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THE journal;of the
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
VOLUME XXIV
1924
Published bimonthly by
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
NEW YORK CITY
1924
0
An illustrated magazine devoted to the advancement of natural history, the
recording of scientific research, exploration, and discovery, and the development of
museum exhibition and museum influence in education. Contributors are men emment
in these fields, including the scientific staff and members of the American Museum, as
well as writers connected with other institutions, explorers, and investigators in the
several branches of natural history.
'NATURAL HISTORY" IS SENT
TO ALL CLASSES OF MUSEUM
MEMBERS AS ONE OF THE
PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERSHIP
CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXIV
Januart-Febktjaet, No. 1
Australia, the Land of Living Fossils William K. Gregory 4
Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and Tasmania Harry C. Raven 16
Bird Personalities of the Australian Bush R. T. Littlejohns, R.A.O.U. 29
Reptile Life in Australia Charles Barrett, C.M.Z.S. 42
The Vanishing Wild Life of Australia 60
The Great Barrier Reef of Australia Charles Hedley 62
Rotorua and the Geyser Region of New Zealand Edmund Otis Hovey 70
Some Plays and Dances of the Taos Indians Florence Merriam Bailet 85
The Eland and Its Bird Sentinel Herbert Lang 96
Turret-Building Termites R. W. Doane 98
The Public Museum of Staten Island Charles W. Lbng 101
"Birds of the New York Region" Witmer Stone 105
"In Brightest Africa" Herbert F. Schwarz 109
Notes 112
Map of Australia and New Zealand opposite 128
March-April, No. 2
The Discovery of an Unknown Continent Henry Fairfield Osborn 132
Living Animals of the Gobi Desert Rot Chapman Andrews 150
Geological Reconnaissance in Central Mongolia Charles P. Berkey 160
Jungle Life in India, Burma, and Nepal Col. J. C. Faunthorpe 174
Stalking Tsine in Burma Arthue S. Vernay- 199
The Disappearance of the Wild Life of India Col. J. C. F.aunthorpe 204
Fossil Animals of India - William D. ^I.atthew 208
Hainan Clifford H. Pope 215
Through the Yangtze Gorges to Wan Hsien Anna G. Gh.\nger 224
In the Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear W.\ldemah .Iochelson 236
Some Drums and Drum Rhythms of Jamaica Helen H. Roberts 241
Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper E. W. Gudgeh 252
The Schoolhouse of the World William K. Gregory 254
The Coming Five Years, 1924-28, of the Third Asiatic Expedition Roy Chapman Andrews 256
"A Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster" G. Clyde Fisher 258
"Galapagos: World's End" H. F. Schwarz 259
Notes 260
May-June, No. 3
Martin Johnson and His Expedition to Lake Paradise Carl E. Akeley' 284
Scenes from the Plains and Jungles of Africa 289
Reproductions in duotone from photographs by Martin Johnson
The Highlands of the Great Craters James L. Clark 297
The Vanishing Wild Life of Africa Herbert Lang 312
Profiteers of the Busy Bee James P. Ch.apin 328
Amateur Entomologists and the Museum Fr-ank E. Lutz 337
A Beaver Colony of Yellowstone Park M. P. Skinner 347
American Men of the Dragon Bones Henry F.urfield Osborn 350
Wintering Over a Fire Basket in Szechuan Province Anna G. Granger 366
Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain Goat William T. Shaw 381
Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines William Peterson 388
Dean's "Bibliography of Fishes"
A Review Raymond C. Osburn 392
A Historical Sketch E. W. Gudger 395
Notes 402
July-August, No. 4
The Andes : A New World Frank M. Chapman 420
The High Andes of Ecuador H. E. Anthony 429
Frederic E. Church, Painter of the Andes H. F. Schw.arz 442
Alexander von Humboldt 449
Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador Wilson Popenoe 454
Into the Interior of British Guiana Herbert Lang 467
Peruvian Pets Hilda Hempl Heller 479
Hunting Stingless Bees Frank E. Lutz 494
Bird Hunting among the Wild Indians of Western Panama Ludlow Griscom 509
A Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella hombycina William M. Savin 520
Notes 523
September-October, No. 5
Frontispiece, A New Kingfisher from the Tuamotus opposite 539
From a painting by Courtenay Brandreth
The Whitney South Sea Expedition Robert Cushman Murphy 539
The Oceans Willi.am Morris D.wis 554
The Northern Elephant Seal and The Guadalupe Fur Seal Charles Haskins Townsend 566
A Trip to Guadalupe, the Isle of My Boyhood Dreams Laurence M. Huey 578
The Seal Collection Frederic A. Lucas 589
Hunting Corals in the Bahamas Rot Waldo Miner 594
The Coral Gardens of Andros opposite 600
Duotone reproductions of photographs taken through the Williamson Submarine Tube by Roy W. Miner
and J. E. Williamson
A Submarine Cable Among the Corals Charles Haskins Townsend 601
" Pearls and Savages" Willi.am K. Gregory 603
Bird Banding Maunsell S. Crosby 605
Notes 618
iv CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXIV
Noveaibeb-December, No 6
Tertiary Man in England J- Reid Moih 636
Note on J. Reid Moir's "Tertiary Man in England" Sib E. Ray Lankestee 654
What Is an Eolith? George Grant MacCurdy 656
Alpine Flowers of Arctic Lapland G. Clyde Fisher 659
Wild Flowers of the Uplands of Lapland opposite 664
Duotone reproductions of photographs taken by G. Clyde Fisher
European Prehistory N. C. Nelson 665
The Jardin des Plantes Bashfoed Dean 673
Relationships of the Upper Palaeolithic Races of Europe Louis R. Sullivan 682
Fossil Man from a New Viewpoint Chbistine D. Matthew 697
Edmund Otis Hovey James F. Kemp 704
The Museum of Tomorrow George Sakton 710
Natives of the Russian Far East 713
Pictures from studies made by V. K. Arsenieff
Notes 719
Vol. XXIV JANUARY- FEBRUARY, 1924
No. 1
iNATURALl
iHISTORY^
BKv^-m/
71
AUSTRALIA
I
J
4
THE LAND OF LIVING FOSSILS by William K.
Gregory-mammalian life in Australia and
TASMANIA BY Harry C. Raven— BIRD PERSONAL-
ITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH by R. T. Littlejohns
—REPTILE LIFE by Charles Barrett-THE VANISHING
WILD LIFE OF AUSTRALIA by A. S. Le Souef-THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF by Charles Hedley
ROTORUA and the geyser region of new ZEALAND -some
PLAYS AND DANCES OF THE TAOS INDIANS-THE ELAND AND
ITS BIRD SENTINEL-TURRET-BUILDING TERMITES -THE
PUBLIC MUSEUM OF STATEN ISLAND - REVIEWS OF
"BIRDS OF THE NEW YORK REGION" AND
"IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA"
The American Museum is greatly indebted to the naturalists
and officials of Australia for their cooperation in assembling
materials representative of their great continent
J C/ V^' ^/ 1 VI >y VJL-r V_y 1 IIIJL^/VIYIL^IVI K^I VJ N ^
Q MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 0
h EXPLORATION RESEARCH-EDUCATION /^
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $3.00
SINGLE COPIES 50 CENTS
The American Museum of Natural History
Board of Trustees
Henry Fairfield Osborn, President
Cleveland H. Dodge, First Vice-President
J. P. Morgan, Second Vice President
George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer
Percy R. Pyne, Secretary
George F. Baker
Frederick F. Brewster
Frederick Trubee Davison
CLE^^ELAND Earl Dodge
Walter Douglas
Childs Frick
William Averell Harriman
Archer M. Huntington
Adrian Iselin
Arthur Curtiss James
Walter B. James
Ogden Mills
A. Perry Osborn
George D. Pratt
Theodore Roosevelt
Leonard C. Sanford
John B. Trevor
Felix M. Warburg
Madison Grant
John F. Hyl.^-, Mayor of the City of New York
Charles L. Graig, Comptroller of the City of New York
Francis D. Gallatin, Commissioner of the Department of Parks
Scientific Staff for 1924
Frederic A. Lucas, Sc.D., Honorary Director
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Acting Director and Executive Secretary
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc, Assistant Director (Scientific Section)
J.AMEs' L. Cl.'^.rk, Assistant Director (Preparation Section)
Coinparative and Human Anatomy
William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
S. H. Chubb, Associate Curator
H. C. Raven, Assistant Curator
J. Howard :McGregoe, Ph.D., Research Associate in
Human Anatomy
III. DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Science of Man
Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
N. C. Nelson, M.L., Associate Curator of Archeeology
Charles W. jMead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Archae-
ology
Louis R. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Physical
Anthropology
Clarence L. Hay, A.M., Research Associate in Mexican
and Central American Archaeology
MiLO Hellman, D.D.S., Research Associate in Physical
Anthropology
Animal Functions
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator
IV. DIVISION OF ASIATIC EXPLORATION
AND RESEARCH
Third Asiatic Expedition
Roy Chapman Andrews, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Palaeontology
Frederick K. Morris, A.M., Associate Curator in Geology
and Geography
Charles P. Berkey, Ph.D., [Columbia L'niversity], Re-
search Associate in Geology
Amadeus W. Grabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Research Associate
Clifford H. Pope, Assistant in Zoology
V. DIVISION OF EDUCATION AND PUB-
LICATION
Library and Publications
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Ida Richardson Hood, A.B., Assistant Librarian
Public Education
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D., Curator of Visual Instruction
Gr-A-CE Fisher Ramsey, Assistant Curator
Public Health
Charles-Edward Amory Winslow, D.P.H., Honorary
Curator
Mahy Greig, Assistant Curator
Astronomy
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D. (In Charge)
Natural History Magazine
Herbert F. Schw.^rz, A.M., Editor and Chairman
A. Katherine Berger, Assistant Editor
Advisory Committee
H. E. Anthony, A.M. Frederick K. Morris, A.M.
James P. Chapin, Ph.D. G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D.
E. W. GuDGER, Ph.D. George N. Pindar
Public Information Committee
George N. Pindar, Chairman
George H. Sherwood, A.M.
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc.
I. DIVISION OF MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY,
AND GEOGRAPHY
History of the Earth
Edmund Otis Hovey, Ph.D., Curator
.Chester A. Reeds, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Inverte-
brate Palaeontologj'
Minerals and Gems
Herbert P. Whitlock, C. E., Curator
George F. Kunz, Ph. D., Research Associate in Gems
Extinct Animals
W. D. Matthew, Ph.D. Curator-in-Chief
Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu-
rator
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals
Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles
Charles C. jNIook, Ph.D., Associate Curator
Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology
II. DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE-
OGRAPHY
Marine Life
Roy W. Miner, Ph.D., Curator
WiLL.ARD G. Van Name, Ph.D., Assistant Curator
Fr.ank J. Myers, Research Associate in Rotifera
Horace W. Stunkard, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para-
sitology
A. L. Tre.adwell, Ph.D., Research Associate in Annulata
Insect Life
Frank E. Lutz, Ph.D., Curator
A. J. Mutchler, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera
Fr.ank E. Watson, B.S., Assistant in Lepidoptera
William M.Wheeler, Ph.D., Research Associate in Social
Insects
Ch.arles W'. Leng, B.S., Research Associate in Coleoptera
Herbert F. Schw.\hz, A.]M., Research Associate in
Hymenoptera
Fishes
Bashfobd Dean, Ph.D. Honorary Curator
.JohnT. Nichols, a. B., Associate Curator of Recent Fishes
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D., Associate in Ichthyology
Ch.arles H. Townsend, Sc.D., Research Associate
Amphibians and Reptiles
G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D., Curator
Birds
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief
W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator
Robert Cushman Murphy, D.Sc, Associate Curator of
Marine Birds
.James P. Ch.apin, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Birds of the
Eastern Hemisphere
Ludlow Grisco.m, ^LA., Assistant Curator
.Ion.\thax Dwight, M.D., Research Associate in Xoith
.American Ornithology
Elsie M. B. Naumburg, Research Associate
Mammals of the World
H. E. Anthony, A.M., Associate Curator of Mammals of
the Western Hemisphere (In Charge)
Herbert Lang, Associate Curator of African Mammals
Carl E. .\kelet. Associate in Mammalogy
NATURAL
HIST
D
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
DEVOTED TO NATURAL HISTORY,
EXPLORATION AND THE DEVELOP-
MENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
THROUGH THE MUSEUM
JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1924
[Published February, 1924]
Volume XXIV, Number 1
Copyright, 1924, by The American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
ATURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV CONTEXTS FOR JANUARY- FEBRUARY Xumber 1
Australia, the Land of Living Fossils William K. Gregory 4
A.S exemplified in the proposed Australian Exhibition, American Museum
Witii photographs of some of the exhibits that are contemplated or already completed
Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and Tasmania . Harry C. Ravex 16
\n account of the ^york carried on by the First AustraUan Expedition of the American Museum
With hitherto unpublished pictures of the primitive native mammals and of Australian scenes
photographed by the author
Bird Personalities of the Austrahan Bush R. T. Littlejohxs, r.a.o.u. 29
42
Some favorites of the photographer , , ^u iv.
With pictures of the birds in their natural en\aronment taken by the author
Reptile Life in Australia Charles Barrett, c.m.z.s.
Interesting land and marine species observed by the author
With original photographs by A. H. E. Mattingly, C. P. Kinane, and the author
The Vanishing Wild Life of Austraha 60
The causes of the scarcity of certain of the native animals explained by A. S. Le Souef
The Great Barrier Reef of Australia Charles Hedley 62
The largest single structure ever built by coral
With photographs of some of its points of interest
Rotorua and the Geyser Region of New Zealand .... Edmund Otis Hovey 70
a visit to one of the outstanding features of interest in a land of scenic attractions
With original photographs by the author and by lies Photo
Some Plays and Dances of the Taos Indians . . Florexce Merriam Bailey 85
Picturesque ceremonies that are held in one of the pueblos of our Southwest
With photographs depicting the customs of the Taos Indians, taken by Bert C. Phillips,
A. E. Weller, and C. G. Kaadt, and a sketch by K. Morita
The Eland and Its Bird Sentinel Herbert Laxg 96
Reciprocal benefits derived from the association of the eland and the oxpecker
With a photograph supplied through the courtesy of V. Forbin
Turret-building Termites R. W. Do axe 98
The structures erected by Reticulitermes hesperiis
With photographs by the author
The PubHc Museum of Staten Island Charles W. Lexg 101
A treasure house of local natural history, art, and antiquities
With photographs of the exterior and the interior of the Museum
"Birds of the New York Region" Witmer Stoxe 105
A review of Mr. Ludlow Griscom's recently published handbook
"In Brightest Africa" Herbert F. Schwarz 109
A re%-iew of Mr. Carl E. Akeley's new volume on what has been misnamed the Dark Continent
Notes 112
Map of Australia and New Zealand opposite 128
Published bimonthly, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
Subscription price S3. 00 a year.
Subscriptions should be addressed to George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum
of Natural History, 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Natural History is sent to all meynhers of the American Museum as one of the privileges of
member ship.
Entered as second-class matter April 3, 1919, at the Post Office at New York, New York,
under the Act of August 24, 1912.
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of
October 3, 1917, authorized on July 15, 1918.
Asi
sia
Natural History for March-April, 1924, will be made up to a
large extent of articles dealing with the American Museum's work in
ASIA, a continent that has been looked upon by many as the probable
cradle of the human race and which investigations tend to show was
also the center of distribution from which many forms of animal life
spread westward into Europe and eastward into North America.
Mongolia, until recently assumed to be devoid of fossils, has proved,
as a result of the work of the Third Asiatic Expedition, to be one of the
richest depositories of the zoological records of the past. The recovery
from this region during the last year of no less than seventy skulls and
ten skeletons of primitive horned Ceratopsian dinosaurs and contempo-
rary carnivorous dinosaurs, as well as three nests and twenty-five
dinosaur eggs — the first ever unearthed — is proof of the vast legacy of
information that the past has bequeathed to the present, conserved in
the Mongolian sands. The discoveries of the Third Asiatic Expedition
in this area will be featured, according to present expectations, in the
March-April issue by contributions from Professor Osborn, Mr. Roy
Chapman Andrews, and Prof. Charles Berkey.
The Faunthorpe-Vernay Indian Expedition, which has already
yielded the American Museum a representation of the big-game animals
of India that it would be exceedingly difficult to duplicate, has been
conducted with a sumptuousness that dazzles the imagination, and the
dramatic incidents connected with it, as related by those who gave their
time, their experience, and their funds to assure its success, will prove
fascinating reading.
Another Museum undertaking that is yielding astonishing results
is the fossil-gathering expedition to the Siwalik Hills of India under the
leadership of Mr. Barnum Brown. On the basis of the specimens that
have reached the Museum an article is being prepared by Curator
William D. Matthew, indicating the importance and interest of the
finds.
Other articles that deserve more than passing notice are the account
prepared by Mrs. Walter Granger, of her journey up the bandit-infested
Yangtze and a narrative of hunting in Kamchatka, the home of the
black bear, recounted by Dr. Waldemar Jochelson.
Phoiographiby Harry C. Raven
THE FALLS OF THE GUY FAWKES RIVER AT EBOR
This inspiring scene will be the setting for a group of flj^ing phalangers, planned as a part
of the Australian exhibition in the American Museum
NATURAL HIST
Volume XXIV
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
Number 1
Australia, the Land of Living Fossils
AS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE PROPOSED AUSTRALIAN EXHIBITION,
AMERICAN MUSEUM
By WILLIAM K. GREGORY
Curator of Comparative Anatomy, American Museum
DIRECTOR Lucas once said that
his favorite occupation in
heaven would be the planning
and arranging of a museum in
which each of the great continents
would be represented by a single large
hall containing exhibits illustrating
the physical geography, geologic struc-
ture, the animal and plant life, and the
human inhabitants of that continent.
But if the plans now being engineered
by President Osborn go through, as his
other plans have. Director Lucas may
have the opportunity of fulfilling his
aspiration in this world.
The return of Mr. H. C. Raven from
Australia with his priceless collections
intact brings us one step nearer the
acquisition of a hall devoted exclusively
to that island-continent. Ordinarily
it is better in an article of this kind to
write about what has been done rather
than about what is hoped for, but in
this case a preliminary indication of the
plans may possibly help a little toward
their realization.
In brief, our object is to give the
visitor a vivid impression of the more
salient features of Australia rather
than to overwhelm him with the vast
deposit of details that conceals Austra-
lia in encyclopaedias. We want him to
view, as if he had been there, some of
the more characteristic scenes.
The centerpiece of the mammal
exhibit will be the Kangaroo Group.
The background will be the Australian
"bush" (or open forest) of eucalypt
trees, with the sunlight streaming
through the thin foliage. In the fore-
ground a dingo, or wild dog, has just
bounded into view and is hurling him-
self at the nearest kangaroo, an old male.
Two of the females, one of them with a
large young one in her pouch, are leaping
frantically in different directions. A
little way back, still another kangaroo
is raising its head in a startled way, and
in the distance a few are feeding quietly.
As most of the Australian mammals
are nocturnal in habit, it is the plan to
have a moonlight scene with the beauti-
ful gorge and falls of the Guy Fawkes
River in the background. Standing in
front of this exhibit, the observer will
imagine himself near the brink of the
gorge with his eye on a level with the
upper parts of some of the trees that
are down the slope. Dimly seen in the
moonlight are several flying phalangers,
which are hitching themselves up the
branches in their characteristic way.
One of them has just started on a long
skimming flight, his arms and legs out-
stretched and the skimming membrane
held taut as he swoops downward
toward a near-by tree.
Other groups will show the interest-
ing tunnels and underground chambers
of the duck-billed Platypus, as well as
its nest with the eggs that this most
reptilian of mammals lays. In other
groups the visitor will see the wombats,
the native "bears," the tree kangaroos.
6
NATURAL HISTORY
and some of the other marsupial oddi-
ties for which Australia is justly famous.
Nor will the needs of the more serious
student be neglected. The Australian
marsupials have a very high scientific
prestige on account of the exceptionally
clear evidence they afford concerning
the evolutionary history of the group,
and in these times they would doubtless
have a considerable public interest if
this fact were more widely recognized.
It so happens that in that out-of-the-
way corner of the world the marsupials
have been shut off and protected for
long ages from the overwhelming com-
petition of the higher, or placental,
mammals. Under these conditions the
struggle for life within the continent
has not been very bitter until relatively
recent times nor has extinction been on
such a vast scale as in other parts of the
world. There is much evidence to
show that evolution has always pro-
ceeded at unequal rates in different
members of a natural group, some out-
distancing others in the development
of particular structures. Wherever
wholesale extinction has been arrested,
we should and do find many stages in
the development of a particular struc-
ture. In Australia competition has
doubtless eliminated many forms but
we still have a surprising number of
intergrading conditions.
This fact can readily be demonstrated
in the Australian hall in several ways.
There will be presented, for instance, a
series of large models of the feet of
various marsupials. The visitor will
be able to see at a glance how, for
example, the five-toed foot of the
phalangers, although already highly
adapted for climbing, leads into the
elongate hopping foot of the wallabies
and kangaroos. He will see how gradu-
ally the grasping great toe diminishes
and finally disappears, and how at the
same time the fourth toe becomes
greatly elongated. He will see how
even in the most advanced types of
kangaroos the two little toes, the
second and third of the ancestral foot,
still persist, although their long bones
are reduced to mere threads. Why, the
After Bensley
The gradations between the five-toed foot of the phalangers (left), adapted for chmbing,
and the elongated foot of the wallabies and kangaroos (right), specialized for hopping, will be
shown in the Austrahan exhibition
A skeleton of the giant extinct marsupial Diprotodon, mounted in the American Museum
from replicas of the original bones of this animal supplied by the South Australian Museum' at
Adelaide
A provisional restoration of Diprotodon by E. Rungius Fulda.
was like that of a wombat but vastly larger
The body of Diprotodon
NATURAL HISTORY
From a sketch by E. Rungius Fulda
An Ark^ological Epic
Father Noah and his sons, they invited to the Ark
A distinguished group of mammals, all placental.
But they snubbed the duck-billed platypus and jumping kangaroo
In a manner that was very far from gentle.
To the Talgai boy they hinted he was nothing but a moron
Whom principles eugenic would condemn.
That they'd better let him perish than continue as a menace
To society, and Japheth, Ham, and Shem.
So he called the big Diprotodon and on his back he climbed,
And he whistled to the friendly dingo, too;
The platypus and wombat and the rest fell in behind,
As frequently the simple-minded do.
They jumped upon an island that kindly floated by
And they drifted far to southern seas unknown,
Where these brave Marsupiaha in a land we call Australia
Formed a doughty Uttle kingdom of their own.
Now the scientists pedantic who defend the bridge Atlantic,
When they hear this tale authentic I'd advise
To apologize quite meekly to these creatures who uniquely
Controverted an hypothesis so wise.
E. H. Fink
AUSTRALIA, THE LAND OF LIVING FOSSILS
9
visitor may well ask, does the foot of
the kangaroo retain these vanishing
side toes? Is it merely to baffle the
curious, or is it not because nature
everywhere leaves her imprints or true
vestiges by which comparative anato-
mists and palaeontologists are slowly
but surely deciphering the record of life?
The visitor who will take the trouble
to examine the next exhibit planned
will see that although nature has
fashioned the marsupials into many
different forms, adapted for running,
leaping, climbing, skimming, digging,
etc., she has nevertheless built all these
diverse forms around a common struc-
tural plan. He will see that marsupials
are born in a relatively early stage of
development and that they are fas-
tened to the teats in the mother's
pouch. He will see that notwithstand-
ing the great differences in the general
form of the skulls and in the dental
apparatus of the grass-eating, carnivor-
ous, leaf-eating, and gnawing mar-
supials, all these skull forms show many
curious and striking details in common,
which in the judgment of all modern
students of the group have been in-
herited from a remote common ancestor
that lived before the diverse modern
lines had become differentiated.
Zoological science has long since
sketched with considerable confidence
the chief characteristics of this remote
common stock of the marsupials.
Huxley predicted that the common
ancestors of all the existing Australian
marsupials would be found to be re-
markably like the existing opossums of
North America ; and this judgment has
been confirmed and amplified by the
brilliant investigations of Dollo and of
Bensley. But it is only of late years
that palaeontologists have found true
American opossums, or very close rela-
tives of them, in association with the
remains of the gigantic dinosaurs of the
Upper Cretaceous in western North
America. These, together with re-
mains of related animals found in South
America and in Europe, indicate that
at some period, probably late in the
Age of Reptiles, the opossum tribe had
an almost world-wide distribution.
When Australia was cut off from the
rest of the world, probably through the
sinking and fragmentation of the
southeastern extension of the Asiatic
land mass, primitive opossum-like mar-
supials, together with the ancestors of
the still lowlier duckbill and spiny
anteater, were the only types of mam-
mals in that part of the world. There
they found themselves in forests of
eucalypts, ancestral to the gum trees
of today and closely related to trees
and shrubs that have been found as fos-
sils in the Upper Cretaceous of North
America. Here in the old Australian
land mass the primitive opossums were
safe for many hundreds of thousands of
years from the competition of the
newer, or placental, mammals which
were developing in the Northern
Hemisphere. But under the stress of
competition with each other the primi-
tive marsupials began that great de-
ployment, or adaptive radiation, which
finally resulted not only in the highly
diversified marsupials of today but also
in the many strange and gigantic
types that flourished in the broad
Australian plains of Pleistocene times,
when the northern world was passing
through a succession of alternating
glacial and interglacial periods.
Among the most interesting of the
giant extinct marsupials were the
Diprotodoji and allied genera. Replicas
of the original bones of Diprotodon
have been sent to the American
Museum by the South Australian Mu-
seum at Adelaide, and after careful
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AUSTRALIA, THE LAND OF LIVING FOSSILS
11
study the skeleton was mounted as
shown in the picture on page 7. This
was the first specimen to be prepared
for the AustraHan exhibit; it is
temporarily placed in the hall of the
Age of Man, since it was probably a con-
temporary of the oldest races of men.
The Diprotodon has been called the
marsupial elephant, because its molar
teeth somewhat resemble those of the
mastodon. But on the whole the
Diprotodon more nearly resembles a
giant wombat, with molar teeth more
like those of a kangaroo.
By means of colored maps and relief
models the visitor will be able to see
graphically that even at the present
time Austraha is connected by shallow
water with New Guinea on the north
and with Tasmania on the south. The
very close relationships of the animals
of North Queensland to those of New
Guinea leaves no doubt regarding a
former connection of these lands. The
connection with Tasmania is indicated
not only by such strong faunal evidence
as the occurrence of closely allied
species of the huge herbivorous marsu-
pial Nototherium and of wombats on
opposite sides of Bass Strait, but also
by the plain geological evidence indi-
cating recent submergence of the land
beneath the strait.
The descendants of the old settlers,
the marsupials, did not forever remain
in undisturbed possession of the land of
their fathers. Australia today has
adopted the slogan ''Keep out the
Asiatics," but in the distant past the
''Asiatics" in the form of various
placental mammals somehow got in.
First came the rats, ages before man.
When the rats began to branch out,
some of them became water rats
(Hydromys), some (Conilurus) became
hopping forms hke certain of their
marsupial rivals, while others com-
peted with each other in field and under-
brush, so that today we find five genera
and about twenty species of rats and
mice pecuHar to Australia. A little
later perhaps came the bats; and
finally the dingo — a wild dog, remains
of which have been found fossiHzed in
New South Wales. All of these placen-
tal mammals competed with, or waged
war upon, the old marsupials. But the
latter were never seriously depleted,
not even with the coming of the an-
cestors of the Australian aboriginals,
who, as we know from the Talgai skull
and other evidence, have been in
Australia for thousands of years.
Finally, late in the eighteenth century,
there arrived in Australia by far the
most destructive placental mammal the
world has ever seen, namely, Homo
sapiens, variety europxus, who has
devastated the continent and is now
completing the work of destruction.
The significance of the Australian
mammal fauna, our intelhgent and,
we hope, still interested visitor, will
readily comprehend from the exhibits
that we shall gladly prepare for him.
But he will by this time doubtless be
willing to turn to some of the more
spectacular scenes that we are holding
in reserve. We shall show him the
beautiful lyre bird, the amazing con-
structions of the famed bower bird,
the great mounds heaped up by the
lowans, the "Mound Builders" of the
bird world, for the incubation of their
eggs. Nor shall we omit the ostrich-
like emu of the plains. If possible, we
shall place at the visitor's disposal a
phonographic record of the "song"
of the astonishing kookaburra, or
laughing jackass. It will be an in-
fallible test. If the visitor is a child, he
will want to hear that "song" (?)
again and again. If he is a normal
adult, a single performance may suffice.
14
NATURAL HISTORY
Cunrtisii of Mr. J. W. Beatty
The Tasmanians, who nearly a half century ago died out as a people, represent a type far
down in the scale of human evolution. The last survivors were wards of the government
There are many curious and even
terrible reptiles in Australia, which will
by no means be neglected in our future
Australian hall.
We hope to show our visitors some-
thing of the life of the Australian and
Tasmanian aboriginees. In the case of
the latter not much can be done, for the
simple reason that the last of the Tas-
manians died in 1876 at a time when
the museums of the world had secured
extremely little material illustrating
the appearance, habits, and bodily
structure of what was undoubtedly one
of the most primitive of all recent
races of mankind. The last few
survivors of the race, after a long and
bitter warfare with the white settlers,
were induced to surrender themselves
to the care of the government and lived
for many years in a small settlement.
Fortunately a few enlightened in-
dividuals seem to have realized the
extraordinary human and scientific
interest of these people and took a
number of photographs of them, which
in our time have been carefully brought
together and preserved by Mr. J. W.
AUSTRALIA, THE LAND OF LIVING FOSSILS
15
' uu,t,-y uj Ml J. \\ . Beatty
Front and side views of Truganini, the last of her race, who died in 1876
Beatty of Hobart, Tasmania. Mr.
Beatty kindly supplied the American
Museum with an excellent set of prints
from the original negatives and it is
the intention to exhibit these pictures
in the Australian hall, together with
several death masks and some of the
very primitive stone implements that
the Tasmanians were still using when
the island was settled by the white
colonists. The photographs here re-
produced of Truganini, the last sur-
vivor of the race, and of some of the
companions of her later days, show very
well the racial traits of the Tasmanians.
They differed from the aboriginal
Australians in having short and woolly
hair instead of long and wavy hair;
their noses were excessively wide and
somewhat gorilloid in appearance, and
there is also something ape-like in their
very wide mouths and retreating chins.
They were allied in cranial and facial
characters to the Papuans and Negritos.
There is some evidence for the view
that they preceded the Australians on
the island-continent and were driven
south, before the sinking of Bass
Strait, by the Australians coming from
the north.
The life of the Australian aboriginees
will be represented by several mounted
groups. A model of a man about to
throw a boomerang at a fleeing wallaby
seems a prime necessity, while if the
material can be secured we should like
to illustrate some of the curious cus-
toms of the natives, such as the kanga-
roo dance or the dingo dance or one of
the elaborate initiation ceremonies.
Finally we hope to give our visitors
some idea of the vital and stimulating
Australia of today, so that he may
realize that another America or, more
precisely, another Canada, is being
built by the Anglo-Saxon stock upon
an ancient platform of the world.
In striving for the realization of
these plans we confidently count upon
the continued generous cooperation
of our many friends and colleagues in
Australian museums and universities.
A view from Point Lookout, northern New South Wales, on the upper edge of the es-
carpment and about forty miles from the Pacific, which Ues beyond the farthest mountains
visible in the picture
Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and
Tasmania
AN ACCOUNT OF PART OF THE WORK CARRIED ON BY THE FIRST
AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM^
By harry C. RAVEN2
Field Representative of the American Museum in Australia
AFTER a railway journey from
/-\ Sydney northward along the
coast, then inland to the top of
the escarpment and along the great pla-
teau to Armidale, followed by a fifty-
mile ride, partly by motor car and partly
by cart, over muddy roads, a wait of
several days for floods to subside, and
then a resumption of the journey for a
few additional miles through forest and
across streams, Doctor Gregory and I
reached the site of our first camp in the
open eucalyptus forest of northern New
South Wales. . It was July, the coldest
month of the Australian winter, and we
were in what is one of the coldest parts
of the continent, due to the elevation
of slightly more than 5000 feet. Never-
theless, the utter barrenness of a
northern winter was lacking. The
monotonous gray-green of the euca-
lypts could be seen in every direction.
Their rather scant foliage, added to the
fact that the trees as a rule grow several
yards apart, allowed an abundance
of sunlight to stream through the
'Although the author visited many types of country in Australia, from the humid tropical jungles of North
Queensland to the almost Alpine woodlands, bogs, and rugged hills of Tasmania, in the present article only the
coastal belt of the eastern part of the continent and western Tasmania are considered, and not the great arid
plateau of the interior of Australia, where mammals are relatively scarce. The account is also limited to four
of the types of country visited, with the native mammals found in these various habitats.
-The photographs accompanying this article were taken by the author.
16
Flood of the Guy Fawkes River in northern New tSouth Wales. — Though
this region, where the expedition began its work, is not one of exceptionally heavy
rainfall, winter floods are common and rivers rise suddenly, inundate fields, wash
away bridges, and frequently make travel impossible
An open eucalyptus forest in northern New South Wales, haunt of the flj-ing
phalanger and the great gray kangaroo. Much of the country has been cleared
by ring-barking the trees
17
The flying phalaiiger {Ptlauruules volans) is a beautiful animal that inhabits the
open eucalyptus forest, hiding in hollow trees during the day, feeding on eucalyptus
leaves by night
The pygmy flying phalanger (Acrobates pygmaeus) of northern New South Wales
is a tiny relative of Petauroides volans. It is about as small as a mouse while the larger
phalanger is comparable in size to a cat. Both of these animals were found in the
first type of countrj^ visited
18
MAMMALIAN LIFE IN AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA
19
branches striking the Hght-colored
trunks and the pale, bleached dead
grass beneath.
It was here that we first saw the
great gray kangaroo {Macropus gigan-
teus) . When sighted, the animals were
close to the ground, on all fours, quietly
feeding. A moment later, aware of our
presence, they sat upright looking in
our direction; then suddenly turning,
made off, leaping with amazing speed
and grace, their small fore limbs
pressed close to the body, their great
hind legs working in unison like gigan-
tic springs to throw the body forward.
An adult female kangaroo was secured,
with a tiny young one in the pouch.
The clearing of the forests by the
settlers produces a better crop of grass
and the kangaroos and wallabies are
quick to take advantage of this im-
proved food supply. Favored by such
conditions, they multiply greatly, only
to be persecuted by the settlers, who
want to stock the land with cattle or
sheep to its fullest capacity. Thus the
native wild animals are driven back
into unsettled country, rocky hills and
ravines, or sometimes completely ex-
terminated. The principal factors in
the destruction of the kangaroos and
wallabies over thousands of square
miles of territory are, in the order of
their importance: man, the dingo, the
fox, and the cat, while to these aggres-
sive agents must be added the pacific
competition of the rabbit, which, itself
a grass-feeder, limits the available
pasturage by its incessant nibbling.
There are, however, still extensive
areas of uncleared land in the coastal
belt where the marsupials take refuge.
The flying phalanger (Petauroides
volans), like our flying squirrel, lives
in trees, and in the moonlight may be
seen making long gliding leaps from
tree to tree. This animal is about the
size of a cat but extremely slender.
The common "opossum" (Trichosurns vulpecula), which in many locahties of Xew
South Wales has been almost entirely exterminated, is still common in parts of Queensland
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MAMMALIAN LIFE IN AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA
21
Possibly it has developed its gliding
habit to avoid the peril of a slow trip
along the ground to the next tree.
Fortunately, its skin is of little
value commercially. For this reason
it is not persecuted while its relative,
the common vulpine phalanger or
' ' opossum ' ' ( Trichosurus vulpecula) ,
has fallen in millions to the fur hunter
and has disappeared from many locali-
ties. The pygmy flying phalanger
(Acrohates -pygmxus) is a little animal,
the body of which is about three inches
long. It makes its nest in the ''spout"
of a tall gum tree and is very difficult
to find. These flying phalangers, with
the ''opossum" {Trichosurus) , the na-
tive "bear" (Phascolardos) , and the
tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi),
present peculiar adaptations of the
marsupial type for life in the trees.
The second type of country that I
visited (Doctor Gregory had returned
to the United States to resume his
duties in the American Museum) was
the tropical rain forest of North Queens-
land. These tropical "scrubs," as
they are called, are humid, dark jun-
gles— the haunt of the cassowary, the
bird of paradise, and the tree kangaroo.
Here there are no eucalypts but many
huge tropical trees take their place,
trees that are very valuable for their
timber. From their branches hang
long lianas and rattans. There is a
great profusion of ferns and epiphytic
plants, all rich green in color, usually
dripping with moisture, looking fresh
and clean from nightly baths of heavy
dew and frequent tropical showers.
The flora of the rain forest suggests
relationship with that of the tropical
islands of the north. New Guinea,
Celebes, and others.
The tree kangaroo, one of the most
curious of all marsupials, was found in
this rain forest. It is nocturnal in
its habits, sitting quietly by day on
the branch of a large tree, usually where
it is protected from the sight of its
enemies by gnarled lianas, orchids, and
leaves. When night comes on, it
descends the tree trunk, tail first, to
hop along the ground among the thick
underbrush, the leaves of which com-
prise most of its food. If alarmed or
otherwise disturbed on the ground at
night, it immediately takes to the trees.
On the other hand, when the Australian
blackfellow climbs up the tree after it,
it will sometimes jump down to seek
safety on the ground, leaping from a
height of thirty feet or more.
Another denizen of the tropical rain
forest is a little animal not as large as a
rabbit, called the musk kangaroo
(Hypsiprymnodon moschatus). To the
evolutionist it is the most interesting
of all the kangaroos, because of the
characters that establish its place as a
connecting link between the family of
phalangers and the more specialized
kangaroos.
The third type of country in which
collections were made was the cleared
alluvial plain, resulting from the de-
struction of the tropical rain forest, for
the cultivation of sugar cane and other
crops, principally the former. The
country best suited for cane-growing
in the Cairns district to which I refer,
is the alluvial plain at the base of the
mountains. Here there is a great depth
of soil in a region of very heavy rain-
fall— more than one hundred inches a
year. The cane fields have become the
favorite haunt of bandicoots (Pera-
meles), which are peculiar, long-nosed,
pouched animals about the size of a
rabbit. They make their nests among
the cane and feed upon the larvse of
beetles which they find about the roots
of the plants. The cane growers con-
sider the bandicoots an asset, for the
22
NATURAL HISTORY
grubs they eat are said to be destruc-
tive to the cane. Prior to cutting the
cane, it was the practice of the cutters
to burn off the leaves. When this was
done, all the animals that secluded
themselves in the cane fields were
obliged to flee if they wanted to avoid
being roasted. By waiting on the out-
skirts of the field at such times it was
possible to gather in many a fine speci-
men. Of course, with the destruction
of the original forest, all the arboreal
forms, such as phalangers and the tree
kangaroo, were driven away; only those
animals that adapted themselves to the
changed conditions are today found in
this new environment.
The fourth variety of country which
I explored was that of western Tas-
mania, where I spent more than four
months. It is a region of exceptionally
heavy rainfall — from fifty to one hun-
dred inches a year — though the area of
the heaviest fall is comparatively small.
The suddenness, frequency, and se-
verity of the storms were always a
source of surprise. The great eucalypts
would sway back and forth as the wind
that accompanied the rain or sleet
swept howling through the branches,
which towered in some cases more than
two hundred feet above our tent. The
foi'est was not composed entirely of
eucalypts or of evergreen myrtles,
which are really beeches (Fagus). In
most cases the low hills and better
drained slopes were forested with the
pale-colored giant gums, beneath which
were thickets composed of shrubs of
several varieties, bracken, and acacias.
On the flats, where the soil was deep
and very rich, were growing evergreen
A Tasmanian forest of beech, or evergreen myrtle, with undergrowth of tree ferns,
is in country hke this that the Tasmanian "devil" is at home
It
MAMMALIAN LIFE IN AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA
23
myrtles, with their straight trunks and
small leaves of much darker tone than
those of the gums and acacias. Be-
neath the myrtles were a dense under-
growth and many palmlike tree ferns
with their thick trunks dripping mois-
ture. Then there would be flats where
there was no forest — just a boggy plain
with bunches of button grass (Meso-
melsena sphaerocephala) and innumer-
able small plants with pink, white, and
yellow flowers.
These plains are the favorite haunt of
the wombat, which digs its deep bur-
rows near the edge of the plain and
feeds at night on the vegetation. Here,
too, is the haunt of the thylacine
(Thylacynus cynocephalus) , the largest
A Tasmanian forest of eucalypts, principally stringy-barks (Eucalyptus ohliqua) and
peppermint gums {E. amygdalina) . The banks of the streams in Tasmania are frequently
overgrown with wattles {Acacia)
The Tasmanian wombat makes deep burrows in the sand}' and rockj' hills that surround
the Arve Plain. A fox terrier can easity crawl into these burrows but cannot dislodge
a wombat, should one be located. To do so, a man must dig in front of the animal
A young Tasmanian wombat. — It took three men digging from 3 p.m. till 1 a.m. to
catch this youngster and his mother
The Tasmanian "devil" is doubtless a terror to the rats and small marsupials upon
which it preys, but in captivity it is rather an interesting pet and gives no strong evidence
of Mephistophelian traits
The native cat or spotted dasyure {Dasyurus maculatus) is one of the larger preda-
tory marsupials of Australia. It is now being replaced by the domestic cat and the
fox, both introduced by man
25
26
NATURAL HISTORY
The spiny anteater (Tachyglossus setosus) feeds on ants and termites. With its powerful
foreUmbs it puUs apart the decaying logs and thrusts its narrow snout into the passageways
made by the insects
living carnivorous marsupial, locally
known as the "tiger," now, however,
exceedingly rare. The Tasmanian
"devil" was found in the forest, where
it prej'S upon rats, small marsupials,
and whatever other flesh and carrion
it is able to' obtain. One of the most
curious of all the mancmials of Tas-
mania was the spiny anteater (Tachy-
glossus setosus). This clumsy little
monotreme wanders about the coun-
try both by day and by night, seeking
its food, termites and ants, on the
ground and in decaying vegetation,
especially among fallen tree trunks,
which are favorite nesting places of
these insects. I was surprised to find
this animal a good climber, an expert
swimmer, as well as a marvelous bur-
rower, able to dig straight down into
firm soil. In climbing it makes use of
its spines and snout to brace itself
while securing a fresh foothold.
Before summarizing the rise and
decline of the Australian marsupials,
it may be well to note that broadly
there are three main lines along which
marsupial adaptation has taken place.
First, and relatively primitive, are the
arboreal forms, which feed mostly on
leaves. From this primarily arboreal,
phyllophagous stock some groups de-
veloped terrestrial habits (e.g., the
extinct Diprotodon, the wombats, etc.)
and became highly specialized for
nipping and grinding tough vegetation.
The second line of adaptation includes
the small, chiefly ground-living, in-
sectivorous forms — pouched mice
(Phascogale, Sminthopsis, etc.) grad-
ing to large, thoroughly terrestrial,
carnivorous forms represented by the
native cats, the Tasmanian "wolf,"
and the Tasmanian "devil." The
third line is the essentially grazing-and-
hopping type, represented by many
species of kangaroos and wallabies.
The tree kangaroo is only a specialized
MAMMALIAN LIFE IN AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA
27
The spiny anteater is an expert swimmer and a brook proves no obstacle to its traverse
of the country
member of this group that has become
secondarily adapted for arboreal life.
Another group of animals character-
istic of Australia and of great interest
consists of the monotremes, or egg-
laying mammals. They take the place
both of aquatic mammals and of ant-
eaters in other parts of the world.
Everywhere may be found evidences
of the vast damage done to the main
lines of the adaptive radiatioji described
above, and of the struggle that has
been going on between the Australian
marsupial mammals and the compara-
tively recent invaders, the higher mam-
mals. Probably the Australian black-
fellow of today and the wild dog, or
dingo, arrived on the scene at about the
same time and were the first mamma-
lian competitors of the marsupials. The
separation of Tasmania from the
mainland, perhaps near the time of the
arrival of the blackfellow and the dingo
in Australia, prevented the latter two
from ever reaching Tasmania. The
Tasmanian natives (now extinct) were
probably in Tasmania long before the
present blackfellow and dingo came to
play a part in Austraha's history.
What may be the first evidence of a
defeat of the marsupials at the hands
of the invaders is the discovery of
skeletons of two species of flesh-eating
marsupials (Sairophilus and Thyla-
cynus) , in cave deposits in New South
Wales. These animals are no longer
found alive on the mainland of Austra-
Ka but are still extant in Tasmania,
where the dingo did not get a foothold.
By their habits they would naturally
have come into direct competition with
the dingo. I have seen a small dog
quickly kill a Tasmanian "devil" and
therefore do not doubt that the larger
28
NATURAL HISTORY
dingo proved more than a match for the
marsupial carnivores. The blackfellows
were apparently never sufficiently nu-
merous to endanger the marsupials as a
whole, and as they preyed upon all
sorts alike solely for food, the destruc-
tion of the native animals was not so
marked.
With the advent of the white man
conditions changed again. Probably
the settlement of Austraha by Euro-
peans will account for the destruction
of more species of native animals than
did the growing aridity in recent geo-
logic times, when many large marsupials
perished apparently through lack' of
vegetation for which they were adapted.
The skeletons of many forms of the
large herbivorous marsupials which
died off at that time have been found
in various parts of Australia.
The land the white people now oc-
cupy is naturally the most fertile part
of the continent, consequently the part
which supported the greatest number
of native animals before they were
driven off. Now these animals must
occupy the less fertile areas and besides
are killed by hundreds of thousands
yearly for their skins; then, too, man
has introduced dogs, which have be-
come feral, strengthening the ranks of
the dingo. He has also introduced
other animals, — the fox, cat, and
rabbit, which have taken to the
"bush" and strengthened the current
that has already set against the native
fauna.
Unlike most of the Australian marsupials
the small insectivorous forms (Phascogale and
Sminlho'psis) have no real pouch, just folds of
integument surrounded by long hairs which
cover and protect the young when they are
very small. There may be as many as ten
young in a Utter
Bird Personalities of the Australian Bush
SOME FAVORITES OF THE PHOTOGRAPH ERi
By R. T. LITTLEJOHNS, R.A.O.U.
Assistant Editor of The Emu
AMONG those city dwellers who
/_\ find "a pleasure in the pathless
woods" there is a growing un-
easiness because civilization has spread
gaunt arms through the "bush" and
has swept aside the wild life from many
of its accustomed haunts. But the
seasoned nature lover knows still a few
spots, quiet and undisturbed, where he
may shake the dust of the city from his
feet and the worries of business from his
brain. During the last fourteen years
my own invasions of the wild have been
made with a camera as constant com-
panion, and the present article speaks
of some Australian birds as a photog-
rapher knows them. The species I
have selected are not the most remark-
able nor yet the best known but simply
those which, by their habits and their
characteristics, have most endeared
themselves to me. Many of them pos-
sibly will be unknown even by name,
to American nature lovers.
The kookaburra, or laughing king-
fisher {Dacelo gigas) , on the other hand,
is one of Australia's best-known birds,
though that is not the reason for his
inclusion here . It is because the quaint-
ness of his appearance and manner
appeals to me. He is a slow-moving,
easy-going, thoughtful old fellow whose
one aversion is to be hustled. His
search for breakfast lacks that dis-
play of energy which characterizes
the efforts of most species. He sits,
pensive and motionless, on a limb or on
a stump in earnest contemplation of the
ground. Despite the nonchalant atti-
tude, however, both eyes and ears are
'All of the pictures accompanying this article,
fully employed, until sooner or later
some hapless grub or insect betrays its
presence by sound or movement. Then
there is a heavy and rather slow flight
to earth, the landing being effected
literally on the stout bill. But if his
methods are a little clumsy, they are
efficient nevertheless and his period
of watchfulness is seldom in vain.
In the ranges about twenty miles
from Melbourne another camera en-
thusiast and I had the use of a week-
end cottage a few years ago. Each
Saturday our arrival at the house was
noted by one or the other of a pair of
kookaburras that resided in the vicinity,
and their jovial, rather unmusical
chorus sounded down the gully. By
the time our luggage was unpacked
they had taken up their favorite posi-
tions near the back door in anticipa-
tion of the weekly distribution of raw
meat. In return for our hospitality we
considered ourselves entitled to their
portraits, but they regarded the camera
with suspicion and continued snapping
up the meat with expert beaks while
on the wing. Eventually they were
outwitted when we tacked the meat to
a stump.
The only circumstance which ruffled
the temper of these old birds was to
have the impudent introduced starHngs
peeping into their nesting hole in an old
gum tree near by. Thej^ appeared to
regard the curiosity of certain small
native species with good-humored tol-
erance. But those "furriners"; Ugh!
The yellow-breasted shrike robin
(Eopsaltria australis) is another bird
with the exception noted, are by the author.
29
30
NATURAL HISTORY
with much the same thoughtful ex-
pression. It is not in any way related
to the kookaburra; in fact, the little
yellow robin settles the closer on her
nest should the kookaburra appear in
the vicinity of it. Probably, almost
certainly, the old humorist occasionally
makes a meal of young "yellow Bobs. "
That is one of the few things I have
against him. But nothing can be said
A bird of thoughtful expression is the old kookaburra,
of Australia's best-known species
He is rather famous, too, — one
BIRD PERSONALITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH
31
Photographed by Mrs. R. T. Littlejohns
The yellow-breasted shrike robin is a quietly beautiful bird and a great favorite among
nature lovers. "Breakfast in bed" is the human counterpart of the httle ceremony here
pictured
against the yellow robin. For quiet
beauty he is unsurpassed and he is at
once the most trustful and the most
Hkable of our birds. Certainly he is the
one most photographed and that speaks
volumes for his popularity. As a
songster, however, he is an absolute
failure, his vocal efforts being devoted
almost entirely to one piping note,
oft repeated.
32
NATURAL HISTORY
A few years ago I cherished hopes
that cinema pictures of Austrahan
birds would be popular with or receive
some support from Australian picture
managements. I was quickly dis-
illusioned but, after much pleading, I
did induce one firm to give me a trial.
Even this firm was not greatly kindled
by my enthusiasm, so that it was ex-
tremely necessary that my first attempt
should be a success. Without hesita-
tion I sought the nest of a yellow robin
and was not disappointed. A cinema
camera in action rattles and roars
prodigiously and, when operated but
two feet from a nest, is sufficiently
fearsome to terrify most bii'ds. Yet in
a very few minutes those yellow robins
were performing their domestic duties
with scarcely a trace of suspicion in
their large brown eyes. The completed
film showed clearly the breathing of the
birds and photographically was as
successful as I could have wished. The
picture on page 31 was taken by my
wife with an ordinary camera while
the cinema whirred. It depicts that
most touchingly human of all bird
habits, the male feeding his mate upon
the nest. I am anxiously awaiting the
day when educational films of this class
will be commercially possible in
Australia.
The head of the yellow robin is a
slaty gray while the back and wings are
a greenish brown. The breast and
underparts are lemon-yellow, the whole
blending to make a pleasant picture.
The nest, too, is a beautiful example of
natural architecture. It is built of
bark in an upright fork, usually near
the ground, and is decorated externall}^
with lichens and hanging shreds of
bark.
Then there are the fantails, small
fussy birds with tails which account for
about half of their entire length. Their
flight is an erratic zig-zag, partly by
reason of the extreme length of their
tail and partly because of many side-
ward dashes after passing insects. The
white-shafted fantail (Rhipidura fiabel-
lifera) is one of the commonest of these
birds and its pleasant metalHc song is a
feature of creekside music. The
photograph shows the head of a trust-
ful individual, the subject, also, of a
"movie" film. Even if the picture
conveys Kttle idea of the appearance
of the bird, it illustrates the character-
istic cobweb and bark nest and shows
clearly the stem, which is added appar-
ently for the sake of stability. Three
fuUy-fiedged young fantails, piled high
on the woefully overcrowded nest, is a
sight to be remembered.
The yellow robin is my favorite
bird; but there is another species of
somewhat similar build which runs it
very close in my regard. This is the
brown fiycatcher (Microeca fascinans) ,
famiharly known as the ''Peter Peter"
because its nesting call note may, with
some imagination, be said to resemible
those words. It is a dainty bird in
every way with a very musical Httle
song and plumage of soft browns and
gra3'S. "WTiile on the lookout for insects
the brown fl^^catcher habitually swings
its tail with a curious circular move-
ment, during which two white outer
feathers are prominently shown.
The brown flycatcher is also a
builder in bark and cobweb and its
nest, too, is a study in daintiness. It is
a shallow structure, built so flat upon a
horizontal branch as to be almost
invisible from beneath. Often a small
brown head peeping inquisitivelj^ over
the edge of the nest just above one's
head leads to the discovery of the
home. The brown flycatcher usually
chooses to make its dwelling in lightly
timbered countr}?-, where small gum
BIRD PERSONALITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH
33
The nest of the white-shafted fantail is a delicate structure of bark and cobweb, deep in
the bowl and with a stem or tail added. This particular bird refused to leave her eggs even
when handled
trees, with their lower branches dry
and dead, are a feature.
When the young are hatched and
clothed in streaked gray feathers, the
difficulty of locating the nest is in-
creased rather than diminished. One
stormy day last spring I found a pair of
''Peter Peters" gathering insects with
such enthusiasm that I knew there
must be young birds somewhere near.
There were but three or four trees in the
vicinity which provided the class of
nesting site that I knew the birds
favored, yet I searched most carefully
34
NATURAL HISTORY
The brown flycatcher is a small daintj^ bird of soft browns and grays, whose nest when
newly built is rather attractive. By the time the young birds have grown to the stage shown
in this picture the house presents a dilapidated appearance
for ten minutes without result. It was
only when one of the adult birds visited
the nest and fed the young ones that I
discovered the little flat platform
heaped high with young flycatchers.
After much battling against the ele-
ments the accompanying picture was
obtained. It will serve to illustrate the
shallowness of the nest and its usual
position. The choice of a dry branch as
a foundation is prompted almost cer-
tainly' bj' the fact that the eggs would
be in great danger of rolling over the
edge were the nest built on a swaying
leafy bough.
The wood-swaUow family is a typical
and widely distributed one in Australia.
In the southeastern corner of the
Commonwealth there are three species,
one a permanent resident and two sum-
mer visitors.'^ All three are smooth-
plumaged birds of graceful soaring
flight. The white-browed species (Arta-
mus superciliosus) , one of the visitors,
is illustrated on p. 35. It is a striking
bird with gray back, almost black head,
and a bright cinnamon-brown breast.
A conspicuous white eyebrow and a
dark-tipped, slightly curved, blue
beak give it a rather ferocious appear-
ance. In point of fact it is unusually
ferocious in the protection of its nest,
and often the photographer is subjected
to a prolonged attack during which his
hat may be dislodged several times by
an angry bird. The nest is a flimsy
one of twigs and rootlets, built with
much haste in a fork, usually near the
ground but sometimes as high as twenty
feet above it. As a rule a dozen or a
score of pairs of birds make their homes
in an area a few acres in extent, but
BIRD PERSONALITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH ■ 35
The Australian wood swallows are characterized bj'- their graceful flight. The male
white-browed wood swallow is here shown near the frail nest in a native shrub
never are two nests closer together than
fifty yards or so. From a photogra-
pher's point of view wood swallows are
not satisfactory subjects, yet there is
some subtle attraction about the
proud defiance of their attitude which
would induce me to go miles out of my
way to see a nesting colony.
In suitable country one may find a
dozen small holes drilled in a creek
36
NATURAL HISTORY
bank within a distance of a quarter of a
mile. Each small tunnel is the special
property and the anxious care of a pair
of pardalotes, whose cosy nest of grass
and bark has been built in the darkness
eighteen inches or two feet in the earth.
The nearness of these nesting tunnels to
one another is not an indication, as in
the case of the nests of wood swallows,
of any gregarious habit. Rather is it an
evidence of the number of pairs which
take advantage of a suitable nesting
ground.
Around Melbourne there are two
species of these small birds. One is
much spangled with white and con-
spicuously marked with red orange and
yellow. The other species is less
gaudy, a plain brown bird with but a
suggestion of yellow markings. Both
species have ridiculously short tails;
in fact, short tails are characteristic
of all the pardalotes.
Where the soil is very hard or other-
wise unsuitable, the plainer bird, known
as the red-tipped pardalote, will nest
in the hollow of a tree or even in a fallen
branch upon the ground. Such a posi-
tion was chosen by a pair of birds whose
domestic routine was interrupted, not
once, but on two or three occasions,
during a fortnight. On the last occa-
sion young birds with lusty voices
could be heard about two feet from
the small round entrance hole.
Besides a pleasant, if rather monot-
onous, call, usually interpreted as
"wit-e-chew," the pardalote has a
plaintive little note specially reserved
for pathetic occasions. Thus, when
The red-tipped pardalote builds a complete nest in the darkness of a tunnel, either
in the ground, in a tree, or, as in this case, in a log lying on the ground. When pre-
vented, temporarily, from reaching its home, the bird affects a pathetic attitude and
utters a plaintive note of entreaty
BIRD PERSONALITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH
37
The mistletoe bird builds a wonderful nest of feltlike texture. The small bird is
here shown bringing two sticky mistletoe berries to the young in the nest
access to the nest was barred tempo-
rarily by a piece of stick, one of this
pair of birds sat upon the topmost point
of the branch and called most piteously
in its distress. Each entreaty was
accompanied by a peculiar stretching
of the neck and a sidewise turn of
the head, which I have attempted
to illustrate in the accompanying
photograph.
Pardalotes perform much useful
service among the gum trees by attack-
ing the noxious scale insect that plays
havoc with the leaves and small
branches. Although scarcely four
inches long, the bird has an enormous
capacity for this particular pest.
Related to the pardalotes and like
them in shape and size is the mistletoe
bird {Dicseum kirundinaceum) , a bril-
3S
NATURAL HISTORY
liant species not altogether uncommon
but seldom observed closely. The
height and speed of its flight may ex-
plain the fact that the bird is not better
known. Some years ago, after much
searching, Mr. S. A. Lawrence and I
discovered the wonderful home of a
pair of these birds about twenty miles
from Melbourne. At the end of four
days of hard and patient work we were
able to take back with us pictures of
both the male and the female; not
only that, but these birds, admittedly
among the least trustful in Australia,
eventually fed their young ones while
perched upon our hands.
The male mistletoe bird is beauti-
fully colored. The throat is a brilliant
scarlet while the back and wings are
a gloss}" blue-black. The female is
very soberly garbed in brown and gray
and is scarcely recognizable as the con-
sort of the male. During the summer
months the birds are very partial to the
sticky seeds of the parasitic mistletoe
(Loranthus) as an article of food. In
fact, when the berries are available,
the birds appear to feed on little else.
It is a curious partnership between bird
and plant. In return for its gift of
food the parasite receives the assist-
ance of the bird in distributing its
seed. It would appear, even, that the
mistletoe is spread primarily through
the agenc}^ of the mistletoe bird.
The nest of the species deserves men-
tion. It is the most wondei'ful piece of
work I have seen. Built of wool, where
obtainable, and woolly substances taken
from plants, it is woven so closely
as to resemble felt. It is difl&cult to
understand how the structure, lacking
the long fibers we find in most other
nests of the closed-in type, stands the
strain of wind and weather besides
supporting three young birds and one
adult. It will be noticed, too, that the
slender branch above is the only sup-
port afforded to the breeze-swung home.
Of protectively colored species there
are many, and all are interesting. The
dotterels are particular favorites of
mine, whose primitive nests among the
pebbles of a creek hold some irresistible
charm. In many of the old gold-
mining districts of Victoria the whole
countryside is strewn with stones and
pebbles disturbed from their rightful
places deep in the earth. Streams now
meander through wide flat wastes of
these pebbles and the usual creekside
undergrowth has disappeared entirely,
— a desolate enough scene.
When the dotterel's eggs lie un-
attended in the nest, they harmonize
so well with the acres of pebbles that
detection by natural enemies is most
unlikety. In similar manner the sitting
dotterel by its coloration enjoys almost
complete protection. Even the downy
youngsters, born open-eyed and able to
run, are clothed in protectively colored
down. ■ At a note of warning from the
ever-watchful parent they sink, with
outstretched neck, flat upon the
pebbles and appear literally to dissolve
into the surroundings.
Now! I had not intended to men-
tion the lyi'e bird {Menura novaehol-
landids), that greatest of all Australian
bird wonders. Much has been written
regarding it by ornithologists of stand-
ing, so that my only excuse for in-
troducing pictures of the bird and its
nest is my liking for the species. It is
almost useless to attempt a description
of the charm of ''lyre-birding," — I mean
it in the harmless photographic sense.
Imagine a half-mile climb from the
main gully up the steep course of
a trickling crystal stream. Realize
that dignified progress is rendered im-
possible by tangled undergrowth, fallen
tree ferns, and the sodden spongy
BIRD PERSONALITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH
39
nature of the soil. Picture silver mists
sweeping this way and that like great
captive balloons and leaving twinkling
drops of water on the tips of every fern
frond. In the distance all the time
ring the laugh of kookaburras, the
carols of the magpie and the butcher
bird, the screech of cockatoos and par-
rots, all falling one over the other in the
ecstasy of the singer. Singer, I say,
The half-mile climb up the stream
probably occupies half an hour and at
the end of it a change is noted in the
character of the country. On3 may
now walk upright with ease and the
ground is free of undergrowth and
debris. The fern fronds form arches
overhead and shed a soft green light
over a scene which rivals fairyland.
Above the ferns, myrtles and musk and
i
^P^jH
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E
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i
1
Hp^^**" ^, „
•v<if
^
IIJP
8
W '
CS|^
*- ^,^»HiPJ|. -a.
M|
HKSI
i
Jj
^^yflv
k
3E
IH
i^
The black-footed dotterel — in the young stage as well a? in the adult — is protec-
tively colored, resembling the pebbles among which it makes its nest
because all the sounds come from the
same direction, from the same throat
in fact. Is there a mocking bird in any
other part of the world which repro-
duces, not the laugh of one kookaburra
but the jovial chorus of half a dozen;
not the screech of one parrot but the
din of a whole flock? If we attempt to
reach the singer of these borrowed
songs, we find the stage moved ever on-
ward, so that we never overtake it. No !
That is not the way to see the lyre bird.
Christmas bush clamber upward for
the light, while blackwoods, still higher,
do their very best to keep it from them.
Above all tower giant gum trees, their
wind-racked heads veritably in the
clouds, their gnarled and spreading
branches blotting out the last remain-
ing patch of sky.
To the uninitiated this clearing, this
change from the dense undergrowth,
means nothing. To the experienced it
presents itself as a likely nesting site
40
NATURAL HISTORY
Although the lyre bird is credited with being exceedingly shy, the nesting female, at least,
exhibits little more than a curious interest in intruders
for this mysterious bird. All is quiet,
for, remember, most birds, being lovers
of light, shun these places where sun-
shine is unknown. Then soberly,
sedately down a natural path between
the ferns walks the bird we seek; not
the singer, but his mate. If she Hved
up to her reputation, she would turn
and vanish like a shadow. But her
nest is near and the female lyre bird,
when nesting, belies that reputation
which she and her consort have earned,
rightly or wrongly. Speaking from my
personal experience I can only say
that, unless one adopts fundamentally
wrong tactics and scrambles through
the undergrowth after them, both male
and female lyre bird are almost as
easily observed as other species. When
her nest is near, the female looks upon
BIRD PERSONALITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH
41
P The large nest of the lyre bird is usually built near the ground but in a position which
commands a view of all avenues of approach. The female was sitting in the nest when the
photograph was taken
intruders simply with wonder, curi-
osity, and perhaps a Httle anxiety.
Under such circumstances the only
difficulty of the photographer is lack of
light. But so serious is this one diffi-
culty that I have not yet seen a satis-
factory picture of a lyre bird. The
photograph reproduced is the best of
three obtained after an expenditure of
fifty plates.
Photograph by A. H. B. Mattingley
THE CARPET SNAKE
In the tropical parts of its range Python variegaius sometimes attains a length of four-
teen feet, very rarely fifteen feet; in the more southern part of Austraha seven or eight feet
is its average size, though specimens measuring ten feet occasionally occur
Reptile Life in Australia'
By CHARLES BARRETT, C.M.Z.S.
ON the trail of birds in Australian
wilds with field glass and camera
I meet with many members of
the "cold-blooded" tribes. And,
being one of those ''eccentric persons"
who feel kindly disposed toward lizards
and snakes, I linger to watch their
ways. I make no claim to the title of
herpetologist; I am an observer only,
and my budget of notes on reptile life
is mainly for nature lovers.
Though fatal cases of snake bite in
Australia are rather rare, we have our
share of venomous serpents, and some
kinds are abundant even near populous
towns. In sparsely settled districts,
where conditions are favorable to rep-
tile life, snakes, both harmless and
deadly, are very plentiful.
I have encountered many snakes in
my "bush" wanderings, and with few
exceptions have found them fearful of
man, or at least decidedly anxious to
avoid him. This applies to some of our
deadliest species, including the black
snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) , a
formidable foe indeed, were it eager to
stay and fight instead of avoiding
trouble. This, our commonest species
bearing the poison fang, often grows to
a length of six feet, but the average
length is sixty inches. Occasionally,
"seven-footers" are killed; and snake
stories record monsters worthy of ex-
hibition in a dime museum!
The black snake is rarely aggressive
unless cornered, or molested in the mat-
ing season, when most serpents are in-
clined to take the offensive against
intruders. Pseudechis porphyriacus,
when angered, flattens and expands its
illlustrations, with one exception, from photographs
neck, thus intensifying the terror of
those who fear all serpents should they
encounter one at close range. Nor is it
wise for anyone to fence with this
species in its rage. Strike swiftly, if
you have the good fortune to carry a
stick, and see that the blow gets home.
Many a snake have I spared, but never
a venomous one in fighting humor.
When camped near a jungley swamp
in New South Wales a year or two ago,
I met with black snakes daily. The
swamp was an ideal home for them, and
also for some harmless species of snakes.
Orchid-hunting among ti trees {Mela-
Courtesy of A. H. E. Mattingley
The black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus)
is beautiful in its coloring: purplish black or
dark slate on the upper surface; on the sides
and abdominal plates, crimson-lake red, with
the hind tips and edges blackish. "Black
Beauty," a snake-lover has called this dreaded
reptile, which has taken its toll of human life
by A. H. E. Mattingley, C. M. Z. S., and the author.
43
44
NATURAL HISTORY
leuca sp.), slender-boled gum trees
(Eucalyptus sp.), and splendid fan-
leaved palms, I splashed along on the
first morning afield, without a thought
of reptiles. Suddenly, as I stooped to
gather a lovely little bog orchid, a black
snake glided past, almost touching my
feet. I was startled, I confess, and for
a while after that went warily. Then
another "Black Beauty" appeared;
and five minutes later, a third. At
brief intervals thi^ee more were sighted,
and I decided to quit the swamp. It
was gloomy among the trees, and I
might easily have found trouble.
On a track near the swamp, I sur-
prised still another black snake. It
glided toward cover, but was headed
with the aid of a stick into a shallow pool.
And there, like Brer Rabbit, it ''lay low"
for a time. It is a habit of the species
to lurk, completely submerged, in
swamps and streams. Some other
serpents have the same power of i^e-
maining long under water. The black
snake is viviparous, and its family may
number from fifteen to a score. Its
food consists mainly of lizards, frogs,
and small mammals; it has a liking
for young water rats, and in the
stomach of one specimen sixteen of
these were found.
Another deadly species, the brown
snake (Diemenia textiUs), has a wide
distribution in Australia. It attains a
length of six feet, and is greatly dreaded.
The young are not produced "alive,"
the eggs, about a score to the clutch,
being laid on the ground and con-
cealed beneath twigs and dry leaves.
The Austrahan copperhead {Denisonia
superba), which must not be confused
with the American copperhead, meas-
ures from four to six feet, and is
plentiful in many parts of southeastern
Australia, even close to the cities.
During the summer of 1923, in a pad-
dock not far from Melbourne, the
second largest city of the Common-
wealth, a child gathering wild flowers
was fatally bitten by a copperhead. I
see this species every year, in the hot
months, when rambling over heath
This water lily swamp is located near the
Murray River in New South Wales
REPTILE LIFE IN AUSTRALIA
45
lands by the sea. One day, when out
with a butterfly hunter, I learned to
respect the copperhead. We came
upon one basking, and my friend
' ' stirred it up . " In a flash the snake shot
forward over the iron rim of the net
and struck. The entomologist missed
death by a few inches.
Yet the copperhead is not regarded
as our boldest and most aggressive
reptile. That honor belongs to the
tiger snake (Notechis scutatus), which
Photograph by Vharieti Harreti
The edge of a "flood" islet in the swamp is seen on the right of the picture. Hither
large snakes come, chiefly to prey upon rabbits and other small creatures
46
NATURAL HISTORY
also is one of the most venomous
serpents in the world. It is partial to
fairly dry areas, but is not confined to
them, and ranges widely over the Com-
monwealth. Large specimens measure
more than five feet from tip to tip,
but the average length is much less.
Ferocity, not size, makes the tiger the
most dreaded of Australia's poisonous
snakes with the exception, perhaps, of
the sluggish death adder {Acanthophis
Photograph by Charles Barrett
The great brown kingfisher or kookaburra
(Dacelo gigas) is a foe of small snakes, and
sometimes kills fairly big ones. Young of the
black, browTi, and copperhead species doubt-
less are included in its menu. The author of
this article has seen a "laughing Jack," which
is another alias of this bird, perched on a
fence post, with a snake three feet long dang-
ling limply from its bill. It is generally beheved
that snakes are carried aloft by the kooka-
burra and dropped to the ground, so that
they may be disabled, and thereupon safely
and easily dispatched. This the author has
not himself observed; but there is no doubt
at all that "Jack" is a snake killer. That is
one reason why he is protected
antardica). Tawny crossbands and
its vicious, aggressive nature explain
the popular name. The tiger snake is
brownish oHve to dark brown on the
upper parts, with many ''tiger" bands,
and below king yellow to pale straw
yellow, or yellow tinged with green —
handsome coloring.
The tiger snake abounds in places
well suited to its needs. A mile or two
from a crowded suburb, I have known
it to attack a Boy Scout belonging to a
camp in its territory. This species
probably has taken a heavier toll of
human life than any other reptile in-
habiting Australia. It is said that its
venom is more swiftly fatal than that
of the cobra.
Far from avoiding man, the tiger
snake is usually "looking for a fight;"
in the mating season especially it shows
its aggressiveness. At all times its fury
becomes unbounded if it be attacked
without a chance to retreat. Under
such circumstances its neck is flat-
tened, and expanded laterallj^ to twice
the normal width, reminding one of a
cobra, with hood spread, ready for
action, and if you are facing this tawny-
banded terror, and are within its range,
act swiftly or your fate is certain.
It is strange to read of a tiger snake
being killed by a mouse; but this
actually occurred. The late Prof.
Frederick McCoy put a five mouse into
a box containing a specimen of Notechis
scutatus, and on the following morning
was astonished to find that the little
rodent had dispatched the snake by
biting the back of its neck and, more-
over, had eaten some of the flesh!
The professor kept several tiger snakes
together in a box, and frequently saw
them bite each other viciously when
they had been purposely disturbed;
but the poison fangs produced no ill
effects.
REPTILE LIFE IN AUSTRALIA
47
The death adder is one of the smaller
serpents of Australia, seldom attaining
a greater length than two feet. Its
body is thick and rounded, the head
broad and flat, while the tail ends in a
horny spine, — harmless of course, but
in popular belief the adder's deadly
weapon. "It stings with its tail,"
folks say; and no logic has power to
convince them of their error. The
death adder is one of the most venom-
ous Australian snakes; a large dog
will succumb to the effects of its bite
in eighteen minutes.
This deaf adder, as it is commonly
called, has a dangerous habit of lying
still, often on soil with which its color
harmonizes. Thus, it is not easily
detected; and as it obstinately de-
clines to yield the right of way, a
pedestrian may tread upon it — and
suffer death, for the adder strikes as
swiftly as a furious tiger snake. One
summer's day, when a holiday party
was rambling in the "bush," a laugh-
ing girl placed her hand idly on a bowl-
der. Next moment, when she chanced
to look down, her face grew pale and she
trembled. The hand was lifted in a
flash — it had lain within six inches of a
basking death adder !
Though the death adder is not ag-
gressive, it will, when aroused, snap
swiftly from side to side alternately, as
I have seen a horned viper {Cerastes
cornutus) strike, out on the Libyan
Desert. But the Australian snake does
not move its body sideways, in the
peculiar manner of the Egyptian
species. Sandy places are favored by
Acanthophis antardica, which is widely
distributed in Australia; it is found
also in the great island of New Guinea
and its attendant islands. It was
plentiful on an isle off the coast of
North Queensland, where I camped for
a while.
Among the snakes that are impres-
sive because of their size is the carpet
species. Python variegatus. This big
rock snake is, of course, non-venomous,
but not "perfectly harmless," as some
naturalists aver. We captured one
nine feet in length on a river isle in
Queensland, three men grasping the tail
and hauling Python variegatus from its
retreat in a bed of swamp lilies. It was
an exciting tug of war, but the snake
lost. Later the specimen was shipped
to Melbourne, and became for a time a
household pet. I tested its crushing
powers one morning, and very soon
repented. Shining, merciless coils were
about my waist, and the snake's flat,
ugly head came gliding over my
shoulder. Constriction increased, and
the snake bit savagely at my coat.
Tighter still it pressed, and breathing
became difficult. I called on a watch-
ful companion, and our united strength
was exerted to unwind the reluctant
coils.
But unless one is rough and careless
in handling the carpet snake, it is
harmless enough. Recently I photo-
graphed one of these reptiles, which
allowed me to pose it, without protest
beyond a mild threat from open jaws.
This Australian python (we have
several species of Python) is handsomely
colored, pale brown with a greenish
gray tinge and darker markings in
irregular carpet pattern. Its tail is
short and prehensile, and, like the
American boa, the "carpet" coils it
around a branch, and hangs by it as
easily as a ring-tailed phalanger per-
forms the same feat. A firm hold is
gained (says Professor McCoy) with two
little leglike spurs acting in opposition.
Small mammals (wallabies, etc.) and
birds are the carpet snake's chief vic-
tims, but it is fond also of poultry and
raids henhouses in country townships.
48
NATURAL HISTORY
Still, it renders good service as a rat
hunter, and often its presence is
welcomed in places where rodents
abound.
The diamond snake {Python varie-
gatus spilotes) is a subspecies restricted
to portions of the eastern coast of our
house." When my friend entertained,
he delighted in giving the guests a little
surprise: the snake was coiled on a
chair at the dinner table, and as a rule
it behaved very well.
I come now to my favorites, the
beautiful, slender tree snakes, — one
Photograph by Charles Barrett
This swamp in central Tasmania is a well-known haunt of snakes as well as a nesting
place of crakes and rails. Undeterred by the proximity of the reptiles, a settler has built
his cabin at the edge of the swamp
island-continent. It is darker than the
carpet snake, and has a different color
pattern : normally, diamond-shaped
spots occur in clusters at more or less
regular intervals. Northern Australia
is the home of the black-headed python
{Aspidites melanocephalus) , which at-
tains a length of eight feet; and another,
smaller, species {Aspidites ramsayi) is
restricted to a district in north central
New South Wales.
Pjrthons sometimes are kept as pets.
A friend of mine had a small diamond
snake, which enjoyed the "run of the
being colored green, the other brown.
As they glide among leaves of the
jungle trees or, more rarety, over
swampy ground, they resemble un-
dulating tubes of tinted glass. All their
movements are graceful, and their
charm is enhanced by the knowledge
that they are harmless. The common
green tree snake {Dendrophis punctula-
tus) may grow to seven feet, but its
more usual length is five or six feet.
This species is abundant in subtropical
and tropical "brushes" on the eastern
coast. I have seen a dozen during a
REPTILE LIFE IN AUSTRALIA
49
morning's ramble among palm trees and
cedars in a northern ''brush." The
swamp described on pp. 43-4 where
black snakes were so numerous, was also
a haunt of green tree snakes. I found a
pair at home in a hollow log, and saw
many others gliding through water-
laved grass and ferns or among the
foliage of trees. Small birds and lizards
and the tree frogs so plentiful in their
haunts are victims of these snakes, but
their diet is, perhaps, varied with other
little bushland creatures. The brown
tree snake (Dipsadomorphus fuscus) is a
nocturnal hunter of small birds, lizards,
and amphibians. Its maximum length
is seven feet. The tree snakes are
oviparous.
In tropical Australia there are four
kinds of true fresh-water snakes, placed
in four genera by systematists; but I
have no personal knowledge of the
ways of these reptiles.
Sea snakes, which prey chiefly upon
fishes, are not uncommon in our tropi-
cal waters, especially among coral reefs,
where I have seen them during trips to
islands of the Great Barrier. They are
found, also, in salt-water estuaries. I
will freely admit that I prefer to view
sea snakes at a little distance. They
are highly venomous; and in travers-
ing water lanes that run through coral
causeways or along the reef's edge
in a blue lagoon one. is wise to be
cautious.
Our most familiar species among the
Hydrophinse is the yellow-bellied sea
snake (Hydrus platurus), which rarely
grows to a length of more than three
feet. It is black on the upper surface,
yellow on the sides of the body and the
lower parts, while the tail varies in
color pattern, — yellow with black spots,
or the reverse. This species is found in
the Pacific and Indian Oceans, authori-
ties say, and is recorded from Panama
waters. My own slight knowledge of it
was gained in North Queensland.
White-bellied sea eagles (Halixtus
leucogaster) are great enemies of sea
snakes. On an isle of the Capricorn
Group, off the coast of Queensland, I
found beneath the nest of a pair of sea
eagles scores of skeletons of sea snakes.
Sharks, also, it is said, prey upon these
serpents. Their own element is some-
times their enemy; for after a storm
sea snakes have been found cast up on
ocean beaches.
Of crocodiles we have two species,
Johnston's {Crocodilusjohnstonii), a na-
tive of Northern Territory and North
Queensland, and the salt-water croco-
dile (Crocodilus porosus). The length
of the former is from six to seven feet;
it is mainly a fish eater, harmless to
man. One of my naturalist friends has
bathed often in a Queensland river pool
among the "little crocs." This prac-
tice is not exceptional, for the folk who
live in districts where Johnston's
crocodile abounds have no fear of it.
Crocodilus porosus, on the other hand,
a monster often measuring seventeen
feet or more from the snout tip to the
end of the powerful tail, is regarded
with due respect. It frequents the
tidal mouths of creeks and rivers, and
sometimes is met with at sea. It is not
confined to northern Australia, being
a native, also, it has been stated, of
India and Ceylon, some Pacific islands,
and the southern portion of China.
Mr. A. H. E. Mattingley, C. M. Z. S.,
a noted Australian naturalist, relates
an adventure with a salt-water croco-
dile.^ He was hunting birds in the
mangroves, when he came upon a fe-
male crocodile in a wallow beside her
nest. She made a savage rush at him,
with " a kind of hissing, grunting noise,"
^The Animals of Australia, Luoas & Le Sou'^f, pp
190-91.
50
NATURAL HISTORY
Photograph by Charles Barrett
Green turtles coming ashore from the lagoon at Masthead Island, in the Capricorn Group,
Queensland, where they deposit their eggs in burrows
but was blinded by a charge of small
shot and finally dispatched.
When living in North Queensland,
my wife received from a grateful
person, whom she had nursed through
an illness, a baby crocodile. The gift,
from a rough but kindly old miner,
arrived without warning in a box the
lid of which was nailed down. My wife
and her friends of the household were
curious as to the contents, and bent
over the box as the top was pried off.
When the crocodile's head popped up,
the sharp-toothed jaws agape, all the
human heads were lifted high in a
flash. The gift, with a polite note of
thanks, was returned to the sender,
who later explained, "I thought you'd
like it for a pet."
Wild pigs are killed and devoured by
the salt-water crocodile, and it has the
reputation of being a man-eater when
the chance occurs. It is not particu-
larly conducive to long life to swim in,
■or wade through, pools in crocodile-
haunted water courses, for the reptiles
sometimes seek a change from salt
to fresh water and travel far up-
stream.
I am more at home in writing of
green turtles (Chelone my das), for I
have camped on their nesting isles,
swum among them in the lagoons, and
even commandeered them for ''joy
rides" on the beaches. The green
turtle, which frequents tropical and
subtropical seas, is so abundant in the
breeding season among our north-
western and northeastern islands that
hundreds sometimes are seen at a
sweep of the eye. One morning I
actually counted nearly two hundred
on the beach at Northwest Island, in
the Capricorn Group. Many were
coming ashore, too, and dark heads
dotted the sea as far as my eyes could
range. It was easy to steal to a basking
turtle and leap upon its carapace. If
you gained a firm seat (kneeling on
and grasping the front of the carapace),
a brief ride to the sea was possible.
In the water the turtle triumphed.
It might swim for a time with head
uplifted, but presently it would sub-
REPTILE LIFE IN A USTRALIA
51
merge, forcing its rider to loose his
hold or drown. I never could rival De
Rougemont in turtle-riding feats; but
many a big Chelone mydas has borne
me over the beach to the sea.
At night, on the edge of the jungle
zone, the female turtles excavated big
holes in the sand and therein laid their
eggs. Then they scraped damp sand
into the hollow again and smoothed
the surface, using their hind flippers
adroitly in these operations. All was
safe now, they believed, and accord-
ingly they returned to the sea.
Many nests are robbed, of course;
and turtle hunters often capture the
luckless owners, as they hasten sea-
ward after laying and hiding their eggs.
Rarely, among the islands, we saw the
logger-head turtle {Thalassochelys ca~
retta), noted for its shell-crushing beak.
We have in Australia some inter-
esting tortoises that inhabit lakes and
rivers and the large lagoons. The long-
necked river tortoise {Chelodina longi-
collis) is one of the most remarkable
species, common in rivers of southern
Australia, especially Gippsland, Vic-
toria, where I have met with it. The
length of the snake-like neck, from the
front edge of the carapace to the occi-
put, is about three inches, six lines,
sometimes shorter, rarely a line or
two longer. This is rather a handsome
reptile, very dark brown above, with
the plastron and under surface of
marginal plates a rich yellow, the bor-
ders to the sutures being dark brown.
The pure white eggs (from seven to
more than a score) are deposited in a cir-
cular hole excavated in a bank, the tor-
toise using its hind feet for the work.
The Murray River tortoise (Emy-
dura macquarise) is popularly known
as the Murray "turtle," but a glance
at its feet shows the naturalist that it
is one of the walking tortoises, wide-
Photograph by Charles Barrett
The carapace of a green turtle found on
the beach of Coral Island
webbed between the toes, and provided
with long, acute claws. In a lake in
northern Victoria I saw in early
summer time a host of Murray tor-
Photograph by Charles Barrett
The burrow from which these eggs of the
Murray tortoise were removed is seen to the
left rear of them
52
NATURAL HISTORY
Photograph by A. H. E. Mattingley
Supported by its adhesive toe pads, the
AustraUan gecko is able to hang head down-
ward from a branch
toises. They were gathered in warm,
shallow water along the shore, and I
followed the tracks for fifty yards until
I came upon several nests excavated in
dry soil. From one of these nests
nearly a score of eggs, white and
soft-shelled, were taken. Egg fights
are held by schoolboys living in the
neighborhood of the lake; but the
turtle population does not decrease
perceptibly though hundreds of eggs
are destroyed.
Australia is so rich in lizards — nearly
four hundred species, and many of
them abundant — that I can mention
only a few, notable for their quaint
appearance or their engaging ways.
Our geckoes are queer little creatures,
with grotesque tails and in the case of
some species ogre-like heads, so that it
is not strange that many persons regard
them with aversion. But I like every
kind I have seen. Under bark on living
tree trunks and gray old logs on the
ground, in rock crannies and beneath
big bowlders, geckoes are found. Some
kinds, especially in the subtropical and
tropical parts of the Commonwealth,
take up their abode in houses, huts, and
outbuildings, where they prey upon
moths and flies. Their adhesive foot-
pads enable them to run up and down
walls, and across the ceiling of a house.
Sometimes they lose their hold and fall.
One night I was seated, reading, in a
Queensland bungalow, when a gecko
dropped on the table, an inch from my
book. He did not stay to apologize,
but scampered down a leg of the table,
across the floor, and up the wall, back
to his hunting ground — the ceiling.
In the arid country of central
Australia are found our strangest
geckoes. One is Nephrurus asper, pale
pinkish brown on the upper surface,
with a black band on the neck, and
black lines in network pattern on the
head. It is under five inches in length.
The small tail has a "terminal en-
largement"; at the base it is swollen
in a curious manner, then it tapers,
and ends in a globe-shaped knob.
Rhynchoedura ornata, of northwestern
Australia, is more remarkable for the
shape of its head than for that of its
tail, though the latter organ is suffi-
ciently strange, — thick, and in outline
like a malformed leaf. This gecko's
head suggests that of a baby bird, with
bulging eyes and short, blunt bill.
Some of our lizards are gorgeously
colored, — for example, the painted
dragon (Amphiholurus pictus), which
inhabits dry regions mainly, in western,
central, and southern Australia. The
male, on the upper part of the body, is
brick red, with leaden-blue vertebral
stripe; the sides are blue with yellow
spots ; the limbs bluish black with some
yellow markings; and the long, taper-
ing tail leaden blue, barred with light-
colored, narrow bands. Truly, a
REPTILE LIFE IN AUSTRALIA
53
Photograph by Charles Barrett
Though living close to the ground, the bearded dragon, Amphibolurus barbatus, likes to
bask on logs and stumps and fence posts. Annoyed or cornered, it expands its "beard" — a
frill of spines — and faces the foe open-mouthed, hissing viciously the while. It will bite, too,
in savage earnest, but without causing much pain. Its display is largely bluff, but succeeds
sometimes in scaring very timid persons. The "dragon," although about twenty inches in
length, has no chance of life when pounced upon by even a small dog. A fox terrier will dis-
patch two full-grown specimens in less than five minutes
dandy; but not the only one among
Australian lizards to qualify as such.
One small species has an orange-red
tail, and blue-and-black striped body.
Another kind, of the purely Australian
genus Egernia, varies greatly in color-
ing; one form is bright brick red above,
with some black spots; while the sides
54
NATURAL HISTORY
of the body are pinkish brown, also
spotted with black, and the under
surface of a rich, creamy-white hue.
Brown, blue, red, yellow, and many
other colors are exhibited by our
lizards, large and small.
We have some lizards, however, that
are ''plain." The bearded dragon
(Ajnphiholurus barhatus) is as soberly
colored as a Quaker's coat. Dingy
brownish or yellow gray is the prevail-
ing tone, with darker markings in some
cases. I have met with this queer
lizard, which attains a length of about
twenty-one inches, in many places, but
most often in the wonderful Mallee
country of northwestern Victoria,
where the lowan (Leipoa ocellata) still
raises mounds of soil and debris as
incubators for its eggs, ranged in tiers
in a hotbed. The bearded dragon,
however, is found all over Australia,
except in the areas farthest north. It
is so common in the Mallee that a score
may be seen in a morning afield. A
dozen or more eggs are laid by this
species.
Fortune has favored few naturalists
with pn introduction to the true frilled
lizard (Chlamydosaurus) in its native
wilds; and I am one of the luckless
majority. Chlamydosaurus kingii, sole
member of its genus, inhabits certain
areas in western and northwestern
Australia, and Queensland. Its body
is slender, and the tail, proportionately,
of remarkable length; from tip to tip
an adult may measure almost three
feet. The big frill is wonderful; but a
still greater claim to distinction is this
lizard's habit of running erect on the
hind legs. Saville-Kent, who closely
observed the species, states that in
running the frilled lizard places on the
ground only the three central digits of
each hind foot; thus its tracks re-
semble those of birds and of dinosaurs.
The horned dragon {Moloch horri-
dus), under nine inches in length, is a
contrast to the frilled lizard in its
sluggish ways. It is difficult to de-
scribe this quaint little reptile, with
its rows of large and small spines, neck
hump, and horned eyes. It is of a
yellowish color, with chestnut-brown
markings. The Australian Moloch
lizard resembles the Texas horned lizard
(Phrynosoma cornutum) .
The horned dragon, often called
"thorny devil," makes a pleasing pet.
One of these lizards had the freedom
of my house for a month, when it met
with an untimely death — crushed by a
careless foot. Another specimen I
purchased for a shilling from an
aboriginal at Coldea station, on the
Trans-Australian Railway. I kept the
lizard in my sleeping compartment on
the train, and when we stopped for
some minutes at a station, I would step
out and place it on the ground among
ants of different species. But it de-
clined to eat in the midst of plenty.
Later I learned that the Moloch has a
special liking for the small black
"sugar" ants, which commonly nest
in our gardens and invade kitchens and
larders. Given its favorite food, this
lizard develops an amazing appetite,
often devouring more than one thou-
sand ants at a meal. The insects are
picked up one by one by the reptile's
slender and sticky tongue, which
flashes in and out of the mouth tire-
lessly till the feast is ended.
Dr. J. Bequaert^ refers to Moloch
horridus in his fascinating paper on
"The Predaceous Enemies of Ants."^
I have evidence that our horned lizard
lives solely upon ants, though appar-
ently it is highly selective and never
troubles the great majority of species.
^Bulletin, Am. Mus. Nat. History, Vol. XLV (1921-
22), p. 296.
REPTILE LIFE IN AUSTRALIA
55
A captive specimen was tempted with
living ants of several species, but de-
clined to eat until it was placed beside a
nest of the small black ants alreadj^
mentioned.
My brother, in camp on a western
gold field, where fortunes were lost and
made, kept, as a mascot and "servant"
combined, a fine little Moloch. It was
tethered lightly to a tent peg and rarely
strayed to the end of its tether. It
cost nothing to keep and needed no
attention; but it rendered welcome
service in devouring hosts of black
ants.
Australia's sluggish blue-tongued
lizards {Tiliqua) are unfriendly in their
haunts, but in captivity become more
sociable. I have had several and have
found them rather engaging despite
their indolent ways. A "blue-tongue "
is never in a hurry; but if you irritate
him, he instantly shows bold resent-
ment. The jaws are opened and the
bright purplish-blue tongue flickers
while the body swells and a fierce
hissing noise is uttered, as if it were
being pumped from the depths. These
reptiles, of course, are harmless, but
their display must serve to frighten
some of their natural enemies. In the
Mallee scrubs, I have seen a "blue-
tongue" smaller and more brightly
colored than the common species
{Tiliqua scincoides) , the average length
of which is nearly two feet.
"Shingle-back," "stump tail," and
"sleeping hzard," are the popular
names for the most sluggish of all the
Australian reptiles (Trachysaurus rugo-
sus), which enjoys a fairly wide range.
In northwestern Victoria and South
Australia (near the coast), I have ob-
served shingle-back lizards in number.
In one spot, more than twenty were
present, not in association but within
a few yards of one another. The place
must have had some special attraction
for the lazy, dull-colored reptiles.
The stump-tailed lizard measures
from a foot to fourteen inches in length.
Its curious, broad and short, stumpy
tail might be mistaken at a distance for
the lizard's head, though smaller and
more rounded. In some districts,
indeed, the species is known as the two-
headed lizard. Its appearance plainly
indicates that nature never intended
Photograph by C. P. Kinane
A blue-tongued lizard {Tiliqua scincoides) in angry mood, with its purplish-blue tongue
in action
56
NATURAL HISTORY
Photograph by Charles Barrett
This brood of young brown hawks (Hieracidea berigora) was fed mainly on stump-tailed
lizards (Trachysaurus rugosus). There was a half-devoured specimen of this lizard in the
nest when the photograph was taken
that it should hve an active hfe; nor
does it break her law. A snail might
win a race with Trachysaurus rugosus.
The lethargy of our stump-tailed lizard
is so great as to be diverting to an ob-
server of its ways. Like some creature
of a poet's fancy, this indolent reptile
Photograph by Charles Barrett
The stump-tailed lizard is also known as the
double-headed lizard, a not inappropriate
name as any one taking a quick unanalytic
glance at this picture will admit. The photo-
graph was taken in the Mallee country, Vic-
toria, and shows the slugglish lizard stretched
on the sand
"drags its slow length along"; only
it is short instead of elongated; it
waddles on its stomach, one might say.
In my latest trip to the Mallee
(October, 1922) I noticed that brown
hawks (Hieracidea herigora) were feed-
ing their broods on stump-tailed lizards,
varied with larger, and very active,
species. Remains of several specimens
of rugosus were found in a hawk's nest,
and the mother bird was seen approach-
ing with a young monitor lizard
(Varanus sp.) dangling from her beak.
Stumpy has no defence against a bird
of prey; he may be sighted and cap-
tured at leisure for the mere trouble of
alighting on the ground to pick him up.
It is different with the monitor.
This brings me to our largest lizards,
in popular parlance "goanas" — a cor-
ruption of iguana, I suppose. We have
no iguanas in Australia, as every
naturalist knows; but "guanas" our
monitors will be called for many years
Photographs by Charles Barrett
THE MONITORS OR "GOANAS"
The genus Varanus includes the largest of Australia's lizards. One species, V. variiis, attains
alengthofsix feet; scarcely less impressive is V.gouldii, which is more than fom- feet in length.
There are also intermediate and small species in the genus. The lace monitor (varius) is
essentially a tree-climber and takes ruthless toll of birds' nests, the yoimg birds as well as
the eggs being eaten. When the close of the nesting season puts an end to its raids among the
trees, this hzard takes to the ground, preying upon rabbits and other animals. Gould's mon-
itor, [on the other hand, lives habitually on the ground
57
58
NATURAL HISTORY
to come. It is difficult to lay the ghosts
of popular errors. Of these long-headed
Hzards we have several species and
varieties. At least two of the species
are of considerable size, as "big as
alligators," to quote a newspaper head-
ing; others are from two to three feet
in length ; and finally, there are species
smaller still.
The lace monitor (Varanus varius),
mainly an arboreal lizard, inhabits
eastern Australia. It varies in length,
full-grown examples measuring about
six feet. This reptile is a great enemy
of birds. It climbs the tallest trees
with wonderful facility, and few nests
are safe from its raiding. Sometimes
the big robber is driven off by bold and
powerful birds, such as the cockatoos;
the smaller birds can only threaten and
loudly protest while their homes are
devastated. Very often, of course,
the parents are away, and the moni-
tor gets his meal without any annoy-
ance.
When harvest time for eggs and
nestlings is over, the lace lizard seeks a
living on the ground. It hunts rabbits
and small native mammals, snaps up
"unconsidered trifles," and in the
settled districts visits poultry yards,
stealing both eggs and chickens. Often
I have been startled by the sudden rush
of a "goana" that had been lurking in
long grass or among rocks and scrub on
a hillside. In a second, if a tree be
handy, a monitor surprised on the
ground will be racing up the trunk. It
will dodge round if you watch it,
keeping on the side of the bole you can-
not for the moment see. "Goanas"
have been killed in large numbers for
the sake of oil distilled from their fat,
which is valued as a remedy for various
aches and pains.
Gould's monitor {Varanus gouldii),
which ranges all over Australia, is
smaller (length up to about four feet)
and more handsomely colored than
Varanus varius. Another fact in its
favor is that it is less voracious and
vicious than the larger "goana."
Furthermore, this lizard lives mostly on
the ground; alarmed, it seeks as a rule
safety in holes in the earth instead of
climbing a tree. Although it swims
well, it is most plentiful in waterless
areas. Captive specimens hiss loudly
when irritated, but do not attempt to
bite; at other times, to quote Professor
McCoy, they give "a gentle snuffing
sort of cough, such as babies emit
before they are weaned."
Many rivers and creeks in eastern
Australia (from Queensland to southern
Victoria if varieties of the species about
to be mentioned are disregarded) are
frequented by a strange reptile, Physig-
nathus lesueurii, known as the water
lizard, or water dragon — the latter
name seems most suitable when the
reptile is seen "at home." Lately this
reptile has become famous among thou-
sands of people previously ignorant of
its very existence. Its claims to the
title of "bunyip" were advanced by
some "bush" dwellers during a dis-
cussion in the columns of the Melbourne
Herald regarding that mysterious crea-
ture of native legendary tales and white
men's camp-fire stories.
Maybe, there is a real bunyip, an
animal remotely resembling the imagi-
nary creature feared for centuries by
the aborigines, if indeed they had per-
fect faith in their tribal tales. A seal
astray far inland, in river or lake, may
have given rise to the bunyip legend,
and the boom of the bittern may echo
in its "terrible voice." Descriptions
of the bunyip vary among the tribes;
but the legend is wide-spread, and
many persons, even today, believe that
Australia is the home of a large and
REPTILE LIFE IN AUSTRALIA
59
wonderful animal, unknown to science
but familiar to black fellows! "Blood-
curdling screams," heard at night in
the "bush" not far from Melbourne,
were attributed to the bunyip. Most
probably they were uttered by a
powerful owl {Ninox strenua) or a
koala (Phascolarctus cinereus), both
noted for making unearthly noises.
Dozens of theories were advanced,
but the mystery remains unsolved.
The theory that interested me was that
propounded by some young men
camped near a creek frequented by
water dragons, and published in the
Melbourne Herald. "A lizard is respon-
sible for the bunyip scare," the campers
declared; and they described how the
reptile, the length of which is about
thirty inches, rested upon a rock in the
creek, and inflating its cheek pouch,
produced "unearthly sounds." I have
seen many water dragons in their
haunts, but have no personal knowledge
of their vocal powers.
The color of the water lizard on the
upper surface of the body is dark
oHve, with cross bands light and dark.
The cheek pouch is vividly colored in
lines of rich yellow and blue. An expert
swimmer and diver, this reptile is not
entirely aquatic in its habits. It fre-
quently is seen on the banks of streams
or basking on rocks in the current. At
the least sign of danger it dives into
the stream and swims out of sight.
Rambling beside a rocky Gippsland
creek on a hot day, I came suddenly
upon a "colony" of water dragons.
Before I could focus the camera every
lizard had splashed head first into the
water. The prey of the species seems
to consist chiefly of insects, including
native bees.
Only vignettes have been given of
reptile life in Australia; the subject
deserves large volumes.
Photograph by Charles Barrett
A creek in Gippsland, Victoria. — The rocks in the stream and along the
banks are frequented by the water dragon (Physignathus lesueurii)
The Vanishing Wild Life of Australia
THE CAUSES OF THE SCARCITY OF CERTAIN OF THE NATIVE ANIMALS
EXPLAINED BY A. S. LE SOUEF
THE preceding articles have in-
troduced the reader to the
strangely primitive mammals,
the birds, and the reptiles of Australia,
and the doom of extinction that has
overtaken some species and that
threatens others has been alluded to
here and there. By way of supple-
ment to this phase of the subject, it
seems in order to print a substantial
portion of an article entitled "The
Australian Native Mammals," which
Mr. A. S. Le Souef contributed to a
recent issue of the Australian Zoologist}
The fact that some of our native
animals are getting increasingly scarce
is well known to those familiar with
them in their native haunts. Mr. W.
W. Froggatt drew attention to this
matter (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 1913),
but little else of an authoritative
nature has been published. Much un-
certainty and misapprehension has
been caused by many people writing
and speaking about the matter with-
out having any basic knowledge of the
subject.
Actual facts are rather difficult to
secure, as comparatively few people
take sufficient interest to make observa-
tions, or can recognize any but the com-
mon species when seen. In the absence
of any comprehensive survey this
resume is only approximate.
The cause of the disappearance of
some of our animals can be stated to
be (in order of importance^) : —
(a) Introduction of the fox, the
cat and the rabbit.
1V9I. Ill, Pt. 3, issued June 7, 1923.
^Different students of the Australian fauna will as-
sign a different order of precedence to the agencies of
destruction. In the article which Mr. Raven con-
tributes to this issue, first place is assigned to man,
while the fox is subordinated as a destroyer to the
dingo. Though such differences of viewpoint will
continue to prevail according to the experiences of the
indiviciual writer, there is no difference of opinion on
the point that all of these agencies are tending to de-
plete the native wild life. — Editor.
60
(b) Shooting and trapping for the
fur market.
(c) Opening up the country by
settlement.
(d) Disease.
(a) The Marsupials are representa-
tives of animals that appeared very
early in the history of evolution; they
were in process of time completely
superseded by the more advanced
animals that we know today. The
isolation of Australia at a time when
the Marsupials were predominant,
allowed them to remain unmolested,
except for the later introduction of the
dingo. With no competition except
among themselves, they have stayed
in their primitive state — remarkably
harmless and with a low instinct of
self-preservation .
When animals of this class suddenly
find themselves placed in competition
with such advanced forms as the fox,
the cat and the rabbit — types that are
far ahead of them in the evolutionary
scale — it is just as inevitable that they
should go down before the invader, as
that the aboriginal should give place to
the white man.
The fox is by far the greatest menace
that our wild animals are faced with.
It is widespread, uncontrollable, and
reaches places where man has not pene-
trated. Its progress towards northern
and central Australia will be watched
with interest; if it can establish itself
in the dry and also in the tropical
areas, then a great many of our ani-
mals— some hardly known to science —
will disappear. So far there is no evi-
dence that it can live away from per-
manent water or in the tropics. It is
significant that most of our animals
live in the driest areas, getting their
moisture from roots, bark and insects.
The rabbit, the cat and the European
mouse have already spread over the
continent; the rabbit thriving in
waterless areas in good seasons and
THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AUSTRALIA
61
being swept off again in dry times — but
I do not think that they have any
marked effect on the native animals.
Mr. Le Souef then alludes briefly to
the presence, in the eastern coastal
areas extending from Victoria to North
Queensland, of the poison tick {Ixodes
holocyclus), which is of aid to the mar-
supials in that it is ''fatal to canines
and somewhat less harmful to cats."
He calls attention to the fact that
Tasmania and the islands off the coast
are free from the fox but that this
animal has spread along the south of
Australia and has reached as far north
as -Geraldton in Western Australia.
The depredations of the fox as they
affect particular native animals are
then considered:
In New South Wales the only species
that are holding their own, as far as I
can judge, are the larger kangaroos,
the Wombat^- and the Platypus. The
Red and the Gray Kangaroos, owing
to their gregarious habits and their size,
are fairly s^-fe. The Wombat is too
doughty ah animal for the fox to tackle,
while the Platypus is protected by its
environment. A large animal that
seems to be affected is the Wallaroo;
this species lives singly or in pairs or at
most three or four together, and the
female is often alone. It has been
stated by observers in the Monaro
District, that when a fox finds a female
with young in the pouch, he chases her
until the "Joey" is thrown out; this
is then secured and killed. . . .
(b) The insatiable demands of the fur
trade form the second heavy drain on
our native animals. This trade should
'In the northern part of New South Wales the wom-
bat is now practically extinct. — Editor.
absorb only the natural increase, but
the machinery for control is lacking,
and the laws make very little differ-
ence in the number of skins taken and
exported.
(c) The opening up of the country
by settlement has had its effect on the
native game. The first stage, after
upsetting the balance of life, was an
enormous increase in the Marsupials,
but systematic killing and the advent
of the rabbit and the poison cart soon
stopped this.
(d) Under normal conditions there is
a very correct balance of life among the
wild animals. Occasionally, in the
absence of natural enemies, a species
will increase to such an extent as to
overtake the food supply; then in their
weakened condition, disease is apt to
break out in a virulent form and sweep
them off in thousands.
After citing several local instances of
the decimation of particular animals
through disease and after recapitulating
some of the statements previously
made, Mr. Le Souef suggests certain
remedies, including a zoological survey
and the restriction of exports to the
surplus or ordinary increase of each
species. Toward the end of his article
he states :
The asset of the fur trade has given
Australia millions sterling in the past
and will; if preserved, do so in the
future; but unless control is based on
accurate knowledge, it may be frit-
tered away. At present it is nobody's
business to ascertain what species
of animals' skins are leaving the
country, but if a small export tax were
imposed, they would have to be
examined. The funds so collected
could reasonably be used to preserve
the asset.
The Great Barrier Reef of Australia
By CHARLES HEDLEY
Principal Keeper of Collections, the Australian Museum, Sydney
IT is only in the warm seas that corals
grow, and the warmer the water,
the more luxmiant is the bank, or
technically reef, which they build.
Thus, as we sail southward in the
Atlantic and pass the Bermudas and
Bahamas, first one kind of coral and
then another appears, till in the West
Indies the coral becomes rich enough to
display its architecture of reefs, atolls,
and lagoons. But even in the West
Indies the coral does not attain per-
fection. During the warmer phases of
the Tertiary, there were many genera
and species of coral in the Caribbean
Sea which now have become extinct in
those waters. For the most part these
extinct forms are, however, still repre-
sented in the Pacific, so that to find the
full development of coral growth we
must leave the Atlantic and traverse
the other great ocean. As one travels
west, the variety of coral becomes
greater, till a maximum is reached in
the Philippine-Papuan-Solomon region.
The greatest single structure which the
coral has achieved, now or in the past,
is the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
This extends along the coast of Queens-
land for more than a thousand miles.
At the tropic of Capricorn, the southern
end of the Great Barrier fades gradu-
ally away, the species of coral becoming
fewer and the reefs smaller and more
widely separated as the colder water
represses their vigor and finally ex-
tinguishes them. In the north the
Great Barrier Reef terminates more
suddenly. From the high mountains
of New Guinea numerous large rivers
pour into Papua Gulf, and their muddy
waters extend far out to sea. After
cold, the greatest enemy of the coral is
mud. Thus, a mud line formed by the
Papuan rivers limits the coral islands
of the Great Barrier. The soft corals,
or Alcyonaria, can endure more mud
than the stony corals. The eastern
face of the Great Barrier is also sharply
defined. From the coast of Queens-
land a continental shelf, from twenty to
eighty miles in breadth, extends to the
edge of the coral sea or, more strictly
speaking, the Carpenter Deep, and
there plunges down steeply to the
abyss. Along the edge of this con-
tinental shelf is built the seaward wall
of the Great Barrier.
The Great Barrier does not, as its
name might suggest, hug the coast of
the mainland. It is roughly parallel to
the continent, but the space between
reef and main is as wide as that be-
tween England and France.
The outside edge of the Great Barrier
takes the form of narrow banks, each a
few miles long followed by a break or
channel of a mile or two, and con-
tinued in a general north-south direc-
tion by a chain of similar banks, most
of which are covered at high water.
Meeting this sunken obstacle, the
ocean swell from the Pacific leaps up in
a tremendous wave and falls with a
crash and a smother of foam upon the
reef. Passing in a vessel through one
of the breaks or passages, the traveler
receives an impression of an endless
ribbon of foam, arising from no appar-
ent cause and running across the ocean
from horizon to horizon.
Outside of these banks and passages
soundings fall away steeply to the
abyss. Few mountain ranges present a
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF OF AUSTRALIA
63
A channel between two islets hedged in by mangrove
wall so huge and steep. Probably a
high rampart of coral has here grown
up from a foundation of the slowly
sinking continental shelf. As yet next
to nothing is known of the thickness of
the coral at the margin of the Great
Barrier, but soundings indicate that it
is at least many hundreds of feet deep.
The channels through which ships
may traverse the Barrier Reef from the
Lagoon Channel to the open sea mark,
it is popularly supposed, the site of old
river beds. A brief examination of
these channels will dispel this theory.
Doubtless the Australian continent
once extended seaward to the present
margin of the Barrier and, if so, the
lost fringe probably carried a normal
proportion of river channels. But the
remodeling of the coast has completely
obliterated these rivers; the present
passages through the reef are merely a
continuation of the lagoon floor that
has not been built over. Soundings do
not carry any trench across the reef,
and the existing rivers have no relation
to the passages through the reef.
Between the outer Barrier and the
mainland lies the Lagoon Channel re-
ferred to above; this is the narrow
waterway used by the coastwise ship-
ping. Tropical Queensland rises from
the sea in steep forest-clad hills. The
heavy rainfall of the latitude is shed by
numerous streams. Their muddy water
is injurious to the coral polyps and so a
zone along the land is maintained com-
paratively free of coral, to the comfort
of the sailor. Between the mud zone
and the outer Barrier is an area of clear
water of from twenty to fifty fathoms
deep, overgrown by a most intricate
maze of coral patches, various in size,
shape, and spacing. The term Great
Barrier is apt to be misunderstood,
suggesting, as it does, a compact con-
tinuous structure running without
interruption like the Great Wall of
China. The reef, or as one writer
would call it, the reeferies, is reallj'
64
NATURAL HISTORY
composed, as was indicated above, of
an infinite number of separate banks
and shoals of coral.
Some of these have an interesting
bearing on the theory of atoll structure.
No marvel reported by early explorers
fascinated the northerners in the home-
land as did the tale of the atoll. Pic-
ture a hollow island, a lake surrounded
with a coral ring, on which grows a
forest of pahns, — "a garland thrown
upon the waters," as Dana prettily
expressed it. The origin of the atoll
was a prize puzzle for scientists.
Darwin wrote one of his first books
about it, and dreamed of a volcanic
peak sinking under the sea, while a
crown of coral grew upwards till only
the coral tombstone was left to show
where the drowned peak lay. Sir John
Murray assumed that originally there
was an island of solid coral, the center
of which had been hollowed out by the
solvent action of water upon lime.
Darwin failed, however, to consider
that atolls are confined not only to
warm seas but to the narrower regions
of invariable winds, and to explain why
the windward side is normally better
developed than the leeward. Murray
failed to notice that a solvent which
would remove the center of the island
would also remove the margin and
would even prevent its formation in
the first instance.
The inner Barrier displays a long
series of miniature atolls in various
stages of growth. These models show
the course of construction. First a
point in the reef grows upward till it
breaks the surface of the water, then
the waves pack round it a mass of
drift stones and sand, and the islet so
formed assumes a crescent shape with
the back to windward and the horns to
leeward. The waves continue to
sweep along further drift matter and
the crescent thus grows first into a
horseshoe and ultimately into an oval,
thus enclosing a lagoon. If the process
of evolution is continued, the lagoon is
filled up and the atoll becomes a solid
cay. Finally, seeds drift ashore and a
forest clothes the new island.
These coral islands can be distin-
guished as far as the eye can see, be-
cause they are always low and flat. Far
away they seem like a black horizontal
line. Nearer, they appear like bushes
afloat on a raft.
All these great and complicated coral
structures are the work of small and
feeble animals. It is a popular mis-
take to assume that the reef is the
result of coordinated design by the
coral-builders much as a honeycomb
is the result of cooperative work by
bees. But coral polyps are mere ani-
mated lumps of jell}^ and deposit
coral as unconsciously as other animals
make bone. A branch of dry coral is
pitted all over with small cells; each
is the cast of the body of the polyp
which sat there when the coral was
alive. A skin went from polyp to
polyp so that though each individual
had a separate life, all were of one
flesh. The living polyp has a circle of
waving arms set round somewhat like
the petals of a flower, with a mouth in
the disk. As animalculse float past,
the polyp darts little poison javelins at
them. The paralyzed victim is then
seized by the petal arms, pushed to the
central mouth, and swallowed whole.
Only when the tide is very low are the
beds of living coral laid bare. Then a
wonderful spectacle is displayed, like a
garden in which the plants have been
turned to stone but where the soft
background of foliage is absent. Sea-
weeds are so small and scarce that in a
general view they are unseen. The
coral masses assume the aspect of
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF OF AUSTRALIA
65
gigantic mushrooms, of elegant vases,
of flowing draperies, of stalactites and
stalagmites, or of tufts of heather. A
general tone of brown and yellow is
brightened by a few vivid patches of
blue, orange, pink, or purple.
Among the coral is strewn an endless
variety of animal life, some forms being
quaintly shaped and richly colored.
Conspicuous for their great bulk are
the giant clams, two, or even three, feet
across. Gaping wide, these display a
myriad eyes like gold-green beads on
the brown velvet mantle. There are
stories of luckless divers drowned be-
cause a hand or a foot was caught in a
clam shell. Other smaller clams bur-
row deep into the stone, till only the
grinning "jaws" are seen.
Lying in shallow pools there are
black sea urchins with sharp poisonous
spines as long and slender as knitting
needles. There are starfish of many
forms, the commonest being a sky-blue
Linckia. Some have long snakelike
arms which writhe about and which at
a himian touch are broken and thrown
off till dismemberment is complete.
A great sea anemone, the size of a
dinner plate, shelters a small fish
which is a brilliant scarlet with a
vertical white stripe. Any ordinary
fish would be severely stung or even
killed by the sea anemone, but the
scarlet fish is immune and when danger
threatens, darts to the bosom of its
host and nestles with perfect safety in
the midst of poisonous tentacles.
Other anemones similarly shelter little
prawns.
In the shallow pools or buried in
the sand are many kinds of Holothuria,
locally called beche de mer. In shape
like a great sausage, in color black,
brown, or yellow, they extend a circle
of feelers and mop up sand and weed,
which is swallowed indiscriminately on
the chance that it may contain some
food. These animals are boiled, peeled,
dried, and exported in great quantities
to China, where a palatable soup is
made from them.
Such fields of coral as are described
above are seen only at low spring tides.
That part which is uncovered during
ordinary tides is not beautiful at all,
for it consists solely of piles of dead
In the upper picture is shown the clam, Tri-
dacna crocea, sunk its full depth in the coral.
The exposed mollusk appears in the lower
picture
HHHIiaiHHHHil
A much worn "nigger-head," or block tossed up by a hurricane
Beach of one of the Howick Islands; about 14° S. This is a characteristic scene on a
coral cay. In the background is a low forest of mangroves and other growth; in the foreground
is the coral-sand-rock, formed by solution and redeposition of lime under a cover of coral sand
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF OF AUSTRALIA
67
and broken coral and drifts of sand.
Here and there along the crest of the
reef are blocks of coral blackened and
weather-worn, ranging from the size of
a table to that of a cottage, that have
been torn from the living reef and flung
up by a hurricane. Locally these are
called ''nigger heads." Viewed from
a distance as one sails past a reef, they
stand out sharply against the sky,
A coral reef is not exclusively a mass
of coral. The coral may be regarded as
a framework in which are packed the
remains of all sorts of animals and
plants. Every storm tears off masses
of coral and grinds them to shingle and
sand. These are swept together and
transformed into beach rock by per-
colation, solution, and redeposition of
lime.
In contrast to the low coral islands
are the high islands which are stationed
between the reefs and the mainland like
sentinels along the coast. Sometimes
they stand alone but often they are
clustered in groups or extend along
avenues. Rarely does a voyager lose
sight of one before the next appears.
They represent the peaks of a drowned
coast range. In a late geologic period
the former coast was inundated by the
sea, and as the Barrier Reef commenced
to form, these peaks were isolated.
These high islands afford enchanting
scenery: they are often several miles
long and may rise to more than a
thousand feet; they are watered by
brooks and clad with dense forests of
palm and vine. Their bays and sandy
beaches are pleasure grounds beyond
compare.
The wide expanse of shallow, warm,
and sheltered water included within
the Barrier Reef and Torres Strait
offers a field for several tropical prod-
ucts. An important pearl fishery is
based on the giant pearl shell (Pinc-
tada 7naxima), which may reach a
diameter of a foot. Though numerous
and valuable pearls are obtained, the
industry's chief source of revenue is
the shell. This is exported in large
quantities and is manufactured into
knife handles and other articles of use
A beach with a Pandanus tree. — The hne
of surf in the distance marks the reef at the
edge of the lagoon
or ornament. The fishery is conducted
by a large fleet of luggers manned
chiefly by Japanese. The diver, fitted
with dress and diving helmet, descends
in several fathoms of water, and as air
is pumped down to him, he walks along
the bed of the sea and gathers the
pearl shells in a bag. Another in-
dustry is based on the Trochus sheU,
a large gastropod striped with white
and red, and nacreous within. This is
exported to Japan, and cut by machin-
ery into buttons.
lies Photo. Protected 3-8-03
WAIMANGU GEYSER
For thirt.v years this gej'ser, which opened on the eruption rift after the outburst of Tarawera
volcano in 1886, was the largest in the world. Its column of muddy water was thrown upward at
u-regular intervals to heights varying from 900 to 1500 feet. It ceased erupting after Frymg
Pan Flat blew up in 1917, and a pool of boihng water spread over the area formerly occupied by
the Flat. This pool is presumably a safety valve, preventing the eruption of the geyser
70
Rotorua and the Geyser Region of New Zealand
By EDMUND OTIS HOVEY
Curator of Geology and Invertebrate Palaeontology, American Museum
NEW ZEALAND is a land of
natural wonders. Crowded into
the 103,000 square miles of
area comprising the North and South
islands are many of the scenic marvels
of the world: volcanoes, active and
extinct, which are impressive because
of their great size or towering height;
one of the three famous geyser regions
of the earth; beautiful river gorges and
canons, their walls heavily forested to
their summits; an Alpine area that
rivals Switzerland with its lofty, snow-
clad peaks and its great glaciers; a lake
region that is surpassing in its loveli-
ness; a series of somber fjords that
rival those of Norway and Greenland
for depth, grandeur, and picturesque
scenery. And all this is set in a frame-
work of pastoral and agricultural
beauty that is entrancing to the eye of
the beholder in the vision it gives of
fertihty, prosperity, and peace.
A large part of the North Island is
volcanic in origin, numberless cones
and craters dotting the land, which is
composed of great sheets of lava, scoria),
pumice, and ash. The Auckland dis-
trict alone contains at least sixtj^-five
old vents, many of which still pre-
serve their craters intact, revealing
the origin of the mountains even to the
layman. The volcanic activity began
in Miocene time and is still manifest
in reduced form. Severe explosive
eruptions have taken place at Tarawera
in 1886 and at Ngauruhoe in 1907,
with a small outbreak at the latter
place in 1923, but no streams of lava
have issued from any of the New
Zealand volcanoes since the islands
have been known to white men or
within the traditionary periods of the
Maori, that is to say, for the past six
hundred years.
The great thermal district of the
Dominion lies almost in the center of
the North Island, extending in a zone
some twenty miles wide for 150 miles
northeastward from Mt. Ruapehu, a
dormant volcano more than 9000 feet
high, nearly to the seacoast at the Bay
of Plenty. White Island along the
same line in the bay is a volcano in the
solfataric stage. Much of the zone is
an elevated plateau lying from 1000 to
1500 feet above the sea, over which are
scattered thousands of steam vents,
thermal springs, geysers, and mud
springs, visible evidence of the close
proximity of the earth's internal heat.
Rotorua, a resort with a population of
about three thousand, is the center
from which tourists usually visit the
region or where they stay for longer or
shorter periods to take the numerous
hot mineral baths and to drink the
medicinal waters. The village lies
upon the borders of one of New
Zealand's most beautiful lakes, from
which it derives its name, and is close
to the old Maori settlement of Wha-
karewarewa, more commonly known to
the EngHsh residents of Rotorua as
Whaka. The Maori, a people of Poly-
nesian origin, have occupied this region
for generations, covering a period the
beginning of which long antedates the
advent of the white man, and have
utilized the springs for bathing and the
steam vents for cooking their food as
well as for warmth in winter.
Ohinemutu, also on the lake and
immediately west of the village of
Photograph by E. O. Hovey
The Maori Church of England edifice at Ohinemutu, with the parish houses adjoining. —
The boiling spring that steams in front of the church had not made its appearance when the
site for the church was chosen; it is indicative of the unstable conditions in the geyser region
^
lmm*»mM6A
Photograph by E. O. Hovey
A Maori whare, or community dwelling, built in the old style, but of materials procured
from the white man. Native carvings adorn the front, the posts, and the rafters
72
ROTORUA AND THE GEYSER REGION OF NEW ZEALAND 73
Rotorua, is the original Maori settle-
ment of the region. It is built on land
which abounds in hot springs, new ones
breaking out from time to time to
offset old ones that have ceased their
activity. A native mission church was
built on a point jutting out into the
lake, and later a strong boiling spring
burst into life in the road in front of the
building, obscuring the view with a
steam column that seems incongruous
in such a setting.
Lake Rotorua lies 915 feet above sea
level and though it is one of the larger
lakes of the Dominion, it is also one of
the shallowest, being but 84 feet deep.
Low environing mountains give a
lovely setting to the lake and nearly in
its center rises the sacred island of
Mokoia. On Mokoia were celebrated
the great ceremonies of the Arawa tribe
of the Maori; there, too, was situated
a stronghold often besieged in the
frequent tribal wars, and it was the
scene of many a cannibal feast. A
pleasing legend attaching to the island
is that it was the place to which the
Maori princess Hinemoa swam from
the mainland when her parents refused
their sanction to her union with her
royal suitor Tutanekai. Exhausted by
her long swim, she sought recuperation
in a hot pool on the island and there
was discovered by a slave of her lover,
who summoned him to the rescue.
Marriage soon followed and many of
the inhabitants of Ohinemutu claim
to be the descendants of the happy
couple. Visitors are now taken to the
famous bath on their tour of the lake.
One rainy afternoon we strayed over
to Whakarewarewa, and crossing a
primitive wooden bridge, found our-
selves in the midst of a native reserva-
tion, one and one-half miles from town.
It was as if we were in another world.
We were immediately approached by a
Maori woman, who collected a shilling
from each of us as an entrance fee to the
Maori village which lies below the
geyser region. The houses in this
settlement are not at all native in
construction, being built in rough
fashion from sawn boards obtained
from the white man. Here, however,
the Maori live in somewhat their
primitive manner and carry on carving
in wood and stone and weaving in
grass and fiber.
Soon there came up to us Georgina,
a handsome middle-aged Maori woman
with iron-gray hair, the tattooed lips
and chin of a married woman, and a
pleasantly modulated voice denoting
refinement. Georgina is one of the
official guides to the geyser region,
which is a government reservation, and
she has many Maori legends and myths
to relate. She showed us the green-
stone tiki, or family talisman, which
she wore suspended from a cord about
her neck. The tiki is greatly prized
and the longer it has been in the
family, the more highly is it valued;
but the Maori is canny and will part
with his tiki for a sufficient considera-
tion. Georgina offered us hers for
thirty shillings.
We were shown the village bathtubs
— the hot pools — where native boys
and girls love to dive for coppers and
sixpenny bits thrown into the steaming
water. All the Maori love bathing.
An innocent-looking pool with conical
walls and waters of clear aquamarine
hue was pointed out to us as the place
where Georgina's uncle had met a
tragic end. Returning to the village
late one night, he had stumbled into
the spring, which lay along the path-
waj^ to his house, and had been cooked
to death before help could reach him.
Since the occurrence of the accident
an iron railing has been built around
Photograph by E. 0. Hovey
General view of a portion of the composite sinter mound and terraces built up by the
geysers at Whakarewarewa, near Rotorua
Photograph by E. O. Hovey
The vent of the great Wairoa Geyser, which at intervals of about twenty-four "hours
spurts up a column of boiling water to a height of 80 or 90 feet
74
Photograph by E. O. Hovey fl
The cone of the Prince of Wales Geyser at Whakarewarewa, with a cauldron'of violentlyj
boiling water below it
Photograph by E. O. Hovey
The Devil's Cauldron, a strongly active "paint pot" about 20 feet in diameter. — The
paint pots, of which there are many at Whakarewarewa, are pools of ebullient mud, formed by
decomposition of the rocks through fumarole action. They are well named, for the mud
ranges from pure white, through various shades of red and orange, to graj^ and black
75
!D
ROTORUA AND THE GEYSER REGION OF NEW ZEALAND 77
the spring, but it is in sad disrepair.
One must be careful as he walks about
among these springs and not wander
from the beaten paths. The necessity
for the exercise of such caution was
shockingly brought home to us a few
days later through the scalding to
death of a young woman visitor who
strayed from the recognized routes at
Tokaanu, on Lake Taupo, and broke
through the crust over a boiling spring.
Our guide indicated a little Catholic
chapel beneath which a steam vent
had opened after construction had
begun. Were the Maori builders
disturbed by this event? Not at all.
They merely fashioned an outlet for
the steam beside the chapel and went
on with their work.
The government reservation, or
park, lies in a shallow valley in the
midst of which the geysers have built
up a low mound of siliceous sinter a
few acres in area. There are many hot
springs here, some of which throw
boiling, or nearly boiling, water at
frequent intervals 10 to 20 feet into the
air. About once a day the great
Wairoa, or Pohutu, Geyser erupts to a
height of 80 or 90 feet, but occasionally
it remains quiet for weeks at a time.
Just below the throat of the Prince of
Wales Geyser lies a cauldron of
violently boiling water, which shows
well the strength of these springs and
gives some hint of the amount of hot
water issuing from the ground at Wha-
karewarewa and swelling the volume
of the stream which flows through the
native village and empties into Lake
Rotorua. It is now considered that
the water of these hot springs and
geysers is mainly ''juvenile" in origin:
that is, it was contained in the volcanic
rocks when they were in a molten
state and has been given off gradually
as the lavas have cooled. The water as
it issues from the ground is, further-
more, highly mineralized and forms
deposits not only of the familiar chal-
cedonic silica — siliceous sinter — which
comprises the principal portion of the
cones, mounds, and crusts, but also of
sulphur, iron oxides, alum, and other
minerals. The orifices whence steam
alone issues show an abundance of
crystals of sulphur in their walls.
The number of paint pots, or mud
volcanoes, in the region is large. A
paint pot is a place where but little
steam issues and only enough hot water
rises to saturate the ground thoroughly
and make a paste of the rock which
has been decomposed by the chemical
action of the hot water and steam
and reduced to an impalpable powder.
It is a phase of fumarole action.
The "paint" is pure white or gray, or
again, its color may be yellow, orange,
or red, due to the presence of small
amounts of iron oxide. Some of the
paint pots are pools of very liquid mud
through which occasionally rises a
bubble of steam breaking with a quiet
little puff at the surface of the pool,
as in gently boiling pea soup. In
other pots the mud is so thick and
viscous that the pathway, or conduit, of
the ascending steam is left open near
its top, the mud being thrown out of
the way in gobs or splotches, which fall
about the conduit and build up a more
or less unstable cone. Tikitere, twelve
miles northeast of Rotorua, is noted
for its craters of boiling mud, while at
Waiotapu, thirty miles to the south
of Rotorua, near the road to Wairakei
and Taupo is a large mud volcano
which has built up a cone about twenty
feet high with a crater in its top that is
sixteen or eighteen feet in diameter.
Perhaps the most interesting excur-
sion to be made from Rotorua is that
called the "round trip." It takes one
Photograph by E. 0. Hureij
THE CHAMPAGNE POOL
The constant stream of ascending bubbles that burst at the surface suggest the sparkUng
beverage after which this pool, one of the most interesting in the Geyser Valley of Wairakei, is
named. Although usually rising in orderly fashion, sometimes the bubbles ascend in such numbers
that their united force Ufts the surface water into an effervescing dome'one or two feet above the
general level of the pool
SO
;^'n
Photograph by F. G. Radcliffe
THE ORIFICE OF THE DRAGON'S MOUTH GEYSER AT WAIRAKEI
82
NATURAL HISTORY
over a route about forty miles long by
the Blue Lake of wonderful ultramarine
hue, the Green Lake, and a bit of
luxuriant "bush," or forest, to the site
of Te Wairoa, a Maori village, which
was overwhelmed by mud thrown out
during the eruption of the volcano
Tarawera on June 11, 1886. From Te
Wairoa one goes by motor launch across
Lake Tarawera, which lies at the west
foot of the great volcano of the same
name, and over a spur of the mountain
to Lake Rotomahana. Here a second
launch is boarded that cruises along
the shore where the Pink and White
Terraces, once the most famous sight
in all New Zealand, lie buried beneath
one hundred feet or more of ash thrown
out during the same great volcanic out-
burst, and past steaming cliffs, the
waters of which make a portion of the
lake too hot for bathing and are
responsible for the Maori name which
it bears, Rotomahana signifying ^'warm
lake." Leaving the lake, the trail
ascends the valley in which was the
Waimangu Geyser and halts at the
Accommodation House, four hundred
feet above the lake.
The view from this house, now in
ruins, is most interesting. We are
standing on the line of the rift which
opened in the volcano of Tarawera in
the eruption of 1886 and extended
southwestward through Lake Roto-
mahana and Waimangu Valley, out of
which were thrown vast quantities of
ash and lapilli, covering many square
miles of the surrounding country with a
thick mantle of debris. It is a scene of
. desolation, with here and there a patch
of green where nature or man has
made an effort at reforestation. The
hill slopes have been furrowed by the
new drainage, which has assumed a
dendritic pattern with main channels
and branching tributaries. Within a
half mile of our viewpoint lies Frying
Pan Flat, now a seething pool twenty-
five yards in width, where for years had
been an area of dry mud dotted over
with small orifices, which were the
outlets of hissing steam, giving the
whole the appearance of a frying pan
on a hot stove. On April 1, 1917, with
but little warning the Flat blew up,
covering the immediately adjacent
hills with mud and wrecking the
Accommodation House three hundred
feet above it. Its place was taken by
a deep pool of actively boiling water,
which seems to be the safety valve
preventing the eruption of the great
Waimangu Geyser. Very near the
Flat one sees the dead vent of Wai-
mangu. This geyser had opened on
the eruption nft after the outburst
of Tarawera and for thirty years was
the largest geyser in the world, at
irregular intervals throwing a broad
column of muddy water to heights
varying from 900 to 1500 feet. Its
last eruption took place in 1916, over-
whelming a guide and two visitors who
had ventured to the edge of the orifice
for the purpose of taking photographs.
Their bodies were found afterward in
the stream carrying the overflow from
the geyser itself and other hot springs.
Beyond the valley we see the lakes
Rotomahana and Tarawera with the
cone of Mt. Tarawera rising 2500 feet
above the lake and deeply cleft by the
eruption rift, which left six great
craters in the mountain alone.
An automobile ride of fifty miles
southward from Rotorua brings one to
Wairakei, a center of thermal activity
more interesting in some respects than
its better-known neighbor. The geyser
region is in a little valley a half-mile
from the hotel, and is traversed by a
small stream fed by hot water from boil-
ing springs in its banks. At least ten of
Photograph by E. 0. Hovey
THE CROW'S NEST GEYSER ON THE BANK OF THE WAIKATO RIVER,
FLOWING OUT OF LAKE TAUPO
Every four hours a fountain 80 feet high plays from a sihceous cone about 5 feet high and 10
feet in diameter
83
84
NATURAL HISTORY
these springs are true geysers, which
throw up fountains of water from 10 to
25 feet high at intervals which at the
different vents vary from five to twenty
minutes in duration. The Champagne
Pool is a spring about twenty feet in
diameter, where myriads of small
bubbles rise, usuall}^ in quiet fashion,
suggesting the sparkling beverage for
which the pool is named; but occa-
sionally they crowd together and raise
an effervescing dome of water one or
two feet above the general level.
The Prince of Wales Feathers is the
name given to a small vent at Wairakei
which well illustrates the principle upon
which all geysers work. Ordinarily the
balance of forces is such that the out-
flow of the spring is underneath the silica
cone, but when action is desued, the
guide puts a temporary dam into a little
stream which trickles down the bank
above the geyser, thus diverting an
excess of water into its throat. In
about twenty minutes the temperature
and pressure in the conduit have risen
and an eruption lasting for several
minutes is the result. Somewhat the
same principle animates the familiar
percolator coffee pot, and we thus have
an artificial geyser in action on the
breakfast table every morning.
Paint pots abound in the valley,
while in several places the overflow
from the hot siliceous springs has
produced beautiful terraces. The con-
tent of silica in solution in the water is
considerable and builds up fantastic
forms while constructing the cone
about the vent of a geyser. At the
Dragon's Mouth Geyser a toothhke
stalagmite of siliceous sinter projects
in weird fashion part way across the
mouth of the conduit, receiving con-
stant accretions through deposits from
the erupting water.
The banks of the stream flowing
through the valley are coated with
silica near the vents, and bits of wood
immersed therein are soon coated
with stone. The dead branches of
trees assembled around the orifice of
the Eagle's Nest Geyser have been
hardened with a deposit of the same
mineral. Petrifaction is going forward
before one's eyes.
One of the most peculiar sights at
Wairakei is the Blow Hole, two miles
from the hotel. Here, in the side of the
valley, there is an opening about one
foot in diameter from which live steam
issues with a noise like that made
by steam escaping from the safety
valve of a locomotive. The guide
states that the steam exerts a pres-
sure of eighty pounds to the square
inch. This may well be doubted, but it
is difficult to hold a bush in place in
front of the vent. The visit to the
locality is usually made at night and a
weird effect is produced by igniting a
kerosene-soaked cloth and allowing the
smoke, and finally the sparks, from
the burning mass to mingle with the
steam. Strange fire works, indeed!
A similar blow hole is in the northern
flank of the volcano Tongariro, forty
miles to the southwest.
It cannot be said that the geyser
region of New Zealand equals in at-
tractiveness that of the Yellowstone
Park. The lofty mountains which char-
acterize the American region are lack-
ing in New Zealand, and the geysers,
while more frequent in their activity,
are far less important in the volume of
water erupted and the heights to which it
is thrown. There are, however, more
paint pots in the Rotorua-Wairakei
district than in the Yellowstone. The
New Zealand region is well worth study
by geologists and a visit by tourists.
Photograph by C. G. Kaadt
The North pueblo of Taos, an ancient fortress of the Taos Indians
Some Plays and Dances of the Taos Indians
By FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY
THE famous pueblo of Taos, well
called the Queen of the Pueblos,
stands at the foot of noble peaks
in northern New Mexico. The pueblo
consists of two great clusters of ter-
raced houses with their associated
smaller buildings, one architectural
group lying a little way to the north,
the other somewhat to the south of the
Rio de Taos that flows between. With
the general form of the pueblo we were
familiar, as are most travelers who have
crossed New Mexico, but when we
first looked upon it, the height and
breadth of its many-storied piles —
historic precursors of our modern apart-
ments— filled us with astonishment.
Against the dark-brown background of
the adobe walls, which, like the neutral
monotints used for backgrounds in
halls of statuary and painting, gave
strong relief for statuesque figures and
living pictures, gorgeously blanketed
natives in flaming scarlet or vivid blue
were climbing the ladders from story to
story or walking about on the house-
tops in all the splendor of their old-
time costumes. What color! What a
setting! We seemed to be looking at a
scene on the stage, representing the
days before the intrusion of the white
man.
The first glimpse was enough to
arouse the keenest enthusiasm but our
interest was further fired by an artist,
one of the pioneers of the well-known
colony that has established itself in
the neighboring hamlet of Taos. He
told us of some of the plays and dances
he had witnessed. On going over to
the pueblo one day, he happened on one
of the comedies. A large group of men
stood on the housetop. Climbing the
ladders to join them, he saw that they
were looking eagerly toward the moun-
tains where a band of Taos Indians
85
86
NATURAL HISTORY
dressed like Pawnees could be seen
scouting along from rock to rock.
They came on until they reached the
pueblo, when they proceeded to climb
up the walls. The men on the .roof
went forward to greet them and shake
hands with them, but the "Pawnees,"
l'lH,h,,ii;ii,l, hi, A. E. Weller
Taos men in native costume. — Eagle Star,
wearing the bone breastplate, is straightening
an arrow
as if suspecting treachery, came up
timidly, some shrinking back as they
shook hands, others standing, sullenly
refusing to shake hands, while still
others remained on guard with arrows in
bows ready to shoot. When all of the
visiting band had reached the house-
top, one of the Taos headmen stepped
out and announced in a loud voice
that the Pawnees had come and that
they had brought with them goods
taken from palefaces — meaning soldiers
and those traveling in the overland
wagon trains — which goods they would
now trade for bread. At this the
visitors brought out a supply of trin-
kets which they had collected and the
Pueblo women came up with great
baskets loaded with bread, which
they had been busy baking for days in
preparation for this comedy.
We were fortunate enough to witness
the symbolic sunset dance, called by
the Indians the Foot-racing Dance, as
it is preliminary to the religious relay
race of San Geronimo's Day. When we
reached the plaza, the afternoon light
was already on the north pueblo warm-
ing its brown walls and lighting up a
doorway in which was seated a young
Indian girl in a soft, dull-blue dress,
a picture for a painter. When we
looked over to the south pueblo, on the
very topmost roof there stood two
splendid figures, a girl in flaming red
and a man in vivid green. The Indians
below were busy finishing their tasks,
and while we were watching them, our
attention was arrested by the loud
heraldic voice of a tall stately man who
walked back and forth on the top of the
south, pueblo admonishing the people
in their own tongue to leave their
work and prepare for the vesper service
which was to precede the dance. Rais-
ing our field glasses we saw the red
paint on his face and the red stripe
down his toga-like blanket, and caught
the glint of the large silver earrings
which showed him to be a member of
the Big-earring Clan. As the herald
strode back and forth on the house-
top like a Tribune addressing the peo-
ple, the young girl in red leaned on a
brown chimney top, making a splendid
lay figure. Soon after this summons
from the south pueblo, the lieutenant-
governor, a dignified figure in a dark
purple blanket, crossed the square.
Reaching the north pueblo he mounted
the ladders to the housetop and in his
SOME PLAYS AND DANCES OF THE TAOS INDIANS
87
turn called the people to vespers as'
the other herald had done.
But the priest who was to officiate
had not yet arrived; accordingly,
utilizing the interval, two young
Indians jumped on their horses and
sped away on some belated errand; a
woman with a baby on her back hur-
ried across the square; and an Indian
whom we had seen previously on his
threshing floor passed on his way to
the underground kiva to finish dressing
for the dance, his face being already
decorated with red paint and his
hair arranged artistically, one slender
braid hanging down the middle of his
forehead. Small groups of mounted
ranchmen gathered near the mission,
wagons of sightseers came slowly drift-
ing in, and the mission bells began to
ring at intervals.
Finally the priest arrived, the bells
rang more clamorously, and an old
Indian took his stand by the mission
door beating on a buffalo-skin drum.
The courtyard filled with a motley
assembly of Indians, Mexicans, and
white men, prominent among whom
stood the tall war chief and the gov-
ernor in all the dignity of their rich
ceremonial robes.
As we entered the dusky interior of
the mission, a glow of candlelight in
front of the chancel revealed figures
of the devout kneeling upon the floor
while vespers were being chanted by the
choir. When we became accustomed
to the dim light, we could see that the
choir standing inside the chancel in-
cluded several Indians whose blankets
contrasted strangely with the white
vestments worn by the priest and his
assistants, while white men in citizens'
clothes and the statue of the Virgin
added to the picture. During the
service a simple-minded man who
wandered in beating a drum was quietly
led out by dignified Indian officials,
and when an old blind man tried to
grope his way out, a young Indian
came quickly forward and took him
gently by the hand, guiding him
through the doorway.
At the close of the vesper service
came the short but beautiful, symboHc
Foot-racing Dance, the relay race of
the following day being the last of a
series of foot races which are explained
as "a, sacrifice to our father the Sun,
to help him on his long run, so that he
will give us light forever." Two bands
of dancers in ceremonial regalia came
up from the kivas that are at the north-
east end of their respective pueblos and
formed in solid rank, each band at the
foot of its own wall, presenting splen-
did masses of color striped by figures in
red, white, and yellow, and topped by
branches of yellow and green aspens
which had that day been brought from
high up on the mountain-sides. These
branches, we were told, were used by
each of the rival sides to signify that
their respective representatives in the
ceremonial relay race of the following
day would sweep their way to victory.
" Ha-yah '-ha-y ah '-ha-y ah '-ha-y ah V '
the two bands broke out in high shrill
chorus, advancing in converging lines
with branches waving and drums beat-
ing till they met in the courtyard of
the mission, when nothing could be
seen above the white walls but the
bright swaying aspens.
In coming out of the mission the
dancers formed in one compact band
of two facing rows, those from the
north pueblo on one side, those from
the south on the other. Then began
the dance, which was merely a slow
progression of the whole color mass by
short sidewise steps, the movement
accompanied by a strange but truly
musical Indian chant. From the front
n^
92
NATURAL HISTORY
of the north pueblo the cokimn moved
slowly across the square to the front of
the south pueblo. We watched the
beautiful spectacle with intense enjoy-
ment, marvehng at the rare aesthetic
sense of a people who could originate
and find satisfaction in a ceremony of
such pure artistic and religious quahty.
Another phase of the imaginative
endowment of the Taos Indians was
illustrated the day after the relay race
by a play of humorous character given
by the Chifonetti, or Delight Makers.
In preparation, a forty-foot pole had
been brought from the mountains and
set up in the plaza between the two
pueblos, and at our arrival a pictur-
esque group of blanketed figures in
orange, red, and green, stood at the
foot of the pole looking up at an Indian
in a red shirt, who was seated on a
crossbar near the top arranging the
prizes for which the Chifonetti were to
climb the pole — a string of watermelons,
a great bag of bread with a long red
streamer dangling from it, and the
whole carcass of a sheep in its wool.
The Chifonetti, with bodies and
limbs fantastically banded with black
F)ivtijgr(ii)h hi/ Bert G. Phillips
Chifonetti shooting straw arrows at a man
climbing the pole
K-Trt'^tA
Climbing the pole to obtain the prizes at
the top. Drawn from a photograph
and white, their faces, with their noses
as centers, blackened in radiating lines
or concentric circles, and their ears
decorated with bristling bunches of
corn husk, made a bizarre group. At
first they went" about playing pranks on
the people, their fun being taken in
great good part by all except one old
woman, accidentally hit by a flying
apple, who scolded them roundly,
much to the amusement of the crowd.
When tired of making sport of the
onlookers, one of the Delight Makers
SOME PLAYS AND DANCES OF THE TAOS INDIANS
93
walked up under the pole on which the
sheep was hanging and made sheep
tracks with his fingers in the dust.
Then the acting began. Another of
the band strolled by, and, discovering
sheep tracks, began trailing the ani-
mal eagerly, looking everywhere until,
glancing up, the dangling sheep caught
his eye. Then with tiny straw bows
and arrows the actors began shooting
at the sheep with great glee and horse-
play. Afterwards, they went through a
long performance pretending to climb
the pole. When the first man slipped
down, they put earth on the shaft,
and when he had climbed part way up,
the others dropped on all fours, acting
the part of furious bulls, pawing, throw-
ing up the earth, and bellowing to
discourage the climber's descent. After
this they went for a short ladder and
one of the group, climbing it, raised his
hands in mock dramatic manner
toward the sheep and melons beyond
his reach. All sorts of clownish play
and a j-unning fire of jokes followed, but
finally a long ladder was brought and
when a chain of men had reached the
upper rungs of this and then mounted
on each other's shoulders, the top man
climbed a few feet and successfully
reached the crossbars.
The Pueblo dances, in distinction
from the comedies, are, like the Foot-
racing Dance, mainly of a serious
character, — really not dances at all biit,
as Bandelier explains, religious cere-
monials, with incantation and invoca-
tion, the least detail of which has
symbolic significance. Even the Buffalo
and Deer dances, which were described
to us by the artist who witnessed the
Pawnee comedy, while having the
same dramatic quality as the comedies,
were religious ceremonies, performed
"as a sacrifice to the game gods."
They served for incantation to help
in the hunt, the buffalo song before
the hunt being sung "to gentle the
herd." This was peculiarly impor-
tant at Taos, which was one of the
pueblos whose warriors for many long
generations hunted buffalo on the
plains east of the Rocky Mountains.
Gray Buffalo, a former war chief,
whom we saw, was one of the last of
these. Another of the old hunters of
whom we were told had kept a valu-
a;ble and much-sought buffalo robe to
be buried in, stoutly refusing all offers
for it. Finally, like a patriarch he was
carried to his grave wrapped in the
great robe, a relic of his own prowess, a
relic of the hardy race which he had
known and which was gone. In the
Buffalo Dance the young men act out
what the old men have recounted to
them regarding the habits of the
animals. The actors, representing a
buffalo herd, at one point stop short,
swaying their heads from side to side
to simulate the grazing of the herd,
accompanying the motion with a low
munching sound like the cutting of
grass with the teeth. After this the big
drums beat loudly for the stampeding
of the herd.
The Deer Dance, full of charming
mythological suggestion, is considered
one of the most beautiful of the many
Taos dances. The first scene opens
with the camp fire of a party of Indian
hunters. Then comes the procession
of the deer, impersonated by Indians
wearing antlers, followed by Indian
children dressed in skins of rabbits,
foxes, coyotes, wild cats, and owls.
Flanking the procession are figures in
buffalo skins, representing the spirits
that guard the deer herd, to outwit
which the hunters carry charms that
render them invisible. In the play,
when the unsuspecting deer, supposed
to be dancing in the woods, are dis-
GRAY BUFFALO
This strong-faced old hunter, with abalone shell earrings, when asked how
many buffaloes he had killed, said that he had lost count
94
SOME PLAYS AND DANCES OF THE TAOS INDIANS
95
covered by the hunters, the guardian
spirits try to stampede the herd, and
as the animals run, they endeavor to
keep between the pursued and their
pursuers. Unable to secure a deer, a
hunter will run in and snatch a rabbit
or coyote, but when he puts it behind
his back, the watchful spirit sneaks up
and snatches it away.
The necessarily seasonal character of
the most important of the Pueblo
dances, which has been lightly put aside
in the suggestion that the dances be
relegated to the winter months, has been
carefully explained to me by one of the
Taos Indians. As he shows, the specific
dates were originally fixed by the
Spanish priests who came with the
explorers and, finding the Indians with
only ''their own Indian religion,"
imparted the Catholic religion to
them. With shrewd psychology the old
priests told the Indians to celebrate
certain appointed saints' days with
dances or feasts, as for instance Santa
Cruz on the third of May, San Antonio
on the thirteenth of June, Santiago on
the twenty-fifth of July, Santa Anna
on the twenty-sixth of July, San
Geronimo on September thirtieth,
Christmas on the twenty-fifth of
December. While the Mexicans have
dropped most of their observances,
the Taos Indian says, "We are still
celebrating those saints' days."
But in accepting the white man's
dates for their dances, the Indians de-
cided to give those which, according to
their own religion, must come at ap-
proximately the same dates. As my
friend puts it, "When we were forced
to do this in those old days, the Indians
agreed to celebrate the summer saints'
days by dancing Corn Dance. They
had to dance Corn Dance anyway.
The Spaniards thought it was a dance
for pleasure in such hot days, but it is a
sacrifice that we do to the rain gods
or angels, so that we may get plenty
water and rain for our crops, not only
for this place but for all over the world
for the benefit of every living thing and
plants." (Here we see the broad out-
look and the generous spirit of the
Indians.)
Another important dance, given in
late August after the corn dances and
also concerned with the crops, is the
Blue Lake Dance, "to please the rain
gods that are in that big lake."
The Buffalo and Deer dances are
given respectively on Christmas and a
January saint's day, because before
there were restricting game laws, the
Indians, having the leisure, hunted in
winter. So important is the perform-
ance of these various religious dances
that, my friend says, "If the Indians of
this place, Taos, give up and break the
rules of their religion, according to their
traditions, they (especially the old
people) fear the end of the world will
soon come." And he concludes with
the touching appeal — "Now I hope you
will have a better idea about why the
Indians insist to dance those dances."
An eland cow grazing on a termite hill (white ants' nest J with three oxpeckers on its
back. Photograph taken near Donya Sabuk, Athi Plains, British East Africa. Courtesy of
Monsieur V. Forbin, Paris
The Eland and Its Bird Sentinel
By HERBERT LANG
Assistant Curator, African Mammals, American Museum
OF all the magnificent sights on
the East African plains, none
can rival in beauty the spectacle
of vast herds of game. Antelopes,
though less conspicuous individually
than giraffes, elephants, rhinoceroses,
and zebras, occur there in such numbers
and variety that they are among the
most impressive of the herds. No
other continent offers such suitable
conditions for their development. The
herds graze, browse, and move about
apparently in perfect indifference to
any possible danger, confident that the
scattered outposts of their number are
always on the alert to give the warning
signal.
In the accompanying photograph is
shown an eland cow that has straj^ed
away from the herd to graze upon the
more succulent grass growing upon a
termite hill. Engaged in feeding, she
96
cares little for sentry duty, apparently
conscious that no watchdog, however
keen, could render her better service
than the three tiny birds perched upon
her back. These oxpeckers (Buphagus
erythrorhynchus) , which in the picture
appear as dark specks, also accompany
other game and cattle. Feeding on
ticks, they clear their hosts of their
tiny tormentors, and also keep watch
with an unabated vigilance that can
seldom be foiled. Their sharp, shrill,
warning notes send the eland off at a
gallop, and your chances of coming
closer to your quarry are gone. Noth-
ing is gained if you try to follow, for
it is a well-known fact that even during
their undulating flight high in the air
these little sentinels still utter warn-
ings, thereby increasing the speed of
their proteges.
The elands are the largest of exist-
THE ELAND AND ITS BIRD SENTINEL
97
ing antelopes. The old, nearly hairless,
"blue" bulls, with the dewlap reaching
close to the ground, attain the size of
an ox; the brownish or rufous females,
with their lighter horns, are less heavily
built than the males and show the
lateral stripes more clearly.
The East African eland here pictured
is of the northern race, discovered in
1860 by Speke and Grant, who became
famous for clearing up the mystery
regarding the Victoria, Nyanza and
some of its affluents. Not until many
years later, in 1902, was this eland
named Taurotragus oryx patter sonianus
by Lydekker in honor of Colonel Pat-
terson, well-known for his fascinating
volume, The Man-Eaters of Tsavo.
This form ranges from Tanganyika
Territory northward through British
East Africa to about the Lorian Swamp
and Laikipia Plateau, and westward
all through Uganda and along the east
side of the Nile as far as Mongalla.
Eight races of eland are known, extend-
ing from South Africa to East Africa, as
stated, and westward to Senegambia.
Before the rinderpest swept these
regions in the nineties, herds of sev-
ei-al hundreds of the Patterson eland
were recorded on the plains and high
plateaus, where in diminished numbers
they still graze at an altitude of 8000
feet; but though greatly decimated
along their northern range, all reports
confirm the fact that in later years
they have again increased.
Although often common in dry dis-
tricts, the elands prefer the country of
luxuriant pasturage and on the plains
frequently mingle with other antelopes
and with zebras. Elands are heavy,
cumbersome-looking animals and are
not speedy in a long run. The surprise
is all the greater, therefore, to see them
leap one over another's back apparently
as playfully as gazelles. Such leaps are,
however, the result of excessive fright
due to their being suddenly startled
rather than a deliberate exhibition of
skill.
During the heat of the day these
antelopes frequently rest by lying
down in the shade or by standing among
the bushes. In regions where zebras
are abundant elands suffer little from
the depredations of lions, though in
certain high plateaus where game is
scarcer and where the elands come
regularly to the water, their ranks are
more frequently depleted.
Although elands are easily tamed,
the experiments of different govern-
ments have proved that domestication
is not practicable. When subjected to
confinement in the regions they in-
habit, they succumb to various diseases
much in the manner of corralled zebras.
In European zoological gardens, how-
ever, elands thrive and reproduce fairly
well, having either one or two young;
but they cannot be trained to render
any useful service, though mildness is
one of their chief characteristics.
The turret on the left, housing a colony of termites, was erected by the insects at a
distance of about two feet from the concrete foundation of a house. This turret reached
a height of S^ inches. The turret on the right shows that the termites do not exercise
very good engineering ability, for in this instance at least they failed to keep the center of
gravity over the base of the turret
Turret-building Termites
By R. W. DOANE
Associate Professor of Entomology, Leland Stanford Jr. University
IN April, 1919, 1113- attention was
called to some unusual turrets that
were being made bj^ termites in the
basement of a house in Palo Alto,
California. The first one of these was
found rising from a concrete wall that
surrounded the lower part of the base-
ment. It was nearh^ fifteen inches
high, the first three inches tying against
the beveled base of a concrete pillar,
iWith photog
the rest standing entirely free from the
pillar or any other support. Around
the base of this turret were other
smaller ones rising to a height of from
two to five inches.
Later additional groups of these
turrets were noticed in other parts of
the basement. In one of these groups
there were several turrets varying in
height from three or four inches to
raphs by the author
AN INSECT SKYSCRAPER
Termites, misleadingly known as white "ants," differ from the true ants m manj^
other respects besides color. Yet hke the ants they lead a communal existence, have
[different castes, and erect structures that may well excite admiration. The large
turret shown in the picture reached a height of nearly fifteen inches, the first three
inches lying against the [beveled base of a concrete pillar, but the terminal twelve
standing entirely free
100
NATURAL HISTORY
seventeen inches. These rose directly
from the ground about two feet away
from the concrete foundation of the
house.
All of the turrets were very brittle, a
slight touch being enough to send them
crumbling to the ground. In order that
they might be taken to the laboratory
for further study, some of them were
sprayed with very thin shellac. Only a
few could be saved even in this way,
however, as the light blast of air from
the atomizer that was used for spray-
ing caused most of them to topple over
and break into small fragments.
As soon as any part of a turret was
broken, a few termites would crawl out
and wander about until they could find
some crack or crevice in which to hide.
Nearly all of these turrets were popu-
lated by workers, soldiers, and winged
individuals.
Soon after the turrets referred to
were observed, some smaller ones were
discovered in a greenhouse. When
they were first seen, the owner of the
greenhouse thought that the children
had been driving sticks in one of the
walks between the benches. When he
attempted to pull up these ''sticks," he
was surprised to find them crumbling
to pieces and to see the white "ants"
crawling out. Some of these structures
were about three inches high. Most
of them consisted of a slender, up-
right shaft; others were broader and
branched like coral.
A little later three additional colonies
were found building low turrets from
one half to one inch high in cracks of
the sidewalk in the business district of
Palo Alto, where the streets have all
been paved for many years. These
turrets were destroyed every day by
people walking over them but they
would be rebuilt during the night.
Still another colony was located on
the University campus. These turrets
were in exposed places and were only
one or two inches high. The winged
termites were issuing from them.
The termites that built these turrets
belong to the species Reticulitermes
hesperiis.
A group of turrets found in a greenhouse
The Public Museum of Staten Island, though small in size, has a distinct sphere of use-
fulness because of its emphasis on things local. The basement and first story have been
built by contributions from 126 citizens of Staten Island; a second and third story are
planned but not yet erected
The Public Museum of Staten Island
A TREASURE HOUSE OF LOCAL NATURAL HISTORY, ART, AND
ANTIQUITIES
By CHARLES W. LENG
Director of the above-mentioned institution and Research Associate of Coleoptera, American Museum
THE Public Museum of Staten
Island, though the smallest of
Greater New York's museums,
has, viewed from one angle, a broader
scope than any of them, for it must
combine within itself interests as con-
trasted as natural history and art,
which in larger communities are repre-
sented by different institutions. How-
ever, a scheme apparently so embracing
is made feasible by the fact that the
chief concern is with things pertinent
to Staten Island. The arts, industrial
and fine, as practised on Staten Island;
natural history, botanical and zoologi-
cal, as exemplified on Staten Island;
the civic history and antiquities of
Staten Island, — these are the prime
objects of its collections, researches,
and publications. The progress of arts
and sciences elsewhere in the world is
the subject of many of its lectures and
102
NATURAL HISTORY
of occasional comparative exhibits,
but Staten Island is its basic endeavor.
Its library includes, in addition to
standard works for reference purposes,
a fine collection of books and pamphlets
on Staten Island history, genealogy,
and natural history. This policy was
of course, not reached completely when
the parent association started Novem-
tionary relics have aided the writing
of the history of the events of that war
in the vicinity of New York; the new
species of insects that have been
described from the collections of Staten
Island entomologists are too many to
recount; and Staten Island records of
occurrence for both plants and animals
are constantly being cited. Thus,
Photograph by William T. Davis
The natural history division of the Pubhc Museum of Staten Island, with the cases of
local minerals and birds, and the drawers containing insects, shells, and other material, is well
worth visiting
ber 12, 1881, but has been gradually
evolved and is now succinctly expressed
in the charter.
The intensive study of a limited area
produces results that interest many
others besides those living within such
an area. The discoveries of Indian
relics made by local students on Staten
Island have been quoted wherever the
subject has been treated, and the stone
head found in 1884 remains almost
unique; the discoveries about the old
British forts on Staten Island of revolu-
whether viewed from the practical
side, as interesting the people of Staten
Island, or from the scientific side, as
producing results of value, the policy of
restricting the scope of the Museum to
Staten Island, but covering that small
area in every phase, has proved wise
and a prime cause of the Museum's
prosperity.
While the pursuance of such a poUcy,
combined with the small amount of
space available, has necessitated at
times dechning objects, especialh^ large
THE PUBLIC MUSEUM OF ST A TEN ISLAND
103
ones, of value, it has also resulted in the
acquisition and preparation of some
exhibits of importance. Among such
are the types of fossil plants described
from the Cretaceous beds at Kreischer-
ville by Dr. Arthur Hollick, and the
great display of fossil amber from the
same locality. These have been visited
by geologists from many lands. The
herbarium contains many historic speci-
mens. Its foundation dates back to the
early collecting by Dr. N. L. Britton
when many species, since exterminated
by fire and vandalism, could still be
found. Of terrestrial orchids, for in-
stance, it contains twenty-three species,
though it would be hard to find more
than three today growing wild on
Staten Island. The same is true of the
beetle collection, made by Mr. Davis
and the writer, containing many
species caught forty years ago which
certainly could not be duplicated now.
The bird collection contains the pas-
senger pigeon and Carolina parrakeet
that once lived on Staten Island but
live there no more. The geological
collection contains a mastodon's tooth,
dredged from the Arthur Kill in the
days when the oyster industry was
thriving, and another found at the
bottom of a kettle hole in the Middle-
town forest when the locality in ques-
tion still deserved the name. These
and many other similai specimens give
the collection of the Staten Island
Museum an historical value that will
increase as time goes on. Its treasures
include no less than sixty maps of the
island beginning with 1610, one year
after its discovery by Hudson.
Among the recently arranged ex-
hibits that appear to be especially use-
ful to visitors is one comprising all the
common insects of Staten Island,
arranged to show their classification
(following that in Field Book of Insects
by Dr. Frank E. Lutz, of the American
Museum), their metamorphoses, their
nest structures, and the benefits which
insect friends confer and the injuries
which insect enemies inflict upon man-
kind. Although only about two hun-
dred specimens are used, they have
been selected with a view to presenting
the principal types in each order. As
far as possible comparatively large as
well as common forms have been
chosen for the purpose, so that the
visitor soon feeh at home and is led
from seeing insects he knows to an
appreciation of the relationship of
those less known to him, and from
that to a knowledge of the immature
stages and the work that insects do.
Other exhibits of even greater local
interest are three historical groups
modeled by Edward J. Burns while a
member of the museum staff, showing
respectively Indian Hfe on Staten
Island three hundred years ago, Indian
Wars, and the Billop House Conference.
The museum is a center of activity
for numerous local societies mth objects
akin to its own. Sections of fine arts,
history, engineering, and natural
science were early formed and are in-
timately connected with the museum.
Twenty-six art loan exhibits have been
held at the museum during the last
few years as a result of the labors of the
section of fine arts; and about five
thousand ecclesiastical records and
epitaphs have been copied and indexed
by the section of history.
The Staten Island Bird Club takes a
monthly nature hike for the purpose of
observing birds, plants, and insects;
the Horticultural Society is interested
in growing fine flowers. The Nature
Study Club — a collection of "tramps"
of all ages and both sexes — exists
happily, without by-laws or dues, for
the purpose of an informal interchange
104
NATURAL HISTORY
of information and enthusiasm over
the camp fire or in the museum, with or
without coffee, but preferabty with.
The Children's Museum League, in-
augurated by Miss Pollard, of the
museum staff, is composed of the
children who visit the museum. These
children choose their own officers and
speakers, and with little guidance from
adults, develop a love of nature and
the spirit of individual research. Em-
phasis should be given to the Women's
Auxiliary, an influential body which
has directed several important exhibits,
as well as superintending the work with
children in the museum and the schools.
The membership in the institute
supporting the museum and its
affiliated societies exceeds six hundred.
An additional four hundred individuals
are connected with organizations that,
while not affiliated, enjoy the mu-
seum's hospitality. A monthly Bulletin
is mailed to all members, notices aie
sent to schools, libraries, and other
special centers, and the local press of
Staten Island is kept supplied with
items regarding the museum's activities.
VVo\t\.U,\lNl^'\^OwOSS
This miniature group (actual size 3/2 ft. wide by 2 ft. high) was recently completed by
Mr. Edward J. Burns.
It represents the early morning of September 16, 1655, when the Dutch settlers on
Staten Island, about ninety in number, under the leadership of Capt. Adriaen Post, represen-
tative in the colony of Baron Hans van Capelie, were attacked by a large number of Indians.
The Indians had been angered by the shooting of a squaw for stealing peaches on Manhattan
Island; their assault upon the population of Manhattan had been repulsed on the preceding
day, but their attack on Staten Island was so successful that the local settlement was
destroyed, a few settlers being killed and about fifty taken prisoners.
The figures in the group are 6/2 inches tall, modeled of beeswax and colored with oil
paints; the tree trunks are modeled in plaster; the stockade is carved in wood; the cabin is
partly wood, partly plaster; the background represents an autumn sunrise over the forest,
studied from nature on early September mornings along the water front on Staten Island
where the settlement was located
"Birds of the New York Region"
A REVIEW OF MR. LUDLOW GRISCOM'S RECENTLY PUBLISHED HANDBOOK
By wither stone
Executive Curator, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
THERE has recently been pub-
lished, as one of the Handbook
Series of the American Mu-
seum of Natural History, an attrac-
tive little volume by Ludlow Griscom
on the Birds of the New York Region.
It is intended to take the place of Dr.
Frank M. Chapman's pamphlet of
similar title published seventeen years
ago as a guide to those studying the
wild birds of the metropolitan district.
In the nomenclature of ornithological
works this volume would, we suppose,
be classified as a "local list," but it
is far more than that, and differs in
many essential particulars from any
local list of our acquaintance. In these
very points of difference, moreover, it
accentuates the marked changes that
have taken place in methods of bird
study, changes which, while for many
years evident in practice, are only just
beginning to make themselves apparent
in local publications of this kind. So
admirably indeed does Mr. Griscom's
little book reflect the modern methods
that it stands as perhaps our best ex-
ponent of what we might term the
"new ornithology."
In the annotated list of the last
generation a general statement of the
character of the occurrence of each
species of bird in the district under
consideration, with dates and localities
of such specimens of the rarer species
as had been shot by the author or others,
seemed to suffice; and if descriptions
were deemed necessary, they were
drawn up from specimens and were
mainly of value in identifying other
specimens which might be collected.
In other words, the keynote to the
whole study was the collecting of
specimens.
All this has now changed. The ne-
cessity-^yes, in most cases even the
excuse, for collecting no longer exists
except in the case of ornithologists
working in our larger museums or
carrying on original research, and the
binocular field glass has taken the
place of the gun. We do not mean to
intimate that Mr. Griscom is one of
those who would not under any cir-
cumstances kill a bird, but he realizes
that for the great majority of our local
bird students collecting is unnecessary.
His aim has been to render their work
without a gun as free from errors as it is
possible to make it, but he believes in
collecting specimens when a critical
scientific question can be settled in no
other way. As a Kentucky moun-
taineer friend of the writer once said
to him in another connection, "This is
a perfectly law-abiding country; no
man is ever killed here unless he needs
killing." However, in spite of the
great army of bird students who are
studying the live birds, most of our
books still foUow the old model and
minutely describe museum specimens
instead of giving us the field marks by
which we may most easily recognize the
bird in life, and in breaking away from
this custom Mr. Griscom's book comes
nearer to what the field ornithologist
of today needs than anything we have
seen. For some years he has been
making a special study of field identifi-
cation, determining just what species
can be positively identified from the
105
106
NATURAL HISTORY
living wild bird, and what color mark-
ings or other characters in each species
are best suited to serve as identifica-
tion marks.
Such information is what the field-
glass ornithologist needs and what
ornithology needs in order to eliminate
errors in sight records, and it is upon
sight records that most of our studies
of migration, distribution, and similar
problems are going to be based. We
require a vast amount of data for this
work, far more than could ever be
secured by collecting specimens, but
the observer must be instructed how to
identify positively the live birds which
he sees. In this book on the birds of
the New York region Mr. Griscom has
embodied much of the results of his
studies along these lines, and the
volume becomes therefore of much
wider importance than its title would
indicate and should really be in the
hands of every serious field student of
our eastern avifauna.
Another important point in Mr.
Griscom's treatment of his subject is
that he carefully delimits the country
he covers, including only areas with
which he or his associates are reason-
ably familiar, and refrains from mak-
ing any "blanket" statements sup-
posed to cover a given circle of so
many miles radius, in portions of
which perhaps the details of bird life
are quite unknown to him. We find
therefore in his text (1) a general state-
ment of each bird's occurrence on Long
Island, which has long been a Mecca
for the ornithologists of New York,
with more exact data for Orient,
Mastic, and Long Beach, three sta-
tions where much intensive work has
been carried on; (2) statements cov-
ering the bird's occurrence in that
portion of New York in or just north
of the city proper, with detailed ac-
counts for Central Park and the Bronx,
favorite resorts of city bird students
unable to go farther afield; and (3)
a general statement for northern New
Jersey, with special details for Engie-
wood, the home of Doctor Chapman
and other active bird students. The
results of an intensive study of the
bird life of a limited field are always
more satisfactory than generalizations
covering a larger area, as all local
students will testify, since each locality
has its peculiarities, and when these
are known to the bird student, each
of his observations takes on an add-
ed value. Moreover, Mr. Griscom's
method indicates just which areas
about New York City are still in need
of intensive study — such as Orange,
Rockland, and Putnam counties. New
York State, and the most northern
portion of the New Jersey coast — all in-
cluded in Doctor Chapman's fifty-mile
limit. Doubtless Doctor Chapman's
general statements — all that it was
possible for him to make at the time
his list was published — cover the bird
life of these regions fairly well, but
now that the fact of their neglect is
forcibly brought out, intensive studies
wdll undoubtedly be made there and
the detailed results will be most inter-
esting when compared with those
given in the present work for the other
sections near by.
Considering the bird life of the entire
region covered by Mr. Griscom, many
persons will doubtless be surprised to
learn that no less than 377 species have
been recorded as occurring so near to
New York City, and that of these only
12 are rated as now extinct in this area
and 84 as casual or accidental. Cali-
fornia with her immense territory has
but 530 kinds of birds, of which 120 are
closely related geographic races and a
number of others are casual or acci-
"BIRDS OF THE NEW YORK REGION"
107
dental, so that our eastern avifauna is
not so poor after all.
Of several of the localities where in-
tensive study has been carried on, we
find that Orient is credited with 283
species, Mastic with 227, and Long-
Beach with 239, Central Park 186,
Bronx 227, and Englewood 232, while
on a single day no less than 66 species
were seen in the "Ramble" in Central
Park. The summary further shows
that, of the entire list, there are 37
resident species, 89 summer residents,
6 summer visitants, 30 regular winter
visitants, 20 irregular winter visitants,
78 regular transients, 21 irregular
transients, 18 casuals, and 66 acciden-
tals, together with the 12 now extinct
near New York.
Let us now take up the author's
account of one of the familiar species
to ascertain just what information the
student may obtain from the work.
The white-throated sparrow, for ex-
ample, is not dismissed with the state-
ment that it is an "abundant transient
and less common or local winter resi-
dent." On the contrary, we find that:
"It arrives in the fall with the first
decided drop in temperature in Sep-
tember. By the middle of November
only the wintering flocks remain.
These break up about the middle of
March, and then it is often impossible
to find the species locally, until the
transients arrive from the South the
middle of April. The last individuals
retire northward with the height of the
migration in May." Besides this we
learn further that on Long Island it is
an "abundant transient, fairly com-
mon winter resident, particularly at the
western end; September 10 to May 30."
In the rest of the New York area it
winters "commonly near the coast,
rarely up the river to Ossining," while
in the New Jersey area it is an "abun-
dant transient throughout; common
winter resident near the coast and
along the southern boundary of ■ our
area, decreasing inland, and unrecorded
at this season in the extreme north
and northwest." There are also ex-
treme dates for all of the special locali-
ties previously mentioned. A more ex-
plicit account could hardly be desired !
The life zones and species character-
istic of each have been considered with
much care, the difficulty of delimiting
them in this region being fully dis-
cussed. This is due, of course, to the
fact that New York City lies just on the
border line between the Carolinian,
an austral or southern zone, which
follows up the coastal plain, and the
Alleghanian, a more northern zone.
The Canadian or Boreal element ap-
pears mainly on the higher mountains
of New Jersey and upon eastern Long
Island.
Most interesting to the amateur
bird student is the careful and detailed
account of the migrations and the
grouping of the species which migrate
together and form the so-called "bird
waves" of spring. Students in other
"regions" will eagerly compare these
lists and dates with their own.
The painstaking work which field
students of birds have been doing in
the New York region and which has
made possible the detailed statements
presented in this volume, is shown by
the fact that one of Mr. Griscom's
collaborators, Miss Anne A. Crolius,
visited Central Park in search of bird
records more than 250 times annually
from 1895 to 1915. The sifting out and
summarizing of the vast amount of
data that the author has collected
have been an enormous job, of which
the consideration of the pubHshed
records has constituted no small part.
To decide which sight records to accept
108
NATURAL HISTORY
and which to reject is a difficult and
thankless task. We can usually detect
the careless and unreliable observer,
but there are many well-meaning
students who, lacking the knowledge of
how best to recognize birds in the field,
make errors by trying to find characters
that are to be seen only when the bird
is in the hand . And , again , many of our
popular names prove to be sources of
error. Misled by the names, the be-
ginner tries to separate the yellow-
billed and black-billed cuckoos by the
color of the bill, whereas it is the tail
that furnishes the best distinguishing
character; or, to take another case,
many an adult male white-throated
sparrow, differing so much from the
more somber-colored female and
young male, is recorded as a white-
crowned sparrow, for has he not a
splendid white stripe down his crown?
Doubtless just such cases as these im-
pressed Mr. Griscom with the import-
ance of setting forth the real field char-
acters of each species as an aid to field
students of the future and to eliminate
errors in the constantly increasing
mass of sight records being published.
The sad side of Mr. Griscom's
account of the bird life of the vicinity
of New York is his reference to the
changing conditions inevitable in the
vicinity of a great city. The Florida
gallinule, coot, and pied-billed grebe,
we are told, are disappearing or have
disappeared as breeding birds because
the marshes "are constantly being
drained or filled in to 'improve' the
neighborhood by providing another
slum district on the outskirts of the
metropolis"; while "Staten Island,
which fifteen years ago was chiefly
unspoiled country. . . is now almost
ruined for birds." " Over a sufficiently
long period," says our author, "the
survival of any species depends upon
its adaptability to a changing environ-
ment, but how acid the test which man
has furnished in the New World ! There
is no doubt that some [birds] could not
endure this test; they have utterly
disappeared from this region. Many
others are retreating as a great city
sends out ever-stretching tentacles into
the rural districts. No bird can live
on asphalt and concrete. But if city
blocks are contrasted with primeval
forest, most of this area may be re-
garded as a half-way compromise.
This compromise a great majority of
our birds have accepted."
"May the time never come," Mr.
Griscom concludes, "when I can hear
only the harsh chatter of the Star-
lings from my house in the suburbs.
May the time never come when I
stand some May morning on the beach
and miss the little Sandpipers trotting
innocently ahead of the tide, and gaze
out to sea over a birdless ocean."
An aroused public sentiment is
our greatest reliance in preventing the
annihilation of our wild bird life, while
the increase of bird students is the best
way to arouse sentiment, and Mr.
Griscom's volume, which will stimulate
and increase bird study in the New
York region, will aid not a little in
warding off that evil day against the
coming of which he cries out.
The volume is attractively gotten
up, well printed, and illustrated with
thirty bird portraits from photographs
from life by various contributors, half
a dozen colored plates selected from
the National Audubon Society Leaflets,
and a good map.
"In Brightest Africa"
A REVIEW OF CARL E. AKELEY'S NEW VOLUME ON WHAT HAS BEEN
MISNAMED THE DARK CONTINENT^
By HERBERT F. SCHWARZ
Editor of Natural History
A TRAVELER through a new
country sees in the landscape
the things that accord with his
tastes and training. An artist has an
eye for its pictorial beauty, its group-
ings of color, its strength or delicacy of
contour, its contrasts of light and
shadow under the ever-changing play
of the clouds. To the historian, on the
other hand, the same region is the scene
of great events of the past or the
present; the topographical features
stand out not for their beauty of form
but as points of vantage from which an
occupying force succeeded in turning
the fortunes of battle. To a geologist
the same stretch of territory is a
tablet on which has been inscribed the
story of the ages antedating the coming
of man.
So in journeying through Carl E.
Akeley's Brightest Africa different
points of significance will be seized
upon by different readers, for this
unusual volume is as many-sided in its
appeal as its author is versatile in his
attainments. The sportsman will read
it, feeling that it is a collection of
adventures such as few big-game hunt-
ers have been fortunate enough to live
through and relate, culminating in the
account of a bare-handed fight with a
leopard when with his right arm chewed
along practically its entire length, Mr.
Akeley still struggled on, the leopard
beneath him, his right hand in her
mouth, his left hand clutching her
throat, his knees on her lungs, his
'In Brightest Africa. By Carl E. Akeley. With
Doubleday, Page & Co.
elbows in her armpits spreading her
front legs apart so as to render futile her
frantic clawing. And with this incident
the reader who kindles to the narrative
of dangers heroically faced will couple
the dramatic account that Mr. Akeley
gives of the time when to escape being
gored by an infuriated elephant, he
swung himself between the animal's
tusks, only to be flung down to earth
as the elephant drove its tusks into the
ground in an attempt to crush him, an
attempt that failed providentially be-
cause these ivory weapons struck a
rock or other resistant object and thus
prevented the mighty head from mash-
ing the intended victim.
Perhaps the reader is an inventor or
one interested in invention. To him
the volume will present a different
angle of interest, for he will see in it
the record of a man who in the course of
opening up a new field of achievement
had to devise new tools, and who when
confronted with a mechanical diffi-
culty that threatened to arrest further
progress never failed to puzzle out the
means with which to overcome it. In
1909, Mr. Akeley endeavored to get
moving pictures of the Nandi spearing
lions. His results were unsatisfactory
because "to have even a fair chance of
following the action with a camera you
need one that you can aim up, down, or
in any direction with about the same
ease that you can point a pistol."
There being no such camera, Mr.
Akeley, relying — and not vainly — on
a Foreword by Henry Fairfield Osborn. Published by
109
no
NATURAL HISTORY
his supreme resourcefulness, proceeded
to construct one. In like manner years
previously he had invented the cement
gun to meet a special emergency, elabo-
rating it from a device he had used in
connection with the making of mani-
kins. In the course of the world war,
he was a specialist on mechanical de-
vices and optical equipment in the Di-
vision of Investigation, Research, and
Development of the Engineer Corps,
and among other achievements, devel-
oped a device for searchlight control.
Again, the volume may be viewed
not from the standpoint of the hunter,
nor as a record of invention, but as the
account of the birth of a new art, the
art of taxidermy. When Mr. Akeley
began his career in Ward's Natural
Science Establishment, taxidermy was
merely a trade and the taxidermist "a
man who took an animal's skin from
a hunter or collector and stuffed it or
upholstered it." It is thanks largely to
the tireless energy of Mr. Akeley, to his
unfaltering fidelity to an ideal, to his
practical sense and his artistic outlook
that the world owes the marvelous
transformation in the methods and
technique of mounting animals. To
any one who has stepped into Mr.
Akelej^'s studio, it must be obvious
that taxidermy to find its highest form
of expression requires the convergence
of a number of qualities and special
talents that only now and then are
summarized in a single individual, and
that of these artistic vision is not the
least important.
While Mr. Akeley has taken a lead-
ing part in creating the new art of taxi-
dermy, he has been a successful expo-
nent of an art that antedates Phidias.
His animal sculptures owe their appeal
not only to truth of conception and
beauty of form but to the fact that, as
he tells us, he decided never to make a
bronze unless he had a real story to
tell, and most of the dramatic stories
that he has carved in the plastic clay
are based on his personal experiences
in the wild.
That brings us to another phase of
interest which this volume presents,
the surprising richness of its informa-
tion regarding the great jungle beasts.
It is the record of one who has gone to
Africa with an alert eye and, more
important still, a mind that welcomes
the opportunity to study animals under
natural conditions. An ivory hunter,
he tells us somewhere, sees only the
tusks of an elephant; Mr. Akeley sees
his animals whole. The trunk of an
elephant, the front legs of a lion — how
easily they might be slurred over in a
general description by some one less
keenly sensitive to their marvelous
structure and their functions than is
Mr. Akeley! The natural impulse of
an animal to defend itself — how often
has it been libeled by writers whose
interest in the great beasts of the jungle
is merely as objects of the chase! Mr.
Akeley knows as few have known the
strength and fury of a wild animal's
charge, and yet from cover to cover
his book teems with evidences of an
understanding of, and interest in, the
animals among whom he has moved,
again and again hazarding his life to
obtain a fuller knowledge of them.
The question may be asked, has a
volume so many-sided as this is, unity
of appeal; is it not merely a series of
papers raked together and labeled with
a general title more or less pertinent?
To ask the question reveals an ignor-
ance of the goal of all of Mr. Akeley's
varied activities. Among the several
things he lists as prerequisites of a real
taxidermist he places first experience as
a field man, for a field man can, col-
lect his own specimens, take accurate
'7A^ brightest AFRICA''
111
measurements of them, and study the
animals in their own environment as a
prehminary to making natural groups.
That is why Mr. Akeley went to Africa ;
that is why the African chapters have a
close connection with the portions of
the book that are devoted to taxidermy.
In like manner animal sculpture is a
natural product of the field experiences
of one who in the coui'se of establishing
an art of taxidermy has found that the
modeling of animal forms is a pre-
requisite of the effective mounting of
skins. His inventions are essentially
devices which he needed for the success-
ful prosecution of his work or their
extension with modifications to meet
other emergencies as these arose.
At the close of his first chapter Mr.
Akeley says: "When I got back from
Africa in 1911 I was dreaming of a
great African Hall which would com-
bine all the advances that had been
made in taxidermy and the arts of
museum exhibition and at the same
time would make a permanent record
of the fast-disappearing wild life of
that most interesting animal kingdom,
Africa." One cannot help feeling that
the hope of realizing such a hall has
been the main incentive of Mr. Akeley's
later work, and it is fitting therefore
that the final chapter of the volume
should be on ''Roosevelt African Hall."
The work demanded for the reahzation
of this dream is on so vast a scale that
it will require the cooperation of many
hands, but the directing mind assures
absolute unity of plan. There will be
forty groups, dominated by the mag-
nificent elephant group that is at present
installed on the second floor of the
American Museum, and as part of the
architectural decoration of the hall
there will be twenty-four bas relief
panels in bronze, each six by eleven feet.
The association of Roosevelt's name
with this splendid memorial recalls the
fact that it was through Mr. Akeley's
glowing description of Africa that the
I^resident was influenced, upon com-
pleting his term of office, to go to that
continent in preference to any other.
"Sculptor and Biographer of the
vanishing wild life of Africa " is the way
Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn describes
Mr. Akeley in the eloquent foreword he
has written for the volume, and those
who turn the pages of In Brightest
Africa will find among the illustrations
(several of which are photographs of
Mr. Akeley's masterpieces) full justi-
fication for the former designation, and
in his text, so replete with admirable
records of animal life, indisputable
support for the latter.
NOTES
ASIA
Welcome by the Geological Society of
China. — During Prof. Henry Fairfield Os-
born's sojourn in Peking he was, with Mr.
Roy Chapman Andrews, a guest of honor at a
number of brilliant functions. On Septem-
ber 27 he addressed the Geological Society of
China on the topic "The Broader Aspects of
the Work of the Third Asiatic Expedition."
Chinese men of science as well as resident
European and American scholars, leaders in
different fields of intellectual endeavor,
attended the gathering in numbers and ex-
tended a warm welcome to him as he arose to
deliver his address at the conclusion of the
cordial words of introduction spoken bj' Dr.
V. K. Ting, the president of the society.
Professor Osborn expressed the deep indebted-
ness of himself and his colleagues of the Third
Asiatic Expedition, who were present at the
gathering, for the hospitahtj^ extended to
them by the Geological Survey and the
Geological Society of China, which, he said,
would be treasured in their memory as one of
the pleasantest experiences of their sojourn in
a land "where scholarship and learning have
always been held in high esteem." Turning
to the subject of his address, "The Broader
Aspects of the Work of the Third Asiatic
Expedition," he compared the survey made in
Mongolia by Mr. Andrews and his associates
wath that conducted by Hayden, the middle
of the last century, in the then virgin field of
our own West. The astounding results ob-
tained in Mongolia within a period of only a
few months as contrasted with the span of
years required by the Hayden survej' were
made possible bj' the effective modern means
of transportation at the command of the
expedition.
Mongoha, Professor Osborn pointed out,
has been a continent ever since Jurassic time,
and this stable condition was conducive to a
continuous development of life. Some of the
deposits containing fossils are, moreover, of
enormous thickness, others of surprising
extent, and these deposits have j-ielded types
of animals adapted to all varieties of environ-
ment that existed in the successive periods of
the sedimentation. During the second j'ear of
the expedition the sites located in the recon-
naissance of the first j'ear have been worked
systematically and with such a marvelous
abundance of vield that had Professor Osborn
been asked at the inception of the expedition
what he desired to secure in the way of collec-
tions, he would have deemed it "an act of
tyranny to request ^Nlr. Andrews to obtain
just what he has brought back." Professor
Osborn then spoke of the objectives still
ahead of the expedition and ventured the
opinion that if primates are found in any of
the deposits, they will prove to be of the higher
type. Another discovery that, it is hoped, the
expedition may be able to make is of the
assumed five-toed ancestors of the early
four-toed mammals. Professor Osborn closed
with a warm tribute to the character of the
men engaged in the expedition and to the
splendid generalship of ^Nlr. Andrews. The
latter succeeded him as speaker and was fol-
lowed in turn by Mr. Granger and Doctor
]Morris. Mr. Andrews in the course of his
remarks dealt with the problems of organiza-
tion, the equipment, and the field work of the
expedition, while ^Nlr. Granger and Doctor
Morris spoke respectiveh^ of the palse-
ontologieal and geological work undertaken
and the ob.servations made.
At a dinner held at the conclusion of the
day's proceedings Doctor Ting presided and
Mr. Andrews, Dr. W. H. Wong, director of
the Geological Survey of China, Prof. J. S.
Lee, of the Geological Institute of the Na-
tional Universitj", and Professor Osborn
dehvered addresses. In closing his remarks.
Doctor Ting announced that the Geological
Society of China had unanimouslj^ elected
Professor Osborn an honorary' member of
that body. He referred to Professor Osborn
as "the man most prominent in carrying on
the Huxleyan tradition."
Ax Estimate of the Moxgoliax Dis-
coveries.— Under date of December 3 Prof.
W. B. Scott of Princeton A^Tote Prof. Henry
Fairfield Osborn as follows:
I was dehghted to get your letter, posted at
Seattle, and congratulate you most heartily on
the magnificent success of your ^Mongolian
expeditions. To me one of the most gratifying
features of your results is the fact that they
all go to confirm the inferences which we
had made from .American data and do not
require us to tear down all the building which
we have been so laboriously erecting. The
discovery of Loxolophodon is precisely in line
with what one might expect, but the Paleocene,
which will surely come to light some day,
will be the key to the whole storv. The dino-
saur eggs are delightful, all the more so for not
being revolutionary. When Professor Pum-
NOTES
113
pelly (of whose recent death you have doubt-
less heard) was here a couple of years ago, I
inquired particularly whether in Central
Asia, or the Gobi Desert, he had ever dis-
covered any signs of fossil mammals or rep-
tiles, explaining that we had every reason to
believe that Central Asia would prove to be
the cradle of the higher mammalian groups.
He replied that he could give me no hopes of
such discoveries, as he had never seen a sign
of fossil bones in those regions. Isn't it
wonderful how blind eyes, not trained to see
particular things, can be toward these things?
His answer disappointed me very much, but,
as it turns out, quite unnecessarily.
The Faunthorpe-Vernay Indian Ex-
pedition OP 1923, which members of the
American Museum were privileged to view in
all its superb equipment through the motion
pictures that accompanied Colonel Faun-
thorpe's informing lecture, has interested the
press of both England and America for, in
addition to its importance as an expedition,
the fact that it should have been undertaken
by two English gentlemen at great personal
sacrifice of time and money so that an Ameri-
can institution might reap the benefit is an
example of international good will of which
both sides of the Atlantic rightly take
cognizance.
Mr. Vernay on his return from India was
interviewed both in England and America,
and interesting accounts based on his
spoken and his written word have appeared
in these countries. Among the more detailed
narratives was that which appeared over
his name in The Spur for November 15,
1923, accompanied by twelve illustrations.
In this article Mr. Vernay paid high tribute to
Colonel Faunthorpe as "probably the finest
shot in India at a running animal, and a most
able organizer," adding that "organization in
an expedition of this kind means half the
battle." So jealously are certain of the
animals in India guarded that a native who
kQls a rhino, for instance, is fined a thousand
rupees and for a second offence is put to death,
while permission to shoot an elephant is given
only in extraordinary circumstances. Yet,
thanks to the influence of the leaders of the
expedition, groups were obtained not only of
these animals but of a number of others.
Dramatic is the account which Mr. Vernay
gives of the hunt of the rhinoceros and of the
care which Colonel Faunthorpe and he took to
study its anatomy prior to entering the field,
so as to be assured of aiming the bullet at the
most vulnerable spot. Equally absorbing is
his narrative of elephant hunting, of ringing
the tiger, and of tracking the tsine. In read-
ing the article one cannot escape the feeling
that the Museum has been singularh^ fortunate
in enlisting the interest of two sportsmen who
proved themselves such splendid organizers,
such expert marksmen, and such devoted
workers in the field of science.
GEOLOGY
The Geological Survey of China. —
President Henry Fairfield Osborn of the
American Museum brought back from the
Far East not only the recent publications of
the Geological Society of China but also
those of the Geological Survey. In order to
avoid duplication of work and assure the
most useful cooperation between these
organizations and the American Museum's
Third Asiatic Expedition, Mr. Roy Chapman
Andrews acceded to the wishes of Director
V. K. Ting and Dr. J. G. Andersson of the
Survey to a regional division of the field of
research. Thus the Museum's expedition,
equipped with rapid motor transport, agreed
to work in the outlying areas which cannot be
readily reached by the Chinese Survey.
We note that the Survey and the Society
have not only accomplished much in recent
years but that they have outlined a very
extensive program. To Dr. H. C. T'an has
been confided the important task of the new
topographical survey of China. He has
mapped the entire province of Shantung and
most of that of Shansi, scale 1:100,000, and
is pursuing this work with vigor. Dr. V. K.
Ting has just returned from a study of
Yunnan, where he has made detailed cross
sections that throw much needed light upon
the structure of that most complex region.
Mr. George B. Barbour reports a study of the
intrusive of Tsinan Fu. This is a great mass
of dark-colored volcanic rock that has cut
through thick beds of limestone, and now lies
exposed by erosion north of the town of
Tsinan Fu in Shantung. The molten rock
and the volatile matters that rose from it have
attacked the limestone, changing it to a series
of rare and interesting minerals.
Of special importance is an analysis of
recent earthquake records in China by Dr.
W. H. Wong. He has plotted the centra and
isoseismic lines from all the data available.
It will interest readers of Natural History to
learn through his research that the terrible
Kansu earthquake of 1921, in which more than
100,000 lives were lost, was on a wholly differ-
114
NATURAL HISTORY
ent geologic structure from that which con-
ditioned the recent earthquake in Japan.
The Survey has also pubhshed papers by
Dr. J. G. Andersson, notably, "The Cave
Deposit at Sha Kuo T'un," "An Early
Chinese Culture," and "Essays on the Ceno-
zoic of Northern China." In the last paper
Doctor Andersson discusses eighteen fossil
eggs of the extinct ostrich, Struthiolilhus
chersonen&is. All of these eggs were found at
various locaUties in the loess of China. Find
No. 15 is in the American Museum. These
eggs are somewhat larger than those of
the living ostrich, Struthio camelus. Some
eggs have been found as broken shells in
association with the culture of early man,
others in pairs in a nest which the loess
covered up and preserved for thousands of
years. The conditions of entombment and
preservation of these remarkable bird eggs
are not unlike those of the much older dino-
saur eggs which the Third Asiatic Expedition
found in the desert plains of Mongoha and
brought back to the American Museum.
It has been arranged that Prof. A. W.
Grabau, who serves China in the joint capac-
ity of pateontologist to the Geological Survey
and professor of palseontology in the National
University' of Peking, will report upon the
invertebrate fossils, collected by the Mu-
sexun's expedition to Mongoha. In 1922 the
Survey pubhshed Professor Grabau's paper
on "The Sinian System," a review of the
second volume of the monumental work of
Ferdinand von Richthofen on the Geology of
China (Berlin, 1882), as well as "The Ordo-
vician Fossils from North China" and "The
Paleozoic Corals of China." At present
Professor Grabau is engaged upon a very
large work. The Palseogeography of Asia. In
his opinion the greatest discovery that the
Third Asiatic Expedition has made in Mon-
goha is that of the Permian geosynchne.
The directors of the Geological Survey of
China, Dr. V. K. Ting and Dr. W. H. Wong,
are to be congratulated on the splendid work
that they and their staff are accomplishing
for the Republic of China. — C. A. R.
OTHER MUSEUMS
Port Elizabeth Museum. — To Mr. F. W.
FitzSimor.s, director of the Port Elizabeth
Museum, South Africa, Natural History is
indebted for the two Notes printed below
recording recent pala^ontological discoveries
in Africa:
The mineralized skullcap and part of a jaw
that were discovered at Boskop in the Trans-
vaal some years ago and that are now in the
Port Ehzabeth Museum, baffle anthropolo-
gists because the find stands alone as a type,
no other ancient skulls being comparable
with it. I have now found two very impor-
tant links to support the theory that the
Boskop man typified the race which originally
inhabited South Africa, and made the
bouchers and other large, roughly chipped
stone implements scattered so profusely over
the country.
In digging out some rock shelters in the
cliffs at Zitzikama on the seacoast, I found
the remains of two men with palaeolithic
implements that had been buried with them.
These were fourteen feet below in the midden
of ash, sea shells, and remains with which the
rock shelter was filled from the floor to within
a few feet of the roof. From the area extend-
ing from the surface to a depth of about
twelve feet there were taken out large
numbers of skeletons of an altogether differ-
ent race, closely related to the Pygmy Bush-
men of the interior rock shelters. The two
skullcaps are those of men with exceptionally
big brains. The Boskop man possessed a
phenomenally large brain, and it is significant
to find two palaeolithic men, deep down in a
rock-shelter midden, with similarly large
skulls. It would seem that there was a very
early type of man with a brain as large and
even larger than that possessed by modern
men of genius. It is worthy of note, however,
that the bulk of brain in the skulls of these
ancient men was located at the base, back,
and sides, and that in modern men of excep-
tional mental attainments the brain is massed
in the forehead and temple regions.
In times far remote there roamed over the
karoo and high veld a buffalo that was of
enormous proportions compared with the
living species of today. Remains of this
animal were first discovered forty feet below
the surface on the banks of the Modder River
in the Orange Free State and were described
as Bubalus bainii by Prof. H. G. Seeley in the
Geological Magazine, New Series, Decade
III, Vol. VIII, page 199, 1891. The speci-
men in question is remarkable for the enor-
mous length of the horn cores, each of which
measures 5 feet. 2 inches in length. It is now
in the possession of the South African Mu-
seum. Another specimen has just come to
light. Mr. Herman Bekker discovered the
head of a huge animal and notified me of the
fact. Later he sent the remains to me, and
on examination they proved to be those of the
large buffalo. The skull is fragmentary, but
one horn core is sufficiently intact to make
possible a measurement of the length, which
is 5 feet, 3 inches. The forehead between the
horns is 8 inches. This means that, when
alive, the beast had a pair of horns 11 feet,
2 inches across from point to point. A buffalo
with such monstrous horns could not have
lived in forests or even in the bush-veld. It
must have been a dweller on the open plains
NOTES
115
of the Orange Free State at a time when that
country probably had a regular rainfall and
many flowing rivers.
THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE
"POLARIS" EXPEDITION
A recent press report to the effect that Mr.
J. W. C. Kruger, believed to be the last
survivor of the "Polaris'' expedition, has
died, justifies a few words of comment re-
garding one of the most remarkable feats of
adventure that the annals of exploration con-
tain. It was on June 29, 1871, that the
"Polaris," a screw propeller of only 387 tons,
left the Brooklyn Navy Yard, under com-
mand of Captain C. F. Hall, on the United
States North Pole Expedition. The premature
death of Captain Hall, who succumbed to a
mj^sterious illness shortly after the expedition
reached Thank God Harbor, Greenland, was
but the prelude of many misfortunes.
Of these the most spectacular had its in-
ception on the night of October 15, 1872, when
the "Polaris" ran into a storm and was sub-
jected to the deadly constriction of the in-
pressing ice. The boat seemed to be in im-
minent danger and ill-advisedly orders were
given to throw the provisions and other neces-
saries on the ice. A party under the direction
of Captain George E. Tyson descended to the
ice to place the salvaged articles at a safe
distance from the boat, which as it rose and
fell threatened to grind to pieces any luckless
object that came in contact with it. While
they were thus engaged, working amid the
darkness and the storm, scarcely able to
distinguish the things they were handling,
the ice on the starboard side gave way, re-
leasing the ship, which almost immediately
lost contact with the group that had dis-
embarked. Next day the "Polaris" was
glimpsed by the men on the ice floe but in-
stead of steering toward the desperate group,
unaware of their location, she disappeared
behind the land.
Now began one of the most remarkable of
voyages. Here was a party of nineteen,
including women and children, a party having
neither compass nor chart, with inadequate
food, semi-mutinous, adrift on a floating island
of ice on a journey that was to consume
months and cover 1500 miles. How these
people endured, without warmth, in snow
igloos they constructed, how they came to
look even upon the frozen raw entrails of a
seal as something desirable to still their
hunger, how their strength ebbed, and how
the taking of desperate chances was favored
by the more reckless members of the party —
all this is told in Captain Tyson's fascinating
volume. On April 30, after more than six
months of exposure, they were picked up by
the "Tigress" and subsequently the party
that had been left behind in the north was
rescued by the "Ravenscrag."
The American Museum, the depository of
so many interesting mementoes of explora-
tion, to the inclusion of one of the sleds with
which Peary made his dash to the Pole, has
at least two reminders of the heroic adventure
of the "Polaris," — a whale boat abandoned
at Thank God Harbor and there found by
Peary, and a large painting of the "Polaris"
at Thank God Harbor executed bj' William
Bradford, justly celebrated for his vivid
depiction of northern scenes.
THE HARRISON WILLIAMS
GALAPAGOS EXPEDITION
A special exhibition of paintings, collec-
tions, and other material pertaining to the
Harrison Williams Galapagos Expedition was
held at the American Museum Decem-
ber 1-14 under the auspices of the ladies'
auxiliary of the New York Zoological Society
(Mrs. Henry Fairfield. Osborn, chairman) in
cooperation with the Museum. Due to a
shortage of water and the unexpected difficul-
ties in replenishing the supply, this expedition,
sent out by the department of tropical re-
search of the New York Zoological Society
under the direction of Mr. Wilham Beebe,
was able to spend only one hundred hours
altogether in the archipelago; but judging
by the impressive exhibit, the sojourn might
well have been one of weeks. Of special
interest were Miss Isabel Cooper's superb
studies in water color of the animals of the
region, ranging from marine forms to ter-
restrial forms like the spectacular giant land
iguana, and Mr. Harry Hoffman's inspiring
landscapes, seascapes, and skj^scapes, one of
the most exquisite of the pictures being an
overhead view of fljang frigate birds seen
against the cloud-flecked blue of the sky.
A sketch model for a group of marine iguanas
assembled on the rocks and in the sand of a
lava-rimmed patch of beach was the work of
Mr. W^alter G. Escherich, the background
having been painted by Mr. A. A. Jansson.
There were also relief models of the several
islands visited, placed with the marine and
A PAGE FEOM "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES"
This sheet, written by Charles Darwin for the first edition of his epoch-making
book, was recently presented to the American Museum by the author's son. Major
Leonard Darwin, and has been placed on exhibition in Darwin hall
116
NOTES
117
land birds taken by the expedition. A col-
lection of insects and numerous impressive
photographs were other features of interest.
A PRECIOUS MANUSCRIPT
A page of the original manuscript of The
Origin of Species was received by President
Henry Fairfield Osborn under date of Sep-
tember 21, 1922, from Major Leonard Darwin,
whom the members of the American Museum
will remember as the retiring president of the
Second International Congress of Eugenics.
The page in question, a reproduction of which
appears herewith, corresponds with the sub^
ject matter on pp. 187--88 of Volume I, Chap-
ter 6, of the original edition of Darwin's epoch-
making work. In later editions changes were
introduced, altering to a large extent the
wording' of the upper part of the manuscript
page.
This precious gift has a double significance:
in the first place as an historic document of
the greatest interest, and in the second be-
cause of the fact that it has been bestowed by
the author's son, who through his own con-
tributions in the field of science has added new
laurels to the name of Darwin. The manu-
script, as well as the copy of the original edi-
tion of The Origin of Species, has been
mounted and placed on exhibition in Darwin
hall, American Museum, beside the bust of the
great naturalist.
CONSERVATION
A Necessary Step to Safeguard the
Birds of Louisiana. — A tract of land 100,000
acres in extent, which because of its location
ought to be a link in the chain of Louisiana
wild-life sanctuaries, has recently been ac-
quired by a group of sportsmen, who con-
template converting it into a private hunting
reserve, to be known as the Louisiana Gulf
Coast Club. Although those promoting the
scheme were actuated not merely by the
desire for sport but by the hope of developing
the possibihties of the area as a wild-life
center, the proposal is incongruous, and the
only proper destiny of this tract is as an
essential element in a larger scheme for the
protection of the birds of the Gulf Coast. As
visioned by Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson, presi-
dent of the National Association of Audu-
bon Societies, the existing bird reservation
should be extended so that the territory em-
braced may stretch without a break from Cote
Blanche Bay westward to the Mermentau
River, a belt about eighty miles in length and
from ten to fifteen miles in width. As a step
toward the fulfillment of this plan the acquisi-
tion of the tract owned by the Louisiana Gulf
Coast Club is essential, and it is to be hoped
that public sentiment may be sufficiently em-
phatic and public support of Mr. Pearson's
efforts sufficiently potent to assure the realiza-
tion of his plan.
The Status of the Antelope. — For years
the prong-horned antelope, one of the most
distinctive and beautiful of American game
animals, has been decreasing in numbers so
rapidly that it is threatened with extinction
in a comparatively brief period unless some
definite steps are taken to insure its perpetua-
tion. The decrease in these animals has been
so alarming that many of those interested
have expressed a desire that a meeting be
called for the purpose of considering the
present situation and, if possible, to formulate
plans which may result in the conservation of
the animals.
Such a meeting was held on December 14,
1923, at the U. S. National Museum in
Washington. Representatives of all the
principal conservation organizations of the
eastern United States, in addition to a repre-
sentative of the Canadian Government, and
representatives from state game commissions
in various parts of the country attended the
conference, which was sponsored by the
Bureau of Biological Survey. It was agreed
at the meeting that conservation work in
favor of the antelope could best be carried
out through existing conservation organiza-
tions, aided by the Bureau of Biological
Survey, which would act as a clearing house
for information on the subject.
The Bureau of Biological Survey during
the last two years has been conducting a
census of the remaining herds of antelope and
has practically all of them located and the
approximate number in each herd determined.
Dr. E. W. Nelson, chief of the Bureau of
Biological Survey, to whom Natural His-
tory is indebted for the data contained in
this Note, expects in the near future to prepare
a bulletin which will set forth the information
available at the present time. The bulletin
will also give maps of each of the sixteen states
in which antelope occur, with the location of
the herds, the number in each, and other
information, in order to afford a definite
basis for conservation work.
118
NATURAL HISTORY
A model of the three-horned American dinosaur, Triceratops prorsus, that, palm-embowered, greeted
President Henry Fairfield Osborn on his return to the American Museum after his sojourn in Asia, the home
of the ancestral ceratopsians. The model was designed and prepared by Messrs. Charles Lang and Otto
Falkenbach
VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
Welcomed Home by a Dinosaur. —
A dinosaur head, life size, emerging from a
bower of palms and ferns arranged in one
corner of the Osborn Library greeted the
eyes of Honorary Curator Henry Fairfield
Osborn of the department of vertebrate
palseontology, on November 7, on the occa-
sion of his welcome home from Asia bj-
the members of the laboratory force of the
Museum.
This model of the head of Triceratops
prorsus was designed and prepared as a
surprise by two members of the laboratory
force, Charles Lang and Otto Falkenbach,
who discovered a new method in the use of
papier-mache materials for the frill and for
the polished horns and polished horny beak.
Other members of the department force,
headed by Curator Matthew, had assembled
in the Osborn Library just before the honorarj^
curator was led in to witness this wonderfully
lifelike reproduction. The eye of this cera-
topsian was represented as quite genial, be-
cause the animal enjoys the reputation of
having been entirely defensive in its habits;
it did not seek trouble but went about avoid-
ing it, with the most effective piercing horns
which nature has ever invented and with a
bony frill at the back of the head designed to
protect all the nerve centers of the upper part
of the spinal cord.
That a model of a three-horned American
dinosaur of the verj' closing period of the
Age of Reptiles was chosen with which to
welcome the return of Professor Osborn from
a visit to the fossil beds of Mongolia was most
appropriate, because Tricerato'ps prorsus is
probabh' a direct descendant of the already
famous egg-lajdng dinosaur Protoceratops
andrewsi of western Mongolia, described by
Dr. William K. Gregory. The head was
modeled exactly after the superb skull and
bony horns of the complete articulated Tri-
ceratops skeleton which is now on exhibi-
tion in one of the halls of vertebrate palse-
ontologj'.
Replicas of Baluchitherium Distrib-
uted.— A replica of the minute tooth of
Hesperopithecus presents the widest possible
contrast to the facsimile cast of the gigantic
skull of Baluchitherium. The story of Balu-
chitherium as described by Professor Osborn in
the issue of Asia for September, 1923, is a
romance in itself:
It took several days to work the skull out
NOTES
119
of the earth. It was transported across the
desert of MongoKa and reached Peking on
October 20, 1922. It reached the American
Museum on December 19, 1922— a red-letter
day in the Department of Vertebrate Palte-
ontology, which received it. The scientific
preparation began immediately and continued
unremittingly in the hands of two, three, and
sometimes four preparators, until its comple-
tion on April 6, 1923. It was then ready to
be reproduced a thousand-fold in still photo-
graphs and by the moving-pictures of Mr.
Shackelford, and thus distributed in this
country and all over the world.
It required several months of additional
work to prepare and color in facsimile this
superb skull and jaws. The casting was done
by Mr. Otto Falkenbach, the coloring by Miss
Helen B. Cox, who made constant reference
to the beautiful colors of the original. Finally
the facsimile copies were finished and sent to
the following institutions — the Museum of
Cambridge University, the Museum of the
Academy of Sciences of Petrograd, the British
Museum (Natural History), the National
Museum, Yale University, and the University
of California — the first one going to Mr. C.
Forster Cooper, the discoverer of the genus
Baluchitherium and curator of the Museum of
Cambridge University.
Fossil Birds from Nebraska. — Bird re-
mains are exceedingly rare fossils, save in a
few exceptional deposits. In certain former
lake beds, such as the Christmas Lake, or
Fossil Lake, of eastern Oregon, or at St.
Gerand-le-Puy in France, the bones of
aquatic birds are as common as those of
mammals; and among the fossils of the
asphalt deposit at Rancho la Brea near Los
Angeles are numerous birds of prey and a few
other birds which were trapped in the asphalt.
In the swamps of New Zealand, Madagascar,
and Australia numerous remains of extinct
gigantic ground birds have been found:
Dinornis and its relatives in New Zealand,
JEpyo7-nis in Madagascar, Genyornis in
central Australia. But in most of the
Tertiary formations of our West bird bones
are almost unknown. The discovery of the
skeleton of the giant ground bird Diatryma in
Wyoming was a bit of rare good fortune.
, Aside from this, the results of fifty years'
collecting in the badlands of the West by
Cope and by the representatives of the
American Museum are two or three trays
of specimens, none of them complete, most
of them consisting of single bones or parts
of bones.
Expert identification and study of these
scanty and fragmentary remains require a
thorough knowledge of the comparative
osteology of birds such as very few orni-
thologists possess. The American Museum
has been very fortunate, therefore, in being
able to place some recent finds of Tertiary
birds in the hands of Mr. Alexander Wetmore
of the Bureau of Biological Survey at Wash-
ington for study and description. An article
by Mr. Wetmore in the Bulletin of this
Museum has just appeared, describing the
remains from the Snake Creek and x4.gate
fossil quarries in Nebraska. Among the
most interesting of these are bones of an
extinct species of Urubitinga, a large hawk
now found only in Central and South
America, and of a small milvine hawk, or
kite, whose nearest modern allies are the
Mississippi and Everglades kites.
These, therefore, are to be added to the
long list of birds, mammals, and other animals
which, inhabiting North America in the Age
of Mammals, were driven southward, whether
by changing climate or by the competition of
invading races from the north, and have left
more or less modified descendants in tropical
America or along our southern borders. Such
are the tapirs, peccaries, and llamas, the
alligators and crocochles, certain turtles and
lizards, fishes, insects, and mollusks of which
we are so fortunate as to have the fossil
records. Without doubt many other animals
and plants will in time be added to the list.—
W. D. M.
Paleontology in Russia. — American
palaeontologists are deeply interested in the
progress of palaeontology in Russia and will be
gratified to learn that Mme. Marie Pavlow
has for four years past held a professorship of
palaeontology in the University of Moscow
and that at the present moment she is deeply
engaged in preparing for the publication of her
courses of palaeontology, beginning with the
invertebrates and following with the verte-
brates. Under date of August 25 she writes
enthusiastically of the reception in Russia of
Professor Osborn's volume The Origin and
Evolution of Life, as translated into French
by M. Felix Sartiaux and now in its third
printing. Her own field of work in recent
years has been principally among the rich
collections of proboscideans, including both
the elephants and mastodons, in the more
recent Quaternary formations of Russia. We
120
NATURAL HISTORY
owe to ]\Ime. Pavlow the recognition of the
true mastodon, very closely related to M.
americanus, in Russia. In addition to issuing
in instalments her work on the Tertiary
mammals of Russia, she has from time to
time published resumes of the progress of
vertebrate palfeontology in that country,
which are invaluable to American workers to
whom much of the original literature is not
available.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
The Xew York State Federation of
Workers for the Blixd held its annual
convention in New York City, October 23-4.
Dr. G. Clyde FLsher represented the American
Museum at the meetings, which w^ere held
at the Lighthouse, 111 East Fifty-ninth Street,
and at Stuyvesant High School. Through the
Jonathan Thorne Memorial Fund, the Mu-
seum has been able during the last fifteen
5'ears to carry on valuable work with classes
of bhnd children and the sight conservation
classes in the pubhc schools, and with the
adult blind of New York City and its \acinity.
INSECTS
The a. Cressy Morrison Prize Awarded.
— At the annual dinner of the New York
Academy of Sciences, held on December 17,
1923, announcement was made by Dr. Ernest
Ellsworth Smith that the A. Cressy Morrison
Prize had been awarded to Dr. Frank E. Lutz,
curator of entomology', American Museum,
for his paper entitled: Apparently Non-
Selective Characters and Combinations of
Characters, including a Study of the Ultra-
violet in Relation to the Flower-Visiting Habits
of Insects. The competing papers numbered
fourteen and were representative of original
research in several distinct branches of
science. L'nder such circumstances a deci-
sion is necessarily difficult, for differences of
opinion may readily arise as to the relative
merits of studies in such varied fields as
physics, astronomy, biology, and the Uke. It
is a tribute to the intrinsic importance of
Doctor Lutz's contribution that aU of the
judges were in accord in placing his work at
the head of the hst. This is the second year
that the prize has been awarded, and the
interest that the contests have aroused and
the high standard of the essays submitted are
convincing testimony of the -wisdom of Mr.
Morrison in establishing the prize.
Observations of the Bees of Panama. —
Dr. Frank E. Lutz, curator of entomology,
returned December 6 from Panama, where he
spent a month studying the insects, especialh^
the native bees, of the Canal Zone.
A part of the time was passed on Barro
Colorado, the largest island in Gatun Lake.
It contains about twelve square miles of dense
and absoluteh' primitive tropical jungle.
The only even partially cleared areas are
several verj^ small farms along one edge of the
island. The government of the Zone has
recently made Barro Colorado a biological
reservation, prohibiting both hunting and
any extension of agriculture. In view of the
facts that, although an island and therefore
readily protected, it is fairly accessible to
visitors and that agriculture is rapidly de-
stroying jungle in the Zone, this action by the
government is particularly fortunate.
Through the courtesy of the U. S. Army,
Doctor Lutz was able to explore the reserva-
tion from an aeroplane. He also established
a camp from which he cut and fullj' blazed a
trail across the island. This trail, the first to
be blazed in this jungle, was laid out in such a
way as to lead through different types of
vegetation and by other points of interest,
including a large settlement of leaf-cutting
ants.
Doctor Lutz reports that the island, which
is really the top of a mountain that became
surrounded by water when Gatun Lake was
flooded in the construction of the Canal,
naturally contains a great variety of birds and
mammals, such as parrots, monkeys, and
tapirs. .Almost any Panamanian animal that
may be found to be lacking can be introduced.
The jungle is so dense that it is practically
impossible to penetrate it without first cut-
ting a way through the vines, prickly stems,
and other vegetation.
In addition to making a general collection
of insects, including those bees that do not
live in colonies. Doctor Lutz was successful in
securing nests of several species of native
social bees (MeUponidse). These latter live in
colonies, each colony having a queen and
numerous workers, much as does the Asiatic
honeybee that man has domesticated. They,
are not, however, closely related to the
Asiatic bee. They do not sting but they
do bite, and certain kinds eject a fluid that
severely burns the human .skin.
Bees of this group store honey in special
cells about the size of grapes. There is often
NOTES
121
a considerable quantity in a nest and in some
cases it has a good flavor but, depending on
the species of bee that made it, the honey may
be rather tasteless, or too acid, or even poison-
ous. Some of these bees make their nests in
cavities, such as hollow trees, the walls of
houses, or holes in the ground; others build
large hanging nests somewhat like those of
the white-and-black hornet of om- northern
woods; while still others estabhsh their
colonies in the large nests made in trees by
white "ants."
The most populous nest of which there is an
available record contained about 75,000 bees
and, although they do not sting, a thousand
or so of these bees covering one's face,
hands, and even the inside of one's clothing,
each more or less gently biting, are rather
uncomfortable.
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA
EXPEDITION
In connection with Dr. Robert Cushman
Murphy's lecture on the Whitney South Sea
Expedition, there was installed in memorial
hall, American Museum, an exhibit epitomiz-
ing the achievements of the expedition and
offering at the same time a bird's-eye view of
the wealth of scientific material supplied by
this interesting region of the world. Ranged
in cases were examples of the bird Ufe of
Polynesia, notable not only for its diversity
but on account of the restricted range of
certain forms, — for instance, the warblers of
the genus Coiiopoderas with twelve represen-
tatives, each confined to a single island or a
small group of islands. Rare birds like Peale's
petrel, of which only three specimens had been
found prior to this expedition, the fruit pigeon
of Rapa Island, known previously from only a
single skin, and the Tuamotuan land king-
fisher, interesting not only because it is new
to science but because, departing from the
piscatorial habits of most of its fellows, it
feeds on insects and lizards, were among the
prized acquisitions of the expedition. Of
spectacular interest were the specimens of
feral poultry, — descendants of the Asiatic
jungle fowls which the Polynesian people
carried to the South Pacific islands on their
migrations; the red-tailed tropic bird, the
long scarlet appendages of which are in
some countries legitimately added to the stock
of the milliner, like the down of the eider and
the plume of the ostrich, seeing that they can
be plucked without injury to the bird; fruit
pigeons of wonderful diversity, some with
white crests, others with red or piu-ple, or red
rimmed with yellow, as well as harmonious or
spectacular changes of coloration in other
parts of their plumage; and finally an excep-
tionally rich representation of interesting
marine birds, such as noddies, terns, petrels,
and shearwaters.
While primarily an ornithological under-
taking, the Whitney South Sea Expedition
secured much interesting material falling
within other fields. A number of mounted
specimens of identified Polynesian plants
were shown in one case; examples of the land
crabs, certain fish, and shells were exhibited
in another; and finally the excellent photo-
graphs taken by Mr. RoUo H. Beck and his
associates, selections from which were placed
upon a screen in back of the cases, showed not
only the bird hfe of the islands but their
scenic attractiveness, the physique and mode
of dress of the natives inhabiting them, and
their ancient stone idols. A Polynesian having
seven toes and six fingers was represented in
one of the pictures.
It was fitting that, by way of correcting the
belief that the South Sea islands have come
into public cognizance only in this generation,
some impression should be given of the abun-
dant literature devoted to this area of the
world in earlier decades. Among the more
arresting publications displayed were one of
the twelve extant volumes of the suppressed
issue of Titian R. Peale's account of the mam-
mals and birds of the United States Exploring
Expedition of the forties and Lady Belcher's
volume on The Mutineers of the Bounty. Of
direct bearing on the Whitney Expedition
were the Field Note Books of Mr. Beck and
his major contributions to Natural History,
the Field Journal of his associate, Mr. Ernest
H. Quayle, totaling five substantial volumes
of typewTitten sheets, and a volume of Notes
on the Geography and Fauna of Eastern
Polynesia prepared by Dr. Charles W.
Richmond.
BIRDS
Dr. F. M. Chapman's Expedition, to
Chile.— On November 29, Dr. Frank M.
Chapman, curator of the department of
ornithology, American Museum, sailed for
Chile, accompanied by Mrs. Chapman, Mr.
F. C. Walcott, and Miss Helen Walcott. Two
scientific purposes will be accomplished by
this trip. The sojourn in Chile will enable
122
NATURAL HISTORY
Doctor Chapman to continue in a new area
the field studies that he has been making in
connection mth his work on the origin and
distribution of Andean bird hfe. The initial
volume of this comprehensive piece of re-
search— The Distribution of Bird-Life in
Colombia — has already been published; a
second volume, deahng mth the birds of
Ecuador, is well advanced; and a third
volume, to be devoted to the avifauna of
Chile, will take shape as a result of the
present studies.
The expedition will not confine its attention
to Chile. The second purpose that it has set
out to accomplish is the securing of material
for a habitat group representing the bird life
of the Pampas of western Argentina. Miss
Walcott, in the capacity of artist to the expedi-
tion, will make the field sketches for this
group. Mr. Walcott will act as photographer
to the expedition, and Mrs. Chapman will
assist in the preparation of specimens.
ANTHROPOLOGY
Dr. William W. Graves, of St. Louis,
Missouri, well knowTi for his anatomical re-
searches, especialh' on the human scapula,
its form and relation to disease, represented
the American Museum at the inauguration of
Herbert Spencer Hadley as chancellor of
Washington LTniversity, November 10, 1923.
Mr. N. C. Nelson, associate curator of
archaeology, returned to the American Mu-
seum after a ten weeks' field trip which took
him to various states, including New Mexico,
Oklahoma, Missouri, Ilhnois, Kentucky, and
Virginia. Commencing in New Mexico in
late August, he initiated Dr. Louis R. Sullivan
into the art of recovering ancient Indian
skeletal material from one of the Pueblo ruins,
an imdertaking which fortunately resulted in a
considerable collection. Following this, three
weeks were devoted to excavations at Jacobs
Cavern, in the Ozark foothill country near
Pineville, Missouri. The object here was to
verify the apparent evidence fa bone with an
engraved figure of a mastodon upon it) of
Pleistocene man, discovered in 1921 and pub-
lished in Natural History, Vol. XXI, No. 6.
Expectations failed completely, inasmuch as
nothing was found to indicate that man had
hved in the cave in times prior to the arrival
of the present fauna. Later, a remarkable
Indian quarry-and-workshop of prehistoric
date was examined in Ottawa County, Okla-
homa, not far from the Missouri state Une.
Here a small representative collection was
obtained.
This completed the summer's program, but
Mr. Nelson took advantage of the occasion on
his way home to inspect the famous Cahokia
mound group near East St. Louis. As the
guest of the Alammoth Cave Estate, he spent
three weeks also in Kentucky, where he ex-
amined a number of caves as well as other
sites reputed as sho-wing evidence of Indian
occupation. The principal discovery here
was a flint quarry-and-workshop, apparently
of considerable antiquity. Lastly, by invita-
tion, the wonderful Luray and Endless caverns
in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, were
visited, but here nothing was found of archae-
ological interest.
Incidentally, Mr. Nelson was given oppor-
tunity to see two exceptionally fine private
archaeological collections, viz., that of Dr. H.
H. M. Whelpley in St. Louis and that of
the late General Gates P. Thruston, now ex-
hibited at Vanderbilt L'niversity, Nashville,
Tennessee.
MAMMALS
J. A. Allen Memorial Fund. — This fund,
established in honor of the Nestor of American
mammalogists, Joel Asaph Allen, late curator
of mammals in the American Museum,
has now reached a total of nearly $5200
toward the S 10,000 desired by the committee
in charge. The income from this fund is
to be used for the annual publication, as
special numbers in the Journal of Mam-
malogy, of scientific papers dedicated to the
memory of Joel Asaph Allen. The Journal
of Mammalogy is the only periodical in the
world devoted solely to this branch of natural
history. The remaining .$4800 necessary to
complete the fund will be secured, it is hoped,
through invitation to all the mammalogists
of the world and to members of the Ameri-
can Museum and the New York Zoological
Society. 1
Among the first contributors to the fund
were the President of the American Museum,
Prof. Henrj^ Fairfield Osborn, and several
members of the Board of Trustees, including
Messrs. Cleveland H. Dodge, Childs Frick,
and Madison Grant, the last-mentioned being
'Checks should be made payable to the J. A. Allen
Memorial Fund. They may be addressed careVof
H. E. Anthony, Secretary and Treasurer, American
Museum of Natural History, New York City.
NOTES
123
also chairman of the central committee for the
J. A. Allen Memorial Fund. Among the
members of the American Society of Mam-
malogists, the chief contributors, in addition
to those just mentioned, were Miss Annie M.
Alexander, Messrs. S. Prentiss Baldwn,
Thomas Barbour, George B. Grinnell, Ernest
Thompson Seton, and the Hon. George
Shiras, 3rd. Among the non-members of the
Society, Mr. James B. Ford was most gener-
ous in his support.
The largest single contributions were three
of $500; next came one of S200; one of $125
nine of $100; thirteen of $50; one of $40
twenty-nine of $25; six of $20; one of $15
thirty-nine of $10; one of $7; fifty-seven
of $5; and twenty-seven of less than this
amount. Interested friends and admirers of
Doctor Allen who are not members of the
Society contributed $1250, which represents
approximately one-fourth of the present sum
subscribed.
Mr. H. E. Anthony, associate curator of
mammals of the Western Hemisphere, re-
turned to the American Museum early in
December from field work in Ecuador. About
four and a half months were spent in that
country with Mr. G. H. H. Tate, field collector
of the department of mammalogy, who re-
mained in Ecuador to carry on the work after
Mr. Anthony's departure. The material
brought back by Mr. Anthony included
about 1450 mammals, 450 botanical speci-
mens, as well as small collections of birds,
reptiles, fossil mammals, and about 250
photographic negatives. The collection of
mammals comprises about 150 specimens of
the rare genus Csenolestes, an animal formerly
regarded as so rare that the taking of a single
specimen was considered an achievement.
The mammals collected range in size from a
mouse up to a large deer, and were taken for
the most part in the high mountain region
about Quito.
The fossil mammals were obtained from
beds of volcanic ash near Riobamba and
represent the fauna of the Pleistocene. This
part of the collection includes the one-toed
horse, camel, deer, mastodon, wolf, possibly
bear, and small forms such as rabbits, rats,
and mice. Perhaps the most interesting
specimen among the fossil material is the
human skull that was found associated with
the remains of the Pleistocene mammals.
Whether this skull should be considered as
contemporaneous with the Pleistocene fauna
is a point to be determined by careful com-
parisons after the skull has been cleaned and
prepared for study. At any rate, the speci-
men is a very interesting one and is bound
to bring forth a great deal of suggestive
speculation.
Mr. Tate is now collecting along the line
of the old mountain trail from Guayaquil to
Quito, which has been little used ever since
the railroad was built.
REVIEWS
"Birds in Legend, Fable and Folklore."—
A volume thus entitled by Ernest Ingersoll,
published by Longmans, Green and Co., is
entertaining as well as informing. We are all
familiar with the time-honored fiction that the
ostrich hides its head in the sand, but to get a
proper conception of the perverse ingenuity
of the human mind in explaining nature not
by observation and legitimate inference but
by letting the fancy run wild, one must turn
to the pages of this book, in which are pre-
sented a large number of curious misconcep-
tions about birds, ranging from accounts en-
graved on the clay tablets of Babylon to the
superstitions of the Southern darkey. That
geese grow on trees, bursting fuUy fledged
from fruit resembling apples; that the stork
and other "season-observing birds" mnter in
the moon; that the ostrich hatches its eggs
not through the warmth of its body but by
the concentrated gaze of its eyes; that rooks
are the ghosts of bad old landlords, — these
are but a few of the quaint behefs cited by
the author, some of which enjoyed a wide
vogue and were honored by picturesque
variants.
Observations of a Bird Photographer.
— To secure a good picture of some little
creature in the wild requires so much more
skill and patience than to lodge a bullet in
the broad target offered by some unsuspecting
moose or deer that, taking into account
man's joy in overcoming difficulties, it is
surprising that the camera is not replacing
the gun more rapidly. But after all, the
exercise of skill is not the only consideration.
The more intimate contact with nature en-
joyed by one who records in contrast with one
who destroys weighs overwhelmingly in favor
of hunting with the camera.
What the bird photographer may glean
from his close approaches to the nest is in-
124
NATURAL HISTORY
dicated in a volume by Dr. A. H. Cordier
recently published bj^ Dorrance under the
title of Birds — Theii' Photographs and Home
Life. The author has included in it brief
sketches of a great number of birds that he
has observed in the course of his field trips,
extending from the Aleutian Peninsula to the
Gulf of Mexico, and near his home at Kansas
City. While only incidentally a guide to the
birds, the primary function of the book being
to present a readable record of the habits of
different species, the descriptions given of
birds, their nests,- and their eggs should be
helpful in making identifications. Chapters
on the principles involved in photographing
birds and the equipment that is essential or
desirable will be of advantage to the prospec-
tive nature photographer, for, as Doctor
Cordier's pictures give evidence, the informa-
tion he now imparts to others he has himself
applied with singular success. The author's
love for the birds is bound to kindle the
reader's sympathetic interest, for it finds
expression not merely in an abstention from
injury but in repairing injury done, witness
his surgical operation upon a white ibis that
had broken its leg and that was anaesthetized
before the knife was applied.
A New Popular Book on Minerals. —
One of the most significant tendencies in our
present-day life is the urge to get out of doors
and learn about the things we see in the
woods and on the hillside. A number of
popular books have appeared from time to
time which have met, or in part have met,
this need for non-technical information about
the plants, the birds, and the animals. Prof.
Frederick Brewster Loomis, of Amherst
College, has added to this rapidly increasing
book shelf a really practical and very under-
standable little book on minerals and rocks,
entitled Field Book of Common Rocks and
Minerals, published by G. P. Putnam's
Sons.
One of the first requisites of such a field
book is that it should be small in compass,
and Professor Loomis has succeeded admir-
ably in producing a volume to fit the pocket,
and incidentally the pocket-book, of the
Boy Scout, which tells him in language that
he can understand what he wants to know
about the rocks and the minerals that make
them. A very attractive feature of the
Field Book are the many reproductions in
color of minerals, which are for the most part
admirably executed. The book contains 271
pages, of which 169 are devoted to the
minerals and the remainder to the rocks.
The minerals are grouped on the basis of their
chief metals, bringing together the silver
minerals, the lead minerals, and so on. —
H. P. W.
Wood's "Illustrated Natural His-
tory."— That a volume of systematic zoology,
issued somewhat less than a decade before the
publication of Darwin's Origin of Species,
should still be read, not flippantly, with the
thought of discovering quaint misinformation,
but respectfully, for the substantial amount
of fact it contains, is rather remarkable. Yet
such is the distinction that attaches to the
Rev. J. G. Wood's Illustrated Natural His-
tory, which, first issued in the early fifties of
the last century and subsequently expanded
into a series of volumes, has recently appeared
in a handsome new edition under the imprint
of E. P. Dutton and Company. In the prepa-
ration of the new edition, which consists of a
single volume, there has been necessarily ex-
tensive elimination of material, both text and
illustrations, but by way of compensation
there have been added eight colored plates.
An unfortunate error has resulted through
the introduction of division titles in the sec-
tion on insects. The Neuroptera, already
burdened by the inclusion of several groups of
insects that have since Wood's day been
placed in distinct orders, has by error taken
into its fold also the Hymenoptera, which
even in Wood's time was a well recognized
independent order; while the important order
of beetles, like that of the bees, wasps, ants,
and sawflies, appears without an introductory
heading.
One of the reasons doubtless for the great
vitality of Wood's work is the fact that it is
presented in so simple and readable a form
that it has won its way among circles of
readers that are repelled by the heavier
language of the technical writer; but its
substance too, though necessarily in many
details out of date, entitles it to respectful
consideration.
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS OF THE
AMERICAN MUSEUM
In the March-April issue of Natural
History the exploits and achievements of the
various expeditions working in different parts
of Asia on behalf of the American Museum
NOTES
125
will receive emphasis. Honorary life member-
ship has recently been conferred by the Board
of Trustees of the Museum upon several
individuals who, because of their services in
the field or because of their invaluable aid in
facilitating the work of exploration, were
selected for this distinction. To the reader
of the Asiatic number it will be of interest to
know in advance something of these individ-
uals, who have contributed so much to the
success of the Museum's undertakings in that
continent :
Col. J. C. Faunthorpe first visited the
American Museum in 1919, and was so
delighted with the manner in which the mam-
mals were shown in the exhibition halls that
he conceived the idea of sending some of the
game mammals of India to the American Mu-
seum. This initial resolve led step by step to
the cooperation of his friend, Mr. Arthur S.
Vernay, and to the plans for the Faunthorpe-
Vernay Indian Expedition of 1923, which has
brought such splendid results to the Museum.
An account of this expedition, written by
Colonel Faunthorpe, will be one of the
notable features of the March-April issue of
Natural History.
In the intervals of his long service in India
Colonel Faunthorpe has become famous as a
sportsman, especially through his success in
tiger shooting, and mam^ a fine specimen sent
to the Museum is a tribute to his marksman-
ship. In unanimously electing him an honor-
ary life member the Trustees considered his
record of service, some of the principal features
of which are here briefly indicated :
Subsequent to his graduation from BalUol
College, Oxford, he became connected in 1892
with the Indian Civil Service. In 1914, at
the call of his country, he joined the Army,
having previously served in the United
Provinces Horse. He was on duty in France
and Belgium until 1918, when he went to
America on the War Mission. During 1919
and part of 1920 he was attached to the British
Embassy at Washington, D. C. Since 1920
he has been ably administering his office as
Commissioner of Lucknow.
Mr. Arthur S. Vernay was elected to the
rank of honorary life member at the same
time as his friend and fellow sportsman.
Colonel Faunthorpe. A great lover of sports,
Mr. Vernay has traveled widely in search of
big game, including in his field trips certain
of the wilder parts of North America and
various areas of Asia. Mr. Vernay has spread
the knowledge of wild life in Asia through the
interviews which he has accorded representa-
tives of the press and through spirited articles
descriptive of his remarkable six months'
hunt with Colonel Faunthorpe. The splendid
qualifications of Mr. Vernay not only as a
sportsman but as a naturahst are evidenced
in his writings; his article on "Stalking Tsine
in Burma," which will appear in the March-
April issue of Natural History, may be
cited as an instance in point. By his own re-
quest the expedition in which he was one of
the joint leaders is known as the Faunthorpe-
Vernay Indian Expechtion, but in the case
of the photographs and films of the under-
taking, the copyright is held in the name of
the Vernay-Faunthorpe Expedition to India
and Burma. Beautiful examples of the pic-
tures obtained by the expedition have been
published in The Illustrated London News
(August 18, 1923) and The Illustrated Sport-
ing and Dramatic News (August 11, 1923 and
August 18, 1923) as well as in periodicals in
this country.
Mr. Vernay is at present on his way from
Moulmain to Bangkok. He has been spend-
ing several months in that area, collect-
ing additional specimens for the American
Museum.
Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews. — Seventeen
years ago, after graduation from Beloit
College, Wisconsin, Mr. Andrews ap-
proached the front of the American JMuseum
as an unknown young naturaUst, wondering
how he would be received and whether
he could find work within its doors. He
was fortunate in entering immediately into
the service of the venerated curator of
mammalogy. Dr. Joel Asaph Allen. Early
in his scientific career Mr. Andrews became
interested in whales through the acquisition
by the Museum of the large whale kiUed off
the Long Island coast at Amagansett, and
of the smaller specimen obtained at Wain-
scott. The two skeletons were collected by Mr.
Andrews with the aid of Messrs. James L.
Clark and John T. Nichols. During eight
years subsequent to this experience Mr.
Andrews gave much attention to whales, a
group of mammals that will receive emphasis
in the proposed hall of ocean Ufe. The work
of collecting and studying the cetaceans carried
Mr. Andrews "twice around the world, as
well as northward on two expeditions to
Alaska, and southward to the tropic waters
of Borneo and Dutch East Inches." The
126
NATURAL HISTORY
last-mentioned places were visited during
1909-10 when Mr. Andrews was cruising in
the Far East on the U. S. Fish Commission
steamer, Albatross. In 1911-12 Mr. Andrews
continued his studies in the East by exploring
northern Corea, but in 1913 returned to
Alaska to secure northern species of whales.
The next two years were devoted to working
up the whale collections, the year 1914 being
signalized also by his marriage to Miss Yvette
Borup, sister of Mr. George Borup of Arctic
fame. In March, 1916, he organized what has
come to be known as the First Asiatic Expedi-
tion, and spent nineteen months in conducting
it through southern and western China,
Fukien, and Yunnan, and thence into western
Burma, to proceed down the Irrawaddy River
from Bhamo to Rangoon. In 1919, Mr.
Andrews headed the Second Asiatic Expedi-
tion to northern China and outer Mongolia,
and this undertaking led in turn to the highly
successful Third Asiatic Expedition, with the
progress of which readers of Natural His-
tory are familiar through articles contributed
by Professor Osborn and Mr. Andrews and
through numerous Notes. Mr. Andrews is the
author of a number of works dealing with his
field experiences and scientific studies. Among
these are: The California Gray Whale, The
Sei Whale, Whale Hunting with Gun and
Camera, Camps and Trails in China, and
Across Mongolian Plains.
His Excellency The Earl of Reading,
G.C.B., Viceroy of India is too well known
for his statesmanship and the potent role he has
played in the political life of the British Em-
pire to require an introduction to our readers.
As president of the Anglo-French Loan Mis-
sion to the United States in 1915, as special
envoy in 1917, and finally as high commis-
sioner and special ambassador to our country
in 1918, he is especially well remembered,
although these offices were but a few of the
posts of responsibility that he has held in the
course of his eventful career. As viceroy and
governor-general of India he gave the Faun-
thorpe-Vernay Expedition invaluable support,
and the tiger group is to be presented to the
American Museum in his name as a constant
reminder to the public of his part in making
the expedition a success.
His Excellency Sir Harcourt Butler,
G.C.I.E., is governor of Burma, and the
practical assistance which he gave to the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition will be com-
memorated through the association of his
name with the specimens obtained in Burma.
It was he who gave the expedition his sanc-
tion to shoot any animals necessary to
the collection and who deputed Mr. D. F.
Hopwood, M.C., to arrange all the bandobust.
He showed the greatest interest in the work
generally and his helpfulness has extended to
the expedition of Mr. Vernay that is now in
progress, to which he has given every encour-
agement and support.
To General His Highness Maharaja Sir
Chandra Shumshere Jung, prime minister
and marshaU of Nepal, the Faunthorpe-
Vernay Expedition is under special obliga-
tions for the invaluable assistance he gave in
the collecting of the rhinoceros specimens.
In India the rhinoceros is royal game and the
privilege to hunt it is one of the most difficult
to obtain. The Maharaja not only accorded
this permission but with regal generosity
supplied the expedition with Nepalese officials,
coolies, elephants, and food supplies, indis-
pensable to the carrying out of the project.
The group of the great one-horned rhinoceros
will, with the Maharaja's permission, be
presented in his name.
Mr. a. p. Kinloch, a coffee planter of
India, has been of great aid to the Faunthorpe-
Vernay Indian Expedition, to the collected
fauna of which he contributed certain rare
birds that he obtained in the KoUengode
Division. Mr. Kinloch is a keen ornithologist
and the fact that the material he collected
was accompanied by field notes adds to its
value. He is particularly interested in the
avifauna of the Nelliampathy Hills, to the
literature of which he has been a contributor.
Mr. Franz A. Larsen went to Mongolia as
a missionary more than thirty years ago. The
country and its people appealed to him so
greatly that he decided to make his home there.
Mr. Larsen eventually gave up his missionary
work and entered business, becoming manager
of the Anderson and Mej^er Company. He
organized a branch office in L'rga and carried
on the work of the company successfully
under the most disadvantageous conditions.
Leaving the employ of the company in 1922,
he organized the firm of F. A. Larsen and
Company for the export of furs, ponies, and
other Mongolian products. During Mr.
Larsen's long residence in Mongolia he has
taken part in almost every pohtical event of
importance in that country. He has enjoyed
NOTES
127
the entire confidence of the MongoUan govern-
ment and has acted as an intermediary in
setthng many poUtical questions between the
Mongols and Chinese. In 1922, Mr. Larsen
accompanied the Third Asiatic Expedition
for a part of the time it sojourned in MongoUa,
and it was largely through his active work on
behalf of the expedition that permission to
carry on its investigations was granted by the
Mongolian government.
Mr. C. Badmajapoff, who is Mongolian
minister of justice, accompanied the famous
Russian explorer, Colonel Kozloff , on a three-
year tour of exploration in Mongolia and
Tibet. He was a member of the Third Asiatic
Expedition during part of the summer of 1922.
Occupying an important position in the
Mongolian government, he assisted the mem-
bers of the expedition very greatly by obtain-
ing permission for them to work in Mongolia
both during the seasons of 1922 and 1923.
Since the last issue of Natural History
the following persons have been elected mem-
bers of the American Museum, making the
total membership 7260:
Patron: Mr. Arthur S. Vernay.
Honorary Life Members: Mrs. Mary White
TsipouRAs; General His Highness Ma-
haraja Sir Chandra Shumshere Jung;
His Excellency the Earl of Reading,
G.C.B. AND His Excellency Sir Harcourt
Butler, G.C.I.E.; Dr. Joseph Bequaert;
Messrs. Roy Chapman Andrews, C. Bad-
majapoff, A. P. KiNLOCH, AND FrANZ A.
Larsen.
Life Members: Prof. Alice Wilson Wilcox;
Mesdames George Temple Bowdoin, E. L.
DicKERSON, George F. Kunz, Carson C.
Peck, F. Sullivan Smith; Dr. Henry H.
Covell; Messrs. Beecher S. Bowdish,
George T. Brokaw, Walter W. Holmes,
Mason M. Phelps, and Albert T. Stewart.
Sustaining Members: Mesdames Hanna E.
Belden and Henry W. J. Bucknall; Miss
Elizabeth D. Bowen; Messrs. Wm. W.
Carman and Charles E. F. McCann.
Annual Members: Mesdames Phineas Hill-
house Adams, Barrett Andrews, W. D.
Baldwin. John E. Bates, Joseph Bates, F.
Wilder Bellamy, W. W. Benjamin, I.
Block, William M. Bradshaw, Mary O. M.
P. Brown, Durant Campbell, Ernest T.
Carter, John McClure Chase, Percival
W. CowLES, Henry E. Crampton, Arthur
Friend, Alfred J. Frueh, John I. Hart,
James Mott Hartshorne, Elizabeth Herb,
Nancy C. Lange, M. A. Litwin, Mabel P.
Miller, Charles D. Norton, Wm. R. Pitt,
S. T. Shoneman, and Hutton Williams;
Sister M. Thomasina; the Misses M. A.
AspiNWALL, H. Broadbent, B. G. Brooks,
Sarah E. Bruce, Angela Diller, Julia R.
Hall, Mary E. P. Haynes, M. T. Lippin-
COTT, AND Mary T. Tower; Doctors Theo-
dore J. Abbott, James W. Babcock, Ernest
S. Bishop, Richard Blum, Henry Brodman,
Eleanor A. Campbell, Albro R. Carman,
Arthur F. Chace, Solomon De Sola,
Martin Dewey, William H. Dieffenbach,
Jacob Heiman, A. B. Jamison, Edmund R. P.
Janvrin, Howard Lilienthal, and Wm. H.
Woglom; Prof. Herbert R. Moody; the
Reverend Winfred Douglas; Messrs.
B. Abbot, Samuel N. Abbott, Paul Strong
Achilles, H. M. Addinsell, Albert J.
Appell, Charles F. Ayer, John V. Bacot,
Jr., Sydney H. Ball, Edwin De T. Bechtel,
E. S. Beck, Pope B. Pillups, D. Borgia, J.
A. Bower, Otho S. Bowling, John Hall
Bowman, Leo Brecher, Hiram Burling-
ham, Robert E. Carrick, Norman Wilmer
Chandler, C. L. Chester, Hawley T.
Chester, Charles S. Clausen, Arthur J.
Cohen, L. W. T. Coleman, P. D. Collins,
Dudley N. Condit, James Bliss Coombs,
J. E. CooNAN, Mark Douglas Currie, De
Witt A. Davidson, Samuel D. Davis, Clar-
ence M. Day, David B. Dearborn, Jr.,
R. E. Deeks, Paul A. Degeneb, Wm. R.
Delehanty, Edwin H. Denby, Benjamin P.
DeWitt, Fred'k E. Donaldson, Arthur
Simeon Doying, Mansfield Ferry, John R.
Flanagan, W. A. Gardner, Carleton
Greene, William Hare, A. Abbott Hast-
ings, Karl Heisenberg, Charles E. Heydt,
Leo H. Hirsch, Louis L. Horch, Henry T.
Hunt, George B. Huron, George W. Ja-
coby, Leeds Johnson, Ralph Jonas, Bas-
SETT Jones, Edwin Artimus Jones, W.
Strother Jones, Philip Kachurin, Saml. M.
Kaplan, Bernard Karsch, Max Kaskel,
Adolph Kastor, Charles B. Kaufmann,
Charles G. Keller, James J. ■ Kennedy,
John N. Ken yon, Alphonse Kloh. Julius
Klugman, Emil' W. Kohn, Jacques Kra-
KEUR, John F. Krauser, Michael Lerner,
Samuel A. Lerner, Harrison Lillibridge,
Oscar Lion, C. C. Loomis, Amos Morrill,
Frank J. Muhlfeld, William C. Mumford,
Charles J. Paine, Geo. W. Phillips, Jr.,
128
NATURAL HISTORY
Edward R. Rather, Stanley, M. Rum-
bough, LuDWiG Stern, W. H. Stevens, H. E.
Stump, Walter S. Sullivan, Frank E.
Thompson, Oscar von Passavant, W. M.
Wadsworth, Ralph Wolf, Ernest Wolk-
WITZ, AND FiFIELD WoRKUM.
Associate Members: Mesdames Florence
M. Dow, Wm. Preston Johnston, Alphonse
Le Due, Helen J. Lee, Caroline B. Shoe-
maker, AND Grace E. Valentine; the
Misses Matilda Geddings Gray, Clara
H. Many, Katherine McEwen, E. Virginia
Smith, and Mary B. Whiting; Judge De
Witt H. Merriam; Doctors James L.
Gamble, William E. Gamble, R. S. Manley,
Rudolph Matas, Arthur B. McGraw, E.
Lawrence Oliver, Graham Renshaw,
F.R.S.E., R. M. Van Wart, and Richard
B. Wetherill; Prof. H. W. Straley, 3d;
the Reverend W. D. Westervelt; Messrs.
Vernon Bailey, Charles Baker, P. L.
Barter, Hugh J. L. Beadnell, Dana
E. Brinck, William W. F. Brinley,
Chandler M. Brooks, Chester K. Brooks,
E. H. Brooks, Frank L. Connard, S.
B. CoPELAND, H. N. Davock, C. W. de
Rekowski, B. H. Dibblee, Alex Dow,
Harold Hunter Emmons, Horace H.
EssELSTYN, E. G. Ewing, Calvin Fisher
Pencil, William S. Green, Guy S. Greene,
Rae T. Hadzor, Samuel H. T. Hayes, J. M.
Heiser, Jr., George M. Hendrie, Charles
E. Hilton, Joseph H. Hunter, Robert L.
Kemp, Robert Kent King, Clarence H.
Knowlton, John M. Lazear, Roy C. Man-
son, Clifford Marburger, Robert R.
McMath, Arthur McMullen, III, Robert
A. Morton, W. Howie Muir, Hashime
MuRAYAMA, Jerome Newman, C. M.
O'Donel, E. W. Parker, C. E. Rose, L. S.
Russell, Wm. N. Simons, Roger A. Simon-
son, J. Zach. Spearing, S. B. Dick Speer,
A. L. Stephens, Charles M. Sternberg, J.
I. Stoddard, F. D. Whitall, Lawrence W.
Whitall, Carrel Wiest, S. P. Williams,
Jr., and George W. Woolsey.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
FOUNDED IN 1868
MEMBERSHIP MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND
For the enrichment of its collections, for the support of its explorations and
scientific research, and for the maintenance of its publications, the American
Museum of Natural History is dependent wholly upon membership fees and the
generosity of friends. More than 7000 members are now enrolled who are thus
supporting the work of the Museum. The various classes of membership are:
Associate Member (nonresident)* annually $3
Annual Member annually 10
Sustaining Member annually 25
Life Member 100
Fellow 500
Patron 1,000
Associate Benefactor . 10,000
Associate Founder 25,000
Benefactor 50,000
*Persons residing fifty miles or more from New York City
Subscriptions by check and inquiries regarding membership should be
addressed: George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum of Natural
History, New York City.
NATURAL HISTORY: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
FREE TO MEMBERS
Natural History, published bimonthly by the Museum, is sent to all classes
of members as one of their privileges. Through Natural History they are kept
in touch with the activities of the Museum and with the marvels of nature as
they are revealed by study and exploration in various regions of the globe.
COURSES OF POPULAR LECTURES FOR MEMBERS
A series of illustrated lectures, held in the Auditorium of the Museum on
alternate Thursday evenings in the fall and spring of the year, is open only to
members and to those holding tickets given them by members.
Illustrated stories for the children of members are told on alternate Saturday
mornings in the fall and in the spring.
MEMBERS' CLUB ROOM AND GUIDE SERVICE
A room on the third floor of the Museum, equipped with every convenience
for rest, reading, and correspondence, is set apart during Museum hours for the
exclusive use of members. When visiting the Museum, members are also privi-
leged to avail themselves of the services of an instructor for guidance.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY has a record of more
than fifty years of pubHc usefulness, during which its activities have grown and
broadened, until today it occupies a position of recognized importance not only in the
community it unmediately serves but in the educational life of the nation. Every year
brings evidence — in the growth of the Museum membership, in the ever-larger number
of individuals visiting its exhibits for study and recreation, in the rapidly expanding
activities of its school service, in the wealth of scientific information gathered by its
expeditions and disseminated through its publications — of the increasing infiuence
exercised by the institution.
In 1923 no fewer than 1,440,726 individuals visited the Museum as against 1,309,856
in 1922 and 1,174,397 in 1921. All of these people had" access to the exhibition halls
without the payment of any admission fee whatsoever. The EXPEDITIONS of the
American Museum have yielded during the past year results of far-reaching impor-
tance. The fossil discoveries in MongoHa made by the Third Asiatic Expedition, the
representative big-game animals of India obtained by the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedi-
tion, the collections of fossil vertebrates made in the SiwaHk Hills by Mr. Barnum
Brown, the achievements of the Whitney South Sea Expedition, and of other expedi-
tions working in selected areas of South America, in the United States, in the West
Indies, and in Panama, are representative of the field activities of the Museum during
1923. Many habitat groups, exhibiting specimens secured by these expeditions, are
planned for the new buildings of the Museum.
The SCHOOL SERVICE of the Museum reaches annually more than 5,000,000 boys
and girls, through the opportunities if affords classes of students to visit the Museum;
through lectures on natural history especially designed for pupils and delivered both
in the Museum and in many school centers; through its loan collections, or "traveling
museums," which during the past year circulated among 472 schools, with a total
attendance of 1,491,021 pupils. During the same period 440,315 lantern slides were
loaned by the Museum for use in the schools as against 330,298 in 1922, the total
number of children reached being 3,839,283.
LECTURES, some exclusively for members and their friends, others for the general
public, are delivered both in the Museum and at outside educational institutions.
The LIBRARY, comprising 100,000 volumes, is at the service of scientific workers
and others interested in natural history, and an attractive reading room is provided
for their accommodation.
The POPULAR PUBLICATIONS of the Museum, in addition to Natural His-
tory, include Handbooks, which deal with the subjects illustrated by the collections,
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A detailed list of the publications, with prices, may be had upon application to the Librarian
American Museum^ of Natural History, New York City
NATURAL
HISTORY
gi^^^
ASIA
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTI-
NENT BY Henry Fairfield Osborn— LIVING ANIMALS
OF THE GOBI DESERT by Roy Chapman Andrews—
GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL
MONGOLIA BY Charles P. Berkey-JUNGLE LIFE IN
INDIA BY Colonel J. C. Faunthorpe— STALKING TSINE
IN BURMA BY Arthur S. Vernay-THE DISAPPEAR-
ANCE OF THE WILD LIFE OF INDIA by Colonel J. C.
Faunthorpe-EXTINCT ANIMALS OF INDIA by William
D. Matthew-HAINAN-AN ISLAND OF FORBIDDING
REPUTATION by Clifford H. Pope-THROUGH THE
YANGTZE GORGES TO WAN HSIEN by Anna G.
Granger-IN the realm OF THE KAMCHATKA
BLACK BEAR by Waldemar Jochelson i** i** iii^
The American Museum is greatly indebted to naturalists and officials
of India, China, and Mongolia for their cooperation in assembling mate-
rials representative of the great continent of Asia
^^
H JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ^S>
k^iilJaaLlJAlnJflfAMiiJrliaHBuaupjut
EXPLORATION -RESEARCH-EDUCATION
f^u^^n^^mm
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Scientific Staff for 1924
Henet Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., President
Frederic A. Lucas, Sc.D., Honorary Director
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Acting Director and Executive Secretary
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc, Assistant Director (Scientific Section)
James L. Clark, Assistant Director (Preparation Section)
I. DIVISION OF MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY,
AND GEOGRAPHY
History of the Earth
Edmund Otis Hovey, Ph.D., Curator
Chester A. Reeds, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Inverte-
brate Palaeontology
Minerals and Gems
Herbert P. Whitlock, C. E., Curator
George F. Kunz, Ph.D., Research Associate in Gems
Extinct Animals
Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu-
rator . _,, . ,
W. D. Matthew, Ph.D. Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals
Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles
Charles C. Mook, Ph.D., Associate Curator
Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology
II. DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE-
OGRAPHY
Marine Life
Roy W. Miner, Ph.D., Curator
WiLLARD G. Van Name, Ph.D., Assistant Curator
Frank J. Myers, Research Associate in Rotifera
Horace W. Stunkard, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para-
sitology . .
A. L. Treadwell, Ph.D., Research Associate in Annulata
Insect Life
Frank E. Lutz, Ph.D., Curator
A. J. Mutchler, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera
Frank E. Watson, B.S., Assistant in Lepidoptera
William M.Wheelee, Ph.D., Research Associate in Social
Insects
Charles W. Leng, B.S., Research Associate in Coleoptera
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Research Associate in
Hymenoptera
Fishes
Bashford Dean, Ph.D., Honorary Curator
JohnT. Nichols, A.B., Associate Curator of Recent Fishes
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D., Associate in Ichthyology
Charles H. Townsbnd, Sc.D., Research Associate
Amphibians and Reptiles
G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D., Curator
Birds
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief
W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator
Robert Cushman Murphy, D.Sc, Associate Curator of
Marine Birds
James P. Chapin, Ph.D:, Associate Curator of Birds of the
Eastern Hemisphere
Ludlow Griscom, M.A., Assistant Curator
Jonathan Dwight, M.D., Research Associate in North
American Ornithology
Elsie M. B. Naumburg, Research Associate
Mammals of the World
H. E. Anthony, A.M., Associate Curator of Mammals of
the Western Hemisphere (In Charge)
Herbert Lang, Associate Curator of African Mammals
Carl E. Akeley, Associate in Mammalogy
Comparative and Human Anatomy
William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
S. H. Chubb, Associate Curator
H. C. Raven, Assistant Curator
J. Howard McGregor, Ph.D., Research Associate in
Human Anatomy
III. DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Science of Man
Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
N. C. Nelson, M.L., Associate Curator of Archaeology
Charles W. Mead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Archae-
ology
Louis R. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Physica
Anthropology
Clarence L. Hay, A.M., Research Associate in Mexican
and Central American Archaeology
MiLO Hellman, D.D.S., Research Associate in Physical
Anthropology
Animal Functions
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator
IV. DIVISION OF ASIATIC EXPLORATION
AND RESEARCH
Third Asiatic Expedition
Roy Chapman Andrews, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Palaeontology
Frederick K. Morris, A.M., Associate Curator in Geology
and Geography
Charles P. Berkey, Ph.D., [Columbia University], Re-
search Associate in Geology
Amadeus W. Grabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Research Associate
Clifford H. Pope, Assistant in Zoology
V. DIVISION OF EDUCATION AND PUB-
LICATION
Library and Publications
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Ida Richardson Hood, A.B., Assistant Librarian
Public Education
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D., Curator of Visual Instruction
Grace Fisher Ramsey, Assistant Curator
Public Health
Charles-Edward Amory Winslow, D.P.H., Honorary
Curator
Mary Greig, Assistant Curator
Astronomy
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D. (In Charge)
Public Information Committee
George N. Pindar, Chairman
George H. Sherwood, A.M.
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc.
Natural History Magazine
Herbert F. Schwaez, A.M., Editor and Chairman
A. Katherine Berger, Assistant Editor
Advisory Committee
H. E. Anthony, A.M. Frederick K. Morris, A.M.
James P. Chapin, Ph.D. Q. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D.
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D. George N. Pindar
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
DEVOTED TO NATURAL HISTORY,
EXPLORATION AND THE DEVELOP-
MENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
THROUGH THE MUSEUM
MARCH- APRIL, 1924
[Published April, 1924]
Volume XXIV, Number 2
Copyright, 1924, by The American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
ATURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR MARCH-APRIL Number 2
The Discovery of an Unknown Continent Henry Fairfield Osborn 132
The past history of Gobia revealed through the fossil finds of the Third Asiatic Expedition
With restorations by Charles R. Knight and E. Rungius Fulda, photographs of the region, and explana-
tory maps
The Living Animals of the Gobi Desert Roy Chapman Andrews 150
With special emphasis upon some of the fleet-footed types
Illustrations by J. B. Shackelford, official photographer of the Third Asiatic Expedition
Geological Reconnaissance in Central Mongolia .... Charles P. Berkey 160
How the data are gathered from which the past history of the region may be read
With original maps, diagrams, and photographs
Jungle Life in India, Burma, and Nepal Col. J. C. Faunthorpe 174
Some notes on the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition of 1923
Pictures of big game and of the type of country in which some of the animals are found, by G. M. Dyott,
photographer and cinematographer of the expedition
Stalking Tsine in Burma Arthur S. Vernay 199
One of the most arduous hunts in which the members of the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition participated
With photographs of the animal and of the bamboo jungles through which it is tracked
The Disappearance of the Wild Life of India Col. J. C. Faunthorpe 204
a survey of the dangei s that menace that country's superb fauna
With a photograph of one of the representative animals of India
Fossil Animals of India William D. Matthew 208
The importance of the collections made by the SiwaHk Hills Indian Expedition under Barnum Brown
With pictures of some of the finds
Hainan Clifford H. Pope 215
An island of forbidding reputation that proved an excellent collecting ground
Scenes of the region and portraits of some of the Chinese that participated in this undertaking of the
Third Asiatic Expedition
Through the Yangtze Gorges to Wan Hsien Anna G. Granger 224
A colorful account of the adventures that await the collector who visits out-of-the-way places in China
With photographs of scenes along the route
In the Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear Waldemar Jochelson 236
Observations made in the course of the Kamchatka Expedition of the Imperial Russian Geographical
Society
Illustrated by photographs taken along the mountainous Osernaya River and at Lake Kuril, the objective
of the expedition
Some Drums and Drum Rhjd^hms of Jamaica . Helen H. Roberts 241
Observations made during a field trip under the auspices of the Folklore Foundation of Vassar College
and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
With photographs of drums in the collections of the American Museum
Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper E. W. Gudger 252
A common West Indian fish
With a photograph by Elwin R. Sanborn of the New York Zoological Society
The Schoolhouse of the World William K. Gregory 254
With a humorous sketch by Erwin S. Christman
The Coming Five Years, 1924-1928, of the Third Asiatic Expedition
Roy Chapman Andrews 256
"A Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster " G. Clyde Fisher 258
a review of a volume with an educational mission
"Galapagos: World's End" H. F. Schwarz 259
a Re%'iew of Mr. William Beebe's new book
Notes 260
Published bimonthly, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
Subscription price $3.00 a year.
Subscriptions should be addressed to George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum
of Natural History, 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Natural History is sent to all members of the American Museum as one of the privileges of
membership.
Entered as second-class matter April 3, 1919, at the Post Office at New York, New York,
under the Act of August 24, 1912.
Acceptance for maUing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of
October 3, 1917, authorized on July 15, 1918.
The Cover Design Explained
The cover design of Natural History, fittingly commemorating
by its Chinese character the important discoveries made in that general
area of the East by the Third Asiatic Expedition, requires, in order that
it may be properly appreciated, a word of explanation. This has been
supplied by Prof. Frederick K. Morris, of the Third Asiatic Expedition,
to whom the editor is under obligations not only for his helpfulness in
connection with the cover design but for valued counsel throughout the
preparation of the issue.
Below the panel at the base of the cover appear the Chinese words
for "American Museum of Natural History," between the handsome
circular symbols expressing "long life." The undulations that extend
just above the Chinese characters and between the long-life symbols are
the conventional sea waves of Chinese design. Along the upper border
of the basal panel clouds are shown, these being invariably introduced in
association with the wave motive. The royal dragons, rising, as they
should, from the waves through the clouds, enclose at the top of the cover
the Chinese word Asia, the continent to which the subject matter of the
issue is predominantly devoted. -Read symbolically, the cover may be
interpreted as denoting "Long life to the work of the American Museum
of Natural History in Asia!"
The elements of the design were suggested by Prof. Henry Fairfield
Osborn. Their assemblage into an attractive ensemble and artistic
embellishment is the work of Mr. William E. Belanske. To Dr. Lucius
C. Porter the magazine is indebted for valuable help in preparing the
Chinese symbols. Doctor Porter is dean of Yen Ching University,
Peking, and during the present year is exchange professor of Chinese at
Columbia University.
Africa
Africa has been the objective of a number of expeditions sent out by
the American Museum, some of them consuming years. The experiences
and observations of those participating in these expeditions might fill
volumes, but from the generality of memories have been culled a few of
outstanding interest for inclusion in the May-June issue of Natural
History.
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NATURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV
MARCH-APRIL
Number 2
The Discovery of an Unknown Continent
By henry FAIRFIELD OSBORN
Honorary Curator of Vertebrate Palseontology, American Museum
The name Gobia, alluding to the Gobi Desert of southern Mongolia, is given by geologists
to a hitherto imknown continental surface in the heart of Asia, the history and life of which is
being made known by the explorers of the Third Asiatic Expedition. The present article is a
summary of the outstanding discoveries already made and of their significance in elucidating
the past history of the earth. It is also a forecast of discoveries which may still be made in
the projected five-years' work of the expedition.
THE ancient continent of Asia in
the early part of the Age of
Dinosaurs was so entirely differ-
ent, both in geography and in climate,
from the present continent of Asia that
the familiar modern geographic names
would have no significance. Conse-
quently, the palseogeographer forms a
league with the palaeontologist to
describe the animal life; with the
palseobotanist to describe the plant
life; with the palaeometeorologist to
deduce the climate from the plant and
animal life; and together they give all
the information they can to the geol-
ogist, on whose rugged shoulders falls
the final responsibility of describing
the past history of Asia, the "mother of
continents." It is this friendly con-
spiracy of the scientists which is
surveying Asia as it were from a very
lofty aeroplane, visualizing it as it was
long before there were any such moun-
tain ranges as the Altai or the Hima-
laya, when the seas flowed over the
areas of the present mountain tops,
when the present great plains, steppes,
and table-lands were nonexistent, when
not a single form of animal life known
today existed, even before what seems
to us the far-distant Age of Dinosaurs.
It is most interesting to note that such
a period ''before the mountains were
brought forth or ever Thou didst form
the earth and the world" was also in
the mind of Shakespeare, for in Henry
IV occurs the remarkable passage.
King Henry. O heaven! that one might read
the book of fate;
And see the revolution of the times
Make mountains level, and the continent
Weary of solid firmness, melt itself
Into the sea! and, other times, to see
The beachy girdle of the ocean
Too wide for Neptune's hips; how chances
mock,
And changes fill the cup of alteration
With divers liquors!
The period we are interested in is that
in which the previously unknown con-
tinental surface of Mongolia emerged
from sea level. The palseogeographers
Edouard Suess of Vienna, Bailey Willis
of the United States Geological Sur-
vey, and Amadeus Grabau, formerly of
Columbia University and now of the
Geological Survey of China, have named
the elements of a titanic archipelago
which preceded the present continent of
Asia. To the north of Gobia was the
solid land of the Angara of Suess,
taking in a large part of Siberia; to
the west was the MongoUan insular
plateau, embracing the Gobi, the Tarim,
and Dzungaria; to the southeast was a
133
134
NATURAL HISTORY
great plateau corresponding with exist-
ing Tibet; occupying a large part of the
present peninsula of India was the
hypothetical Gondwana land mass of
Suess, which, according to the hypo-
rose in the heart of Asia during the
early period of the Age of Reptiles and
has persistently been rising despite
the erosion of the mountain summits
bordering its sides, rather than sinking
Palseogeography of Asia. — To the north, are the remnants of the granitic continent named
Angara by Suess ; to the south, the remnants of the continent named Gondwana by Suess,
who beUeved that it encircled the Southern Hemisphere; in the center, the continent of Gobi a,
which corresponds with modern Mongolia. Between these ancient land masses there flowed
the tides of epi-continental seas directly over regions which are now the mountain summits of
the Himalaya, the Altai, and other great mountain ranges. These mountain ranges are relatively
youthful; they arose during the Age of Mammals. (See the pictorial table on p. 139.)
thesis of this distinguished author of
The Face of the Earth, extended around
the southern hemisphere like a great
girdle, bridging both the South Atlantic
and the Pacific oceans. Between these
ancient land masses were areas of shal-
low seas, known to geologists as geo-
synclines, and finally destined to
emerge as great mountain ranges. It
remained for Grabau to give the name
GoBiA, derived from the present Gobi
Desert, to the great land mass which
back to sea level. Gobia, therefore,
hitherto a reputed but historically un-
known continental surface, is that
portion of the heart of Asia of which the
Third Asiatic Expedition is writing the
history.
It requires constructive imagination
tempered by cold facts, as well as some
moral courage, to put forward a map
of Gobia at the present time. ''Fan-
tastic and useless" will be the first
criticism of many scientists, while
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTINENT
135
others will regard it more truthfully as
a tentative or working hypothesis that
will be very materially altered by the
time the Third Asiatic Expedition has
completed its thorough survey of
Mongolia. In the meantime, let us
imagine that such an unknown con-
tinental land mass existed, raised three
or four thousand feet above sea level,
thus enjoying a relatively dry and
stimulating climate. The mountains
which bordered it on the north and south
furnished a double shelter, serving to
give it a relatively temperate climate
and a moderate rain supply. One of
the most interesting conclusions already
reached by the geologists is that this
great plateau had only a very moderate
rain supply from the very beginning of
its history and even passed through
certain long periods of aridity.
FORMATIONS AND LIFE ZONES
These secular cycles of moisture
and drought are recorded in the kinds of
rocks scattered in very broad but rel-
atively thin layers or formations over
the borders of this great upland coun-
try. These formations are known as
epi-continental because they are laid on
the surface of the continent and con-
tain land fossils, as distinguished from
those laid along the sea borders of the
continent, which invariably contain
marine shells. A formation is local;
it may be one hundred miles or several
hundred miles in extent, whereas the
'life zone' may extend around the
world.
In the list of popular and scientific
papers which have already been written
about the Third Asiatic Expedition, as
shown at the end of this article, are in-
cluded those containing preliminary
descriptions of the various assemblages
of life to which we give the collective
name life zones, the meaning of which
may be indicated by reference to
present life conditions, or rather to
conditions which prevailed before civil-
ized man destroyed the life zones which
he found encircling the Northern Hemi-
sphere. For example, (2) the life zone of
the stag of the genus Cervus (see zonal
map p. 136) extends between the
fiftieth and sixtieth parallel of lati-
tude, from Great Britain directly
across northern Europe, central Asia,
and North America as far east as New
York and New England. Similarly,
just north is (3) the life zone of the
moose of the genus Alces, which ex-
tends from Maine through northern
United States and southern Canada
directly across to Scandinavia. Also
in (3) to the north is the life zone of the
reindeer of the genus Rangifer, extend-
ing from Scandinavia across northern
Europe, Asia, and North America.
South of the natural zone of the stag
and practically parallel with it is (1) the
life zone of the bison, a typical animal
of the plains. The reason each of these
animals keeps to its own life zone is
that each seeks forms of plants and
degrees of temperature which it most
en j oys . All animals have their pleasures
in life, their likes and dislikes in food
and in climate. As humorously ex-
pressed in the Munich adage: Ein
jedes Tierchen hat sein Plaisirchen; that
is, each little beast has its feast. This
natural principle of the enjoyment of
life— that like seeks like — -is of very
great aid to the geologist and palae-
ontologist because it applies not only in
recent time but far back into the most
remote periods of geologic time.
As " birds of a feather flock together,"
and mammals of the same species
migrate together, so dinosaurs of
similar forms and habits of life found
their way into similar environments
around the whole Northern Hemi-
The Northern Hemisphere, showing the three great life zones which encircled the polar
regions. (1) Fortieth to fiftieth parallel: favorite zone of the dinosaurs during the Age of Rep-
tiles and of the hardy bison, or northern cattle, during the Age of Mammals. (2) Fiftieth
to sixtieth parallel: zone near the southern border of which dinosaurs have been discovered;
zone of the Cervus, the hardy northern stag, and the wapiti in the Age of Mammals. (3) Area
north of the sixtieth parallel; zone in which Cretaceous terrestrial life is Still unknown; zone of
the reindeer, Rangifer, and of the moose, Alces, in recent times
136
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTINENT
137
Map of Mongolia (heavy black lines) superimposed upon map of the United States. —
Both regions are drawn to the same scale, and their latitudes, fortieth to fiftieth parallel,
coincide. Dotted lines show the route of the expedition. The chief fossil dinosaur locali-
ties of the United States are indicated by solid black triangles and the chief fossil mammal
localities by solid black circles; those of Mongolia appear as open triangles and open circles,
with index numbers signifying: (1) Ashile, (2) Ondai Sair, (3) Djadochta, (4) Iren Dabasu,
(5) Gashato, (6) Irdin Manha and Arshanto, (7) Shara Murun, (8) Ardyn Obo, (9) Hsanda
Gol (west) and Houldjin (east), (10) Loh, (11) Hung Kureh, (12) Olan Diske
sphere. They may have wandered
out of their favorite Ufe zone — they
probably did — but their remains are
found in greatest number between the
parallels of latitude and along the
ancient isotherms of climate where life
was most agreeable to them. This very
interesting observation of the general
likeness of past life zones with existing
life zones is made clear when we pro-
ject an outline map of Mongolia upon
an outline map of the United States
as indicated in the map figured above.
Taking the line of the fortieth parallel
as a key, we observe that the very
richest dinosaur beds of the close of the
Age of Reptiles that have been dis-
covered in the United States and
Canada during the past half century
are not far distant in latitude from those
we have found recently in Gobia. Thus
the great life-zone belt of the horned
dinosaurs lies chiefly between the forti-
eth and forty-fifth parallels and extends
like a broad ribbon of dinosaur domi-
nance over the ancient continent of
Gobia eastward and westward. The
reason why this belt of dinosaur life is
broken is that most of the formations
that contained these fossils at inter-
mediate points have all been washed
away and destroyed by water erosion or
by the great glaciers of the Ice Age.
We know that dinosaurs closely re-
lated to those found in Mongolia in the
Upper Cretaceous occur as far west as
Great Britain and as far east as the
New Jersey coast in the United States.
These remnants of the dinosaur belt
do not prove by any means that these
reptiles lived in colonies or in isolated
patches; on the contrary, it is highly
138
NATURAL HISTORY
TABLE OF LIFE ZONES
if)
llJ
PERIODS
PLEISTOCENE:)
ROCKY
MOUNTAINS
MONGOLIA
12
<
z:
<
b-
O
LiJ
PLIOCENE
II
MIOCENE
OLIGOCENE
9
4
EOCENE
6
PALEOCENE
CO
LJ
-1
UJ
cc
b.
O
liJ
UPPER
CRETACEOUS
LOWER
cretaceous
(comanchean)
2
JURASSIC
<
TRIASSIC
■
4
1
■
The chief Ufe zones
thus far discovered bv
the Third Asiatic Ex-
pedition in ISIongoUa
(right-hand column 12
-1) as compared with
Hfe zones known in
the Rocky Mountain
region (center column).
In descending order
these hfe zones of Mon-
goha are: Olan Diske
(12) , Pleistocene ; Hung
Kureh (11), Upper
Pliocene, Cervus zone;
Loh (10), Lower Mio-
cene, primitive mas-
todon zone; Hsanda
Gol and Houldjin (9),
Oligocene, Baluchither-
ium zone; ArdynObo
(8), Lower Oligocene;
Shara Murun (7), Up-
per Eocene, protitan-
othere zone; Irdin
Manha — Arshanto and
Pang Kiang (6), L^pper
Eocene; Gashato (5),
Lower Eocene. The
precise positions of
these life zones remain
to be determined by
more thorough investi-
gation. Iren Dabasu
(4), Upper Cretaceous
zone ; D jadochta : (3) ,
Protoceratops zone;
Ondai Sair (2). Proti-
guanodon zone; Ashile
(1) Psittacosaurus zone.
Mr. Walter Granger,
palaeontologist of the
expedition, is prepar-
ing a paper for the
Bulletin describing each
of these life zones
probable that, like the stag, the rein-
deer, the moose, and the bison, these
remnants represent formerly continu-
ous life zones.
We thus reach the broad significance
of the two outstanding discoveries of
the Third Asiatic Expedition: first,
the discovery of a hitherto unknown
and extremely ancient continental sur-
face of Gobia right in the heart of Asia,
where the conditions were highly fav-
orable for the origin and evolution of
all forms of continental life over a period
of time variously estimated as from ten
milhons to sixty millions of years in
duration; second, the discover}^ that
this inland continent lay at the very
center of a series of great life-zone belts
which extended around the Eastern
and Western Hemispheres, along the
fines of the fortieth and fort}' -fifth
parallels. Hitherto we have known
only the eastern and western ends of
these great broad bands of hfe; now
we are exploring in the very center of
these life zones.
The animals and plants of these life
zones enable us to reckon the steps or
stages in the passage of geologic time
— not the length of time but the sue-
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTINENT
139
cessive divisions of time. For example,
dinosaur time in Mongolia is also dino-
saur time to the far east in New Jersey
and to the far west in Great Britain.
The Age of Dinosaurs is succeeded by
the Age of Mammals, when we find
zones represents a very long period of
time in which it is possible for a com-
munity of mammal life to be estabHshed
by eastern and western migration.
In the diagram on the opposing page
these life zones are indicated by black
Periods
Dates of lioun+ain
-Making in Asia.
Life Z ones Dfscovei-€d
Oy +lit. E>tpedi + ion
"Si "y^ V Detr.Horse, Ostrich
Primitive mo5todon
Baluchitherium
Titanothere
Primitive Mammois
TrQchodont Dinosaurs"
Dinosaur Eqqs
(Much enlartjtd)
Souropod Dinosaurs
Popularized summary by Prof. Frederick K. Morris of the chief palaeontologic discoveries,
of the Third Asiatic Expedition during the seasons of 1922-23. The reader is referred to the
map on p. 134 for comparative study
closely similar species of mammals
occupying these broad east and west
life zones along similar climatic iso-
therms. By means of this great palae-
ontologic clock we are able to sub-
divide the ages more closely. For ex-
ample, the dawn period of the Age of
Mammals is known as Eocene time,
derived from Greek rjois (dawn) and
Katvos (recent). In the Rocky Moun-
tain Eocene we have discovered during
the past thirty years no less than six-
teen distinct mammal life zones, one
above the other; each of these life
bands placed in a Rocky Mountain
column and a Mongolia column. Bands
across both columns indicate those life
zones already discovered in both Mon-
golia and North America. It will be
seen that there are still a great many
gaps in the Mongolia column; to fill
these gaps is one of the main objects of
the continuation of the Third Asiatic
Expedition for the next five years.
THE NEW CONTINENT OF ANCESTRAL
DINOSAUR LIFE
In the lower half of the table on
p. 138 the reader will see a series of en-
140
NATURAL HISTORY
tirely new epi-continental life zones,
which are of Lower Cretaceous age —
new, because upland formations of this
age have never before been discovered
and the upland life has not been known
before. This part of the column corre-
sponds in time with rocks deposited
near sea level in North America to
which the name Comanchean has been
applied because they are now best
known in lands formerly inhabited by
the Comanche Indians. Gobia is not
only a new continent; it is a new world
of ancestral dinosaur life. Here we are
in the halfway period of dinosaur evo-
lution— the great amphibious dinosaurs
of the preceding Jurassic Period are
dying out ; we are now in the beginning
of the reign of land dinosaurs and espe-
cially of the upland dinosaurs living
away from the sea. Among the hitherto
unknown dinosaurs of various kinds
are those listed in the table on the
opposing page.
The first four dinosaurs listed in
this table are the only ones thus
far described from the wonderful
collection of seventy-two skulls and
eleven complete skeletons found in the
life zone oiProtoceratopsandrewsi, which
is destined to become one of the classic
life zones of the world.
ANCIENT DINOSAUR LIFE ZONES OF THE
LOWER CRETACEOUS
Below this classic Protoceratops life
zone are the two dinosaurs named at
the bottom of the list on p. 141; they
may prove to be of similar geologic
age, probably Upper Jurassic or Lower
Cretaceous. The httle animal Psit-
tacosaurus, about a yard's length,
is superbly preserved exactly as it
coiled up before being overtaken by
sudden death. A really remarkable
feature is the presence of two bony
horns bristling out at the side of the
head as a warning to hungry carnivores;
there is also evidence of skin armature
to protect the side of the jaw and the
sensitive throat, which leads to the
belief that this little leaf -eating animal
was developing in the direction of
defense by means of dermal arma-
ture rather than of escape from its
enemies by speed. In contrast, there
is the Protiguanodon, also a leaf-
eater, which was apparently developing
rapid powers of locomotion upon its
hind limbs; this animal was found
eighty-five miles distant from Psitta-
cosaurus, but may be of the same
geologic age. Psittacosaurus was dis-
covered in the year 1922 in a formation
1500 feet in thickness. Among these
beds were deposits of fine paper shales
containing insects which will give us
an insight into the climate; this was
probably humid. Evidence of humidity
is found in the presence in the same life
zone of giant amphibious dinosaurs,
surviving from Jurassic time and known
as Sauropoda, which could have lived
only in great swamps or shallow lakes.
A wet period is indicated also in the
Ondai Sair beds, 500 feet in thickness,
in which the leaf-eating Protiguanodon
is found. This superb skeleton oc-
curred in deposits of gray sands and
gravels, overlying which were paper
shales containing remains of both the
insect and fish fauna of the time. The
animal most nearly allied to the Proti-
guanodon is the dinosaur known as
Hypsilophodonfoxi, found in the Lower
Cretaceous or Wealden, named after
the "weald" of Sussex, England. This
dinosaur has teeth adapted to leaf-
eating like those of certain iguanid
lizards.
THE ANCESTORS OF THE HORNED
DINOSAURS
The overlying Djadochta beds,
which contain in such abundance the
Protoceratops andrewsi and the three
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTINENT
141
PERIOD
SCIENTIFIC NAME
SIGNIFICANCE
LIFE AND HABITS
^ Protoceratops
Ancestor of the great Ameri-
An herbivorous
andrewsi
' can dinosaur Triceratops,
with horns above its eyes.
This is one of the animals
which laid the now fa-
mous dinosaur eggs that
in turn have made "dino-
saur" a household word
all over the civilized
world.
dinosaur.
Fenestrosaurus
A small birdlike dinosaur,
Egg-eating or ovi-
Beginning of
philoceratops
remains of which were
vorous. Thisdino-
Upper
found resting on top of
sairr was without
Cretaceous
one of the nests of dino-
teeth.
Time
saur eggs; hence the
specific name philocera-
tops, signifying "ceratops
lover."
Ornithoides oshiensis
A name given in allusion to
A dinosaur birdlike
the fact that the reptile was
in its skull form.
found in the basin Oshih,
with numerous teeth.
Ovoraptor djadochtari
A wonderfully alert little
Swift-moving, car-
egg-snatcher, hence Ovo-
nivorous dinosaur.
raptor of the Djadochta
■
formation.
Psittacosaurus
A parrot-beaked little dino-
Leaf-eating
mongoliensis
saur of Mongolia, found
in the formation known
as Ashile.
dinosaur.
Protiguanodon
A possible ancestor of the
Leaf -eating
mongoliense
great iguanodonts of the
dinosaur.
Lower
Upper Cretaceous, leaf-
eating dinosaurs which
extended over the whole
Cretaceous
Time
Northern Hemisphere,
the name iguanodont re-
ferring to the fact that
these reptiles had teeth
resembling those of some
iguanid lizards which are
^
herbivorous.
raptorial dinosaurs Fenestrosaurus,
Ornithoides, and Ovoraptor, indicate
an entire change of climate into a
semi-arid condition, which is demon-
strated by the manner in which the
fossilized remains are found, namely, in
a fine reddish. sand partly of wind origin,
partly deposited in shallow lakes or
flood plains. Much of this sand is non-
cohesive and can readily be removed
with the tool. Probably at this time
Gobia was assuming the appearance of
a savanna country, partly open,
partly forested, with evaporating or
142
NATURAL HISTORY
i^^^^^^^^^^,,,^,,^^,,,,^..,^
»"^p
ff»"^
The American Museum camp on top of the Lower Cretaceous formation of Ashile. — The
elevation extending along the back is Oshih Mesa, which gives the region its name. It was here
that the Third Asiatic Expedition discovered remnants of a giant amphibious dinosaur repre-
senting the order Sauropoda
playa lakes such as we now observe in
Nevada. The Djadochta formation,
which was deposited in this way, is 500
feet in thickness and is now eroded
into chffs of glorious flame-color, at the
foot of which dinosaur remains were
found. This will become one of the
classic formations of the world, because
of the extreme richness and variety of
the fossils found there, giving us an
insight into the entire life of the un-
known period. Absolutely unique in
the records of palseontologic discovery
are the stages of development of the
frill-necked Protoceratops andrewsi, the
species named for the leader of the
Third Asiatic Expedition, because it
gives us all stages, from the little skele-
ton contained in the egg up to the fully
matured animal, which had the general
appearance shown in the frontispiece of
this article. Only the very closest
examination of the skull above the
orbits and above the nostrils reveals the
minute rudiments of horns above the
eyes to which the family name Cera-
topsidse refers. In life these were
covered with dermal horns serving as
defense against the carnivorous dino-
saurs. The bony frill at the back of
the skull protects the most sensitive
part of the neck, that which was most
exposed to attack among the reptiles
and among the mammals. The three
kinds of carnivorous dinosaurs already
found were incapable of attacking
the Protoceratops. Doubtless in time
we shall discover carnivorous dinosaurs
of larger size.
DINOSAUR LIFE ZONES OF UPPER
CRETACEOUS AGE
The animals described above are all
new to science ; they are doubtless an-
cestral to the great dinosaurs of the
Upper Cretaceous, which extended
their sway over the whole Northern
Hemisphere, chiefly in traveling east-
ward and westward between the for-
tieth and forty-fifth parallels of lati-
tude. Fortunately we discovered at
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTINENT
143
i^merican Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
This locality yielded the ancestor of the iguanodont family known as Psittacosaurus. The
superbly preserved skeleton of this animal, which is about seven feet in length from head to
tail, was found somewhat to the right of the picture, in the deep cut that extends in that
direction. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
Iren Dabasu an Upper Cretaceous dino- topsian dinosaurs in this bed, probably
saur bed containing at least three kinds
of carnivorous and herbivorous dino-
saurs, the remains of which were exca-
vated from several great quarries near
because it represents a shore level
deposit rather than the upland deposit
in which the horned herbivorous dino-
saurs would naturally occur.
SCIENTIFIC NAME
SIGNIFICANCE
LIFE AND HABITS
Iguanodontia
Bipedal dinosaurs living along shore lines
Large leaf-eating
and having teeth like those of some of the
dinosaurs.
iguanid lizards.
Ornithomimidse
Ostrich-mimicking dinosaurs.
Slender, browsing dino-
saurs, toothless.
Theropoda
Having three-toed clawed feet like the birds.
Large flesh-eating dino-
saurs.
the salt playa lake, which gives the
Mongol name " Iren Dabasu." We have
not yet had time to study these animals
with care but in size and proportions
they remind us strongly of the Upper
Cretaceous iguanodonts and carnivores
of Wyoming and Montana, belonging
to at least three types— the iguano-
dont, the large carnivore, and the
ostrich-mimic type. Singularly enough,
we have not thus far found the cera-
The difference between the Iren
Dabasu beds and the more ancient
Protoceratops beds is that, in the inter-
val of time separating the two, broad
land connections were formed with
Europe on the west and with North
America on the east, and the dinosaurs
had begun to migrate in large numbers
in both directions but especially, it is
believed, into North America. Con-
'sequently, we expect to find that the
144
NATURAL HISTORY
J'
ttifn OSo Shiit^Tukk Ubu Ostn'k
(^aika_f s
j
Page from the diary of Mr. Walter Granger. — In all Mongolia Urga, the capital, with
20,000 inhabitants, is the only city. Two towns, Uliassutai and Kobdo, correspond in size
with our villages. Other localities indicated on maps as towns are merely wells or springs of salt
deposits — stopping places for caravans. These localities have picturesque names; for example,
Iren Dabasu, "Valley of the Salt Lake," Irdin Manha, "Valley of the Jewels."
dinosaurs of Iren Dabasu have close
relatives among the dinosaurs of
Wyoming and Montana. When dino-
saurs migrated, they did not change
their characteristics; it is possible that
we may discover either identical or
very closely related species in Mongolia
and in Montana, as we did among the
mammals of more recent age. In Iren
Dabasu also there will be found dino-
saurs of less adventurous spirit, which
did not migrate to America at all but
preferred to travel in the direction of
Europe. The result of these differences
in migrating habit is that in western
Europe we find large shore-living, leaf-
eating iguanodonts very different in
details of structure from their con-
temporaries in America.
In Upper Cretaceous time the land
dinosaurs were absolutely dominant in
the great life zone encircling two-thirds
of the Northern Hemisphere. Rem-
nants of this dinosaur empire have been
discovered in Great Britain, France,
Belgium, Austria Hungary, and Mon-
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTINENT
145
golia. It is highly probable that when
the whole high plateau region of Asia is
known, the geographic gaps in this great
life zone will be filled; at present we
depend chiefly upon the extraordinary
yield of the Cretaceous dinosaur beds of
Alberta, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado
and northern New Mexico for our
knowledge of the entire dinosaur world.
In its majestic forms — such as the
great carnivore Tyrannosaurus, the
three-horned herbivore Triceratops, the
slow-moving and heavily-armored
Ankylosaurus, the stately shore-living
and amphibious trachodonts, the fleet-
footed, bird-mimicking Ornithomimus
and the ostrich-mimicking Struthio-
mimus — it presents an assemblage of
life not paralleled before or since in
the whole history of the earth. The
only life period approaching it is that
which marked the close of the Age of
Mammals, when the horses, giraffes,
elephants, hippopotami, and other
quadrupeds reached the acme of their
evolution.
At the very moment of this great life
climax, which had been in the process
of evolution during the entire Age of
Reptiles, namely, during Triassic,
Jurassic, and Cretaceous times, the
whole dinosaur world became extinct.
Among the many theories as to the
cause of this extinction not the least
probable are that the dinosaurs failed
to protect their young, either during
the nesting stage or immediately after
hatching, or that some new marauder
(such as we named Ovoraptor) of the
dinosaur nests arose which sought out
the eggs and fed upon their rich food
supply. In this connection the dis-
covery of three kinds of dinosaur eggs
in three separate nests is extraordi-
narily interesting, and of this we shall
speak more fully in another number of
Natural History.
CHIEF LIFE ZONES OF THE AGE OF
MAMMALS THAT HAVE BEEN
DISCOVERED
The extinction period of the dino-
saurs marked the dawn of the Age of
Mammals. The life conditions in
Gobia, wonderfully favorable to the
production of a great variety of dino-
saurs, were no less favorable to the origin
and development of highly varied mam-
malian life, and especially does this
apply to the five-toed ancestors of the
hoofed animals. Discovery of the an-
cestral five-toed horses, tapirs, rhinoc-
eroses, and titanotheres, which we are
confident will be found on the border
line between the Age of Reptiles and the
Age of Mammals, is another of the main
reasons for the continuation of the
Third Asiatic Expedition.
The chief fossil sites thus far dis-
covered have been enumerated in
descending geologic order in the follow-
ing list. The localities (1) to (4) have
been omitted in this connection as
they are treated elsewhere in the text.
The geographic position of these several
sites is indicated in the map of Mongo-
lia that has been superimposed upon
the map of the United States (see p. 137) .
Olan-diske [or Disek] (12). These beds
were investigated by J. G. Andersson and are
reported in his "Essays on the Cenozoic of
Northern China" (Memoirs of Geological Sur-
vey of China, Ser. A, No. 3, March, 1923). The
localities are in southern Mongolia, not far
from Tabul, in the level country south of the
American Museum camp No. 1. At Olan are
sands, well stratified, and exposed to a depth
of 50 feet; with clay intercalations, and, at the
base, layers and lenses of angular gravel.
Large bones, which, it was inferred, belonged
to an elephant or mammoth, were collected
here. A rhinoceros skull was brought in from
DisKE. So far these are the only undoubted
Pleistocene fossils of which we have record in
Mongolia.
Hung Kureh (11). The fauna of this
formation is scanty. The most notable of its
animals is a fine stag related to the wapiti
146
NATURAL HISTORY
This restoration by Mr. Charles R. Knight shows a Mesonyx preying upon the skull
of a Loxolophodon. The Mesonyx is a Rocky Mountain relative of the giant carnivorous
mammal Andrewsarchus, named after Leader Roy Chapman Andrews (see p. 147)
or "elk," but fragmentary remains of two or
more antelopes, a small horse, perhaps three-
toed, a large camel, a proboscidean of some
kind, and a beaver show that the animals of
Mongolia at that time were related to the
faunas of the late Pliocene of Europe and early
Pleistocene of North America. To decide
how close the relationship may be, more com-
plete specimens are needed.
LoH (10). In these beds have been found
remains of a primitive mastodont which may
be related to the Trilophodon of France; also
of a rhinoceros whose particular relationships
are not yet known. It has been proved that
this animal is a small Baluchitherium, of
Middle Miocene Age.
HsANDA GoL AND HouLDjiN (9). This is
the life zone of Baluchitherium grangeri, the
giant tree-browsing, hornless rhinoceros. From
this zone Matthew and Granger have described
eight genera of carnivores resembling those
in France and in our Rocky Mountain region ;
nine genera of rodents, including an African
family; two genera of insectivores; a small
hornless rhinoceros, companion of the giant
Baluchitherium; the ancestral type of the deer
family; a member of the giant pig family.
Ardyn Obo (8) . These beds are 500 feet in
thickness, consisting of sands, gravels, and
clays. The life zone resembles that of the
Phosphorites beds of France, containing
especially the amphibious type of rhinoceros
known as Cadurcotherium. Here too are found
the first of the chalicothere family with split
hoofs, known as Schizotherium; also many
primitive wolves, Cynodictis, and the type of
deer, Eumeryx, important because it may be
the ancestor of the deer family, which un-
doubtedly arose in Asia. These beds are re-
garded as of Oligocene age.
Shara Murun (7). This horizon is 150
feet in thickness, consisting of sandy clays
and moulding clays, with sandstone beds at
the top. The clays are rich in fossils, especi-
ally titanotheres, which resemble those of
Lower Oligocene age in northern Wyoming
and South Dakota. This seems to be the
climax of the titanothere period in Mon-
golia. The species Protitanotherium mongo-
liense is almost identical in tooth structure
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTINENT
147
A restoration by Mr. Knight of Loxolophodon, from the Rocky Mountain region. The
presence in Mongoha of an animal belonging to the same order was estabhshed through the
discovery of two of its upper teeth, one by Leader Andrews and the other by Professor Osborn
with Protitanotherium superbiim of northern
Utah. There are also extremely long-limbed
rhinoceroses in this formation, possibly ances-
tral to the long-limbed Baluchitherium.
Irdin Manha — Arshanto, and Pang
KiANG (6). The Irdin Manha is the most
majestic Upper Eocene formation thus far
discovered, probably of flood-plain origin,
extending for a hundred miles north and south
like a gigantic platform. Its life zone is
extremely rich and bears very close re-
semblance to a similar Upper Eocene life
zone of northern Utah, due to the presence of
primitive carnivores, insectivores, and two
kinds of primitive even-toed ungulates. The
two kinds of odd-toed ungulates which domi-
nate are the large titanothere known as
Sphenocoelus and the diminutive cursorial
Desmatotherium — these little animals are
extremely numerous. In this fauna occurs
the giant carnivorous animal named Andrews-
archus after the leader of the expedition, far
surpassing in size the largest of its American
relatives, Mesonyx. Even more surprising is
the discovery in these beds of two teeth, un-
doubtedly belonging to one of the giant uinta-
theres of the Rocky Mountain region. One of
the teeth was found by Leader Andrews, the
other by the present writer. The American
tooth strongly reminds us of the genus Loxo-
lophodon, named from its yoke-crested teeth.
The Arshanto beds consist of reddish clays,
lying at the base of the Irdin Manha, and
have thus far yielded only the remains of
small odd-toed ungulates, probably ancestral
to those which occur in such vast herds in the
Irdin Manha formation. The Pang Kiang
beds are probably older than the Irdin
Manha beds, and are not at all rich in fossils.
They have thus far yielded only the small
jaw of a rodent, not improbably of Middle
Eocene age.
Gashato (5). This formation, 200 feet in
thickness, of brown and red sandy clays, lies
above the Protoceratops zone of Djadochta.
To the keen eye of Mr. Walter Granger it
disclosed a number of small fossil jaws, from
four inches to less than one inch in length,
148
NATURAL HISTORY
found onty in small pockets. So far as ex-
amined, these animals are of archaic type and
we hope to prove that they are the long-sought
mammals of either Upper Cretaceous or
Lower Eocene age. If we find hoofed animals
at this period, we may surely anticipate that
they will have five digits on both the front
and hind foot and we shall be in the presence
of the greatly desired life zone of the five-
toed ungulates.
MAMMALS STILL TO BE DISCOVERED
It is possible that a five-toed period
in the evolution of the higher type of
hoofed mammals may be recognized
in the Gashato formation (5); it is
also possible that this cradle of the
five-toed hoofed race may be in some
other more northerly part of the plateau
. region of Asia. All that we can feel
sm-e of today is that these long-sought
five-toed horses were evolving some-
where in a dry upland countr}^, because
it is only in such a country that the loss
of the first digit of the hand and foot
would occur. Thus we are seeking in
Gobia or to the north a country where
the thumb on the hand and the big toe
of the foot were lost, because when
these quadrupeds arrived in America,
in Lower Eocene time, they had with-
out exception left their thumb and big
toe behind them.
Surprising as is the great list of
mammals akeady discovered, a list
which includes representatives of up-
wards of thirty genera and forty species
of many different families, the long
hst of undiscovered mammals is no less
surprising. We had confidently ex-
pected to find ancestral four-toed horses
in some of these formations; not a
single horse has thus far been found.
This leads us to suspect that the great
horse-breeding country may have been
farther north, on the continental mass
of Angara. Surprising also is the ab-
sence of proboscideans, — of mastodons
or ancestors of the elephant family, —
which first appear in the Loh formation
of Lower Miocene age.
Surprising too is the fact that many
of the mammals thus far discovered are
not new to science, but are more or less
closely related to mammals previously
known either in the Rocky Mountains
or in France. It is not surprising that
we have thus far found no primates,
because these animals are always the
most difficult to discover. We might
expect to find them in suitable en-
vironment of Lower Miocene or later
age, because in some older beds of
France lemuroid primates are rela-
tively abundant.
Therefore, among the chief objects
of the remaining five years of the ex-
pedition are the search for primates,
especially those which may point
toward human ancestry, and the search
for Basal Eocene and Upper Cretace-
ous ancestors of the higher types of
quadrupeds of the Northern Hemi-
sphere. During the remaining period
of the expedition the most dihgent
effort wiU be made and the keenest
powers of observation will be devoted
to filling in these two great gaps in our
knowledge of the mammals of Gobia,
POPULAR AND SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES
In Natural History have appeared several articles from the pen of Mr. Roy Chapman
Andrews dealing with the work of organization and the achievements of the Third Asiatic
Expedition. Among these contributions are "The Motor Truck in Central Asia" (January-
February, 1921), "Scientific Work in Unsettled China" (May-June, 1922), and "Hunting
Takin in the Mountains of Shensi" ( Jul j'- August, 1922). Under the title of "The Extinct
Giant Rhinoceros Baluchitherium of Western and Central Asia" Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn
THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN CONTINENT 149
wrote for the issue of May- June, 1923, an account of one of the most important discoveries of
the expedition, comparing the specimen with other rhinoceroses, hving and extinct.
Beginning in 1922, a series of articles on the Third Asiatic Expedition appeared in
ASIA Magazine as follows: by Mr. Andrews, in 1923, "Setting out for the Buried Treasure of
Mongolia" (April), "A Paradise for Dinosaurs" (May), "Untying Red Tape in Urga" (June),
"Tenting in Lama Land" (July), "A Kentucky Derby in the Gobi Desert" (August), "A
Fossil Hunter's Dream Come True" (October), " Winter-cooled Ardor for Fossils " (November);
in 1924, "Where the Dinosaur Hid Its Eggs" (January), "The Lure of Mongolia" (February);
by Professor Osborn, in 1922, '''Proving Asia the Mother of Continents" (September); in
1923, "Giant Beasts of Three MilUon Years Ago" (September).
In addition to these popular articles and those in the illustrated weeklies of England and
France, the Third Asiatic Expedition has issued a series of twenty-two scientific papers, in-
cluding the first scientific notices of important discoveries of new species of fishes, amphibians,
reptiles, birds, and mammals in China, and of new genera and species of extinct animals in
Mongolia. These papers by various naturalists and geologists — Nichols, Andrews, Bangs,
Fowler, Granger, Berkey, Gregory, Osborn, Allen, Mook, and Matthew — have been published
chiefly in the American Museum Novitates, of which copies may be secured from Dr. R. W.
Tower, librarian of the Museum.
The geological work of the expedition has been presented also in papers read before the
Geological Society of America at its thirty-sixth annual meeting in Washington, D. C. On this
occasion there were presented a joint article by Prof. Charles P. Berkey and Mr. Frederick K.
Morris on "Basin Structures in Mongolia" and a paper on the "Physiography of Mongolia"
by the latter author.
Finally, to sum up the great results of the expedition in worthy form, there is in prepara-
tion a series of demi-quarto volumes under the title Mongolia — Its Past History, the first vol-
ume of which. Geology and Geography, will go to press during the present year.
Living Animals of the Gobi Desert'
By ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS
Leader of the Third Asiatic Expedition
IN the last decade exploration has
assumed a new aspect. The great
geographic land areas, with the
exception of certain regions surrounding
the North and South Poles, have been
visited by white men, and their topo-
graphic features more or less perfectly
described. The new era of exploration
concerns itself with intensive work in
the little-known areas of the world, in
order to make them known scientifically
and economically. Other expeditions
have done work of this character but I
believe that the Third Asiatic Expedi-
tion is unique in the fact that it was
composed of a group of specialists in
various branches of science, all of whom
were concentrating their efforts upon a
single problem.
The great object of the Third Asiatic
Expedition was to test the theory of the
central Asian origin of the mammalian
life of Europe and America. It was
concerned with no department of
science which did not bear directly
upon this problem. Palaeontology,
geology, geography, and zoology were
represented by the staff of specialists
during 1922 and 1923.
In this issue of Natural History
other members of the expedition are
giving reports on their special lines of
work, and it is left for me to present a
general view of the zoology, which was
my particular concern. Reptiles, ba-
trachians, fish, and mammals occupied
the special attention of the zoologists
of the expedition. Studies and collec-
tions in these groups were made most
efficiently by Mr. Chfford Pope, who is
relating in an article in this issue his
experiences on little-known Hainan.
It is the purpose of the expedition to
make collections of reptiles and fishes
in every province of the Chinese
Republic, for no correlated work has
ever been done in China in these
branches of zoology, and the wealth
of new material which Mr. Pope has
obtained gives abundant evidence of
what remarkable opportunities await
us. Mongolia and the Gobi Desert
have such a limited fish and reptile
fauna that Mr. Pope confined himself
to China, leaving to the other members
of the expedition the task of collecting
the few species that exist in the
desert.
The extant mammals are extremely
important in relation to the palae-
ontology of Mongolia and to the exist-
ing forms in other parts of the world.
Just as the fossils show that many
groups of reptiles and mammals orig-
inated in central Asia and migrated
to Europe and America, so do the
living mammals indicate a similar
trend. The Rupricaprinse, or goat
antelopes, are an excellent example.
This group in a measure stands inter-
mediate between the true goats and
the true antelopes, and comprises five
distinct genera. In Europe there is
the chamois; in America we have the
Rocky Mountain goat; while in Asia
three genera still remain, — the goral,
takin, and serow. Without doubt the
chamois and the Rocky Mountain
goat are migrants from the central
Asian stock, one going to the west
and the other to the east.
The wild argali, or mountain sheep,
which reaches its highest development
in central Asia, has sent migrants
'Except where specification is made to the contrary, the pictures accompanying this article were taken by
Mr. J. B. Shaclfelford, the official photographer of the Third Asiatic Expedition.
150
LIVING ANIMALS OF THE GOBI DESERT
151
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
Members of the Third Asiatic Expedition in their encampment at Irden Manha in
MongoUa. Those seated in the middle row are, reading from left to right, Mr. Walter Granger,
palaeontologist of the expedition, Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, Leader Roy Chapman
Andrews, Prof. Frederick K. Morris, associate curator of geology and geography in the
division of Asiatic exploration and research, and Mr. Peter Kaisen. The four white men in
the group that is standing are, reading from left to right, Mr. C. Vance Johnson, motor ex-
pert, Mr. Albert F. Johnson, Mr. J. McKenzie Young, motor expert, and Mr. George Olsen,
discoverer of the first dinosaur nest. In the foreground at the left are the three Mongol
interpreters, two in skull caps and the third (at the extreme left) with his queue encircling his
head. This individual, named Tcherim, was the best hunter connected with the expedition.
It is interesting to note the more robust build of the Mongols in contrast to the more slender
stature of the Chinese. Among the latter is Buckshot (the young man toward the center of
the front row with hair brushed back) , Huei (seated to the right of him) , Chow (the Chinese
on the left of Buckshot), and Chi (standing under the tip of the flag). These are referred to in
Mrs. Granger's article in this issue. Buckshot and Liu (at the extreme right of the upper
row) are now employed in the American Museum. The photograph is included by courtesy
of Mr. Walter Granger
through Siberia to Alaska, and south-
ward into the Rocky Mountains and
some of the coastal ranges. The Ameri-
can caribou and moose are certainly
migrants from Asia, being very closely
related to the reindeer and moose of
Europe and Asia. Our American wapiti
probably came from the Asiatic stock,
which may have given rise also to the
red deer of Europe,
I have mentioned only a few ex-
amples of the large animals which are
familiar to every sportsman, but my
remarks apply also to less-known
smaller forms. It is evident that if we
are to understand the past life of
central Asia in its relation to the rest
of the world, we must know the exist-
ing mammals as well as the extinct.
Only by making extensive collections
which will be available for study can
this knowledge be acquired. The
152
NATURAL HISTORY
Although yielding preeminence in speed to the antelope, which can beat an auto-
mobile going at forty miles an hour, the wild ass is one of the speed marvels of the
desert, and combines with its fleetness an endurance that would make it a coveted
draft animal if its wild nature did not preclude the possibility of its being domesticated.
To maintain an average speed of
thirty miles an hour for sixteen
miles calls for extraordinary
reserves of energy, yet that was
the record made by a stallion
which was pursued in an auto-
mobile. The pictures reproduced
herewith give an impression not
only of the gaits of the animal
as it exerts itself to escape the
strange hobgoblin of metal that
keeps relentlessly close to it,
but also of the open country it
inhabits, the sparse vegetation
of which furnishes, one would
imagine, all too little nutriment
for so virile an animal. The
photographs are controlled by
the American Museum of Nat-
ural History and Asia Magazine
Asiatic expeditions have already ob-
tained nearly 10,000 mammals, manj'^
of them representing species which are
new to science. These are by far the
largest collections that have ever been
made in Asia, and many of the species
composing them were taken in regions
which have never before been visited
by a zoologist. Although the great
majority of the specimens will be kept
purely for scientific study, others will
be mounted for exhibition in the new
hall of Asiatic life. The groups to be
constructed will have a geographical
LIVING ANIMALS OF THE GOBI DESERT
153
as well as a zoological value, because
typical scenes in the deserts, moun-
tains, grasslands, and forests of Asia
will be selected.
The superb collections which have
been presented to the American Mu-
seum by the Faunthorpe-Vernay Ex-
pedition will give us an unequalled
several hundred miles to the east.
They are splendid beasts, about the
size of a MongoHan pony, standing
thirteen hands in height. They repre-
sent a wonderful adaptation to hfe in
the desert, being able to maintain them-
selves on the scanty vegetation of sage
brush and thorn bushes, which would
|RF
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
Fagged out by pursuit, the wild ass acknowledges itself beaten. Somewhat later, how-
ever, refreshed by a rest, it galloped off to join its fellows in the desert
opportunity to illustrate groups and
single specimens representative of the
vast area of India and southern Asia.
Therefore, the Third Asiatic Expedi-
tion has concentrated its efforts on
China and central and northern Asia.
One of the groups for which material
is already in the Museum will be called
the Gobi Desert Group. This will show
the MongoHan wild ass (Equus hemio-
nus and the Gobi gazelle (Gazella suh-
gutturosa). Although wild asses are
found also in Africa and Thibet, very
little was known about the Mongolian
species until our work in Asia. We
found these animals in considerable
numbers in the central Gobi and ex-
tended the known range of the species
not seem to furnish nourishment
enough to keep a wooden animal from
starvation. Much of the starch in
their food is converted into water in
the stomach, so that they seldom have
to drink. Although we camped for
five weeks on the banks of the Chagan
Nor, a lake of considerable size in the
center of the Gobi, we saw no evidence
that the wild asses were accustomed to
come to the water, and, indeed, they
were found in greatest abundance in
parts of the desert where there is no
water whatsoever. During the months
of July and August, when we studied
them particularly, they were in herds
composed largely of females and young,
with one or two adult males. Very
154
NATURAL HISTORY
often we would find individuals living
alone and almost invariably these
proved to be stallions.
The young are born during the end
of June and the first part of July, and
are able to run with their mothers
almost immediately. We captured one
baby wild ass, which was only three or
A baby wild ass and the one individual
toward whom the little animal was really
friendly. Photograph controlled by American
Museum of Natural History and AsiaMagazine
four days old; he was not able to keep
up with the herd, so that we had no
difficulty in overtaking him with the
car. We kept the little fellow as a pet
for six weeks, and had hoped to be able
to bring him to America and place
him in the New York Zoological Park,
but owing to the impossibility of ob-
taining proper milk, he died at the end
of six weeks. I have never known an
animal so difficult to tame. He became
really friendly only with Buckshot,
the Chinese boy who fed him daily,
and would have nothing to do with the
other members of the expedition,
although he received the greatest
kindness from everybody.
I have been asked by many people if
it would be possible to catch wild asses
when they are young and use them for
breeding purposes. I do not believe
that this would be practicable, due to
the extraordinary wildness of the
animals. Certainly, it would be diffi-
cult to tame an adult wild ass.
Their speed and endurance is almost
beyond belief. One fine stallion which
we followed in the motor car while
obtaining photographs and motion
picture film, maintained an average
speed of thirty miles an hour for the
first sixteen miles of the race. He
reached forty miles an hour in short
dashes when crossing in front of the
motor car.
After many experiences in chasing
these animals, we came to the conclu-
sion that all wild asses can exceed
thirty-five miles an hour, but that only
a few can attain a speed of forty miles
even for a short distance. When the
young are two or three weeks old, they
can run almost as fast as the adults,
but their endurance is not so great.
Like all the animals of the plains, the
wild asses evinced curiosity rather than
fear when they saw a motor for the
first time. They would invariably try
to cross in front of the car, and it was
only when they discovered that it was
impossible to get away from their
pursuer that they became thoroughly
frightened. We usually found the
Gobi gazelle associated with the wild
ass, and whenever a chase was begun,
gazelles would appear seemingly from
nowhere, and we would have herds of
both animals running in front of us.
The gazelles are extraordinary crea-
tures. Their speed is incredible and,
after repeated demonstrations, we
all became convinced that they act-
ually can reach a pace of sixty miles
an hour for a short dash. Mr. J. B.
LIVING ANIMALS OF THE GOBI DESERT
155
Shackelford, the official photographer
of the expedition, and I followed a
splendid buck for ten miles on a chase
straight across the plains. At first the
animal easily ran away from us,
although the car was traveling at forty
miles an hour. After three miles, we
began to overtake him and the last
seven miles he maintained a steady
speed of forty miles an hour. This was
as rapidly as the car could go, and how
much faster he could have traveled, we
cannot tell.
The Gobi gazelle (Gazella sub-gut-
turosa) is a fine-Umbed, clean-built
animal and is entirely a desert species.
On the grasslands lives the Mongolian
gazelle (Gazella gutturosa), which has
very different habits. It seems not to
be able to exist on the dry and sparse
vegetation of the desert, but is found in
great numbers on the grasslands of
Inner Mongolia and those just south
of the northern forests. During the
spring, immediately before the young
are born, the Mongolian gazelles gather
into enormous herds, composed entirely
of females. These may include as
This picture shows an antelope
in repose. When in action this
animal evidences a well-nigh
incredible capacity for speed.
On one occasion a herd made a
semicircle about Mr. Andrews'
car, which was moving in a
straight line at the rate of forty
miles an hour, and the speed of
the animals, therefore, was prob-
ably not less than fifty-five or
sixty miles an hour. The desert
species never gathers into great
herds but its relative of the plains
may form aggregates consisting
of thousands of individuals.
Photograph controlled by Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History
and Asia Magazine
many as six or eight thousand indi-
viduals— in some instances even more
— which travel slowly to the flat plains,
where they disperse.
On the great plain near Turin during
the summer of 1919, my wife and I
saw one of these enormous herds and a
few days later the plain was ahve with
baby antelope. As we rode along on
our ponies, the Httle fellows would
jump up in front of us and go bobbing
away like rabbits. We would often see
them lying flat upon the ground, with
their necks stretched straight out and
their long ears drooping, and in this
position they would remain absolutely
motionless until they were certain they
had been discovered. Even when only
a day or two old, the babies can attain
a speed of twenty-five miles an hour, as
we demonstrated many times by fol-
lowing them in the car. Their greatest
enemy is the wolf, and speed is their
only protection. Almost as soon as
they are born, they must be able to
outrun the wolves, and the mothers
select the flattest part of the open plains
so that their babies may not be ex-
LIVING ANIMALS OF THE GOBI DESERT
159
posed to the crafty approach of a wolf
under cover. Wolves, by the way, can-
not reach a higher speed than thirty-
five miles an hour and can only main-
tain this for a very short dash.
When the expedition was returning
to Peking last September, we saw half
a dozen great herds of antelope. In
one there appeared to be at least ten
thousand individuals, both bucks and
does. The Mongols told us that these
herds would remain intact until late in
the fall, when the mating is over.
Apparently the desert species, Gazella
suh-gutturosa, never gathers into great
numbers, probably because there is no
region of the desert which would
provide sufficient food.
On the Altai Mountains we had the
unique opportunity of seeing argali,
or mountain sheep, and ibex on ranges
where no white men had hunted before.
Both these animals were in great
abundance and we obtained a splendid
series for groups that will be installed
in the new hall of Asiatic life. During
the summer the male sheep and ibex
retire to the highest peaks, leaving the
females and young to carry on their
lives alone until the mating season
about the middle of September. Al-
though the argali reach enormous size,
some of them having horns 20K inches
in circumference at the base, and more
than 60 inches in length on the curve,
such individuals are by no means
common. During last summer I sup-
pose we saw at least two hundred
argali in a single locality but not more
than ten or fifteen of them had horns
more than 50 inches in length.
The Mongols hunt both sheep and
ibexes continually and the result is that
the animals are always wary. The
ibexes, which are true goats, are among
the most difficult to kill of all moun-
tain animals. Not only are they hard
to approach but they are so tenacious
of life that if a bullet does not reach a
vital spot, it means a long chase for the
hunter.
The expedition has not as yet
reached the country inhabited by wild
camels, wild horses, and the rare
saiga antelope. Wild camels were re-
ported from a place in the desert about
one hundred fifty miles from where we
shall begin work in the summer of
1925. They live in a sandy region and
it is doubtful if we shall be able to
follow them in the motor cars as we
have been doing in the case of antelope
and wild asses, but other means of
hunting them will be devised. The
wild camels are very similar in appear-
ance to the domestic two-humped
Bactrian camels of MongoHa but are
somewhat smaller. The wild horses
are only about one hundred miles to
the west of the region where we shall
begin work, and doubtless the expedi-
tion will have little difficulty in obtain-
ing specimens of them. The extra-
ordinary saiga antelope — an animal
with a great wrinkled Roman nose —
lives in the west, not far from the
habitat of the wild camels. It is one
of the most grotesque of living animals
and also one of the rarest in museums.
We are hoping to be able to obtain a
complete group for the new hall of
Asiatic life.
In this short article it has been pos-
sible to mention only a few of the more
interesting large mammals of Mongolia
but in China proper there are dozens of
others which will find a place in the
Asiatic hall. Group material and study
collections of mammals, reptiles, ba-
trachians, and fish are being obtained
with such rapidity and completeness
that already the American Museum
holds a unique position in the field of
Asiatic zoology.
Map of the basin regions of Mongolia. — Mountainous areas are shaded with slanting lines;
the great lowland regions are white, and the deeper depressions, called talas, are stippled. The
still smaller sedimentary basin units, called gobis, are located mainly within the talas, but are
too small to be indicated on a map of this scale
Geological Reconnaissance in Central Mongolia
By CHARLES P. BERKEY
Chief Geologist of the Third Asiatic Expedition
PRIOR to the reconnaissance
undertaken by the Third Asi-
atic Expedition the geologic
story of Mongolia was almost wholly
unknown, — not because the region was
beyond reach of observation, but be-
cause both those who lived there and
those who had traversed it had not seen
the significance of its features. Mon-
golia is not all a wild uninhabited im-
possible desert; on the contrary, large
areas are as beautiful plains country as
the arid regions of the world afford,
and primitive peoples have roamed over
its great open spaces ever since man
began to migrate.
This country lies athwart the great
routes of trade connecting centers of
early civilization, and from earliest
times to the present there have been
travelers and traders, adventurers and
messengers, caravans and expeditions
160
crossing and recrossing this very region
that is still largely unknown. Some
have been collectors in search of anv
Key map of Asia. — The area in solid black
is that of the basin regions of Mongolia, shown
in detail in the map at the head of this page
GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL MONGOLIA 161
rare or new thing; some have been
hunters in pursuit of sport; some have
been restless souls simply in quest of
adventure. Occasionally in recent
lay out an exploratory traverse delib-
erately into a region of such reputation.
But to the geologist there are no
hopeless regions. Wherever rock is to
Tertiary Plioce
Lava Clay
Cross section from Tientsin to the Wan Hsien Pass above Kalgan. — The section is designed
to emphasize the step-like approach to the Gobi region from the plains of China. With it is
indicated something of the underground geologic structure and the relation of the principal
rock formations. These fall naturally into three groups: (a) a simple delta, made of sand and
clay built out into the China Sea; (b) complex rocks emerging from beneath the delta silts
at Nan K'ou, and continuing a little way beyond Kalgan; (c) the gravels and sands, capped
with basalts, at the Wan Hsien Pass. It is particularly noteworthy that the uppermost forma-
tions of both the plains of China and the plateau of the Gobi are simple sediments that lie
unconformably over a floor of much more complicated rock
times exploratory expeditions have
gone out, nominally for scientific in-
vestigation,— actually, in some cases
at least, to make military and economic
observations.
Thus, after untold centuries, in a
land not new but old, in a land not
isolated except by its own immensity
and barrenness, virtually everything is
still unknown, and one may project, as
was done by the Third Asiatic Expedi-
tion, a traverse of three thousand miles,
and not touch a single spot the scientific
story of which is known.
It was common report that the
desert countries of central Asia were
particularly unpromising ground for
geologic exploration. Caravans cross-
ing the country found what was to
them a wearisome stretch of wind-
driven sand, and travelers returned
almost exhausted by long weary
months of toilsome journeying. It is
not surprising, therefore, that the
verdict of even the best-informed was
that ''the Desert of Gobi is a hopeless
place," and it took some courage to
be seen or the surface of the earth has
features, there some sort of story is to
be read, and there the desolate aspect
of the present day may be but a
passing phase in a succession of greater
events. So in the face of discouraging
advice, and in full appreciation of the
nature of the task, the expedition set
out to lay a line of geologic observation
across the Desert of Gobi and bring
back, if possible, the major secrets of
its story. A region of such intimate
relation to the historic and prehistoric
migrations of man and beast ought
itself to have an important contribu-
tion to make.
What was promised can be told in a
word; what was found we shall prob-
ably take years to explain. In one
year central Asia has become one of the
great fields of geologic research and
central Mongolia is already classic
ground.
Under patient study the sands of the
desert have resolved themselves intO'
strata with definite structure and a
long story of changes, while their fossil
162
NATURAL HISTORY
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
Nan K'ou Pass, with the Great Wall. — This is the place marked "Pass" in the cross section
on the preceding page, and shows the rugged country of the southern barrier, just before the
level Kalgan basin is reached. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
content makes it possible to populate
this barren-looking waste with as
strange an assortment of living things
of former time as this earth of om's has
ever produced. The desolations of the.
desert are softened by the hand of
Time, whose course we shall follow
backward to the paradise of long ago.
APPROACHING MONGOLIA
The most effective approach to the
region is from the plains of China,
low-lying, monotonous, just barely
above the sea. There the great rivers
of China, — the Yangtze and the Hoang-
ho, coming from central Asia, have
been engaged for ages in carrying
sediments from the plateaus and moun-
tain ranges of the interior to the border-
ing plains below. And there they have
slowly dispossessed the ocean waters
and, in the course of time, have built
all this fiat country lying between the
mountain uplands and the Yellow Sea.
Here and there a hill or a mountain
ridge rises out of the plain, as an island
would stand out of the ocean. Thev
are indeed islands, surrounded now by
the sands and silts of the plain where
of old the sea lay at their feet. Beyond
them the same low plain, with the
same monotony, continues.
Farther inland, beyond Peking, one
comes abruptly to a mountain barrier
looming high above the plain, as if a
great broken block of the earth had
been lifted there to bar one's progress.
This is, in fact, about what has hap-
pened, as one who looks closely may
see, although the reason for it is not
so simple. It is here that the great
wall of China was built, doubtless to
add still greater difficulty to the pass-,
age of this natural barrier. But at Nan
K'ou Pass one may climb to a new level
lying beyond, two thousand feet higher
and almost even with the tops of the
frowning mountains. And then on this
higher level one finds himself again on a
plain, though a much smaller one, a
broad open country through which
one runs half a day by rail to Kalgan.
Here, as abruptly as at Nan K'ou, a
new escarpment, even more formidable
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
THE RUGGED COUNTRY OF THE NORTHERN BARRIER, WITH
THE OUTER GREAT WALL NEAR KALGAN
This picture was taken fifteen miles south of the Wan Hsien Pass (shown
on p. 161) on the borders of MongoUa. Photograph by Charles P. Berkey
163
164
NATURAL HISTORY
than the other, stands across the
course. Here other and still more
primitive walls mark the efforts of
Chinese civilization to protect itself
from the invaders of the desert.
If one is to go farther into Asia, it is
necessary again to toil over the passes
of the new barrier. When this is
done, one finds himself not on a moun-
leys, mountain barriers, and difficult
passes such as have been encountered
in reaching this land, one looks out
over a great rolling plateau. It gives
a curious impression of endlessness,
and this picture from the edge of the
escarpment sinks into one's soul. It
will steal into the mind over and over
again, even though one be hundreds of
KALGAN
I ^PACIFIC DIVIDE
.PANG
JKIANG
ilREN
DABASU
TUERINi
ARCTIC I URGA
DIVIDE I I
600 WILES
Profile across the Great Basin of the Gobi from Kalgan to Urga. — The base line is sea level.
The profile itself is founded on nearly 1000 altitude readings reduced to scale, so that the vertical
measurements are exaggerated ten times over the horizontal. At the south, the Pacific divide
at Wan Hsien Pass (see map on p. 161) stands at about 5000 feet, and parts the waters that
flow into China from those that flow into the desert basin. At the north the Arctic divide
stands at about 6000 feet, and parts the waters that flow northward into Siberia from those
that flow southward into the desert. Between the two divides lies a great cradle-like sag,
descending gradually to the depression at Iren Dabasu, where the elevation is not much more
than 3000 feet. This is the Great Basin of the Gobi
tain range at all, but on the edge of a
great plateau 5000 feet above the first
low plains of China and the sea; and
now for a thousand miles one may go
forward without encountering another
such barrier. This is the outer rim of
one of the great interior basins of cen-
tral Asia, — this is the border of Mon-
golia, the edge of the Desert of Gobi.
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE GOBI
It is comparatively easy to give a
mental picture of the essential features
of the great basin region of central
Mongolia, to the edge of which we have
now approached. The Gobi is only
one of a series of great basins, all of
semi-desert character, which together
stretch across the continent of Asia.
It is the easternmost and the largest
of them.
As one stands on the edge of the
plateau and turns toward the Desert of
Gobi, the view is entirely transformed.
Instead of rugged country, deep val-
miles from the region, making one feel
quite unaccountably that this land is
the veritable roof of the world and that
a little way ahead, just beyond the
next rise of ground, one must be able
to look over the edge and see the rest
of the world spread out before him.
It is not as endless, of course, as it
appears to be, but as far as one can see,
and indeed for hundreds of miles
beyond, it is a gently rolling, open
country, with stretches of level, monot-
onous plain between other stretches
with more variety of relief. Here and
there hilly country or a mountain
ridge replaces the flatness, but this is
certain to be succeeded only a little
way beyond by the gently rolling Or
level, monotonous plain.
Thus, the trail stretches over hun-
dreds of miles of desert to the mountain
divides of the north, which separate
the wooded Siberian slopes from the
desert basins of central Asia. From all
sides these lands slope to the interior.
GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL MONGOLIA 165
Central Mongolia is truly a basin. It
is 2000 feet lower in the central portion
than on its uphfted margins. But it is
nearly a thousand miles across, and on
such a scale its basin form is not at all
apparent. Such streams as there are
now, behaving just as other more
ancient streams have behaved for ages
past, flow out into the basin, whenever
ANCIENT MOUNTAINS
I
WORN DOWN TO A PENEPLAIN
has now come to be applied to the
whole desert region of central Mon-
golia, the Desert of Gobi.
Across this bare, open, unprotected
plateau region fierce winds seem to
blow interminably. Dust is swept
entirely away to settle down again in
distant regions, while the heavier
sands, formed by the disintegrating
wmm^mmm^m^mmmm
WARPED TO FORM A BASIN
This diagram is intended to illustrate successive stages in the development of a Gobi basin.
The upper section shows the complex structure and rugged profile of the original land, the
second indicates the effect of erosion in wearing this ancient land down to a peneplain, and the
third illustrates the development of sedimentary beds of still later date on the down-warped
portions, after the region had been lifted and warped into basins
they flow at all, losing most of their
waters as they go, either by evapora-
tion or by sinking into the sand.
Here and there a trickle struggles
bravely through to some salt lake,
but for the most part there is no
surface water.
This large, basin-like region is itself
a complex of smaller basins, each one of
which is marked by a smooth, fiat,
level surface and is separated from its
neighbor basins by rolling hill country
or by semi-mountainous ridges. These
secondary basins, with their great
open stretches of level ground, some a
hundred miles across, are characteristic
of the region. Such an open, smooth
plain is called gohi by the people of
Mongolia, and this is the name that
action of the weather on exposed rock
ledges, accumulate near by in dunes.
Great quantities of the lighter material
must have been swept off the Gobi and
carried to the lower border lands of
China. Other great quantities of
sand shift about over certain tracts of
the desert, making travel slow and
difficult.
Thus it happens that such rain-wash
erosion as there is, together with the
work of the wind, has swept from the
rock floor almost everything that in
other countries would have made a
soil, and one may travel mile after
mile and day after day over the nearly
barren surface of the rock formations
that make up everywhere the solid
"crust of the earth." True it is that
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
Typical rock desert along the Urga caravan route. — The floor is solid rock, and is virtually
bare. Residuary boulders of granite lie scattered about, left by the disintegrating action of
the weather. There isn't an inch of real soil under the wheels of the motors. Photograph by
Charles P. Berkey
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
The far-flung landscape of the Gobi. — A characteristic view in the center of the desert,
looking across a sediment-filled basin. These are the boundless plains that impress one so
much on the plateaus of central Asia. Photograph by Walter Granger
166
GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL MONGOLIA 167
there is much drifting sand,, so abun-
dant in certain belts that it is impos-
sible to cross successfully except with
camel caravans. For the most part,
however, the Gobi is not strictly a sand
desert. In all essential respects it is a
rock desert, with the underlying geol-
ogic formations so near the surface
that one trained to see such things is
not confused by the thin veneer of
sand. Looking through this he soon
learns to unravel the underground
structure, and read, with as much
success as in other regions, the geologic
story that is hid away in the strata
beneath.
GEOLOGY OF THE GOBI
One soon learns, for example, that
the rolling, hilly, and mountainous
portions of the country dividing the
Gobi plains are underlain by complex,
comparatively ancient rocks, and that
the smooth, level, monotonous stretches
between are underlain by much young-
er sediments with much simpler struc-
ture and a very different story.
Together they must carry the secrets
of the geologic history of central Asia.
If these strata do not, then it must be
that the story is lost.
Thus the geologic formations of
Mongolia consist of two grand divi-
sions,— one an exceedingly complex
series of ancient rocks carrying the
story back to the very dawn of geol-
ogic history, the other a simple series
of sediments recording the last chapter.
The older story is much the longer
and more complicated one, involving
foldings of strata and upheavals
into mountains, outbreaks of vol-
canoes and igneous activity in the
ground below, the sinking of lands
beneath the sea and their emergence
again, followed by the making of
mountains a second or a third time,
only to be destroyed in turn like those
before them. To tell this as it should
be told is much too long a story for the
present purpose. It must suffice to
catch merely a glimpse of these mighty
movements reaching back farther and
farther into geologic time.
Between this ancient series and the
later one a long interval is lost. Every-
thing since that remote time is simpler
and easier to read. The continent has
been more stable. Strata formed since
then are little disturbed, and tell a
clearer story. They lie on the up-
turned edges of the older series, and
form the smooth plains of the Gobi.
Our immediate interest is directed
particularly to these level gohi areas
that we have now discovered are under-
lain by simple sediments of later date.
It is quite worth while for us to find out
how these sediments are related to the
more complicated rock formations of
the hilly districts forming the divides
and to determine whether either of
these formational groups carries min-
erals of value or fossils of scientific
interest, or evidences of any kind that
will help us to unravel and understand
the whole geologic story.
For this purpose there is little
promise in the smooth level tracts of
unbroken plain. But not all portions
are so monotonous, — not all of the
plains areas are unbroken. Here and
there, in former times, streams have
cut down into the deposits, and have
scooped out valleys across the plains,
and gulches have been carved that still
remain as evidences of former erosion
conditions. If one stops, therefore,
at such a place on the margin of an old
valley, one may find the edges of the
strata exposed, and these beds can be
inspected one after another. One has,
therefore, occasional opportunity to see
not only what these sediments are and
168
NATURAL HISTORY
m>nm--'im*mm,iia^
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
Horizontal strata in one of the Gobi basins, where erosion has exposed the edges of the sedi-
mentary beds as effectively as if one had dug trenches through them. Such places as these are
the normal hunting grounds for fossils. Photograph by Walter Granger
how one layer differs from another,
but also what they carry. Still more
rarely erosion has cut through to the
very floor, exposing the underlying
basement rock on which the sediments
were originally laid down, and one
can then see that this basement, or
floor, is the same complex of older
formations that was before noted in
the rolling divides between the basins.
Everywhere, therefore, there is this
complex old floor that was once a land
surface itself, until changes took place
that permitted some of it to be covered
with later sediments. At such places
the character of the bottom sedimen-
tary beds can be seen and, if one's
search is continued far enough, other
and higher or younger beds will be
seen. If conditions are particularly
favorable, it may be that nearly every
individual stratum in the whole basin
can be thus examined at one place or
another. By piecing together bits of
evidence, then, from one outcrop after
another, it is possible to formulate the
essentials of the whole story of the
basin sediments and to determine what
relation this story has to the much
more complicated one of the still more
ancient floor.
This is a part of the story, — almost
the closing pages of it. Long before the
Age of Mammals, doubtless many
million years ago, northern Asia had
been worn down, chiefly by the slow
work of stream erosion, to the monoto-
nous relief of a peneplain (a low erosion
plain). In still more ancient times, it
had been three times at least a moun-
tainous continent; but the steady
wear of weather and rain, of wind and
water acting through immensely long
intervals of time had destroyed these
mountains and carried off their waste
and had carved out a new plain of its
own design across the complicated
rock formations that then made up the
structure of the continent. This was
accomplished almost as perfectly as if
one had taken a great knife and had
pared the continent down, throwing
GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL MONGOLIA 169
the shavings into the adjacent sea.
Thus the mountains were shced off,
but one can still see the complicated
structures of the roots of them in the
rock floor of the present desert and
beneath the sediments of the basins.
At that time the continent may not
have stood very high above sea level,
but at a certain stage some powerful
gravels and muds were laid down there,
year after year, age after age, until the
smaller basins were filled and united
with their larger neighbors, to make a
still more extensive cover of sediments.
These are now the strata that lie on
the old rock floor, and this in a word is
the origin of the "later sediments" that
lie beneath the gohis.
This diagram represents a rectangular block sliced out of the earth, exhibiting the features of
a warped and faulted basin. The front of the slice shows the cut edges of all the rock structures.
The center of the slice is the down-sinking area, and here the sediments have accumulated. A
split or fault has developed near the left-hand end, and the old crystalline rocks are heaved up,
making a long straight mountain front. Volcanoes have broken out along this fault zone; the
foremost volcano is pictured sliced in half, exposing bedded ash and lava flow. A breached cone
stands farther away along the same zone and two perfect cones are seen in the distance. New
sediments are being carried down from the uplifted block by streams, which are depositing their
load in the form of alluvial fans on top of the previously formed lava flows. In time these sedi-
ments.will form a new series of overlying strata
internal earth forces caused the con-
tinent to be lifted higher and higher
above the sea to something like its
present position. In the course of this
movement it was raised more at the
margins than in the middle, and it was
warped enough so that it took the
form of a great shallow basin. This
warping was not very uniform either,
so there came to be small basins within
the larger one.
Then the rivers that had aforetime
flowed to the sea began to flow inland,
into the basin which had been made
where previously there had been out-
ward-sloping upland. And the sedi-
ments that these streams carried were
now deposited in the basin instead of
being borne to the sea. Sands and
At times in the course of this process
new warping took place, making still
greater unevennesses, developing new
basins where there had been none
before, deepening some that were not so
deep before, and lifting up places that
had been level before. Then the work
must begin all over again. Uplifted
places where sediments had already
been laid down were thus exposed and
eroded, so that these beds were de-
stroyed almost as soon as they were
made, and the erosion debris was
carried off to fill in the adjacent, newly
formed depressions.
Not infrequently an area that had
thus been «the seat of deposition and
had subsequently been uplifted so that
its sediments had been in part removed,
170
NATURAL HISTORY
found itself later, after another change,
the seat of deposition for a second time.
Thus there are often exhibited two or
three series of sedimentary beds, one on
top of the other, with erosion intervals
between. Streams sometimes cut deep
channels into these new deposits,
uncovering their internal structure,
showing up their peculiarities of com-
along fractures where there was con-
siderable dislocation. One finds abun-
dant accumulations of ashes and cin-
ders, now forming beds of tuff, lava
flows, and all sorts of intrusions of once
molten rock. This complicates the
story. Occasionally one finds old
lava fields, covering hundreds of-
square miles, and, still more rarely, a
Sketch of the range Baga Bogdo, one of the Altai chain, seen from the north at a distance of
forty miles. It is a fault-block mountain, like that shown diagramatically on p. 169. In this
view we are looking southward at the steep front face of the block, which rises to 7000 feet above
the floor of the basin. The remarkably even sky line, sweeping gently up from either end to the
highest peak represents one of the ancient peneplains, carved upon hard rock, and now uplifted.
In the broad basin of the foreground lie several thousand feet of sedimentary strata, some of
which have proved to be veritable treasure houses of rare fossil forms. There are Cretaceous
beds bearing dinosaurs, fossil fishes, and fossil mosquitoes; Oligocene beds carrying the monster
Baluchitherium, and a Pliocene formation in which are the bones of horse, deer, and ostrich
position and their evidences of changes
of level or of shiftings of centers of
deposition.
In some places, also, earth disturb-
ances were much more pronounced.
Instead of gentle warping the floor was
broken. On one side of the fracture
the earth dropped down and the other
side was lifted until it stood as a frown-
ing escarpment. Of such deformations
there are all grades, from a gentle warp
that simply tilts the strata or a dis-
location that displaces the strata only a
little to great fault blocks uplifted till
they stand as mountains. The fine
north face of Baga Bogdo of the eastern
Altai, standing majestically above the
adjacent basin plain, is such a faulted
block. It has been pushed up out of
the plain at least 7000 feet above its
former level, and for all we know the
movement may still continue.
At many places where such move-
ments took place, volcanoes broke out
volcano, so recent that the weather
has not yet destroyed the gloss on the
glazed surfaces of some of the rocks at
the vent, where hot gases must once
have poured out. But volcanoes are at
best transient things. The loosely built
pile is soon destroyed. So it happens
that the old ones have been demolished
and only the less destructible evidences
remain.
Such changes can be read from the
structure of the rocks alone, but an
added interest attaches to the sedi-
ments of the basins, because of the
fact that these same strata carry fossil
forms representing the living creatures
of that time. The bones of the animals
that roamed over the continent of Asia
during the period when the deposits
were being made were sometimes
buried in them, and may be dug out
again if one finds the places where
they have been entombed. These
places are the fossil fields of Mongolia.
GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL MONGOLIA 171
One learns where to find them and
how the strata of one field are related
to others by unravelling the geologic
story that interprets the ground.
METHOD OF WORK
But the story is to be read, if at all,
only by most careful and painstaking
work. There is no base from which to
start — there is no map worthy of the
name to guide one — and if there is to
be an explanation, it must be built
To this end a route map is kept, on
which is sketched the course of the
traverse and the bordering topography.
From aneroid barometer readings,
made with everj^ change of level, a
running profile is constructed mile by
mile. On this the geology is sketched
in cross section, representing . as true
to life as possible the succession of
formations, the underground structure,
and the interpretation of their rela-
tions one to another.
470
1 460 9 8 7 6 5 454
MILES FROM TSA6AN-N0R
■< TRAVELLING 5-4.0° E
ALTITUDES IN FEET
A page from one of the note books, showing a fragment of the 3000-mile geologic cross sec-
tion made on this reconnaissance. This illustrates the method of representing certain geological
data en route. The profile is constructed from aneroid readings; the underground structure is
an interpretation based on the outcrops of rocks examined while driving over the surface. This
particular section shows a portion of the eroded and warped old rock floor, once doubtless com-
pletely covered with sediments of later age, now uncovered again at its highest points by
recent erosion
up from the ground itself. This re-
quires constant watchfulness for every
bit of evidence. During a few minutes
of inattention one may pass by the
best find that the region affords. One
must make literally thousands of
observations and inspections and judg-
ments and trial studies as rapidly as it
is possible to work. It is not an unusual
thing to make a thousand examinations
of rock outcrops in a day, and record
their meaning in whatever way is
practicable, considering the speed of
travel imposed by the movements of
the expedition. These records must be
kept in a running account, so that they
can be picked out again in their proper
setting, and so that the succession of
changes can be reproduced.
When the expedition is moving
rapidly, such an undertaking is ex-
tremely trying and exhausting work.
One must spend every minute, when
the expedition can be halted, in examin-
ing the ground, while notes and sketches
must be made largely on the move.
One must jump out and examine an
outcrop, or run to the top of a hill or
collect a representative specimen or
detect the presence of fossils or take
a measurement and be off again, while
the rest of the caravan moves leisurely
on. Then one must drive all the faster
to catch up if he can, making his notes
like the wayfarer, — on the run! Sev-
eral times more than a hundred miles of
such cross section work was done in a
single day.
172
NATURAL HISTORY
Route studies covering more than
3000 miles have been made, and these
form the basis of the related explora-
tory investigations, and of what is
known about the distribution of the
later sediments and other strata in the
Desert of Gobi. Where a promising
fossil find is encountered, there a
longer stop can be made, and the
geologist, for a time, turns fossil-
hunter with the rest. But at the first
opportunity he is off again to extend
the section and locate new fields.
Thus exploration for new sites and
development of proven ground go
hand in hand.
These route studies must be carried
everywhere and must be kept continu-
ous so that one does not find himself
geologically isolated in a completely
unknown country. But special local
studies may be made wherever there
are longer stops. These may take the
form of joining in more diligent search
for fossils or of engaging in a detailed
examination of the succession of strata,
or the}^ may result in making a local
geologic map as a method of recording
more complicated data in a form suit-
able for reference and record.
If a locality proves to be particularly
critical and productive, so that all
interests may work together for a
longer time, then a much more elabor-
ate, special areal study is made of as
large a surface as can be covered in
the time. These special areal studies
become the key maps, or standards of
reference for future work, and the
areas chosen for them are always select-
ed because they give special promise
of returns in unravelling the history of
the region. At least 700 square miles
were thus mapped in detail during the
intervals of travel in the first season.
It is such studies as these which really
give the most reliable scientific re-
turns, and without them the whole
effort would be reduced to simple re-
connaissance, because the moves of
the expedition are made too rapidly to
allow adequate checking of the more
difficult and critical points. In these
places, chosen for special study, the
structure can be worked out in detail,
the succession of strata with their
fossil content can be much more ex-
haustively determined, and the geo-
logic story can be pieced together with
great assurance.
Altogether the task is an arduous one.
The heaviest work comes when it
would be much more convenient to
ride along with the rest of the expedi-
tion and enjoy the scenery. It is one
thing to bowl along for a hundred
miles over a rolling plain, musing on
the fortunes of the day or the fame
of the morrow, and quite another to be
responsible for the geologic record of
the route and of the meaning of the
ground over every mile of the journey.
It is a severe tax on endurance, and on
devotion to science, but the success of
the enterprise is quite as much de-
pendent on this kind of persistence as
on any other factors.
If one has such work, it is physically
impossible to record all of the observa-
tions and assemble them in presentable
form during the day's operations, and
as soon as camp is pitched, one must
therefore retire to his tent and con-
tinue on the day's notes far into the
night. Maybe exploratory work is
attempted in a less strenuous manner,
but it is not done that way if the
responsibilities of the expedition are
suitably cared for, and if the expecta-
tions of the men at home who vouched
for it and who foot the bills are fully
to be met.
There are few better places in which
to sleep than the Desert of Gobi, — but
GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL MONGOLIA 173
it does not fall to the lot of a geologist
to take full advantage even of that
opportunity. After the other members
of the expedition have all turned in,
the geologist must wait for the proper
time, set up the instruments and
''shoot Polaris," so that by means of
the stars he may determine where this
place is. After all of these things are
done, little enough time is left for rest.
One gets his inspiration from the
work, and from a belief that if it is
well done, we shall by and by unravel
the story recorded by the rocks, and
the expedition will find what there is
to be found.
If one has learned to interpret the
meaning of the features to be seen,
then, after these keys have been found,
one can tell with considerable assur-
ance where the more promising fields
are and where, on the other hand, it
would be wasted time to stop.
It is always a most satisfying thing
to appreciate that the rock formations
of the earth are just as they ought to
be. This is because they have been
made through processes and by agents
and under laws that can be understood.
If one can read his geology in these
terms, and if one's interpretation is
sound, the rock formations behave
just as they are expected to behave,
and they occur where they ought to be,
and they carry what they ought to
contain. Rest assured it is not be-
cause of any wizardry or supernatural
competence in the investigator that
the strata begin to reveal their secrets.
And it is not because of any erratic or
mysterious or accidental behavior of
the earth or any trickiness or unre-
liability of the rocks themselves that
mistakes are made. Their story is
always there, and one must learn how
to read it from the few scattered
records still preserved in the only
symbols that the earth knows how to
write.
One reads this language, if he is an
explorer, else he does not learn the
story; and one follows these obscure
pointers of the ground, otherwise its
choicest treasures will not be found.
The earth does not respond to a
whim. One may search blindly, to be
sure, and make an accidental find.
But it would not be to the credit of a
scientific expedition to search in that
way. One cannot make a discovery
where there is nothing. And one
should not seek where it can be shown
that the earth has not produced. But
if there are hidden treasures and if
there is a new story and if it falls to
one's lot to cross such ground, then
one must not fail to find what there
is to be discovered.
It is not good fortune alone that
leads to discovery. Clairvoyance and
magic will not do. Back of it all is a
lot of plain hard work. Through it aU
runs a lot of vigorous discussion, an
endless amount of revision of hypoth-
eses and many a try out of new
theories, many a ruthless rejection,
■ and many an hour of groping thought.
Fortunate indeed are they whose
ground has been favored and whose
final working hypotheses are true
enough to solve their major problems
and lead to contributions of real value.
A RHINO AND HER CALF
It is believed that this is the only photograph ever secured of the one-horned] Indian
rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) in a mid state. These two animals lived in a patch of thorn and
bush cover near the camp estabUshed by the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition. They might easily
have been shot, but only good specimens were desired and the horn of this female was poorly de-
veloped and her calf too small. Because the members of the expedition saw her again and agam
during their sojourn, they came to feel for her a familiarity that was untainted by contempt.
They named her Lizzie
174
The leaders of the expedition, Colonel Faunthorpe on the right and Mr. Vernay on
the left
Jungle Life in India, Burma, and Nepal
SOME NOTES ON THE FAUNTHORPE-VERNAY EXPEDITION OF 1923
By lieutenant COLONEL J. C. FAUNTHORPE
Late Commissioner of Lucknow, India
THE PICTURES ACCOMPANYING THIS ARTICLE WERE TAKEN BY MR. G. M. DYOTT, THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND
CINEMATOGRAPHER OP THE EXPEDITION
THE fauna of India have until now
not been well represented in the
American Museum of Natural
History, and it was to remedy this
deficiency that the expedition to India
was undertaken by Mr. Arthur S.
Vernay and myself in 1923. The speci-
mens collected will be shown in the
Asiatic hall, which is one of the addi-
tions to the Museum now being built.
A matter to which Prof. Henry
Fairfield Osborn is devoting much
attention is the deplorable rapidity
with which the wild animal life of the
world is being destroyed, and recent
articles of his entitled, "Can We Save
the Mammals?"! and "The Close of
the Age of Mammals"^ have attracted
widespread attention. The almost com-
-" Can We Save the Mammals?" by Henry Fair-
field Osborn and Harold Elmer Anthony. Natural
History, Vol. XXII, Number 5, pp. 388-40.5.
-" The Close of the Age of RIammals," by Henry
Fairfield Osborn and Harold Elmer Anthony. Journal
of Mammalogy, November, 1922.
plete disappearance of game animals
in the United States is, of course,
notorious, but the same thing is going
on practically all over the world.
Sir H. H. Johnston, in his introdtic-
tion to Schillings' book. With Flash-
light and Rifle in Africa, draws atten-
tion to the "ravages of European and
American sportsmen, which are still
one of the greatest blots on our twen-
tieth century civilization." He adds,
"All the wrongdoing does not rest
with the white man. The Negro or the
Negroid, armed with the white man's
weapons, is carrying on an even more
senseless work of devastation," and
"Public opinion should strengthen
as far as possible the wise action of
governments in protecting the world's
fauna all the world over, wherever the
creatures thus protected do not come
into dangerous competition with the
welfare of human beings. Moreover, it
175
176
NATURAL HISTORY
is for the welfare of humanity in general
that this plea is entered. The world
will become very uninteresting if man
and his few domestic animals, together
with the rat, mouse and sparrow, are
its only inhabitants amongst the land
vertebrates. Man's interests must
come first, but those very interests
demand food for the intellect." Schill-
ings himself writes: ''Already a
great number of the inmates of our
zoological museums have been struck
out of the book of living things, though
they existed in .millions in the time of
our fathers. The work of destruction
entered upon by civilized man goes on
with terrible swiftness. . . . To-day
there is still time in the case of many
species. In a few years it will be too
late."
And the extermination of wild ani-
mals is not confined to Africa, nor to
the United States, where it is already
practically complete. Particularly
since the introduction of the "Re-
formed" government in India, which
has resulted in a generally slackened
enforcement of existing laws and
rules (the Arms Act and Forest Act
among others), the dimunition of game,
as I can state from mj^ own personal
observation, has been rapid. There are
many more guns in the villages than
formerly and I know many districts
where game animals and birds, abun-
dant not many years ago, have now
practically disappeared. Within a
measurable space of time there will be
no game in India, except in preserves
maintained bj^ native chiefs and in the
more inaccessible of the government
forest reserves. And even in the gov-
ernment forests, the depredations of
the Indian poacher are becoming con-
tinually more extended and at the same
time are less resisted by the Forest
staff.
It was the consideration of these
facts which led the American Museum
authorities to plan an Asiatic collection
and to welcome the offer made by two
Englishmen to provide the Asiatic
wing, adjoining the Roosevelt hall,
with a representative collection of the
animals of the plains of India and
Burma.
The idea of the Indian collection be-
gan as far back as 1918 when, owing to
a disagreement with my superiors as
to the proper administration of the
branch of the Intelligence Department
of which I was in charge, I left the
Army in Flanders and went to New
York on the British War Mission. One
of my fellow passengers on the good old
''Baltic" was Mr. Arthur S. Vernay,
an Englishman who has been in busi-
ness in New York for the last twenty
years or more. Another was Mr.
William Beebe of the New York
Zoological Society, author of the well-
known Monograph of the Pheasants.
Through him I met Prof. Henry Fair-
field Osborn, who showed me over the
American Museum, including the taxi-
dermy rooms. I was much impressed
by the perfect system of taxidermy
in use and by the artistic manner in
which the animals were shown in groups
in a reproduction of their natural
surroundings, as well as being struck
by the fact that the fauna of India were
represented by very few specimens,
and those of a very poor quality.
Later, on my return to India after a
period of duty with the British Em-
bassy at Washington, I wrote to
Professor Osborn and offered to make
a collection of Indian animals, if he
would provide me with a capable taxi-
dermist. Vernay came to India on a
shooting trip shortly after this, and we
discussed the matter, with the result
that when he returned to America, it
JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA, BURMA, AND NEPAL
177
Route of the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition to India, Burma, and Nepal, with the
hunting areas indicated in sohd black and designated by numbers showing the order in
which they were visited
was arranged that a collection should
be made. The Museum promised us a
taxidermist, and Vernay, who not only
has ideas but the energy and the means
to carry them out, undertook to finance
the expedition.
It was obvious that photographs and
cinematograph films would add greatly
to the value of the collection, especially
as the American Museum makes a
feature of lectures, illustrated by films.
The Museum's educational activities
with the schools reach yearly, I believe,
about a million and a half people. The
services of Mr. G. M. Dyott, f.r.g.s.,
as photographer and cinematographer
to the expedition were fortunately se-
cured. Dyott has done a great deal
of exploration and photographic work
in the wilder parts of South America,
and during the War was a commander
in the Naval Flying Corps and special-
ized in aerial photography.
Dyott had his first introduction to
the Indian jungle when we were collect-
ing specimens of swamp deer. Wearing
a pair of rubber thigh boots (surplus
government stores), he took station,
with his movie camera, in about two
feet of water to await the arrival of the
deer, which we undertook to drive in
his direction. Vernay having roused a
fine stag, the line went off in a different
direction, and the unfortunate photog-
rapher did not get his pictures until
about three hours later. Although the
leeches are rather active in those
swamps, he made no complaint.
178
NATURAL HISTORY
He was always ready "to take a
chance on anything" in order to secure
a good film. On several occasions he
was posted on the ground when tigers
were being beaten out of the thick
growth, and twice, when in this pre-
carious position, he secured an excel-
lent film of a tiger galloping across the
open, as well as "close ups" of ele-
phant, rhinoceros, tiger, and many
other animals.
I had arranged to have a shooting
party in the Ranee of Khairigarh's
jungles in the Kheri District at Christ-
mas, and was fortunately able to se-
cure Jonas, a taxidermist sent by the
American Museum, in time for this.
I was successful in obtaining fine
specimens of that beautiful and rare
animal, the swamp deer, as well as some
other mammals and certain rare birds.
It was a good omen for the success of
the expedition that one of the two stags
I shot carried very massive antlers,
having twelve points and measuring
39K inches, which is, I believe, a record
for the province. It is certainly by far
the best head I have ever seen.
Vernay and Dyott arrived early in
January, and assisted by Turner, the
Forest Officer of Kheri, and by Kunwar
Dillipat Shah of Khairigarh, completed
the swamp deer group, and secured
some other specimens as well as good
pictures.
The chief difficulty which con-
fronted us was how to obtain groups of
the maximum number of species in the
short time available, for, owing to the
extreme heat and the rainy season,
shooting in the plains of India must
practically cease by the end of Maj^,
and in Burma by the end of June. We
had only about five and a half months
in which to do our work.
The India Office and the government
of India had already given their
approval to the expedition, and the
local governments and native chiefs
provided generous help. The India
Office persuaded the Indian govern-
ment to place me on special duty
(without pay) to assist the expedition
for a period of three months.
After completing the swamp deer
and the nilgai groups, Vernay made a
special expedition into the lower range
of the Himalayas on the Ganges to
shoot a big tusker elephant which the
year before had chased the Forest
Officer and would undoubtedly have
killed him had the officer not succeeded
in scrambling across a nullah, which
the elephant could not cross. It is
curious, by the way, how small a
ditch will prove impassable to an
elephant. In the old days, in some of
the forest divisions, deep and square-
cut but surprisingly narrow, ditches
used to be dug around the forest
bungalows to keep the elephants out.
I don't think an elephant can get over
a six-foot ditch; one of seven feet will
certainly defeat him.
This big tusker was, no doubt,
somewhere in the neighborhood, but
could not be located, which is perhaps
not surprising considering the great
density of the Sal Forest up north,
compared with the forests in the Billi-
girirangan Hills in southern India, in
which we got our elephants later.
The next place visited was Bhopal,
where Her Highness the Begum and
her ministers were most helpful, and
Vernay was fortunate enough to secure
a sambur stag with a massive and sym-
metrical head of 41-inches, and also
specimens of the Indian antelope and
gazelle. A 41-inch sambur is a fine
trophy in these days.
I fear that game has become very
scarce in Bhopal, as His Excellency
the Viceroy, who visited that state
JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA, BURMA, AND NEPAL
179
about the same time, and no doubt
had the pick of the jungles reserved for
him, did not succeed in securing a
sambur.
While Vernay was hunting in Bhopal
and elsewhere, I was continuing to do a
bit of useful staff work (in addition to
my ordinary duties of misgoverning
the Lucknow Division) by arranging for
future trips. The chief point was to
get the specimens in the shortest time.
This depended mainly on selecting the
best locality and season for obtaining
each species. Colonel O'Connor, the
British Envoy to Nepal, had offered
to help and very kindly asked Vernay
and Dyott to join his tiger shoot in
eastern Nepal, where Vernay bagged a
couple of tigers and Dyott got some
good films. The permission of the
government of Madras was obtained to
shoot one tusker and one female ele-
phant, and the bison required for the
group, in Madras Government Forest,
and the Maharajah of Mysore allowed
us one tusker elephant in his territory.
Our object was to obtain a group of
each animal. For instance, of the
bison — one bull, one cow, and One calf ;
and, in addition to this material for a
group, one skeleton of an adult bull.
The skeleton series is of great interest
for anyone studying the evolution of
types. In the case of elephant and
rhino we omitted the calf; in the case
of the smaller deer and antelope, we
added an additional male or female or
both.
THE RHINOCEROS HUNT
The animal of which we were most
anxious to secure good specimens was
the great Indian one-horned rhinoceros,
now extremely rare in British territory,
and decreasing rapidly in Nepal. In
the Morang District of the Nepal
Tarai this rhinoceros was plentiful
not many years ago, but now not a
single specimen is, I believe, to be
found within two hundred miles. As
regards British territory, only a few
still survive in Assam.
That enlightened ruler, my friend
His Highness Maharajah Sir Chandra
Shumshere Jung of Nepal, fully appre-
ciated the importance of the expedi-
tion. He first arranged that we should
visit the tract of country where His
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
and staff had recently shot tiger and
rhino, but later proposed that we
should enter the more inaccessible
Gandak Valley, where there was a
probability of our obtaining better
specimens in a shorter space of time,
once we got on the ground. But getting
on the ground was not so easy. This
interesting tract of country is cut off
from the plains by ranges of broken
hills, through which the Gandak River
cuts a tortuous way to the plains,
flanked in its course by a series of
precipitous gorges. The valley is
inhabited almost entirely by Tharus of
a very fine type.
The only ways of entering the valley
are by boat, towed up a swift-running
stream, which takes two days, or on
foot over the hills, where there is no
road. 'In many places the trail re-
sembles the dry bed of a mountain
stream more than anything else. We
took fifteen hours to do the first march
of eleven miles. We came out by boat
in five hours.
The Maharajah provided us with
coolies and six elephants for transport,
but although I have for the last fifteen
years been accustomed to riding ele-
phants over all sorts of country, the
going was so bad that we did practically
the whole march on foot, picking up on
the way a very fine specimen of the
Indian sloth bear, which luckily fell
to a single shot from a .275 Rigby
Typical rhino country in the Gandak Valley of Nepal. — The female obtained by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition was shot a short distance from the tree with broadly forked
branches that is conspicuous on the right of the photograph
Rhino tracks deeph^ impressed in the soft soil
180
JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA, BURMA, AND NEPAL
181
Mauser, the only weapon we had
actually with us when we sighted the
bear.
The Nepalese government keeps six
or eight of its elephants in the Gandak
Valley, near where we camped on the
second day after entering Nepal, and
some of the mahouts have the reputa-
tion of being expert rhinoceros track-
ers. We first started beating for rhino
with elephants and drove out a female
rhino with a small calf that lived in
some patches of thorn and bush cover
near the camp, which was on the
river bank. We refused to shoot them,
as the calf was very small and the cow
had a very short horn, and we wished
to make certain of obtaining good speci-
mens. The trackers expressed surpi'ise
and regret. With this lady rhino,
whom we met frequently and whom
we called Lizzie, we became quite
friendly, but I think she was glad when
we left. Vernay on one occasion
crawled up to her private mud bath
and watched her at about four yards'
range. Dyott with his movie camera
sat over the mud bath for the next
two afternoons, but Lizzie did not
appear. She had a distinctly peevish
expression when I last saw her.
The local trackers did not seem keen
to show us big rhino, but a little heart-
to-heart talk and the promise of good
rewards to the trackers and also to the
villagers induced the former to take us
to a large solitary male rhino, that was
located in a valley in the Sal Forest,
containing heavy bush cover and sev-
eral pools of water. This enormous
This rhinoceros, wounded by the first shot fired by Mr. Vernay, turned and charged him,
but was dropped by his second bullet
182
NATURAL HISTORY
slate-colored beast, apparently quite
unconcerned at the presence of several
men in the trees who were watching
him, allowed us to approach on ele-
phants to within about seventy yards,
from which range both Vernay and I
fired, with the result that after gallop-
ing about a hundred yards, the rhino
pitched over dead. He was a big and
very old male, whose horn had been
splintered and worn down to about 8
inches by digging or fighting. This
rhino was shot several miles from camp,
and the taxidermist and his satellites
had to spend the night by the carcass.
The trackers were bitterly re-
proached because we wanted horns of
at least 12 inches, and it was decided
that it would be more sportsman-like
and also more effective to stalk the
remaining specimens on foot rather
than to shoot at them from somewhat
unsteady elephants.
The next day, after a fruitless ex-
pedition under the guidance of the
trackers, we were informed by the
villagers on our return to camp that a
rhino had been seen drinking in a pool
on the other side of the river. The
energetic Vernay immediately crossed
in a boat. I sat down and ordered tea.
Shortly after arrived the Nepalese
Munshi (the District Officer's assist-
ant) , who had gone out with the local
Nepalese Lieutenant to shoot birds
with my gun. He brought us the news
that there was a big rhino wallowing
in a pool not far from the river, about
a mile down stream. The Munshi was
breathing heavily from excitement and
exertion. His account of how they
came to see the rhinoceros was amusing.
He said he saw what he took to be a
black water bird in the pool and said
to the Lieutenant, ''Give me the gun
and I will shoot that bird." To which
the Lieutenant replied, "Brother, if
there is any bird shooting to be done, I
will do it myself." They then ap-
proached the supposed bird under
cover of the heavy jungle on the bank
above the pool, only to find that it was
the horn and ears of a rhino which lay
soaking in the water.
I jumped into a boat and hustled
down stream. It was rapidly becoming
dark, and after a hurried scramble for
about half a mile over most uncom-
fortable pebbles, I saw the rhino still
in the water and managed to get up
near him just as he was leaving the
pool. This proved to be a fine male
with- a horn measuring 12}^ inches.
He had evidently been fighting and
had festering incised wounds on flank
and in stomach.
On returning to camp I found that
Vernay had accounted for the other
rhino, also a very fine male, with a
horn more than 12 inches in length.
This animal after being wounded had
tried to charge him but had been
dropped in the grass on the river bank
by another bullet from his .465 Hol-
land. I was using a .400 Jeffery rifle.
The great Indian one-horned rhinoc-
eros is, of course, the biggest rhinoc-
eros in the world. His horn is smaller
than are those of the African rhinoc-
eroses, either the black or the white,
but in height and bulk he far exceeds
the African species. The males we
shot measured well over seventeen
hands at the withers. The one-horned
rhino is a curious animal to look at.
With its shields and warty protuber-
ances it has a kind of prehistoric ap-
pearance.
It seems to be extraordinarily regular
in its habits. In the evening or late in
the afternoon the rhinos of the region
where we hunted emerge from the
heavy jungle and wallow in the nu-
merous pools and backwaters near the
JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA, BURMA, AND NEPAL
183
Gandak River. They spend the night
in feeding and in the early morning are
to be found at the edge of the heavy
covers, into which they retire during
the heat of the day.
We had now obtained our male
rhinos, and the unfortunate taxiderm-
ist had his work cut out. We had
brought down from Lucknow a good
Indian skinner, named Pancham, a
servant of my old friend, the Ranee of
Khairigarh, but we were able to find
only a very few Chamars (low-caste
Hindus who skin dead cattle) in
the valley to do the rough work. The
villagers are almost entirely Tharus.
We still had to obtain a good speci-
men of a female rhinoceros, but it was
necessary to wait a day or two in order
to enable the taxidermist to deal with
the skins of the males.
Stimulated by the rewards which we
had paid for the rhinos, an intelligent
headman of one of the villages, assisted
by the Munshi, who, by the way, spoke
a weird mixture of Nepalese, English,
and Hindustani, had volunteered to
locate some tigers.
THE TIGER HUNT
We went out after a tigress next day
and beat for her in a patch of tree and
bush jungle, along the edge of the
Gandak River. I posted Vernay on the
point and put Dyott, with his movie
machine, in the broad nullah that
divided this strip of cover from the
heavy forest. I myseK took up a posi-
tion on the edge of this nullah, to one
side of the patch. The tigress, curi-
ously enough, was not in the patch at
all but lying in a little thorn bush out-
side it, and Dyott, when he got off my
elephant with his movie camera to go
and stand in the nullah, must have
passed within two or three yards of her.
She rose behind me when the beat
was nearly over, dashed across the
nullah, and was knocked over by a
lucky shot at about one hundred and
fifty yards, but recovered herself and
went on. Dyott was in time to secure
a picture of her galloping up the bank.
We put an end to her in the heavy
forest not far from the bank. She had
been practically crippled by the first
bullet, which had hit her in the hind
quarters. She was a beautiful heavy-
coated animal measuring nine feet,
and will be immortalized in the Ameri-
can Museum.
Another day we beat for a tigress
farther north, also in a strip of heavy
bush, thorn, and tree jungle, which
narrowed down to a point to the south
and was there separated by a broad
nullah from the covers in which our
friend Lizzie habitually lived. This
tigress had come from the north and
the trackers said it was impossible to
beat her southward. On the other
hand, there was no hope of obtaining a
picture of her except by forcing her out
to the south, for to the north the jungle
broadened out continually and was
impossibly thick with heavy thorn
undergrowth. About fifty Tharus
were enlisted for the purpose of beating
and placed in batches between the six
elephants with instructions to make a
good deal of noise, while the Nepalese
Lieutenant, armed with my gun, main-
tained an intermittent fire of shot
cartridges. The tigress was forced out
at the southern end of the jungle and
galloped across the broad nullah, giving
Dyott an opportunity of which he took
full advantage, obtaining a beautiful
motion picture of her dashing across the
open, including the splashes of dust
kicked up by bullets ineffectually fired
at her. This tigress was now in the
upper section of Lizzie's home, which
we knew well.
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188
NATURAL HISTORY
Dyott was then posted with his
movie camera on a fallen tree in the
center of an open space to the south,
while Vernay and I on elephants took
one corner each. The tigress, came out
first of all, in front of Dyott, but with-
drew in horror when he started turning
the handle. He secured, however, a
brief picture.
She then tried each corner in turn
and found both stopped; the final
shock to her nerves came when, upon
showing herself, she was immediately
charged with violence bj^ my elephant.
With morale absolutely shattered she
then made a bee line to the Gandak
River and swam across this swift and
broad stream. We did not grieve over
her escape. We did not want her as a
specimen, and she had given us a film
probably unique in the history of cine-
matography.
RESUMPTION OF THE RHINOCEROS HUNT
Having now given the skinners two
or three days of comparative rest — for
a tiger is a mere trifle to cope with in
the taxidermy line — we got two female
rhinos marked down to the south of
camp, about five or six miles away.
The first one retreated into impene-
trable thorn scrub, but after wading
through a swamp, we found the second
standing in a dense clump of low trees.
She had a half -grown calf with her,
which was wandering about making
most extraordinary noises, resembling
the squawking of some large bird. We
could see the mother dimly through the
saplings, and Vernay stalked her on
foot and shot her through the neck, at
a range of about twenty yards, killing
her with one bullet. The neck shot is
the most deadly for rhino, aim being
taken between the deep neck creases,
which are such a marked feature of this
curious animal, about two-thirds of the
way up the neck. For this shot a soft-
nosed bullet is best. The rhinoceros
proved to be a fine specimen, but her
horn was much worn down, measuring
only about 8 inches. The taxidermist
outfit spent another night out with this
specimen, as in the darkness they could
not return through the swamps. The
Tharus built shelters of branches for
them.
It was now March 14 and getting
fairly warm and the skins were giving
us some anxiety, as portions of the
epidermis had begun to slip on one of
them, but with a liberal application of a
mixture of salt and alum this deteriora-
tion was arrested and, I believe, they
arrived in New York in practically
perfect condition.
We came out of Nepal by boat
through most picturesque scenery.
The river is frequently flanked by
precipices and in places runs very swiftly
through the gorges. Where the river
bed widens, there are banks covered
with crocodiles of both species, and
some good films were obtained on the
way down.
THE ELEPHANT HUNT
Our next trek was a long and weary
one to the Billigirirangan Hills, which
lie partly in Mysore territory and
partly in the Coimbatore District of the
Madras Presidenc3^ This is the coun-
try described by Sanderson in the well-
known book^ in which he teUs of his
life among wild animals while in charge
of the government kheddah operations.
Our ground was more than seventy
miles from the railway. It is a charm-
ing tract of country averaging about
4500 feet above sea level, with the
higher hills running up to 6000 feet.
We were dependent here on the help
of the coffee planters, especially Cap-
^Thirteen Years Among the Wild Beasts of India.
JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA, BURMA, AND NEPAL
189
tain Fremlin and Mr. Ralph Morris,
who made all arrangements and pro-
vided us with skilled Sholaga trackers.
We went up into the hills some seven
miles from Morris' coffee estate, to a
spot where he had built grass huts in a
shola close to one of the many routes
used by the herds of wild elephants.
But the first tusker elephant was
bagged before we went there. Two
elephants had been for some time haunt-
ing Fremlin's coffee estate and the
neighborhood. One was a muckna, or
tuskless elephant, and the other a
large tusker with one tusk only. It was
decided to shoot the latter for the
skeleton series in the American Mu-
seum, and he fell to Vernay's rifle on
the day of our arrival. The Sholagas
were pleased, for this elephant used to
come and ravage their banana planta-
tions. The lament, ''Yes, we have no
bananas" in Canarese (a most un-
melodious language) was often heard
in the land.
We regretted afterward that we had
not shot the muckna instead for the
skeleton, as he was a magnificent ele-
phant,— I think the finest I have ever
seen, either in the wild or in captivity.
An elephant has as many points as a
horse, and this huge muckna was not
only perfectly shaped, but had a
smooth and effortless action, reminding
one of a really good race horse. It is
extraordinary how noiselessly a huge
beast like this can move through heavy
forest and how invisible he is when
standing motionless. When in move-
ment he resembles a shadow and when
at rest might well be mistaken for one
of the big gray rocks which are abun-
dant on the hillsides.
Warned by our difficulties with the
rhino skins, we were taking no chances
with the elephant hides. In addition
to Jonas, the American taxidermist,
we had Pancham, the Ranee of
Khairigarh's skinner, four expert Indian
skinners provided by Van Ingen, the
taxidermist of Mysore, and twenty
Madigas, low-caste men similar to the
Chamars of Upper India, to do the
rough work. We also had ropes and
pulleys to enable us to turn the ele-
phant's body over when necessary.
An elephant is skinned in three
pieces; first the head and neck are
stripped and then the body skin is
taken off in two pieces by skinning
down the backbone and along the
center of the stomach. There still re-
mains a good deal of work as the skin
is of great thickness and has to be con-
siderably pared down.
When on the way to the grass-hut
camp at Hool Patchi Hulla we were
lucky enough to fall in with a large
herd of wild elephants, which contained
no really big tusker (for these are gen-
erally found living solitary or semi-
solitary lives) and obtained some won-
derfully fine cinematograph pictures,
including one of a tusker that came so
close to the camera that a rifle had to
be fired into the air to turn him off.
This herd eventually left the shola in
which they were temporarily staying
and made off at a rapid pace down one
of the beaten tracks which the ele-
phants have made and regularly use in
this neighborhood. These elephant
tracks are, in fact, the only paths of
any kind available in these jungles.
Our big tusker specimen was a
stranger that arrived one day from some
distance and was reported by one of the
Sholagas as having taken up a position
under a large and shady tree in a valley
two or three miles from our camp.
Making a very early start the next
morning, we found him within a few
hundred yards of this spot. Rain had
fallen and the forest was open enough to
190
NATURAL HISTORY
This tusker (Elephas maximus) was shot at a distance of not more than forty yards. He
sank into a sitting posture and even in death, which was practically instantaneous, looked
singularly lifelike
enable us to see from some distance
this magnificent animal loafing slowly
along on the hillside, plucking and eat-
ing a branch at intervals. The stalk
was an easy one on the damp ground
and we got up to within forty yards
without any difficulty. We were slightly
to his left rear. We had arranged that
Vernay should take the brain shot. I
supplemented this by one behind the
shoulder, but Vernay's .465 bullet had
reached its mark. This magnificent
tusker slowly extended his forelegs and
then slowly sat down, stone dead. He
was supported in a sitting position
by a stout tree and as he sat there
dead, looked singularly lifelike.
I have had so much to do with tame
elephants that I never wanted to
shoot one, and we both regretted hav-
ing to destroy this splendid animal.
We took comfort, however, from the
thought that he will attain something
near immortality when set up under the
Akeley process of taxidermy in the
American Museum, where he will be a
worthy counterpart to the fine African
tusker in the group prepared by Mr.
Akeley. It was with even more
regret that Vernay later shot a very
fine female elephant. This completed
our elephant group, namely, one tusker
and one female, and one tusker for the
skeleton.
THE BISON HUNT
Owing to the grass having been very
little burned, bison tracking was
difficult, but on March 30, a big soli-
tary bull was located in the lower
The elephant, when viewed at close range, looms so large that one is apt to have one's
attention absorbed by his bulk and proportions to the neglect of the details of his anatomy.
Yet a closer examination reveals many points of interest. In the upper picture is shown a
section of the hide, rugose and tough in character. The head of the animal is not bald but, as
indicated in the lower picture, is covered with a rather plentiful growth of upstanding hair
192
NATURAL HISTORY
country. To approach him involved
not onlj^ chmbing an awful mountain,
which almost invariably had to be
negotiated before one could get any-
where, but also walking along the
ridge with a similar descent at the
other end. I shall never forget that
mountain. Walking up and down hill
never was one of my favorite recrea-
tions; Vernay seems to enjoy doing so.
The Sholaga trackers took some time
picking up the bull's tracks and by the
time they did so the sun was well up
and we had to hurry, as the bull, they
said, was making for some heavy cover
where he would probably lie for the
day. After crossing a couple of low
ridges we came up with him on a steep
hillside. The stalk down hill was a
simple one and he was disposed of
without difficulty, a fine old black
solitary bull with horns measuring
more than 20 inches in girth at the
base, but considerably worn and
splintered at the tips.
SLOTH BEAR, TIGER, AND LEOPARD
We still had to get another bison bull,
a cow, and a calf. These Vernay and
Morris undertook to shoot and, as it
was now April, I was anxious to get up
north in order to secure the required
specimens of sloth bear, tiger, and
leopard. There was also a better
prospect of getting good cinematograph
fihns, especially of deer, up north.
Dyott and I left the Billigirirangan
Hills and made the long and wearisome
journey up to Oudh. Here we were
joined by Turner, the Forest Officer,
and by Kunwar Dillipat Shah of
Khairigarh. Turner undertook to
arrange cinematograph pictures of deer
in a small block of outlying forest,
which had been carefully kept undis-
turbed. Dyott and he put in three or
four daj^s of strenuous work and ob-
tained some really good pictures of
herds of chital, antelope, and nilgai.
In the meantime Dillipat and I were
concentrating on getting a bear group,
and at first were singularly unsuccess-
ful, not because there were no bears
about, but because we seemed to be
unable to hit them. Very few ele-
phants are steady to bear, and those
we had were not. Dillipat is, as a
matter of fact, an exceptionally good
shot at a running animal, but both he
and I missed several bears before I
eventually hit a large male in good
coat, worthy of being included in the
bear group in the Museum. This bear,
when hit, stood up and bit through a
sapling before he fell dead. The fe-
male bear we had previously obtained
in Nepal when after rhinoceros. Turner
shot another very big bear, which,
although it had a bad coat, was desired
for the skeleton series.
The sloth bear is a very bad-tem-
pered animal and will frequently attack
human beings absolutely unprovoked,
as will also the wild boar at times.
The jungle people are much more
afraid of the sloth bear than they are
of the tiger and leopard.
One day we were beating ratoa grass
patches (ratoa is a very dense grass
somewhat resembling sugar cane) for
bear when the elephants gave sign of
the presence of tiger and I was for-
tunately able to shoot a fine male in
good coat, measuring 9 feet 8 inches,
which was immediately earmarked for
the Museum tiger group. I also shot a
very fine leopard close to camp one
evening.
Quite by chance I found one morning
a place which provided us with very
beautiful pictures of deer and pig com-
ing down to drink at a pretty little
pond just inside the forest. I saw a
herd of chital there and we found a
JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA, BURMA, AND NEPAL
193
tree in which Dyott could sit with his
movie camera and command the pond.
He spent about three days in this tree,
and the results are, I think, the most
beautiful cinematograph pictures I
have ever seen.
On April 19 we were joined by Ver-
nay, who brought with him — as I had
a shooting pass for tigers and certain
other game in Nepal across the border
— Fremlin and Morris, the coffee plant-
ers who had been so good to us in
Mysore. They had shot tigers before
but never had seen the method of
beating them out with elephants,
which is practically the only method
employed in my part of the country.
They secured three tigers.
Vernay had, as anticipated, com-
pleted the bison group in addition to
shooting a big leopard, and had safely
delivered the skins and skeletons of
bison and elephants to Van Ingen of
Mysore, who undertook to pack them
for shipment to New York.
No one who has not seen the enor-
mous size and weight of a big elephant's
bones and hide can appreciate the
labor involved in transporting them
across country. We were about 5000
feet up in the hills and the whole col-
lection had to be carried six miles by
coolies and twenty miles by bullock
carts. For the balance of the distance
to the railway, motor lorries were
fortunately obtained. It required a
good deal of organization.
Curiously enough, although leopards
are numerous in that neighborhood, we
failed to obtain a female leopard and
two cubs, which were wanted for the
group, although we spent some time
trying to get them. Conditions had
been unusually wet at the time when
the grass outside the fire-protected
forest is usually burnt, and the
leopard, extraordinarily skillful in con-
cealing itself and evading the line when
being beaten with elephants, had us at
a disadvantage.
Dyott had an interesting experience
one day. One of my men who had
been sent to a place eight miles away
came in with the local forest guard and
reported that early that morning they
had seen a large tiger asleep by a pool
of water near a patch of ratoa grass
just inside the forest. It was a terribly
hot day but it was decided that, if the
men thought it worth their while to
walk eight miles, it was up to us to go
and investigate matters.
Four elephants — all that were avail-
able— were therefore sent off at once
and Dyott and I followed in a light
Overland car, which is a first-class
conveyance over unmetallecl roads and
forest tracks.
The tiger, which, judging by the
smell, had a kill in an extremely high
condition, was duly aroused, ran out of
the grass, and stood in the forest with
his head and shoulders concealed by a
A chital faun. — This beautiful animal
{Axis axis) retains the white markings in the
adult stage and is popularly known as the
spotted deer. The chital is inclined to be
gregarious in habit and this little faun showed
no timidit J' when handled by its captors
Typical tiger country on the Nepal border
One day a tiger, though wounded, succeeded in secreting itself in the high ratoa grass.
Four elephants moving abreast were directed toward the area where the tiger was supposed to
be. Colonel Faunthorpe, gun in readiness, was mounted on one of them. Suddenly the tiger
jumped from its place of concealment right up on the elephant's head, but its claws had
scarcely touched the thick hide when it dropped back dead, shot by the Colonel in a vital
spot. The picture shows the elephants approaching the place where the tiger lies crouched,
invisible in the high grass
194
JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA, BURMA, AND NEPAL
195
tree. I was, therefore, compelled to
shoot him through the center of the
body instead of getting a deadly and
crippling shot at the center of the
shoulder, which is the most effective
shot of all, as it not only brings the
animal down with a broken shoulder
but also kills him.
The wounded tiger dashed back into
the grass, where we hunted for him for
some time without his showing a sign.
The men, who had had a long trek in
great heat, were getting rather dis-
heartened, especially when one of them
found a bullet mark in a tree where the
tiger had been standing when I fired.
Examination proved, however, that
this was merely the base of the nickel-
covered soft-nosed .400 bullet, which
had clearly, therefore, gone through the
tiger. The men, of course, did not be-
lieve this, but we went on beating up
and down this extremely dense grass.
I was, personalty, confident that the
tiger was either lying very close in it
or was actualty dead, and the grass
was so thick and matted that had he
been dead, he might easily have es-
caped notice. We were beating the
grass for the third time, when there was
a sudden snarl and a rush at the edge of
the grass and the tiger jumped on the
flank elephant and clawed her severely
across the top of the trunk. The beast
was now located. There happened to
be a forked tree close by, into which
Dyott climbed and lashed his movie
camera.
The four elephants were formed in
line and, with extreme reluctance, ad-
vanced on the place where the tiger
had settled down. Each mahout was
trying to keep a little bit behind the
others. They were eventually per-
suaded to advance with a little more
speed and the tiger, with another
snarl, jumped right up on to my ele-
phant's head, but a snap-shot, as he
landed, took him between the eyes, a
very lucky fluke which saved old
''Lachma" from a severe mauling.
She received only one almost invisible
puncture from a claw. Throughout she
stood like a rock, otherwise I should no
doubt have missed the tiger.
Not always is the tiger ringed or driven out
of the jungle by the heavy approach of ele-
phants. Another method of hunting is to
place a platform, known as a machan, high
up in the fork of a tree and from that point of
vantage await the return of a tiger to his kill
While this was going on Dyott was
turning the handle of the movie camera.
We hoped for a wonderful film. It is
one of the greatest disappointments of
my life that, owing to the height of the
grass, the tiger does not show in the
film when on the elephant's head,
though one can clearly see that some-
thing has charged the elephant and has
been shot.
196
NATURAL HISTORY
A common Indian squirrel {Funambulus)
CONCLUSION OF THE SEASON
The expedition concluded its work
with a visit to Burma, where the Gov-
ernor, my old friend Sir Harcourt But-
ler, gave us every possible assistance.
We wanted groups of tsine, an
animal akin to the Indian bison, and of
The bamboo rat (Rhizomys) of Burma lives
in holes in the ground under bamboo clumps
the thamin, or brow-antlered deer, and
succeeded in getting both in the Magwe
District. We also obtained a group of
the barking deer and added several
interesting specimens to our collection
of the smaller mammals, birds, and
reptiles. We did not succeed in finding
a hamadryad, but secured several speci-
mens of that beautiful but dangerous
snake, the Russell's viper.
It took a lot of work on foot to get
the tsine. In fact, I think this animal
is the most difficult to stalk that I have
ever met. He is very active and when
grazing and wandering about, appears
to move much faster than the bison,
and when he has settled down for the
day, is so wary that it is ahnost impos-
sible to approach him. Hunting the
tsine was really hard work, and it was
infernally hot.
Our work for the season was now
complete. The collection totals about
450 specimens, of which 129 are mam-
mals. We have also some 26,000 feet
of cinematograph film, including many
animal pictures which I beheve to be
absolutely unique. Nor was the cine-
matograph work confined to shikar
subjects. We took a very large nmnber
of pictures illustrating native life,
which, when shown in America, will
lead to a better comprehension of the
true condition of India and Burma.
The movie camera used was an
" Akeley,'' which, because of its simple
and rapid elevating and traversing
mechanism, is by far the best for this
kind of work.
We obtained groups of all the larger
animals of the plains of India, with the
exception of the Indian buffalo and the
Indian lion, and we hope to secure these
this year.
The expedition is not over. Vernay
is now going from Moulmein on the
coast of Burma across the Ta-Ok
JUNGLE LIFE IN INDIA, BURMA, AND NEPAL
197
Plateau, which Kes partly in Burmese
territory and partly in Siam, to the
Meping River and thence to Bangkok,
and hopes to obtain some valuable
specimens. The Ta-Ok Plateau is very
little known and has never been prop-
erly explored from a natural history
As for the collection made in India,
Burma, and Nepal last year, complete
groups were obtained in nearly all
cases and the collection as it stands is
probably unique for this reason.
The elephant, bison, and rhino speci-
mens are exceptionally fine ones and
The bla ckbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is one of the most beautiful of the Indian antelopes.
The popular name does not apply to the young males. These are tolerated by the lord of the
herd until th ey begin to turn black, when he forces them out of the family circle
point of view. It is believed to be
particularly rich in birds, and an orni-
thologist, obtained from the British
Museum, is accompanying the expedi-
tion. I, myself, shall probably visit
India to complete the Indian collection
this year and it is possible that both
Vernay and I may also visit French
Indo China.
both the tiger and tigress are un-
usually good specimens, with good
coats. Among the deer, we have sev-
eral specimens which approach the
record in horn measurement; for
instance, a 39}^-inch swamp deer and
a 38-inch spotted deer.
In addition to the mammal groups,
numerous specimens of reptiles and
198
NATURAL HISTORY
birds were collected — some of the
latter in particular being of rare species.
We made particular efforts to obtain
the pink-headed duck but the nearest
we came to this rare bird was hearing of
one which had been eaten by a planter
two years before. Renewed efforts are
being made this season to obtain it and,
if it is not extinct, I am not without hope
that a specimen may yet be secured.
It only remains to add that, with the
exception of three or four tigers and
here and there a specimen required by
Mr. Vernay for his private collection,
we shot nothing which did not go to
the American Museum. And we are
proud to be able to say that not a
single animal got away wounded.
Russell's viper (Vipera russellii), a beautiful but dangerous snake, of which the expedi-
tion secured several specimens
Stalking Tsine in Burma
By ARTHUR S. VERNAY
Joint Leader of the Faunthorpe-Vernay Indian Expedition of 1923
ONE of the objects of the Faun-
thorpe-Vernay Indian Expedi-
tion of 1923, was to obtain repre-
sentative groups of the bovines of the
plains of India, and also of Burma. To
accomplish this purpose it was neces-
sary for us to secure specimens of the
gaur (Bibos gaurus) — known to sports-
men as the Indian bison, — the bant-
ing or tsine {Bibos banteng), and
the buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). The
mithan {Bibos frontalis) , which in parts
of Assam is domesticated and even in
its wild state breeds very freely with
tame cattle, we did not consider worth
pursuing. The yak {Poephagus grun-
niens) we excluded because its habitat
is principally Tibet and northern
Ladakh, and these regions on account
of their remoteness did not figure in
our plans. We were fortunate in being-
able to obtain in Mysore magnificent
specimens for a group of the gaur.
The buffalo requires a special bando-
bust; this has been arranged for and
will take place in the spring of 1924,
when, it is hoped, the material neces-
sary for a group may be secured. The
tsine we decided to hunt for in the dry
zone of Upper Burma.
I had a good deal of experience two
years ago, and during the last year, in
pursuing the gaur and found this
animal sufficiently wide-awake to
require considerable effort on the part
of the hunter. The ground where we
hunted, the BiUigirirangan Hills,
southern Mysore, which lie partly in
Mysore territory and partly in the
Coimbatore District of the Madras
Presidency, is the country which Sand-
erson described in his book, Thirteen
Years Among the Wild Beasts of India,
in which he writes of his life while in
charge of the keddah operations of the
government. Our actual hunting ground
was seventy miles from the railroad, in
a country of irregular steep hills, from
4000 to 6000 feet above sea level. One
can readily imagine that a wild country
of this kind with obstacles in the shape
of precipitous hills and heavy jungle
make the tracking of bison a somewhat
arduous but at the same time fascinat-
ing pursuit.
Colonel Faunthorpe and I came to
the conclusion that it was pretty stiff
going, and that the bison is a wily and
difficult animal to stalk. However,
the bison is a mere novice in compari-
son to the tsine. I had heard from a
friend of mine who had previously
hunted tsine, of the difficulty of track-
ing them. He had told me that he con-
sidered the tsine the best sporting ani-
mal of the bovine family, for apart
from being gifted with a wonderful
sense of smell, perfect eyesight, and
acute hearing, it is of a most uncertain
temper and, even when un wounded, is
Hable to charge on sight, and, when
wounded, will fight to the very last.
Consequently, after finishing our shoot
in India, it was with great interest
that we journeyed to Burma to hunt
this animal.
We arrived in Rangoon in May,
hoping vainly that the rains would
descend so that tracking might be
easier. Going up the Irrawaddy to
Migyaungyi, we turned east to Taung-
dwingyi, where we fitted out and pro-
ceeded through the jungle to a place
called Zilon. The weather still con-
tinued fair. We hunted for several days
without result, and decided that we
199
200
NATURAL HISTORY
WHERE THE TSINE IS AT HOME
To pursue the wary animal through the trackless bamboo jungle that is littered with wind-
falls of hollow stems, hour after hour in the heat of the day, requires patience, endurance, and
no small measure of devotion to one's task
would move our camp to a place called
Shweban; and here the serious track-
ing began. Unfortunately the rain
would not come, a condition which
made tracking extraordinarily difficult.
The ground was dry and hard, with
the result that tracks showed very in-
distinctly, making pursuit extremely
STALKING TSINE IN BURMA
201
baffling, for the tsine, being almost
always on the move, naturally goes a
great deal faster than the tracker. If
by chance the wind is in the wrong
direction, all one hears is a loud snort
as a huge animal crashes through the
jungle. That is the end for the time
being of one's efforts; the only thing
one can do, once the tsine has been
alarmed, is to rest for an hour and a
half or two hours without making any
noise whatsoever, and then again take
up the tracks with the hope of coming
up to the animal. Notwithstanding,
we eventually secured one good herd
bull, but what we wanted was a fine
old solitary bull, which is of a chocolate
color, the herd bull being of a pale
brown, somewhat like the brown of the
Ayrshire cow.
Generally in hunting the tsine, it is
necessary to start before daybreak so
as to get on the tracks made during the
night. Quiet going is extremely difficult
as one follows these tracks through the
jungle, which is, as a rule, bamboo,
and is cluttered with leaves and with
windfalls of the hollow stems. One
morning we started out at 4 a.m., and
at about 7 o'clock came upon the tracks
of what must have been an enormous
solitary bull. The mere fact of seeing
such large tracks is exciting in itself.
One mentally compares the hoof marks
with other bull tracks one has seen,
and visualizes the size of the animal
that made them. After stalking this
bull for an hour, we came across the
tracks of a smaller bull, and a few yards
from the point where they had met
were the evidences that a battle had
been waged. The tsine, always ready
The tsine is one of the members of the bovine family that was especially desired by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition and that proved more elusive and diflBcult of pursuit than
most of the other big-game animals collected by this expedition
202
NATURAL HISTORY
to fight, had come face to face with an
antagonist of his own stamp, and the
issue had to be decided there and then.
The whole place was trampled down;
small trees were crushed and broken;
large trees were scarred; bits of bark,
which had been ruthlessly torn from
the wood, hung down like great brown
ribbons; and the ground bore the
imprint of a multitude of hoofs. Event-
ually, the signs indicated, the smaller
combatant had been driven off, and
the solitarj^ bull, doubtless still snort-
ing with anger, had gone on his way
victorious. The record of happenings
in the jungle can be read by any one
used to hunting. In the case of tiger,
elephant, rhinoceros, and bison, the
various struggles, the hours of sleep,
and the hours of standing still and feed-
ing are all indicated, but this was the
greatest evidence of battle I had ever
seen.
We were cheered by the thought that
the solitar}^ bull must be tired after all
this fighting and we took up the pursuit
hopefully. We followed on and on.
The sun was hot, and no glimpse of the
animal rewarded our efforts. At 5
o'clock, after having made a huge
detour (and one can never know exactly
where one is going in this bamboo
jungle maze), we came back to exactly
the same spot where the old bull had
fought the battle. He had started out
probably satisfied that he had given his
foe a thorough beating, but on mature
consideration had decided to return
to the place of combat and see if his
adversary required any more attention.
Apparently he did not ; but our expres-
sions of disgust, if repeated, would
Native helpers enjoying a brief respite in the course of the day's tramp
STALKING TSINE IN BURMA
203
shock the reader. Apart from the phys-
ical fatigue, we had no ambition to
continue the pursuit because we figured
the bull might repeat the performance,
and that would become rather tiresome.
Also we thought that eight hours of
solid tracking of this particular animal
entitled him to exemption from further
annoyance.
We obtained besides the herd bull a
fine specimen of a cow, which is to be
used in the American Museum group.
Still the rain did not come ; as a result,
during twelve days we tramped over
more than 200 miles tracking tsine, and
only saw the two which we shot,
although we heard several others of
which we did not get a glimpse.
As our next expedition into Siam will
give us the opportunity of obtaining a
large bull including its skeleton, we de-
cided to go back to India and catch our
boat for England. I left, having the
greatest admiration for the tsine and
with an ardent desire to come to close
quarters with him once again. I hope
when the next hunt takes place it will
be raining.
The home of the tsine is throughout
Burma and the Malay Peninsula, as
well as in Sumatra, Siam, Borneo, and
Java. The tsine is very like the gaur,
but with a smaller dorsal ridge and
legs that are longer in proportion to the
body. The color of the cows and young
bulls is a rather bright reddish brown,
but it varies greatly. The old bulls
are darker, but not black as is generally
asserted. Both sexes have a whitish
oval area on the buttocks extending to
the root of the tail. The tsine, which is
about 5 feet, 4 inches at the shoulder,
shows a greater preference for the grass
plains and the flatter bamboo jungles
than does the gaur, and although an
extraordinarily good climber, is not
quite such an adept as the latter. If
any sportsman has the ambition to test
his patience, determination, and skill in
tracking, I suggest that he visit the
habitat of the tsine. He will then have
every opportunity of testing himself
out, and if he obtains a good specimen,
I think it will be placed in his trophy
room as the most treasured of his ac-
This structure, typical of the architecture
of Burma, brings to mind the settlements of
that land just as the tsine recalls the bamboo
forests and life in the open
quisitions. The tsine asks no quarter
and gives none, and though the hunt
ends successfully, one cannot but regret
that such a fine animal has been killed ;
at the same time the trophy serves as a
reminder of a great event in a sports-
man's life.
The Disappearance of Wild Life in India
By lieutenant COLONEL J. C. FAUNTHORPE
Although much of the wild life of India has disappeared and what has survived is in
jeopardy, the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition has made possible the perpetuation in the form
of lifelike groups of a number of animals that might otherwise to a large extent have passed
out of ken. Altogether it obtained 450 specimens, of which 129 are mammals.
It was particularly fortunate that Messrs. Faunthorpe and Vernaj- when in the field, chose
wath a rare sense of discretion just the representatives of this magnificent fauna that Pres-
ident Henrj' Fairfield Osborn was most anxious to have on exhibition in the Museum's new
Asiatic hall. Especially noteworthy among these are: Indian elephant (Elephas maximus),
one-horned rhinoceros {Rhinoceros unicornis), gaur (Bibos gaurus), chital {Axis axis), thamin
{Rucervus eldi), sambur {Samhur unicolor), the swamp deer {Rucervus duvaucelii) , tiger {Tigris
tigris) .
Other invaluable contributions are a bull and cow tsine {Bibos banteng), nilgai {Boselaphus
tragocamelus) , and blackbuck {Antilope cervicapra) . Among the series of deer we cite the
barking deer {Muntiacus muntjac), the hog deer {Hyelaphus porcinus), and the pygmy musk
deer {Tragulus). The Artiodactyla also include the Indian gazelle {Gazella bennettii) and
fine horns of the ibex {Capra sibirica). Besides the tiger mentioned above, there are other
carnivores, such as the leopard {Panthera), hyaena {Crocuta), sloth bear {Melursus ur sinus),
woK {Lupus pallipes), jackal {Thos aureus), and a number of smaller forms. A few bats, ro-
dents, and Primates bring this collection up to about forty-two species. — Herbert Lang.
IN a previous article of this issue I
stated that within a measurable
space of time there will be practi-
cally no game left in India, except in
preserves maintained by native chiefs
and in certain of the more inaccessible
tracts of Government Forest Reserves.
I believe that this statement is no ex-
aggeration. Causes of the disappear-
ance of wild mammals, and of game and
other birds are as foUows:
1. The destruction of the jungle in which
they live, owing to the expansion of
population and the placing of larger
areas under cultivation.
2. Disease.
3. The demand for skins and feathers by the
fur and plumage trades respectiveh".
4. Destruction of game by firearms.
I shall deal with these causes seria-
tim.
THE DESTRUCTION OF JUNGLE
In manj" parts of India the dis-
appearance of game was inevitable
as population increased and all the
arable land came under the plow.
There are now large areas where cul-
204
tivation is so universal that there is
not even enough waste land to provide
grazing for the village cattle, which in
many heavily populated districts are
now stall-fed. This cannot be helped
nor, indeed, is it to be regretted : there
is plenty of jungle left.
DISEASE
Owing to the fact that the Hindus,
who form the majority of the Indian
population, consider the cow to be a
sacred animal, enormous numbers of
feeble and worn-out cattle are kept
alive. Foot-and-mouth disease is com-
mon; rinderpest occurs less fre-
quentl}'. ^^Tien fodder and water are
scarce, the village cattle are pastured
in the jungles, where thej^ would not
usually penetrate, and may communi-
cate these diseases to such wild animals
as are susceptible to them. In times of
famine, the government must neces-
sarily throw open to cattle reserved
forests which in normal times are
closed to grazing.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WILD LIFE IN INDIA
205
In the great famine of 1897, when
practically all the drinking water, ex-
cept in the larger streams, dried up
over large areas in the forests of the
Central Provinces, as described in
Kipling's Jungle Book, cattle and wild
animals had to use the same drink-
ing places, and the buffalo (Buhalus
huhalis) and bison (Bihos gaurus) were
attacked by rinderpest and much
reduced in number. In most of the
forests of the Central Provinces the
bison have recovered, but the mortality
among the wild buffalo, a rarer animal,
was greater, and even now buffalo exist
only in small numbers. In the Bil-
ligirirangan Hills in southern India,
where the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedi-
tion obtained specimens of bison and
elephant for the American Museum,
there was considerable mortality among
the bison two or three years ago.
Cattle infected with foot-and-mouth
disease had been pastured in remoter
jungles than usual.
I remember, also, local epidemics of
foot-and-mouth disease among antelope
and swamp deer. The mortahty,
however, from this disease is not very
high. Only a certain proportion of the
animals are attacked and it is probable
that of these some recover. Disease
alone will never exterminate the game
of India.
THE FUE AND PLUMAGE TRADE
Few Indian animals have valuable
fur, and not so many, therefore, are
destroyed by the pelt hunter as in
some other countries. Demand, how-
ever, creates supply, and if there is a
popular desire for the skin or plumage
of any animal or bird, the effect soon
becomes noticeable. For instance,
about ten years ago the skin of the
snow leopard {Uncia undo) became
fashionable in England as a fur, and
the result of this has undoubtedly been
to diminish very largely the number of
snow leopards in India and across the
border. This animal lives only in the
higher hills of the Himalayas, most of
which are beyond the British border,
but native hunters from Thibet and
elsewhere bring skins of the snow
leopard to certain markets in British
territory. Such a skin is now worth,
in the local markets, about fom* times
as much as it was fifteen years ago,
and even so it is difficult to buy good
skins.
The demand for the white egret's
plumage (that of the Herodias alba,
intermedia, and garzetta) brought
about the almost complete extinction
of these beautiful birds. Wandering
gangs of plumage hunters used to
scour India for them. Their modus
operandi was to catch one with bird-
lime and peg it down on the ground.
The other egrets in the colony would
then fly around the tethered one and
were caught in nets without difficulty
and killed. As the plumage develops
only in the breeding season, when the
young are dependent on -the parent,
the extermination of the birds was
rapid. Legislation was introduced
eventually, prohibiting the export of
egret feathers, and I am glad to say
that in a few places the plumage-bear-
ing egrets are now on the increase. I
find, however, that egret plumes, like
whiskey, are obtainable in New York.
DESTRUCTION OF GAME BY FIREARMS
The disappearance of game is fre-
quently ascribed to over-shooting by
sportsmen, but moderate shooting by
sportsmen will never exterminate game,
because the sportsman does not kill
females or immature males and does not
take game in the closed season. When
game is exterminated in places where
206
NATURAL HISTORY
suitable cover for it remains, it is, as
far as my experience goes, invariably
due to the ravages of the local pot-
hunter. The number of guns in the
villages has of late years greatly in-
creased; the use of modern rifles by
Indians of the upper and middle classes
has become common; and the rules
about the closed season, etc., have
practically become a dead letter. In
the Lucknow Division, the District
Officer of Sitapur District told me
recently that partridges, both black and
gray, formerly abundant, had been
almost exterminated. In the Hardoi
District of the Lucknow Division, the
Indian antelope (Antilope cervicapra),
formerly abundant, is now very rare.
I made careful inquiries last year in
several districts where the great Indian
bustard {Choriotis edwardsi) used to
be found, but was unable to come upon
anyone who had seen any of these
birds recently. The pink-headed duck
{Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) , which is a
nonmigratory bird with a very local
habitat, is either extinct or very nearly
so, and this fate will no doubt overtake
other nonmigratory ducks and other
edible birds.
In the Nepal Tarai, the low-lying
tract of country between the Himalayas
and the British border, it is extremely
unusual to see any deer at all. These
have all been shot out by the Tharu
villagers, who, armed with guns, have
been accustomed to sit in trees over
every game path and drinking place.
The Carnivora now live practically
entirely on cattle. The swamp deer
(Rucervus duvaucelii) in some of the
best grounds in the Kheri District of
the Lucknow Division have similarly
suffered from the proximity of Tharu
villages, and in the Kheri District it is
now only in the preserves of the Rani
of Khairigarh that this rare and beauti-
ful animal is found in considerable
numbers.
In the Magwe District in the ''dry
zone " of Burma, where the Faunthorpe-
Vernay Expedition went in search of
the brow-antlered deer, or thamin
{Rucervus eldi) , we found these beauti-
ful animals very scarce indeed, and in
many jungles in which they undoubted-
ly occurred in large numbers a few
years ago, not a single specimen is now
to be seen.
In several districts in the United
Provinces, the Indian gazelle, t)r chin-
kara (Gazella bennettii) , has been largely
reduced in numbers by netting. This
animal lives in ravines. A net is
placed across a steep ravine and the
gazelles are driven into it. A similar
method is employed for antelope,
which are first forced or maneuvered
into a field of millet, or other high ci'op,
and then driven into a net erected
around one corner of the field. The
destruction thus wrought is, however,
trifling compared to the damage done
by firearms. Netting will not exter-
minate game.
The great Indian one-horned rhinoc-
eros (Rhinoceros unicornis), formerly
abundant in the swampy country of the
Tarai all the way from north Oudh to
Assam, now survives in British terri-
tory only in a small portion of the
Assam province. Its survival in cer-
tain tracts of Nepal is due solely to the
fact that in that country it is con-
sidered royal game and is rigorously
preserved. And even in Nepal it is, I
believe, rapidly diminishing in num-
bers. In Burma, where the Dicero-
rhinus sumatrensis and Rhinoceros
sondaicus both occur, there is demand
for their flesh and, on the part of the
Chinese, particularly for their horns,
which Mr. Douglas Burden tells me
are also in demand in French Indo
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WILD LIFE IN INDIA
207
China. As a result these mammals
have been slaughtered to such an
extent that last year the Burmese
government prohibited the shooting of
rhinoceros altogether. Whether this
prohibition will be effective, in view of
the difficulty of supervision over the
tracts where these interesting animals
still survive, remains to be seen. A native
forest guard requires a lot of supervision,
and a gift of rupees or meat by the
poacher naturally appeals to him.
The Governor of Burma, Sir Har-
court Butler, has, however, given
special permission to Mr. Arthur S.
Vernaj^, who is now collecting for the
American Museum in Burma and Siam,
to take specimens for that institution.
If Mr. Vernay can get these rhino
specimens, he will be lucky.
CONCLUSION
From the above remarks it will be
seen that in places where suitable
jungle for animals still remains — and
there are many such localities — the only
cause which can lead to the extermina-
tion of game is the more or less un-
restricted use of firearms by the
natives. As things stand now, there is
very little game in British India (I am
not referring to the native states) except
in the Government Forest Reserves.
These are likely to be provincialized,
and who can tell what will then be their
fate? Especially as (I quote from a
recent report to a Royal Commission)
"it is not unlikely that the lawyer will
soon dominate the political world in
India." Government Service in India
is becoming increasingly unpopular —
with the causes for this it is unneces-
sary to deal in an article of this kind,
but the disappearance of wild life in
India is one of the reasons why.
The chital {Axis axis) one of India'.s most characteristic animals
Fossil Animals of India
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE COLLECTIONS MADE BY THE SIWALIK HILLS
INDIAN EXPEDITION UNDER BARNUM BROWN
By W. D. MATTHEW
Curator of Vertebrate Palseontology, American Museum
INDIA today vies with central Africa
as the home of many magnificent
types of large mammals. Yet its
great game animals, hardly rivaled
elsewhere in the world, are but a piti-
ful remnant in comparison with the
fauna that inhabited the country
toward the close of the Age of Mam-
mals. These extinct animals are prin-
cipally known from the fossils preserved
in the Siwalik Hills, or Sub-Himalayan
ranges, south of the main range of the
Himalaya Mountains, and hence are
generally called the Siwalik Fauna.
This fauna has been well known for
Skull of the extinct Siwalik hippopotamus.
It differs from the modern hippo in having
three, instead of two, upper incisors on each
side. After Falconer and Cantley
many years and is notable for the great
number and variety of large animals it
contains. Many of these are among the
classic examples of geologic textbooks,
and the giant tortoise Colossochelys,
the extinct elephants, stegodons, and
mastodons, the Sivatherium and other
extinct giraffes, the hippopotami and
hornless rhinoceroses, were familiar in
the last generation to freshmen taking
Geology 1, and even perhaps to that
remarkable schoolboy that Macaulay
used to write about.
The fossils of the Siwalik Hills were
discovered about ninety years ago.
They were made famous by the great
collections brought together and de-
scribed by Sir Proby Cautley, an
English army officer, and Dr. Hugh
Falconer, a very able and active Scotch
palaeontologist. The chief discoveries
were in the foothills along the southern
flank of the great Himalayan range,
from the Sutlej to the Ganges. The
Nerbudda River in central India, the
Irrawaddy River in Burma, and Perim
Island in the Gulf of Cambay, were
also sites of some of the early dis-
coveries, and in more recent years
great finds have been made in the
Salt Range of northern India and dis-
tricts in Baluchistan, as well as in the
classic Siwalik Hills.
The specimens are mostly in the
British Museum, London, and in the
collections of the Indian Geological
Survey in Calcutta. A few were sent
to the Edinburgh, Oxford, and Dublin
museums. They were described and
illustrated in a magnificent series of
208
FOSSIL ANIMALS OF INDIA
209
The Sivatherium as restored in H. N. Hutchinson's Extinct Monsters from remains found
in the Siwahk beds of India. The animal was related to the giraffes, although very different
in appearance and as large as a rhinoceros
folio plates issued under the joint
auspices of the British government and
the East India Company, and later in a
series of memoirs of the Indian Survey.
Until last autumn there were no
Indian fossils in the American Museum
except for a small collection received
in an exchange, and a number of casts,
mostly of very poor quality. So far as
the writer is aware, there are none of
any importance in any other museum
in this country or on the continent of
Europe. Professor Osborn had hoped
for many years to make a collecting
campaign in India, but the opportunity
to carry out these plans came only two
years ago through the generous support
of Mrs. Henry Clay Frick, who has
met the entire costs of the Siwalik Hills
Indian expedition.
The Indian government authorities
responded most courteously to in-
quiries made by the Museum as to
collecting in that country, giving us a
cordial welcome and valuable assistance
in many ways. The question may well
be asked, why should we wish to do
over again a task that has been done so
well by Anglo-Indian scientists many
years ago. Well, there were several
reasons. First, that the field was prob-
ably far from being exhausted and a
new search would almost certainly
disclose many new or little-known
animals, in addition to those already
well known. Second, that it was
important for the researches of this
Museum to have a large series of these
extinct animals of India for comparison
with those of other parts of the world,
especially of China and Mongolia.
Third, that the methods and technique
of collecting specimens and the exact
recording of the geological horizon of
each specimen have been very greatly
improved in recent years by American
collectors, and we believed that we
could secure more perfect specimens
210
NATURAL HISTORY
Sketch map of India, showing the location of the Siwalik Hills,
map published bj^ Falconer
Re-drawn from a
and a more certain knowledge of the
succession of faunas that inhabited the
region than was possible under the old
methods.' Fourth, that we might secure
additional evidence bearing on the evo-
lution of man.
The field campaign was undertaken
by Mr. Barnum Brown, whose prac-
tical experience and skill in overcoming
the difficulties of a region somewhat
different in tj^pe from our usual collect-
ing grounds gave the best promise of
success.
The Siwalik terrane is one of enor-
mous thickness (about 14,000 feet). It
was made up of the outwash from the
main ranges of the Himalayas at a time
when the}^ were rapidly rising, although
Skull of Stegodon ganesa, the finest of the extinct Siwalik proboscideans. The tusks
are nine feet long. The original skull is in the British Museum; casts of it may be found
in many of the "older scientific museums of Europe and America. After Falconer and Cantley
Skull of a Siwalik mastodon in the Brown collection, partly prepared. — It will be described
and figured in Professor Osborn's forthcoming memoir on the extinct Proboscidea. Courtesy
of Professor Osborn
212
NATURAL HISTORY
Jaw fragment of an anthropoid •
primate found by Mr. Bamum Brown
in the Middel SiwaUk beds. Remains
of the higher Primates are very rare
fossUs in any of the Tertiary forma-
tions, but of extreme interest because
of their bearing on the problem of the
ancestry of man. The three spec-
imens secured by Mr. Bro-rni add
materially to the scanty evidence
available from the Siwahk beds. They
are being carefully studied and com-
pared by Dr. Wilham K, Gregory
and Dr. Milo Hellman and will
shortly be described. These illustra-
tions made by Mr. Malcolm Jamieson
under their direction, is pubhshed in
advance through their courtesy. The
drawings show the top and inside
views of the jaw fragment, natural size
not so high as they are now. The for-
mation has shared in the later up-
heaval, so that it is exposed in a long
range of considerable mountains, the
uptilted edges of the strata facing
toward the central ranges. There are
immense exposures, most of them as
barren of fossils as they are of vege-
tation, but here and there are areas or
pockets where fossils are to be found.
Some of these areas were known to the
Indian Survey and we are deeply in-
debted to the Survey for information
as to their location. Others were dis-
covered by Mr. Brown in the course of
extensive prospecting. The best season
for such work is the late winter and
spring; in the rainy season of autumn
nothing can be done, and summer is
almost unendurabl}^ hot.
The Siwalik Fauna belongs to the
later part of the Tertiary, or Age of
Mammals. It was at one time sup-
posed to be a unit, but later researches,
especially those of Dr. Guy H. Pil-
grim, have shown that it consists of
three distinct stages, covering the later
Miocene and PHocene. The middle
portion is about equivalent to the
famous Pikermi beds near Athens,
Greece; the lower division begins with
the Sansan and Simorre faunas of
France; the upper Siwalik beds com-
pare with the Montpellier of France
and Val d'Arno of Italy. ■'. ■,
These Siwalik faunas give a fairly
consecutive history of the life of India
from the middle Miocene to the end of
the Pliocene. Through comparison
with the record in other parts of the
world we get a good line on the origin
and dispersal of various races of ani-
mals during this time.
The finest series in Brown's collec-
tion is that of the proboscideans, includ-
ing elephants, stegodons, various kinds
of mastodons, and dinotheres. Of these
there are 142 catalogued specimens,
including five skulls.
Two mastodon skulls are nearly
complete and of very large size; one
of them has the tusks ahnost entire.
There are also two stegodon skuUs,
equally large, one of them with the
FOSSIL ANIMALS OF INDIA
213
-tusks preserved. These four skulls are
from the Middle Siwaliks. From the
Lower Siwaliks there are numerous
jaws and teeth, and one skull with tusks
complete but not full-grown. From the
Upper Siwaliks was obtained a large
series of palates, jaws, and teeth of
stegodons and primitive true elephants.
An extract from one of Mr. Brown's
letters shows some of the obstacles
overcome in collecting these skulls.
"Some of the difficulties I have en-
countered in making this collection will
interest you. It took one week to
build a passable road for carts out of
the bad lands and then required four
bullocks and twenty-one men to move
each mastodon skull. Fourteen days
were consumed in transporting these
skulls sixty-five miles, thirty-five of
which were without road. The Indian
countryman does not know how to
work except in the grain field, and as he
eats nothing but bread and chili, he
has the strength of a small boy. . .
Traveling is done at night now, for the
daily temperature in the Punjab aver-
ages from 100 to 115 in the shade, and
around 200 in the sun. It is the most
taxing heat I have ever endured. . . .
It is difficult to secure adequate boxing
lumber for big specimens. Part of my
material came from America and the
rest had to be sawed by hand on the
spot. I have used flour paste for
bandages, as plaster is not obtainable."
Three jaws of anthropoid apes are of
extraordinary interest because of the
evidence they give regarding the evolu-
tion of these animals and their rela-
tion to the line of human descent. Mr.
Brown's exact records of locality and
geologic level show that these three
specimens come from three successive
horizons or geologic stages, and the
teeth of the three indicate in some
respects a progressive evolution from
first to last, in a direction leading more
toward the type of the modern gorilla
and chimpanzee than toward the
human type. If these jaws are really
in a line of descent, it is one that points
not so much toward man as toward the
gorilla.
There are several antelope skulls and
two of the singular extinct giraffoids,
one rhinoceros skull, and three or four
of hippopotami. There are two or three
skulls of the three-toed horse, one of
them with an associated skeleton that
is probably nearly complete. Remains
of carnivorous animals are extremely
scanty, but there is one good skull of a
very rare primitive carnivore (Dis-
sopsalis), of which only a few frag-
ments of jaws had previously been
known. In addition to the series of
skulls, about forty in all, there is a
great number of jaws, fragments of
jaws, and teeth of various animals,
some of which, when carefully studied,
will doubtless prove to be new or rare
types. A point of especial value to the
student is that the exact locality and
distance above the base of the forma-
tion is carefully recorded for every
specimen, great or small, in the whole
collection, so that each can be placed
in its exact time relation, be it earlier,
later, or of the same age as that of
others of its kind.
It has been a common criticism of the
older palaeontological researches that
specimens in an evolutionary series
were arranged arbitrarily in accordance
with their progressive structural or
anatomical differences, but that there
was no evidence that these differences
coincided with their real geological
succession or sequence in time. The
criticism was sound enough as applied
to the older work, which followed too
much the methods of comparative
anatomy and traced the evolution of
214
NATURAL HISTORY
structures but not the real evolution of
a race of animals through mutations of
species in successive stages of geological
time. It is not true as applied to the
more recent work in America, where,
with exact data for every specimen, the
progress of the race is traced continu-
ously, through comparisons and aver-
ages, often based upon some hundreds
of specimens from each geological level.
It is this kind of work that we hope to
do with the Indian collections, and to
obtain more exact and more certain
results as to evolution, migration, and
extinction of races than has hereto-
fore been possible. We shall also be
able to make direct comparisons with
the collections from Mongolia and
China, and with those which we hope
to secure from other regions.
In addition to the mammalian fossils,
there are skulls of crocodile and gavial
and a large part of the carapace and
skeleton of the huge extinct tortoise
(Colossockelys) of India, thought by
some to be recalled in the ancient
legends that couple the elephant and
the tortoise as gigantic figures in
Indian mytholog3\
]\Ir. Brown's collection is not so large
as those in the London and Calcutta
museums; but some of its specimens,
notabh" the skeleton of the three-toed
horse Hipparion and the skull of the
primitive carnivore Dissopsalis are much
finer than anything of their kind hereto-
fore found in India, and some of the
skulls of proboscideans and other large
animals are quite as fine as anjiihing
in the older collections . It gives us a mag-
nificent representation of this classic
fauna, will make a splendid exhibition
series, and wiU be of very great impor-
tance in researches upon fossilmammals.
Sketch made bj^ Prof. Edward Forbes in
one of Dr. Hugh Falconer's notebooks. It
shows the earth resting upon the head of an
elephant, which in turn is supported on the
back of a tortoise, as the ancient Indian cos-
mogonies declared
Hai
ainan
AN ISLAND OF FORBIDDING REPUTATION THAT PROVED AN
EXCELLENT COLLECTING GROUND
By CLIFFORD H. POPE
Assistant in Zoology, Third Asiatic Expedition
EARLY in November, 1922, we left
Peking for the island of Hainan,
China's southernmost territory.
First to be mentioned in the party is our
artist, Mr. Wang, who had for more
than a year been making drawings
from life of Chinese fish, reptiles, and
amphibians. He had already stood
the test of work under great difficulty
and capture by bandits, so we felt we
could place full reliance upon him.
Next came our assistant, whose
name was also Wang. Though only
twenty-three years old, he had attended
to the purchase and preservation of
thousands of specimens. Wang not
only showed skill in this work but did
very good skinning; he too had faced
bandits. Kang and Jong, though new
to our party, were tried ''taxidermists"
and promised to keep up their end of
the work — trapping and skinning.
On the fifteenth day after leaving
Peking, we disembarked at Hoihow,
Hainan's only port. I soon decided
to head for Nodoa, a small inland town
situated in the hilly country inter-
mediate between the island's rolling
northern plain and its wild southern
highland. Members of the Hoihow
branch of the American Presbyterian
Mission not only gave much-needed
advice, but actually hired a boat that
would take us to Fa Hi, the head of
navigation on the Golden River.
We reached Fa Hi after three days of
slow traveling up the river, and then a
two-day journey overland brought us
to Nodoa.
Late one afternoon, after a weary
day's march through rolhng, bushy
country, we saw in the distance on a low
hill foreign houses, and beyond, blue
mountains standing out against the sky.
Our porters made a bee line for these
houses, not even waiting for directions.
Of course, foreigners were coming to see
foreigners! Once inside the compound,
I was greeted by name and told that
my dinner would soon be ready. The
missionaries at Hoihow had sent a
message and so we were expected.
Mr. Leverett showed me a room that
he said was to be mine and also an
empty one in which we might store our
equipment. In time, not only half of
his bungalow had been turned over to
us, but also various rooms in other
buildings. We even invaded the hos-
pital compound and before we were
ready to leave, it seemed to me that
we had used, in some way or other,
every bit of the entire compound.
Doctor Salsbury's assistant very pa-
tiently put up with bad odors re-
sulting from the preparation of bats,
rats, porcupines, hares, muntjacs, mon-
gooses, genets, wild cats, wild pigs,
monkeys, a varied assortment of
squirrels, and many other mammals, all
of which took place in the room next
to his.
My thankfulness increased and also
my surprise, for the Chinese had only
discouraging tales to tell of the sup-
posedly dangerous interior. It is said
in Peking that the Hainanese have
short tails and live on snake meat.
215
216
NATURAL HISTORY
A typical central Hainan landscape. — The ornament in the foreground is a native cart. The
screeching of these carts, though ear-splitting and nerve-racking, is effective, the natives assert,
in frightening away evil spirits. When a few Hainan roads have been traversed, it is readily
understood why such carts are used. They are perfectly adapted to their environment and well
able to cope not only with the roads but with the lack of roads, the crossing of flooded paddy
fields or newly cleared areas being easily achieved. Because of the enormous size of the wheels,
the shocks caused by small holes and bumps are hardly noticeable, while the effects of the deep
mud holes and the many gullies are lessened by the snail's pace of the draft animals
Even in Hoihow it was hard to get a
"boy" sufficiently venturesome to make
the journey with us as interpreter.
The one we finally induced to accom-
pany us, proved, before the end of a
week, to be unable to cope with the
local dialects and was therefore use-
less. We soon learned something of the
difficulties. In Nodoa, which is the
district's market town, no less than
five distinct dialects are spoken — one
for the town itself and one for each
point of the compass. The so-called
Mandarin spoken by the people of
Nodoa is a corrupt form of the northern
language. Hainanese, Hakka, Dom-
chiu and Lim-ko Loi, Cantonese, and
the local Mandarin all may be heard
on the one ''street." The missionaries
have to study three and four dialects.
Mr. Leverett, anticipating my need
for a local man to act as both guide and
interpreter, had engaged Ah-sen, one
of the old, faithful servants of the
mission. During the following months
Ah-sen handled nine dialects for me.
Some of these could justly be called
distinct languages. He could not
write Chinese nor could he speak a
word of English, but he knew a little
northern Mandarin. No other Chinese
in the district could speak so many
dialects, nor was any quite so courage-
ous as Ah-sen. He was invaluable.
While with me, he had two encounters
with bandits and congratulates him-
self on having come through with
his life and without having taken that
of a single bandit — a distinctly Chinese
way of thinking. Ah-sen was famous
for two exploits: once he had carried
water, bare-footed and bare-legged —
but with an old, high silk hat balanced
on his head! On another occasion, in
his "table boy" days, he had ap-
peared at dinner, tray in hand, and a
discarded corset drawn snugly about
his waist.
HAINAN
217
Through the cooler winter months we
spent most of our time studying and
collecting mammals, but before Febru-
ary had passed, hot weather set in and
we turned our attention to reptiles,
amphibians, and fish. There were
some days of warm weather before the
endless rains began, and during these
few days fish collecting was good. All
the creeks and small rivers were so
low— a result of the dry winter
weather — that the fish were trapped in
the deeper pools. The Chinese raced
with us to the best places. They
dumped quantities of lime into the
water and thus forced the fish to the
surface. Onl}^ a few days of the mild
weather had passed when the spring
rains came down; the thin trickles of
water that barely connected the pools
became torrents; and the fish that
had escaped dynamite and lime were
liberated.
With the mission compound for a
base, ponies at our disposal, and the
missionaries ^ver ready with advice and
help, we were fortunate indeed. Kang
and Jong were busy setting out and
taking in traps, bargaining with local
hunters, and skinning, while Wang was
occupied with the boys, many of whom
had become expert in catching snakes
and frogs. A local man had been
hired to help with the trapping and had
himself become a good trapper. One
day he put down his bag and, cautiously
opening it, took out a rat trap in which
a large cobra was securely caught by
the neck! Ah-sen was kept more than
busy hunting and circulating the news
among local hunters that the new
foreigner at Nodoa would buy all
kinds of animals. If the village people
were not reminded frequently, they
would stop bringing in their catch.
Two large cloudy leopards were killed
and eaten on a mountain only seven
miles from Nodoa. When Ah-sen
asked the hunters wh}^ they had not
brought the animals to us, the men
said they had not been sure that we
wanted leopards.
Though totally illiterate, Ah-sen could
converse in nine tongues and was the only
man who would do night-watching alone.
Ordinarily watchmen work in pairs, but
Ah-sen drew a double salary because
he dared watch unassisted. Once he
wandered north to Shantung and at
Chefoo was emploj^ed as table boy in a
foreign household. To Ah-sen is due a
great deal of the credit for the collection of
1150 mammals taken out of Hainan by the
Third Asiatic Expedition
At one time the Nodoa merchants
accused us of having cornered the
wild-cat market. To these Chinese
each kind of wild animal has its own
peculiar virtue as a medicine or tonic;
therefore each species has a more or
less definite market value. Monkeys,
though common enough, are expensive
and especially hard to secure because
of the great demand for ''monkey
218
NATURAL HISTORY
"Taxidermist" Jong and assistant Wang
are skinning a python (Python molurus). In
spite of rumors of gigantic snakes on Hainan,
none of the several pythons secured exceeded
twelve feet in length. Python steak was tried
and found to be delicious. There is always a
ready sale for the meat, and it is said that the
gall has remarkable medicinal value. Pythons
though not extremely rare, are uncommon
and hard to catch. They are generally dis-
covered and held at bay by dogs
paste." We are told that this medicine
is made of the entire animal. After a
monkey's whole body — bones, hair,
skin, and all — has been reduced to a
uniform consistency by some special
process, the resulting compound is
administered to the decrepit old and
the lazy young. The monkey is one
of the most active and agile of animals
and the "paste" certainly contains
the very essence of monkey. He who
eats the "paste" will, it is believed,
become more active and agile.
In the case of animals having this
set market value, purchasing was easy,
but when it came to buying an un-
common toad or lizard or snake — well,
the problem was far from simple. Any
little slant-eyed boy would be glad of
the chance to earn the fraction of a
cent by gathering a few common frogs,
but if a large or rare creature was
brought in by a farmer, we hardly
knew what to do, and generally left
the decision to Wang. Under such
circumstances, Wang, apparently not
even deigning to turn from his work —
thus appearing to be as unconcerned
as possible — would quickly size up the
object by glances out of the corner of
his eye. The captor of the prized
specimen would, on his side, lose no
time in trying to impress Wang with
the scarcity, difficulty of capture, and
good condition of the animal. The
next stage would be an effort on the
part of each to force the other to name
a price first — neither having the slight-
est idea of the other's conception of a
The cobra's attention is being attracted by
assistant Wang, who stands just outside the
picture. This is an example of the smaller
and common kind of cobra found on Hainan,
A specimen of the larger variety was not
secured although a headless skin measuring
eleven feet was brought in by a farmer. It is
this large kind that is dreaded by the natives,
who sometimes carry pieces of sulphur around
with them as a protection against attack. The
Chinese are very fond of snake meat, and dis-
carded bodies were often taken by them
Scene on a stream fished by the Third Asiatic Expedition. The boat, built by popular sub-
scription, was to serve as a ferry. The men are soldiers who came along to guard the gentle-
man (not in picture) who volunteered to show us a good fishing stream. Mr. Li dared not go
even a short distance from Nodoa alone for fear of being kidnapped and held for ransom. He
comes of a wealthy family
From this compound, at the very edge of a central Hainan forest, pioneering Cantonese
manage one of their new tobacco plantations. Kang, one of the "taxidermists" of the expedi-
tion, made the compound his headquarters for many days. These thatched houses, with walls
made of upright saplings, are the coolest and most economical houses that can be built. The
compound is protected by a living stockade. In the center of the picture a few skins may be
seen sunning
219
220
NATURAL HISTORY
fair figure. After some moments of
deadlock; the one finally forced to
name his price would have to bear the
brunt of the fierce sarcasm certain
fairly to radiate from the other. For
instance, if Wang had, as a starter,
offered fifteen cents, the farmer would
immediately have appeared to be
either mortally wounded in pride,
Although Mr. Wang is a thoroughly trained
artist, he had always drawn in a purely
Chinese school; never before joining us
had he been introduced to scientific concep-
tions and methods in art. It can barely be
seen that Mr. Wang holds in one hand two
brushes. He changes from one to the other
without putting either down or using his left
hand. He is able to hold even three brushes
at once, easily shifting them about by move-
ments of the fingers. By no means does Mr.
Wang consider this sleight of hand, but merely
one of the numberless things that everj' well
trained artist must be able to do. The frog
being drawn is in the glass vessel on the table
at the right
overcome with burning disgust, or
choked with convulsive laughter at
the very idea of such a ridiculously low-
price. If the farmer had been forced
to name his price, Wang in his turn
would have shown similar symptoms of
varied and violent emotion. After
many minutes of alternate emotional
explosions the purchase would be
concluded by Wang shouting after
the fast-disappearing and thoroughlj^
disgusted Chinese that his last price,
though ridiculously high, would be
given because — and here would follow
a long series of apologetic and condi-
tional excuses for giving in, duly punc-
tuated with anything but compli-
mentaiy remarks about the mental,
moral, and physical make-up of
Hainanese in general and one snake-
catching farmer in particular. In all
such bargaining the figure finally
arrived at is sure to be about half-way
between the two original conceptions
of value. One wonders why it would
not be simpler at the very start to
subtract one figure from the other,
divide the difference by two, and add
the result to the smaller sum, thus
arriving more promptly at the inevit-
able half-way point.
Through all the many ups and downs
of our efforts while on Hainan, Mr.
Wang worked steadily, never for an
instant becoming slack. He drew with
a steadiness that only an Oriental can
show. One afternoon he came up to
me with a most worried expression —
something unusual for him — and told
me that the toad on which he was work-
ing appeared to be seriously ill — yes,
but he hardly dared breathe it, the
creature was already almost dead!
I hurried with him to see just what
could be the trouble. Sure enough,
there it lay all rigid, its legs stretched
out in a pitiful manner. Could it be
that the toad had actually ''passed
on?" Then Mr. Wang began sadly to
relate how it had happened.
"About an hour ago," said he, "the
HAINAN
221
A bridge on the highway to Nodoa. — ^This was a favorite place for robbers to lie in wait.
One robber, taken here, was duly tried but, though found guilty, was granted further trial in a
higher court. However, on his way to the district city, he got no farther than the scene of his
crime. Here he was asked to step to one side— he took his last step. The three men with hats
are doubtful as to the prudence of being photographed by the foreigner, but the one on the
right, an old mission servant, is quite familiar with cameras
toad began to scratch its sides and
rub its mouth in a peculiar way. I
couldn't imagine what was wrong.
'Surely it is suffering or is very sick/
I thought. Soon a thick substance
began to ooze out all over its body.
This puzzled me still more. Then I
saw what I could hardly believe, — tears
appeared in its eyes and I told myself
that the poor toad must be actually
crying. I felt sorry for it and said —
'That's all right; don't cry, don't crj^
—you mustn't cry!'"
All his encouragement failed, how-
ever, to save its life, for the creature
had been chilled while shedding its skin.
But how should Chinese artists know
that toads shed and eat their skins?
When first asked, more than two years
ago, if he would go in the field with a
foreigner to draw living animals, Mr.
Wang wanted especially to know
whether he would have to handle
snakes. That was one thing he could
not do. Last year it was most amusing
to see him lovingly caress and nurse a
little snake he was drawing.
A remarkable and beautiful tad-
pole, its body a mixture of rich browns,
was brought in. On its back was a
delicate pink frill which even the weak-
est current swayed. The two tiny
legs with their fully webbed feet were
kept moving in a truly unusual man-
ner— not as ordinary polUwogs are
wont to move theirs. Mr. Wang be-
came interested at once. Surely this
tiny creature could not be merely a
222
NATURAL HISTORY
tadpole; certainly it was the child of
some weird dragon! So, day by day,
as he watched the development, Mr.
Wang gave rein to his fancy. What
manner of strange fog dragon^ would it
turn into? Its parents were certainl}^
hidden deep in some wild jungle!
But alas, what disappointment! As
the hmbs slowly developed, the rich
colors blended and faded, finally dis-
appearing altogether. Ordinary shades
of dull green gradually appeared and
the head assumed a decidedly ''froggj^"
aspect. All Wang's dragon dreams
were shattered and quickly melted
away. We had before us only a tiny,
ugly specimen of the commonest frog
on Hainan, the frog that nightly
makes the air alive with its incessant
calhng from the paddy fields.
In the spring a band of about one
hundred deserters worked their way
inland from the coast and threatened
to give trouble. They laid an ambush
along the highway one day and, after
blowing off a sergeant's head, looted
the loads of some fift}^ carrying coolies.
The ten privates of the command had
dissolved upon seeing their leader fall
to the ground headless, and, of course,
the defenceless coolies wasted no time
in disappearing. The mission suffered
a loss of property valued at $500.
Worse, than this, such a bold attack,
perpetrated so near, threatened to cut
off our line of supplies. Carriers did
not dare to travel that road alone and
there was no other. For some time
we had to take turns in escorting loaded
coolies through this dangerous region.
No one knew just when the outlaws
would return or others appear. To
make things worse, a feud broke out in
iln certain parts of China salamanders are called by
the natives foggy-air dragons. They are worshipped;
incense is burnt before their haunts ; and people kowtow
to them because it is thought they control the rain.
During the rainy season one might safely catch them
without arousing suspicion but let a drought set in., and
the part of prudence is to leave them alone.
Nodoa. The first victim was rushed to
the mission hospital with a stab
through the kidney — all had happened
in broad dayhght on a crowded street.
I was strongly reminded of the doings
in and about a small town in my native
state of Georgia. The spring fighting
season had evidently opened and from
then on the monotony of collecting
was broken by frequent rumors of
battles and raids.
The intense heat and the violence
of the sudden storms made work during
the dsij difficult. Foreigners who have
lived in Indo-China and latitudes as
far south in the Orient well know how
carefully the white man has to guard
against the heat of spring and summer.
Yet one often passes Chinese working
while the noonday sun beats down
upon their bare, shaved heads. One
feels foolish beneath a thick pith helmet
and wet towel and is tempted to find
out by experiment just how much
truth there is in the belief that a
foreigner cannot stand the sun. How-
ever, experiment invariably convinces
one that though the Chinese farmer
may be quite sunproof, the foreigner
is not. The Chinese sometimes catch
small fish and snails by bailing out
shallow swampy stretches. This they
will do in the middle of the day under
the hottest sun. Often a whole vil-
lage will appoint a time for fishing and,
putting aside farm work for the day,
descend upon a stream, shut off a sec-
tion from above and below, and then
make a raid on the fish, the men work-
ing in the deeper pools with nets and
the boys among the rocks and grass in
the shallows. As the day goes on, the
fish become more and more exhausted
from constant fright and gradually fall
victims to either the boys or the men.
In the preparation of the rice fields
it is necessar}' for the men to wade
HAINAN
223
around in the souplike mud of the
flooded fields for hours and hours and
one soon becomes convinced that the
skin of these farmers must be as water-
proof as their heads are sun-proof.
The hot season, when work in the
day is most diflacult, unfortunately
coincides with the fighting season,
when night work is dangerous. All
the patches of jungle have villages in
them and at night the roads are care-
fully guarded and keptclear of stragglers.
Lookouts are posted on high places
and, because of the vigilance of the
watch kept at all quarters, it is the part
of prudence to be extremely careful as
to prowling about after dark. One is
more apt to be shot for a robber than
taken by robbers, and the Chinese can-
not be persuaded to go about at night.
Our collection steadily grew. Con-
siderably more than 100 species of
reptiles, amphibians, and fish were
represented. A large series of all the
common forms had been secured.
Besides specimens we had measure-
ments of all the mammals, many photo-
graphs, and abundant notes. Mr.
Wang had illustrated the life histories
of 15 species of amphibians and had
painted many fish. About fifteen
local men — cooks, frog catchers, and
fishermen, — had helped in the work,
while innumerable hunters had taken
part in the collecting of our 1150 mam-
mals. Countless boys were responsible
for the thousands of frogs, snakes,
lizards, and the like, packed away
in our tins.
Early in July news of the reassem-
blage in Peking of the members of the
Third Avsiatic Expedition reached me
and I prepared to leave Hainan. It
was not easy to part from the good
people who had for so many months
helped us in every way. Each member of
the mission, not excluding seven-year-
old Chalmers Salsbury, himself an
ardent collector, had joined in making
our efforts fruitful and our life on the
"Isle of Palms" pleasant in ever}^ way.
Not only the writer but the American
Museum itself owes a debt of gratitude
to these unselfish workers.
A good idea of the size of this lizard may be obtained through a comparison of its length with
that of the foot-rule lying beside it. The Hainan monitor belongs to a dwarf race, and, though
similar in appearance to its Indian and Malayan cousins, in size it is not to be compared with
some of them. The monitor, a big bluffer, is quite devoid of poison and harmless in spite of
its habit of thrashing the keen tail about and blowing ominously. The natives beUeve that
anyone struck by the whiplike tail is in danger of "dying about ten days later"
Through the Yangtze Gorges to Wan Hsien
By anna G. granger
Third Asiatic Expedition, American Museum
w
'AN HSIEN! The place that
gives us more worry than
any other spot in China!"
said Mr. Willys Peck, first secretary of
the American Legation in Peking, when
he learned where the past winter's
work had taken the American Mu-
seum's party. Doubtless the legation
is concerned about the unsettled state
of Szechuan Province, but the traveler
who ventures into it soon loses con-
sciousness of its protecting arm and
learns to be his own diplomatist as fast
as he can. Almost the first remark that
the few foreigners in Wan Hsien made
to me on my arrival in that city of ten
thousand smells (as everybody dubs it,
although the literal translation is
"ten thousand district") was, "You
were brave to venture down here
when you didn't have to come." Two
American gunboats, stationed alter-
nately at Chungking and Wan Hsien,
seemed alone to offer a definite zone of
safety, and even one of these was re-
cently fired upon by bandits when the
captain, exercising his prerogative in
releasing a Standard Oil junk which
had fallen into theh hands, incurred
their displeasure. In this case the out-
laws paid dearly for their temerity.
Such was the place we were headed
for on the evening of November 9,
1922. Mr. Granger's experience in this
Upper Yangtze valley in the preceding
year had prepared him for the pos-
sibilities in the line of moving armies
and flying bullets which awaited us,
but for me the trip had all the zest of
the unknown.
The first stage of our journey, the
overland trip from Peking to Hankow
224
by rail, should have been accomplished
in thirty-six hours. All went well until
the second evening. We were just
retiring for the night when the train
came to a halt and remained at a stand-
still the next forty-eight hours, the
interval being requhed to chase an
army of bandits numbering several
thousands from the immediate vicinity
of the raihoad tracks not many miles
ahead of us. Throughout the first day
of our stay on the siding, trainloads of
Chinese soldiers from the North passed
us on their way to the scene of action.
When finally we were able to proceed,
it was dark, and although we all were
anxious to see what had taken place in
the area where the bandits had
operated, we could make out nothing
except the numerous red glows on the
horizon indicating the spots where
buildings were still in flames.
November 15 was a late date to be
thinking of securing good accommoda-
tions on the Upper Yangtze steamers.
The large boats had long since stopped
running on account of the low water.
The delay of forty-eight hours in the
middle of the province of Honan caused
us serious concern, and we were greatly
relieved to find, upon reaching Hankow
on the morning of the thirteenth, that
the steamer "Kiang Wo" would leave
for Ichang that same evening. Four of
the Chinese members of the party had
been sent on ahead to Hankow. These
were Mr. James Wong, our inter-
preter; "Chi," the taxidermist;
"Buckshot" (so christened b}- an
officer in the American Guard in Pek-
ing, for whom he had worked as a bojO ',
and "Huei," our accomplished cook.
THROUGH THE YANGTZE GORGES TO WAN HSIEN
225
"Chow," the table boy and general
handy man, had made the journey from
Peking with us.
By vigorous efforts on the part of all,
banking business was attended to, ad-
ditional supplies of tinned goods bought,
and our formidable array of baggage
transferred to the upriver steamer by
nightfall. Hankow carrying coolies are
a difficult set of men to deal with. It
took all of Mr. Wong's unfaihng good
humor, tact, and much talk to effect a
reasonable bargain for their services.
When the last packet was put aboard,
it was with a great sigh of relief that
we ourselves clambered up some steep
stairs aft. We managed to reach the
cabins assigned to us without stepping
on any of the sleeping coohes who paved
the way. It was past the tourist season.
We were the only first-class passengers,
and no better means of entrance was
provided.
The next three days gave everyone
opportunity to be lazy. Chi, Huei,
Chow, and Buckshot spent much of
their time playing mah-jongg. Mr.
Wong had long confabs and several
dinner engagements with the ship's
compradore, a man whose good will it is
well to cultivate. Mr. Granger and I
found endless entertainment in watch-
ing the native life along the river, as the
steamer, following the deepest channel,
went close to one shore or the other.
Often we were near enough to be with-
in speaking distance. At such times
there was always a crowd of children
running along the bank, crying out to us
to throw them empty bottles. The
captain, as well as we, tried to hurl some
over to them, but never succeeded, all
falling in the swift current, much to their
disappointment and ours. Tossing arti-
cles shoreward to the eager children is
one of the regular diversions for passen-
gers on the Hankow-Ichang run.
In certain stretches of this part of the
Yangtze, high mud dikes, thrown up to
keep back the summer flood, hide
everything from sight except the tops of
the tallest trees, but for the most part
we had an uninterrupted view of the
low flat plains and could see the Chinese
performing their autumn chores about
their farmhouses. We could not help
feeling sorry for some of these industri-
ous people when we observed how
steadily the river was stealing away
their property. Even as we passed,
many feet of earth tumbled into the
water, intensifying its chocolate color
and adding to its burden of silt. I
find the following entry in my diary for
November 16: ''Saw a cormorant,
blue heron, swan, besides literally
clouds of duck and geese." Mr.
Granger's notebook makes special
mention of many birds seen at this
same point in August, 1921.
The sky had been overcast ever
since we had come in sight of the
Yangtze, a condition usually prevail-
ing as winter approaches. On the
seventeenth, however, the sun shone.
Also, the country became more hilly and
interesting. The river banks, instead
of being abrupt, here sloped away
gradually from the water and were cul-
tivated down to the farthest limit.
Only such crops were planted as could
be safely garnered before the summer
rise. We anchored opposite the city of
Ichang about three o'clock. This was
fairly quick time, considering that we
moved only from dawn to sunset.
Unless there is a clear moon to guide,
captains do not usually attempt to ne-
gotiate the ever-changing channel a ter
dark. It is a common incident to hear
of a steamer stranded on a sand bar.
The "Kiang Wo" had hardly come
to a standstill in midstream when
Monsieur Kaplain, then director of
View of the bund at Icliang, photographed at the time of medium high water. Extreme
high water floods the bund
The Yangtze, taken from the bund at Ichang during the period of low water. — Under
these conditions mud flats of considerable extent are exposed
226
THROUGH THE YANGTZE GORGES TO WAN HSIEN
227
posts at Ichang and formerly at Wan
Hsien, stepped aboard to greet us, and
to carry us ashore in his sampan as
soon as we should be free. He brought
word that the steamer "Shu Hun,"
flying the French flag, would leave for
Wan Hsien at daybreak the following
morning. Mr. Wong was at once dis-
patched to see if any first-class cabins
were still available and, if so, to bargain
for them with the compradore. Earlier
in the season, while the large river
steamers are running, tickets are sold
and baggage is carried at a fixed rate,
but when these boats are taken off and
competition ceases, one is obliged to
pay whatever the comprador may
demand, and his price is frequently
excessive. Mr. Wong was instructed
to say that rather than pay an ex-
orbitant sum, we would hire a junk.
Fortunately we did not have to resort
to this slow and dangerous method of
reaching our destination. There
proved to be ample room in the first-
class cabins, but in the second- and
third-class sections not space enough to
make it possible for our Chinese even
to spread out their bed rolls. However,
as nothing else offered, and the Yangtze
was getting lower every day, there was
nothing to do but accept conditions as
they were, and our men did so cheer-
fully.
Leaving Mr. Wong to complete
arrangements, we went to have tea
with Monsieur Caplain and his wife at
their home, returning to the "Kiang
Wo" for dinner, and later going over to
the ''Shu Hun" with Mr. Wong to
sleep. During the little sampan ride
from one steamer to the other, I was
surprised to notice that Mr. Wong's
pistol was more in evidence than usual.
He explained that this show of arms
was simply to insure our being taken
where we wanted to go, and that, too,
without any argument as to the
fare. To my eyes, accustomed only
to Northern Chinese all the boat-
men looked capable of making daring
holdups, and it was not difficult to
picture how badly we would fare in a
sampan on a dark night, surrounded
only by those who turn a deaf ear to
cries for help.
The " Shu Hun " had been under way
about half an hour when I awoke and
looked out to find that the marvels of
the Gorge scenery were already begin-
ning to unfold. Hastily donning
enough clothes to keep warm and wrap-
ping a steamer rug around me, I went
out on deck. Captain Bienami, to
whom we had had a card of introduc-
tion from Monsieur Caplain, was
already about. He stopped to chat
with me. It was quite evident that he
had seen nature enthusiasts before
and was accustomed to early morn-
ing apparitions! Mr. Granger was
taking a much-needed rest, and could
not be persuaded by any of my bursts
of delight to leave his berth before
breakfast was called.
The two days that followed were full
of wonder and intense satisfaction at
nature's handiwork, of awe in the
presence of a waterway requiring so
long a period of time in the making,
and of astonishment at the powers of
destruction still inherent in the mighty
stream. We were fortunate in seeing
the Gorges at just this season when, by
reason of the low water, the precipitous
sides of the chasm were revealed in their
full, majestic height, and when the
autumn colorings were upon all the
various plant growths that find lodg-
ment in these rocky uplifts, even in the
most unlikely places. The beauty was
enhanced by a bright sun, an all-too-
rare circumstance in these parts. At
times, owing to the sharp turns in the
228
NATURAL HISTORY
river, we seemed to be traveling on a
harmless lake, with further progress
barred by encircling mountains. Not a
ripple ruffled the surface, the great
depth of the water apparently making
the whole body move as one mass.
Here one forgot its power. It was at
the wider places along our course,
caused by the palisades having slipped
out of position, fflhng the bed of the
stream with rock piles, that the dash-
ing the passage of the rapid, it would
have eased our minds. Next, the wood-
work immediately touching the boiler
stacks was dampened to prevent
scorching while the engines were under
forced draft. Mr. Granger made some
private preparations for the fray by
taking off the heavy ulster he was
wearing. In the event of an accident,
which was not unthinkable, he felt it
would be expedient to be as unham-
It is no easy matter for a small craft to fight its way up this seething rapid (the Hsin
T'an), even though under full steam and directed by a Chinese pilot who has attained his
position only after long experience with the difficult waters of the Upper Yangtze
ing spray and vicious-looking whirl-
pools made one aware of the presence of
a strong current.
Going up the Hsin T'an (new rapid)
gave us all genuine excitement. As
has already been said, we were carry-
ing a super cargo of human beings.
Some of us were asked to place our-
selves in the forward part of the boat,
the better to distribute the weight. If
there had been any means at hand for
removing about half our number dur-
pered as possible. Finally everything
on the lower deck was made tight, and
our prow entered the seething water.
Each of us now chose some fixed spot
on the shore by which to measure our
advance, and watched breathlessly to
see which of the contending forces
would be the stronger. The captain
had said he wasn't sure he could
''make it" under his own steam alone,
and for several moments our boat
showed no gain whatever, but just
THROUGH THE YANGTZE GORGES TO WAN HSIEN
229
when we thought that the water would
conquer, we began creeping slowly
ahead, and the struggle was won.
Captain Bienami came around di-
rectly afterward to enquire pleasantly
if we had been sufficiently thrilled. We
replied that indeed we had and that we
didn't wonder that the mail for Wan
Hsien, carried in tiny post boats, ar-
rived at its destination frequently in a
soaked condition. We then invited
him to share a box of chocolates with
which some good friends in Peking had
provided us and which we had opened
in celebration of the safe transit. One
other box had served to beguile the
idle hours on the side track in Honan.
It was during one of these sociable
moments with this most genial of
skippers that we learned that the actual
control of the wheel is not in the cap-
tain's hands, but is left to the Chinese
pilots, who have attained their position
only after many years of experience in
dealing with the special difficulties of
the Upper Yangtze waters.
We should have enjoyed continuing
on to Chungking under this friendly
guide had there not been work requir-
ing our presence at Wan Hsien. We
reached that city some time after dark
on the nineteenth, too late to do more
than hire a sampan, selected from the
many that always swarm about so
thickly as to hinder rather than facili-
tate disembarking, and put the camp
equipment aboard it. This was not
effected without some little unpleasant-
ness. It seems that an attempt was
made on the part of some of the ship's
crew to prevent the removal of our
goods unless an extra fee was paid.
•Mr. Wong was obliged to threaten to
use violence before our men were
allowed to proceed with the work of
unloading. It is such unexpected alter-
cations as this that make moving about
in China a trial. The plan was to leave
the steamer's side before she would
get under way the next morning. Our
four Chinese were glad to abandon their
cramped quarters and to spend the
night in the sampan, guarding the
luggage, which would otherwise have
been stolen. No one slept soundly for
thinking of our early start on the mor-
row. A patter of rain, which we had
been dreading, awoke us in good season.
By five-thirty our hand grips had been
lowered over the steamer's side and we
ourselves had dropped into the sampan
by descending a hatchway even more
thickly strewn with human forms than
had been the one on the "Kiang Wo."
The nearest shore toward which we
must go first was only faintly discern-
ible when we said our final good-byes to
the captain and pushed off. He waited
until we had reached our position of
safety, then the siren blew, and a dis-
tinctly eerie feeling settled over us as
we watched the twinkling lights dis-
appear.
We had been cautioned not to cross
to Wan Hsien until the swells caused by
the propellers had had time to go to the
bank and return again, since many a
small boat has been known to founder
in the second commotion after safely
weathering the first. We were content
to follow instructions, especially .on
noticing, as it became lighter, that we
were more heavily loaded than we had
supposed, because of some freight which
the boatman had added on his own
account. About the time that our
pilot decided it was safe to start to the
opposite shore, another shower came
on, which did not add to our feeling of
well-being, for there was no shelter on
our boat. Midway across we entered
the swift water. Our course was
directed diagonally upstream. The
current took care of the rest, bringing
230
NATURAL HISTORY
A view along the river front at Wan Hsien
US down again and butting us sharply
against some sampans, by whose side
we had to moor for want of a free space
on the shore. The "excess" freight
nearly slid off by the impact.
Daylight had now fairly come, or as
much of daylight as Wan Hsien often
gets before noon. While the men were
busy separating the boxes which were
to be taken to a place of storage from
the pieces that were to go to the China
Inland Mission, our headquarters, and
Mr. Wong was getting in some of his
Szechuanese jargon with the carrying
coolies, I had time to look about. Hap-
pening to glance toward the river and
seeing how madly it was careering
along, I realized, as I had not in the
half dawn when we were actually upon
it, the danger to which we had been
exposed.
If anyone wants to visualize the'
"pestilence that walketh in darkness,"
he should certainly visit Wan Hsien. It
has the reputation of being the dirtiest
city in China. We found it fully as
THROUGH THE YANGTZE GORGES TO WAN HSIEN 231
A river divides the town of Wan Hsien into two parts. During high water the Yangtze
backs up in this stream channel to the full height of the bridge arch seen in the background
black as it is painted. It is loathsome
yet to recall that first ride in a sedan
chair from the landing place to the
Mission. There is only one thing worse
than being carried over the unspeak-
able filth and running the risk of being
dropped into it, and that is to have to
trail through it on one's own feet. Even
along the fore shore and on the steep
banks of the stream that divides the
town, where one would think the sweet
airs of heaven might predominate,
the odors were scarcely less noxious
than they were in the paved alleys and
endless stone stairways within the
town itself. Subsequent rides in other
directions showed that outside of the
compounds under the control of for-
eigners there is not such a thing as a
clean spot anywhere.
During the time which it took our
Chinese to prepare the ancestral hail
of the Tan families at Yen Ching Kou
for another season's occupation by the
Museum party, Mr. Granger and Mr.
Wong remained at Wan Hsien. It was
necessary to pay respects to General
Chang Tsong, commander of the
Szechuan military forces in that city,
and to the local magistrate. Upon the
presentation of our credentials, a pass
was issued, permitting travel in the
neighborhood. This accomplished, we
called on all the foreigners (they were
only a handful) who had the ill luck to
be billeted in Wan Hsien, and made the
acquaintance of the officers on the
gunboats, British as well as American.
I should like to record that all of these
people, including Mr. and Mrs. Dar-
lington and their fellow workers at the
Mission, were unfailing in their courte-
sies to us throughout our stay in the
province of Szechuan.
232
NATURAL HISTORY
It was not until December 21 that I
made my first visit to the Museum
camp at Yen Ching Kou. Mr. Granger
came to Wan Hsien to accompany me.
Practically a whole day is consmned in
going between the two places, although
the distance is only twenty miles.
The attraction of the ride consisted
in keeping so close to the shore that we
could land at ahnost any moment, and
we were glad to alight several times, to
warm our chilled bodies by a brisk
walk. It was interesting, too, to watch
the. methods of propulsion which the
Chinese have developed to overcome
the swift current. Our crew consisted
of two men and a boy; all three stood
to their work during the whole of the
four hours that it takes to reach Pei
Shui Chi, the small town at the head
of the troublesome little rapid known
as the Fu T'an. By means of two oars
attached by a loop of bamboo to up-
right pegs about two feet high, a bam-
boo tracking rope, which it was the
small boy's lot to carry ashore at
intervals, and several long poles tipped
with iron and used to thrust into holes
in the rocks, a forward motion was
teased out of the water. The last-men-
tioned instruments have been used for
so many generations of boatmen that
in places the rocks are fairly honey-
combed with holes four or five inches
deep made by the repeated use of the
same spots as points of leverage. When
we came opposite the lower end of the
Fu T'an, we had to cross the river.
The two older men of our crew took
the tracking rope, and with the assist-
Deep holes have been worn in the rocks where successive generations of boatmen have
thrust their kon-tipped poles in order to force their sampans forward against the swift current
The sampan bearing the Museum party and flying the American flag is being tracked
and poled over a difficult place on the Yangtze between Wan Hsien and Pei Shui Chi
A mute testimony to hard labor are the grooves worn in the stone by the bamboo ropes
used by trackers
233
234
NATURAL HISTORY
A section of rice paddies high up on the mountain face. — The entire slope was
similarly carved. The T'an ancestral hall is seen in the foreground
ance of a Chinese from another sampan
and of Mr. Granger too, om- boat was
hauled over.
Quite a sizeable stream, spanned by a
beautifully arched stone bridge, enters
the Yangtze at Pei Shui Chi. The
same water flows as a small brook past
the Museum camp at Yen Ching Kou.
We were soon following up its course,
— Mr. Granger and Chow on foot and
I in a sedan chair. Before setting out
we stopped at a so-called Chinese inn,
in this case simply a matting-covered
shed containing two tables, benches
resembling sawhorses to sit on, a
Chinese bed, called a kang, and the
usual cement stove. Here we obtained
hot water for our tea and delicious
THROUGH THE YANGTZE GORGES TO WAN HSIEN
235
native tangerines and peanuts to
supplement our luncheon sandwiches.
By three o'clock we were started up the
twelve miles of stone-paved trail,
narrow and in a bad state of repair,
passing by highly cultivated mountain-
sides that are truly nothing less than
marvels of agricultural architecture.
One slope must have had more than a
hundred terraces carved upon its face,
some filled with water, others planted
out to vegetables, as is the custom in the
winter season. Night shut down upon
us about two-thirds of the way up. As
I could no longer see where the pitfalls
were ahead, I gave up worrying and
contented myseh with drinking in long
drafts of the sweet-smelling mountain
air. At about seven o'clock Mr.
Wong's cheery welcome was heard in
the darkness, and we knew that the
Museum camp was at hand.
(In a later issue of Natural History Mrs. Granger will give an account of life as she
lived it in a Chinese ancestral hall converted for the time being into a Museum camp, and of
excursions to fossil pits in the neighborhood from which of old the "dragon" bones of Chinese
medicine were taken and which more recently have supplied specimens of extinct animals to
the Museum.)
The ancestral hall and a part of the village of Yen Ching Kou. — It was here
that Mr. and Mrs. Granger lived while Mr. Granger collected fossils in the region
A black bear strolling by, at a distance of about thirty yards from the camera
In the Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear'
By WALDEMAR JOCHELSON
Leader of the Ethnological Division of the Kamchatka Expedition of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society
THE Kamchatka Peninsula to the
south of Petropavlovsk is at
present ahnost uninhabited. The
natives have either died out or were
exterminated by the Russians. Only
on the western shore are there three
small villages, and one of them at the
mouth of the Osernaya River was re-
cently established by Russian settlers.
From this settlement I had to ascend
the mountainous Osernaya River to
Lake Kuril, fiftj^-five miles from the
shore of the Sea of Okhotsk.
The purpose of my going to Lake
Kuril was to excavate the site of an
ancient village which existed in pre-
historic tunes on a small promontory
on the eastern shore of the lake. This
village was inhabited by natives of
'Illustrations by
236
mixed blood — a cross between Kurilians
and Kamchadal. Just as I had antici-
pated, I found there evidence of the
historic and cultural connection of the
old local population, on the one hand
with the Kurilians, Ainus, and other
ancient inhabitants of the Japanese
Islands, and on the other — through the
Kamchadal, Koryak, and Chukchee —
with the Indians of northwestern
America.
Our party consisted of myself as
leader, Mrs. Jochelson, M.D., as
assistant and physician to the party,
and eleven laborers, of whom seven
were Russians, three Kamchadal, and
one Japanese.
The Osernaya River, with its slant-
ing bed, rocky banks, rapids, falls,
the author.
IN THE REALM OF THE KAMCHATKA BLACK BEAR
237
Unloading the boats, preparatory to
ascending the rapids of the Osernaya River
and curves, forms a most difficult and
dangerous route of travel. We had
two boats and two canoes. One of the
boats was for Mrs. Jochelson and my-
self; the other boat carried the tents,
instruments, food, and other supplies.
The canoes served for reconnaissance
and errands requiring dispatch. It was
very difficult to make progress on the
boisterous river, particularly on the
way up. Several times we had to dis-
embark and carry our freight on our
shoulders while the boats were pulled
by ropes through the rapids.
While there are no human habita-
tions anywhere in the country, we
were amazed to find well-beaten paths
in the forests and on the mountains
above the river, as if there were numer-
ous human settlements. But realizing
that these were roadways made by
bears, we walked cautiously amid the
dense vegetation with rifles ready for
action. We did not see any bears while
following these paths, but we heard the
breaking and cracking of bushes and
tree branches, and on the ground we
found left-over pieces of fresh salmon,
the remnants of the bears' meals.
The animals are very nervous and
easily become alarmed. They have
sufficient reason to be afraid of a man
with a gun.
It is well known that at Lake Kuril
and in its vicininity scores of bears are
to be found. The abundance of fish
and of many kinds of berries furnishes
them ample food and favors their in-
crease in number. The sparsity of
human population is also favorable to
the multiplication of the bears, al-
though the few hunters of the coastal
villages kill them annually by the
hundreds.
After five days of painful effort we
finally reached our destination. It was
a windy day and our frail boats nearly
capsized on the stormy lake, which is
surrounded by the peaks of extinct
volcanoes.
We were entertained every day by
the sight of bears fishing and gathering
When rapids were encountered, the
occupants of the boat disembarked and
pulled at the ropes instead of at the oars
238
NATURAL HISTORY
An inner pond in the Lake Kuril region, with Doctor Jochelson's encampment in the
foreground
berries, particularly when we increased
our field of observation by the use of
opera glasses. The bears stood with
their hind legs in the mountain
rivers and creeks, and with their front
paws they managed to throw out on the
banks sea salmon that in order to
spawn ascend the rivulets that flow
into the lake. Then they went after
their prey and, eating off the heads
and spines, which are the most palat-
able parts of the fish, cast away the
remainder. Their movements, turn-
ings, leapings, and jumpings, were so
amusing that we could not restrain our
laughter.
My laborers were anxious to hunt
bear, but I could not allow them to go
on such an undertaking as my time was
short and a government steamer was
expected on a certain date at the
mouth of the Osernaya River to take
my party to Petropavlovsk. Only
once I allowed two of them to go for a
night hunt and they secured a little
bear cub. The meat they cooked and
ate.
The morning of our contemplated
departure from Lake Kuril, when all the
specimens found in the excavations had
been packed, the lids of the boxes
nailed down, and the boats loaded, I
was tempted to linger just a little
longer upon seeing two she-bears with
their cubs playing on the other side
of a pond in the rear of the promontory.
I accordingly delayed my departure
until the afternoon and singling out
two of the best marksmen from my
party and equipped with a stereoscopic
camera and a motion-picture camera, I
started in the direction of the bears.
We had to undress in order to cross the
river in the rear of the promontory,
and to carry on our heads the bundles
of clothing, the rifles, and the cameras,
IN THE REALM OF THE KAMCHATKA BLACK BEAR
239
ol
Doctor Jochelson's Newfoundland dog intent upon catching fish, a practice
in which the bears of the region also indulge
SO that they might not get wet. We
reached the other bank of the river,
dressed ourselves, and tried to pass as
noiselessly as possible through the little
jungle that led up to the open meadow
where the she-bears were playing with
their cubs.
We stopped on the outskirts of the
forest and put up the cinema and
stereoscopic cameras. As the bears
were still too far away, I told one of
my two men to make a circuit about
them and frighten them from the rear
so that they might come nearer to us.
Both cameras were in readiness to take
pictures when suddenly at a distance of
about thirty yards appeared a young
black bear quietly passing by. I
quickly took a stereoscopic snapshot
and was about to start with my cinema,
240
NATURAL HISTORY
Salmon were abundant at the entrance of the lake
but the bear was frightened by the
clatter of the falling shutter of the
photographic camera and, instead of
running away, rushed in our direction.
We had no choice but to aim at his
head and fire as he neared the cameras.
After ascertaining that the bear was
dead, we looked around. None of the
other bears were to be seen : they had
been frightened by the shooting and had
disappeared. As I could not remain on
the lake any longer, I had to give up
the idea of another attempt to approach
bears with peaceful intent. The bear
that was killed appeared to be not
more than three or four years old. I
took the skin and the meat of a hind
leg for the laborers.
We returned to our camp late in the
day and were compelled to spend one
more night on the promontor3^ Next
morning, our archaeological mission ful-
filled, we started on our journey to the
sea.
Some Drums and Drum Rhythms of Jamaica'
By HELEN H. ROBERTS
SELDOM does one pick up a book
dealing with travel among negro
peoples and fail to find some allu-
sion to their music, to their remarkable
untaught ability to harmonize, or to
the strangely fascinating effect pro-
duced by the complicated rhjrthms,
especially of their drums, of which there
are many varieties. The drums which
attract the most attention are of huge
size. Often their deep tones may be
heard many miles and are conveyors
of messages to those versed in their
language. The hollowed tree trunk
has provided the sounding cavity for
many types, and while in some dis-
tricts animal skins, such as those of
the goat, furnish the vibrating mem-
branes, in others nothing was so prized
as the skin of a human being.
Throughout Melanesia as well as
Africa drums play a very important
part in ceremonial life. Some illus-
trated volumes contain pictures of
huge hollowed-tree specimens standing
on end in groves, almost as the original
trees grew. These drums are played
by priests who take as keen delight
in the varied responses obtained from
them as an organist in his different
sets of pipes.
Although we have many photo-
graphs of these instruments and the
museums contain actual specimens, and
although we read of the weird effect
their throbbing notes produce on the
nerves and emotions of whites as well as
blacks, practically no notation has been
made of the rhythms, tempo, or tones.
Most of the travelers who have heard
them are either missionaries, to whose
untiring efforts we owe the greater
part of our knowledge of far-away
lands, or scientific explorers, — both
primarily interested in other fields,
and rarely sufficiently trained in music
to report in more than a casual way
regarding what they hear.
I have always wished that I might
have the opportunity of listening to
those great drums and of feeling the
mysterious effect of their rhythms.
Although that experience has been
denied me, I had the privilege recently
of becoming acquainted with the drum
as the negro of Jamaica makes and
plays it.
Jamaican negroes are, despite all of
Britain's civilizing influence, very
African still beneath the veneer. They
have retained many characteristics of
their former home; words, supersti-
tions, folklore, customs, love of music,
remnants of songs sung with words now
unintelligible even to the singers,
peculiar methods of planting, of house-
building, and of making musical instru-
ments, and other mementos of their
past too numerous to list. The people
of the more remote districts, where
little contact is had with the outside
world, live in a manner scarcely
changed since early slave days.
Immediately upon our arrival two
days after Christmas we proceeded to
Lacovia, hardly more than a ''four
corners" in the southwest-central part
of the island. Although situated in the
midst of great and very old plantations
and near a log-wood dye factory,
'The information presented in this article was gathered during a field trip to Jamaica in the winter of 1920-21,
made under the auspices of the Folklore Foundation of Vassar College and of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, for the purpose of collecting folk songs.
241
242
NATURAL HISTORY
Lacovia is remote from any real town
except that of Black River, an im-
portant port before the days when
Kingston at the other end of the island
wrested the supremacy from her, but
now a quiet little community dreaming
in the sunshine on the edge of the
turquoise Caribbean, of the days of
pirates and rich galleons, while it
waits peacefully for the only occasional
A keg-shaped drum of native manufacture
ships that now put in for coffee, all-
spice, and other produce, or to unload
supplies.
The negroes are still in the habit of
holding some pagan festivals during the
Christmas holidays, although the con-
sent of the government is given reluc-
tantly. It is generally admitted that
the festivities unsettle the people for
weeks afterward, and permits for the
performances are granted to cover only
a limited length of time. It is during
the holidays, when factories and plan-
tations make no pretense of work for at
least two weeks and general idleness
prevails, that the drums are beaten
most, — in the public markets, along the
roads, and at all sorts of gatherings,
including revival meetings.
We found the John Canoe dance (a
pagan survival) and other festivities
in full swing in the back districts,
although in the larger tourist towns
these have to a great extent disap-
peared.^ In the market places were
erected hand-driven merry-go-rounds
of ancient design upon which all but
the very old rode with an utter aban-
don to joy in the motion, the drum
rhythms, and the music. There were
several little bands of strolling players
that took turns in providing music for
this popular pastime in the market
place, near the estate where we were
fortunate enough to be guests. The
bands were usually composed of a
flutist with an instrument of bamboo,
a triangle player (who sometimes had a
real triangle, sometimes merely a piece
of iron suspended from a string), and
two drummers, with what corresponded
to side and bass drums. These, al-
though of home manufacture — one was
constructed from an old keg — were
unlike most African drums in that
both sides were covered with skin.
Although our visit to the market
place attracted considerable attention,
I succeeded in finding a seat not far
from the merry-go-round, and after
some time the novelty of my presence
ceased to draw onlookers or to disturb
the players, who may have taken my
quiet sitting under a thatch shade as a
sign -that I was merely resting. During
the hour that I was able to remain
there, I succeeded in noting the follow-
ing rhythms played by the side drum-
mer, a few combinations achieved by
the little untaught band, as well as four
triangle rhythms. These were by no
'An article on the John Canoe festival is being pre-
pared by Miss Martha Beckwith but has not yet been
published.
SOME DRUMS AND DRUM RHYTHMS OF JAMAICA 243
means all that were played in that
space of time, for changes were con-
stant, and while I was concentrating
to hold in memory and note down one
set of rhjrthms, another would often
be substituted for it, which would be
changed in turn by the time I had
recorded the first.
The chief or side drummer was un-
usually musical, with a rhythmic sense
rare even among negroes, whose feeling
for rhythms of the most complicated
nature is intuitive. I was not able to
write down many combinational effects,
otherwise his ability in holding his own
and shifting his pattern while always
keeping the beat would be more
apparent. He later gave me informa-
tion about the songs, and it was then
discovered that his beautiful voice had
a range of more than three octaves,
for he had a rich and pure falsetto. His
appreciation of melody and of harmony
was very evident. When drumming, he
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244
NATURAL HISTORY
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played as though inspired, his head
turned to one side, as if he needed the
keener hearing of one ear, while his
rapt expression showed that he was
obHvious to all but the task in hand.
The most significant feature of these
rhythms and of the majority of others
that I heard throughout my stay is that
most of them revolve around two- and
four-part meters, of which the two-
part are the more common. The
tempos of the pieces played for the
merry-go-round were all about the
same, as I have indicated by the
metronome mark, and few if any other
pieces moved more slowly. The move-
ments might be described as a vigorous
pushing on as in rather rapid walking,
about mm 120 to the beat. A curi-
ous strengthening of this impression is
gained by the bass or heavier drum tak-
ing the quarter notes in alternate
markedly heavy and light strokes. An
effect very common in Jamaican drum-
246
NATURAL HISTORY
ming, in addition to the sounding of
notes on the second half of the beat in
syncopation, is that produced by what
I am tempted to call the syncopated
measure, although real syncopation
does not exist in that sense. This effect
is obtained by playing notes of very
small value in the first part of the
measure, followed by those of larger
value in the last part, thus throwing
the weight of the notes at the end, in
much the same way as a note half a
beat in length at the beginning of a
measure followed by one a whole beat
in length throws weight on the last half
of the first beat carrying over into the
second beat. In the former case, how-
ever, the beats are not split by notes
which hold over the points of beginning
and ending, nor is the beginning of the
new measure obscured by a holding
over from the last, as is the case in
beat S3rncopation, which is as common
as is this false measure "syncopation."
The variety of rhythmic patterns of
which Jamaican drummers are capable
seems almost infinite, and while in the
music to which I listened some patterns
might be continued long enough to
enable me to note them clearly, the
rhythms shifted apparently without
rule any number of times in the course
of a tune as if the leader were guided
solely by caprice. The triangle player
was plainly not so versatile as his chief,
whose shimmering rhythmic changes
were woven around the regular beat
of the heavy drum.
The flutist played various tunes
known to the people as sha-shas (pro-
nounced shay-shays), catch-me-times,
mentos, reels, lanciers, two-steps, and
others. Many of these dance tunes are
presumably taken from Scottish airs or
from old English dance music.
For two weeks one heard drum
rhythms everjovhere, and always ex-
pected to remember them and jot them
down later, but they would soon be
supplanted by others, and so forgotten.
One rhythm which stands out in mem-
ory came from a remote meeting place
in the brush when the thick, warm,
pulsing blackness hid even the white
road beneath our feet. Its joyous,
bounding vigor is but poorly indicated
by the notes.
J = 100
miuuis
aiiuuir
The drums used in revival meetings
and by the John Canoe companies at
Christmas time deserve more than pass-
ing notice, especially the curious little
drum that appears in the less sophisti-
cated John Canoe companies. The
drums when used at revivals have a
different significance than when played
for secular occasions to the accompani-
ment of Jdmal songs, as the black
people call the selections that are then
sung. I believe they are also different
in identity, though in design they are
the customary side or snare and bass.
Two of the former and one of the latter
supply "plenty powah" as I learned
on one occasion when attending a meet-
ing. We were given seats of honor,
mine being directly in front of the
drummers, but strange to say, after the
first few deafening moments when the
vibrations threatened to sever my
spine, I found the rhythms of the drums
stealing over my senses to such an ex-
tent that all the blare was forgotten
in the supreme electric effect they en-
gendered. The whole dusky audience
pressed closer and closer around the
drummers in the smoky torchlight,
singing with more and more abandon.
Religious fervor mounted high and had
it not been for faithful Morrison, our
SOME DRUMS AND DRUM RHYTHMS OF JAMAICA
247
black guard, I should have feared to
remain. We left the gathering before it
had reached its highest state of exalta-
tion, and although in that district at
least, fanatical outbreaks, during which
the more zealous cut themselves with
knives and beat one another, are pre-
sumably unknown, they do occur in
others. Although the rhythms em-
ployed in connection with church
singing are, as a result of contact with
the hymns, reduced in their syncopa-
tions to the minimum possible in the
case of negro performers, syncopation
is never totally absent.
We were able to see and hear three
John Canoe companies, — composed of
strolling singers and drummers and a
triangle player at Lacovia, of drummers
and singers at a still more remote place
called Prospect, and of flutists and
drummers at Brownstown, which is a
community of some importance al-
though far from the railroads.
The company at Lacovia in addition
to a bass and side drum had a curious
little instrument which they called the
gumbe (pronounced gumbay). The
people assert that all their equipment
is destroyed each year after the season
of festivities, and they parted with it,
little temple and drums, without any
apparent regret after bargaining for a
considerable sum.^ But while it may
be true that the temple is made afresh
each year, the drums are certainly
preserved from season to season, for
those purchased were quite old, the
gumbe especially, as is evidenced by the
fact that its originally thick goatskin
membrane had been worn through in
many places and patched. When it is
realized that this instrument is played
with the hands only, the wear is all the
more indicative of age.
'The specimens are in the American Museum together
with a fine old bamboo flute.
The gumbe is square and resembles a
milking stool not a little except that it
has four legs, two of which, forming
opposites, are shorter than the other
pair. While this disparity does not
appear to be necessary and might seem
the result of crude measuring, it was a
noticeable feature of both the Lacovia
The framework of the gumbe before the
goatskin has been stretched over the top and
the inner square of wood inserted from below
and pushed upward. Note the difference in
the length of the two pairs of legs
and Prospect specimens, preventing the
drum from standing unsupported. The
player holds it slanting away from him
as he crouches on his heels and thrums
it with slaps of his broad palms near
the base of the hand or with his fingers
and broad splay thumbs, in almost
unbelievably quick and complicated
rhythms, which I found it quite im-
possible to take down in longhand
and for the recording of which the
phonograph was not available at
Lacovia and at Prospect.
The gumbe is African in general plan
but the particular specimen which I
examined was the crude product of
more clumsy Jamaican handicraft. A
brief description will be of interest.
SOME DRUMS AND DRUM RHYTHMS OF JAMAICA
249
The fundamental frame is square, of
boards about three inches wide fast-
ened together at the ends. To the
outer surface of this frame are nailed
the four legs, placed not as one might
suppose at the corners but at the
middle of the sides of the frame, the
two short legs being opposite. Into
each leg for a portion of its length has
been cut a broad slot; the top of each
slot terminates on a line with the bot-
tom edge of the board frame, which we
might call the seat of the stool. Over
this frame the goatskin has been
stretched, and after being roughly-
shaped around the tops of the legs, has
been nailed along the lower edge of the
frame. Another frame which just fits
within the first but the sides of which
are wider, is slipped inside the first
frame from underneath and pushed as
far up against the skin as possible ; but
even after it has been forced upward its
lower edge is considerably below that
of the outer frame, due to the difference
of width. Two cross slats, grooved
slightly in the center where they cross
so that they may not shp past each
other, are run through the legs of the
"stool" by means of the slots, and
another pair is inserted in the same way,
the distances between the pairs on all
four sides being maintained by wedges
driven into whatever intervening
spaces may be left in the slots of the
legs, thus keeping the inner frame of
the seat as tightly pressed as possible
against the goatskin. As the skin
stretches with use and the wedges
become loosened, others are inserted,
either in their place or additionally, so
that eventually the device has the
appearance of being more. complicated
than it really is. Sometimes very small
wedges are inserted between the edge of
the inner frame and the first cross slat,
instead of being added to the other
wedges between the two sets of cross
slats at the slots in the legs.
Considerable sound can be derived
from the gumbe, especially on account
of the force with which the negro slaps
it, although there is no sound cavity of
any size and what there is, is open
toward the ground.
I have mentioned the fact that the
gumbe is probably African in plan.
There seems little doubt but that it is
one of the survivals from the past.
Maud Cuney Hare, writing of the drimas
of Africa, mentions a gumbia as being an
instrument of Sierra Leone. This fact
might not prove anything in itself, for
some of the lawless Maroons of Jamaica
who resisted capture and subjection by
the British after the latter took the
island from Spain, were eventually
sent to Sierra Leone. I have examined
Newland's Sierra Leone in vain for
any mention of it, or for much about
any of the music. It is known, how-
ever, that some of the tribes originally
transported to Jamaica were from that
part of West Africa where the so-called
Tshi languages are spoken. Ellis in
The Tshi-Speaking Peoples of the Gold
Coast of West Africa refers on pp. 326-
27 to finger-played drums and the
language of drums. A. Werner, who
wrote the introduction of Jekyll's
Jamaican Song and Story, which com-
pares Jamaican music and folklore with
African, deals with the music at length
in his own Natives of British Central
Africa. He says on page 225 that
Central African drums do not have
more than one head, that some are
played by hand and that there is a four-
legged drum, like a small round stool,
which is beaten with two sticks as it
stands on the ground. Most of the
better-known authors of large treatises
on African life say little if anything
about the music or mention it only in
250 NATURAL HISTORY
"R.?!, Jph^ Canoe Music. HutezmdDi^im.BrDwnstowa. Company from OranJeHill
8 va rT\m J = 88
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(l) The notes enclosed by- parentKcses are recoi\struclcd from a. similar passage later in the
son6 . There was a f auU ii\ the record covering the twites that Have been replaced .
passing as being impressive. The Leipzig, 1904, pp. 60 ff., mentions no
article by Algernon Rose entitled "A drum like the gumbe.
Private Collection of African Instru- Finally, an examination of the
ments," pubHshed in the Zeifec/in/^/wr Crosby-Brown collection of musical
die Internationale Musikgesellschaft, instruments from Africa, in the Metro-
SOME DRUMS AND DRUM RHYTHMS OF JAMAICA
251
politan Museum of Art, reveals several,
which if not like our Jamaican speci-
men, show where the idea for its leg
structure originated, coming, as these
museum specimens do, from the very
part of Africa from which the Jamaican
negroes were taken. One has for its
base a wooden ring in one piece with
two stubby pointed pegs which are
stuck in the ground as the driun is
played. Many drums have legs of some
sort, but all are round and none has the
inner frame and the slots and wedges.
The name gumbe is strangely like
that of Senegambia and that of
Gambia, respectively, a province and
an island within the province, near the
Gold Coast from which the Jamaican
negroes came and from which the
Metropolitan Museum of Art has speci-
mens of drums with legs and but one
vibrating surface.
The gumbe has no definite pitch but
emits a sound like "thwank" in vary-
ing degrees of volume. As for the
other drums of Jamaica it can hardly
be said that they are pitched. Particu-
larly does this apply to the side drums ;
some of the larger bass drums, on the
other hand, have more musical tones.
There is not, so far as I am aware, any
attempt to tune the drums other than
to keep the skins taut, and no conscious
attempt to sing in tune with them,
although I have noted that in revival
meetings, when the singing has been
going on for some time, the boom of the
bass drums seems to influence the
choice of a key so that its fundamental
and the drum are in close accord.
I made a final effort to record on the
phonograph the music of the John
Canoe company of Brownstown, where
there were drums and flutes but no
gumbe, and this time indoors. One of
these records was clear enough to
transcribe although only one of the
drums is audible. Subsequent experi-
ments have shown me that the sounds
of drums or other instruments of per-
cussion below a certain pitch are not
caught by the ordinary hand phono-
graph. The transcription of flute
music with the rhythm of one of the
drums is given on the opposing page.
The rhythmic pattern adopted by
the drum will be apparent with a little
study, and actual perusal of the notes
will reveal the peculiarities better than
a description. I have made no men-
tion of the flute other than in passing,
for enough flute music was collected,
together with several instruments and
data concerning them, to justify in-
dependent treatment. The present
example is the only one where the
combination of flute and drums was
secured.
Courtesy of New York Zoological Society
Photograph, taken by Elwin R. Sanborn, of a gray snapper in the New
York Aquarium
Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper, a
Common West Indian Fish
By E. W. GUDGER
Associate in Ichthyology, American Museum
THE Tortugas islets are the far-
flung last of the Florida Keys.
They form an archipelago of
coral sand roughly surrounding a
lagoon of comparatively shallow water,
and are situated on the outer, or west-
ern, end of the great submarine plateau
of Florida, seventy miles west of Key
West. The westernmost of these islets
is Loggerhead, so named because of the
great number of turtles of that name
that used to "haul out" on its sandy
shores to lay their eggs. Loggerhead
Key is a flat crescent with the concave
side facing the west; it is about three-
quarters of a mile long by one-quarter
wide at the middle of the crescent.
The Biological Laboratory of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington is
situated near the tip of the northern
horn, and it was at this institution that
the observations recorded in this article
were made.
The gray snappers {Neomxnis
griseus) are so called because of their
color. Another name applied to them
is "mangrove snappers" because they
252
lurk in the tangles of mangrove roots,
probably to catch the crabs that crawl
in and about these roots. They are
among the most abundant of the fishes
found about the Florida Keys, where
they patrol the shores in schools. In this
connection it is interesting to note that
members of these bands are approxi-
mately of the same size and that the
bands include no small specimens.
Being very abundant, going in
schools, and patrolling the shores, they
are of all fishes at the Tortugas perhaps
the easiest to study. And of all that I
have observed there, none seemed more
interesting from the standpoint of their
behavior. About two or three dozen
used I to "hang around" the wes-
tern dock at Loggerhead, playing or
seemingly resting under its shadow.
Their chief purpose in remaining there
was, however, to feed on scraps thrown
overboard by the cook. The fish ap-
parently knew this individual and
manifested no fear of him whatever,
for whenever he appeared carrying a
bucket or pan, the gray snappers were
NOTES ON THE BEHAVIOR OF THE GRAY SNAPPER 253
all eagerness, and as he raised this
utensil, there was a grand rush and
the scraps and the snappers arrived at
the surface at the same time.
Let some one else, however, walk out
on the dock (which was about eight
feet above the water) and some of the
snappers (generally those nearest)
would turn slightly on one side, thus
keeping a wary eye on the intruder.
If now he stooped to pick up some-
thing, the snappers would move off,
and if the object picked up was the
grains (a pair of which was nearly al-
ways kept at the pier head), the more
timid fish would depart for deeper water.
The bolder, however, seemed to like
the game and held their positions until
the grains were thrown, when in a flash
they were gone. None, so far as I can
recall, were ever taken thus though
our most expert strikers were continu-
ally practising on them . Some of the fish
presently seemed to recognize that
there was little danger and would hardly
move six feet away when struck at.
Many were the attempts to take
them with hooks, especially on the part
of newcomers, to whom they were an
ever-present temptation. For years
these efforts were unsuccessful but at
last, in the summer of 1915, our cook's
assistant, a professional fisherman from
Key West, was able now and then to
hook one at night. On one occasion
a number were taken by being sur-
rounded with a seine, but when they
were cooked and brought to the table
there was a general outcry of condem-
nation, led by the man who had been
working longest at the laboratory and
who phrased it that these fish were our
companions and playmates and that it
was an outrage thus to take advantage
of their friendliness.
Our favorite bathing place was at a
sandy beach on the east side of the
island directly in front of the station.
Here a dock, which ran out into the
water five or six feet deep to support
the intake pipe for the pump, acted
as a springboard for diving and as an
observatory for watching the fish.
Around this dock and in and around
the reef of oolitic limestone, which
extended from it roughly parallel with
the shore, large numbers of fishes
played, presently becoming quite tame.
Among these fishes were probably a
hundred gray snappers, which had col-
lected seemingly to be sociable among
themselves and toward us. When the
other men had swum away, I used fre-
quently to stand quietly on this ledge of
rock, whereupon the gray snappers
would swim all around me, playing with
each other and seemingly with me, for
they would often come within a foot, so
close indeed that I momentarily ex-
pected them to nibble at my fingers
and toes. Then, when I turned and
swam toward shore, a band of them on
either side would fearlessly accompany
me into water that was no more than
knee-deep. This happened not once
but a score of times.
Gray snappers are fond of ghost
crabs (Ocypoda arenaria), and used
to catch them in the following fashion.
It was our custom after supper to
walk to one end or the other of the
island. The best footing was afforded
by the hard sand between high and low
water marks. As we strolled along on
land, the gray snappers would parallel
our course in the water, and when,^
as not infrequently happened, ghost
crabs, frightened by our approach,
scuttled into the sea, there was a quick
rush by the snappers and the crabs
never came back. In this way the fish
secured their suppers.
"The Schoolhouse of the World"
By WILLIAM K. GREGORY
Curator of Comparative Anatomy, American Museum
THE interesting picture reproduced herewith was made
by the late Erwin S. Christman, of the department of
vertebrate palaeontology, American Museum, in 1920.
It was originally intended for a newspaper article regarding
the Museima, but was not used and has never been published
before.
The picture shows the Museum as a "schoolhouse of
the world," toward which all sorts of strange animals and
people are heading in lines that converge from various parts
of the earth. In the sky one sees on the right a long line of
flamingos, and on the left several of the largest flying
reptiles (Pteranodon) . In the distance a dog team is driving
across the Arctic wastes toward the Museum, while Eskimos
are pulling a walrus out on the shore. Near the center a long
line of horses is dragging a section of the "big tree" (Sequoia),
which a giant gorilla is pushing from the rear. At the left we
see the huge dinosaurs of varied form, the gigantic Bronto-
saurus overtopping the rest. In the foreground a mammoth
is being hunted by men of the Old Stone Age, while at the
right a procession of African and other mammals is followed
by the Haida canoe and its strange company of Northwest
Coast Indians. The insect world is represented by some giant
dragon flies and other forms, and herpetology is symboHzed by
the serpent. The department of invertebrates is represented
only by the lowly starfishes, but the artist could not find
room for everything, and the minerals also are neglected.
The picture as a whole is very characteristic of Mr.
Christman's joyous outlook on life, and of his devotion to
the Museum and its interests.
255
The Coming Five Years, 1 924-28, of the
Third Asiatic Expedition
By ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS
IN September 1923, President Henry Fair-
field Osborn inspected the personnel and
management of the Third Asiatic Expedi-
tion and visited some of the most important
fossil deposits in east-central Mongolia. He
agreed with the leader and the entire scientific
staff that its work could not be completed in
the two years which remained of the five-year
period, 1921-25, originally planned for the
expedition. In every branch of science the
results were so gratifying and so profoundly
important that it was obvious that at the
termination of the original period of five years
the work should be continued for an additional
three years.
Moreover, the vast collections and the
wealth of new scientific data which had been
obtained made it highly desirable to bring all
the members of the scientific staff to New York
where there could be an assembling of the
results, with a view to their pubhcation, and
where a new perspective of the future work
might be gained from what already had been
done. The entire staff is now at work in
New York and a large part of the collections
have reached the American Museum in safety.
Nineteen preliminary papers have appeared
in the Museum pubhcations. A series, to be
entitled Mongolia, is projected and will in-
clude the complete scientific results of the
expedition in twelve volumes. A certain sum
will be set aside each year so that publication
may be carried on coincident with the field
investigations and the results thus given to the
public as rapidly as possible. It is my inten-
tion to write a popular account, in two or three
volumes, of the general field work and the
results attained.
In order that we might plan intelligently for
the next five years' work it was necessary to
have the funds assured in advance. In the
belief that the members and friends of the
American Musemn would be glad to assist
financially if it were brought to their atten-
tion, I addressed them a letter which is meet-
ing with a most gratifying response. Already
$17,500 has been obtained through this letter
alone and pledges are still being received.
256
To carry out our plans it is necessarj- to have
$50,000 a year. As this issue of Nattjeal
History goes to press, a sum equivalent to
$40,000 annually has been subscribed, and
only $10,000 a year remains to be obtained.
I want to take this opportunity to express my
personal appreciation of the interest in the
expedition which the members of the Ameri-
can Museima have shown. I speak for the
entire staff of the Third Asiatic Expedition
when I say that we shall do our utmost to
carry on the work with the same enthusiasm
with which it has been begun.
I shall sail for China on Jime 10 on the
Pacific Mail S.S. "President Cleveland," and
shall reach Peking about July 4. Almost
immediately I shall have to go to Urga to
conclude the diplomatic arrangements for the
next summer's work. Then the vast quantity
of supplies and equipment must be assembled
and packed, for the caravan must start its
long march across the desert by January 1 if it
is to reach its destination by the time I arrive
by automobile in April. The other members
of the staff will leave New York for China in
February, 1925.
We shall begin work at Chagan Nor, nearly
a thousand miles from Kalgan, where we left
off at the end of last year. This means that
the organization and preparation of the ex-
pedition must be more carefully considered
than in the past when investigations started
almost at the door of Kalgan.
In 1922-23 we worked extensively in strata
of the Age of Reptiles and the early part of
the Age of Mammals. We plan now to give
especial attention to the last part of the Age of
Mammals, and to add to the scope of the
expedition other branches of science: archae-
ology, anthropology, botany, and ornithologj'.
What the future has in store for us no one can
say, but we shall go forth with enthusiasm and
high hope to meet the next great adventure.
The names of those who are making possible
the continuation of the work of the Third
Asiatic Expedition during the coming five years
(1924-28) are listed on the opposing page.
The country-wide support that has been
[THIRD ASIATIC EXPEDITION
257
given the expedition is indicated by the fact
that the contributors represented no less than
twenty-three states, and even from distant
Porto Rico a contribution was sent. In addi-
tion to the district of Columbia, residents in
the following states contributed to the fund
that will make possible the continuation of the
work of the expedition: Arizona, California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Ken-
tucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsyl-
vania, Rhode Island, South CaroHna, Ver-
mont, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
List of Contributors
Mh. Fkitz Achelis, American Asiatic Association
AND Asia, American Museum, Mrs. John Storm
Appleby, Mr. E. J. Armstrong, Miss Carrie Ethel
Baker, Mr. George F. Baker, Mr. George J. Bald-
win, Mr. Louis Bamberger, Mr. John Edw.^^rds
Barbour, Mr. James H. Barr, Mr. George D. Bar-
ron, Mrs. F. O. Barton, Mrs. Daniel Beckwith, Mr.
William F. Beller, Mr. Henry J. Bernheim, Mr.
AND Mrs. Charles L. Bernheimbr, Mr. Edward
Lyman Bill, Mr. James L. Blackmer, Miss Eliza-
beth B. Bliss, Mr. Charles C. Bolton, Mr. George
T. Brokaw, Dr. Henry Brodman, Mr. Gabriel Can-
non, Hon. George A. Garden, Mr. C. L. Carpen-
ter, Mr. Edward Pearce Casey, Mr. George
Agnew Chamberlain, Mr. W. F. Chandler, Miss
Cornelia Van A. Chapin, Miss Mary Cheney, Mr.
Paul H. Cheney, Mr. JPercy Chubb, Mr. E. D.
Church, Miss Ella Mabel Cl.^rk, Miss Louise H.
Colburn, Mr. Harry N. Cole, Mr. Russell Col-
gate, Mr. Sidney M. Colgate, Mr. Walter B. Cong-
don, Dr. Henry H. Covell, Miss Louise G. Crabbe,
Mr. Henry M. Crane, Rev. W. T. Crocker, Mr.
Albert H. Crosby, Mr. J. S. Cullinan, Mr. Franklin
CuRTiss, Miss Mary O'Hara Darlington, Mr.
Waters S. Davis, Mr. Henry P. Davison, Mrs.
Elizabeth B. Davenport, Mr. Richard H Day,
Miss Pauline H. Dederer, Mr. William P. Deppe,
Dr. Charles A. Dewey, Miss Ethel Du Bois, Mr.
F. L. Dunbar, Mr. Kimball G. Easton, Miss Eliza-
beth S. Edwards, Mr. H. A. Elsberg, Mrs. Edward
W. Emerson, Miss Julia T. Emerson, Mr. R. Erbs-
LOH, Mr. Thomas G. Farrell, Mr. R. I. Farrington,
Miss Eleanor Ferguson, Mr. George L. Fordyce,
Mr. Theo. Foulk, Mr. Noel Bleecker Fox, Mrs.
Cyril Francklyn, Mr. George C. Eraser, Mr.
Childs Frick, Mr. A. S. Frissell, Mr. William E.
Fulton, Prof. Simon H. Gage, Mrs. Charles W.
Gale, Hon. John W. Garrett, Mrs. Frederick M.
Gilbert, Mr. Robert J. Goodenough, Mrs. George
A. Goss, Mr. Joseph C. Grew, Mrs. Edward A.
Grossmann, Mr. Harry Peale Haldt, Mr. Harold
V. W. Halsey, Mr. N. A. Hardee, Mr. E. Roland
Harriman, Mr. William Averell Harriman, Mr.
Hancke Hencken, Mr. Walter Hidden, Mrs. Annie
L. Hoe, Rev. George G. Hollingshead, D.D., Mr.
Charles L. Holmes, Mr. Walter W. Holmes, Hon.
George C. Holt, Mr. Clement S. Houghton, Mr.
Roland Jackson Hunter, Mr. Franklin C. Irish,
Prof. Henry S. Jacoby, Mr. Arthur Curtiss James,
Mrs. Adrian Hoffman Joline, Mr. Philip Kachurin,
Dr. W. W. Keen, Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Mr. Walter
Schuyler Kemeys, Mr. William M. Kern, Mr.
Darwin P. Kingsley, Dr. William B. Kirkham, Mr.
Alexander H. Kridel, Hon. E. Henry Lacombe,
Mr. T. W. Lamont, Mr. Francis G. Landon, Mr.
Clarence A. Ludlum, Mr. Arthur J. Mack, Mr.
Charles E. Manibrre, Mr. Geo. E. Marsh, Mr.
John G. Masson, Mr. Wallace E. Meyers, Mr.
HoYT Miller, Mr. Arthur N. Milliken, Dr. Adolph
Monac-Lesser, Mrs. Benjamin Moore, Miss K. T.
Moore, Mr. J. P. Morgan, Mr. Dwight W. Morrow,
Mrs. Jay C. Morse, Mr. Philip A. Mosman, Mrs.
John B. Mott, Mr. Gilbert S. McClintock, Mr.
W. S. McCrea, Dr. Arthur B. McGraw, Mr. C. F.
MacMurray, Mr. Charles H. Nettleton, Mr.
Arthur E. Newbold, Jr., Mr. George Notman,
Mrs. John C. Olmsted, Mr. George J. Openhym,
Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, Mr. Arthur A. Os-
borne, Mr. Geo. E. Osterhout, Rev. Endicott
Peabody, Dr. James Pedersen, Dr. Arnold Peskind,
Mrs. Armistead Peter, 3rd, Mr. Armistead Peter,
3rd, Miss'Isabel M. Peters, Miss Julia J. Pierre-
poNT, Miss Katherine Pomeroy, Mr. Abram S. Post,
Miss Margarethe Watson Potter, Mr. and Mrs.
John T. Pratt, Mr. Edward Prizer, Mr. Ralph
Pulitzer, Dr. Helen C. Putnam, Mr. Samuel Rais-
LER, Mr. W. E. Ramsey, Mr. H. G. Ramsperger, Dr.
R. O.Raymond, Mr. Arnold F. Riegger, Mr. Chand-
ler RoBBiNS, Mrs. C. L. F. Robinson, Mr. John D.
Rockefeller, Jr., Mr. Saul E. Rogers, Mr. Max L.
Rosenberg, Mrs. E. L. Rosensohn, Mrs. Arthur
Ryerson, Mr. Homer E. Sargent, Mrs. Herbert L.
Satterlee, Mr. Ewald H. Schniewind, Mr. Howard
A. Scholle, Miss Emily E. Schwarz, Mr. Archibald
T. Scofield, Mrs. James A. Scrymser, Mr. George
St. John Sheffield, Mr. C. Sidney Shepard, Miss
Mary A. Skeel, Mrs. Roswell Skeel, Jr., Mr.
Albert Ernest Smith, Mr. F. Drexel Smith, Miss
Harriet Otis Smith, Mr. W. Hinckle Smith, Mr.
Francis Arnold Snell, Mr. Ekko Sollmann, Mr.
Howard W. Starr, Dr. Colin C. Stewart, Mrs.
Hugh Grant Straus, Mr. Arthur Hays Sulzberger,
Mrs. J. Andrews Swan, Mr. Henry N. Sweet, Dr.
Carl G. Swenson, Miss MaryTaber, Mr. Frederick
M.P.Taylor, Mr.GeorgeF.Titus, Mr. A.W. Thomp-
son, Mrs. J. Todhunter Thompson, Mr. S.B. Thorne,
Mr. Carl J. Ulmann, The Veltin School, Mr.
Fred Vogel, Jr., Mr. George Voigtlander, Mr.
Hugo Weigert, Miss Amy Ogden Welcher, Rev.
W. D. Westervelt, Dr. William B. Wherry, Rev.
AND Mrs. Eliot White, Mr. Ralston White, Mr.
Harold O. Whitnall, Mrs. Eli Whitney, Mrs.
Delos O. Wickham, Mr. Albert H. Wiggin, Mr.
James B. Wilbur, Mr. Frank C. Willard, Mr. Ellis
D. Williams, Mr. William Williams, Dr. Charles
K. Winne, Jr., Dr. Lemuel Fox Woodward, Mrs.
Eva Edgar Wright, Miss Jessie Ziegler, Miss Elsie
Ahrens Zinsmeistbr.
"A Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster"-
A Review'
A penetrating book on the education of
children has appeared under the title, A
Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster, the intro-
duction having been written by the author of
Mind in the Making. Besides being thus
earnestly vouched for by James Harvey
Robinson, it has been enthusiastically en-
dorsed by other men in the forefront of the
educational field — among them G. Stanley
Hall, Albion W. Small, Thomas E. Fine-
gan, and John Dewey — and it fully merits
the great praise bestowed upon it by these
educators.
The book contains a severe criticism of most
of our present-day system of education, with
definite, practical plans for radically improving
the situation. Fads and untried theories are
not advocated, but simplified and fundamen-
tal things to do are pressed for consideration.
The author has that thorough knowledge of
child psychology that enables one to express
psychological truths in plain language. In
this respect her presentation suggests that of
Huxley in his biological lectures to working
men. Not only is it clear and sound, it is
intensely interesting.
The function of museums as educational
institutions is appreciated and they are given
their proper place in a modern scheme of
education, correlating with the idea that nat-
ural history should logically take the leader-
ship in a curriculum for elementary schools.
In proposed curricula for children's com-
munity centers (which the author of the book
would substitute for the traditional type of
school) the museum is provided for as a de-
finite adjunct to every one of the child's
activities. A "chart of civilization" classifies
these activities not after the traditional
manner according to academic subjects, but
under simple sociological terms readily under-
stood by the child mind and calculated to
lead children to an intelligent comprehension
of the world they are living in. These terms
are shelter, sustenance, clothing, barter, com-
munication, transportation, government or
behavior, recreation and the arts, information.
It is claimed that children learning to think
of knowledge in these terms rather than as
"subjects" apart from life and its ordinary
activities, will develop breadth, tolerance, and
world-mindedness. In this connection it is
suggested in the Letters that the museum can
and should play a vital part, not only in
contributing as it now does to the general and
especial interests of men, women, and children,
through the various aspects of natural science
and natural history, but in establishing special
exhibits in order to emphasize the develop-
mental character of civilization and to create
an intelligent interest in the familiar objects
and ordinary processes of everyday life. In
this connection the author says :
If we are ever to take hold of education as
enlightened beings, with a firm intention to
use it definitely as a training-experience for
thinking and for life, a generator of social
enthusiasm, an uprooter of inherited preju-
dices, a stabilizer of social attitudes, we must
first put the fund of our knowledges in simpler
array. We must assimilate it to our best
social ideals, to the immenser retrospect which
modern historical research has given us, to the
new outlook which modern scientific discov-
eries have disclosed.
A "finding-out" basis of learning, whereby
children will "live while they learn, and learn
as they are living," is especially pleaded for,
and this includes the utilization of every
agency that will feed their curiosity and
inventiveness and develop their powers of
observation and discrimination. The author
proposes such "exhibits of man's thought in
action" as can be suppUed by the museum,
the motion picture, and the children's theater,
with whatever other agents of dynamic teach-
ing will "effectively broaden, elevate, stimu-
late and stir the minds and hearts of children."
The following quotations indicate the
appreciation of a teacher's spirit and function:
"One finds out just what truths base his
convictions when he attempts to explain them
to a child." "Any one who really loves what
she has to impart, who herself finds things
interesting through and through, will always
find ways of imparting which will make her
work as inspiring and as individual as any
other work of art."
Bernard Shaw's trenchant remark, "He
who can, does; he who can not, teaches," does
not apply to the one who realizes that teaching
is a joyous mission. It has been said that
great art invariably conveys a sense that the
artist had a superb time over his work,
and this is just as true in the art of teaching
as in any other. — G. Clyde Fisher.
Published by
lA Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster, with an Introduction by James Harvey Robinson
Alfred A, Knopf,
258
I
Galapagos: World's End — A Review'
Galdpagos: World's End, the title of Mr.
William Beebe's latest book, is well chosen,
for this volcanic archipelago, sundered from
the rest of the world by more than five hun-
dred linear miles of ocean, has no material
riches to attract the covetous, and those who
have reached its shores have for the most part
been shipwrecked voyagers, buccaneers, exiled
revolutionaries, law-breakers, and scientists.
More than a dozen scientific expeditions have
visited the islands since Darwin's memorable
voyage in the "Beagle" nearly a century ago,
but none which in so brief a time has accom-
plished so much as the Harrison Williams
Galdpagos Expedition of 1923.
While Mr. Beebe's personality dominates
the volume, the work is a composite produc-
tion, affording an insight into the special
talents of those who were associated with him
in the undertaking. There are vivid pictures
in color by Miss Isabel Cooper — superbly
reproduced by the publishers — photographs
of technical excellence by Mr. John Tee- Van,
three chapters written buoyantly as well as
informingly by Miss Ruth Rose, a chapter on
game fishing by Mr. Robert G. McKay, and a
preface by Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn of the
American Museum, who, though not a member
of the expedition, is particularly well fitted to
weigh its achievements because of his broad
interest in zoological exploration.
Mr. Beebe is not a closet scientist; his
laboratory is the world of out-of-doors.
Through his work at Kartabo he has shown
what an inexhaustible field for observation
even a small patch of jungle affords for
seeing eyes. Imagine, then, the bewildering
wealth of interest offered by the sixty or more
islands and islets of the Galdpagos and the
necessity for utiUzing every precious second
when one's total time for observation on land
is limited to a hundred hours! Necessarily
only a few of the islands could be studied in
the time available, yet thanks to the impres-
sions flashed back by Mr. Beebe's many-
faceted mind, one gets a picture that years of
less inspired study would fail to give. There
are accounts of the volcanic clinker fields
radiating heat; the cacti that like barbed
wire entanglements protect the unpenetrated
interior of islands like Indefatigable; the
bizarre black sea lizards that in their rugged
contour suggest animated blocks of lava; the
seabirds that in numbers nest on the floor of
the Daphne Crater; and the lone specimen of a
giant tortoise that rewarded the search for a
reptile at one time among the most abundant
in the islands.
Like all of those who have visited the Gala-
pagos, from Fray Tomds de Berlanga, Bishop
of Panama, who drifted there in 1535, to the
present, Mr. Beebe was impressed with the
trustful unconcern of the native creatures in
the presence of man. A young mocking bird
picked a grain of wet sand from Mr. Beebe's
shoe, a little flycatcher alighted on the lens of
his Graflex while he was focusing the camera, a
short-eared owl sought a perch on his helmet,
and on another occasion as Mr. Beebe stood
motionless, a Tropidurus lizard approached
and snatched an ant from his shoe.
A brief passage regarding an octopus must
suffice as an example of the author's incisive
descriptions:
Nothing animate is comparable to this
sight. The bulging mass of the head or body
or both, the roimd staring eyes, as perfect and
expressive as those of a mammal, and the
horrible absence of all other bodily parts which
such an eyed creature should have, — nothing
more but eight horrid, cup-covered, snaky
tentacles, reaching out in front, splaying side-
ways, and pushing behind, while one or more
always waved in the air in the direction of
suspected danger, as if in some sort of infer-
nal adieu.
The scientific material gathered by the
expedition is being worked up by numerous
specialists. Among the 60 species of shore
fishes brought back, 20 are new to the Gald-
pagos and 2 are new to science; while, in the
case of the insects, an hour's collecting at the
head of Tagus Cove yielded 20 forms new to
the islands and 10 not previously described.
There is promise, therefore, that when the
scientific reports make their appearance, they
will list a substantial number of species hither-
to unknown. But an equally important side
of Mr. Beebe's work, well exemplified in
Galdpagos: World's End, is making more
fully known the recognized forms of life in a
region which because of its inaccessibility,
few readers of the book will have an oppor-
tunity personally to visit. — H. F. Schwarz.
^Galdpagos: World's End by William Beebe. With 24 colored illustrations by Isabel Cooper, and 83 photographs
mostly by John Tee- Van. Pubhshed, under the auspices of the New York Zoological Society, by G. P.
Putnam's Sons.
259
NOTES
ASIA
Addresses by Prof. Henry Fairfield
OsBORN IN Peking, September 21 to
October 11, 1923. — On his return from Mon-
golia to Peking, Professor Osborn was be-
sieged by societies and institutions of all
kinds in northern China for accounts of the
Third Asiatic Expedition. It was agreed
between Professor Osborn and Mr. Roy
Chapman Andrews, leader of the expedition,
that Professor Osborn should do all of the
speaking in Peking and in other parts of
northern China, while Mr. Andrews would be-
come the spokesman as soon as a landing was
made in America. This gave Professor Os-
r ■
i
m
4b
tL
]k
m
m.
p.
3i
m
n
rs
p^
m
M.
The Chinese card of Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn. —
Ah Ssu-po, meaning "Man of wide learning," is the
Chinese equivalent for the name Osborn, and the in-
stitution of which he is president is quaintly designated
"The American Museum of Heavenly Creations"
260
born an opportunity to make a series of highly
appreciative addresses on the expedition.
These began immediately after his arrival on
the evening of Friday, September 21, and
ended on Thursday, October 11, the evening
before his departure.
The first Press conference was held on
Sunday morning, September 23, in the head-
quarters of the American Museum, with a
group of very talented newspaper corre-
spondents, representing the Press of the
English-speaking world. Among their num-
ber were Mr. David Eraser of the London
Times, Colonel H. St. Clair Smallwood of the
London Daily Telegraph, Mr. Grover Clark of
the Peking Leader, Mr. Marshall of the United
Press, Mr. Bab of the Associated Press, also
representatives of the Philadelphia Ledger, the
Far Eastern News, the Shanghai Times, and
other periodicals. This interview lasted
three hours and resulted in the dispatch of
long, extremely accurate, and well written
accoimts to the leading London papers and
the principal papers in northern China. This
publicity gave the Third Asiatic Expedition
the world-wide reputation it now enj oys. The
cablegrams were prepared with the greatest
care to avoid exaggeration, and those by
David Eraser in the London Times and by
Colonel Smallwood in the London Daily Tele-
graph were widely reproduced and syndicated
both in the British and American Press.
On Monday morning, September 24,
Professor Osborn and Mr. Andrews made their
official call at the American legation, where
they were most courteously received by the
American Minister, Dr. Jacob Gould Schur-
man. It was there, through the kindness of
the assistant Chinese secretary, Mr. Paul
Joselyn, that Professor Osborn received his
Chinese card, which is reproduced herewith.
It proved impossible, even for Mr. Joselyn,
who is thoroughly versed in Chinese, to trans-
late literally either Professor Osborn's title or
the name of the Museum. The interpretation
of the card is as follows. The name Osborn in
Chinese reads: Ah Ssu-po, signifying "Man
of wide learning." The title reads: "Presi-
dent of the American Museum of Heavenly
Creations." Professor Osborn was particu-
larly delighted with the idea that the scope of
the Museum's activities and its achievements
had earned it the designation, "Museum of
Heavenly Creations."
NOTES
261
On the same evening, an official dinner to
Professor and Mrs. Osborn and to Mr. and
Mrs. Andrews was tendered by Minister
Schurman at the American legation, represen-
tatives of the several foreign governments
and leading Americans being invited. In the
meantime active preparations were made for a
series of public addresses.
As was eminently appropriate, the first
scientific addresses were delivered before a
large audience assembled in the building of
the Geological Survey of the Republic, the
meeting being held under the auspices of the
Geological Society of China and presided over
by Dr. V. K. Ting, honorary director of the
Geological Survey. The opening address was
made by Professor Osborn on the general
scientific results achieved by the Third Asiatic
Expedition, and was followed by briefer
addresses by Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews, by
Mr. Walter Granger on the palseontologic
results of the expedition, and by Mr. Frederick
K. Morris on the geologic and geographic re-
sults. On the evening of the same day, a
memorable dinner was given by the Geological
Society in honor of Professor Osborn and Mr.
Andrews, the principal address being made by
Doctor Ting. In clear and elegant English
he paid a warm personal tribute to Professor
Osborn and made glowing references to the
work of the Third Asiatic Expedition.
On Friday evening, September 28, a per-
sonal dinner was given to Professor and Mrs.
Osborn in the American Museum's headquart-
ers by Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, to which were
invited the principal members of the American
and British colony. Within a large blue
Mongol tent that was suspended from the
ceiling of the dining room, were five tables,
which seated the forty guests. The occasion
happened to be the forty-second wedding anni-
versary of the principal guests of the evening,
Professor and Mrs. Osborn, and the speeches
and dinner cards were all of a delightfully
humorous and sentimental character.
In the meantime the members of the
American Association of North China ar-
ranged a luncheon, which was announced in
the Press as follows:
A large gathering of the American Associa-
tion of North China is expected, at the Grand
Hotel des Wagons Lits for tiffin to-day when
Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn, the famous palae-
ontologist and head of the American Museum
of Natural Sciences of New York, which
organized the Third Asiatic Expedition, will
be the guest of honour. The members are
requested to be at the Hotel promptly at
twelve thirty.
The most prominent Americans in North
China were gathered at this luncheon, as
were also some of the British. Being called
upon to speak, Professor Osborn chose as his
subject "American Science in the Far East,"
briefly alluding to the rapid extension of ex-
ploration in various parts of Asia and the East
Indies during the past twenty years by Ameri-
can explorers, geologists, and zoologists.
On the morning of the same day. Professor
Osborn gave an address to the students of
the Chinese University of Peking, who were
assembled in a large hall under the leadership
of Chancellor Li, professor of geology, and
Doctor A. W. Grabau, professor of palae-
ontology. Chancellor Li made a beautiful
address of introduction and Professor Osborn
chose as his subject "Observations and Dis-
coveries," pointing out the long and difficult
pathway of preparation for exploration such
as had made the Third Asiatic Expedition
a brilliant success. This address included
a warm acknowledgment of the inspiration
that students of the University of Peking were
receiving from the talented instructor. Doctor
Grabau. A somewhat similar note was taken
at the American Association tiffin, namely,
that the Third Asiatic Expedition had really
been forty-six years in preparation; that
young American scientists, having conquered
their own continent, were now going beyond
into Asia, because "Westward the course of
science takes its way."
Meanwhile Professor Osborn was preparing
by far the most difficult of his series of
addresses, namely, that for the Wan Yu Hui,
or Friends of Literature. This group of men
includes all the leading thinkers and writers in
Peking, belonging to no less than thirteen
different nations — Chinese, Japanese, Rus-
sians, Hungarians, Scandinavians, French,
British, Germans, and Americans. For this
distinguished and intellectual audience Pro-
fessor Osborn prepared his most penetrating
address, choosing to make a fresh prophecy as
to the life of central Asia, under the title
"Why Mongolia May Be the Home of the
Human Race." In the course of this address,
he tried to show that the palaeontologic dis-
coveries already made revealed the Mon-
golian plateau as a savanna country, partly
forested, partly open, highly favorable to the
most intelligent and resourceful primates of
the kind which led to our human ancestors.
262
NATURAL HISTORY
A popularized presentation of this same sub-
ject under the title "The Prehistory of Man
and the Original Home of the Human Race"
was set forth the following evening in the
Peking Y. M. C. A. building, on the invitation
of Mr. Robert Gailey, head of the Princeton-
in-Peking movement. The audience was
almost purely Chinese and it was necessary to
have an interpreter, who repeated sentence by
sentence Professor Osborn's address; the
meaning was skillfully translated into beauti-
ful and eloquent Chinese and the translator
was frequently interrupted with outbursts of
applause. The young Chinese listened with
the closest attention to this first exposition to
them of the principles of evolution as applied
to the ancestry of man.
The address before the Wan Yu Hui was
pubUshed in full in the Peking Leader by
Grover Clark and was reproduced widely in
the press of North China. It will be published
in modified form in the not distant future.
Professor Osborn wrote for the China Journal
of Science and Arts another article entitled
"Significance of Recent Discoveries in Mon-
golia. ' ' This j ournal is under the editorship of
Mr. Arthur De Carle Sowerby and of Dr.
John C. Ferguson, an eminent Sinologist.
On the subject of "Evolution and Religion,"
Professor Osborn addressed the students of
the University of Peking as well as the stu-
dents of the Woman's College in Peking —
a most intelligent and responsive audience.
The former institution represents a union
of American schools and colleges in North
China, starting originally with the educational
work of the missionaries. It attracts a very
superior class of young Chinese, both men
and women. Professor Osborn again chose
for his subject "Modern Aspects of the
Evolution Question," touching upon the ques-
tion raised by the fundamentalists at the
present time in America.
On Wednesday, October 10, a second lunch-
eon was given at the Wagons Lits Hotel by
the Anglo-American Association, another
distinguished audience drawn principally
from the legations and leading professional
and business men of Peking. Professor Osborn
chose for his subject "British and American
Science in the Far East." He cited many
cases of the manner in which Americans and
Britishers had worked side by side in various
parts of the eastern world, especially of Lord
Cromer's aid to his own expedition in the
Fayiim in 1907, inspired by a letter from
President Theodore Roosevelt. He referred
to the cooperation of the British govern
ment in India with the two American Mu-
seum expeditions there — the Faunthorpe-
Vernay Expedition and the Siwalik Hills
Indian Expedition under Barnum Brown. He
also spoke of the cordial spirit of helpfulness
shown to the American Museum parties
working in Australia.
Professor Osborn's final address was given
on the evening of Thursday, October 11,
before a very large and distinguished audience
in the beautiful hall of social welfare of the
Peking Union Medical College, erected by
the Rockefeller Foundation. The speaker
was introduced by Dr. Howard Houghton,
director of the Peking University Medical
College, and spoke on "Recent Discoveries in
Mongolia." In the course of this lecture
Professor Osborn showed a series of slides
illustrating the work in the field. The audience
crowded the large hall and even stood in the
aisles listening, with occasional outbursts of
enthusiastic applause, to the narrative of the
second and third seasons of the Third Asiatic
Expedition. Doctor Houghton described the
results of the expedition as "thrilling," and it
may be said without exaggeration that the
thrill which the Museum's representatives
felt because of the splendid recognition given
in North China to the expedition's discoveries
and the cordial welcome accorded to Professor
Osborn, to Mr. Andrews, and to all the mem-
bers of his party, helped to start them on their
homeward journey to America with bright
anticipations of a no less cordial welcome
at home.
Mammals Collected by the Museum's
Asiatic Expeditions. — In the course of the
expeditions conducted by Mr. Roy C. An-
drews, collections of mammals have been
made that prove to be particularly rich in new
forms. Already 21 of the mammals have been
described as new to science; 9 of them are
bats' and 12 insectivores.^
In the bat collection, which, by the way, is
the largest ever made by any one expedition
in China, an unusual opportunity is afforded
for comparison of wide-ranging forms. This
comprehensiveness is due to the fact that Mr.
Andrews and his party have industriously
worked the coastal lowlands as well as the
i"New Chinese Bats." By Glover M. Allen, 1923,
Amer. Mus. Novitates, No. 85, pp. 1-8.
2"New Chinese Insectivores." By Glover M. Allen,
1923, Amer. Mus. Novitates, No. 100, pp. 1-11.
NOTES
263
uplands of the interior. Some of the bats were
even gathered in Chinese temples.
The series of insectivores contains an es-
pecially good representation of rare and
interesting types from the Palsearctic as well
as from the Indo-Malayan region. These
results give a fair idea of the consummate
skill of the naturalists in the field, for such
animals too often are overlooked, chiefly on
account of their small size and elusive ways,
most of them being nocturnal or subterranean.
Of great scientific interest are the representa-
tives of the genera Neotetracus, Hylomys,
Scapanulus, and Scaptonyx, and among the
Menotyphla the fine series of the squirrel-
like Tupaia chinensis. Neotetracus sinensis,
known from only a few specimens, is a small,
soft-haired, highland hedgehog with a long
slender tail, and resembles in general size and
color our common meadow mouse (Microtus
pennsylvanicus) . It was discovered as re-
cently as 1909. Hylomys peguensis is another
scarce member of the hedgehog family Erina-
ceidse. Originally this genus was discovered
in the Indian Archipelago, in Sumatra and
Java. Its northern distribution in the
Chinese highlands furnishes to zoologists
added proof of the probable derivation of the
more southern fauna. Hylomys, though a
short-tailed form, otherwise resembles its
close ally Neotetracus. Also noteworthy for
its rarity is the specimen of Scapanulus oweni
from Tai-pei-shan, Shensi, the second to be
recorded, and of Scaptonyx fuscicaudatus
affinis from To-mu-lang, Chungtien, the third
specimen thus far found. Furthermore,
Scaptonyx is of more than ordinary scientific
interest as it belongs to the Urotrichine series
of genera which, with Uropsilus, forms the
connecting link between the families Soricidae
(shrews) and Talpidse (moles). Both the
Scapanulus and Scaptonyx, which are included
among the moles, were taken in the moun-
tains at an altitude of 10,000 feet.
Dr. Glover M. Allen, of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts, who undertook the working out of
this part of the scientific results of the Mu-
seum's Asiatic expeditions, has a number of
other groups under examination. His pre-
liminary reports on new species are very en-
couraging.— H. L.
Ancient Eggs. — A spirited editorial that
has recently appeared in the London Times
may be quoted as showing the lively interest
that the discovery of the dinosaur eggs has
occasioned:
It is some time since curiosity was first
piqued, and fancy was stimulated, by the
announcement that dinosaur eggs, estimated
to be something like ten million years old,
had been found fossilized in the Gobi Desert.
There has been no underrating of the rare
scientific value and importance of the dis-
covery. But it has also, what all things
scientifically valuable and important have not,
its lighter side, for which a nation in the throes
of an election campaign may be duly grateful.
The misguided may, indeed, see design, or a
strange fatality, in the fact that the discovered
relics are now made visible, at any rate on
paper, to the people of this country in the
midst of their electioneering. The facile
humorist will not be restrained from alluding
to the traditional connexion between elections
and eggs of uncertain age, or the serious-
minded from administering to him the rebuke
that dinosaur eggs are at once too precious
and too hard for his nefarious purpose. If
anything more is wanted to complete the
jester's discomfiture, doubt may be expressed
whether even eggs of a less exaggerated age
any longer figure in the armoury of electoral
argument, unless as a quaint survival at the
election of Lord Rectors; and whether their
place has not been taken by the verbal or
oratorical egg, surpassing its material proto-
type in antiquity and yielding little to it in
offensiveness, but, unlike it, possessing a resil-
iency which makes it capable of repeated use.
But the dinosaur eggs have no merely elec-
toral flavour. They also revive, in a new, and
therefore attractive, form, the old question,
beloved of the schoolmen, whether the hen
came before the egg, or the egg before the hen.
It is reported that one item of the Mongolian
discovery is an egg containing the embrj'^o of
an unborn dinosaur. The spirits of the meta-
physical advocates of the egg rise in triumph
at the news. But the uncompromising up-
holders of the hen are quick to retort that the
complete skeleton of a mature dinosaur was
found hard by, and the problem remains to
vex us. The interest of the discovery appeals,
however, far beyond the world of scientists,
electors, and philosophers. It touches chil-
dren, and many of those who once were chil-
dren. Few of them will be able to think of
the unborn baby dinosaur without conjuring
up the picture of that friend of childhood,
the missionary who
" . . . sits him down
To breakfast by the Nile."
Though '
" His heart beneath his priestly gown
Is innocent of guile,"
it will be remembered that his saintliness is no
defence against the stern decrees of Nature.
And so it comes that presently he is seen no
longer pursuing a comfortable meal, but
scouring "the sandy Libyan plain."
" As one who runs to catch a train,
" Or wrestles with internal pain.
264
NATURAL HISTORY
"Because he finds his egg contain,
"Green, hungry, horrible, and plain,
"A baby crocodile."
The connexion between the clerical profession
and the ancient egg is indeed so lost in the
mists of antiquity that a daring thinker might
venture to speculate whether the skeleton of a
curate may not yet be unearthed in^Mongolia.
Honorary Membership in Geological
Society of China. — Honorary Curator Os-
born has recently received the following com-
munication from Peking:
The Geological Society of China
9, Ping Ma Ssii
W. Peking, China.
January 15, 1924.
Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn, American
Museum of Natural History, New York,
U. S. A.
Dear Sir:
•- We have the honor to inform you that you
were unanimously elected the first honorary
member of Geological Society of China as an
appreciation of the great work you have done
to further Chinese Geology and Palaeontology.
We hope to receive your formal acceptance
and shall send the Bulletin of the Society to
you regularly.
Respectfully,
Wong wenhao, President.
Y. C. Sun, Secretary.
Professor Osborn has formally accepted this
honor in the following letter:
The American Museum of Natural History,
New York.
February 25, 1924.
My dear Sirs:
It is indeed a very great pleasure to learn
by your letter of January fifteenth that I have
been unanimously elected the first honorary
member of the Geological Society of China.
I assure you that this is one of the greatest
pleasures of my scientific life, and is a very
great encouragement for my future research.
I am deeply interested in the work which is
being done by the Geological Society of China
and shall hereafter do my utmost to aid in
every way, especially through the cooperation
of my colleagues in the Third Asiatic Expedi-
tion of the American Museum.
I shall look forward to receiving the Bulle-
tin of the Society with great interest.
In the meantime, I remain
Cordially and respectfully yours,
Henry Fairfield Osborn, President.
Smithsonian Collections in China. —
Representatives of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion have been busy for the past year or so in
China making biological collections. In the
summer of 1921, Mr. Arthur de C. Sowerby,
who had been away from China in connection
with the War in Europe since the end of 1917,
returned to that country to continue his
biological work. Ever since the Clark Expedi-
tion in western China, in 1908-09, Mr.
Sowerby had been exploring in China, Mon-
goha, and Manchuria, making extensive
biological collections. These were presented
to the Smithsonian Institution by the gentle-
man who financed the collector.
Mr. Sowerby returned to China with a view
to exploring the central and southern provinces
so as to complete his survey of the country
and roimd out the biological collections.
After making a collection of marine animals
at Pei-tai-ho on the northern coast of Chihli
Province, Mr. Sowerby established his head-
quarters at Shanghai, whence he visited
Fukien Province in the winter of 1921-22,
again in the late spring and early summer of
1922, and once more in the summer of 1923,
making very extensive collections of birds,
beasts, reptiles, fishes, and invertebrates.
Owing, however, to subsequent political
disturbances throughout south and central
China, he was prevented from undertaking
more extensive journeys, but contented him-
self in the meanwhile with making collections
of birds and fish in the Yangtze Delta.
Early in 1923, the Smithsonian Institution
sent Mr. Charles M. Hoy, well known for the
fine collections of mammals he made in
Australia, to China to carry on collecting work
in the Yangtze Valley. This able young
American spent a busy time in the late spring
and summer in the Tungting Lake district,
where in 1914 he discovered the remarkable
cetacean popularly known as the "white
flag" dolphin, and described by Mr. Gerrit
Miller under the name Lipotes vexillifer. Late
in the summer, Mr. Hoy was taken seriously
ill, an operation being necessary. This
proved fatal, and the Smithsonian Institution
lost one of the most promising young field
naturalists and collectors of the day.
Mr. Arthur de Carle Sowerby, f.r.g.s.,
editor of The China Journal of Science and
Arts, has expressed his readiness to send to
Natural History from time to time Notes
of scientific interest concerned with China.
We take pleasure in printing below certain
paragraphs recently received from him regard-
ing natural-history teaching in the Far East:
The teaching of natural history in China has
always remained in the background of West-
ern education for the simple reason that the
Chinese have not been able to see its practical
value. Foreign languages, mathematics, and
such sciences as chemistry, geology, and en-
NOTES
265
gineering in all its branches, they have taken
up with avidity; but zoology and botany —
the study of living things — have been neg-
lected.
Nevertheless, steadily during the past
decade or so, those responsible for the educa-
tion of Young China in the large colleges and
universities, many of which have been founded
by missionary societies, have introduced the
study of natural history in all its branches
into the curricula of their institutions, and
today there are several such institutions where
biology forms an important subject of tuition.
Notable among these are Amoy University,
Fukien Christian University, Foochow, both
in Fukien Province, and Shantung Christian
University, Tsinan, Shantung. In the first
of these. Professors S. F. Light and Chung are
giving extensive instruction in zoology and
botany respectively, while Prof. C. R. Kellogg
is teaching zoology in Fukien Christian Uni-
versity, and Prof. A. P. Jacot in the Shantimg
Christian University.
St. John's University in Shanghai also
provides splendid courses in biology, as do the
Southeastern University at Nanking and the
Union Medical School in Peking.
It is still uphill work, however, to make
Chinese students realize the value of biology,
and many of them take up the subject half-
heartedly, and apparently only to fill in time.
This is all the more remarkable, since the
Chinese are essentially nature lovers, as wit-
ness their art, and are extremely fond of both
animals and plants. But the cult of these is
looked upon as a pastime and not as part of
the serious business of life.
Another contribution from Mr. Sowerby
deals with the proposed natural history mu-
seum in Shanghai. Regarding this he says:
For some time past, agitation has been
taking place in Shanghai for the erection of a
museum, art gallery, and reference library
combined, but so far little support has
been given it by those financially able to
do so. Up to the present there have been only
two museums in Shanghai : that of the Royal
Asiatic Society (North China branch), situ-
ated in the heart of the International Settle-
ment, and the Zikawei Museum, belonging to
the Jesuit Mission, which is situated well out-
side the town. The former is seriously handi-
capped for lack of funds and accommodation,
while the latter, being a working museum and
not open to the public generally, does not
fulfill the needs of the town for an institution
to which everyone may have access. There is
also a lamentable lack of good Ubraries in
Shanghai while such a thing as an art gallery
is non-existent. Considering the size to which
Shanghai has grown, this is deplorable, and
there are many who are working to bring
about a change in the right direction. The
need of such a museum and art gallery, not to
mention the reference library, is very great,
for there are a large number of people in
China to whom such institutions would be of
untold value.
The China Society. — At the eleventh
annual dinner of the China Society of America
the Third Asiatic Expedition was represented
by President Osborn, who spoke on the gen-
eral purposes of the work in China and Mon-
goHa, and by Curator Roy Chapman Andrews,
who gave a brief account of the expedition.
Of the several observations Professor Osborn
made during his journey in China, the most
important is that China is in far more danger
from the "White Peril" than America is or
ever will be from the Yellow Peril. The bogy
of united Japan and China with an army of
countless millions sweeping like the ancient
forces of Genghis Khan westward across
Europe, destroying its civihzation and finally
engulfing the United States, is fading every-
where. In the opinion of Professor Osborn it
is not now nor will it be at any future time to
the interests of either China or Japan to form
an aggressive military union. On the other
hand, both China and Japan are seriously
threatened with what may be called the "White
Peril," namely, the absorption of certain of
the finest of their cultural and sesthetic char-
acteristics by the mechanical and commercial
spirit of western Europe and of America.
Very slowly American taste in dress, in house
decoration, in the smaller articles of household
furnishing, tends to invade and replace the
impeccable taste of China and Japan, founded
upon thousands of years of sesthetic develop-
ment . More rapidly still American and British
advertising methods are invading China, and
some of the most picturesque buildings and
walls are being covered with advertisements of
oil and tobacco. The "White Peril" is also
invading the ranks of labor and introducing
new economic factors in the form of labor-
saving machinery and factory life.
The Chinese are not caring for their reli-
gious monuments, their superb temples, gate-
ways, triumphal and memorial arches, their
statues and images, which, with some excep-
tions, are not being protected from the depre-
dations of vandals or from the vicissitudes of
the weather. A splendid opportunity for the
Archaeological Society of America is to estab-
lish active branches in more than one city of
China and cooperate with the cultured and
intellectual classes of China in the preserva-
tion of these marvelous monuments. These
were some of the ideas which Professor Osborn
conveyed in his brief address before the China
Society.
266
NATURAL HISTORY
The Lion of India. — In the issue of Natu-
ral History for September-October, 1923,
Colonel J. C. Faunthorpe presented an inter-
esting note on the "Vanishing Lion of India,"
stating that while it was once quite abundant
in certain parts of India, it now occurs only
in the Gir Forest, Kathiawar, Bombay
Presidency.
Through the kindness of Lord Lamington
the American Museum has obtained a speci-
men of the Indian lion taken by him, or by one
of his party, in this very forest seventeen
years ago, when he was Governor of Bombay.
Lord Lamington writes that on this same day,
Doctor Carnegie, Political Officer, was
mauled and killed by a wounded lion.
. The lion of India, as it is represented in the volume
entitled The Tower Menagerie. The picture is based on
a specimen that was an inmate of the Tower Menagerie
about one hundred years ago
There are practically no examples of the
Indian lion preserved in museums — certainly
no really good specimen^this being one of the
too numerous instances when a species has
been exterminated, or reduced almost to the
vanishing point, before it was realized that
this point had been reached. The process of
extermination was indeed rapid in some re-
gions. For example. Major Brown, in 1837,
writes that the lion which once "infested"
the country about Hurriana (now Hansi)
had become extinct south of the Cugar River.
This he ascribes to the fact that "Having no
secluded dens to retire to during the hot
weather, the lions, from necessity, took up
their abode where water could be found; and
as places of this description were rare, and
generally near villages, their retreat was easily
beaten up and their entire destruction easily
effected."
The specimen received from Lord Laming-
ton is in the form of a rug, but fortunately one
that has suffered little from use, so that should
the Museum fail to secure a fresh skin, it is
possible by modern methods of taxidermy to
convert this rug into a mounted specimen —
not so satisfactoi-y as could be made from a
recently killed animal, but one that fifty
years ago would have been looked upon as a
triumph of art.
Whether or not the lion of India is distinct
from that of Africa is still a debatable ques-
tion; so far as looks go, there seems to be
little or no choice between them: "Perhaps
the largest lion ever seen in England was one
caught when very young in Hurriana by
General Watson and presented to George IV.
This was the 'King George' of the Tower
collection. Its mane was superbly developed, "^
as is shown in the illustration reproduced
from a beautiful wood cut in the Tower
Menagerie. — F. A. L.
MINERALS AND GEMS
A Free Course of Six Popular Illus-
trated Lectures on "Gems and Gem
Minerals" is being delivered weekly, on
Thursday evenings at 8:15, from February 28
to April 3 inclusive, by Mr. Herbert P.
Whitlock, curator of minerals, American Mu-
seum, at lecture room 604, 32 Waverly Place,
under the auspices of New York University.
The subjects considered are "The Diamond
and How It is Polished," "Precious Stones
Other Than Diamonds," "Some Semi-
precious Stones," "The Quartz Gems," "The
Opaque Gem Stones," "The Art of the
Lapidary."
LONG ISLAND BIOLOGICAL
ASSOCIATION
A meeting of the Board of Managers of the
Long Island Biological Association was held
on February 29, under the chairmanship of
Colonel T. S. Williams. Dr. G. Clyde Fisher
represents the American Museum on the-
Board and reports that at the meeting by-
laws were formulated, officers elected, and a
budget adopted. The appointment of Mr.
Reginald G. Harris as director of the biological
laboratory of the association was confirmed.
THE MARSH DARIEN EXPEDITION
Mr. R. O. Marsh has organized an expedi-
tion that will work along the Rio Chucunaque
in the San Bias country of southwestern
■Quoted from A ManvMl of Indian Sport.
NOTES
267
Panama. This region has never been explored
scientifically and several white men who in
recent years have attempted to penetrate it
have not returned. Presumably they were
killed by the hostile Indians living there, who
resent intrusions into their country. The
present expedition will be protected by a de-
tail of soldiers and will undoubtedly secure
results of great anthropologic and biologic
interest. Representing the Smithsonian In-
stitution on the expedition is the anthropologist
Dr. John L. Baer, while Prof. H. L. Fair-
child, of the University of Rochester, accom-
panies the expedition as geologist. The
American Museum has been privileged to
send as its representative, Mr. C. M. Breder,
Jr., who will devote his efforts mainly to the
collecting of amphibians, reptiles, and fishes,
and to the gathering of life history data. The
specimens secured in the course of his antici-
pated sojourn of three months will become
the property of the Museum.
Mr. Breder's letters from the Canal Zone,
written on the eve of the expedition's depar-
ture for the wilderness, indicate that his work
has been well begun, for although seasonal
conditions were unpromising for the collecting
of frogs and it seemed probable that Bufo
marinus would be the only amphibian found
breeding in the Zone, he collected a large
number of small frogs and some well advanced
tadpoles "with what appears to be a vibra-
tory tail tip," a peculiarity of the more grace-
ful swimmers among the tadpoles. A semi-
arboreal salamander {(Edipus) was also
secured. Several geckos were shipped to the
Museum alive and reached their destination in
good condition. Enjoying, as a substitute
for the tropical sun, the warmth that comes
from the radiator near which they are placed,
they bid fair to survive, the more so as they
are showing a real relish for the fruit flies
with which they are daily fed.
SCIENCE OF MAN
A Collection from the Canon del
MuERTO, New Mexico. — One of the most re-
markable collections of pre-pueblo material
ever made in the Southwest is being assembled
in the American Museum by Mr. Earl H.
Morris, to whom is due the credit for the
discovery of the site in the course of the
Third Charles L. Bernheimer Expedition to
the Southwest. This expedition was led
and financed by Mr. Bernheimer. Later,
Mr. Morris, on a regular Museum expedi-
tion, returned to the site and made careful
excavations.
About seventy miles in an air line from
Pueblo Bonito of archaeological fame, existed
this unsuspected treasure house of ancient
things, which, by way of belying its designa-
tion Canon del Muerto (Canon of the Dead),
conferred upon it to commemorate a massacre
of Navajos by Mexicans early in the nine-
teenth century, has yielded data for the
resurrection of a vanished period of history.
For here, in an unusual condition of preserva-
tion, was the record not of a fragment or
episode of the past but of a long succession of
developmental stages that enables one to
visualize how the pre-pueblo people evolved
from the "Basket Maker" level to the "Black
and White Ware" stage that stands at the
very threshold of pueblo history. Sandals
with beautiful woven color patterns are among
the very oldest material collected. By way of
contrast to such articles of apparel, is the box
of a medicine man, from the tightly sealed
interior of which were taken the feathers of
various birds — as fresh and glossy as though
they had been purchased but yesterday at a
milliner's shop. To give more than a hint of
the basketry, pottery, and textiles that com-
pose this collection is premature before the
material can be worked up, but it may be
stated that among the most exquisite of the
objects collected are two ornaments of wood
with beautiful turquoise inlay, belonging to
the "Basket Maker" period. Most interest-
ing of all, however, is the instance of a turkey
— to the Pueblo Indians and apparently to
their forebears a bird of sacred significance^
that had a broken leg carefully placed be-
tween splints to enable recovery. This, it is
believed, is the first discovered instance of an
attempt by the Indians to set the bone of an
animal and, taken in connection with the
examples of trepanned skulls from Peru, is a
not unworthy indication of Indian surgery.
CAUSES OF EVOLUTION
Doctor Kammerer Explains His Ex-
periments.— On January 7, Dr. Paul Kam-
merer, the well-known experimental zoologist
of the Biologische Versuchsanstalt, Vienna,
was the guest of the Journal Club, in the Os-
born Library, American Museum, and gave
a very interesting resume of his experiments
of the last twenty years, which he interprets as
demonstrating that characters acquired in the
course of the lifetime of parents are trans-
268
NATURAL HISTORY
mitted to their offspring. The types he used
with illustrations and photographs were the
following: Salamandra maculosa, S. atra,
Alytes obstetricans, Proteus anguinus, Ciona
intestinalis. The paper was followed by a
discussion in which President Osborn, Doc-
tors W. D. Matthew, R. W. Miner, G. K.
Noble, and Mr. William Beebe, a guest on
the occasion, took part. All the zoological
departments in the Museum were represented
in the meeting. The general impression
created by Doctor Kammerer's address and
personality was very favorable. Although
few members of the Journal Club are con-
vinced as to the conclusiveness of his inter-
pretations, all were impressed with his sin-
cerity and directness, with the beauty and
precision of many of his experiments, and with
his courtesy and moderation toward those
zoologists who have more or less violently
opposed his theories and attacked his evidence.
CONSERVATION
The "Report of the Director op the
National Park Service" for 1923 is of in-
terest not only for the survey it gives of the
work of the year but as an index of the recent
growth of public interest in the scenic splendors
of cur land. It is more than fifty years since
the Yellowstone was created a national park;
but for decades, only an insignificant fraction
of our population visited the great aggregate
of marvels represented by that region. Nearly
twenty years went by before a second national
park, the Sequoia, was set aside for the bene-
fit of the nation, and approximately another
decade elapsed before the third link in the
national park system was forged through the
establishment of Mount Rainier National
Park. By the middle of 1916, the year when
the National Park Service was created, the
national parks had increased to 14 and the
national monuments to 18. In the eight years
that have since elapsed 5 additional national
parks and no less than 10 additional national
monuments have come under the administra-
tion of the Service. Although this is an im-
pressive growth, it is the figures of attendance
that are of particular interest as an indication
of the success of the publicity work of the
Service and of the reorganization of the tourist
facilities in the parks that has taken place
during the directorship of Mr. Stephen T.
Mather. The number of individuals visiting
the parks last year totaled 1,493,712 in con-
trast to an aggregate of 356,097 in 1916.
During 1923 four new national monu-
ments have been established: the Fossil
Cycad National Monument in South Dakota,
the Aztec Ruin National Monument in New
Mexico (generously donated to the govern-
ment by Mr. Archer M. Huntington of the
Board of Trustees of the American Museum),
the Hovenweep National Monument, Utah-
Colorado, and the Pipe Spring National Monu-
ment in Arizona.
The setting aside as national parks of areas
of commanding interest has been of such im-
measurable educational, recreational, and
inspirational value that it is eminently desir-
able that the park system be extended to in-
clude those spots of outstanding scenic or
scientific significance that are still independent
of that system. Among places of this type
that Director Mather has at this time in
mind are the Mammoth Cave area in Ken-
tucky, the territory in New Mexico included
in the so-called Bandelier National Monu-
ment, the Bryce Canon region in Utah, al-
ready proposed as the Utah National Park,
areas along the Great Lakes showing typical
sections of inland lake and dunes, the redwood
section of upper and central California, a
typical portion of the Appalachian Mountains
in the East, an example of the Everglades of
Florida, or of the forested lands and hills of
the South.
One notes with pleasure that during the
year there was an increase among all the
species in the Yellowstone National Park,
especially marked in the case of the elk, prong-
horn, and deer. By way of offset to this feel-
ing of satisfaction is the indication that there
has been a wanton disregard of the limitations
under which hunting was now and then to be
permitted in Mount McKinley National
Park, in Alaska. As one of the principal
objects in establishing this park was to accord
a degree of protection to its vast herds of cari-
bou, mountain sheep, and other game, the
killing of large numbers of these animals by
visiting prospectors calls for an adequate
patrol service that will be possible only if the
present annual appropriation of $8000 granted
for the park is increased.
Museums exhibiting local specimens are an
important factor in the educational program
of the Service. During the past season the
museum established in the Yosemite proved
an attraction to 55,811 individuals. In the
Mesa Verde National Park a museum build-
ing is under construction to house objects
NOTES
269
found in the ruins of that area. The museum
in the Yellowstone is outgrowing its present
quarters and it is hoped that the old barracks
may be available for its purposes. In the
Casa Grande National Monument a small mu-
seum has been constructed during the past
year, and is being filled little by little with
pertinent exhibition material. The nature
guide service offered in some of the parks has
been of great value to those who want to know
more about the natural forces that have been
or are still operative in the several areas, or
about the wild creatures that make these areas
their habitat.
The Game Birds of the United States. —
The title, "Can We Save the Mammals?"
selected by Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn for
the article which he prepared, with the collab-
oration of Mr. H. E. Anthony, and published
in Natural History for September-October,
1922, is paralleled in the heading, "Can We
Save Our Game Birds?" which Mr. T. Gil-
bert Pearson, president of the National Asso-
ciation of Audubon Societies, has chosen for his
contribution to The World's Work, November,
1923. The similarity of the wording of these
titles serves to emphasize the common danger
to which the mammals and the game birds of
our country are exposed. The wild turkey,
once so characteristic of America that it might
fittingly have served as our national emblem
instead of the eagle, is today found in only a
few out-of-the-way places; the heath hen,
formerly an important source of food supply,
is dwindling in numbers in its last place of
refuge, Martha's Vineyard; the partridge is
being persistently hunted and the reduction of
its numbers to a dangerous level is rapidly
being brought about; even the quail, exempt
from persecution in some states on the ground
that it is a songster — and who that has heard
the cheery call "bob-white" in some meadow,
could fail to love the bird that utters it? — is
still hunted in others. The draining of our
swamp lands has deprived the ducks and geese
of breeding places but, due to the fact that the
summer home of most of them is in the north,
they have escaped the ravages to which they
would have been subjected in more settled
areas.
What is the solution? Can we indeed save
our game birds? Over large areas in Europe,
Mr. Pearson points out, the land is more
densely populated than in America, yet up-
land game birds are in relatively greater
abundance. There the land owner does not
permit the birds on his property to be reduced
to the danger point ; the " poacher ' ' is severely
dealt with. By way of contrast Mr. Pearson
cites New York State, where any one having a
state shooting license may wander over his
neighbor's fields in search of game birds unless
restrained from doing so by "no trespass"
signs of prescribed dimensions or through the
official establishment of the area as a bird
sanctuary, and not every land owner has the
initiative, or will go to the expense, to secure
such protection for his wild fowl. A public
campaign of education, in which newspapers
and public-spirited private agencies, as well as
the federal and state authorities, are called
upon to participate, is urgently needed if our
game birds are not to follow the great auk and
the dodo to extinction.
The Waterfowl of Back Bay, Vir-
ginia.— Back Bay, Virginia, is a gratifying
illustration of what conservation can accom-
plish when public sentiment is squarely be-
hind the law. Mr. Ludlow Griscom, assistant
curator of birds in the American Museum, has
recently returned from a trip to this famous
winter resort for wild fowl, made in the com-
pany of Mr. M. S. Crosby, and reports that
ducks of all kinds are, if anything, more abun-
dant there than they were ten years ago. In
one day nineteen species were counted; can-
vasback, baldpate, Canada geese, and whis-
tling swan were present in thousands, and
many other species were common. Mr. Gris-
com in his analysis of the situation says :
When we consider that this state of affairs
exists in spite of the fact that every marsh is
owned by a gun club, every little island is a
prized shooting ground, that the bay is cov-
ered with floating blinds and batteries, that
one is never out of sight of houses and villages,
and that these conditions have prevailed for
many years, it will be apparent that the con-
tinued abundance of waterfowl requires some
explanation in addition to the natural ad-
vantages of the territory. Primarily, of course,
the abolition of market hunting — that great
scourge of conservation^and of spring shoot-
ing is a necessity before waterfowl can be
maintained in a settled district. Next, -^^ase
and proper game laws must exist, and in this
respect Back Bay has the best and the most
restrictive I know of in eastern America.
Laws, however, are of Uttle benefit unless
pubhc sentiment and respect are back of
them, for at present neither the federal nor
any state government has sufficient funds to
employ a staff of game wardens adequate to
enforce the law in localities where public
sentiment is against it.
270
NATURAL HISTORY
The most gratifying feature of hunting m
Back Bay is this: that particularly restric-
tive laws have the approval of sportsman and
layman alike. The latter has outgrown his
bitterness over the abolition of market hunt-
ing, which deprived him of a hving, as steady
emplovment with the hunting clubs has given
him a' better one. While the pubUc cannot
shoot from the shore marshes or islands, as
they are all private property, the bay shoot-
ing'is not to be despised by anyone, and con-
sequently there is no feeling against the clubs,
as is the case, for instance, on Long Island.
The natives realize that these clubs bring
money and employment, that they do not
spoil the shooting, and that people who are
not millionaires and cannot afford a share in
the property-owning clubs still flock to Back
Bay during the hunting season, bringing more
money and more employment. The majority
unquestionably reahze that the decrease of
the ducks means inevitably a decrease in in-
come and employment, and see that the game
laws insure a goodly supply of game.
In three visits of several days each to this
region over a period of ten years, I have never
seen a violation of the law. In hundreds of
trips to duck fields in central New York, and
to scattered localities from Labrador to
Florida, and from Florida to Texas, I have
never spent a similar amount of time in any
one place without seeing some violation of the
law, or finding it held in contempt and dis-
regard if the game warden's presence else-
where was definitely established. This un-
fortunately is particularly true of the Gulf
Coast and the prairies of southern Texas.
Although in variety of species and abundance
of individuals these regions still exceed Back
Bay, a depletion of the waterfowl, inevitable
unless public sentiment is aroused and edu-
cated, will result along the Gulf coast and in
southern Texas when the population increases
and natural conditions are destroyed through
the encroachments of civilization.
The American Scenic and Historic Pre-
servation Society held its twenty-ninth
annual meeting in the auditorium of the
American Museum on January 28. The part
that this society has played in New York
State and in the nation at large deserves
more than casual mention, for, as Dr. George
F. Kunz, its president, pointed out in his
address, it was one of the first societies to
arouse public interest in the preservation of
sites that appeal on the score of their beauty
or their historic significance, and throughout
the three decades of its existence it has given
forceful aid to the movement that has resulted
in the establishment of national and state
parks. In New York State alone there are
today more than seven times the number of
scenic and historic reservations that existed
when the society first began its campaign.
The administration in the public interest of no
less than nine properties — three belonging to
the society and six to New York State — has
claimed a large part of the attention of the
society during the past year, but the scope of
its work has by no means been limited to this
group.
A feature of the annual meeting was an
illustrated address on "The Scenic Beauties
and Engineering Difficulties of the Grand
Canon of the Colorado River," delivered by
Mr. E. C. LaRue, hydraulic engineer and
photographer of the party of eleven men of the
United States Geological Survey, that sur-
veyed 1800 miles of the Colorado River and its
afiiuents from Wyoming to the Gulf of Cali-
fornia. The perils faced by the party while
their boats, as helpless seemingly as wisps of
straw, were swept along by the tumultuous
waters of therapids,wererealisticallypresented
in the motion-pictures. The adventurous char-
acter of the survey and the importance of
its results had attracted a large audience, —
so large indeed that the lecture had to be re-
peated for the benefit of those who still
packed the approaches to the auditorium after
the doors had been closed for the delivery of
the first address. On the platform, in addition
to the trustees of the society, were a num-
ber of distinguished guests, including Mr.
Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, who accompanied
Major Powell on his second expedition through
the Caiion, Mr. W. H. Jackson, the photo-
grapher of the Hayden Survey, and the Rev.
Robert E. Jones, who was associated with the
Geological Survey in the Grand Caiion region
in 1880-82 as topographer.
The American Bison Society. — So fruit-
ful in results has been the work of the Ameri-
can Bison Society that whereas in 1903 there
were in the United States but 41 herds with a
total of 969 animals, in 1923 according to the
census for that year there were 147 herds,
comprising 3878 head. Twenty years ago
there were but 24 states in which bison were
to be found, today all but eight states of the
Union have examples of this animal. It is in
Canada, however, that the bison is preponder-
ant, with a resulting total for North America
of 12,457 animals.
With the perpetuation of the bison fairly
well assured, the society is earnestly devoting
its energies to saving the pronghorn, — a much
more difficult undertaking due to the fact that
the animal is more delicate by nature and is
NOTES
271
today beset by many agencies that threaten
its existence. The annual report of the society
for 1922-23 contains the first census of Hving
pronghorn, compiled by the secretary of the
society, Mr. Martin S. Garretson. It shows a
total of 10,099 of these animals within the
United States and of 11,749 within the United
States and Canada combined. Although this
aggregate is comparable to that of the bison,
the forces of destruction arrayed against the
pronghorn call for unrelaxed vigilance on the
part of those who would safeguard this animal.
Driven from its natural habitat on the plains
and foothills, it is today subjected to the at-
tack of the sheepherder and the homesteader,
while the wolf and the bobcat take their toll
of the antelope when it is helpless in the deep
snow. In the Guano Valley, Lake County,
Oregon, seventy-five of these animals were
wantonly shot by Basque sheepherders, and
during Mr. Garretson's trip through south-
western Idaho, made with a view to ascertain-
ing the suitability of the region as a sanctuary,
indubitable evidences presented themselves
that the Basque sheepherders of that section
too are spelling the doom of these fine ani-
mals. In the report for 1922-23 Mr. Ed-
mund Seymoiir, president of the society,
alludes to the purchase of six antelopes in
Canada and their successful transportation to
the Wichita National Preserve in Oklahoma
as the most notable achievement of the society
during the year, but in many other ways the
society has given evidence of its devotion to
the cause of our disappearing wild life.
HISTORY OF THE EARTH
Mr. Edward J. Foyles, of the department
of geology and vertebrate palaeontology,
American Museum, has recently issued in the
Thirteenth Report of the Vermont State Geologist
his "Preliminary Report on the Ordovician
Formations of Vermont." The report is
based on a study of the Fort Cassin rocks and
fossils in the American Museum, as well as on
field work undertaken in the Lake Champlain
region during the summers of 1921 and 1922.
Two of the principal localities, Shoreham and
Fort Cassin, lie to the east of the lake; the
third, Providence Island, is located somewhat
north of these points in the lake itself. The
purpose of the papers, as announced in the
introduction and worked out in the text, "is
to suggest the limits of the Beekmantown
formation of the Lower Ordovician as it
occurs in the Champlain valley of Vermont;
to show that the Fort Cassin rocks constitute,
not a single formation known as the Beekman-
town, but a terrane consisting of two forma-
tions, neither of which is Beekmantown; and
to demonstrate that the Providence Island
rocks, which have mostly been assigned to the
Beekmantown, have very few if any beds of
Beekmantown age, but belong to higher
horizons."
WILLIAMS GALAPAGOS EXPEDITION
Many New Species of Moths Obtained
IN THE Archipelago. — In his resume of the
Williams Galapagos Expedition (Zoohgica,
Vol. V, No. 1) Mr. William Beebe reports that
the insects taken by the expedition totaled
3000, of which no less than 626 were moths
(exclusive of Microlepidoptera). For the
most part these had been lured to their doom
by a powerful searchlight which nightly bored
a tunnel of radiance through the darkness. Of
the moths of the Galapagos Archipelago com-
paratively little was known prior to the work-
ing-up of this collection, evidenced by the
fact that of the 52 species into which Mr.
William Schaus, honorary assistant curator in
the United States National Museum, divided
the material, exactly one half are new to
science, while only 4 of the remaining 26
species had hitherto been reported from the
archipelago. There were 38 Microlepidoptera,
which, as determined by Messrs. A. Busck and
C. Heinrich, added 9 species to the total.
Of the new species 2 have been named for Mr.
Harrison Williams, who initiated the under-
taking and generously placed at the disposal
of Mr. Beebe's party the steam yacht "Noma"
in which the cruise was made, 2 for Miss Isabel
Cooper, and 2 for Miss Ruth Rose, who par-
ticipated in the expedition, while the name of
Mr. Beebe has been associated with a speci-
men representing a new genus. Mr. Schaus's
study of the material — with a classified list of
the species, the number of specimens of each,
the date and locality of capture, and, where
the species are new to science, the detailed
description — has been published in Zoologica,
Vol. V, No. 2; field observations regarding
the material collected are graphically present-
ed by Mr. Beebe in Zoologica, Vol. V, No. 3.
Among the most striking of Mr. Beebe's ob-
servations are those relating to the remarkable
partiality shown by birds of the islands for
butterflies and moths, a phenomenon not to be
explained by an absence of other insect food,
for grasshoppers were present in abundance.
272
NATURAL HISTORY
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Tropical Research Station. — On Febru-
ary 11 Mr. William Beebe and his staff of
assistants sailed on the "Mayuro" to under-
take another season's work at Kartabo.
British Guiana, the Tropical Research Station
of the New York Zoological Society. In addi-
tion to the director, the party included Dr.
Alfred Emerson, assistant director; Mr. John
Tee-Van, research assistant and cinematog-
rapher; Mr. William Merriam, assistant in
field work; Mr. Harold Tappin, assistant in
entomology; Mr. Herman Rogers, assistant
in photography; Mr. Harry Hoffman, artist;
Miss Isabel Cooper, scientific artist; Mrs.
Helen Tee- Van, assistant scientific artist;
Miss Ruth Rose, historian and technicist;
and Mrs. Katherine Rogers, assistant micro-
scopist, and Mr. Serge Chetyrkin, assistant
field naturalist. Among the objects Mr. Beebe
has in view is the rounding out of his notes on
the ecology of the quarter of a square mile of
jungle to which he has been giving intensive
study during his previous sojourns. He plans,
also, if possible, to bring back to New York
living specimens of the hoactzin, a bird that in
the young stage has two toes on each wing as
aids in climbing and literally moves about on
aU fours. Finally Mr. Beebe is completing
plans for a trip to Mt. Roraima, to be m.ade
either on this or on his next trip to British
Guiana.
BIRDS
Mr. Ludlow Griscom, assistant curator of
birds, American Museum, sailed on February
5 on an expedition to Veragua, western Pana-
ma. He is taking three assistants: Mr. Rud-
yerd Boulton of the University of Pittsburgh,
Mr. George Albert Seaman, field collector, and
Mr. J. Manson Valentine of the Peabody
Museum, Yale University, volunteer assistant.
The party hopes to reach the subtropical or
cloud-forest zone in the unexplored mountains
of the interior, to determine its extent and
ascertain whether it is disconnected from the
high mountains of Chiriqui. Little is known
about this region, and no collection of its
birds exists in America. Somewhere in
Veragua the tropical lowland fauna of eastern
Panama meets a limited fauna known only
from southwestern Costa Rica and Chiriqui,
but the location of the barrier separating them
and the factors causing it await determination.
Mr. Griscom expects to leave Mr. Seaman in
the field to make thorough collections at all
desirable localities. Still as well as motion
pictures will be taken to illustrate the ecology,
topography, scenery, and natives.
The Paradise Racquet - Tailed Hum-
ming Bird. — Through an exchange of ma-
terial with Mr. A. L. Butler the department
of birds, American Museum, has secured four
specimens (2 mature males, 1 immature male,
and 1 female) of the unusually interesting
and rare humming bird {Loddigesiornis
mirahilis) , known as the paradise racquet-tail.
This bird has several claims to distinction.
Known only from the Chachapoyas Valley of
Peru and obtainable there only when a certain
shrub on which it is dependent for its food is
in flower, it is a species much coveted be-
cause of its rarity. Excepting an immature
female in the collections of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, the
four specimens mentioned are the first to
come into the possession of a scientific
institution in America.
Yet its interest on the score of rarity is
subordinate to that which it has as one of the
few cases among birds of marked sexual di-
morphism. All other humming birds have
not less than ten tail feathers; but the male of
Loddigesiornis mirahilis has but four. Yet
the striking elongation of two of these feathers
in the male bird is compensation, from the
aesthetic standpoint at least, for the reduced
number. Only the racquet-shaped end of the
tail feather is visible in the immature speci-
men but in the mature male this appears as a
culminating ornament at the end of a long
thin upward-curved feather-shaft of graceful
sweep. The shape of the elongated tail
feathers of the female is, on the other hand,
strikingly different and less spectacular, and,
in contrast to the male, she has the normal
number of tail feathers (ten). The glittering
blue crown of the male, which shows purple
in certain lights, and its shimmering emerald
throat are other points of beauty.
The four specimens originally found place
in the collection of Count von Berlepsch,
having been obtained by his collector, O. T.
Baron. In addition to Loddigesiornis, four
other species of humming birds new to the
collections of the American Museum were
obtained through exchange, as well as several
specimens of species which exist in America
only in this Museum. The collection of
humming birds in this Museum is now the
most nearly complete in the world.
The paradise racquet-tailed humming bird, an interesting case of sexual dimorphism. — The specimen in the
upper right-hand corner is an immature male, in which only the racquet-shaped end of the taU is visible. The
ornamental elongation of the tail is a conspicuous feature of the two adult males (at the left and at the base of
the picture respectively) . The female (center) differs strikingly in appearance from her mate. The specimens
were recently acquired by the American Museum
MUSEUM LIBRARY
A Valued Gift to the Museum Library.
— Through the generosity of Mr. Ogden Mills
the library of the American Museum has ob-
tained a set of Lord Lilford's sumptuous work,
Colored Figures of the Birds oj the British
Isles. This gift from one who has enriched
the Museum by many volumes of great
rarity, beauty, and scientific interest, is
particularly valued for the magnificent series
of 421 plates which it contains, contributed by
such artists as A. Thorburn and J. G.
Keulemans. Lord Lilford was for many years
president of the British Ornithologists'
Union, of which he was one of the founders,
and the monumental work presented by Mr.
Mills is one of the standard contributions to
ornithology.
EXTINCT ANIMALS
Ape of the Western World Restudied.
— It would seem that Hesperopithecus is a
274
NATURAL HISTORY
name well chosen by Honorary Curator Henry
Fairfield Osborn for the genus of anthropoid
apes, known from two fossil teeth (one of
which is very much worn) discovered in
Nebraska in 1922. The actual discovery had
been made some time before but the type fossil
tooth actually reached the Museum only two
weeks after Professor Osborn had advised
William Jennings Bryan to study the fossils
themselves and not the disputations of the
doctors about them. This advice was summed
up in the Scriptural verse, "Speak to the earth
and it shall teach thee," and by way of show-
ing the pertinence of this counsel there arrived
at the Museum the first recognized anthropoid
ape tooth found in America.
As in the case of numerous other dis-
coveries of this kind, authenticity was chal-
lenged by many scientists. While the Ameri-
can Museum staff agreed that the tooth repre-
sented an upper molar of an anthropoid ape,
other palaeontologists, both in America and
Great Britain, questioned this conclusion.
Several authors sought to relate it to the fossil
type of bear known as Hysenardos; others
thought it had affinities with the Carnivora,
especially the panda of Asia or the raccoon-
like Potos of South America; some suggested
that it was not an anthropoid but related to
the South American monkeys; it was even
intimated that the tooth belonged to one of
the ancestral horses.
In view of these striking differences of
opinion, the American Museum specialists,
Dr. W. K. Gregory and Dr. Milo Hellman,
subjected the tooth to a more searching
analysis and finally reached the following
conclusions, published in the Bulletin of the
Museum, December 4, 1923: first, the tooth in
all probabihty belongs among the higher
Primates known as anthropoid apes; second,
the greater number of resemblances of the
tooth appear to be with the gorilla and the
chimpanzee rather than with the orang.
Doctor Gregory leans toward the view that the
anthropoid ape affinities of the type predom-
inate while Doctor Hellman still regards re-
semblances to a human tooth as being of con-
siderable significance, and they state that the
range of variation in the crown and root char-
acters of the molars both in the human
family and the anthropoid ape family is great
enough to warrant either viewpoint. The
type tooth is probably a second upper
molar, as originally decided by Professor
Osborn, while the second very much worn
tooth found in the same locality is pretty surely
an upper molar and probably the third or back
molar of Hesperopithecus.
In the meantime the leading anatomists of
the world have been given an opportunity to
study this question for themselves through
beautifully prepared casts. Among the
authorities who have received replicas of the
tooth are distinguished anthropologists and
palaeontologists of Europe, such as Boule,
Deperet, DoUo, Abel, Forster Cooper, Smith
Woodward, Elliot Smith, Keith, Pompeckj,
Broili, Capellini, Plate, Leche, von Huene,
Sergi, Dubois, and Martin, and in this coun-
try, Hrdlicka, Miller, Boas, Merriam, Lull,
and ^Sinclair. This reciprocity and inter-
change of facsimile casts of original materials
enable, in this case, twenty-six different in-
stitutions in various parts of the world to
examine for themselves and to form their own
opinion as to the possible relationship, or
lack of relationship, of the find to human
ancestry.
FISHES
Sea Dragons from Australia. — Through
the courtesy of Dr. C. Anderson, director of
the Australian Museum, the American Mu-
seum has recently come into possession of a
most wonderful example of nature's handi-
work, in the shape of a little sea horse or sea
dragon, known scientifically as Phyllopteryx
eques. As the Rev. Tenison Woods writes in
Fishes and Fisheries of New South Wales,
"One step more, in evolution, and it would
have been a bunch of kelp." If this be not
mimicry, there is no such thing.
If the reader will imagine a small child
clipping off bits of kelp, sticking them here
and there on a good-sized sea horse, adding a
few tufts of sea weed, and finally inserting a .
number of spines for good measure, he will
have a pretty good idea of this extraordinary
little creature.
Accompanying it were three specimens of a
relative of this sea dragon, — less elaborately
decorated, though to make up for this defi-
ciency, they were in life brightly colored.
These strange fishes are seldom seen: as Mr.
McCuUoch writes in the Australian Museum
Magazine, for April, 1923: "Whenever the
winds blow harder than is usual from the sea,
the waves churn up the animals and plants
which live just below the lowest limits of the
tides. Our ocean beaches at such times be-
come strewn with an assemblage of marine
NOTES
275
^
Kelplike in appearance but a fish in reality, the sea dragon (Phyllopteryx eques) is one of the examples in nature
which one is tempted to ascribe to protective mimicry. On the.left is another sea horse {Phyllovteryx foliatus)
from Australia. Thejspecimens were obtained by the American Museum through the courtesy of Dr. C.
Anderson, director of the Australian Museum
organisms which are rarely exhibited to our
view under any other circumstances." And
this flotsam and jetsam now and then includes
examples of these strange little sea horses.
In view of the rarity of these fishes, it is
somewhat surprising to find that one of them,
Phyllopteryx foliatus, was described as early
as 1804, and the other, Phyllopteryx eques, hx
276
NATURAL HISTORY
1865. The name Phyllopteryx, leaf-finned,
in allusion to the flowing appendages with
which these fish are decorated, is very appro-
priate, but it is a pity that the term foUatus,
bearing-foliage, could not have been applied
to the species described in 1865, which is far
more like an animated bit of kelp than is its
relative. Scientific names, once given, must
not be changed, even though they cease to be
fitting, but it is a pity the names cannot be
transposed.
This recalls the case of the great eggs from
Madagascar which were christened JEpyornis
maximus, though later discoveries have shown
that while the eggs are still maximus, the bird
that laid them was surpassed in size by some
of her relatives; science is sometimes in too
much of a hurry in applying adjectives. —
F. A. L.
EUROPEAN ARCHEOLOGY
A Gift from M. Zachakie Le Rouzic. —
Through the active interest of Mrs. Henry
Fairfield Osborn, the department of an-
thropology, T^merican Museum, recently re-
ceived a collection of archaeological objects
recovered by excavation in the region of the
great megalithic monuments of Brittany or, to
be more specific, that part of Brittany known
at present as the Department Morbihan.
The specimens came as a gift from M.
Zacharie Le Rouzic, curator of the Musee
J. Miln, situated in the village of Cariiac in
the midst of some of the most wonderful of the
Late Stone Age antiquities. It will be recalled
that President and Mrs. Osborn visited this
locahty in 1921 and that President Osborn
published an illustrated article in Natural
History for May-June, 1922, giving an
account of his observations.
The collection appears to include specimens
typical of both the Early and Late Neolithic
periods and comprises roughly worked flints —
cores, flakes, and scrapers; several mealing
stones, hammer stones, rubbing stones, and
polished celts; pottery fragments, and some
minute bits of bone — perhaps human bones
from a burial urn. Included in the collection
are also a number of glass beads of various
types belonging evidently to a much later
period of culture and possibly buried for
magical purposes in the vicinity of the great
stone monuments, which are still held in awe
and veneration by the surviving Bretons. —
N. C. N.
The Iron Age of La Tene. — A notable
recent addition to the Osborn Library is a
monograph by Professor Paul Vouga (1923) on
La Tene, the famous Swiss tj^pe station on
Lake Neuchatel. Originally intended as a de-
tailed accovmt of the results of excavations
pursued from 1907 to 1917, the author ex-
tended the scope of his work to include an
account of all the known discoveries belong-
ing to the Helvetian site of La Tene, and has
produced an invaluable work of reference.
Associated from early youth with the pioneers
of Swiss archffiology^among them his father,
Emile Vouga, to whom the work is dedicated
— Professor Vouga is singularly fitted to give
an authoritative account of the various ex-
plorations at La Tene since its discovery in
1858. His book is lavishly illustrated with
two excellent maps and several cross sections,
a few well-chosen text figures, and no less
than fifty plates picturing over 600 of the
various articles found at La Tene during the
excavations of recent years, in which the
author took part. Not only are all these
articles drawn to scale, but the plate descrip-
tions give page references to the text concern-
ing every specimen pictured. The text is a
model of clearness and brevity, and scrupu-
lously observes a fine distinction between the
record of facts in regard to the specimens
described, and the advancement of hypotheses
which might conceivably explain those facts.
The volume opens with a description of the
geographic situation of La Tene and a brief
historic sketch recounting all the various
excavations made from its discovery down to
the present time. Then comes a detailed
account of the topography and geology of the
site by Professor Auguste Dubois. In less
than three pages Professor Vouga outlines
the causes which led to the wide dispersal of
specimens from La Tene, and to much con-
fusion in identifying them. The first part
closes with a classified inventory of all the
articles found at La Tene, indicating the
thirteen different institutions where seventy
different kinds of artefacts may be found, rep-
resented by more than 2500 specimens. The
main body of the work is devoted to describ-
ing the specimens discovered from 1907 to
1917, and these are grouped with such excel-
lent judgment that the very chapter titles
supply a vivid picture of the life of prehistoric
man in the settlement of La Tene. The
weapons, or fragments of weapons, include
swords, lances, pikes, javelins, bows and
NOTES
277
arrows, the metal scales for coats of mail, and
the bosses and hand-grips of wooden shields.
Toilet articles are represented by shears,
razors, and tweezers, and ornaments by
fibulae, bracelets, torques, pins, beads, etc.
The fisherman's activities are represented by
fishhooks, harpoons, tridents, and boat
hooks, and the agriculturist's by sickles,
scythes, and pruning hooks — perhaps harrows
as well. Then there are mills for grinding meal,
mortars or presses for extracting the juice of
fruits, kettles of bronze reinforced with iron,
jars of pottery, and various wooden dishes.
A knowledge of basketry or weaving is in-
dicated by fragments of fabrics made of
woven or plaited straw. The wheelwright's
work is shown in the fragmentary remains of
vehicles — among them a perfect wheel illus-
trated in situ, while bits and spurs, and some
fragments which may possibly be the re-
mains of a pack-saddle testify to the work of
the harness-maker. Carpenters and joiners
left their mark on slabs of wood, notched or
bored for use as piles, beams, and other
purposes which can only be conjectured.
Spikes and braces for fastening wooden struc-
tures, and many wood-working tools are
found, as well as tools for working leather and
metal. Among several bizarre objects figured,
which may have been used in games of some
sort, it is quite a shock to find two fairly
recognizable dice, one of bone and one of
bronze. Is it possible that prehistoric man
played a primitive game of craps? Some degree
of commercial activity is inferred from the
presence of gold coins, weights, and balances.
There are three supplementary chapters —
one by R. Forrer on the gold coins, one by C.
Keller on the fauna, and one by E. Pittard on
the human remains found at La Tene. In
summing up the evidence which he has been
so largely instrumental in collecting. Professor
Vouga reaches the conclusion that La Tene
was a fortified, garrisoned trade depot, that
the remains found there represent only one
cultural phase, that of La Tene II, and that its
occupation may be dated approximately as
lasting from 250 B.C. to 100 B.C.— C. D. M.
AURIGNACIAN SKELETONS DISCOVERED AT
SoLUTRE, France. — Reports lately received
give particulars in regard to a recent dis-
covery of the greatest interest, made by MM.
Deperet, Arcelin, and Mayet at the famous
type station of Solutre — namely, the skeletal
remains of no less than five individuals asso-
ciated with implements of Aurignacian type
and embedded in the deposits immediately
beneath the great horse magma, which is also
of Aurignacian age. Three complete skeletons,
two male and one female, were laid out as for
ceremonial burial, each placed with the body
lying in a west to east direction, and each
burial place marked by two large slabs of
limestone, which must have stood well above
ground at the time of sepulture. Close to the
woman's skeleton were found skeletal frag-
ments belonging to two very young children.
One of the male skeletons was embedded in an
extensive "hearth," or layer of ashes and cal-
cined bones, in which there were also foimd
316 flint implements of very indifferent work-
manship. Inside the bones of the other male
skull, embedded in earth, there was found a
flint arrow point. Particular interest attaches
to the anatomical features of these skeletons
which show some marked deviations from the
Cro-Magnon tj^e as observed in the hiunan
remains from the type station in the Vezere
Valley, and those of similar type more recently
discovered in the Grottes de Grimaldi and
described by Verneau. The general propor-
tions of upper and lower limbs, as weU as the
peculiar features of their several bones which
are characteristic of all Cro-Magnon types of
Aurignacian age, are not found in these Aurig-
nacian skeletons of Solutre.
The height estimated for the two male
skeletons is considerable (6 feet, and 5 feet,
9 inches respectively), and in this regard, as
also in certain characters of the skuU — namely,
the large cranial capacity, the outlines of the
sagittal and horizontal curves, and the shape
of orbits, nose, and lower jaw — they resemble
the established Cro-Magnon type. But in
two important points they differ widely. In
the Cro-Magnon type the cheek bones are
high and prominent and project laterally in
such manner as to add very considerably to the
breadth of the face, which thus becomes " dis-
harmonic" with the long and narrow, or
dolichocephalic, skull. In the skull figured
from Solutre (No. 2) the cheek bones show no
pronounced projection, but lie ver^- smooth
and close to the side of the face. The latter
is broad but not disharmonic with the skuU,
as that also is decidedly broad. In fact,
perhaps the most striking anatomical feature
of these Aurignacian skeletons of Solutre
is the mesaticephalic, almost sub-brachyce-
278
NATURAL HISTORY
phalic, shape of the skull, since all the Aurig-
nacian skulls hitherto known are invariably
dolichocephalic.
These are by no means the first human re-
mains to be discovered in the great prehistoric
deposits of Solutre, as a number are recorded
from earher times. Unfortunately the present
exact methods of determining stratigraphy
had not then been developed, nor was the
surpassing importance of these human docu-
ments fully reaUzed. Consequently there is
now no means of determining the stratigraphic
position of many of these remains, while
others — such as the complete human skeleton
interred with Solutrean leaf points, reindeer
bones, and a figurine of a reindeer, discovered
in 1868 by the Abbe Ducrost — have been
lost beyond recall. It is a great satisfaction
to know that the further excavation of the
great type station of Solutre is now being
prosecuted so vigorously, and that it is in such
expert hands. We may confidently hope for
further discoveries to increase our knowledge
of the fossil men of Solutre. — C. D. M.
MAMMALS OF THE WORLD
Monkeys from British East Africa. —
Recently the American Museum received a
valued accession to its great primate collec-
tion, which through the efforts and personal
attention of Dr. Frederic A. Lucas has been
steadily increased in recent years and put in
such fine condition that the exhibits are now,
it is believed, the best in any museum.
The gift consisted of five skins, three skele-
tons, and two skulls of British East African
monkeys, presented through the generosity of
Captain Neite Caldwell of Nairobi.
Colobus rufomitratus, Peter's red-capped
Colobus, represented by three of the skins,
belongs to the reddish, generally more short-
haired group of the" Colobinse, ranging across
equatorial Africa. Its bright rufous crown,
bordered with black, and erect bunches of hair
give it a distinctive appearance. The seal
brown, nearly black, fine hair of the upper
parts and tail contrasts with the gray of the
imder side and limbs. It was discovered as
early as 1879 but for many decades was known
only from a single specimen preserved in the
Berhn Museum.
This is also true of the second species pre-
sented, the crested mangabey, Cercocebus
galeritus, to which the other two skins refer.
It is the easternmost representative of the
mangabeys, a group really West African in
distribution. Some forms show a remarkable
variety in the arrangement of the lengthened
hair forming the head crest and shoulder
patches. The general color of this species is
grayish brown with darker hands, feet, and
tail. The hair of the eyebrows and crown is
much lengthened and together with that of
the nape forms a conspicuous crest.
Probably these are the first skins of these
monkeys to arrive in this country. This may
appear strange considering that in the wake of
Colonel Roosevelt's successful African explora-
tions, so many Americans made collections in
British East Africa. But these Primates are
very local in their distribution, being confined
to the forest galleries along the few water-
courses near the east coast north of Mombasa,
chiefly along the Tana River. — H. L.
The Sixth Annual Meeting of the Amer-
ican Society of Mammalogists is scheduled
to take place in Cambridge and Boston, April
15-17. The sessions during the first two days
will be held in the Museum of Comparative
Zoology and will be devoted to the reading of
papers, discussions, and business. As a part of
the general program a symposium has been
planned on "The Scientific and Economic
Importance of Predatory Animals." On the
evening of April 15 the society will hold a
session in the building of the Boston Society
of Natural History, and on the last day of the
session, thanks to the kind invitation of Prof.
W. E. Castle, a visit will be made to the
Genetics Laboratories at Bussey Institution.
Forest Hills, Massachusetts.
A New Volume by Ernest Harold
Baynes. — Jimmie, the Story of a Black Bear
Cub, by Ernest Harold Baynes, has recently
been put into book form by the Macmillan
Company. It is a companion volume to
Polaris, the Story of an Eskimo Dog, and is one
of the author's most fascinating narratives.
Mr. Baynes's admirers and friends, especially
those who have heard him tell about Jimmie,
will be delighted to know that the story is
now set down, so that they may have it
permanently available . The book is copiously
illustrated with photographs by Mr. and Mrs.
Baynes, and these appealing pictures make the
narrative doubly telling. It is hoped that
Mr. Baynes's stories of "Sprite, the Red
Fox," and "The Little Wild Boar," and others
will also be put into book form. — G. C. F.
The Elephant in War. — There has always
been some question in the minds of historians
NOTES
279
as to the source of Hannibal's elephants,
those which he took into Spain and used in the
conquest of northern Italy. We are indebted
to a member of the Board of Trustees of the
American Museum, Mr. Madison Grant, for
an informing Note on this subject and we
shall be glad to have further data from others
who are interested:
The animals used by the Carthaginians
could not have come from Asia without having
left some record of their progress across Syria,
Egypt, and Cyrene on their way to Carthage.
The only possible way of getting the Sudan
or Abyssinian elephants was to float them
down the Nile as was done by the Romans
much later. As we have no record that this
was done, I am convinced that we must look to
the west or south of Carthage for the source
of supply.
Hannibal brought his elephants into Italy
through Spain in the year 218 B.C. Pyrrhus,
at an earlier date, about 281 B.C., brought
elephants across the Adriatic from Epirus,
and this was the first time the Romans met
the elephant in war. The source of these ele-
phants was Asiatic and their origin is defi-
nitely known. After Alexander's death his
successor in the extreme eastern part of his
empire obtained by war and as tribute Indian
elephants from Indian rulers in the neighbor-
hood of the Indus River. A certain number
of these are known to have been sent across
Asia Minor to Macedonia and hence to
Epirus.
In a later communication Mr. Madison
Grant supplies additional information regard-
ing the elephant in war and in domestication :
The Indian elephant, so far as we know, is
the only one that has ever been domesticated.
The elephants the Romans had in their cir-
cuses were, like the rhinoceroses and other
bulky animals, floated down the Nile from
what is now the Sudan, and nothing of this
sort seems to have occurred to supply the
Carthaginian army with its numerous ele-
phants.
All this is a matter of fairly definite record.
If elephants at this time or earlier had been
transported across the Arabian and Syrian
deserts, from Egypt and eastern Libya to
Carthage, there would have undoubtedly been
some record, especially as we know the his-
tory of Egypt under the Ptolemys in detail.
Hannibal's elephants, it wiU be recalled,
started from Spain and it would seem as though
they had been drawn from the northwestern
corner of Africa. India or the Sudan would
have been too remote a source. Some years
ago, a "pygmy elephant" was discovered
in the Congo^in fact, the New York Zoologi-
cal Park had the type specimen, and at the
present time there is a small specimen on
exhibition in the park. This is the species of
elephant now living nearest the northwestern
corner of Africa.
It appears that a Roman general, Suetonius
Pauhnus, about 45 a.d. reached the high Atlas
range in Morocco and on the south side of the
range found "swarms of elephants in the
Atlas forests." These may have been the
same species as the "pygmy elephant " or they
may have been a larger species but, at all
events, we have there a definite record of the
occurrence of African elephants in Morocco
and, personally, I beheve that this is the
source from which Hannibal drew his supplies.
Since the last issue of Natural History the
following persons have been elected members
of the American Museum, making the total
membership 7422:
Benefactor: Mr. Childs Frick.
Associate Benefactor: Dr. Bashford Dean
Patrons: Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt and Mr.
Ludlow Griscom.
Fellows: Mrs. Jay C. Morse; Dr. Henry
H. Covell; Messrs. Guerdon S. Holden
and Keith Spalding.
Honorary Life Members: Messrs. Edwin H.
Blashfield, Charles F. Forsyth, Elgin
W. Forsyth, Daniel Chester French, and
Joseph Rack.
Life Members: Mesdames Charles Kaye,
James A. Scrymser, John Wood Stewart,
J. Andrews Swan^ Eli Whitney; the Misses
Maky Cheney, Mary O'Hara Darlington,
Bettina Warburg, the Reverend Endicott
Peabody; Messrs. Frank E. Aiken, Henry
J. Bernheim, Charles C. Bolton, W. F.
Chandler, Paul H. Cheney, Russell Col-
gate, J. D. Cox, Henry M. Crane, F. V.
Du Pont, George C. Eraser, Archibald
Harrison, James Marshall, William P.
McPhee, Eugene M. Moore, Thomas F.
Murtha, James W. Packard, Ralph
Pulitzer, and C. Sidney Shepard.
Sustaining Members: Miss E. Mabel Clark;
Messrs. David Blankenhorn, Joseph A.
Duffy, Frank Johnson, and Ernest T.
QUANTRELL.
Annual Members: Mesdames Charles W.
Belt, Joseph J. Benjamin, Edward R.
Burt, Margharita Derfelder, I. H.
Dixon, George F. Dominick, Jr., Virginie
Ferier, G. Y. Glave, Wm. Van Valzah
Hayes, Albert C. Hencken, A. Barton Hep-
burn, E. B. D. Kohn, Grinnell Martin,
Charles Morgan, Walter S. Reynolds,
Daisy L. Rosenberg, Henry C. Ross, David
C. Townsend, Katherine T. Turner, C. S.
Walker; the Misses Martha Casamajor,
Helen Crocker, Bella Dainoff, Miriam
Sachs; Doctors Samuel Bookman, Ralph
280
NATURAL HISTORY
CoLP, John C. Graham, W. Morgan Harts-
horn, Otto V. Huffaian, N. S. jAR\as, S. H.
Lanchner, Samuel M. Landsman, Robert
Lewis, Josef Saxl, Montgomery H. Sicard,
Edgar E. Stewart, Edgar S. Thomson;
the Rea^rend Francis P. Duffy, D.D.;
Messrs. Richard F. Allen, C. W. Be all,
C. W. Bingham, Delos A. Blodgett, 2d,
Gail Borden, L. M. Borden, Alfred C.
BossoM, Ralph N. Buckstaff, Robt. M.
Burton, Edmund H. Cahill, Melville H.
Cane, Max M. Canter, Frederick R.
Childs, G. H. Conze, Warren J. Davis, Geo.
T. Delacorte, Jr., David F. Derringer,
Jr., Ralph H. Dick, Julius Feiss, Albert
Jean F^rier, Robert M. Ferns, F. H.
Filley, Northrup Fowler, Jerome W.
Frank, Henry Fuld, James N. Gamble,
E. Stanley Glines, Allen J. Graham, M. A.
Healy, I. C. Herman, Jeremiah Hunter, S.
J. Hunter, Reginald M. Johnson, Nathan
Kalvin, William F. Kip, Frederick Wm.
KoBBE, R. H. Kress, John W. Lewis, Jr.,
W. H. Lough, Henry A. Lumb, W. H.
Lyman, Harry C. McCarty, William O.
P. Morgan, A. B. Morley, Loe Nash, H.
de B. Parsons, W. U. Parsons, Frank A.
Peterson, W. C. Porterfield, G. P.
Putnam, W. D. Redwood, Charles A.
Rich, A. M. Sakolski, R. H. Shreve,
Albert M. Smoot, Chauncey B. Spears,
Richard H. Swartwout; Master Franklin
CuRTiss; and The Library, Southern
Branch, University of California.
Associate Members: Mesdames Frederick
Brown, Frances S. Davidson, W. D. Frish-
muth, Gardiner Hall, Harry W. Harrison,
Wm. S. Higbee, H. A. Houts, Isabel V. S.
Pitcher, John Reilly, E. Remington,
David Townsend, R. A. Walker, E. G.
Wallace, George G. Wenrich; the Misses
Carrie Ethel Baker, Ella Buegin, Adele
M. Dill, Alice M. Foote, Dorothy Fur-
long, L. W. Knight, M. Frances Pinney,
Elizabeth Sands, Mary Sayle; Sir Rat.
Lankester; Doctors W. Wayne Bab-
cock, Royal W. Bemis, H. M. Brundage,
Joseph M. Caley, Charles W. Creaser, A.
G. Ellis, H. P. Howard, J. S. Jamieson,
Paul S. Leinbach, R. S. Manley, D. Gregg
Methany, Leroy M. S. Miner, Charles
F. Nassau, C. C. O'Hara, T. S. Palmer,
Adolph H. Schultz, Theodor Stingelin,
Omar A. Turney; Professor William T.
Shaw; Messrs. Ludwig G. Auger, Frank
W. Bedard, Earl W. Bemis, A. Berkman,
MoRiz Bernstein, Frank E. Billings,
Walter G. Borton, J. C. Fenner Bridgham,
A. B. Brown, E. R. Buckell, James M.
Butler, Alfred M. Campbell, Robert C.
Chapin, Edgar A. Church, Gordon
Cochran, Fred. G. Coddington, Francis
A. CuDMORE, Evan C. Dressel, G. Farrar,
Geo. a. Fay, Jos. Feaster, U.S.N., Albert
M. Fuller, A. H. Gross, George E. Halli-
DAY, W. J. Hayward, Edward F. Henson,
Samuel Hubbard, J. Harlan Johnson,
Orville M. Johnson, John Jonas, E. R.
Jones, Woodruff Jones, Neil M. Judd,
Charles Monson Justi, L. M. Klauber,
Edward La Budde, Eugene P. Lake, E. P.
Langley, David Henry Leavitt, Henry E.
Lee, Francis Lieber, Lewis G. Little, N.
H. Mapes, Walter T. Moore, J. H. Mull,
Arthur E. Newbold, Jr., Harold S. Pal-
mer, Bruno C. Petsch, C. V. Piper, Mica-
JAH W. Pope, Wallace E. Pratt, L. L.
Redick, Kelley Rees, H. C. Reynolds,
Charles G. Root, F. F. Runkel, Ralph J.
SCHOETTLE, HoWARD K. SmALL, MoRRIS S.
SocHis, A. V. Taylor, Henry A. Thompson.
AsHBEL Welch, Geo. D. Wenner, and J.
W. Winson.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
FOUNDED IN 1869
Board of Trustees
Henry Fairfield Osborn, President
George F. Baker, First Vice President Clarence L. Hay
J. P. Morgan, Second Vice President Archer M. Huntington
George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer Adrian Iselin
Percy R. Pyne, Secretary Walter B. James
Frederick F. Brewster Roswell Miller
Frederick Trubee Davison Ogden Mills
Cleveland H. Dodge A. Perry Osborn
Cleveland Earl Dodge George D. Pratt
Walter Douglas Theodore Roosevelt
Childs Frick Leonard C. Sanford
Madison Grant John B. Trevor
William Averell Harriman Felix M. Warburg
John F. Hylan, Mayor of the City of New York
Charles L. Graig, Comptroller of the City of New York
Francis D. Gallatin, Commissioner of the Department of Parks
MEMBERSHIP MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED
For the enrichment of its collections, for the support of its explorations and scientific research,
and for the maintenance of its publications, the American Museum of Natural History is de-
pendent wholly upon membership fees and the generosity of friends. More than 7400 members
are now enrolled who are thus supporting the work of the Museum. The various classes of
membership are:
Associate Member (nonresident)* annually $3
Annual Member annually 10
Sustaining Member annually 25
Life Member 100
Fellow 500
Patron 1,000
Associate Benefactor 10,000
Associate Founder 25,000
Benefactor . 50,000
♦Persons residing fifty miles or more from New Yorli City
Subscriptions by check and inquiries regarding membership should be addressed: George
F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum of Natural History, New York City.
FREE TO MEMBERS
NATURAL HISTORY : JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Natural History, published bimonthly by the Museum, is sent to all classes of members
as one of their privileges. Through Natural History they are kept in touch with the activi-
ties of the Museum and with the marvels of nature as they are revealed by study and explora-
tion in various regions of the globe.
AUTUMN AND SPRING COURSES OF POPULAR LECTURES
Series of illustrated lectures, held in the Auditorium of the Museum on alternate Thursday
evenings in the fall and spring of the year, are open only to members and to those holding tickets
given them by members.
Illustrated stories for the children of members are told on alternate Saturday mornings in
the fall and in the spring.
MEMBERS' CLUB ROOM AND GUIDE SERVICE
A room on the third floor of the Museum, equipped with every convenience for rest, reading,
and correspondence, is set apart during Museum hours for the exclusive use of members. When
visiting the Museum, members are also privileged to avail them.selves of the services of an
instructor for guidance.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY has a record of more
than fifty years of pubHc usefulness, during which its activities have grown and
broadened, until today it occupies a position of recognized importance not only in the
community it immediately serves but in the educational life of the nation. Every year
brings evidence— in the growth of the Museum membership, in the ever-larger number
of individuals visiting its exhibits for study and recreation, in the rapidly expanding
activities of its school service, in the wealth of scientific information gathered by its
world-wide expeditions and disseminated through its publications— of the increasing
influence exercised by the institution. In 1923 no fewer than 1,440,726 individuals
visited the Museum as against 1,309,856 in 1922 and 1,174,397 in 1921. All of these
people had access to the exhibition halls without the payment of any admission fee
whatsoever.
The EXPEDITIONS of the American Museum have yielded during the past year
results of far-reaching importance. The fossil discoveries in Mongolia made by the
Third Asiatic Expedition, the representative big-game animals of India obtained by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition, the collections of fossil vertebrates made in the Siwalik
Hills by Mr. Barnum Brown, the achievements of the Whitney South Sea Expedition,
and of other expeditions working in selected areas of South America, in the United
States, in the West Indies, and in Panama, are representative of the field activities of
the Museum during 1923. Many habitat groups, exhibiting specimens secured by
these expeditions, are planned for the new buildings of the Museum.
The SCHOOL SERVICE of the Museum reaches annually more than 5,000,000 boys
and girls, through the opportunities it affords classes of students to visit the Museum;
through lectures on natural history especially designed for pupils and delivered both
in the Museum and in many school centers; through its loan collections, or "traveUng
museums," which during the past year circulated among 472 schools, with a total
attendance of 1,491,021 pupils. During the same period 440,315 lantern slides were
loaned by the Museum for use in the schools as against 330,298 in 1922, the total
number of children reached being 3,839,283.
The LECTURE COURSES, some exclusively for members and their children,
others for the schools, colleges, and the general pubHc, are delivered both in the
Museum and at outside educational institutions.
The LIBRARY, comprising 100,000 volumes, is at the service of scientific workers
and others interested in natural history, and an attractive reading room is provided
for their accommodation.
The POPULAR PUBLICATIONS of the Museum, in addition to Natural His-
tory, include Handbooks, which deal with the subjects illustrated by the collections,
and Guide Leaflets, which describe some exhibit or series of exhibits of special interest
or importance, or the contents of some hall or some branch of Museum activity.
The SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS of the Museum, based upon its explorations
and the study of its collections, comprise the Memoirs, of quarto size, devoted to mono-
graphs requiring large or fine illustrations and exhaustive treatment; the Bulletin,
issued since 1881, in octavo form, dealing with the scientific activities of the depart-
ments, aside from anthropology; the Anthropological Papers, recording the work of the
staff of the department of anthropology, and Novitates, devoted to the publication of
preliminary scientific announcements, descriptions of new forms, and similar matters.
For a detailed list of popular and scientific publications with prices apply to
The Librarian, American Museum of Natural History,
New York City
^ol. AAIV
MAY-JUNE
No. 3
fRSH
URAl
HIS1
roR\
|H1 STORY
AFRICA
MARTIN JOHNSON AND HIS EXPEDITION TO LAKE
PARADISE BY Carl E. Akeley-SCENES OF AFRICAN
WILD LIFE THAT EXEMPLIFY THE PHOTOGRAPHIC
ART OF MARTIN JOHNSON-THE HIGHLANDS OF
THE GREAT CRATERS by James L. Clark-THE VAN-
ISHING WILD LIFE OF AFRICA by Herbert Lang-AN
AFRICAN BIRD THAT GUIDES MEN TO HONEY by
James P. Chapin ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ <iii>^
amateur entomologists and the AMERICAN MUSEUM-A BEAVER
COLONY OF YELLOWSTONE PARK-THE AMERICAN MEN OF THE
DRAGON BONES-WINTERING OVER A FIRE BASKET IN SZE-
CHUAN-NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE MOUNTAINS OF
WASHINGTON-DINOSAUR TRACKS IN THE ROOFS OF
COAL MINES-DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES"
The American Museum takes this opportunity of expressing its hearty
appreciation for the friendly assistance accorded its expeditions over a period
of many years by government officials and others in the several sections of
Africa, and for the collections from that continent which have been pre-
sented to it by interested individuals.
:»^/^vi gwr^j^/^'wi i rmrms'h'Jf iwaTm^S^S!
3 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN g
Q MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Q
P\ EXPLORATION RESEARCH-EDUCATION (J
NNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $3.00
SINGLE COPIES 50 CENTS
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Scientific Staff for 1924
Henry Faikfield Osborn, LL.D., President
Frederic A. Lucas, Sc.D., Honorary Director
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Acting Director and Executive Secretary
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc, Assistant Director (Scientific Section)
James L. Clark, Assistant Director (Preparation Section)
I. DIVISION OF MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY,
AND GEOGRAPHY
History of the Earth
Edmund Otis Hovey, Ph.D., Curator
Chester A. Reeds, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Inverte-
brate Palseontology
Minerals and Gems
Herbert P. Whitlock, C. E., Curator
George F. Kunz, Ph.D., Research Associate in Gems
Extinct Animals
Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu-
W. D. Matthew, Ph.D. Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals
Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles
Charles C. Mook, Ph.D., Associate Curator
Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology
II.
DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE-
OGRAPHY
Marine Life
Roy W. Miner, Ph.D., Curator
WiLLARD G. Van Name, Ph.D., Assistant Curator
Frank J. Myers, Research Associate in Rotifera
Horace W. Stunkard, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para-
sitology
A. L. Treadwell, Ph.D., Research Associate in Annulata
Insect Life
Frank E. Lutz, Ph.D., Curator
A. J. Mutchlek, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera
Frank E. Watson, B.S., Assistant in Lepidoptera
William M.Wheeler, Ph.D., Research Associate in Social
Insects
Charles W. Leng, B.S., Research Associate in Coleoptera
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Research Associate in
Hymenoptera
Fishes
Bashford Dean, Ph.D., Honorary Curator
JohnT. Nichols, a. B., Associate Curator of Recent Fishes
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D., Associate in Ichthyology
Charles H. Townsend, Sc.D., Research Associate
Amphibians and Reptiles
G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D., Curator
Birds
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief
W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator
Robert Cushman Murphy, D.Sc, Associate Curator of
Marine Birds
James P. Chapin, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Birds of the
Eastern Hemisphere
Ludlow Ghiscom, M.A., Assistant Curator
Jonathan Dwight, M.D., Research Associate in North
American Ornithology
Elsie M. B. Naumburg, Research Associate
Mammals of the World
H. E. Anthony, A.M., Associate Curator of Mammals of
the Western Hemisphere (In Charge)
Herbert Lang, Associate Curator of African Mammals
Carl E. Akeley, Associate in Mammalogy
Comparative and Human Anatomy
William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
S. H. Chubb, Associate Curator
H. C. Raven, Assistant Curator
J. Howard McGregor, Ph.D., Research Associate in
Human Anatomy
III. DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Science of Man
Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
N. C. Nelson, M.L., Associate Curator of Archaeology
Charles W. Mead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Arche-
ology
Louis R. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Physical
Anthropology
J. Alden Mason, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Mexican
Archaeology
Clarence L. Hat, A.M., Research Associate in Mexican
and Central American Archaeology
Mild Hellman, D.D.S., Research Associate in Physical
Anthropology
Animal Functions
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator
IV. DIVISION OP ASIATIC EXPLORATION
AND RESEARCH
Third Asiatic Expedition
Roy Chapman Andrews, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Palaeontology
Frederick K. Morris, A.M., Associate Curator in Geology
and Geography
Charles P. Berkby, Ph.D., [Columbia University], Re-
search Associate in Geology
Amadeus W. Ghabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Research Associate
Clifford H. Pope, Assistant in Zoology
V.
DIVISION OF EDUCATION AND PUB-
LICATION
Library and Publications
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Ida Richardson Hood, A.B., Assistant Librarian
Public Education
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D., Curator of Visual Instruction
Grace Fisher Ramsey, Assistant Curator
Public Health
Charles-Edward Amory Winslow, D.P.H., Honorary
Curator
Mary Greig, Assistant Curator
Astronomy
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D. (In Charge)
Public Information Committee
George N. Pindar, Chairman
George H. Sherwood, A.M.
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc
Natural History Magazine
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Editor and Chairman
A. Katherine Berger, Assistant Editor
Advisory Committee
H. E. Anthony, A.M. Frederick K. Morris, A.M.
James P. Chapin, Ph.D. Q. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D.
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D. George N. Pindar
HI
ID
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
DEVOTED TO NATURAL HISTORY,
EXPLORATION AND THE DEVELOP-
MENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
THROUGH THE MUSEUM
MAY-JUNE, 1924
[Published June, 1924]
Volume XXIV, Number 3
Copyright, 1924, by The American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
TURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR MAY-JUNE Number 3
Martin Johnson and His Expedition to Lake Paradise . . Carl E. Akeley 284
A culminating chapter in the history of wild-Kfe photography, with a survey of some of the earlier
stages in the development of its technique
With a portrait of Mr. Johnson
Scenes from the Plains and Jungles of Africa 289
Reproductions in duotone from photographs by Martin Johnson
The Highlands of the Great Craters James L. Clark 297
With special reference to the vast crater of Ngorongoro ,..,,.
Photographs, by the author, of the geologic marvels of the region and its herds of game
The Vanishing Wild Life of Africa Herbert Lang 312
The rapid extermination of some of the world's most impressive animals
With a frontispiece of a large herd of elephants photographed by Irving K Taylor, and pictures taken
by Mr. Lang, in the wild and in menageries, of some of the animals threatened with extinction
Profiteers of the Busy Bee James P. Chapin 328
Observations on the honey guides of Africa . . ^^ ,■ j j j
Original photographs by the author and by Mr. Herbert Lang, and drawings of the birds made, under
°the supervision of the author, by Mr. William E. Belanske
Amateur Entomologists and the Museum Frank E. Lutz 337
a survey, from the half-century mark, of the Department of Entomology, American Museum
With photographs illustrating the exhibits, the field work, and the opportunities for amateur work
offered by the department
A Beaver Colony of Yellowstone Park M. P. Skinner 347
One of the features of zoologic interest in this great wild-hfe sanctuary
With photographs by the author
American Men of the Dragon Bones Henry Fairfield Osborn 350
Personal impressions of a field trip to Mongolia with the Third Asiatic Expedition
Illustrated by a map of the route, photographs of scenes along the way, and a sketch of the camp at
Irdin Manha
Wintering Over a Fire Basket in Szechuan Province . . Anna G. Granger 366
Reminiscences of a sojourn in a Chinese ancestral hall
Photographs by Walter Granger
Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain Goat William T. Shaw 381
An experience among the high peaks of Washington
With a remarkable picture of the animal and several views of the general region
Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines William Peterson 388
A strange phenomenon noted in Utah and Colorado
With photographs and diagrams
Dean's "Bibliography of Fishes"
A Review Raymond C. Osburn 392
A Historical Sketch E. W. Gudger 395
Notes 402
Published bimonthly, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
Subscription price $3.00 a year.
Subscriptions should be addressed to George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum
of Natural History, 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Natural History is sent to all members of the American Museum as one of the privileges of
membership.
Entered as second-class matter April 3, 1919, at the Post Office at New York, New York,
nnder the Act of August 24, 1912.
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of
October 3, 1917, authorized on July 15, 1918.
South America
South America, the continent to which the July-August
issue of Natural History is to be devoted, has long been a favorite
field of zoological exploration, thanks to the diversity of animal life that
such contrasted environments as tropical jungle, Andean height, and
desert coast afford. Dr. Frank M. Chapman, who has but recently
returned from the tip end of the continent, where he has been pursuing
his study of the South American birds, will contribute an entertaining
description of some of his experiences in that part of the world. The
heart of the Andes of Ecuador has been explored by Mr. H. E. Anthony,
in charge of the department of mammals, American Museum, who will
tell through his beautiful pictures and his no less vivid text some of the
attractions of the region. A feature of interest will be reproductions
of several of the inspiring landscapes of Frederic E. Church, painter of
the high Andes, and excerpts from the journal of his travels. From
the snow hne the next contributor, Mr. Herbert Lang, associate curator
in the department of mammals, invites the reader to descend to the
tropics and journey with him along the forest-flanked Mazaruni River
into the heart of British Guiana, the interest of which he reveals in a
well-illustrated article. Articles by contributors connected with in-
stitutions other than the American Museum are promised, and the
magazine is glad to have the opportunity of giving recognition to the
important work they are doing. Mr. Wilson Popenoe, of the United
States Department of Agriculture, will describe some of the fruits that
he has studied in Ecuador with a view to their introduction and culti-
vation in the United States, and Mrs. Edmund Heller will give an
account, full of sprightly incidents, regarding some of the wild animals
which became important members of the expedition that Mr. Heller and
she made through Peru on behalf of the Field Museum.
Panama is a region that has affiliations with South as well as
North America notwithstanding the fact that a masterpiece of engineer-
ing has consigned it to the latter. To Panama the American Museum
has sent several expecHtions. Dr. Frank E. Lutz, recently returned from
the region, will tell, with delightful touches of humor, about his field
studies of the stingless bees, — studies which have contributed to the
knowledge of these interesting insects. Mr. Ludlow Griscom, who ven-
tured into a portion of Panama that is forbidden territory to the white
man, will contribute an account of his adventures and observations.
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Volume XXIV
MAY-JUNE
Number 4
Martin Johnson and His Expedition to Lake Paradise
A CULMINATING CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF WILD-LIFE PHOTOGRAPHY,
WITH A SURVEY OF SOME OF THE EARLIER STAGES IN THE DEVELOP-
MENT OF ITS TECHNIQUE
By carl E. AKELEY
WE of today have but a faint con-
ception of the Africa of fifty
years ago. South Africa was
then known to the world as a land
teeming with game. On the veldt occu-
pied by the Boers the game was being
used for food and clothing. The
"hinterland" was untouched except by
missionaries, ivory hunters, and trad-
ers. Equatorial Africa was almost un-
known. Only in recent years when the
game of the south had been killed off
and driven back and some of the species
had been exterminated, were the game
fields of the equatorial region explored
— and exploited. And now the great
game fields of the past are but a
memory. Here and there are "game
pockets" where, in a congested area,
may be seen what appears to be an in-
exhaustible number of animals, but
once one of these pockets is "dis-
covered" and made known to the
world, the slaughter begins, the pocket
is emptied. Such a pocket was Stewart
Edward White's "Undiscovered Terri-
tory;" Ngorongoro, the great crater of
Tanganyika Territory, and Lake Para-
dise, referred to later in this article, are
similar teeming centers of game . Others
will be located, each one doomed in its
turn, unless Herculean efforts be made
to arrest the progress of destruction.
Where there is one individual eager to
conserve, there are a dozen bent on
slaughter — for gain, "sport," or some
one of many pretexts. Hardest of all to
combat is the claim that the game
animals carry and spread the diseases
of domestic stock. The perennial cry,
"The game must go; this is no longer
the world's zoo but an agricultural
country," is heard throughout Africa.
There is just one relieving circumstance
in this doleful prospect: what man
seems bent upon destroying with his
gun can at least be rescued from com-
plete oblivion and given the illusion of
reality through the camera operated by
the right kind of individual.
Forty years ago, shortly after George
Eastman had put the first dry plates on
the market, no one, perhaps, dreamed
of the possibility of making a photo-
graph of a live wild animal. Even
twenty-seven years ago, when I started
on my first African journey, there was
much discussion as to the advisability
of encumbering the expedition with a
camera, fortunately decided in favor
of the camera. Compared with those
used at the present time, photographic
lenses were slow, and plates and fihns
likewise. Telephoto lenses were in
their infancy. We made practically no
attempt to photograph live animals.
But few pictures of wild game had
come out of Africa at the close of the
nineteenth century, and most of these
were of dead or wounded animals that
285
286
NATURAL HISTORY
could not escape the camera man. A
few photographs of free hve animals
had been made by Lord Delamere,
Mr. E. N. Buxton, and others, that
were interesting in their suggestion of
further possibilities.
Toward the close of the nineteenth
century C. G. Schilhngs began the
work in German East Africa which,
after about seven years of arduous
effort, resulted in his book, Flashlights
in the Jungle. This was the greatest
contribution of wild-life photographs
that until then had been made by any
one man. Before that, wild life was
recorded for the most part with pen
and pencil — too often combined with
hearsay and imagination. In A Breath
from the Veldt by J. G. Millais, pub-
hshed in 1895, we have the finest
example of pen and pencil records of
African wild life. Few indeed have com-
bined the keen powers of observation
and pictorial skill of Millais. A Breath
from the Veldt is a work of enduring
value and charm. The serial sketches,
such as ' ' Springbuck Crossing a Road, ' '
"Evening Play of the Bush Khoorhan,"
are real "motion pictures," convincing
and pleasing. Dugmore gave us a
wonderful record of several months of
strenuous work with flashlight and
camera in British East Africa. In
1908, with James L. Clark as a body-
guard, he secured material for a book
replete with remarkable photographs.
The first of the noteworthy motion
pictures of African game to come to this
country were those brought by Paul
Rainey. The waterhole pictures were
a revelation, although technically they
were far from good. They were made
by Mr. Lydford of Nairobi, who had
not previously taken motion pictures
and whose photographic equipment
was inferior. The waterholes have been
photographed frequently and with
better results since, and last and best
by Martin Johnson. In the interval
between Rainey and Johnson, James
Barnes with Cherry Kearton gave us
a good im-pression of the waterholes
in their photographic journey across
Africa from the east coast to the mouth
of the Congo. Bengt Berg made a
beautiful series of pictures of the birds
of the Nile. Dugmore and Harris
came back a year ago with a good
film of East African game. There are
many fine bits of film scattered about
in the collections of a score or more of
others who, as sportsmen or travelers,
have made conventional trips to Africa
in recent years.
In the forty or more years that have
elapsed since the achievement of East-
man above alluded to, photographic
equipment has been devised that,
placed in the right hands, assures
results formerly unattainable. With
the roll film and the kodak amateur
photography was launched. Devel-
opment of the flashlight photograph,
made possible by the magnesium flash
powder, fast lenses, and highly sensi-
tive film, stimulated interest still more.
In 1892, after several years of experi-
menting, George Shiras 3d, a pioneer
in wild-hfe flashlight photography,
advanced its technique to a degree of
efficiency that resulted not only in the
beautiful examples that he produced,
but also in a great popularization of
that form of photography. Today, as
a result of the development of the
celluloid gelatin film of high sensitive-
ness, fast lenses, telephoto lenses, and
motion picture, it is possible to make
records of wild life that are of infinite
scientific value and popular interest.
I say possible. At the present time all
the necessary tools are available, but
a complete outfit of cameras, lenses,
and necessary equipment for making
MARTIN JOHNSON AND HIS EXPEDITION
287
general wild-life studies costs many
thousands of dollars, and when such an
equipment has been assembled, it is not
of much use except in the hands of a
man of vast experience, gained of
necessity through years of hard work
prompted by an unquenchable desire
to carry on. The rare elements of this
combination required to secure the
priceless records of a fast-vanishing
wild life are an "A" man to do the
work and a man, or men, with vision
and idealism to see that he is backed
financially.
To make a life-history picture of an
animal such as the elephant, for in-
stance, is a tremendous undertaking.
It involves photographing the animal
in its various moods and under condi-
tions that are as varied as the types of
country it inhabits, from the low-lying
coast lands to the snow fields of the
equatorial mountains; pursuing the
animal as it travels over thirst lands
where at times for water it is dependent
on the moisture contained in aloes or
other plants of the arid regions, or the
seepage that results when the powerful
beast digs holes in the sand of the dry
stream beds. At other times the
photographer may be half-submerged
in swamps and marshes, or trekking the
grass lands of the high plateaus or the
bush veldt, or lost in the somber shad-
ows of the great forests, or clamber-
ing up steep cliffs, or "tobogganing"
down a greasy slope. He will have to
seek out the mother elephant with her
new-born babe in her retreat away
from the trails of her kind, where she
remains until the youngster is strong
enough to join in the treks of its elders.
To make such a life-history picture
requires a great deal of time, infinite
patience and enthusiasm, and a willing-
ness to dice with death; and the ele-
phant is but one of hundreds of species
of animals that await the man with
the skill, perseverance, and backing to
record their fascinating life stories for
science and the world at large.
Martin Johnson, the American Mu-
seum believes, is a man who measures
up to these standards. Through years
of hard but joyous work "on his own"
he has gained the experience and dem-
onstrated to the world his ability to
meet the most exacting requirements
as the "man behind the camera."
Seventeen years ago he was with Jack
London, voyaging in the "Snark"
through the South Seas. There he
came in contact with a motion-picture
camera that was in the hands of some
men who were tired of their job, and
took it over; ever since that time he
has devoted all his energies to the
production of motion-picture films.
He made splendid records of primitive
life in Polynesia, the New Hebrides,
Borneo, and Africa. Much of this
material is of inestimable value. Be-
cause of rapidly changing conditions in
these lands some of it could not now be
duplicated, and its preservation for all
time for the benefit of the world is
assured, for Johnson with characteristic
generosity has turned over all his
negatives, still as well as motion, to the
American Museum.
A year ago Mr. and Mrs. Johnson re-
turned from their first journey to
Africa and gave to the world a photo-
graphic record of African game that
was of greater interest and beauty
than any that had been brought out of
Africa before.
As a result of the American Museum's
appreciation of the importance of
Johnson's work, a group of men,
headed by Mr. Daniel E. Pomeroy and
including two of the Trustees of the
American Museum, Mr. F. Trubee
Davison and Mr. A. Perry Osborn
288
NATURAL HISTORY
undertook to send him back to Africa
for a period of five years to do the
things he wanted to do : to make pictorial
hfe-history records of the people and
the wild animals of the jungle, plain,
and forest, unhampered by the neces-
sity of paying tribute or of catering to
purely financial interests. To Mr.
Pomeroy and his associates the Mu-
seum and the public owe much, not
only for making possible the work
that lies ahead but for that already
accomplished.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have reached
the spot that will be the scene of their
activities during the next five years. It
has been named by them Lake Paradise
and is a small cjater lake somewhere
near the northern border of Kenya
Colony. To them it is a veritable
paradise, for it is a region that has not
been invaded by the sportsman, where
animal fife is abundant and unfright-
ened — an ideal place for Johnson's
work. And what he proposes to do
there cannot be better indicated than
in his own words. ^
Eor seventeen years I have been wandering
here and there in the tropics, and for fourteen
years Mrs. Johnson has been with me, photo-
graphing the strange and interesting things
we have seen. But neither of us is content
with thinking of the things we've seen or the
pictures we've taken. What we've done is
done, and while we feel that we have done
something to create a better understanding of
the out-of-the-way spots we have visited, we
are not satisfied that we have done our best.
To us what we have done seems now as if it
were a course of training, and now we want
to do something better, something more valu-
able, and more permanent. If it is not done
now, it will never be done, and so it is that this
expedition is being financed.
'The passage that follows is taken from World's Work
for August, 1923, but the order of the paragraphs has
been changed somewhat to meet the present require-
ments.
We will bring back with us a vivid portrayal
of untouched Africa — a picture of the beauties
of the last of the great continents to be ex-
plored— a picture of the natives and the
animals as they live their lives all but un-
touched by civilization — unaffected by the
worries of the outside world. We will get a
picture that will be a record for a thousand
years to come, of Africa as God made it,
before the white man penetrates further into
its beautiful wilds, and before the natives and
the wild animals have disappeared.
Our prime, purpose is to photograph Africa
and the inhabitants of Africa — to photograph
them as they normally exist — to photograph
them in their wanderings, in their play, in
their migrations and their congregations — in
their natural relations to each other and to the
world in which they live. Thrills in plenty we
will have — and I hope we'll photograph many
of them — but they are incidental to our main
purpose, which is to secure a truthful, ac-
curate, complete, and interesting picture of
Africa as it is — not a picture of " The Adven-
tures of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Johnson."
There is no question that Martin
Johnson is the man to do the work
that has just been outlined. The
American Museum is seeing to it
that he has the moral support and
Mr. Pomeroy and his associates are
generously supplying the financial
backing to make the great undertaking
possible. The negatives of the pic-
tures, both still and motion, that the
expedition secures, will become the
property of the American Museum, to
be held as a permanent record of
African wild life, and the films before
passing into the regular channels of
distribution will be edited by members
of the scientific staff of the Museum,
with a view to making them error-
proof and of as great educational value
as possible. Public appreciation of
what has been done already, and of the
importance of the undertaking, should
be such as to guarantee that the work
of Johnson may go on indefinitely.
Scenes from the Plains and Jungles of Africa
REPRODUCTIONS IN DUOTONE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
By martin JOHNSON
Leader of the Martin Johnson African Expedition
THE AFRICAN BUFFALO
The buffalo is better equipped to take care of itself under adverse conditions than are
most animals. Several decades ago the rinderpest swept off vast numbers, but the isolated
small herds that escaped this scourge were apparently suflBcient to restock the country.
The animal shown in the picture is probably a straggler from a herd!. Lone bulls and
small bands of old bulls often wander about independent of the main herds, which may con-
sist of as many as 500 individuals. Some herds habitually live in swamps, rarely moving
far afield on the hard ground; others live in bush country and go to swamps and streams only
for water; and still others roam over the open plains but promptly take to the bush if hunted
289
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ELEPHANTS IN FORESTED COUNTRY
Martin Johnson intends among other things to record in motion picture the life history of the
elephant. Lake Paradise, where he is encamped, offers exceptional opportunities for the study of
this animal.
One of the elephants in the picture is raising his flexible trunk to pull down a branch, — one of
the many functions that this adaptable organ performs. As Mr. Akeley has pointed out, an
elephant "drinks with it, feeds himself with it, smells with it, works with it, and at times fights
with it"
296
"Lone Tree Camp," on the crater floor near the northeast wall, looking southwest across
the crater, with Oldeani at the left
The Highlands of the Great Craters'
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE VAST CRATER OF NGORONGORO
By JAMES L. CLARK
Assistant Director (In Charge of Preparation), American Museum
NEARLY due south and less than
150 miles from the well-known
and active little town of Nairobi,
and just within the northern border of
Tanganyika Territory — formerly Ger-
man East Africa — lies one of those iso-
lated bits of interesting and beautiful
country that are so characteristic of
Africa. It is known as the Highlands
of the Great Craters, so named on
account of the many interesting craters
that break its great surface into an
almost continuous series of immense
basins, splintered peaks, and deep
ravines. Resting like a crown on the
peak of this wonderful stretch of moun-
tainous highland country, that rises
green as an oasis in the center of a
great expanse of arid African plains,
are the perfect remains of the largest
crater in the world — Ngorongoro or, as
the natives call it, Ngoro.
In 1909 I spent months hunting
along the border that separates the
Highlands of the Great Craters from
British East Africa, yet I heard noth-
ing that even indicated the existence of
this place, and to my many queries,
addressed to men who should have
known, as to what lay beyond, I re-
ceived only one answer: "A God-
forsaken, low, hot country, where there
is nothing except bush and fever."
For the past fifteen years big safaris
have been radiating from Nairobi all
through this East African section in all
iThe photographs accompanying this article were taken by the author with the one exception noted.
297
298
NATURAL HISTORY
r.c TT5?«ai»«WiSBtf®
Phot graph by Captain Hurst
Oldonyo Lengai, "The Mountain of God" in the language of the Masai. — This peak in
the group of the great craters lies about fifty miles north of Ngoro. It erupted twice during
the late war, the last time being in 1917, and still lies barren for the most part in its cloak of
colored muds. Only here and there a bit of vegetation is doing its best to get a start
directions, shooting and reshooting
over the same ground and trekking
far north for possible new and less-
disturbed fields, yet this beautiful
spot with its unmolested herds of game
lay untouched — safe, for a time at
least, from the onslaughts of the
sportsman.
During my sojourn at this time, I
was perhaps less than a hundred miles
from this locality, being then in the
the great southern preserve of British
East Africa, which on account of its
great abundance of game was set aside
as a source of replenishment for all
outlying districts. The general ignor-
ance of this wonderland's existence
seems somewhat surprising when ac-
count is taken of the fact that in 1894
there had appeared a publication in
German by a Dr. Oscar Baumann, in
which reference is made to it. It had
also been explored by Dr. Fritz Jaeger
in 1906-07, who conferred upon it the
name of the Highlands of the Great
Craters (Das Hochland der Reisen-
krater) in the monograph that he
issued in 1913.
Geographically there is no barrier to
the region: the great Athi Plains roll
south through the southern game
preserve, over the border, and far be-
yond. Way to the east stands the
great mountain of Kilimanjaro and its
smaller but more rugged companion,
■ Mt. Meru. This section was fairly well
known, as the fertile slopes, fed by the
melting snows that flow from these
peaks, drew adventurers and settlers
to this land of promise. But to the
west and between was still a blank so
far as the EngHsh-speaking world was
aware.
After the War a few scattered reports
began to be circulated of a wonderful
country that lay in the center of this
supposedly barren area. The first
English-speaking party to enter the
Highlands of the Great Craters was
that of Sir Charles Ross, who in the
winter of 1921-22, accompanied by
Mr. T. Alexander Barnes, made the
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE GREAT CRATERS
299
Kilimanjaro photographed with a seventeen-inch telephoto lens from Moshi, about fifteen
miles distant. An extinct volcano, 19,456 feet high and 3° 40' south of the equator, it is the
highest of all the mountains of Africa and with Mt. Kenia (17,040 feet) and Elgon (14,140 feet)
forms one of the three great landmarks of the East African section. Its blanket of snow, esti-
mated to be 200 feet thick on the top, extends down its slopes for 6000 feet
trip and brought out information re-
garding their marvels. That fall,
equipped with the maps and informa-
tion Sir Charles had given me, I
made the same trip, being a member of
what, I beUeve, is the first American
party that has visited the region. The
fact that it is located as it is, away from
the beaten routes of the trading and
hunting safaris, and with the uninvit-
ing, arid plains about it, explains per-
haps why it has enjoyed its years of
secluded peace.
Our route started from railhead at
the little town of Moshi, that nestles on
the southeast slope of Kilimanjaro, at
about 2800 feet, and proceeded thence
to the delightful little post of Arusha
on the slopes of Mt. Meru, where the
climate bids one linger as long as his
time will permit.
From Kilimanjaro west the country
rolls along in rather hot arid plains,
only occasionally relieved by small
broken hills, which are the eroded re-
mains of small volcanoes, until it
reaches its lowest level in a hot flat
bush country, about a hundred miles
from the mountain. Confronting us at
this point an escarpment 2000 feet in
height rises sheer; it is the western
wall of the great Rift Valley, which
runs north and south, more or less
distinctly traceable for a thousand
miles, and is the result of a great
slump that took place in some pre-
historic time. At the base of this lies
Lake Manyara, which today has shrunk
to a fraction of its former size, and in
its retreat has left a floor as flat as a
table and miles in extent. Around the
shores of this lake extends a great
tsetse fly belt, which for safety's sake
is traversed at night, and as there is
no camping ground until the top is
reached, the precipitous wall is climbed
in darkness by following a native trail.
In the morning one looks down on a
great relief map, over which he has been
trekking for days. The climate has
changed, and the traveler finds himself
in a rich green rolling countr}'^ — the
Looking northwest from the floor of the Rift, the old bed of the receded Lake Manyara
to the left with the shore line showing distinctly on the right. — The clean-cut western escarp-
ment of the Rift is clearly seen running north and south. Ngoro is the great bulk in the back-
ground that rises from the escarpment into the clouds that obscure it. The distance from
the point where the picture was taken to the crater is about thirty miles. The three elevations
are well defined: floor of the Rift, 3000 feet; escarpment, 5000 feet; crater edge of Ngoro,
8000 feet
After leaving Mbulu the safari trekked northward over the rolling upland shelf
300
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE GREAT CRATERS
301
Looking north from "World's View." — The great sweep downward between "World's
View" and Ngoro mountain is indicated in this picture
land of the Wabulu (the People of the
Mist), — which supports fine, well-fed
herds of cattle, sheep, and goats, is well
supplied with water, and is covered
with great patches of forest.
Emergence into such a delightful
environment after the trek over the
heated plains below, has an invigorat-
ing effect, and at this elevation of
about 5000 feet, one gets a more re-
freshing sleep in the cool of the night
air.
Turning northward and traveling
through these rolling highlands for
three or four days, one nears the Great
Crater. A height of land is reached on
the third day, and after the ascent to
its great ridge, we stand on what is
justly named "World's View." Look-
ing back over the green upland shelf
just traversed, the traveler sees far be-
low and beyond the expanse of yellow
plains, obscured in the haze of heat.
To the north the country makes a
great sweep downward, retaining its
olive green tinge except in the lowest
valleys, where it becomes a bit parched,
and terminates in the great mountain
of Ngorongoro. One sees the crater's
southern edge, rising to 8000 feet ele-
vation, extending far to the east and
west. It appears like an unbroken
mountain ridge stretched between two
higher volcanic mountains (Ololmoti
and Oldeani) , the crater edges of which
show sharp against the sky, but these
are indeed merely blowholes on its
sides. These peaks rise to 10,000 feet
each, and although great mountains in
themselves, they are dwarfed into in-
significance when viewed later as pro-
tuberances upon the crater ridge.
To the east the descending slopes
make their way unbroken until they
terminate abruptly at the edge of the
great rift; then there is a sheer drop
302
NATURAL HISTORY
Oldeani as it appears to one approaching from the southeast. — The ridge to the right is
the start of the crater edge of Ngoro, which continues unbroken to the east. Viewed from
this point of observation, the crater seems to extend for a distance about four times that of
the width of Oldeani mountain. To the west the slope is gradual. In the foreground is the
great sweep of rolhng countrj^ between "World's View" and the crater. From the point of
observation to the crater the ground rises steadily until it approaches that formation, when it
makes a rather steep grade to form the outer wall. One does not enter dense forest until this
outer wall is reached
into the plains far below that lets one's
vision range on and on over the rolling
country that ripples off to the horizon.
To the west the slopes descend grad-
ually to arid plains of scattered bush
lost in the distance. So it is that one
stands almost in the center of this
immense oasis and views the great dry
plains that have been the barrier to its
penetration.
We descend and trek toward the
Great Crater, to make camp at the
edge of the forest that enshrouds its
rim. As we make our way down and
are shut in by the rolling hills, we lose
its form, and ahead there seems noth-
ing but hilly country. We camp for
the night and obtain a good rest, for
the morrow means a stiff climb up the
steep grade of the outer slopes, through
the winding trails of a jungle forest.
Our guns are always ready: we
may encounter a rhino or a buffalo, or
even an elephant moving about on
the morning feeding grounds. The
vegetation is so dense that man and
beast may meet unexpectedly at close
quarters.
The whole morning is consumed in
this uphill jungle trek, with frequent
rests for our safari, for the altitude of
about 8000 feet is beginning to make
itself felt. The top is reached by
noon. There the open glades become
larger and more frequent. Finally we
discover a level spot, and halt for a
noonday rest. There is an opening in
the trees beyond; going to this and
making our way forward through some
bushes, we find ourselves on the brink
of the crater, and gaze over.
A feeling of awe grips one upon
looking for the first time into this
great basin. Can it be possible? Was
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE GREAT CRATERS
303
Looking north toward the outer edge of Ngorongoro crater. — This picture is virtually a
panoramic continuation of the one on the opposing page, there being only a slight break in the
vista. The horizon line is the crater edge proper, which extends nearly as far again to the
right. Its outer wall, blanketed in dark green, is well defined from the rolling plains that rise
very gradually to meet it.
Hartebeest, gnu, eland, and some of the smaller antelope, zebra, and lions roam these
plains, while occasional rhino and elephant trek across them on their way to and from the
forests of Ngoro
this tremendous hollow once a great vol-
cano of molten lava and seething fire?
I leaned forward, still clinging tightly
to the bushes; below me the forest-
covered wall seemed to drop almost
straight. I could view the entire inner
wall of the crater with one sweeping
glance: it seemed almost a perfect
circle, its slight irregularity lost sight
of in its magnitude. The two volcanoes,
Ololmoti and Oldeani, rested like sen-
tinels on its sides, just back from the
rim. The rim itself is remarkably
even, maintaining its almost perfect
edge without a single break or outlet.
The floor, which totals about 110 square
miles in area, lay perfectly flat and
treeless, except for two small forests
near the south and east walls.
The areas of differently colored
grasses made a patch-work quilt that
spread over the entire floor. Way to
the west was a shallow mirror-like
rain pan bordered by white shores of
volcanic earth that dried and baked in
the hot sun wherever the waters had
receded through evaporation. The
floor, which is 6000 feet above sea
level, lay 2000 feet below us. Every-
thing was dwarfed: the rain pan,
which seemed so small, is miles in cir-
cmnference ; and the tiny acacia forests,
that hardly intrude on this great
surface, are so large that in them one
could easily get lost. Dense forests
that cover the outer slopes and rim
jut down in great spurs through the
steep valleys of the inner waUs of the
crater until their apices nearly reach
the base. Mirror-like patches, fringed
with vivid green, told where the level
floor held smaller pans of water that
nestled in beds of reeds. Way to the
western side lay a small flat parasitic
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THE HIGHLANDS OF THE GREAT CRATERS
305
cone — the only one within the crater
walls.
Local showers and morning mists
above the forests are the main source of
water supply, if a gusher spring be
excepted that comes boiling from the
ground on the eastern side and feeds
a large swamp in which a herd of hip-
pos make their home. No streams
flow in or out of the crater except two
minor ones that come hidden through
deep ravines, more as a percolation
from the rain forests above than as an
outflow from any reservoir of supply.
Minute specks that covered the floor
of the crater like pepper sprinkled on a
plate, proved to be — through the
glasses — its sheltered herds of game,
that extended more or less concen-
trated, yet unbroken, over its entire
area, suggesting a great zoo, or an
immense cattle ranch, where there is
room and feed for all.
From where I stood to the opposite
rim was about twelve miles: the rim
itself is some thirty-five miles in cir-
cumference. I gazed and wondered, —
wondered at this, probably the greatest
crater in the world, until I fancied I
could picture it a great molten mass of
crackling, moving lava. What a fire
pot it must have been! And at night
how dazzling must have been its un-
canny beauty, with great clouds hang-
ing over the molten mass, blazing reds
and pinks refiected on their billow
forms, lighting the sk}^ for miles around,
and, when seen from great distances,
appearing Hke a floating setting sun in
the blackness of the firmament!
After feasting upon the sights from
above, we descended by a broken path
that went zig-zag down the precipitous
rocky walls as best it could, winding in
and around big trees that clung to the
sides with difficulty by their tenacious
roots. Stepping down over the uneven
rocks was tiresome indeed, and it was a
relief to arrive finally at the base,
where there was level going.
As one looked up from the bottom,
the walls seemed even higher than they
did from above, and the expanse with-
in greater than ever. Even then its
size was not fully appreciated; some-
thing like an adequate conception
of it was formed only as we trekked
across one little corner of the floor.
We walked and walked, and appar-
ently were getting nowhere — making
no impression on the great expanse. A
given point seemed to stay right by us
in spite of steady plodding. The more
we walked, the larger the area seemed
to grow. The floor lay remarkably
flat; only occasionally was there the
slightest undulation.
We marched to the southern side
not far from the wall, and began to go
upgrade over the broken ground of an
old lava flow that had come down from
Oldeani, resting near the southwestern
rim. Farther along, almost at the base
of the wall, we camped on a little flat
table-land by a small stream of fine
cool water. Here we obtained a clear
view of the whole crater floor from
within: just in front was one of the two
acacia forests. We looked right over
this and could see how little it really is
when compared with the great expanse
of the crater.
Straight across to the north, the
wall is less distinct : it rises in a series
of low rounded hills that blend into
the slopes of the volcano Ololmoti.
These hills appear to be the results
of a series of lava flows from this outlet
or, again, they may originally have
been smaller cones that through long
erosion in time took on the form of hills.
Over the floor to the northeast and the
northwest are scattered a few vol-
canic rocks that break the otherwise
First view of the crater basin obtained from the southeast wall. — The lighter areas are
the dried mud fiats left exposed by the receding water. Darker areas in the foreground are the
grass patches and reed beds. The opposite rim is twelve miles distant
Looking north across the crater floor from the author's camp at the south side. — Ololmoti
is visible in the distance. One of the two acacia forests is seen in the foreground
306
Game within the crater. — It is estimated that there are 50,000 or more wild animals in
this great natural zoo
Scattered volcanic rocks on the crater floor. — The one in the foreground is well worn,
having long been used as a "rub rock" by the animals
307
ii^..
Northeastern wall of the crater
14 -** V
Looking from the northern rim of Ngoro up the southeastern slope of Ololmoti
308
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE GREAT CRATERS
309
exceptionally smooth surface.
The slopes that extend upward from
the crater floor are covered with a rank
bush growth, which gives way to forests
as the upper edge is approached. On
the top, open glades and grassy rolling
country are interspersed with patches
of acacia and other big timber until
the slopes of the two big volcanoes are
reached. There the tree growth is
suddenly replaced by a solid thicket of
small bamboos, from fifteen to twenty
feet high, that extends clear to the
peaks. These bamboos are the home of
buffaloes, rhinoceroses, and bush ante-
lopes, as well as of many monkeys.
The sides of the crater are very steep
and even when entering or leaving by
one of the three or four possible routes
of approach, a stiff zig-zag climb is not
to be avoided. The inner surface of
the wall is so eroded that only in one
place, and there very faintly, can one
discern through the growth of vegeta-
tion that covers it, any sign of stratifi-
cation of the old overflowing lava.
On the floor the grass, growing lux-
uriantly from the volcanic soil, has
been cropped short by the countless
herds of wildebeest, gazelle, and many
other kinds of antelope as well as zebra
that move about on every side. Occa-
sional beds of reed, like our cat-o'-nine
tails, are the only vegetation breaking
the even landscape. At onlj^ a short
distance the dancing heat rays as they
rise make these growths inconspicuous
and one passes through them, only to
continue over the undifferentiated
plain with its herds of game.
There were not the usual series of
game trails going definitely to vari-
ous feeding grounds or water; instead
the terrain was tramped over like a
barnyard by the herds that tread it
aimlessly as they feed in all directions.
\
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.. l'/
A Thompson's gazelle fawn "in hiding " on the open plains. — Left by its mother while she
goes off to feed, it instinctively lies perfectly flat and without the shghtest movement. Its
immobility and color make detection of the animal difficult. Only the fact that Mr. Clark
came very near stepping on it revealed its presence to him.
The photograph was taken at about three feet distance but the fawn made no attempt
to run away, trusting to the last moment in the possibility of escaping detection
310
NATURAL HISTORY
ft
.^JVPHtlKSAet^fLKLfi
The author's safari trekking across the level crater floor with the northeastern wall rising
in the distant background
The reed beds, with the bush and
long grass that border the forest, just
off the floor's edge, are the haunts
by day of the many Hons that steal
forth at night to prey upon the abun-
dant herds. These retreats also shelter
the reedbuck and the little duikers as
well as the numerous hj^enas and jack-
als, that finish up the leavings of the
lion's kill and pick up the scraps that
lie strewn about.
Herds of hundreds of the little
Thompson's gazelle that blend so well
into the color of the ground, suddenly
appear right before you as if they had
been conjured out of the air, and scat-
ter, on your approach, only to blend
and disappear again right before your
eyes. Eddies of wind pick up the light
volcanic dust and carry it along in tall
vertical twisted columns across the
level ground or blow it up in dust clouds
and silhouette black wildebeest that
had escaped your notice.
It is the exceptional natural condi-
tions that have made possible such a
great concentration of game and that
have assured its perpetuation. Into this
perfectly sheltered basin with its high
rocky walls — where the nights are cool
and the days warm, where the grazing
is perfect and water is relatively plenti-
ful— game has drifted from the more
arid country around. It is undoubtedly
from the surrounding great plains that
these animals have come, lured by the
scent of sweet grass and waters, drift-
ing in a few at a time and increasing
under ideal conditions ; while others less
fortunate in their selection, drift north-
ward to the grassy but less-watered
area of the Athi Plains and pass
leisurely through the great southern
game preserve and into the hunting
fields of British East Africa.
The expanse of the crater is great,
and the animals have no reason to leave.
More come from without while there is
a natural increase within. Estimates
give the game within the walls of this
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE GREAT CRATERS
311
^If^ffili?^^^
One hundred fifty blaelvs of tlie Mbugwea tribe were used in the transportation of the
supplies
great natural zoo as 50,000 — person-
ally, I believe there are more — but
what difference do a few thousands
make when there are so many animals
that you cannot even estimate them,
and the great herds are so big that the
distant ones fade into the ''blue" be-
fore your vision can reach the end !
Birds of many kinds abound in the
pools of still water, that remind one of
the great aviaries of the zoos into which
have been crowded the birds of the
world.
Perhaps nowhere in Africa is there
such a concentration of lions: on one
morning, just at the break of day, a
pack of seventeen was seen making
its way back to cover after a night of
raiding, and at another time eleven
were observed entering a bed of reeds
for their daytime nap. Leopards and
cheetahs, and the smaller beasts of
prey, gorge themselves and live in
contentment until their next mealtime,
yet make no impression on the great
herds that breed faster than their
enemies can take toll. Elephants and
their bush companions, the treacherous
buffalo and the powerful rhino, are
present in moderate numbers in the
virgin forests that clothe the crater
walls. Even the little animals contrib-
ute their share to the multitude, and in
great areas the ground moles are so
numerous that they honeycomb the
earth, so that with every other step
one breaks through into their tunnels,
or stumbles over their little mounds.
Ngorongoro is the greatest extant
natural zoo, and should be set aside as a
preserve. To see this — probably the
greatest of all craters in the world — is a
wonderful privilege, and to see it in
association with its thousands of
beautiful birds and beasts, for the
protection and perpetuation of which
one would like to believe it was created,
is something that seems almost too
marvelous in these days when the world
is being stripped of wild life.
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02 r3 02
The Vanishing Wild Life of Africa'
By HERBERT LANG
Associate Curator, African Mammals, American Museum
EVER since white man set foot
upon African soil to make his
own trails across the trackless
jungles, the world has been astonished
by tales of an apparently inexhaustible
wealth of game.
As one of the oldest of the large
land masses Africa is remarkable for its
compactness and the lack of indenta-
tion in its coast line. A comparatively
great stability, with relatively slight
fluctuations of the land area since
Tertiary times, must have assured an
exceptional continuity of favorable
breeding grounds for its marvelous
array of beasts. Here was the ideal
setting for the evolution of a unique
fauna, which fossil records indicate
was essentially vigorous and more
truly African than had formerly been
believed.
Furthermore, as a result of its
practical isolation, Africa offered un-
welcome competitors among the mam-
mals little chance for invasion. Except
in the Mediterranean regions man him-
self was not able to people successfully
the vastnesses which proved so in-
hospitable to him. Only after the
introduction of satisfactory staple foods
from other continents — an accomplish-
ment credited chiefly to the Arabs and
the Portuguese — did his scattered set-
tlements in the wilderness of the great
forests flourish.
Thus for many centuries Africa
remained a paradise for vast herds of
game. In no land has nature offered
such an impressive aggregtee of mam-
mals. Countless indeed were their
numbers. Gigantic brutes, ungainly
'Photographs, with the exception noted, by the author
and cumbersome, mingled with the
most graceful and fleet of tropical
wanderers. Stubborn brutishness and
unexcelled virihty in some were con-
trasted with defenselessness in others.
Beasts of prey, powerful, strong, and
stealthy, singled out the weaklings and
the careless, to whom less chance was
thus given to dispute the leadership of
those that alone would insure a vigor-
ous race.
When the Roman triumphs had
achieved the acme of cruelty and
fastidiousness, the victorious leaders
of stalwart legions could still add to
their glory by displaying in the arena
African beasts either so wild or so im-
posing as to drown the popular dissat-
isfaction. To think of five hundred
lions and twenty elephants in a single
orgy of savage destruction almost sur-
passes the capacity of our later-day im-
agination, yet that is the inauguration
record of Pompey's theater in 52 b.c.
Hundreds of years have passed,
exacting their heavy toll. Northern
Africa, long the part most accessible to
Europe, has lost its gigantic mammals.
The hordes of despoilers would find
much of it a desolate wilderness today.
With this in mind, the admirers of
nature at her best and other right-
thinking men and women now look
with alarm upon the rapid decimation
and threatened extinction of the game
animals in the remainder of Africa.
South of that fiery furnace, the
Sahara — the greatest continuous desert
in the world — lies the Ethiopian region
of zoologists. It extends more than
three thousand miles from the north
313
314
NATURAL HISTORY
to the Cape of Good Hope in the south,
and even for a greater distance from
west to east across Senegal to the
SomaK coast. The fairly uniform
warmth of the climate throughout
virtually the entire length and breadth
of this region favored the development
of free-roaming animals. The margins
of the raging sea and the desert wastes
were the only limits to their realm. No
bleak high mountain chains barred
the way. Only four glacier-bearing
peaks arise hke snow-capped islands
from the blue equatorial haze. At
certain seasons their foothills offered
a welcome change from the torrid sun
that scorched the plains. Equally
welcome were the lofty hills and the
invigorating freshness of the high pla-
teaus in the south, east, and north.
Thus nature extended a matchless
domain to the throngs of grazing and
browsing creatures.
Roughly speaking, there are but two
kinds of abode in all the land: the
grass-covered regions, or savannas, and
the tropical forests. Both offer an
ample variety of food and shelter:
their differences depend chiefly on the
amount of rainfall and humidity.
Some animals, like the elephant and
the buffalo, can live in the dry savanna
as well as in the humid forest. Others,
like the rhinoceros, the giraffe, and the
zebra, and most of the antelopes are at
home chiefly in the grasslands, which
include about two-thirds of the entire
Ethiopian region. On these open,
sunny spaces, sprinkled over more or
less with bushes or trees and dotted
with park lands between the hills and
ravines, Africa's chief wealth of game
had its stamping ground. Of the nearty
one hundred kinds of antelopes, vary-
ing from the size of a hare to that of a
bull, each lived in its peculiar sphere.
A vitallv different area is the "West
African rain forest, an equatorial
belt about 400 miles in width and 1800
miles in length. In this steaming hot
complex, with its lofty canopies mostly
one hundred fifty feet above the ground,
seasonal changes are but slight. The
dense vegetation makes gregariousness
here as impracticable as it is advan-
tageous on the plains.
For days and weeks one might travel
in these forests and catch but few
glimpses of its wild denizens. In
striking contrast with the level plains,
the hiding places in the tall and lux-
uriant forest are multiplied beyond
measure. Elephants and buffaloes in
small troops, the huge, black, forest
boar, and the most beautiful of all
pigs, the red river hog, though lost
to the eye, can be heard as they seek
safety in the depth of the jungle. Of
the bands of monkeys, occasionally
chattering and gamboHng, only an
inquisitive old male dares to scruti-
nize the intruder. With a saucy, cock-
sure air he puckers his face and con-
temptuously dismisses the idea of
escape. There are antelopes, great
and small, porcupines, squirrels, and
an array of smaller mammals. Chim-
panzees herald the morning with loud
calls and shrieks.
On the whole, however, these forests
are a far too unsatisfactory scene of
operation for the white hunter, who
must linger long to reap his reward.
The uncongenial climate and the diffi-
cult}^ of getting about rob the sport of
any enjoyment. In such a retreat wild
life in general would long be safe if
gun and powder were not distributed
among the natives.
But in spite of all these impediments
nature is in danger of losing a few of her
rarest mammals. In vain has she been
able to hide and shelter them through
untold ages. The white man has set
THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AFRICA
315
about rudely wrenching from her the
last remnants that have survived from
bygone days. Foremost among them
are the okapi (Okapia johnstoni). the
pigmy hippopotamus (Chceropsis liberi-
ensis), the gorilla (Gorilla), and the
chimpanzee (Pan).
The okapi is as rare as it is inoffen-
sive, and being nocturnal is seldom
seen. Its haunts are confined to a small
portion of the gloomy West African
forest, a narrow strip about 700 miles
long and 140 miles broad, in the hilly
regions of the headwaters of the north-
eastern afHuents of the Congo.^ In
spite of its relatively large size, about
that of a mule, the okapi was not
known to the outside world until 1901
when it was discovered by that distin-
guished African explorer. Sir Harry
Johnston. Instead of being a forest
zebra — as was for a while the impres-
sion, based on the striped pieces of
skin secured — it proved to be a short-
necked giraffe, small-eyed, and with a
delicately modeled deerlike head. Its
dark brown velvety coat, with whitish
stripes chiefly across the limbs, was
highly prized by the natives for super-
stitious reasons, and the skin of its
hind limb, with the striking pattern,
would purchase a wife. Only a power-
ful chief was permitted to sit upon
the hide or use the pretty parts as
ornaments.
So elusive a quarry was in no danger
of being successfully hunted by the
white man. Its rarity, however, and its
peculiar fame made him place so high a
premium upon a good skin that the
magnificent hermit creature has been
hounded by the natives into its most
distant retreats. If equally enticing
rewards were made to the chiefs to
protect the okapi in their sphere, the
^Lang, Herbert. 1918. "In Quest of the Rare
Okapi." Zool. Soc. Bull., New York, XXI, pp. 1601-
14, 11 photos, map of distribution.
most remarkable of large African mam-
mals might be able to hold its own.
Pohcing its habitat is quite out of the
question, but the characteristically
marked skin is so easily recognized that
confiscation would not be difficult and
would help in assuring the survival of
this interesting creature. It seems a
pity that an animal that has weathered
the storm through probably millions
A young male okapi (Okapia johnstoni)
at Niapu, northeastern Belgian Congo. — Just
captured, he is bleating hke a sheep for his
mother, disproving the belief that muteness is
the unalterable fate of the giraffe family
of years should be wiped out within a
few decades after being recorded in the
annals of science.
Were it not that the pigmy hippo-
potamus has been able to hide in the
depths of miasmal swamps in Liberia,
it might long ago have followed in the
footsteps of the Madagascan form, now
known only as a fossil. Major Schom-
burgk was the first white man to study
a pigmy hippopotamus in its haunts.
This was in July, 1911, and he sub-
sequently captured several specunens
alive. Three of these fine examples,
exhibited in the New York Zoological
Park, responded to the excellent care re-
ceived there by adding to their number.
316
NATURAL HISTORY
From Schomburgk we learn that in-
stead of making good its escape by
continuous diving, the animal seeks
refuge in the dense forests bordering the
river. It is fortunate that the inhabi-
tants of Liberia hold it in high fear, and
its rather ugty hide is not a desired
troph^^ These circumstances have
perhaps contributed as much toward its
preservation in the past as legal regu-
lations made in its behaK Avill, it is
hoped, aid it in the future.
The gorilla, the largest of the man-
like apes, is fortunate in having lately
been championed by those interested
in its protection. Of the two widety
separated areas in which the animal
is still to be found, that of the western
race {Gorilla gorilla) is by far the
larger. It extends from the hilly sec-
tions of Cameroon southward along
the coast into the northern border of
the Belgian Congo and eastward to the
Sanga River. The last remnants of the
central African mountain race {Gorilla
heringeri) have been holding out in the
forested volcanic peaks north of Lake
Kivu and northwest of Lake Tan-
ganyika. The reopening of the Dares-
salaam-Tanganyika railroad in recent
years, together with the introduction
of Ford automobiles, has made access
to that country so easy that the gorillas
have been placed in danger of rapid
extermination. Mr. Carl E. Akeley,
who made valuable observations and
took the first moving pictures of these
apes in the wild state, has made per-
sistent efforts to have the Belgian
authorities set aside the gorilla haunts
as a sanctuary, and these efforts
should pave the way for their
eventual survival. ^
Consolation is found in the fact that
some of the huge primates, like the
'Akeley, Carl E. 1923. " Gorillas— Real and Mythi-
cal." Natural History, Vol. XXIII, pp. 428-47.
chimpanzees, appear to be of a rather
vigorous race, as the family groups of
from eight to twenty or more members
would indicate. Contrary to general
statements, they reach maturity rather
earty, somewhat in conformity with the
natives living in the same regions.
Parenthood is assumed apparently at
ten years of age or less. According to
data published by Doctor Blair, of the
New York Zoological Society, in the
case of the first chimpanzee born
there, the mother Suzette was then in
about her tenth year, weighing 130
pounds; the father, Boma, in about
his eighth, weighing 145 pounds. Other
most important observations in this
respect have been made on chimpan-
zees at the home of Senora Rosalie
Abreu, owner of the " Quinta Palatino"
estate at Havana, Cuba, where they
have been raised to the third genera-
tion. There the apes seem to have a
pronounced preference for monogamy.
It is highty gratifying that the
French government has now issued ordi-
nances prohibiting the capture, sale,
and exportation of live chimpanzees in
Africa. Should the Belgian and Eng-
lish authorities join them, and extend
this policy to include the gorilla, and
stop the shooting and exportation of
dead specimens as well, it should save
from a speecty death warrant the great
African apes in which man has a deep
and justified interest.
One might think the smaller mon-
keys would be safe from wholesale
destruction except in the neighborhood
of settlements, where they frequently
cause havoc among crops. But the
power of the clink of gold spurs man
on. In the year 1892, no less than
188,000 skins of the Colohus monkey
were exported from the Gold Coast. ^
2Buxton, E. N. 1903. "The Preservation of Big
Game in Africa." Journ. Sor. Arts, London, Vol. LI,
p. 576.
THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AFRICA
317
How mercilessly their annihilation was
carried on is best proved by the fact
that five years later only 1067 skins
figured in the records. The silky-
haired, black-and-white mantled skins
had become the fashion. Thus two of
the most strikingly beautiful forms of
West African forest monkeys (Colobus
satanas and C. vellerosus) were cruelly
hunted down. In Eastern Africa their
near relatives with the magnificent,
generally white tail brush would prob-
ably have been wiped out completely
had legal protection not come to their
assistance in the nick of time.
Often it happens that I'elatively
small and obscure nocturnal forms,
hardly represented in any museum,
become the object of intense pursuit.
From a range of high hills along the
Gold Coast, with deep gorges and
ravines covered with almost impene-
trable bush, no less than 200 pelts of
the rare spiny-tailed flying squirrel
(Anomalurodon pelii) were brought
down by two native hunters in about a
month's time.^ Yet their silky, chin-
chilla-like fur is absolutely worthless,
the skin being extraordinarily thin and
fragile.
To return to the real hunting grounds
of big game, the savanna country and
wooded patches bordering the great
forests, there sad havoc has been
wrought. Attractions beckoned from
so many sides that, the climate permit-
ting, the white man was not slow in
heeding the invitation. However,
the influx of settler and hunter is not
to be held solely responsible. India
furnished a splendid example of the
survival of herds of game during cen-
turies in the midst of a dense popula-
tion. But now transportation facilities
have lessened the hazards of travel
lAdams, W. H. 1894. " On the Habits of the Flying-
Squirrels of the Genus Ayiomalurus." Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, pp. 243-46.
A young female Colobus abyssinicus ituricus
from Faradje, northeastern Uele, Belgian
Congo. On account of the beauty and con-
sequent market value of the long silky black-
and-white pelt these monkeys were slain by
the thousands until protective measures
were taken in their interest
and the frightful advance in the con-
struction of firearms has made even the
most dangerous hunting a sport to be
carried on recklessly.
In one of the previous numbers of this
journaP citation is made of a paragraph
by the author to the effect that at least
two of the larger African mammals
have been completely done away with.
The last of the quaggas {Hippotigris
quagga), a nearly unstriped South
African zebra, was killed in 1878 in
Orange Free State. Of the blaubuck
(Egocerus leucophxiis) , apparently al-
ways scarce, the last record dates from
about 1800, when the animal was re-
ported from the Swellendam district
of Cape Colony. Only a dozen speci-
mens of the quagga and five of the
blaubuck have been preserved in the
museums of the world.
There is a long list of hard-pressed
sufferers in South Africa which deserve
to be kept alive. Perhaps the same
pride South Africans take in their
^Osborn, H. F., and Anthony, H. E. 1922. "Can
We Save the Mammals?" Natural History, Vol.
XXII, pp. 398-402.
go; a
THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AFRICA
319
achievements in developing the country
will manifest itself in granting the
remnants of big game a definite lease-
hold, free from all future encroach-
ments. The four hundred mountain
zebras (Hippotigris zebra), the few
bontebuck (Damaliscus pyqargus) , bles-
buck (-D. albifrons), and the white-tailed
gnu (Connochsetes gnu) are on the verge
of extinction. But the most magnifi-
cent of all antelopes are those pursued
hardest. The larger kudu {Strepsiceros
strepsiceros) , the nyala (Nyala angasi),
the sable antelope (Hippotragus niger),
the roan (H. equinus), and a few
others in different regions, need more
adequate protection, especially when
they answer the requirements of a
sportsman's trophy. A case in point
is the newly discovered Angolan race of
sable antelope (H. niger variani) with
horns measuring on their front curve as
much as sixty-four inches.
The abundance of the beautiful
springbuck (Antidorcas marsupiahs) , at
the beginning of the last century would
seem well-nigh unbelievable were it
not for Gordon Cumming's accoimt,
amply corroborated by others. For
two hours he saw vast legions of these
animals streaming through a neck of
the hills in unbroken phalanx. The
hillsides were covered ''not with herds
but with one mass of springboks." As
far as the eye could strain, the land-
scape was alive with them. "Some
hundreds of thousands were within the
compass of my vision" until they faded
into a dim red mass of living creatures.
Flocks of sheep becoming intermingled
with them were swept along without
hope of escape. Even the lion may
thus be entrapped. Such inspiring
sights are of the past. Springbuck can
still be shot for sport, but so typical a
South African animal deserves pastures
offering a secure refuge.
One of the worst of fates has been
meted out to the square-lipped or
"white" rhinoceros (Ceratotherium
simum). Extremely common in suit-
able sections of South Africa in 1817,
when it was first made known by
Burchell, this rather stupid, quiet beast
was recklessly butchered from the very
beginning. During the course of a day's
trek from fifty to one hundred could
be sighted. The shooting of ninety
rhinoceroses, most of them of the
square-lipped kind, in one journey,
was an event to be proudly heralded by
two famous sportsmen; another game
hog killed sixty, considering it a feat
to be recorded in the annals of hunting.
Today perhaps not a dozen are left,
the very preserve set aside for them
having been opened to slaughter.
Between the two Umfolozi rivers in
Zululand, their last stand, they have
little rest, for the farmer covets the
land and their ultimate survival seems
extremely doubtful at the present time.
Of the Upper Nile race of white
rhinoceroses {Ceratotherium simum cot-
toni) several thousand were still left
in 1910.^ But recent reports as to their
status give cause for alarm. Unless
drastic measures are soon taken to
prevent traffic in the hides and horns,
this huge representative of the Pleisto-
cene age will shortly be extinct.
In former days it ranged to the ex-
treme north of Africa as shown by fossil
records and was even contemporaneous
with Neolithic man, who engraved its
image on the rocks.- It is difficult to
understand how such splendid ex-
amples of nature, practically harmless
though possessed of formidable weap-
ons, should suddenly be brought to the
verge of extinction.
iLang, Herbert. 1920. "The White Rhinoceros of
the Belgian Congo." Zool. Soc. Bull., New York. Vol.
XXIII, pp. 66-92, 31 photos, 1 map, 1 text figure.
2Lang, Herbert. 1923. "Recent and. Historical
Notes on the Square-Lipped Rhinoceros (Ceratothe-
rium simum)." Journ. Mammalogy, Vol. IV, p. 159.
320
NATURAL HISTORY
Among the bigger game the most dis-
tressing losses have been inflicted upon
the elephant and the hippopotamus. A
continuous toll has been exacted by
armies of hunters. Literall}^ hundreds
of sportsmen annually visit Africa from
every point of the globe. They will no
The uniformly mild climate is accom-
panied by no such seasonal inclemencies
as the habitual wintry rigor of colder
regions. Even violent tornadoes and
destructive hailstorms are few and far
between. In ordinary dry seasons, the
game is wont to repair in great numbers
I
Young bull of the square-lipped or "white" rhinoceros {Ceratotherium simwn cottoni)
near VankerckhovenviUe, northeastern Belgian Congo. — Close approach arouses in even so
stolid an adversary- the signs of a charge, usually preceded by the twisting of the tail. The
value of the horns and the relative lack of danger with which so large an amount of meat could
be secured brought about the doom of the South African race of this giant even before civiliza-
tion reached the fields it roamed
longer find the great tuskers nor the
thousands of river horses. Elephants
have no opportunity to grow old.
Governments have reaped the benefits
of increased income derived from taxes
on permits and the exportation of
ivory, and have thus consented to
their doom. And this has gone on in
spite of all assurances to the contrary.
Among the causes of destruction of
wild Hfe in Africa the natural agencies,
however severe, have proved to be
relatively unimportant, chiefly because
of the infrequency of their occurrence.
to more satisfactory pasturage or to a
few isolated waterholes. The yearning
of the animals at such times to quench
their thirst eliminates much of their
habitual wariness. On such occa-
sions game photographers, hiding in
''blinds." have made the most success-
ful pictures. True it is that destruction
of thousands upon thousands of game
animals by drought has been recorded,
but only as extremely rare occurrences
during a period of consecutive dry
years. Such a calamity, being local at
most, does not influence the general
THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AFRICA
321
status of the continental herds, though,
judging from Gregory's account,^ acres
may be covered with the bleached
bones of the victims.
The increase of drier areas in Africa,
especially in the north and south, as a
result of gradual desiccation, has been
frequently cited as an important factor
limiting the distribution of some of the
mammahan fauna. The data so far
advanced seem to point toward a
change of cHmate causing drier condi-
tions and especially a more intensive
drainage. The result is well exempli-
fied by the dry areas formerly covered
by lakes Chad and Ngami. Perhaps
many of the migrations of great herds
of game, as described by the earliest
explorers, were due to the setting in of
such modifications in the regions cited.
A very encouraging contribution
-toward the preservation of game
animals in Africa is the long list of
scientific achievements in curbing the
rapid spread of various diseases. The
successful use of immunizing sera is
one of the noteworthy results. Rinder-
pest, formerly considered the most
deadly of the infectious scourges, filled
with dismay and terror those interested
in wild life, but it is now fairly well
under control. Apparently of Asiatic
origin, it reached Africa by way of
Egypt. As usual it was introduced by
infected live stock and proved to be
extraordinarily virulent in its swift
progress. In about fifteen years it
traversed the entire length and breadth
of the continent. From 1886 to 1898
it caused the most frightful losses in
game and cattle alike, generally ninety
per cent of the animals attacked suc-
cumbing within a week. The difficult}^
and uncertainty of diagnosis is chiefly
due to the fact that incubation is
latent for the first few days. Intense
fever, swollen mucous membranes, the
development of small papular ulcers,
and extreme prostration are common
indications. In the early days rinder-
pest raged unchecked, but future
Taken at the New York Zoological Park
Formerly found in astounding numbers on
the plains in the southern parts of Africa, the
blesbuck (Damaliscus albifrons) now exists
only on certain farms in the Orange Free
State, Transvaal, and Bechuanaland
catastrophies are improbable as its
occasional outbreaks are now quickly
localized and the heavy mortality much
reduced. The most hopeful point of all
is that in less than fifteen years African
game without exception recuperated,
especially in those regions where
organized slaughter was stemmed.
In 1891, when the ravages of rinder-
pest were greatest in East Africa,^
buffaloes came down to the Tana River
literally in thousands to die. A grue-
some sight were the attending vultures
and marabout storks gorged to reple-
iGregory, J. S. 1896. The Great Rift Valley.
London (John Murray), p. 268.
^Hobley, C. W. 1922. "The Fauna of East Africa
and its Future." Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Vol. I, p. 2.
322
NATURAL HISTORY
Taken at the Dresden Zoological Garden
Burchell's zebra {Equus quagga burchelli), the closest relative of the extinct quagga.
This magnificent stalUon was considered one of the last of its kind living in captivity in 1905
tion. Hardly any of the game animals
escaped. Giraffes, and most of the
antelopes, including waterbiick, eland,
kudu, and bushbuck, as well as pigs and
rhinoceroses, were victims. Appar-
ently zebras, oryx, sable, roan, wilde-
beest, and hartebeest did not suffer in
such numbers. Elephants and hippo-
potamuses apparently escaped un-
scathed.
Twenty-odd beasts were the sole
survivors of many thousand head of
cattle in northeast Kitui. The desic-
cated carcasses of those which fell were
piled up like a wall outside the villages.
Famine was the natural consequence for
cattle-herding tribes such as the Somali,
Suk, Masai, and Dinka. Rinderpest
apparently reached the northeastern
Uele in the early nineties, according to
information supplied by Maruka, an
intelligent native chief of the Logo
tribe at Faradje. He told me in 1911
that when the disease reached his
country and killed nearly all the cat-
tle, the hook-lipped, black rhinoceros
(Dicer OS hicornis) that feeds on bushes
died out and never appeared again.
The square-lipped, or white, rhinoc-
eros (Ceratotherium simum), however,
though greatly decimated like the buffa-
loes, elands, wart hogs, and other game,
became sufficiently numerous once
more, and for a time held its own, only
to be nearly wiped out subsequently as
the result of a native uprising during the
war. From this it might appear that
the two kinds of rhinoceroses formerly
shared the range in the Uele, where now
only the square-lipped one is known.
The black rhinoceros is still common in
the Shari-Chad region.
Anthrax, another of the sporadic
infectious diseases often fatal to game
THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AFRICA
323
and marked by nasty ulcers and intense
prostration, is to a large extent de-
prived of its danger nowadays by
Pasteur's method of protective inocula-
tion through anthrax serum, which
offers an immunity lasting nearly a
year. The last serious outbreak^
occurred in 1905, killing several thou-
sand head of game, chiefly Coke's
hartebeest on the Athi Plains in Kenya
Colony. Formerly such disastrous
visitations aroused the hostility of the
settlers against the game, which they
held responsible for the spread of the
disease among their own live stock. In
the face of such opposition one can real-
ize what a boon it has been to the game
that the disease is at last well in hand.
Strange to say, there are scourges
which have really served Africa's
game as a protection. The formidable
diseases borne by tsetse flies, in con-
junction with malarial fever and a host
of other afflictions, have hindered most
of the white man's efforts to establish
his home and take over large tracts of
the country. There is no underesti-
mating the really important role played
by tsetse flies, chiefly Glossina palpalis
and G. morsitans, which occur in a
broad belt across most of tropical
Africa. 2 They are the well-known
carriers of a fatal virus, the former
species transmitting the dreaded hu-
man sleeping sickness, the latter that of
"nagana," or trypanosomiasis, a similar
infection in cattle. Inoculation gener-
ally takes place as an incidental result of
the flies feeding on or sucking the blood.
Whenever they sink their mouth-
parts into the blood vessels of their
victim, the trypanosomes or flagellate
protozoan parasites they carry may
enter its system and cause terrible
iHobley, C. W. 1922. "The Fauna of East Africa
and Its Future." Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Vol. I, p. 2.
^Chapiii, James P. 1922. "A Naturalist on Lake
Victoria: A Review." Natur.4-L History, XXII, map of
distribution and text figs, of tsetse flies (pp. 60 and 61) .
ravages there. At present two of these
parasites are known to infect man in
Africa — Trypanosoma gambiense and
T. rhodesiense — but several others pro-
duce disease in animals. Apparently
all African game, including the zebras,
though not free from the germ, have
become immune to it. It has been held
that, acting as the chief reservoir of the
virus, the game may indirectly become
the most dangerous source of infection.
But judging from experiments and ob-
servations the probability is great that
there are other channels assisting the
spread of these diseases. Unfortunately
the cattle, though as a rule not affected
by the parasites causing human sleep-
ing sickness, readily succumb to those
causing "nagana." The impossibility
of raising live stock in all regions so
infested becomes a weU-nigh insur-
mountable obstacle to effective coloni-
zation by the white man, inasmuch as
it prevents any extensive agricultural
exploitation. Of domestic animals,
only goats and chickens are able to
thrive under such conditions, though
in the northeastern Congo dogs also
appear to be immune.
Some years ago in certain of the
regions most concerned, the indiscrmi-
inate destruction of all the bigger game
was urged for the eradication of dis-
eases due to trypanosomes. Only by so
drastic a method, it was argued, could
man and cattle be freed from the
dreadful scourges borne by tsetse
flies. For the game, the reign of
terror came with overwhelming force.
A cause that was apparently in the
interests of humanity was able to enlist
the frenzied support of the fanatic.
The big game was done away with, but
all to no avail. At present it does not
seem possible to prove that no other
repositories of the virus, for instance
among the smaller mammals, exist.
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THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AFRICA
325
It may be interesting to state that
Doctor Roiibaud of the Pasteur Insti-
tute in Paris, one of the foremost
investigators of human sleeping sick-
ness, was led, as a result of his exhaus-
tive studies in the field, to propose, as a
means of combating the disease, the
increasing of the number of domestic
animals about the village. These
would then attract the tsetse flies in
preference to man, who might thus
more easily escape infection.
One of the latest outbreaks of savage
and utterly useless carnage of game
occurred in 1920 in Zululand, its object
being to make the country "fly-proof"
for the cattle. Like the massacre of
the Addo Bush elephants in 1919,
this wholesale butchery was officially
authorized. Since the drive included
many inexperienced hunters, much
game was wounded and some scattered
over all the country, without accom-
plishing the result desired.
The many discussions as to the pos-
sibility of eliminating tsetse flies by
the removal of big game seemed to have
found satisfactory support when con-
ditions were examined in regions where
rinderpest had been most severe. But
many experienced observers, among
them Sir Alfred Sharpe, maintain that
in certain parts of Africa the ''nagana"
tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans) is found
where there is absolutely no game.^
We cannot help but admire nature's
peculiar ways. Had it not been for
such diseases, much of eastern Africa
and parts of Angola and the Sudan
might long ago have become a white
man's country. Of course it would
then have been swept as clean of game
as the populated parts of South Africa.
The most hopeful agencies in pro-
tecting wild life in Africa are the game
'Selous, F. C. 1908. "Big Game in South Africa
and its Relation to the Tsetse Fly." Journ. African
,Soc., Vol. VIII, p. 129.
preserves. They should be set aside as
permanent sanctuaries, free from all
tampering through political whims.
Inclusion of suitable and sufficiently
large areas that border on the natural
range of wild animals is also imperative
to ward off inbreeding. The interest
and beaut}^ of such preserves would in
the future attract admiring visitors in
as great numbers as hunters have been
attracted in the past. Were there a
united great nation in Africa, with all
people acting in concert, perhaps the
problems would not be so difficult.
It is encouraging that twenty game
preserves, comprising nearly 200,000
square miles, are to be found scattered
all over the continent, mainly in British
territory. But the status of even per-
haps the most important one, the
Southern Game Reserve of Kenya
Colony, is woefully unsatisfactory. It is
used as a reservation not only for the
wild animals but for the Masai natives,
and their herds of cattle have prefer-
ence over the game, large numbers of
which, when a drought comes, have to
move outside and are foredoomed. In
1910, according to Hobley, the zebra
and hartebeest from this reservation,
in their frantic search for water,
marched into the town of Nairobi,
regardless of man. The lions followed
close in their wake and killed them
nightly in the public square.
It is on such occasions that as many
as twenty-three lions, as at Lukenya,
and even more than thirty, as at Simba,
have been seen together, as vouched
for by Sir Frederic Jackson and Bron-
sart von Schellendorff respectively.^
These huge felines do not ordinarily
come together to hunt in packs, but do
so in smaller family parties. Such
large gatherings are exceptional and
-The reader is referred to the article by Mr. Clark in
this issue, who records seeing a pack of seventeen lions
at Ngorongoro.
326
NATURAL HISTORY
usually occur in connection with the
shifting of game from one region to
another.
How difficult it is to regulate abnor-
mal conditions after man has disturbed
the balance of nature becomes clear
again when we read that Tanganyika
Territory in the first half of the year
1923 paid a bounty for three hundred
lions and eight hundred leopards. In
one district alone the lions killed sixty-
seven natives. During the war there
was wholesale slaughter of game as
food for the contending parties. Car-
tridges were not to be spent upon
carnivores, unfit as provisions. The
scarcity of game undoubtedly drove
these carnivores, left unchecked for
years, to attack the natives.
So dangerous were they in 1898
that they held up the building of the
Uganda Railroad, but how many are
there left today in the localities of
their former abundance? During the
Pleistocene the lions reached as far
north as Great Britain and eastward
over a large part of western Asia.
Glacial conditions forced them south-
ward with the herds upon which they
preyed. Babylonian art points to
their relative abundance and suggests
that even then lion-hunting was a
sport practised by the reigning class to
secure the plaudits of the masses. In
Africa the lion was once common
everywhere except in actual deserts
and heavily forested areas. Now it
is extinct in South Africa south of
the Orange River, throughout North
Africa including most of Egypt, also
along the mouth of the Congo and the
coast of northern Angola. Needless to
say, it is greatly decimated wherever
the white man has established himself.
The lion went even before the game on
which it preyed. In Asia it is nearing
actual extinction; it is said that only a
few are left in the Gir Forest, Kathia-
war, Bombay Presidency.^
The success that attended the sport
of hounding lions, as practised by the
late Paul J. Rainey in East Africa, was
too far-reaching. Thereafter packs of
dogs were not allowed to help in the
decimation of the big feline. Kenya
Colony could not afford to lose its lions
by such swift proceedings, for they are
its great attraction, making the country
a Mecca for sportsmen, who spend
thousands of pounds in the country.
Powder and rifle, traps, poison, fire-
brands, and electric flashlights harassed
these huge carnivores. From behind
impregnable fences and walls, or from
the security of trees or other lofty
perches blazed the shots that spelled
the doom of the prowling lions. These
animals ran the risk of being trailed
even when they dragged their kill under
cover to hide it from vultures, mara-
bout storks, and the rest of the hungry
horde. They were not the raging
despoilers. Any kind of meat, even of
its own kin, the carcass of an elephant,
as well as carrion, is palatable to the
king of beasts. The same is true of
leopards. Under the greatest difficul-
ties they sometimes drag their kill up
trees, not merely out of reach of
famished hyenas and jackals but even
out of that of the lion.
The international organization for
safeguarding African game was de-
finitely initiated by the convention of
1900, attended by all the powers own-
ing territory in that continent. The
essential features of efficient protection
were thus passed upon. Game sanctu-
aries; closed seasons; the sparing of
females, young, and the rare species;
restricted export of the skins, horns,
and tusks of certain forms; prohibition
iFaunthorpe, Colonel. 1923. "The Vanishing Lion
of India." Natural History, Vol. XXIII, p. 524.
THE VANISHING WILD LIFE OF AFRICA
327
of particularly destructive methods,
such as grass fires, pits, snares, and
game traps, made up the list. These
regulations were all designed to limit
or prevent unjustifiable slaughter of
game or otherwise to foster its welfare.
As elsewhere, however, conditions in
Africa have changed since the war.
The tide of destruction is far from
ebbing. The sheer impossibility of
policing such immense territories, often
without the slightest financial aid,
woefully lames all such legislative
measures. Recent decades have fur-
nished decisive proof that real results in
African game preservation largely de-
pend on winning active support for the
cause among those living in and visit-
ing Africa. The negro population is
not, as a rule, as dangerous as one might
expect from general reports. Their
traps, snares, and mongrel dogs do
much less damage than the iron heel of
civilization.
The gigantic size of some of the
animals and the uncertainty of their
temper is one of the biggest obstacles
the movement for African game preser-
vation has to deal with. Besides
devastating crops, elephants by merely
walking over wooden bridges may
cripple traffic, and giraffes may inter-
rupt communication by breaking tele-
graph wires. Zebras stampede through
the strongest fencing and endanger
both crops and domestic stock. Rhi-
noceroses and buffaloes may become
dangerous by their numbers. But all
such local difficulties will find easy
adjustment by wise and moderate
regulations.
Posterity will be grateful to those
Tn/crn nl the New York Zoological Pork
The wild dog {Lycaon pictus) is distributed
over the major part i>f the savanna region,
where it hunts in packs of as many as sixty and
is very destructive
who have helped create a sentiment in
behalf of the preservation of Africa's
wild animals. Prof. Henry Fairfield
Osborn, president of the American
Museum, espoused the cause many
years ago. By his influence and en-
couragement much has been done,
crystallizing into definite results. Dr.
William T. Hornaday, director of the
New York Zoological Park, has
launched many forceful pleas. Lately,
in cooperation with Dr. A. K. Haagner,
president of the Transvaal Game Pro-
tective Association, he has sent out to
the South African people a handsome
and well illustrated pamphlet^ on the
vanishing game of that region, in which
an eloquent appeal is made for safe-
guarding what still remains, — an appeal
which one would like to see heeded
not only in South Africa but throughout
the continent.
^Hornaday, W. T., and Haagner, Alwin K. 1922.
"The Vanishing Game of South Africa. A Warning
and an Appeal." New York and Pretoria.
Photograph by Herbert Lang
ONE OF THE STRANGEST CHARACTERS OF THE BIRD WORLD
The common African honey guide {Indicator indicator) performs a useful but not unselfish
service in conducting man to some hive it has previously located. How this bird came to know
that man could be of help in obtaining the food it prefers is still a subject for conjecture, but
through his willing aid the honey guide is often enabled to feast upon the bee larvae, which it
probably covets more than the honey. Whether the wax that Indicator indicator so often
swallows also serves as food seems very doubtful. That the substance is beeswax is apparent
from the way it melts on a hot knife blade, only to congeal again as the blade cools.
Birds of both sexes act as honey guides, but the female, in addition to this rather com-
mendable habit, has the more questionable one of laying her eggs in the nests of other birds
and thus of avoiding the responsibilities of motherhood. Although resembling our cowbird
in this practise, Indicator indicator is a near relative not of this malefactor but of the wood-
peckers. Nevertheless, it rarely if ever climbs about on the trunks of trees, preferring to
perch on twigs and boughs. As in the case of the woodpeckers, only two toes of each foot are
directed forward, two being pointed to the rear.
The picture is that of a female and was obtained in the northeastern corner of the Belgian
Congo. It is about two thirds natural size. The female lacks the throat patch of pure black
by which the male is readily distinguished
Profiteers of the Busy Bee
OBSERVATIONS ON THE HONEY GUIDES OF AFRICA
By JAMES P. CHAPIN
Associate Curator of Birds of the Eastern Hemisphere, American Museum
WERE a facetious journalist to
attempt to endow a mythical
bird with some startling but
imaginary instinct, he would hardly be
likely to go to the lengths to which
nature has gone in the case of the com-
mon honey guide of Africa. The strange
behavior of this bird has so long been
known, moreover, that it surprises one
to find how little has been written about
it beyond simple accounts of the way
the bird attracts the attention of men
and reveals to them the location of
beehives. Sparrman, who traveled in
South Africa as long ago as 1775, gave
one of the best descriptions from his
personal observations, and was able to
quote a still earlier account of the
bird, accurate in the main, by Father
Jerome Lobo, who had gone as a mis-
sionary to Abyssinia in 1625. As
Sparrman concluded, the moroc, or
honey bird, of the Abyssinians could
be none other than the common honej^
guide. This testimony has been con-
firmed by a great number of travelers,
sportsmen, and trained ornithologists
who have since visited the open grassy
regions of Africa, over which the bird
is so widely distributed.
Avoiding the heavy forests of the
Congo basin and other parts of western
Africa, the common honey guide
{Indicator indicator) ranges from Cape
Colony to northeast Africa, and then
across the Sudan to Senegal. It is
a plain-colored, brownish-graj^ bird,
scarcely larger than our American
bluebird, but much more stockily
built, with short dense plumage, and a
skin so tough that it has often been
considered a cuirass against the stings
of bees. When fully grown, both sexes
have half-concealed epaulets of yel-
low; and the male bird is then distin-
guished by a large black throat patch.
The immature birds are somewhat
greener and until a few years ago were
regarded as a distinct species. The
nearest relatives of the honey guides,
in our North American fauna, are the
woodpeckers; yet the honey guides
have neither stiffened tail feathers nor
an extensile tongue.
How well the honey guide is known
and esteemed by the natives of the
countries where it dwells maj^ easily
be imagined. By the Azande tribe of
the northeastern Congo the bird is
called turubwa, and I was told that
before the arrival of Europeans an
Azande chief would have cut off the
ear of any man so stupid as to have
killed a honey guide. Mr. Herbert
Lang and I had many experiences with
honey guides attracted by our cara-
vans or hunting parties. It is the habit
of the bird to locate one or more .bee
colonies and then wait for the passing
of men, whose attention it attracts by a
persistent chattering. At such times it
is relatively tame and will alight in
small trees only a few yards off. If a
man wishes to learn where the hive is,
he follows the bird, whistling occasion-
ally to it.
Here I may quote an instance from
my own notes. One afternoon in
November, 1911, in a small wooded
swamp near Faradje, a post in the
329
330
NATURAL HISTORY
A beehive placed in a tree by members of the Logo tribe. — Perhaps the general scarcity of
large hollow trees in the region renders an artificial hive attractive to the bees. It is so con-
structed tliat it can be pulled apart at the middle and put together again without entirely
discouraging the occupants. The latter enter through a hole in the earthen partition at the
larger end, to the left
northeastern corner of the Congo, we
came upon a male bird, who at once
started his chatter, and then flew off
to some distance, returning shortly as
though to assure himself that we were
in earnest. We replied with low
whistles, and following him through the
tall grass and scrub, were led out on to
higher ground. Now our feathered
guide would fly noisily ahead about
fifty yards until out of sight, perching
on top of a bush and repeating the
performance as soon as we came up.
Presently another male bird joined him.
PROFITEERS OF THE BUSY BEE
331
We had gone about six hundred yards
when both birds stopped in a tree too
small to harbor bees in its trunk. Yet
by their short aimless jflights and re-
peated returns to the tree, the honey
guides impressed upon us that this
was the spot. The buzzing of passing
bees now was heard and the insects
were traced to a small hole in the
ground close by. During these pro-
ceedings the birds allowed us to ap-
proach within ten or fifteen feet of them.
We prepared to make a fire, and our
birds retired noiselessly for the time.
A little later I saw them again, sitting
with puffed-out breasts and open bills,
uttering a low chwee-r-r, which I
had not heard before. They seemed to
be quarreling, and one soon chased his
rival off at top speed.
With the aid of some burning grass
two of my black helpers quickly had the
hive unearthed, paying a penalty of
only six stings. The comb contained
no honey, only pollen and bee larvae.
It was in a cavity previously occupied
by termites. We placed some of the
comb in the forks of a tree and went
off to escape an impending shower.
An hour or two later we found that the
two birds had returned to peck at the
comb; and the following morning I
watched them come silently', the one
after the other, to seize a piece of the
comb and fly off with it. Without
crediting the birds with actual fore-
sight or intelligence, I do not hesitate
to say that it is for this reward that
they have worked.
It is said that in sections where the
negroes have artificial hives hanging
in trees for the use of bees the honey
guide makes no distinction and will
lead to occupied hives established
through man's agency as readily as to
natural cavities housing wild bee
colonies. This I believe, though I
have not had occasion to verify it
even among the Logo of the eastern
Uelle District, who attract bees with
hives made of reeds.
The assertion has also been made
that the honey guide will sometimes
lead a man up to a snake or a leopard,
but this has been vigorously denied by
experienced naturalists. A story far
better founded is that of the honey
badger (Mellivora capensis) following
the honey guide. Major Stevenson-
Hamilton^ describes it as though he had
often observed it himself. "You may
be resting in the bush in the cool of the
afternoon, or on some cloudy day,
when your attention is arrested by the
persistent and approaching chatter of
one of these feathered spies. Presently
the bird itself comes fluttering on to a
branch some thirty yards distant, where
it perches, flapping its wings, and dis-
playing every sign of impatience.
For a moment it is silent, and then a
less familiar sound strikes the ear: a
light sibilant hissing and chuckling,
which at first you find yourself unable
to identify . . . The honey-guide under-
stands, and having, with undulating
flight, sought another tree some thirty
yards further on, renews his invita-
tion. Keeping quite still, and looking
steadily, you presently spy a little
gray and black form, moving along at a
steady jog-trot; the tail is carried
slightly above the level of the back,
and the head, except when raised to
glance up at the guide, is held a little
low. Every time the bird utters his
monotonous refrain, which, translated
into feathered language, means ' Come
along, come along, don't be so slow,'
the follower replies, 'All right, my
friend, don't be alarmed, I am com-
ing.' And thus the strange procession
passes on out of sight to the hollow
^Animal Life in Africa, 1912, pp. 247-48.
332
NATURAL HISTORY
log where the unkick}- insects are in-
dustriously slaving, only ultunately to
satisfy the appetites of bird and beast."
The favorite food of this badger is
honeycomb, and it has powerful claws
with which to tear open the hive.
master lies in distress, although the
motive is, of course, entirety differ-
ent. It brings to mind also the story
so widely circulated by the newspapers
a year or two ago, of a gander on a
farm in Alabama which used to lead a
Alap showing the distribution of two African honey guides, one (Indicator indicator) an
inhabitant of the open grass country, or savanna, the other (Melichneutes robustus) restricted
to the equatorial forest
The instinct of the honey guide is
unique among birds. It is far more
complex than the "guarding" of
buffaloes and rhinos by the oxpeckers
(Buphaga). There the birds have
come to feed on the ticks that cling to
the animal's hide, and they merely
alarm their hosts by their cries when
they take flight at the approach of an
enemy. The honey guide, on the other
hand, recalls the action of a dog in
leading a stranger to a spot where its
blind ox to the watering trough every
day by its cackling. I cannot vouch for
the truth of this narrative, though
photographs of the strangely assorted
couple appeared in a New York paper
of good i-epute.
No doubt the specialists in animal
behavior have an explanation that does
not require any reasoning on the part
of the honey guide. The guiding is
instinctive, for it has become hered-
itary with at least one species of
PROFITEERS OF THE BUSY BEE
333
Indicator, and is practised by old birds
of both sexes, and apparently by im-
mature birds as well. The fact that it
is a characteristic form of behavior
throughout the whole range of the
species argues for its remote origin
and leads us to believe that the instinct
grew up slowly with the evolution of
the family, though man is not always
the beneficiary. The honey guides
must have preyed on bees long before
savage man reached Africa, and we
may speculate, quite properly, as to the
origin of the guiding instinct.
The honey guide family (Indicator-
idse) is not a large one; it comprises,
nevertheless, five genera"^ and about
twelve species, of which two are found
in the Oriental region, the remainder
in Africa south of the Sahara. None
of them exceeds seven and a half
inches in length. I myself have
secured specimens of six species for the
American Museum and may thus claim
a speaking acquaintance with four of
the genera. Yet none save Indicator
indicator ever offered to guide me to a
beehive. A patient search of books
and articles dealing with African
birds reveals only one other species.
Indicator variegatus of East and South
Africa, which according to reliable
authority,^ renders the same service
to mankind. Sir John Kirk^ seems to
have used the name Indicator minor
in his oft-quoted account through mere
accident, this being the only species in
the collection upon which he was re-
porting. His description of the habits
is quite clearly based upon I. indicator.
It is entirely safe to say that the
majority of honey guides do not guide,
or at least do not guide men. Never-
theless, I have noted in examining their
'Melignothes, Melignomon, Indicator, Melichneutes,
and Prodotiscus,
n^ry, Ibis, 1901, p. 21.
nbis, 1864, pp. 327-28.
stomachs in the Congo, as has Mr. G.
L. Bates in the Cameroon, that more
often than not these other species have
swallowed beeswax, just as does the
common honey guide, which has
hives opened for it by men. Other
insects, such as winged termites and
perhaps adult bees in the open, are
also preyed upon occasionally, but bee
comb and bee larvae seem to be pre-
ferred. The stomach contents not
infrequently smell of honey, and we
may suppose that the wax is swallowed
incidentally — not by preference.
The one evident exception to these
tastes is seen in the genus Prodotiscus,
which differs in many respects — the
bill and plumage especially — from all
the other genera of the family. It does
not eat bee larvae, and one of the species
frequents, it is said, trees of the genus
Sterculia when they are in flower.
How then do the normal honey
guides procure their favorite food?
The only bees in Africa from which the
wax could come are the common honey-
bee. Apis mellifera (represented by a
somewhat smaller African race), and
the much smaller species of Trigona,
which are stingless. The honeybees,
we know, nearly always store their
sweets in a secure place, — a cavity in a
tree, among rocks, or in the ground,
where the birds unaided have little
chance of stealing them. The nests of
Trigona are usually in hollow trees,
and are if anything harder to get at.
Had the honey guides the strong chisel-
shaped beak of their allies, the wood-
peckers, they might hew their way
through the wood; but, as it is, they are
without any tools for use in such a direct
attack. Birds of the genus Meligyiothes,
for example, have an exceptionally
blunt beak.
Thus all the typical honey guides eat
honevcomb and yet are apparently un-
334
NATURAL HISTORY
able to secure it without help. What
else can we conclude save that they
adopt some method similar to that
reported from South Africa, of enhst-
ing the aid of the honey badger? In the
forests of western equatorial Africa
this mammal is extremely rare or
The head of the lesser honey guide, Melig-
yiothes minor, natural size.— Note the extremely
blunt beak, serviceable perhaps for tearing
honej'comb apart, but of little use in pecking
open the tree where it is hidden. Drawn
from a specimen by W. E. Belanske
wanting, and therefore we may only
guess that squirrels, small carnivores,
lemurs, or monkeys, are the creatures
with which the honey guides carry on
this commensal existence. This seems
a bold assumption, but it is the best
explanation I can offer of what we
know to be their food habits. An
alternative would be to suppose that
the honey guides simply happen upon
the hives after they have been robbed
by some other animal. I doubt if
they would get as much plunder in
this manner as we know they secure.
It seems credible that the partner-
ship began in such a way, but that sooner
or later the birds took to accompany-
ing bee-hunting mammals until finally
the bird became the leader. The
theoretic bearing of observations on
the honey badger and its bird guide is
now evident. Once the method had
been well worked out with certain
lower mammals, man would have been
admitted into the association as a
matter of course.
The breeding habits of the Indica-
toridaj are bizarre, and similar to those
of the parasitic cuckoos of the Old
World or of our North American cow-
bird. Each white egg is deposited
in the nest of some other bird, pref-
erably that of a barbet, which is
hewn out like a woodpecker's hole.
Where possible, the adult honey guide
breaks the legitimate eggs, it is said,
and when the young is found, it is
always the sole occupant of the nest.
In the two species which lead men to
hives, Indicator indicator and Indica-
tor variegatus, Dr. Alwin Haagner^ has
found that the nestling has both upper
and lower mandibles armed with a
sharp, curved hook, as though for
seizing any competitors and ejecting
them from the nest it has usurped. It
is said that these hqoks are shed at
about the time of leaving the nest.
In two other members of the familj^,
Melignothes conirostris and Melich-
neutes rohustus, I have examined skins
of nestlings partly fledged, but found
only the usual egg-tooth on the upper
mandible.
Among the honey guides of the West
African forests, from the Cameroon to
the upper Congo, there is one with a
most unusual development of the tail,
Melichneutes rohustus. The four middle
tail feathers are curved outward at the
tip, and the three outermost on each
side are greatly narrowed and short-
ened, reminding one of the outer
rectrices of some snipe. This lyrate
tail of Melichneutes has been compared
to that of the black cock of Europe,
but it is the small snipelike feathers
that prove most interesting.
In this forest region of the upper
Congo one may hear throughout a
large portion of the year a reiterated
note of tin-horn quahty, the double
sjdlables rising slowly in pitch, then
dropping off, and repeated from twelve
^Journ. S. Afr. Dm. Union, Vol. Ill, 1907, p. 3, PI. 1.
PROFITEERS OF THE BUSY BEE
335
to thirty times. It may be heard afar,
certainly at a quarter of a mile, and
seems to come from above the forest
canopy. The natives I consulted were
all ignorant of the common honey
guides of the grasslands and could not
tell me what kind of bird we were
listening to. Some ventured the
opinion that it might be a woodpecker ;
but all were familiar with the sound
and had a name for its author, the
Azande of the southern border of the
Uelle District calling it nyete in
imitation of its voice. From 1910 to
1914 I wondered what the bird could
be; and then, on the occasion when I
secured my only specimen of Melich-
neutes, I heard the strange noise given
after a second bird of the species had
flown off from the same high tree in the
forest. It is almost certain that the
nyete is none other than our lyre-tailed
honey guide. The "bleating" of
certain species of snipe, it has been
shown, is produced by their narrowed
outer tail feathers during flight, by
vibration of the webs as the air passes
between them.^ Is it not likely, too,
that the nasal, tooting call of Melich-
iBahr, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1907, pp. 12-35.
A young honey guide of the genus Indicator, only a few days old. — This drawing, about
natural size, was made by W. E. Belanske from a photograph by Dr. Alwin Haagner, director of
the Pretoria Zoological Garden. The young bird, the feathers of which are beginning to sprout,
was found in the nest hole of a diamond sparrow, Petronia superciliaris; and from the fact that
an adult of the scaly-throated honey guide {Indicator variegatus) had previously been seen in
the tree, it was inferred that the young bird was also of that species.
The extraordinary hooks at the tips of both mandibles may be homologous wdth the exten-
sive calcareous cap which at first covers the entire tip of the upper mandible of young wood-
peckers, although the latter have nothing of the sort on the end of the lower mandible.
Doctor Haagner later received a live nestling of the common honey guide (Indicator
indicator) almost fully fledged, which still retained both hooks on its beak. After a few days
that on the tip of the lower mandible was shed, and the upper one would doubtless soon have
followed suit, had the bird survived.
The foot was not shown in the photograph, but has been introduced in the drawing from
a somewhat older nestling of Indicator in the American Museum collection. Note the roughened
heel-pad, which recalls those of young barbets and toucans — neither of them very distant
relatives
336
NATURAL HISTORY
neutes is made by the air rushing past
the edges of the same feathers? We
know that Melichneutes, while perching,
emits a hoarse chattering vocal note,
which is entirely different. For future
field naturalists in equatorial Africa I
would suggest a thorough investiga-
tion, though it will be anything but
easy. For I suspect that when the
life history of this most remark-
able of honey guides is more fully
known, it will be found that it sum-
mons by its curious note some mam-
malian accomplice to aid it in rob-
bing the hoard of an industrious
colony of bees.
Adult male of the lyre-tailed honey guide, Melichneutes robusius, about seven-tenths
natural size; drawn by W. E. Belanske from the single individual secured by the American
Museum Congo Expedition. — Only three adult specimens and two young are preserved thus
far in museums. There is very little difference between the sexes, even in respect to the curi-
ous modifications of the tail feathers; and the tail of the young foreshadows clearly that of
the adult, though the young in first plumage differs in having the head and breast blackish
instead of olive and gray.
The feathers here seen extending out beneath the middle of the tail are merely coverts,
the true middle tail feathers are somewhat lyrate. If, as the writer suggests, the tail
serves as an seolian sound-producer, the "strings" are placed outside instead of between the
arms of the lyre, in the form of narrow, relatively stiff feathers on each side.
This specimen was shot by the writer from its perch in the top of a tall tree in the Ituri
forest, after he had .scrutinized the extraordinary tail through a binocular
Amateur Entomologists and the Museum'
A SURVEY, FROM THE HALF-CENTURY MARK, OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
ENTOMOLOGY, AMERICAN MUSEUM
By frank E. LUTZ
Curator of Entomology, American Museum
ONE of the very pleasant features
of the work on insects in the
American Museum during re-
cent years has been the cordial co-
operation of amateur entomologists.
I have recognized and warmly
appreciated this aid but not until I
had reviewed the steps by which the
Museum's collections of insects ad-
vanced in fifty years from nothing to a
place near the front rank did I realize
how important such aid from amateurs
had really been.
Baron Osten Sacken was Russian
consul general in New York City from
1862 to 1871. Doubtless he did his
diplomatic work well but his fame rests
upon his recreation, the study of insects.
His particular interest was Diptera, the
group to which flies and mosquitoes
belong, and of these he described nearly
four hundred new species from North
America alone. He was evidently
much interested in the newly estab-
lished American Museum of Natural
History, for in 1870 he presented to it
specimens representing about a thou-
sand species of insects.
At about the same time Mr. Coleman
T. Robinson presented his collection
of about "3000 species and served as
curator without salary until his death
two years later. Mr. Robinson's hobby
was butterflies and moths and he col-
laborated with Mr. August R. Grote,
one of the foremost authorities on
Lepidoptera at that time. These two
collections, supplemented in 1874 by a
collection of about 2000 species pre-
sented by Mr. R. A. Whitthaus with
the wish that it should be set aside
exclusively for the use of persons espe-
cially interested in entomology — in
other words, that it should be a study
collection — were the start of our work
in this field.
Apparently, however, these splen-
did foundations were not built upon
speedily. Little seems to have been
done until in 1884 Mr. Joseph W.
Drexel, a Trustee of the Museum,
presented some butterflies and moths,
which, together with the previous gifts
(except for types and rare species)
were exhibited in newly constructed
cases and, according to the Annual
Report for that year, formed one of the
most attractive features of the "main
hall."
No one in particular seems to have
been in charge of insects after Mr.
Robinson's death until the appoint-
ment of Mr. E. B. Southwick in 1886.
The following year the collections were
placed in charge of Mr. L. P. Gratacap,
then assistant curator of the depart-
ment of geology, and in 1888 Mr. Wil-
liam Beutenmiiller was engaged to
give his whole time to entomological
work in the Museum. Naturally,
much of the valuable material received
in the seventies had been destroyed by
'^ moths" and other misfortunes during
the time when no one was in special
iThe author is indebted to Mr. A. J. Mutchler, assistant curator in charge of Coleoptera and the oldest
member, in ooint of Museum service, in the department of entomology, for bringing together the facts connected
with the history of entomology in the Museum.
337
/
INSECTS AS ALLIES AND AS ENEMIES OF MAN
Insects are frequently set down in the mass as man's enemies and, indeed, certain
injurious species are among the most irrepressible of his foes, devastating his crops as aggres-
sively as an invading army. But the damage wrought by such insects is more than out-
weighed by the good done by others. A vast number of plants upon which we depend for
food, or which bring cheer into our lives through the beauty of their blossoms, would disappear
from the earth if they were not visited by insect poUinators.
In the upper picture is shown the codhng moth, Carpocapsa pomonella, which annually
takes a heavy toll of our apple crop; but there would have been no crop at all if other insects
had not cooperated.
Below is an old-fashioned straw beehive, suggesting the activities of one of the most
useful of msects. Apis mellifera, which was domesticated by man centuries ago and has been
mtroduced by him into America, where it is today so well established that the uninitiated are
apt to look upon it as one of our native insects
AMATEUR ENTOMOLOGISTS AND THE MUSEUM
339
charge, and many of the specimens that
had survived were in poor condition,
but a sufficient number of them are still
in existence to show what a splendid
start had been made.
With the appointment of a regular
curator and thanks to the keen in-
terest of Mr. Morris K. Jesup, then
president of the Museum, entomologi-
cal activities were briskly revived.
Exhibition work along new lines was
begun, the life history and other phases
of insect biology being shown and made
more valuable by the use of artificial
leaves as accessories. Reflecting one
of Mr. Jesup's particular interests,
these new exhibits were largely con-
cerned with insects injurious to trees.
The next few years brought several
notable accessions, all the work of
amateurs. Mrs. M. Schuyler Elliot
presented the butterfly and moth col-
lection that had been made by her son,
Dr. S. Lowefl Elliot. It is chiefly re-
markable for the large number of
reared specimens, many of the rarer
forms being represented by entire
broods showing the variation within a
species. The collection of Mr. James
Angus, a resident of West Farms, New
York City, contained a large number of
local species and was also a gift.
^But the most notable accession was that
in 1892 of the widely known ''Harry
Edwards Collection," containing about
250,000 specimens from all parts of the"
globe.
Mr. Edwards was an actor and had
been connected with various companies
in the United States, Central and South
America, and Australia. He went to
Australia as a manager for A. M.
Palmer's Little Lord Fauntleroy organi-
zation, returning in 1890 to join Austin
Daly's company. During his travels he
personally collected many specimens
and purchased others. For three years
he was the editor of Papilio, a journal
devoted exclusively to butterflies and
moths, and he was also the author of a
large number of valuable papers on
these beautiful creatures, his last con-
tribution to entomology being a Bihlio-
graphical Catalogue of the Described
Transformations of North American
Lepidoptera. His last appearance on
the stage was in New York as Sir Oliver
Surface in The School for Scandal. After
his death his collection was purchased,
nearly $10,000 having been given by
friends of Mr. Edwards in response to
appeals from Mr. Palmer and other
members of the stage. Though once
noted in his profession, he will be re-
membered, like Baron Osten Sacken, as
long as science exists for the things
which he did as recreation.
In 1897 The Very Reverend E. A.
Hoffman became interested in the Mu-
seum's entomological work, generously
contributing to its support until his
death in 1902, and his son, Mr. Samuel
V. Hoffman, continued this support
for several years thereafter. The re-
sults of this flnancial aid were a large
collection of butterflies, each in a plaster
mount, and a number of field trips by
Mr. Beutenmliller to the Black Moun-
tains, North Carolina. The butterflies
were put on exhibition, but recently we
felt that most of them were more valu-
able as scientiflc specimens than as
exhibition material and, as they were
fading because of their exposure to
light, we have placed them in light-
proof cases in the study collection.
They are safe there and may be seen
by anyone sufficiently interested to ask
permission.
In 1903, Prof. Wilham M. \^Tieeler
became curator of invertebrate zoology,
a department separate from entomol-
ogy, but Professor Wheeler was then, .
as now, one of the leading entomologists
340
NATURAL HISTORY
Although spiders are not insects, they rival them in interest, and in the popular mind are
grouped with them. The webs spun by spiders are usually of so fine a texture that we are
unable to trace them in detail unless they are sprinkled over with dew or powdered with dust,
and even then only inadequately. Webs mounted on a dark background, with their strands
thickened so that they are distinctly visible — a process devised by Mr. C. H. L. Gebfert — are
among the striking exhibits of the department, as the accompanying picture of the web of
Eustala anastera gives evidence
of the world. Although not officially
connected with the department of
entomology, he continued his most
valuable studies on ants and presented
to the department his collection of more
than a thousand species of Diptera,
including about two hundred type
specimens of species which had been
described by Wheeler, Melander, and
Brues. On his resignation in 1908 to
become professor of economic en-
tomology at Harvard he presented to
the Museum his wonderful collection of
ants but took it with him as a loan in
order that he might continue his studies.
Fortunately, as research associate of
social insects, he still retains his in-
terest in and connection with the
Museum.
Prof. Henry E. Crampton succeeded
Professor Wheeler as curator of in-
vertebrate zoology and the hitherto
independent department of entomology
was put in his charge with Mr. Beuten-
miiller as associate curator of Lepidop-
tera. The writer was appointed assis-
tant curator of invertebrate zoology
and given charge of insects other than
Lepidoptera. Mr. A. J. Mutchler re-
mained, as he had been for six years,
Mr. Beutenmliller's assistant, and Mr.
Charles Wunder was engaged to help
with the other insects.
In the twenty years that had elapsed
Aphids — those pests of the gardener — are
beloved of the ants, which protect them as
sedulously as man destroys them. The
aphid gives forth a sweet secretion — the
"honey dew" of the ancients — and it is be-
cause of this that they are favored by a
group of insects notable for having a ' ' sweet
tooth." Some species of ants even stroke
the aphids with their antennae to induce
them to void the honey dew, a procedure
suggestive of milking. Hence Linnaeus ap-
propriately referred to aphids as ants' cows.
A forward step in the domestication of the
aphid is shown in this photograph, taken by
the author at Ramsey, New Jersey. It rep-
resents a "cow shed," or protective struc-
ture built about the aphids. So that the
"cattle" might be revealed, the roof was
partly demoUshed before the photograph
was taken. Field work forms an important
part of the activities of the department of
entomology and, as this photograph in-
dicates, one does not have to stroll far from
home in order to see matters of interest
Photooraph by the author
As applied to humans the term "book worm"
has a definite connotation; it is less specific when
used in describing insects. Certain members of a family of beetles {Ptinidse) are among
the principal destroyers of literature. One member of this family has a record of having
"penetrated directly through twenty-seven large quarto volumes in so straight a line
that a string could be passed through the opening and the whole series of volumes
suspended." In the tropics termites rival the Chinese emperor of old who made a holo-
caust of the then-existing hterature, in ruthlessly attacking books as well as many other
things. The retardation of knowledge in some countries has been ascribed in part to
the lack of respect of these insects for the printed word
341
THE POLISTES EXHIBIT IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
The genus Polistes, like Vespa, is made up of social wasps but, in contrast to Vespa, the
nests of which are enveloped with a wrapping of "paper," Polistes builds nests consisting of an
exposed comb. The nest is started by an over-wintered queen, who may select as her building
site the under side of a porch roof, the eaves of a house, or any other protected place. In the
exhibit pictured above, an old shoe was chosen; but the Polistes mother, unlike the old
woman who chose a similar domicile, finds a use for the numerous daughters that constitute
her family, to whom is entrusted the care of the larvas and the enlargement of the nest. In the
can is shown a nest that was started but subsequently abandoned
A NEST OF VESPA EXHIBITED IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Although nests built in the open by social wasps of the genus Vespa, which includes the
hornets and the yellow jackets, are frequently noticed, those built under ground are revealed
only to him who has the enterprise to excavate them, — a somewhat hazardous undertaking if
attempted before the wasp colony dies out in the fall. The "paper" that surrounds these
protected nests is not nearly so tough as that made by species which build above ground.
Moreover, in Europe and North America it is the short-cheeked species of Vespa that for the
most part build in burrows in the ground, the long-cheeked forms constructing as a rule
aerial nests. This exhibit shows a nest of yellow jackets that was started by the mother wasp
in a mouse burrow, the cavity being enlarged as the needs of the colony grew
34.3
344
NATURAL HISTORY
A more uncomfortable position in which to
take one's rest than that here illustrated
would be hard to imagine. While this Sphex
wasp dozes, its jaws do not relax their hold
on the support. It.s attitude suggests an
acrobatic performance, but it is the way the
insect takes its ease. The exhibit was ar-
ranged by Mr. Henry Bird
since the first appointment of a regular
curator of entomology the collections
had grown immenselJ^ I have men-
tioned only a few of the larger steps in
this growth, for to do more is impossible
at this time. Not at all as a criticism
but as a statement of fact, it may be
said that the collection of insects had
been enlarged out of all proportion to
the staff (a curator and one assistant)
that had it in charge. Mr. Wunder and
I were confronted with a total of more
than 300,000 specimens most of which
required labeling and few of which were
classified even as to order. These were
exclusive of Lepidoptera and the
''arranged" collection of other insects.
That this condition of affairs does not
now exist and that, although our col-
lection of insects has had since then an
average growth of about 50,000 speci-
mens a year, practically every speci-
men is labeled and ready for study is
due to the conscientious work of Mr.
Wunder and the cooperation of the
entomological assistants, Mr. Mutchler
(appointed assistant curator in 1922),
Mr. John A. Grossbeck (deceased), and
Mr. F. E. Watson, aided, as other
work permitted, by the entomological
typist. The splendid and welcome
accessions to the collections since 1908
are matters of such recent record that
they will not be repeated here.
In 1921 entomology was again made
a separate department, the staff con-
sisting of a curator, two scientific assis-
tants (Mr. Mutchler and Mr. Watson) ,
a general assistant (Mr. Wunder), a
typist and three research associates
(Prof. Wheeler in social insects, Mr.
Charles W. Leng in Coleoptera, and
Mr. Herbert F. Schwarz in Hymen-
optera) who serve without psiy. In
addition, I am most happy to say, the
department is aided by a number of
amateur entomologists, members of
AMATEUR ENTOMOLOGISTS AND THE MUSEUM
345
the New York Entomological Society
and others, who liberally give us time
and specimens — money many of them
do not have to give — receiving no other
reward than the pleasure of helping the
institution help others to learn about
the creatures which are of so much
interest to them.
Some indication of the amount of
scientific work accomplished may be
had from the amount of publication.
It is of interest to note that in the last
fifteen years the Museum's entomologi-
cal activities have contributed approxi-
mately 5500 pages to the Bulletin —
about one-third of the total number of
pages of that publication. Other papers
have appeared elsewhere. This rela-
tively large contribution could not have
been made solely by the Museum's
small entomological staff and, as a
matter of fact, more than half of the
articles, although based upon Museum
material, were written by outside
workers, either amateur entomologists
or members of the staff of some sister
institution.
We feel that the Museum owes a
great debt to amateur entomologists
and to the public from which the
amateurs of the future are to be re-
cruited. One of our rooms has been
fitted out as a meeting place for the
New York Entomological Society and
a collection of insects found within
fifty miles of New York City has been
placed in charge of that society. This
collection is freely open to amateurs for
study. In the exhibition hall we are
trying to present insects not as often
beautiful and sometimes curious
creatures, but as having most in-
teresting habits, — a fascinating group
the study of which many lifetimes will
not exhaust, a group, moreover, that is
represented on every hand as is shown
by the exhibit (now being arranged) of
hundreds of different kinds found in a
town lot only 75X200 feet in extent.
Recently an enclosed space within
the exhibition hall has been set aside
The auditory organs of insects are located in
unexpected places. Grasshoppers have on
the first segment of their abdomen a mem-
brane that serves as an ear. The male mos-
quito Culex, on the other hand, uses its anten-
nse to detect sound. The antennal hairs
vibrate sympathetically to certain tones, and
their response is greatest to the note repre-
sented by the female's hum. No stranger
location for a hearing organ suggests itself,
however, than the leg. Yet a number of
insects, including crickets, long-horned grass-
hoppers, ants, termites, and stone flies have
their auditory organs situated on the forelegs.
The model of a cricket's foreleg, prepared by
Mr. Ignaz Matausch, illustrates clearly the
light-colored membrane that probably func-
tions much as does our ear drum
346
NATURAL HISTORY
Adjoining the insect exhibits on the third floor of the American Museum, is an enclosed
space that has been reserved for the exclusive use of Boy Scouts. Here they may keep their
working materials and their specimens, which include not only dead insects to be mounted but
live insects in the larval, pupal, and adult stages, also formicaries, and even animals other than
insects that are being studied by the Scouts. Here Mr. B. T. B. Hyde, educational director,
Kanohwahke Scout camps. Palisades Interstate Park, has established his winter headquarters,
and the picture shows him and a number of his Scouts engaged in their indoor activities
for the use of Boy Scouts interested in
entomology. Here they may mount
insects they have collected and watch
the development of live specimens they
have captured in the larval stage ; here
too they may get that wider acquaint-
ance with the insect world which is
offered by the exhibition collections.
Our scientific work, including the
field trips, is not being directed pri-
marily toward studies of any particular
orders of insects but centers about the
problems concerning evolution, particu-
larly those of geographic distribution
and the interrelations of insects and
their environment. These studies have
taken us to Labrador, Florida, the
West Indies, and South America, and,
in recent years, to the Rockies and
other parts of the West. A number of
friends, especially Mr. B. Preston Clark,
have kindly given financial aid to
these trips and now, through the
generosity of other friends, the depart-
ment has an automobile fitted up as a
camping-collecting car for use in field
work.
Naturally, we hope that our depart-
ment may continue to enlarge its col-
lections and, what is even more needed,
its curatorial staff; but our most earn-
est hope is that we may be increasingly
helpful to the amateur entomologist. It
is from this class of naturalists that we
derive much of our support, and hon-
est}^ demands efforts to repay our debt.
The colony of beavers at Lava Creek, Yellowstone National Park, have erected a dome-
shaped house of impressive size. The dam seen in the foreground is enlarged a little each
year by the beavers, and as a result the government engineers are compelled each j'-ear
to raise the road that runs along the shore of the creek
A Beaver Colony of Yellowstone Park^
By M. p. skinner
Park Naturalist, Yellowstone National Park
Inhabiting two centuries ago the greater part of the North American Continent, ranging southward as far
as the Rio Grande and extending northward into the Arctic Circle, the beaver was subsequently threatened with
extinction due to the merciless demand for its fur. Today, thanks to the respite from persecution that it has
enjoyed, it again occupies half of its original territory. It is a pleasure to note that it has built in the security
of some of our national parks. Visitors to the Rocky Mountain National Park, for instance, are familiar with the
structures erected by beavers within that sanctuary. The wild life of Yellowstone National Park rivals in appeal
the geysers of the region, and the establishment some years ago of a beaver colony near a roadway, where it
might be viewed by the thousands of people who annually visit the park, was a development of interest. That
colony has nowjgrown to proportions that justify a review of its history. — Editor.
WHEN I first knew the locality
herein referred to — a willow
meadow, hard and firm most
of the time but swampy in spring — no
beaver were to be seen in it. About
1910, I noticed beaver signs near the
bridge below the meadow, and I
assumed the beaver concerned had
come up from the river three miles
away. I doubt if there was more than
one animal at first and he contented
himself with a burrow in the bank of
Lava " Creek. A few years later he
was joined by a second beaver,' and in
the spring of 1914 the trees cut down
for food and the twigs stripped of bark
became more conspicuous. Soon after
that the beavers began moving up a
small stream flowing in from the east
through the swampy meadow. Late
that summer small dams were built
and a series of little ponds was de-
iPhotographs by the author.
348
NATURAL HISTORY
veloped, but still there was no house
visible.
During the following September the
beavers started work on the main dam
and although they did not build it
high at first, the barrier was sufficient
to cause the water to back up. Whole
branches were used, the branchlets and
twigs sticking out and interlocking
with those of adjoining branches and
thus offering resistance to the stream.
The larger branches and trunks of
aspen were placed in the lower part of
the dam with some willows on top.
(In other places, where aspens are
scarce, beavers have shown them-
selves adaptable and have built with
willows only, or even with mud if the
better materials could not be had.
When obtainable, stones have been
used to weigh down the branches.)
Each autumn during the following four
years the dam was built a little higher,
and additions were made to the
house, which had evidently been started
at the same time as the dam although
it was so small at first that it failed to
attract attention.
By 1919 the colony had increased to
twelve beavers, and, needing bigger
accommodations, the animals all set
to work tearing down the old house and
erecting in its stead one of the largest
houses I have ever seen. The site was
the highest part of the pond bottom
and the new house was a domed struc-
ture of mud with interlaced aspen
branches of fair size, so placed that it
would be exceedingly difficult for a
coyote or a wolverine to dig through.
While the building was going on, the
entrance burrow was dug out and the
interior chamber roughly shaped, the
finishing touches being given later.
This house is still the main home of the
"original settlers," although several
colonies- have left it to go elsewhere.
After the house was finished an
addition was built to the dam, and
each year since, a little more has been
added to keep the water at least three
feet deep over the mud and silt that
each spring freshet brings down. This
complicates the work of the govern-
ment engineers, who each year must
raise the road along shore to keep above
the rising water.
The locahty had little beaver food
except a few aspens, the willow bushes,
and some water plants, and with the
increasing population these were soon
in danger of giving out. So the
beavers started new works to the south,
forming two more ponds and gaining
access to a fine grove of aspens. In
1921 they built another house in the
middle pond, and in 1922 they started
yet another. During these operations
much pine and fir land was flooded and
the trees killed, with the result that the
scenery is somewhat marred by the
dead trees.
In Yellowstone Park beavers are
protected, but it takes time for them
to find it out. At first beavers were
glimpsed only on moonlight nights, but
now they are becoming so tame they
are easily seen in daytime by the
thousands of tourists that frequent the
park. When the intelligent animals
found that people did not molest them,
they came out earlier and earlier, and
now they often appear as early as three
o'clock in the afternoon. But they
still make their repairs and additions
to house and dam at night, so that it is
not often that they are seen at work.
At present they number about twenty.
Usually the first indication of beavers
is the sudden appearance of a small
round head shooting up to the surface
near the house, followed by a long,
flat, brownish back. A V-ripple silvers
the surface as the beaver circles about
the house, and sometimes around the
pond, to see if all is safe. Then the
animal makes a straight course to
the upper end of the pond where the
willows grow. When a willow is found
to his liking, he rises up on his legs,
braces himself with his strong tail,
grasps the willow with his paws, and
cuts it off with one or two bites of sharp
teeth driven by powerful muscles. The
branch is taken by the butt and the
beaver, with head higher and back
lower than usual, swims off to a favorite
eating place with the branch trailing
behind. Arrived there, he crouches
half in and half out of the water, grasps
the willow crosswise with his fore paws
(I almost said "hands," so soft and
free from hair are they and so expertly
used) and turns it rapidly about as the
A BEAVER COLONY OF YELLOWSTONE PARK
349
teeth strip off the bark. He works
fast, and soon a peeled switch is left to
mark the feast. Sometimes the branch
is taken to the house, or dam, and the
switch left there to strengthen the
structure.
After a hearty meal, the beaver is
apt to wash and smooth his fur. A
peculiar split nail on the second toe of
the hind foot is used, it is said, in
combing the hair; I cannot vouch for
this from personal observation, but I
have seen our little friend dress his fur
with his paws, afterwards washing
them, his arms, and face cat-fashion.
On the score of personal cleanliness,
I am inclined to place the beaver very
high indeed. Living as he does in
close, crowded quarters all winter, he
must be cleanly, or vermin would make
his life miserable.
Willows did not always satisfy the
beavers, and they craved aspens; but
aspens grew farther away from the
water and the animals had to go over-
land to secure them. They were rather
awkward on land : in walking their toes
were turned sharply out, and the high
arched body swayed from side to side
on the short legs, while the broad,
heavy tail swung side wise also but in
the opposite direction. The task of
the beavers was a hard one and when
they started bringing the aspens back,
they found it necessary to cut them
into short sections, from one to four
feet long, after trimming off the
branches. Even so, many a time it
took two or three workers to master a
load. Then their engineers began
building canals from the pond towards
the "wood lot," for they found it easier
to tow logs by water than to drag them
over land. Also it was safer, for a
beaver disturbed by wolf, bear, or bob-
cat could escape much faster by water.
Unlike the bear and some other
animals, beavers do not hibernate and
must eat all winter. Accordingly in
the autumn, on the approach of cold
weather, they busy themselves taking
branches and tree sections to a pile
near the house, where they are sunk
to become available as food in winter
when the pond is closed by ice. At
Lava Creek, not so much food is stored,
for there is a spring near the road
and the comparatively warm water
prevents the formation of ice over an
area of a few feet. The patch of clear
water permits the beaver to leave his
winter prison if food becomes scant.
A beaver taking a willow branch to the storage pile near the house, to
be used as food when the pond freezes over
American Men of the Dragon Bones
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF A FIELD TRIP TO MONGOLIA WITH THE THIRD
ASIATIC EXPEDITION
By henry FAIRFIELD OSBORN
Foreword. — Barely escaping the catastrophe in Yokohama, Professor Osborn arrived in
Shanghai Tuesday, September 4, and received from Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews the following
telegram: "Greatly worried about you. Am holding entire expedition in Mongoha awaiting
j^our arrival." This anxiety was due to the failure of the American wireless station in Peking to
get detailed news of the casualties of the Yokohama disaster. On receiving a reassuring
reply, Mr. Andrews wired, "Thank God, you are safe! Awaiting you in Peking." In Peking
at last, after two years' delay, Professor Osborn was greeted on the platform by Mr. and Mrs.
Andrews. Mr. Andrews was full of suppressed excitement over the discovery of dinosaur
eggs, a relatively small but ultimately momentous incident in an expedition so full of great
discoveries. Messrs. Osborn and Andrews outfitted at once and started September 12 by
train to Kalgan, close to the Mongolian frontier, at which point these notes from a week's
diary crowded with interesting entries begin.
LEAVING Peking September 12 at
half past eight, we arrived in
Kalgan at three-thirty that after-
noon and were met by John McKenzie
Young, chief of the motor fleet of the
Third Asiatic Expedition of the Amer-
ican Museum and Asia Magazine.
Highly trained as an expert mechani-
cian, with a fine record in the United
States Marine Corps service. Young
succeeded Colgate of the 1922 expedi-
tion and, ably assisted- by C. Vance
Johnson, another United States Marine
Corps veteran, brought the fleet of five
motor cars over six thousand miles of
rough Chinese roads and Mongolian
bowlders and sands triumphantly to
the end of two years of service, and in
such splendid condition that the entire
fleet was sold to Chinese merchants at
half the original cost.
From Kalgan, dusty and prosperous,
Young guided our four-passenger Dodge
car along the center of a dry river bed,
where not a drop of rain had fallen for
months, through canons bordered by
ancient towers, fortresses, and walls,
over the first mountain ridges, and into
broad open plain. We were deeply im-
350
pressed with the Chinese struggle for
existence, with the evidence of over-
population, with the triumphs of
Chinese agriculture — triumphs which
have doubtless been accumulating for
the last 12,000 years, since the first
colonists settled on the Yellow River,
Every bit of land is intensely culti-
vated ; every mountain-side is terraced
to the very summit, although there is
no water with which to irrigate. We
passed by an old grandly walled town,
a monument of Chinese brick masonry,
every line and angle in perfect sym-
metry. We had never been told enough
of the Chinese as architects, as design-
ers, as masons, as builders, as engineers.
The entire interior of this walled
town, whicliuprobably resisted centuries
of Mongol attack from the north, is
virtually deserted, very likely because
infested with disease and with vermin,
but a new Chinese town is springing
up about a quarter of a mile distant.
From this point, where we rested to
cool off and enjoy some fruit, there
begins a sharp and rocky ascent to the
summit of the pass, the ancient border
between China and Mongolia — an
AMERICAN MEN OF THE DRAGON BONES
351
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
This map shows the hne of the Kalgan-Urga Telegraph that flanks the route over which
Professor Osborn and his companions, Messrs. Andrews and Young, traveled from Kalgan
to the Museum camp at Irdin Manha, and thence to the fossil site of Iren Dabasu, 21 miles
beyond. The roads were bad from Kalgan to Miao Tan, 35 miles; extremely variable from
Miao Tan to Pang Kiang, a telegraph station, 139 miles; perfect from Pang Kiang to Iren
Dabasu, in the eastern part of the Desert of Gobi, 87 miles— a total of 261 miles from Kalgan
to Iren Dabasu. Iren Dabasu, signifying "Valley of the Salt Lake," is the chief spot indi-
cated in the Encyclopsedia Britanica map of the Gobi Desert of Mongolia
ascent where the stoutest automobiles
are put to the severest test, because of
both the grade and the terrible char-
acter of the road. We chmbed slowly
upward through the dust, but in the
wet season no automobile can make this
ascent. It is highly distinctive of
Chinese civilization, past and present,
that this people is blind to the value
of roads as civihzing media and as
channels of distribution for agricultural
products. Roads were built onh' to
the tombs and palaces of the emperors.
The automobile is now welcomed on
the single Kalgan-Urga route over the
pass because the heavy tuchun tax on
this vehicle enables the local military
magnate to make a pretense of keeping
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
A section of the dry river bed north of Kalgan under a cUff crowned by a Chinese temple.
Beyond rises a hill surmounted by one of the outer Chinese walls. The stern rock hill in the
center and right of the picture is of Jurassic porphyry, the result of a series of volcanic flows,
now tilted steeply up. The lower hills to the left of the hard rock are wholly composed of
loose gravel. In the upper beds of these were found sands containing real "dragon" bones —
dinosaurs. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
American Museum of Natural Hisionj and Asia Magazine
These 'Stout walls of an ancient Chinese city doubtless repelled Mongol attacks from the
north throughout centuries. They still stand, — a memento of the past but serving today no
practical purpose, for the city they guarded is deserted, while the tide of invasion has reversed
itself, and the Mongol military pressure of old is being replaced today by the peaceful
penetration of Mongolia by the Chinese. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
352
AMERICAN MEN OF THE DRAGON BONES
353
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
Eastern side of the crumbling frontier wall between northern China and Mongolia, wdth a
ruined watchtower in the center. Just beyond, as one looks into Mongolia, one may see the
rich agricultural lands of the Chinese colonists. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
the road in order. The Chinese carts
with shining steel-studded wheels are
forced aside into their own rutted road-
ways, through which men and animals
struggle along, for a single train of
Chinese carts would completely destroy
even the rudimentary motor road that
extends from Kalgan seven hundred
miles north to Urga.
Reaching the summit of the pass at
one o'clock, we were faced by the
ruins of one of the outer walls guarding
the passage from the Mongolian plains
north of the mountains to the great
plain of China on the south. To the
right of the narrow road are the ruins
of a tall watch tower and to the left
the "Temple of the Gateway," which
contains three once formidable and
revered gods of war, somewhat dilap-
idated now as a result of the wave
of irreverence for ancient deities which
is sweeping all over the Celestial Empire.
Infinitely more impressive is it to
look southward from the temple over
the rich and fertile plains of Cathay
and imagine the hardy Mongol con-
querors clambering over or breaking
through the wall, descending with little
resistance to pass the line >f fortifica-
tions which culminated irj the Great
Wall fifty miles to the sjuth. The
hardy and warlike Mongols have
always held in contempt the peace-
loving agriculturists of China, and
even now the Mongol sajdng runs,
"One Mongol is good for ten China-
men and a Mongol troop of 300 is
amply able to rout a Chinese army of
3000." In fact, in 1921, not far north
of this barrier, which has been crossed
and recrossed so often in the past three
thousand years, the entire Chinese
army was virtually annihilated, the
few straggling remnants being driven
back by Mongol troops armed with
Bolshevist weapons.
The present peaceful invasion of
Mongoha by China is, however, far
more formidable than the warlike in-
vasions of the past. The Chinese
farmer is pushing northward the
Mongol herdsman and horseman, just
as the American farmer and settler
354
NATURAL HISTORY
slowl}' pushed back the Indians of
North America. This agricultural
invasion is irresistible; it is at the rate
of from five to ten miles a year, along a
very broad frontier, which has now
reached a point between eighty and
ninety miles north of the actual geo-
graphic hne between Mongoha and
China. The advancing invader is the
adventurous Chinese with his plow;
he goes well beyond the nearest Chinese
settlement, selects what seems to be a
promising piece of land, throws it into
furrows, and plants the first crop of
seed that has ever been put into this
virgin soil, which the nomadic Mongols
have used for thousands of years as
grazing grounds. The next yeax the
Chinese officials take over the land and
estabHsh corner posts, and in another
season the Mongol yurts slowl}^ dis-
appear and Chinese mud-walled towns
suddenly '^" ring up. The present
Chmese in-'i-ion, it is said, extends at
least 125 i:;.bs east and west and from
50 to 80 miles north and south, con-
stituting an area of not less than 6000
square miles.
Nowhere is there a more startling
transition than that presented by the
landscape as one leaves the terribly
arid hillsides of northern China and,
passing through the barrier wall,
finds himself among beautiful, richly
fertile slopes and fields, superbly cul-
tivated. The melting snow of the
preceding winter starts the crops in
spring; then there is a period of
drought, followed by an early autumnal
rainy season. As we rolled along,
passing entrancing golden fields, we
were pelted by a heavy shower of hail,
exactly as in the uplands of Colorado
and Wyoming in the midsmnmer
season. The roads are almost perfect
and we bowled along at thirty-five
miles an hour, reaching the important
Chinese motor car station of Miao
Tan at haK past three, which gave us
an opportunitj^ before dark of study-
ing a typical Chinese frontier town,
into which the Chinese peasants re-
treat from their widespread fields at
nightfall for protection. The harvest
was in full tide. Women stumped
along on their diminutive bound feet,
for this region has not been penetrated
by the foot reform wave, Chinese
mothers do not want to jeopardize the
future matrimonial prospects of their
daughters by allowing their feet to
attain a natural size, the small foot
being one of the emblems of feminine
beauty even in this farming community.
Some of the women and girls, though
moving about as if on stilts, appear to
have overcome the pain entirely;
others, their faces drawn, show that
they are hfe-long sufferers from the
mandates of this strange fashion.
Returning from the fields under the
brilliant rays of the setting sun — the
first of the incomparable MongoHan
sunsets which greeted us — we had
splendid appetites for om' first truly
Chinese dinner, and the doorwaj' to the
guest room of honor seemed nrost
inviting even though the square win-
dows of the room were covered with
paper instead of glass, thus affording
poor ventilation.
It was represented to our Chinese
host in the inn of Miao Tan that the
party was headed by no less a person-
age than the president of "the Ameri-
can Musemn of Heavenly Creations,"
a man who had come an immense dis-
tance and must be duly impressed not
only with aU the delights of Chinese
cooking but with the exotic comforts to
be found between the baked-mud walls
of the principal guest room, where one's
bed is placed on top of the Chinese
oven before the fire is kindled within.
AMERICAN MEN OF THE DRAGON BONES
355
But the dinner was a simple one com-
pared with the elaborate banquet
prepared for us at this same inn on our
homeward journey a week later, be-
cause on our departure for the north
the host was duly warned that when
we returned there should be such a
dinner as had never been served before
in this inn.
This great feast on our return to
Miao Tan was celebrated on the
evening of September 19, when the
entire fleet of automobiles was rolling
southward. I may be permitted to
digress for a moment in order to stress
some features of that return trip.
Andrews and I arrived in advance of
the fleet and found the courtyard
pretty well crowded with three north-
bound Russian-American motor cars,
including an imposing French double-
tired truck, utterly unfit for Chinese
furrows or Mongol road bogs. It
was evident that the cars were
terribly overloaded and that, with a
very rudimentary knowledge of motor
construction, the chauffeurs were more
intent on making loud explosions and
thereby creating a great impression on
the Chinese than in the care of their
machines. One of these cars, with
twelve northbound Chinese passengers
on top of its load of freight, started out
of the yard to the accompaniment of
loud engine explosions, carrying with it
a considerable part of the gateway.
At this moment my American heart
throbbed with pride as I heard the
familiar toot of our own motor fleet
and there swept into the yard in perfect
order and at a rapid rate our two Fulton
trucks and three Dodges, grandly
driven by their bronzed, blue-eyed
giants, J. McKenzie Young and C.
Vance Johnson. The cars lined up
side by side in military order, and for
the remainder of the afternoon prestige
was entirely with us. By their majestic
and well-timed entry our motors had
taken all the "face" out of the other
cars. The yard bustled with life —
motor men, Chinese attendants, Mon-
gols, little Chinese soldiers, and dogs
full of curiosity; while from the paper
At the Chinese inn in Miao Tan. — ^Pro-
fessor Osborn in the doorway of the mud-
walled room reserved for distinguished
visitors. Photograph controlled by the
American Museum of Natural History and
Asia Magazine
windows of the Chinese kitchen there
were wafted the most delectable odors
of roast pig, mingled with the acrid
fumes of the camel-dung fuel. And
never was there such a dinner as that
celebrated that evening, with Ubations
now to the gods of Mongolia, now to the
American men of the expedition force,
now to the president of the "American
Museum of Heavenly Creations."
To return to our northbound jour-
nev. We were off before sunrise in the
356
NATURAL HISTORY
morning and soon passed the northern
boundary of the Chinese agricultural
lands to enter the hilly grasslands,
where the Mongol herders still are to be
seen with their horses, sheep, and
goats, and where one must be on the
lookout for bandits. This hilly country
is probably the remnant of a once
grand mountain chain, from the south-
ern slopes of which were eroded the
rich agricultoiral rolling plains now in
possession of the Chinese, while from
the northern slopes were deposited the
fossil beds. A traverse of 139 miles
brought us to Pang Kiang, where the
single mud-built inn was so uninviting
that we pitched our tent amid the
ruins of a Chinese fort, from which the
Mongols had driven the retreating
Chinese army nearly three years be-
fore. ! Tlie fortifications had been
erectejd with mihtary skill. They in-
cluded earthworks of modern type
designed by German engineers and
proudly surveyed as impregnable by
Chinese soldiers marching with the
German goose step, so that the safe-
guards against Mongol attack were
faultless — if only the Mongols had fol-
lowed the orthodox methods of war and
attacked from the front! But, greatly
to the bewilderment of the Chinese
soldiers, they violated all established ■
rules and swept around the forts, at-
tacking from the rear. It was a series
of infantile military blunders of this
kind which led to the destruction of
the Chinese army.
We could not greatly regret the out-
come, because we were in a country
which we felt belonged historically to
the Mongols, and under a glorious sky,
in which the stars seemed so near that
we coul(J almost touch them, we made
Ameriran Mu.seum of Natural llisti,
i] A.-^ia Magazine
Roy Chapman Andrews, chief of the "American Men of the Dragon Bones," in the
Desert of Gobi, pointing out Iren Dabasu, "The Valley of the Salt Lake," where the first
dinosaurs were discovered in Mongolia in the season of 1922. Photograph by Walter Granger
AMERICAN MEN OF THE DRAGON BONES
357
our way through the darkness toward
the httle telegraph station of Pang
Kiang, which is at once a sanctuary
for the caravans and a point of com-
munication with the outer world.
As we walked, I suddenly noticed a
small group of men in the darkness
pointing toward Andrews and myself.
I asked Andrews to listen to what thej^
were saying, and it was here that
I learned the Chinese designation of
our party, for the words were " There
go the America?! Men of the Dragon
' Bones. '^ This did not mipress Andrews
as it did me ; I was delighted with this
Chinese christening, because it seemed
to me both a tribute to the valor of our
men and a wonderfully apt designa-
tion of the main objective of the Third
Asiatic Expedition as it impressed
itself upon the Chinese. For what
purpose were we in Mongolia? Ob-
viously enough to the Chinese mind,
to collect the bones of dragons — the
dragons which for ages past had
ruled the sky, the air, the earth,
the waters of the earth, and which
even today are beHeved in implicitly
by the Chinese. Of course we should
find small bones corresponding to
small dragons, large bones corre-
sponding to remains of large dragons
— also of vast dragons, some of which
according to Chinese myth leave their
tails in the eastern part of the Desert
of Gobi, while their heads rest on the
slopes of the Altai Mountains, four
hundred miles distant! Here is the
sum of the palaeontology and zoology
of the native Chinese — the dragon and
the phcenix. UnHke the dreaded
dragon of western Europe the dragon
of .central Asia is a beneficent creature,
a friend of man, which brings the rain
to produce crops and in turn supplies
food. This creature is, in fact, so
highly revered that one of the most
sacred titles bestowed upon the em-
perors was "the true dragon." Con-
sequently, I felt that the giving of this
title to the American Museum expedi-
tion was a mark of reverence and
respect, both for the animal whose
bones were sought and for the men who
could pursue such a difficult and ad-
venturous calling.
The rosy hues of dawn were tingeing
the sky next morning as I left my blue
tent, and soon we were again under
way. Before us was the line of roll-
ing hills which intervened before we
reached the borders of the desert; our
motor car quickened its pace as it
sped along the uplands. There were
valleys leading outwards, no canons,
only broad flat basins surrounded by
low-rimmed hills. This was a revela-
tion to an eye accustomed to the well-
drained canon basins in Wyoming,
Colorado, and all the Rocky Mountain
region. These flat basins are, however,
the geographic key to the southern
borders of Mongolia — in fact, to central
Mongolia itself. The water supply is so
scanty that it sinks into the soil and
never accumulates in lakes and rivers
to cut its way out; the water is never
seen, but lies in quantity below the
surface, so that it can be reached every-
where by wells. These have been dug
by the nomadic herdsmen for thou-
sands of years past; from fifteen to
twenty feet below the surface an abun-
dant supply of pure water may be
found, and on this the domesticated
herds of camels, goats, sheep, and
horses have always depended. In the
Rand-McNally map of Mongolia the
numerous little circles indicate these
wells as mapped by the Russians and
are not symbols for towns or villages
as one would suppose. It is only in the
height of the very brief rainy season
that pools occur on the surface; con-
358
NATURAL HISTORY
sequently, all the wild animals have
become accustomed to a waterless
desert and live on the moisture they
find in the plants.
We soon entered the southern bor-
ders of the great Desert of Gobi, which
I have always desired to see above all
deserts, especially after travehng in the
Libyan Desert flanking the Nile Valley
of northern Africa and in the desert
wastes of the Rocky Mountain region.
We passed on to this vast Mongolian
desert, incredibly level as far as the
eye can reach, and before long sighted
our first herd of antelope or gazelle,
of the species Gazella suh-guttiirosa,
and immediately gave chase. Although
the speed of the car rose from thirty-
five to forty, then to forty-five miles
an hour, the gazelles easily kept their
distance on the absolutely level plain.
They went through the manoeuvre of
crossing in front of our car, after the
manner described by Andrews in his
volume Ac7'oss Mongolian Plains and
elsewhere, — a trait also of the wild
asses when pursued. Andrews, who
at that time had replaced Young at
the wheel, drove the car with incred-
ible skill, as if by instinct. ''This
is just the ordinary speed of the
gazelle," he said, "I'll throw them
into top speed by a rifle shot." He
then fired and a fleck of dust marked
the plain just to the left of the herd.
Then I witnessed a wonderful me-
chanical change; the whole herd flat-
tened down into an entirely different
speed, which Andrews estimated at
sixty miles an hour by taking into
account the ease with which the
animals ran away from our car travel-
ing at forty-five miles an hour.
Altogether we had this exciting
experience three times; on the third
occasion near our Irdin Manha camp,
when we were going at a high rate of
speed, the gazelles crossed in front of us,
making for a break in the plain to our
left. Andrews suddenly slowed down
to avoid a dangerous gully and as he
swung around to the head of the gully,
we witnessed a very rare sight: a
gazelle that had dashed away from the
herd reached the edge of the break,
whereupon a wolf sprang out from its
place of concealment and, quite oblivi-
ous of our presence, made a tremendous
sprint for the gazelle, which was
already somewhat fatigued by our
previous pursuit of several miles. It
was an exciting moment; in another
instant, however, the two animals
swept around the break out of sight and
we could not see which creature won
out in the struggle for existence.
At three o'clock on September 15
we witnessed another unusual sight: a
camel caravan of four great divisions,
with more than a hundred camels in
each division, — 420 in all. It was
majestic. Throughout his experience
in Mongolia Andrews had never seen a
camel train equal to this in size,
stretching for two miles in perfect
alignment. It was a fitting introduc-
tion to the climax of this first step of
my journey, namely, the approach to
the American Museum camp. Andrews,
who well knew its location on the edge
of the great Irdin Manha plateau, told
me that we were nearing it, but it
was concealed by a glassy mirage, and
it was only when we came within a
mile of the camp that the American
flag and the blue tents were discernible
in the distance. We were now going
at a very high rate of speed and in a
few moments / ivas there — after two
years of enforced delay!
All the men were drawn up in line
to welcome us^six Americans, nine
Chinese, four Mongols; part of our
Mongol section was still with the camel
American Mveun of Natural History and Asia Magazine
Motor trouble on the Mongolian plains at Irden Manha. — The rear housing of Dodge
car No. 2, strained from overloading and severe jolting, is being straightened by C. Vance
Johnson, chief mechanician, over a fire of camel dung. From left to -right: C. Vance
Johnson, Peter Kaisen, George Olsen, Professor Osborn, J. McKenzie Young, Albert Johnson.
Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
The Mongol interpreters of the Third Asiatic Expedition. — Two of them are proudly
dressed in American clothes in anticipation of the return to their homes at the close of the field
work of 1923. The individual on the left is Tcherim, strongly of the American Indian type,
courageous and loyal, a keen huntsman and fine example of the best unspoiled native
Mongol. Photograph by Roy Chapman Andrews
359
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362
NATURAL HISTORY
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Maga
The expedition headquarters from which Professor Osborn set forth to Mongoha and to
which he returned after his adventures in the desert. The picture represents a corner of the
front court, and a ghmpse into the Chinese rock garden beyond. The building in the center is
Leader Andrews' office. Photograph by Yvette Borup Andrews
caravan on its way from western
Mongolia. Every man showed his
j oy at the arrival of ' ' the president . " I
shook hands in order of seniority —
with Walter Granger, veteran palae-
ontologist for thirty-two years in the
service of the American Museum ; with
Frederick K. Morris, geographer and
geologist, formerly of Columbia Uni-
versity; with Peter Kaisen, sturdy
fossil-bone expert, whom I found thirty
years ago in central Wyoming; with
George Olsen, another sturdy Dane and,
hke Kaisen, a native of Medicine Bow,
Wyoming, scene of Owen Wister's
novel, The Virginian; with Albert
Johnson of Sweetwater, Montana,
"Montana Johnson," also an expert
bone man. These with C. Vance
Johnson, former United States marine
and now first mechanician under J.
McKenzie Young, and Young himself,
who drove us out, completed the party
of "American Men of the Dragon
Bones."
This was one of the really great
moments of my life, to see these men in
splendid health, each bursting with
some triumph in the way of fossil dis-
covery, each modestlj^ giving all the
credit to his fellows. After a glorious
sunset that gradually gave waj^ to a
AMERICAN MEN OF THE DRAGON BONES
363
American Museum of Natural History ami A-<iii Magazine
Within the front court of the headquarters of the Third Asiatic Expedition. — The ivy-
crowned entrance leads to the spirit door beyond, in the sun-ht distance. The spirit screen,
which closes the view, stops the invasion of ghosts, for in China spirits can travel only in a
straight line. Photograph by Yvette Borup Andrews
wonderfully clear starlit night and the
superb brightness of the Mongolian
moon, we drew into our large Mongol
dining tent and feasted on a delicious
dinner of roast gazelle, sirloin cut, with
a tenderloin cut for ''the chief." As I
looked around the table, feebly illum-
ined by a central line of candles, I
observed even by the dim light what I
have noted in the case of other groups
of explorers — all the hunters of the
dragon bones were blue-eyed ; whether
from Denmark or from Wyoming or
Montana or Vermont or Wisconsin, all
were of the same adventure-loving
northern exploring stock. This obser-
vation, followed by a large slice of
tempting pumpkin pie cooked over a
tiny Mongol brazier with unrivaled
Chinese skill, sent me to bed with the
happiest thoughts, chief of which was
the complete success of the Third
Asiatic Expedition under its incompar-
able leader, Roy Chapman Andrews.
THE RETURN JOURNEY
The three following da^'s were
devoted to a rapid review of the three
great fossil fields which lay to the north,
to the east, and to the west of our
Irdin Manha camp. In the meantime
the last specimens were taken out of
364
NATURAL HISTORY
the various quarries, the packing boxes
were closed up, a final overhauling was
given the macliinery of the five auto-
mobiles, and on the morning of Sep-
tember 18 we started on the long home-
ward journe}^ to the American Mu-
seima via Kalgan and Peking. On the
afternoon of the same day, the fleet
rolled into camp in the hilly country
on the border of Mongolia and China,
which is more or less infested with
bandits. It was splencUd to see the cars
run into position, each in its place, and
the men spring out to create the camp.
Although the men w^ere simply follow-
ing the usual instructions, I was struck
hj the rapicUty of their work and took
out my watch to time them. At
quarter to five the fleet came to a
stop; at two minutes past five seven
blue Mongol tents were fined up in
order, ready for occupation — exactly
seventeen minutes.
Suddenlj' we discovered that we were
accidentally camping on a. Mongol
cemetery, consisting not of graves but
of skeletons and skulls, — remains of the
bodies thrown out to the dogs according
to custom but which were none the less
sacred to the natives. Our men began
to bring in some of the skulls, precious
in their record of pm'e Mongol traits;
they were immediately stopped by
Leader Andrews, who was aware that
our party could do nothing more cal-
culated to hurt the spirit of Mongol
reverence for the dead, which is not less
than that of the Chinese.
This spot among the hi]ly grasslands
was also the site of the first American
Museum camp in Mongolia, as it was
there that the expedition made its initial
halt in April, 1922. In high spirits we
aU assembled in the large blue Mongol
mess tent, and after our pipes and
stories we turned into our I'espective
tents for the night. At this moment I
observed four men approaching through
the darkness with rifles, ob\aously not
peasants. Were they soldiers or were
they bandits? We did not know, and
it was not a moment to take any
chances, because the smTOunding hills
would have facihtated a bandit attack.
As I stepped out in my pajamas,
Andrews emerged from his tent, his
revolver in his right hand and in his
left an electric flashlight, which he
gleamed in the faces of the approach-
ing armed MongoHans. Out of every
tent at the same moment emerged a
peace-loving American, each similarly
equipped with a revolver and flash-
light. Andrews is known as an abso-
lute dead shot with his revolver; he
occasionally practises in camp on
cans and other small objects, and the
Mongols far and wide know that he
never misses. A reputation for accur-
ac3^ and steadiness of aim is very
helpful. As in every other case of this
kind, a show of preparedness was all
that was necessary; Andrews waved his
hand across the flashlight and the
approaching band unmediately put
down their rifles and thus became
harmless. One of our Mongols then
went forward and friendly relations
were soon established.
It was this combination of firmness
and kindness during eight j^ears in
northern China — three of which were
devoted also to eastern and central
Mongoha — w^hich resulted in an ever-
increasing respect for the power of
''the American Men of the Dragon
Bones" and an ever-increasing welcome
as their honest purposes and peaceful
methods became more widely known.
T\Tien our fleet of motor cars returned
on September 20 through the narrow,
dusty streets of Kalgan. with small
American flags weatherworn from long
exposure to the hot sun and sand of
AMERICAN MEN OF THE DRAGON BONES
365
the Mongolian desert, the Chinese
were confirmed in their impression that
we were friends on a friendly mission,
friends always ready for a critical
emergency along the way or to do a
deed of kindness, but not to be trifled
with by bandits or outlaws.
Our methods have- also won for us
the respect and friendship of officials
and men of prominence throughout
China and Mongolia. When our
privilege to explore was seriously
challenged in the spring of 1923, Leader
Andrews renewed his pledge to the
Mongol government that in case of a
discovery of economic importance —
coal, oil, or other mineral wealth — it
would first be communicated to the
Mongol government and not to Ameri-
can or foreign corporations. As inter-
preter of the goodwill and of the
determination of the expedition to
thrust its way through unknown
Mongolia, Mr. Franz A. Larsen, of
Urga and of Kalgan, has for three
years been giving his. staunch support;
he is now enrolled as one of the honorary
life members of the American Museum.
Also on the roll of life members of
the American Museum is the name
of Mr. C. Badmajapoff, Minister of
Justice of the Urga government, who is
friendly because he is thoroughly con-
vinced that we are working entirely for
the welfare of his country. Through
the combined efforts of Mr. Larsen and
Mr. Badmajapoff we were able to
preva.il over counter influence in Urga
and to penetrate during the first and
second years to Outer Mongolia, the
northerly and westerly desert, where
the most startling discoveries were
made, namely, of the giant Baluchi-
therium and of the great horned or
ceratopsian dinosaurs and their nests
and eggs.
As the result of a long evening con-
ference I had with Mr. Larsen, meas-
ures were planned to assure the success
of our coming five years of exploration,
1924-28, to obtain a continuance of
Mongol support, and to cement the
friendship of the Mongol government.
We examined Mr. Larsen's Kalgan
compound and assured ourselves as to
the safety of boxes 1 to 35 — the early
numbers of the great total array of
135 boxes of fossil riches which have
slowly made their long journey from
western Mongolia across the Pacific
through the Panama Canal to New
York. One cannot examine these
converted Standard Oil boxes with
their delicate fossil freight packed in
camel hair without a thrill over this
American and Mongolian romance,
this new bond that connects the young,
eager, expert explorers of America
with the most venerable dominion of
Mongolia.
Irdin Manha, with the flag-topped encampment of the Third Asiatic Expedition
Wintering Over a Fire Basket in Szechuan
By anna G. granger
Third Asiatic Expedition, American Museum and Asia Magazine
Foreword. — The fire basket {huo lant zu) of China is a wicker-encased clay pot contain-
ing glowing coals. Held between the knees, its warmth helps one forget that the thermometer
stands at 28 degrees above zero and the mountains are snow-covered. As the hearth is used
symbolically for the home, so in the title of this article the fire basket epitomizes the quaint-
ness yet attractiveness of that substitute for home which Mr. and Mrs. Granger found in a
Chinese ancestral hall in Szechuan Province. Mrs. Granger's article in the March-April
issue brought the reader almost to the threshold of this building; he is now invited to step in.
TJOWEVER much
one may in-
veigh against the pohtical and
dimatic conditions of Szechuan,
no one can gainsay its scenic beauty.
The tiny settlement of Yen Ching Kou
(Salt Well Valley), where the Ameri-
can Museum camp was located, had
for its setting high, rounded mountains,
cultivated slopes, and glistening rice
paddies. Under the magic of the sun's
rays, no more charming spot could
be imagined, but even when viewed
through the almost constant mists, it
was impossible to have other than a
friendly feeling for the pleasantly un-
dulating ranges, or to take seriously the
smaller isolated cones that have come
into existence at odd places in seem-
ing defiance of natural laws. Whether
these conical mounds really presented
any geological problem to the ''chief
of staff," I know not. To my mind
they were simply a caprice of nature,
and enjoyed as such. A bona fide
phenomenon did occur in the vicinity,
though. It was a spring of cold water
issuing from under the floor of a small
cave and emptying into our valley
brook. You could pass it one hour
and the flow would be mediocre; a
little later, and the volume would be
increased tenfold, only to fall back
again after a few minutes to the original
amount. As yet this intermittent
action is unexplainable. The Chinese
long ago noted the spring's strange
conduct and built a charming temple
close by, which is dedicated to all
flowing waters and commemorates
their beneficence to mankind.
The mountains in this region would
naturally have been clothed with a
dense and somber growth of evergreens
if the pine and a species of cedar or
arbor vitse which grow thickly had been
left to flourish as nature intended.
Where these surround a temple or a
burying ground, they are usually
respected, but elsewhere Chinese
squeeze enters in and they are robbed
of their branches as high up as it is
safe to climb. The result of this
pruning is a shape strongly suggestive
of the imitation fiber trees that come
with a child's set of building blocks,
except that the triangle of green which
is silhouetted against the sky, or mir-
rored in the paddies, is elevated on a
proportionately taller trunk. The
effect when the trees stand alone is by
no means unpicturesque, and when
they are massed a degree of airiness
i% attained, which would be less pro-
nounced were the light not able to pen-
etrate to their bases. Also, it seemed
to me that the presence of so many
surfaces of water at high levels assisted
in creating a more luminous atmos-
phere than is usual under gray skies.
Two other trees helped to maintain
a cheery, all-the-year-round greenness
in this neighborhood. These were a
^Photographs accompanying this article were taken by Mr. Walter Granger.
367
368
NATURAL HISTORY
American Museum of Natural Ht^tonj and Asia Magazine
The square stage that faced the altar platform on the opposing page. — The stage served
as laboratory and oflBce, as dining room and conning tower. To the left of the picture, be-
neath the gallery are ranged two or more empty coffins, which, according to Chinese custom,
are selected by their future tenants while still in the flush of life and reserved for use on the
inevitable day
species of palm and a bamboo. The
latter is highly esteemed, and with good
reason. Its grace is beyond compare,
it can be cut and cut and still sprouts
out anew, and its uses are endless. No
farmhouse tucked away up on the
mountain-side on its man-made plat-
form of stones is without a cluster of
these sunny-stemmed, feathery trees.
Had it not been for these plants,
the sight of the white-plastered, dark
timbered buildings, often with thatched
roofs and bearing the general form of a
Swiss chalet, might almost have per-
suaded us on a snowy morning that
we were spending the winter in Switzer-
land rather than in Asia on a parallel
a little north of the city of Cairo.
All this scenery was lost to view
once you stepped inside the Tan
families' ancestral hall. The structure
boasted only two round windows and
these were placed high up in a deep-set
wall and covered with a fretwork which,
while delightfully ornamental; render-
ed them utterly useless as a means of
observation. What light there was
came from the uncovered court in the
center. The plan of the roofed portion
was very simple. A square stage, sup-
ported on high pillars, jutted out into
the court over the entrance. Opposite
this was a platform given over to the
practice of ancestor worship. An altar
and tablets inscribed with eulogies to
the departed were placed against its
rear wall. Here Mr. Tan, the inn-
keeper who lived next door, came every
WINTERING OVER A FIRE BASKET IN SZECHUAN 369
American Museum of Natural History and Asia Magazine
The altar platform in the ancestral hall, with the tablets eulogizing the departed
placed against the rear wall. — On the table is the camp pet, a bamboo civet
{Paradoxurus) that interested visiting children of the neighborhood
morning and evening to light fragrant
joss sticks, to beat a drum, and to draw
bell-like tones from a bronze urn by
taps with his wand. Ordinarily this
little ceremony seemed a very pleasing
way of saluting the rising or departing
sun. To him it meant essential gain
in the amount of ''acquired merit"
necessary for peaceful rest in one of the
wooden coffins which already awaited
the family in a row under the gallery.
It was only when this devotion led
him to set off a small-sized cannon at
break of day during the New Year
festival period that we weren't so sure of
our enthusiasm for this ancient custom.
370
NATURAL HISTORY
These air}^ graceful trees, with their feathery
tops, are characteristic features of the land-
scape. The natives lop off all but the highest
branches for fuel, leaving the trunk denuded
of verdure. This picture is controlled by the
American Museum of Natural History and
Asia Magazine
To reach the stage one crossed the
court, ascended seven stone steps to
the altar platform, turned either to
the right or left, mounted a ladder of
four rungs, and traversed either one of
the two galleries which connected these
main sections. At each end of the
altar platform was a small room. One
of these was used as our No. 1 boy's
apartment, and the other made a very
dark kitchen. Back of the stage were
two spaces rendered partially private
by some openwork wooden grills of
interesting pattern. These served as
bedrooms for Mr. Granger and Mr.
Wong during the second winter. One
gallery was given up to taxidermy and
sleeping quarters for the remaining
Chinese. The other was utihzed for
storage of equipment and as a place to
keep alcoholic specimens and to spread
out the fossils, which always came in
coated with wet mud. The stage was
Mr. Granger's special domain, but
aside from its usage as laboratory and
office, it had also to be dining room and
conning tower.
Considerable consternation was
caused in the Tan family when it
became known that I was expected to
visit the camp. At first my coming
was not going to be allowed at all. A
conference of the elders was held and
finally a compromise was arrived at.
If I would onl}^ not sleep in the temple,
even though I dressed and ate there,
the wrath of the gods would be averted !
So it happened that Mr. Granger and I
put our cots in Mr. Tan's inn next door
and had a chance to see, or rather
hear, a phase of Chinese life not
originally on the program. In many
A native Szechuanese carrying a baby on
his back and a fire basket in his hands. The
wicker on top of the basket is strong enough to
support an individual seeking warmth and
comfort by sitting upon it. This picture is
controlled by the American Museum of Na-
tural History and Asia Magazine
WINTERING OVER A FIRE BASKET IN SZECHUAN
371
Amcriraii Museum oj Natural History nnrl Ana Magazine
A view from the front of the ancestral hall. — On the top of these mountains are the pits
that supply the "dragon bones" of Chinese medicine or the fossil treasures sought by the
palaeontologist
inns, as Mr. Archibald Little's books
will testify, the guest room is situated
over the pigsty. Had it been so
located in this instance, my trip to
Yen Ching Kou would have had to be
abandoned. Barring the fact that
Chinese never want to stop talking
until about one o'clock, that they begin
scraping their throats at the first
streak of dawn, that a flock of ducks
was put to sleep every night in a
corridor just behind our heads, and be-
gan squawking to be let out at an early
hour, and that rats and bats coursed
freely through the two doorways of our
room, we passed very comfortable
nights in these make-shift quarters!
The camp day was usually begun at
eight o'clock by Mr. Granger calling
out, as soon as we reached the gallery
floor, ''Get up, Jim! " The response to
this sally came generally from the
kitchen, where Mr. Wong had been
warming his shins for an hour, awaiting
this hint of the approach of breakfast !
This bit of pleasantry over, hsi lien
shui (wash-face water) was demanded
and in a few minutes we three were
enjoying as nice a meal as if we had
been in Peking, with the additional
treat of a variety of persimmons much
superior to those grown in the north.
The Szechuan fruit is smaller and
shaped somewhat like a very large
plum, and is extremely sweet and juicy.
(A foreigner eats it by cutting a thin
shce off the top and scooping out the
soft contents with a spoon.) Coffee,
cereal, eggs, pancakes followed each
other in courses. A hard life, we calledit !
In the intervals between expedi-
tions to the bone pits, which during this
372
NATURAL HISTORY
second season were a long distance
from camp, or when the weather was
too wet to make a trip practicable,
Mr. Granger busied himself making up
the smaller, more difficult bird skins.
With the thermometer standing in the
thirties, a damp wind blowing, and no
sun to give warmth, this was a chilly
business. When his fingers got too
stiff, a walk was in order so as to restore
circulation, but he would never desist
from his labors until he had finished his
day's work, often taking the last
stitches in a skin and smoothing every
feather down to a nicety after Chow
had brought out the supper lamps.
Sometimes the wind blew out their
small flames before the label was
written and the wee thing wrapped in
its blanket of cotton. I never tired of
watching this skilled performance.
Buckshot, Chi, and Mr. Wong were
the ones who kept the supply of bird
specimens going strong, the interest
being stimulated by the attractiveness
of the birds and the ease with which a
new species could be obtained. So
keen were we all to see the new ad-
ditions that the returning hunters were
questioned as to their success before
they were haK way across the temple
court . If the report was an " aye , " e ven
the cook joined the eager circle while
the game bag was being examined.
We shall not soon forget the day
that one of the Chinese brought in a
bird which more nearly resembles our
American hummer than anything else.
Its flame-colored throat gleamed so
brightly that not one of us could for-
bear to pass a flnger over the spot as if
to assure ourselves that the feathers
were not really on fire. A marvelous
purplish blue on the back of its neck
next attracted the eye. Everywhere
else an iridescent green shimmered, and
its little body was appropriately termi-
nated by two slender green tail feath-
ers, carefully sharpened to tiny points.
It must be understood that in rent-
ing this temple for museum purposes,
it was not expected that the native
population of the village would be
prevented from coming into the lower
part of the enclosure as long as they
didn't make any noise. The one excep-
tion we made was at meal times. At
other hours the altar steps were rarely
without a group of curious onlookers.
Most of what they saw must have been
a great puzzle for their untutored
minds, but at least our being there
brought a break in the frightful
monotony of their lives.
After breakfast usually the first
people to appear were the patients to
whom " Doctor Chow " was giving first-
aid treatment for sores of various kinds,
many of them the result of dog bites.
The weaver might be the next to fill
the space on the altar floor with an
apparatus for winding his spindles, or
with some large skeins of white cotton
to be dipped in a stiffening solution and
hung up to drain. The dyer had found
that a long bamboo pole placed under
the eaves of the gaUery roof made a
fine place from which to suspend his
freshly dipped pieces of blue coolie
cloth. Idle curiosity brought many to
see the lao tai tdi (old mother), as I
am always called by the Chinese.
Most of the inhabitants had never seen
a foreign woman before. In the town
of Wan Hsien I was one of three
English-speaking women. When the
wives of the gentry came, Mr. Tan
made no objections to their mounting
the stage to have a closer look at me.
My tan leather walking shoes and my
many layers of wool clothing interested
them, while their cleverly embroidered
cotton suits and fancy hair ornaments
were no less entertaining to me.
WINTERING OVER A FIRE BASKET IN SZECHUAN
373
The biggest commotion was caused
when a farmer on whose land a bone
pit was being exploited arrived with
some baskets of fossils which he hoped
would be salable and Mr. Wong was
hurriedly summoned to do the inter-
preting, to oversee the process of
weighing (they are sold at from $18 to
$23 a picul — equal to 133K pounds —
depending on the quality of the bones
and the amount of mud and rocks
adhering to them) and to advise as to
how much cwnsha above the sale price
it would be proper to give so as to en-
courage the bringing of more material.
During my first visit of twenty-eight
days at the camp the . sun shone
brightly for three whole days and as
many half days, a better average than
the winter months of some years show.
Mr. Granger grew so tired of writing
in his diary "cloudy, cold, and damp"
that he said he fully intended having a
rubber stamp made of this legend,
should the Fates ever send him to
Szechuan again! When a warm bright
day did come, the villagers turned out
en masse to make a thoroughgoing
investigation of the live stock that had
accumulated on their persons since the
last sunshiny day! At our camp also
unwonted activity appeared in the line
of laundry work and bed airing, and the
opportunity was not lost for taking and
printing pictures and for giving our
own selves the chance of a sunning.
On the first favorable day I was
taken to see some of the nearest bone
pits, a half-day's journey from the
temple. They lay in some high up-
lands on the farther side of the range
of mountains in sight from our front
door, and were reached by a trail of
stone steps which for steepness left
nothing to be desired.
It was still early in January.
Patches of snow lingered from the fall
a few nights previous and a genuine
holiday atmosphere pervaded the scene
because of quantities of a shrub bear-
ing bright red berries similar to those
of our holly. Buckshot had brought
branches of these to the temple a week
before, when he and I had fashioned
Christmas wreaths out of evergreens
and had transformed the stage into a
semblance of an American home at the
Yuletide season.
As we climbed upward we met many
carrying coolies coming down with
their loads of wood, wood oil, and rice.
There was hardly anyone who with-
held a friendly greeting, or who would
not, with the slightest encouragement,
commence conversation, though what
it was all about we seldom knew. Mr.
Granger would invariably reply with a
lingo as completely unintelligible to
them. It often took the form of
"Hello, Mike! Sure! Same to you!"
so that if the speakers had not been
polite enough to say something agree-
able, their evil thoughts would descend
upon them in turn! This answer,
delivered in his gay manner, always
brought a smile to their earnest,
patient faces but I could never help
regretting a httle that the real humor
of the jest from our point of view was
lost to their minds. If the natives of
Szechuan have, as I believe, the same
childlike curiosity that the Chinese
population has in Peking, these way-
farers were in all likehhood simply
asking us whither we were going,
whence we had come, and what our
errand was.
By the time twelve o'clock had come
round, we had conveniently arrived at
a small temple at the entrance to a
large cave. Here we warmed ourselves
and ate our lunch around the care-
taker's open fire while the rice-eating
members of the party prepared their
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NATURAL HISTORY
food over a cement stove in the
opposite corner of the kitchen. A wide
doorway looked out upon the cave,
the opening of which was hned with
niches carved in the hmestone and
set with brightly painted gods, among
them one representing the moon and
another the sun. A scientific interest
attached to the cave on account of the
bats which it had yielded in the winter
of 1921-22.
Soon after leaving the temple we
came upon the first fossil pits. As had
been anticipated, none of them were
being worked at the time, but these
excavations showed as well as any how
deep and dark the holes were and how
easy it would be for the sides to fall in,
since nothing was used to shore up
the wall of earth. In diameter a hole
of moderate size may vary from four to
sixteen feet; the depth, from twenty to
sixty feet. Old pits — that is, those
that have been worked a long time —
are apt to be much wider and deeper.
As the pits deepen, water gathers in
the bottom, often forcing a discon-
tinuance of work. The darkness of
the wells is overcome by the use of
tiny wood-oil lamps.
Where, as in some instances, the pits
were in more rocky surroundings and
the probability of a cave-in less
imminent, there was still a strong
element of danger in trusting oneself
to the frail pulley which was erected
over the top, and which served the
Chinese as a means of descent and as-
cent. It looked hardly stout enough to
raise the baskets of wet bones. A little
later in the winter a report reached us
of a workman who had been killed by a
collapsing pit, and I was very glad that
my usually intrepid bone-digger was
willing to use discretion and keep out.
The whole region seemed permeated
with deep pits, many of which were so
disguised by plants and vines that their
true nature was not apparent.
To anyone interested in keeping
fossil bones whole, and related ones in
juxtaposition, the utter disregard of
these matters by the Chinese during
the process of removal from the pits or
afterwards was most trying. Their
sole object in digging them was to sell
them to wholesale druggists for medic-
inal purposes, and since the final state
of the bones would be powder, why
take any particular pains? The number
of pits was too great, the areas contain-
ing them were too widely separated and
the quarries were worked by too many
different people to make it practicable
to do much in the way of instructing
the operators as to the reasons for
exercising special care in taking out
fossils for the American Museum col-
lection. The situation could have been
remedied only by obtaining entire
control of the pits, and that was out of
the question.
The crowning treat of the day was
the view we had as we began the
descent to the camp. Never before
had it been given me to look down on so
vast a sea of peaks as were spread out
below us. Had the air been clearer
an even larger number would have
been included in a picture which, as it
was, will always be treasured in my
memory as one of the very finest.
My next visit to the camp was in the
middle of February and gave me an
unusually good opportunity for ob-
serving the Chinese during their New
Year festivities. The holiday period
begins solemnly, with front doors
closed and sealed with paper, and
decorated with paper emblems. An
unwonted stillness is about everywhere.
On the second day groups of men and
boys are seen playing gambling games
at tables set out in the street. The
WINTERING OVER A FIRE BASKET IN SZECHUAN
377
quiet is broken on the third day by the
setting off of firecrackers, and a time of
real sociabiHty ensues. Calls are paid
and gifts of foodstuffs exchanged, —
principally eggs, puffed rice, and a
large round rice cake, highly varnished
and brightly colored. During this
season the more well-to-do people make
their annual visit to relatives living at
a distance. At our temple members of
the Tan family came to offer special
joss at the altar. Many of them
brought along a present for Mr.
Granger, and all were bidden to sit
down for tea, sweets, and smokes, dis-
pensed by Mr. Wong, who acted as
master of ceremonies. In the village
two large feasts were given by families
who wanted to do honor to the gods in
memory of departed ones. When, in
fulfillment of this purpose, the house is
hung with embroidered panels and
painted scrolls, and men are hired to
come to make paper facsimiles of things
used by the deceased during life, and
priests and musicians are engaged for a
period of three days, the expense is
large. Although it is easy to under-
stand the glamor surrounding the part
of the celebration which took place out
of doors under a full moon, when
candles and lanterns and sparks from
firecrackers were all reflected in the
waters of a near-by brook, we should
have been better pleased to see the
funds used for the purchase of that
rare article in Szechuan, a piece of
window glass, to lighten the dark
homes of the present generation.
One of the chief events of the New
Year festival is the arrival of a troop
of itinerant acrobats. They appeared
in the temple one afternoon at five-
thirty followed by the occupants of
both the upper and the lower village and
everybody from the neighboring farm-
houses, who entirely filled the steps,
altar platform, and all of the court
not actually needed by the performers.
Three tables were piled on top of one
another to obtain a stage high enough
to permit the crowd to see everything
well, and to add, as I suspect, a spice of
risk for the participants. Part of the
show consisted simply of feats of
balancing. In the latter half, however,
two of the men united in impersonating
a lion. This was done by covering
themselves with a variegated satin
robe to which a huge lion's head with
long mane was attached. A few bells
sewed somewhere in the folds gave out
a pleasant tinkle as the "animal"
leaped about, trying to intimidate
another man, disguised as a monkey.
By six o'clock it became so dark that
the manager of the show lighted three
pretty, round, swinging lanterns and
several four-sided ones set in the top of
tall poles, in form not unlike our street
gas lamps of some decades ago. These
were supplemented by all the lights
which the Museum outfit could mus-
ter : two carbide lamps and four or five
kerosene oil burners. Even at that it
couldn't be said that we outshone the
Hippodrome! An orchestra of four
shrill pieces beat out an accompani-
ment which seemed to please everyone
else mightily, though it was wearisome
to us. It was not until seven-thirty
that the audience was satisfied and
dispersed to their homes. So little
out of the ordinary happens in these
far-inland places, it is not surprising
that the entertainment does not have
to be of a very high order to win appro-
bation.
On March 3, I reluctantly returned
to Wan Hsien and remained at the
Mission that is located there until our
final departure from Szechuan. This
month was an anxious one for both Mr.
Granger and myself. Five days after
378
NATURAL HISTORY
my return the war clouds which had
been gathering broke, the place
where the clash came being about
twelve miles from the camp. At this
point the defeated Wan Hsien troops
cut a dike which prevented the success-
ful Northern army from following their
retreat for several hours. This cir-
cumstance probably had much to do
with the orderly procedure of both
armies through Yen Ching Kou. For
four days and nights Mr. Granger and
Mr. Wong could not relax in their guard
at the temple. One night about fifty
soldiers were given shelter from the rain
in the lower part under the gallery,
but they departed at daybreak without
committing any depredations. Among
the last of the Northern troops to pass
by the steps of the temple was a sol-
dier whom Buckshot recognized as a
Pekingese by the strong burr of his
accent. A friendly exchange of courte-
sies took place on the strength of
their common birthplace and the visit
ended by his being intrusted with a
letter to me to say that alUwas well at
the camp. I was unable to send out
any news of my safety from Wan
Hsien because no messenger would
contract for the trip on account of the
fear of being drafted as a carrying
coolie for the new army of occupation.
It was not until five days after the
evacuation of Wan Hsien that a
coolie sent in from the Museum camp
(in special uniform to make clear his
identity) took back the news that the
Mission, though threatened, had been
unmolested, and that the military had
placed a bridge of boats across the
Yangtze a short distance above the
city. This was done to facilitate the
movement of Northern troops into
Wan Hsien, but it very decidedly
hindered our plans, for the junk which
was to transport us down to Ichang
still lay moored at Pei Shui Chi, and
it meant a wait of several more days
while negotiations were being completed
for getting it through the blockade.
All was in readiness on March 22 for
the journej^ down river. Owing to a
band of robbers who, reports said,
infested a place called P'an T'ou,
twenty-five miles below Wan Hsien, it
was planned to go only as far as that
point the first day, and to remain there
overnight under guard of the American
gunboat "Palos," Captain Simpson
commanding. The junk was a half
day in covering the distance. We
arrived in time for tiffining with the
captain and his officers.
After lunch everybody who could
left the ship to amuse himself as best
pleased him. Some of the crew played
baseball on a wide sandy beach with
Captain Simpson and the ship's doctor;
others made up a duck-hunting party
to a place not far away. A visit to an
old temple high up on a cliff on the
opposite shore under the guidance of
Lieutenant Connolly appealed to us.
Dinner on board the '' Palos " and after-
ward a game of hearts finished the
day. The weather had been perfect
and as we sat in comfortable easy chairs
on the forward deck and watched the
evening lights fade on a scene which for
peaceful loveliness was unrivaled, it
was hard to realize that only a week
before bandits had popped out from
their hiding places and had robbed one
of the Yangtze River inspectors
of nearly all that he had, even
taking the clothing of the crew of his
house boat. A luxury which Mr.
Granger will always remember in con-
nection with Captain Simpson's
gracious entertainment was a chance to
have a really-truly American shower
bath, with hot and cold water. In
fact, there wasn't anything about the
WINTERING OVER A FIRE BASKET IN SZECHUAN 379
ship that didn't look good to us, and
we were loath to leave her side the fol-
lowing morning. The captain's last
thought for us was to fill us up with
coffee and egg sandwiches, for our own
breakfast was to be delayed until we
had walked around the Hsin Lung
T'an, reached a half hour after getting
under way.
En route between Wan Hsien and
P'an T'ou a Chinese soldier had begged
us to take him with us (he had a mes-
sage to deliver to an army officer in
Ichang) and at Captain Simpsons'
suggestion we also took on board as
passengers two sailors from the " Palos "
who had finished their term of service
and were homeward bound to America.
This increased our number to twenty-
five. When we were all stretched out
for the night, there wasn't a great deal
of superfluous floor space, and we con-
gratulated ourselves that the weather
during the five days of the trip down
river was exceptionally good. Had it
rained, there would have been little
chance for shifting our positions to
avoid the leaks in the mat covering.
A sort of boudoir was devised for
me by partitioning off, by means of a
large piece of canvas, a third of the
space in the cabin which occupied the
center of the boat. Mr. Granger and
Mr. Wong had their cots on the other
side of this improvised wall, but by
folding up one of the beds in the day
time, their erstwhile dormitory was
restored to its proper use as a passage-
way from bow to stern, except indeed
when we blocked it again while gath-
ered there for our meals. The two
sailors and our Chinese assistants slept
on the floor just beyond the cabin.
All of the forward part of the junk
was needed bj^ the crew, consisting of
twelve rowers, two steersmen, and the
crew's cook. The laodah, or captain,
had a bunk high up in the extreme
stern, but the rest of the men lay down
at night on almost the identical spots
where they had stood to their labors
during the day. They were protected
from the elements by pieces of rush
matting ingeniously erected on poles in
about three minutes after the boat
was tied up for the night. We marvel-
ed at the contentedness and even joy-
ousness of these men who worked at
the oars and sang to the strokes, fed
only on meager i^ations of rice and
green vegetables with occasionally a
very little pork. Culinary operations
by two separate cooks on two sorts of
stoves were also conducted on that
much overcrowded forward deck.
The Hsin Lung and the Hsin T'an
are the only rapids bad enough in the
spring season to warrant passengers
disembarking. Our junk, being well
manned for its size and guided by a
special pilot, took the rough water of
both of these rapids splendidly. Just
below the Hsin T'an is another very
short but troublesome rapid. This
time two special pilots were hired, one
to handle the tiller and one to manip-
ulate the forward sweep, usually in the
hands of our captain. At this last
place, a steamer was tied up. to the
shore and her crew was steadily
bailing out water. She had come to
grief while trying to get up this rapid
a short while before.
Assuredly the'' god of flowing waters"
was ranged on our side throughout this
wonderful trip. The only accident we
had to report was a broken oar, and this
had happened where we could easily
stop for repairs. The god of bandits,
though, was not quite so mindful of our
welfare. At the town of Kuei Cho,
where we moored the second night, we
were told that we were liable to meet
trouble on the morrow. Shortly after
380
NATURAL HISTORY
lunch it came. AVe were then passing
through the middle of the inspiring
Wu Shan gorge. So great had been
mj^ joy at having a chance to see this
long gorge — the most interesting of all
the gorges — at a slower pace than was
possible when we came up in the steam-
er, that I had completely forgotten the
danger that threatened. Not so with
the wiser heads of our party. Even as
the first shot was fired, Mr. Granger
was out on deck conning the cliffs with
his field glasses for suspicious figures.
The shot was evidently intended for
the man who was up on the running
board holding the tiller. Two others
followed in quick succession and these
were aimed at the two sets of rowers.
All three shots fell in the water. By
this time everybody who could shoot
had grabbed his gun and the return
salute commenced. From my position
on the floor of the cabin the reverbera-
tions sounded tremendous and as I was
unable to tell which party was doing
the firing, I assumed it must be largely
the bandits and was naturally full of
alarm. In reality all of the noise had
proceeded from the junk, and it proved
to be as effective in scaring the bandits
as it had been in frightening me. Mr.
Wong held the only long-range rifle
and he was the first to open fire. Soon
one of the sailors (who had taken a
prize for good marksmanship) took the
weapon from him and he was successful
in scattering the straw thatch off a
little hut which had evidently been
sheltering our assailants. This put
the finishing touch to their rout.
That there were no more than five
men seen by our party was no guarantee
that a larger force was not in hiding.
We reckoned that they had the surprise
of their lives when so great a racket
came forth suddenly from so peaceful-
looking a junk. The bandits were
armed (Mr. Wong tells me) with high-
power modern sn'uiy rifles, whereas our
complete outfit consisted of only two
No. 12 shot guns, one 25-caliber
Savage sporting rifle, four automatic
pistols (including the two carried by
the sailors) and a small, short range,
combination 22- and 44-caHber gun.
Twentj^-five li (about eight miles)
below this point of attack was another
place with a bad reputation for robbers
and here Chi and Buckshot prepared to
have some fun at Chow's expense by
making him stand up with the little
combination gun. He and the Chinese
soldier passenger had flattened them-
selves on the floor beside me during
the actual engagement at P'ai Shih and
that had not accorded with their ideas
of valor. Fortunately the rest of the
afternoon had nothing further in store
for us of a militant nature but the
uncertainty as to what might happen
kept us all watchful. Darkness had
long since fallen when we reached a
place where it was considered safe to
tie up for the night.
If anyone should ask us whether we
can recommend a similar jaunt down
this age-old river when peach and plum
blossoms deck the banks and spring
adds a deeper hush to the silence of the
gorges, we should have no hesitancy in
sajdng, as the Chinese phrase goes,
k'o i (can do), but should the question
be as to whether we wish to renew
experience with Chinese bandits, the
reply would be emphatically, yu yao
(not want).
Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain Goat'
By WILLIAM T. SHAW
Professor of Zoology, State College of Washington
ONE object dominates the land-
scape east of Bellingham Bay,
Washington. This is Mount
Baker, sun-bathed and radiant in the
glory of its oneness. Beyond, standing
scarcely a score of miles away, is
Shuksan, all but hidden and little
known, slightly less in altitude, — in
ruggedness and inaccessibility quite
the equal of the greater dome. Be-
tween, lies Austin Pass, of such remote-
ness as to challenge the visits of
mountain-loving men from far up and
down the Pacific Coast. Here, pro-
tected in its Arctic fastness, the slowly
diminishing species of wild mountain
goat in western America is making
one of its last stands.
Biological research had taken me
into this region during mid-August of
1922. At first my camp was solitary.
Then, one evening a troupe of pack-
laden boys came in "to do the peaks"
and after they had enjoyed a brief
space of rest and a cup of steaming
coffee, we were " pards " in the fortunes
of the forests and friends for life.
One morning soon after their arrival,
one of their number, Mr. Henry
Howard, Scout chief at Bellingham, and
I dropped over the Pass down into one
of the headwater forks of the Swift . We
carried with us an outfit of traps and
photographic material. After an hour
or two . of investigation in the grass
meadows of the Swift, we left the trail
and headed straight up for Crater
Mountain, where we hoped to arrive in
time for a certain afternoon lighting
on the great ice dome of Baker.
Dropping down a thousand feet and
climbing back over a trailless slope of
moss, brush, and sliding granite flakes,
is an endurance-testing feat; so when
pockets were turned out and found to
produce only one English walnut and
two peanuts — last remnants of trap-line
bait — as the day's meal for two toiling
men, we had to look the problem
squarely in the face but decided never-
theless to continue our journey up-
ward. At last the old crater ridge was
reached, and the tripod planted squarely
in fine view of Baker, but just as the
focusing was finished, my companion
said, "Goat!"
Yes, it was a goat, a big wild moun-
tain goat, wary and unhampered, with
no park affinities to dull his instincts
or lessen his aversion for man. There
he stood, squarely in the field of the
binoculars, quietly grazing from a
patch of snow grass growing on the
canon-side, though quite a mountain
mile from us.
Goats, — well did you ever try to
photograph one?
To back up endurance a walnut and
any number of peanuts are no fit sub-
stitutes for bacon; yet down came the
tripod, and soon we were under the
packs once more. By this time the
goat had apparently finished his pastur-
ing and had taken on some degree of
stabihty, — just what we could not
determine from our distance. At least
he was not moving away.
We went along as quietly as possible
on the lower side of the ridge, walking
on the sun-softened snow whenever it
iln popular parlance this animal is referred to as a goat, but from a scientific standpomt this is not an ac-
curate designation, for this ungulate is a member of a group more or less intermediate between the typical goats
and the true antelopes. Like the American robin, which is not a robin but a thrush, the Rocky Mountain goat
is the victim of a popular misconception.
SSI
Copyrighted 1923 by William T. Shaw
CONFRONTING THE INTRUDER
This picture gives an excellent idea of the habitat of the animal: the great
height of the cliff, the depth of the carion, and the mountain landscape in the back-
ground. The animal stands as if in a shadow box produced by the niche in the
rock. Its sturdy mountain-climbing limbs are firmty placed, and the body form,
massive shoulders, and head are well indicated by quartering light
384
AIMING A CAMERA AT A WILD MOUNTAIN GOAT 385
led in the direction in which we were
tending, grateful always for the gentle
breeze fanning full in our faces.' When
the distance was about half covered,
we parted, and Henry dropped down
through the timber to reconnoiter,
while I kept to the up-running ridge,
hoping to get above the goat, — a
principle the value of which is well
known to hunters of these animals.
Passing a little grove of high-mountain
hemlock, my attention was attracted
to a well-marked trail leading out along
the bluff side. Within this clump of
trees was a veritable lair, where the
goat had undoubtedly spent many a
warm summer afternoon. Going back,
I awaited my partner, who soon came
up, reporting no sign of the goat, but
expressing the belief that the animal
was somewhere beyond a second or
third prominence of rock reaching out
from the main bluff side.
I showed him the trail, but no need —
the incident of the walnut had long
since been forgotten. We were after
goats now! Slowly and cautiously we
crept out along this path, and I still
remember distinctly the pertinent
things that passed keenly through my
mind as we went carefullj^ along. Here
was vegetation such as had been found
along a deserted goat trail on Rainier
two years before. This was goat
country to be sure. There were the
patches of snow with lush grass of
tempting greenness such as goats
would drop low to procure. Far below
we looked into the canon of the Swift.
Out and out we went, as cautiously
and silently as is possible on a granite-
chipped goat trail. At one point we
left a pack sack, at another a tripod or
trapping bag, — whatever would lighten
our burdens. Finally we passsed the
second of the outstanding faces, with
still a hundred yards to go. Have you
ever noticed how hobnails grate against
a slanting floor of granite? We were
keenly aware of it, and presently dis-
carded the shoes that bore the nails.
With careful step we approached the
last outstanding face, now creeping
along the trail, again flattening against
a difficult corner of jutting rock, listen-
ing to our own heartbeats, as a dis-
lodged pebble went clattering down the
canon-side, expecting to hear at any
moment a greater clattering of pebbles,
loosened by a justly suspicious and
alarmed goat. But the expected did
not happen, and I shall never forget
the expression on Henry's face as he
turned around to me after looking over
the ledge, saying in a whisper, ''There's
your goat." And there, in a beautiful
coat of snowy hair, glistening in the
sun of a late afternoon, lay the
dozing animal, on the flat upturned
stump of a tree that had been storm-
wrenched from the mountain-side. He
was probably not more than twenty-
five or thirty feet away.
The sun was warm enough to pro-
duce marked respiratory^ movements
over his flanks. His expression, — well
it was that of boredom, as with half-
closed eyes, and wearily twitching ears,
he occasionally swung his head slowly
in evasion of a large fly that buzzed
about him.
Just one satisfying peep and we
began work on the camera, a five by
seven, fitted with a Zeiss Tessar lens.
Series lib. Moments were moments
now, for what if the fickle wind of
a mountain canon should suddenly
change? Fortunately there was a fiat
rock just man-high in front of us.
Beyond was an open space past which
we could not go. Here was our last
stand. Cautiously we slid the camera
up on the rock and with equal care
leveled it with bits of flat stone flakes.
Photograph by William T. Shaw
MOUNTAIN HEMLOCK
This locality is within a short distance of the region where the picture of the mountain
goat was obtained. The photograph was taken from Crater Mountain, looking northwest
across the valley of the Nooksak to the Church Mountains. Two splendid examples of the
mountain hemlock occupy the foreground. This tree is usually found in high altitudes, not
infrequently growing in exposed places
386
AIMING A CAMERA AT A WILD MOUNTAIN GOAT
387
The finding cloth was worked over with
scarcely an inch to spare, the chief
anxiety being to place the goat well
in the middle of the field and to secure
a careful focus.
Only two plates remained from the
day's work. One of these was at once
exposed. The other, a postcard size in
a kit was the next and last. Again
focus and other adjustments were gone
through and every precaution taken to
make the best of the situation on this
greatly narrowed field and one remain-
ing plate. We were ready, but why
make a duplicate exposure? In whis-
pered consultation we talked it over
and decided to take a risk. Cautiously
I began showing myself above the rock.
At first the goat paid no attention, but
in a few moments he began to look my
way and then, half-suspicious, he
gazed at me with a keen steady stare
from his clear black eyes. I made no
sudden movement and he was not
alarmed ; yet, still eyeing me, he got up
and after a moment silently drew his
body into one great muscle-straighten-
ing stretch. What a huge creature he
was ! Without moving from his tracks he
looked calmly about, up and down and
far out over the canon. Slowly his head
swung around and, as I saw the sharp
tips of his beautiful black horns stand
out vividly against his massive white
shoulders, something told me the
psychological moment had come and I
pressed the bulb.
Just two hours before, we had been
somewhat indifferently viewing this
animal with the binoculars from Crater
Mountain.
Sequel.— Not far back along the goat
trail lay an object we had not dis-
carded,— a gun, with ammunition of
sufficient power to have served our
needs. Over in camp was a State
paper giving us the privilege of collect-
ing for scientific purposes. Again we
held a council of war, — yet was it not a
parley of peace?
Three thousand feet below, from the
little silver thread of the Swift, came
the peaceful murmur of running waters.
Far over the intervening weathered
canons lay silent Baker, flooding our
wall with a warmth of reflected light
and heat, shared by all alike, in that
lovely, closing, summer day. Over to
the east stood Shuksan, calm and
patient in its vigil, a vigil maintained
through countless ages. Our council
was a council of peace.
Courtesy of Mr. Watts, Utah Fuel Company
A track imprint in the roof of a coal mine; the spread between the toes is twenty-four inches
Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines
A STRANGE PHENOMENON NOTED IN UTAH AND COLORADO
By WILLIAM PETERSON
Director and Geologist, Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah Agricultural College, Logan, Utah
TO view the tracks of ancient Creta-
ceous monsters is not an entirely
new experience, but to view these
tracks from beneath instead of from
above is somewhat of a novelt^^ This
is a privilege open to those interested in
the ancient life of the Cretaceous seas
of Utah and Colorado. It was the
writer's good fortune to spend three
summers in a detailed survey and in-
spection of the coal deposits of Utah.
388
While he was examining the under-
ground workings of many of the mines,
attention was called to certain protu-
berances from the coal seam roof. A
definite shape had been recognized in
the case of some of these, though most
of them were spoken of as "'carbuncles,"
"nigger heads," and under similarterms.
In areas where the coal was low these
protuberances had to be removed to
give room for the mine hauling, for
DINOSAUR TRACKS IN THE ROOFS OF COAL MINES 389
some of them projected as much as a foot
below the roof of the coal seam. In
some places the projections appear in
groups while in others they are solitary.
After inspecting hundreds of these
protuberances, the writer agrees with
some of the mine foremen and super-
intendents that these peculiar forma-
tions undoubtedly had their origin as
tracks of ancient monsters which
tramped through or around the border
of the Cretaceous sea. The tracks
seem to have been made at a time when
the peat accumulation was covered
with a foot or more of mud. The layer
of mud was not sufficiently thick to
support the weight of the animal walk-
ing over it. The feet sank through the
mud several inches, or even more than
a foot at times, into the soft, yielding
peat underneath. Some mud was
pushed into the peat as the animal
brought down its weight, and as it
drew out its foot, the footprint would
be filled with mud from above. As
time went on, nature's distillation re-
duced the peat to coal, and the mud
with its track projections was con-
verted into solid rock. In most places
the coal is easily sepai^ated from the
roof, leaAdng the track-shaped protu-
berance extending partially or wholly
as a definite appendage from the ceil-
ing. When the coal is completely re-
moved, the tracks appear in various
forms. In some cases the footprints
project only part way through the roof
and in others they project so far that a
clear space is shown between the
portion of the track represented by the
toes and the solid roof. It is interest-
ing to note that, as far as observed, the
largest tracks are the ones which pro-
trude farthest from the rock roof. The
material filling the track varies slightly
but is for the most part an arenaceous
shale or argillaceous sandstone.
Consecutive tracks in the roof of the old
Ballard Mine on the propert}' of the Amer-
ican Fuel Company
The animals seem to have walked for
the most part along trails or definite
paths. It was noted that some of
these paths are twenty or thirty feet
in width, and the exposures in many
entries and rooms of the coal mines
show them to be comparatively straight
390
NATURAL HISTORY
in alignment. The individual tracks in
the paths are seldom clearly outhned
and only when one of the animals has
traveled independently does every im-
print become distinct. In several places
it has happened that an entry of the coal
mine has followed approximately the
path of a single animal, thus exposing
several of the tracks for measurement
and comparison. Seven consecutive
tracks are shown in the old Ballard
IMine on the property of the American
Fuel Company, located on the Denver
and Rio Grande Railroad about eight
miles north of Thompson Springs.
These tracks are among the largest
observed and the measurements are
shown in the diagram on p. 389.
In a different entry of the mine,
tracks of similar size are found, and by
courtesy of the company one of these
was taken down and shipped to the
Geology Museum of the Utah Agricul-
tural College at Logan. On this page
is shown a photograph of this track
The 12-inch rule, laid on this track after it
had been removed from the roof of the old Bal-
lard mine, indicates the huge size of the track
with a 12-inch rule placed on it for
comparison. The track measures 31
inches between the spread of the outer
toes and 32 inches from the heel to the
front of the middle toe. Near the point
of separation the toes are from 6 to 8
inches in diameter, and the toes are so
pointed as to indicate the presence
of rather sharp claws on the end of
each toe.
In the mine at Castle Gate, Utah, a
photograph was taken of one of the
tracks as it appeared in the roof of the
mine before removal. The photograph
(see p. 388) is furnished by courtesy of
Mr. Watts of the Utah Fuel Company.
This track, which is similar in char-
acter to those mentioned above, is
somewhat smaller than the}^, being
only 24 inches between the spread of
the toes and extending for about the
same distance if measured from the
heel to the front of the middle toe.
Only one track smaller than this
has been measured, that in the mine at
Standardville in Spring Canon, the
length of which is onlj^ 16 inches;
however, it is similar in other respects
to the Castle Gate track. Two casts
of tracks have recentlj'- been obtained
bj^ workmen of the United States Fuel
Company at the Panther Mine.^
The tracks referred to in this article
have been observed by the writer at
intervals over an area more than one
hundred miles in extent and in differ-
ent seams of coal, which represent a
stratigraphic thickness of more than
two hundred feet of sandstone includ-
ing three or four beds of coal. The
coal seams total in thickness approxi-
mately thirty-five feet. The deposit
is near the base of the Mesa Verde
formation of the Upper Cretaceous.
The tracks are all of the three-toed type
'There are unauthenticated reports that similar
tracks have been observed on the roof of the coal
mine at Somerset, Colorado.
DINOSAUR TRACKS IN THE ROOFS OF COAL MINES 391
and seem to have been made by an
animal that walked only on its hind
feet. In one place, where the roof of
the mine was badly caved, careful
examination was made for any trace of
either front feet or tail track, but no
evidence of either was found.
The most startling thing about the
tracks is their enormous size. The
writer has examined painstakingly the
feet of the mounted skeletons of the
Apatosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Claosaurus,
Hadrosaurus, and others, but none ap-
parently have feet large enough to fit
these tracks.
Dr. W. D. Matthew of the Amer-
ican Museum interprets the tracks
as having been made by a member of
the deinodont familj^ of dinosaurs, of
which the Tyrannosaurus is the largest
known type. He further describes the
Tyrannosaurus as "the climax of evolu-
tion of the giant flesh-eating dinosaurs.
It reached a length of 47 feet and in
bulk must have equalled the mammoth,
mastodon, or the largest hving ele-
phants. The massive hind limbs, sup-
porting the whole weight of the body,
exceeded the limbs of the great
proboscideans in bulk, and in a stand-
ing position the animal was from 18 to
20 feet high as against 11 feet or so for the
largest African elephant or the south-
ern mammoth. The head was 4 feet,
3 inches long; 3 feet, 4 inches deep;
and 2 feet, 9 inches wide. The long
deep powerful jaws are armed with
teeth from 3 to 6 inches long." The
front limbs were small and were prob-
ably used only in capturing and gather-
ing food. The great bulk of the body
would imply slow movement, and that
food was obtained from the shallow
water of the Late Cretaceous sea.
~!
The skeleton of Tryannoscmnts in the American Museum
Dean's ''Bibliography of Fishes''
A Review
By RAYMOND C. OSBURN
Professor of Zoology, Ohio State University
A BIBLIOGRAPHY is usually consid-
ered the driest and most uninteresting
matter that can be reduced to print.
The subject of the present review is
much more than the usual catalogue of
scientific writings in a particular field, for its
completeness and manner of treatment lift it
entirely out of the category of ordinary
bibliographies and make it an outstanding
contribution, not only to the subject of
ichthyology in its various phases, but to
every field of work connected with the lower
vertebrates.
The prefatory remarks by Dean in this
Bibhography indicate that he and his collab-
orators have taken this work very seriously
and that the almost limitless task has often
appalled them, as well it might. The quota-
tion from Wood's preface to his History of
Oxford, given in Dean's preface to Volume
III, is certainly well chosen:
"A painful work it is I'll assure you, and
more than difficult, wherein that toyle hath
been taken, as no man thinketh so no man
believeth, but he that hath made the triall."
The fishes occupy a unique position in
zoological work, for they are the fundamental
group among the vertebrates and must be
investigated with regard to the evolution of
every important anatomical, embryological,
and physiological character shown by their
higher relatives, and of all the vertebrates,
with the exception of our domestic animals,
they have the most important economic re-
lation to man. Approximately 45,000 titles
are included in Dean's Bibliography, the dates
of publication extending from the time of
Aristotle to the present, and this list does not
include the vast amount of literature on
marketing or utiUzation unless the papers are
of special interest.
The Bibliography is a stupendous affair in
three volumes, totaling 2127 pages, — a truly
astonishing compilation of the sources of
information, but so well arranged and digested
that it affords easy access to the mine of
knowledge regarding this group of animals.
.392
The Authors' List of signed publications,
since the period of Linnaeus, occupies all of
Volume I (published in 1916) and nearly all of
Volume II (1917) and this, with the Addenda
of 199 pages in Volume III (1923), makes an
authors' catalogue of 1693 pages, covering the
titles since the publication of Linnaeus' tenth
edition of Systema Naturse in 1758. At the
end of Volume II and the beginning of
Volume III is a list of Anonymous Works,
covering 29 pages. Volume III also contains a
list of Titles of Pre-Linnaean Publications,
totaling 134 pages; a list of the General
Bibliographies Referring to Fishes, 4 pages;
Voyages and Expeditions Which Relate to
Fishes, 5 pages; Periodicals Relating to Fish
and Fish Culture, 6 pages; Errata and Corri-
genda, dealing chiefly with the correction of
the names of foreign writers and with dupli-
cation in reprints, 7 pages. This is followed
by a Subject Index of 305 pages and a Finding
Index of 40 pages.
In the general Bibliography explanatory
notes are inserted frequently under the titles.
For example under Mast, S.O., "Vision in
Flounders" is the following: "Simulation of
background regulated bj' visual stimuli.
Evidence of color vision. Motion vision as
acute as in man." After Okada, S., " Catalog
of vertebrated animals of Japan," is the note,
"Classification in Latin; species in Latin and
Japanese," The Authors' List is thus
rendered much more useful than would be
the case if there were merely citation of the
titles and place of publication as in ordinary
bibliographies.
In the section of Pre-Linnaean Publications
these notes are more numerous. For example,
under Leeuwenhoek, Antony van: "Con-
tinuatio arcanorum naturae detectorum,"
Delft, 1697, the note, "Sexes of eels, circula-
tion in eels, and scales of fishes." Under
Marcgrave, George, (1610-1644), are given
the various ways of spelling his name and
references to biographical notes concerning
his life and work, and under the first of
his titles, — " Brasilianische Naturgegenstande
DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES"
393
(Collectio rerum naturalium Brasilise) c.
1643," "these water-color drawings of the
animals and plants of Brazil, made by Marc-
grave, are preserved in the great library of
Berlin, labeled 'Libri Picturati A. 36-37.'
There is reason to believe that Count Maurice
of Nassau-Siegen made some of these paint-
ings. On at least some of the figures of fishes
there are notes in his handwriting. They are
(in part) the originals of the figures in Marc-
grave's great work."
These copious notes on Pre-Linnsean works,
including historical items, biographical notes,
brief digests of the contents of papers, later
editions and translations, etc., are sufficiently
useful and important to justify the space
occupied by and the care and labor expended
on this study of the ancient literature devoted
to fishes.
The Subject Index is naturally of the great-
est interest and importance, not only to
ichthyologists, but to students of vertebrate
zoology, anatomy, embryology, parasitology,
ecology, physiology, and teratology. The
fish culturist, the angler, and the general
reader will find a guide to special topics in this
index. A careful analysis of the literature
dealing with every subject pertaining to the
life, structure, development, and habits of
fishes is here made; the various theories of
development, phylogeny, etc., that have been
proposed are outlined, and the most im-
portant papers indicated by a star. The
amount of material that has been digested for
this purpose is not the least of the astonishing
features of this unusual Bibliography.
The treatment of the Subject Index leaves
little, if anything, to be desired. As examples
of the arrangement, the discussion of behavior,
habits, and angling will serve as well as any.
"Behavior," comprising the comparative
psychology of fishes, covers about two pages,
with cross references to other headings, such
as: reactions to chemical stimuli, hearing,
commensalism, and parental care. There is a
paragraph containing general references to
works on animal psychology, and following
that appears the special literature, grouped
under such sub-headings as the following:
accounts or narratives depicting unusual
actions or behavior; behavior of various types,
chiefiy instinctive; color perception; intelli-
gence; memory; and the effects of stimula-
tion by electricity, gravity, light, touch, and
water currents. In fact, the materials are so
assorted that one may readily find a reference
covering almost any question that might be
asked as to fish behavior.
Underthetopic "Habits of Fishes" (covering
nearly two pages), besides the usual cross
references and general references, we find the
papers dealing with habits classified imder
the natural order to which the fish belongs.
For example, the papers devoted to the habits
of the various sharks are brought together,
and similarly those pertaining to the eels, the
perches, etc. Other sub-headings are: vari-
ous specific habits, such as burrowing, fight-
ing, inflation, and water throwing.
Further references are also given at the
proper place in the catalogue to such topics as
sleeping habits, resting habits, nest-making,
care of eggs and young, and all of the
thousand and one things that the general
reader, as well as the ichthyologist, may wish
to know about the habits and mode of life of
various fishes.
"Anghng" embraces general treatises, in
Dutch, English, French, and German, and
bibliographies and catalogues of angling litera-
ture; historical matter, subdivided into Pre-
Linnsean treatises, general treatises, books
on husbandry, early laws pertaining to ang-
ling, dictionaries and encyclopedias, guides,
handbooks, etc., piscatory eclogues; fly-
fishing; sea-fishing; angling for salmon and
trout; angling for various fishes; angling
classified by regions — North America, Europe,
and other localities. Here is sufficient material
to point the way to the student of angling
from the historical or any modern phase.
To the Systematic Section of the Subject
Index is given the same scrupulous care as to
the other sections, often with special refer-
ence to particular species that are of the great-
est interest, though in general no attempt is
made to index farther than genera, — and, in
fact, another series of volumes would be re-
quired if such references were to be included.
As examples of the treatment of the system-
atic portion we may call attention to the sub-
heads under the Salmonidse and Anguillidse.
" Family Salmonidse " (six pages); distribu-
tion, embryology, fossil forms, taxonomy;
subfamily Salmoninse, American trouts,
European trouts, Atlantic salmon, references
to American forms, references to European
forms, general treatises, growth, metabolism
during sojourn in fresh water, feeding, migra-
tions, reproduction; Pacific salmons, gen-
eral, death after spawning, growth and
reproduction, migrations; Salvelinus, Ameri-
394
NATURAL HISTORY
can forms, European forms; miscellaneous
papers on salmon and trout, in various lan-
guages— Danisli, Norwegian, Dutch, EngUsh,
French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Latin,
Russian, and Swedish. And so on through the
other subfamiUes of the Salmonidae.
The eels ("Family AnguiUidse") are given
somewhat different treatment, as foUows:
principal literature; life history of the eel
(more than a page devoted to outlining the
history and indicating the literature of this
phase of the subject) ; sexes of the eel; vari-
ous leptocephali; general literature; taxon-
omy; other genera of the Anguillidae.
The Finding Index is merely an index to the
Morphological and Systematic Sections of
the Subject Index and refers therefore only to
part VIII, or pp. 361-665 of Volume III.
Naturally it is a very useful portion of the
work. Dependent upon the Authors' List
alone, one would have to know the name of
the author before locating a particular title:
even with the addition of the Subject Index,
one might have to look for a long time before
finding all references to a particular topic —
such, for example, as "Fins." In the Finding
Index one is referred to the page in the Subject
Index where the topic is mentioned, and the
most important of such references are in bold-
faced type. Under " Fins " seventy-four such
references are found, and these are arranged
for convenience in twenty-four groups, such
as: paired fins, vertical fins, locomotion by,
abnormal, primitive, etc.
If the student of fossil fishes wished to look
up Dean's work on Cladoselache, he might
turn to the Authors' List in Volume I, where
he would have to scan nearly five pages of
titles by Dean— and titles unfortunately do
not always indicate all the contents of papers.
If he knew the systematic position of Cladosel-
ache, he might turn to the proper place in
the Systematic Section of the Subject Index,
where under the "Order Pleuropterygii " he
would find Dean's three papers on this genus
given in such form that he could locate them
in the Authors' List without delay. If he
tiumed at once to the Finding Index, he would
come upon page references not only to the
Systematic Section, but to three other refer-
ences in the Morphological Section, where
special points in the structure of Cladoselache
are mentioned. Though this may at first
seem a httle complicated, anyone with ex-
perience in tracing out the literature of a
subject will realize at once that only in this
way could the vast and varied literature on
the fishes be made available.
No one would expect such an extensive
compilation to be absolutely perfect, — the
authors least of all would make such a claim.
Yet the reviewer has run down many sub-
jects, in which he may claim to have some
knowledge, without finding any serious errors.
It is in cross-referencing, naturally, that such
shps are likely to occur. For example, in the
Finding Index one finds " Batrachus, see
Opsanus," but under Opsanus, where the page
references are given to both Batrachus and
Opsanus, there is no indication that these
terms are equivalent. Also there is a refer-
ence to Opsanus, p. 410, but on turning to this
page no reference to either Opsanus or
Batrachus can be found. Under " Fins " in the
Subject Index one is further referred to
"Limbs." This heading does not appear in
the Subject Index, and upon turning to it in
the Finding Index one is again referred to
"Fins," where all references are given.
Guided by the Subject Index the reviewer has
followed up in the Authors' List the references
to the papers of various writers with whose
work he is familiar, but has failed to locate
any errors.
In the prefaces to Volumes I and III are
explained the origin, purpose, and methods
pursued in the compilation of this great work,
and credit is given to those who have rendered
assistance. The most prominent among these
are Doctors Louis Hussakof, Charles R.
Eastman, Eugene W. Gudger, and Mr.
Arthur W. Henn. The debt of science to
Professor Dean and his collaborators is great
indeed, and acknowledgments would not be
complete without reference to the broad-
minded poUcy of President Henry Fairfield
Osborn and the Board of Trustees of the
American Museum in providing funds to
finance the publication and to pay the salaries
of the editoral staff.
A resume of this work would be incom-
plete without special reference to the work of
Dr. E. W. Gudger, editor of Volume III, and
the associate bibliographer, Mr. A. W. Heim.
The tremendous task of bringing together the
Subject Index of 274 pages might have been
sufficient to deter even the most experienced
from undertaking it. But no mere technical
bibliographer could have succeeded with this
phase of the work. It required the expert
knowledge which only a well-trained zoologist,
thoroughly familiar with the fishes, could
DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES'
395
bring to the performance of the task, which
required not only a careful indexing, but
a full appreciation of the contents of the
papers hsted in the authors' catalogue.
That the task has been admirably done
no one will gainsay, and this portion of
the work wiU stand as a lasting monu-
ment to the service which these scientists
have rendered in the field of ichthyology.
In closing, the reviewer cannot do better
than to quote the final paragraph of Dean's
preface to Volume III, "The present volume
terminates a task, infinitely painstaking,
thankless, insistent, withal necessary, which
has been upon our table for over thirty years.
It seemed never to end, and we grew old with
it; Quousque tandem! Our hope is only that
the references we now provide wiU be of con-
stant service to workers everywhere, for when
all is said and done, an elaborate bibhography
is the strongest scaffolding upon which any
research can be built." The only exception
one may take to this is in regard to the thank-
lessness of the task. In this we cannot agree
with Professor Dean, for we feel sure that
countless workers will have occasion to heap
silent gratitude upon him and his staff of
collaborators for generations to come. Such a
landmark in vertebrate zoology wiU hardly
cease to be useful until science m this field
has progressed far beyond even our present
conception of its possibilities.
A Historical Sketch
By E. W. GUDGER
Editor of Volume III
IN 1890, Dr. Bashford Dean, then instructor
in zoology at Columbia University, began
his career as the leading American student
of the anatomy, embryology, and palse-
ontology of fishes.
In exchange for papers from his prolific
pen, articles on fishes came from students of
ichthyology all the world over. From these
and from the bibliographical hsts of papers
cited in his own pubhcations, he began to
build up for the use of himself and his students
a card catalogue which formed the nucleus of
the present Bibliography of Fishes.
In 1895, Doctor Dean published his weU-
known book Fishes, Living and Fossil. In this
was a twenty-page bibliography of the em-
bryology, morphology, and palaeontology of
fishes, composed of the most important cita-
tions found in his card catalogue. Notwith-
standing the fact that these references were
put in the most abbreviated form possible,
this bibliography was often referred to in
ichthyological articles during the next twenty
years.
In 1903, Doctor Dean was made professor
of vertebrate zoology in Columbia Univer-
sity, and in 1907 curator of fossil fishes in
the American Museum. Two years later
(1909) he became curator of ichthyology and
herpetology in the Museum. In the meantime
the roster of his pubhcations on both fossil
and recent fishes grew as did his card cata-
logue. By 1900 this catalogue contained about
20,000 entries, and was by far the most ex-
tensive catalogue of ichthyological literature
in existence.
Doctor Dean's students made free use of it
and added citations of their own where any
were found lacking. Correspondents wrote in
for hsts and in turn sent in hsts of their own,
and students of ichthyology even came to
New York to constdt the entries. By 1910,
this card bibliography, which in the meantime
had been removed to the American Museum,
had reached a critical stage in its development,
for it had become too immense to be carried
on by one man, upon whose time and energies
multifarious duties made demands. It was
also clear that it had become a great reservoir
of references which ought to be made acces-
sible to workers not merely in America but all
over the world. To achieve this end it would
have to be published.
It was clear, however, that in the form in
which its entries were set, it could not be put
into print. The material required re^dsion
and additions. It was imperative that the
earher bibhographies — those of Agassiz, Bos-
goed, Carus and Engelmann — be checked up.
The cards of the Concilium Bibliographicum,
and the entries in the Zoological Record, the
Royal Society Catalogue, and other recent
bibliographies would have to be examined
criticaUy- Then in many cases citations would
have to be compared with the original titles
in order to clear up discrepancies, and
396
NATURAL HISTORY
bibliographies in special outstanding books
and articles would have to be reviewed. Final-
ly, it would be necessary to ask specialists
in ichthyological subjects all over the globe to
send in lists of their publications. All this in
order that nothing might be omitted, that this
work might be truly a Bibliography. But
how was all this to be done?
Then the man and the opportunity met.
President Henry Fairfield Osborn, with a
great vision of what might be done for science
in general and for ichthyology in particular,
brought the resources of the American Museum
to the aid of this great enterprise, and funds
were made available to provide a secretary
for the work of checking up, verifying, and
transcribing references. Later, when publica-
tion began, certain friends of the enterprise,
particularly Mrs. Isaac M. Dyckman, Mrs.
Bashford Dean, and Doctor Dean himself,
generously contributed funds.
About 1910, Doctor Dean, being occupied
with many other matters, entrusted the
responsibility of supervising the work of the
secretary. Miss Eveljoi Tripp, to Dr. Louis
Hussakof, associate curator in the depart-
ment. During the next five j^ears the scientific
literature of the world was minutely searched
for ichthyological titles. The largest single
contribution was made by the Smithsonian
Institution, which turned over to Doctor
Dean the huge manuscript bibliography col-
lected and compiled by the late Dr. G. Brown
Goode, who for manj- years before his death
had been engaged in working up a fish bibliog-
raphy along similar lines. In the meantime
letters had been sent to 468 leading specialists
the world over, asking them to send in titles
of all their papers dealing with fishes. Of this
number 304 complied with the request, and
thus a vast amount of data came at first hand
to the Bibliography.
In 1914, Doctor Dean, who had previously
been made curator of arms and armor in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, felt obliged to
retire from the headship of the department of
fishes in the American Museum, and became
its honorary curator. Doctor Hussakof was
promoted to curator, and because of his in-
creased duties as head, was obhged to give up
the supervision of the Bibhography. About
this time Miss Tripp resigned and was suc-
ceeded by Miss Marguerite Engler, who
served as secretary during 1915-16.
At this critical period in its history, the
Bibliography was certainly favored by for-
tune. Dr. Charles Rochester Eastman, the
distinguished student of palaeontology, having
just finished certain special researches on the
fossil fishes in the Carnegie Museum, Pitts-
burgh, was persuaded to assume the editor-
ship. Not only was Doctor Eastman a
distinguished palaeontologist, but he was
almost equally well known as a palaeo-
bibliographer — having a knowledge of the
Pre-Linnaean literature of fishes probably
unequalled in America — all this due to his
researches not only in ancient fishes but also
in the older literature of this subject. His
wide experience as a student of fishes, his
extraordinary linguistic attainments, his
natural critical facultj^ and his ability to do
an enormous amount of work made him an
ideal editor for the Bibliography of Fishes.
Under Doctor Eastman's hand there went
steadily forward the enormously detailed
work of compiling and editing into definite
and uniform style the 37,000 titles found in
Volumes I and II. No one who has not had
the experience can realize the prodigious task
involved in such editorial work. A uniform
style had to be decided upon for titles;
capitalization, spelling, abbreviations, punc-
tuation, and styles of type had to be stand-
ardized. And when these standards had been
estabhshed, the task of editing the mjTiads of
cards according to these standards was truly
Brobdingnagian. But Doctor Eastman was
not to be discouraged, and when Volume I
appeared in the spring of 1916, it is not putting
it too strongly to say that it created a sensa-
tion among American men of science, and
particularly among students of fishes. This
volume embraces the letters A-K and covers
720 pages.
In 1916, Miss Engler retired from the posi-
tion of secretary and her place was taken by
Miss Florence Schwarzwaelder, who devotedly
served the Bibliography until the summer of
1919. .\lso late in October, 1916, Mr. .\rthur
W. Henn, at that time a graduate student in
zoology at Columbia University, began half-
time work on the task of noting on the proof
sheets alongside each citation the entries for
the Subject Index.
Doctor Eastman having brought Volume
II, comprising the letters M-Z, plus the
Anom-mous Titles — a total of 702 pages —
through the press in 1917, sailed about June 1
for Brazil to collect fossil fishes, having at the
same time, however, a connection with the
intelligence branch of the United States gov-
DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES'
397
eminent. Doctor Dean had entered govern-
ment service as major in the ordnance division,
where his special knowledge of armor was of
the greatest service. However, Mr. Henn and
Miss Schwarzwaelder went on with the work
of indexing. The present writer having ex-
pressed his warm appreciation of the great
value of Volume I of the Bibliography, and
having sent in a good many missing titles,
was invited to come up and hunt for others,
and at this task he spent the months of June
and July, 1917.
The summer of 1918 brought Doctor East-
man back from Brazil, but he at once "joined
up" with the War Trade Board in Washing-
ton. Doctor Dean was up to his eyes in the
work of making invaluable improvements in
helmets and gas masks for the ordnance divi-
sion of the War Department. During the
winter and spring Mr. Henn continued to
work on the Subject Index, but in April went
to France with the American Expeditionary
Forces. I had devoted much time during
the winter to the collecting of missing titles,
and toward the close of May I again came to
the Museum, bringing 1400 titles with me and
spent the months of June and July in this
work. Then in September Doctor Eastman,
who during the war had been subjected to at
times dangerous and always nerve-exhausting
duties, was drowned at Long Beach. In con-
sequence of all these things, work on the
Bibliography was almost at a standstill during
the winter of 1918-19.
It was at this stage in the history of the
enterprise that Doctor Dean sent in the fol-
lowing quotations for ultimate setting on the
page immediately preceding the preface of
Volume III.
"Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy
waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me."— Psalm XLII.
"Tetzel, the Bohemian, gazing at the sea at
Cape Finisterre, remarked — as if he had our
Bibliography in his mind's eye— 'The end of
it no one knoweth, save God alone!'" The
Bohemian Ulysses (1477); Mrs. Henry Cust,
Gentleman Errant, 1907, p. 87.
On June 1, 1919, 1 came up from the North
Carolina College at Greensboro, under
promise to Doctor Dean to stay with the
Bibliography as editor until it was finished.
A few weeks later Mr. Henn returned from
France, was discharged from service, and
began on a full-time basis the work of finish-
ing the index notations. In August Miss
Francesca La Monte assumed the duties of
secretary, and the work of completing Volume
III went forward imder a full head of steam.
At this point it was decided on the urgent
advice of Doctor Dean to limit titles in our
Addenda to the close of the year 1914, which
marks a great break in scientific work and
literature due to the World War. In Volumes
I and II Doctor Eastman had included titles
of works that appeared later than 1914, with
the idea that the Addenda should bring the
Hterature up to the time of going to press with
Volume III. That Doctor Dean's judgment
was sound, and that it saved us a world of
trouble, has since been reaUzed a thousand
times by everyone concerned. In two sets of
cases only have we violated this rule. There
have been included all the papers of Eastman,
Steindachner, and others who have died since
1914, so that their lists might be complete;
and in the second place such outstanding
epoch-making works as Boulenger's Fresh-
water Fishes of Africa and Jordan's Genera of
Fishes have been listed. For the same reason
we have set in the Subject Index such authori-
tative works as Radcliffe's Fishing from the
Earliest Times (1922), Phisalix's Animaux
Venimeux et Venins (1922), and others of like
standing, because these review the literature
extensively and are literally the last word on
the subjects considered. This was done even
though these titles came to us too late to be
included in the Addenda.
When I came to the Museum from Greens-
boro in 1919 with a year's leave of absence, we
all thought that the Bibliography could be
finished in fifteen or eighteen months, but in
the spring of 1920, it became clear that at
least two years more would be needed for the
task. In the meantime (spring of 1920) the
college authorities in North Carolina were
pressing me for a declaration of my plans.
Matters were complicated by the fact that
Doctor Dean was in Constantinople and
President Osborn in Honolulu. However, the
task had to be finished, so I sent in my resigna-
tion to the college and continued work on the
Bibliography.
During the winter of 1919-20 I checked up
about 50,000 pages of new and hitherto un-
touched bibliographic sources, especially in the
Pre-Linnsean literature of fishes. With the
completion of this checking, the search for
missing titles ended, and the work of edit-
ing these cards into standard form began. On
August 20, 1920, the first batch of Addenda
cards — 4029 in number — was sent to the
398
NATURAL HISTORY
printer. Other titles came to us later and inci-
dentally in the course of the work, and were
added from time to time until the Addenda
now embraces in round numbers 4500 titles
and covers 203 pages of Volume III. In
the same way the section of Pre-Linnsean
titles (i.e., from the beginning of printing
imtil 1758), which (left incomplete at Doctor
Eastman's death) numbered about 1000 cita-
tions, was expanded to 2300 entries covering
130 pages. This Pre-Linnsean material is of
value mainly, of course, because of its histori-
cal interest, but as it was reahzed that in all
probability never again would an effort be
made to " bibliograph " this ancient litera-
ture, I endeavored to make it as complete as
possible.
During the fall and winter of 1919 "copy"
steadily went forward to the printers (The
University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts),
and proof came back, and the interminable
work of proof-reading began. At this time
and in fact for the next year, one great
difficulty was to keep all parts of the Bibliog-
raph}^ moving simultaneously. This was
particularly true with reference to getting the
Addenda and Pre-Linnsean sections along so
that they might not delay the notations for
the Subject Index and the making of the
cards.
Final page proof had been read on the
Addenda and Pre-Linnsean sections and these
were ready to go to press early in March,
1921, when a printers' strike occurred in the
Boston region and prevented our printers from
doing anything but piecemeal work for more
than nine months. Fortunately, however, this
did not cause us any ultimate delay, for the
editorial work went steadily forward. We
were particularly lucky in having page proof
sheets of the Addenda and Pre-Linnsean
sections wherefrom to complete the notations
for the index cards.
By June, 1921, I had finished the four
small sections of "General Bibliographies
which Include References to Fishes," "Voy-
ages and Expeditions which Relate to Fishes,"
"List of Periodicals Relating to Fish and Fish
Culture," and "Errata and Corrigenda."
These subjects in all cover but twenty-two
pages — a space out of all proportion to the
time and trouble required to gather the data
and present them in proper form. As soon as
these sections were off my hands, I gave
attention to those topics of the Morphological
Section of the Subject Index which had more
or less fallen within my lines of investigation,
and in the intervals of proof-reading, I worked
steadil}^ on these with Mr. Henn for the next
fifteen months.
Meanwhile Mr. Henn had finished the task
of annotating the proof sheets of Volmnes I
and II, and of the Addenda and the Pre-
Linnsean sections of Volume III for the index
cards. These were typed and distributed
under the great headings to which they sever-
ally belonged. Now began the tremendous
task of digesting these 150,000 or 200,000
index references into an intelligible and usable
form. This was done by Mr. Henn first for
the great section Palaeontology. The classi-
fication of this large mass of material was
fairly easily worked out, but the choice of the
types perplexed us considerably. Had we
had an unlimited amount of money, enabling
us to use all the styles and sizes of types in the
print shop, and could these have been set by
hand, this problem would have been compara-
tively easy of solution. However, as it was,
we were limited for our great headings, our
sub-heads, and sub-sub-heads down to the
most subordinate paragraphs to the two sizes
and three styles of type which could be set
from two plates on the monotype machine.
These limitations of types called for the
utmost ingenuity on the part of Mr. Henn, to
whom is mainly due the credit for the format
of the Subject Index as well as for the majority
of the subjects therein contained. The accom-
panying reproduction of a page of the Subject
Index gives some idea of the sizes and styles
of type used.
" Palseontology " went to the printer on
January 13, 1921, and early in February
we received the proof. Mr. Henn was now
at work on another great section "Fauna
of the World," but before it could be set the
printers' strike in Boston occurred. Gal-
ley and page proofs covering the Addenda
and Pre-Linnsean sections had, however, been
read and we were therefore prepared to go to
press with these 338 pages. In the meantime
the work of arranging the vast material under
the headings in the Morphological Section of
the Subject Index went steadily on.
In September, 1921, Miss La Monte re-
signed to go abroad. Her place was taken by
Miss Elsie M. Heinrich, who gave us loyal
service until she was forced to resign by
reason of ill health in June, 1922. However,
Miss La Monte returned to the Museum in
October, 1922, and devoted her attention to
VIII
SUBJECT INDEX
SYSTEMATIC SECTION ^
CEPHALOCHORDATA (LEPTOCAR-
DII OR LANCELETS)
Marine acraniate fish-like chordates.
General treatise. Delage, M. Y. &
Herouard, E. 1898.1; Willey, A. 1894.1.
Classification and geographical distri-
bution. Tattersall, W. M. 190.3.1. — For
a map showing the geographical distribution
of the Cephalochordata, see Herdman,
W. A. 1904.1 (p. 138).
Taxonomy of forms from — Maldive
and Laccadive Islands. Cooper, C. F.
1903.1; Parker, G. H. 1904.3. —Japan.
Jordan, D. S. & Snyder, J. O. 1901.12. —
Ceylon. Tattersall, W. M. 1903.2.
Family Amphioxididse
Araphioxides {A pelagic form). Tax-
onomy and relationships. *Goldschniidt,
R. 1905.1, 1906.1, 1909.1, Add. 1905.1.
— Review of the above. Willey, A. 1906.1.
Family Branchiostomidae
Marine littoral forms
Taxonomic revisions of genera and
species. Gill, T. N. 1895.2; Jordan, D. S.
& Snyder, J. O. {Japan) 1901.12; •Kir-
kaldy, J. W. 1895.1, Add. 1894.1.
Amphioxus (Branchiostoma) . Nat-
ural history, descriptions of young, etc.
Bert, P. 1867.1,-5; Clark, H. J. 1865.1;
Harting, P. 1876.1; Kemna, A. 1906.1;
Krause, W. 1898.1; Lindsay, A.
1857.1; Miiller, J. 1839.1, 1841.2; Quat-
refages, J. L. 1845.1; Reiohert, C. B.
1870.1; Rice, H. J. 1878.1; Schultze,
M. J. 1851.1; Schneider, A. F. 1878.1;
Sundevall, C. J. 1840.1; Sundewall, F.
1843.1; Willey, A. 1891.1, 1901.1; Yung,
E. J. 1906.1; Putnam, F. W. Add.
1865.1.
Phylogenetic relationships. — Relation
toBalanoglossus. MacBride, E. W. 1897.1.
— Amphioxus a slightly metamorphosed
tu7iicate {with consideration of homologies) .
Wijhe, J. W. 1906.1, 1914.1, .2. — "Am-
phioxus and the ancestry of the vertebrates."
Willey, A. 1894.1.
Asymmetron. Natural history notes.
•Andrews, E. A. 1893.1; Benham,
W. B. 1901.1, 1901.2; Mark, E. L.
1904.1; Romer, F. 1896.1; Willey, A.
1896.1.
Epigonichthys. Natural history. Hart-
ing, P. 1877.1; Passzlavsky, J. 1877.1;
Peters, .W. C. H. 1876.1.
CRANIATA
Animals (Vertebrate) distinguished by
the possession of a definite "head."
CLASS CYCLOSTOMATA, OR MAR-
SIPOBRANCHII.
Aquatic craniates without true jaws.
For parasitic habits of Cyclostomes, see
under JParasitic Fishes, also pp. 416 and
500.
Natural history. Dumeril, A. M. 1812.1,
.2; Partiot, L. Add. 1848.1; Thomson,
J. A. Add. 1912.1.
Taxonomy and systematic relationships.
Dean, B. 1900.1; Gill, T. N. 1883.7;
•Howes, G. B. 1892.1; Woodland, W. N.
1911.4. — Supposed gnathostome ancestry
of Marsipobranchii. Woodland, W. N.
1913.2.
Taxonomy of species found in — Russia.
Berg, L. S. 1906.10. — Japan. Jordan,
D. S. & Snyder, J. O. 1901.12. —Aus-
tralia. Ogilby, J. D. 1896.2.
OBDEB MYXINOIDES
(Hyperotreti)
Hag-fishes or Borers
For a map showing the geographical
distribution of the Myxinoides, see Meek,
A. 1916.1 {p. 31).
1 Arranged in general according to the system used in the Cambridge Natural History — this for
convenience.
Confined chiefly to natural history, occurrence and the larger and more recent papers on fossil
forms and taxonomy. Rarely going below genera, save in the case of the fishes of great economic as
well as scientific importance (i. e. Anguilla, Pleuronectidse, Salmonidae, etc.).
. For further data on natural historj- see Habits, Reproduction, etc., in Morphological Section.
For further references to fossil fishes, see the elaborate section Paleontology, also Hay, O. P. 1902.1,
and Woodward, A. S. 1889.2. and also the Bibliography of North American Palaeontology cited in
Part IV, General Bibliographies. For further data, on taxonomy and occurrence, see section Fauna
of the World, and for particular regions, see .such great faunistic and taxonomic works as Day, F.
1875.1, Boulenger, G. A. Add. 1909.1. Eigenmann, C. H. 1912.2, Goode & Bean, 1896.1, Jordau &
Evermann, 1896.1. For new species, see Zoological Record.
For all other subjects, see the Morphological Section.
A PAGE FROM DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES"
This page, only one of .305 that constitute the Subject Index of the monumental
Bibliography, may serve as a suggestion of the painstaking editorial labor required in
dividing the vast literature of fishes into sub-headings and sub-sub-headings and in selecting
for each entry a style and size of type that enables the reader at a glance to associate it with
entries of corresponding value and to differentiate it from larger or from subordinate classifi-
cations
399
400
NATURAL HISTORY
the Bibliography until the last card was ready
to be sent to the printer in 1923.
Mr. Henn's work on the Subject Index was
twice considerably interfered with. In 1920,
he was appointed curator of fishes in the
Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Dr. W. J. Holland, then director, seeing how
badly Mr. Henn was needed for the Sub-
ject Index (the work of which he had
initiated and had carried on alone until I
joined him in June, 1921) and fully appreciat-
ing the value of the Bibliography to science,
kindly agreed to let him stay with us until
this index was completed. It was necessary,
however, for Mr. Henn to go to Pittsburgh
at intervals to examine the fish collections and
see that everything was in proper order. He
was away for about -two months in the fall of
1920 and for about four months in the winter
of 1921-22. During his second absence I
worked over all the index material not com-
pleted and in the hands of the printer, and got
it into shape for more rapid handling on Mr.
Henn's return.
In the meantime the strike had ended and
early in 1922 we began to receive proof with
fair regularity while on January 24 the bill of
lading was received for the printed sheets of
the Bibliography up to page 320. In the fall
of 1922, Doctor Holland, feeUng that Mr.
Henn had been permitted to remain with us
as long as he could possibly spare him, and
that the work of the department of ithchy-
ology of the Carnegie Museum was suffer-
ing by reason of his absence, called for him to
come to Pittsburgh, and on November 9,
Mr. Henn severed his connection with the
Bibliography for good.
At the time of his departure the situation
was not exactly reassuring, for notwithstand-
ing the help that I had been able to give in
the fifteen months that I had worked on the
Subject Index, there was much left unfinished.
Naturally, as the work progressed, omitted
items were picked up, errors were detected,
faulty and erroneous titles were cleared up,
resulting in considerable changes in various
sections of the Subject Index, through cutting
out here and adding there. This material
was held until the last; insertions and dele-
tions were then made in the galley proofs of
the Morphological Section, and at that time,
too, the sizes and styles of type were made
uniform throughout. These proofs had to be
read not merely word by word and date by
date, but letter by letter and figure by figure.
And now was realized how wisely the poet
wrote when he said, "To err is human." Mr.
Henn asked that the final proofs be sent to
him at Pittsburgh, and these received the
benefit of his careful reading.
With this off our hands there yet remained
undone one large section which Mr. Henn (far
better fitted to handle it than I) had left in-
complete. This was the Systematic Section,
of which only the sub-sections Anguillidse,
Salmonidse, and part of Pleuronectidse were
done: However, there was no one else to do
this Systematic Section, so with the con-
stant advice and help of my colleague in the
department, Mr. John Treadwell Nichols,
this was finally arranged, following the gen-
eral classification set out in the Cambridge
Natural History.
This work was lightened and its bulk re-
duced in two ways. First, there had been left
in the Systematic Section great masses of
material which were now brought out and
inserted under various sub-headings of the
Morphological Section, or made into such
great group headings as "Aquarium Fishes"
and "Anatomy and Morphology." This re-
lieved the situation greatly, and furtherreduc-
tion was obtained by following Doctor Dean's
advice that we confine our taxonomic refer-
ences almost entirely to revisions of famihes,
genera, and species. For most genera and
species the " natural, history " references were
retained, and where the fishes mentioned
were rare or unusual or of great interest and
value, there were listed in addition all the
citations. For the complete literature cov-
ering all fishes the searcher is referred to
such great faunal works as Boulenger's
Freshwater Fishes of Africa, Jordan & Ever-
mann's Fishes of North and Middle America,
etc. This plan seems to have won almost
unanimous commendation as has our adop-
tion of the classification used in the Cam-
bridge Natural History. Finally the large
Systematic Section was completed and the
last cards sent to the printer on April 27, 1923.
During all these years of prolonged brain-
deadening work, Doctor Dean visited us every
week or ten days and was the court of last re-
sort in settling doubtful and disputed points.
His advice and his optimism sustained us on
many an occasion when we were almost ready
to give in rmder the strain. Furthermore, he
read all the proof and gave us much valuable
advice and help in that connection. Indis-
putably he was the Deus ex machina.
DEAN'S "BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FISHES"
401
The Subject Index, which is the summa max-
ima of our work, is composed of two sections:
a Morphological and General Section of 254
pages with its 118 great headings and the
Systematic Section of 51 pages — a total of 305
pages wherein the literature of fishes is
minutely analyzed into hundreds of small
headings and smaller sub-headings. To this
there is a Finding Index of 41 triple-column
pages in alphabetical arrangement. The total
pagination of our combined index is therefore
346 pages.
While this work was progressing, Miss La
Monte had for months, in the interval of
other duties, been at work on this alphabetical
Finding Index to the Subject Index. With
the sending of the last of the cards of the
Systematic Section to the printer, she devoted
herself almost exclusively to the Finding Index
until it was finished, and she finally left the
service of the Bibliography about the first of
July, 1923. Too much cannot be said of the
intelligent, skillful, and faithful service she
gave the Bibhography.
I was out of my office on account of iUness
from May 16 to June 15, 1923. On my return
I at once set to work on the editing of the
Finding Index cards and as soon as possible
in July sent them to the printers. Galley
proofs came promptly and were as promptly
read and sent back. Final page proofs were
returned August 14 and orders given to print
everything up to the word finis. After some
delay this was done, but to the very last the
Bibliography proved itself the child of mis-
fortune, for by an inadvertence when the final
printed sheets were forwarded to us, the
"front matter" — title page, preface, table of
contents, etc. — was not included. The miss-
ing part was sent, however, at once by ex-
press. On its way here the containing crate
was smashed and a large number of the sheets
badly damaged. Sick at heart, I wired the
printers, fearing that the monotypes had
been melted and that this matter would all
have to be set up afresh, causing another
delay. However, the forms had been held,
new sheets were printed, shipped at once, and
received promptly.
Due to these delays, a new complication
had arisen. The Bibhography was to be
bound in the Museum bindery but had now
lost its turn to the current issue of Natural
History, which was just coming from the
press, and to pile Pehon upon Ossathis issue of
Natural History was a special edition, and
therefore taxed the bindery to its capacity.
However, on November 13, 1923, the first
bound copy of the Bibliography was put into
my hands, and our book was formally
published.
And now that our task is done, too much
cannot be said of the far-sightedness and the
faith in the ultimate success of our work and
of its value to science shown by President
Osborn and the Board of Trustees, who
through all these years of work — long drawn
out, thanks to the war — have furnished the
money to pay the salaries of those of us
who have been privileged to do the task,
and to provide for the far larger costs of
publication. The debt of science to them
is certainly very heavy.
At this writing the Bibliography has been
distributed to a large number of ichthyologists
and reference librarians, and from every
quarter of the civilized world letters and re-
views are arriving that speak in the heartiest
terms of the inestimable and enduring value
of our work — which covers every subject
wherein fishes touch the life of man — and
that declare it a landmark in the bibliography
of scientific literature. And so the editors
feel that, as Honorary Director Lucas wrote
us on hearing that the final volume had come
from the bindery,
Finis coronal opus.
NOTES
SCIENCE OF MAN
Professor von Luschan and His Superb
Collection of Anatomical Specimens. —
Prof. Felix von Luschan, a distinguished Ger-
man anthropologist, died last February. For
many years he had been professor of anthro-
pology in the University of Berlin and had
held a corresponding position in the national
anthropological museum of Germany. Though
he was interested in all phases of anthropologi-
cal research, his best-known contributions are
in racial anthropology and the archaeology of
the Near East. He was a true field man and
inspired all those around him with the spirit
of inquiry. Naturally these qualities made
him an ideal teacher and drew to his labora-
tories many foreign students, especially from
the United States and England. The most
interesting scientific contribution made by
Professor von Luschan was his demonstra-
tion, before the modern theory of heredity
came into general notice, that in mixed popu-
lations the two constituent original human
types will continue to appear century after
century instead of all individuals being leveled
down to a uniform blend. For example, when
a long-headed people mix with the round-
headed, we may expect a number of medium
heads to appear in their progeny, but also, ac-
cording to the now accepted laws of heredity,
there should be represented both long heads
and round heads. Thus it was that Professor
von Luschan first saw in human data what
through the researches of De Vries and others
led to an epoch-making discovery in biology.
On the other hand. Professor von Luschan
was a great explorer and collector. He pos-
sessed one of the largest and most complete
collections of anatomical specimens in exist-
ence,— the work of a Ufetime. His series of
human crania is representative of all living
races of men from the extinct Tasmanian to
the modem European and thus contains in
itself the story of man's racial differentiation.
Accompanying the material is a large series of
photographs, extensive notes gathered during
von Luschan's wide travels, and an un-
usually complete library. Just a few months
before his death, Professor von Luschan com-
pleted arrangements to transfer this magnifi-
cent series of specimens and books to the
LTnited States and to deposit them in the
American Museum. He believed that the
402
scientific usefulness of the materials gathered
during his long life would be greatly enhanced
by placing them in America and in this Mu-
seum. So at the time of his death Professor
von Luschan was superintending the packing
of this collection for shipment to New York.
Needless to say, this addition to the Museum's
anatomical collections will make the institu-
tion one of the very best places in which to
study human biology.
Mr. Clarence L. Hay, who for many
years has been engaged in archaeological re-
search in Mexico, was elected a member of the
Board of Trustees of the American Museum at
the annual meeting in February. Formerly a
graduate student in Harvard University,
where he speciahzed in Mexican archaeology,
Mr. Hay has for several years been carrying on
his researches in the department of anthropol-
ogy, American Museum. In that connectionhe
has made frequent collecting trips to Mexico.
He is now developing plans for an extension
of the Museum building on Columbus Avenue,
in which are to be housed, in artistic setting,
the Museum collections from ancient America.
President Henry Fairfield Osborn has ap-
pointed a committee to assist Mr. Hay in
working out the architecture and other details.
In general, the plan is to use full-scale repro-
ductions of the best-known examples of Mayan
and Aztecan sculpture as integral parts of the
inner wall faces, thus in the end housing the
exhibits within walls that are representative of
their own time and place. In Mexico and
Yucatan were reaUzed the highest types of
aboriginal American civilization and it is
fitting that the proposed new hall, which will
house examples of the archaeology of these
areas, should form the west entrance to the
Museum.
Dr. J. Alden Mason, of the Field Museum,
has been appointed assistant curator of
Mexican archaeology in the American
Museum. Doctor Mason has carried on ex-
tensive researches in Mexico and northern
South America and is well prepared to take
up the development of new work in this field.
Almost from the first, the American Mu-
seum undertook the accumulation of collec-
tions illustrating the wonderful cultures of
aboriginal Mexico. Its first collection of
Central American antiquities, that of the
Hon. E. G. Squier, one of the early students
NOTES
403
of the ancient American civilizations, was
acquired in 1875. Later, under the generous
patronage of the Due du Loubat great im-
petuswas given to research in the field of Mexi-
can and Central American archaeology, and
the collections were greatly enriched both by
exploration and by purchase. Among the
early acquisitions made possible through the
Due du Loubat were casts of prehistoric
sculptures from the Valley of Mexico, Chiapas,
Yucatan, Guatemala, and Honduras, pottery
and stone objects from Mexico and Guate-
mala, and reproductions of ancient codices,
now on view in the Mexican hall of the Ameri-
can Museum.
In 1896 a concession for archaeological
exploration was obtained from the Mexican
government, and work was begun under the
direction of Prof. M. H. Saville, who explored
the famous ruins of Mitla, and those of Xoxo
and Monte Alban in Oaxaca, and of Xochi-
calco in Morelos. Professor Saville returned
to Mexico in 1898 and again in 1900-03, and
during these periods explored the curious
cruciform structure among the ruins at
Mitla, a model of which is in the Museum.
After Professor Saville withdrew from the
Museum, Doctor Herbert J. Spinden, now of
Harvard University, was appointed curator in
this field, and carried on explorations from
1909 to 1920, not only in Mexico, but in
other parts of Central America and the
adjacent sections of South America.
In recent years, the Central American sec-
tion has been greatly enriched by the un-
rivaled collection of Mr. Minor C. Keith,
consisting of stone carvings, pottery, and gold
objects.
It is not possible to enumerate here all the
expeditions sent out by the Museum to gather
materials for the Mexican hall, but acknowl-
edgment can be made to the generous donors
who financed these undertakings and to the
many distinguished archaeologists who made
the field studies. Among the patrons are:
Willard Brown, Austin Corbin, R. P. Dore-
mus, Anson W. Hard, Archer M. Huntington,
Morris K. Jesup, James H. Jones, Minor C.
Keith, the Due du Loubat, William Mack,
Henry Marquand, Dr. William Pepper, A. D.
Straus, I. McI. Strong, Cornelius Vanderbilt,
Henry Villard, William C. Whitney. The
archaeologists include : George Byron Gordon,
Algs Hrdlicka, Carl Lumholtz, Francis C.
Nicholas, Marshall H. Saville, Eduard Seler,
Herbert J. Spinden, and John L. Stephens.
So the appointment of Doctor Mason as
assistant curator in charge of Mexican archse-
ology inaugurates a new period in the de-
velopment of the department of anthropology.
NEW ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE FAUN-
THORPE-VERNAY EXPEDITION
Additions to the Mammal Collection.
— Mr. Arthur Vernay, who is extending the
work of the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition
into new areas of Burma, Assam, and Siam,
has sent to the American Museum several
reports, conveyed by bearers from the depths
of the jungle, regarding the progress of the
undertaking. In addition to Mr. Vernay and
the ofl&cers and scientists associated with
him, the expedition has a complement of 72
men — Indians, Shans, Korens, and others —
and no less than 30 elephants for transporting
the equipment and for driving out the con-
cealed jungle beasts through an approach in
line formation.
Writing from a camp established at Lampa
in the Tenasserim Division of Lower Burma,
Mr. Vernay states that he has secured in that
locality specimens of the giant bamboo rat
as well as of the smallest of these rodents,
several interesting squirrels, a wild pig, and
three bats (Pteropus intermedius) , — the last-
mentioned being caught in mouse traps
appropriately baited!
In a later letter sent from a camp estab-
lished on the La-oh Plateau he mentions that
he obtained a fine young bull bison, standing
5 feet 3)^ inches at the shoulder. This animal
rounds out admirably the proposed bison
group, for which there are available, in addi-
tion, an adult bull, a cow, and a calf. When
Mr. Vernay wrote this letter (January 5),
the specimens secured already totaled 280.
Among the animals alluded to are gibbons,
several monkeys, and specimens of the large
■squirrel (Ratufa giganteus). A cable dated
March 14 contained the news that a prized
specimen of a rare Malayan tapir had been
bagged and that Mr. Vernay was about to
leave for Assam to hunt buffalo.
Not only is Mr. Vernay zealously collecting
himself but, desirous that no important area
in or near India should be without faunal
representation in the American Museum, he
arranged to have an expedition sent to Kash-
mir, with the result that the Museum has
come into the possession of many desiderata
from that area.
404
NATURAL HISTORY
Birds Collected by the Expedition. —
Although the present expedition of Mr.
Vernay has been fortunate in obtaining a
representative collection of the smaller mam-
mals, it has devoted its energies with con-
spicuous success also to the collecting of birds.
It was with the purpose of securing, if possible,
as complete a representation of the avifauna
as of the mammalian fauna, that Mr. Vernay
induced Mr. Willoughby Lowe of the British
Museum, to accompany him. Seventy-five
different species of birds were represented in
the collection made during the first week in
the field and a daily average of from twenty
to thirty specimens in subsequent days has
resulted in the addition of many other species,
some of them being of great rarity. Among
the more spectacular birds obtained are the
Burmese peacock and peahen and specimens
of the hornbill Dichoceros bicornis.
BIRDS
Bird Collecting in Chile and the
Argentine. — Dr. Frank M. Chapman, cura-
tor of the department of birds, returned to the
American Museum in April after an absence
of more than four months in Chile and
the Argentine. Sailing from New York
on Thanksgiving Daj% accompanied by Mrs.
Chapman, Mr. F. C. Walcott, and Miss
Helen Walcott, he joined Lord William Percy
on Christmas at Puerto Montt, — the end of
rail service in Chile. Here the party char-
tered a small steamer and for ten days
explored the islands south and east of the is-
land of Chiloe, where an expedition from the
Field Museum of Chicago was engaged in
collecting some time ago. Motion pictures
taken by Mr. Walcott, studies of the flightless
steanier duck made by Lord Percy, the dis-
covery of penguins nesting in luxuriant forests
associated with humming birds, and specimens
as well as still pictures of nearly all the
species observed are the principal results of •
this cruise.
A return was made to Puerto Montt and
there the party divided, to reassemble later.
Lord Percy continued his study of ducks
along the coast of the mainland, Mr. Walcott
went to Bolivia to investigate flamingo
"rookeries," and Doctor Chapman accepted
an invitation from the Hon. William M.
Collier, the LTnited States Ambassador to
Chile, to accompany him to Punta Arenas.
Crossing the Gulf of Penas and sailing along
the coastal islands and the mainland on to the
Straits of Magellan, Doctor Chapman had
an excellent opportunity to view the country
where Darwin made observations during the
memorable voyage of the "Beagle." From
Punta Arenas a crossing to Tierra del Fuego
was effected by gunboat. There American
motor cars met the party and when later the
travelers returned to the mainland, other
motor cars took them northward 150 miles
along the eastern base of the Andes.
On the way from Puerto Montt to Santiago
a stop was made in the Cordillera east of
Temuco for the special purpose of viewing the
Araucaria forests. Doctor Chapman ob-
tained an excellent series of photographs of
the fruit and habit of growth of this tree, but
he could not discover that any birds are associ-
ated with it. In Santiago he rejoined Mr. Wal-
cott, who had completed most successfully his
side trip in search of the flamingoes, and the
party proceeded to Puente del Inca, a station
at an elevation of 9000 feet on the Argentine
side of the Trans- Andean railroad.
Here studies and collections were made for
what should prove to be a most impressive
habitat bird group. The background will
offer a superb view of Aconcagua in a setting
which naturally lends itself to group con-
struction. The dominant bird will be the
condor, with other characteristic upper Ufe-
zone species, including seed snipe and a
humming bird.
At Chascomiis, only three hours south of
Buenos Aires, material was obtained for the
construction of a group representing the bird
life of the pampas and lagoons. Here a coni-
bination of grassland and lake brings together
such forms as the rhea, various tinamous, the
crested screamer, the black-necked swan, the
flamingo, and other almost equally interesting
types. This locality has the additional
advantage of being in the region of which
Hudson wrote . All the species in the proposed
group appear in his books and as a result the
popular value of the group is greatly enhanced.
As a further evidence of the success of the
trip it remains only to state in conclusion that
Doctor Chapman succeeded, in addition to his
field work, in arranging certain important
exchanges, which will add several species and
at least one genus to the collection of birds
in the American Museum.
Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy, assistant
director of the American Museum and asso-
ciate curator of its department of birds, has
been elected a member of the Association of
NOTES
405
American Geographers, which is devoted to
the cultivation of the scientific study of geog-
raphy in all its branches and is limited as
regards its membership to individuals who
have done original work in some branch of
this science. There are at present 138 individ-
uals who have been honored by membership
in this society.
The Cattle Heron. — Mr. James P.
Chapin in an article of this issue has called
attention to the service which one African
bird (the honey guide) performs while seek-
ing its own ends. To the cattle heron (Bubul-
cus ibis) man is indebted in even larger
measure, though its good actions, confined to
the control of insect pests, have not the
spectacular interest that attaches to the
behavior of the honey guide. It is estimated
that in 1920 these insectivorous birds saved in
Egypt alone crops to the value of £2,000,000
or £3,000,000. Yet only eight years prior
thereto herons had been dangerously re-
duced in numbers through the persistent
persecution of plume hunters and, had not
protective measures been set on foot at that
time under the patronage of the late Field
Marshal Earl Kitchener, agriculturists in
Lower Egypt would probably ere this have
been deprived of the services of a useful ally.
The birds derive their name from the fact that
they are usually found in association with
cattle, but they may be seen also with other
domestic and wild animals, snapping up the
insects, especially grasshoppers, that are
driven out of the high grass by the quadrupeds
as they move about grazing. Sometimes the
birds will alight on the backs of elephants,
finding these pachyderms a convenient perch
in country where dense, high growth of vege-
tation makes progress over the ground rather
difficult.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
An Expedition to Sweden and Lapland.
- — Thanks to the generous cooperation of the
Swedish State Railways, the American Mu-
seum has been enabled to send an expedition
to Sweden for the gathering of important data.
Dr. G. Clyde Fisher, curator of visual in-
struction, has been entrusted with the leader-
ship of the undertaking, and is fortunate in
haviag associated with him Mr. Carveth
Courtesy of Dr. L. Bayer
Cattle herons at Entebbe, Uganda
406
NATURAL HISTORY
Wells, F. R. G. s., whose sparkling lectures
have on more than one occasion delighted
members of the Museum and their children.
Doctor Fisher and Mr. Wells sailed May 10
on the S. S. " Drottningholm," Swedish Ameri-
can Line, for Gothenburg, whence by the
River and Lake Route of the Gota Canal thej^
will proceed to Stockholm.
As one of the purposes of the trip is to make
a study of the Swedish educational system,
they will visit elementary and secondary
schools, universities, museums, and other
centers of learning. Attention will be paid to
sloyd work in its native home, for it is pro-
posed to inspect one or more of the schools
in which this system of manual training is
emphasized. Upsala, the seat of one of
Sweden's complete universities, founded
before Columbus discovered America, will be
included in the itinerary. An added interest
here is the fact that Upsala was the home of
Linnaeus, "The Father of Modern Botany,"
who is perhaps as well known to zoologists as
to botanists due to his system of scientific
names for animals and plants, which he
devised in the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury and which is still the basis of our scien-
tific nomenclature. The university center of
Lund will also be visited.
Leaving southern Sweden behind, Doctor
Fisher and Mr. Wells will travel northward by
rail to Por jus, from which point they will go by
motor boat up the Stora Lule-alv River as far
as it is navigable; thence into the wilderness
quite off the beaten track of the casual tourist.
Here it is hoped that both a still- and
motion-picture record of the country and life
of the Lapps may be secured. Doctor Fisher
and Mr. Wells will also make a study of the
extremely interesting and, in some ways,
unique flora and fauna of the region. Since
they will be working within the Arctic Circle
during June and July, not the least of the
points of interest will be those correlated with
"The Land of the Midnight Sun."
It is only recently that Doctor Fisher and
Mr. Wells visited Bermuda and there made
motion-picturerecords of the wonderful under-
water life — the coral gardens and angel fish —
in addition to obtaining many excellent still
pictures. On April 3, the occasion of John
Burrough's birthday. Doctor Fisher lectured
to Bermudians and sojourners in the islands
upon the great naturalist, of whom he has so
many intimate memories and such a fine series
of pictures. It was on this anniversary that
Doctor Fisher saw for the first time the inter-
esting long-tailed tropic birds that had
attracted the notice of Burroughs during his
sojourn in Bermuda, and by a curious coin-
cidence he viewed them from the very spot
where Burroughs had gazed upon them, and
in the company of the Bermudian novelist,
Miss Minna Caroline Smith, who was with
Burroughs when he made the observation.
ERRATA
The attention of the editor has been called
to an error in connection with the full-page
picture on p. 221 of the issue of Natural
History for May-June, 1922. The picture
shows a party collecting fossils in a cliff near
Peking, and as it is credited to Mr. Walter
Granger, palaeontologist of the Third Asiatic
Expedition, a reader would naturally draw the
conclusion that it represents the activities of
that expedition. The photograph was,
however, not taken by Mr. Granger but by
Dr. J. G. Andersson, of the Geological Survey
of China, and depicts the work of that organi-
zation at Chou-K'ou-Tien, in the Province of
Chihli. The picture had been presented to
Mr. Granger and for the sake of convenience
placed with photographs of his own work.
During Mr. Granger's absence in Szechuan,
Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews, desirous of giv-
ing emphasis in the article he was then prepar-
ing for Natural History to Mr. Granger's
achievements, selected from among the photo-
graphs this print, not unnaturally believing
it to be Mr. Granger's. The unfortunate error
has at least this offset, that it gives oppor-
tunity again to direct attention to the impor-
tant work that is being done by the Geologic
Survey of China. In the issue of Natural
History for January-February, 1921, a
detailed account was given of this organiza-
tion, while in the issue for January-February,
1924, mention was made of some of the valu-
able results which it has achieved and of the
program of work still to be undertaken.
Confession is reputed to be good for the soul,
incidentally it is good for a proper under-
standing of the facts. An additional error is,
therefore, noted: the formation shown in the
picture is described in the caption as loess;
it should have been referred to as limestone.
The picture of the excavations at Chou-
K'ou-Tien has been used by Dr. Otto Zdansky
in his account of this fossil locality published
in the Bulletin of the Geological Survey of
China, No. 5, October, 1923.
NOTES
407
CONSERVATION
The John Burroughs Memorial Asso-
ciation held its third annual meeting in the
American Museum on April 3 under the
presidency of Dr. Frank M. Chapman. The
association is dedicated to the purpose of
preserving, in the spirit of John Burroughs,
the places with which his life and work are as
irrefragably linked as is Selbourne with Gil-
bert White or Walden Pond with Thoreau.
Thanks to the vigilance of the special com-
mittees of the association — the one charged
with the preservation of Woodchuck Lodge,
the other with the maintenance of Slabsides — ■
these two dwellings are being safeguarded as
much as possible from the assaults of time
and weather and, when renovation becomes
imperative, the replacements are either
duplications of the original parts or harmoni-
ous additions thereto.
The abiding interest in Burroughs is well
illustrated by the fact, reported by Dr. Clara
Barrus, of the Woodchuck Lodge Committee,
that from the middle of September to the
last of October — at a season, in other words,
when the summer pilgrimages to different
places are at an end — nearly 1200 people
visited the spot where Burroughs spent his
boyhood and where he lies buried.
After a report by Mr. John Shea, chairman
of the Slabsides Committee, regarding the
steps taken to keep Slabsides as nearly as
possible as Burroughs left it. Doctor Chapman
read an entertaining letter from Theodore
Roosevelt, assistant secretary of the Navy,
telling of a visit which young Roosevelt paid
at the age of eleven, when his distinguished
father was governor of New York State, to
the home of the naturalist. This visit had a
curious sequel, which Doctor Chapman illus-
trated through lantern slides. A phoebe,
rather needlessly resentful of the fact that a
little boy had taken a peep in her nest, flew
to a house near Slabsides and there started
a new home on one of the numerous beams
under the roof of the porch. Presently she
lost her bearings, bewildered by the series of
parallel beams of hke structure that offered
support for a nest. In her perplexity she laid
the foundations of a second home and then a
third. With three nests under way the de-
luded bird flew from job to job, not knowing
how to divide her time between her several
building projects, — a dilemma similar to that
of the donkey which, dialecticians claim,
starved to death while trying to decide which
of two piles of hay of equal attractiveness and
of equal proximity it would munch. It was at
this crisis in the bird's affairs that Mr.
Burroughs helped her to concentrate her
activities by demolishing two of the uncom-
pleted nests.
The slides shown by Doctor Chapman were
supplemented by others illustrative of the
environment in which Burroughs spent his
days, and finally, as a culmination of the
session, the artist, Mr. Wickenham, explained
the circumstances connected with the several
admirable oil paintings from his brush of
subjects near Burroughs' birthplace that
ornamented the walls of the room in which
the gathering was held.
The Farne Islands, lying off the northeast
coast of Northumberland, have been used as a
breeding station by more than twenty species
of sea birds, that congregate there in numbers.
The nearest island of this group of fifteen is
only three miles from the mainland and, as
often happens under such circumstances, the
bird life has become imperiled through the
visits of individuals who are wantonly de-
structive . It is the proposal to purchase these
islands and to have them more adequately
guarded than is now possible. Funds in sup-
port of this worthy object may be sent to
Mr. CoUingwood F. Thorp, of Belvedere, Aln-
wick, England.
The National Conference on State
Parks was held in Gettysburg, Pennsylva-
nia, from May 26 to 28 and was attended
by an interested group of delegates. At the
request of Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn, Mr.
Barrington Moore represented the American
Museum at the gathering. The success of
these conferences may be gauged by the grow-
ing response on the part of official bodies and
private associations to the measures urged.
Since the last conference, for instance, Ken-
tucky has passed a state park law; West
Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas have created
state park associations; in Tennessee there
is a movement under way to establish a state
park around Reelfoot Lake: and California
is working on a plan for its state parks. It is
to be hoped that the developments of the
months ahead may reflect in Uke manner the
interest shown by the present conference in
the extension of the park movement
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
In Memory or Mrs. Russell Sage. —
An impressive ceremony took place on April
408
NATURAL HISTORY
15, near the well-known rocking stone^ in the
New York Zoological Park. An oak tree was
planted by the Conservation Committee of
the New York City Federation of Women's
Clubs "in grateful memory of Mrs. Russell
Sage, foremost woman philanthropist of the
world in the bestowal of wisely chosen benefits
upon science, art, literature, education, and
the welfare of humanity." Although Mrs.
Sage's benefactions had the broad foundation
indicated, conservationists will feel that her
memory is more fittingly preserved through
the planting of a tree than through any other
sj'^mbol of her public-spirited interests. Just
as the memory of Burroughs and Muir is
hterally kept green through the pin oaks
planted in front of the American Museum,
so the important part Mrs. Sage has had in
assuring the preservation of the wild hfe of
the country will be commemorated each re-
curring spring in the beauty of foUage of this
memorial tree, a symbol of her perennial
interest in the world of living and growing
things. Through the permanent wild-hfe
protection fund she established; through the
Sage Game Sanctuary on Marsh Island,
Louisiana; and other wise provisions in the
interests of conservation, she has made a
lasting contribution for which all nature lov-
ers are deeply grateful.
The tree-planting ceremony was preceded
by a procession and the delivery of a eulogy
by Dr. WiUiam T. Hornaday, director of the
New York Zoological Park, and was followed
by the recital, by Mrs. Charles Cyrus Mar-
shall, of the poem "Park Trees," written by
Margaret E. Sangster.
In the afternoon the New York City
Federation of Women's Clubs held a session,
under the chairmanship of Mrs. Marshall, on
conservation of wild Hfe. Mrs. Thomas
Slack, president of the organization, delivered
the greeting; Mrs. Otto Hahn, the secretary,
presented the report of the conservation com-
mittee; Senator Elwood M. Rabenold, chair-
man of the State Senate Committee on Con-
servation, spoke on "The Conservation Out-
look Today," the St. Cecelia Choral Society
sang Joyce Kilmer's "Trees," and Doctor
Hornaday delivered an address on "Our
Campaign for Retrenchment and Reform."
The Tropical Research Station of the
New York Zoological Society has contributed
an interesting exhibit of its work at Kartabo,
'A photograph of this stone appeared in the issue of
Natural History for September-October, 1922, p.
433.
British Guiana, to the Empire Exhibition
recently held in London, both as testimony of
the nature of its undertakings and as a tribute
to the continuous support which the govern-
ment of British Guiana has given to the sta-
tion. Included in the material sent were a
number of pictures, for it was felt that through
such photographic records could be conveyed
more effectively than in any other way the
natural interest of the site and the facilities
for scientific work that the station offers.
The studies in water color made by Miss
Isabel Cooper of insects, reptiles, birds, and
mammals, were represented, and a large oil
painting of the station was a prominent
feature.
EXTINCT ANIMALS
A Survey of Pliocene Fauna and Strati-
graphy.— The department of vertebrate
palaeontology, American Museum, has been
engaged since 1910 in making a very accurate
survey of the Age of Mammals, beginning
with the Eocene of northern New Mexico,
Utah, and Wyoming, which has been explored
in the greatest detail, especially through field
expeditions under the direction of Mr. Walter
Granger. Precise study of these collections
in the Museum by Professor Osborn, Doctor
Matthew, and Mr. Granger has yielded the
entire hfe history of Eocene time, showing
especially the connections with western
Europe and with Mongoha. The next period,
the OUgocene, is now being studied with great
precision by Professor Sinclair of Princeton.
The Miocene east of the Rocky Moimtains
is being especially surveyed by Curator
Matthew, with the cooperation of Mr.
Harold Cook. West of the Rocky Moim-
tains, the Miocene is now being examined,
likewise with great thoroughness, by expedi-
tions under the direction of Dr. John C. Mer-
riam, president of the Carnegie Institution,
who has also conducted epoch-making explora-
tions of the PUocene in the Great Desert of
the Pacific Slope, that have resulted in the
discovery especially of unsuspected migra-
tions of Asiatic antelopes into North Amer-
ica. The Pleistocene, or Ice Age, has been
studied in detail during the past twenty
years by Dr. O. P. Hay of the Carnegie
Foundation.
There remains the problem of the Pliocene
east of the Rocky Mountains, from the Mexi-
can border northward into Nebraska; also
the Phocene of Florida. This is the least-
NOTES
409
known and the least-understood part of the
Age of Mammals in this great region, because
the fossil deposits are so sparse and so scat-
tered. Yet we feel confident that it contains a
fossil store of surpassing interest, because of
great migrations both from Asia and from
South America.
For the purpose of making possible re-
search in this period of the Age of Mammals,
one of the Trustees of the American Museum,
Mr. Childs Frick, has contributed the Plio-
cene Fund, in addition to conducting field
work of the utmost importance and interest,
especially in southern California. Mr. Frick
has been working for several years, with the
assistance of the staff of preparators and
artists, upon certain papers that will be pub-
lished in Bulletin and Memoir form. These
include: (1) "Description of New Material
from the Pliocene of Eden, California, and the
Pleistocene of El Casco, California," (2)
"Description of New Material from the
Barstow Region of California," (3) "Bears
and Aberrant Dogs of the late Tertiary and
Quaternary," (4) "Horses of the North
American Pleistocene."
The plan of the present year includes the
survey of the Pliocene of Florida by Curator
Matthew, whose recent visit to Florida is the
subject of the following note, and the explora-
tion of the Pliocene of northern Arizona and
central Texas by Dr. James W. Gidley and
Curator Matthew.
Fossil Localities in Florida. — Dr. W. D.
Matthew spent the month of March in
Florida, examining various localities for fossil
vertebrates and studying specimens in mu-
seum and private collections. Many fossil
mammals have been found in different parts
of the state, but most of them in a fragmentary
condition and scattered, and their exact
geologic age has often been doubtful. Most
of the fossils come from the phosphate work-
ings in the central part of the state. Flor-
ida, as many readers of Natural History
know, is the great phosphate state of the
Union. It supplies about nine-tenths of the
phosphates mined and used in the United
States, and a great part of the European
supply. The later Tertiary formations that
cover a great part of the state contain almost
everywhere a considerable percentage of
phosphate of lime, but not enough to be
profitably extracted. The workable phosphate
deposits are concretionary layers and masses
in which the phosphate of lime is sufficiently
concentrated to make its removal profitable.
In the "hard rock phosphate" district these
deposits are in pockets and lenses upon the
very irregular surface of marine limestone,
and covered by a layer a few feet or yards
deep of surface soils. Farther south in the
"land pebble phosphate" district these phos-
phatic beds have been overrun by the sea.
the phosphates broken up into pebbles and
redeposited as conglomerate lenses and layers
over a limestone floor planed down by the
waves to a more uniform surface. As in the
district farther north, a surface covering or
overburden, ten, twenty, or sometimes fifty
feet in thickness, overlies the phosphate bed.
The river pebble phosphates, dredged from
the channels of various streams, are due to a
similar concentration of the phosphate con-
cretions— pebbles, fossil teeth, and bones —
through the action of rivers and streams.
The mining is done on a huge scale, with
sand pump, dredges, hydraulic jets, elaborate
machinery for crushing, washing, sorting, and
concentrating the phosphate, which is then
shipped off to be treated with sulphuric acid
or otherwise made available for fertilizer.
Fossil teeth or bones show up every now and
then, occasionally a lower jaw, and even
fairly good skulls have been found, but prob-
ably far more has been destroyed in the course
of operations than has been preserved. There
is no practical safeguard against such loss
except to maintain and increase the interest
that is quite generally shown by the managing
staff of the principal mining companies, and
by the more intelligent workmen, in any
fossils that are seen, especially the unusual
ones. The American Museum and other
institutions are under obligations to these
gentlemen for various important or interesting
fossils saved and presented to them. The
American Museum in particular is indebted
to Mr. Anton Schneider and Mr. H. L. Mead,
present manager of the pits of the American
Cyanamid Company at Brewster, Florida,
and to Prof. C. R. Halter of Southern College,
Lakeland, for a number of very interesting
fossil mammal specimens from the pebble
phosphate district.
The concretionary phosphates probablj^
have been forming wherever the conditions
were favorable ever since the land emerged
above sea level, and the bones and teeth of
the animals associated with them have been
buried, preserved, and petrified at various
times from the middle part of the Tertiary
410
NATURAL HISTORY
period down to the present. Under such cir-
cumstances, there is sometimes an admixture
of species of very different age, especially in
beds that have been reworked by marine or
river action. As a general rule, however,
most or all of the fossils found in one pocket
or excavation are of the same age; or, if not,
the earher remains and the later intrusions
can usually be distinguished by differences in
their preservation. With exact records of the
finds and a practical knowledge of the faunas
found associated in the Western Tertiary for-
mations, it is possible to distinguish several
different faunas among the fossil mammals of
Florida. Doctor E. H. Sellards, the former
state geologist, has done a great deal of very
excellent work along this line, and it is to be
hoped that the present staff of the Geologic
Survey will be enabled to continue the work in
cooperation with various institutions and
individuals interested in learning more of the
geological history of the state. To the three
faunas distinguished by Doctor Sellards —
Miocene, Phocene, and Pleistocene — Doctor
Matthew was able to add a fourth and older
one, at the base of the Miocene, and to add
various items to the later faunas. Neverthe-
less, our acquaintance with the extinct Flor-
idian mammals is still extremely scanty and
fragmentary, and a great deal will probably be
added to it in the near future.
In a later number some account will be
given of the interesting fossil finds recently
made in Florida by one of our life members,
Mr. Walter W. Holmes.
The Excavation of the Peale Masto-
don.— Readers of Prof. Henry Fairfield
Osborn's article on " Mastodons of theHudson
Highlands," contributed to the issue of Nat-
ural History for January-February, 1923,
will recall the historic painting by Charles
Willson Peale that appeared in connection
with that article. The picture has recently
been lent to the American Museum by Mrs.
Harry White and has been placed in the hall
of horses on the fourth floor. In addition to its
artistic value — the work of a painter to whom
Washington gave fourteen sittings — this
picture has documentary significance, for it
records an event of interest in the history of
palseontology and among those represented in
the group of individuals witnessing the exca-
The excavation of the Peale Mastodon. — This historic painting has been lent to the American Museum
by Mrs. Harry White
NOTES
411
vation are the artist himself and members of
his family. Charles Willson Peale is the
conspicuous figure with the right hand ex-
tended and the left holding the diagram of the
leg bones. The other figures immediately on
the right of him are Mrs. Peale, Mrs. Rem-
brandt Peale, Titian Ramsay Peale, who was
the naturalist of Long's Expedition and later
of Wilkes's Expedition to the Antarctic and
Pacific, the daughters of Rembrandt Peale,
and Rembrandt Peale himself, who wrote a
memoir on the mastodon.
FISHES
Edward Phelps Allis, Jr. — Thirty years
ago Edward Phelps Allis, Jr., began his career
as the leading student of the head structure
of fishes — skull, bones, muscles, nerves, blood
vessels, sensory organs, foramina, cavities,
mouth parts; practically all the organs of the
head except the brain and the eyes. He
founded the Lake Laboratory in the early
nineties of the last century and was one of the
founders of the Journal of Morphology. About
twenty-five years ago, however. Doctor Alhs
moved his laboratory to Mentone, France, in
the Riviera region, and from it has poured
forth an unceasing stream of articles of the
highest class along the various lines noted
above.
Two papers are of particular interest. In
1922 there appeared his great memoir on the
cranial anatomy of Polypterus, published in
the Journal of Anatomy, Cambridge, England.
Of so great value was this paper, that the
Journal Club of the American Museum sent a
letter of congratulation and good wishes to
Doctor AlUs on the completion of this im-
portant piece of research.
However, the particular paper calHng forth
this note is his "Cranial Anatomy of Chlamy-
doselachus anguineus, pubhshed in Acta
Zoologica, Stockholm, 1923. In this contribu-
tion, 99 pages in length and illustrated by 23
magnificent plates (19 of them colored).
Doctor Allis deals in a masterly fashion with
the skuU, visceral arches, muscles, latero-
sensory organs, circulatory organs, and
nerves. The Japanese frilled shark — the
subject of the paper — is designated by Samuel
Garman, its original describer and first
student, as a "living fossil." It is an archaic
shark, not greatly changed in its general
form and structure from its Devonian an-
cestors. Hence such a work as that of Doctor
Allis is necessarily of a fundamental character,
both by reason of its accuracy and because of
the primitive form on which the researches are
based.
In both these papers Doctor Allis pays high
tribute to Mr. Jugiro Nomura, his Japanese
assistant, who made the dissections and draw-
ings, and who has since died.
These papers are of great interest to the
scientific staff of the American Museum,
particularly to those connected with the
departments of ichthyology and comparative
anatomy, not only on account of their
morphological bearings, but also because the
material on which Doctor Alhs worked was
supplied to him in large part by Dr. Bash-
ford Dean, honorary curator of ichthyology,
from specimens in the American Museum or
secured by that institution.
Fishes Taken by the Congo Expedition.
— Some years ago there appeared several re-
ports deahng with the fishes brought back by
the Congo Expedition of the American Mu-
seum (1909-15). The first,i by Messrs.
John T. Nichols and Ludlow Griscom, was
based on the collection of about 6000 fresh-
water fishes. Among the 234 forms repre-
sented, 4 genera and 29 species proved to be
new to science. The second,^ by the late Dr.
Charles R. Eastman, noted many interesting
and peculiar structures in the skull of Hydro-
cyon, generally caUed the "water leopard,"
the whole mouth of which is edged with an
armature of long, dagger-hke teeth. Compari-
son was made with the Cretaceous genus
Onchosaurus and the recent South American
Hoplias. The third,^ by Dr. L. Hussakof,
referred to the discovery of a new fossil fish.
Lepidotus congolensis, from the Lualaba beds
of the Upper Triassic near Stanleyville. This
report also recorded from the Paleocene strata
of Landana the first indication of teleosts in
that formation.
In the large collection of fish were included
about 250 salt-water specimens, collected
near the mouth of the Congo River by Mr.
Herbert Lang while he was waiting there for a
ship to take to New York the rest of the
material gathered during more than sLx years
of field work. Recently the study of this part
of the fish collection was undertaken by Mr.
Henry W. Fowler, the well-known ichthyolo-
^Bulletin, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XXXVII, Art. 25,
1917, pp. 653-756, 31 figs., 3 maps. Pis. LXIV-
LXXXIII
'-Bulletin, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XXXVII, Art. 26,
1917, pp. 757-60, 3 figs., Pis. LXXXIV-LXXXVII.
"Bulletin, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XXXVII, Art 27,
1917, pp. 761-67, 7 figs., PI. LXXXVIII.
412
NATURAL HISTORY
gist of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia.
In his preUnnnarj" report just issued,^ Mr.
Fowler describes one genus and four species
as new to science. Especialty noteworthy
among these discoveries is a shark Mustelus
oshorni, named in honor of President Henry
Fairfield Osborn, who encouraged the pub-
lication of the series of reports on the scien-
tific results of the Congo Expedition. This
series has now reached the seventh volume
and reports for the next three volumes are
practicallj'- ready for the press. Later, when
the full series of volumes as originally planned
by the president is published, the work will
appear under the title The Zoology of the
Belgian Congo.
Centrarchops, a new genus, belongs to the
famity Serranidse, carnivorous fishes of warm
seas. Its description is based upon Centrar-
chops chapini, so called after Mr. James P.
Chapin, the second member of the expedition.
Paradoxically enough, this, although new, is
one of the common fishes of the Congo estuarj'
and like its near relative Lates nilotica of the
Upper Congo, one of the large and most highly
prized food fishes. In addition to these there
are two new forms belonging to families repre-
sented by a multitude of small species in the
shore waters of the tropics : Gobius bequserti —
named in honor of Dr. Joseph Bequsert, an en-
thusiastic collaborator in this extensive series
of reports — and Blemiius langi, named after
the leader of the Congo Expedition.
MARINE LIFE
Bahaman Coral-Reef Group Expedi-
Tiox. — An expedition under the leadership of
Dr. Roy W. Miner, curator of lower inverte-
brates, sailed for the Bahamas on June 6 to
prosecute work on the coral reefs at Andros as
a preUminary step in the work of constructing
a large coral reef group to be placed in the
splendid new hall of ocean life, now nearing
completion. In order to collect trustworthy
data for this group. Doctor Miner is under-
taking a six or eight weeks' trip, accompanied
by Messrs. Chris. E. Olsen, Herman Mueller,
and George H. Childs, modeler, glass blower,
and artist respectively on Doctor Miner's
staff. The expedition will be financed by the
Angelo Heilprin Fund, the Morris K. Jesup
Fvmd, and the Trustees' Emergency Prepara-
tion and Exhibition Fund.
^Novitates, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., No. 103, 1923,
pp. 1-6.
An important feature of the expedition is
the undersea tube which has been made
available for the work at Andros through the
courteous cooperation of the Submarine Film
Company, whose general manager, Mr. J. E.
Williamson, will sail with Doctor Miner's
party on June 6. Mr. Williamson is the
pioneer in undersea photographj' and will
operate the tube, which was invented by his
father. His cooperation will add greatly to
the success of the undertaking.
Valuable assistance has also been rendered,
through Mrs. WilUam Belknap, by the firm of
A. Schrader's Son, which has donated a com-
plete diving outfit "ndth pump. This will
greatly facilitate the problem of securing
undersea specimens.
A week will be spent in outfitting at Nassau,
after which boats •nill be hired for the passage
across "The Tongue of the Ocean" to Andros,
where a coral reef sixty miles in length follows
the coast of the archipelago at a distance of
about a mile. Here is an unlimited source of
supply of the living material needed for the
photographs, sketches, and other data to be
collected. And here Mr. Wilhamson will
bring his marvelous undersea tube, which
forms an open-air passage through which one
may descend to the observation chamber
attached to its base, and sit comfortably with
two or three companions gazing out over the
ocean floor fathoms below the surface. Here
one may study, sketch, and photograph the
tropical marine life in its natural environment
and direct the work of divers in collecting
corals under such favorable circumstances as
scientist never enjoyed before.
The group to be constructed as a result of
this trip wiU be a repUca of a West Indian coral
reef, planned on a huge scale that will embrace
both the floor and gallery of the hall of ocean
life, rising to a height of thirty-five feet and
extending to a width of thirty feet. On the
gallery level ■nnll appear the coral island as it
might look to an incoming boat, with its
palm trees, expanse of beach and lagoon,
waves breaking over the outer reef, and in the
distance trade-wind clouds blowing over a
tropical sky. Then, in descending to the
lower floor, one puts on, as it were, a diver's
suit and descends to the submerged part of
the reef, where countless plants and animals
of varied colors crowd over the ocean bottom
and gay-hued fishes dart in and out among
the rocks.
NOTES
413
INTERMUSEUM PROMENADE
A BROAD AND SAFE PATHWAY FROM THE MET-
ROPOLITAN MUSEUM AT 80tH STREET
EAST TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM AT
79th STREET WEST
President Osborn's Appeal.— On Mon-
day, March 31, a public hearing was held by
the Board of Estimate and Apportionment
on the matter of the proposed War Memo-
rial, the reclamation of the lower reservoir,
and the construction of the Intermuseum
Promenade. President Osborn appeared on
behalf of the Museum, in connection with the
Intermuseum Promenade and the develop-
ment of the lower reservoir space into a
children's playground. An excerpt from his
address is appended:
Since 1911 I have been promoting by every
means in my power the present movement to
turn the southern reservoir back into Central
'P^'rk space, to cioate a new and large play-
ground for the children of the city, and to
design an Intermuseum Promenade between
East 80 and West 79 Streets to enable the
great population of the east and west sides
of the city, respectively, to visit our two great
museums. I have closely observed this great
area of the park for thirty-two years. It sepa-
rates two of the finest museums of the world
by a barrier dangerous by day and impassable
by night. School parties now pass through
the park subway to attend the morning and
afternoon lectures of the American Museum.
Within the last two years parties of schoolboys
have been attacked and robbed in passing
through this area. When the State Roosevelt
Memorial Commission met two years ago, I
told them that this part of the park was very
dangerous; two nights later a man was robbed
and murdered within a stone's throw of the
American Museum. With all these facts in
mind, the mayor, the comptroller, the presi-
dent of the Borough of Manhattan, and the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment have
had before them since 1911 the question of
the redemption of this space. The plan now
presented by Commissioner Whalen and Com-
missioner Gallatin represents ten years of con-
tinuous and conscientious study for the wel-
fare of the people of New York.
One of the leading newspapers of the city
has been opposing the promenade plan since
February 9, 1916. Since then the colonnade
known as the War Memorial has been sub-
stituted for the Mitchell fountain originally
planned by Mr. Hastings. If you look at the
site, you will see at once that the use of the
open colonnade and lagoon is the only possible
landscape-architectural solution of this prob-
lem. Between the upper reservoir and the
lagoon there must be some dominant feature.
It cannot be a forest, because a forest will not
grow there; it can only be some form of
building, and of all forms of building none
solves the problem as does the colonnade. No
other solution has been or can be suggested.
To my eye the colonnade should be on a
larger scale than Mr. Hastings has planned it.
He intends to develop his plan with the aid of
our Fine Arts Commission. In this matter of
the War Memorial I speak from my own
individual experience and judgment and
represent no one but myself.
In the matter of the Intermuseum Prome-
nade and the redemption of the southern
reservoir and its conversion into thirty-two
acres of new playground, however, I speak
officially. This matter has been repeatedly
before the Trustees of the American Museum
and I, have had their authority in strongly
reconimending it to the city. In fact, the
American Museum has spent years of time
and effort and a large amount of money to
develop this plan. On May 10, 1916, the
Museum first secured from the Department
of Water Supply, Gas, and Electricity a
promise to release the southern reservoir and
return it to the park. The Museum is now
taking the best professional advice obtainable.
It is considered by tne Museum an essential
feature of the great Roosevelt Memorial plan
that the Roosevelt Memorial should have a
safe, adequate, and beautiful approach from
the east side of the City. In its promise to
the state the city is pledged to the Inter-
museum Promenade plan, which will, I am
confident, have the unanimous support of all
our citizens.
President Osborn brings to the considera-
tion of this subject an experience gained
through association with many park projects.
Since 1898 he has been an honorary member
of the Boone and Crockett Club, founded by
Theodore Roosevelt, — a club that played its
part in furthering the great national park
system in the United States. Since 1896, as
chairman and president of the Zoological Soci-
ety of New York, he has supervised the plan-
ning for the city of New York of an incomparable
park and aquarium with an annual attend-
ance of 5,000,000 people. Since 1869 he has
been visiting and studying the park systems
of the great cities of Europe and America. In
laying out the Zoological Park he had twenty
years of experience with many landscape
architects of America, including the landscape
architects of the park, Heins and Lafarge,
the endeavor being to create a park at once
beautiful, inspiring, educational, and prac-
tical. Since 1907 he has been a warm .sup-
porter of the Bronx Parkway movement under
Madison Grant, which has given to New York
the most beautiful exit parkway in the world,
fifteen miles in length, and has solved a most
difficult engineering problem. In 1915 he was
chairman of the national movement to save
the Hetch Hetchy Valley of California, ad-
414
NATURAL HISTORY
joining Yosemite Park, from invasion by a
municipal water plant. In 1917 he started,
with Madison Grant and John C. Merriam,
the national movement known as "Save the
Redwoods," which at present under Cali-
fornia leadership is redeeming the glorious
redwood forests along the Pacific Coast.
MAMMALS
The American Society of Mammalogists
held its sixth annual stated meeting in Boston
and Cambridge from April 15 to 17. The
sessions of April 15 were devoted to a sym-
posium on the scientific and economic im-
portance of predatory mammals. The sub-
ject was opened by Mr. H. E. Anthony of the
American Museum and among the speakers
that followed him was Mr. Herbert Lang of
the same institution. Attention was called
to the energetic measures which the Bureau of
the Biological Survey is taking, over a large
part of the United States, to exterminate the
predatory animals as well as to complete the
destruction of certain so-called mammal pests.
The majority of the speakers deplored the far-
reaching character of the measures taken and
rather questioned their necessity, expressing
the belief that the situation called for judicious
control rather than complete extermination.
So strong was the sentiment in favor of a less
drastic mode of procedure that a committee
was appointed, with Dr. Charles C. Adams as
chairman, for the purpose of drawing up
suitable resolutions.
The resolutions as drafted called attention
to the fact that there is a dangerous propa-
ganda abroad in the land because of this
federal activity and that private interests are
seizing the occasion to exploit the destruction
of mammals, being actuated by hopes of
financial gain. In view of these circumstances
the president of the society was authorized to
appoint a committee to go into the question
and ascertain whether there are not some areas
in which predatory animals might be spared
from measures of extermination.
The symposium was attended by reporters
from the Boston papers, who gave wide
publicity to the views presented.
April 16 and 17 were devoted to subjects of
a more miscellaneous character, including
an account of " Small Mammals from the Asi-
atic Expeditions of the American Museum,"
presented by Dr. Glover M. Allen; a resume
of the work now being carried on by the
Museum in Ecuador, given by Mr. Anthony;
and two papers, one entitled "Variation in
the Cranial Characters Due to Age in the
African Viverrine Genus Civettictis," and the
other "Comparison of Ecological Conditions
in the West African Rain Forest with those of
the British Guiana Forest, with Remarks on
the Mammal Life," presented by Mr. Lang.
Mr. H. E. Anthony, associate curator in
charge of the department of mammals, has
been unanimously elected an honorary hfe
member of the Sociedad Colombiana de
Ciencias Naturales of Bogota, Colombia.
This honor has been voted Mr. Anthony in
recognition of his researches in South America.
The Colombian Society of Natural Sciences
was founded some years ago largely through
the efforts of Brother Apolinar Maria, who
was recently made a corresponding member
of the American Museum because of his active
interest in South American zoology. The
society is made up of a group of earnest and
enthusiastic students of natural history who
have done much to bring to the attention of
the world the interesting character of their
native fauna.
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION
OF EUGENICS
The International Commission of Eugenics
is composed of four officers — Major Leonard
Darwin (president), Prof. Henry Fairfield
Osborn (vice president). Dr. Albert Govaerts
(secretary-treasurer), and Mrs. C. B. S.
Hodson (assistant secretary) — and twenty-
three other members, representing fifteen
countries. The function of this commission is
to determine the place and time of the next
ensuing congress and to function as an interim
committee, authorized to act on other inter-
national eugenical matters that require action
in the interval between congresses. The first
International Congress of Eugenics was held
in London twelve years ago. The Second
International Congress, which took place in
the American Museum in September, 1921, is
still fresh in the minds of those who attended
it and who listened to addresses of distin-
guished scientists from all parts of the world.
NEW MEMBERS
Since the last issue of Natural History
the following persons have been elected mem-
bers of the American Museum, making the
total membership 7610 :
Life Members: Mrs. Frank Stephenson
Voss; Messrs. Leo Feist, John Hemming
Fry, John P. Grier, Benjamin Lowenstein,
NOTES
415
Philip G. McFadden, R. A. F. Penrose, Jr.,
George F. Porter, R. S. Robertson, Louis
A. ScHREiNER, John F. Sheridan, A. B.
Spreckles, Charles H. Swift, and Norman
F. Torrance.
Sustaining Members: Dr. Edward H. Squibb;
Messrs. Wm. Carnegie Ewen, Fred. P.
Geyer, L. Nachmann, G. A. Pfeiffer,
Lansing P. Reed, Wm. Rhinelander
Stewart, Jr., Robert G. Stone, and H. E.
Ward.
Annual Members: Mesdames A. de Bonne-
VAL, Jules S. Ehrich, James Wall Finn,
Edward Ford, Bernard F. Gimbel, M.
Grundner, M. Kennerley, Edward V. Z.
Lane, S. D. Lesser, Carl Levi, E. Spencer
Mead, Byron D. Miller, Clarence Mill-
HiSER, J. B. Patton, M. Russell Perkins,
Charles H. Platt, Norman Putnam Ream,
Carl A. Richmond, George Schneller, H.
C. Schwab, Charles Seasongood, J. K.
Ogden Sherwood, Adam Weber, Alex. H.
Williamson; the Misses A, P. Benjamin,
LuciLE G. Denison, Sarah L. Kirby,
Emilie O. Long, Mary G. Millett, Luella
A. Palmer, Ernestine Piez, Eugenia R.
Seabury, Mary E. Warner; Sister M.
Evangelista, Sister Agnes Xavier; Doc-
tors Ernest Brehaut, H. G. Chappel,
Alfred E. Cohn, Gustav G. Fisch, Louis
Hauswirth, Wm. C. Johnson, W. H.
Kahrs, Leon M. Lesser, Jacob Munter
LoBSENZ, William P. Macleod, Warren C.
MacFarland, John P. McParlan, Eli
Moschcowitz, James B. Murphy, Lillian
Delger Powers, Frederick W. Rice, A. I.
Ringer, Augusto T. Rossano, H. H. Sea-
BKOOK, Edwin S. Steese, Alfred Walker,
Freeman F. Ward, M. M. Waterhouse,
Carleton W. Woods, Jacques E. Zipser;
the Reverend Joseph P. McComas, the
Reverend Edgar Whit aker Work; Messrs.
Carl J. R. Ahrnke, Milton L. Bernstein,
Herbert R. Bowles, Bert Clark, Arthur
CoppELL, Ernest W. Eager, Walter G.
Earl, Henry W. Eaton, Nicholas Engel,
Samuel G. Evans, John J. Falahee, Frank
Fetzer, G. G. Frelinghuysen, Nathan
Gans, Aaron Gantz, Robert O. Gavin,
Henry Goldwater, Harry Gould, Adolph
Grant, B. M. Gruenstein, Edward O.
GuDE, Archibald A. Gulick, Ralph W.
Gwinn, Henry Hall Hanson, Henry C.
Hasbrouck, Charles Eugene Ising, N.
Kann, Marc Krohn, Jean Le Bloas, John
Levy, C. Lewis, Walter Loewenthal,
William Jay Madden, Gustav Manz,
Arthur E. Marsh, Robert P. Marshall,
Charles N. Mason, Wm. W. McAlpin.G. W.
Mead, Albert Meister, David Metzger,
Arthur S. Meyer, J. E. Miller, Isidore
MossoN, Charles F. Murphy, Jr., Henry
KiLLAM Murphy, Harry T. Newcomb,
James F. Newcomb, Leo H. Newhouse,
David E. Oppenheimer, Lowell M.
Palmer, Jr., Silvian Palmer, John S.
Parker, B. Henry Pelzer, W. Stanwood
Phillips, Frank Poel, Austin E. Pres-
singer, Edgar S. Pretzfeld, H. H. Ramsay,
Oran Winthrop Rice, Charles A. W. Rin-
scHEDE, Abraham Rosenberg, John M.
RoYALL, Edward Sachs, Francis B. San-
ford, S. A. Sarafian, F. a. Sarg, Hugh
Satterlee, Leopold Schepp, Armin A.
Schlesinger, Philip Schleussner, Her-
bert S. Schoonmaker, a. R. Searles, Clif-
ford Seasongood, John S. Seymour, Al.
M. Silverstein, Chas. Spiegel, Carl B.
Spitzer, Edwin S. S. Sunderland, Geo. N.
TiDD, Robert R. Titus, William T. Vander-
Lipp, William H. Von Bergen, James H.
Wainwright, Henry L. Walker, James
Knox Warnock, S. J. Weiss, Henry G.
Weltzien, Philip Weston, Sidney S.
Whelan, a. D. Whiteside, Henry D. Wil-
liams, Thomas H. Wilson, Herman H.
Wolff, M. Wolff, Martin Wortmann,
Richardson Wright, Howard E. Wur-
LiTZER, H. J. Wyatt, W. W. Wyckoff,
James A. Wylie; and Master Todd Harris.
Associate Members: Mesdames Francis W.
Bird, Stephen Bonsal, E. Norman Curry,
Edward G. Gardiner, L. Y. Long, Ridley
McLean, Edward Morrell, R. H. Palmer,
Annie G. Porritt, Pauline Rissmuller,
W. H. W. Skerrett, Clara Farmer Waitt;
THE Misses Maria L. Corliss, Martha
Gamble, Rachel A. Husband, Hortense
Levy, Ann Morgan, Elizabeth M. Murray,
Elizabeth Haupt Smith, Ruth A. Still-
man, Mary-Gordon Volkmann, Erika
Wulfing von Ditten, Lena C. Wiley;
THE Right Reverend Thomas F. Gailor;
THE Honorable Clarence H. Clark;
Judge John Barton Payne; Major
Leonard Darwin; Captain Frank A.
Potts; Lieutenant Wm. W. Webster;
Doctors Arthur W. Booth, Melvin Eu-
gene CowEN, Elliott C. Cutler, Henry
S. Drinker, Adelbert Fernald, Percy
Hughes, G. Chapin Jenkins, J. A. Munk,
416
NATURAL HISTORY
Herman R. Niehaus, J. Woods Price, W.
G. Ttjrnbull, T. Van Hyning, Robert M.
Yerkes; the Reverend John J. Burke, C.
S. P., THE Reverend J. A. Caligan, the
Reverend Wolcott Cutler, the Rever-
end Edwin H. Richards; B. F. Riley, D.D.;
the Reverend George F. Weld; Profes-
sors A. W. Brogger, Eug. Dubois, Marion
E. Hubbard, William Mann Irvine, W. A.
Neilson; Messrs. H. A. Albyn, Edward
Bains, Charles M. Barker, Ernest Harold
Baynes, Wm. Hudson Behney, Prescott
Bigelow, Albion Bindley, Lloyd V.
Briggs, Jr., Edmund J. Burke, Allston
Burr, L. F. Butler, Frank Campsall,
Alexander H. Gary, John L. Case, Edgar
P. Chance, F. C. Chandler, Clarence A.
C::iLDS, Chas. Hopkins Clark, G. C. Coffee,
W. R. Cole, R. V. Coleman, George M.
Coram, Eben F. Corey, Benjamin B. Cox,
Richard C. Curtis, J. B. de Aguilar-Amat,
George M. Douglas, George W. C.
Drexel, C. W. Dunlop, Geo. Ross Eshle-
MAN, C. Carson Febiger, 2d, Frederick P.
Fish, Benjamin S. Foss, William C. Geer,
Henry W. Giese, Carlo M. Girard,
Morris Gray, William A. Heron, Arthur
Hewitt, James Hillhouse, William G.
Irwin, A. P. Johnson, Eric Knight Jordan,
Albert Kahn, Arthur H. Lea, Chong H.
Leong, John N. Lightbourn, Thurston V.
Little, Henry S. Loeb, Henry H. Mason,
James Everett McAshan, Jr., Morton J.
A. McDonald, J. Horace McFarland, L.
N. Means, W. Howard Metcalf, Robert
W. Meyer, August E. Miller, J. Reid
Moir, Hubert S. Morgan, Junius S.
Morgan, Edward H. Parry, J. L. Phillips,
Darwin L. Platt, J. C. Platt, Leslie
Rogers, Hillyer V. Rolston, Richard S.
Ruddle, George A. Rust, Louis H. Schmidt,
Frank Schwarz, O. B. Sperling, Aaron
Straus, W. M. Stuart, Gardner T. Swarts,
Jr., Frank M. Taylor, Edward S. Thomas,
Rowland Ward, C. Fred Washburn,
Walter J. Watson, Daniel S. Webber,
Sinclair Weeks, M. Weisman, Wm. B.
White, Adrian P. Whiting, W. H. Work-
man, Otto Wulfing, and Master Peter
WULFING.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
FOUNDED IN 1869
Board of Trustees
Henry Fairfield Osborn, President
George F. Baker, First Vice President Clarence L. Hay
J. P. Morgan, Second Vice President Archer M. Huntington
George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer Adrian Iselin
Percy R. Pyne, Secretary Walter B. James
Frederick F. Brewster Roswell Miller
Frederick Trxjbee Davison Ogden Mills
Cleveland H. Dodge A. Perry Osborn
Cleveland Earl Dodge George D. Pratt
Walter Douglas Theodore Roosevelt
Childs Frick Leonard C. Sanford
Madison Grant John B. Trevor
William Averell Harriman Felix M. Warburg
John F. Hylan, Mayor of the City of New York
Charles L. Graig, Comptroller of the City of New York
Francis D. Gallatin, Commissioner of the Department of Parks
MEMBERSHIP MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED
For the enrichment of its collections, for the support of its explorations and scientific research,
and for the maintenance of its publications, the American Museum of Natural History is de-
pendent wholly upon membership fees and the generosity of friends. More than 7600 members
are now enrolled who are thus supporting the work of the Museum. The various classes of
membership are:
Associate Member (nonresident)* annually $3
Annual Member annually 10
Sustaining Member annually 25
Life Member 100
Fellow 500
Patron 1,000
Associate Benefactor 10,000
Associate Founder 25,000
Benefactor. 50,000
*Persons residing fifty miles or more from New York City
Subscriptions by check and inquiries regarding membership should be addressed: George
F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum of Natural History, New York City.
FREE TO MEMBERS
NATURAL HISTORY: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Natural History, pubUshed bimonthly by the Museum, is sent to all classes of members
as one of their privileges. Through Natural History they are kept in touch with the activi-
ties of the Museum and with the marvels of nature as they are revealed by study and explora-
tion in various regions of the globe.
AUTUMN AND SPRING COURSES OF POPULAR LECTURES
Series of illustrated lectures, held in the Auditorium of the Museum on alternate Thursday
evenings in the fall and spring of the year, are open only to members and to those holding tickets
given them by members.
Illustrated stories for the children of members are told on alternate Saturday mornings in
the fall and in the spring.
MEMBERS' CLUB ROOM AND GUIDE SERVICE
A room on the third floor of the Museum, equipped with every convenience for rest, reading,
and correspondence, is set apart during Museum hours for the exclusive use of members. When
visiting the Museum, members are also privileged to avail themselves of the services of an
instructor for guidance.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY has a record of more
than fifty years of pubhc usefulness, during which its activities have grown and
broadened, until today it occupies a position of recognized importance not only in the
community it immediately serves but in the educational life of the nation. Every year
brings evidence — in the growth of the Museum membership, in the ever-larger number
of individuals visiting its exhibits for study and recreation, in the rapidly expanding
activities of its school service, in the wealth of scientific information gathered by its
world-wide expeditions and disseminated through its publications — of the increasing
influence exercised by the institution. In 1923 no fewer than 1,440,726 individuals
visited the Museum as against 1,309,856 in 1922 and 1,174,397 in 1921. All of these
people had access to the exhibition halls without the payment of any admission fee
whatsoever.
The EXPEDITIONS of the American Museum have yielded during the past year
results of far-reaching importance. The fossil discoveries in Mongolia made by the
Third Asiatic Expedition, the representative big-game animals of India obtained by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition, the collections of fossil vertebrates made in the Siwalik
Hills by Mr. Barnum Brown, the achievements of the Whitney South Sea Expedition,
and of other expeditions working in selected areas of South America, in the United
States, in the West Indies, and in Panama, are representative of the field activities of
the Museum during 1923. Many habitat groups, exhibiting specimens secured by
these expeditions, are planned for the new buildings of the Museum.
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Vol XXIV
JULY-AUGUST, 1924
No. 4
LW^VUM^V^SgTiP
iNATURALi
iHlSTORYl
SOUTH AMERICA
THE ANDES : A NEW WORLD by Frank M. Chapman-
COLLECTING MAMMALS IN THE HIGH ANDES OF
ECUADOR BY H. E. Anthony-FREDERIC E. CHURCH,
PAINTER OF THE ANDES by H. F. Schwarz-ALEX-
ANDER VON HUMBOLDT, SOUTH AMERICAN EX-
PLORER-HUNTING NEW FRUITS IN ECUADOR by
Wilson Popenoe-INTO THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH
GUIANA BY Herbert Lang-PERUVIAN PETS by Hilda
H. Heller i# ^ d^ i# j# ^ i#
PANAMA
HUNTING STINGLESS BEES WHERE EAST IS WEST by
Frank E. Lutz-BIRD-HUNTING AMONG THE WILD IN-
DIANS OF WESTERN PANAMA by Ludlow Griscom d^ ^
A HUNTRESS OF SPIDERS by William Savin
The American Museum is under especial obligations for the generous
aid accorded its expeditions by representatives of the South American gov-
ernments and of Panama and for the hospitality and friendly spirit mani-
fested by individuals in the regions where the explorations were conducted.
r^/9wurwnuwr/vwuuw^
^1 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ^
EXPLORATION RESEARCH-EDUCATION
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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Scientific Staff for 1924
Henry Faiufield Opbokn, LL.D., President
Frederic A. Lucas, Sc.D., Honorary Director
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Acting Director and Executive Secretary
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc, Assistant Director (Scientific Section)
James L. Clark, Assistant Director (Preparation Section)
DIVISION OF MINERALOGY,
AND GEOGRAPHY
GEOLOGY,
History of the Earth
Edmund Otis Hovey, Ph.D., Curator
Chester A. Reeds, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Inverte-
brate Paleontology
Minerals and Gems
Herbert P. Whitlock, C. E., Curator
George F. Kunz, Ph.D., Research Associate in Gems
Extinct Animals
Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu-
rator
W. D. Matthew, Ph.D. Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals
Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles
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Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology
II.
DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE-
OGRAPHY
Marine Life
Roy W. Miner, Ph.D., Curator
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sitology
A. L. Treadwell, Ph.D., Research Associate in Annulata
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Frank E. Lutz, Ph.D., Curator
A. J. MuTCHLER, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera
Frank E. Watson, B.S., Assistant in Lepidoptera
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Charles W. Leng, B.S., Research Associate in Coleoptera
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Research Associate in
Hymenoptera
Fishes
Bashford Dean, Ph.D., Honorary Curator
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Birds
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief
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Marine Birds
James P. Chapin, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Birds of the
Eastern Hemisphere
Ludlow Griscom, M.A.. Assistant Curator
Jonathan Dwight, M.D., Research Associate in North
American Ornithology
Elsie M. B. Naumburg, Research Associate
Mammals of the World
H. E. Anthony, A.M., Associate Curator of Mammals of
the Western Hemisphere (In Charge)
Herbert Lang, Associate Curator of African Mammals
Carl E. Akeley, Associate in Mammalogy
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Louis R. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Physical
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ArohiEology
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and Central American Archteology
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Animal Functions
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IV. DIVISION OF ASIATIC EXPLORATION
AND RESEARCH
Third Asiatic Expedition
Roy Chapman Andrews, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Paleontology
Frederick K. Morris, A.M., Associate Curator in Geology
and Geography
Charles P. Berkey, Ph.D., [Columbia University], Re-
search Associate in Geology
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Natural History IVIagazine
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Editor and Chairman
A. Katherine Berger, Assistant Editor
Advisory Committee
H. E. Anthony, A.IM. Frederick K. Morris, A.M.
James P. Chapin, Ph.D. G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D.
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D. George N. Pindar
ATURAL
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
DEVOTED TO NATURAL HISTORY,
EXPLORATION AND THE DEVELOP-
MENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
THROUGH THE MUSEUM
JULY-AUGUST, 1924
[Published August, 1924]
Volume XXIV, Number 4
Copyright, 1924, by The American Museum of Natural History, New York/N. Y.
1ST
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR JULY-AUGUST Number 4
The Andes: A New World Frank M. Chapman 420
Glimpses into a biological laboratory where nature is conducting intensive experiments in distri-
bution and evolution on a continental scale
Photographs by the author and by Harry Watkins
The High Andes of Ecuador H. E. Anthony 429
Episodes in the travels of a mammalogist among the great snow-clad peaks
With scenes of the region, photographed by the author
Frederic E. Church, Painter of the Andes H. F. Schwarz 442
With full-page reproductions of some of the artist's most notable canvases
Alexander von Humboldt 449
South American explorer and progenitor of explorers
With a frontispiece in color of Humboldt as he looked during the period of his travels in the
New World, and a reproduction in black and white of the portrait painted by Julius
Schrader during the last year of Humboldt's life
Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador Wilson Popenoe 454
Some of the pomological delicacies that a sister republic can offer for cultivation in favored sec-
tions of the United States
With pictures of the fruits and the regions where they grow, supplied by the author
Into the Interior of British Guiana Herbert Lang 467
A journey along the Mazaruni River, with some comments upon the different aspects presented
by the tropical forests of South America and those of Africa
Pictures, by the author, of the life along the river and in the diamond-mining sections, as well as
of the plants and animals that lent interest to the trip
Peruvian Pets • Hilda Hempl Heller 479
An account of the ways of some of the traveling companions of Mr. and Mrs. Heller on their
South American explorations
With portraits of the wild animals they befriended
Hunting Stingless Bees Frank E. Lutz 494
Where East is West
With numerous photographs by the author of scenes on Barro Colorado Island, the site of the
recently established station for biological research, and a picture taken by the United
States Army Air Service, showing how the island looks when viewed from an aeroplane
Bird Hunting Among the Wild Indians of Western Panama
Ludlow Griscom 509
Incidents of an expedition made in the interests of the department of birds, American Museum
With a map of the author's route and photographs by Rudyerd Boulton of the country traversed
A Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella bomhycina William M. Savin 520
Observations on a member of the family Psammocharidse
With photographs by the author
Notes 523
Published bimonthly, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
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Subscriptions should be addressed to George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum
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The Oceanic Issue
In the previous numbers of Natural History published this year
great continental areas — Australia, Asia, Africa, South America — have
successively received emphasis. In the September-October issue the
reader will be invited to step off terra firma and to cruise with the Whitney
South Sea Expedition in the island-dotted Pacific. Dr. Robert Cushman
Murphy, associate curator of marine birds in the American Museum,
will tell of the significance of the work of this expedition, which has
been engaged for four years in studying the bird life of Polynesia.
Marine mammals like the whales and seals that, departing from the
ways of their landlubber relatives, have made the ocean and its shores
their home, find a proper place in an Oceanic Issue, and special articles
will be devoted to them, while it is hoped that some attention can be
given also to those empire builders of the sea — the corals — which Dr.
Roy W. Miner has recently been collecting at Andros Island in the
Bahamas for the projected hall of ocean life in the American Museum.
Features of this hall will be features also of this issue.
Finally, the great oceans themselves, occupying as they do more of
the earth's surface than the combined land masses, will be treated from
certain novel standpoints by Prof. W. M. Davis, the eminent geographer.
Photograph by F. M . Chapman
NORTHWEST SLOPE OF PICHINCHA, ECUADOR
The photograph, taken from an altitude of 11,000 feet, shows in the foreground a forest
of the Humid Temperate Zone, the bird Kfe of which is of tropical origin. The treeless
slopes immediately above timber line are in the Paramo Zone, and their bird life is chiefly
of Patagonian origin
420
NAT
Volume XXIV
JULY-AUGUST
TORY
Number 4
The Andes: A New World
By frank M. chapman
Curator-in-Chief, Division of Zoology and Zoogeography, American Museum
IF the press despatches should report
a heavy snowfall on the Amazon,
we should question their accuracy.
Nevertheless, snow does fall so fre-
quently in Amazonian latitudes that
great areas there are covered with it
throughout the year. This apparent
anomaly is to be explained, however,
not in degrees of latitude but in feet of
altitude. The whole problem can be
encompassed in a glance when from
the sweltering heat of Guayaquil we
look upward to the eternal snows of
Chimborazo; or, to take another
example, when from the tropical
coastal forests of Vera Cruz we see the
white crown of Citlaltepetl, the "star
mountain" of the Aztecs. These, in-
deed, are notable views. In both in-
stances, faunally and climatically we
are, as it were, standing on the equator
and gazing at the poles !
Let us make this journey from end-
less summer to perpetual winter. If we
measure our progress by the changes in
climate which we shall encounter, we
shall be traveling at a space-defying
speed. It was von Humboldt who first
determined the relations between lati-
tudinal and altitudinal climates and, in
his De Distrihutione Geographica Plan-
tarum (Paris, 1817), he gives a diagram-
matic representation of the plant zones
on Chimborazo which might have been
made by an ornithologist, so closely
does the distribution of birds conform
to that of plants, — evidence that both
are subject to and obey the same laws.
In a general way it may be said that,
as we proceed from the equator toward
the poles, the mean temperature de-
creases one degree Fahrenheit with
each degree of latitude. But as we
ascend a mountain, the mean tempera-
ture decreases one degree with each
three hundred feet of altitude. That is,
approximately 300,000 feet of latitude
equal 300 feet of altitude. If, therefore,
our trip from Guayaquil is made up
Chimborazo, we shall be traveling,
climatically, somewhat more than one
thousand times faster than we should
have journeyed had we started for
Panama !
Now, if we bear in mind the fact that
the flora and fauna of a region are to a
large extent an expression of its
temperature, we shall have some con-
ception of the rapidity with which the
nature of the plant and animal life
changes as we proceed from sea level to
snow line.
It is not my present purpose to dis-
cuss here the factors which determine
the limits of the faunal zones, or bands,
which we shall find in ascending a snow-
capped, equatorial mountain. The
very fact that the mountain is snow-
capped is graphic, convincing evidence
of the relation between altitude and
temperature. But just as rainfall,
slope-exposure, topography, proximity
to and temperature of the sea will
determine the amount of snow, and the
distances to which it descends on differ-
ent sides of a mountain, so these and
422
NATURAL HISTORY
A panoramic view of the Inca Mine at Santo Domingo in southeastern Peru
other factors govern the altitudes
which mark the boundaries between
faunal zones. The point I wish to make
here is that these zones exist as well-
defined bands of life the limits of which
are subject to the control of natural
laws. To discover those laws is the
aim of the faunal naturalist or zoogeog-
rapher. In no other place will he find
them more vividly expressed than on
mountain slopes, where, as we have
seen, the phenomena ordinarily spread
over many miles of latitude are com-
pressed within a few thousand feet of
altitude.
My own investigations in this field
have been made almost exclusively
with reference to the distribution of
birds; and it is a tribute to the potency
of the governing influences that they
evidently control the distribution of
these active creatures just as rigidly
as they do that of quadrupeds or even
plants and trees. Indeed, the potential
mobility of birds combined with their
unusually sensitive, responsive natures
makes these animals particularly valu-
able indices of the effects of those forces
and circumstances which are or have
been active in producing faunal areas.
With this preamble, and avoiding
details not essential to a general under-
standing of the more important facts
concerning mountain life zones, let
us as ornithologists make the proposed
ascent of an equatorial mountain. We
shall first pass through the Tropical
Zone. The lowlands at the base of our
THE ANDES: A NEW WORLD
423
Photograph by Harry Watkins
This is a famous collecting locality in the Subtropical Zone
mountain may vary greatly in char-
acter. There may be arid plains,
marshes, and luxuriant forests, all at
the same level and within a short
distance of one another. These, how-
ever, mark different types of habitats
in the same life zone and we are not
here concerned with the causes respon-
sible for them. As we reach the foot-
hills, we shall find further variations in
habitat, which we may also disregard,
other than to observe that due con-
sideration must be given to habitat
requirements in our broader study of
distribution. Birds that are associated
with sandy plains are not to be sought
in marshes; nor shall we come upon
forest-haunting species where there are
no trees. The significant fact to re-
member is that when the habitat is
favorable, we shall find that most of the
birds of this Tropical Zone have so wide
a latitudinal range that we might
travel for weeks and still see them daily,
whereas their altitudinal range is so
limited that within a few hours we
may leave them wholly behind, that is,
below us.
When we have reached an altitude,
usually of 4000 or 5000 feet (though
under exceptional conditions it may be
much less), we shall begin to observe
birds we have not seen before and at
the same time note the absence of
others which were previously abundant.
We shall miss, for example, the great
macaws, the harsh voices of which re-
sounded through the forests lower
424
NATURAL HISTORY
Photograph by Harry n ailins
Camp of the American Museum Expedi-
tion at Maraynioc, in the Humid Temperate
Zone forests of eastern Peru. — More than
a score of new species of birds have been dis-
covered at this locahty, and of these a num-
ber have not as yet been found elsewhere
down. Some of these birds are found
in wooded regions from Bolivia to
Mexico : that is. they have what may
be termed a horizontal range of nearly
2500 miles. But their vertical range,
as we have just discovered, is less than
a mile.
We are now reaching an altitude
where decrease in temperature pro-
duces condensation with resultant rain-
fall and an incredibly luxuriant vege-
tation. Every available foot of ground
is claimed by trees and undergrowth,
and every available inch of the trees is
claimed by parasitic or epiphytic
vegetation. This is the Subtropical
Zone. It is a marvelous stratum of life
occupying the mountain slopes, usually
between the altitudes of 4000-5000
to 8000-9000 feet, and extending from
Bolivia to Mexico.
The Subtropical Zone is remarkable
not only for the richness of its life, but
also for the high percentage of species
found only within its boundaries.
Thus, the American Museum's expedi-
tions collected about 360 species of birds
in the Subtropical Zone of the Colom-
bian Andes, of which approximately
three-fifths are practically confined to
this narrow stratum of mountain life.
This is about one-third as many as
were encountered in the forests of the
Tropical Zone. Comparison of the
areas occupied respectively by the far-
reaching tropical lowlands and the
narrow subtropical belt further em-
phasizes the wealth and distinctness of
the bird life of the Subtropical Zone.
At an elevation of from 8000 to
9000 feet we shall pass from the Sub-
tropical into the Temperate Zone.
The former is uniformly humid and
forested; the latter has humid and
arid divisions, the first of which is
Photograph by F. M. Chapman
Scene in the Subtropical forest on the
summit of the western range of the Andes
of Colombia. — Note the moss-covered tree
trunks indicating the extreme humidity of
the locality
THE ANDES: A NEW WORLD
425
Photograph ly F. M. Chapman
Guaillamba Canon is a few miles north of the equator. This picture was taken from the
Arid Temperate Zone looking down into the Subtropical Zone, where sugar cane is growing
wooded, the second treeless. Both
divisions may occur at the same alti-
tude, the difference between them being
chiefly due to rainfall. Some of the
most distinct species of Andean birds
are found in the dense, scrubby forests of
the Humid Temperate Zone. On the
other hand, the species inhabiting the
plains of the Arid Temperate Zone
have changed but little from the types
represented by their ancestors, — a
phenomenon which forms an illuminat-
ing contribution to the study of evolu-
tion by environment. The upper limit
of the Temperate Zone corresponds
closely to the elevation at which
agriculture ceases, that is, about 12,000
feet. Between this altitude and the
lower level of permanent snow, which
averages about 15,000 feet, lies the
Paramo, or Puna Zone. In a measure
it is the equivalent of the tundra, that
vast area which extends from the
northern limit of forests to the shores
of the Arctic Ocean. While few in
numbers, nearly every bird of the
Paramo is confined to this zone.
Without going further it is clear that
in our vertical journey of less than
three miles we have run the gamut of
chmatic and faunal zones: Tropical,
Subtropical, Temperate, and Arctic
or Antarctic — for the Paramo contains
both boreal as well as austral elements.
The first and most significant fact
for us to consider in connection with
Andean life, and the one which makes
its study of such surprising interest,
is the comparatively recent origin of
that life. It cannot, of course, be
older than the region it occupies, and
geologists tell us that the Andes did not
Photograph by F. M. Chapman
Mt. Aconcagua, Argentina, with an altitude of 23,000 feet, is the highest peak in the
Western Hemisphere. The photograph was taken from an elevation of 11,000 feet in the
Paramo Zone, at its base
Photograph by F. M. Chapman
This locahty in the Paramo Zone at an altitude of 14,000 feet is immediately north of
La Raya Pass, which separates Titicacan and Amazonian drainage in, southern Peru.
The Urubamba River, second longest tributary of the Amazon, rises in the small openings
shown in the middle distance.
Photographed from the platform of a car on the railroad to Cuzco
426
THE ANDES: A NEW WORLD
427
attain their full elevation until the
latter part of the Tertiary, at which
time the continent of South America
had essentially its present outline.
There is, consequently, good reason
for calling the Andes a New World, or
possibly we might better term them a
recent annex to the world. Not only
have we comparatively definite knowl-
edge of the age of the Andes and of the
character of the area from which they
arose, but it is probable that at the
time they had attained a sufficient eleva-
tion to support zonal life, the bird life
of South America, in its major aspects
at least, did not differ materially from
that which exists there today. Hence
it follows that not only can we give
the Andes a geological birthday but
we can form a fairly exact conception
of the character of the avifauna from
which the hundreds of species of birds
that have evolved in them were
derived.
Furthermore, we must remember
that the value of the Andes to the
biologist is increased by the regional
compression or concentration of the
forces which control distribution and
promote evolution, and by the con-
sequent definiteness with which these
forces manifest themselves.
We must also take into considera-
tion the topography of mountains as,
through altitude, enclosed valleys, or
disconnected summits, they supply the
isolation which permits environmental
or mutational factors, acting continu-
ously on a comparatively limited
number of individuals, to produce new
forms. For instance, a distinct muta-
tional form of tanager-finch {Buarremon
inornatus), confined to the Chimbo
Valley of Ecuador, and a humming
bird (Oreotrochilus) on Mt. Chimborazo
are cases in point. Many others
might be cited.
It is obvious, then, that in a study
of the origin and distribution of life
we can associate cause and effect far
more often in the Andes than in those
great continental areas, the early pages
of the geological and zoological his-
tory of which are lost in an incalculably
remote past. We ask, therefore, what
are the factors which determine with
such surprising definiteness the bound-
aries of these Andean life zones?
Whence came the hundreds of species
which are confined to them?
For some years the American Mu-
seum has been conducting explorations
in the field and researches in the study
designed to answer these questions. It
was found that previously existing
data were too inaccurate to be of value
in determining exactly the ranges of
the species to which they referred. It
was necessary, therefore, to begin
nearly at the beginning and work in-
tensively at station after station from
base to summit of the three ranges of
the Andes in Colombia, where our
survey was inaugurated. The outline
of the life zones presented above is
based chiefly upon our labors in that
country. I shall not here go further
into this phase of the subject but
refer the interested reader to Volume
XXXVI of the Museum Bulletin, where
the results of the work in Colombia are
presented in detail.
Satisfactory treatment of the origin
of the birds of the Andes is too wide a
problem to be handled locally. We
have discovered, for example, the
apparent ancestor of a subtropical
Colombian motmot in the Tropical
Zone of eastern Mexico. Again, a finch
of the Paramo Zone has evidently
come from Patagonia. It is obvious,
therefore, that we have to deal not only
with the height of the Andes but with
their length. While at present this is
428
NATURAL HISTORY
coextensive with that of South America
itseK, our researches indicate the form-
er existence of a range connecting the
Andes of Colombia with the mountains
of western Panama and Costa Rica,
and these in turn seem to have had a
fauna! relation with those of Mexico.
Our field, therefore, reaches from one
extremity of the Western Hemisphere
to the other.
Since birds could not develop in
space, it follows that the Andes have
been populated from below upward.
But in hunting for ancestral types we
must consider not only place of origin
but also the matter of habitat require-
ments mentioned in the earlier part
of this article. That is, the ancestors
of forest-frequenting birds must be
looked for in other forests ; those of the
plains, in other plains. To illustrate:
the tanagers, flycatchers, parrots,
trogons, toucans, and other forest
dwellers of the Temperate Zone, while
very distinct, are all obviously descend-
ants of forest-inhabiting ancestors.
Similarly the ancestors of the finches
and ovenbirds of Temperate Zone
plains we should expect to find in other
plains. The only available forests are
those of the Subtropical and Tropical
zones and the only available plains are
those of the South Temperate Zone.
As a matter of fact it appears that the
Temperate Zone forest birds did origi-
nate in tropical forests while the Tem-
perate Zone plains birds came from
Argentina and Patagonia.
Here, then, we have a clue to the
widely varying degree of distinctness
shown by the birds of the forested and
treeless divisions of the Temperate
Zone to which I have previously called
attention. Obviously in extending their
range from the Tropical to the Tem-
perate Zone the tanagers, trogons, fly-
catchers, and other birds making this
journey have experienced as pronounced
a change in environment as though,
let us say, they had gone from Ecuador
to Ontario, and their differentiation
from the ancestral type is correspond-
ingly pronounced. But the birds that
came from Patagonia, by increasing
their altitude as they approached the
equator have merely advanced from
the South Temperate Zone to the
Andean Temperate Zone, and thus,
not having been subjected to marked
environmental change, show com-
paratively slight differentiation from
the ancestral type. It seems apparent,
therefore, that the evolution of these
forms is not a question of time or
of distance from the point of origin,
but of the extent of the change in sur-
roundings to which they have been
subjected.
This is the type of problem which we
hope to solve by our explorations in the
Andes. We are still on the threshold
of our subject, but already we believe
we have discovered in these mountains
a biological laboratory where nature is
conducting intensive experiments in
distribution and evolution on a con-
tinental scale and producing results
with such directness and rapidity that
■ we may hope to gain an insight into
the methods by which she operates.
The High Andes of Ecuador'
EPISODES IN THE TRAVELS OF A MAMMALOGIST
By H. E. ANTHONY
Associate Curator of Mammals of the Western Hemisphere
HOMER tells us that when the
giant sons of Poseidon, Otus and
Ephialtes, warred against
heaven, they planned to pile Ossa on
Olympus and Pelion upon Ossa,
attempting in this way to reach the
abode of the gods. These mountains
massed upon one another would have
attained a height of a little more than
21,000 feet above the sea. If Homer
had known of Ecuador, he could have
pointed to Chimborazo as the fulfill-
ment of this aspiration, for the snowy
summit of this Andean peak towers
almost 21,000 feet above the Pacific,
and in very truth seems to raise its
head to heaven. Nor in Chimborazo
alone does one find evidence of a vast
exercise of energy, for there are in
Ecuador many lofty-crested mountains
and elevated regions where the rough,
wild topography, characterized by
gaping craters and abysmal gorges,
looks like a scarred battle field over
which the gods themselves have
struggled. And in a sense this im-
pression is justified, for here the forces
of vulcanism, the fires of the inner
earth, have cast off the restraining
hand of gravity and raised mighty
mountain masses, or blown away into
ash the rock which once filled the now
dead or dying craters.
One of the features that will appeal
to a climber of Ecuadorean peaks is the
ease with which one may arrive at the.
base of a high mountain. It is possible
to ride in a railroad coach across the
very flank of Chimborazo. It is no
less true, however, that one would still
'Article and illustrations copyrij
find himself a long distance below the
summit even then, for the elevation at
Urbina, the highest point attained by
the railroad, is 11,400 feet. Chim-
borazo has been scaled by but few
persons, — a distinction it has main-
tained because of its great elevation
rather than because of any prohibitive
feature of topography.
The visitor to Ecuador takes the
train at Guayaquil and in a com-
fortable coach soon finds himself leav-
ing the tropical lowlands to enter the
gorge of the Rio Chanchan. Higher
and higher the engine toils, now in the
heart of the western Andes, and for the
greater part of the two days' ride to
Quito, the end of the line, the traveler
does not descend below 8000 feet.
By marvelous feats of engineering the
track climbs up over ridges and divides,
follows up watercourses until the rivers
dwindle to brooks and the brooks to
mountain springs, and crosses elevated
plateaus more than two miles above the
sea. During most of this time, if the
day be clear, one or more snow-clad
peaks will dominate the horizon. In
one ravine the engineers have been
forced to ascend in a zigzag course,
switching and running the train back-
ward a short distance in order to reach
the pass above.
During the field season of 1923 the
American Museum Expedition to
Ecuador visited several of the highest
of these Andean monarchs and col-
lected specimens right up to the fine of
perpetual snow. I was accompanied
during this time by Mr. G. H. H. Tate,
;hted, 1924, by H. E. Anthony
429
430
NATURAL HISTORY
Up the ravine of the Rio Chanchan the trains of the Guayaquil and Quito Railroad puff
their way, the heavy exhaust from the laboring engine roaring and echoing in the rocky
defiles. Looking backward from the last coach, one sees an ever-changing panorama
reminiscent of our own Royal Gorge
the field assistant of the department of
mammals, and we secured such native
help as was needed to tend camp, care
for the pack animals, and perform
similar services. Our headquarters
were at Quito, where we had as host
Mr. Ludovic Soderstrom, who has
studied the natural history of Ecuador
for more than fifty years.
Quito lies upon the margin of a vast
interandean basin, rimmed by rugged
peaks thrust upward from 16,000 to
19,000 feet. Fairly overhanging Quito
is Mt. Pichincha, 15,918 feet^ above sea
level, which is easily climbed from this
city. It is said that some men go up
and back the same day, but most
■All of the important elevations mentioned in this
article are taken from the volume Travels Among the
Great Andes of the Equator, by Edward Whymper.
climbers prefer to devote two days to
the trip. Quito itself has an elevation
of about 9400 feet and one can ride a
good horse or mule most of the way
from Quito to Pichincha.
The Museum party spent some days
camped on Pichincha, the lower camp
being at about 11,500 feet, the upper
at 13,300 feet. The latter station was
called Verdecocha, and here we were
practically in the ancient crater of
Rucu-Pichincha. The mountain has
two peaks: one called Rucu-Pichincha,
or the Old Pichincha; the other,
Guagua-Pichincha, or Baby Pichincha
— guagua being Quichua for baby.
Strangely enough the Baby Pichincha
is slightly the higher and takes its
name from the fact that its crater still
THE HIGH ANDES OF ECUADOR
431
steams and consequently appears to be
younger than the burnt-out crater of
Old Pichincha.
At Verdecocha we seemed to be atop
the world. Soon after sunrise and
before the clouds had swirled up from
the valleys far below, it was possible
to obtain glorious views of distant
peaks. To the southward we could
just catch sight of Chimborazo's
rounded summit, but the finest spec-
tacle lay to the eastward. Looking
out from the grassy hillsides of Ver-
decocha one saw the swelling flanks
of Pichincha running down to meet the
parti-colored fields below, where green
pastures alternated with thickets of
scrubby brush or met the rectangles of
ripened stands of grain in patterns hke
to the quilts our grandmothers made.
To the right a long ridge dropped away
to swing up again to the sky line at the
summit of Mt. Atacazo, while Mt.
Corazon peeked at one over the trun-
cate summit of Atacazo. Across the
Quito plain and the Chillo valley the
stark outlines of Ruminahui rose above
a basal blanket of fluffy cloud, the long-
dead crater at the summit cold and
forbidding in the early light. Lowell's
line about "burnt-out craters healed
with snow " came to mind and we could
not help wishing that such a ghastly
scar on the earth's surface were con-
cealed under a soft white bandage.
As a background to the torn and
gashed ramparts of Ruminahui, the
symmetrical outline of lovely Cotopaxi
reached up and towered against the
sun-flecked eastern horizon, a superb
elevation of 19,613 feet. A'ntisana, to
the north of Cotopaxi, 19,335 feet of
snow-draped grandeur, and Cayambe,
north of Antisana, 19,186 feet, com-
pleted a triumvirate of mountain peaks
of unsurpassed splendor. All over the
lower slopes of the mountain ridges
and billowing up out of hidden ravines
and valleys the morning mists and
white, night-heavy clouds stirred at the
beckoning of the sun god and began the
long upward struggle which brought
them about our camp later in the day,
when their clammy touch was poor
fulfillment of the soft downy promise
they gave in the far distance.
Our camp at Verdecocha was set on
the grassy sod of a small valley which
headed up against the high andesite
cliffs of Rucu-Pichincha. Great con-
dors wheeled majestically along these
crags and sometimes perched on some
out-jutting promontory to pass pro-
fessional judgment on the two-legged
creatures below. We were poor pros-
pects, however, and the condors had
little encouragement. Only by ex-
treme good fortune, nevertheless, had
the condors been robbed of a meal
when some days previously we had
moved camp up to Verdecocha.
With our camping equipment packed
on four mules and ourselves riding two
more, we had begun the climb from San
Ignacio. We had completed about one-
third of the distance when we had to
swing north from the so-called trail —
a mere bridle-path at best — and take
to the crest of a steep narrow ridge,
knifelike in its proportions. At the
steepest point along this upthrust edge,
one of the pack mules pulled back on
the lead rope, jerked it from the hand of
the arriero in a series of stiff-legged
jumps, and disappeared over the edge
of the ridge, amidst a wail of "Aye,
Aye, Aye," from the Indians. We
expected to see the animal roUing head
over heels to certain death, for there
was a continuous steep pitch for at
least five hundred feet. Sounds of
crashing impacts came to our ears
but no mule appeared from behind the
little shoulder immediately before us.
432
NATURAL HISTORY
Then hundreds of feet below one of
our pack containers flashed into sight.
Whirling end for end, it touched the
earth only to rebound in great leaps
and I had a sickening vision of frac-
tured cameras and ruined equipment.
Even as we were looking, the pack
caromed over a slight rise and vanished.
Tate was certain that the pack had
been completely destroyed and that the
very bottom of the ravine had received
the fragments, but I thought that it
might have been checked by some low
brush out of which I had seen nothing
issue. I made up my mind that the
mule was dead. And now follows a se-
quel hard to believe.
The mule had rolled about fifty feet,
over and over, when it had managed
to check its fall somewhat, but the
strain had burst the pack harness,
which slipped from the animal. The
mule, freed of its burden, then came to
a full stop and saved itself. The pack
was made up of two square containers,
one of which fell flat and stopped.
The other was thrown on edge and
given right of way to the bottom.
Nearly a quarter of a mile down the
slope I followed it, at first by means of
the gashes it had made in the turf and
earth, and then, as fastenings had
given way, by means of sundry articles
of ecjuipment. My relief was great to
discover that the pack was the one
containing the kitchen equipment.
Flour dusted the grass, rice was
sprinkled lavishly under vegetation
that never grew it before, while un-
recognizable odds and ends festooned
the margin of the course. Finally, the
container had struck squarely against
a small clump of brush and burst wide
open. How I regretted our conserva-
tive use of eggs in the camp below when
I saw the reckless way in which they
were now distributed over the ter-
rain! Amidst all the wreckage one egg
had preserved its integrity.
The errant mule was repacked with
what could be salvaged of the cook
supplies and the rest of the trip was
one series of mishaps after another
until long after sundown, when we
pitched our tent at Verdecocha. How
that mule escaped apparently certain
disaster twice that day can be answered
only by the special providence that
watches over the destiny of these hardy
Ecuadorean song birds.
We climbed to the crater of Guagua-
Pichincha, on foot from Verdecocha,
and after a long arduous ascent over a
barren waste of ash, at an altitude that
made climbing unusually tiresome,
reached the lip of the vast cauldron,
which steamed with sulphurous fumes.
We could not see to the bottom on
account of the dense vapor, but as far
as the eye could penetrate, were huge
blocks of andesite. It is possible to
descend deep into the crater, and
scrubby vegetation grows within where
there is soil.
A later camp brought us near to the
great bulk of Cotopaxi. The symmetry
of Cotopaxi, while beautiful, does
not have the grandeur that a more
rugged character gives to such peaks
as Antisana.
From our camp on a broad, ancient
lava flow at Llavepungo, we could
look across a wide stretch of beautifully
green paramo to where the regular
outlines of Cotopaxi were momentarily
revealed by the kaleidoscopic shifting
of heavy cloud masses. Although not
very active volcanically now, Cotopaxi
has erupted with considerable violence
within comparatively recent times,
and Whymper, the noted English
mountain climber, who ascended the
peak in 1880, comparing his measure-
ments with those of earlier explorers.
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iew.
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434
NATURAL HISTORY
Guagua-Pichincha rises sharply to an ash-rimmed crater. Within the crater the descent
is equally abrupt. Upon the lip of this vast inverted cone the mountain climber is assailed
from one side by faintly sulphurous steam, while from the other side the strong wind brings
the billowing white clouds chaiged with refreshing ozone
concluded that Cotopaxi in the previ-
ous century and a half had built up its
height about seven hundred feet.
Our most intimate association with
high Andean peaks began when we
hunted and trapped on the slopes of
Antisana Here all of our work was
done at elevations above 13,500 feet
and up to 16,000 feet. Small rodents
were trapped almost at snow line,
about 15,500 feet, where there were
scattered patches of low shrubs, grassy-
nooks, and low, dwarfed flowering
plants. The flowers of these high
THE HIGH ANDES OF ECUADOR
435
Short-stemmed white flower^, a species ot
the Compositse, dot the greensward of
Chimborazo near Urbina. Beautiful hum-
ming birds of many different species visit
the blooms of these high mountain meadows
Although high elevation sets a limit
upon plant growth, the foliage of Ecuador
fights for the last inch. At Antisanilla,
an elevation of 11,500 feet, the trees were
stunted, but vines and ferns luxuriant
One of the most characteristic growths
of the high mountain paramos is the hum-
mock formed by close-set clusters of one of
the wernerias. The foliage of this plant is
rather hard and spinelike
elevations are especially interesting
and occur in great variety. Many of
them are species of the Compositse
and all are so dwarfed that they are
practically stemless and grow close
against the ground.
The dwellers on the high Andean slopes
encounter a problem in providing fuel.
The only source of wood for fires is the low,
dwarfed shrubbery scattered in favorable
basins or pockets
A large deer, quite similar in appear-
ance to our Virginia deer, makes these
high paramos its home, while a large
tawny "wolf" ranges throughout the
same region. Caracaras, which are
large, strikingly marked hawks, walk
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The upper slopes of Antisana command a glorious view of mile upon mile of Andean
scenery. Over most of the plateau lies a beautiful green covering of paramo grass inex-
pressibly restful to the eye. Distant peaks stand out in crystal clearness and mountains
twenty miles away seem close at hand. Sincholagua in the foreground rises to a height
tof 16,365 feet, while Illiniza boasts an elevation of 17,405 cloud-piercing feet
i0^
About Punin, where the Museum party camped while excavating fossils, there was a
large population of Quichua Indians, descendants of the Incas. Water being scarce and
local, the Quichuas drove their flocks to a spring in a ravine, where countless rains had
deeply eroded the volcanic beds, and where the bones of mastodon and saber-toothed tiger
w&v% mute witnesses to a former use of the spring
438
THE HIGH ANDES OF ECUADOR
439
about on the green slopes; and along
the numerous watercourses and boggy
areas one meets with ducks, a large
species of ibis known to the natives as
handuria, and the clarion-voiced, spur-
winged plover. When the sun shines
brightly on this Andean upper-world,
it is a region of fascinating beauty and
attraction but, when the clouds drop
low and the guarua, or mist, rides the
land, the traveler draws his poncho
closer and yearns for shelter and a fire.
There are many things to be written
of Antisana, of the bold-fronted glacier
that ever creeps down its southern
slope, of the fierce wild cattle that roam
from Antisana over into the jumbled
mass of deep ravines and rugged peaks
known as the Cimarrones, of the moun-
tain lake that gives birth to the Rio
Napo, and finally of Antisanilla near by,
where for several miles one can trace
an eruption of the past and note how a
mighty volume of lava has poured
forth, been checked in its flow by
cooling, and frozen into the stream
lines of its original course.
So many are the beautiful peaks of
the Ecuadorean Andes the writer
scarcely knows which to single out, and
pages might be penned on the moun-
tains seen from Antisana alone, from
which the eye picks up a host of white
pinnacles against the horizon — Illiniza,
Quihndaiia, and Sincholagua^ not to
mention the better-known peaks, such
as Cotopaxi, or the nameless ones of
the wild hinterland to the southeast.
But no account of the high Andes of
Ecuador is complete without something
about Chimborazo.
We spent several days at Urbina,
where we were almost under the sum-
mit of Chimborazo. We were too close
to appreciate the immense height of
this mountain and, furthermore, the
shepherds who have livestock on these
high pasture lands were setting fires
everywhere to burn away the old
grass, with the result that the air was
murky with smoke. To the north we
could see Carihuairazo, a lesser brother
of Chimborazo, but a high mountain in
any company.
Csenolestes fuliginosus is the scientific
name of one of the most primitive of
Hving South American mammals. It is a
marsupia,!, distantly related to the opossums
The bleak cold which grips the paramos
of Antisana whenever the sun does not
shine calls for warm clothing. The sheep-
herder of Antisana when he came out of
the hacienda on a frost}^ morning looked as
rough and shaggy as one of his own sheep.
These people must be of hardy stock to
withstand the constant hardships they
encounter
440
NATURAL HISTORY
Chimborazo standing out against a cloudless sky is far less impressive than Chimborazo
bulking huge above the clouds, its shoulders parting the white masses
Our best view of Chimborazo we
obtained from Punin, near Riobamba.
Here, on a barren hillside, we could
look out over a great stretch of deso-
late-appearing terrain, a rain-carved
bed of volcanic ash, to where the
mightiest of Ecuador's high mountains
overtopped and dominated the land,
seeming to hang in the very sky, — above
the massive line of ridges which formed
the backbone of the Cordillera, above
the heavy banks of cloud which rolled
along this mountain chain, above the
highest of the lighter clouds that drifted
in the upper air currents.
A number of high mountains lie to
the east and southeast of Chimborazo,
but lack of space forbids mention of
them by more than name. These
include San gay, sometimes spoken of
as one of the world's most active vol-
canoes, El Altar and Tungurahua, all
more than 16,500 feet and the highest
more than 17,700 feet.
The great extent of high country in
Ecuador forms a life zone of interesting
characteristics, and the higher peaks
such as Chimborazo, Antisana, and
Cotopaxi, might be likened to high-
altitude islands in a low-altitude sea.
That is to say, the mammal life of the
peaks is confined to its proper zone be-
cause, in attempting to migrate, the
mammals must pass down into regions
of lower altitude where the conditions
are not so much to their liking. To
THE HIGH ANDES OF ECUADOR
441
Although the clouds all too frequently shut out the mountains completely and thus
destroy a view, no scene in the Andes is at its best without a proper cloud setting
many species a barrier of this sort,
namely, an altitude difference, is not
very effective, but other mammals are
held as closely to these mountain areas
as they would be to true islands by the
surrounding seas. Isolation of this
sort has brought about development of
separate and distinct species of mam-
mals on some of these peaks, and it was
to determine the extent of this develop-
ment of species that our season's
work was planned. For example,
large-eared mice of the genus Phyllotis
were found only on the arenales, or
ash-strewn crater slopes, and were not
living on the great stretches of paramo
which link the craters of the Andean
system. In southern Ecuador, where
one is beyond the zone of high craters,
this mouse has perforce had to adapt
itself to lower elevations if it was to
live in that region at all; there,
accordingly, we find species of the same
genus but quite distinct from the
mountain-loving forms of the north.
A very tiny deer, the Ecuadorean
Pudu, is known only from high coun-
try near Antisana.
The working out of the problems of
mammahan distribution furnishes the
zoologist with sufficient incentive to
undertake expeditions into the field.
When his field work brings him into a
region of such fascinating possibihties
as Ecuador, he finds his days are all too
short, his visit terminates too quickly.
Frederic E. Church, Painter of the Andes
IT is fitting that a South American
issue of Natural History should
present some of the pictures of
Frederic E. Church, for, although this
artist in his search for the awe-
inspiring and the beautiful, eternalized
with his brush the fleeting glory of the
northern lights, transferred . to canvas
the columnar stateliness and grace of
the ancient ruins of Greece, and de-
picted the majesty of the irresistible
sweep of waters at Niagara, it was the
region of the high Andes that furnished
the inspiration for several of his most
notable paintings.
Telling effects produced by color —
the dazzhng beauty, for instance, of
the rainbow hues that sparkle in the
vapory dissolution of a waterfall, the
misty softness of mountain valleys,
and the dimmed brilliancy of the sullen
red sun staring through the dark
billowy swirl from a smoking volcano —
are necessarily lost when a picture is
reproduced in black and white, and yet
it is the hope that the photographs —
inadequate as they are — that appear
in connection with this article may
convey something of the beauty of the
originals, or at least prompt those who
are not familiar with the works of
Church exhibited in the Metropolitan
Museum and in the Public Library of
New York, to seek their inspiration
direct by a visit to these institutions.
Nor should the opportunity be over-
looked in this connection of studying
the artist's work in the making by an
examination of the preliminary sketches
in pencil and gouache on view in the
Museum for the Arts of Decoration at
Cooper Union. To insure the attain-
ment of the proper color values in the
paintings subsequently prepared from
these sketches. Church took the pre-
caution of indicating on a great many
of the sketches the precise color de-
sired. Thus one finds such jottings as
"dazzlingly white," ''dark blue shad-
ow," "warm shadow, russet with re-
flected lights," "smoky orange," "buds
and ends green gray," "remember the
black rocks and brown grass," and
the like. It is interesting to note that
now and then in his South American
sketches these jogs to the memory are
in Spanish instead of English.
Church was born at Hartford, Con-
necticut, on May 4, 1826, and at an
early stage of his development as an
artist came under the influence of
Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hud-
son River school of painting, that cul-
minated in the art of George Inness,
Alexander Wyant, and Homer D.
Martin. Church went to live with Cole
in the latter's house in the Catskills
and worked under his precepts and
influence until the time of Cole's
death. Subsequently, in his search
for ennobling scenes of nature, he
visited many of the far places of the
world, as a mere enumeration of some
of his more important paintings will
indicate: Falls of Tecendama (1854),
Cotopaxi (1854), Mountains of Ecuador
(1855), Niagara (1857), Heart of the
Andes (1859), Twilight in the Wil-
derness (1860), Chimborazo (1864),
Aurora Borealis (1865), Rainy Season
in the Tropics (1866), Lava of St.
Thomas, Jamaica (1867), The Parthe-
non (1871), El Khasna Petra (1872),
Valley of Santa Ysabel (1875), El Ayu
(1876), Morning in the Tropics (1877),
The Monastery (1878), Valley of Santa
Marta (1879), /Egean Sea, Damascus,
Jerusalem, The Great Mountain Chain
of New Granada, Morning on the
Magdalena.
FREDERIC E, CHURCH, PAINTER OF THE ANDES
443
Courtesy of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration, Cooper Union
On July 9, 1857, Church started out from Riobamba for the volcano Sangay and was
fortunate enough to obtain an unobscured view of it for twenty minutes just before sun-
down on July 11. He has left a record of his impressions in the sketch reproduced here-
with. Supplementing this sketch, there is at Cooper Union a work sheet of the artist on
which appear three rough drafts of the columns of smoke emitted by the volcano, with
such notations for the artist's future guidance as, "2, smoky orange," "3, beautiful creamy
white," "4, cloud pearly grey," and the like, the key figures referring to designated areas
of the sketches
The preponderance, in this list, of
South American subjects indicates the
influence which that continent exerted
upon the art of Church. Twice in the
fifties he visited its west coast and has
left in his journal an animated record
of his experiences. That Church could
paint with words as well as pig-
ments, let the following extract witness.
Reading it, one has the feeling that
Church is setting down his impressions
with quick verbal brush-strokes that
nevertheless convey a vivid picture.
"My sketch finished, I turned my
face, and Lo! Sangay, with its impos-
ing plume of smoke stood clear before
me. I was startled. Above a serrated,
black, rugged group of peaks which
form the crater, the columns rose : one
creamy white against an opening of ex-
quisitely blue sky — delicate white, cir-
rus-formed flakes of vapor hung about
the great cumulous column and melted
away into the azure; the other, black
and sombre, piled up in huge, rounded
forms cut sharply against the dazzling
white of the column of vapor, and,
piled higher and higher, gradually was
diffused into a yellowish tinted smoke
through which would burst enormous
heads of black smoke that kept ex-
panding, the whole gigantic mass gradu-
ally settling down over the observer in
a way that was appalling.
" I conunenced a sketch of the effect,
but constant changes rapidly foHowed
and new beauties were revealed as the
setting sun crested the black smoke
with burnished copper and the white
cumulous cloud with gold. At inter-
vals of nearly four or five minutes an
explosion took place; the first intima-
tion was a fresh mass of smoke with
sharply defined outlines, rolling above
the dark rocks and followed b}^ a heavy,
rumbling sound which reverberated
t*«r
448
NATURAL HISTORY
about the mountains, I was so im-
pressed by the changing effects that I
continued making rapid sketches; but
all the time I had, from the moment
I saw the first of them until the sun
set, was twentj^ minutes.' Dense clouds
again settled over the mountains and
night took the place of day."
Church had made his reputation at a
time of life when many another painter
is only beginning to arrive at the
maturity of his powers. A quarter of a
century elapsed between his first South
American trip and the culmination of
his career as an artist. The path of
achievement that seemed assured to
him was barred through physical dis-
ability. His right hand could no longer .
guide his brush. Undaunted, he taught
himself to paint with his left, but the
inflammatory rheumatism with which
he was coping took insidious hold upon
that member, too, and rendered his
gallant fight useless. Prevented from
realizing his full ambitions, he never-
theless could contemplate with satis-
faction the substantial contribution he
had made to art and the appreciation
which his works had won not only in this
country but abroad. — H. F. Schwarz.
.1
,<L U.... ..M
i M (oja
ifi^i. ■
./^
-^Yr?f) "
Courtesy of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration, Cooper Union
A page of botanical sketches made by Church during his journey to South America in 1853
Courtesy of Prof. Henry Fairfield O shorn
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
As he appeared at the time of his sojourn in Quito, Ecuador, in the early part of the
nineteenth century
Alexander von Humboldt
SOUTH AMERICAN EXPLORER AND PROGENITOR OF EXPLORERS
npi
'HE greatest scientific traveller
who ever lived" and "the
parent of a grand progeny of
scientific travellers" were the terms
Darwin thought fit to apply to Alex-
ander von Humboldt in writing to J.
D. Hooker in 1881. Humboldt had
then been dead nearly a quarter of a
century; and more than eighty years
had elapsed since in the ardor of young
manhood he had set forth with the
botanist Bonpland on their voyage of
discovery in the New World.
Sailing from Spain on June 5, 1799,
and making stops at Teneriffe and
at Cumana, Humboldt and his com-
panion ultimately reached Caracas
and from there, early in 1800, under-
took their eventful trip into the
interior, exploring the course of the
Orinoco and tracing the network of
rivers that finally link this great
stream with the Amazon system. Four
months were consumed in the journey,
in the course of which the adventurous
travelers penetrated the forests that
lie between the Rio Negro, the Orinoco,
and the Amazon to a depth five hun-
dred miles greater than that previously
attained by Loffier.
After a sojourn of several months in
Cuba, Humboldt and Bonpland set sail
in March, 1801, for Cartagena on the
north coast of South America and made
their way up the Magdalena River and
across the cold wind-swept heights of
the Cordilleras to Quito in Ecuador,
where they arrived in January of 1802.
In and about Quito the travelers made
their abode for nearly eight months,
during which they ascended the vol-
canoes of the region. Pichincha,
Cotopaxi, Antisana, and Ilinica were
studied; analyses were made of their
gases, and measurements of their height
and crater circumference were taken
whenever it proved possible to do so.
On June 9 the ascent of Chimborazo
was attempted. The Indians that
accompanied Humboldt, Bonpland,
Carlos Montufer, and one of Hum-
boldt's attendants on this exhausting
climb, deserted before the final stage,
declaring that the white men were
trying to kill them in urging them on.
Humboldt and his companions con-
tinued alone, weary but hopeful, until
an impassable chasm blocked their
ambitious effort and robbed them of
the conquest of the summit.
The South American explorations
of Humboldt were rounded out with
the journey which he and Bon-
pland undertook by way of Riobamba
and Cuencato Lima, in the course of
which they spent a month near the
headwaters of the Amazon.
It has been possible to give only the
barest outline of Humboldt's wander-
ings in South America, and to try
to indicate the results of his explora-
tions within a brief article presents
even greater difficulties. In one of his
letters Darwin speaks of him as "more
remarkable for his astounding knowl-
edge than for originality." It is be-
cause of the vast scope of his investiga-
tions— as comprehensive as his men-
tality— that it is hard to attempt even
a summary of his work. Accustomed
to the restrictions of an age of speciali-
zation, one feels amazement that Hum-
boldt could apply geology, astronomy,
meteorology, zoology, botany, and
even linguistics in passing judgment
upon the different phenomena that
449
450
NATURAL HISTORY
came under his observation. His
painstaking study of the volcanoes of
the New World was perhaps his
greatest contribution to geology. His
observations of the remarkable meteor
shower at Cumana on November 12-
13, 1799, laid the foundations of our
knowledge of the periodicity of this
phenomenon. He studied the effects
of guano on the productivity of the
soil, and to his writings is due largely
the fact that this fertilizer was intro-
duced into Europe. His researches on
climate, pursued with vigor during the
South American journey, were of the
greatest scientific importance. Darwin
wrote: "I have always looked at him
as, in fact, the founder of the geographi-
cal distribution of organisms;" and in
delivering this opinion gave recognition
to one of Humboldt's principal claims
to greatness. Three folio volumes of
geographical, phj^sical, and botanical
maps; twelve quarto volumes, devoted
to the nonbotanical results of the
trip; and thirteen folio volumes re-
garding the botany, as well as many
smaller pubhcations, furnish additional
evidence of the magnitude and sig-
nificance of Humboldt's exploratory
work in South America.
At the beginning of this article cita-
tion was made of Darwin's designation
of Humboldt as "the parent of a grand
progeny of scientific travellers." Of this
progeny Darwin himself was the fav-
ored son. The inspiration of Hum-
boldt's example had a determining
influence upon his life. Writing to
Wallace in 1865 regarding the progress
of Wallace's journal of travels, Darwin
remarks :
" I have always thought that journals
of this nature do considerable good by
advancing the taste for Natural His-
tory; I know in my own case that
nothing ever stimulated my zeal so
much as reading Humboldt's Personal
Narrative.''
In another connection he makes this
statement :
''During my last years at Cambridge,
I read with care and profound interest
Humboldt's Personal Narrative. This
work and Sir J. Herschel's Introduc-
tion to the Study of Natural Philosophy,
stirred up in me a burning zeal to add
even the most humble contribution to
the noble structure of Natural Science.
No one or a dozen other books in-
fluenced me nearly so much as these
two."
One might go on quoting other refer-
ences to Humboldt scattered through
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin
and Alore Letters of Charles Darwin.
Not all of these are so laudatory as the
excerpts just given. In one Darwin
expresses a certain degree of dis-
appointment upon meeting Humboldt
personally; in others there is qualified
praise or divergence of opinion from
some of Humboldt's scientific conclu-
sions. Yet such phrases as " I venerate
him" and a reference to Bates as
"second only to Humboldt in describ-
ing a tropic forest" indicate Darwin's
high estimate of his predecessor in the
South American field.
The influence of Humboldt upon
Darwin can be traced, furthermore,
through the dozen or more references
to him that occur in the South Ameri-
can portion of Darwin's Voyage of the
Beagle. Imbued with the writings of
Humboldt, Darwin compares his own
observations with those recorded by
the earlier scientific traveler or enters
into brief discussions regarding the
validity of his conclusions.
That the appreciation was not alto-
gether one-sided, however, is evident
from the following letter, which Hum-
boldt wrote to Mi's. Austin some eight
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
451
years after the "Beagle," its five-year
cruise completed, had put into Fal-
mouth :
"Alas! you have got some one in
England whom you do not read —
young Darwin, who went with the
expedition to the Straits of Magellan.
He has succeeded far better than my-
self with the subject that I took up.
There are admirable descriptions of
tropical nature in his journal, which
you do not read because the author is a
zoologist, which you imagine to be
synonymous with bore. Mr. Darwin
has another merit, a very rare one in
your country — he has praised me."
The concluding sentence throws an
interesting sidelight on Humboldt,
whose vanity was so frank that it dis-
armed criticism, while the general
tenor of the letter reveals another and
more pleasing trait, namely, his gener-
ous encouragement of young scientists.
While Darwin was the heir apparent
in that "grand progeny of scientific
travellers," one must not omit mention
of another nature indent of conspicu-
ous rank, Louis Agassiz, who came
under the influence of Humboldt.
Agassiz records that when he was a
student at Munich he was filled with a
passionate desire "to accompany Hum-
boldt on his projected trip to Asia."
Denied the realization of this ardent
wish, he nevertheless had the oppor-
tunity later of meeting Humboldt and
of learning from him "How to work,
what to do, and what to avoid; how
to live; how to distribute my time;
what methods of study to pursue."
In subsequent years Agassiz himself
explored the Amazonian valley, pass-
ing so near the scene of Humboldt's
field researches that he was able to
check up his own results with those
recorded in Humboldt's narrative and
to recognize the extent of the great
traveler's knowledge and the com-
prehensiveness of his views, even in
cases where the progress of science led
to a different interpretation of the facts.
A man whose fame in his own day
was second only to that of Napoleon
was naturally a favorite subject for
portrait painter and sculptor. There is
a statue of Humboldt in Central Park,
and within the American Museum there
are two reminders of him, — the bust
by William Couper that occupies a
niche in Memorial Hall and the paint-
ing by Julius Schrader that is on the
left of the visitor as he steps out of the
elevator on the second floor. This
portrait, depicting Humboldt in old
age (the very year of his death, 1859)
but against a background of snowy
peaks associated with his youth, is re-
produced on p. 452. Among others
who had the privilege of painting Hum-
boldt in advanced life were Karl
Begas, who made the celebrated por-
trait of him for the Gallery of Knights
of the Order of Merit, Eduard Hilde-
brandt, and Madam Emma Gaggiotti-
Richards — a young Italian artist of
talent, who resided in Berlin during
the closing years of Humboldt's life.
It may not be without interest to
quote from the record left us by the
artist M. Wight, to whom Humboldt
accorded sittings in 1852.
"Humboldt was at that time eighty-
three years of age. The first interview
was on the occasion of his sitting for the
portrait in February of that year
[1852]. I found him a man rather
below the medium stature, dressed
with the utmost simplicity, in black.
His step was moderate, but firm and
decided, with his head a little inclined
forward. In conversation his face
would glow with enthusiasm, and his
small clear eyes sparkle with anima-
tion. He was apparently very tena-
PORTRAIT OF BARON ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
PAINTED BY JULIUS SCHRADER
In the year 1857 Mr. Albert Havemeyer, of New York, being then in Berhn, called on
Humboldt, then in his eighty-ninth year, and requested him to allow his portrait to be
painted. Although the Baron had declined frequent solicitations for a similar favor, he
was made to feel that his many personal friends in the United States would be gratified by
his compliance and he consented to have the eminent artist, Julius Schrader, paint the pic-
ture here shown. The background was of his own selection, his remark to the artist
being, "I will be painted sitting here," designating the spot with Chimborazo in the distance.
The artist commenced the picture at once and at its completion in 1859 the Baron
expressed himself as well pleased. It is Humboldt's last portrait and has been copied
many times. It was presented to the American Museum by Mr. Morris K. Jesup and
hangs above the president's oflBce on the second floor
452
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
453
cious of his time. There were five
sittings. I found him always prompt
to the minute. Knowing that he had
received several decorations from
crowned heads, I asked him if he wished
me to represent any of them in his
portrait; he replied that he preferred
it should be painted without any orna-
ment whatever."
The concluding sentence is of interest,
for in the portrait by Julius Schrader,
there is a similar absence of insignia.
More interesting from our standpoint
than the pictures of the mature scien-
tist— the man acclaimed by the world
— is the portrait in color that serves as
the frontispiece of this article, showing
the explorer in the full vigor of his
adventurous young manhood, at a time
of life when he was making the dis-
coveries and gathering the materials
that, subsequently worked up, were to
establish his fame. This painting, the
work of a South American artist,
Rafael Sabas, was secured by
Frederic E. Church during one of his
trips to the west coast of that con-
tinent and was subsequently presented
by Mr. Louis P. Church to Prof. Henry
Fairfield Osborn, by whose courtesy
it is here included. The picture was exe-
cuted in 1859 and bears the inscription
that it is a faithful copy of a portrait
of the explorer painted at Quito by
Jose Cortes early in the century, at a
time when Humboldt was climbing
the snowy peaks of Ecuador and
studying the volcanoes. Among those
who went up Chimborazo with Hum-
boldt was mentioned Carlos Montufar
of the distinguished family of Aguirre
y Montufar, with the members of
which Humboldt was on intimate
terms. Two of the ladies of this
family were still living in 1859, and
although more than half a century had
elapsed since the time of Humboldt's
visit, they had vivid recollections of the
young explorer. Prof. Moritz Wagner
interviewed them in that year, and in
his account there is a reference to a
portrait in the possession of the
family. The reader is invited to com-
pare Wagner's minute description of it
with the details of the frontispiece of
this article and see for himself whether
it is not probable that the painting
described served as the model for
Rafael Sabas' copy, which might still
be referred to as faithful even though
some minor details — for instance, the
book — have been omitted.
"The family of Aguirre have still in
their possession a half-length portrait,
life-size, of their distinguished guest,
painted by a native artist, which is
preserved in their country house of
Chillo, half a day's journey from
Quito from whence Humboldt used to
make excursions in the pursuit of
geology and botany. The young
German baron, at that time (in 1802)
thirty-three years of age, is represented
in a court uniform of dark blue with
yellow facings, a white waistcoat, and
white breeches of the fashion of the
last century. His right hand rests
upon a book entitled Aphorism, ex
Phys. Chim. Plant. His thoughtful
brow is covered by long dark brown
hair. The features in the youthful
face are strongly marked, especially
the nose, mouth, and chin. The peculiar
expression of the eyes is the point of
resemblance most readily traceable in
this picture to Humboldt as I saw him
fifty years later, then a venerable old
man."
A SCENE IN THE VILLAGE OF BANOS, PROVINCE OF TUNGURAHUA
The climbing plant which covers the balconies of the small house in the foreground is
Passiflora Ugularis, the common granadilla. Its hard-shelled fruit, the size of a hen's egg,
contains translucent pulp of delightful flavor and delicate aroma
Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador'
By WILSON POPENOE
Agricultural Explorer, U. S. Department of Agriculture
THE principal civilized peoples of
pre-Columbian America, — Aztec,
Maya, and Quichua, — were agri-
culturists of no mean order. Remark-
able skill was shown by the Quichua,
who converted into productive land the
barren mountain-sides of their Peru-
vian home. On these rocky slopes they
built series upon series of stone ter-
races, filled them with rich alluvium
from the fertile valleys below, and
irrigated them artificially from the
mountain streams above. They
brought many wild food plants into
domestication and through conscious or
unconscious selection carried some of
them to a high degree of agricultural
excellence, with the result that such
plants as the potato and the sweet
potato, the tomato, and the peanut are
now cultivated and prized in many
parts of the world.
We may be in danger, however, of
giving the Quichua agriculturists too
much credit. Perhaps they were
fortunate, above other American
peoples, in occupying a region where
wild plants of potential economic
value were particularly numerous.
Even after many centuries of Quichua
occupation, and the domestication of
more than a score of plants, the high-
lands of Ecuador and Peru still con-
tain many wild species of horticultural
promise. It is this fact, together with
the added circumstance that numerous
cultivated plants of the Quichua have
not yet received attention in other
parts of the world, that makes the
Andean region extremely attractive
'Photographs
as a field for agricultural exploration.
One whose interests lie along pomo-
logical lines cannot imagine a region
more replete with thrills than Ecuador.
To begin with, there exists near Naran-
jito, not far from Guayaquil, one of the
most remarkable collections of Asiatic
fruits in South America. In fact, the
only bearing mangosteen trees on the
continent are to be found at this place
— the Hacienda Payo. Those familiar
with the mangosteen need not be told
that it is the queen of fruits, and that
it has long been famous as one of the
finest products of the Malayan region.
In relatively recent years, it has been
transplanted to the West Indies, where
a few trees are now in bearing.
During the first years of the present
century, the elder Madinya, owner of
Payo, occasionally made trips abroad
and, returning to Ecuador, brought
with him seeds and plants of many
rare fruits secured through nurseries in
France and the West Indies. Besides
the mangosteen, he established in
Ecuador the litchi, the rambutan, and
the carambola — all Asiatic fruits of
extraordinary merit, little known in
America.
Even more interesting than these
are the native species which are found,
wild or in cultivation, in the Ecuado-
rean highlands. Chief among them are
the cherimoya, the capuli, the Chi-
lean strawberry, the babaco, several
blackberries and raspberries, and the
naranjilla.
For years I have been familiar with
the cherimoya. It is cultivated in
by the author.
455
456
NATURAL HISTORY
Mexico and Guatemala, and excellent
specimens have been produced by
trees planted in southern California.
Not until I reached Ecuador, however,
had I seen the cherimoya in its native
home. As a wild tree, it grows in pro-
fusion along the valley of the Rio
Malacatos, at the southern end of the
country, and in neighboring parts of
Peru. From this region it was carried
to southern Peru probably before the
arrival of the Spaniards, who took it
northward to Central America and
Mexico.
The cherimoya is a remarkable
fruit. It has often been described as
vegetable ice cream, because of its
white flesh, which has the consistency
of a firm custard, and is strikingly
suggestive of delicate ice cream when
The cherimoya has been termed a "master-
piece of nature." For its luscious flavor,
suggesting a combination of pineapple,
strawberry, and banana, and the smooth
texture of its white pulp, which suggests ice
cream, it is entitled to rank among the best
fruits of the tropics. Its native home is in
southern Ecuador and the neighboring parts
of Peru
chUled and served as a dessert. It has
the combined flavors of pineapple,
strawberry, and banana, and for sheer
lusciousness is excelled by few other
products of the vegetable kingdom.
The cherunoya tree can be grown where
the lemon flourishes. Its cultivation in
California has proved practicable, but
the several small orchards which have
been established in that state have
failed to yield their owners profitable
returns, due to the fact that they have
borne very scantily. The pollination
of this fruit under cultivation in the
United States will have to be solved
before the cherimoya can become a
familiar sight in our markets.
Blackberries and raspberries are
generally looked upon as northern
fruits. At least, this had been my own
impression before visiting the Andean
region, where I found to my surprise
berries vying in excellence with the
best produced in the United States.
Two years before visiting Ecuador, I
had seen in Guatemala a remarkable
berry, known to the Indians of that
country as tokan uuk. The plant re-
sembled a raspberry in growth and
appearance, while the fruit was like our
loganberry but less tart in flavor. On
reaching the Ecuadorean Andes, I
found this same species, Rubus glaucus,
playing the role of an important cul-
tivated plant in the gardens of many
highland towns. In fact, the inora de
Castilla, as it is there called, may be
considered one of the favorite fruits of
the Ecuadorean highlands.
Just why this berry has never re-
ceived horticultural attention in other
countries is beyond my comprehension.
It is too fine a thing to be overlooked
by any one who has an eye for fruits
and, unlike certain other plants of the
Ecuadorean Andes, its propagation is
simple. To the end that it might be
HUNTING NEW FRUITS IN ECUADOR
457
popularized, the Department of Agri-
culture propagated a large number of
plants from seeds I secured in Ecuador
and has distributed them in those
parts of the United States where they
seem likely to thrive. Already the
Andes berry, as we have decided to call
the mora de Castilla, has borne fruit
in California and is doing well in the
Gulf States and in the Southwest
occasionally seen in cultivation.
Neither of these, however, is superior
to the typical form.
Seventy years ago the English botan-
ist Richard Spruce spent several years
in the Ecuadorean Andes. He had
been collecting in the Amazon Basin,
where he did a remarkable piece of
pioneering work. At the request of the
British government, he came up the
The town of Banos, which lies at the foot of the volcano Tungurahua, is one of the most
picturesque in the Ecuadorean Andes, and a classic resort of naturaUsts since the days
of Richard Spruce. Close by are the magnificent falls of Agoyan. The Pastaza River, which
flows past the town, is a tributary of the Amazon
generally. It is remarkable for its
immense growth, as well as for the fine
quality of its fruit. A single plant will
cover the side of a small house or, if
left to itself, will form a mound of
verdure ten feet high and fifteen feet in
spread.
Under cultivation in Ecuador sev-
eral horticultural varieties have origi-
nated. The common, or wild, one has
berries of deep maroon color. A rose-
red variety and a light pink one are
eastern slope of the Andes to Ambato
and then went southward to Loja
Province, where he carefully investi-
gated the source of quinine, with a
view to obtaining seeds of the trees
which yield this product. His labors
during a period of more than two years
and his final success in transplanting
the best quinine-yielding species to
India form a romantic chapter in the
history of plant introduction. Present-
day botanical explorers who complain
458
NATURAL HISTORY
The moist, fertile slopes of the Ecuadorean Andes are cultivated up to elevations of
12,000 feet. This photograph shows a prosperous agricultural community near El Angel,
province of Carchi. The principal crops grown in this region are barley and potatoes
of the discomforts suffered in crossing
the Andes should read Spruce's notes,
and reflect upon the difference between
Andean travel in the middle of the
last century and that of today.
During his stay in Ambato, Spruce
was struck by the excellent quality of
the strawberries grown in that region
and by the fact that they were on the
market every day in the year. He
told of large fields devoted to this
plant near Guachi. This region still
produces strawberries in abundance,
and the traveler to Quito is certain to
be greeted by the sight of large baskets
of them, no matter what day or month
he passes through Ambato.
The casual tourist assumes that these
berries are of the same species as those
grown in the United States. He does
not know that they represent the
Chilean strawberry, Fragaria chiloensis,
which is cultivated onty in South
America. In 1714, a Frenchman
named Frezier, who was voyaging on
the Pacific, secured a few plants of this
berry at Concepcion, Chile, and carried
them with him to Marseilles. Their
progeny, when crossed with the small-
fruited strawberries then cultivated in
Europe, yielded the first large-fruited
strawbei'ries of the type now grown
both in Europe and America. There is
a Chilean strain, therefore, in our own
cultivated varieties, but the fraction is
probably a small one.
Previous to the Conquest, this berry
was not known in Peru or Ecuador. It
was carried to Cuzco shortly after the
Spanish established themselves in that
city, and later was taken to Ecuador,
where it has been cultivated ever since
and held in high esteem.
The Chilean strawberrj^ is rather
exacting in its requirements. It does
not tolerate a moist climate. In
Ecuador it bears all the year round,
but this is not the case either in Peru or
in Chile. This peculiarity can be attrib-
uted, therefore, to the lack of seasonal
A sphagnum bog on the paramo near El Angel, province of Carchi, at an elevation of
approximately 13,000 feet. This is typical paramo scenery; the two characteristic plants are
ichu, the bunch grass shown in the foreground (botanically Stipa ichu) ; and the thick-stemmed
composite which fills the background, a species of Espeletia known locally as frailejon
Strawberry pickers at Guachi, near Ambato. — Large fields are given over to the Chilean
strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) in this region. The fruits, which are of good size and flavor,
are remarkable for their ability to withstand shipment. They ripen throughout the year, and
are grown on sandy soil without irrigation in a region where the annual rainfall is scarcely
more than eighteen inches
459
THE ANDES BEREY
Rubus glaucus grows wild in mountainous regions from southern Mexico to Peru.
It is cultivated in Colombia and Ecuador, where its dark maroon, juicy, richly flavored
fruits are highly prized. They are used Hke northern loganberries, which they resemble
except for the fact that they are sweeter in flavor and slightly different in form. (Natural
size.)
460
CLUSTERS OF CAPULI
A cultivated form of the black cherry, Primus serotina, is commonly grown in Mexico,
Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Ecuador possesses better varieties than other
countries; the one shown here, from Ambato, has fruits as large as Cahfornia oxheart
cherries, and of excellent flavor. (Natural size.)
THE ANDEAN BLUEBERRY
Vaccinium floribundum, called mortiiio in Ecuador, grows profusely in northern
South America at elevations between 10,000 and 12,000 feet. Its small fruits, while not
more than a quarter of an inch long, are of pleasant flavor. The pink flowers and deep
green foliage give the plant a handsome appearance. (Natural size.)
462
HUNTING NEW FRUITS IN ECUADOR
463
The granadilla de Quijos {Passiflora popenovii) grows along the tributaries of the Amazon
in eastern Ecuador. It has flowers of unusual beauty, white, blue, and hlac in color, followed
by good-sized oval fruits of delicate and aromatic flavor. (Natural size.)
changes in the Ecuadorean chmate.
Plants yield freely when grown without
irrigation on the sandy plains of Guachi.
but when grown on good garden soil
and watered frequently, the berries are
few, small, and of inferior quality. At
Guachi they are usually an inch and a
half long, of remarkably firm texture,
and of sweet and peculiarly aromatic
flavor. The texture is a characteristic
of extreme value to plant breeders,
for North American strawberries are
much less firm and do not stand ship-
ping nearly so well. It is for this
reason that several breeders in the
United States are now working with the
Chilean strawberry in the hope of
securing, through crossing it with our
own cultivated sorts, varieties adapted
to our climate, yet having the texture
of the Chilean form.
The traveler in the Ecuadorean
Andes — the region popularly referred to
as the ''Sierra " — soon becomes familiar
with the capuli, a tree seen about culti-
vated places from one end of the country
to the other. Teodoro Wolf, who spent
twenty years in Ecuador and wrote an
excellent book regarding the country,
spoke of the capuli as characterizing
the Andean region just as the coconut
palm is typical of the coast.
464
NATURAL HISTORY
I do not believe the capiili is in-
digenous to Ecuador, in spite of the
fact that Ecuadoreans commonly claim
it as their own. Strangely enough, it
is a southern form of a plant well
known in the eastern United States,
extending as far north as Nova Scotia.
— Prunus serotina, the wild black
cherry of this country. History records
The babaco (Carica pentagona), closely
related to the papaya of tropical regions, is
cultivated in numerous highland towns of
Ecuador. The plant resists hght frost, and the
yellow fruits, which attain a foot in length,
are made into an excellent preserve
that the Spanish first took it to Peru,
where it is now as common as in
Ecuador. In both these countries it is
known under a name taken from the
Aztec language, and its cultivation by
that people in pre-Columbian days is a
recognized fact. Assuming, therefore,
that this plant was carried to Ecuador
from Mexico, it is interesting to note
that the first-named country now pro-
duces much finer capulis than does the
native home of the species. I have
never seen in Mexico or in Guatemala
capulis more than half the size of the
most luscious grown in Ecuador, nor
any half so good. The Ecuadorean
capuli at its best is a fruit nearly as
large as the oxheart cherry of the
Pacific Coast. It is borne in clusters of
from two to ten, and is juicy, sweet, and
pleasant to eat. How well I remember
the afternoon spent by Abelardo
Pachano, Jose Antonio Montalvo, and
myself under the famous Gonzales
capuli tree near Ambato! We picked
and ate the fruits until we could eat no
more, and I was convinced that the
capuli is worth cultivating not only in
the southern United States but also in
all subtropical regions where European
cherries do not succeed.
Ambato is the center of the greatest
fruit-growing region in Ecuador and,
because of its dry and relatively cool
climate, it is suited to the cultivation
of many temperate, as well as subtropi-
cal, species. Its elevation of 8000 feet
will not permit the rearing of strictly
tropical fruit-bearing plants since hght
frosts occur every once in a while.
In Andean villages several remark-
able species of Carica are cultivated.
These are related to the common
papaya of tropical countries but, unlike
the latter, will resist frost. The best
of them is the babaco, grown prin-
cipally in the Ambato region, but occa-
sionally at Quito and elsewhere. The
babaco is produced by a half-woody
plant that attains a height of ten feet.
The fruit is cylindrical in form, nearly
a foot in length, and suggests a musk-
melon in character. It has highly
ai'omatic flesh and a large hollow
cavity in the center, which one would
expect to contain many seeds but which
rarely has any at all. In fact, the
babaco is a curiosity. The two sexes
HUNTING NEW FRUITS IN ECUADOR
465
are or should be found in different
plants. The pistillate, or female,
plants bear fruits. In spite of having
searched extensively, I have never
found a single staminate, or male,
plant. Apparently, the flowers pro-
duced by pistillate plants are never
properly fertilized and, in consequence,
no seeds develop. The usual thing in
such cases would be that fruits also
would fail to develop, but the babaco
does not conform to the general rule in
this respect.
Throughout the highlands are to be
seen trees of a wild walnut, which re-
sembles in foliage as well as fruit the
black walnut of the United States, —
more particularly that of California.
The Ecuadorean species, Juglans
honorei, however, is quite distinct
from those of the United States. Its
thick-shelled nuts contain richly
flavored meats, which are made into
delicious sweets by Ecuadorean house-
wives.
Most of the avocados grown in the
Ecuadorean highlands are of the Mexi-
can race, probably introduced by the
Spanish in early days. There is an old
tree in the Patate Valley, not far from
Ambato, which, it is believed, was
planted more than two centuries ago by
Jesuit priests. En passant, it is worth
mentioning that the priests and friars,
who came to the New World along
with the Conquistadores, were active
in establishing the best European fruits
and other food plants wherever they
went, and in transporting native species,
such as the avocado and the capuli,
to regions where they had not previ-
ously been grown.
While at lunch one day in the Metro-
politan Hotel in Quito, I was told by a
fellow-traveler that the Chota Valley
produced avocados of superior quality.
'Having found no avocados of value in
Ecuador up to that time, I was loath to
believe the story but unwiUing to
ignore it. So I rode to Ibarra and
thence down to the Chota River,
notorious as a hot and malarial region.
I was rewarded by finding avocados of
unusual character and quality. Three
trips to the Chota resulted in my secur-
ing budwood of the best varieties and
introducing five into the United States,
where they are now being tested.
In the Chota Valley is another ex-
cellent fruit, cultivated elsewhere in
Ecuador but not in such perfection.
It is the pepino, related to the potato
and the eggplant. The elliptic green-
ish-yellow fruits sometimes attain the
size of small cantaloupes, and strongly
suggest the latter in flavor. They are
produced by plants which look like
potato vines but live for three or four
years and bear fruit during most of
that time.
Another member of the same family
popular in Ecuador and little known
elsewhere, with the exception of
Colombia, is the naranjilla, botanically
known as Solanum quitoense. This
fruit, which has the size and appear-
ance of a small orange (whence the
name naranjilla — little orange) is borne
by a half -shrubby plant with enormous
hairy leaves. The fruit is used to
prepare refrescos, or cooling drinks,
which suggest in flavor a mixture of
pineapple and lemon. Attempts to
grow the naranjilla in Florida have
been unsuccessful. For some reason
as yet unknown to us. the plant does
not bear fruit in that state, though it
grows quite satisfactorily.
Colombians, to a greater extent than
Ecuadoreans, appreciate and use the
tacso, but the latter are by no means
blind to its merits. This fruit, which
belongs to the passion-flower family,
is of the size and shape of a small
466
NATURAL HISTORY
banana. It contains numerous seeds,
each surrounded by juicy, acid pulp of
aromatic and somewhat acid flavor.
In Bogota, housewives put this through
a sieve and by adding sugar and milk
make a delicious sherbet, which they
The favorite tacso of the Andes, Passi-
flora mollissima, is produced by a handsome
vine, and is used to prepare excellent ice
creams and desserts. Its orange-colored
pulp is acid and highly aromatic
call crema de curuha. I did not come
across this dish in Ecuador nor the
equally delicious ice cream which can
be made from ripe tacsos. Both for its
fruit and the ornamental appearance of
the vine, the tacso is worth cultivating
extensively in California, where it has
already been tried and found to
succeed.
The Spanish early brought their own
fruits to Ambato, and the descendants
of the original trees are seen everywhere
in that region. Peaches, apples, plums,
and apricots are abundantly produced,
while a few miles farther down the
Patate River are small orchards of
citrus fruits. Nowhere in the higher
Andes, however, are good oranges
produced. A few spots, such as the
warm Chota and Guaillabamba valleys,
are favorable for orange culture, but
the best region is on the coast. Ecuador
can produce excellent citrus fruits and
some day may rank among the coun-
tries which export them. Ever since
the production of cacao became less
remunerative, due to increased plant-
ings in Africa, Ecuadoreans have
realized the necessity of diversifying
their crops. Even now there is a small
export trade in bananas, oranges, and
pineapples, particularly the first-named,
which are being grown on an ever-
increasing scale for shipment to Peru
and Chile. The pineapples of Guaya-
quil are famous; indeed, they probably
equal in quality those of any other
region, and they excel most. Fruit
culture has come to the fore as one of
the most hkely sources of income, and
within the next quarter of a century
serious attention will certainly be
devoted to the establishment of fruit
industries both in the highland regions
and along the coast.
The last gleam of the setting sun leaves a narrow pathway of molten silver between the unbroken dark-
ness of the forest wall and its mellowed reflection. Even before the fast-moving clouds have cleared the ridges
of distant Kamakusa mountain, this glistening streak will have been blotted out by the spreading darkness.
What great discoveries still await the adventurous traveler below the canopy of forest that stretches for more than
a thousand miles into the farthermost limits of the valley of the Amazon !
Into the Interior of British Guiana'
By HERBERT LANG
Associate Curator, African Mammals, American Museum
FEW other parts of South America
can boast a more romantic his-
tory than the Guianas. Even to-
day the lure of riches easily attained
there still claims -'its victims. Far
back, in the year 1616, so well
seasoned a knight as Sir Walter
Raleigh was blinded by the dazzling
tales of the fabulous wealth of that
phantom city of "El Dorado." Apart
from personal disillusion and failure in
his particular quest, his last heroic
efforts were not altogether in vain. Did
he not whet the appetite for the pro-
verbial wealth of these lands and un-
wittingly lay the corner stone for
England's only colony in South Ameri-
ca— the present-day British Guiana?
That in olden times the Guianas
were not without appeal as a field for
colonization is evident from the councils
of the Pilgrim Fathers, who considered
the tropical luxuriance of these parts
before they decided to exert their
mighty influence upon New England
shores. Still more memorable was the
virtual exchange, after the Dutch war,
of Guiana, or "Surinam," for what is
now New York, under the terms of
the Peace of Breda in 1667.
Later the sober-minded, laborious
Dutch by skilful efforts succeeded in
transforming much of the coastal strip
of Demerara into rich plantations, rely-
ing upon the fertihty of the alluvial
soil, in some parts now known to be
more than 1400 feet thick. After more
than a hundred years of continuous
subjection to the soil-impoverishing
culture of sugar cane, and without
stimulation of productivity through the
use of fertilizer, the land still gives
bountiful returns.
With the temporary collapse of the
sugar industry after the World War
and the incidental release of labor,
those who were sufficiently energetic
and enterprising tried their luck in the
diamond fields of the interior. The
results have been astonishing and a
'Illustrations, with the exception mentioned, from photographs by the author.
467
A typical diamond mine. — Sand piles and water holes surrounded by a chaos of tree trunks and bowlders
in the midst of virgin forest are the distinguishing characteristics of the diamond mines of British Guiana. A fee
of a few dollars paid to the government gives the prospector the right to stake out his placer claim of 800 by 1400
feet. Removing only three feet or so of overburden may uncover the loose, diamantiferous gravel, which is
washed in the"tom," a rough wooden box having an iron screen with half-inch holes at the front of it. Through
them the smaller particles are passed and hand-sieved. What remains in the sieve is carefully looked over for
the precious stones.
There are no iron fences, guarded compounds, or burglar-proof safes as in South Africa. The entire police
force consists of half a dozen negroes, in a region where about 4000 miners in 1922 dug out more than 84,000,000
worth of diamonds in the rough, valued at S2.5 a carat. No machinery, laboratories, or hospitals are provided,
and everyone Uves peacefully in temporary shelters. Trading companies supply the miners with salt pork, beef,
fish, rice, beans, biscuits, and other goods, most of them paid for in diamonds, which in general the companies
also purchase
Fifty thousand dollars' worth of British Guiana diamonds, in the rough.— This harvest was gathered
by a crowd of fortune hunters of every description, — most of them negroes and mulattoes, some Chinese and
Hindus, and a few whites. With unfailing hope and under the most trying conditions, these miners, generallj'
called "tributors" or "pork-knockers," have struggled, toiled, and suffered hunger in order to add their part to
this glittering pile. Some of these rough stones are of the "first water," without flaw or tint. Once lifted from the
loam and rendered doubly attractive by cutting and setting, they become the most cherished of treasures. The
largest stone pictured weighs sixteen carats; single stones of as much as forty-eight carats have been un-
earthed along the Upper Mazaruni River
468
Makreba Falls, the head of navigation on the Kurupung River. — Between the rocky walls of forest-clad
mountains that rise abruptly several hundred feet above the water are these falls, opposing farther advance by
boat. From here famous Mt. Roraima can be reached within ten days. The route proceeds overland for some
distance, with Indian "droghers" carrying the loads, and then by water in native "woodskins," or small boats
made of the bark of trees, each accommodating eight or ten men. During the first few weeks of the stay, Mr. La
Varre and the writer, who is shown in the above oicture, made a preliminary reconnaissance and were fortunate
in meeting many of the Indians who later joined the party at Kamakusa
Rapids below Kaburi Rock. — The gallant little craft "Kamakusa," in which the author journeyed, passed
most of the rapids under its own power. Only a few times did this staunch " rift-climber " have to be taken in tow.
Every year the Mazaruni River exacts its heavy toll in boats and men. Only strongly built canoes, not more than
forty feet in length and manned by experienced captains and bowmen, are allowed to engage in the traffic.
The ever-changing water level, depending on the season's rainfall, and an essentially rocky bed are the main
hazards. Every crew has its expert swimmers who, going in advance, drag the ropes with which the boats
are guided and puUed across the rocks whenever the drudgery of portage can thus be avoided
469
470
NATURAL HISTORY
credit to the adaptability of the negro
population, which outnumbers all other
races among the miners. It is true that
extravagant hopes of fortunes easily
made and manj^ dismal failures are a
part of the storj^, but native improvi-
dence is happily linked with a ready
desire to share good fortune with others
and at any time to extend cordial
assistance to those in need. From 1919
on, the production of diamonds jumped
in three years from $478,555 (16,706
carats in 1919) to $4,126,425 (163,640
carats in 1922). As it happened, I
was making the trip up the Mazaruni
River^ at the height of this great rush,
when dozens of boats were on their way
to the diamond fields in the interior.
One of the most surprising facts
about diamond mining in British
Guiana is its extreme simpUcity of
operation, with an equal chance for all.
Ax, pick, shovel, a miner's pan, tom-
iron, pail, and sieve are the only imple-
ments used to bring the precious stones
to light. After the miner has success-
fully probed, b}^ means of a tough sap-
ling, the water-soaked ground to locate
the harder layer of diamond-bearing
gravel, the digging commences, con-
tinuing until the promising level a few
feet below is reached. There is great
expectancy as the first sample of ore
or "pay dirt" is tested. There may
be merely what the miners call "in-
dications," pieces of tourmaline, crys-
tals of quartz, and pebbles of various
heavy minerals, also traces of gold.
Should there be a diamond, however
tiny, in the first pan, it is an encourage-
ment for the "crew," as small parties
working together are generally called.
Not many months thereafter the
deserted square or oblong, water-
filled holes in the ground, surrounded
lA preliminary Note, together with a map of the
itinerary, appeared in Natubal History for July-
August, 1923, pp. 409-11.
with embankments of soil, sand, and
gravel, attest to the success achieved.
The lucky miners stay at their task only
a few months before returning to the
coast and Georgetown. They usually
escape fever, dysentery, and the host
of other illnesses brought about by the
extraordinary hardships, especially
that of working hip-deep in water for
an extended period. The journeying
back and forth involves but httle ex-
pense to the individual miner, who
works his way up river by paddling
boats engaged in transporting traders'
merchandise, and for whom the home-
ward passage is usually free.
British Guiana's fame is linked with
its great rivers: they are its network
of communication in the interior. In
former times no one but the daring and
fearless would brave the thousands of
swift channels, pilot between the hidden
rocks, and cross the dangerous whirl-
pools. These pioneers needed courage
and dexterity to ascend the torrential
rapids and overcome the steeper falls.
Even now considerable skill is required.
After a few months of the monotony
of the mining fields, however, one wel-
comes the excitement of river travel.
There, at least, is the dare-devil joy of
trusting to luck more than to experi-
ence. The return run is made with the
hurrying floods and across swirling
rapids in as many exciting hours as it
took dreary days of toil to fight one's
way upstream against the strong
currents.
Along the rivers the solid walls of
luxuriant vegetation are silent wit-
nesses to the constant struggle of
practically every leaf to reach the sun-
light. In this spectacular mosaic
flowers are richly scattered, decorating
the green curtain like delicate embroid-
eries. Tints of yellow and shades of
blue in October are the prevalent colors,
INTO THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH GUIANA
471
bright red and white being scarcer.
Tall palms are rare along the Mazaruni
River, and even the slender manicole
seldom waves its glittering fronds. In
the foreground are floating grasses and
stockades of giant arums, a maze of
sedges and palms climbing upward
over their more powerful neighbors.
Every day before nightfall we made
fast to one of the few high places
along the banks out of reach of sudden
floods. Tarpaulins and hammocks
were the only equipment needed for
passing the night. Following the first
roars of the howler monkeys at the
coming of daylight, fires were kindled
in preparation for breakfast. A bus-
tling half hour saw our fifty men and
their belongings ready to start again.
Soon the busy purr of the boat's
engine and the rhythmic stroke of
paddles broke the quiet, continuing
until noon, when a stop was made for
luncheon.
As we landed and passed through
the dense curtain of verdure, the
mighty tree trunks loomed up like ma-
jestic colonnades. Innumerable leaves
of all sizes and shapes, impenetrable
thickets, and other objects limited
the range of our vision. Glimmer-
ing shafts of light set off the grace-
ful contours of the rows of saplings
and tangles of bush ropes. In the
diffused soft light fantastic flashes
plaj^uUy danced upon the leaf -strewn
ground. Clumps of white, orange, or
brown fungi, flowers that had fallen
from the trees above, and a scattering
of dead leaves furnished dehcate
touches of color among the few plants
that strove in vain to escape from the
gloom and decay of the forest floor.
The moisture-laden atmosphere and
constant heat were overpowering. Yet
the infinite beauty and matchless
grandeur of the scene were impres-
sive even though the minute details
of so magnificent a tapestry were
confusing.
Ever since I had returned from the
Belgian Congo, where I had spent the
years 1909-15 studying conditions in
the West African rain forest, it had
been my desire to see comparable
South American forests. The oppor-
tunity, extended to me by Mr. William
J. LaVarre, of visiting those of British
Guiana was, therefore, most welcome.
Furthermore, I was favored with an
introduction from President Henry
Fairfield Osborn, of the American
Museum, to his Excellency, Sir Wilfred
Collet, governor of British Guiana.
From Director F. A. Lucas of the
This yoxxnir male howler moiikey iAluuattn ."fiiicula
macconnelli) was photographed at Kamakusa in De-
cember. Most young monkeys in South America
are not inchned to manifest the frolicking gayety or to
indulge in the capricious and fantastic tricks that char-
acterize the behavior of Old World monkeys of corre-
spo nding age and size. Their actions remind one rather
of the slow, serious, well-seasoned manners of old
people. Shortly after being taken these howlers refrain
even from biting and become affectionate pets. But
they should never be made captives as it is almost im-
possible to keep these leaf-eating primates in good
health.
The adults are the strongest and most heavily set
monkeys of the New World and evidently for this
reason have been dubbed in British Guiana "baboons,"
a term which the negroes have brought over from Africa,
where it is applied correctly to a large powerful ape of
chiefly terrestrial habits. Troops of these reddish-
brown howlers are especially famous for their vociferous
sunrise serenades. Energetic in this performance, they
show less virility in climbing about in their high leafy
homes, seldom moving in great haste although they are
by nature nimble-footed and are assisted by a prehen-
sile tail
INTO THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH GUIANA
473
American Museum I received other
valued privileges. At Kartabo, Mr. W.
Beebe, director of the Tropical Re-
search Station of the New York Zoolog-
ical Society, extended his hospitality.
The more important ecological dif-
ferences between the two regions are
striking in their essential features. In
both countries the temperature
throughout the year is about the same,
85° Fahrenheit, with but slight changes
day or night. The average annual rain-
fall also differs little, being always
more than sixty inches, and the dry
season lasting less than three months.
In the formation of these forests,
however, the relative amounts of rain
and sunshine, humidity and heat, are
significant factors.
In South America the generally more
inundated condition of the ground
is as marked as are the greater variety
of plants and the denser and more
united forest canopies. The larger
number of pahns and especially the
conspicuous display of luxuriant epi-
phytic plants, such as bromeUas,
aroids, peperomias, orchids, ferns, and
mosses have no equal in Africa, where
the . larger air plants — Platy cerium,
Asplenium, and other ferns that attach
themselves to trees — are more widely
scattered, and orchids are inconspicuous
and few and far between.
Excluding the vegetation of moun-
tainous areas and sections along rivers,
the rain^forest formations in both
regions can be roughly divided into
three types: (1) the higher-lying,
drier forest with magnificent columnar
trees, about 150 feet in height, and
relatively little undergrowth; (2) the
intermittently inundated forests, gen-
erally considerably lower, with a more
impenetrable and diversified flora,
containing numberless climbers and air
plants; and (3) the secondary forests
on ground once cleared by man. Here
there are a few predominant types. In
South America the groves of "Congo
pump" (Cecropia) and the "bastard
plantain" (Heliconia) play the role
assumed in Africa by the "umbrella
tree" (Musanga) and what remains of
plantains and bananas formerly under
cultivation; and many large-leafed
marantaceous and gramineous plants
are common to both.
In equatorial West Africa, at least
in the northeastern section of the
Belgian Congo, where I spent several
years, the rain generally faUs within a
few hours, and often this occurs during
the night. At any season, therefore,
there is an abundance of sunshine. In
this area the gigantic trees are more
scattered, the crowns of many reaching
above the general leafy roof and
appearing, as one looks down upon
them from some height, like islands
rising from a green sea. Such an
arrangement admits more sunlight in
the lower strata of the forest and rather
favors the development of rapidly
moving, gregarious, diurnal forms of
monkeys. With the exception of a few
lemurs the African primates are chiefly
diurnal. They are much less specialized
than their South American relatives
and show no such parallel development
with other groups as is indicated by
different kinds of the smaller South
American "squirrel monkeys."
In British Guiana, on the other
hand, the rain, during what is called
the "dry" as well as during the wet
season, descends in frequent showers,
and the hours of sunshine are con-
siderably reduced by a more or less
continuous drizzle.
These conditions may have brought
about the peculiar arrangement of the
vegetation. Certainly the dense clus-
tering of leaves toward the roof of
LARGE-LEAVED AROIDS CLINGING TO TREE TRUNKS
Sunny exposures on tree trunks are always apt to support clusters of air plants. Marvelous is the adjust-
ment of the long-staDced, huge leaves, all placed so as to take advantage of every bit of sunshine. Were it not for
their vertical position and remarkable surface structure these immense leaves — the larger are nearly two feet in
length — could not meet the torrents of rain unscathed. Accidentally one of the vertical absorbing roots has
been torn from the adjoining tree trunk to which it was previously attached by small, horizontal, anchoring roots,
such as are seen on the tree trunk in the center
474
INTO THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH GUIANA
475
Long, pendent clusters of purplish young leaves in a leguminous tree. — In October and the months follow-
ing, patches of bright foliage — green, pink, brown, and other colors — give pleasant variety to the otherwise
somber forest walls. One is naturally reminded of the riot of colors in the woods of temperate regions during
the renewal and the shedding of the leaves. The exceedingly rapid growth in the tropics of these freshly emerg-
ing leaves is probably correlated with their relative limpness and their propensity to cluster. Botanists
have often ventured to delve into what is evidently one of nature's protective devices. Are these pecuUar
assemblages of drooping, tender leaves better enabled than would be scattered individuals to escape the ravages
of heavy rain showers, strong sunlight, or excessive heat?
the forest in one unbroken canopy, or
wherever there are open spaces, the sit-
uation of the air plants, abundant and
luxuriant mainly on the sun-exposed
side of the tree, and the large size of the
leaves of many of them, as well as their
position, would indicate adaptation for
deriving the maximum benefit during
the short time that the sunlight is
available.
The gloom of these forests shelters a
relatively large number of nocturnal
mammals. Few are swift and many
of the arboreal types in the different
groups have a prehensile tail. The
spider-, howler-, and woolly-monkeys ,
porcupines, opossums, and anteaters
include characteristic instances. In
Africa the only mammals which have
any claim to a prehensile tail are two
species of scaly anteaters, and they are
really of Asiatic origin, — a region where
a prehensile tail is a not uncommon
appendage of mammals although less
so than in Australia, where many of the
marsupials are provided with such a
grasping organ.
The peculiar environmental condi-
tions in the tropical rain forests and
their outliers of both Africa and South
America have undoubtedly had still
further influence upon the evolution,
habits, and distribution of the principal
types of their distinctive mammals. In
West Africa the essentially greater
extent of the higher-lying forests (those
of the first type) allowed a variety of
mammals of large size to become estab-
lished. Thus we have there elephants,
buffaloes, a host of antelopes, several
large carnivores, and — most represen-
tative of all — the large endemic an-
476
NATURAL HISTORY
JH^^
Conspicuous in the midst of their leaf-bearing neigh-
bors are the gigantic trunks of dead trees, often more
than a hundred feet in height, covered with formations
resembling reddish soil. Myriads of termites, or "white
ants," burrowing in the tree, have transformed the dead
wood on which they feed into these structures, the num-
berless tips of which, reminding one of the reversed points
of a coronet, drain oil the rain when it descends in
torrents and thus assure the tiny builders a secure abode
and shelter. Every particle the insects devour serves
to reinforce their home externally and to extend the
immense network of galleries through the tree, until the
final collapse of the trunk seals the fate of the aerial
abode of these ruthless tunnelers
thropomorphic apes, — the gorilla and
the chimpanzee. In South American
forests the swamp-loving tapir, a few
deer, and a jaguar are the largest
mammals. Most other good-sized ter-
restrial forms are either aquatic or
cursorial in adaptation, which allows
their rapid escape in times of flood,
when the change in water levels some-
times amounts to more than forty feet.
While in Africa the antelopes have
produced through adaptive radiation a
large number of different forms, in
South America it is the rodents which
exemplify such a development.
As a rule in the immense areas of
contiguous tropical rain forests of the
equatorial belt mammal and bird life
appear much scarcer than along clear-
ings and river fronts, and on the open,
more diversified stretches, which help
to foster the gregarious instincts of
herds and flocks. In rain forests,
how^ever, the fauna is scattered over
many levels, from the ground upward
to as much as 150 feet in height. To
the newcomer it may indeed seem that
mammal life is totally absent. A
white man's progress through such
dense vegetation, no matter how care-
ful, is generally heralded from afar,
so that most mammals seek covert
long before they can be discovered.
Peripatus is a most puzzling creature with the rare
distinction of having been considered at different times
a worm, a mollusk, and an insect, though, according
to present belief, not far removed from the millipedes.
Fond of darkness, moisture, and decay, it lives in or
about hollow, crumbling pieces of wood. The dull,
velvety brown, extensible body has in life a peculiar
iridescent "bloom." When the creature raises the
anterior portion of its body, the feelers take an active
part in directing the course. Thus the Peripatus readily
avoids obstacles and though moving slowly, assisted
by the tiny, terminally clawed legs, can assume any
kind of position. A secretion of slime, withdrawn into
the buccal cavity whenever the Peripatus stops, marks
the glimmering trail and apparently furnishes an in-
dication to others of its kind. Its prey — insects and
spiders — may also be captured with slime that can be
ejected from the oral papillae for a distance of about
six inches. Sixteen of these primitive arthropods were
secured
INTO THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH GUIANA
4:11
The black puff bird (Monasa nigra). — These birds
loved the edge of the large forest clearing that faces the
river at Kamakusa, and proved to be rather confiding.
Seldom were there more than three or four of them in
sight at one time, and even then they would perch at
considerable distances from one another. They fre-
quently remained in the lower branches of the trees,
returning to a chosen site even after chasing passing
insects. In both sexes the dark, slaty-black plumage
with a grayish under side is sharply set off by the bright
scarlet bill. During January the short but melodious
song of these birds, resembling that of the European
black-bird, was by far the best vocal performance in the
jungle. Furthermore, one or another of these birds was
apt to gush forth its sweet whistUng notes at any time
from sunrise to sunset, — even at noon when the noisiest
of birds preferred to remain silent. Although their song
was so prevalent, Mr. Lang was surprised to find that
apparently they had not been given credit for it. Only
their sharp call had previously been recorded. Evi-
dently the beginning of the year, when Mr. George K.
Cherrie and Mr. Lang enjoyed the singing many times,
is the courting season of these birds on the Upper
Mazaruni.
In the immediate neighborhood of
much-fiequented watercourses mam-
mals are naturally scarce. It was a sur-
prise to see the leisurely moving, reddish-
brown howler monkeys, and the much
quicker, small sakis. A few sluggish,
rough-haired, three-toed sloths, resting
huddled up in the fork of a tree might
have been mistaken for a termites'
nest. Never were we so lucky as to
see herds of peccaries, a tapir, or a
puma crossing the path of our boats,
though later when on land we were
more fortunate.
Time and patience, however, stood
me in good stead. My efforts to secure
comprehensive information about dif-
ferent groups of animals and about the
forests were successful beyond my
fondest hopes. I was also able to
These six tiny bats {Rhynchiscus naso) clinging to a
snag were photographed near Kamakusa. On the
Mazaruni, as on other rivers of tropical South America,
several kinds of small bats rest exposed to daylight on
the larger branches or roots projecting above the water
near the banks. Though dark in color, they were not
readily detectable until they fluttered up. disturbed by
the approach of our boat. Some would shift to the
opposite side of their perch, as they habitually do when
bothered by the sun . This manner of roosting is peeuhar
to these small insectivorous bats of the Neotropical
region. Such an unusual trait may be due to the abun-
dance of bees and other hymenopterous insects that ii:
South America preempt the available hollow trees and
cavities which in other countries serve as the head-
quarters of bats of this type. In other respects these
bats are as nocturnal as their close relatives in Africa,
Eurasia, and Australasia, all of which seek retreat in
dark or at least well-shaded places, although members of
the family Megadermidffl are sometimes about during
the day. At dusk they certainly prey upon the untold
numbers of minute nocturnal insects on the great flow-
ing highways. These bats have a body length of about
one and a half inches
478
NATURAL HISTORY
enrich the collections of the American
Museum in many different branches
through the presentation of mammals,
birds, turtles, snakes, frogs, fish, butter-
flies, ants and many other insects, as
well as lower invertebrates, not to
mention plants and a series of photo-
graphs and moving pictures. Some of
the creatures proved new to science but
all were most welcome, for from that
part of the Guianas hardly anything
had reached the Museum previously.
What to some has been an awe-inspir-
ing, fearful wilderness, to me was a
magnificent playground. For months
I was repeatedly thrilled with joy.
A female tree frog Hyla evansi vAth a cluster of twenty-four eggs on her back. — The future frogs, visible
in some of the jelly-like spheres, are still in the stage of tailed larvse with rudimentary limbs. According to Dr.
G. K. Noble, they have a primitive type of air-breathing gill, to be described in a scientific paper that is in
course of preparation. The eggs adhere to the frog's finely granulated skin by means of their gelatinous cover-
ings that in the case of the outer ones form a narrow rim around the egg mass. The eggs are the size of a large
pea, about one-quarter of an inch in diameter, and the body length of the frog is about three inches.
The frog was found at Kamakusa toward the end of January, sitting in the gloom of her self-chosen moist
retreat, a large decaying tree trunk open on one side. Here she was probably able to feed upon the numerous
insects always infesting such sites. Far from being hampered by her load of eggs, she could clear several feet
at a jump without dislodging her burden. This species was previously known only from a single specimen in the
British Museum
Photographed and copyrighted by H . H. Heller
Cholita, a little bigger than life size
eruvian
Pets
By HILDA HEMPL HELLER
Foreword. — Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Heller journeyed to the interior of Peru to collect
specimens of mammals for the Field Museum of Natural History. Their route lay from
Callao and Lima to Cerro de Pasco by rail, over the Andes, and down the Amazon. Sev-
eral months were spent at different altitudes in the valley of the Huallaga River. The
first collections were made at La Quinua and Chiquerin, a Httle below timber line at an
altitude of about 12,000 feet. Ambo, a small town at the junction of the Yanahuanca
River with the Huallaga, was then taken as a base. It is about 8000 feet in altitude and the
climate is dry, not unhke that of southern Cahfornia. Later followed a three months'
expedition to the wet tropical valleys of the Chinchao and Cayumba rivers (2000-.3000 feet)
and to the flat plain below at Tingo Maria on the Huallaga. Collections were then dis-
patched from Ambo, and the expedition emerged from the valley of the Huallaga by way of
the high Cordillera to the east. Pozuzo, at an altitude of 2000 feet in a rich tropical valley,
was an excellent collecting site for a month. Then navigable water was sought at Puerto
Mayro on the Palcazu, a raft was made, and the expedition fared down stream to Puerto
Victoria on the Pachitea River, where additional collections were made. From Puerto
Victoria down the Pachitea and Ucayah rivers to Iquitos on the Amazon, was a voyage
of a week on a barge towed by the mail launch. Thence a two-weeks' voyage down the
greatest of streams to Para brought the travelers to the Atlantic Ocean.
IT is a very sad fact that if one is so
devoted to animals that he renounces
the world for the sake of studying
them, he eventually finds himself in the
unhappy position of killing the very
things he loves. And though he kills
for the sake of the science that is eager
to know the shapes and sizes and colors
of the wild things of remote districts,
he ponders over the bodies of the
beasts as he skins them by the lantern
light, wondering how they lived and
hunted, how they fed and loved, and
how they reared their babies, and he
wishes they were alive again. Always
through his mind the thought runs,
''We might have been friends, you
and I, if things had been different.
480
NATURAL HISTORY
The museum will be glad to get such
a rare specimen as you, but what will
it know of the real you from your skin
and skull?"
My husband and I were two that
loved animals. We hunted in the high
bare mountains, in the wet steep forests
of the eastern Andes, in the flat
Amazonian plain. But the animals
that came to us in sound condition,
most of them by purchase, we kept
aHve, and made members of our house-
hold, giving them every comfort in our
power and spending such spare mo-
ments as we could in observing their
behavior and in photographing them.
It was a rich experience.
CHOLITA
The houses of the Indians in the
dry portion of the|[Huallaga Valley are
solid mud structures with few chinks
for the passage of small animals. Their
kitchens are the dwelling places of
innumerable guinea pigs. Under the
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H. Heller
Cholita playing.— She would put her little
forepaw on her string to balance herself
doorsill or by the sash at night enter
small yellow-bellied weasels to feast
on the helpless rodents within. Some-
times a mother weasel is followed by a
baby two or three inches long. The
people love to catch these baby weasels;
they tie a cord about their neck and
tame them very easily. If taken young
enough, it is said, the weasels will
remain with their captors free of any
restraint, but Cholita, who was caught
half-grown by Old Basan of the neigh-
boring village, was freed only when the
room was carefully closed. Young
Basan sold her to us. She was a beau-
tiful creature. At first my heart did
not warm to her, for she escaped from
a close-barred parrot cage and very
shortly buried her teeth in the scalp of
Maria Louisa, one of our opossums.
After that we kept her tied. She lived
in a wool sock, turned double for
warmth, and spent much of her time
in sleep. Every morning we had break-
fast at my bedside and Cholita's leash
was transferred to a rod of the bed.
Fried egg, placed on the edge of my
plate, was her breakfast, and always
she seized it and dragged it away.
After breakfast she played. To see
her play but once was to love her.
Sometimes she reminded one of a
kitten, and was always lithe and grg,ce-
ful with a marvelous command of every
movement. She had a pattering
gallop about the counterpane, following
a hand with incredible rapidity, or
turned on her back and clawed and bit
a finger gently, always very gently.
With the whisking of a handkerchief
she became madly active, transporting
herself from point to point of its swing
with almost invisible flashes of her
brown body. Her joy in life was in-
fectious; it made one long to be a
weasel and to use one's muscles with
her exquisite precision and grace.
PERUVIAN PETS
481
The day came when we had to take a
long journey on mule back, and Cholita
was chosen to accompany us. She
traveled in a canvas game bag that
contained her sock, and was slung on
my back. At night she reposed in my
sleeping bag, nose-to-tail in a ring of
the proportions of a doughnut, and lay
between my knees and chest as I was
curled up in the army blankets. Some-
times, waking, I feared I had crushed
her in turning while asleep. Then I
would pick her up to see how she was.
Always I had to manipulate her limp
body for some seconds before I could
find a sign of life. Such a sleeper!
She never went to sleep in the open,
apparently for good reason.
We found that one of Cholita's
habits, perfectly harmless in the up-
lands, was very inconvenient in the
montana. She always dragged some
portion of her meat into her sock with
her in order to keep it for further feast-
ing. Here in the tropics the ants soon
found it and we were obliged always to
remove all traces of meat when she was
through eating. It was funny to see
her attack food that was covered with
ants. She would make a grab, shake
the meat and drop it in a clean place,
then shake it again till it was free.
When the ants bit her hind feet, she
stamped the floor rabbit-wise with both
feet repeatedly.
Cholita did not defend her food
from us. Neither did she thank us for
it. She beheld it, grabbed it, almost
saying, "That's mine," and ate raven-
ously. If we took it away, she made no
threat. One day, however, I had a
surprise. Her cord, as usual, was
pinned to my blouse — I wore her much
as one does a watch. In my left hand
I held a tiny opossum; on my right,
at the end of her leash, was Cholita,
straining to reach her game. But this
was not to be her game, and I took the
opossum away. However, her mechan-
ism of attack had been sprung, and she
assailed blindly, not the opossum, but
me. Her tiny mouth grabbed fully a
chunk of skin on my wrist and then she
started to kill that wrist. From side to
side she wrenched her head and should-
ers violently and with force incredible
for a thing so small. For several
seconds this continued till she came to
her senses, let go, and "was friends"
again. Her short teeth almost went
through the skin, and points of blood
appeared. I believed she had suffered
a brain storm and did not punish her.
On another occasion, however, I
tried to see if she could be trained at all.
I wanted to have her with me, and was
at work stuffing mouse skins. On the
table lay a tiny skin well rubbed with
arsenic and rolled tight. This she
seized. I took it away and gently
snapped her nose. She grabbed it two
or three times more, each time receiv-
ing a snap, and once she threatened
mildly by opening her mouth as a cat
does. Then she let the skin alone and
I had no more trouble.
We were always afraid diminutive
Cholita might meet her end by some
animal's attack, or by being stepped on.
But we should have looked out for
smaller enemies. The wet montana
was not her country, for she was a
child of the desert. She abandoned her
sock one day for a tunnel at the base of
a stump. "How nice!" I thought,
"Just the way weasels like to five."
And I let her enter her hole and stay
there for a time. The next day came a
mad voyage down turbulent rapids in a
ponderous dugout. Time and again
we shipped water. My blouse was
soaked; Cholita, inside my clothing,
was none too dry. The following
morning my husband saw her lying
482
NATURAL HISTORY
on the earth outside of her sock and
began a loud lament. She was unable
to move and he thought she had been
stepped on. I felt the little body
but nothing was crushed. She was
breathing very fast. Pneumonia! I
put her in my blouse and in five minutes
she was dead. Two very sad people
worked silently and tearfully at the
skinning that daj'.
EUGUPI^
One of the first obstacles the travel-
ing naturalist must overcome is that of
vocabulary. Each valley has some
animal names different from those of
the next and each has some creatures
distinct from those in the last. The
people one encounters know some of
the animals by sight and some by
description. Occasionally these de-
scriptions are very weird, for one may
hear of a beast combining many of the
attributes of a bush-running rodent and
a tree-climbing carnivore. The natural-
ist must inquire constantly, weigh
hearsay evidence carefully, and hunt
for material evidence unceasingly.
Late in the afternoon of a perfect day
of wandering we arrived at San An-
tonio, one of a string of coca haciendas
owned by Don Agusto Durancl. With
the gentlemen of the hacienda we had a
spirited conversation concerning the
animal population of the vaUey. Sud-
denly the administrador of the hacienda
turned to his companion, saying, "Shall
we show them the anunal?" And he
sent for it.
It was a beast such as I had never
dreamed of. About ten inches long,
disproportionately wide and corpulent,
with a massive rodent head, a curious
chopped-off chunky tail, gray extremi-
ties, and a blackish-brown coat longi-
iThe word is spelled "ruoupi" by the Peruvians, but
the "o" is slightly voiced, and the spelling "rugupi"
better expresses their pronunciation.
tudinally striped with tan spots. Its
manner attracted more attention than
its shape. It was angry, and made
a noise of great protest, more like
that of a fox squirrel scolding a cat
than anything else. It was set before
us by the cook, a plump Indian girl.
It objected to being introduced, fled to
the skirts of the cook, and when I
tried to pet it, charged my feet abruptly.
"That is called 'rugupi,'" said the
administrador.
"That is called by the cientificos
' Di7iomys,'^' ssiid my husband.
A month later we were the fortunate
possessors of Rugupi. The kind ad-
ministrador presented her to us in the
interest of science and of friendship. I
carried her up the mountain to our
camp on horseback in a gunny sack, to
which she objected and in which she
fought. She was hot and winded and I
put her in a dark corner and wet her
head. Later she scolded me furiously
when I approached her but, when I sat
quietly without touching her, she fell
instantly asleep.
Rugupi was a great prize and we
guarded her carefully. First on the
list of mammals desired by the museum
was the Dinomys. For nigh fifty years
the unique family of rodents to which
it belongs was known by one soHtary
skin in the museum at Warsaw. Then
there appeared at the Zoological Gar-
dens in Para two strange creatures that
were greeted with great interest by
the director. Doctor Goeldi. Frantical-
ly he searched his texts. "At last,"
he wrote, "I reahzed that I had
before me the ahnost mythical Dino-
mys hranicki." When an animal that
until recently was "almost mythical"
comes to eat with you, sleep with you,
and travel with you, you start walking
on air right away. I passed Cholita to
my husband's cot, Rugupi slept on
PERUVIAN PETS
483
mine. We observed her every movement
and spoiled her as one spoils only that
which is given him by divine favor.
We became obsessed with our research
into the habits of rugupis in general
and of our Rugupi in particular.
Rugupis are dwellers in chffs of the
wet forest country. They are Andean
only, and cross to the western slope of
the Cordillera solely in Ecuador, where
ponderous body and always sought to
remain on the firm earth.
Rugupis live in caves and rock piles,
and want walls behind them. Once we
camped by a cliff with caves in it and
Rugupi deserted my couch for a cavity
into which she fitted better than a
snail fits its shell. She always loved the
seclusion of a cupboard and if she ever
saw one open, she observed which way
Photographed and copyriijlited by Edmi^nd Heller
Rugupi had a firm attachment for the cook, a plump Indian girl
the forests cover the western declivities.
They can exist only in steep places, for
to escape their enemies they must rely
on their single acrobatic feat, which is
to balance themselves cautiously where
others cannot climb. Even when well
grown, Rugupi's fastest pace was
slower than our walk. Usually one
could observe that whenever Rugupi
placed a foot, she felt of the ground
first before bringing her weight to bear.
It irritated her terribly to be lifted or
carried. She had little control over her
its door swung and later gnawed the
outside of the cupboard doors by the
latch in order to open them, and did not
gnaw near the hinges. In many other
ways she showed a iliarvelous memory
for location.
When we met Rugupi, she had a
firm attachment for the cook which she
was later able to transfer to me. She
slept all day, but hghtly. Although we
left her apparently dormant in a re-
mote corner, she soon started to gnaw
the inside of the door once we were
484
NATURAL HISTORY
■ T>»kga>""*o '""^ --*»*■- v '<jp""""w "«'"™*'
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H. Heller
Mr. Heller and Rugupi
outside. When I wished to extract her
from her snail-shell cave, I sent the
others away and remained silent near
the opening. In three minutes she was
out, calling, "Oop? oop?" Her fear
of being alone was always apparent;
she followed us in our walks, often at a
rate unsuited to her short legs and
shorter wind. She also loved smaller
animals and was exceedingly gentle
with them, which she was not with us.
Because they cannot run, the rugupis
are intensely cantankerous and bel-
ligerent. Their signal of defiance is a
loud sudden blast of air through the
nose, sounding exactly like that of a
bear. They wheel and charge on very
slight provocation, but try to keep a
wall at their backs. Rugupi 's milder
slashes, made in pettish moments, were
like knife cuts and produced many
scars, for her teeth were as sharp as
broken glass. Once, in the night, I felt
the full force of her angry bite. We
were in a colder country than hers, and
I wished to cover her when she crawled
from her usual station at my feet up
beside me. She did not understand
and bit my thigh with all her power.
She was then less than half grown.
Luckily there were two blankets to
protect me and the teeth did not cut
through them. The pain was intense
and the black and blue spot that fol-
lowed was very long-lived.
Another local name for rugupis is
carron, and yet another is machetero.
The latter refers to theii habit of clearing
their trails of branches ; they trim away
all the twigs and their trails may thus
be distinguished from those of pacas.
With us Rugupi had no trails to clear.
So her cutting energy was diverted to
whatever else she could reach. There
was not a piece of furniture or harness,
a boot or camera case or reachable
trinket that did not show nicks or
slashes or holes. Even the mud walls
of our room suffered.
At table, if we gave her a plate with
various vegetables, fruit, bread, and
meat, she always ate the meat first,
and was impartially devoted to the
Photographed and ropyn'f/fded hy Ed
Mrs. Heller and Rugupi, whose glossy-
second coat is appearing
PERUVIAN PETS
485
other foods. I shall not venture to
state how much she ate, as no one
would believe me. In camp she wan-
dered at will and preferred shrubs and
the roots that she dug to grass. In the
evening after a long day of travel she
would go out in the brush and feed.
At intervals of about three seconds she
uttered a cozy little musical call that
may be transcribed, "Oop?" and if we
called to her, she invariably answered,
" Oop . " When we retired and the light
was out, she promptly re-entered the
tent and, if we slept on the ground,
took her station for the night in a
sitting posture between our heads, or,
if I were on a cot, she slept under my
head.
Most remarkable was her use of her
tail, feet, and hands. She was almost
as much of a tripod as is a dinosaur or a
kangaroo. The tail was an indispen-
sable part of her sitting equipment. I
make no claim that it was prehensile,
but she used it often in negotiating
difficult places around rocks and would
push with it, and to some extent bal-
ance with it, and even hook it on to
rock edges for an instant. We found it
exceedingly useful as a handle, and
often remarked that Rugupi probably
wished she were a paca. She was super-
plantigrade. Her hind feet were like
rockers, she did not place the whole
foot on the ground at once when walk-
ing, but used the front two-thirds of it.
But if she stood on her hind legs and
tail to reach, the higher she stretched,
the higher her toes went into the air.
All food except the veriest liquids she
took into her hands. She made an
awful mess of soup which she regarded
as a solid. She usually picked up food
in her mouth and then seized it with
one hand if it were small, or sat up and
grasped it in both hands if it were
large. She was thumbless, but what
would have been the ball of her thumb
if there had been a thumb served very
well instead.
I carried Rugupi five days on my
back over the most difficult trails
imaginable to Tingo Maria, and four
days on the return journey over the
same trail, and then on muleback to
Ambo. When we started on the next
expedition to the far-off Amazon, she
was too big for me and we hired a man,
then a horse, and later another man to
bear her, and she was somewhat ex-
pensive as the journey was long. But
she was worth it, and anyway we loved
her and do yet. She is now in Lincoln
Park Zoo in Chicago; her coat is sleek
gray and black with white spots; she
sleeps all clay; and, sad to say, has no
furniture or leather goods, toothbrushes
or pencils to investigate at night.
TIMMIE
Timmie was a zorro de las alturas.
Zorro means fox, and Timmie was much
like a fox in appearance. His closest
relatives, however, are the wolves, not
the foxes, though his scientific name is
not Cams but Pseudalopex. We called
him a wolf.
Timmie came to us in the arms of the
sturdy son of our former arriero, or
muleteer, Mais. The home of Mais was
high on the mountain above Ambo,
perhaps at 11,000 feet. The family of
Mais had had Timmie for two weeks
and the animal was well-nigh starved.
Timmie 's twin sister had died from
lack of food. In addition to being
famished, Timmie was covered with
fleas and very dirty. I filled a large
photograph tray with water, put on a
rubber apron, sat down in a good light
with Timmie and a box of pyrethrum
powder, and did murder on innumer-
able fleas. Then I went to the sole
practitioner of medicine in the village,
486
NATURAL HISTORY
a Japanese, and bought santonin of
him, which I administered. After he
had been a few days on a diet of milk
and fresh birds there was a marvelous
change in Timmie. From a shadowy
bedraggled wisp of life he became a
Photographed and copyrighted by Edmund Heller
The son ot our arriero brought us a
starved wisp of life which he called a zorro
dainty brisk little wild thing that played
about the room whenever he thought
he was unobserved.
The keynote of Timmie's character
was fear. His name Timmie was
derived from timido, not Timoteo. He
was an adept at hiding, and to win his
confidence was a labor that I did not
understand as well as my husband did.
I was, for one thing, too interested in
keeping Timmie clean. He did not
want to be clean, he had not the remot-
est aspirations that way, and to clean
him I had to handle him and comb him,
and he did not want to be handled.
Moreover, I made the mistake of
supposing that he could be mildly
chastised for biting, and early set
about training him not to bite. It
didn't work. Timmie was not a dog.
His sole reaction to my caresses was to
bite me; and to my slaps, to hate me.
My husband started to handle him
with gloves when he was ridiculously
small. I laughed at him but he was
right. Timmie bit him frequently,
both in play and in fear, but as they
grew better acquainted, there was more
play and less fear: later Timmie grew
to love and trust my husband and be-
came a veritable one-man dog to him,
but my husband never abandoned the
gloves.
Only when we first had him, did
Timmie utter any kind of call: a
high-pitched clear succession of de-
scending notes, only a few, that stirred
the heart with memories of Wyoming
hills. It resembled the opening notes
of a coyote's call, but was high and
faint.
When Timmie was first brought into
the room, Rugupi beheld him from a
considerable distance. "Woooo,
woooo, woooo," she called, low and
affectionately. We placed him before
her and she buried her teeth in his
wool caressingly. From that moment
she appropriated him. She deserted
my couch and slept with Timmie. She
was infinitely patient with him and his
nips at her heels spurred her on into
playful lumbering gallops about the
room. Rugupi was not built for
gallops; invariably they ended in her
colliding with some obstacle. Rugupi
always defended her food from us.
One morning at breakfast she was
presented with a piece of bread, the
first bite she had had since the day
before. She rose on her hind legs,
deliberately adjusted her balanced
PERUVIAN PETS
487
sitting posture, and bit into the bread.
Timmie darted alongside, grabbed her
breakfast, and made off with it. She
accepted this as demurely as though it
had been a favor.
Later we acquired another small
wolf, that lived with Timmie. We
journeyed to Huanuco to find transport
for our next expedition. We lived in a
windowless room that had not even a
pane in the door. It was on the ground
floor of the patio where everyone passed.
We called it our cueva de moscas, or
fly cave. Oh, the misery of that room !
The two little wolves were, mildly
speaking, dirty nuisances. The dainty
opossums, immaculate Cholita, prudent
clean Rugupi, — it was only a pleasure
to live with them. We kept a trunk
before the door to keep the wolves in.
Their scissor-like teeth tore holes in
my beautiful new highland wool blan-
kets. They mauled each other all night .
I would put Rugupi on my bed to save
her from their too boisterous play, but
she would walk the edge of the bed
awhile and then jump down. One
night Timmie killed the other wolf.
He meant well, but didn't express him-
self tactfully enough. The next morn-
ing he disappeared, possibly in search
of his missing companion. My hus-
band walked the courts disconsolately
seeking his beloved pet. I must tell no
one he was lost, as zorros are very
famous chicken thieves, and the place
swarmed with chickens. In the after-
noon my husband fell asleep. When he
awoke, Timmie was beside him.
There was a boy from Llata that
served our meals. One night he said,
" That zorro will be very useful to you."
That Timmie could ever be of any
use had not occurred to my most active
imagination. "How?" I asked.
''When you travel, he will bring you
chickens," he answered. "We raise
Photographed and copyrighted by Edmund Heller
Rugupi appropriated Timmie for her own
Photographed and copyrighted by Edmund Heller
Timmie, the Pseudalopex, in his woolly
infancy
Phutoiiniplied and copyrighted by H. H. Heller
Timmie was long in losing his bluish
wool and changing to a reddish wolfling
NATURAL HISTORY
them for that. "WTien j^ou travel, you
let the zorro free at night, and in the
morning there will be a row of chickens
by yom- bed, six, eight, ten."
"But how about j^our own chickens,
at your village where you raise zorrosf"
"Oh, one must have a permit from
the sub-prefect," he answered, "And
the schoolhouse opposite. My hus-
band's ingenuity was taxed to the
utmost to devise ways to keep him tied.
His scissor-like teeth cut every rope,
his lunges broke every available chain.
He was a watchdog of the first order,
growling and snarling at all passers-by.
But to my husband he would come
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H . Heller
Timmie grew to be a fine little one-man dog to Mr. Heller
swear never to let them go free there.
But when one travels, that is different."
Oh, Peru, Peru, Peru!
In Pozuzo it was warm and Timmie
grew fast and lost his downy gray wool
and became a reddish-yeUow, coyote-
like beast. I loved Timmie, but he was
such a trial! I banished him from our
Hving quarters and he was tied near
trotting to be petted. If he got loose,
he hid till my husband called him, and
did not molest any chickens.
We traveled six days afoot to the
Palcazu, Timmie in a box tied above
that of Rugupi, and later reached the
Pachitea. We had no cage for Timmie
and he was tied in a launch towed on
the right side, of the mail launch, while
PERUVIAN PETS
489
we were in a barge on the left. One
night as I slept a live mass of wriggling
small wolf jumped on my ribs, then on
my husband's ribs, and then on our
boy's ribs, — leap, leap, leap from bed
to bed. "Timmie's loose, tie him up," I
woke my husband. But the knots he
made were useless. Timmie cut them,
and in the morning was gone, into the
mighty Ucayali probably, and we were
sad again.
"There is an animal here, let us see
if the Sefiora knows what it is." Ques-
tions were useless; he only repeated,
''See if you know what it is," and led
us to a mud hut. There on the floor
was a small black animal, running free
but with a string tied to his neck and,
as he ran, he muttered, "Up-bup-bup,
bup-bup-bup, bup-bup-bup."
SENOR HUAMASHU
When Chohta died, we missed her
very much. On the trail from Tingo
Maria as we stopped to rest and take
Rugupi from her bag to let her walk
about, my husband would say, ''When
we rested here before, I had Cholita,
and let her run around on that log."
We wanted another weasel if we could
find one.
In the valley of the Chinchao we
bought a couple of skins and skulls of a
giant relative of Cholita's, black, with a
gray-brown head, short legs, and a long
tail. This animal was called by the na-
tives huamatdru or huamdshu. The two
names were usually given, both in the
valley of the Chinchao and that of the
Pozuzo. From the skins and meager
textbook descriptions we made out that
this animal must be thetayra, or Galictis.
There was a fascination about the
black musteline skins from the Chin-
chao, and gradually my wish for
another weasel transformed itself into
a still stronger desire for a tayra. What
would one be like: would it be gentle
and playful like Cholita, and might we
be friends with it?
We started on our second expedition
for the montana and one day reached a
high valley of the puna, at 10,000 feet,
and stopped at the pastoral village of
ChagUa. There we were met by our
contractor of arrieros, Dpn Antonio.
Photographed and copyrighted by Edmund Heller
Rugupi and Timmie were carried by a
coca-soaked cargador on the journey to Pozuzo
Delight filled my heart. Did I
know? "A huamdshu! A huamdshu!'^
I seized him and showered him with
caresses. I kept him with me and made
too great display of my joy. Nisefero,
his owner, lent him to me for two
days and then asked three pounds
as his price. I beat him down to one
and a half pounds, and paid for my
treasure.
"Mejor pagar primer o, carinar des-
pues," (Better pay first, show your
affection afterwards) was the pat re-
mark of Don Antonio.
490
NATURAL HISTORY
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H. Heller
WHAT NEXT?
There is no happier-natured creature than a tayra unless it be a baby taj^ra
I passed Rugupi to my husband's
care and took the baby creature for my
own. The Uttle tayra's home had been
in the high forests over the great divide
that lay before us at an altitude of
about 8000 feet. Nisefero's brother
had shot the mother, and on her back, a
little before the tail, found a tiny baby,
blind and helpless except for the fact
that it was able to chng tightly to the
mother's hair. The man was bound
for the highlands, a long journey, but
he kept the baby warm and, when he
arrived in ChagUa, it was still alive.
Nisefero had a large bitch with
puppies; he killed the latter and gave
the mother the tiny black stranger, who,
blind though he was, had not the
slightest doubt as to what course to
pursue. When we arrived, he had
just been weaned because his teeth
were injuring his foster mother, and
he was on a diet of crackers and coffee.
Soon we learned what an appetite, a
hearty genuine appetite for food, was
like. Never did a creature defend his
property so savagely and blindly from
all comers as did little Huamashu. A
dish of crackers was set down; he
pounced on it and began gobbling
furiously but, as he gobbled, there was
a constant accompaniment of coughlike
sputtering sounds — one could hardly
call them growls — and if a hand
approached him, it was immediately
seized and bitten with a tenacious
mangling bite.
At other times our new pet was the
most amiable, jolly, affectionate, and
lovable creature it has ever been our
pleasure to know. He would not be a
musteline if he were not playful, and he
PERUVIAN PETS
491
played all the time that he was not
engaged in sleeping. Like Cholita,
he slept very soundly, and it took
seconds to wake him, but unlike her he
slept curled up in the open and only
sought cover for warmth. His play
consisted in climbing wherever he could
climb to ; he was able to proceed sloth-
wise upside down as well as right side
up, and to do so much faster than a
sloth. A hand he always seized in all
four feet and mouthed, closing his
teeth on it, biting it and shaking it,
always gently. Toys were a great de-
light to him, and once, when he had
embraced a roll of paper and was claw-
ing and biting it, I started to remove his
plaything and that strange frenzy of
defense of property took possession of
him; he gave my thumb a terrible
punishing.
The mustelids, which include the
weasel, mink, fisher, martin, skunk,
wolverine, and otter, respond to the
presence of a possible victim by a blind
furious attack, during which they are
electrified by an all-compelling power,
and perform unbelievable muscular
feats. So strong is this instinct that
it often lures them to their own destruc-
tion. They frequently attack creatures
larger than themselves and can endure
a terrific amount of battering. It was
impossible for us to punish Huamashu.
Any slaps we felt cruel enough to in-
flict were taken cheerfully as part of
the game and had no disciplinary effect
whatever. One night Huamashu was
tied to a balcony on the third floor of
the high-ceilinged hotel in Iquitos. A
thunderstorm frightened him and he
leaped. His head sUpped the collar
and he fell to the ground. The next
day I found him in a shop more than
half way around the block (he would
not cross streets) and his only hurt
gave him a slight limp.
Although many of his relatives are
strictly carnivorous, our new friend
was anything but that. The tayras are
known as chicken thieves, but are also
famous fruit eaters. Along with their
omnivorous habit goes a marked social
one ; there is food available for families
traveling together. An elderly woman
of Pozuzo told me that in her youth she
had seen twenty-five huamdshus in one
Annona tree, eating annonas. Prob-
ably like the weasels they are great
wanderers — the fact that a blind baby
rides in his mother's fur would indicate
such a habit. Huamashu ate any
fruit, cooked vegetable, bread, or rice.
He defended a banana with more
courage than a piece of meat, but
freshly killed game with more ferocity
than a banana.
Tayras have comparatively narrow
skulls and broad heads. A gigantic
masseter muscle curves over the skull;
in the adult the middle of the top of the
head shows a deep depression between
the masseters. I often wondered what
the killing bite of a grown tayra would
be like when I remembered Huamashu's
formidable baby efforts, made with un-
developed muscles and milk teeth. The
jaw is very short and broad, the
muzzle does not resemble at all that
of a weasel or fisher. When a tayra
bites your finger, the feeling of great
power is behind the grip. He nervously
shifts the bite frequently, but in such
short time intervals and for such short
distances that, even though you hold
him in one hand and pull on your
tortured finger with the other, it is
some time before you can free it. The
tayra is the bull dog of the mustelids.
The neck is powerful, almost as
large as the head, and built for shaking
heavy prey. The shoulders and fore-
arms are well muscled; heavy muscles
reach to the wrist. I never saw Hua-
492
NATURAL HISTORY
mashu dig or grub in the earth hke a
coati, but frequently that which could
not be reached with the jaws could be
touched with the claws, what could
be touched with the claws could be
hooked closer and grasped with the
hands, and brought to the mouth.
Huamashu was always reaching for,
Photographed and copyrighted by H. H. Heller
Looking out and below. — ^At the time this
picture was taken Huamashu's tail had
already become an effective balancing organ
grasping, and holding things; he also
explored cracks with the claws of his
middle digit. I shall never forget
what happened to a georgette crepe
dress that one night in the dark floated
within his reach.
Some of the tayra's morphological
adaptations are exceedingly puzzling.
In eastern Brazil and the Guianas the
tayras are quite different from our
Huamashu. Their tails are much
shorter and not so heavily haired;
their country is frequently inundated,
while Huamashu's is not, — he came
from the mountain-sides. A long bushy
tail is an excellent balancing organ
but an impediment in the water. When
I told a zoologist that Huamashu was
not particularly aquatic, that he had
learned to run through puddles but
refused to enter deep water, the gentle-
man was surprised, saying that the
animal's feet are webbed. The feet
are not webbed like those of an otter
or a duck, but the broad fiat fore paws
are somewhat loosely built and the toes
are connected by skin to a more distal
joint than are those of dogs and cats.
Perhaps we may conclude that our
Huamashu belongs to a species derived
from one of mixed aquatic and climb-
ing habit — a habit almost necessary to
a hunter in the Amazonian country —
and that his branch of the tayra family
has become more strictly one of tree
dwellers. I have no doubt his broad
paddles would have served him very
well in the water.
He was entirely plantigrade in front,
and the whole front sole was covered
with a pad clear to the wrist, whereas
the hind foot was padded only half
way, and he trod only on the padded
portion.
Huamashu's tail was not prehensile
but he could push strongly with it,
exerting force along at least half its
length. When he was frightened, which
was whenever he saw a horse or cow or
automobile, his tail hair stood on end
like that of a cat, giving the member a
tremendous size, but he did not elevate
the tail as a cat does hers.
When he was not excited, especially
in his youth, Huamashu's attitude
toward other animals was exactly what
it was toward us, friendly and plajrful.
Rugupi and he were great chums and
he played with such dogs as were
PERUVIAN PETS
493
willing to play with him, and with our
ocelot, Tammany. His play was, how-
ever, always a little too rough and
persistent for the other fellow. He and
the pet coati, Nita, played joj^uUy
together, but Nita must be free and
Huamashu tied, otherwise it was not
safe for Nita. So long as another
animal showed no fear or fluster he had
no inclination to attack it but, if it
tried to elude him, he grasped it in play
and, if it struggled, he then became
excited and was transformed suddenly
into a magnificent killing engine. Thus
a small or defenseless animal had no
chance with him. Nearly every time
he got loose he killed something. The
bill that we had to pay for pet parrots
and monkeys amounted to quite a
sum. He was never permitted to eat
any of them, though to separate him
from his prey the protection of a pair of
jaguar-skin gloves was needed.
When Huamashu was three months
old and about nine inches long, not
counting his tail, we took a six-day
journey on foot through the drenching
forests over a trail criss-crossed by
fallen logs. Most of the way he
walked, following a porter and pulhng
me by a string. His endurance was
astounding, his vitality magnificent. I
taught him to climb the logs instead of
going beneath them by lifting him a bit
on the string but, when he got on top,
he recognized the log as his natural
highroad and usually started to run
along it. After a few miles in the rain
and puddles he consented to go to sleep
in a sack on my back for an hour.
In Para Mr. Fisher made a cinemato-
graph of him and some of the other
animals for Mr. Newman, the lecturer,
and in Chicago Mr. C. T. Chapman
photographed his playful antics for
the Pathe Company, who exhibited the
film in their weekly news. Huamashu
Uved for ten months in the Lincoln
Park Zoo in Chicago and never lost^his
affection and gentleness toward his
friends, though I confess one had to be
rather hardy to call his play gentle.
The Field Museum is about tolmount
him for exhibition purposes, and I hope
his expression of bright interest and
friendly playfulness will there greet all
lovers of vital, hearty, affectionate wild
animals.
Photographed and copyriglited by H. H. Heller
There never was a better companion than little Huamashu
Hunting Stingless Bees
WHERE EAST SEEMS TO BE WEST^
By frank E. LUTZ
Curator of Entomology, American Museum
ONE of the numerous advantages
of the study of insects is that
interesting and important ma-
terial is near at hand wherever we may
be — on land, at least. When hundreds
of difTerent species in our own back
yards are living as yet unrecorded lives,
probably full of curious ways that pos-
sibly man may never quite understand,
journeys to distant lands are not
essential to success. Fabre, the most
widely known of all entomologists,
showed what a stay-at-home can do;
his work illustrates also how narrow
such an one may become and how desir-
able it is to see beyond the confines
of Serignan.
At any rate, a museum man does not
always have a choice in this matter. It
was my task to get the nests and young
of several species of stingless honey-
bees, as well as notes on their habits'.
Such tropical creatures as Trigona are
not to be expected in New Jersey even
though I did once catch in the north-
ern part of that state an equally tropical
bee, a magnificent Euglossa, feeding at
my petunias. Such being the case, I
started for Panama. We called at ten
Haitian ports on the way, and the
cordiality of the people at these ports
and the attractiveness of the country
would under different circumstances
have strongly tempted me to cancel
the rest of the trip; but, while Haiti
is noted for many things, I could not
persuade myself that the particular
kinds of stingless honeybees I had set
out to get were to be found even there.
In due course of time, I reached the
hotel at Ancon and, putting my little
'Photographs
"Sunday net" in my pocket — it being
really Sunday — started to explore.
Interesting insects are to be found even
in cities. It is just as I said in my
opening sentence and here is a proof of
it. Not a hundred yards from the
Tivoli I saw a stingless bee — a red-
bellied Trigona — fly up from the edge
of the cement pavement; then another
and a third.
As a matter of fact these bees had a
nest under the pavement, and the sur-
prising thing about its location was
that the species concerned was sup-
posed to nest in hollow trees. I wanted
not only specimens but a close look at
the entrance to the nest. Thirty-odd
years of collecting insects has some-
what hardened me to the gaze of pas-
sers-by, but this was my first day in the
country and it was Sunday and the
streets were rather crowded and, what
is more, it really is not quite the thing
for a dignified, bearded American to be
seen on his hands and knees on the pave-
ment that close to the boundary be-
tween Ancon and Panama city. People
might not understand.
Fortunately, there was a low iron
rail along the edge of the walk, so I
sat on the rail as though I were resting
or waiting for some one. It is all right
to do that. And if one drops some-
thing in the grass, it is all right to
stoop over to hunt for it. Watching my
chances, I was frequently able to take
my net out of my pocket, catch a bee,
and put the net back again without
attracting much attention. Once or
twice I even had a chance to blow
tobacco smoke down the hole in order
by the author
495
496
NATURAL HISTORY
Where the ocean hners now cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific, there was formerly a
barrier of jungle. A dwindling, denuded remnant of this forest still shows above the surface of
the water. Note the bird perched on one of the forking branches of the most conspicuous tree,
undisturbed by the approaching steamer
to make the bees come out in greater
numbers.
' * The next day I suggested to Acting
Governor Walker that it would be nice
to have the cement pavement taken up
On the left is Mr. James Zetek, to whom the
expedition of the American Museum to Barro
Colorado is indebted for counsel and other aid
in carrying out its plans. Mr. John EngHsh,
on the right, also gave valued assistance
SO that I might get the nest. Although
he had already granted me many
favors, his only reply to this suggestion
was a cordial hope that I might find a
nest of the same species in some less
expensive place. This seemed reason-
able and, with the kind help of Mr.
James Zetek, I made arrangements to
go to Barro Colorado.
Before the Canal, including Gatun
Lake, was constructed, Barro Colorado
was a high hill. Flooding the surround-
ing country made it an island, the
largest in the Canal. Recently the
government has set it aside as a
biological reservation, and steps have
been taken to establish there a station
for students of tropical animals and
plants. The nearest point on the rail-
road is Frijoles, the location of a
plantation in charge of Mr. John
English.
Mr. English came to Panama from
Jamaica to work with the French on
their canal and, except for short inter-
vals, has been in Panama ever since.
His skin is black but, like many of his
HUNTING STINGLESS BEES
497
Unrelaxing attention to problems of sanitation, epitomized in the cam-
paign against the mosquito, made possible the building of the Canal. Today
the construction of ditches for the purpose of drainage and in the interests of
disease-prevention still goes vigorously on under the direction of Mr. J. B.
Shropshire, Sanitary Inspector of the Army; and others
[■ace, he is "white" in his deahngs;
kind, efficient, interested in nature,
and eager to help. It was through him
that I bought a cayuca, or native
dug-out canoe, and hired Murillo.
Murillo was also black and kind, but
not much else.
The cayuca having been loaded
with our camping outfit and other
duffel, Murillo and I started for the
island late one afternoon. However,
when we reached the more open water
of Frijoles Bay, we found that a wind
was ruffling the surface of the Canal to
498
NATURAL HISTORY
Murillo paddling a native cayuca near the scene of his initiation into the trials and tribu-
lations of an assistant in scientific collecting
such an extent that riding in an over-
loaded cayuca was exciting. Murillo
assured me that he was not afraid for
himself but that he did not want any-
thing to happen to me. Neither did I,
so we went back to Frijoles and I
stayed with Mr. English until the next
morning.
On our second attempt we reached
the island after about two hours of
pleasant paddHng in the early Hght of
the sun, rising in the east, to be sure,
but out of the Pacific, this confusing
phenomenon being due to the twisted
position of the isthmus. Mr. Shannon
of Washington had been working on the
island earlier in the season and had
built a small shack at the head of an
inlet, which we named Shannon's Cove.
The shore of the island, being the old
mountain-side, is steep. "Barro"
means clay in the dry season and
sHppery mud in the wet, the season in
which we were there; and, although
Mr. Shannon had been gone but a
short time, the trail to his shack was
already partly overgrown. However,
we made a landing after unintentionally
disturbing an alligator or one of its
near relatives, and Murillo started to
clear the trail. He had gone only a few
yards when he yelled "Pica! picaf"
and came back running, jumping, and
sliding. He had cut into a bush con-
taining a wasp's nest, and pica means
sting or something of the sort. I was
having a little pica of my own because
I had carelessly caught hold of a
prickly stem to keep from sHpping, so
he received scant sympathy and a
request to leave the wasps' nest alone
until I had time to collect it. This was
a new angle to him, for he had never
before been out with an entomologist.
The shack had a floor and a roof.
The three open sides were screened
with copper mosquito netting except
for the doorway, and there was no door
in the way, so that, on the whole, the
enclosure made a rather good trap for
SHANNON'S COVE
This inlet Doctor Lutz named Shannon's
Cove in honor of Mr. Shannon of Wash-
ington, who earlier in the year had con-
structed a shack at its head. The view-
shown on the left is that on which the eye
rested as one looked out from the shack.
The picture gives a good idea of the sculp-
tured coast of the island with its many
indentations.
Before the construction of the Canal,
Barro Colorado was a hilltop, and although
water today covers its base and reaches
far up on its side, its mountainous char-
acter is still traceable in the steepness of
the banks up which the traveler scrambles
— often painfully, for the support at which
he grasps to steady himself may easily
prove to be a prickly growth
THE CAMP IN THE COVE
The unoccupied shack of Mr. Shannon,
discernible in the center of the picture on
the right, simplified the housing problem
of the expedition, affording a roof overhead,
even if a leaky one, and plenty of fresh air,
which, along with sundry other things,
found free admission through the doorless
entrance. Indeed, due to the fact that the
shack was screened on three sides, it
proved an excellent insect trap, being
visited even by the stingless honeybees
which the expedition wanted particularly
to study.
The incisions made in the jungle by
trail-cutting are quickly healed, and in time
not even a scar remains, abundant verdure
covering over the area laid bare by the
machete. The trail to Mr. Shannon's
shack, which had been only recently cut,
was partly overgrown at the time of Doctor
Lutz's visit
499
500
NATURAL HISTORY
The thorny protuberances with which the
trunk of this tree is armed are suggestive of
the spikes of ancient armor, and it is easy to
yield to the temptation of thinking that their
function is protective. The bulbous formation
near the base is a termites' nest. The struc-
tures made by these insects are now and then
occupied by stingless honeybees — sometimes
as joint tenants with the builders, at other
times as their successors
insects. As the roof leaked, I pitched a
tent inside of the shack and, with an
air mattress to sleep on, was very com-
fortable indeed. There were no mos-
quitoes. When night came, Murillo
was somewhat disturbed by the absence
of a door and he was quite alarmed
when he discovered that I had no gun.
He blocked the doorway with a poncho
and took his machete to bed with him.
The vegetation of Barro Colorado is
jungle of the hilltop type; and a
tropical jungle gives us a feeling which
is difficult to describe. Apparently it is
not possible to describe even the jungle
itself so that those who have not been
in one can understand. It is more than
monotonously varied dense woods
bound together with vines, many of
which become trees. Its essential
features are not moisture-dripping
leaves and gloom. Monkeys may
swing from the branches and brightly
colored birds may make noises that are
as unpleasant as the appearance of the
birds is pleasing, but they are not" the
jungle. • Life's struggle seems, but may
not be, more strenuous there than else-
where, but jungle is more than all of
these. It is jungle, indescribable,
fascinating, and, to the biologist, an
environment of extreme interest.
However, travelers in the tropics
have been so impressed by the jungle
and have so impressed their readers
with it that many people think of the
tropics as one vast jungle except where
man has made a clearing which he must
continually defend against the jungle's
return. That is not the case. Savan-
na, grassland, desert, and open swamp
in the tropics are just as truly a part of
the tropics, and each has its interest.
Another mistake is the idea that one
cannot get about in a jungle without
cutting a trail. Usually one can, but a
trail is a great convenience. Making
HUNTING STINGLESS BEES
501
A wall of verdure rising from the water's edge and crowned by the graceful, spread-
ing fronds of a palm
one's way through a jungle is some-
times almost or even quite as bad as
going through a tangle of cat briers or a
swamp thicket in New Jersey, and when
you have a negro whose chief virtue is
his ability to swing a machete success-
fully, it is foolish not to have a trail.
Furthermore, many jungle insects
gather in such open spaces and are
more easily caught there.
Accordingly, I set Murillo to cutting
a trail straight across the island,
JUNGLE CONFLICT
Plants of many kinds are competing for a root hold and are crowding one another in"
an attempt to win a place in the sun
CLIMBING PLANTS OF THE JUNGLE
Climbing plants use tree trunks as their ladders; and lianas, like taut tent ropes,
hang from the upper branches of the lassoed trees
503
504
NATURAL HISTORY
directing his course with a compass.
This trail led us up hill and down gully.
Even when completed, it was not ex-
actly a place for a thoughtless stroll,
especially at that season of the year
when the almost continual rain made
A section of the trail which was cut from
one side of Barro Colorado to the other under
the direction of Doctor Lutz
harro slippery, but it did serve as a good
collecting ground and I swung the net
as Murillo cut. In fact, whenever I
started back for camp, he came too,
assuring me that he was not afraid to
be on the "mountain" alone but that
it was safer when we were together,
especially as we had no gun.
The second evening on the island I
collected the wasps that had so fright-
ened him when we arrived. Apparently
he had been watching me during the
day because, after we had gone to bed
and I was nearly asleep, he asked if he
might speak to me about something.
He recalled that out on the trail I had
held my hand so that a large and "very
bad" black ant crawled on it and then
I had let this terrible creature walk up
my bare arm while! examined it with
mj^ glass. I not only did not die but
did not seem to suffer any pain. Then
I caught hundreds (a gross exaggera-
tion) of wasps and took their nests
without being stung. What he wanted
— and if I gave it to him, he would work
for me without further pay — was some
of the "medicine" I used to keep from
getting hurt. I told him the only
medicine I had was a moderate amount
of "gray matter" and that I could not
spare any, but, as my Spanish was not
much better than his English, he did
not understand. In following days,
when I was not quite so sleepy, I tried
to show him that wild things are not
dangerous if you act properly toward
them, but still he did not understand.
Stingless bees of several species were
common on the island. A certain
kind, a small black one, was very
abundant and very fond of our food-
stuffs, getting into everything from
bacon grease to sugar and condensed
milk. These bees would enter the
shack and then buzz against the wire
netting like flies on a window pane.
This was an opportunity for large ants
like the one that did not hurt me to
pounce upon and eat the bees, thereby
securing a combination of meats and
sweets that must have been very good.
However, though these bees were
HUNTING STINGLESS BEES
505
abundant, they were of the same species
that occurred on the mainland; the
density of the jungle on the island made
it difficult to locate nests; and the
dampness made it necessary to keep all
specimens of insects on a rack over a
slow fire so as to prevent molding.
In Ancon a very convenient, electri-
cally heated drying closet was available
and the cooking at the restaurant was
somewhat better than either Murillo's
or mine; so, after about a week, I re-
turned to Ancon.
Another reason for leaving the
island, was that in our trail-cutting we
had found nothing but jungle. Other
types of environment also were desir-
able. Realizing that our trail covered
only a small part of the ten or twelve
square miles that constituted the is-
land, I thought it would be well to
explore Barro Colorado from the air.
Accordingly, through the great courtesy
of the Army Air Service, Lieutenant
Foster took me up in a plane after I
had signed a lengthy document which
clearly and definitely placed upon me
all blame for any unfortunate thing
that might happen and told survivors
what to do with my remains. The
flight was disappointingly pleasant
and without thrills, but I satisfied
myself that the island's vegetation is
fairly homogenous except for several
small plantations along the edge. It is
a magnificent piece of Panamanian
hill jungle and, in view of the rapid
extension of cultivation in the Zone, it
is most fortunate that such a place
has been set aside for future genera-
tions. The fact that it is now an island
makes preservation particularly easy.
Returning to Frijoles, I heard of a
large nest of some very vicious hornets
on a tree in the plantation. They
turned out to be of a sort that inspires
caution, but I wanted some of them
and, as I could not reach them with
my net without placing myself at a
tactical disadvantage by climbing the
tree. I threw a stick against the nest by
way of inviting them to come down.
They came, directly and numerously.
Swinging my net around my head like
an Indian club I easily got all the wasps
I wanted and, fortunately, did not get
stung. When things quieted down, I
looked around the horizon for Murillo,
but I was mistaken. Instead of trying
to match his speed against that of
justifiably enraged hornets, he had
dropped face-down on the ground. His
dirty clothes were a good match for the
earth, and his head seemed to be a rock
covered with black moss. He was
certainly "protectively colored," but
his immobility was what counted and
he maintained it until repeatedly
To prevent molding in this region of
much rain the insects that had been collected
were placed on a rack and dried over a slow
fire
assured that all was well. I really
think Murillo was relieved when his
term of employment with me ended.
On a tree near the one which con-
tained the hornet's nest there had
1
.^
MAKING THE MOUNTAIN COME TO MAHOMET
Attached to the lower surface of the left limb of the tree (topmost picture) is a large
hornets' nest. It was so situated that an inspection at close quarters would have placed the
collector at a tactical disadvantage, even though the surface appearance of the nest (picture
on lower left) showed no signs of the stinging hordes that inhabited it. Then a stick was
tossed with well directed aim and struck Uke a bombshell on this citadel of the wasps. In-
stantly an enraged host of insects poured out (picture on lower right) and the collector secured
several specimens that flew to attack him
506
HUNTING STINGLESS BEES
507
been two nests of stingless honeybees,
the same small black species which was
so abundant on the island. Some one
had cut off the branch holding one of
the nests but, although the nest was
lying sideways on the ground, the bees
were still using it after having made
certain interesting alterations. These
nests had been made by ants but the
ants had moved out and the bees had
moved in. Curiously enough, the en-
trance which the bees make to the
interior of the nest is on top and
funnel-shaped as though designed to
catch rain, and this seems foolish.
The brood cells are arranged in hori-
zontal layers within. Now, the nest
which had fallen and was lying on its
side had two entrance holes: the old.
one, which was on what had been the
top of the nest, and a new one, which
was on what was subsequently the
top. Furthermore, when the nest was
opened, it was found that the layers
of brood cells were in two planes: one
the old horizontal and the other the
new.
Some stingless bees make use of
termite nests. Beautiful examples of
such use were seen in a swamp jungle
near France Field, which I visited
through the kindness of Mr. J. B.
Shropshire, Sanitary Inspector of the
Army. There the termite nests were
two or three feet in diameter and built
on the trunks of trees not far from the
ground. The termites were still using
most of the structure, but the bees had
made an entrance of their own and
were using the remainder.
Some stingless honeybees are not
very choice in their diet. Raids on our
larder in camp have already been men-
tioned but the garbage cans in Panama
City were also popular and I have
caught such bees on manure and on
dead snakes. As far as I know, all of
these bees obtain most of the material
for making honey from flowers. An
observation made near Sabaiias was
therefore of interest. While waiting
for a car I noticed many Trigona flying
in and out of a brush pile in which grew
a rambling Solanum, a plant related
to our potato and tomato. Thinking
A nest of stingless honeybees. — The nest
covering has been removed on one side to
reveal the arrangement of the combs within
there might be a nest there, I carefully
parted the brush and found not a nest
but the thing that was attracting the
bees. It was a colony of immature
"insect Brownies," small, curiously
shaped creatures belonging to the
family Membracidse, that were feeding
on the Solanum and having their
secretions fed on in turn by the bees.
Some of our ants attend colonies of
plant lice in much the same way.
Just before leaving the Zone I made
508
NATURAL HISTORY
a trip, again through the kindness of
Mr. Shropshire, to old Fort Lorenzo,
with its damp and dismal dungeons
still bearing evidences of the Spanish
tortures, its battlements, and, from
my standpoint not the least interesting,
its bees peacefully nesting in the ruined
masonry. A better than Murillo was
my guide. Mr. Shropshire had told
him I was coming and what I wanted,
so he had located numerous nests. In
taking me to them he saved the best
nest for the last, and the fact that it was
necessary to wade through swamps
with water nearly to our waists in order
to get to it was of little moment be-
cause the rains had soaked us already.
The nest belonged to that red-bellied
species of Trigona which the Acting
Governor had hoped I would find in a
less expensive place than under a pave-
ment in Ancon. Here it was and in a
hollow stump as it should be. Un-
fortunately, my guide, in an excess of
righteous but misguided zeal, had
opened it the day before in order to
make certain that it was worthy of the
attention of one of Mr. Shropshire's
friends. In doing so, he had broken
the large entrance funnel but the pieces
were still there and from the nest itself
I obtained some interesting biological
material. There was also a quantity
of rather acid honey with which we
refreshed ourselves before wading back
to higher ground — and home.
The protruding top of a submerged stump, upon which a number of different plants have
estabhshed themselves, forming a beautiful natural jardiniere. A wasp's nest of elongated
shape is seen near the center of the picture. This nest was collected with the hesitant co-
operation of Murillo, who paddled the unsteady canoe in which the approach was made
♦ V
P a T\ a. Itu a
Into a little-known area of western Panama the expedition of the American Museum
penetrated during February and March of 1924. After gathering valuable data, Mr.
Griscom and his associates were compelled to make a hasty exit due to the hostile attitude
of the Indians. Their route is shown on the map, which was prepared under the super-
vision of Mr. Griscom by \^ . E. Belanske
Bird Hunting Among the Wild Indians
of Western Panama'
By LUDLOW GRISCOM
Assistant Curator, Department of Birds, American Museum
BETWEEN the Volcan de Chiriqui
and the Pico Calovevora in
Veraguas Hes a mountainous
country unexplored and unvisited by
white men, inhabited only by wild
Indians. No knowledge exists regard-
ing its topography. The courses of the
rivers of the interior and their tribu-
taries are pure guesswork, the location
of the higher peaks varies from map to
map as much as twenty miles, and
their altitude as much as 2000 feet!
While the avifauna of the Volcan de
Chiriqui is essentially that of the Costa
Rican highlands, Arce secured sixty
years ago many peculiar types in the
iPhotographs by
mountains of Veraguas, and this has
stimulated curiosity as to what kinds
of birds occur in the intervening un-
explored country.
With Dr. Frank M. Chapman's
cordial cooperation and approval I
left New York February 5, 1924, ac-
companied by three assistants, to make
a preliminary reconnaissance of the
region. Mr. Rudyerd Boulton, of the
University of Pittsburg, an experienced
student, was invaluable not only be-
cause of his scientific knowledge, but
also in his capacity as photographer
of the expedition. Mr. George A. Sea-
man, a young collector of promise, was
Rudyerd Boulton
509
510
NATURAL HISTORY
to remain in Veraguas to make thorough
collections at the localities of special
interest. Mr. J. Manson Valentine, of
Yale University, was a volunteer, who
excelled all of us in his ability to make
an artistic and perfect birdskin. In
Panama I was fortunate in securing
friend, Don Rafael Grajales, the lead-
ing citizen of Remedios, who tele-
graphed most emphatically that the
trip to Cerro Santiago in the unfre-
quented region was possible, that he
could obtain guides, and that his house
and assistance were at my disposal.
The Indian chief in front of his hut at Cerro Iglesia, Mr. Benson on his left, the
author on his right. Huts of this type never have side walls. The rain is kept out effec-
tually by means of a very thick, overhanging thatch of dried banana leaves and stalks.
When the thatch leaks, it is usually due to the tunnels made by rats, a colony of which
can be found in almost every hut
the services of Mr. R. R. Benson, who
had lived for years in Veraguas, and
acted as a most efficient mayor domo.
At Balboa Mr. James Zetek, the gov-
ernment entomologist and director of
the recently created research station at
Barro Colorado Island in Gatun Lake,
was most kind in helping me secure the
necessary permits and other papers
from the Panamanian government.
He happened to have an intimate
It was a great relief to arrive in
Remedios after a hard five days' ride
with the pack train from Santiago . One
of the inconveniences of an ornitho-
logical expedition is the bulk and
weight of the baggage, and poor Ben-
son almost tore his hair in his efforts
to reduce the loads of the few animals
he had been able to find.' Nothing
could have surpassed the hospitality
and cordiality with which we were re-
BIRD HUNTING IN WESTERN PANAMA
511
ceived by Senor Grajales and his kind
lady. But our fond hopes of at last
obtaining definite information about
the mountains of the interior were
doomed to disappointment. Nobody in
Remedies had ever heard of the Cerro
Santiago, and they called the mountain
back of the town the Cerro Flores.
Nor had anybody ever been in the in-
terior, and two years before a couple of
Panamanians who had gone there to
take a census of the Indians had been
killed. Unless the Indians themselves,
therefore, would guide us into their own
country, there was not the remotest
prospect of our reaching the mountains,
much less of making a sojourn there.
It was in this connection that Senor
Grajales was able to be of the great-
est assistance. A certain number
of the Indians had been coming
for years to Remedios to trade and
some among them spoke Spanish.
Senor Grajales, by dint of years of fair
and honest dealings with them, had
won their confidence and respect; they
trusted his word and accepted his
recommendations when they would
follow the counsel of no one else. He
knew the chief of the whole district,
who lived at Cerro Iglesia, a particu-
larly intelligent man, who had been at
Remedios a good deal and spoke Span-
ish fluently. To him he wrote a letter
introducing us, stating the purpose of
our visit, and that we were friends of
the President of Panama. The im-
portant part of the letter, however,
was that we were North Americans
from a distant country, that we were
not looking for gold, that we would
stay in his country not more than thirty
days, and would then leave never to
return again. This will acquaint the
reader with the main objections of the
Indians to strangers. Poor victims of
the white man that they are, we cer-
tainly appreciated their point of view.
For four centuries bitter experience has
done nothing but confirm it. Their
association with strangers has invari-
ably resulted in trouble and disaster.
The craze for gold has led to inrushes
of outsiders, who by some extraordi-
nary hocus-pocus, declare they own the
land which the Indians have considered
theirs from time immemorial. All too
frequently the arrival of strangers in
their midst has been attended by more
flagrant types of outrage and abuse,
and they know that the stores in the
coast town systematically cheat and rob
them, though they are too ignorant to
devise ways to prevent it. May they
long enjoy the quiet possession of their
country in their primitive simplicity,
undisturbed by a civilization which
they cannot assimilate and which would
probably destroy them !
Armed, then, with our letters and
documents, we set out on February 28,
conducted by a friendly alcalde to the
hut of an Indian on the border of the
Indian country. This Indian was to
guide us next morning to his chief. It
was with the greatest difficulty, how-
ever, that he was induced to do so, and
it was obvious that our presence was
strongly resented. The following day
an arduous trail brought us to the Cerro
Iglesia, where we were to have the all-
important interview with the chief. In
spite of the fact that we had cut down
weight by every possible expedient,
and that our provisions were reduced
to little else than rice, beans, coffee,
sugar, and lard, my two mules and five
horses were barely able to make the 70°
grades of the trail, which was a mere
footpath for bare-footed Indians. The
loads were constantly shpping or
tumbling off altogether, the tired ani-
mals were forever falling, and were ex-
hausted at the end of the day.
512
NATURAL HISTORY
View from the chief's hut of the country penetrated by the expedition. — -The Indians
have repeatedly cleared the country for agriculture, but the low invading scrub in the fore-
ground, full of ticks and "jiggers," has tended to defeat their efforts
Our arrival at Cerro Iglesia occa-
sioned no surprise. The chief, whose
Spanish name was Aquile Sanchez, re-
ceived us with all hospitality, for he had
been informed three days before that
we were coming. Indeed, I had occa-
sion increasingly to admire the re-
markable manner in which news
traveled among these Indians. Aquile
was less squat and low-browed in
appearance than the majority of his
compatriots, and his face was orna-
mented with blue paint.
Indian hospitality has its decided
drawbacks. These people live very
largely on corn prepared in various
ways, one of the commonest being
that of soaking the cracked kernels
in water until the fluid becomes milky.
The drink of ceremony is made from
this mash, and is known by the Spanish
nameof chicha. The mash is thoroughly
chewed and spat into a fresh calabash,
and then put in the sun and allowed to
ferment. The taste is nasty and, need-
less to state, the drink is the reverse of
appetizing, due to the manner of its
preparation ; but it is a mortal insult to
refuse it or to show disgust. An Indian
of proper spirit would have drained a
whole calabash filled to the brim, but
I satisfied requirements with a few
mouthfuls. As leader of the expedition
I was forced to "sound off" under the
critical eyes of my lieutenants, but as I
succeeded in maintaining outward calm
and equanimity, was in the strategic
position of requiring them to do the
same under threats of dire penalty.
They trooped up in line, for all the
world like children to take their castor
oil, though my opinion of the latter
BIRD HUNTING IN WESTERN PANAMA
513
This photograph is virtually a continuation of the view on the opposing page. The
higher mountains, covered with clouds, show dimly in the distance, about thirty miles away.
The bird hfe in the intervening area proved to be very scant because of the deforestation
beverage has soared since sampling
Guaymis Indian chicha!
After the proper interval of small
talk that etiquette demanded — for un-
due haste would have been most un-
seemly— we addressed ourselves to the
business in hand. The letters were
read to the chief, and our business and
desires were explained; but he could
scarcely believe we really were inter-
ested in birds, never having heard of
any such lunatics, and he wanted to
know if my prism glasses were not gold
detectors that would reveal the presence
of the precious metal at a distance or
underground ! But learning that I was
a scientist, he asked me to cure one
of his wives who was sick. The fact
that she was a day's journey away, and
that he was quite unable to describe
her symptoms, did not appeal to him in
the least as handicaps, and I suspected
he thought that failure to effect a
prompt cure would prove I was not a
scientist after all. Experience in
Nicaragua had taught me, however,
that most ailments among such people
were of a very simple kind. I accord-
ingly produced ten grains of aspirin,
ten grains of quinine, and a powerful
laxative pill, confident that one of them
would fit the case, and the other two
do no harm. My orders were to take
the whole lot before going to bed!
They were given and accepted with the
greatest solemnity on each side, and
the Indians were impressed with my
portable medicine case, which I pro-
duced with as many airs and flourishes
as possible. I had the satisfaction of
finding out later that the following
morning the patient was cured.
514
NATURAL HISTORY
In the meantime we had found
Aquile a more and more Hkeable and
trustworthy fellow, and made a strong
bid for his friendship. I exerted my-
self to the utmost to persuade him to
come along as guide, philosopher, and
friend, and see for himself that we were
really going to do what I said. As an
inducement I offered him about twice
as much in the way of wages as a
Panama Indian ever received before.
He would have no duties to speak of,
but I calculated that his presence
would insure our safety, and that he
would obtain food for us when the
Indians would sell us nothing. He
finally promised to join us in three days,
and in the interval assigned us one
Toribi as guide. As it turned out, the
trip could not have been made without
Aquile.
The next three days we spent in a
ceaseless struggle to get the pack train
over the narrow Indian trail, which did
not deviate from the crest of the ridge,
as though it were insistent upon follow-
ing the path of adventure. It was prob-
ably centuries old, as in places it had
been worn down to a canon ten feet
deep and three feet wide, and at such
depressions the packs had to be un-
loaded and the baggage carried through
piece by piece. The farther into the
interior we advanced, the drier the
country became and the steeper the
slopes. Water was at the bottom of the
gullies, and after one had obtained a
drink it required a half hour's exhaust-
ing climb to return to the heights. Our
compensation was a magnificent view.
The whole country to the east, west,
and south lay open before us, the
shimmering Pacific in the distance,
and some sixty miles to the northwest
the gigantic Volcan de Chiriqui
loomed purplish in the haze. The
last day the country became posi-
tively arid; there were practically no
trees and the slopes, excessively steep,
were sparsely covered with brown grass,
while the escarpments of red sandstone
were naked. This section formed a belt
or zone about ten miles wide just before
the main range was reached. Here con-
ditions changed with startling abrupt-
ness. Influenced apparently by the
cloud-and mist-zone above, the barren,
stony slopes became covered with
heavy forest without the slightest
zone of transition, and this forest
stretched unbroken to the Caribbean.
The photograph shows this condition
of affairs near our base camp, which
was pitched just inside this forest,
marking the northern .limit of the
Guaymis country. Aquile informed me
that on the other side of the mountains
dwelt other Indians, who were very
wild, bad people with whom they had
nothing to do!
Penetrating the barrier of dense
forest, we camped on the slope of the
Cerro Flores at 3700 feet, and here we
spent ten fruitful and fascinating days.
We were in the heart of the subtropical
zone, and the avifauna was entirely
different from that of the lowlands.
Every morning the party scattered in
four or five directions, and it was very
exciting to meet at noon, and see what
the combined bag contained, and who
had done the best collecting. Every
day brought additional species, or
another specimen of some choice
rarity, such as a thrush, tanager, or
quail dove.
Collecting was, however, difficult.
The ground birds were shy and secre-
tive and exceedingly hard to find in
the dense jungle. Most of the others
were in the tops of the tallest trees,
practically out of gun shot, or scarcely
visible because of the abundance of the
intervening leaves. Thus while the
This photograph shows the abrupt change from the open grassy slopes to heavy prime-
val forest. Note the steepness of the slope. The camp of the expedition was just inside
the forest area at the left of the picture
A view of the camp at 3700 feet in the heavy mountain forest shown in the preceding
picture. The blackness of the shadows and the intensity of the hght in the little clearing
made photography difficult
516
NATURAL HISTORY
bell bird was common, and its ex-
traordinary note, like the clang of a
hammer on an anvil, rang out con-
stantly over the forest, only two speci-
mens were secured. One day a great
flock of giant swifts was discovered
darting around the summit of a bare
peak, their wings making a humming
sound, audible for a mile. The diffi-
culty of shooting ducks on the wing
paled into insignificance beside the feat
of hitting these arrow-swift darters,
which, as though shot from a bow, were
carried by their momentum for several
hundred yards. That day we tried
giant-swift, pie for lunch, as every
morsel of meat was precious. Although
quite tender, it tasted like a cross
between ashes and string, which I
trust did not impair its nutritive
value.
In the meantime I spared no effort
to devise some way of reaching the
cloud f (orest above us . A day's scouting
trip with Benson and the Indian chief
furnished experiences which any natu-
ralist might envy. We reached the con-
tinental divide at 6000 feet, and could
look off forty miles or so to the north-
west, where lay the Caribbean lowlands.
To the west about ten miles away rose a
cone-shaped peak about 1000 feet
higher than the crest on which we were
standing, with a big break in altitude
between. Perhaps it was the real Cerro
Santiago. The forest had changed
with the altitude to a gnarled and
stunted one, and every tree was loaded
with parasitic plants of many kinds.
Above 5000 feet the very ground had
been left behind, and we struggled up-
ward in a gigantic bed of moss of un-
known depth, with manholes between
the roots of the trees, through which
we could have dropped as much as
fifteen feet. Everything dripped with
moisture, everything was slimy and
moldy, and everything gave way at
one's touch. The slopes were markedly
precipitous, with the result that water
was unreachable in some gully 1000
feet below. There was not a square
yard of even gently sloping hillside and
there was no dry wood. A camp in the
cloud forest was impossible.
The bird life was utterly unexpected.
Not a single one of the mountain
species found farther east occurred
here. Instead, the fauna was obviously
that of the Costa Rican highlands, but
with this difference, that isolation and
remoteness were accompanied by a
certain amount of variation. Several
at least of the birds obtained are new
subspecies. Benson shot a new species
of Scytalopus, small wrenlike birds of
secretive habits, and I collected a very
distinct new species of a peculiar finch
(Pselliophorus) , hitherto the only mem-
ber of its genus. It was the reward of
the explorer that, at the very least,
every bird found automatically ex-
tended its range far to the east.
The highest point at which a camp
could possibly be established was 4500
feet. Here Valentine and I spent two
days, ascending to the cloud forest
and collecting each day. An Indian
runner carried our birds to the base
camp to be prepared by those remain-
ing below. At the end of the second
day we returned to the base camp for a
rest, expecting that two of our party
who had remained below would have
their turn up above. But our reduced
food supply was sufficient only for five
more days, our three Indian porters
had melted away, and the chief was
leaving at dawn. Something was
wrong! Next morning, when I paid
off Aquile, I added a considerable
gratuity with my expressions of friend-
ship, hoping he would be induced to
say something definite. His response
BIRD HUNTING IN WESTERN PANAMA
517
was to send back a message by means
of a boy from the nearest Indian hut to
say that we must not leave camp and to
keep watch night and day. Our mule-
teer was dispatched to the hut, and
came back with the information that
the whole country was seething over
the fact that strangers were in their
midst. The chief was accused of be-
traying his country and of having sold
the Cerro Flores to us for the gold it
was supposed to contain ! Poor people,
they could not believe we were collect-
ing birds, and our tents and belongings
were so nmch better than anything
they had, that they were convinced we
were permanently settled. So the
chief was to be killed and we were to be
gotten rid of. But the chief's brother,
overhearing these plans, slipped out the
night before to bring Aquile word.
While it was impossible to verify these
rumors, common sense and the fate
of our two Panamanian predecessors
compelled us to take them into con-
sideration. To stay at all, would have
necessitated splitting the party to ob-
tain more provisions. Benson and I
would have had to make a flying trip
to Remedios, meantime leaving the
three younger men alone. Under the
circumstances this would have been
sheer folly. The council of war had
no trouble, therefore, in reaching the
conclusion that there was nothing to
do but depart at once, and run no risk
of jeopardizing the equipment and our
precious collections, not to mention
our own lives.
Sending to the Indian pasture for the
horses started the word that we were
leaving. We broke camp at once and
packed up in a pouring rain, I had to
ascend to the higher camp and bring it
all down on my back. Toward evening
a significant event was the sudden re-
turn of the chief and three other
Indians, who helped us load the ani-
mals. At 11 P.M. in bright moonlight
the retreat started. The Indians
dropped off to their homes about 1 a.m.,
and Aquile turned off, too, to pick up
his wife, whom he had left in some hid-
ing place, promising to catch up with
us later, by means of a short cut im-
passable for our pack train. Going all
that night and all the next day, we
arrived at Cerro Iglesia about 5 p.m.,
men and animals thoroughly worn out.
A brief stop for coffee was made during
the morning, and here Aquile and his
wife overtook us. All during the
night we had heard the Indians halloo-
ing and calling in peculiar tones and
cadences from ridge to ridge, and we
felt sure they were signalling our de-
parture. The following day we were
glad to reach the hospitable quarters of
Senor Grajales at Remedios. To our
surprise, the chief insisted on accom-
panying us. Once out of the Indian
country, he talked freely. The rumors
proved to be absolutely correct, and we
had the satisfaction of knowing we had
done the right thing. In fact, so trust-
worthy did the rumors seem to the
chief, that he had not the slightest
intention of returning home without
various documents from officials, re-
stating the objects of our visit, the
services he had performed for us, and
the fact that we had gone home, never
to return again.
After several days' rest at Remedios,
we proceeded to Santiago, chiefly by
boat so as to see more of the coun-
try. After re-outfitting we proceeded
by launch to the San Lorenzo River
on the coast. Here for two weeks we
were the guests of Mr. A. R. Wilcox,
president of the Tropical Lumber
Company, who could not have done
more to make our stay a success. The
camp was in the heart of a heavy
518
NATURAL HISTORY
'y*I
A superb mahogam^ tree on the land of the Tropical Forest Products Company. — ■
]Mr. Wilcox measured this tree, which, he ascertained, was 7 feet in diameter 6 feet from
the ground, and 152 feet from the base to the first hmb. It took a gang of laborers nearty
a day to clear the forest growth about the tree so that a picture might be taken, and
a platform 15 feet from the ground had to be constructed to enable Mr. Boulton to
include the first limb in his negative. The perfectly symmetrical trunk had all the
grandem- of a cathedral column. There were bigger trees near by with even thicker
trunks, but they were more irregular in outhne and branched much nearer to the ground
primeval forest, and one of the com-
monest trees was a recently discovered
species of mahogany of gigantic size.
The photograph above gives an ex-
cellent idea of the superb proportions
of one of these trees. Another was 13
feet in diameter 6 feet from the ground.
In this forest wild life abounded. At
BIRD HUNTING IN WESTERN PANAMA
519
least 200 species of birds occurred in
the surrounding country. Howling
monkeys were heard daily, and wild
peccary was a welcome addition to our
bill of fare. When tired of the forest
we took the launch, and had an inter-
esting day with aquatic birds and sea
snakes.
Mv reconnaissance work was now
concluded, the objects of the expedition
had been attained. Seaman and Ben-
son are now. actively collecting, on a
schedule that will take a year or more
to complete. Three days later in the
bustle of Panama City, the moun-
tains and the wild forest seemed far
away, like the incidents in a pleasant
dream.
Brown pelicans inspecting the boat in which the expedition made its return over the
Gulf of Panama
Ageniella bombycina, like other psammocharid wasps, specializes in
the capture of spiders. Her long legs enable her readily to drag her prey-
along the ground
The Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella bombycina'
By WILLIAM M. SAVIN
TO one unfamiliar with the fact
that related insects are fre-
quently of widely divergent size,
it is somewhat surprising to learn that
the little Ageniella bombycina belongs
to the same group as the large Pepsis,
the tarantula-killer of our West. Both
are soKtarj^ wasps of the family Psam-
mocharidse; — the Pompilidse of the
older classifications. All the female
members of this family specialize in
capturing and paralyzing spiders, but
in their method of carrying the helpless
victim as well as in the technique of
nest construction they differ somewhat
from species to species and sometimes
even from individual to individual.
Many of these wasps drag their spiders
as they make their way walking back-
ward through a forest of grass, over
irregularities of the ground, or even up
the sheer wall of an embankment, —
mountain-high when compared with
the size of the insect; others manage to
carry their burden by half -running and
half -flying, but without rising from the
ground, while of one species at least it
has been recorded that in crossing a
body of water the wasp will fly close to
the surface, ''trailing the spider and
leaving a wake that is a miniature of
that of a passing steamer."
A number of species of Psammochari-
dse dig burrows in which the wasp
entombs the spider, destined to be
devoured piece-meal by the wasp larva
that presently emerges from the egg
attached to the victim. But other
species, instead of excavating in the
ground, establish their nursery in the
crevices of stone walls, under loose
bark, logs, or rocks, in the mud nests of
Sceliphron, their competitor in spider-
hunting, and even in the interior of an
oak gall!
When digging the tunnel the wasp
often leaves the spider in the crotch of
some near-by plant, or on the ground
close to the nest, or hidden under a
lump of earth, and during the work of
excavation, she frequenth^ visits the
captive to inspect it.
'Illustrations from photographs by the author.
520
Mud nests of Ageniella hombycina attached to the underside of a log Ij'ing in a held. —
Each cell has been stocked with a single spider left there by the mother wasp as food for
the larva which, if all goes well, will emerge from the egg that she lays on the spider.
When these cells were opened, it was found that four of them held spiders and three of
them wasp larvae which had devoured the food provided. After pupation the wasp emerges
from the fiat end of the cell
The underside of three cells removed from the log to which they were attached by the
mother wasp. The pupa, in the silken cocoon spun before pupation, is visible in each cell
521
522
NATURAL HISTORY
Psammocharid wasps have chosen a
difficult and at times perilous occupa-
tion in limiting their captures to the
spiders. Certain solitary wasps of
other families specialize in seizing
flies, beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars,
etc., none of which offers any serious
resistance. Of all the psammocharids,
the Pepsis of our Southwest runs
perhaps the greatest risk, for she
attacks the tarantula, which inspires
almost universal terror. A false move
wasp was able to capture a number of
this species.^ The following year when
I found another cluster of cells of
Ageniella, all contained Lycosa spiders.
In each instance one might be tempted
to think that the wasp had come upon a
spider cocoon from which the young
were just emerging, but the size of the
victims made that belief untenable.
All the spiders were adult and must
have been long separated from ' their
brothers and sisters.
Lycosa spiders which were
taken from two cells of Ageniella
homhycina; one spider has an
egg on the dorsum, the other a
larva which has hatched and is
devouring the spider.
Before placing the captive
spider in a cell this wasp re-
moves some or all of its legs.
One of the spiders here shown .
has had all of its eight legs sev-
ered from the body, the other
one only four. The two leglike
appendages (called pedipalps)
near the mouth of the spider
were unharmed
on her part, giving an opportunity for
the spider to bite her, would mean
certain death.
The little Ageniella homhycina — the
psammocharid to which this article is
primarily devoted — often secures spi-
ders larger than herself. She is indeed
a skillful huntress, for one year in a
cluster of nests that I located under a
log I found a grass spider (Agelena
nxvia — in every cell in which a victim
was pres^it. This spider, thanks to the
character of its nest, seems better
able to protect itself than most arach-
nids, and of the many nests of the
mud-dauber wasps (Sceliphron and
Chalyhion) that I have opened none
contained a grass spider, yet this little
Ageniella homhycina breaks most, if
not all, of the legs of the captive
spider. There may be some good rea-
son for this but it is not apparent. It
may be simply to enable the wasp to
pack the spider in the nest more readily.
The spider's legs are long and there is
not much spare room in the cells.^
Most of' the spiders that I have found
in the cells had some of their legs re-
moved, but the wasp had not damaged
the pedipalps, leglike appendages near
the mouth of the spider.
iPhil and Nellie Rau mention in Wasp Studies Afield
(p. 125) that on four occasions they have found dead
Chalyhion cseruleum in the webs of spiders.
^George W. and Elizabeth G. Peokham in their ac-
count of Pompilus fuscipennis on p. 143 of Instincts,
and Habits of Solitary Wasps ascribe the corresponding
habit of this huntress to the fact that "she makes a
very small nest in comparison to the size of her prey."
NOTES
FISHES
Encomia for "The Bibliography of
Fishes." — In the May-June issue of Natu-
ral History a review and an historical
sketch were presented of the recently com-
pleted Bibliography of Fishes and it is not
necessary to retrace the facts that were there
set forth, but by way of supplement there
should be some indication of the reception
accorded this monumental work by the scien-
tific world, as evidenced by the reviews pre-
pared by the foremost ichthyologists. It is a
tribute to the comprehensiveness of the
Bibliography and its adaptability to the needs
of special investigators, that it should have
been praised by authorities representative of a
number of different branches of research, each
viewing it critically from his own angle of
interest. These reviews, could they be printed
in full, would constitute a significant expression
of approval, but even the few excerpts from
them for which space is available cannot fail
to convey the unanimity of the judgment
regarding the Bibliography, — a judgment
which sustains the steady faith maintained
by President Henry Fairfield Osborn through-
out the years of its preparation that the com-
pleted work would prove one of the greatest
scientific undertakings in the history of the
American Museum.
J. Graham Kerr, professor of zoology in the
University of Glasgow and leading student in
the British Empire of the embryology and the
morphology of the vertebrates, points out in
Nature that "The great Bashford Dean
Bibliography . . . will form an admirable
guide to the investigator and learner through
the otherwise impenetrable labyrinth of
detail," and refers to the work as "one of the
most important contributions to zoological
science which has been made in recent j^ears."
Dr. David Starr Jordan, president emeritus
of Leland Stanford and the dean of American
ichthyologists, contributes to Science a review
in which he characterizes the Bibliography
not merely as monumental but as "majestic,
commanding, and, above all, insistently use-
ful," adding that "no one in the future can at-
tempt research in ichthyology without having
these volumes at his elbow."
The leading American student of the osteol-
ogy of fishes, Dr. E. C. Starks, commenting on
the Bibliography in The American Naturalist,
says that "It might well serve as a model for
a bibliography of each of the vertebrate
classes" and expresses the opinion that "not
only will the men interested in fishes be under
great obligations to Doctor Dean and his
colleagues, but comparative anatomists will be
also, for the anatomy of the primitive verte-
brates is fundamental to an understanding of
all anatomy."
In the Bulletin of the New York Zoological
Society Dr. C. H. Townsend, director of the
New York Aquarium, pays tribute to the
Bibliography as a work "of such a character
that all students of fishes and fishery subjects
must turn to it, if they would know what has
already been accomplished by those who have
preceded them."
Mr. H. T. Sheringham, leading authority in
Great Britain on angling, and angling editor
of the Field contributes two spirited reviews,
one to the periodical just mentioned and
another to the London Morning Post. In the
latter he refers to the salutary effects of study-
ing the Bibliography, which has disclosed to
him the fact that "besides the trickles of
printer's ink in which I have been able to
wade without discomfort [pursuing the fish]
there is a ' great and wide sea also ' where you
want charts, and lighthouses, and pilots, and,
I begin to think, lifeboats as well." The
multiple services rendered by the Bibliography
to him who starts on a voyage of discovery in
the domain of ichthyology could not be more
pithily and picturesquely summarized.
Mr. WilHam Radclifi'e, author of Fishing
from the Earliest Times, in which are presented
a host of interesting facts bearing on the folk-
lore and mythology of fishing among the
ancients, opens his review in the London Times
Literary Supplement with the comment "This
is a great and thorough work. • If its title ran
'The Bibliography' instead of 'A Bibliog-
raphy' few could object, for it differs from
all its predecessors in that it is concerned with
but a single subject — fishes and all particulars
wherein they touch the life of man. Further,
of no other branch of the animal kingdom does
there apparently exist so complete a com-
pendium of its literature or one so minutely
digested for the reader."
A bibliophile's opinion regarding the work is
registered in Public Libraries by Mr. H. M.
Lj^denberg, reference hbrarian at the New
York Public Library. Referring to the sec-
tion containing the pre-Linnsean titles, he
523
524
NATURAL HISTORY
says, "Biologist, anthropologist, student of
folklore, historian, psychologist, any student
of beliefs of former days will have far to go
before he finds so extensive and accurate a
guide to the sources for scientific thought of
yesterday."
Dr. R. P. Cowles, associate professor of
zoology in the Johns Hopkins University
closes the appreciative review he contributes
to The Johns Hopkins Alumni Magazine with
these words: " I can not praise too highly the
Subject Index, which makes it possible for any
zoologist to get in touch quickly with the
literature dealing with almost any phase of our
knowledge of fishes." Dr. Arthur Willey,
professor of zoology in McGill University,
contributes a thoughtful review to The Cana-
dian Field-Naturalist in which, after expressing
his general approval of the work, he adds
"But mere words can hardly do justice to an
arduous undertaking such as this, although
its merits are conspicuous."
Not only in English-speaking countries is
the Bibliography winning adequate recogni-
tion but from other parts of the world as well
are coming emphatic expressions of approval.
Dr. Ernst Ehrenbaum, leading student in
Germany of the migration and distribution of
fishes, opens his review in Die Naturwissen-
schaften with the comment "A mighty work
lies completed before us, the fruit of most in-
tense labor throughout years, carried on by a
group of highly qualified experts with a pene-
trating grasp of the subject, and resulting in a
survey of the literature of a particular field of
knowledge that from the standpoints of final-
ity and completeness would be hard to dupli-
cate in any other subject." Jacques Pellegrin,
foremost French ichthyologist, closes his re-
view in Bulletin de la Societe Centrale d'
Aquiculture et de Peche with a special word of
recognition for Dr. E. W. Gudger, editor of
the Index Volume: "One cannot praise too
warmly Mr. E. W. Gudger for having brought
to completion such a work, which will greatly
facilitate the task of those engaged in research
by enabling them quickly to orient themselves
regarding the bibliography of all questions
concerning ichthyology which they desire to
approach." Finally in 0 Jornal of Rio de
Janeiro, the leading student of the fishes in
South America, Alipio de Miranda Ribeiro,
from the fullness of his knowledge concludes
that " The Bibliography of Fishes is going to be
of great service to students of the subject."
The Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal. — The
warm approval accorded The Bibliography of
Fishes by the scientific world finds summary
expression in the award to Doctor Dean, its
originator and editor, of the Daniel Giraud
Elliot Medal. This coveted distinction, be-
stowed each year for a published work of
outstanding zoologic or palaeontologic in-
terest, was given to Doctor Dean as of 1921.
The prize for 1922 was awarded at the same
time to Dr. William Morton Wheeler for a
work that, like the Bibliography of Fishes, was
a Museum undertaking, namely his monu-
mental Ants of the American Museum Congo
Expedition. Dr. Ferdinand Canu, of Ver-
sailles, France, was honored with the medal
for 1923. Of the seven awards made since
the institution of the prize, three have been
bestowed upon scientists connected with the
American Museum, the previous recipients
being Dr. F. M. Chapman, curator of birds
in that institution, Mr. Wilham Beebe, Mr.
Robert Ridgeway, and Prof. Othenio Abel.
"Description of Eighteen New Species
OF Fishes from the Wilkes Exploring Ex-
pedition Preserved in the United States
National Museum" by Henry W. Fowler
and Barton A. Bean. — We are doubtless war-
ranted in calling this paper a belated report,
since the fishes described as new — and to
these the authors have confined their atten-
tion— were collected more than eighty years
ago. So far as localities are given, the
species described are, with two exceptions,
from South America and Polynesia. Having
been taken before the days of deep-sea dredg-
ing, they are naturally species belonging to
the shore region. The exploring expedition
under the command of Wilkes was afloat from
1839 to 1842. While other zoological material
from this important expedition was reported
upon long ago, and in the case of some groups
very fully, the collection of fishes seems to
have been disregarded by the naturalists of
that day. This paper, is, however, only pre-
liminary ! A timely letter from Mr. Bean con-
veys the information that the authors have
already prepared a full report for publication.
This is of decided interest to students of fishes,
especially as accounts of the fishes of Polyne-
sia, where the expedition did its greatest work,
are decidedly limited in number. It appears
that fishes were collected in all regions visited
by Wilkes, including both coasts of South
America, many of the islands of Polynesia,
NOTES
525
and from New Zealand and Australia west-
ward to Ceylon. The collection is a large one
and many of the specimens are still in excel-
lent condition. — Charles H. Townsend.
VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
Charles W. Andrews, for many years a
distinguished vertebrate paleontologist of
the British Museum staff, assistant to
Keeper Arthur Smith Woodward, passed
away on May 25, at the age of fifty-eight.
When last in the British Museum he was en-
gaged in mounting and describing a gigantic
skeleton of the straight-tusked elephant
(Elephas antiquus), which may some time
appear as his last published contribution to
vertebrate palaeontology.
The work which will give him an enduring
reputation is his share in the discovery and
description of the Upper Eocene and Oligo-
cene fauna of the Fayum, Egypt, following the
original discovery of Hugh Beadnell. With
the cooperation of Beadnell, he visited Egypt
and made the great collections for the
Egyptian and British museums, which formed
the basis of his remarkable memoir: A
Descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Verte-
brata of the Fayum, Egypt, published by the
British Museurn in 1906. This is a monu-
mental work, establishing for the first time in
the history of science the original home of the
Proboscidea, as well as the probable center of
evolution of the Hyracoidea and of the
Sirenia. The principal conclusions reached in
this great volume will stand as a monument to
his keen perception of the affinities and rela-
tionships among the vertebrates. The names
which he gave to these animals, Palseomas-
todon, Phiomia, Moeritherium, and Sagha-
therium, were sagaciously chosen.
Vertebrate palaeontologists the world over
will mourn the untimely loss of this genial and
helpful fellow worker, and will extend to his
colleagues on the staff of the British Museum
and to his family their sincerest sympathy.
President Henry Fairfield Osborn
of the American Museum has been notified
by Dr. Serge d' Oldenburg, permanent secre-
tary of L'Academie des Sciences de Russie
that, "filled with high regard for his scientific
works" the academy has inscribed Professor
Osborn's name upon the Hst of its correspond-
ing members and that the diploma signalizing
this appointment will be sent to him soon.
THE FAUNTHORPE-VERNAY
EXPEDITION
Gaps That Are Being Filled in the
Museum's Collections. — Until very re-
cently the greatest gaps in the bird collection
of the American Museum were among the
avifauna of tropical Asia and the islands
south of that continent. Almost one-third of
the genera the Museum lacked were those of
birds inhabiting that general region. A very
great service is therefore being rendered the
institution by the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedi-
tion, which has now collected a total of 847
birds from localities extending from the south-
ern foot of the Himalayas to the southern end
of the Indian Peninsula and eastward to
Tenasserim and Siam.
The first three shipments were from the
northern part of this area, comprising 220
skins prepared by Messrs. Jonas and Kinloch
in 1922 and 1923. They represented approxi-
mately 128 species, and formed a most wel-
come and important addition to the collection
of Indian birds in the Museum.
Mr. Vernay next sent a dozen specimens
(partridges, sand grouse, and a Macqueen's
bustard) collected by Major Stockley in Sind
and Hissar, and a great Indian bustard from
northwest India.
Still more remarkable are the collections
recently received from Tenasserim and Siam,
where Mr. Vernay is accompanied by the
veteran collector for the British Museum,
Mr. Willoughby P. Lowe. First came a
couple of Burmese peacocks, the male of
which is being mounted for exhibition, and
two gigantic hornb ills, of which one ^^ill
also fill a gap in the moimted collection.
Two cases recently unpacked contained
596 bird skins, giving a wide representation of
the avifaima of the Malayan region, from the
smallest flower-peckers to the pheasants and
eagles. A great variety of families and gen-
era was included, and it was noted with special
pleasure that the shipment contained the
falcon-like Poliohierax, several beautiful pheas-
ants of the genus Polyplectron, some exceed-
ingly large nightjars, not less than fifteen
species of woodpeckers, one of the very rare
Indian honey guides, and a splendid series of
passerine forms. The broad-bills are espe-
cially well represented (by five species), as
are also the babbling thrushes (TimeliidEe) ,
the bulbuls (Pycnonotidae), and the thrushes
(Turdidae).
Mr. Arthur S. Vernay seated in front of his grass hut. — At the left is the head of one
of the two buffaloes that he succeeded in securing for the American Museum
A Malayan tapir in the Rangoon Zoo. — -Among the prizes obtained by Mr. Vernay was
a specimen of this species, which he shot by moonlight
NOTES
527
Among the mammals obtained by Mr.
Vernay unusual interest attaches to a speci-
men of the Malayan tapir,, which was secured
in the northernmost part of the range of this
species. Sureness of aim such as that re-
quired to lay low this animal has few parallels
in the annals of marksmanship, for Mr.
Vernay shot the tapir by moonlight as it was
splashing about in a water hole near his camp.
A cable from Mr. Vernay dated April 24,
later confirmed by letter, contained the impor-
tant announcement that two splendid speci-
mens of the buffalo had been secured, — a bull
with horns that, measured from the tip of one
horn downward along its wide curve, then
across the skull and upward in similar manner
to the tip of the other horn, registered 110
inches, and a cow with a horn expansion only
one inch less.
Keen interest was aroused by the state-
ment in yet another communication that not
only the American Museum, but the New York
Zoological Society as well was to be the bene-
ficiary of Mr. Vernay's enterprise and devo-
tion. Two young male gibbons, the one black,
the other white, are on their way to New York
to join the menagerie in the Bronx. Mr.
Vernay writes that they became so tame after
a week of kind treatment that when he re-
leased them from confinement, they would
climb the highest trees only to return at meal
times and in the evening, when they would
enter the box that was provided for them.
"The black one," he adds, "is called Myonk
(the Burmese for monkey) and the white one
Disha (Deeshah) after one of our elephant
men who resembled the ape." Two small
crocodiles are also being shipped at the same
time.
A summary of the number of different speci-
mens secured by the Faunthorpe-Vernay
Expedition discloses the fact that there is a
total of 246 mammals, subdivided among the
following orders: Insectivora 7, Carnivora 37,
Artiodactyla 58; Proboscidea 3, Perisso-
dactjda 5, Rodentia 101, Chiroptera 4,
Primates 31.
Asiatic Rhinoceroses Secured by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition. — Under
date of May 27 Mr. Arthur S. Vernay cabled
President Henry Fairfield Osborn that he had
succeeded in obtaining a female and young
male of the rare Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicero-
rhinus sumatrensis) . Few specimens of this
interesting form have reached museums.
though one lived for some years in the London
Zoological Gardens. Contrary to what one
might expect, D. sumatrensis is totally differ-
ent from the great, one-horned, Indian rhinoc-
eros {Rhinoceros unicornis). In the structure
of its cheek teeth it shows a closer relationship
to the black, or hook-lipped, African form
(Dicer-OS bicornis) . Like the latter it has two
horns and in connection with its life in the
A skeleton being conveyed to camp for
ultimate shipment to the American Museum
forest has adopted similar browsing habits.
It is the smallest of living rhinoceroses, re-
markable for its fairly dense hairy coat and
the slight development of the folds of its
rough granular hide. The Sumatran rhinoc-
eros inhabits the countries east of Bengal,
ranging from Assam through certain parts of
Burma and Siam into the islands of Sumatra
and Borneo. The equally rare, but more
widely distributed, lesser one-horned Indian,
or Javan, rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus)
has extended its haunts into the island of that
name.
Not only are the life histories of these three
Asiatic rhinoceroses rather imperfectly known
but the specimens preserved in museum collec-
528
NATURAL HISTORY
tions are inadequate and scientists have con-
sequenth' been handicapped in their efforts
to solve many vexing questions concerning
these animals. Such valuable contributions as
those made by the Faunthorpe-Vernay Expe-
dition are, therefore, of the highest importance.
For many years Professor Osborn has de-
voted himself to the study of rhinoceroses
and has published extensive works upon the
different problems presented by them, espe-
cially those of the relationship and evolution
of fossil forms. Continued comparison of
recent vnih. prehistoric forms is most neces-
sary. Only in this way can one satisfactorily
interpret the habits of rhinoceroses of the
past, now known only through skeletal re-
mains, often incomplete.
In the evolution of different groups of
heavy, gigantic mammals a variety of
grotesquely shaped horn structures has been
developed, partly to clear a way through the
jungle, partly as a means of defense against
enemies, and finally as weapons in the com-
petitive battles among the bulls during the
rutting period. Guided by these facts Profes-
sor Osborn suggested that the great Indian
rhinoceros also may use its horn, which some-
times attains a length of as much as twenty-
four inches, for purposes of defense.
It is most interesting that his belief is con-
firmed by a naturaHst so well versed in the
habits of Indian big game as Colonel Faun-
thorpe. This sportsman has no doubt that
occasionally the Indian rhinoceros uses the
horn to inflict wounds upon adversaries
such as elephants. He himself shot a rhinoc-
eros in Nepal which had a large deep punc-
ture in the abdomen, as well as other injuries
in its hide. These looked as though they were
the result of a contest in which horns played
the important role. They did not resemble
wounds inflicted by the triangular, forward-
and upward-directed, two lower incisors,
generally called the tushes, which are of
service also in partly cutting to pieces the
tubers and other vegetation on which the
animals feed.
For a long time it has been known that the
tushes are the chief weapons upon which the
great Indian rhinoceros relies in an attack
against its enemies including man, as Mr.
Roderick T. Mackenzie has kindly pointed
out in a letter to Professor Osborn. Mr.
Mackenzie states, furthermore, that the horn
is always more or less worn away by digging
up roots. As the animal rushes forward,
head up, muzzle and lower lip drawn back,
and mouth open, the tushes are bared for
action. Considering the tremendous impact
of the body and the unwonted rapidity of
motion of the. head under such circumstances,
a rhinoceros is liable to inflict terrific wounds.
Indeed, it makes a boar's ripping look hke the
effects of a mild display of temper when it
puts into action these sharp, chisel-like
weapons. It even cuts open the legs of ele-
phants employed to force it from its retreat.
The mode of attack of the great Indian
rhinoceros is, therefore, totally different from
that of the two African rhinoceroses, which,
deprived of incisors, depend entirely upon
charging with head lowered, occasionally
goring their enemies with their often sharp-
pointed horns. Bulls of the African "black"
rhinoceros may fight to the death. Bronsart
vonSchellendorf gives us the following account
of such a contest: "In the next moment both
bulls rushed around each other in a circle,
furiously snorting, and each one trying to
plunge its horns into the body of the other.
The older of them suddenly stumbled. Im-
mediately he received two deep thrusts in the
breast and belly. The long, sharp, dagger-
like horn of his adversary' had entered him
for about two-thirds of its length. In vain
did he try to raise himself. Quick as a flash
he received another well aimed thrust in the
middle of the neck. After several piercing
shrieks he lifted his heavy head up and down,
trembled and died." — H. L.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
The Expedition of the American Mu-
seum TO Sweden and Lapland has begun its
work under conditions that are an assurance
of success. Thanks to the friendly assistance
of Legationsradet Hendriksson, a letter was
secured from the head of the educational de-
partment (Eklesiastik Departementet) of
Sweden, requesting all those connected with
the schools, colleges, and universities to give
Dr. G. Clyde Fisher every assistance within
their power. Doctor Fisher is, furthermore,
being aided in his visits to the schools by Miss
Stael von Holstein, who in addition to her
knowledge of the Swedish language and of
Swedish educational institutions has a view-
point regarding American educational stand-
ards gained through several years spent at
Columbia University. One of Doctor
Fisher's main purposes in visiting Sweden is to
obtain an insight into the Swedish educational
NOTES
529
system, regarding which he will lecture before
the Museum on his return, and there can be
no doubt that, as a result of the privileges
extended to him, he will accomplish more
even than he had ventured to hope.
Many attentions have been shown Doctor
Fisher and his associate in the expedition,
Mr. Carveth Wells, by eminent individuals.
They have been entertained, among others,
by Baron De Geer, the distinguished geologist,
and Baroness De Geer, and also by Mr. Cord
Meyer, secretary of the A^merican Legation,
who invited for the occasion Dr. Robert
Andrews Millikan, upon whom was recently
bestowed the Nobel prize in physics, and Mrs.
Millikan. A dinner was tendered the repre-
sentatives of the American Museum by the
Swedish-American Foundation, of which
Professor Arrhenius is president, and at the
banquet Doctor Fisher had the honor of
being seated beside Mrs. Arrhenius. The
public press, reflecting the popular interest,
has devoted many a column, with portrait
insertions, to the expedition.
The Teacher and the Museum. — In
conformity with its established custom, the
department of public education, American
Museum, tendered a reception to the faculty
and the graduating class of the New York
Training School for Teachers on June 19 and
to the corresponding groups of the Maxwell
Training School for Teachers on June 20.
It is of prime importance that prospective
educators should know of the various ways in
which the Museum is prepared to assist them,
and at these gatherings the graduating classes
have the opportunity, not only of estabhshing
contact with those within the Museum who
are engaged in educational work, but also of
seeing through the illustrated addresses that
are a feature of the day's entertainment the
facilities in the way of slides and similar
lecture materials that are at their disposal.
Members of the Museum staff guide the visi-
tors through the exhibition halls and the de-
partment of education, and the activities
terminate with the serving of tea.
MAMMALS
Mr. G. H. H. Tate, field collector of the
department of mammals, American Museum,
has returned to the United States for a brief
sojourn after an absence of fourteen months in
Ecuador. The progress of his work, both in-
dependently and in collaboration with Mr. H.
E. Anthony during the latter's recent visit
to the west coast of South America, has been
referred to from time to time in Natural
History, and readers of the magazine are,
therefore, conversant with his record up to
November, 1923. Since that time he has
taken three field trips: (1) from Ambato to
Guayaquil, for the purpose of making a cross-
section of the region to the north of Mt.
Chimborazo, (2) to the Island of Puna, off the
coast of Ecuador, (3) to the Oriente side of
the Andes.
It is the last-mentioned trip that deserves
especial emphasis, for it consumed a period of
three months and yielded valuable specimens
and interesting observations. Mr. Tate
established eight camps in all, lingering at
each for a sufRcient number of days to study
the faunal conditions. The first two camps
were in the high temperate forest, the second
being pitched at the base of the volcano
Tungurahua, which erupted violently some
years ago and sprinkled ashes even during
Mr. Tate's sojourn.
From this altitude he worked down the
Pastaza River, past the falls of Agoyan, which,
30 feet in width, tumble from a height of
about 150 feet, on to the third camp at
Mirador at an elevation of approximately
5000 feet. This spot is the subtropical type
locality worked by the old collectors Simons
and Palmer. The fourth camp, established
at La Palmera, was maintained for two weeks
and yielded important collections.
Th^ce Mr. Tate moved down to Mera, the
center of the wet belt, where there is rain
nearly every day of the year and the traveler
wades about in mud that is perennial. Sev-
eral interesting forms were discovered in this
locality. Due to the forbidding character of
the country mules could not be depended
upon beyond this point and it became neces-
sary to send to the Indian settlement at
Canelos for bearers.
The first day's travel beyond Mera brought
the party to Puyo, a place somewhat disUked
by the Indians on account of the prevalence
there of vampire bats that make their insidi-
ous attacks at night. On the second day a
stop was made at Indillama, a station erected
by the Ecuadorean government for the con-
venience of travelers. On the third day the
party reached Canelos.
Canelos is an Indian settlement with a
population of 300. Large well-thatched
houses are scattered about in the forest, and
each accommodates several families. The
530
NATURAL HISTORY
floors are earthen and the principal articles of
furniture are beds and cots of bamboo. Each
house contains at least a half dozen bodoqueras
(blow guns), on which the Indians rely for
their meat supply. The work of preparing
the soil and the planting of yuca and platano
is left to the women.
Mr. Tate collected for ten days at Canelos
and then, through the kind arrangement of
the resident Dominican priest, was conveyed
by canoe to Sarayacu, a similar settlement
three days' travel down the Rio Bobonaza.
From this point a journey was made overland
to Rio Copataza, another type locality,
where Mr. Tate had the assistance of six
Indian collectors.
The rainy season was now drawing to a
close and accordingly a return was made to
Mera. After eleven days of continuous travel
Mr. Tate reached this spot and, securing
riding animals, made his way over the Andes
back to the coast. During the three and a
half months consumed in this trip to the
Oriente, Mr. Tate collected about 550 mam-
mals, not to mention reptiles, batrachians,
and plants.
"The Allen Memorial Volume."— In
recognition of the important services of Dr.
J. A. Allen during the thirty-six years of his
curatorship in the American Museum, Presi-
dent Henry Fairfield Osborn and the Trustees
have decided to devote one of the volumes of
the Bulletin, under the designation of "The
Allen Memorial Volume," to the pubhcation
of the posthumous papers of the distinguished
mammalogist. Two of the four articles
proposed for inclusion — that on the insec-
tivores and the one on the squirrels collected
by the American Museum Congo Expedition
■ — made their appearance two years ago.
To these has now been added the third
report, deahng with the large collection of
Congo carnivores, and only one more report,
therefore, — that concerned with the primate
collection from the same region, — is necessary
to round out the volume. This fourth report
is nearing completion.
The carnivores were one of the last groups
among the Congo material to which Doctor
Allen gave his attention. After the author's
death the manuscript was arranged for publi-
cation by Mr. Herbert Lang, associate curator
of African mammals, who had had the privilege
of assisting Doctor Allen in the working up of
the report.
Among the 588 specimens of Carnivora
represented in this West African collection
Doctor Allen recognized two genera and eight
forms as new to science. In view of his con-
servative attitude in the matter of new
descriptions, the proportion is large. Though
he considered that some of the specimens,
temporarily referred to forms already known,
were worthy of subspecific distinction, he did
not feel justified in thus designating them at
the time, due to a lack of adequate compara-
tive study material. Throughout the report-
stress is laid on the great need for a satis-
factory basis of differentiation. In extensive
series of a single form collected in one locality
or district, it is remarkable how great can be
the range of individual variation.
One of the noteworthy discoveries figuring
in the report on the carnivores is that of a
fish-eating genet, Osbornictis, illustrated by
an excellent color plate showing the uniform
dark-brown tone of its pelage. This genet is
one of the many examples of adaptation
pecuhar to African mammals. The new
genus which it represents Doctor Allen named
in honor of Professor Osborn, who made it
possible for him to devote his entire time dur-
ing the last years of his Ufe to the working up
of the Congo material. As a result of this
generous provision Doctor Allen was able to
complete his study of so large a proportion
of the mammals collected by the Congo
Expedition.
The other new form requiring generic dis-
tinction, Xenogale, falls within the herpestine
group. In external appearance it so closely
resembles Atilax as to have been mistaken
for it in the field, but in cranial characters
and dentition the two forms present little
similarity.
A feature of this report is the extensive
series of comparative drawings of the skulls
of the various genera represented. Comple-
menting these drawings are the many photo-
graphic illustrations, for the most part taken
in the course of the expedition. They en-
hance the value of the report, especially for
those who desire to make use of it as a guide
for future study in the field. — H. L.
East African Trophies Given by Mr. E.
Mallinckrodt, Jr. — The American Museum
recently secured through Mr. Edward Mal-
linckrodt, Jr., the first specimens from the
eastern Umits of Lake Victoria Nyanza, near
the Mara River, that have found place in its
NOTES
531
collections.* 'Among the objects presented are
the skull and scalp of an especially fine bull
eland (Taurotragus oryx pattersonianus) — the
largest of antelopes and a member of the
tragelaphine group, — a fine long-haired pelt
of a spotted hyaena {Crocuta crocuta germinans,
and — even more desirable — an exceptionally
large skull of the hook-hpped, or "black,"
rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) from the neigh-
borhood of Lolgorien.
HISTORY OF THE EARTH
La Societe Geologiqxte de Belgique
invited the American Museum to participate
in the semi-centennial celebration of the
founding of the society, held at Liege, July
27-30. President Heiu-y Fairfield Osborn
requested His Excellency J. Malfeyt, a life
member of the Museum, to represent the
institution on this important occasion, Gen-
eral Malfeyt having evinced his interest in the
Museum through the great assistance he
rendered some years ago to its Congo Expedi-
tion. The geology of the Congo and of the
regions bordering upon it was one of the prin-
cipal topics presented during the gathering,
another being a survey of the activities of the
society during the fifty years of its existence.
Excursions to points of interest and a ban-
quet were other features of the celebration.
CONSERVATION
A National Conference on Outdoor
Recreation, called by President Coolidge,
was held in Washington, May 22-24, and
as an outgrowth of its dehberations there has
come into being a permanent organization,
made up of associations that are interested in
wild life and out-door activities and that
through such a super-organization can best
correlate their efforts. A meeting is planned
annually at which the constituent associations
will pass upon the common policy, each asso-
ciation irrespective of the number of its
delegates present having but a single vote.
That the organization has started with
every prospect of continued success is indi-
cated by the standing of the men who attended
the conference and the earnest spirit and
desire for harmonious cooperation that char-
acterized the gathering. President Coolidge
delivered the address of welcome and the
honorary chairmen of the successive sessions
were the Hon. John Wingate Weeks, Secre-
tary of War, the Hon. Henry C. Wallace,
Secretary of Agriculture, the Hon. Hubert
Work, Secretary of the Interior, the Hon.
Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce,
and the Hon. James J. Davis, Secretary of
Labor. The executive chairman of all the
sessions was the Hon. Theodore Roosevelt,
whose vigorous and stimulating quahties as
presiding officer were reminiscent of the lead-
ership exercised by his father before him.
Official delegates representing more than one
hundred associations interested in wild fife,
in the park and playground movement, in
child welfare work, and related activities,
were present and hstened to addresses on
different phases of the common problem that
designated speakers had been invited to
contribute. Dr. Frank M. Chapman, of the
American Museum, dehvered an address on
"Birds and Man" in the session devoted to the
"Wild Life Resources of the United States."
Four Hundred Years of Growth De-
stroyed.— In constructing a road to the North
Grove of Calaveras "big trees," the highway
engineer found confronting him a magnificent
specimen of a sugar pine, — a species that
Muir has designated "the noblest pine yet
discovered." In height it grew to 240 feet,
in circumference it measured more than 25.
With an estimated age of 400 years, it must
have begun life about the time when Balboa
first gazed upon the Pacific; but the centuries
had not robbed it of its storm-defying
strength. The unimpressionable engineer
was not deterred by consideration for its
beauty or its age. The tree had no message
for him. Not even the thought that the road
he was commissioned to construct was to
serve as a highway to the lofty splendor of one
of the world's most magnificent groves of
trees could win respectful treatment for the
age-old sentry that stood just outside of the
precincts. A slight curvature to the right or
left, and the tree would have been spared.
But no, the road must follow its undeviating
course, and the merciless swings of the ax in
short time laid low a firmly rooted giant that
the tempests of the past had failed to budge.
One is glad to note that indignation over
this thoughtless act of sacrifice has been wide-
spread. The Stockton Record has voiced its
protest in a vigorous editorial and the St.
Paul Daily News writes trenchantly of the
incident under the heading "He Sawed Down
400 Years' Work." Even if a new sugar
pine were planted on the spot where the old
tree stood and succeeded in withstanding all
532
NATURAL HISTORY
of the vicissitudes of the centuries, genera-
tion upon generation of men would grow from
childhood to manhood and wither away in
old age before the new tree could reach the
venerable stage represented by its predecessor.
But if we cannot conjure back what is de-
stroyed, an awakened public conscience can
at least take measures to render less likely a
repetition of such inflexible destruction.
In contrast with this incident may be cited
one for which The Shevlin-Hixon Company
of Minneapolis deserves honorable mention.
Along the highway leading into Bend, Oregon,
was a growth of timber controlled by this
lumber company. The company would have
been within its private rights if it had
chopped down this stand to the last tree, but
this corporation had a soul that responded to
the appeal of beauty, and in the public inter-
est set aside a strip of very handsome timber.
In addition, it gave as a memorial to the late
Thomas Shevlin a whole grove of trees in the
Tumalo Caiion in Oregon, and thereby aided
the Save the Redwoods League in its struggle
to preserve the scenic beauty of our North-
west. Another recent gift which the League
deeply appreciates is that of the Pacific
Lumber Company, which on February 4
deeded to the State of California a magnifi-
cent tract of 289 acres of Redwood timber
located in the heart of the State Redwood
Park and known as South Dyerville Flat.
The grove is a memorial to Simon J. Murphy,
founder of the Pacific Lumber Company.
Through this gift and the purchase of an
adjoining grove known as North Dyerville
Flat, there has been completed a stretch of
twelve miles of highway lined by giant trees
and set aside for all time for the enjoyment of
visitors to the region. Finally, through the
generosity of a donor who modestly with-
holds his name the League has been able to
acquire 113 acres on which are some of the
largest and most perfect trees of the entire
region.
Important as these donations have been,
the League wants to extend its activities and
looks forward to the day when a National
Redwoods Park, containing at least 20,000
acres, may be an accomplished fact.
ARCHEOLOGY
"Our Forerunners." — Of all the various
branches of scientific research there is none
that excites more general interest than that
concerned with the origin and development of
prehistoric man. The recent attacks upon the
doctrine of evolution — especially as it affects
man's ancestry — have greatly augmented this
interest and increased the demand for trust-
worthy and understandable accounts of the
life and times of those peoples who lived
before the dawn of history.
A notable contribution to such literature is
0^lr Forerunners'- by Dr. Miles C. Burkitt,
presented by its author to Prof. Henry Fair-
field Osborn and recently placed in the Osborn
Library of the American Museum. This
brief account of the civilizations of Palgeo-
lithic man in western Europe and along the
shores of the Mediterranean gives, as it were,
a bird's-eye view of man's prehistory. Within
the covers of a small and inexpensive book
that will easily slip into the average pocket,
the author has contrived to outline the history
of discovery, the geologic conditions, the
climate and fauna, the technique of working
flint, the principal types of tools, the main and
minor cultural divisions, the fossil human
remains, and the art of Palaeolithic times.
And with all this, he is yet able to devote a
chapter to the motives for Palaeolithic art, as
they may be conjectured from the practices
and beliefs of existing primitive tribes, and to
present vividly picturesque descriptions of the
course of daily life during the Stone Age.
In order to achieve such condensation only
main outlines of the principal features of
prehistory could be given, and much that is of
great interest has necessarily been omitted.
It is, perhaps, a little surprising that the para-
graphs on " Mousterian or Neanderthal Man"
fail to mention the skull of Gibraltar found
in 1848, as this is not only the earliest known
discovery of Neanderthaloid human remains,
but also the best preserved female skull of
that type. On the whole, this little book gives
a careful, conservative presentation of our
present knowledge of Palaeolithic man, and in
its simple, non-technical language is admirably
calculated to make the results of recent re-
search available to readers unfamiliar with
scientific terms but none the less keenly in-
terested in all that concerns Our Forerunners.
THE MARSH DARIEN EXPEDITION
Under date of March 24, Mr. C. M.
Breder, the representative of the American
Museum on the Marsh Darien Expedition,
wrote from Yavisa, Panama: "As soon as the
boat comes to take our stuff and this letter,
iBurkitt, M. C. Our Forerunners. Williams & Nor-
gate, London. 1923.
NOTES
533
we shall leave for parts unknown." The Cuna
country, the objective of the expedition, has
had an evil reputation. It has been said that
parties that entered it in the past have not
returned from its fastnesses and the behef
prevailed that they had been killed by hos-
tile Indians. It was the possible danger from
this source that was uppermost in the minds
of those who followed with interest, mingled
with concern, the progress of the expedition.
Serious obstacles on the part of the natives
were not encountered: but the evil reputation
of the Cuna country is nevertheless justified
on other grounds. A more sinister foe than
savage man has claimed its victims among
those who dared to cross the boundaries of this
forbidden territory. The first to succumb was
a representative of the Panamanian govern-
ment assigned to the expedition, whose death
may possibly be ascribed to disease contracted
before the journey was undertaken. Over-
strain, infection through the bite of an insect,
and the tropical climate completely under-
mined the health of Mr. John L. Baer, the
ethnologist of the expedition. For a time the
hope was entertained that it might be possible
to carry him, fever-racked as he was, out of the
interior to Caledonia Bay on the Atlantic
Ocean and thence take him by ship to some
port where he might receive medical attention.
But this hope proved vain. Mr. Baer died a
martyr to science in a region the mysteries of
which he had set out to penetrate.
Mr. Breder himself did not escape un-
scathed. He developed a case of typhoid
and malaria, which nece.ssitated his return to
Colon. For a time grave anxiety was felt b}^
his family and friends, but in answer to their
hopes for his recovery, he is today restored
to health and strength.
While the results attained by the expedi-
tion cannot be weighed in the balance with
the sacrifice of life that it has entailed, it is,
nevertheless, some consolation to know that
the brave men who faced disease and death
in their devotion to science have helped to
attain the objects for which the expedition
set out.
The chief purpose was to locate the blond
Indians which, it was known, lived somewhere
in the area selected for penetration, and to
inquire into their origin and mode of hfe.
Complete success attended this search as
indicated in the following cable received by
the department of anthropology, American
Museum, under date of June 18:
"Marsh arrived Colon with three white
Indians, golden hair, hazel blue eyes, white
tender skins: two boys with liver spots, girl
comparatively clear; gums pink, skulls un-
usual in size and shape, large, round, decidedly
different from typical San Bias.
Breder."
Early in July these Indians were brought to
New York and anthropologists from leading
institutions were invited to meet them and
give collective consideration to the problem
presented by their physical pecuHarities.
The pubhc interest in these abnormal repre-
sentatives of the "red" man was indicated
by the number of newspaper articles devoted
to the ichite Indians.
Though other phases of the work of the
expedition yield in spectacular appeal to this
anthropologic investigation, much of scienti-
fic interest was discovered also in the field of
zoology. Brief mention may be made of some
of the results achieved by Mr. Breder during
the week spent at Yavisa prior to the pene-
tration of the interior. Here he had a rare
opportunity to make an intensive study of a
small section. When he first arrived, all the
frog streams save one were dry, waterless
beds, and the outlook was discouraging. But
two sohd days of rain transformed the scene,
and before his departure he was able to obtain
life-history data regarding seven species of
frogs, as well as photographs and specimens.
Of four of the species he managed to secure a
developmental series. After leaving Yavisa he
gathered data regarding several other species.
Mr. Breder's collecting is not confined to
amphibians. He has been taking also reptiles
and fishes, and incidentally birds. Preliminary
examination of the material he has brought
together indicates that there are included at
least several new species of fishes and reptiles.
AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES
A Sphenodon Group for the American
Museum. — After more than ten years of cor-
respondence and efforts on the part of a
number of scientists, the American Museum is
at last to have a group illustrating the home
life of the Sphenodon — that "living fossil"
which has the appearance soniewhat of a
lizard but is actually more closely allied to the
crocodiles. The final arrangements for secur-
ing this material were made bj' Doctor Hovey
during his recent trip to New Zealand.
Sphenodon is the only hving representative
of that order of rep tiles known as the Rhyncho-
534
NATURAL HISTORY
cephalia, a group which appai'ently reached its
ascendancy during Mesozoic times. Spheno-
don is found today only on some of the small
islands off the coast of New Zealand, where it
frequents the burrows of a petrel (Puffinus
carneipes). This association of reptile and
bird has probably, to a large extent, permitted
the survival of Sphenodon to recent years, for
the reptile not only secures the protection of
the petrel's home but feeds to a large extent
upon the food that the parent birds bring to
their young. Although some writers have
claimed that these odd companions get along
in perfect harmonj', other investigators report
that the petrels frequently try to drive the
reptiles out of their homes. The group of
Sphenodon in the American Museum will
represent just such a home scene, for, thanks
to the kindness of Doctor Speight and Mr.
Sladden of New Zealand, the American Mu-
seum now has specimens of the petrel and its
eggs as well as Sphenodon and its eggs, and all
accessories necessary for such a group. In
addition to illustrating a curious case of para-
sitism, the Sphenodon Group will have inter-
est because of the extreme scarcity of the
specimens.
Today Sphenodon is rigorously protected
by the New Zealand Government; it is,
nevertheless, almost extinct, for a large hawk
{Circus gouldi) has become naturaUzed on the
island and feeds to a large extent upon this
reptile. Formerly the natives of New Zealand
considered Sphenodon a great table delicacy,
and as the reptiles are easy to catch, these
people made great inroads upon them. It is
highly doubtful whether Sphenodon will sur-
vive in spite of the present strict protection
enforced by the government.
Amphibians of the Congo. — Dr. G. K.
Noble, curator of the department of amphib-
ians and reptiles, American Museum, has
recently issued his report on the Amphibia
collected by the American Museum Congo
Expedition. The report constitutes Part III
of Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian
Congo, the two preceding parts, devoted
respectively to "Turtles, Crocodiles, Lizards,
and Chameleons" and to "Snakes," having
been prepared by Mr. Karl Patterson Schmidt.
Doctor Noble's report treats of 2170 speci-
mens, distributed among fifteen genera and
fifty-three species. Of the three species
described for the first time, one (Hymeno-
chirus curtipes) comes from the open country
near the mouth of the Congo, and differs
conspicuously from Cameroon specimens of
H. boettgeri, which have much greater leg-
length, enlarged lateral tubercles, broad heads,
and indented webbing of the digits. The
other two are known only from the forests of
the Ituri district, many miles farther inland.
One of them, Hyperolius langi, named after
Herbert Lang, leader of the expedition, is
reddish brown above with an indistinct stripe
of pale yellow about the eye and the shoulder.
The other, Rana Chapini, named in honor of
Mr. James P. Chapin, Mr. Lang's associate in
the expedition, proves to be larger than any
related form.
While no comprehensive work on African
Amphibia has appeared since Boulenger's
catalogue was issued in 1882, papers on the
subject have been appearing with consider-
able frequency during the four decades sepa-
rating that date from the present and the
bibliography incorporated in the report will,
therefore, be a welcome aid to many. Another
outstanding feature of the report is ^ check list
of the Amphibia of Africa. The accepted
opinion as to the status of the various species
is indicated and the ranges are given in so far
as it is possible. Finally, mention should be
made of the series of batrachian portraits
taken in the field by Mr. Lang, which con-
stitutes a striking pictorial contribution to the
report.
The reports dealing with the American Mu-
seum Congo Expedition, several of which are
still in course of preparation, will require, it is
estimated, twelve Bulletin volumes for their
presentation. It is the plan to adopt for the
completed work a series title: The Zoology of
the Belgian Congo.
MARINE LIFE
Diving for Corals at Andros Island. —
Dr. Roy W. Miner, curator of lower inverte-
brates, American Museum, writes from
Andros Island in the Bahamas, that on a beau-
tiful calm moonlight night the expedition of
which he is in charge crossed the- sixty-five
miles that separate Andros from Nassau,
arriving off the reefs south of Mangrove
Cay at daybreak on June 17. The purpose of
the expedition is to obtain material for the
coral group that is to be a feature of the pro-
jected hall of ocean life, American Museum.
The equipment required, including the Wil-
hamson tube, is of an elaborate character, as
may be inferred from Doctor Miner's descrip-
tion of the strange assortment of craft that
NOTES
535
were towed in Indian file to the scene of
operations:
"En route our fleet consisted of the
'Lady Cordeaux,' which is the government
tug, and without which it would have been
impossible for us to have negotiated 'The
Tongue of the Ocean ' ; second, the submarine
tube barge, 'Jules Verne,' with its odd-looking
tower and ventilator; third, the pontoons
bearing the chain hoist, an extremely impor-
tant unit in the fleet; fourth, the 'Bitter
End,' a heavily built hfeboat containing a
motor; fifth, the 'Standard,' our floating
headquarters. Captain Joe Bethel's fine 45-
foot gasoline launch, with sleeping quarters
for seven people including the captain; sixth,
the 'Nautilus,' a small but powerful gaso-
line tender for the barge; and finally, two
dinghies."
Such a fleet would occasion remark even in
New York harbor; imagine, then, the furor its
arrival must have created in a little settlement
where nothing usually occurs to break the
monotony except the biweekly mail schooner,
an occasional hurricane, and the periodic
deaths among the oldest inhabitants!
On June 19 the members of the expedition
saw the outer side of the Andros reef from the
tube for the first time and its beauty thrilled
Doctor Miner, who thus describes it:
"The main reef is composed of a dense
forest of Acropora palmata, for all the world
like an orchard of apple trees but much more
closely set with interlacing branches rising
from the reef platform from twelve to sixteen
feet and breaking the water surface at low
tide,— a jungle of marble trees fading into the
opalescent blue of the watery fog. Clearings
in this stony woodland are dotted with clusters
and clumps of posthke growths of Orbicellidai
combined with symmetrical fronds of deer-
horn corals and gorgonians. Large tracts of
the reef floor in front of the forest are com-
pletely covered with grotesquely branching
elkhorns, their weird spikes contorted and
interlaced like a defensive barrier. Troops of
brilliantly colored fishes filed past in solemn
processions, and a great trumpet fish glided
past in sohtary state.
"Into the midst of this strange world
Williamson fioated down in his diving helmet
and advanced with peculiar half -gliding
strides among the coral clumps. An immense
crowbar was lowered to him on a rope. Pois-
ing this as an armored knight might place his
lance in rest, he attacked the base of a coral
clump and it fell at his touch. He then
attached the cluster to a rope lowered by the
men above, and the corals became a part of
our collection.
"We have also used the 10-ton chain hoist
most effectively. In fact, it is only by means
of this apparatus that we can get up the
heavier and larger pieces. It permits a direct
pull and the corals are drawn up between the
two paraflel pontoons. These have a very
shallow draft and the corals are easily floated
to the beach irrespective of their weight.
There Mr. Mueller takes them in charge and
starts the bleaching process, while the sea
fans andf gorgonians are hung up on lines to
dry.
"We have to take our chances on the outer
reef as the wind often rises and prevents opera-
tions there until calm weather again prevails.
At other times we work inside the reefs and in
the more protected channels. Williamson has
spent hours under the water in his diving
helmet and has been indefatigable in the
securing of specimens. The Museum owes a
great deal to his cooperation and unquench-
able energy."
BIRDS
At the annual meeting of the National
Education Association held in Washington,
D.C., Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy, assistant
director, American Museum, addressed an
audience composed of eight hundred teachers
of geography, gathered from all of the states
of the Union, on the achievements and pros-
pective work of the Whitney South Sea Expe-
dition under Mr. RoUo Beck, — an expedition
which has been making a painstaking study
of the bird life of Polynesia and in the course
of its cruises has contributed incidentally to
making more widely known the interest of the
island-dotted ocean that lies beyond the
reach of the generaUty of travelers. The
lecture was one of two which the National
Geographic Society arranged in honor of the
gathering.
NEW MEMBERS
Since the last issue of Natural History
the following persons have been elected mem-
bers of the American Museum, making the
total membership 7693 :
Life Members: Mrs. W. R. Grace; Messrs.
William Shepherd Dana, Desmon Fitz-
gerald, Francis L. Higginson, David G.
Joyce, and Joseph F. Stier.
536
NATURAL HITSORY
Sustaining Member: Miss Susan M. Sturges.
Annual Members: Mesdames Max Far-
rand, Horace Westlake Frink, Joseph J.
Klein, Charles Howland Russell, Harry
J. Smith, K. B. Spencer, E. S. Steinam,
Edmund A. Stirn, Arthur L. Strasser,
Edward E. Thalmann, Josephine A.
Thibaut, Alden H. Weed; the Misses
Katherine Bigley, Margaret S. Remsen,
Helen R. Sloan, Margaret E. Turner;
Doctors Samuel J. Kopetzky, Philip W.
Nathan, Charles Norris, George T.
Strodl, a. McI. Strong, Walter Timme;
Messrs. Boris A. Bokhmeteff, Alfred T.
Beals, William F. Bishop, H. Blair-Smith,
F. Rhinelander Brown, Stefan de Kosen-
KO, IsiDOR Greenwald, Angelo Hirsch,
Jacob D. Jais, Fred'k Lowenheim, John C.
Lyeth, Stockton Mulford, Elie Nadel-
MAN, Arthur K. Ohmes, J. E. Ridder,
Albert R. Rogers, Dederick H. Schmidt,
Charles Green Smith, James A. Smith,
Chas. p. Soden, H. Boardman Spalding, M.
Spark, Fred F. Steinhardt, Samuel C.
Steinhardt, William H. Steinkamp,
Harold W. Stevens, Louis Stieglitz,
Charles G. Strater, M. B. Streeter,
Walter E. Strobel, Malcolm Sumner,
Edwin S. S. Sunderland, Woodburn
SWORMSTEDT, EmILE TaS, ArTHUR W. TeELE,
James P. Thomas, Brainard Tolles, Paul
R. TowNE, James H. Turner, Langdon B.
Valentine, E. R. Van Sickle, A. Whit-
ridge, and Albert Wortm AN.
Associate Members: Mesdames W. H.
CooLiDGE, Jr., Arthur S. Eldredge,
ThomasJ. Emery, S.B. Grinnell, Arthur P.
Nazro, George P. Sanger, E. C. Streeter,
John L. Thorndike, George Upton, I.
De Ver Wabner, J. Bertram Williams;
THE Misses Katrine Rosalind Greene, L.
E. Reggio, Lucretia S. Watson; Prof. E. B.
Babcock, Judge Marcus Morton; Col.
A. D. Akin; Rev. C. K. Benedict; Doctors
Randolph K. Byers, Elmer T. Learned,
S. J. Mixter, Francis W. Palfrey, Wil-
liam L. Richardson, Stephen Rushmore,
Wilfred Sefton, Harold C. Stuart,
Howard T. Swain, James C. White, Francis
H. Williams; Messrs. E. W. Allen, Albert
F. BiGELow, Nathan D. Bill, Allison
Bishopric, L. F. Brigham, D. R. Bullen,
Joseph C. Degiorgio, J. De Witt, Robert
E. Dexter, Theodore S. Dohrmann,
Walter A. Draper, W. S. Westerman
Edgar, A. O. Elzner, Grenville G. Gar-
CEAu, Haring White Griggs, John L. Hall,
Leslie Hastings, John Heard, Jr., Frank-
lin W. HoBBS, A. R. HoRR, John K.
Howard, E. W. Howe, Robert W. Hunt-
ington, Ralph B. Ives, Arthur M. Jones,
RoBT. Ralston Jones, Roger S. Kellen,
Carl T. Keller, B. M. Kinser, Hugo
Klauber, John A. Knowles, Morris F.
LaCroix, Joseph P. Livermore, Henry Loy,
George Armstrong Lyon, Albert Mat-
thews, Walter J. Mitchell, Cabot
J. Morse, J. M. Morton, Jr., B. P. P.
MosELEY, Francis S. Moulton, George S.
Mumford, John B. Paine, Richard C.
Paine, Frederic Parker, Cyrus E.
Phillips, Philip L. Reed, F. L. W. Richard-
son, Jr., Alfred L. Ripley, Wm. Prescott
Rogers, Richard Sears, Ed Sewall, Clar-
ence R. Shoemaker, Charles Wilkins
Short, Claude De Witt Simpson, R. Paul
Snelling, Nathan B. Talbot, Chas. H.
Taylor, Geo. R. Tennent, Benjamin W.
Thoron, George H. Timmins, Joseph R.
Walker, Bentley W. Warren, Fiske War-
ren, Samuel D. Warren, Frederick S.
Whitwell, and Winthrop C. Winslow.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
FOUNDED IN 1869
Board of Trustees
Henky Fairfield Osborn, President
George F. Baker, First Vice President
J. P. Morgan, Second Vice President
George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer
Percy R. Pyne, Secretary
Frederick F. Brewster
Frederick Trubee Davison
Cleveland H. Dodge
Cleveland Earl Dodge
Walter Douglas
Childs Frick
Madison Grant
William Averell Harriman
John F. Hylan, Mayor of the City of New York
Charles L. Graig, Comptroller of the City of New York
Francis D. Gallatin, Commissioner of the Department of Parks
Clarence L. Hay
Archer M. Huntington
Adrian Iselin
Walter B. James
Roswell Miller
Ogden Mills
A. Perry Osborn
George D. Pratt
Theodore Roosevelt
Leonard C. Sanford
John B. Trevor
Felix M. Warburg
MEMBERSHIP NEARLY SEVEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED
For the enrichment of its collections, for the support of its explorations and scientific research,
and for the maintenance of its publications, the American Museum of Natural History is de-
pendent wholly upon membership fees and the generosity of friends. More than 7600 members
are now enrolled who are thus supporting the work of the Museum. The various classes of
membership are:
Associate Member (nonresident)* , annually S3
Annual Member annually 10
Sustaining Member annually 25
Life Member 100
Fellow 500
Patron 1,000
Associate Benefactof 10,000
Associate Founder 25,000
Benefactor 50,000
*Persons residing fifty miles or more from New Yoik City
Subscriptions by check and inquiries regarding membership should be addressed: George
F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum of Natural History, New York City.
FREE TO MEMBERS
NATURAL HISTORY: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Natural History, published bimonthly by the Museum, is sent to all classes of members
as one of their privileges. Through Natural History they are kept in touch with the activi-
ties of the Museum and with the marvels of nature as they are revealed by study and explora-
tion in various regions of the globe.
AUTUMN AND SPRING COURSES OF POPULAR LECTURES
Series of illustrated lectures, held in the Auditorium of the Museum on alternate Thursday
evenings in the fall and spring of the year, are open only to members and to those holding tickets
given them by members.
Illustrated stories for the children of members are told on alternate Saturday mornings in
the fall and in the spring.
MEMBERS' CLUB ROOM AND GUIDE SERVICE
A room on the third floor of the Museum, equipped with every convenience for rest, reading,
and correspondence, is set apart during Museum hours for the exclusive use of members. When
visiting the Museum, members are also privileged to avail themselves of the services of an
instructor for guidance.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY has a record of more
than fifty years of public usefulness, during which its activities have grown and
broadened, until today it occupies a position of recognized importance not only in the
community it immediately serves but in the educational life of the nation. Every year
brings evidence — in the growth of the Museum membership, in the ever-larger number
of individuals visiting its exhibits for study and recreation, in the rapidly expanding
activities of its school service, in the wealth of scientific information gathered by its
world-wide expeditions and disseminated through its pubhcations — of the increasing
influence exercised by the institution. In 1923 no fewer than 1,440,726 individuals
visited the Museum as against 1,309,856 in 1922 and 1,174,397 in 1921. All of these
people had access to the exhibition halls without the payment of any admission fee
whatsoever.
The EXPEDITIONS of the American Museum have yielded during the past year
results of far-reaching importance. The fossil discoveries in Mongolia made by the
Third Asiatic Expedition, the representative big-game animals of India obtained by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition, the collections of fossil vertebrates made in the Siwalik
Hills by Mr. Barnum Brown, the achievements of the Whitney South Sea Expedition,
and of other expeditions working in selected areas of South America, in the United
States, in the West Indies, and in Panama, are representative of the field activities of
the Museum during 1923. Many habitat groups, exhibiting specimens secured by
these expeditions, are planned for the new buildings of the Museimi,
The SCHOOL SERVICE of the Museum reaches annually more than 5,000,000 boys
and girls, through the opportunities it affords classes of students to visit the Museum ;
through lectures on natural history especially designed for pupils and delivered both
in the Museum and in many school centers; through its loan collections, or "traveling
museums," which during the past year circulated among 472 schools, with a total
attendance of 1,491,021 pupils. During the same period 440,315 lantern slides were
loaned by the Museum for use in the schools as against 330,298 in 1922, the total
number of children reached being 3,839,283.
The LECTURE COURSES, some exclusively for members and their children,
others for the schools, colleges, and the general public, are delivered both in the
Museum and at outside educational institutions.
The LIBRARY, comprising 100,000 volumes, is at the service of scientific workers
and others interested in natural history, and an attractive reading room is provided
for their accommodation.
The POPULAR PUBLICATIONS of the Museum, in addition to Natukal His-
tory, include Handbooks, which deal with the subjects illustrated by the collections,
and Guide Leaflets, which describe some exhibit or series of exhibits of special intei'est
or importance, or the contents of some hall or some branch of Museum activity.
The SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS of the Museum, based upon its explorations
and the study of its collections, comprise the Memoirs, of quarto size, devoted to mono-
graphs requiring large or fine illustrations and exhaustive treatment; the Bulletin,
issued since 1881, in octavo form, dealing with the scientific activities of the depart-
ments, aside from anthropology; the Anthropological Papers, recording the work of the
staff of the department of anthropology, and Novitates, devoted to the publication of
preliminary scientific announcements, descriptions of new forms, and similar matters.
For a detailed list of popular and scientific publications with prices apply to
The Libearian, American Museum of Natural History,
New York City
Vol. XXIV SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1924
No. 5
CSSr^SBTE^^SCSSTT^SSZTi^
iNATURALi
iHISTORYl
THE OCEANS
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION by
Robert Cushman Murphy— THE OCEANS by William
Morris Davis-THE NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL AND
THE GUADALUPE FUR SEAL by Charles Haskins
TowNSEND-A TRIP TO GUADALUPE, THE ISLE OF
MY BOYHOOD DREAMS by Laurence M. Huey-THE
SEAL COLLECTION OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM by
Frederic A. Lucas-HUNTING CORALS IN THE BAHA-
MAS BY Roy Waldo Miner-THE CORAL GARDENS
OF ANDROS pictured by Roy Waldo Miner and J. E.
WiLLiAMsoN-A SUBMARINE CABLE AMONG THE
CORALS BY Charles Haskins Townsend— "PEARLS AND
SAVAGES," A REVIEW by William K. Gregory i^ ^
BIRD BANDING by Maunsell S. Crosby
The oceans unite all shores and bring the world more closely together.
The expeditions of the American Museum have ranged over many seas and
have enjoyed the aid and hospitality of maritime nations from the poles to
the equator. To all of these the appreciation of the Museum is hereby ex-
tended. A* i# i# d# i# i# A* i* ^
wis?srt:^s?rss7
3 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN g
Q MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY p
f\ EXPLORATION -RESEARCH-EDUCATION (1
annual subscription $3.00 single copies 50 cents
free to MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATE MEMBERS OF THE MUSEUM
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Scientific Staff for 1924
Henry Faiefield Osbohn, LL.D., President
Frederic A. Lucas, Sc.D., Honorary Director
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Acting Director and Executive Secretary
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc, Assistant Director (Scientific Section)
James L. Clark, Assistant Director (Preparation Section)
I. DIVISION OF MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY,
AND GEOGRAPHY
History of the Earth
Edmund Otis Hovey, Ph.D., Curator
Chester A. Reeds, JPh.D., Associate Curator of Inverte-
brate Palseontology
Minerals and Gems
Herbekt P. Whitlock, C. E., Curator
George F. Kunz, Ph.D., Research Associate in Gems
Extinct Animals
Henry Fairpield Osborn, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu-
rator
W. D. Matthew, Ph.D. Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals
Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles
Charles C. Mook, Ph.D., Associate Curator
William K. Gregory, Associate in Palaeontology
Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology
II.
DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE-
OGRAPHY
Marine Life
Roy W. Miner, Ph.D., Curator
Willard G. Van Name, Ph.D., Assistant Curator
Frank J. Myers, Research Associate in Rotifera
Horace W. Stunkaed, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para-
sitology
A. L. Treadwell, Ph.D., Research Associate in Annulata
Insect Life
Frank E. Lutz, Ph.D., Curator
A. J. MuTCHLER, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera
Frank E. Watson, B.S., Assistant in Lepidoptera
William M.Wheeler, Ph.D., Research Associate in Social
Insects
Charles W. Leng, B.S., Research Associate in Coleoptera
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Research Associate in
Hymenoptera
Fishes
Bashford Dean, Ph.D., Honorary Curator
JohnT. Nichols, a. B., Associate Curator of Recent Fishes
E. W. Gudgbr, Ph.D., Associate in Ichthyology
Charles H. Townsend, Sc.D., Research Associate
Amphibians and Reptiles
G. KiNGSLEY Noble, Ph.D., Curator
Birds
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief
W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator
Robert Cushman Murphy, D.Sc, Associate Curator of
Marine Birds
James P. Chapin, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Birds of the
Eastern Hemisphere
Ludlow Griscom, M.A., Assistant Curator
Jonathan Dwight, M.D., Research Associate in North
American Ornithology
Elsie M. B. Naumburg, Research Associate
Mammals of the World
H. E. Anthony, A.M., Associate Curator of Mammals of
the Western Hemisphere (In Charge)
Herbert Lang, Associate Curator of African ^lammals
Carl E. Akeley, Associate in Mammalogy
Comparative and Human Anatomy
William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
S. H. Chubb, Associate Curator
H. C. Raven, Assistant Curator
J. Howard McGregor, Ph.D., Research Associate in
■ Human Anatomy
III. DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Science of Man
Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
N. C. Nelson, M.L., Associate Curator of Archaeology
Charles W. Mead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Archee-
ology
Louis R. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Physical
Anthropology
J. Alden Mason, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Mexican
Archaeology
Clarence L- Hay, A.M., Research Associate in Mexican
and Central American Archaeology
MiLO Hellman, D.D.S., Research Associate in Physical
Anthropology
Animal Functions
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator
IV. DIVISION OF ASIATIC EXPLORATION
AND RESEARCH
Third Asiatic Expedition
Roy Chapman Andrews, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Palaeontology
Frederick K. Morris, A.M., Associate Curator in Geology
and Geography
Charles P. Berkey, Ph.D., [Columbia University], Re-
search Associate in Geology
Amadeus W. Grabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Research Associate
Clifford H. Pope, Assistant in Zoology
V. DIVISION OP EDUCATION AND PUB-
LICATION
Library and Publications
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Ida Richardson Hood, A.B., Assistant Librarian
Public Education
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D., Curator of Visual Instruction
Grace Fisher Ramsey, Assistant Curator
Public Health
Charles-Edward Amory Winslow, D.P.H., Honorary
Curator
Mart Gbeig, Assistant Curator
Astronomy
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D. (In Charge)
Public Information Committee
George N. Pindar, Chairman
George H. Sherwood, A.M.
Robert C. Murphy, D.Sc.
Natural History IVIagazine
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Editor and Chairman
A. Katherine Berger, Assistant Editor
Advisory Committee
H. E. Anthony, KM. Frederick K. Morris, A.M.
James P. Chapin, Ph.D. G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D.
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D. George N. Pindar
NATURAL
I
D
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
DEVOTED TO NATURAL HISTORY,
EXPLORATION AND THE DEVELOP-
MENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
THROUGH THE MUSEUM
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1 924
[Published November, 1924]
Volume XXIV, Number 5
Copyright, 1924, by The American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
1ST
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER Number 5
Frontispiece, A New Kingfisher from the Tuamotus opposite 539
From a painting by Courtenay Brandreth
The Whitney South Sea Expedition Robert Cushman Murphy 539
A sketch of the bird life of Polynesia
With photographs of the birds and their habitats by Rollo H. Beck, leader of the Whitney South
Sea Expedition
The Oceans William Morris Davis 554
Their origin and significance, their surface phenomena, and the character of their depths
Headpiece from a photograph by Juhan A. Dimock, and explanatory diagrams drafted by W, E.
Belanske
The Northern Elephant Seal and the Guadalupe Fur Seal.
Charles Haskins Townsend 566
An historic sketch, with special reference to the expedition of the " Albatross " in 1911
With a picture of the Elephant Seal Group, made possible through the generosity of Mr. Arthur
Curtiss James, and photographs of the living animals, on the beach and in captivity, taken
by Doctor Townsend
A Trip to Guadalupe, the Isle of My Boyhood Dreams.
Laurence M. Huey 578
Impressions of a recent soj ourn on an island where man has upset the balance of nature, with an
account of the present status of the elephant seal herd described in the preceding article
Photographs by the author
The Seal Collection Frederic A. Lucas 589
A feature of the Hall of Ocean Life, American Museum
With a reproduction of the Fur Seal Group and portraits of some of the seals described
Hunting Corals in the Bahamas Roy Waldo Miner 594
Undersea experiences along the barrier reef of Andros Island
With a color plate by W. E. Belanske prepared, under the direction of the author, from a photo-
graph of living corals, as well as several illustrations indicative of the work of the Museum ex-
pedition
The Coral Gardens of Andros opposite 600
Duotone reproductions of photographs taken through the Wilhamson Submarine Tube by Roy
W. Miner and J. E. Williamson
A Submarine Cable Among the Corals . . . Charles Haskins Townsend 601
A gauge of their rate of growth
With a coral-encrusted section of the cable photographed by permission of the Commercial
Cable Company
"Pearls and Savages" William K. Gregory 603
A review of Captain Frank Hurley's book on New Guinea
Bird Banding Maunsell S. Crosby 605
A survey of its development and its application in the solution of problems that puzzle the
ornithologist
Photographs of methods of trapping and banding, as well as portraits of banded birds, by S.
Prentiss Baldwin, L. R. Talbot, T. D. Carter, G. Clyde Fisher, R. H. Howland, and
Arthur A. Allen
Notes 618
Published bimonthly, by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
Subscription price $3.00 a year.
Subscriptions should be addressed to George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum
of Natm-al History, 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Natural History is sent to all members of the American Museum as one of the privileges of
membership.
Entered as second-class matter April 3, 1919, at the Post Office at New York, New York,
under the Act of August 24, 1912.
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of
October 3, 1917, authorized on July 15, 1918.
From a painting by Courtenay Brandreih
A NEW KINGFISHER FROM THE TUAMOTUS
Todirhamphus gertrudse, a hitherto undescribed kingfisher obtained during the Whitney
Expedition at Niau Island of the Tuamotu Group, South Pacific Ocean. The bird at the right
is an adult male, the other a female in not quite fully mature plumage; the reproduction is
one-half natural size. The Polynesian kingfishers previously known to science are chiefly
native to more or less mountainous islands. This species, however, inhabits a wooded atoll
less than five miles in diameter, which encloses a mouthless lagoon.
The kingfisher has been named in honor of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (Mrs. Harry
Payne Whitney)
Volume XXIV
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
NUMBEK 5
The "France" under motor pnwer among coral islets of the Tuamotus
The Whitney South Sea Expedition
A SKETCH OF THE BIRD LIFE OF POLYNESIA
By ROBERT CUSHMAN MURPHY
Assistant Director (Scientific Section) , American Museum
theIphotographs used as illustrations of this article wehe taken by rollo h. beck, leader of the
whitney south sea expedition
EASTWARD from Australia and
New Guinea, stretches the great-
est assemblage of islands upon
earth. The separate archipel-
agoes, which lie mostly between the
outer borders of the tropics, are too
varied to be considered as a unit and,
like Gaul, are divided according to
racial characteristics of the native
peoples into three major parts, of which
the easternmost is Polynesia or the
domain of "Many Isles." Roughly
speaking, this group comprises land
areas of the Central Pacific Ocean which
are situated east of a diagonal line
connecting New Zealand with Hawaii.
Although all share the blood-stirring
tradition of the true ''South Seas,"
the Polynesian isles are by no means of
one type; rather, they illustrate three
or more stages in the birth or dis-
integration of oceanic land. Some,
like certain of the Marquesas and
Austral islands, are little more than
bold rocks rising from profound depths.
Others, such as Tahiti, are lofty,
heavily forested, volcanic peaks,
rimmed successively by narrow coastal
shelves, sandy beaches, coral fringes,
moatlike lagoons, and barrier reefs.
Still others, like the majority of the
Tuamotus, are low-lying bars and
atolls, upon which mangroves and coco-
nut palms make up the conspicuous
vegetation. The several tj-pes occur,
too, in hybrid stages, and they are
sometimes further comphcated by up-
thrusts from the sea bottom which
cause such coral formations as iMaka-
tea and Mangareva of the Tuamotus,
and Rurutu of the Australs, to resem-
ble superficially the product of out-
pouring lava.
But whether a mere spit lying in
perpetual jeopardy of engulfing waters,
or a green and craggy mountain in the
sea, each isle of Polynesia seems to
have inherited some of the spell of
Eden. ''Few men who come to the
islands leave them," said Stevenson,
who exemplified his own belief; "they
grow grey where they alighted. The
palm shades and the trade-wind fans
them till they die, perhaps cherishing
53»
540
NATURAL HISTORY
to the last the fancy of a visit home,
which is rarely made, more rarely en-
joyed, and yet more rarely repeated.
No part of the world exerts the same
attractive power upon the visitor."
THE SOUTH PACIFIC AS A FIELD FOR
EXPLORATION
With the continual dwindling of un-
known areas on the continents, the
Pacific islands stand, in a sense, as the
last rich field for scientific exploration.
This does not mean that many islets,
however insignificant, remain to be
found and christened by adventurous
voyagers. Most of them, indeed, have
been pricked, generations ago, on well-
worn charts, and have been named and
renamed from two to ten times by sea-
farers of five centuries ! Perhaps no
tiny spot of land now exists the shores
of which have not shown the ephem-
eral footprints of half a thousand free-
booters, explorers, slavers, whalemen,
and beach combers from the white
man's world. But the greater part of
whatever spoil or impressions these
wanderers brought away has passed
with them into oblivion.
True geographical science, in the
words of Sir Archibald Geikie, is not a
"chronicle of marvellous and often
questionable adventures by flood and
fell. . .
'■'It requires more training in its
explorers abroad, more knowledge on
the part of its readers at home. The
days are drawing to a close when one
can gain undying geographical renown
by struggling against man and beast,
fever and hunger and drought, across
some savage and previously unknown
region, even though little can be shown
as the outcome of the journey. All
honour to the pioneers by whom this
first exploratory work has been so
nobly done! They will be succeeded
by a race that will find its laurels more
difficult to win — a race from which
more will be expected, and which will
need to make up in the variety, amount,
and value of its detail, what it lacks in
the freshness of first glimpses into new
lands."
These comments apply with particu-
lar force to Polynesia. Pacific ex-
ploration has, in fact, only begun to
go beyond its primitive stage. Dis-
covery, high-handed annexation, the
claims and bickerings of world Powers,
travel for its own sake, missionary
activity by numerous sects, phosphate
digging, agriculture, commerce in copra,
pearls, and trepang — these have gone
on here and there for a hundred years,
but the increase of exact knowledge has
been relatively small. Whole tribes of
splendid aboriginal peoples have melted
away under the blights of civilization
before their traditions could be recorded
or their relationships determined. With
the decimation of the native Polyne-
sians, some of their culture plants,
such as many varieties of breadfruit
which require human nurture, have also
tended to disappear. Abnormal con-
centration of copra gatherers or pearl
fishermen upon small islets has worked
its evil effect upon the face of nature.
Moreover, the acclimation of alien
fruits, and of weedlike shrubs, such as
the guava and lantana, has changed the
entire aspect of the flora on certain
islands. Nor has the fauna suffered
less severely. In the path of the heed-
less white exploiter many a defenseless
ground-living bird vanished so long
ago that it is now only an obscure
name in the annals of ornithology.
Foreign animals, doinestic or wild,
have added to the destructive changes.
The introduction of sheep, dogs, cats,
and even of the mongoose, into islands
which had no indigenous mammals,
together with the rapid spread of
starlings and weaver finches, and of a
b awk transported from Australia, makes
it inevitable that still more of the
original Polynesian birds are doomed to
go the way of the lost species, perhaps
even before they are known to science.
In short, from earliest times the
study of natural history in the Pacific
has been subordinate to other aims.
The all but mythical Spanish naviga-
tors of the sixteenth century, such as
Alvaro Mendaiia de Neyra, who dis-
covered the Marquesas Islands about
1595, carried no savants in their gal-
leons. So far as we know, their travels
were spurred on by the incongruous
medieval motives of conquest and sal-
^^"""""'wwrn^
iJ^^'ilt
ROLLO H. BECK, LEADER OF THE WHITNEY 80UTH SEA EXPEDITION
Mr. Beck is seen, notebook in hand, recording a find on Fakarava Island. The nest is
that of a brown booby (Sula leiicogaster plotus). The "France" is in the offing
541
542
NATURAL HISTORY
vation, both to be ruthlessly imposed
upon all the brown-skinned infidels.
The voyagers of the Golden Age of
exploration, like Bougainville and
James Cook, were accompanied by
naturalists who brought back to
Europe the first examples of many
historic plants and animals, but their
expeditions were mainly concerned,
nevertheless, with pure geographic
discovery and with observing as-
Mr. Quayleand his Polynesian guide search-
ing for the breeding ground of the nohud, or
Tahitian petrel (Pterodroma rostrata), among
lofty, forested ridges on which Titian Peale
first discovered the species more than eighty
years ago
tronomical phenomena such as a transit
of the planet Venus. Subsequently,
land collecting of an incidental sort
has been undertaken by oceanographic
expeditions, such as those of Darwin's
ship, the "Beagle," the fleet under
command of Wilkes during the United
States Exploring Expedition of 1838-42,
or the Bureau of Fisheries steamer
"Albatross" during her several Pacific
voyages. Finally, naturalists on long
yachting cruises, or working entirely
as free lances, have added sporadically
to our knowledge of the Polynesian
groups. Most of the South Pacific
collections in modern scientific mu-
seums consist of fragmentary material
derived from such sources, and, so far
as birds are concerned, no other part
of the world still affords so many spe-
cies either inadequately represented
or totally lacking in all museums.
So much for the opportunity — an
opportunity which it was necessary to
seize within the span of the present
generation if it was not to slip away
irrevocably.
THE WHITNEY EXPEDITION IS LAUNCHED
Four years ago, Dr. Leonard C.
Sanford, a Trustee and Honorary
Fellow of the American, Museum with
an ardent interest in oceanic birds, in-
duced Mr. Harry Payne Whitney to
support a notable project in the Pacific.
The choice of a leader in the field was
fixed by virtue of former accomplish-
ment upon Mr. RoUo H. Beck, a
veteran exploring naturalist who had
previously served the Museum on
expeditions in South American waters
and elsewhere. Fortunately, the plan
appealed to Mr. Beck, and so, in
August, 1920, the Whitney South Sea
Expedition was launched.
Space will not permit an account of
the argonautic travels of Mr. Beck
and his successive associates, Messrs.
Quayle and Correia, but brief glimpses
of their experiences have been given
by the leader himself in various issues
of Natural History.^
Suffice it to say that after a recon-
naissance of the classic isle of Ta-
hiti, and of several neighboring parts
of Polynesia, Mr. Beck purchased the
auxiliary schooner "France," a step
which made the expedition independent
of sailing schedules and trade routes.
Flying the burgee of the Museum, the
"France " has since visited more than a
hundred islands of the Society, Mar-
quesas, Line, Tuamotu, Austral, Cook,
and Samoan groups, and has now pro-
ceeded to the rich field of the Fijis,
in Melanesia. Collection and study
of the birds of the South Seas have
been the primary objects, but many
other animals and a large assemblage of
plant specimens have likewise been
obtained. The camera, moreover, has
been brought constantly into use, and
the photographs illustrating the en-
vironment, the animal life, and the
appearance and customs of the human
inhabitants, are of utmost value,
1" Visiting the Nests of Seabirds by Automobile"
(July-August, 1921); "A Visit to Rapa Island in
Southern Polynesia" (January-February, 1922); "Bird
Collecting in Polynesia" (November-December, 1922);
"The Voyage of the Trance'" (January-February,
1923).
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION
543
especially those made at localities —
regrettably numerous — in which the
state of the fauna and of the people is
altering materially in response to
external transformations.
Enjoying the cooperation of the
Bishop Museum of Honolulu, present-
day headquarters for Pacific research,
and with courteous assistance from
French, British, and American officials
among the far-flung archipelagoes, the
Whitney Expedition has been enabled
to carry out its mission in a manner
hitherto impracticable owing to prob-
lems of time, distance, and expense.
The specimens and notes thus far
received at the Museum provide data
for comprehensive reports upon Pacific
birds, and for distinctly new exhibits;
they also put us in the happy position
of being able to supply sister institu-
tions in other parts of the world with
species which they might otherwise
never acquire.
Although several thousand birds
have been collected in the course of the
field work of the Whitney Expedition,
emphasis should be placed upon the
fact that no excessive destruction of
life has been countenanced. In the
case of sea birds, the specimens have
been taken mostly on the open ocean
or in colonies made up of thousands of
their kind. The majority of the land
birds have had a natural protection in
the rough country or almost im-
penetrable jungle in which it has been
necessary to seek them. Moreover,
the determination of Mr. Beck to
collect as many kinds of birds as
possible at each island, has in itself
limited the representation of any one
species from a single locality. In the
past, most ornithologists have shot
two or three warblers, flycatchers,
doves, or what not, at the first island
in their itinerary, and have thereafter
been content to record in their note-
books that the same sorts were ''pres-
ent" at islands subsequently visited.
But it is now known that many Poly-
nesian birds vary unaccountably from
island to island, and that distinct
species, or geographic forms of the
same species, are often mutually ex-
clusive occupants of two bodies of
land so close together that they
may be within sight of each other.
Mr. Beck's instructions were to take
nothing for granted, but to obtain
examples of the entire avifauna at
every islet on which he landed, regard-
less of whatever duplication this might
seem to involve. The procedure has
been thoroughly justified by the results :
duplication has been relatively slight,
and the collections illustrate the ex-
traordinary plasticity of numerous
types of both land and sea birds,— a
truth not generally suspected until re-
cent years, even though Darwin long
ago described similar phenomena evi-
dent at the Galapagos Islands.
SEASONAL VISITORS FROM THE ARCTIC
The birds of Polynesia naturally
exemplify a wide variety of both
marine and terrestrial forms. Dividing
the avifauna in another way, we may
distinguish the indigenous breeding
species from seasonal migrants which
come regularly to the South Seas from
nesting grounds in Alaska or Siberia,
or which wander northward from south
temperate or subpolar regions. To
these travelers we can here give only
passing attention, but it is a marvel
how such shore birds as our familiar
sanderling, the turnstone, wandering
tattler, bristle-thighed curlew, and Pa-
cific golden plover, make almost incred-
ible flights from the Arctic tundra to
smiling islands far south in the greatest
of oceans. The golden plover is as
much at home in dry uplands of the
Marquesas as it once was on the downs
of Montauk. The eggs of the wander-
ing tattler have only recently been dis-
covered in Alaska ; who would suspect
the distance of its birthplace if he saw
the little gray snipe skimming above
the thundering reef of Raiatea? The
boreal breeding ground of the bristle-
thighed curlew is still wrapped in
mystery, although the bird was made
known a century and a half ago from
the heart of its winter range, a fact
commemorated by its specific name —
Phceopus tahitiensis.
Besides the snipes and the plovers,
a few birds of more pelagic life make
the long journey from the Arctic.
544
NATURAL HISTORY
Both the parasitic and the pomarine
jaeger, for example, come to Polynesian
waters to harass the native terns.
From the opposite direction, certain
albatrosses and petrels retreat before
the Antarctic twilight at least as far
as the southerly border of the area.
TROPICAL WATER BIRDS
The resident water birds of Poly-
nesia belong to the families of the
petrels, terns, sandpipers, the Stegano-
podes or oar-footed swimmers, the
herons, ducks, and rails. The make-up
of several of these groups is as notable
for its omissions as for its representa-
tions. Gulls, cormorants, pelicans,
geese, and plovers, for instance, are
wanting at all the southern oceanic
archipelagoes, although some of these
occur in New Zealand or Hawaii.
A gadfly petrel (probably Pterodroma neg-
lecta) on its breeding ground at Ducie Island
Tropical types of petrels, shear-
waters, and Mother Carey's chickens —
the most truly oceanic of all birds —
are common throughout Polynesia.
Many kinds nest in burrows, either in
the coral sand of atolls or in the moist
soil of mountain rain forests. When
the United States Exploring Expedi-
tion visited Tahiti in 1839, the natural-
ists worked their way through the
jungle-covered steeps to altitudes above
six thousand feet, and there found the
homes of a new species of brown and
white petrel which Titian Peale named
Procellaria rostrata} This bird, the
nohud of the Tahitians, was redis-
covered by Beck and Quayle in the
same mountain ridges after many weeks
of hunting, and subsequently was dug
out of its burrows on the western
Society Islands.
A smaller though similar petrel,
likewise described by Peale, is Ptero-
droma parvirostris, which seems to be
confined to islands of scanty vegetation,
thus avoiding competition for nesting
sites with the preceding species. It
has been obtained during the Whitney
Expedition at Christmas Island, close
to the equator, and among the Tuamo-
tus, as well as on the leeward or dry
slopes of some of the Marquesas,
Several exceedingly rare relatives of
these two birds — rare in the sense that
they have always been poorly repre-
sented in museum collections — are the
"gadfly petrels" of somewhat more
southerly latitudes, which nest upon
the surface of the ground. The
descriptive appellation is derived from
the genus name (Estrelata, by which
these birds were formerly known, and
relates to the fact that their swift,
twisting flight suggests the actions of
creatures goaded to madness by such
an insect as Hera sent to torment
lo. Among the Austral Islands, espe-
cially at Bass Rocks, the last outpost
between eastern Polynesia and the
Antarctic, members of the expedition
found several species of gadfly petrels
in great abundance, while at the un-
inhabited islands of Henderson, Oeno,
and Ducie, not far from Pitcairn —
lonely home of the "Bounty" muti-
'This species is now called Pterodroma rostrata. All
but a few copies of the work in which it was described
— Volume VIII in the reports of the United States Ex-
ploring Expedition, Mammalia and Ornithology, 1848,
by Titian R. Peale — were destroyed by fire before dis-
tribution. The volume was never reissued, but was
replaced ten years later by a work of the same title
from the pen of John Cassin, who quotes much of
Peale's text. Peale's own work, which is filled with
the original descriptions of birds and mammals, has
therefore always been one of the rarest and at the same
time one of the most important reference books on
systematic zoology. Until last year the American Mu-
seum Library did not possess it, when an extraordi-
narily fine copy was purchased at auction and pre-
sented to the institution by Mr. James B. Ford.
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Sooty terns {Sterna fuscata) above the great breeding colony on Kauehi Island, Tua-
motu Group
The eastern coast of isolated Henderson, or Ehzabeth, Island.— Uninhabited by man,
its tangled woods are the only home in the world of four species of birds: a flightless rail
{Nesophylax ater), a rose-crowned fruit pigeon (Ptilopus insularis), a red and green lory
(Vini stepheni), and a warbler (Conopoderas taiti).
645
546
'NATURAL HISTORY
neers — the soil beneath thickets of
gnarled and stunted trees was covered
with tens of thousands of the white
eggs or powder-puff chicks of the birds.
Of smaller petrels, the swallows of
the sea, numerous interesting species
from many localities have been sent to
the Museum. Some of the specimens
have already thrown new light upon
classification and distribution, and
have shown that the demarcation of
ranges is no less sharp on the sup-
posedl}'' uniform and ''boundless"
ocean than on the highly varied sur-
face of a continent. Winds, water
temperatures, differences of salinity,
and other physical characteristics,
with all that they imply in the ecology
of oceanic life, are the fences of the sea;
and maritime birds of specialized feed-
ing habits cannot stray outside their
own peculiar sphere anj^ more regularly
or successfully than birds of mountain
woodland can thrive on grassy plains
or desert-dwellers in the marshes. We
can stop to speak of but a single one
of the Mother Carey's chickens of the
Pacific, namely, the historic, streaky-
breasted bird known as Peale's petrel.
The type specimen was taken at Samoa
in 1839, and onlj^ one or two additional
examples had been reported during the
decades that intervened until Mr. Beck
shot one off the Marquesan island of
Huapu on September 15, 1922. The
species had been known hitherto by
the generic name of Pealea, created
especially for it, but a comparative
study now discloses the fact that the
bird is in realitj^ closely akin to various
other small Pacific petrels instead of
being a highly aberrant offshoot. Only
the dearth of pertinent material in
museums prevented an earlier appre-
ciation of this fact.
The absence of gulls among the
islands is offset by the abundance of
terns, no less than ten different mem-
bers of this familj?- being found in
eastern Polynesia. One, the crested
tern (Thalasseus hergi), is as large as
some of the gulls. The others are
smaller, two of them, the blue and the
gray ternlets, being among the tiniest
of terns. Noddies of two kinds, one
prevailingly brown, the other black,
are extraordinarily numerous at prac-
tically all the Pacific islands, while the
size of the breeding colonies of the
soot}'' tern, or wideawake {Sterna
fuscata), beggars description. Suffice
it to say that the Yankee whalemen,
who were accustomed to gather the
eggs of this bird for food, reckoned the
population by "acreage" rather than
by numbers, and so recorded the extent
of the colonies in their log books.
THE WRAITHLIKE FAIRY TERNS
Antitheses of the dark noddies are
the exquisite fairy terns of the genus
Leucanous, perhaps the most delicately
beautiful and ethereal of all sea birds.
The Spanish voyagers likened them to
the dove in which the Holy Spirit
became incarnate. The adults are
pure white, with dark bills and feet,
and exceptionally large eyes. When
their wraithlike forms flutter overhead,
it seems as though the sunbeams or the
glow of the tropical sky were penetrat-
ing their bodies like x-raj^s, for the
thinly covered bones of the wings be-
come visible through filmy plumage.
The fairy terns have reacted in a
subtle manner to their environment,
for a distinct race of very small size
seems to be peculiar to certain of the
Marquesas Islands, while those in-
habiting southern Polynesia, beyond
the zone of trade winds, differ in other
ways from the ordinary equatorial
representatives. All, however, are
tree or shrub dwellers, as are also the
noddies. But the noddies build plat-
forms which, by courtesy, may be
called nests, while the fairy tern lays
its single egg upon a broken stub, the
bark of a bare limb,^ or even on the
slippery shaft of a palm frond.
MAN-O'-WAR AND TROPIC BIRDS
In the rather heterogeneous order of
sea birds known as Steganopodes, the
Polynesian members comprise three
species of boobies, two of tropic birds,
and two of man-o'-war birds. All of
these belong to wide-ranging species,
with forms of close affinity in other
warm oceans. The Pacific man-o'-
iPor a photograph of such a precarious nest site the
reader is referred to the issue of Natural History for
January-February, 1923, p. 40.
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION
547
A fairy tern of Fakarava, Tuamotu Group.— This species (Leucanous albus), with its
snowy plumage, blue and black bill, extraordinarily large eyes, and unsuspicious mien, is
one of the loveliest of sea birds. It is a perching tern, usually alighting on twigs or crags.
Its single egg is deposited on the rough bark of a horizontal limb, upon a broken stub, or
even on the shaft of a palm frond. More rarely it is found in a niche of a coral ledge
war birds are of two kinds, one con-
siderably larger than the other, but
their habitats seem not to be sharply
differentiated, for sometimes both nest
upon the same islet. The boobies are
more definitely separated in their
manner of life, for the red-footed
booby nests in trees, whereas the
548
NATURAL HISTORY
Man-o'-war birds resting above the shimmering waters of Eiao Island, one of the Marquesas
brown booby and the blue-faced booby
lay their eggs on the ground. Thus in
breeding habits the red-footed booby is
associated with the man-o'-war birds,
while the other species align themselves
with the handsome red-tailed tropic
bird (Phaethon ruhricaudus) . The
latter, which is garbed in rosy plumage
of satiny sheen, can neither perch nor
stand up. It nests on the ground,
often in good-sized communities, and
it must shuffle away on its breast be-
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION
549
fore taking flight. The long red plumes
of this tireless flyer have always been
prized ornaments of the South Sea
people. Readers of Herman Melville
may recall that when the Marquesan
chief, Mehevi, sought to impress the
captive author of Types, he came to
him with his head gloriously crowned
with the erect, crimson feathers. Ben-
nett and other voyagers tell us that
islets prolific in this special source of
wealth, such as Tubal of the Society
Islands, were monopolized by the royal
Polynesian rulers, and considered the
hereditary lands of their families. It
may be added, however, for the benefit
of more civilized wearers of avian
millinery, that the islanders never
took the life of the bird which supplied
the treasure; they merely plucked out
the tail of the fearless or stolid creature
while it sat upon its egg, causing no
damage whatsoever, unless the bird's
pride be taken into account.
The genus of the tropic birds has
been appropriately named after that
daring son of Apollo whose sky-riding
ended in a headlong plunge. Just so
the birds drop like arrows from the
blue vault, to disappear — but only for a
moment — beneath the water. Much
smaller than the red-tailed species is
the yellow-billed tropic bird (Phaethon
lepturus), which has broader, white
tail plumes, and which differs also in
confining its nest sites to niches in the
face of lofty hills.
Of other water birds, a teal which
looks like a small edition of the North
American black duck is widely distrib-
uted among such islands as have fresh-
water ponds or marshes. A small
' ' fly-up-the-creek ' ' {Butorides stag-
natilis), akin to our green heron,
haunts the vales of running streams,
and is therefore lacking on the atolls,
while the reef heron, notable for its
puzzling color phases — white, dark
blue, and mottled — is characteristic of
lagoon shores. On broad coral rings of
the Tuamotus this bird sometimes
temporarily forsakes its salt-water
fishing for a banquet of lizards from
the palm boles.
Without dwelling further on the
Pacific water fowl, we must say some-
thing of the all but unknown native
sandpipers and rails, before turning to
Frigate, or man-o'-war, birds (Fregata minor 'palmerstoni) nesting at Hatutu Island of
the Marquesas
550
NATURAL HISTORY
The red-footed booby (Sula piscator), a
long-tailed, perching species and the only Pa-
cific booby which constructs a nest in trees
or bushes. Coast of Hatutu Island, Marque-
sas Group
strictly terrestrial birds. Two or more
forms of diminutive shore birds be-
longing to genera called Prosohonia
and JEchmorhynchus — and related, it is
alleged, to a rare snipe of the southern
Andes! — were found by the early voy-
agers at many South Pacific localities.
In some of the less sophisticated writ-
ings they are referred to as "quails."
Although too small to be worth shoot-
ing in a region where edible pigeons and
ducks abounded, the sandpipers in one
way or another became generally
exterminated. Prosohonia has never
been rediscovered, and the only exist-
ing specimen is treasured in the Leyden
Museum. Previous to the Whitney
Expedition not more than five or six
examples of the other genus were
scattered through ornithological col-
lections of the world, but at certain
remote atolls of the multitudinous
Tuamotus Mr. Beck encountered
Peale's species, Mchmorhynchus parvi-
rostris, as a yet common bird. To
read in Beck's notes of how these
sandpipers, which remind one of tiny
upland plovers (Bartramia) , scurried
in flocks before him along the breezy
strands, or perched within arm's
reach on the mangrove branches while
he was eating his lunch, is thrilling to
an ornithologist who previously had
known only vague bookish descriptions
of the bird's appearance.
Several kinds of rails and gallinules
were native to Polynesia. At least two
of these are now extinct, and still
more have never been represented in
the museums of America. One small
secretive, red-legged, black rail has
been given an assortment of scientific
names, according to the place of origin
of the respective specimens; but a
study of skins obtained during the
Whitney Expedition at seventeen dif-
ferent islands between Oeno and Samoa
indicates that a single unvarying form,
which should be called Porzanoidea
tabuensis, ranges throughout numerous
archipelagoes. The stability or fixity
of certain supposedly ancient types of
birds, when contrasted with the re-
markable geographic variability of
others, is hard to interpret; the fact
merely stands as one of the unsolved
problems of evolution. However,
An incubating blue-faced booby (Sula dac-
tylatra), largest of the Pacific species and a
ground-nesting bird. Photographed at Maria
Island, Tuamotu Group
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION
551
at Henderson Island, which is partly
surrounded by the insular range of
Porzanoidea tahuensis, there exists a
larger, quite distinct black rail which
has completely lost the power of flight
through a reduction in the size, number,
and stiffness of its wing and tail quills.
This strange bird, known only since
1908, is sufficiently different from its
small cousin to be placed in a new
genus, and it has been described by the
writer as Nesophylax, the "island
guardian."
had become established on all the
larger wooded islands.
Indigenous species belong to the
families of the fruit pigeons, tooth-
billed pigeons, quail doves, lories or
brush-tongued parrots, true parrots,
barn owls, swifts, kingj&shers, cuckoos,
swallows. Old World flycatchers, star-
lings. Old World warblers, and sev-
eral others; but not all of these occur
in any single cluster of islands. Thus
the remarkable tooth-billed or dodo
pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris) — not
A quaint home of the widely distributed reef heron {Demiegretta sacra), built in the hold
of a wrecked hulk at Tahiti
LAND BIRDS OF POLYNESIA
The land birds of the South Seas are
obviously of Asiatic origin, but, quite
aside from the unique avifauna of
Hawaii, many peculiar species and
genera have had time and impetus to
develop in different island groups. The
invading white man, furthermore, is
responsible for the recent introduction
of hawks, weavers, the so-called mina,
rock pigeons, Indian bulbuls, and
others. The ancestors of still another
interloper, the jungle fowl, were brought
by the savage Polynesian navigators on
their early migrations, and, long before
the advent of Europeans, feral poultry
to be confused with the extinct dodo —
inhabits only the main islands of
Samoa. It was at one time greatly
reduced through hunting by the newly
armed natives and the ravages of their
half-wild domestic cats, but is now,
perhaps, increasing.
Most exquisite of all Pacific birds
are the fruit pigeons, clad in soft
feathers of gray, blue, yellow, metallic
green, and pastel hues, with caps of
white, or lilac, or tnauve, or blazing
violet-rose. Some of these, such as
the purple-crowned pigeon (Ptilopus
coralensis) of the Tuamotus, and the
white-crowned pigeon of the Marque-
552
NATURAL HISTORY
sas (formidably named Ptilopus dupe-
tithoiiarsi in commemoration of the
naval officer who took possession of
the islands for France), have relativel}^
wide ranges. Others, like the Tahitian
species (Ptilopus purpuratus) , are con-
fined to two or three islands. In still
other instances, magnificent forms are
restricted to a single dot of land in the
wide sea ; their destruction throughout
a few square miles would mean the
blotting out of a wonderful unit of
creation. One of this category, Ptilopus
chalcurus, found only on the uplifted
coral isle of Makatea in the Tuamotu
group, leads a naturalist to suspect
Purple-crowned fruit pigeons (Ptilopus cora-
lensis) of the Tuamotu Ai-chipelago, accepting
berries from the captain of the "France"
that the topographic and consequent
floral change resulting from geological
disturbance was in some way respon-
sible for the evolution of this bird from
the stock of Ptilopus coralensis, for the
latter lives on all the lower islands
round about.
A long-tailed, raspberry-breasted
fruit pigeon of Rapa, the southernmost
islet of eastern Poljmesia, was known
previously from only one specimen in
the museum at Turin, Italy. It repre-
sents the type of a new genus which
has been described from Whitney Ex-
pedition material as Thyliphaps, the
'' pigeon of Uttermost Thule." The
beauty of aU of these birds in life
passes description; even their dried
skins, in the words of a visitor to the
Museum, remind one of blood oranges,
of peacock's tails, of precious stones!
The quail doves are no less fascinat-
ing than the fruit pigeons, and are
even more rare because their ground-
living habits have rendered their j'oung
easy victims of cats and hogs. Five or
more kinds have thus far been taken
by the staff of the "France," of which
the Marquesan species (Gallicolumba
ruhescens) is for historical reasons the
most important. This bird was dis-
covered by the Russian explorer,
Krusenstern, in 1813. He brought
back no specimens in his ship, but
published a crude drawing of the bird
in the Atlas of the voyage. From that
date until October, 1922, the Marque-
san quail dove was not seen by a
naturalist. Its appearance, relation-
ships, its yery existence, indeed, were
all doubtful until Mr. Beck found it
still frequenting the brushy hiUsides of
Hatutu and Fatuhuku.
THE KINGFISHER, BIRD OF AUGURY
The small, blue and green Polyne-
sian kingfishers, the colors of which
change astonishingly according to the
angle of light, seldom if ever wet their
wings by diving into streams. They
prefer to forage for insects and for the
lively lizards which scuttle thi-ough
the vegetation. No species has an
extensive range; the kingfisher of
Tahiti is even different from that of
neighboring Moorea. In the Society
Islands the kingfishers were regarded
as sacred birds, ''givers of good and
bad fortune," according to Sir Joseph
Banks, who accompanied Cook on the
latter's first voyage of circumnaviga-
tion, a tradition perpetuated in the
technical name of the Tahitian species
— Todirhamphus veneratus. The im-
mortal Cook himself, in recounting a
human sacrifice which he witnessed,
states that the officiating priests
awaited the voice of a god, which was
finally expressed through the rattling
call of a kingfisher.
Hitherto aU the known South Pacific
kingfishers have come from more or less
mountainous islands, but the '\^'llitney
THE WHITNEY SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION
553
Expedition has obtained at Niau, of
the Tuamotus, the new species por-
trayed in the frontispiece, which has
been dedicated to Mrs. Whitney.
Of other land birds we can speak here
but briefly. Merchants of Papeete,
the metropohs of French Oceania, tell
of their boyhood sport of trying to
knock down with switches the low-
flying opeias, or edible-nest swifts
{Collocalia thespesia), which were for-
merly common in the streets of the town .
This bird, one of a group famous as the
source of Chinese bird's-nest soup, has
now disappeared from Tahiti, although
it still holds out elsewhere. The par-
rots of eastern Polynesia apparently
vanished long ago, but lories the size of
sparrows, and bizarre in red, blue, and
emerald plumage, still inhabit the less-
settled islands. Some of the lories are
favorite pets of the Polynesians, who
have transported them hither and
thither until little clue remains as to
their natural distribution. A speckled,
pale-blue species (Coriphilus smarag-
dinus) is still peculiar to the Marque-
sas. A dark blue, white-throated lory
of the Society and Tuamotu Islands
was evidently first brought to Europe
without a label, for in 1776 the zoologist
Mtiller described it as Psittacus peruvi-
anus! Despite the anachronism, the spe-
cific name has priority over others more
appropriate, and the libel on this paro-
quet's nationality must stand forever.
A similar error accounts for the
name of the sweet-voiced Tahitian
warbler (Conopoderas caffra), which the
eighteenth century naturalist, Sparr-
man, evidently jumbled with birds ob-
tained in the land of the Kaffirs (i.e.
South Africa). The bird is related to
the reed warblers of Eurasia, and its
genus has run riot in Polynesia, for a
distinct race, differing in size, propor-
tions, or color from all relatives, seems
to occur at each small assemblage of is-
lands or, sometimes, upon a single islet.
Large, yellowish types, represented by
certain subspecies of the Society and
Marquesas, are at one end of the series,
and the very small, gray warbler of
Christmas Island is at the other end.
Even more diverse in size and pattern
are the insular flycatchers of the genus
Pomarea, named for the old kings of
Tahiti. The Tahitian flycatcher (Po-
marea nigra) is one of many South
Sea species included in Lord Roth-
schild's monograph on Extinct Birds
(1907) ; but Mr. Beck has shown that it
still thrives in the mountain fastness
of the queen of isles.
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS IN STORE
With reference to opportunities still
before the Whitney Expedition, Doctor
Richmond, of the United States Na-
tional Museum, has reminded the
writer that for many years the belief
prevailed that the bird life of Hawaii
was well known — that the ornithology
of the group was, indeed, a ''finished
product." Then, about 1887, one or
more naturahsts began to investigate
these islands in the modern, intensive
manner, and ten new genera were dis-
covered. We may hope for a similar
prospect in the South Seas. Hundreds
of islets have not yet been searched by
trained men. In the secluded moun-
tains of even the largest and ''best
known" islands there may well be
unknown secretive birds which have
not yet withered away before man and
the pests he brings with him. The
Whitney Expedition has demonstrated
its effectiveness; its results will arouse
a public sentiment which may become
the only means of saving certain birds
from extinction; it is assuredly paving;
the way for a fuller understanding of
biological and zoogeographical prob-
lems in a long-neglected quarter of the
globe.
SUNSET AT SEA
The Oceans
By WILLIAM MORRIS DAVIS
Sturgis-Hooper Professor of Geology, Emeritus, Harvard University
Photograph by Julian A. Dimmock
WHEN primitive man, wandering
over the solid lands that sup-
ported his tread so well, came
upon the ''great waters" which would
not support him and which could not
be drunk because of their saltiness, he
must have regarded them as very
mysterious if the human mind had at
that early time acquired the capacity
of conceiving anything so abstract as a
mystery. The unseen extent of the
waters beyond the smooth horizon
line must have seemed utterly un-
knowable; if other lands lay on the
farther side of the waters, they could
not be reached.
Those early mysteries are now solved.
The extent of all the oceans has been
measured, their shores have been
554
charted, and few, if any, oceanic
islands remain to be discovered; the
depths of the oceans have been sounded
at many points, and samples of bottom
deposits have been brought up to the
surface for study; the movements of
the oceans in waves, currents, and tides
have come to be fairly well understood.
But new mysteries now confront us;
and of these, the most fundamental
is : what is the origin of the vast sheet
of water that so evenly covers three-
fourths of the earth's surface to an
average depth of about two miles?
Older and newer hypotheses have been
framed to answer this question, but no
certain knowledge has been reached. A
generation ago, when most geologists
confidently believed the earth to be a
THE OCEANS
555
cooled-down aggregation of hot matter
slowly gathered from an ardent chaos,
the ocean was supposed to have been
first formed, after the temperature of
the earth's crust had been reduced
enough to allow water to remain upon
it, by the gradual condensation of
rainfall from the heavy, steamy at-
mosphere which had long shrouded the
globe while it was still glowing with
heat. But today the confident accept-
ance of that earher view is shaken by
the introduction of a very different
concept, according to which the earth
has been built up slowly of scraps of
cold matter — planetesimals — loosely at
first, when its mass was small and its
gravity was therefore weak, more
compactly as it grew to greater and
greater size and the cold exterior
weighed down more heavily on the cold
interior ; more compactly still when the
increasing outer parts crushed the
inert inner parts and thereby gen-
erated a growing store of interior heat,
thus providing for a beginning of the
various processes of vulcanism. Even-
tually, as the present size of the earth
was approached and reached, volcanic
eruptions became powerful and fre-
quent enough — as they still are — to
expel great volumes of gases from the
interior and to pour out vast floods of
lava; and in so far as these gases in-
cluded water vapor, a large part of it
cooled and condensed in clouds and
fell as rain; then — -as was also sup-
posed in the earlier hypothesis — the
rain water gathered into streams and,
even with greater fluidity than the
molten lava, ran down the slopes of
the lands and spread out with a level
surface in the primitive depressions.
Thus explained, the oceans began to
form from a supply of interior or tel-
luric water, not of exterior or at-
mospheric water; and thus they have
continued to grow to greater and
greater volumes through the geologic
ages; thus they may, according to the
later hypothesis, be growing still. It is
impossible to say which one, if either,
of these explanations is true; but in
this sort of long-range archery, it is
well to have two strings to one's bow.
The present relation of the uneven-
nesses of our planet's surface to the
volume of the ocean waters is such that
the oceans are deep enough to cover
the greater part of that surface in a
continuous sheet, and that the lands
emerge in only one quarter of the
whole. The continents have generally
been built in large patterns — who can
say why? — and most of them are con-
tiguous in one hemisphere. The other,
The. globe may be divided into a land hemisphere (left) and a water hemisphere (right).
London is close to the pole of the former; the pole of the latter is in the ocean near New
Zealand. Drawn by W. E. Belanske
556
NATURAL HISTORY
or water hemisphere, in which New
Zealand Hes near the pole, is almost
wholly oceanic; it includes all the
Pacific as well as the adjoining waters
known as the Antarctic Ocean, and a
good part of the Indian Ocean; of
larger land areas it includes only the
outlying masses of Australia and Ant-
arctica, and the narrowing part of
first five are all characterized by wind-
driven, slow-moving, clockwise-turning^
currents of small depth, which eddy
around their central and relatively
stagnant sargasso seas. The small
circum-Arctic eddy, rimmed in by the
continents, is in gear with and therefore
turns opposite to the North Atlantic
eddy. The much greater Antarctic
Map of the world, showing the ocean currents. — In the monsoon region of India, the
winds reverse their direction every six months, and therefore two sets of ocean currents are
shown for this region. After Davis
farther South America. The land hemi-
sphere, in which, curiously enough, the
capital of the greatest colonizing nation
of the world lies near the pole, has for
its oceanic area only the winding, canal-
like Atlantic with its gulflike Arctic
termination and its mediterranean
attachments, east and west, along with
an oblique northwestern slice of the
Indian Ocean.
Although the salt waters of the world
— barring certain inland lakes — are
thus continuous, they are naturally di-
vided by a system of ocean currents,
and also artificially for purposes of na-
val administration, into seven oceans,
the North and South Atlantic, the
North and South Pacific, the Indian,
the Arctic, and the Antarctic. The
eddy, which rims an ice-covered conti-
nent, is in gear with and turns opposite
to the three southern eddies.
The two Atlantic eddies are pecu-
liarly related: they become confluent
in the torrid zone, but by reason of the
different relations of western Africa
and eastern South America to the
equator, a large branch of the southern
eddy is diverted obliquely across the
equator to the northern eddy; evi-
dently, therefore, an equivalent branch
must be diverted from the northern
side of the northern eddy, west of
Ireland, and directed past Scandinavia
'It is often stated that these eddies turn clockwise
in the Northern Hemisphere and counter-clockwise in
the Southern; but it may be truly said that they both
turn clockwise if we only remember in the case of the
Southern Hemisphere to look at the other side of the
clock, just as we there look at the other side of the
plane of the equator.
THE OCEANS
557
to form the Arctic eddy. This diverted
branch, improperly called the Gulf
Stream — a name that should be re-
stricted to the hurried and relatively
deep current that issues from the
GuK of Mexico between Florida and the
Bahamas — and properly called the
northeastern branch of the North
Atlantic Drift, is of moderate depth
and of loitering movement, but still
retains an exceptionally high tempera-
ture because of the long passage of its
supply current through latitudes of
strong sunshine; and as a result the
surface water of the Atlantic off Nor-
way and the air lying on it have a
greater excess of temperature over the
mean of their latitude than is the case
in any other part of the world — all be-
cause of the asymmetry of Africa and
South America.
The existing distribution of land and
water on the globe has not always ob-
tained : for the continents include many
stratified rocks which, as their fossils
indicate, have been laid down in the
oceans of different geological ages;
but these strata are relatively shallow-
water deposits and therefore indicate
only moderate changes of level. None
of the lands, with the possible excep-
tion of certain Australasian islands,
has been uplifted from oceanic depths
so great as to exhibit true deep-sea
deposits. On the other hand, certain
continents have lost part of their
former extent, for their border struc-
tures are clearly truncated by the shore
line, just as the end of a board is
cut across its grain; they must have
originally continued into what is now
the ocean, and in some regions into
what is now the deep ocean; hence
their lost portions have been strongly
warped downward. The deep oceans
thus seem to have been enlarged during
the geologically recorded ages, and
this perhaps gives confirmation to the
second hypothesis, above stated, of the
ocean's origin. Let no one, however,
place too great confidence in this very
tentative conclusion; for if what is now
unknown about the greater part of the
ocean bed ever comes to be known,
our present views about it may be
greatly modified if not altogether over-
thrown.
Although the volume of the ocean,
however formed, is very small relative
to that of the whole earth, and although
the ocean depth is, therefore, compar-
able only to the thickness of the paper
cover on a good-sized terrestrial globe,
such is the extraordinary mobility of
water that the ocean smooths itseK out
to a perfectly level surface, which is
taken as the standard surface of refer-
ence for all calculations of the general-
ized shape of the earth as a somewhat
irregular spheroid, or "geoid," as
geodesists call it, and for all measures
of the altitudes of the land. The tides
periodically sway the ocean margins a
little out of the level; and storm winds
may locally brush up the surface into
waves that rise for a tirne ''mountain
high" — for so indeed they seem when
their rapidly advancing crests are
viewed from their deep-sunken troughs,
although their actual height is hardly
fifty feet at the highest — but these tide
and wind waves are minute wrinkles
compared to the huge undulations of
mountain ranges that are excited by
slow-working geological storms of de-
formational forces in the earth's crust;
and, moreover, the ocean waves soon
quiet down again after the exciting
storm has passed by, while the huge
inequalities of the earth's crust on the
lands, even though much degraded by
erosional processes during their slow
production, long remain as eminences
before they are very slowly worn down
558
NATURAL HISTORY
to lowlands; and by that time, new
inequalities are produced elsewhere.
Not only has the ocean a uniformly
level surface, but the greater part of its
volume is uniform in various other
respects also. The lands are made of
many kinds of minerals and rocks,
mostly of complicated chemical com-
position, and varying from place to
place; but the ocean is made of one
substance, water, of very simple chemi-
cal composition, the same everywhere.
True, the ocean contains in solution a
small quantity of a great variety of
substances — of which the most abun-
dant is the very soluble mineral salt,
and among which even gold is minutely
included — found in the continental
parts of the earth's crust during ages of
the most assiduous search by percolat-
ing ground waters and brought by
rivers to the ocean, where they have
very slowly accumulated to their
present quantity, as is further told
below. As a result, ocean water is
about 2.6% denser than fresh water;
but these many dissolved substances
give no variety to the great volume of
the ocean, because they are everywhere
distributed in almost exactly the same
proportions, partly by the circulation
of the ocean currents, which in time
mixes and remixes the whole content of
the ocean, partly by the spontaneous
diffusion of the dissolved substances
themselves, in virtue of that extraordi-
nary physical process according to
which a solid dissolved in a liquid be-
haves like a gas.
Water is, moreover, so little compres-
sible that the ocean is of almost uni-
form density from surface to bottom;
in this respect it contrasts strongly
with the gaseous atmosphere, which is
so easily compressible that, while its
lower layers are dense enough to permit
seeds and sailing vessels to be propelled
by the winds and to support birds and
airplanes if they move rapidly enough
through it, its upper layers are like a
vacuum in their extreme tenuity. On
the other hand, in spite of the pressures
of two, three, or four tons to the square
inch that are exerted at the greater
oceanic depths, the bottom water is
only about as much denser than the
surface water as the surface salt water
of the ocean is denser than the fresh
water of lakes. Hence any object that
is heavy enough to sink at the ocean sur-
face will pretty surely reach the bottom;
the old idea that even an anchor would
cease sinking when it had descended to
a depth where the water is compressed
to the density of iron is a fable, with
only about three per cent of trust-
worthy basis.
The ocean surface shares every-
where with the surface of the lands the
changes of solar illumination from day
to night and the irregular fluctuations of
the weather. With the changes of the
sky from clear to cloudy, the color of
the ocean surface also changes wonder-
fully. Even the surface salinity varies,
for drinkable water has been dipped up
by ships at sea directly after a heavy
equatorial rain. But the great under-
volume of the ocean, below depths of
two hundred or three hundred fathoms,
knows little or nothing of these super-
ficial changes. It is not only every-
where one substance and uniformly
salt, as already stated; it is also per-
sistently dark, for sunlight rapidly
weakens with increasing depth of pene-
tration. Some illumination of the
deep ocean, it is believed, comes from
the pale light of luminous organisms;
and that the deep ocean is not so dark
as terrestrial caverns may be inferred
from the fact that many deep-sea
organisms have eyes and colors, while
various species of land animals which
THE OCEANS
559
have taken caverns as their abode,
lose their colors and all but vestiges of
their eyes and become gray- white,
sightless creatures. The deep ocean,
however, probably has no experience of
day and night, and is, therefore, with-
out the convenient measure of the
passage of time that is based on the
period of the earth's rotation, which the
inhabitants of the land everywhere
recognize.
The deep ocean is also a very quiet
region; for the movement of surface
waves and currents, like the penetra-
tion of sunshine, rapidly diminishes
downward. The bottom waters would
be absolutely still but for the slow and
steady creeping of deep polar water
toward the equator, of which more is
told below, and but for the slight tidal
oscillations. The latter must be ex-
tremely faint, but they are of interest
as being, in the presumable absence of
diurnal changes of illumination, the
only periodic phenomena there ex-
perienced, and hence the only phenom-
ena by which the passage of time is
marked. Deep-sea organisms must,
therefore, as far as they take cognizance
of their tides, work on half -moon time ;
and in this they bear a resemblance to
myriads of Crustacea and Mollusca on
tidal shores, where in spite of the sun's
determination of day and night, the
moon regulates the order of animal
life by its control of high and low
water; and the same set of conditions
governs mariners on coasts of strong
tidal range, like the Bay of Fundy and
the Channel Islands.
Rare and small departures from
ocean-bottom stillness may be caused
by earthquake waves, but in the watery
depths they, like the tides, can show
nothing resembling the activity with
which they withdraw from and sweep
in upon the shores of the lands. Ex-
ceptional disturbances are also caused
by submarine volcanic eruptions, but
these are so infrequent that quietness
may still be considered a prevalent
condition.
The deep ocean is not only dark and
still, it is persistently cold; for by
means of the vertical convectional cir-
culation above mentioned the surface
water that is chilled in the frigid oceans
sinks and creeps very slowly to the
torrid zone, where it must slowly rise.
Be it remembered in this connection
that unlike fresh water, which has its
maximum density at 39° F. or 4° C,
salt water is densest at its freezing
point, about 28° F. or -2° C. Hence
the great under-volume of the ocean in
all latitudes has a temperature of
between 30° F. and 40° F. or -1° C.
and 5° C. The only significant excep-
tions to this rule are found in the basins
of the enclosed mediterraneans, like
the classic Mediterranean between
Europe and Africa, the American medi-
terraneans known as the Caribbean
Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and several
others in the Australasian region; the
deep water of these basins, instead of
being frigid, is only as cold as the open
ocean at the level of their deepest
entrance.
Moreover, the greater part of the
ocean bottom is smooth and nearly
level. Its levelness is locally interrupted
here and there by volcanic cones, which
have been slowly built up by countless
eruptions, and which may or may not
rise above the ocean surface as islands ;
and in a larger way by occasional
flexures of large-curved cross-profiles,
one of the greatest of which stretches
northeastward from New Zealand, in a
long swell adjoined by a deep trough,
to the Tonga Islands in the South Pa-
cific. Near certain continental shores,
soundings discover the occurrence of
560
NATURAL HISTORY
valleys and other erosional features,
as if the continental border had been
depressed in recent geological time, one
of the best-certified of such features
being the submerged valley of the Hud-
son, which trenches the continental
shelf southeast of the river mouth of
today.
Apart from these inequalities, how-
ever, the ocean bottom, as now known,
is monotonously flat over large areas.
But it is well not to generalize too
confidently on this topic at present;
for oceanic soundings are for the most
part few and far between. Areas as
large as Australia still remain in the
Pacific without a single sounding to
the bottom. He must be a bold man
who ventures to draw a generalized
chart of ocean depths! It is to be
hoped that much more will soon be
learned of oceanic depths by means of
the "sonic depth finder," an instru-
ment recently perfected in the research
laboratory of our Navy and now in use
on a number of our naval vessels in
different parts of the world. This
instrument measures depths in terms of
the time interval between the emission
of a surface sound and the return of its
echo from the bottom. A vessel
equipped with it does not have to stop
a few hours to make a sounding, as is
the case when piano wire and a de-
tachable sinker are used, but may take
successive measurements every few
minutes while under full headway, even
in rough weather.
Not only are the deep oceans per-
sistently dark, still, and cold, and their
deep floors prevailingly flat, but their
bottom deposits, as brought up in
sounding tubes and dredges, have
small variety of composition. They
consist chiefly of calcareous ooze over
vast areas of lesser depth, down to
about two thousand fathoms, and of a
reddish clay in the greater depths.
The ooze is composed of the delicate
framework of minute organisms which
live everywhere near the surface and
which, on dying, sink slowly through
the water, very much as a fine misty
rain sinks through the atmosphere ; but
while such a rain is only of occasional,
local, and short-lived occurrence, the
fine organic rain in the oceans is perpet-
ual and universal, and thus constitutes
another of the many oceanic uniformi-
ties. The analogy goes a step further:
for just as a fine rain, fed from lofty
clouds, reaches a mountainous highland
and yet may be evaporated before it
descends a mile farther to the neigh-
boring lowlands, so the fine organic
rain of the oceans reaches the lesser
depths as calcareous ooze, but is dis-
solved before reaching greater depths,
probably because of increasing pres-
sure, and only an insoluble reddish
residue, the so-called red clay, sinks to
greater depths; its accumulation there
must be extremely slow.
In but one respect is the ocean less
uniform than the rest of the earth: it
is made of the only substance with
which we have familiar experience in
the three states that matter can assume.
The surface water may freeze into ice
of slight thickness in the frigid oceans;
and then, as solid water, it holds its
shape as well as its volume. As a
whole, the ocean is liquid water,
which maintains its own volume but
accepts any shape and surface that
external forces impel it to take; thus,
under the force of terrestrial gravity,
it is given the convex spheroidal sur-
face which we call level. From its
liquid surface, largely by the aid of the
winds which bring drier air to replace
damper air on its ruffled surface, a
small amount of ocean substance
pas?os off as invisible gaseous water,
THE OCEANS
561
LITTORAL DEPOSITS CALCAREOUS OOZE DIATOM OOZE RED CLAY
3
wmmm
Map showing the distribution of the oceanic oozes and clays. — Reprinted by permission,
from Textbook of Geology, Part II, by Pirsson and Schuchert, pubhshed by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Redrafted, with substitution of new symbols, by W. E. Belanske
which has neither definite shape nor vol-
ume, but which diffuses itseK through
the enveloping atmosphere, only to
be sooner or later condensed into
clouds and to fall here or there as
rain or snow; and this leads us to
examine the great scheme of terrestrial
economics in which the waters of the
vast oceanic reservoir play a leading
part.
It is as if the ocean, proud of its own
level uniformity, wished to see the
continents also laid low and smooth,
and with this object sent forth its
vapors so that those which descend on
the lands should bear back, when they
return to the ocean, all the land waste
they can carry; but the continents, re-
senting such reduction to low equahty
with the level ocean, slowly writhe and
rise in new highlands as older highlands
are worn down, and thus strive to
maintain their superior diversity of
form, as weU as of nearly every other
quality, over the uniformity of the
ocean.
The atmosphere, dampened by the
addition of water vapor from the ocean,
is an effective collaborator in this
scheme of things; first, in that it
gives forth its store of vapor as rain or
snow in great abundance and fre-
quency wherever the continents ven-
ture to raise their mountain ranges
highest ; second, in that the dampened
air occasions the superficial disintegra-
tion or weathering of the continental
rock masses, for it is the rock waste
thus loosened that the streams of the
land sweep down to the sea; third, in
that, quite apart from the work of
running streams, the weathered rock
waste is superficially washed downhill
by rainstorm rills, and also that
weather changes from wet to dry and
from warm to cold cause the rock waste
562
NATURAL HISTORY
to a depth of several feet to creep slowly
down every slope toward and eventu-
ally to reach the stream below : hence in
this long-range view of the earth's
affairs, all the rock waste of the lands
should be envisaged as in slow motion
on its way to the sea.
The streams of the land are the
most active agents in the great task of
smoothing down the continental high-
lands to ocean level; and admirable
engineers the streams are, for they
grade their valley floors to a nicety
with regard to the work that they have
to do. The largest rivers reduce their
courses to a gentle declivity: indeed,
to just such a declivity as will give them
a velocity sufficient to sweep along the
rock waste, mostly fine-grained, that is
delivered to them by their headwater
brooks; and the headwater brooks
retain a greater declivity, so that, in
spite of their small volume, they shall
have a velocity sufficient to wash down
the rock waste, often of coarse texture,
that is delivered to them from the val-
ley-side slopes.
Be it noted that in this scheme of
things, which presumably began its
operation long ago in the history of
the earth, all the life of the lands de-
pends directly or indirectly, in its strug-
gle for existence, on that part of the
weathered rock waste which, in its re-
lation to plant roots, is called soil. The
rock waste would undoubtedly be im-
pelled to continue its slow motion from
the lands to the sea even if there were
no plants to live on it; but plants could
not live on the lands if there were no
weathered soil to grow in. The plants
of the land may, therefore, be regarded
as taking advantage, for their own pur-
poses, of the weathering device by which
the atmosphere, in its cooperation with
the ocean, crumbles the rocks prepara-
tory to their being swept seaward by
ocean-fed rivers. Even the trees of
mountain-side forests, slowly as their
successive generations follow one an-
other, may be conceived as floating on
the extremely slow soil current which,
as the earth itself looks at these super-
ficial changes, is continually flowing off
the lands.
The ocean has plenty of space in
which to deposit the waste of the land
swept in by the rivers, as well as that
worn from the shores by the waves;
but the land waste that is delivered in
solution is treated very differently
from that delivered in suspension.
The suspended waste, chiefly gravel,
sand, and clay, is spread out in succes-
sive layers or strata near the shore,
where its accumulation forms the so-
called continental shelves, of very
gradual slope to depths of forty or
fifty fathoms and of somewhat steeper
pitch to greater depths. It is these
shallow-water strata, in which siliceous,
argillaceous, and calcareous deposits
are found, that are often restored to
the continents, as when an upheaval
reveals them in coastal plains, or as
when deformational forces crumple
them in new mountain ranges. On the
other hand, the dissolved substances
are, as already stated, uniformly
spread through the entire ocean, and
there they would remain indefinitely,
slowly increasing, if it were not for two
very unlike processes by which some of
them are withdrawn.
It occasionally happens that an arm
of the sea is cut off by an upwarping
of the ocean bottom; and if the lands
by which the sea arm is enclosed have a
dry cHmate, the enclosed sea water may
be evaporated away slowly and its dis-
solved salts will then be precipitated.
Thus, it is supposed, beds of rock salt
have been formed; but this process is
so exceptional that salt is still the most
THE OCEANS
563
abundant dissolved substance in ocean
water. On the other hand, it hap-
pens that another dissolved substance,
limestone, continually brought in solu-
tion from the lands to the oceans, has
been adopted by many marine organ-
isms as the chief component of their
solid framework, and it is therefore
continually withdrawn to satisfy their
needs. Thus mollusks and other
creatures, living mostly on the con-
tinental shelves but also at greater
depths, secrete the dissolved limestone
to make their shells. Their remains
constitute the calcareous strata of
continental shelves above alluded to,
particularly near low coasts, where the
supply of sandy and muddy detritus
from the lands is small. More im-
portant are the minute Foraminifera — ■
Glohigerina being one of the commonest
genera — which float near the surface,
and the delicate shells of which, sinking
after the occupant's death, constitute
the greater part of the wide-spread cal-
careous ooze, or yield a small undis-
solved residue to form the red clay of
the greater depths, as already described.
Remarkable also, but less widespread,
are the reef-building corals which, to-
gether with limestone-secreting algse
and other organisms, thrive in the
shallow waters of the torrid zone,
either near continents, as along north-
eastern Australia, or around oceanic
islands, mostly volcanic, as in Fiji, or in
the open ocean, as through to the Cen-
tral Pacific. They construct fringing
reefs of gray limestone, attached to the
land, or barrier reefs rising offshore and
enclosing a lagoon, or most extraordin-
ary of all, atoll reefs, in which the lagoon
has no central island remaining. The
wonderful nature of these structures
and the various explanations that have
been suggested for them would require
a special article for the telling.
The red clays andjthe calcareous
ooze deserve a further paragraph in
explanation of their contrasts with the
littoral deposits on continental shelves,
and of their geologic relations. In the
first place, the continental shelves are
the depositaries of nearly all of the
silica and most of the cla}^ that is
washed from the lands, but of only the
smaller part of the dissolved limestone;
the deep oceans are the depositaries
of the greater part of the limestone and
of a smaller part of the clay ; the little
silica that reaches them is chiefly
withdrawn from solution by the micro-
scopic plants known as diatoms, the re-
mains of which are found chiefly in the
far southern oceans. In the second
place, the limestone that is deposited on
the shelves may be returned to the con-
tinents by upheaval and then may be
carried back to the oceans in solution,
thus being available for organic use over
and over again ; but the deep-sea calcare-
ous ooze is a relatively permanent acqui-
sition of the ocean floor ; hence the supply
of limestone in solution in the ocean
would in time be depleted if it were not
renewed from calcareous minerals in the
older fundamental rocks of the earth's
crust and in the lavas outpoured from
volcanic vents, which thus for the first
time experience superficial analysis.
Whether the processes of renewal are
now gaining on the processes of deple-
tion, who shall say!
In the third place, the deposits of
the continental shelves are of relatively
rapid accumulation in varying com-
position and great thickness and with
well-defined stratification under the
active processes and fluctuating con-
ditions that prevail near the coasts.
Here the successive thinner and thicker
layers record every tick of a second
and every striking hour in the passage
of geological time; but the deep-sea
564
NATURAL HISTORY
deposits are accumulated in slow and
uniform continuity, with hardly per-
ceptible changes of composition from
millenium to millenium and presum-
ably without stratification. They
record, therefore, only the patient
passage of pelagic eternity, in which
there is no ticking of the seconds, no
striking of the hours, and in which
time simply goes evenly and end-
lessly on. And yet these monotonous,
deep-ocean deposits, accumulating in
everlasting uniformity, must as they
approach the coasts merge into the
much heavier and more variable con-
temporaneous deposits of the con-
tinental shelves, which vary from place
to place, and from time to time. What
a boon it would be to geological
science if the on-shore deposits, in
which every different stretch of a
coast records the passage of its own
chapter of time in its own particular
fashion and in which unlike strata and
fossils are laid down on different coasts
at the same time, could be correlated
with and dated by the corresponding
portion of the steady-going, deep-
ocean deposits, and thus given their
proper place in a standard chronology
of earth history!
The activity of marine organisms in
connection with the formation of
pelagic deposits brings us to the great
chapter of oceanic life which properly
belongs in another article by another
writer, but which may be here briefly
touched upon in its physical relations
and in their contrasts with the physical
relations of life on land. Let it be
recalled, therefore, first, that all the
animal life of lands depends for its
sustenance, directly or indirectly, upon
plant life; second, that all terrestrial
plants derive their sustenance chiefly
from the carbon dioxide of the at-
mosphere, which they take in through
their leaves and decompose with the
aid of sunlight; also that in their
competition for this sustenance many
land plants have developed seK-sup-
porting stems or trunks, which hold
them up a little way in the air; third,
that all terrestrial animals and plants
derive the energy needed for their life
work by combining a part of their
organic substance with atmospheric
oxygen in the continuous process of
respiration, a slow process in plants,
more active in animals; fourth, that
land plants are prevailingly rooted in
weathered rock or soil, partly because
their chief sustenance comes to them in
the ever-moving air, partly because a
minute mineral constituent dissolved
in ground water, must be brought up
from the soil; but land animals are
rarely rooted; they must move about
in search of food, and in doing so most
of them must support their weight
while walking, running, or flying;
when they are fatigued, they lie down
or perch to rest.
So again in the oceans, all animal
life depends directly or indirectly on
plant life. Second, marine plants,
commonly known as seaweeds, derive
the carbon dioxide for their sustenance,
and both sea plants and sea animals de-
rive the free oxygen for their respiration,
from a supply of those atmospheric
gases that is dissolved in the ocean
water; and the occurrence of animal
life in the deep ocean as well as the low
temperature prevailing there prove the
vertical circulation of the ocean waters,
for without such a circulation the sup-
ply of free oxygen would have been ex-
hausted long ago and the deep oceans
would be dead. This free oxygen
must not be confounded, however,
with the oxygen that is chemically
combined with hydrogen to form ocean
water, and the marine animals here
THE OCEANS
565
mentioned must not be understood to
include those air-breathing aquatic
mammals, like seals and whales, which
appear to be derived from land quad-
rupeds, modified for marine existence.
Third, as the assimilation of carbon
from carbon dioxide demands the aid
of sunlight, marine plants live only
in shallow water and at the surface of
the ocean: the deep ocean has no
flora; but as if partly to make up for
this lack, the frigid oceans have lit-
toral thickets of seaweeds at latitudes
higher than those in which land plants
caD flourish on the continents. Fourth,
unlike land plants which support
themselves in the non-supporting air,
seaweeds are supported by the water
in which they grow; hence those that
live in very shallow waters rise to their
full height at high tide, and lie down,
as if to rest, when the tide is ''out."
Finally, nearly all marine plants —
but not the microscopic diatoms —
and also a vast number of marine
animals are "rooted," in the sense of
being attached to the sea bottom,
not because they gain nutriment
from their attachment, but because
all the nutriment they need is brought
to them, often in microscopic doses,
in the moving water; they do not have
to go in search of it, but they have to
search through a great deal of water to
obtain as much food as they need.
But another large number of marine
animals, large, small, and minute,
chiefly living at smaU depths in the
open ocean, are free swimmers, and as
they have the same average density as
seawater, they float at ease: hence
they do not know the fatigue of sup-
porting their own weight, nor do they
need to lie down to rest.
As to the deep sea, modern explora-
tion has shown that it is not lifeless,
as was formerly supposed, but that it
has a varied and fairly abundant
fauna, in spite of the monotony of
existence where there is no variety to
give life its spice. Perhaps the most
marked physical characteristic of the
deep-sea creatures is their abihty to
withstand the enormous pressure ex-
erted by the overlying water; but they
do this in much the same way as we
land-dwellers withstand the pressure of
the atmosphere; that is, by admitting
the surrounding fluid within their
bodies and through and through their
tissues. Great as the pressure is at
the ocean bottom, the mobility of the
compressed water is so perfect that a
delicate fin or slender tentacle can
move through it. Finally, it remains
to be said that the great volume of the
ocean, between the well populated
surface waters and the more scantily
populated bottom, is almost lifeless;
thus another element, that of dead mon-
otony, is added to its darkness, its cold,
and its quietness : it is a vast desert.
Gigantactis vanhoeffeni, one of the inhabitants of the deep
sea, dweUing at depths of from 1 to li miles. — The light at the
end of the long rod extending from its snout serves, it is be-
lieved, as a lure to attract prey. (Approximately hfe size)
m ■ <U
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, ID 02 O
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The Northern Elephant Seal and the Guadalupe
Fur Seal
By CHARLES HASKINS TOWNSEND ,
Director of the New York Aquarium
THERE are two species of seals
native to the west coast of
North America that in the past
were harassed with reckless disregard
of their possible extinction : the north-
ern elephant seal (Mirounga angusti-
rostris) and the Guadalupe fur seal
(Arctocephalus townsendi). The form-
er, as the result of freedom from mo-
lestation during recent years, is at
present slowly increasing in numbers;
the latter may be extinct, as it has not
been seen since 1894, when several
seals were killed for their pelts.
The fur seal is known to science
only from the weatherworn skulls ob-
tained by the writer at Guadalupe
Island in May, 1892.i Of the few fur
seals seen afloat at that time not one
was secured, and none was seen on land
during a prolonged examination of their
former haunts, although a search was
made of all the beach caves around
the island.
There is a possibility, however, that
stragglers of this species still exist, as
the habit of this seal of lying in caves
serves to keep it out of sight. Our
hunt through the numerous caves of
Guadalupe Island in May was futile,
doubtless because it was made in
advance of the breeding season, which
occurs in June and July. We looked
for the animal again in March, 1911,
during the expedition of the ''Alba-
tross,"^ but did not examine the caves,
iTownsend, C. H. 1899. "Pelagic Sealing." Ex-
tract from The Fur Seals and Fur-Seal Islands of
the North Pacific Ocean, Part III, pp. 223-74.
2This old ship, after a long and eventful career, has
recently passed into private ownership. Its record of
service is commemorated in a Note contributed to this
issue by Doctor Townsend (p. 619).
believing it useless to do so at that time
of year. Any further search should be
made late in July, before the young take
to the water, and should include all the
caves along the water line. The hope
that, if still surviving, it may re-
establish itself, is reenforced by the
fact that Guadalupe Island is now a
guarded reservation. This valuable
seal formerly inhabited the islands of
Lower California and those of Cali-
fornia northward as far as the latitude
of San Francisco. In 1892 the writer
secured from men who had participated
in sealing at Guadalupe and the San
Benito islands certain records which,
supplemented by researches he made
subsequently at San Diego, indicate
that 5575 fur seals were taken between
1876 and 1894.
To the records of fur seals known to
have been killed by sealers at Guada-
lupe, San Benito, and Cedros (Cerros)
islands, may be added figures which the
writer found recently in the third edi-
tion of William Mariner's account of
the Tonga Islands, published in London
in 1827.3 Mr. Mariner was on board
the British whaler "Port-au-Prince,"
which took 8338 fur-seal skins at
Cedros, San Benito, and Guadalupe
islands, between August 1 and Sep-
tember 19, 1806. Another record is
that of the ship " Dromio " of Boston in
1807, which at ''Shelvock's Island,"
alleged to be southwest of Cape San
Lucas in latitude 21°, ''in a fortnight
killed 3000 fur seals." Belcher (1837)
^Mariner, W. 1827. An Account of the Natives of
the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean.
667
THE "ALBATROSS" DREDGING AT SEA
The dredging boom may be seen out to [starbord; the port boom is rigged for sur-
face towing. The "Albatross," after nearly four decades in the service of the government,
in the course of which she participated in a number of important scientific expeditions,
recently passed into private ownership. (See Note on p. 619 of this issue)
568
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL AND GUADALUPE FUR SEAL 569
and others failed to find ''Shelvock's
Island" in the position described. It
may have been Guadalupe Island,
farther to the north, but whatever its
identity, in this region the species
taken must have been the Guadalupe
fur seal. While the scattered records
of the long-continued hunting of the
Guadalupe seal account for large
numbers, Mariner's statement and
the record of the ''Dromio," so long
overlooked, seem to indicate that the
species may have been much more
abundant than has hitherto been sup-
posed. There is further reason for
this inference in the fact that the
islands where the species — of the same
genus as the Antarctic species — devel-
oped, remained unexploited until whal-
ing in North Pacific waters began late
in the eighteenth century. Dr. E. C.
Starks^ has shown conclusively that
the great numbers of fur seals killed on
the Farallon Islands, off the coast of
California, during the earlier years of
the nineteenth century were of this
species.
While the very existence of the
Guadalupe fur seal is in doubt, the
preservation of the elephant seal seems
assured. As a result of representations
made to the Mexican government after
the re-discovery of this seal in March,
1911,. by the "Albatross" Expedition
and again by the joint American and
Mexican party of biologists^ that visited
the island in the Mexican patrol boat
"Tecate" in July, 1922, Guadalupe
Island was made a reservation and pro-
vided with a resident guard.
The expedition of the "Tecate"
found 264 elephant seals at Guadalupe
— more than twice the number counted
by the writer in 1911 — and from a
study of the old and young estimated
the size of the herd, present and absent,
at about 1000 animals.^
The casual reappearance of the ele-
phant seal at other islands, from
Cedros northward to the Santa Bar-
bara Islands, may reasonably be ex-
pected. As the protection now afforded
by the Mexican government is limited
to Guadalupe Island, the animal may
not find very safe quarters when it
extends its present range. It is, there-
fore, desirable that precautions be
taken to insure the safety of such
stragglers as may appear among islands
of the Santa Barbara group, where in
the absence of restrictions it is liable
to molestation by fishermen. The
elephant seal should be given the full-
est opportunity to return to its ancient
haunts north of the boundary. It is not
only commercially valuable but also
inoffensive and of great scientific
interest.
The ancestors of the northern ele-
phant seal, like those of its associate
in habitat, the Guadalupe fur seal,
wandered from Antarctic waters and
successfully ventured across the equa-
torial barrier in times sufficiently re-
mote to have enabled their descendants
to acquire new characters in a strange
environment. The account of the
northern elephant seal, pubhshed by
Scammon^ in 1874, continued for many
years to be the main source of informa-
tion respecting the creature. Only a
few immature specimens were to be
found in museums, and naturalists
assumed that t had become extinct.
Much more is known about the Ant-
arctic species.
iStarks, E. C. 1922. "Records of the Capture of
Fur Seals on Land in California," California Fish and
Game, Vol. VIII, pp. 15 -60.
^Hanna, G. Dallas, and Anthony, A. W. 1923. "A
Cruise Among Desert Islands," National Geographic
Magazine, Vol. XLIV, No. 1, pp. 71-99.
^For an account of the status of the herd in 1923
the reader is referred to the article by Mr. Huey in
this issue.
*Scammon, Charles M. 1874. "The Sea Ele-
phant," The Marine Mammals of the North-Western
Coast of North America, pp. 115-23.
570
NATURAL HISTORY
The discovery of a small herd at
San Cristobal Bay, Lower California,
in 1880, created an immediate revival
of sealing, which resulted in the killing
of more than three hundred animals
during the next four years. These
facts were reported to the National
Museum in 1884 by the writer, who
thereupon was sent at once in a char-
tered vessel, the schooner "Laura," in
search of specimens. Sixteen seals —
all that were found during a cruise of
two months — were taken for scientific
purposes, as the only alternative to
their slaughter by sealers.^
The elephant seal was then lost sight
of for nearly a decade. In 1892 a small
band was found at Guadalupe Island
by the writer while in search of fur
seals under the direction of the Depart-
ment of State. Some of these elephant
seals were secured and the identity of
the fur seal — the object of the expedi-
tion— was established.
From 1892 information respecting
the elephant seal was lacking, so far as
biologists were aware, until 1907, when
Guadalupe Island, long uninhabited,
was visited by Charles Harris in the
interest of the Rothschild Museum.^
There about forty of the animals were
found.
The next important event in this
history of the northern elephant seal
was the visit of the "Albatross" to
Guadalupe Island in 1911. Thanks to
the generosity of Mr. Arthur Curtiss
James, of New York, the American
Museum of Natural History had the
privilege of cooperating in this expedi-
tion, as a result of which the Museum
obtained its splendid habitat group of
these huge animals. Much descriptive
iTownsend, C. H. 1885. "An Account of Recent
Captures of the California Sea Elephant and Statistics
Relating to the Present Abundance of the Species."
Proc. U. S. N. M., pp. 90-4.
2Rothschild, Hon. Walter, Ph.D. 1908. "Mirounga
angustirostris (Gill)," Novitates Zoologicse, Vol. XV,
p. 393.
and pictorial material, previously lack-
ing, was also secured. The numerous
photographs were, indeed, the only
ones of the elephant seal that had until
then been taken, with the exception of
a few made by Harris in 1907 at the
same island. Six young elephant seals
captured by this expedition were ex-
hibited at the New York Aquarium,
where some of them lived nearlj^ two
years. These are now preserved as
specimens in the American Museum,
the United States National Museum,
and the Brooklyn Museum.
In 1922 the expedition of the
"Tecate" to Guadalupe took place, to
be followed a year later by a second
visit of this ship to the island.
Having given this brief summary of
recent expeditions concerned with the
elephant seal, let us cast our eye back
over some of the earlier narratives.
In Mariner's account referred to above,
it is stated that the "Port-au-Prince"
was proceeding to "the island of
Ceros" (Cedros) for the purpose of
"laying in a cargo of elephant oil and
seal-skins" but the account contains
no further reference to the elephant
seal which, it is known, was abundant
there at that time (1806).
Scammon,^ in writing of the animal
life at Cedros Island, says, "Seals and
sea-elephants once basked upon the
shores of this isolated spot in vast
numbers, and in years past its sur-
rounding shores teemed with sealers,
seal elephant, and sea-otter hunters.
. . . But those innumerable herds of
sea-elephants have long since been
nearly exterminated, and here seals
likewise are found only in compara-
tively small numbers,"
Scammon states that the elephant
sScammon, CM. 1869. "Report of Captain C.
M. Scammon, of the U. S. Revenue Service, on the
West Coast of Lower .California." Appendix, pp.
123-31, of Resources of the Pacific Slope, by J. Ross
Browne.
NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL AND GUADALUPE FUR SEAL 571
seals come to shore at certain seasons
of the year to shed their coats and
to give birth to their young. He tells
of the method of hunting: how the
seals ashore were driven farther land-
ward by men advancing from the water
to slaughter them. Their number in
the days of which he speaks was great
enough to give ''full cargoes to the oil-
ships." The smaller animals were
killed by clubbing, the large males by
shooting. There is considerable evi-
dence that the former abundance of the
elephant seal in the Lower California
region has not been overestimated.
Many whalers and sealers frequented
the shores and islands of Lower Cali-
fornia between 1808 and 1840 under
American, British, French, and Rus-
sian flags, and it is known that the
elephant seal was much hunted for a
few years after the discovery of gold
in California and that, as a conse-
quence, it became scarce.
Except for some recent observations
by members of the ''Tecate" expedi-
tions,^ the natural history of the north-
ern elephant seal apparently is record-
ed only in the writings of Scammon^
and the reports of the "Albatross"^
expedition. Rothschild's remarks on
the specimens collected by Harris are
limited to a single page. Scammon's
descriptions deal largely with the Ant-
arctic elephant-seal fishery.
The northern elephant seal is the
largest of all seals, with the possible
exception of the Antarctic species, an
extremely large specimen of the former
measuring, according to Scammon,
iHanna, G. Dallas, and Anthony, A. W. 1923.
"A Cruise Among Desert Islands." National Geo-
graphic Magazine, Vol. XLIV, No. 1, pp. 71-99. Also
Anthony, A. W. 1924.- "Notes on the Present Status
of the Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga Angusti-
rostris," Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. V, No. 3, pp.
145-52.
2Soammon, Charles M. 1874. "The Sea Elephant,"
The Marine Mammals of the North-Western Coast of
North America, pp. 115-23.
3Townsend, C. H. 1912. "The Northern Ele-
phant Seal." Zoologica, Vol. I, No. 8, pp. 159-73.
twenty-four feet in length. The same
author refers to one twenty-two feet
long which yielded 210 gallons of oil.
The three large males taken by the
''Albatross" Expedition at Guadalupe
Island in 1911 were each sixteen feet in
length. During the past half -century
the northern species has had little
chance of attaining large size. Under
the protection now afforded, it is
possible that 7nonsters twenty feet or
more in length may reappear at Guada-
lupe Island. The writer found the
blubber of the three males mentioned
to be four inches thick about the fore
part of the body. Cleveland says that
the fat of the Antarctic species, taken
by him at Kerguelen Island, was seven
inches thick and that the largest speci-
men might yield as much as 245
gallons of oil, while Murphy^ indicates
a maximum of about eight inches for
the blubber. As the oil is superior to
whale oil for lubricating purposes, there
can be no doubt about the great value
of the elephant seal as an oil producer.
Few large animals are so indifferent
to the presence of man as these great
seals. They showed little inclination
to move' as members of the "Alba-
tross" Expedition walked among them.
When intentionally disturbed, they
soon quieted down, often throwing
sand on their backs with their flippers
and completely ignoring our presence.
Even when roughly prodded and
forced into the sea, they usually re-
turned promptly. While in the water,
they were equally unconcerned about
the coming and going of the ship's
boats. A common attitude in the
water, especially with those of smaller
size, is to float with only the nose and
hind flippers above the surface.
Getting out of the water is difficult
*Murphy, R. C. 1918. "The Status of Sealing in
the Sub-Antarctic Atlantic." The Scientific Monthly,
August, 1918.
View of the northern end of the elephant seal rookery on Guadalupe Island. — Males,
females, two-year-olds, and yearlings are lying about on the beach. The two males in the
middle distance with heads erected are in fighting attitude, the proboscis being retracted
and the mouth wide open. In the distance is seen the "Albatross." This photograph sug-
gested the background for the Elephant Seal Group shown on p. 566
V
The old males are usually sleepy and disinclined to move unless forcibly disturbed
572
Adult male and female elephant seals. — The male assumes a threatening attitude
only when deliberately aroused
The calloused surface in front is the result of fighting.— This part of the body is often
deeply scarred and unsightly
574
NATURAL HISTORY
for such heavy-bodied and short-
hmbed animals. In passing through
the shallow water the hind flippers are
raised and spread to take advantage of
the pushing effect of the low waves.
When the creatures are on the dry
beach, progress is still slower, but
under crowded conditions individuals
have actualty crawled inland several
hundred yards. In moving up the
beach the animal arches its back and,
rising on the fore flippers, draws the
hind quarters forward. Its progress is
interrupted by frequent pauses.
During the mating season the large
males engage in considerable fighting,
especialh^ those accompanying females.
When within striking distance of each
other, they rise as high as possible on
the fore limbs, draw the flabby probos-
cis into folds on top of the head, which
is held aloft, and strike quick blows at
each other's necks and shoulders with
their large canines. The attacks are
accompanied by considerable nasal
and vocal noise. The animals of fight-
ing age and size bear the marks of
many previous encounters, the skin
of the neck and breast being rough,
calloused, and hairless as a result
of the punishment received from
adversaries.
The fighter makes little attempt to
protect his fore quarters, which seem to
serve as a shield for receiving blows;
but he is careful to strike quickly and
withdraw his precious nose out of
harm's way. There is apparently no
actual seizing and tearing of the skin,
the offensive blow being a quick bite
with the large canines. The com-
batants soon separate; there is none of
the prolonged tussling and fierce
scrimmaging indulged in by male fur
seals, which often leave them with
gaping wounds. A fur-seal fight is of
the dog-fight sort.
The proboscis of the elephant seal,
relaxed and pendent when the animal
is crawling, or lying in a fiabby mass
when the animal is at rest, is capable
of many muscular expressions when
the seal is awake and moving about.
It may be withdrawn and wrinkled up
in various positions on the head, or if
the head be thrown back completely,
may hang relaxed toward the rear.
The proboscis is only slightly devel-
oped in the hah-grown males, suggest-
ing that it does not become fully devel-
oped until sexual maturity is reached.
In the females the proboscis is lacking.
Anatomical study of the proboscis is
desirable, as there is uncertainty
whether it really can be 'inflated."
During the skinning operations of the
"Albatross" Expedition no inflatable
air sacs, or chambers, were noted, but
it is possible that such may have been
overlooked.
The very young elephant seal is
black and is so excessively fat as to be
almost helpless. The yearling is gray-
ish brown in color, and is about four
feet in length. None of the six year-
lings brought to the New York Aqua-
rium was more than five feet long.
In weight they varied from 167 to
301 pounds, the males being heavier
than the females. Their capture was
effected by simply rolling them sepa-
rately in nets and lifting them into
the boats. They showed no inclination
to bite when on the beach, on the deck
of the "Albatross," or during their
life at the Aquarium, although when
approached, they would assume a
threatening attitude by opening the
mouth very widely.
Nothing very definite is known re-
garding the feeding habits of this seal.
In the stomachs of those killed at
various times the writer found nothing
but a little sand. It is stated in some of
The bulky object on the beach in front of the boat is a j'oung seal rolled up in a net
to render it helpless. Thus secured, it was rowed to the "Albatross" and with five of its
fellows started on the long journey to New York
Yearling elephant seals in the pen especially constructed for them on the deck of the
"Albatross"
575
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NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL AND GUADAL UPE FUR SEAL 577
the accounts of the Antarctic species
that seaweed and the remains of squid
have been noted in the stomachs of
these seals. Murphy found, in addi-
tion to squid, the remains of small
fish in the stomachs of animals killed
as soon as they had come to shore.^
Harris observed "tiny sardines not
more than two inches long" in his
Guadalupe specimens. Anthony^ al-
ludes to the capture of a young male,
three-quarters grown, ''which had
recently bolted a bass of about two
pounds weight." He adds that "a
few fragments of kelp, taken perhaps
at the same time as the fish, and a few
pebbles were the only stomach con-
tents." The yearlings brought to the
Aquarium ate nothing but fresh fish.
Usually this food was given them cut
into pieces, but they preferred the live
fish that were occasionally supplied.
The daily ration for each of the seals
was six or seven pounds of smelt, tom-
cods, roach, and cod. They ignored
absolutely squid, live crabs, and sea-
weed. Unlike most seals, they crushed
their food before swallowing it, often
turning on their backs in the water
during the process of mastication.
They would take the food from the hands
of their keeper with no signs of fear.
In swimming about the large pool
the fore flippers seldom came into
action, the hind flippers being em-
ployed much as a fish uses its tail.
These young elephant seals often slept
under water, stretched out on the floor
of the pool.
iMurphy, R. C. 1914. "Notes on the Sea
Elephant, Mirounga leonina (Linn6)." Bulletin,
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. XXXIII, pp. 63-79.
^Anthony, A. W. 1924. "Notes on the Present
Status of the Northern Elephant Seal." Journal of
Mammalogy, Vol. V, No. 3, pp. 145-52.
It is possible that the elephant seal is
more active at night than by day. It
may be that it feeds only at night,
which would account for the lack of
evidence as to the food of those killed
in the daytime. Its eyes are suggestive
of those of nocturnal animals, being re-
markably large, dark, and lustrous.
Although the elephant seal apparent-
ly does not wander far from shore, like
the fur seal and some other species, it
has at least one enemy in the shark.
A specimen secured by the writer at
San Cristobal Bay was disfigured by a
gash on the rump in which were the
marks of a shark's teeth. Sealers
told the writer that fully one fourth
of the smaller animals captured there
bore such marks.
The total number of elephant seals
killed during the past forty years at
San Cristobal Bay and Guadalupe
Island — the only places they were
known to frequent during that period
— appears to have been 454. Since
1884 none has been found at San
Cristobal.
Comparison of the large skulls
secured in 1911 at Guadalupe with
those of the Antarctic species has
shown the distinctness of the northern
species. This is also apparent when
the excellent photographs now avail-
able of living animals of both species
are compared.
Naturalists have not seen enough of
the northern elephant seal to determine
whether it is polygamous to the ex-
tent of the southern species. It is
evident that much remains to be ascer-
tained in regard to this interesting
mammal before its complete life his-
tory can be written.
A WARD OF GUADALUPE ISLAND
In 1922 the island of Guadalupe was declared a government reservation by the author-
ities of Mexico City, and it is to be hoped its elephant seal population will escape in the
future the persecution to which it was subjected in the past
A Trip to Guadalupe, the Isle of My
Boyhood Dreams'
By LAURENCE M. HUEY
Curator of Birds and Mammals, Natural History Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, California
Note. — The preceding paper, recording the visit of the "Albatross" to Guadalupe in
1911, will have whetted the reader's interest for an article dealing with the later history of
the herd of sea elephants. The main purpose of the expedition of 1923 in which Mr. Huey
participated was to take a census of these animals. They had then been enjoying gov-
ernment protection for about a year and their number had increased from 264 — the total
counted by members of the cooperative expedition in July, 1922, — to 366.
Since preparing the present article, Mr. Huey has again visited Guadalupe and spent
the day of August 30, 1924, on the elephant seal beach. He writes that, at that time, the
count showed but 124 animals, of which only 9 were large adults. The majority were of in-
termediate size and there were 6 yearlings. Whether the fluctuations in the beach census of
the past three summers reflect with any accuracy the relative abundance of the total living
elephant seals cannot, in the judgment of Mr. Huey, yet be determined. He feels that these
facts depend upon a much greater knowledge of the movements, breeding habits, and food
of the elephant seal than has as yet been secured.
IT had been a restless night despite
the quiet sea and the even roll of the
boat, for the long-hoped-for trip
to Guadalupe, the island of my boy-
hood dreams, was really taking place.
In the early gray of dawn, I was on the
bridge peering into the west with the
hope of seeing the dim outline of the
enchanted isle. During my early boy-
hood, while wandering about the water
front of San Diego, I had heard many
tales of this out-of-the-way island,
which lies off the Mexican coast about
180 miles southwest of San Diego, and
that I was now actually on my way to
it was due to the courtesy of the Mexi-
can government. I had been invited
to join a party in charge of Prof. J.
M. Gallegos, of the National Museum
of Natural History, Mexico City, that
was planning to visit the island. The
voyage was made aboard the Mexican
Fisheries Patrol Boat ''Tecate," which
started from San Diego on July 10,
1923, and, after touching at Ensenada,
Lower California, set her course on the
open Pacific.
^Photographs
After I had been watching for hours,
far to the southwest a dim outline
commenced to take shape about eight
o'clock in the morning. Finally land-
marks began to appear and these were
pointed out to me by different members
of the party who were familiar with
the place. As I scanned the rockj^
slopes, I noticed that moving things
were in evidence everywhere — for the
island was swarming with goats!
It appears that in the old whaling
days goats were introduced on Guada-
lupe as a source of meat and have
increased to such an extent that they
now completely overrun it. At this
season, when everything was dry, they
were invading the sheer faces of the
cliffs in search of some stray bit of
lichen or moss on which to feed. We
marveled at their agility and their
ability to cling to the precipices — al-
most as tenaciously as a jQy ascend-
ing a windowpane. However, their
adventures were not without peril,
for, while we were steaming slowly
near the shore, searching for a suit-
by the author.
579
580
NATURAL HISTORY
able anchorage, we saw several car-
casses of goats floating in the water, —
an evidence that the animals had fallen
from the bluffs which overhang the sea.
Om' anchorage was made within
fifty yards of the east shore of the
island, near the site of the old penal
colony that is today occupied by a
garrison of soldiers, placed there to
guard the surviving elephant seals
(Mirounga angustirostris) , which in-
habit a small beach on the opposite
side of the island. These animals
were brought to the very brink of ex-
termination by the old whalers, who
sought them for their oil, which before
the days of petroleum was used ex-
tensively by the gold hunters of Cali-
fornia for lighting. The small herd
which exists on Guadalupe Island com-
prises the only representatives of this
species now upon the earth. As a
result of a cooperative expedition made
in the summer of 1922, this rugged
island, which is only 20 miles long and
6 miles wide, was created a federal re-
serve by proclamation of the Mexican
government.
It was with no little interest that we
landed in the late afternoon. With
another member of the party, I set out
and explored a canon for half a mile
inland. A rocky, rugged waste it
proved to be, with reeking carcasses of
goats scattered about in various stages
of decomposition. The narrow canon
was at times nearly stifling due to the
heat of the reflected rocks, and there
was no breeze to stir the air. We saw
but two species of birds, the Guadalupe
rock wren (Salpindes guadeloupensis)
and the Guadalupe house finch (Carpo-
dacus amplus) . Both these birds proved
fairly abundant. They might be seen
The houses of the old penal colony, with a sign posted on the officers' quarters pro-
claiming in both Spanish and English that, by presidential decree, the kiUing or capturing
of elephant seals is prohibited
A TRIP TO GUADALUPE
581
in a small flock or family searching
for maggots in the carcass of some
dead goat.
The eastern sky was cloudless next
morning, and the sun rose in almost
tropical splendor. Professor Gallegos
and I were landed through the surf
with our lunch, guns, and cameras, for
this day had been designated as the
one on which the top of the island was
to be explored. A boy and pack burro
were placed at our disposal by the
commander of the garrison. As we
gained altitude on the steep and rocky
trail, a grand view of the northern end
of the island was spread before us,
while banks of fog were swept over
the northern head by the incessant
western winds.
On reaching the floor of a small
valley', I was much impressed by its
desolation. Not even a spear of dry
grass was to be found among the rocks,
and only one or two green bushes could
be seen hanging by their strong roots
from crevices in precipitous cliffs —
out of the reach of the ravenous goats.
Though safe from destruction, these
bushes were not unobserved, for well-
traveled goat trails led to the cliffs both
above and below them, where the
shaggy beasts had evidently been feast-
ing with their eyes if not with their
teeth. About half a mile from the
spring, which is situated on the eastern
slope of the island near the summit, was
found what had been part of Guada-
lupe's beautiful cypress forest, but
which consisted now only of dried,
naked tree trunks. This was another
result of the ravages of the ubiquitous
goats; for when the season of the
annual grasses has passed each year,
the beasts resort to the bark on the
trees, and are fast devastating the
small forests which crown the island.
Arriving at the spring, we quenched
our thirst at a pool that had been safely
fenced from pollution and were pleas-
antly surprised at the qualitj^ of the
water. A question that naturally
occurred was why the spring should be
located so near the crest of the high
slopes. Investigation of the rock strata
told the story. The water came from
the forests above, on the westward
slope of the island, which were contin-
ually drenched in fog. The moisture,
condensing and dripping to the ground
from the leaves of the trees, is concen-
trated by strata of hard rock which
slope gently through to this point on
the eastern side of the island. These
strata are impervious to water, and
thus carry the moisture to the out-
cropping where the spring occurs.
Through this agency alone is life able
to exist on this desolate island. Even-
tually the goats themselves will be
their own undoing, for with the passing
of the forests — which is inevitable —
the water supply will also cease to be,
and with it will disappear the terres-
trial life on the island.
Of ten species of birds and mammals
which have been recorded as endemic
on this island, — namely the Guadalupe
fur seal (Ardocephalus townsendi), the
Guadalupe wren {Thryomanes hrevi-
cauda). the Guadalupe towhee (Pipilo
consohrinus) , the Guadalupe caracara
{Polyhorus lutosus), the Guadalupe
flicker {Colaptes rufipileus), the Guada-
lupe petrel {Oceanodromamacrodadyla) ,
the Guadalupe rock wren (Salpinctes
guadeloupensis) , the Guadalupe house
finch {Carpodacus ampins), the Guada-
lupe junco {J unco insularis), and the
dusky kinglet {Regidus calendula ob-
scurus), — the five first named are now
gone forever. The goats are respon-
sible for the passing of three of these —
the Guadalupe towhee, Guadalupe
wren, and Guadalupe caracara. The
582
NATURAL HISTORY
p»#- "^ ^'
If manj^ dry years reduce the annual growth on the island to a minimum, there will be
little left of the forests, for the goats gnaw the very bark from the trees, and even climb to
the more accessible hmbs
towhee and wren were exterminated
by the complete destruction of the
underbrush by the goats. The cara-
caras preyed upon the new-born kids
and were destroyed by the men who
had been granted the concession of
exploiting these animals for their hides
and tallow, for they thought the birds
were limiting the increase of the goats.
Thus, indirectly, the goats caused the
extermination of the caracara. The
flicker was brought to its doom by the
introduction of house cats by the early
Russian sealers, who also introduced
the common house mouse (Mus mus-
culus musculus). Both of these ani-
mals, in addition to the goats, have
run feral over the island, causing un-
told destruction to the birds and plants.
A glance at the barren landscape and
bleak, leafless skeletons of the cypress
trees through which we passed was
sufficient to impress upon us the fact
that the end is near for what Dr.
Edward Palmer in the seventies de-
scribed as a naturalist's paradise.
After lunch Professor Gallegos and
the pack boy went on to the top of the
island to collect specimens of the cy-
press and take photographs, while I
stayed about the spring to observe the
birds. I later joined them near the
summit and had opportunity for a
hasty glance through the forest and for
the making of a few pictures. , I was
much impressed by the appearance
presented by the cypresses, for dead,
leafless limbs hung to the ground in a
thick, inter-locking mass and the goats
had tunneled through these masses,
A TRIP TO GUADALUPE
583
much as meadow mice tunnel in a
grassy swamp. In places I saw evi-
dence that the goats had adopted even
arboreal tactics, and had climbed well
into the trees to gnaw away the bark.
Dripping with cypress pitch, the trees
presented a sad sight, for their very
life blood was oozing away. Nothing
but old trees were found in this forest,
for the hungry goats do not allow the
seeds to sprout. It remains only for
the now-existing trees to live out their
lives, when this species also will pass
away on Guadalupe.
As we made our journey downward
in the cool of the late afternoon,
goats were seen everywhere journeying
toward the spring — from the north,
the south, and all directions. I fired
my gun toward one large flock to
frighten the animals, and they scurried
off across the precipitous gullies and
were soon out of sight.
At daybreak the next morning we
set sail for the beach on the northwest
part of the island, where the elephant
seals are to be found. As we were
approaching toward the north head in
the lee of the island, the wind ripped
through gaps in the crest and descended
in what is known to the mariner as
"woolies." Several of these were so
violent that the awning on the after-
deck of the boat had to be furled, and
at times I thought the very rigging
would be torn from the masts. After
we had passed from the shelter of the
island, we were met by a veritable gale
and a frothing, heaving sea, which
dashed over the ship, causing all of us
to seek a seat of safety with a con-
venient handhold. We were sailing
close to the rocky coast, and the tower-
ing cliffs, rising like spires into the sky,
made an impressive scene. The fog
had risen and, as we passed along, we
were able to see the summit of the
island in its entirety. Now, for the
first time, though at a distance, I
beheld the rugged pines in their strong-
hold, strugghng for existence on the
brink of the precipitous cliffs. Their
wind-swept limbs were all stretching to
the eastward, for the prevailing western
winds would scarcely permit a leaf to
face them. The small endemic palms
were also noted, fighting for life against
the elements and the goats, on the
sheltered slopes wherever their exist-
ence was possible. Goats were seen
everywhere and occasionally a sudden
cloud of dust would rise from the faces
of the cliffs where, frightened at our
approach, the animals had, in the haste
of their departure, started an avalance
of stones toward the sea.
After we had passed well around to
the western side of the island, the sea
became reasonably quiet and we all
began peering at the shoreline in
search of elephant seals. Those of the
part}^ who were acquainted with the
place called my attention to a loud
snorting, which sounded plainly from
the shore though we were fully half a
mile away. This noise, I was told, was
made bj^ the elephant seals.
The long-awaited cove was soon
reached and its short, sandy beach
seemed covered with the huge beasts.
I could hardly wait while the anchor
was dropped and the skiff got ready.
It required a bit of skilled seamanship
to make a safe landing, for the break-
ers on the west side of the island were
swept shoreward violently by the
western wind. Once on the beach, I
found myself face to face with the
huge creatures of the sea. It was with
a great deal of timidity at first that I
walked in their midst, but I finally
ventured to pat one enormous fellow
as he lay dozing in the mellow heat
of the sun. It amazed me to find that
.4 TRIP TO GUADALUPE
585
the beasts were not only not vicious
but allowed us to walk freely among
them and to talk to each other without
taking alarm. Their sense of hearing
seemed to be only slightly developed,
but a very few grains of sand kicked
over their slumbering faces was sure to
arouse them.
The majority of the animals were a-
dult or nearly adult, and there were only
five seen that could be classed as year-
lings. The whereabouts of the breed-
ing females and "pups" was a mystery.
The difference in the ages of the
seals was easily discernible, for the
younger individuals were bluish gray
while the old ones were of a yellowish
cast. The older animals were in a state
of moult with the hide peeling, hair
and all, from their backs, much as a
sunburned bather peels on our pleasure
beaches at home. All showed evi-
dences of having fought and their
necks, shoulders, and faces were seared
!)3^ deep scars, made either by the rocks
against which they bumped or by
their opponents' great canine teeth.
However, they seemed placid now as
they rested in the sunshine on the
beach. It did not apparently matter
in their case which side was up — for as
many were lying up-side-down as
right-side-up — nor whether the left
side or the right side was toward the
sun, for any part of their round body
seemed to flatten enough in the sand
for comfort.
After our party had viewed the herd,
we made a census of the seals, which
totalled 366 individuals. We then
walked boldly in their midst, purposely
frightening many of them into the
water. With no little interest we
watched the actions of the beasts, for
they ambled to the water almost agilely
by the use of their front and rear
flippers, making remarkable speed for
such heavy animals. Others that were
not disturbed flipped sand onto their
backs with their front flippers to free
their peeling skin from the irritating
flies and to protect it against the warm
sunshine. One beast that I had under
observation for some time, while I
was making photographs, used his
front flippers much as a person would
use his hand, to scratch his side or his
nose or any part of his body that was
within reach. The action of the digits
of the flipper reminded me very much
of fingers, especially when the animal
was rubbing the more sensitive parts
of his nose.
On the second day of our stay at the
seal beach, I witnessed a combat from
start to finish and was much amused
and impressed by the way the animals
fight. The combat was provoked by the
attempt of one huge beast to get to sea
by crawling over the back of his neigh-
bor, who much resented the extra two
tons of weight bearing down upon his
back. The animals began to grunt
and snort, and rose threateningly
on their front flippers with their heads
erect and their huge cavernous mouths
opened menacingly. Near-by seals,
realizing what was about to take place,
gave room and the battle commenced.
The two combatants struggled, neck
and neck together, each attempting to
bite the other or working for an ad-
vantageous position on the sloping-
beach. These aggressive tactics car-
ried them ever nearer to the surf,
and finally the}^ reached the wash of
the waves. Here each would endeavor
to take advantage of an on-rushing
wave as an aid in hurling his bulky
body against his antagonist. For fully
five minutes they sparred in the surf,
until one of them, apparently thinking
that discretion was the better part of
valor, went into deeper water, where he
586
NATURAL HISTORY
rolled lazily in the swelling waves,
while the other ambled back to his
place on the beach.
Our work on the seal beach being
finished, we again returned to our
anchorage on the eastern shore and the
following morning set sail to the south-
ward, steaming as close to the island
as possible in the hope that a last
remaining Guadalupe fur seal (Arcio-
cephalus townsendi) might be dis-
covered. How bleak and barren the
landscape appeared as we moved
slowly along just beyond the reach of
the breakers! Hardly any bird or
animal life, excepting goats, was seen,
though an occasional dark-mantled
western gull {Larus occidentalis livens)
or Farallon cormorant (Phalacrocorax
auritus alhociliatus) was observed,
and a single California sea lion (Zalo-
phus calif ornianus) was seen basking
in the sunshine on the top of a rock
near the water. The tide was low at
this morning hour and many flocks
of goats were observed at the water's
edge nibbling at the kelp. So scarce
is food for them on the island that they
descend during low tides to feast upon
the kelp and they no doubt quench
their thirst with salt water. From our
vantage point on board ship we
were able to study the geological for-
mation of the island. In many places
could be seen large craters surrounded
by black streams of cold lava that had
once been belched forth red-hot from
the earth. One area was of cinder red
color, as though still aglow with the
fiery heat which marked the birth of
this island.
Upon rounding the southern end of
the island, we saw to our surprise a
United States Eagle Boat lying at
anchor with the Stars and Stripes
floating above the taffrail. As we
passed almost within hailing distance,
each national emblem was dipped in
honor of the other. We proceeded to
an anchorage in the quiet waters of
South Bay, on the shores of which we
found a party of bluejackets with the
commanding officer of the Eagle Boat
hunting goats to stock their larder.
On our cruise around the island we
had planned to spend the night at this
anchorage, going up the western coast
in the morning. There we intended
to capture a couple of the smaller
elephant seals and to bring them back
alive — one for the Zoological Garden
in San Diego and the other for Mexico
City. Our visit to the seal beach had
sadly shaken our hopes of being able to
cope with or carry even the smallest
of the seals we had observed in the
herd. However, when we talked with
the commander of the Eagle Boat and
found that it was possible to obtain
the help of twenty or thirty energetic
sailor boys and a vessel of good dis-
placement to bring back the captive
seals, our expectations were again
revived.
Two fair-sized islets mark the south-
ern end of Guadalupe Island, and as
soon as we had rounded these, we were
again buffeted by the west winds. How
the boat pitched and rocked in this
turbulent sea! At times the sweeping
spray passed clear over our ship,
wetting the decks and everyone on
them. During the four-hour journey
up the western shore of the island,
the Eagle Boat and our craft went
bow to bow, and the only event of
natural history interest on our journey
was the flushing of a few pairs of
Xantus' murrelets (Endomychura
hypoleuca).
We landed at the seal beach and
were soon followed by a dozen or more
lusty bluejackets in their whaleboat.
Theirs was the fiery enthusiasm of
When teased, the seals would open their cavernous mouths and act as though they
would like to devour the aggressor with one gulp
It takes more than a single elephant seal to beat a detail of j^oung naval reservists
provided they have tackle enough
587
588
NATURAL HISTORY
youth, and action was what they
wanted. Accordingly the seals were
quickly scattered and driven into the
sea when once these boys started to
work in their midst. Selecting one of
the smallest seals, they tangled him
in a large rope cargo net, which was
then lashed to a broken oar and carried
to the whaleboat. As there was not
enough tackle to cope with the second
animal, the bluejackets departed from
the beach with only one captive.
After all hands were again safely
on board, each ship blew three blasts
of the whistle as a farewell. The
Eagle Boat put out to sea for San
Diego and our ship went back to its
anchorage near the garrison. Here we
spent the night, and departed the next
day at noon for Ensenada on our way
home. Thus ended the trip of my boy-
hood dreams to the isle of Guadalupe,
and, though there were disappoint-
ments, my pleasures were many.
The queer proboscis from which the elephant seal derives its name is here seen to good
idvantage
The Seal Collection
A FEATURE OF THE HALL OF OCEAN LIFE, AMERICAN MUSEUM
By FREDERIC A. LUCAS
Honorary Director, American Museum
A PROMINENT feature of the
Hall of Ocean Life, the con-
struction of which is drawing to
completion, will naturally be the seals
and their relatives and, while there are
gaps that we should like to see filled,
yet, when the doors are opened, a good-
\y portion of the seal population of the
world will be represented. Chief among
them are — or will be — the groups of
sea elephants, Steller's sea lion, and
the Alaskan fiir seal. The story of the
sea elephants is told elsewhere in this
issue, the sea lion will be described and
figured at some future time, while a
picture of the Fur Seal Group must
suffice for this account, which is re-
stricted to the general collection of
seals.
In poetical parlance it might be
said that the series of seals reaches from
pole to pole; in plain prose it contains
examples from the Arctic to the Ant-
arctic— but they are scattered along at
intervals with numerous gaps between.
This is partly because seals as a rule
occur at widely separated localities,
partly because they dwell in places
difficult of access, and largely because
there have been no definite attempts to
collect them. Also there is little
attraction in the chase of the seal:
where seals are abundant, it is mere
slaughter; where they are rare and
wary, it is a trial of one's patience.
Moreover, seals have this advantage
over most animals, they can slip into
the water and elude pursuit. Never-
theless, it is to be hoped that friends of
the American Museum, seeing this
lack in the collection, may provide
means to supply the deficiency.
Aside from the fur-bearing species
the majority of seals, both as to
number and species, are found in
northern waters and, as these lie near
at hand or are easily reached, it is not
surprising that seals from the North-
ern Hemisphere form the bulk of the
collection. Our northernmost repre-
sentative is the ringed seal, small in
size but once of prime importance to
the Eskimo as an article of food — in
fact, in days gone by it might almost
have been termed the Eskimo's "staff
of life." Stefansson, too, relied largely
on this seal for his food supply. The
ice may force the bulky walrus south
to dig his clams, but the little ringed
seal bores through the ice floes for air,
while beneath them he manages to
gain a scanty livelihood. Associated
The ringed seal (Phoca Jcetida) has been
the "staff of hfe" of the Eskimo during
many a winter of the past
with him, but far less common and
much more difficult to capture, is the
big bearded seal, or square flipper,
which reaches a weight of five hundred
pounds. Neither of these seals is found
in sufficient numbers to be important
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THE SEAL COLLECTION
591
commercially, which is doubtless for-
tunate for the Eskimo as well as the
seal.
Found with the ringed seal in the
southern part of its range is the
Greenland, or harp seal, commercially
the most important of the true, or ear-
less, seals. This is the species that at
breeding time assembles in thousands
on the ice floes and drifts southward
to be slaughtered by the hardy New-
foundland fishermen. And while the
killing of the seals is mere butchery,
yet such are the attendant conditions
of wind and weather that it is a most
hazardous occupation and many a
ship and many a man have been lost
in its prosecution. This hazard is to
the advantage of the seal herd, a bad
season for the sealers meaning a good
season for the seals, and it is the writ-
er's belief that but for these "bad
seasons," the seals could not for so long
have withstood the yearly drain upon
their numbers — even though there are
wise laws restricting the length of the
killing season and forbidding vessels to
leave St. Johns, the headquarters of
the sealing fleet, before a given date.
What this drain is may be gathered
from Levi G. Chafe's Report oftheNew-
foundland Seal Fishery, from which it
appears that on an average about
125,000 seals are taken yearly, the
smallest catch on record being just un-
der 34,000 and the largest over 350.000.
The harp seals taken fall into various
categories — white coats (those under
two weeks old), gray coats (from three,
weeks to a year), bedlamers (from one
to three years), and old harps (the
adults) . The newly born seals are clad
in a white coat of thick woolly fur —
hence their name. At the end of about
two weeks this peels off — as does the
down from many sea birds — leaving
the young clad for a year in a suit of
shiny steel gray. Those from one to
three years old wear a more or less
mottled coat of short hair, like that of
the ordinary hair seal, the conspicuous
black saddle of the adult not being
assumed for several years. But why
call the young seals bedlamers? Judge
Prowse suggested that it was because,
when attacked, they were so frightened
that they acted like Bedlamites — a
plausible suggestion but, like many a
similar explanation, not the right one.
The correct etymology was furnished
by some one better versed in the queer
twists that have befallen many New-
foundland names — such, for example,
as that which transformed the Bay of
Hope, Bai d'Espoir, into Bay Despair
— and we learn that "bedlamer" is
only a corruption of the French
bete de la mer, really very simple.
Scattered among the harps — though
less numerous — are the big hoods, so
called because the males have the
power of blowing up a sack on the end
of the nose. These form but a small
portion of the catch.
What becomes of all these seals?
The majority of them are converted
into leather, and the finer grades of our
sealskin belts and pocketbooks come
from the hides of the young. A few are
transformed into wolf- and bearskin
furs, but the fur is too woolly to make a
really good imitation. The fat, or
blubber, is reduced to a very clear,
tasteless oil — some of which, it is
whispered, passes as cod liver oil.
The big gray, or horsehead seal,
though shy and scarce, is present in
the American Museum collection but
there is Httle to be said about him.
Rarest of northern seals, though also
included in the collection, is the
strangely marked ribbon seal, a strag-
gler from the Siberian coast. His
boldly marked coat is, or was, in de-
592
NATURAL HISTORY
mand to supply the well dressed
Eskimo with holiday apparel.
Finally, among our northern seals
we have the harbor seal, the one most
familiar to residents and summer
visitors on our Atlantic coast. Once
A male ribbon seal {Phoca fasciala) . — The
female is somewhat larger and her markings
are much fainter
it was common in New York Harbor,
where its name still survives in Robbins
Reef, a corruption of the Dutch robben
(seals) denoting a place where seals
''haul out" to bask in the sun, and
even in recent years an occasional seal
has found its way into the Hudson.
Formerly plentiful along our eastern
coast, the seal has become compara-
tively rare, owing to trhe fact that seals
and fishermen do not agree on the fish
question. The fishermen consider
that they have the exclusive right to
take fish and, after they have depleted
the shore fisheries by their wasteful
and destructive methods, discover that
it is really the seal which is to blame
and. forthwith put a price upon his
head, or rather upon his tail, that being
the end that must be presented by
claimants for bounty. For several
seasons some Penobscot Indians did a
flourishing business right in Boston
Harbor but, since the seal became an
outlaw, he has been rare not only there
but elsewhere. Not that seals do not
eat fish — for they do — but the damage
they inflict is slight compared with
that done by the fishermen, and they
do not waste the fish and it is a fairly
easy matter to keep the seals within
bounds.
The Caribbean seal is noteworth}^ for
various reasons: first, because he and
his immediate relatives are exceptional
among hair seals in that they dwell in
tropical waters instead of icy seas, and
secondly because he has the distinc-
tion of being the first animal to be
described from the New World, having
been noted on the second voyage of
Columbus in 1494. Of course Colum-
bus must have seen other new animals
but apparently they were not described.
A male Caribbean seal (Monachus tropicalis) obtained at the Triangles by Henry L. Ward
in 1886. — The blotches are not the result of any skin disease but are patches of old hair
that has not yet been shed
THE SEAL COLLECTION
593
As for the seal, it is recorded in the log
book that on the islet of Alta Vela, off
the coast of Haiti, the sailors came
upon a band of "sea wolves," eight of
which they killed : thus was the Carib-
bean seal made aware, in the usual man-
ner, of the coming of the white man.
Still another point of interest lies
in the fact that while one relative
of the Caribbean seal is found in the
Mediterranean — provided he has not
been recently exterminated — another is
found on Laysan Island in the Mid-
Pacific. How did his ancestors get so
far from home? Did they come
through the strait that for a time con-
nected the Gulf of Mexico with the
Pacific? If so, why did none of them
tarry by the wayside and populate the
Hawaiian Islands? Once abundant not
only on many of the West Indian
Islands but also on the Bahamas, the
Caribbean seal, unused to man and
easily killed, was soon reduced in-
numbers, thanks to the demand for oil
and hides, and for many years past
has led a precarious existence at one
or two places in the Gulf of Mexico,
especially at some rocky islets known
as the Triangles. Even here it is in
danger and recently the Mexican gov-
ernment has called upon our own for
aid in preventing its extermination.
So much for the northern seals;
those of the Southern Hemisphere,
aside from skulls and skeletons, are but
scantily represented in the Museum
collections, a single example of Wed-
dell's seal being the sole representative
of those found on the ice that fringes
the shores of the Antarctic Continent.
The Museum needs examples of the big,
active sea leopard — one of the largest
of the earless seals, quick enough to
escape the killer whale and quick
enough to catch and devour the am-
phibious penguin. Especially does the
Museum need specimens of the various
southern fur seals that were so ruthless-
ly and wastefully killed by the hardy
sealers of New London, who made
their way into the Antarctic long before
it was charted. The killing is termed
wasteful because no attempt was made
to preserve the race — males, females,
and young being killed indiscrimin-
ately— and because thousands of skins
were lost through improper treatment.
This is doubly unfortunate because the
southern seals do not seem to have the
recuperative power of their northern
relatives, and their former breeding
grounds still remain the barren wastes
they were left by the sealers nearly a
century ago, the only protected colony
being found on an island in the La
Plata River belonging to the Argentine
Republic, which yields several thou-
sand skins yearly. The only eared seal
of the south that the Museum has is
the southern sea lion, obtained by the
Harrison Williams Expedition to the
Galapagos.
So here we stop for want of material,
hoping in time to add another chapter
to the storv of our seals.
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Hunting Corals in the Bahamas
By ROY WALDO MINER
Curator of Lower Invertebrates, American Museum
Note. — The expedition, the achievements of which are recorded in this article, was made
possible through the Angelo Heilprin Exploration Fund and through the general funds of
the American Museum. The success of the expedition was assured through the generous
cooperation of The Submarine Film Corporation and its parent company, the Williamson
Submarine Tube Corporation, as well as through A. Schrader's Sons, Inc., which donated a
complete diving outfit.
HUNTING corals with a sub-
marine tube, diving apparatus,
and pontoons fitted with chain
hoists is doubtless a unique experience,
though many collections have been
made in the past by means of more
primitive apparatus and native divers.
The writer has just had the privilege
of leading an expedition of the former
kind to Andros Island in the Bahamas,
where, through the efficient coopera-
tion of Mr. J. E. Williamson, manager
of The Submarine Film Corporation,
a large collection of corals was ob-
tained, together with photographs,
sketches, motion pictures, and other
data, to be utilized in constructing a
reproduction of a typical Bahaman
coral reef as an exhibit in the American
Museum's new Hall of Ocean Life.
The expedition, which included in ad-
dition to Mr. Williamson and the writer
the following Museum artists, Mr.
Herman Mueller, glass modeler, Mr.
Chris. E. Olsen, modeler and artist, and
Dr. George H. Childs, colorist, left New
York on June 6, reaching Nassau in
the Bahamas three days later. After
eight days in this beautiful and historic
West Indian port, spent in arranging
for the cooperation of the Bahaman
government and in outfitting and organ-
izing for the trip, the party left for Man-
grove Cay, Andros, on the evening of
June 17, with a fleet consisting of a
forty -five -foot gasoline yacht, the
"Standard," two motor boats, the
Williamson submarine tube apparatus.
a pontoon with chain hoist, and two
dinghy s. This fleet was towed by the
"Lady Cordeaux," a sea-going tug
of considerable size, owned by the
Bahaman government, which courte-
ously lent it to conduct our fleet
across the dangerous arm of the sea
known as the Tongue of the Ocean.
There was a full moon and a calm
sea, so the trip was made without
incident and we arrived off the reefs at
Mangrove Cay about daybreak, June 18.
Andros "Island" is really an ar-
chipelago, for it is intersected by
three bights, extending completely
through the land mass from east to
west, and by many subsidiary channels,
that cut it up into a multitude of cays
of various sizes, and form a veritable
labyrinth of waterways. They are so
narrow, however, as to give Andros
superficially the appearance of a single
body of land, extending in a general
north and south direction for about one
hundred twenty miles, and forming
the largest land area in the Bahamas,
The "island" is for the most part
low-lying, with no elevations greater
than one hundred feet, and is composed
mostly of coral limestone of relatively
recent formation. There is much low
and scrubby vegetation with occasional
forests of large trees of exceedingly
hard wood, called by the natives
"horseflesh" because of its red color.
In the interior there are extensive
mangrove swamps, some of them still
occupied by large colonies of fiamin-
696
596
NATURAL HISTORY
goes, which are now protected by the
Bahaman government. The western
shore shelves off gradually to form the
Great Bahama Bank, composed of
shallow coral and sand fiats, — one of
the most important sponge-fishing
grounds in the West Indies. The east-
ern shore, on the other hand, rises
abruptly from the Tongue of the Ocean,
— a depth of a thousand fathoms.
At a distance of about one to two miles
from the eastern shore is the most
typical barrier reef in the West Indies,
extending the entire length of Andros.
This remarkable coral reef was the
immediate objective of the expedition.
We pitched our work tents on Little
Golding Cay near a beautiful sandy
beach on the sheltered side of the
island, while the fleet anchored in the
lagoon near by.
Little Golding Cay is an islet situ-
ated out on the reef itself near one of
the entrances to the lagoon. The outer
side is exposed to the trade winds,
which blow almost continuously from
the southeast, dashing the waves
against the coral rock which forms its
shore and eroding it into fantastic
pinnacles. The greater part of the cay
is covered with low vegetation, —
mostly fragrant bastard logwood,
gumbo limbo trees writhing in fan-
tastic shapes, rose apples with their
scarlet blossoms, seven-year apples,
and sea grape along the shore, bor-
dered by bay lavender and other low
shrubs. Terns nest in the hollows of
the rocks, and herons, called by the
natives "poor Joes," perch in the trees.
So tame are they that one may ap-
proach them closely. On the lagoon
side of the island is the crescent-
shaped beach mentioned above, com-
posed of white coral sand, and form-
ing an admirable landing place for the
coral specimens.
A description of the submarine tube
will aid in understanding our methods
of work. This remarkable apparatus
was invented by Mr. Williamson's
father and was adapted by the son for
submarine photography. It consists of
a barge, the "Jules Verne," surmounted
by a tower containing chain hoists.
Beneath the tower is the well, through
which is lowered a tube composed of
flexible sections securely bolted to-
gether. These are about two feet in
diameter and readily admit the body
of a man. The lower end of the bot-
tom section opens into a spherical
chamber five feet in diameter, in
which two or three persons can be
comfortably seated. From it they
gaze out through a plate glass window
an inch and a half thick into the world
at the bottom of the sea. A ventilator
at the top of the tube draws fresh air
into the chamber by means of a canvas
chute, so that one breathes easily and
comfortably many feet below the
surface of the water. Sections added
at the top permit the lowering of the
chamber to any desired depth. This
tube was a most important factor in
the success of the expedition as used
in conjunction with the subsidiary
apparatus and the Schrader diving
equipment.
I shall never forget my first view of
the barrier reef as seen through the
window of the tube. Great trees of
the reef -forming coral (Acropora pal-
mata) rose from the reef platform con-
stituting a veritable stone forest with
closely interlacing branches, a marble
jungle which melted into the pearly
blue haze of the watery atmosphere,
the wide branches often breaking the
surface of the water at low tide, espe-
cially on the side toward the lagoon.
Multitudinous schools of reef fishes
were swimming in and out through the
HUNTING CORALS IN THE BAHAMAS
597
forest aisles in stately procession, each
species keeping much to itself in ex-
clusive fashion. Jacks, yellowtails,
black angels, blue angels, blue parrot
fishes, groupers, red snappers, and
countless smaller brilliantly colored
species were visible in great numbers.
Once an enormous jewfish came slowly
into view around a coral tree trunk, its
huge mouth gaping as it swam slowly
toward the tube and gazed at us with
bleary eyes. As the tube was moved
slowly back and forth by the men
above, an ever-changing panorama
revealed itself to our view. At times
the forest opened to disclose submarine
glades dotted with coral growths of
fantastic shape. Posts of coral rock
topped by dome-shaped heads of
Orhicella reminded one of huge mush-
rooms, while beautiful fronds of the
fan coral (Acropora 'prolifera) crowned
mounds adorned by sulphur yellow
Pontes and waving sea fans of magenta
and gold. The great staghorn coral
(Acropora cervicornis) covered exten-
sive areas of the reef platform, espe-
cially in front of the coral groves, its
sharp, branching spikes forming inter-
tangled masses menacing in every
direction, like a complicated and con-
fused chevaux defrise. Immense domes
of the star coral (Siderastrsea) and the
brain coral (Meandra) showed here
and there, diversified by brown, white-
tipped fronds of stinging coral growths
(Millepora aldcornis) .
Suddenly into the midst of the
strange beauty of the submarine
jungle Williamson came floating down
equipped with diving helmet. Now
he advanced like some strange monster
with slow half-gliding strides, gro-
tesquely peering at us through the gog-
gle-eye windows of the helmet. A long
crowbar had been lowered to him and,
placing it like a lance in rest, he
assailed a large branching coral. The
bar was not needed, for the coral fell
at a touch from the point and, fastened
to a lowered rope, was quickly hauled
to the surface. A bucket was now let
down and filled with smaller pieces
while we signaled directions from the
window of the submarine chamber.
On other occasions the pontoon was
towed out and the chain hoist lowered.
The diving equipment would be util-
ized to fasten a chain sling around the
base of a heavy coral. The chain
would be pulled taut from above and
we would wait for the next wave to
lift the pontoon and jerk the coral
loose. The coral would then be hauled
to the surface and towed ashore on the
pontoon. Our largest specimens were
secured in this way. The record speci-
men measures twelve feet and, it is
estimated, weighs about two tons.
Raising a coral sp(>cimen to the deck of
the pontoon by means of steel tongs and a
ten-ton chain ' hoist. Though very heavy
specimens were successfulh' Hfted in this
way, the tough steel of the tongs was finally
bent in an endeavor to secure an unusually
large example
598
NATURAL HISTORY
Bleaching and packing corals on the shore of Little Golding Cay. — In the right fore-
ground a box is being built around the twelve-foot specimen. In the distance may be seen,
from left to right, the Williamson Submarine Tube, the yacht, the pontoon, and other vessels
of the Museum fleet
As soon as the corals were collected,
they were towed to the sandy beach on
Little Golding Cay and stranded at
high tide. Here they were put through
the bleaching process by Mr. Herman
Mueller, the glass modeler of the Mu-
seum staJEf, who is also an expert in
the preparation of coral specimens. As
the bleaching proceeded, the speci-
mens were gradually moved up the
beach, until finally they rested, snowy
white, above the high-tide limit. One
of the coral heads, a Siderastrxa, was
so heavy that it required twelve men
to roll it up the beach, which soon
assumed the appearance of a coral
reef as it bristled with our accumu-
lated specimens. Long festoons of dry-
ing sea fans and sea plumes, stretched
between the tents, added a gay touch
of color to the scene.
Then came the problem of packing,
which was no small undertaking in
this out-of-the-way corner of the
world. We were sixty-five miles from
Nassau, the nearest port from which
supplies could be obtained, and our
forest of corals looked formidable.
But we arranged with native sloops to
bring us lumber from Nassau. Sponge
clippings from a sponge establishment
at Mangrove Cay five miles away
furnished us with an admirable pack-
ing material, showing that even in the
outer islands natural resources of the
environment will occasionally quite
unexpectedly solve the problems that
arise.^ Sponge clippings are the
waste pieces of sponge resulting from
the process of trimming which com-
mercial sponges go through in being
prepared for the market. First the
corals were swaddled in burlap. Then
cases were built from rough lumber to
fit the specimens, which were anchored
securely in position and packed tightly
in the sponge clippings, smaller corals
being fitted in the spaces about the
larger ones as the work proceeded.
Thirty-one cases of corals were pre-
pared in this way, requiring three
thousand feet of lumber and ten boat-
loads of sponge clippings. The total
^Reference may be made in this connection to the
way in which the Third Asiatic Expedition solved its
packing problem in Mongolia, by using the camel's
wool gathered from the animals of the caravan to pro-
tect the fragile fossils.
HUNTING CORALS IN THE BAHAMAS
599
weight was estimated at more than
forty tons.
The submarine tube was also util-
ized for the important work of photo-
graphing the coral reefs from be-
neath the sea. More than a thousand
photographs were taken during the
trip, including under-sea pictures as
well as miscellaneous photographs of the
surrounding region and those illustrat-
ing the methods employed. About
two thousand feet of motion pictures
were also secured. The tube was
employed for the first time on record
for making water-color sketches of
living corals and associated forms be-
neath the sea. Mr. Chris E. Olsen and
Dr. George H. Childs, artists on the
Museum staff, were charged with this
work and painted more than sixtj^
water-color sketches, which will be
invaluable in constructing the proposed
group.
Photographing and sketching in the
tube could be carried on only in calm
weather outside the reef. Unfortu-
nately we were considerably hindered in
this part of the work by the almost con-
tinuous trade winds, which prevented
us from anchoring the barge outside.
On one occasion, however, we made the
attempt and worked while the tube
was swinging like a pendulum among
the coral heads with the motion of the
waves as they dashed against the reef.
This was too risky to repeat as there
was constant danger that the glass
window would be forced against sonae
projecting coral and broken. Luckily
some calm days were given us when the
The Williamson Submarine Tube, viewed from the "Lady Cordeaux."— Boxes of corals
cover the deck of the barge. The low-lying shore of Andros Island shows in the distance
600
NATURAL HISTORY
wind blew off shore, and in one instance
we were able to work for hours at a
stretch in the tube, photographing
almost continuously under perfect
conditions. Not a little work was done
among the coral clusters in the more
quiet waters of Hog Cay Channel, at the
northern side of Middle Bight Entrance.
As may be inferred from the number
of fish seen about the coral reef, fishing
in the lagoon brought quick returns.
Our table was always plentifully
supplied. On one occasion I told a
little native boy who was helping us,
to get us some fish for next morning's
breakfast. He asked me what kind I
wanted. I said, "Red snappers."
Within an hour he brought me thirty-
four of these fish ! At times we feasted
on green turtle. Sharks were abundant
and we had an adventure with one of
them. Some of our men were sent
ashore in the small motor boat to
obtain a supply of water. A shark
apparently mistook the fishlike bottom
of the boat for legitimate prey and
darted for the moving propeller. He
was thrown completely out of the
water, revealing a deep gash under the
jaw. He turned over two or three times
as he fell back, and then disappeared.
The motor stopped completely as the
men felt the shock of the impact, and
it was found afterward that the propel-
ler shaft was sprung and that the
stuffing box leaked. The boat was put
out of commission as a motor boat for
the remainder of our stay.
We found the Andros natives of
considerable help to us. Three of
them came to us every morning a
distance of five miles in a little sail-
boat hardly large enough to contain
them, and looked much like the three
wise men of Gotham as they strove to
keep their balance in their tiny craft.
At one time there were nineteen men
in our party busily engaged in pre-
paring the collections for shipment.
Finally, the morning of July 15, the
"Lady Cordeaux" arrived to take us
back to Nassau and found us all pre-
pared. We lightered our sixty-two
cases of corals and equipment out to
her at the reef entrance, by means of
the barge and the pontoon, and the
next morning we were all safe in Nassau
Harbor.
During our stay at Andros we re-
ceived much assistance and many
courtesies from Commissioner Elgin
W. Forsyth, whose knowledge and
experience of the reefs were invalu-
able to us, as well as his services in
securing native helpers and fresh
provisions. The Bahaman govern-
ment, through Administrator Burns
and other officials, gave us every fa-
cility, and the people of Nassau
generally took much interest in our
enterprise. The capable work of
Captain Lewis Isaacs of the "Jules
Verne" and Captain Joseph Bethell
of the "Standard" was most impor-
tant to our success in acquiring the
collection. The final ten days of
our trip were spent first in visiting the
remarkable coral formations known as
"boilers" at Harbor Island, and
secondly in organizing our collec-
tions and equipment for the homeward
trip on the "Munargo" on July 27.
Three days later we arrived in New
York.
§--35
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The Coral Gardens of Andros
PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH THE WILLIAMSON SUBMARINE TUBE
By ROY WALDO MINER AND J. E. WILLIAMSON
[■/ A bank of branched Porites corals. — Thousands of close-set mdividual specimens make
up these formations
Mr. Williamson, of The Submarine Film Corporation, collecting corals in a Schrader
diving suit. — He is looping a rope about a fine specimen of fan coral (Acropora prolifera)
so that it may be hauled to the surface of the sea
Coral posts crowned with dome-shaped living colonies of Orbicella rise beside the more
foliate expansions of the stinging coral, Millepora
Glimpse through the branches of a submerged coral forest, composed of the palmate
coral, Acropora pahnata
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treelike gorgonians, or sea bushes
Waving masses of many-fingered gorgonians grow luxuriantly among the corals,
adding color and grace to the scene
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3
A Submarine Cable Among the Corals
By CHARLES HASKINS TOWNSEND
Director of the New York Aquarium
WHEN the ' ' Albatross ' ' reached
Tahiti in 1899 during the
Tropical Pacific Expedition in
charge of Alexander Agassiz, Mr.
Agassiz's first move was, in his own
words, 'Ho determine, if possible, the
rate of growth of the corals on Dolphin
Bank from the marks which had been
placed on Point Venus by Wilkes in
1839."
We had finished a month's work
among the atolls of the Low Archi-
pelago, during which corals and the
formation of coral islands had been the
principal subjects of conversation.
The stones and marks set up by
Wilkes at Tahiti were readily located
but proved a disappointment. There
were only a few scattered heads of
coral growing on Dolphin Bank. Its
choice as a standard by which to meas-
ure coral growth was unfortunate. As
Mr. Agassiz reported the findings:
''An excellent opportunity had been
lost to determine the growth of corals
during a period of sixty years."
Among those who attacked the prob-
lem of the growth rate of corals by
setting up marks, was the late Dr.
A. G. Mayor, who accompanied Mr.
Agassiz on the "Albatross." Dr. T. W.
Vaughan's experiments with several
species of shallow-water corals at May-
or's laboratory at Tortugas and also in
the Bahamas soon showed annual
growths of as much as 95 mm. in
diameter. Doctor Mayor's studies on
the reefs at Samoa served to confirm
those of observers in other parts of the
Pacific, that Pacific corals grow at
about twice the rate of corresponding
genera in the Atlantic.
The preceding remarks are made
merely by way of introducing some
comments on the photograph, illustra-
tive of coral growth, which appears on
the following page. When passing the
office of the Commercial Cable Com-
pany at Fifth Avenue and 46th Street,
New York City, I noticed in the win-
dow a section of cable bearing a mass
of coral with the following label:
Section of cable overgrown with coral,
picked up by the Cableship "Restorer" in the
Pacific Ocean, Feb. 8, 1923. The Commer-
cial Pacific Cable extending from San Fran-
cisco to the Philippines was completed July
4, 1903. This section was part of the orig-
inal cable, and was picked up in shallow
water just off Honolulu in the course of a re-
pair. Thus the coral grew around the cable
in the course of twenty years.
With the kind permission of Manager
Thornburg the specimen — a species of
Pocillopora — was photographed. The
mass of coral measures 24 inches in
length by 16 inches in greatest width, the
diameter of the cable being 2^ inches.
There is no information at present
available as to the depth at which the
cable lay on the reef, nor do we know
when coral growth upon it commenced,
for the cable was not examined for
twenty years. According to Mr.
Thornburg there is a marked irregu-
larity in the growth of coral; at times
it appears to proceed very fast and at
other times and in other places there is
no growth at all. He also states that
coral growth on cables placed in shal-
low water around the Hawaiian group
has occasioned trouble but that cables
located in deep water have not been
affected.
The Commercial Cable Company
601
602
NATURAL HISTORY
Courtesy of the Commercial Cable Company
A section of cable laid in 1903. — The age of its growth of coral (Pocillopora) falls,
therefore, within the two decades that have since elapsed and, according to an eminent
authority, may be less than ten years. The coral mass measures 24 inches in length by 16
inches in greatest width, — an indication of the rapidity of growth
has no other specimen of this kind and
no photographs of corals attached to
cables, but such growths are often
found when submarine cables are lifted.
The Halifax-Bermuda Cable, which lay
on the Bermuda reef for twenty years
at a depth of twenty feet, was raised
in 1923. It came up heavily loaded
with both stony and gorgonian corals,
some of the latter being the common
"sea fans" that are often sold to
tourists. Doctor Vaughan tells me
there is nothing very conclusive in the
finding of coral growths on cables which
have been long under water, as the
date of fixation of the larvae is unknown,
and suggests that the growth pictured
here might be less than ten years old.
It is probable that the galvanized outer
strands of the cable would not offer an
attractive surface for the attachment
of coral larvae until they had "weath-
ered " for a time in sea water.
It would seem that sections of old
submarine cable, long enough to be
easily recovered, would be ideal ma-
terial for the gathering of evidence
as to the time required for coral growth
if placed in favorable locations and
examined at suitable intervals.
"Pearls and Savages"
A REVIEW OF CAPTAIN FRANK HURLEY'S VOLUME ON NEW GUINEA'
By WILLIAM K. GREGORY
Curator of Comparative and Human Anatomy, American Museum
THE great island of New Guinea,
one of the least-known quarters
of the globe, forms a link between
Australia on the south and the Malay-
sian region to the northwest and west,
and is therefore of the greatest interest
to the geologist, anthropologist, zoolo-
gist, and botanist. Not very far back
in geological time it was undoubtedly
connected with Austraha — as we may
infer not only from the relative shallow-
ness of the waters that now separate
these land masses, but also from the
presence in New Guinea of a number of
animals and plants the nearest relatives
of which hve in Queensland. Perhaps
about the time that the Glacial Period
was coming on in Europe there were
terrific disturbances in the region
of New Guinea. The very foundations
of the earth gave way, great blocks of
rock strata were faulted downward and
others were pushed upward, giving rise
to the precipitous rock cliffs, many
thousands of feet in height, which in
some places in the existing mountains
of the interior still attest the magnitude
of these displacements. At the same
time the land toward the south subsided
beneath the sea level, the waters of the
Indian and Pacific oceans rushed in
from either side and, cutting off New
Guinea from Australia, formed the
Coral Sea and Torres Straits.
It was in these now fairly tranquil
tropical waters that Captain Frank
Hurley descended into the sea with the
pearl divers and secured many beauti-
ful photographs illustrating the swarm-
ing life of the coral reefs; but the
greater part of his Pearls and Savages is
devoted to his experiences with the
natives of the southeastern prong of the
island and of the I^ake Murray region.
In the course of Shackelton's South
Polar expedition Hurley had been one
of a shipwrecked party that had finally
won its way back to the base camp
after the most intense struggles and
sufferings. In these bitter Antarctic
temperatures some of the men had
dreamed of the steaming tropical
jungles, and thus was born Hurley's
determination to explore New Guinea.
After his arduous and brilliant record
as a photographer in the Antarctic
and in the Great War, Hurley might
well have been excused if he had picked
an easier objective for his next bit of
exploring than the interior of New
Guinea, but it is fortunate for the world
that he made the choice that he did
and lived to bring back the superb
photographs which now adorn his book.
Starting from Sydney, Australia,
Hurley first made a preliminary recon-
naissance covering a period of ten
months, during which he cruised in the
Coral Sea and visited the costal villages
of Papua, or southeastern New Guinea.
Thus he secured the motion pictures
which brought him the means of equip-
ping his second and more extensive
expedition. On this expedition he was
accompanied by the naturalist Alan
McCuUoch, of the Austrahan Museum
of Sydney, and the equipment included
a flat-bottomed, shallow-draught vessel
^Pearls and Savages by Captain Frank Hurley,
lisiied by G. P. Putnam's Sons.
With eighty illustrations and a foreword by G. P. P. Pub-
603
604
NATURAL HISTORY
with an auxiliary engine, and two sea-
planes presented by a patron of the
expedition and operating in conjunc-
tion with the vessel. Radio apparatus
on board gave the Australian news-
papers a daily account of the expedi-
tion, which was followed with tense
interest by thousands of people in the
great cities of Australia.
The seaplanes eventually had to be
sent back because the steaming atmos-
phere was fast rotting their very fabric,
but not before many notable flights
had been made and some wonderful
moving pictures secured, showing the
vast delta of the Kikori River and the
native pile dwellings and ravis. As for
the latter, imagine a structure made of
mangrove saplings bent over at the
top and thatched with leaves, that
stretches like a vast crocodile, in some
cases 400 feet long and with a yawning
entrance 70 feet in height ! Into these
dark communal clubhouses Hurley
and his intrepid companions ventured
and secured in exchange for tin cans,
axes, and tobacco, much priceless
booty for the anthropologists : artfully
prepared human heads, "bullroarers,"
and other magic-making material.
They also witnessed many dazzling
ceremonial dances, in which the dark-
skinned savages were adorned with
the most elaborate feather head-
dresses, each feather being carefulh^
articulated so as to wave up and down
with its owner's movements. The
author describes how these people
fashion pottery without a potter's
wheel, and gives excellent pictures of
the ingenious process of making sago
out of the pulp of the "sago palm,"
the latter being the chief source of food,
clothing, and shelter for the major
portion of the Papuan population.
The author frequently comments
upon the "Semitic features" of the
people about Lake Murray and of
many of the coastal people, but here,
as elsewhere, his viewpoint is rather
unscientific and the book lacks illumi-
nating comparisons. Nevertheless,
the reader who desires to compare the
natives that Hurley met with those
of other parts of New Guinea, and
who is further interested in such larger
problems as the relationship of the
Papuans with the peoples of New
Britain, Australia, and Tasmania,
will find in Captain Hurley's book
a wealth of instructive detail re-
corded by his camera.
Bird Banding
By MAUNSELL S. CROSBY
DO the same birds return year
after year to the same place?
Is the phoebe which is now rais-
ing its second brood of the season on
top of the column on my piazza the
same bird which built there last year,
and is her mate the same? Will her
children come back next year, nest as
near as possible to their birthplace, and
perhaps quarrel with their father for
possession of the old home? In a few
cases, where a bird has shown albinism
in its plumage or has possessed an
individual song that could be mem-
orized by the observer, it has been
recognized in a succeeding year, or at
least the probability was strong that if
not the same bird, it was one of the
descendants of that bird which had
inherited the white feathers or pecu-
liarity of song that distinguished the
progenitor. We usually assume that
the robins, the wrens, and the chippies,
which we find so regularly about our
homes each year, are our old friends,
but how often are we right?
On the other hand, where do these
birds spend the winter? We have
learned that these delicate creatures
annually take immense flights to
escape the cold and starvation of our
northern winters and that they reach
the warmth and plenty of southern
climates, and some of us have been
surprised during a winter visit to
the South to discover such northern
acquaintances as the ruby-crowned
kinglet and white-throated sparrow
perfectly at home in the apparently
incongruous surroundings that are
afforded by live oaks, cacti, and pal-
mettos. The whitethroat's breeding
range extends from northern Mackenzie
and Ungava to southern Montana and
the mountains of Connecticut, south-
ern New York, and Pennsylvania. Its
winter range is from Missouri and
Massachusetts to northeastern Mexico
and Florida. Do the far-northern
breeders winter in New England and
are the birds found on the Gulf Coast
from the lower ranges of the spe-
cies, or do the northern breeders make
a thorough migration from the top
to the bottom of the ranges, while
those that nest in the Catskill Moun-
tains of New York simply drift toward
the warmer coast until the warmth of
spring enables them to drift back?
Do birds always winter in the same
place year after year? Do they make
what to us seem unusual wanderings or
migrations, not in line with the stereo-
typed flights we have learned to expect
of them? How long do free, wild
birds normally live — ducks, owls, jays,
catbirds, robins? What percentage of
birds annually survives natural mor-
tality plus the toll levied by our vast
army of sportsmen and gunners? How
do we account for so-called accidental
visitants? Are they wind-blown wan-
derers, or inexperienced or lost young
birds, or explorers? Whence have they
come and how far may their caprice or
that of the elements carry them away
from their proper course?
No ornithologist can as yet begin to
answer most of these questions, but a
means has been found whereby some
answers have already been suggested,
and possibly all may some day be
satisfactorily cleared up. This means
is bird banding.
605
Photograph by S. Prentiss Baldwin
The drop trap, or net trap, is propped up by a wooden peg, to which is attached a string,
the loose end of which is held by the bird bander. When a bird has been lured beneath the
trap by the food there spread out, a tug at the string causes the trap to fall. The gathering
box, seen at the left of the photograph, is then apphed to the little door in the upper left-
hand corner of the trap and the bird is coaxed into this receptacle for banding This trap
should be used only by an expert
Photograph by S. Prentiss Baldwin ,
Mr. S. Prentiss Baldwin, widely known for his activities in bird banding, is here seen at
Thomasville Station B inducing some captured birds to leave the sparrow trap and enter the
gathering cage to the left of it. Sometimes such birds are reluctant to leave the banquet of
bread crusts. The trap is placed within a guard fence, erected to keep out cats and dogs
606
BIRD BANDING
607
More than two hundred years ago a
heron was captured in Germany bear-
ing on its legs several metal rings, one
of which, according to the legend on it,
had been attached some years earlier
in Turkey. A hundred years later a
Dutch naturalist named Brugmann
marked a number of storks, hoping to
find out if they would come back, but
his results were negative, for no birds
that returned had marks on them.
Until 1899 no systematic effort was
made to band and then recapture birds,
but in that year Herr Mortensen, a
Dane, captured birds of several species,
banded them, released them, and kept
a record of the banding. His success in
recapturing banded birds interested a
number of ornithologists, so that soon
a score of individuals and organizations
were drawn into the study. Many
practical details had to be worked out :
a suitable non-corrosive metal had to
be selected for the bands, methods
determined upon for numbering, mark-
ing, and recording, and also various
means of trapping devised. Truly
remarkable success along these lines
has been obtained, and the published
results are most encouraging as well as
interesting.^
Let us now turn our attention to the
United States. Aside from the sporadic
experiments of a few investigators,
probably the real pioneers were the
members of the New Haven Bird Club,
which had a number of bands made, and
used them somewhat locally during the
years immediately preceding 1909, at
which time, through the efforts of Dr.
Leon J. Cole, the American Bird Band-
ing Association was formed. This
organization came under the guidance
of the Linnsean Society of New York,
but supervision was officially taken
over in 1920 by the Bureau of Biologi-
>Lincoln, Auk, XXXVIII, 1921, pp. 217-28.
cal Survey of the United States De-
partment of Agriculture, so as to per-
mit the work to become nation-wide.
In the meantime, Mr. S. Prentiss
Baldwin, of Cleveland, Ohio, one of the
most ingenious and indefatigable of
bird banders, had made such remark-
able return records by using sparrow
Photograph by S. Prentiss Baldwin
A tree trap, baited with suet and devised
for the capture of woodpeckers, nuthatches,
and creepers. A pull of an attached string
closes the doors at the. top and bottom
traps, in which birds could be recap-
tured again and again without injury,
that a new impetus was given to the
study, for hitherto most returns had
been made through the finding of
dead banded birds or the shooting of
wild fowl by sportsmen. The old
method of recording, which was de-
pendent upon the destruction of the
bird, thereby putting an end to its
scientific as well as its economic and
aesthetic usefulness, has been replaced,
through the employment of the trap,
by a system based on the return records
of living birds, which maj' subject
themselves to capture repeatedh' with-
608
NATURAL HISTORY
Photograph by S. Prentiss Baldwin
A device of a more elaborate character than those previously shown is the house trap, in
which a man can stand erect. There is an outer door at the right and there are two inner
doors bej^ond. All of these are left ajar and the bird is induced to follow the trail of food
through the several portals until he loses his way in the interior
out putting their lives in jeopardy.
Through the baiting of traps with suit-
able food and with water for drinking
and bathing, a large number of species
have already been caught. Chiefly
through the interest aroused by Mr.
Baldwin, three associations have been
formed during the past two years as
convenient units, all governed by the
Bureau of Biological Survey, which
issues bands, permits to trap under the
Migratory Bird Treaty, and up-to-date
advice on banding, and also keeps the
card records of all the banded birds.
These smaller societies are the North
Eastern, Eastern, and Inland Bird
Banding Associations, while on the
Pacific Coast the work is being fost-
ered by the Cooper Ornithological
Club. They are able by their char-
acter to stimulate interest, increase
the number of banders, attack local
problems, and perform other useful
services. Already many hundreds of
members have joined these associations,
a great number have satisfied the gov-
ernment requirements and secured
permits to trap, and accurate data on
the movement and life of thousands of
birds of many species are accumulating
in the files of the Bureau of Biological
Survey in Washington.
A word about the bands used. They
are very light, made of aluminum, and
are marked with a serial number and
the words ''Notify Biol. Surv.,
Wash., D. C." An amusing transposi-
tion of vowels in stamping an early set
of bands caused them to be known as
the "Boil, Serve, and Wash" series.
As now made, they are sufficiently
pliable to be opened and closed with the
BIRD BANDING
609
fingers or a small pair of pliers, and
sufficiently rigid to prevent a bird from
removing them or from tightening
them by hammering with its bill,
thereby restricting the circulation or
causing other injury to the leg. Prop-
erly attached, they slip loosely along
the tarsus, are no impediment to the
bird, and are not noticeable on a freed
bird except at close range.
Slowly, but surely, as return after
return is made of birds recaptured after
having been previously banded, a
wealth of facts is being stored away.
Formerly average dates of arrival and
departure of migrants over a wide
area gave us a general idea of how fast
birds traveled. Wells W. Cooke com-
piled exhaustive and accurate lists
contributed by scores of observers,
showing dates of arrival and routes
taken. But now we have an oppor-
tunity to find out how fast the in-
dividual travels — how far it actually
has flown in one day. I may band a
bird today and you may catch it at
your station tomorrow many miles
north or south. It may rest at your
station and go into your trap a number
of times, finally to make another long
flight on its way, or it may leave you at
once, covering a more moderate dis-
tance each day. A fox sparrow, one of
the first March arrivals, was promptly
banded. It returned several times to
the trap and did not leave until the
very end of April, while in the mean-
time large flocks of the same species
arrived, stayed a day or two, and
passed on. The bird was solitary when
it arrived, and apparently the influence
of the bounty spread before it was
greater than that exercised by its
relatives swiftly moving by. The
more people band birds, especially
along well-known highways of migra-
tion, such as the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts and the Connecticut, Hudson,
and Mississippi valleys, the more
chance there will be to trace individual
histories through the capture of banded
specimens and thereby judge the whole
movement.
Mr. L. R. Talbot, who operated the
Thomasville station in 1922, is seen in the
upper picture with a brown thrasher
(Toxosto?na rufum) . This bird, No. 19247,
was first banded in 1915, was captured with
its mate in subsequent years, and was last
taken by Mr. Talbot in 1922, being then
at least eight years old
An example of this still rare trap-
ping of another person's bird is the case
of a purple finch banded at Norwalk,
Connecticut, during the winter of
1922-23, and recaptured a few weeks
later at Demarest, New Jersey. The
purple finch is a particularly erratic
bird, being abundant during some
winters and nearly absent in others.
Possibly food supply may affect its
movements, but at all events, during
HOW TO HANDLE A BIRD
These four photographs of a
captive blue jay (Cyanocitta cris-
tata) may serve as a guidance
to those who contemplate engag-
ing in bird banding.
In (1) the bird is held for
examination with its neck between
the first and second fingers, while
its feet find a perch on the Httle
finger.
After a bird has been handled for a few moments it
becomes impassive and will hang quietly, head down-
ward, without attempting to escape (2).
If a bird is to be banded, (3) is the proper method of
approach. For the purpose the little finger is placed
over the neck to keep the bird quiet, and the leg is held
by the thumb and forefinger
until the band is put on.
When the bird is released it
may not at once grasp the fact
that it is free, lying in the open
hand (4) for some time before
bestirring^^itseK.
Photographs by S. Prentiss Baldwin
610
BIRD BANDING
611
the winter of 1922-23 it was remark-
ably common throughout southern
New England, New York, and New
Jersey. In December, 1923, and
January, 1924, a banded purple finch
was seen in company with an unhanded
one at a feeding station four miles
south of the writer's traps at Rhine-
beck, New York. The presumption
is that it was a bird banded by him
during the previous winter, as no
purple finch had been banded by him
subsequently. There were practically
no other purple finches about last
winter. Why had this one returned
and why had it moved to such a distant
station? Had it overflown its mark or
was the change deliberate? Did its
daily foraging area cover both places,
or was it originally caught while en
route to the second station?
It has been definitely established by
trapping that a certain percentage of
birds do return, not only to their nest-
ing sites in spring, but also to their
winter quarters in autumn. Mr.
Baldwin's Cleveland house wrens (the
genealogies of which he is recording
and the actions and relations of
which are most interesting and
amusing) are examples of the former,
and his whitethroats at ThomasviUe,
Georgia, are examples of the latter.
On the other hand, it can be stated
that the percentage of returns is rather
lower than might be expected. Many
factors may account for this. To begin
with, there is mortality. On the whole,
where the balance of nature is not
interfered with, the number of a
given species is likely to remain the
same from year to year; that is to say,
the deaths tend to offset the births. It
is believed that the period of greatest
mortality among most birds is the
time just after they have left the nest,
before they have reached full strength
In the upper picture, taken by T. D.
Carter, is shown a male Brewster's warbler.
This bird, No. 48866, was captured at
Wyanokie, New Jersey, three successive
years: June 10, 1922, "'June 10, 1923, and
June 15, 1924. On each occasion its nest
was also located. Its mate was a golden-
winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) and
one of their offspring is shown in the lower
picture, taken by G. Clyde Fisher
or learned much wisdom. Even though
they successfully survive this period,
sooner or later some enemy will catch
them or they will perish through the
effects of the elements, for in nature
there is no such thing as dying a
/'natural" death. Even so, nature's
ruthlessness is often less cruel than
our lingering kindness to our doomed
sick ones.
Then there is the question of over-
crowding on the breeding grounds.
612
NATURAL HISTORY
Most birds that do not nest in colonies
have a home area which they jealously
guard from trespass by others of their
kind, though often unconscious or
careless of the presence of other species
the habits of which do not conflict with
their own. Thus a pair of kingbirds will
hold their orchard against all other
kingbirds, besides driving off hawks
and crows, but will permit robins and
bluebirds to nest there unmolested;
while a single pair of kingfishers will
patrol their stretch of creek to the
exclusion of all others of their kind.
No doubt if their young come back the
next season to the same orchard or
stream, there will be a battle, and
the loser will have to look elsewhere for
a home and a mate. Even so, a per-
centage of banded birds may be forced
out of their home area, while unhanded
birds will similarly filter in. A barred
owl, one of four young banded in
May, 1921, at Rhinebeck, was shot the
following winter by a hunter a dozen
miles away, where very likely it had
taken up its abode after being invited
to leave home by its parent, for it is
not considered a migratory species.
In this part of the country, the birds
of prey seem to have fairly definite
individual territory, due perhaps to
the limitations of a particular food
supply which must not be overtaxed.
Barred owls have been present winter
and summer near the writer's house for
twenty-two years, but in winter there is
at first only one bird, to be joined by an-
other as the mating season approaches.
The writer's experience in bird
banding has been limited by the time
at his disposal chiefly to the trapping
of winter birds. Chickadees and white-
breasted nuthatches in abundance and
a certain number of blue jays, purple
finches, tree sparrows, and song spar-
rows have visited his traps and made
interesting records. In spring he has
seen banded nuthatches and chicka-
dees entering their nests to feed their
young within a few rods of the spot
where they had been trapped. But
the most continuous history he can re-
late from his own experience is that
of the wintering j uncos that have
entered his traps since he started using
them in January, 1920, after hearing
Mr. Baldwin tell of his success.
The table on page 613 gives the num-
ber on the band of each junco which has
returned in any season subsequent to
that of its original capture, and gives
every date on which it has been caught.
Dates in parentheses are those occurring
during the winter when the bird was
''new," or first banded, and therefore
do not constitute true returns. Dates
not in parentheses indicate that the
bird was captured during a previous
winter, that it had gone away in the
spring — how far? we wonder — and
come back safely to the very spot where
it had been fed before.
How many questions come up at this
point ! Why does the number of returns
vary? Why have only three of the
1920-21 birds come back, and only
one of those which were ''new" in
1921-22? (This last one succumbed to
the frenzy of a gray squirrel which got
into the trap with it.) So far as trap-
ping is concerned, the flock would
appear to range in size between twenty-
nine and forty-seven individuals. How
much larger is it actually? How many
j uncos, in other words, avoid capture
entirely? Is there more than one flock?
Why did No. 27137 fail to register in
1920-21, seeing that in other years he
has been so faithful? Was he absent,
or was the winter so open that he
found plenty of food outside the traps?
If the latter was the case, he should
have stayed away also in 1923-24.
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614
NATURAL HISTORY
Where was No. 48213 in 1921-22 and
1922-23? This last winter he has been
caught seven times, having at so late a
date acquired the ''trap habit."
Quite different has been the experi-
ence with tree sparrows, although other
banders report greater success. Dur-
impelled the birds to pay the traps a
visit and that a few remembered the
place in subsequent winters, but that
now they either have sufl&cient food
or roam in another direction when it is
scarce, no longer realizing where plenty
lies awaiting them?
Photograph by R. H. Rowland
This Juvenal sparrow hawk {Falco sparverius), a female, was captured at
Upper Montclair, New Jersey
ing the winter of 1919-20, twenty were
banded. The following winter only
three were caught, but all three were
banded birds from the previous winter.
In 1921-22 one of these three birds
was recaptured and one new one, while
yet another unhanded bird was seen.
Since then only one or two tree spar-
rows have been noted anywhere near
the writer's place in winter and none
has been in his traps. What has be-
come of the flock? Has it been wiped
out? Or is it not likely that its regular
headquarters are some distance away,
that the deep snows of the first winter
Although we have now seen that
"returns" are to be expected of old
friends both in winter and in summer
quarters, transients — that is, birds
which nest north of us and winter
south of us — have hitherto proved
much harder to recapture. Not that
they avoid the traps, for they are at all
times tempted by suitable bait, but
the captures are nearly always new
birds, a circumstance which perhaps
shows that migrating birds, until they
reach their destination, alight for the
day's rest and food in the first attrac-
tive spot they find after the light of
BIRD BANDING
615
Photograph by G. Clyde Fisher
An immature red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) with a band on its leg. —
It was caught near South Waterford, Maine, in August, 1923
day makes it proper and safe to halt.
So it would be mere luck if the same
transient ever stopped a second time in
the same place during its semi-annual
trip. However, even banding new
transients brings its reward, for by
keeping a record of those which ''re-
peat," the arrival and departure of
waves of migrants may be noted and
their relation to meteorological condi-
tions studied. Further, as more and
more people along the main migration
routes join in the banding, the prob-
ability of their catching birds that others
have banded approaches a certainty.
It has been known for some time
that certain species of birds, notably
the herons, wander during the late
summer before it is time to think of
going south for the winter. Young
birds seem especially prone to this
habit and they are likely to wander
north instead of south. Young black-
crowned night herons were seen in late
July and August in places where, it was
known, they did not breed and to the
north of which, it was believed, no
heronries existed. The puzzle was de-
finitely solved when some of the birds
were shot by fishermen who objected to
their feeding habits, and it was found
that they bore bands placed on them in
a heronry situated south of the place of
capture. Doctor Cole, in the Wilson
Bulletin for June, 1922, published two
letters from men who had shot night
herons and they are worthy of being
reproduced in this connection:
616
NATURAL HISTORY
"Gentlemen dear sirs Youi' bird was shot
here to day by me Albert Bailey for which I
was more than Sorry when I found it had a
ring on. I took it for a Hawk as It flew
several times over my yard as I thought after
chickens and Gentlemen all I can say that I
am sorry If I did wrong In so doing and also
beg Pardon.
Yours with Rees
Albert Bailey."
"Gentlemen: The bearer of the enclosed
was found in one of our traps yesterday
morning. Now will you please tell us if you
are raising these pests or did you simply cap-
ture and tag it to see how far it would
migrate?"
Photograph by T. D. Carter
This song sparrow {Melospiza melodia) , No.
24702, was first taken in a government trap
on March 26, 1922, at Boonton, New Jersey.
Up to July 22 of that year it revisited the
trap no less than thirty-two times'
An astounding example of the extent
to which a bird may wander was the
finding of a common tern floating
dead in the Niger River in western
Africa. This bird had been banded in
Maine! More amusing and less scien-
tific was the report in a newspaper that
"Wren Crosses Continent." Doctor
Cole found that the facts in this case
are as follows: Mr. Finley banded a
wren in Oregon and it was later found
dead in a watering trough in the same
state. The band on its leg, however,
read: "The Auk, New York, 3429,"
so the reporter assumed that the bird
had flown nearly three thousand miles
westward in its wanderings. In a
recent lecture Mr. Howard Cleaves
reported that robins banded in Canada
and Iowa had been captured in Louisi-
ana, and a meadowlark, banded in
spring on Staten Island, New York,
had been found in winter 180 miles
south of its home, although the species
winters in numbers on the Island.
Banding should determine if the winter-
ing birds do not come from farther
north and whether all the breeding
birds go south or not.
The banding of wild ducks in Ontario,
Canada, and subsequent reports of
birds shot during the autumn season by
gunners, showed not only that sixteen
per ce"nt were shortly killed by man
alone, but also that these ducks flew
south by two different routes, part
down the Atlantic Coast and part
down the Mississippi Valley, while one
bird, a blue-winged teal, was shot in
Trinidad, off the coast of South Ameri-
ca.^ It is thought that bird banding
will eventually show that there is
actually a considerable east and west
migration in certain species. An easy
explanation is that such birds follow
coast lines and rivers even when they
deviate from a north and south line,
and may thus stray many hundreds of
miles from their original longitude,
but there are other cases more obscure,
which may be the result of habits
formed in glacial times. Such a case is
that of the woodcocks banded near St.
Petersburg, Russia, which use three dif-
ferent routes in going south and winter
in three different localities. Such also
is that of the storks in Germany:
those breeding west of the River Weser
iLincoln, Auk, XXXIX, 1922, p. 329.
BIRD BANDING
617
winter in Spain, while those nesting
to the east go all the way to South
Africa.^
A great deal more could be written
of what can be learned by bird band-
ing,— such as the progress of molts as
noted in "repeating" birds, the re-
placement of accidentally lost tail
feathers, whether birds use scent or
sight in picking out food (why does a
chickadee gobble up cracked peanuts
which it has probably never seen before
and neglect the other more familiar
seeds offered to him?), the effects of
parasites and bird diseases, — for in-
stance, that malady which had attacked
the feet of chipping sparrows caught by
Mr. Baldwin in Thomasville. The
building of suitable traps is a study in
iQberholser, Auk, XL, 1923, p. 438.
itself, SO as to attract species which will
not enter the ordinary "fly-trap"
types and drop traps. No doubt the
surface of the subject has only been
scratched, and banders in future will
find so much to interest them that
some may have to specialize along cer-
tain lines of study to the exclusion of
others. Incidentally, every new bander
becomes a bird protectionist, feeds his
charges, and keeps vermin and tres-
passers away. Ordinary care in the
handling and watching of traps makes
accidents to birds rare and unlikely
events.
Some one has suggested the'motto,
"Let us band together." The writer
feels sure that a trial will prove the
game is not only worth while but act-
ually absorbing and fascinating.
Photograph by Arthur A. Allen.
A banded green-winged teal {Nettion carolinense) and
canvas-backs (Marila valisineria) at a feeding station, Ithaca,
New York
NOTES
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY
Dr. Edmund Otis Hovey, curator of the
department of geology in the American Mu-
seum of Natural History, died suddenly
September 27, 1924. He was sixty-two years
of age and had been a member of the Museum
staff for more than thirty years. The scientific
staff of the Museum adopted on October 14
the following minute and resolution:
Doctor Hovey was appointed as assistant
curator in the department of geology on
January 1, 1894, and was second to Doctor
Chapman in order of seniority among the
curators of the Museum. He was appointed
associate curator in 1901 and curator in 1910.
His time in his earlier years at the Museum
was largely given to the cataloguing and ex-
hibition arrangements in the department.
The catalogue of types and figured specimens
of fossils in the department collections, a
volume of 500 pages, was completed and
published in 1898-1901 in collaboration with
Doctor Whitfield. Doctor Hovey's pi-incipal
contribution in later years has been the series
of relief maps illustrating various typical
phases of physiographic geology. These
maps, carefully studied and planned in ad-
vance, and executed with a high order of
accuracy and scientific insight into the
processes that they illustrate, are regarded as
exceptionally instructive and reliable. Ar-
tistically and technically they are far
above the ordinary type of relief map, con-
stituting a permanent contribution of solid
merit to the science of geology.
Editorial Service . —Doctor Hovey was edi-
tor of the American Museum Journal (now
Natural History) for the first ten years of
its existence from 1900 to 1910, and continued
up to the time of his death a valued adviser
and contributor to its pages. He was editor
of the Annals of the New York Academy of
Sciences from 1908-16, supervising the nine
volumes published during those years. At
the beginning of this year (1924) he under-
took, with some reluctance, the editorship of
the scientific publications of the division of
geology, palaeontology, and mineralogy in the
Museum. He had organized and initiated this
editorial work and was busied with it in his
last days.
Studies of VoLCANOES.-Doctor Hovey had
for many years been especially interested
in volcanic phenomena, had studied some of
the volcanoes, living and extinct, of Europe,
.and in 1902, 1903, and 1908 spent consider-
able time in Martinique and St. Vincent,
making a scientific study of the great out-
breaks of Mont Pelee and the Soufriere. The
preliminary results of this study were published
in the American Museum Bulletin and in the
Proceedings of the Vienna International
Geological Congress. When the news arrived
of the utter destruction of St. Pierre, he took
the first boat for the West Indies, leaving
upon a few hours' notice and, arriving at the
islands while the eruption was still in full
force, was an eyewitness of many of its most
«18
impressive and remarkable phenomena, and
secured an important series of photographs
and observations. His later visits enabled
him to record the waning activities of the
volcano and subsequent changes, and he was
planning to make a final visit next year to
correct and check up various details and note
the changes of twenty years before publishing
a final memoir upon the eruptions.
Arctic Exploration. — Doctor Hovey had
long been interested in Arctic exploration,
was a director of the Explorers Club, and as
chairman of the committee in charge of the
Crocker Land Expedition of the Museum, took
an active part in its organization and equip-
ment. A succession of misfortunes and
difficulties which befell this expedition made it
desirable for him to go personally upon the
relief expedition sent out in 1915, and this in
turn met with unexpected difficulties which
enforced a prolonged stay of nearly two years
in the camp at Etah. Since his return he had
made a series of field trips in connection with
the physiographic relief maps planned and
under way, and at the time of his death was
about to leave for a trip to southwestern Texas
to study the details of the Van Horn model.
Secretarial Service. — Doctor Hovey was
for fifteen years (1907-22) the secretary of the
Geological Society of America, and was very
largely concerned with advancing the growth
and prosperity and maintaining the high
standards of that great and influential asso-
ciation of working geologists. The high value
placed by his associates upon his services to
American geology was evinced in an address
and loving cup presented upon the occasion
of his retirement in 1922. He was also re-
cording secretary of the New York Academy
of Sciences from 1907-16. Here also the
value of his highly competent and efficient
service was greatly appreciated by his fellow
members. He was a regular attendant at the
International Geological congresses from
1903 until their temporary cessation during
the war period, taking an unostentatious but
always influential part in the discussions and
proceedings of the congress. As delegate from
the Museum he attended in 1920 and 1923 the
Pan-Pacific congresses in Hawaii and Aus-
tralia respectively.
Doctor Hovey's wide personal acquaintance
among geologists, and the respect enter-
tained for his knowledge, experience, and
judgment, enabled him to do much to advance
the influence of the American Museum both at
home and abroad. His colleagues have learned
through many years of collaboration to value
his straightforward honesty of mind and
purpose, his unselfish devotion to the interests
of the Museum and of science, his fair-minded-
ness and temperate expression — and his death
leaves us all with a deep sense of personal loss.
Be it therefore resolved that the scientific
staff of the Museum desires to record its deep
appreciation of Doctor Hovey's character
and services and to mourn the passing of this
colleague and friend as a heavy loss to the
Museum, to science, and to the large circle of
his associates and steadfast friends.
NOTES
619
THE PASSING OF THE "ALBATROSS"
After nearly forty years devoted to ocean-
ography and fishery service in Atlantic and
Pacific waters, the steamer "Albatross," a
twin-screw, brigantine-rigged vessel of 1100
tons displacement, has passed out of the
control of the Bureau of Fisheries.
Her career as a deep-sea exploring ship has
been a notable one. With her launching in
1883, the field of marine investigations of
American naturalists was extended from the
shallow waters of coasts to almost the great-
est known depths of the sea. During three
long cruises in the tropical Pacific under the
direction of Alexander Agassiz, dredging was
carried on in deeper water than ever before,
animal hfe being brought up from a depth of
4173 fathoms (more than four and a half
miles). Her deepest sounding was 4813
fathoms (nearly five and a half miles).
Agassiz described her as "the best deep-sea
dredger in existence," and later wrote, "I
can hardly express my satisfaction at having
had the opportunity to carry on this deep-sea
work on the 'Albatross.' While of course I
knew in a general way the great facilities the
ship afforded, I did not fully realize the
capacity of the equipment until I came to make
use of it myself. I could not but contrast the
luxurious and thoroughly convenient appoint-
ments of the laboratory of the ' Albatross ' for
work by day and by night with mj^ previous
experience."
Never actually out of commission except
for a year or more before her sale, her record
of service includes, besides many winters
devoted to deep-sea investigations in tropical
waters, long summers spent in surveying
northern fishing banks, remote Alaskan
harbors, and the estuaries of valuable salmon
rivers, fur-seal investigations in Bering Sea,
. surveys of the Cahfornia-Hawaiian cable
route, and gunboat service during two wars.
While dredging was done in the deeper
waters adjacent to all fishing grounds in-
vestigated, there were many voyages for
purely oceanographic research. The oceanic
regions included in such explorations were
the western Atlantic from Newfoundland
and southward through the Caribbean Sea
to the Strait of Magellan; the eastern Pacific
off the coasts of North, Central, and South
America; the tropical Pacific through Poly-
nesia to Japan; and the western Pacific from
the Japanese Archipelago to China, the
Philippines, and Borneo.
If ever the American people received the
fullest possible value from a government ship,
they received it from this one. The benefits
to science, the fisheries, and commerce spring-
ing from her almost continuous investigations
— the results of which have aU been pubhshed
and widely distributed throughout the world
Photograph by C. H. Tou-m
The beam trawl of the "Albatross" coming up
from a depth of 1760 fathoms (two miles)
—are incalculable. The results of her deep-
sea work — overshadowed, it is true, by those
of the famous "Challenger" Expedition,
which were embodied in fifty quarto volumes
—would assume even larger proportions
could they have been published in the same
uniformly sumptuous style as those of the
"Challenger." The "Challenger" was a
pioneer ship in oceanographic work and must
remain the leader in the literature of the
science. The "Albatross" entered the field
much later, but thanks to her more modern
equipment and longer service, her collec-
tions were naturally much more extensive and
the bulk of her published results was perhaps
620
NATURAL HISTORY
also greater.^ Comparisons are not in order,
but it is of interest to record that once from a
depth of 1760 fathoms (two miles) the
"Albatross" brought up more specimens of
deep-sea fishes at a single haul of the dredge
than the "Challenger" collected during her
entire period of service. The writer and his
assistants counted them at the time and,
having the "Challenger" reports on board,
looked up the record. There are in the Na-
tional Museum and in the widelj^ scattered
laboratories of specialists many "Albatross"
deep-sea collections awaiting examination.
While serving as resident naturalist of the
ship, the writer sorted, packed, and shipped
to the Bureau of Fisheries and to research
workers in museums and universities at home
and abroad, actually carloads of Spolia
Albatrossia.
Naturahsts connected at various times with
the scientific staff of the "Albatross" were
Agassiz, Mayor, Kofoid, Bean, Jordan,
Gilbert, Evermann, Bigelow, Sumner, and
more than a score of others. The writer, after
several agreeable years on board, reluctantly
left the ship when assigned to duty at head-
quarters. Among the score of naval officers
detailed to the "Albatross" during her earlier
years of service were many now on the list of
rear admirals, including Benson, Rodman,
Eberle, Wilson, Hughes, Burrage, Anderson,
and Johnston. Captain Tanner, her notably
efficient and devoted first commander, con-
tributed more than any one else toward the
perfecting of the vessel's equipment.
Occasionally a beam trawl-net was torn
awaj^ by the weight of its load, but I do not
recall a single break in the five-mile-long
wire cable. Tanner was a master at this sort
of work but succeeding naval commanders
learned to do the task as well. It was reserved
for Captain Moser to make the deepest
successful haul — more than four and one half
miles — and all accomplished in ten hours.
Think of reaching that far down through the
darkness of the ocean for a load ! Imagine an
air-ship similarly equipped and miles above
the earth letting down a cable in the night-
time for a haul from the surface of the earth !
In spite of its four decades of service the
"Albatross" is still stanch and seaworthy.
'A bibliography of the "Albatross,'' compiled by the
writer in 1901, contained nearly three hundred titles,
including documents in preparation; since then, the
number has been more than doubled. Many of the
publications on the results of dredgings by the "Alba-
tross," more particularly those issued by the Museum
of Comparative Zoology, are large quartos superbly
illustrated.
It is to be regretted that funds could not have
been found for the continuance of her deep-
sea investigations, for which no vessel is
better fitted. The Commissioner of Fisheries
told me that any qualified group of American
scientific men could have had her for the
asking. Her buyer says she will not be
broken up.- — C. H. Townsend.
CONSERVATION
The Gorilla Sanctuary An Accom-
plished Fact. — A large area, embracing
250 square miles, has been set apart in the
Lake Kivu district of Africa as a sanctuary
for the gorillas and other wild animals that
inhabit it. Protection will be extended even
to the flora, so that for aU time the natural
features that lend interest to this region may
have an unimpaired appeal for the visiting
naturalist. The reserve is situated in the
northeastern part of the Belgian Congo
between Lake Kivu and Uganda and includes
the three volcanoes — Mount Mikeno, Mount
Kirisimbi, and Mount Visoke. It is the region
described in the article "Gorillas — Real and
Mythical" contributed by Mr. Carl E. Akeley
to the issue of Natural History for Sep-
tember-October, 1923.
Impressed with the unique interest of this
locality — for nowhere else in the world can
the great apes, regarding which man has still
so much to learn, be studied to better ad-
vantage— Mr. Akeley on his return from Lake
Kivu made it his aim to secure the proper'
protection for the goriUas still survi'ving in
the area. The estabhshment of Albert
National Park (Pare National Albert) marks
the consummation of his zealous effort.
Accompanied by Dr. W. K. Gregory and Dr.
J. H. McGregor of the American Museum, and
by Prof. F. Tilney of the College of Physicians
and Surgeons, Mr. Akeley went to Washing-
ton and convinced the Belgian Ambassador,
Baron de Cartier de Marchienne, of the un-
usual opportunity within the grasp of his
country to serve science through the creation
of a gorilla sanctuaiy. His Excellency, who
was then on the point of saiUng for
Belgium, became the enthusiastic advocate
of the proposal abroad, pleading with such
effectiveness that he finally succeeded in
achieving his purpose. Seconding his efforts,
2An interesting coincidence in connection with the
passing of the "Albatross" was the sale of the "Hiron-
delle," the splendid steamer built by the late Prince of
Monaco for o eanic research. In accordance with the
terms of his will, the proceeds from the sale of the ves-
sel were applied to the endowment fund of the Oceano-
graphic Museum at Monaco, which he founded.
NOTES
621
with unrelaxing devotion, was the Belgian
Consul at Baltimore, Mr. James G. Whiteley.
Thanks to the vision and persistence of
those interested in the realization of this plan,
and of Mr. Akeley in particular, who first
conceived it, the gorilla sanctuary awaits
only the definite demarcation of its boundaries
and the signature of King Albert before being
formally proclaimed a national park.
New Groves Acquired by the Save the
Redwoods League. — On August 24, the
Frankhn K. Lane Memorial Redwood Grove,
a beautiful two-hundred-acre tract of giant
trees on the Redwood Highway, at Ket-
tintelbe (Phillipsville) , sixty -five miles south
of Eureka, in Humboldt County, California,
was dedicated with suitable ceremonies. The
grove was acquired through a fund contributed
by a group of friends of Franklin K. Lane,
headed by Mr. E. E. Ayer of Chicago. In
addition to its magnificent stand of redwoods
this grove has areas suitable for camping and
the privilege of using these for the purpose
will be extended to the public.
The Save the Redwoods League announces
also that through a generous gift from Mr. G.
Fred Schwarz of New York, supplemented by
funds supplied by the League from dues and
contributions of members, it has acquired a
splendid tract, 157 acres in extent and con-
taining more than 12,000,000 feet of redwood,
located on the Redwood Highway, ten miles
south of Crescent City.
A Museum for the Yosemite. — A grant
of $75,000 has been made available through
the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial
for the erection of a museum building in the
Yosemite National Park, for its equipment
and furnishing, and for the maintenance,
during the first three years of its existence,
of the personnel in charge. The plan con-
templates the eventual absorption of the
museum by the National Parks Service and
the establishment of similar local museums
in other national parks.
The maintenance of museums in our parks
is not an untried experiment. In fact, last
year more than 55,000 people visited the
shack in the Yosemite that tentatively housed
the nucleus of the collections planned for
instalment in the building now made possible.
In other parks, too, the foundations have
been laid of what promises to be a movement
of far-reaching educational importance. It is
particularly fitting that museums should find
place in our national parks, where thousands
upon thousands of individuals annually
spend their hohdays. With their curiosity
stimulated by the wonders of nature surround-
ing them on all sides, they have the chance
through the exhibits of the museum to gain
authoritative information regarding the local
rocks and stones, the characteristic animals
of the area, the flowers that grow in rock cleft
or stream-bordering meadow, and the Indians
who were the original discoverers of the region
long before the days of the white man.
All of these phases of interest will, as the
plan develops, be represented in the prospec-
tive building in the Yosemite. It is not con-
templated, however, to make the museum a
substitute for the park but rather a key to its
features of interest. In furtherance of this
purpose it is proposed to label the trees of
the park and to mark geologic formations that
are especially worthy of attention.
The American Museum is represented on
the committee in charge byjDr. Clark Wissler,
vice chairman, by Honorary Director Frederic
A. Lucas, and by Mr. George D. Pratt, one
of its Trustees.
The Paul J. Rainey Wild Life Sanctu-
ary.— ^The name of Paul J. Rainey was certain
to have an abiding place in the memory of
those interested in wild hfe through the part
he played in first making known to the stay-
at-home population the interesting habits
of African game animals as revealed by the
motion-picture camera supplemented later
by pictures no less interesting of animal life
in the Arctic Circle. In yet another way
his name will henceforth be linked with the
preservation of the records of nature. Forty
square miles of territory in Vermilion Parish,
Louisiana, have been presented to the Na-
tional Association of Audubon Societies by
Mrs. Grace Rogers, Rainey's sister, with the
stipulation that they be maintained in perpe-
tuity as a haven for birds, to be known as the
Paul J. Rainey Wild Life Sanctuary. The
land is bounded on the east bj* the State Wild
Life Refuge and on the west by the hunting
marshes of Edward A. Mcllhenny.
Not only will the hunter be kept out of the
guarded area, but through the immediate
planting of duck foods in large quantities,
every allurement will be offered to birds to
enter it.
The Biological Survey Solicits Aid. —
Have migratory wild fowl been increasing or
decreasing in number during the last few
622
NATURAL HISTORY
years? Drainage has deprived them of needed
water and has resulted in their concentration
in imdrained areas, thus making for density
of bird population in some places with corre-
sponding sparsity in others. Accurate figures
are needed regarding the various species not
onl}^ of water fowl but of other migratoiy birds
in order that the Migratoiy Bird Treaty Act and
Regulations may be efficientlj^ administered.
To this end the Bureau of Biological Survej'
solicits detailed reports of observations,
particularly of wild ducks and geese, dating
from 1913, when the first migratory bird law
became effective, or from any year subsequent
thereto when notations were commenced by
the individual observer. The reports should
contain special reference to the annual in-
creases or decreases and to the condition of
the habitat of the birds. They should include
a statement regarding the opportunities the
individual has had to make observations and
the dates when and the places where thej^ were
made. A questionnaire is furnished bj' the
Bureau of Biological Survey covering the
points of special interest and value.
BIRDS
The Extinct Cuban Macaw. — Through
the generosit}^- of Dr. Thomas Barbour the
American Museum has come into the pos-
session of a specimen of the extinct Cuban
macaw (Ara tricolor). Only four specimens
of this bird are represented in American
collections, one being in the Museum of
Comparative ZoologA^ and two in the Na-
tional Museum, the newly acquired specimen
making the fourth. Nor have the museums of
the Old World a representation noticeably
better. Five is the number of specimens
mentioned in Rothschild's Extinct Birds as
the ascertained total in European collections,
though the author adds that there are prob-
ably others of which he is not aware.
Ara tricolor, formerly confined to Cuba and
the Isle of Pines, became extinct as long ago
as 1864 when apparently the last specimen
was shot at La Vega. Like all the West
Indian macaws it was ruthlessly sought for
food until its extermination resulted, its
striking plumage failing to restrain the hand
of the destroyer; but while the other West
Indian forms were blotted out, not a specimen
remaining to serve as a reminder of their
former existence, the Cuban macaw survives
at least in the form of a decimated remnant of
museum specimens.
To his valued gift of the macaw Doctor
Barbour has added that of another rare bird,
the extinct New Zealand blue duck, associated
with the mountain torrents of that country.
This duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchus) is
remarkable from two standpoints: its in-
dividuahty of structure has earned it the
status of a monotypic genus, while its bluish
gray color is unique among ducks and swans.
THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM
Report of the Director for 192.3.— To
one unfamihar with the difficulties of main-
taining captive fishes in a healthy condition
the equipment that is necessary and the care
that must be exercised are in the nature of a
revelation. In the tanks of the New York
Aquarium there were at the close of 1923 no
less than 3727 specimens representative of
116 species. Many of these came from Sandy
Hook Bay and it might at first thought seem
that the harbor water would answer their
needs. But because of its low salinity and its
increasing pollution, this water would be a
menace and the Aquarium is therefore de-
pendent on its reservoir of pure sea water to
supplj' the needs of the marine fish entrusted
to its care. Many of the fish come from the
tropics and require water of a temperature
higher than that obtaining in northern seas.
In consequence water supphed to these fishes
has to be artificially warmed. Lake and river
fishes need non-sahne water, and in the case
of trout and other northern forms this water
must be artificiallj^ cooled during about five
months of the hot spell.
To meet these several requirements the
New York Aquarium has four water systems,
with ideal equipment for circulation. fUtration,.
aeration, heating, and coohng. Constant
vigilance is required to guard against acci-
dents and to this end employees serve in
eight-hour watches, guarding pumps and fil-
ters, taking the temperature of the water,
and observing its flow.
During the past year the attendance at the
Aquarium totaled 1,813,647, — greater by
nearly 400,000 than the number of indi\'iduals
that visited the American Museum during the
corresponding period. Even so, the number of
visitors to the Aquarium was nearly 300,000
less than in 1922, the explanation being the
greater inconvenience occasioned by the
extensive renovations of the Aquarium build-
ing. These renovations, when completed,
will, however, greatly enhance the attractive-
NOTES
623
ness and substantiality of the setting, in
addition to making more space available foi-
exhibition purposes, and it is safe to predict
that the influx of the pubUc through the iron-
studded doors that commemorate the former
use of the building as a fortress will in the
future be greater than ever.
The interest of the Aquarium is not only in
its fishes. At the close of the year it housed in
addition 99 aquatic reptiles, representing 18
species, 58 amphibians of 8 different species,
544 invertebrates, belonging to 16 species, a
marine mammal, and two water birds from the
Galdpagos Islands, — a penguin (Spheniscus
mendiculus) and a flightless cormorant {Phala-
crocorax harrisi).
The services rendered by the Aquarium are
not confined to the exhibition of specimens.
It has helped other communities plan aquaria,
has through exchanges and gifts furnished
specimens to other institutions not only in this
country but abroad, has supplied during 1923
no less than 800,000 whitefish fry to Lake
Champlain, 100,000 yellow perch fry to
Prospect Park Lake, Brooklyn, and sundry
thousands of trout fingerlings to Palisades
Interstate Park, and finally through the
written contributions of its scientific staff —
notably the illustrated article on "Our
Heritage of the Fresh Waters" prepared by
Director Charles H. Townsend for the Na-
tional Geographic Magazine, — has dissemi-
nated knowledge of many of the interesting
forms represented in the institution at Bat-
tery Park.
MAMMALS
Mr. George G. Goodwin of the department
of mammalogy, American Museum, has pre-
sented to the institution 162 mammals which
he collected in New York State during his va-
cation. The first specimens were taken at
Berlin, on the Massachusetts border, and
included a series of smoky shrews {Sorex
fumeus) — a species hitherto unrepresented
in the Museum collection — a water shrew, and
a fine series of woodland jumping mice
(Napeozapus). From Berlin Mr. Goodwin
went northward by automobile, passing the
southern end of Lake George and proceeding
thence up the valley of the Hudson River to
Minerva. From Minerva he followed a trail
for eighteen miles that led through wooded
country and it was here that he secured
several larger animals including beaver and
raccoons.
REVIEWS
"FoTJNDEES OP Oceanography." — About
a year before his death on July 26, 1924, Sir
William Herdman wrote in the preface of his
Founders of Oceanography^: "1 have myself
lived through the period that has seen the
development of the Natural History of the
Sea into the Science of Oceanography, and
have known intimately most of the men who
did the pioneer work."
Among the founders of the science of the
sea, he speaks at length of Prof. Edward
Forbes, Sir Wyville Thomson, Sir John
Murray, Alexander Agassiz, and the Prince
of Monaco. When the next volume on ocean-
ography is written, the work of Sir WiUiam
Herdman himself will constitute an important
chapter.
We have read his admirably written book
with such absorption that it is fitting, in
describing it, to use as far as possible the
language of the author. In his chapter on
Forbes he says "the best description in brief
form is that he was the pioneer of ocean-
ography." Thomson's name, he very prop-
erly states, "will go down through the ages
as the leader of the famous Challenger Deep-
sea Exploring Expedition." Murray's
period was continuous with that of Thomson.
It fell to his lot to complete the work of
Thomson, the two having guided the destiny
of the greatest single undertaking of ocean-
ographic exploration. To Murray's tremen-
dous energy must be credited the excellence of
the fifty quarto volumes constituting the
incomparable "Challenger" reports. This
expedition was a national undertaking.
As outstanding examples of the enterprise
of private oceanographers. Sir William selects
two names — those of Alexander Agassiz and
the Prince of Monaco. Both of these men
devoted most of their fives and much of their
private fortunes to marine explorations, and
their investigations and sumptuous pubhca-
tions carried forward without pause the
development of the new science of ocean-
ography. Agassiz' work was done with both
government and private vessels, while the
Prince of Monaco built three vessels for
marine investigation, each larger and more
perfectly equipped than its predecessor. He
also founded and endowed the Ocean-
ographic Museum at Monaco and the Ocean-
ographic Institute at Paris.
'Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1923.
624
NATURAL HISTORY
The science of oceanography has gained
much during the last half century from ob-
servations made at biological establishments
on shore. The author naturally devotes most
of the chapter regarding these stations for
marine research to the celebrated Stazione
Zoologica at Naples and to Anton Dohrn, "the
founder, benefactor, director, the centre of
all its activities, the source of its inspiration."
There is no other laboratory where the study
rooms are occupied by investigators of estab-
lished reputation from all parts of Europe and
America, attracted by the fame of the institu-
tion and its director. Its Aquarium on the
ground floor is one of the sights of Naples.
All of the first seven chapters are filled with
interesting details respecting the men, the
ships, and the laboratories that have con-
tributed to the creation of the modern science
of the sea. The succeeding chapters — more
than half of the book — are devoted to the
physical characteristics of the oceans, under
such headings as hydrography, ocean cur-
rents, plankton, submarine deposits, coral
reefs, the sea-fisheries, etc., all discussed by a
master in oceanography who has devoted a
lifetime both afloat and ashore to gaining a
knowledge of the sea.
To the plankton, which no one has studied
more assiduously than Herdman himself,
two chapters are devoted. The name is used
to include all the small animal and plant
organisms that drift aboiit in the sea. The
importance of the plankton in the scheme of
nature can scarcely be overstated. Abundant
in most seas, its innumerable and varied
organisms constitute the food of young fishes
of many kinds and also of great schools of
migratory fishes such as the herring and
mackerel. The luminescence of. the sea
surface is due largely to light-producing
organisms composing much of the plankton.
There is not space here for remarks on such
important chapters as applied oceanography,
the fisheries, and food matters in the sea.
The present writer had the privilege of
knowing Herdman in Washington when the
specimens obtained by some of the Pacific
dredgings of the "Albatross" were being un-
packed. Later on there were pleasant meet-
ings in New York in company with the late
Doctor Mayor.
Like his associates in oceanography, Mur-
ray, Agassiz, and "Monaco," Herdman
devoted much of his private fortune to the
furtherance of marine investigations. His
sudden death, just as he was about to start
for the meeting of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science, is a matter of
profound regret. In the book he has left us,
we have the most recent summary of ocean-
ographic science. — C. H. Townsend.
"Woodland Ckeatxjkes" by Frances
Pitt. — A book of intimate studies of some of
the forest-dweUing mammals and birds of the
British Isles has just been issued under this
title by E. P. Dutton and Company. The
author is not only a keen and independent
observer of animals in the wild but at great
pains she has reared at various times all of the
mammals and several of the birds she de-
scribes, so that her sketches, in addition to
reveaUng a comprehensive background of
woodland knowledge, have the special interest
that attaches to the biographies of individual
animals. The badger, the dormouse, the- fox,
the rabbit, and the squirrel are each assigned
a chapter or more, while alternating with the
accoimts of these mammals are chapters
devoted to the woodpeckers, the bullfinch, the
Sparrow hawk, the kestrel, various owls, and
the magpie and the jay. The book is at-
tractively illustrated.
"Outwitting the Weasels" by Helen
Harrington. — Two plays adapted by Helen
Harrington from stories by Clara D. Pierson
have recently been issued by E. P. Dutton
and Company. Both of them are well suited
for presentation by children and both incul-
cate wholesome ideas in a non-didactic, hu-
morous, and delightful way. " Outwitting the
Weasels," one of the two plays, has as its
theme the protection of the birds — on the
one hand, from the deUberate aggressor,
represented by the boy with the sUng; on the
other hand, from that slipshod negligence, un-
fortunately not confined to childhood, which
fails to replenish the empty drinking fountain
or provide other necessities upon which the
birds have come to depend.
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION
MEETING
For the fourth time in its history the British
Association for the Advancement of Science,
which was founded in 1831, held its annual
session in Canada. The Toronto meeting
opened on August 6, under the presidency of
Major-General Sir David Bruce, K.C.B.,
F.R.S., the successor in office of Prof. Sir
Ernest Rutherford, F.R.S., and was attended
not only by many scientists from the Ojd
NOTES
625
World but by Canadian savants and repre-
sentatives from the institutions of learning in
the United States. Through the papers read
before the several sections and their subse-
quent discussion opportunity was given for a
broad interchange of knowledge.
The American Museum was represented at
the gathering by President Henry Fairfield
Osborn, who took part in the sections of
zoologj^ and anthropology, and by Dr. W. K.
Gregory, who participated in the discussion
regarding "The Origin of Land-living Verte-
brates" and presented before two of the
sections a paper, prepared in collaboration
with Dr. Milo Hellman, on "The Dentition
of Dryopithecus and the Origin of Man." Al-
though unable to be personally present. Dr.
WiUiam DUler Matthew contributed an ac-
count of his recent find in Texas under the
title of "A New Link in the Evolution of the
Horse." A paper by Dr. Clark Wissler on
"The Segregation of Racial Characters in a
Population" was presented by title.
The Museum has had the privilege of
welcoming a number of the delegates on their
way to and from the British Association
gathering. Among those who visited the
institution and estabhshed contact with its
scientific staff may be mentioned: Prof. E. S.
Goodrich, of Oxford, and Mrs. Goodrich,
Mr. F. A. Bather, who has recently succeeded
Sir Arthur Smith Woodward as keeper of geol-
ogy, British Museum (Natural History), Prof.
J. T. Cunningham, Prof. W. J. Dakin, Prof.
Walter M. Tattersall, of Cardiff, Doctor
Pritchard, of Melbourne, Austraha, Prof.
George HickUng, Dr. Clarence Tiveney, Dr.
C. C. Hentschel, Dr. Kenzo Iguchi, of the
Imperial University, Sapporo, Japan, Lady
Henderson, Dr. Cuthbert Christy, Prof. J.
W. Gregory, of the University of Glasgow, and
Prof.D. M. S. Watson, of University College.
COMPARATIVE ANATOMY
Dr. Heichiro Motohashi, of the Imperial
CoUege of Agriculture, Tottori, Japan, has
been in attendance at the American Museum,
studying the osteology of the wild asses of Asia
and using for the purpose skulls and skeletal
material obtained by the Third Asiatic
Expedition.
ASIA
Hunting the Sumatran Rhinoceros. —
in the July-August issue of Natural His-
tory, p. 527, allusion was made to a cable
sent by Mr. Arthur S. Vernay in which he
announced that he had secured a female and
young male of the rare Sumatran rhinoceros
{Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) . In a letter dis-
patched by Mr. Vernay a fuU report of this
achievement, which he describes as the
grand coup is given. These rhinos are very
carefully protected because of their scarcity
and it was only thanks to the generous inter-
est that Sir Harcourt Butler, the governor
general of Burma, has taken in the expedition
that permission to secure specimens for the
American Museum was accorded. The dis-
trict chosen for the hunt was the Pegu
Yomas, a rough, precipitous region of shale
and sandstone, in the south-central part of
Burma. Arrangements for the successful
prosecution of the hunt were made by Mr.
Hopwood, the conservator of forests, Tenas-
serim Circle, sixteen elephants being provided
for transport and a detail of six military pohce
mounted on ponies being ordered to accom-
pany Mr. Vernay.
The plan of campaign was to work up each
of the main streams that flow into the Pegu
River, in the hope of coming upon wallows,
and also to explore in similar fashion each of
the feeders of these streams. For six days a
careful survey of the country was made with-
out reveaUng the presence of a dark form.
On one occasion the party came upon a wal-
low that had been used twenty-four hours
before. They settled down near it to await
the possible return of the animal that had
used it but although they lingered till the
late evening, no rhino appeared to reward
their vigil.
On the seventh day the party scoured coun-
try covered with creeping bamboo, a favorite
food of elephant and rhino. The going was
exceedingly difficult and not even a rhino
track was discernible as compensation for the
arduous search. Time was getting on and it
was decided to make for camp. The way
thither lay along a stream known as the Bah-
maUk Chaung. Mr. Vernay writes:
After a mile or so we found that the water
in the stream was suddenly tinged with mud.
We followed the discolored water upstream
for 475 yards and ascertained that a feeding
stream that flowed into the Bahmalik at that
point was responsible for the brown tinge.
Beyond the feeder the water in the Bahmalik
was clear. We discussed the matter and came
to the conclusion that the muddy discharge
must be due to one of three things: (1) a
local rainstorm, (2) a landshde, (3) elephants
wallowing — the discoloration seemed too
heaw to be caused by rhinos. Although the
Photograph by Arthur S.Vernay
A rough climb along the course of a muddy mountain stream to ascertain whether the brown discoloration
of the water was due to a local rainstorm, a landslide, or a wild animal wallowing
Photograph by Arthur S. Vernay
One of the rewards of the effort depicted in the upper photograph. — This Uttle rhino {Dicerorhinus suma-
trensis) was adopted by Mr. Vernay and the other members of his expedition. The tiny fellow came to feel
quite at home in the bamboo enclosure set aside for his use
626
NOTES
627
hour was late, an occurrence such as this
needed investigation.
We started up the little stream. The
ascent was difficult, even formidable, and to
us in our impatience to reach the goal the
chmb seemed interminable. After a time
there appeared in front of us a stretch worse
than any we had previously traversed. The
water was now very thick. It confirmed our
conclusion that there must have been a
landsUde and, as we were feehng very weary,
we sent our two natives up to investigate.
These men climb like cats and soon were lost
to sight.
After ten minutes or so they reappeared
gesticulating wildly. We knew that the big
moment had come. Slowly we made our way
up. We wanted to save om: breath for the
final effort, when steadiness of aim is all-
essential. At length we reached our natives.
They informed us they had heard a grunt.
We listened, and presently we too heard a
sound that meant rhino.
The way beyond was narrow and steep.
We thought that over the top of the rocks
about twenty yards above us there must be
a flat place, for beyond was an old landslide.
We wanted to have a look at this flat place
without being observed ourselves. As there
was room for only one individual at a time,
I led the way and Percy-Smith followed close
behind. I clambered to the spot and with the
utmost care peeped over. Not ten yards away
was a rhino in a wallow. I pulled back,
fortimately found a place that offered good
support for my feet, and then straightened up
again. As I came into view this second time
the rhino — a female — saw me. She made one
plunge, when a lucky shot in the brain kUled
her.
As Mr. Vernay approached the wallow, a
small object emerged from behind the fallen
animal. It was a baby male rhino about one
month old. It charged viciously but ineffect-
ually. This little rhino was transported to
camp in a bamboo basket, quickly and skill-
fully made by the two natives. It took milk
out of a bottle and was a camp pet for several
days. It was then sent to Rangoon, to be
placed in the Zoo. But it did not survive and,
as a consequence, it will be mounted with its
mother in an American Museum group.
The Dinosaur Eggs.- — The famous dino-
saur eggs collected in MongoUa last summer
by the Third Asiatic Expedition have recently
been prepared for exhibition and are now
on view. They belong t o nine' different groups
and show considerable variation in size
and surface markings. The largest and by
far the most important group ' consists of
thirteen eggs in the rock, two weathered out
but still intact, and at least two more repre-
sented by broken shells lying on the surface
near the nest. President Henry Fairfield
Osborn is to give the general scientific descrip-
tion of the eggs and the microscopic study of
the shells is to be undertaken by Dr. Victor
Van Straelen of the University Libre of
Brussel s. Doctor Van'^ Straelen^^ has recently
published a paper regarding the structure of
some fragments of supposed dinosaur eggs
from the Cretaceous of southern France and
is well equipped for the task assigned to him.
Plaster casts of three of the MongoUan
eggs have been made and sets have been sent
to the following institutions: Geological
Survey of. China, Peking; British Museum,
London; Natural History Museum, Brussels;
U. S. National Museum, museums of Yale,
Princeton, the University of Cahfornia, and
the State University of Iowa, Buffalo Society
of Natural Sciences, and the Cincinnati Zoo-
logical Park Association. Also a single cast
has been sent to each of the more important
museums of Australia.
HISTORY OF THE EARTH
The Geology of [Greenland. — A con-
tribution by Dr. Edmund Otis Hovey,
late curator of geology and invertebrate
palfeontology, American Museum, is printed
as the leading article in The American Journal
of Science, Fifth Series, Vol. VIII, No. 46.
It is entitled "Geology of Northwest Green-
land and Its Relation to the Flora, Fauna,
and People of the Region" and is a timely
article on an area which at the present time is
attracting attention in connection with the
recent return of Captain Donald B. Mac-
Millan from its fastnesses. As the head of the
party sent out to relieve the Crocker Land
Expedition, Doctor Hovey gained knowledge
at first hand of Greenland and its phases of
interest, and this knowledge has been supple-
mented by extensive and painstaking read-
ing. As a result his article gives an informing
picture of this Arctic land where the condi-
tions of life are comparable to those along
the edge of the continental glacier during the
Ice Age. The account closes with this signif-
icant statement:
"The recent possession of fii-earms by the
Eskimo has exterminated caribou from the
southern portion of the Smith Sound area and
restricted the musk ox to the more inacces-
sible north coast of Greenland and the wilds
of EUesmere Land to the west, while it already
threatens the numbers of seal and walrus in
the sea and the polar bear on the sea ice. The
possession, furthermore, of the steel trap at
628
NATURAL HISTORY
the same time imperils the existence of the
fox and the hare. If these animals be elimi-
nated from the country through these
improved agents of destruction which the
Eskimo obtains through barter with the white
man, the Eskimo too must disappear unless
he is supported by his civilized brother. The
Danish trader has to some extent replaced
caribou and musk ox hide with imported
reindeer hide, but the contribution of the
seal, the walrus, the hare and the fox to
human life will never be made good by any-
thing that the white man is likely to furnish
in the way of food and suitable clothing. The
balance of nature will be disturbed and the
amelioration of existence which has led to the
increase of population in the present day
Polar Eskimo will result in^ his ultimate
extermination."
Dr. Chester A. Reeds, associate curator
of invertebrate palaeontology, American Mu-
seum, was elected an honorary member of
the Sociedad Geografica de Colombia at the
session held on June 27. Doctor Reeds'
proposer was the president of the society,
Don Jose M. Rosales.
Dr. Kurt Ehrenberg of the University of
Vienna, and Mrs. Ehrenberg, have been for
some weeks guests of the American Museum,
where Doctor Ehrenberg has been studying on
the one hand the fossil invertebrates, with a
view to determining their adaptations to a
sessile hfe, and, on the other, the osteology of
the bears, with special reference to the cave
bear. Doctor Ehrenberg is the son-in-law of
Dr. Othenio Abel, whom the Museum will
have the pleasure of greeting in February,
1925.
EUROPEAN PREHISTORY
Pliocene Man. — The Osborn Library has
lately been favored with several new pubhca-
tions by Mr. Reid Moir of Ipswich, England,
describing his most recent work in the Red
Crag and related dejaosits of East Anglia.
The American Museum two years ago con-
tributed funds to Mr. Moir's investigation at
the famous Foxhall station^ and in due time
received a share of the recovered specimens,
which are now on exhibit in the hall of man.
The finds of 1922, figured and described in one
of the present papers, consist of ordinary
cores and flakes, also a number of chipped
forms in the shape of hand axes, scrapers,
and perforators— all apparently bearing the
earmarks of human handiwork. A nearly
parallel series of flints, obtained from the
'The reader is referred to the article by Prof. Henry
Fairfield Osborn entitled "The Pliocene Man of Fox-
hall in East Anglia" that appeared in the issue of
Natural'History for November-December, 1921.
Bramford Pit (not far from FoxhaU), are
described in the same paper.
A second paper describes and figures in
natural size six especially large flints found on
the foreshore at Cromer. These specimens in
part resemble the coup de poing, or hand axe
type, of the Lower Paleohthic industries and
are so regarded by the author. It is assumed
— and doubtless properly so — that these
flints were washed from the exposed Cromer
Forest Bed deposits, which Moir regards as of
Late Pliocene origin; while others, such as
Lyell and Osborn, consider the formations as
of early Pleistocene date. A third paper
describes an early paleohth (a hand axe)
found in situ in the Glacial Till bluff at Side-
strand in Norfolk. The specimen, together
with its matrix, was derived, it is thought,
from an older geological formation, perhaps of
the same date as the Cromer Forest Bed
series, which, as indicated above, contains
flints of the same general character.
Pleistocene Man. — A fourth paper by
Moir concerns the discovery, in a single exca-
vation near Ipswich, of no less than five suc-
cessive" occupation floors," or buried land sur-
faces on which ancient man camped or which
he temporarily occupied. The bottommost
of these "floors" contains traces of fire and of
flint flakes of an indeterminate industry; the
next three levels yield flints of distinctly
Mousterian affinities; and the uppermost level
is distinguished by specimens having Aurig-
nacian characteristics. Above the top floor
are found scattered Solutrean blades and
finaUy, the surface soil gives implements of
Neohthic type. One remarkable feature of the
investigations at this site is the discovery of
crude pottery (fragments) in the upper
Mousterian level. The fifth and last paper
describes seven flint blades of early Solutrean
type, found mostly in Suffolk, at varying
depths in the gravels ranging down to eighteen
feet. Some of the specimens are fine examples
of workmanship and, but for the depths at
which they were discovered, would most
naturally be regarded as of Neohthic date.
Truly, fifteen years of labor were never
more amply rewarded than those of Mr. Reid
Moir in his own home district! After decades
of heated argument about eoliths and Ter-
tiary man, the facts are now more or less
frankly admitted by competent opinion both
Continental and American. Perhaps the only
embarrassing feature of the situation is the
comparative indifference of English scientists.
NOTES
629
And yet, as if to contradict this statement,
there comes to our desk, at the moment of
writing, a booklet by J. W. Gregory, professor
of geology at the University of Glasgow, en-
titled Evolution of the Essex Rivers and of the
Lower Thames. This intensive study of local
geological history contains a brief chapter on
the geology of East Anglia with special refer-
ence to the advent of man. In the course of
his remarks on this subject Professor Gregory
accepts, at least in general terms, the vahdity
of the conclusions of Mr. Moir and other East
Anglian archaeologists.
Miocene Man. — One of the first Con-
tinental authorities to accept Mr. Moir's
work was Prof. Louis Capitan of the Ecole
d'Anthropologie in Paris. Characteristically
his enthusiasm has not allowed him to rest
satisfied with proofs of the Phocene antiquity
of man; he now champions the long-rejected
evidence for Miocene man. In a recent letter
to Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn he tells of
having made new excavations last October at
Puy de Boudiou, Department Cantal, France,
where is situated a flint-carrying deposit of
recognized Miocene date; of having studied
the local geology of this as well as of the con-
temporary neighborhood site of Puy Courney,
of long-standing fame; and finally of having
examined and reexamined all the extant col-
lections from the two sites. "All this," he
writes, "results for me and my friends who
have viewed the pieces objectively that not
less than forty of them present all the char-
acters of worked flints, and well worked,
recalling the Mousterian types — grattoirs,
racloirs, knives, perforators — of which the
flaking and retouching resemble indisputably
voluntary and intelligent workmanship. This
is my positive opinion; but this gives an
earlier date than the known species of man or
his precursors and enables one to understand
the hesitation of scientists. Nevertheless,
the flints are there and their stratigraphy is
indisputably contemporary with Hipparion,
Dinotherium, and the mastodon." — N. C. N.
THE APPROACH TO ROOSEVELT
MEMORIAL HALL
Park Commissioner Francis D. Gallatin is
planning the approach from the West Side
drive to the Roosevelt Memorial Hall. A
spacious carriage way, with broad flanking
pathways, will lead directly up to the great
facade. A double row of trees will line these
pathways and the landscape engineer, Mr.
J. V. Burgevin, agrees with President Henry
Fairfield Osborn that the tree that deserves
this place of honor is the Ginkgo, or maiden-
hair tree. It is a striking fact that this
ancient tree, which like the cycads and the
big trees of California is reminiscent of the
flora of the Mesozoic, is one of the trees best
able to withstand the hostile environmental
conditions of New York City. In this con-
nection we quote from the delightful work of
Dukinfield Henry Scott, recently pubUshed,
entitled Extinct Plants and Problems of
Evolution: —
The family of the Maidenhair Tree is ... .
only represented in the living Flora by a
single species, Ginkgo biloba, a beautiful tree
with leaves Hke magnified leaflets of the
Maidenhair Fern. There is some doubt
whether this species is actually known in the
wild state; to a great extent it has been pre-
served from extinction by the piety of the
Buddhists, who grow it as a sacred tree in the
precincts of their temples, in China and Japan.
The Maidenhair Tree is the last survivor of a
group of Gymnosperms of considerable im-
portance in long-past geological times.
Then we come to the Cycads, a family little
known except to botanists or travellers in
warm countries. A magnificent collection of
these plants will be found at Kew, chiefly in
the Palm-house. . . . The Cycads often bear
a superficial resemblance to Palms, and some-
times are called by the absurd name of Sago-
palms; really they have nothing to do with
the true Palms, and their sago is not of much
account. For the most part the Cycads bear
cones; they are fine handsome plants. . . .
The Mesozoic Age, however, is justly called
the "Era of Gymnosperms." Besides the
Cycads, there were in those days very many
Conifers overspreading the world, and a con-
siderable number of Maidenhair Trees or
their relations. This last group is of much
interest, from the fact, already mentioned,
that it is now represented by a solitary sur-
viving species. The zenith of the Maiden-
hair Trees (Ginkgophyta) was attained in the
Jurassic. At that period, various species are
found which cannot be distinguished from the
recent genus Ginkgo, while there were also
others, with more divided leaves and some
further differences, indicating distinct genera.
EXTINCT ANIMALS
Fossil Horses from the Texas Pliocene.
— The American Museum Expedition in
northern Texas has secured from the Blanco
formation, LTpper Phocene, a fine skeleton
representing a stage in the evolution of the
horse intermediate between that of Plio-
hippus of the Lower Phocene and that of
Equus of the Lower Pleistocene. Pliohippus
is the earUest of the one-toed horses. In it
630
NATURAL HISTORY
the splints that represent the side toes of the
earUer ancestors of the horse are abnost as
long as the cannon bone; in Equus they are
about half as long. Pliohijrpus and represen-
tatives of all the earUer stages also retain a
small sphnt or nodule of bone, the last rem-
nant of the fifth digit of the fore foot, which is
a complete toe in the Eocene horses; in
Equus this has wholly vanished. PUohippus
is considerably smaller than Equus, its teeth
are shorter, its feet more slender, and in vari-
ous particulars it is more primitive, — that is,
nearer to the earher evolutionary stages. The
size and proportions of the skeleton obtained
from the Blanco formation are those of a rather
small Equus, the pattern of the teeth is inter-
mediate but nearer to PUohippus, a tiny
nodule of bone remains to represent the fifth
digit of the fore foot, and it is expected that
when the skeleton is prepared and studied, it
will be found to be intermediate in many other
details. The geological succession of the
stages in the evolution of the horse is as
follows:
Lower Pleisto-
Sheridan and Equus
cene
Rock Creek
One-toed,
horses '
Upper Pliocene
Lower Pliocene
Blanco for- (New stage)
mation
Oak Creek, PUohippus
Upper Snake
Creek, etc.
"Upper Miocene
Pawnee Creek
Mery-
beds, etc.
chippus
Lower Miocene
Harrison, Rose-
Parahip-
bud beds
pus
Three-
Upper Oligo-
John Day, Up-
Miohip-
toed ^
cene
per White
pus
horses
River
Lower OUgo-
White River.
Mesohip-
cene
(middle and
pus
lower)
1 Upper Eocene
Uinta forma-
Epihip-
Four-
tion
pus
toed
Middle Eocene
Bridger forma-
Orohip-
horses
tion
pus
, Lower Eocene
Wasatch forma-
Eohip-
tion
pus
The latest stage, Equus, lasted along into
the middle Pleistocene in North America and
then became extinct, but in the meantime
Equus had found its way into Asia and Africa,
where the type still sui'vives in the modern
horses, asses, and zebras; and the true horse,
domesticated by man, was reintroduced into
the New World by the Spaniards and later
colonists.
The three-toed horses of the Miocene were
small animals about the size of a Shetland
pony. While some of them evolved into the
large one-toed true horses, others, more con-
servative, retained thek side toes and smaU
size, developed a somewhat different pattern
of teeth, and survived in the Pliocene of Texas
and Florida, also finding their way into the
Old World, where they were first discovered
in the Pliocene of Europe and named Hip-
parion, or "Uttle horse." It wasatfirst thought
that these Old World examples of Hipparion
were the ancestors of the modern horses^ but
it now appears that they were a side branch,
and the more direct line of descent is trace-
able through the American PUohippus and the
skeleton, as yet unnamed, from the Blanco
formation.
A small species of Hipparion, hardly larger
than a sheep in size, was common in the
Upper Pliocene, and skulls, hmbs, and feet of
several individuals were found bj^ the Mu-
seum party in the Blanco formation. More
fragmentary remains were also found in the
PUocene of Florida.
It is perhaps in order to note here that in
some of the recent weU advertised attacks
upon evolution the statement has been made
that the above succession of geological for-
mations and of stages in the evolution of the
horse is arbitrarily arranged, and that there
is no proof that the formations were suc-
cessive and not contemporarJ^ Such a state-
ment is whollj^ untnie, and could be made
only in entire ignorance or reckless disre-
gard of the facts. It has not, of course, been
made by any geologist of standing or by any-
one who has any practical knowledge of the
field conditions or any experience in collecting
fossil mammals. The entire sequence of
formations and stages is not found in any one
place, but it is correlated from several partial
and overlapping sections, as shown more in
detail in The Age of Mammals and various
other pubhcations by Professor Osborn and
others. The sequence of the formations is
quite bej^ond doubt, and the evolutionary
stages characteristic of each are never found
in an earlier formation, although they some-
times survive into later ones without much
change. In southwestern Wyoming the
Wasatch formation with Eohippus definitely
underhes the Bridger with Orohippus, and in
northeastern Utah it underhes the Bridger
and Uinta. In south-central Wyoming the
Uinta definitely underlies the White River.
In western South Dakota and Nebraska the
upper White River underhes the Rosebud
and Harrison; these underlie the later Mio-
cene; the latter underlies the Lower Phocene;
and the Pleistocene caps the series, Upper
Pliocene here being absent (or unfossiliferous
so far as known). In each of these cases
the identity of the stage is proven by the
NOTES
631
presence of fossils of the appropriate stage of
Equidse, and of the various other animals
the evolution of which has been traced.
The sequence in the case of the horse is
merely one item out of a vast mass of evidence
which proves the correctness of the geological
procession as accepted by competent geologists.
A third important find made by the Mu-
seum party in the Blanco formation is a fairly
complete skeleton of a fossil camel. Various
fragmentary remains of larger and smaller
species of horses and camels, mastodons,
ground sloths, glyptodonts, peccaries, etc.,
will aid in the study of this interesting fauna.
The party consisted of Dr. WilUam Diller
Matthew, Mr. G. G. Simpson, and Mr. Charles
Falkenbach. The friendly interest of many
residents in the various localities examined
aided considerably in the success of the expedi-
tion. The Museum is indebted especially to
Messrs. Parke and McAdams of Clarendon,
and Judge Daniels of Silverton; and the
Messrs. Webb and R. B. Smith of Crosbyton,
Texas, for various courtesies. — W. D. M.
Dr. George Hickling, one of the delegates
to the meeting of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science, stopped at
the American Museum on his return journey
to work on the fossil shark skulls from Texas
represented in the collections of that institu-
tion. Dr. D. M. S. Watson, another dele-
gate, spent several days in the department of
vertebrate paleontology in conferences with
Doctors W. D. Matthew and W. K. Greg-
ory and with Mr. Walter Granger.
A NEW GIFT TO THE MUSEUM
LIBRARY
The Library of the American Museum is
again indebted to Mr. Ogden Mills for a gift
of books that will be of great service to re-
search workers visiting the institution as
well as to the Museum staff. The volumes
were originally part of the Ubrary of the
English ornithologist, Major W. H. Mullens.
NEW MEMBERS
Since the last issue of Natural History
the following persons have been elected mem-
bers of the American Museum, making the
total membership 7764.
Ldfe Members: Mrs. William Belknap;
Messrs. Harry Burrell, John H. Hall,
Jr., Ellis Stanley Joseph, Arthur N.
MiLLIKEN, AND WiLLIAM ReNNULT.
Honorary Life Member: Doctor H. Schoute-
DEN.
Annual Members: Miss M. Parsons; George
Clinton Andrews, M.D.; Messrs. John
Burden, Alfred J. Crane, Joseph N. Early,
Frank Phillips, E. C. Smith, Noel Statham,
and Charles B. Williams.
Associate Members: Mesdames Preston
BoYDEN, Richard H. Day, Emilie L. Heine,
A. Howard Hinkle, Paul Jernigan,
Walter Hines Page, Fry Strohl; the
Misses Nellie P. Carter, G. H. Emery,
Minna Frotscher Koch; Bishop Boyd
Vincent; Doctors Stanley C. Ball,
Samuel C. Harvey, Matthew F. Kreisle,
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T. Smith, D.D.S.; Prof. Alfred Rosen-
blatt; Messrs. J. Earle Bacon, Francis
N. Balch, Thomas Alexander Barns, J. C.
Basak, Edward M. Brewer, Peter Bul-
THOUSE, Clifford Coles, S. B. Gibbs,
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Murdoch James, David M. Johnson,
Harper Kblley, R. T. Kellogg, Geo. K.
Lehner, Thornton Lewis, James W. Lowry,
William M. Matthews, Benj. L. Miller,
C. O. G. Miller, Robert Watt Miller,
P. M. Norton, H. Eugene Parrott,
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Lee W. Sexton, Wm. Short, E. B. Stan-
ley, Jose Steinbach, George F. Stern-
berg, Will Sutton, W. O. Wayman,
Frederick S. Webster, Robert Welles,
AND H. A. Worcester.
632 NATURAL HISTORY
The European Number
In the successive issues of Natueal History for 1924 the reader has been
given the opportunity to make a scientific tour of the world, necessarily not
exhaustive but serving to call attention nevertheless to some of the wonders of
nature in Australia, Asia, South America, in the oceans and on their islands, as
well as to the part that the American Museum and other institutions have had
in making known the interest of our globe.
With the November-December issue a return is made to Europe, the birth-
place of our civiUzation, the land of our forebears. It is the anthropological and
archaeological interest of that continent that will have especial emphasis in this
number. Mr. J. Reid Moir, who has devoted years of conscientious study to the
problem of the eoliths, will discuss the evidences of Tertiary man in England, while
some supplementary remarks on the subject will be appended by Sir Ray Lan-
kester, formerly director of the British Museum (Natural History) . These essays
are to be followed by a paper contributed by Dr. Louis R. Sullivan, associate
curator of physical anthropology in the American Museum, devoted to the
"Relationships of the Upper Palaeolithic Races of Europe." The Museum has
been accumulating throughout a long series of years a valuable collection of Old
World archaeological material, and Mr. N. C. Nelson, associate curator of
archaeolog}^ who has charge of this collection, will call attention to some of its
points of interest. Obermaier's recently published volmne Fossil Man in Spain,
will be reviewed by Miss Christine D. Matthew.
The papers above mentioned are actually in hand and their publication is
therefore assured, but it is the hope that one or more eminent authorities, in
addition to the contributors specified, may find it possible to fulfill promises
tentatively made by writing articles deahng with other phases of the archaeology
of Europe.
The American Museum's recent expedition to Lapland, undertaken by Dr.
G. Clyde Fisher and Mr. Carveth Wells, will be commemorated by a beautiful
series of illustrations of Arctic flowers preceded by a brief introductory article.
Finally, the natives of the Russian Far East will be represented in a series
of decorative pictures prepared under the supervision of V. K. Arsenieff.
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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY has a record of more
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For a detailed list of popular and scientific publications with prices apply to
The Libearian, American Museum of Natural History,
New York City
/OI.AA1V JNUViiMBER-DECEMBER, 1924
No. 6
•^4
^s^s^ss.
i
EUROPE
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND discussed by J. Reid
MoiR AND Sir E. Ray Lankester— WHAT IS AN EOLITH?
ANSWERED BY George Grant MacCurdy— WILD FLOWERS
OF THE UPLANDS OF LAPLAND pictured by G. Clyde
FisHER-EUROPEAN PREHISTORY reviewed by N. C.
Nelson— THE JARDIN DES PLANTES repeopled by
bashford Dean-relationships of the upper
PALAEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE traced by Louis
R. Sullivan-fossil MAN FROM A NEW VIEWPOINT
discussed by Christine D. Matthew— NATIVES OF THE
RUSSIAN FAR EAST pictured from studies made by
V. K. Arsenieff <U^ <i^ ^ ^ .i^
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY, 1862-1924, by James F. Kemp-
THE MUSEUM OF TOMORROW by George Sarton
To the many friends in Europe who have enriched the collections of
the American Museum, stimulated its studies through their scientific con-
tributions, and extended hospitality to members of its staff during their
travels abroad, the appreciation of the Museum is hereby tendered d* <i*
r#r5MBVgwra:-</^wiuvy^ v:nwa />syngg>
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Q
. exploration RESEARCH-EDUCATION fl
subscription $3.00
SINGLE COPIES 50 CENTS
ivTT-v A oc/-v/-'I A TT R/inv/IDITDC r»C TUIT R/TI TCITI T1\/f
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Scientific Staff for 1924
Henry Fairfield Osborn, LL.D., President
■ Frederic A. Lucas, Sc.D., Honorary Director
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Acting Director and Executive Secretary
Robert C. Mukphy, D.Sc, Assistant Director (Scientific Section)
James L. Clark, Assistant Director (Preparation Section)
I. DIVISION OF MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY,
AND GEOGRAPHY
History of the Earth
Chester A. Reeds, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Inverte-
brate Palaeontology (In Charge)
Minerals and Gems
Herbert P. Whitlock, C. E., Curator
George F. Kunz, Ph.D., Research Associate in Gems
Extinct Animals
Henry Fairfield Osboen, LL.D., D.Sc, Honorary Cu-
rator
W. D. Matthew, Ph.D. Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals
Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles
Charles C. Mook, Ph.D., Associate Curator
William K. Gregory, Associate in Palaeontology
Childs Frick, Research Associate in Palaeontology
II.
DIVISION OF ZOOLOGY AND ZOOGE-
OGRAPHY
Marine Life
Roy W. Miner, Ph.D., Curator
Willard G. Van Name, Ph.D., Assistant Curator
Frank J. Myers, Research Associate in Rotifera
Horace W. Stunkaed, Ph.D., Research Associate in Para-
sitology
A. L. Treadwell, Ph.D., Research Associate in Annulata
Insect Life
Frank E. Ldtz, Ph.D., Curator
A. J. Mutchler, Assistant Curator of Coleoptera
Frank E. Watson, B.S., Assistant in Lepidoptera
William M.Wheeler, Ph.D., Research Associate in Social
Insects
Charles W. Leng, B.S., Research Associate in Coleoptera
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.M., Research Associate in
Hymenoptera
Fishes
Bashford Dean, Ph.D., Honorary Curator
JohnT. Nichols, a. B., Associate Curator of Recent Fishes
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D., Associate in Ichthyology
Charles H. Townsbnd, Sc.D., Research Associate
Amphibians and Reptiles
G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D., Curator
Birds
Frank M. Chapman, Sc.D., Curator-in-Chief
W. DeW. Miller, Associate Curator
Robert Cushman Murphy, D.Sc, Associate Curator of
Marine Birds
James P. Chapin, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Birds of the
Eastern Hemisphere
Ludlow Griscom, M.A., Assistant Curator
Jonathan Dwight, M.D., Research Associate iri North
American Ornithology
Elsie M. B. Naumburg, Research Associate
Mammals of the World
H. E. Anthony, A.M., Associate Curator of Mammals of
the Western Hemisphere (In Charge)
Herbert Lang, Associate Curator of African Mammals
Carl E. Akeley, Associate in Mammalogy
Comparative and Human Anatomy
William K. Gregory, Ph.D., Curator
S. H. Chubb, Associate Curator
H. C. Raven, Assistant Curator
J. Howard McGregor, Ph.D., Research Associate in
Human Anatomy
III. DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Science of Man
Clark Wissler, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Pliny E. Goddard, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnology
N. C. Nelson, M.L., Associate Curator of Archaeology
Charles W. Mead, Assistant Curator of Peruvian Archae-
ology
Louis R. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Physical
Anthropology
J. Alden Mason, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Mexican
Archaeology
Clarence L. Hat, A.M., Research Associate in Mexican
and Central American Archaeology
MiLO Hellman, D.D.S., Research Associate in Physical
Anthropology
Animal Functions
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator
IV. DIVISION OF ASIATIC EXPLORATION
AND RESEARCH
Third Asiatic Expedition
Roy Chapman Andrews, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
Walter Granger, Associate Curator in Palaeontology
Frederick K. Morris, A.M., Associate Curator in Geology
and Geography
Charles P. Berkey, Ph.D., [Columbia University], Re-
search Associate in Geology
Amadeus W. Grabau, S.D. [Geological Survey of China],
Research Associate
Clifford H. Pope, Assistant in Zoology
V. DIVISION OF EDUCATION AND PUB-
LICATION
Library and Publications
Ralph W. Tower, Ph.D., Curator-in-Chief
Ida Richardson Hood, A.B., Assistant Librarian
Public Education
George H. Sherwood, A.M., Curator-in-Chief
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D., Curator of Visual Instruction
Grace Fisher Ramsey, Assistant Curator
Public Health
Charles-Edward Amoey Winslow,
Curator
Mary Greig, Assistant Curator
Astronomy
G. Clyde Fisher, Ph.D. (In Charge)
Public Information Committee
George N. Pindae, Chairman
George H. Sherwood, A.M.
Robert C. Muephy, D.Sc.
D.P.H., Honorary
Natural History Magazine
Herbert F. Schwarz, A.lVl., Editor and Chairman
A. Katherine Berger, Assistant Editor
Advisory Committee
H. E. Anthony, A.JVI. Frederick K. JMorris, A.M.
James P. Chapin, Ph.D. G. Kingsley Noble, Ph.D.
E. W. Gudger, Ph.D. George N. Pindar
NATURAL
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
DEVOTED TO NATURAL HISTORY,
EXPLORATION, AND THE DEVELOP-
MENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
THROUGH THE MUSEUM
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1924
[Published December, 1924]
Volume XXIV, Number 6
Copyright, 1924, by The American Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y.
ATURAL HISTORY
Volume XXIV CONTENTS FOR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER Numbee 6
Tertiary Man in England J. Reid Moir 636
A review of some of the evidence that man in Europe existed prior to the Pleistocene
With sketches and photographs of early human artifacts found by the author, and views and
diagrams illustrative of the geology of the region considered
Note on J. Reid Moir's "Tertiary Man in England"
Sir E. Ray Lankester 654
Points of agreement and divergence in the views of two students of early man
What Is an Eolith? George Grant MacCurdy 656
a consideration of the claims of those who say that eoliths are the work of nature and those who
contend that they are the work of man
With reproductions of some of the evidence in the case
Alpine Flowers of Arctic Lapland G. Clyde Fisher 659
Impressions gathered in the course of the expedition of the American Museum to that region
Illustrated
Wild Flowers of tho Uplands of Lapland opposite 664
Duotone reproductions of photographs taken by G. Clyde Fisher
European Prehistory N. C. Nelson 665
With special reference to the work of the American Museum
Hitherto unpubUshed illustrations of incised figures of animals presented to the American
Museum by Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn
The Jardin des Plantes Bashford Dean 673
Intimate memories of a spot with which are associated some of the great names of science
With views of the garden and its buildings, and an original sketch of Prof. J. L. A. de Quatre-
fages by Doctor Dean
Relationships of the Upper Palseolithic Races of Europe
Louis R. Sullivan 682
A comparative study of the physical types from the Aurignacian through the Azilian epochs
With reproductions of cranial casts of earlj'man in the hall of the Age of Man, American Mu-
seum, and of skulls in the somatological collections of that institution
Fossil Man from a New Viewpoint Christine D. Matthew 697
A Review of Obermaier's "Fossil Man in Spain"
With a colored illustration and several reproductions in black and white showing the concepts
of Palaeohthic man of the Iberian Peninsula
Edmund Otis Hovey James F. Kemp 704
A survey of a life of abounding interest and achievement
The Museum of Tomorrow George Sarton 710
How the educational mission of the museum label may be extended and supplemented
Natives of the Russian Far East • 713
Pictures from studies made by V. K. Arsenieff
Notes 719
Published bimonthly, by the American Museum of Natiu-al History, New York, N. Y.
Subscription price $3.00 a year.
Subscriptions should be addressed to George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum
of Natural History, 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Natural History is sent to all members of the American Museum as ojie of the ■privileges of
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Entered as second-class matter April 3, 1919, at the Post Office at New York, New York,
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The North American Number
In the issue of Natural History for January-February, 1925, a
return will be made to our homeland. In the successive numbers of
1924 some of the wonders that lie beyond our shores were brought to the
attention of the reader, but the marvels of nature that are a part of our
North American heritage have a more intimate appeal. We return
from a journey of twelve months, with our interest quickened, it is to be
hoped, for the activities of nature that are going on at our very door.
We say ''door," but the word is misleading. We live in a mansion
with many doors. At one extreme these open upon the Arctic tundra,
at the other upon a region of tropical warmth. And some of our doors
even lead to the remote past, when a fauna now extinct was in posses-
sion of the land. Through one of these portals Prof. Henry Fair-
field Osborn will conduct the reader to the age when the mastodon
was a dominant form of Hfe. Through another door, opened by Mr.
Alfred M. Bailey of the Colorado Museum of Natural History, the
reader will view the snowy owl in its northern home.
In an article contributed by Prof. Frank G. Speck, of the University
of Pennsylvania, acquaintance will be made with the dogs of the Labra-
dor Indians. Mr. Ludlow Griscom, of the Museum's department of
birds, will tell of a recent visit to the coastal prairies of southern Texas,
with their interesting bird life. Mrs. N. C. Nelson will describe how
phoenix-like two hundred fragments of Indian pottery took shape as a
beautiful bowl. An account of the celebration of the Navajo Night
Chant, as depicted in the recently installed groups in the American Mu-
seum, will be contributed by Dr. P. E. Goddard, curator of ethnology.
Mr. William M. Savin will offer some interesting observations on the
social wasps. The story how the yellow warbler escapes the respon-
sibilities of foster parenthood that the cowbird tries to thrust upon it,
will be told by Charles Macnamara. Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, of the
Field Museum of Natural History, will trace the origin and growth of
the curious "hoop snake" story.
The articles above mentioned are a few of those presenting various
aspects of North America, but others no less attractive in subject
matter will also find place.
A LAEGE CHOPPER OF EARLY CHELLEAN AGE
It was found upon the foreshore site at Cromer and is here reproduced natural size
636
Volume XXIV
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
Tertiary Man in England
By J. REID MOIR
THE whole series of strata forming
the earth's crust has been
divided by geologists into four
great periods — the Primary, Secondary,
Tertiary, and Quaternary. Each of
these divisions is made up of a number
of sub-periods, ranging from the most
ancient Archaean, the first sub-division
of the Primary, to that of the Late
Pleistocene, which is the last sub-
division of the Quaternary. In geologi-
cal parlance the present is termed the
Recent Period, and, going back in time,
we find in successive order, the
Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene, OHgo-
cene and the Eocene epochs. Below
the Eocene is the chalk which marks
the passage from the Tertiary to the
Secondary Period.
In England no evidence has been
found of man's presence in deposits
older than those referable to the
PUocene, so that there is no need in
this article to deal with any strata of
pre-Pliocene date. It is now many
years since man's existence in the
Pleistocene, or Quaternary, became
generally accepted, and a large and
ever-increasing number of scientific
people now beheve that human beings
were present on this earth during the
latter part of the preceding period, the
Tertiary. It is the purpose of this
article to give a description of some of
the flaked flints of Pliocene age that
have been found in England and that
have convinced many competent ob-
servers that man existed in the
Tertiary Period.
The general opinion upon the ques-
tion of the antiquity of man obtaining
among English scientific men prior to
the above-mentioned discoveries was
that the well-known Palseohthic flint
implements of pointed and oval form,
found usually in the terrace gravels of
existing river valleys, represented the
earliest efforts of man to shape flints
intentionally. It is, however, some-
what remarkable that this view should
have ever received such widespread
acceptance. The earhest Palaeolithic
implements exhibit evidences of con-
siderable skill in flint-flaking, and it
was unreasonable to regard such well-
made artefacts as representing man's
first attempts at implement-making.
The results of the researches in the
Pliocene deposits of England, and espe-
cially those conducted in recent years
in East Angha, have gone far to show
the justice of the foregoing criticism,
and appear to have provided archae-
ologists with the long-looked-for types
leading up from the most simple arte-
fact to the earliest, though elaborately
flaked, palaeohth, and to demonstrate
a slow but continuous improvement in
the art of flint-flaking.
THE KENTIAN EOLITHS
In the year 1889 the late Sir Joseph
Prestwich — one of England's greatest
geologists — made known to the scien-
tific world the nature of the flint imple-
ments found by Benjamin Harrison in
and upon the highest portions of the
plateau of Kent.^ It was shown that
■Prestwich, Sir Joseph. Quarterly Journal of the
Geological Society of London, Vol. XLV, May, 1889,
pp. 270-97, and Vol. XL VII, May, 1891, pp. 126-63.
637
638
NATURAL HISTORY
the place of occurrence of these imple-
ments— to which the name 'eolith'
(dawn stone) was given — indicated
that they were of vast geological
antiquity, and it was claimed that the
whole of the great valley known as the
Weald of Kent, lying between the
North and the South Downs, has been
formed by denudation since the makers
of the eoliths Hved. This highly prob-
able supposition is illustrated diagram-
matically in Fig. 1, which shows the
where, in the detritus bed at the base
of the Red Crag, have been found
examples of the Harrisonian type of
implements in a rolled and abraded
state, pointing to the fact that these
specimens had a long history before
their arrival in this Pliocene deposit.
The eoliths themselves are of the
simplest possible description, being for
the most part naturally fractured
pieces of tabular flint exhibiting human
flaking along one or another of their
EOMTAtC
L CJ^flU.
aicWt^^eREENSftNlJ,
S.V^tAU^SWBES^.
Fig. 1. Diagrammatic section, not drawn to scale, of the North and the South Downs, and
and the Weald of Kent. — The makers of the eoliths hved upon the high chalk dome (indicated
by a dotted hne) which at one time extended over the Weald. Enormous denudation has thus
taken place since these early flint-using people existed
contour of the country between, and
including, the North and the South
Downs. ^ It will be seen that the
eoUthic gravel occurs upon the sloping
surface of the chalk, and there seems
little doubt that this gravel was laid
down by water running off the high
chalk dome, indicated by dotted line in
Fig. 1, which at one time existed over
the Weald of Kent. It is thus apparent
that the makers of the eoliths lived
upon a chalk surface many hundreds of
feet above the present level of the
Weald, and that all this vast mass of
strata has been removed by denudation
since Eolithic times. There is thus
very striking evidence in Kent of the
vast geological age of the eohths, and
this evidence finds support in Suffolk,
'This illustration is adapted from a similar section in
'Ightham.' The Homeland Association, London.
edges, which were apparently used for
scraping and cutting purposes of a
rough and primitive nature. Never-
theless, though simple, these specimens
are of great importance in that they
indicate a profound antiquity for the
human race, and as providing the basic
forms from which all the later types
of flint implements were evolved. I
have dealt with this question in detail
in one of my published books, ^ but it is
necessary here to give a brief outUne
of my views upon it. To flake flint
with precision, it is necessarj^ to provide
oneself with a more or less flat striking
platform upon which flake-removing
blows with a hammerstone may be
dehvered with success. If blows are
directed on to the rounded surface of
2J. Reid Moir, Pre-Palaeolithic Man. Harrison,
Ancient House Press, Ipswich, England.
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND
639
a nodule, it will be found that the
hammerstone cannot 'get home/ and
the blows glance off ineffectually. The
provision of a striking platform in
flint-flaking has always been and must
forever remain a fundamental require-
ment, and the makers of the eohths
were fortunate in finding ready to their
hand large quantities of natural tabular
flint which provided them with two
more or less flat surfaces upon which to
direct their flake-removing blows.
The simplest form of eolith is illus-
trated in Fig. 2 and is merely a piece
of tabular flint flaked along its left
margin to a cutting edge. This speci-
men, together with a large number of
others of the same type, comes from the
plateau of Kent, and represents the
earhest form of 'side scraper,' called by
French writers a racloir. Another very
well-known type of Eohthic implement
is shown in Fig. 3. This is of pointed
form, but is in reality a double racloir
in which the two cutting edges have
coalesced at the narrowest portion of
the flint and have accidentally formed
a pointed implement. These speci-
mens may be regarded as the ancestral
forms from which all the later Palaeo-
Hthic "points" of different ages have
been developed.
The Eohthic point, however, gave
rise to another type of implement,
named by Sir Ray Lankester 'rostro-
carinate,' which in its turn developed
into the Early Palseohthic hand axes
that are so famihar to prehistorians.
In the production of the two cutting
edges of the implement illustrated in
Fig. 3, the resulting flake scars inevit-
ably met and formed a gable, or
ridge, (marked keel in Fig. 3) and
gave rise to the triangular section of the
specimen through the Une A B. The
apex of the triangle represents the
gable, or ridge, mentioned, and it
appears that the stability of this keel
and its usefulness as a cutting edge were
soon recognized by early man, for in
the rostro-carinate specimen we see
Fig. 2. The most primitive type of im-
plement known to science — an EoUthic side
scraper from the Kent plateau. (Natural
size)
KE£L
^6.tTiowft-B
Fig. 3. An Eolithic point from the Kent
plateau. — Note the keel of this implement,
and its triangular section through the Une
A-B. (Natural size)
640
NATURAL HISTORY
this featm-e extended and becoming in
fact the functional portion of the imple-
ment. In addition to the side scraper
and the point of EoUthic times definite
borers, the pointed end of which was
formed by blows delivered upon both
the upper and the lower surfaces of the
pieces of tabular flint, make their
appearance. Thus in the Harrisonian
eoKths we see the earhest and most
primitive flint implements known to
science. Their great antiquity is
evidenced by the position in which they
Fig. 4. A rolled Eolithic point from be-
neath the Red Crag at Bramford, near Ips-
wich. (About i natural size.) Compare with
Fig. 3.
are found, and by the enormous denuda-
tion resulting in the formation of the
Weald of Kent that has occurred since
Eolithic times. When the specimens
themselves are examined, they prove
to be — as might be expected — of the
simplest forms, such as would be made
by a creature just emerging from a
simian condition, who had sufficient in-
teUigence to flake fhnts and to use them
for cutting and scraping pm"poses of a
primitive natm^e. Further, though the
eoHths are so rough and simple in type,
they nevertheless provide us with the
basic forms from which all of the later
flint implements were evolved, and the
Harrisonian specimens became, there-
fore, of fundamental importance to
students of prehistoric man.
There would seem Uttle doubt that
the eohths were flaked by means of
blows delivered with a hammerstone —
as was the case with nearly all the
implements of the Stone Age — and
their forms do not suggest that they
were used as weapons of offence or
defence. It may be that rough un-
flaked fhnts or pieces of wood were
utihzed for these purposes, but, if so,
the discovery of such remains has not
been recorded hitherto, nor have any
mammalian bones yet been found asso-
ciated with the eohths.
Though the evidence points to the
great antiquity of the Kentian eoliths,
yet, as these specimens have not been
found there in any geologically datable
deposit, it is not possible to say with
certainty to what period of the past
they must be referred. It is fortunate,
therefore, that, as has already been
mentioned, implements of the Harri-
sonian type occur in the detritus bed
resting at the base of the Red Crag —
a marine deposit of PHocene age. One
of these sub-Crag eoHths is illustrated
in Fig. 4 and, if it is compared with that
shown in Fig 3, the very close resem-
blance of the two specimens to each
other will be readily recognized. There
is thus, as will be seen, very good reason
for assigning these first efforts of man
to flake fhnts intentionally to at least
an early portion of the Pfiocene and it
may be that further research will result
in the relegation of the eoliths to the
end of the still more ancient epoch,
the Miocene.
THE SUFFOLK BONE BED
It is now necessary to turn om' atten-
tion to the remarkable deposit — known
as the Suffolk Bone Bed, or detritus
bed — that occurs chiefly in shallow
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND
641
depressions in the surface of a very old
Tertiary accumulation, the London
Clay, at the base of the Suffolk Crags.
It will be noticed that the London
Clay — an Eocene deposit — is overlaid
in East AngUa by the much later
Phocene Crags, and there is reason to
believe that the top of this clay was a
land surface over an immense period,
duiing which the OHgocene and Miocene
beds were being laid down in other
parts of the world. Toward the latter
part of the Pliocene this London Clay
land surface was, it appears, slowly
submerged beneath the sea, and the
various remains (bones and teeth of
both terrestrial and marine animals,
conglomerate, phosphatic nodules,
foreign rocks, flints, and flint imple-
ments) occurring, possibly, in super-
ficial deposits on that surface were
quietly washed into the shallow hollows
where they are now found.
The sea that first overwhelmed the
East Anglia land was evidently of a
warm temperature, because the shells
found in its deposits are those of Mol-
lusca that can five only under non-
boreal conditions. The denuded rem-
nants of the deposits of this sea, which
are known in Suffolk as CoralHne Crag,
a whitish deposit differing greatly in
appearance from the later Red Crag,
are separated from the London Clay by
a detritus bed, which, however, has
not yet been examined extensively
for flint implements.^
As the sinking of the land continued,
the land bridge, which cut off the area
of the Coralhne Sea from the cold
waters of the Arctic Ocean, was broken
through or submerged, and the deposi-
tion of the Red Crag began. During
this period the Coralhne Crag was
greatly denuded, and over large areas
^Moir, J. Reid. Proc. Prehistoric Society of East
Anglia, Vol. II, Pt. 1, pp. 12-31.
actually replaced by the deposits of the
Red Crag Sea. Occasionally, however,
the former escaped complete destruc-
tion, and at Sutton, near Woodbridge,
Suffolk, a section was opened by Sir
Ray Lankester and myself in 1911
v/AKn.
COUD.
V<RRr^-
mO \\\ O \\\ O *^^
II O \u O ^^^ C U^O
Ml \\\ \\\ \\\
mQ \\\ O u\ O MO
'/X/^^_C^AfrS^
SECOND
First
&i.pw:\ftL,
?
Fig. 5. Diagrammatic section, not drawn
to scale, showing the succession of the Pho-
cene deposits of East Angha. — The drawing
also indicates the chmate obtaining during
the laying down of the various deposits, and
their relationships to the glacial deposits of
Cromer
which exposed the following beds in
vertical succession: (a) London Clay,
(b) detritus bed, (c) CoralHne Crag,
(d) detritus bed, (e) Red Crag, and
(f) present land surface (see Fig. 5).
It is thus clear that the Coralline Crag
is definitely older than the Red, and,
further, that the two detritus beds are
more ancient than the respective crag
deposits beneath which they occur, and
must not be confused with them. Dur-
ing the deposition of the Red Crag the
642
NATURAL HISTORY
East Anglian area was evidently sink-
ing toward the north, and rising to the
south; so that the oldest beds of the
Crag occui' in the southern part of
Suffolk and the north of Essex, while the
latest are found resting upon the chalk,
the London Clay and Lower Tertiary
being absent in Norfolk. It is neces-
Fig. 6. Diagrammatic outline of the East
Anglian area. — The position of the PUocene
deposits is indicated by the shaded portions
sary here to repeat that the Red Crag
is essentially a cold-water deposit. It
is true that warm-water shells are
found in the oldest layers of this Crag,
but considering the essentially boreal
character of the bulk of the shells
contained therein, it seems reasonable
to suppose that the non-boreal forms
were derived from the breaking up of
the Coralline Crag or survived only for
a short time in the Red Crag sea.^
The approximate area now occupied
by the PHocene deposits (the CoralUne
and Red Crags, and the Cromer
_ ^I should like to state in this connection that the
views above expressed regarding the boreal character of
the Red Crag and its marked divergence from the
older CoralHne deposit are those of Sir Ray Lankester
(^Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of Lon-
don, Series B, Vol. I, 1912), whose researches in this
subject are so well known and with whose opinions I
am in complete agreement.
Forest Bed) of East AngHa is shown
diagrammatically in Fig. 6, but it is
probable that at one time the Crag
accumulations extended much farther
to the west. Beneath the Red Crag
beds of Norfolk, the shells of which are
almost exclusively boreal, there occurs
a detrital deposit, known as the Nor-
folk Stone Bed, which contains a
number of mammalian remains, to-
gether with certain humanly flaked
flints, first found by Mr. W. G. Clarke
of Norwich in 1905.^ These imple-
ments, which may be said to be of the
same order as those found by me in
1909 in the Suffolk Bone Bed beneath
the Red Crag, are nevertheless pos-
sibly somewhat later in date.
the' sub-crag implements
The sub-Red Crag detritus bed,
which is sometimes as much as three
feet in thickness, is, as its name imphes,
composed of materials of different
periods occurring prior to the time
when the deposit was laid down. Sir
Ray Lankester has shown^ that these
varying materials have been derived
from the following sources: — (a) the
chalk, (b) the London Clay, (c) a
Miocene land surface, (d) a marine
Pliocene deposit (the Diestian Sand),
(e) the earher sweepings of a land sur-
face which submerged after the Dies-
tian deposit, and (f) later sweepings of
the same land surface. It will thus be
seen that the flint implements, now to
be described, that were found in the
detritus bed, may be referable to any
of the periods represented by c, e, or f
of the above list. We have no reason
to think that at the epochs when the
chalk and the London Clay were being
laid down, man was present upon this
^Clarke, W. G. Proc. Prehistoric Society of East
Anglia, Vol. I, Pt. 2, pp. 160-68.
^Lankester, Sir Ray. Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society of London, Series B, Vol. CII, May,
1912, pp. 283-336.
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND
643
planet nor can he well be associated
with the marine accumulation (d).
These deposits need not, therefore,
enter into our speculations. It is, of
course, not possible in the present state
of our knowledge to assign the sub-Crag
implements to any particular one of the
periods, c, e, or f; all we can say is
that they must belong to one or more
of them, and that the specimens are
sealed down beneath a deposit hitherto
regarded as of Pliocene age.^ It seems
reasonable, however, to suppose that
the implements of Harrisonian Eohthic
type found in the detritus bed are refer-
able to either c or e and that the later
type of artefacts in the same deposit
are referable to f.
The mammahan remains found in
the detritus bed are not present in
great quantity, but are of interest and
importance nevertheless. Among them
may be mentioned Mastodon arvernen-
sis, Rhinoceros schleiermacheri, Hyae-
narctos, Hipparion, hyaena, tapir, tri-
lophodont mastodons, and the Pliocene
beaver. These animals are not, of
course, referable to one and the same
period, and we are not at present able
to state with which of the faunas
represented the sub-Crag implements
are to be associated.
The detritus bed, which is an in-
coherent deposit, contains very numer-
ous examples of striated flints and many
far-traveled erratic rocks, often of large
size. These facts point to glacial
conditions, a conclusion supported by
the evidence of the shelly sands sur-
mounting the detritus bed, which, as
has been shown, contains an ever-
increasing number of cold-water mol-
luscs, as the zones of the Crag are
traced northward from Suffolk into
Norfolk. I am inclined, therefore, to
iSome observers would place the shelly sands of the
Red Crag in the Pleistocene.
regard the detritus bed as a glacial
accumulation, redeposited by marine
action, and the Red and Normch Crags
and their underlying detritus bed as
representing the first glacial epoch of
East Anglia (See Fig. 5.).
Unlike their Eohthic predecessors,
the people who made the implements
found beneath the Red Crag had Uttle
or no tabular flint with which to work.
The great bulk of the fhnt in the detritus
bed is of nodular form, and it is of much
interest to note how this material was
broken by cleaving blows into pieces of
a more or less tabular form from which
the implements were made. This
method of fracturing the raw material
was probably 'handed down' from
generation to generation, and resulted
from the need to provide suitable
striking -platforms upon which flake-
removing blows could be dehvered with
precision.
A typical example of the method
described is the rostro-carinate (Figs.
7a and 7b), which is the outstanding
implement of the sub-Crag detritus
bed and derives the ''rostro " part of its
name from the fact that its front
portion is shaped like the beak of a
bird of prey. Its lower surface repre-
sents one of the original areas of frac-
tm-e produced in cleaving the fhnt
nodule, while part of the other area is
preserved as an upper or -dorsal sur-
face (D.P. in Fig. 7b). The func-
tional portion of this type of implement
was the keel, which no doubt was used
for cutting and chopping purposes.
It is to be noted that the rostro-cari-
nate, though bigger and more elabo-
rate, is of the same type as the Eohthic
point of triangular section (Fig. 3) and
it is equally clear that, as time went on,
this keel graduafly was extended
farther and farther backward until it
reached from one end of the imple-
644
NATURAL HISTORY
ment to the other and gave rise to the
earliest PalseoUthic hand axes of tri-
angular section. By a further develop-
ment, as a result of which the fiat
under-surface of the rostro-carinate
was transformed into a cutting edge,
the earliest palseohths with two cutting
KEEU
of implements that make their appear-
ance in the detritus bed. The speci-
mens were evidently flaked by means of
heavy, though well-directed blows, de-
Hvered with a weighty hammerstone of
flint, and the resulting flake scars are
generally large. It is evident that the
Figs. 7a and 7b. The left lateral, and upper dorsal, views, and section of a rostro-
carinate flint implement obtained from beneath the Red Crag at Bramford, near Ipswich.
Note the keel of this implement and its triangular section through the hne A-B. (About f
natural size).
edges were invented.^ The rostro-
carinate, it is thus seen, is of funda-
mental importance in the evolution of
the PalseoHthic hand ax. Further,
it is clear that implements with a more
or less flat base, hke, for instance, the
well-known carinated planing tool of
the Aurignacian (Upper Palseolithic
stage) are closely related in tj^pe to the
rostro- carinate of pre-Crag times.
In the sub-Crag industry we see a
great advance from that of the Eohthic
both in an increased proficiency in
flint-flaking and in the greater variety
lAIoir, J. Reid. Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society of London, Series B, Vol. CCIX, 1920,
pp. 329-50.
method of flaking a block of flint, and
of afterwards detaching a portion of
the flaked surface, producing what is
known as a flake implement, was
already in vogue in pre-Crag times,
and such a specimen is illustrated in
Fig. 8. This specimen, though so
ancient, is quite comparable with
manj^ of the rougher flake implements
of the Earlj^ Mousterian (Palseolithic
Period). A number of scrapers of a
type similar to that existing through
the greater part of the Stone Age have
been found beneath the Crag, and one
of these specimens is shown in Fig. 9.
In Fig. 10 we see a very definite side
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND
645
, Fig. 8. A flake implement found beneath Fig. 9. A scraper with rounded cutting
the Red Crag in the brickfield of Messrs. A. edge from beneath the Red Crag at Bram-
Bolton Co. Ltd., Ipswich. (Natural size) ford, near Ipswich. (Natural size)
, Fig. 10. A side scraper, or racloir, from be-
neath the Red Crag in the brickfield of Messrs.
A. Bolton Co., Ltd., Ipswich. (Natural size)
scraper from the detritus bed, which is
clearly developed from Eolithic speci-
mens of similar form (Fig. 2), and is no
Fig. 11. A borer from beneath the Red
Crag at Thorington HaU, near Ipswich.
(Natural size)
less clearly related to the side scrapers
of later PalseoHthic times. A borer
from beneath the Crag is illustrated
in Fig. 11, and represents a type of
implement used throughout the Pa-
leeolithic and the NeoHthic periods.
The specimens (Figs. 9, 10, and 11)
646
NATURAL HISTORY
r\vi>i>i.e fcLfttini, tRnveu - fo »SK^
ZDECaLClFlEls REti CRflfr-tb iSh'^t
kOV<6K EOCENE las- to iSfiit
ff^^7^
N<KlTt CMPiLK- to loo^it
Fig. 12. View of the great pit at Bramford, near Ipswich, showing the plateau beds of East
Suffolk , and the position of the implementiferous detritus bed, beneath the Red Crag
are made from flakes which exhibit the - ^ ""^-^ '■ '' - T
plain area of fracture produced when . /,-" ■' ^ •s.N
the flake was removed from the parent ' '/; .
block of flint. They were no doubt '
used for scraping and cutting purposes
—such as, perhaps, the 'preparation'
of the skins of animals. The imple-
ments above described (Figs. 8 to 11)
have all been found in the detritus
bed beneath the Red Crag at various
places in Suffolk.
One of the most famous sites is that
situated at Bramford, near Ipsmch,
where a magnificent section of the
plateau beds of East Suffolk is to be
seen. A photograph giving a general
view of this large excavation is shown
in Fig. 12, and it will be seen that the
PUocene detritus bed rests there upon
Lower Eocene beds (which in their
turn lie upon the chalk) and is covered
by (a) a considerable thickness of decal-
cified Red Crag, (b) a stratum of
Middle Glacial Gravel of Pleistocene
age, and (c) a deposit of contorted
claj'-ey gravel representing probably the
Upper Bowlder Clay of glacial origin.
The photograph reproduced as
Fig. 13 shows another portion of the
Fig. 13. Another \'iew of the Bram-
ford pit. — The lowermost figure is Prof.
H. Breuil, the well-known French pre-
historian. Immediately above him is Prof.
J. E. Marr and at the extreme left is the
wi'iter of the present article
Bramford pit. The lowermost figure
is the famous French prehistorian,
Prof. H. Breuil, who, with the imple-
ment in his right hand, is pointing to
the sub-Crag detritus bed. Immedi-
ately^ above him in the picture is Prof.
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND
647
J. E. Marr, F.R.S., whose left hand
rests upon the base of the Middle
Glacial Gravel, while I am shown
standing further to the left. The
photograph was taken on the occasion
of the last visit of Professor Breuil to
Ipswich, when he definitely accepted
the view that the sub-Crag imple-
ments were made by man.
THE FOXHALL INDUSTRY
In addition to the implements found
in the detritus bed at the base of the
Crag, I have discovered another series
trated again. The Foxhall imple-
ments which were associated with a
workshop debris, and burnt flints,
showing that an actual occupation
level is present at this spot, are gen-
erally of a yellowish-white color, and
are more deHcately flaked than the
majority of the specimens found at the
base of the Crag. It is also clear that
the Foxhall pieces are later in date than
the mahogany-colored implements from
the detritus bed, as in several cases the
former have been made out of the latter,
a fact revealed by the differing patina-
^OXKi^LU
1
f
fOXJ\RUL
\
f
\
ir-
THOR\(^feToW
f
f
f
^y^A^y^y^^y^/'y'^^/^ '^i^D CRaS.
<!^o7^»r>^^OoOoQoQo<3.,
Fig. 14. Theoretical diagram, not drawn to scale, showing the probable relationship of
the detritus bed beneath the Red Crag at Thorington Hall and the i6-foot level at Foxhall
to the lower detritus bed at the latter place
occurring at a depth of sixteen feet
from the surface, in the Crag itself at
Foxhall, near Ipswich.^ Some of the
best of these specimens, together with
photographs and drawings of the Fox-
hall site, have already appeared in an
article in Natural History^ by Pro-
fessor Osborn, and need not be illus-
^Moir, J. Reid. Proc. Prehistoric Society of East
Anglia, Vol. Ill, Pt. 3, pp. 389-430.
^Osborn, Henry Fairfield. Natural IHIstort, Vol.
XXI, No. 6, November-December, 1921.
tion of the flake scars of the two periods.
But the difference between the forms
of the Foxhall flints and those from
beneath the Crag is not really very
marked, and it is not justifiable to
regard them as representing a totally
distinct culture.
Further, beneath the Crag at Thor-
ington Hall, near Ipswich, the imple-
ments and flakes, both in color and
flaking, are in every way comparable
648
NATURAL HISTORY
with the Foxhall examples, and in Fig.
14 I have given a theoretical diagram
offering an explanation of the oc-
currence of specimens beneath the
Crag at Thorington Hall, which are
evidently of the same kind as those
found at Foxhall in the Crag itself. The
detritus bed at Thorington Hall rests
upon the London Clay, as does the
lower detritus bed at Foxhall. Un-
fortunately the great prevalence of
water at the latter place has prevented
me from examining this lower bed, but,
from commercial diggings carried out
years ago, it is known to rest upon the
Eocene clay. If this detritus bed could
be examined, the mahogany- colored
implements which have already been
mentioned would in all probabiHty be
found also in it. After the deposition
of the lower detritus bed the land con-
tinued to sink, and the implementifer-
ous level at Thorington Hall and the
16-foot level at Foxhall represented a
land surface occupied by man, — only
at the latter place he lived upon Crag,
while at the former the surface was
composed of London Clay.
THE CROMEE FOREST BED
From the above short survey we see
that in pre-Crag times a marked ad-
vance in human status had been made,
and that this is shown by the appear-
ance of several new types of flint imple-
ments, many of which in their form and
flaking are clearly prophetic of Chel-
lean (Early Palaeolithic) times. After
Fig. 15. View of a portion of the flint spread at Cromer, beyond the seaward extension
of the beach and exposed at low water
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND
649
the deposition of the shelly Crags over
the old land surfaces occupied by pre-
Crag man, and the final sealing in of his
relics by these marine deposits, the
East Anghan area slowly rose and the
Crag deposits were subjected to sub-
aerial denudation as a land surface.
In the northeast portion of Norfolk
this denudation was so extensive as to
leave only a few feet of the shelly
Crag intact, while in places the whole of
the Crag was removed and the under-
lying Stone Bed, very rich in large
masses of flint of fine quality, exposed.
At this period the configuration of the
land of the Norfolk district was very
different from what it is today. In
place of the wide North Sea and the
high bluffs of the Cromer coast was a
broad and shallow valley — a northern-
flowing extension of the present river
Rhine — inhabited by herds of animals
and also, as we now know, by parties
of primitive men engaged in making
flint implements and in hunting. These
people, as they progressed up the valley
of the then-existing Rhine, came upon
the above-mentioned exposures of
Stone Bed flint, and proceeded to
flake it into various types of imple-
ments. We have seen that the out-
standing implemental form of the
sub-Crag detritus bed was the rostro-
carinate, and also that, even in that
ancient deposit, some of the specimens
were beginning to assume an Early
PalseoUthic character. In the culture
now to be described the rostro-carinate
is no longer the predominant form; a
roughly flaked hand ax has taken its
place.
The Cromer specimens are found
chiefly upon the foreshore, beyond the
seaward extension of the sand and
shingle beach, exposed at low water.
They lie upon the chalk, and have evi-
dently been derived from a formation
at the very base of the Cromer Forest
Bed series of deposits, which form the
lowermost strata of the high bluffs of
the Norfolk coasts The shore fine in
this area is slowly receding owing to the
combined effects of underground springs
and marine action; and the hard ferru-
ginous deposits at the base of the bluff,
which offer resistance to these disin-
tegrating agencies, are finally left upon
the foreshore and are exposed when the
tide is at its lowest. In some places,
as at East Runton, about two miles
northwestward of Cromer, large areas
of the implementiferous bed can be
seen in situ upon the chalk, and from
this deposit have been recovered several
very definite examples of Early Palaeo-
hthic hand axes. But in most cases
this bed is not intact and is represented
merely by a large quantity of flints
evidently derived from the breaking-
up of the deposit by modern sea action,
which removes the ferruginous material
holding the flints together. A portion
of the great flint 'spread' at Cromer is
shown in Fig. 15 : the seaward exten-
sion of the shingle beach is clearly
observable, and vast numbers of flints
of all sizes are seen lying beyond it.
The artefacts found among these flints
are often of massive size, and exhibit
either a very marked yellow-ocherous
color or a glossy black surface, which
gives the specimens an appearance of
having been blackleaded.
The position of these implements
upon the foreshore at Cromer, and their
relationship to the cliff deposits is
shown in Fig. 16. The sohd rock
underlying the whole section is the
white chalk, and upon its sm-face can
be seen the denuded remains of the
Crag with the Stone Bed at its base.
On the top of the Crag is the old land
iMoir, J. Reid. The Great Flint Implements of
Cromer, Norfolk. Harrison, Ancient House Press,
Ipswich, England.
1 CUflUK
r^?^"-' ^^^2^^^^?^^^^^^?^^^^^?^^^^^^^?^^^^^^
^^SatBE
^Fig. 16. Diagrammatic section, not drawn to scale, of the cliff, beach, and foreshore at
Cromer, showing the relationship of the implement-bearing bed exposed at low water, to the
cliff deposits. The Early Ghdlean land surface is located upon the top of the Crag
SECTION A-i;.
/\-
'-B
SECTION ft-B
Fig. 17. (left) An Early Chellean hand ax from the foreshore site at Cromer. — The
ridges and outstanding portions of the implement have been greatly worn down by modern
sea action. (About f natural size)
Fig. 18 (right). An Early Chellean hand ax from the foreshore site at Cromer. — The
ridges and outstanding portions of this implement also have been greatly worn down by
modern sea action. (About I natural size)
^50
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND
651
surface to which the foreshore flints
are referred, and this in its turn is
covered up by the Cromer Forest Bed
deposits consisting of three divisions:
a Lower Freshwater Bed, an Estuarine
Gravel, and an Upper Freshwater Bed.
These were each laid down by the
ancient Rhine and the fossil contents of
the deposits demonstrate that the
climate was warm and temperate, thus
offering a marked contrast to that ob-
taining when the underlying Crag,
which is full of cold-water shells, was
being accumulated.
Above the Forest Bed deposits occur
the Glacial Tills and Bowlder Clays of
Cromer, which represent the second
glacial episode of East AngUa. These
Bowlder Clays are often hollowed out
by running water from the melting ice
and the depressions filled with gravel,
sand, and brick earth, showing that a
more genial cUmate (that of the Middle
Glacial Period) had set in. Such a
hollow is shown in Fig. 16, and the
general succession of the PUocene beds
of East AngUa, together with the posi-
tion in the series of the two earliest
glacial periods, is illustrated in Fig. 5.
It is of interest to note that the Cromer
area gives us evidence of excessive
deposition of strata since the early
Palaeolithic people lived (see Fig. 5),
while in Kent the evidence is equally
clear that, since the much more ancient
Eolithic races existed, excessive denu-
dation has made itself manifest (Fig. 1) .
CROMER (forest BED) FAUNA
The fauna represented in the Cromer
Forest Bed is extensive and important.
A large number of mammahan bones
have been found upon the foreshore at
Cromer and have been described by
Owen, Falconer, and others.^ Un-
fortunately, however, we do not know
lOsbofn, Henry Fairfield. The Geological Magazine,
Vol. LIX, No. 10. October, 1922, pp. 433-41.
in many cases to which of the three
divisions of the Forest Bed (so called
from the quantity of remains of trees
found in it) these fossils are to be re-
ferred. The following list of mammals,
while not complete, will give a general
idea of the land fauna.
LAND FAUNA
Southern elephant
Straight-tusked
elephant
Mammoth
Etruscan rhinoceros
Hippopotamus
Fossil horse
European bison
Red deer
European beaver
Cave bear
Elephas meridionalis,
(not common).
Elephas antiquus,
(abundant).
Elephas primigenius,
(very rare).
Rhinoceros etruscus.
Hippopotamus amphih-
ius.
Equus fossilis
Bison bonasus
Cervus elaphus
Castor veterior
Ursus savini
Sabre-toothed tiger Machairodus sp.
Monkey Macacus sp.
It is possible, and in fact probable,
that the southern elephant is a derived
fossil older than the Cromer Forest Bed
and, if this is the case, we have here an
Elephas antiquus fauna of Early Palaeo-
lithic (Chellean) times. The Forest
Bed is the only place known to me in
East AngHa where such a fauna occurs,
or where we have definite indications
of the warm cUmate which we know
obtained in early Palaeolithic times.
CROMER (forest BED) IMPLEMENTS
When we examine the implements
coming from the Forest Bed, we see
that their forms support the evidence
of the fauna; they are, in fact, of
Early Chellean type, — such as occur
in quantity as derivatives in certain
ancient Palaeolithic gravels in East
AngKa. We need, however, to have
the term Chellean, as apphed to flint
implements, such as hand axes, rigor-
ously defined. For some the word
signifies a very well-made implement
652
NATURAL HISTORY
approaching the Acheulean in excel-
lence, while for others it is more easily-
applied to altogether rougher and less
elaborately made specimens. I am
one of those who favor the latter inter-
pretation and I propose therefore —
and in this I am supported by many
competent archaeologists — to regard the
Cromer artefacts as Early Chellean.
Figures 17 and 18 illustrate two
examples of the hand axes recently
found. ^ The former has flaking on both
surfaces, and is of more or less rhom-
boidal section, while the latter is
approximately flat on the under surface
and has evidently been struck from a
larger mass of flint previously prepared
by flaking.
There is no doubt that the Cromer
industry shows an advance from the
sub-Crag culture, but it is nevertheless
closely related to it. The ancient
'These figures are reproduced by kind permission of
the editor of Nature, in which journal they originally
appeared (August 16, 1924).
Fig. 19. An early Chellean side-scraper,
or racloir, from the foreshore site at Cromer.
(About f natural size)
Cromerians, using probably large ham-
merstones of flint, were able to detach
in some cases enormous flakes of flint,
and the whole industry is on a large
and massive scale. On the foreshore at
Cromer the contents of a workshop
site were found, comprising hand axes,
choppers (see frontispiece of this
article), side scrapers (Fig. 19), points,
and numerous flakes. From the large
size of many of the implements recov-
ered it is reasonable to conclude that
their makers were people of great
strength. Their skill in flint-flaking is
evidenced by the immense flake scars
produced by the primary quartering
blows, the well-formed striking plat-
forms, and the regular and accurate
secondary flaking.
The only skeletal remains of man
referable to the Cromer Forest Bed
(First Interglacial) period is the famous
Heidelberg jawbone,2and it is possible
that this very primitive individual may
represent one of the race of Ancient
Cromerian fhnt flakers.
In Fig. 20 is reproduced a photograph
of the cliff, about seventy feet high,
and the foreshore at West Runton.'
The arrow in white points to the level
at which Mr. Savin found a well-made
Palaeolithic implement at the base of
the glacial gravel. This gravel rests
upon glacial clay and underneath this
deposit the Upper Freshwater Bed is
exposed at the foot of the cUff. The
arrow in black indicates the position
of the implementiferous horizon on the
foreshore. Though earlier observers
have not been so fortunate, perhaps, as
to make such an extensive find of
humanly flaked flints in the Cromer
Forest Bed as has fallen to my lot
since 1920, it is in order, nevertheless,
^Schoetensack, O. Der Unterkiefer des Homo Heidel-
bergensis aus den Sanden von Mauer, bei Heidelberg.
Leipzig, 1908.
^Reproduced by kind permission of the editor of
M n, from Vol. XXII, March, 1922.
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND
653
to record the fact that it is now many
years since the first intimation of the
discovery of such flints in this deposit
was pubhshed. The first find of flaked
flints, claimed as of human origin, in
the Cromer Forest Bed and described a
flaked flint found by him in "the
Forest-Bed on the foreshore at Over-
strand," of which specimen he states
that "one margin bears marks pre-
Fig. 20. View of the cliff and foreshore at West Runton, near Cromer. — The white arrow
indicates the level at which Mr. Savin found a well-made Palaeohthic implement at the base
of the glacial gravel, while the black arrow shows the position of the foreshore implements.
The bluff is about seventy feet high
the Cromer Forest Bed, was made by
Mr. W. J. Lewis Abbott, who issued
his original paper in Natural Science^ in
1897. Mr. Abbott has also pubhshed
more recently a further account of his
discovery and a description of four of
the specimens.^ In 1911 Dr. W. L. H.
Duckworth^ published an account of
lAbbott, W. J. L. Natural Science, Vol. X, 1897,
pp. 89-96.
^Abbott, W. J. L. Proc. Prehistoric Society of East
Anqlia, Vol. Ill, Pt. 1, pp. 110-13.
^Duckworth, W. ' . H. Cam. Antq. Sac. Com-
munications, Vol. XV, 1911.
cisely comparable to the finer working
on an undoubted chert flake, or scraper
(of the type of Le Moustier) obtained
hj me in a cave at Gibraltar. ' ' Finally,
I described in Man"^ a piece of humanlj'
shaped wood, found by the late Mr. S.
A. Notcutt, who in 1916 dug it out of
the Cromer Forest Bed, where this
deposit was exposed at the base of the
cKff southeast of Mundesley.
^Moir, J. Reid. Man, Vol. XVII, November, 1917,
pp. 172-73.
654
NATURAL HISTORY
This brief account of the evidence
that man existed during the PUocene
in England will, I hope, enable Amer-
ican readers to gain an understanding
of this highly important division of
prehistoric archaeology. It may, I
think, be claimed that the presence
of flint-flaking man upon this planet
in the profoundly ancient Tertiary
Period, is now definitely established,
and it remains for further researches
in East AngUa to bring to Hght some
human bones that will enable us to
see the type of man who inhabited
England in the far-off days of the
Pliocene.
Note on J. Reid Moir's "Tertiary Man in England**
BY SIR E. RAY LANKESTER, K.C.B., F.R.S.
The only matters in which I do not
altogether agree with Mr. J. Reid Moir's
statement in the preceding article, have
to do with nomenclature and termin-
ology. Serious misunderstanding is apt
to arise from the want of an agreed
nomenclature, accepted by those who
write upon a given subject, and this is
obviously the case where new dis-
coveries and views are accumulating as
the result of study in separate areas
and under the influence of separate and
independent investigators. An authori-
tative list of terms, with clear definition
of their significance, is urgently needed
in regard to the study of the antiquity
of man. Such a list can only be estab-
Hshed as the result of an international
conference and agreement similar to
that which has legislated in reference
to the generic and specific names of
plants and animals. I do not put for-
ward any claim to impose the nomen-
clature which I think preferable or
justified, but I will point out two in-
stances in which I do not agree with
Mr. J. Reid Moir.
(1) I regard the use of the term
"Quaternary" to indicate a group of
strata later than the Pliocene section
of the Tertiary "Period" as objection-
able. The later and even recent
deposits are all adequately classified as
"Tertiary." There is no natural
separation of the later deposits from
the Pliocene and underlying Tertiary
strata, which is in any way equivalent
to the separation of the Tertiary from
the Secondary series of strata, or of the
Secondary series from the Primary.
The rejection of the convenient and
familiar classification of strata into
Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary is
not useful. On the contrary, it leads to
misconception and confusion, as when
the term "Tertiary Man" is used to
separate older examples of mankind
from those occurring in the deposits
known as Pleistocene. Why should we
call Pleistocene Man "Quaternary"
and not "Tertiary?" It suggests a
degree of separation and distinctness
which goes far beyond the actual facts.
(2) In regard to the appHcation of
the terms "Phocene" and "Pleisto-
cene," Mr. Reid Moir states that he is
in agreement with me as to the fact
that the marine deposit known as "the
Red Crag of Suffolk" was laid down by
a refrigerated sea, differing greatly from
that which deposited the so-called
White, or Coralfine, Crag. This latter
had a molluscan fauna, in many
respects identical with that of the
deposits distinguished by the marine
" Pliocene." It should be so designated
and the Red Crag should be assigned to
the Pleistocene. But Mr. Moir refuses
TERTIARY MAN IN ENGLAND
655
to take this step. I think, on the con-
trary, that it is high time that the
misapprehensions of Lyell and his fol-
lowers should be discarded and the dis-
coveries of the last fifty years given
their true significance, by definitely
assigning the ''Red" and the "Nor-
wich" Crag to Pleistocene, while the
White, or Coralline, Crag is recognized
as the sole stratified deposit, represen-
tative in East Anglia, of the Pliocene.
Lyell and most of his followers errone-
ously considered the shells derived by
the Red Crag sea from the denudation
of Coralline Crag deposits, as not de-
rived but as living members of the Red
Crag fauna. Similarly they regarded
the cetacean bones and teeth and the
remarkableteethof terrestrialmammals
(which have been derived by the Red
Crag from earlier deposits) as part of
the Red Crag fauna, cotemporary with
its boreal Mollusca. The importance
of the Suffolk ''Bone Bed" (as I called
it sixty years ago^ was not appreciated,
and the fact that it consists of the
"detritus" or wreckage of a vast mass
of earlier strata, together with the
wash-up of a land surface persisting
from Eocene times, was ignored. The
Eocene contribution of clay nodules
and well-known Eocene fossils to the
"Bone Bed" and so to the shell banks
of the Red Crag area, was recognized
by Lyell. But the derivation of the
cetacean bones and teeth from a
destroyed Pliocene deposit, like that
existing in an undisturbed condition
near Antwerp, was not known until I
showed that this was the fact by a
careful comparison of the fossils in
question. Then, too, it became appar-
ent that the terrestrial mammals, the
teeth of which are found in association
with the Red Crag, were not (as had
^Proceedings of Geological Society of London, Vol.
XXVI, 1870, pp. 493-515.
been supposed) cotemporary with the
Mollusca of the Red Crag sea, but were
of several successive ages, — Eocene,
Miocene, and Pliocene. Stripped of
these derivative fossils, which were
accumulated in the bone bed (often
called coproHte bed) at the base of the
Red Crag, that deposit was clearly
revealed as of later date than any of
them and was entitled to association
with the yet later gravels and sands of
the Pleistocene. It could no longer be
grouped with the Coralline Crag, which
has a moUuscan fauna, including forms
characteristic of Pliocene and warmer
seas.
The fact that neither the Coralline
Crag nor the Bone Bed of Suffolk ex-
tend into Norfolk, accounts for the
absence of their contents in the Nor-
wich Crag. In fact, that deposit rests
on the chalk, from which it is separated
by a densely packed deposit of more or
less fractured flint pebbles, called "the
Stone-bed" by the Rev. John Gunn.
The Norwich Crag is the true and puri-
fied Red Crag minus those deceptive
contributions which it received in the
Suffolk area from CoraUine Crag and
Bone Bed. The Norwich " Stone Bed "
is approximately the equivalent of the
Suffolk Bone Bed deprived of those
constituents. Flint nodules are present
in both and among these there are in
both many fashioned by human agency.
I will only say further that an agreed
and intelUgible nomenclatm'e of flint
implements is urgently needed. Terms
are now applied to them in a haphazard
way. One set of terms is based on the
shape of the implement, another on the
use to which it is supposed that it was
applied, a third is merely descriptive of
geological age or of locaUty. It should
be possible to draw up a nomenclature
of an authoritative and intelHgible
character.
What Is An Eolith?
By GEORGE GRANT MacCURDY
Director of the American School of Prehistoric Research in Europe
THERE was a time, not so very
long ago, when even polished
stone implements were looked
upon as the work of nature. Then came
Thomsen in 1836 with his triple divi-
sion of prehistoric time into the Ages of
Stone, Bronze, and Iron. Later it was
found necessary to divide the Stone
Age into two periods: the Palaeolithic
and the Neolithic.
Broadly speaking, the Neolithic
Period is characterized by implements
in which pohshing was employed as a
final shaping process; the Palaeolithic
Period is distinguished by the complete
absence of pohshing as a shaping
process. There are also other differ-
ences, based especially on typology,
associated fauna, and stratigraphy.
Palseohthic implements occur in un-
doubted Pleistocene deposits, while
NeoUthic cultural remains are of later
date. Stratigraphy is, therefore, the
basis on which Stone Age chronology
rests.
Recognition of the authenticity of
palseoliths was scarcely more than
achieved when a new struggle broke
forth over the question of the nature of
certain chipped flints found in situ in
Tertiary deposits. This struggle has
lasted for nearly sixty years and the
end is not yet in sight. One of the
causes of confusion and differences of
opinion has been the lack of precision
in the definition of terms, especially
of the term "eohth."
The Stone Age of Thomsen was later
found to be only the closing period of
that age, A second much older and
longer period — the PalseoUthic — had
to be created; ' chronologically this
656
period is co-extensive with the Pleisto-
cene, or Quaternary Epoch, of the
geologic time scale. The possibility, or
even probablity, of a Stone Age culture
antedating the Pleistocene had not
been anticipated. In the event that
such a culture should exist, a third
period of the Stone Age would have to
be created; and if a consistent nomen-
clature were to be maintained, this
period would of necessity be called the
Eohthic Period.
Granted that there be an Eolithic
Period, the definition of an eolith be-
comes a comparatively simple matter.
An eolith is a flint (or other stone) that
has been shaped or utilized by man or
his precursor during the geologic period
known as the Tertiary. Having de-
fined the term, one can now proceed
to the question as to whether eoliths
actually exist and, if so, whether any
have been found.
FHnt played an important role in
cultural evolution throughout the Stone
Age. To primitive man it is the most
utilizable of all stones because of its
hardness and mode of fracture, which
leaves a sharp, comparatively straight
edge. Moreover, flint flakes are pro-
duced by purely natural means and
thus form ready-to-hand tools inviting
use. Did a human precursor, capable
of taking advantage of such ready-to-
hand tools, exist during the Tertiary
Period? The men of Heidelberg and
Piltdown were obviously not the first
users, or even makers, of tools. That
the first tool users existed as early as
the Tertiary is not impossible, or even
improbable. The finding of skeletal
remains in association with cultural
WHAT IS AN EOLITH?
657
remains in situ in a Tertiary deposit
would solve the problem of eoliths.
Until such a discovery is made, the
question is destined to remain an open
one.
Assuming that a tool-using precursor
did exist in Tertiary times, he would,
more often than not, have made use of
a flint flake only once or twice and then
have cast it aside or lost it without
leaving any unmistakable traces of
utilization. Even if he did leave such
traces or took the trouble to shape or
retouch an implement, experiments and
observation prove that nature, un-
trammeled though blind, is ever ready
to take advantage of conditions, even
to the chipping of flint. One should
not, however, on the other hand lose
sight of the fact that there is one signal
difference between man and nature,
namely, man can produce conditions as
well as take advantage of them. Nature
may fail a million times before pro-
ducing one retouched and serviceable
edge ; whereas it is possible for man to
exercise a control over conditions to
such an extent as to achieve the result
at the very first attempt. Obviously,
the only element of control over condi-
tions is that of intention exercised by a
tool-using human precursor.
That chipped flints are to be found
in certain Tertiary deposits is conceded
by both sides to the controversy;
that some of these are practically
identical with flints admittedly of hu-
man workmanship and belonging to
later periods is beyond the realm of
controversy. What agency is respon-
sible for this class of chipped flints,
blind nature or a being with an object
in view and capable of controlling con-
ditions to the extent of realizing that
object? The chances would seem to be
very much in favor of the latter ; except
possibly in situations where conditions
exist fortuitously favoring the play
of natural forces. According to the
Abbe Breuil, such conditions do exist
at the base of the Parisian Eocene
(Thanetian) on the estate of Belle-
Assise in the suburbs of Clermont
Examples of non-human flaking produced in
a natural eolith factory by the grinding of one
flint against another under pressure. Both
of these specimens, as well as numerous others,
were dug out of the so-called Bullhead Bed,
in Essex, England, by Mr. Samuel Hazzledine
Warren, from whose paper, "A Natural
'Eohth' Factory Beneath the Thanet Sand,"
the figures are reproduced. The upper flint is a
scraper comparable in workmanship to a man-
made eoUth. Of the lower flint, a trimmed-
flake point, Mr. Warren remarks: "If con-
sidered by itself, upon its own apparent merits,
and away from its associates and the circum-
stances of its discovery, its Mousterian
affinities could scarcely be questioned."
(Oise). S. Hazzledine Warren has
found similar conditions in the Bull-
head Bed at Grays in Essex. The Bull-
head Bed is at the base of the Thanet
Sand, hence of the same age as the
deposit at Belle-Assise. Warren states
that if the best selected flakes from the
Bullhead Bed were mingled with flakes
658
NATURAL HISTORY
from a prehistoric workshop floor, they
could never be separated again unless
it were by their mineral condition.
On the other hand, Breuil is authority
for the statement that conditions
favoring the play of natural forces do
This flint, obtained at le Puy Courny, in
Cantal, France, is assigned to the Upper
Miocene, yet the high degree of excellence
shown in its workmanship would entitle it,
in the opinion of Dr. Louis Capitan, who made
the above sketch, to find place with honor in
an Aurignacian series. (Reproduction nat-
ural size)
not exist in certain Pliocene deposits of
East AngHa, where J. Reid Moir has
found worked flints. ^ If these flints
cannot be ascribed to nature, and
apparently they cannot, they would
seem to fit the foregoing definition of
an eolith.
Can the same thing be said of the
chipped flints from Upper Miocene
deposits near Aurillac (Cantal) . Sollas
iThe reader is referred to Mr. J. Reid Moir's article
in this issue.
and Capitan have both recently an-
swered in the affirmative. Capitan
finds not only flint chips that suggest
utilization but true types of instru-
ments which would be considered as
characteristic of certain Palaeolithic
horizons. These not only occur but re-
cur: punches, bulbed flakes, carefully
retouched to form points and scrapers
of the Mousterian type, disks with
borders retouched in a regular manner,
scratchers of various forms, and, finally,
picks. He concludes that there is a
complete simihtude between many of
the chipped flints from Cantal and the
classic specimens from the best-known
Palaeolithic sites.
Similar conclusions were reached by
Sollas after a prehminary study of the
unrivaled Westlake collection. Sollas
is once more going over the whole
question in the light of new evidence,
gleaned from the same collection placed
in his hands for purposes of study after
Westlake 's death. All prehistorians
will await with much interest his final
conclusions, which should go far toward
answering the question as to whether
the chipped flints from le Puy Courny,
le Puy de Boudieu, and Belbex are
artifacts or only freaks of nature.
It must be borne in mind, however,
that a final decision in regard to the Up-
per Miocene flints of Cantal represents
only a part of the sum total of evidence
for and against eohths. The question
is one of the most difficult in the whole
realm of cultural evolution. In many
respects it is as confusing in its com-
plexity as the question of the spread of
culture itself. But the difficulty of
drawing a hard and fast line of demar-
cation between the artificial and the
natural, cannot be regarded as either
proof or disproof of the existence of
man-used eoliths. It is a case where
both sides to a controversy can be right.
Midnight sun viewed from Mount Nuolja
Alpine Wild Flowers of Arctic Lapland
IMPRESSIONS GATHERED IN THE COURSE OF THE EXPEDITION OF THE
AMERICAN MUSEUM TO THAT REGION^
By G. CLYDE FISHER
Curator of Visual Instruction, American Museum
THE abundance of flowers in the
Arctic regions is usually a
surprise to those who dwell far
south of the polar circle, for we do not
associate these delicate growths with
ice and snow. On a recent expedition
to Lapland made with Mr. Carveth
Wells, I had the opportunity to
observe many of these flowers under
conditions that rendered them most
attractive.
During our entire journey we had
with us Dr. Erik Bergstrom, who
knows the plant and animal life of the
region thoroughly. His keenness as a
naturalist added much to our interest
and enjoyment. A special botanical'
excursion up Mount Nuolja, made in the
company of Prof. G. Einar Du Rietz
of the University of Upsala is also
remembered with pleasure. Mount
Nuolja is situated near Abiskojokk in
the northern part of Swedish Lap-
land, and is almost of the same altitude
as Slide Mountain, the highest peak
in the Catskills. Professor Du Rietz,
who is an ecologist and plant geog-
rapher, with a special interest in
lichens, says it is botanically one of
the richest mountains in all Lapland.
On our climb we confined our atten-
tion mainly to the flowering plants.
Many plants were observed in this
part of the Arctic region that I had
seen on Mount Washington in our
White Mountains, but this is not
surprising when we recall that many
boreal species grow on the peaks of the
White Mountains, and that formerly
there must have been quite a free
interchange of plants around the pole,
for every family of Arctic flowering
'The expedition was made possible through the generosity of the Swedish State Railways, the American-
Swedish News Exchange, and the Swedish American Line. The photographs are by Doctor Fisher.
659
A bit of Trollius meadow near the timber line on Mount Nuolja. In the background
are straggUng white birches, and in the middle ground, on the right and on the left, may be
seen a few leaves of a large plant of the parslej' family, which the Lapps eat as we do celery.
The characteristic and prevailing flower (Trollius europseus) is more than two inches in
diameter, and both by its color and its shape justifies the Swedish name, which, when
translated, is butterball
The yellow mountain violet [Viola biflora) is the most abundant violet in Lapland. It
is an alpine species, reaching an altitude far above timber line
Orchids are usually thought of as temperate or tropical plants, but there are several
species in Arctic Lapland. The flowers of this one (Gymnadenia conopsea) are a delicate
purple and have a delightful fragrance
The Swedish name of the mountain cranberry (Vaccinium Vitis-Idxa) is "lingon," and
the fruit takes the place of our cranberry. It grows abundantly in the higher ground of
Sweden, including Lapland. Considerable quantities are consumed in Sweden and large
supplies are exported to other countries.
The mountain cramberry grows also in rocky places in the higher mountains of New
England and in the Adirondacks.
Two species of true cranberries occur in Sweden, at least in small numbers, but appar-
ently they are not utilized commercially
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664
NATURAL HISTORY
plants is circumpolar in distribution,
and there is hardly a genus that is not.
On the mountains of Lapland, as is
doubtless true elsewhere, it is inter-
esting to note how the length of time
that the snow lies on a given area
influences the flora of that area.
Some places well below the timber
line are treeless or show retarded
growth because the deep snow con-
tinues there so long each season.
Frequently one will see in the summer
a group of dwarf birches, for example,
in full leaf, while adjoining it may be a
group just in bud, that got its late
start due to the duration of the snow.
It is also interesting to note which
flowers are first to bloom after their
coverlet of snow has melted away.
Upon Mount Nuolja the earliest are
the snow buttercup (Ranunculus niva-
lis) and the purple mountain saxifrage
{Saxifraga oppositifolia) .
A necessary characteristic of boreal
and alpine plants is the small size of
the vegetative part, although the
flowers are not correspondingly re-
duced. One who goes from the tropic
or temperate zones into the Arctic
regions, can hardly recover from the
surprise at finding these diminutive
representatives of plant groups he has
known : dwarf willow (Salix herhacea)
and net-veined willow (Salix reticu-
lata) only two or three inches high,
and, in bloom or in fruit, Lapland
rhododendron (Rhododendron Lap-
ponicuni) only a very little taller,
dwarf birch (Betula nana) scarcely a
foot high, and alpine azalea (Azalea
procumbens) lifting its pink flowers
hardly more than an inch above the
ground. By far the commonest
heath plant in Lapland is the crow-
berry (Empetrum nigrum) . This plant
has almost the same range as the
cloudberry (Rubus chamsemorus) and
both occur at Montauk Point, L. I.
Another surprise is occasioned by
finding the Arctic flowers blooming so
close to the snow; it is almost as
amazing as the discovery of a living
plant right on the snow, — the so-
called 'red snow,' which is a tiny alga
(Sphxrella nivalis). These minute
plants are so abundant in Lapland,
at least during July, that large patches
of snow have a noticeable red tinge.
Lapporten — a conspicuous pass formerly traversed by the Lapps on their migrations
Wild Flowers of the Uplands of Lapland
PHOTOGRAPHED BY G. CLYDE FISHER
THE NORTHERN DWARF CORNEL
This plant {Cornus suecica) is similar to its more southern cousin the dwarf cornel^^^^^
bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), but the petal-hke bracts o^t^e former seem to have^asl^M^^^
greenish-yellow tinge, and the cluster of flowers m the center is of f^P!.'^.^^°"„^;.^pXelIs, it
hardly expect to find the species of Sweden and Lapland m North Ameuca nevertheless it
grows on this continent, where its range, from Labrador to Alaska, is more northern than that
of Cornus canadensis
THE WILD
GERANIUM
The beautiful
rose-purple flowers
of Geranium silvati-
cum closeljr re-
semble those of our
wild or spotted
cranesbill. The
generic, like the
popular, name of
these plants owes
its origin to the fact
that they have long
slender fruit-bear-
ing "beaks," Gera-
nium being derived
from a Greek word
meaning crane.
In the manner of
their seed dispersal
both the Lapland
species and ours are
noteworthy, for
they belong to that
interesting group
having explosive
fruits. The seeds
are discharged by
the sudden separa-
tion and upward
coiling of the five
parts forming the
seed capsule. With
such violence does
this explosive ac-
tion take place that
the seeds are shot
out to considerable
distances.
Sprengel, the
great German bot-
anist, discovered
that the nectar of
the Geranium flow-
ers isprotected from
the rain bj' fine and
delicate hairs. Thus
it is preserved pure
for the insects that
visit the flowers
I
WHITE
MOUNTAIN-AVENS
This prostrate,
tufted plant {Dryas
octopetala) , with
white flowers about
an inch and a half
in diameter, is a typ-
ical alpine species
of the Arctic re-
gions. The flowers,
which nearly al-
ways have eight
petals, proclaim its
position in the rose
family.
The styles, about
an inch long, are
plumose and con-
spicuous when in
fruit, reminding one
of those of the
graceful virgin's-
bower {Clematis vir-
giniana) of our
roadside fences and
those of the pasque
flower {Pulsatilla
patens) of our
prairies. In all three
cases the feathery
style constitutes a
flying apparatus,
the tail-like plume
resembling the
parachutes of the
seeds of the dande-
lion or wild lettuce
in its behavior in
the air. As in
man-made para-
chutes, so in these
parachutes of the
plant world, the
resistance to the air
in falling is consid-
erable, so that winds
are apt to carry the
seeds for some dis-
tance
a
S £
o ^
The reindeer flower (Ranunculus glacialis) is a white buttercup which forms the chief
food of the reindeer in the higher parts of the mountains reached by these animals. Photo-
graphed on the top of Mount Nuolja bj' the Ught of the midnight sun
Hi' mBt 1
1
- -ir#
''%^^^^'i
"^{^
^.^.^^^1 ^w^
L i^'^'^T-C ' <^t> "^
w^^\_
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^Hm
^^^I^^^MHHoK^ . '><''^3BSiS^
."■■.^.^V;;....
^iHHdl^iMH
The purple flowers of the Lapland rosebay [Rhododendron Lapponicum) are lifted scarcely
more than two or three inches above the surface of the ridge of Mount Nuolja. This plant
grows also from Greenland to Alaska, and as far south as the Adirondacks and the higher
mountains of New England
^ -mm
^■^■•. ^^ ■% :^^^ag2jHP'
Cotton grass (Eriophorum Scheuchzeri) , in reality a sedge instead of a grass, is a conspicu-
ous plant in the bogs of Lapland
The cloud-berries (Rubus chamiemorus) , which develop from these large, white blossoms,
are a rich yellow with a faint blush of red when ripe. They are an important food of the Lapps,
who used to eat them with reindeer milk. The plants, which are only a few inches in height,
often cover large areas of the heath.
The plant is eircumpolar in distribution, and in Nova Scotia is known as the baked-apple
berry. One of the most surprising facts about the distribution of this plant is that it grows
at Montauk Point, Long Island. It is thought that the seeds were carried there by birds
THE FLOWER NAMED FOR LINN^US
Linnsea borealis was a special favorite of the great Swedish botanist whose name it com-
memoiates. In Lapland it grows in countless numbers and here, on his visit in 1732, he saw and
enjoyed it. It appealed to him because of its modest, retiring nature, and because of its beautiful
little bell-shaped flowers with their delightful fragrance.
The American species, which is called twinflower, differs from the European in having the
flowers funnel-form rather than bell-shaped, and the calyx shorter
Engraving on a limestone block, about three feet in length, detached from the overhang-
ing wall of an anciently inhabited rock shelter at Sergeac, Department Dordogne, France.
The outhne of the horse, rude but firm and vigorous in execution, is representative of the
second phase of this type of Palaeolithic art. The first phase of the art rendered animal
figures with no attempt whatever at perspective; while in the above instance the artist has
sought to convey the idea of depth by representing all four legs of his subject. The work be-
longs to the cultural stage known as the tipper Aurignacian, and dates from about 20,000 B.C.
The specimen was presented to the American Museum by President Henry Fairfield jOsborn
European Prehistory
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORK OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
By N. C. nelson
Associate Curator of Archseology, American Museum
THE existence of man in times
prior to written history won
recognition at last as a scientifi-
cally demonstrated f actin theyear 1858.
This momentous event took place in
Europe, where most of the pertinent
discoveries had been made, and Europe
ever since has been the chief center of
prehistoric studies. Other parts of the
world — and especially America — have
contributed to the elucidation of the
European story, but hardly more than
that. Whether man and his culture
originated in Europe is still an unsolved
problem. To date, however, Europe
alone furnishes the necessary facts for
anything approaching a complete ac-
count, and, consequently, whoever
wishes to inform himself thoroughly on
the subj ect must in the end go to Europe.
The history of prehistoric studies has
much in common with that of any
other new branch of natural science.
It is a record of intense collective and
descriptive activity, with a respectable
amount of scholarly interpretation and
not a little even of popularization.
Briefly, in the sixty-j&ve odd years that
have elapsed since this research was
begun, the discovered and recorded
monumental remains of ancient date,
such as dwelling sites, workshops,
quarries, mines, forts, temples, and
tombs, have come to be numbered by
thousands; and the movable relics of
all kinds now gathered and housed in
665
666
NATURAL HISTORY
public and private museums — including
those of America — must be reckoned
by hundreds of thousands.
The interest aroused by these dis-
coveries is boundless. Men in all
walks of life have taken up archaeology,
more or less as a hobby it is true ; but
not a few today devote nearly their
entire time to the sub j ect . In the mean-
while the professional archaeologist has
appeared and already a certain amount
of specialization is noticeable: some
are interested chiefly in prehistoric
art, others in industrial and tech-
nological problems, and still others in
man strictly as a member of the animal
species. A vast body of descriptive
literature has developed and within
the last fifteen years there have
appeared from the presses of different
countries, including the United States,
no less than twenty compendiums
or general — partly interpretative —
treatises on prehistory. Nor is this all.
Prehistoric man has taken his place not
only in schoolbooks and bedtime stories
but in fiction and poetry as well. Not
many months ago there was published
in New York City the translation of a
five-volume novel (really five epic
narratives) presenting in admirable
fashion the origin of man and his rise
from animal beginnings down to the
discovery of America. The European
author, a man of eminence in his
profession, has taken the known facts
of anthropology and in the light of
modern biology and psychology has
produced a fairly plausible and cer-
tainly a very stirring and suggestive
account of the whole racial and cul-
tural process. Surely, prehistoric man
has come into his own !
And what, it may be asked, has
America contributed to the advance-
ment of European prehistory? The
answer is : directly or indirectly a very
great deal. In the first place, but
for the discovery of America and — as
a result of the voyages that followed
in its wake — the discovery of the
Pacific Islands, Europe would hardly
as yet have perceived the reality or even
the possibility of the Stone Age. In
confirmation of this it is necessary
merely to point out that for a period of
three thousand years — the entire span
of Europe's written records — all the
common stone artifacts, such as axes
and arrowpoints, were well-nigh uni-
versally regarded as of superhuman or
celestial origin, suitable only for magi-
cal and medicinal purposes. That such
objects could have been used by man
for practical ends was deemed pre-
posterous. The fact that stone as a
substance for implements had not
entirely gone out of use even in Europe
passed unnoticed. Nor did the in-
formation brought by the discoverers
and early explorers of America, where
the natives everywhere were observed
using stone weapons and implements,
at once convince the learned world of
its error An entire century passes
before we observe in the literature so
much as a glimmering of light, and the
darkness was not entirely dispelled
until the red letter year of 1858, when,
with the acceptance of a "prehistoric
period ' ' of human existence, the theoret-
ically necessary conditions were auto-
matically provided for the recognition of
the Stone Age in the Old World.
In the second place, the American
peoples occupy a unique position with
reference to European prehistory. First
of all, they are, most of them, sons
and heirs of Europe, and for that rea-
son, if for no other, have a special in-
terest in her past. Then, Americans
have been peculiarly favored by cir-
cumstances that have facihtated their
ready understanding of things pre-
EUROPEAN PREHISTORY
667
historic. The notion of a Stone Age,
for example, did not present itself to
us as a debatable subject; it was and
is an obvious fact. For while in Europe
this primitive phase of human culture
passed out some three to four thou-
sand years ago, leaving not even a bare
tradition of itself, among the aborigines
in America it has survived in some
measure down to the present day. In
view, therefore, of these two special
incentives, supplementing the normal
interest in searching out explanations
of human origins, Americans could
hardly do otherwise than make notable
contributions to the development of
prehistoric studies.
There remains to be recounted more
precisely what has actually been done
in America, aside from the general dis-
semination of verbal information about
our early European ancestors. In
attempting this the writer can do no
better than to recite some of the salient
facts regarding European prehistory as
pursued and developed by the Ameri-
can Museum.
MUSEUM BEGINNINGS
From its foundation in 1869 the
American Museum has sought to keep
abreast of both the scientific and the
popular interest in all matters relating
to the early history of man. "It is to
be a temple of Nature," said Prof.
Joseph Henry at the laying of the corner
stone in 1874, "in which the produc-
tions of the inorganic and organic world,
together with the remnants of the past ages
of the human family, are to be collected,
classified, and properly exhibited."
Before these words were spoken, while
th'e Museum was still housed in the old
Arsenal in Central Park, a sizeable
exhibit had already been installed of
both European and American antiq-
uities and, when the present building
opened in 1877, what is now the bird
group gallery was occupied almost
exclusively by prehistoric archaeology.
Indeed, during the first twenty years
the anthropological activities of the
Museum were devoted chiefly to the
acquisition and exhibition of archae-
ological material. Not until 1888 did
the institution — backed by popular ap-
proval, expressed in terms of liberal
money contributions — invest in any
large ethnological collections; and plans
for the present expansion of the de-
partment of anthropology did not take
shape until 1895.
THE EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS
The first European archaeological
specimen arrived at the Museum on
April 29, 1872, and was the gift of
Dr. F. W. Lewis of Philadelphia. It
was a fragmentary implement of deer
antler, taken from a Lake Dweller site
in Switzerland. From that day until
some time in 1884, when accessions from
Europe suddenly ceased for a period of
eleven years, the Museum received by
gift and by purchase no less than 8000
specimens, representing all the then
known prehistoric stages of CLilture. In
1895, European objects once more began
to dribble in and ever since have been
coming faster and faster until at present
the American Museum possesses ap-
proximately 15,000 specimens. The
accessions represented were obtained
from more than five hundred different
sites, scattered over all the countries of
Europe, excepting Portugal, Holland,
Finland, and certain of the Balkan
states. Actually, however, the bulk
of the material comes from the British
Isles, Denmark with southern Sweden,
Switzerland with southern Germany,
Belgium, and France — the regions, in
short, which have been most thoroughly
investigated to date, and possibly also
668
NATURAL HISTORY
the regions which especially favored the
life of early man. These precious relics
illustrate the whole gamut of human
invention, from the crudest hypotheti-
cal flint implements of Miocene date —
say twenty millions of years ago — down
to the modern-looking iron tools and
weapons from La Tene Lake Dwelling
deposits of about 500 B.C.
COLLECTORS AND DONORS
The story of the acquisition of these
collections is not without interest,
human as well as scientific. In the
case of the older accessions very little
is known as a rule beyond "locality of
origin" and the name of the donor.
Many •individual pieces, to be sure,
carry marks to indicate that they were
discovered as far back as 1851, but the
attending circumstances, as well as the
name of the actual discoverer, are
usually lost beyond recovery. It is
only within the last twenty years that
properly authenticated archaeological
specimens have begun to come in;
and it is these recent acquisitions which
alone make it possible for us to arrive
at a correct classification of the earlier
collections.
The available list of names of col-
lectors and donors is nevertheless both
formidable and interesting. The group
residing in Europe includes such dis-
tinguished and more or less well-
known personages as the late Oscar
Montelius, of Sweden; Dr. C. Neer-
gaard and M. M. J. Mathiassen (the
discoverer of Maglemose culture), of
Denmark; Prof. Nicholas Roerich, of
Russia; Sir Hercules Read, Mr. Thos.
W. U. Robinson, Mr. J. Reid Moir, Dr.
Arthur Smith Woodward, Mr. Ben-
jamin Harrison, and Mr. S. Hazzledine
Warren, of England; Prof. A. Rutot
and M. G. De Konincke, of Belgium;
M. Henry de Morgan, M. G. L.
Feuardent, the Marquis de Vibray,
Prof. Louis Capitan, Prof. Henri Breuil,
Dr. G. Lalanne, M. L. Didon, M. D.
Peyrony, the Count de Limur, Dr.
Henri Martin, M. V. Forbin, Dr. Paul
Wernert, M. Estanove Jacques, and
M. Zacharie le Rouzic, of France; Dr.
Ferdinand Keller, Dr. Paul Vouga, and
Hr. Otto Fehrlin, of Switzerland; Hr.
Carl Gail of Germany; Dr. Aladar de
Kovach, of Hungary; Prof. Hugo
Obermaier, of Spain; Prof. E. H. Gig-
lioli, of Italy; M. Speros Condounes,
of Greece; and many others.
A smaller but equally important
group of American names are in one
way or another intimately connected
with the collections, for the most part
as donors. These names, in the order
in which they appear on the records,
include Mr. Robert L. Stuart, Dr. J. C.
Dalton, Mr. Andrew E. Douglass, Mrs.
Robert L. Stuart, the late President
Theodore Roosevelt, Mr. H. E. Win-
lock, Mr. Charles W. Furlong, Mrs.
Y. P. Lee, Prof. C. T. Currelly, Prof.
J. H. McGregor, Mrs. Charles Sprague
Smith, Prof. George Grant MacCurdy,
President Henry Fairfield Osborn, and
Mrs. Henry Fairfield Osborn. Valu-
able gifts have also been received from
such institutions as Columbia Uni-
versity, the American Numismatic
Societj^, and the American Ethnological
Society.
It seems but fitting to remark in this
connection that the most generous of
all the donors were intimately related to
the institution. Mr. Robert L. Stuart,
who served the Museum as its second
president, set an example in 1876 by
presenting the first collection of Eu-
ropean antiquities, a collection that
has the additional distinction of being
the largest that the Museum has ever
received. It consisted of "over three
thousand carefully selected specimens"
EUROPEAN PREHISTORY
669
of Palaeolithic flint tools and weapons,
brought to America by M. Henry de
Morgan from Amiens and other classic
archaeological stations of the Somme
Valley in northern France. At the
time, this collection was described as
"the most complete and valuable series
of such objects extant (that of Boucher
de Perthes at Abbeville excepted) — "
an estimate which, it is safe to say,
holds good even today, at least so far
as America is concerned. But, as if to
make certain that the series should not
be excelled, Mrs. Stuart, in 1883, added
to it more than two thousand speci-
mens, in part from the same region.
CLASSIFICATION AND EXHIBITION
Having acquired these valuable col-
lections, the next problem confronting
the Museum was what to do with
them, how to insure their continuous
interest for the public. No museum,
so far as the writer knows, has ade-
quately solved this question of ulti-
mate treatment, although one or two
European institutions have made ex-
cellent beginnings. Up to the present
time, it is true, the situation has not
been especially urgent : the more or less
startling and spectacular facts about
prehistoric man have been new, and
public interest has responded to any
miscellaneous display of ancient relics.
Doubtless these displays will continue,
for some time to come, to attract the
maj ority of museum visitors as fascinat-
ing collections of "curios" if nothing
more. But, obviously, if the material is
to justify its existence, is to make a
permanent appeal to the general public,
as well as to the special student, some
order and simplification must be in-
troduced. The least attractive ob-
jects, such as rudimentary stone and
bone implements, have an important
story to tell, if only we can bring it out.
To do this however, requires a number
of things not always available even in
the largest and most pretentious of in-
stitutions,— time and patience coupled
with both knowledge and ingenuity.
The first step toward making an
exhibit intelligible as well as interest-
ing is to classify the material. Here
several possibihties present themselves :
we may group our specimens according
to the substance of which they are
made — as bone, stone, shell, etc.;
according to the form of the objects,
irrespective of their use; or according
to their function or pm-pose. We may
also group simply according to locality
of origin or according to relative an-
tiquity. Each of these systems of
classification has its special advantages
and disadvantages — if at all applic-
able; but, obviously, the last three
are the most fundamental. The aver-
age man, on being confronted with an
archaeological specimen, invariably asks
three questions about it : Where did it
come from? How old is it? What was
it used for? Any adequate museum ex-
hibit must seek to answer all three of
these legitimate questions.
For a number of years the Ameri-
can Museum has been experimenting
with this exhibition problem. On
the assumption that archaeology is
fundamentally a historical science and
that history is incomprehensible ex-
cept as a great continuous process,
the chronological relations of our vari-
ous prehistoric collections have been
deemed of first importance. For-
tunately the available archaeological
data lend themselves admirably to a
concrete demonstration of the histori-
cal viewpoint as regards the material
phenomena of culture. Today no less
than twelve easily distinguishable cul-
ture stages (not to mention numerous
subdivisions) are recognized in western
670
NATURAL HISTORY
Europe alone and their time sequence
is determined beyond all possibility of
dispute by their stratified occurrence in
undisturbed deposits, both natural and
artificial. The fact of stratification or
superposition does not, of course, prove
that the implements of any particular
level in a given deposit were derived by
a process of modification from those
immediately below, although detailed
study of the artifact contents of con-
tiguous strata has shown that such
genetic relationship commonly exists.
But whether traceable or not, these
successive steps or stages in the evolu-
tion of ordinary human inventions
seem designed by nature to serve as
primary subdivisions in the classifica-
tion and arrangement of museum ex-
hibits of this character and have
accordingly been so used at the Ameri-
can Museum. The hall of prehistoric
man, as it happens, lends itself fairly
well to this mode of treatment: the
portion occupied by the Old World
collections is oblong and is furnished
with two rows of parallel table cases,
each series of cases sufficiently spacious
to accommodate a moderate-sized dis-
play of all the various culture levels,
arranged in their precise order of strati-
graphic occurrence.
One of these two rows of cases has
been devoted to the strictly scientific
presentation of cultural evolution as
afforded by the antiquities of several
different countries. No single country,
however, is represented in our collec-
tions by adequate data for all of the
twelve culture stages above referred to
— in fact, in some instances such repre-
sentation never can be effected, as
certain of the stages do not exist. In
order, therefore, to illustrate the general
evolutional process for Europe as a
whole, as well as to indicate the actual
events in particular localities, the
countries affording the best material for
certain of the culture stages have been
grouped to suit the chronological re-
quirements. Thus France comes first,
at the near end of the hall, and is
represented chiefly by a full inventory
of Palaeolithic specimens. Denmark
and southern Sweden come next with a
fine Neolithic series. Finally, at the
far end of the hall, Switzerland is
introduced as furnishing, besides a
good Neolithic exhibit, the best avail-
able specimens of the Bronze and Iron
ages. Similarly, incomplete but parallel
exhibits from other countries, such as
Spain, Belgium, and the British Isles,
are placed in certain of the adjacent
upright wall cases. The subdivision
within each of these local unit exhibits
is stratigraphic, a table case or a sheff,
according to circumstances, being given
to each culture level.
Each of the culture level exhibits,
moreover, consists of two parts: one,
typological -the other, distributional and
comparative. The former, placed at one
end of the case, furnishes a small but
comprehensive display of typical speci-
mens, such as characterize the par-
ticular culture horizon dealt with —
Chellean, Acheulean, Mousterian, and
so on; the latter, occupying most of-
the available space in the case, is
made up of segregated groups of repre-
sentative specimens of the given hori-
zon as they occur in different parts of
the country treated. The one exhibit
is designed to show the visitor at a
glance all the known essentials of any
particular culture stage; the other is
designed to emphasize at once the wide
geographic distribution of identical
forms of implements and such minor
local variations as occur.
The second row of table cases in the
hall of prehistoric man is devoted to a
somewhat schematized comparative
EUROPEAN PREHISTORY
671
exhibit, covering the entire Old World.
The aim here is to do for the Old
World what was done for France,
Switzerland, and other countries in the
preceding geographic exhibit, — to show
the apparent intercontinental distribu-
tion of many identical or nearly iden-
tical culture traits, as exemplified by
ancient as well as modern primitive
tools, weapons, household gear, and
other data. A strictly scientific pre-
sentation is impossible here at present ;
but if science has been sacrificed, it is
hoped that the achieved simplicity of
arrangement may be more intelligible
to the general visitor.
The basis of the arrangement of this
exhibit is stratigraphic. It opens with
eoHths at the entrance end of the hall
and closes with iron objects at the far
end. Each of the seven double table
cases consists of three sections, the
middle one of which is devoted to
European objects, while the two end
sections are reserved for material
from Asia and Africa respectively.
The central, European, section of the
case, it must be further explained, is
furnished for each of the twelve culture
levels with genuine specimens from one
or more localities, according as the
available collections permit; the Asi-
atic and African sections are supplied,
as far as practicable, with similar but
as yet not positively proved ancient
artifacts. Wherever our Asiatic and
African prehistoric resources have failed
to fill their allotted sections, materials,
in part of recent date, from Australia
and the Pacific Islands have been in-
troduced, partly for the purpose of
filling the vacant spaces and partly to
suggest the survival of ancient conti-
nental forms of implements in these
outlying regions. Incidentally, the in-
troduction of ethnological specimens
also serves to show the possible ancient
methods of haf ting, as well as to suggest
various uses for the prehistoric forms.
Carried to completion, this plan of
arrangement would present a combina-
tion time-ancl-space distribution, and
would show at a glance the grand
sweep of elementary human culture.
PUBLICATIONS
The subject of publications calls for
but few remarks inasmuch as our col-
lections remain practically undescribed.
A few papers bearing more or less
directly on the European material
have, however, appeared from time to
time in Natural History. The Mu-
seum collections also deserve some
credit for having helped to inspire
President Henry Fairfield Osborn for
the great task of writing his well-known
book. Men oj the Old Stone Age, the
first general treatise covering this field
to be produced in America. This work
has stood for a decade as the only con-
siderable American contribution to the
subject and not until the past twelve-
month have any American students of
prehistory sought to supplement it.
Now, however, we have all at once
three new American publications cov-
ering the same field and rumor has it
that other treatises are in preparation.
CONCLUSIONS
The first and most obvious conclu-
sion to be drawn from all this intense
activity concerned with matters pre-
historic would seem to be that the world
is mightily interested. Doubtless it
always has been interested in human
origins and will continue to be. Poets
are not alone in believing that "the
greatest study of mankind is man."
The second conclusion is that the
world having rather suddenly had re-
vealed to it a vast body of new and
pertinent knowledge, certain far-reach-
672
NATURAL HISTORY
ing effects are bound to follow. Al-
ready the materialistically inclined,
who are prone to gloat over recent
achievements and recent progress, have
experienced a rude shock. For if the
fragmentary rehcs in our museums tell
anything, it is that the foundations of
our whole modern existence — economic,
social, and religious— were laid deep
and secure in the unrecorded past.
The primary inventions relating to
hunting, fishing, and food production;
the protective devices against envi-
ronmental conditions, represented by
clothing, houses, and strongholds; the
domestication of plants and animals
as basic to agricultural and animal
husbandry, making man relatively
independent of nature's bounty; and,
finally, the discovery and successful
treatment of various metallic ores,
resulting in tools and weapons both
durable and efficient— all of these
material equipments were developed
and more or less perfected before (some
of them long before) man had the
leisure or the need for devising a
mechanical method of recording his
thoughts. In the light of all this, what
original contributions to civiHzation
has modern man made, the germ of
which was not already present among
our prehistoric ancestors? Some, no
doubt; and yet certainly not so many
as most of us are wont to think.
If this effect of the past is discernible
in the essentially material side of
modern culture, how much more cer-
tain, if less tangible, must the effect
have been on the non-material side?
The belated recognition of prehistoric
man— or in other words the admission
that things human were not placed on
earth ready-made some six thousand
years ago— has unmistakably taken a
powerful hold on the modern min^.
Every department of thought, if not
of action, has been more or less visibly
affected by the new knowledge. Some
departments have been shaken to their
foundations and are being rebuilt on
new and broader fines. We do not yet
know what the end is to be; but those
most famifiar with the new knowledge
about man of the distant past look
eagerly and confidently to the future.
J^austiMMiBSSsSil^SSSis'.
LIBERTE, EGALITE, FRATERNITE.
MUSEUM
D'HISTOIRE
NATIONAL
NATURELLE,
Early letterhead of the Jardin's Museum of Natural History, on a letter addressed by
Lamarck and Geoffroy to Charles Wilson Peale, 1796. From the Osborn collection in the
American Museum
The Jardin des Plantes
A PARNASSUS OF NATURALISTS
By BASHFORD DEAN
Honorary Curator of Ichthyology, American Museum
/.
NATURAL history, like any other
history, has had its great epochs.
One of them had its flowering
time in the year 1859, when the doctrine
of evolution was expounded clearly and
convincingly. Another epoch followed
the discoveries of Leidy, Marsh, Cope,
and Osborn, when a new palaeontology
was built up. Still another centered
about cellular research. Of earlier
epochs none were more fruitful than
those which grew out of the scientific
soil of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.
"^lere it was that whole lines of natural
history diverged during the first third
of the last century from the brilliant
researches of Buffon, Lamarck, Geoff-
roy Saint-Hilaire, and Cuvier. Indeed,
there is scarcely an institution in the
New, no less than the Old World,
which is not in the debt, directly or in-
directly, of this great French pepiniere.
Just as many of our professors found
their zoological inspiration in Germany
during the eighties and nineties, so our
earlier generation gained its best re-
sults in Paris during the sixties, fifties,
forties, and thirties. The bust of Prof.
John S. Newberry in the fossil fish gals^
lery of the American Museum recall-
such a generation; in fact, no one who
knew this eminent scholar could soon
forget that his training was French.
He showed it in his lists of authorities,
in his manner of working, in a courtesy
which suggested the Second Empire,
even in the little mannerisms which
dated from Cuvier himself.
Professor Osborn has asked me if I
would prepare a brief article for this
journal on the Jardin des Plantes in its
relation to the development of natu-
ral history, suggesting that I write it,
not as a problem in research, but as
a matter of personal knowledge and
experience.
None the less such an article should
require careful bibliographical studies,
for personal experience is apt to have
little more than personal interest,
though one may well come in contact
with greater things during numerous
visits to Paris in the course of the past
thirty-five years. Indeed, no one can
visit the Jardin des Plantes frequently
without making interesting notes on
673
674
NATURAL HISTORY
General view of the Jardin des Plantes
The House of Buff on (right), corner of Rue Buff on and Rue Geoffroj^ Saint-Hilaire
early French zoology. And no one can
stand at the corner of Rue Buffon and
Rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and see
before him the venerable House of the
Iron Cross, where Buffon lived from
1739 to the day of his death in 1788,
Parnassus of naturahsts: indeed, he
may safely assume that almost every
noted zoologist or botanist during the last
eight generations has at some tnne stood
at the same point and 'passed through the
same iron gate in his search for greater
and fail to realize that he is close to a knowledge.
THE JARDIN DES PLANTES
675
I remember clearly my own first
visit to the House of Buffon in 1887,
when I stood in front of the door and
hesitated to make use of a formid-
able knocker in cut steel which had
stood sentry there since the days of
my way into the study of the director
of the Jardin des Plantes, who was then
Doctor de Quatrefages, a savant re-
nowned for his researches in anthro-
pology and evolution. The professor,
I found, was a kindly gentleman, then
>^.,
/
.^.^t"*^ ' ^ ■ . v'
Prof. J. L. A. de Quatrefages (1810-1892) in the House of Buffon.
sketch by Dr. Bashford Dean
Pencil
Louis XIV. I wondered even what
might happen to me after the hammer
fell and the reverberations in the old
hall ceased. Luckily, however, I
discovered that the door could be
opened by any visitor, so I climbed at
once the ancient staircase and found
about eighty years of age, who professed
to have time to devote to a visiting
youngster. He invited me in, took his
place comfortably in an elbow chair
which had been used by Buffon him-
self, and talked to me of the history of
the Garden.
676
NATURAL HISTORY
The Museum of Zoology in the Jardin des Plantes
"Yes," said he, "in those olden
times (the days of Louis XIII) one
had a primitive idea of natural history.
It should arouse curiosity, or it should
be of medical interest. Its philosophi-
cal side was ignored. Indeed, it was
the medical side of the Garden which
then gave it its start — it was the Jardin
du Roy, where medical plants were
cultivated, where queer seeds from
distant lands, gathered often by Jesuit
priests, were received and propagated.
In fact, some of the earliest plants sent
from America found their abiding
place here. Almost from this window I
can show you a locust tree which dates
from the seventeenth centmy; and
yonder are great cedars of Lebanon
planted a century and a half ago by
Bernard de Jussieu. So it goes.
"Our menagerie is itself an out-
growth of the lion dens and bear pits
which in early times flourished beside
every kingly castle. Just as you recall
that the great zoo of London grew out
of the hutches of wild animals in the
Tower of London when this was a royal
palace, so you must picture the Jardin
des Plantes as a king's glorified garden
and menagerie. Indeed, our early
botanists and zoologists were little more
than people of the royal household; for
just as each king furnished quarters
for his body phj^sician, so also he
provided for his herbalist, who was then
little more than an apothecary, and
his zoologist, who was but a learned
huntsman charged with the care of the
wild birds and beasts 'patronized'
by the royal family. In this regard, if
one considers the animals of a royal
menagerie, he has at once before him
quite a nmnerous family. Even as
such a naturaUst should know the
habits of birds that hunt and are
hunted, which include a large part of
our feathered friends, so he should be
f aixdUar with mammals that hunt and
are hunted, which make up a goodly
proportion of the guests of our mod-
ern menagerie. Into this company, of
course, entered nmnerous exotic forms
which came to a prince by gift — for
just as today your president will be
THE JARDIN DES PLANTES
677
Jardin des Plantes from the side of the Seine, with the statue of Lamarck
given a young bear if he travels in
the Rocky Mountains, so would the
European monarch in the eighteenth
and seventeenth centuries receive
tokens of interest and affection from
subjects, and especially from foreign
ambassadors, wherever they happened
to be. A moufflon would come to the
Grand Monarch from Corsica; a
Barbary ape would be brought by a
loyal sea captain from Gibraltar; or
an ostrich would find its way from the
sands of Egypt to Paris through a
delegation sent to a caHph.
"In any event, it is safe to say that,
when we look from the window of this
ancient structure, we can actually
trace the origin of botany and zoology
in France. Most of the buildings, it is
true, have been greatly changed, and
for this we have to thank the great
Napoleon, who took a personal interest
in our Garden and gave us the means
to construct houses for our Hving beasts
and museums for our collections. And
these, indeed, have survived most of the
vicissitudes of Paris. We have had, it
is true, many lean years in our work.
Thus during the siege of Paris" (and
the old professor, who had risen from
his chair, eyed the horizon and tapped
his finger slowly on the window sill)
''we very nearly emptied the menag-
erie; we had no food for our animals,
so we ate them. In the Httle restaurant
yonder you could have eaten roast
monkey (almost cannibals we were) for
very Httle as money goes today. You
could have tasted the meat of kanga-
roo and camel and bear. I am told
that many of our beasts were unpal-
atable notwithstanding the best efforts
of a competent cook, but they were
surely better than rats, and you re-
member that, when food became scarce,
many rats appeared on our menu as
'game patties.'"
The professor turned, sat down again
in the great elbow chair, and continued :
"In this room Buffon himself wrote
and entertained. A wonderful man
he, a courtier by trade even to the tips
of his immaculate ruffles. I am told
that he dressed with great formahty
678
NATURAL HISTORY
when he wrote and that his elegance of
style (le style c'est Vhomme meme) was
dictated by the elegance of his costume,
though one can hardly comprehend
today in this dusty room how great
ruffles and lace jabots could long re-
main spotless. Here it was, I have
been informed, that he entertained
Louis XV, when on state visits, accom-
panied by his lady friends, the monarch
was pleased to spend an hour in order
to hear M. de Buff on tell of the wonders
of his Garden and of his dehghtful
experiments. A favorite ape, which
adroitly stole the king's handkerchief
and at once presented it to a particular
lady of the court, it is said, amused the
king immensely and was the cause of
a royal donation, — to the Garden of
course."
Starting from the house of Buffon,
one has not far to seek for interesting
memories of great naturahsts. Streets
and monuments speak of Buffon,
Robin, de Jussieu. de Candolle, Chev-
reul, de Lamarck, Geoff r 05' and
Isidore Saint-Hilaire, Daubenton, Lin-
naeus, de la Brosse, Haliy, Jacquemont,
Brongniart, Claude Bernard. In one
of the buildings professors of botany
drew their students from all quarters
of the world, and no peak was too high,
no desert too vast, no jungle too dense
to furnish for them herbaria. There
in the lecture room a chance remark of
a stranger caused a great teacher to call
out "Who are you that say that? You
must be Linnaeus himself!" And he,
indeed, it was, for the fame of the
Swede had penetrated from remote
Hammarby even to Paris. There it
was that Lamarck carried on his
botanical researches, sending his Flore
Francaise to every great worker in the
world, with its curiouslj^ artificial keys
for finding the names of plants, which
some of us remember even today in our
early botanies. And here it was that
Lamarck saw the light of evolution and
published his Philosophie Zoologique
(1809), which might well have caused
the acceptance of evolution fifty years
before Darwin. One may even con-
clude that if Lamarck had had the
cordial support of Bonaparte at that
time, when all manner of dreams came
true, the history of the acceptance of
the philosophy of animal Hfe might
have been widelj^ different.
It happened, however, that he gained
the enmity of the great man instead
— and in a curious way, for in the midst
of other philosophical researches, La-
marck studied meteorology and, as an
early ''weather man," he prophesied
fair clays and foul, and, alas, his pre-
dictions were wrong! Indeed, we can
picture the wrath of Napoleon at these
unhappy guesses, and we can see
Lamarck at his reception meeting
blazing eyes and hearing sharp words
which told him to 'mind his business'
and not 'make a fool of himself.'
"Go back to your herbs, M. Lamarck,"
and good day to you." This is said
to have been the last interview which
the Emperor accorded him, — an un-
pleasant memory which embittered his
last days, when, poor, blind, almost
forgotten, he lived in a street near the
Jardin des Plantes, cared for by his
devoted daughter, — a scientific Milton,
dreaming of evolution as a Lost Para-
dise. "The day will come," said the
daughter, "when the world will ap-
preciate you" — a prophecy which came
true in 1909, when a monument of
Lamarck was formally dedicated in
the Jardin.
Here it was, then, that modern
science saw the beginnings of evolution.
Buffon himself had formulated distinct
evolutional theses as early as 1750, but
he failed to maintain them in the face
THE JARDIN DES PLANTES 679
Letter written by Daubenton regarding a rhinoceros "dedicated" to the service of
science — its organs to be dissected and its skin and skeleton exhibited. From the
Osborn collection in the American Museum
of a powerful orthodox church, for he his evobitionary views in spite of fierce
was too much of a courtier and too criticism, desertion, persecvition, and
httle of a martyr, — "give the church failure. Still, fail he did : he gained the
all the persiflage it wishes," he said enmity of Bonaparte; he was unable
irreverently, "for this makes stupid to collect and marshal facts which bore
people quite happy." But Lamarck upon his theme. Nevertheless he came
was of sterner stuff. He maintained within a measurable distance of sue-
680
NATURAL HISTORY
The Gallery of Palaeontology
The Gallery of Comparative Anatomy
cess. For one thing, evolution was
then in the air. Even as early as
1796, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was, with
Lamarck, corresponding with foreign
naturalists (as with Peale in Philadel-
phia) in order to enlist their help in
demonstrating evolution; and we do
not wonder that by 1830 (the year
following the death of Lamarck)
there came about a crisis in views
regarding the origin of species which
shook the foundations even of the
French Academy!
The cardinal fact about the Jardin
des Plantes is, as already noted,
that it personified great epochs in
THE JARDIN DBS PLANTES
681
natural history. At the time of the
French Revolution, and just before
and after, it was the home of an extraor-
dinary outpouring of knowledge con-
cerning man and his universe. It then
witnessed the upbuilding of a new
anthropology; it produced vast cata-
logues of "animated nature," seeking,
describing, and classifying animals and
plants from all parts of the world (bear
witness the great volumes on Egypt) ; it
outlined an evolutional philosophy;
it foreshadowed in certain researches
the work of Pasteur in disproving
"spontaneous generation" — in fact, it
was upon this earlier foundation that
Pasteur was able to place the key-
stone of success. In physiology it
paved the way for a Claude Bernard;
in anatomy, and especially in compara-
tive anatomy, its service was monu-
mental. Under the leadership of
Cuvier, it brought together facts con-
cerning the structure of animals, both
living and fossil, which served to build
up a philosophy of animal structure
and to demonstrate the doctrine of
evolution — although Cuvier himself,
curiously enough, had not a mind
unbiassed and agile enough to follow
the path which his own researches
mapped out. One thinks of this as
one walks in Cuvier 's galleries among
anatomical preparations and skeletons,
which, for the rest, are today not
inspiring to one who has not a zoo-
logical instinct, — for what is less at-
tractive than a skeleton imperfectly
degraisse, turning black in spots, or a
taxidermic specimen of 1830 from which
all color has faded, or a ruminant's
stomach standing waxy in a jar of
yellow alcohol. None the less, even a
casual visitor can see behind all these
things (representing vast and devoted
labor) the dynamic genius of Cuvier, —
the stocky little man, thick of neck,
with a mop of reddish hair, whose
luminous eyes no student could forget,
whose strong personality turned back
the tide of evolution. Even in the third
It
^
^s'""^.
^WgB^^
]
^H^B^L^
j|ll
1^ jiRa- % If '
fwi^dFv^^^H
w/M
HH
1
1
s*-^
The House of Cuvier
"generation" from Cuvier, I felt his
influence one day when I unearthed
in a dusty shop in the Rue de Seine a
package of his letters and a lock of his
sandy hair. With these things in my
hand, my imagination pictured his
lecture room, and I could almost hear
him expound (with German accent)
the homologies of bones and the his-
tory of mammals. . . .
Relationships of the Upper Palaeolithic Races
of Europe
By LOUIS R. SULLIVAN
Associate Curator of Physical Anthropology, American Museum
Note: This review is based largely upon an examination of the remarkable collection of
cranial casts of early man in the hall of the Age of Man on the fourth floor of the American
Museum. The illustrations are for the most part photographs of these casts and of modern
skulls in the somatological collections of the department of anthropology of the Museum.
In this article only anatomical relationships are discussed. The reader who wishes a more
detailed consideration of these problems in a cultural background is referred to Men of the
Old Stone Age by Henry Fairfield Osborn. The chronology of that book has been used as the
basis of arrangement of this review. Professor Osborn's book contains detailed references to
the abundant hterature on the subject, which are omitted from this brief summary. The
writer's indebtedness to such literature will be obvious. Grateful acknowledgment is also
made of the privilege of reading an unpublished manuscript on the physical anthropology of
Teneriffe in which the Cro-Magnon question is discussed by Dr. E. A. Hooten' of Harvard
University, and of the assistance of Dr. Milo Hellman in measuring the cranial casts.
FEW chapters in the history of hu-
man development offer so much
of general interest as does the
chapter dealing with the history of
man in the Upper Palaeolithic Period
of Europe. The remarkable carvings
and paintings of this period have
evoked universal admiration and a
desire to learn more about the people
who made them. All of us are anxious
to know what these people were like,
what their racial affiliations were,
what became of them, and whether or
not they left any descendants. While
much more work remains to be done
before all of these questions can be
answered conclusively, some of the
probabilities and possibilities can be
stated at this time.
Osborn includes four great cultural
periods in the Upper Palaeolithic of
Europe : Aurignacian, Solutrean,
Magdalenian, and Azilian. It will be
convenient to discuss the peoples of
each culture period separately and in
the order given above.
THE AURIGNACIAN RACE OF
CRO-MAGNON
It will be recalled that the prevail-
ing type of man during the Lower
682
Palaeolithic was quite different from
that of any of the modern existing
races. This race is known as the
Neanderthal and is usually assigned to
a species distinct from modern man.
Neanderthal man, or Homo nean-
derthalensis, was a short, thick-set,
coarsely built man. His head was
massive and flattened, with heavy
overhanging eyebrow ridges, a large
broad nose, and a receding chin. He
had many other peculiarities which set
him apart from Homo sapiens.
In striking contrast to this race is
the prevailing type of man in the
early Upper Palaeolithic of Europe.
This type has been called the Cro-
Magnon race after the type specimen,
''Old Man of Cro-Magnon," or "Cro-
Magnon No. 1." It was characterized
by very great stature, averaging at
least 5 feet 10 inches and more in
some localities. The head was long
and low, but much higher than that of
Homo neanderthalensis. The brain
case was unusually large, in keeping
with the enormous bodies of this race.
The face was broad, but relatively
low in vertical dimension, the orbits
were excessively low, the nose was
well arched and narrow, and the chin
UPPER PALEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE
683
unusually well developed even when
compared with modern European
man. The femora (thigh bones) were
very robust and very wide and flat in
the upper portion of the shaft; the
tibiae (lower leg bones) were saber-
like, flattened from side to side, and
unusually long in proportion to the
length of the femora, — a decidedly
negroid character. The radii (fore-
arms) were also rather long in propor-
tion to humeral (upper arm) lengths.
As described above, this type has
been found chiefly in France and
adjacent countries. It is found most
frequently with Aurignacian cultural
remains and has been generally
credited with bringing Aurignacian
culture and art into Europe. Some
authors credit it also with the develop-
ment of Magdalenian culture. Be this
as it may, we know that the repre-
sentations of the Cro-Magnon type
become less common as we pass up-
ward through the Magdalenian and
Azilian, although individuals belonging
to this type are found even in Neo-
lithic times. The facts now available
indicate that the Cro-Magnon type
"had its day" in Aurignacian times.
What became of this type? Did it
become extinct or is it represented
among the living peoples of Europe
today? More sheer nonsense has been
written on this subject than on any
other anthropological problem. Some
idea of the degree of absurdity to
which the discussion has degenerated
may be obtained from a summary of
the nations and peoples identified
with the Cro-Magnons. Cro-Magnons
have been claimed among the living
populations of the Canary Islands,
North Africa, Spain, Italj^, Portugal,
Bulgaria, France, Belgium, Holland,
Germany, Norway, Sweden, Ireland,
Wales, and Scotland. In addition the
Cro-Magnons have been held by
various authors to be identical with
the Nordics, Mediterraneans, Celts,
Deniker's Littoral race, the Basques,
the Finns, the Esthonians, the Ameri-
can Indians, the Semites, and the
Egyptians. They have alternately
been described as blondes and bru-
nettes. The one criterion seems to be
a vague something called disharmony.
Without going into negative detail
it is fair to say that few of these claims
are accompanied by convincing proof.
While all such claims are interesting
possibilities, few of them are probabili-
ties and they should not be taken
seriously until accompanied by de-
tailed and convincing evidence.
So far as skeletal remains testify,
very few modern ones have been
described that correspond in all
respects to the Cro-Magnon type of
the Upper Palaeolithic of France and
Italy. There is, however, one type
smaller in size and differing from the
Cro-Magnon in several other details,
but corresponding to it very closely
on the whole, which was quite wide-
spread in Neolithic times and even in
very recent times in areas around the
south and west of the Mediterranean.
The transition to living peoples is
not so easily made. One of the great-
est sources .of error in anthropology' is
the attempt to link up skeletal re-
mains with the living population of an
area. In the past such linkings have
been made usually on the basis of
some one criterion, such as the cephalic
index. Now that the extreme com-
plexity of human race relationships
is beginning to be appreciated this
practise is no longer approved of.
In short, we are not now so certain of
some of the things that were accepted
as facts twenty years ago.
Although the Cro-Magnons differ
684
NATURAL HISTORY
from the modern Em'opeans in sev-
eral details, they were in many
essentials Caucasian or Caucasoid.
We are a.ecustomed to think of them
as a Caucasoid race related rather
closely. to the Nordic and Mediter-
ranean. Certainly there is only a
short structural gap between the Cro-
Magnjons and the Mediterraneans and
Nordics. However, at present I do
not fqel that it has been demonstrated
that the Cro-Magnon of the Upper
Palaeolithic of France is identical with
or ancestral to either the Mediter-
ranean or the Nordic races. I believe
that -it is best at present to regard
the Gro-Magnon as an end form in
evolution.
It does not follow that the type is
extinct — in fact, this is highly improb-
able. It is almost a certainty that
the blood of this race flows in the
veins of some of the European peoples
today. Probably small colonies of
the type, more or less mixed, will be
found in widely scattered parts of
Europe. The smaller related race
above mentioned exists in parts of
France, Spain, and northern Africa.
But these identifications of osteo-
metric types with living types must
be carefully and cautiously made. In
spite of all the work that has been
done, our knowledge of the living peo-
ples of Europe is most elementary.
It has been predicted that when we do
know more of the extant peoples of
the earth, colonies or islands of Cro-
Magnons will be found not only in
Europe and Africa but in other parts
of the world as well.
Another factor which complicates
the problem of identifying modern
racial remnants with osteological
types is the widespread and almost
universal tendency of several groups
of "racial remnants," "marginal
types," "fringe races," "vanishing
races," or whatever sort of races one
prefers to call them, to herd together
and mix up in inaccessible areas.
There are several such ethnic islands
which are well known, — notably the
Pyrenees, the Caucasus, Madagascar,
South Africa, the Malay Peninsula,
the Philippine Islands, and the inte-
riors of several Malay island groups,
the northern Japanese Islands, some
Polynesian groups, southern South
America, and many other places.
THE AURIGNACIAN RACE OF GRIMALDI
Associated with the Cro-Magnon in
Mentone, Italy, is another race,
represented so far by only two in-
dividuals. But these two individuals
are of such exceptional interest that
they have been taken as types for a
new race called the Grimaldi race. As
I have already noted, the Cro-
Magnon race was negroid in certain
respects: its low face with a tendency
to prognathism in some individuals
and moderately long forearms and
lower legs. But the Grimaldi in-
dividuals were negroids indeed. By
this I do not mean that they were
ordinary negroes, for it cannot be too
strongly emphasized that there are
as many or more well defined types of
negroes as there are well defined types
of Caucasians.
If we may judge from the two in-
dividuals found, one an adolescent
male and the other an aged female,
the Grimaldi race was a fairly tall one.
The woman was about 5 feet 3
inches in height. If she was any-
where near being representative for
the race, the men must have been at
least 5 feet 7 or 8 inches tall on the
average. The heads are very long
and also rather large for negroids.
The brain cases are relatively high.
UPPER PALEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE
685
CRO-MAGNON NO. 1
AURIGNACIAN
CHO-MAGNON FROM GRIMALDI
(After Verneau)
ATTRIGNACIAN
GRIMALDI NEGROID YOUTH
(After Verneau)
AURIGNACIAN
Two crania of the Cro-Magnon type are compared with one of the Grimaldi negroid type. The Cro-Magnons
approach the modern European types in the contour of the profile, in the marked development of the chin, elevation
and projection of the nasal skeleton, sharp lower border of the nasal opening, and enlargement of the mastoid
processes. They differ from modern Europeans in the excessively low orbits and very low, broad faces. The
Grimaldi negroid youth on the right cannot be regarded as a variant of the Cro-Magnon type. The differences are
too great and too consistently negroid. Some of the Cro-Magnons show evidences of Negro admixture. The
Grimaldi negroid type approaches the Hottentot type
The faces are large, but low; the
noses, broad and depressed at the
root; the lower nasal borders are not
sharp as in most Europeans; the
faces, below the nose, project quite
markedly; the chins are not promi-
nent; and the teeth are large. The
long forearms and lower legs of the
Cro-Magnons are exaggerated and
truly negroid in this tj^pe. The pelvis
also is narrow.
The indications are that this race
appeared, in Italy at least, before the
Cro-Magnon. It apparently was
never a ver}^ important race numeri-
cally in Europe. Several Neohthic
skulls of this type have been found in
Italy, France, and near-by countries.
Even some of the modern crania from
Italy approach this type. The in-
habitants of several provinces of
Ital}^ have been identified with the
Grimaldi race, but here again the
identifications have not been based
upon detailed and accurate observa-
tions. In general such identifications
686
NATURAL HISTORY
mean merely that the individuals
identified as Grimaldi are negroid.
Any one familiar with the history of
Italy or the Mediterranean borders
will appreciate the sources of error
involved in such procedure.
Another interesting observation is
that the Grimaldi race resembles
most closely craniometrically skulls
from South Africa described as Hot-
tentot. The identity or relationship
of these two groups — the ancient Gri-
maldi and the South African Hot-
tentots— are more than a possibility.
The identification is made difficult by
the fact that the living Hottentots
and the skeletal materials attributed
to them are each badly mixed. Whole
series of skeletons described as Hot-
tentot are apparently predominantly
Bushman. This is another example of
the difficulty of making the transition
from osteometry to anthropometry.
This possible relationship is the more
interesting because in some respects
the Aurignacian art is similar to a
South African art usually attributed
to the Bushmen. But the Grimaldi
crania resemble Hottentot crania
much more closely than they do
Bushman crania. It is not agreed
upon just what this Grimaldi race
contributed to Aurignacian culture.
THE AURIGNACIAN TYPE OF COMBE-
CAPELLE AND BELATED RACES
OF THE SOLUTREAN
When skeletal remains of Neander-
thal men were found in sufficient
numbers to prove that they were the
remains of normal representatives of a
race and not pathological specimens,
it was the opinion of scientific men
that they represented an ancestral
type of man, a connecting link, as it
were, between Homo sapiens and some
such form as Pithecanthropus. Of
late this idea has become unpopular
and Neanderthal man is regarded as
a side branch of the human family
which diverged from the main stem
in Pleistocene times and soon be-
came extinct. This is in accord with
the abrupt change of physical type
between the Mousterian and Aurig-
nacian periods mentioned at the be-
ginning of this review. Some later
finds of Mousterian, Aurignacian, and
Solutrean man, however, make this
transition seem less abrupt than it is
usually portrayed.
In the first place, there is consider-
able variation within the Neander-
thal race. Some of the specimens
approach much nearer than do others
to Homo sapiens. This is true both
of Spy I and of the Mousterian youth
in different degrees. In the second
place, skeletal remains from the
Aurignacian and the Solutrean have
been found which, while undoubtedly
closer to Homo sapiens than to Homo
neanderthalensis, show unmistakable
relationships to Homo neanderthalensis
as well as to each other.
One such skeleton is that of Combe-
Capelle, called Homo aurignacensis
hauseri. While the supra-orbital
development in this specimen is not so
great, it suggests the Neanderthaloid
form. The frontal region and face
also indicate relationship. Yet in the
totality of its characters it is un-
doubtedly Homo sapiens and clearly
of the European variety. The stature
is not great, but the brain is of good
size, the head long and high, the face
high and narrow, the nose relatively
narrow and pinched up, the orbits
are low, the dental arch is reduced in
size, especially from side to side, yet
the arch is not that of a modern
European . There is little prognathism
or projection of the face. The mastoid
UPPER. PALEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE
687
LA CHAPELLE-AUX-SAINTS
NEANDERTHALOID
MOUSTERIAN
COMBE-CAPELLE
TRANSITION TYPE
AURIGNACIAN
MODERN EUROPEAN-
The Combe-Capelle cranium is unquestionably related to the Pfedmost cranium shown in the figures, that
follow. In some respects it is more primitive than the Pf edniost cranium, yet in others it is more highly evolved and
speciaUzed. The chin is not so well developed as that of Pfedmost, yet the frontal region and the whole brain case
is higher than that of Pfedmost. These types (Pfedmost, Combe-Capelle, and related types) would indicate the
possibility that modern European man may have been evolved from Homo neanderthalensis or some such form..
At the present time this seems a reasonable hypothesis
processes are large. The chin is not
marked, but it is nevertheless per-
ceptibly developed. While the ex-
ternal chin is not so well developed
as that of some related forms,
or of Cro-Magnon and of modern
Europeans, the internal development
of this region is very similar in all of
these types. The genial tubercles are
very well developed. The ramus of
the jaw is massive. Above are
shown the main views of this cranium
compared on the one side with the
cranium from La Chapelle-aux-Saints
and on the other with a long-headed
European skull from Germany. The
transition from the Combe-Capelle
skull to the modern German skull, is
not very abrupt. The Combe-Capelle
skull is either the representative of a
type actually ancestral to the race
represented by the modern skull or
corresponds very closely to such a
stage in the evolution of the modern
races. The transition to the cranium
from La Chapelle-aux-Saints is the
NATURAL HISTORY
LA CHAPELLE-AUX-SAINTS
NBANDERTHALOID
MO0STBRIAN
PBEDMOST
TRANSITION TYPE
SOLUTREAN
CRO-MAGNON NO. 1
AURI6NACIAN
The theory has been advanced that the Pf edmost cranium shown in the center above is a hybrid between some
such types as the Neanderthal represented on the left and the Cro-Magnon on the right. Although in many respects
it approaches the form such a hybrid might be expected to take, it qualifies much better for a transiton type re-
lated on the one hand to Homo neanderthalensis and on the other to Homo sapiens, more especially the long-headed
European varieties. The face of the Pf edmost cranium is more like the face of the modern European types than
it is like that of Cro-Magnon
more abrupt, to be sure, yet I believe
the photographs will show the general
similarities of the Neanderthal man
and the one of Combe-Capelle. If we
insert Spy I between the specimen
from La Chapelle-aux-Saints and
that from Combe-Capelle, the transi-
tion is not so abrupt. I am inclined
to agree with those (most recently
Doctor Hrdlicka) who maintain that
Neanderthal man is ancestral to
modern European man. It does not
follow that the evolution necessarily
took place in Europe and I do not
agree with those who claim that the
type of Neanderthal man known to us
from Europe is ancestral to all modern
mankind.
The anatomical objections to such
a line of evolution — Neanderthal
man, Combe-Capelle, European man
• — are, I believe, not insurmountable
and consist chiefly in some dental
differences about which we know very
little either in modern man or in
Neanderthal man. 1 wish to empha-
UPPER PALEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE
689
LA CHAPELLE-AUX-SAINTS
NEANDERTHALOID
MOUSTERIAN
FBEDMOST
TRANSITIOX TYPE
SOLUTKEAX
MODERN EUROPEAN
The Pfedmost cranium is here compared with the Neanderthaloid La Chapelle-aux-Saints and a modern
European physical type. The relationships of these three types are much clearer than those of the preceding figure.
The relationship of Pfedmost to the Neanderthal form is indicated by the supra-orbital development. Its relation-
ship to modern man is indicated by the elevated brain case, incipient retraction of the face, development of the chin,
enlargement of the mastoids, and reduction of the nose and face in width. On the whole Pfedmost man stands
nearer to modern man than he does to Neanderthal man
size, however, that the hne of evohi-
tion indicated is by no means com-
plete and well balanced, for the
transition types so far known are
much closer to one type {Homo
sapiens europgeus) than to the other
type (Homo neanderthalensis) .
There are no cultural objections to
such a line of evolution, for, as I have
stated above, it does not follow that
the evolution took place in Europe.
The Neanderthal, Combe-Capelle,
and related forms, as well as the mod-
ern Europeans, may have evolved
outside of Europe and migrated into
Europe, or a part of the evolution
may have taken place outside of
Europe and a part within. All that
such a claim of relationship means is
that Homo neanderthalensis with the
Combe-Capelle and related types
represent stages in the evolution of
modern European man of the long-
headed variety.
Closely related to the Combe-
Capelle man are several other skele-
690
NATURAL HISTORY
CHO-MAGNON NO. 1
AURIGNACIAN
OBERCASSEL MALE
MAGDALENIAN
SMITH SOUND ESKIMO
MODERN
The male Obercassel cranium is compared with the Old Man of Cro-Magnon on the left and an eastern Eskimo
from Smith Sound on the right. The most striking similarities in general form are with the Eskimo. The orbits
approach the orbits of Cro-Magnon and the chin approaches that of the Cro-Magnon chin. If this similarity of a
Magdalenian cranium to that of an Eskimo were an isolated instance, not much could be made of it, but another
Magdalenian skeleton, the Chancelade, resembles, it is said, the Eskimo even more strikingly. Similarities of the
culture of the Magdalenians to that of the Eskimo have also been noted. While it is possible that we have here a
case of parallelism or convergence, it is at least equally within the range of possibility that we are dealing with a
true racial relationship
tons from the Solutrean Period and
from culture levels not satisfactorily
determined. Such finds include the
Briix, Briinn, Galley Hill, and some
of the Pfedmost remains.
The cast of a Pfedmost cranium in
the hall of the Age of Man shows
slightly closer affinities to the Cro-
Magnon type than does the Combe-
Capelle cranium. It is long-headed,
but not so long as the specimen from
Combe-Capelle, the brain case is
lower, the orbits are also low, the
nose very narrow, and the chin well
developed. Like Cro-Magnon it has a
long facial base (not a high face),
which gives it a pseudo-prognathism
not revealed in the facial angle. The
mastoid processes are large.
Again, while the affinities of this
type are close to Cro-Magnon and
closer still to the modern Europeans,
its more distant affinities on the other
side to Homo neanderthalensus are
indicated in the supra-orbital develop-
ment, type of face, frontal region.
UPPER PALEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE
691
OLD MAN OP CHO-MAGNON OBBRCA8SEL MALE EA8TEBN ESKIMO
(topmost row) (center row) (lowest row)
The lower jaw of the Obercassel male is compared with that of Cro-Magnon No. 1 above and that of an
eastern Eskimo below. In width and massiveness the Obercassel mandible resembles most closely the Eskimo
mandible. But the Eskimo jaw shown here has what is called a lateral (square) chin while the other two jaws have
pointed median chins. The profiles of the jaws may be seen in the preceding plate
form of brain case^ and dental
arches. The photographs of these
specimens on pp. 688 and 689 will
help the reader to draw his own con-
clusions. One thing will be obvious
and that is that the group of skulls
generally known as the Briinn race
(Briix, Briinn, Galley Hill, Combe-
Capelle, and Pfedmost) are not more
primitive or lower evolutionary types
than modern Australians. In the
totality of their characters these
types rank considerably above the
Australians and several other modern
types in the racial scale.
An alternative theory of hybridism
has been advanced. Some anthro-
pologists have accounted for Briinn,
Briix, Combe-Capelle, Galley Hill,
and Pfedmost remains by inferring
that these forms represent hybrids
resulting from the crossing of the
Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon races.
Of all the finds mentioned in this
692
NATURAL HISTORY
group the Pfedmost remains are the
only ones which could reasonably be
accounted for in this way. If they
stood alone, w^e might regard them as
the remains of a hybrid or hybrids.
But they are unquestionably related
to the Brtix, Brtinn, Galley Hill,
Combe-Capelle, remains, which can-
not be accounted for in this way be-
An idea what the Obercassel man must have looked
like may be obtained from this portrait of an eastern
Eskimo. That the Magdalenians of the type represen-
ted by the Obercassel and Chancelade skeletons were
related to the Eskimo is still a debatable question, but
there is no doubt that in face form they resembled the
Eskimo here shown
cause they have some characteristics
which could not possibly be derived
by direct inheritance from either the
Neanderthal race or the Cro-Magnon
race by any known laws of heredity.
In fact, the theory of hybridism has as
many or more obstacles in its path of
acceptance as has the theory of tran-
sitional form. Many anthropologists
have difficulty in believing that a race
like the Cro-Magnon, which has been
lauded to the skies and portrayed as
almost a race of gods, intermarried
with a race like the Neanderthal,
which, according to some authorities,
may have had no articulate language.
But apart from all this and looking
upon these skeletal remains as a re-
lated group, the evidence seems to
indicate that Briinn, Brtix, Galley
Hill, Combe-Capelle, and Pfedmost
forms are transitional ancestral forms
and not hybrids.
Physically the types of the Solutrean
should precede the dominant types
of the Aurignacian. The Solutrean
types continue on from the Mousterian
rather than from the Aurignacian.
THE MAGDALENIANS
The acme of accomplishment in
Upper Palaeolithic art was reached in
the Magdalenian Period. Hence, it is
of interest to know which races con-
tributed to the culture of this period.
The race of Cro-Magnon is usually
associated with this period and it is
true that many of the skeletal re-
mains recovered with cultural remains
from this period are of the ordinary
Cro-Magnon type. Up to the present
time no skeletal remains of the
Grimaldi or Briinn types have been
recovered from this culture period.
Yet it is not without its problem.
The skeletal remains of this period
show a high degree of variability.
Many anthropologists early pointed
out analogies between the skeletal
remains of this period and certain
Arctic or Sub-Arctic types of man such
as the Eskimos, Lapps, and Finns.
One of the best of such presentations
is that of Testut, who showed that a
skeleton known as the Chancelade
skeleton from Dordogne, France,
resembled very closely the skeleton
of an eastern Eskimo. The re-
semblance of the Chancelade cranium
to the Eskimo cranium is striking.
UPPER PALEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE
693
The high scaphoid vault of the
brain case is in marked contrast to
the low and relatively flat brain case
of the typical Cro-Magnon. The
stature also is short, although the
brain case is very large. As recon-
structed, it is estimated that the
stature is from 150 to 160 centi-
meters. Testut's own figures show
clearly how this type diverges from
the Cro-Magnon toward the Eskimo.
This skeleton, together with a female
of the same type, has been admirably
described by R. Bonnet in the memoir
of M. Verworn. Interest in this
specimen centers on the fact that its
skull too is Eskimoid. It so happens
that we have in the American Mu-
seum an Eskimo skull that resembles
the Obercassel skull very closely.
The Eskimo skull is a male (Cat. No.
99-105) from Smith Sound. It is
TESTUT S COMPARISON OF THE SKULL OF CHANCELADE WITH THE CRO-MAGNON TYPE
AND AN EASTERN ESKIMO
CHARACTER
ESKIMO
CHANCELADE
CRO-MAGNON
Cephalic index
72.19%
72.02%
73.76%
Cranial capacity
1520 cu. cm.
1710 cu. cm.
1590 cu. cm.
Nasal index
42.6%
42.5%
45.9%
Orbital index
87.8%
86.97%o
61.36%
Bizygomatic diameter
135 mm.
140 mm.
143 mm. .
Facial index (French method)
?■£.£%>
72.8%
63.4%
Stature
154 on.
150-160 cm.
186 cm.
It will be seen that the Chancelacle
skull differs from the Cro-Magnon and
resembles the Eskimo metrically in
having high orbits, a high face, and
short stature. To this could be added
other details.
Another interesting skeleton of this
period is that of a man found at
Obercassel, near Bonn, Germany.
shown with the male Obercassel
skull on pp. 690 and 691. In addition
to the general similarity in contour
there is a fairly close correspondence
in metric form. Although parts of the
Obercassel cranium have been re-
stored, certain measurements, as in-
dicated in the table below, may be
compared safely.
COMPARISON OF THE SKULL OF A SMITH SOUND ESKIMO WITH THE OBERCASSEL SKULL
AND THE CRO-MAGNON TYPE
CHARACTER
ESKIMO (99-105)
OBERCASSEL
CRO-MAGNON
Cranial capacity
1645 cu. cm.
1500 cu. cm.
1590 CU. cm.
Face width
158 mm.
153 mm.
144 mm.
Length-breadth index
77.5%
74%
73.8%
Length-height index
76.4%
71%
65.3%
Breadth-height index
98.6%
96%
88.6%
Cranio-facial index
107%
106%
96.5%
Nasal index
41.2%
44%
• 45.1%
Orbital index
80%
*67%
59%
Bicondylar width (mandible)
141 mm.
132 mm.
127 mm.
Bigonial width (mandible)
124 mm.
133 mm.
107 mm.
Body height (mandible)
32 mm.
36 mm.
36 mm.
Symphysis height (mandible)
37 mm.
34 mm.
39 mm.
Femoral length
465 mm.
444 mm.
493-504 mm.
Stature on basis of femur alone
169.3 cm.
165.3 cm.
174.6 cm.
Original estimates of stature
172.4 cm.
180.0 cm.
*
■Orbital width by different technique.
694
NATURAL HISTORY
'k^''}^^^^
OPNET SHORT-HEADED TYPE
AZILIAN
NEOLITHIC SHOBT-HEADED TYPE
NEOLITHIC
MODERN EUROPEAN (aLPINE)
MODERN
There is a very close similarity in the three skulls shown above. The Neolithic brachycephal and the modern
European (Alpine) are almost identical in every detail. The Ofnet brachycephal also resembles the other two very
closely but differs from them in certain details of face form and chin development. The Ofnet brachycephals are
usually regarded as ancestral to the modern and Neolithic Alpines. This is perhaps a reasonable hypothesis if we
make allowances for certain changes which have probably taken place in modern man in the course of his develop-
ment
While the resemblance of the two
skulls is very close, the Obercassel
differs from the Eskimo and resembles
the Cro-Magnon type in a greater
glabellar development, lower orbits,
and a more median and pointed chin
— in contrast to the lateral square
chin of the Eskimo under discussion.
The relatively longer forearins and
legs of the Obercassel skeleton also link
it more closely to the Cro-Magnon.
The problem, of com'se, is to decide
whether we are dealing with a case of
remarkable parallelism or real racial
relationship. Whatever the solu-
tion, the result will be equally inter-
esting. The fact that strong similari-
ties in Magdalenian and Eskimo
culture have been pointed out makes
us hesitate to brush aside too hastily
the conclusion that we may indeed be
dealing with a true racial and cul-
tural relationship. The modern Eski-
mo may be related to a type of man
occurring in the Magdalenian of
Europe. The alternative, of course,
is that bodily form as well as culture
are very flexible and easily altered or
molded by environment. The accept-
ance of such a conclusion would have
far-reaching effects upon our ideas of
race relationships. If I were to
UPPER PALEOLITHIC RACES OF EUROPE
695
OFNET LONG-HEADED TYPE
AZILIAN
rUHFOOZ MALE NO.
AZILIAN
NEOLITHIC LONG-HEADED TYPE
NEOLITHIC
The relationships of the long-headed types of the Azilian and NeoHthic are not so clear as the relationships of
the short-headed types. It is usually assumed that they are Mediterranean forms, but this has not been very clearly
demonstrated as yet. Certainly they differ considerably from both the modern Mediterranean and Nordic types.
It is difficult to tie up the Furfooz crania with any of the types so far shown. While they are rather short-headed,
the male cranium shows some resemblances to the Ofnet and Neolithic long-headed skulls above
choose between the two evils at
present, I beheve I should prefer the
hypothesis of race relationship be-
tween the people of Magdalenian
Europe and the eastern Eskimo. It is
certain that in facial form, at least,
the Obercassel man looked like the
Eskimo on p. 692.
THE PEOPLE OF THE AZILIAN AND
LATER PERIODS
The Azilian is usually considered a
transition period from the Palaeolithic
to the Neolithic. Somatologically it
is characterized by the appearance
of several new races. Our collections
contain casts of the Ofnet and Furfooz
finds and this review will be confined
to a discussion of these remains.
The Ofnet remains do not represent
any of the races so far mentioned.
Some thirty-three skulls have been
found at this site, but less than half
of these are adult.
Three of these adults were mark-
edly short-headed. One of these
brachycephals is shown on p. 694 with
a Neolithic and a modern brachy-
cephalic European cranium. The re-
lationships are apparent. It seems
safe to say that in the Ofnet remains
we have true representatives of a
696
NATURAL HISTORY
FURFOOZ MALE NO. 1
AZILIAN
MODERN EUROPEAN ALPINE
RECENT
FURFOOZ FEMALE NO. 2
AZILIAN
The Furfooz crania usually give the name to the short-headed type of Europe. The Of net and Neolithic bracy-
cephals are classified as representatives of the Furfooz race. Yet this identification is made with some uncertainty .
The Furfooz remains were those of very small individuals and in many ways were untypical, especially those of the
female. If we may judge by the mandible and other features, they were probably Caucasoid. While it is within
the range of probability that the male skull shown above might represent an aberrant specimen of a group ances-
tral to modern European Alpines, considerable imagination is needed to make this transition and even more in
the case of the female
type related and probably ancestral
to inodern Alpine European man.
The relationships of the long-
headed Ofnet remains are not so
clear. They have frequently been
identified as Mediterranean, but
this is by no means a certainty.
The same is true of some of our
Neolithic dolichocephals. They dif-
fer quite perceptibly from both the
modern Mediterraneans and the
modern Nordics.
The Furfooz remains are even more
confusing. They have a tendency to
short-headedness and consequently
have been assigned to the Alpine race.
Their relationships to the Ofnet
brachycephals and to modern Alpine
European man are rather doubtful.
Certainly if they belong to the Alpine
type they are very aberrant individuals
and do not approximate the average
of this type very closely. The small
size of the individuals is also confusing.
Yet, if one may judge from the asso-
ciated lower jaws, they are undoubted
Caucasians.
Before the relationship of the
Azilian and Neolithic types can be
determined for a certainty, much
more work must be done upon the
historic European races.
A GROUP OF MEN, MOST OF THEM ARMED
This painting is reproduced from an original in the great rock shelter of
the Cuevas del Civil, near Albocacer, Castellon
A wounded warrioi-, painted in the rock shelter of Saltadora
Fossil Man from a New Viewpoint
A REVIEW OF OBERMAIER'S "FOSSIL MAN IN SPAIN"!
ILLUSTRATIONS HEPEODDCED FBOM THE VOLUME
By CHRISTINE D. MATTHEW
DURING the past century our
knowledge of fossil man has
passed from the domain of
speculation to that of demonstrated
scientific fact. The abundant dis-
coveries of human fossils and human
industries in western Europe pre-
sented in the main such orderly and
homogeneous development as to in-
cline some to the belief that the
smallest of continents — structurally a
mere peninsula extending westward
from the huge land mass of Asia —
had indeed staged the first act in the
great drama of human civilization and
industrial evolution. Further re-
search not only disclosed certain
discrepancies and variations in the
supposed orderly industrial develop-
ment in western Europe, but showed
also that implements typical of Early
Palaeolithic workmanship, and fre-
^Fossil Man in Spain, by Hugo Obermaier. With an Introduction by Henry Fairfield Osborn
by the Yale University Press for The Hispanic Sooietyof America.
quently of unquestionable Pleistocene
age, were to be found widely distrib-
uted throughout the Old World as
well as in the New. Beneath the
industrial remains of the precocious
Age of Metals in the valleys of the
Nile and Euphrates, along the coasts
of the Mediterranean and within its
ancient island empires were embedded
the tools and weapons of men of the
Old Stone Age. The remote wastes
of the Sahara, the veldt of South
Africa, the Siberian steppes, and the
river valleys of distant India — all
have yielded typical implements of
these ancient hunters. And thus it
became clear that the range of Palaeo-
lithic culture was far greater than was
at first realized, and that its origin
might be more probably attributed
to Asia or Africa, from which it ulti-
mately extended into Europe.
Published
697
698
NATURAL HISTORY
We are therefore familiar with the
picture of Palseohthic man domiciled
in Europe, and with the more recent
aspect of Palaeolithic man in still
earlier times established in the East.
It remained for Hugo Obermaier to
supplement these with a view of
Palaeolithic man on one of the main-
traveled highways, by which he
entered Europe. In Fossil Man in
Spain this view is made accessible to
English-speaking readers. Originally
published in Madrid (1916) by the
Junta para Ampliacion de Estudios
e Investigaciones cientificas of the
Spanish Ministry of Education, under
A stag hunt, from a painting in the Cueva de los Caballos
FOSSIL MAN FROM A NEW VIEWPOINT
699
the title El Homhre Fosil, the appear-
ance of this English translation is clue
to the initiative of The Hispanic
Society of America, and in particular
to its president, Mr. Archer M.
Huntington.
Owing to the number and import-
ance of the Palseolithic discoveries
made in Spain since the publication of
his work, it became necessary for
Professor Obermaier to subject it to a
sweeping revision which included not
merely the correction and amplifica-
tion of the original text, but the addi-
tion of much new material embodying
accounts of, and conclusions drawn
from, these latest Spanish discoveries.
Consequently the English version
contains much not to be found in the
Spanish work, and devotes so much
space to Palaeolithic discoveries in
the Iberian Peninsula that it has been
appropriately entitled Fossil Man in
Spain.
An appreciative introduction by
Henry Fairfield Osborn shows with
rare insight that, not only in historic
but also in prehistoric times, the
Iberian Peninsula was a debatable
ground, subject to many invasions
and characterized by a great variety
of racial and cultural elements, each
contributing its quota to the amazing
and versatile genius of the Spanish
people.
The book is dedicated to the Duke
of Berwick and Alba in graceful
acknowledgment of the warm interest
This wild ass is engraved on rock at Alba-
rracin
A human figure, painted in the
rock shelter of Saltadora
he has taken in Professor Ober-
maier's explorations in Spain.
Following the plan adopted in his
earlier work Der Mensch der Vorzeit
and in Professor Osborn's Men oj
the Old Stone Age, Professor Ober-
maier gives a concise account of the
fourfold evidence afforded by geol-
ogy, palaeontology, anthropology, and
archseology regarding the life and
environment of Palaeolithic man in
Europe. The geologic record showing
the extent and character of the great
glaciations of the Pleistocene, the
plants and animals of the Ice Age,
the climatic changes indicated by
these, the fossilized human remains,
thesuccessive cultural stages indicated
by implements found embedded in the
deposits of ancient camps and rock
shelters, and the notable artistic
achievement displayed in painting,
engravmg, and sculpture — all these
are briefly described in the light of the
most recent discoveries.
The origin, extent, and relation of
Palaeolithic cultures are fully dis-
cussed, and are most effectively
illustrated by maps and charts which
show the chronologic succession, dis-
700
NATURAL HISTORY
In this painting from the Cuevas del Civil a war dance of archers is represented
tribution, and probable migration
routes of the various industries.
Fossil human remains of proved or
probable Pleistocene age are enum-
erated with comments on their racial
characteristics and relationships, and
the closing chapter gives a most en-
lightening account of the various
industries marking the close of the
Palaeolithic and the transition to the
Neolithic,
The unique feature of the work is
that part dealing with the Iberian
Peninsula. For years past Professor
Obermaier has been a recognized
authority on the Palseolithic sites of
the Cantabrian region, and has taken
a leading part in many important
excavations. More recently he has
devoted himself to the exploration of
the rock shelters of eastern Spain with
their remarkable mural paintings, and
the shell mounds of the north, char-
acterized by implements of the newly
discovered Asturian industry. Being
in close touch with other leading
investigators of Spanish sites, he has
been able to give a detailed account of
the latest discoveries in the river
drift of the Manzanares near Madrid,
and a most extensive report of the
numerous stations broadcast through-
out the Iberian Peninsula from north
to south and from east to west. His
work therefore bears the hallmark of
personal experience, and his testi-
mony is that of an eyewitness.
During the Ice Age the great moun-
tain ranges of Spain gave rise to a
number of local glaciations, the
extent of which is evidenced by their
terminal moraines. All these are
described, from the Pyrenees in the
north to the Sierra Nevada in the
south, including those explored by
Professor Obermaier himself in the
^^•
"S-^-'
f
A boar hunt, painted in the shelter of Charco del Agua Amarga
FOSSIL MAN FROM A NEW VIEWPOINT
701
Picos de Cornion, and the estimated
height of the snow Hmit during
Pleistocene times is illustrated by
cross-section diagrams of the Iberian
Peninsula.
limited, and in consequence they
would have little effect upon the
climate of the lowlands and the
Mediterranean coasts, where a sur-
vival of those species characteristic of
Archers painted in the PalseoUthic rock shelters of Saltadora (above)
and Alpera (below), in eastern Spain
The Pleistocene and present fauna
of Spain are compared, and it is
shown that the characteristic "cold
fauna" of the glacial stages is found
only in northern Spain. In regard to
the ''warm fauna" found at various
Palaeolithic sites in Spain, Ober-
maier considers that the area ac-
tually covered by glaciers was very
a warm or temperate climate might
reasonably be expected.
There is also a detailed list of
Palaeolithic sites in the Iberian Penin-
sula, classified according to regions
and provinces, with particulars of the
industrial deposits found at each site.
With this for background, the distribu-
tion of Early Palaeolithic industries—
702
NATURAL HISTORY
Chellean, Acheulean, and Mousterian
— is described and their probable
origin discussed. The far more diffi-
cult question of the late Palaeolithic
>,/
Representations of animal tracks: — The
large picture, that of a well-defined spoor
which a hunter is following, finds place in the
rock shelter of Morella la Vella. The in-
serted picture represents three traps or cor-
rals from the cave of Pileta
industries, with Solutrean and Mag-
dalenian in the north apparently
contemporary with Capsian in the
south and east, is amply illustrated
by maps showing their probable origin
and distribution, and
' ^ ^ offering a very convinc-
'^ ing interpretation of the
problem they present.
In the closing chapter,
dealing with Epipalseo-
lithic and Protoneolithic
cultural phases, Spain
still plays an important
*' part. The final Capsian
I, of Africa and southern
and eastern Spain is
identified with the Tar-
denoisian of northern
France, and the origin of the Azilian
industry is attributed to the Canta-
brian region.
To the same region belongs the
Asturian industry — distinctly Pro-
toneolithic in character and believed
to be contemporary with the Campig-
nian of France. The scanty remains
of these huge shell mounds have been
extensively explored by Professor
Obermaier, and the illustrations which
show both their former extent and
also the incrustations of breccia that
still bear witness to it, are from his
own drawings and photographs.
But, after all, the dominant in-
terest of the book lies in the chapter
on "Palaeolithic Art," for this deals
largely with the mural paintings in the
rock shelters of eastern Spain which
offer a striking contrast to
those previously discovered.
The realistic paintings in the
caves of southern France and north-
ern Spain include numerous portray-
als of animals, but are marked by the
almost complete absence of any gen-
uine group compositions, and also of
FOSSIL MAN FROM A NEW VIEWPOINT
703
portrayals of human figures. The de-
signs found in the shallow caves and
recesses of the wild rocky gorges of east-
ern Spain include numerous spirited
groups and frequent representations
of human figures. And these daring,
impressionistic sketches of warriors,
archers, and hunters supply first-hand
informationinregardto the dress, orna-
ments, weapons, and methods of hunt-
ing affected by the men of the Old Stone
Age. A spirited stag hunt, a gather-
ing of armed men, a gentleman in
great haste pursuing a wild boar,
another pounding his fist and saying
(presumably) ''I told you so," a
wild ass etched in careful detail, a
"war dance" (or could it be a pre-
historic "daily dozen"?), corrals with
tracks of trapped animals inside, a
hunter following a well-defined spoor
in the open, a wounded chieftain
falling in his death agony — these are
some of the pictures portrayed by
fossil man.
In discussing the psychology of this
Palaeolithic art the author is careful
to remind us that this can be only a
matter of conjecture, but presents a
most interesting and reasonable inter-
pretation of its probable motives.
It is safe to say that no reader of
Fossil Man in Spain will question that
Professor Obermaier fully proves his
claims that "The cave art of western
Europe, especially of eastern Spain,
constitutes one of the most important
and fortunate discoveries ever made
in behalf of archaeology" and that
Perforated staves of stag horn ornamented
with engravings of fish, ibex heads, and other
decorative designs. From Cueto de la Mina
"Day by day it becomes clearer that
Spain is destined to play a most
interesting role in all that concerns
the study of Palaeolithic Man."
Photograph by Julius Kirschner
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY
For more than thirty years associated with the department of geology, American iVIu-
seum and for fifteen of those years its curator; editor of the American Museum Journal
(now known as Natural History) during the first ten years of its existence; an officer
and active worker in several societies devoted to science and exploration, and the author of
important contributions in his field of investigation, — Doctor Hovey served the cause of
learning with devotion and efficiencj^ up to the day of his death
704
Edmund Otis Hovey
1862-1924
LATE CURATOR OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY,
AMERICAN MUSEUM
By JAMES F. KEMP
Professor of Geology, Columbia University
THE sudden death of Dr. Edmund
Otis Hovey on September 27,
came as a great shock to a very
wide circle of colleagues and friends.
To an extent not often equalled by a
geologist, Doctor Hovey had been for
many years a traveler and observer,
and his journeyings extended from the
extreme north of Greenland to the
southern latitudes of Australia and
New Zealand. The official positions
which he had held during the thirty-
five or forty years of his scientific
activity were such as to give him an
exceptionally large acquaintance at
home and abroad; hence, the grief and
regret at the all-too-early termination
of his work are world-wide.
Doctor Hovey was born in New
Haven, Connecticut, September 15,
1862, and thus was at the time of his
death just past his sixty-second year.
His father, the Rev. Horace Carter
Hovey, was a minister who occupied
Presbyterian and Congregational pul-
pits, and, like Doctor Hovey's mother,
whose maiden name was Helen L.
Blatchley, came of colonial New Eng-
land ancestry. The Rev. Horace
Hovey had strong geological interests
and was a Fellow of the Geological
Society of America. He was graduated
from Wabash College, Indiana, in
1853; attained his D.D. in 1883; and,
in consequence of holding pastorates in
the drainage basin of the Ohio River,
was able further to develop an interest
in caves that dated back perhaps to his
early youth. Regarding these forma-
tions he left several contributions, in-
cluding a guidebook to the Mammoth
Cave of Kentucky. Some twenty-
seven titles are attributed to him in
the bibliography of North American
geology ; his earUest papers began dur-
ing the boyhood of his son, whose
thoughts were not unnatiu-ally directed
toward geology.
Edmund Otis Hovey received his
earlier education in the pubhc schools
of Peoria, IlUnois; Kansas City, Mis-
souri; and New Haven, Connecticut.
He entered Yale in the fall of 1880 and
was graduated with the class of 1884.
Thereupon, he taught school for two
years, serving as principal at Janesville
and Elk River, Minnesota. In 1886 he
returned to Yale to pursue graduate
work in geology, looking toward the
Ph.D. degree, which he received in
1889.
During this period he was for two
years assistant in the mineralogical
laboratory and came into close asso-
ciation with one of the choice spirits of
American science, the late Prof. Samuel
L. Penfield. He wrote his dissertation
under the special charge of Prof.
James D. Dana and chose for his sub-
ject, ''The Trap Ridges of the East
Haven-Branford Region." The paper
was pubhshed in the American Journal
of Science, pp. 361-83, November,
1889. It is an accurate and careful
record of the detailed geology in a
district eight or ten miles by four or
705
706
NATURAL HISTORY
five, embracing not only matters of
petrographic interest, but some struc-
tural problems calling for skill in inter-
pretation. The young geologist gave
evidence of conscientious fidelity in his
descriptions and of much independence
in his interpretations, which differed
in important respects from those given
the phenomena by preceding, older
observers.
For the three years, 1888-91, Doctor
Hovey was assistant principal of the
Waterbury High School in Connecticut,
and then, for a year, its principal. In
this busy manufacturing city he gained
many friends and is well remembered
even to the present day by those who
became attached to him so long ago.
While on leave from his school duties,
he passed the year, 1890-91, in Europe.
Instead of constantly traveling, Mrs.
Hovey and he took up their residence,
for periods of a month or more, now in
this city, now in that. In Naples, for
example, with its great opportunities
for the study of Vesuvius, they estab-
lished their home in a small apartment
and kept house, learning, thereby, in-
cidentally much of Italian life and
customs. In the same way they found
quarters in Heidelberg, where Doctor
Hovey matriculated in the university
and worked during the semesters in the
laboratory of the famous teacher. Pro-
fessor Rosenbusch. Among his fellow
students was J. J. Sederholm, now direc-
tor of the Geological Survey of Finland
and Doctor Hovey's life-long friend.
Doctor Hovey's ambitions lay in the
line of professional geological work;
accordingly, in 1892 he accepted the
appointment as superintendent of the
Missouri State Exhibit of Minerals at
the Columbian Exposition, which was
opened in Chicago in 1893. Doctor
Hovey brought together a notable dis-
play of the lead, zinc, and iron ores,
and of the coals, fire clays, and other
products of this very richly endowed
state. On January 1, 1894, after the
exposition had closed. Doctor Hovey
joined the staff of the American Mu-
seum of Natural History, serving at
first as assistant curator in geology,
under the late Prof. Robert Parr
Whitfield. In 1901 he was promoted to
associate curator, and on the decease of
Professor Whitfieldin 1910, succeeded to
the curatorship, an office which he held
and in the active duties of which he
was engaged at the moment when, near
the noon hour of September 26, he was
suddenly stricken and removed to the
Roosevelt Hospital. There, twelve
hours later, he passed away.
In his thirty years of service with
the Museum Doctor Hovey became
thoroughly experienced in the instruc-
tive and effective display of geological
specimens and illustrative materials.
During his earlier years he was largely
occupied, in collaboration with Pro-
fessor Whitfield , in cataloguing the types
and figured specimens of fossils which
had found their final resting place in
the rich collections of their department.
When, as was often the case, the writer
of these lines dropped in for a brief call
or consultation, he usually found Doctor
Hovey busied, during these years, over
trays and trays of specimens, searching
out and verifying those that were
figured subsequently in the issued
volume of record, a work of five hun-
dred pages. In his later years Doctor
Hovey did much editorial work for
the Museum, and for the ten years,
1900-10, was editor of its magazine,
then called The American Museum
Journal, but now known as Natural
History, and one of the most attrac-
tive of American publications.
In the service of the Museum,
Doctor Hovey traveled widely and
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY
707
aided in securing some of its more
notable treasm'es. Prominent among
these is the Willamette meteorite. In
order to bid for this specimen effectu-
ally, he went to Portland, Oregon, in
the neighborhood of which the meteor-
ite had been found. At another time,
he visited Bisbee, Arizona, so as to
study the geology of the great Copper
Queen Mine and its environment, in
preparation for the building of the
exceedingly instructive model in the
Museum, the gift of the late Dr. James
Douglas, president of the company.
At the destructive outbreak of Mont
Pelee, Martinique, in 1902, Doctor
Hovey was promptly dispatched to
study the volcano and collect for the
Museum a suite of illustrative speci-
mens. He brought back many volcanic
products, including a number of bombs,
and a remarkably good series of photo-
graphs, from which the vivid painting
of the famous ''spine," by Charles E.
Knight, was prepared. This picture
now hangs on the walls of the meeting
room of the New York Academy of
Sciences, in the Museum. The study
of volcanoes, begun at Vesuvius in
1890, became a subject of special
interest to Doctor Hovey and was
carried on by him whenever the oppor-
tunity was afforded.
Doctor Hovey was a delegate to
several of the meetings of the Inter-
national Geological Congress, which
offer such exceptional opportunities
for forming international friendships
and for seeing the most significant
geological features of other lands. He
attended the St. Petersburg Congress
in 1897 and took part in its long excur-
sion to Armenia and the Caucasus.
He cHmbed Mount Ararat and brought
back a series of fulgurites from one of
its high peaks. Again, in 1903, he was
a delegate to the session in Vienna and
enjoyed the excursions in the eastern
Alps. He was at the Mexican Congress
of 1906 and joined in the preliininary
excursion to the active volcano of
Colima, which possessed special attrac-
tions for him. After the week of
scientific meetings, he took part in the
three weeks' excursion north on the
Mexican Central Railroad, then east-
ward to Monterey, and, finally, south
on the Ferrocarril Nacional Mexicano.
He next visited the Isthmus of Tehuan-
tepec. From all these trips he returned
with specimens and photographs of
great value in the exhibits and lecture
courses of the Museum. Following the
Congress of 1906, he was elected one
of the corresponding members of the
Sociedad Cientifica Antonio Alzate of
the City of Mexico.
Doctor Hovey was a delegate to the
First Pan Pacific Scientific Congress,
which met in the Hawaiian Islands in
1920, and again viewed his favorite
subject of study, a volcano. In 1923
he attended the Second Pan Pacific
Scientific Congress, in Australia, and
traveled extensively in New Zealand,
bringing back many instructive photo-
graphs, which served to iUusti'ate his
lectures in the Museum courses.
In the spring of 1915 Doctor Hovey
went with the reUef expedition dis-
patched to bring back the party which
had been sent out the previous year to
explore Crocker Land. Doctor Hovey
reached Etah, the station in the ex-
treme north of Greenland whence
Peary, several years before, had started
on his dash for the Pole. Unfor-
tunately the conditions made the
return of the Crocker Land Expedition
in the summer of 1916 impossible; so
that it was not until the next year that
the party, after a long, overland trip
with sledges, was picked up by the relief
ship. Doctor Hovey made one earlier
708
NATURAL HISTORY
attempt to move southward, but the
physical strain proved too severe,
and he was forced to return to the
central station, A vevy interesting
account of the geology of northern
Greenland appeared from his pen in the
issue of the American Journal of
Science^ for September, 1924. In clear
and interesting language, and drawing
both upon his own observations and
those of the most recent explorers, he
gives a review of our knowledge of this
Httle-known region.
In 1907, when a reorganization of
executive offices was undertaken in the
New York Academy of Sciences, Doctor
Hovey was elected recording secre-
tary, and to the duties of his office were
transferred those formerly discharged
by a separate editor. For nine years
Doctor Hovey held this office, a change
being occasioned only when his pro-
tracted stay of two years in the Arctic
made the appointment of a new and
regular occupant of the double office
unavoidable. The services that Doctor
Hovey rendered to science in this con-
nection were very important . Not only
was the annual volume, the Annals,
yearly put through the press under his
direction, but thanks to his efforts the
results of the Academy's Scientific
Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin
Islands began to reach completed form.
Doctor Hovey was above all things a
careful and systematic worker and
managed to carry these responsibilities
as well as those to which we next pass
so that no confusion or delay resulted.
Undoubtedly the relation in which
Doctor Hovey came in touch with
geologists most extensively and in the
most important way was as secretary
of the Geological Society of America.
The society includes in its membership
'A notice of this contribution appeared in the issue
of Natural History for September-October, 1924,
pp. 627-28.
practically all the working and produc-
tive geologists of the North American
continent and not a few residing abroad.
It is strong, active, and influential.
Since its founding in 1888 up to 1922,
only three men had served it as secre-
tary. Prof. John J. Stevenson occu-
pied the office from 1888 through 1890.
Ill health compelled him to diminish
his cares so that, after seeing the
Society safely through its infancy, he
retired in December, 1890. Prof. H.
L. Fairchild succeeded to the duties
and remained in office seventeen years,
until 1907. Doctor Hovey was then
elected, and for sixteen years was the
officer who more than any other was
responsible for the conduct of the
society's affairs. His administration
was marked by a careful and systematic
management. His knowledge of its
history, its policies, and the spirit
actuating its successive councils was
thorough and accurate. No subject
came up in his later years of adminis-
tration, affecting in any way the
pohcies of the society, without his
prompt citation and quick finding in
the records of all previous related
action. The society had to face grow-
ing specialization and subdivision of
old interests, once brooded under the
wings of the parent organization. The
palaeontologists first organized an
affiliated body, in close association
with it. The mineralogists followed
suit. The petroleum geologists were
mostly in the mid-continent field and
became inevitably a separate body,
but with cordial relations with the
Geological Society. Many geologists
were and are members of both. The
economic geologists formed a separate
society in 1919 and maintain toward
the Geological Society a position inter-
mediate in intimacy between that of
the palaeontologists and mineralogists,
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY
709
on the one hand, with whom the rela-
tion is close; and the petroleum
geologists, on the other, with whom the
connection is one of sentiment and not
organic. All these questions of poHcy
came up dming the years of Doctor
Hovey's incumbency and in their
decision he played an important part.
At the annual dinner of the Geologi-
cal Society, held during the Ann Arbor
meeting of December, 1922, a loving
cup was presented to Doctor Hovey in
token of the appreciation felt by the
members for his sixteen years of faith-
ful service and their high regard for him;
and at the dinner, during the Washing-
ton meeting, in December, 1923, a
beautifully engrossed testimonial from
the council, as representative of the
society, expressed in a more extended
way the feehng of indebtedness of the
society's guiding body. In no one of
the many connections which Doctor
Hovey had during his life, has he left
more numerous or more devoted friends
than in the Geological Society of
America.
Doctor Hovey entered zealously into
many activities of his home city. New
York. He was an active member of and
a worker in the Presbyterian Chm'ch.
At the Century Club and the Ex-
plorers Club he was a familiar figure;
at the time of his death he was vice
president of the latter. He was also
connected with the New York section
of the American Institute of Mining
and Metallurgical Engineers, in the
membership of which were many of his
friends. In later years, he made his
home in Yonkers, coming daily to his
office in the Museum.
Doctor Hovey was a prolific con-
tributor to the Uterature of geology,
and about one hundred fifty titles stand
to his credit. Perhaps the most no-
table contribution related to Mont
Pelee, in Martinique, and to La
Soufriere, in St. Vincent. Soon after
his return from an inspection of these
volcanoes, he read, at the International
Geological Congress in . Vienna, an
account of his observations. It was his
plan and ambition again to visit the
Lesser Antilles in 1925 and then, with
the old notes and the new, to prepare
his complete report.
Doctor Hovey was married Sep-
tember 13, 1888, in New Haven,
Connecticut, to Miss Esther A. Lan-
craft, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke
College and, in later years, president of
its Society of Alumnae. She died in
1914. On October 23, 1919, Doctor
Hovey dispelled the loneHness of his
home by his marriage with Miss Dell
G. Rogers, of Springfield, Massachu-
setts. Mrs. Hovey, with one daughter,
Constance, four years old, survives,
and to them the thoughts of Doctor
Hovey's many and devoted friends
have often turned in recent weeks.
The Museum of Tomorrow
By GEORGE SARTON
Editor of Isis
THE arrangement of museums
has been considerably improved
within the last fifty years.
Their scientific and their educational
value has grown in proportion. They
have now become, not simply con-
servatories, but true universities.
And when I say that, I am not think-
ing of those museums — such as the
Paris museum for example — which
organize complete courses of lectures
and which are thus in every respect
the equivalent of a university faculty;
I am thinking of museums only as
museums, not as lecture halls or class-
rooms. Their silent teaching is prob-
ably their best teaching. Its value
consists in its perfect adaptation to
the special needs of each individual.
Every thoughtful visitor to a museum
gets out of it as much as he chooses or,
more exactly, as much as he is capable
of assimilating, as much as he de-
serves. There is no constraint what-
ever, there are no obligations but
inner ones. The museum is entirely
open to him and ready to answer
every question which he may ask.
More than that; it is ready to
awaken his mind, to raise questions
itself; to introduce new subjects, new
thoughts; to open, as it were, windows
offering him new vistas, broadening
his mental horizon in every way.
For example, let us imagine a man,
an intelligent man, knowing nothing
of palseoanthropology — nay, having
never heard or thought of it — finding
himself by some combination of cir-
cumstances in the hall of the American
Museum devoted to the Age of Man.
He would be at first startled, then
fascinated, and would spend perhaps a
710
couple of hours examining the objects
on exhibition and reading carefully
every label. This visitor would come
out of the Museum with a good in-
troductory knowledge of the subject.
He would then be very well prepared
to read a book connecting and organiz-
ing the information already obtained;
and having acquired some familiarity
with the objects described, he would
read it with real interest and profit.
Indeed, even if the book were as up-
to-date as the museum — which is not
by any means certain — he would
already have something which the
book could not give him, for he would
have seen the objects themselves, or
perfect models of them, the very
testimony bearing on the questions
discussed, — and no book illustration
can possibly take their place.
One of the many problems which
museum curators have to solve is to de-
termine the degree to which the silent
teaching can be extended or, more con-
cretely, what amount of information
it is advisable to print on the labels.
They have to assume that the visitor 's
knowledge is very limited. Yet their
explanations must remain relatively
short, in the first place, because it is
impossible or inexpedient to teach a
whole subject apropos of a special
topic and, in the second place be-
cause labels of inordinate length
would rarely be read. Even the
most zealous visitor would find it hard
to read, standing, many such labels;
fatigue would soon relax his attention.
I love museums and have visited
carefully a good many. I have read
innumerable labels relative to subjects
with which I was very familiar, and as
THE MUSEUM OF TOMORROW
711
many others regarding subjects of
which I knew much less, if anything.
My general impression is that the
art of label-writing is on the whole
very well understood. I have seldom
seen bad labels. The greater number
are very well composed but many are far
too long. Yet, even when their length
fatigued me, I did not see how they
could have been materially shortened.
Labels which are too short are
bound to be misunderstood, except by
experts, or to remain enigmatic; if
they are too long, they will not be read
or they will exhaust very quickly the
reader's zeal. Is there no way out?
I believe I have found one.
Most museums, aside from their
scientific publications, print various
leaflets for theuse of the average visitor
and also post cards. The sale of such
post cards must be very considerable,
especially if they are really good.
Each of these cards, as soon as it is
sold, becomes a memento which ex-
tends the educational influence of
the museum into thousand of homes,
scattered all over the world.
The label problem would be ad-
mirably solved by a more systematic
and intelligent use of these cards,
and also of other museum publications.
The main defect of the present system
is that the public does not know
sufficiently which cards are available.
This information should be given to
the visitor at the psychological mo-
ment, when he longs for it and is best
prepared to take it in, that is, at the
very moment when a certain object
has awakened his curiosity and when
he is making a more or less painful
effort to read the explanatory label.
Long labels should not be suppressed
but supplemented by cards reproduc-
ing their text together with an illus-
tration of the object explained. A
number clearly marked on the label
should refer the visitor to the cor-
responding card and would enable
him to buy it easily before leaving.
The reading of a label would then
become much less tiring because the
visitor would not make any serious
effort to memorize it. Neither would
he be dismayed if he did not under-
stand it well at once, for having noted
its number on a slip of paper, he would
depend on the possibility of obtaining
a copy of it, to be perused at leisure.
The reform which I advocate is
very simple and very humble; yet
its introduction would imply a great
progress. It would increase con-
siderably the teaching value of mu-
seums. To illustrate this, let us
suppose for a moment that a museum
has been organized according to my
views. That is, the main objects on
exhibition are explained, as much as
possible, on labels placed close by, at
a convenient height, and printed in a
beautiful and very legible type. Some
other labels are added, whenever
necessary, to give more general in-
formation relative to a whole group of
objects. Thus far I have simply
described the practice followed in
every progressive museum. In my
museum, however, each of these
labels bears in the upper right hand
corner a very legible number. As
soon as a visitor enters the build-
ing, he is given a card containing
on one side an explanation of these
numbers and a plan of the museum
or a brief list of the main collections.
The other side is lined and blank.
The explanation reads as follows:
When a label bears a number in the upper
right hand corner, it means that the museum
has published a post card (bearing the same
number) representing the object in question
and reproducing the label with possibly some
additional information and bibliographical
712
NATURAL HISTORY
references. Write on the back of this card
label numbers of the objects interesting you.
The post cards (or other publications) rela-
tive to them may be obtained, by quoting
these numbers, at the office near the exit.
In this way the visitor is able to
acquire without fatigue and without
trouble, the information which is of
greatest value to him. He has also
the opportunity of increasing his
knowledge, should he so desire, for the
post card bears the title of the best
book or paper devoted to the subject.
I have spoken chiefly of cards,
which represent the most general and
the most important case, but other
publications and (chiefly in art mu-
seums) photographs could be referred
to on the labels by appropriate
symbols. For example, the number of
a label and post card being 245, the
symbols 245 A, 245B, 245C might
refer respectively to a photograph, a
leaflet, or a larger memoir or book
relating to the same object. Thus the
visitor reading in the upper right
corner the number 245AC would
know at once that he could obtain a
post card, a photograph, and a book
relative to that object. Moreover,
each leaflet or memoir published by
the museum would be referred to
upon at least one post card.
Teachers visiting my museum either
alone or with their classes could
make use of this system in many
ways. They might order cards in
large numbers to be distributed to
the children during a preparatory
lesson; or, better still, they might
take their pupils to the museum and
invite them to choose the most inter-
esting objects. The corresponding
cards would be eventually ordered,
studied, and discussed in the class-
room, as well as out of it, and a new
visit to the museum arranged to re-
examine the objects, make further
comparisons, and solve the difficulties
encountered. It is not necessary to
expatiate on this. The reader will
easily conceive many other possibili-
ties. It is clear this simple device
would materially increase the edu-
cational value of the museum.
The application of my system would
be relatively easy. The labels are
made, the objects have been photo-
graphed; in many cases, the cards
already exist. It would suffice to
number them and to issue the little
plan card explaining the system. Of
course, it would be better to start with
a sufficiently large number of cards
representing many aspects of the
museum. Some of these cards might
be grouped into series and it should
be made easy for visitors to obtain,
according to their desires, the whole
collection or separate series or in-
dependent cards. ^ The initial cost
would not be great and the system
would be soon self-supporting.
I may point out, furthermore, that
the system is applicable to any museum,
irrespective of kind or size. It would
be easier, perhaps, to apply the plan
in larger museums, because there an
assistant would have no other duty
than the sale and distribution of these
cards. The scheme would be very
useful also in smaller museums, not
merely in serving their local com-
munity, but likewise in spreading
their influence abroad, because inter-
esting objects on view in small mu-
seums are likely to be less known
than those sharing the vast publicity
and prestige of the larger institutions.
Each card is not merely a document
for the student, a memento, a hint,
but a true representative of the mu-
seum, ahumble but faithful missionary.
'This has been done with considerable success by the
British Museum. The influence exerted by the Brit-
ish Museum in that way is truly far-reaching. In 1922
the number of cards sold totaled about 700,000.
■^>'<^^c'
A GILYAK
The Gilyaks, it is reported, number 4649 individuals. Some time ago they occupied all the basm of
the Amur River, but from there they were driven out by stronger tribes. At the present time they live
partly at the mouth of the Amur, and partly on the Island of Sakhalin.
They excel in wood carving and make artistic representations of the bear, an animal that plays an
important role in their religious ceremonies. Birch bark is also a material they employ in various ways and
like the Golds (see pp. 714 and 715), they make garments of fishskin
Natives of the Russian Far East
PICTURED FROM STUDIES MADE BY V. K. ARSENIEFF
Politically Siberia is an eastward extension of Europe. It is not out of place, therefore,
in an issue of Natural History in which Europe is given special emphasis to include
some reference to the far outposts of Russian dominion in eastern Siberia and beyond. The
illustrations introduced by the above picture have been supphed through the kindness of
Mr. V. K. Arsenieff under whose supervision they were prepared by the artists A. H.
Klementieff and N. P. Trafimoff for the great exhibition held at'Moscow in^l923.
713
A GOLD MAN
There are 5016 Golds, living partly on the Sungari and Usuri rivers but ch?efiy on the lower reaches of
the Amur River, not far from Lake Kizi. Though the Golds may be classed with the settled tribes rather
than with the nomadic, the tie that holds them to their place of abode is after all a loose one. They leave a
locality readily and migrate to another site.
The greater part of their lives is spent on the water, paddling in the inlets of the Amur or along this
and other rivers. In hunting the sable they make long journeys, penetrating even into the most desolate
parts of the Sikhota-Ahn Mountains, and thus they have come to know, better than do any of the other
ratives, the rivers, the paths and mountain trails, the ridges and watersheds of the region
714
I
A GOLD WOMAN
Decorltti fiS-'"""' ^'^'^"^dered garments, but this is not their only or most characteristic apparel.
Decorated fishskm garments are also worn by them and because of this the Chinese call the Golds Yupi-
and 1; til TK'. r^'A''" °- '""'^ '°''' "'" '""^'^''"^ °" '^' '^'"^ fi^""- °f the American Museum,
m the ntt '''''' ir'f *° *h^ G°'ds may be seen also conical hats of the type of that worn bv the woman
ZTnfl ^t f ' . "^ "'^'^' °^ ''''"''' '^^'"^ ^"^^ ^'■^ ornamented with colored figures cut out of the
bark of that tree. Another type of head covering is that worn by the Gold man on the opposing page. This
o^tte AreHcrMus:! ""^''^"^ ''' *°'"^' '''''' ^'^ ''' °^ ' ^^'^'^^ ^^ ^'^° ^^P^^^"*^^ ^" *^^ -"-*--
715
fefSfflW^MPP"
SS
h M TnT*
i
m-
n,.=^ axc^iii-kie
A LAMUT MAN
The Lamuts are seacoast Tungus and derive their name from the Tungup word lam, meaning "sea."
They live part of the time on the upper reaches of the right-hand inlets of the River Lena, in Kolymsk, and
in Kamchatka. Altogether they number 3130 individuals. Nowhere do the Lamutf= have their own land,
but they consider all land as belonging to them.
The bison supplied food, raiment, and shelter to our Plains Indians. The reindeer is no le.'^s useful to
the Lamuts. It forages for itself and provides food and clothing for its master, in addition to transporting
him from place to place. With its assistance the Lamuts are able to make their migrations
716
IJILiUI'H.lil'lHHH.
A LAMUT WOMAN
The fur garments of the Lamuts are of rather striking appearance, being usually decorated with
designs produced by combinations of blue, white, and black beads. Both the costume of the woman above
and that of the man on the opposing page have ornamentations of this character The large spoon she is
holding is similar to one of wood on exhibit in the section devoted to the Lamuts on the third floor of the
American Museum_, and several smaller spoons of mountainsheep horn may there be seen. A flintlock of
Russian manufacture similar to that grasped by the man is also on view in the section referred to, as well
as wooden pipes with metal bowl of a type similar to that held in the right hard of the man
717
AN AINU
This venerable individual is a member of a race once widely spread over Japan. Today his people have
dwindled to a few thousand, some of whom are on the island of Sakhalin, which up to the time of the Treaty
of Portsmouth, was exclusively under Russian control but is now divided between Japan and Russia. The
Ainus have a white skin and are heavily bearded, and in these respects form a contrast to the Japanese.
They are the most humble perhaps of all peoples, lacking aggressive qualities.
The man is shown tuning a tonkari, or mukko, an instrument belonging to the psaltery type. Unlike
the Japanese koto, which is laid on the ground or placed on a stand, the tonkari is held with the end having
the tuning pegs up over the left shoulder. It is played with the fingers of both hands after the manner of
the harp. The instrument that is most closely related to the tonkari of the Ainus appears to be the crocodile
harp of Siam and Burma. Specimens of the tonkari are on view in the Ainu section on the third floor of the
American Museum
NOTES
HERBERT L. BRIDGMAN
Herbert L. Bridgman, who recently died at
sea in his eighty-first year, will be remembered
for many things, for he poured the rich stream
of his energy into a number of worthy activi-
ties and was the champion of many noble
causes; he was, in the eloquent words of the
Rev. Dr. Howard Dean French, "an adven-
turer in the service of mankind." His career
in journalism, culminating in his affiliation
with the Standard Union of Brooklyn, was
throughout distinguished, and the confidence
and respect extended to him by the newspaper
world were evidenced by his election to the
chairmanship of the New York Publishers
Association and the presidency of the Ameri-
can Newspaper Publishers Association.
His interests, however, were not limited to
his chosen profession. He was a member of
the Board of Regents of the University of the
State of New York and an earnest participant
in public affairs. Throughout his life explor-
ation claimed much of his attention. In 1897
he scaled the Enchanted Mesa in New Mexico.
During the long years that Peary was stub-
bornly fighting his way to the Pole, Mr. Bridg-
man was actively assisting him. He com-
manded two auxiliary expeditions in support
of Peary's project, that of the "Diana" in
1899 and that of the "Erik" in 1901, and as
-secretary of the Peary Arctic Club aided Peary
materially in accomplishing the purpose to
which he dedicated his life.
President Morris K. Jesup of the American
Museum was also president of the Peary
Arctic Club, and it was natural, therefore,
that the two organizations should be brought
into more or less close contact. Mr. Bridg-
man's interest in the American Museum re-
ceived its impetus at that time, and it re-
mained strong to the end. To the Peary
Arctic Club and its officers the Museum is
indebted for the gift of one of the sleds that
made the journey to the Pole, as well as of
photographic records and other valuable his-
toric data. Thanks to the tact shown by Mr.
Bridgman in the course of his visit, at the
age of sixty, to the interior of Africa, a
courteous welcome was assured other Ameri-
cans entering the same general region, and
thus indirectly the American Museum Congo
Expedition profited from the reputation for
fair dealing and good sense that had been
estabhshed by Mr. Bridgman. In other ways.
too, he was of great assistance to the Museum,
many a time bringing it to pubhc attention
through the Standard Union. In recognition
of his unswerving loyalty to the Museum and
his never-failing helpfulness, he was accorded
the unusual honor of being elected an Honorary
Fellow of this institution.
INSECTS
An Insect Menagerie. — A departure from
the orthodox museum exhibit has been made
in the American Museum through the in.stal-
lation of a case containing a diversity of live
insects. When the first specimens were
introduced, they were allowed a free range of
the case, but with the pressure of population
resulting from constant new accretions it
became necessary to confine the different
groups in glass dishes, bowls, and aquaria,
so that the pertinence of the labels might be
preserved and confusion avoided.
Within the limits of a case a few feet square
the visitor has been able to observe a range of
animal habit as great as that represented in
vertebrate menageries by the flesh-eating
tiger and the herbivorous elephant, and a
range of structure comparable to that of the
water-living fish and the arboreal monke3^
Utethesia bella, one of the most beautiful of
the moths, has developed from caterpillar to
adult in this insect menagerie. Beyond the
glass dome in which it is housed ^^^th its
principal food plant, the rattle box, is a dish
in which Sitodrepa panicea is reveling. Be-
cause of its ravages in pharmacies, where it
will feed without apparent injury even upon
poisons, this insect is commonly known as the
drug-store beetle. It appreciates as food what
man nerves himself to swallow as a medicine,
but by way of indicating the omnivorous char-
acter of Sitodrepa panicea, it is shown in the
exhibit pasturing on corn meal. Insects of
unsavory reputation like the cockroach and
the unspeakable bedbug are also exliibited,
but with labels so informing that one is recon-
ciled to their presence. A box of cigars
ruined for the smoker bj^ a small beetle
{Lasioderma serricorne) that chews tobacco is
another feature.
Farther along are the interesting water
insects, — the Belostomidse, some of which
attack even good-sized fish; the water strid-
ers that delight us bj' skating about on the
calm surface of ponds and slowly moving
720
NATURAL HISTORY
streams; the water scorpion with a "tail"
that serves as a breathing organ; and the
aquatic larvse of the dragon fly and damsel
fly.
Specimens of the grass-green praying
mantis formed one of the most interesting
features of the exhibit. As this Note is
written, one survivor is still on view, statu-
esquely waiting, with her traphke front legs
raised not in prayer but in readiness to grasp
the hapless insect that may approach her.
A foamy egg mass on her twig and another
on the glass wall of her prison were deposited
during her period of captivity and are an
evidence of the interesting biological happen-
ings which the visitor who lingers about the
live-insect case may have the opportunity to
observe.
One of the attractive features of the ex-
hibit is its very impermanence . A visitor may
step in today and see a different group
from that which he witnessed last week. Thus
there is a constant replenishment of interest.
Yet from another aspect even the insects
that are replaced are permanently accessible.
The live-insect exhibit is in a hall filled with
cases of insect specimens and the labels
applying to the live insects frequently have
cross references to the collections, with the
opportunities for more extended study that
they offer the interested visitor.
The Lady Beetle Group. — Among the
best friends of the farmer are the lady beetles,
whose consuming purpose in life, from infancy
to old age, is to destroy plant lice and scale
insects. But for the vigilance and voracity of
these allies of the horticulturist, the ravages
of some of our insect pests would be even
more appalling. In the mountainous regions
of our West untold thousands of these beetles,
their beneficent summer's task completed,
fly to some height — the more lofty, the better
— to secrete themselves in cracks and crevices
of the rocks for hibernation. Here, with the
return of spring, they may be seen pouring
forth from their winter hiding place, a great
sprawling stream of life in which the later
outwellings may overflow those that preceded,
until there is a piled-up struggling heap of in-
sects that can.be scooped up by the handful.
In some parts of our country — California,
for instance, — the lady beetles thus hibernat-
ing are gathered, placed in cold storage, and
shipped at the proper time to horticulturists
whose crops are threatened by invasions of
insect enemies. In this way, like shock troops
held in reserve for some storming operation,
the beetles are sent to strategic points instead
of being permitted to wage war in desultory
fashion.
A spring emergence of the kind above
described is depicted in the most recently
completed insect exhibit on the third floor
of the American Museum. The scene is the
top of Green Mountain, near Boulder, Colo-
rado. In the foreground are the emerging
insect hordes, in the far distance are the
white peaks of the Snowy Range of Rocky
Mountain Park, and between are deep canons
and rugged prominences. Yet the exhibit
measures only about 3 feet by 4 feet!
The illusion of vast distance and command-
ing height is achieved in ingenious ways. The
window through which the scene is viewed is
so narrow that the eye does not take in the
whole vista at one glance but has revealed to it
only gradually the features of the landscape,
thus simulating the conditions that obtain as
one looks from some height upon the beauties
of nature that lie to the east and south and
west. The depth of the canon flanking Green
Mountain is admirably conveyed through the
inability of the eye to range very far down its
side, an abyssmal drop being suggested at
the point where the eye is denied a further
downward view.
The foreground of this effective group was
made by Mr. Edward J. Burns, the back-
ground was painted by Mr. Arthur A. Jans-
son, both under the direction of Mr. James L.
Clark, while field work and the general plan
of the exhibit were the contributions of
Doctor Lutz.
Two other exhibits in the series in which
the Lady Beetle Group finds place are near-
ing completion. One of these shows an un-
desirable alien from Europe, the white cab-
bage butterfly (Pieris rapae), in possession of a
patch planted with the vegetable to which it is
partial; the other illustrates phases in the life
history of a butterfly that annually makes
long migrations, the monarch {Danaus archip-
pus), here shown in association with its
favorite food plant, the milkweed.
BIRDS
The American Ornithologists' Union
held its Forty-second Stated Meeting at the
Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
There was a large attendance of bird lovers
from all parts of the country who listened
722
NATURAL HISTORY
with appreciation to the interesting papers,
the presentation of which extended through
the morning and afternoon sessions of
November 11, 12, and 13. Indeed, so full
was the program that on the morning of two
of the days independent sessions were run
simultaneously. The American Museum was
represented by Dr. Frank M. Chapman and
the other members of the department of birds,
and in addition by Mr. H. E. Anthony of the
department of mammals, Mr. J. T. Nichols,
of the department of fishes, and Mr. F. L.
Jacques, of the department of preparation.
Of the fifty-six papers announced in the pro-
gram, fourteen were prepared by members of
the scientific staff of the American Museum,
and were delivered in the following order :
"Progress of the Whitney South Sea Ex-
pedition" by Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy;
"Mutation in Henicorhina" by Dr. Frank M.
Chapman; "The Status of Kumlien's Gull"
by Dr. Jonathan Dwight; "A Few Remarks
on Cyclarhis" by Mrs. Walter W. Naumburg;
" Distribution and Relationships of the Genus
Zonotrichia" by Mr. Rudyerd Boulton;
" Descriptions of New Birds from Costa Rica"
by Dr. Jonathan Dwight and Mr. Ludlow
Griscom; "The Systematic Position of
Bubalornis and Dinemellia" by Dr. James P.
Chapin; "An Ornithological Reconnaissance
in Southern Chile" by Dr. Frank M. Chap-
man; " Bird-hunting in Unexplored Panama"
by Mr. Ludlow Griscom; "Breeding Seasons
of Birds in Tropical Africa" by Dr. James P.
Chapin; " The Recent Status of the Bird Life
of Cobb's Island, Virginia" by Mr. Rudyerd
Boulton; "The Interrelation of the Campo
and Amazonian Faunas" by Mrs. Walter W.
Naumburg; "Some Problems of Geographic
Distribution in Western Panama" by Mr.
Ludlow Griscom; and "The Faunal Regions
of the Western Hemisphere " by Mr. W. DeW.
Miller. Mr. J. T. Nichols was to have deliv-
ered a paper on " Naming Shore Bird Tracks"
but was prevented from doing so through the
necessity of returning to New York earher
than he had planned.
One of the features of interest at the
gathering was an exhibition of paintings by
American bird artists; and both from the
standpoints of the number of artists repre-
sented and the quahty of their work this
exhibition marked a notable advance over
those held in other years. Among the new
artists whose paintings were particularly
admired was Mr. F. L. Jacques, who has but
recently joined the department of prepara-
tion, American Museum.
To Mrs. Walter W. Naumburg, research
associate in the Museum's department of
birds, was accorded the honor of election as a
member of the American Ornithologists'
Union, a distinction hmited to one hundred
individuals and heretofore extended to only
two other women, Mrs. Vernon Bailey and
Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright.
The National Association of Audubon
Societies held its Twentieth Annual Meeting
in the American Museum October 28. The
business session, with the presentation of the
annual reports, took place in the morning,
the confidence of the association in its able
directorate being manifested through the
reelection of those members of the Board
whose term of service had expired. After a,
buffet luncheon, an Educational Conference
was conducted by Mr. Edward H. Forbush,
several of the members present discussing the
opportunities for furthering the knowledge of
birds among young and old through the facili-
ties at the command of the association. Mr.
Edward Avis then gave his delightful "Bird
Song Recital," reproducing the notes of the
field and forest with such astonishing faith-
fulness that it seemed hard to believe that
tones of this liquid and flutelike quality could
be engendered by the vocal organs of a man.
Mr. Avis was not the only individual who
added to the instructive entertainment of the
session. At the public meeting held in the
Auditorium of the Museum on the evening
preceding the official gathering. Dr. A. A.
Allen gave an informing talk, illustrated by
many excellent lantern slides and motion
pictures, of his recent visit to Texas and the
Everglades of Florida, where he engaged in a
successful search for some of the rarer birds
of the southern region of our country.
Doctor Allen's address was preceded by one
delivered by Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson, presi-
dent of the association, in which Mr. Pearson
pleaded for sane conservation.
EDUCATION
Western Reserve University. — October
9 was an eventful day in the history of West-
ern Reserve University. In the morning Dr.
Robert Ernest Vinson was inaugurated as
seventh president of the institution and in
the afternoon the new building of the school
of medicine was dedicated. A large number
of delegates representing universities, colleges.
NOTES
723
schools, scientific societies museums, and
educational associations located throughout
the country testified by their presence to the
interest of the learned world in these vital
happenings. The American Museum was
represented on the occasion by Dr. H. L.
Madison, acting director of the Cleveland
Museum of Natural History, and by Mr.
Lewis Blair Wilhams, of Cleveland.
Doctor Vinson succeeds to an office left
vacant in 1921 through the retirement from
active service of President Charles Franklin
Thwing, who had discharged his duties with
vigor and distinction for more than thirty
years. In the interval between the retire-
ment of Doctor Thwing and the inauguration
of his successor, Doctor Williamson as acting
president guided the fortunes of Western
Reserve. With the heavy responsibihties
that his appointment involves Doctor Vinson
is especially well fitted to cope, for he has had
not only an important career as a teacher but
also administrative experience extending over
many years during which he held the presi-
dency of the Austin (Texas) Presbyterian
Theological Seminary and subsequently that
of the University of Texas.
In connection with the dedication of the
new building of the school of medicine, it is
fitting to recall that it is now more than
eighty years ago that instruction was begun
in the Cleveland Medical College, which sub-
sequently became the medical department of
Western Reserve. The first medical school
building was erected at a cost of $20,000
during 1846-47. The second building, the
gift of Mr. John L. Woods, who donated
$243,000 to cover the cost of its erection,
was begun in 1885 and dedicated in 1887.
Although in the course of the decades that
followed the facihties of the school were
extended through the erection of a chemical
laboratory building in 1898 and of the H. K.
Cushing Laboratory of Experimental Medi-
cine in 1908, it was not until this year that a
third medical building was presented to the
institution. This building, to the dedication
of which the afternoon ceremonies of October
9 were devoted, was made possible through
the sum of $2,500,000 generously donated for
the purpose by Mr. Samuel Mather.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the
oldest existing college of science and engineer-
ing in any English-speaking country, cele-
brated the one hundredth anniversary of its
founding on October 3-4. The presidents
of Yale, Cornell, the University of Wiscon-
sin, New York University, and the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology, the presid-
ing officers of leading engineering societies of
Great Britain, France, and Italy, of Canada
and the United States, the president of the
National Academy of Sciences, the Hon.
Herbert Hoover, and Mrs. Elizabeth Van
Rensselaer Frazer, a lineal descendant of the
founder, were among the distinguished guests
who participated in the exercises commem-
orating the event. A pageant illustrating
significant steps in the development of the
Institute and in the progress of science during
the last hundred years was enacted on the
campus.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was not
the first college in the United States to
offer courses in science, but it is the only
educational institution devoted to the sci-
ences which has had a continuous existence
for ten decades. Nor does its distinction
rest on this ground alone. As originally
planned by its founder, Stephen Van Rens-
selaer, it was to provide teachers for the
instruction of "the sons and daughters of
farmers and mechanics" in "agriculture,
domestic economy, the arts, and manufac-
tures." It was thus the first school of agri-
culture in the United States, antedating by
nearly thirty-five years its nearest rival, the
Michigan State Agricultural College. How-
ever, agriculture soon took a subordinate
place in the curriculum and in time was
dropped altogether. Amos Eaton deserves
equal recognition with the founder, for to the
intellect and vision of this remarkable man
were due in no small measure the auspicious
beginnings of the institution. A pioneer in
educational methods, he was the first to
introduce field work and laboratory routine
into an American college, thus adding another
claim of primacy to the several already en-
joyed by the Institute. He looked upon it
as "the common workshop for all colleges,
academies, and other hterary and scientific
seminaries of learning" and aimed to make
it in fact a graduate school.
Through its alumni Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute has spread its influence and its
educational standards far beyond the walls
of the institution. While its most distin-
guished triumphs have been in the field of
engineering, its hst of graduates includes a
number who have made contributions of
enduring value to the natural sciences.
724
NATURAL HISTORY
CONSERVATION
Spare the Holly. — The use of evergreens
in the celebration of Christmas is of very
ancient origin. The mistletoe had its place
even in the ritual of the Druids and in Scan-
dinavian myth, the association of holly with
the Yuletide is celebrated in ballads dating
back to the fifteenth century, and the Christ-
mas tree, adorned with its lights and decora-
tions, bloomed on Hoh' Night at least as
earh' as 1604.
We love the old customs of Christmas, but
our very love for them is putting their con-
tinuance in jeopardy. The number of coni-
fers annually chopped down to contribute
to the Christmas cheer leaves a trail of desola-
tion in our forests, and with the progress of
the destruction we may be forced in time to
the reahzation that a tree that wears its re-
freshing green throughout the year is prefer-
able to one that is resplendent in glory for
but a single day.
More serious than the annual demand
for Christmas trees is the yearly toU taken
of our depleted supply of holly. Nature
provided this plant with leaves the sharp
points of which are a deterrent to the attacks
of animals, but its beautiful scarlet berries
have doomed it to destruction at the hands of
man. The outdoor Nature Club of Houston,
Texas, has sent an appeal to the "Fellow
Lovers of America's Outdoors," pleading for
their cooperation in bringing about its dis-
continuance as a Christmas decoration in
order that this symbohc plant may be pre-
served from possible extinction. In the
interest of the very perpetuity of our time-
honored Christmas customs it is imperative
that nature be allowed a chance to recuperate.
REPTILES
Home of the Gopher Turtle. — Some
years ago the late Mary Cynthia Dickerson
planned a companion group to her last master-
piece, "The Florida Group." It was during
a trip to Florida that she became interested
in the habits of the gopher turtle and realized
the great possibilities in representing the
home life of these strange subterranean
tortoises. Other undertakings, however,
interferred with the fulfillment of Miss
Dickerson's plan and the arrangement was
practically abandoned at the time she with-
drew from the American Museum. Recently,
through the cooperation of several friends of
the Museum, particularly Mr. Thomas
HaUinan, Mr. T. D. Carter, and Mr. C. H.
Halter, it has been possible to present a scene
from' the home hfe of the gopher turtle — if
not on the same broad lines as those Miss
Dickerson wished — at least in a way that
is sure to arouse the interest of the visitor
to the reptile hall.
Parts of two burrows are reproduced in the
group, and in the case of one of them the
interior is shown. The gopher turtles are
represented as just starting out for a morn-
ing's forage for wire grass and other appar-
ently non-digestible vegetation growing near
their home. The eggs of a gopher turtle are
seen in their sandy chamber just below the
entrance to one of the burrows. Such a
chamber is independent of the burrow, being
excavated by the turtle solely for the recep-
tion of the eggs. Another clutch of eggs has
already hatched and some of the young tur-
tles are represented wandering among the
dead leaves and other litter which fill the hol-
lows between the dunes. Due to the size of
the group not all of its details can be shown
in a photograph, and these young turtles could
not therefore be included in the accompany-
ing picture. A gopher snake, disturbed from
his resting place in a shrubbery where he has
passed the night, is lying very quietly until he
is sure that it is only a gopher turtle making
all the noise in the near-by bushes. Gopher
snakes have as gentle dispositions as the com-
placent tortoises with which they chum. It
is only the rats and "salamanders," small bur-
rowing mammals (Geomys), that ever feel the
full strength of their powerful coils and
sharp teeth.
The group, which was constructed by Mr.
E. J. Burns and other members of the Mu-
seum's department of preparation working
under the direction of Mr. James L. Clark,
illustrates an interesting case of vertebrate
symbiosis. A large spotted frog, Rana assopus,
crouches Hke a watchdog on a shelf which he
has dug for himself at the mouth of the bur-
row. When a shadow passes over the burrow
entrance, the frog quickly hops down into the
lower depths. Whether or not he warns the
turtle of the intruder is not known, but at
least the turtle tolerates the frog's presence.
The frog, unlike the turtle, does not breed
near the burrow, but seeks for the purpose
some pond in the pine forest. Burrows of go-
pher turtles are abundant in the pine woods
of Florida, for it is here that we find sandy
soil. The distribution of both turtle and frog
26
NATURAL HISTORY
teems to be confined to this sandj' soil in which
the turtle can easih' dig.
There are three species of gopher turtles
in the United States. Two of these turtles are
Westerners which frequent the deserts of
Texas, Arizona, Cahfornia, and Nevada.
The Florida gopher turtle is used extensively
for food. An interesting account of "Gopher
Pulhng in Florida'' has been described in
Natural Histoet bj'- Dr. G. Ctyde Fisher.^
FISHES
The American Society of Ichthyolo-
gists AND Herpetologists held its Ninth
Annual Meeting in Burton Hall, Smith
College, October 25, 1924. The follo\\ang
officers were elected: president, Dr. Thomas
Barbour, of Harvard University; vice presi-
dents, Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, of the United
States National Museum, Prof. H. H. Wilder,
of Smith College, Mr. J. T. Nichols, of the
American Museum; treasurer, Mr. Henrj^ W.
Fowler, of the Academy' of Natural Sciences
of Philadelphia; secretarj-, Prof. Emmett R.
Dunn, of Smith College.
Among the papers presented was one by
Prof. Albert H. Wright, of Cornell Univer-
sity, devoted to the description of a rare
southern frog. The species in question is
very hke the buUfrog but its tadpole is quite
uahke the "j-eUow tad" of the famiUar bel-
lower. Professor Dunn exhibited a series
showing the development of a small West
Indian tree frog (also found in Florida),
wherein there is no tadpole stage, the young
frog hatching directly from the egg. IMr.
Nichols spoke of the fresh-water fishes of
China, introducing the subject of geographical
distribution. A discussion followed in which
emphasis was laid on the importance of the
faunal unit, an association of animals espe-
cially adapted to a certain area or climate
and there dominant. The difiicult}^ of de-
limiting so-caUed faunal areas except by the
dominance of one or another faunal unit in a
given territorj' was stressed.
Papers by Dr. E. W. Gudger. — Among
the papers which Dr. E. W. Gudger has re-
cently issued, in addition to those that have
appeared in Natural History, where his
contributions are always read mth interest,
are the following: "The Sources of the
Material for Hamilton Buchanan's Fishes of
the Ganges, the Fate of His Collections, Draw-
ings, and Notes, and the Use Made of His
iNatueal History, May, 1917.
Data," in the Journal and Proceedings, Asia-
tic Society of Bengal (New Series), Vol. XIX,
No. 4; "On the Proper Wording of the Titles
of Scientific Papers," in Science, Vol. LX,
No. 1540; "More About Spider Webs and
Spider Web Fish Nets," in the Zoological
Society Bulletin for July, 1924, presenting
certain interesting data in corroboration of
his previous articles regarding this astonishing
use of spider webs; and "PHny's Historia Nat-
uralis — the Most Popular Natural History
Ever Published," in Isis (Brussels), Vol. VT,
No. 18. Doctor Gudger has succeeded in trac-
ing 222 editions of the Historia Naturalis,
that were pubhshed between 1469 and 1906
Of these 190 were issued between 1469 and
1799, a span of 330 years. In addition he
has traced 281 items of Phniana (single books
of Pliny's work, comments on his writings,
etc.), constituting a grand total of 503 publi-
cations of natural historj^ bearing. In view
of this impressive aggregate, there is justifica-
tion for Doctor Gudger's subtitle "The Most
Popular Natural History Ever Pubhshed."
VERTEBRATE FOSSILS
Dr. Friedrich von Huene of Tubingen
Universitj' is kno^m to many friends of the
American Museum as an authoritj^ on dino-
saurs. Before the war he spent a year or more
in America, studying in different museums and
visiting the fossil fields. In 1921 he opened
up a remarkable fossil quarry in southern
Wiirttemberg from which he secured a series
of skeletons of the rare Triassic dinosaurs, —
ancestors of the giant dinosaurs of later
geologic periods. These skeletons are now
being prepared at Tiibingen. The collec-
tions were made under the joint auspices of
the American Museum and Tubingen Uni-
versity, and the collection will be divided
between the two institutions. The Museum
looks forward to a fine representation of
these primitive dinosaurs, known in this
countrj" chiefly from their footprints ip the
sandstones of the Connecticut River and
elsewhere. Only two skeletons of Triassic
dinosaurs have been found in this country —
the two species of Anchisaurus in Yale Uni-
versity— and thej^ are of small size and in-
complete. The American Museum has ovly
footprints, teeth, and a cast of the bigger
Yale specimen as representatives of this
important group. Fairly complete skeletons
have been found in South Africa, but the
Triassic dinosaurs are known principallj'
NOTES
727
from Trossingen in Wiirttemberg and Hal-
berstadt in Saxony. The best of the Halber-
stadt specimens are in Berlin. Three fine
skeletons from Trossingen and another place
are in the Stuttgart Museum; the new speci-
mens will equal or surpass any of those men-
tioned. The preparation of two of the skele-
tons has been completed, Doctor von Huene
informs us, and preparators are now at work
on a third one.
Not long ago the Buenos Aires and La
Plata museums in Argentina invited Doctor
von Huene to study and describe the dino-
saurs in their collections, and he spent nearly
a year on this research, working in the mu-
seums and visiting the localities where the
dinosaurs were found. The remains are for
the most part those of gigantic amphibious
dinosaurs, related to our Brontosaurus and
Diplodocus, equally huge and of somewhat
later geologic age. Doctor von Huene writes,
however, that fragmentary remains of other
kinds are also present. He visited the dino-
saur fields and some of the fossil mammal
localities in Patagonia, and writes of a re-
markable series of skeletons of giant dinosaurs
which were being taken out at the time he
left. He made also a number of very valuable
observations on the geologic age and succes-
sion of the formations in that region. These
present a problem which has been much dis-
puted, and his expert and unbiased observa-
tions and conclusions wiU carry great weight
in deciding the controversy. He confirms
completely the view that the dinosaurs are
limited to the older Cretaceous formations,
and the mammals are all of later age and not,
as was formerly supposed, contemporary
with the dinosaurs.
On completing his South American work
Doctor von Huene went to South Africa,
where he spent some months visiting the
museums of Cape Town, Grahamstown, etc.,
and the various collecting grounds of the
Karoo series of rocks, whence have come the
vast variety and numbers of primitive rep-
tiles of Permian and Triassic age. The Ameri-
can Museum has one of the four well-known
collections of these remarkable and interesting
primitive reptiles of South Africa, and the
Moschops and Endothiodon skeletons in the
exhibition halls of the Museum are a fair
sample of their strange and curious character.
Doctor von Huene secured a fine collection
for Tubingen^ University, and is now on his
way home.
It is a pleasure to note in his letters repeated
references to the courtesy and aid received
both from the government and individuals in
Argentina and South Africa. As a result of
his visit to the United States he has many
cordial friends and admirers in this country
who are appreciative that his high scientific
standing and attractive personality are re-
ceiving recognition elsewhere as well. —
W. D. M.
ASIA
Natural History Museum in Peking. —
One of the indirect results of President Henry
Fairfield Osborn's visit to Peking is a marked
revival of interest in the project of a natural
history museum for that great and historic
city. Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews, leader of
the Third Asiatic Expedition of the Ameri-
can Museum and Asia Magazine, \vrites,
under date of August 11, that Wellington
Koo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Acting
Premier (at that time), a graduate of Colum-
bia University, is especially interested in the
movement. A mandate has been issued by
the President of the Republic, a societj^ has
been formed, and the museum project now
has the highest official sanction. It has been
approved at a meeting attended by three
cabinet ministers, besides the Acting Premier
and other prominent Chinese officials. It
had previously been approved by Dr. W. W.
Yen, Premier-elect of the Chinese RepubUc.
It is essentially a Chinese movement, the
only two foreigners in the society being Dr.
John C. Ferguson and Mr. Andrews. A con-
siderable amount of money has been sub-
scribed by the Chinese officials personally and
they are planning to secure government
support.
The museum wiU open as an exhibition and
educational institution and will take on func-
tions of research in future years. A number
of valuable and interesting specimens for
exhibition and instruction were taken over
by Mr. Andrews on his return to China and
these are highly appreciated by the Chinese
officials. Among those deeply interested is
Dr. Kung Bah King, director of the Art
Museum, which is now well established in
one of the palaces of the Forbidden City.
Chinese officials are giving attention to other
vacant palaces with a view to securing appro-
priate quarters for the natural history mu-
seum, and as the specimens arrive they will be
immediately installed in the site selected.
728
NATURAL HISTORY
Particularly desired at the start are attrac-
tive educational exhibits to make a showing
that will arouse and enlist public support.
Among the specimens to be sent by the Ameri-
can Museum are two of the original dinosaur
eggs and some of the original protoceratop-
sian material; the American Museum also
contemplates sending some animals and birds
which will make a beginning in zoology and
will illustrate methods that the Chinese
preparators may learn to duplicate.
NEW MEMBERS
Since the last issue of Natural History
the following persons have been elected mem-
bers of the American Museum, making the
total membership 7814: —
Fellow: Doctor Thomas Barbour.
Honorary Life Members: Messrs. Don
Rafael Grajales, Dimitrios Papade-
metrius, and a. r. wilcox.
Life Members: Miss Louise W. Case, Dr.
Malcolm H. Tallman; Messrs. Herbert
L. Aldrich, Henry Waldo Greenough,
M. D. Howell, Arthur Newton Pack,
and William Rennult.
Stistaining Members: Dr. Joseph H. Abra-
ham; Mr. Chas. M. Kohn.
Annual Members: Mesdames Henry H.
Allen, O. T. Barnes, George E. Brewer,
Jr., Irving J. Fox, S. H. Hartshorn,
Eugene D. Hawkins, Ernest Ingersoll,
Charles Mallory, J. S. Noffsinger,
David B. Ogden, Fred. Starr, William
Reed Thompson, L. Mc A. Thorn, Kinsley
Twining; The Misses Evelyn Boteler,
Mary Bussing, Jessie Chase, M. Dressel,
Laura B. Garrett, Gladys A. Reichard,
Emma C. Reynolds, Myra Valentine,
Virginia Young; Doctors Ellis Bonime,
Magnus C. Ihlseng, Mary Keyt Isham,
Morton C. Kahn, Arthur Stein; Messrs.
Theodore S. Barber, Louis G. Bendick,
Storrs Brigham, I. L. Broadwin, Edward
M. Brown, Geo. F. Brownell, Gordon
W. Burnham, Charles S. Crow, Mal-
colm B. Dutcher, Edgar Ellinger,
Edward R. A. Eschenbach, Frederic
Fichtel, Jules A. Guillaume, Geo.
Hamilton, Pascal R. Harrower, Julius
HoLz, Theo. C. Hovey, Arthur J. Jones,
W. F. Marshall, I. D. Morrison, H. H.
Morse, Wm. T. Payne, Jason Seabury
Pettengill, Jesse F. Rosenfeld, Sidney
C. Valentine, Oscar M. Voorhees, Fran-
cis G. Wickware; Children's Univer-
sity School, Lawrence School, Liberta
School; Sisters of St. Dominic.
Associate Members: Mesdames James I.
Kay, Walter A. Scott, J. R. Tindle,
Hilda H. Wullen; The Misses Caroline
A. Abbatt, Eunice R. Blackburn, Astrid
L. Johnson, Mary E. Stevenson; Prof.
Clodoveo Carrion; Col. C. deJ. Luxmore;
Doctors Wm. Hewson Baltzell, Kennon
Dunham, August T. Gast, J. S. Kelsey,
Jr., Chas. T. Vorhies; Messrs. Duncan
McArthur Anderson, Walter A. Angell,
Rene Bal, Gardner R. P. Barker, Charles
H. Blatchford, Simon P. Bomgardner,
Roland S. Bond, Alan Boyden, F. C. Buck-
master, Joel W. Burdick, Leland B. Case,
Harry A. Cash, W. L. Clause, T. W.
Cloney, Louis W. Dalzell, F. G. Darling-
ton, Jr., Walter Henry Daub, Jr., Jean
Delacour, Alan C. Dixon, G. Tyrwhitt-
Drake, W. J. DuGAN, John Erickson,
Philotheos K. Ferney, George M. Gray,
Frank A. Halladay, Edward C. Ham-
mond, Wm. Albert Harbison, A. S. Hark-
NEss, R. Bruce Horsfall, William C.
Huebner. Wm. Prescott Hunt, Jr., E. J.
Keeble, Joseph W. Kennedy, Julian
Kennedy, Jr., Henry H. King, John W.
Lawrence, Thomas Liggett, David R.
Locke, John Howard P. Logan, William
R. Maxon, Wm. L. Mitchell, Rodman
WiSTER MOORHEAD, GeORGE NoRRIS
Morgan, Henry Jewett Orth, Jr., Hay-
wood Parker, James B. Peter, Curt P.
RiCHTER, Wm. Rindspoos, W. H. Robin-
son, F. W. Severance, C. Bernard Shea,
W. K. Shiras, Crawford L. Smith, Chas.
A. Stanwick, Alan Stone, R. S. Sturte-
VANT, William H. Wheeler, 2d., Gerrit
P. Wilder, S. H. Wilder, Amory L. Wil-
liams, David P. Willoughby, Edward A.
Woods, Hikoji Yanagida.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
FOUNDED IN 1869
Board of Trustees
Henry Fairfield Osborn, President
George F. Baker, First Vice President Clarence L. Hay
J. P. Morgan, Second Vice President Archer M. Huntington
George F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer Adrian Iselin
Percy R. Pyne, Secretary Walter B. James
Frederick F. Brewster Roswell Miller
Frederick Trubee Davison Ogden Mills
Cleveland H. Dodge A. Perry Osborn
Cleveland Earl Dodge George D. Pratt
Walter Douglas Theodore Roosevelt
Childs Frick Leonard C. Sanford
Madison Grant John B. Trevor
William Averell Harriman Felix M. Warburg
John F. Hylan, Mayor of the City of New York
Charles L. Graig, Comptroller of the City of New York
Francis D. Gallatin, Commissioner of the Department of Parks
MEMBERSHIP MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED
For the enrichment of its collections, for the support of its explorations and scientific research,
and for the maintenance of its publications, the American Museum of Natural History is de-
pendent wholly upon membership fees and the generosity of friends. More than 7800 members
are now enrolled who are thus supporting the work of the Museum. The various classes of
membership are:
Associate Member (nonresident)* annually $3
Annual Member annually 10
Sustaining Member annually 25
Life Member 100
Fellow 500
Patron 1,000
Associate Benefactor 10,000
Associate Founder 25,000
Benefactor 50,000
*Persons residing fifty miles or more from New York City
Subscriptions by check and inquiries regarding membership should be addressed: George
F. Baker, Jr., Treasurer, American Museum of Natural History, New York City.
FREE TO MEMBERS
NATURAL HISTORY: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Natural History, published bimonthly by the Museum, is sent to all classes of members
as one of their privileges. Through Natural History they are kept in touch with the activi-
ties of the Museum and with the marvels of nature as they are revealed by study and explora-
tion in various regions of the globe.
AUTUMN AND SPRING COURSES OF POPULAR LECTURES
Series of illustrated lectures, held in the Auditorium of the Museum on alternate Thursday
evenings in the fall and spring of the year, are open only to members and to those holding tickets
given them by members.
. Illustrated stories for the children of members are told on alternate Saturday mornings in
the fall and in the spring.
MEMBERS' CLUB ROOM AND GUIDE SERVICE
A room on the third floor of the Museum, equipped with every convenience for rest, reading,
and correspondence, is set apart during Museum hours for the exclusive use of members. When
visiting the Museum, members are also privileged to avail themselves of the services of an
instructor for guidance.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY has a record of more
than fifty years of public usefulness, during which its activities have grown and
broadened, until today it occupies a position of recognized importance not only in the
community it immediately serves but in the educational life of the nation. Every year
brings evidence — in the growth of the Museum membe-rship, in the ever-larger number
of individuals visiting its exhibits for study and recreation, in the rapidly expanding
activities of its school service, in the wealth of scientific information gathered by its
world-wide expeditions and disseminated through its pubhcations — of the increasing
influence exercised by the institution. In 1923 no fewer than 1,440,726 individuals
visited the Museum as against 1,309,856 in 1922 and 1,174,397 in 1921. All of these
people had access to the exhibition halls without the payment of any admission fee
whatsoever.
The EXPEDITIONS of the American Museum have yielded during the past year
results of far-reaching importance. The fossil discoveries in MongoHa made by the
Third Asiatic Expedition, the representative big-game animals of India obtained by the
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition, the collections of fossil vertebrates made in the Siwalik
Hills by Mr. Barnum Brown, the achievements of the Whitney South Sea Expedition,
and of other expeditions working in selected areas of South America, in the United
States, in the West Indies, and in Panama, are representative of the field activities of
the Museum during 1923. Many habitat groups, exhibiting specimens secured by
these expeditions, are planned for the new buildings of the Museum.
The SCHOOL SERVICE of the Museum reaches annually more than 5,000,000 boys
and girls, through the opportunities it affords classes of students to visit the Museum;
through lectures on natural history especially designed for pupils and delivered both
in the Museum and in many school centers; through its loan collections, or "traveling
museums," which during the past year circulated among 472 schools, with a total
attendance of 1,491,021 pupils. During the same period 440,315 lantern slides were
loaned by the Museum for use in the schools as against 330,298 in 1922, the total
number of children reached being 3,839,283.
The LECTURE COURSES, some exclusively for members and their children,
others for the schools, colleges, and the general public, are dehvered both in the
Museum and at outside educational institutions.
The LIBRARY, comprising 100,000 volumes, is at the service of scientific workers
and others interested in natural history, and an attractive reading room is provided
for their accommodation.
The POPULAR PUBLICATIONS of the Museum, in addition to Natural His-
tory, include Handbooks, which deal with the subjects illustrated by the collections,
and Guide Leaflets, which describe some exhibit or series of exhibits of special interest
or importance, or the contents of some hall or some branch of Museum activity.
The SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS of the Museum, based upon its explorations
and the study of its collections, comprise the Memoirs, of quarto size, devoted to mono-
graphs requiring large or fine illustrations and exhaustive treatment; the Bulletin,
issued since 1881, in octavo form, dealing with the scientific activities of the depart-
ments, aside from anthropology; the Anthropological Papers, recording the work of the
staff of the department of anthropology, and Novitates, devoted to the publication of
preliminary scientific announcements, descriptions of new forms, and similar matters.
For a detailed list of popular and scientific publications with prices apply to
The Librarian, American Museum of Natural History, .
New York City
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
TEXT
Names of contributors and articles are set in capitals and small capitals. Titles of works reviewed are set in Italics.
Abel, Othenio, 524, 628
Academie des Sciences de Russie, 525
Adams, Charles Cyrus, 414
Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain Goat, 381-87
Africa, 109-11, 114, 278, 279, 284-88, 289-96, 297-311,
312-27, 328-36, 405, 411-12, 620-21
Agassiz, Alexander, 619, 623
Agate Quarry, 119
Akeley, Carl E., Martin Johnson and His Expedition
to Lake Paradise, 284-88
Akeley, Carl E., 620-21
"Albatross," The, 566-77, 601, 619-20
Albert National Park, 620-21
Alexander, Annie M., 123
Alexander von Humboldt, 449-53
Allen, Arthur A., 617, 722
Allen, Glover M., 262-63, 414
Allen, J. A., 122-23, 125, 530
Allen Memorial Fund, J. A., 122-23
Allen Memorial Volume, 530
Allis, Jr., Edward Phelps, 411
Amateur Entomologists and the Museum, 337-46
American Association of North China, 261
American Bison Society, 270-71
American Men op the Dragon Bones, 350-65
American Ornithologists' Union, 720-22
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society,
270-71
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists,
726
American Society of Mammalogists, 278, 414
Amphibians: — rCongo, 534; Hainan, 215-23; Hyla
evansi, 478; Panama, 267, 533; Rana sesopus,
724 ; West Indies, 726
Anderson, C, 274
Anderson, J. G., 113, 114, 406
Andes: A New World, 420-28
Andes, 420-28, 429-41, 442-48, 463
Andrews, Charles W., 525
Andrews, Roy Chapman, The Coming Five Years,
1924-28, of the Third Asiatic Expedition, 256-57
Andrews, Roy Chapman, Living Animals of the Gobi
Desert 150—59
Andrews, Roy Chapman, 112, 113, 125, 260-61, 262,
265, 356, 357, 358, 364, 365, 406, 727
Andros Island, 412, 534-35
Anglo-American Association, 262
Anthony, H. E., The High Andes of Ecuador, 429-41
Anthony, H. E., 123, 269, 414, .529, 722
Argentine, 121-22, 404
Arrhenius, Professor, 529
Arsenieff, V. K., Natives of the Russian Far East,
713-18
Ass wild 1 52—56
Aur'ignacian skeletons, 277-78, 682-92
Australia, 4-15, 16-28, 29-41, 42-59, 60-1, 62-9, 274-
76, 603-04, 627
Australia, The Land of Living Fossils, 4-15
Avis, Edward, 722
Ayer, E. E., 621
Bab, Mr., 260
Badmajapoff, C, 127, 365
Baer, John L., 267, 533
Bahamas, 412, 534-35
Bailey, Florence Merriam, Some Plays and Dances
of the Taos Indians, 85-95
Bailey, Florence Merriam. 722
Baldwin, S. Prentiss, 123, 606, 607, 608, 610, 611, 612,
617
Barbour, George B., 113
Barbour, Thomas, 123, 622, 726
Barrett, Charles, Reptile Life in Australia, 42-59
Barro Colorado, 120-21, 494-508
Barrus, Clara, 407
Bather, F. A., 625
Bats, 262
Baynes, Ernest Harold, 278
Bean, Barton A., 524-25
Bear:— Kamchatka black, 236-40; sloth, 192
Beaver Colony of Yellowstone Park, A., 347-49
Beck, Rollo H., 121, 535, .539-53
Beebe, William, 115, 259, 268, 271, 272, 472, 524
Belknap, Mrs. William, 412
Bequaert, Joseph, 412
Bergstrom, Erik, 659
Berkey, Ch.\rles P., Geological Reconnaissance in
Central Mongolia, 160-73
Bermuda, 406
Bernheimer, Charles L., 267
Bibliography of Fishes, 392-401, 523-24
Biological Survey, Bureau of, 117, 119, 621-22
Bird Banding, 60.5-17
Bird Hunting Among the Wild Indi.\ns of Western
Pan.ama, 509-19
Bird Personalities of the Australian Bush, 29-41
Birds: — American Ornithologists' Union, 720-22; An-
dean, 420-28; Argentine, 404; Australia, 29-41;
Back Bay, Virginia, 269-70; "Bird Banding."
60.5-17; "Bird Hunting Among the Wild Indians
of Western Panama," .509-19; "Bird Personali-
ties of the Australian Bush," 29-41; Birds in
Legend, Fable, and Folklore, 123; Birds of the
New York Region, 105-08; Birds — Their Photo-
graphs and Home Life, 123-24; Burma, 404; Can
We Save Our Game Birds? 269; census, 621-22;
Chilean, 121-22, 404; duck. New Zealand blue,
622; pink-headed, 198; "Eland and .Its Bird
Sentinel," 96-7; Fame Islands, 407; Faun-
thorpe-Vernay Expedition, 404, 525; Galapagos,
259, 623; Guadalupe, 581-82; heron, cattle, 405;
honey guide, 328-36; humming bird, paradise
racquet-tail, 272; Louisiana bird sanctuaries, 117,
621; macaw, Cuban, 622; National Association
of Audubon Societies, 621, 722; Nebraska, 119;
Outivitting the Weasels, 624; Panama, 272, .509-
19; Paul J. Rainey Wild Life Sanctuary, The,
621; phoebe, 407; Polynesia, 121, 535, opposite
539-53; "Profiteers of the Busy Bee," 328-36;
puff bird, black, 477; Puffinus carneipes, 534;
Whitney South Sea Expedition, 121, 535, opposite
539-53; Woodland Creatures, 624:
Birds in Legend, Fable, and Folklore, 123
"Birds of the New York Region," 105-08
Birds, Their Photographs and Home Life, 123-24
Bison, 270
Boulton, Rudyerd, 272, 509, 722
Breder, C. M., 267, 532-33
Breuil, H., 646, 668
Bridgman, Herbert, 719
British Association for the Advancement of Science,
624-25
British Guiana, 467-78
Bruce, Sir David, 624
Burgevin, J. V., 629
Burkitt, Miles C, 532
Burma, 174-98, 199-203, 403, 404
Burns, Edward J., 720, 724
Burroughs, John, 406, 407, 408
Burroughs Memorial Association, 407
Busck, A., 271
Butler, Sir Harcourt, 126, 625
Csenolestes, 123
Calaveras Grove, .531-32
Caldwell, Neite, 278
Can We Save Our Game Birds? 269
Canon del Muerto, 267
Capitan, Louis, 629, 668
Carter, T. D., 611, 616, 724
"Challenger," The 619-20,623
Chapin, James P., Profiteers of the Busy Bee, 328-36
Chapin, James P., 412, 534, 722
Chapm\n, Frank M., The Andes: A New World, 420-
28
Chapman, Frank M.. 121-22, 404, 407, 524, .531, 722
Chapman. Mrs. Frank M., 121-22, 404
Chetvrkin, Serge, 272
Chilcis, George H., 412, 595
Chile, 121-22, 404
Chimborazo, 421, 427, 429, 439-41, 446, 449. 529
China Society. 265
China, 112, 113, 215-23, 224-35, 260-62, 262-63, 264-
65, 265, 366-80, 406, 726, 727
Chinese University of Peking, 261
Christmas ceremonies, 724
Church, Frederic E., 442^8, 4.53
Church, Louis P., 4.53
Clark, B. Preston, 346
Clark, Grover, 260
II
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
Clabk, James L., The Highlands of the Great Craters,
297-311
Clark, James L., 125, 286, 720
Coal mines, dinosaur tracks in, 388-91
Cole, Leon J., 607, 615, 616
Collier, Hon. William M., 404
Colombia, 427-28
Coming Five Years, 1924-28, op the Third Asiatic
Expedition, 256-57
Commercial Cable Company, 601-02
Congo, 316, 320, 328-36, 411-12, 530, 531, 534
Contributors to archseological collections of American
Museum, 668
Contributors to Third Asiatic Expedition, 257
Cook, Harold, 408
Cook, Wells W., 609
Coolidge, President, 531
Cooper, C. Foster, 119
Cooper, Isabel, 115, 259, 271, 272, 408
Coral, 62-9, 412, 534-35, 594-600, 601-02
Coral Gardens op Andros, The, between 600 and 601
Cordier, A. H., 124
Correia, Jose G., 542
Cowles, R. P., 524
Cox, Helen B., 119
Crampton, Henry E., 340
Cristy, Cuthbert, 625
Cromer Forest Bed, 648-54
Crosby, Maunsell S., Bird Banding, 605-17
Crosby, M. S., 269-70
Cunningham, J. T., 625
Cuvier, 673, 681
Darwin, Charles, 116-17, 259, 449-51, 542
Darwin, Leonard, 116-17, 414
Davis, William Morris, The Oceans, 554-65
Davison, F. Trubee, 287
Dean's "Bibliography of Fishes;" A Review, 392-
95; A Historical Sketch, 395-401
Dean, Bashpord, The Jardin des Plantes, 673-81
Dean, Bashford, 392-401, 411, 523-24, 524
Dean, Mrs. Bashford, 396
De Geer, Baron, 529
De Quatrefages, Doctor, 675-78
Dellenbaugh, Frederick S., 270
Description of Eighteen New Species of Fishes from
Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 524
Diamond, lectures on, 266
Diamond mines, 467-70
Dickerson, Majy Cynthia, 724
Dimmock, Julian A., 554
Dinomys, 482-85
Dinosaur eggs, 263-64, 627
Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines,
388-91
Disappearance op Wild Life in India, 204-07
Discovery op an Unknown Continent, The, 132-49
Diseases of African mammals, 321-25
Doane, R. W., Turret-building Termites, 98-100
Dodge, Cleveland H., 122
Dohrn, Anton, 624
d'Oldenburg, Serge, 525
Dunn, Emmett R., 726
Dubois, Auguste, 276
Du Rietz, G. Einar, 659
Dwight, Jonathan, 522
Eastman, Charles R., 394, 396, 411
Eaton, Amos, 723
Ecuador, 123, 414, 421, 429-41, 443-46, 449, 453, 454-
66, 529-30
Edmund Otis Hovey, 704-09
Ehrenbaum, Ernst, 524
Ehrenberg, Kurt, 628
Eland and Its Bird Sentinel, The, 96-7
Elephant, 183-91, 278-79, 296, »m, 527
Elliot Medal, Daniel Giraud, 524
Emerson, Alfred, 272
Empire Exhibition, 408
Engler, Marguerite, 396
Eoliths, 628-29, 636-55, 656-58
Escherich, Walter G., 115
Eugenics, 414
European Prehistory, 665-72
Expeditions:— "Albatross," 566-77, 601, 619-20;
Andros Island, 412, 534-35, 594-600; Chile, 121-
22, 404; Clark, (in western China) 264; Congo,
328-36, 411-12, 530, 534; Ecuador, 123, 414, 429-
41. 454-66, 529-30; Faunthorpe-Vernay, 113,
125, 126, 174-98, 199-203, 403-04, 525-27, 527-
28, 62.5-27; Guadalupe, 566-77, 578-88; High-
lands of Great Craters, 297-311; Kamchatka
Expedition of Imperial Russian Geographical
Society, 236-40; Marsh Darien, K. O., 266-67,
532-33; "Martin Johnson and His Expedition to
Lake Paradise," 284-88; North Pole, 719; Pana-
ma, 266-67, 272, 494-508, 509-19; 532-33;
Patagonia, 727; "Polaris," The, 115; Siwalik
Hills Indian, 208-14; Smithsonian Institution,
264; Sweden, 405-06, 528-29, 659-64, opposite
664; "Tecate," The, 569, 578-88; Third Asiatic,
112, 114, 126, 127, 132-49. 150-58, 160-73, 215-
23, 224-35, 260-62, 350-65; Third Charles L.
Bernheimer, 267; Whitney South Sea, 121, 535,
opposite 539-53; Wilkes Exploring, 524-26;
Williams Galapagos, the Harrison, 115-16, 259,
271
Fairchild, H. L., 267
Falkenbach, Charles, 631
Falkenbach, Otto, 118, 119
Fame Islands, 407
Faunthohpe, J. C, The Disappearance of Wild Life in
India, 204-07
Faunthohpe, J. C, Jungle Life in India, Burma, and
Nepal, 174-98
Faunthorpe, J. C, 113, 125, 174-98, 199-203, 266, 528
Faunthorpe-Vernay Indian Expedition, 113, 125, 126,
174-98, 199-203, 403, 404, 525-27, .527-28, 625-27
Ferguson, John C, 262, 727
Field Book of Common Rocks and Minerals, 124
Finley, Wilham, 616
Fisher, G. Clyde, "A Mother's Letters to a School-
master," 258
Fisher, G. Clyde, Alpine Flowers of Arctic Lapland,
659-64
Fisher, G. Clyde, Wild Flowers of the Uplands of
Lapland, between 664 and 665
Fisher, G. Clyde, 120, 266, 278, 405-06, 528-29, 611,
615
Fishes: — Allis, Jr., studies of head structure of fishes
by Edward P., 411; American Society of Ich-
thyologists and Herpetologists, 726; Bibliography
of Fishes, 392-401, 523-24; China, 215-23, 726;
Congo, 411-12; deep-sea, 565; Galapagos, 259;
Gudger, papers by Dr. E. W., 726; Hainan, 215-
23; " Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper,
a Common West Indian Fish," 252-.53; salmon of
Kamchatka, 238, 240; sea horses from Australia,
274-76; Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 524-25
Fitz Simons, F.W., 114
Flowers of Lapland, 659-64, between 664 and 665
Forbes, Edward, 623
Forbush, Edward H., 722
Ford, James B., 123
Fossils: — "Australia, the Land of Living Fossils," 4-15;
Baluchitherium, 118-19; birds from Nebraska
quarries, 119; Boskop man, 114; Buhalus bainii,
114; buffalo, 114; dinosaur eggs, 263-64, 627;
"Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of Coal Mines,"
388-91; dinosaurs, Triassic, 726-27; "Discovery
of an Unknown Continent, 132-49; Fayiim, 525;
Florida, 409-10; "Fossil Animals of India,"
208-14; "Fossil Man from a New Viewpoint,"
opposite 697-703; Hesperopithecus, 118, 273-74;
horse, 629-31; Loxolophodon, 112; mastodon,
Peale's, 410-11; Pliocene, 408-09; Protoceratops
andrewsi, 118; "Relationships of the Upper Palae-
olithic Races of Europe," 682-96; Riobamba, 123;
Szechuan, 373-76; Triassic, 726-27; Triceratops
prorsus, 118; Urubitinga, 119; Zitzikama, human
skeletons found at, 114
Pounders of Oceanography, 623-24
Fowler, Henry W., 411, 524, 726
Foxhall, 647-48
Foyles, Edward J., 271
Franklin K. Lane Memorial Redwood Grove, 621
Eraser, David, 260
Frederic E. Church, Painter op the Andes, 442-48
Frick, Childs, 122, 409
Frick, Mrs. Henry Clay, 209
Fruits of Ecuador, 454-66
Gailey, Robert, 262
"Galapagos: World's End" — A Review, 259
GalApagos, 115-16, 259, 271, 593
Gallatin, Francis D., 629
Gallegos, J. M., 579, 581
Garretson, Martin S., 271
Gazelle: — Gobi, 155; Mongolian, 155; Thompsons,
310
Geological Reconnaissance in Central Mongolia,
160-73
Geological Society of China, 112, 113, 261, 264
Geological Survey of China, The, 113, 406, 627
Gevsers, 70-84
Gidley, James W., 409
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
III
Gifts to the Museum: — archseological collections, 276,
668; "Colored Figures of the Birds of the British
Isles," 273; eland, 530-31; lion, Indian, 266;
monkeys from British East Africa, 278; rhino-
ceros, 530-31; sea horses from Austraha, 274-76
Ginkgo tree, 629
Glimpses op Mammalian Life in Australia and
Tasmania, 16-28
Goodrich, E. S., 625
Goodwin, George G., 623
Gorilla sanctuary, 620-21
Grabau, A. W., 114,261
Grand Canon, 270
Granger, Anna G., Through the Yangtze Gorges to
Wan Hsien, 224-35
Granger, Anna G., Wintering over a Fire Basket in
Szechuan, 366-80
Granger, Walter, 112, 261, 362, 406, 408, 631
Grant, Madison, 122, 279, 413-14
Graves, William W., 122
Great Barrier Reef of Australia, The, 62-84
Greenland, 627
Gregory, J. W., 625
Gregory, William K., Australia, the Land of Living
Fossils, 4-15
Gregory, William K., "Pearls and Savages" — A Re-
view, 603-04
Gregory, William K., "The Schoolhouse of the
World," 254-55
Gregory, William K., 274, 620-21, 625, 631
Grinnell, George B., 123
Griscom, Ludlow, Bird Hunting Among the Wild
Indians of Western Panama, 509-19
Griscom, Ludlow, 105-08, 269-70, 272, 411, 722
Guadalupe, 566-77, 578-88
GuDGER, E. W., Dean's "Bibliography of Fishes," — An
Historical Sketch, 395-401
GuDGER, E. W., Notes on the Behavior of the Gray
Snapper, a Common West Indian Fish, 252-53
Gudger, E. W., 394, 524, 726
Guiana, British, 467-78
Haagner, Ahvin, 327, 335
Hadley, Herbert Spencer, 122
Hahn, Mrs. Otto, 408
Hainan, 215-23
Hallinan, Thomas, 724
Halter, C. R., 409, 722
Harrington, Helen, 624
Harris, Reginald G., 266
Hay, Clarence, 402
Hay, O. P., 408
Hedley, Charles, The Great Barrier Reef of Austra-
lia, 62-84
Heinrich, C, 271
Heinrich, Elsie M., 398
Heller, Hilda Hempl, Peruvian Pets, 479-93
Hellman, Milo, 274, 625, 682
Henderson, Lady, 625
Henn, A. W., 394, 396, 398
Hentschel, C. C, 625
Herdman, Sir William, 623
Hickling, George, 625, 631
High Andes of Ecuador, The, 429-41
Highlands of the Great Craters, 297-311
Hippopotamus, 320; pigmy, 316-16
Hoffman, Harry, 115, 272
Holly, spare the, 724
Holmes, Walter W., 410
Hooten, E, A., 682
Hornaday, William T., 327, 408
Houghton, Howard, 262
Hovey, Edmund Otis, Rotorua and the Geyser Region
of New Zealand, 70-84
Hovey, Edmund Otis, 533, 618, 627-28, 704-09
Rowland, R. H., 614
Hoy, Charles M., 264
HuEY, Laurence M., A Trip to Guadalupe, the Isle of
My Boyhood Dreams, 578-88
Humboldt, Alexander von, 421, 449-53
Hunting Corals in the Bahamas, 594-600
Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador, 454-66
Hunting Stingless Bees, 494-508
Huntington, Archer M., 268, 403
Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella bombycina. A,
520-22
Hurley, Frank, 603-04
Hussakof, Louis, 394, 411
Hyde, B. T. B., 346
Iguchi, Kenzo, 625
Illustrated Natural History, 124
"In Brightest Africa," 109-11
In the Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear,
236-40
India, 113, 174-98, 204-07, 208-14, 266
Indians: — "blond" of Panama, 533; Canon del
Muerto, 267; Jacobs Cavern, 122; Mammoth
Cave region, 122; ISIexico, 402-03; Ottawa
County, Oklahoma, 122; Panama, 266-67, 509-
19, 533; "Some Plays and Dances of the Taos
Indians," 85-95
Ingersoll, Ernest, 123
Insectivores, 262-63
Insects: — "Amateur Entomologists and the Museum,"
337-46; bees, 120-21, 328-36, 494-508; beetle,
drug-store, 719; Beetle Group, Lady, 720-21;
Belostomida, 719-20; butterfly, monarch, 720,
white cabbage, 720; exhibit, live insect, 719-20;
Galapagos, 259, 271 ; "Huntress of Spiders, Af/eniella
bombycina, A," 520-22; mantis, praying, 720;
Morrison prize, 120; moths, Utethesia bella, 719,
Panama, 494-508; termites, 98-100, 476; "Tur-
ret-building Termites, 98-100; ultra violet in
relation to flower-visiting habits of, 120; wasps,
504-07, 508, 520-22
Intermuseum promenade, 413-14
International Commission of Eugenics, 414
Into the Interior of British Guiana, 467-78
Iron Age, 276-77
Jackson, W. H., 270
Jacques, F. L., 722
Jamaica, drums and drum rhythms of, 241-51
James, Arthur Curtiss, 566, 571
Jansson, A. A., 115, 720
Jardin des Plantes, The, 673-81
Jesup, Morris K., 339, 403, 452, 719
Jimmie, the Story of a Black Bear Cub, 278
JocHELSON, Waldemar, In the Realm of the Kam-
chatka Black Bear, 236-40
Johnson, Martin, Scenes from the Plains and Jungles
of Africa, 289-96
Johnson, Martin, 284-88
Johnson, Mrs. Martin, 284-88
Jones, Robert E., 270
Jordan, David Starr, 523
Joselyn, Paul, 260
Journal Club, American Museum, 267-68
Jung, the Maharaja Sir Chandra Shumshere, 126
Jungle Life in India, Burma, and Nepal, 174-98
Kaisen, Peter, 362
Kammerer, Paul, 267-68
Kartabo, 272, 408
Kemp, James F., Edmund Otis Hovey, 704-09
Kentian eoliths, 637-40
Kerr, J. Graham, 523
King, Kung Bah, 727
Kinloch, A. P., 126
Kivu, Lake, 620-21
Koo, Wellington, 727
Kunz, George F., 270
Lamarck, 678-80
Lamington, Lord, 266
La Monte, Franceses, 397
Lane, Franklin K., 621
Lang, Charles, 118 .
Lang, Herbert, The Eland and Its Bud Sentmel,
96-7
Lang, Herbert, Into the Interior of British Guiana,
467-78
Lang, Herbert, The Vanishing Wild Life of Africa,
312-27
Lang, Herbert, 262-63, 278, 411, 414, 528, 530, 534 _
Lankester, Sir E. Ray, Note on J. Reid Moir s
"Tertiary Man in England," 654-55
Lapland, 405-fl6, 528-29, 659-64, between 664 and 66o
Larsen, Franz A., 126, 365
La Rue, E. C, 270
La Tene, 276-77 .
Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial. 621
La Varre, William J., 471
Lee, J. S., 112 , ,
Leng Charles W., The Public Museum of Staten
Island, 101-04
Leng, Charles W., 344
Le Rouzic, Zacharie, 276
Le Souef, A. S., 60-1
Library, American Museum, 273
Lion, Indian, 266
Lipotes, 264 ,...,.
Littlejohns, R. T., Bird Personalities of the Aus-
tralian Bush, 29-41
Living Animals of the Gobi Desert, 1o0-o9
IV
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
Long Island Biological Association, 266
Loomis, Frederick Brewster, 124
Louisiana Gulf Coast Club, 117
Lowe, Willoughby, 404, 525
Lower Invertebrates: — coral, 62-9, 412, 534-35, 594-
600, 601-02; Foraminifera, 563; Peripatus, 476
Lucas, Frederic A., The Seal Collection, 589-93
Lucas, F. A., 266, 278, 401, 471, 621
Lutz, Frank E., Amateur Entomologists and the
Museum, 337-46
Lutz, Frank E., Hunting Stingless Bees, 494-508
Lutz, Frank E., 120, 120-21, 720
Lydenburg, H. M., 523-24
McCulloch, Alan, 603-04
MacCurdt, George Grant, What Is an Eolith? 656-
58
McGregor, J. H., 620
McKay, Robert G., 259
Madison, H. L., 722-23
Malfeyt, J., 531
Mallinckrodt, Jr., Edward, 530-31
Mammals: — "Aiming a Camera at a Wild Mountain
Goat," 381-87; Andes, 434-41; ass, wild, 152-
56; "Australia, the Land of Living Fossils,"
4-15; bats, 262; bear, Kamchatka black, 236-
40, sloth, 192; "Beaver Colony of Yellowstone
Park," 347-49; Berlin, New York, 623; bison,
270; British Guiana, 467-78; Burma, 199-203,
403; Ccenolestes, 123; Congo, 530; Dinomys, 482-
85; "Disappearance of Wild Life in India," 204-
07; diseases of, 321-25; Ecuador, 123, 429-41,
529-30; "Eland and Its Bird Sentinel," 96-7;
elephant, 183-91, 278-79, 296, 320, 527; Faun-
thorpe-Vernav Expedition, 113, 174-78, 199-203,
403, 526-27, 527-28, 625-27; gazelle, Gobi, 155,
Alongolian, 155. Thompson's, 310; Gobi, 150-59;
"Glimpses of Mammalian Life in Australia and
Tasmania," 16-28; gorilla, 316; gorilla sanctuary,
620-21; Guadalupe, 566-77, 578-88; "High Andes
of Ecuador," 429-41; hippopotamus, 320, pigmy,
315-16; In Brightest Africa, 109-11; "In the
Realm of the Kamchatka Black Bear," 236-40;
insectivores, 262-63; "Into the Interior of British
Guiana," 467-78; "Jungle Life in India, Burma,
and Nepal," 174-98; lion, African, 311, 325-26,
Indian. 266; Lipoies, 264; "Living Animals of
the Gobi Desert." 150-59; monkeys, 278, 471:
Ngoi-ongoro, 297-311; "Northern Elephant Seal
and the Guadalupe Fur Seal," 566-77; okapi,
315; "Peruvian Pets," 479-93; predatory mam-
mals, 278-414; pronghorn, 117, 271; Pseudalopex,
485-89; rhinoceros, Indian one-horned, 179-83,
188, Sumatran, 625-27, white, 319-20; seals,
Caribbean, 592-93, elephant, 566-88, fur, 589-90,
Guadalupe fur, 567-69, harp, 591, horsehead, 591,
ribbon, 591-92, ringed, 589-91; springbuck
319; "Stalking Tsine in Burma," 199-203;
tayra, 489-93; tiger, 183-88, 192-95; "Trip to
Guadalupe, the Isle of Mv Boyhood Dreams,"
578-88; "Vanishing Wild 'Life of Africa," 312-
27; "Vanishing Wild Life of Australia," 60-1;
weasel, 480; Woodland Creatures, 62i; zebra, 317-
19
Marchienne, Baron de Cartier de, 620
Maria, Brother Apolinar, 414
Marr, J. E., 646-47
Marsh Darien Expedition, R. O., 266-67, 532-33
Marshall, Mrs. Charles Cyrus, 408
M.^RTiN Johnson and His Expedition to Lake
Paradise, 284-88
Mason, J. Alden, 402-03
Mather, Samuel, 722-23
Mather, Stephen D., 268-69
Matthew, Christine D., Fossil Man from a New
Viewpoint, opposite 697-703
Matthew, W. D., Fossil Animals of India, 208-14
Matthew, W. D., 268, 391, 408, 409, 625, 629-31, 631
Maxwell Training School for Teachers, 529
Mead, H. L.. 409
Merriam, John C, 408, 414
Merriam, William, 272
Mexican archfeology, 402-03
Meyer, Cord, 529
Millikan, Robert Andrews, 529
Miller, W. deW., 722
Mills, Ogden, 273
Miner, Roy Waldo, Coral Gardens of Andros, t
between 600 and 601
Miner, Roy Waldo, Hunting Corals in the Bahamas,
594-600
Miner, R. W., 268, 412, 534-35
MoiR, J. Rbid, Tertiary Man in England, 636-54
Moir, J. Reid, 628, 668
Monaco, Prince of, 620, 623
Mongolia, 112, 112-13, 126, 127, 132-49, 150-59, 160-
73, 256-57, 261, 262, 263, 350-65
Monkeys, 278, 471
Moore, Barrington, 407
Morris, Carl H., 267
Morris, Frederick K., 112, 261, 361
Morrison Prize, A. Cressy, 120
A Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster, 258
Motohashi, Heichiro, 625
Mueller, Herman, 412, 535, 539
Murphy Memorial, Simon J., 532
Murphy, Robert Cushman, The Whitney South Sea
Expedition, opposite 539-53
Murphy, Robert Cushman, 121, 404-05, 535, 722
Murray, Sir John, 623
Musee J. Miln, 276
Museum of Comparative Zoology, 622
"Museum of Heavenly Creations," 260, 355
Museum op Tomorrow, The, 710-12
Mutchler, A. J., 337, 340
National Association of Audubon Societies, 621, 722
National Conference on Outdoor Recreation, 531
National Conference on State Parks, 407
National Park Service, 268-69
Natives op the Russian Far East, 713-18
Natural history teaching in China, 264-65, 727
Naumburg, Mrs. Walter W., 722
Nelson, E. W., 117
Nelson, N. C, European Prehistory, 665-72
Nelson, N. C, 122, 276, 628-29
Nepal, jungle life in India, Burma, and, 174-98
New Guinea, 603-04
New York Aquarium, 574, 576, 622-23
New York City Federation of Women's Clubs, 408
New York State Federation of Workers for the Blind,
120
New York Training School for Teachers, 529
New York Zoological Society, 115, 122, 272, 279, 407-
08, 408, 574, 576, 622-23
New Zealand, 70-84
Ngorongoro, 297-311
Nichols, John T., 125, 400, 411, 722, 726
Noble, G. K., 268, 534
Nomura, Jugiro, 411
Northern Elephant Seal and Guadalupe Fur
Seal, The, 566-77
Note on J. Reid Moir's "Tertiary Man in Eng-
land," 654-55
Notes on the Behavior of the Gray Snapper, a
Common West Indian Fish, 252-53
Nuolja, Mount, 659-64
Obermaier, Hugo, 668, 697-703
Observations of a Bird Photographer, 123
Oceans, The, 554-65
Okapi, 315
Olsen, Chris. E., 412, 595
"Origin of Species," page from, 116-17
Osborn, A. Perry, 287
OsBORN, Henry Fairfield, American Men of the
Dragon Bones, 350-65
Osborn, Henry Fairfield, The Discovery of an Un-
known Continent, 132-49
Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 111, 112, 113, 117, 118, 119,
122, 126, 209, 259, 260-62, 264, 265, 268, 269, 276,
327, 394, 396, 397, 402, 407, 410, 412, 413, 414,
453, 471, 523, 525, 527, 528, 530, 531, 532, 625,
627, 628, 629, 651, 665, 668, 671, 672, 673, 682,
697, 727
Osborn, Mrs. Henry Fairfield, 115, 261, 276, 668
Osborn Library, 267, 276
OsBURN, Raymond C, Dean's "Bibliography of
Fishes," A Review, 392-95
Our Forerunners, 532
Outwitting the Weasels, 624
Panama, 120-21, 266-67, 272, 494-508, 509-19,
532-33
Pare National Albert, 620-21
Paul J. Rainey Wild Life Sanctuary, The, 621
Pavlow, Marie, 119
Peale, Charles Willson, 410-11, 673, 680
Peale's mastodon, 410-11
Peale, Rembrandt, 411
Peale, Titian R., 121, 411
Pearson, T. Gilbert, 117, 269, 722
Peking, natural history museum in, 727
Peking University Medical College, 262
Pellegrin, Jacques, 524
Percy, Lord William, 404
Peruvian Pets, 479-93
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
V
Pbtehson, William, Dinosaur Tracks in the Roofs of
Coal Mines, 388-91
Phosphate, 409-10
Pine, destruction of four-hundred-year-old sugar,
531-32
Pitt, Frances, 624
Pleistocene man, 628, 682-96
Pliocene Man, 628, 636-55, 656-58
"Polaris" Expedition, last survivor of, 115
Polynesia, 121, 524-25, 535, opposite 539-53, 601-02
Pomeroy, Daniel E., 287-88
Pope, Clifford D., Hainan, 215-23
PopENOE, Wilson, Hunting New Fruits in Ecuador,
454-66
Port Elizabeth Museum, 114
Pratt, George D., 621
Preliminary Report on the Ordovician Formation o
Vermont, 271
Profiteers of the Bust Bee, 328-36
Pronghorn, 117, 271
Pseudalopex, 485-89
Public Museum of Staten Island, The, 101-04
Pumpelly, Professor, 112-13
Quayle, Ernest H., 121, 542, 544
Rabenold, Elwood M., 408
Radcliffe, Wilham, 523
Rainey, Paul J., 621
Raven, Harry C, Glimpses of Mammalian Life in
Australia and Tasmania, 16-28
Reading, the Earl of, 126
Redwoods, 532, 621
Reeds, Chester A,, 113-14, 628
Relationships of the Upper Paleolithic Races
OF Europe, 682-96
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 723
Reptile Life in Australia, 42-59
Reptiles: — American Society of Ichthyologists and
Herpetologists, 726; Australia, 42-59; Congo,
534; Galapagos, 259; Hainan, 215-23; Indian,
197-98; Panama, 267, 533; Sphenodon, 533-34;
Turtle Group, Gopher, 724-26
Reviews: — Allen Memorial Volume, 530; Bibliography
of Fishes, 392-95, 523-24; Birds in Legend,
Fable, and Folklore, 123; Can We Save Our Game
Birds? 269; Description of Eighteen New Species
of Fishes from Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 524;
Field Book of Common Rocks and Minerals, 124;
Founders of Oceanography, 623-24 ; Fossil Man in
Spain, 697-703; GalApagos: World's End, 259;
Geology of Northwest Greenland, 627-28; Illus-
trated Natural History, 124; In Brightest Africa,
109-11; Jimmie, the Story of a Black Bear Cub,
278; Mother's Letters to a Schoolmaster, 25S; Ob-
servations of a Bird Photographer, 123; Our Fore-
runners, 532; Outwitting the Weasels, 624; Pearls
and Savages, 603-04; Preliminary Report on the
Ordovician Formations of Vermont, 271; Wood-
land Creatures, 624
Rhinoceros: Indian one-horned, 179-83, 188; Suma-
tran, 625-27; white, 319-20
Ribero, Alipio de Miranda, 524
Ridgeway, Robert, 524
Roberts, Helen H., Some Drums and Drum Rhythms
of Jamaica, 241-51
Rockefeller Memorial, Laura Spelman, 621
Rogers, Mrs. Grace, 621
Rogers, Herman, 272
Rogers, Mrs. Katherine, 272
Roosevelt Memorial Hall, 629
Roosevelt, Theodore, 407, 531, 668
Resales, Jose M., 628
Rose, Ruth, 259, 271, 272
ROTORUA AND THE GeYSER ReGION OF NeW ZEA-
LAND, 70-84
Rutherford, Sir Ernest, 624
Sage, Mrs. Russell, 407-08
Sanford, Leonard C., 542
Sartiaux, M. Felix, 119
Sarton, George, The Museum of Tomorrow, 710-12
Save the Redwoods League, 532, 621
Savin, William M., A Huntress of Spiders, Ageniella
bombycina, 520-22
Scenes from the Plains and Jungles op Africa,
289-96
Schaus, William, 271
Schmidt, Karl P., 534
Schneider, Anton, 409
"Schoolhouse of the World," 254-55
Schrader diving suit, 412, between 600 and 601
Schurman, Jacob Gould, 260 - ~~
Schwarz, G. Fred, 621
ScHWARz, Herbert F., Frederic E. Church, Painter of
the Andes, 442-48
ScHWARz, Herbert F., "Galapagos: World's End,"
A Review, 259
Schwarz, Herbert F., "In Brightest Africa," — A
Review, 109-11
SchwarzwEelder, Florence, 396
Scott, W. B., 112
Seal Collection, The, 589-93
Seals, Caribbean, 592-93, elephant, 566-88, fur, 589-
90, Guadalupe fur, 567-69, harp, 591, horsehead,
591, ribbon, 591-92, ringed, .589-91
Seaman, George Albert, 272
Sellards, E. H., 410
Seton, Ernest Thompson, 123
Seymour, Edmund, 271
Shaw, William T., Aiming a Camera at a Wild Moun-
tain Goat, 381-87
Shea, John, 407
Sheringham, H. T., 523
Shevlin Memorial, Thomas, 532
Shiras 3d, George, 123, 286
Siberian natives, 713-18
Simpson, G. G., 631
Siwahk Hills Indian Expedition, 208-14
Skeletons, human, 114, 277-78, 402
Skinner, M. P., A Beaver Colony of Yellowstone
Park, 347-49
Skulls, collection of von Lusohan, 402; L'pper Palse-
olithic races of Europe, 682-96
Slack, Mrs. Thomas, 408
Smallwood, H. St. Clair, 260
Smithsonian Institution, 264
Sociedad Geografica de Colombia, 628
Societe Geologique de Belgique, 531
Solutre, 277
Some Plays and Dances of the Taos Indians,
85-95
Sowerby, Arthur De Carle, 262, 264, 264-65
Spain, fossil man in, 697-703
Springbuck, 319
Stalking Tsine in Burma, 199-203
Starks, E. C, 523
Staten Island, Public Museum of, 101-04
Stejneger, Leonhard, 726
Stone Age, 276, 277, 532
Stone, Witmer, "Birds of the New York Region."
- 105-08
Stuart, Robert L., 668
Stuart, Mrs. Robert L., 669
Submarine Cable Among the Rocks, 601-02
Suffolk Bone Bed, 640-42
Sullivan, Louis R., 122
Sullivan, Louis R., Relationships of the Uppe Pralae-
olithic Races of Europe, 682-96
Sweden, 405-06, 528-29
Talbot, L. R., 609
T'an, H. C, 113
Tappin, Harold, 272
Tasmania, 14-5, 22-8, 48
Tate, G. H. H., 123, 429, 529-30
Tattersall, Walter M., 625
Tayra, 489-93
Tee-Van, John, 259, 272
Tee- Van, Mrs. John, 272
Tertiary Man in England, 636-54
Third Asiatic Expedition, 112, 114, 126, 127, 132-49,
150-58, 160-73, 215-23, 224-35, 256-57, 260-62;
350-65
Third Asiatic Expedition, contributors to, 257
Thomson, Sir Wyville, 623
Thorne Memorial Fund, Jonathan, 120
Thorp, CoUingwood F., 407
Through the Yangtze Gorges to Wan Hsien,
224-35
Thwing, Charles Franklin, 722-23
Tiger, 183-88, 192-95
Tilney, F., 620
Ting, V. K., 112, 113, 114, 261
Tiveney, Clarence, 625
TowNSEND, Charles Haskins, The Northern Ele-
phant Seal and the Guadalupe Fur Seal, 566-77
TowNSEND, Charles Haskins, A Submarine Cable
among the Corals, 601-02 .,,„„,
Townsendf Charles H., 523, 525, 619-20, 623, 623-24
Trip to Guadalupe, Isle of My Boyhood Dreams,
A, 578-88
Tripp, Evelyn, 396 „ , ■ , o ■ .
Tropical Research Station, N. \. Zoological Society,
272, 408
Tsine, 199-203
Turret-Building Termites, 98-100
VI
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
U. S. National Museum, 622, 627
Valentine, J. Mason, 272
Vanishing Wild Life op Africa, The, 312-27
Vanishing Wild Life of Australia, The, 60-1
Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 723
Van Straelen, Victor, 627
Vernay, Arthur S., Stalking Tsine in Burma, 199-
203
Vernay, A. S., 113, 125, 126, 174-98, 199-203, 403, 404,
527, 625-27
Vinson, Robert Ernest, 722-23
von Huene, Friedrich, 726-27
von Luschen collection, 402
Vouga, Paul, 276-77
Walcott, F. C, 121-22, 404
Walcott, Helen, 121-22, 404
Wan Yu Hui, 261
Watson, D. M. S., 627, 631
Watson, F. E., 344
Wells, Carveth, 405-06, 528-29, 659
Western Reserve University, 722-23
Wetmore, Alexander, 119
What Is an Eolith?, 656-58
Wheeler, William M., 339-40, 524
Whelpley, H. M., 122
White, JNIrs. Harry, 410
Whiteley, James G., 621
Whitlock, Herbert P., 266
Whitney, Harry Payne, 542
Whitney, Mrs. Harry Payne, opposite 539, 553
Whitney South Sea Expedition, The, opposite
539-53
Whitney South Sea Expedition, 121, 535, opposite
539-53
Wickenham, Mr., 407
Wild Flowers of the Uplands of Lapland, between
664 and 665
Wilder. H. H., 726
Wilkes Exploring Expedition, 524-25
Willey, Arthur, 524
Williams Galapagos Expedition, Harrison, 115-16,
259, 271, 593
Williams, Lewis B., 722-23
Williams, T. S., 266
Williamson, J. E., 412
Williamson Submarine Tube, 412, 534-35, 594-600,
opposite 600
Wintering Over a Fire Basket in Szechuan, 366-
80
Wissler, Clark, 621, 625
Wong, W. H., 112, 113, 114
Wood, J. G., 124
Woodland Creatures, 624
Woodward, Arthur Smith, 525, 625, 668
Wright, Albert H., 726
Wright, Mable Osgood, 722
Wunder, Charles, 340, 344
Yen, W. W., 727
Yosemite museum, 621
Zebra, 317-19
Zdansky, Otto, 406
ILLUSTRATIONS
Africa: — cattle herons, 405; great craters, 297-311;
honey guides, 328-36; Martin Johnson and natives,
284; Martin Johnson pictures in duotone, 289-
96; vanishing wild Hfe, 312-27
"Albatross," The, 568, 575, 619
Allen, Arthur A,, green-winged teal, 617
American Fuel Company, dinosaur tracks, 389-90
Andrews, R. C, camp at Ashile, 142-43; Mongolian
dog, 158; Mongolian scenes, 352-53, 369-61;
Nan K'ou Pass, 162; portrait, 151, 356
Andrews, Yvette Borup, headquarters Third Asiatic
Expedition, 362-63
Anthony, H. E., High Andes of Ecuador, 430-41
Arsenieff, V. K., Natives of Russian Far East, 713-18
Asia: — Burma, tsine, 200-03; China, Hainan scenes,
216-23, Szechuan winter quarters, 366-75,
Yangtze to Wan Hsien, 226-35; India, fossil
animals. 208-14, jungle life, 174-98; Kamchatka,
236-40; Mongolia, geological reconnaissance,
160-71, Gobi Desert animals, 152-58, Iren Dabasu
field trip of H. F. Osborn, 351-65, outstanding dis-
coveries, 132-47; Siberian natives, 713-18
Australia: — birds, 30-41; dances, dingo, 12; kangaroo,
13; Great Barrier Reef, 63-9; mammals, 4-15,
16-28; reptiles, 42-59; scenes, 4-69; sea horses,
275; Tasmania, 14-5, 22-7, 48
Baldwin, S. Prentiss, bird banding, 606-10
Barrett, Charles, Australian reptiles, 42-59
Bayer, Dr. L., cattle herons, 405
Beatty, J. W., Tasmanian natives, 14-5
Beck, Rollo H., Polynesian birds, 539-52; portrait, 541
Belanske, William E., "Coral Fairlyland," color plate
opposite 600; cover for March- April; hemi-
spheres, land and water, 555; honey guide, 334-
36; maps: Australia, insert opposite 128, India,
Burma, and Nepal, 177, oceanic oozes, 561,
Siwalik Hills, 210, western Panama, 509
Berkey, Charles P., Gobi rock desert, 166; outer wall
of China, 163
Bird banding, 606-17
Birds: — booby, blue-faced, 550, red-footed, 550;
dotterel, 39; fantail, 33; flycatcher, 34; hawk,
brown, 56, red-shouldered, 615, sparrow, 614;
heron, cattle, 405, reef, 551 ; honey guide, 328-
36; humming, 273; kingfisher, color plate
opposite, 539; kookaburra, 30, 46; lyre, 40-1;
man-o'-war, 548-49; mistletoe, 37; oxpecker, 96;
pardalote, 36; pelican, brown, 519; petrel, gad-
fly, 544; pigeon, fruit, 552; puff bird, 477; shrike
robin, 31; sparrow, song, 616; swallow, wood, 35;
teal, green-winged, 617; tern, fairy, 547, sooty,
.545; warbler, 611
Boulton, Rudyerd, Panama scenes, 509-19
Boy Scouts in American Museum, 346
Brandreth, Courtenay, kingfishers, color plate op.
posite 539
Burma:— building, 203; stalking tsine, 200-01
Carter, T. D., song sparrow, 616; warbler, 611
Chapman, Frank M., Andes, 420, 424-26
Christman, Erwin S., "Schoolhouse of the World",
2.54
Church, Frederic E., Andes, paintings of, 443-48
Clark, James L., Ngorongoro, 297-311
Cooper LTnion, sketches by Church in, 443, 448
Commercial Cable Company, coral-encrusted cable,
602
Corals: — Bahamas, 594-99, color plate and duotone
insert between pp. 600-01; cable encrusted with,
602 ; Great Barrier Reef, 63-9
Darwin, Charles, page from "Origin of Species," 116
Davis, W. M., ocean currents, 556
Davis, W. T., Staten Island Museum, 102, 104
Dean, Bashford, Quatrefages, 675
Diagrams: — dinosaur tracks, 388; elephant and tor-
toise, 214; Tertiary man in England, 638-50;
Third Asiatic Expedition, 138-44; 160-71; 365
Diamond mining in British Guiana, 468
Dimmock, Julian A., "Sunset at Sea." 554
Doane, R. W., termite nests, 98-100
Dresden Zoological Garden, zebra, 322
Drums of Jamaica, 242
d'LTrville, Dumont, dingo and kangaroo dances, 12-3
Dyott, G. M., jungle scenes in India, Burma, and
Nepal, 174-98
Europe: — England, Tertiary man in, 636-53, natural
"eolith," 657; carvings by early man, 658, 665,
672; France, Jardin des Plantes, 673-81; Lap-
land, 659-64 and duotone insert between pp. 664-
65; Spain, rock-shelter paintings, color plate
opposite 697, and line cuts, 697-703; "Relation-
ships of Upper Palseolithic Races," 682-96
Falconer, Siwalik Hills, 210
Falconer and Cantley, Stegodon ganesa, 211
Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedition, 174-98, 200-03, 526-
27, 626; portraits of leaders, 175
Fisher, G. Clyde, hawk, 615; Lapland, 659-64 and
duotone insert following 664; warbler, 611
Fishes: — deep sea, 565; salmon, Kamchatka, 240;
sea horse, 275; snapper, gray, 252
Flowers: — Ecuador, 435, 448, 463; water lily, 44-5;
Lapland, 660-61 and duotone insert following 664
Forbes, Edward, elephant and tortoise, 214
Forbin, V., eland cow, 96
Fossil animals: — tracks, 388-90; Diprotodon, 7;
egg-laying dinosaur, 132; Loxolophodon, 147;
INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
VII
mastodon, Peale's, 410, Siwalik, 211; Mesonyx,
146; primate, anthropoid, 212, Siwalik, 208-12;
Szechuan, bone pits of, 374-75; Triceratops, 118,
Tyrannosaurus, 391.
Fossil man: — eoliths, natural and man-made, 657-58;
"Fossil Man in Spain," 697-703, and color plate
opposite 697; Limeuil bone carving, 672; Palee-
olithic cranial casts, 686-96; Sergeac stone carv-
ing, 665; Tertiary man in England, 636-53
"France," The, 539
Fulda, E. Rungius; — Diprotodon, 7; egg-laying dino-
saur, 132; Noah's Ark, 8
Geysers, New Zealand, 70-83
Granger, Walter: — Andrews, R. C., 356; diary page,
144; Gobi, desert, 166, basin strata, 168; Morris,
F. K., 361; portrait of, 151; Szechuan scenes,
226-35, 366-75; Third Asiatic Expedition,
members of, 151
Griscom, Ludlow-, portrait of, 510
Guadalupe Island scenes, 566-77, 578-88
Haagner, Alwin, honey guide, 335
Hainan, 216-23
Heller, Edmund, "Peruvian Pets," 483-84, 486-87,
489; portrait of, 484
Heller, H, H., "Peruvian Pets," 479-80, 484, 487-88,
490,492-93; portrait of, 484
Hemlock, Rocky Mountain, 386
Highlands of the Great Craters, 297-311
Hovey, E. O., "Geyser Region of New Zealand,"
72-75, 80, 83; portrait, 704
Howland, R. W., sparrow hawk, 614
Huey, L. M., elephant seal, 578-88
Humboldt, Alexander von, color plate portrait opposite
449; portrait by Schrader, 452
Hurst, Captain, Oldonyo Lengai, 298
lies photo. — Tarawera Mountain, 76; Waimangu
Geyser, 70
Indians:— Taos, 85-6, 88-9, 94; Panama, 510
Insects: — aphid's cow shed, 341; beehive, Logo, 330,
straw, 338; beetle, lady, 721; bookworm, 341;
grasshopper's "ear," 345; moth, codling, 338;
termite nests, 96, 98-100, 476; wasps, 342-44,
.506-08, 520-22
Jamieson, Malcolm, anthropoid jaw, 212; Williamson
Submarine Tube, 594
Jar/din des Plantes, 673-81
Jochelson, Waldemar, Kamchatka scenes, 236-40
Johnson, Martin, filming, 284, duotone series of African
scenes, 289-96
Kaadt, C. G., Taos, 85
Kinane, C. P., blue-tongued lizard, 55
Klementieff, A. H., natives of Russian Far East, 714,
716-17
Knight, Charles R., kangaroo group, 10; Loxolophodon,
147; Mesonyx, 146
Kirschner, Julius, portrait of E. O. Hovey, 704
Lang, Herbert, British Guiana, 467-78; honey guide,
328; mammals of Africa, 312, 315, 317, 318, 320,
321, 324, 327
LaVarre, Jr., W. J., Makreba Falls, 469
Littlcjohns, R. T., birds of Australia, 30-41
Littlejohns, Mrs. R. T., shrike robin, 31
London Stereoscope Co. Rep., Barrier Reef of Austra-
lia, 68-9
Lower Invertebrates: — corals, 63-9, 594-99, color
plate and duotone insert between pp. 600-01 ;
clam, giant, 65; Peripatus, 476
Lutz, F. E., aphid's cow shed, 341; Panama, 496-508
Mammals: — anteater, spiny, 26-7; ass, wild, 152-54,
156; bat, 477; bear, Kamchatka black, 236;
beaver, Yellowstone Park, 347, 349; blackbuck,
Indian, 197; blesbuck, 321; buffalo, African, 289;
Csenole^es, 439; chital, adult, 207, faun, 193:
civet, bamboo, 369: dasyure, spotted, 25; dog,
African wild, 327, dingo, 10, fishing, 239, Mon-
goHan, 159; eland, 96, 290; elephant, African,
296-312, tusks, 324, Indian, 190-91, .527, elephant
and tortoise, 214; gazelle, Gobi, 155, 157, Thomp-
son's, 309; giraffe. 291; gnu, brindled, 293, white-
tailed, 318: goat. Rocky Mountain, 384; hua-
mashu, 490-93; impalla, 292; kangaroo group,
10, tree, 20; lion, Indian, 266; marsupial feet, 6;
monkey, African, 317, howler, 471; okapi, 315;
opossum, 19; oryx, 292; phalanger, flying, 18,
pygmy, 18; Phascogale, 28; rat, bamboo, 196;
rhinoceros, African white, 320, Indian one-horned,
174, 180-81, Sumatran, 626; rugupi, 483-84;
seal, Bering Sea, 590, Caribbean, .592, elephant,
566-76, 578-88, ribbon, 592, ringed, .589; Sminth-
opsis, 28; squirrel, 196; tapir, Malay, 526; tiger,
Indian, 184-87, 194-95; tsine, 200-02; weasel,
479-80; wolf, 486-88; wombat, 24; zebra, 292-
93, 322
Maps :-p Africa: distribution of honey guides, 332.
Asia: key map, 160; Angara, Gobia, and God-
wana, 134; India, Faunthorpe-Vernay Expedi-
tion, 177, Siwalik Hills, 210; Mongolia, basin
regions, 160, Kalgan to L'rga, 351, Mongolia on
United States, 137. Australia, Tasmania, and New
Zealand, opposite 128. Hemispheres, land and
water, 555, life zones of northern, 136. Ocean
currents, 556; oceanic oozes and clays, 561.
Panama, western, 509
Martin Johnson African Expedition, 284-96
Mattingley, A. H. E., black snake, 43; carpet snake,
42; gecko, 52
Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Church's Heart of the
Andes," 447
Miner, R. W., A Coral Fairyland, opposite 600, Bahama
corals, 597-99, Coral Gardens of Andros, duotone
insert opposite 600
Morita, K., Taos, 92
Morris, F. K., 151
New York Aquarium, 576
New York Public Library, Church's "Cotopaxi," 445
New York Zoological Park, gnu, 318, blesbuck, 321,
African wild dog, 327
New Zealand: — geysers, 70-83; Maori church and
house, 72; Tarawera Mountain and Lake Rotoma-
hana, 76
Ngorongoro Crater, 297-311
Noah's Ark, 8
"Origin of Species," page from, 116
Osborn, Henry Fairfield: — Chinese calling card, 260;
Church's "Mountains of Ecuador," 444; Hum-
boldt portrait, opposite 449; portraits of, 151, 355,
359, 360; Siwalik mastodon, 211
Osborn, William Church, Church's "Chimborazo,"
446
Phillips, Bert G., Taos, 88-92
Panama: — Barro Colorado, 494-508; western, 510-19
Polynesia, scenes, 539-53
Pope, C. H., Hainan, 216-23
Popenoe, Wilson, fruits of Ecuador, 454-66
Portraits: — Ah-sen, 217; Andrews, R. C, 151, 3.56;
Beck, R. H., 541; "Buckshot," 151; Chi, 151;
Chow, 151; English, John, 496; Faunthorpe, J.
C, 175; Granger, Walter, 151; Griscom, Ludlow,
510; Heller, Edmund, 484; Heller, H. H., 484;
Hovey, E. O., 704; Huei, 151 ; Humboldt, opposite
449, 452; Johnson, Albert F., 151; Johnson C.
Vance, 151; Johnson, Martin, 284; Jong and
Wang, 218; Kaisen, Peter, 151; Liu, 151; Morris,
F. K., 151, 361; Olsen, George, 151; Osborn,
Henry Fairfield, 151, 355, 359, 360; Quatrefages,
675; Quayle, Ernest H.. .542; Talbot, L. R., 609;
Tcherim, 151; Third Asiatic Expedition personnel,
151; Vernay, Arthur S., 175, 526; Wang, artist,
220; Young, J. McKenzie, 151; Zetek, James,
496
Quay'e, Ernest H., 542
Radcliffe, F. G., Dragon's Mouth Geyser, 81
Raven, Harry C., Australian scenes and mammals,
16-28; Guy Fawkes Falls, 4
Reptiles: — frog, tree, 478; lizards, blue-tongued, 55,
dragon, bearded, 53, water, .59, gecko, 52, stump-
tailed, 56; monitors, Gould's, 57, Hainan. 223,
lace, 57; snakes, black, 43, cobra, 218, gopher,
725, python, 43, 238, Russell's viper, 198: turtles,
elephant and, 214, gopher group, 725, green, 50-1,
eggs of Murray tortoise, 51
Sanborn, Elwin R., gray snapper, 252
Saville-Kent, W., Barrier Reef of Australia, 68-9
Savin, W. M., spider-hunting wasp, 520-22
"Schoolhouse of the World, The," 254
Schrader diving suit, duotone insert opposite 600
Schrader, Julius, "Humboldt," 452
Schuchert, "oceanic oozes," map modified from, 561
Shaw, W. T., scenes in Washington, 382-86
Shuksan, 382-83
Skinner, M. P., beaver colony, 347-49
Skulls, human, 604, 686-96
South America:— Andes, 420-26, 430-41, 443-48;
British Guiana, 467-78; Church paintings, 443-
48: fruits of Ecuador, 4.54-66; Peruvian pets,
479-93
VIII INDEX TO VOLUME XXIV
Speight, R., pink and white terraces of New Zealand, United States Army Air Service, Barro Colorado, 494
78-9
Spider, web, 340, Lycosa, 522 Vernay, Arthur S., elephant bearing skeleton, 527,
Staten Island Pubhc Museum, 101-02, 104 g^ass hut, 526, portraits of, 175, 526, rhinoceros
. , ., ,, „. and habitat, 626, tapir, 526, tsine, 200-03
Tasmania: — anteater, spiny, 26-7; devil, 2o;
forest, 22, 23; natives, 14, 15; reptile swamp, 48; tit j.i ■ tt t tv/t- /lor. oo -n -i
wombat 24 . . . i Watkms, Harry, Inca Mine, 422-23; Peru camp site,
Taylor, Irving K., elephant herd, 312 „, ^i \/i a- 4. i ooo
Third Asiatic Expedition :-Hainan, 216-23; Kalgan Watts, Mr dinosaur tracks, 388
to Iren Dabasu, 350-65; Mongolia, 132-71; wui 'a^ u d i- +^ ^^r>
President Osborn's calling card, 260; Szechuan, White, Mrs. Harry, Peale s mastodon 410
• i„„ +„„„ • Qcc ■jr.. Vo„„to' nn.y„a^ +^ Whitney South Sea Expedition, 539-52
w« W?f.^ 99fi q'-^ ' ^^"S*'® ^"^^^^ *° Williamson, J. E., Bahama corals, 597-99, duotone
Wan ilsien, ZZb-6o. ■ j. il j. ann cm
Townsend,C.H., elephant seals, 566-76, "Albatross," ^^.,,. insert between 600-601
g-jQ < < t- Williamson Submarine Tube, 594, 598-99
Trafimoff, N. P., Natives of Russian Far East, 713,
715 718 Yellowstone Park beaver colony, 347, 349
i-
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