road actually crosses it

near Boyden's Cave does one come in-
to contact with the life-force that is
the South Fork of the Kings. Stand-

ing at the edge of the stream, one

al-

so
most involuntarily draws back,
ECINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARK
By Joyce and Josef Muench

A Portal an unspoiled wilderness: the sign that tells the

to
new wonderland, which year by year will
traveler he has reached a
become known to more and more people who love the mountains
^ On the trail to Boyden's Cave: a view of the South Fork of Kings River
 —

great is the force and energj' of the

flow of water. Every stone in its way
seems to drive it to new rage, as the
water whips itself to a continual fury
KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARK of white. Like a magnificent beast be-
side itself with anger, it shakes the
earth with the power of its lashings
and fills the canyon with the echo of
its mad voice.
Already one is enchanted with this
country. The watches the
eye first

noisy river lest it slip its leash and

grab at the unwary then your gaze ;

seeks the cliffs and rises bounding to

great heights. Here are sharp points
that pierce the sky and green shelves
where the Yucca laughs at the dizzy
cliffs and the river below. We climbed

to one of them, first zigzagging across

a slippery patch of dried grass, white
beneath the June sun, and then over
some loose shale to a comparatively
safe place to catch a picture. Two tall

specimens of the Lord's Candle rose

from separate rosettes close together.
About 10 feet in height they were
fragile chalices of light, their great
panicles of bloom fittingly set in this
r.„.
C«ve CEDAR
GROVE canyon.
Recreational Area
SEOUOIA
NATIONAL Lookout Peak The road winds through the gorge,
FOREST Sentinel
"°""' climbing gradually, and the river ca-
Horse Corral
GENERAL GRANT Meadow Zurriwalt vorts and throws itself about, only oc-
GROVE SECTION Meadowi
Deerhorn Mt.
casionally smoothing out as though too
Forester Pass
Junction Peak
exhausted for the moment to do any-
p^^SSS Authorized Extensie
General Grant Grove Sectio
thing but move quietly.

1 West Spur The highway ends at Cedar Grove,

2 East VideHe and a little beyond begins the Park
3 West VideHe proper, a region traversed only by
O I 2 3 4 5 MILES
4 Junction Meadows
5 VideHe Meadows
trails. The ten miles of road along
the river are part of the Kings Canyon
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PAWC'
Recreational Area, which is not in the
Park but by agreement with the For-
'^ Mirrored calm waters of lovely Lake Hume one sees the rugged
in the
is administered by the Park
est Service
peaks of the Middle Fork country. The Sequoia trees in the left fore-
Service. A glance at the map will show
ground may some day be giants, in the land where time is forgotten a long narrow piece of land that has
been withheld from the Park as a pos-
sible reservoir site in this canyon.
The Valley of the Kings is 4600 to
5000 feet above sea level, while on
either side rise mighty cliffs. These lift

beyond in a complicated series of

ridges and basins embracing in all

some 450 square miles that empty

their streams into the valley. So that
allalong the road and then the trail,
gladsome streams can be seen dripping
from the cliffs into the already vigor-
ous stream of the Kings River. The
trails lead through bowers of whisper-

ing pines and sunny open

and firs

places, flowered meadovs's and closely

shuttered lanes where alders, willows,
and fern brakes make beautiful set-
tings for the flowers of spring and
summer.
Roaring River enters the South

159
 ;

Fork from the south side as such a

powerful stream in itself that one
would expect it to swell the Kings past
the bursting point. A bridge, sturdily
made with big logs, spans
it, and one

can stand upon and defy the swirl-

it

ing white waters that reach up as

though to pluck the saucy pigmy from
its place of safety. Here we glimpsed
the cheery water ouzel, darling of the
waterfalls. One moment he was bob-
bing and dancing among the rocks
then, swiftlyfollowing in flight the
bend and drop of the water, he was
gone like a phantom, as though into
the white stream itself.
The Zumwalt Meadows spread out
to the very edge of the great cliffs, full

of flowers and marshy growth, while

Grand Sentinel stands above in its
monumental strength, shrinking man
to ant-size. But on every side new
beauties unfold, and soon the noise of
Copper Creek, bursting into many
small streams in its great haste to join
the river, adds to the clamor of the
Kings itself. The trail pushes its lei-

surely way on and on, climbing stead-

ily to where the bridge crosses the
river beside the junction of Bubbs

A Grizzly Falls: a delicate cascade with a menacing name. In '^ Far from the cares ofcommunity life,
bowers like this, many birds add their voices to the rushing of the this clear-flowing mountain stream is typi-
water, and the nature lover has good opportunity to study wood- cal of many that lure the fisherman to the
land life wilderness in this section of California

m ^t
 > Beautiful panicles of Yucca Whipplei attract
the interest of the botanist on a steep slope looking
across to Windy Cliffs in this section of the Recrea-
tional Area adjoining Kings Canyon National Park

^ A STURDY BRIDGE permits a view of Roaring River

at close quarters. One almost hesitates to stand in the
presence of its living force, as the water, making a
sharp bend through a narrow gap, screams as though
in disapproval at having to go around an obstacle

^^..•^
< Trees, clouds, and surprising walls of rock offer
innumerable views for the cameraman in Paradise
Valley

V A WINDBLOWN WHITEBARK PINE persists against the ele-

ments almost timber line in Kings Canyon National Park.

at
In the distance rises the ragged crest of Crater Mountain
 y^a«fc'-^-:^v^

A Majestic University Peak: a part of the beautiful chain of next turn yields a vista up Paradise
make up the eastern scarp of the High Sierra.
lofty mountains that Valley where the main river comes
Rising above lingering summer snow fields, its rugged crags and down from the north. The walls of
spires pierce the limitless blue to an altitude of 13,588 feet the canyon appear in profile, like
graven giants guarding the path of the
river that is remote and quiet in the
Creek. Here the trail splits and we begin to pull the trail swiftly out of distance. Climbing from 5200 feet at
follow up Bubbs Creek. the valley. At every turn the view the Paradise Valley Trail junction,
After crossing the creek several back into the Canyon of the Kings be- we have reached 6500 at Sphinx
times over low bridges, switchbacks comes more magnificent. Then the Creek Trail. Above us the Creek

''
Beneath mighty cliffs, the ice in Kearsarge ^ Burros carried the provisions, so the hikers were able to enjoy the
,ake yields gently to the summer sun: another full pleasures of this invigorating wonderland. Beyond Bullfrog
reath-taking view in the region opened up two Lake may be seen the amphitheater of Mount Bago. This is a glacial
ears ago under governmental protection cirque, which in the Ice Age was the birthplace of a glacier
 Jg-fe. »v»Vjf

:-^.'

^*^ -'^'A.

"^^^
M.

seems to be falling headlong over the A From jewel-like lakes, the eye rises over aprons
canyon walls in what looks like a lei- of snow and rock to the towering Kearsarge Pinnacles
surely drop, belied only by the white
foam into which the water is lashed
in its plunge. The next seven and a crossed,with Bubbs Creek frothing peaks and inspiring vistas to the south,
half miles of trail go through pine- through the rocks and roaring as it traverses the main Park
section of the
clad hills with occasional meadows, all gleefully makes its escape into lower from south and is the main
to north
lifting tirelessly as though striving to- canyons. Now the around
peaks all summit-trail route between Sequoia
ward the peaks that keep the eyes are to be seen more and one is
clearly, National Park and the Yosemite Val-
straining upward. Massive Lodge conscious of the elevation in some ley. It was named after the famous
Pole pines are found here, particularly subtle way. The air seems clearer, and naturalist and founder of the Sierra
at Junction Meadows, where the ele- the world gleams like a n.ew thing. At Club, who so passionately loved this
vation and precipitation appear to be Vidette Meadows the stream wanders region and foresaw its value for fu-
ideal for them. Birds are everj^^vhere, through flat land, to the delight of the ture generations. To the east the
singing and flying in such numbers fisherman who will come many miles Kearsarge Pinnacles look blunt and
that they fill the atmosphere with to cast his line in these waters and ; heavy. Their finely-cut features are
their joy. The California mule deer beyond, the walls of the mountains best seen from the north. Every foot
leaves his track upon every trail and go up breathlessly. East Vidette, that of climb in the trail is rewarded by the
can be seen particularly early in the perfect mountain with the shape of a increasing beauty of the view of the
morning and in the evening. This i? freshly made cone, rises in sharp lines Videttes and the Center Basin Coun-
the haunt of the black bear and all the to its fragile peak 12,742 feet above try, with Center Peak looming in the

lesser folk of the forest — the coyote, Behind it is East Spur, lead-
sea level. background.
the fox, the squirrels, and the chip- ing up to Deerhorn Mountain. This Bullfrog Lake is reached at 10,634
munk. Even when they do not show peak in turn sends forth the West feet. Now we are almost at the timber
themselves there are many signs of Spur, which terminates in West Vi- line. Theincomparable forests that
various animals. dette ( 12,229 ft-), on the other prong rise about 8,000 feet and include
to
The two miles between Junction of the antlers. thirteen conifers and as many broad-
Meadows and Vidette Meadows are The John Muir Trail, which comes leafs, are gone. In keeping with the
mostly up. A great talus slope is in here from a succession of wonderful rugged, naked rocks and peaks are the
shorter and stouter trees that show not only over the high country of the the west side of the Kings. The trail
their struggle in irregular branches Kings, where Bullfrog Lake looks like climbed gently but firmly, always ac-
and twisted grain. The Jeffrey Pine a four-leaf clover, but eastward down companied by the voice of the river.
and the Sierra Juniper perch on high the slope of the Sierras and out to Every so often we went through ca-
ridges, and the Whitebark Pine lies Owens Valley, which ends mistily in thedral arches of trees. The roar of
prostrate upon summit rocks as though the mountains hiding Death
desert the river died away to the muted back-
hurled there by the heavy winds. Even Valley. Wecan even see beyond these ground music of a great organ, and
in the latter part of June there is ridges to Nevada's peaks —
a view sub- from the throat of a bird came an
snow all around. It is melting away lime in its beauty and breath-taking ecstatic, flutelike song to carry the
on the meadows except for the slight in its distances. melody.
freezing over during the cold night, Dominating the landscape from In low places the whole scenery
but there is a feeling of being "up in every point and now clearly to be within the background of the treeis
the snow." Peaks of 12,000 and 13,000 seen is University Peak itself. During changed. From a dry sandy trail cov-
feet are in the vicinity, each with its all of the 35 airline miles from that ered with oak leaves or pine needles,
own bold outline, its own majestic distant highway, this view had lured the footingbecame moist. Fern brakes
grace. There are the serrated crags of us. Sunset flushed each ridge with added a green, and flowers
light
the Kearsarge Pinnacles, with their pink, then all was dark. The peak was peered expectantly from everywhere
several lakes clinging to their stony the first morning
point to catch the underfoot. Sego lilies, Indian paint
knees, as it were, and Bullfrog lying light and glowed like a lamp of hope brush, Brodiaea, and a host of other
at their feet. The East and West Vi- in a cold dark world all day it seemed
; spring things grew abundantly. The
dettes rise clearly into unbroken sky, to catch the spirit of the changing white bloom of the thimble berry and
and Mount Bago (11,868 feet) with light and rising wind. the wild cherry were there, likewise
its ring of peaks like the beads on a We retraced our steps to Vidette milkweed with its dropping head, and
necklace fills the sky to the west. Meadows and then down to the Kings every so often, the lovely saprophytes.
Mount Gould completes the circle again. A little later in the season we The way became steeper, and the
around the lakes, and up its flank could have gone over Glen Pass to river echoed the rise in elevation in its
climbs the trail to Kearsarge Pass at make a circle and come down through greater noise and speed. As we kept
11,823 feet. From there one can drop Paradise Valley. rising and climbing the talus slopes,
down in a few short miles to Onion At the junction of Bubbs Creek we with the walls of the canyon pressing
Valley and thence to Independence turned right and followed up along on our left, we came to Mist Falls.
in Owens Valley. The eye can sweep

:* Vidette Meadows, with West Vidette commanding the

^ East Vidette beckons the moun- scene from an altitude of 12,229 feet. Here Bubbs Creek pro-
taineer on this section of the John Muir vides a paradise for fishermen as it meanders through the
Trail meadow
 Here in a series of drops the river
tumbles from one ledge to another
with such force that sheets of spray
are thrown
into the air. I have never
seen water throw itself with such
abandon surely every single droplet
;

of it is torn asunder as it hits that last

shelf of rock and rises in a cloud
like a living thing, bathing the whole
vicinity in moisture. There are sev-
eral places where it is possible to walk
out to the very edge of the water and
watch it flinging on its way, but so
great is the -force, so determined the
movement, that one draws back
afraid. Freed from long winter cap-
tivity in snow upon the mountain
slopes the water seems to glory in its
freedom and power to move; and no
words or pictures can show its naked
A Design in snow. As though to uphold the tradition among so many force.

other natural beauties, this drift beside a mountain stream grows At about 6500 feet we entered Par-

old gracefully and provides an unusual spectacle for the passer-by adise Valley and followed along the
South Fork for another four miles.
A delightful variety of changes was
* Above the zone where trees of lesser stamina succumb, this rung on the same pattern that we had
fallen monarch lifts its arms defiantly against the mountain sky seen before, with meadows, pine-cov-

i\v:
 —

ered slopes, gently rising hills, and Arrow Creek could be seen as itmade the marmot dwells in talus rocks close
talus slopes with brisk switchbacks. its leap from the very top of Arrow to and the tiny pika or
the water,
Always there was the feeling of ris- Ridge, like a white mask over the cony makes hay while the sun shines,
ing, if not on wings, at least most where imagination easily painted
cliffs, carrying grass to his winter store-
determinedly on our own feet to the the winking eye of an old man. houses. The Clark Crow screams
promise of ever more beautiful sights. At the ford next morning the among the stunted juniper trees, and
As we took a short detour up the side sturdy little burros went into the the wind howls through the great
of a hill to avoid a fallen tree on swift current with only a little urging passes of the high mountains. The
the lower level, a deer was startled and then carefully picked their way interesting slopes of King Spur guide
out of the brush by the sound of our across to safety. The foot bridge we the eye up to the peak of Clarence
feet. Though evidently in no great crossed was a good-size log about half King, and untold beauties lie behind
fear, it put on an astonishing exhibi- a mile up stream. Now following those ridges —more lakes and rivers,
tion of its ability to escape. It was Woods Creek, we climbed steadily more quiet meadows and myriad
a breath-taking sight to see the ani- through Castle Dome Meadows on water falls.
mal clearing logs with the lightness up to where we meant to cross the Wewatched the glorious sunset,
of thistledown and moving through Creek. The footbridge had been reflectedon the mountain peaks, and
tangled brush as though there were washed away, so instead we followed we wished that we might live up here
nothing there. At a delightful camp the north bank of the Creek up to remote from strife and confusion.
site close to the Kings River we spent about 10,000 feet, where we could Retracting our steps we saw again
the night, lulled to sleep by the steady see Mount Baxter, Crater Mountain, the things we had enjoyed so much
drum of water hastening on its way. and the Pinchot Pass. At this altitude before. The thrill of crossing the wild
swift waters again without losing a
bag or camera, the ease of dropping
down the slopes we had struggled
up Out of Paradise we came, reluc-
!

tantly, past Mist

and back to
Falls,
earth. The burrows, and "Buck"
"Pete," hurried as they approached
"home" at Cedar Grove, and they
were accorded a most hilarious greet-
ing by their fellow burros.
To us, those trails will always
beckon. Cold nights, the tiredness that
comes from long jaunts in the open,
the hunger that is amply satisfied
around a cheery fire, are part of our
desire to look those peaks in the face
again and to liveamong them.
Through war and the struggle to
re-establish a lasting peace, the com-
fort can be ours of knowing Kings
Canyon National Park, even while
we cannot see it again. For here is
such beauty as man forever strives
toward and an elemental strength of
form that uplifts the mind and
cleanses the spirit. It still awaits us
while the world rocks in conflict. In
sight of these towering slopes and
rushing streams the earth cries out
"Give me men to match my moun-
tains !"

< Homeward bound from the high

country of Kings Canyon National
Park, the trail takes the campers
down toward Cedar Grove and the
motor road

167
 —

branches and building dams, or pene-

trating the hard shell of a hickory
nut, the requirements are similar. A
rodent may prefer to excavate a leak
in the corner of the farmer's grain
bin, or —like the porcupine to exer- —
Tools for "tool
sculpturing talents on the floor
cise his
beams of a summer cabin, but the
chest" is always basically the
same.

Carpentry ing
sharp.
Tools must be kept
order.
It
A
in good work-
must be kept
chisel
has always been assumed
that the chisels of beavers, squirrels,
and other rodents are automatically

versus com bat sharpened while the animal uses them.

A tool that would continually grow
sharper instead of duller would be

By S. HARMSTED ChUBB * an invention that man might profit-

Research AssociateComparative Anatomy,
in ably borrow from the beaver, but this
The American Museum of Natural History is not really the case. I believe it can
be shown that in the care of his tools
a beaver or a squirrel is much more
We have long been told that Nature pro- like a human carpenter than we have
vided the beaver with teeth that are auto- supposed. In short, that he deliberately
sits down and sharpens his chisels at
matically kept sharp through use. intervals.

Actually he has to spend considerable The jaw of a rodent is very loosely

hinged, so that if the animal had to
time deliberately sharpening them, and you engage in violent combat, like a lion,

can see a squirrel doing the same thing tiger, or puma, this jaw would be
subject to serious dislocation. But it
is this apparent weakness that gives
the rodent its ability as a wood carver.

The looseness of the joint gives the

jaw an immense range of forward
and backward movement, fully % of
the carpenter enjoys one gle violently to resist his best efforts.
POSSIBLY an inch in the case of the beaver.
of the oldest and most honored While hard wood might be said to
When a rodent is passing the time in
crafts. His work requires intel- offer resistance, that resistance is of
tool sharpening, he thrusts the lower
ligent skill plus perfect tools. a definitely known character and
jaw forward and upward. Then with
The carpenters, lumbermen, or, if vastly different from the surprise
a vigorous up and down movement
you please, the hydraulic engineers moves and violent struggles of a 12- he chisels away the softer dentine
along the wooded banks of our lakes pound salmon, or of a 700-pound
from the back of the upper incisors
and streams, the beavers, work in a zebra stallion with which a lion must
with the hard enamel edge of the
somewhat similar manner in some needs reckon while hoping for a much
lower teeth. Thereupon the operation
strange way without the intelligence needed meal. Therefore, the beaver, reversed. The jaw is moved still
is
of the human carpenter. They have like other rodents, is provided with man-
farther forward and in a similar
the most excellent tools for their four beautifully specialized chisel-like
ner,with a somewhat more diagonal
comparatively limited purposes, and incisor teeth, with a hard enamel band
movement, the superfluous dentine at
marvelous power to operate them effi- on the forward surface while the carved
the back of the lower incisors is

ciently. greater proportion of the tooth is of

with upper
away by contact the
The beaver undoubtedly has diffi- softer dentine.
enamel edges, as shown in the illus-
culties to overcome. But, like the Whether the life work of the ro-
tration. While the dentine reinforces
human carpenter, he deals with in- dent happens to be hewing down
and supplies the necessary strength to
animate material that does not strug- forest trees, browsing on their smaller
the tooth, the sharpening operation
results in a perfect chisel-shaped tool
without unduly reducing its strength.
*S. HARMSTED CHUBB has been as- evolution of form and movement in ani- Perhaps you have watched a grey
sociatedwith the American Museum of mals, and the exhibits he has constructed
have often done, sitting
squirrel, as I
Natural History for many years and has for public display in the Museum have
won him on a branch after his meal, busily en-
many reputations. He contributed
has lasting recognition for scientific
greatly to the science of comparative anat- precision and artistry. The present article gaged in tool whetting. It is even
omy; he is an outstanding authority on on the jaws of animals reveals one aspect more spectacular to see a porcupine
the horse; and, not least, he is widely es- of a subject, which, like most of his other
standing erect on his haunches rapidly
teemed as a master of the art of conversa- professional activities, has fascinated him
tion. His special field of study has been the from bovhood. Ed. vibrating his jaw and "to hear the

i68 NATURAL HISTORY, NOVEMBER, 1 943

sound thereof," as this is quite a noisy
operation and cannot be mistaken for
the slower and more irregular sound
of gnawing. This music resulting from
tool sharpening is often heard at night
just outside the canvas wall of one's
tent.
If there is any slight irregularity
in the enamel edge of the tooth, it

leaves its mark upon the opposing

dentine, as can be seen by examining
rodent jaws. Furthermore, in the case
of the capybara of South America, the
largest living rodent, the normal
shape of the enamel is quite distinc-
tive, there being two convex surfaces
separated by a vertical groove. This
A Rodents could not keep their teeth sharp if their jaws
contour is clearly impressed upon the
were not so loosely hinged. When the muskrat's jaw is in
dentine at the back of the upper and
position for chewing with the back teeth as shown above,
lower incisors as a result of constant
the chisel-like incisors do not come near each other
tooth sharpening. With rodents in

general the surface of the dentine, A.M.N.H. photos

where it is carved away by the op-

posing teeth, tapers in a slightly con-
cave surface from the cutting edge of
enamel toward the gum-line, though
this does not apply so perfectly to the
capybara. In some species, the musk-
rat for instance, it is carved away even
slightlybeyond the gum, as shown
in the accompanying drawing. This
point could be reached only by the
opposing teeth and, of course, could
receive no wear during the gnawing
process or while chewing. Notice in
the illustration how the upper and
lower incisors are not in contact ^vhen
the back teeth are in position for
chewing.
The gigantic extinct rodent Cas-
toroides, almost as large as a black A But the animal is able to swing the jaw far forward so
bear, shows the same systematic carv- as to sharpen the lower teeth against the upper, and vice
ing away of superfluous dentine in pre- versa. Note how far out of position the chewing teeth are
historic times. In the dentine of the when the sharpening process is going on
upper incisors far above the cutting
edge of enamel there is an excavation
approximately one-half an inch deep,
which bears the unmistakable tooth
marks of the lower incisors and ob- >The hard enamel on the
viously could not have been made dur- face of the upper teeth carves
ing gnawing operations. away the softer dentine on the
Hence it seems clear that the ro- irmer surface of the lower ones
dent's "chisels" maintain their high
degree of perfection by deliberate and
systematic sharpening rather than by
wear, as stated by many eminent
writers.
The constant wearing away and re-

sharpening of these tools naturally

consumes much material. This is ade- ENAMEL
quately provided for by the continu-
< Similarly the upper teeth are
ous growth of the teeth throughout
sharpened by action of the lower
life. They move forth from their
ones. The teeth are curved and grow
sockets fast enough to compensate
continuously, so that the rodent
for the wear and sharpening. In fact,
must keep wearing and resharpen-
ing them or become helpless
Dra/wings by Helen Ziska
some of the rodents have gone so far sential to the carpentry work and tool mous zygomatic arch for muscular
as to apply this bright idea to the sharpening of the rodent. Also the attachment and a well locked hinge-
grinding teeth as well, for example lateral movement, common to most like jaw articulation, both of which
the beaver, capybara, gopher, guinea of the plant eating mammals, par- are characteristic of carnivores. But
pig, and others. ticularly to the ruminants, is absent what is the panda's chief food sup-
The enormous family of rodents, as in the carnivores, whose jaw might ply? Young and tender, non-resistant
a rule, are not aggressive, asking only remind one of a well hinged barn bamboo True, he may some-
sprouts.
to be allowed to gnaw their way door with wide and adequate swing times be reduced to the more mature
through life as they may find most in the essential direction, while other- stalks, the surface of which is ex-
expedient. How vastly different is wise restricted. This construction also tremely hard, but like the beaver's
the life of the carnivore, which must renders dislocation during violent tree trunk, they do not fight back. At
be constantly ready to attack. His combat practically impossible. In fact, the New York Zoological Park pan-
life depends upon successful combat, in dissecting a specimen it is extremely das consume great quantities of celery,
and his canine teeth (which are ab- difficult to separate skull and jaw. corn meal mush, and bamboo sprouts
sent in the rodents) are highly de- In the badger and at least one of the of domestic growth, but decline the
veloped for seizing and killing prey. otters the jaw is so well secured that offer of meat and in his native land
;

While the carnivore enjoys the full it is generally quite impossible to de- the giant panda appears to be a vege-
quota of twelve incisors, they are tach it without breaking or sawing tarian.
small as compared with the rodent's the bones. It is conceivable that in the course
four enormous, highly specialized and How pleasingly consistent these of onlya few thousand years the
continuously growing incisors. The facts are ! They seem quite as they panda might have completely changed
cheek teeth are adapted to the mas- should be. How gratifying when the his diet, whereas probably a radical
tication and shearing of flesh, par- facts support our carefully studied change in anatomical structure would
ticularly those of the cat family, theories. But occasionally, as if we lag far behind. If anyone will offer a
Felidae, in contrast to the grinding had carried our research a little too legitimate escape from the cul-de-sac
of vegetable matter among the ro- far, we are confronted with a puz- into which I have fallen by mention-
dents. zling condition which disturbs our ing the hingelike jaw and zygomatic
An equally interesting difference is peace of mind, or is it our egoism? arch of the giant panda in this con-
found when you compare the extreme The teeth of the giant panda are of nection, it will be most welcome.
jaw with the
mobility of the rodent's an omnivorous type, yet when we ex- Meanwhile, in any event, the na-
strong hingelike joint of the carnivore, amine the skull and jaw we would ture lover may find pleasure in ob-
as shown by the illustration of the certainly conclude that his life must serving a squirrel or beaver de-
puma skull. While the puma jaw per- be one of continual and hazardous liberately sharpening his teeth —an
mits a much wider gape than that of struggle with creatures almost or accomplishment for which these dili-

the rodent, it is quite devoid of the quite his equal in fortitude and ana- gent animals seem not to have been
forward-backward movement so es- tomical perfection. There is an enor- given proper credit.

^ Predatory animals like the puma, on the other hand, are built for combat instead
of "carpentry."They have strongly hinged jaws that permit no forward and back-
ward movement. A rodent's jaw would be dislocated if used for the same violent purposes

A.U.N.H photo

170 N.'\TUR.'\L HISTORY, NOVEMBER, 1 943

 WINTER COATS

By John Eric Hill elephant's tail, the bristles of a boar, turn white, but those that live in the
or the mustache of a walrus. Or it may valley and near the coast remain
Drawing by be fine, like the microscopic hairs of brown. Although weasels are ferocious
G. Frederick Mason fine wool or the underfur of a beaver. for their size, they are still small
Commercial fur may include the enough to be the prey of hawks and
AS the cold weather draws near, entire pelage or hairy coat of a mam- owls ; they are almost as much in need
iLA the fancies of many a young mal, but sometimes the long coarse of camouflage as the rabbits. The
* -Ik. woman turn to thoughts of a hairs are removed by processing. The arctic fox, found from Greenland to
new The mammals of forest
fur coat. roots of the long hairs are imbedded Siberia, is grayish brown in summer,
and field always get new coats, war or deeply in the skin, and shaving down but when winter comes it changes
no war, and without worrying about the inner side of a pelt cuts off these into a white coat. The blue fox, which
prices or fur taxes, for they grow their roots, letting the hairs fall out. The is only a color variety of this species,
own. By autumn the summer coats shallow-rooted underfur remains solid- remains the same color all year
have worn and faded, and even when ly attached. Beaver, sealskin, and other around. Both varieties liye in the same
new the summer coverings are less furs are treated this way. Raccoon, country, so the blue fox must have as
well supplied with woolly underfur fox, mink, and lynx are entire pelts. much need of protective color as its
than the mammals need for winter. Many mammals where the
that live changeable brother.
The old hair gradually loosens up and snow remains for several months Other mammals change color less
falls out while new hair grows in. change color in winter. Such animals radically!Shrews in winter and sum-
Most mammals do not change their are active during the cold season, and mer coats may look like different ani-
fur only in the fall, but also in the most of them are small and have mals sometimes a brown species be-
;

spring. sharp-eyed enemies, so the color change comes quite blackish. The red squirrel
Hair and fur are characteristic of is thought to be protective. The vary- is much redder in winter, and its ears

mammals. No other animals have hair, ing hares, better known in this coun- develop tufts. Even in New York we
and all mammals have some hair, even try as snowshoe rabbits, change from see the gray squirrel looking ragged
if they have no more than an elephant grayish brown to snowy white, except and moth-eaten. The new silvery fur
does or, like the whales, only peglike for their ear-tips. So does the white- makes the brownish summer coat look
bristles on the upper lip. Hair, like our tailed jack rabbit. The northern worn out, and bare spots often appear
fingernails, is a growth of the skin, weasels of both
Hemispheres, even where the new hair has not grown in
and is built of dead horny cells by a though they belong to several species, as fast as the old hair fell out. In
tiny "factory" in the hair-follicle. turn white in winter. In California spring, again, the winter coat will
Hair may be coarse like the hair of an the weasels that live in the mountains look just as worn.

WINTER COATS 171

; ^) •; >; >^^ '^ y^ ^^^^-^^<
'

WHEAT
AND CIVILIZATION
By Clark Wissler
Curator Emeritus, Department of Anthropology,
',Museum of Nattiral History

After several hundred thousand years of

tive hfe, how did man suddenly discover all the

basic inventions that underly our civilization?

Rendition of early illustrations i

PAUL RICHARD

m^^'Tj> TJ^ )^^ -^^^ ^^) o>>-»> )>) o »

After Carl Whitinci

Bishop, Annual Report
of the Smithsonian In-
stitution, 1940

A The spread of wheat cultivation tant traits in ancient civilization, we can

is indicated by the following approximate say that the area forwheat is also the area
dates: valley of the Nile 5000 B. c; Eu- of ancient civilization. Note again that
phrates and Indus, 4000 B. c; China, China and England are marginal and that
2500 B.C., and England 2000 B.C. Further, the elements of civilization reached them
the use of the cart, plow, and bronze last, diffused from the ancient centers of

spread over about the same area between Egypt, Sumer, and India
3500 and 400 B. c. Since these are impor-

NATURAL HISTORY, NOVEMBER, 1 943

172
 - RCHAEOLOGY tells us that ization, but archaeological research in numbers were limited by the amounts
civilization first emerged on Sumer around the year 1926 revealed of wild foods available and his ability
the edges of three widely sep- cities of a more advanced type than to seize them.
arated mud flats at the mouths of as in the Egypt of 4000 b. c. Then a few In contrast civilization arose some
many rivers, or around the deltas of years later cities on the Indus were ten thousand years ago and was
the Nile, the Euphrates, and the In- uncovered which threaten to contest scarcely under way before 4000 B. c.
dus.Each of these rivers runs the the lead of Sumer. Expert opinion, What amazing changes has mankind
main part of its course through an however, tends to concede a slight experienced during these last 6000
arid terrain, the world's greatest lead in priority to Sumer. Yet archae- years But even more astonishing is
!

stretch of desert lands. Westward ology goes further in giving satisfac- it that between 7000 and 4000 B. c.

from the Nile lie 2,500 miles of the tory proof that Sumer and her suc- were made all the basic inventions
Sahara; eastward, between the Nile cessors along the Euphrates passed on underlying our civilization. Nothing
and the Red Sea is a long narrow to Europe much of the "glory that so revolutionary happened before or
desert; between the Red Sea and the was Greece" and so can justly claim since.

Euphrates lies the great Arabian des- to be the "mother of Euro-American The change in the way of living
ert; between the Euphrates and the civilization." which set off this burst of inventive

Indus lie the semiarid and desert There is little reason to suspect genius was the discovery of agricul-
lands of Iran and Baluchistan imme-
; that these three centers of civilization ture and the domestication of ani-

diately east of the Indus is the Indian developed independently, since they mals. We speak of this as revolution-
desert. Though little rain ever falls are not only contemporaneous but ary because it was a radical step.

on the lower courses of these three when looked at closely their respec- Throughout the long stretch of Old
rivers, their upper branches traverse tive ways of living follow a common Stone Age time man simply gathered
his food when and where nature
made it available. For ages man was
^ Earliest centers, of civilization as defined by the ruined cities of On,
blind to his opportunities. Instead of
Ur, and Mohenjo-Daro, the best known early sites. Further explorations after
pursuing and killing game animals,
the war may lead to new discoveries and some changes in the picture
thus making them scarce and wild, he
could have lived in friendly co-opera-
tion with them, protecting and con-
serving them, and living in luxury on
The Three Great River Valleys
their increase by the simple device of
saving females and sacrificing the
males. His native intelligence would
soon reveal to him the principle of
improvement by selective breeding.
Within a generation or two he could
L , MOHENJO-DARO have come into control of his animal
food supply, instead of being depen-
dent upon what nature offered him.
All this seems so obvious to us that
we are moved to lament the stupidity
of man during 400,000 years of the
Persian Gulf
Old Stone Age.
Yet the less obvious was to dis-
cover what could be done with the
NNSYLVANIA ON SAME SCALE
seeds of wild grasses. We now know
that themost concentrated form in
areas where heavy rains are periodi- fundamental pattern. This pattern is which nature supplies food is in
cal, causing annual floods in the characterized by cereals, domestic seeds, but again it took man about
deltas. animals, the plow, the wheel, metals, 400,000 years to realize the signifi-
One would least expect to find the writing, calendars, and cities. It is dif- —
cance of seeds to see that in the ap-
dawn of civilization in such a setting, ficult to realize that these were then plication of his particular brand of

yet on the edges of these deltas we unique, novel traits of culture, ap- intelligence to the exploitation of
find the ruins of pre-dynastic Egypt, pearing in the world for the first seeds lay the key to his future. We
of Sumer, and of ancient India. Here time. And what is more they are still may never know just when and where
emerged the first planned cities the the fundamentals of civilization. some primitive genius first achieved
world ever knew, such as On (Heli- Again archaeology tells us that insight as to how seeds could be mul-
opolis), Ur, and Mohenjo-Daro, all man had existed for several hundred tiplied and improved, but we do
flourishing about 4000 B. C. thousand years before civilization know that with the raising of wheat
Until recently Egypt was believed happened. In the meantime he had in the region of the three great river
the oldest and so the mother of civil- overrun the entire world, but his deltas the first civilizations emerged.

WHEAT AND CIVILIZATION 173

^ ^^. .^ >^ .^^-^ .'^ ^ -^ 'i^^ ^^^^^:^^.^ ^^^ Q -t^ --^ ^^ ^ '^^^^:^-^4^v>:^^^>^<.:;;^ JV^.:^:^^^

WHEAT RYE

M Xx^\

u
 The Cereals
We gave the cereals first place in
the fundamental characteristics of civ-
ilization because that is the verdict of
history. The data from archaeology
reveal that wheat, barley,and millet
are the which appear first.
cereals
Later emerge rye, oats, and rice, all
originally wild grasses. From the
earliest known graves in the delta of
Egypt come seeds of wheat and bar-
ley.In the delta of the Euphrates
millet seems slightly earlier than
wheat and barley; in the Indus val-
ley, wheat appears with barley.
Everywhere wheat was preferred
as it is still. It is abundant in yield,

can be readily stored, preserved for

a long time, and easily transported.

Wild wheat (emmer) and barley sur- After James Henry Breasted, The Scientific Monthly

vive in a few localities, ranging from A Skulls proving Egyptians bred both hornless and long-horned
exist cattle,
Mount Hermon in Palestine eastward suggesting a long period of skillful breeding. 29th century b. c.
into central Iran both found growing
together as man probably noticed
them before he began to cultivate
them. Wheat is superior for bread be-
cause of its high gluten content, so
we may say that wheat bread is the
basis of civilization, proof of which
lies in its use as a symbol of life.

Domestic Animals
Not only are the ancient cereals
still of vital importance, but the lead-
ing food animals — cattle, sheep,
goats, and swine — are still the best.
Their bones appear in the remains of
these ancient first civilizations, and
there is abundant evidence of their

After James Henry Breasted. The Conquest of Civilizatior

^ Egyptians milked from the right A The donkey was the primary beast of burden and everywhere preceded
side. Cow's legs were tied to protect the horse. Women and children rode it, men walked. Egyptian drawing.
the milker. 28th century B. C. Pyramid Age
 early domestication in surviving
sculptures and frescoes on the walls
of temples and tombs. Aside from the
ox, the first draft animal to appear is

the donkey; the horse appears some

1,000 years later, and the camel still

later.

We and wall
find early sculptures
paintings showing the milking of
cows in stables. Many such pictures
found in Egypt appear modern in
After Leon Legraiti, The Un
of Penna. Museum Journal, 19 that the hind legs of the cow are tied
to prevent her kicking the milker,
A In Ur cows were milked from the rear, like goats, suggesting that the and the calf is kept in front of the
milking of goats may have preceded the milking of cows cow to check any tendency to "hold
up her milk," a trick still used by our
farmers. There are lifelike scenes of
cattle being driven and led from pas-

ture to stable. In one instance a man

walks in front of the cow with her
new-born calf on his shoulders, a
sure way to induce her to follow.
The wild ancestors of cattle, sheep,
goats, swine, and the donkey seem to
have lived in and immediately around
the three great centers in which these
ancient civilizations emerged. Hunt-
ing scenes in which wild bulls, boars,
and donkeys are pursued furnish evi-
A An ancient cartoon for a "bedtime story," showing foxes milking a dence that the wild species were not
goat, suggesting that people of the time milked goats from behind. We note immediately exterminated by domes-
further that the concept of the fox as a trickster is ancient, perhaps handed
tication. We suppose it was an acci-
down from the Old Stone Age. The original drawing was found at Ur
dent of nature that the wild ancestors

^ The of the best domesticated seed grains,

place and time for the origin of the wheel are obscure. Its distribu-
food and draft animals evolved in the
tion over the ancient world closely followed the ox and the donkey
same part of the world.
Aft.-r James Heiny Breasted. Aiicii-nt Times

The Wheel and the Cart

If you wish to evaluate the wheel
as a trait of civilization, try to im-

EGYPT agine what would be left if the prin-

1500 B.C. ciple of rotation were completely

blotted out. Power-driven transporta-
tion would disappear. Away would
go windmills, water wheels, steam
and electric power. All goods must
then be carried on the backs of men
and animals, in rowboats or in small
INDUS VALLEY sailing vessels. Even hand- and foot-
ASSYRIA
Before 2500 B. c, 900 b. c. driven machinery would be elimi-
nated. We cannot conceive of a
worthwhile world entirely ignorant
of the wheel. The earliest known
wheeled vehicles appear in Sumer,
four wheelers drawn by donkeys. A
little later we meet with the chariot,

NORTHERN f R or cart, first drawn by donkeys, then

\
by horses. Ox-drawn are
PEOPLES
1200 B.C.
I
y I

shown in ancient
carts, also,

drawings and sculp-

V /
ture.

'SiSy??^ii .M'2>i^^^r
 After Breasted, The History of Egypt

A Cattle crossing a canal. Two breeds of cattle ap- milk, and beef. The domestication of
cattle may have
pear in this scene, horned and hornless. Note the calf preceded agriculture. In our alphabet, "A" is of ancient
carried before its mother to lead the herd. The Egyptians origin, derived from the picture of an ox head, inverted.
took pride in their cattle, often showing herds on the Date of drawing about 3000 B. c.
inarch and in stables. The animals were used for draft,

f The Ox was sometimes used with a chariot in Egypt, as shown by this

The Plow wall picture. The passengeris appropriately a woman. The men drove horses

The old theory was that the plow Courtesy of The Metropolil
developed from the hoe, but now
that we have more data on the early
forms of the plow, it is clear that it

evolved from the digging stick, a

stick pushed into the ground to break
up the soil. Possibly the first plow was
drawn by men as shown in an Egyp-
tian wall picture, but in other Egyp-
tian drawings oxen and even donkeys
are yoked to the plow. In one of the
Egyptian drawings the grain seems
to be thrown so that the plow will
cover but a sketch on a seal from
it,

Babylon goes a step further in show-

ing a seeding machine, the seed being
dropped into a funnel which dis-
chargesit behind the point of the

plow. This is a near parallel to a

modern type of machine for sowing
wheat.
These ancient plows seem crude
and simple, yet the type survived un-
til recent times. Around 1550 the
Spanish introduced the plow and
oxen into Mexico and thence to the ^ The earliest portrayed war chariot had four wheels and was drawn by
Indians. As late as 1900 Pima and donkeys. Sumer, about 3000 b. c.
Papago Indians were using crude Courtesy of The Lihraiy of Science and Culture

wooden plows in Arizona and north-

ern Mexico, examples of which are
in the collections of the American
Museum of Natural History. Some of
these were provided with stone
points, indicating that the stone age
still The plow of to-
lingered here.
day, themodern mould-board plow,
was invented by Thomas Jefferson,
about 1800.

WHEAT AND CIVILIZATION

^-^5^

Peruvians Planiing PoiAiOEb

->^^:

A The aboriginal foot-plow was

an improved digging stick used to
turn sod and hard ground. Simple
forms of the foot or digging-stick
plow were used in western Europe
within the last century

< An Egyptian man-drawn plow.

Grain is sown by casting into the fur-
row. 18th Dynasty, about 1400 B. c.

Ift,i- Carl Whiting Bishop, Ann. Rept. Smithso

f Egyptian plow drawn by cows. Note the two handles. It has been pro-
posed that the Egyptian hoe, as shown at right, was the original form of the
plow. But the simple digging stick and its successor the foot-plow are now
considered the probable parental forms
astt'd, The History of Egypt
 No doubt the sowing of grain pre-
ceded the invention of the plow. The
Egyptians sometimes sowed wheat
and barley on the mud flats of the
Nile after the annual floods receded,
and drove flocks of sheep and cattle

over the soft ground to tread the

seed into the soil, not merely to plant
it but to protect it from birds. It is

possible that sowing wheat began in

the deltas by merely scattering the
grain after the waters receded. Farm-
Courtesy of the Uiii:: of Pcnna. Museum Journal. 1910
ing would thus be simple, since each
year nature would spread a fresh A Earliest known mechanical seeder. An ancient seal from the Eu-
phrates country shows this plow equipped with a hopper to receive and
layer of fine soil over the fields.
sow the seed
Inventions in the Long Pre-
Civilization Period

We should not overlook the im-

portant fact that man was a speaking,
thinking inventor for several hun-
dred thousand years before the rela-

tively recent civilization boom. Fire

was probably his first great invention.
Inventing a handle for the stone axe
was another great step. Twisting
<^
string was another. Then the inven-
tions of art — line drawing, sculpture,
clay modeling, color painting, per-
spective, and composition — all ap-
pear before civilization. The inven-
tion of needles in Solutrean time tells
of another great step. Again the
burial of the dead with mortuary of-
ferings proves that early man was by
no means slow in constructing a re-

ligious philosophy. The chart we give

for outstanding inventions during
the Stone Age speaks for itself. It

reveals part of the preparation man

had made for the rapid, astonishing
speed of achievement in civilization
when the release came.
r Flaked

Retouched flake edge

Retouched completely
71
experience with
how

inclined
animals,
to fight off the lions
carnivores to protect the peacefully
ruminants.
gave yearly demonstrations of plant-
ing crops of grasses and of irrigating
the marginal dry lands. So
begin to co-operate with the her-
bivorous animals and
he knew
and other

Nature herself

man

to
could

exploit
plants. Because of increasing food
FIRE supply, his own numbers increased
ItURIAL WITH MORTUARY OBJECTS geometrically, cities arose, herds mul-

/ HANDLES FOR TOOLS tiplied, and cereals improved.

The many pictures of kings killing
NECKLACE jJMU
lions, wild cattle, etc., may not be
AWL JHH just sport butsymbolic of man's war
ETCHING JHH against the wild animals from with-
CARVING 1^1 out that menaced the increase of his
<J> ^Monotone .jBIH tame herds and threatened his grow-
ing crops. Also there were envious
nomadic hunters on the outskirts,
learning to be farmers and herders
by imitation, ready to raid and dis-
HARPOON possess the civilized of their rich
Spear Thrower lands, herds, and cities.. New blood
and abilities were ready to displace
KNOWN INVENTIONS Clay Sculpture

the old to carry on to greater achieve-

LAMP
IN THE OLD STONE AGE ments.
HOUSES
Most of this is speculation, but
MASKS whatever the causes, it did happen.
Once man sensed that he could by
self -discipline more and
produce
As nomadic hunter man could
a deltas and narrow river valleys in the more food and comfort, a few cen-
never grow numerically strong. Even midst of deserts that civilization hap- turies would suffice to rear mighty

with the best possible social organiz- pened. The answer may be that these cities and great civilizations. Signifi-

ation, camps of hunters must be small were the most favorable places. As cant changes in the ways of living
and scattered. Critical studies of liv- local environments they were very would follow within a single gen-
ing conditions among surviving sav- much alike. What we do know is that eration.

ages gives no ground for believing these rivers flooded regularly once a Yet at the outset the ages-old no-
that the population of the world year, that the people found it easy to madic hunters might need something
under a purely hunting and gathering grow cereals there, that cattle, don- more than the shock of a strange
economy could have been large. The keys, swine, sheep, and goats were environment to break old habits; at

approximate land area of the world in the country. We expect these ani- least nature was kind enough to offer
is 50,000,000 square miles; the esti- mals would crowd into the fine feed- yearly demonstrations in sowing and
mated land needed per capita to sup- ing grounds of the deltas at least at irrigating. We shall never know, but

port a hunting population is seven to the times of the year when the pas- the facts we have hastily reviewed

ten square miles. Then in round num- ture on the arid uplands was thin- offer some hints as to how it may
bers the expected primitive popula- nest. When man was forced to seek have been that civilization arose
ion of the world in 7000 B. c. would refuge in the same place, he found around these river deltas as revolu-

not exceed 7,000,000 —about the pop- the animals in possession. Wild ani- tions in living. The explanation may
ulation of New York City. mals, wild plants, wild men, all lie in the commonplace circumstance
Yet we know that cities of mod- predatorily inclined, crowded into the that for part of the year man could
erate size accompanied the rise of same narrow river valleys, and, not graze his herds upon the dry lands
civilization and that achievements of unlike flood victims on a raft, were marginal to the rivers, while produc-
civilization would have been impos- forced by necessity to adopt a more ing enough grain and hay along the
sible without local concentration of economical use of space. Man's type borders of the river to stable-feed
thousands of adult human beings. of behavior was best able to cope the animals when pastures failed sea-
with this new situation. He may never sonally. What we call civilization
A Possible Explanation have faced the like of it before, but may be more than wise integra-
little

The reader may still be perplexed if so, he had failed. As a hunter with tion of farming and animal hus-
as to why it was just here in these several hundred thousand years of bandry.

l8o N.'\TURAL HISTORY, NOVEMBER, 1 943

 >• Egyptian war chariot. Well
trained horses were guided chiefly by
words, but usually by a separate
driver. The chariot spread to Europe
and was used effectivelyby the an-
cient Britons in wars against the
Romans
After James Henry Breasted,
Ancient Times

^ The Egyptian King Ramses III,

hunting wild oxen in the delta
marshes of the Nile. In the Euphrates
country, hunters speared lions from
chariots and sometimes from horse-
back
After James Henry Breasted,
A History of Egypt

^ One of the finest sculptures in

low relief depicts a wounded lion
struck by arrows and paralyzed by a
punctured spine. Ancient peoples
hunted probably not just for sport
but to protect their herds
iftcr James Henry Breasted, The Conquest of Civilizatic

WHEAT AND CIVILIZATION

RUBBER
ONE
By Harold N. Moldenke*
of the greatest mass migra-
tions of people in recent times
Loss of nine-tenths of the world's rubber sources to
Japan opens a new chapter in the story of one of
is now under way in the vast Nature's most important contributions to modern life
Amazon basin of tropical South Amer-
ica. This basin is larger than the
United States, and into it are pouring
thousands of laborers and their fami- million-dollar opera house, the Teatro guns, barrage balloons, scout cars, and
lies from other sections of Brazil, Amazonas, may seem more than the pneumatic rafts, to mention only a

Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, relic of a shattered dream. few military uses.

and Colombia. Whole districts of After months of tire and gasoline The sources of rubber are many.
Santa Cruz province, in Bolivia, are rationing and bans on pleasure driv- Hundreds of plants are known to pro-
being depopulated by the trek into the ing, the American public probably duce latex. The late Thomas A. Edi-
Amazon area. By the end of this year does not need to be reminded how son analyzed thousands of American
it is estimated that some 100,000 work- strategic rubber is in our war effort. plants for rubber potentialities. A
ers and their families will have moved All the world except Japan is today dozen or so have proved commercially
into Amazonas. gasping for rubber. In 194 1 the United practicable under certain conditions.
The reason for this mighty move- States imported over a million tons Some of these will be discussed in the

ment of humanity is rubber. Once be- of it. This year we need 600,000 more next article in this series.

fore in history there was a great rub- tons. Airplane tires, fdr instance, re- Most important of all the sources
ber boom, and the 273-year-old town of quire 33 to 100 pounds of rubber each ; of rubber is the Para rubber tree

Manaos, 1000 miles up the Amazon a supply truck uses 100 to 500 pounds ; {Hevea brasiliensis) , a member of the
River, became the center of a major a medium-size tank 1700 pounds. The spurge family and native to the Ama-
industry. Manaos lies on the black bulletproof gas tanks of big bombers zon basin. Here there are estimated
waters of the Rio Negro just above take 1250 pounds. A battleship uses to be some 300,000,000 wild trees,

where they join the Amazon. Now it 75 tons —

the equivalent of 17,000 which could produce 50,000 tons of
is again teeming with life and hum- automobile tires. It is essential in gun this "black gold" annually. In addi-
ming with activity. Once again its ten- carriages, pontoon bridges, antiaircraft tion, 10,000,000 choice seeds and

*Dr. HAROLD N. MOLDENKE early

distinguished himself in botanical circles at
Susquehanna University, from which he
graduated in 1929. Advanced studies led
him to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
at Columbia University. Most of his pro-
fessional has been spent with the
life
New York Botanical Garden, where he
was advanced to an associate curatorship
in 1937. In 1935 and 1936 he traveled to
England as a National Research Fellow,
carried on special studies at the Royal
Botanic Gardens and the British Museum
of Natural History, and visited the chief
botanical institutions in 13 European coun-
tries. He is a member of various scientific
societies and is especially expert in the
phases of botany that deal with the classi-
fying and naming of plants. He has col-
lected plants in 47 states and 16 foreign
countries.
In appreciation of advice generously
given him in connection with this and the
next article in the Strategic Plant Series.
Doctor Moldenke expresses his gratitude
to Messrs. G. L. Wittrock and J. Mona-
chino. New York Botanical Garden;
Misses Dorothy Richtberg and Alexandra
Kalmykow; the releases of the Office of
the Co-ordinator of Inter-American Af- A A
lYPICAL PEACETIME SCENE d rub m
fairs; and the periodicals Science News
bar plantation in the Straits Settlements
Letter and Agriculture in the Americas.

182 NATURAL HISTORY, NOVEMBER, 1 943

A LiFEBLOOD of progress along man's rough road: a young Malay boy gather-
ing latex, the elastic sap that smooths the way for a civilization on wheels

< A PANEL-LIKE CUT is made in the bark of the tree, severing the
latex vessels, which are in the innermost part of the bark. Above
the fresh cut an old tapping scar is seen in this photograph. The
bark renews itself in six or seven years

183
 1,500,000 seedlings are supposed to
have been brought out of the Far East
before invasion by the Japanese, and
25,000,000 seeds are being planted in
twelve tropical American countries.
More than 100 cooperative nurseries
have been established in fifteen coun-
tries, and nearly 30,000,000 budded
rubber trees have already been pro-
duced.
Scientific research and guidance are
being provided by five agricultural ex-
periment stations strategically located
in the rubber-producing areas. Agree-

ments for the purchase of rubber from

various wild sources have been made
between the United States and the
rubber-producing countries south of
the Rio Grande. Large funds have
been made available and are being
A Trees spent in the expansion of rubber pro-
that will mature faster and yield more rubber
duction and for health and sanitation
are produced by a delicate grafting operation. A flap of
bark is carefully cut away near the base of the sapling
projects to protect the workers. The
rubber tappers, working deep in the
^ The bud tissue from a high yielding tree heart of the jungle, are able to live
is inserted, and the bark is pressed back over it "off the country" to a large extent.
Dairy and farm projects are being
organized in the area in order to make
them completely self-sufficient. In one
of the largest public health programs
on record, swamps have been drained,
malaria controls set up, and sewage
facilities and water supplies improved
as staffs of trained personnel and tech-
nicians are moved to strategic places.
Half a dozen large hospitals are be-
ing built, and at least 50 dispensaries
are reported to have been provided to
give medical services. Many of these
are on motor launches, which can
cruise along the Amazon and its many
tributaries to reach places inaccessible
f Finally the bark covering the
bud is spirally bandaged by land. All rubber workers in Brazil
with paraffin tape, which is removed after a period of from have exempted from military
been
18 to 35 days. Growth of the bud provides vigorous sap pro- service. government-spon-
Intensive
duction on the already established root system sored advertising programs are appeal-
ing for more workers, who are as-
sembled in recruiting stations. A chain
of twelve rest stations is being built
across northern Brazil along the route
of the workers trekking into the Ama-
zon basin through the gateway of
Belem. Here they are provided with
shelter, food, water, clothing, and
medical supplies. Army transport
planes and bombers have flown Hevea
seeds and seedlings from nurseries to
new plantation sites in the long range
cultivation program. Tappers and sup-
plies have in some cases been dropped
by parachute. An aerial cargo trans-
port system has been set up to speed
the delivery of equipment, supplies,
medicine, and personnel to inaccessible
parts of the Amazon basin and to
bring out rubber and deliver it to con- search is now being made for native or the latex vessels ^vhich are in the
centration centers where it can be introduced rubber trees, once prized innermost portion of the bark. Tap-
picked up by river steamers. for their latex, then neglected, now ping begins when the tree has a cir-
These are some of the exciting facts looming again as one of the most cumference of about eighteen inches
which give evidence of how impor- valuable assets of the hemisphere. three feet above the ground, a girth
tant this rubber production program is Henry Ford's new rubber planta- it usually attains in six or seven years.
regarded by the governments of the tion at Belterra, Brazil, is located The tapping cut usually extends half
United Nations, and why the "Battle within a few miles of the spot where way around the tree, and its upper
of Rubber" being waged in Brazil and in 1876 Henry A. Wickham unwit- end is always to the left as the tapper
elsewhere has been called probably the tingly struck his devastating blow to faces the tree. Shallow vertical grooves
"biggest story in South America" the American rubber industry by ob- are made at both ends of the cut on —
today. taining 70,000 seeds of the Hevea the upper end to indicate where tap-
The rubber industry in Brazil has tree and smuggling them out of the ping is and on the lower end
to begin
been dormant since the shift to the country to England. These seeds be- to provide a channel down which the
East Indies some 30 3'ears ago of 90 came the ancestors of nearly all of the latex can run by way of a spout into
percent of the world's annual rubber 8,000,000 acres of Hevea rubber trees a collecting cup. When tapping begins
production. During the intervening in the East Indies and jMalaya, from on a new panel, several cuts are made
years the rubber gatherers had scat- which the United States obtained 93 to remove the bark gradually before
teredwidely. Unused native trails, percent of its rubber supplies in recent the latex-bearing cells are reached.
3000 miles from the mouth of the years. Now, with the Asiatic rubber- Thereafter only one cut is made at
Amazon had disappeared. Machete- producing areas in the hands of the each tapping, and tapping is done on
scarred rubber trees, scattered thinly Japanese, the industry comes back alternate days. On each tapping day
over an area as large as continental again to its original home. after the first a thin shaving of bark
United States, had again been swal- The operation known as tapping, is taken from the lower edge of the
lowed up by the jungle. Not only in by which the latex is obtained from previous tapping cut. Thus the bark
the Amazon region, but also in the a rubber tree, is in reality a form of is gradually removed as the position
Orinoco valley, in Mexico, in Haiti, bleeding. A downward 30-degree of the tapping cut moves slowly down
and in many other of the Western panel-like incision is made in the bark the panel. The thickness of the shav-
Hemisphere countries a frenzied of the tree, sufficiently deep to sever ing removed each time is about a

Billion Holmes fiom fw i n Gallo-^'ay

A The "bucket brigade" wades the Rewa River in 1 iji, L.irrjing latex from the plantation

RUBBER 185
 Screen Traveler, from Gcndrcau

A The stuff from which rubber ismade leaves throughout the East Indies grew in America. A
the tree as a milky fluid. A scene from Sumatra, devastating blow to American rubber industry
near the pre-war center of the world's rubber was unwittingly struck in 1876 when 70,000
supply. The ancestors of most of the rubber trees seeds were smuggled out of Brazil

> A MACHINE re-

sembling a clothes
wringer is used to
press the congealed
latex into sheets,
near Moeratembesi
in Sumatra
Philif D. Gcndrcau, N. Y.

< Sheet rubber in

a drying shed at
Singapore, the crude
rubber capital in
pre-war days
By Ewinci Gallowax, N. Y.
 thirteenth of an inch, and a careful to themulberry family and native only In Ecuador about 2,000,000 Cas-
worker, tapping every other day, will to Mexico. Some 9 other
southern tilla trees were planted before the
move downward over the surface at species of the genus, however, extend First World War but were neglected
a rate of about an inch a month. If from Mexico to Bolivia, Brazil, and after lower-cost plantations in Malaya
tapping is so deep that the wood is Peru. Common names in Central and Java flooded the American and
exposed, wounds will result and it will America and Mexico are hule and world markets. Rubber from these
be difficult (if not impossible) to re- caucho. Wild Castillo trees are found trees once sold for as high as $3 a
tap the same panel. In about three in open forests and on the margins of pound, but the price dropped to two
years the tapper will have progressed dense jungles. The largest trees attain and one-half cents a pound in the
down one side of the tree to near the a height of 150 feet and a trunk di- world collapse of commodity prices
ground level, and then he begins on ameter of five feet. The trunks have from 1929 to 1932. Two species, C.
the opposite side of the tree. Thus, buttressed roots when old and rather elastica and C. panamensis, are being
6 or 7 years are allowed for the tapped smooth, thick, light gray-green bark. cultivated in Haiti. In Ecuador's Ori-
bark to be renewed before tapping is Trees can be tapped two or three ente region rubber is harvested from a
repeated on any given side or panel. times a year without serious injury wild species of Castilla by the Yumbo
In 1940 and 1941 about 15,000,000 and with a fairly good yield each time. Indians. These natives have no need
rubber trees were planted in Latin Trees under ten years of age give very of money but will tap the trees for
America. So important was the trans- inferior yields, 20 years must
and colored beads and such useful domestic
portation of rubber tree seeds and elapse before tapping becomes really articles as cloth, thread, needles, fish-
seedlings that the Army furnished practical. Early tappers in the Amazon ing-lines, scissors, salt, machetes,
bombers to carry them from Liberia area used to cut down the giant trees rifles, cartridges, etc. Beads, once quoted
and Brazil to various distribution and obtain up to 50 pounds of rubber at eight cents a pound, now bring $17
centers. per tree. This practice accounts for a pound at Quito, the usual payment
Second in importance in the rubber the relative scarcity of large trees to- being four pounds of beads for lOO
industry is the Central American rub- day. The value of Castilla at the pres- pounds of latex.
ber tree {Castilla elastica) , belonging ent time lies not so much in new slow- E.xperts state that Panama has more
maturing plantations, but in wild
trees and in plantations established
many years ago and later abandoned.
AA PRIMITIVE CART rattles wear-
ily toward the waterfront of
Singapore, carrying the stuff that
permits an automobile to travel
60 miles an hour as though on air

Treasures of the East: rubber

and tin ready for export from Pe-
nang, Straits Settlements, now in
Japanese hands

Castilla trees in proportion to its size

than any other Caribbean area. As in

the case of South American forests,
the problem of getting out this rub-
ber is one of manpower and trans-

portation. The average Castilla tree

yields from I to 3 pounds of latex at

each tapping. By cutting down the

tree more rubber can be obtained at
one time, but the productivity of that
tree is naturally ended. The Canal
Zone is now supplying "scrap rubber,"
which is the hardened milky juice that
collects at the base of the Castilla
trees after they have been tapped in

herringbone fashion — a lower grade of

rubber than the smoke-cured sheets
prepared from more carefully collected
latex.
Before the turn of the century Cas-
tilla elastica was one of the three trees
that were close rivals in the produc- Hevea tree far exceeding that from by 1910 Mexico had 135,000 acres of
tion of the rubber, fast becoming im- either of the other trees, which can be Castilla plantations and exported over
portant as a commodity of commerce. tapped only a few times each season 8000 tons of rubber. About this time,

In some countries it was the favorite ; without serious damage to the tree. however, production of Hevea rubber
in others the Para rubber tree took Physiological and anatomical differ- was increasing tremendously in the
precedence; while in Java the Assam ences in the bark prevent the same Far East, where labor costs were
rubber tree {Ficus elastica) was most method being employed on the other lower and yields higher. The price of
popular. Environmental conditions trees. rubber consequently dropped. Mexican
which seemed to be the most suitable In Mexico and Central America and other American plantations were
for one species in a given country were the Castillo tree was always the most gradually abandoned, and since 1928
not satisfactory for another, and so popular. Its latex had provided the less than one ton of Castilla rubber
different species were chosen for culti- natives with rubber before Europeans has been exported from Mexico an-
vation. Plantation practices varied first set foot on American soil. Indians nually. The same was repeated
story
greatly, and many different methods of Mexico made large rubber balls in other Latin American countries.

of extractingthe rubber were em- for playing agame like basketball, in Now fabulous sums are being spent
ployed. Then, in 1897, a new method which rings were used as goals, set in seeking out Castilla and Hevea

of tapping Hevea trees was discovered. high on the walls of a specially con- trees, and veritable armies of men are

This method enabled harvesters to tap structed court. They also used rubber engaged in harvesting the precious
the trees without injury at intervals for waterproofing and to tip drum- latex, growing seedlings, breeding di-

of one, two, or three days throughout sticks. 1872 about 100,000 trees
In sease-resistant, high-yielding types, set-

the season, instead of only a few times were planted in Chiapas alone, and ting out more plantations, and
as had been done before. This is essen-
tially the method still employed today
and results in an annual yield from a

> Dock coolies handling crude

rubber at a Singapore wharf
By Ewing Galloway, N. Y.

V^ Some never reached port: negroes salvaging a bale of crude rubber washed

ashore from a torpedoed ship along the Florida coast. So dire had the rubber
shortage become, these men were paid about $75 for their hour's work
Photo b\ Gilbert L Campbell
improving the methods of processing
this "black gold" —
exciting and stra-
tegic prize in the Battle of Rubber.

[Next month —Other sources of

rubber : guayule, kok-saghyz, cryptos-
tegia, chilte, chrysil, norepoL]

< Toasting wild rubber sap into balls for

transportation from the jungle
(Kurt Severin, from Black Star)

< Re-development of rubber resources in

tropical America has brought into action
one of the largest public health programs
on record. Left, a worker in Brazil sprays
a swampy area in a rubber region to pre-
vent the breeding of malaria mosquitoes.
Hospitals and mobile dispensaries have
been established along the waterways and
other routes, and dairy farms have been
organized to support a new population in
the wilderness
(U. S. Army photo from Three Lions)

<New impetus to a type of rubber culti-

vation inactive since the East Indian boom:
a "plantation" of Castilla seedlings at the
experimental station of the U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture at Coconut Grove.
Florida
(Photo by Gilbert L. Campbell)

{Lower left) Planting seedlings in the

Fordlandia rubber plantation in Brazil:
part of a long term plan to make the West-
ern Hemisphere independent in this vital
product
(Kurt Severin, from Black Star)
* A Costa Rican workman, supported
by shoe irons and rope, taps a Castilla tree
(Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricul-
tural Engineering, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture)
 < Loading rubber into a plane
in the Amazon country: rapid
transit for a scarce commodity
which formerly traversed the
long, lazy cargo route from the
East

fi$
 THOMAS BARBOUR'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY • THE RAFT BOOK
GEOGRAPHY OF LATIN AMERICA • MAN: REAL AND IDEAL

The raft book organisms, diagrams of rule of thumb

navigational methods, etc. There are also
general topography of a duck and of cer-
tain morphological details are further
--------- by Harold Gatty two ingenious folded charts, one trans- aids.
parent and double-sided for star recogni- With this book, then, an observer in
George Grady Press, $3.25
tion and plotting, the other a world map Iowa, and there are many hunters and
others whose interest in birds does not go
CAPTAIN GATTY, of the Royal Aus- with detailed supplementary information
Naval Air Forces, was the
tralian and tables revealing the length of the day far beyond the game birds, should be able
navigator of the late Wiley Post on their and the true direction of the sun for all to satisfyhimself as to the identity of the
epic two-man flight around the world. dates and geographical positions. ducks, geese, and swans that he may en-
Coming recently to the United States from counter in the state. Since these birds have
R. C. M.
the battle zone "down under," he set about wide ranges, there are many regions apart
the completion and publication of a "sur- from Iowa where the volume should be
vival text" for the benefit of castaways. Waterfowl in iowa of much service. Apart from the simple
identification of species, there also
In scholarly conception, imaginative - - - - by Jack W. Musgrove and
much information on behavior and other
is

charm, breadth and variety of data sub-

mitted, richness and vividness of illustra-
Mary R. Musgrove characteristics that will be found of inter-
tion,outright practicality, and beauty of est. Appended chapters deal with such
State Conservation Commission,
make-up, this book is easily the leader things as variations in waterfowl plum-
Des Moines, Iowa, $1.00 age, migrations and flyways, enemies, and
among several issued with the same pur-
pose since the outbreak of the war. It is a THIS convenient little volume presents lead poisoning. A systematic list of all

bibliophile's treasure, in addition to its in concise form many salient facts con- North American forms of the order is ad-
usefulness. The Museum takes pride in cerning the characteristics of the 34 spe- ded, and a glossary of technical terms and
the author's generous acknowledgment of cies and subspecies of waterfowl that an index to the scientific and vernacular

assistance in the final stages of prepara- have been recorded with certainty from names are supplied.
tion by members of its scientific staff. the State of Iowa; ten additional forms The work is not intended as a technical
Like all master navigators. Captain are more briefly mentioned, two of them treatise but rather as an aid to those who
Gatty realizes that pathfinding at sea is as of accidental occurrence and eight as would become better acquainted with this
an ancient talent, still possible under hypothetical. interesting group of birds within the lim-
force of necessity by the simple means Uniform treatment is accorded the forms itscovered by the title. As such it should
available to Columbus, or to the Viking, of positive occurrence, with the same se- meet a ready and deserved welcome.
Phoenician, and Polynesian voyagers who quence of paragraphs on "description," John T. Zimvier.
long antedated the Great Admiral. That "field marks," "call," "breeding range,"
fact, indeed, is the thesis of his work, of "migrations," "winter range," "nesting,"
which the opening sentence reads: "This "food," and "Iowa status." It is thus easy Naturalist at large
book has been written for those who, to make comparisons among the various -------- by Thomas Barbour
without previous experience in navigation forms in respect to any of these factors.
and without navigating instruments, find The simple "description" is expanded Boston: Little, Brown & Co. An Atlantic
themselves small craft in the open sea
in when necessary to cover the various plum- Monthly Press Book, $3.50
and who have to make their way to land." ages of age, sex, and season, and the
Within the space allowed, the only way account is kept as simple as is consistent THE
ing
reviewer wonders, while devour-
and highly personal
to indicate the scope of the book is to list with clarity. A series of eight excellent this sprightly

a number of its 29 sections:
Birds as Winged Pilots; Migration of
Insects; Land-sighting Birds as Navigat-
ing Instruments; Land Indications from
Sea Birds; Fish and Other Surface Life;
The Scent of Land The Sky as an Indi-
;
cator of Land; Directions from the Waves
and Swells; Ocean Currents and the
Color of the Sea; Estimation of Dis-
tance; Use of the Base Chart; Measure-
ment of Angles; How the Polynesians
Used the Stars; Directions from the Sun
and Moon; How Far You are North or
South Winds, Ocean Currents and Tem-
;
peratures; Ocean Rainfall Charts; Mak-
ing the Landing.
There are 29 plates, of which 14 are
printed in two or more colors. These illus-
trate the stars, representative sea birds
of all oceans (by Jaques), cloud reflec-
from land masses below the horizon,
tions
wave forms adjacent to islands, and ocean
currents. Twenty-two additional figures
include typical high-seas fishes and other
Migratory colored plates by Maynard F. Reece illus- autobiography, whether its fascination is
trates 36 of the forms in various plum- wholly intrinsic or whether the common
ages, and assists pronouncedly in the conditioning of author and reader may
identifications that may be needed. Length, not weight the scales heavily in its favor.
weight, and a variety of vernacular names Only time and the general response can
are given also for each species or sub- answer that question. Most of us tune
species. A synoptic key and plates of the easily to the great natural history books
we know by heart, the parts of the world
we have seen or dreamt about, the heroes
whose disciples we aspire to be, or their
worthy successors whose comradeship we
THE NATURE LIBRARY share.
Artcraft bound, decorations in gold, 5% x 8%, Possibly Doctor Barbour has written
1800 pages, 288 pages of Animals, Butter- only for such as belong to his tradition.
flies, Flowers, Trees, and Birds in color. The Certainly for every naturalist and every
7 Volumes include Nature's Program, the museum man he holds up a glass that
year around guide to Nature's calendar of
reflectsfragments of the past, the present,
events. Published at $19.50. THE LITERARY and the things to come.
MART, 411 West 125th Street, New York, Few men have seen as much of crea-
tion as the author; few in middle life
N. Y., offers this set to Members for five
days' free examination. Price of set S14.00,
have attained half his deep human con-
down, $3.00 monthly. Cash tacts; still fewer have kept such a clear,
payable $2.00
same return privilege. detailed, and uninhibited record. To an
Price S12.00.
extraordinary degree he leads us into a

T92 X.\TURAL HISTORY, NOVEMBER, 1 943

charmed circle that centers in the bosom Geography of latin
of his and stretches
family spaciouslj'
outward and backward.
AMERICA
Theorganization of the book is sui bv Fred A. Carlson
generis and, in small part, repetitive.
Prentice-Hall, $6.00
Certain sections, charming in themselves,
seem unrelated to adjacent text. Yet, in THIS is a revised edition of a stand-
the end, the jumbles complete their pat- ard work that had already required
tern under the three main headings, "The five printings since its original appearance
Making of a Naturalist," "The Seden- seven years ago. The new book is well
tary Naturalist," and "The Leisurely Nat- justified by the strengthening of inter-
uralist," comprising in all 24 chapters. American friendship that has resulted
Stirring passages are too numerous to from our own growing interest in Latin
cite,but are exemplified in the wedding American nations, "not only on the part
journey through the East Indies, the lo- of officials of the Government and lead-
cust storm in South Africa, and the me- ers in education but also on the part of
morial to the author's son. Humor is plenti- the public as a whole."
ful and explosive. When Barbour asked In addition to bringing all statistical
Mr. Lowell, "Why doesn't the present ,
and geographical information up to date,
generation produce any of the curious Professor Carlson has added extensively
figures that stalked across the Harvard to his earlier text, the new material in-
stage a generation ago?" the President re- cluding a chapter on the cultural heritage
plied, "Buy a mirror." of Latin America and another on evolu-
But was Doctor Barbour's tongue in or tion of the political pattern in the numer- ZheKitd Covet'sQift
when he wrote: "Harvard
out of his cheek ous republics. The former chapter deals colored reproductions in
Beautiful
and Brazil have long been allies"( ?). in summary with the pre-Columbian civil- lithograph of Roger Tory Peterson's
R. C. M. izations, the earlier and recent phases of latest bird portraits suitable for fram-
immigration, the place of the transplanted ing. Series includes these favorites:
Negro (of which there are 23 million (above); Blue Jay; Cedar
Garden islands of the south of the United States), and the gen-
Cardinal
Waxwing; Baltimore Oriole; Red-
great east eral cultural characteristics and outlook.
winged Blackbird; Rose-breasted Gros-
-------- bv David Fairchild Such subjects are treated also with added beak. Large size (above) 22"x28" is
but not overlapping detail in later sec- S7.50 prepaid, size 17"x21" is $3.75.
Charles Scribner's Sons, $3.75 tions, such as that dealing with Japanese

DAVID FAIRCHILD
DR.Java and other East Indian
in 1895, as a young botanist.
first

Between that
visited
islands
settlement in Brazil. All the chapters of
the book are followed by well selected
lists of references.
MO I R
33 Highbrook Ave., Pelham, N. Y.
A' S
The bulk of the work is devoted to geo-
time and his return to the region in 1940 graphic description of two inclusive areas,
he had continuously worked as an enthu-
siastic plant explorer of the whole world,
especially of the tropics. His recent book
is a delightful account of several months

spent chiefly in the Philippine Islands,

'Xis a pr-r-roud moment!
Celebes, and the Moluccas, collecting for
the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Florida. Great occasions in a man's life are fittingly honoured in a
The collections on the trip numbered 500
different kinds of plants, including 90-odd
great Scotch whisky. Men of action everywhere describe
species of palms and many kinds of tropi-
the superiority of Teacher's \(\ if, ij ff/) J/
cal fruits to be tested in the experimental
gardens.
It is fortunate that Doctor Fairchild
in three short words . . . 'Mkikfrni
decided to make the trip in spite of the
war in the East and the possibilities of its
spreading, as it did, to the islands of the
South, for he is probably the last collector
to visit these regions for some time; he
is also probably the last traveler to set
down his impressions of the various na-
tive cultures as they were but may not
be again after war has rolled over and
back. He is a sympathetic visitor in these
regions, and his evaluation of life as it
is lived there is high. The narrative is

fresh and youthful in enthusiasms, and the

story is of that ingratiating kind that takes
the reader along on the trip, sharing all
the delights of such a journey.
Perhaps the reviewer also should stress
the point made by the author, which must
represent one of his dearest hopes for the
advancement of his science: "the fact that
the of thousands of tropical
possibilities
plants remain to be investigated by
still

the people of the temperate zones." This

book should surely provide the stimulus
for the continuation of Doctor Fairchild's
work. The illustrations are from photo-
graphs taken by the author and Edward
Beckwith.
Henry C. Raven. SOLE u. s. AGENTS: Schieffelin & Co., new york city • importers since 1794

YOUR NEW BOOKS 193

 —

namely, "South America" and "Central .'\ few generalizations about ecology
America, Mexico, and the West Indies," appear, and problems of geographic dis-
"Fully as good as 'The World and to chapters on the various sovereign- tributionas related to evolution are de-
Was My Garden'. And, in Its ties or colonies. Discussion of Brazil fills scribed. The development of the human
field,no higher praise is pos- five chapters, that of the West Indies four, type, including some mention of the be-
that of Mexico three. Final chapters are ginings of various cultures, is discarded.
sible."— N. Y. Herald Tribune
devoted to transportation, commercial re- The foregoing summary plainly indi-
lations, and a summary, besides which cates the ambitious nature of the book's
there are useful appendixes relating to plan. To what extent the author's ambi-
population statistics. European posses- tions are realized will depend upon the
sions, and the pronunciation of geo- requirements of the individual reader.
graphic names.
F. A. B.
The photographic illustrations, maps,
diagrams, and tabulated information are
well designed with relation to supplement- Man, real and ideal
ing and clarifying the text. There is ----- by Edwin Grant Conklin
perhaps no other book that offers as much
comprehensive and authoritative informa- Charles Scribner's Sons, $2.50
tion on Latin America within equal space.
THIS popular philosophical discussion
R. C. M. based mainly upon a series of lec-
is

tures in 1941 on the Sharp

delivered

Our living world Foundation of the Rice Institute. Doctor

Conklin, the author, was Professor of
----- by Carroll Lane Fenton Zoology in Princeton University for a
quarter of a century, becoming Professor
Doubleda}', Doran and Company, Inc.
Emeritus in 1933. Since that time he has
$4.50 been special lecturer in biology. He was
Lowell lecturer in 1922, President of the
THIS book was obviously planned on a
.'\merican Association for the Advance-
grand scale and aimed toward ex-
ment of Science in 1936, and is now Presi-
Garden Islands tremely comprehensive objectives. In 296
dent of the American Philosophical So-
pages the author attempts to give the non-
OF THE scientific reader an over-all picture of
ciety.
.Many persons will welcome a book
"the history of life on earth."
The from a mature student of such renown
Great East author starts his story with an
evaluation of the various theories of the on the subject, "What is man?" And here
by origin of life on earth and proceeds to we have a fascinating, non-technical treat-

describe the general characteristics of all ment of the question, which the author
David Fairchild protoplasm. The main outlines of evolu- has divided into three parts. The first is

author of "The World Was My Garden" tion are sketched in, and major principles entitled "The Human Species," in which
of physiology, especially those concerned man is dealt with from the biological
"A new book and a delightful one, point of view. In this he discusses species,
with the ingestion and utilization of food,
about a wandering expedition in
are presented. The sensory and motor races, and tribes of men, evolution, nat-
the flowering Islands of the Ma-
equipment of representative organisms of ural selection, and the role of eugenics.
lay Archipelago. A book for all The second part, entitled "Development
various phylogenetic levels is briefly de-
those interested in the Orient and of the Individual," is the biological story
scribed. Evidence for modifiability of be-
old lovers of the Far East."— of man, both physical and psychological,
havior in the lower as well as the higher
Doiothy Caniield Fishei, Book of including social and moral development.
animals is set forth; and the relationship
the Month Club Bulletin. With 64 The third and last part, referred to by
of learning to the central nervous system
pages of Halttones from photo- Doctor Conklin as "The Real and the
is stressed.
graphs. $3.75 Ideal," is made up of most readable sum-
Various types of asexual and sexual re-
production are explained, and the skeleton maries of the struggles of science versus
facts of embryological development are tradition, such as, the Copernican theory

described. Elementary principles of gen- vs. a central stationary earth, the law of
gravity vs. supernaturalism, and natural
Man: Real etics are discussed, and the application of
such principles to problems of domestica- evolution vs. supernatural creation.
tion and miscegenation are called to the He discusses the question. What kind
and Ideal reader's attention. of religion does science leave to man?
by
"The supreme social service of religion,"
says Doctor Conklin, "is to breathe into
Edwin Grant Conklin the realism of science the spirit of lofty

President^ the American Philosophical

Society, Emeritus Professor of Biology
ON YOUR RADIO idealism; to cultivate among all classes,
races, and nations of men, justice, peace,
and mutual service. The needs for such
in Princeton University Program of the American Museum
religionare universal and eternal."
A renowned scientist and philos- of Natural History, Fall, 19+3.
Clide Fisher.
opher here records the conclu- WEDNESDAYS over WNYC
sions he has reached on the na- The price of Archeological Studies in
from 3:30 to 3:45 P.M.
ture, development, and destiny Peru, 1941-1942, a review of which ap-
Science for the Seven Million
of man. "This credo of a scientist peared in the September Natural His-
presents a vast amount of chal- tory, has been raised from $3.75 to $4.75.
Nov. 3 Camoufiage
lenging material."— Cincinna/i Nov. 10 Black Market Dangers
Enquirer $2.50
Nov. 17 Greenland and Iceland
at your bookstore Nov. 24 Thanksgiving Program

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS This program is now under the spon-

sorship of Natural History Magazine.
 LETTERS
Sirs: lens, was about 24 inches from the bird. As
Having noticed your photograph of the those who have had the opportunity to see
Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the Octo- the bird will realize, it is only about
ber issue of Natural History Magazine, three and a half inches from the tip of its

we thought you might be interested in this bill to the tip of the tail.

picture of the Costa's Hummingbird brood-

ing her eggs, which was taken in Arizona.
Harry L. and Ruth Crockett.
The camera, a Zeiss Trona with an f. 4.5 Phoenix, Arizona.

"I Smoke
a Kayy^oodie
This Mediterranean briar brought here
before the War, is the kind they've
used 100 years for the finest pipes. In
Kaywoodie, it is cured with tempering
agents that permeate it. It yields the
greatest satisfaction. That's why you hear
them say "I smoke a Kaywoodie" all
over the world.
If you've had a pipe of apple wood,
dogwood or maple, you know they don't
taste like Kaywoodie. Look for "Kay-
woodie" cut unobtrusively on the pipe.
Kaywoodie Co., New 'Vbrk and London
In New York, 6}0 Fifth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y.

Sirs: I am enclosing a five-leaf clover and one

Yours is one of the most informative closely resembling the "cornucopia" in
and interesting magazines on the market. Mark Barr's "Clover Hobby" in the Sep-

My sister, who is a subscriber, gives me tember issue . . .

Tony Eberts.
the pleasure of reading it . . . Barriere, British Columbia.

NOTICE — Readers are encouraged to submit their own photographs of

natural history subjects. Those selected for publication on this page will
be paid for at $1.00 each, with full credit to the photographer. Return
postage must be included.

195
 : — —

Sirs:
The October number is marvelous, but
I am appalled at the number of words
I cannot pronounce, especially the names
I do wish the pro-
of the flying reptiles.
nunciation of the technical words might
be given. Is there a dictionary of bio-
logicalterms? . . .

Mrs. W. H. Connell,
Head of Biology Department,
Hot Springs High School.
Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Unfortunately there is apparently
no complete, special dictionary giving
the pronunciations of biological terms.
However, when neither Webster's
New International nor the unabridged
Century gives the full word, its pro-
nunciation and derivation can fre-
quently be pieced together by finding
its parts separately in the main section

of the dictionary, where they are fre-

quently entered alphabetically as
"combining forms."
Representing the pronunciation as
simply as possible, the flying reptiles
would be
YttT?LnoAon=ter-an'-o-don
l>i\cX.osa.UT\xs^nick-to-soar'-us
Y)'\mofp\\oAon^dye-mor' -fo-don

Thousands of men bought their first Campy lognathus^cam-/>z7/-o^-nfl''-

Longines strap watches while serving thus
in World War I. The Longines military Y)orygn3X\\us^d'jr-ig-na' -thus
watch above was bought by an American Scaphognathus=.ffa/-0(7-«rt'-^/i«x
Artillery Officer from the Quartermaster
Corps in France in 1918 and received its Rhamphorhynchus^ram-/o-n«^'-^«^
baptism of fire in the decisive St. Mihiel Cy znovha.m^hMS^:^sick-nor-am' -fuss
and Meuse-Argonne battles. For 10 years Fterodactylus^ter-o-dack'-till-us
after the war, it shared the rough and ready
life on a Montana ranch, and then it was
put aside ^Suddenly, the years of peace
Sirs:
Am
* »
October issue and
in receipt of the
*
ILLUSTRATIONS
ran out and war came again Our Artillery am with the cover picture of the
so taken
Officer was called for active duty, and the Lion's Paw Shell that I am writing to tell
you it is the finest thing I have ever seen.
old Longines military watch was recalled to
Having spent many j'ears on the Florida
are printed from photo-
service. ^Countless of such incidents have
made the reputation of Longines watches — west coast, I have several fine shells of
for keeping good time for a long, long time. and know the thrill of finding
*Based on documents in our files
the species
them. This picture brings back the days
engraved plates made by
Lsnfnm-Winjiauer Watch Co., Inc., New Yot-i, on the beaches, and I live again the find-
Montreal, Geneva; dho makers of the Wi
Watch, a companion product of tin
ing of five live ones after a storm.
I have been told that copies may be STERLING ENGRAVING
purchased, and if this is so, please advise
me, as I wish my shell-loving friends to
share this with me. Wilbur F. Smith.
COMPANY, 304 E. 45th
South Norwalk, Conn.
WINNER OF 10 WORLD'S FAIR GRAND PRIZES
'
AND 28 GOLD MEDAL AWARDS
Separate copies of the cover designs Street, New York, N. Y.
of Natural History Magazine are
frequently requested for educational
purposes and as wall decorations. COLOR PROCESS, BLACK AND WHITE, BEN DAY, LINE

Most of those that have appeared in

recent years are available, including
the one referred to above. The price —
Above iUustTotifm Group— Detail showing Antelope
l^ile River

is 5(i each, plus 5^- mailing charges on Akeley African Hall —American Museum of Natural History
any number up to ten. Ed.

OUTFITTING MADE EASY

There's a big saving in time and expense when you
liave a single reliable headquarters for outfitting
whether it be an expedition of long duration or a
shorter outdoor trip.

promptly. Address Dept. N. H. 11.

David T. Abercrombie Co.

Ill Broadway New York City

196 NATURAL HISTORY, NOVEMBER, 1 943

 Our Research Obligations
last month's issue we dealt with research as an essential require-
INment for the successful performance of our tasks in public edu-
cation. But research is not only a need for our own benefit in the
pursuit of other duties, it is moral obligation
also an inescapable
arising from the unlimited extent of our borrowings from the knowl-
edge created by others and from the richness of scientific materials
to which we claim possession.
To fulfill its educational duties every museum must draw upon the
body of scientific knowledge built up by centuries of patient and
diligent research for which past generations willingly provided the
means. If the museums of today do not continue to contribute to the
sciences from which they borrow they become parasites upon the
civilization to which they belong. They take on the character of the
person who reads all the magazines in the store but never buys one.
The cost of research is the subscription price each museum has to
pay for the moral right to use the knowledge created by the effort
and expense of others. It should be incumbent upon every museum
to meet this obligation according to its size and to the extent of its
borrowings from science.
It is particularly true of the museums of natural history that if

they should all adopt the parasitic way of

would no longer
life there

be any host for them to prey upon. A large part of the knowledge
with which these museums are dealing originated with them and has
to a singular and increasing degree become dependent upon the type
of facilities for research which only the museums are able to offer.
The second consideration which makes research an obligation
upon any major museum is a purely practical one. It is obvious that
if any museum for its own gratification and glorification insists on
retaining major collections of scientific material without also under-
taking to do the necessary research upon these collections, it is

actually taking a false and reprehensible pride in being an obstacle

to the true progress of science. By neglect of its moral obligations
the museum forces the scientific world to conduct its research activi-
ties in from the best research material, to the
places divorced
inconvenience of the investigator and the delay of scientific progress.
Our moral right to pride ourselves upon our scientific collections,
and even our right to retain them in our possession, must therefore
lapse with our failure to continue our active participation in re-
search upon the subjects covered by the material.

a
Director, The American Museum
of Natural History
1
jReres a OimsOnas nisfi

on ttlepfione wires, too

Help keep war-cro^vdeo

circuits clear on December 24,
25 and 26.

Please tise Long Distance

only it it is vital.

AVar needs tne •wires — even

on nolid^

BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM

 i %!^c^'

tA,

M. m
\i^

'
'JH-l^^-

December i5^^i
,, _n_ ~ -^ ^M__ >.;.l. ^ kKk\.

JVildlife & Weather in Asia • Stratosphere & Beyond

Meet Mr. Woodchuck • Rubber Sources • Snake Venoms

eicTY rPMT<:
 — —

!!^
LETTERS
Almost as soon as it's inspected.
Congratulations on your beautiful cover Natural History's dissected,
for the October issue [Lion's Paw Shell]. .'Vnd used to teach biology
I thoroughly enjoyed your article "Flying Or illustrate geology.
Reptiles" by Barnum Brown, and I hope The bulletin board
it's tacked upon,

there will be others on the restoration of Or used Balopticon

in the
prehistoric reptiles. Few can compete with To supplement prosaic text
;i periodical as interesting and as educa- Or help a pupil (who's perplexed)
tional as this magazine has proven itself To visualize remotest ages,
to be. . . .
D.AVID HOLMAN. That leap to life upon its pages.
San Francisco, Calif. I would presume, now, to suggest
How to improve upon the best:
Sirs: On every page a number, so
In spite of my failing vision (I am 8i), I can assign, and surely know

which compels me read with a hand

to The most obtuse will always find
lens, I am discontinue my
loathe to The reference I had in mind.
N.-iTUR.'iL History Magazine, so am send-
ing my subscription for another year. Today your letter did remind
I recently acquired a binder for the pre-
Me that subscription is behind.
ceding ten months and much enjoy look- So, for this pedagogic jewel,
ing over the numbers contained therein. I Accept four dollars, for renewal.
find that after a few months they seem al- Allen F. Brown,
most new. Others, too, find pleasure in Instructor in Science,
looking at them. There is no other maga- Mayfield Central School.
zine to compare with it. . . .
Mayfield, New York.

Springfield, Mass
R. A. Clark. The headache numbering pages where
A photograph's already there
Sirs: Is almost worse
... A splendid article and pictures on Than writing verse. Ed.
the new volcano in Mexico. I was a visi-
tor there this summer. . . .
Sirs:

Marguerite Kyle, I am fourteen years of age and live

Columbus, Ohio.
near a neighbor who is fortunate enough
to read your excellent magazine and gen-
Sirs: erous enough to pass the copies on to me.
In couplet form I write to you The covers are absolutely gorgeous, and I
Extending thanks, long overdue, read everything between them. I am es-
ILLUSTRATIONS For your outstanding publications,
Enlivened by rich illustrations
pecially enchanted by Roy L. Abbott's
stories.
And voicing real authority I am enclosing 40^ in stamps for the
In just superiority. cover designs of eight magazines which I
are printed from pholo-

engraved plates made by NOTICE — Readers are encouraged to submit their own photographs of
natural history subjects. Those selected for publication on this page will
be paid for at $1.00 each, with full credit to the photographer. Return
STERLING ENGRAVING postage must be included.

COMPANY, 304 E. 45th

T/ie Perfect Christmas Gift for At^y Boy or Girl

Street, New York, N. Y.

COLOR PROCESS, BLACK AND WHITE, BEN DAY, LINE

Junior Natural History Magazine

—Nile River Group—Detail shovfing Antelope

Above iUuslration
Akeley AJrican Hall —American Museum of Natural History $1.00 the year
( 12 issues]

Address Circulation Department

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

79th Street at Central Park West
New York 24, New York

NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

 — :

have
able.

Rhinebeck, X. Y.
.
listed
. .
below, if they

Boris B. Shahon.
are avail-

Tae anitlier-r Yuletide!

Teacher's has been a favorite at
Most of the full-color cover designs
Natural Yuletide festivities ever since 1830
that have appeared on
History in recent years are available. . . . and with good reason. Three
The 5^ each, plus 5<J mailing
cost is words tell the story:
charges on any number up to ten pic-
tures. Ed.

Other comments of the month

From a relative of a man overseas:
"... I understand that the officers of
his which is in the Southwest
outfit,
Pacific, eagerly await the arrival of the
magazine every month. ." . .

''.
. . subscriber to your
I have been a
magazine for a number of years and think
it is the most valuable and interesting
magazine I have read. . .
."

". . . It is the most beautiful magazine

there is. . . . Do hope when you build a
modern building that it will have the
elegance of your magazine . . . modern to
the nth degree but beautifully so. . .
."

". . . We enjoy the magazine so much

we like to introduce it to our friends. ." . .

THE COVER THIS MONTH

SOLE u. s. AGENTS: Schieffelin & Co., new yorkcity • importers since 1794

nmm mi\
II

mmmy
lUllU

Mill Mr. lloaJJiiia

U llcJilui ;// .hi.:

Ruhbc,
mWKl HISTORY
MilliAZINES
Most cannot live without leaves.
plants
The green coloring matter they contain,
chlorophyll, is essential in converting
minerals from the soil into nourishment
through the action of sunlight. Yet the
brilliant red Snow Plants on the cover of
this issue have no green leaves. They sur-
vive without benefit of chlorophyll, by de-
riving their nourishment from decayed
matter or from soil fungi found among the
roots of evergreen trees. Plants which get A binder for the readers of Natural History Magazine— price $2.00.
their nourishment in this way are called Imitation green leather with bands stamped in gold. Holds ten issues.

saprophytes. Snow Plants, which have the Sent postpaid any place in U. S. A. Add 2^i for postage outside U. S. A.
scientific name Sarcodes sanguinea, grow No European orders accepted. Make checks payable to
in the High Sierras of California, where
Josef Muench took this photograph in Natural History Magazine
color.Sometimes they appear early in the Send to Membership Department, The American Museum of Natural History,
spring while the snow is still on the
Central Park West at 79th Street, New York 24, N. Y'.
ground. There is a heavy fine for picking
them.
 ^|Dliat$ tk ujor^
at Ciiri$tnia0 ?
There's one word men of good will every-
where associate with Christmas.
That word is "Peace. Peace on earth" .
There can be no peace this Christmas. Not
one of us would want the only kind of peace
there could be, an inconclusive peace.
But we do want the right kind of peace
as soon as possible. And this Christmas
we can help hasten the coming of that
GIdc JDar ^mh
NATURAL HISTORY
^ou think most of
wonderful day, by making War Bonds
our chief gift.
. . Every Bond you buy brightens the chances
of a better world than man has ever known.
How, then, could you possibly give a better
present than Bonds, Bonds, Bonds? Give them
to each member of the family. Give them to
your friends. Give them to everybody — the
greatest gift of all!
for Chri$tnia$
Magazine
 I
<A EUROPEAN
4 DORMOUSE
* '
IN HIBERNATION

< \

?
> WHERE SWISS
FIELD MICE TOOK
THEIR MORNING
STROLL
B, Schocher photo

Seeing Nature through

THE CAMERA'S EYE
^ AN OLD CHAMOIS IN A SWISS SNOWFIELD
. Scliochcr photo
 Wildlife an(

The Burma Road is only one of man)

things conditioned by the extraordinary
climate in that part of the FarEast on which
the international spotlight now focuses

A The hill people of North-

ern Burmaare not concentrated
in large communities but scat-
tered in small villages. Occa-
sionally the houses are located
fairly close together in a com-
munity of several hundred.
Htawgaw (above) was a base
for military police before the
war, and an important trading
center for the back country. It
is about one hundred miles
north of the Burma Road

A.M.N.H. photo

>•This Tiger Group in the

American Museum shows an
animal that has a wide range
throughout southern Asia. In
Burma, it extends up into the
foothills but does not appear to
be very abundant in the area
where the Chinese are fighting
the Japanese over the control of
theBurma Road. Here the tiger
would probably not be one of
the hazards a lost man should
fear

204
 THE MONSOON and the World's Heaviest Rainfall

leather SUMMER
During the summer
-V

IN THE the prevailing

are across the Indian
winds

Ocean and the Bay of

Bengal onto the land.
These winds are heav-
ily laden with moisture.

As they are forced to

rise by the mountains
and cooled by the land,
they drop their load of

Jf^ar Zone water

By Harold E. Anthony
Clwiirman and Curator of Recent Mammals,
American M-ttseitm of Natural History

TO some it might seem that

natural history museum, in time
of war, would be a back water
a
WINTER -V

in the current of active events, a place

From November to
removed from the important interests
March the winds blow
of the day. This is far from the case.
off the land and are
The American Museum through its drying rather than
expeditions all over the world is able,
moisture-laden. The re-
at this time, to give valuable firsthand
markable thing about
information on any of the active thea-
the Asiatic monsoons is
tres of war and to present this data
persistence and
the
either to the proper military agencies
regularity of the cycle
in precise and detailed pattern or to
and the great area af-
the general public in a broader, more
fected by the winds
generalized aspect. The exhibits in the
Hall of South Asiatic Mammals will
serve to illustrate this thesis.
These exhibits were collected and
the hall completed at a time when no
The rainfall calendar shows that in Burma it is either a flood
thunderheads of war were gathering
or a drought. In one month precipitation may be enough for the
on the far horizon. Nevertheless, now
annual rainfall of a well-balanced climate. In other months, this
that war has come into southern Asia
same spot may have no more rain than the Sahara Desert
these samples of topography, fauna,
and flora will help to orient the
Museum visitor in his armchair strat-
MONTHS J. f.
egy as he follows operations through Akyab, in Burma, has almost
the daily press. In the early stages of
seven times as 'much, rain in
the campaign in North Africa, the
ONE MONTH as Phoenix,
Libyan Desert Group in the Akeley
African Hall was a useful example of
Arizona, has in ONE YEAR.
some of the conditions to be encount-
ered. Even more to the point was the
fact that some of the sand used in the
group, actual sand collected on the
spot, could be turned over to military
circles, where men were studying the
effect of sand on the mechanical equip-
FIGURES GIVEN
ment. One of the occupational hazards
ARE IN INCHES
was a silicosis attacking planes, tanks,
and trucks which had to operate in
sand-laden atmosphere.
With attention being directed to

.«» "
m^ .tS
 —
BURMA focal point in the Asiatic theater-

muuniainous
A The between Yunnan and Burma is a mountain
divide
range which, in many places, carries snow during the winter
months. This highland divides the drainage of the Salween on
the east from that of the Irrawaddy on the west and is known
as the Salween Divide

]ungk-ciad
•< Dense jungle clothes many of the mountain slopes at the
intermediate elevations. Such places experience heavy rains dur-
ing the wet season. Even throughout the dry season the foliage is
damp from dew and every ravine carries running water

Veniay-Cutting Burma Expedition photos

hot
> Long hot days are the invariable rule in the
lowlands during the dry season. Although clouds
willbank up over the Irrawaddy below Rangoon,
no rain will fall for weeks or even motiihs on end
 cold
>-On the higher passes, over the
Salween Divide —here 12,600 feet in
elevation —snow persists for several
months. Then traffic must be on foot,
for mules break through the crust and
on rocky stretches may suffer broken
legs

fertile
A A WELL LAID OUT RICE FIELD presents an inter-
esting and beautiful geometrical pattern. This
slope would be impossible to cultivate if it were
not terraced, and it illustrates the engineering
ability of the mountain people

< At Hpare village, near the Yiinnan border,

there an unusually extensive Kachin agricul-
is

tural community. The terraces have a hard re-

taining bank to prevent water from eroding the
hillside
Burma
theatre of
as an ever increasingly active
operations
war, the Hall of South Asiatic
in this global
Mam-
TRAVEL i

mals offers to the visitor a great deal

of data which will make the informa-
tion in the daily press
standable. The
more under-
habitat groups afford
rough trails
an insight into some of the terrain
and the animal life which will be
in the environment of the warring
troops.
Burma occupies a strategic position,
with the United Nations in India to

the west, China and north-

to the east
east, and the Japanese forces of occu-
pation in control of all of southern
Burma and most of accessible north-
ern Burma. However, Burma is a

vast territory, too large to be com-

pletely overrun,and there are still sec-
tions which may be considered as a
no man's land, especially in the north-
eastern part near the border with
Yiinnan.
Burma has a wide range of environ-
ments. In the south, in the lower ele-
vations, there are great hot tropical
areas,which range from more or less
open thorny scrub country to fairly
dense jungle. In other parts mountain
ramparts exist, which begin first as
A The main highways Burma lead into Yiinnan
in nortlicahtL-rn
and are well which feed into these trunk lines
laid out, but the trails
lower foothills and pass by degrees
into the great ranges which merge may be steep and precipitous. Mules are used on the main trails
into Tibet. There is nothing tropical
about this section where the diffi-
culty of travel isenough to hinder the
movement
troops.
of any large bodies of desolate country
The dominant factor in moulding
the topography of Burma and in regu-

lating the character of its vegetation

is the pattern of the annual rainfall.
Burma is in the path of the monsoons,
and while some of the areas receive
very heavy rainfall during several
months of the year, there are other
periods when they receive practically
no precipitation at all. Thus there is
an extreme contrast between the two
periods, the rainy season and the dry
season. "Monsoon" comes from the
Arabic and means "season," but one
often notes the term used as if it were
synonymous with the rainy season.

Actually there is a dry monsoon and a

wet monsoon, for early usage of the

word had reference to the wind and
the direction of the wind governs the
rainfall.
When the rains come in southern
Asia they are really something to
A There are not many regions in northeastern Burma as open as
write home about. The moisture-laden
thisgrazing district near the Yiinnan border. Here the forest is al-
winds have picked up their water con-
most absent and the trail winds over rounded hillsides
tent from over a thousand miles or
more of the warm waters to the south-
west. The areas of greatest rainfall

208 NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

 are situated where the topography is

indered by such that these vapor-charged winds

are forced to drop their water in going
over a mountain barrier. Assam is one
of the regions where the clouds are
rivers put through the wringer, so to speak,
and the Khasi Hills, with an average
annual rainfall of 427 inches, is said
to have the heaviest precipitation in
the world, where some of the lowland
areas become virtual lakes of almost
warm water. Incidentally, any sweep-
ing statement claiming a maximum
for the world provokes statistics in re-
buttal. For example, at Maui in the
Hawaiian Islands, an annual rainfall
of 562 inches has been recorded. But
perhaps after the first 400 inches of
rain in any year it does not make
much difference whether more falls
or not, and it seems to be universalh'
agreed that Assam and Burma are
thoroughly wet.
The wet season in Burma may
break with a storm of several days
duration and an apparent suddenness
following the long dry weeks. The
Burma Monthly Weather Review
publishes records from a number of
official observation posts and shows
A At Myitkyina, railhead of northeastern Burma, the Irrawaddy is
that anything from five to ten inches
still a broad stream. The native ferries are primitive canoes, which are
of rain in a day is common on the
poled a good part of the distance from Myitkyina across to Waingmaw
first burst of the southwest monsoon.
There may follow a period of inter-
Vcrnay-Cutting Burma Expedition photos mittent dry and wet intervals until
the wet season is in full stride. And it
inadequate bridges is noteworthy
season, the PVeather
that, throughout
Review does not
the

bother to record a daily precipitation

of less than five inches.
With the present emphasis pri-
marily on Burma, some of the exhibits
in the Hall of South Asiatic Mam-
mals may appear too far removed
geographically to give useful informa-
tion, but an over-all impression of
South Asia is useful, and as some
oriental has said, one picture is worth
a thousand words. The visitor, there-

fore, will do well to note the physical

conditions in India, where forces may
now be assembled for the invasion of
Burma, and to bear in mind that there
is considerable similarity in the
ecology — mutual relation between
the
the environment and its life in areas —
of the same elevation right across
India and Burma.
Thus the exhibit of sambar and
barasingha is placed in the Terai (in
India) in a swampy terrain. Over
A The native bridges are ingenious affairs but require a sure foot and
these swamps or "jeels" an airplane
a steady eye. Usually they are suspension bridges and cross well above
has fine visibility, and it would be dif-
high water. This bridge will go out with the first heavy rains ficult to conceal much from the ob-
server. Outside Myitkyina in Burma,
held by the Japanese, there are similar

WILDLIFE AND WEATHER IN THE ASIATIC WAR ZONE 209

< The gaur or Indian bisonfound is

in the moist and Burma.

hilly parts of
It would be a desirable source of food

for men detached from supplies. Usu-

not a dangerous animal if
ally it is
unmolested. A
wounded gaur is very
dangerous, especially if followed into
thick cover

> The leopard is an animal familiar

to everyone and a common denizen

throughout southern Asia. Here it is
usually called a panther, and in the
melanistic or black phase it becomes
the black panther of literature. Leop-
ards are always dangerous because of
their speed. While not likely to mo-
lest a man unless attacked, a wounded
leopard should be treated with great
respect

<The sambur is the largest of the

deer to be found in Burma, where it

occurs at all elevations. It is a valu-

able food animal. During the rutting
season the males bellow or roar. The
wild dogs which are baying at the
sambur run in packs and are the
scourge of the countryside where they
occur

A.M.N.H. photos

<The otter of India and Burma

looks very much like our own North
American otter and is found along
streams. The fish carried by the otter
is the mahseer, which attains very

large size and is an active fighter on

hook and line. It is not highly re-
garded as food. Along undisturbed
riversone not uncommonly may see
one or two otters active by day
jeelsand great open stretches to cross. Road, the itinerary will cut the valleys of these trails could, in time, be made
Quite different is the terrain shown in higher up and the character of the into a new railroad. Now they are
the gibbon group (Burma), where the forest is better represented by the bridle paths and cross innumerable
great forests covering the mountain photographs accompanying this article streams which must be bridged. Rains,
slopes can hide regiments on a mo- taken on the Vernay-Cutting Burma which come in great violence in this
ment's warning. Furthermore, the Expedition. In northeastern Burma region and turn a river into a swirl-
clouds bank up over the mountains, the Japanese would have some of the ing flood, or a charge of explosive, can
and a pilot has to watch both sky and same difficulties of supply facing the wipe out a bridge in a critical spot
earth with a forced landing as a United Nations, for this stretch is far and close the trail.
mental hazard. removed from Rangoon and ship The matter of season is all-impor-
If the campaign follows the pattern transport. tant. The is hard
dirt-surfaced trail
set in and the forces move
the past North of railhead at Myitkyina during the dry season, days and nights
through Akyab and across southern (pronounced Mich-i-na\) now held are comfortable, or reasonably so,

Burma, they will encounter environ- by the Japanese, all travel is by trails leeches are absent, and one can count
ments which are portrayed in the which soon enter the mountains. Sup- on fair weather. With the advent of
thamin group (open scrub), in the pliescan go on mules over the best of the rains the earth softens, trees fall
banting group (bamboo and teak these trails, and have been so carried across the trails, go out,
bridges
forest), and in the leopard group back and forth from China for years. leeches swarm and shrub-
in the grass
(heavily forested ravines, or nullahs). Trails cross into Yiinnan at not in- bery, everything drips water, and life
If the personnel enters Burma along frequent intervals on north from the can be miserable for personnel even
the line of the new Burma or Assam railroad crossing out of Lashio. Some without a war.

WILDLIFE AND WEATHER IN THE ASIATIC WAR ZONE

 A.M.N.H. plwtos

A The four-horned antelope, the only living

wild mammal to possess four horns, is one of
the smaller ungulates of India and Burma. It is

of interest chiefly because of the four horns.

But it is limited in its distribution and not likely
to come into the lives of the soldiers. Other small
ungulates with a wider distribution and more
often used for food will be of greater impor-
tance in the field of operations. Among these
animals is the barking deer or muntjac, a small
deer which utters a call aptly described as a
bark. These deer have a wide range and are of
considerable importance as food

> It has become customary to think of the lion as

entirely African in its distribution and to overlook
the fact that it is a part of the native Asiatic fauna.
Formerly the Asiatic lion ranged through Persia into
southern India. Today it occurs only in very restricted
numbers in a small part of western India. The Asiatic
lion is reputed to have a shorter mane than his Afri-
can brother, but this is by no mean a reliable criterion
and the two are practically identical
 Chungking
Himalaya Mountains

BURMA ROAD ^

Calcutta*
X KUNMING

LASHIO
Mandalay#
Bombay •
Bay of Bengal

• Rangoon

Singapore

SOUTHERN ASIA
A The relief map shows that in snows in the higher regions provide from Mandalay through Lashio into
Burma the mountain ranges have a enough water to make the principal Yiinnan. In this case the travel from
predominant north and south direc- rivers substantial streams. The ele- the sea at Rangoon is, for the most
tion.All travel from west to east vation of the mountains in Burma in- part, along the north and south val-
must climb one slope after another, creases in general as one goes north- leys. Any new road from India has
and after each descent a river must ward, where eventually the culmina- much more difficult topography to
be crossed. With heavy rainfall these tion of the uplift occurs in the Hima- conquer. Not only is it an engineer's
rivers become very real problems. layas.These facts well illustrate the nightmare to construct, but mainte-
Even during the dry season melting importance of the existing railroad nance is a constant problem

WrXDLIFE AND WEATHER IN THE ASIATIC WAR ZONE 213

 < This zoological map locates
some of the most interesting
animals of southern Asia. Many
of these have extensive ranges
and are found not only where
they are spotted on the map but
over most of the entire area. In
general, the most obvious bar-
rier to distribution is altitude.
Animals of the high mountains
do not range down to sea level,
and vice versa. Most of the ani-
mals with oriental affinities are
confined to lower elevations;
those with northern relation-
ships live in the mountains

Drawn by Helen Carter

A.M.N.H. photos

^ The Asiatic two-horned rhinoceros, sometimes It is nowhere common in Burma and

is confined to the

called the Sumatran rhinoceros, is a much smaller animal remote and This rhino is not aggressive,
difficult sections.

than either of the two African rhinos or the single- and because of its greatly reduced numbers it is to be
horned Indian rhino. It has become so scarce that the hoped that there will be no needless killing of the few
likelihood of seeing one in the wild state is rather small. that are left

:ji^^0Tr'- ^.moM^,
A The water buffalo is common throughout all of
southern Asia. It isused as a beast of burden, and wild
buffalo still exist in some of the undisturbed environ-
ments. It is doubtful if wild buffalo exist in Burma today.
This animal takes its name from the fact that it is fond
of rivers and marshy areas. The water buffalo is always
WILDLIFE AND WEATHER IN THE ASIATIC WAR ZONE
a dangerous animal. Even the domestic buffalo dislikes
the odor of white men and may charge without provoca-
tion. A white man should not expect the "tame" water
buffalo to act like a range steer. Domesticated or wild,
they should be treated with a great deal of respect
 —

<The Indian elephant,

like thewater buffalo, is
seen both as a domesti-
cated and a wild animal.
The tame elephants are
worked in the Burma teak
forests just as theywere
when Kipling wrote about
them. Wild elephants are
found throughout Burma,
where they range from
the high hills down to the
larger streams

^k.THE SLOTH BEAR is not

much to look at as com-
pared with the big bears
of North America. Al-
though he is no giant, his
disposition is very surly
and he has the reputation
of being a very dangerous
animal to cross. Hunters
have been mauled and
even killed by encounters
with the sloth bear

HOW TO TELL THEM APART

AFRICAN ELEPHANT African elephant —large ears, head ASIATIC ELEPHANT
not "domed," trunk with two fin-
tip of
ger-like processes. Asiatic elephant
small ears, head "domed," tip of trunk
with one finger-like process
Drawings by Paula Hutch
 A Gibbons travel in bands in the for-
ests of Burma, calling out at joyous
sunrise and making the woods rollick
with whoops which may be heard for
several miles. The gibbons are classi-
fied with the anthropoids or manlike
apes in their physical and mental de-
velopment. In intelligence they stand
high on the primate list. Their bands
usually show animals of two colors,
the blacks being male and the browns
female. This animal has a rather wide
range in altitude, occurring in forests
from the lower elevations up almost
to the snow one of the most
line. It is

interesting of the wild creaturesone

may expect to see in Burma and is
the master gymnast of the jungle

WILDLIFE AND WEATHER IN THE ASIATIC WAR ZONE 217

 ;
;

UP FROM THE DEPTHS low zero Fahrenheit. But from that

As man soars ever higher and airlanes are charted
elevation, each additional mile of al-
through the mysterious stratosphere, the man in the titude shows a rise, not a fall, in
street may soon travel through a realm completely temperature. In polar regions, the
unknown a few years ago. What does it contain? same balloon would rise only four
miles from the earth to encounter the
mankind lives is the zone of biologic
By HOBART E. STOCKING
Over
level above which the air temperature
and meteorologic unrest. the bio-
does not change perceptibly with in-
SCIENTISTS at sea sometimes logical struggle for survival, mete-
creasing height. At this altitude the
dredge up odd creatures which orological storms surge, heat waves
temperature is about minus 58° Fah-
newspapers immediately head- envelop and blizzards
continents,
renheit, although below this level the
line as "denizens of the deep." In paralyze commerce. This turbulent
temperature in the Troposphere may
reading such accounts we seldom give layer, the Troposphere, is constantly
be either greater or less in various
thought to the fact that we ourselves agitated by irregular vertical and hori-
localities.*
are denizens of a vastly greater "deep" zontal air currents and on these
;
The temperature reversal occur-
— the very lowest depths of the Ocean movements depend the uncertainties
ring at an elevation of eleven miles
of Atmosphere. of the weather. It is also the zone of
above the equator and four miles
The man on the flying
daring young light and warmth. Sunlight passing
above the poles presents an odd para-
trapeze flew with lyrical ease through through clean air leaves it unwarmed
dox in relation to temperature differ-
a mixture of 78% Nitrogen, 21% and invisible. It is the reflection of
ences nearer the earth. It means that
Oxygen, and a minor amount of rarer light from the earth and from the
at the same level in both regions, for
gases. It is only in recent decades that dust in the atmosphere that brightens
example 12 miles from the earth, the
meteorologists, "scientists of things our days, and it is the heat radiated
air is warmer over the North and
above," have extended the limit of from the earth that warms the air over the equator.
South poles than it is
their knowledge beyond the turbu- about us.
This plane of temperature reversal
lence resultingfrom human activities. Since air is warmed chiefly by re-
separating the Troposphere from the
An abundance of curious information flectionand radiation of solar heat
Stratosphere is known to the mete-
has come from travelers rising from from the earth, an aircraft pilot, as he Tropopause. The
orologists as the
the earth —
from planes climbing to rises to greater altitude, encounters air
Troposphere is a zone of storms char-
around 10 miles, manned balloons 13 of constantly lower temperature. Bal-
acterized by uncertainty in their in-
miles, sounding balloons 21 miles, and loons that have mounted high above
tensity, speed, and direction of move-
free-floating balloons 23 miles. To the the earth and returned with a report
*Near the earth in the Arctic in winter
earthbound these distances seem con- of their travel recorded by automatic the temperature frequently gets warmer
siderable, but the highest balloon rose instruments, have provided proof that instead of colder with altitude. Sometimes
it will rise from -50° F. to -10° F. in the
only 1/30 of the distance to the ap- about eleven miles up from the equa-
first 500 or 1500 feet. Flyers take advan-
parent surface of the gaseous envelope tor the temperature falls to 112° be- tage of this.

surrounding the earth. It provided

valuable information concerning less
than 1/180 of the atmosphere. For
knowledge of the remaining 900 bil-
lion cubic miles meteorologists must
rely on messengers from outer space.
From out of nowhere into here
comes static to annoy us, interstellar
dust to enlarge the earth, infrared and The stratosphere
ultraviolet radiations to burn or bless ;
begins where the air
cosmic rays to shatter atoms and per- stops growing cold-
haps cause mutations; meteors to in- er as you riseand
trigue and terrify; long and short starts to get warmer.
radio waves to distract or entertain This is much nearer
light and heat to comfort or torment to the earth in the
reverberations from a troubled world polar regions than
and, of course, the Martians of Orson at theequator
Welles. Meteorologists interview each
of these inanimate voyagers and from
them extract the last drop of informa-
tion concerning the Ocean of Atmos-
phere they have traversed. The news
they gain, like the material it concerns,
is less substantial with distance from
the earth. All knowledge ends at the
highest aurora, 700 miles up.
The atmospheric layer in which

NATURAL Hisn
 ment. These disturbances are hazards future will rise above the level of dow of his enclosed aluminum gon-
for aircraft attempting to fly on cer- storms and in perfect comfort look dola S3, 000 feet from the earth, saw
tain schedules. Although the Strato- down on the point that Admiral Peary deep-blue, almost black space above.
sphere by no means a realm of peace,
is achieved only after years of labor. If Through the Stratosphere about the
it is above the level of sudden and the passenger is bound for Cape balloon passed rays from the sun to
uncertain storms. The strong winds Town, he will probably transfer at, warm and illuminate the earth, but
within it are persistent in direction say, Moscow to a ship of different the surrounding air was dark and
and force and are easier to reckon design, because a journey through the cold. Through earphones he
special
with in calculations for airborne com- Stratosphere over the Tropics requires heard the patter of cosmic rays strik-
merce. From San Francisco, the short- flying at higher altitudes. ing the metal sphere, a sound like that
est route to European ports lies over In 1932 Professor Piccard, the well- of rain on a tin roof. Below Professor
polar regions. The traveler of the known physicist, peering from a win- Piccard lay only 1/70 of the thickness
of the atmosphere but more than % of
^ Diagrammatic cross-section of the atmosphere shows three main layers: its weight, for at this altitude the air
Troposphere, Stratosphere, and Ionosphere. The existence of other layers at had become exceedingly thin. The
various heights is detected chiefly by the behavior of radio waves, meteors, dense air below screened the earth
auroral displays, etc. Man has only begun to explore the Ocean of Atmos- from cosmic rays as effectively as a
phere under which he lives foot of lead might have done, protect-
ing life on it from the full intensity of
a barrage which might well be fatal
through a less effective screen. These
rays, which emanate from the sun, can
batter atoms apart. Biologists have
used X-rays and radium emanations
to alter genes in chromosomes and
thereby produce mutations —changes
in the structure of the organism, which
(if not lethal) are passed on intact to
subsequent generations. It has been
suggested that a similar effect by
cosmic rays may have played a part in
the evolution which resulted in the
human have presented
race. Geologists
evidence which has been interpreted
by some as indicating that the atmos-
phere of past ages was not identical
with that we now breathe. It may
have been a less effective screen
against cosmic rays.
The bellow of chaos, the roar of
battle, deafening noises from a trou-
bled world speed outward and up-
ward, a mile in five seconds. Sound
waves mount into the Stratosphere
leaving for an instant, soundless dev-
astation behind. Miraculously the
sound reappears, muted by distance,
now but an echo of its former magni-
tude —
an echo reflected from a dense
layer of warm air far above the earth.
In the last war, Flanders' guns
were frequently audible at Dover
when they were not heard at points
closer to the battle front, for the angle
of reflection of their roar from great
height brought the sound to earth
again far from the flash of the
cannons.
a^H^^^^^^H^w '^'Cayer "D" Reflects long radio waves {
The speed of sound through air of
varying temperatures is known from
< Orone La^er Sound-reflecting layer
laboratory experiments. The time-
interval bet^veen a sound and its echo
Nacreous clouds
t is a yardstick by which the height of
Warmer
r 112 F the sound-reflecting layer has been
-Temperature reversal- measured. It has been found to extend
-
TROPOSPHERE Waritier -58 F.

y from 15 to 30 miles above the earth.

At the surface of the earth, sound may
iquator Stratosphere At Poles Stratosphere

ns about \Q miles up begins about 4 miles up 219

be reflected by any substance that is solid earth. The remainder vanish Appleton Layer, presumably to wan-
more dense than the air transmitting high in the sky as their solid sub- der in cold outer space. For this rea-
the sound —by a mountainside, a cliff, stance is converted into vapor. Count- son television transmission past a
or even a fog bank. In the Stratos- less tons of meteoric vapor, deprived mountain range or over the bulge of
phere sound is reflected to earth by a of heat by reduced velocity, condense a round earth is not yet possible.
layer believed to be ozone, a gas to minute solid particles, which settle From the gigantic power station
heavier than air. The faint, chlorine- gently to the floor of the Ocean of that is the sun comes light to cheer
like pungency which pervades the air Atmosphere. Slowly but constantly mankind and warmth to comfort him.
after a vicious, near-by snap of light- they add to the size of the earth. From the sun also comes a constant
ning is the smell of ozone. In the The Stratosphere, according to stream of electrified particles to pro-
Stratosphere, ozone is the result of the meteorologists, ends about 50 miles duce the astonishing display of North-
action of ultraviolet rays from the sun up, and at this level float the highest ern and Southern Lights. The earth
on atmospheric oxygen. Ozone is clouds, faint and feathery. They are is a colossal magnet and, like the
formed only at a height where the so removed that they are familiar only familiar horseshoe magnet of the
density of the atmosphere, and its to scientists of the skies. From here on laboratory, the earth has a north and
screening power, is slight and where stretches the vast Ionosphere. On vari- a south magnetic pole. Neither of
rays from the sun are of sufficient in- ations in the nature of this uppermost these coincides with the geographic
tensity. known layer of the Ocean of Atmos- poles. Just as the laboratory magnet
The ozone sound-reflecting layer phere depend the vagaries of radio will attract iron filings, so does the
has the property of absorbing consid- transmission. If your favorite sym- earth attract to its magnetic poles the
erable heat from the sun, and its tem- phony or "soap-opera" fades annoy- electrified particles from the sun. As
perature is calculated to be 120° ingly, it may not help to call the re- these particles or charges collide with
Fahrenheit, about that of an after- pairman, for some difficulties lie gas molecules in the thin upper at-
noon in Death Valley. No one has beyond his reach. The ultimate cause mosphere, the latter are caused to
been so high to measure such heat, lies in and the immediate
the sun, glow. This glow is the spectacular
but there are means other than per- cause of your annoyance may be one Aurora Borealis of the Northern
sonal contact. of the three reflecting layers of the Hemisphere, matched only by the
In its around the sun, and
orbit atmosphere. splendor of the Aurora Australis of
with the sun through the galactic sys- Layer "D," between 25 and 30 the southern half of the earth. During
tem, the earth constantly passes miles up, near the top of the ozone a period of sunspots, electrical dis-

through new space. Enroute to no- layer, has the property of reflecting charge from the sun is at its greatest

where, the earth sweeps up cosmic long radio waves. The Kennelly- intensity, and at such a time Northern
debris along its path. In addition to Heaviside Layer, in the Ionosphere, Lights have been seen even at Singa-
the countless tons of dust Mother 60 to 80 miles up, reflects medium- pore, almost on the equator.
Earth sweeps from space every day length radio waves. The voices of The height of Auroral displays can
there is an occasional meteor, travel- Hollywood entertainers bounce off be calculated, and this distance serves
ing at from 10 to 60 miles a second. this layer several times before they as yet another yardstick for measur-
As long as meteors speed through the reach New York. Short-wave broad- ing the depth of the Ocean of Atmos-
nearly frictionless realm of interstellar casts from England reach American phere. Such spectacles cannot take
space, they remain as dark and as shores by reflection downward from place without the presence of air, how-
frigid as their environment. When the Appleton Layer, the base of ever thin and different it may be from
they strike the Ocean of Atmosphere which is about 100 miles from the that we breathe. The lowest stream-
and plunge downward, they push aside earth. ers and curtains of the Aurora ripple
molecules of gas. Quickly they pene- The exact nature of these layers is within 50 miles of the earth. The
trate to lower and denser levels, and uncertain, but they are the result of highest, the Auroral Arcs, have been
the air-cap which they push before the action of sun rays on the gas charted 700 miles from the earth.
them is heated by compression. This of the atmosphere. Everyone is fa- These celestial curtains vary in color
heat, imparted to the meteor, sets it miliar with the general rule of radio from white to red and green, and
glowing. Around 30 miles up, meteors reception — best at night and in winter. from these vibrant shades science de-
suddenly increase in brilliance and It is known that the layers rise higher rives yet another drop of informa

thereafter leave a glowing train of as the sun goes down and that they tion. Spectroscopic analysis of Auroral

incandescent vapor. Devious calcula- are higher in winter than in summer. colors shows that nitrogen and ozone
tions concerning speed, brilliance, and Physicists, for reasons best known to are present even 700 miles from the
duration of meteor trains furnish a themselves, have suggested a tem- earth, and the bright red of lower
clue to the temperature of the ozone perature of 1600° Fahrenheit for the curtains undulating only 50 miles
or sound -reflecting layer. Appleton Layer, the highest and dens- away reveals the presence of oxygen.
Glowing meteor trains have been est of the three. Your kitchen range A bright scarlet curtain which
observed as high as 60 miles, and would be glowing liquid at consid-
a waved over England shortly after the

there they have been charted in a erably lower heat. Whatever the spe- death of Thomas a Becket, was re-
lateral drift of a hundred miles an cific character of these layers, it is corded in folklore as the blood of that
hour — certain evidence of air cur- known that the shorter the wave martyr ascending to Heaven. To the

rents of that velocity high above the length of radio transmission, the Norse, the brilliant curtains which
earth. So great is the speed of meteors more dense must be the layer that re- flicker and undulate in the perfect

and so intense the heat of pressure flectsthem. Television waves, much peace of a clear, cold night are the
generated by the speed of their pas- shorter than short-wave radio, are so Valkyries choosing heroes worthy of
sage, that only one in 20 million strikes minute that they slip through the passage to Valhalla.

NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

 !

Ways of th
Woodch
>-The odd little old man
of the woods who is sup-
posed to foretell the weather
once a year will retreat from
even less than his own
—
shadow as you will admit
ifyou have tried to devise a
method of capturing him

A. M.N. H. photo

Know him better and you will find that even a wooden trigger, releasing a door
so familiar an animal as the common ground that would have fallen over the en-

hog is a fascinating subject for nature study trance to cut off his retreat. He would
have found the other end of the log
barred by a heavy screen. The . . .

men began to remake this continent. woodchuck dozed in the sun. I

By Richard F. Trump One dewy morning early in July, I swatted mosquitoes.

MOST an^'one
ground hog. You
catch a
knows how to watched from a thicket while a griz-
zly looking woodchuck came out of a
During the preceding weeks
constructed roomy traps of both
I had
wood
just chase him up a tree and den and sat up, motionless as a hickory and metal, baiting them with a menu
go up after him. Or you hold a noose stump, inspecting its feeding territory. that should have taken in the most

at the entrance of his den and snare
him on the way out. You pad the jaws
of a steel trap or make a figure-four
trigger on an old nail keg. He'll blun-
der into any sort of trap. Or,
After about three minutes the rodent discriminating vegetarian. But the
turned its head quickly to the left. vegetarians nibbled their wild lettuce
Again it remained motionless. Then and legumes where they grew. I had
back to the right. After ten minutes it blocked all but one of the entrances of
when dropped to all fours, moved quickly a den and connected the one remain-

he's out in the middle of the bean forward a few feet, and repeated the ing opening by a screen funnel to a
field, you chase him down with a but- freezing performance. In each posi- trap. The occupant dug a new exit.

terfly net. tion it looked as if it m.ight have been And I had crept along the creek and
That's the sort of advice I was planted there by a taxidermist raced into the clearing with a strong
given whenever one of my outdoor Passing a hollow shagbark log, it net, hoping to bag a chuck before it

friends learned that I wanted wood- advanced into the clearing and nib- could reach cover. But the sound of
chucks. It was good advice. bled clover leaves. At intervals it man sent it lumbering to safety ahead
My intent had been to capture and would suddenly up and scan the
sit of my net.

tag the animals in order to study their edges of the clearing. I swatted mos- Others, too, eluded me. But in the
movements and territorial behavior. quitoes and waited. course of my prowlings I noticed that
But long before I managed clamp
to After about a quarter of an hour it almost without exception a ground
the first tag into one of those tough sat up with apparent alarm, looked hog on its way home followed a defi-
ears, I few things about
learned a about, and then for no visible reason nite and well-worn path. This was

—
ground hogs namely that it is no ran toward the den. At the hollow frequently true even when the animal
simple job to chase one up a tree, slip hickory log it stopped and crouched w^as being chased and had to detour in
a noose over one's neck, or in fact to quietly for fully five minutes. As if order to follow its runway.
catch one alive by any means. satisfied that an unseen danger had Perhaps this observation initiated
However, I still say that it was passed, it then climbed atop the log my first successes. For on July i8 a
good advice. For it was largely and dozed in the morning sunlight young three-pounder wandered too far
through my fruitless attempts to cap- that filtered through the white oaks from its home den, and as I closed in
ture them that I began to understand bordering the clearing. with my net it charged into a dense
why these rodents have prospered so If that chuck had gone inside the growth of dogwood and grape. Since
well during the period since white hollow log, he would have stepped on there was no den in that particular

WAYS OF THE WOODCHUCK

 : :!

<Although recognized as one of the

most ferocious fighters of his weight,
the woodchuck does more than his
part to avoid a clash. For protection
he depends heavily on the good earth

^In order to study the movements

of woodchucks it was necessary to
tag them with numbers. The author
learned that although this animal is
not a fast runner, he is a very cred-
ible dodger

thicket, the chuck now has the distinc- ried into the water without hesitation
tion of wearing tag number 1379 in and swam for the other shore. I fol-
its right ear. lowed, wading knee-deep, and snapped
In convenient succession another a picture. It took the landlubber 55
woodchuck tried to hide in a shallow seconds to make the crossing a dis- —
emergency den in a clover field, and a tance which I calculated by triangula-
spade teased it out into a sack. Still tion to be about 40 yards.
another made the mistake of stepping A lucky coincidence enabled me to
on the trigger of a big basket-like compare this rate with that of a more
beaver trap, which the Iowa Conser- truly aquatic rodent, the muskrat.
vation Commission had offered to help When I had first returned to the
the cause along. island,one raced out of the swamp
Andon July 24 I entered the fol- smartweed, dived in, and swam across
lowing notes in my field book under the surface in 32 seconds. Al-
"Hottest day we've had. While though its path was slightly down-
eating supper near the river at Ely's stream, the greater distance probably
Ford, we saw a large mammal on more than offset the help of the weak
the little island some 100 feet ofE- current.
shore. It walked down to the water As the summer progressed I baited
and waded in. When I stood up for a traps with a soapy smelling lure that
better view with the glasses, it was concocted by a commercial con-
stopped, apparently frightened. It was cern. Several chucks entered, and
a woodchuck. were duly weighed, tagged, and were able to leave for
joints until they
"Lorene went down to the water's checked for external parasites. I has- more comfortable quarters.
edge to keep it from crossing while I tily recorded in my notes that the lure While mending the damaged traps
took my net and waded the channel at was the thing! and constructing new ones of a heav-
a narrow point a short distance below. The nights grew longer, the wood- ier,welded material, I found that if
"Approaching then from the rear I chucks fatter and on November 27 I
; the captives were provided with strips
could see that the mammal was nearly entered my last record of a wide- of wood along the inner sides of the
submerged. No trouble slipping the awake chuck for 1940. trap, they apparently were satisfied to
net over but the rascal immediately
it, The next spring, as soon as I could gnaw on the wood instead of the wire
lunged forward, ripping through the put aside microscopes, charts, and A darkened nest compartment to
wet netting. I tried to entangle it in grade books, I was back in the field which the chuck could retreat also
the cloth, but it tore out again. In with my precious bottle of lure and a helped to prevent repair bills.
desperation I grabbed it by the tail, dozen new traps constructed of 19- In the meantime, in order to obtain
keeping the net in a position that occu- gauge hardware cloth, half-inch mesh. real proof of the value of that soapy
pied the fighter's teeth. In the mean- The woodchucks entered. But a dis- lure,I made a number of sets with
time Lorene came to meet me with a turbing number of them left again by new and unbaited traps. The result
burlap sack, and the chuck is now in way of gaping holes torn in the sides I tossed the lure aside, concluding
the bag!" of the traps. Some of the captives in- that if a good trap is properly placed,
It weighed eight and a quarter effectually scattered their efforts over nothing more is needed.
pounds. For the release next morning several pointson the walls of the Although woodchucks do the
we took the swimmer back to its traps, therefore remaining inside. But greater part of their feeding in broad
island. Tagged and released, it hur- others ripped at the same soldered daylight — a few hours after sunrise

NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

 and again before dusk —they have that Once when I released a woodchuck than a few minutes feeding without
almost universal rodent-fondness for near the road it ran under my car. up to inspect the
sitting territory. One
retirement in dark places. Once they Wanting to observe its behavior in mature specimen which I clocked dur-
are inside a cage, it is hard to get them strange territory, I tried to frighten ing 79 alternating periods of feeding
out. Even in the exposed wire traps the animal into the open. It refused and watching spent over 32 percent of
they seem to feel a certain security, to go.I then drove forward several its time sitting up; the intervals of
for when the door is opened in sight yards,and got out to find that the feeding averaged less than seven sec-
of their dens they often refuse to woodchuck had followed beneath the onds each. Another specimen, observed
budge. Although they will generally car! on the same day, spent less than 14
run into a burlap sack held over the On another occasion I turned one per cent of its time watching, and av-
opening, at timesI have had to turn out on a wooded hillside near a boys' eraged 64 seconds for each feeding in-
the trap down and shake it vigorously camp ; it ran inside one of their tents terval. Incidentally, we speak of
to dislodge the captive. and took refuge under a cot. A half woodchucks and other plantigrade or
dozen yelling boys succeeded in driv- "flat-footed" animals as "sitting up"
ing the frightened rodent into the when frequently they are standing,
open, and it found greater security in supported only by the feet. I once saw
a hole down the ravine. a woodchuck rise to full height, stand-
One of the woodchuck 's chief se- ing on its hind toes as a digitigrade
crets of success is its habit, as Teddy mammal (a "toe-walker") would do
Roosevelt \vould have said, of speak- when erect. However, this is appar-
ing softly and carrying a big stick. ently not a common posture.
For while it is recognized as one of When danger appears imminent,
the toughest and most ferocious fight- the woodchuck either dashes to its den
ers of its weight, the woodchuck does or drops to the ground and freezes, its

more than its part to avoid a clash. head flattened against the earth. Only
Woodchucks seldom spend more on a few occasions have I seen a chuck

A After many methods were tried,

the secret of catching woodchucks
was discovered. The animal could go
around, but with a trap set directly in
a well-worn runway, he seemed to
find it less bothersome to go inside

The young are perhaps too trust-

ing and curious for their own good.
This one came out while the author
stood nearly straddling the entrance
was caught with a net
to the den. It
and now wears a numbered "earring"

Photographs by the autho

WAYS OF THE WOODCHUCK 223

 : !

^Ground Hog mothers have been accused even of pushing their offspring V The Woodchuck is a landlubber, but i

out of the hole to distract the attention of a dangerous dog. But close obser- one swam across a 40-yard stream at ab
vation of their psychology gives the author a feeling that a primitive sort of two miles per hour only 20% slo' —
mother love must have helped to make the ground hog successful on earth than a muskrat swimming under wi

more than a few seconds from a den.
One such case was that of the swim-
mer, which had no den on the island
where it was caught. Another was a
young female that I caught with a net
while it fed in a small clover patch.
Having mapped all dens in the vicin-
ity,I was sure there were no holes
near; and when it was released the
chuck ran across a field of young pines
148 yards to a den along the river.
In connection with their habit of
feeding near home, it is interesting to
note that their rate of travel is
have timed a number of
tively slow. I
the animals with a stop watch or by
counting after they were released
from the tagging cage. Of those which
really ran, the slowest traveled about
four and a half miles per hour, the
fastest, a mature twelve-pound male,
eleven miles per hour. These rates
were of course over rather short dis-
tances, from 30 to 75 yards.
Associated also with their slowness
and reliance on shelter rather than
fight is the fact that woodchucks fre-
quently construct short emergency
dens in the clearings where they feed.
A typical emergency den was involved
one entrance, I grabbed its tail from edge of the mound, without entering.
the other.But though I pulled so hard While woodchucks may show^ some
I was afraid of removing the tail tis- reluctance to enter dens inhabited by
sue from the vertebrae, it would not other chucks, numerous observations
give way. Wiley grasped its hind legs show that they actually do so —some-
and pulled at the same time, but the times to be promptly chased out again
rodent seemed a part of the earth. The behavior of woodchucks re-
Then Wiley dug toward its head. It leased at varying distances from the
snapped at the spade once and backed point of capture has aided in deter-
enough so that I was able to pull it mining their home range. Suppose a
from the burrow into the net." tagged animal, captured originally at
Such dens are quite different fron den A, runs directly through high
the deep burrows among roots and clover to den B, is caught a few days
rela- rocks where the chucks rear their later at C, and takes refuge in den D
young and hibernate. The real wood- —then it appears that the woodchuck
chuck homes commonly extend four is familiar with the territory bounded
feet below the surface and have pas- by these points. If circumstances leave
sageways totaling up to nearly 50 any doubt as to whether the chuck is
feet. Of the several entrances which entering a familiar den, as opposed to
generally go with each den, one is fre- merely finding a den by means of sight
quently a "plunge hole," dug up from or odor, then the observation has no
below and therefore lacking the value. However, several of the ani-
mound of soil typically found at the mals which were released more than
other entrances. a mile from "home" appeared utterly
While trying to catch chucks with confused, and did not take advantage
a net, I have sometimes been fooled of good dens only a few yards away.
when the rodent dropped into an un- OccasionallyI have released a
seen entrance some distance from the chuck at a point equidistant between
others. Perhaps the woodchuck's chief the den where it was captured and an-
predatory enemy, the red fox, has had other den, taking care not to block its

in an experience recorded June 30 similar disappointments. way back to the home den. Several
". .There were two entrances, six
. Certainly the woodchuck relies such specimens have run to the second
feet apart, and by poking with a stick heavily on familiarity with its own den.
we could chase the animal toward one territory. Released outside their regu- As one might expect of a mammal
entrance, then the other. By digging lar home range they may blunder into that is able to den near an abundant
into the middle of the den we con- a convenient den, but sometimes they source of food and to depend heavily
fined the ground hog to a rather short behave as number 1377 which ran
did, on the good earth for protection, the
tunnel. While Wiley engaged it from past a den, actually stepping on the woodchuck does not normally range

224 NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

 blind of box elder branches up the hill
about 50 feet. Then I sat on a rock
and waited. When the rock got too
hard after an hour or so, I went off
and looked for rabbit nests.
"Shortly after returning I heard a
sharp whistle or squeal —
perhaps both
—and a big dark-colored woodchuck
came from the lower entrance toward
the trap.
"As she approached, sniffing toward
the trap and jerking her tail vertically,
the two captives redoubled their efforts
to escape, squealing and scratching. I

pulled the thread. Undisturbed by the

click of the shutter, she started push-
ing at one end of the trap. Fearing she
would tip it over so the door would
fall open, I threw a stone she ran for
;

the lower entrance, which was among

the hackberry roots over the edge
of the bank. When she was out of

sight, I ran down and turned up the

WooDCHUCKS seldom spend more than a few minutes
film.
feeding without sitting up to survey the territory
"I was hardly safe in the blind
when she came out again, twitching
her tail. After scanning the landscape
a moment, she approached her young
far from its home. During July and as they were able to shift for them- and put her front feet on the trap. I
August of 1 94 1 I was using eight traps selves. pulled again, and this time she seemed
along a short course of creek which cut ". . . The female has in fact on oc- to hear the shutter and started for the
through an alfalfa field. Two of the casions been said to push her offspring den. However, I had to throw a couple
traps were directly across the creek out of the hole one at a time in order of times before she disappeared. I

from each other. During a period of to purchase her own safety by distract- didn't want her to see me leave the

36 days one chuck entered these two ing the attention of the dog that was blind.
traps four times, t^\^ce on each side of digging her out." "While I was turning the film this
the creek. It was not taken in any of The famih' ways of the woodchuck time she came out, saw me, and disap-
the other traps. are still somewhat obscure, and it is peared again.
Number 9202 was released nine- always difficult to find the man who "After another short wait, she re-
tenths of a mile from the point of cap- really was there "when it happened." appeared over the edge of the bank.
ture, an area where other wood-
in In June, 1942, I had caught a young There was a quick whistle, and she
chuck dens were abundant. Seven chuck, about six weeks old, and had advanced pumping her tail. This time,
days later it was retrapped 20 yards set a couple of live-traps near the den, however, she entered another of the
from its home den. And another hoping to catch others of the litter. three entrances, and appeared a few
specimen, tagged August 17, 1941, and On the evening of June 23 each trap seconds later at the entrance nearest
released at the point of capture, was contained another young chuck. As I the trap. When she stopped, halfway
taken August 28 of the following year approached, two other young and one out, I pulled the thread. She did not
only 135 yards away. adult took refuge in the den. One of move, so after a couple of seconds I

Although not typically a wanderer, the traps had been moved about two pulled again, thinking the extra ex-
the woodchuck does considerable feet,and from teeth marks on the out- posure might be necessary now that the
prowling during the mating season. frame I suspected that the was deeply shadowed. Just as
side of the valley
W. J. Hamilton, Jr., reports that the parent had attempted to free the cap- she came out and again started to push
rufescent woodchuck in New York is tive. the trap, she was frightened by an old
partially nocturnal during March. In My notes of June 24 tell the rest of car rattling down the side road toward
the morning one may find its tracks in the story: us. And since darkness was now com-
fresh snow and observe trails leading "To check my notion about the ing on rapidly, I took the chucks and
from den to den. woodchuck I took one of the captives left."
Among other poorly supported no- back to the den site this evening inside Although this woodchuck's behavior
tions about ground hogs is the idea the wire trap. One of the two young was hardly comparable with the par-

any care of their

that they take little if remaining home' was on the grass
'at ental bravery that one may observe in
young. In American Animals, Stone some 20 feet from the den. Even w^ith- some other forms of animal life, the

and Cram tell of "little woodchucks out a net I had no trouble catching it experience left me with a curious feel-

only a few weeks old, wandering and putting it into the trap. ing that a primitive sort of mother
about the field alone and unprotected, "After setting up my camera near love must help, too, in making the
having been driven from their homes the trap and den, and attaching a ways of the woodchuck successful on
by their hard-hearted parents as soon thread to the shutter, I made a rough the earth.

WAYS OF THE WOODCHUCK 225

A stirring saga of exploration is
unfolding as botanical scientists
discover new plants that can free
America from dependence on
Asiatic sources for rubber
New Sources o
or nearly half of that year's total con- whose worth to a nation is so often
sumption. unappreciated until some crisis like a
By Harold N. Moldenke Russian synthetic rubber is made great pestilence, famine, or war ar-
from alcohol, distilled chiefly from rives ! Thirty botanical expeditions
NEWSPAPERS the world over grains and from the common Irish were organized, handsomely equipped,
have for the past year or potato, native to South America. and ordered to re-study Russia's entire
more been filled with reports Alcohol-made rubber has serious short- flora in the search for a native rubber-
of the tremendous war efforts of our comings and is expensive. Ten acres bearer. In three years the scientists
valiant ally, Russia. Everyone knows of potatoes are needed to make one ton had the country from its
covered
by now that one of the prime essentials of rubber. Moreover, it lacks suffi- Pacific shores at Vladivostok and
of modern warfare — defensive or of- cient elasticity. For the manufacture Sakhalin, southwest to the Crimea,
fensive — is Every schoolboy
rubber. of automobile tires and tubes, for in- and north to the Arctic Circle. Over
also knows that in spite of her huge ex- stance, about 15 per cent of natural 100,000 kinds of plants were exam-
panse of territory, Russia has no rubber must be added. ined, of which 4925 were carefully
region vi'here she can grow Hevea Aware of the great desirability of analyzed and tested. A number were
brasiliensis or Castilla elastica, the finding some native Russian vegetable found to contain rubber in very small
world's chief sources of rubber. Before source of from which rubber
latex quantities.
she became embroiled in the present could be made, the Soviet Government One of the botanical expeditions
war, Russia most of her
imported appealed to its botanists — scientists was led by the Soviet botanist. Dr.
rubber. Realizing the danger of being
thus dependent on outside sources for
this vital material, the Soviet Union
long ago began experimenting with
synthetic rubber and soon turned out
vast quantities — in 1937 47,000 tons.

^Russian dandelion (Kok-

saghyz) : The humble plant to which
botanists were first attracted when
they heard of semi-nomadic tribes-
men using it for a sort of chewing
gum. Now it helps to cushion the
wheels of the Soviet armies driving
the enemy from the Ukraine

U. S. Department of Agriculture photograph by Purdy

A Seeds of the Russian dandelion flown from Kuibyshev

Washington for experimental development of the plant
North America. The seeds are accustomed to winter conditic
in the Tian-Shan Mountains therefore they have to be soafc
;

in water or kept on ice or under melting snow for fifteen di

or more. Here Dr. E. W. Brandes of the United States Depa
ment of Agriculture is examining the soaked seeds spread (
to dry
 {STRATEGIC PLANTS IV]

Rubber
L. E. Rodin. Late in 1931 Doctor
Rodin was exploring the wild Tian-
Shan Mountains in the Republic of
Kazakstan in Russian Central Asia.
Here he heard reports of the pictur-
esque semi-nomadic Kirghiz and
Kazakh tribesmen, roaming with their
herds in Turkestan, chewing a rub-
ber-like gum called kok-saghyz {kok
meaning "root," saghyz meaning "to
chew"). In the high valleys of the
Tian-Shan he found a lowly dande-
lion, hitherto unknown to science and
as yet unnamed by botanists (now
called Taraxacum kok-saffhyz), which
was the source of this gum. Hopefully,
he dug as many roots as he could find.
1 Department of I i olograph
As he broke the dried roots, long
A GUAYULE is more famous than Russian dandelion in American
elastic threads stretched out from
rubber production, being a native of northern Mexico, southern
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Growth that would require 5 to
20 years in the desert can be attained in 2 to 4 years under cultivation

U. S. Department of Ag

A The roots of the Russian dandelion contain the rubber. A American-grown seed being gath-
When broken, long elastic threads stretch out from them. ered from Russian dandelion plants cul-
Thomas A. Edison felt justified in studying our own tivated on irrigated land near Missoula,
dandelion for its small traces of rubber. Russian dande- Montana a scene from one of the proj-
:

lion, almost indistinguishable to the non-botanist, yields ectsundertaken by the Forest Service of
as high as 20% of rubber from old dry roots the U. S. Department of Agriculture

NEW SOURCES OF RUBBER 227

 !

< GuAYULE grows wild among other desert plants and looks
like a crossbetween alkali-weed and greasewood. The plants
are mostly widely scattered. But as early as 1904 a Mexican
factory was established to produce a million pounds of wet
rubber a month

"^ Rubber from guayule as it appears after the chopped-up

plant has been put in water, allowing it to float to the surface

them.The dandeh'on with which our

own Thomas A. Edison had experi-
mented (T. palustre var. vulgare)
contained only small traces of rubber,
but this new species —almost indis-
tinguishable from the common one to
the non-botanist —had 6 to 7^ per
cent of rubber in the dry weight of its

year-old roots ! In some older plants

the figure goes as high as 20 per cent
In 1942 Russia is reported to have
devoted 2,000,000 acres to growing
kok-saghyz. Like all dandelions, it
contains rubber in the lactiferous
its

tubes of the root and other parts, but

Nature gave it more to begin with
and Russian botanists have increased
the percentage by careful selection and in co-operating stations in Alaska and to further improve kok-saghyz as a
breeding. Possibly our own native Canada, to see where they would strategic rubber plant. Geneticists,
species of dandelion and the common grow best. After greater supplies of plant-breeders, plant physiologists,
introduced European w^eed of our seeds w^ere received, larger-scale plant- agronomists, and plant explorers have
lawns could also have had their rub- ings for seed production were estab- all signed up for this war effort.
ber-content raised through breeding. lished by the Forest Service at six Kok-saghyz seed is minute and de-.

But the United States had more prom-
ising plants (like guayule and gold-
enrod) to use as starting-points, and
until now our country never had the
urgent economic incentive
sufficiency in rubber.
Last year 139 pounds of kok-saghyz
seeds were flown by plane to the
United States from Kuibyshev, Russia.
localities. At present kok-saghyz is
growing in 42 states, in Canada,
Alaska, Chile, and Argentina.
of seeds were imported from Mur-
for self- mansk, via Iceland, and from Bazra,
in Iraq, around the Cape of Good
Hope. A second air shipment from
Russia arrived in May, 1942, and was
used to plant large areas in Michigan,
mands preconditioning to insure
prompt synchronized germination and
Tons uniform plants. This involves a simu-
lation of winter conditions in its Tian-
—
Shan homeland soaking in water or
keeping on ice or under melting snow
for 15 days or more. After that it is
easy to cultivate. All it needs is weed-
ing and an average amount of rainfall

These were as carefully apportioned Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Mon- or irrigation. It readily responds to

as though they were diamonds and tana. A

program of research, involv- the use of fertilizers, which increase
were planted at agricultural experi- ing all the skill and equipment of the the rubber-content of its roots. More
ment stations in 25 states, as well as modern plant scientist, is under way than 18,000 pounds of kok-saghyz

228 NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

 .

•< All p\rts of the guayule plant except the leaves

contain rubber. Ihese three-) ear-old shrubs, grown
in California, will yield about a pound

f A GRhENHOUSh hULL of guayule plants at the U. S. Horti-

cultural Station in Maryland. Here plant scientists are seek-
ing to learn the best conditions of soil, fertilizer, and
moisture.The pots in the foreground, grown without regu-
receding special nutrient solutions, those in the
lar soil, are
background, different kinds of fertilizer

U. S. Deft, of Agriculture photo b\ I on^llu

roots have been harvested tiom th(.

first experimental plantings Most ot

the rubber is in the long unJergrounJ
tap-roots, so the crop is harvested by (
". ^. Dept. of Agriculture photo
digging the roots. The roots keep on
growing in the frozen ground long
after the leaves have been killed by
the frost. Rubber may be harvested in summers are long, hot, and dry. The per month. Later more factories wtre
6 to 12 months, with a yield of about plant looks like a cross between alkali- built elsewhere in Mexico, and pro-
one ton from 1 6 acres. In Montana weed and greasewood. Early efforts duction has been almost continuous
the yield was estimated at between to domesticate guayule by rubber ever since. Five to ten million pounds
4500 and 5000 pounds of roots per companies failed. Success was not of guayule rubber have been secured
acre, or 45 to 55 pounds of rubber achieved until Dr. W. B. McCallum, annually from wild Mexican plants
per acre. This yield is greater than botanist of the University of Arizona since 1 906. A factory was operated in

the average in Russia, but is from irri- and authority on desert plant life, was Texas for some years until the sup-
gated land. In Russia only dry land is asked to tackle the job. In its native ply of wild plants was exhausted. In
utilized. In Canada the yield has been haunts it is a stubby, widely branch- fact, so extensively were the wild

from 1600 to 8100 pounds of roots ing, woody shrub, seldom more than plants dug up that after a few years
per acre. 30 inches tall, with small silvery it was estimated that the supply of
In Russia the roots are processed in leaves that give it a dusty appearance. wild plants in existence would not
sugar-beet factories, and the areas in Rubber is stored in all parts of the last more than 17 years. Collectors

the United States where kok-saghyz plant except the and mayleaves then were cautioned only to harvest
appears to grow best coincide with our amount to as much
22 per cent of
as mature shrubs, and now the Mexican
present sugar-beet growing regions. the dry weight, although the average Government controls the collection of
But with the present manpower short- for wild plants is about 8 per cent. By the plant by requiring permits, issued
age the prospects of synchronizing the cultivation the life cycle of this nor- through the Forestry Department,
production of sugar-beets and dan- mally growing plant may be
slow and by fixing the minimum size of
delions on a large scale do not appear telescoped so that growth which plant that may be taken. As a result
to be too promising. w-ould require 5 to 20 years in the of these measures it is now estimated
More famous in American rubber desert may be attained in 2 to 4 years. that a constant production of 7000
production, however, is the native Plants are usually ready for harvest- to 10,000 short tons of guayule rub-

guayule (pronounced: "zvy-06-lay") ing at the end of the fourth year. If ber is possible annually in Mexico
Its scientific name is Parthenium ar- not harvested, they may live for 40 to without depleting the wild supply.
gentatum. This is a lowly desert 50 years. The rubber of guayule does not
shrub, growing wild on limestone A commercially practical method of occur in latex tubes, as in rubber-

slopes, covering an area of about extracting the rubber from guaj^ule trees, but is secreted in separate cells.

20,000 square miles in northern was perfected in 1 904, and in that In harvesting, the entire plant is

Mexico, southern Texas, Arizona, and year the first factory was established pulled —
up roots and all. It is
New Mexico, where there is an an- at Torreon, Mexico, with a capacity chopped up and ground in water. The
nual rainfall of 9 to 15 inches and the of 1,000,000 pounds of wet rubber rubber then floats to the surface.

NEW SOURCES OF RUBBER 229

 •< Boron has rubber. As an emergency source of
been excluded natural rubber, guayule is unrivaled.
from the "diet" Without the deresinating process it is

of the plant be- not equal to Hevea rubber and is more

ing examined costly, but as a stop-gap until the new
here by Dr. J. Hevea trees become productive, it may
W. Mitchell, well be a lifesaver.
Other rows re- Another important source of rubber
ceived different that is making the headlines these days

amounts. The is the so-called crypto-vine or Mada-

experiment gascar-vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora
seems to show & C. madagascariensis). These are
that soil se- showy flowering vines in the dogbane
lected for guay- family, which have graced verandas
ule plantings and trellises in California, Florida,
should contain Mexico, and Central America for
ample boron many years and may now become one

U. S. Forest Service photo by Carl A, Taylo

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture photo by 1 <

> Plantations of guayule

totalling 20,000 acres have been
established in various parts of
the United States and in Argen-
tina and Chile. In this view
nursery crews in California are
removing seedlings for trans-
planting. Note the rows of irri-
gation sprinklers

Plantations totaling more than

20,000 acres have been established in
the Salinas Valley and other favor-
able locations in California, and else-
where in Texas, Arizona, New
Mexico, Argentina, and Chile but ;

further expansion of cultivation is at

present being held in abeyance because planted to the plantations, where they of the most important sources of
the food shortage demands the use of are cultivated like corn. At harvest natural rubber in the Western Hemis-
all available land for food crops. Vast time, the plants are plowed up, win- phere. They are natives of tropical

stocks of guayule seeds and seedlings, drowed, gathered, and shredded by Africa and Madagascar, widely culti-

however, are being held in reserve by special equipment in the field. At the vated in India, and are considered to
the Department of Agriculture in the factory the shredded plants are be among the best sources of latex
event that the emphasis should again crushed and run through revolving known. Some 25,000 acres have been
shift from food to rubber production tubes where heavy flint stones in water planted in Haiti and are expected to
in those areas. In its native haunts macerate the fiber. The rubber par- begin yielding in the first quarter of
solid stands are seldom seen, and one ticles then form small masses, while 1944, with 65,000 to 75,000 addi-
may travel 20 or 30 miles without the fiber becomes waterlogged and tional acres due to go into production

coming upon a specimen. A

pound of sinks, permitting removal of the raw in the second quarter. About 1,000,-
its seed contains some 600,000 seed- rubber. The rubber masses are then 000,000 plants are in nurseries ready
envelopes, usually less than 10 per placed on trays, dried, and pressed for planting up to a total of 100,000
cent of which contain fully developed into lOO-pound slabs for shipment. acres.

seeds.Germination is, therefore, poor This rubber contains 16 to 20 per Cryptostegia is one of the quickest-
and must be carried out in nurseries cent resin, but when deresinated is growing plants producing highgrade
— the seedlings being later trans- equal in quality to high-grade Hevea rubber. It may be harvested after the

230 NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

first and claims have been made
year, grown in hedgelike rows and the spp. ) . Estimates of the amount of rub-
that mature plants may yield some stems trained over bamboo troughs. ber that could be secured from this
250 pounds of rubber per acre. Its Incisions are made in the stems, and weedy plant, which inhabits the alkali

rubber cures well and has good tensile the latex will then drip into the flats and other wastelands of the
strength. Its resin content makes it troughs for collection. The bleeding is West, range from 10,000 to 250,000
suitable for mixing with synthetic rub- done every 2 days and does not injure tons. It is a shrub whose 16 species
ber. Production offers the advantages the vines.About 4000 plants can be grow from knee-high to twice the
of requiring little steel or other stra- grown per acre. The collected milky height of a man and occupy an im-
tegic material and little skilled labor. latex is screened and then coagulated mense area from the northern Rockies
It is estimated that one man per acre in a mixture with water. The coagu- to southern California. Its rubber oc-
can easily harvest the crop. lum is lifted off in sheets and milled curs form of solid bits and
in the
Cryptostegia has been known for to squeeze out the water, then cured shreds embedded in the tissues of the
more than a century. A crude rubber by smoking to complete the drying plant, like in guayule, and so the
has been made from it and marketed process. methods of harvesting would be simi-
in a small way as Palay rubber from Very similar to guayule is the rub- lar. It is not thought that the chrysil
Madagascar to India. The vine was ber that lies hidden in the stems and rubber obtained from rabbit-brush
brought to Mexico in 1895 by a sea roots of rabbit-brush (Chrysothamnus could successfully compete under nor-

< Growth is better where am-

ple water is provided, though
guayule can be raised on either
irrigated or dry land. A scene
in the Salinas Valley, California

U. S. Forest Service photo by Palmer

^ Gathering guayule seeds by

means of vacuum, at Salinas, California

Security Administration photo by

Lee, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

captain, who gave some seeds to a

friend in Mazatlan to grow as an
ornamental. The plant quickly spread
to other parts of Mexico, California,
Florida, and the West Indies. It is a

tropical or subtropical plant, and its

cultivation is limited to frost-free

areas. It is grown from seeds in good
soils suitable for general truck crops,
and growth is rapid. The rubber-
yielding latex is present in the leaves
and stems. After a year's growth for
development of a sturdy root-system,
severe pruning will yield both leaves
and stems without injury to the plant.
Older trunks, which may attain a
diameter of 5 to 6 inches, may also be
tapped. Most often the vines are

NEW SOURCES OF RUBBER

 mal conditions with the rubbers pre- war effort that a secrecy order has plied in the form of a liquid. When
viously mentioned, since it is not quite been placed upon it. It has good resis- spread over a surface and dried, a thin
so high in quality and the cost of prep- tance to abrasion and is impervious to brown film is formed which is con-

aration would probably be high. How- water and alcohol, so that it can re- siderably more elastic than natural

ever, in the present and similar emer- place rubber in such uses as insulation, rubber and is entirely unaffected by

gencies it might be found worth-while. shoe heels, fruit-jar rings, gaskets, and fats, oils, and grease, so that it is

admirably suited for gaskets and the

like.

Thus we see how the patient labors

of botanists, in co-operation with
chemists and physicists, are revealing
hitherto unsuspected products of stra-
tegic importance in common plants.
And when we think of the hundreds
of uses for which we have come to
depend upon the substance we call

'^ Enough seeds for hundreds of mil-

lions of rubber-producing guayule plants

^4 ^-
'1t
afr
1f
'CS.
^Mi»»-^xn

U. S. Forest Scr.'ke photos by Carl A. Ttiylor

A Seed harvest from two days'

picking: sacks at Salinas awaiting
transporation to the cleaning mill

Another tj'pe of rubber much dis-

cussed recently is chilte rubber. This

is derived from species of the genus
Cnidoscolus in the spurge family.
There are about 40 species iri the
group, of which 1 1 are native to con-
tinental North and Central America.
They range in size from herbs to
shrubs and even trees, having stinLiing

hairs and showy white flowers.

Rubber-like substances with at least
part of the stretch and bounce of real
rubber are now being prepared from
corn {Zea mays) and soybean {So]a
max) oils. Some of these products
will stretch 200 per cent or more and
return to their original shape. They
show tensile strength of about 500
pounds per square inch (natural rub-
ber averages 600 per cent stretch and
a tensile strength of 3000 pounds or tubing. Demand for norepol is esti- Rubber, we may be surprised to real-

more). The product from soybean oil mated 12,000 or more tons for the
at ize that the origin of the word itself

known as norepol and possibly rep- current year. Another product from isto be found in the original Euro-
is

resents the greatest potential utiliza- soybean protein and other vegetable —
pean use for rubber to "rub out" or
tion of soybean oil yet discovered. It proteins is even more elastic than rub- erase mistakes.

is deemed of such importance to the ber and has great strength. It is ap- [Next month: Quinine]

232 NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

 — •

UNDERWATER STORE
FFpp

By John Eric Hill absent or scarce, maple, willow, by grinding the upper and lower ones
alder,and many other trees are used together all the hard enamel is on the
Drawing by for food, but pines and spruces are
;

front side of the teeth, while the rest

G. Frederick Mason rarely touched. of the incisor is of softer ivory. When
A beaver picks out a tree, on which the tree is cut almost through and
BEAVERS used to be found from two sometimes work together, one on begins to crack, the beavers run out of
Alaska and Labrador to the each side. They sit up on their the way.
Rio Grande and across north- haunches, braced by the tail, and be- Then the branches are trimmed off
ern Europe and Asia. The winters gin to bite great chips from the trunk. and the best part of the tree is cut into
are cold almost everj-Avhere they live, The bites are up and down, diagonal pieces that can be dragged to the
but unlike their distant relatives, the and some even horizontal. Beavers water by a beaver. Each piece is towed
woodchuck and chipmunk, they do keep their chisel-like front teeth sharp out to deep water near the lodge and
not hibernate. They remain lazily ac- sunk. The green wood is not very
tive during the cold weather when buoyant, so sinking it is not much
their ponds are sealed with a thick trouble, but the first pieces must be
coat of ice.

summer many
ON YOUR RADIO pushed down in the mud to anchor
During the they eat them, then others can be tangled in
Program of the American Museum of
succulent pond plants, duckweed, these. on shore
If the sticks are left
Natural History for December, 1943.
pond lilies, reeds, and even algae, but for long the bark becomes dry and the
most of these wither and die in the
WEDNESDAYS over WNYC juices ferment, but under water it
from 3:30 to 3:45 P.M.
fall and the beaver's diet through the keeps very well.
Science for the Seven Million
winter is bark. Autumn is a very busy During the winter the beavers live
season for these rodents. From dusk Dec. I Underseas Painting and Photog- snugly in their nest above water level
to dawn they work to cut their food
—
laphy Chris E. Olsen
in a "lodge," made of sticks and mud.
Dec. 8 Xmas Books for the Home Front
trees, must have a store
for they of
Emilie Corson They spend most of the time sleeping
bark before the water freezes. Dec. 15 Camouflage —John R. Saunders and resting from the summer's exer-
Beavers like thebark of the aspen, Dec. 22 Children's Xmas Program — tion, but every now and then one or
Catherine Barry
or poplar the bark of the branches another of the beaver family goes out
;

and top of trees is the best, for the

Dec. 29 Greenland and Iceland —
it is
Dr. Helge Larsen through the water-filled passage to the
new growth. To our taste the beaver pond. He swims to the sunken store of
This program is now under the spon-
makes a strange choice, because poplar
sorship of Nj^tural History Magazine. sticks and logs, pulls one loose, and
bark is as bitter as gall. If aspens are tows it back to the nest for a meal.

UNDERWATER STORE 233

 THE
BENEFICIAL
SERPENT
By Charles M. Bogert
Curator of Recent Amphibians and Reptiles

Fascinating facts about creatures that both kill and cure

men Burma. The snake was

Two sacks
carrying heavy pack-
were trudging along a cobra.
a spitting
The
This happened in the Gobi Desert.
snakes were pit vipers. Appar-
narrow trail that wound Camp had been established for two ently they were emerging from their
through the dense foliage of a tropical days. Men on the expedition had gone den which unhappily was also the
rain forest. Suddenly something struck about their business of searching for camp site of the Central Asiatic Ex-
the packsack of one of them. Turning, fossils, repairing their trucks, making pedition. This incident has been made
he caught a glimpse of the scaled their maps, and performing the num- famous by Dr. Roy Chapman An-
underside of a large snake. Yelling in erous tasks that confront any group of drews, who was leader of the group.
fright, he loosened his arms from the explorers. A couple of small venomous The locality was appropriately named
straps and dropped his burden. The snakes had been seen near their tents, "Viper Camp."
fangs of an eight-foot snake were still but no one thought much about it. Everyone has heard or read simi-
impaled in the canvas pack, and the Then one day the temperature began lar well-authenticated stories and —
huge reptile was killed with a mach- to rise. That evening it was warmer doubtless others not so well authenti-
ete. This happened in the jungle of than it had been. A man lying on his cated. Venomous snakes are found on
the upper Amazon. The snake was a cot saw a snake wriggle across the every continent, on many islands, in

bushmaster. patch of moonlight in front of the valleys and in mountains, in the trop-

A soldier wrote: "Yesterday eve- tent. Deciding to investigate, he ics and in the temperate zones, even
ning as Lieutenant Gibson of our turned on his flashlight before he got inside the Arctic Circle in northwest-
regiment was going to his quarters for up. To his amazement he saw that no ern Europe where the subsoil is not
mess he saw a snake, at which he pro- less than half a dozen snakes were in permanently frozen. There are ven-
ceeded to throw a stone. He then his tent, entwined about the legs of omous snakes in the sea, along the
and a stick, and as
called for a light his cot, compactly coiled on the floor, shores of the Pacific and Indian
he was bending down with the light or with their sinuous bodies protrud- Oceans. But your chances of encoun-
to look for the snake, it made a dart ing from under the edges of boxes of tering a venomous snake are not actu-
at him. Some of the poison was ejected equipment. The entire encampment ally great, even under favorable cir-

into Lieutenant Gibson's eye, causing was an uproar within a few sec-
in cumstances.
instant and great pain, and the eye- onds. Lights went on in all tents, and More people are killed every year
lids swelled up quickly to the size of snakes — scores of them —were found, from the accidental discharge of fire-
a large hen's egg." This happened in literally in every tent. arms than die from snake bite. In the

NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

United States there is greater likeli- tive heat receptors that enable them the venoms of these cobras are readily
hood of your being struck by lightning to detect the presence of warm- absorbed in the eye, causing serious ef-

than of your being killed by a ven- blooded animals in total darkness, and fectsand permanent blindness unless
omous snake, and even in the tropics to strike and kill their prey with the the venom is removed immediately.
the odds are nearly as great. Expedi- precision of a modern weapon. These Such cobras, therefore, have fangs
tions into tropical regions have often heat receptors are located in small that serve a dual purpose. They serve
found it difficult to assemble lOO pits or depressions in the face or lips to prevent attack by an approach-
snakes a year, of which only a small of many snakes, including many py- ing enemy, but they also serve as in-

percentage were venomous. And these thons, boas, and pit vipers. In fact, the jectors of venom when the cobra kills
expeditions were looking for snakes! name "pit viper" is derived from these its prey.
Botanists, geologists,and similar ex- facial pits so obvious on the rattle- Most vipers and pit vipers have
plorers have been months in the trop- snake, bushmaster, water moccasin, long, curved fangs that can be rotated
ics without so much as seeing a snake. and fer-de-lance. with the jaw, so that they are folded
However, I have no desire to imply Strangely enough, snakes do not back against the roof of the mouth
that snakes are not common in many detect odors through their nostrils. when they are not in use. Cobras and
parts of the world, nor is it desirable Rather the tongue is continually sea snakes, on the other hand, have
that no precautions be taken. Snakes thrust out and drawn back, carrying permanently erect fangs that fit into
unquestionably are often present in with it minute particles of odorous pockets in the tissue outside each
far greater numbers than one might substances that are brought in con- lower jaw bone. Because their fangs
suspect. A competent field worker tact with paired receptors located in cannot be rotated, cobras and their
spent three years collecting in eastern the roof of the mouth. A peculiar among them the kraits, mambas,
allies,

Colorado and found scarcely half a mechanism indeed, but apparently and coral snakes, have relatively short
dozen rattlesnakes. Then he located a most efficient; the fresh trail of a fangs. Those of the king cobra, 18
"den," a place where snakes had con- rodent is, without doubt, followed feet long, the greatest length attained
gregated to hibernate in a group of with greater precision than that of a by any venomous snake are scarcely ^
prairie-dog burrows. Within two fox by a hound. of an inch in length, while the thick-
weeks he had captured over 800 rat- The forked tongue is commonly bodied Gaboon viper of the African
tlers emerging from their winter mistaken for the fangs, but true fangs, Rain Forests possesses the longest fangs
quarters. or venom-conducting teeth, are visible of any living snake. A six-foot Gaboon
So snakes are really rather plentiful only when the snake's mouth is viper, with a head the size of a man's
in many regions, but we neither see opened and the investing tissue drawn fist, has fangs almost two inches long,
them nor are we bothered by them. back. These special tubular teeth, the and its venom is one of the most
Why? There are several reasons. prototypes of our modern hypodermic powerful known. Nevertheless, human
First, most snakes are nocturnal. needle, were evolved by snakes at least casualties from the bite of the Gaboon
Contrary to popular notions they fifteen to twenty million years ago. viper are rare. Although if molested
cordially dislike sunlight except in Needless to say these modified teeth, it is more than capable of defending
early spring months and for the brief- or fangs, represent an efficient means itself, powerful serpent is simply
this

est exposure during warm summer of injecting poison into the snake's not an aggressive beast. Fortunately
days. They prefer to do their hunting prey. this is true of the majority of ven-
at night, perhaps because they find it No single feature provides a reli- omous snakes. Only the king cobra
necessary to avoid the heat of day. able means of distinguishing venom- and the bushmaster often attack with-
Second, many snakes are secretive. ous snakes, except the presence of out provocation, probably because
They remain hidden much of the time, fangs. If a snake has fangs, it is pois- each of them guards its eggs during a
and even when they are abroad, their onous beyond question. All rattle- long incubation period, and an occa-
colors so completely harmonize with snakes are venomous, of course, but sional traveler comes too near the
their surroundings or their patterns many snakes related to the cobras look "nest."
disrupt the body contours so that it is superficially like harmless serpents. So it is that the Surgeon-General's
difficult to see them. I have known Australia in particular is unique Departments of both the Army and
of a case where 40 persons walked among the continents in possessing Navy report casualties from snake
within a yard of a three-foot rattle- more venomous snakes than
species of bite to be "almost negligible." Our
snake, and failed to see it. of harmless snakes. Yet no vipers or armed forces have, of course, taken all
Finally, venomous serpents attempt pit vipers are known from Australia, precautions to maintain this record.
to avoid enemies and they are and many venomous snakes look super- Scientists in many parts of the world
equipped with fangs primarily for the ficially like our common racer or black have produced antivenins to counter-
purpose of killing their prey. Ordi- snake. Actually the venomous serpents act the venoms of various snakes. This
narily snakes venture forth from their of Australia are all primitive relatives is a difficult task, because no two
seclusion only to mate or to feed. of the cobra. species of snakes have the identical

They do not wander about aimlessly Two cobras in Africa and one venoms, and it follows that the venom
as was formerly believed. Indeed, cobra in the Malay region have of each species must be used to prepare

snakes possess highly perfected sense evolved special fangs that direct the a reliable antivenin for that particular
organs that permit them to locate their venom outward, perpendicular to the kind of snake. Some of these anti-
prey with a minimum of effort. Snakes fang, instead of doAvnward, so that veninsmay be put to good use by the
that habitually seek their food at the snakes are able to sprav venom for American expeditionary forces, al-
night have evolved eyes adapted for a distance of seven or eight feet. And though prompt incision and suction at
seeing in dim light, like those of a cat. these cobras aim with precision for the the site of the bite sometimes preclude
Others have evolved extremely sensi- face of an adversary. Furthermore, the necessity of using serum.

THE BENEFICIAL SERPENT 235

 Perhaps you would recommend that symptoms, but reasoned further : if which includes the elements carbon,
venomous snakes be exterminated? moccasin venom were prepared in di- hydrogen, sulphur, and nitrogen. Most
Even if this were feasible and it isn't — lute solution, might it not then serve venoms, as a matter of fact, contain
— it is extremely doubtful whether to coagulate the blood to the extent more than one principle. Consequently,
their extermination is desirable. In needed by hemophiliacs? However, many of the venoms still defy chemical
teeming India, where the incidence of scientists do not propound questions analysis. The first effort to break
snake bite is reportedly high, it is un- for others to answer. It is the scien- down snake venoms was made almost
likely that the average span of life in tists' job to answer questions, and this precisely lOO years ago, and today we
that country would be lengthened by is what the pharmacologists did. By know the chemical formulas of
the destruction of snakes. A competent careful experiments they demon- scarcely more than two or three
authority points out that the increase strated that in suitable doses moccasin snake venoms, and the exact formulas
in rodents as a result of the removal vemon could be employed with a of these are uncertain.
of the snakes would almost certainly measure of success in stopping the Much of the original modern scien-
result in an increased death rate from flow of blood in cases of severe tific work was undertaken in the
bubonic plague and other rodent-borne hemorrhage. Pasteur Institute in France, but now
diseases. Cobra venom, in contrast to that of researches have been carried on in
Scientific opinion holds that it is the moccasin and Russell's viper, does South Africa, in India, and in the
preferable to keep the snakes, even not any serious effect on the
exert United States. Dr. David I. Macht,
venomous species, in order to retain blood. Rather its effects are princi- one of the leading pharmacologists in
a balance But scientists
in nature. pally upon the nervous system, and this country, has conducted extensive
have gone beyond Medical in- this. when death occurs from the bite of a researches with a variety of venoms,
vestigators have put venoms to work cobra it is because certain nerves and he has demonstrated their value
for man. Some of these poisons in cease to function. Again the medical in the treatment of a number of dis-
minute doses actually constitute valu- investigator seized upon this fact and eases. Research will continue, of
able medicinal agents. Cobra venom is sought to put it to good use not — course, with many specialists contrib-
used to alleviate pain, replacing opium without, success. If cobra venom causes uting to the problem. To standardize
in serious cases, and it has the dis- nerves to stop functioning, why not the venoms it is necessary that each
tinct advantage of being non-habit use cobra venom to stop pain? After of the several types of snakes from
forming. Rattlesnake venom has been all, pain is the result of a nervous v\'hich venom is extracted be classified
employed A\ith success in the treat- impulse, and if cobra venom will in- correctly, be known, for in-
that it

ment of epileptic seizures. Moccasin hibit the function of one nerve, why which kind of cobra
stance, precisely
venom is used therapeutically to pro- not apply it to another ? produces which kind of venom. This
mote coagulation of the blood, thereby The reasoning is simple, but the work of classifying cobras falls to the
stopping hemorrhage. Viper venom is actual work involved has been tre- museum investigator who deals with
useful in the treatment of hemophilia, mendous. Cobra venom had to be preserved specimens. The chemist may
the inherited disease which permits purified and sterilized by special proc- eventually contribute his share by
profuse bleeding from very minor esses remove dangerous bacteria.
to analyzing more of the venoms ex-
wounds. Then the venom had to be standard- tracted. Meanwhile, the pharmacolo-
Many of us are inclined to think of ized so that suitable dosages might be gist, working with animals, will ob-

the terms "drug" and "posion" as re- given, needless to say in considerably serve the effects of the various venoms
ferring to quite different substances. diluted solutions. Promising results or of products derived from the ven-
But the pharmacologist knows that have been achieved with cobra venoms oms. Eventually, the number of uses
many, if not most, drugs are also poi- in reducing pain in incurable diseases, in medicine to which venoms may be
sons. Consequently pharmacologists, and the research continues. Not one put will certainly increase.
by a reversal of this reasoning, often disease, but several, have responded to So the bushmaster in the tropical
look upon poisons as possible medicinal treatment with dilute, standardized forests, the spitting cobra in the
agents. Under certain conditions al- preparations of cobra venom. Burmese jungle, and the pit viper in
most any poison exerts a useful medi- Carefully controlled use of snake the Gobi Desert all have their dan-
cinal actionand therefore may be re- venoms is a modern development. In gerous attributes. But they have their
garded as a therapeutic agent. Snake ancient times various parts of the useful aspects as well. Venomous
venom is no exception. snake were often used in the prepara- snakes not only serve a useful purpose
Of course, this does not mean that tion of elixirs or other reputed cure- in keeping the disease-bearing rodents
snake bite is a cure for disease. Rather, alls.But more often than not the in check, but modern science has trans-
it should be explained that investiga- venom itself was not used, because the formed the venom from a deadly
tors noticed that the venoms of certain head containing the poison glands was weapon to a useful medicinal agent.
snakes, particularly those of the water carefully removed. Not that it made The serpent has been deprived of its

moccasins and Russell's viper, pro- any difference, because the effects of terrors by the use of modern methods
moted coagulation. Bites from the the preparations were purely im- of treating snake bite, including anti-
water moccasin cause thickening of aginary. venins, while the potent poison de-
the blood at the place where the It is not astonishing that snake rived from the dangerous snake proves
venom has been injected, and the re- venoms have been turned to man's use to be a useful drug. It may be desir-
sulting congestion, or lack of circula- Venoms are
only within recent years. able to kill dangerous snakes in

tion, in the arm or leg bitten, may extremely complex substances. The densely populated areas, but it has
produce quite painful effects. The active principle of venoms is a pro- become difficult to argue that ven-
pharmacologists made note of these tein that has a complex formula omous snakes should be exterminated.

236 NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1 943

 KNOWING THE WEATHER • EDIBLE PLANTS • DUNE BOY
TAXIDERMY • ALASKA • ELEPHANTS

Island peoples of the tion entitled Poisonous Flowering Plants Factual, human, whimsical, statistical, he
Likely to Be Mistaken for Edible Species, will instruct youif you are interested, and
western pacific, micro- in which are considered poisonous bulbs interest you if you are not. The chapter

nesia and melanesia and roots, poisonous new shoots resem- on Thunderstorms ends with this "stroke:"
bling edible plants, poisonous dry fruits "If a human being were required to pay
------ by Herbert W. Krieger
or seeds resembling edible seeds, and admission to thunderstorms, they would
poisonous berries. be admired and marveled at. People go
Smithsonian Institution War Background
Studies Number i6
This is a timely book. Many persons to much trouble and expense to produce
will be grateful, in these days of ration- and see fireworks on July 4th. They are
UNLIKE the East Indies, the island ing, that dependable scientists have as- disappointed if the show has to be post-
world to the eastward was long sembled what is known about the many poned because of a display of lightning."
neglected both economically and stra- edible wild plants. Everyone who tramps The book is illustrated with beautiful
tegically, until our attention was painfully the fields and woods knows certain wild cloud photographs. They illustrate the
directed to this part of the Pacific by the berries, such as strawberries, blackberries, various types that help a great deal in
culmination of the Japanese plot. It is raspberries, blueberries, and elderberries, forecasting. The technic of telling tomor-
doubtful that these islands known collec- and certain nuts such as hickory nuts, row's weather is really the theme of the
tively as Melanesia and Micronesia will walnuts, and hazelnuts; but few go fur- book. Longstreth encourages the reader to
soon again relapse former in-
to their ther than fruits and nuts in wild plant learn to make his own forecasts, and
significance in our postwar arrangements. food. Some eat dandelion, dock, and poke gives, toward the end of the book, specific
Although Melanesia and Micronesia greens, but few realize that there are hun- rules for doing so. He discusses climate
have been merely names and not always dreds of other edible plants. change. Did you know that the ninth cen-
that to most of us, they have long oc- Purees from young flowering spikes of tury was very wet, while the tenth and
cupied a place of special interest for cattail, starchy or mucilaginous soups eleventh were warm and dry? No doubt
anthropologists who have been active in from seaweeds, lichens, manna grass, the people said the climate was changing
recording anthropological data on some tubers of Jerusalem artichoke, chufas, and and that the "old fashioned" winter was
of the native peoples living there. From nut grass; roots of groundnut and wild disappearing.
these studies Doctor Krieger has distilled salsify; rootstocks and seeds of water Weather today is important, and grow-

out a summary description of native life chinquapin, oaks, beech, walnuts; seeds ing more so. A great deal of mete-
that makes an excellent, short introduction of wild rice; breadstuff from the inner orological literature is appearing. Most
to both areas. He makes clear not only the bark of pine and hemlock; potherbs or of it is written around flying. This author
essential distinctions between Melanesian greens from docks, marsh-marigold; as does not omit that angle, but he em-
and Micronesian culture, but also differ- drinks, sassafras and spicebush tea. New phasizes weather to the man on the ground
entiates the various Island groups within Jersey tea, and Labrador tea; Kentucky as well. Weather is a companion of yours
each area.
H. L. Shapiro. Coffee-tree seeds, chicory roots, sunflower whether you like it or not. Why not get
seeds, and many other substitutes for acquainted with it? You cannot do so
coffee; maples and other sources of sugar; more pleasantly than by reading Knowing
and the Weather.
Edible wild plants of confections
(calamus) root
of coltsfoot
— these
sweet
are just a few
flag
of A reviewer should always find some
eastern north america the wild plants treated in this
edible fault. I would have put in a weather
- - by Merritt Lyndon Fernald and authentic manual. Clyde Fisher. map, sketches of barometers, hygrometers,
and wind patterns, and included a few
Alfred Charles Kinsey
more items in the glossary and Table of
Equivalents. But this reviewer did not
Idlewild Press, Cornwall-on-Hudson,
$3.00
Knowing the weather write the book. T. Morris Longstreth did.
----- by T. Morris Longstreth And he did an excellent job.
THIS book is a Special Publication of
WiLLi.AM H. Barton.
[he Gray Herbarium, the senior author The Macmillan Company, $1.69
being Fisher Professor of Natural His-
tory and Director of the Gray Herbarium, Death Valley the temperature once
IN
Harvard University. Doctor Ferald was reached 134° F., and in Siberia it Coming down the wye
also a coauthor, with Doctor Robinson, of dropped to —
90° F. Liquid water droplets
-------- by Robert Gibbings
the last revision of Gray's Manual of float in the air at 20° below zero Fahren-

Botany. Doctor Kinsey, coauthor of the
book now being considered, is Professor
of Zoology in Indiana ITniversity.
A few years ago there appeared an ex-
cellent volume with almost the same title,
namely Edible Wild Plants, by Oliver
Perry Medsger, which covered most of
United States and Eastern Canada. The
present work is more complete, as would
be expected in a larger book covering a
smaller area. Moreover, the new Fernald
and Kinsey book contains
heit without freezing. There are 7 differ- E. P. Dutton & Co., $3.00
ent kinds of fog, and nearly 74 feet (not
inches) of snow fell in one winter in Cali- THE
England
Wye flows through Wales
for 130 miles before
and
it emp-
fornia. Hurricanes could not occur if the
earth were not a spinning planet. ties in the Severn Estuary. This book is
If the above rather disjoined facts of not a guide to the river Wye but the
meteorology strike you as strange or author's expression of its atmospheric cir-
startling, it is because you have not read cumjacence. The individual quality that
T. Morris Longstreth's Knowing the sets thisbook apart is the author's ability
If'eather. The author has packed a wealth to portray the element of humor and to
of information on all phases of weather narrate wayside anecdotes along with the
a valuable sec- study into iso pages of excellent writing. splendor and glory of the sunset. It is an

YOUR NEW BOOKS

 Christmas Kemmders
CO VARRUBIAS MAPS
Six handsome full color maps of the Pacific
in a tapa-design portfolio. Write for an
lustrated descriptive folder. $9.65 per set

12 Misc. minerals of the U. S. A $1.00

12 New England Minerals 1.00
9 Crystals 1.00
16 Connecticut Minerals 60

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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
77th STREET AND CENTRAL PARK WEST, NEW YORK 24, N. Y.
 ! —

enchanting story of natural history, folk- bibliography). This classic of the Ameri-
lore, and witchcraft mixed with travel on can bird literature should be in the hands
one of the most legend-haunted rivers in of every student of birds or of animal The first
England and Wales. To gather his mate- ^<=^^'-'">'-
E. Mayr.
American
rial for this book, Mr. Gibbings spent book of ^-. '^^rs? -

two years amid the wild and rugged its kind J/ is -^ * '

beauty of the river. For months he lived

^//^
alone with his pony in a derelict mountain Alaska: America's A
cottage at the source of the Wye, but most
of the time was spent actually coming continental frontier
down the river.
The book contains 189 pages, illustrated
OUTPOST
by Ernest P. Walker
Quide to BIRD
with engravings by the author, and is
written in a rambling but delightful man-
ner. Without impairing the readable qual-
Smithsonian Institution War Background WATCHING
Studies Number 13 By Joseph J. Hickey
ity of its pages, he has included sound
facts of geological importance, studies in DURING the past year it has happened Complete information on methods of
identification, problems of bird count-
wildlife, and some of the peculiarities de- quite often that the American Mus-
eum has been asked for advice in select- ing, bird banding, etc. appendix and ;

veloped in human nature when isolated bibliography. Illustrated by Francis

for generations.
Mr. Gibbings is an Irish artist, writer,
and naturalist whose temperament leads
him to disregard the conventional and fol-
low his own line of interest.
ing books for servicemen stationed in
Lee J agues. $3.50
Alaska. Obviously the men have found
themselves in a strange country, a country
about which they knew very little but
which fascinated them and stirred their

George G. Goodwin.
curiosity. They wanted to find out about
its geology, its fauna and flora, and the
THE
native population. The serviceman will
find most of the answers in this little
AMERICAN
book, which really gives Alaska in a IA Kl
LAIN r\ ITS HISTORY
1/ ANDITSUSES
The behavior of the nutshell.
In 54 pages we learn about its topog- By William Van The
song sparrow and raphy, climate, population, natural re- of the
R.
American land, the way
Dersal. story
it has
other passerines sources, modern development, and the —
been used and misused. "A book to
possibilities of the country. primarily be read from cover to cover ... a new
----- by Margaret Morse Nice a book for the person
It is

who wants a brief guide book to the United States."

account of the facts about Alaska; for the N. Y. Times, 128 illiis. $3.75
Studies in the Life History of the
one who wants to study the subject in
Song Sparrow II, $2.75 detail there is a good bibliography. The OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
text is accompanied by a large number of
(Available at the special price of $2.00 if 114 Fifth Ave. New York 11
excellent photographs, well selected and
ordered directly from the Museum.)
most of them new.
^^^^^ ^arsen.
THE American
awarded in
1942
Ornithologists' Union
the Brewster Medal
phants may live to 120 and 150 years of
to Mrs. Nice for her song sparrow mono-
age is questionable. It is now believed
graph, characterizing it as "the most im-
portant work relating to the birds of the
Here come the that half that age would be nearer the
truth.
Western Hemisphere published during elephants The book is very readable. Any person
the preceding six years." ...-._-.- by Gertrude Orr interested in elephants and wishing to
Bird students throughout the world will learn more about these giant beasts will
be delighted to learn that the second part The Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell,
enjoy reading the pages. The book is il-
of this notable work is now available. Idaho, $2.50
lustrated with numerous photographs of
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of and other tamed elephants.
these studies is that they were not made TO the small boy, and to older persons
as well, a circus means elephants, and
circus

T. D. C.
by a professional, but by a busy house-
wife with four children! Mrs. Nice ob- no circus could be complete without them.
tained her significant results by applying
There is something about their ponderous
size and their capability of learning and
the modern technique of bird study. She
did not study a species as such, but rather
performing that appeals to young and old Islands and peoples of
known individuals. By following the ac- most patient and
alike. It is only after the
painstaking schooling that an elephant is
the indies
tivities of color-banded individuals, she
taught to do the unnatural procedures de- ------ by Raymond Kennedy
knew to whom they were "married." what
their parents and children were, and manded of him
amuse the circus audi-
to
ence. In the book. Here Come the Ele-
Smithsonian Institution War Background
which adventures they had throughout Studies Number 14
the year. This information, supplemented phants, Miss Orr has written of this train-
ing and of other interesting incidents be-
by the study of hand raised birds gave
hind the scenes. The hero and heroine of
THIS little book on the East Indies by

her a sound basis for generalizations. Professor Raymond Kennedy is de-

The emphasis in the present volume is this book are Sultan and Princess Alice, signed to embrace within its brief com-
on behavior problems. Such topics are dis- two elephants that belonged to the Sells pass a complex area rich in human history
cussed as: The development and the ac- Floto Circus. This famous pair of breeding and cultural variation. In this diflicult task
tivities of young birds; the daily cycle of elephants produced four offspring within the author has succeeded admirably. His
activities; development, inheritance and a period of eight years. Although none of account, necessarily confined to the main
function of song; the reproductive cycle these calves reached the age of more than highlights, touches upon such generalities
phases (territory selection, pair
in all of its a few months, the accomplishment %vas as climate, population, geography, and
formation, nesting, care of the young). most noteworthy as there have been but history. In somewhat greater detail the
Finally the question is discussed how two other live elephant calves born in the principal islands and groups are de-
much of the behavior is innate and how L'nited States. scribed with respect to their physical
much learned. Certain chapters of the book deal with aspect, their and the
economic status,

In addition to publishing a wealth of the elephant's ancestors, his habits in the character of their inhabitants. Following
original data, Mrs. Nice presents us with wild, and his training and usefulness in this, various aspects of native life are
a well classified digest of the modern his native countries of Asia and Africa. succinctly defined. This should be an ex-
writings on bird behavior {29 pages of The author's statement that wild ele- tremely useful guide for those eager to

YOUR NEW BOOKS 239

form some conception ot the life and the he wriggled up the slanting mossy roof range from a small bo\'"s endeavor to
people of the East Indies. of their farmhouse, the better to view the build up a fur trade in mouse skins to an
distant enchantment of the dunes, and ambitious attempt to soar in an airplane
H. L. Shapiro.
close with the golden age of his boyhood of his own construction. The author's
when, on the threshold of sixteen, he spent early attempts at nature photography of —
his last Christmas —
snow without, but which today he is preeminently a master
Dune boy warmth and festivity within in the — — are not represented, but attractive
------ by Edwin Way Teale friendly home of Gramp and Gram, to sketches by Edward Shenton top each of
whom the book is dedicated. the thirty chapters.
Dodd, Mead and Co., $3.00 Gramp with his homespun wisdom, racy Herbert F. Schwarz.
humor, and knack for the pungent phrase
this volume the author of Grassroot shares with Gram the author's affections.
IN
Jujigles, Near Horizons, and additional
Deep must have been their influence in
books that have implanted in others an
shaping the character and tastes and in Taxidermy
understanding love for nature tells how encouraging the aspirations of their youth- _._..-..--_ by Leon Pray
the foundations of his own interest in liv-
ful visitor. Evenings were often spent
ing things were laid during the significant
reading worthwhile books by lamplight. The MacMillan Co., $1.49
vacations spent on his grandparents' farm
In the selection of nature books as in other
in the dune country of Indiana. The
reminiscences begin when, as a small lad,
ways Gram's high standard was the WELL
when
I remember, many years ago,
in the Field (now the Chi-
guide.
To earn money enough to buy a coveted cago) Museum,
as a boy with Carl
camera the author had to pick a grand Akeley, met another young chap whom
I
"WAR-TESTED" EQUIPMENT Akeley had just taken on. Akeley told me
total of 20,000 strawberries. To acquire a
however, typewriter demanded comparable persis- that he thought this boy had much prom-

will be
tence. Youthful compositions —
intriguingly ise, and I, too, was profoundly impressed
e

—
unorthodox in their spelling were tapped by the almost photographic accuracy of
out on this typewriter and some reappear his pencil sketches and very excellent oil

David T. Abercrombie Co. in Dune Boy along with many delightfully

paintings.

told serio-comic rural adventures. They That boy, tutored by Akeley, grew up
into a progressive and expert taxidermist,
for not only he have the necessary
did
artistic background, but he had consider-
able mechanical skill as well.
With infinite study and continuous
work, he carried on much research and
experimented with methods both old and
new, to find better ways, if possible, of
producing lasting and quality work in this
very fascinating, but somewhat elusive
art.

URGENT Leon Pray's book. Taxidermy,

sult of these many
years of experience, and
although not a large volume, it covers
well the phases of mounting he describes.
His many excellent diagrammatic draw-
is the re-

ings of these methods and their details

PUBLIC bespeak pages for the eager student and

make
prehensive.
this work Just so

This art, too casually looked upon by

much more com-

the administrators of most natural history

museums, is very largely kept alive and

NOTICE! in
who
a

methods
progressive state by men like Pray,
give their whole lifetime to study and
in their effort
higher plane of achievement and recogni-
to lift it to a

THE tremendous gains

made against tubercu-
We
war.
found this out in the last tion.
This very good little book comes as a
losis are in danger of being Your help is needed, real contribution in a field wherein there
wiped out. urgently. To carry on the
It will be re-
literature.
is far too little
Crowded housing, abnor- year's fight against TB, we rely
mal eating conditions, over- on your purchase of Christmas ceived enthusiasm by the amateur
with
work, and all the other by- Seals. Please send in your con- naturalist, the student, and the profes-
products of war can give the tribution today, as much as sional alike, for it contains many valuable
dread TB a new lease on life. you can give. •^'"t*^ ^<"' ^"-
J..\MEs L. Clark.

OTHER REGIONAL BOOKLETS

BUY CHRISTMAS SEALS RECEIVED
Conspicuous Birds of the South Pacific —
Because of the importance of the above By Ken Stott Bulletin 19 of the Zoolog-
message, this space has been contributed by ical Society of San Diego.
Fishes of the Middle "W^est By Rachel —
L. Carson. Conservation Bulletin 34 of
NATURAL HISTORY Magazine
the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Illinois Mammals Today amd Ye'Ter-
DAY — By Virginia Eifert. The Illinois
State Museum.
South Sea Lore — By Kenneth P. Emory.
Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Pub-
lication '56, Honolulu.

240 NATURAL HISTORY, DECEMBER, 1

943
p