Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
Natural History Magazine, Inc.
http://www.archive.org/details/naturalhistory85newy
NATURAL HISTORY
VOLUME LXXXV
1976
Published by
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
NEW YORK, N.Y.
JANUAKY No. 1
Authors 2
The Bald Eagle Bicentennial Blues
David R. Zimnicnnan 8
A Naturalist at Large: A Nation oi-
Moonshiners Richard M. Klein 23
This View of Life: Darwin and the Cai-tain
Stephen Jay Gould 32
Slow Exodus from Mesa Verde Douglas Osborne 38
The Image Makers of Nepal Alexander Duncan 46
Black Bears of the Smokies
Michael R. Pelton and Gordon M. Burghardt 54
Human Locomotion
Adrienne Zihlman and Douglas Cramer 64
The Importance of Being Feverish
Matthew J. Kluger 70
At Random : The Fencing of America
Christopher L. Hallowell 76
Sky Reporter: Missing Matter Stephen ?. Maran 80
A Matter of TASTE: The Drinking Man's Pear
Raymond Sokolov 86
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson 92
The War Against WlLDLIFE..Review by Michael J. Bean 94
Additional Reading 98
Announcements lOl
March No. 3
Authors 2
A Naturalist at Large: An Inadvertent
ECOLOGLST ~. Rene Dubos 8
THIS View OF Life: Criminal Man Revived
Stephen Jay Gould 16
Announcements 20
Rain MAKING Forests Hubert W. Vogelmann 22
DONEGAL'S Lowly Sheep and Exalted Cows
Eugenia Shanklin 26
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson 34
Deep Divers of the Antarctic ...Gerald L. Kooyman 36
Predatory Baboons of Kekopey
Robert S.O. Harding and Shirley C. Strum 46
Art of the Northwest Coast Indian
Prologue by William Reid
Essay by Edmund Carpenter 54
Additional Reading 68
The Market 70
The CREE'S Day in Court ...Review by Stanley A. Freed 71
Sky Reporter: Life and EteATH in the Milky
Way Beatrice M. Tinsley 74
A Matter of Taste: Peace and the Ultimate
Snack Raymond Sokolov 78
February No. 2
Authors 4
The Web of Hunger: Rats in the Granary
Stephen C. Frantz 10
This View of Life: Human Babies as Embryos
Stephen Jay Gould 22
Letters 27
Rifting in the Okavango Delta
Christopher H. Scholz 34
Swiss Family Togetherness John Friedi 44
Plant-loving Bats, Bat-loving Plants
Donna J. Howell 52
Reef Fish Lottery Peter f. Sale 60
Wandering art Stanley ha Hallet 66
A Naturalist at Large: The Egg as Classroom
Evelyn Shaw 72
Sky Reporter: Climatic Changes on Mars
John Gribbin 78
AMATTER OF TASTE: A STEAK IN THE FUTURE?
Raymond Sokolov 83
THE Market 86
Celestial Events Thomas D: Nicholson 88
An ILLUSTRATOR'S PORTFOLIO
Review by Murray Tinkelman 90
Additional Reading 95
Announcements 98
April No. 4
Authors 2
A Naturalist at Large: The "Fever Bark"
Tree Richard M. Klein 10
Letters 20
This View of Life: Ladders, Bushes, and Human
Evolution Stephen Jay Gould 24
BIOS: How Safe Should Safe Be? ... Arthur w. Galston 32
Politicking in Ancient Persia Bernard Goldman 36
Late-blooming Terns
Paul A. Buckley and Francine G. Buckley 46
Around the Ice Age World George J. Kukla 56
Ice Age Animals of the Lascaux Cave
Dexter Perkins, Jr.
Photographs by Jean Vertut 62
Lizard Coexistence in Four Dimensions
Carol A. Simon 70
Journey of a Seventeenth-Century Cannon '
Christopher L. Hallowell 76
Sky Reporter: Destruction of the Earth-Moon
System Lloyd Motz 80
Additional Reading 84
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson 86
Feral Children Review by Robert Coles 88
An Edible Weed Jlobert H. Mohlenbrock 96
The Market 98
Announcements 100
May No. 5
Authors 2
A Naturalist at Large: Maypoles and Earth
Mothers Richard M. Klein 4
This View of Life: Biological Potential vs.
Biological Determinism Stephen Jay Gould 12
Energy Crisis of the Hummingbird
WilUam A. Calder III 24
Earthquake Hazards in the Mountains
Kenneth Hewitt 30
APoCKETFUL of Crystals Vincent D. Manson
Photographs by Henry Janson 38
Qty Snakes, Suburban Salamanders
Frederick C. Sehlauch 46
Cerebral Clues Leonard Radinsky 54
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson 60
Sky Reporter: Exploding Stars.... Stephen P. Maran 62
A Matter OF TASTE: An Early Riser
Raymond Sokolov 68
The Hunter Hunted Jleview by Alan Walker 76
The Market 80
Additional Reading 82
Announcements 84
June-July No. 6
Authors 2
Environmental Action: A Passing Fad?
Joseph L. Sax 10
ANaturalist at Large: Limits to Growth
Revisited Jay W. Forrester 22
This View of Life: The Five Kingdoms
Stephen Jay Gould 30
A $135 Million Gamble Edwin D. Kilboume 39
The Perceptive Eye Tom Gerber 42
Return to MaNUS Margaret Mead 60
Wild Goats of Santa Catalina .... Bruce E. Coblentz 70
Roses are Red, White, Yellow, Pink
Patricia W. Spencer 78
Is Mars a Spaceship, Too?
Lynn MarguUs and James E. Lovelock 86
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson 92
Sky Reporter: The Venusian Surface s. l Rasooi 94
The Case of the Counterfeit Mice
Review by Spencer Klaw 99
A Matter of Taste: Best of the Brambles
Raymond Sokolov 106
The Market no
Additional Reading 1 12
Announcements 114
August -September No. 7
Authors 4
ANaturalist at Large: Fishing the Commons
Garrett Hardin 9
This View of Life: The Interpretation of
Diagrams Stephen Jay Gould 18
Currents of the Sea W. Redwood Wright 30
Deep-Sea Fishes Bruce H. Robison 38
Sea Otters: Pillars of THE Nearshore
Community John F. Palmisano and James A. Estes 46
Sky Reporter: Recipe for a Planetary Ocean
Isaac Asimov 54
Lobster Tales Michael BerrUl 60
Flight of the Ducks Paul a. Johnsgard 68
The Red Sea: An Ocean in the Making
David A. Ross 74
Red Tides Beatrice M. Sweeney 78
Bounding the Main Warren S. Wooster 84
The Market 88
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson 92
A Matter of Taste: The Net Result
Raymond Sokolov 94
Creatures from the Primordial Seas
Review by Niles Eldredge 100
Additional Reading 106
Announcements 108
October No. 8
Authors 2
The Web of Hunger: Ill-Nourished Brains
David A. Levitsky 6
This View of Life: Darwin's Untimely Burial
Stephen Jay Gould 24
How the Wise Men Brought Malaria to Africa
Robert S. Desowitz 36
BERMUDA'S Abundant, Beleaguered Birds
Kenneth L. and Mamie Reed Crowell 48
AMERICA'S National Parks: Their Principles,
Purposes, and Prospects Joseph l. Sax 57
The Perils of Primates Jaclyn H. Woifheim 90
Life at the Cloud Line William G. WelUngton lOO
Slow Death of Coral Reefs
Ralph Mitchell and Hugh Ducklow 106
Announcements 112
A Matter OF Taste : The Pumpkin Papers
Raymond Sokolov 1 14
The Market 118
Sky Reporter: Stars by the Cluster
Stephen P. Maran 1 22
An Energetic Call for Socialism
Review by E. F. Roberts 128
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson 132
Additional Reading 135
November No. 9
Authors 5
Spirits of the MakasSAE Shepard Forman 12
ANaturalist at Large: Drift Coconuts
Bernard Nietschmann 20
This View of Life: So Cleverly Kind an Animal
Stephen Jay Gould 32
A Resurgence OF Kites LeeWaian 40
The Ape in Stateroom 10
Kenneth A. R. Kennedy and John C. Whittaker 48
The Turbulent Sun [A Special Supplement] 54
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson 88
An African Ethic of Conservation
Hussein Adan Isack 90
The Market 92
The Fruitful Wasteland Denis Hayes 96
A Matter of Taste : Kwakiutl Cuisine
Raymond Sokolov 101
Ah, Wilderness! Review by Edward Abbey 106
Additional Reading 112
Announcements lis
December No. 10
Authors 2
A Native Replies John l. Gwaltney 8
ANaturalist at Large: Managing the Earth's
Surface George M. Woodwell 16
Letters 20
This View of Life: The Advantages of Eating
Mom Stephen Jay Gould 24
A Matter of Taste: An Even, Gentle Heat
Raymond Sokolov 33
The Bubble Trade Horace Beck 38
A Pelican Synchrony Fritz l. Knopf 48
Master Design of the Inca Craig Morris 58
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson 68
The Search for the Culloden
Henry W. Moeller and Steven A. Giordano 70
Golden Trout in Trouble
Margaret F. Gold and John R. Gold 74
The Market 86
Sky Reporter: The Splitting of Comet West
Stephen P. Maran 88
The Deceiving Eye
An Exhibit in Review by Gerald Oster 93
Additional Reading 102
Announcements 104
INDEX TO
VOLUME LXXXV
AUTHORS AND TITLES
Abtey, E., REVIEW, Nov.. p. 106
Asimov, 1., RECIPE FOR A PLANETARY
Ocean, Aug., p. 54
B
Bahcall, J.N., THE SUN'S MISSING
Particles, Nov., p. 76
Bean. M.]., REVIEW. Jan., p. 94
Beck, H., The Bubble Trade, Dec, p. 38
Birrill. M., LOBSTER TALES. Aug.. p. 60
Bcihlin. J.D., HOLES IN THE CORONA,
Nov.. p. 68
Bi'ckley. F.G. and P.A., LATE-BLOOMING
TERNS. Apr., p. 46
Bi rghardt. G.M.. BLACK BEARS OF THE
Smokies. Jan.. p. 54
Calder. W.A.. III. ENERGY CRISIS OF
THE Hummingbird. May, p. 24
Carpenter. E.. ESSAY ON COLLECTORS
AND COLLECTIONS IN ART OF THE
Northwest Coast Indian. Mai..
p. 56
Coblentz. B.E.. WILD GOATS OF SANTA
CatalINA, June, p. 70
Coles. R., Review, Apr., p. 88
Cramer, D., HUMAN LOCOMOTION, Jan..
p. 64
Crowell. K.L. and M.R.. BERMUDA'S
ABUNDANT. Beleaguered
Birds, Oct.. p. 48
Desowitz. R.S.. How THE WISE MEN
Brought Malaria to Africa.
Oct.. p. 36
Dubos. R.. An Inadvertent
ECOLOGIST. Mar., p. 8
Ducklow, H., Slow Death of Coral
Reefs, Oct., p. 106
Duncan. A.. THE IMAGE MAKERS OF
Nepal, Jan.. p. 46
Eddy. J. A., SUNSPOTS, Nov.. p. 62
Eidredge. N.. REVIEW, Aug.. p. 100
Estes. J.A., Sea Otters: Pillars of
THE Nearshore Community,
■ornian. S.. SPIRITS OF THE MAKASSAE,
Nov.. p. 12
1 orrester. J.W.. LIMITS TO GROWTH
REVISITED. June, p. 22
Frantz, S.C. RATS IN THE GRANARY,
Feb.. p. 10
Freed. S.A., REVIEW, Mar., p. 71
Friedl. J.. SWISS FAMILY TOGETHER-
NESS. Feb.. p. 44
Galston. A.W.. HOW SAFE SHOULD
SaFEBE?. Apr., p. 32
Gerber. T-. THE PERCEPTIVE EYE. June.
p.42
Giordano. S.A.. THE SEARCH FOR THE
CVLLODEN. Dec, p. 70
Gold, M.F. and J.R., GOLDEN TROUT IN
TROUBLE, Dec, p. 74
Goldman. B.. POLITICKING IN ANCIENT
PERSIA, Apr., p. 36
Gould. S. J.. DARWIN AND THE CAPTAIN,
Jan., p. 32; Human Babies as
Embryos, Feb., p. 22; Criminal
Man Revived, Mar., p. 16;
Ladders. Bushes, and Human
Evolution. Apr., p. 24; Biological
Potential vs. Biological De-
terminism. May. p. 12;The Five
Kingdoms, June. p. 30;The Inter-
pretation OF Diagrams. Aug..
p. 18; DARWIN'S Untimely Burial,
Oct.. p. 24; So Cleverly Kind an
Animal, Nov., p. 32; The Advan-
tages OF Eating Mom, Dec, p. 24
Gribbin, J.. CLIMATIC CHANGES ON
Mars. Feb.. p. 78
Gwaltney, J.L., A NATIVE REPLIES,
Dec, p. 8
H
Hallet, S.I., Wandering Art, Feb.. p. 66
HalloweU..C.L..THE FENCING OF
AMERICA. Jan.. p. 76; Journey of
A Seventeenth-Century Cannon.
Apr., p. 76
Hardin. G., RSHING THE COMMONS,
Aug., p. 9
Harding, R.S.O., PREDATORY BABOONS
OF KEKOPEY. Mar., p. 46
Hayes, D.. THE FRUITFUL WASTELAND.
Nov.. p. 96
Hewitt. K., Earthquake Hazards in
THE Mountains. May. p. 30
Howell. D.J.. Plant-loving Bats.
BAT-LOVING Plants, Feb.. p. 52
I
Isack. H.A.. An AFRICAN ETHIC OF
Conservation , Nov., p. 90
Johnsgard, P.A., FlIGHTOFTHESEA
Ducks, Aug., p. 68
Kennedy, K.A.R., THE APE IN STATE-
ROOM 10. Nov.. p. 48
Kilbourne.E.D.. AS135 MILLION
Gamble. June, p. 39
Klaw. S.. Review, June, p. 99
Klein, R.M.. A NATION OF MOON-
SHINERS. Jan.. p. 23; THE "Fever
Bark" Tree, Apr., p. 10; Maypoles
AND Earth Mothers, May, p. 4
Kluger, M.J.. THE IMPORTANCE OF
Being Feverish. Jan.. p. 70
Knopf. F.L.. APELICAN SYNCHRONY.
Dec. p. 48
Kooyman. G.L.. DEEP DIVERS OF THE
Antarctic. Mar., p. 36
Kukla, G.J., Around the Ice Age
World, Apr., p. 56
Levitsky, D.A., ILL-NOURISHED
BRAINS.Oct.. p. 6
Lindsay. S.. ed.. THE TURBULENT SUN.
Nov., p. 54
Lovelock. J.E.. Is MaRS A SPACESHIP.
Too? June, p. 86
M
Manson. V-D., APOCKETFUL OF CRYS-
TALS, May, p. 38
Maran, S.P-, MISSING MATTER. Jan.,
p. 80; Exploding Stars. May. p. 62;
Stars by the Cluster. Oct.. p. 122;
The Splitting of Comet West.
Deep. 88
Margulis. L.. Is MARS A SPACESHIP.
Too? June, p. 86
Mead. M., RETURN TO MaNUS, June, p. 60
Mitchell, R-, SLOW DEATH OF Coral
Reefs, Oct.. p. 106
MoeUer. H.W., THE SEARCH FOR THE
CULLODEN, Dec, p. 70
Mohlenbrock, R.H., AN EDIBLE WEED,
Apr., p. 96
Morris. C. MASTER DESIGN OF THE
INCA, Dec. p. 58
Motz, L.. DESTRUCTION OF THE
Earth-Moon System. Apr., p. 80
N
Nicholson, T.D.. CELESTIAL EVENTS,
Jan., p. 92; Feb., p. 88; Mar., p. 34; Apr..
p. 86; May. p. 60; June, p. 92; Aug., p.
92; Oct., p. 132; Nov., p. 88; Dec, p. 68
Nietschmann. B., DRIFT COCONUTS,
Nov., p. 20
o
Osborne, D.. SLOW EXODUS FROM
Mesa Verde. Jan.. p. 38
Oster. G.. REVIEW. Dec. p. 93
Palmisano, J.F.. SEA OTTERS: PILLARS
OF THE NEARSHORE COMMUNITY,
Aug., p. 46
Pelton, M.R., BLACK BEARS OF THE
SMOKIES, Jan., p. 54
Perkins. D.. Jr., ICE AGE ANIMALS OF
THE Lascaux Cave, Apr., p. 62
Radinsky. L.. CEREBRAL CLUES. May.
p. 54
Rasool. S.I.. The Venusian Surface.
June, p. 94
Reid, w.. Prologue to Art of the
Northwest Coast Indian. Mar..
p. 54
Roberts, E.F., REVIEW, Oct., p. 1 28
Robison, B.H.. DEEP-SEA FlSHES. Aug..
p. 38
Ross. D.A., The Red Sea: An Ocean in
THE Making, Aug., p. 74
Sale, P.F.. Reef FIsh Lottery, Feb.,
p. 60
Sax. J.L.. ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION: A
Passing Fad? June. p. 10; Amer-
ica's National Parks; Their
Principles, Purposes, and
Prospects. Oct.. p. 57
Schlauch. F.C.. CITY SNAKES, SUBUR-
BAN Salamanders, May. p. 46
Scholz. C.H.. Rifting in the
Okavango Delta. Feb.. p. 34
Shanklin. E.. DONEGAL'S LOWLY SHEEP
AND Exalted Cows, Mar., p. 26
Shaw. E., The Egg as Classroom.
Feb.. p. 72
Simon, C.A.. LIZARD COEXISTENCE IN
Four Dimensions, Apr., p. 70
Sokolov, R., The Drin king Man's
Pear. Jan., p. 86 ; A STEAK IN THE
Future? Feb.. p. 83; Peace and
the Ultimate Snack. Mar., p. 78;
An Early Riser. May. p. 68; Best
OF the Brambles. June. p. 106;
THE Net Result, Aug., p. 94 ; The
Pumpkin Papers, Oct., p. 114;
KwAKiUTL Cuisine. Nov., p. loi;
An Even, Gentle Heat, Dec. p. 33
Spencer. P.W.. RosES ARE RED. WHITE,
Yellow. Pink. June, p. 78
Strum, S.C, PREDATORY BABOONS OF
KEKOPEY,Mar.,p. 46
sturiock, P.A.. Solar Flares. Nov..
p. 71
Sweeney. B.M., RED TIDES, Aug., p. 78
Tinkelman, M.. REVIEW. Feb.. p. 90
Tinsley. B.M.. LIFE AND DEATH IN THE
Milky Way. Mar., p. 74
Ubich, R.K., Waves on the Sun. Nov..
p. 73
Vogelmann, H.W.. Rain-MAKING
Forests. Mar., p. 22
W
Waian, L., A RESURGENCE OF KITES,
Nov., p. 40
Walker, A., REVIEW, May, p. 76
Wellington, W. G., LIFE AT THE CLOUD
Line, Oct., p. lOO
Wliittaker, J.C. THE APE IN STATEROOM
10. Nov.. p. 48
Wolfheim. J.H.. THE PERILS OF PRI-
MATES, Oct.. p. 90
Woodwell, G.M.. MANAGING THE
EARTH'S SURFACE. Dec. p. 16
Wooster. W.S.. BOUNDING THE MAIN.
Aug.. p. 84
Wright. W.R., CURRENTS OF THE SEA.
Aug.. p. 30
Zihlman. A.. HUMAN LOCOMOTION.
Jan., p. 64
Zimmerman, D.R.. THE BALD EAGLE
BICENTENNIAL BLUES. Jan.. p. 8
SUBJECT MATTER
Afghanistan, Feb., p. 66
AFRICA
and Baboons, Mar., p. 46
Kenya, Nov., p. 90
and Malaria, Oct., p. 36
Okavango Delta, Feb., p. 34
Alcohol, Jan., p. 23, p. 86
Aleutian Islands, Aug., p. 46
AMERICAN INDIANS
Inca, Dec, p. 58
Miskito, Nov.,p. 20
Northwest Coast, Mar., p- 54
Pueblo, Jan., p. 38
Ampliibians, May, p. 46
Anatomy. Jan., p. 64; May, p. 54
Ancient ceremonies. May, p. 4
Ancient Persia, Apr., p. 36
ANTHROPOLOGY
Afghanistan art, Feb., p. 66
Ancient Persia, Apr., p. 36
Black people, Dec. p. 8
Inca, Dec, p. 58
Lascaux cave, Apr., p. 62
Makassae, Nov., p. 12
Miskito Indian, Nov., p. 20
New Guinea, June, p. 60
Northwest Coast Indians. Mai., p. 54
Physical, Jan., p. 64; May, p. 54
Pueblo Indians, Jan., p. 38
Swiss family, Feb., p. 44
West Indies smugglers, Dec,, p. 38
Antarctica, Mar., p. 36
Apes, Nov., p. 48
ARCHEOLOGY
Ancient Persian, Apr., p. 36
Marine, Dec, p. 70
ART
Afglianistan, Feb., p. 66
History of, Apr., p. 62
Northwest Coast Indians, Mar., p. 54
Wax casting, Jan., p. 46
Artifacts, Apr., p. 76
Asparagus, May, p. 68
ASTRONOMY
Celestial events, Jan., p. 92; Feb., p. 88;
Mar., p. 34; Apr., p. 86; May, p. 60;
June, p. 92; Aug.. p. 92; Oct., p. 132;
Nov., p. 88; Dec. p. 68
Comet West, Deep. 88
Corona, Nov., p. 68
Earth-Moon system, Apr., p. 80
Galactic gas, Jan., p. 80
Holes, black, Oct., p. 122
Landing on Mais and Venus, June, p. 86,
p. 94
Mars, Feb., p. 78; Mar., p. 34; June, p. 86
Milky Way, Mar., p. 74
Novae, May, p. 62
Planets, Feb., p. 78; Mar., p. 34 ; June,
p. 86,p. 94;Aug., p. 54
Sky Reporter, Jan., p. 80; Feb., p. 78;
Mar., p. 74; Apr., p. 80; May, p. 62;
June, p. 94 ; Aug., p. 54; Oct., p. 1 22;
Dec, p. 88
Star clusters, Oct., p. 122
Stars, Mar., p. 74 ; Oct., p. 1 22
Stars, exploding. May, p. 62
Sun: A Special Supplement, Nov., p.
54-73; coronal holes, p. 68; flares,
p. 76; missing particles, p. 76;
sunspots, p. 62; waves, p. 73
Venus, June, p. 94
I
Baboons, Mar., p. 46
Bald eagle, Jan., p. 8
Bashbish Falls, Massachusetts State
Forest, Jan., p. 76
Bats, Feb., p. 52
Beefsteak, Feb., p. 83
Bermuda, birds, Oct., p. 48
BIOLOGY
Embryos, Feb., p- 22
and Human behavior. May, p. 1 2
Smglc-celled organisms, June, p. 30
BIOS
Herbicides and environment, Apr., p. 32
BIRDS
Bald eagle, Jan., p. 8
Behavior, learning, Feb., p. 72
of Bermuda, Oct., p. 48
Ducks, Feb., p. 72; Aug., p. 68
Hummingbirds, May, p. 24
Kites, Nov., p. 40
Pelicans, Dec, p. 48
Penguins, Mar., p. 36
Terns, Apr., p. 46
Biack bears, Jan.. p. 54
Blackholes, Oct., p. 122
Black people. Dec, p. 8
Body temperature, Jan., p. 70
BOTANY
Asparag:us, May, p- 68
Cinchona tree, Apr., p. 10
Dandelions, Apr., p. 96
Grain alcohol, Jan., p. 23
Olive, Mar., p. 78
Peai, Jan., p. 86
Plantsandbats, Feb.,p. 52
Plants, colors of, June, p. 78
Pumpkin, Oct., p. 114
Rain-making forests. Mar., p. 22
Raspberries, June, p. 106
Cambrian explosion, Aug., p. 18
Caribbean, Nicaragua, Nov., p. 20
Celestial Events see Astronomy
Chemical compounds, synthetic, Apr., p. 32
Ousters, globular, Oct., p. 1 22
Colors of flowers, fruits, plants, June, p. 78
Comet West, Dec, p. 88
Cows, Feb., p. 83; Mar., p. 26
Coral reefs, Feb., p. 60; Oct., p. 106
Criminality, theories of. Mar., p. 16
Crustaceans, Aug., p. 38, p. 60
Crystals, May, p. 38
Culloden, British ship, Dec, p. 70
Culture change, Swiss, Feb., p. 44
Currents, ocean, Aug., p. 30
Dandelions, Apr., p. 96
Darwin, Jan., p. 32; Oct., p. 24
DDT, pesticide, Jan., p. 8; Apr., p. 32;
Dec, p. 48
Deep-sea fishes, Aug.. p. 38
Diagrams, Aug., p. 18
DISEASE
Fever, Jan., p. 70
Malaria, Apr., p. 10; Oct., p. 36
Swine flu, June, p. 39
Ducks, sea, Aug., p. 68
Earth-Moon system, Apr., p. 80
Earth, surface of, Dec, p. 16
Earthquakes, Feb., p. 34 ; May, p. 30
ECOLOGY
Cambrian explosion, Aug., p. 1 8
City, May, p. 46
Coral reefs, Feb.. p. 60; Oct., p. 106
Deep-sea fishes, Aug., p. 38
of Disease, Oct., p. 36
and Kites, Nov., p. 40
Microbiology, Mar., p. 8
Mountain.Oct., p. 100
National Parks, Oct., p- 57
Rain-making forests. Mar., p. 22
Red tides, Aug., p. 78
ECOSYSTEM
Environment, Dec, p- 16
Primates, Mar., p. 46
Rain-making forests. Mar., p. 22
Egg and learning behavior, Feb., p. 72
Embryos, human, Feb., p- 22
Endangered species, Jan., p. 8; Aug., p-46;
Oct., p. 90; Dec, p. 74
Energy from garbage, Nov., p. 96
EIWIRONMENT
Africa, Kenya, Nov., p. 90
Coastal, Aug., p. 46
Coral reefs, Oct., p. 106
Deep-sea. Aug., p. 38
Garbage, Nov., p. 96
Herbicides, Apr., p. 32
National parks, Oct., p. 57
Pollution, June, p. 22
Protection of, June, p. 10; Dec, p. 16
Environmental law, June, p. 10
Epidemic, swine flu. June, p. 39
EXTINCnON
BaldEagle, Jan., p. 8
DDT, Dec, p. 48
EVOLUTION
Anatomy, Jan., p- 64
Brain, May, p. 54
Cambrian explosion, Aug.. p. 18
Darwin, Jan., p. 32; Oct., p. 24
Human.Apr., p. 24
Insect, Dec, p. 24
Family, Swiss, Feb., p. 44
Fever, Jan., p. 70
FISHES
Deep-sea, Aug., p. 38
Reef, Feb., p. 60
Trout, Dec. p. 74
Fishing regulations, Aug., p. 9
Flight behavior, sea ducks, Aug., p. 68
Flowers, June, p. 78
Flu epidemic, June, p. 39
FOOD
Asparagus, May, p. 68
Beef, Feb., p. 83
Cooking of, Dec, p. 33
Dandelions, Apr., p. 96
Fish, Aug., p. 94; Nov., p. 101
Kwakiutl, Nov., p. 101
Olives, Mar., p. 78
Pears, Jan., p. 86
Pumpkins, Oct., p. 114
Raspberries, June, p. 106
Storage and rats, Feb., p. 10
Forests, Mar., p. 22
Fossils, Apr., p. 24; May, p. 54
Fruits, Jan., p. 86; June, p. 78, p. 106;
Oct., p. 114
Galactic gas, Jan., p. 80
Gems, May, p. 38
GEOLOGY
Earthquakes, Feb., p. 34; May, p. 30
Ice Age, Apr., p. 56
Marine, Aug., p. 74
Minerals, May, p. 38
Goats, wild, June, p. 70
Gorilla, Nov., p. 48
Great Barrier Reef, Feb., p. 60
Great Smoky Mountain National Park,
Jan., p. 54
Hejrt in cooking, Dec, p. 33
Herbicides, Apr., p. 32
HOLES
Black, Oct., p. 122
Coronal, Nov., p. 68
Hummingbirds, May, p. 24
Hunger and behavior, Oct., p. 6
Ice Age animals, Apr., p. 62
Ice Age climates, Apr., p. 56
Illness see Disease
Immunization, flu, June, p. 39
Inca, Dec, p. 58
India, Feb., p. 10
Indonesia, Nov., p. 12
Influenza, pandemic, June, p. 39
Insects, Oct,, p. 36; Dec, p. 24
Iran, Apr., p. 36
Ireland, Mar., p. 26
Kenya, Mar., p. 46; Nov., p. 90
Kite, white-tailed, Nov., p. 40
Kwakiutl food, Nov., p. 101
LANDING
on Mars, June, p. 86
on Venus, June, p. 94
Laotian cooking, Aug., p. 94
Lascaux cave, France, Apr., p. 62
Law of the Sea, Aug., p. 84
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, Feb., p. 27;
Apr..p. 20;Dec, p. 20
Limits to growth, June, p. 22
Linnaeus, May, p- 12
Liquor smuggling, Dec, p. 38
Lizards, Jan., p. 70; Apr., p. 70
Lobsters, Aug., p. 60
Locomotion, human, Jan., p. 64
Makassae tribe, Indonesia, Nov., p. 12
Malaria, Apr., p. 10; Oct., p. 36
Malnutrition and retardation, Oct., p. 6
MAMMALS
Bats, Feb., p. 52
Black bears, Jan., p. 54
Cattle, Mar., p. 26
Goats, wild, June. p. 70
Ice Age, Apr., p. 62
Primates, Mar., p. 46; Oct., p. 90;
Nov., p. 48
Rats, Feb., p. 10
Seals, Mar. p. 36
Sea otters, Aug., p. 46
Sheep, Mar., p. 26
Manus, June, p. 60
Marine archeology, Dec, p. 70
Marine biology, Feb., p. 60; Aug., p. 38,
p. 46, p. 60, p. 78; Oct.. p. 106
I Marine birds, Apr., p. 46; Aug,, p. 68
Marine geology, Aug., p. 74
I Mars, Feb., p. 78; Mar., p. 34; June, p. 86
L MATTER OF TASTE
I Asparagus, May, p. 68
i Beef, Feb., p. 83
Cholent, Dec, p. 33
Fish, Aug., p. 94; Nov., p. 10!
Olives, Mar,, p. 78
Pears, Jan., p. 86
Pumpkins, Oct., p. 114
Raspberries, June, p. 106
Maypoles, May, p. 4
Medicine, swine flu, June, p. 39; tropical,
malaria, Apr., p. 10; Oct., p. 36
Mesa Verde, Colorado, Jan., p. 38
■ Metal casting, lost wax method, Jan. p. 46
1 Meteorology, Feb., p. 78; Apr., p. 56; Oct.,
) p. 100
Milky Way, Mar., p. 74
Minerals, May, p. 38
Miskito Indians, Nov., p. 20
Moonshiners, Jan., p. 23
j MOUNTAINS
andCIouds, Oct., p. 100
' Rain-making forests, Mar., p. 22
1 NATIONAL PARKS
Grand Canyon, Oct., p. 57
Great Smoky Mountain, Jan., p. 54;
Oct-, p. 57
Guadalupe Mountains, Oct., p. 57
Yellowstone, Oct., p. 57
Yosemite. Oct.,p. 57
National selection. May, p. 12; Oct., p. 2^
NATURALIST AT LARGE
Earth's surface, Dec, p. 16
Ecology, Mar., p. 8
Egg, bird behavior, Feb,, p- 72
Fishing, Aug., p. 9
Maypoles, May, p. 4
Miskito Indians, Nov., p. 20
Moonshiners, Jan., p. 23
Pollution, June, p. 22
Quinine, Apr., p. 10
Nepal, Jan., p. 46
NEW YORK CITY
Urbaruzation, May, p. 46
World Trade Center, Apr., p. 76
Nicaragua, Nov., p. 20
Novae, May, p. 62
Occultation by Mars, Mar., p. 34
OCEAN
Currents, Aug., p. 30
Deep-sea fishes, Aug., p. 38
Fishing of Aug., p. 74
Making of, Aug., p. 74
Planetary, Aug., p. 54
Red tides, Aug., p. 78
Resources, Aug., p. 9, p. 84
Uses of, Aug., p. 84
Olives, Mar., p. 78
Oven cookirig, Dec, p. 33
Papua New Guinea, June, p. 60
Parks see National Parks, State Parks
Pasteur, Louis, Mar., p. 8
Pakistan, May, p. 30
Paleontology, Africa, Apr., p. 24
Pears, Jan., p. 86
Pelicans, Dec, p. 48
Penguins. Mar., p. 36
Persepolis, Apr., p. 36
Photographic competition, June, p. 42
Physical limits of growth, June, p. 22
PLANETS
Mars, Feb., p. 78; Mar., p. 34; June,
p. 86
Oceans on, Aug., p. 54.
Venus, June, p. 94
PLANTS
and Bats, Feb., p. 52
Colors of, June, p. 78
POLLUTION
Coral reefs, Oct., p. 106
Environment and technology, June,
Primates. Mar., p. 46 ; Oct., p. 90; Nov.,
p. 48
Pueblo Indians, Jan., p. 38
Pumpkins, Oct., p. 114
Quinine, Apr., p. 10
Rain-making forests. Mar., p. 22
Rats, Feb., p. 10
Recycling, Nov., p. 96
Red Sea, Aug., p. 74
Red Tides, Aug., p. 78
REPTILES
Lizards, Apr., p. 70
Snakes, May, p. 46
Turtles, May, p. 46
Retardation in children, Oct., p. 6
Rituals, May, p. 4 ; Nov., p. 1 2
Rodents and food, Feb.. p. 10
Salamanders, May, p. 46
Sea ducks, Aug., p. 68
Seals, Mar., p. 36
Sea otters, Aug., p. 46
Seismological prediction, Feb., p. 34;
May, p. 30
Sheep, Mar., p. 26
Sliip, QiUoden, Dec, p. 70
Sigmoidal growth, laws of, Aug., p. 18
Single-ceUed organisms, June, p. 30;
Aug., p. 78
Sky Reporter see Astronomy
Snakes, May, p. 46
Social limits, of growth, June, p. 22
Spices, Aug., p. 94
Star clusters, Oct., p. 1 22
Stars, Mar., p. 74; Oct., p. 122; exploding.
May, p. 62
State Parks, Bashbish Falls, Jan., p. 76
Sun see Astronomy
Swine influenza, June. p. 39
Symbiosis, bats and plants, Feb., p. 52
SYSTEMS
of Commons, Aug., p. 9
Earth-Moon, Apr., p. 80
Strata diagram, Aug., p. 18
World ocean, Aug., p. 30
Tanzania, Apr., p. 24
Terns, Apr., p. 46
Thermoregulation in birds. Mar., p. 36;
May, p. 24
THIS VIEW OF LIFE
Biological classification, June, p. 30
Crime, Mar., p. 16
Darwin, Jan., p. 32; Oct., p. 24
Diagrams, Aug., p. 18
Embryos, Feb., p. 22
Evolution, Apr., p. 24
Human behavior, Nov., p. 32
Insects, Dec, p. 24
Linnaeus, May, p. 12
Trees, cinchona, Apr., p. 10
Tropical disease, malaria, Apr., p. 10;
Oct., p. 36
Trout, golden, Dec, p. 74
Urbanization, May, p. 46
Venus, June, p. 94
Vertebrate paleontology. May, p. 54
Vietnam, Oct., p. 36
. Viking mission, June, r. 86
Weather, Feb., p. 78; Apr., p. 56;
Oct., p. 100 ■
WEB OF HUNGER
Malnourishment, Oct., p. 6
Rats and food storage. Feb., p. 10
Weeds, edible, Apr., p. 96
West Indies, Lesser Antilles, Dec, p. 38
Xrays, Oct., p. 122
BOOKS IN REVIEW
Deceiving Eye, The: Exhibit in Review,
Deep. 93
Fantastic Creatures of Edward Julius
Detmold. The. Feb., p. 90
Hunting Hypothesis, Vie, May, p. 76
Patchwork Mouse, The: Politics and Intrigut
in the Campaign to Conquer Cancer.
June, p. 99
Politics of Extinction. The, Jan., p. 94
Poverty of Power, The, Oct., p. 128
Strangers Devour the Land, Mar., p. 7 1
Trilobites: A Photographic Atlas. Aug.,
p. 100
Wild Boy of A veyron. The. Apr., p. 88
Wolf Children and Feral Man, Apr., p. 88
Woodswoman, Nov,, p. 106 j
World of My Own, A. Nov., p. 106
Year- Long Day, 7V/e,"-Nov., p. 106
NATURAL HISTORY
^Ir ' JANUARY 1 976 • $1 .2J
^ ^ V
r
m
f^s
j^*^ ,
^'^'^^■■■■■ySi^^^
¥?^ >
■|fei-:
^s ?S ■^fT'''*^'*
^•'
%•- ^
^* iv**
ft
/^'
•>>.-.
'^:
■*"■ ->J
■***?!!
g|
l&w// fowl/ your first for what you think it is.
And your second for what you know it is.
/laybe that's the reason Cadillac repeat ownership is consistently the highest of any U.S. luxury car make.
Cadillac W
NATURAL HISTORY
Incorporating Nature Magazine
Vol. LXXXV. No. I
Januarv 1976
The American Museum of Natural History
Robert G. Goetet, President
Thomas D. Nicholson. Director
Alan Ternes. Editor
Thomas Page. Designer
Board of Editors:
Sally Lindsay, Fredericii Harlmann.
Christopher Hallowell. Toni Gerber
Carol Breslin, Book Reviews Editor
Florence G. Edelstein. Copy Chief
Gordon Beckliorn. Copy Editor
Angela Soccodato. Art Asst.
Diane Pierson, Editorial Asst.
Lillian Berger
Rosamond Dana, Publications Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dean Amadon, Dorothy E. Bliss,
Mark Chartrand, Niles Eldredge,
Vincent Manson, Margaret Mead,
Thomas D. Nicholson, Gerard Piel,
Richard G. Van Gelder
David D. Ryus. Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly, Business Manager
Sue Severn, Production Manager
Gordon Finley, Marketing Manager
Ernestine Weindorf, Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe, Business Asst.
Yung-mei Tang
Ann Brown, Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez, Asst.
Joan Mahoney
Harriet Walsh
Publication Office: The American Museum
of Natural History. Central Park West
at 79th Street. New York. N.Y. 10024.
Published monthly, October through May:
bimonthly June to September.
Subscriptions: $10.00 a year. In Canada
and all other countries: $12.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at
New York. N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1975 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be
reproduced without written consent of
Natural History. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American Museum.
Natural History incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History.
420 Lexington Avenue,
New York, N. Y. 10017
: (212) 686-1234
Change of address notices, undeliverable
copies, orders for subscriptions,
and other mail items are to be sent to
.Natural History
Membership Services, Box 6000
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
2 Authors
8 The Bald Eagle Bicentennial Blues David R Zimmerman
America's national bird has little cause for celebration.
23 A Naturalist at Large Richard M. Klein
A Nation of Moonshiners
32 This View of Life Stephen Jay Gould
Darwin and the Captain
38 Slow Exodus from Mesa Verde Douglas Osborne
Why, after centuries of occupation, did the Indians abandon their pueblos?
46 The Image Makers of Nepal Alexander Duncan
Each mold produces only a single fine metal casting.
54 Black Bears of the Smokies Michael R. Pelton and Gordon M. Burghardt
The cubs, due to be born in the next few weeks, are about the size of a rat.
64 Human Locomotion Adrienne Zihlman and Douglas Cramer
To understand human evolution, follow the action of the pelvis.
70 The Importance of Being Feverish Matthew J. Kluger
We've been studying fever for at least 2,400 years, and still don't know its
actual function.
76 At Random Christopher L. Hallowell
The Fencing of America
80 Sky Reporter Stephen P. Maran
Missing Matter
86 A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokolov
The Drinking Man's Pear
92 Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
94 Book Review Michael J. Bean
The War Against Wildlife
98 Additional Reading
101 Announcements
Cover: The bald eagle has become a ruffled national symbol as the effects of pesticide
poisoning, indiscriminate shooting, and habitat destruction have severely
depleted its range and numbers. Photograph by Tom McHugh, Photo Researchers,
Inc. Story on page 8.
Authors
With the approach of the Bicen-
tennial, Natural History decided to
publish an uncommon portrait of an
American symbol: the bald eagle.
David R. Zimmerman, a free-lance
writer who has often reported on birds
of uncertain future, was sent to the
government's Patuxent Wildlife Re-
search Center where autopsies are
performed on bald eagles. His find-
ings paint a grim prognosis for the
national bird. Zimmerman, whose
book. To Save a Bird in Peril, was
published last year, authored "Vul-
ture Restaurant" for the June-July
1975 issue of Natural History.
Alexander Duncan first encoun-
tered Nepalese metal casters in 1970,
on what was supposed to be a brief
trip to India and Nepal , which has not
yet ended. For a while he worked at
Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu,
but at the moment he is doing inde-
pendent research in the field of Nepa-
lese bronzes and casting with atten-
tion also to Tibetan art in general.
Duncan plans to write a book on the
subject of Nepalese bronzes, both tra-
ditional and modern. Free-lance pho-
tographer James Kittle's interest in
image casting was fostered by his
friend Alexander Duncan.
For six years Douglas Osborne
directed archeological excavations in
Colorado's Mesa Verde National
Park. A principal objective of the
project was to determine why the
Pueblo Indians abandoned the area
some 700 years ago, a mystery that
first intrigued Osborne during his stu-
dent days at the University of New
Mexico. Now teaching anthropology
at California State University, Os-
borne— who has participated in at
least a dozen digs in the western
United States and Canada — is at
present investigating archeological
sites on the South Pacific island of
Palau, an area in which he has long
been interested.
Concerned about the future welfare
of the black bear in the southern Ap-
palachian Mountains, Michael R.
Pelton began to explore the natural
history and ecology of this animal.
One by-product of his inquiry was the
development of accurate census-tak-
ing methods for the species. Supervi-
sor of a graduate research program at
the University of Tennessee, where
he is an associate professor of for-
estry, Pelton was able to enlist the
services of several students in the
black bear study. Now engaged in
field work on the exotic European
wild hog and the raccoon, Pelton
plans to increase the scope of his ex-
amination to include the gray fox,
skunk, and bobcat. Coauthor of
"Black Bears of the Smokies," Gor-
don M. Burghardt focused on the
problems created by human-black
bear interactions in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park. An assist-
ant professor of psychology at the
University of Tennessee, Burghardt
IS studying the behavior of newborn
snakes and newly hatched green
Iguanas in Panama and is also plan-
nmg to write a book on ethology. Fi-
nancial support for the project on the
black bear was provided by Mclntire-
Stennis funds obtained through the
Department of Forestry, a National
Institutes of Health grant, and the
Great Smoky Mountains Natural His-
tory Association.
As your introduction to membership in the BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB*
The most comprehensive encyclopedia
of philosophy ever published...
FOR ONLY
$1750
THt SU(,CESTEDTKIAL
You (Imply aKfcc 10 buy
tour Club choicci wilhln a
year at Gubctantlal tavlngf
on moB( bookt you choofc.
PUBLISHER'S LIST PRICE: $99.50
The complete contents of the original
eight-volume $2 1 9.50 edition now in a
handsome four-volume reader's edition
ONE OF THE GREATEST repositories of philo-
sophical information available anywhere,
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy is the only major
philosophical reference work published in English
since 1901.
In this unique 5,000,000-word work can be
found clear, authoritative answers to almost any
question concerning philosophy — ancient, medi-
eval and modern. Eastern as well as Western. And
because the work represents the collaboration of
more than 500 philosophers and philosophical
scholars from twenty-four countries, every shade
of opinion is represented. No thinker or move-
ment is dismissed as too radical, no issue is scanted
as too controversial. There are articles, for exam-
ple, that discuss such contemporary matters as the
ethics of suicide and euthanasia and the benefits
and dangers of computing machines.
Clearly, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy be-
longs in every personal library, particularly in
homes where there are high school or college stu-
dents. Up to now its high price has kept it out of
the reach of most families. But, as a new member
of the Book-of-the-Month Club, you may own it
for less than a tenth of the cost of the original
eight-volume edition. Because only a limited num-
ber of sets have been set aside for this offer, you
are advised to act quickly.
SPECIAL FEATURES AND EDITORIAL FACTS
• 4200 pages
• 5,000,000 words
• Nearly 1500 articles,
including 900 on
individual philosophers
• 158-page index
• Paul Edwards, editor
in chief
• Editorial Board of 153
international scholars
• Contributors: 500
specialists from
twenty-four countries
A SMALL SAMPLING OF THE IDEAS
AND PHILOSOPHERS IN THESE VOLUMES
Pain Atheism Semantics The Absolute
Nothing Free Will Humanism Good and Evil
Truth Nonsense Linguistics Existentialism
LOCKE WITTGENSTEIN
CONFUCIUS SANTAYANA
ERASMUS SPINOZA
SARTRE THOMAS AQUINAS
RUSSELL PIAGET
CAMUS NEWTON
KANT DESCARTES
NIETZSCHE HEGEL
ARISTOTLE EINSTEIN
PLATO KIERKEGAARD
BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB, INC., Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, 17012 6-A398-1
Please enroll me as a member of the Book-of-the-Month Club and send
me the four-volume reader's edition of The Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
billing me $17.50. 1 agree to buy at least four Selections or Alternates
during the first year I am a member, paying in most cases special mem-
bers' prices. My membership is cancelable any time after I buy these
four books. A shipping charge is added to all shipments. ^
MISS \ (Please print plainly)
Address '*"'
City <St
State Zip
FACTS ABOUT MEMBERSHIP
• You will receive the Book-oMhe-Monih Club News, a decide whelhec you warn il. Ih.t Selection may be re-
literary magazine published by the Club fifteen times a turned at Club expense. , i m mbershn vou will
S'S^a^rSr^ """""' lpp^oxZa."e?y^^°c7y^ iJn ^ SE^^H^^^S ^f^JSt^c^a^^y^u ^"0
1 If voS wish 10 purchase the Selection do nothing and i. acquire for your library a wide variety of books called
will be shipped to^ou automatically. ' Book-Dividends. at as'onish.ng savijigs " f ' 'f'^/^^^ha^n
■ If you do not want the Seleciion - or you would like one pubUshers lisl prices. Under ihis ud'1"^ ioTho^« from
decision on ihe reply form always enclosed with the Nem every year. .. i, , / -i, »j„„,k /-i,,k
and mail il so we receive i( by the dale specified. • All books distributed by the Book-of-lhc-Month Club
■ If, because of lale mail delivery of the News, you should are identical 10 the publishers' editions in conicnt, formal.
receive a Selection without having had at least 10 days to size and quality.
Announcing . . ,
The 1976
Natural History
Photography Competition
For those who received new cameras for
Christmas, for those who are restless to
get outdoors with their old ones, and for
all whose files are brimming over with
beautiful pictures. Natural History joy-
fully announces another chance to try
your luck: the photo contest is on again.
This year we have included black-
and-white photography, kept the theme
broad, and opened separate categories
for those with specialized techniques.
We have altered the rules a bit, juggled
the judges, and changed the prizes. So
read on.
The Categories: 1 . The Natural World,
including Man. 2. Macro- and Micro-
photographs, including scanning elec-
tron micrographs. 3. A Chronological
Sequence, which may be up to five pho-
tographs, of an "Event in Nature."
The Rules: The competition is open to
everyone except employees of The
American Museum of Natural History
and their kin and all previous winners.
2. Competitors may submit up to three
previously unpublished entries in each
category. 3. Entries may be trans-
parencies or prints up to 8" by 10". Each
entry must contain the name and address
of the photographer and the category. 4.
For each entry, please tell us the camera
model used. 5. Include a self -addressed,
stamped envelope since we want to re-
turn your pictures to you.
The Closing Date: All entries should be
postmarked no later than April 1, 1976.
The Rewards: Grand Prize is $500.
First prize for each category is $250. Ten
Honorable Mentions will receive $100
each.
More Rewards: All winning entries will
be published in a special, picture-filled
issue of Natural History.
Some Hitches: The decision of the
judges will be final. Natural History
acquires the right to publish and exhibit
the winning pictures. And Natural His-
tory assumes no responsibility for trans-
parencies or prints.
Pack your beautiful entries carefully and
mail them to:
Photography Competition 1976
Natural History Magazine
7 West 77th Street
New York, New York 10024
The bones being held by anthro-
pologist Adrienne Zihiman are half
a human pelvis (in her left hand) and
half a chimpanzee pelvis (in her right
hand). During ten years of work on
pelvises, Zihiman has dissected
dozens of primate hip joints and stud-
ied countless pelvic and limb bones
in South and East Africa. Interested
in the development of human loco-
motion and its correlation with social
behavior, she is currently completing
a book on the evolution of human so-
ciety. Since finishing her graduate
studies in 1967, Zihiman has taught
anthropology at the Santa Cruz
campus of the University of Califor-
nia. Coauthor Douglas Cramer, who
teaches anthropology at Rutgers Uni-
versity, has also worked as a medical
and surgical illustrator. He is respon-
sible for many of the illustrations in
the article.
Perplexed by the long-standing
medical controversy over the role of
fever in disease, Matthew J. Kluger
became involved in the problem three
years ago when he was appointed as-
sistant professor of physiology at the
University of Michigan Medical
School. In the belief that animal
models would yield some answers
about the adaptive value, as well as
the origin and evolution, of fever, he
has been working with lizards, birds,
and small mammals. (One incidental
laboratory finding was that opossums
do not get sick.) Kluger, who re-
ceived his Ph.D. from the University
of Illinois in 1970, spent two years at
the Yale University School of Medi-
cine investigating temperature physi-
ology.
// - until today —
your experience with
art masterpieces has been
limited, for tlie most part,
to scaled-down "prints" and
reproductions in hooks . . .
f^^0
Imagine the
excitement of
viewing the world's
great paintings in the
FULL SIZE and
GLOWING COLORS
of the original canvases-
on your own wall
at home!
^V^i
<*^
mm
A REMARKABLE DEMONSTRATION OFFER FROM
THE McGRAW HILL
Color Slide Program of Art Enjoyment
_».. .,^4 r comparable value:!
TAKE THIS ALBUM OF IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS FOR ONLY ^ J j^ j^j ,j, j^g J
HAVE you ever
wondered
why people who
are otherwise
well-informed
often fail to develop a real understanding
and enthusiasm for so many of the world's
great paintings? Perhaps it is because most
of us only rarely have the experience of
standing before the original works of art.
Imagine then, what it would be like to
view these celebrated masterpieces in your
own home — just as they appear in leading
museums and the collections of the world's
greatart patrons! This extraordinary experi-
ence is now open to you through a series
of remarkable Albums offered to members
of the McGraw-Hill Color Slide Program
of Art Enjoyment. There has never been
anything like it.
A new way to enjoy the world's great art
As a member of this Program, you will
gaze in astonishment as Renoir's lovely
"Seated Bather" (shown above) appears on
your wall jour feet high - aglow with all
the vibrant reds, blues and greens of the Im-
pressionist palette; you will thrill to Rem-
brandt's famed "Aristotle Contemplating
the Bust of Homer," seen nearly five feet
in height - and marvel as you view Titian's
allegorical masterpiece "Sacred and Pro-
fane Love" in its full eight-fool width, just
as it appears in Rome's Borghese Gallery.
These are just a few of the scores of mag-
nificent works of art you will see projected
in the actual size and full color of the
original paintings.
Accept this $1 demonstration offer
If you mail the attached card, you will
receive a unique Album containing 24
color slides of priceless works by Renoir,
Monet, Degas and other important Impres-
sionist painters. These slides are produced
in Florence to exacting specifications on
35mm Kodak film in individual 2x2
mounts. They set a new standard of faith-
fulness to the artists' originals, and can
be used in any home slide projector. (If
you do not own a projector, you may ob-
tain one at very low cost with your trial
.Album. See special offer below.)
The color slides, however, are only one
part of this elaborate Album. Bound into
the center is an illustrated 48-page book
by Albert Chatelet, Director of France's
renowned Lille Museum — with a guide
to each of the slide pictures and the
complete story of the Impressionist era.
If this demonstration pleases you, you
will be offered a new slide-and-commentary
Album as issued, at two-month intervals.
Among the Albums in this series are Ital-
ian Renaissance Painting, with masterpieces
by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo,
Raphael, and others - The Golden Age of
Spanish Painting, with works by El Greco,
Velasquez, and their contemporaries - and
Albums covering every major art period.
Until today, slide-and-commentary art
education was available only in museums
or universities. Now, you can benefit from
the same kind of expert guidance - and
enjoy the worid's great masterpieces with
your family and invited guests - right in
your own home.
The cost is surprisingly low
The least you might expect to pay for 24
color shdes of comparable quality -if the
subjects were available from museums and
private collections— is $15 to $18. Yet, as
a subscriber to this new Program, you pay
only $7.95, plus a few cents for shippmg,
for each complete /l/ftwm-including slides
and illustrated guide book. You may take
as few or as many as you like, and may
stop whenever you wish.
Mail attached card for 10 days trial
Send no money now. We will ship your intro-
ductory Color Slide Album of Impressionist
Painting and enroll you as a trial subscriber.
If you are thrilled with the demonstration,
send only $1, plus a few cents for shipping.
Thereafter, you will be offered a new Album
approximately every six weeks at the sub-
scribers' low price of only $7.95. You will also
be given the opportunity to elect to receive
remaining volumes. If not delighted, however
you may return everything within 10 days, and
owe nothing. Mail the attached card today.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PROJECTOR, here's an unusual op
portunity. We can offer you the sensational Kodak C
ousel bOO I'rojector supplied - .--
3-inch 1/3. 'i Eklanar lens. This top-rated projector show-
all regular 2"x2" 35mm slides.
It has dependable gravity feed
I hav.
rtiij aiiut .11 «..j -- Ifist price
$74.50— subscribers' price only
$59.95. plus tax. Remittance
must accompany trial subscrip-
, full refund.
If Reply Card has been removed, write Color
Slide Program of Art Enjoyment, Dept. AY-134,
P.O. Box 582, Hightstown, N J. 08520
-<:
^^
^
Sf
^^^e-^le Bicenre^^^
^/.
0.
by David R. Zimmerman
America's national bird is falling
under the weight of poison and gunshot
Long enmeshed in allegory, the
bald eagle is acquiring a doleful, new
role as a symbol of Americans' de-
struction of their natural heritage.
As before, the great bird is shot,
beaten, and driven from its range,
even as it is celebrated as the expres-
sion of our national courage and re-
solve. Its new encumbrance is more
subtle, but it may signify wider, more
all-pervasive danger.
Bald eagles are among our most
polluted birds. They carry larger
amounts of a wider variety of chemi-
cal contaminants than virtually any
other American species.
This distressing news comes from
an ongoing study of bald eagles found
dead or dying in the wild. The federal
government asks that a state wildlife
agent or a special agent of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
be notified when a dead bald eagle is
discovered. It is the agent's job to re-
trieve, freeze, and ship the carcass to
the USFWS 's Patuxent Wildlife Re-
search Center, near Laurel, Mary-
land, on the outskirts of Washington,
D.C. The agent also is asked to pro-
vide any "history" that might indi-
cate the cause of the eagle's demise.
At Patuxent, a research group per-
forms gross autopsies and chemical
analyses on the eagles. The autopsies
are conducted by veterinarian-
histopathologist Dr. Louis N. Locke.
Chemical residues are measured by
analytical chemist William L. Rei-
chel, who directs Patuxent' s sophisti-
cated pesticide-monitoring labora-
tory. Excepting those birds that arrive
too rotten for study, the Patuxent
group has analyzed the remains of
some 300 bald eagles in the last dec-
ade. Of this number, almost half died
of gunshot wounds.
Case 982, for example, was a
healthy female eagle found dead in
Albany Township, Stearns County,
Minnesota, in November of 1974.
Locke's autopsy report says: "Death
had been caused by a rifle bullet
which had entered the thorax through
the upper left pectoral muscles, pene-
trated the [breastbone], passed
through the upper thorax and exited
just posterior and lateral to the left
[shoulder bone] . ' '
The special agent who sent the
eagle provided little data on the cir-
cumstances of its death, but Locke
found a strong, if unverifiable clue:
the remains of a white leghorn
chicken in the eagle's mouth and
stomach.
The eagle's dark, immature head
18 engrossing books of history and world affairs...
(First price is publisher's lisl. Boldface shows member's price.)
n«S«;v<m Who Shaped Our De»tiny: 107 TheHouteof Mtdid
ITm: FuundinK l-'alher* By (hniivphtr HiUnn The gre»i Flor-
ae Revolulionaric* cntinc (amdy which innucnccd (our ccn-
tlyKi,l,jrJ/l M.irrn. »10.00/$7^ luncs o( Kufopcar hijioo. »I2 50/J8.8S
n9_ Wsc-aMf and Hislory 414 Ku>%a Liuler the Old Kecimc
Hyl:/-<.url^,„-h, »<*95.$7J0 Hy /i„^,j p,,,,, »|7 50 SI0.9S
116 Karl Marx: His Life and Thoughl
HyDauil.'iUl.illon 11500 WAS 418 The War Againsi Ihe Jews: IS33 -
194S by Im, . Oj^td,'i.uz »l5oii»SS
247. A History of AjneiHcan Law
ByLaurrnuM l-n,dmun. |15.'*5/S9.75
^24 AiexandcrlheGreal
/A R..h,„ l.um /•... H5.00/MAS
;4b The World ol ihc Huns
By O J Murmh,t,-H<llin 120 00/SlIJO
347 The Army of ihe Caesars
By MuIimI Gram »15 00/S9A5
177 France in ihc Age of Louis XUl
and Richelieu
B\ I'ki.v-I. hpii J1750:SI2JO
179 The Quesi for Llysses
Hy If: B Slanl.irJjndJ. V l.uir
Searching lor the man hchind the myih.
»17 50'»10.95
!HS Roll.Jordan, Roll: The World
the Slaves Made
«, ;•„,■.«. n (i.nM.u 1975 Bancroll
Vui. »17 50$l:!JO
427 Circle* and Standing Stones
By Elan Haimthiim. Mcgllilh mysteries
o( early Briuin. 152 photos, maps.
diagrams, plans »12 SO/W.TS
432 TheEmuauu
By Momma Pollotlino. 102 illustrations.
II250/$8JS
457 A True History of the
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
ByU'u:: U r,./.irrann. Ncici hclore pub-
lished - an account ol the conspiracy ol
l((<)5 by the chief government witness at
the conspirators' trial JI5.00/S8A5
I^TakeAny3
Allfor99<=
values up to $55.00
with txial membership
4 Good Reasons To Try The History Book Club
Big cash savings. Last year our members saved 34% on their Club
purchases. Your total savings as a trial member, including this
introductory offer, can be more than 50%.
Liberal bonus plan. You can qualify for added savings through bonus
books, which you can pick from our full list of 150-200 fine works.
Exceptional quality. In its 28 years, the Club has distributed over
1,000 outstanding books, including 45 award-winners. Our books are
always the equal of publishers' editions, never economy reprints.
Fine service. Every four weeks you receive our Reviezv and a dated
reply card. If vou want the Editors' Choice, do nothing: the book will
come automaticallv. To order another book or no book, return card by
specified date. You will have at least 10 days to decide - but if you get
an unwanted book because of late mail, we'll pay return postage.
THE HISTORY BOOK CLUB, Stamford, Conn. 06904
Please enroll me as a trial member and send me the introductory books
*hose numbers I enter below. Bill those on the left at 991 for all three
md the fourth at the low member's price, plus modest shipping charges.
I may return the books within three weeks at your expense and owe
nothing. Or I will take four more selections within a year (not counting
my introductory selections j-aXvtzys at reduced member's prices plus
shipping. Thereafter, I may resign at any time. NH-33S
Prim Name . .
The History Bookclub Stamford, Conn. 06904
In Canada: Mail to The History Book Qub, 16 Overlea Blvd., Toronto
M4H 1A6, Ontario
feathers and the small size of its ovary
and the egg follicles within it told
Locke that this bird had never bred.
Although his official report does not
say so, this is more the shame, since
982 was one of the "cleanest"
eagles, in terms of chemical residues,
of any sent to Patuxent.
Through the years, Reichel has
sharpened and refined his analytical
techniques, including gas chromatog-
raphy and mass spectrometry, to the
point that he routinely seeks, and
finds, a dozen different chemicals in
the eagle brain and body tissues that
he analyzes. He found absolutely
none in the brain of 982. In the body
he found only insignificant amounts
of the DDT breakdown product DDE
(0.14 parts per million) and of the
chemically related industrial com-
pounds called polychlorinated bi-
phenyls, or PCBs (0.3 ppm). Had she
not had the misfortune to run into a
bullet, eagle 982 almost certainly
could have bred normally — and so
contributed to her species' survival.
Whether the subject on the autopsy
table is a human cadaver or a bird
carcass, the pathologist's success
depends in part on his skill as a detec-
tive and in part on serendipity. In case
986, for example, Locke's initial
diagnosis was "electrocution."
The special agent who submitted
the eagle, Charles Q. Heumier,
works out of the Brigham, Utah,
USFWS office. He said the remains
had been found "near a well-traveled
roadway, about 20 yards from a 2-
wire powerline on crossarms.
"The bird was frozen [when
found], and appeared to have been
dead for quite some time . The carcass
may have been moved some by dogs.
A farmhouse is nearby."
Agent Heumier added: "I was un-
able to find any bullet holes. Usual
evidence of electrocution was not
noted."
Locke, however, was able to find
the presumptive evidence of electro-
cution that agent Heumier had
missed: singed feathers high under
the left wing and along the adjacent
chest wall. He also found a bloody,
dime-sized laceration leading past the
last left rib into the lungs.
"Because of the singed feathers
and the history — found near power-
line — the significance of the lacera-
tion . . . was not appreciated at the
time of autopsy," Locke wrote later.
His initial diagnosis: "Electrocution,
with laceration following the fall to
the ground."
Completing his autopsy, Locke
followed a standard procedure and re-
moved the eagle's brain, kidneys,
and liver for chemical assay. He re-
moved the skin, feet, wings, and gas-
trointestinal tract. The feathers he put
aside; when a boxful accumulated
they would be sent to a USFWS spe-
cial agent in the West, who gives
them to Indian artisans to fashion into
ceremonial headdresses.
The flesh and bones of eagle 986,
the better part of its original 11.5
pounds, were then put through a
food-grinding machine so that a small
but representative specimen of the
carcass, one-third of an ounce, could
be taken for organochlorine analysis.
Grinding an eagle is a routine task,
but eagle 986 provided a surprise —
"a .22-caliber rifle slug was found in
the ground meat."
Locke thereupon abandoned his
original diagnosis. "The better inter-
pretation is [that] the eagle [first] was
shot, then fell against the powerline
and received the singed feathers. In
all probability, the bullet slug was
lodged in the blood-filled lungs."
While rarer than shooting, electro-
cution deaths do occur. A marine
biologist in Florida wrote to explain
how eagle 1011 met its end.
"On March 31, 1975, at about
6:30 P.M., my neighbors . . . ob-
served a small bald eagle pick up the
filleted carcass of a 36-inch kingfish,
which had been thrown over the
seawall.
"The eagle carried the fish across
two wires of a high tension powerline
and was electrocuted."
The loss is the greater because this
eagle, a male, is believed to have
been one of a breeding pair that was
busy raising eaglets in a nearby eyrie.
Bald eagles that breed in Florida,
and as far north as the 40th parallel —
which runs through Philadelphia and
Denver — are assigned to the southern
subspecies Haliaeetus leucocephalus
leucocephalus, which has been re-
duced to a few hundred breeding pairs
and is considered highly endangered.
The marginally larger northern
subspecies, H. I. alascanus, all bald
eagles that breed north of the 40th
parallel, is far less threatened; the
USFWS estimates there are 35 ,000 to
50,000 in Alaska alone.
One of the northern subspecies,
eagle 857, was found frozen and dead
in a fox trap near Kodiak City,
Alaska, and was forwarded by Ko-
diak Wildlife Refuge manager Gerry
Atwell, who knew enough of the cir-
cumstances to blame "an inexper-
ienced trapper' ' for the bird's demise.
Pathologist Locke verified "trap
injuries" on the feet, but attributed
death to a skull fracture. "A hard
blow . . . had been delivered. . . .
Skull fragments had been driven in-
ward by the force of the blow and
ruptured the large vessels of the me-
ninges. Posterior portion of the right
cerebral hemisphere reduced to
pulp."
The eagle's desperate last seconds
are easily visualized, but Locke
passes no judgment on the humans
involved. "I don't think there are
many people who are going to walk
up to an angry eagle and try to get him
out of a trap. They either shoot him
or beat him over the head with a
club."
Eagles suflJer other kinds of
human-induced trauma. One eagle
was struck by a car. Two flew into
airplane motors. The most surprising
case, according to Locke, involved
an eagle that was seen perched on a
snag over water, trying to free itself
from a large fishhook caught in one
nostril. The eagle reached up with
one leg to kick off the hook, caught
the leg on the hook, lost its balance,
fell into the water — and drowned.
More insidiously, about 5 percent
of the eagles sent to Patuxent died of
acute poisoning by strychnine and
thallium, which are predator control
compounds. The great majority of the
eagles autopsied at the research cen-
ter thus had died from unnatural,
often violent, humanly induced
causes. This begs the question
whether all bald eagles die of a like
distribution of causes; probably not,
but the answer is that nobody knows.
The dead eagles received at Patux-
ent are a biased sample of the bald
eagle population. Like human au-
topsy series from medical examiners'
offices, a major source of Locke's
cases are lawmen — USFWS special
agents. The series thus is weighted
toward those deaths that lawmen
learn of and follow up on.
They may be most interested in
deaths where there is a suspected
human perpetrator since bald eagles
are protected by law, and killing one
can invite a federal indictment. So, as
in suspicious human deaths, the cases
of violence may be a disproportionate
part of the sample. On the other hand,
an eagle carcass is easier to hide than
a human corpse, and there is no way
to know how many eagles shot in
sport or in vengeance then are buried
tftitsxtsii^ssuM^mBm
Introductory offer
The
Wall Street
Journal
A Dow Jones Publication
Yes, 1 want to take advantage of
your introductory subscription
offer. Start my subscription for
weeks at SOft a week
(minimum 13 weeks, maximum
52 weeks).
D Mr. D Mrs. D Miss Other
80«
a week . . . and you choose your term !
(Minimum 13 weeks, maximum 52 weeks.)
SUBSCRIBE NOW
If card is missing call this toll-tree number
800-257-0300
(In New Jersey call 800-462-2000)
For new subscribers only
We'll bill you later.
Name
Street
City
State Zip
Check here if payment enclosed.
Price good only in the U.S. and Possessions and Canada
, ' 2A500
i
u
1
1
lid^
1
I
■ -6Z o
■
■
■ ill
1
1
■ a.£
■
1 "
1
1
_l
<
CO
z
d
DC
1
3 «
O %
-3 CO
lU o
iJJ-o CO
or CO CO
if
CO □)
ALL STI
rnett Ro
ee, Mas
LU ra
=
> 3 Q.
Z m
0)
COl£
CQZ
•5)
THE
2001
Chic
0102
Detailed coverage
of anything, anywhere
that can affect you
or your business
Guarantee:
You may cancel your
subscription at any
time and receive a re-
fund for the undeli-
vered portion.
We'll bill you later.
The Wall Street Journal
isrftjust
a fair-weather friend.
These are not the
sunniest times for people
in business. World events
have fouled the weather,
and uncertainty clouds
the future.
We suggest that
there has never been a
better time to read The
Wall Street Journal.
Now, more than ever, it is important
that you have up-to-the-minute, in-depth,
unbiased business information to use to plan
your moves. The Journal gives you such
information every business day — gathered,
edited and organized by the worlas largest
staff of business-news experts.
From around the world, The Journal
reports everything that happens that can
afreet business — Washington, the Mid East,
London, Paris, the Far East, Tokyo, Detroit.
Not just what is being done, but what is
being thought. Not just what has happened,
but what may happen. Authoritatively.
Clearly. Dependably. And daily — so you
have time to act upon it.
If you send in the
attached card, you can get
The Wall Street Journal
delivered to your home or
office every business day
for only 80(t* a week for any
period from 13 weeks to a
yean If the card is missing,
call this toll-free number:
800-257-0300. (In New Jersey, call 800-462-
2000.) For new subscriptions only.
Try The Journal. It can't make the rain
stop; but it may help to keep you from get-
ting drenched. PV^^
The
Wall Street
Journal
2A500 *Price good in United States and possessions and Canada.
INTRODUCTION
TO HIGH FIDELITY
One of the best short courses in Hi-Fi is Pioneer
Electronics' 92-paEe book — UNDERSTANDING HIGH
FIDELITY, Covering all high fidelity components, it
discusses in easy-to-understand language every-
thing you need to linov* and look for when assem-
bling a stereo or quadraphonic system. Learn what
specifications mean, how to evaluate them, how
much to spend for each compo-
nent, and much more. Includes a
glossary of audio terms.
Your copy is waiting for you
now. Send $1.00 to cover postage
and handling to.- Donald L. Kobes,
U. S. Pioneer Electronics Corp.,
Dept. NH , P.O. Box P76, Wood-
ridge, N.J. 07075.
CD PIOIXieER'
when you want something better
superb!
MADE BY THE PEOPLE WHO
CREATED THE POST-RECOVERY APOLLO MOON-
ROCK CONTAINERS
ZERO
ALUMINUM CAMERA CASES
Valuable, delicate equip-
ment deserves the best
transporting and storage
protection. These presti-
gious, ultra-rugged cases
do it superbly! And you
customize the multi-layered
polyester foam to your
exact needs. Blank layout
template, knife and instruc-
tions are included with
each case. Get the best
and relax!
BERKEY MARKETING COMPANIES, INC. I L^
P.O. Box 1060, Woodside, N. Y. 11377 L^— ^-1
Canada Berkey Photo ICanadal Lid , Ontario
v:
where the law will not discover them.
The Patuxent series is also geo-
graphically biased. From 1964 to
1972, only 5 of 190 eagles came from
Alaska, although that state has more
than 90 percent of this country's bald
eagles. Only 2 birds came from Cali-
fornia, another important bald eagle
state, while there were 6 from Florida
and 29 (representing 1 5 percent of the
total) from Wisconsin.
Where an eagle died, however,
may say little about the importance of
its death for the subspecies popula-
tions. Unless it actually has been seen
breeding or caring for young, there is
no way to know whether an eagle that
died in Florida came from the rela-
tively threatened southern population
or from the far larger — and less im-
pacted— population of northern
breeders, many of which wander
south in winter.
Many eagles move north and south
seasonally, but no one knows if they
follow regular migratory pathways.
One reason is that few eagles carry
leg bands; it takes a bander with a
stout heart and strong back, plus a
sheaf of permits, to climb eyries to
band bald eagles. And in the past the
effort was of dubious value. "You
couldn't band bald eagles," Reichel
explains. "They chewed the bands
off. That had the biologist stumped! ' '
In the spring of 1975, however, new-
type bands, which will stay on eagles,
were issued and will be standard.
Few strong correlations have been
found between the states of the union
where the birds were found and their
chemical loads. One is that dead
eagles in Alaska tend to be cleaner
than many of the others, although
"dirty" birds are found there too.
"You can have high and low values
for eagles from the same state," Rei-
chel says. "But where these eagles
have been before, we don't know."
One dramatically clear correlation
involves death due to lethal levels of
the insecticide dieldrin. Because this
chemical and the other organochlo-
rine compounds that Reichel rou-
tinely looks for are nerve poisons,
lethal levels are based on residues in
the brain, not the carcass. Feeding
studies with other species of birds and
analyses of animals found dead in
dieldrin-treated fields have convinced
the Patuxent researchers that levels of
4 ppm of dieldrin in the brain are
likely to be lethal. Nineteen out of
190 eagles, or 10 percent of those
found dead up to 1972, had more than
4 ppm of dieldrin in their brains.
"The incidence of dieldrin poison-
ing is high, particularly among the
specimens collected from Maryland,
Virginia, South Carolina and
Florida," Reichel and his colleagues
recently reported. "Of the 17 eagles
collected [from the southeastern sea-
board], 8, or 47 percent, possibly
died from dieldrin poisoning. ... All
four from Maryland and Virginia
were from the Chesapeake Bay tide-
water area."
Not surprisingly, breeding bald
eagles have practically vanished from
the Chesapeake Bay area, although
dieldrin certainly is not the only fac-
tor. Also, while autopsy data are
sparse, studies in the field show that
bald eagle colonies near other large,
tidal bodies of water, which seem to
act as pesticide "sinks," have been
severely threatened in recent years.
Those that are far from large bodies
of water have done much better.
The bald eagle's problems are ag-
gravated because it feeds at the top of
a pesticide-concentrating food chain;
fish are a principal part of its diet.
This has led the director of the Patux-
ent Center, population ecologist Dr.
Lucille Stickel, to say that "Bald
eagles haven't got much going for
them! They choose to live in the most
polluted areas in the United States.
And they choose the most polluted
food source."
Lethal brain loads of DDT and its
metabolites and lethal levels of PCB
have been found in very few eagles.
Difficulty arises in interpreting
those cases in which the brain loads
are just shy of known deadly levels.
This difficulty is compounded when
high, but sublethal, levels of two or
more pollutants are present. Stickel
says there is some evidence to suggest
that several poisons together may
lower the lethal threshold of one of
them. Tests in which two or more poi-
sons are fed to birds (not eagles) in
sublethal doses are in progress at Pa-
tuxent. When combined lethal levels
for DDT, dieldrin, and PCB are es-
tablished, some eagles whose final
diagnoses remain open may be put
into the poisoned category.
Even less well understood are the
effects of sublethal doses on an
eagle's over-all health and ability to
survive. Might half the known lethal
amount of dieldrin, for example, so
compromise a bird's health that
stress, which it otherwise would sur-
vive, proves fatal?
Eagle 853 illustrates this problem.
She was a very emaciated, immature
QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK SERVICE
The best way to acquire the best paperbacks
231. I'ub
Prices Toi;il S9.90
235. I'uh Price J6.95
198. I'ub I'rjcc J7.9S
3 books or sets
for only H each
You simply agree to buy six more within
the next year and as a member you'll
immediately qualify for our Free Book Plan
T*
'ODAY, MORE THAN EVER, fine paperbacks are the
best values around in books, and the best way to
buy them is by belonging to QPB. As a trial member
of QPB, you'll receive our informative catalog, the QPB
Review, each issue of which contains approximately
one hundred titles to choose from. You'll also imme-
diately qualify for our Free Book Plan. All QPB books
are large-size, durable, handsome editions printed on
quality paper with modern, readable typefaces. Join
QPB today.
248. Pub Prices Total $5.85
HOW MEMBERSHIP WORKS
1. You will receive the QPB Review fifteen times a year— about every
3' 2 weeks. This informative catalog describes the Main Selection
plus approximately one hundred Alternates. The Main Selection is
always offered at a 20% discount.
2. If you want the Main Selection, do nothing. It will be shipped to you
automatically. If you want one or more of the Alternates— or no book
at all— just indicate your decision on the reply form always enclosed
with the Review and return it by the date specified.
3. Free books. For every book or set you buy (exclusive of your three
introductory choices for SI each) you earn at least one Bonus Point,
and the Bonus Points you accumulate entitle you to free books and
sets. (You pay only shipping charges.)
4. Return privilege. If your Review is delayed in the mail and therefore
you receive the Main Selection without having had ten days to notify
us if you did not want it, you may return that Selection at our expense.
QUALITYlirKpERBACK BOOK SERVICE, INC.
Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057
210. Pub Prices Total $11.90
QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK SERVICE, INC.
Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057
6-QB113-1
Please enroll me as a member of the Quality Paperback Book Service and
send me the three books or sets whose numbers I've indicated in the
boxes below. Bill me only $3 for all three, plus shipping. My only obliga-
tion is to purchase six more books or sets during the coming year, re-
ceiving a 20»o discount on every Main Selection I take. My membership is
cancelable any time after I buy the six additional books or sets. A
moderate shipping charge is added to all shipments.
INDICATE BY NUMBER YOUR
THREE BOOKS OR SETS
(Please print plainly)
oj City &
O State_
_Zip_
female bird found in a pasture in
Wildwood, Florida, in a weakened
condition. She seemed alert, but re-
fused food, had difficulty breathing,
and soon died. Locke tentatively at-
tributed death to intestinal para-
sites— nematodes and flukes — found
in her gastrointestinal tract. In her
brain, chemist Reichel found dieldrin
at one-third the lethal level (1.5
ppm), DDE at one-tenth the lethal
level (26 ppm), and PCB at about
one-fifth the lethal level (43 ppm).
Also, while Reichel excludes resi-
dues outside the brain in assessing
lethality, he found strikingly high
levels of DDE (110 ppm), DDD (7
ppm), dieldrin (4 ppm), and PCB
( 1 80 ppm) in the body . The eagle also
carried comparatively high levels of
mirex, the fire ant poison, in the brain
(1.8 ppm) and body (8.3 ppm) — the
significance of which is uncertain.
"The case of parasites may have
made the lethal levels lower," Rei-
chel says. "Or, look at it the other
way around: Maybe these levels [in
the brain] lowered its resistance and
made it more subject to the parasites.
I don't think we have enough to hang
our hat on. But this [case] illustrates
the problem."
Chemical death may be suspected
long before the eagle's flesh is ex-
tracted for a trip through the gas chro-
matograph. A bird seen trembling
and shaking convulsively is one for
which Locke's index of suspicion is
high.
At autopsy, there are other signs.
Birds killed by pesticides tend to be
very thin . Their bodies are devoid of
fat, even around the coronary arter-
ies, the most stable fatty area outside
the brain. Ingested organochlorines
are deposited in fat. When a bird is
under stress — because it has been
acutely poisoned by pesticide and is
too sick to eat or is migrating or is
using body resources to build eggs —
body fat is mobilized into the blood-
stream along with its chemical resi-
dues. The fat is burned for energy,
and the pesticide tends to be reab-
sorbed by fat in the brain, which, un-
like body fat, remains essentially sta-
ble, even in severe stress.
The organochlorine residues in
body fat thus are a sword, poised to
fall on a bird just when it most needs
its energy reserves to meet a stressful
challenge. No one knows what level
of residue in the body will produce a
lethal level in the brain when the bird
is stressed.
Chemicals kill some bald eagles
outright, but this is not their only con-
tribution to the species' decline. Or-
ganochlorines also disrupt the female
reproductive system, and as a result
the breeding success of bald eagles in
contaminated regions such as the
coast of Maine is low.
The key question is. At what levels
of these residues is reproduction im-
paired?
Reichel says, "That's a hard one!
I don't think that anybody has enough
data yet to suggest that a certain
amount in the carcass will produce a
certain level in the eggs, and that this
will have an effect on reproduction. "
Stickel concurs. "I cannot say —
and I don't think anyone can say —
how many of the eagles we have au-
topsied had, or would have had, re-
productive problems. It's safe to say
that some did."
Pressed to say why she and her col-
leagues will not be more specific,
Stickel says too many conjectures are
required at this point to say that a cer-
tain body burden of poisons will pro-
duce reproductive failure. "There is
a relationship. We could make pre-
dictions. But it is too long a chain
scientifically, and we have not chosen
to make that jump."
A colleague. Dr. David Peakall,
who works in the Canadian Wildlife
Service laboratory in Ottawa that is
Canada's equivalent to the Patuxent
laboratory, agrees that the data are
sparse. But he is willing to hazard an
estimate, based largely on field data
from peregrine falcons. The bald
eagle, he says, seems to be at least
as sensitive as the peregrine to repro-
ductive loss due to DDE.
Peakall estimates that the DDE
levels in eggs are 15 to 40 percent of
the levels that will be found in the
brains of female birds who lay them.
Peregrines, he says, begin to experi-
ence reproductive difficulty at the
equivalent of 1.5 to 4 ppm DDE in
the brain. The average of Patuxent' s
median brain levels of DDE in bald
eagle brains for four recent years is
2.4 ppm. This suggests that had they
lived at least half the female eagles
would have been subject to some de-
gree of reproductive handicap.
The damage caused by organo-
chlorines to bald eagles and other
birds cannot yet be totaled. But since
the use of these chemicals has been
curtailed, it is fair to ask whether —
and when — residue levels will de-
cline and bird populations recover.
The use of DDT began to drop in
the United States more than a decade
ago, and a virtually complete ban was
put into effect in 1972. Dieldrin was
banned in 1974. The sole United
States manufacturer of PCB has vol-
untarily restricted its sale. But contin-
uing discoveries of large amounts of
PCB being discharged into the envi-
ronment by manufacturers of electri-
cal equipment and other industrial
users have convinced scientists that
further limits are needed — quickly.
Mirex may again be used against
the fire ant in the southern states
despite the program's recent cutback.
And the federal Environmental Pro-
tection Agency (EPA) is considering
restrictions on chlordane, an agricul-
tural chemical that is also used on
lawns and for termite control.
According to the EPA, these re-
strictions have begun to reduce or-
ganochlorine residues in humans and
in wildlife. One study found that the
level of DDT in songbirds fell from
17 ppm to 4 ppm — a very significant
reduction — in the decade from 1964
to 1973.
For reasons that are not clear the
Patuxent data does not offer compara-
bly reassuring news for the bald
eagle. The median levels of DDT
group residues and dieldrin were vir-
tually the same, if not higher, in
1973/74 as they were in 1964/65.
The PCB levels were roughly the
same in 1973/74 as they were in
1971, the first year for which they
were reported.
Bald eagles live longer and so may
absorb greater amounts of chemicals
than other birds. Unlike short-lived
songbirds, older bald eagles may
carry residues picked up years ago.
The eagles may be particularly vul-
nerable because they take their prey
from chemical sinks, such as tidal
waters. Then, too, there is a hint in
the data, Stickel says, that bald eagles
may be less able than other birds to
metabolize and excrete dieldrin.
Whatever the reason(s), for the
bald eagle there seems to be no sur-
cease, as yet, from environmental
poisons. "As far as the data I have
compared go ," Reichel say s , "I have
not seen any drastic change. That
stuff will be around for quite a
while!"
Americans today seek ways to
reanimate the national spirit for
which the bald eagle was chosen as
a symbol in 1782. One appropriate
challenge would be to act, with alac-
rity, to restore the environmental
health of our natural heritage — so that
our national bird can survive. D
A cruise is more than two
weeks on the water.
Let us take you to the ocean
empires and we'll show you what we
mean.
We'll introduce you to the home-
lands of the people who stretched
the world. From the fjords of the Baltic
to the castles of Spain. From the desert
splendor of North Africa to the green
and pleasant land of the British Isles
and the beauty of classic Greece.
Explore historic cities. Touch
fabulous art. Feel the heartbeat of
incredible lives.
Visit these lands on one of the
most beautiful and spacious ships
afloat. A ship created to offer the
freedom to do as you please in a
world ordered for your pleasure.
(The MTS Daphne is registered in
Greece.)
Our cruises start April 9, 1976.
Won't you ask your travel agent or
Carras for our brochure with sailing
dates, prices and a complete descrip-
tion of the Carras Experience?
It's not only fifteen great adven-
ture stories. It's an introduction to
just how good life can be.
Soon the Carras Experience will
include Porto Carras, our resort now
being developed on the Aegean.
C
arras
75 RockefeUer Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10019, 1212) 757-l
Announcing cin extraordinciry Biccntennicil tribute to the States
Official First Day Covers of
^*****
"©e *=Flags
oftlieTiftrStates
********
To be assured of acceptance,
your application must be postmarked
not later than February 15, 1976.
^J ince long before the dawn of recorded history, peoples
ave rallied to the flags of kings, empires, and nations.
In America — for perhaps the first time — flags were
anners of the People themselves. Symbols of their hopes,
spirations, and ideals. With Independence those flags
ecame the emblems of Independent Sovereign States,
eriving their powers from the consent of the people
lemselves. The perfect embodiment of independent spirit,
■aditions, determination, and sense of destiny which the
)eclaration of Independence proclaimed.
History remembers that Virginia's Flag, which shows Virtue
n\h her foot on Tyranny, was inspired in 1776 by George
Mason's suggestion that his State's motto should be a defiant
Sic semper fyrranis (thus always to tyrants). And that New
Jersey's buff flag recalls the color chosen in 1779 by George
Washington for the uniforms of New Jersey's regiments
fighting for Independence.
Now, two centuries later, the thirteen flags have grown to
fifty. Each flag the proud emblem of the people, the heritage,
the unique strengths, and the rich diversity of the fifty States of
the Union. Each intimately woven from the fabric of America's
proud history.
An unprecedented philatelic event
It is more than fitting, therefore, that as a part of the
Nation's Bicentennial Celebration, the United States Postal
Service will issue on February 23, 1976, an unprecedented
series of fifty different Official Commemorative stamps
portraying The Flags of the Fifty States. This will be the first
such series to honor all fifty state flags, and like all firsts,
certain to command the special attention of collectors and
historians everywhere.
Crafted expressly for this series, each
of the fifty different cachets will pay
tribute to the State's most distinguish-
ed citizen today honored in the
National Statuary Hall of the United
States Capitol.
Our National Capital's Post Office will
officially postmark each First Day
Cover. Available only at Washington,
the coveted First Day of Issue indicia
will forever certify the one day and the
one place the first edition of the new
stamp was inaugurated.
Each of the fifty Official com-
memorative stamps will be issued by
the United States Postal Service
pursuant to law. Since stamps will be
issued only on February 23, 1976,
artists' concepts are used herein for
illustrative purposes only.
ram
m:J-/.0/V/
FIRST DAY OF ISSUE
SHOWN SMALLER
THAN ACTUAL SIZE
OF 3>4 BY 6'4 INCHES.
. ,J«
Available to you: the First Editions
The assembled Governors of all fifty States and other
leading citizens will gather in the Nation's Capital on February
23 to inaugurate the new stamps. At special ceremonies, /irs/
editions of the new stamps . . . First Day Covers . . . will be
officially certified by the coveted, one-day only. First Da\/ of
Issue postmark of our National Capital's Post Office. These
Official First Day Covers will be but a small fraction of the total
number of stamps eventually printed and available to the
general public.
Appropriately, America's oldest and largest purveyor of
First Day Covers has for months been making painstaking
preparations for the First Day of issue of The Flags of the Fifty
States. World-renowned for its First Day Covers, Fleetwood
will issue The Flags of the Fifty States in one complete
collection of fifty individual Official First Day Covers. The first
fifty collections have been reserved for the Archives of each of
the fifty States. Identical collections are also available now to
private citizens on an advance reservation basis.
A remarkable collection
This is the very first collection of First Day Covers ever
dedicated exclusively to all fifty States of the Union. As befits
such a series, each will be extraordinary in every respect.
The individual cachets will portray one great citizen from
each State who, under an Act of Congress, has been honored
in the National Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol in
Washington. These are men and women "illustrious for their
historic renown or for distinguished civic or military services"
to their State and Nation. They are the proud sons and
daughters who have given substance to the vision of our
Declaration of Independence.
Among them; William E. Borah, "The Lone Lion of Idaho."
Samuel Adams, firebrand and Signer of the Declaration of
Independence from Massachusetts. Thomas Starr King,
whose matchless oratory saved California to the Union. And,
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, the pre-eminent
champion of the Union, the South, and States' Rights.
A deluxe collector's album will be included
Collectors who take advantage of this opportunity to
acquire the Official First Day Covers of The Flags of the Fifty
States will also receive, without additional cost, a handsomely
bound collector's album, with protective dustcase. To
enhance the historical and educational value of this collection,
an authoritative reference guide will be provided with
biographies of the citizens honored on the cachets. And the
fascinating history of each state Flag.
A single, genuinely limited, edition
The Flags of the Fifty States will be issued only once — on
the precise First Day of Issue, and only as a complete
collection. The distinctive postmark will certify to you that
The Flags of the Fifty States can neuer be issued again.
The original issue price for the complete collection of fifty
Official First Day Covers is $70, and you may pay for it in its
entirety now, charge it to your MasterCharge or
Bank Americard Charge account , or pay for it on a convenient
installment program.
A collection of timeless significance
The Official First Day Covers of The Flags of the Fifty
States deserve an honored place in your home. As constant
reminders of the great and unique contributions which each of
the States have made to the Nation born two hundred years
ago this July 4th. And as a legacy which will continue to inspire
you, your children, and their children for generations to come.
Subscription deadline: February 15
Please remember that this is the only time that the Official
First Day Covers of The Flags of the Fifty States can ever be
issued. To take advantage of your opportunity to acquire this
collection, postmark order no later than February 15, 1976 —
the last date on which Fleetwood can guarantee acceptance of
your order. Applications should be sent directly to Fleetwood,
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82008.
WORLD GLOBE «■ RAND McNALLY
' 1975 FLEETWOOD
ADVANCE SUBSCRIPTION APPLICATION
THE OFFICIAL FIRST DAY COVERS OF
=®eTlagsW
ofttieTifty^States
To be postmarked
not later than February 15. 1976
Fleetwood GA
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82008
Please accept my subscnption for the Official First Day
Cover Collection of The Flags of the Fifty States. The
collection will consist of 50 impeccably cacheted Official
First Day Covers to be sent to me under protective cover
following the Official First Day of Issue date, February 23,
1976. Shipment at intervals beginning approximately six
weeks thereafter and concluding approximately twelve
weeks after the issue date. The original issue price is $70
for the complete collection, which I prefer to pay as follows:
D 1 enclose $10 in partial payment of the total price of $70. 1
am to be billed for the balance in four monthly
installments of $15. There is r]o finance charge.
D I enclose my remittance of $70 as payment in full.
D I prefer to have the full amount of $70 charged to my
credit card account listed below:
in MasterCharge □ BankAmericard
Credit Card Number
Expiration Date
Signature .
Mr.
Mrs.
Miss
PLEASE PRINT NAME CLEARLY
Address
City
State
FLEETWOOD WILL ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
Established 1929. Fleetwood, a division ol Untcover Corporation, is America's
oldest and largest purveyor ol First Day Covers. It is not alfilialed with any
governmental agency.
Zip .
Y)U are invited to relive the greatest week in American history.
time's issue of July 41776.
YOURS FREE...
...withyc
introductory-rate subscription to TIME
TIME'S Special 1776 Issue sold out so fast
that thousands of people were unable to
find copies at their newsstands. Now here's
your chance to get the most unusual issue
of TIME ever published, reprinted in a spe-
cial edition for this offer only — absolutely
FREE!
You've never seen a magazine like this —
or experienced history in quite the same
way. Destined to become a collectors' item,
TIME'S 1776 Issue takes you through the
week our nation was born— from the signing
of the Declaration of Independence to the
start of the British invasion... from the ideas
of Tom Paine, Adam Smith, and Edward
Sibbon to Voltaire's put-down of Shake-
speare . . . from the tangled love affairs of
impress Catherine of Russia to Mesmer's
sold experiments in hypnotism. Every event,
3very Important individual, covered as if
TIME reporters were on the scene.
Right now, lyou can have this historic
bicentennial Issue free with your introduc-
tory subscription. You'll find that many of
the same factors that make this special issue
so lively and informative will also make next
week's TIME a rewarding experience . . . the
entertaining style ... the interesting back-
ground and details of carefully researched
stories from every corner of the earth . . . the
newest developments in everything from
music to medicine, law to literature, human
behavior, sports, and the economy.
You can subscribe for anywhere from 25
to 100 weeks for only 350 an issue (the
newsstand price is 750 and the basic sub-
scription rate comes to 420 a week). You will
receive the Special 1776 Issue as our gift
as soon as we receive payment for your sub-
scription. But you need send no money now.
Just mail the postpaid card by January 31st.
If someone has already taken the card, just write TIME Magazine,
541 North Fairbanks Court, Chicago, Illinois 60611,
or call, toll free 800-621-8200. (In Illinois call 800-972-8302.)
Please send me TIME's Special 1776 issue free.^
and weeks of TIME for 35<^ a week. /)
Just write in the number of weel<s you want, detach, and mail.
Minimum: 25 weel<s. IVIaximum: 100 weeks. (TIME is 750 a copy on
newsstands and its basic subscription rate comes to 420 a week.)
Send no money now. You will be billed later.
(please print full name)
Apt. No,
Signature
If college student, please indicate D undergraduate D graduate
.New subscribers only. Rate good just in U.S.
___^_^^ T69753
NATURAL HISTORY
FIRST CLASS
Permit
No. 22
CHICAGO, ILL.
Business Reply Mail
No Postage Stamp Necessary if Mailed in the United States
Postage Will Be Paid By
TIME
TIME & LIFE BUILDING
541 NORTH FAIRBANKS COURT
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60611
A Naturalist at Large
A Nation of Moonshiners
by Richard M. Klein
Americans have produced and
imbibed alcoholic beverages
from colonial days on down
Cognizant of its awesome respon-
sibilities in guiding our nation, the
Eighty-eighth Congress of the United
States of America on May 4, 1964,
passed joint resolution 19, introduced
by Senator Thruston Morton and
Congressman John C. Watts, honor-
able gentlemen of the great state of
Kentucky, which contained the fol-
lowing proviso:
That it is the sense of Congress that
the recognition of Bourbon whis-
key as a distinctive product of the
United States be brought to the at-
tention of the appropriate agencies
of the United States Government
towards the end that such agencies
will take appropriate action to pro-
hibit the importation into the
United States of whiskey desig-
nated as Bourbon. . . .
As might be expected, resolution
19 was far from the first congressional
act to deal with distilled beverages.
Certainly one of the earliest was a law
enacted by the first general assembly
of Virginia in 1619:
Against drunkenness be it also de-
creed that if any private person be
found culpable thereof, for the first
time he is to be reprooved privately
by ye Minister, for the second time
publically, the thirde time to lye in
boltes 12 howers in the house of ye
Provost Marshall and to paye his
fee.
These two quotations demonstrate
the sinfulness and profitability of dis-
tilled spirits in the United States: twin
2B,
iKES,
liftVrfPt
|l>«k tni P.
'■•i-TeUr'
R 1 C H A R D DlTAifff-"
n 1 s T 1 I. L i; K, ^S
A very C«NiiDtRAti.E QUANTn V rj
Urt< flf»f.4y, kilUtr? Dffttw,, CnffT) RrmtfiOum
.r..i
r Srioi, wa-
.YN,
...■"t.-m.ht^ifr.kl...,
.:, , T-iri viilr iiWi l'u<l> ml (..
-■ .:i '.. ,ut h:iti with ihei>«ortom,
rt r I'ui^ >? nhst b« iffcrtt, Ibft
[lift |>»W,(lid bv HUGH GAINE,
'1 > II K Till K Iv'rPREST OF AMeiHg
1 1MPART(ALLV STArKpl, in «««
C O M M O N S E NiS.
SaiJ GAIM !u5 Kt Sde,
Vy W«, P^.-:|.. inlr. Ink. Fidr
- "' P.rliiill
T Sin.ll'
[CO B.
, »ll PI
,.I Ntft- Yorl*. tn»i\y
Solt! It Divideri, G Jil Sciln,'
)..( irjvellptsr in iheWootfs.B
fc. .\t. Lit«.viie, lu,vi,»B(
Chilit.-fi.M-iLtMrt!. ^t'is,
Irrli.rt, «i(h » Ttry hrfc Aflilniib^
m.l F,ii;ej. An aaml Survey
, Amf tif.j, Irom Ci()( Bajj^ ■
New York Historical Society
Ad in 1776 newspaper for
various spirituous liquors.
themes that run throughout our entire
experience with liquor.
Although production and con-
sumption of low-proof alcohol pre-
date recorded history, Aristotle men-
tioned that one could obtain the spirit
of wine. Greek and Egyptian alchem-
ists in the second century a.d. ob-
tained rectified, or distilled, liquids
and, in the process, apparently stum-
bled upon ardent — as opposed to
mild — spirits. Yet, distilling entered
the thinking of Europe only when the
Crusaders learned the technique from
North Africans. A treatise on distill-
ing appeared in France in 1310, and
by 1500, there were learned books
and practical manuals on the prepara-
tion of brandy from wine, aqua vitae
from beer, and the fabrication of me-
dicinal cordials from herbs infused in
grain alcohol made from wheat, bar-
ley, and millet. Our English word
whiskey is derived from the Gaelic
uisgebeatha. or water of life (aqua
vitae). Originally, the drink was a
medicine, an all-purpose cure con-
taining anise, cloves, nutmeg, gin-
ger, caraway, licorice, sugar, and saf-
fron, in addition to alcohol.
The preparation of alcohol is
simple. Basically, any carbohydrate
source is fermented with yeast and the
8 to 13 percent alcoholic solution is
refined by distilling the alcohol out of
the water. In Europe and its colonies,
the medieval alembic, a closed vessel
to which heat was applied, was
charged with the ferment and the al-
coholic vapors were passed through
a pipe in the vessel's top to a twisted
metal "worm" immersed in cold
water to condense the vaporized alco-
hol. In addition to alcohol, the distil-
late contained a wide variety of vola-
tile compounds that gave specific
odors and flavors to the brew.
When grain is the source of carbo-
hydrate, fermentation is initiated ei-
ther by adding sugar, which can be
fermented by the yeast, or supplying
the enzyme amylase, which converts
starch into sugar. Amylase, present in
sprouting grain, is formed in response
to the secretion from one tissue into
another of gibberellic acid, a sub-
stance that regulates plant growth.
Barley is an excellent source of amyl-
ase. The grain is wetted, allowed to
sprout, dried with gentle heat, and the
seedlings are then ground into malt.
Scotch whisky's distinctive taste
comes in part from the practice of
23
Makers Mark Distillery
One-hundred-year-old steam
engine for yeast room.
drying the malt over peat fires. Grain
is ground into meal, boiled into a
gruel to make its starch soluble, malt
is added, the gruel is inoculated with
yeast and allowed to ferment to pro-
duce a beer that is then distilled. Most
yeasts stop working when the alcohol
content reaches a maximum of 12
percent, at which point the alcohol
can be distilled away from the beer.
The resulting mash can be refer-
mented several times, and the spent
mash used as animal feed. (Colonists
derived much innocent amusement
from seeing how drunk their pigs
would get on spent mash.)
For reasons lost in the idiocies of
history, the early settlers failed to
bring the alembic and worm with
them when they crossed the Atlantic
and their drinking was thus restricted
to beer, ale, and wine. But with Yan-
kee ingenuity, just about all the colo-
nists' produce could be used as a base
for beer. Pumpkins, potatoes, sea
plums, Indian corn, carrots, and even
turnips were made into beer. North-
ern New Englanders used honey from
wild bee trees and the sap of the
maple pointed out to them by friendly
Indians.
Along with other necessities, the
colonists carried seedling fruit trees
from Europe and orchards were
planted as soon as the land was
cleared. Hard syder, about 4 to 5 per-
cent alcohol, was made from crabb
trees, and the first blooming of
apples, peaches, and pears was
greeted with cries of rejoicing. The
alcoholic content of these syders was
increased to about 25 percent by put-
ting the jugs outside in winter and get-
ting rid of the water content by care-
fully removing the ice. Peaches were
especially favored in the Virginia col-
onies because they fermented into a
somewhat stronger product than
apples and plums, with a delightful
odor and taste. Elderberries, cur-
rants, and the wild but foxy-tasting
grapes were used for wine. Ardent
spirits — the whiskeys — were not rou-
tinely used. Brandy was a standard
medicinal of ship's stores, and rum
made from molasses on the sugar
plantations of the West Indies had to
be transshipped to the colonies via
England.
Distilling apparatus was, of
course, soon put into use. At first, a
blanket was placed over a kettle and
the condensed vapors were simply
wrung out into a pail . But each village
had a mechanically inclined inhabi-
tant who constructed an alembic and
worm from bits and scraps of wood
and metal, and by 1630, applejack
and crude grape, peach, and pear
brandies were being made. The fruit
brandy of New Jersey was considered
the most potent, capable of producing
an "apple palsy" after just two
drinks.
Capt. John Smith planted maize in
Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 and a
year later the colony made corn beer
from it. Those experiments on malt-
ing maize were duly noted and barley
was planted elsewhere as soon as pos-
sible. Wilhelm Keift, director-gen-
eral of the Dutch colony on Staten
Island, distilled grain in 1640 with
imported barley malt mixed with im-
ported rye and native maize. Brandy
was produced from imported grapes
by 1650 and aged from two to four
years in barrels fashioned from native
white oak instead of the oak species
of France. Gin, too, was made in
America by 1660, but never attained
the popularity it achieved in England.
In contrast to the European varieties,
American gin was not made entirely
of wheat and barley malt, but utilized
corn — creating a strange taste — and
the botanicals included the berries of
native junipers, which were also dif-
ferent from those of Europe. A mix-
ture of gin and applejack, called
"strip and go naked" because it in-
duced this behavior after several
mugfuls, was imbibed by the poor in
northern cities. It was tamed for ser-
vants and women by adding beer and
blackstrap molasses.
The Puritans of the Massachusetts
colonies favored rum, usually served
on social occasions as a rum flip. A
mixture of rum, beer, and sugar was
stirred with a logger — a heated iron
poker; after a half dozen potions, the
guests were frequently at logger-
heads. Rum is a distillate of either
yeast-fermented sugarcane syrup or
the molasses left after the crystalliza-
tion of the sugar. Blackstrap molas-
ses, a dark brown, caramellike end
product, is the most common starting
material. The rum initially consumed
in the colonies was made in the West
Indies, but by 1660 the Salem, New-
port, and Medford branches of the
Massachusetts colonies were import-
ing molasses to make their own dark,
high-proof product. Benjamin Frank-
lin, first president of the American
Philosophical Society, devised a wal-
loping drink for membership dinners
(and his lady friends) consisting of
high-proof Medford or Demarara
rum, loaf sugar, and orange juice.
Most of the sugar refineries were in
French or Spanish hands, but Britain,
preferring to keep the lucrative mo-
Maker's Mark Distillery
Limestone water — a crucial
ingredient of bourbon whiskey.
24
The U.S. Army forced this
peaceful Indian into
becoming a military genius.
Tonight, Xerox presents "I Will Fight No More Forever." A moving drama
that is a testament to the vision, stature and dignity of one of the great
Indian warriors in American history, Chief Joseph, leader of the Nez Perce tribe.
Forced from their tribal home. Chief Joseph and some 300 braves fought
ten separate Army commands in a desperate 1,600 mile trek toward freedom.
So formidable were his defensive maneuvers, the history of the campaign
is still studied at West Point.
"I Will Fight No More Forever," starring James Whitmore as General
Howard and Ned Romero as Chief Joseph.
Friday, January 9, 9 PM/ET, on the ABC-TV Network.
Check your local listing.
XEROX
Air-India's India.
Now is the time
lor the tour
of your life.
Come to the country that
shimmers in your dreams. India.
Incredibly beautiful, incredibly
romantic. And Air-India has tours to
take you there as no one else can.
Incomparable India. A fully-
escorted 24 day tour of magical
India. You will see Bombay the
Ajanta Caves, Udaipur, Jaipur, Agra,
Khajuraho, Banares, Kathmandu,
Pokhara, Old and New Delhi.
India Highlights. A 21 day fully
escorted overall view of fascinating
India. Sightseeing by private car and
accommodations in the finest hotels.
Fly and Drive. 16 days driving
through India with a car and
chauffeur. It's as affordable as just
a car in Europe- See India in superb
comfort and style with your
chauffeur as your guide.
For brochures write Air-India or
see your travel agent. Whichever
tour you pick, Air-India will make it
the tour of your life.
Uliy would you fly
any other way.
666FifthAve.,N.Y.,N.Y. 10019
Maker's Mark Distillerv
Old copper equipment used
in the distilling process.
lasses trade entirely English, at-
tempted through the molasses act of
1733 to limit the profits of the hated
foreigners by requiring that Medford
rum be shipped to England or, if kept
for local consumption, be taxed at
home-country rates. The molasses act
had two effects. It increased rum
smuggling and was as distasteful to
the colonists as the stamp, naviga-
tion, and tea taxes. As a substitute for
rum, New Englanders fermented and
distilled the honey from native bee
trees. Called "old metheglin," the
beverage was a dark brown, sweet
drink of about 60 percent alcohol con-
tent. In Vermont it was traditionally
assumed that one glass was enough —
even in winter — to cause the buzzing
of the bees to be heard.
Wheat and barley grew poorly in
the colonies; in addition, the wheat
was needed for bread and most of the
barley was needed for making beer
malt. Rye, not a native plant, accord-
ingly formed the base for the first
whiskeys made in the colonies. It
flourished in western Maryland and
eastern Pennsylvania, lands settled
by Germans from Moravia and by
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians descended
from Scots who had previously lived
in Ulster. These settlers had both the
skills and equipment to make whis-
key and they set to it with a will and
fervor that was part of their heritage.
Rye whiskey was originally called
"tiger spot," but it soon became
known as either Maryland or Monon-
gahela.
There were good economic reasons
for the industry of the distillers. A
packhorse could carry no more than
four bushels of grain, but the same
horse could, and did, carry two kegs
of whiskey representing twenty-four
bushels of rye. Spoilage was mini-
mal , unless the horse or driver stum-
bled, and the two kegs brought the
equivalent of forty bushels of grain.
The fermentation and distillation of
rye and barley malt produced a whis-
key with a heavy, intense flavor, in
great contrast to the rye that the con-
temporary, unenlightened drinker
mixes with ginger ale. We have been
sold a bill of goods: Today's rye is
little more than a smallish amount of
whiskey mixed with pure alcohol,
water, and caramel coloring.
Despite its success in Maryland
and Pennsylvania, rye was not a good
crop in the South or on the western
frontier. The weather was too warm
and there was often excessive rain in
midsummer. The settlers, therefore,
turned to a cereal grain that did grow
well — the maize of the Indians. As
Virginians moved west, they estab-
lished villages that were sufficiently
remote to require their own legal
structures. By 1770, Harrodsburg,
Harwood's Landing, and Boonsfort,
all in Kentucky, were recognized ag-
ricultural communities that grew corn
for food, fodder, and fermentation.
By 1780, Fayette, Jefferson, and Lin-
coln Counties were legally estab-
lished in the western Virginia lands,
a judicial District of Kentucky (then
spelled Kentuckey) was formed in
1783, and Bourbon County was cut
out from Fayette in 1786.
The population of Kentucky in the
late eighteenth century was more than
"thirty thousand souls," of which a
goodly proportion were growing
corn. Who first started making corn
likker in Kentucky is unknown, but
there are several claimants for this ex-
alted title. Among them: Marsham
Brashears, who purchased land in
1782 for 165 gallons of whiskey;
Jacob Froman, who was indicted
twice (in 1784 and 1785) for retailing
liquor without a license; and Bartlett
Searcy, who willed his 96-gallon still
to his son John in 1784. For the sake
of convenience, the Reverend Elijah
26
You can help save Juiyi Latemoon
for $16 a month.
Or you can turn the page.
Latemoon.
"Descendant of a proud people.
Her ancestors understood
man's harmony with nature.
They were master craftsmen, farmers, and hurll
Now they are a forgotten people
to whom many promises have been made.
And few kept.
JuIyi is poor but has an abundance of hope.
She needs a helping hand.
And a friend who will understand.
For $16 a month, through Save the Children Federa-
tion, you can sponsor a child like JuIyi so that she will
not be forgotten. Give her the things she must have
to keep her mind, body, and spirit alive. And com-
bined with money from other sponsors, your $16 will
help JuIyi and the people of her community. With a
desperately needed food co-op, income-producing
handicraft programs, vocational training, youth ac-
tivities, clinics, and more. In simple terms, help a
proud, hardworking people help themselves. For this
is what Save the Children has been all about since
1932.
For you— educated, involved, and in touch with your
own heart— there are many rewards. Correspond with
a child. Receive a photo and progress reports. Reach
out to another human being. That's how Save the
Children works. But without you it can't work. So
please: clip this coupon and mail it today. Now you
can turn the page.
We are indeed proud of our use of your funds. Annual report and audit
statement available on request, f^ember of the International Union
for Child Welfare and the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for
Foreign Service. Contributions are income-tax deductible.
I wish to contribute $16 a month to sponsor a D boy Q girl D either
D Where the need is most urgent
D Appalachia (U.S.) O Indian D Korea
D Bangladesh (Latin America) D Lebanon
D Colombia D Indian (U.S.) D Mexico
n Dominican Republic D Inner Cities (U.S.) D Rural South (U.S.)
n Honduras D Israel D Tanzania
Enclosed is my first payment:
n $16 monthly n $96 semi-annually
D $48 quarterly D $192 annually
n Instead of becoming a sponsor, I am enclosing a contribution of
n Please send me more information.
_TEL. NO..
ADDRESS-
CITY
-STATE-
-ZIP-
David L. Guyer, Executive Director
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION
Westport, Connecticut 06880 nh i/e
27
Craig, a Baptist minister, is usually
credited with making the first bour-
bon whiskey in about 1780. He lived
in Georgetown, Scott County; not
Bourbon County, but close to it. Eli-
jah's brother Lewis, also a Baptist
minister, was a whiskey dealer who
supplied the cargo for the flatboats
that followed the rivers down to New
Orleans.
There was serious debate in those
days as to the propriety of ministers
engaging in the liquor trade, but since
most parishioners were similarly em-
ployed, no pot could call any kettle
black. Consumption before services
or during revival meetings, however,
was dealt with severely. And drunk-
enness occasionally led to outright
expulsion from the congregation: a
man — and his wife — were supposed
to be able to handle their liquor. The
Baptist argument raged on until about
the time of the Civil War when a firm
antiliquor stand was taken.
As the rye from Maryland and
Pennsylvania and the corn whiskey
from Bourbon County became widely
distributed, the role of liquor in so-
cial, business, and political affairs be-
came so all-pervasive in the region as
to constitute the ordinary way of life.
Full or partial payment for debts,
mortgages, and purchases of necessi-
ties was made in liquor. Gallons of
whiskey and distilling apparatus were
formally considered parts of estates;
births, weddings, and funerals were
paid for and celebrated in whiskey;
and business arrangements were con-
summated with pledges sloshed down
with a cupful or a glassful. Morning
dawned with an eye-opener consist-
ing of whiskey in which bitter herbs
had been steeped; camomile flowers
were a common additive. Prophylac-
tic doses of whiskey warded off the
often fatal effects of getting soaked in
a thunderstorm. A sovereign remedy
for "summer complaint" of both
children and adults was an infusion of
rhubarb, caraway seed, and orange
peel in whiskey, and copperhead or
rattler bites were treated internally
and externally with bourbon.
Most distillers were the Kentucky
farmers themselves, who took advan-
tage of the fine, pure limestone water
available and the abundant corn.
None of the products were trade-
marked; they were all bourbon or rye.
By 1760, a James Beam and a J. W.
Dant had moved to Kentucky from
North Carolina and a John Ritchie
and a Jacob Beam were licensed dis-
tillers from 1770 to 1780, but it was
not until after the revolutionary war
that specific names were attached to
the product of a distillery or a district.
Elijah Ripper of Lexington, Ken-
tucky, was making corn whiskey by
1770 and his grandson James E. Pep-
per sold "Old 1776" during the nine-
teenth century, a trademark that un-
fortunately died out in World War IL
Prior to, and even after, the Revolu-
tion, whiskey was collected at Louis-
ville or Cincinnati and barged down
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to be
distributed in the southwest and
southeast via New Orleans. John
James Audubon subsidized his then
Guy Gillette, Photo Researchers
Fermenting vats in
contemporary distillery.
ignored paintings when, as a mer-
chant in Henderson, Kentucky, he
shipped kegs of bourbon whiskey to
Missouri where he sold the liquor at
two dollars a gallon.
The whiskey of the colonists was
sold and consumed in its God-given,
natural, water-clear state. Occasion-
ally a small amount of caramel color-
ing was added to give the liquid the
amber hue associated with European
brandy. The colonists knew that
aging in charred oak barrels imparted
a golden brown color and smoothed
out the product through the marriage
of various esters and organic com-
pounds, but the practice took valu-
able time and no one cared a whit
what the color was as long as the
drink was strong. Besides, the long
trip by horse and barge in the hot sun
provided all the aging that was neces-
sary. The complex of harsh, skull-
popping volatiles (evil-smelling fusel
oils, aldehydes, and wood alcohol)
could be absorbed by barrel aging or
simply by filtering the raw whiskey
through a layer of maple charcoal.
Peach brandy was similarly treated
with charred peach pits, which also
contained a minute amount of prussic
acid. One serious problem was the
tendency of the alembic to overheat
and scorch the mash, but some genius
figured out a way to introduce live
steam into the pot still to volatilize the
alcohol. Only much later, when dis-
tilling had become big business, did
the continuous Coffey still method re-
place the one-shot pot.
By the beginning of the eighteenth
century, copper stills imported from
England or Holland were in general
use. Most native stills were fashioned
from iron, which imparted an off fla-
vor and sometimes colored the water-
clear liquid. British restrictions on
local manufacturing made rolled cop-
per for alembic, worm, and steam
boiler impossible to obtain. Paul Re-
vere, a silversmith — and sometime
horseman — was best known for being
the only manufacturer of rolled cop-
per in the colonies, a monopoly that
he held until 1802.
Proof, or strength, was determined
by the gunpowder method. Equal vol-
umes of gunpowder and whiskey
were mixed and set afire. If the
preparation flashed up, the whiskey
was too strong; if it didn't burn, it was
too weak. When it burned evenly, the
whiskey was 100 percent perfect; it
was proved out and the proof was
100. (Since pure alcohol is 200 proof,
100 proof indicates an alcohol con-
tent of 50 percent.)
Although rye whiskey was made
by inoculating mash with fresh yeast,
much of the bourbon utilized the
sour-mash process in which the
mash, before fermentation, was
charged with a small amount of liquid
from the previous batch. This so-
called spent beer contained a small
amount of lactic and other acids,
which promoted the development of
yeasts and repressed the growth of
Ijacteria that might otherwise spoil
the taste of the whiskey. The same
principle is used in making pickles
and sauerkraut.
The colonists were more particular
about the taste than the spelling of
their liquor and the y or ey endings
28
AUNiQiJi: c^ppc^muNirY FORCxx.LtxrroRsc* art in PRtx:ious MtriAi,
The T^atioml Vreservation of Wildlife Association and
The J-famlton JVlint Vroudly Tresents
thmmericanA^ildufe
COLLECTION Jf
A Limited Edition of ^^^^'
Tare Silver Ingots
A Single Minting of 50
Magnificent Proof Ingots, Limited to
Just 10,000 Sets in .999 Fine Silver.
HERE IS A MAGNIFICENT TRIBUTE tO the
grandeur of America's wildlife. 1 he
Hamilton Mint, together with the National
Preservation of Wildlife Association, an-
nounces the minting of a new collection ot
Pure SUver Ingots, portraying the beauty and
diversity of the land animals, birds and sea
life that inhabit America.
A COLLECTION OF BROAD SCOPE
"The American Wildlife Collection" Series of
50 ingots is one of the most comprehensive
coUecUons ever issued by The Hamilton Mint.
It combines superb visual beauty with lifelike
portrayals of each animal.
Among the native wildlife represented will
be- the Wild Horse, the California Condor,
the Gray Whale, the American Bison, the
Wolverine and the Florida Manatee — aU 5U
subjects will comprise a fascinating panorama
of nature for the naturalist as well as the
collector.
A TREASURY OF MASTERPIECES
Each gleaming proof ingot will contain a full
ounce (480 grains) of .999 fine silver, the
finest and purest silver available. The image
areas will be in frosted bas-relief, dramaUc-
ally set against a briUiant mirror-like back-
ground. The entire set will contain 24,000
grains (over 4 troy pounds) of pure silver,
more than the average family accumulates in
a lifetime.
YOUR OWN PERSONAL SERIAL NUMBER
Your "American Wildlife" ingots will be cus-
tom minted to your order and will bear your
own personal serial number plus The Hamil-
ton Mint Hallmark. Serial numbers will be
assigned in the order that apphcaUons are
received, with the lower and more desirable
numbers going to the earliest subscribers. You
will also receive a Certificate of Authenticity,
certifying the limited edition status and pre-
cious metal content of the series.
A SINGLE LIMITED MINTING WITH
GUARANTEED PRICE PROTECTION
The edition will be strictly limited to just
10 000 proof sets in silver, issued at the rate
of'two-a-month for a period of 25 months.
Once this edition limit has been reached, the
minting dies will be destroyed, thus safeguard-
ing the integrity of the edition.
The original issue price for each ingot will
be just $14.95, and this price will be guaran-
teed to subscribers over the entire issue period
no matter how the price of silver may rise.
And, a portion of the proceeds of each sale
will go to the National Preservation of Wild-
life Association, a non-profit organization
dedicated to protecting our wildlife.
Please remember that there is a strict limit
of 10 000 proof sets, so prompt action is essen-
tial if you wish to be included within the
edition limits.
ARCHIVE EDITION: 24 KT. GOLD ON PURE SILVER
You may also order these ingots in extrava-
gantly beautiful 24 Kt. gold on .999 fine silver.
Only 5.000 sets will be minted, thus making
this edition quite rare. Each ingot will also be
individually serially numbered and hallmarked
and each will cost just S19.95.
. COLLECTOR'S APPLICATION 1
' "The American Wildlife Collection" ,
THE HAMILTON MINT „^, „, fi„„ni
40 E. University Dr. , Arlmgton Hgts., Bl. 60004
Please accept my application for a complete
50 Ingot Limited Edition Proof Set of 'The
American Wildlife Collection." I understand
that I will receive my first two ingots soon
after my order is accepted and that I will be
invoiced tor the prepayment of the next two
ingots in the series.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO BUY THIS SERIES & SAVE
n Send me my firts two ingots in .999 Fine
Silver for only $29.90.
n Send me my first two ingots in 24 Kt. Gold
on .999 Fine Silver for only $39.90.
/ enclose my first payment of $
or charge my:
n Master Charge* D BankAraericard
Acct. No lEtp. Date
Subscribers will receive a handsome dis-
play case, free of charge, to house the entire
Collection. Also at no cost, you'll receive
a special bonus, "Nature Atlas ot Amer-
ica " a beautiful 255 page volume with 361
full color photographs and illustrations.
This handsome book is a large SVz ' x U
and has a deluxe library binding.
the four numbers above your i
Address-
City
(must be signed 1
Signature-
(lllln
I WANT JUST THE FIRST INGOT IN THE SERIES (Big
Horned Sheep), but then I do not get the sav-
ings the ingot will not be serially numbered
and no future ingots will be reserved for me.
n Single ingot @ $15.95 in .999 Fine Silver.
□ Single ingot @ $20.95 in 24 Kt. Gold on
.999 Fine Silver.
ADPllcatlon subject to acceptance by The Hamilton Hint.
LIMIT: ONE PROOF SET PER SUBSCRIBER
."J
29
QUESTAR PHOTOGRAPHS
THE NEIGHBORS
Fast shots with photo-visual Questar,
ike this watchful squirrel and rumpled
licker nestling, are easier than ever when
ou add OUT Fast Focus to the Field
lodel. And using this combination with
lie Questar-modiiied Olympus OM-1
amera body is a new and exciting
xperience for the nature photographer.
SEND $1 FOR THE QUESTAR BOOKLET WITH ITS
150 PHOTOGRAPHS BY QUESTAR OWNERS. $1
"OR MAILING ON THIS CONTINENT: BY AIR TO
1. AMERICA, $2.50; EUROPE AND N. AFRICA. $3;
DTHER AREAS, $3.50.
QUESTAR
BOX N 60, NEW HOPE, PA. 18938
©Copyright Questar Corporation 1974
were used interchangeably until
about 1850. Frances TroUope used
both spellings in her 1832 book, Do-
mestic Manners of the Americans.
After the Civil War the ey ending was
restricted to the rye, Canadian, and
bourbon whiskeys of the Western
Hemisphere.
George Washington learned the
value of whiskey very early. In 1758
he stood for the Virginia House of
Burgesses from Frederick County
and won with a total of 307 votes — at
a cost of £38, £34 of which was spent
on liquor. At the time, rum was 16
shillings per gallon, rye whiskey was
8 shillings per gallon, corn liquor was
4 shillings per gallon, and there were
20 shillings to the pound. The money
was well spent. By contrast, James
Madison, who refused to supply re-
freshments for the voters, consist-
ently lost elections. Washington's
plantation was noted for its peach
brandy, and as his liquor became ever
more famous, he branched out into
making a whiskey from rye and corn
and imported a Scotsman to oversee
the business. However, he had com-
petition from others, including the
Byrd, Mason, Madison, and Jeffer-
son families.
During the revolutionary war,
Washington insisted that the army be
supplied a liquor ration: "In many
instances such as when they are
marching in hot and cold weather . . .
it is essential that it [liquor] not be
dispensed with." He recommended
to the Continental Congress that pub-
lic distilleries be erected to supply li-
quor to the troops. The young Ameri-
can navy, following the British
model, also had its daily tot of rum.
With many men away from their
farms during the war, grain was in
Guy Gillette, Photo Researchers
Bottling the final product
for distribution.
short supply. Washington noted with
approval the restrictions imposed by
the colonies on excessive use of grain
for whiskey making and insisted that
the liquor ration consist of peach or
apple brandy or of rum. This did not
sit too well with the southern and
western troops weaned on corn and
rye likker, but their complaints were
dampened by the high-proof rum
passed out by supply sergeants. War-
time profiteering became evident as
the price of rum rose fourfold in a
year. The ration of spirits given to
sailors was ended by an act of the
Thirty-seventh Congress in 1830 and
the adjutant general of the army
supinely went along in 1862.
Governments have always taxed li-
quor, and citizens have always at-
tempted to evade payment. The
young Republic, in a desperate search
for a means to pay the debts resulting
from the Revolution and to cover the
growing obligations of statehood,
considered the imposition of a whis-
key excise. Alexander Hamilton, the
secretary of the treasury, and his Fed-
eralist party rammed through Con-
gress the Excise Tax Act of 1791,
which empowered the federal gov-
ernment to impose duties on all spirits
"distilled within the United States,
from any article of the growth and
produce of the United States, in any
city, town or village." Progressive
duties on each gallon according to its
proof and a yearly tax on each still
were mandated, together with an on-
erous responsibility laid on each pro-
ducer to maintain records and permit
the inspection of distilleries, ware-
*«iL_3^
houses, taverns, and even private
homes. Indignation ran high. Kain-
lucks, Virginians, Tennesseans, and
Pennsylvania rye distillers were
hailed into court for back excises; the
Reverend Elijah Craig had a liability
of $140 assessed against him and
nearly went bankrupt, as did many
others. This excise, they all agreed,
was an invasion of rights won with
their blood. They had fought the Brit-
ish for freedom from excisemen and
they would be damned if they were
going to go through that again. Al-
though the excise was softened in
1792 and again in 1794, distillers
joined with shippers and retailers to
oppose the tax, and meetings and res-
olutions gave way to direct opposi-
tion, which included tarring and
feathering the tax collectors, shooting
up the homes of the excisemen, and
an occasional murder. The violence
was meant to be a test of the power
of the federal government to tax the
people directly, without the interposi-
tion of the states, and Hamilton con-
vinced Washington that the whiskey
rebels of the Monongahela Valley
must be permanently crushed.
With a penchant for military over-
kill that seems to mark our country's
defense establishment, a massive
army was gathered. By the autumn of
1794, 13,000 troops armed with artil-
lery, mortars, and other appurten-
ances of a punitive force — and sup-
plied with whiskey — had been mus-
tered. General Henry (Light-Horse
Harry) Lee, then governor of Vir-
ginia, smelled powder and volun-
teered to lead one section of the
troops through the Cumberland Gap
near the point where Virginia, Ken-
tucky, and Tennessee meet. General
Howell and the New Jersey contin-
gent moved through Carlisle, Penn-
sylvania, and Washington himself
made an appearance on a white horse
to show that the government really
knew what it was doing. Happily,
there was no battle; the rebels wisely
dispersed. At a cost of about $1.5
million, the excises were collected.
Jefferson, who never supported any
of Hamilton's ideas, repealed the
whiskey tax when he assumed the
presidency in 1801 and it was not
reimposed until the Civil War. For
better or worse, depending on your
point of view, it has never been re-
moved since.
Richard M. Klein, who is not a teeto-
taler, teaches botany at the Univer-
sity of Vermont.
Little Maria
had been
hungry
all her life.
Maria lives in a slum in Brazil and has
suffered from malnutrition all her young
life. When she was accepted into our
CCF-assisted nutrition program, she was
about five and a half years old but was
unable to walk. She weighed only sixteen
pounds — less than half her estimated nor-
mal weight for a child her age.
Little Maria's home is a four room
shack made of poles, mud and partially
covered with tiles, flattened tin cans and
pieces of scrap lumber. Holes in the walls
are patched with cardboard. She shares
this home with her mother and father, five
sisters, five brothers and a nephew.
While Maria's father works hard, he is
totally unskilled and can only get work as
a porter, carrying immense loads on top
of his head. His income is so meager he
cannot possibly provide for his family.
Maria's mother does not have a job and
stays home to care for the children.
Now Maria has a chance for a better
life with help from her CCF sponsor.
After she was enrolled in the nutrition
project, she showed rapid signs of im-
provement. She became able to crawl
around the recovery room. She could
smile and talk. She could even draw and
our report shows that her physical state
was improving normally. Hopefully she
will make a good recovery and the marks
of malnutrition will disappear.
But there are many other youngsters
like Maria who suffer from severe malnu-
trition and who must wait for the assis-
tance they so urgently need. You can help
such a child by becoming a CCF sponsor.
The cost is only $15 a month (tax de-
ductible) and you will have the privilege
of developing a person-to-person relation-
ship with the child you assist.
You will receive the child's photograph.
name and mailing address so that you can
exchange letters and cards. Most impor-
tant, you will have the satisfaction that
comes from sharing your love with some-
one who needs you. And boys and girls
like Maria urgently need your help. Mal-
nutrition can cause many permanent de-
fects even if it does not immediately lead
to disease and death.
Won't you help? Please fill out the
coupon at the bottom of the page indi-
cating the sex and country of the child
you'd like to sponsor. In about two weeks
you will receive your personal sponsor
folder on the child who has been placed
with you.
Sponsors urgently needed in Brazil,
India. Guatemala. Indonesia and the
Philippines.
We will be glad to send you a Statement
of Income and Expense upon request.
Write today: Dr. Verent J. Mills
CHRISTIAN CHILDREN'S FUND, Inc.
Box 26511, Richmond, Va. 23261
I want to sponsor a D boy D girl in
(Country)
n Choose any child who needs my help.
I will pay $15 a month. I enclose first
payment of $ Please send me
ehild'> name, mailing address and photo-
graph.
I can't sponsor a child now but I do want
to give $
□ Please send me more information.
Name
Address
City
-Zip-
Member of International Union for Child Wel-
fare, Geneva. Gifts are tax deductible. Canadians:
Write 1407 Yonge, Toronto. 7. NH3310
31
This View of Life
Darwin and the Captain
If Darwin wasn't the ship's
naturalist, what was he doing
on the Beagle ? And why did
Captain Fitzroy shoot himself?
Groucho Marx always delighted au-
diences with such outrageously obvi-
ous questions as "Who's buried in
Grant's tomb?" But the apparently
obvious can often be deceptive. If I
remember correctly, the answer to
who framed the Monroe Doctrine? is
John Quincy Adams. Most biologists
would answer "Charles Darwin"
when asked, "Who was the naturalist
aboard the H.M.S. Beagle!" And
they would all be wrong. Let me not
sound too shocking at the outset. Dar-
win was on the Beagle and he did
devote his attention to natural history .
But he was brought on board for an-
other purpose, and the ship's sur-
geon, Robert McKormick, originally
held the official position of naturalist.
Herein lies a tale; not just a nit-pick-
ing footnote to academic history, but
a discovery of some significance. An-
thropologist J. W. Gruber reported
the evidence in "Who Was the Bea-
g/e's Naturalist?" written in 1969 for
the British Journal for the History of
Science. Last year, science historian
H. L. Burstyn attempted to answer
the obvious corollary: If Darwin
wasn't the Beagle's naturalist, why
was he on board?
No document specifically identi-
fies McKormick as an official natural-
ist, but the circumstantial evidence is
overwhelming. The British navy, at
the time, had a well-established tradi-
tion of surgeon-naturalists, and Mc-
Kormick had deliberately educated
himself for such a role. He was an
adequate, if not brilliant, naturalist
and performed his tasks with distinc-
tion on other voyages, including
Ross's Antarctic expedition
(1839-1843) to locate the position of
the South Magnetic Pole. Moreover,
Gruber has found a letter from the
Edinburgh naturalist Robert Jameson
addressed to "My dear Sir" and full
of advice to the Beagle naturalist on
collection and preservation of speci-
mens. In the traditional view, no one
but Darwin himself could have been
the recipient. Fortunately, the name
of the addressee is on the original
folio. It was written to McKormick.
Darwin, to cut the suspense, sailed
on the Beagle as companion to Cap-
tain Fitzroy. But why would a British
captain want to take as a companion
on a five-year journey a man he had
only met the previous month? Two
features of naval voyages during the
1830s must have set Fitzroy 's deci-
sion. First of all, voyages lasted for
many years, with long stretches be-
tween ports and very limited contact
by mail with friends and family at
home. Secondly (and however
strange it may seem to our psycho-
logically more enlightened century),
British naval tradition dictated that a
captain have absolutely no social con-
tact with anyone down the chain of
command. He dined alone at every
meal and met with his officers only to
discuss ship's business and to con-
verse in the most formal and "cor-
rect" manner.
Now Fitzroy, when he set sail with
Darwin, was 26 years old. He knew
the psychological toll that prolonged
lack of human contact could take
from captains. The Beagle's previous
skipper had broken down and shot
himself to death during the Southern
Hemisphere winter of 1828, his third
year away from home. Moreover, as
Darwin himself affirmed in a letter to
his sister, Fitzroy was worried about
"his hereditary predisposition" to
mental derangement. His illustrious
Captain Robert Fitzroy AMNH
uncle, the Viscount Castlereagh (sup-
pressor of the Irish rebellion of 1798
and Foreign Secretary during the de-
feat of Napoleon), had slit his own
throat in 1822. In fact, Fitzroy did
break down and temporarily relin-
quish his command during the Bea-
gle's voyage — while Darwin was laid
up with illness in Valparaiso.
Since Fitzroy was allowed no so-
cial contact with any of the ship's of-
ficial personnel, he could gain it only
by taking along a "supernumerary"
passenger by his own arrangement.
But the Admiralty frowned upon pri-
vate passengers, even captains'
wives; a gentleman companion
brought for no other stated purpose
32
by Stephen Jay Gould
would never do. Fitzroy had taken
other supernumeraries aboard — a
draftsman and an instrument-maker
among others — but neither could
serve as a companion because they
were not of the right social class.
Fitzroy was an aristocrat, and he
traced his ancestry directly to King
Charles II. Only a gentleman could
share his meals, and a gentleman Dar-
win surely was.
But how could Fitzroy entice a
gentleman to accompany him on a
voyage of five years' duration? Only
by providing an opportunity for some
justifying activity that could not be
pursued elsewhere. And what else but
natural history? — even though the
Beagle had an official naturalist.
Hence, Fitzroy advertised among his
aristocratic friends for a gentleman
naturalist. It was, as Burstyn argues,
"A polite fiction to explain his
guest's presence and an activity at-
tractive enough to lure a gentleman
on board for a long voyage." Dar-
win's sponsor, J. S. Henslow, under-
stood perfectly. He wrote to Darwin:
"Capt. F. wants a man (I understand)
more as a companion than a mere col-
lector." Darwin and Fitzroy met,
they hit it off, and the pact was sealed.
Darwin sailed as Fitzroy's compan-
ion, primarily to share his table at
mealtime for every shipboard dinner
during five long years.
Poor McKormick's fate was
sealed. Initially, he and Darwin co-
operated, but their ways inevitably
parted. Darwin had all the advan-
tages. He had the captain's ear. He
had a servant. At ports of call, he had
the money to move ashore and hire
native collectors, while McKormick
was bound to the ship and his official
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO PHOTOGRAPH
our charcoal mellowing process. But this is a
charcoal mellowing vat.
Into this vat we tamp finely ground charcoal.
Then we seep our just-distilled whiskey slowly
through the charcoal to mellow its taste before
aging. Once the whiskey
drips into the vat, there's
no way to photograph ^^ charcoal
what's happening. But i^Sit ^^llowed
when you compare Jack ^^hRI 6
Daniel's to any other
whiskey, you'll begin to
get the picture.
DROP
6
BY DROP
Tennessee Whiskey- 90 Proof- Distilled and Bottled by Jack Daniel Distillery
Lem Wlotlow, Prop., Inc., Lynchburg (Pop. 361), Tennessee 37352
Placed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Government.
33
duties. Darwin's private efforts began
to outstrip McKormick's official col-
lections, and McKormick, in disgust,
decided to go home. In April 1832,
at Rio de Janeiro, he was "invalided
out" and sent home to England
aboard H. M.S. Tyne. Darwin under-
stood the euphemism and wrote to his
sister of McKormick's "being inva-
lided, i.e. being disagreeable to the
Captain. ... He is no loss."
Darwin did not care for McKor-
mick's brand of science. He wrote to
Henslow in May 1832: "He was a
philosopher of rather antient [sic]
date; at St. Jago by his own account
he made general remarks during the
first fortnight and collected particular
facts during the last ." In fact , Darwin
didn't seem to care for McKormick
at all. "My friend the doctor is an ass,
but we jog on very amicably; at
present he is in great tribulation,
whether his cabin shall be painted
french gray or dead white — I hear lit-
tle except this subject from him."
If nothing else, this story illustrates
the importance of social class as a
consideration in the history of
science. How different would the
science of biology be today if Darwin
had been the offspring of a tradesman
and not the son of a very wealthy phy-
sician. Darwin's personal riches gave
him the freedom to pursue research
without encumbrance. Since his
various illnesses often permitted only
two to three hours of fruitful work per
day, any need to make an honest liv-
ing would probably have shut him off
from research entirely. We now
learn, from this tale of the Beagle,
that Darwin's social standing also
played a crucial role at a turning point
in his career. Fitzroy was far more
interested in his mealtime compan-
ion's social graces than his compe-
tence in natural history.
Might something deeper be hidden
in the unrecorded mealtime conversa-
tions of Darwin and Fitzroy? Scien-
tists have a strong bias for attributing
creative insights to the constraints of
empirical evidence. Hence, tortoises
and finches have always received the
nod as primary agents in the transfor-
mation of Darwin's world view, for
he joined the Beagle as a naively
pious student for the ministry, but
opened his first notebook on the trans-
mutation of species less than a year
after his return. I would suggest that
Fitzroy himself might have been an
even more important catalyst.
Darwin and Fitzroy maintained a
"rocky" relationship at best. Only
the severe constraints of gentlemanly
cordiality and pre-Victorian suppres-
sion of emotion kept the two men on
decent terms with each other. Fitzroy
was a martinet and an ardent Tory.
Darwin was an equally committed
Whig. Darwin scrupulously avoided
any discussion with Fitzroy of the
great Reform Bill then pending in
Parliament. But slavery brought them
into open conflict. One evening,
Fitzroy told Darwin that he had wit-
nessed proof of slavery's benevo-
lence. One of Brazil's largest slave-
holders had assembled his captives
and asked them whether they wished
to be freed. Unanimously, they had
responded "no." When Darwin had
the temerity to wonder what a re-
sponse made in the owner's presence
was worth, Fitzroy exploded and in-
formed Darwin that anyone who
doubted his word was not fit to eat
with him. Darwin moved out and
joined the mates, but Fitzroy backed
down and sent a formal apology a few
days later.
We know that Darwin bristled in
the face of Fitzroy 's strong opinions.
But he was Fitzroy 's guest and, in one
peculiar sense, his subordinate, for a
captain at sea was an absolute and
unquestioned tyrant in Fitzroy 's time.
Darwin could not express his dissent.
For five long years, one of the most
brilliant men in recorded history kept
his peace. Late in life, Darwin re-
called in his autobiography that "the
difficulty of living on good terms with
a Captain of a Man-of-War is much
increased by its being almost muti-
nous to answer him as one would an-
swer anyone else; and by the awe in
which he is held — or was held in my
time, by all on board."
Now Tory politics was not
Fitzroy 's only ideological passion.
The other was religion. Fitzroy had
some moments of doubt about the
Bible's literal truth, but he tended to
view Moses as an accurate historian
and geologist and even spent consid-
erable time trying to calculate the di-
mensions of Noah's Ark. Fitzroy's
idee fixe, at least in later life, was the
"argument from design," the belief
that God's benevolence (indeed his
very existence) can be inferred from
the perfection of organic structure.
Darwin, on the other hand, accepted
the idea of excellent design but pro-
posed a natural explanation that could
not have been more contrary to
Fitzroy's belief. Darwin developed
an evolutionary theory based on
chance variation and natural selection
by a largely external environment: a
rigidly materialistic (and basically
atheistic) version of evolution (see
my column of December 1974).
Many other evolutionary theories of
the nineteenth century were far more
congenial to Fitzroy's type of Chris-
tianity. Religious leaders, for ex-
ample, had far less trouble with com-
mon proposals for innate perfecting
tendencies than with Darwin's un-
compromisingly mechanical view.
Was Darwin led to his philo-
sophical outlook partly as a response
to Fitzroy's dogmatic insistence upon
the argument from design? We have
no evidence that Darwin, aboard the
Beagle, was anything but a good
Christian. The doubts and rejection
came later. Midway through the
voyage, he wrote to a friend: "I often
conjecture what will become of me;
my wishes certainly would make me
a country clergyman." And he even
coauthored with Fitzroy an appeal for
the support of Pacific missionary
work entitled, "The Moral State of
Tahiti." But the seeds of doubt must
have been sown in quiet hours of con-
templation aboard the Beagle. And
think of Darwin's position on
board — dining every day for five
years with an authoritarian captain
whom he could not rebuke, whose
politics and bearing stood against all
his beliefs, and whom, basically, he
did not like. Who knows what "silent
alchemy" might have worked upon
Darwin's brain during five years of
insistent harangue. Fitzroy may well
have been far more important than
finches, at least for inspiring the ma-
terialistic and antitheistic tone of Dar-
win's philosophy and evolutionary
theory.
Fitzroy, at least, blamed himself as
his mind became unhinged in later
life. He began to see himself as the
unwitting agent of Darwin's heresy
(indeed, I am suggesting that this may
be true in a more literal sense than
Fitzroy ever imagined). He devel-
oped a burning desire to expiate his
guilt and to reassert the Bible's su-
premacy. At the famous British Asso-
ciation Meeting of 1 860 (where Hux-
ley creamed Bishop "Soapy Sam"
Wilberforce), the unbalanced Fitzroy
stalked about, holding a Bible above
his head and shouting, "The Book,
The Book." Five years later, he shot
himself.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science at
Harvard University.
34
The American Museiin:i of Natural I listory
invites you
to enjoy yourself and learn while you travel in congenial
company to some seldom-visited places
in a trip led by the Museum Director and guided by experts
See the spleiiclors ol
ancient civilizations
(Greei<., Roman, Min-
oan, Lydian, Kyzan-
tine). And the natuial
beauty of many land-
scapes (toweling moun-
tains, tranquil lakes,
sun-dappled valleys and
islands where the past
still lives). Cruise the
Dardanelles, the Sea of
Marmara, the Black
Sea, the Aegean.
Live aboard our own
ship, m.t.s. Orpheus.
spacious, well-ap-
pointed, air-condi-
tioned. For your com-
fort, we are limiting
participation to 230
places, just over half
the capacity of the ship.
Travel in the com-
pany of Museum scien-
tists and scholars. Dr.
Thomas D. Nicholson,
director of The Aineri- .
can Museum of Natural History and an astronomer, waiting; returns to New York from Athens on June
will tell you about the starry skies of eastern Asia. 24. Prices, exclusive of airfare, range from $1291 to
Dr David Gordon Mitten, Tames Loeb Professor at $1721 per person in a double cabin (smgle prices on
• >, , . ___j 1 1 -» „ „»\ All ^.i^f;,-;.^oTitc QT-<= ocVpH tn rontribntp S.WO
some will choose to ex-
plore the town and
others will drive to the
lake regitin for bird-
Swim and sun in the
ship's pool, in the Bos-
phorus, the Black Sea,
the .Aegean. Stroll the
Street of the Knights in
the Old Citv of Rhodes,
explore the Danube
Delta in small boats, see
the Blue Moscjue in Is-
tanbul and the Levadia
Palace at Yalta. Go to
places that most iravel-
ers miss: Lindos,
Phaestros, Priene, Nes-
sebur.
W.F. and R.K. Swan,
the London travel spe-
cialists, will supervise all
details and logistics.
The trip leaves New
York on June 9 via
TWA for Athens,
where Orpheus vvill be
Harvard, will be our art and archeology expert.
Thoroughly at home in this part of the world, he'll
take you through some excavations (Sardis, for ex-
ample) in which he himself took part not long ago.
You will see rare and spectacular birds in the com-
pany of Dr. Francois Vuilleumier, the Museum's own
associate curator of ornithology. Let a Byzantine
scholar, a classicist, and an art historian deepen your
insights into the meaning and the majesty of the
achievements you will witness. All six experts will be
with you throughout the trip. Take part in informal
discussions that will follow staff lectures. And take
your choice of activides when the group splits up (as
it will, for example, in Nessebur in Bulgaria, where
request). All participants are asked to contribute
to the Museum.
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, New York 10024
Please send me the complete itinerary and a reserva-
tion form for the Black Sea Cruise, June 9-24, 1976.
(NHJ)
Name . .
Address
City
State.
.Zip.
35
etAiA/ay
From It All
as a member of
Natural Science Book Club
Investigate a pulsar. Find a sunken treasure. Fly with an eagle. Live with an orangutan.
(Publishers' Prices siiown)
84285. TIDELINE. Ernes! Braun. Beautifully pho-
tographed and written 9-by-12-inch volume on that
long, thin strip of wilderness where land, air, and sea
meet. Contains almost one hundred full-color photo-
graphs vividly depicting one day's change along the
tideline. $16.50
36670. BORNE ON THE WIND. Stephen Dallon.
With the aid of a revolutionary new technique in
close-up photography, one of the world's finest pho-
tographers has succeeded in obtaining crystal clear
photographs of a vast array of insects taking-off.
Flying, and landing, Outsized volume contains 74 full-
color photographs and text. $18.95
64875. NUBIAN RESCUE. Rex Keating. Dramatic
story of the race to save hundreds of Egyptian
monuments from the rising waters of the Assuan
Dam. Fully illustrated. $12.50
58900. LOOKING AT ANIMALS. Hugh B. Cott.
Containing over 1 50 pen-and-ink drawings and photo-
graphs (many in color), this lavish volume explores
through word and picture the world's richest wildlife
area— East Africa. $15.00
46500. THE EVOLUTION OF RADIO ASTRON-
OMY. J.S. Hey. One of the pioneers of radio astrono-
my offers an absorbing history of this powerful
technique's remarkable development " ... an impor-
tant work in the history of astronomy' M .1. Meeks, in
Sky and Telescope. $10.00
36
78820. THE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF THE BEES.
Charles D. Michener First definitive work on these
most amazing insects. A publishing classic. Counts as
2 of your 3 books $25.00
54240. HUNTING FOR DINOSAURS. Zojia
Kielan-Jaworowska. The three-year effort to find and
decipher the meaning of the ancient bones that litter
the Gobi desert. Crammed with fascinating descrip-
tions of dinosaurs and their evolution, and the team's
work and discoveries. $12.00
34310. ARCHAEOLOGY BENEATH THE SEA.
George F. Bass. Exciting account of how the under
water exploration of a Syrian trading ship sunk in 1200
B.C. off the coast of Turkey paved the way for the
science of underwater archaeology $12.50
42325. THE DISCOVERY OF OUR GALAXY.
Charles A. Whitney A distinguished Harvard astrono-
mer recreates the lives and discoveries of great
astronomers from the sixth century B.C. to black
holes, pulsars, supernovae, and Seyfert galaxies.
$10.00
42680. DONANA: Spain's Wildlife Wilderness.
Juan Antonio Fernandez. Sumptuously illustrated por-
trait of one of the world's most important wildlife
sanctuaries. Stunning 9-by-l 1-inch volume contains
over 240 pages of full-color photographs. Counts as 2 of
your 3 books. $29.95
84210. THIS LIVING REEE Douglas Faulkner
Lavishly illustrated word-and-picture masterpiece on
one of the South Pacific's most beautiful island chains.
Outsized volume contains 120 pages of glorious six-
color pictures— all with detailed fascinating commen-
taries. Counts as 2 of your 3 books. $25.00
88740. ZOO. Bernard Livingston. Delightful wide-
ranging account of how zoos began, how they are run
today, and where they are heading in the future. "A
must for zoo buffs and animal lovers." —Roger Caras.
$8.95
48675. FLIGHT TO FREEDOM. Ki'iil Pimlcn
"Like the eagles he loves, Durden is a vanishing
species. He has expertise, he sees whai he observes,
and puis bolh inio words thai make unlorgeltable
reading. In this book he even surpasses his first classic,
Gi/ls oj an Eai!le."—GcorKe S. Small. $5.95
36090. THE BEST OF BABCOCK. Havilah Bahcock
A delightful collection of the matchless outdoor pieces
by the late humorist, naturalist, and distinguished
teacher, Havilah Babcock A classic, $8.95.
37195. BY THE EVIDENCE. L.S.B. Leakey. Fas-
cinating autobiography of one of the century's greatest
paleontologist's life and work from 1926 to the early
1950s $9.95
34720. ATLAS OF ANCIENT ARCHAEOIXJGY.
Ediled by Jacqiieiia Hawkes. With the aid of over 350
maps, site plans, and drawings, two dozen interna-
tionally renowned archaeologists highlight 170 major
sites throughout the world. $19.50
55120. IN SEARCH OF THE RED APE. John
MacKinnon. A former field researcher for Jane Good-
all tells of his exciting three-year study of the or-
angutan in the wild jungles of Borneo and Sumatra
$7.95
87195. WILD CATS OF THE WORLD. C..4. W
Guggisberg. One of the world's leading authorities on
wild cats offers definitive natural histories of each of
the 37 species of wild cats. $15.95
lake any
3 books
(values to $54.95)
for only
99"^ each
If you will join now lor a trial period
and take three more books
—at member discount prices—
within the next 12 months
78680. SNAKES OF THE AMERICAN WEST.
Charles F. Shaw and Sheldon Campbell. Two skilled
herpeiologisls explore virtually everythmg that is
known about the snakes of the American west, their
habits and habitats, their appearances and charac-
teristics $12.50
32618. ALL THE STRANGE HOLRS. Loren
Eiseley. Autobiography of one of America's outstand-
ing naturalists and scientists reveals the stunning
Eiseley mind focusing on his formative, adventurous
youth, his creative period as a writer and thinkerand
his philosophy as a scientist and huntanist. $9.95
Loren „',)•
Eiseley
.-Alltlie
Strange
+loiirs
Rescue an ancient
monument.
Make friends
with a rattler.
NO-RISK GUARANTEE! Examine your 3 in-
troductory t>ooks for 10 days. If not delighted,
simply return them and your membership will be
canceled. You pay nothing, owe nothing.
poftsi^^
85820. VENOMOUS ANIMALS OF THE
WORLD. Roger Caras. One of America's pre-emi-
nent nature writers explores the entire scope of this
remarkable group of animals— from the common
honeybee and ant to such exotic, and often deadly,
creatures as the black widow spider. Counts as 2 of your
3 books. $25.00
How the Club Operates • The Book Club News,
describing the coming Main Selection and Alter-
nate Selections, will be sent to you 15 times a year
at 3-4 week intervals. • If you wish to purchase
the Main Selection, do nothing and it will be
shipped to you automatically. • If you prefer one
ofthe Alternates, or no book at all, simply indicate
your decision on the reply form always enclosed
with the News and mail it so that we receive it by
the date specified. • The News is mailed in time to
allow you at least 10 days to decide if you want the
coming Main Selection. If, because of late mail
delivery of the News, you should ever receive a
Main Selection without having had the 10 day
consideration period, that Selection may be re-
turned at Club expense. • Continued member-
ship past the trial period brings you the added
benefits of our Bonus Book Plan— an important
way to save even more, at least 70% off publishers"
prices.
Natural Science Book Club 4-8AD
Riverside, New Jersey 08075
Please accept my application for memtiership and
send me the three volumes indicated, billing me
only 99C each. I agree to purchase at least three
additional Selections or Alternates during the first
year lama member, under the club plan described
in this ad. Savings range up to 30% and occa-
sionally even more. My membership is cancelable
any time after I buy these three books. A shipping
and handling charge is added to all shipments.
Send no money. Members are billed when books
3 books for 99t each.
Indicate by number the 3 books you want.
A few expensive books (noted in book descrip-
tions) count as 2 choices.
City St
(Offer good in Continental U.S. and Canada only.
Prices slightly higher in Canada.)
Slow Exodus From Mesa Verde
by Douglas Osborne
A deteriorating environment
and prolonged droughts
gradually forced the
Pueblo Indians from their
thousand-year-old homeland
The Pueblo Indian abandonment of
the vast area known as the Four
Corners, where New Mexico, Ari-
zona, Utah, and Colorado join, is one
of the most intriguing and perplexing
human movements in this continent's
prehistory. After about a.d. 1300,
the area was almost totally devoid of
Pueblo agriculturists, but the ruins of
their homes and religious structures
and remnants of their agricultural and
water control efforts have been found
by the tens of thousands. Yet, strik-
ingly, Pueblo Indians had lived here
for as long as a thousand years.
Evidence exists for human occupa-
tion of the area as far back as 5000
B.C. At the beginning of the Christian
Era, or shortly thereafter, a semised-
entary people, the Anasazi, or An-
cient Ones, were already living in
much of the region. By the sixth and
seventh centuries, this population had
greatly increased. These people, the
ancestors of the Pueblos, were desig-
nated by archeologists as Basket
Makers because of their prowess at
basket making. Like many of their
predecessors, they lived in pit houses
(semisubterranean dwellings), and
most importantly, they exhibited the
basic attributes of the Pueblo pattern
of agriculture. They had well-devel-
oped ceramics and had adopted the
bow and arrow to replace the atlatl,
or spear thrower, and dart.
This late Basket Maker period
merged into the first Pueblo period
(ca. 700 to 900), which was charac-
terized by a sharply expanded popula-
tion, increased dependence on agri-
culture, and partial to total use of
earthen or earth- and stone-walled
structures built on the surface of the
ground. In some settlements the
people continued to use pit houses as
religious or ceremonial quarters, but
others had more specialized under-
ground ceremonial rooms — pit
houses that had evolved archi-
tecturally in the direction of true
kivas, or Pueblo religious chambers.
The next 200 years was a time of
continued population increase. As ar-
chitectural design became more elab-
orate, multifamily dwellings, some
of great size, were built of stones that
had been partly shaped. Agricultural
practices attuned to the various local
environmental situations were carried
out with increasing efficiency, and
water control projects were regularly
undertaken.
At Mesa Verde in southwest Colo-
rado, a large number of small stone-
and-earth dams, placed across inter-
mittent drainage ways, have been
dated to this time. Only a few feet
high and usually showing an up-
stream tilt, these dams successfully
retarded water flow off the mesa.
They also trapped small deposits of
sediment that acted to retain rainfall.
The moist soil in these areas was thus
excellent for agriculture. The dams,
many of which have endured to this
day with only slight wear and tear,
were no doubt important in the reten-
tion of soil at Mesa Verde and, hence,
in its present fertile appearance.
On the larger mesas and near the
larger archeological sites, remains of
actual reservoirs with tributary and
distributary ditches have been found.
These were apparently not used as
sources of irrigation water but rather
for household supplies. Such devel-
opments in socially oriented technol-
ogy may indicate that increasing pop-
ulations and uncertain natural water
supplies created demands unknown
in earlier times.
The last Pueblo period of cultural
differentiation in the Four Corners
began about a.d. 1100 and lasted
until about 1300. During this time
shaped stones were used to construct
well-built structures. Most of the
houses had from fifteen to twenty
rooms, but some had hundreds of
rooms. Each room may have housed
an individual kinship group. The
larger pueblos, those with many
kivas, suggest an agglomeration of
kin groups, each with its own cere-
monial quarters.
Over the space of a thousand years,
then, subsistence and cultural pat-
terns of the Pueblos and their ances-
tors became increasingly sophisti-
cated. Why, then, did these people
abandon their settlements and
disperse to the south? Based on exca-
vations at Wetherill Mesa in Mesa
Verde National Park, archeologists
believe one probable reason for the
shift was changing climate.
Fortunately for climatologists and
archeologists, the study of growth
patterns in trees can tell a great deal
about climate. In the American
Southwest, tree-ring records are the
clearest and have the greatest time
Archeologists first thought towers
like those at Mesa Verde's
Cliff Palace served a military
function. Now, they are believed
to have had a religious purpose.
David Muench
r»/''
r^ju
4r.
<
w
:^ ■^■-^3
% ■
^
•1
#
&
:^^^
v'^^^^m
,mmmm^^^^
Situated atop Mesa Verde, Far
View House comprises more than
75 rooms and 5 kivas. Dated to
between a.d. IWO and 1200,
this structure was built when
most Pueblos were moving from
arable land to cliff bases.
"'t^^>:^:f':,
" '-■WB'"!-'"
depth, and the timbers found so often
in Indian ruins can be used to date
past events. We arc thus able lo offer
a brief sketch of past climate of the
Mesa Verde.
Although precipitation there now
averages about eighteen or nineteen
inches per year, the evidence reveals
that from the fifth to the seventeenth
century a.d. there were eleven or
twelve severe droughts. Until the
tenth century there was great climatic
variability, with some severe dry pe-
riods. But these were not harsh
enough to relax the people's hold on
the land, and it was probably during
this time that the techniques of dry
farming and water control were de-
veloped.
The last Pueblo period at Mesa
Verde opened with a dry period. The
climate then improved until the late
1200s when another drought oc-
curred. It lasted, with a slight inter-
mission, from 1273 to 1285 (tree-ring
dating is that exact) and must have
been instrumental in giving the coup
de grace to Pueblo Indian culture in
this part of the country .
Previous droughts apparently had
not been severe enough to uproot the
Indians, but their cumulative effects
did force the people to adopt an agri-
cultural pattern peculiar to the area.
More than the dry periods them-
selves, it was these compensating
techniques that finally altered the land
and made habitation impossible.
Agriculture in the dry plateau
country of which Mesa Verde is a part
has always been marginal. It is so
even today for the modern farmers in
the nearby countryside. The pendu-
lum swings between droughts and
floods. Agricultural uncertainty was
the over-all fact of life for the Pueblo
farmer. The fear that winter snowfalls
might be insufficient to keep the
ground moist for spring planting or
that July and August rains necessary
to mature the corn might fail is gener-
Only men were permitted to enter
kivas — Pueblo religious
structures. The Indians believed
their ancestral spirits emerged
through the round holes found
in the floors of most kivas.
ally believed to underlie the develop-
ment <jf Pueblo Indian religit)us ob-
servances, with their strong emphasis
on inducing rain.
The Pueblo farmer had no domesti-
cated animals to help him. He cleared
land with stone tools and fire and
loosened the soil with digging sticks.
He planted maize, beans, and squash
in holes made with planting sticks and
weeded with a stone-shod thrusting
hoe or, more usually, a woixlen
weeding sword.
Farming and the need for firewood
required that the land be cleared, but
this exposed to erosion the fragile
topsoil on the Wetherill Mesa, much
of it of eolian origin. The area of in-
tensive farming was the broad, flat
central part of the mesa, which had
the best soil, more moisture, and a
long frost-free growing season — and
where the best forest now grows. Ter-
racing, small dams, and temporary
wood or brush checks built across the
gullies were the farmers" best answer
to erosion and rapid runoff. We have
no better one today. Seventy-five per-
cent of these checks, or farming ter-
races, have been found on the east-
northeast sides of the mesa where
canyon slopes are less abrupt. Here
the northerly sun of spring melted the
snow slowly, allowing it to soak into
the soil, and the morning sun in sum-
mer made the corn shoot up.
Such measures, however, could
only temporarily halt soil movement,
not prevent it. During heavy rain-
storms and sudden snowmelts, soil
washed over the cliffs. Over the cen-
turies soil also rapidly built up behind
the checks. The top foot of soil be-
hind these dams contains no pollen of
cultivated plants, hence it must have
been deposited after farming ended
there about a.d. 1300. Yet, soil de-
posits several feet thick lying beneath
the upper layer do contain agricul-
tural plant pollen, in addition to pot-
sherds and other archeological evi-
dence of activity. If the dams were
built 300 to 400 years before 1300,
then it is apparent that erosion and
deposition were rapid while the land
was under cultivation.
After the Indians left and the
forests returned, soil wash slowed re-
markably. During the almost 700
years since abandonment, only one
foot of soil has accumulated, whereas
before abandonment, from two to
four feet of soil was deposited in per-
haps half that time, or about 350
years. Extensive environmental dam-
age thus took place in spite of the
people's intelligent attempts lo stop
it. This was presumably also true in
other Pueblo settlements.
Soil loss and drought would logi-
cally result in poor crops, I think we
have evidence of this, but it is a mat-
ter of interpretation, not of firm proof.
Corn plant remains found at Wetherill
Mesa were certainly not excellent ex-
amples of the aridity-adapted strain of
corn that these people planted. At
Mug House, a pueblo with a major
late occupation on the west side of
Wetherill .Mesa, the ears of corn were
small and often misshapen, and
squash remains were from immature
fruits. These observations may reflect
no more than the results of a selection
process by the .Mug House people or
they may indicate the effects of
dryness and poor soil on their crops
in the latter days. The Mesa Verde
people may have taken most of their
food with them when they left the
area, for we have no selected and
stored foods for study.
The corn remains found near Step
House on the eastern rim of Weth-
erill. however, showed that the plants
had been healthy. But then the eastern
and northeastern parts of the mesas
are moister and better for farming.
We cannot be sure that the Step and
Mug House corn remains were of the
same years. They probably were not,
but 1 think they do give us an under-
standing of the problems of the
Pueblo agriculturists — some had
food, others did not. We must re-
member that these people were al-
most certainly organized by kinship,
rather than by territory; therefore, it
is doubtful if any mechanism existed
to share food or gather provisions for
a stricken area. Jealousy, accusations
of witchcraft, even raiding and thiev-
ing could have resulted if the food
situation became dire for a Pueblo.
Such actions could have led to cul-
tural fragmentation and ultimately to
abandonment.
Even if crops were successful, a
population increase during the last
Pueblo period may have produced
food scarcity and contributed to the
eventual migration. The population
of Mesa Verde is difficult to estimate.
Not all sites can be excavated. Ar-
43
cheologists must therefore estimate
population on the basis of room num-
bers in the sites that have been exca-
vated or examined.
On this basis, the sites of the earli-
est Pueblo period, according to the
archeological survey of Wetherill,
had 1,166 rooms. During the early
phase of the next period, the sites had
1,248 rooms, but this number later
declined to 996. The last period had
only 540 rooms in its earlier phase,
but the number rose to 1,512 in the
late and last period of occupation.
These figures are obviously strongly
influenced by the fortunes of archeo-
logical surveys. More sites and rooms
were found from the latest times.
When the Indians departed the area,
they left their structures intact, while
dwellings from earlier periods were
all subject to reuse and rebuilding.
Of the 1,512 rooms, we estimated
that about 1,000 rooms may have
seen concurrent use. Slightly over
one-fourth of these, however, were
for storage. Some 700 rooms were
thus lived in. If we accept a one per-
son-one room ratio, more than 700
persons lived within the ten-square-
mile area of Wetherill Mesa in the
1200s. This is a heavy burden for
marginal farming land to bear and
must have placed the dwellers in a
risky situation.
Throughout the occupation of
Mesa Verde, the Indians shifted their
dwelling sites. During the early
Pueblo period, 91 percent of the sites
were concentrated in the most fertile
areas on the broad mesa tops. Only
9 percent were located on the mesa's
talus slopes and in the overhangs and
caves of the cliffs. During the early
years of the next occupation, how-
ever, the talus slope and cliff dwellers
increased to 18 percent. And later in
this period more than half the sites
were in these areas. The progression
continued during the last occupation,
so that by 1200 only 25 percent of the
dwellings were on the mesa, 19 per-
cent were on the talus slopes, and 66
percent in the cliffs.
The nature of the phenomenon in-
dicates the movement was a continu-
ing answer to a growing problem. It
may be that soil loss and consequent
decrease in fertility prompted the In-
dians to convert most of the mesa tops
to farmland. Alternatively, the talus
slopes and canyon bottoms, now
enriched by the soil that washed off
the mesa, may well have become bet-
ter cropland. In either case the answer
revolves around environmental de-
struction and soil loss.
Large population groupings were
not new to these people. Some earlier
Pueblo sites, although not on Weth-
erill Mesa, suggest that the process of
agglomeration was an old one. But
these people were not squeezed into
alcoves in cliffs as were the people
around Wetherill Mesa. One possible
repercussion of the crowded condi-
tions was a short life expectancy for
females — a possibility strengthened
by the results of ethological studies
showing that crowding decreases fe-
male life expectancy in several mam-
malian species. Skeletal studies at
Mesa Verde show that the average
life-span for women was from 20 to
25 years whereas for men it was from
31 to 35 years.
These early deaths may have been
one of the most obvious manifesta-
tions of the pressures wrought by en-
vironmental conditions. But there
may have been another and more sub-
tle factor influencing the conditions
under which the later Pueblos ex-
isted— their eventual lack of ability to
adapt. Whereas the earliest Pueblos
of A.D. 800 were able to alter their
architecture, their religious and social
lives, and many aspects of their mate-
rial existence, the Indians of the thir-
teenth century appear to have lost this
adaptability. The architecture contin-
ued to change, as did the ceramics;
artistically and technologically so-
phisticated pots of many styles were
common during all of the latter pe-
riods. But farming and hunting tools,
clothing, and even much of the orna-
mentation, were set in a mold early,
and later changes were unusual.
There is evidence that a superior vari-
ety of corn was being grown in Jate
times but it was rare.
Agricultural tools were essentially
of the same design as they had been
in the 600s among the Basket
Makers. For a time, the later Pueblos
experimented with thrusting hoes
shod with stone or mountain sheep
horn as blades, but these were aban-
doned. Clothing was adequate but
rarely decorative and the techniques
of making clothing had not changed
since the early days. The solidly
twilled sandals of the 1200s, while
strong and serviceable, were crude
compared to the twined ones of a
thousand years earlier.
The people living at Mesa Verde
during the twelfth and thirteenth cen-
turies give the impression of being
self-contained, efficient, and rather
drab. At the same time, they were
losing the struggle to stop soil loss;
very possibly insects were also ruin-
ing a fair share of the corn harvest.
The rain dances and the prayers were
consistently ineffectual in the dry
years toward the end of the thirteenth
century. The use of fertile mesa top
areas, at the sacrifice of living in
crowded conditions, probably did not
increase food production for families.
The dryness and constant hunting
pressure had driven the animals into
the mountains where even the best
bowman or the most cunningly
placed snares could not often get
meat. Women, even girls, were
wrapped in their sleeping mats and
feather cloaks and placed in their
graves, one after another.
We can never know how the
Pueblos analyzed the situation. They
certainly must have recognized the
implications of enduring drought,
poor soil, and inadequate food. Early
sites a few hundred miles to the south
of Mesa Verde contain architectural
and ceramic styles typical of the mesa
and suggest a Pueblo inclination
toward this direction from the north.
If we follow the Indians' route cor-
rectly, they moved slowly, building
fortified villages in nearly impregna-
ble areas, making and breaking their
distinctive pottery, mixing with other
peoples, and, finally, as the genera-
tions slipped by, becoming a part of
the great block of Pueblo people that
stretched from Taos in the upper Rio
Grande Valley west to north-central
Arizona where the Hopi Indians
lived. Perhaps the necessity for this
movement carries a message for us
today. □
Two varieties of corn were raised
at Mesa Verde; one had fuller,
larger kernels than the other.
Archeologists do not know why the
Pueblos did not plant the superior
variety with greater frequency.
David Muench
44
X?
rmt^-
f
..'^ St^
"1^ •■■•rr^^
The Image Makers of Nepal
by Alexander Duncan photographs by James Kittle
Casting statues by means of the
lost wax process produces art
works of infinitely fine detail
The art of casting images in metal
has been practiced by Nepalese sculp-
tors since at least the seventh century.
The Nepalese learned the technique
from the Indians and, in turn, passed
on their knowledge to the Tibetans.
From these ancient beginnings, the
Nepalese tradition of metal casting
has continued to the present day, un-
interrupted by the various upheavals
that disturbed the artistic traditions of
India, Tibet, and China.
In Nepal, image casting has long
been the occupation of the Sakyas, a
caste of the Newars of the Kathmandu
Valley, Buddhists who trace their an-
cestry to Lord Buddha himself. Al-
though the Sakyas are distributed in
all three of the major towns of the
valley (Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and
Patan), the families engaged in metal
casting are concentrated in Patan,
"the City of Fine Arts."" In Patan it-
self, they are further concentrated in
two Sakya "bahals," or quasi-mo-
nastic communities, consisting of
houses clustered around a central
temple. In these several-storied
Newar houses, famous for their elab-
orately carved windows and doors,
the ancient tradition of image casting
is kept alive. Here master sculptors
knead beeswax with their fingers and
splinters of buffalo horn and pour
molten metal into simple clay molds
to produce sculpture of beauty and
grace and often of a complexity that
astonishes Western founders using
far more sophisticated techniques.
The images these artists create are
all icons — statues of Buddhist and
Hindu gods and holy men, largely
Buddhist because all of the artists are
Buddhist. The images, varying in
size from several inches in height to
more than life-size, are fashioned ac-
cording to strict rules of iconography,
which determine form, posture, atti-
tude, and dress. These rules limit, but
do not negate, the artist's creativity,
for the challenge of Asian religious
sculpture lies in bringing these an-
cient canons to life in an image of
transcendental beauty. A good sculp-
tor's interpretation of his subject will
always surpass in grace and liveliness
that of a mediocre artist, and the con-
trast will be apparent even to the cas-
ual observer.
The sculptors of Nepal use the lost
wax process (cire perdue), which is
generally considered to yield the fin-
est results although it is considerably
more painstaking than other tech-
niques. Briefly, the lost wax process
consists of the making of a wax model
(which melts readily at a high temper-
ature but keeps its shape when ex-
posed to the moderate warmth of a
summer day), encasing the model in
a fire-resistant mold , drying the mold ,
and then heating it in an oven or over
a fire until the wax melts out of a small
hole left in the mold, hence the name
lost wax. Molten metal is then poured
into the vacant space, taking the form
of the original wax sculpture. When
the metal has cooled and hardened,
the clay mold is broken and the sculp-
ture emerges in metal. With the lost
wax method, there is no possibility of
mass production because the casting
mold must be broken and cannot be
reused; in order to reproduce the
sculpture, an entirely new wax model
must be fashioned. This technique
produces the best results, for if a very
fine clay is used for the interior sur-
face of the mold, all of the intricate
details sculpted in the wax will be
transmitted to the metal without dis-
tortion. Such detail is impossible to
produce with reusable casting molds.
The first step of this process, the
fabrication of the sculpture in wax, is
the most important from the creative
point of view. This is the actual act
of sculpture, and the rest of the
process is devoted to the faithful
transmutation of the original sculp-
ture into another material, metal. In
modern Western sculpture, the sculp-
tor often does not concern himself
with the rest of the process beyond the
actual sculpting. A Western sculptor
will usually model his sculpture in a
material such as clay or plaster; then
give it to a founder, whose job it is
to reproduce the original, first in wax
and then in metal. In Nepal this dis-
tinction between the artist (the sculp-
tor) and the craftsman (the founder)
does not exist; almost all of the Nepa-
lese image sculptors cast their own
work, although they are not involved
in the final finishing and engraving.
The casters use several different
metals; the most common of these are
copper and brass, although bronze,
German silver (a nickel alloy), iron,
and silver are also cast. Each has its
advantages and drawbacks: copper is
soft and easy to work with once cast,
but it has a high melting point and
does not flow easily; brass flows bet-
ter, has a lower melting point, and is
cheaper, but it is not as attractive a
metal as pure copper; bronze (in
Nepal, a pure alloy of copper and tin)
Jewel-encrusted face of a
fierce Buddhist deity.
46
•^■^*5k.
V '
>t ■■ ,
^\\. vv
hWa^^ //v
.^■- r
flows readily, but it is brittle and often
breaks during finishing. The other
metals are used only infrequently on
special orders. The casters do not
usually mix their own alloys but pur-
chase them in the form of scrap from
the metal market in Kathmandu.
The Nepalese sculptor is generally
commissioned to start a new work by
a client, usually a shop owner who
wishes to sell the sculpture in his shop
or a religious Nepalese who wishes to
use the image on his household altar;
sometimes the sculptor receives a
commission from a community that
wants an image for a temple. The two
latter forms of patronage were the
only source of income for the sculp-
tors of ancient times, but the domi-
nant source of income for most of
today's sculptors is the patronage of
businessmen who sell images to
tourists. Although this rise in the de-
mand for sculpture has had a some-
what deleterious efl"ect on the finish-
ing of many of the cheaper images,
it has had a tonic effect on the sculp-
tors themselves, who are now con-
stantly employed and are thus able to
sharpen their skills.
Once the sculptor has received a
commission, and the subject, size,
and price have been agreed upon, he
starts his work with a lump of raw
casting wax — a combination of bees-
wax, resin, and ghee (clarified but-
ter)— which he must shape into the
form of a god or goddess. To do this,
he uses primarily his fingers and a few
rudimentary tools: a few bone and
steel tools for shaping and scraping
and a charcoal brazier to heat and
soften the wax. The medium is pli-
able and will hold fine detail, but it
is by no means easy to work, as I have
discovered myself while attempting a
sculpture. In inexperienced hands,
the wax, which seems to take shape
of its own accord under the practiced
fingers of a master, becomes sticky
and intractable, producing a feeling
of frustration in the beginner.
Lost wax sculpture is cast either
solid or hollow, depending on the size
of the image. The Nepalese sculptors
cast their images hollow, with the ex-
ception of very small, seated figures
and standing figures of up to twelve
inches in height. If the figure is to be
cast solid, the sculptor will usually
make the original model of solid wax.
If it is to be cast hollow, he makes
the wax hollow, the thickness of the
wax being determined by the final
thickness of metal desired in the cast-
ing, usually one-eighth to one-fourth
of an inch.
Once the wax figure is completed,
a mold is taken from it if additional
copies of the same sculpture are de-
sired. This is done by pressing a soft-
ened wax of a slightly different com-
position against the surface of the
sculpture, thereby producing a nega-
tive mold. Several molds are used to
reproduce one sculpture, for ex-
ample, one mold for the face, another
for the torso, several more for arms,
legs, and so on. Pressing warm, pli-
able sheets of wax into these molds,
the sculptor can obtain reproductions
of the originals, and by fitting these
together, he can produce a second
wax the same as the first, making it
unnecessary to repeat the entire
process of sculpting the image from
raw wax. Since many of the statues
are popular items in the curio shops,
this is done with any sculpture the
artist feels will be reordered. It must
be emphasized that reproduction
through the use of wax molds is dif-
ferent from reproduction through the
use of reusable casting molds, for the
wax must still be assembled anew and
a fresh casting mold made.
Before the completed wax sculp-
ture is covered with clay, the caster
adds several wax pipes, culminating
in a small wax funnel, to the bottom
of the image. (Later, when the wax
has been melted out, the space oc-
cupied by the pipes will form con-
duits through which the molten metal
will be poured.)
The next step in the process is the
fabrication of the clay casting mold.
This is the longest step in the entire
Pieces of copper wire and
sheeting are melted in
a coal-fired furnace.
The caster lifts the crucible with tongs so that more coal
can be added to increase the heat. Before receiving
the molten metal, molds are heated in an oven for several hours.
48
procedure, for the molds must dry
evenly in the sun and the sculptor is
at the mercy of the weather, f^'or small
sculptures (he mold may lake only
one week to dry in sunny weather, but
large and complex images may take
as long as three or four months. The
first layer to he applied is a mixture
of equal parts of a line gray clay and
cow dung, which prevents the clay
from cracking while drying and gives
porousness to the moid when it has
been burned out prior to casting. The
wax statue is dipped in a relatively
thin solution of this clay-dung mix-
lure so that a coating of perhaps one-
half inch adheres to the outside and
inside (if hollow) of the wax. Once
this first layer has dried , another layer
is applied in the same way. At this
point, if the casting is hollow, several
nails are driven through the wax, so
that when the mold has been com-
pleted one-half of a nail will be em-
bedded in the clay core inside the
image and the other half in the clay
coating on the outside; when the wax
is melted out, these nails will prevent
the core from slipping inside the mold
and damaging the casting.
The final applications are of a
coarser, yellow clay mixed equally
with rice husks, which serve much
the same purpose as the cow dung in
the first mixture. This clay is applied
as a paste in one-inch layers; usually
two or three applications are neces-
sary, and each layer is allowed to dry
before the next is applied. With the
last of these applications the mold is
complete; in most cases it is from two
to three inches thick.
The mold materials used by the
Nepalese are very simple and are
found in various locations throughout
the Kalhmandu Valley. The two
types of clay are provided by peasants
who have an arrangement with the
casters to bring them the clay from
their fields. The rice husks are also
purchased from peasants or from rice
mills, while the cow dung is pro-
vided by the numerous cows wan-
dering the streets.
Despite the simplicity of these ma-
terials, the molds are very strong, far
stronger than the plaster molds often
used in the West. The fine clay, if
properly prepared, is also extremely
faithful in recording the details of the
wax. It is not unusual to be able to
see the sculptor's fingerprints on the
surface of the final casting.
After the mold is finished, the wax
is melted out over a slow fire through
the opening left for this purpose. The
melted wax is allowed to drip into a
pan of water, from which it is col-
lected to be used again. When all the
wax has been melted out, the mold is
ready for casting, which usually takes
place the next day. Although this step
in the process is simple and takes little
time or skill, it is perhaps the most
symbolic moment of the entire tech-
nique, for it is at this point that the
wax is 'lost." All the days of pains-
taking sculpture are gone, having
leaked out of the mold's aperture as
drops of melted wax. and it is only
the empty shell of cla\ that holds the
promise of the rebirth of the image in
metal. It is this sense of emptiness
giving birth to form that gives metal
casting its peculiar fascination.
The day of the casting is the climax
of an efiort that has taken anywhere
from a few weeks to several months.
In Nepal it is an exciting day with
several people on the scene, each
with a job to fulfill. Perhaps it would
be best to describe in detail the event
as it takes place in a typical caster's
workshop.
The image to be cast on this day
is a sixteen-inch sculpture of Vajra
Sattva, a two-armed Buddhist bodhi-
satlva seated in a graceful posture on
a lotus throne, sculpted by one of the
finest of the Sak\a casters of Patan.
The day begins when the master
sculptor comes into his workshop, a
small shed on the bottom floor of his
house, to prepare for the casting. The
necessary materials are brought in:
wood for the oven where the mold
will be heated, enough coal to melt
the copper in which the image will be
When the molds are sufficiently
hot and dry, the caster begins to
pour the molten metal.
The moment of pouring is a
crucial one; the copper must
flow smoothly into the molds.
The molds are left to cool.
There is no way to anticipate
the final result of the casting.
cast, the crucible, various tongs, and
the metal itself in the form of old cop-
per wire and sheeting, which has been
purchased in the market in Kath-
mandu. The copper is weighed out on
a balance scale; using the weight of
the original wax image multiplied by
a factor of eight, it is estimated that
the Vajra Sattva will require about
thirteen pounds of metal, and this is
kept aside.
The wood in the mold oven is
lighted and a low fire is built up; then
the mold of the Vajra Sattva, emptied
the previous night, is gently placed
inside and the oven opening is walled
up with tile and bricks. The mold will
stay in the oven for about two and a
half hours to insure that the last ves-
tiges of wax are burned out and that
the mold will be totally dry and hot
when the metal is poured. If the mold
is too cool at the time of casting it may
crack or cause the metal to cool too
fast, resulting in a damaged casting.
After the oven fire has been satis-
factorily lighted, the caster, now as-
sisted by his eldest son, turns his at-
tention to the melting furnace. The
furnace is a simple affair, a three-
foot-high, welllike cylinder of bricks
plastered with mud, with a grate just
above the floor and an opening at the
bottom through which air is forced by
means of an Indian-made mechanical
bellows. This bellows, turned by
PPg^'
hand, is the only mechanical device
used during the entire procedure;
with this sole exception, the casting
workshop resembles in every detail
that of the caster's grandfather.
A thin layer of lit charcoal is placed
at the bottom of the furnace; above
this is placed the crucible, surrounded
by coal. About half of the entire
charge of copper is placed in the cru-
cible, and the furnace opening cov-
ered with a few clay tiles. The son
then starts the wearying job of crank-
ing the bellows, one of the chores of
his apprenticeship. After a few min-
utes, the coal catches and a hot fire
sends tongues of flame up around the
tiles covering the crucible.
For the next hour or so the master
relaxes while his son keeps the fire
high in the furnace. His wife brings
him a hookah, which he puffs on
while watching the flames from the
two fires. Occasionally he adds a few
sticks to the oven, making sure that
the fire remains even. After perhaps
forty-five minutes, the flames issuing
from the furnace begin to take on a
greenish tinge as the copper melts and
oxidizes. When the metal is com-
pletely melted, the caster removes the
tiles and stirs the metal with an iron
rod. Lifting the crucible with a pair
of tongs, he holds it up while his son
jabs at the coals and adds fresh coal
to the fire. Before replacing the tiles.
the remaining copper in the charge is
added to the crucible.
Again the master sits back for a
brief rest. At this point his wife, who
also plays a part in the casting, brings
in a large earthen bowl of water, in
which the mold will be cooled after
the metal has been poured. While his
son is still hard at work keeping the
furnace fire hot, the master prepares
the area where the mold will be
placed, piling a few bricks to support
the clay of the mold against the pres-
sure of thirteen pounds of molten cop-
per. His wife hands him a long strip
of thick cotton material, which he
winds around his waist and right arm
to protect himself from the heat of the
crucible and from any molten metal
that may spill. Other than this, he
takes no precautions against acci-
dents and casts in his bare feet.
By watching the flames shooting
from the furnace, which have now be-
come bright green, the caster ascer-
tains that the metal is ready to be
poured. He pulls the tiles from the top
of the furnace and inspects the metal,
stirring it with the iron rod. The cop-
per is completely melted and stirs eas-
ily. The time has come for the cast-
ing. Turning to the mold oven, the
caster carefully removes the bricks
and tiles from the front. Inside the
oven the mold glows a light cherry
red. Very gently, the caster picks up
Water is used to help cool the mold so that the sculpture
may be freed from its casing. Gently tapping the mold
with a short iron rod, the caster cracks the wet clay.
This is the moment when the
success or failure of the casting
will be evident.
50
Ihc mold wi(h a pair of long longs and
lianslcrs il to Ihc pile ol bricks sc-
Icclcd as Ihc spot lor pouring. Using
Ihc cloth on his hands lor protection,
he carclully shifts the mold to a good
position, where it is uprighl and well
supported.
The caster now looks down the
mold aperture, called the pour, to
check the heat of the mold. Seeing
that the inside of the mold is a bright
cherry red, he decides to delay for a
few moments the removal of the cru-
cible from the furnace, for if the mold
is too hoi, the metal may "boil""
when it is poured, causing a pitted
casting. This is the momenl when be-
ginning casters often make mistakes,
for the tenseness of the situation en-
courages haste, which is often neither
necessary nor desirable. A good cast-
ing depends on speed at the right mo-
ment and an ability to ascertain the
right moment through an accurate
judgment of the temperature of both
mold and metal. Whereas a beginner
may get flustered, an experienced
caster always acts deliberately.
When the mold has cooled slightly,
the caster, using another set of tongs,
grasps the crucible and levers it out
of the furnace. Placing it on the
ground next to the mold, he tilts it to
one side while his son scrapes float-
ing dross and bits of coal from the
gleaming surface of the molten metal.
Then the master hoists the heavy cru-
cible and very slowly lilts it over the
pour, so that the molten copper flows
evenly and smoothly into the mold.
While the metal is Mowing, the son
pilches small bits of wax into the
pour, which ignite as they touch the
hot metal. The flames thus produced
help to keep the metal from cooling
too fast and clogging the mold.
Within a few seconds the mold is full
and the metal backs up into the pour
opening. The casting is now finished
The remainder of the copper is poured
intoasmall piece of clay, the crucible
is laid ia a corner, and everyone sits
down to wait while the mold cools.
At this point there is no way to tell
how the casting w ill come out. There
were no cracks in the mold and the
metal did not bubble as il was being
poured — these are good signs, but nol
conclusive. So the waiting has some
suspense, for although the master has
completed many castings, each repre-
sents a great investment of lime and
energy in sculpting and making the
mold, and a ruined casting means
work that must be done over again.
After standing a few minutes, the
mold is gently laid in the large earthen
bowl of water brought by the master's
wife. Immediately, the water begins
to boil and bubble and clouds of
steam till the workshop. The master's
wife now pours water from a bronze
pitcher over the mold, and as the
mold cools and becomes possible to
touch, she turns it in the bowl so thai
all parts are cooled. After a few min-
utes of immersion, the btjiling sub-
sides and Ihc caster lightly laps the
clay covering the head of the image
with a short iron rod. The wet clay
cracks and falls away, revealing the
gentle smile and downcast eyes of the
god. The face is perfectly cast. More
eagerly, the sculptor knocks olf the
cla\ from the rest of the image, and
bit b> bit. the torso, arms. legs, and
lotus base emerge in the iridescent
rainbow hues of freshly cast copper.
It is at this moment that the magic of
metal casting is strongest. The god's
hgure. first seen a month before in the
dull gray of the wax. then covered
over with successive layers of clay,
finally reappears— like a butterfly
emerging from a chrysalis — in its
new and beautiful garb. The casting
is perfect, unusually so. for large cop-
per castings almost always have a few
defects, and this Vajra Sattva has
none. The suspense of waiting is re-
placed by happy relaxation, and
while the caster enjoys a drink and a
hookah of fresh tobacco, the image is
set against a wall to be admired.
When the casting is finished, the
job of the sculptor-caster is over, and
the statue is passed on to the engrav-
ers, also members of the Sakya caste.
Completely freed of its clay
covering, the perfect image re-
flects the skill of the caster.
The task of finishing and
smoothing the statue is handed
over to other artisans.
Engravers add intricate
details that were not included
in the original wax sculpture.
51
who smooth the surface of the casting
and engrave any details that are too
fine to be included on the original
wax. The quality of engraving in
Nepal varies greatly. Since the pro-
duction of statues has multiplied
greatly due to the influx of tourists,
many engravers work too quickly,
and their haste is reflected in the fin-
ished statue. But there still exist en-
gravers of exceptional talent, and
when they apply their skills to a well-
sculpted and well-cast piece, the final
product can be breathtaking.
If the image was cast in copper, the
final step in the finishing process is
often gilding. This is done by the
mercury process, an art now lost to
the Western world. The image is first
dipped in a weak acid bath to clean
its surface. Then an amalgam of mer-
cury and gold is applied over the sur-
face that is to be gilded. When the
image has been evenly coated with
the amalgam, it is placed over a
smokeless fire and the mercury boils
off, leaving a thin layer of pure gold
adhering to the copper. Because the
mercury fumes created during this
process are extremely dangerous, the
craftsmen are careful to stay upwind
from the fire, which is never placed
in an enclosed space. This danger is
one reason that mercury gilding is no
longer practiced in the West, and
despite the precautions, many of the
men who work with this process in
Nepal fall sick from mercury poison-
ing. The result obtained by mercury
gilding, however, is far more pleas-
ing than the modern technique of
electroplating; the mercury process
leaves a rich, warm coating of gold
that electroplating cannot achieve.
A popular Buddhist deity, the
Vajra Sattva is depicted
holding two associated symbols—
the bell (shown in detail,
bottom left) and the sacred
thunderbolt. The detail at
top left features a hand
grasping a lotus stem,
another major Buddhist symbol.
The Nepalese sculptors show very
broad taste in the styles they choose
for their pieces, and sculpture from
several traditions — Indian and Tibet-
an, as well as Nepalese — issues from
their workshops. The sculptors of
Asia have always been influenced by
the past, employing earlier sculpture
as models for their own, and the same
is true for the sculptors of modern
Nepal. They have a vast variety of
previous work from which to choose,
and with so many books on Asian art
available, they can pick as a model
an image that may reside in a distant
museum. In general, they seem to
prefer the imagery of the more recent
past; more than half the work pro-
duced by the community of sculptors
resembles the later, more heavily or-
namented pieces produced in Nepal
and Tibet during the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. But other, older
styles also serve as inspiration, and
one caster even produces bronzes in
the Greco-Buddhist style of Gand-
hara stone sculpture.
What is the future of these Nepa-
lese image casters and the tradition
they uphold? There are some who fear
that the pressures of modernization at
work in Nepal will eventually destroy
this art, but this seems unlikely. The
most important factor in the survival
of this Nepalese art is the strong cul-
tural and religious identity of the
Sakya Newars who practice it. Al-
though they take what is useful from
what they see in Western technology
and values, they show no inclination
to abandon the traditions that have
made them such a highly civilized
people. This solidarity applies not
only to the older generation but to the
younger as well , and many of the sons
of master sculptors are following their
fathers' vocations. If these coming
generations of Nepalese sculptors
show the talent and dedication dis-
played by their forefathers, the future
of image casting in Nepal is secure. D
52
M
:-«^^^
Black Bears of the Smokies
by Michael R. Pelton and Gordon M. Burghardt
Tourists, hunters, and
poachers make the Great
Smokx Mountains National
Park a precarious
sanctuary for the
adaptable black bear
The black bear. Ursus americanus.
and the remaining wilderness of the
eastern United States ha\e become so
symbolically intertwined in the mind
of the public, that few people realize
that the black bear has one of the
widest distributions of any large
mammal in North America. The ani-
mal can still be found in the swamps
of the South, the White Mountains of
New England, the Adirondack and
Catskill mountains of New York, the
Blue Ridge of the Virginias, and the
Great Smokies of Tennessee, the
Carolinas. and Georgia. The black
bear still stalks the northern hard-
wood forests of the upper Midwest,
the boreal forest in Canada and
Alaska, and the mountainous areas
west of the Mississippi River.
These areas differ dramatically in
climate, vegetation, and habitat, but
U. americanus has evolved appro-
priate adaptations to enable it to live
under such diverse, even extreme
conditions. In the East, however, the
popular association with remnant wil-
derness is valid because human intru-
sions into former habitats have forced
the species to recede into smaller and
smaller enclaves.
The adaptations that enable the
black bear to succeed in different en-
Black bears are surprisingly fast.
The shy animals also possess
keen smell and hearing,
senses that are useful in
avoiding humans.
55
Great Smoky
Mountains National
Park
vironments can be understood, at
least in part, by studying the animal
in such representative aboriginal hab-
itats as national parks and other large
protected areas — with the added ben-
efit of gaining information about the
nature of human-bear interrelation-
ships. Such information is extremely
important if we are to provide suffi-
cient protection to the remnant black
bear populations in the East.
With this in mind, we conducted an
ecological and behavioral study of the
black bear in Great Smoky Mountains
National Park — a rugged 800-square-
mile area, in which narrow valleys
cut deeply into an uninterrupted
mountain chain with elevations of
5,000 to 6,500 feet. Average annual
precipitation ranges from fifty to sixty
inches in the lower valleys, eighty to
one hundred inches at higher eleva-
tions. As a result of topography and
precipitation, dense forests dominate
the area, and the presence of food-
producing trees, bushes, and other
plants makes most of the parkland ex-
cellent black bear habitat.
Until settlers arrived in the Smoky
Mountain country in the 1790s, hunt-
ing by Indians was the only signifi-
cant influence on the black bear. By
the mid- 1800s, however, all the
major valley bottoms had been set-
tled, and the combined pressure of
both Indians and settlers began to take
its toll on the black bear population.
The increased growth in human popu-
lation and heavy logging hastened the
bear's decline. Major sections of
most mountain ridges were cleared of
trees up to 4,000 feet. The effects of
habitat loss and increased hunting
with dogs forced the bears to live at
higher elevations in areas less acces-
sible to humans . By the 1 920s the ani-
mal was essentially nonexistent at
lower elevations in what was to be-
come, in 1934, the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park.
Although few bears remained by
the 1930s, the records of several natu-
ralists indicate that the animals re-
sponded immediately to the relative
protection afforded by the creation of
the park. One complication was that
by the mid-1940s, the chestnut
blight, which hit in the mid-1920s,
had killed off most of the chestnut
trees in the area. Thus, while the
black bear population was being ef-
fectively protected from overhunting,
its major food source (chestnuts) was
disappearing from the mountain
slopes. Now, after thirty years of pro-
tection, the vegetation has substan-
tially recovered from the prepark log-
ging operations, and the chestnut has
been replaced by other tree species,
primarily oak and hickory, which
provide edible nuts for the black
bears.
The Smokies are an excellent ex-
ample of an area in which many of
the various pressures of civilization
impinge upon a supposedly protected
bear population. More than eight mil-
lion tourists pour into the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park
each year; a figure equal to the com-
bined annual visitations to the Yose-
mite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and
Rocky Mountain National Parks. The
park's major attraction is vividly and
symbolically displayed on the signs
of many motels and businesses in the
area and in the souvenirs sold in the
numerous shops, including dishes,
ashtrays, postcards, placemats,
towels, ceramics, and wood carv-
ings. We allude, of course, to the
"Smoky Mountain Black Bear."
There are few other places in the east-
ern United States where a vacationer
can expect to see this large, free-
roaming carnivore.
56
-ij^ sr^^-x
. T^r'^^-
"^- • --
>^^
^t^:
•**«■ 'idr
wf- ^
--^p^;.: -
V.«*
Many visitors believe that the
black bears they see along the road-
sides, at trail shelters, in picnic areas,
and in campgrounds are typical of the
park population as a whole, but these
animals represent less than 5 percent
of the total population. Most bears
have little or no contact with park vis-
itors: the shy animals, with their keen
uses of hearing, smell, and sight.
cape detection by taking refuge in
ihc abundant and accessible forests
and dense understory vegetation.
We found that interesting dif-
ferences in sex and age structure
occur not only between the bold, pan-
handling bears and the shy back-
country bears in the park but also be-
t^^cen these park animals and hunted
populations outside of the park .Males
and younger animals in the park, for
example, move and disperse farther
than adult females, bringing them
into greater contact with park visi-
tors. Thus, the wider-ranging males
and younger animals are more vul-
nerable to hunting outside the park.
An over-all age structure of nearly
70 percent adults (4.5 years or older)
within the park, compared to 40 to 50
percent for the population outside of
the park boundaries, indicates the in-
lluences of protection afforded by the
park. The a\erage age of adult park
females is greater than that of adult
males, another reflection of how the
more restricted movements of the fe-
males decrease their vulnerability to
human exploitation outside the park.
Our data on movements and repro-
duction of park bears indicate that at
high densities there is considerable
home range overlap of mature fe-
males and that a high proportion of
females are barren. Some compen-
satory mechanism must have evolved
to restrict productivity at dense popu-
lation levels. At the present time we
assume this to be a behavioral rela-
tionship based upon social intoler-
ance, but we do not know to what
Cubs are agile climbers, often
scooting up trees when alarmed.
Mature bears also climb and may
overwinter in tree trunk dens as
high as 60 feet above ground.
57
extent the lowered productivity may
also be food related.
Population density is especially
difficult to ascertain for the members
of the order Carnivora, typically shy,
secretive, and far-ranging mammals.
Using several techniques, we have
found that our study area (the south-
west quarter of the park) supports a
population of approximately one bear
per square mile. Smaller land units
deeper within the park, however, ap-
proach densities of two bears per
square mile, a figure twice as high as
previously reported. Factors contri-
butingtohigher densities andcon-
comitant smaller home range sizes
appear to be inaccessibility, which af-
fords relative protection from poach-
ing and free-ranging dogs; prime den-
ning trees located in unlogged areas;
maturing oak-hickory stands as
sources of fall food; and a diversity
and abundance of berry crops in the
summer.
Summer is a period of food abun-
dance for the black bear; increased
feeding activities reach a peak from
August to mid-September. Variations
in temperature, shade, and moisture
created by the diverse topography re-
sult in the ripening of various species
of berries throughout the summer.
The widespread availability of berry
crops, which enables more bears to
live in a given area, contributes to the
small summer home ranges. Analysis
of the contents of bear droppings re-
veals that blackberries, huckle-
berries, blueberries, wild cherries,
and serviceberries make up a signifi-
cant proportion of the black bear's
summer diet. (Bears are remarkably
adept at using their lips to feed on the
small berries.) The lack of depend-
ence on human (artificial) food is re-
flected in its low occurrence in their
diet during peak visitor use of the
park in July and August. This is true
even for those bears that frequent
campgrounds, trail shelters, and
roadsides.
Mating occurs in summer. The fer-
tilized egg divides only a few times
and becomes a blastocyst, which
floats freely in the female's uterus but
does not attach itself to the uterine
wall and begin further development
until December. Delayed implanta-
tion seems to be an adaptation for pre-
venting the developing pre- and post-
natal young from making demands on
Bears adeptly remove fruit
with their lips from thorny
branches. Raspberries are
important in their diet,
helping them recover from winter
dormancy and providing sustenance
until acorns and hickory nuts
mature in the fall.
the mother's metabolic reserves until
after the dramatic weight gains asso-
ciated with the nut and berry crops of
late summer and autumn. If ample
food is not available, cubs may not
be produced at all .
Telemetry data reveal that travel
movements are restricted during the
summer period of food abundance —
except for males in search of females
in heat and for occasional young ani-
mals making exploratory probes into
new habitat. Crepuscular activities
are the rule and the use of beds during
the day is common. These summer
day-beds are typically small depres-
sions created when large trees are
uprooted. High daytime temperatures
and cooler nights probably contribute
to this activity pattern, the bears tak-
ing advantage of cooler periods for
foraging and perhaps breeding.
Mid-August brings the first ripen-
ing of acorns and hickory nuts (mast).
Even while late summer berries are
hanging from trees and shrubs, bears
begin moving into oak-hickory
stands. The death of the American
chestnut has left acorns and hickory
nuts as the bears' main alternative for
a naturally occurring, nutritious
source of fall food. But unlike chest-
nuts, oaks and hickories are unrelia-
Candy, cookies, and other
junk food from tourists are
only marginal in bear diets,
even among the 5 percent
of the park 's bears that
panhandle. If the animals
relied heavily on handouts,
they would be malnourished.
ble sources of food because cold
weather in late spring can reduce the
fall prcxJuction of nuts. Year-to-year
availability of mast is therefore a
major key U) annual population liuc-
tuations. But many other species of
animals also feed on mast; the black
bear must compete with turkey,
white-tailed deer, rulfed grouse, gray
squirrels, raccoons, and the European
wild hog — the last, an exotic intro-
duction that is capable of consuming
large quantities of mast.
The black bear, however, puts its
tree-climbing ability to efTicient use
and ascends even the tallest oaks to
forage for acorns. Feeding may lake
place up in the tree or on limbs as
large as three to four inches in diame-
ter, which the black bear severs by
clawing, twisting, and biting. Oak
stands often give the appearance of
having been devastated by a wind-
storm after black bears have fed in
them, but such pruning has little det-
rimental effect on the trees. The black
bear's ability to feed on acorns before
they fall gives it a competitive advan-
tage over other animals such as the
wild hog.
During {>eriods (jf fcxxl scarcity in
the fall, black bears, particularly
males, may forage over long dis-
tances. The intensity and extent of
such fall movements (the fall shuffle)
is directly related to the scarcity of
mast. A year of ptwr mast prcxluction
results in more animals moving far-
ther from their established summer
ranges; thus the probability of being
killed increases as the animals move
into lower elevations, into [peripheral
areas of the park, and into unfamiliar
private lands outside the park un-
occupied by a resident bear popula-
tion. The last is truly the land of no
return for many black bears because
of the toll taken by hunters.
Such periodic flushing of bears
from the sanctuary of the park may
have some beneficial effects if the
poor mast years are not too severe or
repeated too frequently. Males tend
to make up a high percentage of those
individuals moving outside the park.
Since the black bear is polygynous,
removal of excess males, particularly
older ones, may do little harm to the
population, and may even help it by
removing the more socially intolerant
59
older animals. Also, it is the male
panhandler that tends to be more ag-
gressive and causes more problems in
terms of property damage and injury.
In 1969 and 1973, years following
poor mast production, the number of
bear incidents in the park decreased
by 15 -fold and 5 -fold, respectively,
from the previous years.
After the fall shuffle many of the
foraging bears exhibit strong homing
tendencies and return to their summer
home ranges. The onset of denning
begins in November and December as
their movements diminish. Lack of
droppings located during November
indicates that feeding ceases.
The timing of denning is ap-
parently associated with mast avail-
ability; for sufficient fat deposition to
take place, bears must stay out longer
during years of mast scarcity. Al-
though we have detected occasional
activity throughout the winter, most
bears remain in their dens until March
unless they are disturbed. They do not
defecate, urinate, drink, or feed dur-
ing this period, and the intestinal tract
becomes blocked with a fecal plug
until the bears emerge in the spring.
This is a remarkable physiological
feat, equivalent to adaptations of so-
called true hibernators such as ground
squirrels. In contrast to the slight de-
crease in the metabolism of bears, the
metabolism of true hibernators de-
creases dramatically, but these ani-
mals may awake and defecate, uri-
nate, or feed.
Most den sites in the park are not
the traditionally recorded locations,
such as the bases of hollow trees,
under rock ledges, in rhododendron
patches, or under overturned trees or
stumps. In our study area most dens
are cavities — ^formed by decay after
the breakage of a large limb by light-
ning or high winds — 30 to 60 feet
above the ground in large oak, hem-
lock, or maple trees. This is not sur-
prising in light of the bear's good
climbing ability; also, its arboreal
feeding activities for acorns and
honey may contribute to the bear's
ability to locate such sites.
These dens oifer safer quarters for
bears than ground-level dens because
of the distance from humans and their
activities. Often viewed by foresters
as cull or overmature, the den trees
6o
are essentially relicts left from the
prepark logging era. Even then they
were classified as poor timber or were
too inaccessible for loggers. In many
areas of the East where the black bear
has been forced into shrinking islands
of habitat, the availability of such den
trees could play an important role in
population survival.
The dormant female bear gives
birth during the last week in January
through the first week of February.
The number of cubs varies from the
usual two to the rare four or five . Born
naked with unopened eyes, they are
about the size of a Norway rat and
weigh about half a pound. Since an
adult bear can reach 200, 400, and in
the case of some males, more than
600 pounds, the ratio of birthweight
to mature weight is larger than in
most mammals. This high weight
ratio is advantageous to a nursing fe-
male since she and the cubs must sub-
sist off her fat stores until spring.
On emerging from their dens in
March and April, black bears find
themselves faced with very limited
food sources. During this period, the
bears must subsist on remaining
stores of fat and early emerging her-
baceous vegetation. Various grasses
along trails are grazed; the extremely
loose consistency of droppings com-
posed entirely of grasses in early
spring suggests that the possible laxa-
tive properties of this food may aid
in the removal of the fecal plug. Our
food preference studies indicate that
grass is an unfavored food throughout
Recklessly irailinn an adult
bear in the hope oj taking
photographs, park visitors
risk injury should the
animal become aroused.
If bears interact
aggressively, they are trapped
and removed to remote
areas of the park.
the year and may be eaten in spring
only because little else is available.
The parasitic squaw root plant
(Conopholis americana}. which is
very succulent in its early stages of
growth, is a commonly eaten and
highly favored food during the
spring. Limited feeding activity con-
tinues until berries begin to ripen in
early June; the bears lose weight until
this time. The condition of the species
in late spring and early summer is
thus related to the success of the pre-
vious year's mast crop. The abundant
and diverse berry crops of summer
allow the population to recover from
the lack of feeding in winter and
scarce foods of spring.
Summer brings an annual upsurge
of visitors to Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. Whether it is the de-
sire to see or interact with this animal
in its native habitat or simply to visit
and linger awhile in an area where the
species occurs, the attraction is there.
Few visitors stop to think of the artifi-
cial situation their sheer numbers
create. No matter how bearproof the
garbage cans or how efficient the sani-
tation procedures, large numbers of
people mean coolers, picnic baskets,
and backpacks loaded with items that
are attractive to bears. Handouts or
picnic scraps are enough rein-
forcement to set into motion a series
of human-bear interactions that be-
come more intense as the summer
progresses.
The temptation on the part of the
visitor to keep the "cute" animal
within viewing range is great, and
food is used to entice the bears to re-
main for picture taking or viewing.
The National Park Service is then
faced with the problem of maintain-
ing the fine line between a high rate
of return in the form of visitor satis-
6i
faction, on Ihc one hand, and visitor
injury or property damage on the
other. Fortunately, unlii«;e the griz/.ly,
the black bear is far less aggressive
and conflicts with humans are typi-
cally only food related and not as
serious in terms of injuries.
One theory to explain the dif-
ferences in aggressive behavior be-
tween these two closely related bear
species proposes that gri/./lies
evolved in a relatively open habitat so
that the female had to "stand and de-
fend" her cubs, perhaps from adult
males or other predators. Black
bears, in contrast, had the ready
access of thick understory vegetation
and large trees as an escape mecha-
nism. In this context it is interesting
to note that young and adult black
bears climb trees whereas only young
grizzly cubs exhibit this ability.
For some visitors the end result of
human-bear interactions is unpleas-
ant; for the more aggressive bears, it
means their removal to remote areas
of the park. The transplanting of
bears offers only a partial solution to
the problem, however, since they ex-
hibit strong homing tendencies; about
50 percent of transplanted bears have
returned from the farthest reaches of
the park to their original home
ranges.
How far should the National Park
Service go in attempting to decrease
the frequency of interactions leading
to injury or property damage? What
are the proper steps to take in balanc-
ing visitor satisfaction against the sur-
vival requirements of the bears? In
searching for solutions, suggestions
have been made for the use of aver-
sive stimuli to repel bears, for the cre-
ation of feeding areas, the removal of
all artificial sources of food, better
dispersal and control of visitors, strict
enforcement of regulations regarding
Black bears are the number one
tourist attraction of Great
Smoky Mountains National Park.
Their popularity becomes a
paradox, however, when attempts
by park managers to prevent
occasional incidents with humans
are made at the bears' expense.
the feeding of bears, and more inno-
vative educational programs for visi-
tors. We feel that many of these ideas
otTcr worthwhile areas for future re-
search efforts; visitor knowledge and
attitudes arc particularly important
areas to explore. For example, a sur-
vey of persons who were injured or
sustained property damage by black
bears indicated that the respondents
were almost unanimous in blaming
themselves and not the bear for the
unpleasantries. Many rejected sug-
gestions that bears be removed from
the park as a solution to human-bear
interactions. This is important be-
cause many managers of areas con-
taining potentially dangerous wild
animals (for example, bears, rattle-
snakes, and so on) are almost patho-
logical in their fear of such incidents
and often seem willing to engage in
policies that, in etTect. sign the death
warrant for the animal population in
an effort to reduce a low risk to zero.
For the bears, the more serious
human-bear interactions in the park
and around its periphery occur with
poachers. Many more individual
bears are involved, and the potential
for detrimental effects on the bear
population is very significant. Hunt-
ing traditions established before the
creation of the park persist, and
poaching is still quite prevalent. The
exact effects on the bear population
are unknown, although significant
numbers of bears are lost in years of
poor mast production.
Other reasons for continued illegal
hunting include spite of the local
poachers against the National Park
Service as a federal agency control-
ling the land; procuring meat, hides,
or cubs; contract hunts with clients
willing to pay the price; peer status
among local hunters; and simple
boredom.
In the eastern states the unknown
losses due to illegal hunting make it
especially difficult for state game and
fish agencies to establish biologically
sound hunting regulations. This is
important since bears have evolved a
reproductive strategy involving small
litter size, delayed sexual maturity,
and a long life-span in an ecologically
stable habitat. Before man came on
the scene, bears had virtually no natu-
ral enemies and thus developed no
mechanisms to adjust quickly to con-
ditions causing heavy mortality. This
contrasts with the European wild hog
in the park, which is sexually mature
in less than a year and may have two
litters of 4 to 6 young a year. The
margin of error for bears is very
small; poaching, plus other unknown
mortality, can easily extirpate bears
in local areas.
Declining harvests of bears have
iKCurrcd in many states of the eastern
United States. The disappearance of
large, protected, relatively uninhab-
ited tracts of land in the East is a pri-
mary reason for the decline of the
black bear from its precolonial popu-
lation levels. As the burgeoning
human population spreads into more
esthetically appealing areas — which
arc often juxtaposed near state and
national parks, forests, and refuges —
it forces existing populations of bears
into smaller and smaller land units.
The increased density of people leads
inevitably to an increase in the inci-
dence of interactions; to human usur-
pation of the bears" feeding and den-
ning areas and to an increased number
of bears killed by farmers because of
depredations (raiding farms, killing
stock, or stealing honey) and by
poachers.
Relatively large tracts of land still
exist in the eastern United States from
which black bears have been extir-
pated; many of these areas could
probably sustain a population if sys-
tematic reintroductions were at-
tempted. More intensive efforts are
needed by ethologists and wildlife
ecologists to study the behavioral and
ecological ramifications of animal
populations being confined to such en-
claves, especially for a species that is
particularly sensitive to the intrusions
of man.
In a world in which the ranges of
many species of wildlife are shrink-
ing into such decreasing islands of
habitat, we need to look more closely
at the ways in which species adapt or
succumb. Some species can and will
adapt if we apply in advance the ap-
propriate ethological and ecological
principles that are keys to their sur-
vival. But humans will be the final
arbiter of most of our wildlife spe-
cies; we hope the islands of habitat
will not dwindle into only zoological
park enclosures and that the black
bear will .not be just a symbol of the
wilderness of the eastern United
States, but forever a reality. D
63
I
'-%»»''
^
Human Locomotion
by Adrienne Zihiman and Douglas Cramer
Evolutionary modifications in
our musculature and skeletal
system help distinguish us from
our apelike ancestors
The stride of the Olympic runner,
the pinpoint accuracy of the baseball
pitcher, the mother at the supermarket
carrying her baby on one arm and a
bag of groceries on the other, all illus-
trate the unique locomotor adaptation
that makes us peculiarly "human."
Increased brain size was originally
regarded as the earliest human char-
acteristic. But two million years ago,
early hominids — using stone tools and
possessing brains not much larger than
those of the apes — already had modi-
fications of the pelvis, legs, and feet
that prove them bipedal . Walking on
two legs — the first step away from the
apes — freed the arms and hands for
carrying, for tool use, and for skillful
movements. The consequent elabora-
tion of hand-eye coordination and
Human skeletal
structure in the pelvic area
makes possible the rotational
movements crucial in such
sports as football.
more complex thinking ultimately re-
sulted in our brain development.
Walking, running, throwing, car-
rying— these activities seem very nat-
ural to us, but they require an ex-
tremely complex set of interactions
between the nervous, muscular, and
skeletal systems. Two limbs must ac-
complish in humans the motor func-
tions performed by four in our
quadrupedal ancestor, a creature that
was probably much like a chimpan-
zee. A problem that had to be coped
with in the transition from quadrupe-
dalism to bipedalism was that of bal-
ance, especially at the fleeting mo-
ment when one foot must support the
entire body. Because of this precari-
ous balance, it is easier for humans
to walk fast than to walk slowly.
The human system of locomotion
combines forward and rotational
movements about the trunk and hip,
knee and ankle joints. To take a step
in walking, the heel is put down first,
the hip and knee begin to straighten
out, and the full weight is shifted to
that foot, with the pelvis and trunk
maintaining a stable upright position.
The other leg then swings forward, the
hip joint rotating about the weight-
bearing leg. At this instant one foot
supports the entire body. The result
is a smooth forward motion — easy
enough for healthy individuals, but
difficult for those with an injury or a
disease such as arthritis.
Balance and motor coordination are
processes that develop during the ear-
liest years of life. Young children first
learning to walk appear awkward.
Their feet are spread wide apart to
compensate for their short legs and
underdeveloped lumbar curve; their
arms are outstretched to assist in bal-
ance. They cannot maintain equilib-
rium or make smooth forward motions
involving rotation of the body around
the stable limb. Once these skills are
mastered . it is possible to keep the feet
closer together and to take longer
strides. The arms become less impor-
tant for maintaining balance and tend
to swing to counter rotation at the hips .
The breakdown of this pattern can
be a sign of aging. In old age, coor-
dination deteriorates, the bones be-
come brittle, and the hip muscles
weaken; hence the legs rotate exter-
nally at the hip and the toes point
outward. Because of the weakening
of the hip muscles , the ability to rotate
the trunk over the hip for purposes of
balance decreases. To compensate,
old people take short steps and place
their feet far apart in a walking pattern
resembling that of small children.
To accommodate increased stresses
and forces resulting from two-legged
locomotion, larger hip, knee, ankle,
sacroiliac, and lumbosacral joints
evolved. Some side effects of this
adaptation have been the high inci-
dence of arthritis, common fracture of
65
the bones forming these joints, and the
universal complaint of low back pain.
Muscles are essential for move-
ment; they also support joints and act
as shock absorbers. The shape of pel-
vic, leg, and foot bones reflects the
muscles that attach to them and the
forces the muscles generate. Human
muscles create a configuration of body
curves unlike those of any other ani-
mal. A striking example is our
rounded buttock, formed by the glu-
teus maximus, our largest muscle.
This muscle serves several functions:
it straightens the hip joint and absorbs
stresses from it, supports the sacro-
iliac joint, and assists in stabilizing the
trunk over the leg and foot. It is most
active during vigorous motion in-
volving a shift of weight, such as
rising from a sitting position or going
up a slope. The gluteus was named
"maximus" because of its large size
in our species; in other animals, the
equivalent muscle is relatively small
and unimportant and is accordingly
called "superficialis."
Beneath the gluteus maximus are
two muscles — the gluteus medius and
gluteus minimus — responsible for ro-
tation and stabilization at the hip joint
and consequently for maintaining
balance. These muscles contribute to
the roundness of the hips. They con-
tract with each step and keep the pelvis
and trunk over the foot. Without this
stabilizing action, one would fall to
the unsupported side of the swinging
leg. When these muscles are injured,
the trunk is thrown from side to side
with each step, noticeably affecting
the smoothness of a normal gait.
The center of gravity in
humans is in the pelvis, and
the line of gravity through
the body aligns the hip,
knee, and ankle joints,
facilitating standing in an
upright position and
two-legged walking. The
center and line of gravity
in chimpanzees, by contrast,
favors tree climbing and
quadrupedal knuckle walking.
Another human body curve is that
at the front of the thigh, which is full
and rounded. The fullness comes from
the large, powerful quadriceps
muscle — made up of four parts —
which straightens the knee joint. This
muscle, a powerful propulsive force
when going uphill , also acts as a brake
when walking down a steep incline.
The rounded, well-defined calf
muscles, which narrow into the long
Achilles tendon at the ankle, are also
distinctively curved. When these
muscles contract, the ankle extends,
thereby assisting in forward propul-
sion. The foot pushes against the
ground , the movement passes over the
toes, and at the last phase before
pushing off, the great toe bears most
of the body ' s weight . Anyone who has
ever injured a big toe appreciates how
important that digit is in walking.
Many of our bodily structures — the
ankle, the knee, the pelvis, and the
back — represent evolutionary com-
promises between conflicting func-
tions. The ankle joint, a composite of
three smaller joints, represents a
compromise between stability and
flexibility. Its primary movement is
extension and flexion in a single plane,
as in level walking. Ankle rotation,
although consisting of only a few de-
grees— much less than in primates —
is essential for fine adjustments and
increases when walking on uneven,
rocky, or sandy terrain. This compro-
mise between stability and flexibility
enables us to maneuver on surfaces
ranging from level sidewalks to ski
slopes — but it also results in a lot of
sprained ankles.
The knee joint represents a similar
compromise. The strong ligaments
and the bony congruence of the joint
surfaces provide stability when stand-
ing and walking, but they also allow
for a few degrees of rotation that are
crucial for adjustments during walk-
ing, throwing, running, or sitting on
one's heels. Our knees support us
when we stand or walk or run long
distances — actions that involve little
rotational movement — but our mini-
mal knee rotation makes us poor
climbers. In contrast, our primate rel-
atives can rotate their knee joints a
great deal. This ability is probably
functional for keeping the knees out
to the side when climbing or walking
along the tops of branches, although
it may make primate knees too mobile
66
for supporting weight in bipedal
walking or running.
The compromise in thehuman knee
between stability and flexibility is well
illustrated in sports. The flexibility of
our knees makes most athletics possi-
ble, but the price often is severe knee
injuries. Most of these, particularly
those incurred in playing basketball
and football, result from violent pi-
voting of the body while the foot is
firmly planted — a movement that
twists the knee and tears the support-
ing ligaments that provide its stability .
The most central and complex
structural compromise is the human
pelvis. Unlike that of four-footed ani-
mals, the human pelvis bears the
weight of the upper body and supports
the contents of the abdomen. In mon-
Propulsive action in most
animals is by hip extension
and knee flexion; the latter,
as in this dog, is opposite
to that of humans.
keys, the tail muscles are the equiva-
lent of the muscles that support our
guts. The human pelvis also contains
the hip joints and the muscles that
control them, and in females, as in all
vertebrates of that gender, the pelvis
has a bony ring large enough to permit
birth. The large human brain requires
a large birth canal, but a wide pelvis
is less eflkient for bipedal locomotion
than a narrow one because it increases
the side-to-side "rolling" compo-
nent. Preadolescent girls can run as
fast as boys, but at puberty their pel-
vises expand more than those of
males; consequently, their speed
drops otf considerably. Endurance,
however, remains.
The human back is a common
source of medical trouble and pain,
particularly the lower, or lumbar, re-
gion. This flexible area accommo-
dates the twisting and turning motions
of locomotion, but it is also stable,
with large joint surfaces and ligaments
to bear the stresses generated by bcxly
weight and motion. The back's flexi-
bility is essential for most activities
involving the upper body, for ex-
ample, throwing. But if the back
muscles are not in tone or if an abnor-
mality exists, such as asymmetry of
a leg or of the upper b<xly , back align-
ment can be thrown off, resulting in
pinched nerves and consequent pain.
Gravitational forces also contribute to
such ailments as slipped disks, her-
nias, and varicose veins.
Despite the liabilities that result
from our locomotor system, its ad-
vantages are far-reaching. In thinking
about our bipedal adaptation, loco-
motion should be viewed as a whole-
body activity that involves a complex
set of interrelated behaviors, includ-
ing carrying and throwing, rather than
simply as a way of moving from one
place to another. Our kind of two-
legged locomotion allows a wide va-
riety of motor patterns; it is a "doing"
system. For example, no other pri-
mate can throw with precision, or
walk long distances while carrying
objects in its arms and hands.
In contrast, the joints of monkeys
and apes are adapted for mobility and
tree climbing, rather than for endur-
ance and stability on long overland
trips. Ungulates, such as horses and
antelopes, on the other hand, travel
67
very effectively over long distances on
the ground, but tiieir joints move pri-
marily in one plane — through flexion
and extension — so that, with the ex-
ception of an occasional hungry goat,
you don't find ungulates in trees.
Numerous animals other than
humans have moved around on two
legs: birds and kangaroos, among liv-
ing species; some dinosaurs, from the
fossil record. Their spines, however,
remain horizontal or have a slight up-
ward tilt, and they usually have heavy
tails, for balance. Human two-leg-
gedness is different: the combination
of the vertical spine and the pelvis
have freed our forelimbs for tool
making, throwing, and digging —
nonlocomotor activities that consti-
tute the essential basis of the adapta-
tion and success of our species.
Chimpanzees, our closest living
relatives, are of particular interest be-
cause they are probably similar to the
population that gave rise to our ances-
tor, the primate Australopithecus.
Primarily adapted for climbing trees
and quadrupedal knuckle walking,
chimpanzees can , and on occasion do ,
walk and stand erect. But their bipe-
dalism is both behaviorally and struc-
turally different from that of Homo
sapiens. They go only short distances
on two legs and stand upright for only
a few moments, and both of these
actions appear infrequently in their
total behavior pattern. Their short legs
and long, massive arms and trunk give
them a higher center of gravity than
ours, and hence a more precarious
balance when upright. When they
stand, chimpanzees do not completely
straighten their hips and knees; in-
stead they assume a kind of Z shape,
which requires more muscular activity
to maintain and induces fatigue more
quickly than does our straight- jointed,
vertical posture. Humans require only
ligaments, not muscles, for standing
upright because the line of gravity
passes through the joints.
Chimpanzees have no muscles for
hip rotation when upright; when they
walk erect, their feet are wide apart,
the trunk sways from side to side, and
the lower back is rigid. This structural
set impairs both their walking and
throwing ability. Chimpanzees can
throw overhand, but because their
lumbar region is immobile, they can-
not position themselves or follow
through by rotating the body around
the hip as humans do . A chimpanzee ' s
throw consequently lacks the power
and precision characteristic of human
throwing.
Chimpanzees possess a variety of
muscular abilities — standing, walk-
ing, throwing bipedally — and a com-
plex communication system, in addi-
tion to their capacity for tool using and
killing and eating animals for meat.
Although they perform some of these
activities relatively infrequently, nat-
ural selection favored and expanded
this entire range of motor behaviors
in the part of the ancestral population
that diverged and began the hominid
line.
The two- to five-million-year-old
fossils unearthed in East and South
Africa, and accepted as early human
remains, were found with stone tools,
and their pelvic and limb bones sug-
gest that the hominids were bipedal.
The australopithecine fossils consist
mostly of jawbones, teeth, and a few
skulls; less than 10 percent are pelvic
or limb bones. Although much em-
phasis has been placed on skulls and
teeth, the pelvis is where the action
is. Even before stone tools show up
in the fossil record — in the lower
Pleistocene Epoch, more than 2,-
000,000 years ago — the australopith-
ecine pelvis had probably diverged
from that of our earlier ape ancestors.
Prior to the discovery of a fossil pelvis
in Ethiopia in 1974, the first such find
in East Africa, australopithecine pel-
vises were found only in South Africa.
The half dozen or so that exist in
museums are much like the modern
human pelvis, but with smaller hip
joints. Australopithecine legs were
probably not as long as ours and the
arms were probably longer in propor-
tion to the body. It is likely that aus-
tralopithecinesdid not walk exactly as
we do, but their bipedal adaptation
was eminently successful. They are
thought to have inhabited the savannas
of East and South Africa for a period •
of one to two million years; later they
gave rise to Homo erectus, who ex-
isted throughout the Old World by
500,000 years ago.
The multi-million-year-old crude
stone tools dug up with Australopith-
ecus in Lake Rudolf, Omo, and Oldu-
vai Gorge in East Africa, testify to the
primate's bipedal adaptation with
freed hands. These artifacts were
probably used mainly to obtain food
and, perhaps, for self -protection.
Australopithecus was in all likeli-
hood primarily a forager-gatherer of
plant food, which grew widely over
the open savanna. The animal's
adaptive complex included the abil-
ity to walk erect, to carry gathered
plant food, water, and small animals
that had been caught and killed, as
well as such defensive objects as
rocks and sticks. The distances be-
tween the sources of food, water,
raw material for tools, and suitable
campsites were often great, and
various terrains — sandy, hilly,
rocky, muddy, and perhaps,
marshy — had to be negotiated. Aus-
tralopithecus used areas around
lakes and rivers for camping and
shelter but most of its food came
from open country. The relationship
between the evolution of erect pos-
ture, evolution for efficiently cover-
ing long distances, and evolution for
throwing and carrying were thus all
interrelated in Australopithecus.
The australopithecine brain was
only a little larger than that of chim-
panzees, although its internal struc-
ture may have been reorganized as a
result of tool use and bipedalism.
There is some evidence of an increase
in the size of the cerebellum, the
coordination center for the equilib-
rium that is basic to bipedalism, as
well as to the hand-eye movements
required for using tools.
The manner in which the human
locomotor system has evolved favors
walking and carrying over standing
and sitting. We find it more fatiguing
to stand than to walk. Active leg
muscles aid circulation by pumping
blood upward to the heart, vigorous
sports keep muscles and joints from
becoming weak and slack. Thus,
when we see a football player running
or dodging tacklers or snaking
swivel-hipped through the opposition
or throwing an accurate fifty-yard
pass, we are watching the result of
several million years of an evolving
motor pattern. n
The manner in which our
musculature has developed
is one of the adaptations
that makes humans human.
UPI and Douglas Cramer
^•' •!.
r.-t
The Importance of Being Feverish
by Matthew J. Kluger
An elevated temperature may
he a sign of illness; it may
also be a part of the cure
Most people associate a fever with
the harmful effects of infection. In
fact, pharmaceutical advertisements
often give the impression that a fever
is the cause of an illness, rather than
a symptom, and that suppression of
the fever is an etfective treatment of
the underlying infection. We are told
to treat fevers with antipyretics, drugs
designed to return our body tempera-
ture to normal, a treatment that has
been an accepted part of medical
practice at least since the ancient
Romans began deriving aspirinlike
salicylic acid from the bark of willow
trees. That this body response, which
has evolved over millions of years,
might in fact be beneficial in killing
infecting microorganisms is rarely
implied in such advertisements.
The study of fever has always fig-
ured in medical history. Some 2,400
years ago Hippocrates, who is con-
sidered one of the founders of West-
ern medicine, attempted to explain
the causes of the mysterious fever —
malaria — raging through his country.
Noting the correlation between local
climatic conditions and initiation of
the attacks of fever, he concluded that
the weather was the cause of malaria
(hence its name, which means "bad
The desert iguana, like all cold-
blooded animals, regulates its
body temperature by moving to
cool or warm spots accordingly.
This makes it a good subject for
the study of fever — when infected,
will the lizard try to cool itself
or keep its temperature high?
air"). His interpretation was errone-
ous, but based on the information
available lo him . this was a sound epi-
demiological approach.
Not only have physicians studied
fever, they have also attempted to
treat it with a wide assortment of rem-
edies. Andromachos, the physician to
Emperor Nero, proposed an instant
fever cure-all made from more than
sixty ingredients. His remedy was
perhaps mild compared to others,
which included Heas and the eyes of
crabs, wolves, and snakes.
Not all physicians, however, advo-
cated the abolition of fevers. Rufus of
Ephesus, an anatomist-physiologist
working in the first and second cen-
turies A.D., believed that many non-
febrile diseases, such as epilepsy,
convulsions, and asthma, could be
remedied by inducing a fever. This
approach, subsequently called " "fever
therapy,"" is still a part of medical
"practice and has been used w ith vary-
ing degrees of success as a treatment
for syphilis, gonorrhea, and some
forms of cancer. Thus, medical prac-
tice, although most often attempting
to suppress fever, does include two
apparently opposed attitudes toward
the phenomenon.
Our present understanding of the
causes of fever was made possible
only in relatively recent times. Not
until the invention of the thermometer
by Galileo Galilei in the late 1500s
was it even possible to determine nor-
mal and febrile body temperatures.
While the technology for the develop-
ment of the thermometer, including
primitive thermometers, had existed
at least since the days of Hero of
Alexandria in the first century B.C.,
it took the creative genius of Galileo
to rediscover and appreciate this use-
ful tool. Within a few years of Gali-
leo's discovery, Sanctorius, his col-
league at the University of Padua,
used a crude thermometer that was
sensitive not only to changes in tem-
perature but to barometric pressure as
well (technically a "barothermo-
graph"") to measure the ""heat of per-
sons in a fever. ■■ The use of tempera-
ture measurement as a diagnostic tool
was thus initiated. But not until the
development of the microscope by
Galileo in the earl> seventeenth cen-
tury, its subsequent refinement by
Antony van Leeuwenhoek. and the
later de\elopment of the germ theory
of disease (largely the work of Louis
Pasteur in the late nineteenth century)
were scientists able to link the role of
microorganisms with the onset of a
fever. (Some fevers, of course, de-
velop from noninfectious diseases,
cancer for example, or from other
causes such as severe allergy or in-
jury, but our primary concern here is
with fevers brought on by infection.)
While our knowledge concerning
the course of fever has improved over
the last 2,400 years, we are still trying
to determine its actual cause. By what
mechanism do so many diflferent
pathogenic organisms all produce a
similar febrile response'? There are no
definite answers, but our understand-
ing is growing.
The primary area in our brain that
receives information concerning tem-
perature— both from the outside
world and from deep body areas — is
the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus
serves as an area for the integration
of all thermal information and also
acts as a thermostat, regulating our
body temperature at some prescribed
level. When we are exposed to tem-
peratures that are too high, the
hypothalamus sends signals to our
sweat glands to increase the output of
sweat. (The heat required to evapo-
rate sweat lowers the body tempera-
ture.) The hypothalamus also signals
our metabolic machinery to lower our
production of internal heat. Presuma-
bly through reflex pathways leading
-P.L Fogden. Bruce Coleman,
from the hypothalamus, we become
conscious of the heat and we move to
a cooler area. We also drink cold
fluids, although this is a somewhat
inefficient heat-loss mechanism.
Conversely, when we are exposed
to the cold, information integrated in
the hypothalamus leads to a cessation
of sweating, an increase in metabolic
heat production (shivering), and the
conscious selection of a warmer area
and warmer food and drink . Thus , the
signals from the hypothalamus initi-
ate both physiological and behavioral
responses for body temperature regu-
lation.
Fever begins with the presence of
a foreign substance, say bacteria, in
our tissues, which activates our leu-
kocytes (white blood cells) to engulf
or phagocytize the invaders. The bac-
teria needn't be alive since our leuko-
cytes respond only to the cell walls
of the bacteria, which contain the so-
called endotoxin. In the process of
ingesting the bacteria, the white
blood cells produce a small protein
called endogenous pyrogen. This
pyrogenic, or fever-producing, mate-
rial circulates throughout the body;
some of it presumably enters the
brain, where it causes an elevation of
the hypothalamic thermostat.
Recently, scientists have specu-
lated that endogenous pyrogen in-
creases the production of special sub-
stances called prostaglandins; these
in turn cause the hypothalamic set-
point to rise. In any event, in response
to the elevation in the hypothalamic
thermostat, an animal — behaving as
if it were exposed to the cold — ele-
vates its body temperature and, as a
result of subsequent thermoregula-
tory adjustments, develops a fever.
Although antipyretics such as aspirin
do not afl'ect normal body tempera-
ture, they do lower the temperature
during fever; the latest evidence indi-
cates that antipyretics may reduce
prostaglandin levels, which in turn
return the hypothalamic thermostat to
its normal setting.
Before exploring the phenomenon
of fever, it is useful to distinguish be-
tween fever, a response to harmful
bacteria, and hyperthermia, a re-
sponse to exercise or heat exposure.
Like a furnace whose thermostat is
raised and which then works harder
to produce more heat, during fever
we act as if our hypothalamic thermo-
stat is set at a higher level. Conse-
quently, we actively drive our body
temperature upward by both physio-
logical means (such as shivering) and
To study how lizards respond to
infection, the author simulated a
desert environment. The range in
room temperature paralleled that of
the desert — from about 55° at night
to 85° during the day. Heat lamps
that warmed the area beneath
them to 120° were operated on
a schedule: Those labeled A were
on from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.;
B from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m; and
C from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Thus, during the daytime lizards
could select an ambient temperature
of from 85° to 120°. Following
infection with live bacteria, the
lizard on the left stayed near
the lamp, thereby elevating its
temperature to a feverish level.
The uninfected lizard, foreground,
shifted in the box so that its
body temperature remained between
104.4° and 102.2°, normal for
this animal. Kept in a warm
environment, infected lizards
survive far better than those
maintained at lower temperatures.
72
behavioral mechanisms (perhaps
wrapping ourselves with warm blan-
kets and drinking hot tea).
In hyperthermia, however, the
thermostat remains set at the same
level, but the on/oil switch fails.
Consequently, the lurnace overheats
or, in this ease, the body temperature
elevates. Once we stop exercising or
retreat from a hot environment, our
body temperature returns to normal.
Although Hippocrates was specu-
lating about the causes of fever more
than two thousand years ago, even
today we do not know whether it is
beneficial or harmful to the organism
suffering it. Some people have argued
that the positive cllect of fever ther-
apy is evidence that fever itself is ben-
eficial. In a patient undergoing fever
therapy, however, the elevation in
body temperature is both artificially
induced and of greater height than
that encountered during the norma"
course of an illness. Under norma
conditions, the elevated body temper-
ature does not directly destroy the in-
fecting microorganisms. So the evi-
dence from fever therapy clearly does
not answer the question of fever's
function during a normal infection,
and we continue to be haunted by the
following questions: Would a re-
sponse such as fever, which is consid-
ered a universal response of warm-
blooded animals, not serve some use-
ful function? If fever were harmful to
the host, would not selective pres-
sures have led to its extinction?
To investigate the role of fever in
disease, one could simply inject a
population of animals with a suitable
bacterium and allow half of the ani-
mals to develop the normal fever,
while preventing the other half from
developing the fever. The survival of
the two populations could then be
compared. If fever were beneficial,
the population that developed the
fever would have fewer deaths. Con-
versely, if it were harmful, the group
that was prevented from developing
a fever would have fewer deaths.
One difficulty presents itself, how-
ever. How could we prevent a fever
from developing in a group of mam-
mals exposed to a bacterial infection?
The most obvious way is to simulta-
neously administer an antipyretic
drug such as aspirin. Unfortunately,
such an experiment would not give a
definitive answer to the question.
Since aspirin has numerous side ef-
fects, interpretation of any experi-
ments using the drug would be diffi-
cult. Would any difference in mortal-
Experience
what history's
greatest tourists
experienced
The Romans gazed in amazement. The British
marvelled. And now it's your turn. Come bargain in
ancient bazaars, ride cameiback to the pyramids,
glide down the Nile to Karnak and Luxor PIA's tours
to Egypt start at S834.50, and the magic begins as
you step aboard our luxurious DC-lOs. See your travel
agent, or mail the coupon.
PIA
PAKISTAN IHTERNATIOHAL AIRLIHES
Great people to fly w ith
PIA Tour Manager
545 Fifth Ave.. New York. N.Y. 10017
Gentlemen: Please tell me more about
PI AS "ETERNAL EGYPT-TOURS
, Name
Zip NH 3
Ijirs-Eric l.nidblnd <iinumuce\:
A new concept in Travel
For many years Lindblad Travel
has created "custom tours" for mu-
seums, societies and clubs. Until
now, such tours have been beyond
reach for the individual tourist.
Now, at last, we are able to offer
these same cultural programs to
individuals and have therefore
lormed a separate ARTS & CIVIL-
IZATIONS TOURS division.
These tours are unusual in concept.
Each one develops its own "theme."
Each one is programmed to take
advantage of opportunities as they
arise. The pace is leisurely so that
we shall come back both enlight-
ened and refreshed. One program
follows the old medieval pilgrimage
route from Paris to Santiago de
Compostela. Another explores the
artistic riches of Eastern Europe—
including the incomparable painted
monasteries of Romania. Yet an-
other retraces the ancient civiliza
tions and cities that once flourished
along the coast of Asia Minor.
For 1976 our Ans & Civiliziiiions
Tours include: "The Road to Com-
postela." "Saxony and Bohemia,"
"ByzantiumTour," "Bourbon Italy."
"World of the Ancient Maya." "Asia
Minor," "Arts of Indonesia." "East-
em Europe," and "Colombia and
Ecuador."
Each tour is accompanied by an ex-
perienced Lindblad escon as well
as a lecturer-guide to enhance our
knowledge and enjoyment of the
things we shall see. In order to af-
ford every member a chance of
maximum involvement, we must
limit each party to no more than
24. Please write for our brochure
or see your travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHAC176
133 East 55th St.. \e« York. NY 10022
(212)751-2.300
-THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD TRAVEL-
73
ity be due to the difference in body
temperature, to the direct effects of
the drug used to prevent the fever, or
perhaps to a combination of both?
An ahernate experimental design
would entail manipulating the envi-
ronmental temperature in such a way
that one infected group was exposed
to a comfortable environment and de-
veloped a normal fever, while the
other was exposed to a cool environ-
ment that prevented the elevation of
body temperature to the febrile level.
Would this experiment be easier to
interpret? I think not. In response to
the cold, mammals initiate responses
designed to prevent a fall in body
temperature. Even if there were dif-
ferences in the body temperatures of
the two populations, there would un-
doubtedly also be differences in the
amount of stress imposed on each
group. The population exposed to the
cold, for example, would have eleva-
tions in the levels of hormones par-
tially responsible for the maintenance
of normal body temperature.
What about cold-blooded orga-
nisms— the fishes, amphibians, and
reptiles? To speak of fever in this
group seems like a contradiction in
terms. While birds and mammals (the
so-called warm-blooded vertebrates)
regulate their body temperature as a
result of both physiological and be-
havioral adjustments, the reptiles,
amphibians, and fishes regulate their
body temperatures largely by behav-
ioral adjustments. A turtle sitting on
a log in the middle of a pond and a
frog on a lily pad are familiar ex-
amples of cold-blooded animals rais-
ing their temperature by absorbing
thermal radiation from the sun.
Over the past dozen or so years,
laboratory investigations have shown
that hypothalamic integration and
control over the thermal responses of
vertebrates, ranging from fishes to
mammals, are similar. The primary
difference between the cold-blooded
(ectothermic) and warm-blooded (en-
dothermic) vertebrates is the manner
in which they regulate body tempera-
ture. Of the endothermic vertebrates,
we also know that many, including
birds, respond to infection with a
fever.
What about the ectotherms? If they
could develop a fever in response to
abacterial infection, we could design
a definitive experiment that would an-
swer the question of the function of
fever. An ectotherm such as a lizard
offers certain advantages for the ex-
perimental study of fever. In a natural
setting, where there are large temper-
ature differences from one microcli-
mate to another (say from the shaded
ground beneath a fern to a flat, ex-
posed rock), a lizard can regulate its
body temperature to within a narrow
region. In a laboratory setting where
the environmental temperature is rel-
atively constant, the lizard's body
temperature will remain at room tem-
perature; thus, its body temperature
can be easily maintained at any tem-
perature by simply placing it in a
chamber controlled at that tempera-
ture. This would enable us to inject
populations of lizards with bacteria
and study the role of temperature on
their survival without the lizards at-
tempting to alter their body tempera-
tures physiologically.
We chose as our experimental ani-
mal the desert iguana Dipsosaurus
dorsalis, a moderate-sized lizard
about six inches long (excluding the
tail) that adapts readily to laboratory
conditions. The lizards were placed
in a simulated desert environment,
where the night temperature was a
cold 55°F. and the daytime tempera-
ture ranged from 85° to more than
122°, depending on the location.
Within this range the lizards were
able to select their preferred tempera-
ture during the daytime. Using spe-
cial thermometers placed in each
lizard's rectum, we recorded their
body temperature and found they se-
lected a body temperature of about
100.4° to 102.2°.
Following infection with live
Aeromonas hydrophila. a bacterium
that causes red-leg infection in am-
phibians and reptiles, the lizards'
body temperatures rose to between
104.0° and 107.6°. The lizards
achieved this elevated body tempera-
ture only by selecting a site with a
higher temperature a larger propor-
tion of the time, not by increasing in-
ternal production of heat, as is largely
the case with mammals.
We were now ready to test whether
lizards infected with this bacterium
and then placed in different constant
environmental temperatures (that is,
maintained at different body tempera-
tures) would have different survival
rates. Groups of infected lizards were
placed in five different constant tem-
perature chambers: at 93.2° and
96.8°, which correspond to low tem-
peratures but are well within the
lizards' normal range of exposure; at
100,4°, which is the normal body
temperature of these animals; and fi-
nally at 104.0° and 107.6°, which
correspond to low and moderate
fevers, respectively.
The results were striking. At the
end of three days at these tempera-
tures, 96 percent of the lizards main-
tained at a febrile" temperature of
107.6° were alive, whereas at the
afebrile temperature of 100.4°, only
34 percent were alive. At 93.2° less
than 10 percent survived. We later
learned that the increased ability of
lizards to survive at the elevated tem-
peratures was due, not to differences
in the growth patterns of the bacteria,
but to some as yet unidentified in-
crease in the lizards' defense mecha-
nisms against the infecting bacteria.
Can these results be extrapolated to
mammals? If specific aspects of the
febrile response in birds and mam-
mals could be shown to be similar,
this would suggest a common origin
of fever in these two groups. Mam-
mals and birds evolved from primi-
tive reptiles, so if mammalian fever
originated in premammalian verte-
brates (and did not evolve inde-
pendently at a later time), then the
function of fever might be similar in
reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Hoping to increase our understand-
ing of the evolution of fever, and per-
haps its adaptive role, we decided to
compare the febrile responses among
the terrestrial vertebrates (reptiles,
birds, and mammals).
In order to strengthen the case for
a common origin of fever, we listed
those characteristics of mammalian
fever we felt should be found in the
avian and reptilian classes. First, the
reptile or bird should respond to an
infection of live bacteria by develop-
ing a fever. Second, since the cell
wall of the bacteria, not the live bac-
teria, contains the endotoxin that in-
duces our own leukocytes to produce
the fever-producing material (endog-
enous pyrogen), the reptile or bird
should respond to an injection of dead
bacteria by developing a fever. Third,
antipyretic drugs should result in an
attenuation of the fever. Lastly, in re-
sponse to a bacterial infection, the
reptiles or birds should produce en-
dogenous pyrogen.
Our case was strengthened by our
findings — all three classes of verte-
brates developed a fever in response
to live and dead bacteria, and the
fever was attenuated by an antipyretic
drug, thus satisfying the first three cri-
teria. Still unresolved is the question
of the development of endogenous
pyrogen in reptiles and birds; investi-
gations on this subject are under way.
74
Ikiscd on the similarities of replil-
i;in, avian, and mammalian fever, I
believe that the mechanism responsi-
ble for the development of a fever in
response to inleclion has existed for
several hundred million years. I also
believe thai lever evolved as a mecha-
nism to aid the host organism in sur-
viving the attack of the infecting mi-
croorganisms. But how the elevation
of body temperature leads to this en-
hanced body defense is completely
unknown. Possibly, although there is
no definitive laboratory evidence for
this, several components of the de-
fense mechanisms, including the
phagocytic activity of the leukocytes
or their ability to be rapidly mobilized
are dependent on temperature. Per-
haps, as has recently been suggested
by Eugene Weinberg of Indiana Uni-
versity, a fever is benehcial because
it leads to a reduction of trace metals,
most notably iron, that are necessary
for the growth of microorganisms, a
phenomenon called "nutritional im-
munity." Future investigations in
this area might show that our body
has evolved a relatively simple, yet
ingenious, system for fighting infec-
tion— the removal of some trace ele-
ment that is critical for the growth of
the pathogen. Ecologists have long
been familiar with this phenomenon
in terms of the requirements for the
successful establishment of a species
in an area and the role of "limiting
factors" in the environment. In the
case of long-term infection, however,
or of poorly nourished individuals,
this phenomenon can also lead to ane-
mia and impaired functioning of the
defense system.
In tracing the role of fever in dis-
ease, I believe that the comparative
approach to fundamental biological
questions, relying heavily on evolu-
tionary biology, can lead us to an-
swers we would not otherwise obtain.
Among the still unanswered ques-
tions are. What groups of mammals
develop fever? How would a mam-
mal that is capable of hibernating,
such as a bat or a ground squirrel,
respond to an infection? Can a fever
be induced in an amphibian? a fish?
If our speculation that fever is benefi-
cial in mammals is correct, what
causes the clearly dangerous high
fevers that are occasionally encoun-
tered? Might fever be of positive
value in some species and vestigial in
others? By continuing to employ
comparative techniques, we stand at
the real beginning of a study first at-
tempted 2,400 years ago. □
How can we bring
the warmth and beauty
of an 18th century
hearth into our
lives today?
You will find the gracious
styles and designs of
young America in the pages
of Early American Life
and in other programs of
'^e "^arlyc^merican gociety^
Recent projects lor members include 18th
century recipes, projects lor the workshop,
plans lor authentic 18lh century houses,
lashion patterns from 1780, wall stencil de-
signs, and ideas lor historic travel.
Every article and plan published in our bi-
monthly magazme smce 1970 is available, a
veritable treasure house ol decorating and
restoration ideas. Members may buy related
books at up to 25% discount and participate
in our travel events and assemblies.
We are so certain that membership in the
Early American Society may become one ol
your most valuable possessions that we
offer a no-risk membership. Just mail the
application at right. Dues are $8.00 per year
alter you have seen your first issue of
Early American Life.
Membership Chairman
The Early American Society
3300 Walnut St,, Boulder, CO 80302
Please enroll me as a member in the
Early American Society and bill my
annual dues ol $8 00 after I have re-
ceived my first issue of EARLY
AMERICAN LIFE I understand that
if the first issue does not live up to
my expectations I may cancel without
further obligation
Name ,
Address .
City
From a Lars-Eric Lindblad news-release:
"Here at last... m-^
East Africa, India, Egypt for '
EVERYMAN
As you know, we at Lindblad Travel
constantly strive to maintain a qual-
ity image for all our tours, no matter
what destination.
This does not mean that we
aren't aware of a need to offer
travel also at more economic
levels.
And it is for that reason we have
inaugurated a new series of Sa-
faris aimed at pleasing the pocket
bookof "every man."
The destinations are the same,
the quality is there, but we have
affected certain savings.
We are not providing lecturers.
Everyman's India* ] 6 days
Everyman's Wonder Safari (East Africa)' 16 days
Everyman's Ancient Egypt* 1 5 days
Exciting extensions available.
'Including airfares from New York and return.
S1,033
$1,599
$1,654
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHEV176
133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022 (212)751-2300
Many meals will be left for you to
buy at your ow/n discretion. Instead
of staying at the very best hotels,
you will be comfortable in our
selection of first-class hotels. If we
crowd you a bit on a sightseeing
bus, who knows, it might turn out to
be someone you like to be crowded
with.
Look below at the reasonable
prices for some of these "Lindblad
Quality" tours to faraway places
you've dreamed about since child-
fiood; East Africa, India and Egypt.
Write for our brochure or see
your travel agent.
75
THE NEW SUPER-SIZE
SCHOOLBAG
FROM DENMARK
More pockets, zippers, flaps and compartments
make this sturdy classic the best ail-purpose
bag ever. Terrifically functional with a great
casual look. A favorite of models, photogra-
phers, artists, students, musicians, dancers,
opera singers, nuns, poets, duck hunters, cy-
clists, plumbers, teachers, filmmakers, pilots,
architects, doctors, reporters and travelers be-
cause there's always a place to stuff one more
thing. A new zippered pleat can expand this
improved version to double the normal width
-now a full IS'/:" x 13" x 8". Perfect carry-on
flight bag. Adjustable shoulder strap. In
squashy gray, chocolate brown or bright Da-
nish blue waterproof canvas. $26.00.
(plus $1.50 shipping). N.Y. res. add fax. Canada
add $2.00.
THE CHOCOLATE SOUP
249 East 77th Street New York 10021
M
Share the Thrills
01 Exploring f ^
ouier Space; ^
All DYNASCOPES,
including this
superb RV-6, 6-inch
mailable rfS-^ $15 Crating
on easy terms! "^ Charge
Now it's easy to join the thousands of serious
amateurs who have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rewards go on for years' And
It s a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Choose Froin Many DYNASCOPES®
Picking a telescope to fit your needs and your
R^M/fc^nnc '5 s™Ple when you select a
OYNflSCOPE-the same instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories-and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable facts be-
fore buying any telescope. Mall
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterion IManufacturing Co
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
® TM Registered U.S. Pat. Offi
CRITERION MANUFACTURING CO., Depl. NH-64
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Name
Address
City State
At Random
The Fencing of America
Increasing pressure from
crowds has turned a
Massachusetts state forest's
main attraction into an
outdoor museum
The waters of Bashbish Falls
plunge into a deep, greenish blue
pool at the bottom of a narrow gorge
between two forested ridges in
southwestern Massachusetts. Near its
shallower edges, the pool becomes a
light emerald green. Surrounding the
pool are great, flat gray rocks, which
warm quickly under the summer sun.
For years — probably for centuries —
people have sprawled out on these
stones to soak up the heat before div-
ing into the cool water.
The falls (a series of closely spaced
cascades that twists between the cliffs
of the gorge) are almost 200 feet high.
At the brink of the last cascade, a
stubborn, diamond-shaped, granite
and schist outcropping divides the
stream into two 50-foot ribbons that
plunge into the pool.
From a parking lot at the gorge's
edge, a steep, rocky path winds down
through a hemlock and hardwood
forest to the falls and the pool. Near
the end of the trail a large, intrusive
sign, hanging from a cable suspended
between two trees, admonishes in
large letters: No Fires, No Camping,
No Swimming. Smaller letters warn
the reader: Use Trails on This Side of
Fence. From the end of the path, the
cliffs and the falls' white water are
barely visible through the heavy fo-
liage; in the opposite direction, the
forested hills roll down to the Hudson
River floodplain in New York.
Except for the waterfalls, the
gorge, and the pools strung through
it, Bashbish Brook is like many other
streams in the Taconic range, which
extends south from Vermont to the
Hudson highlands in New York.
Flowing westerly from a swamp a
few miles upstream from the falls.
the black water meanders between
hummocks of tall brown sedge be-
fore it enters a lily-coated pond. The
stream gathers momentum when it
leaves the pond. By the time it has
wound through a nearby meadow
and into a forest, white water tum-
bles over boulders and fills small
pools. Here, serious-minded spring
fishermen in waders cast for trout,
using tiny flies at the end of long
curving lines. Not far from them,
boys in blue jeans and sneakers,
armed with hooks and worms, sink
76
by Christopher L. Hallowell
heavily weighted lines into promis-
ing-looking holes under big rocks.
People have long used all of the
stream, but the gorge, the falls, and
the pool have always attracted the
greatest numbers. Recognizing the
area's scenic value, the Massachu-
setts Department of Natural Re-
sources in 1924 purchased some 400
surrounding acres for $5,500. During
the 1960s, the state obtained 4,000
additional acres and named the entire
area Mount Washington State Forest,
after a nearby mountain. This acre-
Maupinlour means more! SOUth Affica plUS
East Africa Wildlif €
Join an expertly conducted Mauplntour
safari to sightsee South and East Afri-
can cities, people, and very scenic
country . . . plus famous reserves and
national parks viffiere wildlife roam free.
Finest hotels and lodges. All meals in-
cluded. Every guest has a window seal
in East African safari vehicles, room to
stretch. Sunroof for standup viewing
and picture taking.
See tribal villages. Bantu. Zulu. Chuka,
and Masai dances. Your choice of four
different safaris ranging from a concen-
tration on wildlife reserves in Kenya and
Tanzania for 20 days and surveys of
South and East Africa from 23 to 27
days to Grand Africa from Cape Town
to Mt. Kenya in 34 days. For brochure,
ask your Travel Agent for Maupiniour's
Africa or v-rite:
Ok
&« Mauplntour
3/843-1211 * 25 veais ol quality louring
Telephone 913/843-1211 ^ 2S yea
tVlaupintour, 900 IVIassachusetts Street, Lawrence. Kansas 66044
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
Come explore the hidden worlds of the fascinating
WEST COAST OF
SOUTH AMERICA
Sail with us aboard the M/S Lindblad
Explorer through waters rarely visited
by cruise ships. Experience the excite-
ment of exploring the Beagle channel
and Strait of Magellan just as Darwin
did. Take overland excursions and let
your journey extend from the bottom of
South America along the length of the
continent all the way through the Pan-
ama Canal to Cristobal. Cruise in an at-
mosphere of great cultural revelation -
the Inca Empire, the San Bias Indians,
etc. -and find, perhaps the most scenic
Christopher L. Hallowell
panorama the world may offer. We have
divided this enormous cruise program
into three separate sailings. We invite
you to take one or all three. The first ex-
pedition departs February 23. 1976. and
the third one ends on the 30th of March.
For detailed information write for our
brochure or see your travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHLE176
133 East 55th Street, New York, NY 10022
(212) 751-2300
* Panamanian registry
77
Won't you help us buy
food for hungry children
this Christmas?
Your $10 gift — an amount ^
that buys "just another Christmas '^
gift" for more fortunate kids — can mean hundreds of dollars
worth of bread, meat and mill< to thousands of families in the
rural South.
These families simply do not have enough to eat. But with the
Federal Food Stamp Program and the help of volunteers working
out of local NAACP branches, the NAACP Emergency Relief
Fund makes just a little money go a long way towards the relief
from hunger and malnutrition.
Sometimes as little as $1 will buy a penniless couple $64
worth of food stamps. Occasionally, as much as $20, can give
each member of a family of 1 6 about 650 worth of food each day
for a month. Mostly, we help families out with the $8 or $1 0 or $1 2
a month they need to get their full food stamp allotment.
And though the amounts given to individual families are very
small — they have often meant survival to many of the thousands
of people assisted in recent years.
That's why the NAACP Emergency Relief Fund needs your
help so badly.
Every dollar you contribute is tax-deductible. And, on the
average, every dollar we get converts into $11 worth of food.
But we can't do it without your dollars. So please send what
you can. Thanks.
NAACP Emergency Relief Fund
Dept. J6 Box 121, Radio City Station, New York, N.Y. 10019
age, together with the 6,000 acres
of the adjoining Taconic State Park
in New York, created a recreation
area of approximately 10,500 acres.
But the area was not heavily used;
hikers and campers usually did not
wander off the few trails and hunters
entered the state forest only during
the fall hunting season.
The gorge and the falls, often fre-
quented by adventuring boys, roman-
tic couples, and picnickers, has al-
ways been the favorite part of the
state forest. But visits sometimes
ended in unfortunate accidents and,
occasionally, deaths. Most injuries
occurred when people climbed over
the high terrain or swam in the swift
waters. In the past, however, such ac-
cidents were infrequent.
With the increased leisure time,
greater relative wealth, and improved
transportation of recent decades,
more and more campers, hikers, and
climbers — many seeking a hardier
type of outing than picnicking — came
to the gorge. Many of the visitors
were inexperienced and reckless.
Some climbed the schist and phyllite
cliffs without knowing how easily
these rock forms flake and crumble.
When the ledges broke away,
climbers often fell, sometimes to
their deaths. Or they dislodged rocks
that struck other climbers. Most of
these accidents occurred late in the
afternoon when, according to park
rangers, visitors were either tired or
tipsy from drinking. When accidents
occurred, rangers, state police, and
firemen from neighboring towns con-
verged on the gorge to spend hours,
often far into the night, extricating the
injured and hauling them up the steep
path on stretchers. In 1972, more than
twenty men worked through an entire
night to rescue a schoolteacher who
fell from a cliff and broke his hip.
Sometimes, careless swimmers
plunged into pools without realizing
that rocks lay just under the surface.
During the 1960s, two or three people
died in climbing or swimming acci-
dents each year. And each summer
about twenty people with broken
limbs, head injuries, or lacerations
had to be carried out of the gorge.
The accidents, however, did not
deter visitors. By 1968, the number
had surpassed 6,000. Hoping to di-
vert some of the future visitors from
the falls area, the Massachusetts
Department of Natural Resources set
up an administrative office and a
campsite near the source of the brook
a few miles upstream from the falls
78
and assigned rangers to permanent
duty. But most of the recreati<jn area
remained largely unused. Few visi-
tors hiked the trails or back-packed
into the campsite. Instead, they con-
tinued to flock to the gorge and the
falls: 40,000 people visited them in
1970; 50,000 in 1972.
Many people came for the day with
their picnic lunches; others camped
near the pool. A few abused the area.
Not finding a ready supply of dead-
wood for fires, they cut down live
trees. But the green wood did not
burn well and blackened logs lay scat-
tered about. A few people stripped
the branches from young hemlocks
and laid them on the rocky ground for
makeshift mattresses. Later, the
branches turned brown and ugly.
Some visitors littered. On a Monday
morning after a summer weekend,
papers, cans, and discarded food lay
half-concealed between the rocks and
under the leaves.
Even those who did not litter had
an impact on the area. When they
wandered off the trail, they often
trampled delicate flowers, such as
trillium, columbine, and cinquefoil,
all of which had a long history of
flourishing in the gorge. They also
disturbed the thin topsoil on slopes
above the stream. The runoff from
downpours carried the soil into the
pools, exposing patches of bedrock
on the banks. The waters of the
stream became clouded with the run-
off and with the soaps and detergents
that campers used to wash themselves
and their dishes.
To stop the ruination of the scenery
and to prevent tourists from hurting
themselves and others, the Depart-
ment of Natural Resources in 1973
constructed a 3,500-foot, steel and
cable fence around the top of the cliffs
and down to the stream just above the
falls. Snaking among the ledges and
along the top of the cliffs, the gleam-
ing fence is a jarring sight against the
horizontally aligned rocks and the
soft foliage. Regularly spaced signs
all along the fence's perimeter warn
visitors not to leave the trail around
the gorge.
On summer weekends, four uni-
formed rangers patrol the area around
the falls. Only looking is allowed: no
swimming, no littering, no fires, no
camping, no walking off the trails.
Anyone committing an infraction of
the regulations can be arrested, fined
$2,500, and imprisoned for six
months. But the rangers usually just
eject offenders from the area.
The natural beauty of Bashbish
Falls and the gorge now seems safe
from the destruction that crowds so
often bring with them. The sturdy
fence, the signs, and the decisive
rangers prevent tourists from injuring
themselves and each other. Some
60,000 persons visited the gorge in
the summer of 1974, with only one
minor injury reported. The area
around the falls is free of debris, the
water sparkles, and in the spring,
wildflowers grow undisturbed across
the forest floor.
Between 75,000 and 100,000
people filed into the gorge last year.
But they viewed the scenery in much
the same way that museumgoers
gaze at dioramas. The only physical
effort possible on a visit to the falls
is the short walk along the path be-
tween the pool and the parking lot.
Summer visitors carefully pick
their way down this path, many wear
bathing suits and towels drafted cas-
ually around their necks. Their chat-
ter and laughter become more volu-
ble as the falls roar louder. But when
confronted by the big sign near the
end of the trail, many of them stop,
stare at it, and murmur among
themselves. When rangers, usually
patrolling near the sign, and visitors
come upon each other, the visitors
often act like ill-at-ease guests. They
nod at the rangers, give them little
smiles, and continue down to the
edge of the pool.
On nice days spectators cover the
flat rocks; most stare passively at the
white ribbons hurtling into the dark
water. Newcomers may mill about
for a few moments, trying to find a
good viewing space, but they usually
do not have to maneuver for long be-
cause people are constantly coming
and going. Once settled, most people
look at the falls for a few minutes and
then begin to stare about restlessly.
Some snap a few photographs.
Youngsters often jump from rock to
rock beside the pool, in a direc-
tionless manner suggesting boredom.
Many visitors approach the rangers
to ask them about the restrictions.
The rangers invariably tell them
about the accidents and past abuses.
Nodding in subdued understanding,
the visitors take a last look at the falls,
turn their backs on the No Fires, No
Camping, No Swimming sign and
trudge back to their cars in the park-
ing lot.
Christopher L. Hallowell is an as-
sociate editor o/ Natural History.
Goose Down Sox
Keep Feet Warm
Slip on a pair of the&e to keep your feel warm
in sleeping bag or bed; as inner &ox for insu-
lated pacs or waders. Downright comforlable
travel slippers. Bauer Goose Down quilted in
tough, washable N/lon taffeta Colors: Red,
Winter Blue. Taupe. Powder Blue. Specify shoe
size and we will send a proper 1ii 0123 Goose
Down Sox pair $9.95 postpaid
Order Today! Money Back Guarantee! «
Enclosed is my check or money order for
S (Add sales tax where applicable.)
Please RUSH my 0123 Goose Down Sox.
Men's Size Color
Women's Size Color
Address-
City
^j^ec£o2/^^cu<aA^
Dept ENH, 1737 Airport Way S.. Seattle
Within 2 or 3 years of retirement?
DISCOVER THE BEST
THAT LIFE OFFERS IN
DEL WEBB'S SUN CITY
A Fabulous Arizona Resort Vacation
for one or two people: Just S 1 25*
Get ready for a fun-filled vacation in
America's most famous resort-retirement
community! Golf, tennis, swimming and
special parties are just a few of the things
you'll be invited to enjoy. Plus you'll stay in
a beautiful air conditioned apartment with
a completely equipped kitchen, color TV,
attached carport and private patio.
•introductory RATE:
'^^' for 2 weeks; June 1, 1976 -Oct. 15,1976
Del E. Webb Development Co. Dept. NZ-16
I P.O. Box 666, Sun City, Arizona 85351
Send complete details on $1 25 Vacation
Special plus a beautiful full-color Sun City
I broctiure to:
I
I City_
I 'Offer limited to availabilities and to vacationing
parties witti one member 50 years of age or older j
I and no member under 18. I
Del E Webb Dev Co . 17400 N Del Webb Blvd.. Sun City. AZ S53S1
Del Webb's Sun City is NOT a lot sales development
79
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN
VACATION
YEAR 'ROUND LIVING
Lakes • Golf • Tennis • Heated
Pool • Guest Naturalist Often
Write for Information:
The Audubon Colony
P.O. Box 156 (n.h.)
Cedar Mtn., N.C. 28718
(704)885-2091
out of prinl,srarce,rare NATURAL msTORY BCX5KS
r^ Bouny, Zoology.
[ne^ Orchidology.
Ornithology, Entomology.
Ichthyology,
Herpetolopy. etc.
CATALOGUE AVAILABLE
19 Oitwd PUce/Hocliville Ctiiire, New York 11570
HOWDY!
VAl-J-EY -RANC+t
NATURAL HISTORY
FILE
only
$^95
each
Holds a year's subscription -
iteeps all copies neat, clean
and in one place.
A deluxe Royal Blue magazine case
with "Natural History" gold stamped
on the face. Has ttie expensive good
looks of a leatfier-bound book.
Organizes your valuable collection by
year of issue. Reduces clutter in your
home or office, keeps copies handy
for easy reference. Sturdy book-
binder's board protects copies against
soil and damage for as long as you
want to keep them. Gold leaf
furnished free for dating, etc. Send
check or money order. IVIoney re-
funded if not satisfied.
Natural History File ... . $4.95 ea.;
3 for $11 .95 postpaid
We fiave custom designed files for over 8,000
magazines. Order by title, $4.95 ea. ppd.
SHANNON CORPORATION Dept 16N
734 N. Decatur Ave., Minneapolis, MN. 55427
Sky Reporter
Missing Matter
Significant amounts of
several elements are
unaccounted for in the
galactic gas. Where has
the material gone ?
Studies with a space telescope
show that iron and certain other com-
mon elements are in short supply in
the thin gas that pervades our galaxy.
Theorists disagree on where the
missing atoms are, but suggest
various possibilities: they may have
condensed into microscopic dust
grains, they may have accumulated
into icy baseballs floating between
the stars, or they may have become
concentrated in the heads of inter-
stellar comets.
In 1904, a German astronomer at
the Potsdam Observatory discovered
a curious effect in the spectrum of the
star Mintaka (from the Arabic At
Mintakah, for "the belt"), located in
Orion's belt. As expected, the spec-
trum contained a familiar pattern of
dark lines owing to the absorption of
the star's light at particular wave-
lengths by the various elements
present in it. Further, because Min-
taka is a member of a binary star sys-
tem and thus moves around an orbit,
the lines in its spectrum were seen to
shift back and forth, moving toward
red wavelengths as the star moved
away from the earth and toward blue
wavelengths as it returned on the op-
posite side of its orbit. This is a well-
known phenomenon caused by the
Doppler effect. An unexpected find-
ing of the German astronomer Jo-
hannes Franz Hartmann, however,
was that ' 'the calcium line . . . does
not share in the periodic dis-
placements of the lines caused by the
orbital motion of the star. ..."
Hartmann stressed the importance of
this result by publishing those words
in italics in The Astrophysical Jour-
nal. If the calcium line did not share
the displacements of the other lines.
then the calcium atoms responsible
for the line clearly did not share the
orbital motion of the star. Hartmann
therefore concluded that the calcium
vapor responsible for the spectral line
must be located somewhere in space
between the earth and Orion.
Since 1904, astronomers have
found other elements in space in addi-
tion to calcium and have thereby
identified a complex distribution of
interstellar gas. With optical and
radio telescopes, they have deter-
mined the spatial properties of this
gas; for example, its tendency to
be concentrated in the spiral arms of
our Milky Way galaxy and to form
local condensations, or "interstellar
clouds . ' ' The gas is an extremely ten-
uous medium, thinner than the best
laboratory vacuum; nevertheless its
temperature range, density, and other
pertinent properties have also been
determined.
The importance of interstellar gas
has grown over the years as new con-
cepts of the origin of stars were for-
mulated and it became clear to most
scientists that stars are born by con-
densation from the clouds of the inter-
stellar medium. At the same time it
was accepted that much of the mate-
rial of the stars is recycled back into
space through the steady emanation
of particles from the outer layers of
stars, such as the "solar wind" of our
own sun, as well as by eruptions and
other processes. However, a vital test
of these concepts remained to be
made. If the stars are formed from the
interstellar gas, then their chemical
composition should resemble that of
the gas. Unfortunately, some of the
key elements in the interstellar gas
cannot be detected by the conven-
tional techniques of ground-based as-
tronomy; their identifying spectral
lines are in the ultraviolet wave-
lengths that are absorbed in the
earth's atmosphere and thus cannot
reach the observatories below.
by Stephen P. Maran
It first became possible to attack
this problem in recent years when ul-
traviolet instruments were launched
for brief intervals of observation on
rockets that attain high altitudes in the
atmosphere. But the greatest progress
has come since August 21, 1972,
when NASA launched the Coper-
nicus satellite, one of the Orbiting
Astronomical Observatories, carry-
ing a 32-inch ultraviolet telescope.
The satellite attained a virtually circu-
lar orbit at about 460 miles above the
surface of the earth. At that altitude,
Copernicus is outside the great bulk
of our atmosphere and can observe
the ultraviolet light from a great many
celestial objects. Its onboard tele-
scope was specially equipped by
Princeton University astronomers to
investigate the interstellar gas.
Among the key results of the
Copernicus' s, observations was the
discovery that the amounts of at least
ten elements are significantly smaller
in the interstellar gas than in the stars.
The measurements were made rela-
tive to hydrogen, known to be the
most common substance in the stars
and consequently used as a conven-
ient standard of comparison when
measuring the trace amounts in which
most other elements are present in the
universe. The "missing" matter in
the interstellar gas includes carbon,
nitrogen, oxygen, and iron. Esti-
mates of the underabundance of iron,
for example, range anywhere from a
factor of 5 to a factor of 100. Where
has all the iron gone?
Astrophysicists believe that the
missing matter is, in fact, present in
interstellar space but exists in a physi-
cal condition that does not allow it to
absorb light in the manner of the
vapor that produces the spectral lines
at discrete wavelengths observed by
Copernicus. The most obvious idea is
that much of the gas has cooled and
condensed to a solid state. Indeed, the
presence of tiny solid particles in
space has been recognized since the
193fls, when an astronomer at Lick
Observatory in California found that
the light from star clusters was
dimmed by intervening matter. Al-
though these "interstellar dust
grains" do not produce spectral lines,
they are reponsible for a general dimi-
nution of starlight received on the
earth — an effect that tends to block
out more of the shorter, blue wave-
lengths than the longer, red wave-
lengths. The situation is somewhat
analogous to the reddening effect a
large city's smog layer has on sun-
light, which has led astronomers
occasionally to refer to the dust grains
of space as "interstellar smog."
Direct proof of the presence in space
of dark matter, assumed to be concen-
trations of dust grains, also comes
from photographs of certain galactic
regions where dark structures are sil-
houetted against bright starry or neb-
ular backgrounds.
According to George B. Field, an
authority on interstellar matter who
directs the Center for Astrophysics in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, the iron
and other substances that are depleted
in the interstellar gas are simply
stored in solid form in the dust grains.
His reasoning is based in part on the
prevailing theory of the origin of the
dust. Just as much of the particulate
matter in urban smog comes from the
smokestacks of industrial furnaces,
so interstellar dust grains are believed
to originate in the hot gas flowing out
from stars as some of it cools and con-
denses in interstellar space. In fact,
some astronomers claim to have
found indications that dust particles
are forming in the outer regions of our
own sun's atmosphere.
Field believes that the respective
amounts of missing elements are pre-
cisely what you would expect from
such a condensation process, and he
has designed a model dust grain to
account for the observations. In his
-1976
NATURAL
HISTORY
CALENDAR
Northwest
Coast
Indians and
their Art
deluxe edition
PUBLISHED BY
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
« OF NATURAL HISTORY
Tall totems, magic
masks, carved and
painted houses,
handsome people,
two classic photo-
graphs by Edward
S. Curtis, and more.
A total of 18 frame-
worthy pictures,
including 3 beauti-
ful color spreads
measuring a full
12"x18".
Full color, quality
stock, high gloss
covers, and only
$3.00. A perfect
gift.
Ordernow.
NATURAL HISTORY CALENDAR,
Dept. C400
Box 51 23, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me calendars,
at $3.00 each.
My check/money order for a total of
$ Is enclosed.
Name (please print)
Address
Burpee's New
1976 Garden
Catalog
-FREE
Featuring new, ex-
citing vegetable and
flower varieties for
the home gardener.
The new 184-page Burpee Garden Catalog
is yours free. It is a comprehensive plant-
ing and growing guide, with over 1400
vegetables, flowers, fruits, shrubs, trees,
and garden aids. Plus many helpful hints
from Burpee's horticulture experts on how
to have a better, more productive garden.
Send for your free Burpee's Catalog today.
W. 4TLEE BURPEE CO., 6336 Burpee Blig., Warminster,
PA 18974; or Clinton, lA 52732; or Riverside, CA 92502
(Please write to nearest address)
QUESTERS WORLD
OF NATURE TOURS
You may find some tours similar to ours in other
programs. But because we are the only profes-
sional travel company specializing exclusively in
nature tours, you have three advantages with us:
• The largest selection of nature tours to
virtually every area of the world.
• The best expedition leaders available.
• The assurance that our experience and
expertise will make your tour rewarding.
Consider Questers. The 1976/77 Directory of
Worldwide Nature Tours lists 31 tours ranging
in duration from 4 to 36 days.
Call or write loday or see your ,^
Travel Agent for your free copy. ■'■
Questers Toiurs"
AND TRAVEL, INC.
DEPT. NH-176, 2S7 PARK AVENUE SO.
NEW YORK, N.Y 10010/(212) 673-3120
The
Bitter
End.
It's for
sailing-minded **
peoplel
We're a Yacht Club and sailing resort On
Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.
Your stay includes unlimited sailing. The
Club's fleet of Cal 2-27's, Rhodes 19's and Lasers
are all clean and fully found.
We're a famous yachtman's rendezvous too.
With fine dining, wining, clubhouse comforts
and congeniality.
Race or cruise all day in constant
fradewinds of sheltered Gorda Sound.
Relax, eat and sleep ashore. Your hillside
villa overlooks the entire spectacular Sound,
Afloat and ashore, it's the best of both
worlds!
Reservations: The Bitter End Yacht Club NHl
875 N. Michigan, Chicago 60611 312/944-5855
82
theory, the materials that vaporize at
the highest temperatures, such as iron
and silicate rock compounds, con-
dense first as the hot gas cools, pro-
ducing dense cores about a millionth
of an inch in diameter. Subsequently,
the lighter atoms, such as hydrogen
and oxygen, occasionally collide
with those grain cores and may stick
to them. Then, through processes of
surface chemistry, the lighter atoms
stuck on the grains combine with each
other to form such compounds as Ha
(molecular hydrogen), OH (hy-
droxyl), and H2O (water ice). The H2
and some of the OH escape from the
grains in the process of forming, thus
accounting for the presence of these
molecules in interstellar space; but
the H2O and other frozen molecules
do not escape, instead, they build up
an icy mantle around the dense grain
cores.
This picture is consistent with
radio astronomy observations that
have revealed clouds of hydroxy] gas
in our galaxy and with other studies
made by the Princeton astronomers
using Copernicus, which show that
much of the interstellar hydrogen is
actually in molecular rather than
atomic form. Field goes on to com-
pare his interstellar grain model to a
microscopic world: "The interior of
the grain, like that of the earth, is
composed of iron and silicates. Its
outer envelope, like the oceans of
earth, is water. The whole is im-
mersed in a gaseous atmosphere, and
is bathed, like the earth, in ultraviolet
light and cosmic radiation."
Other scientists, however, dis-
agree. They do not believe that all of
the missing material can be stored in
interstellar grains and they suggest
further that the "sticking process"
may build up solid, icy structures
much larger than a single microscopic
grain. The theoretical dimensions of
these icy objects range from those of
a baseball to those of a comet. Ob-
jects of this type would not contribute
to the interstellar dimming and red-
dening of starlight in the manner of
widely diffused dust, nor would they
be observable from the earth by any
known method. In fact, even the
comets of our own solar system are
generally invisible from earth except
when they come close enough to pass
within the orbit of Jupiter.
The obvious objection to these
theories is that they predict the exist-
ence of things in space that we cannot
hope to record or measure. Hence
they can only be checked by addi- I
NATaRE EXPEDITIONS
and Journeys of Discovery ^ j^
The 1976 NATURAL HISTORY
CALENDAR—
Northwest Coast Indians and
their Art— Published by The
AiTierican Museum of Natural
History Deluxe edition. Full
color, quality stock, high gloss
cover, and only $3.00. A perfect
gift. Order now! Send to
NATURAL HISTORY
CALENDAR Dept. C340 Box
5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
WHEN YOU WRITE TO
NATURAL HISTORY
about a change of address, renewal of sub-
scription, billing, or any kind of adjustment,
send the present address label from the mag-
azine wrapper.
Moving? Please notify 6 weeks in advance.
You can use this form to tell us about a move
or order a subscription
Change of address — attach your address
label in the dotted area and fill in your nevj
address below/, clip and mail to Natural History
Membership Services Box 6000, Des Moines,
Iowa 50340
tional lhei)rclical calculations. On the
other hand, we do find comets ni the
solar system and they do appear to
contain such materials as dust grains,
ice, and molecules that include hy-
droxyl and possibly even molecular
hydrogen (see "A Funny Thing Hap-
pened to Comet Kohoulek," Natural
History, March 1974),
Since there are comets in our solar
system, presumably they also exist
elsewhere in space. The question is.
How many comets does each star
have? Are there enough in our galaxy
to explain the great amount of miss-
ing interstellar matter? Conventional
estimates of the number of comets in
our own solar system suggest that
even if the billions of unseen comets
that are assumed to orbit the sun
beyond the distance of Pluto are in-
cluded, the total would still not
amount to more than from one to one
thousand times the mass of the earth.
That is actually a small amount of
matter and not nearly enough to ac-
count for the depleted elements even
if comets of equal number are asso-
ciated with each of the other stars. On
the other hand, a leading theory of the
origin of the solar system, proposed
by A. G. W. Cameron, a colleague
of Field's at the Center for Astrophys-
ics, suggests that there are far more
comets beyond Pluto than previously
recognized. If many more comets
formed around the sun when it was
born than have so far been credited,
then comparable numbers of comets
may have arisen around other stars at
their births as well . Cameron believes
that this assumption might explain the
missing elements of the Copernicus
data.
It seems likely that the so-called
missing elements are not truly lost but
can be accounted for by one or an-
other version of these theories or by
a combination of them. Certainly
some of the unaccounted-for material
must be located in dust grains, while
some of it may exist in the form of
larger objects, including comets. The
medium of interstellar space gives
rise to the stars and they, in turn,
enrich that same medium with their
own gaseous and particulate emis-
sions. The life cycle of the galaxy
must thus include "gas togas" in ad-
dition to "dust to dust."
Stephen P. Maran is studying stars at
the University of California in Los
Angeles on temporary assignment
from NASA 's Goddard Space Center
in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Only Australia has
the three ''K's -Kookaburras,
Kangaroos, and Koalas.
Go to Phillip Island. We will be happy
to introduce you to our laughing Kook-
aburras Gallahs that flit about. Willy
Wagtails, Butcher-birds. Masked Owls.
and outlandish kinds of parrots.
In Canberra go to the Tidbinbilla
Nature Reserve. All sorts of Kangaroos
Swamp Wallabies, Ring-tailed Possums
Emus(those big silly birds that can't
fly a lick) and shy bush animals.
See the Koalas m the Lone Pine Sane
tuary m Brisbane. At the Lamington
National Park the orchids are thick as
weeds.
In Sydneyenjoy our beaches, night-
life and one-hundred-million-dollar
Opera House. Visit sophisticated Mel-
bourne and sunny Brisbane.
Just mail in the coupon and we'll tell
you more about our reasonably-priced
pre-packaged wildlife tours. Or ask your
Travel Agent.
AUSTRALIA
Where the good old days are now.
Au'.uahanTouriM Commission. Depl 151A-117
1270Avenueol Ihe Americas. New York. N Y 10020
3550WilshitcBlvd . Los Angeles. Calif- 90010
Already I'm wild lof Australia's wildlife
Please send mc literature on
n: Birds D Flora D Fauna
I'm interested m
C Group Tours D Individualitineranes
City.
An anthology of some of the best in
NATURAL HIS rORV
Celebrating NATURAL HIS-
TORY'S 75th Anniversai7, Editor
Alan Ternes, has collected forty
past articles by well known au-
thors with commentaries and bi-
ographical notes.
This big, handsome, hardcover
book with nearly 400 pages in
large type makes a very fascinat-
ing gift for any intelligent, curious
person. $10 postpaid
, — Please
, — ' send me copies
of Ants, Indians and Little Dinosaurs
at $10 each.
I enclose check/money order, payable to
NATURAL HISTORY, in the amount of
NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
Dept. B600,Box5123
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Name (p/ease print!).
City-
_Zlp.
Please allow 4 to 6 weeks tor delivery Museum Members may take a 10% discount.
The American Museum
Announces The Evening
Members of The American Museum are invited to
participate in our unusual evening programs
presented by a distinguished staff, and held at
the Museum.
f Natural History
ecture Series for Adults
Starting February 10, 1976
ARCHAEOLOGY OF GREECE— Eight
lectures on Tuesday evenings start-
ing February 10, from 7:30-9:00 p.m.
Fee: $30. Few realize how much
of the daily life of ancient Greece
has been recorded by her exception-
ally lively and gifted people and re-
covered through archaeology. With
slides, we can still watch such scenes
as a sacrifice to Apollo, a bawdy
drinking party, a classroom, athletes
training, a wedding. In this series
particular care has been taken to
interweave places, objects and the
ideas behind them, and to use the
full range of materials available — not
only in Greece but in other Mediter-
ranean sites and museums — to re-
construct this brilliant, and often
unknown civilization. Dr. Claireve
Grandjouan is Chairman of the
Classics Department at Hunter Col-
lege. Given in cooperation with New
York University.
ANTHROPOLOGY THROUGH
FILMS II — Six Wednesday evenings
starting February 11, from 7:00-9:00
p.m. Fee: $25. Last spring, an en-
thusiastic audience wanted more,
and here is a second series of anthro-
pological movies coordinated by Dr.
Malcolm Arth, anthropologist and
Curator at the Museum. On two
evenings he is joined by guests
whose works are being shown:
Margaret Mead and Yvonne Hanne-
man. The films are: TRANCE AND
DANCE IN BALI, LEARNING TO
DANCE IN BALI, ARROW TO THE
SUN, AN ANSI THE SPIDER, AT THE
CARIBOU CROSSING, PART II,
DANI HOUSES, BETTY TELLS HER
STORY, NOT SO YOUNG NOW AS
THEN, MEN'S LIVES, THE SHADOW
CATCHER, THE WORK OF GOMIS
as well as a rare early film from the
Museum's archives.
AN AWAKENING IN ANTHRO-
POLOGY— Eight lectures on Thurs-
day evenings starting February 19,
from 7:00-8:30 p.m. Fee: $30. In-
creasingly modern anthropologists
are finding new ways to study
societies. Social "trivia," from
naming dogs to patterns in swearing.
even the choice of paints for a home,
once ignored, are now considered
significant social data with complete
symbolic meanings. These lectures
bring to light some present day
thinking of anthropologists about
both modern and tribal societies.
Paul ). Sanfacon is Lecturer in
Anthropology at the Museum.
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF ANIMALS—
Eight lectures on Wednesday even-
ings starting February 11, from
7:00-8:30 p.m. Fee: $35. Evolution
and development of social behavior
as an important factor in ecological
adaptation of representative species.
Contrasting female and male roles in
social organization, reproduction
and behavioral development of off-
spring of invertebrates and verte-
brates. Consideration of implications
for human social organization. Ex-
perimental studies with live animals
will be demonstrated. Dr. Ethel
Tobach, Curator at the Museum and
Adjunct Professor in Biology and
Psychology at The City University of
New York studies adjustive behavior
in sea hares, rodents and monkeys.
Dr. Howard R. Topoff, Research
Associate at the Museum, is cur-
rently doing research on develop-
ment of social behavior in army ants.
NEW YORK'S PAST ONE BILLION
YEARS — Eight lectures on Wednes-
day evenings starting February 11,
from 7:00-8:30 p.m. Fee: $30.
Craggy peaks rising majestically
skyward; aquamarine, amethyst,
tourmaline, and garnet forming deep
within their roots. Dinosaurs,
phytosaurs, and gliding reptiles
roaming about in what is today the
preserve of the New Jersey com-
muter. Ice as thick as the Empire
State Building resculpting Long
island; surging Atlantic waves throw-
ing up familiar beaches. This is only
part of the story revealed by the rock
record. These slide-illustrated lec-
tures trace the geological evolution
of Metropolitan New York. Chris-
topher ). Schuberth is Lecturer in
Geology at the Museum and Adjunct
Professor in Geology at the City
University of New York.
THE WORLD OF BIRDS— Six lec-
tures on Tuesday evenings starting
February 10, from 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Fee: $25. This series introduces the
history of birds, their classification,
structure (including adaptations for
the various modes of life found in
the bird world), and other interest-
ing aspects such as reproduction,
display, and migration. Illustrated
with color slides and study skins
from the Museum collections.
Kenneth A. Chambers is Lecturer in
Zoology at the Museum.
PLANTS OF THE WETLANDS— Six
lectures on Thursday evenings be-
ginning February 19, from 7:00-8:30
p.m. Fee: $25. From the northern
forests of Canada to subtropical
areas in Florida, plants appear in
greatest variety and numbers in wet
areas. This slide-illustrated series of
lectures will explore the lakes, bogs,
marshes, swamps and seashore areas
of eastern North America for their
varied plant life. Primitive plants, as
well as typical flowering forms will
be examined together with the eco-
systems of which they are a part.
Helmut Schiller is Lecturer in Botany
at the Museum.
REGISTER NOW -
TO: Department of Education
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, N.Y. 10024
I enclose a stamped, self-
addressed envelope, together with
a check (or money order) for
$ payable to The
American Museum of Natural History.
n Ms. D Mrs. D Miss D Mr.
Q.
N
B
^
-D
-a
<
-.
c
Q-
3
C
3
E
q;
o
D
u
z
i7)
m
CD
Advance Registration is requested but
registration accepted on the opening
night if course is not filled.
NO SINGLE ADMISSION TICKETS SOLD.
A Matter of Taste
The Drinking Man's Pear
by Raymond Sokolov
When the fresh fruit is
out of season, there
is a spirited alternative
I moot dye, so soore longeth me
To eten of the small peres grene.
Chaucer, The Merchant's Tale
God, we may assert, made little
green pears so that we would long for
them. If you yearn for the fleshy fruit
of Pyrus communis, if your idea of
paradise (no pun intended) is to sit
with a blonde Eve- or Adam-figure by
an ever-blooming espaliered pear
tree, you join a long tradition that
links pears and carnality in the Divine
plan. As Kenneth A. Bleeth of Bos-
ton University pointed out in a recent
number of Harvard English Studies,
the pear lust of the heroine of The
Merchant's Tale is only one example
of a medieval commonplace: that
the pear is an emblem of sexuality.
Chaucer, Bleeth suggests, also meant
to identify the pear as the "apple" of
the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden
of Eden, which "was sometimes re-
garded by medieval commentators as
conveying specifically sexual knowl-
edge."
Nowadays we may dismiss all this
allegorico-horticultural allusion as
unscientific or prescientific maunder-
ing. But in our supposedly more ra-
tional ordering of the garden of
earthly delights, we also admit cer-
tain suggestive connections between
the Edenic fruits. Linnaean classifi-
cation puts Adam 's apple and the pear
in the same nomenclatural bushel: the
Malaceae family. Some authorities
have even lumped the two trees to-
gether in the same genus. More to the
point, apple trees and pear trees both
grow pomes. Their fruits, in other
words, have the same structure. They
each have papery or bony cores (en-
docarps) with several seeds and a
thickened outer part (hypanthium).
The similarities between these two
fruits are, indeed, so obvious that we
may profitably take them in our stride
and concentrate on the differences.
Primarily, the alert eater notices that
the ideal apple crunches while the
ideal pear almost melts in his mouth.
The pear also has a grittiness inherent
in it. Perhaps graininess would better
express the fundamental texture of
pear flesh, which is not to be scorned
on that account. On the contrary, a
ripe pear is among the most elegant
of desserts, just as it is.
The trouble is that pears come to
perfection and then move on, in a
trice, to repulsive, brown-blemished
mealiness. You have to watch them
carefully. This untoward flightiness
may have prevented pears from com-
peting successfully for public atten-
tion with their cousin apples . In 1 944,
for example, the United States pro-
duced 2.86 million tons of apples and
only 0.76 million tons of pears. By
1973, the most recent year for which
I have been able to get figures, apple
production had risen to 3.10 million
tons and the pear crop had fallen to
0.72 million tons. Furthermore, the
hardy, storable apple has typically
been eaten fresh more than the fragile
pear .In 1 973 , 56 percent of the apple
crop was sold unprocessed as com-
pared to 42 percent of the pears.
Still, that means that a lot of Amer-
icans are enjoying the unsurpassable
aroma of a lot of fresh pears. Mostly
they are intoxicating themselves with
Bartletts, far and away the most fre-
quently available variety and almost
always the kind that gets canned. For
further adventures with the pear, in its
many other shapes and styles, experi-
ment with Hardys, Flemish Beauties,
Comices, Boscs, and D'Anjous.
A person can spend a delicious fall
and winter and part of the spring (the
Raymond Sokolov is a free-lance
food writer and novelist.
pear season stretches, sometimes, as
far as May) savoring all the different
russet and green and dappled, round
and bumpy, and of course, pear-
shaped, big and little pears. Pear con-
noisseurship is a simple pleasure and
a cheap treat. Ripeness, as the poet
said, is all you need to worry about.
You will quickly learn to recognize
the springy feel of a perfectly ripe
pear. Real aficionados also peel their
pears, because the thin skin contami-
nates the taste of the flesh.
In the winter of 1967, I learned a
neat and, in its way, spectacular
method of peeling pears at the table.
An old and distinguished waiter in the
belle epoque main dining room of the
Paris Ritz noticed that I was about to
cut into a model fruit in a callow man-
ner sure to mangle the pear and to
cover my hand and sleeve with juice.
He offered assistance. While gypsy
violins crooned discreetly at one end
of the drafty and deserted restaurant,
he deftly impaled the bottom of the
pear on a fork. As a result, he could
hold the fruit aloft in one hand and
peel it with a knife in the other. Need-
less to say, the peel fell away in one
lovely spiral and his hands stayed dry.
Some people also poach pears in
wine or bake them in tarts or serve
them with ice cream and chocolate
sauce — a sundae called poire Belle
Helene after the Offenbach show. I
suppose these are fine things to try,
but they do seem supererogatory,
since the fresh pear, pristine and un-
meddled with, surpasses them by so
great a measure.
Where the pear is concerned, we
can dispense with culinary ingenuity,
until the season begins to wane.
Then, fortunately, there is an alterna-
tive, expensive but wonderful: pear
brandy. I refer to the colorless "white
alcohol" distilled from fermented
pear mash, not to pear-flavored,
sweet liqueurs or to perry, which is
a hard pear cider. Real pear brandy —
This is for me.
O
O
o
I want to join The American Museum of Natural History and get.
with my one-year membership, 10 issues of Natural History for $10.
I want to give a gift of Natural History along with a one-year
Associate membership in the l\/luseum. Bill me later @ $10.
I want to splurge and do both. Bill me later @ $10 per subscription.
I understand that each membership-subscription Includes: free
admission to the (vluseum plus two bonus gifts a year and discounts
at the Museum Gift Shop.
ry ^
^ Send bill to: "^
My Name
Address
City
state
Zip
Enter my own
1 prefer;
subscription, too:
'2 years at $17
~ 3 years at $24
Sand gill tubscrlpllon to:
Name
J 151
Address
City State
Zip
Sign gift card from
1 prefer to give: 2 years at $17
3 years at $24
Outside U S.A., please add $? per subscription for postage.
FIRST CLASS
PERMIT NO 4946
DES MOINES. IOWA
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
No Postage Stamp Necessary it Mailed in the United States
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY-
NATURAL HISTORY
p. O. Box 5000
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
or poire or poire or poire Williams or
poire Williamine or Birnengeist, as it
is variously known — smells like a
perfect pear and it is 86 proof, as
strong a drink as bourbon.
Pear brandy of this type is a Euro-
pean specialty. I know of no Ameri-
can producer, although there is a
rumor that someone is experimenting
in the Pacific Northwest, where the
pears are. Until he starts shipping bot-
tles East, however, we will have to
look to imports. The best of these, in
my experience, is Swiss poire.
Recently I visited a pear distillery
outside Sion, the wine center in the
canton of the Valais, east of Geneva.
Pears are trucked in green and al-
lowed to ripen in the mountain air.
Bill Stanton, Magnum
The warehouse is gorgeous with pear
aroma. Once the fruit is mature, it
goes into an industrial blender that
chops it into a puree. In a typical
week, 25,000 liters of this elegant
mash might be fermented in steel
"barrels" with enameled linings.
The process of converting pear sugar
to alcohol (and carbon dioxide) is
promoted by mixing brewers' yeast
into the mash. The liquid bubbles
away at a constant temperature of 77°
F. (25° C.) for a week or until the
bubbling stops. Then it goes into a
modern still, in 250 kilogram
batches.
Nothing that goes on in that still
would surprise a Kentucky moon-
shiner, except the clear smooth liquid
with the powerful aroma that drips
out of the end of the still's system of
copper tubing and filters and rectify-
ing towers.
Basically, distillation is a method
of evaporating and filtering away un-
wanted substances in order to purify
the alcoholic component of pear mash
or grain mash (for bourbon or Scotch)
or wine (for cognac or brandy). It is
possible to achieve perfection in this
process: 100 percent neutral spirits,
pure alcohol. But a 200 proof bever-
age has no taste or personality
("proof" is double the alcohol per-
centage of a liquid). And so some im-
purities are left in. That is why pear
brandy tastes of pear. The distiller
produces a fairly stiff potion that
averages out at somewhere between
55 and 60 percent alcohol (1 1 0 to 1 20
proof). This is diluted to a standard
43 percent with distilled water (which
has had its impurities filtered out in
a similar still), so that it becomes that
smooth and luxurious after-dinner
drink on which the knowing batten.
Very special bottles of poire come
with a whole pear inside. I used to
think that, to achieve this, a glass-
blower had to blow a bottle around
each pear. In fact, the trick is done
in orchards, where you can observe
the curious sight of pear trees decked
out with bottles on their budding
limbs. Even so, it is a tough trick.
One Swiss company puts 65,000 bot-
tles on pear boughs every season, but
only succeeds in growing 15,000 to
20,000 pears in an average year.
Then the pears that do grow have to
be pickled in pure alcohol so that they
won't affect the taste of the pear
brandy in which they eventually
come to rest. Once you have one of
these pear-filled bottles, you need
never buy another. The pear lasts in-
definitely, and the bottle can be re-
filled from a new bottle without a
pear. This dodge saves money and,
as a reckless friend of mine points
out, you are left with several fluid
ounces of new poire to drink, on the
spot, because there isn't room for a
whole fifth in the bottle with the pear.
If you don't feel like throwing an
expensive drunk on the excess, you
might join me in improving a classic
French cake, the savarin, with a syrup
made from pear brandy instead of the
customary rum. Savarins are circular
and spongy molded cakes baked from
a yeast-risen dough. They are served
drenched in spirituous syrup because
they imbibe liquid easily, and like so
many of us, they improve once they
I
A new television s(;ri(;s on PBS
THE ADAMS CHRONICLES
Photo Cari Samrock
"The story of the Adams family runs like a scarlet thread of moral courage
and strength of character through the whole fabric of American history."
John F. Kennedy
Beginning on January 20, 1976, the Public
Broadcasting Service will present a series of 13
hour-long television episodes dramatizing 150
years in the lives of America's history-making
Adams family.
The series will bring to life the ambitions and
desires and tragedies and triumphs of four
generations of Adams men and women. Through
these events we will discover how this unique
family helped shape the destiny of our nation.
The Adams Chronicles has been made possible by grants from
the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Andrew W,
Mellon Foundation, and Atlantic Richfield Company.
Tune in January 20. Make sure you see this
engrossing TV drama from the very beginning.
The outstanding cast includes (above, clockwise
from upper left) Steven Grover (John Quincy
Adams), Lisa Lucas (Nabby Adams), Kathryn
Walker (Abigail Adams), J. C. Powell (Charles
Adams), George Grizzard (John Adams), and
Asher Pergament (Tommy Adams). An original
production of WNET/13, New York.
AtlanticRichfieldCompany
have imbibed. This improvement,
with a poire syrup, is cause for exulta-
tion. You may wish to accompany
your first (or indeed your subsequent)
tastes with the traditional Romansh
toast of the canton of Grisons: E
Viva!
Le Savarin Valaisanne
(Savarin with Poire Williams Syrup)
1 package dry active yeast
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
V2 teaspoon salt
Vi cup lukewarm milk (1 10 degrees)
4 room temperature eggs, lightly
beaten
2 cups flour, approximately
1 1 tablespoons butter, softened
Vi cup pear brandy
6 ounces apricot preserves
1 . Dissolve the yeast, the salt, and
3 tablespoons of the sugar in the
milk.
2. Stir the eggs and then the flour
into the yeast mixture. Beat for
several minutes with a wooden
spoon in order to produce a
smooth, soft dough.
3. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-
free place until it doubles in
bulk. This may take anywhere
from forty minutes to two hours.
The ideal room temperature is
about 80 degrees. Somewhat
lower room temperatures slow,
but do not cut off, the growth of
the yeast, which produces the
risen dough. In any case, cover
the bowl .
4. Beat the butter into the risen
dough (reserving a half-table-
spoon).
5 . Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
6. Grease the inside of a 6-cup sa-
varin mold with the reserved but-
ter. Pack the dough into the mold
as evenly as possible, and
smooth the surface with a spoon.
Let rise until the dough almost
fills mold.
7. Bake the savarin for ten minutes
in the middle of the oven. Then
reduce the heat to 350 degrees
and continue baking for about
ten more minutes, at which point
the cake should be nicely puffed
up, browned and cooked (so that
a trussing needle will pass
through it and come out clean).
Remove from oven and cool on
a rack.
8. While the savarin cools, prepare
the poire Williams syrup: dis-
solve 1 1 tablespoons of the sugar
in 1 Vi cups of water and bring to
Swiss National Tourist Office
a boil, at which point you pour
in the pear brandy, remove the
syrup from the stove, and let it
cool.
9. Unmold the savarin onto a flat
platter. Invert it once more, onto
another platter so as to leave the
top (browned) side up. Then cut
off the brown top in a thin layer
and discard (this facilitates the
imbibition of syrup).
10. Pour the syrup into a skillet large
enough to hold the savarin. In-
vert the savarin once more, leav-
ing the cut side down. Now slide
it gently into the skillet. Let it
stand in the syrup for 30 minutes .
1 1 . While waiting for imbibition to
take place, sieve the apricot pre-
serves and combine with the re-
maining 3 tablespoons of sugar
in a saucepan.
12. Pour off excess syrup, if any, by
tilting the skillet. Invert savarin
onto a flat platter and then invert
a second time onto a serving plat-
ter, cut side down (curved side
up).
13. Heat the apricot-sugar mixture
until it comes to a boil. Then,
working quickly and gently with
a pastry brush, cover the savarin
with apricot glaze. Clean up
drips and refrigerate until ready
to serve. There is a natural temp-
tation to fill the hole in the middle
of the savarin. Some people pipe
sweetened whipped cream into
the void. Others chill a mousse
there — or install a mound ■ of
hulled strawberries. All of these
ideas are decorative, but they do
overcrowd the palate with an
excess of sensations, distracting
attention from the ethereal
vapors of the pear.
Yield: Ten Servings
_T^E> 1V(ARKET_
Art
Motion Pictures
PORTRAITS PAINTED PROFESSIONALLY (rom
pholo or life By appoinlment: Rela Soloway. 145
[exinglon Ave., Franklin Square, NY 11010 516-
GE7-4369
Birdwatchers
FINEST WILD BIRD HOMES and feeders. Free
lilerature. Dial-A-Bird. Box 449Y Weslwood, NJ
07675
Books
ALL NEW DINOSAURS, by Long/Welles. Great
recent discoveries. Scientifically written coloring
book. $2.45 postpaid Art Explorers, 1804 Massa-
chusetts Avenue. Cambridge, MA 02140
ECOLOGICAL FANTASIES: Death Irom Falling
Watermelons Cy C Adier's defense of innovation
and rational approaches to environmental prob-
lems "Should be read and taught impressive
. startling", A Wolman, Johns Hopkins "Au-
thoritative and funny"; Science Digest "Out of the
ordinary"; A A U.W 350 pages. $11 95 postpaid
Greeneagle Press, 95 Nassau, NYC 10038
NATURAL HISTORY, BOOKS, PERIODICALS,
bought/sold O.P., Rare Catalogs issued J Na-
dolny. Booksellers, New Britain, CT 06053
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 90 DAYS Wanted; book
manuscripts on all subjects Expert editing, de-
sign, manufacture and marketing— all under one
roof. Completed books in 90 days. Low break-
even Two FREE books and literature give details,
costs, success stories Write or phone DepI 779,
Exposition Press. Inc., 900 So Oyster Bay Rd..
Hicksville, NY 11801. (516) 822-5700; (212) 895-
0081
RARE BOOK FINDER; Van Treuren, 1950 Post
#108 NH, San Francisco, CA 941 15. Send Wants.
RUDOLF STEINER'S BOOKS. Free catalog. Write:
Anthroposophic Press, 258 Hungry Hollow Road,
Spring Valley, NY 10977
Business Opportunities
$800.00 MONTHLY POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes.
Free supplies. Rush stamped envelope. United.
3838'/2 Van Dyke. San Diego, CA 92105
TEACHERS-ADMINISTRATORS Current school,
college openings list in US, $5 95: abroad, $5.95.
Leading placement sources. US. $3 95; foreign,
$4.95 EISF, Box 662, Newton, MA 02162
$300.00 WEEKLY POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes.
Free supplies. Details, stamped envelope ISCO,
3835 42nd, San Diego, CA 92105
Foreign Newspapers
WORLDWIDE ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS 65 coun-
tries! Sampler: Eight countries— $3 98. FREE
BROCHURE, MULTINEWSPAPERS, Box DE-20,
Dana Point. CA 92629
Gardening
$1,000 REWARD! World's Most Unusual Seed
Catalog tells you how. Fascinating stories of gar-
den giants Full color. Rare, gigantic, miniature
and oriental vegetables Send 25e, Grace's Gar-
dens, 65 Autumn Lane, Hackettstown. NJ 07840
Gifts
CLEAR LUCITE BLOCKS; We embed coins,
medals, insects, mementos of all kinds. One piece
or quantity For prices, information Quality Em-
bedment Co, 20 West 22 Street, NYC 10010.
212-255-8855
GIANT FOSSIL EXOGYRA SHELLS. 90 MILLION
years old. $4.95 postpaid. Ezell's. 506 13th Ave.,
Tuscaloosa. AL 35401
Gourmet Interests
TEA DEVOTEES savor world's rarest select teas.
Grace Tea Importers. Dept. NH16. 799 Broadway,
NYC, 10003 Free brochure.
Minerals
RECEIVE VALUABLE MINERALS MONTHLY!!
Free Details Mineral of the Month Club. Box 487-
HM. Yucaipa. CA 92399
16MM SOUND FEATURES, shorls, new, used, for
sale Free catalog National Cinema, 333 W 57lh
St . New York, NY 10019
Post Card Albums
BEAUTIFUL POSTCARD ALBUM-world's finest:
holds 200 cards— $9 95 poslfree Moneyback
guarantee. Writewell Co . 201 Transit BIdg , Bos-
Ion, MA 02115
Real Estate
137 ACRES OR LESS, trees, hills, two streams.
fields, mountain view, possible pond, state high-
way, power wires, few minutes Gore Mountain ski
slope, Hudson f^iver, stores, movie, night lite,
lakes. 0. Stromberg, N Creek, NY 12853
Schools
HABITAT INSTITUTE FOR THE ENVIRON-
MENT—Internships in environmental education
and problem solving Scholarships available Box
136. Belmont. MA 02178 (617) 489-3850
Seashells
SEA SHELL CATALOG 1975-76 Fully illustrated
Rare and Popular Shells. Prepackaged Collec-
tions. Corals, Craft Shells and Natural Sealife
Specimens $2 00 BENJANE ARTS. 320 Hemp-
stead Ave. W Hempstead. NY 11552 COME
VISITi
Stamps
ANIMALS OR BIRDS ON STAMPS, 25 different
30e. plus list of Topical Collections GEORGE
FORD. Box 5203. Gulf port. FL 33737
Travel
ANTHROPOLOGY. NATURAL HISTORY, and na-
ture photography expeditions to unique environ-
ments of the world including Afghanistan. Alaska.
East Africa, Galapagos, Hawaii. Mexico. Scotland
and South America For 1976/77 catalog write
Nature Expeditions International. Dept NC. Suite
F. 4546 El Camino Real. Los Altos. CA 94022
D-ARROW— WILDERNESS TRIP Camp Separate
groups for boys and girls Full or half season 20th
year Canoe trips in Maine and Quebec. Survival,
ecology, Quaker leadership, ACA accredited
Post season coed biology George N Darrow. 780
Milbrook Lane, Haverford, PA 19041
LONDON— AN UNIQUE LUXURY "PENSION,"
central, private and informal For those who prefer
not to pay "Grand Hotel" prices Number sixteen
Sumner Place, London SW7 England
MAMMALS, REPTILES, INSECTS, CACTI, WILD
FLOWERS . many resorts have these. The
Wickenburg Inn has professional naturalists to
help you see and understand more: special wild-
life package weeks for beginners and advanced
nature watchers, pfus the '
arts & crafts. acd)mmoa.'s'
travel agent or write Tr .
Box P. Wickenburg. A2 c-.
MAYA— AZTEC- INCA EXP£(jlTlOl^i& Explore
temples, pyramids, coral reefs, /ungle with an-
Ihropologist/ecologisi Small groups, monthly
trips College credit option Forum International
2437 Durant. Berkeley. CA 94704 (415) 843-8294
NEW MEXICO Guided wildflower-birdmg tours
Photography blind Bear Mountain Ranch. Silver
City. NM 88061 505/538-2538
"POLYNESIAS PEOPLE Extraordinary antfiro-
pological tour visits traditional Polynesians at
home Luxury hotels, fine food, expert guide See
travel agent or write Richard Goodman's Good-
Travel Tours. Box 2866. Oakland Calif 94618
WILDLIFE IN SCOTLAND See wild deer seals,
loons, eagles and a host of other animals, amid
a setting of mountain, loch, and pine forest All-
inclusive vacations For illustrated brochure send
airmail postcard to Caledonian Wildlife Services.
Kingsmills Gardens. Inverness IV2 3LU. Scotland
WINTERS SPECIAL JOYS 20 guests on 200
acres Cross-country skiing, excellent food, ac-
claimed wine list, warm hearth THE FLYING
CLOUD INN 1771. New Marlboro. Berkshire
County. MA 01230 (413) 229-2113 Reservations
required
YUKON WILDERNESS UNLIMITED. 11 years of
personally conducted wilderness vacations Wnte
lor 1976 Itinerary John Lammers. Box 4126
Whilehorse Y1A3S9 Yukon
RATES AND STYLE INFORMATION
$1.50 per word; 16 word (S24) minimum. Display
classified is SI 50 per inch Rales are not structured
for agency and frequency discounts or billing. All
advertisements are accepted at NATURAL HIS-
TORYs discretion; all must be prepaid. Send
check.money order payable to NATURAL HIS-
TORY for each insertion, including your personal
address and telephone Mention issue preferred,
suggested heading, and text Deadlines — 8th of
month, two months pnor to cover date. Thus, a
January issue closes November 8. A tearsheet or
copy of the page with your ad will be sent upon
publication.
Box numbers, telephone numbers, and hyphen-
ated words count as two words: abbreviations and
zip codes as one word each. All states are shown
in two-letter codes followed by zip. the telephone
(with area code), if any. An address such as "18
Main St. " counts as three words. Occasionally,
slight editing for clarity is required. We trust you
trust us. Thank you!
Bazaar. Nairobi
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon The sun moves from Sagittarius into Capricornus about
January 19 then mto Aquarius by mid-February. This takes it northward
at an acceleratmg pace from its most southerly position of late De-
cember. By niid-February, later sunsets and the increasing duration of
daylight will be quite noticeable.
The best moonlight occurs about mid-month in both January and
February. The crescent moon will show up in the evening sky during
the first week of both months, waxing and setting later until the middle
ot the month, then waning and rising later in the night until a few days
before month's end. ^
In January, first-quarter is on the 9th, full moon on the 16th, last-quar-
ter on the 23rd, and new moon on the 31st. First-quarter moon appears
again on February 8 and full moon on February 15.
Stars and Planets Winter stars are well placed in the early evenings
Orion, high and majestic in the south, is surrounded by a halo of bright
stars that can be traced from Sirius, to its left, up through Procyon
Pollux, Castor, Capella, and around to Aldebaran. Exploring Orion and
nearby Taurus with a small telescope or binoculars can be fascinating
On a clear, dark night, the great nebula (in Orion's "sword") seen
through binoculars, can appear as large as the full moon
If you see some bright objects that seem out of place in this winter's
sky, check them with our Star Map, which shows three planets looking
for all the world as though they were part of the winter star display
Jupiter brighter than anything else in the sky (except the moon), is in
the southwest. Mars is above Orion, very close in appearance and bright-
ness to the star Betelguese, at Orion's "left shoulder." And Saturn
near to and in line with, Castor and Pollux, and of similar brightness'
makes Gemini look like triplets rather than twins
Venus, the brightest planet in the dawn sky, is low in the southeast
tor a few hours before sunrise. Mercury is also a morning star, but not
well placed for viewing.
January 16--17: The moon is near Saturn both evenings, passing below
theplanetduringthedayof the 17th.
January 20: Three events occur today: Saturn is in opposition with
the sun, keeping it above the horizon all night; the moon is at perigee
^Z1 'tf ww'^ ^f ' ""'^^ ''' ^^trograde movement and begins to
Taurus)* ^^^"'' ^^'"^ '* ^^""^ ^'°'" "^^'•'^ Aldebi^an (in
January 23: The bright object near the moon tonight is Spica, in Virgo
January 28: Venus and the crescent moon will make a pretty sight
m the southeast this morning at about dawn. f j &
Febriiary 3: Mercury, having passed between the earth and the sun
molfon ^^°' ^^^°™' stationary and begins its normal (eastward)
February 5: Look for Jupiter near the crescent moon at dusk tonight
February 10: It is Mars' s turn to be near the moon tonight, from dusk
until both set well after midnight.
February 13: The nearly full moon rises near Saturn tonight Pollux
and Castor are the two stars higher than, and in line with, Saturn.
It^h rhi ! T^ '" *u ?TP''' ^''■"'^''°" y°" ^^^e *^ a' *e bottom; then
Cml /' ' m on"""'' ^"^ °^ *" '"'P ^'* *°^^ *" *^ ^ky near the ho izon .
The map is for 10:20 p.m. on January 15; 9: 15 p.m. on January 31 ; 8- 15 p m
on February 15; but .t can also be used for an hour before and afler those times
92
ujueiG 0|y|
\ \ / \
-y "x
\oR\o^/ ^-
93
Books in Review
"A fascinating
self-portrait by an
extraordinary man"*
Loren Eiseley
All the
Strange Hours
The Excavation of a Life
"A truly extraordinary book, one
of the finest and most deeply
moving performances in an art
much practiced in our time but
almost never with the serious-
ness, the intensity, or the grace
of Eiseley's performance."
— James Olney,
The New Republic
"A superb memoir— haunting in
its evocation of a man's life and
the life of man, alternately vig-
orous and lyrical . . . This is an
autobiography unlike any other
in manner and matter, one that
you will not soon forget."
— Joht-i Barkham Reviews
Illustrated by Emanuel Haller.
'■'Library Journal
p___ At bookstores or order from«___
©CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, •
Dept.AS j
597 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017 '
Please send me copy(ies) of All \
the Strange Hours @ |9.95. I am en- I
closmg a check or money order for I
*- This includes 50<! for post- '
age and handling, plus sales tax. |
Name j
Address
City
State
— I
I
_Zip_
Valid only in the continental U.S. '
^^ This offer expires 5/30/76. NH '
The War Against Wildlife
The Politics of Extinction, by
Lewis Regenstein. Macmillan Pub-
lishing Co. $9.95: 280 pp., iUus.
The Environmental Protection
Agency's prohibition of most domes-
tic uses of DDT in 1972 and Con-
gress's enactment of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 combined to
raise public hopes that animals such
as the brown pelican and others
among the world's scarcest wildlife
might yet be protected from extinc-
tion. The brown pelican and several
other fish-eating birds (including
the nation's symbol, the American
bald eagle) suflfered drastic declines
in their numbers during the 1960s as
a result of the gradual accumulation
of DDT in the environment. Once in-
gested and metabolized, the chemical
caused the eggs of the brown pelican
to become extremely thin shelled or
infertile. The obvious consequence
was that more and more eggs were
broken, fewer young were hatched,
and total numbers dropped precipi-
tously. In certain areas where the
brown pelican had long flourished,
such as coastal Louisiana, entire pop-
ulations were completely eliminated.
The initial impact upon brown peli-
can populations of the ban on DDT
seemed to indicate that public opti-
mism had been justified. In many of
those areas where the original popula-
tions had not been completely obliter-
ated, remnant populations bounced
back quickly. Their recovery was so
good that state and federal wildlife
authorities undertook to relocate
some brown pelicans to the areas in
which they had previously lived.
Some of the relocation projects also
showed signs of success. By April
1975, a relocated colony in Barataria
Bay near Grand Isle, Louisiana,
which had been started in 1968 with
only 25 birds imported from Florida,
had grown to more than 500 birds.'
Then in May the birds began to die,
and in less than two months more than
80 percent of the restored colony was
dead. The culprit this time, it is be-
lieved, was no longer DDT, but per-
haps as many as eight other farm pes-
ticides, including one known as en-
drin, which was found in all the dead
birds that were examined. Appar-
ently, spring flooding in the upper
Mississippi valley had washed so
much of the chemicals downstream at
one time that a mass poisoning of
Louisiana's brown pelicans resulted.
The example of the brown pelican
IS instructive in several respects for
those who are concerned with the
problem of extinction. First, it illus-
trates the critical vulnerability of
most species considered to be endan-
gered today. Such species have be-
come so reduced in their numbers, so
restricted in their ranges, and perhaps
so weakened by the stresses of rapid
environmental change that a single
occurrence— an accidental oil spill,
the draining of a swamp, or the acci-
dental introduction of competing or
predatory species— could deliver the
final coup de grace to entire local pop-
ulations and perhaps to the entire spe-
cies. The second, and more trouble-
some lesson to be learned from the
brown pelican experience applies not
just to presently endangered species
but also to those species that are rela-
tively abundant today and not consid-
ered endangered. This lesson is sim-
ply that the environmental conse-
quences of any human activity, and
not just those that employ relatively
new and untested chemical technol-
ogy, can never be foreseen with cer-
tainty and may, in retrospect, turn out
to be immensely catastrophic. The
final lesson, most ominous of all, is
that the fight to save much of the
world's vanishing wildlife may al-
ready be doomed by forces beyond
any realistic prospect of short-term
control, and that the most that its ad-
vocates can hope to gain is a few more
years of survival before species after
species disappears forever.
One who has not given up the fight
on behalf of the world's wildlife is
94
i
by Michael J. Bean
Lewis Regenstein, a young, arlicu-
late environmental activist, who
serves as executive vice-president of
the Fund for Animals. Regenstein's
new book, The Politics of Extinction,
is the latest, and potentially the most
effective, weapon to be used by the
Fund in its battle against govern-
mental and public indifference to the
plight of endangered wildlife.
In Regenstein's view, a substantial
share of the blame for the desperate
state of much wildlife today can be
placed at the feet of politicians who
are unable to enact effective protec-
tive legislation, bureaucrats who are
too timid to enforce vigorously the
legislation that has been passed, and
the various vested interests, most
especially the hunting and firearms
lobbies, which have bought off the
politicians, intimidated the bureau-
crats, and misled the public. Regen-
stein's argument is made most effec-
tively in those chapters devoted to
single animal types such as the wolf,
the grizzly bear, and the prairie dog.
The literal war that has been waged
against these animals has been
fought, Regenstein argues convinc-
ingly, at the behest and for the exclu-
sive benefit of the "sport" hunting
lobby, the cattlemen's lobby, and the
woolgrowers' lobby. Regenstein also
explores the well-orchestrated efforts
of still other commercial interests: the
tuna industry's efforts to gut federal
regulations designed to protect por-
poises and dolphins, the fur in-
dustry's efforts to weaken and cir-
cumvent restrictions on the killing of
seals and spotted cats, and the failure
of both national and international
bodies to check the excesses of the
whaling industry.
The above examples and others
that Regenstein discusses in detail are
comprehensively documented, gen-
erally convincing, and always dis-
turbing. In each instance, however,
one can readily perceive that there is
a clearly drawn conflict between a rel-
atively specific commercial interest
and an animal, the killing of which
will either directly (as in the case of
seals and spotted cats) or indirectly
(as in the case of wolves and cougars)
benefit that interest. The major short-
coming of Regenstein's book is that
such clearly defined conflicts are
probably atypical of the threats facing
most endangered species, and Regen-
stein's examples may therefore be of
limited utility in formulating a more
generalized assessment of the causes
and consequences of extinction. Sim-
ilarly, his prescriptions may have lit-
tle or no applicability to the difficult
problem of preserving most endan-
gered (and for that matter, nonendan-
gered) species.
This is not to say that Regenstein
has not written a very useful book . To
the contrary, his principal examples,
despite their selectivity, provide a
sometimes shocking account of how
the governmental apparatus can be
manipulated by powerful commercial
interests that do not have the slightest
concern for ecological balance and
seem incapable of comprehending the
fundamental significance of extinc-
tion. The Politics of Extinction could
well stimulate a substantial public
awareness of, and concern for, the
problem of saving endangered wild-
life. By alerting a few politicians to
the existence of a genuine constit-
uency, which has frequently been re-
garded as little more than a nuisance,
it could make the bureaucrats more
concerned that they may ultimately
be called to account for their inaction.
The Politics of Extinction, despite
its substantial potential to serve as a
catalyst for both private and public
action, is not without its flaws, some
minor and others not so minor. One
of Regenstein's irritating habits is to
be rather flip and to intersperse his
arguments with tidbits of irrelevant
information by which he attempts to
stain his adversary with guilt by asso-
ciation. For example, Regenstein
amply documents the fact that a great
many organizations that are regarded
f****************¥*******H
OUR TOWN
litTff Mmin tlrjfun Low/Wit « MmJti. I
lortltmmWrial Tf^ IjmfrJIJUMm Clat
^ujcn:^
-^:^^.^-7^
it.i
Culophon page from ihc Club's cditio
■ Our Town'.' signed by chc author. TTiur
Wilder, and the illustraior. Robcn J Ue.
How Can You
Tell If an Edition \
\ Is Really Limited? \
Nowadays, there's much taltc about
Mmiled editions in books. But the word
hmhed is looselv used, since there's
only one wav in which an edition can
be trulv limited. That is by including
in the volume a colophon page, disclns-
ino the exact number of copies printed.
The Limited Editions Club is thus
qualified to use the word hniUed with-
out reservation. Each volume does con-
tain a colophon page disclosing the
number of copies printed — and in ad-
dition, bears the written signature of
the illustrator or designer. Hence, the
collector is assured of lasting value.
Recently, one of our members wrote:
"The Limited Editions Club is an is-
j^ land in a sea of things that fade.
|. break, tear, bend, crack, sylit and disap-
4* yoint" . . . just one of many comments
by our readers on the enduring volumes
(• the Club has distributed for almost a
. Today, our membership is restricted
|k to just 2, 000 — no more. At the moment
^ a few memberships are available. We
(. invite your inquiry.
!• The Limited Editions Club i
^ Avon, Connecticut 06001 ^
► NAME
I-
|. CITY
I-
|. STATE
Pj
fcXAJ.J,J,4.J.XJ.AJ.AJ.J.J.J,AXAAAA4„rf
95
"One of the best
books on Indian history
published in
this century."
-Donald E. Worcester,
President, Western History
Association
REX ALAN SMITH
MOONOP
POPPING
IMS
The tragedy at
Wounded Knee
and the end of
the Indian Wars
...1851-1891,
seen In the light
of inevitable
historical change.
The story as it
has never before
been told.
$9.95 cloth;
$3.95 paper
READER'S DIGEST PRESS
Distributed by T. Y. Ciowrell
666 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10019
announcing"...
SOUTH
PACIFIC
BIRDS
by
John E. duPont
• A checklist and guide to the birds
of the South Pacific. Included are
the birds of the Fijis, Tongas,
Samoas, Cooks, Societies, Tuamo-
tus, Marquesas, and islands east to
Pitcairn
• 183 species with a total of 311
forms described
• 31 color plates of 181 species-a
total of 266 illustrations
• Foreword by Dr. Kenneth C.
Parkes, Carnegie Museum
$24.95
Delaware Museum of Natural History
P.O. Box 3937
Greenville, Delaware 19807
by the public as prowildlife conserva-
tion organizations are, in fact,
strongly influenced and even financed
by the National Rifle Association or
others connected with the arms and
munitions industry. These organi-
zations, quite predictably, uniformly
espouse the prohunting wildlife
"management" philosophies of their
benefactors. But having made this ex-
posure quite effectively, Regenstein
adds the wholly irrelevant and unnec-
essary barb that one such organi-
zation is represented by the same law
firm that represented John Ehrlich-
man and H. R. Haldeman.
A more serious flaw is the incon-
sistent quality of Regenstein 's docu-
mentation. Frequently his most dra-
matic claims are supported by no cita-
tion of authority whatsoever. Striking
the balance between writing a book
that is easy to read and one that is
thoroughly documented with copious
footnotes is never easy, but Regen-
stein can justly be criticized for opt-
ing too much for the former. His ar-
guments depend too heavily upon the
accuracy of the claims he makes to let
them stand unsubstantiated.
In addition, there is the whole
question of hunting. The Fund for
Animals is one of the most openly
antihunting organizations function-
ing today. Unfortunately, most of the
debate in this country about hunting
has taken place at the emotional
rather than the rational level, and Re-
genstein never quite succeeds in ele-
vating the argument. He dances
around, but never quite attacks head
on, the only rational argument that
proponents of hunting have ever been
able to offer in justification for their
sport. That argument, quite simply,
is that in the absence of natural preda-
tors, game animals would so quickly
expand their numbers that starvation
and disease would soon overcome
them unless their numbers were kept
in check by human hunting.
It has been rightly observed that the
hunters' argument is more than a little
self-serving, inasmuch as the essen-
tial premise is the absence of natural
predators, and it is the hunters them-
selves who are principally responsi-
ble for the near obliteration of preda-
tory animals such as the wolf, cougar,
bear, and numerous others. More-
over, much as the hunter would like
to cast himself in the role of nature's
servant, performing the necessary
task of natural selection, this sort of
selection is actually unnatural and
counterselective. The human hunter
who passes up a big, strong buck for
a sickly, infirm one is a most unusual
hunter indeed.
Yet, valid as both these points are,
they still do not constitute the
principal argument that can be of-
fered to rebut the hunter's favorite
contention. That argument, put sim-
ply, is that the "starvation from
overpopulation" thesis has been dis-
ingenuously applied across the board
to all game species, whereas the only
evidence that supports it is based
upon a very few large animals,
principally even-toed ungulates such
as deer and caribou. There are con-
vincing theoretical reasons why the
largest animals in a given ecosystem,
requiring the greatest area of support-
ing habitat, would be the first and per-
haps the only animals to exhibit this
sort of vulnerability to overpopula-
tion. Moreover, there is ample evi-
dence that unlike deer, many animals
are able to keep their own numbers
in check through some natural mech-
anism by which the reproductive rate
is affected by the availability of food.
Instead of addressing what really is
the bottom line argument in the de-
bate about hunting, Regenstein
wastes his readers' time and jeopar-
dizes his own credibility by suggest-
ing that hunters suffer from "a psy-
chosexual imbalance" and in all like-
lihood "a latent homosexual tend-
ency." Moreover, in his attempt to
lay as much of the blame as he can
at the feet of hunters, Regenstein
leaves himself open to the charge that
he accepts too uncritically one side of
a hotly disputed debate among pa-
leontologists about whether early
man was the principal cause of the
wave of extinctions of giant mam-
mals that occurred around the globe
about 10,000 years ago at the end of
the Pleistocene Epoch. In fact, Re-
genstein at times seems willing to use
either side of the debate, depending
on how it fits his purpose.
The final flaw in The Politics of Ex-
tinction, which has already been al-
luded to, is that it is essentially a book
about politics and not about extinc-
tion. To understand the importance of
this distinction, it is only necessary to
recall the example of the brown peli-
can. It would be very difficult for Re-
genstein to point a finger of blame at
any politicians or bureaucrats for the
tragedy of the brown pelicans.
Granted that for a long time the manu-
facturers of DDT fought their utmost
to block EPA's prohibition and are
now fighting to have it lifted. Never-
96
thclcss, if the inilial reports are cor-
rect and DDT is only one ol nine pes-
ticides tliat threaten the future of the
brown pelican, we may yet have to
face the prospect thai citlier the brown
pelican goes or we give up our preten-
sions of feediTig the world and be-
come a nation of organic farmers.
Even that solution, it should be
pointed out, would not have saved the
hair-lipped sucker, a rather bizarre
fish of the Ohio River Valley that be-
came extinct in the early part of this
century when the clearing of land for
agricultural purposes in that area
caused the formerly clear waters in
which the sucker lived to become so
clouded that it was no longer able to
see the snails that made up its exclu-
sive diet.
The sad truth is that for every spe-
cies like the grizzly bear there are
probably a dozen like the brown peli-
can and hair-lipped sucker. The
world's population explosion re-
quires that more and more land each
year be cleared to house and feed it.
Lewis Regenstein has studied the
problem of extinction long enough to
know that the greatest single threat to
the future existence of most wildlife
is the constantly accelerating pace of
habitat destruction — both physical
and chemical. He admits as much at
one point in his book but then devotes
less than five pages to the topic. The
obvious reason is that the problem of
habitat destruction is infinitely harder
to deal with than the types of threats
to wildlife that Regenstein treats. The
villains are much more difficult to
single out; the solutions much harder
to articulate and to accept. We in the
United States have often stated that
we want to maintain our standard of
living, feed the world's billions, and
at the same time, protect our wildlife
from extinction. One need not really
study the matter too long before con-
cluding that a serious question exists
as to whether we can ever hope to
accomplish all three. Yet if the prob-
lem of saving wildlife is regarded as
Regenstein describes it, solely in
terms of prodding a few politicians
and bureaucrats into action, we run
the risk of blithely assuming that we
have at last found the key to the pres-
ervation of wildlife while the forces
of extinction roll inexorably on.
Michael J. Bean is a member of the
Board of Directors of the Audubon
Naturalist Society of the Central At-
lantic States and a practicing attor-
ney in Washington, D. C.
A Reference Work, a Sensitive Narrative and
a Pictorial Celebration of Beautiful Birds
"The Shore ^irds oflSgrth America
• i(liU-<l In f,.u(lnir U St..ul, Hr.-sKlcnl ol
the American Museum o( Natural History • text by Peter Matlhiesson • specially
ommissioncd paintinRS by Robert Verity Clem • species accounts by Ralph S. Palmer
270 uut-bi/f(l pama ilO" x IV/z"). 32 paintinii^. each reproduced /n
six-color lilhography: detailed scientilic description ol 175 species.
Cloth bound $24 00 postpaid Museum members may deduct 70%.
If' --••'-- -,«----i|
NATURAL HISTORY Bool>s, DepL B500 |
Boi 3123. Des Moines, Iowa 50340 .
Allan Cruikshank called it "the
outstanding work" on its subject.
Roger Tory Peterson said: "a de-
light to behold and to read ... a
dependable reference."
Anyone who loves shorebirds
and wetlands will cherish The Shore
Birds of North America for its sen-
sitive text, superlative art and au-
thoritative detail. For deli very before
Christmas, please order now.
Please allow 4 lo 6 weeks tor delivery
Please send me copies of
The Shore Birds o( North America, at $24.00
postpaid ($21 60 each for Museum Members).
G I enclose full payment, the amount $—
D Charge my American Express account
Signature.
Name
Address-
City
rAN AMERICAN MUSEU^^
A Portfolio of Indian Portraits
by Edward S. Curtis
In 1898 Edward S. Curtis undertook the largest photographic
work ever accomplished by a single artist. The North Ameri-
can Indian.
Now you too can share in this treasure: we offer you a
portfolio of six superbly faithful reproductions, produced di-
rectly tram the original Curtis photogravures. All are of the
Pacific Northwest Coast tribes; none duplicate those in the
1976 Natural History Calendar. They measure 18" x 14", with
borders; are printed on high quality stock and come en-
closed in a protective portfolio, awaiting framing.
Just $15, plus $1.25 for postage and handling. Order
now, in time for the gift-giving season.
NATURAL HISTORY PRINTS, Dept. P400
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
I want to order,
of $
.portfolios at $16.25 eacti, for a total
I I My check/money order, payable to Natural History, is en-
closed.
I I I prefer lo charge to American Express.
D
Signature
Valid thru
My name (please print!)
Address
City
State
Zip
Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Mass. residents add 3% tax.
Museum Members may take a 10% discount.
97
CATCH ANIMAL RAIDERS I
Catches moral
Easy to use!
simple, safe HAVAHART traps catch raldlnR rabbits,
coons, squirrels, plEeons, sparrows, etc., without Injury.
Straying pets, poultry released unhurt. Fully assembled.
No Jaws or springs to break. Galvanized: many In use
20 years. Open ends give animal confidence. Sizes for all
needs. Send 25c lor valuable illustrated guide and price list.
HAVAHART, 158-J Water St., Ossining, N.Y. 10562
Here's my 25c. Please send price list, trapping guide.
Name
Address Zip
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
CAT GODDESS...
BAST— goddess of J
ly, dancin
.music • «
& protector of the h
□ me. This
SOLID |k ■
IVa" replica sealee
on polish
Bd Hf.
agate base makes s
uperb disp
lay .'■^ //
piece for home or o
ffice. Rem
T i ^>
jewelry. Give this e
egant cat
\ I s
goddess as an histo
ric gift
l L •
symbolizing protec
on ^
TWKmi'^
love and beauty!
^m
^Z**S
BAST- * agate
SOLID STER.
14K.
'»«. D.^r-
BRONZE SILV.
$19.50 S49.50
GOLD
$475.
■ PHONE ORDERS
1 (212) 472-8733
ROPE CHAINS: 24
legular insured postog
sterling
e H.50— A
COLLECTORS CATALOG
iogs-50£ Free With Ofderi
aladdln boase, Lt6.'i;[p
Dept. NJ176 • 770 Madison Ave. (66 St.) • N.Y. 10021
VISIT OUR NEW GALLERY-S.W COR 66 Sl-5lh FLOOR
^BOOK HUNTING?-^
Virtually any book located — no matter how
old or long out-of-print. Fiction, nonflction.
All authors, subjects. Name the book — we'll
find It! (Title alone Is sufficient) Inquire,
please. Write: Dept. 65.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087
Incredible Africa!
FEBRUARY 4, 1976 ROOT & LEAKEY
19-day natural history tented and
lodge safari in Kenya & Tanzania.
$1795.00 plus airfare. Limited to 16
members. Additional departures Sep-
tember 15 and October 13.
MARCH 17, 1976 Join JOHN WIL-
LIAMS on a special 30-day safari in
Kenya following bird migration. JULY
21, 1976 Another JOHN WILLIAMS
departure featuring rare birds, big
game and wildflowers, 30 days in
Kenya. $2670.00 each plus airfare.
AUGUST 12, 1976 Unique FAMILY
SAFARI includes best game parks
Kenya & Tanzania, a trek on Mt.
Kenya, built-in educational features.
$2475.00 including airfare from New
York.
Call or write SIEMER & HAND, LTD. Travel Service
One Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, California 94111
(4151 788-7186
Additional
Reading
Bald Eagle (p. 8)
The best single source of information
on eagles and their raptor relatives is L.
Brown and D. Amadon's two-volume
work Eagles, Hawks, and Falcons of the
IVorW (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968).
Brown has also authored a shorter, less-
expensive volume, entitled simply.
Eagles (New York: Arco Publishing,
1970, $3.95). Wildlife writer George
Laycock has recently published Au-
tumn of the Eagle (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1973, $6.95), which
R. G. Raikow's Wilson Bulletin review
characterizes: "An informative but en-
gaging account of the life of the bald
eagle and its decline and threatened ex-
tinction at the hands of mankind."
Readers having access to a good univer-
sity library should be able to obtain F. L.
Beebe's "Field Studies of the Falconi-
formes (Vultures, Eagles, Hawks, and
Falcons) of British Columbia" {Occa-
sional Papers of the British Columbia
Provincial Museum. 1974, no. 17, pp.
1-163). This fascinating monograph
presents a storehouse of knowledge
gleaned from a half-century of personal
experience with the birds of prey of North
America. David Zimmerman's recently
published To Save a Bird in Peril, which
provides ten accounts of people working
to rescue rare birds from extinction, puts
into perspective such problems as pesti-
cide poisoning, habitat intrusion and de-
struction, and the introduction of unnatu-
ral predators. For related books and one
additional account of the effects of pesti-
cides on reproduction in raptors see "Re-
turn of the Osprey" by D. Puleston in the
February 1975 Natural History.
Mesa Verde (p. 38)
A Guide to the National Parks: Their
Landscape and Geology, by W. H.
Matthews III (Garden City: Double-
day /Natural History Press, 1973, $5.95),
provides good background material in a
section on the only national park estab-
lished for the express purpose of protect-
ing archeological objects — Mesa Verde
National Park. A special Southwest issue
of American Anthropologist of August,
1954 (vol. 56, pp. 529-737), contains
eleven classic papers, most of which are
still of current and topical importance. In
the U.S. National Park Service Archeo-
logical Research Series, several mono-
graphs have been issued that deal directly
with the seven-year Wetherill Mesa Proj-
ect. These include "The Archeological
Survey of Wetherill Mesa," by A. C.
Hayes (No. 7-A, 1964), which provides
an over-all picture of the site prior to the
intensive excavations and studies of the
project; "Wetherill Mesa Excavations:
Mug House, Mesa Verde National Park,
Colorado," by A. H. Rohn (No. 7-D,
1 97 1 ) , specifically describing one archeo-
logical site; and "Wetherill Mesa Stud-
ies: Environment of Mesa Verde, Colo-
rado," by J. A. Erdman et al. (No. 7-B,
1969), which deals with the present-day
environment of the area. A series of
twenty-nine articles by participants in the
Wetherill Mesa Archeological Project
may be found in Memoirs of the Society
of American Archaeology (1965, no.
19). One paper, by H. Fritts et al. (pp.
101-121), on tree-ring studies that indi-
cate climatic factors in the archaic envi-
ronment of Wetherill Mesa may be com-
pared with the Erdman et al. report of
present-day ecology . R. Samuels's paper
(pp. 175-179) on the health of the pre-
historic Indians is based on analyses of
preserved fecal remains and is particu-
larly interesting from a methodological
standpoint. Other papers deal with ar-
cheological evidence of animal and plant
domestication; techniques used in agri-
culture, pottery, and weaving; and even
"Postulation of Socio-economic Groups
from Archaeological Evidence" (by A.
H. Rohn, pp. 65-69).
Lost Wax Casting (p. 46)
Nepal: A Cultural and Physical Geog-
raphy, by P. P. Karan and W. M. Jenkins
(Lexington: University of Kentucky
Press, 1960), which includes 35 maps
and more than 60 illustrations, provides
an understanding of the area and people.
M. Singh's Himalayan Art (New York:
Macmillan, 1971, $3.95), a revised,
small-format edition of what was origi-
nally a $35 "art book," provides specific
background material for the relationships
of Nepalese artistic techniques and sub-
ject matter to other artisans of this area.
Iconography, the representations of dei-
ties in a people's art work, is dealt with
in A. K. Gordon's recently reprinted clas-
sic. The Iconography of Tibetan La-
maism (New York: Paragon Book Re-
print Corp., 1967), and in "The Fierce
and Erotic Gods of Buddhism," by C.
Burrows (Nafura/ History, 1972, vol. 81,
no. 4, pp. 26-37). A recent new edition
of Harry Jackson's Lost Wax Bronze
Casting: A Photographic Essay on This i
Antique and Venerable Art (Flagstaff:
Northland Press, 1972, $20.00) provides
an exacting description of the lost wax
technique of metal casting. See also P. J.
Baus's "Men, Beeswax, and Molten
Metal" {Natural History, 1965, vol. 74,
no. 7, pp. 18-25).
Black Bears (p. 54)
A worldwide perspective may be
gained from Bears, a short book by Eng- d
lish naturalist Richard Perry (New York:
Arco Publishing, 1970, $3.95); while
The World of the Black Bear, by J. Van i
Wormer (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, |
1966, S5.95), is more spccilic, dealing
only with Ursus umericunus and pro-
viding cxccllcnl bliick-and-whilc pho-
tographs and an extensive reference sec-
tion. "The Black Bear in the Spruce-l-ir
Forest," by C. J. Jonkel and I. McT.
Cowan ( WiUlliJc Maiw^iaphs. 1 97 1 , no.
27, pp. 1-57, $1.70, available from The
Wildlife Society, 3900 Wisconsin Ave.
NW, Washington, D.C. 20016), details
basic information — natural history, habi-
tat, reproduction, behavior, population
characteristics — on a high-density popu-
lation in Montana. Bears: Their Biology
and Management, edited by S. Hcrrcro
(lUCN Publications New Series No. 23),
a selection of papers from an international
conference, contains studies by Pclton
and by Burghardt on black bear-human
interactions, by S. Herrero on behavior
and on evolution, and by other investiga-
tors on black bear reproduction, behav-
ioral development, and population char-
acteristics.
Locomotion (p. 64)
For a general introduction to the
changes in structure and behavior that ac-
companied the evolution of Homo
sapiens, see D. Pilbeam's The Ascent of
Man (New York: Macmillan, 1972,
$3.95) or the 2nd edition of J. E.
Pfeiffer's The Emergence of Man (New
York: Harper & Row, 1972, $6.95).
Avoiding most of the technical jargon of
the field and dealing with a vast quan-
tity of data in an interpretive, yet essen-
tially accurate, manner, the Pfeiffer book
will be particularly useful to the layman.
Stephen Jay Gould's November 1975
NarMra/f//.storv column, "Posture Mak-
eth the Man," offers another viewpoint
on one facet of such changes.
Examples of scientific reports bearing
more directly on the subject of primate
locomotion are: "Chimpanzee Bipedal-
ism: Cineradiographic Analysis and Im-
plications for the Evolution of Gait," by
F. A. Jenkins {Science, 1972, vol. 178,
pp. 877-879); "Bipedal Walking of the
Chimpanzee," by H. Elftman {Journal of
Mammalogy, 1944, vol. 25, pp. 67-71);
and "A Biomechanical Interpretation of
thePelyisoi Australopithecus," by A. L.
Zihlman and W. S. Hunter {Folia Priina-
tolgica, 1972, vol. 18, pp. 1-19). Walk-
ing and Limping: A Study of Normal and
Pathological Walking, by R. Ducroquet
et al. (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott,
1968), is a series of detailed descriptions
and interpretations of more than a hun-
dred excellent line drawings taken from
motion picture studies of human locomo-
tion. Emphasis is placed on differences
in hip rotation relating to pelvic structure
and on the comparative approach to such
topics as aging; comparisons between
children first learning to walk and the
aged and infirm losing their ability to
walk offer a useful perspective on the
issue of how gait reflects the psychology
of the individual.
Ffver (p. 70)
An engagingly written and well-illus-
trated history of the discovery and use (as
well as abuse) of natural medicinal botan-
icals is found in G. Marks and W. K.
Beatty's The Medical Garden (New
York; Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971).
This account of the earliest roots of the
science of pharmacology includes the
earliest recorded medicinal uses of the
source of aspirin, now our most fre-
quently used fever-reducing drug. H. C.
Bolton's short book. Evolution of the
Thermometer: 1592 - 1743 (Easton:
Chemical Publishing, 1900), and E. S.
Taylor's more scholarly review article,
"On the Origin of the Thermometer"
{Annals of Science. 1942, vol. 5, pp.
129-156), trace the early history of tem-
perature measuring devices, describing
the change in attitude and use from a sci-
entific oddity and aristocratic plaything to
a precision instrument of the physician.
Of two scholarly works providing for a
better basic understanding of thermal
physiology, John Bligh's Temperature
Regulation in Mammals and Other Ver-
tebrates {New York: American ELsevier,
1973) is the more technical, while K.
Schmidt-Nielsen's Animal Physiology:
Adaptation and Environment (New
York: Cambridge University Press.
1975) gives more general information,
"Fever," a review article published by
E. Atkins and P. Bodel {New England
Journal of Medicine. 1972, vol. 286, pp.
27-34), raised the question of the role
of fever in disease and served as the
impetus for Kluger's studies, which
were first reported in "Fever and Sur-
vival" {Science, 1975, vol. 188, pp.
166-168). Details of the infectious pro-
cesses that produce fevers are found in G .
T. Keusch's "Malnutrition and Infec-
tion," which appeared in Natural History
for November 1975.
Bashbish Falls (p. 76)
One traditional concern of environ-
mentalists, the impact of man's leisure
activities on the plant and animal life of
natural areas, has been augmented in re-
cent years by sociological and psycho-
logical studies of his behavior while en-
joying nature. Representative studies in-
clude "The Play World of Camping: Re-
search into the Social Meaning of Out-
door Recreation," by W. R. Burch, Jr.
{American Journal of Sociology, 1965,
vol. 70, pp. 604-612), and "A Typology
of Outdoor Recreation Activity Prefer-
ences," by J. C. Hendee et al. {Journal
of Environmental Education. 1971, vol.
3, pp. 28-34). An annotated bibliography
of research in this area may be obtained
from Wildland Recreation Research Proj-
ect, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range
Experiment Station, U.S. Dept. of Agri-
culture Forest Service, 4507 University
Way NE, Seattle, Wash. 98105.
Gordon Beckhorn
We invite a small group ol discerninr; ua)/elms
to see the slupen(Jou& anliquittet ol Egfpl in the
grand tredilion-on an unhuffiea progress along
500 miles ol ever-changing ana wonrJerlul river
scenery, to visit sites, temples antj tomtK when
the crowds are not there including several
which are rarely seen by tourists:
The Nile
is Egypt
OCTOBER 5 TO 26. 1976
Two weeks are spent aboard the privately char-
tered 40-passenger ss Lotus, cruising up the
Nile at leisure Irom Assiut to Aswan, with an air
excursion to Abu Simbel and four days in and
around Cairo, under the distinguished leader-
ship ol an eminent Egyptologist and accom-
panied by an unusually experienced Cruise Di-
rector, a social host, and a physician.
Detailed brochure ol the cruise, and a reprint ol
the article Nile River Magic from the Review of
the Society for Hellenic Travel, available from:
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
55 WEST 42 STREET, NEW YORK. NY 10036
TELEPHONE (212) 354 6634
^loodworking benches
woodcrdfting tools
Danish crafted SOLID Danish Beech
woodworking benches ruggedly made and
finished like fine furniture.
Built-in vertical and horizontal
vises and adjustable surface
dogs hold any shape
workpiece. Available
in 49", 60" and 80"
models. One even folds
for easy storage.
HAND FORGED turning
gouges, chisels and
sculptor's gouges,
carving tools, handsaws
and uniquely styled
woodscrew drivers from
Europe's finest tool-
makers. The best the
world can offer.
Address
City
.Zip.
LEICHTUNG, INC.
5187HMayfield Rd. Cleveland, Ohio 44124
99
LIVE IN THE WORLD
OF TOMORROW . . . TODAY!
And our FREE 164 PAGE CATALOG is packed with
exciting and unusual values in hobby, electronic
and science items — plus 4,500 finds for fun, study
or profit ... for every member of the family.
A BETTER LIFE
STARTS HERE
NASA-CHOSEN
FOR APOLLO/SOYUZ
157 mi. out in space, the Astronauts used this
super 20x60 binocular (modified) to view Earth!
Our biggest, most powerful for distance. Far-off
objects come in big, clear & sharp to the edge
through big 60mm objective lenses; 173-ft. field
of view at 1000 yards. Relative bnghtness. 9.0. Fully coated optics; 20x spcl design
eye lenses. Coated BK-7 Porro pnsm. Extra long Ail-American style with fold-down
rubber eyecups. Includes case & straps.
No. 1556E . . . (9yax8y2'; 47.5 oz.) $99.95 Ppd.
^^WHEN YOU COME TO PHIUDELPHIA BE SURE TO SEE ^
la:U^:lNj,'^Jj■l.'lMi■^Mna■^!l■l':'
IN BUBRINGTON, N / ONLY 10 MINUTES «WAY AT
STARTS SEEDS IN 3 TO 5 DAYS!
Ne
the
nostalically controlled electric
greenhouse provides constant 70 growing
temperature, accelerates seed germination,
helps produce healthy thriving plants ready
for outdoor planting Big 3 sq. ft. planting
area-29" x 15" x 4" box holds '/; bushel of
growing medium. Germinates tomato seeds in
3-5 days; asters, dahlias, petunias, wk, or less. Inct. 3" x 4" ft. clear plastic
cover, supports. Uses reg, home current.
Stock No. 80,153E $18.95 Ppd.
41/4" ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE
See moon craters, rings of Saturn, double stars.
New equatorial mount, f/10, V4 wave mirror
(Pyrex^). Gives theoretical limit of resolution. Rack
& pinion focusing. Aluminum tube. 6X finder. 1"
F.L. 45X Kellner achromatic eyepiece and Barlow
I lens to double & triple power up to 135X. Free
I Star Chart plus 2 Books.
Stock No. 85,105E (Shipping Wt. 42 Ibs.l $159.50 FOB
4V4" WITH CLOCK DRIVE #85,1 07E $109.50 FOB
6" REFLECTOR TELESCOPE (48X to 360X) #85,1 87E $249.50 FOB
6" WITH CLOCK DRIVE #85,086E $285.00 FOB
3" DELUXE REFLECTOR (30 to 90X) #80,162E $ 89.95 Ppd.
STANDARD 3" REFLECTOR #85,2406 $ 59.95 Ppd.
4
ELECTRONIC DIGITAL
RAIN GAUGE
. . , never needs emptying, measures rain up to
100-ft. away by tenths of an inch up to 999.9" and
empties itself. Accumulate total rainfall count for
hour, day, week, etc. Push reset button on indoor i.r,
counter to start new counting period (no need to '' ""
empty or check hermetically sealed outdoor collector which you easily mount on
fence, roof, deck, etc. w/2 ordinary screws). Includes 30-ft of waterproof wire, runs
on l-yr.-life 9v trans, battery, not incl.
Stock No. 72,165E $44.95 Ppd.
"FISH" WITH A MAGNET
Go treasure hunting on the bottom! Fascinat-
ing fun & sometimes profitable! Tie a line to
our powerful new specially designed 150 lb.
pull Magnet—drop it overboard in bay, river,
lake or ocean. Troll it along bottom— your
"treasured" haul can be outboard motors, an-
chors, other metal valuables. Has 6 stacked
ceramic magnets. Lifts more than 150 lbs under
No. 71,135E....(3V4 X 3Vt")
75-LB. PULL (1 LB.) W/3 CERAMIC MAGNETS
No. 71,150E....(1 11/16 X 3%")
MYSTERY OF
ENERGY AND AGING
I our Great Pyramid
ergy & aging— show
s contradicted na-
Bag
^■^^^^H Science fact or farce? Ca
^H^^^^^H the mysteries er
^^BM^^PI that the ancient Egyptia
^^^^kI ture"? Did someone really get 85 shaves from
^^^~— -^^^ntl^l a blade kept in a pyramid'^ Test claims like
^^^^^**'*"''^"' meat not rotting, things not rusting' Users of
exact scale models of Cheop's pyramid oriented to true North claim all sorts
of strange phenomena based on resonating energy. Ours is already assem-
bled, Ve" see thru acrylic, 6 x 9% x 9%"
Stock No. 71, SUE $20.00 Ppd.
AUTHENTIC SCALED
WINDMILLS
Real-thiing replicas stiow wind direc-
tion, wheel silently revolves on ball
bearings. Give your grounds unique
rural charm! Great centerpiece for
planter, flowers. Use to hold yard
light, house number, sign or as mail-
box. For school, a fine "energy crisis"
science project — does everything but pump water. Heavy
gauge steel, durable outdoor finish; aluminum color w/red trim.
No. 71.923E. .(17" DESK MODEL) $11.95 Ppd.
4Vi FOOT-14 LB No. 71,924E $34.95 Ppd.
8 FOOT-46 LB No. 85,229E $49.95 FOB
WORLD'S SMALLEST
CALCULATOR!
Small but mighty! 8-digit, 4-function electronic
calculator does everything big ones do — even has
automatic % key . . . for only $19.95. Take it
anywhere. Fits in your pocket — % size of cigarette
pack. 3y2 oz. dynamo features floating decimal,
constant key, lead zero depression, more! Includes plut
battery pack. 2 x SVz x ^/le" with plenty of room for most
first with advanced technology.
Stock N0.1945E $1955 Ppd.
)-in rechargeable Ni-Cad
fingers. Another Edmund
CANT SLEEP, RELAX? TRY THIS!
Electronic sound conditioner simulates 4
kinds ot soothing sounds ol ocean surf and
rain. "White sound" helps mask unwanted
noise, adds restful, intriguing background
sound Program the solid-state unit to your
own need: 2 surf, 2 ram; or "white sound",
proven by medical tests to have analgesic ef-
fects Great for meditation, restlessness, sleeplessness psychology.
(A) No. 71,997E....(7y2 x 7 X 3%") 110V AC $'89.95 Ppd.
(B) AS ABOVE. BUT "WHITE SOUND" ONLY
No. 71,980E . (6" Rd. x 3'/." HI) $28.00 Ppd.
MAIL COUPON FOR
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
164 PAGES - MORE THAN
ComplGlely new Catalog Packed wtlh huge selecl
binoculars, magnels. magnifiers prisms, pholo co
Lighting items parls kits, accessories — many han
of Chans illustrations For hobbyists, experimenit
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.
300 Cdtcorp Buildmi. Birnnctan, N J. 01007
Please rush Free Giant Catalog "E
BARGAINS
in ol telescopes microscopes,
ponents, ecology and Unique
lo-gel surplus bargains lOOs
s schools industry
U"!^:^
r^\ COMPLETE AND MAIL WITH CHECK, M. O. OR CHARGE NO.
Ff^X EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO. 300 Edscorp Building. Barrington, N.J. 08007
How Many Stock No.
n PLEASE SEND GIANT
FREE CATALOG "E"
□ Charge my BankAmericard *
n Charge my Master Charge '^jj Hindling Chi.: Jl.OO. Orders Under $5.00, 50», Orders Over $5.00
Interbank No
My Card No. Is
Signature.
lose □check □money order (or TOTAL V
Card Expiration Date
aO-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE.
You must be satisfied or return
any purctiase in 30 days for full
refund. -$15.00 minimum
Name
Address.
City
Announcements
The World in a Hat Loniiiuics
through Januiii y in the Corner Gallery
on the lourlh floor of The American
Museum of Natural History. This
multimedia presenlation, part fairy
tale and part fact, shows how people
use hats as emblems of status in reli-
gion, politics, sports, society, and
jobs. Margaret Cooper's story is nar-
rated by Bess Myerson, with draw-
ings by Judith Rice.
Continuing through April in Gallery
77 of the Museum, This Exhibit in
Preparation gives visitors a "behind
the scenes" look at the techniques
used to create the Museum's many
marvelous dioramas and exhibits.
Graphics, three-dimensional dis-
plays, and periodic demonstrations
by artists, taxidermists, preparators,
and model-makers reveal the inner
workings of the Exhibition Depart-
ment.
The Museum tour East African Geo-
logical Safari — a field study in geol-
ogy, mineralogy, and paleoanthro-
pology— will visit Kenya and Tan-
zania. The itinerary includes the East-
ern Rift Valley, the lower slopes of
Mount Kilimanjaro, the famed Oldu-
vai Gorge, the pre-Acheulian hand ax
find at Olorgesailie, and mines of tan-
zanite, corundum, amazonite, gay-
lussite, and meerschaum. On safari,
trips will be made to Masai and Ki-
kuyu villages, as well as to the Seren-
geti, Ngorongoro, and Mara game re-
serves. Two groups, led by Chris-
topher Schuberth, lecturer in geology
at the Museum and adjunct professor
in geology at the City University of
New York, are scheduled for July and
August 1976. For details call the
Department of Education at the Mu-
seum (212) 873-7507.
A new exhibition hall, Hall of Mol-
lusks and Mankind, is open on the
firsr floor of the Museum at the 77th
Street Foyer entrance. This first, per-
manent interdisciplinary exhibition
of its kind in the world focuses on the
biology of moUusks, the meaning of
shell symmetry, the use of shells and
mollusks in scientific studies, and the
use of shells as utensils, tools, reli-
gious symbols, ornaments, and art
objects.
The following Slide Lectures will be
held in the Education Hall at 2;00
P.M. on Tuesdays: January 6. New
York Animal Life in Winter; January
13, Grand Canyon — A Geological
River Journey; January 20. House
Plants That Don't Talk Back; Jan-
uary 27. Wildlife of the Eastern
Mountains.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the
Museum, "The Christmas Sky,"
continuing through January 5, is a
December tradition that examines the
nature of the Star of the Magi. After
a tour of our modern sky, the plane-
tarium projector, used as a time ma-
chine, travels back 2,000 years and
explores the astronomical possi-
bilities of the star. "The Final Fron-
tier" opens January 7. This Sky
Show takes us on a futuristic voyage
to the outer reaches of space aboard
the nuclear-propelled spacecraft Era-
tosthenes. On this trip, the ship en-
counters strange planets, double
stars, stellar novae, other galaxies,
neutron stars, and mysterious black
holes. Shows begin at 2:00 p.m. and
3:00 P.M. during the week, with more
frequent showings on weekends. Ad-
mission is $1 .75 for adults and $1 .00
for children.
Robert G. Goelet has been elected
the eighth president of The American
Museum of Natural History. A
trustee since 1958, he succeeds
Gardner D. Stout, who has retired
after seven years of service as chief
executive. Mr. Goelet, 52. could be
a prototype of the proverbially long
and active leader in the cultural com-
munity of New York and the nation.
An early academic interest in history
and a passion for studying birds were
the beginnings of an ever expanding
inquiry into the natural sciences.
Concurrently president of the New
York Historical Society, he was, until
recently, president of the New York
Zoological Society and a director of
the National Audubon Society. Mr.
Goelet is a director of the Chemical
Bank and a number of other business
corporations.
He brings a special interest in orni-
thology, ichthyology and paleonto-
logy, but is no stranger to any of the
Museum's programs. Under Mr.
Goelet's active leadership, the full
spectrum of research and education
will benefit from his dedication to the
advancement of scientific knowl-
edge.
STOP SAYING . . .
"I CAN'T AFFX)RD TO TRAVEL'
8 BOOKS THAT GIVE YOU
THE FACTS ON HOW
YOU CAN TRAVEL TODAY
WITHOUT BEING RICH
AROUND THE WORLD
BY FREIGHTER
Where and how to travel by freighter
—the lower cost way to travel
For no more than you'd spend at a resort, you can
take a never-to-be-forgotten cruise to Rio or Buenos
Aires. Or through the Canal or to the West Indies or
across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, etc.
And what accommodations you get— large rooms
with beds (not bunks), probably a private bath, lots of
good food, and plenty of relaxation as you speed from
port to port.
Travel Routes Around the World names the freighter
lines (hundreds of them, with sailings from practically
every port in the world), tells where they go. what they
charge, briefly describes accommodations plus life on
your freighter, clothes to take. etc.
To stop saying that travel is expensive get your copy
now. Price $1.50.
AMERICA BY CAR
This big book is your insurance of seeing all the four-
star sights in whatever corner of the U.S., Canada or
Mexico you drive to. Whether you're visiting New
England or California, Florida or the National Parks,
the Great Lakes, the Mississippi, the East, the South,
the Southwest, the Indian country, etc., it tells you day
by day and road by road the scenic way to go and It
always directs you to the important sights along the
way and in the cities. In Niagara or Los Angeles,
Washington or New Orleans, the Black Hills or Mont-
real, it takes the guesswork out of travel.
America is so big you can easily overlook or forget
important sights or make many a wrong turn— which is
something you certainly don't want to do in these days
of higher gas prices. So get America by Car, the book
that makes sure you'll see everything of consequence
and always travel right. Only $3.95 for this 170,(X)0
word book (as big as 3 ordinary-sized novels).
FABULOUS MEXICO—
Where Everything Costs Less
The land of retirement and vacation bargains— that's
Mexico Where an American retirement income looks
like a fortune and your vacation money can buy double
or more what it might back home Norman Ford shows
you vacation and retirement values where you can live
like a prince on what you might |ust get along on in the
USA. He pinpoints areas that look like the South Seas,
others where it's like June all year round, towns where
many other Americans have retired: shows where to
find modern flower-bedecked hotels and inns that
charge hardly half of what you'd expect to spend in
even such a land of vacation and retirement bargains
as Mexico Plus a big section on where to start your
money earning so much more than in the U.SJk. $2 50
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
— these are America's own
Bargain Paradises
Where to retire or vacation
at what look like pre-inflation
prices and no one ever heard of
nerves or worries.
Off-the-Beaten Path names the really low-cost
Florida retirement and vacation towns, the top-notch
values in Texas, the Southwest, California, the South
and East. Canada, and a dozen other areas which the
crowds have not yet discovered:
—Fabulous places like that undiscovered region
where winters are as warm and sunny as Miami
Beach's, yet costs can be 2/3rds less. Or that island
that looks like Hawaii yet is 2000 miles nearer. Or
France's only remaining outpost in this part of the
world . or a village more Scottish than Scotland .or
resort villages without crowds or high prices . . or
island paradises aplenty in the U.S. or Canada . . .
or areas with almost a perfect climate. And for good
measure you also read about low cost paradises in
Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico
A big book, with about 100,000 words. Yet it costs
only 12.50
SPECIAL OFFER: All 4 books above— Travel Routes Around the
World, America by Car, Fabulous Mexico— Where Everything Costs
Less, and Off-the-Beaten Pat/i— ($10.45 value) for only $6.95.
BARGAIN PARADISES
OF THE WORLD
West Indies, Mexico, Californias Abroad
This is a book on how to double what your money
can buy. For that is what spending a few weeks or
months, or even retiring, in the world's Bargain
Paradises amounts to.
Throughout this big book you learn where to spend
a while in the West I ndies. South America, the healthful
islands of the South Seas, and the marvelous Balearic
Islands, where two can live like kings yet spend very
little.
You read about cities and towns where it's always
spring, about "Californias Abroad," about "Four
Modern Shangri-Las," about mountain hideaways,
tropical islands as colorful as Tahiti but nearer home,
about modern cities where you can live for less, about
quiet country lanes and surf-washed coastal resorts.
If you've ever wanted to travel but wondered how
you could afford it; if you have a little income but
wonder how you'd ever be able to retire on that; if you
want a life of luxuries on what you'd get only necessities
back home, then you want this book. $2.50.
WHERE TO RETIRE
ON A SMALL INCOME
This book selects out of the thousands of communi-
ties in the U.S. only those places where the climate is
right, living costs are less, the surroundings pleasant,
and nature and the community get together to guaran-
tee a good time from fishing, boating, gardening,
concerts, or the like.
It covers cities, towns, spas, resorts, etc., throughout
America— from New England south to Florida, west to
California and north to the Pacific Northwest. It
includes both Hawaii and the American Virgin Islands.
Some people spend hundreds of dollars trying to get
information like this by traveling around the country.
Frequently they fail— there is just too much of America
to explore! This book saves you from that danger. Yet
it costs only $2.95.
WHERE WILL YOU GO
IN FLORIDA?
Florida needn't be expensive— not if you know just
where to go for whatever you seek in Florida. And if
ttiere's any man who can give you the facts you want,
it's Norman Ford, founder of the world famous Globe
Trotters Club.
His big book, Norman Ford's Florida, tells you, first of
all, road by road, mile by mile, everything you'll find in
Florida, whether you're on vacation or looking over job,
business, real estate, or retirement prospects.
Always, he names the hotels, motels, and restaurants
where you can stop for the best accommodations and
meals at the price you want to pay For that longer
vacation, if you let Norman Ford guide you, you'll find a
real "paradise"— just the spot which has everything
you want.
Of course, there's much more to this big book. If you
want a home in Florida, he tells you |ust where to head.
If you've ever wanted to run a tourist court or own an
orange grove, he tells you today's inside story of these
popular investments
If you want to retire on a small income, Norman Ford
tells you exactly where you can retire now on the money
you've got. whether it's a little or a lot Because he
always tells you where life in Florida is pleasantest on a
small income, he can help you to take life easy now.
Whatever you seek in Florida, Norman Ford's Florida
gives you the facts you need to find exactly what you
want Well over 100,000 words but it costs only $3—
only a fraction of the money you'd spend needlessly
if you went to Florida blind.
ALL ABOUT ARIZONA
—the healthful state
Just as a road map shows you how to reach your
destination, this big book leads you to whatever you
want in this fast growing state of sun and scenic
wonderlands
What do you want to know about Arizona? Where to
retire at low cost' Where are summers cool, winters
sunny most of the time? Where are the leading places
for a lob, a home, etc.? What must a newcomer watch
out for? Is it true that living costs are less than in the
East? What about salaries?
Or do you want to tour this Grand Canyon State?
What's the most scenic way to see Arizona by car or
otherwise? What is really the most satisfying way to
see the Grand Canyon' The Indian reservations? The
other four-star sights' Which are the outstanding
places to eat and stay? What are the sure ways to cut
travel costs in this big state?
Filled with facts, over 100,000 words long, this book
almost brings Arizona to your door answering these
and a hundred other questions. To know all you should
about Arizona before you go for a home, a job, retire-
ment in the sun, or a really memorable vacation, read
this book. Price, $2.95
A Good Trip Begins with a Harian Book
Publishers since 1935
Mall to HARIAN PUBLICATIONS
437 Walnut Drive
GREENLAWN (Long Island), N.Y. 11740
I have enclosed $ (cash, check,
or money order). Please send me the books
I checked below. YOU WILL REFUND MY
MONEY IF I AM NOT SATISFIED.
D Travel Routes Around the World (travel
by freighters). $1.50.
D America by Car. $3.95.
D Fabulous Mexico — Where Everything
Costs Less. S2.50.
D Off-the-Beaten Path. $2.50.
D SPECIAL OFFER #1: All 4 books
above for $6.95.
D Norman Ford's Florida. $3.00.
D All About Arizona— the healthful state.
$2.95.
D Where to Retire on a Small Income. $2.95.
D Bargain Paradises of the World. $2.50.
D SPECIAL OFFER #2: Save $8.90—
all 8 books above, $21 .85 value, for
only $12.95.
Print Name •
Street Address !
City I
State Zip Code I
THE SILVER MARTINI.
FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT A SILVER LINING WITHOUT THE CLOUD
SMIRNOFF SILVER. NINETY POINT FOUR PROOF. SMIRNOFF LEAVES YOU BREATHLESS®
SMIRNOFF SILVER" VODKA, 90 4 PROOF DISTILLED FROM GRAIN STE. PIERRE SMIRNOFF FLS. [OiV OF HEUBLEIN, INC ) HARTFORD, CONN.
^\1.-H^%
"Search fi^r thi Grreat Apes"
lf:H
■•'--SMi^giigti^f^:
/■ Meet a shy and "^.■
gentle giant.
:':/ After liviijg among
the giant mountain
gorillas of Africa for 10
years, Dian Fossey has
; discovered that only
their reputation is
ferocious /;:'-9^4^35|^ni§::;' • ■
Meet,too^~the;"^'^--"^:-' '■
orangutan of Borneo, •>,...
the elusive man of the-'^Jv ;;x -"
forest, and Birute ,■' ,'-:i0
Galdikas-Brindamoui;.- - ^^
the woman who ■;> '\ :
searched him out ■'^* -; '■:^;f^-
Join the "SearchffSv'-vi:'
the Great Apes" on ;^;it^Nv^
; Public Television, -"'^'^^^j^
Hie National Geographic ,^ , ,.,, . ,, .,
,, Specials ;:VH#i^V,\(rM
'^^r!^
J. •
•if •v
The amazing Mercedes-Benz 450SE»
Take a good, close look.
"fouVe never seen anything like it.
Here's a walk-around checklist for one of the most
important sedans ever engineered by Mercedes-Benz — or by anyone else.
It'll help you see, firsthand, why the 450SE defies imitation
...and why it deserves your closest consideration.
1.
Start here. Look at the trunk space. An uncluttered 18.2 cubic feet.
Spare tire is stored out of the way, flat under the floor,
where it can also serve as an additional impact-absorbing device.
14.
2.
Heated rear
window. Auio-
matic timer
prevents wasted
energy. Tinted
glass all around
Standard
equipment.
3.
Rain channels use
airflow to divert
rainwater from side
and rear windows
4,
Chrome strip/side
protection molding is
rubber-mounted to
eliminate metal-to-mctal
contact.
5.
Interior is fully padded
for safety and sumptu-
ousness. Sealed against
noise and heat. Four
different sound-
absorbing materials.
6.
Maximum-visibility
windshield. All-
around visibility in
the 450SE totals 313°.
Overlapping windshield
wipers clear 73 percent
of the entire wind-
shield.
7.
Steel'belted radial
tires. Standard
equipment.
8.
Safety bumpers,
rubber protected,
hydraulic-regenerative
Front and rear.
Aerodynamically ribbed rear
lights use airflow to stay clear in
foul weather or on dusty roads.
13.
Cockpit. Control panel has
full instrumentation. Tach-
ometer, quartz crystal clock,
cruise ^ control, AM/FM
stereo radio,
electrically
operated
windows are all
standard
equipment.
12.
Safety
cone door
locks. So
strong that
one of them
can support
the weight
of the entire
450SE.
11.
Central locking
system. Locks all
doors, trunk arA
gas filler port at the
turn of a key.
10.
The outside rearview
mirror. Distortion-free,
folds full forward onA.
rear for pedestrian safety.
Large, inside rearview
mirror folds and breaks
away on impact for
driver and passenger
safety.
9.
Halogen fog lights.
Standard equipment.
The amazing Mercedes-Benz 450SE.
Novs look at 8 things you don't see.
You've still never seen anything like it.
You'll experience and appreciate some of them during
your test drive. (Your Dealer can arrange it at your convenience.)
The others are special Mercedes-Benz bonuses.
All of them are standard equipment
15.
Automatic
Climate Control
maintains
a preselected
temperature; ,
dehumidifies,
heats and
cools.
"\
22.
Safety advances. TTie entire
passenger compartment is protected
by collapsible extremities and a rigid
steel shell. TTie shell is an enormously
strong, welded structure. The roof
alone can sustain over 5 tons weight.
The gas tank is mounted over the
rear axle, nearly four feet in from the
rear bumper, and surrounded by
steel bulkheads. TTie gas filler pipe is
designed to pinch closed on impact.
16.
Undercoating
extends up to the
rocker molding for
extra protection.
The underside of the
450SE is buffered by four
different materials including
anti-corrosion wax and al-
most 24 pounds of
plasticized vinyl.
17.
A unique engine. A trim
4.5 liter, overhead camshaft
V-8 with a breakerless,
transistorized ignition
system and an all-new,
mechanically operated
fuel injection system that
maintains optimum fuel/
air mixture at all times
18.
Fully independent
front and rear
suspension.
They set new handling
standards — even for
Mercedes-Benz. No do-
mestic sedan has any-
thing like them.TTiey
combine with the sophis-
ticated Mercedes-Benz
recirculating ball-type
power steering to give you
extraordinary control at
all times.
Power disc brakes on all four wheels.
TTie brakes are ventilated — then further cooled by special
turboblades. They are designed to stop you smoothly,
securely time after time — without disconcerting fade.
21.
Remarkably smooth
automatic transmission,
3 speeds, with torque con-
vertor. You shift without
interrupting power flow
and can even override the
automatic to shift manu-
ally within proper engine
speed ranges.
20.
Retained value.
Based on the average
• official used car prices
over the past 5 years,
! Mercedes-Benz holds
/ its value better than
any make of luxury
I car sold in America.
And among
Mercedes-Benz models
listed, the 450SE's
figures are outstanding.
Mercedes-Benz
Engineered like no other car in the world.
©1975 Mercedes-Benz
NATURAL HISTORY
Incorporating Nature Magazine
Vol. LXXXV, No. 2
February 1976
The American Museum of Natural History
Robert G. Goelet, President
Thomas D. Nicholson, Director
Alan Ternes, Editor
Thomas Page, Designer
Board of Editors:
Sally Lindsay, Frederick Hartmann,
Christopher Hallowell, Toni Gerber
Carol Breslin, Book Reviews Editor
Florence G. Edelstein, Copy Chief
Gordon Beckhorn, Copy Editor
Angela Soccodato, Art Asst.
Diane Pierson, Editorial Asst.
Lillian Berger
Rosamond Dana, Publications Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dean Amadon, Dorothy E. Bliss,
Mark Chartrand, Niles Eldredge,
Vincent Manson, Margaret Mead,
Thomas D. Nicholson, Gerard Piel,
Richard G. Van Gelder
David D. Ryus, Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly, Business Manager
Sue Severn, Production Manager
Gordon Finley, Marketing Manager
Ernestine Weindorf, Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe, Business Asst.
Yung-mei Tang
Ann Brown, Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez, Asst.
Joan Mahoney
Harriet Walsh
Publication Office: The American Museum
of Natural History, Central Park West
at 79th Street, New York, N.Y. 10024.
Published monthly, October through May;
bimonthly June to September.
Subscriptions: $10.00 a year. In Canada
and all other countries: $12.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at
New York, N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1976 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be
reproduced without written consent of
Natural History. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American Museum.
Natural History incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History,
420 Lexington Avenue,
New York, N. Y. 10017
Telephone: (212) 686-1234
Change of address notices, undeliverable
copies, orders for subscriptions,
and other mail items are to be sent to
Natural History
Membership Services, Box 6000
Dcs Moines, Iowa 50340
4 Authors
10 The Web of Hunger Stephen C. Frantz
Rats in the Granary
22 This View of Life Stephen Jay Gould
Human Babies as Embryos
27 Letters
34 Rifting in the Okavango Delta Christopher H. Scholz
One of Africa 's greatest wildlife areas exists because the continent is slowly
tearing apart.
44 Swiss Family Togetherness John Friedl
The long, snowy winters bring villagers together for courting, for sharing foe
and warmth, and for protection against ever threatening natural disaster.
52 Plant-loving Bats, Bat-loving Plants Donna J. Howell
Plants and animals do not evolve in isolation.
60 Reef Fish Lottery Peter F. Sale
Coexistence is a chancy way of life on the Great Barrier Reef.
66 Wandering Art Stanley Ira Hallet
When the Afghan people adapt trucks to their rugged country, they remove i
emergency brake and add two eyes for safety.
72 A Naturalist at Large Evelyn Shaw
The Egg as Classroom
78 Sky Reporter John Cribbin
Climatic Changes on Mars
~ 83 A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokolov
A Steak in the Future?
86 The Market
88 Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
90 Book Review Murray Tinkelman
An Illustrator's Portfolio
95 Additional Reading
98 Announcements
Cover: Snow falls gently on the romantic Swiss village of Ostadt. At the same
time, snow is accumulating on the Alpine peaks, creating a serious threat
of avalanche. Photograph by Burt Glinn of Magnum. Story on page 44.
^^^^ Just send us one dime within 10 days and you get any
1WV^% TAPES or
RECORDS
for only
I lu udyb cinu yuu
99
plus postage
& handling
Worth from $55.84 up to $85.84 at regular Music Service prices
Choose ... ,«
or RECORDS^/ or CASSETTES
You merely agree to select as few as 6 more hits at regular
Music Service prices in the next three years.
> Jim CroceiLlleS Times. 22406
>BTO: Not Fragile 23420
• Haggard:Keep Movln' 33411
. Denver: Back Home. .320S0
• Best Of The Guess Wlio 04306
• Charlie Rich
Golden Hits 04421
• Steppenwoll: Great Hits 13453
• South Pacific 00049
• Cllburn: Piano Favorltes13500
• ZZ Top: Fandango 13864
• lOcc: Soundtrack 31587
• Dr. Hook: Bankrupt 32228
• fVloody Blues: Sojourn 10905
• Ormandy: Scheherazade 14307
• Fargo: Happiest Girl 14345
• Carpenters: Horizon .14294
• TJB: Coney Island 04682
• Campbell: Rhinestone 13932
• Sweet: Desolation Blvd. 30304
• Prairie League: 2-Lane 04608
• Kinks: A Soap Opera . 23387
• Nat Cole: Unforgettable 32474
• Peter Frampton 04647
• Steely Dan: Katy Lied .23356
• Elvis: How Great 04632
• Uriah Heep: Magician .13852
• The Band: Big Pink . .13810
• Helen Reddy: Lady 23726
• S. Dan: Pretzel Logic .04579
• Grass Roots: Great Hits .13570
• Best of IVIanclnl 00222
• Bacharach: Gt. Hits. .21151
• Bowie: Young Amer 04609
• Poco: Head Over Heels 23237
• Wakeman: King Arthur .33187
". Roe: Gt. Hits 03743
• Hot Tuna: America 04654
• Stokowskl/Wagner 03928
• Dawn: Ragtime Follies .20280
• Roy Clark: Gt. Hits .23644
• Jennings: Dreaming 20026
• Joe Cocker: Rain 04532
• Paul Anka: 21 Gold Hits00120
• Nelson:
What Can You Do 24103
• Ormandy: Nutcracker .14350
• Tom Jones: Gt. Hits
. Cash: Gold Vol. 1
• Supertramp: Crime
> Hayward/Lodge: Blue
• Best Sons Of Ploneersff)13430
• Nashville: Soundtrack. .33359
• Ozark Daredevils: Shine 13994
• Best Jim Reeves 00267
• Mills Bros.: Gts. Hits 04482
Jiagerldon 33897
n JessI Colter 04621
• 10 Years After: Gt. Hits 20018
■ Hart: Country Heart .14037
FREDDY FENDER
31
»
Save on Your Choice of Cartridges or Records or Cassettes
start Saving Now! Take any 8 Cartridges or Records or Cassettes for
99e with trial membership. {Sorry, no mixing.) Indicate your choices on
the coupon, enclose one dime down payment, and mail it today!
Colorful Magazine! Free Choice! Every four weeks illustrated MEDLEY
brings news of over 400 selections and features a "Selection of the
Month" in your favorite music category. And. five times a year, you
receive sale issues featuring a "Bonus Selection ' and alternates at
great savings. In all. you will have 18 purchase opportunities in the
course of a year. No need to buy a selection every time. You merely
agree to buy 6 more hits in the next three years at regular Music Service
prices — usually $6.98 for records, $7.98 for tapes. Choose from top
labels like RCA, Capitol. Warner Bros., Atlantic, A&M, ABC, Mercury,
London, Elektra . . . over 50 more!
Automatic Shipments! To get the regular "Selection of the Month" or
the special sale "Bonus Selection," do nothing; it will be sent auto-
matically. If you want other selections, or none, advise us on the card
always provided and return it by the date specified. You always have
at least 10 days to decide. But, if you ever have less than 10 days to
make your decision, you may return your automatic selection at our
expense for full credit.
Cancel whenever you wish after completing your membership agreement
by notifying us in writing. If you remain a member, choose 1 selection
FREE for every 2 you buy at regular Music Service prices! (Postage and
handling charge added to each shipment.)
Free 10-Day Trial! If not satisfied return your 8 hits
after 10 days for a prompt refund. Mail coupon today.
|./i ■V/<:;s: \ri_;aia^c aiiu
RCA
ACT NOW - MAIL COUPON TODAY!
RCA MUSIC SERVICE
P.O. Box RCA 1, Indianapolis, Ind. 46291
I enclose 100 down payment. Please ac-
cept my trial membership in the RCA
1 Music Service and send me the 8 hits
I've indicated here. I may return my 8
introductory selections at the end of 10
days if not satisfied, and my dime will
be refunded; or I will keep them for only 890 balance
and agree to buy 6 more at regular Music Service
prices in the next three years, after which I may can-
cel my membership. I understand I may refuse the
automatic shipment of each "Selection of the Month,"
order other selections, or none, by returning the
dated card always provided. (Postage and handling
charge added to each shipment.)
Q SEND MY SELECTIONS ON (check one only):
8-Track Tape'^ ©^ Rj>
D CARTRIDGES \^n RECORDS^ D CASSETTES>A
Q I am most interested in the following type of music
— but I am always free to choose from every category
(check one only):
n Easy Listening (Instrumental/Vocal) D Classical
D Today's Sound (Rock/Soul/Folk)
□ Country Q Broadway-Hollywood-TV
^ D Mrs. [
D Miss)
Address
Orushme
THESE 8
SELECTIONS
(indicate by
number)
City.
.State.
ncii
Tibership per family. Local I
Authors
A research associate at the Interna-
tional Center for Medical Research,
Johns Hopkins University, Stephen
C. Frantz is examining basic rodent
biology, ecology, and rodent-human
relationships. He spent eighteen
months in India looking into rodent
behavior in grain warehouses and two
years in Nepal collecting information
on rats that infest houses, with partic-
ular emphasis on the factors in human
life that affect rat success. Based on
these studies, Frantz is developing
ecologically sound approaches to the
problems of pest control, food pro-
duction, and waste management,
which he hopes will be integrated into
existing government programs.
When the Alpine village he was
studying was struck by a severe ava-
lanche, John Friedl was able to ob-
serve at firsthand the effect of natural
disasters on such things as agricul-
tural practices and social relation-
ships. These observations became
part of his doctoral research on cul-
ture change among former peasants in
European society. An associate pro-
fessor of anthropology at Ohio State
University, Friedl has now turned his
sights closer to home . He is exploring
the problems of assimilation among
Appalachian migrants and plans to
look closely at their use of health care
and other social services.
An invitation from the United Na-
tions Food and Agriculture Organi-
zation to serve as consultant on a de-
velopment program for the Okavango
Swamps led Christopher H. Scholz
to Botswana. From boyhood on, his
primary interest has been earth-
quakes. Scholz is professor of geol-
ogy at Columbia University and a
senior research associate at the uni-
versity's Lamont-Doherty Geologi-
cal Observatory in Palisades, New
York. His attention is focused at
present on the problems of earth-
quake prediction, a subject he has
written about for this magazine {see
"Toward Infallible Earthquake Pre-
diction," May 1974).
The sculpture above was carved in the 8th century in Ellora We've a
5000-year-old past distilled in stone and marble and pigment.
A stupendous show.
But to really discover India, you have to be open to the daily life around
you. The best way is to share our everyday experiences. At a camel fair in
Pushkar. On the Taj Express. At a bazaar in Old Delhi. A tea shop in Jaipur
A dance recital in Madras. Whenever And, of course, come to our homes,
share our curhes, listen to our stories, tell us yours [in English; it's our
second language}.
Meet us halfway and you'll see; India will repay you more than any land
on earth (ask those who've been here}.
Bythe way, thethp needn't be expensive. Everything costs less in India.
As for the fare, it's only $760 round trip from New York.
<}f>*:ic«<:{c«^*:i(4<:f:4i:j(*:i(*:|c«:f:*:(;*:{c*;f:*:):*:|c
India
It sounds like India IS for me
Please send me your brochures.
Address-
City
-Zip_
MyTravel Agent is
Government of India Tourist Office
201 N Michiigan Ave,, Chicago, III. 60601
685 Market Si . San Francisco. Cal, 94105
Royal Trust Tower Dominion Center. Toronto. Canada
'T'his year, logic will drive many thinking people to Volvo showrooms.
Because Volvo has a reputation for being one of
the world's most intelligently thought out cars.
^<::^ ,^B^. iM -| But not all these people will drive out with
the same Volvo.
k.# por 1976, we have six different
Volvos to choose from.
If you're
interested
spending less
money, you
can choose
of our basic ^
Volvo 240s.
Also on the Volvo 240s, you get steel-belted
radials. And orthopedically designed front
bucket seats with adjustable lumbar supports.
If you want to exceed these standards, you can
order options like air conditioning,
power steering with automatic
transmission, overdrive and a
sunroof.
Of course, for some
people even these options
won't be enough.
So for them, there's
another option. pu/i
For thoughtful jM.
car buyers to whom
money is not as big
an object, we
have the three
objects on your
immediate
right.
The
luxurious
new Volvo
260s.
THINK
You can
choose either
the 2- or 4-
door sedan.'
Or,ifyoucarr)r
many of your^
worldly '
possessions
around with
you, a 5-door
luxury wagon.
The Volvo 260s
come with
everything the Volvo 'i
240s do and more.
You get a bigger
engine: an overhead cam
fuel-injected V-6.
You also get power steering
and your choice of automatic
ansmission or 4-speed manual
With overdrive... all at no extra cost.
Either our 2-()r4-cl()()r SL-clan. Or our roomy 5-door wagon.
While you may be gelling ihe lower end of our line, you won't be getting the short
end as far as a ear is eoneerned.
Every Volvo 240 eomes loaded with standards that are well above the
standard. You get a quiet. ■■
res|5onsive overhead earn
fuel-injeeted engine.
4-speed manual
Jtransmission.
f4-wheel.
owe
dise
brakes
and rae
and pinioji
steering.
£W
AUKE.
I n the 260 GL sedans
you'll find many other
luxuries that people of
means consider
\necessities. Things like air conditioning,
leather to sit on. Power front windows
A sunroof. A heated driver's seat.
And metallic paint. All standard.
We realize that by giving you
six Volvos to choose from,
we haven't made things
easy for you.
But look at it this
way: when you Ye
intelligent enough
to make the basic
decision to buy
\a Volvo, you Ye
intelligent
enough to
decide
Just how
I basic tha
Volvo
.should be
e who think'
LET HIM GROW WITH A
QUESTAR
A child's wonder at the world about him
can hold a promise, for many a scientist
can remember that his present preoccupa-
tion with the universe began with an
intense curiosity early in life.
Such a child will learn to master many
tools, and the telescope, that prime tool
of science, should be the first. A flawless
tool is an extension of the mind and hand,
and a fine telescope should combine such
mechanical and optical perfection that it
can serve for a lifetime and never become
a frustration whatever the critical job at
hand. Questar, the very finest, is such a
tool and its lovely versatility adds an
extra dimension to many fields: astron-
omy, of course, but also to disciplines
that are terrestrial in nature. Whether it
will be used for research, or simply for
the pure enjoyment of observing wildlife,
even indoors, perhaps, where its high
powers can focus on the web-spinning
of a house spider at a distance of ten feet,
it is a gift for ever. And its easy portability
can take it wherever one travels.
What other tool could you buy a child
that not only would enchant and amuse
him in his early awakening, but would
continue to serve him all his life?
© Questar Corporation 1976
QUESTAR. THE WORLD'S FINEST, MOST VERSATILE
TELESCOPE IS PRICED FROM $865 SEND FOR OUR
BOOKLET IN FULL COLOR WITH 150 PHOTOGRAPHS
BY QUESTAR OWNERS SI COVERS MAILING ON THIS
CONTINENT, BV AIR, TO SOUTH AMERICA, S3 00,
EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA, S3 50 ELSEWHERE S4
QUESTAR
Box BOG. New Hope, Pa, 18838
The Sta
ndard Ql
estar with its beautifu/ star chart
n above
Beloiv. the Field Model, with
Olympu
camera
attached, is tripod mounted.
I 1
Bats have been a research occupa-
tion for Donna J. Howell since her
postdoctoral days at Princeton Uni-
versity's Auditory Laboratory. She
has investigated the foraging strate-
gies and energetics of nectar-feeding
bats and is examining the biome-
chanics of bat legs in an attempt to
learn why the creatures hang upside
down. Howell has an adjunct ap-
pointment in vertebrate biology at the
Florida State Museum in Gainesville,
and between field trips to the South-
west, Mexico, Central America, and
the West Indies in search of her bat
subjects, she sings professionally
with popular bands.
Peter F. Sale has been diving over
coral reefs for the past ten years, but
he never does it simply for pleasure.
Instead, he devotes his time in the
water to investigating the highly di-
verse fishes characteristic of reefs. A
biology teacher at the University of
Sydney in Australia, Sale spends
some three months each year on the
Great Barrier Reef, pursuing his in-
terest in its fauna with a current em-
phasis on competition between plank-
ton-feeding reef fish.
A designer, educator, and film-
maker, Stanley Ira Hallet was able
to bring his many interests together
when he spent the year 1971/72 as a
Fulbright lecturer in Afghanistan. Al-
though the chief purpose of his stay
was to advise the fledgling School of
Architecture at the University of
Kabul, Hallet also worked with
Afghan students in restoring the Char
Chatta Bazaar, photographed Afghan
houses and cities, and in collabo-
ration with his wife, made a film on
painted trucks. "The trucks were a
natural subject," he says. "They
helped explain what Afghanistan was
all about." An associate professor of
architecture at the graduate school of
the University of Utah, Hallet plans
to study twentieth-century American
vernacular architecture, such as sub-
urbs and shopping centers.
"The most complete and most
scholarly dictionary of the
English language
I he L hnsttiiii ^cioui' Monitoi
As an introduction to
membership in the
BOOK-OF THE MONTH CLUB
yours for only
$1750
Publisher's list
price: $90
yn simply aj;rec-
THE SUGGESTED TRIAL: Yo
to buy four Club choices within a year at suh'^tantial
savings on most books you choose
THE Oxford English Dictionary is generally
regarded as the final arbiter of the English lan-
guage. Until recently, it had been available only
as a thirteen-volume set, currently priced at $350.
Now, through the combination of an ingenious
method of micrographic reproduction and a fine
Bausch & Lonih optical lens, every single one of its
16,569 pages, fifty million words and close to two
million illustrative quotations appears, in easily
readable form, in The Compact Edition.
The New York Times book critic Christopher
Lehmann-Haupt has said of this edition: "It is
something of a miracle. . . . The Compact
Edition is easier to work with than the original
with its 13 separate volumes."
Even more extraordinary, as a trial member of the
Book-of-the-Month Club you may obtain the two-
volume set for only $17.50. And as long as you re-
main a member, you will receive the Book-of-the-
Month Club Newx, a literary magazine announc-
ing the coming Selection and describing other im-
portant books, most of which are available at sub-
stantial discounts — up to 40% on more expensive
volumes. All of these books are identical to the
publishers' editions in content, format, size and
quality.
If you continue after your trial membership, you
will earn at least one Book-Dividend® Credit for
every Selection or Alternate you buy. These
Credits entitle you to obtain a wide variety of
books, called Book-Dividends, at astonishing sav-
ings — at least 70% of puhlisliers' list prices.
FACTS ABOUT MEMBERSHIP
• You will receive the Book-of-the-Month Club
News, a literary magazine published by the
Club fifteen times a year. The News describes
the coming Selection and scores of Alternates,
and will be sent to you approximately every
three and a half weeks.
• If you wish to purchase the Selection, do
nothing and it will be shipped to you automati-
cally.
• If you do not want the Selection — or you
would like one of the Alternates, or no book at
all — simply indicate your decision on the reply
form always enclosed with the A'cu-.v and mail it
so we receive it by the date specified.
• If, because of late mail delivery of the New.s,
you should receive a Sclcciion without having
had 10 days to decide whether you want it, that
Selection may be returned at Club expense.
oS?N COMPACT
IpLlSH OXFORD
'^lONAf
iM**^^
"^^^^
FEATURES
• Boxed set of two volumes,
i^'j" \ l?i;"cach
• All 16.569 pages of 13-vol-
time original included in the
4 1 .'4 pages of The Coiiipcicl
Eiliiinii through a photo-re-
diiciion process which per-
mits printing of four pages
of original on one page of
new edition
• Paper is 30-pound Special
Dictionary White
• Binding is library buckram
— reinforced and stamped
in gold
• Bausch & Lomb magnify-
ing glass included in special
drawer of slipcase. 2" x 3''»"
lens scientifically designed
to make reduced print easily
readable
BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB, INC.
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, 17012
Please enroll me as a member of the Book- mrs. \ ,-;■■:•■■
of-lhe-Momh Club and send me The Compaa miss \ (Please print plamly)
Edition o) the Oxford English Dictionarv. bill-
ing me $17.50 (in Canada $19 - publisher's Address
price $99). I agree to buy at least tour Se-
lections or Alternates during the first year I
am a member, paying in most cases special City
members' prices. My membership is cancel-
able any time after 1 buy these four books. A 2in
shipping charge is added to all shipments. ■^"'"'
The Web of Hunger
by Stephen C. Frantz
Rats in the Granary
Behind the success story of
these ubiquitous rodents is a
human tale of poorly kept
buildings, torn sacks, and food
we can ill afford to lose
At 3:00 A.M. I sat alone on the con-
crete floor of the grain godown (ware-
house), amused by the group of sev-
enteen rats that had just walked across
my lap. As long as I remained quiet,
the wild rats investigated me as they
would any object — by sniffing, lick-
ing, and walking over me. That they
would attack when threatened or cor-
nered was evidenced by the stories of
several laborers with telltale scars on
their ankles and feet. For most of my
observations I sat atop a 10-foot-high
platform against one wall of the go-
down, but for detailed observations
of behavior, I found it necessary to
sit on the floor and "become a rat."
I had gone to India to study Bandi-
cota bengalensis, the lesser bandi-
coot rat. Mine was the first natural-
istic and systematic study of this ani-
mal's behavior and one of the few
long-term behavior studies of wild
rats in their natural habitat. There are
numerous deterrents to such studies,
not the least of which is the rats' noc-
turnal activity cycle and seamy liv-
ing conditions. Most rodent biolo-
gists, as W. B. Jackson of Bowling
Green State University has pointed
out, "would rather examine traplines
in the morning to determine where
rats had been and what they had done
. . . than spend the night attempting
to be a part of their environment. "
The adult lesser bandicoot rat is
seven and a half inches long (exclud-
ing the tail), has a blunted snout, and
rarely exceeds ten ounces in weight,
but it otherwise resembles the ubiqui-
tous common brown, or Norway, rat.
The bandicoot is found throughout
South Asia from Nepal to Sri Lanka
and from Pakistan to Indonesia. In
India this rat has traditionally been a
field-inhabiting species, but in recent
times it has apparently increased
greatly in numbers and has displaced
other major rat species in urban areas.
How much of this "take-over" is
the result of bandicoots moving into
urban areas and how much is the re-
sult of urban sprawl encroaching on
the bandicoot habitat is still unclear.
One thing that is clear, however, is
that human food supplies are se-
riously threatened by any ecologi-
cally successful rat, a problem India
cannot afford.
Regardless of cause, the lesser
bandicoot has become the dominant
rat in several large Indian cities, in-
cluding Calcutta, Bombay, and Ma-
dras. This is significant because the
lesser bandicoot has a greater repro-
ductive potential than any other do-
mestic rat. According to one study,
more than half the adult female bandi-
coots in Calcutta were pregnant at any
one time, and they averaged eleven
pregnancies per year. I found that fe-
males become sexually mature at
about sixty days of age and can pro-
duce their first litter after an addi-
tional twenty-two or so days.
Physiologically then, the lesser
bandicoot can outbreed competing
rodent species, which make up an ex-
ceedingly small proportion (less than
5 percent) of the total rat population
of the study area. Certainly, this
aspect of bandicoot biology indicated
a good potential forecologic success.
but I needed to learn how the repro-
ductive potential meshed with other
aspects of the rat's life to effect that
success.
My study was located in the grain
godown district in Howrah, an indus-
trial suburb across the Hooghly River
from Calcutta. This general area has
been important for trade and industry
since Europeans began to frequent
the Hooghly in the sixteenth century.
Incidentally, the term "godown" is
an old, corrupted form of the Malay
word godon, meaning "warehouse, ' '
and is widely used in Asia as well as
Great Britain. In this district, small,
dusty roads run between row upon
row of old grain godowns and mills
in various stages of disrepair. Most
buildings are separated from each
other by narrow passageways, an ar-
rangement that provides the rats with
numerous and well-dispersed resting
places and travel routes.
I was immediately struck by the
general poverty and lack of sanitation
in the district. There is a dense human
population with a disproportionate
number of men, laborers who have
migrated from oudying areas. Some
people crowd into the limited living
quarters usually provided in one or
two rooms of a godown; other
workers live along the sides of the
street with little shelter. The street
dwellers huddle completely under
their thin blankets at night; somehow
they manage this without suffocating
at the same time. On cool evenings
rats sometimes crawl under the blan-
kets of these sleeping people, ap-
parently to get warm.
Much of my time was spent inside
a typical grain godown, a 30- by 55-
foot structure, 15 feet high, with one
Audition Irci' tor 10 d.iys Kdrl Hohm's superb Ueutsc he Cjr.immophon recording of
SPECIAL BONUS: Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 12 and 26
All 4 International Award-Winning Records
For Less Than The Price Of 1!
Your Introduction To The Unique Money-Saving Program That Offers Free Auditions Of
Prize-Winning Recordings By The Leading Concert Artists Of Our Time!
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — music's greatest
natural genius — divinely gifted beyond any other
musician who ever lived! And into his six great-
est symphonies he poured a multitude of his
most astonishingly beautiful, incredibly moving
inspirations!
Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter"
Symphony No. 40 in G-minor
Symphony No. 39 in E-flat
Symphony No. 38, "Prague"
Symphony No. 36, "Linz"
Symphony No. 35, "Haffner"
Extra! Symphony No. 32
Now you are invited to hear these miraculous
works in their finest recording . . . interpreted with
extraordinary empathy by Karl Bohm . . . played
to perfection by the Berlin Philharmonic Orches-
tra .. . captured in unsurpassed stereo realism by
Deutsche Grammophon. So outstanding is this
recording that it has won tlirec of the music
world's most eagerly sought honors: the Grand
Prix International du Disque, Edison Award and
Deutsche Schallplatten Prize! In addition, you
will also receive Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos.
12 and 26, "Coronation," superbly performed by
soloist Geza Anda with the Salzburg Camerata
Academica — winner of the coveted Grand Prix
des Discophiles.
Now enjoy and keep these 4 superb albums for
less than the price you'd pay for 1 !
Because these magnificent recordings have met
with almost unprecedented acclaim, they have
been chosen to introduce you to The Great
Awards Collection, a totally new concept in home
listening. You may enjoy all eight masterpieces,
on four superb-quality, imported records, for 10
days absolutely free. Then keep all four, if you
wish, for only $6.98 [that's less thini tlic price
you'd pay for just one record)! Simply mail the
coupon at right today.
Here's how the program works . . .
As a member of The Great Awards Collection
you will receive only the finest recordings of
prize-winning concert performances by preemi-
nent orchestras, conductors and soloists. There is
no minimum number of recordings you must buy.
And you can cancel your membership at any time.
What's more, every superb recording you choose
to examine comes to you on a free 10-day trial
basis. So you'll never waste a penny on disap-
pointing purchases!
Approxmiately 14 times a year you will receive
the current issue of our Great Awards Collection
Bulletin highlighting an exceptional Selection of
the Month and other brilliant classical releases
recommended by a distinguished jury of musi-
cians, scholars and musicologists. If you want to
examine the Selection of the Month you need do
nothing. It will be shipped to you automatically.
If you want any other selection, just mark your
choices on the order card you will receive and re-
turn it by the date specified. If you do not want
any selection, just check the proper box on your
order card and return it by the date specified. It's
that simple!
Special half-price bonus offer saves you money!
In addition to great music, you'll enjoy great sav-
ings with our half-price bonus plan. For every
record you buy at our low members' price (always
well below suggested retail), you may choose an-
other one from a list of award-winners and other
critically-acclaimed LPs and pay just half that
price! A truly economical way to build your li-
brary of superb classical recordings.
How many records are you committing your-
self to buy when you return the attached coupon?
None III all! Even your introductory set of
Mozart's Six Greatest Symphonies and Piano
Concertos 12 and 26 comes to you on approval.
Audition it free for ten days, then either return
it — or keep it for only S6.98 for all four records
(plus a small postage.'handling charge).
Here at last is the ideal way to acquire a con-
noisseur's record library in easy stages. You listen
at home to every award-winning selection you
elect to examine before deciding whether to buy
it! Please act today! Begin your money-saving,
no-obligation membership in The Great Awards
Collection by mailing the coupon for your free
trial, with four-for-less-than-the-price-of-one
purchase option of this essential collection of Mo-
zart's Six Greatest Symphonies and exquisite
Piano Concertos Nos. 1 2 and 26.
Eight ways The Great Awards Collection helps
you enjoy fine music more than ever!
1. The greatest music by the world's immortal
composers.
2. A major, award-winning recording yours to
audition each month.
3. Superior imported LPs — silent surfaces.
4. Free ten-day trials of all selections.
5. All selections always far less than retail price.
6. Extra savings with Half-Price Bonus Plan.
7. No obligation to buy — no minimum purchase.
8. Money-saving introductory offer.
Send I
ey now — Mail coupon TODAY! -
Listen for lO days free. Keep all 4 for less than the price of l!
The Great Awards Collectic
. Great Neck, N.Y. 11025
■cording of Mozjrfs 5i« Greah
tin and three brick walls and a cement
floor. The godown was dark and
dusty inside, hot for much of the year,
and had the particularly unpleasant
feature of harboring thousands of
large brown cockroaches, which flew
about in the dark and often ended up
in my hair.
There are forty similar grain go-
downs within the study area, plus a
few mustard oil mills. Bandicoot rats
are not fond of the mustard seed it-
self, but they gnaw holes in the bags
of seed to get at other grains inadver-
tently mixed in during harvest.
Nearly every building is pierced by
ratholes; many have a main entrance
hole gnawed through the base of the
godown 's front door. The rats take
full advantage of man's poorly main-
tained habitat. The ground covering
of the whole area is largely concrete
or macadam, but concentrations of rat
burrows occur wherever soil is found.
Some animals live in the walls, foun-
dations, or under the floors of go-
downs. To reach these areas, the rats
gnaw through bricks and cement and.
in more elaborate cases, into the
wooden posts supporting the roof in
order to reach the soil below the floor.
In addition, some bandicoots find
shelter under trash piles in the pas-
sageways between godowns.
Rats obtain water mostly from
open drains and gutters, which often
contain human sewage. On many
nights I watched the animals drinking
my own undiluted urine at a nearby
latrine. With the exception of stored
grain, the area has virtually no natural
vegetation or other significant food
source. The omnivorous diet of ban-
dicoots includes garbage, insects,
and dead birds, but they prefer wheat
and rice, which are available in vir-
tually unlimited supply. More than a
hundred tons of grain could always be
found in the immediate vicinity of the
study godown. Grain is constantly
being shifted in or out of the go-
downs, depending on the demands of
the market. Every day laborers strain
under 200-pound bags of grain,
which they carry on their heads; the
hooks they use damage the jute bags,
causing small amounts of grain to be
dropped wherever a bag is moved.
The waste may be scavenged by a
poor worker's family or eaten by the
rats after dark.
Throughout the night a continual
flow of bandicoots passes in and out
of the godowns. The flow is not
always equal in both directions and
frequently results in large feeding ag-
gregates of more than a hundred rats
at a time in one room. The number
of rats depends on various factors: the
quantity of grain stored, time of day
(rats prefer nighttime), and season
(cool weather is more conducive to
rat activity). Rat activity is also in-
In one grain warehouse in Calcutta,
active adult rats eat about eleven
pounds of rice a day. Additional
consumption by pregnant females
and young, plus waste, may mean a
yearly loss of eight tons of grain.
Stephen C. Frantz
You can help save Maria Almanzar
for $16 a month.
Or you caip turn the page.
Imagine two tiny rooms
A dirt floor.
Mud walls.
Straw roof.
Put a family of six inside.
One that doesn't know what
electricity or running water
or sanitary facilities are.
Hard to believe?
For six-year-old Maria, these
are the facts of life.
Others?
Father has deserted.
Mother takes in washing.
Income, $1 a day.
The future for this little girl?
Very dim.
There's a better than even chance Maria will
grow up illiterate. Because it costs money to go
to school where she lives. Money that just isn't
there. But for $16 a month you can sponsor a
child like Maria so that she can grow up to live,
not just exist. Combined with money from other
sponsors, your $16 will help Maria and her
whole community. With everything from educa-
tion to food production to a hot lunch program
to a health center. In simple terms, help her
hardworking people help themselves. This is
what Save the Children has been all about since
1932.
For you — educated, involved, and in touch with
your own heart— there are many rewards. The
chance to correspond with a child. Receive a
photograph and progress reports. And above
all know you are reaching out to another human
being. That's how Save the Children works. But
without you it can't work. So please: clip this
coupon and mail it today. Now you can turn
the page.
Seed proud of our use of your funds. Annua! report and audit
Ifement available on request. Member of the Internationai Union
liid Welfare and the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for
Foreign Service. Contributions are income tax deductible.
I wish to contribute $16 a month to sponsor a D boy D girl D either
n Where the need is most urgent
D Appalachia(U.S.) D Indian D Korea
D Bangladesh (Latin America) D Lebanon
D Colombia D Indian (U.S.) D Mexico
n Dominican Republic D Inner Cities (U.S.) D Hural South (U.S.)
n Honduras Q Israel D Tanzania
Enclosed is my first payment:
□ $16 monthly D $96 semi-annually
D $48 quarterly D $192 annually
n Instead of becoming a sponsor, I am enclosing a contribution of
D Please send me more information.
NAME-
ADDRESS-
CITY
David L. Guyer, Executive Director
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION
Westport, Connecticut 06880 nh im
13
fluenced by conditions in adjacent go-
downs.
The general activity cycle of bandi-
coots probably has some underlying
physiological control, as has been
shown for many mammals, but envi-
ronmental factors modify its expres-
sion. Human habits are especially im-
portant. At Curzon Park, a busy
downtown intersection in Calcutta,
for example , a colony of lesser bandi-
coot rats depends directly on man for
food. To avail themselves of this op-
portunity, the rats are active only dur-
ing the day, especially at lunchtime
when office workers feed them pea-
nuts and other tidbits, much as we
feed squirrels or pigeons in our parks.
In sharp contrast, the godown ban-
dicoots are active at night. The hustle
and bustle of man's work makes day-
time a generally unfavorable time for
this small mammal to be active. No
one particularly likes the godown
bandicoots, and although no con-
certed systematic effort is made to
harm them, someone will often kick
a rat or even beat it to death. Since
the rats cannot defend themselves
very well, their small size is of con-
siderable advantage in escaping from
or avoiding their predators, of which
man is the most significant. (Other
predators, such as cats, dogs, owls,
and kites, take very few rats in com-
parison to man.)
Avoidance, then, is an important
part of the bandicoot's success. By
nightfall the streets of the godown
area are quiet and many people are
asleep by 9:00 p.m. Thus, when their
greatest predator, man, is inactive,
the rats are able to move about freely;
most bandicoots limit their activity to
the period between 6:00 p.m. and
6:00 A.M. , the inverse of man's activ-
ity cycle. Signals for ending a night's
activity are available from a daily
succession of events, beginning at
about 4:00 A.M.: first, roosters crow-
ing, later the sounds of pigeons and
crows, and finally man's early morn-
ing toilet at 5:00 A.M.
The cover of darkness certainly
provides the optimal time for rats to
be active , but a small number of them
can also be seen in the daytime. Their
activity period is much less predict-
able than that of nocturnal rats and is
governed mainly by the presence of
man. If laborers are working in a go-
down, the rats avoid it during the day,
but at night some rats will enter and
hide in the corners, under bags, and
in other inconspicuous spots.
During the day a few rats can be
U
found even in an empty godown, ex-
cept during the hot summer months,
March through June. Then the after-
noon air temperature inside the go-
down can average 104''F. with more
than 60 percent relative humidity;
heat radiating from the tin roof adds
to the extreme heat. Rats have poor
physiological mechanisms for regu-
lating their body temperature; to eool
themselves, they depend largely on
A young girl gathers grain
spilled from jute sacks damaged
by the workmen 's metal hooks.
After dark, rats will eat
what grain is left.
A cruise is more diaii two weeks on die \\ ater.
Let us take you to the ocean empires and
we'll show you what we mean.
We'll introduce you to the homelands of the
people who stretched the world. From the fjords
of the Baltic to the casdes of Spain. From North
Africa to the green and pleasant land of the
British Isles and the beauty of classic Greece.
You will sail aboard one of the most beautiful
and spacious ships afloat. A ship created to offer
the freedom to do as you please in a world ordered
for your pleasure. (The MTS Daphne is registered
in Greece.)
Our cruises start April 9, 1976. Won't you ask
your travel agent or Carras for our brochure with
sailing dates, prices and a complete description
of the Carras Experience?
It's not only fifteen great adventure stories.
It's an introduction to just how good life can be.
Soon the Carras Experience will include
Porto Carras, our resort now being developed on
the Aegean.
L^arras
75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York 10019. (212) 757-0761
Stephen C Frantz
Assemble
and Finish
18th Century
Furniture
One of 24 Bartley classics, in hand crafted
solid maiiogany, oak or cherry. Totally
authentic in design and beautifully
constructed. Each kit is easily assembled
and finished in your own home without
tools. All pieces also offered completely
assembled and hand finished. A $5.00
coupon included with catalogue.
■n
Please send me your illustr;
furniture reproductions available I
in kil form or hand finished. 1 am I
enclosing $1.00 to cover postage I
and handling. '
Cily/Stale/Zip_
I TheBartiey Collection, %1. I
747 Oakwood Ave., Dept. I-l, Lake Forest, II 60045
Rugged Softies
Finest grade of 100% cotton chamois in
heavyduty 10 oz. w/eight (not to be con-
fused with lighter weight chamois).
Fleeced inside and out to be soft as a
kitten's ear. Full cut. Long sleeves and
shirttails. Collar lined with smooth
whisker-proof Nylon. Grows softer, more
comfortable with each washing. Sizes:
Men's neck 14-18 in Vj sizes. Colors: Red,
Tan, Navy, Green. 1462 Shirt $14.50 ppd.
Order Today ! Money Back Guarantee !
Enclosed is my check or money order for
$ . (Add sales tax where applicable.)
Please rush my 1462 Chamois Cloth Shirt.
Size Color
Name
Address
J^et£di/^Sou^^<aAj^
Dept. FNH, 1737 Airport Way S., Sea
licking and spreading of saliva. Since
water resources are restricted at this
time, the rats prevent dehydration and
overheating by avoiding empty go-
downs during the hot part of the day.
They evidently spend the day in their
burrows, which remain at a relatively
constant temperature all year.
If a godown contains grain, rats
will enter it on hot summer days, but
they stay for only short periods and
keep between the stacks of grain
bags, which shield them from much
of the radiant heat. Even on summer
nights, with an average air tempera-
ture of 88° and 79 percent relative hu-
midity, the bandicoots lose heat by
stretching out on their bellies on the
relatively cool concrete floor of the
godown. In winter months (Novem-
ber through February), rats may be
attracted to the godown, which re-
mains above 63°, somewhat warmer
than the temperature outdoors.
Intensity of lesser bandicoot rat ac-
tivity is influenced not only by the
actual quantity of grain within a go-
down but also by the length of time
a particular quantity is held in
storage. Frequent shifting, perhaps
every few days, of abundant grain
supplies encourages activity. As in
other species of wild rats living under
conditions of chronic disturbance, the
bandicoots tend to explore novel situ-
ations of unfamiliar objects in famil-
iar surroundings. An attractant in this
situation might be the increase in
grain odor that is released by moving
bags of grain. This odor was obvious
to me, and rats can perceive such
odors with infinitely more accuracy
than humans. This eff^ect of grain
odor concentration is compounded by
residual odors, which persist after the
grain in a godown has been shipped
out. The high number of rats visiting
a full godown will visit that site for
at least the first night after it has been
emptied. Their visits, however, are
much shorter in duration, and on sub-
sequent nights the numbers drop off
exponentially. With the refilling of
the godown, a large number of rats
appear again, even on the first night.
What other cues are the bandicoots
using to interpret the various changes
in their environment? Since night vi-
sion in rats is not particularly acute,
odor, as mentioned, probably plays
an important role — not only grain
odor but the odor of other rats gath-
ered in a godown and the odor of rat
trails, marked by their body oils and
urogenital secretions as they move
along a passageway. The presence of
other rats in a godown also provides
strong auditory cues — bandicoots
eating grain in a closed area sound
like a roomful of typewriters. If a rat
detects other rats in a godown, grain
is available and opportunities for so-
cial interactions exist. The latter is
important because bandicoot rats are
contact animals.
Thus, once a rat arrives at a partic-
ular godown he can evaluate its desir-
ability. But how have these rats de-
veloped the ability to find food
sources that change so erratically?
In a series of movement studies, I
found that lesser bandicoot rats typi-
cally move around in an area 165 feet
in diameter, and occasionally extend
the diameter to 500 feet. Generally,
this is a larger movement range than
those of other species of rats in other
urban areas. Some rats visit a particu-
lar godown more than once a night
and revisit it on successive nights.
With one or more grain godowns
emptying at irregular intervals, the
bandicoots are conditioned to wander
regularly over a large area, visiting
several godowns daily. This behavior
enables the population to utilize new
food sources when old ones are emp-
tied or otherwise become unavaila-
ble. Protective runways, especially
the narrow passages between build-
ings, allow the movements to extend
farther than might occur in other cir-
cumstances. In fact, bandicoots liv-
ing in fields apparently have a highly
limited movement range.
How these rats deal with each other
in order to allow this systematic ex-
ploitation of the resources in their en-
vironment without undue social stress
is also interesting, particularly so be-
cause it contradicts some early stud-
ies that typified wild rats as savage or
aggressive, especially to interlopers.
After several months of work I real-
ized there was considerably less
fighting among the godown bandi-
coots, even at great densities, than
one might expect from other studies.
Nightly observations indicated that
the rats had only limited territoriality.
Adult females defended burrow en-
trances, especially against intrusion
by adult males. Adult males some-
times defended areas around a burrow
entrance, probably those with a sex-
ually receptive female inside.
To further investigate this social
phenomenon, I trapped adult bandi-
coots of both sexes, held them in the
laboratory for several months and
i6
McGraw-Hill
Color Slide Program
of the Great Masters
invites you to enjoy this entirely new
Color Slide
Art Lecture
in your own home for ^"
1
with trial
subscription
View 20 masterpieces
by Leonardo da Vinci.
Read fascinating
commentaiv about
the artist and each
painting.
— D
< »
s ;
E
>- ?
>>
T3
nj
a.
txO
o
9)
LU T3
J3
—
a.
q: 1
i
0)
QO
to
X
0)
CO
UJ in
^
^
a>
to V,
s.
u
o
o
o
Z) 0-
m z
o>
3 o
McGraw-Hill Color Slide Program
of the Great Masters, Dept. AY-135
1221 Ave. of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020
PLEASE enter my trial subscription to this
completely new Color Slide Program and
send me the Leonardo da Vinci Album (includ-
ing 20 color slides and 40-page illustrated lec-
ture). Bill me only $1, plus a few cents shipping.
If I am not delighted with this introductory
package, 1 may return everything within 10 days,
cancel my subscription, and owe nothing.
If I do continue, you will send me a new
Color Slide Album approximately every six
weeks (for 10 days trial examination) and bill
me at the subscribers' low price of $7.95, plus
shipping. I may take as few or as many Albums
as 1 like, and may stop whenever I wish. After
my fourth shipment I will be given a choice of
receiving all remaining albums in one conve-
nient shipment, or continuing with single-album
shipments.
with this card in envelope addressed to McGraw-Hill
Color Slide Program of the Great Masters. If not de-
lighted, return projector within 10 days for full refund.
This offer applies to U.S. and Canada only. AY-135
Imagine thethriuof
viewing the famous "Mona Lisa" in the true colors of the
artist's palette and the same size as the original in the
Louvre! This work is just one of the priceless paintings
by Leonardo da Vinci you and your family will enjoy
when you receive your introductory Color Slide Album.
MAIL ATTACHED CARD TODAY
SEND NO MONEY-NO POSTAGE REQUIRED
ENJOY THIS SPECTACULAR NEW
Color Slide Art Lecture
IN YOUR HOME FOR $1
j| You will view 20 famous
/»^ masterpieces by the great
LEONARDO DA VINCI
each one projected on your wall in
THE FULL GLORY OF THE ORIGINALS
You will receive fascinating commentary
on each painting and its place in the
life of the artist. You will discover a new
way to increase your enjoyment and
understanding of the world's great art.
A special demonstration offer from the new
Color Slide Program of the Great Masters
THERE IS NO EXPERIENCE in the world of
art more thrilling than to stand before a
magnificent painting— and to learn about it
from someone who knows the work well.
Suddenly everything you see takes on new
meaning, as you begin to understand fully
what the artist is communicating through
his particular choice of color, form, brush
stroke, and theme.
Now, your family can share this exciting
experience— and important cultural advan-
tage—at home, through the entirely new
Color Slide Program of the Great Masters.
You view world-famous works of art pro-
jected on your own wall in the full glory of
the original canvases— v^hiXe a noted author-
ity points out the significant aspects of each
painting, and gives you fascinating back-
ground on the man behind the masterpiece.
This method of art education— the color
slide art lecture— is widely used by leading
museums and universities. It has never be-
fore been made available to families at home.
A new way to deepen your appreciation of art and artists
As a subscriber, you are offered a series of un-
usual albums, each containing 20 color slides of
priceless paintings by a celebrated master. These
superb 35mm slides were created by specialists
in art photography working in leading museums
and collections throughout Europe and Amer-
ica. The authentic colors of the original paint-
ings, every subtle line and detail, are brilliantly
revealed on these slides. They can be shown on
any standard home slide projector. (If you do
not own a projector, you may obtain one at low
cost with your trial Album. See the special otfer
at the right.)
The color slides, however, are only one part
of the Album. Bound into the center of each
Album is an illustrated 40-page guided lecture
which discusses the artist's life as well as each
of the 20 paintings presented; its place in the de-
velopment of the artist, its importance in the
history of art, its reflection of the tastes and atti-
tudes of the period.
As you view the paintings projected on your
wall and read the absorbing commentary, you
and your family will discover a whole new di-
mension in the enjoyment of art. If you have
been disappointed by the inadequacies of small
prints and art reproductions, you will be de-
lighted with the thrilling visual experience of-
fered by the Color Slide Program of the Great
Masters. It is very much like taking your own
"private tour" with an art expert guiding you
through the world's finest collections.
Tlie Program is flexible— the cost is low
Approximately every six weeks, you are of-
fered a complete new Color Slide Album of 20
distinctive slides and an illustrated lecture. Forth-
coming Albums will be devoted to the lives and
works of such great masters as Michelangelo,
Rembrandt, Goya, Gauguin, and Picasso, as
well as Rubens, Van Gogh, Laulrec, Chagall,
and other outstanding artists from every major
period.
If the slides were available from museums,
you would expect to pay as much as $15 a set.
Yet, as a member of this new Program, you pay
only $7.95 for each complete Album— including
20 color slides and 40-page illustrated lecture.
You may take as few or as many as you like,
and may stop whenever you wish.
Accept tliis $1 demonstration offer
To introduce you to the Color Slide Program of
the Great Masters, we will send you the Color
Slide Album, Leonardo da Vinci (described
above), for 10 days trial. If you are delighted
with the demonstration, send only $1, plus a
few cents for shipping. Thereafter, you will be
offered a new Album approximately every six
weeks at the low price of only $7.95. You will
also be given the opportunity to elect to receive
remaining volumes. If not thrilled, however,
simply return everything within 10 days, and
you will be under no further obligation. Mail
the attached card today.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PROJEaOR, here's an unusual op-
portunity. We can offer you the sensational Kodak Car-
ousel 600 Projector supplied with a 500-Hatt lamp, and
3-in<h //3.5 Ektanar lens. This top-rated projector shows
all rcHJlar 2".'r2" 35mm slides.
It has dependable gravity feed
and you liaye instant access to
any slide at any time. List price
$84.50— subscribers* price only
$62.50, plus tax. Remittance
must accompany trial subscrip-
tion form. If you are not com-
pletely delighted with the pro-
jector, you may return in 10
days for a full refund.
If Reply Card has been removed, write Color
Slide Program of the Great Masters, Dept.AY-135
1221 Avenue of the Americas, N.Y., N.Y. 10020
then released them, together with
some laboratory-reared rats, back
into the godown on several different
nights when many rats were active.
The resident rats tolerated all inter-
lopers as well as they tolerated each
other. In fact, within a few minutes
of release, interlopers of both sexes
were mating freely with resident rats.
Studies of wild rats of other spe-
cies, conducted during the late 1940s
and early 1950s, had led me to expect
that resident rats would advance on
the interlopers with some form of
united, brutal aggression. When I
repeated my release experiments in
laboratory colonies of bandicoots, the
results came closer to what I had ex-
pected to see in the godowns. While
male residents mated with female in-
terlopers, they vigorously attacked
male strangers and would have killed
them if I had not intervened. Female
residents displayed a limited antago-
nism toward strangers of either sex.
An important difference in these
two release experiments is that in the
laboratory, a small number of rats
were confined in a simple environ-
ment where mutual recognition of in-
dividuals was apparent. In the go-
down situation it would be quite diffi-
cult for residents to recognize a
stranger per se. Large numbers of rats
gather in feeding aggregates that fluc-
tuate in size and membership.
Furthermore, since godown bandi-
coots wander over large distances,
they must regularly encounter strange
rats. Defense of their movement
range by godown bandicoots would
require an enormous expenditure of
energy — to patrol the area, to fight
with many interlopers, and to recover
from the resultant bodily injuries.
Obviously, territoriality would be se-
lectively disadvantageous to these
godown rat populations.
For similar reasons, there is no
clear-cut social hierarchy among
these rats. When two animals meet,
they most often ignore one another,
although they sometimes test for indi-
vidual social rank in a bout of threat
posturing or minor physical conflict.
Also, some animals avoid others; if
a fight is initiated, an animal can
escape its attacker. Thus, in response
to the high mobility of the godown
population and to shifting environ-
mental resources, harmful conflict is
prevented mainly through the adop-
tion of a relatively weak social-rank-
ing organization and considerable tol-
erance of strangers. Conflict is proba-
bly also reduced since competition
for food is unnecessary. With its
ample, well-distributed grain supply,
the godown situation must seem like
a universe of food to even the most
dense gathering of bandicoots.
The Food and Agriculture Organi-
zation of the United Nations has re-
cently suggested ("guesstimated")
that in the hot areas of the world, such
as India, there are three rats for each
human. To my knowledge, no one
has ever attempted the formidable
task of estimating the number of rats
in a city like Calcutta. In the grain
godown where I concentrated my
studies, an average of 200 adult ban-
dicoot rats were part of the nightly
feeding aggregates. This excludes the
small, young rats and many of the
pregnant females, which apparently
stay in their burrows or other har-
borages most of the time. In fact, this
inactive group of animals could have
been well in excess of the active adult
population at any one time, and I may
have been dealing with just the tip of
a "population iceberg."
Bandicoots tend to feed in more
than one godown in a night's activity,
and there were more than forty such
granaries in the study area. Each of
these godowns could have supported
a large rat population. Therefore,
based on the above assumptions, I
suspect it would be reasonable to sug-
gest that my entire study area of
roughly five acres supported at least
5,000 adult lesser bandicoot rats or
approximately 10,000 bandicoots of
ail ages. Of course, these figures
should not be applied to the other
areas of metropolitan Calcutta for
which we have no data.
To understand the significance to
humans of these large numbers of
bandicoots, we must go back to the
study godown and look at the amount
of grain required to feed those rats
alone. Rice is the most abundant
grain, and since each adult bandicoot
can be expected to eat just under an
ounce of rice a day, a total of about
eleven pounds would be eaten by the
estimated 200 adults that frequent the
godown. Therefore, this active adult
population of rats consumes more
than two tons of food grain each year.
This is enough to feed an average In-
dian his daily ration of rice for ap-
proximately eleven years! And this
estimate of consumption is only for
active adult bandicoots that use only
a few grain godowns in a small area
of just one city; in India this situation
occurs over and over in many cities.
The above figures are outrageous
enough, but they do not include the
food grains eaten by the young and
by many of the pregnant animals nor
do they account for the waste of
grain, which by FAO calculations is
at least twice the amount eaten. Thus,
the actual amount of grain made una-
vailable to man by the rats of the
study godown could be more than
four times my estimate, or eight tons
annually. Of course, not all rats in
India are so heavily dependent on the
human food supply, but the condi-
tions I observed in this study are rep-
resentative for stored food grains.
The implications' are staggering!
At its present growth rate (which
is not" as rapid as many other nations),
India alone adds about twelve million
people a year to its population, which
already makes up one-sixth of the
world's human inhabitants. Since ce-
reals and pulses are about 74 percent
of the average Indian diet, with rice
the preferred grain, it is obvious that
these grains must be protected from
the kind of serious damage rats im-
pose. A reduction of such losses
would be equivalent to an increase in
cultivated acreage or to an increase in
yield per acre.
Such an increase in the food supply
could occur without additional de-
struction of forestlands and would
circumvent much of the expense, and
many of the long-term environmental
degradative effects, of chemical fer-
tilizers, pesticides, and herbicides
usually used to produce high-yielding
varieties of food grains. Relieving
food shortages by saving food that is
already produced should be more ef-
fective than growing more food in the
Indo-Gangetic Plain. In fact, in most
developing countries, food needs ex-
ceed actual supplies by only 6 percent
or so; even a small improvement in
such procedures as grain storage
could close that gap.
The grain godown habitat is proba-
bly the urban equivalent of mono-
culture in agriculture; the great lack
of diversity lends itself to the produc-
tion of tremendous populations of op-
portunistic species — in this case, the
bandicoot rat. As long as rats can suc-
cessfully deal with their environment
and its changes, they will thrive. I
recently observed that bandicoots in
Bombay have even developed the
ability to climb service pipes in order
to reach the upper floors of apartment
buildings. In all of my Calcutta work
I never saw this; it is an adaptation
lor which bandicoots, unlii<e roof
rats, lack the morphologic specializa-
tion of a climbing loot structure.
Of course, poisoning and trapping
can remove individual rats from a
population, but will not necessarily
reduce the elTcctive breeding popula-
tion and will do nothing to reduce the
capacity of the environment to sup-
port surviving or immigrant rodents.
When such repressive etlorts are dis-
continued, the population increases
exponentially, often resulting in a
worse problem. In Bombay, for ex-
ample, the rat population continues to
increase, although a million rats have
been killed yearly for the last decade.
Environmental manipulation — in-
cluding the elimination of rodent
access to food , repair of structural de-
fects, removal and disposal of trash
accumulations, blockage of passages
through which rodents might enter or
leave a structure, and hygienic re-
moval and disposal of garbage and
sewage — is usually the most useful
means of managing urban rodent pop-
ulations. This approach lends itself
well to appropriate technology,
stressing low cost, intensive labor,
and culturally adapted solutions to
development problems. Such
methods — similar to those advocated
by Mahatma Gandhi more than thirty
years ago — are not only environ-
mentally sound but also conserve a
developing country's foreign ex-
change and reduce its dependency on
other powers. In the present case of
rodent control in Calcutta, efforts of
environmental manipulation should
be concentrated on the grain go-
downs. Elimination of the primary re-
sources— food and shelter — over
time, will make them significant lim-
iting factors, will increase competi-
tion for the remaining resources, and
will result in a reduced rat population.
As a biologist, I find it necessary
to respect rats for their ability to cope
with the vagaries of existing in such
a close relationship with humans.
True, the rat is cunning, opportunis-
tic, ecologically aggressive — but so
is man. While this subject may arouse
feelings of fear, hate, and disgust in
the minds of many people , I think that
to generally condemn rats because of
their finely tuned adaptive capacity
would be unjust. Domestic rats, such
as lesser bandicoots, will adjust to the
limits allowed by humans, and
humans will suffer when those limits
exceed their level of economic, medi-
cal, or esthetic tolerance, n
Declare peace withyourseE
Colonial Williamsburg is a tranquil place now.
The town is peaceful. It's a place for a relaxing
walk along marl paths, casual conversation
p- with colonial
ijlfeill craftsmen, warm
talks before a
relaxing log fire.
There is time.
Time to think, relax and renew your
acquaintance with the American heritage
and American ideals.
This is the place. Now is the time. Before
the Bicentennial tempo quickens, come set a
slow pace for yourself in Williamsburg.
whliamsburc. Virginia
You'll -want to stay in the historic area. Reserve
accommodations at William.shurg Inn, Lodge and The
Motor HouseWrite or call Reservations Manager, Box CN,
Williamsburg.Virginki 23185, (804)229-1000. Orcall
New York, 246-6800; Washington, 338-8828.
This View of Life
Human Babies as Embryos
Why are newborn humans far
less developed and more
helpless than the offspring of
our primate ancestors ?
Mel Allen, that irrepressible emcee
of Yankee baseball during my youth,
finally aroused my displeasure by
overenthusiastic endorsement of his
sponsors. I never balked when he re-
ferred to home runs as "Ballantine
blasts , ' ' but my patience was strained
one afternoon when DiMaggio
missed the left field foul pole by an
inch and Allen exclaimed: "Foul by
the ash on a White Owl cigar ." I hope
that I won't inspire any similar dis-
pleasure by confessing that I read and
enjoy Natural History and that I even
sometimes get an idea for a column
from its articles.
In the November 1975 issue, my
friend Bob Martin wrote a piece on
strategies of reproduction in pri-
mates. He focused upon the work of
one of my favorite scientists — the id-
iosyncratic Swiss zoologist Adolf
Portmann. In his voluminous studies,
Portmann has identified two basic
patterns in the reproductive strategies
of mammals. Some mammals, usu-
ally designated by us as "primitive,"
have brief gestations and give birth to
large litters of poorly developed
young (tiny, hairless, helpless, and
with unopened eyes and ears). Life-
spans are short, brains small (relative
to body size), and social behavior not
well developed. Portmann refers to
this pattern as altricial. On the other
hand, many "advanced" mammals
have long gestations, long life-spans,
big brains, complex social behavior,
and give birth to a few, well-devel-
oped babies capable, at least in part,
of fending for themselves at birth.
These traits mark the precocial mam-
mals. In Portmann 's vision of evolu-
tion as a process leading inexorably
upward to greater spiritual develop-
ment, the altricial pattern is primitive
and preparatory to the higher preco-
cial type that evolves along with en-
larged brains. Most English-speaking
evolutionists would reject this inter-
pretation and link the basic patterns
to immediate requirements of dif-
ferent modes of life. (I have often
used this column to vent my own pre-
judices against equating evolution
with "progress.") The altricial pat-
tern, Martin argues, seems to corre-
late with marginal, fluctuating, and
unstable environments in which ani-
mals do best by making as many
offspring as they possibly can — so
that some can weather the harshness
and uncertainty of resources. The
precocial pattern fits better with sta-
ble, tropical environments. Here,
with more predictable resources, ani-
mals can invest their limited energy
in a few, well-developed offspring.
Whatever the explanation, no one
will deny that primates are the ar-
chetypical precocial mammals. Rela-
tive to body sizes, brains are biggest
and gestation times and life-spans are
longest among mammals. Litter
sizes, in most cases, have been re-
duced to the absolute minimum of
one. Babies are well developed and
capable at birth. However, although
Martin doesn't mention it, we en-
counter one obviously glaring and
embarrassing exception — namely us.
We share most of the precocial char-
acters with our primate cousins —
long life, large brains, and small lit-
ters. But our babies are as helpless
and undeveloped at birth as those of
most primitive altricial mammals. In
fact, Portmann himself refers to
human babies as "secondarily altri-
cial." Why did this most precocial of
all species in some traits (notably the
brain) evolve a baby far less devel-
oped and more helpless than that of
its primate ancestors?
I will propose an answer to this
question that is bound to strike most
readers as patently absurd: Human
babies are born as embryos, and em-
bryos they remain for about the first
nine months of life. If women gave
birth when they "should" — after a
gestation of about a year and a half —
our babies would share the standard
precocial features of other primates.
This is Portmann 's position, devel-
oped in a series of German articles
during the 1940s and essentially un-
known in this country. Ashley Mon-
tagu reached the same conclusion in-
dependently in a paper published in
the Journal of the American Medical
Associationin October 1961. Oxford
psychologist R. E. Passingham has
championed it in a piece just pub-
lished (late 1975) in the technical
journal Brain, Behavior and Evolu-
tion. I also cast my lot with this select
group in regarding the argument as
basically correct.
The initial impression that such an
argument can only be arrant nonsense
arises from the length of human ges-
tation. Gorillas and chimps may not
be far behind, but human gestation is
still the longest among primates.
How then can I claim that human
neonates are embryos because they
are born (in some sense) too soon?
The answer is that planetary days may
not provide an appropriate measure of
time in all biological calculations.
Some questions can only be treated
by Stephen Jay Gould
properly when time is measured rela-
tively in terms of an animal's own
metabolism or developmental rate.
For example, we know that mamma-
lian life-spans vary from a few weeks
to more than a century. But is this a
"real" distinction in terms of a mam-
mal's own perception of time and
rate? Does a rat really live "less"
than an elephant? Laws of scaling
dictate that small, warm-blooded ani-
mals live at a faster pace than larger
relatives (see my column of January
1974). The heart beats more rapidly
and metabolism proceeds at a greatly
elevated rate. In fact, for several cri-
teria of relative time, all mammals
live about the same amount. All, for
example, breathe about the same
number of times during their lives
(small, short-lived mammals breathe
more rapidly than larger, slow metab-
olizers).
In astronomical days, human ges-
tation is long, but relative to human
developmental rates, it is truncated
and abbreviated. In my column for
May 1975, 1 argued that a (if not the)
major feature of human evolution has
been the marked slowing up of our
development. Our brains grow more
slowly and for a longer time than
those of other primates, our bones os-
sify much later, and the period of our
childhood is greatly extended. In
fact, we never reach the levels of de-
velopment attained by most primates.
Human adults retain, in several im-
portant respects, the juvenile traits of
ancestral primates — an evolutionary
phenomenon called neoteny. Neo-
teny has been crucial in human evolu-
tion for two reasons:
1 . It provides a morphology
adapted to our mode of life. We
The most comfortable
shoes youVe ever worn
or your money back!*
Norm Thompso)i's Vik/ugs. . .
llicsc iii:iy well he the iiioM uiuimi.iI
l)0()ls you'll ever have (he pleasure ol
wearinj^. They're liandcralted from ^e'l-
iiiiic hoarhide hy the people ai Allen
Kdiiioiuls. and there's ordy one word to
des<n'l)e them . . . (ondortahlel
The Jekyll & Hyde of .shoe leathers.
Nature f^ives hoarhide a iini(|ue dual
(|ualiiy. One part ol its |jersonalit\ is
soft and (omiortable. Brush your hand
over the leallier. or better still, hold
lyis.
1 he other
jjart ol its |)er-
s o n a 1 i t \ is
tou^h and rui;-
ged. The sm.i
dueling siai
you'll notiteon lon^ mnl niMilalr^.
your Vikinj^s weren't put there hy fae-
tory workers. The hoar did it himself
durini; the course ol a rou.nh-housing
(areer in some iiiinhtv runi^ed country.
In the process, he cre.ited a hide that's
just about as loui;h as thev come.
Soft leather and genuine crepe rubber
combine in a different kind of shoe.
The solt boarhicle gently molds to the
sha])e ol \our loot, and its deep porous
texture lets it "breathe" for comfort.
Inside, vou'll discover that Vik-
ing's arc completely lined with
^love-sott leather. The lons^
wearing sole and heel are
fashioned irom natural crepe
rubber. It puts extra bounce
into your step and absorbs
those tiring shocks and jars. It won't
peel away like artificial rubber soles,
and Vikings can be resoled if the need
ever arises.
Between the sole and a special
non-curl leather insole is a layer
i Nomillioinpn
Depl. 03-15
Older rOl.I. IRl-K amlime 800-.')47-(i7ll:
(excluding Oregon, Hawaii and .Maska)
Name
-Address ,
C;ity
State Zip
Q C;heck enclosed □ I5ank.'\mericaicl
Q Master (;haigc
Card #
V.\p. Date
.Signature X_
ol liiiely gioiiiid cork, ll provides a
iiiiic|uc loriii-(i(ling eflecl. j^ives you ex-
tra cushioning, and helps insulate
against heat, cold, and claiii|>. .\ncl as
with .'ill .Mien Kdmonds shoes. \'ikings
are put together wj'tlioul the use of
nails. This gives you a durable, single
unit that rolls, bends, and Ilexes with
I \cr\ ni<neiiieni ol vour tool.
Really easy care!
X'ikings wipe dean with a damp cloth
or you tan wash tlicni with saddle soap
lor deep c leaning .ind soltening.
Try 'em yourself for 2 weeks.
X'ikings are so dillerent. we confi-
dently guarantee them lor fit. irafts-
manship. and conilort. Wear them for 2
weeks. Really lest them. If you aren't
completelv satisfied, simply return them
lo us. postage prep, lid lor a lull refund.
Color: Rich, light brown. See chart lor
available sizes $48.00 ppd.
I'i/thiRS . . . nearest l/lhig to
htinflniatle . . . utnrliere near
the nisi: Try ■,in
y„nr»-tf.
I«(l.'i \.\V. Thuiman • Portland, OR 97209
Size Width
|\'ikiiig2()28 I ~ I I
6 Vz 7 V2 8 '/2 9 Vz 10 Va 11 Vz 12 V2 13 14 15
_M/C: Int. Bank #_
□ Send FREE "Escape from the ordinary^
color catalog. .Save up lo 1/3 on imported
sporls clothes and ec|uipmeiit.
23
As you watch the thriUing Winter
Olympic Games from Innsbruck, keep
an eye open for the other Olympic star
Austria . . . radiant in wmter,
glorious in summer, a land for
all seasons and all pleasures.
Music. Sports. History.
Vienna. Salzburg. An incred-
ible landscape that offers the
drama of the Alps, the peace
of the countryside, the hospitality of
cities as old as recorded time and as
young as dreams. Our national heart
has kept its beat for ten centuries. If
you want to know the essence of
Europe— encounter Austria. Write
today for your free, illustrated booklet,
ENCOUNTER AUSTRIA. Read
about the other Olympic star.
austna
THE OTHER OLYMPIC STAR
"l would like to Encounter Austria.
Address_
City
Ask your travel agent or send coupon to your nearest
Austrian National Tourist Office
545 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017
3440 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Cal. 90010
200 E. Randolph Drive. Suite 5130, Chicago, 111. 60601
1007 N.W. 24th Ave., Portland, Ore. 97210
Maupintour means more! Cruise f jords plUS
Scandinavia ufeseeing
15-day Northern Capitals is only $1040
plus air fare; 32 meals, 5 fjord cruises,
Bergen, Balestrand, Fjaerland Glacier,
Ulvik, Stalheim, Flam, Bergen Railway
top-of-the-world train ride to Stock-
holm, Skansen, Tivoli, and 3 nights at
the Royal in Copenhagen.
May to September, 15 days to 37 days,
nine different expertly conducted
Maupintours through Denmark, Sweden,
Norway, plus Finland, Russia, Poland,
Berlin, Baltic Sea, and North Cape. For
brochure, ask your Travel Agent for
Maupintour's Scandinavia or write:
Maupintour
i/m:i.ipii * 25 vears of aualiu
Telephone 913/843-1211 * 25 years of quality touring
Maupintour, 900 Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044
have a large brain because rapid
fetal growth rates continue in
humans long after they have ceased
in other primates. Our bulbous cra-
nium and short face resemble those
of juvenile primates, not the low-
browed, long-faced adults (com-
pare baby and adult chimpanzee on
the November 1975 cover of Natu-
ral History). We can stand erect
because our foramen magnum —
the hole in our skull for attachment
with the vertebral column — lies
under our brain, not behind it as in
four-footed mammals. The fora-
men magnum of fetal primates
(and other mammals) lies under the
brain, but migrates back during de-
velopment.
2. The slow rate of our develop-
ment has been important in itself,
quite apart from the juvenile mor-
phology that it permits us to retain
as adults. We are primarily learn-
ing animals; we need a long period
of dependent and flexible child-
hood to provide time for the cul-
tural transmission that makes us
human. If we matured and began
to fend for ourselves as early as
most other mammals', we would
never develop the mental capacity
that our neotenic brain permits.
Compared with other primates, we
grow and develop at a snail's pace;
yet our gestation period is but a few
days longer than that of gorillas and
chimpanzees. Relative to our own de-
velopmental rate, our gestation has
been markedly shortened. If length of
gestation had slowed down as much
as the rest of our growth and develop-
ment, human babies would be born
anywhere from seven to eight months
(Passingham's estimate) to a year
(Portmann and Ashley Montagu's es-
timate) after the nine months actually
spent in utero.
But am I not indulging in mere
metaphor or trick of phrase in desig-
nating the human baby as "still an
embryo"? I have just raised two of
my own past this tender age, and have
experienced all the joy and mystery
of their mental and physical develop-
ment— things that could never hap-
pen in a dark, confining womb. Still,
I side with Portmann when I consider
the data on their physical growth, for
during their first year, human babies
share the growth patterns of primate
and mammalian fetuses, not of other
primate babies. (The identification of
certain growth patterns as either fetal
or postnatal is not arbitrary. Postnatal
24
development is not a mere prolonga-
tion ol Iclal tendencies; birlh is a time
of marked discontinuity in many fea-
tures.) Human neonates, for ex-
ample, have not yet ossified the ends
of limb bones or fingers; ossification
centers are usually entirely absent in
the finger bones of newborn humans.
This level of ossification ct)rresponds
to the eighteenth fetal week of ma-
caque monkeys. When macaques are
born at 24 weeks, their limb bones are
ossified to an extent not reached by
humans until years after birth. More
crucially, our brains continue to grow
at rapid, fetal rates after birth. The
brains of most mammals are essen-
tially fully formed at birth. Other pri-
mates extend brain development into
early postnatal growth. Macaque
brains are 65 percent complete at
birth, chimpanzees 40.5 percent. The
brain of a human baby is only 23 per-
cent of its final size at birth. Brains
of chimps and gorillas reach 70 per-
cent of final size early in the first year;
we do not attain this value until early
in our third year. Passingham writes:
"Man's brain does not reach the
proportion found for the chimpanzee
at birth until around 6 months after
birth. This time corresponds quite
well with the time at which man
would be expected to be born if this
gestation period were as high a
proportion of his development and
life-span as it is in apes."
A. H. Schultz, probably the great-
est primate anatomist of the century,
summarized his comparative study of
growth in primates by stating: "It is
evident that human ontogeny is not
unique in regard to the duration of life
in utero, but that it has become highly
specialized in the striking post-
ponement of the completion of
growth and of the onset of senility."
But wfiy are human babies born be-
fore their time? Why has evolution
extended our general development so
greatly, but held our gestation time in
check, thereby giving us an essen-
tially embryonic baby? Why was ges-
tation not equally prolonged with the
rest of development? In Portmann's
spiritual view of evolution, this pre-
cocious birth must be a function of
mental requirements. He argues that
humans, as learning animals, need to
leave the dark, unchallenging womb
to gain access, as flexible embryos,
to the rich extrauterine environment
of sights, smells, sounds, and
touches.
But I believe (along with Ashley
Montagu and Passingham) that a
A world tour
in one country.
Wild life. Beach life. Bird life. Plant life. Sophisticated
cities. International hotels. Some countries have some
of them. Only one country has all of them.
South Africa.
Send now for your free 52-page, full-color booklet.
"Discover the RSA". Then call your travel agent and take a
world tour in one country.
South African Tourist Corporation,
610 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10020
Please send me my free copy of
"Discover the RSA".
Name
"*^ ^
(.•..*•.*.•»»».
Address.
City
RSA
state,
H-2
.Zip.
Remal Egypt at a
once-in-a-lifetime price;
fram $834.50.
Come bargain in the bazaars, | PAKISTAN IHTERNATIONAL AIRUHES
ride camelback to the pyramids, i
glide splendidly down the Nile to
Karnak and Luxor.
PI A has four value-filled
tours to Egypt, and the pleasure
begins the moment you step
aboard our luxurious DC-lOs.
Ask your travel agent, or
mail the coupon
Great people to fly with.
PIATbur Manager
545 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017
Gentlemen; Please tell me more about
PIAS "ETERNAL EGYPT'TOURS.
ym
I
I
I
I Name
I Street
I
City
Zip
25
We invite adventurous travelers
to join us on a fascinating
Naturalist's Safari
in Rajasthan
with a visit to Tiger Haven
in Uttar Pradesh
NOVEMBER 7 TO 28, 1976
This original tour of Northern India
first operated in the fall of 1975 and
was a great success: it is designed for
people whose interests lie in country
things- plant hunting, seed collecting,
watching and photographing animals
and birds in their natural surround-
ings, riding elephants and walking in
unspoiled countryside. Agra and the
great palace cities of chivalric Rajas-
than-Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur-
are also visited.
The tour offers a great vari.Uy of won-
derful scenery, as well as the oppor-
tunity of studying flora from Himalayan
foothills to the desert. In the cities we
stay in deluxe hotels; accommodations
on safari are at lodges in lovely wild-
life parks and in the sandstone hills
of the Rajasthan desert.
Detailed brochure available from:
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
55 WEST 42 STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10036
H
TRUE COLOR is a must in
your photography— use the
professional's color meter !
INSTANTLY SHOWS . . . with any type of color film
■ Color temperature of light source (in degrees Kelvin)
■ Filter required for correct color balance
Calibrated in "decamired" filter scale adopted by
leading camera and filter manufacturers. £omplete
witti leather eveready case and neck strap. Sold
only through photographic dealers.
world ^^^^ lamed
GOSSEN®
SIXTICOLOR
COLOR TEMPERATURE METER and
FILTER INDICATOR
At better camera stores or write for color brochu
BERKEY MARKETING COMPANIES, INC
GOSSEN DIVISION
on R/^v mfin \AinoHciHo m v in77
more important reason lies in a con-
sideration that Portmann dismisses
contemptuously as coarsely mechani-
cal and materialistic. From what I
have seen (although I cannot know
for sure), human birth is a joyful ex-
perience when properly rescued from
arrogant male physicians who seem
to want total control over a process
they cannot experience. Nonetheless,
I do not think it can be denied that
human birth is difficult compared
with that of most other mammals. To
put it rather grossly, it's a tight
squeeze. We know that female pri-
mates can die in attempted childbirth
when fetal heads are too large to pass
through the pelvic canal. A. H.
Schultz illustrates the stillborn fetus
of a hamadryas baboon and the pelvic
canal of its dead mother; the em-
bryo's head is a good deal larger than
the canal. Schultz concludes that fetal
size is near its limit in this species:
"While selection undoubtedly tends
to favor large diameters of the female
pelvis, it must also act against any
prolongation of gestation or at least
against unduly large newborns."
There are not, I am confident,
many human females who could give
birth successfully to a year-old baby.
The culprit in this tale is our most
important evolutionary specializa-
tion, our large brain. In most mam-
mals, brain growth is entirely a fetal
phenomenon. But since the brain
never gets very large, this poses no
problem for birth. In larger-brained
monkeys, growth is delayed some-
what to permit postnatal enlargement
of the brain, but relative times of ges-
tation need not be altered. Human
brains, however, are so large that an-
other strategy must be added for suc-
cessful birth — gestation must be
shortened relative to general develop-
ment, and birth must occur when the
brain is only one-fourth its final size.
Our brain has probably reached the
end of its increase in size. The para-
mount trait of our evolution has fi-
nally limited its own potential for fu-
ture growth. Barring some radical re-
design of the female pelvis, we will
have to make do with the brains we
have if we want to be born at all. But,
no matter. We can happily spend the
next several millennia learning what
to do with an immense potential that
we have scarcely begun to understand
or exploit.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science
at Harvard University.
NEW COLOR PORTFOLIO plus 1^,'<;4
Illustrated Catalog $1 .00 ^WS',
DOVER SCIENTIFIC -^S-^
BoxeOtIC Long Island aty.N. v. 11106 ■>«?€,■
From Italy . . . The Ultimate In
Historic Sliip Replica Kits
Frome & Plank Construction
Wofld-fomous SERGAL kils: lorge, mognificent
replicas |up lo 51" long) with beautiful wal-
nut, brass details. Virluolly museum pieces
when completed. Lorge-scole plans, English in-
structions, all-materials included. Also, hun-
dreds of other superb llolion kits, plans and
Full-Color Catalog, $2
Send via oirmoil |26« stomp) lo:
Dept. NH-4, MODEL EXPO
Via Cassia, 1170 ■ Rome 00189, Italy
WHEN YOU WRITE TO
NATURAL HISTORY
about a change of address, renewal of sub-
scription, billing, or any kind of adjustment,
send the present address label from the mag-
azine wrapper.
Moving? Please notify 6 weeks in advance.
You can use this form to tell us about a move
or order a subscription
Change of address — attach your address
label in the dotted area and fill in your new
address below, clip and mail to Natural History
Membership Services. Box 6000. Des Moines,
Iowa 50340.
M
Letters
John Canoe is Alive and Well
It was a pleasure to relate Robert
Dirks's "Slaves' Holiday" [De-
cember 1975] to personal experience.
A highlight on a cruise to the Ba-
hamas was the Junkanoo Parade on
New Year's Day. The Junkanoo are
local bands of marchers, each band in
a brightly colored papier-mache uni-
form, with stylistic masks on one of
the marchers. Some of the masked
figures wore elaborate headpieces.
One that stood out was a stylized
structure, as in a surrealistic house;
another was a statue, angularly ren-
dered, of a white person in the same
clothing as the marchers. The word
Junkanoo seems to be an obvious cor-
ruption of John Canoe. Thanks for a
most pleasant article.
A. A. Catalano
Satellite Beach. Florida
Inspiration
I so much enjoyed Stephen Jay
Gould's "Racism and Recapit-
ulation" [June-July 1975], it inspired
me to write the following poem:
Angels
Angels have no belly buttons
being unborn
No cord was ever severed to
seal them with mortality
Never do they in their
embryonic or juvenile
growth
recapitulate the adult stages
of their ancestors
knowing no womb
never were they graced with
paired gill slits
inherited from adult fish
to whom they might trace
their origins
Nor do they evidence the
slightest retention of
childish stages
of animal forebears
or contrariwise
any loss of adult structures
out of angel prehistory
having no antecedents
Indeed they exhibit no trace of
evolution
^
Invest in a Leica CL and get the finest
compact camera in the world.
Although small in size and relatively small in price, the
CL should not be confused with other compact cameras. It is the
first compact to offer through-the-lens metering and interchangeable
lenses. Moreover, it is a Leica; and everything you expect a Leica to be.
A superbly engineered camera of unexcelled mechanical precision and
optical quality.
The CL shares another feature with every Leica ever built:
its ability to hold value better than any other camera.
For information call 201-767-1100 or write L^
E. Leitz, Inc., Rockleigh, N.J. 07547, Dept. K2. In J^QAjOCL
Canada, Wild Leitz, Ltd., Willowdale (Toronto), Ont.
A great camera can be a great investment.
r'
South Carolina offers you
the vacation with all the extras.
At no extra cost.
We'd like to help you spend less money for your vacation this
year. By getting more vacation for your money.
So we've put together the South Carolina Trip Kit. It's fuU of
facts about all the things South Carolina has to offer. Like beaches,
mountains, hunting, fishing, camping, golf, tennis, lakes, boating,
gardens and historical cities. And you'llbe surprised how many of
our attractions are free.
Even the South Carolina Trip Kit is free. Just send us the coupon
and find out how you can have all the South Carolina extras. At
no extra cost.
Name .
City-
.Address
-State
.Zip
Free South Carolina Trip Kit
Mail to South Carolina Division of Tourism, Room 226, Box 78, Columbia, South Carolina 29202
_l
27
QUESTERS
WORLD OF
NATURE
TOURS
"Nature tour" has a definite meaning when
you travel with Questers, the only profes-
sional travel company specializing exclu-
sively in nature tours. Our approach in
planning Worldwide Nature Tours is to
provide you with the broadest possible op-
portunity of experiencing for yourself the
natural history and culture of each area
we explore.
With the leadership of an accompany-
ing naturalist, we search out the plants and
animals, birds and flowers . . . rain forests,
mountains, and tundra . . . seashore, lakes,
and swamps of the regions we visit. We
also study the architecture, archaeology,
museum collections, temples, and customs
of the people.
Varying in length from 4 to 36 days,
Questers Worldwide Nature Tours travel
to virtually every part of the world. Our
groups are small, and early reservations
are therefore recommended.
Call or write Questers or see your Travel
Agent today for itineraries and the 1976/77
Directory of Worldwide Nature Tours.
WORLDWIDE NATURE TOURS
SPRING AND SUMMER DEPARTURES
THE AMERICAS
Alaska: 17 days, June, July, & August • Prib-
ILOF Islands & Homer: 4 days, June, July,
& August "The Everglades: 11 days, April
• Hawaiian Islands: 15 days, April & July •
New York City & Long Island: 9 days. May
St. September • Trinidad & Tobago: 11 days,
March • Alberta, Yukon, & the Northwest
Territories: 15 days, June, July, & August •
British Columbia Float: 12 days, July &
August • Superior-Quetico Canoe: 9 days,
July • Colombia: 20 days, August • Guate-
mala, Honduras, & Belize: 16 days, April &
July • Southern Mexico: 14 days, April & July.
EUROPE
England, Wales, & the Scottish Lowlands:
23 days, June & July • Iceland: 16 days, June,
July, & August • Greenland: 7 days, June,
July, & August • Norway: 24 days, July •
Outer Islands of Scotland & the Faeroes:
24 days, June & July.
ASIA
Indonesia: 24 days, April, July, & September
• Kashmir with Ladakh: 22 days, July, Au-
gust, & September • Malaysia, Singapore, &
Brunei: 22 days. May & July • Nepal Trek:
23 days, March • Southern India & Sri
Lanka: 23 days, July.
AFRICA
East Africa, Kenya, & Tanzania: 22 days,
April & July • South Africa & Botswana: 22
days, April & September.
OCEANIA/ AUSTRALASIA
Australia: 34 days, September • Australia/
New Zealand Combi-
nation: 34 days, July
& September.
Questers Tours
AND TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NH-276, 257 Park Ave. South
New York, N.Y. 10010 • (212) 673-3120
swift or slow
possessing no genes
to fashion enzymes for them and
speed or retard
their native rate of unfoldment
Neither do dark-skinned
infant angels
display a faster sensimotor
sophistication
and hence condemn themselves to
a lower I.Q.
when they mature
than fair-skinned ones will enjoy
for angels have no infants or
for that matter
skins
Even the distance between penis and
umbilicus
cannot be demonstrated to remain
small relative to height
throughout life in
black angels
for besides having no umbilici
they neither age nor may be
classified by sex
There are thus no females either
to retain sufficient
juvenile traits to prove them
not inferior to males
How awkward
for the sedulous geneticist
that a learned appeal
to nicely selected facts
is quite as futile for judging
the superiority of
one tribe or sex of angels
over another
as huntiftg for the belly button
on a cherub
John Moffitt
Poetry Editor
America
Football and Sex
While William Arens was writing
"The Great American Football Rit-
ual" [October 1975] he stared homo-
sexuality straight in the face and pro-
nounced it "ritual celibacy." And
that's not only a euphemism, it's a sin
of omission. His hypothetical anthro-
pologist from another planet might be
more interested in this oblique denial
of the obvious, as I was, rather than
in the ritual of football itself.
Of course, Mr. Arens is not totally
to blame. Football players, given our
current social climate, would proba-
bly deny that their behavior behind
closed doors was anything less than
missionary proper and pristine. (Most
people do.) Certainly their managers
and coaches would. In fact, most
managers and coaches deny homo-
sexuality so vehemently that, like
Hamlet's player, they protesteth too
much.
Incredible Africa!
FEBRUARY 4, 1976 ROOT & LEAKEY
19-day natural history tented and
lodge safari in Kenya & Tanzania.
$1795.00 plus airfare,. Limited to 16
members. Additional departures Sep-
tember 15 and October 13.
MARCH 17, 1976 Join JOHN WIL-
LIAMS on a special 30-day safari in
Kenya following bird migration. JULY
21, 1976 Another JOHN WILLIAMS
departure featuring rare birds, big
game and wildflowers, 30 days in
Kenya. $2670.00 each plus airfare.
AUGUST 12, 1976 Unique FAMILY
SAFARI includes best game parks
Kenya & Tanzania, a trek on Mt.
Kenya, built-in educational features.
$2475.00 including airfare from New
York.
Call or write SIEMER & HAND, LTD. Travel Service
One Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, California 94111
(415) 788-7186
W {when you send lOtf for mailing)
RED CHINA
STAMPS
BANNED in AMERICA.'
Get these valuable Red
China old and new post-
age stamps — forbidden
for a generation to
American collectors by
At last you can legally
the U.S. C
own them — stamps so appealing that ex-
perienced and beginning collectors alike
want them. You may never have another
chance for supplies are strictly limited so
act fast! This spectacular and genuine
offer given to introduce you to Kenmore's
sensational world-wide Stamps-On-
Approval Service for FREE Examina-
tion. Buy $2 or more and get other
valuable bonuses. Or buy nothing —return
selections — cancel service anytime. In
either case, the scarce 55 Red China
stampsareyoursto keep FREE. Send lOif
for mailing today
KENMORE,Milford CR-329, N.H. 03055
BUSHNELL 7x35 CUSTOM
Mfg. List $169.50 Postpaid $94.50
This is an example of the deep discount prices on high
quality optics that is found in our FREE catalog. This
catalog lists and illustrates an outstanding selection
of telephoto lens, telescopes, binoculars etc., plus
valuable information on how to properly select them.
Write for it today.
GIL HEBARD OPTICS
COURTHOUSE SQ., KNOXVILLE, ILL. 61448
28
For those
with an eye
tor art
and a head
tor value.
Natural History Magazine invites you to enjoy some
delectable coilectables. Remarkable replicas cast
from the originals on display at the American
Museum of Natural History. It is difficult to tell these
fine reproductions from the unique originals because
each one is hand-cast and hand-finished by
artist-craftsmen to duplicate the exact personality of
the original. Right down to its precise size, texture,
color and patina. Each replica comes with its own
descriptive history. All jewelry is gift-boxed. Here
truly are unusual gifts for those with an eye
for art and a head for value.
v:-"-£.NH HON
Please
send.
tem=;
1 h
jve check
ed 1
check/
money
order
nthe
amo
untofS
1 prefer
tocha
ge An
erica
nhx
press. v£
lidth
n
NATURAL HISTORY
NATURAL HISTORY REPLICAS, DEPT A300 Box 5123. Des Moines. Iowa 50340
. NH 78N Akua'ba Doll Necklace. West
Africa. 2-7/8"H. 'Gold. $1150
. NH HON Coptic Cross Necklace.
Ethiopia. -Silver 2-l/8"H. $9.00
NH 113 African Fertility Doll with bead
earrings, necklace, anklet. 14"H. $34.50
. NH 109 African Dahomey Woman
Statuette. 'Gold. 7-l/4"H. including
walnut base. $24.50
NH 51N Pre-Columbian Eagle Neck-
lace. Costa Rica. "Gold. 2" wing span.
$10.00
NH 56N Pre-Columbian Monkey-Faced
Men Pendant. Costa Rica. 'Gold.
3-5/8" wide. $24.00
NH 65P Pre-Columbian Llama Pin.
•Silver. l-3/4"H. $9.00
Signature -
Name (please print) .
City, State, Zip _^_^
Please allow 4 to 6 weeks tor delivery. Shipping and handling charges
included Museum Members may take their 10% discount. 'Gold or
silver electroplated on pewter.
rip-off
Americas Best-Selling Dictionary.
Its where the words live.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary is so vivid the words seem
to come alive. Over 22,000 new words like "rip-off' and "cryonics"
make instant sense to anyone. And crusty old words you could never
quite understand — like "objurgation" — suddenly become child's
play. In fact, everything about it makes words easier to use than
ever before. Which may explain why it's the best-selling dictionary
ever. At only $9.95, it's practically a steal. For your family, office,
or as a gift.
From Merriam-Webster.
Nikon wants you to see
better
Nikon prism binoculars start with worid-
famous Nikon optics, mode from Nikon
optical glass. Lenses and prisms for right
and left barrels are precisely matched and
coilimated, and the optical parallelism of both
barrels is verified.
That's why with Nikon binoculars you enjoy brilliant,
sharp, full-field viewing without strain orfatigue, even
for long stretches. Now, find out how little more it costs
to see better, longer At Nikon camera dealers and selected
optical departments. Write for literature Folio 18, Nikon Inc., Garden
City, N.Y 11530. Subsidiary/Ehrenreich Photo-Optical Industries, Inc. SHH
In Canada: Anglophoto Ltd., P.Q.] ^i.. ■%■ ■
Nikon Binoculars
Mr. Arens correctly pointed out
that the football team is a bastion of
masculinity. Maleness is wor-
shiped. Not only do the crowds wor-
ship it, but so do the team members.
And given the opportunities of the
members, it's only a few short steps
from worship to adoration to love. If
"hand holding, hugging, and bottom
patting" are socially acceptable on
the field, what might not be accept-
able in the dark, behind closed doors
and between close friends? To allevi-
ate the worries of nervous managers
and coaches, and possibly anxious
anthropologists, let me point out that
the athlete's homosexuality is the
epitome of masculinity, for it ex-
cludes, absolutely, all femininity. It's
the ultimate male compliment.
If the NFL and AFL were East Af-
rican tribes, Mr. Arens would have
had no difficulty in discussing their
homosexuality and finding it normal.
Trent S . Knepper
New York, New York
Feminine cheerleaders and pom-
pom girls provide a role model com-
plementary to that of the masculine
players. At Indiana we also have a
girls' dancing troupe, The Redstep-
pers, which entertains at half time.
"Those curvaceous cuties with the
gorgeous gams," as the announcer
describes them, enhance a cultural
stereotype dear to the audience — the
decorative and subordinate woman,
essential to a celebration of masculin-
ity. Similar rituals accompany tele-
vised football from all over the
country. They significantly reinforce
sexual role models in our society.
Stephen L. Wailes
Bloomington, Indiana
More Ado About Starlings
I should like to add to a letter in
your November 1975 issue regarding
a reader who observed starlings
perching upon cattle and feeding
upon the face flies.
In the dialect of the counties of the
north of England, the starling is
called a shepster, a word which has
its origins in Middle English or even
Anglo-Saxon and relates this bird to
the sheep which are to be found on
the moors and in the valleys in that
part of the country. It would appear
that observers of such feeding habits
have been around for a long time!
Vera Webb
Miami, Florida
30
Putlatch Problems
Paul Shankman's interesting ar-
ticle on Western Samoa and Potlatch
(October 1975 1 leaves me wonder-
ing. The failure of the Potlatch exper-
iment to live up to expectations seems
akin to the failure of the tuna fishery
in American Samoa. Why do the
plans of sophisticated technologists
of our industrial society miss their ob-
jectives so widely, as if they were re-
ally the plans of amateurs? It looks
as if on a broadly systematic cost-
benefit basis Potlatch's work would
be found harmful to Western Samoa
even if it made money for the com-
pany. Do you think there is any way
for a moderately heavy industry to do
business on a moderately small tropi-
cal island without destroying the orig-
inal balance of everything?
William G. Mackenzie
Pebble Beach. California
Self-sufficient Farms
I enjoyed so much the article enti-
tled "Alfred Moon's Farm" [No-
vember 1975]. It recalled to me with
some nostalgia the stories my father
told of his growing up on very much
the same kind of farm in Vermont.
My father had such a hatred of cows
that it lasted all 69 years of his life.
Forty years ago I visited such a
self-sufficient farm in Nova Scotia. It
was considered a wealthy farm, but
by our standards it was primitive.
The shopping list was always the
same: salt, sugar, and tea. The eggs
paid for the above.
H. Carlton Litchfield
Dedham, Massachusetts
Errata:
The caption accompanying the
photograph of a desert iguana ("The
Importance of Being Feverish," Jan-
uary 1976, page 71) indicated that all
cold-blooded animals regulate their
body temperature by moving to cool
or warm spots. Many, but not all, ec-
totherms regulate temperature in this
way. In the caption, page 72, the nor-
mal temperature range for the lizard
should be between 100.4° and
102.2°. The statement in the author's
column, page 4, that opossums do not
get sick is misleading; while the ani-
mal has shown resistance to infection
in the laboratory, the appropriate mi-
croorganism would probably make it
sick.
OUROMANIA
Got a mania to roam? Here's a free book
full of European tours with the accent on
high adventure, and low cost ' Wt spotliirhi
romantic Romania. . . from iMl 1)i h.uI.i
country of the wild Carpiiihi ins iiid
the painted monasteries o' MuM i\m
to sophisticated Bucharest inJ
the swinging Black Sea re-.iiiis ^ ^
OurTOUROMANIA
brochure lists hundreds
of vacation bargains . . .
independent tours in
Romania , from S 23 a day
and multi-country escorted
tours including Romania.
Storybook Europe! It realh
still exists. Let us guide
you to it!
^ /^^
^MHn
1 ROMANIAN NATIONAL TOURIST OFFICE
^^^H^^iilH
1 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y.
"^
j Please send my free copies of the
' tour brochure and guidetiook to Romania.
1 „^^^
»•
1 CiW Stnip ZiD
^^■^HIHII
1 1
^H^^^^^^^^^B
31
The East African Wildlife Society announces
' ^e Official
African Wildlife
bronzes
Six magnificent animal sculptures created exclusively for this limited edition
There will be only one edition of
The Official African Wildlife Bronzes.
Available by advance subscription only.
Limit: one subscription-per person.
Subscription rolls close: February 29, 1976.
IN THE ENDLESS SUMMER of
East Africa's Serengeti Plain, sur-
vival belongs to the strong and the
swift. To the lion and the antelope.
The elephant and the giraffe. The rhi-
noceros and the cheetah.
Since the beginnings of time, the
magnificent wild animals of Africa
have challenged the imagination of
artists. And no artistic medium has
proved better suited to capturing the
power and grace of these animals than
bronze sculpture.
The tradition of bronze animal
sculpture is one of the great traditions
in the history of art — one that has
come to be increasingly valued in our
own time.
Now, in this great tradition. The
East African Wildlife Society is proud
to announce an extraordinary series of
bronzes — created expressly for this
limited edition collection by Don Pol-
land, one of the most noted sculptors
in the world today.
The Official African Wildlife Bronzes
To create these sculptures, the artist
traveled to Africa so that he could
study the animals in their native habi-
tat. Each sculpture is accurate to the
most minute detail. Each is a superb
original work of art, capturing the wild
animal in a moment characteristic of
its life in nature.
The Lion pauses in mid-motion. His
limbs are stretched to the full, the long
muscles sharply defined. His teeth are
bared, his claws extended, and he is
ready to break into the fearsome at-
tack that has made him lord of the
plains.
The Greater Kudu — a large African
antelope with twisting horns — stands
poised for flight, head turned to the
wind. The carriage of his head, his
flared nostrils, his taut leg muscles —
all are captured with remarkable skill.
The Elephant is charging, ears out,
trunk raised, turning as he comes. His
tusks have all the power of his mighty
body behind them. You can almost
hear him trumpeting his anger.
The Giraffe has just heard some dis-
tant sound across the plain. He stands
tall and attentive, head cocked, ready
to break into a run or to defend him-
self with his powerful legs and hooves.
The Rhinoceros stands ready for
battle. He fears no other creature.
Descendant of the dinosaurs, his hide
is like armor-plate, and his short legs
can carry his bulk with surprising
speed. Irritable, near-sighted, he low-
ers his formidable head with its
dreaded horn, which was long thought
to have magical properties.
The Cheetah —fastest of all animals
— seems to flow over the ground. He
is captured in a running bound, in the
intensity of his pursuit.
Each sculpture is completely true to
life, sculptured in superb and authentic
detail, The hairs of the elephant's tail,
and the markings of his hide . . . the
ringlike serrations of the kudu's horns
. . . the extended claws of the lion . . .
each fine detail is sculptured with ab-
solute fidelity.
Individually hand-cast in bronze
Each of these bronze sculptures will be
individually hand-cast by the ancient
"lost wax" (cire perdue) process. This
casting technique is an art which has
been passed from father to son through
the generations. It is the same pains-
taking, time-consuming method that
was used by Cellini, by Rodin, by
Frederic Remington.
After casting, each bronze sculpture
will be individually finished by hand.
This hand-finishing imparts a special
patina to the bronze, and calls for
meticulous craftsmanship.
Because each bronze will be pro-
duced to order, it will take several
months to complete the work. There-
fore the six sculptures in the complete
collection will be produced and deliv-
ered as a series, at the rate of one every
three months.
A single, strictly limited edition
There will be only one edition of The
Official African Wildlife Bronzes. The
sculptures will be issued solely and
exclusively to original subscribers. No
one else will be given the opportunity
to acquire this collection. The sculp-
tures will not be available individ-
ually, and they will not be sold
through art galleries or stores. They
are available only by direct, advance
subscription.
The absolute closing date for all
subscriptions is February 29, 1976.
And there is an absolute limit of one
collection per subscriber.
The advance subscribers will be the
only people in the world to acquire
these bronzes at the original issue
price. Those who later desire to ac-
quire the collection can only hope to
obtain it from one of these original
subscribers.
The East African Wildlife Society
has appointed The Franklin Mint,
world-renowned for the quality and
artistry of its limited edition collect-
ibles, to direct the creation and produc-
tion of these sculptures and to service
all subscriptions.
Because of the extensive handwork
involved in the making of these bronze
sculptures. The Franklin Mint must re-
serve the right to limit the number of
subscriptions that will be accepted.
Therefore, all subscription applications
are subject to acceptance by The
Franklin Mint.
The subscription plan
The first sculpture in the collection will
be sent to subscribers approximately
eight to ten weeks after subscription
rolls close. The remaining five sculp-
tures will be issued thereafter at the
rate of one every third month.
The official issue price is S120 for
each sculpture, payable in three equal
monthly installments of S40 each.
Thus, you will be able to acquire
this extraordinary collection of limited
edition bronze sculptures on a conven-
ient monthly basis.
Please note carefully that this is the
first and only time The Official African
Wildlife Bronzes will ever be offered.
All subscriptions must be postmarked
by February 29, 1976, to be eligible for
acceptance. The total edition will be
permanently limited to the number of
subscriptions postmarked by that date
and accepted by The Franklin Mint.
Subscription applications will be ac-
cepted in order of receipt, and it may
be necessary to close the subscription
rolls before February 29, 1976. It is
therefore suggested that applications
be entered promptly.
' ADVANCE SUBSCRIPTION APPLICATION
THE OFFICIAL AFRICAN
WILDLIFE BRONZES
Valid only if postmarked by
February 29, 1976
Limit: One collection per subscriber
The Franklin Mint
Franklin Center, Pennsylvania 19091
Please accept my subscription to The Offi-
cial African Wildlife Bronzes, issued by the
East African Wildlife Society. This collec-
tion is to consist of six bronze animal sculp-
tures to be issued at the rate of one every
three months. The cost of each sculpture is
$120.* which will be billed to me in three
equal monthly installments of $40.* each.
I need send no money now. 1 will be billed
for the first installment of $40.* in advance
of shipment of the first bronze sculpture.
* Plus my state sales tax
Address
Citv
State
Zio
Sienature
All orders are subject to accepta
The Franklin Mint.
1. . ^ •r^''>''Zi.is.^££»M.:M>^
..-Ck-
^'^^
t.'' 1^
^vi;-^- ..: : i
Rifting
in the
Okavango Delta
by Christopher H. Scholz
Newly growing faults in
southern Africa may indicate
that the continent
is slowly splitting apart
The Kalahari Desert is a vast ex-
panse, roughly as big as Texas, that
extends over the eastern part of
South-West Africa (Namibia) and
most of Botswana. Sparsely popu-
lated except for scattered cattle posts
and the rare Bushman, it is for the
most part extremely flat country
whose monotonous terrain is only oc-
casionally broken by the erosional
remnants of Precambrian or early Pa-
leozoic rocks, which form the stony
hills known in Africa as kopjes.
Despite its aridity and the brevity of
its rainy seasons — approximately one
month in November/December and
from ten days to two weeks in
March/ April — the Kalahari supports
an astonishing variety of game herds.
This seeming paradox is due mainly
to the existence on the northern
fringes of the Kalahari of the largest
and most fertile oasis in Africa: the
great Okavango Swamps, or Delta.
The delta, a 6,500-square-mile area
in the form of a rough equilateral tri-
angle some 120 miles to a side, lies
in the northwest corner of landlocked
Botswana. It is the inland terminus of
the Okavango River, the fourth long-
est river in southern Africa, but sec-
ond only to the Zambezi in terms of
volume of water.
The water of the delta is fresh — it
is, in fact, the only natural surface
freshwater in Botswana; the rest of
the country's freshwater comes from
boreholes. The delta, which is a tan-
gle of islands, narrow channels, and
lagoons, is therefore able to maintain
a luxuriant plant growth in the sands
of the Kalahari Desert. Its waterways
are choked with papyrus, often five
to ten feet high, and groves of mo-
pani — a tropical African ironwood —
are common on the islands. The clear
freshwater is free of schistosomes
(blood flukes) and other African para-
sites, and abounds in bream, pike,
and tiger fish. Hippopotamus, croco-
dile, and many species of antelope,
including the rare red lechwe and sita-
tunga, live in the delta. A flourishing
birdlife embraces the Chobe fish
eagle, crested barbets, lily trotters,
cormorants, ibis, and spur-winged
and dwarf geese. A variety of game
lives in the delta's drier areas and
around its fringes — lions, elephants,
buffalo, and virtually all the ante-
lopes, from the eland and kudu to the
wildebeest and sable.
The endemic tsetse fly and mos-
quito have kept the human population
of the delta very low, and it is thus
a natural refuge and watering ground
for the game of the Kalahari. Only the
hardiest desert species of antelope,
such as the gemsbok and springbok,
Peler Johnson, Natural History Photographic Agency
A reed cormorant finds safe
cover for its nest in the
Okavango Delta. There will also
be plentiful fish to feed on.
All photographs by Peter Johnson
The delta is the only
habitat in Botswana of the
red lechwe, a species of
antelope native to Africa,
seen here with a host of
pelicans and storks.
As evening falls, one tree
roost is shared by a
congregation of sacred ibis
and little egrets.
;s^**:
W^'.^iim^ii
ik:»w<
Anlhony Bannister
Often thought to be the most
dangerous big game animal
of the continent, the
African buffalo lives in the
fioodplains of the delta
as well as in other areas
south of the Sahara.
A herd of hippopotamus swims
in a channel near the delta.
Hippo meat is eaten by many
native peoples and the animal's
hide is made into whips.
Peter Johnson
can maintain themselves year-round
in the harsh cnvironmcnl of the cen-
tral desert. The other game herds,
which could not exist in the desert
except for the swamps, are migra-
tory, and the hub of their migrations
is most often the Otcavango Delta.
During the rainy seasons, when the
desert blooms, the migratory game
live in the desert, but they return to
the delta during the driest part of the
year, from July through October.
Even elephants and large aquatic
mammals such as hippos migrate for
hundreds of miles, following a series
of shallow, circular, water-filled de-
pressions known as pans. Pans range
from about 30 to 300 feet in diameter
and from one to several feet in depth.
Formed by the trampling of elephants
and hippos, pans actually serve as
shallow wells, and many remain full
of water the entire year, despite the
total lack of rain during ten months.
Crucial to the Kalahari environ-
ment and to the future development
of Botswana, theOkavango Delta — a
vast preserve in its own right — is a
natural freak. What in the world, it
might be asked, is such a vast quan-
tity of freshwater doing in a place like
the Kalahari Desert?
South of the equator, the geogra-
phy of Africa is typified by rivers that
are fed by highland catchments and
often traverse two-thirds of the conti-
nent to reach the sea, either the Atlan-
tic or Indian Ocean. The Okavango
River is an exception; its water never
reaches the sea. It drains the southern
highlands of Angola but flows barely
300 miles before ending in its inland
delta, nearly in the middle of southern
Africa. The area immediately to the
west of the Okavango catchment
drains into the South Atlantic; the
area to the east is drained by the huge
Zambezi River system, which flows
to the Indian Ocean. There is evi-
dence that in the geologically recent
past, the Okavango also reached the
Indian Ocean. But at some former
time the river's flow was interrupted,
and instead of stretching to the sea,
the river ended in the vast Makgadik-
gadi (formerly Makarikari) salt flats
in the northern Kalahari, where its
waters evaporated, leaving salt de-
posits leached from the traversed ter-
rain over an area as large as the
present delta. The delta today is sev-
eral hundred miles west of the salt
flats, and only a small flow still
reaches the Makgadikgadi from the
Okavango River. The history of this
river has thus been one of change and
steady retrenchment into the interior
of the continent. It is not the shrinking
of the river itself, however, that is of
greatest interest, but the processes
that caused it.
River systems that do not reach the
sea are called interior drainage sys-
tems. They occur most commonly in
arid regions where evaporation is
high and rainfall low. Instead of ter-
minating at the sea, these systems
flow to the lowest regional point of
land, where the water evaporates
leaving an accumulation of salt . If the
flow is sufficient, a saline lake like the
Great Salt Lake of Utah or the Cas-
pian and Aral seas of central Asia
will develop.
The Okavango River is unique
among interior drainage systems
since it flows into a freshwater delta
that has almost no trace of salinity.
This is because the Okavango Delta
has two outlets by which a tiny vol-
ume of water flows eastward into the
Makgadikgadi salt flats and south-
ward into the saline Lake Ngami.
Small as this outflow is, especially
when compared to the net influx, it is
sufficient to carry off most accumu-
lated salt and to keep the waters of the
delta fresh.
The delta is known as a perched
impoundment, that is, its water is at
a higher elevation than that of neigh-
boring Lake Ngami and the Makga-
dikgadi salt flats. This type of im-
poundment is a natural oddity; in ad-
dition the delta has two simulta-
neously active outlets, instead of one,
and these outlets are fed by the same
river, which forks in the downstream
direction. River forks are almost
always on the upstream side.
These are oddities because they are
unstable by nature. Channel erosion
always favors one outlet over another
and works in such a way as to bring
water to the lowest possible eleva-
tion. In other words, the flow of water
is governed by gravity. In a stable
configuration, the Okavango River
would either still flow to the Indian
Ocean or flow entirely into the Mak-
gadikgadi.
Hydrological instabilities of the
perched impoundment type can only
be maintained so long as local or re-
gional buildups in elevation fxcur at
a faster rate than erosion can tear
them down. This requirement is sel-
dom met except in arid environments.
High mountain ranges like the Hima-
layas are sometimes completely tran-
sected by powerful rivers only be-
cause the river was able to cut a gorge
as fast as the mountains rose. But in
the flat terrain of the Kalahari . erosion
is not rapid. The Okavango Delta lies
in a shallow depression formed by up-
ward and downward motion along
several geologic faults that extend
northeast, perpendicular to the water
flow in the delta. The southern side
of a fault that crosses the upstream
end of the delta is lower than the
fault's northern side, thus permitting
water to enter the swamps. But a pair
of faults, which cross the downstream
side of the delta, have been lifted
higher than the plane of the delta,
thereby creating a 125-mile-long nat-
ural earthen dam that has impounded
the delta waters. As the Okavango
flows over the upstream fault, the
river suddenly breaks into a number
of channels that fan out to the south-
east, where they are blocked by the
downstream faults. There the chan-
nels reunite to form a single river (the
Thamalakane) that flows southwest
parallel to the faults and then forks
into two branches. One branch passes
through a break in the fault scarp, or
wall, and flows in an easterly direc-
tion to the Makgadikgadi salt flats;
the other continues on a southwest
course to Lake Ngami. In its slow
passage through the delta, the Oka-
vango loses 95 percent of its water
through transpiration and evapora-
tion.
Vertical movement along the up-
stream and downstream faults, which
has taken place within about the last
million years, amounts to no more
than a few hundred feet, but the fre-
quent occurrence of earthquakes in
the region demonstrates that vertical
slip is continuing. The topography at
the surface of the delta, however, is
much less rugged than might be ex-
pected from these movements since
much of the depression has been
filled in by Kalahari sands.
Because the entire region is ex-
tremely flat, the flow pattern of the
delta is very unstable and has changed
radically several times in the last cen-
tury. Many of these changes have
39
AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM
VERTICAL SECTION THROUGH THE OKAVANGO DELTA
NORTHWEST
r
Water flow
Water
Ungtrggmjgyj^
Kalahari Desert
been caused by heavy papyrus
growth, which blocks the stream
channels. Other changes have been
caused by vertical ground displace-
ments produced by earthquakes.
The first European to visit Lake
Ngami was David Livingstone, the
famous British missionary-explorer,
who reached it by crossing the Kala-
hari on his initial trip into the African
interior in 1849. He described Lake
Ngami as being seventy-five miles in
circumference. It is less than half that
size now, but the old shoreline can
still be seen extending far beyond the
lake's present fringes. During Liv-
ingstone's era, the delta's southern-
most channel was its principal outlet
and drained directly into Lake
Ngami. The lake at that time had its
own outlet to the north. In the 1870s
the flow from the delta into the lake
began to diminish, probably because
of papyrus blockage (possibly wor-
sened by seismic activity and fault-
ing), and the lake's outlet was ob-
served to flow in different directions
at different times of the year. By the
early part of this century the lake's
former inlet had become completely
blocked, and its former outlet had be-
come its principal inlet. Similarly, a
fault-bounded depression just north
of the Okavango Delta that received
considerable flow in the early part of
this century is now almost wholly des-
iccated. There is even evidence that
part of the present Zambezi drainage
system once flowed into the Oka-
vango Delta as a result of the dam-
ming of the Zambezi by fault move-
ments. It is difficult to assess how
many of these flow changes were the
direct result of active geologic move-
ments, but it is known that a swarm
of major earthquakes in the delta re-
gion in 1952 were associated with
marked changes in the area's outflow
characteristics.
The Okavango Delta exists at
present in a broad, gentle depression
because the river is dammed behind
several developing faults. This de-
pression appears to be the infant stage
in the growth of a new rift valley.
Although the amount of rifting in the
Okavango Delta is minuscule when
compared to the great rift valleys of
Kenya and Tanzania, where the val-
ley floors have been dropped thou-
sands of feet by motion on the steep
fault scarps that bound them, the style
of deformation is unmistakably the
same. The valleys of Kenya and Tan-
zania are part of the East African rift
system, which extends about 2,500
miles from Ethiopia to Mozambique.
The geologic activity in the Oka-
vango region ha.s only recently been
recognized as part of this rift system.
The thin outer crust of the earth is
composed of a number of large, rigid
plates, which float upon the fluid
mantle below. These solid, rocky
plates are in constant motion with re-
spect to each other, and the interac-
tions between them on their bounda-
ries are responsible for many active
geologic phenomena such as earth-
quakes, mountain building, and
volcanoes. Rifting is the process that
occurs along plate boundaries wher-
ever two adjacent plates move away
from each other, either within conti-
nents or existing oceans. If the rifting
is well developed, the void created by
the diverging plates is filled with up-
welling lavas, which solidify to form
new sea floor. This process is one of
the primary mechanisms of conti-
nental drift. True sea-floor spreading
and continental drift, however, can
only proceed once a rift system
spreads entirely through a continent.
The mid-Atlantic ridge is an ex-
ample of a well-developed rift. It first
split the Americas away from Africa
and Europe more than 100 million
years ago and has allowed them to
drift apart at a rate of about 2 centime-
ters a year. New sea floor has been
simultaneously and continuously
created by volcanism at the ridge
crest. Much younger rifts than that of
the Atlantic have just begun to sepa-
rate still other continents. The rift in
the Gulf of California has split Baja
California off' from the rest of Mex-
ico, and that in the Red Sea is moving
the Arabian peninsula away from
Africa. Some rifts have subsequently
become inactive without ever split-
ting the continents in which they
formed. The Rhine River, for ex-
ample, flows down a rift valley in
western Europe that failed to split the
European continent. Thus far, the Af-
rican rift system has also failed to
split that continent.
The most recent active African rift-
ing, which began about 35 million
years ago in Ethiopia and spread
south through next-door Kenya,
peters out in central Tanzania. At its
northern end this rift connects with
submerged rifts in the Red Sea and
the Gulf of Aden, which are separat-
41
ing the Arabian peninsula from
Africa. The Ethiopian, or East Afri-
can, rift system has produced a trough
several miles wide associated with
profuse and active volcanism, but this
was accomplished by a thinning of
the earth's crust rather than an actual
rupture, so true continental breakup
has not yet occurred. There are active
volcanoes inside the rift itself, but
Mount Kenya, an extinct volcano,
and Mount Kilimanjaro, a dormant
one, are also associated with this rift.
To the west, a second rift system
is also active. The western rift begins
in northern Uganda and extends
south, forming valleys that contain
such large, deep lakes as Albert, Ed-
ward, and Tanganyika. After a jog to
the east in southwestern Tanzania,
this rift turns south again where its
valley is filled by Lake Malawi, also
known as Lake Nyasa, and continues
southward from Malawi until it dies
out in coastal Mozambique. The
western rift, like the eastern, also
fails to breach the continent. Al-
though the East African, or Ethiopian,
rift connects with the Red Sea, the
western rift does not nor does it cross
the Mozambique Channel and extend
to the mid-Indian Ocean ridge, condi-
tions necessary for a complete ridge
circuit that would allow for signifi-
cant continental separation.
It has recently been recognized that
yet another arm of the African rift
system is beginning to develop. This
younger third arm, which was identi-
fied by signs of growing rift valleys
and the line of earthquakes that fol-
lows them, branches off from the
main East and West rift systems just
west of the northern end of Lake Ma-
lawi. From there it runs southwest
through Zambia, along the upper
gorge of the Zambezi River on the
southern Zambia-Rhodesia border,
and through the Okavango Delta,
which is located at its southern tip.
This arm of the African rift system
has not yet developed the spectacular
form of the older Kenya rift valleys
nor is any volcanism associated with
it. The recent onset of faulting in the
Okavango region suggests that this
relatively new rift is moving south-
ward. The Okavango Delta is thus at
the tip of a rift that may be spreading
throughout the continent.
Africa is a very ancient continent;
most of its crust was formed more
than two billion years ago in the early
Precambrian era, when the thermal
and crustal structure of the earth was
not sufficiently developed to allow
continental drift and sea-floor spread-
ing to occur. Thus the geology of
Africa does not consist of the linear
deformation belts that mark the traces
of old mountain ranges formed at
plate boundaries, such as the Appa-
lachians, the Andes, the Alps, and the
Himalayas. It is composed, instead,
of nearly equidimensional granitic
masses, separated by a network of an-
cient, narrow, highly deformed belts.
These belts act as zones of weakness.
When rifting occurs in this environ-
ment, it moves along the belts, rather
than through the granitic masses, fol-
lowing the path of least resistance in
much the same way that a tiled floor
tends to crack along the mortar rather
than across the stronger tiles. That ex-
plains in part the sometimes tortuous
course the African rifts follow and
why they separate into several
fingers, each of which appears to ad-
vance slowly along the least resistant
path through the continent. The Lake
Malawi-Mozambique section of the
rift system moves along the eastern
boundary of a granite mass that un-
derlies most of Rhodesia, while the
new Okavango rift arm follows an old
deformation belt along the western
edge of that mass.
The rifting associated with the ini-
tial breakup of continents is evidently
much slower than the rate of sea-floor
spreading after a continent has been
fully breached. Nearly half the Atlan-
tic has accordingly been opened up in
the time since the East African rifts
began forming. Once one of the arms
of a rift system succeeds in com-
pletely fracturing a continent, crustal
stress disappears and the other arms
of the rift become inactive. These in-
active, or failed, rifts will then be pre-
served near the margins of one or both
of the newly formed continents. The
Connecticut Basin, in which the Con-
necticut Valley lies — a relict of the
rifting of North America from
Europe — is one of a series of such
basins along the east coast of North
America that are instances of failed
rift zones.
Interesting as the origin of the Oka-
vango Delta is, its future may prove
to be even more so. The region is one
of the few game-rich areas of Africa
that, aside from the intensive hunting
of crocodiles, has remained almost
untouched by man , either primitive or
civilized. Since gaining its inde-
pendence from Britain in 1966, Bots-
wana has striven hard to raise its
economy above the mere subsistence
level that was largely in effect
throughout its years as the British
High Commission Protectorate of
Bechuanaland. The need for develop-
ment will necessarily bring pressure
to utilize the delta for both its land and
its water at the expense of the game.
The economy of Botswana is based
primarily on cattle, the country's
major export. There is thus a contin-
ual search for new grazing land. The
presence of the tsetse fly makes ani-
mal raising in the delta impractical,
but as the pest comes under control,
cattle posts can be expected to move
in, leading inevitably to the eradica-
tion of the delta game. Furthermore,
the game herds themselves have been
recognized as potential carriers of
hoof-and-mouth disease, and long
fences have consequently been
erected out into the Kalahari to pre-
vent animals from migrating into cat-
tle-raising country. Unfortunately,
these fences have caused the death of
many thousands of weakened game
animals by preventing their return to
the Okavango Swamps for water dur-
ing the dry periods.
There is, in addition, pressure from
incipient industries to utilize the rare
waters of the delta. The need for
water has intensified with the discov-
ery of large mineral resources, in-
cluding diamonds and copper and
nickel deposits. Since the geology of
Botswana resembles that of South
Africa in many respects, the country
is likely to prove similarly rich in
minerals. There is no question but
that the water of the Okavango Delta
will be exploited in the future, but it
remains to be seen whether this area,
almost untouched in the last quarter
of the twentieth century, will be used
in an ecologically gentle way. D
Great herds of wild game,
which could survive nowhere
else in the arid land of
Botswana, live in the delta
and its surrounding marshes.
42
Swiss
Family
Togetherness
by John Friedl
Faced with harsh conditions
and a yearly threat of
avalanche, Alpine peasants
have learned that
cooperation means survival
Barren and forbidding surround-
ings have haunted inhabitants of the
Alps since the earliest recorded settle-
ment. Small villages nestled in out-
of-the-way corners of high mountain
valleys are a monument to human in-
genuity, and travelers to the region
continually marvel at the unique ad-
aptations that enable the hardy moun-
tain dwellers to eke out a living in
such a setting.
One of the most prominent dangers
of living in the Alps is avalanche.
Each winter tons of snow roar down
the mountainsides, wiping out every-
thing in the way. Stream beds formed
from melting glaciers or mountain
springs act as avalanche lanes, direct-
ing the snow and providing it with a
clear and unobstructed path. Fre-
quently, the avalanche brings with it
a mass of debris , depositing rocks and
trees at the bottom of the valley and
leaving behind a path of destruction.
In some locations avalanches occur
regularly every year, and residents of
nearby villages are able to plan
around them; in other places they are
much less predictable, occurring only
once or twice in a century. Ava-
lanches create serious limitations for
the Alpine villager. Not only do they
destroy houses and agricultural build-
ings, they also present a danger to life
itself. The mere threat of being buried
in snow limits mobility in winter,
confining villagers for days or weeks
on end. When an avalanche does
occur, it may close roads and prevent
travel for even longer periods of time.
The debris brought down by ava-
lanches and rockslides covers agri-
cultural land and must be removed
before the land can be used again.
Large rocks that cannot be moved in-
hibit the use of machinery and add to
the already difficult task of farming
the steep mountain terrain.
The siting of villages, agricultural
buildings, and other permanent struc-
tures depends upon the location of
streams and forests. Numerous
streams cut into the slopes of the val-
ley, and buildings must be situated
between them, on the valley floor or
on the slope. The stream beds restrict
the formation of large villages, for
even the slope opposite an avalanche
can be damaged as a result of the tre-
mendous air pressure created by the
rampaging snow.
Villages tend to be located below
large patches of forest, which serve
Clustered houses are not only
picturesque, they also represent
a good use of land in the steep,
densely settled, and avalanche-
prone valleys of Switzerland.
Swiss Naflonal Tourist Office
iit..5©^
t-, ,'v<
44
^^^'^
^•^■<-i
t"'-"^«.
_pm<
^jBppi
-,»^^
h.
Adam Woolllll. Woodtln Cjimp H, Associa
as barriers to the snow. Foreslation
programs and laws governing the cut-
ting of trees have long been common
in the Alps. Villagers can only take
deadwood, a practice that not only
protects living trees but also clears the
forest of avalanche debris. Grazing,
too, is regulated to protect buds and
young trees from the depredations of
animals. In the Lotschental, a Swiss
valley on the southern slope of the
Bernese Alps, where I lived for a
year, such written regulations date
back several centuries.
Villagers take other preventive
measures as well, such as strictly
regulating the harvesting of hayfields
located above the village. Because
long, uncut grass becomes matted
down and is less effective in holding
the snow than cut grass, owners of
these fields are required to mow the
grass in early autumn before the first
snowfall.
Houses and agricultural buildings
are found in tight clusters, rather than
strung out along the length of the val-
ley . This pattern is due in part to care-
ful planning, but the process of trial
and error is also important; should a
building be destroyed by avalanche,
it is unlikely that the owner will re-
build in the same location.
Traditionally, residents of the Alps
have divided their landholdings into
a number of plots scattered through-
out the valley, a pattern known as
fragmentation. Helping to maintain
this practice in the Lotschental is an
inheritance system whereby each
child receives an equal portion of the
parents' estate, with land parcels di-
vided and subdivided over genera-
tions. In the lowlands, fragmentation
is a waste of time and energy and an
inefficient use of resources. In the
Alps, however, such division repre-
sents an adaptation to the climate and
Despite the harsh terrain and short
growing season, agriculture
has long been vital to the Swiss
mountain dwellers. Gardens, which
require the most fertile soil,
as well as daily care, are
situated near the village, while
sheep are taken up to the
high grasslands.
terrain, as well as to the realities of
potential natural disasters.
Each landowner in the Lotschental
holds an average of about nine acres,
divided into about fifty parcels of
land, including plots scattered
throughout the valley. In case of an
avalanche, one or two plots of a
farmer's land might be covered by
snow or rocks. The snow could last
until August, and it could take an-
other year of occasional work to clear
away the rocks and debris. In the
meantime, however, the owner still
has the rest of his land to farm. The
practice of fragmentation simply
spreads out among many families the
loss of land and labor from natural
disasters.
Another benefit of a divided land-
holding is found in the way land is
used in the Alps. Because of the steep
valley slopes, there is a tremendous
range in the effects of sunshine, alti-
tude, and climate within a small area.
Surrounded by high mountain peaks,
the valley floor receives much less
sunshine than the higher, more barren
slopes and pastures. In the Lotschen-
tal, a chain of mountains rising to 13,-
000 feet borders the valley to the
south, shutting out several hours of
sunlight each day. During the winter
the villages on the valley floor receive
barely three hours of sunlight, and on
the longest day of summer there are
only about thirteen hours of direct sun
on the fields.
The weather and terrain dictate a
wide variety of land uses and a dis-
tinctive agricultural cycle within the
extremely short growing season in the
mountains. Of the 58 square miles of
land in the Lotschental, more than
half is unproductive rock and glacier;
of the remainder, most is either forest
that is owned and carefully protected
by the communities or it is found
above treeline and used only as sum-
mer pasture, since it is too barren to
yield even a hay crop. The land avail-
able for cultivation is but a small
proportion of the total area and must
be used carefully if it is to support a
relatively dense population.
There are basically four categories
of land use in the Lotschental. Gar-
dens, which require the most fertile
land, are situated in and around the
village, where they can also receive
daily attention. Household vegeta-
bles, such as lettuce, turnips, beans.
and onions, are grown in these gar-
dens. Cultivated fields of potatoes
and grain, largely rye, are also found
in the village and scattered up the
sunny slope above the cluster of
houses. Hay is harvested from the
meadows that receive the most sun-
shine, yet are low enough to enjoy a
relatively warm temperature. They
must also be close to the village or to
an agricultural building from which
manure can be transported for fertil-
izer. For all these reasons, the hay-
fields produce a heavy growth of
grass, some of the better ones yield-
ing two crops a year.
The fourth type of land includes the
remaining grassland used for grazing
animals. During the spring and fall,
villagers graze their animals on pri-
vately owned meadows that are high,
but still below treeline. In summer,
however, they take the animals to the
higher, communally owned pastures
above treeline. Traditionally, women
and children brought the animals up
to the high meadows in mid-June and
stayed with them until October.
Every week or so, they made the two-
to three-hour walk back to the village,
bringing the milk and other dairy
products that are a vital source of nu-
trition for the entire population.
Today, however, they remain in the
village, making the daily trip up to the
pastures by Jeep.
The annual cycle is closely tied in
with the use of these different types
of land and with the climatic variation
according to altitude. The hay harvest
lasts several months, starting on the
most fertile and sunniest fields, where
the grass grows fastest and highest.
Once these fields are harvested for the
first time in July, the men move up
the slope for a couple of weeks, then
return to the fields on the southern
slope, which receive less sun. Here
the grass matures more slowly despite
the lower altitude. Finally, the high
fields on the northern, sunny side are
cut, by which time the lower fields are
ready for a second harvest — some-
time in late August.
Such a cycle is a major justification
for land fragmentation, enabling a
farmer to work at a steady pace
throughout the summer. If a man's
fields are scattered at various alti-
tudes, he will be able to harvest them
continually, receiving the maximum
yield from each. More importantly.
Swiss National Tourist Otiice
47
while it would be to one person's ad-
vantage to own all his fields in the
area of greatest fertility, this would be
disastrous for the rest of the villagers,
since their landholdings would all be
of lower quality. Thus, fragmentation
not only balances the severe effects
of climate and terrain but also offers
the best opportunity for the survival
of all farmers, given the system of
private ownership and independent
operation.
There is a high degree of commu-
nal spirit and cooperation in Alpine
villages, clearly a rational solution to
the problems the Alpine peasant faces
Because his house is situated on
the edge of town near the path of
the predicted avalanche, a
villager, along with his furniture,
moves in closer to the center.
in coping with his environment. A
wide variety of tasks requiring joint
participation of some or all residents
of the village enables the farmers,
who cannot make it alone, to survive
through cooperation. Cooperative
labor assumes different forms, in-
cluding recurrent duties such as plant-
ing or harvesting and one-time proj-
ects that might result from a natural
or personal disaster. Small groups
within the community engage in co-
operative efforts for the good of their
membership. And at times the entire
community will work together in a
communal labor project designed to
benefit all.
In valleys where motorized ve-
hicles are not feasible, an individual
faces the problem of transporting ma-
terials up the steep slopes to the sum-
mer pastures. When someone wants
to build a hut on the high pasture, to
serve as a stall for his cattle and sleep-
ing quarters and a work area for mem-
bers of his family, he has to carry
*>^'.
f*^'
•*^*^
V^,
,3t(^
' ^-
Dean Loomis. Time-LUe
large wooden beams from the forest
below. The institution known as
Holztragen. or "wood carrying,"
dictates that men. women, and chil-
dren all help carry the wooden beams
and a few other necessary materials
up to the pasture. In return for the aid
supplied by his fellow villagers, the
owner has to pay a nominal fee into
the village treasury and supply food
and wine for the workers once the job
is done. The merriment of the festivi-
ties following such a cooperative ven-
ture insures that there are no absen-
tees. Constructing the hut itself is the
responsibility of the owner, who can
usually obtain help from relatives.
Other communal projects follow
the agricultural cycle and are also ac-
companied by celebrations to make
the work seem less tedious. In winter,
for example, some animals are kept
in stalls outside the village: in this
way, the villagers are able to collect
manure at various altitudes when it is
time to fertilize the scattered fields in
spring. The daily tasks of milking the
cows and cleaning their stalls are te-
dious, but they represent less work
than carrying the manure up from the
village in the spring. More time, too,
is available for these chores in winter.
Furthermore, not all the hay from the
high fields must be transported to the
village, where storage facilties are in-
adequate. Rather, only enough hay to
feed those animals kept nearby is
stored in the village, while the rest
can be scattered about the hillside in
stalls.
Keeping cattle in stalls on the
mountain slope during the winter
does create a problem, however, for
when a cow has eaten all the hay
stored in one small barn and enough
manure has been collected, the owner
On the verge of a landslide: An
area of unstable rock and snow (1)
is poised high above the village
of Herbriggen. When it slides, it
should follow the natural path made
by the ravine (2), thereby missing
the houses (3) built along the
valley floor to the side of the
stream. Trees planted above
the village serve as barriers
and are strictly protected.
Dean Lootnis. Time-Life
49
must move the animal to another
building. But cows cannot walk in the
deep snow without sinking. If they
are not freed in time, they freeze to
death. As a result, a firm path has to
be stamped down so that the animals
can be moved. Such a task, known as
Vieh verstellen, or "moving the cat-
tle," requires several men, and when
the distance and snow conditions
warrant, the farmer may call upon his
village's entire male population be-
tween the ages of fifteen and sixty, the
Mannstand.
The construction and maintenance
of avalanche barriers above the vil-
lage, the construction and mainte-
nance of irrigation ditches, and agri-
cultural work in the fields owned by
the church or the community all re-
quire the cooperation of the entire
community. The amount of labor
needed to repair and strengthen the
avalanche barriers depends upon the
damage done the previous winter and
upon the continuing horizontal ex-
pansion of the villages and the ac-
companying need to protect more
area around the village centers. For
many such tasks each household pro-
vides one man for the project, but if
the labor force is insufficient, every
able man and woman helps out.
With the emphasis upon coopera-
tion, social life in the traditional
mountain village is organized around
the village community. Individ-
ualism is played down, for a person
alone is powerless against the harsh
environment. Instead, the commu-
nity becomes the focal point for social
interaction, and a person's identity is
linked to his native village.
To a villager in the Lotschental, for
example, members of the other com-
munities in the valley occupy an in-
termediate position between insider
and outsider. The physical and social
isolation of the Lotschental has
caused a great deal of inbreeding over
the centuries. Every native resident
has many relatives in the adjacent vil-
lages and through them, a number of
social contacts as well.
On the other hand, residents of
each village share a wide variety of
derogatory jokes, feelings of superi-
ority, and popular misconceptions
about the residents of the other vil-
lages. Natives of one village are said
to resemble the wooden masks,
known as Tschaggdttd, worn in the
50
local Mardi Gras festival . Those from
a second village are supposedly dis-
tinguished by their rapid, almost un-
intelligible speech, while a third vil-
lage is characterized by its allegedly
gluttonous population.
This particular combination of ter-
rain, climate, and altitude, coupled
with the unique history of the valley,
is important in creating village soli-
darity in the Lotschental. There has
always been a high rate of intravillage
marriage. Much of the courting takes
place during the winter when the agri-
cultural schedule is not so demanding
and young people have more time to
themselves; at that time, however,
avalanche danger restricts travel, no
doubt enhancing the desirability of
the girl next door. The high rate of
inbreeding, in turn, affects the feel-
ings of village solidarity, not only
through family interaction but also
through inheritance practices that
pass on land in the village to future
residents of that village, thereby ex-
cluding others.
Recently, after a series of heavy
snows followed by warm weather and
some rain, a serious avalanche oc-
curred in the village where I lived,
leaving more than thirty feet of snow
on the road just outside the village,
knocking down electric lines, and
completely demolishing a vacation
chalet. Because avalanche conditions
persisted for some time, work to
repair the damage did not begin until
the following week, and it took more
than three weeks to dig a tunnel
through the snow to allow normal
traffic in and out of the village. Elec-
tricity was restored a few days after
the avalanche, but mail had to be
flown in by helicopter and factory
workers were flown out to their jobs
outside the valley.
During the three weeks that the vil-
lage was closed off, I witnessed a re-
markable change in atmosphere.
People grew closer together and the
Once made of wood, at right,
or stone (an efficient way of
clearing the rocks left by previous
slides), avalanche barriers are
now made of aluminum, which is
light, sturdy, and weatherproof.
Swiss National Tourist OHice
feeling of community spirit increased
noticeably. At one point when there
was the threat of a second avalanche,
people living at the edge of the village
moved in with relatives who lived
closer to the center, preferably those
living next to the church, which has
been standing since the sixteenth cen-
tury. Until electricity was restored,
villagers could not run their oil burn-
ers and had to depend on small space
heaters. Since propane gas, used to
fuel such heaters, was in short sup-
ply, several families moved in to-
gether. Participation in long evening
card games in the heated taverns,
sharing of food and other resources,
and the congenial acts toward me, an
outsider, finally enabled me to under-
stand the feelings that tied the resi-
dents of the village together in a way
that I had not previously been able to
comprehend.
Through this experience I learned
how lime and again, when people arc
faced with natural disasters, they turn
to the only source of support upon
which they can consistently rely —
their fellow villagers. The intensity of
village cooperation created by the en-
vironment, coupled with the magni-
tude of the obstacles to be overcome
and the vagaries of nature to be en-
dured, has created a rare form of vil-
lage— where cooperation is the rule
rather than the exception. D
The seventeenth-century church at
Oberwald, built into the slope
of the mountain, is prow-shaped
at one end to deflect the
path of the rampaging snow.
Swiss National Tourist Otiice
Plant-loving Bats, Bat-loving Plants
by Donna J. Howell
For food and sex,
two unlikely partners
have evolved together
Bees, butterflies, and humming-
birds are familiar nectar feeders and
pollinators of flowers, and the flowers
they serve possess elaborate devices
to deliver their nectar and pollen.
Flowers with bright red blossoms and
tubular corollas, for example, are
often pollinated by hummingbirds.
The birds are attracted to bright
colors, and their long beaks are suited
for the extraction of nectar at the bot-
tom of deep, tubelike corollas. In this
example of a classic symbiotic rela-
tionship, the birds obtain nectar as
food and the plants are pollinated by
the feeding birds as they travel from
flower to flower.
A similar relationship between cer-
tain plants and pollinators is not as
well known. In tropical and subtropi-
cal countries, and extending into the
southwestern United States, nectar-
feeding bats are common pollinators
of a wide variety of plants. The rela-
tionship of these partners is called
chiropterophily — literally, ' 'bat-lov-
ing' ' and figuratively used to describe
the characteristics of both bats and
plants. To the bat biologist or pollina-
tion ecologist, the characteristics of
the plants and their bat pollinators
stand out as strongly as do those of
the hummingbird pollination system.
My work in the tropics and search
of the literature reveals 130 genera of
chiropterophilous plants. These are
scattered unevenly through 40 plant
families with the Bombax, Bignonia,
legumes, and cactus families having
the greatest share. Many tropical
lumber trees are bat pollinated. So,
too, are the giant saguaro cactus and
the century plant, a paniculate
Agave. Some chiropterophilous pani-
culate agaves from south of the
border are the sources of tequila and
sisal . A number of other commercial
products also owe their existence, in
part, to bat pollination. The calabash
tree, Crescentiacujete, whose gourd-
like fruits provide dishes and utensils
in Central America, is pollinated by
bats. The silk-cotton tree, Ceibapen-
tandra, whose down-filled seedpods
are set from bat-pollinated flowers, is
the source of a filler called kapok,
commonly used in sleeping bags, life
jackets, and cushions. Other bat-
pollinated tree species are Ochroma
lagopus, from which balsa wood is
obtained, and Capparis, the source of
capers.
Since the syndrome of chiropter-
ophily involves different families of
bats in the Old and New Worlds, and
since bat-pollinated flowers have
evolved in a number of plant families,
this symbiotic partnership probably
arose independently a number of
times during the last fifty million
years. For example, in the Old World
tropics, some fruit bats, or flying
foxes, feed on nectar and pollinate
flowers. These bats are anatomically
distinct from nectar-feeding bats of
the New World. In the American
tropics, several subfamilies of the
leaf-nosed bats fill the same ecologi-
cal niche. These two groups of bats
represent parallel evolution, rather
than the sharing of an immediate
common ancestor; the similarity of
their life-styles is reflected in similar
morphology. The same is true of the
bat-loving plants; although they may
be unrelated, having similar pollina-
tors has helped to mold their features
into common patterns.
Both groups of nectar-feeding bats
have relatively large eyes. Vision is
of critical importance to the Old
World species since they have no
sonar. I have recently demonstrated
the degradation of sonar acuity in the
New World nectar -feeding bats.
Numerous florets in a ' 'shaving
brush ' ' arrangement aid in the
pollination of some agaves. The bat
Leptonycteris sanborni is lathered
with pollen as it feeds on nectar.
These species may emit only one-
hundredth of the sound energy used
by their insect-feeding relatives.
Both Old World and New World
nectar-feeding bats have large septate
nasal cavities and vomeronasal
organs, indicating a good olfactory
sense. Both groups possess long
muzzles and weak teeth. In many spe-
cies, the number of incisors and
molars is reduced. The gap left by the
absence of lower incisors in the more
specialized forms, together with a
52
groove in the lower lip, facilitates the
movement of an extremely long, ex-
tensile tongue.
The characteristics of chiropter-
ophilous flowers reflect their depend-
ence upon bats for reproduction.
Such flowers open at night and are
white or light in color. They have a
peculiar musky, or "batty," odor.
On moonlit nights, bat-pollinated
flowers stand out almost as if they
were fluorescent. The odor, which
may be noticeable only after dark,
often forms an aura that surrounds the
tree. The odoriferous substance has
been found to contain butyric acid;
since bat body musk also contains bu-
tyric acid, it has been hypothesized
that the odor that attracts bats to bats
also attracts bats to flowers.
Bat-pollinated plants have a num-
ber of peculiar growth forms, all of
which accomplish the end of spatially
separating the flowers from the rest of
the plant. This separation, combined
with noticeable paleness and a batty
odor, provides a very prominent tar-
get to a night-flying bat, which orients
by sight and smell: a bat ill-suited,
sonarwise, to deal with a clutter of
vegetation.
The conspicuous placement of
chiropterophilous flowers is accom-
plished in several ways. One of the
most dramatic occurs in the century
plant, whose flowers are presented on
"serving tray" panicles located on
the ends of branches that emanate
from a central stalk. The stalk itself
John A. L. Cooke. Oxford Scientific Films
53
Scanning electron micrographs
(at X 550 magnification) reveal an
adaptation of nectar-feeding bats.
The hair scales of an insectivorous
bat (top) lie flat and smooth against
the hair shaft. Angled away from
the shaft, the hair scales of a
nectar-feeding bat scoop up and
trap pollen grains when the
bat visits a flower.
rises twenty or more feet above the
rosette of swordlike leaves that con-
stitutes the main body of the plant.
Another adaptation for separating
flowers from foliage, thereby provid-
ing easy access for the pollinating
bats, is called flagelliflory. The flow-
ers of a tree are borne on long, whip-
like branches that protrude above the
main canopy. Penduliflory is an up-
side-down version of the same thing.
In this adaptation, flowers hang down
below the canopy on a long rachis, or
streamer. This strategy is commonly
seen in chiropterophilous vines,
which grow quickly from the dark
forest floor up to the sunny jungle
canopy by climbing on a host tree for
the light they need; then produce
night-blooming flowers on sixty-foot-
long streamers that droop down
through the subcanopy where bats
can easily find and pollinate the blos-
soms. In cauliflory, a somewhat dif-
ferent means of accomplishing the
same end, the flowers develop di-
rectly from the trunk of a tree or from
thicker parts of the branches. When
fruits set from these oddly placed
flowers, the effect is of balls glued
directly to the tree.
In combination with such branch-
ing patterns, many bat-pollinated
plants shed their leaves at the time of
flowering. This also serves to present
the bats with easily identifiable, ac-
cessible targets.
Bat-pollinated flowers also have
certain shapes that help to transmit
pollen to the visiting bat. There are
two general types. One is vessel
shaped with exserted anthers; the bat
must thrust its head through the pol-
len-producing anthers into the corolla
to reach nectar at the bottom. In so
doing it gets coated with pollen. The
second type is a filamentous ball, sort
of a "shaving brush," made up of
numerous florets or of one flower
with numerous, long anthers. Often
nectar collects in a groove near the
stem end of the flower. The bat grasps
the brush in order to reach around to
the stem end for nectar and in the
process gets its chest covered with
pollen grains.
In addition to these main types
there are other pollination mecha-
nisms; for example, some flowers
release spring-loaded anthers in re-
sponse to a bat's weight — showering
the bat with pollen.
Besides the morphological coadap-
tations of individual bat and plant
species to one another, there are other
interactions that mark chiropterophi-
lous communities. A positive correla-
tion exists between the range of bat-
pollinated flowers as a group and that
of nectar-feeding bats. This suggests
that these bats might be limited in
their range by lack of appropriate
food or that certain plants might be
limited in their distribution by the ab-
sence of proper pollinators.
There is also a high degree of tem-
poral synchronicity between the
partners. Some nectar-feeding bats,
such as Leptonycteris, migrate. They
are in Arizona in late May through
August, feeding on saguaros and then
agaves. Moving southward, they feed
on later blooming agaves and winter
on a lush complex of flowering trees
in central Mexico. In early spring,
they feed on early blooming colum-
nar cactus, moving northward until
they again reach Arizona. These mi-
gratory movements and flowering pe-
riods are examples of interrelated
characteristics that have fostered geo-
graphic and temporal coadaptations
of bats and plants.
The relationship of chiropterophi-
lous plants with bats is, to a high de-
gree, exclusive and obligatory. Noc-
turnal blooming narrows the field of
potential pollinators to moths and
bats. Moths seem to prefer more fra-
grant flowers to the relatively malo-
dorous bat-pollinated blossoms.
Even those chiropterophilous flowers
that appear to remain open during the
day may be ecologically closed to
other potential pollinators because
pollen and nectar may be available
only at night.
I was first attracted to the study of
this bat-plant syndrome by its inher-
ent physiological problems. The bats,
being small, warm-blooded mam-
mals that fly and hover (a metabol-
ically expensive form of flight), re-
quire tremendous energy input to
keep up with their metabolic de-
mands. Nectar-feeding bats do not
engage in the energy-saving daily tor-
por common in temperate -zone bats.
Neither do they hibernate; they meta-
bolize at full speed all year long.
Their heart rates in flight may exceed
500 beats a minute. Nectar-feeding
bats must have a hard time playing
butterfly.
Bat-pollinated flowers do provide
their symbionts with copious quanti-
ties of highly caloric nectar. While
setting up experimental diets for a
laboratory colony of nectar-feeding
bats, I cut and drained panicles of an
agave in the field; I would remove
one-fourth to one-half cup of nectar
from a single panicle and often re-
ceived a shower while cutting the
higher branches.
This nectar has a sugar content of
17 to 20 percent, and the bats have
a most efficient way of taking in a lot
of nectar in a very short amount of
time, thus optimizing their energy
budget. The tip of the bat's long thin
tongue has a superabundance of
fleshy bristles that increase the sur-
face area to an amazing 200 square
54
millimeters. Humminghirds and other
nectar-feeding birds and insects have
similar nectar "mops."
What intrigued me most was the
notion, supported by some scientilic
literature, that the bats feed on nectar
only. Most nectar contains no protein
and animals cannot synthesize it from
sugar water. No long-lived animal
can maintain itself on a pure carbohy-
drate diet; it must have an external
source of protein (amino acids or ni-
trogen) for the production of cells and
tissue. You cannot make a bat out of
sugar and water.
Since 1968, I have studied a sub-
family of nectar-feeding bats, the
Glossophaginae. These bats range
from Arizona and Texas through
Mexico into South America. Even
though the nine genera in the sub-
family share, to some extent, the
general characteristics of pollinating
bats, they arc not equally committed
to feeding on nectar. Some eat moths
during half the year, satisfying their
protein demands from that source;
others are full-time flower visitors,
never eating bugs save an occasional
thrip lapped up with the nectar. The
degree to which each bat species
demonstrates a long snout, weak den-
tition, and poor sonar depends on its
constancy to nectar feeding. Yet even
Donna J Howell
the nectar-feeding bats that snack on
insects during the wet season, when
bat-pollinated flowers do not bloom,
have a potential protein-deficiency
problem when they switch over to
nectar; bats that are exclusively flow-
er visitors have the problem all year.
I concentrated my research on the
genus Lepiunycleris. the long-nosed
bat, which is an obligate nectar
feeder. I examined guano or stomachs
from hundreds of individuals col-
lected throughout the year in all parts
of their range. Only occasionally did
I find an insect fragment in the mate-
rial I examined. These bits could be
identified as thrips or certain small
bees and beetles that frequent the
blossoms of chiropterophilous plants.
1 guessed that these were incidentally
ingested with the nectar. Work I did
several years later confirmed that
these insects could not be captured on
the wing: the sonar acuity and denti-
tion of long-nosed bats do not suit
them for actively hunting insects.
What the bats were eating was nec-
tar and pollen. Pollen is perhaps the
most obvious protein source since
other nectar-feeding animals depend
on it (bees and heliconiid butterflies),
but a number of questions remained
to be answered before its usefulness
to bats could be assumed. Pollen in
general can have protein or amino
acid content roughly comparable to
beans (15 to 20 percent). Pollen
grains, however, have a tremen-
dously resistant outer shell, or exine.
The resistant shell allows pollen to
remain intact in the earth for millions
of years, providing a fine paleoeco-
logical tool, but because of the nature
of the exine, scientists have had diffi-
culty investigating the actual cellular
contents inside pollen grains. Many
kinds of pollen will wear out the bear-
ings of electric grinders before they
are broken, and pollen can withstand
boiling in hydrofluoric acid (which
etches glass).
The problem of how to get around
Nectar-feeding bats, which have
poor sonar but good sight, easily
locate these agave flowers, which
are borne on a tall stalk high
above the plant's spiny leaves.
Donna J. Howell
this shell and gain access to the nutri-
tious material within is a very real one
for the bats. But the Glossophaginae,
and presumably the Old World pol-
linating bats, have several mecha-
nisms to cope with this problem.
Pollen will begin to germinate in a
warm sugar solution, which is usually
present in the stomach of a nectar-
feeding bat. The cellular contents will
extrude through pores in the exine
when in such a liquid medium. At this
point the bat must be able to degrade,
or break down, the pollen proteins
into smaller units, or amino acids, in
order to construct bat proteins.
When an allergist wishes to make
an extract of pollen proteins for al-
lergy tests, he soaks the grains in
weak solutions of hydrochloric acid
and/or urea — two chemicals that can
degrade pollen proteins. As in most
mammals, bats' gastrointestinal
tracts secrete hydrochloric acid. In
long-nosed bats, the glands that pro-
duce this protein-degrading chemical
are so numerous as to almost exclude
other types of glands found in mam-
mal intestines. Also, long-nosed bats
exhibit the behavior of drinking some
of their own urine. This activity is
distinctly different from cleaning of
the genitalia. A drop of urine at a time
is excreted and picked up with the
long tongue, a behavior that has been
observed while the bats were feeding
on pollen in flight. The resultant nec-
tar-hydrochloric acid-urine solution
in the bats' stomachs enables them to
gain access to, and begin the break-
down of, pollen protein.
Further experiments confirmed that
bat-pollinated flowers are able to sup-
ply a sufficient amount of protein and
amino acids to their pollinators — a
crucial factor in the survival of an en-
56
To reach ihe nectar ai the bottom
of an or gun- pipe cactus flower, a
Leptonycteris hat thrusts its face
into the tubular corolla (far left).
After lappin'^ up a quantity of the
sweet fluid with its long, bristly
tongue (left), the bat will fly off
with a coating of pollen on its
face and neck. Some of the pollen
grains will be consumed in flight:
others will be transferred to the
next flower the bat visits, thereby
pollinating the plant.
dothermic animal with a longevity of
up to ten years. In general, adult
mammals require that 10 percent of
the digestible material in their diet be
protein. In young, growing mammals
the figure approaches 20 percent.
Specifically, long-nosed bats need
140 to 170 milligrams of protein or
amino acids daily. In order to deter-
mine whether chiropterophilous
plants could provide this. I collected
pollen from many species and ran
tests for amino acid content. The pol-
len proved to be extremely rich; pol-
len from saguaro cactus flowers con-
tains 20 percent protein ; that of panic-
ulate agaves, 43 percent.
Even more interesting, the pollen
of flowers adapted for bat pollination
contains, on the average, two times
more protein than the pollen of
closely related plants that are polli-
nated by wind or insects. For ex-
ample, the prickly pear and the barrel
cactus, which are insect-pollinated,
contain only 9 percent and 10 percent
protein compared to the saguaro's 20
percent. Pollen from two species of
spicate agaves. Agave schottii and A.
parviflora, which are bumblebee pol-
linated, shows 8 percent and 16 per-
cent compared to the 43 percent pol-
len protein content of bat-pollinated
agave pollen. This was one hint that
the plants in this symbiosis evolved
biochemically, as well as morpho-
logically, to attract bat pollinators.
Long-nosed bats that were col-
lected when returning to their roosts
at dawn had stomach contents that
weighed four grams. Three grams of
this was nectar and one gram protein.
This mass may not represent a total
night's food intake; we believe that
57
The flowers of saguaro and organ-
pipe cactus grow directly on the
trunks or branches of the
plants, making them conspicuous
to nectar-feeding bats.
bats feed at least twice, stopping to
digest in the middle of the night. Fig-
uring conservatively , if a long-nosed
bat ingests only one gram of pollen
per night and this pollen contains
20 to 40 percent protein, the bat will
get 200 to 400 milligrams of protein,
which more than covers its needs.
Simply ingesting the proper quan-
tity of protein, however, is not suffi-
cient to support life; an animal must
ingest the right kinds in the right
proportion to replace what it has
used. While doing chemical analyses
of chiropterophilous flower pollens, I
discovered that they contain a full
complement of essential amino acids.
Furthermore, they have a remarkable
abundance of two amino acids that
have no known role in the plant's own
reproductive biology. These amino
acids, proline and tyrosine, may sup-
ply specific needs of the bats. The
first is crucial in building connective
tissue, and bats, which have exten-
sive wing arid tail membrane sur-
faces, are high in connective tissue.
The second amino acid is a growth
stimulant to young mammals; it con-
centrates in the mother's milk. Tyro-
sine is also a component of protein-
splitting enzymes. The plants that
contain the maximum amounts of
tyrosine are fed upon by the bats dur-
ing pregnancy and lactation, times of
high protein demands.
Since pollen plays such an impor-
tant role in the diet of nectar-feeding
bats, we might suspect that they have
certain adaptations to aid in their pol-
len gathering, just as the high surface
area tongue affords increased nectar
pickup.
I had noticed that hairs in the neck
region of the glossophagine bats did
not lie flat in any one direction as does
most mammal fur. Rather, the hairs
stand out like bristles on a bottle
brush. The scanning electron micro-
scope revealed further unique fea-
tures of hairs of pollinating bats. Both
Old World and New World bats in-
Donna J, Howell
volved in pollination syndromes have
hairs made up of small scales that
stand out at wide angles to the main
hair shaft. These hair scales serve as
pollen scoops, and the thickness and
upright position of the hairs on the
body help to trap millions of pollen
grains. The bat hair scalation may be
adaptive to the plants in the partner-
ship since the more pollen an agent
carries and retains over a distance, the
more likely that flowers on subse-
quent plants will receive some. For
the bats, picking up a heavy coating
of pollen is important because pollen
is their only reliable protein source.
Hairs of bats not associated with
flowers, such as the vampire and in-
sectivorous bats, have scales that lie
flat and smooth against the shaft.
The bats often come away from
flowers golden yellow in color, hav-
ing picked up abundant pollen on
their fur. While in flight or resting,
they groom the pollen from the fur
with their feet, licking the claws after
every combing bout. It is in this man-
ner that long-nosed bats ingest a gram
or more of pollen per night.
To determine how and why chirop-
terophily originated is difficult. Orga-
nisms may become involved in such
cooperative interactions only if they
have been a part of one another's en-
vironment for a long time. The pat-
tern develops in a reciprocal step-by-
step fashion over millions of years.
But an analysis of the advantages ac-
cruing to each partner in return for
the energy expended gives us some
58
insight into this evolutionary drama.
To attract bats, plants must pro-
duce copious quantities of high ca-
loric nectar, which is of no use to the
plants' own immediate biology. They
must also produce a higher quantity
and quality of pollen than is needed
for their own reproduction. This en-
ergy cost to the plants should not be
viewed just in terms of how much
pollen and nectar they must produce;
the ratio of energy invested to bene-
fits gained (fertile seeds set) is the im-
portant criterion of a successful re-
productive strategy. Wind-pollinated
flowers produce fantastic numbers of
pollen grains, but only a very few
ever reach another flower of the same
species. Using a predictable agent of
pollen dispersal, such as an animal
that is a relatively constant visitor,
minimizes waste of pollen and maxi-
mizes appropriate transfer. This
should lessen the energy drain on the
plant, which can now get by with less
pollen. But why a bat?
Given that plants compete for re-
sources in their environment, finding
new resources may allow a species
temporary escape from competition
and a chance to exploit a new niche.
Pollinators may be viewed as re-
sources in the plants' environment. In
this light, there are multiple advan-
tages to having bats as pollinators, as
they may allow plants to escape com-
petition both in space and time.
With a finite number of humming-
birds, for example, plants may be in
competition for the services of the
birds. Two roads are then open to the
plants: "getting better" or "getting
out." Those plants that "get better"
become more attractive to humming-
birds, perhaps by the evolution of
brighter flowers or sweeter nectar.
Those plants that "get out" carry the
baggage of their previous life-style
and must find a pollen vector that will
accept most of those characteristics.
Hummingbird flowers have some of
the features attractive to bats: they are
sturdy, they offer a good quantity of
nectar, their anthers tend to protrude,
and their bell shape is suitable. A
change to nocturnal blooming, the
lightening of color, or the addition of
a musky odor might be a relatively
minor evolutionary price to pay for an
escape from competition .
The shift to nocturnal blooming
and use of nocturnal pollinators pos-
sibly provided some plants an escape
from crowded diurnal systems. This
bridging-over may have started from
insect-pollinated systems as well as
from bird pollination. Bat-pollinated
plants today have close relatives in
insect and bird syndromes.
Besides the escape in the time di-
mension that bats provide, there are
at least two other advantages for the
plant. Bats are warm-blooded; be-
cause they carry their own heat
source, they can remain active in
cooler environments than can insects.
Having bats as pollinators might
allow certain plants to expand their
ranges into cooler latitudes or higher
altitudes where competition for a
number of resources might be less se-
vere. In a sense, having bats as polli-
nators might allow plants to invade
and radiate into an empty niche.
Bats may cover tens of miles in a
night's foraging. For plants to take
advantage of the evolutionary flexi-
bility and vigor that accompanies out-
crossing, they must compensate for
theirown lack of mobility. They must
interact with an agent that can transfer
gametes from one member of the pop-
ulation to another. Tropical plant spe-
cies are often widely dispersed.
Walking through a rain forest, one
sees hundreds of plant species but sel-
dom sees two of the same kind in
proximity. This scattering of individ-
uals in the population may be a strat-
egy to minimize predation on the
plant population. But being hyper-
dispersed, the plants require a highly
mobile pollinator that can effect the
union of sex cells. Bats are admirably
suited to this task.
Of course, this one-sided view of
the evolutionary chess game assumes
there were fully evolved nectar-feed-
ing bats ready and waiting for the
plants, which was not the case. It
must be understood that mutualistic
systems evolve as single biotic units.
We have simply decided, for the sake
of analysis, to move the chess pieces
one team at a time.
Some of the advantages to the nec-
tar-feeding bats are direct analogues.
Bridging over from one type of feed
ing to another may have been stimu-
lated by competition among bats.
Through the ages, certain bats in
competition for fruit might have
found that straggling flowers that had
not yet set fruit had a similar smell
and provided a tasty snack. Other
kinds of bats that competed for insect
food might have come to rely on
flowers as gathering places for insects
and gradually made the shift in diet.
The transitions took millions of
years, with some bats coming to rely
more and more on the food from
flowers and less on insects or fruits.
The process is ongoing; from our tiny
time perspective we see the transition
reflected in the dietary continuum that
exists in the Glossophaginae today.
Some bats in this subfamily rely on
insects part-time; other relatives of
nectar-feeding bats eat fruit but don't
turn down nectar, and possibly pol-
len, when it is abundant.
The end result of these reciprocal
changes is speciation; new kinds of
bats, new kinds of plants. The isola-
tion or integrity of a plant species may
depend totally on the behavior of its
pollinator. Organisms evolve new
features in response to some change
in their environment and. in turn,
create a changed environment for
other organisms.
Robert Ricklefs, in a recent ecol-
ogy text, says, "Evolution is self-ac-
celerating in that environmental com-
plexity produced by life forms creates
additional opportunity for the evolu-
tion of new forms." If we believe
this, we must see that mutualistic in-
teractions play an important role in
the development of most organisms,
populations, and communities. Ecol-
ogy texts, while dwelling on competi-
tion and predator-prey dynamics,
dismiss mutualism as a phenomenon
whose importance in populations in
general is small. There is now grow-
ing evidence that interactions such as
those between plants and pollinators
might generate and maintain certain
aspects of community structure. Pol-
linators, for instance, may determine
the diversity and phenology of plant
communities.
There has also been a tendency in
biology to concentrate on the re-
sponses of one kind of organism. This
ignores the synthetic approach de-
manded by Ricklefs's statement.
During the last decade, however,
zoologists and botanists have begun
to converge on points of common in-
terest in pollination syndromes, as
well as other phenomena. We are be-
ginning to realize that organisms do
not evolve in a vacuum. D
59
^?^*^
Reef Fish Lottery
by Peter F. Sale
Contrary to most
ecological principles,
chance, not competition,
seems to regulate some
fish distribution on
the Great Barrier Reef
Coral reefs, as anyone fortunate
enough to have dived among them
knows, abound with a tremendous
variety of life. Particularly conspic-
uous are the reef fish, whose forms,
colors, and activities bring them in-
stantly to attention. No other environ-
ment can support such a diversity of
fish species.
At the northern limit of reef devel-
opment, the Hawaiian reefs, thou-
sands of miles from other reefs, sup-
port 400 species of inshore fish. At
the southern limit of the Great Barrier
Reef, the Capricorn Islands group,
which forms the final link in a discon-
tinuous, chain of reefs extending
2,000 miles along Australia's coast,
supports more than 800 species of
fish. At the northern end of the Great
Barrier Reef, about 2,000 species of
fish occur. By contrast only about 350
species of inshore fish live ofi' the
coast of California where there are no
reef formations.
Just as reef systems support many
hundreds of fish species, small areas
within reefs also contain a surpris-
ingly large number of species. C. La-
vett Smith of The American Museum
of Natural History has reported that
in the Bahamas it is not unusual to
collect 70 or 80 species from a single
coral patch three yards in diameter.
Frank Talbot of the Australian Mu-
seum has collected more than 150
species of fish from similar areas in
the Capricorns.
This high diversity of reef fish in
small areas has not been easy to ex-
plain. Two questions present them-
selves to the biologist: How have
such large numbers of fish species
evolved on coral reefs when similar
numbers have not evolved in other
environments? And by what mecha-
nisms have the species present on
coral reefs managed to coexist? In an
effort to answer the latter question. I
spent the past three years studying
eight successfully coexisting species
of fish on Heron Reef in the Capricorn
group of Great Barrier Reef.
Ecologists have generally accepted
that species that are similar to each
other in their ecological requirements
will not be able to coexist indefinitely
in a stable environment. As the popu-
lations of two similar species grow,
they will ultimately compete with
each other for the resources, such as
food and living sites, that both re-
quire. In this competition, one spe-
cies will inevitably be more efficient
than the other. Over a period of time,
the more efficient species, consist-
ently obtaining more than its share of
resources, will prosper at the expense
of its less eflScient competitor. The
latter must evolve new ecological re-
quirements or it will become extinct
wherever the more efficient species
occurs. This result will occur so long
as the environment is stable enough
for one species to be consistently
more efficient, and so long as the less
efficient species, once eliminated,
cannot reinvade from another area.
This is called the principle of com-
petitive exclusion, also known as
Cause's principle.
By the principle of competitive ex-
clusion, reef fish occurring together
should show measurable diflferences
in their ecological requirements.
Since there are so many species of
reef fish present at any one site, we
might expect that, in order for them
to show difi'erences in ecological re-
quirements, they will also tend to be
specialized animals. When the re-
quirements of reef fish are examined,
however, this is not the case. There
are certainly a few highly specialized
forms, but most reef fish appear no
less generalized, both in their food
and habitat requirements, than fish
from temperate areas. Perhaps even
more surprising is that these fish can
be grouped into guilds — groups of
species whose requirements are ex-
tremely similar — and several species
belonging to a guild will often inhabit
the same part of a reef. Such coexist-
ence appears to contradict the prin-
ciple of competitive exclusion and
makes the question of how reef fish
coexist a significant one.
The eight species that I am study-
ing are all damselfish of the family
Pomacentridae and all belong to the
same guild. They are territorial spe-
cies and establish their individual
areas only on dead coral rubble that
is usually covered with a fine turf of
filamentous algae, their principal
diet. Each fish obtains all its food
from within its own territory.
Damselfish produce demersal
eggs, which are deposited in a nest
within the male parent's territory, and
the male cares for the eggs. After sev-
eral days, the eggs hatch into minute
larvae about one-sixteenth of an inch
long. These lead a planktonic exist-
ence before returning to the reef as
half -inch-long juveniles. We are
woefully ignorant about the larval
ecology of reef fish, but judging by
the increase in size that occurs be-
tween hatching and return to the reef,
damselfish must spend at least a week
(more probably a month) in the plank-
ton. During this time they may be car-
ried many miles from their hatching
sites before seeing a reef again. On
the trip most of them are probably
eaten or die from other causes.
Once they have returned to the reef
as juveniles, the fish begin to main-
tain territories and continue to do so
throughout their adult lives. The
usually contiguous territories are less
than one foot in diameter for juvenile
fish and from seven to ten feet in di-
ameter for the largest adults, which
are four to six inches long.
As a young fish grows it must add
to its territory at the expense of some
of its neighbors or be lost from the
area. In such competition each fish
constantly and vigorously defends its
own territory from entry by various
other fish species belonging to the
guild. Only when spawning occurs is
territorial defense relaxed, and then
for only a few minutes.
This guild has proved particularly
suitable for study. The fish move
about sufl^ciently, are all diurnally ac-
tive and of a size readily observed by
a diver. Perhaps most important is
their defense of territory. In being in-
terspecifically territorial, these spe-
cies have ritualized any competition
for resources that occurs among them
into a competition for living space.
To determine the similarity of their
ecological requirements, it is only
necessary to consider the similarity of
their spatial requirements.
My research methods can be lik-
ened to that of an "underwater bird
watcher" since it is possible for a
diver with suitable equipment to re-
main motionless in the water and ob-
serve the activity of fish several yards
away. I have selected several patches
of suitable habitat in which to follow
the activities of these fish, and for the
past three years, I have visited these
sites every four months.
By following the movements of
each fish as it actively patrols the
borders of its territory, I have been
able to create maps showing the own-
ership of space in these rubble
patches. Comparison of maps made
on successive visits to a rubble patch
provides information on mortality or
emigration, numbers of additional
resident fish, changes in the sites used
by particular individuals, and
changes in the ownership of sites.
The consistency of territoriality can
be determined by the latter finding. In
some parts of. the reef, I have re-
moved resident fish and have ob-
served subsequent events over vary-
ing lengths of time.
The distribution of the eight spe-
cies across Heron Reef shows some
spatial separation; all eight species do
not occur over the same parts of the
reef. To this extent the fish are show-
ing the specialization and differentia-
tion of ecological requirements that
the principle of competitive exclusion
would predict. Nevertheless, there is
no place on the reef where a patch of
rubble could not be occupied by at
least three species of the guild. On the
reef crest, six species occur.
My most detailed information con-
cerns the coexistence of Eupomacen-
trus (Pomacentrus) apicalis, Poma-
centrus wardi, and Plectroglyphido-
don (Abudefduf) lacrymatus. These
species occur together on the upper
reef slope before it drops off into
deeper water. While P. wardi occurs
elsewhere, the others are limited to
this part of the reef. My observations
throughout Heron Reef indicate that
the ability of the three species to
coexist is representative of guild
members on other parts of the reef.
The three species inhabiting the
upper reef slope have remarkably
similar requirements for resources.
My research suggests that all three
species are in competition for space
in rubble patches; that in the face of
this competition, all are quite suc-
cessful in holding on to space in rub-
ble patches (although there are slight
differences among them in this abil-
ity); and that their requirements for
space are, so far as can be deter-
mined, identical.
That these species compete for
space is demonstrated by the occupa-
tion, by one fish or another, of all the
apparently suitable rubble in a given
^
Most reef fish coexist on the same part of a reef and have similar
food and space requirements — characteristics contrary to
traditional ecological theory, which holds that each species
dwelling in the same habitat must exploit special niches or perish.
Pomacentrus wardi
Eupomacentrus apicalis i
Plectroglypliidodon lacrymatus t
Pomacentrus flavicauda
Pomacentrus jenklnsi |
Abudefduf biocellatus
Pomacentrus dorsalis
62
area, and (he total amount of space
used is constant except during the
early winter when it declines slightly.
Also, when one lish disappears or
dies, the space it vacates is rapidly
refilled by another (ish.
In numerous instances I have ob-
served young individuals ol these
species successfully maintaining a
space while surrounded by adults
larger than themselves. They arc able
to do this by fleeing into small crev-
ices within their territories whenever
a large fish attacks. The larger neigh-
bors are thus not able to drive the ju-
veniles away. By the time a young
fish has grown too large to enter small
crevices to escape from its neighbors,
it is also large enough to defend its
territory.
Pomacentnis wcirdl. smaller than
the other two species inhabiting the
reef slope, is only slightly less suc-
cessful at holding space on the rubble
patches. It also shows slightly greater
mortality and emigration rates. This
species, however, produces propor-
tionally more new recruits to rubble
patches than the other species. This
presumably is because P. wardi is
widely spread over the reef, occur-
ring at a density of about one fish per
two square yards and accounting for
50 to 90 percent of guild members
sighted on any transect. P. wardi is
obviously capable of producing a
large number of larvae. The greater
rate of arrival of new juveniles of P.
wardi on rubble patches is sufficient
to balance its higher rate of loss of
resident fish. The over-all result is
that while the average individual rc-
riiains a shorter time in an area than
do individuals of the other species,
the number of P. wardi in the patches
remains stable over time.
That the three species have vir-
tually identical requirements for
space is evident in two ways. I have
detected no tendency for a particular
site within a rubble patch to be con-
sistently occupied by individuals of
the same species. When a resident
disappears, its territory is frequently
carved up among its neighbors, but
members of the same species as the
former resident are no more success-
ful than others at gaining the vacated
territory. Some unoccupied space, of
course, is taken over by newcomers.
This is how juveniles obtain terri-
tories in the first place. Yet newcom-
ers do not settle more often than by
chance into sites previously occupied
by members of their own species. Nor
is there any tendency for colonizing
juveniles of any species to prefer-
entially settle adjacent to adults of
their own species. If the three species
do have subtly different space re-
quirements, and if the space within a
rubble patch is best for one species
here and better for another species
elsewhere, I would expect that over
several years, a succession of resi-
dents of one species would occupy a
certain area of a rubble patch and ju-
veniles would tend to settle near
adults of their own species.
The indications are thus strong that
these three species have very simi-
lar— if not identical — space require-
ments, are reasonably similar in their
abilities to obtain these requirements,
and are in competition for them.
These are the conditions under which
the principle of competitive exclusion
would predict that only one species
should ultimately prevail. Why then
do three species occur here?
The answer appears to lie in three
special features of this situation.
Cause's axiom requires that compet-
ing species occupy a closed and stable
environment. The environment
occupied by these three species is nei-
ther closed nor stable. Furthermore,
the competition involved is not one in
which any particular species has a
consistently greater efficiency than
any other. Perhaps it is not surprising
that the principle of competitive ex-
clusion appears not to apply here.
The environment is open in the
sense that all new recruits to a rubble
Heron Island
63
D R Robertson
patch come from outside. Juvenile re-
cruits, in particular, may have trav-
eled hundreds of miles in the plankton
from the rubble patch of their parents
to the one they finally settle in. The
residents of a particular patch pro-
duce pelagic larvae that can play no
part in the subsequent settling of that
area. And even if one species were to
take over all the space in a particular
patch, it would still remain open to
recolonization by the other species
the moment vacant space appeared
within it.
The environment is unstable be-
cause of the manner in which living
space within rubble patches is gen-
erated. On a coral reef there is both
constant growth and frequent minor
destruction of coral . These processes
create new rubble patches while elim-
inating old ones. At the same time,
the mortality and emigration of resi-
dents within rubble patches con-
stantly alter the supply of vacant liv-
ing space. There is no constant rate
of production of new living space,
and old living space may suddenly
disappear. The species cannot adjust
their reproductive effort to coincide
with availability of new space.
In virtually all competition for ter-
ritorial space, it is the resident fish,
regardless of size or species, that will
be superior to an invader. Being at
home appears to convey a consid-
erable psychological advantage in
such struggles. Thus it is the chance
event, rather than the relative com-
petitive efficiency of the three spe-
cies, that determines which species
will occupy which newly vacant sites
on a rubble patch. The proportions of
individuals of the three species
present on a rubble patch is the result
of a series of chance colonizations,
over time, as sites on that patch be-
come available.
The importance of chance may ex-
plain why all the species of this guild
produce pelagic larvae over an ex-
tended breeding season. This is a
method of broadcasting potential col-
onists widely in space and time. And
this, in turn, is a way of buying tickets
in the lottery for living spaces.
I believe we can extend these ideas
to many other guilds of reef fish. The
majority of reef fish, although not
necessarily territorial, are sedentary
and appear more likely to be limited
by a shortage of suitable living space
than by a shortage of food or other
resources. The vast majority of reef
fish also produce pelagic larvae over
a prolonged breeding season. Many
groups of species are thus likely to be
engaged in their own giant and con-
tinuing lotteries for living sites. With
no species likely to win all the time
or any likely to lose all the time, a
diversity of species higher than pre-
dicted by Cause's principle can con-
tinue to coexist on the coral reef. D
Pomacentrus wardi (far left),
Eupomacentrus apicalis (above),
and Plectroglyphidodon
lacrymatus (left) all inhabit
the reef crest and all compete
against each other. Three
factors contribute to their
success at coexistence — the
changeable habitat, the
influx of juveniles, and the
element of chance colonization.
Gerald R. Allen
65
wandering Art
Text and photographs by Stanley Ira Hallet
They're trading their camels
for trucks, but traditional
Afghan drivers still consider
decoration an important
part of the caravan
Until recently the only way to get
around Afghanistan was by camel
caravan. The landlocked country is
barren, rugged, and mountainous. It
has no navigable rivers and no boats
— not even a train system. The only
way to get goods from the urban cen-
ters to the hinterland was by contract
with the nomads.
But even in Afghanistan times are
changing. Afghanistan lies between
Iran, Pakistan, the Soviet Union, and
a tip of China, which means that ev-
eryone wants a piece of the country,
and today's way of making friends is
foreign aid. The latest game has been
road building. The Russians build in
the north, close to their own border,
the Americans build in the south, and
the roads meet somewhere in the mid-
dle on neutral ground. With the roads
tying the country together, enterpris-
ing nomads, or kochis, are exchang-
ing their highly decorated camel
trains for trucks. These vehicles are
not just a means of transportation,
they are also becoming a part of the
Afghan folk scene.
The trucks, built either in England
or America, are stripped down to a
motor mounted on a chassis to save
transportation costs, shipped to Pak-
istan by boat, and finally carried over-
land to Kabul. In the Kabul truck
yards, a big wooden box is built on
the chassis and a grand cab is built
around the steering wheel. The cab
seats six across, with the driver to the
left and passengers on both sides.
The trucks come in two basic
types. The most popular is a four-
cylinder English model, commonly
called a "rocket" by the Farsi-speak-
ing Afghans. This vehicle is used
mainly on tar roads. Take it off the
Embellished Afghan trucks — with
built-up cabs that seat six
across, banners, chains, and
brightly painted panels (detailed
below) — bear a faint relation
to the original English model.
yfr..;^
}\7 y '; • ■''" '; • '•; V'.
Details from a number of trucks
show the variety of themes.
Seductive women, copied from movie
posters, are seen more often on
trucks than on the streets of this
strict Muslim country. A jet
plane (done in bas-relief here),
geometric patterns, and natural
subjects, such as fish (which
represent good luck), birds, and
flowers, are all popular. Tassels,
like those on camel blankets,
fringe the cab; by reflecting the
evil eye, glittery objects, such
as mirrors and metal geegaws,
provide protection. Applying the
finishing touches to a palm tree,
below right, a master painter will
then sign each panel of the truck.
i^wmy».^^^^ix%r%:^^^^x^
H
■'X.iitiW-^-
'^^s^
'^^..W
J,«.%.V%-«.VV
aaauBK^
The hacks of trucks often depict
modern hif^hways runninf^ through
idyllic mountain landscapes.
Numbers on each of the panels
insure that they will not
he installed out of sequence.
asphalt strips and it will quickly fall
apart on Afghanistan's infamous sec-
ondary road system. With a growing
need to get into the inaccessible cen-
ter of the country, the Afghans are
now importing a new model, a six-
cylinder truck with the nickname
s/ia5/i("six," in Farsi). This vehicle,
built in the United States, can easily
take mountain passes that climb to
12,000 feet and is able to withstand
a typical Afghan beating.
One of the first major alterations is
made on the emergency brake. It is
removed. In Afghanistan trucks are
always beefed-up and reinforced to
carry loads that no one in Detroit ever
anticipated. Obviously, an emer-
gency brake would not work under
these conditions; therefore, rather
than depend upon it, they take it out.
In its place is an apprentice driver
who hangs out the back of the truck
and throws a wooden wedge behind
the rear wheel to prevent the truck
from rolling backward.
The highly colorful Afghan people
have a long tradition of decorating all
their personal goods; a plain wooden
box of a truck is impersonal and alien.
Thus, the decoration. As a beginning,
chains hang from the front bumper;
tassels, like those on camel blankets,
fringe the cab; mirrors chase away the
evil eye; and banners call upon Allah
for protection. The wooden frame is
painted in vivid swatches of color.
Purples are easily played against
oranges, and the outlined structural
parts of the truck become part of an
elaborate color scheme.
The owner of the truck makes only
one "artistic" decision — which mas-
ter painter will do the job. While the
owner may suggest a few colors, the
final design is the choice of the
painter. The best painters are reputed
to be in Peshawar, Pakistan, but
Kabul also has many masters. Mo-
hemmad Jahanzeb Niazi is one of the
best in Kabul. His brothers have
shops in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and
in Peshawar, where he himself spent
an apprenticeship in much the same
way that Western artists flock to the
big cities. He now has eight or nine
assistants.
Once the body of the truck has been
built on top of the motor and chassis,
metal panels are added to the sides.
The metal sheets protect the wood
from the elements, make it easier to
wash the truck, and provide a perfect
surface for the bright paints imported
from Pakistan and Germany.
After the master lays out the basic
designs and selects the ever important
color scheme, apprentices, using a
variety of templates, quickly paint the
elaborate borders that frame each
metal panel. Working freehand,
without benefit of sketches or draw-
ings, the master painter first prepares
a rough cartoon of the main theme,
AFGHANISTAN
then carefully paints in all the details
with a fine brush.
When he is finished, the painter
will sign his work several times, on
each door a.s well as on the back of
the truck. It takes ten days to paint a
truck and can cost SIOO. equivalent
to a driver's salary for four months.
Master painters use a variety of
themes. Understandably, highly so-
phisticated religious symbols pre-
dominate. The flying Barak, half-
horse, half-woman; the horse of Ali.
son-in-law of Mohammed, who rode
up to heaven; and Mecca and other
holy Islamic shrines are all included.
Because traveling in Afghanistan is
hazardous . two eyes in front of the cab
protect the truck from the evil eye.
In a dry. mountainous country,
water becomes the second major
theme. To remind Afghans of their
Muslim paradise just around the
corner, the sides of the truck are dec-
orated with pastures, rivers, and
mountains full of green trees and
grazing animals. The back of the
truck often consists of five horizontal
panels depicting a glorious mountain
scene. These are carefully numbered
to insure that they will not be installed
out of sequence when they are low-
ered into place after the truck has
been loaded. What could be more re-
freshing when driving along a dusty
dirt road than pulling up to the back
of a truck that offers a tantalizing
view of what might be just ahead?
Down the middle of this painted
green valley lies a third theme: a
winding Russian-American highway
with cloverleafs, overpasses, and
long-tailed Muscovite Cadillacs out
for a Sunday drive. Other typical
panels contain a black telephone with
a lacquer-tipped feminine finger
reaching for the dial — an anomaly in
a strict Muslim country where women
are still covered in full-length veils.
Many of the images are derived
from colorful photographic calendars
and imported Christmas cards. But in
search of new subjects, painters now
borrow from the display posters in
front of the few movie houses in
Afghanistan and depict scantily clad
Pakistani leading ladies, in chains
and being beaten. One truck-painting
master we met expressed a desire for
some plain-wrapped issues of Play-
boy, illegal in Afghanistan. We left
him a centerfold. D
71
A Naturalist at Large
The Egg as Classroom
Even before ihey have
hatched, many birds learn
behavior that contributes
to their survival later
Scientists are continually aware of
the exquisite adaptive mechanisms by
which animals survive. Through ex-
perimentation, we can unmask those
creative mechanisms, exposing when
they begin and how they function.
For instance, immediately after
hatching, a duckling, gosling, or
baby chicken makes a durable filial
attachment with its mother. It im-
prints on her, that is, fixes its attention
on her, and thereafter follows her to
whatever fate lies in store. This
mother-offspring bond sustains the
duckling through its precarious early
weeks while it grows, learns about its
environment, and becomes adept at
avoiding the dangers of predators.
The tantalizing question is, how
does the mother-offspring bond be-
come so rapidly established? In ear-
lier days many animal behaviorists
might have said, "The bond is in-
nate," and dismissed the inquiry. But
that interpretation no longer satisfies;
it offers no insight into the roots of
behavior. It is patently obvious that,
although hatching plunges the new-
born bird into an entirely new milieu,
it is the same individual as the prena-
tal one; hatching merely opens the
shell . Thus it would seem that the bird
must have been primed to make the
filial attachment to an appropriate
mother while still inside the shell.
Under natural conditions, mallard
ducklings tend to leave the nest
within a few days after hatching . Dur-
ing the posthatching, preemigrating
stage, the noise level in the nest
grows to a fever pitch as calls are ex-
changed between hen and offspring.
These calls are a fundamental fiber of
the social bond that is being strength-
ened between parent and offspring.
Although a duckling has ample op-
portunity to learn its mother's range
of calls before leaving the nest, re-
search has demonstrated the ability of
a freshly hatched duckling to pick not
only its true mother but any appro-
priate mother, namely any hen of its
own species, from among assorted
mothers that belong to other, related
species. The duckling is born with
this ability because it has been
primed, before hatching, to react se-
lectively to a species-specific mother.
A duckling can hear through the shell
while still inside it. The embryo can
hear its siblings in other shells, and
it can hear its mother. Even more im-
portantly, perhaps, it can hear itself.
And its own sounds may be the most
crucial primers.
Gilbert Gottlieb, a biopsychologist
at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh,
North Carolina, experimented widely
with hole- and ground-nesting ducks
and with domestic chicks. He raised
some embryos alone, unable to hear
other birds; some embryos together
but without the hen; and some to-
gether and with the hen. Soon after
these baby birds hatched, he counted
how often they approached and fol-
lowed silent, stuffed motherly models
of their own and related types; stuffed
models emitting "come-hither" calls
through loudspeakers; or "mothers"
that were nothing more than cooing
loudspeakers. Rearing conditions did
not seem to matter. Over-all, the
loudspeakers, whether simulated
birds or not, preempted the silent
models. And, given a choice between
its own species call and those of an-
During incubation, the calls
of a mother duck can be heard
through the shell by her
embryo ducklings.
by Evelyn Shaw
73
other species, mallard ducklings, for
example, the chicks clearly chose the
calls of their own type. In a different
experiment testing the priority system
of the baby birds, an artificial stuffed
mother of appropriate species gave
the wrong call and a stuffed mother
of inappropriate species gave the
right call. The birds showed no con-
cern for the mother's looks, but re-
sponded only to the sound of her
voice. The right call was what drew
the babies.
Since ducklings revealed their
penchant for motherly sounds, Gott-
lieb and his associates decided to
delve deeper into the antecedents of
the response, necessitating a move
backward in developmental testing
time to the embryo stage. Ducklings,
although they hatch on the twenty-
seventh day after the start of incuba-
tion, begin to make sounds on the
twenty-fourth day, when the bill, pre-
viously enclosed in a membrane, pen-
etrates the air space of the egg. Em-
bryos also clap their large bills with
seeming spontaneity. But the bill
clapping turned out to be something
less than spontaneous; in fact, it indi-
cated the embryo's sensitivity to
changes taking place outside the
shell. The rate of bill clapping in-
creased, decreased, or remained con-
stant as species calls were played to
the embryo through a loudspeaker.
As early as the twenty-second day,
several days before it uttered sounds
of its own, the duckling was aware of
the sounds of any mother of its own
species type. In addition, embryos
previously prevented from hearing
their siblings did not react (by in-
creasing bill clapping) to the mother's
calls on the twenty-fourth day. Per-
haps sibling calls serve to sensitize
the embryos, to ready them for the
next stage in development, namely,
responding to maternal calls. Indeed,
if embryos have their vocal cords cut
and cannot make their own sounds,
they cannot distinguish the calls of
one species type from those of an-
other. Nevertheless, they can dis-
Vulnerable newly hatched
ducklings are helped to survive
because they respond only
to the calls of hens of
the appropriate species.
criminate within two days after hatch-
ing, indicating that the normal devel-
opmental timetable may have lagged
momentarily but was not irreversibly
slowed. Thus, it seems that the duck-
ling can serve as its own stimulator,
its own primer. By listening to itself,
it becomes tuned to its mother at the
optimal time in development.
In another species of bird, the guil-
lemot, the artistry of auditory recog-
nition is even more finely developed.
Unlike the ducklings, which recog-
nize the sounds of their own species
type but select any mother of the right
species type, the guillemot is far more
precise; it "recognizes" only the
calls of its true parents.
74
A colonial sea bird, the guillemot
breeds on precipitous ledges over-
hanging the ocean and produces only
one egg. This hazardous breeding site
keeps even the most stalwart preda-
tors away, but it creates other dangers
for the guillemot chicks. One misstep
and a newly hatched chick may plum-
met into the sea. Chicks, therefore,
tend to stay put and huddle in the rock
crevices and in parental leathers. The
only active birds arc the adults, which
lly out to sea to forage and return with
food morsels for their insatiable
chicks. When an adult alights on the
rocks, it utters a feeding call. On
hearing such a call, all the hungry
chicks might scurry from their safe
Leonard Lee Rue III. Bruce Coleman, Inc.
havens in the rocks to be fed. A sortie
of chicks rushing about, however,
could result in catastrophe with many
ot them tumbling into the sea. This
docs not happen since the feeding call
brings forth only one chick — the fam-
ily heir or heiress. The parent recog-
nizes its own chick, and more impor-
tantly, the chick knows its own
parents, having evidently learned the
characteristics of parental calls dur-
ing the hatching process.
Hatching takes a number of hours,
during which the guillemot embryo
twists, turns, and utters calls. Both
parents share the incubation, and the
increased embryonic activity stimu-
lates them to rise, gently turn the egg,
and utter feeding or luring calls. The
parental movement, in turn, stimu-
lates the embryos to twist around and
call again. This restimulales the
parents, and so forth. Mutual stimula-
tion may last for long periods during
which the parent-offspring social
bond is established and each chick
learns the call of its parents. Thus,
after hatching, when a parent returns
to the nesting site and sounds a feed-
ing call, only its own offspring, and
no other, is tuned to that call, a bene-
ficial adaptation for birds living in a
most precarious habitat.
The embryos of still other bird spe-
cies communicate with each other at
hatching time. For example, in bob-
white quail, which nest in ground
holes and have an average of ten to
twelve chicks per nest, hatching takes
place synchronously. Synchronous
hatching appears to result from click-
ing sounds that the embryos begin to
utter twelve to fifteen hours before the
actual event takes place. In a manner
not yet understood, these sounds slow
down the development of advanced
embryos while speeding up the devel-
opment of retarded ones. Hatched to-
gether, all the chicks can be quickly
guided in a group away from the nest
into the safe underbrush. This pre-
vents individual chicks from straying
and protects them from the predation
that might take place if they had to
wait for their siblings to hatch.
Thus it is clear that the shell does
not totally insulate the embryo from
the world around it nor is the embryo
a passive, nonresponding organism.
Bird embryos experience the outside
world through temperature fluctua-
tion; humidity changes; gas ex-
75
The ideal lens
for nature photography
The largest and smallest of terrestrial
mammals can be equally uncooperative
when asked to pose for a photograph.
Success is far more likely with a zoom
lens which makes it possible to compose
the subject within the full 35mm frame
without moving from your original posi-
tion. A telephoto zoom also gives you
standoff capability when shooting large,
III tempered species and lets you stalk
lesser subjects from beyond their "fear/
flight" range. But the Vivitar Series I auto-
matic zoom goes beyond that. It allows
you to focus down to a mere 3^" from
the front of the lens to capture diminutive
flora and fauna. It is the one lens to have
on your 35mm SLR camera when you're
investigating life from the littoral to the
alpine environments. Optically, it is equal
or superior to the finest lenses. See a dem-
onstration at your Vivitar dealer or write
Dept. 31 for our folder on Series I lenses.
Marketed in the U.S.A. by Ponder ScBest, Inc.
Corporate Offices: 1630 Stewart Street,
Santa tvlonica, CA 90406 In Canada: Precision
Cameras of Canada, Ltd., I^ontreal.
Vivitar
Series 1
70-210mm f3.5
macro focusing
zoom lens.
changes; being turned and rolled;
hearing parental breathing, heart-
beats, and other movements; and in
some species, hearing their own calls
as well as those of their siblings and
mothers. Developmental events
within the egg apparently set the stage
in such a way that the newly hatched
bird has the ability to make appro-
priate responses to the new stimuli in
its new environment.
In former times animal behavior
was divided by those studying it into
two categories: innate and acquired.
If a behavior appeared right after an
animal hatched or was born, it was
generally labeled innate. If the behav-
When ready to leave the nest,
ducklings follow their mothers
or any mothers of their species
because the hens sound right.
ior became manifest after the animal
had been around for a while, it was,
in all probability, labeled acquired.
Innate behaviors were deemed to be
programmed by the genes; acquired
behaviors were thought to be derived
from learning or other experiences.
But this dichotomy proved to be
highly troublesome; consequently, it
is spurned by the breed of scientists
who are currently probing the origins
of behavior. Too many subtle and
complex things happen as an animal
is developing to permit such a sim-
plistic categorization. The dichotomy
was too rigid, too short-sighted, and
worse, it closed off important ave-
nues of research. Behaviors were la-
beled but not understood. Obviously,
the fertilized egg contains genes that
determine the future course of devel-
opment. But between the gene and
the expression of behavior, innumer-
able events take place that we are just
76
beginning to probe. We have no idea
how many genes arc involved, how
Ihey are modified, how Ihcy interact;
nor do we know the inllucntial extent
of an animal's experiences before
birth or hatching. Even a simple
event, such as momentary oxygen de-
ficiency, may have a lasting efTect if
it occurs at a critical time.
The dichotomy may have served
animal behavior when the field was in
its infancy, but it no longer has any
validity. We should recognize that
genes do not determine a particular
behavior, only the tendency to de-
velop that behavior, given the appro-
priate environment at the appropriate
time. And we must keep an open
mind in assessing the ways in which
the environment may modify in-
herited tendencies.
Evelyn Shaw teaches animal behav-
ior at Stanford University.
TRAVEl rUF WORLD OF LINDBLAD
Return to nature,
find solitude and adventure in
Lars-Eric Lindblad's remarkable
THc I EN I cu dArARI
Nothing you will ever do in travel will
compare with our East African Tented
Safari. We will travel in some of the
most exciting wild parts of the world.
We'll encounter Samburu and Turkana
tribesmen m the remote Northern
Frontier District, We will sleep under
canvas in tented camps set up exclu-
sively for us, and an experienced staff
will see to our comfort. We'll spend
hours around the campfire listening
to our host, once known as 'the white
hunter" talking about his experiences
in the jungles And long after we are
tucked In for the night, the coughing
of leopards, the snarl of hyenas and
roar of lions will keep us awake Ele-
phants may block our path as we pro-
ceed in our rugged Land Rovers. Let
your camera record this truly remark-
able adventure. We shall limit our
party to 10 members, British Airways
will fly us to Nairobi and back. Write for
our brochure or see your travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
DepI NHTS276
133 East 55th Street, New York, N Y 10022 • (212) 751-2300
Fabulous POLBOT
for greater SPORT and EASY Cruising
most CAREFREE without mechanical burdens and VERSA-
TILE with paddle, motor or sail. You GLIDE securely and
completely relaxed in EXCLUSIVE swivelbacX COM-
FORT. Enloy balanced high & low seating, as camping
loads stow neatly under decks . Substantial construe-
, low gravity center & protective decks assure
laximum SAFETY . . . highest on National Re-
cord. Quite INEXPENSIVE in EASY KITS
or Factory built rigid PORTABLE for
auto-top or travel-smart FOLDING
type to fit in trunk. Essential for ex-
ploring, scouting, racing, excellent
fishing, hunting, for your exqui-
site Recreation & graceful ac-
tion amid natural splendor
of rocky streams,
Whitewater, lakes,
marshes, surf &
open Sea . . .
unlike any
other!
Action color
catalog with
startling facts,
many 1 to 4 seat
Folbots, also Fac-
tory NEW DIRECT
shipment at Big Sav-
ings. KITS from $45 for
10 footer, $77 Jiffy 12V2'
$109 2-3seatGLIDER —
Factory Built Portable
from $169 — Folding types
from $299.
Mail coupon or address to:
FOLBOT Corp.,NH 276Charleslon, S. C. 29405
YACHT-SMART SAILING ! address
BIG DACRON Sail Rig $156 I CITY
77
Sky Reporter
Climatic Change on Mars
The Martian atmosphere
may have once resembled
that of early earth
With the Viking spacecraft now
well on its way to a rendezvous with
Mars this summer, the latest theories
of the evolution of the Martian atmo-
sphere provide the strongest hint yet
that there may be some form of life
on the Red Planet for the Viking
landers to find. The theories are based
on an analysis of more than 7,000
photographs of Mars taken by Mari-
ner 9 as it orbited the planet in 1972.
Those pictures show the planet today
to be largely an inhospitable desert
so, of course, there is no chance of
finding the intelligent life-forms and
artificial canals of science fiction. But
there are indications that Mars was
not always so inhospitable, and that
early in its history it may have pos-
sessed an atmosphere similar to that
of the earth several billion years ago
when life first appeared here. If so,
there is reason to suppose that the
same kinds of primitive life that arose
on earth appeared on our neighboring
planet as well— and if they did, their
descendants may still be there today.
This new understanding of the at-
mosphere of Mars has gone through
almost as many evolutionary changes
as the atmosphere itself. In a sense,
the story can be traced back to the
nineteenth century, when some as-
tronomers claimed that their tele-
scopes revealed permanent, seem-
ingly artificial features— the notori-
ous "canals." Although no two as-
tronomers ever seemed to see quite
the same sets of markings, specula-
tion that free water might exist on
Mars, running if not in canals, then
at least in natural rivers, lasted up to
78
about ten years ago. These conjec-
tures were dashed only when pho-
tographs of the early Mariner flyby
missions of Mars were sent back to
earth during the mid-1960s, showing
what seemed to be a dry, lifeless, and
unchanging planet very similar to the
moon. But even that concept — which
was based on photographs of a very
small area of Mars— turned out to be
grossly misleading when Mariner 9
went into orbit around Mars in 1971
and, over a period of many months,
produced a complete photographic
map of the planet.
With the full picture before them,
planetary astronomers now perceive
Mars as a planet whose geology is
continually evolving. Among other
features. Mars possesses the biggest
volcano known in the solar system
Olympus Mons— which rises fifteen
and a half miles above its surround-
ings and encompasses a volume as
big as that of all the volcanoes of the
earth's Hawaiian chain put together.
In addition, there is a great rift valley
system in the equatorial region of
Mars, as extensive as the East African
Rift Valley on earth, and most excit-
ing of all, there are many channels
cutting across the dry Martian surface
that give every appearance of having
been carved out by running water,
even though they are empty today.'
These are not the canals of former
speculation, and they are far too small
to be picked out from the earth even
with the aid of telescopes, but their
presence on a planet where water in
liquid form does not exist today has
posed a puzzle. When the latest piece
of the puzzle clicked into place a few
months ago, the hopes of all con-
cerned were raised that Viking might
find life on Mars.
One of the young scientists closely
involved with the new view of Mars
is Owen Toon, research associate at
NASA's Ames Research Center at
Moffett Field, California. Repre-
senting a group of planetary scien-
tists. Toon described the processes of
climatic change on Mars at a recent
international gathering of experts on
the terrestrial weather held in Nor-
wich, England, to ponder the prob-
lems of our changing climate here on
earth. By studying the workings of
the atmospheres of other planets, we
are placed in a much stronger position
when it comes to interpreting — and
predicting— climatic changes on
earth. Thus, quite aside from the pos-
sibility of finding life on Mars, the
valuable insights into planetary at-
mospheres derived from space probes
like Mariner and Viking would alone
be ample repayment for the effort and
cost involved.
With the Mariner 9 evidence be-
fore us, it is clear that there were once
rivers, lakes, and floods of water on
Mars. Photographs of sandbars, sinu-
ous channels, delta regions, and
many other features make that con-
clusion inevitable (see "Are We
Alone in the Cosmos?" Natural His-
tory, June-July 1974). But liquid
water cannot exist on Mars today be-
cause its surface temperature and at-
mospheric pressure are both so low
that a bucket of water dumped on the
Martian surface would either boil
away or freeze. For the same reasons,
carbon dioxide cannot exist as a liq-
uid on the earth, but only as a solid
(dry ice) or a gas. For liquid water to
have existed in the quantities needed
to fill all the Martian rivers now
known, the planet's temperature must
have been high enough so that only
part of the water was tied up in ice.
As it turns out, a small increase in
by John Gribbin
either pressure or temperature will do
the trick because if one variable in-
creases, the other follows suit and
both then increase rapidly. A rise in
temperature, for example, would re-
lease carbon dioxide from the frozen
"dry ice" polar caps of Mars or from
the Martian soil, and the resultant
thickening of the atmosphere would
help to keep the poles warm. A
thicker atmosphere would transport
heat more effectively from the equa-
tor and would act as a thermal blan-
ket, trapping heat that is now lost as
the planet's surface radiates infrared
energy to space. Such a thermal blan-
ket, known as the greenhouse effect,
is a major cause of the high surface
temperature of Venus and the livable
temperatures on the earth.
A higher Martian pressure and
temperature were put forward in 1973
by a group at Cornell University as
the first explanation of the Martian
rivers. This hypothesis made climatic
change on Mars plausible, but a
mechanism to trigger the initial small
pressure or temperature increases was
still lacking until another group at
CalTech discovered a wobble in the
tilt of the Martian polar axis. The
wobble means that every 100,000
years or so the polar caps "nod"
toward the sun, and it seemed for a
time that the cumulative effect of that
behavior might warm up the whole
planet. This theory caused quite a
flurry at the time by raising hopes that
more clement conditions might return
! to Mars again in due course, and that
our descendants might one day have
a pleasant planet right next door to
earth. One might note that the earth,
too, has small wobbles in the tilt of
its polar axis. They are a principal
element in some theories of terrestrial
ice ages, but the wobble of the Mar-
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
Perhaps the only opportunity in 1976,
our two breath-taking voyages through
DARWini'S UALAHAtiUS
"The Land that time forgot"
few places left on eartfi wtiere we
may examine life as it was before
man's arrival Here Darwin was
inspired to write his famous The
Originof Species, which in turn revo-
lutionized western mans thoughts
about nature. Our first 22-day expe-
dition starts on March 1. the second
on fVlarch 15. Both will include a visit
to lovely Ecuador. We suggest you
make immediate reservations Write
tor brochure or see your travel agent.
Panamanian registry
LINDBLAD TRAVEL INC.
Dept, NHDG276
133 East 55th Street. New York. NY. 10022 (212) 751-2300
Celestron Multipurpose TelescoDes
On Display at Museums and Planetanums Throughout the Country
Lindblad Travel, Inc.. in cooperation
with Metropolitan Touring of Quito.
Ecuador, has been most fortunate in
securing permission for two cruising
expeditions aboard theM/S Lindblad
Explorer through the Galapagos
this spring. To set foot on these is-
lands is like being transported back
into primeval time. We will explore
its kingdom of animal and bird life,
which is tame beyond belief- The
Galapagos Islands present one of the
ThP Choice "'"^^^^ reasons why
I ne onoice. experienced tele-
scope enthusiasts and leading col-
leges, universities and science
centers the world over repeat-
edly select Celestron telescopes:
The Cerestron 5. A tabletop
observatory for exploring the
Moon, planets, scores of open star
clusters and gossamer nebulae at up
to 300X. For casual observing or tele-
photography, rest the instrument on
any flat surface, swing up the
tube and focus. Close in
on the whiskers of a
squirrel at the near
focus of 20 ft. or the
face of a friend at half
a mile. The SYz-lb. tube
demounts for hand-held
shots at 25X. (Size
swung down; 7" x 8" x
16". Wt.: 12 lbs.. Base
price, including electric
clock drive and setting cir-
cles. $595)
The Celestron 8. Eight full
inches of aperture make this
'^^r
portable observatory in a suitcase the
mateur's favorite for studying the sur-
face features of Mars, the subdivided
rings of Saturn, the ever-changing
belt structure of Jupiter, the
intricate filamentary detail
of deep-sky nebulae, the
central regions of glob-
ular clusters at up to
500X. Also the ulti-
mate terrestrial tele-
scope or telephoto!
(Size swung down:
9" X 12" X 22".
Wt,; 23 lbs.. S895)
The Celestron 14.
The appeal of this
prestigious, fully
electric dome instrument is enhanced by a
unique design that also makes it the world's
largest one-man-portable. Demount and load it
into your compact car in five minutes! Within
range of the Celestron 14, at up to
850X, are the delicate contrast levels
of the diffuse and planetary nebulae,
the spirals of remote galaxies,
and the quasars. (Size swung
down; 18" x 22" x 44", Wt.: 108
lbs-, S3. 750)
Celestron Pacific 2«35 Columbia • box 3578-NH • to
World's Leading Manufacturer ot Compact-Portable Te/esco,
79
^t^
If Takes Fine Tools...
to produce fine wood work, whether you
carve, sculpt, make your own furniture,
do occasional repairs. Garrett Wade of-
fers you only the finest hand tools,
most available nowhere else in the U.S.
Craftsman-made tools are the best, for
better, easier, safer work.
Carving tools, steel and extraordinary
wood-body planes; well-balanced mal-
lets, Arkansas sharpening stones, cabinet-
maker's chisels; unique measuring and
marking tools; mitre boxes, saws, clamps,
vises;^ 7 distinctively different, beauti-
ful, imported workbenches, with un-
usual features; hundreds of accessories;
books — The Yankee Wood Craftsman
Catalog is packed with exciting gift ideas, |
I information for beginner and expert. ■
j SEND TODAY FOR FREE 48-PAGE j
I COLOR CATALOG/WOODCRAFT MANUAL |
I Garrett Wade Company, Inc., Dept.VV I
I 302 Fifth Ave., New York 10001 I
j Name I
I Address ^^_ J
\City-_
-St-
ZIP
^^y
tian tilt is much larger than the earth ' s .
Recent studies of the Mariner pic-
tures unfortunately seem to rule out
the wobble as a cause of the Martian
rivers. There is no evidence that Mars
has recently gone through repeated
phases of wetness or, indeed, that the
rivers we see today were created re-
cently. Quite the opposite. The cur-
rent view is that the rivers are at least
500 million years old and may have
been dry for several billion years.
Whatever their origin, the period of
humidity on Mars took place during
an epoch early in the planet's devel-
opment.
This at first sobering revelation
comes from analysis of the craters on
Mars. Like those of the moon and
Mercury, the Martian craters were
produced by the impact of meteorites
on the planet, and two features of the
cratering pattern point to the antiquity
of the flow of liquid water. First, al-
though many of the larger craters
show signs of erosion, indicating that
the planet was wet after they formed,
the smaller craters are still sharp
edged. As we understand the history
of the solar system, the very large
craters are much older than the small
ones, being relicts of the time shortly
after the planets formed, so erosion
of only the large craters implies that
there was water to do the eroding only
a long time ago.
The second indication of the antiq-
uity of the Martian rivers comes from
a count of the craters that overlap
dried-up rivers. A river bed is a small
target, and we cannot yet be exactly
sure how many new craters are
formed by impacts each year or each
million years. But there is enough ev-
idence to show that the rivers are very
old features and that meteorites have
rained down over them for at least
500 million years.
The age of the rivers is the latest
piece to be fitted into the puzzle of
climatic change on Mars. If the planet
is geologically active and has experi-
enced intense volcanism, as the evi-
dence seems to show, then the origins
of the Martian atmosphere must have
been similar to those of an atmo-
sphere on the earth. Paradoxically,
the present atmosphere of our own
planet would be highly poisonous to
the forms of life that first evolved
here. We know that our planet must
initially have had an atmosphere rich
in such compounds as methane and
ammonia, produced by outgassing
from rocks and volcanic activity.
Mars (and almost certainly Venus)
must have started out in the same
way. But those planets have since fol-
lowed different paths as their atmo-
spheres have evolved.
The present differences between
the atmospheres of Mars and earth
arise in part from Mars being farther
from the sun and therefore a little
cooler, but they derive chiefly from
Mars being a smaller planet with a
weaker gravitational pull. Mars's
thick early atmosphere of methane
and ammonia would have helped to
keep the planet warm and its rivers
flowing. Even at what we regard as
comfortable room temperatures,
however, many light gases, espe-
cially hydrogen, would have been
warm enough for the kinetic energy
of their molecules to carry them out-
side the pull of Martian gravity,
thereby thinning the atmosphere in
accordance with the following se-
quence of events.
Gases such as methane and ammo-
nia are composed of hydrogen chemi-
cally bonded to elements such as car-
bon and nitrogen. Sunlight can break
these chemical bonds, freeing the hy-
drogen to escape. The leftover carbon
and nitrogen molecules on Mars,
which would have been too heavy to
escape the planet's gravity, would
then have combined chemically with
surface materials and become locked
up in rocks. Oxygen would also have
been produced when sunlight broke
up the water molecules, and some of
it would have combined with the car-
bon to form carbon dioxide. In this
way, the early atmosphere of Mars
could have evolved from a thick wet
cover into the thin, cold, and dry
blanket of carbon dioxide we see
today.
The possibility that the Martian at-
mosphere could have evolved in this
manner was recognized even before
the Mariner 9 mission to Mars. But
no one then knew how dense the orig-
inal atmosphere must have been or
how long it might have survived.
Toon reported at the Norwich meet-
ing that the existence of ancient Mar-
tian rivers indicates that the early at-
mosphere of Mars must have been
both dense and long lasting. This con-
clusion is of great interest to planetary
scientists because an early atmo-
sphere of methane and ammonia and
warm pools of liquid water were the
very conditions that led to the origin
of life on earth.
If it once started, could life on
Mars have adapted to the dramatic at-
mospheric change outlined above?
Remembering thai wc are talking
about the ec)uivalents ol such hardy
terrestrial phmts as lichens, such a
possibility seems quite likely. The at-
mosphere of the earth has undergone
equally dramatic changes since the
first gases surrounded our planet. Al-
though oxygen is essential to the
well-being of everyone reading this
article, it is poisonous to the earliest
forms of terrestrial life. By analogy,
one can imagine some form of extra-
terrestrial intelligent life reasoning
that life could not possibly survive in
the earth's present corrosive atmo-
sphere and that the early life-forms on
earth must therefore have all died out
by suffocation in their own wastes —
namely, the very oxygen we earth-
lings need for survival.
The great advantage of oxygen if
you can adapt to it is, of course, that
its energetic chemical activity pro-
vides a good basis for the develop-
ment of energetic active life-forms.
There are not very many active trees
or energetic lichens, both forms of
life that obtain their energy by
methods other than the use of oxygen.
But with their lower energy require-
ments, plants can adapt to harsher en-
vironments than animals can, and on
the basis of the present understanding
of Mars we can guess that some hardy
lichens from the Antarctic might sur-
vive if they were shipped to Mars.
We know that water is present in
the Martian soil although no longer in
the planet's rivers, and it is by no
means impossible that there is life in
the soil as well. Even if there is life,
however, the first Vikinglanders may
not find it, just as the early Mariner
pictures failed to show us a repre-
sentative view of Mars. But if life is
discovered on Mars, it will indicate
that this is a natural development
from those conditions both Mars and
the earth experienced in their youth.
And since there must be many other
planets in our galaxy, as well as in
other galaxies in the universe, that
have been through similar stages in
their evolution, there would be a
strong implication that life exists in
many other parts of the universe. The
possibility that earth may not be a
special cosmic case is what makes the
prospect of finding even a humble li-
chen on Mars of such great impor-
tance.
John Gribbin, a member of the Sci-
ence Policy Research Unit at the Uni-
versity of Sussex in England, is now
studying climatic change on earth.
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
In May of this year, we will explore
a bewitching land, shaped by fire...
the volcanic regions of
CENTRA. ...iERICA
Come with us aboard the M/S Lind-
blad Explorer* on an exciting expe-
dition to the savage, untamed lands
along the West Coast of Central
America and Baja. California. We will
come face to face with the fascinat-
ing history of people whose heritage
and culture has been shaped by vol-
canic eruptions, floods and earth-
quakes. We will cruise almost con-
stantly within visual range of volca-
noes along Costa Rica. Nicaragua
and Guatemala. We will go ashore to
examine some incredibly beautiful
ram forests and see their diversified
bird and wild life. On the deserted
shores of Baja. California we will ex-
amine the rich marine life including
seals and sea lions The M/S Lind-
blad Explorer will be our beautifully
appointed hotel. Please write for
our brochure or see your travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHLE276
133 East 55th Street New York N Y 10022 (212) 751-2300
Panamanian registry
"A very much needed
book . . . perceptive
and illuminating."
—Theodore H. Gaster, Columbia
University
Teachings
From the
American
Earth
Indian Religion
and Philosophy
Edited by DENNIS TEDLOCK
and BARBARA TEDLOCK
"Ttiis well -conceived introductory
anthology provides balanced schol-
arly insight into the 'double vision'
of American Indian religion and
philosophy. Both landmark studies
and recent reports are included, and
the list of contributors reads like a
Who's Who of Indian documenta-
tion."—Li'fe/'ary Journal
Illustrated with photographs
$9.95 cloth; $4.95 paper
At all bookstores
jC^Liveright
500 Fifth Avenue, New York 10036
WILDERNESS
ADVENTURES
1976
KARAKORUM
THE SAHARA
THE ARCTIC
HIMALAYAS
PATAGONIA
SIBERIA
ANDES
KENYA
8i
The American Museum of Natural History
invites you
to enjoy yourself and learn while you travel in congenial
company to some seldom-visited places
in a trip led by the Museum Director and guided by experts
See the splendors of
ancient civilizations
(Greek, Roman, Min-
oan, Lydian, Byzan-
tine). And the natural
beauty of many land-
scapes (towering moun-
tains, tranquil lakes,
sun-dappled valleys and
islands where the past
still lives). Cruise the
Dardanelles, the Sea of
Marmara, the Black
Sea, the Aegean.
Live aboard our own
ship, m.t.s. Orpheus,
spacious, well-ap-
pointed, air-condi-
tioned. For your com-
fort, we are limiting
participation to 230
places, just over half
the capacity of the ship.
Travel in the com-
pany of Museum scien-
tists and scholars. Dr.
Thomas D. Nicholson,
director of The Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History and an astronomer,
will tell you about the starry skies of eastern Asia.
Dr. David Gordon Mitten, James Loeb Professor at
Harvard, will be our art and archeology expert.
Thoroughly at home in this part of the world, he'll
take you through some excavations (Sardis, for ex-
ample) in which he himself took part not long ago.
You will see rare and spectacular birds in the com-
pany of Dr. Francois Vuilleumier, the Museum's own
associate curator of ornithology. Let a Byzantine
scholar, a classicist, and an art historian deepen your
insights into the meaning and the majesty of the
achievements you will witness. All six experts will be
with you throughout the trip. Take part in informal
discussions that will follow staff lectures. And take
your choice of activities when the group splits up (as
it will, for example, in Nessebur in Bulgaria, where
ODESSA fc.,^^
U.S
S.R.
ROMANIA
r
\,
CRIMEA
—r
s
■y '■
— \
y
'CK SEA
BULGARIA f
/
t^
BOiJPlQf\Sml^
/
istahbulJ
^ACANAKKALE
TURKEY
^»^ATH
1 IZMI^**^ SARDIS
/ KUSADASlJ*^ EPHESUS
ENS/ ^1
PIRAEU^
^y 1 ^ PRIEN
J
'LiNDOS
RHODES
(^RAKLION
CRETE
some will choose to ex-
plore the town and
others will drive to the
lake region for bird-
ing).
Swim and sun in the
ship's pool, in the Bos-
phorus, the Black Sea,
the Aegean. Stroll the
Street of the Knights in
the Old City of Rhodes,
explore the Danube
Delta in small boats, see
the Blue Mosque in Is-
tanbul and the Levadia
Palace at Yalta. Go to
places that most travel-
ers miss: Lindos,
Phaestros, Priene, Nes-
sebur.
W.F. andR.K. Swan,
the London travel spe-
cialists, will supervise all
details and logistics.
The trip leaves New
York on June 9 via
TWA for Athens,
where Orpheus will be
waiting; returns to New York from Athens on June
24. Prices, exclusive of airfare, range from $1291 to
$1721 per person in a double cabin (single prices on
request). All participants are asked to contribute $500
to the Museum.
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, New York 10024
Please send me the complete itinerary and a reserva-
tion form for the Black Sea Cruise, June 9-24, 1976.
(NHF)
Name
Address
City
State.
.Zip.
A Matter of Taste
by Raymond Sokolov
A Steak in the Future?
Perhaps not, if
ethical and economic
considerations prevail
During the recent beef crisis, I at-
tended a dinner party on Parle Avenue
at which the main course, to the as-
tonishment of even the most reck-
lessly profligate of the guests, was a
standing rib roast. A tub of golden
caviar could not have startled me
more, and as I bit into the tender, deli-
cious meat, I felt as if this might be
my last plateful of the food I was
raised to think was essential to a nor-
mal American life.
Since that day the price of beef has
dropped a bit, and a spate of other
;rises has taken the urgency out of the
beef question. Now that everything
costs more than it did a few months
ago, we are not so fretful as we were
about the price of steak. And yet, the
serious questions about our national
diet that were raised so vividly during
the beef crisis remain unresolved.
Beef is still a national addiction. Per
capita consumption of beef in the
United States is running at well over
100 pounds a year, which is close to
double the amount people were eating
in 1941 , the year 1 was born. In abso-
lute terms, Americans consume more
than 20 billion pounds of beef an-
nually.
And that is hay, not to mention all
kinds of other expensive fodder. Gen-
erally speaking, it takes eight pounds
of feed grain to produce one pound
of quality beef. This is a lavish way
to feed ourselves. Indeed, it is hard
to argue with the beef Jeremiahs who
have been decrying the waste of food
inherent in beef production.
An anthropologist who studied the
American diet might justly conclude
that our national beef fetish was a
subtle form of potlatch — a conspic-
uous destruction of resources for a
presumably ritualistic reason. Well,
not quite. At those thousands of
shrines known as hamburger stands,
the faithful do actually eat the sacra-
mental patty.
This, to me, makes more sense
than the pure worship of cow flesh
that is practiced in India. None of the
approximately 1 80 million holy cows
is eaten, slaughtered, or exported.
"IT'S A NICE WAY TO GO*
IF YCXJ GOTTA GO ! " ^ ;>-^ -,;, ■
HAVAHART traps are humane. They catch all kinds of
unwanted animals alive and unhurt. Fully assembled. No
rust problem— they're galvanized. And there's a size for
all needs. The open ends give animals confidence. Children
and pets can't be hurt. You'll enjoy using a HAVAHART.
Send 25c for your Illustrated trapping guide with full In-
formation about this great trap. Thousands In use.
HAVAHART, 158-F Wafer St., Ossining, N.Y. 10562
Here's my 25c. Please send price list, trapping guide.
BAST— Joy Goddess & Home Protector!
Solid— y Vi" cat seated on agate base.
Gift — Display Piece or Fine Jewelry. I
Bronze— $19.50. Sterling Sil. $49.50.
I4K Gold— $475. Chain: SS $8. GF $10.
Phone Orders: ( 2 1 2 ) 477 8733 B A,MC.
free Catalogs: Ancient Replica Jewelry. |
aladdin boase, Ltd.
N276«770 Madison Ave.* N.Y. 10021
VISIT- OUR GAtLFBy — S.W. COB 66lh ST. |
OLDTOUm76
Old Town's 1976 catalog is off
the press! Send today for your
free copy of this action-filled,
full-color publication featuring
the world's finest canoes,
kayaks, and accessories.
OLD TOWN CANOE CO.
20 Lake Street
Old Town, Maine 04468
Please send free catalog
City
Vstate
Zip
out of print,scarce, rare NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
rg Botany, Zoology,
[n.&^ Orchidology.
Ornithology, Entomology.
Ichthyology,
Herpelology. etc.
CATALOEUE AVAILABLE
19 Oilotd Plice/Rocknlle Oirtrc, New Vork IISTD
132 UNUSUAL MUSEUMS
IN EUROPE
at Most Travelers Don't Know Abou
$2.50 each or 5 for SIO.OO
PASSPORT PUBLICATIONS
20 N. Wacker Dr.. Chicago. IL eOfinr,
This great horde of bovines is, in fact,
the largest national herd in the world.
India supports one entire beast for
every three Indians. Some of the In-
dian cattle are milked but in amounts
too small to show up on statistical
tables. Also, cattle dung is an impor-
tant source of fuel, which unfortu-
nately means that it does not get
plowed into the depleted Indian soil,
whose grass cover has been cropped
bare by ravenous cows. When Indian
cows grow old, they can spend their
declining years in state-operated bo-
vine rest homes.
Since the lion's share of global
malnutrition is Indian, it is tempting
to wring one's hands in disgust at the
pathetic paradox of the holy cow, and
it is also tempting to write off Indians
as kamikazes of the flesh who do not
merit world aid for their self-inflicted
wounds. But we in the West can, on
close inspection, look as repellent
and irrational in our sadism against
bovines, as Indians do in their maso-
chism.
Sadism? Yes, for here are just a
few things we do to fellow mammals
fully capable of feeling pain and fear.
We chain them up in barns for months
and years; we poleax them; we brand
them; we spirit their young away for
veal; we pack them into feedlots to
fatten them for market and there let
them end their days waddling about
on hills of their own manure. By the
end of this process, even an amateur
can identify a prime-grade steer: it is
so fat that it cannot walk normally.
Instances such as these have led
Peter Singer, an Oxford philosopher
from Melbourne, to call, in rigorous
philosophical terms, for the end of
"tyranny of human over non-human
animals." In Animal Liberation: A
New Ethic for Our Treatment of Ani-
mals, Singer argues that meat produc-
tion is as indefensible as racism and
sexism. He means that the same rea-
sons that have led us to give equal
consideration to members of different
races and of the opposite sex must
logically be applied to members of
other species as well.
This is not the place to expound
Singer's argument in full detail. His
book is, however, a powerful tract,
rationally set forth, against the horri-
ble results of our too great solidarity
as a species. Singer, although himself
a vegetarian, is no fanatic. "It is
probably true," he writes,
that comparisons of suffering be-
tween members of different species
cannot be made precisely, but pre-
cision is not essential. Even if we
were to prevent the infliction of
suffering on animals only when it
is quite certain that the interests of
humans will not be affected to any-
thing like the extent that animals
are affected, we would be forced to
make radical changes in our treat-
ment of animals that would involve
our diet, the farming methods we
use, the experimental procedures
in many fields of science, our ap-
proach to wildlife and to hunting,
Bettmann Archive. Inc.
84
Arctic Adventure
A fantastic
wildlife experience
stroll amongst white-coated seals
on the ice pack in Canada's Gulf of
St. Lawrence.
Take photographs, see the incred-
ibly beautiful ice formations; see the
newborn baby harp seals.
We'll be leaving in March, 1976 by
helicopter to the ice pack. Debarka-
tion point is the Magdalen Islands.
For further information and full de-
tails, write us.
ROBERT 6AUDET TOURS
P.O. BOX 1011 FREDERICTON, CANADA
MERCURY BAROMETER
An Uncommon Item Rarely Found Today
Made in England - an aulhenlic reproduclton o' an English
slick baromeier Cifca 1790 Buill like the original ol solid
mahogany, silvered brass registef plates wilh scroll leilenng,
limal and fittings of solid brass 38" long Shipped anywhere in
IheUS via United Parcel Service
Brochure and mail order prices on request.
British American Historical Arts, Ltd., Dept. N402
1 0884 Santa Monica Blvd., Us Angeles, CA 90025
Wooden Ducks
Beautifully designed, and carved on old-
fashioned spindle carver flakes unique accent
piece as is, or sand and stain, or paint Glass eyes
and painting guide for drake and hen included
with each bird (glass eyes only with sleeper).
Mallard. Bluebill, Pintail (Cedar): SIO 95 each.
S19 95/pair (Walnut, Butternut. Cherry): $21 95
each, S39 95/pair Sleeping Black Duck (Cedar):
S1295 each, S2395/pair (Walnut, Butternut,
Cherry): $22,95 each, $41 95/pair
Add $1 00 per bird for handling and postage,
Minnesota residents add 4% sales tax.
Money back guarantee if not completely satis-
fied. Send check or money order to:
The Wooden Bird Factory
Box 336 St, Bonifacius, Minn, 55375
\ Dept NH-2 /
trapping and the wearing of furs,
and areas of cnlertainment like cir-
cuses, rodeos and zoos. As a re-
sult, a vast amount of suffering
would be avoided.
Even without endorsing this posi-
tion, we acknowledge the violence of
the carnivorous life by our very
speech. The English language dis-
joins the meat we eat from the animal
that produced it. Steers (and some-
times cows) give us beef. Calves
grow veal. Pigs turn into pork.
Lamb — the exception that proves the
rule — stays lamb, but sheep becomes
mutton at the butchers and hunters
kill deer but consume venison. Even
goat is renamed chevon when we
serve it.
This linguistic ruse, which gives
the living animal his Anglo-Saxon
name on the hoof but labels him with
a more remote, meat-specific name
derived from French when he is dead
and sold as food, allows us to disre-
gard the cruelty inflicted by our meat
hunger. Perhaps this is a sign of civi-
lization. If so, it is a civilization still
red in tooth and claw but careful to
wash up after the hurly-burly's done.
The modern human carnivore is
also a far more effective predator
against other species than was his
naked, matted, club-wielding fore-
bear. Today, we have industrialized
livestock production and slaughter.
And through artificial insemination
we have brought a brave, new, and
involuntary world of eugenics to the
barn. After centuries of selective
breeding, the milch cow is now little
more than a machine for transforming
hay into milk. The beef animal spe-
cializes in muscle development. The
lacteally prodigious Holstein and the
thewy Hereford are, in a sense,
human inventions, virtually tech-
nological variations on the same basic
system. The same engine runs them
both. It has four stomachs and chews
its cud.
Rumination, as the bovine energy
process is known, is a creative
method of vomiting. It allows cattle
and other true ruminants (deer, oxen,
sheep, goats, and giraffes) to graze in
haste and chew at leisure. The animal
swallows his food whole (unchewed)
and takes it into the largest of four
stomach chambers: the paunch, or
rumen. Later, the food is regurgitated
into the mouth, where it is chewed
and mixed with saliva. Reswallowed,
the cud descends to the second stom-
ach, or reticulum, so called because
Magnificent
Himalaya
^— 1a ,]|^^
t
^^^^^KmRi».
\
^
LC»«n;,_
fc
:lJj. tifcH '
*
Exotic Journeys
Ladakh Bhutan
Uzbekistan
Bamiyan Valley
Hunza Chitral Gilgit
Kathmandu
Pokhara Valley Sikkim
Yemen
Easter expedition to forbidden
mountain kingdom of the Red Sea
Selective trekking excursions
Scheduled group departures and
individual travel
We welcome your enquiries
Explorer Tours (514) 861-6763
Office of Academic Liaison
fPU
Please forward information
regarding
rs
Name
Address
zip code
Explorerlbars
640 CATHCART, SUITE 307,
SECTION NH2, MONTREAL
CANADA. H3B 1M3.
-TF(E TV[AI?gET_
Art
ONE-OF-A-KIND NATURE TIN TYPES on Sand-
stone. Approximately 7"x9" ready to tiang. Black
and light stone color Great Grey Owl Runnino
Mustangs, Quail, Stilts, Woodpecker Cat Face
Lion or American Bald Eagle $14 95 ppd. (Add
$2 for table easel.) Satisfaction Guaranteed Cat-
alogue available without purchase; 25e ) Cottaoe
Crafts, Weston, VT 05161.
EBONY FIGURINES by Akamba Tribe of Kenya
Hand-carved, 14-16 inches tall. $10 each' $15
pair Art, Box 89, Mobile, AL 36601
276, 770 Madison Avenue, NY 10021 (212) 472
8733. Visit our Gallery: SW Corner of 66th St^5th
CLEAR LUCITE BLOCKS: WE EMBED COINS
medals, insects, mementos of all kinds One piece
or quantity For prices, information: Quality Em-
5?9ol?'=?.°=' 2° ^^^' 22 Street, NYC 10010
PoTmE mS16''°'°^^"P"' Workshops, Rock-
travel
Gourmet Interests
Back Numbers
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS, 1888-1976 any
issue, maps, send wants. Buxbaum Geographies
Box 465-NH, Wilmington, DE 19899 ^"^"'^'""''^'
Bird Watchers
FINEST WILD BIRD HOMES AND FEEDERS Free
hterat^ure. Dial-A-Bird. Box 449Y. Westwood, NJ
Books ~
RUDOLF STEINER'S BOOKS. Free catalog. Wnte
Anthroposophic Press, 258 Hungry Hollow Road
Spring Valley. NY 10977
NAUTICAL BOOKS Non-fiction, Yachts Wind-
jammers, Naval etc Many scarce. Catalog 25ffi
Jack Clinton s, Hope Valley, Rl 02832
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 90 DAYS Wanted book
manuscripts on all subjects. Expert editing de-
sign, manufacture and marketing— all under' one
roof. Completed books in 90 days. Low break-
even. Two FREE books and literature give details
costs, success stories Wnte or phone Deot 779'
Exposition Press, Inc., 900 So. Oyster Bay Rd '
Hicksville, NY 11801. (516)822-5700: (212) 895-
TRADE & SCHOLARLY SALE BOOKS. Write fo7
n-ee, annotated Winter Catalog to: Kramerbooks
nr'pmnf Alf'^Kru""?^ Street NW: Washington
DC 20001: Attn: NH. Good Books, Cheap.
READ "ZOO REVIEW" with news about wildlife
conservation, zoos, and whafs written about them'
FL^3022°''^ ^°°''^' ^™ ^' H°'lywo°d
Business Opportunities
$800.00 MONTHLY POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes
38381/ Sfn^n ^^^5 ='3"iPed envelope. Unted;
38381/2 Van Dyke, San Diego, CA 92105
r/ 1 nH^K?^^ AT HUME EASILY. Exciting detaili
ca^o, IL 6065T' ^'^^ ^"' '^'' P^'^-°"' ^N-
roitn»^^S"^°'^ '^'ST^^TORS. Currei^n^^^
^Sn°Pp"'"9^ "^' '" " S.. $5,95: abroad. $5.95
^f ding placement sources, U.S.. $3.95: foreign.'
$4.95. EISF, Box 662, Newrton. MA 02162
$3TO:oo weekly POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes
383V4Th^I °1^"^' 'I^'^P^^ envllope SCO
3835 42nd. San Diego. CA 92105
Camps
ADVENTURES IN OCEANOGRAPHY' Wilderness
lL'',S^^r °^^ ^f'^P^ °" beautiful Mount Desert Is-
odv ' Whi?P '>°»r" '^'''"9 navigation: marine biol-
ogy. White water canoeing: mountain climbino
Swimming sailing, tennis. Beech Cliff Advemu el"
Box 536, Concord. MA 01742. (617) 369-4095
D-ARROW-WILDERNESS TRIP Camp S^^i^^
groups for boys and girls. Full or half season 20 h
lcn\nn.T°n 'T '", '^'""^ ^"'^ Q^^P^C. Survival
ecoogy, Quaker leadership. ACA accredited
Post season coed biology George N. Darrow 780
Milbrook Lane, Haverford, PA 19041 °^' "*"
Gtfts
TEA DEVOTEES savor world's rarest select teas
Nvr'^^inm^"'?"'''^?' °!P' ^^^26, 799 Broadway!
NYC, 10003. Free brochure.
Instruction
INSTANT MEMORY . New way to remember
No r^emonzafion Release "photographic" mem-
aX,=„ ''H°iS''""9' ^'^"^ information Institute of
sTsTaIo2T'' "°^ ^°^^""' "^""^ ^^"-
Magazine Subscriptions
FREE LIST. Magazine Subscriptions at Lowest
SnP^'^T,^"^'^''' Anywhere. Magazine House, Box
390L, Millwood, NY 10546
Minerals & Precious Stones
ROCKS IN YOUR HEAD? You'll love us. Write for
details. Mineral of The Month Club, Box 487-HN
Yucaipa, CA 92399 '
Motion Pictures
16MMS0UNDFEATURES, shorts, new used for
If N, ^';,'^1'^'°9- National Cinema, 333 W 57th
St., New York, NY 10019
Music Instruction
ko^'^H ™ ^}^^ ™^ RECORDER. Free Catalog
Recorders, Recorder Music Beginner's wooden
recorder, instruction book, $13^95. Amster Re
corder Company, 1624 Lavaca, Austin, TX 78701
Photography ~~ "
BASIC AND ADVANCED WORKSHOPS with mas-
ter photographers. For scientists, professionals
and amateurs. One-week to three-month pro-
P^Z^^^i^^.r^""''"^ v^ildflower-birding tours
r, °NT'[?Pc,'?y„''''"'^ Bear Mountain Ranch Silver
City, NM 68061. (505) 538-2538
V^TpOFilT^OTLAND Wild deer, seals, loons
fnrh nin"''*"^H°'I'f creatures, amid mountain
Sed^t^rnl^h"" ^''-inclusive vacations. For illus-
an WiHW= "q^ '''"'' ""T"" P°='^^^d^ Caledon-
ian Wildlife Services, Kingsmills Gardens In-
verness 1V2 3LU. Scotland ^-^raens, In
CIRCLE Z RANCHi Horseback riding, fantastic
birding tennis, heated pool, historic unspoNed
area. November through May. Limit 40 gSes?s
Brochure: Box 194 Patagonia, AZ 85624
OAK CREEK CANYON: Peaceful housekeeping
reso t on creek. Birds, pines, individual houses
^replaces. All year Brochure: Forest Houses, Oak
Creek Star Route. Flagstaff, AZ 86001
MAYA-AZTEC-INCA EXPEDITIONS Explore
temples, pyramids, coral reefs, jungle with an-
firopologist/ecologist. Small gr'oups, monthly
^^1 M ^Po^,'^'^''" °P'i°n Wnte Forum Interna-
tional N, 2437 Durant. Berkeley, CA 94704
NATl^foURjemphasrzing birds, wildflowers,
mammals. Fourteen tours in 1976 in America
Bn^F.Q^^"i\'^'''%^^'^- ^'''^ W°^l'^ Nature Tours,'
box 693a, Sliver Spring, MD 20901
"POLYNESIA'S PEOPLE": Extraordinary anthro-
pological tour visits traditional Polynesians at
home. Luxury hotels, fine food, expert guide See
travel agent or write Richard Goodman's Good-
I ravel Tours, Box 2866, Oakland. CA 94618
INTERNATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITIONS"
invites you to explore tropical rain forests Mayan
rums, caves. Indians, coral reefs and the flora and
l^iVh ^ ° S^K-'f' America. Travel in small groups
rl Tr^T '^'°l°9ists on a free-roving expedi-
ion--NOT a programed tour— Call or write IZE
Washington SL, Sherbom, MA 01770 (617) 655-
ANTHROPOLOGY, NATURAL HISTORY AND
^°?°J^^" OLD JEWELRY. Replicas from Egypt
Persia, Orient, etc. Pendants, Rings Charrfs in
Bronze, Steriing Silver, 14K & 18K Gold Free
Catalogi Write: Aladdin House, Ltd Dept HC
|i*TURE photography expeditions to unique envi-
jnments of the world including Afghanistan
laska, East Africa, Galapagos, Hawaii, fvtezico
cotland. and South America For 1976/77 catalog
Tite: Nature Expeditions International, Dept NC,
uite F, 4546 El Camino Real, Los Altop, CA 94022
ONDON, ENGLAND -An unique, luxury "pen-
on"; central, private and informal. For those who
reler not to pay "Grand Hotel" prices NUIvlBER
IX fEEN Sumner Place, London SW7
)AHO WILDERNESS, Small family ranch on
;enic Selway River, Remote roadless area
Ccess fifteen miles by trail. Guests welcome June
irough September, Write Selway Lodge, Box
100-H, Hamilton, MT 59840
OUTHWEST SAFARIS; Air tours of New lylexico,
olorado, Utah and Arizona, Camping, hiking,
ding, rafting. Geology, archaeology, ecology,
istory Brochure: P,0, Box 945, Santa Fe, NIVI
7501
lATES AND STYLE INFORMATION
1,50 per word; 16 word ($24) minimum. Display
lassified is $150 per inch. Rates are not structured
3r agency and frequency discounts or billing. All
dvertisements are accepted at NATURAL HIS-
ORY's discretion; all must be prepaid. Send
heck/money order payable to NATURAL HIS-
ORY for each insertion, including your personal
ddress and telephone. IVIention issue preferred,
uggested heading, and text. Deadlines— 8th of
lonth, two months prior to cover date. Thus, a
anuary issue closes November 8. A tearsheet or
opy of the page with your ad will be sent upon
ubiication.
lox numbers, telephone numbers, and hyphen-
ted words count as two words; abbreviations and
ip codes as one word each. All states are shown
1 two-letter codes followed by zip, then telephone
with area code), if any. An address such as "18
lain St," counts as three words. Occasionally,
light editing for clarity is required. We trust you trust
IS. Thank you!
the mucous membranes form a net-
work, or honeycomb. This lining is
the honeycomb tripe so highly prized
in tripes a la mode de Caen (see recipe
belowj and other tripe recipes.
Digestion continues in the third
stomach, variously called the oma-
sum, the psallerium, or the many-
plies. Its leaflike folds have reminded
certain observers of the pages of a
psalter or of a manifold (manyplies).
Finally, the cud progresses to a rennet
bath in the last stomach, the aboma-
sum, whence it makes its final diges-
tive sortie through the intestine.
Viewed from without, rumination
looks pleasantly sedentary and con-
templative. When we say a person is
ruminative, we mean to praise him
for his thoughtful mien. And in most
poetic references, cud-chewing cattle
are metaphors of placidity and con-
tentedness. But this iseuphemism. In
our hearts, we disdain slow-witted,
cud-chewing cows. When the Lord
wished to humiliate Nebuchadnez-
zar, he saw that the once-mighty mas-
ter of Babylon "was driven from
men, and did eat grass like oxen, and
his body was wet with the dew of
heaven, till his hairs were grown like
eagles' feathers, and his nails like
birds' claws [Dan. 4:33]."
Am I trying to persuade you to take
up the cudgels for bovine equality
with Peter Singer? Has he, as it were,
cowed me into vegetarianism? Not
quite. For one thing, I can see nocthi-
cal objection to eating animals that
have died natural or accidental deaths
(for example, road-killed deer), even
by Singer's standards. Generally,
moreover, 1 object to vegetarianism
on esthetic grounds. Meat, I think
you will agree with me, has a nice
taste. No doubt, I could learn to make
do with alternate protein sources. In-
deed, 1 do not eat meal every day. But
I cannot deny that I enjoy it when 1
do bite into a rare steak. And I doubt
that I will make a dent in the world-
wide trend toward ever higher meat
consumption if I embark on a pro-
gram of acorn eating (officially, bal-
anophagy) or some other nonmeat
diet. Probably, excess population and
food scarcity will cut this Gordian
knot for us. By the turn of the cen-
tury, beef cattle may have vanished
like the dodo. In the meantime, I
prefer to stifle my guilt, eat a corned
beef sandwich now and then, and do
my evangelical best to prevent my
own species from exterminating itself
through war.
Raymond Sokolov is a free-lance
food writer and novelist.
Tripes a la Mode de Caen
2 pounds honeycomb tripe
3 carrots, peeled and cut in rounds
Vi pound salt pork, sliced
1 sprig parsley
1 bay leaf
V4 teaspoon thyme
6 garlic cloves, peeled
3 cloves
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
Salt
Pepper
1. If you are using frozen, ready-to-
cook tripe, simply defrost and
rinse. Fresh tripe should be
soaked for several hours.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
3. Cut the tripe into two-inch
squares.
4. In a heavy casserole, place one-
third of the tripe in an even layer
on the bottom. Cover with layers
of half the carrots and salt pork.
Cover that with the parsley, bay
leaf, thyme, 3 garlic cloves, 2
cloves.
5. Add another layer of tripe (one-
third the original amount). Top it
with layers of the remaining car-
rots and salt pork. Add remaining
garlic and cloves. Add a final layer
of tripe. Pour in chicken stock and
white wine. Add more stock to
bring liquid level up to the top of
the tripe if necessary. Season
lightly with salt and pepper.
6. Cover the pot with a double
thickness of aluminum foil. Press
the lid on to make a hermetic seal.
Bring to a boil on stove; then place
in oven and cook for 12 hours.
7 . Remove casserole from oven . Ad-
just seasoning of broth. Spoon
away excess fat and serve. Or for
a more elegant effect, separate out
the tripe squares and discard all
other solid ingredients. Let the
sauce cool in the refrigerator so
that you can completely defatten
it after the fat rises to the surface
and solidifies. Then, put the tripe
back into the sauce, heat to a sim-
mer, and serve on hot plates.
Yield: Four servings.
87
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon During the last half of February and in early March,
the sun is moving northeastward through the constellation Aquarius.
About March 12, when it is within three degrees of the equator, the
sun moves into Pisces, where it will arrive at the vernal equinox later
in the month. In this part of the sun's annual journey, the duration of
daylight increases by more than five minutes each day.
In February and March, new moon occurs at the beginning and end
of the month, and the moon reaches its full phase near mid-month. About
midway in the first week of both months, you can expect to see the early
crescent show up in the evening. Each night thereafter, it will wax, stay
longer, and set later, until — when it is full — it remains in the sky from
sundown to sunup. After that, it wanes, rises later in the night, and
remains past sunrise to become part of the daytime sky, until it disap-
pears as a late crescent a few days before the next new moon. First-quar-
ter moon is on the 8th of both months, full moon on the 15th. Last-quar-
ter is on February 22, new moon on the 29th.
Stars and Planets Three planets — Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn — appear
in the evening sky of February and early March. (All of them are shown
on the monthly Star Map.) Brightest of the three is Jupiter, easily picked
out among the dim stars of Pisces.
Mars becomes visible high in the south, just above the stars of Orion.
No longer the brilliant object it was in December and early January,
it is still very similar in appearance to two bright and nearby reddish
stars, Betelguese (in Orion) and Aldebaran (in Taurus). Forming a nearly
perfect isosceles triangle with them. Mars is the highest of the three.
Saturn is still in Gemini, close to, and in line with, the bright twin stars
Pollux and Castor. Mars sets at about midnight, Saturn a few hours
before dawn.
Venus, still a bright star in the morning sky, is rather low in the
southeast and not nearly as bright or prominent as it was earlier in the
winter. By mid-March it will be very difficult to see.
February 16: Mercury is at its greatest distance to the right of the
sun (westerly elongation), a position that ordinarily places it favorably
as a morning star. But this is not a good cycle for the planet; it does
not rise high enough to be seen before sunrise.
February 17: The moon is at perigee, nearest earth.
February 18-19: On both nights, the moon rises late, several hours
after dark, and near the bright star Spica, in Virgo. Spica is east (left)
of the moon on the night of the 18th, to the west (right) on the 19th.
February 27: You should be able to see Venus near the late crescent
moon shortly after dawn this morning.
March 3: The moon is at apogee, farthest from earth.
March 4: The bright object near the crescent moon this evening is
Jupiter.
March 9: The moon, one day past first-quarter, is moving slowly to
the left beneath Mars.
March 11: The moon appears below Saturn this evening. At about
11:00 P.M., EST, you will see the moon, Saturn, Pollux, and Castor,
in that order, almost exactly in line, one above the other.
March 15: The moon is full at about 10:00 p.m., EST, and arrives
at perigee about 2 : 00 p . m . , EST , tomorrow . The effect of perigee , added
to the spring tide, will result in extreme tides on the 16th.
*Hold the Star Map so the compass direction you face is at the bottom; then
match the stars in the lower half of the map with those in the sky near the horizon.
The map is for 10:15 p.m. on February 15; 9:20 p.m. on February 29; and
8:25 P.M. on March 15; but it can also be used for an hour before and after
those times.
A Portfolio of Indian Portraits
by Edward S. Curtis
In 1898 Edward S. Curtis undertook the largest photographic
work ever accomplished by a single artist, The North Ameri-
can Indian.
Now you too can share in this treasure: we offer you a
portfolio of six superbly faithful reproductions, produced di-
rectly from the original Curtis photogravures. All are of the
Pacific Northwest Coast tribes; none duplicate those in the
1976 Natural History Calendar. They measure 18" x 14", with
borders; are printed on high quality stock and come en-
closed in a protective portfolio, awaiting framing.
Just $15, plus $1.25 for postage and handling. Order
now, in time tor the gift-giving season.
NATURAL HISTORY PRINTS, Dept. P310
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
I want to order,
of $
.portfolios at $16.25 eacfi, for a total
I I My cfieck/money order, payable to Natural History, is en-
closed.
I I I prefer to charge to American Express.
Signature
D
My name {please print!)
Address
City
Zip
BECAUSE IT'S WRITTEN TO
BE UNDERSTOOD .
The First Year
Is a Solid Success!
Don't Miss the Second
TheBIBIJCAI.
Essential to everyone interested in
Biblical Archaeology, The People and
The Land. New discoveries, new inter-
pretations, new methods, new books
and ideas, archaeological personalities,
critical analyses. Lavishly Illustrated.
Editorial Advisory Board includes Hershel Shanks. Professor
Samuel Sandmel, Professor James F Ross, Professor David
Ussishkin, Norma Kershaw, lerry Landay. Or A. Mazar. Professor
George W Buchanan. Professor H.T Frank, Professor Jonas
Greenfield
j Encloseij is my ctieck for $8.50 for a l-year's sub
I scripfion to The Biblical Arctiaeology Review.
The Biblical Archaeology Review
1819 H Street, N.W. 1
V^ashington, D.C. 20006 ™3 j
NATUR4L HISTORY
FILE
only
$^95
each
Holds a year's subscription -
keeps all copies neat, clean
and in one place.
A deluxe Royal Blue magazine case
with "Natural History" gold stamped
on the face. Has the expensive good
looks of a leather-bound book.
Organizes your valuable collection by
year of issue. Reduces clutter in your
home or office, keeps copies handy
for easy reference. Sturdy book-
binder's board protects copies against
soil and damage for as long as you
want to keep them. Gold leaf
furnished free for dating, etc. Send
check or money order. Money re-
funded if not satisfied.
Natural History File ... . $4.95 ea.;
3 for $11 .95 postpaid
We have custom designed files for over 8,000
magazines. Order by title, $4.95 ea. ppd.
SHANNON CORPORATION Dept. 26N
734 N. Decatur Ave., Minneapolis, MN. 55427
Books in Review
An
Illustrator's
Portfolio
by Murray Tinkelman
The Fantastic Creatures of Ed-
ward Julius Detiwold. Text by
Keith Nicholson. A Peacock
Press/Bantam Book, $6.95; 96pp.,
illus.
This is mainly a picture book — a
collection of the work of Edward
Julius Detmold who, with the collab-
oration of his twin brother, Charles
Maurice, produced drawings that are
outstanding for their imaginative
treatment of the natural world. The
brothers, born in London in 1883,
were educated by an uncle whose in-
terest in natural history served as en-
couragement for them to study and
draw the animals they saw in the sur-
rounding zoos and natural history
museums.
The book is divided into roughly
four sections, the first showing ex-
amples of the 1903 illustrations for
Kipling's Jungle Book by both Ed-
ward and his brother. Interestingly
enough the best piece in this section,
the python in plate 5, is by Charles
Maurice. The Fables of Aesop
(1909), done after the death of
Charles Maurice, is a series of deli-
cate allegorical illustrations, strongly
influenced by the Japanese prints that
were becoming popular at that time.
But it is in the series of paintings
for Fabre's Book of Insects (1921),
where his intent is perhaps more hum-
ble, that Edward Detmold produced
his finest work. By using almost cine-
matic techniques — extreme close-
Murray Tinkelman, an illustrator, is
associate chairman of the Depart-
ment of Illustration at Parsons School
of Design, New York.
90
Princess Mary's Gift Book (1914)
91
Kipling's Jungle Book (1903)
ups, worm's-eye views, and unusual
composition — he achieves a lyrical
surrealistic effect. Although the
Diirer influence is undeniable, these
are the most intensely personal paint-
ings in the book — elegantly com-
posed, lovingly rendered, and keenly
observed. Like the paintings of John
James Audubon, they are the work of
an artist, naturalist, and reporter. The
book ends with six fine plates from
The Arabian Nights. Lavishly deco-
rative, they demonstrate the artist's
ability to portray the bizarre and the
fantastic, and not suffer by compari-
son with such great illustrators as Ed-
mund Dulac, Rene Bull, Harry
Clarke, and others of that genre.
The text, however, spends far too
much time discussing Detmold's
brother — from childhood collabo-
rator to tragic young suicide. It also
refers to pictures that don't appear in
the book. If, in fact, some of Det-
mold's best illustrations were done
for the Life of the Bee and Hours of
Gladness, why are they not shown?
92
H
■abre's Book of Insects (1921)
93
The Arabian Nights {1922)
94
Spectacular Collection of Genuine FIRST
MEN ON THE MOON Postage Stan
Strikingly dramatic stamps from Don
lea, Grenada, Qatar, Togo, etc.... PLUS
collection of fantastic Outer Space star
— awesome moon rockets, weird in
planetary vehicles, man floating in orbit-
from Russia, Rwanda, South Africa and
other faraway countries. Both of these
valuable collections — catalog price over
$2.00 - for only 10*1 Also, fine star
from our approval service, returnable
without purchase and cancel service any
time — plus big free Illustrated Catalog
SEND 10(< TODAY.
Jamestown, M26NM, Jamestown, NY. 14701
rBOOK HUNTING?-^
Virtually any book located — no matter how
old or long out-of-print. Rction, nonfiction.
All authors, subjects. Name the book — we'll
find Itl (Title alone is sufficient.) Inquire,
please. Write: Dept. 65.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
^ UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087 ^
f^ATURE ON STAMPS
rhe BIRDS & the BEES & the ANIMAL KINGDOM
on GENUINE POSTAGE STAMPS.
Xf SAMPLES & APPROVALS -$1
''» Satisfoction Guaranteed
Mil Med Stamps
P.O. BOX 297-1
PIATIGNUM ITALIC SET
ry, Conmm a fountain ven, five
/]\ italic nifs, and instruction
[/a] manuaf, af[ for onfy $5:00...
At art matcrid dr'jpcn sfiops,
coikcjc foci stores. ..or send
ckec^ to 'TentaCio Corp., 132
West 22 St., N.y, N.y won
Add ^0 cents Jor f\and(ina.
for executives and professfonaf people
LOANS by MAIL
$10,000
Any Amount
Desired to —
Personal, private. No security required,
signature only. All details arranged rapidly by
mail. Reasonable rates. Please mail coupon for
nformation. No obligation.
Wilson, Vice President
POSTAL THRIFT LOANS, INC., Dept. 82-02
703 Douglas St., Sioux City, Iowa 51102
Please send complete information in plain envelope.
Name
Additional
Reading
City _ -State
!»..-... one of THE ST. PAUL COMPANIES
Zip i
COMPANIES -,aa
Bandicoot Rats (p. 10)
S.A. Barnett's The Rat: A Study in
Behaviour (Chicago: Aldine Publishing,
1963, $3.95) has a full bibliography with
more than 350 references to other studies
in the Held. Although it was published
thirteen years ago, this book remains the
most complete and useful treatment of the
behavior of wild and tame rats. Two per-
tinent 1968 publications of the U.S. Pub-
lic Health Service — R.Z. Brown's ""Bio-
logical Factors in Domestic Rodent Con-
trol" and H.G. Scott and MR. Borom's
"Rodent-borne Disease Control Through
Rodent Stoppage" — may be obtained
from: Public Inquiries, Center for Dis-
ease Control, Atlanta, Ga. 30333. The
first is a 32-page booklet dealing with
basic rodent biology — behavior, popula-
tion dynamics, and reproduction of
Rattus rattus, R. norvegicus. and Mus
musculus. The second deals more specifi-
cally with problems of ratproofing areas
of food and refuse storage and, as such,
describes the modes and means of the do-
mestic rat's adaptations for living off
man's carelessness. See also J.B. Cal-
houn's classic monograph, "The Ecol-
ogy and Sociology of the Norway Rat,"
published by the U.S. Public Health Ser-
vice in 1962 and available in most li-
braries. In a recent issue of Science de-
voted entirely to the world food crisis,
J.D. Gavan and J. A. Dixon's "India: A
Perspective on the Food Situation" (vol.
188, pp. 541-549) and "Crop Protection
to Increase Food Supplies," by W.W.
Ennis, Jr. , et al. (pp. 593-598) are partic-
ularly relevant to Frantz's account of ban-
dicoot rats and rice storage.
Rifting in Botswana (p. 34)
C.F. Richter's Elementary Seismology
(San Francisco: W.F. Freeman, 1958), a
primary source of earthquake information
(including discussions of the seismicity
of Africa), and the 3rd edition of A.L.
Please send your FREE COLOR CATA-
LOG of outdoor clothing and equipment
Name ^___
Address .
City
State
-Zip
Dept. 63
1901 Victory Blvd.
Glendale.CA 91201
MOUNTAINEERING (213)247-3475
Share the Ttirills
01 Exploring I
outer space'
All DYNASCOPES,
including this
superb RV-6, E-inch
available
on easy terms!
Now it's easy to join the thousands of serious
amateurs who have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rewards go on for years! And
it's a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Choose From Many DYNASCOPES®
Picking a telescope to fit your needs and your
pocketbook is simple when you select a
DYNASCOPE — the same instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories—and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable tacts be-
fore buying any telescope. Mail
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterion Manulacturing Co.
620 Oakwood Ave.. W. Hartford. Conn. 06110
® TM Registered U.S. Pat. Offic
CRITERION MANUFACTURING CO., Dept. NH-65
620 Oahwoob Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 05110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Address-
City
95
Dutoifs Geology of South Africa (New
York: Hafner Publishing, 1953) are clas-
sic texts available in most university li-
braries. For a nontechnical account of
plate tectonics and continental drift see
A. Hallam's A Revolution in the Earth
Sciences (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1973). Debate About the Earth: Ap-
proach to Geophysics Through Analysis
of Continental Drift, by H. Takeuchi et
al. (San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper &
Co., 1967), presents an analysis of the
debate that has ensued since A. Wegener
published his theory of continental drift
in 1912. As a further historical note, see
Dutoifs review of ideas on continental
drift up to 1936 and the statement of his
own theoretical position in Our Wander-
ing Continents: An Hypothesis of Conti-
nental Drifting, which has recently been
reprinted (Westport: Greenwood Press,
1972). Clear expositions of the process of
shifts in the earth's crust and resultant rift
systems are found in two recent Scientific
American articles: J.F. Dewey's "Plate
Tectonics" (1972, vol. 226, no. 5, pp.
56-68) and H. Tazieff's "The Afar Tri-
angle" (1970, vol. 222, no. 2, pp
32^0).
Alpine Avalanches (p. 44)
Anthropologist John Friedl's recently
issued paperback, Kippel: A Village in
the Alps (New York: Holt, Rinehart &
Winston, 1974, $3.25), develops more
fully many of the points made in his
present Natural History article. The Hid-
den Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an
Alpine Valley, by J.W. Cole and E.R.
Wolf (New York: Academic Press,
1974), provides useful background infor-
mation on the interplay of environment
and psychology on contemporary cultural
changes taking place in central Europe.
' 'Of Men and Meadows : Strategies of Al-
pine Land Use," by R.M. Netting (An-
thropological Quarterly, 1972, vol. 45,
pp. 132-144), deals specifically with
man's adaptations to the unique charac-
teristics of village and farm life in ava-
lanche-prone areas.
The 1975 index for Natural History
may be obtained by writing to: INDEX
Natural History, Central Park West at
79th Street, New York, N.Y. 10024
Bats (p. 52)
A. Novick and N. Leen have published
an expensive but colorful volume. The
World of Bats (New York: Holt, Rinehart
& Winston, 1970). This large-format,
"coffee table" book contains dozens of
Leen's excellent color photographs,
which capture both the individuality and
characteristic behavior patterns of each
species depicted. Harvard mammalogist
Glover Merrill Allen, whose thinking as
reflected in his writings was far ahead of
his time, published his classic book Bats
in 1939; it has been reprinted in an inex-
pensive paperback edition (New York:
Dover Publications, 1967, $3.50). This
volume contains chapters on "bat-flow-
ers," bat biology, behavior, and sonar,
96
as well as on bats in folklore, bats as pets,
and even bats as food. The Biology of
Bats, a two-volume reference work
edited by W. A. Wimsatt (New York: Ac-
ademic Press, 1970), is a compendium of
recent research intended for the working
zoologist. K. Faegri and L. van der Fiji's
The Principles of Pollination Ecology
(2nd ed. Elmsford: Pergamon, 1972) is
a modern, balanced source book that
deals with the role of bats in pollination,
while B.J. Meeuse's The Story of Polli-
nation (New York: Ronald Press, 1961)
is a well-illustrated, semipopular book
dealing with general principles of pollina-
tion and with the various classes of polli-
nating agents. Botanist van der Pijl, who
coined the term chiropterophily, de-
scribed bat pollination in his review
paper, "Evolutionary Action of Tropical
Animals on the Reproduction of Plants"
(Biological Journal of the Linnean Soci-
ety, 1969, vol. 1, pp. 85-96). H. Baker,
another expert on pollination, discussed
the influence of animals on plant evolu-
tion in "The Adaptation of Flowering
Plants to Nocturnal and Crepuscular Pol-
linators" (Quarterly Review of Biology,
1961, vol. 36, pp. 64-73). L.E. Gilbert
and P.H. Raven have recently edited
Coevolution of Animals and Plants (Aus-
tin: University of Texas Press, 1975), in
which a diversity of botanical and zoolog-
ical information — concentrating on in-
teractions between flowering plants and
their pollination or seed dispersal by in-
sects, rodents, and birds — is woven to-
gether in support of coevolution as an im-
portant process in community evolution.
Reef Fish (p. 60)
Unfortunately, many of the best books
on the Great Barrier Reef have been pub-
lished in Australia and are of limited
availability in the United States. Isobel
Bennett's The Great Barrier Reef (Mel-
bourne: Lansdowne Press, 1971) and The
Great Barrier Reef and Adjacent Isles,
by K. Gillett and F. McNeill (Canberra:
Coral Press, 1967), are two recent ex-
amples. Classic works from the 1930s,
such as T.C. Roughly 's Wonders of the
Great Barrier Reef (the 13th edition was
recently reprinted. Mystic: Lawrence
Verry, 1966, $11.00) and particularly,
CM. Yonge's A Year on the Great Bar-
rier Reef (New York: Putnam, 1930) are
good sources of specific information pre-
sented with the excitement of pioneering
explorations. Craig McGregor's The
Great Barrier Reef (Amsterdam: Time-
Life International , 1974, $7.95) is a well-
written and superbly illustrated account
of the interacting physical and biological
worlds in the reef habitat. E.O. Wilson's
Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (Cam-
bridge: Harvard University Press, 1975)
provides a perspective on reef fish behav-
ior in relation to the rest of the animal
kingdom. A collection of papers edited
by B.B. Collette and S.A. Earle, "Re-
sults of the Tektite Program: Ecology of
Coral Reef Fishes ' ' (Natural History Mu-
seum of Los Angeles County, Science
Bulletin 14, October 30, 1972), offers
several interpretations of coral reef fish
distribution in Caribbean waters, includ-
ing "Space Resource Sharing in a Coral
Reef Fish Community," by C. Lavett
Smith and J.C.Tyler (pp. 125-170). This
article is an example of how two scien-
tists, studying similar behavioral and eco-
logical aspects of reef fish as those Peter
Sale reports on from Australia, can arrive
at different conclusions. Three other ar-
ticles from this collection report on feed-
ing behavior, escape responses, and ac-
tivity patterns in coral reef fish.
Afghan Trucks (p. 66)
Nancy Hatch Dupree's An Historical
Guide to Afghanistan (Kabul: Afghan
Tourist Organization, 1971) presents de-
tailed descriptions, in a convenient and
informative format supplemented by
twelve maps and over sixty photographs,
of each major site of interest along the
highways of modern Afghanistan. Per-
haps the definitive study of the country,
however, is to be found in Louis Dupree's
Afghanistan (Princeton: Princeton Uni-
versity Press, 1973), an encyclopedic ac-
count of the land and the people, the past
and the present, of this central Asian
country. Two 16-mm documentary films.
The Painted Truck, by Judith and Stanley
Hallet and S.C. Schroeder, and Judith
and Stanley Hallet's The Nomads of Ba-
dakhshan, provide a more graphic under-
standing of several important aspects of
Afghan life. The Painted Truck, for in-
stance, deals with a particular Afghan
phenomenon, the personalization of pri-
vate goods through elaborate hand deco-
ration, in this case the heavy-duty trucks
that are fast replacing camels as the major
mode of moving goods and people about
the country. The second film explores the
meaning of nomadism and reveals the
cultural basis from which the subjects of
the truck film — the men as well as their
vehicles — have evolved. These films,
each in color and just under thirty minutes
in length, may be available locally or con-
tact Film Images, 18 West 60th Street,
New York, N.Y. 10023 for rental or pur-
chase information. For another perspec-
tive on artistic expression as a clue to the
cultural sense of a people see R. Som-
mer's "People's Art" (Natural History,
1971, vol. 80, no. 2, pp. 40^5) and Eric
Kroll's "Folk Art in the Barrios" (Natu-
ral History, 1973, vol. 82, no. 5, pp
56-65).
Gordon Beckham
i
LIVE IN THE WORLD
OF TOMORROW . . . TODAY!
And our FREE 164 PAGE CATALOG is packed with
exciting and unusual values in hobby, electronic
and science items — plus 4,500 finds (or tun, study
or profit ... for every member of the family.
~ A BETTER LIFE
STARTS HERE
^«Hlli tIjUCCMI '(lOfllljafBHH '.UH !'J '.II "^
J.|.Mi|.'|.l.yT^^.|.k-J w-
STARTS SEEDS IN 3 TO 5 DAYS!
itfT.peraiu'e acc*iefaie4 setO gt^fr. r.ai.or.
hfci[>% pfoduc* healthy thrv>r^ piar-tt ftaOy
tor OuKJOOf planling BiQ 3 KJ tt piftndr.g
area— 29" x 16" « 4" txj* noias Vj oushei of
growing meOium Gefminates tomato saeOe m
^•3 oays. asters, dahlias, petunias, wk or lees Inc) 3" x 4" ft cieaf plastic
cover, supports Uses reg home current
Slock No 80.153E Jie.95 Pp<3
NASA-CHOSEN
FOR APOLLO/SOYUZ
157 mi. out in space, the Astronauts used this
super 20x60 binocular (modilied) to view Earth'
Our biggest, most powerful for distance Far-oM
objects come in big, clear & sharp to the edge
through big 60mm objective lenses; 173-ft. field
of view at 1000 yards. Relative brightness, 9.0 Fully coated optics; i^ux spci design
eye lenses, Coated BK-7 Porro prism Extra long Ail-American style with fold-down
rubber eyecups Includes case & straps
No. 1556E . . . {9V4x8'/2 ; 47.5 oz.) $99.95 Ppd.
n
ELECTRONIC DIGITAL
RAIN GAUGE
. , never needs emptying, measures rain up to
10Q-ft, away by tenths of an inch up to 999 9" and
empties itself. Accumulate total rainfall count for
hour, day, week, etc, Push reset button on mdnor
counter to start new counting period (no need in
empty or check hermetically sealed outdoor tuliu
fence, root, deck, etc, w/2 ordinary screws). Includes 30-tl ot wdterpioof wir.
on 1-yr,-life 9v trans, battery, not incl.
Stock No. 72,165E
/
41/4" ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE
See moon cfaieft r.ngs oi Satuf oojot s'i*'-
y New equatoria mouni f'10, '* wa.e "-,--_•
/C (Pyrex*) Gives meoreiical limn ot 'esoibt,0' !^a--
" & pinion locusirvg Aluminum lube €X 'i',oe< "
F.L 45X Kellner achfomaiic eyepiece aoc Ba^'O*.
lens to double & inple power up to 135X Free
Star Chart plus 2 Books
Stock No. es.lOSE
4Vi WITH CLOCK DRIVE
6 REFLECTOR TELESCOPE (48X to 360X)
6 WITH CLOCK DRIVE
3 DELUXE REFLECTOR (30 to 90X)
STANDARD 3 REFLECTOR
(Shipping Wt. 42 lbs.) S159.50 FOB
• 85.107EJ10950 FOB
• 85 187E $24950 FOB
'85.086E S285i>0 FOB
'S0.162E S 89.95 Ppd
'e5.240E i 5935 Ppd
MYSTERY OF
ENERGY AND AGING
Science fact or farce'' Can our Great Pyramid
unlock the mysteries of energy & agirvg— sho*
that the ancient Egyptians contradicted na-
ture"' Did someone really get 85 shaves from
a blade kept m a pyramid'' Test claims like
meat not rotting things not rustmg' Users of
ot Cheops pyramid oriented lo true North claim all sorts
ol strange phenomena based on resonating energy Ours is already assem-
bled i' see thru acrylic. 6 x 9Vi x 9V4"
Stock No. 71 ,81 7E $20.00 Ppd-
PREHISTORIC
MONSTERS SLIDES!
5 huge dinosaurs (Tyrannosaurus. Dimetrodon,
Triceratops. Steqosaurus, Plesiosaur) practically
come roaring to life in full color. Amazing life-like
simulation based on year's research and existing
reptiles' habits. Shows you how each lived in its
particular ecological niche. Bodies (soft tissues) reconstructed based on skeletal
6 fossil remains from museums around the world. "You are there " with this realistic
35 mm slide set (12 poses each of 5 dinosaurs).
No. P-42,405E (10 SLIDES, DESCRS.) $5.00 Ppd.
WORLD'S SMALLEST
CALCULATOR!
Small but mighty! 8-digit. 4-function electronic
calculator does everything big ones do — even has
automatic % key . . . for only $19.95- Take it
anywhere. Fits in your pocket — ^/j size of cigarette
pack. 3V2 oz, dynamo features floating decimal,
constant key. lead zero depression, more! Includes plug-in rechargeable Ni-Cad
battery pack. 2 x 3V2 x ^he" with plenty of room for most fingers Another Edmund
first witfi advanced technology.
Stock No. 1945E $19.95 Ppd.
AUTHENTIC SCALED
WINDMILLS
_..,^_^r-« ^ ■ Real tl-iing replicas show wind dtrec-
nn^^%f -•«H^ I tion. wheel silently revolves on ball
"* ~~ bearings Give your grounds unique
rural charm' Great centerpiece for
planter, flowers. Use to hold yard
light, house number, sign or as mail
box For school, a fine "energy crisis '
science project — does everything but pump water Heavy
gauge steel, durable outdoor fintsh; aluminum color w/red tnm
No. 71.923E. (17" DESK MODEL) - $1195 Ppd.
4V, FOOT-14 LB. No. 71.924E $34.95 Ppd.
e FOOT-46 LB No. 85.229E - $49.95 FOB
CANT SLEEP, RELAX? TRY THIS!
Electronic sound conditioner simulates 4
kinds of soothing sounds of ocean surf and
ram White sound" helps mask unwanted
noise, adds restful, intriguing background
sound Program the solid-state unit to your
own need: 2 surf, 2 ram, or 'white sound'
proven by medical tests to have analgesic ef-
fects Great for meditation, restlessness, sleeplessness psychology
(A) No. 71,997E,. .(7V, x 7 x 3V.") 110V AC $8935 Ppd.
(B) AS ABOVE. BUT "WHITE SOUND" ONLY
No. 71.980E . (6" Hd. x 3V." HI) $28.00 Ppd.
MAIL COUPON FOR
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
e^\ COMPLETE AND MAIL WITH CHECK, M. O. OR CHARGE NO.
I Completely new Catalog Packed v,
inoculars magnels magrFiliers pr
ighlmg Items parts kils accessor
I Chans illuslfalions For hobbyis
4500
MORE THAN
UNUSUAL
BARGAINS
luge selection ol leiescopes. microscopes,
; photo components ecology and Unique
-many hafd-lo-get surplus bargains 100's
xpenmenters schools, industry
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.
300 Edicorp Buildtni. Barrinfton, H J. 01007
Please rush Free Giant Catalog "E"
i^".
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.
How Miny Stock No.
D PLEASE SEND GIANT ~
FREE CATALOG "E" ~
300 Edscorp Building, Barrington. NJ. 08007
Description
n Charge my BankAmericard *
O Charge my Master Charge • Service and Handling Charge SI .00
Interbank No
My Card No, Is
TTTTTTTT rn I S.natore
I enclou Qclncli □money order tor TOTAL t
Q
Card Expiration Date
3D'DA¥ MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE.
You must be satisfied or return
any purchase in 30 days for full
refund, '$15,00 minimum
Name
Address.
City
The 1976
Natural History
Photography
Competition
For those who received new cameras for
Christmas, for those who are restless to
get outdoors with their old ones, and for
all whose files are brimming over with
beautiful pictures. Natural History joy-
fully announces another chance to try
your luck: the photo contest is on again.
This year we have included black-
and-white photography, kept the theme
broad, and opened separate categories
for those with specialized techniques.
We have altered the rules a bit, juggled
the judges, and changed the prizes. So
read on.
The Categories: 1. The Natural World,
including Man. 2. Macro- and Micro-
photographs, including scanning elec-
tron micrographs. 3. A Chronological
Sequence, which may be up to five pho-
tographs, of an "Event in Nature."
The Rules: The competition is open to
everyone except employees of The
American Museum of Natural History
and their kin and all previous winners.
2. Competitors may submit up to three
previously unpublished entries in each
category. 3. Entries may be trans-
parencies or prints up to 8" by 10". Each
entry must contain the name and address
of the photographer and the category. 4.
For each entry, please tell us the camera
model used. 5. Include a self -addressed,
stamped envelope since we want to re-
turn your pictures to you.
The Closing Date: All entries should be
postmarked no later than April 1, 1976.
The Rewards: Grand Prize is $500.
First prize for each category is $250. Ten
Honorable Mentions will receive $100
each.
More Rewards: All winning entries will
be published in a special, picture-filled
issue of Natural History.
Some Hitches: The decision of the
judges will be final. Natural History
acquires the right to publish and exhibit
the winning pictures. And Natural His-
tory assumes no responsibility for trans-
parencies or prints.
Pack your beautiful entries carefully and
mail them to:
Photography Competition 1976
Natural History Magazine
7 West 77th Street
New York, New York 10024
Announcements
A special program honoring Black
History Week has been scheduled
for the People Center, second floor of
The American Museum of Natural
History, from February 9 through
February 15. This program, planned
by the African-American Studies
Group of the Museum's Department
of Education, will focus on the cul-
ture and history of people of African
descent. Detailed information can be
obtained at Museum information
desks.
On Saturday, February 14, at
11:00 A.M., Jack Adams will appear
as Merlin, the ancient wizard of King
Arthur's court, in a children's pro-
gram in the main Auditorium of the
Museum. This theater-concert per-
formance will chronicle the quirks of
human behavior with rich humor and
unequaled magical happenings.
On Saturday, February 28, at
11:00 A.M., The Hidden World will
be shown in the main Auditorium of
the Museum. This color film by
Campbell Norsgaard explores the
world of insects. This program is free
to Family, Supporting, Donor, and
Centennial Members. Admission for
all others is $1 for adults and 250 for
children.
The Netsilik Eskimos, the first of
four programs in the series Habitat:
Housing and Shelter for the Peo-
ples of the World, will be shown on
Thursday, February 19, at 7:30 p.m.,
in the main Auditorium of the Mu-
seum. This film shows the con-
struction of both individual and com-
munity igloos and gives a glimpse of
Eskimo life-style along the frozen
Arctic coast northwest of Hudson's
Bay. Dr. Asen Balikci, an associate
professor of anthropology at the Uni-
versity of Montreal and the ethnog-
rapher in charge of the Netsilik Es-
kimo film project, will introduce and
comment on his film and answer
questions. No fee for Family, Sup-
porting, Donor, and Centennial
Members. Fee for all others is $ 10 for
the series; $3 for each program.
Buckminster Fuller, the noted ar-
chitect, philosopher, visionary, and
multimedia thinker, will speak at the
Museum, Sunday, February 22, at
3:00 P.M. His topic will be "Humans
in the Universe." Advance tickets
can be purchased at the Museum in-
formation desks. Admission is $2.50
for members; $3.50 for non- mem-
bers.
Beginning February 22 and March
6, the following Weekend Work-
shops for Young People will be of-
fered by the Museum's Department
of Education: Understanding Animal
Behavior; Exploring with the Micro-
scope; Introduction to Photography;
Exploring Archeology; Banner Mak-
ing with Animal Forms; Sharks; and
Fangs, Scales, Shells, and Skin. For
complete information, call 873-7507.
Beginning February 10 the Mu-
seum's Department of Education will
offer the following Programs for
Adults in the social and natural
sciences: Archeology of Ancient
Greece; The World of Birds; Anthro-
pology Through Films; Social Be-
havior of Animals; New York's Past
One Billion Years; Plants of the Wet-
lands; and An Awakening in Anthro-
pology. For information on regis-
tration , dates , and fees call 873-7507 .
Bookings are still available for the
Museum's June 1976 Cruise to Tur-
key, the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ro-
mania, the USSR, and the Greek Is-
lands. Dr. Thomas D. Nicholson, the
Museum's director, will be the cruise
leader and will conduct informal star
study sessions. Dr. Francois Vuilleu-
mier will identify and describe the re-
gion's birdlife. For full details write
to the Museum.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the
Museum, "The Final Frontier" con-
tinues through April 5. This Sky
Show takes us on a futuristic voyage
to the outer reaches of space aboard
the nuclear-propelled spacecraft Era-
tosthenes. On this trip, the ship en-
counters strange planets, double
stars, stellar novae, other galaxies,
neutron stars, and mysterious black
holes. Shows begin at 2:00 p.m. and
3:00 p.m. during the week, with more
frequent showings on weekends. Ad-
mission is $1 .75 for adults; $1 .00 for
children.
Who else but
South African Airways
offers tours that /r^:?^^^1R
can excite any... ^^ / L^ ' ^
zootogist,^^v\: '
»•*
vinologist,
%■ "^
gastronomist?
South African Airways has tours
for every taste. Ten tours that all
touch on the wild and civilized sides of
South Africa. Tours that let you
spend anywhere from 1 5 days to a
month exploring our land of wonderful
contrasts.
The nicest thing about these tours
is the fact that you will begin
your adventures on South African
Airways. Once on board one of our
Stratojets you'll enjoy some of the
finest food served in the sky.
Caviar and our famous South African
rock lobster in our Blue Diamond first
class. We'll also give you a taste of
our fine South African wines. The
very same vintages Napoleon preferred
to French wines. As if that weren't
enough, we'll get you to our
land of wonderful contrasts
much faster than any other airUne.*
For more information on Tours
to the Land of Wonderful Contrasts,
see your travel agent or write to :
SAA, Tour Department,
605 Fifth Avenue.
New York, N.Y.
10017.
SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS
1^1 The fastest way to the land of wonderful contrasts.
MS hours and 40 minutes via Cape Verde, 18 hours and 15 minutes via Rio de Janeiro.
The BMW 5301. An engineer's conception of a
luxury car, not an interior decorator's.
cell, two disc-braking systems
instead of one, and an interior that's bio-mechani-
cally engineered to prevent driver fatigue. Each
seat in the 5301 has an orthopedically molded
shape. All controls are within easy reach. And all
instruments are clear and visible.
Impressive?
No less an authority than Road & Track
magazine unequivocally calls the 530i "...one
of the ten best cars in the world... the best sports
sedan, period."
If you'd care to judge for yourself, we_
suggest you phone your BMW dealer
and arrange a thorough test drive.
One need look no further
than the nearest domestic luxury
sedan to find ample evidence of a styling depart-
ment run rampant.
Brocade upholstery opera windows,
cabriolet tops, distinctive hood ornaments, etc.,
etc., etc.
Yet, underneath all this opulence, one
generally finds that the average luxury car is
indeed a very average car
At the Bavarian Motor Works, it is our
contention that, although the pursuit of luxury is
no vice, when all is said and done, it is extraor-
dinary performance that makes an expensive
carworth the money
So, while the BMW 530i features a rather
lengthy list of refined luxuries, it also features a
singularly responsive 3-liter, fuel-injected engine
that neverfailsto astound even the experts with
its smooth, turbine-like performance.
It features an uncanny four-wheel indepen-
dent suspension system -McPherson struts
in front and semi-trailing arms in the rear-that (
allows each wheel to adapt itself instantly to
every dhving situation, smoothly and
precisely Givingyou a total control that will
spoil you for any other car
It features a solid steel passenger safety
© 1975 BMW of North America, Inc.
Forthe name of your nearest dealer.or for further information, you may call us anytime, toll-free, at 800-243-6006 (Conn. 1-800-882-6500).
The ultimate driving machine.
Bavarian MotorWorks, Munich,Germany
NATURAL HISTORY
MARCH 1976- $1.25
.Xn-y> v*»H'
%
¥-2
%
(«
*
WHEN YDU SPEND noOOO
FOR ACAR,YOU SHOULDNT
BE AFRAID TO DRIVE IT.
Any man who has traveled the highway to success shouldn't feel he
has to detour around potholes.
Yet it seems nian\ big. expensive cars today are better prepared
for countr}- club driA"eways than city streets and back roads.
The elegant n^w \ oho 264 is not your commonplace rich
mans car. It offers more than luxun,'. Its engineered to afford
you the privilege of abusing it.
A ne\^' front suspension combining springs and struts
absorbs jolts and increases stabilitv" by reducing roll.
Thousands upon thousands of spot-w elds (each one
strong enough to suppon the entire weight of the car)
fuse body and frame into one solid. siTent unit.
The \ oho 264 is extremely agile. A new Mght
allo}'. fuel-injected overhead cam \'-6 cuts weight.
> The 264 is 1. ICHJ pounds lighter and almost a foot
shoner than the new "smaU" Cadillac Seville.
Not to mention almost $4,000 smaUer in price.)
The 264 GL is also the most lavishly equipped
\bho we make. Leather e\ en.-where you sit. A heated
dri\ ers seat. Po\>."er front \^indows. Sunroof,
""V And air conditioning.
^ So if you're thinking about buying a
^ luxun,- car. ei\"e some thousht to the
\ oho 264. "
You\"e worked hard to afford the best.
You desene a car that can take the worst.
4^^
^^\ h
3Q4MK
/m^
. Tfie car for people who think.
NATURAL HISTORY
Incorporaling Nature Mai^uzinir
Vol. LXXXV. No. 3
March 1976
The American .\luseum oj Saturai Hmorv
Robert G. Goelet. President
Thomas D. Nicholson. Director
2 Authors
8 A Naturalist at Large Rene Dubos
An Inadvertent Ecologist
16 This View of Life Stephen Jay Could
Criminal Man Revived
.Alan Ternes. Editor
Thomas Page. Designer
Board of Editors:
Sally Lindsay. Frederick Hartmann,
Christopher Hallowell. Toni Gerber
Carol Breslin. Book Reviews Editor
Florence G. Edelstein. Copy Chief
Gordon Beckham. Copy Editor
Angela Soccodato. Art Asst.
Diane Pierson. Editorial Asst.
Lillian Berger
Rosamond Dana. Publications Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dean Amadon. Dorothy E. Bliss.
Mark Chartrand. Niles Eldredge.
Vincent Manson. Margaret Mead,
Thomas D. Nicholson. Gerard Piel.
Richard G. Van Gelder
David D. Ryus. Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly. Business Manager
Sue Severn. Production Manager
Gordon Finley. Marketing Manager
Ernestine Weindorf. Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe. Business Asst.
Yung-mei Tang
Ann Brown. Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez. Asst.
Joan Mahoney
Harriet Walsh
Publication Office: The American Museum
of Natural History. Central Park West
at 79th Street. New York. NY. 10024.
Published monthly. October through May: 7X
bimonthly June to September.
Subscriptions: SIO.OO a year. In Canada
and all other countries: SI 2.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at 74
New York. N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1976 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be "78
reproduced without written consent of
Natural Histor>-. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American .Museum. CovCF*
Natural Histop,- incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History,
420 Lexington Avenue.
Sew York. N. Y. 10017
Telephone: (212) 686-1234
Change of address notices, undeliverable
copies, orders for subscriptions.
and other mail items are to be sent to
Natural Historj'
Membership Services. Box 6000
I>es Moines. Iowa 50340
20 Announcements
22 Rain-making Forests Hubert W. Vogelmann
In foggy and misty environments, trees may collect 30 inches of
water annually.
26 Donegal's Lowly Sheep and Exalted Cows Eugenia Shanklin
The ritual for the sale of a cow includes a round at the pub.
34 Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
36 Deep Divers of the Antarctic Gerald L. Kooyman
How do seals and penguins withstand extreme pressures and temperatures?
46 Predatory Baboons of Kekopey Robert S.O. Harding and Shirley C. Strum
Primarily vegetarians in the past, these primates evolved quickly
into meat eaters.
54 Art of the Northwest Coast Indian
A portfolio of color photographs, with a prologue by William Reid
and an essay on "Collectors and Collections" by Edmund Carpenter.
68 Additional Reading
70 The Market
Book Review Stanley A. Freed
The Cree's Day in Court
Sky Reporter Beatrice M. Tinsley
Life and Death in the Milky Way
A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokolov
Peace and the Ultimate Sttack
The Weddell seal 's capabilities and physiology have been well studied in its
natural environment. This inhabitant of the Antarctic can dive to nearly
2,000 feet, stay submerged for more than an hour, and surface rapidly
without any ill effects. Photograph by Carleton Ray. Story on page 36.
We offer adventurous travelers three
unusually interesting outdoors pro-
grams next summer.
LadakhTrek
July 6 to 28, 1976
August 31 to September 22, 1976
These expeditions include a trek
througti the lovely valleys and moun-
tains of Kashmir into the remote
country of Ladakh, which was until
recently closed to visitors. Before and
after the trek, first class hotel and
houseboat accommodations are pro-
vided in Delhi and Srinagar.
Inca
Trek in Peru
August 6 to 21, 1976
August 20 to September 4, 1976
These expeditions provide the stir-
ring experience of walking along the
ancient Inca trail from Cuzco high
above the lovely Urubamba Valley, at
a leisurely pace over three passes
and through fabulous Andean scenery
to Machu Picchu, the most dramat-
ically spectacular archaeological site
in the world. Before and after the
trek, first class hotel accommoda-
tions are provided in Lima and Cuzco.
For people interested in outdoor
tilings, we have arranged lour tours
to enjoy the birds, butterflies and
jungle wildlife of Trinidad and French
Guiana:
The
PapillonToLir
These tours operate between July and
November, 1976, and include a stay
at the lovely Asa Wright Nature Center
in the northern mountains of Trinidad;
in French Guiana we visit Cayenne,
the lies de Salut, and stay for three
days at a camp deep in the jungle
where transport is by canoes and ac-
commodations are in hammocks in
open-air bungalows.
Detailed brochures on all three pro-
grams are available from:
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
55 WEST 42 STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10036
TELEPHONE (212) 354 6634
Authors
The discovery that trees rake mois-
ture from fog and clouds came
more or less accidentally to Hubert
W. Vogelmann. Professor of botany
at the University of Vermont, Vogel-
mann has spent the past decade study-
ing the fragile ecosystems of Ver-
mont's alpine areas. In analyzing the
water content of such areas, he no-
ticed that more moisture collected in
forests than in clearings. This knowl-
edge led to a year's investigation of
the moisture-gathering capacity of
the remaining cloud forests of eastern
Mexico. Vogelmann 's nonprofes-
sional activities include skiing, fish-
ing, and raising enough food on his
Vermont farm to be self-sufficient.
A lifelong regard for dairy cattle
and concern for how people adapt to
difficult environments led Eugenia
Shanklin to choose the isolated farm-
ing area of County Donegal, Ireland,
as the field site for her doctoral re-
search in anthropology. In particular,
she was studying livestock produc-
tion, traditional attitudes toward rais-
ing cows and sheep, and the conver-
sion of bogs into agriculturally pro-
ductive land. On receiving her degree
from Columbia University in 1973,
Shanklin began to teach at Trenton
State College in New Jersey, where
she is assistant professor of anthro-
pology.
"When in the presence of the em-
peror penguin in its natural surround-
ings, I am always struck by the maj-
esty of the place and the animal,"
says Gerald L. Kooyman, who has
made eight field trips to Antarctica to
study this bird and other animals na-
tive to the continent. Kooyman — an
experienced scuba diver — received
his Ph. D. in zoology and is an asso-
ciate research physiologist at Scripps
Institution of Oceanography in La
Jolla, California. His specialty is the
structure and function of the respira-
tory systems of aquatic vertebrates
and their diving behavior. His effort
is "to understand animals that spend
most or all of their lives in a medium
a thousand times more dense than
Polar Bear, leniilliO'/!"
Texas Ocetot, length 7"
Banded Seal, length 7"
Cougar, length S'/s"
Grizzly Bear, length 7"
Black-footed Ferret, length S'/i"
Announcing the
Friends Of The Earth Collection
of American Wildlife
In the tiny Swedish town of Gantofta, a
noted sculptor-naturalist named Maria
Ericson is creating a menagerie of stone-
ware animals. Her art pays tribute to the
wildlife she loves and knows so well.
Each sculpture is cast, finished, and
glazed by hand under her watchful eye.
If she's pleased with the piece, her name
goes on it. If not, it's broken and re-
turned to the earth. The process is ex-
acting and slow ; only 200 of these pieces
are signed each month.
This work was commissioned by
Friends of the Earth, a non-profit group
that fights for legislation to protect our
natural resources. For example, we
helped persuade the government to de-
clare the grizzly a threatened species
last year; fewer than 1,000 are left. Now
we're working to create the Great Bear
Wilderness Sanctuary in Montana to in-
sure the survival of this noble species.
Friends of the Earth saved the
banded seal by guiding through Con-
gress the Marine Mammal Protection
Act of 1972. Now we want to preserve
the shrinking habitats of the ocelot,
which is endangered, and the cougar.
By pressing for controls on the use of
lethal pesticides, we're helping the en-
dangered black-footed ferret to survive.
And we're monitoring Alaskan oilfields
lest the polar bear's fragile environment
be destroyed.
To help fund such projects, we're
offering the first six in the series of
signed sculptures created exclusively
for us by Maria Ericson. While some
special editions such as this have a re-
markable history of appreciation [a
Danish collector's plate which sold for
$10 in 1969, now commands $245 !), each
purchase you make directly benefits
Friends of the Earth. In addition, you
automatically become an Introductory
Member and receive Not Man Apart, a
biweekly newspaper in the front line of
the fight to save our natural resources.
Friends of the Earth
20 Carter-Henry Dr., Dept. C
Fairfield, CT 06430
Sirs: Please send me the following at
$37 each plus $2 handling [or, 3 for
$100 -H $3; or 6 for 8200 + S5) [CT res-
idents add 7''/o tax] and confirm my
membership in Friends of the Earth:
ferret[s) Texas ocelot[s]
banded seal(s) polar bearfs]
grizzly bear(s) cougar(s)
I must be satisfied or I may return my
purchase in 30 days for full refund and
cancel my membership.
Enclosed find $ check or money
order. Or, charge D BankAmericard
□ Master Charge. Interbank #
Acc't#
Signature
Name
. Exp..
Address
City/State/ZIP .
National4-H Forestry Award winners, front to rear: ^; 'i' '' h
Jeffrey Little, JvhhPfleiderer,:Melinda Hodden, Craig I.*" ; ^. ■!■.,,"*
Jerabek,SteveWelfihe^',andJPavidDoherty,Jr. } » ' -
9^m
P«»'
. A
:*^
feA'.id
■ ■' . '..'''
«V%- :•$
B
*^^^
/'
^\
\
v\o*-.\'It^ r-';
'■^^
4[?» V
'' iiiiliF
Hoiv six 4-H members
became the proud parents of
over 60,000 baby trees
In the year 2000, Americans
will use about twice as much
paper and wood products as
they use today. And the U.S.
Forest Service predicts that
America's commercial timber-
lands won't be able to keep up
with the demand.
Our hope lies to a great
extent in concerned yoinig
people — like these six teen-
agers who won the National
4-H Forestry Award and
scholarship. These young
people show just what can be
accomplished. And that's why
we're sponsoring the awards:
to encourage people to start
young — thinking about the
future of America's forests and
doing something about it.
Enough trees to keep
a city going
Together, Craig Jerabek,
David Doherty, and Jeffrey
Little planted over 57,000 of
the 60,000 seedlings — enough
to keep a city of 16,000 people
supplied in paper for an entire
year when the trees are grown.
Melinda Hadden's spe-
cialty is Christmas trees — she's
planted 1,200 of them. She's
also planted about 300 trees for
homeowners whose trees
were destroyed by a violent
windstorm.
k
John Pfleiderer has re-
searched and fought Dutch elm
disease — a killer which wiped
out many of Greeley, Colorado's
most beautiful trees. (John
also taught himself grafting —
and created new forms
of trees.)
But there's more to a
forest than just trees. Health\'
forests are a complete eco-
system. That's why Steve
Welches has planted over 1,200
shrubs fcir animal cover. And
why David Dohert)' has built
dens and brush pUes for rabbits
and small game birds. (And
succeeded in bringing them
back to land that was once
ravaged by Hurricane Camille.)
Fortunately, these six
teen-agers aren't alone in their
commitment. There are 100,000
more 4-H members also work-
ing in forestry.
And forest companies pull-
ing on the same team.
International Paper shares
the burden
We've developed a Super-
tree— a southern pine that
grows taller, straighter, healthier,
and faster than ordinary pines.
We're experimenting
with a new machine that can
harvest an entire tree — taproots
and all. We're moving ahead
®
on projects like fertilization
techniques. Tree farm pro-
grams. Forest research.
We'll show a private land-
owner how to prepare a site,
plant, protect, thin, and harvest
— at no charge. (In some
cases, doubli)!;^ his yield.) For
this help, IP gets the right to
bu\- a landowner's timber at
competitive prices.
More to be done
Will all this be enough to
keep the world's fiber supply
going strong? It'll help. But
more must be done.
At International Paper,
we believe forest products
companies, private landowners
and government should work
together to develop more
constructive policies for man-
aging America's forests. The
wrong policies can make
tree farming impossible and
force the sale of forest land for
other purposes. The right
poUdes can assure continuation
of America's forests — a renew-
able natural resource.
If you'd like more informa-
tion about what has to be done
to assure the world's fiber sup-
ply, please write to Dept. 159- A,
International Paper Company,
220 East 42nd Sti-eet, New York,
New York 10017.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY
220 EAST 42ND STREET NEW YORK NEW YORK 10017
Norm Thompson's Ranch Pants
...Tougher than
blue jeans and a
heckuva lot better
looking!
Ranch Pants for men and women are
styled with a l)old western flavor and made to
withstand just about any kind of tough use
you can give 'em. You get the lightweight
-!— ^wa-^^^f"* comfort of 50%
iW^pm-J --"theTS
durability of
50% Dacron®
polyester. A
unique finish
makes them spot
and stain resis-
tant. They're
completely ma-
chine washable
and dryable.
We think
Ranch {"ants are
better than blue
jeans for camp-
ing, hiking, rid-
ing, or any out-
door adventure.
And what's
more, they look
great as casual
slacks with a
sweater or jack-
et. Either way,
they're a genu-
ine bargain in
comfort, long
wear, and good
looks.
Unconditionally guaranteed for 6 months!
If your Ranch Pants rip, tear, or wear out
within six months, we'll send you a new pair
free or refund your money.
Colors: Desert tan or slate blue. Men's
even waist sizes: 28-50. Women's (no back
pockets), all waist sizes: 22-30, 32, 34. Ranch
Pants are shipped unhcmmed for easy adjust-
ment to your exact leg length. $18.75 ppd.
Dept. 03-16
1805N.W.Thurman
Portland, Or. 97209
Order TOLL FREE anytime 800-547-6712
(Excluding Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska)
NormHionipson
Ranch Pants
Oty.
Size
Color
Men's 4382
Women's 4389
□ Check enclosed. Charge to my:
□ BankAmericard. □ Master Charge.
Card #
(Please include all raised letters and num-
bers)
Signature X
□ Send FREE "Escape from the ordinary®"
color catalog. Save up to i/j on imported
sports clothes and cf|uipment.
Address.
City
_Zip_
Robert S.O. Harding and Shirley
C. Strum consider their study of the
baboons in Gilgil, Kenya, a rare op-
portunity to observe evolving behav-
ior in a stable, free-ranging primate
population. They both plan to con-
tinue their work there. Harding, who
teaches anthropology at the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, will concentrate
on the baboons' ecology. Strum, ah
anthropologist at the University of
California at San Diego, will go on
with her investigation of the baboons'
social organization. Harding became
interested in animal behavior while
working for the State Department in
Germany, a career he followed until
1967 . Strum first became interested in
primates because she thought people
were too complicated. She now finds
that her interest in humanity has been
rekindled.
An authority on Arctic art and cul-
ture, but with a wide-ranging interest
in other regions as well, Edmund
Carpenter has lived and worked
among Indian and Eskimo societies
for many years. He is the author of
Eskimo Realities and is now prepar-
ing a book on the treasures of Kluk-
wan, a center of the art of Northwest
Coast Indians. Carpenter, who has
taught anthropology at several uni-
versities in the United States and Can-
ada, is currently associated with the
Museum fiir Volkerkunde at Basel,
Switzerland. The photograph of Car-
penter was taken during the Hindu
spring festival in Benares, India,
when his face was painted with grease
by other participants. William Reid,
who wrote the prologue to Carpen-
ter's article, is a carver whose work,
including a house with totems and
mortuaries done for the University of
British Columbia, continues the tra-
dition of his Haida Indian forebears.
As your introduction to membership in the BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB'
The most comprehensive encyclopedia
of philosophy ever published..
FOR ONLY
$1750
I HE SUCCLSTlilJ IKIAL
You simply aurcc 10 buy
lour Club choices within a
year a( substantial saving!
on most books you choose
PUBLISHER'S LIST PRICE: $99.50
The complete contents of the original
eight-volume $219.50 edition now in a
handsome four-volume reader's edition
ONE OF THE GREATEST repositories of philo-
sophical information available anywhere.
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy is the only major
philosophical reference work published in English
since 1901.
In this unique 5,000,000-word work can be
found clear, authoritative answers to almost any
question concerning philosophy — ancient, medi-
eval and modern. Eastern as well as Western. And
because the work represents the collaboration of
more than 500 philosophers and philosophical
scholars from twenty-four countries, every shade
of opinion is represented. No thinker or move-
ment is dismissed as too radical, no issue is scanted
as too controversial. There are articles, for exam-
ple, that discuss such contemporary matters as the
ethics of suicide and euthanasia and the benefits
and dangers of computing machines.
Clearly, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy be-
longs in every personal library, particularly in
homes where there are high school or college stu-
dents. Up to now its high price has kept it out of
the reach of most families. But, as a new member
of the Book-of-the-Month Club, you may own it
for less than a tenth of the cost of the original
eight-volume edition. Because only a limited num-
ber of sets have been set aside for this offer, you
are advised to act quickly.
SPECIAL FEATURES AND EDITORIAL FACTS
• 4200 pages
• 5,000,000 words
• Nearly 1500 articles,
including 900 on
individual philosophers
• 158-page index
• Paul Edwards, editor
in chief
• Editorial Board of 15.1
international scholars
• Contributors: 500
specialists from
twenty-four countries
A SMALL SAMPLING OF THE IDEAS
AND PHILOSOPHERS IN THESE VOLUMES
Pain Atheism Semantics The Absolute
Nothing Free Will Humanism Good ;md Evil
Truth Nonsense Linguistics Existentialism
LOCKE WITTGENSTEIN CAMUS NEWTON
CONFUCIUS SANTAYANA KANT DESCARTES
ERASMUS SPINOZA NIETZSCHE HEGEL
SARTRE THOMAS AQUINAS ARISTOTLE EINSTEIN
RUSSELL PIAGET PLATO KIERKEGAARD
BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB, INC., Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, 17012 6-fl398-3
Please enroll me as a member of the Book-of-the-Month Club and send
me the four-volume reader's edition of The Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
billing me $17.50. 1 agree to buy at least four Selections or Alternates
during the first year I am a member, paying in most cases special mem-
bers' prices. My membership is cancelable any time after I buy these
four books. A shipping charge is added to all shipments. ^
jijss f (Please print plainly)
Address '*"'
City&
State Zip
FACTS ABOUT MEMBERSHIP
. Vou will r«dv= the Book.of-th=-Morlh Club N,ws. a d«,<l; whjihj, you warn il, Ih.t Sekcllon may be r.-
lilerary magazine published by Ihe Club fideen limes a '_"f"'^'*^^' conijnuc after your trial membership, you will
''?°ii,Il'„',I!r,'n?wili'te Mni'iTmS ^'SmaTefy^eSfJ iarn aT^eSt om Book-Dividends Credit tor every Selec-
of Alternates, and will De sent to you approximately c y Alternate you buy. These Credits enable you to
three and a half weeks. """ "' J' library a wide variety of books, called
will be shipped to you automatically. Book-pividcnds. .'''^^{^"'^'^'"^j/f^^^f Tv«em'°iTiorc tiian
• If you do not want the Selection - or you would hke one ?/J^ i ^ n d d II be available to choose from
rcceiv/"&:Uaio^n^wT[houi having had at leasi 10 days lo size and quality.
A Naturalist at Large
by Rene Dubos
An Inadvertent Ecologist
Louis Pasteur foresaw
an area of science
that is only now developing
To view Louis Pasteur's profes-
sional achievements gives one the im-
pression that he led an enchanted life.
His contributions to science, technol-
ogy, and medicine were prodigious
and continued without interruption
from his early twenties to his mid-six-
ties. His skill in public debates and
his flair for dramatic demonstrations
enabled him to triumph over his op-
ponents. His discoveries had practi-
cal applications that immediately
contributed to the health and wealth
of humankind. His worldwide fame
made him a legendary character dur-
ing his lifetime; he was, and remains,
the white knight of science.
While writing Pasteur's biography
a quarter of a century ago, I could
readily document the fact that his ex-
traordinary successes had been
achieved at the cost of immense labor
and against tremendous odds — in-
cluding the stroke that paralyzed him
on the left side at the age of forty-
six. However, I felt I could also read
between the lines of his public state-
ments the frequent expressions of a
melancholy mood, an intellectual and
emotional regret at having sacrificed
great theoretical problems to the pur-
suit of practical applications. Writing
as if he had not been complete master
of his own life, Pasteur stated time
and time again that he had been "en-
chained" by the inescapable logic of
his discoveries; he had thus been
compelled to move from the study of
crystals to fermentation, then to spon-
taneous generation, on to infection
and vaccination.
One can indeed recognize a majes-
tic ordering in Pasteur's scientific ca-
reer. Yet, the logic that governed the
succession of his achievements was
not as inescapable as he stated. At
almost any point in the evolution of
his scientific career, he could have
followed, just as logically, other lines
of work that would have led him to
discoveries in fields other than fer-
mentation and vaccination. Some of
his casual remarks indicate that he
was aware of the potentialities he had
left undeveloped.
Early in his scientific life he pre-
dicted, for example, that a day would
come "when microbes will be uti-
lized in certain industrial operations
on account of their ability to attack
organic matter." Today, in fact, mi-
crobial processes are used on an enor-
mous scale to produce organic acids,
solvents, vitamins, enzymes, and
drugs. In 1877, he observed that the
anthrax bacillus loses its virulence
when placed in contact with certain
soil microbes and he suggested that
saprophytic organisms might be used
to combat infectious agents. This was
of course a vision of antibiotic ther-
apy, more than sixty years before its
actual beginning. Such lines of inves-
tigation, and others that he suggested,
were within Pasteur's technical possi-
bilities and he could have followed
them , if he had had time . He had good
reasons indeed to ask himself whether
"the road not taken" might not have
been the better road.
Many other aspects of his early sci-
entific work continued to occupy his
mind throughout his life and fre-
quently surfaced in the form of casual
remarks, suggestions for new lines of
experiments, and prophetic views on
the direction science should take.
The effect of environmental factors
on the characteristics and activities of
living things was a particular theme
that he did not develop in his experi-
mental work but that continually
emerged in his writings. Here again
one of his statements betrays regret at
his not having followed his early
hunches. He had entered the field of
pathology almost by accident through
his work on the diseases of silk-
worms. His first hypothesis had been
that these diseases were nutritional
and physiological in nature, but he
eventually discovered that they could
be controlled by protecting the worms
against microbial contamination.
However, despite the outstanding
success of this control technique, he
continued to believe that the resist-
ance of the worms could be increased
by measures that would improve their
physiological state. In Etudes sur la
maladie des vers a sole, he went as
far as to state: "If I were to undertake
new studies on the silkworm dis-
eases, I would direct my effort to the
environmental conditions that in-
crease their vigor and resistance."
This phrase clearly reveals an aspect
of his thought that greatly intrigued
him but that he did not have the time
to convert into experimental work.
Even though Pasteur's name is
identified with the "germ theory" of
fermentation and disease — namely,
the view that many types of chemical
alterations and of pathological proc-
esses are caused by specific types of
microbes — it is certain that his con-
cern was not limited to the causative
role of microbes. He was intensely
interested in what he called the "ter-
rain," a word he used to include the
environmental factors that affect the
course of fermentation and of dis-
ease. I now see more clearly than I
did when writing Pasteur's biography
that the magnitude of his theoretical
and practical achievements derives in
large part from the fact that his con-
ceptual view of life was fundamen-
tally ecological.
From the very beginning of his bio-
logical investigations, Pasteur be-
came aware of the fact that the chemi-
cal activities of microbes are pro-
foundly influenced by environmental
factors. Furthermore, he developed
very early a sweeping ecological con-
cept of the role played by microbial
life in the cycles of matter. During the
1860s he wrote letters to important
French officials to advocate support
of microbiological sciences on the
From Charles Scribner's Sons forthcoming title Louis Pasteur: Free Lance of Science, by Rene Dubos, copyright © Rene Dubos,
What
Quality
makes a
Paperback?
What makes a paperback a quality paperback? Pick one up
and see. Feel the rich finish of the paper. The heft of the
book itself. Hold a page up to the light . See how crisp and
clear the type is . . . and how the printing on the other side
doesn't show through Open and close the book a few times
then thumb through the pages and listen for the distinctive
"snap." You'll quickly understand why the books Quality
Paperback Book Club offers to members compare favor-
ably with the finest hardcover editions . . . and why you'll
be proud to display them in your home library.
Binding. All the books we offer are sturdily
bound (often secured with costly stitching)
to withstand years of openings and closings.
198. PubPr
Tide. The pnmary cncenon for selection by
Quality Paperback Book Club is of course
editorial quality. All titles are chosen lo
reflect the best available fiction and non-
fiction.
Paper. We select books that are printed on
heavy, opaque stock — the land of paper
that resists yellovk'ing and doesn't strain
your eyes with annoying glare
Design. The books we offer members are
chosen for their esthetic appeal as well as
their literary merit Covers. tyf)ography
and artwork make Quality PaF>erback selec-
tions a delight to both hand and eye
275. Pub Price $6.95
210. Pub Prices Total S11.90
265. Pub Price S3.95
151. Pub Price S8.95
269. Pub Price S9.75
Any 3 books or sets for only H each
You simply agree to buy six more
within the next year and as a mem-
ber you'll immediately qualify for
our Free Book Plan.
There are paperbacks. And
there are paperbacks. Quahty
Paperback Book Club offers
the kinds of paperbacks that
are meant to be kept as well
as read. Now you can read —
and keep— any three books of
your choice for only $1 each
by accepting the short trial
membership in Quality Paper-
back Book Club outlined here.
QUALITY PAPERBACK
OOS^BOOK CLUB. INC.
'** *='**' Middletown.
Pennsylvania I7057
QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB, INC.
Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057
6-QB113-3
Please enroll me as a member of the Quality Paperback Book Club and send me the three books or sets
whose numbers I've indicated in the boxes below. Bill me only $3 for all three, plus shipping. My only
obligation is to purchase six more books or sets during the coining year, receiving a 20% discount on every
Main Selection I take. My membership is cancelable any time after I buy the six additional books or sets.
A moderate shipping charge is added to all shipments.
INDICATE BY NUMBER YOUR I I I I I I
THREE BOOKS OR SETS I I I I I I
( Please print plainly)
Q-30
HOW MEMBERSHIP WORKS
1. You will receive QPB Review fifteen times a year
— about every 3^/2 weeks. This informative catalog
describes the Main Selection plus approximately
one hundred Alternates. The IMaln Selection Is always
at a 20% dlMTOunt.
2. If you want the Main Selection, do nothing. It
will be shipped to you automatically. If you want
one or more of the Alternates— or no book at all —
just indicate your decision on the reply form always
enclosed with the Review and return it by the date
specified.
du-
3. Free books. For every book or set you buy (e
sive of your three introtiuctory choices for $1 each)
you earn at least one Bonus Point, and the Bonus
Points you accumulate entitle you to free books and
sets. (You pay only shipping charges.)
4. Return privilege. If vour Review is delayed in the
mail and therefort you receive the Main Selection
\\athout having had ten days to notify
that Selectii
grounds that the whole economy of
nature, and therefore man's welfare,
depended upon the beneficial activi-
ties of microorganisms. He boldly
postulated that microbial life is re-
sponsible for the constant recycling
of chemical substances under natural
conditions — from complex organic
matter to simple molecules and back
into living substance. In a language
that was more visionary than scien-
tific, he asserted that each of the
various microbial types plays a spe-
cialized part in the orderly succession
of changes essential for the continu-
ation of life on earth. Long before the
word ecology had been introduced
into the scientific literature, he thus
achieved an intuitive understanding
of the interplay between biological
and chemical processes that brings
about the finely orchestrated manifes-
tations of life and of transformations
of matter in natural phenomena.
Pasteur's ecological attitude can
also be recognized in his repeated em-
phasis— to the point of obsession —
on the fact that the morphology and
chemical activities of any particular
microbial species are conditioned by
the physicochemical characteristics
of the environment. He pointed out,
for example, that molds can be fila-
mentous or yeastlike in shape, de-
pending upon the oxygen tension of
the medium in which they grow. He
demonstrated also that the gaseous
environment determines the relative
proportions of alcohol, organic acids,
carbon dioxide, and protoplasmic
material produced by a particular mi-
crobial species from a particular sub-
strate. Observations of this type give
to the book in which he assembled his
studies on beer (Etudes sur la biere,
published in 1876) an importance that
far transcends the practice of beer
making. In that book he approached
the problem of fermentation from an
ecological point of view. By demon-
strating that "fermentation is life
without oxygen," he introduced the
first sophisticated evidence of bio-
chemical mechanisms in an ecologi-
cal relationship.
The sophistication of his ecologi-
cal attitude is perhaps best illustrated
by his studies of butyric fermentation
and of putrefaction. He noticed that
the bacteria that produce butyric acid
can function only in the absence of
oxygen. When he observed these mi-
crobes under the microscope, for ex-
ample, he noticed that they were ac-
tively motile in the center of a drop
of fermenting fluid but lost their mo-
tility at the margin of the drop where
they were in direct contact with the
air; he showed indeed that he could
arrest butyric acid production simply
by passing a current of air through the
fermenting fluid. He established also
that the evil-smelling decomposition
(putrefaction) of meat or other prod-
ucts containing proteins was caused
by microbes that functioned only
when protected from the air.
The ecological attitude in Pasteur's
laboratory certainly helped his asso-
ciate Emile Duclaux, who eventually
became director of the Pasteur Insti-
tute, to recognize that the enzymatic
equipment of microbes can be modi-
fied at will by altering the composi-
tion of the culture medium. This was
the first demonstration of a phenome-
non that opened the way for discov-
eries on enzyme induction, and thus
constitutes another fundamental link
in the understanding of the ecological
relation between environmental fac-
tors and biological characteristics.
Pasteur's recognition of the effects
that environmental factors exert on
metabolic activities is now incorpo-
rated into theoretical microbiology
and technological applications. In
contrast, his forceful statements con-
cerning the importance of the terrain
in infectious diseases have been over-
looked, in part because he did not
have time to support his intuitive
views by systematic laboratory inves-
tigations, and perhaps even more be-
cause medical scientists continue to
neglect this field, except with regard
to the special approach that Pasteur
himself had opened — immunological
protection. Yet he had a sophisticated
ecological concept of infectious
processes based on an awareness of
the genetic and environmental param-
eters that condition evolutionary
and phenotypic adaptations. This as-
pect of his biological philosophy can
be illustrated with statements para-
phrased from his writings.
Early in his work on disease, Pas-
teur recognized that it was a biologi-
cal necessity for living things to be
endowed with natural resistance to
the agents of destruction ubiquitous
in their environment. As he saw it,
populations, of microbes or of men,
usually achieve some sort of evolu-
tionary adaptation to their environ-
ment that renders them better able to
resist the causes of disease with
which they often come into contact.
Furthermore, he took it for granted
that the body in a state of normal
physiological health exhibits a strik-
ing resistance to many types of micro-
bial agents. As he pointed out, the
body surfaces harbor various micro-
organisms that can cause damage
only when the body is weakened. In
contrast, infection often fails to take
hold even when antiseptic measures
are neglected in the course of surgery.
Indeed, humans possess a remarkable
ability to overcome foci of infection.
Pasteur's attitude regarding the im-
portance of physiological well-being
in resistance to infection had devel-
oped during his studies with silk-
worms. He had soon recognized pro-
found differences in the pathogenesis
of two diseases in these insects. In
one, pebrine, the presence of the spe-
cific protozoan was a sufficient cause
of the disease, provided the infective
dose was large enough. In the other,
flacherie, the resistance of the worms
to infection was profoundly in-
fluenced by environmental factors.
Among these, Pasteur considered that
excessive heat and humidity, inade-
quate aeration, stormy weather, and
poor food were inimical to the general
physiological health of the insects.
As he put it, the proliferation of mi-
croorganisms in the intestinal tract of
worms suffering from flacherie was
more an effect than a cause of the dis-
ease. Here Pasteur was anticipating
George Bernard Shaw's remark in the
preface to The Doctor's Dilemma
(1906): "The characteristic microbe
of a disease might be a symptom in-
stead of a cause."
Pasteur did not hesitate to extend
these views to the most important
human diseases. He accepted that re-
sistance to tuberculosis was on the
one hand an expression of hereditary
endowment and on the other hand
was inffuenced by the state of nutri-
tion and by certain factors of the envi-
ronment, including the climate.
In his words: ' 'A child is not likely
to die of tuberculosis if he is raised
under good nutritional and climatic
conditions. ... Let me emphasize
that there is a fundamental difference
between the characteristics that de-
fine a disease — the disease per se so
to speak — and the set of circum-
stances that increase susceptibility to
it. . . . There may be more similarity
than appears at first sight between the
factors that favor pulmonary tubercu-
losis and those that are responsible for
the spread of the flacherie disease
among silkworms."
Again in his words: ' 'All too often,
the general condition of a person who
has been wounded, his physiological
TyiePhtinumBicmtenrdal „
CommemoratJveMedal
For ^20Q we have to offer a lot
more thanpstpatriotism.
We know there are plenty of
people who buy bicentennial pieces
strictly for sentimental value. And
that's fine with us.
But if you're looking for some-
thing a bit more valuable, we'd like you
to know that our bicentennial com-
memorative is also one ounce of pure
platinum.
We mention this because it's the
first platinum piece commemorating
America.
What's more, it's a chance to
purchase one ounce of pure platinum
at the official market price, plus a small
production cost.
Platinum is the most expensive
precious metal you can buy. Contrary
to popular belief, even more expensive
than gold. And unlike gold, platinum
doesn't go through the roof or floor at
the hint of a good or bad day on Wall
Street. Instead, it's managed to in-
crease in value through the best and
the worst of times. In fact, since 1945
the price of plati-
num has increased
more than four
times.
And just as
platinum does a
good job of sus-
taining its value, it
does a good job of maintaining its
appearance. So years from now you'll
find it will have the same luster and
brilliance it had the day it was struck.
Which, indeed, will keep the value of
our medal looking better every year.
If you're looking for a bicenten-
nial offer that won't short change you,
you should look into our limited edi-
tion platinum medal. It'snotonly a
celebration of our past, it's a nice little
investment foryourfuture.
Or someone else's.
Please send me the Platinum Bicentennial Commem
orative Medal (one ounce of pure platinum, actual
size TA inches diameter) which comes encased in a
presentation gift box, together with a certificate of
authenticity.
I enclose S200.00 for each medal in:
□ Check D Money order
(add applicable N.Y.city &N.Y.state sales tax)
(please print clearly)
City, State, & Zip:
Signature:
Send to: Platinum Metals International, Inc.
c/o American Bank & Trust Co., Dept. BCM
79 Pine Street
New York, New York 10003
misery, his poor mental state, are
responsible for the fact that his body
cannot offer an adequate resistance to
the multiplication of microbes in the
wound."
This point of view naturally led
Pasteur to conclude that resistance to
infection could probably be increased
by improving the physiological state
of the infected individual. He urged
his collaborator Emile Duclaux to
look for procedures that would in-
crease the general resistance of silk-
worms. And he expressed the opinion
that in man also, successful therapy
often depends upon the ability of the
physician to restore the physiologi-
cal conditions favorable to natural
resistance.
Although Pasteur thus had a clear
view of the influence that the physio-
logical state and environmental fac-
tors exert on resistance to infection,
he did not carry out any significant
experimental work in this area. He
probably felt that in the state of scien-
tific knowledge of his time the more
urgent task was to determine the spe-
cific causes of infection and to search
for specific methods of protection. It
is indeed certain that biological
sciences in general and microbiologi-
cal sciences in particular could not
have gone far without the precise
knowledge and the intellectual disci-
pline provided by the concept of spe-
cificity. The time has come, however,
when it would be profitable to follow
more actively the other approaches
that Pasteur visualized but did not fol-
low— the physiological and ecologi-
cal study of microorganisms in natu-
ral systems and in pathological proc-
esses.
Pasteur's ecological philosophy
had little influence on the practical
policies he advocated for controlling
the phenomena of fermentation and
infection. When he discussed large
theoretical problems in the light of
ecological concepts, he professed
that the activities of microbes are es-
sential for the continuation of life on
earth; he also suggested that microbes
might safely coexist with animals and
human beings if the infectious proc-
ess took place under proper environ-
mental and physiological conditions.
In practice, however, he devoted
most of his laboratory work to the de-
velopment of practical techniques for
the domestication or destruction of
microbes. This dichotomy between
conceptual theory and scientific prac-
tice can be partially explained by
the climate of scientific and public
opinion in the nineteenth century.
The germ theory was formulated at
a time when many biologists and so-
cial philosophers believed that one of
the fundamental laws of life is com-
petition, a belief symbolized by
phrases such as "nature red in tooth
and claw" and "survival of the fit-
test." The ability of an organism to
destroy or at least to master its ene-
mies or competitors was then deemed
an essential condition of biological
success. In the light of this theory,
microbes were to be destroyed, un-
less they could be used for some hu-
man purpose, as in desirable fermen-
tations. Aggressive warfare against
microbes was particularly the battle
cry of medical microbiology and is
still reflected in the language of this
science. The microbe is said to be an
"aggressor" that "invades" the tis-
sues; the body "mobilizes" its de-
fenses; the physician or the scientist
is a disease "fighter" whose goal is
to achieve the "conquest" of this or
that infection.
As we have seen, Pasteur did not
share the simple-minded view that
killing and being killed are the only
alternatives in biological relation-
ships; indeed he had perceived the
ecological possibilities and advan-
tages of peaceful coexistence. But he
lived in a period when knowledge
meant power used for the conquest of
nature. It was during the nineteenth
century that the findings of experi-
mental science were for the first time
converted into large-scale techno-
logical applications. Like his contem-
poraries, Pasteur identified progress
with the use of science for achieving
mastery over natural forces. As he
was very much a man of his time, he
focused most of his effort on the kind
of scientific problems most likely to
yield results of practical signifi-
cance— for example, by helping in
the "control" of fermentation and in
the "conquest" of disease. For his
public life, scientific progress meant
the development of techniques such
as sterilization, pasteurization, and
vaccination, even though these prac-
tical lines of work prevented him
from pursuing other questions that he
considered of larger theoretical sig-
nificance.
Scientists, like artists, unavoidably
reflect the characteristics of the civili-
zation and the time in which they live.
In this sense, they are "enchained,"
as Pasteur complained he had been,
by the inexorable logic of their time
and their work. A few of the greater
ones, however, have visions that ap-
pear to be without roots in their cul-
tural past and that are not readily ex-
plained by direct environmental in-
fluences. These visionaries appear in-
deed almost as eruptive phenomena,
seemingly unpredictable from their
environment. Yet even they are not
freaks in the natural sequence of cul-
tural events. They constitute mentali-
ties through which emerge and be-
come manifest social undercurrents
that remain hidden to less perceptive
minds. Some of these visionaries suc-
ceed in converting their preoccupa-
tions— which are signs from the cul-
tural subconscious — into messages
and products of immediate value to
their fellowmen; they become the
heroes of their societies. Others per-
ceive the hopes and the tasks of the
distant future, but without providing
definite answers or practical solu-
tions; they give warnings of the ques-
tions and problems to come, but their
anticipations are usually not under-
stood by their contemporaries.
Pasteur, however, belongs in both
classes. As a representative of nine-
teenth-century bourgeois civili-
zation, he focused much of his scien-
tific life on the practical problems of
his time. But he was also a visionary
who saw beyond the needs and con-
cerns of his contemporaries; he for-
mulated scientific and philosophical
problems that were not yet ripe for
solution.
His immense practical skill in con-
verting theoretical knowledge into
technological processes made him
one of the most effective men of his
century; he synthesized the known
facts of biology and chemistry into
original concepts of fermentation and
disease and thus created a new
science that dealt with the urgent
needs of his social environment. The
other side of his genius, although less
obvious, is more original and perhaps
more important in the long run. His
emphasis on the essential role played
by microorganisms in the economy of
nature, and on the interplay between
living things and environment, made
him perceive an area of science that
is only now beginning to develop; he
contributed to scientific philosophy
by perceiving that all forms of life are
integrated components of a global
ecological system.
Rene Dubos, professor emeritus at
The Rockefeller University in New
York City, is a microbiologist and ex-
perimental pathologist.
Detach
this card
and mail for
Tree
COLOR PROSPECTUS
with illustrations from the
Encyclopedia of World Art
and full details of the
advantageous budget
plan for Subscribers.
No stamp required.
fe w w
% .a
>-!
Pi a
Uit
o
pa 2
WHATEVER MAN HAS
CREATED THAT IS
BEAUTIFUL TO LOOK
UPON NOW AWAITS
YOUR DISCOVERY IN
THIS EXTRAORDINARY
SET OF BOOKS
Mail card for free Prospectus
!E
ree
to readers
.^ with an abiding joy in the arts
The story of a"monument
to mans visual imagination"
^—^ -SATURDAY REVII
-SATURDAY REVIEW
I
F YOUR PLEASURE in art is deep and wide-ranging, we invite
you to send for this handsome booklet.
It is illustrated with beautiful color plates representing man's
creative triumphs from many periods and cultures.
It is in fact a prospectus describing in detail the most ex-
traordinary publishing project of our time — the monumental
Encyclopedia of World Art in 1 5 volumes.
The prospectus is free. We hope the sampling will arouse
the same excitement in you that the Encyclopedia has aroused
in the entire art world. But you incur no obligation in request-
ing a copy. No salesman will call.
The Encyclopedia oi World Art embraces man's greatest
achievements in the visual arts through the centuries. To turn
the pages of these prodigious volumes ... to read, to learn, to
explore their visual delights ... is a remarkable experience.
There are hundreds of absorbing factual articles, prepared
by the most eminent art authorities. In more than 7,000 su-
perb full-page plates — measuring a full 9 inches by 12 inches
in size — you will \ie\\' rare treasures of renowned museums and
private collections all over the world. Not only paintings,
sculpture and architecture — but every art from armor to tex-
tiles, ceramics to tapestry, fashions, furniture and landscape
gardening, i\'ory, jade and stained glass, jewelry and silver.
More than 16,000 works of art are shown, almost 2,000 of
them in magnificent color.
A convenient Reader's Guide shows you how related ar-
ticles can enrich your understanding of any art subject you
wish to pursue.
With your free color prospectus, you will learn how you
may examine Volume I at leisure in your home and, if you
wish, become a subscriber to the Encyclopedia on a conven-
ient budget plan. Mail the attached card or write:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Dept. AY-1 36 ,
1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020
Encyclopedia ojW&rMyLrtr
Whatever man has created that is beautiful to look upon ...in a 15-volume art library and "gallery" for the home
"An essential possession for anyone with a serious personal or professional
interest in art ... a work to be explored, studied and enjoyed."
Harry Einbinder, The Saturday Review
"A great landmark in art publications— a monumental undertaking."
Dorothy Adiow, Christian Science Monitor
"Packed with wonders." John Canaday, New York Times
"One of the most spectacular— and praiseworthy— achievements in the
field of literature and fine arts." Rex Barley, Los Angeles Mirror News
MAIL THE ATTACHED CARD
This View of Life
Criminal Man Revived
Despite its weak plot, this
old — and dangerous — farce
keeps reappearing
W.S. Gilbert directed his potent
satire at all forms of pretension as he
saw them. For the most part we con-
tinue to applaud him: pompous peers
and affected poets are still legitimate
targets. But Gilbert was a comfort-
able Victorian at heart, and much that
he labeled as pretentious now strikes
us as enlightened — higher education
for women, in particular.
A women's college! maddest
folly going!
What can girls learn within
its walls worth knowing?
In Princess Ida, the Professor of
Humanities at Castle Adament pro-
vides a biological justification for her
proposition that " man is nature ' s sole
mistake." She tells the tale of an ape
who loved a beautiful woman. To win
her affection, he tried to dress and act
like a gentleman, but all necessarily
in vain, for
Darwinian Man, though
well-behaved,
At best is only a monkey
shaved!
Gilbert produced Princess Ida in
1884, eight years after an Italian phy-
sician, Cesare Lombroso, had ini-
tiated one of the most powerful social
movements of his time with a similar
claim made in all seriousness about
a group of men — born criminals are
essentially apes living in our midst.
Later in life, Lombroso recalled his
moment of revelation:
In 1870 I was carrying on for sev-
eral months researches in the pris-
ons and asylums of Pavia upon ca-
davers and living persons, in order
to determine upon substantial dif-
ferences between the insane and
criminals, without succeeding very
well. Suddenly, the morning of a
gloomy day in December, I found
in the skull of a brigand a very long
series of atavistic anomalies. . . .
The problem of the nature and of
the origin of the criminal seemed
to me resolved; the characters of
primitive men and of inferior ani-
mals must be reproduced in our
times.
Biological theories of criminality
were not new, but Lombroso gave the
argument a novel, evolutionary twist.
Born criminals are not simply de-
ranged or diseased; they are, literally,
throwbacks to a previous evolution-
ary stage. The hereditary characters
of our primitive and apish ancestors
remain in our genetic repertoire.
Some unfortunate men are born with
an unusually large number of these
ancestral characters. Their behavior
may have been appropriate in savage
societies of the past; today, we brand
it as criminal. We may pity the born
criminal, for he cannot help himself;
but we cannot tolerate his actions.
(Lombroso believed that about 40
percent of criminals fell into this cate-
gory of innate biology — born crimi-
nals. Others committed misdeeds for
greed, jealousy, extreme anger, and
so on — criminals of occasion.)
I tell this tale for three reasons that
combine to make it far more than an
antiquarian exercise in a small corner
of forgotten, late-nineteenth-century
history.
1. A generalization about social
history: It illustrates the enormous in-
fluence of evolutionary theory in
fields far removed from its biological
core. Even the most abstract scien-
tists are not free agents. Major ideas
have remarkably subtle and far-rang-
ing extensions. The inhabitants of a
nuclear world should know this per-
fectly well, but many scientists have
yet to get the message.
2. A political point: Appeals to in-
nate biology for the explanation of
human behavior have often been ad-
vanced in the name of enlightenment.
The proponents of biological deter-
minism argue that science can cut
through a web of superstition and sen-
timentalism to instruct us about our
true nature. But their claims have
always had a different primary effect:
they are used by the leaders of class-
stratified societies to assert that a cur-
rent social order must prevail because
it is the law of nature. Of course, no
view should be rejected because we
dislike its implications. Truth, as we
understand it, must be the primary
criterion. But the claims of determin-
ists have always turned out to be prej-
udiced rubbish, not ascertained
fact — and Lombroso' s criminal an-
thropology is the finest example ; I
know. Biological determinism is a
dangerous game for liberals (and a
godsend for conservatives and apolo-
gists for the status quo).
3. A contemporary note: Lom-
broso's brand of criminal anthro-
pology is dead, but its basic postulate
lives on in popular notions of criminal
genes or chromosomes. These mod-
ern incarnations are worth about as
much as Lombroso's original ver-
sion. Their hold on our attention only
illustrates the unfortunate appeal of
biological determinism in our contin-
uing attempt to exonerate a society in
which most of us flourish by blaming
the victim.
This year marks the centenary of
Lombroso's founding document —
later enlarged into the famous
L'uomodelinquente (Criminal Man).
Lombroso begins with a series of an-
ecdotes to assert that the usual behav-
ior of lower animals is criminal by our
standards. Animals murder to sup-
press revolts; they eliminate sexual
rivals; they kill from rage (an ant,
made impatient by a recalcitrant
aphid, killed and devoured it); they
form criminal associations (three
communal beavers shared a territory
with a solitary individual; the trio vis-
ited their neighbor and were well
treated; when the loner returned the
visit, he was killed for his solicitude).
Lombroso even brands the fly catch-
ing of insectivorous plants as an
"equivalent of crime" (although I
fail to see how it differs from any
other form of eating).
In the next section, Lombroso ex-
amines the anatomy of criminals and
finds the physical signs (stigmata) of
their primitive status as throwbacks to
our evolutionary past. Since he has
i6
by Stephen Jay Gould
already defined the normal behavior
of animals as criminal, the actions of
these living primitives derives from
their nature. The apish features of
born criminals include relatively long
arms, prehensile feet with mobile big
toes, low and narrow forehead, large
ears, thick skull, large and prog-
nathous jaw, copious hair on the male
chest, and diminished sensitivity to
pain. But the throwbacks do not stop
at the primate level. Large canine
teeth and a flat palate recall a more
distant mammalian past. Lombroso
even compares the heightened facial
asymmetry of born criminals with the
normal condition of flatfishes (both
eyes on one side of the head)!
But the stigmata are not only physi-
cal. The social behavior of the born
criminal also allies him with apes and
living human savages. Lombroso
placed special emphasis on tattooing,
a common practice among primitive
tribes and European criminals. He
produced voluminous statistics on the
content of criminal tattoos and found
them lewd, lawless, or exculpating
(although he had to admit one read:
Vive la France et les pommes de
terres frites — "long live France and
f ranch fried potatoes"). In criminal
slang, he found a language of its own,
markedly similar to the speech of sav-
age tribes in such features as ono-
matopoeia and personification of in-
animate objects: "They speak dif-
ferently because they feel differently;
they speak like savages, because they
are true savages in the midst of our
brilliant European civilization."
Lombroso' s theory was no work of
abstract science. He founded and ac-
tively led an international school of
"criminal anthropology" that spear-
headed one of the most influential of
late-nineteenth-century social move-
ments. Lombroso's "positive," or
"new," school campaigned vigor-
ously for changes in law enforcement
and penal practices. They regarded
their improved criteria for the recog-
nition of born criminals as a primary
contribution to law enforcement.
Lombroso even suggested a preven-
tive criminology — society need not
JACK DANIELS 0/STG.
f*. STRAIGHT
Whiskey'
--^.
y^C ^^
YOU'RE PROBABLY FAMILIAR with our
Jack Daniel's label. But we'll bet you're too
young to remember these.
They were (designed by Jack Daniel himself
for some special bottlings at the turn of the
century. And, since everyone seems interested
in old'timey things today, we will be pleased
to mail you a set if you'd like. They're so
colorful we even considered
putting them back onto
our bottles. But then you
might think we were
changing Jack Daniel's.
And we wouldn't want
anyone carrying a thought
like that.
CHARCOAL
MELLOWED
6
DROP
6
BY DROP
Tennessee Whiskey • 90 Proof • Distilled and Bottled by Jack Daniel Distillery
Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc., Lynchburg (Pop. 361), Tennessee 37352
P/aced ;n the National Register of H/stor/c Places by ttie Uriited States Government.
17
wait (and suffer) for the act itself, for
physical and social stigmata define
the potential criminal. He can be
identified (in early childhood),
watched, and whisked away at the
first manifestation of his irrevocable
nature (Lombroso, a liberal, favored
exile rather than death). Enrico Ferri,
Lombroso 's closest colleague, rec-
ommended that "tattooing, an-
thropometry, physiognomy ... re-
flex activity, vasomotor reactions
[criminals, he argued, do not blush],
and the range of sight" be used as
criteria of judgment by magistrates.
Criminal anthropologists also cam-
paigned for a basic reform in penal
practice. An antiquated Christian
ethic held that criminals should be
sentenced for their deeds, but biology
declares that they should be judged by
their nature. Fit the punishment to the
criminal, not to the crime. Criminals
of occasion, lacking the stigmata and
capable of reform, should be jailed
for the term necessary to secure their
amendment. But born criminals were
condemned by their nature: "Theo-
retical ethics passes over the diseased
brain, as oil does over marble, with-
out penetrating it." Lombroso rec-
ommended irrevocable detention for
life (in pleasant, but isolated sur-
roundings) for any recidivist with the
telltale stigmata. Some of his col-
leagues were less generous. An influ-
ential jurist wrote to Lombroso:
You have shown us fierce and lu-
bricious orang-utans with human
faces. It is evident that as such they
cannot act otherwise. If they rav-
ish, steal, and kill, it is by virtue
of their own nature and their past,
but there is all the more reason for
destroying them when it has been
proved that they will always re-
main orang-utans.
And Lombroso himself did not rule
out the "final solution":
The fact that there exist such
beings as born criminals, organi-
cally fitted for evil, atavistic repro-
ductions, not simply of savage men
but even of the fiercest animals, far
from making us more compassion-
ate towards them, as has been
maintained, steels us against all
pity.
One other social impact of Lom-
broso's school should be mentioned.
If human savages, like born crimi-
nals, retained apish traits, then primi-
tive tribes — "lesser breeds without
the law" — could be regarded as es-
i8
sentially criminal. Thus, criminal an-
thropology provided a powerful argu-
ment for racism and imperialism at
the height of European colonial ex-
pansion. The same jurist who spoke
so blithely of orangutans argued that
modern European criminals would be
"the ornament and moral aristocracy
of a tribe of Red Indians." Lom-
broso, in noting a reduced sensitivity
to pain among criminals, wrote:
Their physical insensibility well
recalls that of savage peoples who
can bear in rites of puberty, tor-
tures that a white man could never
endure. All travelers know the in-
difference of Negroes and Ameri-
can savages to pain: the former cut
their hands and laugh in order to
avoid work; the latter, tied to the
torture post, gaily sing the praises
of their tribe while they are slowly
burnt. [You can't beat a racist a
priori. Think of how many West-
ern heroes died bravely in excruci-
ating pain — Saint Joan burned.
Saint Sebastian transfixed with
arrows, other martyrs racked,
drawn, and quartered. But when an
Indian fails to scream and beg for
mercy, it can only mean that he
doesn't feel the pain.]
If Lombroso and his colleagues
had been a dedicated group of proto-
Nazis, we could dismiss the whole
phenomenon as a ploy of conscious
demagogues. It would then convey
no other message than a plea for vigi-
lance against ideologues who misuse
science. But the leaders of criminal
anthropology were "enlightened"
socialists and social democrats who
viewed their theory as the spearhead
for a rational, scientific society based
on human realities. The genetic deter-
mination of criminal action, Lom-
broso argued, is simply the law of
nature and of evolution:
We are governed by silent laws
which never cease to operate and
which rule society with more au-
thority than the laws inscribed on
our statute books. Crime appears to
be a natural phenomenon . . . like
birth or death.
In retrospect, Lombroso 's scien-
tific "reality" turned out to be his so-
cial prejudice imposed before the fact
upon a supposedly objective study.
His notions condemned thousands of
innocent people to a prejudgment that
often worked as a self-fulfilling
prophecy. His attempt to understand
human behavior by mapping an in-
nate potential displayed in our anat-
omy served only to work against so-
cial reform by placing all blame upon
a criminal's inheritance.
Of course, no one takes the claims
of Lombroso seriously today. His sta-
tistics were faulty beyond belief; only
a blind faith in inevitable conclusions
could have led to his fudging and
finagling. Besides, no one would look
to long arms and jutting jaws today
as signs of inferiority; modern deter-
minists seek a more fundamental
marker in genes and chromosomes.
Much has happened in the 100
years between Lombroso 's formula-
tion of his theory and our Bicen-
tennial celebrations ; No serious ad-
vocate of innate criminality recom-
mends the irrevocable detention or
murder of the unfortunately afflicted
or even claims that a natural penchant
for criminal behavior necessarily
leads to criminal action. Still, the
spirit of Lombroso is very much with
us. When Richard Speck murdered
eight nurses in Chicago, his defense
argued that he couldn't help it be-
cause he bore an extra Y chromo-
some. (Normal females have two X
chromosomes, normal males an X
and a Y. A small percentage of males
have an extra Y chromosome, XYY.)
This revelation inspired a rash of
speculation; articles on the "criminal
chromosome" inundated our popular
magazines. The naively determinist
argument had little going for it be-
yond the following: Males tend to be
more aggressive than females; this
may be genetic. If genetic, it must
reside on the Y chromosome; anyone
possessing two Y chromosomes has
a double dose of aggressiveness and
might incline to violence and crimi-
nality. But the hastily collected infor-
mation on XYY males in prisons
seems hopelessly ambiguous, and
even Speck himself turns out to be an
XY male after all. Once again, bio
logical determinism makes a splash,
creates a wave of discussion and
cocktail party chatter, and then dis
sipates for want of evidence. Why are
we so intrigued by hypotheses about
innate disposition? Why do we wish
to fob off responsibility for our vio
lence and sexism upon our genes?
The hallmark of humanity is not only
our mental capacity but also our men
tal flexibility. We have made oui
world and we can change it.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science a
Harvard University.
LIVE IN THE WORLD
OF TOMORROW . . . TODAY!
And our FREE 164 PAGE CATALOG is packed with
exciting and unusual values in hobby, electronic
and science items — plus 4,500 finds for tun, study
or profit ... for every member of Ifie family.
~ A BETTER LIFE
STARTS HERE
New iheffriofetaiically conifolted
^ ^^^^^^^^_^_- gfe^nhCMjM; pfovide* conglsnt 70 '
'^^^^^^^^^HB^ lempefaiuf* acceleratet 6fce«3 g*"T
Wfti ^^^^(^ helps pfoduc* healthy thn^irkg planit fea4/
for outdoof planting Big 3 &q n planting
affea-29" * 15" / 4" to* hotfli 'j Ou&hei ot
growing medium Germinates tomato beedt m
3-5 days, asiers. dahlias, petunias, wk or less inci 3" * 4" « clear ptasttc
cover, supports Uses reg home current
Stock No B0.153E %M3i Ppd
NASA-CHOSEN
FOR APOLLO/SOYUZ
157 mi out in space, the Astronauts used this
super 20x60 binocular (modilied) to view Earth!
Our biggest, most powerfut for distance. Far-oil
objects come in big, clear & sharp to the edge
through big 60mm objective lenses; 173-lt. Iiold
ot view at 1000 yards Relative brightness, 9,0 Fully
eye lenses Coated BK-7 Porro prism Extra long All
rubber eyecups. Includes case & straps
No. 1556E . . . (9V4X8V2'; 47.5 oz.) $99.95 Ppd.
fflnft
n
coated optics, 20x spcl design
-American style with lold-down
ELECTRONIC DIGITAL
RAIN GAUGE
, , . never needs emptying, measures rain up to
100-ft. away by tenths ol an inch up to 999.9" and
empties itself Accumulate total rainlall count lor
hour, day, week, etc. Push reset button on indoor
counter to start new counting period (no need to
empty or check hermetically sealed outdoor collector which you easily mount on
lence, roof, deck, etc, w/2 ordinary screws) Includes 30-lt. o( waterproof wire, runs
on 1-yr-lile 9v trans, battery, not incI,
-"z
stock No. 85,1 05E
4% WITH CLOCK DRIVE
6 REFLECTOR TELESCOPE (48X to 360X)
6 WITH CLOCK DRIVE
3 DELUXE REFLECTOR (30 to 90X|
STANDARD 3 REFLECTOR
AVi ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE
See moon aaters. rings of Saiurn double stars
New e<jualOfia) mooni 1/10, '* wa^e rnirrof
(Pyrex*) Gfves theoretical limri ol resoloiion Rao
& ptnion focusing Aluminum tube. €X imdet v
F L 45X Kellner acftromaiic eyepiece and Bartow
lens to double & triple power up to 135X Free
Star Chan plus 2 Books
(Shipping Wt. 42 Ibx.l {159,50 FOB
• 85,107ES10950 FOB
• 8S.187ES249,50 FOB
• 85A86E S285M FOB
'80,162ES 89j»SPpd
»85,240E % 59S5 Ppd
Stock No. 72,1 65E
S44.95 Ppd.
PREHISTORIC
lUIONSTERS SLIDES!
5 huge dinosaurs (Tyrannosaurus, Dimelrodon,
Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Plesiosaur) practically
come roaring to life in full color, Amazina life-like
simulation based on year's research and existing
reptiles' habits. Shows you how each lived in its
particular ecological niche. Bodies (soft tissues) reconstructed based on skeletal
6 fossil remains from museums around the world. '"Vou are there " with this realistic
35 mm slide set (12 poses each ol 5 dinosaurs).
No. P-42,40SE (10 SLIDES, DESCRS.) $5.00 Ppd.
WORLD'S SMALLEST
CALCULATOR!
Small but mighty! 8-digit, 4-function electronic
calculator does everything big ones do — even has
automatic % key . . . for only $19.95. Take it
anywhere. Fits in your pocket — % size of cigarette
pack. 3V2 oz. dynamo features floating decimal,
constant key, lead zero depression, more! Includes plug-in rechargeable Ni-Cad
battery pack. 2 x 3'/2 x '/is" with plenty of room for most fingers. Another Edmund
first with advanced technology.
Slock No. 1945E S19.95 Ppd.
MYSTERY OF
ENERGY AND AGING
Science 'act o' larce'' Can our Great Pyramid
unlock the mysteries ol energy & agir^g— show
that the ancient Egyptians contradicted na-
tu'e'' D'd someone 'eaiiy get 85 shaves from
a blade kept >r\ a pyramid'' Test claims iihe
meat no) rotting things not ruslmg' Users 0<
exact scale models ol Cheops pyramid oriented lo true North claim all sons
ol strange phenomena based on resonating energy Ours is already assem-
bled ^ ' see thru acrylic 6 x 9'. x 9 4'
Slock No. 71,817E..
..$20 00 Ppd
AUTHENTIC SCALED
WINDMILLS
Real thing replicas show wind direc-
tion, wheel silently revolves on ball
bearings Give your grounds unique
rural charm! Great centerpiece for
planter, flowers. Use to hold yard
light, house number, sign or as mail
box. For school, a fine "energy crisis"
es everything but pump water Heavy
jtdoor finish: aluminum color w/red trim
No. 71.M3E .(17" DESK MODEL) »11-»5 Ppd.
4V, FOOT-14 LB No. 71.924E » *3*.95 Ppd.
6 FOOT-46 LB No. 85.229E W9-« FOB
project — do
F^TTl,
CAN7 SLEEP, RELAX? TRY THIS!
Electronic sound conditioner simulates
kinds of soothing sounds of ocean
^1..^ ^ ^ ram. ■White sound" helps mask unwanted
[a^^^^^^ . noise, adds restful, intriguing background
W^^^^^t^m 'I sound Program the solid-state unit to your
^^^^^^^^^ • *■ own need 2 surl. 2 ram. or white sound".
^^^^^^^^^^^ proven by medical tests to have analgesic ef-
fects. Great lor meditation, restlessness, sleeplessness psychology.
(A) No. 71.997E. ..{7V. x 7 x 3V,") 110V AC »89S5 Ppd,
(B) AS ABOVE. BUT "WHITE SOUND" ONLY
No. 71,980E ,.(6" Rd, x 3V," HI) MS-OO ""P"-
MAIL COUPON FOR
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
=-^A COMPLETE AND MAIL WITH CHECK, M. 0. OR CHARGE NO.
4500
172 PAGES • MORE THAN
UNUSUAL
BARGAINS
Complelely new Catalog Packea wilh huge seleclion ot telescopes, r
Dmoculars magnels magmliers prisms photo components ecology an
Lighting items parts kits accessories— many hard-lo-get surplus bargai
ot charts dlLislrations For hobbyists experimenters, schools, industry
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.
300 Uicorp Buildinf. Barrmiton, H J 01007
Please rush Free Giant Catalog "E"
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.
How Many Stock No.
D PLEASE SEND GIANT ~
FREE CATALOG "E" ~
300 Edscorp Building, Barrington, NJ. 08007
Description
' □ Charge my BankAmericard '
G Charge my Master Charge • Service and Handling Charge $1.00
Interbank No.l I I I |B^SS ^D^p I encloM D'*'"'' nixinty order for TOTAL i
'My Card No. Is ' 1 1 ' IWHM^^^
!l I I I I I I I I I I I I M Signature
|c.t,
Card Expiration Date
30-DAr MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE.
You must be satisfied or return
any purchase in 30 days for full
refund. -$15.00 minimum
Name
Address.
City
19
LET HIM GEO W WITH A
QUESTAR
A child's wonder at the world about him
can hold a promise, for many a scientist
can remember that his present preoccupa-
tion with the universe began with an
intense curiosity early in life.
Such a child will learn to master many
tools, and the telescope, that prime tool
of science, should be the first. A flawless
tool is an extension of the mind and hand,
and a fine telescope should combine such
mechanical and optical perfection that it
can serve for a lifetime and never become
a frustration whatever the critical job at
hand. Questar, the very finest, is such a
tool and its lovely versatility adds an
extra dimension to many fields: astron-
omy, of course, but also to disciplines
that are terrestrial in nature. Whether it
will be used for research, or simply for
the pure enjoyment of observing wildlife,
even indoors, perhaps, where its high
powers can focus on the web-spinning
of a house spider at a distance of ten feet,
it is a gift for ever. And its easy portability
can take it wherever one travels.
What other tool could you buy a child
that not only would enchant and amuse
him in his early awakening, but would
continue to serve him all his life?
© Queslar Corporation 1976
QUESTAR. THE WORLD'S FINEST, MOST VERSATILE
TELESCOPE IS PRICED FROM $865 SEND FOR OUR
BOOKLET IN FULL COLOR WITH 150 PHOTOGRAPHS
BY QUESTAR OWNERS SI COVERS MAILING ON THIS
CONTINENT, BY AIR TO SOUTH AMERICA S3 00
EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA, S3 50 ELSEWHERE S4
QUESTAR
Box 60G, New Hope, Pa. 18938
s beautiful star c
! Field Mode/,
tripod mounted.
Announcements
Continuing through April in Gal-
lery 77 of the Museum, This Exhibit
in Preparation gives visitors a "be-
hind the scenes" look at the tech-
niques used to create the Museum's
many marvelous dioramas and exhib-
its. Graphics, three-dimensional dis-
plays, and demonstrations by artists,
taxidermists, preparators, and model-
makers reveal the inner workings of
the Exhibition Department.
Beginning in early February, The
Chihuahua Whiptail Lizard will be
on view through mid-March in the
Museum Showcase, Roosevelt Me-
morial Hall, at the main entrance of
the Museum. This minipreview of the
forthcoming Hall of Reptiles and
Amphibians explains the fascinating
subject of parthenogenesis.
Museum Fragrances may be en-
joyed at all times in various exhibit
halls: Aromas of grasslands in the
Man in Africa Hall; of dry hayfields
in the Asiatic Mammals Hall; of
frangipani and salt air breezes in the
Peoples of the Pacific Hall; and of
conifers, earth, ferns, and dried and
decaying leaves in the North Ameri-
can Forests Hall.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the
Museum, "The Final Frontier" con-
tinues through April 5. This Sky
Show takes us on a futuristic voyage
to the outer reaches of space aboard
the nuclear-propelled spacecraft Era-
tosthenes. On this trip, the ship en-
counters planets, double stars, stellar
novae, other galaxies, neutron stars,
and mysterious black holes. Shows
begin at 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. dur-
ing the week with more frequent
showings on weekends. Admission is
$1.75 for adults; $1.00 for children.
Crafts Week in New York will be
celebrated in the Museum from
March 16 through 19, between the
hours of 1 :30 and 4:00 p.m. An open
crafts workshop will be held in the
Louis Calder Laboratory, and a vari-
ety of craf tspersons will give demon-
strations in the People Center.
The 1976 Natural History Photography Competition
For those who received new cameras for
Christmas, for those who are restless to
get outdoors with their old ones, and for
all whose files are brimming over with
beautiful pictures. Natural History joy-
fully announces another chance to try
your luck: the photo contest is on again.
This year we have included black-
and-white photography, kept the theme
broad, and opened separate categories
for those with specialized techniques.
We have altered the rules a bit, juggled
the judges, and changed the prizes. So
read on.
The Categories: 1 . The Natural World,
including Man. 2. Macro- and Micro-
photographs, including scanning elec-
tron micrographs. 3. A Chronological
Sequence, which may be up to five pho-
tographs, of an "Event in Nature."
The Rules: The competition is open to
everyone except employees of The
American Museum of Natural History
and their kin and all previous winners.
2. Competitors may submit up to three
previously unpublished entries in each
category. 3. Entries may be trans-
parencies or prints up to 8" by 10". Each
entry must contain the name and address
of the photographer and the category. 4.
For each entry, please tell us the camera
model used. 5. Include a self -addressed,
stamped envelope since we want to re-
turn your pictures to you.
The Closing Date: All entries should be
postmarked no later than April 1, 1976.
The Rewards: Grand Prize is $500.
First prize for each category is $250. Ten
Honorable Mentions will receive $100
each.
More Rewards: All winning entries will
be published in a special, picture-filled
issue of Natural History.
Some Hitches: The decision of the
judges will be final. Natural History
acquires the right to publish and exhibit
the winning pictures. And Natural His-
tory assumes no responsibility for trans-
parencies or prints.
Pack your beautiful entries carefully and
mail them to:
Photography Competition 1976
Natural History Magazine
7 West 77th Street
New York, New York 10024
COME iiDVE]\"TlIRI«rG!
Explore one of the
world's most important
wildlife sanctuaries.
Examine the teeming
world where the
ocean meets the shore
Join the early discoverers
in their search for a
new view of the universe
Learn £VijT,:i>iiflg about
the creatures of forest,
mountain and field.
Play under the coral
reefs in the clear waters
of the South Pacific
All the worlds of man and nature await you in the
Scf ence Book Club
(Publishers' Prices shown)
42680. DONANA; Spain's Wildlife Wilderness.
Juan Antonio Fernandez. Sumptuously illustrated por-
trait of one of tile world's most important wildlife
sanctuaries. Stunning 9-by- 1 1 -inch volume, over 240
pages of full-color photographs. Counts as J ol war J
hooks. $29.95
84285. TIDELINE. Ernest Braun. Beautifully pho-
tographed and written 9-by- 1 2-inch volume on that
long, thin strip of wilderness where land, air, and sea
meet. Contains full-color photographs. $16.50
58900. LOOKING AT ANIMALS. Huah B Coll.
Lavish volume explores through word and pictures the
world's richest wildlife area— East Africa. $15.00
58530. LIFE IN FOREST AND JUNGLE. Richard
Perry. From the primeval jungle of the Amazon to the
redwood groves of California, a great naturalist exam-
ines an incredible (and often exotic) variety of
wildlife. Superbly illustrated. $9.95
33435. ANOTHER PENGUIN SUMMER. Olin
Sewall Peitingitl. Jr Outsized, richly illustrated volume
offers a light and lively account of the five species of
penguins native to the Falkland Islands. $10.00
64155. THE NEW COMPLETE WALKER. Cohn
Fletcher This completely revised and substantially
expanded edition is the most practical, authoritative,
and comprehensive volume on walking ever pub-
lished. $8.95
54240. HUNTING FOR DINOSAURS. Zofia
Kielan-Jaworowska. An absorbing account of a three-
year effort to find and decipher the meaning of the
ancient bones that litter the Gobi desert. Fascinating
descriptions of dinosaurs, the Gobi and its people, and
more. $12.00
87275. WOLF COUNTRY. Ewan Clarkson. Exciting
account of the one thousand timber wolves thai
wander over the wilderness country of northern
Minnesota and Isle Royale in Lake Superior. $8.95
88030. THE YEAR OF THE BUTTERFLY. George
Ordish. A veteran entomologist offers a fascinating
account of every aspect of the natural history of the
monarch butterfly $7.95
87195. WILD CATS OF THE WORLD. C..4. W.
Gugglsberg. One of the world's leading authorities on
wild cats offers definitive natural histories of each of
the 37 species of wild cats. $15.95
48470. FIELDBOOK OF NATURAL HISTORY. E.
Laurence Palmer and H. Seymour Fowler The most
authoritative and comprehensive guide to natural
history available. With over 2,(X)(J illustrations, it
explores all major plant and animal species, rocks and
minerals, the earth, moon, sun, and planets, and even
outer space. $19.95
52125. THE HABITAT GUIDE TO BIRDING.
Thomas P. McElroy, Jr How to classify birds not only by
their physical characteristics, but also their terrain.
Covers patterns of behavior, nesting habits, markings,
seasonal movements, and much more. $8.95
Take any 3 books
(values to ^52.40)
for only 99^each
if you will join now for a trial period
and accept only 3 more books— at member
discount prices— within the next 12 months.
69565. IHE PORPOISE WATCHER. Kenneth S
Norns. Fascinating account of experiments with por-
poises and whales. An excellent introduction into
marine biology $7.95
32618. ALL THE STRANGE HOURS. Loren
Eiseley Autobiography of one of America's outstand-
ing naturalists and his philosophy as a scientist and
humanist. $9.95
62630. THE MILKY WAY. Fourth Edition. Bart Bok
and Priscilla Bok. A thoroughly updated and expanded
edition of the most popular book on our galaxy $15.00
How the Club Operates • The Book Club News,
describing the coming Main Selection and Alter-
nate Selections, will be sent to you 1 5 times a year
at 3-4 week intervals. • If you wish to purchase
the Main Selection, do nothing and it will be
shipped to you automatically • If you prefer one
of the Alternates, or no books at all, simply
indicate your decision on the reply form always
enclosed with the News and mail it so that we
receive it by the date specified. • The News is
mailed in time to allow you at least 10 days to
decide if you want the coming Main Selection. If,
because of late mail delivery of the News, you
should ever receive a Main Selection without
having had the 10 day consideration period, that
Selection may be returned at Club expense. •
Continued membership past the trial period
brings you the added benefits of our Bonus Book
Plan— an irnportant way to save even more, at
least 70% oft publishers' prices.
85090. THE UNIVERSE. Lhvd .\fot: Absorbing
account of modern cosmological theor>-. with the latest
descriptions of all known celestial objects and phe-
nomena. $15.00
88041. THE YEAR OF THE KOALA. H.D. U'll-
liamson. The story of one year in the life of two koalas,
beginning when fire drives a colony from its home.
They establish themselves in a new territor>'. mate,
give birth, forage through the Australian seasons.
First hand obser\'ation. accurate, fascinating. $8.95
41585. THE DARK NIGHT SKV. DonaldS. Claywn.
.An adventure into the origin, processes and structure
of the universe, the early people who studied it. the
great discoverers, and an enthralling view of how we
now perceive it $8.95
88740. ZOO. Bernard Livingston. Delightful wide-
ranging account of how zoos began, how they are run
today, and where they are heading in the future. $8.95
84210. THIS LIVING REEF. Dmiglas Juulkm-r
Lavishly illustrated word-and-piciure masterpiece.
Outsized volume contains 120 pages of glorious six-
color pictures— with detailed commentaries. Counts as
: of your 3 books. $25.00
85820. VENOMOUS ANIMALS OF THE
WORLD. Roger Caras. Explores the entire range —
from the common honeybee and ant to such exotic,
and often deadfv. creatures as the black widow' spider
Counts as 2 o/ your J books. $25.00
4-7AE
I Natural Science Book Club
I Riverside, New Jersey 08075
Please accept my application for membership and
' send me the three volumes indicated, billing me
I only 99C each. I agree to purchase at least three
I additional Selections or Alternates during the first
I 12 months I am a member, under the club plan
described in this ad. Savings range up to 30% and
' occasionally even more. My membership is can-
' celable any time after I buy these three books. A
I shipping and handling charge is added to all
I shipments Send no money. Members are billed
I when books arrive.
j 3 books for 99« each.
' Indicate by number the 3 books you want.
A few expensive books (noted in book descrip-
tions) count as 2 choices.
I City-
Zip_
(Offer good in Continental U.S. and Canada only.
Prices slightly higher in Canada.)
Rain-making Forests
by Hubert W. Vogelmann
When fog and clouds swirl
through mountain trees,
they leave their moisture to
irrigate the land
In about 25 b.c, Roman sailors
visited the Canary Islands off North
Africa, and upon their return to
Mauretania, where they were head-
quartered, they related a remarkable
story to the king, Juba II. It concerned
a tree growing at the upper end of a
ravine on one of the islands. During
the night, the leaves and branches of
this tree were able to gather water
from the low-lying clouds that swept
up the ravine. A cistern was built to
store the water that collected under-
neath the tree, and so great was the
tree's rain-making ability that it pro-
duced sufficient water for the whole
island.
This tale may be an exaggeration
but under the right conditions, trees
do indeed comb moisture from clouds
and fog and the condensation falls to
the ground like rain. In mountainous
regions where clouds frequently
touch the summits or on coasts and
islands where fog rolls in off the
ocean, this phenomenon is common.
On the rockbound coast of Maine,
the moisture captured by solitary
pines rooted in crevices allows
patches of grass or moss to grow in
the sandy soil around the tree trunks.
Moisture will stick to almost any
object in its path. Beach strollers
walking through a thick fog blowing
in from the ocean soon find their
clothing soaked. Mountain hikers be-
come drenched when a cloud swirls
about them. Springtime skiers experi-
ence the same thing when they ski
through the dense fogs caused by the
combination of warm spring air and
wet snow.
Small droplets of moisture are too
light to fall to the ground. Instead,
they are carried along in air currents,
where they are blown against the
leaves and branches of trees. Collect-
ing on the edges of the leaves and
twigs, the tiny particles coalesce and
grow, and when they are heavy
enough, they fall to the ground like
rain.
The high forests of the northeastern
ranges, such as the Adirondacks or
the Green or White Mountains, col-
lect an impressive amount of water.
These forests are dominated by
spruces and firs, whose countless
small needles and twiggy branches
make up large surfaces — up to about
14 million yards per acre — that trap
the water droplets from low-lying
clouds. Dwight Leedy, a graduate
student in botany at the University of
Vermont, determined that in the
Green Mountains at least five inches
of water a year is combed from the
clouds by the forests. In some areas
of these forests, such as the mountain
summits where the winds are strong,
some thirty inches of water per year
could be raked from the clouds and
fog by the trees. These amounts of
water would, of course, be added to
the area's annual precipitation of be-
tween forty and sixty inches.
The mountain ranges of New Eng-
land are by no means unique in their
ability to comb moisture from fog and
clouds. On one of the Hawaiian Is-
lands, a rain gauge under a Norfolk
Island pine tree showed that the tree
collected thirty inches of water an-
nually. And as another example,
studies in the Bavarian Alps showed
that the forests there produce 170 per-
cent more water from fog than is pro-
vided by the annual rainfall.
Were it not for mountain forests,
this additional moisture would never
be available; it augments stream
flows and percolates into the soil,
eventually adding to groundwater
supplies at lower elevations. Moun-
tains are thus important aquifer re-
charge areas. Not only do they cause
more rain to fall by forcing air up-
ward, where it cools and releases its
moisture, but their forests also collect
fog moisture. Considering the impor-
tance of maintaining adequate water
supplies today, it is essential to keep
Although broad-leaved trees, such
as the ones in this Colombian
rain forest, do not collect as
much moisture as do coniferous
trees, their destruction on
mountainsides is decreasing the
groundwater in tropical regions.
v^^^^A."'
'4;
^^/-.^
j..v.;'^. ».,•;
our high mountain ecosystems intact.
Man, however, does not always
understand the complexities of his en-
vironment. In his ecological igno-
rance, his alterations of the land have
sometimes produced disastrous re-
sults. One such event took place in
the mountains of southeastern Mex-
ico north of Veracruz. Encouraged by
the results of the fog- and cloud-mois-
ture study in Vermont's mountains, I
undertook a similar investigation in
the Sierra Madre Oriental, where
conditions for fog precipitation are
ideal. Lush rain forests grow on the
eastern slopes where moisture-laden
winds sweep in from the Gulf of Mex-
ico and deposit a hundred inches of
water per year on the mountainsides.
As the winds move westward, they
are forced upward over the mountain-
tops, and the cooling air, which still
holds some moisture, forms dense
fogs that sweep inland over the dry
high plateau that adjoins the west-
ward side of the mountains. Dark,
dripping forests once covered the
eastern part of the plateau. But these
flat, easily farmed lands were cleared
long ago, turning most of the area into
a bleak desert. Needing more land for
their corn crops , farmers cut away the
forests on the steep eastern side of the
mountains. During the six-month-
long dry seasons, however, this land
now also dries out; trees that once
caught the moisture there, even in the
dry season, no longer being present.
Now both the steep fields and those
24
As clouds and fog sweep through
the forests of Rogers Pass in
Glacier National Park, the myriad
needles of the spruce and fir
trees act like fine-toothed combs
to capture the moisture, which
then enters the groundwater supply.
on the edge of the plateau grow only
such plants as cactus and agave.
My study of much of this region
indicated that even during the dry sea-
son there is a great deal of moisture
in the air, but it is in the form of fog.
With the cutting of the forests, the
farmers destroyed one of their most
important sources of water — the
moisture that the trees had combed
from the fog. Today the fog sweeps
across barren ground and finally
dissipates into the dry desert air. The
removal of the forests has probably
affected more than 1,000 square
miles of this arid region. It is a classic
example of man's lack of understand-
ing his environment.
Some dry areas can perhaps be re-
claimed by planting drought-resistant
trees to prime the pump and start col-
lecting fog moisture again. Fog-
collecting screens could be used to
gather water that would nourish the
newly planted trees. And these once
productive lands could probably be-
come green again. D
Donegal's Lowly Sheep
and Exalted Cows
by Eugenia Shanklin
"If you had the cow, you
could live without the wife,
but if you had not the cow,
you would not be able to
live at all"
The coast of southwest Donegal,
Ireland, is one of the most beautiful
and austere in the world and the inte-
rior of the region scarcely less so. The
area resembles a high desert — wind-
swept and barren except for an occa-
sional tree bent in the direction of the
prevailing winds. As a local priest put
it, "When God was creating the
Atlantic Ocean
Donegal Bay
DUBLIN
IRELAND
earth. He had used up most of the
fertile land by the time He got to Don-
egal and He had to save what He had
left for America. So He compensated
us by giving us all the scenery He had
left over; we got cliffs rising out of
the sea, high mountains, waterfalls,
and white beaches, while the Europe-
ans got the rich soil."
Such sentiments, however, are a
privilege reserved for the tourist or
for one who does not make his living
from the land. It is difficult to find a
Donegal farmer who appreciates ei-
ther God's afterthoughts or the gran-
deur of the landscape.
Inland the dual impression of
beauty and cruelty persists. The deep
valleys are dotted with thatched cot-
tages, with the thatch tied down
against the gales, and cottages are not
set at the top of hills but just beneath
the crest. In addition, every stone,
brae, and valley has a name and a
legend, usually commemorating
some murderous occasion. A study of
the local place-ghosts reveals a long
history of conquests and rebellions.
The land has been dominated in
turn by chieftains, armies with holy
causes, kings, absentee landlords,
and today, by government bureau-
crats. For two thousand years the
population persisted while the con-
querors came and went. Today, the
command is progress; the goal, in-
creased productivity. But the even-
tual result is no longer predictable, as
traditional practices and innovative
methods clash head on.
Although primitives and peasants
alike are excoriated for their back-
ward outlook and their reluctance to
innovate, the effects of their strate-
gies may in the long run conserve re-
sources. While many traditional
farming practices do provide low
yields, only in the short-term view are
such low yields considered "bad." If
the people of southwest Donegal
abandon their traditional practices,
the resource conservation measures
may be lost as well, ultimately leav-
ing the area open to depopulation, ei-
ther through degradation of resources
or consolidation of holdings on a
giant scale.
The area's resources are almost
completely in the form of grazing
land, mostly unimproved bog; this
constitutes some 63 percent of all
land available. No more than 2 to 3
percent of all land is good agricultural
soil; some 10 percent is "improved,"
that is, has been reclaimed for agri-
cultural purposes, such as growing
potatoes, oats, and hay. Land recla-
mation involves a great deal of work
but improvement shows spectacular
results; boglands, for example,
which in a virgin state carry one sheep
per four acres, can be drained,
fenced, and fertilized, making it pos-
sible to stock four sheep per acre.
There are new techniques for reclaim-
ing bogland, but these are effective
only for sheep because the treatment
of the bog surface renders it even
more spongy than it is in its virgin
state. Consequently, heavy cattle
cannot negotiate the fields during any
but the driest seasons of the year.
The climate is almost as poor as the
soil. Gale-force winds, a growing
season bounded more by rainfall than
by temperature variations — with the
heaviest rains coming during the har-
vest season — and extreme variation
26
^0^.:.
\:i-^c.
•nv. ■ \
■;■ -' •.■^"^■- ^^^
Marked with paint for identification,
sheep graze on the area 's vast
boglands. When drained and fertilized,
this land can support more
sheep, but Donegal farmers are not
anxious to increase production.
> \ i>
''V ■ .;|
k*v^
L^^^
V.
\'
At the Donegal livestock mart, an
auctioneer accepts bids while
a handler walks the cow around to
show it is not lame. These centers
are replacing traditional
cattle fairs, where sales involve
lengthy, dramatic bargaining.
from year to year in both rainfall and
duration of the frost-free season make
the region a poor one for agricultural
purposes.
Until 1922, Donegal was part of
the historic province of Ulster, the
northernmost province of Ireland, but
in that year, Donegal was separated
from what had been its traditional
market and trade region and made
part of the Republic of Ireland. The
effect of this separation has been to
isolate Donegal from its natural trade
region, the interior of Ulster, and to
force the people to rely on the south
for most of their manufactured goods,
as well as markets for their agricul-
tural produce. The problems Donegal
faces today result from its remote-
ness, its poor natural resources, and
its intractable climate; the effect of
these factors on the population has
been a reduced standard of living
compared to most parts of Ireland.
After many years of subsidizing
the area, government policy has
changed and the attempt now is to
make the people economically self-
sufficient, primarily by means of in-
creased livestock production. Mod-
ern development plans also call for a
shift in emphasis from cattle to sheep
production. The traditional economy
is a mixed one, based on cattle and
sheep, with a strong emphasis on cat-
tle production. Government subsidies
for beef cattle have met favorable re-
sponses in the area, but similar subsi-
dies for sheep and for land reclama-
tion schemes intended to boost sheep
production have not fared so well.
The number of sheep has held con-
stant or decreased slightly in some
Since fields are scattered
outside the village, farmers
herding their animals often
take shortcuts through town.
areas even while the subsidy rate has
gone steadily up. In interviews, gov-
ernment odicials explain this by
pointing to the "prehistoric" mental
outlook of the farmers and their re-
fusal to adopt modern production
methods.
The charges are not justified by the
facts. Farmers produce cattle at
higher returns than in other parts of
Ireland; further, the mortality rate for
cattle is lower in Donegal than in any
other part of the country. Insofar as
cattle production is concerned, then,
whatever the farmers are doing seems
to be successful, despite their so-
called prehistoric bent.
Government officials find most of-
fensive the refusal to increase sheep
production. Residents base their re-
fusal on the economic argument that
cattle are more valuable than sheep —
a cow is worth from $100 to SI 50,
while the equivalent in sheep (five
sheep eat as much as one cow) would
be worth only about $65 to $85. The
explanation does not suffice, how-
ever, because much of the land that
might be reclaimed would be suitable
only for sheep, and there is also
strong resistance to reclamation proj-
ects. Nor does the economic argu-
ment suffice as an explanation for the
distinctions that are made between
the two kinds of animals, distinctions
that are crucial to maintaining the
long-term ecological balance.
The people of Donegal value their
cows highly, a feeling that is perhaps
best expressed in the literature:
"The cow is the hub of the house-
hold. You first have to get a wife, and
then a cow. And the first thing you
would have to look for in the wife
would be if she was a good milker.
You might get the cow as dowry with
the wife, and could not do better,
unless there was a bit of money as
well. If you had the cow, you could
live without the wife, but if you had
not the cow, you would not be able
to live at all."
The greater value placed on cows
becomes apparent in the differential
treatment of animals at livestock
fairs. Most towns have a fair day once
a month, when farmers bring in cattle
and sheep for sale. Sheep can be sold
anywhere in the town and are usually
tied up in front of houses, shops, or
any other convenient place. Cattle,
however, must be sold on the "cattle
hill," usually the highest spot in
town, a grassy area set aside for this
purpose alone.
Both cattle and sheep are driven
into town early in the morning, but
cattle must be sold by noon. Those
that aren't are either taken home or
removed to a fenced area and the hill
is cleared. While on the hill, cattle are
never hobbled or tied, and their
owners watch over them while they
graze. Sheep, however, are always
tied and left standing until they are
sold or until their owner emerges
from the pub — whichever comes
first. Sheep are usually cleared away
before sunset, although it isn"t un-
common to see them standing about
until the pubs close at midnight.
Bargaining is the traditional meth-
od for selling both cattle and sheep,
but the emotional pitch of the bar-
gaining sessions varies considerably.
Bargaining for cattle is a much longer
procedure that can take the better part
of an hour. When a buyer approaches
a cattle owner, he discusses general
topics for a while before venturing to
ask a price. The seller often refuses
even to name his price and must be
f>ersuaded by a third party to do so.
When a lower offer is made, the seller
appears to be deeply offended by the
suggestion that his animals might be
worth so little. The intermediary has
to soothe the seller's apparently hurt
feelings before the bargaining can
proceed. A new offer is then made,
and this, too, the seller rejects.
So it goes, the seller displaying less
vehemence and more uncertainty
each time he refuses. Eventually, on-
lookers and an intermediary may per-
suade him to part with his animals,
but the performance is always carried
out with a good show of reluctance
on the seller's part. Cattle are never
criticized nor are comparative prices
mentioned.
Buying sheep is quite different; it
involves fewer offers and counter-
offers and is carried out with an as-
sumed air of indifference. A buyer
asks the selling price, and the seller
responds readily with some outra-
geous demand . The buyer prods a few
of the sheep and observes that several
of them may not make it through the
winter. He then suggests a price that
is much too low; the seller will ignore
this commentary and the ridiculous
price, even to the extent of pretending
to be deeply engrossed in conversa-
tion with a bystander.
At this point an intermediary ap-
pears and the buyer will make another
oiTer, after observing that Sean down
the street is selling better sheep for 10
shillings a head less. The interme-
diary may have to interrupt the
seller's conversation to point out that
another offer has been made; again
the seller will appear to be uninter-
ested, but he will pause in the conver-
sation long enough to suggest another
price. Here the intermediary will sug-
gest that the diiference be split and
both parties will consider the offer. If
one or the other disagrees, the matter
is dropped and there is no sale.
Performances in both these trans-
actions are quite stereotyped and are
carried out regardless of the amount
of money involved; a bullock for $75
commands the entire performance,
while sheep at $150 still receive the
seemingly careless treatment de-
scribed. Of course, the cattle owner
is not truly offended nor is the sheep
seller indifferent. These charades are
games whose rules everyone knows.
Styles differ, of course, as does apti-
tude for the performance. Both kinds
of sale are concluded with a ritual
handshake.
Payment for cattle is then made in
the pub and all the onlookers join the
principals for free drinks. Even the
teetotaler must participate in this cer-
emony, although he need not drink
himself. For sheep, payment in the
pub is optional; sheep can be paid for
in the street if the seller likes, but, in
a cattle sale this would be a serious
breach of etiquette.
Violations of any part of the rituals
can and do occur, although villagers
feel some parts to be more important
than others. Members of the younger
generation may refuse to participate
in the special handshake on the
grounds that it is painful and unneces-
sary, but they will firmly agree that
it is impossible to sell animals with-
out the help of an intermediary.
The greater value of cattle is also
apparent in legal distinctions. If a mo-
torist hits a cow on the road, the mo-
torist is always responsible for dam-
ages, although the law says that an
owner must exercise care with his an-
imals and the question of the cow's
negligence may be hotly debated.
Sheep, on the other hand, are respon-
sible for their own welfare, and if one
is struck, it is the owner's problem,
not the motorist's.
To give an example of how the au-
thorities will protect the rights of cat-
tle, the county once charged a man
with cruelty to animals because he
had allowed the cows in his care to
roam freely in winter. When the
neighbors complained, he confined
the herd to a field without adequate
provisions for feed. (Cattle are nor-
mally kept in barns through the winter
and fed on hay and grain supple-
ments.) Several of the animals died
and went unburied; a county oflScial
found the rest in an emaciated state,
some so debilitated they had to be
done away with.
The punishment for this offense
was quite severe — a heavy fine and a
suspended prison sentence. The
judge expressed indignation at the
man's conduct, noting with relief that
such things seldom happened in the
county and that such a case had never
come before him.
It struck no one as odd that what
was defined as cruel and unusual
treatment for cattle is exactly that ac-
corded to sheep every winter. Owners
leave them to fend for themselves,
turning them out to pastures they
know to be insuflScient. There is no
thought of supplemental feeding, and
in a severe winter, the mortality rate
may be as high as 50 percent.
Another instance of the differentia-
tion between cattle and sheep is found
in animal health practices, specifi-
cally in willingness to consult a veter-
inarian. When I asked under what cir-
cumstances a farmer would call the
vet, cattle farmers told me that even
the least doubtful conditions would
occasion a call, while sheep owners
almost never consult a vet. The rea-
sons for this were as numerous as the
respondents: they weren't sure what
the animals might have died of or they
tried treating them with home reme-
dies or, commonly, whatever the pre-
cipitating cause, the real cause was
starvation and the vet wouldn't be any
help for that.
Distinctions between cattle and
sheep extend to their owners as well.
Cattle farmers are said to be more in-
telligent, reasonable, and modern;
more interested in community prob-
lems and affairs; more apt to be a
good example to the rest of the
people. Villagers characterize sheep
farmers as lazy, backward, unwilling
to contribute to the welfare of the
community, and uninterested in any-
thing except government handouts.
True, sheepmen, even the wealthy
farmers who have large herds, do not
participate in local politics. Members
of the local committees and those
who hold positions of authority on
special occasions are primarily cattle
farmers, although some of these men
may keep sheep as well.
Since there are no local elective
offices, being a committee member or
an official in charge of special events
carries a good deal of authority and
recognition. Recruitment for either of
these offices is based on two tradi-
tional criteria: wealth and education.
Wealth, which generally coincides
with inherited position, usually
means extensive cattle holdings. As
for education, holders of certain
posts, such as the village priest or the
headmaster of the local school, auto-
matically assume leadership.
Beyond this, some people who are
neither wealthy nor well educated do
participate, especially shopkeepers
whose interests are affected by such
things as local development commit-
tees or the annual agricultural show.
The main point is that while there are
factors that can influence political
participation (a shopkeeper who lacks
the benefit of inherited social position
may still become a local leader), even
wealthy sheep farmers do not partici-
pate in the authority structure.
32
The reputation of sheep farmers as
noncontributors to the economy is
also interesting, especially when con-
trasted to the feelings about cattle-
men. Since the sheepmen occupy
some of the poorest lands in the area,
they are almost invariably eligible for
unemployment compensation. But
the unemployment rolls are by no
means composed simply of sheep
farmers. Furthermore, the reputation
stems not so much from these realities
as from social behavior. Villagers ex-
pect cattle farmers to buy drinks in the
pub, and those who do not are apt to
be thoroughly damned. For sheep
farmers, however, participation is
optional, but since the definitions of
a man's social and economic worth
depend on his display of generosity
and his willingness to spend his earn-
ings where they are earned, such
farmers must work harder to avoid the
reputation of stinginess.
Local residents consider raising
cattle a worthwhile occupation, and
when asked to explain their reluc-
tance to increase sheep numbers, ex-
plain that cattle raising is less ardu-
ous. In fact, the care of sheep, which
are put out to pasture during the
winter months from November to
March, involves less work. Sheep are
handled only when they are shorn,
inoculated, and dipped. Otherwise,
they are left to fend for themselves,
and no special care is taken to feed
or protect them.
This contrasts with the daily care
farmers provide for cattle. Cattle
11. JliStSiaifciSI^^'.f;.:...*,.i:Isi''ii:
graze in fenced pastures or under the
eye of a hcrdboy , and farmers who d(j
not have fenced pastures generally
keep their cattle in at nighl (there are
no predators to harm them, but the
terrain is treacherous). Owners must
provide cattle with hay and grain sup-
plements, usually purchased, through
the winter. The hay requires a sum-
mer's labor in "saving the hay," a
picturesque phrase that t)ften reflects
harvesttime realities. Cattle keeping
is a labor-intensive occupation, and
the low mortality rates indicate the
attention given to these animals.
Although less arduous, sheep
farming is a lonely occupation, re-
quiring long walks to look after the
animals — perhaps rescue one in trou-
ble or aid in lambing. Most of the
work involved in caring for sheep can
be carried out by one or at most two
men. Sheep herding seldom demands
group cooperation, and in the past,
before dipping became mandatory, it
must have demanded even less.
Group effort is usual only at shearing
and dipping time.
Cattle farming, however, demands
group efforts at many times of the
year. Saving the hay is a laborious
task and all the members of a local
group participate. The appropriate
harvesttime is decided by this group,
not by the individual farmers. Then
the group participates in the various
steps involved, culminating in the
thatching of the haystack at each
man's home. This occasions a week
or more of visiting, eating, and other
socializing. Calving is also an impor-
tant occasion and one's neighbors are
often called upon for aid or advice.
The entire process of giving care
and attention to cattle insures that a
farmer is dependent on his neighbors,
that he must cooperate with them and
render aid and assistance when asked.
Cattle act as an integrating force with-
in the community. Sheep herding is
At one time, traditional brindled
cows were the only ones raised
in Donegal, but since the advent
of an artificial insemination
service, farmers can select
a greater variety of breeds.
exactly the opposite; a man needs lit-
tle help with his sheep and can be as
individualistic as he chwjses.
Cattle are the prestige prcxluct of
the area; sheep have little value for
prestige purposes. This value system
has strong ecological underpinnings,
for the keeping of the two kinds of
animals has markedly different ef-
fects; cattle, unlike sheep, recycle the
energy they utilize. From a nutri-
tional standpoint, cattle provide most
of the dietary staples. Directly, they
produce milk and milk by-products,
the protein sources; indirectly, their
manure fertilizes the fields for pota-
toes, oats, and wheat, the carbohy-
drate components. Milk and potatoes
have been the basis of the Irish diet
since the seventeenth century; such
luxury items as fish, bacon, and even
flour were uncommon until well after
the turn of the twentieth century.
In effect, cattle are the arbiters be-
tween man and his harsh environ-
ment. Socially, cattle provide a basis
for cooperation; ecologically, they
use the grass that grows abundantly
in this wet climate and convert into
food a resource otherwise inacces-
sible to man.
In contrast, sheep are the scaven-
gers of the system, providing nothing
except cash in return for the energy
they take from the land. Even their
wool has little value (the wool for the
famous Donegal tweeds comes from
England and Australia, not from the
Donegal black-faced sheep). Most
people consider investment in sheep
a foolhardy business. If nothing is
ventured, it may be the case that noth-
ing is gained, but more importantly,
nothing is lost. In a good year, sheep
will find enough to eat, the lambs will
survive, and a farmer can make a
small profit on the sheep he handles
so carelessly; in a bad year, he may
make nothing, but if he has invested
nothing, there has been no loss.
Ecologically, then, the system
tends toward its own equilibrium, but
investment in sheep would throw the
balancing mechanisms out of kilter
and farmers might be inclined to try
to keep the sheep alive by taking
some reserves from the cattle . If cat-
tle and sheep were valued equally and
scarce resources were allocated to the
sheep, then the cattle population
would suffer and with it, the human
population. □
33
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon This is the month when the sun arrives at that point
called the vernal equinox. The name obviously implies that at the vernal
equinox, spring begins and days and nights are equal. However, it's
the beginning of spring only in the Northern Hemisphere; south of the
equator it's autumn.
Full moon occurs almost exactly at mid-month in March — on the
15th — and in April on the 14th. So expect the evening crescent to show
up in the middle of the first week, first-quarter moon at the end of the
week (the 8th in March, the 7th in April), last-quarter at the three-week
mark (the 22nd in March, the 2 1 st in April) , and the change of the moon
(new) at month's end (March 30 and April 29, respectively).
Stars and Planets Mars and Saturn are well placed in the early evening:
Mars well up in the south at dusk, Saturn to its left. But Mars is not
nearly as bright as it was last December. It loses half its brightness again
this month. Saturn is far brighter and easy to identify below the twin
stars, Pollux and Castor, in Gemini.
Occultation by Mars On April 7, at about 8:00 p.m., EST, Mars,
moving eastward in its orbit, will cover the third-magnitude star Epsilon
Geminorum for about five minutes. Such an event — a planetary occulta-
tion— is not particularly rare but seldom involves a star as bright as
Epsilon, which is about one-fourth as bright as Mars. The event should
be easy to follow by anyone using a simple optical aid.
The occultation will occur after dark along the East coast and in
twilight or daylight farther west. The star will be just to the left (east)
of Mars. You should begin looking no later than 7:30, although times
will vary slightly from one viewing site to another. Mars, moving slowly
left, should cover the star a few minutes before 8:00 p.m. , then uncover
it a few minutes later and move on to the left.
What you will really be seeing during the occultation is the shadow
of Mars — cast by the light of Epsilon Geminorum — as it moves past
earth.
March 1 6 : The perigee moon occurs 1 3 hours after it was full . Perigee
will enhance the normally high spring tides we can expect today.
March 17: The moon is very near Spica, in Virgo, tonight. It actually
covers the star over parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
March 20: The sun arrives at the vernal equinox at 6:50 a.m., EST,
and spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere.
March 27: Saturn becomes stationary, ending its retrograde (westerly)
movement and beginning its normal movement to the east (left) through
the stars of Gemini.
March 31: The moon is at apogee, farthest from earth.
April 6: Mars is above the first-quarter moon at dusk tonight, and
the brighter Saturn is to Mars's left. The moon will move slowly away
from Mars and closer to Saturn. All three will set at or before midnight.
April 7-8: The moon, while waxing in size, is between Mars and
Saturn on the evening of the 7th, still moving closer to Saturn. By the
evening of the 8th, it will have moved to Saturn's east (left).
April 14: The moon is at perigee today, five hours before it is full.
Once again the effect of perigee will be to strengthen the spring tides
today and tonight. The star near the moon is Spica, in Virgo, covered
by the moon in South America.
* Hold the Star Map so the compass direction you face is at the bottom; then
match the stars in the lower half of the map with those in the sky near the horizon.
The map is for 10:25 p.m. on March 15; 9:20 p.m. on March 31; and 8:20
P.M. on April 15; but it can be used for an hour before and after those times.
34
* .*»
%-: - ~ .
35
Deep Divers of the Antarctic
by Gerald L. Kooyman
Emperor penguins, flightless
seabirds that move clumsily
on land, are excellent
swimmers and seem to "fly"
when under the water.
Emperor penguins and Weddell
seals need special adaptations to
survive in one of the most
severe habitats on earth
Two large warm-blooded ani-
mals— the emperor penguin and the
Weddell seal — have overcome the
forbidding environment of Antarctica
to make it their year-round home. Un-
like the host of other birds and mam-
mals that come to the continent only
in the summer to breed and to feed
on its abundant marine life and then
depart for either the pack ice or lower
latitudes, these animals stay through-
out the severe winter.
The emperor penguin has been
known as a species, Aptenodytes for-
steri, only since 1844. Yet, it is one
of the largest of all bu-ds and is the
largest extant aquatic bird. Males can
be up to four feet tall and some weigh
more than ninety pounds, although
the average weight of the species is
between fifty and sixty pounds. The
emperor's nearest relative is the king
penguin, Aptenodytes patagonica,
which lives on and around the sub-
antarctic islands, particularly on
South Georgia Island. Both species
are similarly striking in their mark-
ings, with black backs and white to
yellow breasts. The long and slender
bill, which the emperor frequently
uses along with its flippers for helping
to raise itself out of the water and
from a prone to an upright position,
is delicately marked with blue and
pink borders on a black base. The
feathers, except for those on the
wings and tail, are uniformly one to
one and a half inches in length. They
are narrow, with a downy filament at
36
the base, and give the superficial ap-
pearance of fur.
Emperor penguins feed mainly on
fish and squid rather than on the sur-
face-dwelling krill favored by many
other penguin species. As a result,
emperors must frequently dive under
the ice and into deep water in their
search for food . I am fortunate in hav-
ing had the opportunity of making
diving studies of these birds. These
were probably the first such studies of
any penguin, previous investigations
having dealt primarily with penguin
reproduction on land.
The procedure used was the same
as that I had already employed in
studying Weddell seals. An ice hole
was cut well away from any other
cracks or holes to which the diving
birds might go. This forced them to
return to our hole. A heated labora-
tory hut of sufficient size to provide
researchers easy access to the deep
sea below was placed over the hole.
And an observation tower was
lowered through the ice thirty feet
away from the hut. The tower enabled
us to sit about ten feet below the ice
and observe much of the birds' diving
activity. Although the six-foot-thick
ice made it rather dark down there,
the ice, in combination with the long
winter night, suppresses plankton
growth, and the result is perhaps the
clearest surface water anywhere in
the world. In some localities objects
can be discerned underwater up to
600 feet away and meaningful light
and dark areas can be distinguished
at a distance of almost 1,000 feet.
Under these circumstances, we re-
leased penguins, some wearing in-
strument packs, into the ice hole.
Because of the color pattern of the
penguins, we lost sight of them at
about 200 feet. Nevertheless, we did
learn several interesting things from
these experiments. By training some
birds to swim between two holes
spaced a known distance apart, we
measured a maximum swimming
At Cape Crazier, a chick
about one month old is
sheltered by one parent while
the other is away searching
for food in the sea.
The Breeding Cycle
Birds begin arriving at most of
ihc rookeries in late March — the
end of the antarctic fall. (They ar-
rive from thirty to forty-five days
later at the more southerly rook-
eries such as at Cape Crozier.)
Courtship, involving visual and
vocal displays, begins immedi-
ately and from late May through
the middle of June — wintertime —
the birds lay their eggs. Females
fast during the courtship and lay-
ing period and lose about 20 per-
cent of their body weight. The fe-
male emperor lays only one egg
and then departs for the sea to
feed, leaving her male partner in
charge of incubation.
For about two months, the
males incubate the eggs on the tops
of their feet under a flap of highly
vascularized skin called an incuba-
tion patch, or pouch. This pouch
promotes heat transfer and keeps
the egg at 90° to 100° F despite
winter temperatures known to dip
of Emperor Penguins
as low as -50° F. Males take no
food during incubation, living on
stored fat reserves, and lose up to
50 percent of their body weight
during that peri(xl.
Females return to the rookery
about mid-August, the time of
hatching, to relieve the males. At
hatching, the penguin chicks
weigh just under one p>ound and
are covered with a coat of down.
For approximately the next six
months — from the antarctic late
winter through summer — until the
time the chicks fledge, males and
females take turns caring for and
feeding the young.
By the time fledging ends,
som,etime between December and
February, the young have become
independent and can find their own
food at sea. The independence of
the young penguins leaves the
parents free to go to sea them-
selves until March when they re-
turn to the rookery to breed again.
speed of 5.2 mph, much slower than
the illusion penguins give when ma-
neuvering. We also discovered their
acrobatic proclivities. I saw one bird
virtually pinwheel on its wings and
reverse swimming direction. The turn
was so quick I could hardly follow it.
The fastest ascent rate we measured
was 400 feet per minute, an impres-
sive figure considering the rapid pres-
sure equilibration necessary if the
ascent is made from a great depth.
The longest dive in nearly 250 obser-
vations lasted eighteen minutes. This
is considerably longer than the diving
durations recorded for any other bird
and longer than the dives of many
marine mammals. The deepest dive
measured was less than 130 feet, a
surprisingly conservative figure prob-
ably influenced by our research
methods and the fact that the birds
were diving singly.
When released in the ice hole, a
bird would spend all of its time seek-
ing other exits or trying to make one
by using its stout beak as a battering
ram. Therefore, 1 organized a trip to
Cape Crozier to measure the diving
depths of birds at the ice edge, where
I was sure they were feeding and their
dives would, accordingly, be dif-
ferent. I knew from previous trips to
the Cape that birds departing from the
rookery wait in groups at the ice edge,
dive together, and after several dives,
return. Taking advantage of this be-
havior, we placed depth recorders on
twenty-five birds. This device con-
sists of a capillary tube in which the
interior is dusted with a water-soluble
dye. Any compression is indicated by
a ring in the capillary. The instru-
ment, devised in the mid- 1800s by
Lord Kelvin, the British mathe-
matician and physicist, was a major
innovation in that it permitted ships
to make soundings while under way,
rather than having to stop and drop a
weighted line.
While we waited for the birds to
return to their rookery, we watched
them dive in groups as large as
twenty -five to fifty. Their dives were
literally made under our feet. The sea
was glassy and we could see the pen-
guins swimming vigorously as they
disappeared from sight below us.
They surfaced several minutes later,
still in groups, breathing deeply in
open-beaked gasps. On recovering
our recorders , we were rewarded with
a maximum depth measurement of
885 feet, probably the deepest dive.
39
SOUTH GEORGIA
ISLAND
^^.
O
o
90'
SOUTH
POLE
ANTARCTICA
ROSS ISLAND
V^^ CAPE CROZIER
McMURDO
SOUND
500
1,000
-H
180=
Twenty-nine emperor penguin
breeding sites have been located
by aerial survey along the
Antarctic coast. They are shown
here by dots. Although most of
them are on sea ice or barrier
ice, a few are on beaches.
ever recorded for a bird. (By compar-
ison, according to the Guinness Book
of World Records, the deepest dive
made by a human being wearing
scuba equipment is 437 feet.)
Impressive as these penguin statis-
tics are, they pale alongside those of
the Weddell seal, the other year-
round resident of Antarctica, named
for James Weddell, a British explorer
who first collected specimens during
his voyage to the Antarctic between
the years 1822 to 1824. The species is
large for seals; adults can exceed ten
feet in body length and weigh more
than 1,000 pounds. The chest and
stomach are a mottled white and
black or dark brown and the back is
a uniform black or brown.
Weddells usually inhabit areas
south of the Antarctic Convergence
(the ocean boundary that separates
the waters surrounding Antarctica
into antarctic and subantarctic re-
gions), although strays have been
found as far north as South America,
New Zealand, and Australia. The
most northerly breeding ground is
South Georgia Island, where a small
number pup each year. Around Ross
Island in McMurdo Sound, where my
studies were made, several hundred
pups are born from late September to
early November — the antarctic
spring. At birth the pups weigh about
55 pounds and are approximately 45
inches long. The mother provides
them with one of the richest of milks,
sometimes containing over 70 per-
cent by weight of fat and protein. On
A Weddell seal slithers
into the freezing water of
McMurdo Sound. These animals
come out of the water
primarily to sleep on the ice.
40
•»^Si<ir J
Mannenng & Associates
41
this diet the pups gain weight rapidly,
and after six to seven weeks, when
they are weaned, they have gained as
much as 200 pounds. The mother eats
very little while nursing and endures
a considerable weight loss of up to
300 pounds. She ends nursing by
abruptly leaving the pup one day and
not returning. After a few days of rau-
cous bleating — and perhaps even at-
tempting to get milk from another
mother — the pup begins to move far-
ther and farther from its birthplace.
At this time of year, December —
which is antarctic summer — the fast
ice (solid sheets of ice fastened to the
shore) is breaking up, there is much
open water, sea food is in abundance,
the weather is relatively mild, and cir-
cumstances are ideal for these young
diving amateurs. Only an occasional
killer whale pack is likely to disrupt
their tranquility.
As winter sets in, although most
adults remain, the young Weddell
seals and some adults leave the south-
ern regions of Ross Island for parts
unknown. Those that stay continue to
dive and feed under the newly form-
ing ice that rapidly thickens to several
feet, reaming breathing holes through
the thinner areas as required. A se-
cure ice platform containing spaced
breathing holes made by the seals
offers almost unlimited research op-
portunities, and for several years, be-
ginning in the late antarctic winter
and early spring, I conducted studies
of Weddell seals in order to learn
what I could about their diving behav-
ior and physiology.
Following a procedure later copied
in investigating the emperor penguin,
a seal was released from an isolated
hole. Because of the animal's size,
the process was a little more complex
with seals than with emperor pen-
guins. A seal was towed to the hut in
a large enclosed sled. The sled was
backed up against the hut door and
then opened. The seal usually
crawled directly into the hut, entered
the ice hole right away, and began
diving. But occasionally a seal did
not enter the water for several hours
and then we were obliged to share our
hut with the animal for the evening
or the night — which reminded us of
the joke about where does a 500-
pound gorilla sleep.
A seal's first dives are usually short
and shallow as the animal famil-
iarizes itself with the under-ice sur-
roundings of its new location. Soon,
either deep-feeding dives or explor-
atory dives are begun. I was worried
initially that a seal might become con-
fused and drown under the ice. But
it quickly became apparent that the
animals have superior diving abilities
with regard to depth and duration and
can find their way around underwater.
While feeding, they would com-
monly dive to depths of 600 to 1 ,200
feet. These dives lasted from eight to
fifteen minutes. The deepest dive
measured was to the bottom of Mc-
Murdo Sound at a depth of 1 ,970 feet.
This is one of the deepest dives ever
recorded for a marine mammal.
Especially interesting were the
seals' exploratory dives. Unlike the
deep dives, which were made directly
below our hut, in exploratory dives
the seals swam a considerable dis-
tance away from the hut and the vital
breathing hole and never descended
deeper than 600 feet. Presumably,
those exertions were attempts to find
other seals or other breathing holes.
Because of recording equipment the
seals occasionally carried, we know
something of the nature of these
dives. The longest exploratory dive
recorded lasted seventy minutes. This
is one of the longest natural dives re-
corded for any marine mammal, al-
though sperm and bottlenose whales
have remained submerged for even
longer periods after being harpooned.
Long-lasting dives were rare, but
dives of twenty to forty minutes dura-
tion were common. All of these
forays took place at depths of less
than 600 feet as the seals swam possi-
bly up to six miles from one breathing
hole to another.
My observations of seals con-
vinced me that there is almost no-
where in the Sound that they cannot
reach. Any small break in the ice they
can breathe through is likely to be
Russ Kinne, Photo Researchers
42
found. Even in the most isolated
areas, marine biologists making ice
holes or scuba dives are likely to find
a seal approaching from below.
The diving abilities of the emperor
penguin and Weddell seal raise a vari-
ety of questions about how these ani-
mals function. For instance, what an-
atomical and physiological features
enable the animals to withstand the
enormous pressures they are exposed
to when they dive deeply? And how
are they able to hold their breath for
so long? The most extensively stud-
ied aspect of the physiology of diving
birds and mammals is the modifi-
cations that make extended breath-
holds possible. Since breath-holding
responses in both birds and mammals
are similar, one explanation applies
equally to both groups.
We know of two fundamental ways
that enhance the capacity of animals
to hold their breath. One is the in-
crease of body oxygen stores; the
Wm^
other is the parsimonious utilizati(jn
01 those oxygen reserves. For ex-
ample, the blood hemoglobin con-
centration of Weddell seals — and
consequently the oxygen-carrying ca-
pacity of their blood — is 1.7 times
greater than in humans. Similarly, the
02 carrying capacity of the emperor
penguin is 1 .6 times greater than that
of the domestic chicken. Further-
more, the total blood volume of the
Weddell seal on a per weight basis is
twice that of man. (But the blood vol-
ume of penguins on a per weight basis
is no different from that of chickens.)
The muscles of both penguins and
seals contain a significantly higher
concentration of myoglobin, an oxy-
gen-binding molecule, than occurs in
terrestrial birds and mammals. The
net result is a larger total body oxygen
store. However, the lungs of pen-
guins and seals are not larger than
those of terrestrial animals and con-
tribute no more to the total oxygen
^ .^v,yv:;<
i
> Ct
store than the lungs of any other bird
or mammal.
When penguins and seals dive,
their large body oxygen stores are
husbanded. This is accomplished by
a major change in their blood circula-
tion. Flow to tissues capable of peri-
odic anaerobic or lowered metabo-
lism, such as muscles, kidneys, or the
gastrointestinal system, is decreased
while flow to tissues of high aerobic
and metabolic needs, such as the
brain, are maintained. These flow
changes are reflected in a lowered
heart rate and cardiac output, which
may drop to 10 percent of the predive
level. The result is a significantly
lowered consumption of oxygen dur-
ing the dive and thus an ability to ex-
tend the breathhold.
Heart rates were measured during
portions of Weddell seal dives. The
usual method of measuring heartbeat
rates is to place a positive and a nega-
tive electrode on opposite sides of the
chest and connect them with three- or
four-foot lengths of wire to a re-
corder. The recorder monitors the
electropotential change that occurs
within the body each time the heart
muscles contract. We followed this
conventional method, except that our
wires were 200 feet long and had
breakaway connectors. When the seal
reached the end of the line, the con-
nectors parted and terminated the re-
cording until the next dive, when they
could be plugged in again. This
method permitted us to measure
heartbeat rates during the entirety of
some shallow dives and the early
parts of deep and exploratory dives.
The recordings indicated that the
degree of heart slowing depended on
the type of dive. During shallow rest-
ing dives just below the ice hole, the
heart rate dropped from a surface
average of fifty-five beats per minute
to a rate of twenty -five to forty. If the
dive was deep, the rate dropped
lower, and it was lowest of all on ex-
ploratory dives, when it sank to fif-
To guard against predators,
young emperor penguins stay
in a group called a creche,
where they are tended by
a few adults.
43
teen beats per minute. It seems quite
logical that during the longest dives
blood flow would be most restricted
and oxygen stores be most slowly uti-
lized. The heartbeat rate, however, is
believed to be autonomic, or involun-
tary, yet the drop took place so
quickly, it almost seemed to antici-
pate the dive. One can only wonder
how that is achieved.
When Weddell seals and emperor
penguins dive to great depths, those
portions of the body that are most af-
fected by mounting pressure are gas-
filled spaces because their volume
must change considerably as the ani-
mal descends. The largest gas-filled
space in the body is the respiratory
system, consisting of the trachea, or
windpipe, and the lungs. The respira-
tory system of the Weddell seal , how-
ever, is structurally very different
from that of the emperor penguin.
And the seal's lungs are also some-
what different from those of terres-
trial mammals. The airway system in
the seal, which is the transport system
of air to the gas-exchanging alveoli,
or air cells of the lungs, is more exten-
sively strengthened than in terrestrial
mammals. The extra support consists
of cartilage, muscle, and connective
tissue. Experimental evidence indi-
cates that the added reinforcement in-
sures that when the animal descends,
its lungs compress differentially. The
alveoli, being more compliant — that
is, capable of readily changing
shape — than the airways, compress
the most and the gas within them is
forced into the airways. Since at great
depth many or most alveoli are col-
lapsed, there is very little gas ex-
change between alveoli and blood
and the gas is sequestered in the non-
exchanging airways. That this col-
lapse will also occur at shallow
depths is assured by the seal's behav-
ior. As the seal dives it exhales one-
half to two-thirds of its lung volume.
A stoppage of gas exchange at
depth means that oxygen stored in the
lungs is unavailable for consumption.
However, it is a small amount of the
total body O2 store. More important
is that nitrogen at high pressures is not
taken up by the blood and accordingly
does not expose the seal to decom-
pression sickness — the bends — when
the animal surfaces.
The penguin respiratory system is
neither as well studied nor as well un-
derstood as that of the seal . It consists
of several air sacs distributed
throughout the body and connected to
the lungs by conducting tubes. The
air sacs have a far larger volume than
the bird's lungs. When the penguin
dives it inhales deeply and most of the
gas is stored in the air sacs. The vol-
ume of these sacs relative to body
weight is up to eight times greater
than the lung volume in the seal. The
oxygen volume in the penguin's air
sacs represents a large proportion of
the bird's total body O2 store; the rest
is in the blood and muscles.
Under experimental conditions,
Adelie and gentoo penguins have
been put through simulated dives at
pressures equivalent to those at 230
feet. In these circumstances, gas ex-
change between air sacs, the lungs,
and the bloodstream continued and
the tissues were exposed to high ni-
trogen tensions. But the birds did not
get the bends, perhaps because the
exposure to high pressure was brief.
These two species of penguin cannot
hold their breath for more than five
minutes, and under natural conditions
they rarely dive for more than one or
two minutes. Similar experiments
have not been done on emperor pen-
guins but it is likely that tests would
yield analagous results since the res-
piratory systems of all three species
appear to be similar. This makes the
emperor penguin something of an
enigma. It commonly remains sub-
merged for five or ten minutes while
diving to great depths, and it is not
clear how the bird avoids getting the
bends when it surfaces.
The final and most frequently
asked question about aquatic polar
animals is. How do they maintain
their body temperatures in the frigid
air and water? When the penguin
chick hatches it is covered with a
fluffy coat of down. When the seal
pup is born it is covered with a long
fur called lanugo. The insulation of
the penguin's down is only about one-
half that of the fur coat of the arctic
fox and the seal's lanugo is only about
one-third as effective. These defi-
ciencies, however, are not too impor-
tant since adult plumage replaces the
chick's down within a few months of
hatching and the pup acquires another
type of insulator one or two weeks
after birth.
The tips of the feathers of the adult
emperor penguin overlap like tiles on
a roof, forming a waterproof shell,
and the downy portion at the base
traps a layer of air next to the body,
conserving its heat. This plumage en-
ables the bird to tolerate air tempera-
tures as low as 14°F without making
any effort to keep warm. That is no
match for some arctic mammals
whose thermoneutral zone extends to
at least -60°F, but the emperor pen-
guin's plumage represents a compro-
mise— it has to be effective in water
as well as air. and the requirements
for a water-repellent, streamlined
coat are different from one functional
in air only.
The heat conductivity of water is
more than twenty times that of air.
Measurements of the metabolism of
Adelie penguins show that it in-
creases to three times the resting rate
after they enter water. Presumably, a
similar increase is necessary for the
emperor penguin because when it re-
mains inactive after entering the sea,
it soon begins to shiver. In contrast,
the adult Weddell seal does not rely
on its pelt for insulation, but rather on
a thick layer of subcutaneous blubber
that begins to develop immediately
after birth. This type of insulation,
which conducts heat at about the
same rate as asbestos, is so effective
that the seal can rest comfortably in
28°F seawater. When a severe storm
occurs, rather than be blown by winds
that can achieve hurricane force and
pelted with ice and snow on the sur-
face, Weddells take shelter in the
water until the storm subsides.
Two questions I have not answered
are. Why don't deep-diving penguins
suffer from decompression sickness
on surfacing? And how do emperor
penguins and Weddell seals navigate
under the ice? On future visits to Ant-
arctica, I plan to look into these mat-
ters, as well as other aspects of diving
behavior and physiology, in the con-
tinuing search to learn how these ani-
mals function in one of the most hos-
tile environments on earth. D
Weddells, which are believed
to see exceptionally well in
dim light, spend most of their
time in the water.
44
The Predatory Baboons of Kekopey
by Robert S. O. Harding and Shirley C. Strum
These primates, rapidly
learning to exploit a new
food resource that resulted
from an antelope population
explosion, are causing
speculation about early
man 's meat-eating habits
The olive baboons moved slowly
across the African plain that lay deep
in the shadow of the cliffs on whose
ledges the troop would sleep in safety
for the night. Suddenly, an adult male
stopped in the foot-high grass and
pounced. The sharp bleat that fol-
lowed betrayed the presence of a
newborn Thomson's gazelle, still too
weak to outrun its captor.
The baboon held the infant to the
ground and tore at its soft belly with
his teeth. When the antelope stopped
moving, the baboon commenced eat-
ing, but perhaps intimidated by the
presence of other male baboons,
which had approached and were star-
ing at the scene, he picked up the
carcass in his jaws and ran twenty
yards away. The others pursued.
Within an hour the male had con-
sumed most of the flesh, but as he
walked away from the remains an-
other male quickly seized the last bits
of flesh and skin.
Incidents of this sort have become
quite common among the baboon
troops that range freely through
Kekopey, a cattle ranch near the vil-
lage of Gilgil, 70 miles northwest of
Nairobi, in the Central Rift Valley of
Kenya. Although Kekopey com-
prises 45,000 acres, the grass that
grows sparsely in the arid climate
supports only 4 , 500 cattle . Large por-
tions of the ranch are covered with
lava rubble, and other evidence of the
volcanic activity that characterizes
much of the rift valley is scattered
throughout the area — steam hisses
from cracks in the earth, and extinct
ash cones and craters dot the land-
scape.
The central part of the ranch, how-
ever, consists of open grassland bro-
ken by patches of an aromatic cam-
phorous shrub that the Masai people
call leleshwa. Additional grassland
has been created over the years by
ranch workers who cleared away
some of this scrub. Water troughs for
cattle are scattered over much of this
open land, and many kinds of animals
take advantage of the ready supply.
Impala and Thomson's gazelle are
the dominant antelope species in this
part of the ranch. In 1970, when we
first began our study, their exact num-
bers were not known, but a survey on
18,000 acres of open grassland and
scrub on the ranch resulted in a count
of 800 impala and 1,600 Thomson's
gazelle. Baboons also inhabit this
part of the ranch; our 1970 census,
which covered some of this area,
showed seven troops ranging in size
from 35 to 135 animals and living in
overlapping home ranges.
Predators had been greatly reduced
but not completely eliminated. To
permit the raising of domestic stock,
the lion population had been system-
atically destroyed by shooting. And
in recent years, ranch owners live-
trapped some of the ranch's leopards
for removal to national parks in
Kenya. Some cheetah remained but
we sighted them only infrequently.
The ecosystem at Kekopey has
thus undergone considerable modifi-
cation over the years. Baboons, how-
ever, have for the most part escaped
the human harassment that is their lot
elsewhere in Africa, where they are
trapped for medical experimentation
or killed because of their fondness for
human food crops. Despite the obvi-
ous alterations in the ecosystem, we
decided to proceed with our research
in this natural laboratory.
Although baboons subsist mostly
on grasses, seeds, roots, and other
plant matter, they were known to oc-
casionally capture and kill small ani-
mals. Sheepherders in southern
Africa, for instance, have long com-
plained of baboon troops raiding their
herds and taking young lambs. And
a number of scientists had described
baboon predatory behavior, but in no
case had they reported a troop killing
more than 20 animals annually.
As a result we were not surprised
to learn that the baboons at Kekopey
killed and ate small animals, but we
did not anticipate the extent to which
they engaged in this behavior. During
the first year's research, we saw
members of the one troop we were
studying kill and eat 47 small ani-
mals— principally baby gazelles and
some hares. This was a meat-eating
rate higher than any then reported for
a nonhuman primate group.
Baboons spend the greater part of
each day feeding and moving from
one foraging site to another with other
members of their troop. Movements
are usually unhurried, with individ-
uals stopping from time to time to
feed on the grasses and other vegeta-
tion that cover the valley floors. Our
observations disclosed that it was
during such leisurely progressions
that many of the killings of small prey
took place. Since both hares and
young antelopes attempt to conceal
themselves from predators by crouch-
ing in long grass or behind bushes,
some of the baboons located and
killed these animals by chance in the
course of normal troop movement.
Yet, as we became more accus-
tomed to the baboons' usual move-
ment patterns, we discovered that the
troop was moving deliberately
through herds of grazing Thomson's
gazelle. And several times, adult
males left the troop to detour through
nearby gazelle herds, scanning the
ground on all sides as they went.
Timothy W. Ransom
Timothy W. Ransom
Robert S. 0, Harding
Males also explored the heavy scrub
that small dik-diks frequent.
Of the fifty baboons in the troop in
1970, four were adult males and nine-
teen were adult females. At first, kill-
ing was predominantly a male activ-
ity. The adult females killed only
three anunals — infant hares. We
never saw juvenile baboons even try
to catch an animal. Of the three fe-
males who killed the hares, only one
succeeded in keeping any part of her
prey; the other two were chased and
threatened by adult males until they
dropped their catch. Capturing prey
was not only largely a male activity,
it was a solitary one as well . Although
one male baboon once successfully
took up the chase of a young gazelle
driven near him by another male, the
baboons did not seem to cooperate in
running down prey nor did a male ba-
boon voluntarily share his catch with
another troop member.
In 1970 and 1971, two-thirds of all
the animals killed were newborn an-
telope of various species, with Thom-
son's gazelle the most frequent.
About one-quarter of the animals
consumed were Cape hare, and the
balance included a button quail and
several other animals that we could
not identify from the scraps the ba-
boons left. We never saw troop mem-
bers eating carrion, although they had
several chances to do so, nor did they
try to catch every animal of the appro-
priate size.
Their sleeping cliffs, for instance,
abounded with rock hyrax, and al-
though baboons eat these small funy
creatures elsewhere in Africa, we
never saw the study troop attempt to
catch them. And although an adjacent
troop often caught helmeted guinea
48
fowl, the troop we were studying ig-
nored flocks of these birds as they
walked cackling through the ba-
boons' midst.
By late 1972, the troop had grown
to sixty baboons— the result of births
and immigration of adult males from
nearby troops— and the animals'
meat-eating tendencies had in-
creased. In 1,200 hours of observa-
tion between 1972 and 1974, we saw
them capture 100 small animals,
roughly twice as many as they killed
during a similar number of hours in
1970-71.
Not only were the baboons con-
suming more meat; their behavior
toward acquiring meat had changed
as well. Adult females, which had
shown little interest in meat eating
during the first years of our study,
began to capture prey in significant
numbers — hares for the most part,
but some infant antelopes as well. All
females were now present at some of
the kills but two, in particular, were
present at more kills than several of
the adult males, and always waited,
patiently but persistently, at the site
for the male to finish eating. While
some watching males might give up
and leave before the carcass was
abandoned, these females remained,
seemingly undaunted in their deter-
mination, and in the end, had their
turn at the meat.
It did not take long before the fe-
males also became bolder; rather than
drop an animal when a large adult
male approached, a female might try
to outrun or outmaneuver him and
the attempt was often successful.
During the period from 1972 to 1974,
adult females caught 14 percent of all
prey; we also noticed that immature
Timothy W, Ransom
^
When her young is attacked
by baboons, an antelope often
will charge to within about five
feet of the predators (far left).
However, she seems to lose interest
after the infant stops bleating.
Baboons most often begin eating
by tearing open the underbelly
of the prey with their incisors,
rather than with their sharper
canines. They usually consume
the meat on the head and legs last.
■ ' *- '^ 'A ''■i'^-' >' v,-v "XT'
«#*
,* ■ , - * . •■ -•
molhy W RanBom
This baboon mother was one of the
first females observed to eat
meat. And her infant was among the
first to learn the new behavior.
baboons were becoming involved in
meat eating. The offspring of the two
females that seemed particularly in-
terested in meat frequently had the
opportunity to investigate prey, and
predictably, they were the first imma-
ture baboons to eat meat. At first their
presence in the vicinity of kills simply
reflected their mothers' interest. But
as they grew older and became more
independent, their interest continued
whether or not their mothers were
present at a particular episode.
It was not only maternal bonds that
helped meat-eating behavior to
spread among the younger baboons;
long-term male bonds with infants
and juveniles also created opportu-
nities for meat eating among the
young baboons even when their
mothers had no special interest in
meat. Many young baboons thus
began their meat-eating behavior as
a result of their special, close rela-
tionship with a male.
Older juveniles often began eating
meat by chance — stumbling across a
meat-eating episode while chasing
one another in play. Such incidents
seemed to make little impression on
the young baboons, unless one
chanced to get a scrap or two of meat.
Behavior changed markedly in such
a case; the young baboon would
begin to join the hangers-on at kills
until, through patience and persist-
ence, it too got some meat. Juveniles
then began to seek out and capture
prey on their own, to the point that
in the period from 1972 to 1974, they
caught 16 percent of the prey.
Over the years the tactics used by
adult male baboons to obtain meat
changed dramatically. They began to
Initially, individuals closely
guarded their kills and tried to
escape the presence of other
baboons. Now each kill attracts
spectators, some of whom share
in the meat eating.
supplement fortuitous captures and
occasional detours through grass-
lands rich in prey with more con-
certed and systematic efforts. Upon
sighting a herd of gazelles as much
as a quarter of a mile away, one or
more males often left the troop and
approached the herd. By January
1974, this was an almost daily event.
At first each male acted inde-
pendently, but adult males always re-
main constantly aware of each other's
location and actions; as a result, when
one male made a kill or seemed about
to do so, the others often abandoned
their own efforts and converged on
the successful hunter.
In one such incident, three males
noticed another male chasing a ga-
zelle and ran toward him. To get to
the scene of the chase, they had to
ascend a small hill that concealed
their approach from both predator and
prey. Just as he was about to abandon
the chase , the baboon in pursuit of the
gazelle suddenly found the three
other males blocking the prey's
escape route. The closest male then
took up the effort, and when he ap-
peared to flag, another continued it.
For a moment the gazelle appeared to
be outrunning its pursuers, but it
changed direction in response to a
similar movement from the baboon
chasing it, and in so doing, ran into
the third of the newly arrived males.
The gazelle almost escaped when the
pursuing baboon momentarily hesi-
tated, but a quick bite to the under-
belly put an end to the chase.
From that point on, the male ba-
boons gradually adopted this relay
system as a regular stratagem, chas-
ing their prey toward a nearby male
instead of out on the open plain. Such
joint ventures appeared to be more
successful than those carried out by
lone males.
Adult male baboons also began to
scatter antelope herds more fre-
quently in an apparent attempt to find
young animals of suitable size. This
tactic often revealed a young antelope
breaking from cover in the grass to
run after its mother. The baboons
might then spend as much as two
hours covering large amounts of
ground in attempts to close in on the
antelope mother and her infant. As
this tactic became more successful,
deliberate searching for other prey in
different habitat — such as dik-dik in
brushy areas — became less frequent.
The persistence of the male ba-
boons' efforts was impressive. On
several occasions the troop moved
through one particular area for a num-
ber of consecutive days, and each
lime males unsuccessfully pursued
the same young gazelle. Each venture
lasted up to two hours and took the
baboons as much as two miles from
the rest of the troop, out of sight and.
apparently, out of contact. Once,
after hunting the same herd for three
days, the males finally captured and
consumed a young antelope.
In the beginning of 1973 the male
baboons could not seem to discrim-
inate between all-male herds and
mixed or all-female herds of Thom-
son's gazelle. Since only those in-
cluding females contained potential
prey animals, the baboons at first
wasted considerable time and energy
in scattering male herds. Later, how-
ever, the baboons were able to assess
the herds, ignoring all-male ones and
pursuing only female groupings
within a mixed herd.
For their part, the Thomson's ga-
zelle began to show vigilance toward
baboons, especially those herds that
had been hunted several times in a
row. Once a baboon of any size ap-
peared, the gazelles became alert and
moved off. the adult females herding
their infants away from the baboons.
This vigilance, in turn, created new
difficulties for the baboons and may
have offset, at least partially, the ad-
vantage they had gained through their
innovations in hunting behavior.
During the first year's observa-
tions, baboons did not share meat vol-
untarily; indeed, the adult males who
did most of the killing at that time
were highly intolerant of other ba-
boons in their vicinity. As predatory
behavior spread through the troop
over the years, however, we observed
the animals eating simultaneously
from the same piece of meat or pile
of scraps and even moving aside to
make room for other baboons. We
saw none of the gestures that chim-
panzees use in begging for meat nor
did we see food items other than meat
ever shared, even between a mother
and her infant. Such meat-sharing re-
lationships appear to coincide with al-
ready existing long-term bonds, such
as those between mothers and infants
or individual males and females.
Timothy W. Ransom
51
Over the past five years, the troop
appears to have developed more efl^-
cient and sophisticated methods of
capturing and consuming prey. We
shall never know how the predatory
behavior began for the baboons were
already eating meat when we began
to study the troop, but we can make
some educated guesses about why
predation has developed to such an
extent. The most plausible has to do
with the apparent antelope population
explosion that resulted when the natu-
ral ecosystem of Kekopey was altered
for raising cattle. Thomson's gazelle,
predominantly grazing animals
whose preferred habitat is open grass-
land, have benefited the most from
these changes.
While we can only speculate about
the origins of the baboons' predatory
behavior at Kekopey, we know a
great deal about the social dynamics
underlying its spread through the
troop. The behavior clearly pro-
ceeded along preexisting lines of so-
cial bonding — from mother to off-
spring, male to juvenile, and between
male and female. We do not know
whether the behavior was initiated by
one or several individuals, but it
seems to have become firmly estab-
lished and is at this time independent
of any one individual.
In a series of experiments involv-
ing the introduction of new foods to
groups of macaques, Japanese an-
thropologists have documented the
importance of individual behavior
and social bonds in the diffusion of
new behavior patterns involving dif-
ferent food items in a primate group.
At Kekopey we witnessed a natural
experiment in which, once again, in-
dividual behavior and social relation-
ships played crucial roles in deter-
mining which animals acquired the
new behavior.
There is no reason to think that we
have seen the full development of the
In the early years of predation
by the troop, confrontations
(mostly bluffing) between adult
males over prey were common.
Such incidents occur much less
frequently now and adult
males seem to be more tolerant
of each other.
baboons' potential for predatory be-
havior, but of course there are limits
to its expansion. Chief among these
is probably the size of the prey ani-
mal, for nonhuman primates usually
prey upon animals smaller than them-
selves; the anatomy typical of mon-
keys and apes allows for the easy cap-
ture and consumption of such prey.
We would be greatly surprised if
these baboons began to capture adult
impala or even adult Thomson's ga-
zelle.
Just as social factors facilitated the
spread of predatory behavior within
the troop, they may also set limits.
Most troop members are physically
capable of capturing prey and eating
meat, but females and immature ani-
mals will probably not become in-
volved in the hunting behavior that
takes adult males far away from the
troop for long periods. Adult males
are relatively mobile, often transfer-
ring from troop to troop. Females and
young baboons, however, would
have to abandon old behavior pat-
terns, which have important integra-
tive functions within the troop, and
acquire new ones if they were to take
part in extended hunting forays. As
evidence of this behavioral difference
between adult males and other ba-
boons, females and young ap-
proached only those kills that oc-
curred near the troop. They usually
Timothy W. Ransom
52
ignored those that took place at a dis-
tance, unless the prey was carried
close to the troop.
Anthropologists have traditionally
believed that only humans among the
primates kill and eat animals as a reg-
ular part ol their diets. Some have
even felt that the hunting, meat-eat-
ing adaptation has been so important
in human evolution that we would be
better advised to turn to social carni-
vores— such as lions — rather than
nonhuman primates as models for
early human populations. Documen-
tation of hunting and meat eating by
chimpanzees at the Gombe National
Park in Tanzania and elsewhere in
Africa, however, has forced a modifi-
r.
cation of this position. With preda-
tory baboons now added to the equa-
tion, we can identify a primate poten-
tial forpredation, one that our earliest
hominid anccstcirs must have shared.
The baboon and chimpanzee studies
demonstrate how sophisticated and
successful predation can be among
primates without any of the unique
attributes of the human hunting adap-
tation, such as the ability to manufac-
ture tools.
There are many diflerences, of
course, between the predatory behav-
ior of human and nonhuman pri-
mates, for while the diet of the earli-
est hominids may have resembled
that of today's baboons or chimpan-
^ f Hf t " 18^
N'
zees, archeological evidence sug-
gests that early man took part in or-
ganized hunting forays. The killing of
large animals in large numbers is
unique to humans among the pri-
mates, and it is tempting to speculate
that the ability to manufacture tools
and the development of sophisticated
communication methods may have
been the key to successful hunting of
this nature.
As far as primates are concerned,
however, there is no doubt that the
capture, killing, or consumption of
even a single large animal poses prob-
lems that are of a wholly different
order from those encountered in the
hunting of small animals. By compar-
ing human and nonhuman primate
hunting patterns, we can learn much
both about the behaviors and behav-
ioral potentials we share and those
that are unique.
Predatory behavior in primates
probably did not have a single origin
but may have developed at many dif-
ferent places and at many different
times, possibly even under widely
varying environmental conditions.
This notion is important in consid-
ering human evolution for it suggests
that basic human adaptations may
also have had multiple origins. Con-
sidering the speed with which the ba-
boons elaborated their predatory be-
havior, it is also possible that after an
initial adaptive shift to a new behav-
ior in early human populations, fur-
ther development of this behavior
proceeded more rapidly than we
think. The behavior of the baboons
also shows that individual and social
factors could well have had an impor-
tant influence on the perpetuation of
new behavioral adaptations.
The spread of predatory behavior
among the Kekopey baboons prompts
us to appreciate the complexity of
adaptive shifts, both behavioral and
anatomical, and adds to our growing
realization that simple hypotheses
tend to retard, rather than advance, an
understanding of human evolution.
The realization brings us back to the
original insights of Darwin and Hux-
ley, who theorized that all primates
are linked along a single evolutionary
continuum, one in which artificial
barriers erected by humans to assure
their own unique status have no ra-
tional grounds for existence. D
53
ART OF THE
NORTHWEST COAST
INDIAN
In the world today, there is a commonly held belief that thousands of
years ago, as the world today counts time, Mongolian nomads crossed
a land bridge to the Western Hemisphere and became the people now
known as the American Indians.
The truth, of course, is that the Raven found our forefathers in a
clamshell on the beach at Naikun. At his bidding, they entered a world
peopled by birds, beasts, and creatures of great power and stature, and
with them, gave rise to the powerful families and their way of life'.
At least, that's a little bit of the truth.
Another small part of it is that, after the flood, the Great Halibut was
stranded near the mouth of the Nimkish River where he shed his tail and
fins and skm, and became the first man. Thunderbird then took off his
wmgs and beak and feathers to become the second man, and helped
Halibut build the first house in which mankind spent his infancy.
And the Swai-huay rose out of the Fraser. Needing a wife, he created
a woman from the hemlock on the bank, and she, in time, gave birth to
the children who became the parents of all men.
There is, it can be said, some scanty evidenct? to support the myth of
the land bridge. But there is an enormous wealth of proof to confirm that
the other truths are all valid.
William Reid
We invite you to see some of this proof— some of this wealth.
From Form and Freedom,
by Bill Holm and William Reid.
© 1976, Institute for the Arts
Rice University.
Dagger hilt of ivory,
inlaid with abalone.
Tlingit, early nineteenth century.
54
COLLECTORS
AND
COLLECTIONS
by Edmund Carpenter
The term primitive art legitimately
applies, I think, to the art of the Pa-
cific Northwest, not because that art
was unsophisticated, but because its
makers believed their ancestors lived
in a primitive, mythological age, and
they sought to reaffirm, perhaps re-
awaken, that reality by re-presenting
it in art, drama, myth.
It was an age, they believed, of ex-
traordinary events and noble deeds,
when men lived as equals with ani-
mals and mythic beasts, and the play
of Raven and Eagle, Frog and Bea-
ver, Thunderbird and Whale estab-
lished all that was to be.
When depicting that reality, North-
west Coast artists often showed two
beings simultaneously occupying a
single space by sharing various parts.
Such visual puns did more than
express complexity: they depicted
transformation. Before one's eyes.
Bear became Wolf, then Bear again.
The image didn't change, of course.
What changed was the observer's or-
ganization of its parts. But the effect
was one of transformation.
This was wholly consistent with
Northwest Coast thought. A Kwa-
kiutl legend tells of the mythologic
hero who appears first as a whale and
later as a man disembarking from the
whale, which is no longer himself but
his canoe. When he meets the local
chief and his daughter, whom he
wishes to marry, he presents them
with the whale, which has returned to
its animal nature at the end of its third
transmutation.
This single feature proved to be the
one most difficult for early anthro-
pologists to understand. When told a
carving represented a bear and later
told it represented a whale, they as-
sumed there must be an error.
It remained for the Surrealists to
explain this seeming contradiction.
One day in the early 1940s, Max
Ernst passed a shop on Third Avenue
in New York displaying a few pieces
of tribal art. The African pieces — so
attractive to the Cubists — didn't in-
terest him, but a Northwest Coast
spoon did. The spoon was being sold
as part of a collection of spoons from
many lands. Ernst proposed instead,
Dance rattle in the form
of a raven with a man
on its back. Northern style,
early nineteenth century.
56
Editor's Note on Pictures
In some cases precise identification of objects is not possible — labels have
been lost, collectors' notes separated from artifacts, or pieces that were
produced by one group were acquired in another's village. In these instances
we have labeled the objects as being of northern style, which refers to
Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian (southern would include all remaining groups—
Kwakiutl, Bella Bella, Bella Coola, and others). All photographs: Hickey
and Robertson; except page 62, Robert Mates and Susan Lazarus.
57
to buy a collection of Northwest
Coast art, and the dealer agreed to
assemble one.
Soon the whole group of Surreal-
ists, who were then refugees in New
York, and many of their friends, in-
cluding Claude Levi-Strauss, began
to frequent "that shop on Third Ave-
nue," buying in particular Northwest
Coast, Eskimo, and Melanesian
pieces. This emphasis was hardly co-
incidental. Northwest Coast, Es-
kimo, and Melanesian artists, per-
haps more than any others, save the
Surrealists themselves, emphasized
visual puns, and it was visual puns the
Surrealists collected.
During the last twenty-five years,
I've examined most of these collec-
tions and talked to most of their
owners. Their selections were uni-
formly good, yet only Levi-Strauss,
among them, was ethnologically
knowledgeable. Apparently they ap-
proached these pieces directly, judg-
ing them in terms of inherent quali-
ties. However unscholarly that ap-
proach, it resulted in superb collec-
tions.
When I compare their selections
with specimens I've seen decorating
anthropologists' homes or illustrating
their textbooks, I can't help asking,
"Why did anthropological methods
fail here?" Anthropologists, I think,
were preoccupied with processes, not
drama; concerned with relationship,
not being. They were convinced
value lay in function. They saw tribal
art as a variant of material culture and
they used it to answer questions about
evolution and diffusion. Later they
became interested in art's social or
psychic "functions."
Anthropologists like to say that the
study of tribal art begins with this
question: What did this art mean to
the people for whom it was originally
intended? Yet it is precisely here their
methods betray them, often leaving
them in possession of — or in defense
of— souvenirs. The Surrealists, by
contrast, chose masterworks as
judged by the tribes that produced
them.
Several of them, including Max
Ernst, then arranged an exhibit enti-
tled "Northwest Coast Indian Paint-
ing." It was held in 1946 at a New
York gallery. There they displayed
pieces from their own collections,
plus eighteen borrowed from The
American Museum of Natural His-
tory.
The American Museum of Natural
History offered a curious paradox. On
public display was an incredible
wealth of Northwest Coast art. Yet
every piece was classified and labeled
as a scientific specimen. Tribal carv-
ings were housed with seashells and
minerals as objects of natural history.
Portrait mask, with
sealskin moustache and goatee,
human hair. Tsimshian or Haida,
ca. late eighteenth century.
Dagger handle, with wooden
pommel inlaid with abalone.
Northern style, early
nineteenth century.
59
Sheep-horn bowl,
designed and constructed
following techniques
developed in boat con-
struction. Probably Tlingit,
nineteenth century.
Art was displayed in the Metropolitan
Museum. Far more than Central Park
separated these collections. Part of
the gap derived from the anthro-
pologists' insistence that ethnological
specimens had meaning solely in
terms of the social matrices from
which they came.
The very accessibility of this great
collection reinforced that classifica-
tion, preventing viewers from ex-
periencing these objects artistically.
By taking them off display in one part
of New York and putting them on dis-
play in a gallery a mile away, the Sur-
realists declassified them as scientific
specimens and reclassified them as
art.
Early traders on the Northwest
Coast saw these pieces as curios.
They collected randomly, with un-
trained eyes, yet what they gathered
leaves us spellbound. Almost without
exception, pieces collected in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth cen-
turies are of high quality. Clearly, the
artistic level that prevailed at this time
was extraordinarily high.
By 1820 the demand for curios had
created a souvenir industry. Great
quantities were turned out. The
Northwest Coast people had known
luxury during the height of the sea-
otter trade and were reluctant to give
it up. Curios were a poor substitute
for sea-otter pelts, but there was little
else to trade.
A distinct genre of almost identical
masks was made between 1820 and
1870. Some are so similar as to be
almost interchangeable. Most seem
to be the work of three carvers. All
Frontlet worn as a centerpiece
on a ceremonial headdress,
inlaid with abalone.
Haida, nineteenth century.
1
have prominent, stationary labrets.
Sailors wanted curios, especially
human likeness showing lip distor-
tion. I find most of them very dull.
These souvenir masks are lifeless; all
are well executed, but technique can-
not conceal that meaningless quality
everywhere characteristic of art with-
out belief.
In the catalog for a show of north-
ern art, 1973, three such masks are
identified as shamans' masks and
their painted designs interpreted as
totemic clan emblems. But shamans'
masks are quite different in form and
generally much weathered, having
been exposed on graves, whereas
souvenir masks are often in mint con-
dition, having seen no use. I suspect
that the designs on the souvenir
masks are largely meaningless. Cer-
6o
6i
62
Portrait mask of a
woman with a labret.
Haida, ca. late
eighteenth century.
tainly they differ from traditional face
and mask designs. A totemic emblem
was a privilege, personal or family —
not suitable for export. Souvenir
masks were addressed to alien audi-
ences. I'm reminded of a Dufy com-
position incorporating a musical
score that can't be played; or an
actor, playing a physicist, who
doesn't put real formulae on the
blackboard — unless he performs at
M.I.T.
The first serious collector on the
Northwest Coast was Captain James
Cook, who in the late eighteenth cen-
tury gathered ethnographic materials
as part of his general fact-finding en-
deavors. Similar expeditions fol-
lowed, including one from Spain and
one from Russia. This tradition was
continued by the American govern-
ment's Wilkes Expedition, 1838^1 ,
which collected throughout the Pa-
cific, including Northwest Coast ma-
terial. George Foster Emmons
(1811-1887), a member of that expe-
dition, must have been particularly
interested in ethnography, for his
home in Princeton was said to have
been decorated with Polynesian and
Northwest Coast objects, and a num-
ber of early museum acquisitions bear
his name.
His son, Lt. George Thornton
Emmons, USN (1852-1945), be-
came the name in Northwest Coast
collecting. Beginning very early, at
Sitka, he collected in great quantity,
including the contents of shamans'
graves. The Tlingit themselves
shunned these graves, believing that
only the deceased shamans had pos-
sessed the power to control these
sacred objects. Yet I find no record
that Emmons's collecting disturbed
the Tlingit, and it's certain he enjoyed
a lifelong friendship with them.
He dedicated more than sixty years
to placing on record the meaning of
life to these northern seafarers. Nei-
ther he nor his Canadian counterpart,
Charles F. Newcombe, a Victoria
physician, ever profited financially
from the tens of thousands of docu-
mented specimens they shipped to
museums. They refused to sell to col-
lectors and dealers. They trusted only
museums and that trust was largely
kept.
Emmons was one of a handful of
men around the turn of the century
who committed their lives to preserv-
ing, in every available medium, what
remained of Indian culture. What
couldn't be kept alive, they wanted to
preserve in books, museums, pho-
tographs, even recordings and films.
They did this under the umbrella of
"science," although their personal
motives were far more humanistic.
I had the good fortune to know a
number of these men, several quite
well. All were so remarkable. I've
often wondered what shaped them.
Most, I noticed, had strong fathers.
Emmons's father, after serving on the
Wilkes Expedition, led a detachment
from the Willamette Valley to Cali-
fornia; distinguished himself in the
Civil War; raised the flag at Sitka in
1867; and rose to the rank of Admi-
ral, commanding the Hydrographic
Office and later the Philadelphia Navy
Yard — facts not lost on the Tlingit,
who accepted G. T. Emmons as the
son of a noble warrior.
And all of these men — at least,
those I knew — expressed affectionate
memories of mothers whose esthetic,
even mystic interests and affiliations
were sharply at variance with the
world of applied power in post-Civil
War America.
Those two temperaments joined in
these men, the first in arduous explo-
ration and disciplined scholarship,
the second in mystic and esthetic
modes of thought. These latter were
initially treated as subjects of study,
but later openly acknowledged as per-
sonal persuasions. Consider Dr. John
R. S wanton, author of precise, accu-
rate studies of Northwest Coast myth-
ology. When he retired from the
Smithsonian, he circulated a letter to
friends stating that, as a public serv-
ant, he hadn't thought it suitable to
express private convictions, but now
felt free to record his long-standing
belief in extrasensory perception.
Emmons, I'm sure, would have
understood. By choice, he lived be-
tween two worlds, at home in both
but happiest in between, like a man
attracted to a beach or tidal pool
where contrasting elements meet and
interact. Impeccable in dress and
speech, conservative in politics,
courtly in manner, he was a frequent
guest at the White House where he
pleaded the Indian cause with his
friend Theodore Roosevelt. Yet his
closest friend, between 1882 and
1888. was Shartrich. the famed Tlin-
git chief who. in the winter of 1852,
led a war party over the Chilkat Pass,
300 miles into the interior to capture
and burn the Hudson's Bay Company
post at Fort Selkirk.
In his later years, Emmons spoke
of the Tlingit as "we." It was no af-
fectation. After retiring from naval
service and leaving his home in Sitka,
he returned at every opportunity to
the Northwest Coast, making long
trips by open boat to remote villages,
always collecting art.
Of all the collectors on the North-
west Coast, Emmons was by far the
most active and successful. His first
shipment to The Arrierican Museum
of Natural History numbered 2,775
specimens. This was quickly fol-
lowed by 1,351 more. I estimate the
number of catalogued Northwest
Coast specimens in museums today at
115,000 to 125,000. Emmons was
responsible for a significant portion of
these — and a very high proportion of
the finest. The remainder were largely
assembled by — my notes list fifty —
missionaries, traders, teachers, geol-
ogists, naval men, geographers, illus-
trators, and anthropologists.
Anthropologists were particularly
active in gathering material for the
63
Rugged Softies
Finest grade of 100% cotton chamois in
heavyduty 10 oz. weight (not to be con-
fused with lighter weight chamois).
I^leeced inside and out to be soft as a
l<itten's ear. Full cut. Long sleeves and
shirttails. Collar lined with smooth
whisl<er-proof Nylon. Grows softer, more
comfortable with each washing. Sizes:
Men's neck 14-18 in 1/2 sizes. Colors: Red,
Tan, Navy, Green. 1462 Shirt $14.50 ppd.
r Order Today! Money Back Guarantee!
Enclosed is my check or money order for
$ (Add sales lax where applicable.)
Please rush my 1462 Chamois Cloth Shirt.
Size Color .
Name
Address-
City
DSend me FREE your color catalog of over
1200 great outdoor products.
.j^ec£u2/^cuAaAJ^
Dept. GNH, Third & Virginia, Seattle, WA 98124
Share ihe Thrills
01 Exploring! ^
ouier Space; ^
All DYNASCOPES,
including this
superb RV-6, S-inch
available
on easy terms!
Now it's easy to join the thousands of serious
amateurs who have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rewards go on for years! And
it's a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Choose From Many DYNASCOPES®
Picking a telescope to fit your needs and your
pocketbook is simple when you select a
DYNASCOPE — the same instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories—and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable facts be-
fore buying any telescope. IVIail
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterion Manulacturing Co.
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
S TM Registered U.S. Pat. Off
CRITERION MANUFACTURING CO., Depl. NH-66
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Name
Address
City State_
World Columbian Exposition, Chi-
cago, in 1893, as well as for museum
displays and study purposes. They
often commissioned specimens from
living artists, thus inadvertently
creating a new type of specimen, the
"anthropological specimen." This
was consciously more traditional in
form, but in craftsmanship came out
of the souvenir industry. Distinctions
between objects made for native use,
for tourists, and for anthropologists
became muddied.
Today nearly all surviving North-
west Coast material culture is in pub-
lic hands. I can think of no other area
in the world where this applies, at
least to this degree. Emmons, New-
combe, and a few others deserve full
thanks. Little escaped their efforts. A
few pieces, especially in England,
have been in private hands since they
left the Coast long ago. Others remain
in Indian hands, often out of sight.
But nearly all great Northwest
Coast pieces, privately owned — and
there are only a few — once bore mu-
seum numbers. They left museums
through sale, trade, gift, fraud, theft.
Most came out at a time when cura-
tors traded freely, sometimes not
even recording transactions. They
felt free to do so because, until about
1955, this material had no more mar-
ket value than seashells or beetles.
Much of it wasn't even recognized as
Indian by the general public, to whom
"Indian" meant what Frederic Rem-
ington painted. One result of all this
subtracting and adding was that docu-
mentation often got separated from
specimens. The one beneficial result
was that specimens often became ac-
cessible.
Between 1910 and 1940, that is,
between the time the great collections
were assembled and the time artists
discovered Northwest Coast art, only
Emmons, Newcombe, and a handful
of others maintained a deep interest
in this subject. All were interested in
art. Only a few had museum appoint-
ments and even they were regarded
by professional anthropologists as
working "outside" anthropology.
Anthropologists had lost interest in
material culture and had never been
interested in art.
One other collector requires men-
tion. Louis Shotridge (1886-1937),
grandson of the Tlingit noble, Shart-
rich, was born in Klukwan, famed
Tlingit citadel of tradition and art.
When he was 19, he met the director
of an American museum who was
passing through Haines, collecting.
The director bought a fine, old dagger
from Shotridge and asked for more.
More followed, to become, over the
years, a small collection unparalleled
in quality.
At what point the director devised
the plan to have Shotridge infiltrate
his own culture to obtain its treasures,
the record doesn't show. In the begin-
ning, he simply asked Shotridge to
buy for him. Then he put him on staff.
It was common practice then for a
museum to employ an Indian as gen-
eral helper and occasional lecturer —
in Indian dress — to schoolchildren.
Shotridge was handsome, intelli-
gent, friendly. He was married to a
Tlingit woman of like virtues. Sitka,
where he attended school, offered no
opportunities. Haines, where he was
living, was a military town left over
from the Gold Rush. His father, a
strikingly proud, handsome man in
photographs, was an alcoholic. So
were several uncles. Home was mud,
boredom, alcohol. The museum of-
fered an escape.
During the two years it took to fi-
Louis Shotridge, a Tlingit who collected coastal art for an American museum,
lived in a fashionable house set apart from the squalor of Haines. His own
label for this picture reads: "Museum Expedition, Field Headquarters. "
64
nalize this employment, he toured the
United Stales with Indian shows,
Shotridge proved a great success,
popular with children, a favorite of
the press, the hunting companion of
Theodore Roosevelt and John Wana-
maker.
In 1915 Shotridge returned to
Klukwan, His first report begins:
"Upon my arrival in Chilkat ... I
proceeded in the usual way of obtain-
ing information from the natives,
which is to hire an informant."
Two photographs from this period
are especially interesting. One shows
a trim house set apart from the squalor
of Haines. The second shows the inte-
rior of the house: immaculate, spare,
with fashionable wicker furniture, in-
cluding a coffee table complete with
fresh pad of paper and sharpened
pencil. Crossed tennis rackets lean
against the table. Shotridge' s caption
reads: "Museum Expedition, Field
Headquarters."
Shotridge had large purchasing
funds. He had a still camera and a
movie camera. The museum had
made, to his specifications, a type-
writer with phonetic typeface for re-
cording Tlingit texts. John Wana-
maker gave him a powerboat, the
Penn, large enough for him to live
aboard with his family while on col-
lecting trips. Photographs show him
in tweeds, always with a camera
slung from his shoulder. He appears
on horseback, driving a dogsled, pi-
loting the Penn, always apart — in
dress and manner — from his kins-
men. They called him arrogant. They
still revile his name.
"I obtained [the Kaguanton Shark
Helmet] . . . from the last of the house
group. . . . When I carried the object
out of its place no one interfered, but
if only one of the true warriors of that
clan had been alive the removal of it
would never have been possible. I
took it in the presence of aged wom-
en, the only survivors in the house
where the old object was kept, and
they could do nothing more than
weep when the once highly esteemed
object was being taken away. ..."
He spent most of the next twenty
years collecting on the Coast. He
knew where pieces were and how to
recognize the best. He offered large
sums. But, even when accepted,
these offers were resented, partly, I
think, because Shotridge was Tlingit,
but had "gone out."
"I am now the only right heir who
is in a position to dispose of any or
all of the objects if I chose to do so.
How much do you know about
the National Hiatorical Sociebi?
Sound ^(ty^^^ "'
dry? Stuffy? ' ''
Not when you
look close.
Neither a clustering of
professional historians nor a forum
for the academia, the National Historical
Society is composed of people from all
walks of life who simply enjoy the lively
American history hobby.
Among Its membership benefits are:
• A magazine lo excite the Imagination—
AfyiERICAN HlSJOm tlluslraled Ten limes
each year every NHS member receives this
generously illustrated magazine of articles
by-lined with the names of today's major
historians. Penetrating biographies and
fresh porlrayals of triumph and tragedy fill
each issue with an authoritative, vivid ap-
proach to American history as it happened
• Travel and Assemblies
• Books at Discount
You are now invited to become an NHS
Ivlember and begin participating in these
and other NHS programs for the low annual
dues of only $10, (AMERICAN HISTORY
iiralea
currently sells
I selected news-
stands tor $1 25 per
copy— that's $12 50 per
year for just the magazine without
any additional Society benefits')
THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL SOCiETr
Member Service Center
3300 Walnut Street. Boulder. Colorado 80302
Enclosed IS my ctieck or money order lor $10 to
be used as my dues for one full year in it\e Na-
tional Historical Society Send me my cenilicate
of membership and my first issue of AMERICAN
HISTORY llluslraied (I understand that I may can-
cel my memberstiip at any time and receive a pro
rata refund of my dues.)
Address,.
City.
Lindblad's New East African
flNI!
offers an exclusive window-seat view
of the world's richest wildlife panorama
No need to get trapped In large con-
centrations of minibiuses on hot and
dusty roads. Get a wide-angled view
of the African vastness. OurnewWing
Safari, limited to 7 passengers, using
the latest, most comfortable Navajo
turbo-powered aircraft, permits us to
visitfar ranging wilderness and game
reserves seldom visited by other sa-
faris. We will fly deeper into the North-
ern Frontier District to see the excit-
ing tribal life of the Samburu, Boran.
Rendilles and Somalis. At night we
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHWS376 133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022 (212) 751-2300
will occupy the very best hotels,
lodges and tented camps. Our spe-
cially trained hosts will introduce
you, not only to the large mammals,
but also to colorful and exciting birds,
butterflies, plants and flowers en-
demic to East Africa. The Lindblad
Wing Safari is a truly unforgettable
experience. British Airways will fly
you to Nairobi and back in utmost
comfort. Please write for our bro-
chure or see your travel agent.
65
Ladies, Gentlemen:
WHY for Heaven's sake,
put up any longer with the
irritation and struggle with
wheelbarrows and poorly
designed carts as shown in
drawings below . . .
little obstacles
Flops forward as
load shifts forward.
Axle in wrong place.
when here is a so much better
answer — the all NEW
Garden Way
WHEELBARROW-CARTI
^rfeclly balanced on TWO
BIG WHEELS, so easy to roll,
you guide our Wheelborrow-
Corls with JUST ONE HAND
ith heavy loads!
No backstrain!
No struggle!
No load fall-out!
Several models
include bulld-it-
yourself kits
Plywood panel
models
All-steel models
MARVELOUS GIFT IDEA I
This completely new, different and better de-
sign is the result of more than 20 years of
intensive cart research and experience. No
matter how many carts or wheelbarrows you
now have, whether they were built In Ver-
mont or not, please let us tell you the whole
exciting story of these NEW Garden Way
Wheelbarrow-Carts.
Please mail Ihis coupon now for
FREE BOOfClET and affracfive prices.
Garden Way Research, Dept. 60353
Charlotte, Vermont 05445
Please send by return mail, FREE BOOKLET
about your GARDEN WAY Wheelbarrow-
Carts, including your attractive prices.
Name _...,
Address
Slate Zip
but it is not going to be an easy thing
to take away the Bear Emblem. . . .
My plan is to take the old pieces one
at a time."
Unlike Emmons, he didn't limit
offers to pieces no longer in use or no
longer valued. Offers he made in
Klukwan greatly exceeded the sums
he paid elsewhere for comparable
pieces, yet were generally rejected.
In the end, he tried to steal the Rain
Screen and houseposts from the
Whale House in Klukwan.
These particular pieces, by general
consensus, were the Tlingit's greatest
surviving treasures. Shotridge had
promised them to the museum as
early as 1906, laying claim to them
on the grounds his father had been the
Master of the Whale House. But Tlin-
git descent is matrilineal. Shotridge
had no claim. He didn't even have the
right to enter the Whale House, ex-
cept by invitation.
First he offered $3,500. There
probably wasn't $100 cash in all
Klukwan at that time. He spoke elo-
quently, at great length, in the Whale
House. He said that the museum
would protect these treasures, that
they belonged to the world and would
forever reflect the glory of the Whale
House. The answer was an unequiv-
ocal no.
Finally, with the museum's knowl-
edge, he laid plans to steal the Rain
Screen and houseposts while the men
were away fishing. "We plan to take
this collection," he wrote, "regard-
less of all the objections of the com-
munity." The reply: "I am glad you
have found a way to overcome the
serious difficulties in obtaining full
possession." But a "gun went off,"
narrowly missing him. This tradi-
tional Tlingit custom, midway be-
tween execution and assassination,
was no mere warning. Shotridge
sponsored a feast to reestablish
peace.
The Depression worsened and the
museum let him go. He received no
pension, merely a letter of regret. He
was left without means or purpose in
a hostile community. He mailed
twelve pieces of beadwork to the mu-
seum, suggesting the staff might want
to buy them if the museum didn't.
They averaged less than $3.00 each.
Only one was purchased. Another
was lost.
Finally he got a job as inspector in
the salmon canneries, actually a river
guard. Nothing better illustrates his
status than this despised job. But he
had buried one wife. His second wife
was ill. He had five children. He was
ill . The last known photograph of him
shows him beside a small, torn tent
pitched in snow. He holds a black-
ened coffee pot over a wood fire.
The circumstances of his death are
still discussed. At Klukwan, some
say he was killed for taking treasures.
At Sitka, some say he was killed for
ordering a fisherman off the river. The
official report states that he ' 'fell from
scaffolding," breaking his neck. But
there was no scaffolding where his
body was found. He lay beside a little
cabin he had built. Even if his death
was an accident, that doesn't explain
why he lay unattended for days, until
a teacher took him to a hospital. I
accept the Sitka version. But, how-
ever he died, he died an "outlaw,"
unprotected by community codes.
An interesting story, but how rele-
vant? If we judge Shotridge by his
visible role, the bitterness at Klukwan
can be understood, the museum for-
given, the man forgotten. But I think
he was larger than these events.
When Shotridge was young, he
had no interest in traditional Tlingit
life. Even after he returned, his sym-
pathies were elsewhere. But he was
well trained, and when he docu-
mented a piece, he did a first-rate job.
He found that the old speeches, asso-
ciated with major pieces, were still
remembered in all their detail and elo-
quence: proposals in council to com-
mission a work of art, speeches made
in reply, payments made for a work,
speeches made when it was worn or
displayed, the capture of a piece by
enemies, their treatment of it, ran-
soming the work, and so on.
I know of no other record, in all the
literature of anthropology, that car-
ries the reader so far into alien modes
of thought associated with art. Read-
ing these lengthy reports, one soon
realizes that the physical object was
only part of a complex pattern, and
at times could become almost irrele-
vant. Consider three minor incidents
relating to the Whale House screen
and posts: At a time when there was
hunger in Klukwan, the owners re-
jected $3 ,500, but then left the screen
exposed outside, where it weathered
badly. More recently, I stopped two
roughhousing children from damag-
ing this screen during a feast in the
Whale House. No one else seemed
concerned, although shortly after-
ward they rejected an offer of $750,-
000 and ordered the dealer who made
it to leave. One member of the Whale
House, speaking in council, urged
66
that the screen and posts be sold:
"What is it we Chili<at respect?
Power and money. We hire artists. A
Tsimshian made the Rain Screen for
us. We bought it for prestige and
power. We should sell it for the same
reasons."
Art, like so much else in Tlingit
life, was often used for power. It was
even used as a weapon. Shotridge's
efforts to acquire pieces still in use
were interpreted as a bid for power
and fought by the Tlingit at every
turn. Gradually he lost interest. He
spent long periods in areas where
there was nothing to collect, seeking
out recluses, blind elders living alone
in otherwise abandoned camps, far up
remote tributaries. He lived with
them, listening. 1 find no evidence
that he was encouraged in this, yet it
was these trips that proved ethnologi-
cally most fruitful.
Much of the art he obtained was the
very best. My impression is that very
little great art ever leaves a tribe. Its
owners burn it or let it rot before they
let strangers see it or take it. In New
Guinea I once saw a Sepik village
burn in twenty minutes. After carry-
ing infants and elders to safety, men
tore walls and roofs open to take out
hidden treasures. These were put on
rafts, then quickly covered, but for a
moment I glimpsed absolutely mag-
nificent pieces. In Borneo and New
Guinea I've entered abandoned set-
tlements and seen the very finest trea-
sures under rotting rafters. The elders
who had remained behind to guard
them had all died.
I think this was equally true on the
Northwest Coast. Aside from the ef-
forts of Emmons, Newcombe, and
Shotridge, only chance permitted us
to see truly great pieces. Many were
lost in house fires. Others were delib-
erately destroyed. I don't think even
the early explorers got the best, save
for rare presentation pieces. Most of
what passes for Northwest Coast art
is mere merchandise, made for com-
moners, and souvenirs, made for us.
The fact that even this material is gen-
erally good, in design and execution,
encourages us to look no further.
In failing to look further, we sell
this art short. There were master-
pieces of the highest order on the
Northwest Coast. The people on the
Coast knew them, guarded them,
needed them . The few now in our mu-
seums usually lie buried in storage or
lost in bad lighting. But seen on their
own terms, they can be recognized.
They stand out. D
Mauplntour means more! JOUmey intO time:
and AGgean Isles
Join a lectured Maupintour for glories
of Attica, the Peloponnese, Thessaly.
Four days Athens at Grande Bretagne.
See Sunion, Ivlarathon, Euripus, aerie
Meteora tvlonasteries, Thermopylae,
Delphi, Parnassus, Olympia. Nauplia,
Epidaurus, IVIycenae, Corinth, Piraeus.
Plus cruise Aegean to Crete, Santorini.
Rhodes, Delos. h/lykonos. Ephesus, and
Istanbul; or choose Cairo, Pyramids,
Patmos. Add on Dalmatia, fvliddle East,
Italy, Turkey, Cappadocia, Persia/ Iran.
For brochure, ask your Travel Agent for
the new Maupintour Greece or write:
^
^Maupintour
Telephone 913/843-1211 * 25 vears ol aualii
' 25 years ol Quality touring
Maupintour, 900 Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044
Lars-Eric Lindblad's new series of
IMIONSTOUR
Exciting adventures into man's cultural past.
For years we have arranged custom
tours for museums, societies and
clubs- programs aimed at explor-
ing the world's artsand civilizations.
Until recently, these tou rs have been
beyond reach for the individual
tourist.
We can now offer such programs
on an individual basis. We have
created eight of them, each one
focusing on a different cultural area
and each onecarefully prog rammed
to allow ample time to savor the
wonderful sights and experiences
en route.
For example, you may want to
follow the medieval pilgrimage
route from Paris to Santiago de
Compostela, ajourneyJamesMich-
ener has called "the finest in Spam
and one of the two or three best in
the world." You may want to ex-
plore the artistic riches of Eastern
Eu rope or trace the ancient civi I iza-
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y.
tions along the coast of Asia Minor.
Each tour is hosted by an experi-
enced escort who will look after all
details and see to your comfort. In
addition, a knowledgeable lecturer-
guide will be on hand to enhance
your knowledge and enjoyment of
the area's history and culture.
Because we travel in small
groups, we shall be able to take ad-
vantage of special events as they
happen-musical performances,
art exhibits, craft shows, and the
like.
Our 1976 Arts &CivilizationsTours
include: 1. Asia Minor. 2. Bourbon
Italy 3. Byzantium. 4. Eastern Eu-
rope. 5. The Road to Compostela.
6 Saxony and Bohemia. 7. Asian
Dances, Dramas, and Deities (Thai-
land-lndonesia-Japan). 8. World of
the Ancient Maya.
Please write for our brochures or
see you r travel agent.
Dept. NHAC376
10022(212)751-2300
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
67
THIS YEAR COME SEE
A FOREIGN LAND...
THE REAL AMERICAN WEST
America? Foreign? You bet it is! After all, what
could be more foreign than 2,000.000 wilderness
acres where snow-clad peaks soar into skies that
have neuer known pollution's taint? Or solitary
lakes and rivers so pure that you can lie on your
belly and drink your fill Or cathedral groves of giant
cedar that were ancient before Columbus This is
the awesome Selway Bitterroot Wilderness where
we — your licensed and bonded outfitters — will
guide you into the private domain of deer, bear, elk,
cougar, wheeling eagles and fighting trout.
Roadless Spectacular Wild And Free Mean-
while, back at the ranch, superb log cabins and
authentic teepees house our guests in the Old West
setting of a working ranch Enjoy riding, hiking,
boating, fishing, swimming, chuck wagon feeds,
moonlight cruises, weekly rodeos and just easy
relaxin' by the shining lakes of Idaho's unspoiled
panhandle. Good fun! Great food! Grand friend-
TIMBER RIDGE RANCH
P.O. Box 83-NH • HARRISON, IDAHO 83833
Please tell me more about "foreign" America Send
me complete information on wilderness and ranch
vacations today!
Name .
Address
C.tv
Zip
State _
Phone .
Free 1976
outdoor
catalog
endorsed
by the
experts.
Get REI's free outdoor catalog with over 1 600
top-quality items for outdoor people. You'll find
gear and clothing for mountaineering,
backpacking, cycling, camping and more! And it's
ail available at low REI Co-op prices.
For a one-time $2.00 membership, you'll gel all
our upcoming catalogs and an annual dividend or
money you spend at Recreational Equipment.
Last year, $1 ,900,000 was declared In dividends to
Shop REI In Seattle and Berkeley. Use coupon
below or call toll free tor your catalog
(800)426-0351,
G I want to be a MEMBER encloaed is $2.00.
3 Please send me FREE color catalog only,
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY
RTATF
ZIP
4i^
NH-3-C
Rec
"The 0
PC
igin
Bo«
Clonal Equipment: Inc.
al Outdoor Co-op— Est 1938 "
22090, Seattle, WA 98122
— ™ ^
^ ^ ^
^ ■
^ ^
Additional Reading
Louis Pasteur (p, 8)
The best biography of Pasteur, accord-
ing to Rene Dubos, is Pasteur: The His-
tory of a Mind, ■written in 1896 by Emile
Duclaux, his collaborator and successor
at the Pasteur Institute; a reprint of a 1920
translation is currently available (Metu-
chen: Scarecro'w Press, 1973, $12.50).
This almost psychological study provides
a unique interpretation of the mind of Pas-
teur at work. An official biographical ac-
count. The Life of Pasteur, was produced
in 1899byRene Vallery-Radot, Pasteur's
son-in-law and secretary; the 1923 Eng-
lish translation has since been reprinted
(Ann Arbor: Finch Press, $14).
Rain-making Forests (p. 22)
General information on the ecological
processes characteristic of mountain and
coastal forests in which "fog drip"
occurs is found in a chapter entitled "The
Mountain Roots" in New England
Wilds, by Ogden Tanner (New York:
Time-Life Books, 1974). Vogelmann's
"Precipitation from Fog Moisture in the
Green Mountains of Vermont' ' {Ecology,
1968, vol. 49, pp. 1205-1207) describes
the methodology he and his colleagues
used. Of particular interest to mountain
or coastal residents wishing to experi-
ment themselves is the "five and dime"
equipment employed in these tech-
nologically advanced times to achieve
such significant findings. (The author
notes that in the study of Mexican coastal
regions described in this issue a total of
only $6.50 in supplies was required.)
County Donegal (p. 26)
Historian-geographer E. Estyn Evans,
in his book Irish Folkways (Boston: Rout-
ledge & Kegan Paul, 1966, $6.50), traces
modern practices in the Irish countryside
as they evolved from the invasions and
conquests of Ireland over the centuries.
In contrast, anthropologists Conrad M.
Arensberg and Solon T. Kimball, in their
ethnographic account of one community
in the west of Ireland in the 1920s, FawiVy
and Community in Ireland (2nd ed. Cam-
bridge: Harvard University Press, 1968),
present a contemporary picture of family
and social relationships. A lucid discus-
sion of Irish political history relative to
the ecology of the land is found in A.R.
Orme's Ireland (Chicago: Aldine Pub-
lishing, 1970). T.W. Freeman's 7re/and;
A General and Regional Geography (4th
ed. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1972)
presents a thorough discussion of County
Donegal. R.N. Salaman's The History
and Social Influence of the Potato, reis-
sued in 1970 (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press), tells the absorbing
story of this one plant, which figured so
prominently in Irish history, tracing the
importance of the potato crop to the sur-
vival of the Irish people during periods
of conquest.
Antarctic Deep Divers (p. 36)
G.L. Kooyman's "The Weddell Seal"
(Scientific American, 1969, vol. 221, no.
2, pp. 100-106) and Ian Stirling's "Ecol-
ogy of the Weddell Seal in McMurdo
Sound, Antarctica" (Ecology, 1969, vol.
50, pp. 573-586) provide background
material on the biology, breeding cycles,
and behavioral adaptations of these seals
to their harsh environment. Comparable
information on the emperor penguin is
found in Jean Rivolier's "Polar Realm of
the Emperor" (Natural History, 1959,
vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 66-81) and in J.C.
Deguine's photographic essay. Emperor
Penguin: Bird of the Antarctic (Brattle-
boro: Stephen Greene Press, 1974).
Physiologist P.F. Scholander's "The
Master Switch of Life" (Scientific Amer-
ican, 1963, vol. 209, no. 6, pp. 92-106)
discusses the adaptations in the circula-
tory and respiratory systems of deep-div-
ing animals that allow extended breath
holding. G.L. Kooyman and H.T. An-
dersen's "Deep Diving," in The Biology
of Marine Mammals (New York: Aca-
demic Press, 1968, pp. 65-94), edited by
Andersen, details the diving physiology
of seals and whales, while Kooyman's
"Behavior and Physiology of Diving,"
in The Biology of Penguins (London:
MacMillan Press, 1975, pp. 115-137),
edited by B. Stonehouse, deals similarly
with penguins as a group.
Carnivorous Baboons (p. 46)
Summaries of primate behavior are
found in Alison Jolly's The Evolution of
Primate Behavior (New York: Macmil-
lan, 1972, $4.95) and Hans Kummer's
Primate Societies: Group Techniques of
Ecological Adaptation (Chicago: Aldine
Publishing, 1971, $2.95). Baboon Ecol-
ogy: African Field Research, by Stuart
and Jeanne Altmann (Chicago: Univer-
sity of Chicago Press, 1970), is based on
studies in Kenya in the early 1960s; this
monograph presents the general back-
ground of the species and remains the
most complete study available of baboons
in their natural environment. Anthro-
pologist R.A. Dart's "The Carnivorous
Propensity of Baboons" (Symposia of the
68
Zoological Society of London, 1963, vol.
10, pp. 49-56) summarizes anecdotal ac-
counts and authenticated cases of carniv-
orous behavior in southern African ba-
boons. Geza Teleki presents evidence for
meat eating as an important element of
the natural history of another close rela-
tive of man in "The Omnivorous Chim-
panzee" (Scientific American, 1973,
vol. 228, no. 1, pp. 32-42). George
Schaller and G. Lowther's "The Rele-
vance of Carnivore Behavior to the Study
of Early Hominids" (Southwestern Jour-
nal of Anthropology, 1969, vol. 25, pp.
307-341) is considered a key paper in the
historical development of animal models
of early human populations.
Northwest Coast Indian Art (p. 54)
Both Northwest Coast Indian Art: An
Analysis of Form, by Bill Holm (Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 1970,
$4.95), and Art of the Northwest Coast
Indians, by R.B. Inverarity (2nd ed.
Berkeley: University of California Press,
1967, $7.95), give examples and analy-
ses of Indian art. Haida Indian carver
William Reid and photographer Adelaide
De Menil interpret the work of the totem
pole artisans in Out of the Silence (New
York: Harper & Row, 1972, $4.95); the
account was excerpted in the February
1972 issue of Natural History (vol. 81,
no. 2, pp. 64-73). Polly and Leon
Miller's Lost Heritage of Alaska: The
Adventure and Art of the Alaskan
Coastal Indians (Cleveland: World Pub-
lishing, 1967) tells of the men who first
contacted the Indians and collected much
of the art now displayed in museums and
art collections.
The exhibition of Northwest Coast In-
dian Art described in Form and Freedom,
by B . Holm and W . Reid (Houston : Insti-
tute for the Arts, Rice University, 1975),
will be in Australia throughout 1976; in
Toronto, at the Art Gallery of Ontario,
from mid-January through March 1977;
at the Seattle Art Museum in May and
June 1977; in San Francisco, at the M.H.
de Young Memorial Museum, from Feb-
ruary through May 1978; and sometime
after that at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York.
Gordon Beckhorn
ERRATUM: The December 1975
article "The Tea Mystique" erron-
eously stated that more tea than cof-
fee is consumed each year in the
United States. The statement should
have read more tea than coffee is con-
sumed worldwide.
lOUROMANIA
Got a mania lo roam! Ik-re's a Ircc bout
full of European tours with the accent on
high adventure, and low cost ' We spotlight
romantic Romania. . . from the Dracula
country of the wild Carpathians and
the painted monasteries of Moldavia
to sophisticated Bucharest and
the swinging Black Sea resorts
Our TOUROMANIA
brochure lists hundreds
of vacation bargains . .
independent lours in
Romania , from S 23 a das
and multi-country escorted
tours including Romania
Storybook Europe' li rcalK
still exists. Let us guide
you to it !
ROMANIAN NATIONAL TOURIST OFFICE
500 Fillh Avenue. New York, NY. 10036 Depi NH-2 |
Please send my tree copies of the TOUROMANIA '76
tour brochure and guidetxxik to Romania.
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
Journeys into hidden worlds with
Lars-Eric Lindblad invites you on
journeys to the great continent of
South America. Here you may visit
some of the most scenic areas in the
world. Ethnically and culturally they
are also veryexciting. Foritwas here
that the proud and peace-loving civ-
ilization of the Incas spread their
empire from shore to shore. And on
Easter Island a pre-historic people
erected huge stone statues that
even today puzzle anthropologists.
Seek out and witness the achieve-
ments of these amazing cultures.
Perhaps you want to explore the
headwaters of the mighty Amazon
or visit Tierra del Fuego on an in-
credible Nature Tour. All of these
expeditions are fully described in
our'Lindblad in South America" bro-
chure. Write for it today or see your
travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHSA376
133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022
(212) 751-2300
69
Back Numbers
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS, 1888-1976. Any
issue, maps, send wants. Buxbaum Geographies,
Box 465-NH, Wilmington, DE 19899
Birding
MADERA CANYON— "Bird Paradise of ttie West"
In the Santa Rita Mountains, south of Tucson. Over
200 species to be seen; other fine birding areas
nearby. Excellent dining; fine rooms and cottages,
all with kitchenettes. Low rates. Free brochure and
bird list. Santa Rita Lodge, Box 444, Amado, AZ
85640
FINEST WILD BIRD HOMES AND FEEDERS, Free
literature. Dial-A-Bird, Box 449Y, Westwood, NJ
07675
Books
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 90 DAYS Wanted: book
manuscripts on all subjects. Expert editing, design,
manufacture and marketing — all under one roof.
Completed books in 90 days. Low break-even. Two
FREE books and literature give details, costs, suc-
cess stories. Write or phone Dept. 779, Exposition
Press, Inc., 900 So. Oyster Bay Rd., Hicksville, NY
11801. (516) 822-5700; (212) 895-0081
PYRAMIDOLOGY: Extensive book and product
catalogue, 25(8 please. Pyramids, 8140 Big Bend,
Webster Groves, MO 631 19
Business Opportunities
$300.00 WEEKLY POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes.
Free supplies. Details, stamped envelope. ISCO,
3835 42nd, San Diego, CA 92105
$800.00 MONTHLY POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes.
Free supplies. Rush stamped envelope. United,
3838V2 Van Dyke, San Diego, CA 92105
Employment
AUSTRALIA— NEW ZEALAND WANT YOUM! 50,-
000 Jobs! Paid Transportation. Latest Information,
forms: $1.00. AUSTCO, Box 3623-NH, Long
Beach, CA 90803
OVERSEAS JOBS: NOW HIRING, 103 Countries,
All Occupations, High Pay, Free Transportation,
Tax Benefits, Latest Computerized Reports; $2.00.
TRANSWORLD, International Airport, Box 90802-
NH, Los Angeles, CA 90009
TEACHERS-ADMINISTRATORS. Current school,
college openings lists: U.S., $5.95; abroad, $5.95.
Leading placement sources, U.S., $3.95; foreign,
$4.95. EIS, Box 662, Newton, MA 02162
Gifts
CLEAR LUCITE BLOCKS: WE EMBED COINS,
medals, insects, mementos of all kinds. One piece
orquantity. For prices, information; Quality Embed-
ment Co., 20 West 22 Street, NYC 10010. 212-255-
8855
Gourmet Interests
TEA DEVOTEES savor world's rarest select teas.
Grace Tea Importers, Dept. NH36, 799 Broadway,
NYC, 10003. Free brochure.
instruction
READ FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, SPANISH
without memorizing! Send for free descriptive Lon-
don Daily Telegraph feature article. Templegate
Publishers, Box 5152A, Springfield, IL 62705
Maga2ine Subscriptions
FREE LIST. Magazine Subscriptions at Lowest
Prices Available Anywhere. Magazine House, Box
390L, Millwood, NY 10546
iVIotion Pictures
16MM SOUND FEATURES, shorts, new, used, for
sale. Free catalog. National Cinema, 333 W 57th
St., New York, NY 10019
_TF(ETV[^I^ET_
Ptiotographiy
BASIC AND ADVANCED WORKSHOPS with mas-
ter photographers. For scientists, professionals,
and amateurs One-week to three-month pro-
grams. Maine Photographic Workshops, Rockport
ME 04856
DISPLAY YOUR BEST SLIDES, We'll make excel-
lent color prints for you. 8x10, $8. 11x14 $15
Superior Color, Box 632, Brockton, MA 02401
Travel
ADIRONDACK LODGES on Upper Saranac, avail-
able by half-month or month. July through Sep-
tember. Bartlett Carry Club, Rural Route, Tupper
Lake, NY 12986
ADVENTURES IN OCEANOGRAPHY; Wilderness
Trips. Beautiful Mount Desert Island, Maine. Ocean
sailing navigation; marine biology. Whitewater ca-
noeing; mountain climbing. Swimming, sailing,
tennis. Beech Cliff Adventures, Box 536, Concord
MA 01 742. (61 7) 369-4095
ANTHROPOLOGY, NATURAL HISTORY, and na-
ture photography expeditions to unique environ-
ments of the world including Afghanistan, Alaska,
East Africa, Galapagos, Hawaii, Mexico, Scotland,
and South America. For 1976/1977 catalog write:
Nature Expeditions International, Dept. NC, Suite
F, 4546 Camino Real, Los Altos, CA 94022
CIRCLE Z RANCH! Horseback riding, fantastic
birding, tennis, heated pool, historic unspoiled
area. November through May, Limit 40 guests. Bro-
chure: Box 194, Patagonia, AZ 85624
ICELAND GEOLOGY FIELD TRIP. All-inclusive 1 2-
days. Information: EDPA, 16 Aberdeen Road
Peekskill, NY 10566 '
INTERNATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITIONS in-
vites you to explore tropical rain forests, Mayan
ruins, caves, Indians, coral reefs and the flora and
fauna of Central America. Travel in small groups
with noted biologists on a free-roving expedition—
NOT a programmed tour— Call or write: IZE, Wash-
ington St., Sherborn, MA 01770. (617) 655-1461
SOUTHWEST SAFARIS: Air tours of New Mexico,
Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Camping, hiking, rid-
ing, rafting. Geology, archaeology, ecology, his-
tory. Brochure: P.O. Box 945, Santa Fe. NM 87501
WILDERNESS AND WHITEWATER float trips, Utah
and Wyoming, Slickrock River Company Box
10543, Denver, CO 80210
WILDLIFE IN SCOTLAND. Wild deer, seals, loons,
eagles, many other creatures, amid mountain, loch,
pinewood. All-inclusive vacations. For illustrated
brochure send airmail postcard: Caledonian Wild-
life Services, Kingsmills Gardens, Inverness IV2
3LU, Scotland
YUKON WILDERNESS UNLIMITED, 11 years of
personally conducted wilderness vacations. Write
for 1976 Itinerary. John Lammers, Box 4126, White-
horse, Yukon Y1A3S9
RATES AND STYLE INFORMATION
$1.50 per word; 16 word ($24) minimum. Display
classified is $1 50 per inch. Rates are not structured
for agency and frequency discounts or billing. All
advertisements are accepted at NATURAL HIS-
TORY'S discretion: all must be prepaid. Send
check/money order payable to NATURAL HIS-
TORY for each Insertion, Including your personal
address and telephone. Mention issue preferred,
suggested heading, and text. Deadlines— 8th of
month, two months prior to cover date. Thus, a
January issue closes November 8. A tearsheet or
copy of the page with your ad will be sent upon
publication.
Box numbers, telephone numbers, and hyphen-
ated words count as two words; abbreviations and
zip codes as one word each. All states are shown
In two-letter codes followed by zip, then telephone
(with area code), if any. An address such as "18
Main St." counts as three words. Occasionally,
slight editing for clarity Is required . We trust you trust
us. Thank you I
Arlhur Avenue. Ttie Bronx
70
Books in Review
by Stanley A. Freed
The Cree's
Day in Court
Strangers Devour the Land, by
Boyce Richardson. Alfred A. Knopf,
Inc. $12.50: 342 pp., illus.
At the heart of Richardson's book
is the classic conflict of the large mod-
ern industrial nation and the small tra-
ditional society. The government of
Quebec regarded a huge hydro-
electric project, to be undertaken on
the land of some 6,000 Cree Indians
and Inuit (Eskimo), as basic to the
economic future of the province . The
native people, many of whom
hunted, trapped, and fished, feared
that the project, which would flood
some of their land and cause other
ecological disturbance, would be de-
structive of their traditional culture.
They went to court to halt the project.
Unabashedly partisan, Richardson
casts the story in the now-familiar
terms of the insensitive, perhaps
wicked white man and the noble na-
tive. The project was "a ferocious
onslaught" on native traditions.
Richardson interprets the govern-
ment's response to the native
people's contention that the project
would destroy their culture as saying
in effect, "So the Cree would be des-
troyed? So what?" The white man
can do nothing right. One would
imagine that Richardson would see
some value in modern education; the
Indians did, to judge from their ap-
pointment of a 25-year-old man, pre-
sumably because of his education, as
one of their three negotiators. Ri-
chardson comments, however, that
the young man, although respectful
of Indian values, had been "alienated
from his culture by his many years of
white man's schooling."
Couched in such terms, the book
is designed to arouse emotions as
much as to inform. The reader pro-
ceeds with a sense of foreboding, ex-
pecting to find in the last chapter the
description of some disaster that had
befallen the Cree and Inuit. Instead,
one reads terms of a settlement that
could easily be viewed as generous.
Among its provisions, the settlement
awarded the native people $150,-
000,000. They would also receive no
less than 25 percent of the royalties
that Quebec would receive from all
development in the designated terri-
tory during the next 50 years, such
royalties in each case to be payable
for 20 years. The native people also
achieved, the major modification that
they had requested, the relocation of
a proposed dam. The government
promised to provide a guaranteed an-
nual income, higher than welfare
benefits, for any native person who
wished to hunt, trap, and fish as a way
of life. It was the first guaranteed-in-
come scheme for any Canadian
group.
i.
spring..
INTERNATIONAL SILVER
Sterling Silver
Butterfly Pendant
A delicate flutter of silver. . . for those
who cherish flights of fancy. . . and feel
free to follow a friendly breeze. Comes
with a tarnish-proof rhodium chain and
a pin attachment so it can be worn as
either a pin or pendant. Only $15.00—
a small price to make a heart go 'aflutter
this spring.
FOR PHONfE ORDERS, call 800-243-3755
toll-free (in Connecticut call collect
235-6383) and give us your charge card
number. TO ORDER BY MAIL, use this
coupon. i International 1976
231
American Archives, Dept. BF7
122 Charles Street, P.O. Box 1776
Meriden, Connecticut 06450
Please send me (quantity) Sterling
Silver Butterfly Pendants @ $15.00 each.
(Conn, residents add 7% sales tax.)
1 am adding 45t to my order to cover
postage and handling.
Total Amount enclosed or charged $
CHECK ONE;
n 1 enclose check or money order payable
to American Archives.
LJ Charge my purchase to:
n Diners Club D American Express
D Master Charge D BankAmericard
Expire
Account n Date
D Please send me your latest American
Archives catalog. I enclose SOt for
postage and handling.
Address-
City
_Zip_
No C.O.D.'s. Offer good in U.S.A. only, except
where prohibited or restricted by law.
71
classic No-Iron
Poplin Travel
Slacks $17*
Shorts $15**
A year round favourite
for travel, work and lei-
sure, our handsome pop-
lin slacks in a quick dry-
ing, permanent press
blend of cotton and Dac-
ron. Classic belt loop
model with pre-cuffed
straight bottoms. Pro-
portioned with extra
room at knee, thigh and
seat for a more comfort-
able and better fitting
slack. In tan, faded blue
or navy. See size chart
below. *Sizes 44-46,
$19. Walk shorts, 30 to
42. **Sizes 44-48, $17.
Warst
Inseams Available
30
28-29-30-31
31
28-29-30-31-32
32-33
28-29-30-31-32-33
34-36-38-40.42
28-29-30 31-32 33-34
44-46 •
29-30-31-32
D Check Charge: D M/C D B/A D Cable Car Chg
Bank Card # Exp
Add $1.85 Ship. & Hdig : 6>,i% Sales Tax in Calif.
D Please send catalogue .'.9 03 01
out of print,scaree, rare NATURAL mSTORY BOOKS
r^ Botany, Zoology,
[tl&S* Orchidology,
Ornithology, Entomology,
Ichthyology,
Herpetolopy. etc.
CATALOGUE AVAILABLE
19 Olford PI«e/RKlnil!c Centre. New yofk 11570
Hank & Sharon Miller
•HELLS CANYON
• SALMON RIVER
• MIDDLE FORK
ID4HO
ilDMENFURES
BOX e34-H SALMON, IDAHO 83467
PHONE (208) 756-2986
With considerable justification,
some Indian leaders described the set-
tlement as a victory. Nonetheless,
Richardson insists on deriding not so
much the settlement as the means by
which it was achieved. "The native
people had no choice but to settle with
the government. Now they had
merely to make the best of the agree-
ment that was forced on them." The
Indians themselves had a more real-
istic view. An Indian leader, an-
nouncing the settlement, said, "It has
been a tough fight and our people are
still very much opposed to the proj-
ect, but they realize that they must
share the resources [with the rest of
the people of Quebec]. We believe
that the agreement is the best way to
protect our land from white man's in-
trusions. ... We believe that this
agreement guarantees the future of
our children, and also that we can
continue to live in harmony with na-
ture."
Richardson's approach has disad-
vantages other than the arousal of
emotions for an eventual letdown.
First, he misses much of importance
in the event. If the settlement was a
victory for the 6,000 native people,
it was also a victory for the 6 million
people of Quebec. It has not been so
very many years since even the best
and most gentle Euro-Canadians and
Euro-Americans did not question
their right to appropriate Indian land.
Against such a background, the set-
tlement represents a growth of social
conscience and considerable sensi-
tivity to the rights and needs of a
small minority. The legal processes
of democratic countries have much in
their favor.
A second disadvantage of the good
versus evil approach is that the com-
promise and adjustment needed to
solve stubborn problems, such as
those of education, become more
difficult. There are ways in which
modern education does "alienate"
people from traditional customs. To
be a professional trapper and hunter,
one must devote considerable time to
learning the necessary skills as an ad-
olescent. If these years are spent in
school preparing for a career in air-
craft maintenance or law, one is ill-
prepared to live as a trapper. Modern
education imparts values as well as
technical skills. A traditional empha-
sis on generosity and sharing might
be partially replaced by a concern for
the accumulation of personal wealth.
But is this situation a problem, and
if so, what is the remedy? Would
Incredible Africa!
MARCH 17, 1976 Join JOHN WIL-
LIAMS on a special 30-day safari in
Kenya following bird migration. JULY
21, 1976 Another JOHN WILLIAMS
departure featuring rare birds, big game
and wildflowers. 30 days in Kenya.
$2670.00 each plus air fare.
AUGUST 12, 1976 Unique FAMILY
SAFARI includes best game parks in
Kenya and Tanzania, a trek on Mt.
Kenya, built-in educational features.
ALSO exciting WALKING SAFARI for
those who wish to see Africa in a special
way. Both 21 -day safaris $2476.00 in-
cluding air fare from New York.
SEPTEMBER 15 and OCTOBER 13,
1976 ROOT & LEAKEY 19-day natural
history tented and lodge safari in Kenya
and Tanzania. $1795.00 plus air fare.
Limited to 16 members.
SIEMER & HAND, LTD. Travel Service
One Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, California 941 1 1
(415)788-7186
IN-BRIEF'
Craftsmanship
and rustiL slyhng
200 year heritage. Hand-rubbed
chestnut brown leather. Brass hardware. Legal
size, Ms, version has shoulder strap added.
Branded initials add $5. Send for brochure. Also
available with original cattle brand — S86. Please
add $2 for postage.
!, (^igobiiClassics )
P.O. Box 729, Dept. 302
Boulder, Colorado 80302
72
BETTLES. BUTTERFLIES and INSECTS
horn MALAYSIA,
AFRICA, BRAZIL.
etc.
Send $1.00
For 64 Page Catalog
, COMPLETE SaENTmC.
P.O. Box 307-N
Round Lake. Ilfinois 60073
QUESTERS WORLD
OF NATURE TOURS
You may find some tours similar to ours in other
programs. But because we are the only profes-
sional travel company specializing exclusively in
nature tours, you have three advantages with us:
• The largest selection of nature tours to
virtually every area of the world.
• The best expedition leaders available.
• The assurance that our experience and
expertise will make your tour rewarding.
Consider Ouesters. The 1976/77 Directory of
Worldwide Nature Tours lists 3 1 tours ranging
in duration from 4 to 36 days.
Call or write today or see your ,^
Travel Agent for your free copy.
Questers Tows"
AND TRAVEL. INC.
DEPT. NH-376, 257 PARK AVENUE SO.
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10010/(212)673-3120
Richardson seriously propose Ihat na-
tive ciiildren be denied tiie opportu-
nity to prepare for careers in thie mod-
ern Canadian economy? Does lie vis-
ualize an unchanging culture forever
preserved on a reservation? Even
were such a solution considered de-
sirable, it would be impractical and,
in the end, would fail.
Richardson, a journalist and lilm
producer, has traveled and inter-
viewed widely in native territory, and
his account of the legal case is in-
terspersed with many revealing vi-
gnettes of modern native life. Al-
though the traditional aspects of na-
tive culture appeal to him most, the
cultural and emotional complexity of
the current situation is always appar-
ent. From his interviews in Fort
George, for example, Richardson de-
tected "a curious ambivalence about
the younger men, those working
around town. . . . Most of them had
excuses ... for not being out on the
land . . . family troubles and so on —
and it was not being unduly skeptical
to feel, as one of the journalists with
me said, that 'if the times comes, I
doubt if we will find them flocking
back to the trapline. . . .' "
In Richardson's account, one hears
not only echoes of traditional customs
and values, but also, ever more insis-
tently, the attitudes of the Western
mercantile and industrial civilization
that had its origins in the Middle East
millennia ago, when the nomadic
hunting ancestors of modern Indians
were settling the New World. Behind
some of the statements of Indian lead-
ers, as they announced the settle-
ment, one can almost sense the
famous verse of Omar Khayyam.
Ah, take the Cash, and
let the Credit go.
Nor heed the rumble of a
distant Drum!
The native people of Canada and
the United States have been the vic-
tims of injustice. They currently have
special problems that merit the atten-
tion of the larger society. It is doubt-
ful, however, that cultural and intel-
lectual isolation will be the solution.
For better or for worse, the native
people of Canada and the United
States are part of their nations and the
world.
Stanley A . Freed is chairman and cu-
rator of the Department of Anthro-
pology at The American Museum of
Natural History.
iiSSSSSSSSSSSSSi^
What can we learn from
the story of a 19th century
whaling voyage?
You will come to know the
whalers, cabinetmakers,
chandlers and
tavern keepers of
young America through
the programs of
The Early
merican Society
Membership Chairman
The Early American Society
3300 Walnut St , Boulder, CO 80302
Please enroll nr^e as a member m the Early
American Society and bill my annual
dues ot $8.00 alter I have received rriy
first issue of EARLY AMERICAN LIFE.
I understand that if the first issue does
not live up to my expectations 1 may can-
cel without further obligation.
City.
We'll give you great projects for your work-
shop and kitchen, crafts with which to
create a colonial-style home, travel ideas
for experiencing "living history," and the
fascinating story of the lives ot everyday
Americans of the period 1700-1850.
Early American Lite, our bi-monthly
magazine, features these plus programs
of enrichment through travel and historic
assemblies with fellow members. You may
buy books at discount and acquire our
society-sponsored antiques reproductions.
Annual dues are $8.00, payable after you
have seen your first issue of Early Ameri-
can Life. Please use the coupon at right.
'^l\XV\VVV\VVV\VVXX\XV\\>XVVXXXXXXVWXX>>VX>XXXvw
Who says vou can't
speak another language
in 60 davs?
With Linguaphone, you can speak a new language — fluently and
Idiomatically — in as little as 60 days. It's an easy, interesting, natural
method — used by leading schools and universities world-wide. You
listen to and imitate flawless native speakers. No old-fashioned verb
drills! Over 4,000,000 successful students.
Record and cassette courses in more than
20 languages.
Free Sample Lesson!
Mail coupon today for sample lesson in
FrenchorSpanish. (The Linguaphone method
is the same for all languages.) See how
quickly, easily, you can learn a new language
with Linguaphone!
Here is yw» S ample tesson
hSpaniati-cdi'tpfcHents o»
Linguaphone!
IINGIiAPHQNB
. with Linguaphone! L^KaJAR-KjhK ^
a. . ■ ■ ... ■ Ci^nH csmnio loccrtn in" PI Frpnrh V~\ ftnaniRh
Llnjjuaphone Institute. Inc
Dept. NHP31 ,100 Park Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10017
I want to learn a new
language In my own home.
Rush FREE sample lesson
Indicated, plus an illustrated
folder that gives a complete
explanation. I understand
I will be under no obligation.
Send sample lesson in:
D Mr.
n Mrs. -
D Ms.
Address-
n French Q Spanish
City-
.Zip.
I am most interested in
n French D Spanish
Q Italian n German D Hebrew
Linguaphone tor Languages <^,
= of Weslinghouse Learning Corporatu
73
Sky Reporter
by Beatrice M. Tinsley
Life and Death in the Milky Way
Chemical elements in our galaxy
are made and recycled as stars
are born, age, and die
The life story of our galaxy, the
Milky Way, is the history of our cos-
mic ancestry. We ourselves are made
of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, iron,
and dozens of other elements, which
astrophysicists believe were cooked
inside stars that lived and died in the
Milky Way before the sun was born.
Here we will consider some current
ideas about the evolution of our gal-
axy and the origin of the elements.
To begin at the beginning: Most of
the atoms in the Milky Way are hy-
drogen and helium, made about fif-
teen billion years ago in the explo-
sive origin of our universe called the
Big Bang (see "From Big Bang to
Eternity?" Natural History, Octo-
ber 1975). The Milky Way began
as a great ball of turbulent hydro-
gen and helium gas that first ex-
panded, along with the universe
around it; but within two billion years
of the Big Bang, the ball contracted,
under the attraction of its own forces
of gravity, and collapsed. Some stars
were born from the gas during the col-
lapse, but most of the gas settled into
a flat disk about 1,000 light-years
thick and 100,000 light-years in di-
ameter. There, over billions of ye&rs,
the original galactic material under-
goes evolutionary processes. The gas
coalesces into clouds; deep inside
these clouds, conditions are dense
and cool enough for stars to be born.
The stars separate from their parental
clouds, and the leftover cloud mate-
rial (which some astronomers call
"placental") disperses into a diffuse
gas, ready to be recycled into new
stars or clouds.
Little by little, in this manner the
gas in the Milky Way is turned into
stars. By now about 80 percent of our
galaxy's mass is in living stars or the
corpses of dead ones. Our sun is a
typical star, born, along with its
planets, more than halfway through
the life of the Milky Way.
We must now ask why the stars
(and the solar system) are not made
exclusively of hydrogen and helium
from the Big Bang, but also contain
small amounts of carbon, nitrogen,
silicon, iron, and other elements. The
question is important because without
these heavier elements a solid earth
would be impossible, and the compli-
cated molecules that make up living
things could not exist. The answer
lies in the life — and death — of stars.
Each star spends most of its life at
a rather steady size and luminosity on
the so-called main sequence, which is
a well-defined band on a diagram that
plots luminosity against temperature.
The main sequence contains stars up
to fifty times as massive as the sun,
with up to a million times the sun's
luminosity, and stars that are less than
10 percent as massive as the sun and
a thousand times fainter. Within the
cores of main sequence stars, nuclear
reactions take place that convert hy-
drogen into helium and release huge
amounts of energy (these reactions
are the same as those in hydrogen
bombs). The energy is emitted by the
stars as light, heat, and other forms
of radiation.
The main sequence stage of a star's
life lasts until all the hydrogen fuel
near the star's center has been
"burned" to helium. Because mas-
sive stars are so luminous, they radi-
ate away their energy and use up their
fuel much faster than smaller stars;
therefore, although massive stars
have more fuel to burn, they live on
the main sequence for a much shorter
time than small ones. For example,
stars with more than five times the
sun's mass (blue- white stars such as
Spica in the constellation Virgo) live
on the main sequence for only 100
million years or less. The sun, now
41/2 billion years old, is halfway
through its main sequence life. But
stars with less than the sun's mass are
still main sequence stars even if they
were among the first to be born in the
Milky Way.
Although 90 percent of a star's life-
span is spent in the staid main se-
quence stage, the stars' old ages and
deaths are more important for the
evolution of our galaxy. Less massive
than our sun, the smallest stars,
which neither mature nor die during
the lifetime of our galaxy, affect its
evolution by merely using up gas. At
least half the mass of the Milky Way
is locked up in such stars.
Those stars of a mass from just
below that of the sun to five times
greater swell up in old age to an enor-
mous size and become red giants (ex-
emplified by the red star Arcturus in
the constellation Bootes). At that
stage, they rapidly burn a lot more of
their hydrogen into helium, then burn
the helium itself into carbon by an-
other set of nuclear reactions and, in
some cases, burn part of the carbon
into oxygen. Meanwhile, these red
giants are blowing away their outer
layers in a so-called stellar wind. Fi-
nally, more of the star is puffed off
as a shell, called a planetary nebula
(in small telescopes the diffuse green
light of these shells resembles outer
planets like Uranus).
In the centers of planetary nebulae
are blue- white stars, which are the
cores of what used to be red giants.
These cores will become dead stars,
or white dwarfs — corpses that cool
over a few billion years from white
heat to dim red to dark invisibility.
Such will be the fate of our sun in six
billion years, and such has already
been the fate of some fifty billion
other stars in the Milky Way.
Stars of a mass from that of the sun
up to five times greater not only lock
up matter in their corpses but also
pour into our galaxy some new ele-
ments made during their lifetimes and
shed in the stellar winds and planetary
nebulae. These elements get mixed
into the interstellar gas and are even-
tually condensed into clouds that give
birth to new stars. So it is that later
generations of stars (and their
planets) contain the products of nu-
clear reactions that took place in stars
of earlier generations.
In fact most of the supply of new
elements in our galaxy is cooked in
stars more than five times as massive
as the sun. Such stars evolve from the
main sequence into red supergiants
74
A SPECIAL CHARTER OFFER, A FREE BONUS, AND A CHALLENGE...
EXPLORE 8c UNDERSTAND THE
WONDERS OF SR^VCE
INTRODUCING POPULAR ASTRONOMY
THE FIRST MAGAZINE TO EXPLAIN THE MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
II gating into a star-filled sky-and realizing
man has begun to explore space-leaves you
in awe, you're not alone.
Aside from tfie smattering of information in
the news magazines and the technical
treatises in the scientific press, there are few
places you can turn for information on
astronomy today.
How to stay up on man's greatest
exploration.
Every month Popular Astronomy promises
to fill the information void on astronomical
developments.
Popular Astronomy will be written for you
and other intelligent people who are curious
about the world around them and the
worlds beyond.
It will be written by experts-practicing
scientists and professionals in astronomy
and space technology.
Most important, it will be written to be
understood.
What you'll learn in Popular Astronomy.
With our distinguished contributors, you'll
explore the facts and theories that explain
the past and present of our universe-and
predict its future.
The Sun: As dependable as day and night
now, but what of the future? Will it
explode ... or turn into a cold cinder as it
uses its atomic fuels?
The Jovian Planets; Jupiter, Saturn. Uranus,
Neptune. Strange worlds where air and earth
have no meaning. Will man ever set foot on
their "surface"?
The Earth; Is our 24-hour day stable? Will
the moon always be in the Earth's sky?
Some scientists say no to both questions.
Find out why.
The Universe; Did it begin with a "big
bang" and will it end that way? Or. can we
assume it will always exist?
How to participate in the exploration.
Few have access to observatories or radio
telescopes, and fewer still wilt travel as
astronauts in our lifetime.
Still, Popular Astronomy will challenge you
to participate in the exploration of our
world.
We'll challenge you to build your own
telescope. And give you easy-to-follow
instructions on how to do it.
We'll challenge you to view the complexities
of the galaxies. And provide you with
detailed maps to guide you.
We'll tell you not to miss celestial events.
And provide you with up-to-the-minute
reminders of eclipses, meteor showers and
other astronomical events you can view
from your own home.
See the heavens as the astronomers do.
Popular Astronomy will be as beautiful as
the heavens it explores. It will be produced
on high-quality, coated paper with an
abundance of full-color sections.
In our pages, you'll see first-hand the
panoramas viewed through the vxorld's
largest photographic telescopes, and /ou i
see brilliant, scientifically-accurate
illustrations of the still-unseen vistas as
interpreted by scientists via radio telescopes.
Plus, many issues of Popular Astronomy will
contain full-color center spreads you'll iind
suitable for framing.
A special offer for Charter Subscribers.
If you've ever gazed at a star-studded sky
and wished you knew more about its
mysteries, subscribe to Popular Astronomy
Now, while Charter subscription tjenefits are
in effect.
Fill in and return the coupon below and
we'll send you the Premier Issue of Popular
Astronomy (sure to beconte a collectors'
Item), and enter a one year subscription in
your name for lust S10
Book Club benefits included free.
As a bonus, you will receive free member
ship in the Popular Astronomy Book Club, a
no-obligation club that enables you to
purchase astronomy-related books and
equipment at substantial savings
Send in the Charter Subscription coupon
today and join Popular Astronomy's
scientists/contributors as they explore man's
last frontier-space!
"MAN
ON THE
MOON"
YOURS ABSOLUTELY FREE!
The Historic Sounds of IVIan's first Lunar Landing.
You can now receive the historic record album "Man on the Moon"
free when you become a Charter Subscriber to Popular Astronomy.
Recorded during the lunar landing and narrated by Walter Cronkite,
this timeless record is sure to become a sought-after collectors' item.
It is not available in stores and cannot be purchased. It is available
only to our Charter Subscribers and only while the supply lasts.
Send your Charter Subscription coupon today and receive your free
copy of "Man on the Moon" and the Premier Issue of Popular
Astronomy.
I tw I I Please enroll me as a Charter Subscriber to Popular
Astronomy and start my subscription with the Premier Issue. I
understand that, as a Charter Subscriber, membership in the
no-obligation Popular Astronomy Book Club is included free. I
enclose my payment of $10 for one year, a S5.00 savings from
the regular $1 5.00 rate. (Allow 4-6 weeks for first copy to arrive).
name
address
apt. no.
city
state
zip
account no. | | Master Charge
LH Please also send me, FREE, my copy of the historic record of
man's first lunar landing, "Man on the Moon," narrated by
Walter Cronkite,
POPULAR ASTRONOMY
DEPT 6NH3 P.O. Box Z739. Boulder, Colorado 80302
75
This is a bed unlil<e any you've ever experienced. It uses the most common substance on earth to support
you in a style to which you will quickly become accustomed. Inflate-a-bed. It's the first and only air
bed you can buy.
The air bed vs. the air mattress. An air mattress is designed solely to support weight. The Inflate-a-bed
is designed to support the human body. It does so by means of a patented invention: our unique, air coil
cells. They act like springs in an innerspring mattress allowing the bed to conform to the shape of the
body and provide the therapeutic support of the finest conventional mattress. But, without hard spots.
The cells also give the bed form and shape. No flyup edges. You adjust the firmness by air pressure,
from extra firm to the softness of a waterbed.
Tough but soft. The bed is made of 20 mil vinyl, the same rugged material used for inflatable boats. But
the surface is soft and velvet-like. Made of electrostatically impregnated rayon, it's fully washable. The
surface or the red color won't fade even after r-— ------------- ____________
exposure to sun or water. ' Send bed(s) as specified. I realize if not satisfied l can return
use anywhere, keep in a drawer. The bed in- [ in 15 days for immediate refund. Prices include sfiipping,
flates in minutes. Use an ordinary cannister | handling and taxes.
vacuum or hand or foot pump. It deflates as 1 How many? Circle Size: Twin® $59.95
easily, folds to drawer size. The perfect guest ' Double @$79.95 Queen @$94.95 King@$ll4.95
bed, permanent bed, extra bed, travel bed and I H n^t?^.°[¥.P.: enclosed. n Mastercharge
the most luxu rious water float ever.
Fully guaranteed, order now. One year guaran-
tee against defects. Comes complete with
carrying case and repair kit. Use the coupon.
Or credit card customers may call toll-free,
800-835-2246.
INFLATE-A-BED
The only air bed you can buy.
n BankAmericard # _
Bank # (byname).
Name
Address
-Exp. date_
City State
Mail to: Inflate-a-bed, NAS Mktg.
K.C., Mo. 64111
Allow 3 weeks for delivery.
_Zip_
3634 E. Roanoke Dr.,
The ultimate Bicentennial gift.
200-million-year old
DINOSAUR
FOOTPRINTS!
Authentic footprints of the first
American Dinosaurs, legally quarried
from the Trlasslc Red Sandstone of
the Connecticut River Valley of
Massachusetts. All footprints are
identified as to Genus, lightly lac-
quered and outlined in white crayon.
• Single footprint, 4" to 5", on sand-
stone slab averaging 4" x 6" or more — $35
• Select, museum-quality footprint — $50.
• Slab witfi 2 or more footprints — $75.
(Lucite display easel for above slabs — $4.)
• A limited number of superb large
slabs with 5 to 10 footprints are
available at $200 each.
(Add 5% for postage and handling.
Include applicable sales taxes.
Satisfaction guaranteed.)
FOR MANY MORE EXCITING GIFTS
FROM AMERICA'S TREASURE HOUSE
OF NATURAL HISTORY- SEASHELLS,
CORAL. BUTTERFLIES, FOSSILS, MIN-
ERALS-VISIT OUR STORE OR SEND
50C FOR OUR FULL-COLOR CATALOG.
COLLECTOR'S CABINET
Dept. NH, 1000 Madison Ave.
(at 77th St.) New York, N.Y. 10021
Open Mon.-Sat. 10 to 6
Branches nationwide
write for the store nearest you.
\^ (Franchise information available.) ^^
76
Travel the roufe
Jack Scott took anc
reach an
Arctic paradise.
jouRncv
vnosHiEna
AN ARCTIC ADVENTURE NORTH OF NORWiiW
JRCK Demon SCOTT
Jock Scott tells the story of his journey to a
place where air is so pure it hurts to
breathe, where polar bears, seals, and rare
birds ore inhabitants. And where the natu-
ral resource is majestic Arctic splendor.
$7.95
READER'S DIGEST PRESS
Distributed by
T.Y.Crowell
Company
HHH^^^^ 666 Fifth
<iJH9^^^^B Avenue
New York,
N.r. 10019
(the great red star Betelgeuse in Orion
is an example), bigger and brighter
than the less massive giants and so
much hotter inside that many more
nuclear reactions occur within them.
It is those reactions that build up
the heavier elements.
The death of a massive star is a
spectacular explosion known as a
supernova. These violent detonations
flare up in galaxies beyond the Milky
Way and have also been recorded his-
torically in our own galaxy. The
debris from a supernova, including
heavy elements cooked in the explo-
sion and earlier during the quiescent
life of the star, is strewn into the inter-
stellar gas and eventually incorpo-
rated into later generations of stars.
The picture of the Milky Way's
evolution that emerges from these
stellar life histories is of a gradual loss
of gas, which becomes locked into
small living stars and the corpses of
former larger ones, and enrichment of
the remaining gas in elements cooked
inside the biggest stars. Parts of the
picture are verified by direct observa-
tions, other parts are hypothetical.
An obvious prediction is that the
abundances of heavier elements in the
interstellar gas should increase with
time. Now, when we measure the
amounts of heavy elements at the sur-
faces of stars (as revealed by details
of the light they emit), we are not
generally seeing the products of nu-
clear reactions going on in the stars
themselves, but rather the composi-
tion of the gas from which the star
originally formed. Thus we expect to
see greater amounts of heavy ele-
ments on the surfaces of young stars
than on old ones born early in the life
of our galaxy. This prediction is in-
deed verified if we look at the very
oldest stars, those made during the
original collapse of our galaxy and
now found far above its disk. But,
surprisingly, it is impossible to detect
any difference between the average
heavy element abundance of the first
stars formed in the disk after the col-
lapse and those formed recently. Why
do the disk stars show no evidence of
the steady influx of new elements
from dying stars? Astronomers have
advanced several explanations.
One idea is that fresh gas, made
only of hydrogen and helium from the
Big Bang, has been raining down on
the Milky Way from outside and di-
luting the interstellar material with
unenriched gas as fast as stars pour
in new elements. Radio astronomers
do, in fact, find huge amounts of gas
NEW COLOR PORTFOLIO plus '/^^L
Illustrated Catalog $1 .00 ,,.,W:
DOfVER SCIENTIFIC .,
BOX6OIIC 1.009 IslandOty.N.Y, 11106 *'
BIGFOOT
Expedition for Hikers,
Backpackers and Snowshoers
Unknown primate field research team offers you an
opportunity to make significant financial, intellectual
and physical contributions to science and conservation.
Unforgettable 22 day wilderness expeditions in south
western Oregon and northwestern California led by
scientists, naturalists and trackers.
You search for Bigfoot in an area containing rare
plants, 360 bird species and 87 mammal species.
Trailers or tents furnished. Nonprofit organization.
Departures all year. Limit two intermediate or ad-
vanced groups of 8 persons. Send $3 today for de-
tailed catalog.
BEAMER EXPEDITIONS Depi nhi
P.O. Box 285, Canofla Parit, Calilomia 91305
NATURE ON STAMPS
The BIRDS & the BEES & the ANIMAL KINGDOM
or GENUINE POSTAGE STAMPS.
AA, SAMPLES & APPROVALS- $1
*» Satisfoction Guoronteed
Mil Mod Stamps
P.O. BOX 297
RORA, CO. 80010
^BOOK HUNTING?^
Virtually any book located — no matter how
old or Ions out-of-print. Fiction, nonfiction.
All authors, subjects. Name the book — we'll
find It! (Title alone Is sufficient) Inquire,
please. Write: Dept. 65.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087
CATCH THEM ALIVE AND UNHURT!
Catches more !
Easy to use 1
Amazing HA V AHART trap captures raiding rats, rabbits,
squirrels, skunks, pigeons, sparrows, etc. Takes mink,
coons without Injury. Straying pets, poultry released
unhurt. Fully assembled. Easy to use — open ends gtve
animal confidence. No Jaws or sprloRs to break. Galva-
nized, sizes for all needs. Send 25c for your booklet on
trapping secrets.
HAVAHART, 158-R Water St., Ossining, N.Y. 10562
Here's my 25c. Please send price list, trapping ffulde.
Nime
iiiijvinj; toward the sun's part of the
Milky Way, but there is disagreement
as to whether this gas is falling in
from inlergalactic space or is simply
moving around in the remote out- !
skirts of our galaxy.
Another idea is that most of the
heavy elements are not seen on the
surfaces of stars because they are
trapped in interstellar dust grains or
even in comets (see "Missing Mat-
ter," Natural History. January
1976). Either or both (jf these sugges
tionsmay be right, but as yet, it is noi
clear what process has prevented the
abundance of heavy elements from
increasing perceptibly in interstellar
space over billions of years.
We return now to the heavy ele-
ments in the sun and planets. Like
most stars in the Milky Way, the sun
is made of about 2 percent of heavy
elements, cooked in earlier genera-
tions of stars, and 98 percent of pri-
mordial hydrogen and helium. Rocky
planets such as the earth consist
mostly of heavier material — the
lighter atoms having been lost as
these bodies formed. It is fascinating
to reflect upon the origin of some of
the atoms on earth that are essential
to life, including human life. Iron, for
example, is probably made during the
supernovae explosions themselves.
Carbon is made partly in the cores of
stars that subsequently explode and
partly in stars that release their prod-
ucts quietly in stellar winds and plan-
etary nebulae . During the first billions
of years of the Milky Way's history,
many supernovae and many red gi-
ants must have contributed in those
ways to the iron and carbon that even-
tually condensed into the earth as it
was born beside the sun.
The life cycles of stars have thus
made the history of the Milky Way.
In birth, stars gradually use up the gas
that once composed the whole gal-
axy; in death, they pour back some
matter — enriched with new ele-
ments— which is mixed into the sur-
rounding gas and used in later genera-
tions of stars. Many billions of years
hence, there will no longer be enough
gas in our galaxy to make new stars.
The Milky Way will then shine for a
while by the light of old stars, but
they will snuff out one by one after
their brillant old ages. In the end there
will only be corpses of stars, fading
to invisibility; the sun will be dead
among them in its graveyard galaxy.
Beatrice Tinsley teaches astronomy
at Yale University.
L.L.Beah"
Chamois Cloth Shirt
For Men and Women
i\^ ' / 'Mr Sueded cotton Looks
■^^^ .^ , and feels like high
^>v^ grade chamois leather.
• Machine washable and
IS more durable than
wool. Mr. Bean person-
, 4 ally used this shirt on
his hunting and fishing
trips. Colors; Navy Blue.
Tan, Bright Red, Forest
• I Green. Ladies sizes;
10 to 20 Men's sizes;
14V2 to 19.
Ladies' Chanwls Clolh Shirts (a
$1235 ppd.
Ship
Men's Chamois Cloth Shirts
(£$12.50 ppd.
Color
O Check Enclosed
O BanKAmericard
O Master Charge
G American Express
Name
SUeel
City _
Zip _
Outdoor Sporting Specialties
L. L. Bean, Inc.
620 Main St.. Freeport, Maine 04032
>^^
^^fce.
^^^r
BUSHNELL 7x35 CUSTOM
Mfg. List $169.50 Postpaid $94.50
This is an example of the deep discount prices on high
quality optics that is found in our FREE catalog. This
catalog lists and illustrates an outstanding selection
of telephoto lens, telescopes, binoculars etc., plus
valuable information on how to properly select them.
Write for it today.
GIL HEBARD OPTICS
COURTHOUSE 5Q., KNOXVILLE, ILL. 61448
77
EASTAFRICAN WILD LIFE SOCIETY
II IS non-prol.t. nongovernmental, a
body that has (unded a list o( conser-
vation proiecls since 1961, as long as
your arm- Every cent of your member-
ship (US S10 00) goes d.rectly to game
conservation projects; and not one cent
to "overheads','
Pretty soon you may be seeing our
l>'""Perlce, stickers on the road borne
ty co„serva,,o„ people like yoursell
the wildhteol Cast Africa II you'd like a
ul'-!^,'' ''" ''*»»<' to send you one
We d also be very glad to receive your
membership application if you are nnt
already one of us.
EASTAFRICAN WILD LIFE SOCIETY
Anti Poaching: The So
cases, the vehicles
needed by the local aut
menace threatening the
o( wildlife
Ani
nal Research: E
nvironme
ni and
gica
surveys of nea
ly every
major
jatened
Of not, has bee
take
n by the
Society
n order tc
cons
ervation
of these
species
Animal Rescue
Somet
mps
"Iranslocation".
this ac
ivity
ways in which
he So
lety
can help save 1
species threalene
d by agr
cuitu
al sp
As an example.
te mov
ng o
hPrr
Antelope
Education: A long range project which is
equally urgent in the short term, is the
education of the people ot East Afnca-espe-
cially the youth ■ lo the wealth, both economic
and cultural of the wildlife which abounds m
the region While government realises the
importance of wildlife, it can not be effectively
conserved until the peopfe themselves see
the necessity of fuller cooperation with the
authoniies
The Society makes financial grants and gifts to
the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya as well as
educational equipment.
EASTAFRICAN WILD LIFE SOCIETY
Box 20110 f^airobi Kenya.
I enclose US.$10.00 for my year's
membership. Please enrol me.
Name
As a member of the Society you w
a/so receive a year's subscription
AfFIICANA quarterly wildlife magazn
A Matter of Taste
by Raymond Sokolov
Peace and
the Ultimate Snacli
Cultivated for past millennia,
the well-tended olive is a
sign of a prosperous future
Olives, as Mother used to say, are
an acquired taste. I was eleven years
old before I ever ate one with pleas-
ure. Now you would have a hard time
holding me back from a handful of
these oily drupes. Green or black or
red; pickled, oil soaked, shriveled —
almost any kind will do. They are in
many ways the world's best tradi-
tional snack.
To be more precise, of all the foods
you don't have to cook before you
munch, olives are the most interest-
ing. Indeed, the cooked olive is un-
known in most cuisines. The French
add them cold and untampered with
to a salade nigoise. They also stuff
them with anchovy butter, make a
paste, or tapenade, of them, and use
them as a garnish on the Gallic pizza,
the pissaladiere. But the only major
French dish that I can locate where
the cooked olive is a central element
is duckling braised with pitted,
blanched olives.
Similarly, Italians in and around
Perugia and Assisi spit-roast pigeons
and then simmer them with wine and
a mess of olives, which makes a dish
of great sophistication. Then, too,
Elizabeth David brought back a de-
scription of olive-stuffed escarole
from her Italian wanderings (see rec-
ipe). But to find the olive cooked fre-
quently as a matter of course, we
must go to the Middle East.
This is, perhaps, unsurprising,
since the cultivated olive (Olea eu-
ropaea) originated in Asia Minor,
began spreading westward in prehis-
toric times, and met with its greatest
local success in North Africa. On the
other hand, people like the Moroc-
cans, who do cook olives habitually,
engage in a somewhat paradoxical
pursuit. The olive, you see, is already
"cooked" before anyone cooks it.
I mean that olives are never eaten
fresh off the tree. They are too bitter.
They must be pickled first, with lye
to remove the bitterness, then with
salt to harden and preserve the flesh.
Variations in the length of time the
olive is exposed to lye or to salt ac-
count for some of the differences
among the numerous types of olives
sold in markets. Botanical variation
is, of course, another factor. But the
major source of pluralism in the olive
world is a calculated result of human
agriculture: the timing of the harvest
makes the difference.
In the olive vats in Middle Eastern
markets on Atlantic Avenue in south
Brooklyn, you can get some sense of
the range of olive colors and tastes.
But anyone who has traveled in the
Arab world or Israel will not have for-
gotten the festoons of olives in almost
every color of the rainbow. The clas-
sic description is Paula Wolfert's, in
her Couscous and Other Good Food
from Morocco:
"There are stalls that sell nothing
but olives — olives of every flavor,
size, quality and color. An olive's
color depends upon the moment in the
ripening cycle that it is picked. As it
ripens on the tree it turns from pale
green to green-tan to tan-violet to vio-
let-red to deep winy red to reddish
black and finally to coal black. After
that it loses its glistening appearance
and begins to shrivel in the sun."
Moroccans, she continues, use
three kinds of olives: (1) Barely ripe
green olives, soaked in seven changes
of brine and, finally, flavored with
lemon juice. These are washed,
drained, and boiled — at least three
times — to remove bitterness before
they are ready to "smother" a
chicken. (2) Ripe or "midway"
olives, ranging from tan to red to deep
purple. These can be used direct from
the vat after rinsing. And (3) smooth
black olives. Moroccans do not eat
olives at this stage and, instead, gob-
ble salt-cured, shriveled black ones,
78
Glinda Ricketts has a dream.
Just like every American child.
She wants to be a schoolteacher.
She loves to learn. But learning
is a luxury in Glinda's house.
A house with no water.
With one coal stove to heat it.
Glinda's father has black lung disease.
His small disability pension is too little
to support a large family.
So Glinda may never finish grade school.
No one has told her. How can they?
They just let Glinda dream.
For $16 a month, through Save the Children
Federation you can help make a dream come
true, by sponsoring a child like Glinda Ricketts.
Your $16 will establish a scholarship to help
Glinda stay in school. And through community
projects, help her to get medical care and better
nutrition. Even help her family earn an income
through crafts and other work. In short, help a
proud, hardworking people to help themselves.
For this is what Save the Children has been all
about since 1932.
For you— educated, involved, and in touch with
your own heart — there are many rewards. The
chance to correspond with a child. Receive a
photo and progress reports. Reach out to an-
other human being. That's how Save the Chil-
dren works. But without you it can't work. So
please: clip this coupon and mail it today. Now
you can turn the page.
(Ve are indeed proud of our use of your funds. Annual report (
statement available on request Member of the International I
if Child Welfare and the American Council of Voluntary Agencies fO^^
Foreign Service. Contributions are income tax deductible.
I wish to contribute $16 a month to sponsor a D boy D Qirl D either
G Where the need is most urgent
D Appalachia (U.S.) D Indian D Korea
D Bangladesh (Latin America) D Lebanon
D Colombia n Indian (U.S.) D Mexico
D Dominican Republic D Inner Cities (U.S.) D Rural South (U.S.)
n Honduras D Israel D Tanzania
Enclosed is my first payment:
n $16 monthly D $96 semi-annually
D $48 quarterly D $192 annually
n Instead of becoming a sponsor, I am enclosing a contribution of
n Please send me more information.
ADDRESS-
CITY
David L. Guyer, Executive Director
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION
345 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017 nh 3/6
79
which are often sold coated with a hot
condiment. Sicilians have their own
version of this peppery relish, and
you can find it in some Italian stores
in this country.
Most of these varieties of exotic
olives are also available, mostly as
imports, in fancy food outlets. The
American olive industry has concen-
trated, although by no means exclu-
sively, on the familiar green and
black types. The first local trees were
grown from Mexican seeds planted at
the San Diego Mission. The resultant
Mission olive that spread throughout
California has not been identified
with any European olive. At any rate,
it throve in the clear, dry atmosphere
and mild winter temperatures of Cali-
fornia. Yet the fledgling West Coast
olive industry suffered serious early
reverses in the 1880s and 1890s. The
major potential market, in the East,
was not ready to absorb those first
crops of ripe pickled olives. Orchards
were uprooted and fifteen years went
by before olive growers began once
again to expand their plantings.
Eventually, they perfected their tech-
niques for producing the more mar-
ketable green olive; they were
blessed with legislation that created a
more competitive role for olive oil;
and most important, easterners had
learned to eat ripe olives. Further-
more, olivemen also concocted a
preposterous system of boastful grad-
ing names that may entice some
overly gullible consumers. But the
most common effect of names such as
giant, jumbo, mammoth, colossal,
and supercolossal must be to confuse
and alienate the rational shopper.
The simplest way to know what
you are actually getting when you buy
an olive is to shop in a specialty store
that sells from open vats. That way
you can see the size and you can taste
several varieties before choosing.
This sort of comparative olive tasting
may, however, sabotage a well-laid
diet plan, since salt-cured, oil-coated
olives — the kind you are most likely
to find in Mediterranean markets that
still sell from open vats — are ex-
tremely high in calories. On the
average, 100 grams (SVa ounces) of
olives contain 338 calories, about as
much as the same weight of angel
food cake.
Olive oil itself is only a minor by-
product of the American olive in-
dustry. Of the 72,000 tons of olives
produced here in 1973 (figures are
preliminary, as listed in Agricultural
Statistics 1974, the Agriculture De-
8o
partment's most recent edition), only
4,000 tons were crushed for oil.
Other kinds of oil tend to be less trou-
blesome: less prone to taste variation
and more easily stored. Olive oil goes
rancid in contact with air. It also
burns at a lower temperature than
salad oil.
Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine
a more delicious taste than a mayon-
naise created from high quality,
golden olive oil, and a character of
Mediterranean cooking is, to a certain
extent, lost when, say, utterly bland
peanut oil is substituted for the ances-
tral, limpid olive oil.
Fans of olive oil will go much fur-
ther than that in their claims for its
virtues. Western civilization, they
will assert, was lubricated with olive
oil. Greece and Rome both used it.
Indeed, the word oil itself is related
to the Latin for ' ' olive . ' ' And , at least
in Europe, the olive is a visible sign
of continuity with the past. It is be-
lieved that some trees have been in
place for almost 1 ,000 years. No one
knows the maximum age an olive tree
can attain. Italian highways circle re-
spectfully around important groves of
the gnarled, 25- to 40-foot-high ever-
green trees, their roots sunk deep in
the soil where they can tap water in
time of drought.
It takes five or six years to grow a
paying, fruit-producing tree and 25 or
30 years go by before a tree reaches
its full growth. Severe pruning is the
rule, and growers frequently harvest
a tree only in alternate years, cutting
Olive plantation, Spain
George Gerster, Photo Researchers
it back sharply in the fallow year.
Given fertile, deep soil, fair weather,
and some water, an olive grower can
face the future unafraid. More than
most things, olives imply a feasible
world to come. Perhaps that is why
the olive branch symbolizes peace
and the onward stretch of prosperity;
not cataclysmic war with its promise
of death and sudden endings. Put an-
other way, by Shakespeare in an
untypical English paean to our fruit
of the month, "Peace proclaims
olives of endless age."
Scarole Ripiene
(Stuffed Escarole, adapted from Eliz-
abeth David's Italian Food)
1 handful breadcrumbs
12 pitted, chopped, medium black
olives
8 anchovy fillets, drained, rinsed, and
chopped
4 teaspoons capers, drained
3 tablespoons pine nuts (pignolia)
3 tablespoons currants, plumped in
warm water and drained
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 handful chopped parsley
7 tablespoons olive oil
Pepper
Salt
8 small heads of escarole or lettuce
(a small Boston lettuce will do)
Vi cup dry white wine
f. Combine breadcrumbs, olives,
three-quarters of the anchovies, 1
teaspoon of the capers, the pine
nuts, the currants, two-thirds of
the chopped garlic, parsley, and 5
tablespoons of the olive oil to
make the stuffing. Season with
pepper and a little salt, if neces-
sary.
2. Wash escaroles or lettuces and
open out the leaves. Put some of
the stuffing in the center of each.
Fold the leaves back again and tie
up each head with a string.
3. In a large heavy skillet, heat the
remaining olive oil with the rest of
the anchovies, garlic, and capers.
Set the lettuces or escaroles in a
single layer in the skillet. Add
about a half -cup water. Cover and
cook over very low heat for an
hour or until the escarole or lettuce
is tender.
4. Add white wine and cook, uncov-
ered, for ten more minutes.
Yield: 8 servings
Raymond Sokolov is a free-lance
food writer and novelist.
Imagine sailing to the ocean empires.
To have the time and space to do as you please.
To taste a few days or a few weeks ordered just for
your pleasure. While we introduce you to the
civilizations that shaped the world's imagination.
The exhilarating lands of the Baltic, the British
Isles and the Mediterranean.
Sail with us aboard ships spacious enough to let
you discover the landscapes of your mind as you
explore the cities and art and people of the world "s
most splendid ocean empires. (The MTS Daphne
and the MTS Danae are registered in Greece. )
Our cruises start April 9, 1976. Won t you ask
your travel agent or Carras for our brochure with
sailing dates, prices and a complete description of the
Carras Experience?
It's not only fifteen great adventure stories. It s an
introduction to just how good life can be.
Soon the Carras Experience will include
Porto Carras, our resort now being developed on
the Aegean.
75 RockefeUer Plaza, New York, New York 10019. (212) 757-0761
8i
Big Savings-n«e1V^bR
On America's Most Popular Inflatable Canoe!
try the famed French
Pyrawa Canoe FREE!
. . . for 30 days
• 10' 3" long
• Packs to size of sleeping bag
• Weighs only 1 9 pounds
• Inflates in 8 minutes
• Seats 7 adults
• SAFE, RELIABLE FUNI
Only by trying Pyrawa yourself
can you see how unique Pyrawa
is . . . how rugged it is (lasts for
years) . . . how it bounces off
rocks . . . how virtually impossible
it is to sink . . . and how easy it is
to maneuver (turns easier than
hard hulled boats).
America's Largest Selling
Inflatable Cancel
Pyrawa is used by the Bov Scouts
of America and Children's
Camps. It has been featured on
the front cover of Family Weekly.
Scouting and Explorer Maga-
zines. Whitewater schools use
Pyrawa to run rapids.
Customers report that Pyrawas
are so strong they go where peo-
ple wouldn't dream of using in-
flatables. They dragged them . . .
fully loaded . . . over sand, gravel
and rocks . . even left them in-
flated for days. It's not unusual
for Pyrawas to last five to seven
years.
Parents are especially im-
pressed with Pyrawa's safety.
They're not about to let their
children use just a "beach toy"
inflatable. Pyrawa's three main
air reserve chambers make it vir-
tually impossible to sink.
Developed in France
French engineers developed Py-
rawa in France, but this quality
inflatable has been popular in this
country for the past 10 years. Test
Pyrawa yourself! You will find
the tough 22-gauge thick vinyl
hide can really take a beating
from rocks and stumps in shallow
water. Pyrawa is strong . . . yet
weighs only 19 lbs You can carry
it anywhere m a bag about the
^ze of a boat cushion
Safety is what makes Pyrawa
a boat not just for fishermen and
campers . . . but for the entire
family. The air reserve chambers
(3 main, 8 auxiliary) make it just
about impossible to smk Even
with the floor compartment com
pletely deflated, Pyrawa will eas
ily keep two people afloat . . .
without a drop of water coming
No Canoe Tested
as Stable!
Because of the low center of grav-
ity (you sit only 3" off the floor)
and the wide, flat-bottomed hull,
not even many large, heavy ca-
noes can match the sure, steady
support of Pyrawa.
There is far less tipping and
rolling as in some other canoes.
When inflated, the floor is four
.inches thick. The I-beam con-
struction (vinyl I-beams running
the length of the floor compart-
ment) makes the Pyrawa rigid
and easy to paddle . . . not like
you'd expect to find in an inflat-
able.
Pyrawa is fast and easy to in-
flate. You need only 8 minutes
with a foot bellows pump. Storage
is just as simple. In five minutes
you can roll all the air out to-
wards the bow where the valves
are conveniently located . . . and
tuck your deflated Pyrawa back
in its carrying bag.
White water experts, explorers,
surfers, campers and magazine
editors have tested Pyrawa
against other boats.
After using Pyrawa to explore
100 miles of rapid-filled rivers in
the jungles of Venezuela, Robert
Ross of Miami, Florida had this
to say: "We found Pyrawas could
stand considerable abuse without
da ma ge. We dragged them . . .
loaded . . . over shallow rocks, hit
submerged rocks as we shot rap-
ids and often careened oft tree
trunks jutting into rivers,"
Performs Unlike Most
Inflatables You've Seen.
Special additives give the tough
22 gauge thick vinyl hide excep-
tional strength. Each seam is
electronically welded. There's ab-
solutely no gluing, stitching or
patching anywhere on this boat.
The 4-inch thick, inflated I-beam
floor will not buckle when fully
loaded with 550 lbs., of people
and gear.
Each air reserve chamber is
separately inflated. There are
three main and eight auxiliary
compartments. A special pat-
Used by • EXPLORERS • CHILDREN'S CAMPS • BOY
SCOUTS of AMERICA • WHITE WATER SCHOOLS (running
rapids) • SPORTSMEN • FISHERMEN • OUTDOOR FAMILIES
ented feature locks the air valves
tight . . . until you release them.
Pyrawa is so easy to control in
the water, even a 5 year old can
do it. A 16 page owners' manual
(free with every Pyrawa) shows
you how to get maximum control
with Pyrawa's special double-end
paddles . . . even if you've never
been in a canoe before. Pyrawa's
two inflatable seats have back-
rests, are removable and slide
back and forth for needed leg
Forget hauling costs or storage
fees. Just remove Pyrawa from its
waterproof bag and inflate. Never
worry about theft or vandalism.
Pyrawa stores safe in your home.
Pyrawa will last five to ten years
with reasonable care. You can use
Pyrawa in just about any water
you like . . . even in rocky shal-
lows.
FREE TRIAL!
Try Pyrawa FREE for 30 days
... in rivers, lakes and streams.
salt water and even in ocean surf.
See for yourself if it's the safest,
most convenient, most econom-
ical boat you will ever own.
If you're not fully convinced
They Tested Pyrawa
"Pyrawa is fast, maneuveroble, eosy
to handle ... not a dime store toy,
but a surprisingly rugged performer."
Off Belay Magaiinc
"Maybe the finest of its type on the
market." MechonJx Illustrated
"We were impressed by the sofely
factor due to the number of separate
air compartments."
Camping Magazine
... if you find Pyrawa does not
perform exactly as described . . .
return it within 30 days and re-
ceive a full refund. If desired,
we will replace . . . entirely at
our expense . . . any Pyrawa that
is defective in any way within one
year of purchase. NO QUES-
TIONS ASKED.
Only a limited supply of Py-
rawas are on hand in this country.
Demand is great. Now, more than
ever, people are discovering just
how safe and economical these
boats are. To avoid delay and dis-
appointment, mail the coupon be-
low today.
I Mail Free-Trial Coupon Today! ■
Leisure Imports, Inc., Dept. NH 76
104 Arlington Avenue. St. James, New York 11780
n Send me Pyrawa canoes @ $79.95 plus $6.50 shipping
and handling, complete with carrying bag, 2 removable seats,
16-page owners manual & repair kit.
D Also ship me 7'4" double end paddle{3) @ $17.95.
n Bellows foot pump(s) (a) $14.95.
n SAVE $20.00— Order 2 Pyrawas (a' $69.95 each plus $6.50 ship-
ping & handling for each boat.
. Total amount enclosed. N.Y.
lidents add sales tax.
D Bill my credit card below.
D American Express D Diners Club III!
D BankAmericard Q Master Chaise Interbank # 1111
Call TOLL-FREE... (800) 257-0300. In New Jersey call (800) 462-2000.
82
The American Museum of Natural History
invites you on a trip to seidom- visited
pieces led by tiie Museum Director
and guided by experts
See the splendors of ancient civilizations (Greek, Roman,
Minoan, Lydian, Byzantine). And the natural beauty of
many landscapes (towering mountains, tranquil lakes, sun-
dappled valleys and islands where the past still lives).
Cruise the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Black
Sea, the Aegean.
Live aboard our own ship, m.t.s. Orpheus, spacious,
well-appointed, air-conditioned. For your comfort, we are
limiting participation to 230 places, just over half the
capacity of the ship.
Travel in the company of Museum scientists and
scholars. Dr. Thomas D. Nicholson, director of The
American Museum of Natural History and an astronomer,
will tell you about the starry skies of eastern Asia. Dr.
David Gordon Mitten, James Loeb Professor at Harvard,
will be our art and archeology expert. Thoroughly at home
in this part of the world, he'll take you through some exca-
vations (Sardis, for example) in which he himself took part
not long ago. You will see rare and spectacular birds in
the company of Dr. Francois Vuilleumier, the Museum's
own associate curator of ornithology. Let a Byzantine
scholar, a classicist, and an art historian deepen your
insights into the meaning and the majesty of the achieve-
ments you will witness. All six experts will be with you
throughout the trip. Take part in informal discussions that
will follow staff lectures. And take your choice of activities
when the group splits up (as it will, for example, in Nesse-
bur in Bulgaria, where some will choose to explore the
town and others will drive to the lake region for birding).
Swim and sun in the ship's pool, in the Bosphorus, the
Black Sea, the Aegean. Stroll the Street of the Knights in
the Old City of Rhodes, explore the Danube Delta in small
boats, see the Blue Mosque in Istanbul and the Levadia
Palace at Yalta. Go to places that most travelers miss:
Lindos, Phaestros, Priene, Nessebur.
W.F. and R.K. Swan, the London travel specialists, will
supervise all details and logistics. The trip leaves New
York on June 9 via TWA for Athens, where Orpheus will be
waiting; returns to New York from Athens on June 24.
Prices, exclusive of airfare, range from $1291 to $1721 per
person in a double cabin (single prices on request). All
participants are asked to contribute $500 to the Museum.
For a complete itinerary and reservations for the Black
Sea Cruise, please telephone Miss Ann Breen at
(212) 873-1300. Or write to her at:
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, N.Y. 10024
But do it today, for only a few places are
left, and we would not want you to miss
the experience of your lifetime.
MU^eUM OF
muMi
■ hi<;torv '
■c/i
m
And she thinks for our anniveirsary
we're just going out to dinner.
fn life
A diamond is forever.
To give you an idea of diamond values, the piece shown is available for about $1400.
Your jeweler can show you other fine diamond jewelry starting at about $200. De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd.
#
'-.,,, ■^^■"^"■■p^^''
■
One of a kind.
Eldorado by Cadillac.
It's the only U.S. luxury car with them all. ..front-wheel drive,
four-wheel disc brakes and choice of coupe or convertible. ^ '
NATU1U.L HIS rORY
Incorporating Nature Magazine
Vol. LXXXV, No. 4
April 1976
The American Museum of Natural History
Robert G. Coelei. President
Thomas D. Nicholson. Director
Alan Ternes. Editor
Thomas Page, Designer
Board of Editors:
Sally Lindsay. Frederick Harlmann,
Christopher Hallowell. Toni Gerber
Carol Breslin, Book Reviews Editor
Florence G. Edelstein, Copy Chief
Gordon Beckham. Copy Editor
Angela Soccodato, Art Asst.
Diane Pierson, Editorial Asst.
Lillian Berger
Rosamond Dana. Publications Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dean Amadon, Dorothy E. Bliss.
Mark Chartrand. Niles Eldredge,
Vincent Manson, Margaret Mead.
Thomas D. Nicholson. Gerard Piel.
Richard G. Van Gelder
David D. Ryus, Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly, Business Manager
Sue Severn, Production Manager
Ernestine Weindorf Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe, Business Asst.
Yung-mei Tang
Ann Brown, Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez, Asst.
Joan Mahoney
Harriet Walsh
Publication Office: The American Museum
of Natural History, Central Park West
at 79th Street, New York. N. Y. 10024.
Published monthly. October through May;
bimonthly June to September.
Subscriptions: $10.00 a year. In Canada
and all other countries: $12.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at
New York. N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1976 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be
reproduced without written consent of
Natural History. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American Museum.
Natural History incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History,
420 Lexington Avenue,
New York. N. Y. 10017
Telephone: (212) 686-1234
2 Authors
10 A Naturalist at Large Richard M. Klein
The "Fever Bark" Tree
20 Letters
24 This View of Life Stephen Jay Gould
Ladders. Bushes, and Human Evolution
32 Bios Arthur W. Colston
How Safe Should Safe Be>
36 Politicking in Ancient Persia Bernard Goldman
The credibility gap at PersepoUs is 2.500 years old.
46 Late-blooming Terns Paul A. Buckley and Francine C. Buckley
A shifting sand bar is an unlikely place to raise a family, but the royal tern
uses several strategies to survive in this precarious habitat.
56 Around the Ice Age World George J. Kukla
62 Ice Age Animals of the Lascaux Cave Dexter Perkins. Jr.
Photographs by Jean Vertut
When the last continental glaciers reached their peak, the world looked
radically different . . . and man was there to record it.
70 Lizard Coexistence in Four Dimensions Carol A. Simon
You are what you eat, where you eat, when you eat.
76 Journey of a Seventeenth-Century Cannon Christopher L. Hallowell
Hopefully, this elusive artifact will not disappear again.
80 Sky Reporter Lloyd Motz
Destruction of the Earth-Moon System
84 Additional Reading
86 Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
88 Book Review Robert Coles
Feral Children
96 An Edible Weed Robert H. Mohlenbrock
The scourge of the well-kept lawn is a boon to the salad bowl.
98 The Market
100 Announcements
Change of address notices, undeliverable
copies, orders for subscriptions.
and other mail items are to be sent to
Natural History
Membership Services, Box 6000
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Cover: Near the end of the last Ice Age, painters in the Lascaux cave of
France recorded the large animals of Europe's glacier-free regions.
The aurochs, or wild ox, depicted in the painting was probably an
important human food source at the time. Photograph by Jean Vertut.
Stories, maps, and other cave illustrations on pages 56-69.
Look what
Bwana Morley
found for
you...
TheWonder
Safari 1602
roundtrip from N.Y.
16 days of quality travel at low cost A full
safari covering thie classic game runs in Kenya
and Tanzania Visit ttie Masai-Mara Game
Reserve where vast fierds of wildebeeste,
buffalo and kongoni come to graze, but mostly,
theMasai-Maraislion country InthieSerengeti
Game Park you'll searctn for ttne leopard and
fiippo at ttne Orangi and Seronera Rivers Visit
a Masai village Tfie Tsavo East Park is remote,
wild and hot Crocs bask down stream from
Lugard Falls You'll be accompanied by an
experienced driver-guide at all times All
accommodations and most meals included.
East African Wing Safari $3083
roundtrip from NX 22 days of
"adventure in comfort," Watch lions at dawn at
Fori I koma. No maior park has been left out
of our Wing Safari, We show you all the
traditional cultures Transportation by 3-engine
private plane All accommodations and most
meals included
Tented Safari $3263
roundtrip from N.Y 21 days to see
Africa as most never will. The Tented Safari is
Africa's newest lure Stalk game on foot. Spend
time deep in Masai country Watch elephants
.wallow in their mud baths. All accommodations
and most meals included
These are just some of the many safaris
and other African tours in a new 4-color
brochure, British Airways "Holidays in Africa^'
They are all available from these cities served
by British Airways: Boston, Chicago, Detroit,
Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia
and Washington, DC. Of course, prices are
subject to a number of conditions. For details fill
outthecouponandwe'llsendyou our brochure.
Or call your Travel Agent or British Airways,
We'll take good care of you to Britain.
Africa.The World.
British airways
^ British Airways. Box 15, Depl
J Rego Park. New York 11374
• Telephone: (212) 687-1600
• •
151
312, 2
0 Dear Mr Morley
* Please send me Ihe
Holidays!
nAIr
ca' brochure T
* City
_Slale
•
7,n •
• •
Authors
Traveling throughout Iran, and
specifically to the ruins of Persepolis,
has been essential to Bernard Gold-
man's research into the artistic ori-
gins of the Persian Empire. It was his
study of the sculpture of those early
times that prompted him to speculate
on the use by the ancient Persians of
art as a propaganda tool. Professor of
Art History at Wayne State Univer-
sity in Detroit for the past ten years,
Goldman hopes to turn his attention
next to the Parthians and their role in
the arts of the ancient East. A cache
of gold unearthed in northwestern
Iran was the subject of an earlier ar-
ticle for Natural History, "Shreds of
Ancient Persia," May 1969.
After four years of laboratory re-
search at Cornell University, Paul A.
Buckley and Francine G. Buckley
began looking in 1966 for a species
of water bird that ' 'presented provoc-
ative field problems." They found
one — the royal tern — on Fisherman's
Island, Virginia. Their investigation
of this species' nesting patterns,
creche formations, and other behav-
iors took them to such places as Cape
Hatteras, the Dry Tortugas, Puerto
Rico, and the Netherlands Antilles.
Paul Buckley is chief scientist with
the National Park Service's North At-
lantic Region, and an adjunct profes-
sor of environmental studies at the
University of Massachusetts (Am-
herst). Coauthor and coresearcher
Francine Buckley, who has worked
on all of the royal tern projects, is
planning to study the effects of human
disturbance on habitat selection,
breeding ecology, and reproductive
success of various colonially nesting
water birds.
Tmyd Maupintour,
all expenses included!
Put cafes and worries aside. Sit bacl< and enjoy
yourself as you tour in style and comfort on an
escorted Maupintour holiday. Get more for
your money, too! Most everything is included:
Superior hotels, meals, in-depth sightseeing
balanced with leisure time, entertainments, and
special events. Don't settle for less.
See more, learn more with t^aupintour's guides
and lecturers. The groups are small, not regi-
mented, with friends to share discoveries. And
the choice is almost unlimited! Listed are the
1976 Maupintour holidays, a unique selec-
tion. For details, ask your Travel Agent for
Maupintour brochures or mail coupon today.
^Maupintour
telephone 913/843-1211 quality tours since 1951
Maupintour, 900 Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044.
Please send me the Maupintour brochures about the 1976 holidays I have checked below.
□ Tour Digest describing
81 different F^aupintours
□ Africa / 20 to 34 days
□ Alexander's Asia / 36 days
□ Tfie Alps / 15 to 22 days
□ Art Treasures of Russia / 21 days
□ British Isles / 15 to 27 days
□ Central America / 22 days
□ Central Asia / 21 to 33 days
□ Colorado / 7 to 9 days
□ Dalmatia/Balkans / 15 to 29 days
□ Easter Island/Angel Falls / 22 days
□ Egypt/Nile Cruise / 17 days
□ France / 23 days
□ Gourmet's Italy / 22 days
□ Greece/Aegean fsles / 16to22days
□ Guatemala/Yucatan / 14 days
□ Hawaii / 14 days
□ Imperial Europe / 22 days
□ Italy/Sicily / 16 to 22 days
□ Mexico / 10 to 18 days
□ Middle East / 17 to 32 days
□ tulorocco / 18 to 22 days
□ North Africa / 22 days
□ Orient / 27 days
□ Scandinavia / 15 to 37 days
□ Shrines of Europe / 22 days
□ South America / 8 to 29 days
□ South Pacific / 24 days
□ Spain/Portugal / 9 to 22 days
□ Switzerland / 15 to 22 days
□ USSR/Eastern Europe / 15 to 49 days
□ Yugoslavia Exclusively / 15 days
Join an unforgettable action plioto
A breath -catching animal library
inspired by one of TV's most
visually spectacular series
Two cheetahs, a high-powered hunting team, swiftly cut down
a zigzagging hare... With astonishing agility, an Asiatic gibbon
streaks up a slanting vine... A pair of male elephant seals clash in
a bloody battle over a female . . .
Millions of viewers have witnessed scenes like these on the
widely acclaimed television series, WILD, WILD WORLD OF
ANIMALS. But they've seen them for only a few seconds
...then, they've disappeared forever.
Not any more! Time-Life Television captures all the
drama and suspense of television's WILD, WILD
WORLD OF ANIMALS in a lasting library of hard-
bound books, just off the press, and filled with
incredible action photo sequences and powerful
picture essays. Here, in thousands of on-the-spot
photos in true-to-life color... is a brilliant panorama
of wild animals you can enjoy forever.
First, come stalk The Cats— FREE, for 10 days
Begin your action photo safari with The Cats, your in
troductory volume to WILD, WILD WORLD OF ANI-
MALS. Enjoy it FREE, without obligation to buy, for 10
days. Study spectacular photographs... John Dominis'
hair-raising shot of a baboon fighting a leopard... Dmitri
Kessel's portrait of a motionless, wide-eyed ocelot await-
ing unwary prey. See the fascinating behavior of a lion-
ess in mating season... the aerial hunting technique of
the serval. See all this precisely as you would in the wild.
Then, visit every corner of the animal kingdom
In future volumes of WILD, WILD WORLD OF ANIMALS you'll
journey from the Tibetan highlands to the African savannah— from
the jungles of Borneo to the snowfields of Alaska. You'll see ani
mals as diverse as Monkeys and Apes ... Dangerous Sea Creatures
. . . Reptiles and Amphibians . . . Wild Herds ... and more.
Each 128-page volume combines superb action photography
with a scientifically accurate, yet absorbing, fast-paced text. To-
gether they enhance your understanding of the way animals really
live, feed, fight, mate, rear young and battle to survive.
You'll learn about the dominance of the male lion who lets
the female hunt and then stuffs himself on her kills. ..The incred-
ible oxygen-conserving abilities of the humpback whale as he
dives 3,000 feet for food... How cleverly a troop of baboons will
deploy themselves to defend against their enemies.
You'll discover why the chipmunk developed his huge
pouches, the giraffe his enormous stature. You'll learn
how creatures adapted for survival . . .The black-necked
cobra who spits venom eight feet when faced with
an enemy... The lungfish who cocoons itself up to
four years without food or water in severe African
droughts. And you'll see how man's assault on his en-
vironment is threatening the survival of many species.
Major literary excerpts enliven each volume
Every volume will also bring you a colorful anthol-
ogy of some of the greatest writings on animals
ever published. You'll read Hemingway's cele-
brated story of an African lion hunt, James Feni-
more Cooper's description of a fight with a
mountain lion. Excerpts from Rachel Carson, Mark
Twain, Gerald Durrell, Herman Melville and many
more, provide years of continual reading pleasure
for you and your family.
Start your adventure today
The camera records ExamineT/ieCafsfreeforlOdays.Thendecideif
a caracal poised ... .» i ^u i • ..l
to catch a bird you want to keep itandreceiveother volumes m the
in midflight. seriesasdescribedonthereplycard.There'snoobli-
gation, and you may cancel your subscription at any
time. Just complete and mail the attached postpaid
reply card. If the card is missing, write to Time-Life ,
Television, Time & Life Building, Chicago, III. 60611.
Enjoy The Cats free for 10 days. Mail this card now!
Order now!
^<^y^s/
y=>i
^■j<^/
Wild, Wild
Worid of
^nimais
Qts
YpC I vvould like to examine The Cals. Please
' *-'^r send it to me for 10 days' free examination
and enter my subscription to WILD, WILD WORLD
OF ANIMALS. If I decide to keep The Cals, I will pay
$5.95 plus shipping and handling. I will then receive
future volumes in WILD, WILD WORLD OF ANI-
MALS, shipped one volume at a time approximately
every other month. Each is $5.95 plus shipping and
handling and comes on a 10-day, free-examination
basis. There is no minimum number of books that I
>. must buy. I may cancel my subscription at any time
2 simply by notifying you.
X If I do not choose to keep The Cats, I will return the
2 book within 10 days, my subscription for future vol-
I umes will be canceled, and I will not be under any
z further obligation. ceags?
Name
Address _
-Apt. No..
City Stat
Canadian residenls: Mail this form in an envelope. Sctiools
and Libraries: Order Library-Style Bindings from Silver Burden
Company, Morristown, N.J. 07960. Eligible for Titles I II funds
n
3-
^
n
era
9"
o
Z
OS
°
C
-13
S£
1
Z
m
ii"
tn
3
n
■D
■0
z
r-
i
•<
2
■I
>
^
r-
1
Q.
5'
c
D
Q.
—
1
n
-n
/O
S
1
on
H
o
Z
n j
~_
o
> 1
K
1
You get all this with your
subscription to
1. 10-day FREE examination of
each volume.
2. Only $5.95 per volume, plus
shipping and handling.
3. No club to join.
4. No minimum number of books to buy
5. Cancel your subscription at any time.
6. Keep only the volumes you want.
^Ltiwi*^
Capable of explosive accelention, speeds of
60 miles per hour, and enormous 25-foot bourtds,
a cheetah gives chase to a herd of impata.
safariln
Each volume in the
series will include:
• Over 20,000 words of text
• 128 pages, beautifully hardbound in large
9y4 by 103/4 inch format
• More than 150 full-color photographs
• Extensive literary anthology of animal writin
70srs
Memo
Cr±t
WILD. WILD WORLD '
there been su'il' " ceievi»» „
phocography ^^ ^^^S. " „d
. WILD WORLD OF ~^,„ae-"P«_„,
tared in a book ^'"' "^''•"•'"''^ey '""
you a vhole new "f'^^^^e as <^
why wild animals •> ^^^ ^aSM
CO »«"'' ^"i "^
I urge you t" trial- „ ,
or your 10-day f" obUe'^ ca<
ember, there is ^„„ey '".^tne
sk. You eend n ^ut
turn the volume "»
Ing anything'
payl
!Z'rXZZ','l,',''',"^,'//,!''!l'"'''''>,,,„
Trained at Charles University in
Prague, geologist George J. Kukla
first became interested in the Ice Age
world twenty-five years ago when he
found piles of ancient bones in the
sediments of Czechoslovakian caves
he was exploring. He has since stud-
ied Pleistocene sediments and ice for-
mations around the world for evi-
dence of past glaciations. A senior
research associate at Lamont-
Doherty Geological Observatory of
Columbia University, Kukla is a
member of CLIMAP, a joint project
undertaken by several United States
universities, which is investigating
the climate of ice ages and intergla-
cial episodes in order to learn what
causes climatic shifts and how to pre-
vent them.
Since his student days, when he
worked at sorting Paleolithic bones in
a university museum. Dexter Per-
kins, Jr., has been interested in the
relationship between prehistoric man
and animals. Concentrating his stud-
ies on the early domestication of ani-
mals, he has examined examples of
early man's art, which show evidence
of domestication, as well as the skele-
tal remains of animals in Near East
archeological sites. Perkins is at
present classifying the thousands of
animal bones found at Tep Godin, an
archeological site in Iran with a
5,000-year history of expanding
domestication. When not studying
faunal remains, he teaches paleo-
zoology at Columbia University.
Interested in the amount of space
animals need, and the environmental
components they require within that
space, Carol A. Simon did a study
of resource partitioning among Yar-
row's spiny lizards. An assistant pro-
fessor of biology at Ramapo College
of New Jersey and an associate with
the Department of Animal Behavior
of The American Museum of Natural
History, Simon did her field work at
the Museum's Southwestern Re-
search Station at Portal, Arizona. She
first came to the station in 1964 as a
student volunteer and went on to
complete much of her postdoctoral
work there. Simon plans to continue
her research an territorial behavior
and resource partitioning, as well as
to examine the possible significance
of licking behavior in lizards.
P
f
CO
o
Of
® p
£
PI
>02
OtI
c
^i
^
O-
o
^1
I^
0)1
4=
j_
CO
Z5
o
P
>^
o
o
tl
D
p
-4—
r
i
O)
1
^
c
c
0
D
0)
G)
r
RHil
■■iP«l^-
CI)
>-
()
0)
^
L_
>
o
(
D
^
C
■1—
()
<j)
Q)"0 1
>
c
c
D
1
o
h I
■ * K^
^^^»Tnifffw*
" r^^ff^
WAtERFO^DILLUMINATES. I
A Naturalist at Large
by Richard M. Klein
The "Fever Bark" Tree
Quinine, the once-secret
preparation made from the
cinchona tree, was not only
a remedy for malaria but also
a pawn in the maneuvers of
seventeenth-century
kings and popes
Throughout man's troubled his-
tory, few diseases have played as sig-
nificant a role as malaria. A retrospec-
tive romp through the past illuminates
the impact of the disease.
In 1943, in World War II, perhaps
as much as 15 percent of the Ameri-
can overseas army had malaria. In
1938-39, about 300,000 cases of
malaria were recorded worldwide, in-
cluding some 20,000 deaths in the
Brazilian province of Rio Grande do
Norte. The Spanish- American War in
1898 saw about four times as many
troops incapacitated by malaria as by
wounds. The Army of the Potomac
under Union general George McClel-
lan may have lost the offensive at
Chickahominy in 1862 because it
lacked enough healthy soldiers to op-
pose General Lee. The Pilgrims' de-
cision in 1620 to settle in New Eng-
land was made, according to William
Bradford, long-time governor of Ply-
mouth Colony, because "hott coun-
tries are subject to greevous diseases
. . . and would not so well agree with
our English Bodys." In 1596, the
third earl of Cumberland captured
Spanish Puerto Rico but was unable
to hold it, probably because his forces
were decimated by malaria. Rome
was built on seven hills to avoid the
malaria rampant in the adjoining val-
leys, and the city of Horence was
depopulated in the second century
B.C. by malaria, most likely intro-
duced, via Sicily, from North Africa
during the Punic Wars . Alexander the
Great is thought to have died of it in
June 323 B.C.
Among the twelve labors imposed
on Hercules, the most famous of
Greek legendary heroes, were the
slaying of the nine-headed Hydra, the
monster that brought human misery
and ruin, and the shooting of the man-
eating birds of the Stymphalian
marshes. These are allusions to ma-
larial infections that periodically
swept through ancient Greece.
The name malaria was coined in
the seventeenth century by a physi-
cian who combined the Italian words
for "bad" and "air." The disease
has also been called the shakes, the
ague, the fevers, and many other
things — none affectionate. Hippoc-
rates, who was thought to have suf-
fered the affliction himself, cogently
noted that there were several clinical
types of malaria, depending on
whether the chills and fevers came
every second or third day. He be-
lieved that imbalances in the ratios of
the four humors — blood, phlegm,
black bile, and yellow bile — caused
the malady. Invisible worms, it was
asserted for a thousand years, were
carried on the dank night air into the
body and were the penultimate cause
of the illness.
And yet, the common people
seemed to know that the mosquito
was involved, for malaria was rare in
dry and windy areas and disappeared
during the winter, even from marsh-
lands, when the insects vanished.
From India, still an endemic malarial
area, comes this lyric poem attributed
to a fourth-century medical author:
The green and stagnant waters
lick his feet
And from their filmy, iridescent
scum
Clouds of mosquitoes, gauzy
in the heat
Rise with his gifts:
Death and Delirium.
It was not until 1 880 that a French
physician, Charles L. A. Laveran,
found the microscopic, malaria-caus-
ing parasite in human red blood cells.
And in 1898, the British bacteri-
ologist Ronald Ross discovered the
malarial parasite in the stomach wall
of the Anopheles mosquito, thereby
establishing the relation of the mos-
quito to the fevers. Both men subse-
quently received Nobel Prizes for
their work. The complete life cycle of
the Plasmodium, a genus of malarial
parasite, was worked out in 1 897-99.
The existence of four major species
of malarial parasites was soon dis-
covered, and the need for mosquito
control became so obvious that marsh
draining and other control measures
were widely adopted. DDT came into
general use as an insecticide in the
1940s and in spite of what some now
consider widespread overapplication,
it saved thousands of lives. But it is
impossible to kill all female mosqui-
toes, and even a few infected human
beings can serve to initiate a fresh
malaria cycle of epidemic propor-
tions.
As far back as the fifteenth century,
it was obvious that a chemo-
therapeutic agent effective against
malaria was needed. One was found
Perhaps once each generation, the
course of an industry changes.
Today, that change is happening In
photography. And pointing the way to the
future is the new Contax RTS.
There's never been a camera like the
Contax RTS. A camera with professional
features and equipment to challenge any
rival 35mm system. Yet a camera so fast,
so automatic, so accurate it can express
your creativity like no camera in history.
The first time you touch the Contax
RTS, you know you're handling a different
kind of camera.
The Porsche Design Group gave it
distinctive styling. A sleek black body
tapered and rounded to fit the natural curve
of your hands.
Carl Zeiss gave the Contax RTS optics
of unsurpassed quality. Carl Zeiss T-Star
(T) coated lenses. From f3.5 1 5mm Dis-
tagon to f5.6 1000mm Mirotar, each of
these superb lenses is among the fastest in
its class. And all twist smoothly into the
new Contax/Yashica bayonet mount, with
internal linkage.
Yashica gave the Contax RTS its ad-
vanced electronics. Including a unique
electromagnetic shutter release. A view-
CONTAX
im. ....
Real Time Photography
finder display of 16 Light Enutting Diottes,
that lets you read precise shutter speeds,
preselected lens aperture, and maximum
aperture of the lens in use. And an air-
damped electronic shutter w/Hh infinite
speeds, from 4 seconds to 1 /2000 rf a
second.
Plus the Real Time Winder. A compact
lightweight motor drive you add to the
Contax RTS without special tools or modi-
fication.
System. Electronics. Design. Together,
they make the Contax RTS what it is: the
world's first Real Time camera. A camera
that's faster, more accurate, more exciting
to use.
For further information, and for the
names of Contax RTS dealers in your area,
write Yashica Inc, Contax Division, 50-17
Queens Blvd., Woodside, N. Y 1 1377.
The Contax RTS.
Destined to become
the superior photographic
instrument of our time.
-'^ ' \ ":
©1976 Yashica Inc.
and its history starts in Lima, Peru,
the sixteenth-century capital of New
Spain. Lima became a city where
riches were quickly amassed, and
young CastiHan gallants vied for per-
mission to make an assured fortune
from the mineral wealth so easily
taken from the defeated Indians. The
turnover of these hopeful merchant
princes, however, was high because
malaria was endemic in Peru. Yet, as
the church fathers noted, the Indians
in the bush were not excessively both-
ered by the disease. Through converts
and slaves (usually one and the
same), it was learned that on the east-
ern slopes of the Andes was a tree
whose bark, when powdered and
mixed with water, would cure the
fever. The natives called the concoc-
tion made from the "fever bark" tree
quina quina, literally "bark of
barks."
An Augustinian monk in a book
published in 1639 about his experi-
ences in the New World remarked
that the bark "cures the fevers and
tertians," but the Augustinians were
a contemplative and less worldly
order than the Jesuits, and it was the
Society of Jesus that recognized the
political clout inherent in this light
gray powder. Sending expeditions
into the Andes, the Jesuits soon ac-
quired a virtual monopoly of the sup-
ply of quina quina in Peru, Colom-
bia, and Bolivia, and by various
means they quickly turned their con-
trol into an official monopoly. At first
they trickled quina quina, or quinine,
back to Spain; later they system-
atically built up their markets through
discreetly advertising that they, and
they alone, could cure the fevers then
sweeping across Europe. The Jesuits
had little competition, for the stand-
ard treatment for malaria was still
founded on Hippocrates' dicta of
humors, and the best that could then
be done for the already debilitated pa-
tient was bleeding, bed rest, and the
application of cooling cloths.
To cure her fever while living
in Peru, the countess of
Chinchona, in this artist's
representation, takes a
proffered potion called quina
quina. The potion was made
from the bark of a local
tree subsequently named for
the countess. The powder is
known to us as quinine.
The Society of Jesus formally de-
cided that this wondrous bark should
be employed for "the greater Glory
of God and for good and useful Chris-
tians.' ' With their imprimatur and the
tacit approval of Pope Urban VIII, a
treatise called Schedula Romana,
which provided instructions in the use
of the powder, was published in
1651. No Catholic physician then
openly dared to oppose the use of qui-
nine, although many were against it
for a variety of reasons.
Meanwhile, Spanish galleons were
lumbering back from the New World
to their home ports with their holds
laden with gold and silver bullion and
bales of bark bearing the mark of the
order. Malaria was decimating the
French and English colonies ten-
uously established on the eastern sea-
board of North America, and the buc-
caneers who plundered the Spanish
Main were as welcome for their free-
spending ways as for their loads of
"Jesuit powder," as the fever bark
was commonly called. Some was
transshipped in good English bottoms
back to Britain where the London
ague, as the disease was known lo-
cally, was so feared. Jesuit powder
was available, with directions for its
use, at John Crook's London book-
shop in 1658, but because of fears of
a popish plot and possible curses
placed on the remedy by "Jesuit
devils," Oliver Cromwell, the Puri-
tan lord protector of England, was not
treated with the powder and died, pre-
sumably of malaria, the same year.
The fear of using quinine for the pro-
tector came, in part, from the state-
ment in a book by the eminent Eng-
lish physician Thomas Sydenham
who asserted that the medicine at-
tacked only the symptoms of malaria
and could worsen the disease.
By 1660 the Jesuit distribution and
control of quinine was breaking
down. Several prominent persons had
died after taking the powder, an uni-
dentified fever in Rome in 1655 was
not controlled by quinine, and the
power of the Roman church to de-
mand obedience and conformity had
slipped. Physicians, only some of
them Catholic, had long resented the
high price the Jesuits exacted for their
remedy, and with the Jansenist apos-
tasy challenging the authority of the
church, attacks on the Jesuit powder
intensified.
Popular prejudice against the Soci-
ety of Jesus was rallied by reformists
and physicians, and supplies of qui-
nine were becoming unobtainable be-
cause of piracy and slave revolts in
Peru. According to some sources,
however, a former apothecary's as-
sistant in Essex, England, named
Robert Talbor, could cure the ague by
secret means. To quell fears, he an-
nounced that he was not a physician,
but a feverologist, who by long and
arduous study, "by observation and
experimentation," had an exclusive
and "certain method for the cure of
this unruly distemper." He further
announced, "Beware of all palliative
cures, and especially that known by
the name of Jesuit's powder, for I
have seen most dangerous effects fol-
lowing the taking of that medicine."
By 1668 Talbor had moved to Lon-
don where he set up a lucrative prac-
tice under the horrified noses of the
Royal College of Physicians. Word
of his cure soon spread to the court
and when Charles II came down with
malaria, the king called for Talbor.
New York Public Library
Once.. .just once
have the automobile you want.
The Mercedes-Benz 450 SL.
You've learned the hard way.
You've suffered through the rest
— the cramped, Httle whippets, the
bellowing brawlers, the high-strung
blue bloods. Small wonder that the
Mercedes-Benz 450SL seems too
good to be true.
Suspend your skepticism. The
450SL can't be lumped in with the
rest. Conventional sports cars have
little in common with it. You owe it
to yourself to try the 450SL.
Anatomy of an ideal
The 450SL captivates your senses.
It's supposed to. Your eyes linger on
the lean body design.
Settle into the cockpit of this
Mercedes-Benz and you immediate-
ly feel at home. The anatomically
designed seat cradles you. You read
critical gauges at a glance.
By design, everything falls into
place. It's a study in ergonomics.
Three cars in one
Clearly, this is the complete spi)rt-
ing automobile. Standard equip-
ment includes a removable hard-
top as well as a custom-tailored
soft top that's always on board.
Hardtop. Soft top. No top. The
450SL- practically three cars in one.
Now, take the 450SL on a thor-
ough test drive. It's time for the
moment of truth. Turn the key and
you dispel the last of yciur doubts.
The 450SL's engineering creden-
tials make it a match for any spon-
ing automobile in the world.
Go ahead. Enjoy yourself. Feel
this Mercedes-Benz turn an ordi-
nary back road into an indelible
driving experience.
Performance? Ride? Handling?
Incomparable. And exactly what
you'd expect from a car whose pro-
genitors dominated the racing cir-
cuits of the world.
At last, it's happened. TTie car
you want is here. The Mercedes-
Benz 450SL. But stand forewarned.
Don't sample the unique 450SL
until you're really ready
to buy one. It's that kind
of automobile.
Mercedes-Benz
Engineered like no other car
in the world.
Solid brass kerosene lamps from
the coal mines of Wales.
Virtually unchanged since the mid 1800' s. . .
an uncommon collector's item that'll add a special charm
to your home or office.
This is definitely not a lightweight
reproduction. It's the real thing . . .
crafted from more than three pounds of
solid brass in a way that's remained
virtually unchanged for more than a
century. Lamps like this have played an
important part in the life and liveli-
hood of Great Britain's coal miners and
are actually responsible for saving thou-
sands of lives.
From deep in the mines to your
office or home.
Although it gives off light in
much the same manner and in-
tensity of the early-American
hurricane lamp, its most impor-
tant function was the detection
of dangerous gas. By reading
variations in the light given off,
an experienced miner could tell
when a dangerous level of
methane gas was present. It was
one of the most remarkable ad-
vancements in mining safety
ever developed. In fact, it was
so sophisticated for its time,
many are still in use today.
A handsome addition to almost
any setting.
We believe these solid brass
lamps are among the most un-
usual decorator items in exist-
ence. They'll add a special
"character" to your home or of-
fice and we honestly feel their
value as a collector's item will
increase with time.
The lamps measure 10" in
height and Si/q" in diameter. Each is
equipped with a solid brass hook for
hanging, or it can be set on a book
shelf, coffee table, desk, mantel . . . the
list is endless. They blend beautifully
with your prized antiques and equally
well with the most modern interior
designs.
They really work.
The lamps operate on kerosene and
of light can be controlled by adjusting
the wick to different heights. Use thern
to provide a mellow atmosphere for
conversation or build a centerpiece
around one on the dining table for a
very British version of "dinner by
candlelight."
A beautiful and unique gift.
You niigiit want to (,rder an extra
A unique decor,
any setting fron
'tor item that'll add a distinctive touch to
a bookshelf to the fireplace hearth.
lamp for those occasions when a gift
means more than providing a social
amenity. Because they're solid brass
(not plated) they can be easily en-
graved to commemorate a special occa-
sion or just to express a special senti-
ment.
Along with your lamp, we'll send you
complete operating instructions and a
detailed history we think you'll find
burn a standard size wick. The intensity fascinating $65.00 ppd.
Normnioinpsoii
Dent. 03-17
1865 N.W. Thurman
Portland, Or. 97209
Order TOLL FREE anytime 800-547-6712.
(Excluding Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska)
No. 9300 Brass Miner's Lamp: Qty.
D Check enclosed. Charge to my:
D BankAmericard D Master Charge
Card #___
Exp. Date
Signature X_
M/C\nt. Bank#_
Address
City
State Zip_
D Send FREE color cata-
log. Just off the press and
loaded with new and ex-
citing items, many of
which can't be purchased
any where else in the
world.
Because of the suspicion that Talbor
might use the hated popish remedy on
the king, whose Protestantism was al-
ready suspect, loyal Englishmen car-
ried placards warning that the Jesuits
were going to poison the monarch.
Happily, Charles recovered. In grati-
tude, he knighted Talbor, forced the
College of Physicians to make Sir
Robert a full member, and warned the
outraged body that "you should not
give him any molestation or disturb-
ance in his practice."
Through Robert Talbor, Charles II
saw a way in 1679 to improve the
touchy relations then existing be-
tween England and France. The dau-
phin, son of King Louis XIV of
France, suffered from periodic
fevers, so Talbor was sent to Paris as
a royal envoy with the title Physician
to the King of England. Talbor's suc-
cess in France was, if possible, even
greater than in England. The entire
imperial family was cured and Louis,
as a royal gesture, sent Talbor to cure
the queen of Spain. Appearances to
the contrary notwithstanding, this
was not really carrying coals to New-
castle; the Society of Jesus had re-
cently been expelled from Madrid
and the Jesuits had taken their powder
with them. Once again, Talbor was
successful. On his triumphal return to
France, he changed his name to Tal-
bot— then a distinguished French
name — and joined the radical chic of
Paris. Mme. de Sevigne referred to
him as "un horrmie divin," and his
bedside manner was most favorably
commented on by the ladies of the
court. As the Chevalier Talbot, and
with malaria rife in Paris, he amassed
a fortune. In 1680 he decided to re-
turn to England. Before Talbot left
France, Louis XIV paid him three
thousand gold crowns and promised
him a lifetime pension in return for
a sealed envelope containing a de-
scription of his secret remedy. Tal-
bot/Talbor returned home covered
with honor, became a fellow of St.
John's College, Cambridge, and be-
fore his death in 1 68 1 , composed his
own epitaph:
The most Honorable Robert Tal-
bor, Knight and singular physi-
cian. Unique in curing fevers of
which he delivered Charles II of
England, Louis XIV of France, the
Most Serene Dauphin, princes,
many a duke, and a large number
of lesser personages.
Louis opened his expensive enve-
lope in January 1682, and in a book
14
There are three sides
to every question:
the pro side, the con side
and the inside.
If you're in business
and you're reading about
something important to
your business, you don't
want to know what some-
body thinks has happened.
You want to know what
has in fact happened.
We want you to know
that, too.
That's why The Wall
Street Journal goes to such
lengths to insure that its
news columns are unbiased. We're not for or
against anything — not in our news columns,
at least. As far as we are able, we give you
the straight story... the unvarnished who,
what, why, where, how, when and so what
of anything that happens anywhere in the
"world that may affect your decisions about
your business. If you want to know what we
think, read our editorials.
This let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may
attitude has helped The Journal to grow
from 785,000 circulation to over a million
and a quarter in 10 years. It has won Journal
writers and editors five Pulitzer Prizes for
r e p e) r t i n g (and two
Pulitzer Prizes for edito-
rial writing — which
proves that The Journal
isn't afi'aid to take a stand
where a stand should be
taken).
Try The Journal on
our special introductory
offer. Just 86(t^ a week
will get it delivered to
your home or office. Fill
out and mail in the
attached card. If someone else has already
used the card, call this toll-free number: 800-
257-0300. (In New Jersey, call 800-462-
2000.) For new subscriptions only. Take us
up on our 86(f-a-week offer, for any period
from 13 weeks to a year. You won't get just
the pro side of business news, or the
con side. You'll get 'Tf^l-
the inside. I |^^^
Wall Street
Journcd
2A5 10 Price good in United States and possessions.
ascribed to him and entitled The Eng-
lish Remedy or Talbot's Wonderful
Secret for Curing of Agues and
Feavers, he revealed the secret. It
was, of course, the hated Jesuit's
powder mixed with wine to disguise
the bitter taste of the alkaloid and
using a different wine for each patient
to confuse the issue. We still do not
know how Talbor managed to secure
his supply of quinine bark, but, ac-
cording to him, it was not from the
Jesuits. The discomfiture of the phy-
sicians who had denounced Talbor
was great, but even with the identifi-
cation of his secret cure, British med-
icine still refused to employ quinine.
When Charles II had another bout of
malaria in 1682-83, he literally had
to beg his physicians for Talbor's
remedy; they simply refused to admit
that they had been outdone by a mere
apothecary's apprentice.
By the end of the seventeenth cen-
tury, the dust had settled and quinine,
no longer known as Jesuit powder,
was the standard treatment for ma-
laria in Europe and the Americas.
Spain controlled the trade in the bark
through its exclusive mandates in
Peru and Bolivia, but it was evident
that there were not enough wild trees
to keep up with demand. This danger
had been envisioned by the Jesuits a
hundred years before when they at-
tempted, unsuccessfully, to require
that a new tree be planted for each one
cut down. A French expedition,
which studied the problem in the dec-
ade between 1730 and 1740, found
that there were at least four major spe-
cies of the fever bark tree. Specimens
were sent to Linnaeus who, in honor
of the wife of Count Chinchon, vice-
roy of Peru, gave the trees the genus
name Cinchona, inadvertently drop-
ping the first "h" in the count's fam-
ily name. Subsequent collectors had
to go farther and farther into the bush,
getting lost, dying of disease, or
being shot by the darts of local tribes-
men. It became clear that the fever
bark tree had to be grown as a planta-
tion crop. In 1 820, two young French
chemists isolated the active alkaloid
in the bark and standardization of the
Cinchona trees thrive on a
quinine plantation in Java,
where they were first
successfully planted in
the late-nineteenth century.
dosage soon followed. In 1849, seeds
had sprouted in botanical gardens in
England, France, and Holland and
the public flocked to see the young
trees. Thus, there appeared to be no
barrier to plantation culture . Freedom
from malaria for mankind seemed
merely a matter of time.
Two countries dominated the race
toward plantation culture — England,
with its Ceylonese and Indian colo-
nies, and Holland, with colonial con-
trol over much of the rest of Southeast
Asia. The Dutch took the lead in 1 845
when a Netherlands agriculturist
started for Java with 400 young trees
illegally smuggled out of Bolivia. But
most of the trees died en route, and
the seeds the smuggler had purchased
at the same time came from a species
low in quinine content. The agricul-
turist tried again in 1854, but after
five years of growth, the young trees
were virtually worthless. The Dutch
tea planters in Java called the quinine
operation "the governor general's
hobby," and the taxpayers on the
continent demanded an end to this
folly.
In 1860, a British civil servant ob-
tained seeds of the red cinchona tree
from Peru for planting in Ceylon and
India, but of the several million trees
grown in those two countries, almost
none contained economically useful
levels of quinine in their bark. This
fiasco cost the crown close to a half-
million pounds sterling. A second
planting of the red cinchona provided
about 3 percent quinine. Unfortu-
nately, these trees also had high con-
centrations of other, related but medi-
cally useless, alkaloids that required
additional processing, so the growers
still could not compete with the 10
percent yields obtainable from wild
trees in South America.
The Bolivian quinine monopoly
was finally broken in 1865 by an Eng-
lish bark trader named Ledger, who
established his business in Puno,
Peru, across Lake Titicacafrom Boli-
via. Knowing that the best bark was
to be found only at high altitudes, he
secretly sent his servant-translator in
1 86 1 up into the Bolivian Andes near
the headwaters of the Rio Beni where
Cinchona calisaya trees with high-
yielding bark were known to grow.
The servant returned after a four-year
stay with smuggled cinchona seeds
for which Ledger paid £ 1 50 . The pre-
cious seeds were shipped to London
in the care of Ledger's brother and
were offered first to the government
of British India, which, having al-
ready been burned once, understand-
ably refused them. The brother then
went to Amsterdam and managed to
sell some seeds to the Netherlands
government and the Dutch East India
Company for 100 gulden and a prom-
ise that an additional payment of 500
gulden would be made if the seeds
were viable. An English planter
bought the rest, but completely
botched the job of cultivation.
The seeds sold in Holland reached
New York Public Library
i8
Java in December 1865, but on ar-
rival Ihcy smelled so bad il was as-
sumed that tiiey had rotted in transit.
Nevertheless, they were planted and,
happily, they germinated well and the
Ledger brothers received the prom-
ised additional payment. Over 10,-
000 trees were transplanted the fol-
lowing year and, by 1873, quinine
plantations were established in Java.
This time the Dutch East India Com-
pany took no chances. It sent a chem-
ist to Java who methodically tested
samples of the bark of each tree,
marking for survival only those with
yields of more than 13 percent qui-
nine. These trees were used as graft-
ing stock and the flowers were bagged
so that the resultant seed remained
genetically pure. By 1874 the super-
intendent of the Netherlands govern-
ment plantations reported that within
a few years there would be more than
two million trees, each having bark
with at least 8 to 9 percent quinine.
And there were. In 1881, South
America exported about nine million
kilograms of bark, but in 1884, less
than two million kilos found a mar-
ket. The Dutch monopoly was essen-
tially complete by 1890. After a few
years of overproduction, controlled
harvesting was achieved by 1910,
and the world's supply of quinine was
stabilized. This pattern was not al-
tered until the Japanese overran the
Javanese plantations in World War II .
With quinine under absolute mo-
nopolistic control in Java, many at-
tempts were made to grow high-
yielding trees in other parts of the
world, but none were economically
vigorous operations. Synthetic sub-
stitutes were accordingly sought. The
Winthrop Chemical Company in the
United States began experimenting
with the antimalarial drug atabrine in
1931. But it tended to turn the skin
a strange shade of yellow and its dos-
age was poorly understood so natural
quinine was preferred. Not until the
outbreak of the Second World War in
1939, and especially the campaigns
in North Africa and the fall of the
Philippines in 1942, did the quinine
crisis spur the lagging efforts to syn-
thesize effective antimalarials. Insec-
ticides and other mosquito control
measures and several safe and potent
antimalarials developed during and
after the war have since provided us
with reasonable freedom from ma-
laria.
Richard M. Klein teaches botany at
the University of Vermont.
IF YOU'RE GOING
AROUND THE WORLD,
CRUISE WITH THE
WORLD'S MOST
WORLDLY CRUISE LINE.
Tllli 19111 WORLD CRLISK 1 KOM IHi: WXJRLD'S .MOST
EXPERIENCED WORLD CRLTSE LEVE.
The Grand Tour is alive and well at Holland America.
On the 19th of January 1977, the flagship of Holland
America Cruises, the s.s. Rotterdam, will sail from New York to
Port Everglades, Florida, and then on to circle the globe for the
19th consecutive year.
Your itinerary offers you world and time enough to savor
the contrasts of ancient history and history in the making. The
85 -day voyage will bring you to 20 ports in 17 countries. You'll
view the glories of Athens and ancient Greece and the glorious
Sim of Acapulco, the splendor of the Taj Mahal and the spectacle
of the pyramids. You'll enjoy visits to Bali and Casablanca; Haifa,
Hong Kong and Honolulu; Singapore and Yokohama. And more.
All with no packing and unpacking, no checking in and
out of hotels or getting held up in holding patterns over airports.
As you cruise, you'll live in a manner to which very few
are accustomed. For the s.s. Rotterdam is truly a luxurious
international resort designed and built to cruise the world in
uncompromising grandeur. So you'll relax in a spacious cabin
with all the comforts of home. Dine elegantly on gourmet cuisine
featuring freshly prepared specialities of the lands you visit. And
enjoy a world of leisure at your beck and call.
You'll bask in the sun, swim in our indoor and outdoor
pools and enjoy first-rim movies, first-rate entertainers and three
dance bands. And all the while the world sails right up to you.
So join Holland America and see the world. For
information consult your travel agent or Holland America Cruises,
Dept.C,Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10001.
Or call 212-760-3880.
The s.s. Rotterdam is registered in the Netherlands
Antilles.
Holland America Cruises
VAOOIONS TIMT ARE ALL\aoaiON SINCE 1872.
19
Letters
Of Human Bonds
In his article "Human Babies as
Embryos" [February 1976], Stephen
Jay Gould writes about the peculiarity
of human babies being born helpless
and undeveloped in comparison to
other primates.
Alexander Pope noticed this fea-
ture of newborns and suggested in An
Essay on Man that it was on this long-
term weakness that the human family
was founded, and that this very
helplessness brought about monog-
amy and permanent family bonds:
A longer care Man's helpless
kind demands;
That longer care contracts
more lasting bands:
Reflection, Reason, still the
ties improve,
At once extend the interest,
and the love.
Our wants, weaknesses, and frail-
ties, which create the bond between
us as humans, create the moral fabric
of compassion (what remains of it)
that sustains society. Sometimes the
social consequences of a simple fact
like this one — the altricial features of
the human newborn — can be over-
looked by scientists.
Anne Barbeau
New York, New York
Agents of Extinction
Michael J. Bean's review of The
Politics of Extinction, by Lewis Reg-
enstein [January 1976] contained
some irritating, misleading state-
ments. Among these, the author re-
peats an old and false antihunting
myth, namely, that "it is the hunters
themselves who are principally
responsible for the near obliteration
of predatory animals such as the wolf,
cougar, bear, and numerous others."
The decline of the wolf, cougar, and
bear is due, not to sport hunters, but
to the forces of "civilization," espe-
cially the professional bounty hunting
and strychnine baiting carried out to
benefit ranchers and sheepherders and
the general loss of habitat inevitable
with our spreading population.
Loss of habitat and environmental
pollution seem to be the main threats
to wildlife populations in modern
times, yet Bean devotes nearly half of
his review to the hunting controversy.
Clearly, the modern sport hunter is
not an agent of extinction in his hunt-
ing activities. The hunter and the rest
of us are agents of wildlife extinction
in our activities as consumers, pol-
luters, and propagators of the human
race.
K. Allen Bowser
Lewisberry, Pennsylvania
Rice
Connection II
I read the December 1975 issue en-
route to a meeting of agricultural ex-
perts at the Asian Development Bank
in Manila. My colleagues there were
all much interested in the story on the
aquatic fern Azolla ("The Water
Fern-Rice Connection"), new to
them, harboring a blue-green alga
capable of fixing nitrogen.
Later I saw a rice paddy at the In-
ternational Rice Research Institute
near Manila, in which the fern, col-
lected in the Philippine mountains,
was growing. According to their ex-
perience thus far, it is capable of fix-
ing some 60 kilograms of nitrogen
nutrient per hectare, a remarkable
performance. However, its survival
seems to depend on a high phosphate
content in the soil, so high as to make
it of doubtful commercial value ex-
cept in naturally phosphatic areas, as
the North Vietnamese zone referred
to in your article must be.
Let us hope that plant breeders can
create new varieties unaffected by
this limitation. It would represent an
enormous advance in cost-efficiency,
simplicity, and productivity for this
basic Asian staple, to say nothing of
the saving of fossil-fuel energy now
required to produce artificial nitrogen
fertilizer.
Edwin M. Martin
Washington, D.C.
The Delicate
Oliavango
Christopher Scholz has captured
the magic of an unbelievable corner
of the world in his article "Rifting in
the Okavango Delta" [February
1976]. When my wife and I first saw
this area in 1966, we knew we would
have to return for a closer look. Thus,
when we left our Peace Corps service
in Malawi in 1968, we made a cross-
country trek to Botswana. We
camped for some time on the edge of
the Okavango and then canoed in the
area. We were treated to the sights of
lily trotters making their way across
the floating leaves and small insect
traps on the bladderworts, just to
mention two of the thousands of un-
believable treasures to be found in the
Okavango.
After crossing the Kalahari, I set-
tled at Kanye, Botswana, to teach
secondary school for a brief period.
I thus learned to share some of the
problems and aspirations of the
people of Botswana as they develop
the resources of their country. I fear,
however, as Scholz indicates at the
close of his article, that there is an
inherent conflict between develop-
ment and the delicate ecological bal-
ance in the Okavango. I only hope
that a compromise can be reached that
will preserve some of the magic of
this unique feature for future genera-
tions.
Bruce J. Hargreaves
New York, New York
Dannon Yogurt.
If you don't always eat right,
it's the right thing to eat.
Every day, inillions of people )^ve up eating. F"or
snacking.
Well, if you find yourself doing more eating on the
run than at a table, make sure you're eating Dannon
Yogurt.
Our label shows you that Dannon is high in pro-
tein, calcium and other things nutritionists say are
good for you.
It also shows that, unlike so many snack foods,
Dannon is low in fat, contains no
starch, no gelatin or other thicken-
ers. And none of those hard-to-
pronounce additives. Because
Dannon Yogurt is 100% natural. Not
just "natural flavor," but natural
everything. No artificial anything.
Dannon is reasonable in
calories, too. Especially when you
consider how satisfying and nutri-
tious it is.
What's more, Dannon gives
you the benefits of yogurt cultures.
They make yogurt one of the
easiest foods to digest, and have been credited with
other healthful properties too.
In many other yogurts— mainly pre-mbced or
Swiss style— the cultures are destroyed during
processing.
We created a whole culture of yogurt lovers.
Dannon outsells all other brands. For a number
of good reasons.
For e.xample, we go out <){ our wa\' t(j get the
best natural ingredients: to Eastern Europe for
strawberries, to the West Coast for bo\'senber-
ries, and we go to Canada for blueberries. (.Maybe the
reas(;n that other \'ogurts don't come close to the
taste of Danncjn is that other \'ogurt makers don't go
quite as far as we do.)
And it's the yogurt delivered direct to your store
"from Dannon to dain'case." So if it tastes fresher,
that's because it is fresher
Dieters aren't the only people
who are big on Dannon:
Toda\", almost ever\'bod\''s eat-
ing Dannon. It makes a quick, delici-
ous breakfast, a light but filling
lunch, and of course \'ou can't beat it
as a high nutrition dessert or snack.
Spoon it out of the cup as is, or mix
with cottage cheese, fresh fruit,
peanut butter, honey or what-
have-you.
A suggestion for beginners:
since plain yogurt ma>' be a bit tart, start with Dannon
fruit yogurts— strawbern', blueberr\', red raspberry;
and others.
For more facts, including some unexpectedly de-
licious ways to eat Dannon, write for our booklet,
"Yogurt and You." Dannon, 22-11 38th Avenue, Long
Island City N.Y 11101. It's free and it
will give you more reasons why
Dannon is the right thing to eat —
even if you always eat right.
Since 1972, when we started our
tours, cruises and expeditions for ad-
venturous travelers, many people
have asked us for a safari in East
Africa: we did not wish to compete
with others in this field and waited
until we could offer a program which
is unique and has been carefully sur-
veyed to provide the outdoor living
that inspired Hemingway's novels—
the true way to appreciate Africa, its
people, and its wildlife.
We now invite twelve intrepid travel-
ers to see Africa as did the explorers
before the tourists came, on our
African
Camel Safari
SEPTEMBER 17 TO OCTOBER 2, 1976
A journey on foot with camel support
across the fiercely exciting Northern
Frontier District of Kenya, accom-
panied by a wildlife expert who pro-
vides the protection required on an
expedition of this nature.
The peace and serenity of walking
through the African bush with the
muffled sound of camel bells is an ex-
perience few travelers have enjoyed.
Detailed brochures are available from:
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
55 WEST 42 STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10036
Talented Little Towel
Absorbent terry cloth towel is shaped into
the Eddie Bauer Toweling Hat to outsmart
summer heat two ways! When your brow is
perspiring, just wipe it with your hat. Or
douse your hat in water, wring it out and
wear it to keep you cool at tennis, golf, boat-
ing, fishing, camping. Sizes: S(6y4-6%),
M(7-7y8), 1(71/4-73/8), XL(7y2-75/8), XXL(7%-
7%). Colors: Sailing Blue, Powder Blue,
White, Yellow. 2002 Toweling Hat, $4.95 ppd.
Order Todayl Money Back Guarantee! »
Enclosed is my check or money order for
$ (Add sales tax where applicable.)
Please rush my 2002 Toweling Hat.
Size Color
Address-
City
□ Send me FREE your color cc
1200 exciting outdoor products.
>^^^i2/^*cUM^
Dept. HNH, Third & Virginia, Seattle, WA 98124
Meaty Questions
In his column "A Steak in the Fu-
ture?" [February 1976], Raymond
Sokolov acknowledges that the pro-
duction and consumption of meat
protein is perhaps the least economi-
cally viable means of feeding the
world's population, but then goes on
to claim, "I doubt that I would make
a dent in the worldwide trend toward
ever higher meat consumption if I
embarked on a program of acorn eat-
ing .. . or some other nonmeat diet. "
He ends his apology with, "In the
meantime, I prefer to stifle my guilt,
eat a corned beef sandwich now and
then, and do my evangelical best to
prevent my own species from exter-
minating itself through war."
The truth is that as many people are
being exterminated through starva-
tion and indifference as through war,
and if Mr. Sokolov is genuinely con-
cerned with the welfare of persons
throughout the world, he would do
well to reconsider his stand. For al-
though we may not be individually
capable of solving global political
problems, we are individually and
collectively responsible for alleviat-
ing whatever animal and human suf-
fering we can. It is not a question of
either sentimentality or taste but of
serious moral reflection.
Mr. Sokolov 's column gives us
more tripe than is called for in his
recipe.
Alan and Judith Tormey
Baltimore, Maryland
Although I agree with Raymond
Sokolov that in the United States rais-
ing cattle for consumption is wasteful
and sadistic, I was shocked that he
would label the Hindu practice of cow
worship as "masochistic" and there-
fore equally reprehensible. India's
problem of starvation is not caused by
cow worship, but quite possibly is the
result of private ownership of large
tracts of good land, which leaves the
majority of the people landless and
hungry. The Indian people will only
begin to solve this problem when the
land is cooperatively worked and
food is distributed on the basis of
need, not profit.
T. Bell
Brooklyn, New York
I enjoyed very much Raymond So-
kolov's "A Steak in the Future?" I
agree that meat is neat and that cows
are incredibly stupid. Living off other
life forms is just the way it breaks on
this planet. I personally feel that veg-
etables have feelings, too. I've
known weeds with more cunning than
cows. I tend to apologize to kohlrabi
when I cut it.
Having moved to the country, I try
to raise as much as I can of what I
eat. And there is all the difference in
the world between home-grown and
store-bought meat. As far as cruelty
goes, my cows are treated really well ,
living in cow nirvana until the coup
de grace. I wish I could say it was
reciprocal, but cows have just about
done me in emotionally. They break
through expensive new fences, eat
whole stands of roasting ears at a
gulp, clean out tomato plants in a
guzzle. They ate the wiring out of the
lawn mower and devoured my son's
school notebook. ("Dear Mrs.
Brown: You aren't going to believe
this, but. . . .") They explore. I came
home one day to find a cow eating the
flower arrangement on the cof[ee
table.
I will enjoy every morsel of those
cows. They have given me a whole
new insight into the primitives' cere-
monial cannibalism of their enemies
and liberated me to guilt-free eating.
Gay Weeks Neale
Meredithville, Virginia
WHEN YOU WRITE TO
NATURAL HISTORY
about a change of address, renewal of sub-
scription, billing, or any kind of adjustment,
send the present address label from the mag-
azine wrapper
Moving? Please notify 6 weeks in advance.
You can use this form to tell us about a move
or order a subscription
Change of address — attach your address
label in the doited area and fill in your new
address below, clip and mail to Natural History
Membership Services. Box 6000, Des Moines,
Iowa 50340
E ^ E g § o
£ ;£ -O .£ CD ^
■S -S 5 I
5 &
^
0.
ir
<
help save Serita Rimini
for $16 a month.&
ou can turn the po^e.
The Rimini family
lives in a smaif stone liouse
nestled atfiong olive trees and vineyards.'
But this idyllic scene belies their tragic story.
Serita's father is dead.
Her mother, blind from glaucoma.
Serita wants to remain in school.
But she will have to leave to help support her family.
And she is only eight years old.
You can give a child like Serita that education so that
she can grow up to live, not just exist. For $16 a
month, through Save the Children Federation you can
sponsor a child in many countries around the world
and here at home. Combined with money from other
sponsors, your $16 will help her and all the people
In her community. With a desperately needed new
school, child-care services, and vocational training.
In simple terms, help a proud, hardworking people
help themselves. This Is what Save the Children has
been all about since 1932.
For you— educated. Involved, and in touch with your
own heart— there are many rewards. Correspond with
a child. Receive a photo and progress reports. Reach
out to another human being. That's how Save the
Children works. But without you it can't work. So
please: clip this coupon and mail it today. Now you
can turn the page.
We are indeed proud of our use of your funds. Annual report and audit
<^ •" statement available on request. Member of the International Union
for Child Welfare and the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for
Foreign Service. Contributions are income tax deductible.
I wish to contribute $16 a month to sponsor a D boy D girl D either
D Where the need Is most urgent
D Appalachia (U.S.) D Indian D Korea
D Bangladesh (Latin America) D Lebanon
D Colombia D Indian (U.S.) D Mexico
n Dominican Republic D Inner Cities (U.S.) D Rural South (U.S.)
n Honduras Q Israel D Tanzania
Enclosed is my first payment:
D $16 monthly D $96 semi-annually
D $48 quarterly D $192 annually
D Instead of becoming a sponsor, I am enclosing a contribution of
n Please send me more Information.
NAME
ADDRESS-
CITY
_TEL. NO..
_STATE_
David L. Guyer, Executive Director
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION
345 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017 nh 4/
This View of Life
by Stephen Jay Gould
Ladders, Bushes,
and Human Evolution
The jaws and teeth uncovered
by Mary Leakey in Tanzania
are one of the greatest fossil
discoveries of the decade
My first teacher of paleontology
was almost as old as some of the ani-
mals he discussed. He lectured from
notes on yellow foolscap that he must
have assembled during his own days
in graduate school. The words
changed not at all from year to year,
but the paper got older and older. I
sat in the first row, bathed in yellow
dust, as the paper cracked and crum-
bled every time he turned a page.
It is a blessing that he never had to
lecture on human evolution. New and
significant prehuman fossils have
been unearthed with such unrelenting
frequency in recent years that the fate
of any lecture notes can only be de-
Wide World Photos
scribed with the watchword of a fun-
damentally irrational economy —
planned obsolescence. Each year,
when the topic comes up in my
courses, I simply open my old folder
and dump the contents into the near-
est circular file. And here we go
again.
A front-page headline in the New
York Times for October 31, 1975,
read: "Man traced 3.75 million years
by fossils found in Tanzania." Dr.
Mary Leakey, unsung hero of the
famous clan, had discovered the jaws
and teeth of at least eleven individuals
in sediments located between two
layers of fossil volcanic ash dated at
3.35 and 3.75 million years, respec-
tively. (Mary Leakey, usually de-
scribed only as Louis's widow, is a
famous physical anthropologist
whose credentials are more impres-
sive than those of her flamboyant late
husband. She also discovered several
of the famous fossils usually attrib-
uted to Louis, including the "nut-
cracker man" of Olduvai, Austra-
lopithecus boisei, their first important
find.) Mary Leakey classified these
fragments as the remains of creatures
in our genus Homo, presumably of
the East African species Homo ha-
bilis, first described by Louis Leakey.
So what? In 1970, Harvard paleon-
tologist Brian Patterson dated an East
African jaw at 5.5 million years.
True, he attributed the fragment to the
genus Australopithecus, not to
Homo. But Australopithecus has
been widely regarded as the direct an-
Mary Leakey presents the skull
o/ Australopithecus boisei,
found in 1959, to President
Nyerere of Tanzania.
24
British Columbia, Canada.
These pictures are just a sample of what is waiting for you in British
Columbia. 1. One of many intriguing shops that can be found through-
out the Province. 2. Long Beach on Vancouver Island, 11 miles of un-
broken beach on the Pacific Ocean. 3. The Williams Lake Stampede.
Dozens of rodeos take place all summer long in British Columbia's
cattle country. 4. An outdoor restaurant in Gastown, the original settle-
ment of British Columbia's largest city, Vancouver For more pictures
and lots more information write: British Columbia Department of
Travel Industry, 1019 Wharf Street, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Z2.
Or see your local travel agent.
For the time of your Uf e.
25
On Display at Museums and Planetariums Throughout the Country
The Choice, l^^'l^. '^^^°"f f"''y
experienced tele-
scope enthusiasts and leading col-
leges, universities and science
centers the world over repeat-
edly select Celestron telescopes:
The Celestron 5. A tabletop
observatory for exploring the
Moon, planets, scores of open star
clusters and gossamer nebulae at up
to 300X. For casual observing or lele-
photograptiy. rest the instrument on
any flat surface, swing up the
tube and focus. Close in
on the whiskers of a
squirrel at the near
focus of 20 ft. or the
face of a friend at half
a mile. The S'/z-lb. tube
demounts for hand-held
shots at 25X. (Size
swung down: 7" x 8" x
16", Wt.: 12 lbs.. Base
price, including electric
clock drive and setting cir-
cles, $595)
The Celestron 8. Eight full
inches of aperture make this
portable observatory in a suitcase the
amateur's favorite for studying the sur-
face features of Mars, the subdivided
rings of Saturn, the ever-changing
belt structure of Jupiter, the
ntricate filamentary detail
of deep-sky nebulae, the
central regions of glob-
ular clusters at up to
500X. Also the ulti-
mate terrestrial tele-
scope or telephoto!
(Size swung down:
9" X 12" X 22",
Wt.: 23 lbs., $895)
The Celestron 14.
The appeal of this
prestigious, fully
electric dome instrument is enhanced by a
CATAI OR unique design that also makes it the world's
largest one-man-portable Demount and load it
into your compact car in five mmutesl Within
range of the Celestron 14, at up to
850X, are the delicate contrast levels
of the diffuse and planetary nebulae,
the spirals of remote galaxies,
and the quasars. (Size swung
down: 18" X 22" x 44", Wt.: 108
lbs., $3,750)
Celestron Pacific zass Columbia
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF UNDBLAD
OUR AMAZON SAFARI
Explore the savage beauty of an incredible land
Here in Brazil's legendary regions of
Mato Grosso you will find endless
tracts of verdant jungle teeming with
strange animal and birdlife found
nowhere else. For seven days you
will live aboard a specially built
"Safari Boatel," exploring the Ara-
guaia and.Tapirape Rivers. You will
fish for your dinner and disembark
to barter with tribal Indians and see
their age-old customs and rituals.
And Hundreds of miles to the south,
perhaps the most awe-inspiring
sightwill be the Iguassu Falls, which
26
thunderously pour into a lush tropi-
cal basin, bright with orchids and
serpentine creepers, creating sights
and sounds never to be forgotten.
Our 6 Amazon Safaris this year start
as early as May 17. If you are seri-
ously interested, we suggest you
write for our informative brochure
today or see yourTravel Agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHAS476
133 East 55th Street. New York, N.Y 10022
(212)751-2300
cestor of Homo. While taxonomic
convention requires the award of dif-
ferent names to stages of an evolving
lineage, this custom should not ob-
scure biological reality. If H. habilis
is the direct descendant of A. afri-
canus (and if the two species differ
little in anatomical features), then the
oldest "human" might as well be the
oldest Australopithecus, not the old-
est recipient of the arbitrary designa-
tion Ho/no. What, then, is so exciting
about some jaws and teeth a million
and a half years younger than the old-
est Australopithecus?
I believe that Mary Leakey's find
is the second most important discov-
ery of the decade. To explain my ex-
citement, I must provide some back-
ground in human paleontology and
discuss a fundamental, but little ap-
preciated, issue in evolutionary the-
ory— the conflict between "ladders"
and "bushes" as metaphors for evo-
lutionary change. I want to argue that
Australopithecus, as we know it, is
not the ancestor of Homo; and that,
in any case, ladders do not represent
the path of evolution. (By "ladders"
I refer to the popular picture of evolu-
tion as a continuous sequence of an-
cestors and descendants.) Mary Lea-
key's jaws and teeth are the oldest
"humans" we know.
The metaphor of the ladder has
dominated most thinking about hu-
man evolution. We have searched for
a single, progressive sequence link-
ing some apish ancestor with modern
man by gradual and continuous trans-
formation. The "missing link" might
as well have been called the "missing
rung." As the British biologist J. Z.
Young recently wrote (1971) in his
Introduction to the Study of Man:
"Some interbreeding but varied pop-
ulation gradually changed until it
reached the condition we recognize as
that of Homo sapiens."
Ironically, the metaphor of the lad-
der first denied a role in human evolu-
tion to the African australopithecines.
A. africanus walked fully erect, but
had a brain less than one-third the size
of ours (see my column of November
1975). When it was discovered in the
1920s, many evolutionists believed
that all traits should change in concert
within evolving lineages — the doc-
trine of the "harmonious transforma-
tion of the type . " An erect, but small-
brained ape could only represent an
anomalous side branch destined for
early extinction (the true interme-
diate, I assume, would have been a
semierect, half -brained brute). But,
LIVE IN THE WORLD
OF TOMORROW... TODAY!
And our FREE 164 PAGE CATALOG is packed with
exciting and unusual values in hobby, electronic
and science items — plus 4,500 finds for tun, study
or profit ... for every member of the family.
~ A BETTER LIFE
STARTS HERE
NASA-CHOSEN
FOR APOLLO/SOYUZ
157 mi out in space, the Astronauts used this
super 20x60 binocular (modified) to view Eanh'
Our biggest, most powerlul lor distance Far-off
objects come in big, clear & sharp to the edge
through big 60mm objective lenses; 173-ft field
of view at 1000 yards Relative brightness. 9.0, Fully c
eye lenses Coated BK-7 Porro prism, Extra long All-/
rubber eyecups. Includes case & straps.
No. 1556E . . . (9V4X8V2 ; 47.5 oz.) $99.95 Ppd.
No. 1559E. {4V2 X 6V4, 190z.) $27.50 Ppd.
h
WORLDS SMALLEST
CALCULATOR!
ighly' 8-dig(t. A-lunction electronic
caicuiaiof ooes evef/ming txg ones Oo—everi hia
automabc *t key for only $19-95 Take rt
anywhere Fits in your pocket— ^ sue o( ogaretls
_ _ pack 3"j oz Oynamo leatufes floabng deccnal,
ke/ lead zero oepresson. more' Iridudes plug-in recnargeadle Ni-Cad
t^anery pack 2 x 3' > x * -t with plenty of room (or rnost tmgefs Another Edmund
first with advanced technotogy
Stock No. t94SE %M3i Ppd
SOLAR
ENERGY CUBE!
Unique demonslrator dramattcalfy shows how
sunlight converts lo kjnettc energy Dear plastic
Soiar Energy Cul>e placed m the sun with rts 3
highly efttcieni siltcon sc^ar cells powers the nxilor
lo whirl the propeiler' Unit actually produces 1 3v
DC. 825ma. Same cells found tn our mighty panels Speed direcOy related lo sunlighi
available. Nothing lo wear out! Great for executives, hobbyists, teachers
No. 42287E (4 ■ 4 - 4")
$19.95 PpO
SAVE 50%!
8 X 20 BINOCULAR
Special purchase saves you more than $50! Fully
coated 8 x 20 pocket-size binocular with 360 ft.
field of view, great tor stadium, ineater. tracK.
vacation. Instead of $99.95, you pay just $45.00
while supply lasts- Even if you own regular size
binoculars you'll want this lightweight (10 oz.) rugged r
Get full-size performance from a binocular that fits ir
Low price incls. leatherette zipper case.
Stock No. 1567E
#
your palm, makes a fine gift.
QUALITY DETECTOR
UNDER $40
New Edmund developed, fuHy transistorized BFO
unit capat)te of locating quarter ai 18'— powerful
6 Irans osa 1 1 atOf- amplifier arcuil EasHy com-
pares to others pnced dO*'© higher' Aluminum pole
and housing — r>ot plastic' 6" waterproof search
coil (Faraday shielded to elim outside interlerencei. long 50 hr battery (9V) We;
powerful 2 speaker, 1-knob on-of1 tune control Perlecl balance lightweight (2 fb).
Great buy'
Stock No. 80^2E
Deluxe unit w/ear phones, meter
No. 80.134E(11 coil)
$3955 Ppd.
PREHISTORIC
MONSTERS SLIDES!
5 huge dinosaurs (Tyrannosaurus, Dimetrodon.
Triceratops. Stegosaurus, Plesiosaur) practically
come roaring to life in full color. Amazing life-like
simulation based on year's research and existing
reptiles' habits. Shows you how each lived in its
particular ecological niche Bodies (soft tissues) reconstructed based on skeletal
6 fossil remains from museums around the world. 'You are there" with this realistic
35 mm slide set (12 poses each of 5 dinosaurs).
No. P-42,405E (10 SLIDES, DESCRS.) $5.00 Ppd.
ERECT A "PRO"
WEATHER STATION
^^"^J^^l^^^^fc fvlatch your forecasting skill with anyone' Set up
■^^ BH^E^^^V permanent meteorology sla for reliable readings:
W^ M^^Hk^ ^y windspeed. preapitation, barometnc pressure.
^J^^^fl^^^^^^ temp., humidity; get vinnd-chill. ctoud types. Top
■^■^■■■^■■i^^k^ qua!, equipt,: rooftop remote reading pneumabc
windspeed ind,, 11 " rain gauge: holostenc barometer (inches, etc); hi-losetf register
themiometer; wet-dry bulb hygrometer. More!
No. 80^16E (w/372 PG. LOG) $6950 Ppd.
BEGINNERS KIT: COIWPL. LOW COST
Stock No. 71,022E $1835 Ppd.
SAVE 50%!
6 X 15 MONOCULAR
Fantastic bargain! Top quality Spy Scope, a $30
value, now offered at $14.95! Our special pur-
chase saves you 50% and you get 1 00% coated
optics; 393 ft. field of view. Only 2 02 —stores in
pocket, purse, glove compartment. Fits in your
palm — peer into hard-to-see places without letting subject know you're spying. Great
for birders and race fans; incls. neck strap, leatherette SVzx 1 V2x2" case. Beautiful
brushed metal finish. Buy two — one tor a gift!
Stock No. 1568E $1435 Ppd.
CANT SLEEP, RELAX? TRY THIS!
J I ales
r - ^ f\i Electronic sound conditioner simi
^ ^~^ kinds of soottiing sounds of ocean surf and
^■^^^ ^# rain "White sound' helps mask unwanted
l^^^^^teitf A. m noise, adds restful, intriguing background
I^^^^^^^V ' f* * sound Program the solid-state unit to your
^^^^^^^^. ■ r- own need 2 surl. 2 ram. or white sound'.
^^^^^^^^^^^ proven by medical tests to have analgesic ef-
fects Great for meditation, restlessness, sleeplessness psychology,
(A) No. 71,997E .(7V. x 7 « 3Vi") 110V AC $8955 Ppd.
(B) AS ABOVE, BUT "WHITE SOUND" ONLY
No. 71.980E. . (6" Hd. x 3V." HI) S28.00 Ppd.
MAIL COUPON FOR
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
4500
MORE THAN
UNUSUAL
BARGAINS
Completely new Catalog Packed wi
binoculars magnets magnifiers pn
Lighting ilems pads kils accessorn
of Chans illuslralions For hobbyist
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.
300 Edicorp Buildinf, Barrinfton. N. J 01007
Please rush Free Giant Catalog "
huge selection o' telescopes
IS. photo components, ecology and Unique
—many hard-to-get surplus bargains 100 s
experimenters, schools, industry
COMPLETE AND MAIL WITH CHECK, M. O. OR CHARGE NO.
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO. f^gfsl^^Sigs^"'"''"^' Harrington, NJ. 08007
How Many Stock No.
D PLEASE SEND GIANT
FREE CATALOG "E"
n Charge my Bankflmericard
n Charge my Master Charge • service and^Handling Charge $1.00
Interbank No
My Card No. Is
I incloH QcliKk Q money order for TOTAL i
I I Signature
Card Expiration Date
30-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE.
You must be satisfied or return
any purchase in 30 days for full
refund. "SIS. 00 minimum
Address.
City
8-Powcr Vision,
Pocket Size,
by Nikon.
Meet the Nikon 8x24 Ultra Compact
Binocular. Provides virtually as much daylight
viewing brightness as the biggest glasses you can buy With superb, crisp
viewing clarity- the result of Nikon prism optics, so precisely aligned and
optically matched for equal magnification that you can view for hours
without strain. Plus potent 8-timc magnification, ideal for scenic, wild-
life and all-round outdoor viewing. Moisture- and shock-resistant, too.
Yet it barely makes a bulge in your pocket, weighs just 14!4 ounces, and
costs a lot less than you might think. One of seven Nikon binoculars
available at Nikon camera dealers and selected optical departments.
Nikon Inc., Garden City, N.Y. 11530. Subsidiary of Ehrenreich Photo-
Optical Industries, Inc. (In Canada: Anglophoto Ltd., P.Q.) ilHB
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
Return to nature,
find solitude and adventure in
Lars-Eric Lindblad's remarl<able
THE TENTED QMrARI
Nothing you will ever do in travel will
compare with our East African Tented
Safari. We will travel in some of the
most exciting wild parts of the world.
We'll encounter Samburu and Turkana
tribesmen in the remote Northern
Frontier District. We will sleep under
canvas in tented camps set up exclu-
sively for us, and an experienced staff
will see to our comfort. We'll spend
hours around the campfire listening
to our host, once known as "the white
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC
hunter" talking about his experiences
in the jungles. And long after we are
tucked in for the night, the coughing
of leopards, the snarl of hyenas and
roar of lions will keep us awake. Ele-
phants may block our path as we pro-
ceed in our rugged Land Rovers, Let
your camera record this truly remark-
able adventure. We shall limit our
party to 10 members. British Airways
will fly us to Nairobi and back. Wnte for
our brochure or see your travel agent.
Dept, NHTS 476
1 33 East 55th Street, New York, N,Y, 1 0022 '(212) 751-2300
as modern evolutionary theory devel-
oped during the 1930s, this objection
to Australopithecus disappeared.
Natural selection can work inde-
pendently upon adaptive traits in
evolutionary sequences, changing
them at different times and rates. Fre-
quently, a suite of characters under-
goes a complete transformation be-
fore other characters change at all.
Paleontologists refer to this potential
independence of traits as "mosaic
evolution.""
Secured by mosaic evolution, A.
africanus attained the exalted status
of direct ancestor. Orthodoxy became
a three-runged ladder: A. afri-
canus-H. erectus (Java and Peking
Man)-//, sapiens.
A small problem arose during the
1930s when another species of aus-
tralopithecine was discovered — the
so-called robust form, A. robustus
(and later the more extreme "hyper-
robust," A. boisei. found by Mary
Leakey in the late 1950s). Anthro-
pologists were forced to admit that
two species of australopithecines
lived contemporaneously and that the
ladder contained at least one side
branch. Still, the ancestral status of
A. africanus was not challenged; it
merely acquired a second and ulti-
mately unsuccessful descendant, the
small-brained, big- jawed robust lin-
eage.
Then, in 1964, Louis Leakey and
his colleagues began a radical reas-
sessment of human evolution by nam-
ing a new species from East Africa,
Homo habilis. They believed that H.
habilis was a contemporary of the two
australopithecine lineages; more-
over, as the name implies, they re-
garded it as distinctly more human
than either of its contemporaries. Bad
news for the ladder: three coexisting
lineages of prehumans ! And a poten-
tial descendant (//. habilis) living at
the same time as its presumed ances-
tors. Leakey proclaimed the obvious
heresy: both lineages of australopith-
ecines are side branches with no
direct role in the evolution of Homo
sapiens.
But H. habilis, as Leakey defined
it, was controversial for two reasons.
The conventional ladder could still be
defended:
1. The fossils were scrappy and
came from different places and times.
Many anthropologists argued that
Leakey's definition had mixed two
different things, neither of which was
a new species: some older material
properly assigned to A. africanus.
28
and some younger fossils belonging
lo H. ereclus.
2. The dating was insecure. Even
if H. huhilis represented a valid spe-
cies, it might be younger than most
or all of the known auslralopithe-
cines. Orthodoxy could become a
four-runged ladder: A. africunus-H.
habilis-H. erectus-H. sapiens.
But, as a new consensus began to
coalesce about the expanded ladder,
Louis and Mary Leakey's son Rich-
ard reported the find of the decade in
1973. He had unearthed a nearly
complete skull with a cranial capacity
near 800 cc, almost twice that of any
A. africaniis specimen. Moreover,
and this is the crucial point, he dated
the skull at between 2 and 3 million
years, with a preference for some-
thing near the older figure — that is,
older than most australopithecine fos-
sils, and not far from the oldest, 5.5-
million-year date. H. hahilis was no
longer a chimera of Louis's imagina-
tion. (Richard Leakey's specimen is
often cautiously designated only by
its field number, 1470. But whether
or not we choose to use the name
Homo habilis, it is surely a member
of our genus, and it is just as surely
a contemporary of Australopith-
ecus.)
Mary Leakey has now extended the
range of H. habilis back another mil-
lion years (perhaps closer to 2 million
years, if 1470 is closer to 2 than to
3 million years old, as many experts
now believe). H. habilis is not the
direct descendant of known A. afri-
canus: the new finds are, in fact, older
than almost all specimens of A. afri-
canus {and the taxonomic status of all
fragmentary specimens older than
Mary Leakey's H. habilis is in
doubt). Based on the fossils as we
know them. Homo is as old as Aus-
tralopithecus. (One can still argue
that Homo evolved from an older, as
yet undiscovered Australopithecus.
But no evidence supports such a
claim, and I could speculate with
equal justice that Australopithecus
evolved from an unknown Homo.)
Chicago anthropologist Charles
Oxnard has just dealt Australopith-
ecus another blow from a different
source. He studied the shoulder,
pelvis, and foot of austral opithecines,
modern primates (great apes and
some monkeys), and Homo with the
rigorous techniques of multivariate
analysis (the simultaneous statistical
consideration of large numbers of
measures). He concludes that the aus-
tralopithecines were "uniquely dif-
Clarks
Wallabee
There's more to the original
than meets the eye.
(Miivi'-liki-odiiilort
lOlasticizccl lac
Iliifhosl quaiily
soft leather iippi
Huillin filjer
arch supiKirl.
Thicker quality
crepe sole.
There are a lot of shoes around that are trying
very hard to look like Wallabees. And some of
them look enough like Wallabees to actually
fool your eye.
But they'll never fool your foot. Clarks Wal-
labee" shoe is made with constniction tech-
niques that our imitators simply can't imitate.
\Ne make them from carefully selected quality
leather uppers which are joined to a soft
leather inner lining which wraps right around
the foot, giving glove-like comfort. They have
a built-in fiber arch support on a nature-form
last and have natural aged plantation crepe soles Most ol the copy-
cats are using sponge instead of fiber, and crepe of a much less
sturdy variety for the sole. So none gives you the comfort that the
Wallabee gives you.
So if you try to tell by looking, just look at the smiles on the faces
of the people with Clarks Wallabees on their feet.
Better still, let your feet tell you the difference.
OF ENGLAND
Made in the Republic of Ireland.
Available in a variety of colors.
Ladies' shoe about S39 95. Mens shoe, about S42.nu. Ladies' boot, about S.39.95. Men's boot, about S44.0n.
For the store nearest you write to: Clarks. Box 92. Belden Sution. Norwalk, CT. 06852 Dept 4NHW
29
A First American can help you
celebrate the Bicentennial.
John Kinlichee is an American Indian child. His
ancestors were here many centuries before ours.
And the past 200 years have not been the easiest
for them. But it's history now. What is important
is the present and the future. For John the key
to a successful future is a good education. But
he needs your help to stay in school.
WON'T YOU HELP?
John's family is desperately poor. As a sponsor
through Futures for Children, you can help pro-
vide John with the necessary clothes and shoes
to stay in school. And you can be his friend. You
can write to him, visit him, and let him know you
are on his side when the going gets rough. He's
bright, he's eager, but without your help he may
not make it. Give him a chance to break the
poverty cycle of despair and apathy.
We've come far in 200 years. As part of your
Bicentennial celebration, won't you remember
the children of the First Americans?
All contributions fully tax deductible.
Yes, I (we) want to sponsor an American Indian Child
a boy a girl either Enclosed is a check for $
($20 monthly; $60 quarterly; $120 semi-annually; $240 annually)
Here's help, not as a sponsor, but with a check for $
Please send me more information.
Mr. Mrs. Ms
Address .^
City/State/Zip.
FUTURES FOR CHILDREN
4401 Montgomerv Blvd. N.E., Albuquerque. N.M. 87109
ferent" from either apes or fiumans,
and argues for "the removal of the
different members of this relatively
small-brained, curiously unique ge-
nus Australopithecus into one or
more parallel side lines away from a
direct link with man."
What has become of our ladder if
there are three coexisting lineages of
hominids (A. africanus, the robust
australopithecines, and H. habilis),
none clearly derived from another?
Moreover, none of the three display
any evolutionary trends during their
tenure on earth: none become brainier
or more erect as they approach the
present day.
At this point, I confess, I cringe,
knowing full well what all the crea-
tionists who deluge me with letters
after each column must be thinking.
"So Gould admits that we can trace
no evolutionary ladder among early
African hominids; species appear and
later disappear, looking no different
j from their great-grandfathers.
Sounds like special creation to me."
[ (Although one might ask why the
Lord saw fit to make so many kinds
of hominids, and why some of his
later productions, H. erectus in par-
ticular, look so much more human
than the earlier models.) I suggest
that the fault is not with evolution it-
self, but with a false picture of its
operation that most of us hold —
namely the ladder. Which brings me
to the subject of bushes.
I want to argue that the "sudden"
appearance of species in the fossil
record and our failure to note subse-
quent evolutionary change within
them is the proper prediction of evo-
lutionary theory as we understand it.
Evolution usually proceeds by "spe-
ciation' ' — the splitting of one lineage
from a parental stock — not by the
slow and steady transformation of
these large parental stocks. Repeated
episodes of speciation produce a
bush.
How does speciation occur? This
is a perennial hot topic in evolution-
ary theory, but most biologists would
subscribe to the "allopatric theory"
(the debate centers on the admissibil-
ity of other modes; nearly everyone
agrees that allopatric speciation is the
most common mode). Allopatric
means "in another place." In the
allopatric theory, popularized by
Ernst Mayr, new species arise in very
small populations that become iso-
lated from their parental group at the
periphery of the ancestral range. Spe-
ciation in these small isolates is very
30
I
rapid by evolutionary standards-
hundreds or thousands of years (a
geologic microsecond).
Pressures of natural selection tend
to be intense in geographically mar-
ginal areas where Ihc species barely
maintains a foothold. Favorable ge-
netic variation can quickly spread
through these reduced populations. In
large central populations, on the other
hand, favorable variations spread
very slowly, and most change is
steadfastly resisted by the well-
adapted population. Small changes
occur to meet the requirements of
slowly altering climates, but major
genetic reorganizations almost al-
ways take place in the small, periph-
erally isolated populations that form
new species.
If evolution almost always occurs
by rapid speciation in small, periph-
eral isolates, then what should the
fossil record look like? We are not
likely to detect the event of speciation
itself. It happens too fast, in too small
a group, isolated too far from the an-
cestral range. Only after its success-
ful origin will we first meet the new
species as a fossil — when it has rein-
vaded the ancestral range and become
a large central population in its own
right. During its recorded history in
the fossil record, we should expect no
major change. We know it only as a
successful central population. It will
participate in the process of organic
change only when some of its periph-
eral isolates speciate to become new
branches on the evolutionary bush.
But it, itself, will appear "suddenly"
in the fossil record and become ex-
tinct later with equal speed and little
perceptible change in form.
The fossil hominids of Africa fully
meet these expectations. We know
about three coexisting branches of the
human bush. I will be surprised if
twice as many more are not discov-
ered before the end of the century.
The branches do not change during
their recorded history, and if we un-
derstand evolution aright, they
should not — for evolution is concen-
trated in rapid events of speciation,
the production of new branches.
Homo sapiens is not the foreor-
dained product of a ladder that was
reaching toward our exalted estate
from the start. We are merely the only
surviving branch of a once luxuriant
bush.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science at
Harvard University.
Experience Ireland
Fly there for as littte as ^247- ^325' Round trip
\tdand
Picture yourself in Dublin's Fair City — a European capital with a
unique flavor. Bask in the mellow glow of a singing pub — a pint of stout
or ale, 65 cents. Have lunch with a Rembrandt in our National^Gallery for
$4. Watch the sun go down on Galway Bay. See
Heaven'sReflex — we call it the Lakes ^^
of Killarney. Sample our wide range of
hotels and farmhouses. Visit Donegal,
where they make the famous tweeds.
We have lots of information on flights
and tours to Ireland, what to do there,
where to go, what it'll cost. Just mail the
coupon. Or see your professional travel
agent for further information and *
reservations.
1/
iHlSh tOORlSt BOaRC)
BOX 1300. LorJG lsLar?6 cltx<
r?GcuqoRk.iiioi
Free Booklets Please send a free copy of
the 32 page color booklet, "Ireland. Person-
ally Yours", plus other materials on Ireland.
m
City
Stale
My travel agency is
■Travel Group Charter tare. New York to Dublin. Price deoends on time ol travel, Subieci to govern-
ment approval and regulations, including 65-day advance resenration with non-refundable deposit.
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
You can't visit Tibet or China, but now
BHUTAN
a remarkably preserved civilization
There is in the foothills of the Himalayas
a small kingdom called Bhutan. Today,
it is almost the only place left where the
remarkable Tibetan culture still thrives
in its native habitat. This tiny kingdom
has opened its doors to those few who
in the past have found this marvellous
world beyond reach. Here is a country
filled with treasures and relics dating
way back in history. Here is a country
filled with verdant valleys and sun-
drenched streams below the snowy
peaks of the Himalayas. Here is a king-
dom endowed with beautiful, friendly
people whose customs have been un-
touched by western man. Only a small
number of tourists may be accommo-
dated this year and we suggest you re-
serve your space at once. Write Lindblad
Travel or see your travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept NHBH 476
133 East 55th Street. New/ York, N.Y. 10022
(212) 751-2300
31
Bios
by Arthur W. Galston
How Safe Should Safe Be?
The screening of new
herbicides and other
synthetic compounds must
be expanded to include
the possibly mutagenic
effects of their
metabolic by-products
Modern industry, agriculture, and
medicine float on a sea of synthetic
chemical compounds. Every year
thousands of such new products are
devised. Each purports to solve some
human problem or satisfy some
human need better than its predeces-
sors. Some are uneconomic to make
and never reach the production line or
sales counter. Others are weeded out
between the testing laboratory and the
production line because they are ob-
viously dangerous or toxic to human
life. But even those that get through
the screens imposed by private com-
panies and the various local, state,
and federal agencies, cannot auto-
matically be considered safe. In fact,
an alarming number of compounds
and processes, long accepted and
used, have recently been found to
have unexpected and deleterious ef-
fects on biological systems. Thus it
has become imperative to inquire
closely into the criteria that are, and
ought to be, employed to safeguard
the public health and well-being: con-
tinually to explore the question.
How safe should safe be?
Developing these criteria is not en-
tirely an exercise in rational , dispas-
sionate analysis. More and more, the
process involves reconciling the often
conflicting interests of business, agri-
culture, and the environmentalists.
Known benefits are carefully weighed
against demonstrated or possible side
effects. The final choices are both
subjective and evaluative. DDT is an
example. The fact that it can wipe out
malaria-bearing mosquitoes must be
balanced against its inadvertent de-
struction of useful insects, such as
bees and others serving as sources of
food for birds. Similarly, the drop in
crop productivity and loss of income
that result from the banning of DDT
must be balanced against the possi-
bility that its slow biodegradability
may ultimately produce new dangers
to man. There are still unanswered
questions concerning DDT, but while
they are being worked out, countries
where insect-borne human diseases
are still a major problem cannot be
expected to ban the compound.
Against this background, a recent
discovery by two brand-new Ph.D.s
is of particular interest, for by apply-
ing a known but neglected approach
to the testing of herbicides, they have
raised doubts about the alleged safety
of most agricultural chemicals in
major use today. Michael J. Plewa of
the Department of Agronomy of the
University of Illinois and James M.
Gentile of the Department of Human
Genetics at Yale University have just
produced evidence that atrazine, the
most widely used herbicide in corn-
fields, gives rise to metabolic prod-
ucts that cause mutations, and possi-
bly cancer, in laboratory animals. In-
dependent substantiation of their
claims, which appears to be at hand,
could lead to a massive reappraisal of
the procedures normally employed
for certifying as safe those chemicals
designed to be used in agriculture.
How could such a pernicious effect
have been overlooked when atrazine
was first tested? Atrazine itself, pro-
duced by Ciba-Geigy, a Swiss-based
corporation, had a clean bill of
health. When fed to experimental ani-
mals for detection of toxicity symp-
toms, to microorganisms for detec-
tion of mutagenicity, and to tissue
cultures for detection of possible
carcinogenicity (by induction of can-
cerous overgrowths), atrazine was in-
nocuous. If it is first supplied to corn
plants, however, chemical extracts of
the leaves and kernels of such plants
32
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
presents the CURATOR'S CHOICE Collection^
1 for North American Bird Watchers ^
A definitive selection by the Curator
for both the Beginner and Advanced bird lover!
Author of many books and scientific articles himself, Dr. Amadon
lists these as 'must' classics, all hard cover. Feather your bird library
(or a friend's) with this distinctive bookshelf.
A. GOLDEN EAGLE
COUNTRY
Richard R. Olendortt
About America's 'other'
eagle, the Golden Eagle. 37'
spectacular drawings. A col-
lector's item.
$14.00
B. AUTUMN HAWK
FLIGHTS
Donald S. Heintzelman
The book for autumn hawk-
watching. Describes sophis-
ticated field study methods.
Surveys hawk lookouts and
migrations.
$31.50
C. BIRDS OF N.Y.
STATE
John Bull
164 breeding and banding-
recovery maps. 86 photo-
graphs, with 11 color plates.
$31.95
D. GROUSE AND
QUAILS OF NO.
AMERICA
Paul A. Johnsgard
Hunting and conservation of
these superb birds. Authori-
tative reference with 140
plates; 52 in color, 7 com-
missioned paintings.
$26,50
E. AT A BEND IN A
MEXICAN RIVER
George Miksch Sutton
Camping-trip adventure re-
cords behavior, call-notes,
descriptions of scores of
Mexican birds,
$15,95
F. HIGH ARCTIC
George Miksch Sutton
Beyond the Arctic Circle to
study shorebirds. Dr, Sut-
ton's mastery of brush and
pen are unaffected by arctic
cold or tropic heat.
$15.95
G. FIELD GUIDE TO
THE BIRDS (Eastern)
Roger Tory Peterson
Original, unique method em-
phasizes characteristics of
birds seen at a distance.
$7.95
H. FIELD GUIDE TO
WESTERN BIRDS
Roger Tory Peterson
Identifies over 700 species
in western U.S., Canada,
Alaska, Hawaii. Above two
books revolutionized bird
identification and promoted
bird watching more than any
others.
$7.95
BIRDS OF NORTH
AMERICA
Robbins, Bruun and Zim
Most complete field guide
ever published, 700 species
from Mexican border to Arc-
tic Ocean. 2000 illus. Sona-
grams 'picture' bird songs to
help you recognize and re-
call them. The very keystone
of any bird bookshelf,
$7.95
J. CURASSOWSAND
RELATED BIRDS
Delacour and Amadon
Ed. Note-. Dr. Amadon did not in-
clude his book in his selection be-
cause of undue modesty, but we
(eel it belongs in this collection.
In the centuries-old tradi-
tion of very fine bird books,
this will one day be a collec-
tor's item. A special book
from two of the world's
greatest ornithologists. 95
drawings, photos, and maps.
$22.00
Order Now for Springtime Viewing
AMERICAN MUSEUM MEMBERS,
PLEASE TAKE 10% DISCOUNT.
NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS,
Dept. B700, Box 5123.
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me the books 1 have
circled for which I enclose my personai
check or money order for $.
MU<?eUMOf
A. B. C. D.
ALLOW 4-6 WKS. FOR DELIVERY.
E. F. G. H. I. J.
NAME.
ADDRESS.
CITY
.STATE.
Prices include postage and handling.
33
Tri-X, 7/25 second.
IN DIM LIGHT AT 200 FEET
WITH A QUESTAR
Photographed as he emerged from the
woods at dusk^ the fox's eyes reflect the
last rays of the setting sun and every hair
is clearly delineated in the Questar. This
is the famous Questar resolution that delights
the wildlife watcher. To him it means more
interesting views of birds or animals when
they ore seen through this versatile and
convenient instrument at distances that do
not betray his presence.
The photograph, an enlarged portion of
a 35 mm. negative, is one of many beautiful
shots of a new neighbor of the Davises in
Sarasota; the same Davises who have given
us the fine detail of moon and planets that
we have published over the years.
6e/ow, phofo-visual Quesiar Field Model wlfh
camera afiacbed; perfect companion for a
walk in ibe woods, or for capturing your
wildlife while you sit comfortably in your car.
QUESTAR, THE V/ORLD'S FINEST, MOST VERSATILE
TELESCOPE IS PRICED FROM $865. SEND FOR OUR
BOOKLET IN FULL COLOR WITH 150 PHOTOGRAPHS
BY QUESTAR OWNERS. $1 COVERS MAILING ON THIS
CONTINENT; BY AIR, TO SOUTH AMERICA, $3.00;
EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA, $3.50; ELSEWHERE, $4.
QUESTAR
Box 60F, New Hope, Pa. 18938
show mutagenic activity in appro-
priate biological test systems. Corn
plants not treated with the atrazine do
not produce such symptoms. The in-
ference is clear: although itself innoc-
uous, atrazine is transformed by the
corn plant into a substance that can
cause genetic aberrations. While it
has long been recognized that the
metabolic products of herbicides, as
well as the herbicides themselves,
should be tested for toxicity in
various organisms, this procedure has
not been conscientiously followed
with most major compounds.
The results found by Plewa and
Gentile have been published in brief
and preliminary form in the Maize
Genetics Cooperative Newsletter and
will shortly appear in full form in the
monthly journal Mutation Research.
In the meantime, both the federal En-
vironmental Protection Agency and
the National Institute of Environ-
mental Health Sciences, part of the
National Institutes of Health, have
manifested considerable interest in
funding a continuation of this study.
What makes it so convincing to ex-
perts in the field is that these re-
searchers have devised a procedure
for detecting possible herbicide muta-
genicity within the crop plant itself as
well as in microbial test organisms.
To test the mutagenicity of the her-
bicide directly on the crop plant,
Plewa and Gentile used a genetically
pure waxy corn plant, itself a muta-
tion from standard corn. The gene for
waxiness also inhibits the production
in the plants of the starch component
amylose, made by nonmutant corn.
Waxy corn produces instead only a
related material, amylopectin. Amy-
lose stains a deep blue when exposed
to a mixture of iodine and potassium
iodide, but amylopectin stains a faint
tan. This characteristically different
color response to the same reagent ap-
plies even in the pollen grains of waxy
corn, which, because of their chro-
mosomal composition, show up any
mutation immediately. This stain re-
action accordingly affords a conve-
nient test for the detection of in-
creased mutation rates.
The test is run in the following
manner. WaxycoTn plants are grown
in a field without herbicides, and the
tassels are collected at flowering time
and preserved in a 70 percent ethyl
alcohol solution until analysis. At
that stage, the pollen grains are re-
moved from the tassels and placed on
a microscope slide. The iodine-potas-
sium iodide reagent is added, and in
most runs, the reagent turns all the
pollen grains tan. Occasionally, how-
ever, a pollen grain will stain a deep
blue, indicating a mutation from the
waxy gene back to standard corn.
Such a change is produced, it is as-
sumed, by a random mutational
event, possibly initiated by a cosmic
ray or chemical mutagen in the envi-
ronment. Whatever the cause, these
occasional spontaneous back muta-
tions in the waxy gene are found to
occur only once in about 100,000 pol-
len grains. But in plants exposed to
as little as 10 parts per million of the
atrazine herbicide in the soil, the mu-
tation rate of waxy genes is increased
to about 25 to 30 occurrences per
100,000 grains. Thus, it appears that
atrazine exerts a mutagenic effect on
corn pollen when the plant is grown
in soil containing even traces of the
chemical.
Experimentalists had previously
applied atrazine to similarly "la-
beled" microorganisms, containing
genes whose mutation could be easily
diagnosed by simple color or growth
reactions. Although some researchers
obtained positive results, the great
bulk of the evidence was negative,
and it was on that basis that atrazine
had been given its clean bill of health.
Struck by their strongly positive re-
sults on corn, Plewa and Gentile de-
cided to isolate the active material in
the atrazine metabolic product for
further testing. They ground up the
leaves and kernels of their atrazine-
treated plants in water, centrifuged
away the debris, and kept the remain-
ing fluid. To preserve the extract,
they freeze-dried it under high vac-
uum to a powder. Small samples of
the leaf and kernel powder could then
be applied in appropriate solutions to
the usual microbial test organisms.
These include certain yeasts that have
found wide use in the diagnosis of
mutations and a bacterium that has
recently been used to detect muta-
genic chemicals in some cosmetics
and hair treatment preparations.
In one yeast assay, a mutant —
which had originally been produced
by a known mutagen — was caused by
the unknown atrazine metabolite to
back mutate to the standard form. It
appeared that the yeast DNA had
been converted back to the normal
form. Neither pure atrazine itself nor
extracts of corn not treated with atra-
zine produced these effects; the muta-
genic activity was thus clearly the re-
sult of an interaction between the
plant and the herbicide. Similar, al-
though less striking, data were ob-
tained when the same tests were run
on two other herbicidal compounds
that are related to each other but not
to atrazine. These resuHs point to the
desirability, even the necessity, of
proceeding with equivalent investiga-
tions on still other major herbicidal
chemicals.
Plewa and Gentile have continued
their analysis of the active material in
the atrazine metabolite. On thin
layers of silica gel, the components
of the corn plant extract can be sepa-
rated so as to yield at least two active
mutagens that work on test yeasts and
the above-mentioned bacterium.
These mutagens are water soluble and
probably act by causing a base-pair
substitution in the DNA chain making
up the hereditary material of the test
organisms. The resemblance between
atrazine and the four bases that nor-
mally make up DNA had previously
been noted by other investigators.
Even more suggestive in this connec-
tion are other herbicides built of sub-
stances that are actually modifi-
cations of one of the DNA bases.
Subjected to the Plewa-Gentile type
of analysis, and in light of the experi-
ence with atrazine, these herbicides
might also be expected to show muta-
tional activity.
This work does not, of course,
prove that atrazine-treated corn
causes mutations in humans. For one
thing, the active metabolic product
might be broken down by the acidic
conditions of the human stomach or
might never be absorbed from the
gastrointestinal tract into body tissue.
Even if the active material were to
enter the body, it might readily be
detoxified by the liver or some other
body decontamination center. It is
also possible that, despite its effect on
corn and microorganisms, the sub-
stance might not act on humans or
animals at all. That, however, would
be unexpected, since DNA is similar
in all living organisms, and what af-
fects the DNA of one creature should
affect that of all.
It appears likely that we will see a
marked extension of the kind of test-
ing initiated by Plewa and Gentile.
The results may put pressure on the
Environmental Protection Agency,
the Food and Drug Administration,
and the National Institutes of Health
to take a position on the continued use
of atrazine and related compounds. In
the meantime, the organic farming
aficionados, who grow only products
produced without herbicides or pesti-
cides, would appear to be taking the
most prudent course, at least from the
point of view of public health.
While no sensible person would
claim that we should slop using all
chemical compounds in agriculture,
mounting evidence indicates that we
have not been sufficiently careful in
screening these agents before their
widespread prcxluction and extensive
use. Through the serious partici-
pation of industry and government, as
well as the technical and environ-
mental sciences, it should be possible
to find a balanced approach in devel-
oping new testing criteria and a better
answer to "'how safe should safe
be?" More stringent criteria may
well lead to screening programs that
are more complicated, more ex[>en-
sive. and longer than those now in
practice. Under these circumstances,
alternatives to the use of herbicides
and pesticides may become more fea-
sible in terms of economics as well
as public health.
Arthur W. Galston teaches biology at
Yale University.
Read any great
¥acations lately?
If you haven't, you haven't
read Air Canada's eyepopping
new summer travel book.
It's page after pageof the most
tempting vacation ideas ever to
lure you away from home.
Everything from Toronto's pul-
sating discos to Calgary's handclap-
ping hoedowns. From the luxury
of Montreal's grand hotels to fishing
camps tucked away by Hudson Bay.
It's also page after page of every imaginable way
to take it all in. Escorted tours. Unescorted tours. By
car. Motorhome. Ship. Plane. Or train. Another nice
thing, because our country is near, your dollars go far.
And since we fly to more
places in Canada more
often than anyone, we're
ready whenever you are. i^^^au
Street-
State Zip
So, send for our free summer vaca-
tion book. And don't forget the
American Express Card. It's good for
your tickets and tours, and in shops
and restaurants all across Canada.
Name
City
My travel agent is_
AIR CANADA®
P.O. Box P, Staten Island, New York 10305 ^*^,
35
Politicking in Ancient Persia
by Bernard Goldman
Do the walls of Persepolis
hold the evidence of a
2,500-year-old "cover-up"?
The palace ruins of the ancient Per-
sian kings in southwestern Iran be-
come more popular every year as a
tourist attraction. They are reached in
an hour's drive on the main highway
from Shiraz to Isfahan, across the
broad plain of Marv Dasht to the foot
of the Kuh-i Ramat — the "Mountain
of Mercy." Poppy fields, the colorful
tent city erected for the 2,500-year
celebration of the monarchy, and a
luxurious new hotel greet the visitor
before he reaches the high, stone-
walled terrace nestled against the
Kuh-i Ramat. A modest entrance fee
permits one to climb up a broad dou-
ble staircase to the top of the terrace,
in places more than forty feet above
the plain, where stand — in various
stages of preservation — the remains
of a seemingly endless complex of
palaces, audience halls, gates, and
apartments tapestried with relief
sculpture.
Although the ruins were never
completely concealed, scientific ex-
cavation was not undertaken until the
1930s when the Oriental Institute of
the University of Chicago mounted
yearly archeological campaigns. In
the 1940s the Iranian government
took over the work, which it still con-
tinues with the assistance of an Italian
commission that is carefully restoring
some of the shattered remains. The
site, called Persepolis by the Greeks,
was one of several palatial adminis-
trative centers (others were at Susa,
Babylon, and Ecbatana, or modern
Hamadan) that held the well-oiled
machinery necessary to run one of the
great bureaucracies of the ancient
world, the Persian dynasty of the
Achaemenids. Their empire covered
almost all of the Near East and Asia
Minor, as well as Egypt and parts of
southeastern Europe.
Building at Persepolis was begun
by Darius I shortly after 522 B.C. He
probably called the place Parsa,
which is related to the name Persian,
as well as to the name of the modern
province of that region. Ears, and the
present Persian language, Farsi (in
which the letters p and / are related
and often interchangeable). Locally
today the site is called Takht-i Jam-
shid, the "throne" of the legendary
hero Jamshid. The hundreds of feet
of relief sculpture on the buildings, or
more accurately, chiefly on the plat-
forms that are the substructures for
several of the buildings, beggar de-
scription. It is as if a bustling royal
court of 2,500 years ago had suddenly
been petrified, transformed into stone
by one of the fabulous Eastern jinn
and thus preserved for eternity. Ordi-
narily we would not bother to ask why
a king would lavish such care in the
decoration of his palaces because the
answer seems too obvious: princely
self-aggrandizement, royal display of
affluence and power, love of luxury,
ego indulgence, and last but hardly
least, cultural delight and esthetic
pleasure in the beautiful. For, al-
though separated by thousands of
miles and many centuries, the Achae-
menids, in surrounding themselves
with art, were little different from the
Bourbons, the Hapsburgs, the Med-
icis, or the Romanovs. But is that an-
swer sufl[icient? The lavish sculpture
of Persepolis may be more than an
expression of royal sentiment and
cultural preference; it may also reveal
a hard-headed policy decision, an as-
tute public relations program to sell
to the folk of the empire the most im-
portant commodity a kingdom has to
offer — the king himself!
Darius I, like Caesar, Napoleon, or
von Bismarck, was neither born nor
raised as heir apparent. Like Alex-
ander the Great, Caesar Augustus,
and Genghis Khan, he fought his way
to the throne room over the bodies of
those who opposed his right to rule.
These men who wore the purple by
virtue of the sword, rather than by the
legality of inheritance, often mounted
propaganda campaigns to legitima-
tize their rule, to convince the people
that they reigned by a right at least as
great as that of lineage. Such use of
a higher justification for taking power
no doubt goes back to the beginnings
of the natural history of politics.
Darius, having seized power, bent his
best efforts to convince all men that
only he could preserve the state from
anarchy and misrule, that only he was
the chosen of god and history to direct
the destiny of empire.
Darius and his son Xerxes are best
known to the Western world, not for
their long years of successful rule in
Asia, but rather for their failures
when they tried to invade Greece.
Our informants on the Persian inva-
sions are Greek writers. They de-
scribe the battles: Greek heroism pit-
ted against Persian cunning at
Thermopylae, on the plain of Mara-
thon, and in the bay of Salamis. Be-
cause of these Greek sources we
know the Persian kings by Greek
names, Darius and Xerxes, rather
than by their proper Persian titles,
Darius I, portrayed in stone
as a hero, is locked in mortal
combat with an imaginary beast.
Bernard Goldman and George Boolh
36
i
I^-
Ji
tm
jMMimviiiiPiiM(iHii .
■?»y^
Bernard Goldman and George Booth
The tomb of Darius is cut into a
sheer cliff wall. On a relief above
the doorway, the hero-king is
held aloft on a stool by the people
of his realm. At left, a row of
Persian guards lines a wide
■ stairway that led to the palace.
Darayavaush and Khshayarsha. But
the military disasters in Greece came
long after Darius had fought his way
to the throne and then ordered his
higher justification carved under his
self-portrait on the cliff wall at Bisi-
tun near modern Kermanshah.
Copies of this official proclamation
were sent by the king to the far
comers of his empire.
In his "inaugural" statement Da-
rius first establishes his bloodline five
generations back, to the founder of
the dynasty, thus making his first
point: although from a collateral line,
royal blood runs in his veins. His sec-
ond claim is made by fiat: Ahura
Mazda, god of the Persians, gave him
the kingdom to rule. Yet, this is not
more than any king might claim on
ascending the throne. But Darius
goes on to another matter, a political
inconvenience that gives to his claim
here at Bisitun, and to the sculptural
display at Persepolis, an unusual
poignancy and purpose. Another man
had already laid claun to the throne
on far stronger grounds! Whether this
man was whom he claimed to be, we
shall never know, even though on his
identification depends the reputation
of Darius as either hero of the nation
or as regicide.
The man claimed to be the son of
Cyrus the Great, the most noble and
beloved of Persian kings, and the
younger brother of the (then) king,
Cambyses. Not true, says Darius: the
real younger brother was long dead,
slain by order of Cambyses who kept
his fratricide secret. But a Magus (a
member of the clan specializing in
cult functions) from the Median side
of the empire, who bore a resem-
blance to the murdered prince, pre-
tended to be him, fomented revolt,
and claimed the throne as his father's
heir. Meanwhile, Cambyses died,
possibly of accidental blood poison-
ing or perhaps by his own hand.
throwing the realm into political
chaos. Fear swept the land, Darius
reports, for the false king slaughtered
the opposition, appropriated herds
and fields, and funneled the riches of
'he people into his own coffers. Thus
1 1 fell to Darius as a sacred trust to
restore tranquility and reestablish the
dynasty. He asked the help of Ahura
Mazda; it was given, and the impos-
ter fell to Darius's sword. A year of
hard fighting cleaned out the remain-
ing pockets of rebellion. Darius
brought the ship of state safely off the
shoals of anarchy, returned to the
people that which was rightfully
theirs, and proclaimed a new deal of
truth, respect, and justice for all.
A curious tale it is — of concealed
murder, mysterious death, coinci-
dental resemblance. But that is the
only story we have, the justification
written by Darius and repealed in a
somewhat elaborated form by the
Greek storyteller and historian
Herodotus. Perhaps we would be less
suspicious if Darius had not protested
so much, insisting on the importance
of truth, the evil of lying. The schol-
arly debate continues over whether
his proclamation at Bisitun is the true
political record or a part of the Big
Lie, a 2.500-year-old Watergate.
Although we cannot know the truth
of the story, the suspicion that Darius
came to the crown against the will of
many and, therefore, had to mend po-
litical fences and win over skeptical
citizens haunts the ancient tale. In this
light the inscriptions at Bisitun dem-
onstrate the direct approach. At
Persepolis he utilized a more subtle
and far more profound technique than
the written word (after all, few could
read the cuneiform, but everyone
could read pictures). Through the
medium of pictorial reliefs, Darius
launched his higher justification out
of the documentary-historical into the
cosmic realm of the folk epic, with
himself cast as the mythic hero.
The careers of heroes, real and
imaginary, generally follow a fairly
standard pattern. The hero's birth is
marked by unnatural events or occurs
in a wondrous fashion. As a child he
goes through a period of concealment
or anonymity, but at the crucial mo-
ment in his people's history he ap-
pears and performs the feat that is
beyond the capacity of everyone else.
Then he is recognized as the benef ac-
Bnjno Barbey. Magnui
39
Bernard Go dman and George Booth
tor of the nation, elevated above all
men, and finally, accorded the hero's
reward — homage and precious gifts.
The climactic act (and that is where
Darius picks up the story at Per-
sepolis) of the hero often is in the
realm of the fantastic. Gilgamesh,
Sampson, David, Theseus, Heracles,
Jason, Perseus, Beowolf, Siegfried,
Krishna, each stands alone to defeat
a fabulous monster, dragon, troll,
lion, minotaur, gorgon, serpent. This
combat not only stamps the hero
as superhuman but also as the chosen
of the gods. A visit through the streets
and corridors of Persepolis illustrates
Darius 's use of the pattern.
Only the stone doorjambs and lin-
tels and the window frames still stand
above the foundations of Darius 's
personal palace. As we enter through
these doors we see Darius carved in
stone, greater than life, locked in
mortal combat with real and imagi-
nary beasts. He stands calmly, grasp-
ing a monster with one hand while the
other deals the death blow. All is ac-
complished with stately dignity, for
there is no question as to the outcome:
the hero has been foreordained the
victor and both parties know it.
Hence, rather than illustrating a sav-
age contest, a sacrament of death is
performed. We are not told the name
of the beast or what he represents. He
may symbolize the enemies of the
state or represent the chaos from
which Darius saved the empire; he
may be the totemic symbol of the
royal clan or personify evil, the forces
40
of darkness, or falsehood. Yet his
identification is of minor value be-
cause the monster is of less signifi-
cance than is its importance in provid-
ing Darius with the necessary opposi-
tion to prove his manifest destiny as
sovereign and savior.
The palaces of Persepolis were the
stage for the tribute nations' celebra-
tion of the New Year at the spring sol-
stice. It was the time for the renewal
of the oath of fealty to the liege lord.
We can retrace with little difliculty
the once glittering avenues that lead
from the small palace of Darius to a
square-columned hall, whose door-
ways are once again decorated with
portraits of the king, but now de-
picted in the subsequent stage of the
hero's progress. Now the king sits
upon a throne, his feet upon a foot-
stool, the usual symbol of high rank.
It would be misleading to regard this
carving as simply a formal, court por-
trait. As in the portrayal of Darius
slaying the monsters, here a mythical
idea is cloaked in real-life trappings.
King and throne are mounted upon a
gigantic stool lifted a few inches off
the ground by rows of men, each
dressed in the peculiar costume of the
foreign tributary land he represents.
Hair and beard styles, as well as facial
characteristics, are carefully detailed
by the sculptors to distinguish one
ethnic type from the next. The picture
is quite clear in its implied meaning:
the hero-king is now recognized as
such by the peoples of all nations,
who raise him above other men.
Officials of the Persian realm,
dressed in long tunics and high,
fluted hats, chat informally as
they wait to present themselves
to the king.
Probably a similar scene was actually
performed in antiquity when the
enthroned king was borne out of his
palace in his sella or cathedra on the
shoulders of the delegates to be ac-
claimed by the multitude. Beauty
queens and football coaches keep the
tradition alive today.
The third and last stage of the
hero's progress from obscurity to re-
nown is portrayed on the most exten-
sive double set of reliefs at Per-
sepolis. They are carved on the stone
revetments, stairways, and balus-
trades of the raised platform for a
huge audience hall begun by Darius
and completed by Xerxes. The build-
ing itself has almost disappeared;
only a handful of tall stone columns,
which once supported the beamed
wooden roof, still stand outlined
against the sky. The exterior walls,
originally several feet thick, were
made of adobe brick, just as they are
made in Iranian villages today. These
brick walls are durable as long as
there is a protecting roof, but once
that is gone, the clay molders. But the
stone slabs covering the supporting
platform were protected by the accu-
mulating debris until the spade of the
archeologist brought them to light.
The east and the north revetments
carry the sculpture. The eastern wall,
however, had collapsed in antiquity,
perhaps when the palace was de-
stroyed in 330 B.C., and was soon
covered. A large part of the north re-
vetment remained standing and,
hence, was exposed to the weather
and, worse, to human destruction.
Souvenir hunters and traders chipped
and sawed out sections of the carved
Persian (left) and Median (right)
household attendants bring
provisions for the elaborate New
Year's banquet of the royal court.
Boucas, Rapho-Guillemelte/Photo Researchers
^^
Z> .-> ^
r:u
-m^
I
stone, which are now displayed in
museums around the world. Over the
years the natives of the region, fol-
lowing the injunction against graven
images that Islam adopted from the
Old Testament, gouged out the faces
or the eyes of the figures.
The two walls, east and north,
show two views of the same scene:
row upon row of parading men — Per-
sians, Medes, Babylonians, Egyp-
tians. East Greeks, Indians, Arme-
nians, Assyrians, Scythians — the im-
perial guard and delegates from the
farthest comers of the empire. Each
national delegation of four to eight
men is solemnly led into the royal
presence by a Persian or Median
usher. The envoys carry their tokens,
the gifts that acknowledge the over-
lordship of the king — ^precious per-
fumes and unguents in fluted jars and
bottles, delicately worked jewelry,
golden daggers, tailored linens, and
raw furs. Some bring heavy-fleeced,
broad- tailed sheep, stallions from the
alpine pastures, Bactrian camels,
draught oxen, even an okapi. The
ranks of delegates walk toward the
center of the platform, while from the
opposite end parade the household
guards. These are the "immortals,"
so called because none seemed to die
in battle (a liberal and immediate
practice of substitution for a fallen
man kept their ranks unbroken and,
hence, counterfeited immortality). In
the center of this magnificent fa?ade
of envoys and guards was a relief of
42
Wi^Vnr-£mM.
the king (now removed from its origi-
nal position; enthroned under an em-
broidered canopy, recei%Tng the hom-
age of all nations particularized in the
person of the grand \Tzier, who bows
before his lord. So sacred is the per-
son of the king that not even the
breath of this nobleman may touch
him; the \izier holds his hand before
his mouth to avert the possibiUt\- of
contamination.
Thus the hero-king of the Persian
world has himself portrayed in the
culminating act of political accept-
ance. K the Nisitor needed any further
comincing that Darius reigned as the
proper and chosen master, the spec-
tacle of a never-ending procession of
delegates should settle die matter.
The car\'ings on the other buildings
serve to reinforce the message.
Waiters, butlers, cooks, and bakers,
laden with food and drink for the
host, are shown running up and down
the stairs. This festive atmosphere of
celebration is petrified today in the
The great eastern staircase
at Persepolis is adorned with
car\ed reliefs of Persian and
Median royal guards (center)
and roH- upon row of imperial
houseguards in the rear.
43
hot sun, along the dusty walks and
wasted corridors. We must, in our
mind's eye, add the original color —
the gilding and painting on the sculp-
ture; the tapestries, drapes, and awn-
ings that provided cool shadows
where the functionaries, while cele-
brating Darius, also passed the day's
gossip. The reliefs on the buildings
are a marvelous rendering of these el-
egant bureaucrats: stroking their
oiled beards, sniffing the fragrance of
a lotus, tapping a neighbor's shoulder
to make a point, or grasping the hand
of a confidant while deep in court
intrigue. These intimate details of
court life 2,500 years ago are ample
compensation for whatever political
machinations they may have served.
Was the dream of Darius to be rec-
ognized as the hero of the people a
success? It would appear so. His line
continued until the empire was shat-
tered by a foreigner. We would not
be far wrong in guessing that Darius,
like the head of any dynasty — politi-
cal or conunercial — would not be sat-
isfied with contemporary success
only. Generations to come must be-
lieve in him; his name must remain
a legend after the mortal man has
gone. But we must not lay too much
at the door of personal pride, for in
doiiig so we would underestimate
Darius 's political common sense.
There were sons and grandsons to
succeed him after his death; their
right to rule depended in large meas-
ure upon history continuing to regard
him, even after his death, as the right-
ful ruler.
Thus, we have one of the motiva-
tions for the elaborate rock-cut tomb
just a few kilometers north of
Persepolis. A sheer cliff wall, known
today by the name Naqsh-i Rustam
(' 'portrait of Rustam, ' ' a later Persian
hero), contains a row of four royal
tombs. That of Darius (copied in
shape and decoration by his follow-
ers) is cut in the form of a Greek
cross. The center is carved to resem-
ble a columned portico; the doorway
leads into a chamber with troughs cut
into the floor to receive the coffins.
Above the tomb chamber is carved a
portrait of the hero who ruled the
walls of Persepolis. Now Darius
stands on a monumental stool that is
once again lifted on the raised arms
of the tribute nations. He salutes be-
fore an altar of fire the floating figure
44
of Ahura Mazda, who acknowledges
the salutation with raised hand.
At Naqsh-i Rustam, the fairy tale
story of the man who saved his land
from the tyranny of a wicked impos-
ter ends. The palace and grave carv-
ings speak of a shrewd estimate of
human nature, of mass psychology.
They were part of a policy hatched in
the innermost circle of the court. But
just as some of the noblest works of
mankind have had their germ in the
meanest of reasons, so the sculpture
is among the most beautiful we have
received from antiquity.
When the royal line of the Achae-
menid dynasty was broken, it was not
due to the insufficiency of Darius 's
planning. Rather, a new hero had en-
tered Near Eastern history. Like
Darius , he had great ambition , he was
invincible, and he assumed he was
peculiarly chosen. In 330 B.C. , Alex-
ander the Great defeated the last of
the Persian kings, Darius III, took
Persepolis, and by accident or design,
destroyed it by fire.
It is an interesting footnote to the
history of Persia that Alexander's
propaganda machine was, if any-
thing, even more imaginative than
that of Darius and equally effective.
Alexander took the Macedonian
throne after his father, Philip, died on
an assassin's blade. We do not know
if that sword was hired by foreign or
Persian money, by Macedonian polit-
ical enemies, or by the discarded wife
of the king, the mother of Alexander.
But Alexander quickly took on the
dimensions of the hero. The story
spread that Alexander's ' 'real' ' father
was no less a hero than Hercules, and
the young king did nothing to scotch
the story when he had his portraits
decorated with the lion skin of Her-
cules. In Egypt it was rumored that
he was the son of the Egyptian god
Ammon; hence his coinage shows
him wearing that god's ram's horn.
Thus, kings and emperors, presidents
and prime ministers may change, but
political maneuvers remain constant
in the natural history of nations. D
King Darius is accompanied by
his attendants, one of whom
holds a fly whisic over his head.
-'V-
>■> -^^■*
Bruce Davidson, Magnui
■4
v*
1 . •'!
'- '
1
■
■
■W%.si%'^
A creche, or nursery, of young
royal terns paddles furiously
away from shore to avoid
a disturbance. They will return
to their island colony when
the threat has passed.
Late-blooming Terns
A nursery, and delayed maturity, get a royal
tern off to a slow, but successful, start in life
Should you happen upon one of the isolated barrier beach or dredge
spoil islands along the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts harboring
an active royal tern colony, you would, depending on the time of your
visit, be struck either by the simple nests, each with only a single egg,
packed together so densely that the incubating birds seem to be
touching one another; or by the presence of two different species, royal
and sandwich terns, intermingled and tolerant of
Text and photographs by Paul A. Buckley and Francine G. Buckley
each other; or by the hundreds, per-
haps thousands, of highly visible,
varied, and multicolored chicks, al-
most no two alike, milling about in
a seething amoeboid mass. Each of
these phenomena has evolved in re-
sponse to very special selective
forces.
The royal tern is one of the crested
terns, a cosmopolitan, essentially
pantropical group of seven species
that look generally alike. Almost all
have long, slender, unmarked yellow
or orange bills; silver-gray upperparts
(including wings); snow-white un-
derparts; and a prominent black crest,
which is sleeked back when the birds
are calm but erected menacingly
when they are alarmed. North
America has three species of crested
terns: the royal. Sterna maxima; the
elegant, S. elegans, and the sand-
wich, 5. sandvicensis. On this conti-
nent, the elegant is restricted as a
breeder largely to Baja California.
Royal and sandwich terns have essen-
tially concordant breeding ranges on
the barrier and offshore islands of the
Gulf coast and along the Atlantic
coast as far north as the Delmarva
Peninsula. (It was on Fisherman's Isr
land National Wildlife Refuge in Vir-
ginia and at Cape Hatteras National
Seashore that we studied the breeding
ecology and behavior of royal terns.)
In winter both royal and sandwich
terns regularly reach the Caribbean
and Pacific coasts of South America,
as well as the West Indies and
Florida.
Belonging to the Laridae, the fam-
ily of gulls and terns that has seen so
much study, particularly by Niko
Tinbergen and his associates at Ox-
ford University, the crested terns
have nonetheless been almost ignored
by scientists, except for some studies
of the European race of sandwich
tern. This is not surprising since most
members of the group are not fresh-
water or inland birds, and occur in
remote, usually inaccessible coastal
locations when breeding.
Typically, royal terns can be found
nesting on low, sandy islands
throughout their range. New spoil
banks, such as those dredged up by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
are favored colony sites, usually of-
fering all nesting prerequisites: com-
plete absence of quadruped preda-
tors, extensive visibility of surround-
ings, and broad areas of shallow
waters located at or near an inlet con-
necting ocean with sound or bay — the
source of vast quantities of fish with
each tidal change. Other charac-
teristics are important but these seem
to be the sine qua nons for colony
establishment.
Colonies successful for decades
may suddenly shift for no apparent
reason to an adjacent and seemingly
identical site, often returning in sub-
sequent years to their original loca-
tions. We suspect human disturbance
is the most frequent cause for such
moves: egging is still practiced in the
more isolated locations in the middle
and south Atlantic states, and errant
fishermen and picnickers can unwit-
tingly cause a colony to move over-
night.
Other conditions can force royal
terns to move to another nearby loca-
tion where they will re-lay their eggs.
In fact, they seem able to repeatedly
re-lay their single-egg clutch; one
year a small colony of about 500 pairs
on Fisherman's Island re-layed some
five times in seven days when flooded
out by high tides. The predilection of
royal terns for sites offering excep-
tional lateral visibility for predator
detection usually results in their
breeding in low places, exposing
them to storms and spring tidal flood-
ing. Under such conditions the ability
to re-lay rapidly would be highly
adaptive.
After royals arrive at their colony
area, a month or so is spent courting
before a pair actually begins nest site
selection. While watching courting
royals we became aware of two un-
usual behaviors associated with the
courtship feeding typical of terns,
which usually involves the male's
catching of a fish and offering it to his
prospective mate. (Recent work sug-
gests that females may gauge a male's
ability to provide for offspring by his
success in this food-offering ritual.)
We noticed that the royals were
using very small instars of blue crabs,
or "peeler crabs" — the delicious
soft-shelled crabs of seafood lovers —
as well as fish. Abundant off Virginia
and North Carolina at the times the
terns were courting, the floating crabs
were easily picked up by diving terns .
But we observed that terns with crabs
in their bills were constantly trying to
shift the prey around while in flight.
48
/^<
Packed lo^elher as tightly
as possible, nesting royal
terns thereby reduce their
individual vulnerability by
presenting the smallest
possible perimeter.
^
#
^^I^TObp. ■
•^
V
I
resulting in an aerial shuffle we soon
came lo associate with the transport
of a still-struggling crab.
We also noticed a high incidence
of royals skimming the water with
their bills in the same manner as the
highly specialized black skimmer
with its elongated lower mandible.
We even saw three royals catch fish
while water skimming. We first ex-
plained this skimming as merely the
drinking of salt water (which many
seabirds do. some obligatorily), but
the more we watched royals that had
just caught prey, the more convinced
we became of an association between
prey catching, especially of crabs,
and water skimming.
The claws of crabs that were sim-
ply picked up from the water surface
may have irritated the terns" bills, and
the terns were presumably relieving
the irritation by skimming their bills
through water. Thus, almost by acci-
dent, we gained some insight into the
probable origins of water skimming
as a feeding method by the now-spe-
cialized three species of skimmers
that occur in Africa. India, and the
Western Hemisphere.
Once a nest site is selected, royal
females lay a single egg in small de-
pressions in exposed sand, some-
times lining them with bits of wrack,
shells, or fishbones. The nests are not
camouflaged, and the eggs are not
particularly cryptically colored. Most
surprisingly, the adults defecate di-
rectly on the nest rims, giving the col-
ony a distinctively whitewashed look
To be fed, a chick must answer
its parent's call, emerge from
the creche, and be recognized.
As the chick becomes older and
bolder, it will attempt to steal
food from any nearby adult.
49
Isolated, low sandy islands off
the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic
coasts of the United States are
favored colony sites. Broad areas
of adjacent shallow waters, which
contain an abundance offish, are
also necessary for the
establishment of a royal tern colony.
(and a pronounced odor). This behav-
ior is exceedingly unusual in gulls
and terns, and its absence has been
demonstrated to have a high antipred-
ator value, since mammals, particu-
larly, zero in on the smell of feces.
The royals, however, nest on quadru-
ped-free islands, so that source of se-
lective pressure is absent. In one col-
ony, a particularly high tide obliter-
ated nearby common tern and black
skimmer nests at the same ground
level, but the feces-covered, hard-
ened rims of the royal tern nests
withstood the scouring flood waters,
eroding away on the sides but not col-
lapsing; the incubating royal tern
adults that rode out the storm lost vir-
tually no eggs. Thus there would be
a positive selective value for defeca-
tion directly on nest rims.
Besides whitewashing, other im-
mediately unusual features of royal
tern nests are their size and extreme
density per unit area. Colonies of 10,-
000 pairs are frequent. In our study,
we found a mean density of 7.5 nests
per square meter. Then in the course
of making inter-nest measurements,
we noticed a high incidence of single
nests surrounded by six other nests,
with each adjacent nest sharing all or
most of a common rim. We also
found a high incidence of single nests
with five shared rims, and quite a few
with seven; we found no nests sharing
more than eight or less than four com-
mon rims. Investigation into the scat-
tered, piecemeal literature on the sub-
ject of packing of objects in nature
disclosed that if objects are pushed to
maximal density per unit area in a
single plane, as in the case of honey-
bee hive cells, they tend to assume a
six-sided configuration; this condi-
tion is called hexagonal packing.
We were able to confirm that there
are small areas in royal tern colonies
where almost perfect hexagonal
packing obtains, but that minor topo-
graphical features and probably indi-
vidual aggression levels preclude per-
fect regularity. Our data also indi-
cated that, given the limitations of
their physical environment, royal
terns pack their nests — their only de-
fended territories — as closely to-
gether as they can. They maintain
their nest scoops by reaching out and
lunging at neighbors on all sides.
Why such a high density? Most or-
nithologists feel that colonial birds,
especially ground nesters, show in-
creased density as each bird attempts
to get as close as possible to a neigh-
bor to, in effect, hide itself from pred-
ators. On a colonial basis, the per-
imeter, most easily accessible to
predators, is smallest when nests are
hexagonally packed. Egg-preying
laughing gulls are a constant threat to
royal terns, but the terns show little
threat or other aggressive behavior
toward them even when the gulls are
caught in the act. Nest packing may
thus be the royals' only defense
against egg predation, and coupled
with their remarkable ability to re-
lay, does seem to be successful.
But there is still heavy pressure
from the gulls, whose behavior when
50
egg preying is extraordinary to be-
hold. Pairs of gulls will often work
over unguarded nests on the edge of
a royal tern colony, punching neat
holes in each egg. If another un-
guarded nest is nearby, rather than eat
the first punctured egg, they usually
go over to the next egg and puncture
it too. They put this tactic to good
advantage if the terns are disturbed
and fly up: the gulls, being bolder, are
the last to fly when the terns go up,
often merely looking upward during
the disturbance or, if taking flight,
landing before the terns. In a most
economical manner, they run around
punching single holes in as many tern
eggs as they can before their owners
return, for a royal tern will not incu-
bate a punctured egg. The gulls can
then consume the eggs at their lei-
sure. Severe egg predation by the
gulls is made easier by human dis-
turbance of the colonies and may be
one of the major causes of the terns'
failure to nest successfully in certain
localities.
Egg variation in a royal tern colony
is strikingly extreme; some eggs are
almost white, others are of varying
shades up to dark beige; superim-
posed on all are spots, stripes, and
squiggles in bewildering variety.
Other than by chance placement,
eggs are not cryptically colored. We
noticed that returning adults flew over
the colony until they had located what
seemed the correct general area, then
landed, and, peering intently at egg
after egg, wandered about until fi-
nally settling on one. We believed
that adults were using the extreme
variation in the eggs as a means of
recognizing their own, but that they
first located their own part of the col-
ony and then their own egg. Tests
that we conducted confirmed this hy-
pothesis, and also indicated to us that
51
the nest itself plays an important, al-
beit secondary, role in egg location.
We suspect that minor ground dif-
ferences and probably voice or plum-
age features of neighbors are the rele-
vant cues. At any rate, the adaptive
value in being able to recognize one's
own egg under conditions of such ex-
treme nest density is clear, and the
relationship between individual egg
recognition and a one-egg clutch
would seem to be strong. Most other
larids have larger clutches, and they
recognize their nest sites rather than
their eggs.
Incubation in most gulls and terns
takes from 2 1 to 24 days , but in royals
it lasts about a month. The single egg
is rather large for the size of the adult.
Relative data on newly hatched chick
weights as a function of adult weights
are scarce for most terns, but we sug-
gest that royal terns have concen-
trated their reproductive resources on
producing one well-developed, ex-
tremely precocious chick that can im-
mediately run about and swim
strongly in the event of floodwaters.
At the age of two or three days, it
leaves its nest to join the vast nursery,
or creche, that roams over the colony
area while the adults are off foraging.
Chicks exhibit a bewildering vari-
ety of color combinations; there are
almost no two alike. This color varia-
bility has often been called polymor-
phic, but that term is erroneous since
true morphs exhibit discrete varia-
bility, the color classes being clearly
separable from one another. Early in
our studies we selected some 400
chicks for careful quantification of
color variation. We found that the
color of the unfeathered parts (bill,
feet, and legs) varied enormously
(except that eyes were always black),
with practically no correlation be-
tween colors of the various body
parts. Down color, whether white or
light, medium, or dark beige, was
uniform over the entire body, but all
chicks had white bellies. Superim-
posed on the down was dark brown
spotting, which varied in intensity
over different areas of the body.
There was a correlation between ex-
tent of spotting and the presence of
a dusky bill tip, suggesting common
pigmentation. We concluded that
probably four polygenic pigmenta-
tion systems were responsible for, re-
spectively, bill color, leg color, down
color, and extent of spotting — the
areas where variation was great.
Since there was a tendency for
light-colored birds to be more nu-
merous than dark birds, thermoregu-
latory considerations might play a
role in the distribution of color com-
binations and over-all pigmentation.
The temperature often approaches
150°F on the open, hot sand where a
chick is left unprotected by its
parents, and on occasion chicks die
from the heat. Lighter colored chicks,
however, may reflect more sunlight,
thereby remaining cooler.
We also believe that since cryptic
coloration was not being selected for
or conspicuous colors being selected
against, inherent down plumage vari-
ability could be expressed. This ex-
traordinary color variability — among
the greatest known for a single spe-
cies of bird — might itself assume in-
creased positive selective value if
color difference could be used by re-
turning adults to identify their own
young in the creche.
The behavioral sequence typically
seen when an adult returned to the
creche with a fish gave us some clues
to adult-young recognition. An adult
would fly over the creche area giving
the "keer-eet" call. Upon hearing an
answering chick, the adult would im-
mediately land in the general section
of the creche where the chick had
called. The adult would call again,
the chick would respond, and this an-
tiphonal calling would continue until
the chick had worked its way through
the creche to the adult. At that point
the adult would peer intently at the
chick, each would call again, and,
presumably, the correct information
having been exchanged, the chick
would be fed. On several occasions
we saw the entire sequence followed
without incident right up to the time
the chick emerged from the creche,
called to the adult, was answered, and
lunged for the fish, only to be re-
Adults are efficient foragers.
Young birds do not attain the
fishing success of their elders
until they are two years of
age or older, one reason for
delayed breeding in this species.
warded with a whack on the head as
the adult rushed off. It appeared that
while the chick sounded right, it
didn't look right; hence, no food.
Such behavior on the part of the
chicks is not surprising since they
will, especially when older, try to
steal food from any adult, on occa-
sion even jumping up in a usually
vain attempt to grab food from the
bills of low-flying adults. The adults,
therefore, are exceedingly cautious;
we have never seen an adult volun-
tarily feeding what we believed was
an alien chick. The precise nature of
parents' egg and nest site recognition
argues that natural selection would
not likely favor indiscriminate, or al-
truistic, feeding behavior. We sus-
pect that the reported instances of
promiscuous feeding of chicks by
adults of other creche-forming birds
(penguins, flamingos, some ducks)
may be erroneous or only of acciden-
tal occurrence.
The phenomenon of the creche is
possibly the most striking aspect of a
royal tern colony. The term comes
directly from the French word for
"nursery," and one more apt is not
52
available. It is a common nursery to
which all chicks belong, leaving their
nest scoops at about two to three days
of age, never to return. Relaxed, the
creche is a loose Hock of young scat-
tered over a reasonably limited area
of the colony, away from the nest
sites. There seems to be preference to
be near some vegetation under which
the young birds can escape the sear-
ing sun or to be at the water's edge
where the airHow over the water sur-
face veers upward at the water-sand
interface, giving a slight, cooling
breeze.
The creche location varies each
day, and seems to be essentially un-
programmed as the chicks wander
over the colony site. A few adults are
usually present, less as guards than as
parents feeding or otherwise attend-
ing their own chicks. A frequent ratio
is perhaps ten chicks for every adult
at any given moment in midday; the
rest of the adults are off foraging.
Once the creche area is alarmed
following invasion by a predator
(often biped), it undergoes a rapid
transformation: all the chicks surge
together into a tight, rapidly moving
mass, with attendant adults hovering
overhead giving alarm calls. The
creche then moves as a unit, often
taking to the water without hesitation,
the llotilla paddling furiously away
from shore. Once the disturbance is
over, the creche relaxes and the adults
settle back near the chicks. During a
disturbance there is little indication
that the adults are in any way direct-
ing or controlling the creche.
The great size distribution of
chicks in a creche is almost as impres-
sive as their color variability. Since
they remain in the creche from about
their third to their thirty-third day of
life, at which time they fledge, this is
not surprising. Birds ready to fledge
are fully as big as adults and may
weigh more; three-day-old chicks are
tiny. One might imagine their being
trampled by the larger birds in a rap-
idly moving, alarmed creche, and this
does happen. We feel that the chicks"
need for relatively larger size and
greater strength at hatching than their
non-creche congeners has been an ad-
ditional selective factor responsible
for the extended incubation period
and large single egg. Interestingly.
over-all mortality in a creche is very
low if one compares the number of
dead royal tern chicks in an active
colony with similar Ixxly counts from
skimmer or common and least tern
colonies.
The answer to the question. Why
is there a creche system in royal
terns? is complex, and directly tied to
the question. Why do royal terns nest
so densely? In fact the entire social
system of this species has evolved in
response to a labyrinth of intercon-
nected environmental pressures. We
think several of the more important
factors responsible for the occurrence
of a creche are: (1) the chick's ten-
dency to wander from the nest site for
a number of reasons (it is often left
alone by its foraging parents, the sand
is very hot. and the chick is often un-
shielded because its parents are ab-
sent; neighboring adults, unlike most
other terns, do not react murderously
to trespassing alien chicks); (2) the
predation that a single wandering
chick is subject to favors clustering of
chicks in the same manner that their
nests are clustered; and (3) the proba-
ble need for the parents being able to
locate the chick easily and rapidly,
feed it. and then be off foraging
again . Many other variables may have
played a role in creche evolution.
We ha\e indicated that the adults'
aggression is low. and this is true of
royals at all stages of their lives. It
does reach a peak in adults, though,
at precisely that time when the chicks
are most vulnerable and need their
parents' protection the most: at two
to three days of age. when they are
leaving the nest to join the creche.
Chicks are rather docile until in the
creche a few days; then their boldness
increases to the point of attempting to
rob any passing adult of its fish. Nor-
mally chicks show little aggression
toward one another. As the young
approach fledging and increase in
size, a drastic change occurs in their
behavior. Instead of lunging at any
available fish, proffered or not. they
now adopt the hunched attitude typi-
cal of virtually all submissive adult
larids and give a whinnying call heard
at only one other time: when given by
an adult female to signify her submis-
sion to her mate and readiness for
copulation. In both cases a premium
is placed on communicating the sub-
missive bird's nonthreatening inten-
53
tions: the one to be fed, the other to
allow copulation.
Once they fledge, the chicks do not
remain long in the colony area. Post-
breeding dispersal in larids typically
spreads the juveniles farther from
their natal colonies than at any other
time in their lives. Royal terns are not
exempt from this rule, but unlike
most gulls and terns, the adults ac-
company their juvenile as far as it
may wander, even beyond its ex-
pected range. Only a month after
fledging, one of our color-marked ju-
veniles, with adults, was seen at Bar-
negat Inlet, New Jersey, some 200
miles north of its Fisherman's Island
colony. And birds from the same col-
ony regularly reach New England by
autumn. Southward, dispersal and
wintering distances are greater, birds
from Fisherman's Island ranging to
Florida, most of the West Indies,
Central America, and the northern
coast of South America.
The late David Lack and his col-
leagues at Oxford examined certain
peculiar aspects of some seabirds'
breeding regimes, notably one (or
two) egg clutches, extended parental
care, and delayed first breeding. They
have postulated that, generally speak-
ing, breeding pairs of birds try to raise
as many offspring as they can, and
that low clutch sizes are ipso facto
proof of an inability to raise more to
maturity. By extension, prolonged
parental care — such as is typical of
the crested terns — indicates that the
juveniles of species practicing it are
not sufficiently able to meet their own
food -energy requirements. Hard data
supportive of Lack's hypothesis are
few and far between, and there are
indications that the breeding regimes
of some tropical land birds may fol-
low another piper. However, com-
parative studies of young and adult
little blue herons, brown pelicans,
and sandwich terns have supported
the notion of a relative prey-capture
inefficiency of sufficient magnitude to
postpone the age at first breeding by
several years until the would-be
parent is able to feed not only itself
but also a mate and young.
During 1970 and 1971 we spent
about ten days each January on the
island of Bonaire in the Netherlands
Antilles, a short distance off the Ven-
ezuelan coast. About 100 wintering
adult and juvenile royals rested and
fed at the salt pans along the south-
west side of the island, site of the
famed Bonaire flamingo colony. We
paid particular attention to the rela-
tive foraging efficiencies of both
young and adult royals and were able
to confirm and extend the conclusions
of the other studies.
We found significant differences
between adults and young in the fol-
lowing foraging parameters: (1)
mean time fishing along a given
stretch of beach (adults spending only
half the time juveniles did); (2) mean
number of dives per minute (adults
diving almost twice as frequently);
(3) initially successful dives per min-
ute (adults about 50 percent more suc-
cessful); and (4) ultimately success-
ful dives per minute (adults still about
50 percent more successful). The dif-
ference between initial and ultimate
success was an attempt to see if adults
held on to, and ultimately ate, a
greater percentage of their catch than
juveniles; they did, but only because
their initial success rate was higher.
Juveniles did not lose any more fish
than adults did. Curiously, adults did
not make more successful dives than
juveniles, but since they dove more
frequently, their time-efficiency was
higher.
We also found an extremely subtle
but important difference between
adults and juveniles. Juveniles
dropped but then recovered their fish
between ten and fifteen times more
frequently per bird, per dive, or per
minute than adults, even though ulti-
mately they did not lose any more fish
than adults did. This took a toll in two
ways : ( 1 ) the energy expended in div-
ing after a slippery fish, recapturing
it, dropping it, and so on was surely
inefficient in terms of the energy ulti-
mately obtained when the fish was
safely digested; (2) because they
were constantly dropping and recap-
turing fish, the juveniles simply did
not have enough time to make as
many dives per minute as adults, even
though their catch success did not
differ from adults.
The juveniles were indeed proba-
bly not capable of sustaining them-
selves, even when they fished most of
the time. They frequently followed
adults (presumably their parents),
begging for food from them. We
regularly saw adults catch fish and
feed them to their demanding young.
but usually only in the afternoon,
after the adults had been feeding
themselves all morning, and the juve-
niles had been trying to do likewise.
Banding data seem to indicate that
many juveniles spend their first and
probably their second summers on
their wintering grounds. Their par-
ents might summer with them on oc-
casion, but most adults probably re-
turn to their breeding colonies each
season. Our data showed less than 5
percent of breeders in Virginia and
North Carolina colonies under three
years old. Studies on other species of
larids indicate that even where de-
layed first breeding is not especially
prevalent, birds breeding for the first
time are usually less successful in
producing flying offspring than are
older, more experienced birds. Most
successful of all are members of a pair
that have bred with each other before.
This success hierarchy would cer-
tainly be accentuated if, in addition,
the hunting skills of the younger birds
were suboptimal — as they are in
yearling royals — and would probably
be sufficient reason alone to select for
delayed maturity. Older first breeders
would be able to raise and accompany
to the wintering ground their own
young, while still feeding them-
selves. This is probably the case with
royal terns.
The social system of royal terns,
which evolved in response to com-
plex interactions between behavioral
and ecological factors, has enabled
the birds to survive over a relatively
small breeding range in a narrow
coastal-offshore belt, with only a few
dense (but potentially vulnerable)
colonies. As a mark of their success,
royal terns are currently undergoing
a northward expansion of their Atlan-
tic coast breeding range. It will be
interesting to see if they can cope
with man's degradation of coastal
habitat should they reach the Middle
Atlantic and New England states. D
Aggressive behavior is minimal
among royal terns. They often
breed in the same area as
sandwich terns, never
attack alien chicks and, rarely,
egg-preying gulls.
54
^«*»«jr--^
Around the Ice Age World
by George J. Kukla
^^■'.s^:
A global tour 18,000 years ago
at the peak of the last glacial
epoch would reveal many
totally unrecognizable
landscapes
Recent studies show that the earth
has undergone ten major glaciations
in the past million years and many
more in earlier times. The most recent
ice episode began more than 100,000
years ago; reached its height, after
several oscillations, about 18,000
years ago; and ended about 10,000
years ago. We are currently in a
warm, or interglacial, period.
During the ice ages, huge ice
sheets and mountain glaciers, often
more than 10,000 feet thick, formed
in the northern latitudes. Because so
much water was locked up in land-
based ice, the sea level fell, exposing
previously submerged terrain. North-
ern regions and high mountains ev-
erywhere were covered with ice. For
example, Mauna Loa, the 13,680-
foot-high active volcano in Hawaii,
and Mount Kilimanjaro, the 19,565-
foot dormant volcano in Africa, were
both glaciated 18,000 years ago. The
low latitudes were subjected to ex-
tended periods of drought; conse-
quently, deserts expanded and forests
shrank.
Region by region, what was the
glacial world like 18,000 years ago?
For more than a century, scores of
geologists, paleontologists, and geo-
chemists have been trying to piece to-
gether its image, using such clues as
boulders left behind by the glaciers,
pollen grains of past vegetation pre-
served in lake beds, animal bones
buried in caves, and ancient soils ex-
posed in pits dug for brick-making
material.
No single tooth or leaf or soil pat-
tern can by itself establish the terrain
and climate of a given area in a past
epoch. But if an assemblage of clues
contains the fossil remnants of plants
and animals that live today only in
56
regions with a harsh arctic climate —
and no remnants of organisms from
warmer areas — it must be concluded,
even when the fossils are found in
temperate zones, that those regions
were once much colder. In recent
decades, radiometric methods have
provided a tool for the accurate dating
of the above-mentioned finds. In ad-
dition, sophisticated computers have
made it possible to reconstruct past
sea-surface temperatures from the
composition of fossil plankton col-
lected on the ocean bottom.
Thus, a picture of the world at the
peak of the last glaciation has begun
to emerge. The image is not yet com-
plete— numerous pieces of evidence
are either problematical or poorly
dated, and information concerning
large portions of both the continents
and the oceans is still sketchy — but
analogue assumptions are used to fill
in the gaps.
Using every method available, sci-
entists affiliated with an international
consortium known as CLIMAP (for
Climate/Long-Range Investigation ,
Mapping, and Prediction) have re-
cently assembled their first, some-
what spotty reconstruction of the
earth's surface, including the land
and the oceans, as it was 18,000 years
ago. They are now compiling addi-
tional data to improve their initial
primitive model.
Although much remains uncertain,
many interesting features of the 18,-
000-year-old world are well estab-
lished. We are sure, for example, that
present-day New York City was
under a huge ice sheet several hun-
dred yards thick. Gusts of bitterly
cold wind chased sand across the bare
outwash plain that stretched along the
foot of the glacier south of the area.
Because the sea level had dropped,
the shoreline was many miles to the
south.
The ice melted away long ago but
we can trace its extent from the deep
scars and scratches, still visible
today, it made in granite outcrops in
the Bronx and along the Palisades on
tlWii ««»
the western bank of the Hudson
River. The glaciers also left behind
blocks of alien rocks picked up in the
Catskill and Adirondack mountains,
hundreds i>i miles north of the city.
In Queens, northern New Jersey, and
along the Hudson River, laminated
deposits composed alternately of
sand and clay are now found. These
layers, known as varves, were
formed in ice-dammed lakes. Elon-
gated hills, or moraines — deposits of
unsorted sand, gravel, and loam left
by retreating glaciers — mark former
glacier terminals on Long Island.
Wood fragments occasionally found
in the moraines make it possible to fix
the age of the glaciation by radiocar-
bon dating.
Partially submerged moraines now
stretch northeastward toward the
Massachusetts islands of Martha's
Vineyard and Nantucket, others ex-
tend' west across the Appalachian
Mountains into Pennsylvania and
Ohio, and still farther west to Illinois,
Iowa, and South Dakota, marking the
border of the maximum ice advance.
A narrow strip of tundra and steppe
bordered the ice margin, and pine and
spruce forests extended farther south
toward the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf
Coast and the Caribbean Islands were
warm and relatively dry in summer
but cold and probably rainy in winter.
By contrast, the weather around New
York City was never pleasant. Vigor-
ous storms dumped snow and rain
over the area throughout most of the
year. The stormy weather was caused
in part by the steep temperature gra-
The effect of glaciation can
be seen along the front of the
Moreno Glacier in the
Andes Mountains on the
Chile-Argentine border.
The glacier plows up the earth,
knocks over trees, and sweeps
all before it as it advances.
John H. Mercer
*»««i>>^
dicni created between the warm
ocean and the cold land, which
greatly surpassed anything known in
recent times.
Let us now cross the ocean and
look at Europe, stopping first in
France. No natural boundary sepa-
rated France from England 18.000
years ago since the English Channel
was then dry. While a good part of
England was buried under ice. France
escaped glaciation. The country's
barren plains were covered with dusty
yellowish-brown soil, or loess, and
dotted with rare patches of grass. An
airborne deposit of dust storms, loess
was common during glacial times in
the windy mid-latitudes of Europe
and Asia. Icy tundra, similar to that
found in the Canadian archipelago
and Lapland today, stretched north-
ward from the loess belt.
There may have been some warm
summer days in east-central France
18,000 years ago. However, the
nights were cold and the winters long
and rough. Where some of the best
wine grapes are grown today, in the
Rhone Valley, for example, thick de-
posits of eboulis — angular inch-sized
limestone fragments — testify to the
strength of the wind that battered the
plains during the last glacial episode.
The fragments were unloosed from
solid ground by the repeated winter
freezing and summer warming of the
bare rock and were then picked up by
the wind and deposited on the
leeward slopes of sheltered valleys.
They made a strange kind of air pollu-
tion: flying stones with knife-sharp
edges.
There was little ice-free land north
of the Alps. The front of the conti-
nental ice sheet in northern Europe
stood close to present-day Hamburg,
Berlin, and Warsaw. The piedmont
glaciers of the Alps reached the vicin-
ity of Munich and covered Geneva,
Zurich, Salzburg, and Innsbruck.
Where ice-free ground did exist,
most of it was composed of loess cov-
ered sparsely with grass. Snails were
the most abundant animals on this
57
I
I
I
Tundra
Grassland,
savanna, and
open woodland
Loess
semldesert
Forest
Dry steppe,
shrubland,
[ and
' semldesert
Glacier
Sea ice
Lakes and
sea water
Conditions pertain to summer in the Northern Hemi-
sphere, Maps designed by Clifton Line from infor-
mation on terrain and sea surface temperature pro-
vided by CLIIWAP.
barren loess-steppe. Some of the
same glacial species can be found
today, but only in the high mountains
of central Asia, which has bitterly
cold weather. This suggests that the
climate of central Europe 18,000
years ago was probably similar to that
of central Asia today. No vertebrate
remains have been reliably dated
from the time of the peak glacial
epoch, but some indication of what
the climate might have been like can
be derived from studying the bones
buried in loess at Paleolithic sites fifty
miles north of Vienna. These loca-
tions were occupied by mammoth-
hunters about 25,000 years ago, dur-
ing a relatively mild interval that pre-
ceded the glacial maximum. In addi-
tion to the bones of mammoths and
woolly rhinos, the remains of rein-
deer, arctic foxes, wolverines, and
arctic lemmings have been found.
These latter animals could easily live
in the contemporary far north of Can-
ada, which implies that the environs
of Vienna once resembled today's
Canadian Arctic and were probably
even colder at the glacial peak.
The landscape and climate of inner
Asia and Siberia have remained rela-
tively unchanged. Because of a lack
of precipitation, only small glaciers
developed in that region. In most of
Siberia winters were bitterly cold and
probably longer than today, while
summers were shorter and cooler,
with perhaps an occasional hot day
every so often. Although the extent
of the permafrost, that is, perma-
nently frozen subsoil, was far greater
then, the topsoil melted every sum-
58
30
30
60°
0^
mer, just as it does today. Inland
lakes and seas were swollen since
evaporation was low during the long
winters and cool summers and
streams carried in more meltwater
from heavily snowed mountains.
At the turn of the century, the car-
casses of frozen mammoths, some so
well preserved as to be still edible,
were found by local hunters in Si-
berian streamcuts above the Arctic
Circle. It was formerly believed that
the animals had perished during the
peak glacial cold, but it has now been
established by radiocarbon dating
that most died more than 30,000
years ago, probably during a rela-
tively warm episode. Grass, the food
of the mammoths, was then prevalent
in the area and was found in the ani-
mals' stomachs. They also had their
characteristic summer coats of short
reddish hair. It is likely that the mam-
moths pushed north in search of food
at the height ol the summer season.
Whereupon they may well have be-
come inextricably mired in the
swampy, melted ground above the
permafrost and sunk to their deaths.
Although numerous locations used
by Paleolithic hunters have been ex-
cavated in Siberia, it is still difficult
to reconstruct with accuracy the fauna
of the peak glacial interval. Only the
fossil remains of such cold-resistant
species as reindeer, arctic fox, mam-
moth, woolly rhino, and wolverine
have hitherto been identified from
bone heap deposits of the last glacial
age. This particular congregation of
animals, most of them open-country
dwellers, suggests that the Siberian
landscape 18,000 years ago was de-
void of closed forests. The evidence
of open terrain tits well with the wide
distribution of wind-blown dust in
central Asia, mentioned earlier.
Changes of vegetational cover have
been reconstructed from studies of
pollen grains preserved in lake bot-
toms and peat bogs, and the past ex-
tent of mountain glaciers has been
well established from the location of
terminal moraines. Only in forested,
poorly accessible flatlands does un-
certainty remain about how far the ice
advanced at the peak of the last gla-
cial episode.
We next turn south, to Venice. The
sea has recently threatened to wash
away this architectural jewel , but 18,-
000 years ago, the site was 200 miles
inland and a large bay was the only
evidence of today's Adriatic. Arctic
fox and reindeer were common along
the French and Italian Rivieras, and
horse herds, ibexes, and wolves
roamed through the dry sagebrush
steppes in the vicinity of Rome and
in the central Apennine Mountains.
Only in the valleys of southern Italy
would it have been warm enough for
mixed pine-oak forests inhabited by
stags and donkeys. The Mediter-
ranean Sea, which, unlike the Adria-
tic, did exist, was a chilly 55°F along
the western Italian shore, compared
to its present summer temperature of
75°. Arctica islandica, a clam com-
monly found on the Icelandic shelf
today, was then abundant along the
Italian shore. Information concerning
past animal life in Italy comes mainly
from cave fills excavated in the search
for Paleolithic habitats.
We move next to Australia, a dry
and mostly warm country today,
whose interior is largely inhospitable
desert. Was the country's glacial cli-
mate 18,000 years ago more hospita-
ble'.' By no means. At thai time Aus-
tralia and the islands of New Guinea
and Tasmania formed one large conti-
nent. Huge sand dunes, like those of
the Sahara, covered most of its cen-
tral and southwestern regions, the
product of a severely arid climate and
strong winds. The Snowy Mountains
in the southeast and the high peaks in
the northeast were glaciated. Lake
Eyre in southern Australia, which
today is a small, salty pond, was an
extensive, 200-foot-deep freshwater
body, covering 30,000 square miles.
Pollen-bearing sediments taken from
different parts of the country point to
a generally cooler and drier climate
and less dense vegetation than now
exists. This information may not
seem to be in accord with the exist-
ence of large lakes such as Eyre, but
it has been shown that decreased
evaporation due to lower tempera-
tures and greater snowmelt in the
headwater areas could have filled the
basins even though precipitation dur-
ing the growing season was low.
What were the southern ocean re-
gions like? The northern edge of the
subantarctic pack ice was then in al-
most the same position in summer
that it now occupies in winter. During
the Southern Hemisphere's cold sea-
son, it expanded some 350 miles
toward the equator. Thus. 18.000
years ago there was less seasonal
variation in the Antarctic pack ice
than there is now, since at present a
good part of the ice disappears com-
pletely in summer. The former posi-
tion of the ice boundary was recon-
structed from the distribution of ra-
diolarian plankton found in deep-sea
cores. The Antarctic continent itself
was under ice, much as it is today.
Data from South America and
Africa are still very spotty but they do
indicate conditions similar to those in
other parts of the world: namely, a
climate distinctly drier and generally
cooler than that of today. Mountain
glaciers existed on numerous peaks of
equatorial South America, on some
peaks of Central America, and along
the southern extension of the Andes.
59
Semidesert composed of dusty loess
and sparse grass occupied a good part
of northern Argentina. Unex-
pectedly, deserts with sand dunes
were present in the Orinoco basin in
Venezuela and along the Amazon
River, where today an almost impen-
etrable tropical rain forest exists.
In similar fashion, the lowland rain
forest of the Congo basin in Africa
was much smaller 18,000 years ago.
This conclusion was reached from
studies of the peculiar speciation pat-
terns of lizards and of such birds as
parrots and toucans. They indicate
the presence of past unforested bar-
rier zones that no longer exist. The
deserts of southern Africa, such as
Kalahari, extended farther north
toward the equator. The flow in the
Nile was sluggish and the water level
of Lake Chad in north-central Africa
and in such east African lakes as Vic-
toria was low.
On the other hand, radiocarbon
dating indicates that then existing
lakes of western North America, in-
stead of being low, were overflowing
with fresh water. Few places in the
world today are as desolate, barren,
and hot as Death Valley in California.
At the peak of the last glacial episode ,
however, a deep freshwater lake
filled much of the existing depres-
sion. Water came from melted snow
in the neighboring mountain ranges to
the west. Other huge inland fresh-
water seas were Lake Bonneville in
Utah and Lake Lahontan in Nevada,
whose remainders today are shallow
ponds of brine. Pollen studies indi-
cate that the dry vicinities of these
former lakes were covered by sparse
xerophytic vegetation — plants that
can exist with a limited supply of
water — not very different from the
flora found in the area today.
Summarizing our most striking im-
pressions of the glacial world, we
would list first the huge continental
ice sheets in the mid-latitudes of
North America and Europe and ex-
tensive glaciations of high mountains
all over the world. The North Atlantic
was covered with ice and the warm
Gulf Stream did not exist. Because of
lowered sea levels, continental
shelves were exposed and land
bridges, such as that connecting Si-
beria and Alaska, were disclosed.
America, Asia, Europe, and Africa
formed a single, huge continent.
Vegetational cover on land was thin-
ner, a result of generally drier, shorter
growing seasons. While deserts
mainly expanded, forests shrank.
Zones of continental climate, that is,
areas displaying large, seasonal tem-
perature differences, expanded; and
zones of oceanic climate with rela-
tively little temperature variation be-
tween seasons diminished. And, of
course, it was colder.
Compared with the present, the
greatest temperature differences were
in the continents of the Northern
Hemisphere, then some twenty de-
grees colder, and in the low latitude
mountains — about ten degrees
colder. There was less difference in
the surface temperature of the open
ocean — an average of four degrees —
about a ten-degree difference in the
high latitudes, and a negligible tem-
perature variation at about thirty de-
grees north latitude. Averaged over
the entire globe, air surface tempera-
tures may have been lower by about
ten degrees.
Some records indicate that the
weather variability, especially over
land in the high and middle latitudes,
was greater. Winter was longer;
spring, autumn, and sunnmier were
probably shorter; day-to-night tem-
perature differences were bigger; and
there were large day-to-day weather
fluctuations. Strong winds blew re-
lentlessly in the loess belts of Europe
and Asia, the dune regions of South
Australia, and off the west coast of
Africa.
What caused such a climate? We
still do not know. A more pertinent
question might be. What causes the
warm climate of interglacial inter-
vals, such as the present one, which
began about 10,000 years ago and is
warmer than any of the preceding
temperate oscillations of the past
100,000 years? Since glacial condi-
tions clearly predominated during the
past million years of the earth's his-
tory, the present interglacial interval
is much more of a rarity than is a gla-
cial episode.
Within the precision limits of ra-
diometric dating, it has been estab-
lished that relatively mild and cold
episodes alternate in cycles of about
20,000, 40,000, and 100,000 years.
The cold intervals coincide with
times of northern spring perihelion
and low tilt, whereas mild periods fall
Dry steppe,
shrubland,
and
semidesert
Glacier
Lal<es and
seawater
fUt; Sea ice
Conditions pertain to summer in the Norttiern Hemi-
spliere. Vegetative zones refer to potential vegeta-
tion w/ittiout human interference.
6o
120
within the time of autumn perihelion
and high tilt.
Perihelion is that point in the
earth's annual orbit when the planet
comes closest to the sun. Tilt is the
inclination of the earth's rotational
axis to the plane of the ecliptic, or the
earth's path around the sun. When the
tilt is high, about once every 40,000
years, both polar caps receive more
sunshine than they otherwise do.
Whether the changing orbital pa-
rameters are the primary cause of the
gross cold-warm climatic shifts is
still undetermined. One hypothesis
proposes that the seasonal snow and
pack-ice fields could provide the
mechanism linking orbital variations
with climate. If the earth's closest ap-
proach to the sun occurs in the late
summer or early autumn of the North-
ern Hemisphere, snow cover would,
on the average, tend to build up later,
leaving less accumulated snow to
melt in the spring. Simultaneously,
pack ice in the i^ntarctic Ocean
(where it is spring) would dissipate
more quickly. Pack-ice fields in both
hemispheres would be smaller when
the tilt is high and more solar radia-
tion reaches the high latitude belts.
One thing is certain, the variable ex-
tent of snow and ice has a critical in-
fluence on the amount of energy ab-
sorbed by the earth's surface and
turned into heat. Only about 20 per-
cent of solar radiation is absorbed by
snow, while 80 percent is reflected
back into space. The proportion is re-
versed at snow-free surfaces.
If a glacial climate is a more nor-
mal situation for the earth than the
climate we have now and if cold pe-
riods reappear approximately every
20,000 years, what are the chances of
another cold spell arriving within a
few thousand years?
If only natural developments are
taken into account, most scientists
believe that we are headed on such a
course. What we do not know, how-
ever, is to what degree human activity
has already interfered with natural
climate-forming forces and how that
activity may interfere in the future. It
is known, for example, that carbon
dioxide produced by burning fossil
fuels and the heat released in many
industrial processes tend to warm the
atmosphere. On the other hand, de-
forestation, overgrazing, and the re-
lease of dust into the atmosphere tend
to produce a cooling effect. Thus,
man may already possess the power
to balance and control the climate and
prevent future glaciations. D
6i
wmmmm
■/ 'jt*
t^y
^
#
.^
%.
e Age Animals
he Lascaux Cave
by Dexter Perkins, jr.
n:<orthern Hemisphere 18,000 years ago
Sas buried under glaciers, but in Europe, large regions
ofFrance and Spain escaped the ice (with the exception
^fea-sr^ftlii, ..ice-covered section in northern Spain). Al-
Ite in the glacier-free areas was consid-
an at present, numerous animal species
;. Continued on page 69
photographs by jean Vertut
Only a few paintings depict the European bison, above, at
Lascaux. These animals are common in cave art of a
slightly later date. The bison at Lascaux are similar to the
modern European bison but the horns are considerably
longer. The paintings may be of a bison variety that once
inhabited much of Europe and Asia, but which is now
restricted to zoos and game preserves. The animal
depicted at right is probably one of the fantasy creatures
at Lascaux. However, the painting may be based on an
actual species since the horns are similar to those of the
chiru, an antelope species inhabiting the Himalayas in
Tibet The chiru has never been found in Europe. Both the
paired brow tines and the flat areas between the upper tines
of the stag, upper right, are typical of reindeer and fallow
deer, but fossil red deer antlers also show these characteristics.
Previous page: Paintings of horses, all showing shaggy
coats and erect manes, are common at Lascaux. They are
similar in appearance and may be ancestral to Przewalski's
horse, a breed still living in isolated herds in the steppes of
central Asia and Mongolia.
64
65
The red deer, below, frequently painted on the walls of
Lascaux, was probably one of the principal food sources of
the inhabitants of the area. Now restricted to mountainous
and forested regions of Europe and Asia, this deer
species — of which the North American elk is a
variety— formerly inhabited diverse environments.
66
mH-'f^^,
m'^tum^-/'^^:
The woolly rhinoceros is another species that, in the late
Pleistocene, inhabited a number of climatic regions,
extending from as far south as Spain and Italy, where
temperate climates produced vast grasslands, to the tundra
regions of the north and as far east as Alaska. Paintings of
the woolly rhinoceros, above, are rare in the cave art of
the upper Paleolithic period. In most caves, including
Lascaux where there are two representations, the animals
are painted in deep recesses. Closely resembling the Indian
rhinoceros in size and shape, the woolly rhinoceros was
usually depicted with head held low, an indication
that it was a grazing animal.
67
%•- !, ; .' *,
lived there. More than a hundred caves in both France
and Spain testify not only to the presence of humans
and other animal species during this time but also to
man's artistic capabilities.
European cave art began long before the glaciation
reached its height. The earliest evidence dates back
some 30,000 years to rock carvings found in the Dor-
dogne valley of France. Evidently the presence of the
ice sheet to the north did not halt the evolution of cave
art to the south. During the next 20,000 years the
paintings and carvings became progressively more re-
fined and detailed. The height of this sophistication is
evident in the 12,000-year-old paintings of Altamira, a
cave in northern Spain.
The paintings in the Lascaux cave in southern France,
done some 15,000 years ago, show less refinement, yet
the details of the artwork make it possible to recognize
most of the faunal representations. From such identifi-
cations, we can determine some of the species present
in Europe during the Ice Age and also learn which ones
were hunted by man.
The meaning of the paintings has never been satis-
factorily explained, and few scholars have found any
rationale for them. Only a few species are represented:
there are no small animals such as rabbits, foxes, or
wolves, and several similar paintings depict the same
animals. Yet selectivity of the subjects implies some type
of order. After examining the topography of Lascaux,
as well as that of other caves, French archeologist Andre
Leroi-Gourhan concluded that the same species were
usually painted in similar parts of each cave: bison,
horses, and oxen in the central chambers; deer, mam-
moth, and ibex in outer areas; rhinoceros, lion, and
bear in the farthest recesses. Beyond this ordering, the
significance of the paintings remains a mystery.
In contrast to the detailed paintings of other fauna, cave
representations of humans are frequently crude. This figure
at Lascaux, painted opposite a depiction of a bison, is in
one of the cave's deeper recesses. The meaning of the
paintings of humans and the reason for their simplicity
remain mysteries.
69
Lizard
Coexistence
in Four Dimensions
by Carol A. Simon
By eating different-sized prey,
from different perches,
at different times of day,
some lizards reduce competition
Coexistence, when defined as the
persistence of two or more species in
one habitat, can develop through the
evolution of differences in resource
use. By locating food with different
behaviors, and by feeding at different
sites in the habitat or at different times
of the day, coexisting species can di-
vide their habitat's resources and
avoid competitive exclusion.
An example of such resource parti-
tioning was discovered by the late
Robert MacArthur while conducting
bird population research. He found
that a number of different warblers
living together in northeastern conif-
erous forests subdivide that particular
habitat. Individuals of one species
feed predominately near the treetops,
those of another feed near the trunks,
a third species utilizes the outermost
portion of the branches, and so on. By
reducing food competition, such re-
source division allows several species
to coexist in relative harmony. Other
studies have also shown that coexist-
On a favored perch, a Yarrow's
spiny lizard basks in the sun
and watches for any potential
prey that may wander into range.
Nathan W, Cohen
ing individuals of some species di-
vide the resources of their habitat.
Yarrow's spiny lizard, Sceloporus
jarrovi, shows such resource divi-
sion. This species occurs in rocky
areas, at elevations above 4,900 feet,
in Mexico, southwestern New Mex-
ico, and southeastern Arizona. These
diurnal lizards usually perch on
rocks, but they are occasionally
found on trees, logs, or the ground.
The perch sites are used for basking
in the sun and as home range and ter-
ritorial "outlooks" for spotting and
pursuing intruding lizards, potential
mates, and food. Yarrow's spiny
lizards feed on a wide variety of small
invertebrates, especially flies, bee-
tles, ants, and grasshoppers.
I began my study of these lizards,
particularly their division of re-
sources, in 1972 in Arizona. Size se-
lection of prey items, determined by
stomach analyses, was the first aspect
of partitioning I examined. I found
larger animals eat larger food items
than do smaller animals. As lizard
body size increased, the average size
of food items also increased. The
smallest lizards ate insects and other
arthropods that averaged one-fifth of
an inch in length, while the largest
ate prey averaging nine-tenths of an
inch; lizards of intermediate size ate
intermediate-sized prey.
It is relatively easy to hypothesize
why prey size increases as lizard size
increases. Since lizards swallow food
whole, large food items are handled
more easily by larger lizards. Also,
since larger food items provide more
energy than smaller ones, it is more
efficient for a larger lizard to pursue
a large insect rather than a small one.
One aspect of prey size selection,
however, was not as easily explained.
When I compared the prey selection
of male and female lizards, I found
that, although food size for both male
and female lizards increases with
body size, females eat larger prey
than similarly sized males. Males eat
relatively smaller items and more of
them.
I can suggest several reasons why
males and females of equal size select
prey of different sizes. Concurrent
studies indicated that individual Yar-
row's spiny lizards are highly territo-
rial. To various scientists and layper-
sons, the word fern forv connotes an
entire spectrum of behaviors, but in
this discussion, I refer to a phenome-
non where each individual defends a
specific area, or territory, within a
larger home range.
Adult Yarrow's spiny lizards de-
fend territories against adults of the
same sex and all juveniles. Only adult
male-female territorial overlaps
occur, presumably so that efficient
mating can take place. That only
male-female overlaps occur provides
an important clue for a possible ad-
vantage for male-female prey size
differences. Since males and females
maintain overlapping territories, they
are competing for a portion of the
same food supply. Males, however,
consistently choose smaller food
items than females. Because males
and females are not pursuing the same
potential prey items, feeding effi-
ciency would be increased. Through
71
Resource Division
in the Yarrow's Spiny
Lizard — Perch Type,
Time, Size, Sex
Competition between individuals
of this species is reduced through
a partitioning of resources.
Larger individuals are active
mainly in the morning and for
only a few days a week; smaller
lizards feed daily in the
afternoon. Larger lizards eat
larger prey than smaller
individuals; females eat larger
prey than males. Larger lizards
occupy higher perches; females
perch higher than males. Such
partitioning results in a
differential cropping of prey,
and allows a greater number of
individuals to coexist within
a given habitat.
natural selection, males probably
acquired specializations for feeding
on smaller prey while females ac-
quired specializations for eating
larger items.
Because males eat smaller prey
items (but more of them), they use
more energy for feeding. This ar-
rangement seems most efficient in
terms of reproduction, since the
ovoviviparous female expends a
great deal of energy for egg produc-
tion and embryo growth.
Prey selectivity by males and fe-
males may be explained in another
way. Microhabitat differences result-
ing from different perch choices
could help explain intraspecific feed-
ing variations. Lizards occupying
perch sites near the ground are more
likely to capture ground-dwelling in-
sects; individuals on higher perches
would have greater access to flying
insects.
Individual lizards spend a great
deal of time on their perches. Varying
perch heights may result in certain
lizards eating smaller or larger food
items because of relative prey avail-
ability in difi'erent microhabitats, but
it is more likely that food selection is
based on available taxa rather than
size. Prey items of a variety of sizes
are found near all perch sites, but cer-
tain taxonomic groups are more pre-
72
valent in one area. Situations where
perch site selection results in in-
creased accessibility to prey items of
both a particular size and one taxono-
mic group are also possible. For ex-
ample, a ground-perching lizard has
access to large ant populations
whereas a branch-perching lizard
might not.
Even if perch differences are only
a partial explanation for prey siz^ se-
lection, such microhabitat dif-
ferences are potentially an important
means of resource division. If Yar-
row's spiny lizards of different sexes
and sizes typically choose different
perch sites, a pair of lizards occupy-
ing overlapping territories will not
compete for exactly the same food. A
male regularly choosing perch sites
1 V2 feet above the ground on a tree
trunk and a female normally perching
on a large rock about 13 feet above
the ground would see, and have
access to. different prey items.
In June 1974. I was joined in my
work by George Middendorf , then a
graduate student at Hunter College in
New York. We began collecting data
to determine whether individual
lizards choose particular perch sites
and whether these choices are charac-
teristic of a particular size or sex.
Our first significant finding con-
firmed a correlation between lizard
size and perch height. Larger lizards
choose perch heights higher off the
ground than smaller lizards, and
males choose significantly lower
perches than females of equal sizes.
Variation in perch heights ranged
from ground level to nearly 17 feet.
Four substrates — rocks, trees,
logs, and the ground — were used as
perch sites. Most lizards perched on
rocks, but approximately 5 percent,
always the smallest lizards, perched
on logs, and approximately 5 percent
of the males, always the largest,
perched on tree trunks. Small per-
centages of lizards were found on
other substrates. These perch sub-
strate differences, in addition to perch
height variations, may also be impor-
tant for exposing individual lizards to
different segments of the food supply .
The final aspect of resource parti-
tioning that we examined was the dif-
ference in activity periods; time can
be treated as a resource. Activity
times may vary within or between
species in such ways that different an-
73
imals are active at different times of
the year or at different times of the
day. The idea of intraspecific, tem-
poral resource partitioning for a lizard
had previously been considered only
in theoretical discussions of resource
division.
We used several techniques to de-
termine temporal activity patterns of
Yarrow's spiny lizards. We found
that in the largest size classes all ani-
mals were most active early in the
morning, with activity tapering off
after midday. Also, these larger
lizards were active for only a few
days a week. Lizards in the smaller
Adults are territorial, defending
their spatial boundaries
against other adults of the same
sex and all juveniles.
size classes were active primarily
after noon and were active almost
daily.
Here again we see a means of re-
ducing competition for food. Certain
segments of the population are active
and feeding at different times of the
day and even on different days. Al-
though temporal partitioning for Yar-
row's spiny lizards may have arisen
for reasons other than the reduction
of food competition, perhaps because
of differing temperature requirements
of different-sized lizards, the result is
another form of resource division.
Having learned a great deal con-
cerning the evolution of competition-
reducing mechanisms from our stud-
ies of Yarrow's spiny lizards, we
hope to apply our data on resource
division to some of the broader ques-
tions ecologists are asking.
One question is. Does superabun-
dance or scarcity of food result in
changes in food selection, microhabi-
tats, or activity periods? In other
words, how does resource usage
change under varying conditions and
are these changes predictable? For
example, if food abundance suddenly
decreases, individual Yarrow's spiny
lizards may no longer be able to select
food items of a particular size. In
order to avoid starvation, pursuit of
many other sizes of food items would
then be necessary. Individuals could
shift to using many different perch
heights, thus adding new portions of
the habitat to their feeding efforts. Fi-
nally, it is possible that an individual
lizard could obtain enough of the par-
ticular food it is best adapted for
catching by remaining on its perch all
day or every day.
But whatever combinations of re-
source use may occur under different
conditions, partitioning of available
food is an important adaptation for
coexistence within a common habi-
tat. □
74
The American
Museum of
Naturcil History
invites you to visit
Africa, Australia,
the Nile and the
Land of the Maya
as part of our
continuing
program of
Interesting Travel
for Interested
People
Travel in the company of Museunn
scientists, sharing their insights along
the way, enjoying the itineraries they
helped shape... confident the logistical
details are in the hands of profes-
sional tour operators who have proven
expertise in a particular part of the
world. Savour the unique opportu-
nities made possible by the Museum's
considerable influence— with doors
opened that are normally closed to
tourists— and distinguished scholars
and organizations enlisted to par-
ticipate. And have fun... on trips
designed as vacations as well as
learning experiences, offering an
uncluttered pace, comfortable accom-
modations, festive occasions and the
congenial company of other interested
travelers. Because the Museum
urgently needs your support for all its
activities, a contribution from every
participant is specified for each trip.
Safari In Southern Africa
(wilh an optional £asf
African extension)
September 18-
OctoberS, 1976
A special African wildlife
expedition led by Dr. Richard
G. Van Gelder, an old hand at
showing friends of the Mu-
seum a side of Africa seldom
seen ... an especially de-
signed "flying safari" which
will take you at an unhurried
pace beyond paved roads and
tourist paths. Explore magnifi-
cent Africa, witness to superb
contrasts in terrain and cul-
tures . . . see an infinite variety
of animals and birds in their
natural habitat. Transportation
by twin engine executive air-
craft . . . with deluxe overnight
accommodations and highly
personalized services ... in
the home of the greatest wild-
life concentrations in the
world.
Hayden Planetarium Solar
Eclipse Tour
Australia and New Zealand
(with an optional extension to
Tahiti) October 11-31. 1976
Led by Dr. Mark R.
Chartrand III, Chairman of The
American Museum-Hayden
Planetarium, this program
provides an exceptional expo-
sure to Australia and New
Zealand, highlighted by an
opportunity to view the total
eclipse of the sun at 4:30 p.m.
on October 23 from near Mt.
Gambler. Tour some of the
largest optical and radio ob-
servatories in the world . . . see
the unusual Australian fauna
. . . wine-making, sheep farm-
ing .. . wide ranging visits to
Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne
and Adelaide . . . Auckland
and Christchurch ... a glacier,
Maori villages, South Island
Alps, thermal and volcanic
areas . . . you will see the best
of v/hat makes Australia/New
Zealand an extraordinarily
rewarding destination.
Nile Cruise (21 days)
January-February 1977 (91)
October-November, 1977
(#2)
Planned by the distin-
guished British travel experts
W.F. and R.K. Swan as a suc-
cessor to this year's first Nile
cruise by the Museum, the
program begins in New York
with a flight to London and
another (three days later) to
Cairo. Passengers will board
the m s. Delta, a comfortable
ship which regularly navigates
the Nile to Assuan. Cruise
along a leisurely route studded
with the sites and sights that
remain as remarkable today as
they were in Herodotus's time.
Along the way there will be
many insights into modern
Egypt as well. With you on
both trips: a noted Egyptolo-
gist (including Vronwry Hankey
on the first trip) and a
Museum ornithologist.
Voyage to the Land of
the Maya Winter. 1977
Enjoymg the unique
approach and dependable
accommodation which only a
yacht-like vessel can provide
in the Western Ganbbean,
venture ashore to visit such
magnificent Maya sites as
Copan, Quirigua, Tikal, Altun
Ha, Palenque, Tulum, Coba,
Chichen Itza, Kabah and
Uxmal. You will explore coral
reefs with Museum scientists
and have an opportunity to go
birding at some of the world's
best sites. This trip will draw
extensively on Museum re-
sources and be one of the
most exciting travel programs
undertaken to date.
Ellen Stancs
The American Museum of
Natural History
Central Park West
at 79th Street
New York, New York 10024
Q Safari in Southern Africa
□ Hayden Planetarium Solar Eclipse Tour
□ Nile Cruise ( = 1) Q Nile Cruise ( = 2)
Q Voyage to the Land of the Maya
Q I would also like to be kept informed
of other Museum trips
Journey of a Seventeenth-Century Cannon
by Christopher L. Hallowell
Many of the artifacts
found in the cellar hole of
the World Trade Center
were spirited away to
private homes
With the excavation of the cellar
hole for the twin towers of the World
Trade Center in lower Manhattan al-
most a decade ago, many archeologi-
cal odds and ends came to light that
helped piece together a picture of
New York's earliest years. As bull-
dozers and backhoes and men with
picks and shovels gouged out a hole
that was to cover ten city blocks, they
unearthed clay pipes, teacups, deli-
cate hand-blown bottles, shoes,
coins, cannonballs, and ship's
timbers — to name just a few artifacts.
During the early part of the excava-
tions, archeologists and historians
hoped that some of the ship's timbers
would be those of the Tijger, one of
the first ships documented as having
anchored in New York harbor at the
southern tip of Manhattan. The Tijger
was a Dutch ship, owned by the Van
Tweenhuysen Company and under
contract to the Dutch East India Com-
pany to carry furs from the New
World to Holland. The Dutch East
India Company, a govern-
ment-sponsored trading firm, monop-
olized this fur trade from 1602 to
1621. In 1614, just as she was to set
sail for Amsterdam with her holds full
of beaver and otter pelts purchased
from the Indians, the Tijger caught
fire and burned to the waterline (see
"Disappearance of the Historic Ship
Tijger,'' Natural History. August-
September 1974).
Either her crew or other Dutch
traders probably attempted to salvage
the ship's remains by beaching them
on the nearby bank of the Hudson
River. Their success in using the
timbers was evidently limited, how-
ever, for in 1916 a subway con-
struction crew, digging the tunnel for
the Seventh Avenue IRT line in lower
Manhattan, came upon a ship's prow
eighteen feet below the surface, just
76
about where the shoreline of the Hud-
son River would have been in the sev-
enteenth century. At that time, this
bank of the river was about 250 yards
east of where it is today, and the tun-
nel the subway crew hewed out fol-
lowed the early shoreline.
Historians theorized that the an-
cient timbers were those of the
Tijger, and radiocarbon dating placed
the wood at between 320 and 360
years old. Using mules, the subway
workers attempted to pull the timbers
from the tunnel wall, but they would
not budge. As a result, they were
sawed off where they disappeared
into the cut. These timbers are now
in the Museum of the City of New
York.
More than fifty years later, when
excavations for the World Trade Cen-
ter cellar hole began just west of the
IRT subway tunnel, archeologists
speculated that the construction
would unearth more of the ship's re-
mains. Timbers were found which
might have been those of the Tijger,
but before archeologists could exam-
ine them, they were trucked away
with a load of debris and dumped in
a nearby landfill site.
With the disappearance of these
timbers, all hope vanished of ascer-
taining the existence of the Tijger' s
remains. Ironically, however, a dec-
ade after the completion of the cellar
hole excavation, another artifact has
turned up, which, although not sub-
stantiating the site of the World Trade
Center as the final resting place of the
Tijger, strongly points in that direc-
tion.
The discovery also reveals the fate
of many of the bits and pieces of the
past that are dug up in construction
sites. The finding of artifacts in such
places is as much a reward to work-
men as it is a curse to their employers.
As workers waste thousands of dol-
lars of company time sifting through
debris in search of coins, bottles, and
unusual bric-a-brac, their superiors
see costs rising and construction
schedules falling behind. But if arti-
facts are present, the workmen usu-
ally find them; regulations to prevent
searching are almost impossible to
enforce.
A market always exists for well-
preserved artifacts and a number of
workmen at the World Trade Center
boosted their salaries by several hun-
dred dollars a week by selling their
finds to collectors. This is true for
other construction sites as well, and
those artifacts that are not sold often
end up decorating workmen's homes.
Whether sold or used for decoration,
such artifacts are rarely publicly dis-
Ffom Military Antiquities, by Francis Grose. London, 1796
played or subjected to scientific anal-
ysis. They merely disappear, and as
far as enhancing our knowledge of
history is concerned, they might as
well have never been found.
But occasionally, such artifacts
reappear. Their emergence from
homes and private collections, where
they can be appreciated by only a few
people, is usually due to the concern
of individuals well grounded in a
knowledge of antiquities and with a
desire to see artifacts made more ac-
cessible to the public.
During the excavations, work
crews were always on the lookout for
ancient cannons. Ships of that time
usually carried some weapons, and
the Tijger was reported to have car-
ried six or eight large cannons. She
may have also carried some smaller
ones, which were not mentioned in
the ship's records. The workmen
were frequently inspired in their
search by the discovery of cannon-
balls. But no cannons appeared at the
World Trade Center site until the
summer of 1967, when backhoes and
bulldozers working in different areas
of the cellar hole dug up three. Two
were in perfect condition, except for
ancient marine incrustations and
some corrosion; the third had a
chipped muzzle. All of them were
small, about four feet in length, and
weighed several hundred pounds
apiece, according to Jim Hastie, a su-
perintendent on the site when the can-
nons were unearthed.
The first two found were taken to
the field office of West Street Asso-
ciates, the consortium of five con-
struction firms responsible for build-
ing the World Trade Center. They re-
mained there for a time, then quietly
disappeared. No one knows what
happened to them, although several
workmen remember seeing them in
As depicted in an eighteenth-
century woodcut, cannons similar
to the one found in the World
Trade Center cellar hole could be
easily maneuvered and fired.
the midst of equipment that accumu-
lated in the office.
Hastie clearly remembers the last
cannon found because of its unusual
design and well-preserved slate. Its
barrel was not one solid piece: in-
stead, the top half of the breech had
an opening into which a cylinder with
a handle locked in place. Several
workmen carried the weapon away
from the immediate excavation area
and laid it next to one wall of the cel-
lar hole. Hastie recalls the piece was
to be taken to the field office when the
workers had a spare moment.
When the construction crews re-
turned to work the next morning,
however, the cannon was gone. And
according to Hastie. one of the
workers who had carried it to the cel-
lar hole wall the day before did not
report for work that day or ever again.
Hastie believes that this person, a
temporary employee, was responsible
for the theft, but it was not of suffi-
cient concern to anyone to have the
man traced. The excavations pro-
ceeded and the matter was forgotten.
If the cannon had not turned up in
the barn of an antique arms dealer
eight years after it disappeared, only
a handful of people would ever have
been aware of its existence. Since
being stolen, it had passed through
the hands of three people, all of
whom collect various kinds of an-
tiques for personal pleasure and
profit. Had it not been for the trained
eye of an antique arms expert, the
weapon might easily have continued
along this route, known only to a se-
lect group of people.
One of the responsibilities of
Harold L. Peterson, a curator for the
National Park Service, is to locate an-
tique arms and weapons suitable for
historic monuments administered by
his agency. The job entails sporadic
visits to antique arms dealers to look
over their collections. Last fall, Pe-
terson, while driving through Con-
necticut on business, decided to stop
in the small village of New Milford
to view the collection of Norman
Flayderman, an antique arms dealer
CATCH THEM ALIVE AND UNHURT!
Catches more ! Easy to use !
Amazing HAVAHART trap capturesraldlngrats, rabbits
squirrels, skunks, weasels, etc. Takes mink, coons without
injury. Straying pets, poultry released unhurt. Fully as-
sembled. Easy to use— open ends sive animal confidence.
No springs to break. Sizes for all needs. Send 25c tor your
booklet on trapping secrets,
HAVAHART, 158-P Water St., Ossining, N, Y. 10562
Here's my 25c. Please send price list, trapping guide.
oneness I
delicately wedded to-
gether by the artisan.
illuslrated descriptive booklel,
14K with 24 chain $37.50
Sterling Silver $16,75
ISAAC SOLTES DESIGN NH
1923 S.McPhernn Ave.
Monterey Park, Calif. 91754
CAtlFORNIA RESIDENTS mO i% SAtES TAX
Check or Money Order/Honey back Guarantee
BUSHNELl 7x35 CUSTOM
Mfg, List $169.50 Postpaid $94.50
This is an example of the deep discount prices on hieh
Z'^ T'r *!i* '= *°""=' '" °"' FREe"^ catalog TWs
catalog ^sts and illustrates an outstanding selection
1 'S^P^°'° te"S. telescopes, binoculars etc plus
w'rtl'foriuSd™.'"" °" '™ •" "^P^^'^ '^'"^ *='"■
GIL HEBARD OPTICS
COURTHOUSE SQ., KNOXVILLE, III. 61448
QUESTERS WORLD
OF NATURE TOURS
You may find some tours similar to ours in other
programs. But because we are the only profes-
sional travel company 5|)eciali7ing exclusively in
nature tours, you have three advantages with us:
• The largest selection of nature tours to
virtually every area of the world.
• The best expedition leaders available.
• The assurance that our experience and
expertise will make your tour rewarding.
Consider Oueslers. The 1976/77 Directory of
Worldwide Nature Tours lists 3 1 tours ranging
in duration from 4 to 36 days.
Call or write lodav or see your
Travel Agent for your free copy.
Questers Tours
AND TRAVEL, INC,
DEPT. NH-476 257 PARK AVENUE SO
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10010/(212)673-3120
78
with one of the largest collections in
the country. Stored in a renovated
barn, Flayderman's collection in-
cludes cannons, rifles, and pistols, as
well as halberds, swords, crossbows,
and other martial paraphernalia,
strewn about the floors and hanging
from the walls of the building.
Amid this awesome collection of
weaponry gathering dust on the floor
of one of Flayderman's back rooms,
a small bronze cannon with a handled
cylinder that fit into the breech caught
Peterson's eye. Although this type of
cannon is now rare, Peterson realized
the uniqueness of the piece by the in-
signia of the Dutch East India Com-
pany etched into the breech chamber.
Known as a sling piece or a port
piece or sometimes as a murderer,
this type of cannon was common in
Europe on both land and sea from the
fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries.
In this country also, settlers used such
cannons at Plymouth and Jamestown,
Mounted on a fulcrum and easily ro-
tated by one person, they were valued
for rapid firing and close-range effec-
tiveness.
Their partially hollow cylinders —
called breech chambers — could be
filled with gunpowder and used in any
cannon of appropriate size and de-
sign. A number of these chambers
could be loaded and stored in readi-
ness. The process of firing these
weapons was simple and quick: a ball
placed in the breech was followed by
a chamber that was locked into place;
when the powder was ignited and the
cannon fired, the used chamber was
removed, and replaced with another
ball and another loaded chamber.
Peterson was not interested in buy-
ing the cannon for the park service,
but mentioned his find to Joseph
Noble, director of the Museum of the
City of New York. In October 1975,
the museum purchased the weapon
for $4,500; it is now being prepared
for public display,
Flayderman deals in antique weap-
ons as much for his interest in their
history as to make a profit on their
sale. Having established a reputation
for his extensive collection in the
early 1950s, Flayderman, a fast-talk-
ing and sharp businessman, can af-
ford to pay high prices for unusual
artifacts. And because he carries a
large inventory and is in the antique
arms business partly for pleasure, he
can also afford to wait until the price
is right before selling a piece.
In 1973, Flayderman bought the
cannon from Stanley Lambert, a
Incredible Africa!
JULY 21, 1976 Join JOHN WIL-
LIAMS on a special 30-day safari in
Kenya featuring rare birds, big game
and wildflowers, $2670.00 plus air
fare,
AUGUST 21, 1976 Unique FAMILY
SAFARI includes best game parks in
Kenya & Tanzania, a trek on Mt,
Kenya, built-in educational features
ALSO, exciting WALKING SAFARI
for those who wish to see Africa in a
special way. Both 21 -day safaris
$2476.00 including air fare from
New York.
SEPTEMBER 15 & OCTOBER 13
1976 ROOT & LEAKEY 19-day'
natural history tented and lodge safari
in Kenya & Tanzania. $1795.00 plus
air fare. Limited to 16 members.
EARLY 1977 departures January 12
and February 1 6,
Call or write SIEMER & HAND, LTD, Travel Service
One Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, California 941 1 1
MIS) 788-7186
t of print,scarce.rare NATiniAl HISTORY BCX3KS
le^vi Botany. Zoology,
[n.&S' Orchidology,
Omittiology, Entomology.
Ichthyology,
Herpelolopy , elc.
CATALOGUE AVAILABLE
19 Oilorii Place/Rock«il!e Ontre, New York 11570
BIGFOOT
Expedition for Hikers,
Backpackers and Snowshoers
Field research learn seeking an unknown primate
offers you the apportunily to make significant finan-
cial, intellectual and physical contributions to science
and coriservation. Unforgettable 22 day wilderness
expeditions in southwestern Oregon and northwestern
California led by scientists, naturalists and trackers.
You search for Bigfoot in an area containing
rare plants. 360 bird species and 87 mammal species.
Tracking instruction. Trailers and tents furnished.
Nonprofit organization. Departures alt year. Men
and women of all ages. Intermediate and advanced
teams of 4 to 16 explorers. Send $3 today for detailed
catalog.
BEAMER EXPEDITIONS d.p», nh2
P.O. Bo« 285, Canoga Park, California 91305
BEAUTIFUL POST CARD ALBUM
^An^Vl'^/"/ Travelers & Collectors! Holds
1 i^ ^L-°' "^ foreign cards in curved comer
slots that make it easy to slip cards in & out.
!• aint guide lines assure neat captions & com-
ments. Luxurious vinyl binder has padded
covers titled in gold. The world's finest post
^^rd album! Each $8.95 + $1.00 post. Two
tor $17.50 postfree. Satisfaction guaranteed!
WritewellCo. 207Transit BIdg. Boston 02115
Long Island antiques dealer. Flayder-
man will not say iiow much he paid
for it, only that he "turned quite a
profit on it" when he sold it to the
museum. Stanley Lambert, who
owns Lambert Antiques and Collec-
tables in Huntington, Long Island,
does not have a reputation to match
Flayderman's. He deals mostly in an-
tique furniture and sculpture, but
when two of his friends in the Long
Island Antique Gun Club offered to
sell him the cannon early in 1973, he
bought it on a gamble, hoping that he
could turn it around and make a large
profit. It was the Dutch East India
Company insignia that encouraged
him to take the chance.
Lambert's clientele, however, was
not primarily interested in antique
arms and apparently did not respond
to the new acquisition displayed in his
small store. Only a month after he
purchased the piece, Lambert loaded
it into the back of his car and drove
to New Milford, where he sold it to
Flayderman. Despite the quick turn-
over, he says he made several hun-
dred dollars on the sale.
Obeying an informal agreement
among antiques dealers that the im-
mediate origins of some merchandise
remain confidential, Lambert will not
divulge the names of his Long Island
Antique Gun Club friends from
whom he bought the cannon. He did
say, however, that these two people
had purchased the weapon through a
classified advertisement in the New
York Times that offered the cannon
for sale. According to what Lam-
bert's friends told him, the adver-
tisement had been placed, and the
cannon sold, by a man who said he
had found it in the cellar hole of the
World Trade Center.
Although the cannon does not con-
firm the existence of the Tijger's re-
mains, its insignia marks it as being
one of the earliest signs of European
activity in this country. For this rea-
son alone, it should be highly valued.
Yet, had it not been for the discerning
eye of Harold L. Peterson, the cannon
might still be in the hands of collec-
tors or dealers, where its value and
significance would be lost to the pub-
lic. Unfortunately, until archeolo-
gists are able to watch closely over
construction sites that might yield
historical evidence, this will be the
fate of most artifacts unearthed in the
debris of cellar hole excavations. D
Christopher L. Hallowell is an asso-
ciate editor o/ Natural History.
Special Offer!
For a Limited Time Only
To New Members
of
THE
NATIONAL
AUDUBON
SOCIETY
Thousands sold at
original price of $5.95
A calendar not just for 1976 but a treasured memento of America's
Bicentennial year. Produced directly from the original paintings of
John James Audubon's "Birds of America" collection. Twelve illustra-
tions reproduced in full color on top quality paper stock suitable for
framing.
For over 75 years, Audubon has been working to solve ecological prob-
lems. But it takes an enormous amount of time, money and dedication
to continue and further our programs. That is why we need your
support and your membership. And we need it now!
As a member you are a vital part of an organization that is working
towards preserving our environment and preventing the thoughtless
destruction of irreplaceable natural resources. In over 360 communi-
ties, you will be invited to participate in the activities of your local
chapter. Through Audubon, you can really start doing something about
our environment. You will also receive AUDUBON, the Society's
breathtakingly beautiful magazine.
Join now — free gift available for a limited time only.
NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY
Dept. E971, 950 Third Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10022
My check is enclosed. Enroll me as a member of the National
Audubon Society (including 6 issues of Audubon and my FREE 1976
Audubon Bicentennial Calendar).
□ Individual $15. per year □ Family $18. per year
□ Student $8.50 per year (for those under 21 years and/or for stu-
dents enrolled in a full-time educational program.)
L
Address
Please Print-Your membership will be entered as shown.
City
State Zip #
Membership dues are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
J
79
o o to the o °^W °
&6fl°FL%R
j After this educational |
I adventure for divers and j
I non-divers aiilte, you'll know 1
I the reef as never before! j
I :
' Explore exotic submarine wilder- j
j ness and reef ecosystems in the :
j gin-clear, sun drenched Caribbean j
•. at fabulous Bonaire in the Nether- ;
I lands Antilles. ';
j You'll spend your first week at Key j
I West, under the auspices of the j
I YMCA's underwater activities cen- :
/ ter. Here, swimmers and beginning j
j divers will receive internationally i
1 recognized certification by the div- 1
j ing masters who "wrote the book" i
• on SCUBA. Divers already certified I
! will earn advanced ratings.
At Bonaire, your second week will
be filled with lectures, demonstra-
tions and diving with outstanding
undersea scientists, marine biol-
ogists and oceanographers.
Now booking limited groups for
August 8-21, September 12-25,
October 10-23 and November 7-20.
2-week Seminar
$1750 j
from Miami
Write for brochure:
OCEAN SEMINARS, INC.
Dept. B
6440 Mack Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48207
'^M^
Sky Reporter
Destruction of
the Earth-Moon System
One scenario for the end of
the world includes the
breakup of the moon into
pieces that will form a
ring around the earth
When observing the endless ebb
and flood of the tides, one is aware
of some vast interplay of forces in
nature that nothing can stop. Even the
mightiest tidal waves appear to be far
too weak to affect the earth or the
moon in any appreciable way. And
yet this sometimes gentle, sometimes
violent, breaking of waves against the
shores does indeed affect the earth,
and in such a way that ultimately the
earth-moon system, as we now know
it, will be destroyed.
Anyone who has lived at the sea-
shore or spent a few days there watch-
ing the ocean knows that successive
high tides occur about 12.5 hours
apart. The two high tides, which
occur at about the same time on suc-
cessive days, are on the average sepa-
rated by 24 hours and 51 minutes.
Since the average interval of time be-
tween two successive risings of the
moon is also 24 hours and 51 min-
utes, one correctly infers that the tides
and the moon are closely related. This
was first pointed out by Newton, who
developed a simple, but correct,
theory of the tides based on the
moon's gravitational attraction.
Although the moon is largely
responsible for the tides, the sun also
contributes. The sun's contribution to
Reprinted by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons from
The Universe, by Lloyd Mo\z. Copyright © 1975 by Lloyd
the tides is slightly less than half that
of the moon, even though the gravita-
tional pull of the sun on each particle
of water is about 180 times greater
than that of the moon. Despite the
moon's weaker gravitational pull, its
tide-raising ability is about twice that
of the sun. It is not the total gravita-
tional pull that counts in raising tides;
rather it is the difference between the
pull on a particle of water on the side
of the earth facing the moon and that
on a particle on the other side of the
earth. This difference is twice as pro-
nounced for the moon as for the sun
because the moon is so much closer
to the earth.
To see this, note that a one-gram
particle of water on the earth directly
beneath the moon, being closer to the
moon than is the center of the earth,
is pulled more strongly toward the
moon than a one-gram particle of
matter at the center of the earth. Thus,
the oceans directly beneath the moon
are pulled away from the earth as a
whole, thereby forming a high tide.
On the other hand, a particle of water
on the opposite side of the earth,
being farther away from the moon
than is the earth's center, is pulled
less strongly than a similar particle at
the center of the earth. The earth as
a whole is thus pulled away from the
water on the side farthest from the
moon, causing this water to collect
into another high tide.
As the earth rotates, bringing dif-
ferent parts of the oceans and the con-
tinents under the moon, the tides
move around the oceans like a long,
low wave with one of its crests be-
neath the moon and the other on the
opposite side of the earth. A person
standing on an island watching the
moon rise observes the water rising
80
by Lloyd Motz
on the eastern side of the island first,
then on the southern shore, and fi-
nally, on the western shore; as the
moon sets, the water recedes from the
western shore.
In the deep oceans the tides are es-
sentially a surface phenomenon, so
that there is very little friction be-
tween the water and the ocean bot-
tom, but along the continental shore-
lines there is considerable friction as
the water rushes over and then re-
cedes from the dry land. This friction
converts the mechanical energy of the
water into heat. But since the tides
obtain their kinetic energy from the
earth's rotational energy, it follows
that the constant flow of the tides is
decreasing the rate of rotation of the
earth and thus lengthening the day . In
a sense, the tides are acting like a
huge brake on the earth, slowing it
down by friction, just the way the
brakes of a car slow down the wheels.
Although the tidal slowing down of
the earth is extremely small and the
lengthening of the day is very grad-
ual, it can be measured with great ac-
curacy by comparing the times of
eclipses in recent years with those re-
corded in antiquity. There is a marked
discrepancy between the two if one
assumes that the earth has always
been a steady timepiece — that is, that
the rate of earth's rotation has not
changed during the last 4,000 years.
From the discrepancy between the
observations and the theoretical pre-
dictions of eclipses, one deduces that
the rate of rotation of the earth has
been decreasing and that the length of
the day is now increasing at the rate
of about a thousandth of a second per
century. The rate at which the rota-
tional energy of the earth is dissipated
by the tides in this way is more than
FOSSILS
The world's first ond only mogozine for everyone who hos ever
wondered about fossils ond the 3-1/2-billion-yeor history of life on eorth.
Subscribe now ond receive o beautiful bonus...
<
2
Do fossils intrigue you? Do you thinl's thor
fossils ore some of the most beoutiful ond
mysterious objects ever created by noture?
Mien you see o fossil, do you stort wonder-
ing wtiof life wos like millions of years ogo?
Hove you ever found a fossil, ond experi-
enced the joy of discovering o long-buried
treasure, ..or would you \\\<e to experience
tfiotjoy?
If so, you stiould subscribe now to FOSSILS
AAogozine. Oecouse FOSSILS isthie only publi-
cation in the world that octuolly mokes it
easy and enjoyable to find out more obout
the nature of fossils ...where you con find
them for yourself.. .and whot they tell us
about the history of the earth ond the his-
tory of life.
FOSSILS tells about trilobites. dinosaurs,
and eorly mon. And hundreds of other an-
cient life forrrs os well. Every issue takes
you on o voyoge bock through time, show-
ing you in vivid derail the surprising crea-
tures and stronge worlds of posr ages.
FOSSILS shows you fossils os you hove
never seen them before. Our photographers
ond artists hove direa occess to the finest
museum and private fossil collections in the
world. Consequently, during the course of
Q year FOSSILS will show you hundreds of
rhe most beoutiful illusrrotions of fossil life
thot hKDve ever been printed onywtiere
nrony in superb color
FOSSILS helps you find fossils o* your own.
Every issue will tell you exoaly where you
con find fossils in your port of the country
ond throughout North Amenco ^we publish
detailed mops ond mformorion). And the
worlds most successful fossil hunters— pro-
fessional poleontologists— stKire with you
ttieir proven techniques for finding ond col-
lecting fossils of every kind.
FOSSI LS is scientific yet eosy to reod. Every
issue IS written by well-known paleontolo-
gists in collobororlon with skilled profes-
slonol writers. So every article brings you
sclenrificQily occurore inforrrotion ttvor s
eosy to reod
FOSSILS guorontees your sotisfoction. If
you orent corrplerely delighted with your
first issue, simply return It ond concel your
subscription. Your money will be refunded
in full.
FC^ItS
Elegant fossils ore embossed
on the covers of oil Issues.
SPECIAL BONUS
FOR SUBSCRIBING NOW
, 4-FOOT FULL-COLOR POSTER
SHOWING THE GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE
AND THE HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH.
This is the finest chort of Its kind, created for FOSSI LS
and now avclloble nowhere else. Later this yeor.
this chart will sell for $6 In museum shops, but it's
yours now with our compliments when you sub-
scribe to FOSSILS today.
5end today with check or money order ro:
FOSSILS MAGAZINE P.O. Box 351 8 San Diego. California 921 03
D 1 Yeor $ 1 2 D 2 Years $2 1 (You Save $3) D 3 Years $29 (You Save $7)
I enclose $ *We do not bill subscribers because this would add several dollars to rtie cost
of o subscription. Our subscribers tell us rhey prefer the lovv'est possible price Instead.
_5TATL
CITY_
FOSSILS Is published quorterly Cin April, July, October ond January)
8i
Europe's
Europe
when the Europeans take their vacations,
they demand three things. Beauty for the
soul. Pleasures for the spirit. And, most of
oil, every bit of their money's v^^orth.
For years the value-minded Europeans
have been vacationing in Yugoslavia.
In Yugoslavia they find beautiful beach
resorts, magnificent mountain hideaways
and charming untouched villages.
They enjoy the pleasures of music, history
and hospitality that's as natural as the
morning sunrise.
They see and do all the things you love
about Europe. At the kind of prices you'd
given up on finding there
Yugoslavia For years its been Europes
Europe Now its your turn
YUgosloiria
Yugoslav National Tourist Office
630 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10020
(212)757-2801
Tell me more about Europe's Europe.
Send me my Yugoslavia Information Kit.
Norr
City/State/2ip_
The Golden Eagle . . .
one of our 288
magnificent flying
contraptions.
It soars. It streaks. It glides. It swoops . . .
It's our strikingly lifelike golden, brown-
black eagle, printed on transparent plastic
48"x30". OnlySIOppd.
with string and colorful
lacquered wood JKfF r\r\
spool from India. Kite ^^i, S^-'
poster catalog 50(«. Go Fly f K/ PI
A Kite, Inc., 1434 3rd Ave., J, ^ s
N.Y.C. 10028, Dept.4A KllGn
Kites from around the world.
2 billion horsepower, or very nearly
2 billion kilowatts.
The importance of this for the fu-
ture of the earth-moon system is that
the rotational angular momentum that
the earth loses as its rotation slows
down is transferred to the moon's or-
bital motion; in slowing down the
earth's rotation by dragging the ocean
waters, the moon gains the angular
momentum lost by the earth and is
thus propelled forward in its orbit.
This results in a steady recession of
the moon from the earth, a steady in-
crease in the size of the moon's orbit,
and a steady increase in the length of
the month.
The rate at which these things are
happening and the general dynamical
features of the earth-moon system in
both the past and the future can be
computed from the rate at which the
length of the day is now increasing.
About 4 billion years ago the moon
was approximately 10,000 miles
away from the center of the earth, the
earth rotated once every five hours,
and the month was slightly longer
than one day. The present length of
the day and month and the present
structure of the earth-moon system
are the result of tidal action during the
last 4 billion years. The earth-moon
system will go on changing slowly in
the same way until the length of the
month and the length of the day are
both equal to 47 of earth's present
24-hour days. When that happens,
the earth will always keep the same
face toward the moon, so that the
moon will be continuously visible
from one side of the earth only, nei-
ther rising nor setting. But because
of the very slow frictional action of
the tides, this will not happen for
many billions of years.
Although the moon will then no
longer cause the tides to rise and fall,
producing, instead, an unchanging
double bulge of the oceans, the sun
will, and this solar action will slow
the earth's rotation still further until
the day becomes longer than the
present month. At the same time, the
moon will start approaching the earth
again, while the earth and the moon
together recede from the sun. Thus,
the month will get shorter, while the
day and the year will get longer. This
process will continue until the
moon's distance from the earth's cen-
ter is less than 10,000 miles, which
is a critical distance for the moon,
known as the Roche limit. At that dis-
tance the tidal action of the earth on
the moon will tear the moon into
MINERALS
SHELLS
FOSSILS
NEW COLOR PORTFOLIO plus >'V
Illustrated Catalog $1.00 ■Mis
DOVER SCIENTIFIC ,^*l
Box 6011 C- Long Island City, N.Y, 11106 'S','-. .*
From Italy . . . The Ultimate In
Historic Ship Replica Kits
Frame & Plank Construction
World-famous SERGAL kits; large, riiagnificenl
replicas (up lo 51" long) with beauliiul wol-
nut, brass details. Virtually museum pieces
when completed. Lorge-scole plans, English in-
structions, oil-materials included. Also, hun-
dreds of other superb Italian kits, plans and
accessories in our complete new
Full-Color Catalog, $2
Send via airmail |26< stomp) lo;
Dept. NH-4, MODEL EXPO
Via Cassia, 1170 ■ Rome 00189, Italy
NATURE ON STAMPS
The BIRDS 8. the BEES 8. the ANIMAL KINGDOM
on GENUINE POSTAGE STAMPS.
,y. SAMPLES & APPROVALS- $1
** Sotisfoction Guoronteed
Mii Mod Stamps
P.O. BOX 297-NH AURORA, CO 80010
^BOOK HUNTING?^
Virtually any book located — no matter how
old or long out-of-print. Fiction, nonfiction.
All authors, subjects. Name the book — we'll
find It! (Title alone is sufficient) Inquire,
please. Write: Dept. 66.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087
82
pieces that will form a ring around the
earth. There is strong evidence that
the rings around Saturn were formed
in this way when one of Saturn's
moons came too close to that planet.
Before the moon is destroyed by
the earth's tidal action, the moon it-
self will raise huge tides on the earth
and alter the earth's structure enor-
mously. The tide-raising force of the
moon increases rapidly as it ap-
proaches the earth. At a distance of
10,000 miles, the moon would be
about twenty-four times as close to
the earth as it is now, and its tidal
action would be about 15,000 times
as great. The ocean tides at their max-
imum on the earth would then be hun-
dreds of feet high and would com-
pletely inundate all the land masses
in their path as they followed the ris-
ing moon. But this would not be the
worst of it, for the moon would distort
the entire earth by producing large
tidal waves within the earth's rocky
crust and in the underlying regions.
These structural tidal waves, rushing
through the earth's interior, would set
off vast earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions. Although the earth itself
would not be destroyed by such cata-
clysms, all terrestrial life would prob-
ably perish.
In time, after the earth had torn the
moon into pieces, the violent erup-
tions and tremors on the earth would
cease, the oceans would recede, and
life would probably begin to develop
again on the dry land. But this would
still not be the end of the "tidal evolu-
tion" of the earth; because of the
sun's tidal action, the length of the
day would continue to increase until
it became as long as the year, which
would then be a few weeks longer
than it is now. The earth would then
present the same face to the sun at all
times, so that one half of the earth
would be in perpetual darkness. The
side of the earth facing the sun would
become an unbearably hot desert,
while the dark side would be covered
with vast sheets of ice thousands of
feet thick. These two forbidding
hemispheres would be separated by a
narrow zone (perhaps a few hundred
miles wide) where intelligent life
could exist. But the full series of these
events will probably never occur be-
cause the time involved is so great
that the sun itself will have changed
drastically long before the lengths of
the day and the year become equal.
Lloyd Motz teaches astronomy at Co-
lumbia University in New York City.
SAFE OR
SORRY?
While you are away, protect your valuables
against FIRE -THEFT- LOSS with this
handsome SENTRY SECURITY CUBE."
Fire strikes more than 60 homes every hour
Vandalism and petty theft increase steadily
Even misplacements of records cause huge
losses. Convenient protection is now available
at a new low cost. The decorative and func-
tional Q-7 features a front opening SentryBox'
concealed in a custom walnut grained cabinet
with textured slate-like top for only S1 19-50. The
entire cost is tax deductible if used to store income
or tax records.
The cube makes a beautiful TV, nite stand or end
table. The SentryBox' is Underwriters' Laboratories fire-
tested up to 1700' for 1 hour and is designed to conveniently protect
your income and tax records, insurance policies, birth certificates, wills,
notes, cancelled checks, and even jewelry right in your home
The concealed SentryBox" features a removable inner shelf, a key lock or optional
3-number combination lock, and 1J' thick insulated walls. (This equals the fireproof
qualities of a 3-foot thick solid concrete wall.)
Outside dimensions: 20rhx 18 wx IS^d Inside: ISi'hx lOjwx lOid. Total weight
85 lbs. Cabinet shipped ready for E-Z assembly.
Order today on a 15-day trial otler. Your salislaction guaranteed or simply repack in original canon and return
for lull credit or relund_ol_$1 19_50
iviail~to:"slCURifY~PRODUCTS CO., P.O. Box 51, Penneld. New York 14526.
Ship Model 0-7 S11950 • $23.93 Ireighi
My Card Nurnber __ __ ^ ^ ^ n y City residents and west ot Miss, $29 93
'^" -'" " (reighl 1 prefer C key lock D combination
lock— $9.50 extra (I understand combination
lock is free when I send check with order.)
New York Slate residents add 4% Sales Tax
$119.50
D American Express
Card Expiration Date.
D li/laster Charge D BankAmencard
Your Signatu
(g) senbiy
City.
-Zip-
n Please send more Information on the complete Sentry line.
L
CORDLESS
TELEPHONE
Operates as any extension phone except
it's cordless. You can take it anywhere,
Indoors or out. Pool, yard, basement,
attic, even in your bathtub - anywhere
within 300 feet of your home. Receive
calls or dial out.
EASY TO INSTALL
Your Poftaohone operates in conjunction
with all regularly installed telephone
equipment you already have. Installation
takes 30 seconds and you do it yourself
easily and without tools.
100% SOLID-STATE RELIABILITY
Portaphone is manufactured with 100%
space-age solid-state circuitry. No moving
parts to wear out. No tubes to replace.
For years of trouble-free performance.
Guaranteed for 1 year.
REAL COST IS $2.00 PER MONTH
AND IT PAYS FOR ITSELF
If you divide the purchase price by the
estimated 15-year useful life of the Porta-
phone, the cost is only $24.00 per year,
or only $2.00 per month. It pays for
itself by replacing an existing extension
phone and eliminating another extension.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
OR MONEY BACK
EAST AND MIDWEST ORDERS
SHIPPED BY AIR
J-1
(213) 986-4271
Sand check or money order to:
JLR Corp.
16200 Vantura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91436
Plaata tand ma Cordlan Portaphones
at $395 aach, plut pottage, handling and
Inturanca $5.50. California resldenti add
6% talet tax.
Nama ____^_
Addrast
City
83
TAKE OFF WITH
ODYSSEY
JOIN US IN 1976 FOR:
BACKPACKING, Canadian Rockies
Jun. 19-July 3, JuJy 31-Aug. 14,
Aug. 21-Sept. 4
TEENAGE BACKPACKING, Great
Divide Trail Canadian Rockies,
July 10-Aug. 21
CANOEING, Athabasca River,
Canadian Rockies, July 17-31. Lac La
Ronge Region, Norttiern Saskatchewan
Aug. 21-Sept. 4
MOUNTAINEERING, Southern
Purcells, British Columbia July 10-24
TREKKING, Mt. Everest Region,
Nepal Nov. 1976
For further information and our year-
round schedule of additional vacation,
holiday and weekend trips, write or call
Oiyssey, £ti.
26 Hilltop Ave , Berkeley Heights. New Jersey 07922
(201) 322-8414
WELSH
FISHERMAN'S
SMOCK
Enjoy the comfort of this practical overshirt lor men
or women. It has been used by Welsh Fishermen for
over 400 years The material is a 12 oz, pure wool
Welsh flannel. The smock is full cut with a boat neck
and two convenient pockets The color is a soft blue-
grey, coordinating well with denim.
Sizes S{34-36} M(36-38) L(40-42)
Welsh FiBherman's Smock $27.50 ppd.
^AUSTRAL ENTERPRISES
Box 70190. Seattle. Washington 98107
Additional Reading
Persepolis (p. 36)
Donald N. Wilbur's Persepolis: The
Archaeology of Parsa. Seal of the Per-
sian Kings (New York: Thomas Y.
Crowell, 1969) is a succinct, semipopular
account of the monuments and history of
Persepolis. In Persia: From the Origins
to Alexander the Great (London: Thames
& Hudson, 1964), archeologist Roman
Ghirshman — perhaps the most distin-
guished living authority on the subject —
presents Iranian prehistory in an art-book
format. Ghirshman has also published a
more concise paperback book: Iran (Bal-
timore: Penguin Books, 1954). Historian
Arthur T. Olmstead's H/sfoz-y of the Per-
sian Empire, originally published in
1948, is now available in soft cover (Chi-
cago: University of Chicago Press/
Phoenix Books, $5.95). An authoritative
and detailed history of the Achaemenid
period, Olmstead's book remains the
standard English-language introduction
to matters Iranian. In an earlier Natural
History article, "The Shreds of Ancient
Persia" (1969, vol. 78, no. 5, pp.
26-35), Bernard Goldman discusses the
origins of the art found at Persepolis.
Royal Terns (p. 46)
Considered a classic on both sides of
the Atlantic, The Herring Gull's World,
by Nobel laureate Niko Tinbergen (Gar-
den City: Doubleday/ Anchor Books,
1967, $2.95), is perhaps the one best in-
troduction to the study of social behavior
in birds. For another elegant study of co-
lonial seabirds, see Hans Kruuk's mono-
graph "Predators and Anti-predator Be-
havior of the Black-headed Gull" (Beha-
viour, 1964, Supplement 1 l,pp. 1-129).
Also recommended are George and Anne
Marples's Sea Terns or Sea Swallows:
Their Habits, Language, Arrival and
Departure (London: Country Life, 1934)
and W. Bickerton's Home-Life of the
Terns or Sea Swallows (London: With-
erby, 1912). Two recent behavioral texts
strongly emphasizing field work are E.O.
Wilson's Sociobiology: The New Synthe-
sis (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1975), which incorporates the tern
studies of Paul and Francine Buckley,
and Jerram L. Brown's The Evolution of
Behavior (New York: W.W. Norton,
1975), which presents ethology from an
evolutionary viewpoint. For background
information on the ecological principles
discussed by the Buckleys, see C.J.
Krebs' Ecology: The Experimental Anal-
ysis of Distribution and Abundance (New
York: Harper & Row, 1972) and David
Lack's Ecological Adaptations for
Breeding in Birds (London: Methuen,
1968). A detailed account of some of the
Buckleys' research was published in the
technical journals Ibis ("The Breeding
Ecology of Royal Terns," 1972, vol.
114, pp. 344-359) and Animal Beha-
viour ( "Individual Egg and Chick Recog-
nition by Adult Royal Terns," 1972, vol.
20, pp. 457-462).
Ice Age (p. 56)
Richard F. Flint presents an up-to-date
description of glacial features and Pleis-
tocene stratigraphy in his text Glacial and
Quaternary Geology (New York: John
Wiley and Sons, 1971). This book and J.
K. Charles worth's two-volume work The
Quaternary Era (New York: St. Martin's
Press, 1966) include extensive bibliog-
raphies. The latter is a 1 , 700-page compi-
lation of data, detailing the past two mil-
lion years of earth history. Paleobotanist
Burkhard Frenzel's classic German work
Climatic Fluctuations of the Ice Age is
now available in English (Cleveland: The
Press of Case Western Reserve Univer-
sity, 1973). It is concerned primarily with
the glacial-age distribution of plants in
Eurasia and the construction of maps
based on flora-distribution data. Pleisto-
cene Geology and Biology, with Special
Reference to the British Isles, by R. G.
West (New York: John Wiley and Sons,
1968), emphasizes biological features,
devoting special attention to the history
of plants as revealed in fossil pollen. P.
S. Martin and H. E. Wright, Jr., have
edited a volume. Pleistocene Extinctions:
The Search for a Cause (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1967), which
deals with the extinctions of mammals in
many parts of the world at the end of the
Pleistocene epoch. Romuald Schild's ar-
ticle, "The Final Paleolithic Settlements
of the European Plain," in Scientific
American (1976, vol. 234, pp. 88-99)
examines evidence for changes in Euro-
pean climate and flora and fauna (as well
as advances in the technology and social
organization of the area's indigenous
hunters) at the time of the final glacial
retreats. The thirty-two members of the
CLIMAP project referred to in this
month's Natural History have written
their first report of some of their findings;
it was scheduled to be published in the
March 26, 1976, issue of Science. The
article, entitled "The Surface of the Ice-
Age Earth," describes their multi-disci-
plinary methodology in more detail and
discusses some of their early conclusions.
Ian Cornwall, an environmental archcol-
ogist, addresses Ice Ages: Their Nature
and Effects (New York: Humanities
Press, 1970) to natural science and ar-
cheology students, but defines techni-
calities for the general reader.
Lascaux Cave Paintings (p. 62)
For a lavishly illustrated work on Pa-
leolithic art see Andre Leroi-Gourhan's
Treasures of Prehistoric Art (New York:
Harry N. Abrams, 1967). Leroi-Gourhan
attempts a reclassification of the evolu-
tion and styles of cave paintings and en-
gravings; his work is of particular value
for its tabulation of motifs, diagrams of
cave layouts, and site index to individual
caves. He has summarized much of this
important work in a beautifully illustrated
article in Scientific American "The Evo-
lution of Paleolithic Art" (1968, vol.
218, no. 2, pp. 59-70). Examples of de-
tailed works dealing with Lascaux cave
are Ferrand Windels's The Lascaux Cave
Paintings (New York: Viking Press,
1950) and Georges Bataille's Lascaux:
The Birth of Art (Lausanne: Skira,
1955). Another volume, available as an
inexpensive paperback, is Lascaux:
Paintings and Engravings, by Annette
Laming (Baltimore: Penguin Books,
1959). Nancy K. Sandars, in Prehistoric
Art in Europe (Baltimore: Penguin
Books, 1968), seeks to place the art of
Paleolithic man in the context of his expe-
rience and spirituality. This author also
treats the technical problems of repre-
sentation and perspective encountered by
the Paleolithic artists and by us in our
attempts to understand their efforts. In
Pleistocene Fauna of Europe, paleontolo-
gist Bjorn Kurten (Chicago: Aldine Pub-
lishing, 1968) reviews the animal life
present at the time of the cave paintings.
Lizard Feeding (p. 70)
Peter H. Klopfer's Habitats and Terri-
tories (New York: Basic Books, 1969,
$3.95) introduces ecological and behav-
ioral concepts concerning the use of space
by animals and offers insights into the
relationships between physical, biologi-
cal, and social factors of territoriality.
"The Evolution of Diversity in Avian
Territorial Systems" (Wilson Bulletin,
1964, vol. 81 , pp. 160-169) and "Terri-
torial and Population Regulation in
Birds" (Wilson Bulletin, 1969, vol. 81,
pp. 293-329) are reviews by Jerram L.
Brown describing the variability and ad-
vantages of territorial adaptations. A.S.
Rand's "The Adaptive Significance of
Territoriality in Iguanid Lizards," in
Lizard Ecology, edited by W.W. Mil-
stead (Columbia: University of Missouri
Press, 1967, pp. 109-115), and Carol
Simon's "The Influence of Food Abun-
dance on Territory Size in the Iguanid
Lizard Sceloporus jarrovi" (Ecology.
1975, vol. 56, pp. 993-998) deal specifi-
cally with this aspect of reptilian behav-
ior. A section entitled "How Food and
Space arc Shared Between Species '. in
the 2nd edition of PH. Klopfer's Behav-
ioral Aspects of Ecology (Englewood
ClilTs: Prentice-Hall, 1972), is concerned
with competition and resource sharing by
animals. A recent article by T.W.
Schoener, "Theory of Feeding Strate-
gies" (Annual Review of Ecology and
Systemalics. 1971. vol. 2. pp. 369-^04),
reviews the techniques animals use in
food gathering.
Seventeenth-Century Cannon (p. 76)
Christopher L. Hallowell's "Disap-
pearance of the Historic Ship Tijger"
(Natural History. 1974. vol. 83. no. 7.
pp. 12-26) provides a good overview of
the times of the Dutch settlers and the
naval vessel from which the artifact he
now describes apparently came. Histo-
rian Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, in the
first of his six-volume work. The Iconog-
raphy of Manhattan Island (New York:
R.H. Dodd, 1915-28), gives extremely
detailed background information gleaned
from original records of the exploration
and settlement of what became New York
City. Round Shot and Rammers, by
Harold L. Peterson (Harrisburg: Stack-
pole Books, 1969, $9.95), is a short,
readable introduction to the history of ar-
tillery pieces and their use. Other relevant
titles are: Guns. Sails and Empires, by
Carlo M. Cipolla (New York: Pantheon
Books, 1966), The Evolution of Naval
Armament, by F.L. Robertson (London:
H. T. Storey, 1968), and Age of Great
Guns: Cannon Kings and Cannoneers
Who Forged the Firepower of Artillery.
by Frank E. Comparato (Harrisburg:
Stackpole Books, 1965). For a detailed
account of the state and art of archeologi-
cal theft, including the "fencing" of his-
torical treasures and their acquisition by
museums, galleries, and collectors, see
Karl E. Meyer's The Plundered Past
(New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1973,
$12.95).
Gordon Beckhorn
(J)
>
>
93
r
a
r
>
r
r
CD TI
m
r 2C«
% I »
- 1 r
s-= >
11 •-
°- =■ n
= a z
- s m
a. o >
■a c r"
3- = .
9.S ■
(2 re Z
™ c s
X It s
> 3 f.
\ — ^ <
" ^ IS
■0-2
^ o >
> 5" •
r--a 2.
"C S^ y
"a (t
3 "i
3-
a. Z
S 2
n re
II
5 «
™ ■<: =r
"^
^
85
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon The sun, moving through the constellation Pisces dur-
ing most of April, enters Aries about April 19 and moves into Taurus
by mid-May. It moves from 4.5° north of the equator on April 1 to 15°
by the end of April, but its northerly movement slows noticeably in
May. On April 29, it keeps a date with the new moon to produce an
annular solar eclipse.
The moon's phases are almost perfectly synchronized with the weeks
during April and May. First-quarter comes on the 7th day of both
months; full moon on the 14th of April and the 13th of May; last-quarter
on the 21st and 20th of April and May, respectively; and new moon
on April 29 and May 28. The moon is thus an evening object for the
first two weeks of both months and a morning object from about mid-
month on.
Stars and Planets This is the season to let the Big Dipper introduce
you to the spring stars. The constellation is high overhead in the northern
mid-latitudes early in the evening, and imaginary lines drawn through
its easily recognized stars lead to the North Star (Polaris); the bright
stars Regulus, Arcturus, and Spica; and the constellations Corona
Borealis and Hercules.
The Star Map shows Mars and Saturn, our best evening stars this
month, close to one another in Gemini. Jupiter (also an evening star),
Venus (a morning star — but a poor one), and Mercury (going through
a very favorable evening elongation) are below the horizon at the time
of the map. Mars and Saturn will be most interesting to watch in the
first week of May, when Mars moves into line between the planet Saturn
and the stars Pollux and Castor (the bright "twins" of Gemini), and
the waxing crescent moon moves through the group. Elusive Mercury
will offer one of its better chances for viewing, low in the west-northwest
after sundown, from about April 20 to the end of the month.
April 7: Observers along the East Coast should watch Mars with
binoculars or telescopes tonight from 7:30 on, to see it approach and
cover (an occultation) the third-magnitude star Epsilon Geminorum
(about one-fourth as bright as Mars). The occultation lasts about 5 min-
utes, starting at about 8:00 p.m., EST.
April 14: Perigee moon comes 4 hours before full, and will affect
tides today and tonight.
April 22: The weak, dim Lyrid meteors reach maximum.
April 25: Change to daylight time.
April 27: The moon is at apogee; Jupiter, in conjunction with the
sun, enters the morning sky; and Mercury, at its greatest easterly elonga-
tion, is favorably placed as an evening star, low in the west after sun-
down.
April 29: A partial eclipse of the sun will be visible in North
America — at sunrise — along the northeast coast.
May 4: The bright but weak (20 per hour) Eta Aquarid meteors reach
maximum shortly before midnight.
May 4-5: The waxing moon is moving below Mars and Saturn.
May 9: Mercury is stationary and begins to retrograde.
May 11: Three conjunctions occur today: Venus with Jupiter; the
moon with the star Spica; Mars with Saturn.
May 12: Perigee moon will enhance spring tides again tonight and
tomorrow, coming about 24 hours before full moon.
* Hold the Star Map so the compass direction you face is at the bottom; then
match the stars in the lower half of the map with those in the sky near the horizon .
The map is for 10:20 p.m. on April 15; 9:20 p.m. on April 30; 8:25 p.m. on
May 15; but it can also be used for an hour before and after those times.
86
Helmut Wimmer
87
Bir%f¥ey
notably .
beautiful |
volume"
for bird-
lovers
**A notably beautiful large-for-
mat volume featuring 130 full-
color photos (many full-page)
of . . .a gorgeous array of eagles,
falcons, vultures, kestrels, and
hawks flourishing all over the
world today Everett, a lead-
ing British ornithologist, pro-
vides a concise, informative
text on the birds, their char-
acteristics, cycles, etc A re-
markable buy at the price."
— Publishers Weekly. 9" x
1134". 130 full-color photos;
maps; line drawings; species
list.
BIRDS OF PRET
By Michael Everett
At bookstores, or send check or
money order for $12.95, plus 50^
postage & handling, to:
G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS
L 200 Madison Ave., N.Y. 10016 j
The only book with all
the recent discoveries
The most highly recommended
book on Maya culture has now
been revised and expanded by
the author, it includes new illus-
trations and all the recent excit-
ing discoveries in Mexico, Gua-
temala, and Honduras.
Photographs, drawings, David McKay
2-page map. $12.95 at Company, Inc.
bookshops or from the 750 Third Ave.
publisher. New York 10017
Books in Review
Feral Children
Wolf Children and Feral Man,
by J.A.L. Singh and Robert M.
Zingg. Archon Books, The Shoe
String Press, Inc.,Hamden, Connec-
ticut 06514, $16.00; 379 pp., illus.
The Wild Boy of Aveyron, by
Harlan Lane. Harvard University
Press, $15.00; 384 pp., illus.
Freud assumed (and spent a life-
time showing) that the odd or pecu-
liar, even the downright bizarre, can
be quite helpful in understanding the
so-called normal. His troubled, most-
ly middle-aged and almost exclu-
sively middle-class Viennese pa-
tients, some of them strange and
some of them on the brink of mad-
ness, gave him all sorts of ideas about
those millions of others who live out
their lives undramatically and with no
apparent need of psychiatric interven-
tion. Still, as he saw it and as other
psychoanalysts still see it, the wild
ravings of the craziest patient are not
all that alipn to the mental lives of the
most sober, composed, "well-ad-
justed" men and women. In our
dreams or nightmares, in those ever
so evanescent "passing thoughts,"
we reveal ourselves as greedy anar-
chists— lusty beyond all propriety,
"animallike," as the saying goes.
And for years psychoanalytic the-
orists have emphasized this one
aspect of man — the "seething caul-
dron" of the Id, which is where
instincts, impulses, and untamed de-
sires reside and strive to make them-
selves felt.
Freud saw us to be inevitably con-
flicted. If we are aniinals, in part, we
are also civilized men and women —
or try hard to be every day. Before
psychoanalysis was developed as a
way of seeing man's nature and pre-
dicament, philosophers like Rous-
seau and Hobbes struggled with simi-
lar dilemmas", how to describe this
creature, man, who walks upright,
thinks, speaks, is so separate from
other life (so he has often pro-
claimed), and yet who — as Darwin
pointed out — seems to have animal
kin of sorts, not to mention a bestial
side, as every day's news more than
proves?
Hobbes chose to emphasize the
power of the craven. We are "brut-
ish," and only a variety of restraints
keep us within relatively civilized
bounds. Rousseau emphasized our
most generous and kindly side, which
he regarded as the victim of what
passes for civilization — the corrup-
tions, and worse, of social and politi-
cal systems transmitted inexorably
through parents to their children. He
dismissed the notion of "original
sin," and constructed (speculatively,
of course) a man of nature who was
driven, not by avarice and blind self-
interest, but by a powerful and sus-
taining interest in being with, and re-
sponding to, other human beings.
The questions about man's "true"
nature may never be solved. But The
Wild Boy of Aveyron, just published,
and Wolf Children and Feral Man,
made newly available in 1966 (it was
first published in 1947), will help us
think about what we are, what we
might be or might have been, given
different external circumstances. The
book about the wolf children has as
its centerpiece the extraordinary diary
of the Reverend J.A.L. Singh, a
Christian missionary who ran an or-
phanage in Midnapore, India. In
1920 the Reverend came upon two
children, a girl of about eight and one
of about a year and a half, who had
evidently been abandoned by their
parents and picked up, nurtured, and
protected by a mother wolf. The latter
was killed, the "human" children
captured and brought to the orphan-
age. Within a year the younger child,
Amala, was dead, but Kamala, the
older one, lived with the Singhs for
nine years. From the beginning the
Reverend kept careful notes of what
he and his wife went through as they
struggled to make human beings out
of these wolflike creatures.
The diary is exceedingly moving
by Robert Coles
and informative — recording the pa-
tience and devotion of two Ciiristians
who will never, it seems, turn their
backs on their fellow human beings,
however strange or grotesque. The
diarist unself-consciously refers to
the mother wolf as one "whose na-
ture was so ferocious and affection so
sublime," thereby introducing yet
another ambiguity and paradox for
us — as if the "nature" of man isn't
enough of a problem, what is a wolf
"really" like? In any event, one wolf
nurtured two children, and as Robert
Zingg writes (he is the American an-
thropologist who provides extensive
commentary on the Singh diary as
well as an analysis of other, similar
reported instances of "feral man"),
the Reverend Singh has given us "the
only completely authentic account"
of such a phenomenon. (Feral, or
wild, man refers to human beings
abandoned as infants and presumably
suckled by animals or isolated, for
one reason or another, when some-
what older — say at two or three — and
compelled to survive in a state of na-
ture, without human support, on their
own instinctive or "animallike" cun-
ning and resources.)
The Reverend Singh makes a con-
vincing case for the capacity of two
girls to become like wolves in every
way imaginable. They cowered and
lunged. They scratched and bared
their teeth. They ran on all fours.
(Teaching them to walk upright was
a major problem; Amala died too
soon, but Kamala eventually did
walk.) They kept to themselves:
wanted to hide by day, prowl by
night. They were confined, naturally,
but treated with respect and atTection.
They seemed curiously without emo-
tion— merely hungry or sated, on the
hunt or resting. They demonstrated
no control over their bodily functions
and for a long while no positive inter-
Amala and Kamala slept with their
bodies entwined.
^^-#t5p
Photographs from Wolf Children and Feral Man, by J.A,L, Singh and Robert M. 2ingg
In the tradition of Rachel
Carson's The Sea Around Us
and Annie Dillard's
Pilgrim at
Tinker Creek..
William W^ Warner's
BEAITIHT.
S»1>LMERS
Watermen, Crabs, and
the Chesapeake Bay
"The compleat social
anatomy of the Atlantic
Blue Crab, and its para-
mount home, Chesapeake
Ba\' ... a sage and witty
book."— S. Dillon Ripley.
"A revelation"— Farley
Mowat. Maps. Drawings
by Consuelo Hanks.
$10.00 at all bookstores
ATLANTIC-LITTLE BROWN
put EASTERN
EUROPE in
your plans
•BULGARIA •CZECHOSLOVAKIA
•POLAND •SOVIET UNION
This year go just a bit farther. Discover Eastern
Europe. Steeped in history and tradition. Entranc-
ing scenery. Great hotels. Inexpensive. If you
haven't seen Eastern Europe, you haven't really
seen Europe. Ask your travel agent or send for
literature and convenient air schedules of national
carriers.
EASTERN EUROPEAN TRAVEL BOARD
380 MADISON AVENUE, DEPT. 36A
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017
Please send free literature on:
D BULGARIA D CZECHOSLOVAKIA
n POLAND n SOVIET UNION
... and the following timetables:
n CSA (CZECHOSLOVAK AIRLINES)
D LOT (POLISH AIRLINES)
DAEROFLOT (SOVIET AIRLINES)
Address-
City
est in other people. But after a year,
when young Amala died, we learn
that Kamala "shed tears — a drop
from each eye . ' " And no question , the
girls rather quickly learned to go to
Mrs. Singh for food and water, even
as the dogs did.
The diarist mingles careful obser-
vation of behavior with psychological
speculation, philosophical discus-
sion, and religious declaration. He is
a confirmed Christian idealist, un-
questioning in his loyalty to Christ,
and anxious to please him by re-
sponding to one of his creatures. He
believed that through "the agency of
affection" he and his wife would
bring about "the desired change" —
nothing less than the emergence of
Kamala's essential humanity. And in
time that is what happened. She
began to eat not only raw meat, but
biscuits and cake. She learned, pain-
fully, to walk. She acquired speech.
But only over a span of years and, as
the diary shows, with a certain reluc-
tance. Unfortunately, she died just as
she was beginning, really, to be
human. The diarist estimates her to
have been three or four years old psy-
chologically, although sixteen or so
physically, at the time of her death.
At the end of his diary the Rever-
end Singh briefly but pointedly asks
questions that generations of philoso-
phers, psychologists, and anthro-
pologists have put to themselves.
How much of our behavior is ac-
quired, how much transmitted geneti-
cally? How socialized are we by vir-
tue of who or what we are and how
much in response to the molding
press of others, who bear down with
commands and enticements, thereby
making us "human"? For the diarist
there is no definitive answer. He
leaves it to his readers "to decide be-
tween the two factors in human af-
fairs, heredity and the influence of en-
vironment.' ' But in fact he has helped
his readers enormously with a last
note — that "Kamala became a new
person in the year 1928" — and in-
deed with all his notes, which faith-
fully document that assertion. The
dogs he and his wife owned had never
learned to stand, to walk, to give
names to people, places, things, or to
talk. In contrast, Kamala died a
human being, after having lived for
years with wolves, as a wolflike crea-
ture, one might say. Her early life
bears witness to the extraordinary
range of human adaptation, as does,
actually, her later life, too. And ob-
viously it is never a completely clear-
cut picture that life presents: heredity
or the environment.
Our neurological inheritance, as
Professor Zingg points out, is struc-
turally unique. It will take gen-
erations for the human brain's
neurophysiological function to be
elucidated, but its singular capacities
are observable, and if some of them
have been found in the possession of
other species, a particular combina-
tion of them is, for better or worse,
ours: a level of intelligence, the ca-
pacity to categorize, name, speak,
and so on. Yet, we need one another
in order to become human. Isolated
at birth from our fellow human beings
we die or in some cases grow up feral.
Isolated later on, we begin to disinte-
grate, unless we are old enough to
have our essential humanity securely
within ourselves. It is true, as Rous-
seau kept insisting, that the environ-
ment radically influences us: we
comply, yield, respond, until we
"are" what it has asked us to be-
come. But the dogs Kamala asso-
ciated with so tenaciously for months
and months, however affectionately
treated by the Singhs, never began to
turn human. And Rousseau himself,
were he alive today and given every-
thing in the way of a laboratory, even
(let us speculate) a cooperative social
community, could not enable a dog
or a wolf to speak or display the kind
of rational, analytic faculty Kamala
When restless, Kamala scratched
at the door to get out.
was clearly developing in the months
before her unfortunate death.
In his long discussion that follows
the Singh diary. Professor Zingg
makes mention, among other cases,
of the wild boy of Aveyron, a lad of
about seventeen who was pulled out
of a tree by hunters in France. The
year was 1799, and the French Revo-
lution was in full sway. Rousseau's
insistence that we can be just about
anything, depending upon the world
we belong to, was exactly what
French political leaders were saying:
the poor can be liberated, the rich
eliminated, and somehow a stable
and just world decisively achieved.
Soon mobs were running amok, and
Edmund Burke from across the chan-
nel was understandably, in terror,
calling upon Hobbes: exactly what is
man but a demonic brute, given the
opportunity to reveal his true colors?
The wild boy of Aveyron certainly
seemed to be a brute — an agitated,
impulsive lad who was attached to no
one, who ate nuts and berries,
shunned or acted indifferent to those
who had captured him, and seemed
intent only on obtaining food, run-
ning about, resting — then seeking
more food. "The only blessings he
knows in the universe are nourish-
ment, rest, and independence," ob-
served Pierre-Joseph Bonnaterre in
his ' 'Historical Notice on the Sauvage
de r Aveyron," published in 1800.
It was not a time when such a youth
was likely to be ignored — or con-
demned outright as a heathen and
messenger of the Antichrist. For a
number of years French writers and
philosophers (not only Rousseau, but
Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and
Condillac) had been speculating
about so-called primitive man — what
we once were and still might be, //.
In this book, just published in early
1976, Harlan Lane does an engaging
and at times compelling job of bring-
ing the reader back in time to revolu-
tionary France, when so much was
being questioned. He uses original
documents, historical accounts, later
scientific writings, and not least, his
own capacity as a first-rate narrator to
tell us what the wild boy was like (his
actions, the reactions of others to
him), and just as important, what he
prompted various psychological and
educational theorists — psychiatrists
like Philippe Pinel or, later, physi-
cians like Maria Montessori^to
make of man's possibilities or limita-
tions.
The author is not afraid to use the
90
Director -North America, Singapore Tourist Promotion Board,
251 Post Street, San Francisco, Caiitornia 941 08 Tel (415) 391 -8476
Please send me tree illustrated brochures on Singapore
/
/
N 7ip ., .
/
/
%l
These lions don'l growl or roar Their happiness is a
wild, syncopated dance to drums and gongs
SIIVGAPORE
From lion dancing...
mo§que$.
wajang.
joget.
Chinese temples.
• •
•to Stilt walking.
Singapore. So much to see. So much to do.
It's a tropical island world in a clean, green garden setting. There's sunshine, blue skies
and warm waters. All the year round. Then there's also the uncommon blend of many races.
People with their own languages and their own beautiful differences.
People whose cultures and religions tell sensational stories.
There's the exotic sights. The pulsating music. There's so much to see. So much to do.
And the wonderful thing about Singapore is that you can ask for anything you want in
English. Plus a language which speaks for itself — a sunny, welcome smile.
Come Share Our World
Indian temples...
Could religious figures ever be carved so lovingly*?
It's all part of HmOu'sm a^o a .vondfous sight
Why Inteimational Paper
is helping to develop
a 1,000,000-acre forest on
land it doesn't oivn
We want to make sure
there'll still be enough
wood products around when
your children grow up.
Industry sources estimate
Americans will use about
twice.as much paper and wood
in the year 2000 as they use
today. And the U.S. Forest
Service predicts that our
nation's commercial tiniber-
lands won't be able to keep up
with the demand.
One of our solutions is to
help private landowners
increase their yield. They own
about 60 percent of America's
forest lands — yet produce
only 30 percent of the wood
fiber. (Forest products com-
panies own only 13 percent
of America's forest lands —
and produce 34 percent of
the wood fiber.)
We're looking especially
to people who own land close
to our operations in the South.
In 1976 we'll expand our pro-
gram to the Northeast and
West Coast.
How we help landowners
We do it through the Land-
owner Assistance Program.
We'll show a private land-
owner how to prepare a site,
plant,protect, thin, and har\est
— at no charge.
This way, he can get the
most from his forest land —
in some cases, he can actualK'
double his yield.
We'll even find a contrac-
tor to do the actual work. Or
do the job ourselves at cost.
For this help, IP gets the
right to buy a landowner's
timber at competiti\'e prices.
We've got more than
300,000 acres in the Landowner
Assistance Program now.
We're aiming for 1,000,000
before 1980.
A big help. But it's only
one thing we're doing to
increase the world's wood-
fiber supply.
Higher yield from our
own Icinds
We've developed a
Supertree — a southern pine
that grows taller, straighter,
healthier and faster than
ordinary pines.
We're experimenting with
a new machine that can
harvest an entire tree — tap-
roots and aU. The roots used
to be left in the ground.
We're moving ahead on
fertilization techniques. Tree
Farm programs. Research.
VVill all this be enough to
keep the world's fiber supplv
going strong?
It'll help. But more must
be done.
At International Paper,
we believe forest products
companies, private land-
owners and the government
should work together to
dex'elop more constructive
policies for managing
America's forests.
The wrong policies can
make tree farming impossible
and force the sale of forest
land for other purposes.
The right poHcies can
assure continuation of
America's forests — a renew-
able natural resource.
If vou'd like more infor-
mation about what has to be
done to assure the world's
fiber supply, write Dept. 166-A,
International Paper Company,
220 East 42nd St., New York,'
New York 10017.
INTERNATIONAL
PAPER
COMPANY
BICENTENNIAL COINCIDENCE
For over a century, one of the finest collec-
tions of American hand-blown flint glass
apothecary ware held the remarkablezoological
collections of the famed 19th century naturalist
Louis Agassiz in the museum he founded at
Harvard University. Agassiz (1807-1873), teach-
er and friend of Thoreau, Longfellow, Emerson
and William James, was considered for genera-
tions the greatest teacher of natural history
who ever lived; his celebrated expeditions to
gather more data and specimens led him all
over the new world, and established the profes-
sional study of nature in this country.
The jars and bottles, made by hand at the
New England Glass Company, are each unique,
with individually fitted glass stoppers. They
range from 2" to over 2' in height, each an
elegant example of the glassblower's art. New
containers have been obtained by Harvard this
year, and we are dispersing the antique glass-
ware to interested individuals. Prices range
from $5.00 to over $200.00; but the color
catalog and historical pamphlet are free. Over
125 Natural History subscribers already have
examples from the collection in their homes;
about half still remain. Do write soon. The Jar
Collection, Suite 1-B, 254 Newbury Street,
Boston, Mass. 02116
FREDATTEN.
JACK BENNY.
MOS'NANDY
PLUS HUNDREDS MORE
OLD TIME RADIO
FAVORITES
OVER 13,000 BROADCASTS!
They're now available on LP record,
cassette, 8-track cartridge and reel-
to-reel to help you relive (or perhaps
experience for the first time) the
fun, the flavor, the wit and the side-
splitting comedy of old time radio.
. . . But there's more: Mystery, Kid-
Adventure and Big Band favorites,
too, including household names like
"The Green Hornet," "The Shadow,"
"Jack Armstrong," Tommy Dorsey and
many more. Send for our FREE LP
isting hundreds
of original
broadcasts.
No obligation,
of course.
Write:
yESTccycAR
1 Box H-102 I
■\CROTONON-HUDSON, NEW YORK 10520 f*
and FREE cata
Kamala ate by lapping at
food set on the ground.
present tense, is not afraid to tell
about his intellectual and even per-
sonal hurdles as he went back in time,
trying to recapture a drama of sorts —
the confrontation between a boy, im-
mediately written off by various au-
thorities as an incurable idiot, and a
young, idealistic doctor, Jean-Marc-
Gaspard Itard. The doctor was deter-
mined to show that a boy with the
canniness and adaptiveness to survive
what was believed to be years of
forest life, was not to be dismissed
out of hand by the categorical impera-
tives, as they could be called, of a
given and prevailing classificatory
system. Eventually the "boy" (he
died at forty) lost his animallike be-
havior, although he only learned a
word or two. Eventually, too, Itard 's
enthusiasm and hopefulness waned.
The wild boy became tame, died,
leaving behind a chain of arguments
about the level of his intelligence, the
value of the rehabilitative efforts
made with him, and again and
always, the ifs. Perhaps a modern-
day Itard could have done more. Per-
haps intelligence of the kind the boy
possessed is not the kind of intelli-
gence our tests measure (and there are
millions who, in a way, share his fate,
struggling in the jungles of our ghet-
toes and called by various experts
"uneducable" or worse). One
wonders how that loving, warm, al-
most infinitely accepting Mrs. Singh,
with her massages and exquisite ten-
derness, would have done with the
wild boy.
In any event, it will not do to ro-
manticize him or to construct ambi-
tious theories based on feral children;
they are too few, and each is in many
ways idiosyncratic, both as to experi-
ence before and after capture. But
books such as these two, directed
toward an examination of concrete,
particular events (hence, in the broad-
est sense, clinical in orientation) pro-
vide interesting, speculative nourish-
ment for all of us who continue to
wonder what it is that sets off man
from the others who live on this earth,
those who, although they possess an
assortment of capabilities, do not
wonder, self-consciously, about us —
the "civilized" ones — whose vast
knowledge may destroy all life, in-
cluding any feral children around and
a lot of wild animals, too.
Robert Coles is research psychiatrist
for the Harvard University Health
Services. At present, he is writing the
fourth and fifth volumes of his Pulitzer
Prize-winning Children of Crisis.
94
idia IS not for you
if yojwant the monuments ^
but not the%arketplac(
India is more than tine Taj Mahal. More than our 5,000-year-
old legacy of art and architecture.
So don't come only to view the treasures of Delhi, Bombay,
Jaipur, Agra, Udaipur, Ajanta, and Mysore; come also to glimpse
the way we live our lives.
Shop with us in our marketplaces. Join us in ourfestivals.
Talk to us in our tea shops (yes, in English). Come to our homes
and share our curries.
You'll see. If you let yourself get to know us, India will repay
you more than any land on earth.
Incidentally, the trip can be economical. Everything
costs less here.
India
^*:|c*^*:ic*:ic*:ic«:ic'*:ic*:ic*:ic*:ic*:|c*:ic*:ic*^
"?»-
-!<
An Edible Weed
by Robert H. Mohlenbrock
The scourge of the well-kept
lawn is a boon to the
salad bowl
The June, 1917, issue of The La-
dies Home Journal carried an article
entitled "In These Days of High
Prices: Foods That Cost Us Noth-
ing." Such an article would still be
appropriate today , when thousands of
Americans are experimenting with
and using wild foods in their diet.
That early writer included a recipe for
dandelion soup, emphasizing that be-
cause of its weedy nature, the com-
mon dandelion was available to
nearly everyone. And not only is the
dandelion easily obtained, it is one of
the most healthful foods available.
Dandelions have been eaten for
centuries, both by volition and as a
means of survival. American Indians
have relied on the dandelion as a
source of food and medicine, refer-
ring to it as "strong root." Thomas
Green, in his work Universal Herbal,
published in 1823, gave several uses
for the dandelion. He also reported
that the citizens of the island of Min-
orca, east of Spain, once remained
alive by eating dandelions (known lo-
cally as camarojas) after a swarm of
locusts had destroyed all other vege-
tation on the island. During the nine-
teenth century, the growing and con-
suming of dandelions were practiced
widely in Europe and America. Louis
Noisette, in his Manuel du Jardinier
(1829) gave directions for growing
dandelions. (Scarcely anyone today
needs help in getting dandelions to
grow!) And in 1846, the Gardeners'
Chronicle of London extolled the vir-
tues of the dandelion as an edible
plant.
In 1871, Fearing Burr exhibited
four varieties of dandelions at the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society:
the French large-leaved, the French
thick-leaved, the red-seeded, and the
American improved. By 1879,
French horticulturists were listing
five varieties in their catalogs. For
n; Bruce Coleman, Inc.
some, dandelions became a business.
A Mr. Corey, of Brookline, Massa-
chusetts, was reported by The Massa-
chusetts Horticulture Society Trans-
actions of 1884 to be growing dan-
delions from seed for the Boston
market.
There are several kinds of dande-
lions distributed throughout the tem-
perate regions of the world. The most
widespread of these , and the one most
commonly used for food and drink,
is the common dandelion. Taraxa-
cum officinale. Other dandelions have
similar culinary properties, particu-
larly the red-seeded dandelion.
The dandelion belongs to the huge ,
diverse family of flowering plants
known as the Compositae, a family
that includes such other well-known
groups as aster, sunflower, golden-
rod, and ragweed. The plant is a pe-
rennial that produces a long, brown-
ish taproot that may penetrate to a
depth of nearly one foot. The very
short stem produces a rosette of
leaves spread symmetrically around
the plant's center. The leaves are gen-
erally broadest near the top. tapered
toward the base, and coarsely toothed
along the margins. The large, jagged
teeth caused some early Frenchman
to refer to the plant as dent-de-lion,
or "lion's tooth," a name that, with
a little alteration, has become univer-
sal. From the center of the rosette of
leaves, a single flower-bearing stem,
or scape, rises. Hollow throughout,
the scape contains a milky sap, or
latex.
Dandelions flower mostly during
the spring and summer months. The
yellow-flowered head, which may at-
tain a diameter of two inches, is actu-
ally a cluster of many individual
flowers, each represented by a strap-
shaped ray. The familiar globose,
fruiting cluster develops from the yel-
low flower head. Each individual yel-
low-green fruit in the head has an
elongated beak terminating in a clus-
ter of delicate white hairs. These
hairs, which serve as a parachute, en-
able the fruit to be wind-dispersed.
Nearly every part of the dandelion
is edible. The roots can be baked,
ground, and used as a substitute for,
or an adulterant of, cottee. The flow-
ers are used to make dandelion wine.
Even the tin\ fruits are said to have
enough nutritive value to be used as
a survival food. But it is the leaves
that provide for most of the delicacies
for the palate. Not only do properly
prepared dandelion greens taste
good, but they are among the most
nutritious of all vegetables, wild or
cultivated. Data on the most widely
used wild and cultivated green vege-
tables reveal the dandelion ranks first
in vitamin A. vitamin B. carbohy-
drates, and food energy (calories per
100 grams), and third in proteins, cal-
cium, and phosphorus.
Before use, the leaves should be
washed twice in cold water and al-
lowed to drain. If not used immedi-
ately, they may be stored in the refrig-
erator. (Do not collect dandelion
leaves that may have been subjected
to the herbicide 2,4-D.) Blanching of
the leaves removes much of the bitter-
ness, and a good way to obtain
blanched leaves is to cover the young
dandelion plants with a layer of
straw. The very young leaves can be
eaten uncooked in salads. A special
recipe that my wife has developed is
wilted dandelions.
Wilted Dandelions
1 teaspoon salt
V4 teaspoon pepper
Vi teaspoon dry mustard
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon dry, minced onion
1 tablespoon salad oil
Vs cup vinegar
% cup water
Dandelion greens, washed and
chilled
Bacon or ham pieces, fried and
drained
1. Tear dandelion greens into bite-
sized pieces and place in a large
salad bowl.
2. Mix first eight ingredients and
pour over greens.
97
3 . Toss the bacon or ham pieces with
the greens and serve.
Dandelion leaves also make a deli-
cious potherb. They are prepared in
about the same way as spinach.
Unless blanched or very young leaves
are used, it is wise to boil them in two
or three changes of water to remove
any bitterness. Care should be taken
not to overboil the greens, however,
or much of the nutrient value will be
lost. Although there are several deli-
cious ways to use dandelion as a pot-
herb, here is one of my favorites.
Dandelion Casserole with
Mushrooms
PA pounds dandelion leaves,
chopped
V2 pound mushrooms, washed and
dried
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry, minced onion, mixed
with 1 teaspoon water
2 tablespoons melted butter or marga-
rine
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup grated American cheese
Garlic salt
1 . Boil and drain chopped dandelion
leaves twice (add % teaspoon salt
the second time), and season with
salt, onion, and butter (or marga-
rine).
2. Slice off mushroom stems and
Bruce Coleman. I
saute both caps and stems in butter
for several minutes until browned.
3. Line a flat, 8- by 8-inch baking
dish with the cooked, seasoned
dandelion greens.
4. Arrange mushroom caps and
stems over the greens and sprinkle
with garlic salt.
5 . Prepare sauce by bringing milk to
a simmer and adding freshly
grated cheese. Cook for 2 to 3
minutes, then let stand for about
5 minutes. Carefully spoon sauce
over ingredients in baking dish.
6. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
Although human consumption is
an important use for the dandelion,
several other virtues are known.
Deer, rabbits, and other wildlife use
the dandelion for forage. Dandelion
leaves are said to be used as food by
silkworms when mulberry leaves are
not available. And the roots of a Rus-
sian species produce latex that has
been used commercially in the USSR
since about 1931. Although several
medicinal properties are also attrib-
uted to the dandelion — from a cure
for dyspepsia to one for a torpid
liver — I will not prescribe any medic-
inal use for dandelion for fear of
being accused of malpractice.
Robert H. Mohlenbrock is depart-
ment chairman and professor of bot-
any at Southern Illinois University.
MEDICAL DOCTOR AVAILABLE JULY 1976 fo
travel related employment or as traveling comi
panion. Michael Conley. 1634 Laloma, Berkeleyil
CA 94709 I
Art f
SANIBEL/CAPTIVA CONSERVATION POSTERSl
Three 18x24 Duotone prints — Collectors Special!
1974 Pelican, 1975 Snowy Egret, 1976 Greai
Egret. $10 plus $1 handling. Sanibel/Captivc
Conservation Publishers, Box 25-NH, Sanibel, Ft
33957
WILD ANIMAL PORTRAITS by Earl MacPherson
$1.95 art book postpaid: P O. Box 381, Prescott'
AZ 86301
Bookplates
FREE CATALOG— Scores of beautiful designs
Imprinting and special designing. ANTIOCF
BOOKPLATE Co., Box 280, Yellow Springs, Oh
45387
Books
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 90 DAYS Wanted; bool-
manuscripts on all subjects. Expert editing, de-
sign, manufacture and marketing — all under one
roof. Completed books in 90 days. Low break-
even. Two FREE books and literature give details
costs, success stories Write or phone Dept. 779.
Exposition Press, Inc., 900 So. Oyster Bay Rd.
Hicksville, NY 11801 (516) 822-5700 i
PUBLISH YOUR POEMS— Our Guide tells'
how/where. $2.50. LYF-G, Box 1872, Milwaukee.'
Wl 53201
TRIVIA DISPATCH. Watch this fascinating monthly
journal become your favorite publication. Includes
TRIVIAQUIZ. $4 00/yr. MRM Associates, Box 763-
N. Salem, NH 03079
Business Opportunities
$300.00 WEEKLY POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes.
Free supplies. Details, stamped envelope. ISCO,
5252 Auburn Dr., San Diego, CA 92105
$800.00 MONTHLY POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes.
Free supplies. Rush stamped envelope. United,
SSSS'/z Van Dyke, San Diego, CA 92105
Camps
BIRD BANDING, STAR GAZING, CANOE TRIP-
PING. Natural science in Canada for boys and
girls Camp Blue Heron, 1414 Bryn Mawr, Dayton,
OH 45406
Crafts
UNIQUE DRIFTWOOD KITS: Mobiles $5.00, Col-
lages 12" by 14", $7.50. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Driftwood Ideas. 335 Spruce Drive, Brookings, OR
97415
Employment
TEACHERS-ADMINISTRATORS. Current school,
college openings list: U.S., $5.95; abroad, $5.95.
Leading placement sources, U.S., $3.95; foreign,
$4.95. EIS, Box 662, Nevtfton, MA 02162
Foreign Newspapers
WORLDWIDE ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS. 65 coun-
tries! Sampler: Eight countries— $3.98. FREE
BROCHURE. MULTINEWSPAPERS, Box DE-20,
Dana Point, CA 92629
Gourmet Interests
TEA DEVOTEES savor world's rarest select teas.
Free brochure. Grace Tea Importers, Dept NH 46.
799 Broadway, NYC 10003
Greenhouses
GREENHOUSES AND ACCESSORIES! Complete
Heating, Cooling, Ventilating Systems and other
accessories. FREE catalog. Environmental Dy-
namics, 3010-HDG Vine, Riverside, CA 92507
Hobbles
50 GORGEOUS JUNGLE BUTTERFLIES $3,50, 15
Beetles Worldwide $3.25. 30 Seashells $1,95 18
Minerals $2,25, Giant Nature Hobbies Bargain
List, Collectors' Wonderland, Department 30, Box
1170, NYC 10008
Instruction
CHECK YOUR HEART! For fun and enjoyment!
Hear actual reproduced tieart sounds with expla-
nations, then listen to your own heart, or hearts
of family and friends, IVIedicai cassette recording,
plus stethoscope and cardiac diagram, teaches
how to listen. Learn use of stethoscope, normal
and abnormal heart sounds, function, anatomy,
blood How, and many absorbing details Listen
knowingly! Fascinating! Instructive! Entertaining!
For all ages. Order HEART-CHECK KIT $12 95
Guaranteed, Stratford Medical Department NH16,
10851 Thorley, Santa Ana, CA 92705
TICKLE THE IVORIES, Play chord piano lirsl hour'
Leading teacher magazines praise patented
(1973) system. Box 751-A, LaCanada, CA 91011
Magazines
BACK ISSUE MAGAZINES, Over 200 titles, 1890
to 1976. Send stamped envelope. Free List. Ev-
erybody's Bookshop Dept. N., 317 West 6th, Los
Angeles, CA 90014
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS, 1888-1976, Any
issue, maps, send wants. Buxbaum Geographies,
Box 465-NH, Wilmington, DE 19899
Motion Pictures
16MM SOUND FEATURES, shorts, new, used, for
sale. Free catalog. National Cinema, 333 W 57th
St., New York, NY 10019
Music Instruction
LEARN TO PLAY THE RECORDER Free Catalog:
Recorders, Recorder Music. Beginner's wooden
recorder, instruction Book, $13 95 Amster Re-
corder Company, 1624 Lavaca, Austin, TX 78701
Photography
BASIC AND ADVANCED WORKSHOPS in pho-
tography for archaeologists, professionals and
amateurs. One to three-week programs Maine
Photographic Workshops, Rockport, ME 04856
Real Estate
CANADIAN ACRES for recreation, retirement, in-
vestment $10 down gives immediate possession.
$20 monthly. Total price $1700.00. CANADIAN
LAKESHORE ESTATES, Dept. NH, 16 Bath Road,
Kingston, Ontario, K7L 1H4
SPECIAL LOT AND ACREAGE CATALOGUE:
Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, etc. — $4,00. (To
Fellow Realtors: Free). Florida Landowners Serv-
ice Bureau, Appraisers-Realtors, P. 0. Box
611238, North Miami, FL 33161
Schools
HABITAT INSTITUTE FOR THE ENVIRON-
MENT— Internships in environmental education
and problem solving. Scholarships available. Box
136. Belmont, MA 02178. (617) 489-3850
PARIS AMERICAN ACADEMY: School of Fine and
Performing Arts and Languages. Now enrollment
for: summer in France, July 1 : Academic year,
October 1. Write: 9 Rue Ursulines, Paris 5, France
Sea Shells
ILLUSTRATED SEASHELL CATALOG. 399 items,
beginners to malacologists, $2.00. Benjane Arts,
320 Hempstead Avenue. West Hempstead. NY
11552. Come Visit!
Sports Equipment
FREE CATALOG, WILDERNESS GEAR, CLOTH-
ING, Books Moor & Mountain D28, 63 Park Street,
Andover, MA 01810
^¥\E> TV[ARKET_
Stamps
ANIMALS OR BIRDS ON STAMPS. 25 ditlereni
30e, plus list of Topical Collections GEORGE
FORD, Box 5203-N, Gullport, FL 33737
Travel
ADIRONDACK LODGES on Upper Saranac.
available by half-month or month July through
September, Bartlelt Carry Club, Rural Route, Tup-
per Lake, NY 12986
AUDUBON INSTITUTE OF DESERT ECOLOGY
Held studies in the Sonoran Desert: university
credit available, early May, early August pro-
grams Wnte: Brochure. Tucson Audubon Society,
3651 West Redwing. Tucson. AZ 85704
CRUISE HOLLAND-BELGIUM Charter Dutch
skippered barge Private quarters lor six Cailas.
631 North San Pedro, San Rafael. CA 94903
ESCAPE TO THE WILDS OF WYOMING Vacation
high in the Bighorn National Forest Wnte Spear-
O-Wigwam Ranch. P.O Box 1081, Sheridan, WY
82801 (307)674-4496
FRONTIER TOUR'S BAJA CALIFORNIA SAFARIS
Sea of Corlez Island Bird Photography April,
September Pacific Lagoon Summer 10 Outdoor
Itineraries "Baia Brochure." Cortez Travel, 117
Lomas Sanlafe, Solana Beach, CA 92075
NEW MEXICO, Guided wildllower-birding tours
Photography blind Bear Mountain Ranch, Silver
City, NM 88061, (505)538-2538
ROAM THE WORLD BY FREIGHTER! Deluxe Ac-
commodations Cheaper than staying home'
TravLtips, 163-09NHA Depot, Flushing, NY 11358
ST, JOHN, VIRGIN ISLANDS Rent our two bed-
room, beachfront house Attractively furnished
spectacular view $400/week m season: $350 out
Write: Seascape, Box 331B, Medina, OH 44256
SOUTHAMPTON EDUCATION-VACATION PACK-
AGE, Beautiful, seaside Southampton College of
LIU, in the resort Hamptons, combines marine
science, ecology, biochemistry, geology, environ-
ment seminars, archeological digs with tennis, sail-
ing, swimming, crafts workshops, day camps,
glorious beaches. Inexpensive room and board for
individuals or tamiiies Wnle Ms Carol Ullong
Southampton College, Southampton. NY 11968
(516)283-4000 ext 213
SOUTHWEST SAFARIS Air tours o( New Mexico
Colorado Utah and Arizona Camipmg hik.ng
riding, raiting Geology, archaeology ecology,
history Brochure P O Box 945, Santa Fe NM
87501
TRAVEL MAPS TO ALMOST ANYWHERE' 3000
map catalog $5 95 Send check to Travel Centers
of the World P 0 Box 1673, Hollywood, CA
90028
YUKON WILDERNESS UNLIMITED 11 years of
personally conducted wilderness vacations Write
lor 1976 Itinerary John Lammefs. Box 4126,
Whitehorse, Y1A3S9 Yukon
Tropical Fish and Supplies
FREE TROPICAL FISH CATALOG Fish, plants.
500 Items Mail 25c lor postage FISH. Ortonville.
Ml 48462
RATES AND STYLE INFORMATION
Si 50 per word; 16 word (S24) minimum Display
classilied is Si 50 per inch Rates are not structured
for agency and frequency discounts or billing All
advertisements are accepted at NATURAL HIS-
TORY'S discretion; all must be prepaid Send
check/money order payable to NATURAL HIS-
TORY lor each insertion, including your personal
address and telephone Mention issue preferred,
suggested heading, and text Deadlines — 8th of
month, two months prior to cover date Thus, a
January issue closes November 8 A tearsheel or
copy of the page with your ad will be sent upon
publication
Box numbers, telephone numbers, and hyphen-
ated words count as two words, abbreviations and
iip codes as one word each. All states are shown
in two-letter codes followed by zip. then telephone
(with area code), it any. An address such as 18
Main St" counts as three words Occasionally,
slight editing for clanty is required. We trust you trust
us. Thank you!
99
The ultimate Bicentennial gift.
200-million-year old
DINOSAUR
FOOTPRINTS!
Authentic footprints of ttie first
American Dinosaurs, legally quarried
from the Triassic Red Sandstone of
the Connecticut River Valley of
Massachusetts. All footprints are
identified as to Genus, lightly lac-
quered and outlined in white crayon.
• Single footprint, 4" to 5", on sand-
stone slab averaging 4" x 6" or more — $35.
• Select, museum-quality footprint — $50.
• Slab witti 2 or more footprints — $75.
(Lucite display easel for above slabs — $4.)
• A limited number of superb large
slabs witfi 5 to 10 footprints are
available at $200 eacfi.
(Add 5% for postage and riandling.
Include applicable sales taxes.
Satisfaction guaranteed.)
FOR IVIANY IVIORE EXCITING GIFTS
FROIVI AfVIERICA'S TREASURE HOUSE
OF NATURAL HISTORY- SEASHELLS
CORAL, BUTTERFLIES, FOSSILS, fVIIN-
ERALS- VISIT OUR STORE OR SEND
50C FOR OUR FULL-COLOR CATALOG.
COLLECTOR'S CABINET
Dept. NH, 1000 Madison Ave.
(at 77th St.) New York, N.Y. 10021
Open Mon.-Sat. 10 to 6
Branches nationwide
write for tfie store nearest you. t
\^^ (Franctiise information available.) >/
_^-
snare me Thrills
oiExpioriRgf
outer space;
All BYNASCOPES,
includinc tliis
superU RV-6, G-incli
available
on easy terms!
Now it's easy to join ttie thousands of serious
ainateiirs who have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rewards go on for years! And
it's a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Choose From Many DYNASCOPES'^
Picking a telescope to fit your needs and your
pocketbook is simple when you select a
DYNASCOPE-the same instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories—and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable facts be-
fore buying any telescope. Mail
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterion Manufacturing Co.
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
® TM Registered U.S. Pat. Office
CRITERION MANUFACTURING CO., Dept NH-67
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Name
Address
City State_
Announcements
The Alvin Ailey Repertory
Workshop will present a one-hour
program in the Auditorium of The
American Museum of Natural His-
tory on Sunday, April 11, at 2:00
P.M. Excerpts from "Revelations"
will be included.
Trout Flies opens April 1 in the
Roosevelt Memorial Hall, 2nd floor
of the Museum. This extraordinary
collection combines historic and con-
temporary examples of the flytiers art
with paintings, photographs, etch-
ings, and three-dimensional trout.
The Museum Showcase features a
framed collection of flies by Frederic
M. Halford, the historian of the dry
fly; flies by Theodore Gordon, the fa-
ther of American fly tying; contem-
porary flies depicting nymphs and wet
flies by Ted Niemeyer; studies of the
material used by flytiers; and a video-
tape of fly tying. Fly tying demon-
strations are planned for the first two
weeks.
Beginning April 20, Farida Wiley
will conduct Field Walks in Natural
Sciences to study bird migration. All-
day weekend trips to various habitats
for the study of birds, other animals,
and plants will start on April 24. For
details, call (212) 873-1300, Ext.
345, weekdays only, between 9:00
and 11 :30 a.m. or 1:00 and 4:00 P.M.
The Department of Education's
African-American Studies Group
will present the African Lecture
Series — three lectures dealing with
Africa and people of African descent.
The first will be held in the Museum's
Auditorium on Wednesday, April 28,
at 7:30 P.M.
Reservations are still being ac-
cepted for the East African Geologi-
cal Safari in August. Visits will be
made to the major game parks and
reserves in Kenya and Tanzania, as
well as to mines, volcanoes, the
famed Rift Valley, and other sites of
geologic significance off the beaten
track. A day will be spent in the com-
pany of Dr. Mary Leakey at Olduvai
Gorge. Christopher J. Schuberth, lec-
turer in geology at the Museum and
adjunct professor of geology at the
City University of New York, will
conduct the tour. For a descriptive
brochure, write or call the Museum's
Department of Education (212) 873-
7507.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the
Museum, "The Final Frontier" con-
tinues through April 5. This Sky
Show takes us on a futuristic voyage
to the outer reaches of space aboard
the nuclear-propelled spacecraft Era-
tosthenes. A new Sky Show,
' 'Things That Go Beep in the Night, ' '
begins April 7 . The invention of radio
astronomy in the 1930s opened a new
window to the universe, enabling
astronomers to "listen in" on distant
galaxies, exploding stars, pulsating
stars, quasars, and black holes.
Shows begin at 2:00 p.m. and 3:30
P.M. on weekdays, with more fre-
quent showings on weekends. Ad-
mission is $2.35 for adults; $1.35 for
children.
Eco-Visions — An environmental
film series presented by the Environ-
mental Information Center of the Mu-
seum, can be seen from 1:30 to 3:00
P.M. on Thursday afternoons in the
Education Hall, and at 2:00 and 3:00
P.M. on Saturdays in the People
Center. This series will continue
through April and May. For details
on film subjects call 873-1300, Ext.
527, from 10:30 a.m. to noon Tues-
day through Friday.
X
.-^^^
The Silver Martini.
For people who want a silver lining
without the cloud.
Smirnoff Silver
Ninety point four proof. Smirnoff leaves you breathless®
ALUXURYSEDAN BASED ON THE BEUEF
THATALLOFTHE RICH ARE NOT IDLE.
Since the time of the
Caesars, the inspiration for
the carriages of the gentry
has been the blatant,
unbridled, unabashed pur-
suit of opulence.
Opulence often to the
exclusion of all else: per-
formance, efficiency, engi-
neering intelligence
Even today one sees
occasional evidence of this
misguided sense of priorities
—this basic misunderstand-
ing of what it is that consti-
tutes true luxury.
Opera windows that
obscure vision. Mammoth
engines pulling mammoth
cars. Interiors fashioned
morealongthelinesof a
Persian Pleasure Palace
than a serious driving
machine. Cars made pri-
marily for sitting.
At the Bavarian
MotorWorks it has
always been our conten-
tion that a car ought to
be made primarily for
driving.That when all is
said and done, extraor-
dinary performance is
the only thing that
makes an expensive car
worth the money.
And, in this age of
automotive enlighten-
ment, we believe our
time has come.
POWER TO SAT-
ISFY EVEN THE MOST
POWER HUNGRY.
Beneath the hood
of the BMW 5301 is a
singularly
responsive 3-liter, fuel-
injected engine that has been
called by no less an authority
than Road & Track magazine
"... the most ref i ned i n-l i ne
six in the world."
Patented triple-hemi-
spheric, swirl-action com-
bustion chambers develop
remarkable power from
relatively small
displacement.
And seven main
bearings and twelve
crankshaft counter-bal-
ance weights give the
whole operation a tur-
bine-like smoothness
that never ceases to
astound even the experts.
THE MAN WHO
CONTROLS CORPORA-
TIONS OUGHT TO BE
ABLE TO CONTROL HIS
OWN CAR.
If you're accus-
tomed to the leaning and
sway i ng one experiences
in the conventional lux-
ury sedan, you will
thoroughly appreciate
the uncanny road hold-
The700Ft Slalom Test, designed
by Road & Track magazi ne to
measure lane changing capabilities.
BMW ran thecourse at a remarkable
51.6 mph.
mg capabilities
ofthe BMW 5301.
Road holding—driver
control — is largely a func-
tion of a car's suspension
system.
And, to be a bit blunt,
BMW gives you a superior
suspension system. Instead
of the "solid-rear-axle" sys-
tems found in all domestic—
and many foreign— sedans,
the BMW suspension is fully
Results of ttie Motor Trend "200 Ft.
CircleTest" clearly illustrate the
superior road holding abilities of the
BMW At .82g BMW was still on the
road, other makes were not.
independent on all four
wheels.
And this, combined with
a multi-jointed rear axle,
allows each wheel to adapt
itself independently to every
driving and road condition —
with a smoothness and preci-
sion that will spoil you for
any other car.
A DECIDED LACK OF
OPERA Wl NDOW OPULENCE.
While inside, the BMW
5301 features as long a list of
luxury items as one could
sanely require of an automo-
bile, its luxury is purpose-
". . . no detectable sign of (brake) fade.
The more and harder they're used, the
stronger they seem to get. "The editors of
Motor Trend sum up the results of their
rigorous multiple-stop brake test,
fully engineered to perform a
very significant function:
help prevent driver fatigue.
All seats have an ortho-
pedically molded shape.
Individual seats are adjust-
able forward and back— with
variable-angle seat back and
cushion supports.
All instruments are
clearly visible; all controls
are readily accessible.
For many serious
drivers in all parts of the
world, the BMW 530i has
redefined the meaning of the
word "luxury" to encompass
something more than a thin
veneer of brocade and
chrome.
If you'd care to judge for
yourself, we urge you to
phone your BMW ^«fe>.
dealer and arrange ^8p^
to take a thorough m^^M
test drive. ^^Sf
The uhimufe driving machine.
Bavarian MotorWorks.Munich, Germany. I
, or for further information, you may call us anytime, toll-free, at 800-243-6006 {Conn, 1-800-882-6500). Fog lamps, dealer mstaiied option.
NATURAL HISTORY
MAY 1976* $1.25
•^■'
4'.
W^
^
^' >. '^
r
o
o
0)
■^■■?^p^ "''■?
o
=T^ '^^
4?
ts %>
^lill'
(fj
WATERFORDILLUMIN^ES.
NATURAL HISTORY
IntoijxirMm^ Sciliirc Muffurjrw
Vol. LXXXV. No. 5
May 1976
The American Museum of Salurat History
Robert G. Goelet. President
Thomas D. Nicholson. Director
Alan Ternes. Editor
Thomas Page, Designer
Board of Editors:
' Sally Lindsay, Frederick Harlmann,
Christopher Hallowell, Toni Gerher
Carol Breslin, Book Reviews Editor
Florence G. Edelstein. Copy Chief
Gordon Beckhorn. Copy Editor
Angela Soccodalo. Art Asst.
Diane Pierson. Editorial Asst.
Lillian Berger
Rosamond Dana, Publications Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dean Amadon, Dorothy E. Bliss,
Mark Chartrand, Niles Eldredge,
Vincent Manson, Margaret Mead,
Thomas D. Nicholson, Gerard Piel,
Richard G. Van Gelder
David D. Ryus, Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly, Business Manager
Sue Severn, Production Manager
Ernestine Weindor), Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe, Business Asst.
Yung-mei Tang
Ann Brown, Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez. Asst.
Joan Mahoney
Harriet Walsh
Publication Office: Tl\e American Museum
of Natural History, Central Park West
at 79tlt Street. New York. N. Y. 10024.
Published tnonthly. October through Mav:
bimonthly June to Septetnber.
Subscriptions: $10.00 a year. In Canada
and all other countries: $12.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at
New York, N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1976 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be
reproduced without written consent of
_NaIural Hislory. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American Museum.
Natural History incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History.
420 Lexington Avenue,
New York, N. Y. 10017
Telephone: (212) 686-1234
Change of address notices, undeliverable
copies, orders for subscriptions,
and other mail items are to be sent to
Natural History
Membership Services, Box 6000
Des Moines, Iowa S0340
12
24
30
38
46
54
_ 60
62
68
76
80
82
84
Cover:
2 Authors
A Naturalist at Large Richard .\l Klein
Maypoles and Earth Mothers
This View of Life Stephen Jay Gould
Biological Potential vs. Biological Determinism
Energy Crisis of the Hummingbird William A. Calder III
For the sinallesi birds in the world, the ne.xt meal is often crucial in the
balance between life and death.
Earthquake Hazards in the Mountains Kenneth Hewitt
The tolls of death aiul destruction get higher and higher.
A Pocketful of Crystals Vincent D. .\hin.u>n
Photographs by Henry Janson
Visual proof that a subject can be both beautiful and profoutid.
City Snakes, Suburban Salamanders Frederick C. Schlauch
The growth of megalopolis has been hard on most reptiles, but a few have
found a new niche for themselves.
Cerebral Clues Leonard Radinsky
Illustrations by Douglas Cramer
Fossil braincases reveal behavioral changes of some animals — millions of
years ago.
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
Sky Reporter Stephen P. Maran
Exploding Stars
A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokolov
An Early Riser
Book Review Alan Walker
The Hunter Hunted
The Market
Additional Reading
Announcements
Crystalline sulfur, from Girgettti, Sicily, shows the variation possible
in the external appearance of this mineral. The specimen on the cover
(2" wide X 3" high x 3" deep), as well as the tninerals illustrated in
the story on page 38, will be on display in the new Hall of Minerals and
Gems of The American Museum of Natural History, opening on May 21.
Photograph by Henry Janson.
Authors
Several years ago, William A.
Calder III was standing under a tree
in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, when a
calliope hummingbird flew to its nest
in the branches above. Calder won-
dered how the tiny bird maintained its
body temperature during the freezing
nights. His curiosity led to his present
research on hummingbird thermoreg-
ulation. For the past seven years,
Calder, who teaches zoology at the
University of Arizona, has studied
the way an animal's body size influ-
ences its physiology and habitat re-
quirements {see "There Really is a
Roadrunner,'' Natural History, April
1968). The work, which involves the
use of recording equipment, is often
frustrating because of frequent me-
chanical breakdowns. A calming ef-
fect, Calder finds, is to strum classical
or ragtime music on a mandolin he
always takes with him into the field.
Born and educated in England,
Kenneth Hewitt first visited the
mountainous Indus Kohistan region
of Pakistan in 1961 as a consultant on
the natural hazards that affect water
development. He returned last year to
study the effects on that precarious
environment of the 1974 earthquake.
He has done disaster appraisal for the
Canadian Emergency Measures Or-
ganization and has served as an ad-
viser to UNESCO's Disaster Division
and its Man and Biosphere Program.
Hewitt taught at the University of
Toronto for seven years before com-
ing to the Department of Human
Ecology at Cook College, Rutgers
University, in 1973.
Editor of the publications of the
Northeastern Field Naturalists' Soci-
ety, Fredericli C. Schlauch con-
ducted research on the reptiles of his
native Long Island long before he i
began formal university study. At|
present a graduate student in the ecol- j
ogy program at Rutgers University, '
Schlauch received his B . S . from Cor-
nell University. In addition to his
work on the effects of urbanization on
Long Island's amphibians and rep-
tiles, he is also pursuing studies on
the plant communities of the endan-
gered Long Island Pine Barrens and
on the general biogeography of the
Atlantic Coastal Plain of northeastern
United States.
Leonard Radinsky traces his in-
terest in brain evolution to the chance
reading of a journal article in which
he learned that the raccoon's brain
anatomy reflects its sensitive hands.
Realizing that brain mapping could
be used to indicate the specialized be-
haviors of extinct animals, he has
made and studied nearly a thousand
casts of the braincases of living and
fossil species. A vertebrate paleontol-
ogist in the Department of Anatomy
at the University of Chicago, Ra-
dinsky hopes to explore the fossil
record of ungulate and carnivore
brains to learn how changes in one
group afi'ected the other. Douglas
Cramer, whose drawings accom-
pany Radinsky's article, teaches
physical anthropology at Rutgers
University, anatomy at New York
University Medical School, and is a
medical and biological illustrator.
You can lose yourself
with an electronic Minolta.
An electronic Minolta makes it easy to
capture the pictures that are everywhere.
Its unique shutter responds instantly
and automatically to the most subtle changes
in light. So instead of worrying about
exposure accuracy, you can concentrate on
the picture.
The total information viewfinder gives
you total creative control. Whether the camera
is setting itself automatically or you're
making all the adjustments, the finder shows
exactly what's happening. You never lose sight
of even the fastest moving subject.
A choice of models lets you select an
electronic Minolta reflex that fills yourneeds.
And fits your budget. Each accepts the
complete system of interchangeable Rokkor-X
and Celtic lenses, ranging from "fisheye"
wide-angle to super-telephoto.
Five years from now, all fine 35mm
reflexcameras will offer the innovations these
electronic Minoltas give you today. See them
at your photo dealer or write for information to
Minolta Corporation,
101 Williams Drive,
Ramsey, New Jersey
07446. In Canada:
AnglophotoLtd., P.Q.
Minolta
Until July 31, 1976, Minolta is offering big cash rebates on
accessory lenses and electronic 35mm SLR cameras. See your dealer for details.
A Naturalist at Large
by Richard M. Klein
Maypoles and Earth Mothers
Our innocent rites
of spring have ancient
and carnal antecedents
On the first of May, the might of
the Soviet army is paraded through
Red Square in Moscow, and union
leaders in other industriahzed nations
extol the grandeur and nobility of the
working man and woman. Until at
least partway through this century,
yet another ceremony marked the day
in many countries: the Maypole
dance, in which young girls crowned
with flowers and wearing frilly
dresses danced around a tall pole
hung with ribbons. The Maypole
dance was a happy, innocent amuse-
ment, a symbol of joy in spring's ar-
rival, as evidenced by a softness in
the air, delicate light-green leaves,
and the blooming of flowers . Few rec-
ognize that the Maypole and its dance
are among the oldest and most sexual
of public ceremonies.
A search for the origin of the
Maypole tradition starts in the Fertile
Crescent, the historic region that has
now become the troubled Middle
East. The crescent includes parts of
today's Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jor-
dan, Iraq, and Iran. In spite of dif-
ferences in the cultures of the tribes
that lived there four to six millennia
ago, those ancient peoples had sev-
eral things in common, among which
was an Earth Mother goddess and a
tree sacred to her.
In many cultures, trees were con-
sidered the place where man origi-
nated and a particular species of tree
was accordingly the abode of a god.
It was to the Earth Mother, whatever
her local tribal name, that the tribes-
people prayed for good crops and for
impregnation of the women and the
herds. And it was to her that pleas for
intercession with the male gods part-
nered with her were made for rain,
gentle breezes, and pure, everflowing
springs. The fructification of the
Earth Mother was another duty of the
principal male god, for if the goddess
was with child, it was believed that
the fields, the women, and the ewes
would also be fruitful. When the
Earth Mother was pregnant, the man-
ifestation of her divine powers was
demonsfi-ated by the seeming resur-
rection of the trees , barren throughout
the long dry season. The faith of indi-
viduals, as well as tribes, rested in
some measure on the cyclical recur-
rence of these manifestations.
But such miracles could not be left
to mere whim. Lest they forget, the
gods needed to be appeased and an-
nually reminded of their respon-
sibilities to the faithful; the people
likewise needed to be reminded of
their duty to the gods. In one such
ceremony, Cybele, an Earth Mother
of ancient Asia Minor, was symbol-
ized by a palm or cedar tree, shorn
of all but its topmost branches and
fronds, that was carried in solemn
procession to the temple and erected
there before the gaze of the multitude.
Decked with flowers, the tree was rit-
ually worshiped with dances that in-
cluded what modern comparative re-
Profits
Are For
People...
As essential as profits are to the survival of our way of life, I know/
of few subjects so universally misunderstood. And a recent
nationwide survey indicated that misconceptions about profits
are increasing. Obviously, business is not getting the message
through. The time is long overdue for some old-fashioned
plain talk.
By putting profits to work, companies build new factories,
modernize existing facilities, enable Americans to compete with
manufacturers abroad and— most critical— create jobs for our
people and opportunities for future generations. The company
that doesn't make a consistent profit year in and year out withers
and disappears, and so do the jobs of its employees.
Most experts agree that our economy will need at least $4
trillion in new capital during the next 10 years. Unless we plan
to convert to socialism— and we certainly don't want to do that—
a good part of it will have to come from corporate profits. Yet,
contrary to what most Americans think, corporate profits
have been shrinking. Today, the rate of profit by U.S. corpora-
tions is about 5% on sales, less than it was a decade ago. If
profitability continues to shrink, we can look forward to an era
of diminished economic growth and fewer jobs.
And when there is less profit to tax, our federal, state and local
governments cannot obtain the revenues needed to carry out
public programs, and the goals we have set for our society will
be seriously threatened.
Our company— Allied Chemical— is a good exarinple of profits at
work. From 1970 to 1974, we earned net profits of $436 million
and plowed back $258 million into business expansion and
job-creating activities. That's about 620 of every dollar we earn.
But this creative reinvestment of profits is only part of the story.
Businesses that are profitable provide much of the support for
public spending. During this same period, our company paid
more than $382 million in taxes. Our employees paid
taxes from their wages, and our stockholders paid taxes on
their dividends. So, profits are continually recycled for
everyone's benefit.
During the next few months we will be talking publicly about
corporate profits because we are convinced that an under-
standing of this subject by our people is vital to protect America's
quality of life. We invite you to read these messages and to
let us know how you feel about our viewpoint.
1.^-^ -^. <^'
John T. Connor
Chairman
<?
Allied. ,
Chemical
© 1976 Allied Chemical Corporation
P.O. Box 2245R, Morristown, New Jersey 07960.
ligionists refer to, without supplying
details, as orgies culminating in
blood sacrifices. Similar spring rites
involving an Earth Mother figure and
a symbolic stripped tree were ob-
served throughout the Fertile Cres-
cent and as far afield as Crete and
India.
The deities of the Fertile Crescent
were probably transported by con-
quering tribes to mainland Greece,
where their names were changed,
they were blended with the local
pantheon, and they were made more
"human," accessible, and under-
standable. Cybele, for example,
probably evolved into Artemis, the
goddess of wild animals, the hunt,
vegetation, chastity, and childbirth;
her cult involved the dancing of tree
nymphs. Although we know little
about the spring fertility rituals of
the various city-states of classical
Greece, surviving sculptures and wall
paintings indicate that the pole-
dance-orgy complex was retained
with modifications derived from
Egypt via Crete and Cyprus.
With the Roman hegemony over
the Mediterranean, regional gods and
goddesses and their functions were
largely maintained but they became
identified with the deities of the con-
querors. Rituals broadened as armies
acquired new gods in their travels,
and once again the deities' names
were changed. The Earth Mother Cy-
bele-Artemis, for instance, became
associated with the Roman goddess
Diana. Claudius, emperor during the
struggles with Hannibal about 200
B.C., chose Cybele as the official
Earth Mother and reactivated her
spring rituals, but most of the popu-
lace preferred the local goddess
Diana, huntress and protector of
women, who eased the pain of child-
birth and was supposed to be a favor-
ite of Jupiter.
The pagan spring ritual began in
Rome on the twenty-second of March
when a pine tree was cut down and
debranched by acolytes of Diana's
priests and borne to her temples by
designated tree bearers. The tree shaft
was decked with violets as the spirit-
ual manifestation of the male god
Attis — mythical consort of the Earth
Mother — and was erected with due
ceremony. The twenty-third of
March, called the Day of Blood,
started with dancing around the sym-
bolic tree shaft to the music of cyin-
bals, drums, and flutes, which be-
came wilder as evening came on.
Frenzied by the dance, and possibly
by plant hallucinogens, the partici-
pants lacerated themselves and
dripped their blood on statues of
Diana. This orgiastic dance culmi-
nated in the ritualistic, but none-
theless actual, self -emasculation of
young men wishing to become the
goddess's priests. The excised organs
were thrown at the tree to hasten the
reawakening of the earth, as in the
rituals practiced centuries before by
the followers of Artemis and Cybele.
The twenty-fifth of March was
called the Festival of Joy by the
Romans and included more dancing
and masques that foreshadowed the
contemporary Mardi Gras. The next
day was, happily, a day of rest and
was followed on the twenty-seventh
of March by a procession led by
stand-ins for Diana and her male con-
sort, the King of the Woods, who was
most often the chief priest of Diana's
sacred grove. That night the cere-
mony concluded with the ritual mat-
ing of the King of the Woods with the
goddess and a general orgy — again
never spelled out in detail.
The King of the Woods was origi-
nally the fructifying, impregnating
agent. He, too, had different names
at different times — Attis in his earli-
est manifestation, Zeus to the Greeks,
Jupiter to the Romans — and he, too,
was symbolized by a tree, frequently
a forest giant such as an oak or an ash.
In most cultures, the King of the «
Woods was figuratively slain or a •
human stand-in was literally killed at 1
the end of the mating ceremony so
that he could be reborn — resur-
rected— as a further revelation of the
rebirth of spring.
When Christianity extended its
sway outward from Rome, the spring
festival, which had spread north from
the city and westward from the Mid-
dle East, became a source of concern
to the young church, still unsure of
its sway over believers only recently
wrenched from paganism. The May-
pole was accordingly suppressed, in-
sofar as the priests could root out be-
liefs so deeply implanted in the mind.
Yet, the Dark Ages and the Middle
Ages in Europe were periods when
faith in something, in anything, was
necessary. No cautious peasant was
Polaroid's 8X70:
Half the wonder is what it does.
Half is how it does it.
FOLDING VIEWFINDER.THE
SX-70 FOLDS DOWN TO A
COMPACT l'X7'X4-.
DELUXE MODEL IN
HANDSOME CHROME
AND LEATHER,
FOCUSING WHEEL. THE
SX-70 WILL FOCUS
FROM 10.4" TO INFINITY
ELECTRIC SHUTTER
BUTTON.
HINGED MIRROR
MAKES POSSIBLE
THROUGHTHE-LENS
VIEWING.
FLASHBAR SOCKET.
SOPHISTICATED ELEC-
TRONICS SET FLASH
EXPOSURES AUTOMAT-
ICALLY AS YOU FOCUS.
LIGHTEN, DARKEN
CONTROL.
ELECTRIC EYE FOR
AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE
CONTROL.
.UNIQUE 4-ELEMENT
LENS.
MOTOR DRIVEN ROLL-
ERS PROPEL PRINT
INTO YOUR HAND.
Half the wonder of the SX-70
is in the picture itself. A brilliant
color photograph that develops
in daylight, in minutes, before
your eyes.
And half the wonder is in the
camera. It is almost completely
automated. Just focus, frame,
and press the button. It will take
the picture and hand it to you.
You can take a picture every
1.5 seconds for action sequences.
You can get close-ups from
only 10.4 inches away.
With a simple close-up attach-
ment, you can actually take a life-
size picture of the works in your
watch from 5 inches away.
The camera is driven by a
12,000 rpm electric motor. It
runs on a specially designed 6-
volt battery built into every film
pack.
The lens aperture and shutter
speed are set automatically for
correct exposures— flash, natu-
ral light, or time exposures up to
14 seconds.
This single-lens reflex camera
gives you the ease of through-the-
lens viewing and focusing. The
image passes through the picture-
taking lens up to the viewer by a
series of mirrors. The picture you
see is the picture you wUl get.
The SX-70 photograph itself
is a 15-layer phenomenon that
comes out hard, fiat and dry.
There is nothing to time, nothing
to peel, nothing to throw away,
nothing to do but watch it
develop.
The deluxe SX-70 Land cam-
era is the most revolutionary
camera Polaroid has ever made.
Inside, well over 100 inventions
(each unique to the SX-70) func-
tion with but one purpose. To let
you concentrate on the picture
in your mind instead of the cam-
era in your hand.
Polaroid* and SX-70*
©1976 Fblaroid Corporation.
going to discard a ritual that could not
hurt his crops and just might help , and
it mattered little whether the spring
planting was sanctified by invoking a
Christian symbol or the Earth Mother
as manifested by a branchless tree.
The Maypole ceremony with its rit-
ual mating was thus solemnized
throughout Europe, falling variously
within a few weeks of the time of
sowing. By about the tenth century,
the ceremony was observed in most
of Europe on the first of May. But that
was not always the date of the spring
ritual. Whitsunday, the seventh Sun-
day and fiftieth day after Easter, was
celebrated in the Balkans; Saint
George's Day, the twenty-third of
April, was the holiday in Poland and
Russia; and in the north, where spring
comes late. Midsummer Day, June
24, was chosen.
By the time of the Dark Ages, the
spring ritual, with minor variations,
was similar throughout Europe.
Young men and women went into the
woods at midnight, cut down a tree,
stripped off its branches, and carried
the Maypole triumphantly back to
their village in the morning. The pole
was decorated — with flowers,
sheaves of the previous harvest, and
other symbols of fruitfulness — and to
the discomfiture of the clergy, was set
up in the commons or in front of the
church. A May Queen and a King of
the Woods were selected to preside
over the dancing.
In Saxony and Prussia, the May-
pole of the Slavic Wends was sur-
mounted with an iron cock, the pole
was greased, and boys climbed it to
pluck sausages and eggs from the top.
As night came, the queen and king
(and many other couples) mated in
the fields to drive home the point of
the ceremony, and a fair number of
children were born the next January.
An effigy of the King of the Woods
was then burned or tfirown in the local
river, if there was one, to the chant
of ' 'We are carrying death out , we are
bringing dear summer back."
The Celts of Scotland, Ireland,
Normandy, and parts of Scandinavia
included a fire ceremony in their May
Day ritual. Ceremonial fires were lit
on hilltops from a flame started with
a bow and spindle of oak fitted into
the slot of a board of a softer wood
such as willow. The tinder was dried
mushrooms and puffballs. In Swe-
den, the Maypole, or Maj Stang, is
still constructed with a series of
crosspieces from which hoops of wil-
low bound round with flowers are
hung. Garlanded hoops were also
rolled. The hoop rolling practiced on
May Day at some of our private east-
ern women's colleges derives from
these garlanded Scandinavian hoops.
But there is one significant differ-
ence: in olden times, the oaken hoop
stick was thrown through the hoop
instead of being used to propel it — a
symptom perhaps of the general
bowdlerizing of May Day rituals.
It is to England that we must look
for our North American version of the
May Day ceremony. From the tenth
to the sixteenth century, the mating
of the May Queen and the King of the
Woods was not just symbolic, and the
midnight cutting of the tree was ac-
companied by the normal exuberance
of lusty youths without supervision.
The prominent English Puritan pam-
phleteer Philip Stubbes, in his Anato-
mie of Abuses of 1583, called the
whole ritual an "act of Sathan," re-
ferred to the Maypole itself as "that
stynking ydol," and noted that after
the night's revels, "scarsely the
thirde part of the girls returned unde-
filed."
A freewheeling anti-Puritan Amer-
ican colonist, Thomas Morton, cre-
ated a scandal by introducing the
Maypole to New England in 1626
when he became administrator of a
settlement near the Plymouth Col-
ony. The governor of the main colony
noted that the celebrants invited In-
dian women to participate in "danc-
ing and frisking together . . . and
worse." The Pilgrims knew quite
well what the Maypole was all about,
even though they predated Freud.
By the beginning of the seven-
teenth century, however, most of the
May Day celebration had been sani-
tized in England, and North America
shortly followed suit. May Day was
no longer to be an excuse for sexual
license. The celebration was just that:
a celebration, not a ritual. By 1832,
Tennyson could write a pastoral
poem called "The May Queen," and
pre-Victorian novelists could include
descriptions of Maypoles and Morris
dances, whose origins probably went
back to the orgiastic pagan rituals of
the Fertile Crescent, without offend-
ing Anglican sensibilities. Victorian
sniggerings were encouraged by Kip-
ling's doggerel, "Oh do not tell the
priest our plight or he would call it
sin / But we have been out in the
woods all night conjuring summer
in." The lusty Earth Mothers and
May Queens of yore have become
today's scrubbed-up local Miss
Americas.
Oh Cybele, how the mighty have
fallen!
Richard M. Klein teaches botany at
the University of Vermont.
The world's finest portable typewriter
and the ribbon that's stealing the show.
.-"o'^rt^
•y<r.
^v5^:.^
^^••v
^^^■■i
':\-
'■^^#^
~y .
"t^!^^'^
The introduction of our Smith-Corona®
cartridge ribbons has caused quite a stir.
Understandably.
Snap! Now a worn ribbon can be replaced
by a fresh ribbon in just 3 seconds.
And with the development of a variety
of color cartridges, film cartridges (for the
SSB.
look of executive typewriting), and correction
cartridges that correct errors in a snap, our
cartridge ribbons have ushered in a far more
flexible system of typing.
But while everyone is making a fuss over
our cartridge, you should know that we spent
a great deal of time fussing over our cartridge
typewriter.
In fact, purchase this number-one-selling
electric portable and you'll receive a typev^iter
engineered to the same standards that helped
Smith-Corona steal the show. . .long before
cartridges came along.
SMITH- CORONA
SCM CORPORATION
The American Museum
of Natural History
invites you to
visit Australia, Africa
and me Nile
as part of its continuing
program of Interesting
Travel for Interested People
Hayden Planetarium Solar Eclipse Tour
Australia and New Zealand
(with an optional extension to Tahiti & Moorea)
October 11-30, 1976
Led by Dr Mark R. Chartrand,
III, chairman of The American
Museum-Hayden Planetarium,
this program provides an exceptional exposure to Australia
and New Zealand, highlighted by an opportunity to view the
total eclipse of the sun at 4:40 p.m. on October 23 from near
Mt. Gambler. Traveling with 25-35 other people, you will tour
some of the largest optical and radio observatories in the
world. ..see the unusual Australian fauna... observe wine-
making and sheep farming ... go on wide-ranging visits to
Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide... Christchurch
...visit a glacier at Mt. Cook, Maori villages. South Island Alps,
the thermal region in Rotorua and volcanic areas... you will
see the best of what makes Australia/New Zealand an
extraordinarily rewarding destination. Tour cost: $1,875.
Air fare: $1,210. Contribution to The American Museum-
Hayden Planetarium: $500 (tax-deductible).
Safari in Southern Africa
and East Africa
September 18-October 5, 1976
A specially-designed African
wildlife expedition led by Dr
Richard G. Van Gelder, Curator
of Mammalogy and an old hand
at showing friends of the Museum
a side of Africa seldom seen, this
"flying safari" will take you at an
unhurried pace beyond paved
roads and tourist paths. Explore
magnificent Africa, witness to
superb contrasts in terrain and
cultures... see an infinite variety of
animals and birds in their natural
habitat. Transportation by twin-
engine executive aircraft, with
deluxe overnight accommodations
and highly personalized services in
the habitats of the greatest wild-
life concentrations in the world.
Tour cost: $2,441. Air fare: $979
(round-trip New York). Contribu-
tion to The American Museum of
Natural History:
$1,000 (tax-deductible).
Nile Cruise (21 days)
January 26-February 15, 1977 (#1)
October-November 1977 (#2)
Planned by the distinguished
British travel experts W. F. and
R. K. Swan as a successor to this
year's first Nile cruise conducted
by the Museum, the program
begins in New York with a flight
to London and thence to Cairo.
Passengers will board the m.s.
Delta, a comfortable ship which
regularly navigates the Nile to
Assuan. Cruise along a leisurely
route studded with the sites and
sights that remain as remarkable
today as they were in Herodotus's
time. Along the way there will be
many insights into modern Egypt
as well. With you on both trips: a
noted Egyptologist (including
Vronwy Hankey on the first trip)
and a Museum ornithologist.
All prices listed here are subject to change. Write for
itineraries and full price information
r
Ellen Stancs
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street/ New York, NewYork 10024
Please send an itinerary and other information about
Hayden Planetarium Solar Eclipse Tour
Safari in Southern Africa
Nile Cruise (#2}
.Nile Cruise (#1)
City_
From Merriam-Webster,
Americas best-selling dictionary.
It's where the words live.
Merriam-Webster's newest desk-top dictionary
doesn't just define words. It brings words alive. So
anyone can fee! the bitter emptiness of "rip-off."
And get the full impact of "chopper." And at last
understand the deathly chill of "cryonics."
How does Webster's New Collegiate accomplish
such a feat? With over 3,000 quotations from poets,
comics, critics and presidents. With over 24,000
phrases showing you how a word is used in context.
And with scores of illustrations, charts and tables.
Altogether, over 150,000 words spring vividly to
life. Including 22,000 new ones like "bummer" and
"dashiki" as well as the grand old Melvillian
polysyllables.
Everything in it is designed to make words easier
to use than ever before. Which may explain why it
has already become the best-selling dictionary
ever. Buy one for your family, or as a gift. Just
$9.95. Wherever books are sold. Merriam-Webster
Dictionaries, Springfield, MA 01101.
"Escape from the ordinary^
Designed by professional
loafers . . . made
better for us amateurs.
You see them on Alpine guides, profes-
sional hunters, men and women who direct
leisure fun at summer resorts. Tyroleans
are worn by professionals whose work is so
much fun, it seems like loafing.
We've taken the good looking, functional
European design, added American comfort
and practicality, and tailored Tyroleans with
^"•'^••■^l double-stitched seams for
, , i' durability. Keeping the
slim look and 4 practical
pockets in front was only
natural.. (Men's shorts and
slacks also have 2 rear
pockets.)
Cut for action, Tyrole-
ans are comfortable when
you move — comfortable
when you're just relaxing.
They look slim and trim
all the time and possess
every feature we can think
of for function and wearability.
Tyroleans are also available in slack
length, shipped unhemmed for easy adjust-
ment to your exact leg measurement. Both
shorts and slacks are made of cool, light-
weight Tundra cloth . . . 50% cotton, 50%
Dacron® polyester. You'll stay comfortable
through warm weather, yet well protected
in cooler conditions. Easy care too . . . just
wash and wear 'em. They rarely need even
touch-up ironing. Color: Tan. Men's even
waist sizes 28-44. Women's even sizes 8-20.
Slacks: $17.50 ppd. Shorts: $14.50 ppd.
This View of Life
by Stephen Jay Gould
Normlhonipson
Dept. 03-18
1805 N.W. Thurman
Portland, Or. 97209
Order TOLL FREE anytime 800-547-6712.
(Excluding Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska)
Tyroleans
Qty.
Size
Qty.
Size
Men's shorts
slacks
Women's shorts
slacks
n Check enclosed.
Charge to my:
n BankAmericard
D Master Charge
TarH f/-
rity
State,
Zip
Biological
Potential
vs.
n Send FREE "Escape from the ordinary"® catalog.
Biological
Determinism
Because of its social and
political implications, the
debate about
determinism continues
In 1758, Linnaeus faced the diffi-
cult decision of how to classify his
own species in the definitive edition
of his Systema Naturae. Would he
simply rank man among the other ani-
mals or would he create for us a sepa-
rate status? Linnaeus compromised.
He placed us within his classification
(close to monkeys and bats), but set
us apart by his description. He de-
fined our relatives by the mundane,
distinguishing characters of size,
shape, and number of fingers and
toes. For Homo sapiens, he wrote
only the Socratic injunction: nosce te
ipsum — "know thyself."
For Linnaeus, Homo sapiens was
both special and not special. Unfortu-
nately, this eminently sensible reso-
lution has been polarized and utterly
distorted by most later commen-
tators. Special and not special have
come to mean nonbiological and bio-
logical, or nurture and nature. These
later polarizatioirs are nonsensical.
Humans are animals and everything
we do lies within our biological po-
tential. Nothing arouses this ardent
(although currently displaced) New
Yorker to greater anger than the
claims of some self-styled "eco-
activists" that large cities are the
"unnatural" harbingers of our im-
pending destruction. But — and here
comes the biggest but I can muster —
the statement that humans are animals
does not imply that our specific pat-
terns of behavior and social arrange-
ments are in any way directly deter-
mined by our genes . Potential and de-
termination are different concepts.
The intense discussion aroused by
E.O. Wilson's Sociobiology has led
me to take up this subject. Wilson's
book has been greeted by a chorus of
praise and publicity (for example, the
review by R.S. Morison in the No-
vember 1975 issue of Natural His-
tory). I, however, find myself among
the smaller group of its detractors.
Most of Sociobiology wins from me
the same high praise almost univer-
sally accorded to it. For a lucid ac-
count of evolutionary principles and
an indef atigably thorough discussion
of social behavior among all groups
of animals, Sociobiology will be the
primary document for years to come.
But Wilson's last chapter, "From So-
ciobiology to Sociology," leaves me
very unhappy indeed. After twenty-
six chapters of careful documentation
for the nonhuman animals, Wilson
concludes with an extended specula-
tion on the genetic basis of suppos-
edly universal patterns of human be-
havior. Unfortunately, since this
chapter is his statement on human be-
havior, it has also attracted more than
80 percent of all the commentary in
the popular press.
We who have criticized this last
chapter have been accused of denying
altogether the relevance of biology to
human behavior, of reviving an an-
cient superstition by placing man out-
side the rest of "the creation." Are
we pure "nurturists?" Do we permit
a political vision of human perfecti-
bility to blind us to evident con-
straints imposed by our biological na-
ture? The answer to both is no. The
issue is not universal biology vs.
human uniqueness , but biological po-
tentiality vs. biological determinism.
Replying to a critic of his article in
the New York Times Magazine (Oc-
Atlantic Richfield invites you on a journey into the future.
The Tricentennial
America will change a great deal by the year 2076.
Tell us what you think those changes should be.
We have always been a nation more interested
in the promise of the future than in the events
of the past.
Somehow, the events of the past few years have
made us doubt ourselves and our future.
Here at Atlantic Richfield, however, we see the
future as an exciting time. The best of times.
And we know that all of us can achieve a splendid
future by planning for it now.
We'd like your help. We need your vision.
We want you to tell us about the changes you
would like to see take place in America- and in
our American way of life.
For example:
What ideas do you have for making life more
fun than it is now?
What changes would you like to see in govern-
ment? (City? State? Federal?)
What do you envision as the best way to solve
our energy problems?
What about the future of business?
(More regulation by government? Less?)
What measures would you take to protect the
environment?
Or, if those topics don't appeal to you, pick one
that does.
How should our physical world be altered?
Do you recommend that we live underground?
In plastic bubbles?
Will family life change? Will we choose a spouse
by computer? Will divorce become illegal?
What should our schools be like? Should
machines replace teachers?
What will make us laugh? What will be funny that
isn't funny now?
What new major sports would you like to see?
Three-dimensional chess? Electronic billiards?
Whatever your idea may be, we want to know
about it. Write it. Draw it. Sing it. But send it.
In about six months we plan to gather your
responses, analyze them, and make a full report
on what we've found out. We believe the report
will provide a fascinating and valuable view of
America's hopes, dreams, fears, and visions.
We'll make sure it reaches the people who are in
positions to consider and act on it.
Along the way we will make television commer-
cials and newspaper and magazine ads out of
many of the ideas so you can see what other
people are thinking.
Please note that all ideas submitted shall become
public property without compensation and free
of any restriction on use and disclosure.
Send your idea to:
Tricentennial
Atlantic Richfield Company
P.O. Box 2076
Los Angeles, CA 90053
ARCO
Petroleum Products ol
AtlantJcRichfJeldCompany
Celebrate America's Tricentennial 100 years early.
13
National 4-H Forestry Award winners, frorit to rear:
Jeffrey Little, Jvhn Pfleiderer, Melinda Hodden, Craig »
Jerabek, Steve WelpiieSi and David Doherty, Jr. : i
*£^-~
*^
/
'\^
^^■^«.^
How six 4-H members
became the proud parents of
over 60,000 baby trees
In the year 2000, Americans
will use about twice as much
paper and wood products as
they use today. And the U.S.
Forest Service predicts that
America's commercial timber-
lands won't be able to keep up
with the demand.
Our hope lies to a great
extent in concerned yoiDi;^
people — like these six teen-
agers who won the National
4-H Forestry Award and
scholarship. These young
people show just what can be
accomplished. And that's why
we're sponsoring the awards:
to encourage people to start
young — thinking about the
future of America's forests and
doing something about it.
Enough trees to keep
a city going
Together, Craig Jerabek,
David Doherty, and Jeffrey
Little planted over 57,000 of
the 60,000 seedlings — enough
to keep a city of 16,000 people
supplied in paper for an entire
year when the trees are grown.
Melinda Hadden's spe-
cialty is Christmas trees — she's
planted 1,200 of them. She's
also planted about 300 trees for
homeowners whose trees
were destroyed by a violent
windstorm.
John Pfleiderer has re-
searched and fought Dutch elm
disease — a killer which wiped
out many of Greeley, Colorado's
most beautiful trees. (John
also taught himself grafting —
and created new forms
of trees.)
But there's more to a
forest than just trees. Healthy
forests are a complete eco-
system. That's why Steve
Welches has planted over 1,200
shrubs for animal cover. And
why David Doherty has built
dens and brush piles for rabbits
and small game birds. (And
succeeded in bringing them
back to land that was once
ravaged by Hurricane Camille.)
Fortunately, these six
teen-agers aren't alone in their
commitment. There are 100,000
more 4-H members also work-
ing in forestry.
And forest companies pull-
ing on the same team.
Intemationcil Paper shares
the burden
We've developed a Super-
tree— a southern pine that
grows taller, straighter, healthier,
and faster than ordinary pines.
We're experimenting
with a new machine that can
harvest an entire tree — taproots
and all. We're moving ahead
on projects like fertilization
techniques. Tree farm pro-
grams. Forest research.
We'll show a private land-
owner how to prepare a site,
plant, protect, thin, and harvest
— at no charge. (In some
cases, doiibliii;^ his yield.) For
this help, IP gets the right to
buy a landowner's timber at
competiti\'e prices.
More to be done
Will all this be enough to
keep the world's fiber supply
going strong? It'll help. But
more must be done.
At International Paper,
we believe forest products
companies, private landowners
and government should work
together to develop more
constructive policies for man-
aging America's forests. The
wrong policies can make
tree farming impossible and
force the sale of forest land for
other purposes. The right
policies can assure continuation
of America's forests — a renew-
able natural resource.
If you'd like more informa-
tion about what has to be done
to assure the world's fiber sup-
ply, please write to Dept. 159- A,
International Paper Company,
220 East 42nd Sh-eet, New York,
New York 10017.
®
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY
220 EAST 42ND STREET NEW YORK NEW YORK 10017
Free!
A Catalog for Cyclists,
Backpackers, Golfers,
Fishermen, Archers
and Hunters.
The 1976 Browning Catalog
has 99 full-color pages of Sport-
ing Goods, plus 13 pages of
expert outdoor tips.
Browning^
Sirs: Please send me your free catalog
Browning. Dept. C93, Morgan, Ut 84050
Name
Street
City
State Zip
Share the Thrills
01 Exploring f
ouier space;
All DYNASCOPES,
including this
superb RV-E, 6-inch
available gfi"'^ ?15 Crating
on easy terms! " Charge
Now it's easy to join the thousands of serious
amateurs who have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rewards go on for years! And
it's a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Choose From Many DYNASCOPES®
Picldng a telescope to fit your needs and your
pocketboolt is simple when you select a
DYNASCOPE — the same instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories—and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable facts be-
fore buying any telescope. Mail
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterion Manufacturing Co.
620 Oaliwood Ave.. W. Hartford. Conn. 06110
® TM Registered U.S. Pat, Offic
CRITERION MANUFACTURING CO., Dept. NH-68
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Name^
Address .
City State—
l6
tober 12, 1975), Wilson wrote:
There is no doubt that the patterns
of human social behavior, includ-
ing altruistic behavior, are under
genetic control, in the sense that
they represent a restricted subset of
possible patterns that are very dif-
ferent from the patterns of ter-
mites, chimpanzees and other ani-
mal species.
If this is all that Wilson means by
genetic control, then we can scarcely
disagree. Surely we do not do all the
things that other animals do, and just
as surely, the range of our potential
behavior is circumscribed by our bi-
ology. We would lead very different
social lives if we photosynthesized
(no agriculture, gathering, or hunt-
ing— the major determinants of our
social evolution) or had life cycles
like those of certain gall midges.
(When feeding on an uncrowded
mushroom, these insects reproduce in
the larval or pupal stage. The young
grow within the mother's body, de-
vour her from inside, and emerge
from her depleted external shell ready
to feed, grow the next generation, and
make the supreme sacrifice.)
But Wilson makes much stronger
claims. Chapter 27 is not a statement
about the range of potential human
behaviors or even an argument for the
restriction of that range from a much
larger total domain among all ani-
mals. It is, primarily, an extended
speculation on the existence of genes
for specific and variable traits in
human behavior — including spite,
aggression, xenophobia, conformity,
homosexuality, and the characteristic
behavioral differences between men
and women in Western society. Of
course, Wilson does not deny the role
of nongenetic learning in human be-
havior ; he even states at one point that
' 'genes have given away most of their
sovereignty." But he quickly adds,
genes "maintain a certain amount of
influence in at least the behavioral
qualities that underlie variations be-
tween cultures." And the next para-
graph calls for "a discipline of an-
thropological genetics."
Linnaeus in Lapland attire
British Columbia, Canada.
These pictures are just a sample of what is waiting for you in British
Columbia. 1. One of many intriguing shops that can be found through-
out the Province. 2. Long Beach on Vancouver Island, 11 miles of un-
broken beach on the Pacific Ocean. 3. The Williams Lake Stampede.
Dozens of rodeos take place all summer long in British Columbia's
cattle country. 4. An outdoor restaurant in Gastown, the original settle-
ment of British Columbia's largest city, Vancouver. For more pictures
and lots more information write: British Columbia Department of
Travel Industry, 1019 Wharf Street, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Z2.
Or see your local travel agent.
For the time of your life.
Biological determinism is the pri-
mary theme in Wilson's discussion of
human behavior; chapter 27 makes
no sense in any other context. Wil-
son's primary aim, as I read him, is
to suggest that Darwinian theory
might reformulate the human sci-
ences just as it has succeeded so spec-
tacularly in other biological disci-
plines. But Darwinian processes can-
not operate without genes to select.
Unless the "interesting" properties
of human behavior are under specific
genetic control, sociology need fear
no invasion of its turf. By interesting,
I refer to the subjects sociologists and
anthropologists fight about most
often — aggression, social stratifica-
tion, and differences in behavior be-
tween men and women. If genes only
specify that we are large enough to
live in a world of gravitational forces,
need to rest our bodies by sleeping,
and do not photosynthesize, then the
realm of genetic determinism will be
relatively uninspiring.
What is the direct evidence for ge-
netic control of specific human social
behavior? At the moment, the answer
is none whatever. (It would not be
impossible, in theory, to gain such
evidence by standard, controlled ex-
periments in breeding, but we do not
raise people in Drosophila bottles,
establish pure lines, or control envi-
ronments for invariant nurturing.)
Sociobiologists must therefore ad-
vance indirect arguments based on
plausibility. Wilson uses three major
strategies: universality, continuity,
and adaptiveness.
1. Universality: If certain behav-
iors are invariably found in our clos-
est primate relatives and among
humans themselves, a circumstantial
case for common, inherited genetic
control may be advanced. Chapter 27
abounds with statements about sup-
posed human universals. For ex-
ample, "Human beings are absurdly
easy to indoctrinate — they seek it."
Or, "Men would rather believe than
know." I can only say that my own
experience does not correspond with
Wilson's.
When Wilson must acknowledge
diversity, he often dismisses the un-
comfortable "exceptions" as tempo-
rary and unimportant aberrations.
Since Wilson believes that repeated,
often genocidal warfare has shaped
our genetic destiny, the existence of
nonaggressive peoples is embar-
rassing. But he writes: "It is to be
expected that some isolated cultures
will escape the process for genera-
tions at a time , in effect reverting tem-
porarily to what ethnographers clas-
sify as a pacific state."
In any case , even if we can compile
a list of behavioral traits shared by
humans and our closest primate rela-
tives, this does not make a good case
for common genetic control. Similar
results need not imply similar causes;
in fact, evolutionists are so keenly
aware of this problem that they have
developed a terminology to express
it. Similar features due to common
genetic ancestry are "homologous";
similarities due to common function,
but with different evolutionary histo-
ries, are "analogous" (the wings of
birds and insects, for example — the
common ancestor of both groups
lacked wings). I will argue below that
a basic feature of human biology sup-
ports the idea that many behavioral
similarities between humans and
other primates are analogous, and
that they have no direct genetic speci-
fication in humans.
2. Continuity: Wilson claims, with
ample justice in my opinion, that the
Darwinian explanation of altruism in
W.D. Hamilton's 1964 theory of
SOMETHING FOR YOUR FRIENDS.
Now, for the first time, there's a regular source of
professional quality information available to responsible
pet owners. PET NEWS magazine is a new concept in
pet education. Written by leading professionals in the pet
field for interested pet owners, PET NEWS supplies the
information that you need to keep your pets healthy
and happy.
Vv'hether you own dogs, cats, birds, fish, or any other
pet, PET NEWS will give you tlie facts you need to get the
most from pet ownersjii;-'.
Wiitten by veterinarians, psychologists, trainers,
groomers, scientists, curators, lawyers, ecologists,
health officers and pet industry professionals
Written in clear, easy-to-read learning units
Discussion of the legal, social, ethical, biological,
historical, ecological, and psychological aspects of
pet ownersliip
* Horses
Dear Pet News:
Cats
Reptiles
Fish * Birds
Small Cage Animals
Here is my check (money order) for :
me to 12 issues of Pet News.
Name
5.75 which entitles
Address.
City
.State.
-Zip.
Age: Dander 18yr. Dover 18yr.
Please fill in total weight of all dogs owned:_
Pet News Magazine
44 Court Street
Brooklyn, New York 1 1201
^i******rf
"kin selection" forms the basis for an
evolutionary theory of animal socie-
ties. Altruistic acts are the cement of
stable societies, yet they seem to defy
a Darwinian explanation. On Dar-
winian principles, all individuals arc
.selected to maximize their own genet-
ic contributions to future generations.
How, then, can they willingly sacri-
lice or endanger themselves by per-
forming altruistic acts to benefit
others?
The resolution is charmingly
simple in concept, although complex
in technical detail . By benefiting rela-
tives, altruistic acts preserve an altru-
ist's genes even if the altruist himself
will not be the one to perpetuate
them. For example, in most sexually
reproducing organisms, an individual
shares an average of half the genes of
his sibs and one-eighth the genes of
his first cousins. Hence, if faced with
a choice of saving oneself alone or
sacrificing oneself to save more than
two sibs or more than eight first cous-
ins, the Darwinian calculus favors al-
truistic sacrifice, for in so doing, an
altruist actually increases his own
genetic representation in future gen-
erations.
Natural selection will favor the
preservation of such self-serving al-
truist genes. But what of altruistic
acts toward nonrelatives? Here socio-
biologists must invoke a related con-
cept of "reciprocal altruism" to pre-
serve a genetic explanation. The al-
truistic act entails some danger and no
immediate benefit, but if it inspires a
reciprocal act by the current benefi-
ciary at some future time, it may pay
off in the long run: a genetic incarna-
tion of the age-old adage. You scratch
my back and I'll scratch yours (even
if we're not related).
The argument from continuity then
proceeds. Altruistic acts in other ani-
mal societies can be plausibly ex-
plained as examples of Darwinian kin
selection. Humans perform altruistic
acts and these are likely to have a sim-
ilarly direct genetic basis. But again,
similarity of result does not imply
identity of cause (see below for an
alternate explanation based on bio-
logical potentiality rather than bio-
logical determinism).
3. Adaptiveness: Adaptation is the
hallmark of Darwinian processes.
Natural selection operates continu-
ously and relentlessly to fit organisms
to their environments. Disadvanta-
geous social structures, like poorly
designed morphological structures,
will not survive for long.
Electronic Digital RAIN GAUGE
Never Needs Emptying
and gives remote, indoor reading!
This beautiful, remote-reading electronic digital rain
gauge accurately measures ram up to 100 feet away, by
tenths of an inch up to 999 9". and empties Itself. Ac-
cumulate total rainfall count for an hour, day, week, etc
To start a new counting period, just push the reset button
on the indoor counter There's no need ever to empty or check the hermetically
sealed outdoor collector! The collector is easily mounted on a fence, roof deck
patio— anywhere up to 100 feet away— with 2 ordinary screws To know whether
your plants, shrubs, lawn and garden are getting an adequate supply of water, just
read the indoor counter' The unit runs on a 9V transistor battery (not included)
which has a minimum of one year s life. Waterproof wire (30 ft,) is Included A great
gift for gardening hobbyists, farmers, home owners and . .
weather buffs! And great to own' STOCK N0,72,165E Just s4495 Ppd
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
NEW t72Pages
Over 4,500 Un-
usual Bargains
for Hobbyists.
Schools, Industry
JUST CHECK
COUPON'
EDMUIMD
SCIENTIFIC CO.
300 EDSCORP BUILDING
Barrington, N, J, 08007
(609) 547-3488
Amenc3'i Greatest
Science • Optics • Hobby Marl
COMPLETE AND MAIL COUPON NOW
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO. 300 EUscorp BIDi , Bamngton, N J 08007
Please Send Me
Eiecuonic Digital Ram Gaugeisi
No 72,165E@S44 95ea S_
SEND FREE Hi
172PACE CATALOG •€
~ Ctiafge my BankAmencard
L. Ctiarge my Master Cliatge
Interbanli No
Cafd No
Eipiration Date
30 DAY MONEY. BACK GUAR.
ANTEE, You must be satis-
tied Of return any purchase
m 30 days lor lull refund
City
.Service i handling ctiarge S.
Enclosed is
n checli, n "> 0 m amount ol S_
Signature .
Name
HELPING 70 DEVELOP AMBfllCA S TECHNOLOGr FOR OVER 30 YEAAS.
The ageless spirit
of the American Southwvest
The Hoop Dancer "<
Mikael Redman — famed for his" V\^
exquisitely wrought sculptures on
Southwestern themes — has captured the
essence of this classic Indian ceremonial.
One of a series of eight. Painstakingly
detailed in .999 fine silver with 24 carat gold
vermeil accents. Mounted on an uncut
turquoise base of at least 250 carats.
Presented in an oiled walnut display case.
$375.00
Only a limited number of the original 900 |
remain. Signed and numbered by the
artist. No more will be cast.
For inquiries and credit card _--a£.
orders, telephone toll-free
1-800-528-0291 J*
'W^,
mi
The Mikael Redmari'
/^^ Galleries"
^.
& "*
7110 Fifth Avcmnp
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
Talented Little Towel
Absorbent terry cloth towel is shaped into
the Eddie Bauer Toweling Hat to outsmart
summer heat two ways! When your brow is
perspiring, just wipe it with your hat. Or
douse your hat in water, wring it out and
wear it to keep you cool at tennis, golf, boat-
ing, fishing, camping. Sizes: S(6%-6% ),
M(7-7y8), L(7y4-73/a), XL(7y2-7ya), XXL(7%-
7%). Colors: Sailing Blue, Powder Blue,
White, Yellow. 2002 Toweling Hat, $4.95 ppd.
r Order Today! Money Back Guarantee!
Enclosed is my check or money order for
$ (Add sales tax where applicable.)
Please rush my 2002 Toweling Hat.
Size Color
Address-
City
^^3c^oe/^!u*ia^
Dept. KNH. Third & Virginia, Seattle, WA 98124
FABLED
DANUBE
From the Black Forest to the
Black Sea, this mighty river is
your route to a year-round fes-
tival. A never-to-be-forgotten
mosaic of the old and the new
in the rich European heartland.
Germany
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
, Romania
Yugoslavia
Bulgaria
FREEK/AP
LET
:^<o
See your travel agent or send coupon
The Danube Countries:
380 Madison Ave., New York 10017
Human social practices are clearly
adaptive. One of my predecessors in
these columns, anthropologist Mar-
vin Harris, has delighted in demon-
strating the logic and sensibility of
those social practices in other cultures
that seem most bizarre to smug West-
erners {Cows, Pigs, Wars, and
Witches, Random House, 1974).
Human social behavior is riddled
with altruism; it is also clearly adap-
tive. Is this not a prima facie argu-
ment for direct genetic control? My
answer is definitely "no," and I can
best illustrate my claim by reporting
an argument I had with a colleague,
an eminent anthropologist.
My colleague insisted that the clas-
sic story of Eskimo on ice floes pro-
vides adequate proof for the existence
of specific altruist genes maintained
by kin selection. Apparently, among
some Eskimo peoples, social units
are arranged as family groups. If food
resources dwindle and the family
must move to survive, aged grand-
parents willingly remain behind (to
die) rather than endanger the survival
of the entire family by slowing an ar-
duous and dangerous migration.
Family groups with no altruist genes
have succumbed to natural selection
as migrations hindered by the old and
sick lead to the death of entire fami-
lies. Grandparents with altruist genes
increase their own fitness by their sac-
rifice, for they insure the survival of
close relatives sharing their genes.
The explanation by my colleague
is plausible, to be sure, but scarcely
conclusive since an eminently sim-
ple, nongenetic explanation also
exists: there are no altruist genes at
all, in fact, no important genetic dif-
ferences among Eskimo families
whatsoever. The sacrifice of grand-
parents is an adaptive, but nonge-
netic, cultural trait. Families with no
tradition for sacrifice do not survive
for many generations. In other fami-
lies, sacrifice is celebrated in song
and story; aged grandparents who
stay behind become the greatest he-
roes of the clan. Children are social-
ized from their earliest memories to
the glory and honor of such sacrifice.
I cannot prove my scenario, any
more than my colleague can demon-
strate his. But in the current context
of no evidence, they are at least
equally plausible. Likewise, recipro-
cal altruism undeniably exists in
human societies, but this provides no
evidence whatever for its genetic
basis. As Benjamin Franklin said:
"We must all hang together, or as-
suredly we shall all hang separately. ' '
Functioning societies may require re-
ciprocal altruism. But these acts need
not be coded into our being by genes;
they may be inculcated equally well
by learning.
I return, then, to Linnaeus 's com-
promise that we are both ordinary and
unique. The central feature of our bi-
ological uniqueness also provides the
major reason for doubting that our be-
haviors are directly coded by specific
genes. That feature is, of course, our
large brain. Size itself is a major de-
terminant of the function and struc-
ture of any object. The large and the
small cannot work in the same way.
We know best the structural changes
that compensate for the decrease of
surface area in relation to volume of
large creatures, for example, thick
legs and convoluted internal surfaces
such as lungs and villi of the small
intestine. But markedly increased
brain size in human evolution may
have had the most profound conse-
quences of all. The increase added
enough neural connections to convert
an inflexible and rigidly programmed
device into a labile organ. Endowed
with sufficient logic and memory, the
brain may have substituted nonpro-
grammed learning for direct specifi-
cation as the ground of social behav-
ior. Flexibility may well be the most
important determinant of human con-
sciousness; the direct programming
of behavior has probably become in-
adaptive.
Why imagine that specific genes
for aggression, dominance, or spite
have any importance when we know
that the brain's enormous flexibility
permits us to be aggressive or peace-
ful, dominant or submissive, spiteful
or generous? Violence, sexism, and
general nastiness are biological since
they represent one subset of a possi-
ble range of behaviors. But peace-
fulness, equality, and kindness are
just as biological — and we may see
their influence increase if we can
create social structures that permit
them to flourish. Thus, my criticism
of Wilson does not invoke a non-
biological "environmentalism"; it
merely pits the concept of biological
potentiality, with a brain capable of
the full range of human behaviors and
predisposed toward none, against the
idea of biological determinism, with
specific genes for specific behavioral
traits.
But why is this academic issue so
delicate and explosive? There is no
hard evidence for either position, and
You can help save
Maria Almanzar
and her village
for $16 a month.
Or you can
turn the page
You enter Maria's house through a tiny store.
Chickens peck at the vegetables that sit unsold
on the dirt floor.
Through a curtain at the back, two small bedrooms.
Since Maria's father abandoned the family
only six people live in these two rooms.
You won't find any electricity, running water, or a bathroom.
You will find a deep sense of despair.
Multiply this scene by 105 other houses and you have a pic-
ture of Maria's village. Most of the children grow up illiterate
and undernourished while their parents eke out an existence
on the land. For $16 a month, through Save the Children
Federation you can help Maria and her village help them-
selves. Your $16, combined with money from other sponsors,
can help the community build schools, sink wells, and buy
livestock to increase incomes so that everyone will benefit.
This in turn can provide these children with food, clothing,
shelter.
This is the Maria Almanzar story. This is what Save the Chil-
dren has been all about since 1932. For you there are many
rewards: a chance to correspond, receive a photo and prog-
ress reports. Above all, to know you are reaching out to other
human beings. That's how Save the Children works. But
without you it can't work. So please: clip this coupon and
mail it today. Now you can turn the page.
We are indeed proud of our use of your funds. Annual report and audit
stalemenl available on request- Member of the International Union
for Cfiild Welfare and Ifie American Council of Voluntary Agencies for
Foreign Sendee. Contributions are inconne lax deductible.
I wish to contribute $16 a month to sponsor a
n boy n girl n either
D Where the need is most urgent
n Appalachia (U. S.) D Inner Cities (U. 8.)
n Bangladesh n Israel
D Colombia □ Korea
D Dominican Republic q Lebanon
D Honduras □ Mexico
n Indian (Latin America) □ Rural South (U.S.)
n Indian (U.S.)
Enclosed is my first payment:
n $16 monthly D $96 semi-annually
D $48 quarterly D $192 annually
n Instead of becoming a sponsor, I am enclosing
a contribution of $
n Please send me more information.
NAME-
_TEL. NO..
ADDRESS-
CITY
-STATE.
-ZIP-
David L. Guyer, Executive Director
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION
I Westport, Connecticut 06880 nh s/e j
0 ° O O o
o o to the o °^i_ °
§6n°FCi)R
o
«59
I After this educational
I adventure for divers and
/ non-divers alike, you'll know
! the reef as never before!
Explore exotic submarine wilder-
ness and reef ecosystems in the
gin-clear, sun drenclied Caribbean
at fabulous Bonaire in the Nether- 1
lands Antilles. '
You'll spend your first week at Key
West, under the auspices of the
YMCA's underwater activities cen-
ter. Here, swimmers and beginning
divers will receive internationally
recognized certification by the div-
ing masters who "wrote the bool<"
on SCUBA. Divers already certified I
will earn advanced ratings.
At Bonaire, your second weel< will i
be filled with lectures, demonstra-
t\or\s and diving with outstanding j
undersea scientists, marine biol- !
ogists and oceanographers. j
Now booking limited groups for !
August 8-21, September 12-25, ,
October 10-23 and November 7-20. j
2-week Seminar |
$1750 j
from Miami !
I Write for brochure: j
I OCEAN SEMINARS, INC. !
i Dept. B /
J 6440 Mack Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48207
what difTerence does it make, for ex-
ample, whether we conform because
conformer genes have been selected
or because our general genetic make-
up permits conformity as one strategy
among many?
The protracted and intense debate
surrounding biological determinism
has arisen as a function of its social
and political message. As I have ar-
gued in several columns (April 1974,
June-July 1975, March 1976), bio-
logical determinism has always been
used to defend existing social ar-
rangements as biologically inevita-
ble— from "for ye have the poor al-
ways with you" to nineteenth-
century imperialism to modern sex-
ism. Why else would a set of ideas
so devoid of factual support gain such
a consistently good press from estab-
lished media throughout the cen-
turies? This usage is quite out of the
control of individual scientists who
propose deterministic theories for a
host of reasons, often benevolent.
I make no attribution of motive in
Wilson's or anyone else's case. Nei-
ther do I reject determinism because
I dislike its political usage. Scientific
truth, as we understand it, must be
our primary criterion. We live with
several unpleasant biological truths,
death being the most undeniable and
ineluctable. If genetic determinism is
true, we will learn to live with it as
well. But I reiterate my statement that
no evidence exists to support it, that
the crude versions of past centuries
have been conclusively disproved,
and that its continued popularity is a
function of social prejudice among
those who benefit most from the
status quo.
But let us not saddle Sociobiology
with the sins of past determinists.
What have been its direct results in
the first few months of its excellent
publicity? At best, we see the begin-
nings of a line of social research that
promises only absurdity by its refusal
to consider immediate nongenetic
factors. The January 30, 1976, issue
of Science (America's leading techni-
cal journal for scientists) contains an
article on panhandling that I would
have accepted as satire if it had ap-
peared verbatim in the National Lam-
poon. The authors dispatched "pan-
handlers" to request dimes from
various "targets." Results are dis-
cussed only in the context of kin se-
lection, reciprocal altruism, and the
food-sharing habits of chimps and
baboons — nothing on current urban
realities in America. As one major
conclusion, they find that male pan-
handlers are "far more successful ap-
proaching a single female or a pair of
females than a male and female to-
gether; they were particularly unsuc-
cessful when approaching a single
male or two males together. ' ' But not
a word about urban fear or the politics
of sex — just some statements about
chimps and the genetics of altruism
(although they finally admit that re-
ciprocal altruism probably does not
apply — after all, they argue, what fu-
ture benefit can one expect from a
panhandler).
In the first negative comment on
Sociobiology, economist Paul Sam-
uelson {Newsweek, July 7, 1975)
urged sociobiologists to tread softly
in the zones of race and sex. I see no
evidence that his advice is being
heeded. In his New York Times Mag-
azine article of October 12, 1975,
Wilson writes:
In hunter-gatherer societies, men
hunt and women stay at home. This
strong bias persists in most [my
emphasis] agricultural and indus-
trial societies and, on that ground
alone, appears to have a genetic or-
igin. . . . My own guess is that the
genetic bias is intense enough to
cause a substantial division of
labor even in the most free and
most egalitarian of future societies.
. . . Even with identical education
and equal access to all professions,
men are likely to continue to play
a disproportionate role in political
life, business and science.
I can only repeat Kate Millett's
complaint that ' 'patriarchy has a tena-
cious or powerful hold through its
successful habit of passing itself off
as nature."
We are both similar to and different
from other animals. In different cul-
tural contexts, emphasis upon one
side or the other of this fundamental
truth plays a useful social role. In
Darwin's day, an assertion of our
similarity broke through centuries of
harmful superstition. Now we may
need to emphasize our difference as
flexible animals with a vast range of
potential behavior. Our biological na-
ture does not stand in the way of so-
cial reform. We are, as Simone de
Beauvoir said, "I'etre dont I'etre est
de n'etre pas" — the being whose es-
sence lies in having no essence.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science at
Harvard University.
Fedders heat pump
air conditioner cuts
winter fuel bills
Saves on summer cooling, too!
The money you save operating your
Fedders Flexhermetic II heat pump air
conditioner to warm your home in the
winter can pay for the cost of operating the
Flexhermetic II heat pump air conditioner
to cool your home in summer
The Flexhermetic II heat pump air
conditioner is a single system that performs
like two. . .to provide comfort all year long.
In summer it's a super efficient central air
conditioner that removes heat from your
home at an exceptionally low operating
cost and leaves it comfortably cool and dry.
In winter the Flexhermetic II heat pump
air conditioner is reversed automatically
and it becomes a heating system ... a heating
system that uses the natural heat always
present in the outdoor air (82 percent of
heat in the air that was available at 100°F is
still available at 0°F).
Because it uses this natural heat, the
Fedders heat pump air conditioner can
achieve dramatic savings in winter fuel bills
when compared to straight electric heat.
Electric heat has a C.O.P. (coefficient of per-
formance —ratio of heat output to energy
consumed) of 1.00 and provides 3413
BTUH for each KWH used. The
Flexhermetic II model CKH024B7A out-
door unit and CKJ024C2A indoor unit
has a C.O.P. of 2.6 at 47 °F outdoor air tem-
perature. In other words 8874 BTUH for
each KWH. It's easy to see how savings
quickly add up to offset the low operating
cost of Flexhermetic II heat pump cooling.
The Fedders heat pump air condi-
tioner is exceptionally reliable and efficient
because of the Fedders Rotor-H com-
pressor that was specifically designed for
heat pump operation. Its smooth rotary
motion with only three basic moving parts
(less to wear out, less to go wrong), its solid
construction, its special low-friction
Carblucori" bearings (this a spectacular en-
gineering achievement in its own right) set
new high standards of reliability'.
So reliable in fact is the Rotor-H com-
pressor that Fedders makes available a
four-year extended full warrant^' in addi-
tion to the one year standard parts warrant^'.
The super-efficient Rotor-H compressor is
the heart of a system designed and con-
structed to match its unparalleled
reliability and performance.
So no matter if you're adding on or
replacing, Fedders
makes central air con-
ditioning and heating
more affordable. For
more information
on how you can save
with Fedders, write
Fedders Air Conditioning Sales Co.,
Dept. HB, Edison, New Jersey 08817.
)D
the most comforting name in air conditioning
23
Energy Crisis of the Hummingbird
by WUliam A. Calder III
Survival for this
tiny bird often depends
upon its ability to
regulate metabolism
When European immigrants first
began to settle the eastern seaboard of
North America, they found many
birds similar in appearance to those
they had left behind. But they were
struck by one species that they had
never before seen. In 1714, John
Lawson, an Englishman, wrote an ac-
count of his travels through what is
now North Carolina, and described
this unique bird:
The Humming-Bird is the Miracle
of all our winged Animals. He is
feathered as a Bird, and gets his
Living as the Bees, by sucking the
Honey from each Flower. His Nest
is one of the greatest pieces of
Workmanship the Whole Tribe of
winged Animals can show. . . .
The Eggs are the Bigness of Pease.
In those days, the study of biology
primarily encompassed cataloging
the physical characteristics and habits
of organisms, and body size, in ex-
tremes, was cause for marvel. In
1634, Father Paul Le Jeune wrote of
the ruby-throated hunmiingbird,
"God seems to me more wonderful
in this little bird than in a large ani-
mal.' ' As biological study progressed
from description to analysis, body
size proved to have a profound effect
on an animal's requirements and
habits. By knowing a bird's weight,
we can now predict its metabolic and
heart rates, insulation, flight speed;
even its territory size and life-span.
The influence of body size can be
appreciated by citing an analogous
example: a spoonful of soup cools
much faster than a kettleful. This is
because smaller objects with their
larger surface-to-volume ratios will
cool more rapidly than bigger ob-
jects.
The temperattire regulation of
birds has been studied extensively in
the laboratory, but the complexity of
natural environments and of behavior
in wild birds has caused ornithol-
ogists to largely ignore such regula-
tion in nature. A nest is a good place
to investigate this because a bird reg-
ularly returns to it and to tempera-
ture sensors and other measuring de-
vices placed within it.
One of the functions of a bird ' s nest
is to conserve heat, a form of energy.
Yet keeping two eggs of the ' 'Bigness
of Pease" warm in a small nest must
be a challenge for a hummingbird,
considering the size of its body. Per-
haps this is not a problem in the South
American tropics, where humming-
birds probably evolved, but several
species now breed and nest in the
chilly climates of higher altitudes and
latitudes. The combination of small
extreme in body size and cold nights
provides a dramatic opportunity for
the study of thermoregulation.
A hummingbird that is not able to
obtain sufficient food must conserve
energy in order to maintain a balance.
To do this, it can reduce its body tem-
perature and enter a brief state of
semihibernation, or hypothermia.
However, development of the em-
bryo is suspended while the egg is
cool. By bugging the nests of Anna's
hummingbirds (Calypte anna) in
southern California, Thomas Howell
and William Dawson found in 1954
that incubating females did not lower
their body temperature. From that
study ornithologists generalized that
all incubating hummingbirds main-
tained normal body temperatures at
all times.
The calliope hummingbird {Stel-
lula calliope) is only three-fifths the
size of Anna's hummingbird, yet it
nests in the Rocky Mountains where
temperatures are far cooler than in
southern California. Because of its
colder habitat and smaller size, I de-
cided to use this species to test the
generalization that incubating hirai-
mingbirds constantly maintain high
body and nest temperatures.
In 1970, 1 recorded the temperature
of a calliope hummingbird nest at the
Jackson Hole Biological Research
Station in Wyoming. The thin, dry
atmosphere brings a chill to the valley
each evening and temperatures often
drop to freezing before sunrise. After
placing a thermocouple — a device
that continuously monitors tempera-
ture— in the nest (precariously situ-
ated eight feet out on a slender limb),
I discovered that during the night, the
female was able to maintain the tem-
perature of the egg at from 95° to
97°F. A second nest along the Snake
River showed similar temperatures.
Despite my intrusions, both nests
were successful; two chicks fledged
from each.
The observations led to more ques-
tions. How does a female humming-
bird pick a nest site? How important
for her heat conservation are the insu-
lation of the nest and the shelter from
the night sky that an overhead branch
provides? Surrounding these ques-
tions is the more important one — how
much energy is required to keep a nest
warm?
Even cooler than Jackson Hole at
night is the Rocky Mountain Biologi-
cal Laboratory, situated at an eleva-
tion of 9,500 feet in Gothic, Colo-
rado. A large population of broad-
tailed hummingbirds (Selasphorus
platycercus) breeds there. With the
help of my family and assistants I
have now studied more than 100 of
their nests — some were in the low
branches of Engelmann spruce and
others were high in aspens.
Unlike small mammals that burrow
underground, the hummingbird hen
is directly exposed to a cold night and
heat conservation is of utmost impor-
tance to her. A nesting bird must wait
for enough light to begin feeding and
can consume only so much before
nightfall. With these limitations, the
hummingbird hen cannot ignore con-
servation. Indeed, she is forced into
economy by natural selection; spend-
thrifts do not leave offspring.
In order to measure nighttime heat
losses from nests, elaborate and ex-
pensive equipment is necessary. Heat
leaves the hummingbird and her nest
by several routes. For example, the
bird warms the surrounding air and
when the air moves, the heat is lost
by convection. Air and surface tem-
peratures and wind velocity must thus
be measured. Heat is also transferred
tlirough the nest by conduction, so
nest interior and exterior tempera-
mres are needed, as is a measurement
of heat flow through the nest.
Any object warmer than the abso-
lute zero of outer space radiates heat
energy. The warmer the surface, the
faster the heat radiates away. If the
bird's back is warmer than either the
overhead branches or the sky. her
body will emit more heat than it re-
ceives and thus incur a net loss. At
the coldest point in the daily cycle,
just before daybreak, an incubating
hummingbird loses heat by radiation,
conduction, and convection at a rate
of about one-quarter of a watt. This
loss must be balanced by an equiva-
lent heat production.
This rate of heat flow comes from
a bird weighing only one-ninth of an
ounce. The average person, when
seated, burns energy at a rate of about
100 watts, which per hummingbird-
sized morsel of flesh averages only
1/200 watt.
Energetically, a hummingbird's
small body requires less food than a
larger bird but more food in propor-
tion to its size. It has the ability to
feed on minute sources such as drop-
lets of nectar and tiny insects that are
generally unprofitable for larger birds
to exploit. Finally, it has some time
at its disposal. The game of life is one
of converting that time into energy to
maintain vital processes and to be
able to leave offspring that can make
the same conversion. Energy balance
is mandatory. If the daily energy
intake does not cover the daily re-
quirements, the system starts disinte-
grating. If not reversed, death will
follow.
The broad-tail is a mountain hum-
mingbird breeding from Guatemala
to northern Nevada, Utah, and
Wyoming. The Rocky Mountain
breeders probably winter in west-cen-
tral Mexico and move north at the
first sign of spring, arriving in the
During the latter part of the nesting
season in Colorado, broad-tailed
hummingbirds, such as this female,
compete vigorously with rufous
hummingbirds for nectar.
William A. Calder III
25
3
FEEDING
BEGINS
^--- ""---^ FEEDING
1 ^„-- -.^_ ENDS
NOON
NEST TEMPERATURE
It
AtR TEMPERATURE
24 1 2
_
-,
- Aa
RAINSTORM
iHilKjLll
\ 1 RAINSTORM
EOUIPMENT
MALFUNCTION
-vv rk^
- 'Hifipll
NO 1
FEEDING
m\W
NO irf
FEEDING
1 w
\ HYPOTHERMIA 1 flji'
FEEDING
BEGINS
NOON
FEEDING
ENDS
V J ■
19 20 21 22 23 24
A sensor implanted in an artificial
egg indicated that an incubating
calliope hummingbird hen maintains
an average nest temperature of 95°
to 97°F despite a fluctuation of
outside air temperature from 46°
to 79°. The sudden cooling of the
nest during feeding trips is
represented by sharp drops in
nest temperature. When severe
thunderstorms (lower graph)
kept a female broad-tailed
hummingbird on her nest for
prolonged periods, she missed
several feeding trips. After
midnight, the bird's body
temperature dropped and she
entered a state of hypothermia.
Her temperature began rising,
however, in time to enable her
to begin feeding by daybreak.
Santa Catalina Mountains of southern
Arizona in late February. The first re-
connaissance flights to Gothic are in
mid-May, and the birds usually arrive
during mid-morning.
High in the Rockies, energy bal-
ance is precarious and strongly domi-
nated by the weather. Late snow-
storms or slow melting of a heavy
winter snowfall will delay flowering
of the Nelson's larkspur, which the
hummingbirds seem to rely on for the
onset of breeding. If the recormoiter-
ing birds find the energy supply inad-
equate, they may feed a little from the
pussywillows and then disappear by
midafternoon, presumably retreating
to an energy base at a lower elevation.
If the flowers are blooming, how-
ever, or if artificial feeders are up, the
hummingbirds will remain — the
males fighting over territories and the
females examining potential nest
sites. The uncertainties of late sum-
mer dictate that breeding must start as
soon as possible. Either drought or
early snowstorms may suddenly ter-
minate the nectar supply.
After courtship, the male is not in-
volved in the reproductive sequence.
The female builds the nest with moss,
lichens, and papery bark fragments,
and lines it with cobwebbing and
down from willows or aspens. She
then produces two eggs, incubates
them from 15 to 19 days, and broods
and raises the chicks for 21 to 26
days. Throughout the incubation and
brooding, she repairs and adds to the
nest walls.
During this period, she must meet
not only her own energy requirements
but also those of her eggs or chicks,
a responsibility threatened by the
constant danger of a decline in food
supply before the 36- to 45 -day nest-
ing period is completed. Matters may
be further complicated by the arrival
from late July to early August of ag-
gressive rufous hunmiingbirds {Sel-
asphorus rufus) migrating south.
This species breeds earlier in the
coastal forests from California to the
northern coast of the Gulf of Alaska
and inland from British Columbia and
Alberta through Idaho and Montana.
Although rufous hummingbirds in-
habit low altitudes, during the peak
of their migration they will normally
feed in meadows that are higher than
those in which the broad-tails nest. H
the flowers are late blooming in the
higher altitudes, however, or if artifi-
cial feeders hold rufous humming-
birds to the lower meadows, the two
species will compete fiercely for the
same food resources.
In this difficult period broad-tail
nests with live chicks in them are
sometimes abandoned. If the female
carmot provide food for her young,
she has no choice but to fend for her-
self and leave them to starve. Natural
selection favors the opportunists that
start nesting early enough in the sea-
son to precede the decline in re-
sources but not so early that a late
spring snowstorm would wipe out the
effort.
Energy crises can occur on a daily
scale as well as on a more prolonged
one. The hen usually leaves the nest
for her first feeding trip of the day
approximately 11 to 18 minutes be-
fore sunrise and finishes the last at
sunset. Nest-cooling records indicate
that during the day the female leaves
the nest to feed about sixty times. She
also will make up to thirty shorter ab-
sences for preening, harassing poten-
tial predators, and catching nearby
small insects.
Apparently, these feeding trips
provide an energy balance with only
Hummingbirds aid in the cross-
fertilization of tubular flowers
like columbine. When this female
rufous hummingbird probes for
nectar, her head collects pollen,
which she carries to other flowers.
William A. Caldef
26
\
William A. Calder II
a slight margin to spare. Summer
rainstorms in the Rockies can be vio-
lent. During heavy downpours fe-
male hummingbirds must remain on
their nests, thereby missing several
feeding trips. On several of these oc-
casions, the day's energy intake was
significantly reduced because of lost
feeding time.
This leads to an energy shortage as
the hummingbird cannot obtain food
before daylight. Since she must pre-
serve enough energy to feed at that
time, she reduces her energy con-
sumption. In several nests we re-
corded temperature drops from 90° to
52° or lower between midnight and
four o'clock when heavy rain had
fallen the day before. The lowered
temperatures lasted for several hours,
but the bird's body began to warm far
enough in advance of first light to en-
able it to resume feeding at that time.
Thus the hypothermia and resultant
torpor, which I was seeking when I
started studying hummingbirds, did
actually occur. Because this was an
infrequent occurrence, it did not indi-
cate an inability to regulate tempera-
tures. Cold night temperatures with-
out previous rain did not necessarily
While female broad-tails, above,
incubate their eggs, males of the
species, right, who rarely share in
incubation or rearing, defend their
territory from encroaching males.
produce lowered body temperatures.
Hypothermia tended to occur during
nights following a day of rain. Such
nights generally were warmer than
usual because the clouds reduced en-
vironmental cooling by radiation.
Hypothermia was recorded twelve
times in 1972 and 1973 — during in-
cubation, at hatching, and when
chicks were six to thirteen days old.
The rate of successful fledging in
these nests was 63 percent, slightly
higher than the success rate recorded
for all nests studied, so the cooling
does not seem to be detrimental , other
than possibly slowing development
for several hours. Through hypother-
mia, energy was saved and the crisis
was met successfully.
A close relative of the broad -tail,
the rufous is the smallest bird in
Bob and Clara Calhoun: Bruce Coleman. Inc.
Alaska. Breeding up to about 61 de-
grees north, the rufous holds the lati-
tude record for hummingbirds. How
do its energy problems compare with
that of the broad-tail in Colorado? In
1974 and 1975 we sampled hum-
mingbird life at Elfin Cove on Chi-
chagof Island and around Cordova
and Juneau. Possible challenges to
the energy balance of these high-lati-
tude birds include the climate, the
food supply, and the demands of mi-
gration.
Hummingbirds in Alaska have
long days for feeding during the sum-
mer. Consequently, their overnight
fast is relatively brief, averaging
about four and one-half hours. The
ratio of feeding time to fasting time
probably makes it easier to attain an
energy balance. The gentle, diffuse
rainfall is another factor that encour-
ages stability because it permits hum-
mingbirds to feed while it rains. The
daytime air temperature is not as high
as in Colorado, but the clouds and
moist air reduce nighttime cooling.
The net result is that the potential for
heat drain from hummingbirds is sim-
ilar in Alaska and Colorado.
In Alaska, rufous nests were em-
barrassingly difficult to find, but the
interior temperatures of those that we
did locate were similar to those of
broad-tails in the Rocky Mountains.
Unfortunately, one nest was de-
stroyed by a red squirrel ten days after
we began recording temperatures.
Other measurements were taken from
a nest on the Argetsinger Environ-
mental Campus of the Juneau-
Douglas Schools. We had to disre-
gard these data, however, when we
found that the nest's interior was
lined with fiber glass insulation from
a nearby cabin.
The food supply in Alaska remains
to be studied quantitatively. The
hummingbirds appear to feed from
flowers that probably evolved for pol-
lination by bees. Such flowers are
blueberry, salmonberry, and Menzie-
sia. These grow in greatest profusion
where man has altered the vegeta-
tion— along road cuts and on logged-
over areas. Only at the end of the
nesting season do flowers bloom that
are specialized for hummingbird pol-
lination. Red columbine and Indian
paintbrush — which have tubular-
shaped flowers — are among them.
Hummingbirds probably inhabited
Alaska only recently, perhaps only
since the Pleistocene. The spread to
this region of flowers specialized for
hummingbirds has lagged behind
that of their pollinators. Most hum-
mingbirds in Alaska must therefore
get their food from flowers usually
pollinated by bees.
Advancing from a tropical heri-
tage, the world's smallest birds have
successfully exploited the noctur-
nally chilling climates of the Rocky
Mountains and the Alaskan coast.
Their success appears to be based on
conservation of energy attained by
careful insulation of the nest, by
choosing a strategically located nest
site, and by conserving heat when an
energy shortage occurs. Perhaps we
need a second national bird, one that
attains energy balance through con-
servation, n
W-:::^-^,
V«*^-> J^.
%^*'|»^|.
*^
>^
•A- »*
,1^,#^^-
W^*^
I J .
iT'
^.
Earthquake Hazards in the Mountains
by Kenneth HewiU
Why did a moderate quake
in Pakistan cause severe
damage and loss of life ?
At 5:11 P.M. on December 28,
1974, an earthquake of magnitude
5.5 on the Richter scale shook the
mountains of Indus Kohistan, in the
north of Pakistan. Great devastation
occurred over an area of some 300
square miles. Thousands of people
were killed and several times as many
injured. Whole villages were razed
and the economic base of the region
badly dislocated. Homes, bazaars,
and recently built schools, uncounted
tiers of terraced fields and irrigation
systems were shaken apart by the
tremors or crushed by the rockfalls
and landslides that followed. Large
numbers of cattle, buffalo, and goats
died, often buried, as were so many
of the human casualties, in buildings
that had been their shelter against the
hazards of winter. The Karakoram
Highway, Pakistan's costly and pres-
tigious new trade route to China, was
blocked or swept away by hundreds
of landslides for a distance of some
forty miles.
Indus Kohistan is a land of deep
gorges and high mountain ridges at
the western end of the Great Hima-
The steep, deforested slopes of
northern Pakistan make the area
more vulnerable to damage when
an earthquake occurs. These
houses of mud and wattle with
strong timber supports
withstood tremors well.
layas. The lowest parts, where the
Indus cuts a narrow slot from the
trans-Himalaya to the plains of the
Punjab, are barely 2,000 feet above
sea level. The adjacent mountains
rise to between 10,000 and 15.000
feet. Steep slopes, thousands of feet
from top to bottom, dominate the
landscape and otter a huge store of
potential energy when earth or
boulders start to move over them.
The many tributary streams hurry
to join the Indus through steep, nar-
row gorges flanked by precipitous
slopes. Bare rock walls are undercut
by the rivers at many points. The re-
gion is one of active , vigorous folding
and faulting, where the Himalayas
are crushed into the tight pleat be-
tween the Hindu Kush and the Kara-
koram Himalayas.
Strong upslope variations in cli-
mate are common in such terrain, and
played a key role in the impact of the
earthquake. Perhaps a quarter of the
affected population lived in the
higher, snowbound areas. The survi-
vors up here fared much worse than
those at lower elevations where, if
one found shelter from the cool valley
winds, it was comparatively mild. At
higher, more exposed elevations,
people had great difficulty con-
structing shelters and finding warmth.
They faced enormous. problems car-
rying the injured downslope, and re-
lief supplies upslope, over steep,
snow-covered paths that were
blocked or borne away by landslides
at many points. In such terrain it is
never good to be sick in winter.
When undisturbed, all but the
steepest valley sides support a fairly
dense forest cover up to 13,000 feet.
It is dominated mostly by the deodar,
the Himalayan cedar. Where the
forest remains, there was far less
damage than elsewhere: in particular,
there were few rockfalls. But much
of the forest has been cleared and
most of what remains is overused.
The incessant search for firewood, the
energy source for cooking and keep-
ing warm, has overreached the supply
even here, although not to as extreme
a degree as farther out in the foothills.
The ever present herds of goats have
also taken their toll through overgraz-
ing and destruction of young trees.
So most farms and villages are sur-
rounded by deforested slopes. Many
are terraced, of course, and may rise
more than 2,000 feet without a break.
In the winter, bare soil and loose
rock — unstable debris easily set in
downslope motion by the earth-
quake— are conspicuous around and
above settlements.
The immediate causes of damage
during the earthquake were about
equally divided between the effects of
the ground motion itself and the im-
pact of rockfalls and landslides set off
by the earth tremors. Ground motion
caused the shaking apart of structures
and, especially on steeper slopes, the
breakup and slumping of the ground
itself. Disintegrating retaining walls
or downslope slumping of the soil
body damaged many terrace walls;
the collapse of buildings was also
due, in perhaps half the cases, to
groimd motion or failure.
But everything depended upon lo-
cation and local terrain. Larger settle-
ments, such as Pattan, are on broad
river terraces or alluvial fans where
the valleys widen. Here ground mo-
tion was decisive in the amount of
damage. Apart from being less ex-
posed to landslides from steep slopes,
these areas have deeper alluvial sub-
31
Area of
December 28th, 1974
Earthquake
soils where ground movement is gen-
erally more severe in earthquakes.
Conversely, farms and villages in
the steep-walled tributary valleys and
narrows of the Indus suffered mainly
from the terrible rain of boulders fol-
lowing the tremors. The results were
more like bomb damage. Landslides
were also a large factor in the destruc-
tion of irrigation channels and ter-
races here. Moreover, landslides are
a particularly bad way for terracing to
go. The entire soil element is swept
away, sometimes directly into a
stream bed and downstream before it
can be recovered. Here, it probably
ended up in Tarbela Dam, a huge irri-
gation and power project some 75
miles down the Indus. Since sedi-
mentation is a major problem in the
economic lifetime of the reservoir,
agricultural productivity was thus di-
minished at both ends.
The special and most terrifying
feature of an earthquake is that, more
than any other natural hazard, it at-
tacks our shelters and man-made
structures. Nearly all types of build-
ings in Indus Kohistan fared badly in
the disaster — ^modern pukka build-
ings of dressed stone and mortar or
concrete, as well as traditional kutcha
work in mixtures of mud, wattle,
timber, and boulders.
A few old and traditional buildings
did as well as any modern structures.
If their walls and roofs were made of
sound timber, wood-frame houses of
traditional design fared best of all.
Studies elsewhere have shown that
small timber-frame buUdings do well
in earthquakes. But when individual
walls and building blocks can move
independently or when the material is
rigid and brittle, buildings readily
shake apart.
Wood supplies, however, are di-
minishing or becoming more costly,
the result of destruction of forest
cover, expanding populations, and
the heavy demand from urban centers
better able to pay the price for wood.
This means that less and poorer
timber is used and that existing timber
structures are renovated less often.
In Indus Kohistan, one practice
that seems a response to timber short-
ages proved fatal during the earth-
quake. That is the decision to put all
or the best timber into the roof,
which is supported by walls of mud
and stones or even dry-stone work. In
this area, roofs are important social
and economic spaces, used for gath-
erings, for women to work outdoors
in warm weather, and for drying pro-
duce in the sun. Roofs are, therefore,
solid structures of timber, wattle, and
hard-packed mud. And they are very
heavy. Again and again during the
earthquake, the roofs fell in single,
crushing masses, while walls merely
crumbled away in the tremors.
AtPalas, a tragedy within the trag-
edy when the massive roof of an old
mosque collapsed while the entire
adult male population was at prayer.
Only one survived, and he sustained
serious head injuries. The collapse of
this otherwise solidly built structure
was due to the old, rotten timber in
the walls. The sad fate of all buildings
at Palas seemed to reflect the wide
treeless slopes or poor scrub in that
area, forcing builders to make do with
inferior or old timber.
In terms of social and economic
disruption, however, damage to ter-
races and irrigation systems may be
more critical than that to buildings
and second only to human casualties
in its significance. The terraces are
the main economic base for the ma-
jority of the population. A few groups
specializing in herding own most of
the livestock, a useful source of in-
come, clothing, and to some extent,
food; but irrigation agriculture, with
maize the main crop, is much more
critical.
With annual precipitation at only
28 to 40 inches, drying valley winds,
and seasonal drought, irrigation is es-
sential. It involves elaborate systems
of ditches. Pipes and troughs hewn by
hand from whole logs lead the water
across the valleys and around cliffs to
areas of terracing. Water also powers
the hundreds of small mills that grind
the grain into flour. Meanwhile, not
only the retaining walls and water
channels but also the soil itself is a
human artifact. Fertile terrace sur-
faces are built up over decades, even
centtvies, with baskets of alluvium,
manure, and night soil; the fine sedi-
ment in irrigation waters; and care-
fully planned cropping patterns. Loss
of such soil is only reversible over
similar periods, and then only with a
substantial input of labor. For the mo-
ment, therefore, soil loss constitutes
a large reduction in the productive
land surface and/or depth of fertile
soil. In turn, this reduces the number
of mouths that can be fed. Since
earthquake damage was most severe
in the poorer and more marginal
areas — recently colonized in re-
sponse to increased population — the
soil loss is likely to put greatest pres-
sure on those people least able to off-
set it.
Elsewhere, the secondary effects
of earthquakes, such as fire and dis-
ease, have produced more damage
than the initial impact. Surprisingly,
given the amount of wood and wattle
32
in many buildings in the region and
the close-packed nature ol the vil-
lages, tire was a minor agent in the
catastrophe. Of course, there are only
a handful of gas or oil stoves in the
region and no pipelines — the most
likely sources of conflagration.
Although no outbreaks of disease
were reported, they probably did
occur. For two or three weeks follow-
ing the earthquake, many farms and
villages were bathed in the stench of
dead cattle and goats, the bloated
bodies being fed upon by domestic
fowl and dogs, as well as wild scav-
engers. Often, groups of children
played numbly around them. Here
was one of the ironies of relief opera-
tions: some villagers were reluctant
to remove the carcasses before an of-
ficial count, for fear they would lose
compensation!
Every disaster has its special fea-
tures, its unique combination of cir-
cumstances, warranting detailed ap-
praisal. Here we can but sketch the
conditions in Indus Kohistan. At the
same time, it was only one of more
than thirty earthquake disasters of
comparable or larger magnitude that
have occurred in mountainous re-
gions over the past quarter of a cen-
tury. Most of these have been in Third
World countries.
For the world as a whole, an
average year in the mid-twentieth
century brings some thirty-two major
natural disasters. Of these, four are
earthquake triggered, accounting for
some 14,000 fatalities. High moun-
tain regions are areas of concentrated
seismic risk, notably in the western
Cordilleras of the Americas, the Eura-
sian and African mountain chains
from M(jrocco to western China, and
the mountainous islands of Southeast
Asia. While nearly 70 percent of po-
tentially damaging earthquakes take
place in the circum-Pacific belt, only
20 percent of the mid-century
(1949-69) casualties were reported
here. But the Himalayan-Mediter-
ranean zone, from Burma to Mo-
rocco, with only 14 percent of dan-
gerous earthquakes, accounted for
nearly 75 percent of the casualties.
Clearly, there is a relation between
the relative density of human
occupancy and earthquake risk.
There are strong indications that
the number of natural disasters and
the degree of damage in general have
increased in this century. Since there
is no reason to suppose that nature is
becoming more severe, the tirigin
must be sought in changing human
activities. In wealthy nations, the
level of economic losses is increas-
ing; in poorer countries, both mortal-
ity and economic loss are expanding.
The disaster in Pakistan serves as an
example of the extent of the problem,
while at the same time offering a case
study in possible strategies for reha-
bilitation.
First, the scale and frequency of
such disasters in high mountains is
not merely a result of seismic condi-
tions but rather the worst expression
of recent socioeconomic pressures
and environmental deterioration.
Rapid deforestation, overgrazing,
and the extension of cropping to ever
more marginal areas, all of which ac-
celerate erosion, flooding, and silting
of bottomlands, are spreading rapidly
throughout the world's tropical and
subtropical high mountains. One of
the effects of this convergence of en-
vironmental damage and socioeco-
nomic stresses is to greatly enhance
the risk from pests, disease, land-
slides, floods, and earthquakes.
In many regions, the processes of
environmental damage are far more
advanced than in Indus Kohistan. but
it would be erroneous to imagine that
this is anything but a matter of time.
Between visits in 1962 and 1975 to
the Himalayan tracts of Pakistan
closer to the plains. I found a stagger-
ing increase in forest damage, bare
slopes, gullying, and landslides. The
potential damage from an earthquake
there is very great indeed, not least
in the enormous pulse of sediment it
would hurry into the rivers, dams,
and irrigation works so vital to Paki-
stan's survival.
The situation is aggravated by the
loosening of ties between people and
their land. As more and more men
work in the cities as factory hands.
Solid, heavy roofs often fell in
single masses during the
earthquake, the result of putting
all or the best timber into
the inadequately supported roof.
Kenneth Hewitt
33
servants, drivers, and so on, farm
plots are often just supplements to
other income, or convenient homes
for women and children who return
in summer to work them. Similar
loosening of ties, including the ero-
sion of concern for the local environ-
ment in favor of hoped-for financial
returns, is seen throughout high
mountain areas.
As in western Europe more than
two centuries ago, rural landowners
and peasants moving into the urban
labor force yield the land up to who-
ever is best able to profit by it in the
marketplace or, if it is "uneconom-
ic," to abandonment. The extent of
such transformation has accelerated
markedly in recent years. It seems
that all the other political, economic,
and technological forces that have
followed the various revolutions in
land tenure, work, resource use, and
government elsewhere have suddenly
burst full tilt into these lands.
More often than not, environ-
mental damage and natural hazards
merely aid the chaotic dismantling of
indigenous cultures. I am not imply-
ing that the over-all trends can or
should be halted, least of all that the
indigenous cultures should be "pre-
served." But when later phases of
this develdpment in marginal lands
bring great ecosystem damage and
high risk from natural extremes, it is
hard to condone a laissez faire atti-
tude. In many respects those best able
to avert the worst effects — scientists,
international agencies, and plarmers
— seem least equipped with the con-
cern, if not the tools, to do so. This
comes out clearly even in the emo-
tionally charged area of a disaster.
Let us examine, for example, a
strategy for rehabilitating the Indus
Kohistan area that would take full ac-
count of the local habitat and econ-
omy. Remember, damage to the habi-
tat has not yet gone so far that it could
not be restored in a small number of
years. The people are sturdily inde-
pendent, hardworking, and not yet
ready for the climactic abandonment
of old ways and land that is happening
elsewhere. And unless one compares
it with the rich agriculture of the Pun-
jab plains the area appears productive
and could be more so with improved
labor-intensive cultivation.
In such terms, rehabilitation pro-
grams should include direct support
for restoring and improving the qual-
ity of existing agriculture, including
assistance in better terrace con-
struction, crop varieties, animal
health, and incentives to pull back
from precarious slopes. Programs are
also needed to improve health care
and provide education and advisory
services, using modest means, which
can be easily modified if unsuccess-
ful, and technology that can be main-
tained under the local conditions.
Earthquake proofing, for example,
should start with existing building
practices, rather than exotic engi-
neering notions.
Afforestation, since it offers bene-
fits in all areas, from environmental
protection to resources for improving
building quality, should be at the core
of any rehabilitation program. But it
must be a mixed strategy, not lines of
trees marching up and down every
mountain. Afforestation must include
pure stands of timber on vulnerable
watersheds, with shelter belts and av-
enues along, roads and paths. There
must be farm forestry with, say, fruit
and nut trees carefully selected and
planted to improve terrace stability
and provide additional income with-
out interfering with grain cultivation;
trees whose leaves will provide fod-
der, but also areas from which graz-
ing must be excluded; commercial
lumber stands for eventual export and
avenues of quick-growing trees in vil-
lages and on farms to provide for
local constructional timber.
The Pakistan Forestry Service has,
in fact, conducted some fine experi-
ments of this kind. The main problem
is always a mandate and funding,
especially money to subsidize re-
placements such as oil stoves and
kerosine for overtaxed firewood re-
sources and to compensate shepherds
for obeying stricter grazing laws.
Tree planting is the least of worries!
In the case of the earthquake, how-
ever, funds are available. The after-
math of an earthquake provides a
unique psychological opportunity for
government to enter into ventures that
will uplift marginal areas and draw
them into fruitful relations with the
larger political community.
Actually, Pakistan's prime minis-
ter has long argued for major affores-
tation and uplift of marginal regions.
Unhappily, these hopes get lost
somewhere in the system, and so far
Following the 1974 earthquake,
Pakistani villagers put up
shelters made of maize stalks
and the wreckage of homes.
forestry has taken second place every
time. The cities and industries grow
apace, but forests disappear, soil ero-
sion worsens, and so does the plight
of rural peoples.
In terms of combating earth-
quakes, the overwhelming issue for
scientists has been that of prediction.
It now seems likely we will indeed
have some working systems for earth-
quake forecasting in a few areas in the
present decade. But the techniques
require either extensive seismologi-
cal instrumentation or a high degree
of organized observing and under-
standing on the part of people living
in earthquake zones. To be effective,
the observations must embrace a
large area. Forecasts must be rapidly
disseminated and followed up by
evacuation and other safety meas-
ures. Outside of a few major centers,
such a program has little prospect of
implementation throughout the vast,
high-risk regions in mountains from
Burma to Morocco, in East Africa or
Andean South America.
Similar problems arise with the en-
gineering principles and building-
code requirements developed in af-
fluent nations. Where implemented,
they can indeed be highly successful,
as they have been in Quetta, Pakistan,
reconstructed after the 1935 earth-
quake that killed more than 50,000
persons. Unfortunately, in mountain
regions few buildings, even the most
modern, meet minimal standards.
More importantly, the temptation ev-
erywhere is to build cheaply and
quickly. Recent earthquakes in rural
Where the terrain is fairly flat,
as in this recently struck area
of Guatemala, the soil tends
to break apart, rather than
collapse. Here, too, poor
building materials contributed
to the extensive damage.
34
35
In Pakistan, landslides and
rockfalls caused as much damage
as ground motion and figured
heavily in the destruction of
terraces. When terracing
collapses, the soil is swept away;
in this case it ended in a dam
75 miles down the Indus River.
Rockfalls also crushed buildings,
including a bazaar, far right,
along the Karakoram Highway.
Iran, Turkey, Venezuela, Peru, and
Guatemala, as well as Indus Kohis-
tan, show the vulnerability of peasant
construction when poor materials and
sites are used. But what government
can enforce building codes through-
out these high-risk areas, let alone
commence the rebuilding of millions
of structures?
I do not wish to demean the impor-
tant work being done in seismology
and earthquake engineering. Our
world has become too urban and in-
dustrial not to need it. But in marginal
habitats it smacks of those uncon-
scious assumptions that we also take
for granted when imposing Western
technology on exotic cultures. In the
deserts, tundra, and high mountains,
one sees how much we apply our flat-
land, temperate technology and eco-
nomic standards.
About 25 percent of the world's
land area lies above 3,000 feet and
some 10 percent has that combination
of altitudinal range, topography, and
climate one associates with alpine
conditions. Perhaps 5 percent of the
world's population lives in high
mountains, notably in the tropical and
subtropical regions. In other words,
these regions have roughly the same
36
• .■ artr r^^,
weight in area and population as the
United States.
For some nations, such as Peru,
Ethiopia, and Nepal, mountains form
the dominant habitat. In others, they
provide essential resources such as
minerals and timber or, as in Egypt,
Pakistan, and Soviet Turkestan, the
water supply for dry plains. Else-
where, they have vital strategic im-
portance, while affluent nations em-
phasize their value for recreation and
as wildlife refuges.
Yet, environmentally, their great-
est importance is as watersheds regu-
lating the flow and quality of surface
waters in many of the most populous
lands. Conditions in the mountainous
headwaters determine the incidence
of floods in, and the amount of sedi-
ment carried by, such rivers as the
Amazon, Indus, Ganges, and Me-
kong all the way to the oceans. Eco-
system damage in those headwaters
affects human and other populations
far beyond the mountains.
Looking at mountains with a "flat-
land" perspective, we treat them as
obstacles because we have not de-
vised technologies with them in
mind. Economically, they are as-
sumed to be marginal for all but a few
special activities — as scenic resorts
perhaps or mineral emplacements.
Surely these views, however uncon-
sciously applied, are environmentally
disastrous. Moreover, they are eco-
nomically fatal for Third World coun-
tries with large populations depend-
ent on mountains, whether for living
or for their water. If scientists, plan-
ners, and international agencies do
not recognize these issues, neither
will governments. The results of such
myopia will be ever greater deterio-
ration of marginal ecosystems and
more devastating losses from natural
disasters. D
37
A Pocketful of Crystals
by Vincent D. Manson
photographs by Henry Janson
In the Museum's new Hall of Minerals and Gems, beautiful
objects record the geologic history of the earth
Along with animals and plants, minerals make up one of the earth's three
great natural "kingdoms." Unlike the other two, however, minerals are inor-
ganic and solid materials. About 2,500 different mineral species are known,
ranging from common rock salt and pencil "lead" (actually graphite) to rare
gemstones, such as sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. Some minerals, for
example, copper, gold, and silver, are elements, but most are chemical
compounds. Although they vary greatly in appearance, the crystal structure
of minerals gives them a characteristic form, luster, and hardness, in addi-
tion, each mineral species also has a characteristic range of color.
Minerals result from the interaction of specific geologic processes, and
being crystalline solids, they preserve the story of their past history. They
thus enable us to learn about events that took place both at and beneath
the earth's surface long before man existed to record them. By examining
the formation of one particular mineral, in this case, tourmaline, we can learn
something of the geologic history of the earth and glimpse the intricate
interplay of forces involved in all mineral creation.
Tourmaline is the most abundant gemstone found in the United States.
An important source is the granitic pegmatite of southern California. In this
locale, its history goes back about 50 million years to the time when the
earth's crustal plate carrying the North American continent collided with
the Pacific plate, which bore the vast ocean. We do not know in detail why
such plates suddenly shift and move in opposition. But that this happened
is clearly shown by the record it has left. When the plates collided, what
is known today as California felt its first earthquake. The more buoyant
continental plate overrode the Pacific plate. The ocean floor, rich with min-
eral sediments built up by centuries of erosion on the North American
continent, was forced below. It slid under slowly, moving only three or four
centimeters a year, but miles and miles of rock and crust were pressed
against each other in the process. The forces involved created an intensity
of heat that had far-reaching consequences.
As the Pacific plate was swallowed underneath the American plate, some
of the rich mineral deposit on the Pacific Ocean floor was recrystallized
into new forms. Much of it, however, did not recrystallize, but was sweated
out of the transformed sediment. A paste composed of chemical elements
was formed. This paste of rich, mineral-bearing, molten material, known
as magma, moved into the rock above and forced its way up into the earth's
crust, filling whatever cracks and crevices were present. Enormous mag-
matic bodies were formed within the crust. The largest, which survives
today, reached 1,000 miles in length, 50 miles in width, and a depth of 15
or 16 miles.
As the magma rose from the interior toward higher levels within the
earth's crust, it began to cool. The cooling may have taken as long as
(Continued on page 45)
The minerals and gems shown here
are from the collection of
The American Museum of Natural History.
Native Copper (7"x 12"x5")
Copper uncombined with ottier elements tias been extensively
mined on Michiigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, tlie area from which
this specimen comes. Single masses of the mineral
weighing up to several tons have been found in the same locale.
m^i
ii^f
'M>-'-*.'Si-.
^.^' ;/*
i^lJK
.\ ■• >
™|JS* >■•* - _ p
*,
M^
&i* /
.f^.
«??.^
"%^H
*\'^*'JS
<^ Ik^aj^H
>^i!
.^^^
bi^'::'^^
sKpiw
Elbaite Tourmalines
Tourmaline has an immense color range. It can be found in pink,
green, blue, orange, brown, yellow, black, or colorless varieties.
The crystals on the facing page (8"x 10"x8") were unearthed 100
years ago in the Pala Chief mine in San Diego County, California.
They show clearly how tourmaline is associated with other minerals.
The pink crystals are tourmaline. The colorless ones are quartz.
The dark crystals on the left of the base are columbite. The rest of
the base is an intergrowth of lepidolite and cleavelandite. The
specimen shown above (5"x 12"x 5") comes from Virgin des
Lappes, in Gerais, Brazil— a large producer of gem tourmalines.
•My-',:'
Proustite (IV2" x 3V2" x 1")
Commonly called ruby-silver ore, the specimen above comes from
Chanarcillo, Chile. Proustite is sensitive to some wavelengths of
radiant energy. After long exposure to daylight, it turns black.
Stibnite (3" x 8" x 3") '
The crystals on the right come from lchinoi<awa on the Japanese
island of Shikoku, the most famous locality in the world for
unusually large and well-developed stibnite. The mineral is soft
and fragile. It will fuse in the heat of a lighted match.
i
^^^ -y
■^:y; ni'ffMt ' ti'***'*^
:^>^^-^^^
100,000 years, and while it was going on, part of the magma crystallized.
forming igneous rocl<. Constricted on all sides and subjected to continuous
pressure from the plates, the rocl< could only move upward. Sutijected to
weathering and erosion, the rock was shaped into great granitic mountain
ranges— the Sierras and the Rockies of today.
However, not all of the magma crystallized as granite at first. Some mag-
matic liquid remained; its water content increased, making it more fluid than
the crystalline mush surrounding it. This residual magma then flowed
through cracks and crevices in the granite toward the uppermost regions
of the earth's crust. As the residual magma neared the earth's surface, it
was subjected to cooler temperatures— 500 or 600 degrees Celsius instead
of 1 ,000 degrees or more. When this enriched magmatic material began
to crystallize, it formed great white masses of pegmatite, composed
principally of crystalline quartz and feldspar. These txxjies of rock, perhaps
100 yards long and 20 feet wide, were embedded in the crust adjacent to
the already crystallized granite. Within the pegmatite, as crystallization pro-
ceeded, pockets of enriched liquid remained.
These various-sized pockets were the birthplaces of tourmaline. Some
of the entrapped liquid in them evolved into typical pegmatite. But once
again, not all of the liquid crystallized. The remaining liquid was continuously
enriched in some chemical elements, and finally crystallized into tourmaline
and other rare minerals.
If this process could be observed, the pegmatite with its liquid-filled
pockets would be seen as incandescent. The tourmaline crystals that form
would have a more intense color than the common crystals of the pegmatite.
As the tourmaline crystals form, removing chemicals from the liquid, the
water content of the liquid increases and some of it turns into steam.
The pocket eventually becomes filled with steam, which increases the
internal pressure. If the steam remains, the newly formed tourmaline crys-
tals will become unstable and will dissolve. Sometimes the pegmatite sur-
rounding the pocket is not strong enough to withstand the pressure, and
the steam then bursts forth in an explosive rush. As the steam escapes,
it shatters some of the confining rock and some of the tourmaline crystals.
In the explosion other crystals are severed from the pocket walls, their tips
falling to the floor. Cracks appear in many crystals, long milky-white lines
that may either enhance or mar the tourmaline's beauty. But some of the
crystals remain untouched and survive for eventual exposure as they were
created.
In this final stage, the pocket is left to cool. The tourmaline's creation
is complete. For the next thirty or forty million years, the Pacific plate con-
tinues to move under the American plate. Magma and granite continue to
form. The mountains are pushed upward, carrying with them the pegmatite
pockets and the tourmalines within them. Finally, with weathering and ero-
sion at the surface, the tourmalines may be exposed to human discovery.
The story of the evolution of these tourmalines is comparable to the
development of all other minerals. Each mineral is witness to a part of the
history of the earth and the creation of the physical landscape that sur-
rounds us.
Vincent D. Manson is a consultant to the Department of Mineral Sciences
at The American Museum of Natural History. He was the scientist in charge
of the concept and planning of the Museum's new Hall of Minerals and
Gems, which will open on May 21.
Beryl Variety Emerald (1 V2" x 3V2" x 1 V2")
Found in the Ural Mountains of Siberia, this emerald has
exceptionally vibrant color Resting on a matrix of biotite schist,
the crystals are joined in a parallel growth typical for emeralds.
\ ^
m^^
City Snakes, Suburban Salamanders
by Frederick C. Schlauch
Urbanization often results
in the drastic decline of
reptiles and amphibians. But
some species in the northeast
megalopolis have not been
crowded out by man
Long Island. For sociologists and
demographers, it has been the classic
northeast representation of the post-
World War II suburban boom and
sprawl that enlarged the concept of
metropolis to megalopolis. To real
estate speculators and developers, it
was a bonanza, bringing profit by the
lot, as was one of its western ana-
logues, Los Angeles.
Long Island stretches about 120
miles from the tip of its western end,
facing Manhattan, to the tip of its
eastern end at Montauk Point.
Bounded on the north by Long Island
Sound and on the south by the Atian-
tic Ocean, scalloped by great bays
and fringed by barrier beaches, the
12- to 20-mile- wide island was
As a network of tract housing
spread across the landscape
of Long Island after World War II,
suitable habitats for many
reptiles and amphibians were
reduced to discrete pockets. Most
salamanders require ponds
or streams in which to lay
their eggs. The red-backed
salamander, right, uses moist
ground litter for this purpose,
and its young are capable of
a terrestrial existence upon
hatching. These traits make it
more tolerant of urbanization.
formed and shaped by glacial action
and post-glacial forces. At the west-
ern end of the island, the city of
Brooklyn flourished during the nine-
teenth century, and by 1 898 it was the
third most populous city in the United
States. In that year, Brooklyn and the
adjacent county of Queens were an-
nexed by New York City and the two
came to account, in recent decades,
for a majority of the population of the
biggest city in the country. Agricul-
ture had destroyed segments of the
formerly continuous wildernesses of
Nassau and Suffolk counties, but
much land still remained untouched
by the plow.
Then came automobiles and the
early paved roadways. Starting in
1945, World War II veterans, stimu-
lated by G.I. benefits, flocked from
the central city to the mythical land
of the suburban dream. Tract devel-
opment spread across the landscape,
engulfing nearly all of the great Long
Island prairie known as the Hemp-
stead Plains and spreading to the
deciduous forest of the North Shore.
It is now eating away the wilderness
of the Long Island Pine Barrens.
In 1900, the combined human pap-
ulation of the island's four counties —
Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Nassau,
and Suffolk — stood at less than 1,-
500,000. By 1970, the figure had ex-
ploded to more than 7,000,000.
Today the population is still climbing
and cramping into the available
space — less than 2,000 square miles.
Increasing population and the asso-
47
ciated urbanization have had a docu-
mented effect on the human character
of the island. Historical and regional
planning reports are packed with so-
ciological and demographic informa-
tion. However, data about the impact
on the animal life of the island are
scarce, and where information does
exist in such reports, it usually proves
superficial and often erroneous. But
there can be no doubt that the impact
of urbanization on the island's fauna
has been enormous.
Many people, believing that hu-
man population growth is always an-
tithetical to the survival of wildlife,
make the assumption that Long Is-
land— now a region characterized by
one of the densest human populations
in the United States — must be devoid
of most of its original wildlife. Most
field zoologists do not care to investi-
gate regions such as Long Island, and
most of the animal ecologists in the
universities and museums on or near
the island do their field research else-
where, in relatively undisturbed wil-
dernesses hundreds or thousands of
miles away. Thus, the actions of pro-
fessional biologists have reinforced
the popular notion that Long Island is
virtually lacking in wildlife. The cur-
rent status of the amphibians and rep-
tiles on this island reveals the fallacy
of this preconception.
For more than a decade, I have in-
tensively studied the salamanders,
snakes, turtles, and frogs and toads of
Long Island. The island functions as
an excellent field gradient for urban
zooecological research. The general
trend is toward decreased urbaniza-
tion as the island's eastern end is ap-
proached. The west end, comprised
of two New York City boroughs
(Brooklyn and Queens) and Nassau
County, is the most heavily devel-
oped section of the island. Yet, at
least 28 of the 37 species of amphibi-
ans and reptiles definitely regarded as
native to Long Island have been
found at one or more localities on the
A semiaquatic species, the ribbon
snake, right, has been adversely
affected in urbanized areas
throughout its range in the
eastern United States because
of the alteration of its
swampland habitat. The northern
black racer (immature specimen,
below) attains a length of up
to six feet. This snake probably
has a large home range, which
could account for its disappearance
from most of Long Island 's
urbanized west end.
west end during the past fifteen years,
while to the east, in the less devel-
oped area of Suffolk County, at least
35 of the 37 species have been re-
corded.
While comparatively few species
have been exterminated, it cannot be
said that urbanization has adversely
affected only those that have disap-
peared. The majority of the remain-
ing species have declined in numbers
as a consequence of urbanization, and
some formerly widespread species
are now restricted to disjunct tracts of
suitable habitat. For some species,
however, urbanization may actually
I iSI
- ' v.. :m
^ ^^
m %
'(^i^ ..
have brought increases in population ,
at least on a local basis.
Generally, it would appear that
those species of herpetozoans with
the more specialized and complex en-
vironmental requirements are the
most sensitive to urbanization. Con-
sider the four salamanders of the
genus Ambystoma indigenous to
Long Island: the blue-spotted (A. la-
terale), spotted (A. maculatum),
marbled (A. opacum), and eastern
tiger (A. tigrinum tigrinum). All four
spend most of their adult lives in
woodlands, but, during their breed-
ing seasons, they migrate to local
ponds. Each species migrates once
per year: the blue-spotted, spotted,
and tiger in late winter or early
spring; the marbled in autumn. The
aquatic larvae of the spring-breeding
species take a few months to attain a
capability for terrestrial locomotion;
the autumn-breeding marbled sala-
mander takes eight or nine months.
With the exception of the blue-
spotted, all the species originally
were fairly widespread and continu-
ously distributed on Long Island.
Now the ranges of these salamanders
are much smaller and more disjunct.
We can theorize on the events that
caused this decline by using our
knowledge of the life history patterns
of salamanders, together with obser-
vations on how urbanization affects
the physical and biological aspects of
the environments — on Long Island or
elsewhere — where the species may
still be found.
Urbanization may have interfered
with the life histories of the salaman-
ders by eliminating or disrupting
breeding ponds. Such ponds may
have been tilled or drained to create
dry land for construction projects.
Long Island households secure their
drinking water through an under-
.'iV
'*^^\
-» ■'' ^-■^
%;
,:. -*
ground pumping system that lowers
the water table, and this may have
caused some seasonal ponds to dry
out too early in the year for salaman-
der young to become terrestrially
competent. Industrial pollutants
added to the air cause rainwater to
become more acidic; without any
other alteration of the habitat, urbani-
zation may have changed the pH of
pond water so drastically as to pre-
vent salamander eggs from hatching
or the larvae from developing prop-
erly. Even in areas where ponds re-
main undisturbed, the salamanders
may have disappeared because urban
development has reduced the sur-
rounding woodlands.
The Ambystoma are relatively
large salamanders, and species of this
genus are sold by the pet trade. The
eastern tiger, for example, is a robust
species known to attain a length of 1 3
inches. Virtually an entire population
of such salamanders at a breeding
pond may be wiped out by greedy pet
dealers or pet-seeking children.
Only a few highly localized popu-
lations of Ambystoma remain on the
west end. Fortunately, a number of
populations still thrive farther east-
ward, but even these may soon de-
cline beyond possible recovery, and
any endemic genetic characteristics
of west end Ambystoma may have al-
ready been lost.
An amphibian more immediately
threatened with complete extermi-
nation on Long Island is the northern
two-lined salamander (Eurycea bis-
lineata bislineata). This slender sala-
mander, averaging only a few inches
in length, is adapted to survive in
hilly regions with unpolluted spring-
Children in search of pets are
significant predators of the eastern
box turtle, top left. This activity
is illegal in New York State, but
lack of enforcement has caused the
deterioration of the species on
Long Island. Concrete covering
the sandy soil in which it burrows
and vernal pools drying up because
of lowered water tables are among
the probable causes for the decline
of the eastern spadefoot toad, left,
on the western half of Long Island.
fed stream systems. This suitable
habitat existed only in the morainal
sections of the North Shore on the
western half of the island. Fifty or so
years ago, the two-lined was abun-
dant within northern Queens County.
Naturalist Samuel C. Yeaton, Jr.,
once collected a thousand sp)ecimens
in a single day for research use by G.
Kingsley Noble, then the curator of
herpetology at The American Mu-
seum of Natural History. But urbani-
zation brought abi)ut the decline of
the two-lined during the following
decades and it is no longer found in
Queens, although some small popula-
tions still persist elsewhere on Long
Island.
Construction projects, water pollu-
tion, and falling water tables all con-
tribute to the plight of the two-lined
on Long Island. The remaining popu-
lations are almost all restricted to less
developed sections of northeastern
Nassau County, a low-density area
characterized by upper-class estates
and comparatively little of the high-
density, middle-class sprawl devel-
opment typical of most of the rest of
Nassau.
The easternmost locality known
for the species is Smithtown in Suf-
folk County. Although Smithtown
has undergone considerable suburban
development during the past couple
of decades, at least one two-lined
population still exists there. How-
ever, two highly localized Smithtown
populations known to me appear to
have been completely destroyed by
human activity during the past several
years. Falling water tables may have
greatly contributed to the decline of
these populations, but other factors
could also have been involved. A
spring-fed stream system along an en-
trance road to a county park sup-
ported one of the two-lined popula-
tions; by expanding a road parallel to
the stream, the Suffolk County De-
partment of Parks, Recreation, and
Conservation may have dealt the fi-
nal blow to that population. The
other Smithtown group of two-lineds
persisted on a hillside until suburban
development brought about its de-
mise: a house was built near the last
spring hole suitable for salamander
reproduction; a backyard garden pool
now occupies the spring hole site.
Compared to the other salamanders
of Long Island, the red-backed
(Plethodon cine reus cinereus) is cer-
tainly the most urban tolerant, requir-
ing relatively less complicated envi-
ronmental conditions to complete its
life cycle. Its primary advantage over
the other salamanders of the island is
that it does not need vernal f>onds,
streams, or other bodies of water for
breeding purposes. The red-backed
lays its eggs in moist microhabitats
provided by fallen rotting logs and
other ground litter of upland forests,
and the eggs hatch young fully capa-
ble of terrestrial existence.
The Fowler's toad (Bufa woodhou-
sei fowieri) is probably the most
urban tolerant of all the amphibians
native to Long Island. It manages to
persist where all other species have
long disappeared. Key preadapta-
tions enabling the Fowler's toad to
survive amidst urbanization include
its ability to use almost any body of
water as a breeding site, its compara-
tively short larval period, and its in-
habitation of dry upland areas except
during the breeding season.
The Fowler's toad still lives
throughout most of Long Island; it
even persists at many localities within
the bounds of the New York City sec-
tion of the island. Urbanization may
actually have enabled the Fowler's
toad to increase in abundance, at least
on a local basis, through the creation
of man-made breeding sites and the
elimination of natural competitors
and predators. It breeds in park
ponds, water-filled sand-mining pits,
abandoned reservoir sites, suburban
water-recharge basins (sumps), and
numerous other seasonal or perma-
nent aquatic areas generally hostile to
amphibian survival.
A significant predator of the
Fowler's toad is the youngster in pur-
suit of pets. During June and July,
recently transformed toadlets swarm
by the thousands along the shores of
suburban sumps. The toadlets are
often so numerous and concentrated
that one caimot walk without acci-
dentally crushing many underfoot.
Young suburbanites take many that
will languish and die in captivity. Yet
the Fowler's toad seems to be able to
hold its own.
Contrasting with the successful
history of the Fowler's toad on Long
Island is that of the gnomish eastern
spadefoot {Scaphiopus holbrooki).
The spadefoot is believed to be de-
scended from toads that evolved in
desert conditions of the southwestern
United States. Under xeric condi-
tions, selection pressures favor an
amphibian that remains inactive dur-
ing long, desiccating dry spells and
fully utilizes brief periods of heavy
rains. Eventually, Scaphiopus stock
moved eastward. Although much
moister conditions prevailed in the
east, the spadefoot retained its breed-
ing habits — remaining dormant for
long periods and utilizing breeding
sites only during heavy rains. The
sandy soil of Long Island provided
the spadefoot with an excellent habi-
tat, and it apparently thrived through-
out most of the island until the advent
of urbanization several decades ago.
Now it is rare on the west end, and
the only known significant popula-
tions survive in wilder sections of
Suffolk County.
Why has the spadefoot failed to
meet the challenge of urbanization?
Much of the sandy soil in which it
burrows continues to disappear under
concrete and macadam. The seasonal
pools preferred for breeding become
dry year-round as water tables fall.
Also, the spadefoot may be unable to
perpetuate itself on urban tracts pos-
sessing seemingly suitable soil and
breeding conditions but lacking the
acreage necessary to sustain viable
populations. Ecologist Paul G. Pear-
son has presented evidence that the
spadefoot displays territorial behav-
ior. A tract might have enough re-
sources other than land space to per-
mit the spadefoot to maintain a neces-
sary minimum population level, but
the intrinsic behavior of this amphib-
ian might prevent maximum over-all
utilization of these resources through
the territorial spacing of individuals.
Thus, the Fowler's toad may be more
successful than the spadefoot largely
because its population densities are
not influenced by intraspecific territo-
rial behavior.
Like amphibians, reptiles show a
wide diversity of urbanization toler-
ances. One of the most tolerant spe-
cies on the west end is the northern
brown snake (Storeria dekayi de-
kayi). Averaging a foot or less in
length, this inoffensive reptile may be
regarded as the snake most suitably
preadapted for survival in a metro-
politan center. The northern brown is
one of the three or so snake species
persisting amidst the urban turmoil of
the New York City end of Long Is-
land and may very well be the most
abundant serpent there. Littered lots
and neglected parks provide the snake
with habitats too small and hostile for
most other herpetozoans.
Despite its ability to persevere in
the city, the brown snake has not
fared well in much of suburbia to the
east. A large percentage of the high-
density suburban developments in
Nassau County now exist where a
great wilderness — the Hempstead
Plains — once stood. The Plains, cov-
ering tens of thousands of acres, has
been almost completely obliterated
by the tacky developments charac-
teristic of the post-World War 11
housing boom. Remaining are no
more than a few hundred acres even
remotely resembling the primal gran-
deur of the Plains. Sketchy data pub-
lished by Long Island natural histori-
ans indicate that the brown snake had
been fairly common on the Plains, but
the tide of suburbanization has re-
duced it to a condition of extreme rar-
ity, if not total absence, in this area.
I have done much field work in the
Plains for more than a decade and
have failed to find a single brown
snake.
Why has the brown snake done so
well within the limits of New York
City arid so poorly in a less urbanized
suburban area? A minimum number
of individuals may be needed for a
population of the brown snake to per-
petuate itself, and the densities of the
predevelopment populations were
perhaps greater within the deciduous
forest that covered much of the land
in the city and thinner within the
grassland that dominated the Hemp-
stead Plains. Thus, a brown snake
population might have been able to
survive in an enclave of just a few
natural acres around which urban de-
velopment mushroomed in the city,
but not in a similar-sized site sur-
rounded by the suburban sprawl that
has engulfed the Plains. Also, vacant
city lots are usually more cluttered
with the dumpings of humanity than
are the suburbs. The presence of this
artificial shelter may be a necessity
for the brown snake to persist on
small acreages, and the comparative
lack of it on a suburban site may pre-
clude the existence of the northern
brown there.
The brown snake seems to be gone
from the Hempstead area, but the
eastern garter snake {Thamnophis sir-
talis sirtalis) still endures there. Al-
though the northern brown may give
the eastern garter some competition
for the title of "most urban-tolerant
snake" on Long Island's west end,
there can be no doubt that the eastern
garter more truly deserves this desig-
nation when the island is considered
as a whole. The generalized habits of
the garter snake undoubtedly permit
it to persist where the environmental
requirements of other species are no
longer present.
The semiaquatic eastern ribbon
snake (Thamnophis sauritus
sauritus) is a more specialized rela-
tive of the garter snake. A compari-
son of ecological factors in the life
cycles of the two species reveals why
the garter succeeds better than the rib-
bon amidst urban development. Al-
though sometimes found in semi-
aquatic environs, the garter snake is
not restricted to habitats of this type;
the ribbon snake, however, is vir-
tually restricted to semiaquatic habi-
tats. Swamplands are among the hab-
itats most vulnerable to development
and are often the first to disappear
during the urbanization process. The
garter feeds on a wide variety of ter-
restrial vertebrate and invertebrate
animals, including earthworms. The
ribbon, generally a fish and amphib-
ian feeder, does not have such broad
feeding habits and may be selectively
disfavored. Clearly, urbanization fa-
vors the generalized species.
The damming of streams for recre-
ational use, reservoirs, and other
human purposes has probably re-
sulted in the creation of more deep-
water ponds than naturally existed on
Long Island. This has resulted in the
availability of more suitable habitats
to such aquatic chelonians as the east-
ern painted turtle {Chrysemys picta
Although a woodland dweller, the
marbled salamander must breed in
ponds, and the young are not able
to walk on land until eight or
nine months old. Fewer suitable
ponds have caused its decline.
52
picta) and common snapping turtle
(Chelydra serpentina serpentina).
Both the beautifully marked painted
turtle and the large snapper inhabit
nearly all of the permanent ponds of
Nassau and Sullolk counties and
thrive despite the pursuits of turtle
collectors. But semiaquatic species,
most notably the spotted turtle
(Clemmys guttata), have declined as
their swampland habitats along
stream courses were submerged un-
der the waters backing up behind
newly formed dams. The colorful
spotted is less wary than the painted
and more in demand by turtle fanci-
ers; a price of twenty dollars for a
single spotted is not unusual. A few
small populations of the spotted may
still exist on the west end, but, with-
out doubt, this is an urban-intolerant
species.
One of the animals most adversely
affected by the activities of pet-hunt-
ing youngsters is the terrestrial east-
ern box turtle (Terrapene Carolina
Carolina). Even where woodland
tracts of seemingly suitable box turtle
habitat remain, this reptile is often
rare or absent. This is especially true
for county and state parklands in
which ground-level nature trails are
maintained.
The idea of bringing nature to the
^^S^^'^^m^,
public via a trail system has usually
been done without any ecologically
sound planning. Often the paths are
designed primarily with the arbcjreal
fauna — most specifically the birds —
in mind. Of course, tree-dwelling
birds, living well above the reaches
of vandals or ecologically naive park
visitors, are rarely ever removed or
disturbed. For ground-residing ani-
mals, however, such paths can be dis-
astrous. Wherever the home range of
a terrestrial animal overlaps a ground-
level path, an encounter with a park
visitor can be expected sooner or
later, if the animal is a box turtle and
the visitor a pet-seeking youngster or
adult, it may well be anticipated that
the park will be missing a box turtle.
(Collecting box turtles is illegal in
New York State, but the law is not
effectively enforced.)
If the trails are numerous and the
human traffic great , one can be certain
that, in time, a park will become her-
petologically impoverished. Unfortu-
nately, this is usually the case in Long
Island parks. In evaluating a park,
park agencies should adopt a policy
of requiring a thorough biological
survey based on modern ecological
theory. And any trail system (an ele-
vated boardwalk type if necessary)
should permit maximum public ac-
cess to the park, but with minimum
possible impact on ground-level
plants and animals.
The natural and unnatural history
of the amphibians and reptiles of
Long Island reveals that some species
are tolerant of urbanization pressures
but that, sooner or later, others will
succumb to the unnatural forces
unless we act wisely.
The notion of "endangered spe-
cies'" should be abandoned in favor
of the concept of "endangered local
populations" or "endangered local
communities." Although Long Is-
land possesses no endemic species of
herpetozoans, preliminary studies in-
dicate that the island may possess
populations of at least several species
with endemic genetic traits.
Many species will continue to sur-
vive despite the onslaught of urbani-
zation. Even among these urban-tol-
erant species, however, there may
exist genotypes that will disappear
under the unnatural selection pres-
sures wrought by man. If we are to
save this genetic heritage, we must do
so based on an understanding of the
morphological and behavioral pre-
adaptations involved and on our
knowledge of the historical effects of
urbanization on these animals in areas
such as Long Island. ~
>"^?4r t
Cerebral Clues
by Leonard Radinsky
Fossil braincases hold
evidence of the behavior
of ancient animals
Fossils are indispensable to the
study of ancient life. A jaw — even a
tooth — can suggest what kinds of
food an animal ate. A leg bone can
indicate running ability; a skull, the
size of the brain. Unfortunately, ac-
tual brains are never part of the fossil
record since neural tissue is ex-
tremely sensitive and decomposes
rapidly after death. Yet, by using in-
formation from the work of neuro-
physiologists, paleontologists can
study fossilized brain anatomy and
learn about the behavior of animals
that died millions of years ago.
The main senses — visual, audi-
tory, tactile, and olfactory — have
their inputs represented on the cere-
bral cortex, or surface of the brain.
Furthermore, in many species, usu-
ally of large-brained mammals, the
various functional areas of the cere-
bral cortex — visual, auditory, tactile,
and motor — are bounded by grooves.
To determine the location of these
areas in living mammals, scientists
place fine electrodes in the cerebral
cortex, then stimulate those parts of
the body that receive sensory infor-
mation (sensory receptors), such as
eyes , ears , and fingertips . In this way ,
they can see which parts of the cere-
bral cortex are activated by a given
stimulus.
Flashing a light on part of the retina
of the eye, for example, wUl result in
an electrical impulse in part of the
visual cortex. Or the process can
work the other way: stimulating a
point on the motor cortex of the brain
and noting which muscles of the body
contract enable one to map the motor
cortex. By extrapolating from the
brains of mapped species, using the
pattern of grooves as a guide, paleon-
tologists can predict where the major
functional areas are located on the
brains of unmapped species.
Behavioral specializations may
show up as unusual enlargements or
reductions in size of a part of the brain
devoted to a given sensory input.
Coatimundis, for example, relatives
of raccoons, have unusually sensitive
snouts, which they use to probe under
leaf litter for food. Consequently, the
area of the brain that receives tactile
information from the skin of the snout
is enlarged. Reductions in size of a
part of the brain are revealing too.
Porpoises and toothed whales have
lost the sense of smell, a charac-
teristic that is reflected in the absence
of olfactory bulbs in their brains.
Raccoons provide a striking ex-
ample of the correlation between be-
havioral specialization and size of a
functional area of the brain. Since
raccoons use their hands to forage for
food, particularly in places where vi-
sion and olfaction are limited, such as
in shallow water, the skin of their
hands is quite sensitive.
In captivity, raccoons often take a
food object and, before eating it,
handle it underwater. Although we
call this behavior "washing," its
function is probably to soften the skin
of the hands, thereby increasing its
sensitivity. W.I. Welker and his col-
leagues at the University of Wiscon-
sin mapped the tactile receiving area
of the brains of raccoons and discov-
ered a great enlargement of the area
receiving touch information from the
hands. Not only is that area enlarged,
it is also delimited by grooves; even
the projections of the individual digits
are bounded by grooves, a highly un-
usual degree of specialization.
But what of extinct species? The
above examples show how sensory
and behavioral specializations may
be reflected in the brain surfaces of
living animals; the same relationship
between form and function provides
an opportunity to interpret the behav-
ior of extinct species. In some verte-
brates, particularly birds and mam-
mals, the brain fills the braincase and,
during life, molds the inner surface of
the braincase to its form. When the
animal dies, the brain itself decom-
poses rapidly, but the bone of the
braincase preserves an imprint of the
brain's surface. A cast of the inside
of the braincase, called an endocra-
nial cast, or endocast, reproduces the
external configuration of the living
brain once housed there. Since many
details of surface morphology, in-
cluding the pattern of convolutions
and imprints of blood vessels and
nerve roots, are usually preserved,
endocasts can provide a fossil record
of brain morphology.
Although this technique works
well with many animals, there are
some exceptions. In some of the larg-
est-brained mammals, such as ele-
phants, whales, porpoises, and the
great apes and humans, surface de-
tails are blurred on endocasts and
only the gross size and shape of the
brain are reproduced. And in the
lower vertebrates — fishes, amphibi-
ans, and reptiles — the braincase usu-
ally does not enclose the brain snug-
ly. Since there is a considerable
amount of connective tissue and fluid
around the brain, endocasts of those
animals usually do not accurately re-
produce the shape of the brain.
Endocasts are made in two ways.
Some fossil skulls are filled with a
hard stone matrix; by stripping away
the bone, paleontologists can expose
the natural stone endocast. Some-
times this happens in the field through
normal processes, of erosion. To
make an artificial endocast, the inside
of a cleaned-out braincase is coated
with liquid latex. After curing the
54
illustrations by Douglas Cramer
,^^
In many mammals, including the
domestic cat, grooves delimit
the functional areas of the
brain. The auditory area is shown
in red, the visual in orange, the
tactile in blue, and the motor in
yellow. The olfactory bulbs, with
fibrous endings, are between the
eyes. Using these brain maps of
living species as a guide,
paleontologists can study casts
from inside braincases — called
endocasts — to determine sensory
and behavioral specifications.
r —
The evolution of the
canid brain shows the
emergence of social behavior
Canids that live in packs have
an enlarged portion of the frontal
lobe that appears to inhibit the
' 'fight or flight ' ' response of
solitary animals. The
earliest canid endocast,
above, from 30 million
years ago, lacks
this enlargement;
it begins to appear
in a 15-million-
year-old cast,
top right, and is
greatly expanded
in the modern jackal, right.
latex to make it tough and elastic, it
is finally collapsed and the endocast
is pulled out through the foramen
magnum (the large opening at the
back of the skull for the spinal cord).
Because it is elastic, the endocast will
pop back into its original shape, thus
providing a cast of the inside of the
braincase without requiring section-
ing or otherwise damaging the skull.
This makes it possible to use museum
collections of recent mammal skulls
to build up a reference collection of
contemporary mammal endocasts
and to see what the outside of the
brain looks like in rare mammals for
which actual brains are not available.
By applying cortical maps made by
neurophysiologists to fossil endo-
casts prepared by paleontologists, we
can gain insights into behavioral spe-
cializations of long-dead animals.
Unfortunately, there is no fossil
record of raccoon brains to tell us
when they evolved sensitive hands
and washing and foraging behavior
using their hands, but a comparable
tactile specialization occurs in an-
other group of carnivores — otters —
for which there is a relevant fossil
record. Although no one has yet
mapped living otter brains in the lab,
their pattern of convolutions is simi-
lar enough to that of mapped carni-
vores, such as dogs, cats, and rac-
coons, to allow interpretation of their
An endocast from a 15,000-year-
old saber-toothed cat, right,
shows an expanded visual cortex,
proportionately larger than that in the modern cheetah,
above. Since this saber-tooth also had unusually long
legs, it probably inhabited open country, where its
visual acuity would have helped in detection of prey at a distance.
functional areas when examining en-
docasts.
The common river otter has a
greatly expanded cortical area for tac-
tile information from the face. Since
these otters have unusually long,
thick, and numerous facial vibrissae
( ' ' whiskers " ) , it seems likely that the
cortical enlargement is for vibrissal
input. Other aquatic carnivores, such
as seals and sea lions, also have elab-
orate vibrissae and also appear to
have an enlarged cortical area for vi-
brissal input. Presumably, this spe-
cialization evolved to detect vibra-
tions underwater, perhaps to make up
for reduced sight and smell — senses
that help land carnivores find prey.
A fossil endocast of a 10-million-
year-old ancestor of the river otter,
although incomplete, shows expan-
sion of the same cortical area that is
expanded in living river otters. The
degree of expansion is not as extreme
as in the living species, but it is great
enough to indicate that at least 10 mil-
lion years ago ancestors of river otters
had sensitive whiskers.
There are even older endocasts
from a genus related, but not directly
ancestral, to modern otters. Twenty-
five-million-year-old endocasts of
Potamotherium, an early, aquatically
specialized carnivore, show expan-
sion of the same cortical area, sug-
gesting that sensitive vibrissae had
evolved in Potamotherium that far
back. Presumably, they evolved in
response to the same selective pres-
sures— the need in an aquatic carni-
vore to compensate for reduced
visual and olfactory abilities under-
water— that were responsible for the
adaptation in modern otters. Because
its brain was relatively primitive in
other respects, the occurrence of a
tactile specialization in Potamothe-
rium is particularly interesting. This
combination of primitive and ad-
vanced features in the same species
results from mosaic evolution,
wherein different body parts evolve at
different rates.
Other living otters, such as the
clawless otters of Africa and Asia and
the sea otter of the North Pacific, use
their hands for foraging for food in
water. Not surprisingly, they have
enlargements of cortical areas for tac-
tile inputs from the hand. A fossil en-
docast of a 7 -million-year-old ances-
tor of the African clawless otter re-
.^6
veals an expanded hand projection
area, indicating that sensitive hands
and the correlated foraging behavior
had evolved in that lineage at least
that far back in time.
The recent discovery of a fossil cat
shows another sensory specializa-
tion, an elaboration in the visual sys-
tem. Although the fossil record of
felid brains goes back 35 million
years, a survey of endocasts of fifteen
extinct genera and of twenty-seven
modern species turned up only one
with unusual cerebral characteristics.
Dinobastis, a long-legged, sab)er-
toothed cat, lived in North America
at the end of the last Ice Age, about
15,000 years ago. The two endocasts
known for this genus, one from Texas
and one from Alaska, show an expan-
sion of cortex at the back of the cere-
brum. When we compared these with
cortical maps of modern cat and lion
brains, we found that the expanded
area of the Dinobastis brain corre-
sponds to that receiving input from
the central visual field of the retina.
The enlargement suggests that
Dinobastis had ditterent visual abili-
ties— or processed visual information
in a different way — from other felids.
Dinobastis also had unusually long
legs, suggesting that it was an open-
country cat; perhaps the visual spe-
cialization was for long-distance de-
tection of prey.
Even social behavior can be corre-
lated with a neuroanatomical feature.
All living canids with pack social
structure, such as wolves, African
hunting dogs, and Indian dholes,
show an enlargement of the prorean
gyrus, which is part of the frontal
lobe. The same part of the frontal lobe
is also enlarged in some canids that
do not have pack social structure,
such as coyotes and jackals, but at
least in the case of coyotes, it seems
that relatively recent disruption of
their habitat, including pressure from
humans, has forced them into a more
solitary existence. Of the living
canids that lack the enlarged prorean
gyrus — mainly the different kinds of
i^^9W»^,
How does the river otter make up for
reduced smell and vision underwater?
Its unusually long and thick
whiskers, or vibrissae, can detect
vibrations. The area on the brain's
surface that receives vibrissal
input (shown in magenta) is greatly
expanded, while the area for touch
information from the hand (in
blue) is normally sized, as are the
areas for the other senses.
Fossil endocasts of otter relatives
show that sensitive vibrissae had
evolved at least 25 million years ago.
w/f/
The raccoon 's foraging style is
reflected in its brain: the area
that receives tactile information
from the hands is not only greatly
enlarged, it is also bounded by
grooves. Even the projections of
its individual fingers are
delimited. Raccoons often handle
food objects underwater, not for
hygienic purposes, but apparently
to increase the sensitivity of
their hands by softening the skin.
toxes and their relatives — none shc3w
coinplex social structure.
The prorean gyrus of the frontal
lobe functions in inhibiting primitive
h)ehavioral responses. Such inhibition
would be necessary for the mainte-
nance of complex social structures,
such as wolf packs. Each individual
has a position in the social hierarchy,
and for smooth interaction between
members of the pack, "fight or
flight" responses must be dampened.
The fossil record of canid brains,
which goes back about 30 million
years, reveals that the prorean gyrus
expanded beyond the modern fox
condition probably within the past 5
million years. Thus, pack social
structure, with its advantages in hunt-
ing, is a relatively recent develop-
ment in canid evolutionary history.
Now it would be interesting to exam-
ine the fossil record of the presumed
prey species and competitors of living
pack canids to see if there were
changes, such as extinctions or the
appearance of new adaptations, that
occurred when canids developed
pack social structure.
The examples discussed so far
have been of carnivores, most of
which have the convoluted brains that
make behavioral inferences possible.
Most members of our own order, the
primates, also have convoluted
brains, but the fossil record of pri-
mate brains is scanty because the
skulls are rarely preserved intact as
fossils. Also, primates are usually not
very numerous elements of a fauna,
and they usually live in forested areas
where they are not likely to be pre-
served in sediments. Despite the
sparse record, primate endocasts do
reveal some important points about
primate evolutionary history.
The oldest known primate endo-
cast is from Tetonius, a small , large-
eyed animal that lived in Wyoming
about 55 million years ago. This was
at the beginning of the second great
evolutionary radiation of primates
(the first occurred about 10 million
years earlier), a time when several
major groups of lower primates were
emerging. An endocast from such a
time is of particular interest for the
light it may shed on the adaptations
responsible for the radiation.
The brain of Tefonfus differed from
the primitive mammalian condition
(best represented today by brains of
some shrews and hedgehogs, known
as basal insectivoresj in having re-
duced olfactory bulbs and expanded
visual cortex. Compared to mcxiern
primates, Tetonius had larger olfac-
tory bulbs and a relatively smaller
frontal lobe. In relative size (com-
pared to body weight), the brain of
Tetonius was intermediate between
those of basal inscctivores and mod-
ern primates. The same features that
distinguish the brain of Tetuniusirom
the primitive mammalian condition
also apply to other early primate
brains from 50, 45, and 35 million
years ago. This suggests that at least
for the second primate radiation, in-
creased reliance on vision and de-
creased importance of olfaction were
important adaptations. The signifi-
cance of the increase in relative brain
size is not clear, and whether or not
similar adaptations characterized the
earliest primates, 65 million years
ago, also remains to be seen.
The third major wave of primate
evolutionary radiations, marked by
the first appearance of higher pri-
mates (today, these are represented
by New and Old World monkeys,
apes, and humans), began about 35
to 40 million years ago. Endocasts
from Dolichocebus. one of the earli-
est New World monkeys; Aegyp-
topithecus, one of the oldest apes;
and Apidium, a possible early relative
of Old World monkeys, dated about
27 million years ago, suggest that the
earliest higher primates had relatively
more visual cortex and relatively
smaller olfactory bulbs than do lower
primates (represented today by le-
murs, lorises, and galagos). Thus,
these animals relied less on smell and
were increasingly dependent on vi-
sion, adaptations that may have been
among those responsible for the
emergence of higher primates.
Higher primates also differ from
lower primates in having relatively
larger brains, but it is not clear from
the fossU record when that was at-
tained. Of the three earliest primate
endocasts, we can estimate frontal
lobe size only in Aegyptopithecus. In
that form, as in the early lower pri-
mates, the frontal lobe appears to
have been relatively small compared
to its modern condition. In fact,
higher and lower primates did not
evolve brains that appear "modern"
until about 18 million years ago.
Given our particular interest in our
own species and our unique behav-
ioral abilities, such as speech and ab-
stract reasoning, it would be interest-
ing to be able to trace the evolution
of those abilities in the fossil record.
Unfortunately, endocasts are less
useful than other aspects of our fossil
record, such as teeth, bones, and arti-
facts, for such purposes.
First, humans are among the small
minority of mammals in which,
owing to large brain size, details of
brain morphology are not reproduced
on endocasts. Little more than gross
size and shape of the brains of our
immediate ancestors can be inter-
preted from the fossil record. Second,
with the partial exception of speech,
uniquely human abilities are not
neatly localized in the cerebral cor-
tex. Even if every groove were faith-
fully reproduced on fossil hominid
endocasts, one could not interpret
much about behavior from them.
The size of fossil human endo-
casts, however, is the subject of much
study. One of the few features in
which modern human brains differ
from those of other primates is size,
both in absolute terms and relative to
body weight. In fact, our brains
average about three to three and a half
times as large as one would expect in
a higher primate of our body weight.
How tempting it is to ascribe great
significance to such measurable dif-
ferences , but in the case of brain size ,
there is little hard evidence as to what
it means. Certainly, within modem
humans there is great variation in nor-
mal brain size, and no known rela-
tionship between brain size and men-
tal or other abilities.
Hominid endocasts 2 to 3 million
years old are intermediate in relative
size between those of modern humans
and those of other higher primates,
indicating that our relatively large
brain size appeared quite recently.
One of the fascinating goals for stu-
dents of human evolution is to deci-
pher the significance of this.
The union of paleontology and
neurophysiology is an exciting one.
Endocasts of hundreds of fossil mam-
mals remain to be studied and inter-
preted. The information derived from
such studies not only increases our
understanding of ancient life but also
helps us to understand the pathways
to modern life. D
59
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon When May begins, the sun is in the constellation
Aries; it moves into the stars of Taurus about the 14th where it remains
past mid- June. Meantime, it continues moving north of the equatorial
plane, but more slowly. About 19 degrees north on May 1, it moves
up only 3 more degrees by June 1 , and is moving almost parallel to
the equator by mid- June.
The early crescent moon will appear in the evening of about the 1st
or 2nd in both May and June. Moonlight dominates the evening sky
for the first two weeks of both months, and the morning sky from mid-
month to about a week before month's end. Phases in May are first-quar-
ter on the 7th, full on the 13th, last-quarter on the 20th, new on the
28th; in June, first-quarter on the 5th, full on the 11th, last-quarter on
the 19th, and new on the 27th.
Stars and Planets Spring stars are overhead and high in the south
this month, with winter stars all but gone in the west and summer stars
coming up in the east in early evening. One of the regular surprises
on an early May evening is to see two bright stars, to the left and right
of north, low in the sky. The one on the left is Capella, in Auriga, a
bright winter star that can still be seen because if is so far north. The
one on the right is Vega, in Lyra, a bright summer star that is so far
north we can see it quite early in the year.
Two planets are included on our Star Map this month. Mars and
Saturn, evening stars, are very low in the west at the time for which
the map was prepared. You may be able to see them from dusk for at
least an hour or two, but they will be clearer and higher earlier in May
than later on. The other planets. Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter, are all
morning stars. Only Jupiter is favorably placed, however, rising in the
east early enough to be visible in the morning twilight.
May 20: Mercury passes between earth and sun today (inferior con-
junction). It now leaves the evening sky and becomes a morning star.
May 24: The moon is at apogee, farthest from earth.
May 26-27: Just before midnight on the 26th, the moon passes so
close to Jupiter that it covers the planet (an occultation) over Europe
and Asia. Jupiter and the crescent moon, still quite close, make a pretty
sight in the dawn sky of the 27 th, with Jupiter hanging right below the
lower tip of the moon's crescent.
June 1: Mercury, having passed between earth and sun, resumes its
direct (easterly) motion.
June 2: Saturn and Mars are to the north of the early crescent moon:
Saturn, to the right, is the brighter planet; Mars above the moon and
closer to it.
June 7: The bright star near the moon is Spica, in Virgo. The moon
moves closer to the star until midnight, then separates to its left.
June 9: The moon is at perigee, nearest earth.
June 15: Mercury is at its greatest westerly elongation, best placed
as a morning star but low, even at sunrise.
if Hold the Star Map so the compass direction you face is at the bottom; then
match the stars in the lower half of the map with those in the sky near the horizon.
The map is for 10:25 p.m. on May 15; 9:20 p.m. on May 31; and 8:20 p.m.
on June 15; but it can be used for an hour before and after those times.
6o
- *VI3clOlSSVO
''>^<^07,,
'Centaurus .
Sky Reporter
Exploding Stars
Two new additions to the
already observed population
of novae have aroused
much scientific interest
Two novae, or exploding stars,
were discovered last August. One,
Nova Cygni, was easily visible to the
unaided eye and was the brightest ex-
ploding star seen from earth since
1942. Allowing for the dimming of
the star's light owing to its great dis-
tance and the absorbing effect of in-
terstellar dust clouds, Nova Cygni
was, in fact, first in true brightness of
the more than 150 novae that have
been observed since the seventeenth
century. The other exploding star,
known as A0620-00, or Nova Mono-
cerotis, was much fainter and never
became visible without telescopic
aid. Nevertheless, despite significant
findings concerning Nova Cygni, it is
the dimmer nova that attracted the
greatest scientific interest. Measure-
ments by British and American satel-
lites revealed that A0620-00 was a
powerful source of X-ray radiation,
whereas Nova Cygni (like other, pre-
viously scarmed novae) generated no
detectable X-rays. That distinction
accounts for the differing interest.
Whether they recognized it as a ce-
lestial event or not, many thousands,
perhaps millions , of persons probably
saw Nova Cygni during the few days
in late August and early September
when it was prominent in the evening
sky. The star reached a peak bright-
ness comparable to the brightest stars
of the Big Dipper and was favorably
located for observation, close to the
Northern Cross, a familiar star pat-
tern in the constellation Cygnus.
The first official report of Nova
Cygni, which came from Japan, was
received in this country late on Fri-
day, August 29, the eve of Labor Day
weekend. I first learned of the event
the next morning in a phone call from
a NASA astronomer who happened to
be visiting on Kitt Peak in Arizona
and had already seen the star. Later,
a colleague called from Toronto with
the news that the star was readily visi-
ble from that city. Where I lived,
however, near Washington, D.C.,
cloudy weather persisted throughout
the long holiday weekend, and by the
time the skies had cleared, the nova
had faded. I had to use field glasses
to identify it with certainty, although
it would still have been visible to the
eye from dark rural sites. According
to Luigi Jacchia, an expert on vari-
able stars at the Center for Astrophys-
ics, in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
this sudden drop in intensity shortly
after Nova Cygni reached maximum
brightaess may have been the fastest
such decline on record.
Nova means "new." Astrono-
mers originally used the word to sig-
nify a new star, one that appeared
where none was seen before. We now
know that the phenomenon is due to
the eruption of a very dim star, typi-
cally one at least 25 ,000 times fainter
than the novae observed during past
decades , and thus visible only on tele-
scopic photographs. For centuries be-
fore Western scientists recognized
these events, Oriental astronomers
took careful note of them. The Chi-
nese lumped them together with
supernovae (much greater and rarer
stellar explosions) and bright comets
as so-called guest stars, or temporary
visitors in the heavens. Like the Star
of Bethlehem, novae were regarded
as omens. One guest star seen in a.d.
1230 was evidentiy taken as a good
omen and is said to have inspired a
"general amnesty in Japan."
The modern practice when a nova
is discovered is to examine the corre-
sponding photographs from the Na-
tional Geographic Society-Palomar
Observatory Sky Survey, the basic
professional star atlas, in order to lo-
cate the "prenova," or unerupted
star. But when an astronomer at the
Southern Station of Moscow's Stern-
berg Astronomical Institute exam-
ined the Palomar Sky Survey pho-
tographs taken in 1952 of the Nova
Cygni region, he found no star at that
by Stephen P. Maran
location. On the other hand, four So-
viet photographs made by profes-
sional astronomers between the fifth
and twenty-fifth of August 1975,
which happen to include the region,
do show a dim star at the site of the
nova. In addition, photo sequences
taken with meteor patrol cameras in
Los Angeles, California, and Leader,
Saskatchewan, just prior to the Au-
gust 29 discovery and subsequently
analyzed, show atypical fast eruption
of the nova.
From this information we can con-
clude that between 1952, the year of
the Sky Survey photos, and August
5, 1975, the date of the first Soviet
photograph, the prenova had a pre-
liminary eruption, or possibly just a
gradual brightening, that increased its
intensity by at least a factor of 100.
Then, a day or so before the star was
Nova Cygni faded rapidly from
its peak brightness, as shown
in this series of photographs
taken in Atlanta, Georgia,
with a 36-inch telescope.
The first photograph was made
on August 31, 1975; the
second on September 2; the
third on September 9; and the
last on October 1 1 .
FREE! ^3350 ORTHOSCOPIC EYEPIECE
^>^ WITH PURCHASE OF
m 4</4 ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE
11 1 ^ Get it with either 'scope . . .
n» ■' 1 V offer ends July 31, 1976
See moon cfalefs fings ol Saturn coutir; siart
. . . with our deluxe <Vi" reflector telescope (45x
to 135X). Features a line f/10 Pyrex" mirror (verified
belter ttian 1/10 wave with a scatter plate interferometer)
.„ insure performance to theoretical limit of resolution
True equatorial mount; rack & pinion focusing; aluminum
lube. 6X finder, 25mm F.L 45X Kellner achromatic eyepiece
ouble and triple power to 135X .all the
used effectively m 4V«" scope. Includes:
Id 2 valuable, informative Books. And H
,„„ „^. , get a line $33.50 Orthoscopic Eyepiece
}Ck absolutely FREE ol extra charge. Hurry! Offer ends
^ 7/31/76.
Stock No. 85,260E(ShpE. Wt. 42 lbs.), Just $159 50 F.O.B.
With Clock Drive
Stock No. 85,261 E(Shpg. Wt. 45 lbs.). Just $199.50 F.O.B.
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
NEW, 172 Pases
Over 4.500 Un.
usual Bargains
for Hobbyists,
Schools, Industry
JUST CHECK
COUPON'
EDMUIMD
SCIENTIFIC CO.
300 EDSCORP BUILDING
Barrington, N, J 08007
(609) 547-3488
America's Greatest
n SEND FREE
172 PAGE CATALOG •£"
L Charge my BankAmericatd
Charge my Master Charge
Interbank No
Include my FREE 533,50 Oithoscopic
Eyepiece (I'm ordering before 7/31/76,i
with each of the following you send me;
41,'a" Telescope(s)
r85,260E @ $159,50 ea, $
41/4" Telescope's)
S85.261E @ $199.50 ea,$
Service and handling charge $ 1-00
Enclosed is check.
M. 0. in amount of $
Signature-
Expiration Dale
30 DAV MONEY. BACK GUAR-
ANTEE. You must be satis-
fied or return any purchase
I in 30 days for lull refund City. State, Zip ^1
Science 'Optics 'Hobby Mait helping jo develop americas technology for over 30 yeahs.
From a Lars-Eric Lindblad news-release:
"Here at last-
East Africa, India, Egypt for
EVERYMAN
As you know, we at Lindblad Travel
constantly strive to maintain a qual-
ity image for all our tours, no matter
what destination.
This does not mean that we
aren't aware of a need to offer
travel also at more economic
levels.
And it is for that reason we have
inaugurated a new series of Sa-
faris aimed at pleasing the pocket
book of "every man."
The destinations are the same,
the quality is there, but we have
affected certain savings.
We are not providing lecturers.
Many meals will be left for you to
buy at your own discretion. Instead
of staying at the very best hotels,
you will be comfortable in our
selection of first-class hotels. If we
crowd you a bit on a sightseeing
bus, who knows, it might turn out to
be someone you like to be crowded
with.
Look below at the reasonable
prices for some of these "Lindblad
Quality" tours to faraway places
you've dreamed about since child-
hood; East Africa, India and Egypt.
Write for our brochure or see
your travel agent.
Everyman's India* 16 days $1,033
Everyman's Wonder Safari (East Africa)* 16 days $1,599
Everyman's Ancient Egypt* 15 days $1,654
Exciting extensions available,
•including airfares from New York artd return.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept NHEV576
133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022 (212) 751-2300
63
NORTH
(HELL'S GATE), NAHANNI RIVER,
N.W.T.
Our RAFTS NORTH program offers
unique wilderness river tours in Can-
ada's North; Coppermine River
Tour — begins above Arctic Circle,
runs down to Arctic Ocean; NahannI
River Tour— runs entire length of Na-
hannI wilderness national park. Tours
in Alberta also available. For free
brochure, write:
NORTH-WEST EXPEDITIONS LIM-
ITED, BOX 1551, EDMONTON, AL-
BERTA, CANADA T5J 2N7
Authentic Greek
Fisherman's Yachting Cap
For Men & Women
For men and women, the original, au-
thentic Greek fisherman's yachting cap
in good-looking cotton denim is most
handsome for boating, sports, travel,
leisure. Made in Greece. Completely
crushable, with distinctive embroidered
braid and cord on band and visor. In
dark blue cotton denim or white denim,
$12.50. Also available in good-looking
brown or black wool, $14. Men's and
women's sizes 6% to 7%.
Mail Orders :Cable Car Clothiers/Robert Kirk, Ltd.
No. 150 Post St., S.F. Gal. 94108 (416) 397-7733
Kem Oipl'^ll''l3l Colours Fabric Size
D Check Charge iDM/CDB/AD Cable Car Che.
Bank Card # Exp
Add SI. 85 Ship. & Hdlg; Cal. Res. Add Sales Tax
D Please send catalogue 5 9 0501
Name
spotted in Japan in late August, the
major eruption, amounting to a factor
of 400,000 in brightness, occurred.
Based on this interpretation, Jacchia
has proposed a novel explanation for
Nova Cygni.
According to the leading theory of
novae, the explosions take place in
binary star systems, which consist of
two stars — one a white dwarf, the
other a red star — in orbit around a
common center of mass. The white
dwarf is a hot and highly compact
star, about the size of the earth, but
with an intense gravitational field.
(The first known white dwarf, Sirius
B, was described in "Red, White,
and Mysterious," Natural History,
August-September 1975.) The other
member of the nova binary, the red
star, is larger and cooler.
The planets that orbit our sun are
not affected by the gravity of other
stars, since no other star is close
enough to exert a noticeable force. In
a binary star system, however, the
two stars may be quite close together,
leading to a more complex gravita-
tional situation. In analyzing that sit-
uation, astronomers postulate a math-
ematically defined region around
each star, called the "Roche lobe"
after a nineteenth-century French as-
tronomer. The curved surface of the
lobe represents the effective limit of
each star's gravitational dominance
over nearby matter. The Roche lobes
of binary stars touch each other and
matter that is released or ejected from
one star and passes through the con-
tact point into the adjacent Roche
lobe of the companion star can stream
down onto the second star.
In the case of a nova binary star
system, astrophysicists believe that
the red star grows so large that its
outermost region expands through its
own Roche lobe. The gaseous matter
thus emitted is lost to the star and
some of it passes through the contact
point with its companion's Roche
lobe and falls onto the surface of the
white dwarf. The white dwarf is now
coated with a surface layer of unsta-
ble material, heated by its fall, and
nuclear reactions generated in that
layer cause the explosion. The ex-
ploded material flies out from the
white dwarf at high velocity, forming
a rapidly expanding nebula, or cloud
of gas and dust. It is the light from
this nebula that we observe on earth
as the nova, and as the nebula dis-
sipates into space, the nova fades
away. Presumably, material con-
tinues to stream down from the red
star onto the white dwarf almost in-
definitely, building up new unstable
layers that will also explode. The in-
terval between these subsequent ex-
plosions may be 1(X) centuries, al-
though similar, but much less violent,
outbursts occur in certain other stars,
known as "recurrent novae," at in-
tervals of only a few dozen years.
Judged by its total increase in
brightness, Nova Cygni has been de-
scribed as the greatest nova eruption
yet seen. The total increase, includ-
ing the preliminary and the major
eruptions, amounted to at least a fac-
tor of 40 million (100 x 400,000).
This is unique for a nova, but if we
consider the two observed stages in
the outburst separately, the second
stage, amounting to a factor of 400,-
000, while large, is no greater than
the increase in brightness of some
previous novae. Jacchia's suggestion
is that Nova Cygni is a virgin nova,
one undergoing its very first eruption,
and that the virgin outburst occurs in
two stages. The initial step in the
process is a modest increase in bright-
ness, such as the 100-fold or more
increase involved in the first stage of
the Nova Cygni event, as adduced
from the Soviet photographs. This
stage occurs only once in the history
of the star. The second stage is a large
eruption, similar to that recorded in
Japan and by the meteor cameras.
Subsequent explosions roughly equal
in brightness to the second stage, but
not as great as the product of the two
stages, may follow at widely sepa-
rated intervals.
If Jacchia's proposal is true, nearly
all of the novae seen in the past were
probably old ones, long past the vir-
gin stage, and the next outburst of
Nova Cygni, which may take place
many centuries hence, may resemble
the explosions of past novae. The
coming Nova Cygni outburst would m
thus amount to a factor of several
hundred thousand or less, rather than
the over 40 million times increase
witnessed in 1975. Based on this
theory, as Nova Cygni continues to
fade this year, it should level off at
about the brightness it had in early
August 1975, when photographed by
the Soviet astronomers. If the theory
is wrong, the star will become much
fainter, perhaps dropping again be-
low the limiting sensitivity of the
Palomar Sky Survey.
The other August nova, A0620-00,
was discovered on the third of the
month by scientists at the University
of Leicester in England. They used an
64
X-ray sky survey instrument carried
on a British satellite. At the time, the
nova seemed to be just another of the
so-called transient X-ray sources
found by rocket and satellite experi-
menters since 1967. These sources
appear briefly, then fade away over
periods of weeks or months. Little
was known about them prior to 1975.
Optical astronomers were unable to
locate them telescopically since the
positional information available from
rocket and satellite instruments was
relatively crude. But in May 1975,
NASA launched an astronomy satel-
lite with equipment designed by Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology
physicists to determine more precise
positions for X-ray sources and with
the capability of reorienting itself rap-
idly in space upon command from the
ground.
On August 7, when the X-ray in-
tensity of the nova had exceeded that
of the Crab nebula and was still in-
creasing, news of the British discov-
ery was cabled to the United States,
and on the next day the NASA satel-
lite, SAS-3, began observing the
source. One week later, when
A0620-00 had become the brightest
X-ray emitter in the heavens, an accu-
rate position for it, as determined by
SAS-3, was announced to the optical
astronomers. On the next day, Au-
gust 16, a dim blue star was discov-
ered at that location by two Dart-
mouth College astronomers working
at the brand-new McGraw-Hill Ob-
servatory in Arizona. The blue star
was also found on the Palomar Sky
Survey photographs of the region,
which revealed that it had previously
been more than 3,000 times fainter.
Thus, an optical outburst was accom-
panying the X-ray event.
The Dartmouth discovery meant
that the newest, most powerful X-ray
source in the sky could be accurately
located and examined with any suit-
able ground-based telescope. The de-
tails of the object's precise location
placed A0620-00 in the constellation
Monoceros, the Unicorn, just east of
the border of Orion. Only a few days
before the Dartmouth find, radio
emissions from the object's direction
were detected with the 1,000-foot
radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto
Rico, and by smaller radio telescopes
at Green Bank, West Virginia, and
Jodrell Bank, England. Now, thanks
to the accurate position determined
for A0620-00, it was possible to ex-
amine the exploding star with the new
four-meter optical telescope at Kitt
Art Treasures of
Russia
Maupintour offers rarely seen Old Russia.
With local guides an escorted Maupintour shows you Yaroslavl, Suzdal,
and Vladimir plus Novgorod, Zagorsk, Kolomenskoye, Ostankino, Kuskovo,
Pavlovsk, Pushkin. Tour palaces, museums, country estates, villages for
11th to 19th century treasures in architecture, art, furnishings. See Lenin-
grad's Hermitage, Kiev's Pecherskaya Lavra, and Moscow's Kremlin and
Tretyakov, 21 days, 6 departures, May to September, from $1098 plus air.
This is only one of 16 different tours described from Yugoslavia to Samar-
kand and the Khyber Pass. To receive the brochure, ask your Travel Agent
for Maupintour' s USSR/ Eastern Europe or write:
Maupintour
telephone 9J3/843-12U * qua,,:, ici.r.g since 1951
Maupintour, 900 Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044
Lars-Eric Lindblad's new series of
IZATIONS TOURS
Exciting adventures into man's cultural past.
For years we have arranged custom
tours for museums, societies and
clubs- programs aimed at explor-
ing the worldsartsand civilizations
Until recently, these tours have been
beyond reach for the individual
tourist.
We can now offer such programs
on an individual basis. We have
created eight of them, each one
focusing on adifferent cultural area
and each one caref u I ly prog rammed
to allow ample time to savor the
wonderful sights and experiences
en route.
For example, you may want to
follow the medieval pilgrimage
route from Paris to Santiago de
Compostela, a journey JamesMich-
ener has called "the finest In Spain
and one of the two or three best in
the world. " You may want to ex-
plore the artistic riches of Eastern
Europe ortrace the ancient civiliza-
tions along the coast of Asia Minor.
Each tour is hosted by an experi-
enced escort who will look after all
details and see to your comfort. In
addition, a knowledgeable lecturer-
guide will be on hand to enhance
your knowledge and enjoyment of
the area's history and culture.
Because we travel in small
groups, we shall be able to take ad-
vantage of special events as they
happen— musical performances,
art exhibits, craft shows, and the
like.
Our 1976 Arts SCivilizationsTours
include: 1. Asia Minor. 2. Bourbon
Italy. 3. Byzantium. 4. Eastern Eu-
rope. 5. The Road to Compostela.
6. Saxony and Bohemia. 7. Asian
Dances, Dramas, and Deities (Thai-
land-lndonesla-Japan). 8. World of
the Ancient Maya.
Please write for our brochures or
see your travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC. Dept nhac576
133 East 55th Street, New York, NY 10022 (212) 751-2300
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
65
Tina eats what other people throw away Vegetable
peelings, an apple core, a moldy piece of bread.
Where she lives, seven out of ten children suffer
frommalnutrition. Their parents, although they work
hard, can't provide barest needs.
Children, Inc. works to help children like Tina in
25 countries. But we can't do it without you. For $15 a
month, you can help a child get clothing, medical care,
schooling and decent food. Instead of garbage.
Just $15 a month. Not a very large amount.
But, to a child like Tina, it can make the difference
between life and death.
Write to: Mrs. Jeanne Clarke Wood, Children, Incorporated,
Post Office Box S381, Dept. NH5J, Riclunond,Vlrglnia 232S0.
D I wish to "adopt" a boy D, girl D in ^^_
D Or select the child who needs me most. ""^ ""^"""^
I will pay f 15 a month ($180 a year). Enclosed is my
gift for a full year D, the first month D.
D I cannot "adopt" a child, hut wish to help with $
n I am interested and woiild like more details.
D If for a group, please specify.
NAME
Church, Class, Club. School, Business, etc.
ADDRESS
CITY
You can"axiopt'
.STATE
_ZIP
child from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East. U.S. A-Appalachlan children
or American Indian chlldren.(Or any child of greatest need.) U.S. gifts are ft^y tax deductible
CHILDRENINCORPORATED
Peak National Observatory in Ari-
zona and the equal-sized Anglo- Aus-
tralian telescope in Australia, as well
as with a host of other optical, radio,
and infrared instruments on Kitt Peak
and in France, Chile, South Africa,
the Canary Islands, and elsewhere.
A second American satellite inves-
tigated the X-ray spectrum of A0620-
00 and a Dutch spacecraft measured
its ultraviolet radiation. In Sep-
tember, Soviet cosmonauts aboard
the orbiting Salyut-4 space station
measured its intensity at six X-ray
wavelengths. The most important
study of all, however, may have been
done at Harvard College Observatory
without the use of any instruments
whatsoever!
Harvard astronomer Lola J.
Eachus decided to search through the
observatory's "plate stacks," that is,
the collection of old sky patrol pho-
tographs made on glass plates with
small telescopes. Her objective was
to determine whether A0620-00
might have erupted before. As re-
counted by a colleague who super-
vises the sky patrol, Eachus had
examined without success about 500
photographs of the Monoceros region
made since 1898 when, in the last
small batch, she found a plate from
1917 that clearly revealed an erup-
tion. Eventually, three other patrol
plates and one made with a larger
telescope were found that traced the
eruption and its decline from early
November 1917 to February 1918.
Based on this proof of the prior out-
burst of A0620-00, the Harvard as-
tronomers have proposed that the
source is actually a recurrent nova of
the type mentioned earlier. By anal-
ogy with the known properties of
such stars, they have deduced that
A0620-00 must lie more than 15,000
light-years beyond the known limits
of our galaxy, alone in adjacent inter-
galactic space.
If A0620-00 were as distant as sug-
gested by the Harvard group, then its
energy output must be truly astro-
nomical and, accordingly, extremely i
difficult to explain. Furthermore,
since all stars are formed in galaxies,
I wonder how this one got so far out
of our galaxy, where it must have
originated? A variety of alternative
models have been proposed to ac-
count for the nature of A0620-00.
Any theory must explain why, if
A0620-00 is a nova or novalike ob-
ject, it produced intense X-rays,
while Nova Cygni, optically far
brighter, remained undetected de-
66
Drop garden waste in
spile searches with X-ray telescopes
oil various satellites. Two MIT physi-
cists suggest that the X-rays were
generated when the material ejected
in the nova explosion collided with —
and heated — surrounding circumstel-
lar gas, which might remain from a
prior outburst or might simply be gas
lost through the Roche lobe of a red
star if A0620-00 is a binary system
like other novae. The trouble with
this theory is that it implies the exist-
ence of certain spectral lines at X-ray
wavelengths that were searched for in
vain by the British satellite.
A second hypothesis, offered by
three NASA astronomers, assigns the
optical emission of A0620-00, not to
the exploding shell of the white dwarf
in the nova binary system, but to the
red companion of the white dwarf
star. According to this theory, the red
star in A0620-00 is somewhat larger
than in an ordinary nova binary sys-
tem and the two stars are closer to-
gether than is usual. It is further
hypothesized that the red star may
eject gas abruptly and in large
amounts instead of in the steady
stream of an ordinary nova binary.
After circulating around and then fall-
ing on the white dwarf, the gas would
supposedly produce X-rays. They, in
turn, would radiate back to the red
star and heat its surface, making it
shine more brightly and thus produc-
ing the visible outburst of light.
A third, less complex concept has
been proposed by several groups and
is probably the most popular explana-
tion at the moment. This theory sug-
gests that A0620-00 is a nova binary
system in which the small star is not
a white dwarf but an even more com-
pact object with a far stronger gravita-
tional force at its surface — either a
neutron star or a black hole. In this
case, the additional energy generated
by matter from the red star falling in
the more powerful gravitational field
of the compact object might suffice
to produce the X-rays.
In ancient times, novae were re-
garded as omens. Today we take a
more conservative approach to the in-
fluence of the stars on humans, but
surely the discovery of the two novae
of August 1975 bodes well for
progress in scientific understanding.
Stephen P. Maran is studying stars at
the University of California in Los
Angeles on temporary assignment
from NASA 's Goddard Space Center
in Greenbelt, Maryland.
shovel rich compost out.
The Rotocrop'Acfcleralor.'A remarkable new compost bin
from England, scientifically designeci to convert cut grass,
leaves, prunings, even kitchen left-overs, into rich, natural
food for your garden— in weeks.
lully •
Set up the Rolocrop 'Accelerator' in
your garden, "Feed" it weekly with
Rjrden waste, and you'll have a never
ending supply ot Iree compost for a
vibrant garden.
A SENSATION IN ENGLAND. Connpost
gardening is practically a way of lite in
England. English garcJeners have ac-
claimed the Rolocrop 'Accelerator' lor
its unique efficiency. Decomposition is
fast because there are no corners to
cool off, And the precisely calibrated
air vents let just the right amount of
air in without losing heat or moisture.
RUGGED, CONVENIENT. Tough PVC
construction is long lasting and won't
rot. Panels slide up individually or to-
gether, so you can shovel out from
the bottom. An infljlable cover keeps
heat in, ram out And there are no
unpleasant odors to allrad bugs.
UNCONDITIONAL GUARANTEE.
We'll ship in two weeks. If you're not
money you
return it wilhm 14 day)
end you a refund The
e in artifiicial fen.li/en
il compott wilt pay lor
your 'Accelerator' in no lime.
'A<crlvf«lo«' II
lUilotrup lU-S-A., Uh.. ' ■ ■
uiwotrtj Vi'tTi Krm Mop*- P« Wtii 1
D - Ace«ler«iof' tatU2aO a
bif|Cir mv «(uuni With _
Lwjtcd *b£»rt' ywjf n^ittf-H
■
■ ■■■i ^MB^ 9
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
Traveling with
LINDBLAD IN INDIA
is an unforgettably beautiful experience.
Today India offers more to see than
virtually anywhere else intheworld.
You will encounter richness and
beauty. See the great architecture
of the Moghuls. Travel the huge
forests where you find tiger, rhino
and incredible bird life. See the fa-
mous nature preserves. You will
come upon different life styles of
many people, rich and poor. You
may shop in bazaars reminiscent
ofthedaysofRudyard Kipling. And
you will travel in small groups.
Quality is the key word to Lind-
blad's well-planned India Expedi-
tions. We offer the Himalayan
Nature Tour and Incomparable
India. On our program also is Bhu-
tan and Burma as well as the ever-
popular Expedition to the Border-
lands of Titjet. The Kashmir Exten-
sion is available to all except
Bhutan and Burma Excursion. Air-
India will fly you to these tours in
superb comfort.- Please write for
our India brochures or see your
travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHIN576
133 East 55th Street. New York. N.Y. 10022 (212) 751-2300
67
Is your child's reading
worth $5.97?
If you want only the best — and most
delightful — reading for your child, you'll
CRICKET magazine. Published
ilhly for children 6 to
it is 96 pages of stories,
-ns, and laughter. Plus
beautiful illustrations. By
the best
lilable. Try 6 issue
child will thank vou.
want CRICK
Ml
Phone toll-free
800-435-6850
and ask for Jan Miller to enter your child's
trial subscription to CRICKET magazine.
CRICKET • Walnut Um • Bouldsr. CO. 10301
Incredible Africa!
JULY 21, 1976 Join JOHN WIL-
LIAMS on a special 30-day safari in
Kenya featuring rare birds, big game
and wildflowers. $2670.00 plus air
fare.
AUGUST 21, 1976 Unique FAMILY
SAFARI includes best game parks in
Kenya & Tanzania, a trek on Mt.
Kenya, built-in educational features.
ALSO, exciting WALKING SAFARI
for those who wish to see Africa in a
special way. Both 21 -day safaris
$2476.00 including air fare from
New York.
SEPTEMBER 15 & OCTOBER 13,
1976 ROOT & LEAKEY 19-day
natural history tented and lodge safari
in Kenya & Tanzania. $1795.00 plus
air fare. Limited to 16 members.
EARLY 1977 departures January 12
and February 1 6.
Call or write SIEMER & HAND, LTD. Travel Service
One Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, California 94 11 1
(415) 788-7186
400 ACRE WILDERNESS
For sale. Includes 20 acre lake with pure
water, mountains, forests, meadows,
streams, game, fish: near Culpeper.
IVz hours south of Wash, DC
Write "Wilderness" Tel. 804 985-7746
Stanardsville, Va. 22973 Brokers invited
CATCH ANIMAL RAIDERS!
Take them alive, unhurt!
Simple, safe HAVAHART traps catch raiding rabbits
possums, coons, squirrels. plEeons. sparrows, etc. without
Injury. Straylnfi pets, poultry released unhurt. Fully as-
sembled. No Jaws or springs to break. Galvanized; many
In use 20 years. Open ends give animal confidence. Sizes
for all needs. Send 25c for valuable Illustrated guide and
price list.
HAVAHART, 1S8-M Water St., Ossining, N. Y. 10562
Hcre'.s my 25c. Please send price list, trapplnE sulde.
Address-
-Zip_
A Matter of Taste
An Early Riser
Asparagus is one
of the first
and tastiest crops
of the season
Long ago, when I was a boy, I
hated asparagus. It was the only food
(except for cooked carrots) that I
didn't like. This dioecious perennial
native of the Mediterranean littoral
seems to be an acquired taste, at least
in my family, for my children also
pushed it aside on first acquaintance.
I hope they will continue to follow in
my footsteps and learn to love the
tender shoots of Asparagus offici-
nalis. My own conversion was dra-
matic, perhaps unnecessarily so:
lunch outdoors in the Piazza San
Marco, Venice, with a strolling band
across the square, an August sun, and
a plate of giant white asparagus (etio-
lated from being kept buried by the
canny growers) in a fine vinaigrette.
I was nineteen and had no way of
knowing then that I had joined an age-
old tradition. The ancient Romans
cultivated asparagus. Even before
them, the Greeks had known enough
68
by Raymond Sokoloy
to eat the tender shoots thai later
turned to fern and fruited with ber-
ries. Indeed, the word asparagus
comes to us directly from Greek.
Homer used the word (actually as-
pharagos) to mean windpipe. Should
we conclude that later-born Hellenes
borrowed the term for a pharynx-
shaped vegetable? Perhaps. But more
important, we do know that the plant
mentioned by Greek authors of the
classic period is virtually the same as
the wild asparagus that grows today
on the Mediterranean coast. Aspara-
gus has not been changed by the pas-
Clarks
Bull Hides
Whafs tougher
than other hides?
Bull Hides.
^M
Talk about
nigged. The lea-
"•^ ther in these great new
,|,^^^^, casuals is almost a quarter-inch thick.
SliS!»i^lH^K^ And it's as strong as the ornery bulls
it came from. In fact, it's hard for us to imagine how you could
wear.it out. Yet these shoes give you all the easy comfort
Clarks is famous for. Because they're Clarks, of course. Which
means meticulous craftsmanship, and quality you can coimt on.
They're handsome, too, as you can see. In a light tan waxy
finish that requires hardly any care. Perfect with jeans or
whatever. Wehavethemin several styles, for men and women.
Tty on a pair soon.
We think you'll feel as bullish about them as we do.
OF ENGLAND
Made by skilled hands the world over)
Available in natural tone only. Clarks Shoes in both men's and
I's sizes, priced from $20.00 to 545.00. For the store nearest you write to
Clarks, Box 92. Belden Station. Norwalk.CT. 06852 Dept. 5NHB
69
T0DAY100
WHALES
WILL DIE
Right whales from 'Vanishing Giants'
Today is just like any other day for whales all over the
world, and before it ends, 100 more will be killed.
Despite herculean efforts over the past few years to halt
the slaughter, this season's quotas remain a staggering
32,578.
The citizens' boycott of Japanese and Russian goods
can take credit for much of the protection gained so far,
but further economic pressure is required if we are to
continue to make progress.
You can help RARE help the whales by contributing to
this campaign.
For a tax-deductible contribution of:
$1.00 or more — we will send you a beautiful sperm whale button to
wear plus Information on the problems still confronting whale con-
servation.
$10.00 or more — the above PLUS a copy of 'Vanishing Giants,' a
beautifully illustrated booklet that describes the life, habits, and
status of the world's whales.
Rare Animal Relief Effort, inc
c/o National Audubon Society
950 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022
(a non-profit, volunteer organization devoted to endangered wildlife)
sage of time or by wide variations of
climate and soil.
If you served Samuel Pepys a
plateful, he would not notice a dif-
ference between your bunch and the
bundle of "sparrowgrass" he bought
for one shilling and sixpence in Fen-
church Street, London, in 1667.
Today, we take for granted early as-
paragus and frozen asparagus all year
round. But in the seventeenth cen-
tury, Louis XIV beamed with pride
when a French hothouse forced as-
paragus for his table in January.
Asparagus came to the United
States in colonial days. And Ameri-
can growers were not slow to adopt
advanced methods. President Blair of
William and Mary College wrote in
his diary that he got asparagus from
a hothouse in March of 1773. This
was obviously a luxury crop. And
even ordinary seasonal asparagus re-
mained so in most places until the
nineteenth century. The French
started a research center at Argenteuil
about 1860 that produced a now-
standard commercial variety and
made Argenteuil forever famous for
its asparagus. At about the same time,
canned white asparagus from Califor-
nia appeared on the market here.
Nowadays, we measure the total do-
mestic output in thousands of hun-
dredweights. In 1973, this country
produced 254 million pounds of as-
paragus, about one-third of it for the
fresh market and the rest for process-
ing. This, however, represents a
sharp decline from the all-time record
asparagus year of 1959 when 363 mil-
lion pounds were grown.
Not only has our crop declined by
30 percent but the yield per acre has
also fallen, from a high of 2,900
pounds in 1946 to 2,200 pounds in
1973. These downward trends are,
apparently, real trends and not mo-
mentary seasonal variations. Worse
still, for the asparagus lover, is that
it is not a simple matter to reverse the
slump. Asparagus takes, conven-
tionally, three to four years to pro-
duce mature, harvestable shoots. A
farmer has to believe asparagus has
a commercial future before he will tie
up land and fertilizer (asparagus is a
voracious feeder) for t|i^t long, while
the matted root system^ or "crown,"
takes hold. Once established, aspara-
gus will produce for decades. It is the
most permanent of all vegetable
crops.
The home gardener who has plenty
of bed space and who doesn't mind
taking the long view, can insure a
70
supply of fresh, tender shoots by buy-
ing three-year-old crowns and plant-
ing them in rich, well-drained soil in
rows five feet apart and a foot deep
(with each crown at least a foot from
its nearest row-neighbor). Then wait
a year.
The classic American variety is
known, patriotically, as the Martha
Washington. By now it is too late to
plant even for next year's harvest, but
others have been at work for your
benefit. The over-all asparagus slump
notwithstanding, 85 million pounds
is a lot of fresh asparagus. The season
continues until the beginning of sum-
mer in late June.
Seize the day. And take a minute
or two extra so that you don't ruin this
treat. Asparagus can be wonderful,
but too often they are either over-
cooked into limp nullity or too hastily
cooked, leaving them fibrous and
half -edible.
Peeling is the key to success. Take
a small knife and cut into the base of
the spear. Go in far enough so that
you leave tender flesh. Cut away less
and less as you get closer to the tip.
Also cut away the scales on the stalk
(they are really leaflike bracts).
Wash the peeled asparagus, line
them up, and tie them into bundles
about as thick as your forearm at the
elbow. Even off the bundle by cutting
from the bases of longer stalks.
Bring a generous amount of salted
water to a full, rolling boil, about 6
cups per bundle. Use a pot large
enough to let you lay the bundles
down horizontally in the water,
which should cover the asparagus
amply. You want this much water so
that the cold asparagus will lower the
water temperature as little as possi-
ble. Bring the water back to a full
boil, then reduce heat and simmer,
uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes. As-
paragus is done when a knife goes
easily into the thickest end (if there
is extreme variation in stalk diameter,
try to group the thin and thick stalks
in separate bundles so you can re-
move each bundle as it becomes
ready). Remove the bundles care-
fully. Untie them after they have
drained.
Asparagus can, of course, be
served hot or cold. It is probably tast-
ier hot, straight from the cooking
water. Ambitious cooks will take this
opportunity to show off their skill at
hollandaise sauce or its cousin mal-
taise (substitute orange for lemon
juice, preferably the juice of blood
oranges — for their red color — in any
THE NEWEST IN KAZMAK PORCELAINS
Sea Lion Pup — 5VB"x6y4" high. Issue of 400. $165
Blue-footed Booby — 4V4"x4V4" high. Issue of 400. $125.
Send $1. for full-color catalogue of the entire collection.
Artnstrong^s
150 East Third Street • Pomona, California 91766 • 714-622-4535
California residents please add 6% sales tax.
We ship anywhere in the United States.
71
It Takes Fine Tools...
to produce fine wood work, whether you
carve, sculpt, make your own furniture,
do occasional repairs. Garrett Wade of-
fers you only the finest hand tools,
most available nowhere else in the U.S.
Craftsman-made tools are the best, for
better, easier, safer work.
Carving tools, steel and extraordinary
wood-body planes; well-balanced mal-
lets, Arkansas sharpening stones, cabinet-
maker's chisels; unique measuring and
marking tools; mitre boxes, saws, clamps,
vises; 7 distinctively different, beauti-
ful, imported workbenches, with un-
usual features; hundreds of accessories;
books — The Yankee Wood Craftsman
Catalog is packed with exciting gift ideas,
j information for beginner and expert. |
I SEND TODAY FOR FREE 48-PAGE I
I COLOR CATALOG/WOODCRAFT MANUAL |
I Garrett Wade Company, Inc., Dept. IV I
I 302 Fifth Ave., New York 10001 I
I Name j
i Address 1
\Ci^
-St^
ZIP.
HIKING SHORTS
FASHIONED FOR ACTIVE
WOMEN . . . AND MEN
Our hiking shorts are designed for comfort
and freedom of movement. They're greatfor
all your outdoor activities or just strolling
around the neighborhood. ^^^
Available in either
soft, comfortable
corduroy or smooth,
durable 65/35 cloth
(polyester-cotton).
Womens even sizes
8-18. Mens even
sizes 28-40. Tan.
$15.00 ea. postpaid.
^^y
t
.hiking shorts.
n Please send me
Women (size) Men (size)
a Corduroy D 65/35.
a Check, Money Order D BA n MC
#
Expires .
-IB#.
n Please send me your: FREE NEW COLOR
CATALOG of outdoor clothing and backpack-
ing equipment.
Name
Address
City _^
State
MOUNTAINEERING
-^ip I
Department 63 I
1801 Victory Blvd.|
Glendale, CA 9120ll
(213)247-3475 I
Standard recipe). Cold asparagus
goes magnificently with vinaigrette or
mayonnaise.
But there is no need to stop there.
When the season is on and the price
drops within reason, you can use as-
paragus spears as a garnish for chick-
en or an omelet filling. Or cover hot
asparagus with Mornay sauce,
sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, but-
ter, and breadcrumbs, and glaze
under the broiler. Asperges a la
flamande is hot asparagus served with
hot, halved hard-boiled eggs on the
side; guests mash the egg yolks in
melted butter and make their own
sauce at the table. A similar idea is
asperges a la Fontenelle. Serve hot
asparagus with melted butter and
soft-boiled eggs. Guests dip the as-
paragus in the butter, then in the egg.
A very elegant and unexpected
French procedure treats asparagus
more or less as we usually treat pota-
toes when we mash them. Cook the
asparagus as usual, in boiling, salted
water; then puree in a blender or food
mill. Push through a fine strainer.
Heat with plenty of butter and some
heavy cream. Season to taste and
serve as a side dish with almost any-
thing.
Once you have gone this far, there
is no reason not to try a souffle, which
is, in this case, merely an asparagus
puree, lightened with egg and baked
(see recipe below). Almost all vege-
table souffles can be constructed on
this model. You cook the vegetable,
puree it and add cream if it is too wa-
tery (the asparagus puree needs no
cream and will give you a standard of
viscosity to follow with other vegeta-
bles). Then, for every half pound of
puree, use three egg yolks and three
whites. (Season heavily after you add
the yolks to the puree because the ad-
dition of the beaten whites dilutes the
taste.) Sometimes you may want to
add an extra white to this formula if
the batter looks especially heavy.
Or, for the ultimate in speed and
freshness of taste, overcome your
fear of frying and cook breaded aspar-
agus tips in hot oil. This can be done
quite simply in a skillet. Roll the as-
paragus tips (which should be only
four or five inches long) in beaten egg
yolk, then in bread crumbs. Plunge in
very hot oil, which will "surprise"
the fresh taste of the vegetable and
lock it in. Fry only two or three tips
at a time so that the oil's temperature
does not fall too greatly when you
first put in the asparagus. Turn the
spears when a crust forms on the bot-
WORLD'S LONGEST
STAMP SET!
(ISSUED
SINCE 1953)
134 Stamps in One Giant Complete Mint Collection
M :>ensationai bet Acquainted Utter
To Introduce You to Our Exceptional Values
Be the one collector in ten thousand to own
this scarce, genuine complete mint set released
15 years ago by Turkey. Put yourself in the
"Advanced Collector" group now with this
unique issue - worth over $9 at standard catalog
prices - but yours for just $3.95 postpaid
(money back if not delighted) while our small
supply lasts! We'll also include your name on
our list to receive the big Kenmore Catalog plus
our next 12 exclusive direct mail offers that
can easily enrich your present collection far be-
yond your expectations. And from our famous
Approval Service you get other unusual world-
wide stamp sets for free examination. Buy any
you want, return balance — cancel service any-
time. Start today to make your collection more
valuable, more rewarding. Order now-$3.95 ppd.
KENMORE, MiHord LT-574, N. Hamp. 03055
NATURE ON STAMPS
The BIRDS & the BEES & the ANIMAL KINGDOM
on GENUINE POSTAGE STAMPS.
.y. SAMPLES & APPROVALS- $1
«» Sotisfoction Guoronteed
Mil Mad Stamps
P.O. BOX 297-NH AURORA. CO 80010
out of print,scarce,rare NATURAL HISTORY BCX3KS
r5 Botany, Zoology,
[lie^ Orchidology,
Ornithology, Entomology,
Ichthyology,
Herpetolop.elc.
CATALOGUE AVAIUBU
19 Oiford Ptace/Rock«il!e Centre, Hew York 11S70
PIATIGNUM ITALIC SET,
Contains a fountain ven, five
Otalic ni^s, and instruction
manuai a(( for on(y $^.00..
At art matcriaC&'jicn sdoPS,
co((c(jC dood stores... or scrui
cficck to 'Pentafio Corp., i$2
West 22 St., N.y, N.y won
AdcC ^0 cents for fiandCina.
I
72
'They bring out a beautiful silver service
and have tea right beside the courts. We got
some pointers from Mandy, the pro."
Peter and Pam Douglas on the Douglas' first visit to Bermuda.
"Tennis is a beautiful way to explore Bermuda.
To play not only on good courts but in
beautiful spots. On a hill overlooking
the harbor, or beside a lagoon."
"It's another nice way to be outside at night.
The rughts are beautiful. The air is so soft."
Bermuda
Unspoiled. Unhurried. Uncommon.
See your travel agent or write Bermuda, Dept. 1 30
610 Fifth Avenue, N.Y., N.Y. 10020 or 711 Statler Office BIdg, Boston, Mass. 02116
Bermuda has 85 superbly maintained
courts. You can always find a court
or a game. Come play a few sets with us.
Introducing the first
totally new thesaurus
in 120 years.
^
Webster'j
Collegiate
'Xliesaunis
Thesauruses have not changed
significantly for over a century; most
are merely rearrangements of Roget's
work, first published in 1852. Now
there is a totally new and different
thesaurus that will guide you quickly
to the precise word you want. It's
easier to use, more comprehensive
and more authoritative than any exist-
ing thesaurus. Webster's Collegiate
Thesaurus does what a thesaurus
should have done a long time ago.
• It contains more than 100,000
synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic
phrases, related words and contrasted
words to choose from.
• Its alphabetical arrangement and
the absence of complicated cross-
74
indexes make word-finding fast
and easy.
• It provides a concise definition
after each main entry that takes the
guesswork out of word selection.
• It presents a brief verbal illustra-
tion of the main entry that further
clarifies word usage.
For home, school or office — for
anyone looking for a better way to
say it- WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE
THESAURUS is an indispensable
guide to more precise and effective
use of the language.
Thumb-indexed. Just $8.95 wher-
ever books are sold.
New from Merriam-Webster.
G.&C. Merriam Company,
47 Federal Street, Springfield,
Massachusetts 01101.
torn. Wait for a crust to form on the
other side, drain, and hold in a warm
oven until the whole batch is done.
This can all be done very quickly with
a miniproduction line of yolk and
crumbs. You might even want to use
two skillets for extra speed. The re-
sult, after a little fuss and muss, is a
brilliant conjunction of man and veg-
etable.
Asparagus Souffle
1 Va pounds fresh (or 1 pound frozen)
asparagus
Butter
Grated Parmesan cheese
6 egg yolks
Salt
Pepper
7 egg whites
1 . Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. For fresh asparagus, cook accord-
ing to the boiling method de-
scribed. For frozen asparagus,
follow the directions on the pack-
age and drain.
3. Puree the asparagus in a blender
or a food mill , then push it through
a fine strainer and let it cool in a
bowl. You should have about IV2
cups.
4. Meanwhile, butter the inside of a
2-quart souffle dish or charlotte
mold. Dust the buttered surfaces
with Parmesan cheese and set
aside.
5. Beat the egg yolks into the cooled
asparagus puree. When well
blended, season with salt and pep-
per to taste.
6. Beat the egg whites until stiff but
not dry. Stir a small amount into
the asparagus mixture, to lighten
it. Then fold in the rest of the egg
whites.
7. Pour the souffle mixture into the
prepared mold. Gently smooth off
the top. Bake immediately at the
lowest level of the oven for ap-
proximately 40 minutes. The
souffle is done when it has
browned on top, risen fully, and
started to pull away from the sides
of the dish.
8. Serve immediately.
This souffle will not have a runny
center. The batter is too heavy to cook
well at the higher heat required to pro-
duce that effect.
i
Yield: Six servings
Raymond Sokolov's most recent
cookbook is The Saucier's Appren-
tice, a guide to French sauces.
The American Museum of Natural History presents the
ERIC SLOANE COLLECTION
of beautiful, hardcover editions for y\tnericaiia-p[iiles
who feel it's not only nostal;^ic — but important to remember.
D'f^
ERIC SLOANE... Historian,
artist. In his research, Eric
Sloans develops "a strong
affinity for the man" who
made the actual objects of
early America, He recreates
for future generations the
craftsmanship and artistry
that is part of our country s
memories 9pd tt^ditions.
A. I Remember America
An outspoken defense of our
natural and national heritage by
one who passionately remembers
the American landscape as it used
to be. Eric Sloane's recollections
(illus. by 37 color paintings, 80
drawings) carry his hopes for
rebirth of our country in the future.
$24.00
B. The Seasons of America Past
A year-full of past American seasons
from planting to growing to fence-
building to stump-pulling to strawberry
celebrations. Each phase of the moon
had its own seasonal meanings, too.
Brings life back-to-our-roots, helped by
the author's pen-and-ink drawings and
4 color pages. $9.00
^
E. The Cracker Barrel
Fifty-four views of American life that
might have come from around a pot-
bellied stove. Told with charm, illus.
with line drawings that are droll, sage,
even wicked. Subjects include hex
signs, divining rods, rebus puzzles,
language origins, apple butter. $11.00
F. Diary of an Early
American Boy
The small leather-bound, wood-backed
book found in an ancient house, the
diary of Noah Blake in his fifteenth
year in 1805, is here reproduced and
augmented by Sloane's comments and
pen-and-ink drawings about Noah's
nail-making, shingle-splitting, bridge-
building and ink-making. $9.00
^^
DIARY ^
EARLY''
j4 BWJ,
C. American Yesterday
The author explores the craftsmanship
of bygone sawyers, nailers, plum-
bummen, wheelwrights, drovers,
dowsers. Sloane's extraordinary anec-
dotes and highly skilled drawings are
so relevant, they should evoke a deep
call for the quality of workmanship of
yesteryear. $8.50
D. American Barns and
Covered Bridges
Mr. Sloane resourcefully sketches with
both pen and words, America's fast-
vanishing barns and covered bridges.
Cannibalized for their fine old beams,
they're preserved here just as the pio-
neers built them, in drawings and
descriptions of uncommon skill. $8.50
Order Now to Expand your Bicentennial Library !
AMERICAN MUSEUM MEMBERS,
PLEASE TAKE 10% DISCOUNT.
G. AN AGE OF BARNS $17.00
H. RETURN TO TAOS $9.00
I. LOOK AT THE SKY AND TELL THE WEATHER $10.00
J. OUR VANISHING LANDSCAPE $8.50
K. THE SECOND BARREL $9.00
L. A MUSEUM OF EARLY AMERICAN TOOLS $9.00
M. A REVERENCE FOR WOOD $9.00
NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
Dept.B811, Box 5123
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me the books I have
circled for which I enclose my
personal check or money order
for $ ALLOW 4-6 WKS. FOR DELIVEm
r THC '
^lYieRiC^n
MU<;€UM Of
A. B. C. D.
H.
M
(please print)
ADDRESS
GITY_
.STATE.
-ZIP.
Prices Include postage and handling.
"A masterly blend of
human and natural
history/ -Publishers Weeklv
DAUGHTER
OF FIRE
A Portrait of Iceland
Katharine Scherman
"A succinct account of a unique
and fascinating island."
— Samuel Eliot Morison
"Lively and authoritative... re-
flects for us in a clear glass the
total culture of one of the most
civilized countries in the world."
— Clifton Fadiman
"The last word on Iceland. ..It's
all here, rich and enriching."
— Annie Dillard
Illustraled wilh photographs, S12.50
An Alternate of the
Book-of-the-Month Club
LITTLE, BROWN
REVOLUTIONARY!
"It completely revises
our outmodedideas,"
says Ashley Montagu. Adrian J. Des-
mond's astonishing bool< demolishes
our view of dinosaurs as pea-brained,
cold-blooded, overgrown lizards and
— using the latest palaeontological
research and knowledge — reveals a
quite different race of creatures:
dazzlingly varied, behaviorally
complex, and socially advanced.
"Excellent... written with clarity and
spirit:'— C. R Snow. Illustrated, with
bibliography and index. $12.95
A Dial Press/James Wade Book
Books in Review
by Alan Walker
The Hunter Hunted
The Hunting Hypothesis, by Rob-
ert Ardrey. Atheneum Publishers,
$10.00; 231 pp.
Robert Ardrey 's latest book is ded-
icated to Raymond Dart. Professor
Dart's study of the bones from the
Makapansgat cave in South Africa
led him to believe that Australopith-
ecus africanus, an early hominid that
might have been ancestral to later
humans, was responsible for the bone
accumulations. Dart believed that
these little hominids not only gath-
ered bones in the cave but that these
were from wild animals that they had
hunted and butchered on the veld.
Dart saw his evidence as proof that
this predatory habit, including the
killing of other Australopithecus in-
dividuals, was such a basic adapta-
tion that it became central to later
human development. For a variety of
reasons Dart's ideas were not ac-
cepted, at least not in unabridged
form, by most anthropologists. Ar-
drey is convinced of the fundamental
importance of Dart's work and has
taken it upon himself to become the
Huxley for Dart's Darwin. The thread
that ties his work together, from Afri-
can Genesis to The Hunting Hypoth-
esis, is his conviction that a predatory
way of life is indeed the basic hom-
inid adaptation. He has formulated
his hypothesis in this way: "While
we are members of the intelligent pri-
mate family, we are uniquely human
even in the noblest sense, because for
untold millions of years we alone
killed for a living. ' '
Critics have attacked Ardrey on
several grounds, one of the most im-
portant being that he is too enamored
of the "nature" side of the na-
ture-nurture argument concerning
the control of animal behavior. In-
stead of adding more general criti-
cism, I will examine some of the
issues so that the reader — who might
be carried along on the swell of Ar-
drey's prose — can see for himself that
there might be reasonable, alternative
interpretations of the data.
Taking some of the points in time
order, I will start with Ramapithecus.
This is a little-known fossil primate
from Africa and Eurasia found in de-
posits ranging from about 13 to 10
million years old. It may well be the
earliest recognizable member of our
own family, the Hominidae, and as
such is immensely important for stu-
dents of human origins. The fossils
from Kenya come from one of the late
Louis Leakey's sites near Lake Victo-
ria, where there are thousands of
other bones of many animals concen-
trated in a small area. Ardrey states
that the fossils were buried by a vol-
canic ash fall, but my studies show
they were concentrated in small chan-
nels in soils. Ardrey questions
whether smashed bones and one dubi-
ous stone tool are strong enough evi-
dence to show that 13 million years
ago Ramapithecus had embarked on
the hunting and tool-using way of
life.
However, Ardrey makes it clear
what he would prefer to believe, since
he later talks of this same living site
of Ramapithecus as differing not at all
from that of much later hominids at
Olduvai. To say that two assemblages
of bones and stones do not differ at
all is incautious. I have had the privi-
lege of excavating further at this
Ramapithecus site. There is no evi-
dence to suggest that the bones were
concentrated by other than natural
agencies or that they were broken by
other than nonhuman carnivores,
depositional processes, and weather-
ing. The one lump of stone that Lea-
key suggested was a tool has no artifi-
cial breaks and is not evidence of
stone use.
Ardrey speculates that the lack of
a defensive canine in Ramapithecus
probably is correlated with the use of
defensive weapons, despite the lack
20 reasons uiiy
I^TERSON FIELD GUIDES
are ^"fl in America
Compare PETERSON FIELD GUIDES
with any others — you'll see why more
professionals and amateurs use "Peter-
sons" than any other nature series.
"t The Peterson Field Guides are right
* • for every nature lover — rich enough
in information for the most seasoned
professional, clear and convenient
enough for the newest beginner.
O Every Peterson author is a recog-
"• nized authority in his field.
3 General editor of the series is interna-
• tionally-famous wildlife authority
Roger Tory Peterson.
/% The Peterson Field Guide series is
"• sponsored by the National Audubon
Society and National Wildlife Feder-
ation.
C The21 volumescoverarangeofsub-
•*• jects as wide and varied as nature
itself — from flowers to birds to shells
to stars.
dl Vivid species descriptions, with spe-
• cial attention to distinctive features
and references to similar species.
^ Meticulously detailed illustrations,
■ • many in full color, by the best nature
artists of our time.
The exclusive Peterson Identification
' System, developed over 40 years
ago by Roger Tory Peterson and still
the quickest and simplest method for
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
8
use under field conditions. Each
species is classified according to the
characteristics you will actually see in
the wild, at your first (and possibly
last!) glimpse of the specimen Thus,
birds are illustrated in their most typi-
cal attitude (often in flight), wildflow-
ers are categorized first by color, and
so on Illustrations of similar species
axe arranged side by side, each with
an arrow pointing at its distinguishing
feature — greatly reducing the
chances of mistaken identity.
All species listed by common and sci-
entific name.
Comprehensive glossaries, often il-
' lustrated.
Liberal cross-referencing to get you
from species entry to identification
key to index to range map. etc
Spotter's check lists and life lists
Frequent revisions to include the
latest facts and species
Top-quality type and page design
that packs the maximum amount of
quickly-retrievable information into
a handy, portable book.
Specialization — where a subject is
very large, such as birds or wildflow-
ers, the Peterson guides divide the
continent into regions, making pos-
sible much more detailed treatment
of each. If, for example, you live in
metropolitan New York and vacation
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
in New England, you may have litde
use for facts on birds or flowers of the
Western states But you do want the
most comprehensive information
available on all the species in your
back yard — and your Peterson Field
Guide delivers it
In-depth treatment of every species,
including (depending on the subject)
such information as size, weight, dis-
tinguishing marks, habitat, habits,
diet, call, migration routes, color, life
cycle, and role in the ecosystem.
Your choice of bindings — many of
the most popular Peterson guides are
now available in covers of plastic-
coated paper that's tough enough to
stand up to plenty of use in the field.
Get the clothbound edition for your
bookshelf, the paperback for your
knapsack.
Peterson Field Guides are not only
essential books for you to own but a
lasting gift of beauty for someone
you care about.
Decades of service to families, li-
braries, schools, clubs, and profes-
sional naturalists as some of Ameri-
ca's most trusted reference books.
Available in bookstores across the
' nation — if your favorite store
doesn't have all the Peterson Field
Guides in stock, you can use the
coupon below to order.
I HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
I Dept. NH
2 Park Street. Boston, Mass. 02107
Please send me the Peterson Field Guides checked,
for which paynnenl is enclosed. (Add 85e to cover
postage and handling.)
1 Birds (Eastern) D CI $6.95.GPa $4.95
IR Bird Songs
(record album) 3 CI 15.00
IC Bird Songs
(cassette tapes) 3 CI 19 95
2 IVestern Birds aCl 6 95.DPa 5,95
2R Western Bird Songs
(record album) DCl 18 95
2C Western Bird Songs
(cassette tapes) □ CI 23.95
3 Shells (Atlantic
Coast) a a 8.95. nPa 4.95
4 Butterflies □ CI 5.95
5 Mammols DCl 7 50
I 6 Shells (Pacific Coast
' and Hawaii) 3 CI 5 95.3 Pa 3 95
7 Rocks ond Minerals □ CI 7 95
8. Birds of Britain and
za S6.95.
3 CI S6 95.
3 CI S6.95.
a CI 6 95.
9 Animal Tracks
10 Ferns
1 1 Trees and Shrubs
12 Reptiles ond
Amphibions (Eastern
and Central)
13 Birds 0/ Texas
14 Rocky Mountain
Wildfhwer^
15 Stars and Planets
16- Western Reptiles and
Amphibians
17 Wild/Iouiers (Eastern) 3C1 o.». .
18 Mammals of Britain
and Europe aCl 8 95
19 Insects UCt 6.95. i
20 Mexican Birds 3C1 8.95
21 Birds' Nesls (Eastern) DCl 8.95
CI — cloth Pa — paper
Name _ -
Address - — —
City State _.
Prices subject to change without notice
ZPa S4.95
CPa S3 95
CPa S4 95
77
HARVEST OF A QUIET EYE
The Natural World
of John Burroughs
Text selections & photographs
by Charles F. Davis
Introduction by Edwin Way Teale
A new book, the first to combine color
(43 sensitive photographs) with the
writings of one of the founding fathers of
American nature writing.
Included are historic photos of
Burroughs, whose work is still fresh and
significant today. This is a book whose
timeless images celebrate, according to
Dr. Teale, "the sweetness of the earth; its
wholesomeness, its sanity, and its health."
Hardcover, 168 pp. ,$20.00
Add $ 1.00 postage & handling.
Wis. Residents:
Add 4% state sales tax.
Send your order & payment to:
Wisconsin trails D45
517N. SegoeRd.
P.O. Box 5650
Madison. WI 53705
SEND FOR FREE MAIL ORDER BROCHURE
OF ALL OUR BOOKS.
Cut out for 0
slice of life.
Nomads watering their camels
at a Saharan oasis. Gauchos
whooping it up on the
Argentine Pampas. Carpet
weavers working in the Grand
Bazaar of Isfahan. Discover
lifestyles, traditions and beauty
unchanged by time and
unknown to the average tourist.
Cut yourself in on a rewarding
and challenging slice of life
with Trek Adventures.
Cut me in. Send me the follow-
ing Overland Camping Tours
and Expeditions brochures.
D Europe, Asia, Africa and the
Americas
n Russia, Eastern Europe and
Scandinavia
n South America
Name
Address
C.ty
Slate
, Zip_
My Travel Agent is
Mail to: Trek Adventures
136 E. 57th Street M*fltl'f'
New York, N.Y. \0022\jSSS^
(212) 751-3250 ^^
of evidence of weapons. This idea is
based on his belief that we are the
only primates with reduced canines.
While this might be true of living pri-
mates, there have been other lineages
in the past, including some extinct
apes and lemurs, with the same adap-
tation. Further, I would contend that
the behaviors and body parts used by
animals for defense developed pri-
marily for use in intraspecific interac-
tions. Thus the long canines of male
baboons, like the horns of antelopes,
evolved in response to baboon (or an-
telope) behavior. That these behav-
iors or body parts might also be used
in defense is a secondary benefit. It
is unlikely that they evolved as anti-
predator mechanisms and were sec-
ondarily used against conspecifics. If
long canines have not evolved pri-
marily for defense against predators,
then short canines do not imply the
necessity for another sort of weapon.
Ardrey's discussion of Ramapith-
ecus is set against a background of
another favorite concept — the Plio-
cene drought. He uses two main lines
of evidence to support the contention
that drought conditions lasted for a
long period in Africa. The first is from
studies of Mediterranean sediments,
which show that for part of the Plio-
cene the Mediterranean Sea
evaporated. Although drought may
cause the evaporation of large bodies
of water, in this instance there is
ample evidence that the Mediter-
ranean dried up because it was cut off
from its main water input, the Atlan-
tic. This whole process was a direct
consequence of the movement of the
African continental plate northward
toward the Eurasian one.
The second line of evidence is the
scarcity of Pliocene fossil deposits.
Ardrey postulates that there was not
enough rain to turn bones into fossils.
This is clearly a great misun-
derstanding of the basics of African
geology. Since long before the Plio-
cene there has been very little conti-
nental sedimentation in most of
Africa, not because of a lack of rain-
fall, but because of the stability of the
geomorphology of the continent. If a
dearth of fossil beds indicates lack of
rainfall, then Africa has been a desert
over most of its area for the last 70
million years. But known Pliocene
fossil sites show an adequate fauna
with no representation of desert ani-
mals. Similarly, the earlier Oligocene
period is known from only one Afri-
can fossil site, but that does not mean
that the rest of Africa was desert.
More reliable evidence of dry con-
ditions in Africa is the existence of
extensive sand beds, but it is now
thought that these sands are much
older than the Pliocene. Other
sources, such as the coastal record,
do indicate climatic fluctuations, but
there is no evidence of an over-all
trend toward increasing aridity during
the Pliocene. According to Ardrey,
this drought, for which there is little
or no evidence, decreased the areas
of forest and thus forced early hom-
inids into more open country. Be-
cause of the need to exploit new and
unfamiliar food resources , these early
hominids took up hunting, bipedal-
ism, tools, and weapons.
Many of his arguments are used by
proponents of the single-species
hypothesis of human origins, who
argue that if canine reduction is a con-
sequence of tool use, then culture it-
self is the original and basic hominid
niche. Since no two closely related
species can be expected to exploit the
same niche in the same place at the
same time, it is therefore unlikely that
any two species of hominid ever ex-
isted at the same time. New evidence
from Kenya now appears to have in-
validated the single-species hypoth-
esis, and thereby its basic arguments,
without much question. Richard Lea-
key has just discovered a nearly com-
plete cranium of a Homo erectus that
is clearly contemporaneous with a
large robust Australopithecus.
These two hominids are so different
morphologically that even the most
ardent single-species advocate has
never lumped them into a single spe-
cies. It may be difficult to believe that
two hominid species could live in the
same area at the same time and yet
the evidence shows that they did. The
important point is that both these
creatures had features that Ardrey as-
sociates with hunting. I believe it will
take more critical examination of the
evidence and less speculation if we
are to understand exactly what the
basic hominid adaptation is and why
the hominid morphological complex
developed.
Ardrey briefly recapitulates Dart's
evidence from South Africa concern-
ing the hunting abilities of Aus-
tralopithecus africanus. This is the
crucial evidence to Ardrey, for he be-
lieves it demonstrates the antiquity of
human predatory habits, and it was
the evidence that stimulated his inter-
est in human origins. I do not believe
that the evidence from Makapansgat
shows that Australopithecus hunted
78
animals, carried bones into liie cave,
or scavenged from carcasses outside
the cave. In the past few years we
have seen tiie development of a
branch of paleontology known as
taphonomy — the science of burial
and fossilization — which examines
various factors that alTect the repre-
sentation of any original plant or ani-
mal community in the fossil record.
A recent study has pointed out that
there is no easy way to identify the
predator or scavenger of any one bone
assemblage by examining the repre-
sentation of various parts of different
prey species, and further, that break-
age patterns of bones will not neces-
sarily identify the breaking agent,
whether this is animal or not. Thus
the sort of evidence used by Dart —
patterns of bone breakage, dispro-
portions of various parts of different
types of skeletons, or even dispro-
portions of different parts of the same
bones — cannot be used to show
whether or not Australopithecus, car-
nivore scavengers, or natural weath-
ering and concentrating processes
were responsible for the type of bone
accumulation found at Makapansgat.
In short, there is no evidence to indi-
cate whether Australopithecus was or
was not a hunter or scavenger.
The earliest record of hominids
collecting bones and breaking stones,
for whatever reasons, comes from
East Rudolf in Kenya. (Mary Leakey,
although she has found early hominid
remains dating back to about 4 mil-
lion years ago, found no evidence of
stone breaking with them — and if
anyone could find it, she could!) As
things stand at present, the earliest
certain appearance of hominid-
broken stones was just over 2 million
years ago. Mary Leakey has found
evidence that early hominids at Oldu-
vai were butchering the remains of
two very large animals at about this
same time. Ardrey calls these definite
slaughtering sites, but in her original
report, Leakey is careful to point out
that one animal probably died of natu-
ral causes and that the hominids either
came upon the other accidentally or
drove it into a swamp. This shows
that hominids butchered dead ani-
mals, but it does not allow us to say
whether this followed a hunt or not;
no amount of speculation will help us
further. I do not dispute that there is
evidence of hominid hunting activi-
ties after about a million and a half
years ago. Since there is not much
that will destroy a stone tool, the
record of early hominid behavior will
Crispina
found a
friend
One who is helping
he?' survive
c
rispina Aguilar's case is typical.
Her father works long hours as a share-
cropper despite a chronic pulmonary
condition that saps his strength. Her
mother takes in washing whenever she
can. Until recently, the total income of
this family of six was about $13.00 a
month. Small wonder that they were
forced to subsist on a diet of unpolished
rice, swamp cabbage, and tiny fish the
children seine from a nearby river.
Now Crispina enjoys the support of a
Foster Parent in Tennessee whose con-
tribution of sixteen dollars a month
assures Crispina and her entire family
of better food and health care. And,
when Crispina is old enough, the help
of her Foster Parent will give her a
chance for an education, an oppor-
tunity to realize whatever potential she
has to offer to this world.
How can such a small monthly contri-
bution do so much in the life of Cris-
pina's family? In the underdeveloped
countries where Foster Parents Plan is
at work, the need is so great, the pov-
erty so deep, that very few dollars can
make a tremendous difference. In fact,
with PLAN programs and services in
place, the ver>' communities where
Foster Children live are aided toward
self-improvement.
To become a Foster Parent is a special
responsibility . . . and a most rewarding
one. You become an influence in shap-
ing the life of your Foster ChUd. You
come to know the child through photos
and a regular exchange of letters. Prog-
ress reports show you vividly how much
good your contribution is doing. Of the
many fine causes that ask for your
support, few can offer you such a tang-
ible and immediate way to help others.
Today, more than ever, people like you
are needed to join in this wonderful
work. Hundreds of children wait in
desperate, often shocking, circum-
stances for a Foster Parent to offer
them a hand toward a decent life.
Please join us if you can ... or let us
send you more details about how PLAN
is working around the world.
FOSTER PARENTS PLAN, Inc. ""'^ "
Box 403, Warwick, Rhode Island 02887
YES, I would like to know more about becoming a Foster Parent.
Please send me the full facts D-
I am ready now to become a Foster Parent to a boy D girl D age
country or whoever you feel needs me most D-
Please send a photo and case history of the Foster Child. Enclosed is my
first contribution Q $16 monthly, Q $48 quarteriy, D $192 annuaUy.
I can't become a Foster Parent now. I enclose a gift of $ . —
ADDRESS-
CITY
In Canada, write 153 St. Clair Ave. West, Toronto, Ontario M4V1P8
Foster Parents Plan operates in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Peru, Indo-
nesia, Korea, Haiti, and the Philippines. All contributions are tax deductible. Foster
Parents Plan, Inc. is a non-political, non-profit, non-sectarian, independent relief organization.
79
TF(E1V[ARgET_
Art
Oil portraits painted on canvas from photos.
From $49,95 (12x16), Art, Box 11, Keyport, WA
98345,
SANIBEL/CAPTIVA CONSERVATION POSTERS,
Three 18x24 Duotone prints— Collectors Special
1974 Pelican, 1975 Snowy Egret, 1976 Great Egret,
$10 plus $1 handling, Sanlbel/Captlva Conserva-
tlon Publishers. Box 25-NH, Sanlbel, PL 33957,
Birdwatching
BIRDWATCH AT SOUTHERN VERMONT FARM-
HOUSES, Plantings, feeders and birdshouses.
Garden for season renters. Week, month or season,
5BR, 2 Baths, two families. Brochure, Mells Farms,
Wardsboro, VT 05355,
Books
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK! Join our successful au-
thors In a complete, reliable publishing program:
publicity, advertising, promotion, beautiful books.
All subjects invited. Send for fact-filled booklet and
free manuscript report, Carlton Press, Dept, NHE
84 Fifth Avenue. NYC 1001 1 ,
BOOK PUBLISHING— manuscripts and inqulnes
invited, "AUTHORS' GUIDE TO PUBLICATION"
free upon request, Dorrance & Company, Dept
AA, 35 Cricket Terrace, Ardmore, PA 19003,
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 90 DAYS, Wanted: book
manuscripts on all subjects. Expert editing, design,
manufacture and marketing — all under one roof.
Completed books in 90 days. Low break-even. Two
FREE books and literature give details, costs, suc-
cess stories. Write or phone Dept, 779. Exposition
Press, Inc., 900 So. Oyster Bay Rd,. Hicksville, NY
11801,(516)822-5700,
HANDPAPERMAKING MANUAL, New Edition, 110
pages, $5,95 pp. Brochure, PaperMake, Drawer
552, Covington, VA 24426,
Business Opportunities
$300,00 WEEKLY POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes.
Free supplies. Details, stamped envelope, ISCO.
5252 Auburn Dr,. San Diego, CA 92105,
$800.00 MONTHLY POSSIBLE stuffing envelopes.
Free supplies. Rush stamped envelope. United,
3838 V2 Van Dyke, San Diego. CA 92105.
Cameras
FREE CAMERA CHECKUP. While you wait! While
you watch! Monday thru Friday Noon till 2 p.m. Jap-
anese Camera Specialist DOI CAMERA PLACE
342 Madison Ave. (bet. 43-44 St.), NYC 10017
(212)661-0876.
Crafts
INTERESTED IN HANDWEAVING OR BOOKBIND-
ING? Free catalog available. Dept. NH, School
Products, 1201 Broadway, New York 10001.
Education
STUDY THE GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES at Harvard
University in a one-week continuing education pro-
gram. "OUR MOBILE EARTH," July 25-30. Faculty
Director: John Mailer. For application and further
information, write to: SCIENCE: HARVARD
ALUMNI COLLEGE, WADSWORTH HOUSE, CAM-
BRIDGE, MA 02138.
Employment
TEACHERS-ADMINISTRATORS. Current school,
college openings list: U.S., $5.95: abroad, $5.95.
Leading placement sources, U.S., $3.95; foreign
$4.95. EIS, Box 662, Newton, MA 02162.
DIRECTOR. SCHOOL OF LIFE AND HEALTH
SCIENCES, within the College of Arts and Science,
University of Delaware. Responsibility for: (a) aca-
demic and research programs in the basic life
sciences, the allied health sciences and the cul-
tural aspects of biology and medicine: (b) a coop-
erative program (with the College of Engineering)
In Biomedical Engineering; (c) completion of the
design of a new 68.000 sq. ft. Life Science Building.
Applicants should be established Investigators In
the life sciences with demonstrated competence In
curriculum development and grant procurement.
The position is open anytime after September 1 ,
1976. Inquiries should be directed to: David E
Sheppard, Ph D., Chair, Search Committee for
Director, School of Life and Health Sciences,
Department of Biological Sciences, University of
Delaware, Newark, DE 19711. The University of
Delaware is an affirmative action, equal opportunity
employer and committed to employment of female
and minority personnel.
Environmental Interests
ECOLOGY 100% Recycled paper catalog, 50(£ re-
fundable with purchase, PEP, Box 172NH., North
Abington, MA 02351,
Equipment
PROTECT YOUR WATCH, Genuine Leather Watch
Bands with matching protective watch cover,
brown. Just $4,95 Satisfaction guaranteed. Send
to: The Builman Co,, (N-1 ) 67-39—21 5 St,, Bayside
NY 11364,
Food
FOOD: FREEZE DRIED; DEHYDRATED. Expedi-
tions, camping, home storage. Bulk or trail packs.
Stowaway. Dept. N, Cohasset, MA 02025. Catalog.
Friendships
MAKE FRIENDS WORLDWIDE through interna-
tional correspondence. Illustrated brochure free!
Hermes-Verlag, Box 1 1 0660/NH , D-1 000 Berlin 1 1 ,
Germany
Gifts
DINOSAUR FOOTPRINT: Plaster cast of prehistoric
imprint Illustrated brochure. Unique, interesting
gift for children. $4 post paid. A. Elder, Star Route,
Fremont, MO 63941.
GIFTS OF LASTING FRAGRANCE— old fashioned
potpourri of rosebuds, lavender and dozen other
flowers and herbs in beautiful crystal apothecary
45 oz.-^14.95, 24 oz.— $9.99. G & J Distributors,
4523 Labath Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95401 .
Gourmet Interests
TEA DEVOTEES savor world's rarest select teas.
Free brochure. Grace Tea Importers, Dept. NH56
799 Broadway. NYC 10003.
Greenhouses
GREENHOUSES AND ACCESSORIES! Complete
Heating, Cooling, Ventilating Systems and other
accessories. FREE catalog. Environmental Dynam-
ics. 3010-HEG Vine, Riverside, CA 92507.
l-lobbies
50 GORGEOUS JUNGLE BUTTERFLIES $3.50. 15
Beetles Worldwide $3.25. 30 Seashells $1.95. 18
Minerals $2.25. Giant Nature Hobbies Bargain List.
Collectors' Wonderland , Department 30, Box 1 1 70
NYC 10008.
Home Products
GREENBRIAR FIREPLACE/STOVE, the beautiful
way to heat with wood. Free brochure. Greenbriar
Products, Box. 473N, Spring Green, Wl 53588.
Journals
CHELONIA— Worid's only Turtle & Tortoise Jour-
nal. $9 yearly. 536 Fifth Ave., San Francisco, CA
94118.
Real Estate
CANADIAN ACRES, sand beaches and tall pines.
Fishing for pike, walleyes, trout. Private airstrip.
One to three hours driving time from 1000 Islands
Bridge, N.Y. $10 down gives immediate posses-
sion $20 monthly. Total price $1700.00. Write Ca-
nadian Lakeshore Estates, Dept. NH, 16 Bath
Road. Kingston. Ontario. K7L 1H4.
Rentals
WILDERNESS LODGE, lakeside, modern conven-
lences, sleeps five, canoe, $150 week. Rustic
cabin without conveniences, 160 acres forest $65
week Robert Bull, Santa Claus Lake, Temple, ME
04984
Sea Shells
ILLUSTRATED SEASHELL CATALOG. 399 items,
beginners to malacologists, $2.00. Benjane Arts,
320 Hempstead Avenue, West Hempstead, NY
11552. Come Visit!
Stamps
AN IMALS OR BIRDS ON STAMPS, 25 different 300
plus list of Topical Collections. GEORGE FORD
Box 5203-N Gulfport, FL 33737
Travel
BACKPACKING OUTINGS throughout Western
States. Equipment Furnished. Reasonable. Bro-
chure: Frank Ashley, Box 291, Culver City, CA
90230 ^^
WILDLIFE IN SCOTLAND. Wild deer, seals, loons,
eagles, many other creatures, amid mountain, loch,
pinewood. All-inclusive vacations. For Illustrated
brochure send airmail postcard: Caledonian Wild-
life Services, Kingsmills Gardens, Inverness 1V2
3LU, Scotland
ADIRONDACK LODGES on Upper Saranac, avail-
able by half-month or month. July through Sep-
tember. Bartlett Carry Club, Rural Route, Tupper
Lake, NY 12986
NEW MEXICO. GUIDED WILDFLOWER-BIRDING
Radha Kanta Paul
TOURS, Photography blinds. Bear Mountain
Ranch, Sitver City, NM 88061 (505) 538-2538
CRUISE HOLLAND-BELGIUIvl Charter Dutch skip-
pered barge. Private quarters for six, Callas, 631
North San Pedro, San Rafael CA 94903
EXPLORE MAN'S BEGINNINGS, Imaginative ex-
peditions to Old & New World sites— Egypt, East
Africa, Greece, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Central &
South America, Monthly trips, small groups Em-
phasis: anthropology, nat'l history, archaeology.
Academic credit option. Send for brochures,
FORUM INT'L, Dept, N., 2437 Durant, Berl<eley CA
94704(415)843-8294
LINEKIN BAY SAILING RESORT, Boothbay Har-
bor, ME 04538, Fleet of sailboats, two-masted
schooner, heated salt water pool. Write for folder
JOHN AUDUBON "DISCOVERED" GRAND
MANAN in 1833. Why don't you in 1976? For com-
plete information on this bird-lovers paradise write
Marathon Hotel, Grand Manan, New Brunswick,
Canada
LONDON, ENGLAND— An unique, luxury "pen-
sion"; central, private and informal. For those who
prefer not to pay "Grand Hotel" prices, NUMBER
SIXTEEN Sumnei: Place, London SW7
DOMINICA— Secluded two-bedroom cabin in
tropical rain forest. Meals, water-falls, mineral
baths. Cable; Papillote, Box 67, Dominica, West
Indies
WILDERNESS AND WHITEWATER float tnps, Utah
and Wyoming, Slickrock River Company, Box
10543, Denver, CO 80210
ESCAPE TO THE WILDS OF WYOMING. Vacation
high in the Bighorn National Forest. Write; Spear-0-
Wigwam Ranch, P.O Box 1081, Sheridan, WY
82801 . (307) 674-4496
SOUTHWEST SAFARIS; Air tours of New Mexico,
Colorado, Utah and Arizona, Camping, hiking, rid-
ing, rafting. Geology, archaeology, ecology, his-
tory. Brochure; P,0. Box 945, Santa Fe, NM 87501
JOIN US FOR A PERSONALIZED WILDERNESS
EXPERIENCE at our REMOTE ALASKA LOCA-
TION— backpacking, nature study, wildlife obser-
vation and ptiotography, fishing, goldpanning, pio-
neer crafts, etc Maximum six guests. Tozikaket-
NH, Box 73219, Fairbanks, AL 99707
ROAM THE WORLD BY FREIGHTER! Deluxe Ac-
commodations Cheaper than staying home!
TravLtips. 163-09NHA Depot, Flushing, NY 11358
SUMMER 1976-Wildlife of East Africa/Birds of Pan-
amaand Surinam/Mexico/Hawaii, UCLA Extension
Field Study Program P.O. Box 24902, Los Angeles,
CA 90024
SOUTHAMPTON EDUCATION-VACATION PACK-
AGE, Beautiful, seaside Southampton College of
LIU, in resort Hamptons, combines marine science,
ecology, biochemistry, geology, environment sem-
inars, archeological digs with tennis, sailing, swim-
ming, crafts workshops, day camps, glorious
beaches. Inexpensive room/board for individuals,
families. Write Ms. Carol Ullong, Southampton Col-
lege, Southampton, NY 1 1968, (516) 283-4000, Ext
213.
GUATEMALA— Explore Mayan ruins, lush tropical
forest. Camp on a scenic volcano; experience a
colorful Indian culture. June 27-July 12; also later
trips in November and February. WILDERNESS
SOUTHEAST, 4405 Paulsen, Savannah, GA 31406,
(912)355-8008.
RIVER TRIPS (Clients include Sierra Club, Audu-
bon). Wilderness Worid, 1342 Jewell, Pacific
Grove. CA 93950, (408) 373-5882,
ZAMBIA PHOTO SAFARI, One time only, limited
clientele photo safan through game rich Luangwa
Valley led by international wildlife photographer
Ron Hollander Wildlife photography and study on
foot and by open Land Rover with Mr. Hollander's
professional guidance. Full comfort tent camping
in bush, plus luxury game lodges. Victoria Falls ex-
cursion, Pre-departure instruction and seminar.
September 8-23 at $1998 inclusive. Brochure;
Zambia National Tourist Bureau 150 East 58th
Street, New York, NY 10022, (212) 758-9450
be biased in favor of activities involv-
ing tools. Any of a broad range of
other possible behaviors will leave
few or no traces, but if hunting in-
volved the use of stone tools, then the
record of hunting will be overrepre-
sented.
Ardrey also speculates on many
aspects of the Acheulean stone tool
culture and Homo erectus. His most
revealing comment concerns the
famous hand axes, which he says
were beautiful far beyond their func-
tional demand. But what were these
hand axes used for? We simply do not
know their function and it is specious
to ct)mment on their beauty relative
to function.
Whenever the evidence is to be in
terpreted, Ardrey will espouse the
most violent, catastrophic, and dra
matic choice — endless droughts,
burial by volcanic ash, slaughter,
cannibalism, head hunting, and the
like — as though there were no steady,
slow, undramatic processes in the
world. As one last example 1 will
mention the Homo habilis individual
from Olduvai that Ardrey says ap-
parently died of a blow to the top of
his head. We shall never know what
he or she died of, but we do know that
the two gently curved bones of the top
of the skull were covered by a layer
of sediment that consolidated under
the immense pressure of the over-
lying rock. It is surely more reason-
able to think that the blunt object that
produced the radial cracks on the
bones was the sediment itself, rather
than that a murder was committed 2
million years ago, if only for the rea-
son that we know that the sediment
did press.
I do not think that Ardrey has much
incontrovertible evidence to support
his hypothesis that all our unique
human attributes have evolved be-
cause we were hunters for untold mil-
lions of years. His anecdotal style and
his flair for personalizing evolution-
ary events make it difficult to know
whether he really knows all the ifs,
buts, and maybes of each successive
controversy. It will be especially hard
for the intelligent general reader to
know the violence that the blunt ob-
ject of Ardrey's conviction has dealt
to the evidence.
Alan Walker is an associate profes-
sor of anatomy and anthropology at
Harvard University and has worked
for many years on problems of pri-
mate and human evolution in Uganda
and Kenya.
Questers
World of
Nature Tours " ~^A- ,
You may find some lours similar to ours in ottter pro-
grams Bui Qucsten. is the only professfcortal travel com-
pany specializing solely in nature tours Tour parties are
small, the pace leisurely, itineranes unusual, and the
leadership expert Areas cowered include The Ever-
glades. Iceland, Hawaii. Alaska. Australia, Indonesia
and East Africa We cannot tell you here, however,
about all 31 tour^. or all the wfldli(e preserves, ar-
chaecrfogiCAl sites, museums and temples you wfll visit
but our 1976/77 Directory of Worldwide Nature Tours
can Call or write Questers or see your travel agent todai/
for your free copy!
Questers Tours
AND TRAVEL, INC.
DEPT NH.576. 257 PARK AVENUE SOUTH
NEW YORK. N.Y. 10010 (212)673-3120
0000<H>00<K>0000<KM>00<>00«00.
oneness !
0
A subtle linking of |
man s religious symbols, e
delicately wedded to-
gclhei by the ailisan.
,th ,[luslf*lcd .jncnpti.r booklH
vMlli J4' chain S37.50
inK '>'\^i-' S16.73
ISAAC SOLTES DESIGN NH
192 3 SMcPhemn Ave
.Monlercv Park. Caiil. 91754
't, wiea Of mnti OfO«.
^XX>0<KM>000<KWX><K>0 O
^BOOK HUNTING?-.
virtually any book located — no matter how
old or long out-of-print. Rctlon, nonfictlon.
All authors, subject*. Name the book — we'll
find Itl (Title alone Is sufficient) Inquire,
please. Write: Dept. 66.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087
NATURAL, NILK-FED BABY BEEF AND |/f/l£,
. Delicious and tender, with less tat. No
^^■^B^ hormones, antibiotics, pesticides or
W^^F herbicides used, ever.
I I • Taster-sampler package available.
soLDD,«ECTo.Lv TEEL MOUHTAIH FARM
WE DELIVER BOX 30 STANARDSVILLE
^"^^^'1:'^™ w°i!iTF ^*- '^'" 0" CALL;
jgU^I 985-7746 .
TFg;TV(AI^ET
RATES AND STYLE INFORMATION
$1.50 per word: 16 word ($24) minimum. Display
classified is $1 50 per inch. Rates are not structured
for agency and frequency discounts or billing. All
advertisements are accepted at NATURAL HIS-
TORY'S discretion; all must be prepaid. Send
cfieck/money order payable to NATURAL HIS-
TORY for eacfi insertion, including your personal
address and telephone. Mention issue preferred,
suggested heading, and text. Deadlines— 8th of
month, two months prior to cover date. Thus, a
January issue closes November 8. A tearsheet or
copy of the page with your ad will be sent upon
publication.
Box numbers, telephone numbers, and hyphen-
ated words count as two words; abbreviations and
zip codes as one word each. All states are shown
in two-letter codes followed by zip. then telephone
(with area code), if any. An address such as "18
Main St." counts as three words. Occasionally,
slight editing for clarity is required. We trust you trust
us. Thank you!
81
SAVE 50%! REG.»30.00 VALUE SPY SCOPE
6X15 MONOCULAR
N0W$14.95ppd.
Fantastic bargain in a fine sighting instrument.
Top quality 6 X 15mm Spy Scope, a $30 value, is
now offered at $14.95! Our special purcfiase saves
you 50% . . . and you get fully coated optics; 393-
foot field of view. Weighs just two ounces — stores
in pocket, purse, glove compartment. Fits in your
palm, so you can peer into hard-to-see places
without letting your subject know you're spying.
Great for bird-watchers and racing fans. Includes
neck strap, leatherette 3y2 x 1 Vz x 2" case. Beau-
tiful brushed metal finish. At this special low price,
buy two — one for you, one for a gift!
STOCK NO. 1568E JUST $14.95 ppd.
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
NEW 172Pages
Over 4,500 Un-
usual Barga ins
for Hobbyists
Schools, Industry
^ JUST CHECK
COUPONi
EDMUIMD I
SCIEIVITIFIC CO.
300 EDSCORP BUILDING
Barrington, N. J. 08007
(609) 547-3488
America's Greatest
Science • Optics • Hobby Mart
SEND FREE Hi^
172PAGE CATALOG "E"
L Charge my BankAmericard
T': Charge my Master Charge
Interbank No
Card No
Expiration Dale
30-OAV MONEY-BACK GUAR-
ANTEE. You must be satis-
fied or return any purchase
m 30 days for full refund
City
Service & Handling Charge .... $_
Enclosed is D Check, n M-0.
in amount of $_
Signature .
Name
-Zip-
HELPING TO DEVELOP AMERICAS TECHNOLOGY FOR OVER 30 YEARS
THE NEW SUPER-SIZE
SCHOOLBAG
FROM DENMARK
More pockets, zippers, flaps and compartments
make this sturdy classic the best all-purpose
bag ever. Terrifically functional with a great
casual look. A favorite of models, photogra-
phers, artists, students, musicians, dancers,
opera singers, nuns, poets, duck hunters, cy-
clists, plumbers, teachers, filmmakers, pilots,
architects, doctors, reporters and travelers be-
cause there's always a place to stuff one more
thing. A new zippered pleat can expand this
improved version to double the normal width
-now a full 15Vi" x 13" x 8". Perfect carry-on
flight bag. Adjustable shoulder strap. In
squashy gray, chocolate brown or bright Da-
nish blue waterproof canvas. $26.00.
(plus $1.50 shipping). N.Y. res. add tax. Canada
add $2.00. Send to Dept. NH-5.
THE CHOCOLATE SOUP
249 East 77th Street New York 10021
BUSHNELL 7x35 CUSTOM
Mfg. List $169.50 Postpaid $94.50
This is an example of the deep discount prices on high
quality optics that is found in cur FREE catalog. This
catalog lists and illustrates an outstanding selection
of telephoto lens, telescopes, binoculars etc., plus
valuable information on how to properly select them.
Write for it today.
GIL HEBARD OPTICS
COURTHOUSE SQ., KNOXVILLE, ILL. 61448
Enjoy mountain leisure at its best^
/, / Located higli in a Colorado valley,
:/ near Rocky Mountain National Park.
' Here in a friendly, informal atmos-
l phere, you'll find room to roam,
clear mountain air, and activities for
all tfie family Write for free brochure.
Swiss vHage
guest raaBh'
Longs Peak Route N
Estes Park, Colorado 8 0 517
Additional
Reading
Hummingbirds (p. 24)
Arthur C. Bent's Life Histories of
North American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers,
Hummingbirds and Tiieir Allies, origi-
nally publishied in 1940 as part of a monu-
mental 23-volume series on tlie natural
history of our avifauna, is now available
as an inexpensive reprint (New York:
Dover Publications, 2 vols. , $3. 00 each).
In contrast to Bent's species-by-species
summaries, Alexander F. Skutch
presents a colorfully illustrated mono-
graph on hummingbirds as a group in his
Life of tlie Hummingbird (New York:
Crown Publishers, 1973). Crawford H.
Greenewalt's Hummingbirds (Garden
City: Doubleday, 1960) has become an
expensive collector's item for both the
ornithologist and bibliophile, but many
libraries have copies. Some of the book's
superb illustrations, plus an account of
the technical problems overcome by
Greene wait in these original studies, are
in his National Geographic article ' 'The
Hummingbirds" (1960, vol. 118, pp.
658-80).
Geographical, ecological, and behav-
ioral aspects of the coevolution of plant
and animal in hummingbird flower polli-
nation-hummingbird feeding relation-
ships are explored in Karen and Verne
Grant's Hummingbirds and Their Flow-
ers (New York: Columbia University,
1968). Another case of coadaptation is
described in Donna Howell's "Plant-lov-
ing Bats, Bat-loving Plants" in the Feb-
ruary 1976 issue of Natural History.
Technical accounts of hummingbird en-
ergetics may be found in William C.
Calder's "Consequences of Body Size
for Avian Energetics" in Avian Energet-
ics, edited by R. A. Paynter, Jr., (Cam-
bridge: Nuttall Ornithological Club,
1974, pp. 86-144), and in two Science
articles: "Energetics of Foraging Rate
and Efficiency of Nectar Extraction by
Hummingbirds" (L. A. Wolf etal., 1972,
vol. 176, pp. 1351-52) and "Regulation
of Oxygen Consumption and Body Tem-
perature During Torpor in a Humming-
bird, Eulampis jugularis" (F. R. Hains-
worthetal., 1970, vol. 168, pp. 368-69).
Earthquake (p. 30)
OskarH. Spate and A. T. Learmonth's
geography India and Pakistan: Land,
People, and Economy (New York:
Barnes & Noble, 1972, $8.75) provides
82
extensive background information on the
region of Pal<istan devastated by an earth-
quai<ein 1974. Fredrik Earth's "Ecologi-
cal Relationships of Ethnic Groups in
Swat, North Pakistan" in Environmeni
and Cultural Behavior: Ecological Stud-
ies in Cultural Anthropology, edited by
Andrew P. Vayda (New York; Double-
day/Naturai History Press, 1969), deals
with aspects of human ecology and coex-
istence of different groups of people in
that earthquake-prone area. Erik P. Eck-
holm's recent pieces for Natural History
("The Firewood Crisis," October 1975)
and Science ("The Deterioration of
Mountain Environments," 1975, vol.
189, pp. 764-70) review different facets
of the detrimental impact of man's activi-
ties in tropical and subtropical mountain
regions of the world. Report #14 in UN-
ESCO's Man and Biosphere Program,
entitled "Impact of Human Activities on
Mountain and Tundra Ecosystems," is
available free of charge from UNESCO
Documents Division, 7 Place de Fron-
tenoy, 75700 Paris, France.
Gems (p. 38)
The full-color illustrations in Color
Under Ground: The Mineral Picture
Book, by Lee Boltin and John S. White,
Jr. , (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
1971 , $6.95), demonstrate the incredible
variety of form and color found in the
world beneath our feet. Diagrams, pho-
tographs, and a concise text introduce the
classification of crystals by symmetry,
the replacement of living forms by miner-
als, and the plantlike shapes often
adopted by crystal groups in their growth.
Brian Mason and L. G. Berry's Elements
of Mineralogy (San Francisco: W. H.
Freeman, 1968) is a nontechnical, yet
comprehensive, introductory textbook
for the study of minerals. Richard M.
Pearl's Rocks and Minerals (New York:
Barnes & Noble, 1969, $2.75) is abroad,
lucid survey of mineralogy, crystallog-
raphy, gemmology, and economic geol-
ogy. Minerals and Man, by Cornelius S.
Hurlburt, Jr., (New York: Random
House , 1 968 ) , presents the nature and or-
igin of the world's important mineral de-
posits, along with accounts of their past
and present use. Hurlburt has also re-
cently prepared the 18th edition of
Dana's Manual of Mineralogy (New
York: John Wiley & Sons, 1971), an eas-
ily read introduction to the science, and
an extensively used college text and refer-
ence work.
Urban Herpetology (p. 46)
Donald Loggins has prepared a "Bibli-
ography on the Natural History of an
Urban Area: New York," which is avail-
able for $1 .50 from the Council of Plan-
ning Librarians, P. O. Box 229, Monti-
cello, IL 61856. Although somewhat
weak in modern ecological theory. Na-
ture in the Urban Landscape: A Study of
City Ecosystems (BahimoTe: York Press,
1973), by Don Gill and Penelope Bon-
net!, is one of the best sourcebooks on
urban ecology. C. J. Krebs's Ecology:
The Experimental Analysis of Distri-
bution and Abundance (New York:
Harper & Row, 1972) presents general
ecological theory. A good aid for the
identification of amphibians and reptiles
is Roger Conant's A Field Guide to Rep-
tiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Cen-
tral North America (2nd ed. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1975).
Brain Evolution (p. 54)
W. L Welker and G. B. Campos's
"Physiological Significance of Sulci in
Somatic Sensory Cerebral Cortex in
Mammals of the Family Procyonidae"
(Journal of Comparative Neurologv.
1963, vol. 120, pp. 19-36) is the article
that first stimulated Leonard Radinsky's
interest in comparing the cerebral cortices
of extinct and living animals for evidence
of brain evolution. Harry J. Jerison's
Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence
(New York: Academic Press, 1973) is a
compendium, dealing mainly with rela-
tive brain sizes of various groups of verte-
brates, which gives one approach to the
investigation of brain structure and over-
all functioning of animals. ' 'The Casts of
Fossil Hominid Brains , " by R . Holloway
(Scientific American, 1974, vol. 231, no.
1, pp. 106-15), indicates the limits of
interpretation possible with endocasts of
our own prehistoric ancestors. In "Pri-
mate Brain Evolution" (American Scien-
tist. 1975, vol. 63, pp. 656-63), Ra-
dinsky deals with major trends in the evo-
lutionary development of primate brains
and discusses how endocasts of fossil pri-
mate braincases can suggest when these
specializations occurred.
Gordon Beckhorn
- Zj
t o o
O o g
= 3 mo
— Qi 3 <6
m T o ti
"> ^g 3
n 2 O
S « $
3 "" _^
03 g
C a
zr i, ■—
_S 00 Xi
^3 3
CD Ul Q.
1st
OJ "O —
= s -
■SI- 1
X ft) ®
■O 3 ">
O Q. ft)
S"
~
aj
o
01
ffl.
3
Q.
IB
Is
3-
c
c
«;
N
XT
o
CD
3.
7r
Z. «3 --
CD
^
^'
"o"
o
>
z 1
J^
Q. ft)
^«k
^ •<
S- 3
^\
O
w
(B <B
<
O
«
M W o>
>
g
■) :. o
o
|!s?
Q.
3
c^ Z
o'
W
r"
CD
b
<S
i7'
O
3
^m ■
J
83
Announcements
The American Museum of Natural His-
tory opens its new Hall of Minerals and
Gems (southwest corner of the first fioor)
on Friday, May 21, 1976. This will be
a spectacular and elegant exhibit with an
impressive array of minerals, gems,
rocks, and meteorites. For a limited time,
the Hall will also house a special exhibit
of nine world-famous, American-owned
diamonds, including the Tiffany Dia-
mond, valued at $5 million; the Eugenie
Blue, a heart-shaped diamond reported to
have belonged to the Empress Eugenie;
and the Zale Light of Peace (130.27 car-
ats), the largest modern-cut, pear-shaped
diamond. The Hall, the largest in the Mu-
seum, will treat such major subjects as
properties of minerals, mineral-forming
environments, systematic mineralogy,
interaction of minerals and energy, and
esthetics of gems.
The huge, curvilinear Hall is a bold
departure from traditional boxlike exhi-
bition areas. Its multiple levels — with
ramps and steps leading to individual dis-
plays— are expected to generate a height-
ened sense of involvement on the part of
visitors. The earth-toned floor and wall
carpeting provide a color scheme that
suggests earth and its treasures. Two
major objectives influenced the Hall's de-
sign: (1) to display the richness, variety.
and dramatic beauty of earth materials;
and (2) to explain their properties, the
profound subterranean forces that pro-
duced them, and their significance to
human societies throughout history.
On Saturday, May 8, from 12 noon to
4:45 P.M., the Museum will celebrate
Earth Day. Participants will include en-
ergy groups, neighborhood improvement
groups, and environmental education
programs. The following special events
are scheduled. In the People Center, Dr.
Helen Ross Russell will discuss "Forag-
ing for Wild Edible Plants" and "Or-
ganic Foods," Mitchell Korn will per-
form "Earthtalk Music Compositions"
for 12-string guitar, and David Seymour
will give a slide presentation of the ecol-
ogy of the Hudson River. In the Calder
Lab, Karen Bennett will give a presenta-
tion on the art of making natural dyes
from household products, and Wendy
Levy of the Available Resource Center
will demonstrate how to create educa-
tional materials and games out of indus-
trial waste products. And in the Hall of
Mexico and Central America, Joyce Tim-
panelli and Charles Simons will tell and
illustrate earth stories and myths. From
1:00 to 4:00 P.M. the following documen-
tary films will be screened in the Audito-
rium: The End of the Game, an examina-
tion of Africa's vanishing wildlife, and
Menagerie, on the conditions of the ani-
mals in Central Park Zoo.
Eco- Visions, a film series presented by
the Environmental Information Center of_
the Museum, can be seen from 1:30 to"
3:00p.m. on Thursdays in the Education
Hall, and at 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. on Satur-
days in the People Center. For details on
films to be shown call 873-1 300, Ext. 527
from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon, Tuesday
through Friday.
Reservations are still being accepted for
the Museum's East African Geological
Safari in August. Visits will be made to_
the major game parks and reserves in
Kenya and Tanzania, in addition to
mines, volcanoes, the famed Rift Valley,
and other sites of geologic significance
off the beaten track. A day will be spent
in the company of Dr. Mary Leakey at
Olduvai Gorge. The trip has been ar-
ranged and will be conducted by Chris-
topher J. Schuberth, lecturer in geology
at the Museum and adjunct professor of
geology at the City University of New
York. For a descriptive brochure, write
or call (873-7507) the Museum's Depart-
ment of Education.
Ti out Flies continues through May in the
Roosevelt Memorial Hall , second floor of
the Museum. This extraordinary collec-
tion combines historic and contemporary
examples of the flytiers art with paintings,
photographs, etchings, and three-dimen-
sional trout. The Museum Showcase fea-
tures a framed collection of flies by Fred-
eric M. Halford, the historian of the dry
fly; flies by Theodore Gordon, the father
of American fly tying; contemporary flies
depicting nymphs and wet flies by Ted
Niemeyer; studies of the materials used
by flytiers; and a videotape of fly tying.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the Mu-
seum, "Things That Go Beep in the
Night" continues through May. The in-
vention of radio astronomy in the 1930s
opened a new window to the universe en-
abling astronomers to "listen in" on dis-
tant galaxies, exploding stars, pulsating
stars, quasars, and black holes. Sky
Shows begin at 2:00 and 3:30 p.m. on
weekdays, with more frequent showings
on weekends. Admission is $2.35 for
adults and $1 .35 for children.
Oldsmobile's answer to
expensive European luxury sedans.
Omega Brougham.
Priced under HOOO:
It stands to reason that if a foreign
car is going to be priced thousands of
dollars more than an Omega Brougham,
you ought to be getting a lot more car
for your money. Let's just see how
these cars stack up against each other.
I sedan" r SEDAN SEDAN BROUGHAM
.VI
BBEBSI
'ffi*'
LEG ROOM (F/R)
41.3/34.5
39.4/37.1
38.4/38.9
41.8/32.8
K^
HEAD ROOM (F/R)
38.4/36.5
37.8/37.7
37.6/36.8
38.9/36.2
EPA MILEAGEt
HIGHWAY/CITY
MPG
30/20
MPG
30/21
MPG
27/17
MPG
25/17
ENGINE &
TRANSMISSION
114-Four 121-Four 130-Four
4Spcl. Man. 4Spd. Man. 4Spd.Man.
250-Slx
3Spd.Man.
PRICE*
$7,100
$6,498
$6,595
$3,914
OMEGA BROUGHAM
Can we build one for you?
Manufacturers' suggested retail prices for the models sriown (including prep
charges and available equipment specified on Omega Brougham). Tax, license,
destination charges and other available equipment additional.
-fSource; 1976 EPA Buyer's Guide. Remember: These mileage figures are estimates.
The actual mileage you get will vary depending on the type of driving you do,
your driving habits, your car's condition, and available equipment. For California
EPA figures, available power trains, and prices check your dealer there.
While being priced a lot less.
Omega Brougham still offers room,
comfort and gas economy comparable
to expensive European sedans. What's
more, its low $3914* price even in-
A Ayf" eludes this available equipment: bucket
^-L'-T seats; sports mirrors; floor shift control
and super stock wheels. And you can
even add steel-belted radial tires ($69)
and still keep the price under $4,000.
Check out an Omega Brougham
U. Sedan today. We think our combination
of price, luxurious appointments and .-.
Oldsmobile quality are going to win i
"' -•"•'i'ii'<W£',^is^i^^^
,"*
^.-''^iflH; //lES.Vi
SMIRNOFF SILVER® VODKA, 90.4 PROOF. DIST. FROM
GRAIN. STE. PIERRE SMIRNOFF FLS.(DIV OF HEUBLEIN )S1973 HEUB
INC HARTFORD, CONN
Smirnoff Silver. Ninety point four proof Smirnoff leaves you breathless®
NATURAL HISTOK
JUNE-JULY 1 976 • $ 1 .25
0
^;>'
-«;«k^'i»,>i»^
p
OO
^=
£Of
13 @ 1
O 0|
E b^
>^¥^^
O pi
c o?^.
^^1
2 o^
o ^^
4= ^
CO Q
-^ >^
^ o
O.O)
-O 0)
<^ (^
^. ^-
9j3
^ o
c ^
^ >-
6-Q
CO >-
^^~p^
fcS^W
h^5^
wA'^ ^^Vl
Hl^H
^
r-i^'
^a4
>?"
t\m
■^j,
WATERFORD ILLUMINATES.
NATURAL HIS rORY
Incorporating Nature Magazine
Vol. LXXXV, No. 6
June-July 1976
The American Museum of Natural History
Robert G. Coelet. President
Thomas D. Nicholson. Director
2 Authors
10 Environmental Action: A Passing Fad? Joseph L. Sax
Environmentalists won some battles a jew years ago. but the war goes on.
22 A Naturalist at Large Jay W. Forrester
Limits to Growth Revisited
Alan Ternes, Editor
Thomas Page. Designer
Board of Editors:
Sally Lindsay. Frederick Hartmann.
Christopher Hallowell. Toni Gerber
Carol Breslin. Book Reviews Editor
Florence G. Edelstein. Copy Chief
Gordon Beckhorn. Copy Editor
Angela Soccodato. Art Asst.
Diane Pierson. Editorial Asst.
Lillian Berger
Rosamond Dana. Publications Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dean Amadon. Dorothy E. Bliss.
Mark Chartrand. Niles Eldredge.
Vincent Manson. Margaret Mead.
Thomas D. Nicholson. Gerard Piel,
Richard G. Van Gelder
David D. Ryus. Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly. Business Manager
Sue Severn. Production Manager
Ernestine Weindorf, Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe. Business Asst.
Yung-mei Tang
Ann Brown. Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez. Asst.
Joan Mahoney
Harriet Walsh
Publication Office: The American Museum
of Natural History. Central Park West
at 79th Street. New York. N.Y. 10024.
Pul>lished monthly. October through May:
bimonthly June to September.
Subscriptions: $10.00 a year. In Canada
and all other countries: $12.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at
New York. N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1976 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be
reproduced without written consent of
Natural History. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American Museum.
Natural History incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History,
420 Lexington Avenue,
New York. N. Y. 10017
Telephone: (212) 686-1234
Change of address notices, undeliverable
copies, orders for subscriptions,
and other mail items are to be sent to
Natural History
Membership Services, Box 6000
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
30 This View of Life Stephen Jay Gould
The Five Kingdoms
39 A $135 Million Gamble Edwin D. Kilbourne
The decision was based on more than politics,
42 The Perceptive Eye Toid Gerber
A portfolio of this year's prizewinning photographs , , . and picture assignments
for the 1977 competition.
60 Return to Manus Margaret Mead
With photographs and recollections, one of The American Museum's eminent
anthropologists describes a half century of striking change in a New Guinea
village.
70 Wild Goats of Santa Catalina Bruce E, Coblentz
As usual, humans had a hand in the destruction of this beautiful island's ecosystem.
78 Roses are Red, White, Yellow, Pink Patricia W. Spencer
The wide variety of colors in the plant world serves many fuitctions.
86 Is Mars a Spaceship, Too? Lynn Margulis and James E. Lovelock
— When the residts of the Viking mission are in. we may look at our own planet
with renewed wonder.
91 Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
94 Sky Reporter S. /. Rasool
The Venusian Surface
99 Book Review Spencer Klaw
The Case of the Counterfeit Mice
106 A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokolov
Best of the Brambles
110 The Market
112 Additional Reading
114 Announcements
Cover: James Hanken 's photograph of a tree frog, taken at Tortuguero, Costa
Rica, won an Honorable Mention in the 1976 Natural History Photographic
Competition. A 16-page display of other contest winners begins on page 43.
Authors
Six years ago several Michigan en-
vironmental groups asked Joseph L.
Sax, who teaches envirorunental law
at the University of Michigan, to
draw up legislation that would permit
private citizens to take their com-
plaints of pesticide misuse to court.
Sax responded by designing a bill that
evolved into the Michigan Environ-
mental Protection Act (MEPA). After
MEPA's passage, he monitored
every lawsuit brought under the bill,
a process that convinced him of the
potential strength of legislation
grounded in citizen participation. Sax
is currently engaged in investigating
policy issues associated with public
land use, an interest that developed
from his high regard for this country's
national parks.
Margaret Mead first visited the
Admiralty Islands in the southwest
Pacific in 1928. She has returned six
times, most recently last summer, to
study changes occurring there as the
Manus people have become part of
the mid-twentieth-century world. In
addition to interpreting a variety of
preindustrial South Pacific cultures.
Mead has studied aspects of contem-
porary society in the United States.
Her extensive research has resulted in
an enormous volume of published
material, including 24 books she
wrote alone, another 18 books she
coauthored or edited, and numerous
scientific papers, monographs, and
popular articles. Now curator emeri-
tus of ethnology at The American
Museum of Natural History, Mead
has been associated with the Museum
since 1926. In addition, she is imme-
diate past president and current chair-
man of the board of the American As-
sociation for the Advancement of
Science.
251. Pub Price $7.95
275. Pub Price 56.95
Lodks*Brains-^w Cost
OPB The book club of the 70's Its eas>' to join Its the eas\
way to buy the best paperbacks published and save money, too
As a member you'll receive our informative catalog 15 times a
year Each issue contains about 100 good books to choose from
QPB books are the kind you'll want to keep — large-size, hand-
some editions printed on quality paper with quality bindings
(not the pocket-size newsstand type) Join QPB for intellectual
excitement and spiritual nourishment —our life is short but our
art is long.
Any 3 books or sets
B\^B \^M MM jT M^' Just agree to buy six more within
the next year and as a member you'll immediately qualify for our Free Book Plan.
1 1 7. Pub Prrces Total S1 1 .90
QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB. INC. '
Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 6-QB113-6 I
; a member of the Quality Paperback Book Club and send me the three books or sets whose
ated in the boxes below Bill me only SI for all three, plus shipping. My only obligation is to I
bcxjks or sets during the coming year, receiving a 20% discount, when there is a publisher's |
on every Main Selection 1 take. My membership is cancelable any time after I buy the six additional
sets. A shipping charge is added to all shipments. I
INDICATE BY NUMBER YOUR I 1 I 1 I 1 '
THREE BOOKS OR SETS I | I I I I I
13 .
(Please print plainly)
QUALITY PAPERBACK
OOO BOOK CLUB. INC.
Pennsylvania I70S7
I. You will receive the QPB Reviexv fifteen times a
year— about every 3' 2 weeks. This informative cata-
log describes the Main Selection plus approximately
one hundred Alternates. On any Main Selection you
decide to take, for which there is an established pub-
lisher's list price, you will receive a discount of 20%
of such list price.
HOW MEMBERSHIP WORKS
a with the Revie\\
. Free books. For every book
irn at least one Bonus Point
3u accumulate entitle. you to
I'ou pay only shipping charge
0-3 2 I
D\ the date specified. I
ir set you buy (exclu-
• choices for SI) vou I
md the Bonus Points |
free books and sets. .
2. If,
be shipped to you
more of the Al
cate your decis
he Main Selection, do nothing. It will 4. Return privilege. If -
tically If you want one or mail and therefore you n
F no book at all —just indi- out having had ten day
the reply form always enclosed want it, you may return
)ur Review is delayed in the
reive the Main Selection with-
to notify us if you did not
hat Selection at our expense.
MIWB Leather
Sports Mocs
$1795
Excellent for boating, camping, casual
wear. True hand-sewn moccasin con-
struction in brown ell(-tanned cowhide
with deep-cut squeegee tread for superior
traction on wet surfaces. Men's in D
width whole and half sizes 7-12 and
whole size 13. Women's in B width whole
and half sizes 5-10.
Order Today! Money Back Guarantee! n
Enclosed is my check or money order for
(Add sales tax where applicable.)
Please RUSH my Leather Sports Mocs.
0 3100 Men's, $17.95 ppd. Size
n 3101 Women's, $16.95 ppd. Size
Name
Address
City
State-
-Zip-
n Send me FREE your color catalog of over
1200 unique outdoor products.
J&^ce^iQ/^S<iuu,aAy'
Dept. LHS, Third & Virginia, Seattle, WA 98124
deli
wmf' V^lfc**.
Webster's
New
Collegiate
Dictionary
Its where
the words live.
MERRIAM-WEBSTER
^-J^^s
. -rw
While honeymooning on Saint
John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Bruce E.
Coblentz noted the effects goats were
having on the native vegetation. He
became more interested in these ru-
minants when he learned that there
was an almost complete lack of scien-
tific information on feral goats, de-
spite their being a dominant ecologi-
cal force. An assistant professor of
wildlife ecology at Oregon State Uni-
versity, Coblentz began his study of
feral goats and their impact on plant
life on Santa Catalina Island, Califor-
nia, in 1971. He is continuing with
this work and has plans to research
the distribution, density, and produc-
tivity of wild pigs on the island.
Temporarily abandoning her scien-
tific objectivity, Patricia W.
Spencer admits to "loving" the an-
nual return of colorful fruits and flow-
ers to her garden. Her research into
plant coloration grew out of her en-
thusiasm and curiosity over the abil-
ity of a handful of pigments to pro-
duce such a variety of colors in the
plant world. A plant physiologist in
the Department of Horticulture at the
University of Illinois. She is re-
searching biochemical aspects of
apple tree nutrition, with particular
emphasis on nitrogen transport mech-
anisms. In addition, Spencer and her
husband, an electrical engineer, have
formed a corporation to develop clini-
cal and research instruments employ-
ing fluorescence techniques.
Two kinds of luxury.
From the international-sized Seville ^->'' ^^ ^' t-^i* lliA^lfit.. sine, only U.S.-built production car
to the family-sized Sedan deVille, Cadillac models-including Eldorado, designed and built as a limousine.
Cadillac offers the luxury of choice. with the only convertible built in Whatever you want in a luxury
You can select from ten basic America. And the Cadillac Limou- car, Cadillac has it.
Cadillac ^
Only with
WSX7a
Left' ihs SX-70 lets you take real close-ups without a special lens. Right, the closest most
other canteras will let you get.
The deluxe SX-70
Land camera does things
no other camera can do.
You can focus from infin-
ity to 10.4!' That's closer
than you can get with almost
any other camera in the
world without a special lens.
An arrangement of
mirrors inside gives you
through-the-lens viewing,
so you can focus and frame
your picture precisely and
know that's what you'll get.
Press a button. A 12,000
rpm motor propels the
already developing picture
into your hand, hard and
dr}'. There's nothing to peel
or throw away. In minutes,
you have a big. beautiful
31 s" x3i s" color print.
In daylight, an electric
eye automatically reads
the light and sets the
aperture and electronic
shutter speed for you.
When you take flash
pictures, if you're slightly
out of focus the sophisti-
cated electronic system of
the SX-70 will correct your
error, so you won't get
washed-out or too-dark
pictures.
The finest camera
Polaroid makes, the deluxe
SX-70 has a velvety chrome
finish and a genuine leather
wrap. It folds into a flat
elegant shape, to fit into a
pocket or purse.
Only the SX-70.
When you look through the viewfinder, a system of muioi s k ts \oii look light through the
lens, so you can focus and frame your picture pi eciseh
Polaroid
National 4-H Forestry Award wiriners, frorit to rear: »-"
Jeffrey Little, Jvhn Pfleiderer, Melinda Hodden, Craig ^»
Jerabek, Steve Welphes, arid David Doherty, Jr. ] fe-
■'--■ C ... . js'
• m
^m>
^ ^
.*,\^
l-^j,^-
Hoiv six 4-H members
became the proud parents of
over 60,000 baby trees
In the year 2000, Americans
will use about twice as much
paper and wood products as
they use today. And the U.S.
Forest Service predicts that
America's commercial timber-
lands won't be able to keep up
with the demand.
Our hope lies to a great
extent in concerned i/ouu^^
people — like these six teen-
agers who won the National
4-H Forestry Award and
scholarship. These young
people show just what can be
accomplished. And that's why
we're sponsoring the awards:
to encourage people to start
young — thinking about the
future of America's forests and
doing something about it.
Enough trees to keep
a city going
Together, Craig Jerabek,
David Doherty, and Jeffrey
Little planted over 57,000 of
the 60,000 seedlings — enough
to keep a city of 16,000 people
supplied in paper for an entire
year when the trees are grown.
Melinda Hadden's spe-
cialty is Christmas trees — she's
planted 1,200 of them. She's
also planted about 300 trees for
homeowners whose trees
were destroyed by a violent
windstorm.
John Pfleiderer has re-
searched and fought Dutch elm
disease — a killer which wiped
out many of Greeley, Colorado's
most beautiful trees. (John
also taught himself grafting —
and created new forms
of trees.)
But there's more to a
forest than just trees. Healths'
forests are a complete eco-
system. That's why Steve
Welches has planted over 1,200
shrubs for animal cover. And
why David Doherty has built
dens and brush piles for rabbits
and small game birds. (And
succeeded in bringing them
back to land that was once
ravaged by Hurricane Camille.)
Fortunately, these six
teen-agers aren't alone in their
commitment. There are 100,000
more 4-H members also work-
ing in forestry.
And forest companies pull-
ing on the same team.
International Paper shares
the burden
We've developed a Super-
tree — a southern pine that
grows taller, straighter, healthier,
and faster than ordinary pines.
We're experimenting
with a new machine that can
harvest an entire tree — taproots
and all. We're moving ahead
on projects like fertilization
techniques. Tree farm pro-
grams. Forest research.
We'll show a private land-
owner how to prepare a site,
plant, protect, thin, and harvest
— at no charge. (In some
cases, iloubliii;^ his yield.) For
this help, IP gets the right to
bu\' a landowner's timber at
competitive prices.
More to be done
Will all this be enough to
keep the world's fiber supply
going strong? It'll help. But
more must be done.
At International Paper,
we believe forest products
companies, private landowners
and government should work
together to develop more
constructive policies for man-
aging America's forests. The
wrong policies can make
tree farming impossible and
force the sale of forest land for
other purposes. The right
policies can assure continuation
of America's forests — a renew-
able natural resource.
If you'd like more informa-
tion about what has to be done
to assure the world's fiber sup-
ply, please write to Dept. 159- A,
International Paper Company,
220 East 42nd Street, New York,
New York 10017.
®
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY
220 EAST a2ND STREET
Environmental Action: A Passing Fad?
by Joseph L. Sax
Michigan enacted a model law
to defend the environment . . .
but that was before the
energy crisis and the recession
Six years ago, at the height of pub-
lic enthusiasm for environmental pro-
tection, the State of Michigan under-
took an experiment in public partici-
pation that some of the area's indus-
trial and political factions greeted
with alarm. The cause of their con-
cern was the enactment on July 27,
1 970, of the Michigan Environmental
Protection Act (MEPA). Stated sim-
ply, the statute declared that "pollu-
tion, impairment, or destruction" of
the state's resources was illegal.
MEPA was unusual in several re-
spects. Not only did its passage imply
a right to environmental quality, it
also took the traditional monopoly of
law enforcement out of the hands of
public officials. The new law em-
powered any citizen to institute a law-
suit claiming violation of the statute;
further, such suit could be brought
against any private or public entity —
a utility company, the highway
department, a shopping center devel-
oper, the governor, or even the state
itself.
If the plaintiffs could prove their
case in court — that environmental
impairment or destruction had oc-
curred or was likely to occur — they
were entitled to a court order prohibit-
ing the defendant from continuing the
detrimental actions. MEPA was una-
bashedly designed to cut environ-
mental despoilers down to size.
From the retrospective view of six
years, it is plain that neither the worst
fears of MEPA's critics nor the rosi-
est expectations of its proponents
have been realized. The law's opera-
tion has, however, provided some
rare insights into the complexities of
citizen participation statutes.
One of the fundamentals of MEPA
was that it provided not a single
penny from the public treasury to fi-
nance litigation. Nor, as it happened,
did Michigan become a recipient of
the largess of big private foundations
during the days when they were so
generously financing public interest
law firms. The lack of funding went
hand in hand with the lack of young,
idealistic lawyers who usually fre-
quent such firms. They were attracted
to Washington, San Francisco, and
Denver, leaving Grand Rapids to
shift for itself. As a result, no cadre
of enthusiasts existed to institute test
cases when the new statute became
effective.
More surprisingly, the established
environmental organizations in the
state did not have an agenda of
planned envirormiental litigation. A
few weeks after Gov. William G.
Milliken signed the law, all the or-
ganizations that had worked for
MEPA's enactment met and agreed
that for the good of the environmental
movement, and to safeguard its legis-
lative victory, care should be given to
the selection of the first test cases to
be brought under the statute. The
floor was opened for discussion of
each group's plans for the litigation
it sought to initiate. Not a single
group had even the germ of a plan.
Local property owners' associa-
tions brought fully half the early
suits, which focused on pollution
caused by burgeoning second home
and condominium developments
around Michigan's lakes. Several
other suits were begun by local resi-
dents to force a town to modernize or
enlarge its sewage treatment plant.
One or two cases were nothing more
than traditional nuisance-type suits
dressed in new environmental cloth-
ing: a rural resident, for example,
sued a neighboring pig farmer for
failing to keep odors down to a tolera-
ble level.
Although somewhat inconsequen-
tial, these early cases proved that the
courts would receive MEPA cases
seriously and that they would not
throw up technical and procedural
roadblocks. This knowledge initiated
a new kind of case , and the full possi-
bilities of MEPA began to reveal
themselves for the first time. By the
summer of 1971, the MEPA docket
began to harbor a series of issues that
had rarely, if ever, been heard in
Michigan courthouses.
In one action. Trout Unlimited, a
sport-fishing organization, called on
Governor Milliken to prevent the
drainage of a lake into the Au Sable
River, one of Michigan's most cele-
brated trout streams. The controversy
It Takes More Than Magic
To Eliminate Pollution...
It takes more than technology, too. It takes
money— a great deal of it— to control air
and water pollution, make it safer for
employees to do their jobs, improve the
quality and safety of products and, at the
sametime, conserve our nation's energy.
Since 1 970, we at Allied Chemical have
spent $125 million on environmental
hardware alone. Nearly 500 Allied Chemical
employees now work to upgrade safety,
health and environmental conditions at our
150 plant locations. Over the next three
years we will commit about $140 million,
12 percent of our capital spending, to
environmental betterment. It's a big job
and much remains to be accomplished.
But our purpose and policy are to do the
right thing. We are not alone in this. A
survey of 130 chemical companies
shows they will spend $2.4 billion between
1 975 and 1 977 to protect our country's
environment.
Where do we and other companies get the
money to pay for this work? We rely on
profits. With adequate profits we can
finance our environmental improvement
projects. We can expand our businesses
and create more jobs. We can pay a fair
dividend to stockholders. And we can pay
millions in taxes that help support all
kinds of governmental programs. Without
adequate profits, we can do none of these
things.
In a period when profits are more
necessary than ever, they are far from
adequate. A recent survey showed
Americans think the average manufacturing
corporation makes more than 30 cents
profit on every sales dollar. In fact, the
average in 1974 was about 5 cents.
Business can and will do the environmental
job expected of it. But it's going to take
more profits— not magic— to do the job.
<?
Allied. .
Chemical
Where Profits Are For People
If you'd like to learn more about Allied Chemical and how
we're putting profits to work, please write to P.O. Box 2245R,
Morristown, New Jersey 07960.
© 1976 Allied Chemical Corporation
arose when a heavy winter snowfall
raised the waters of cottage-lined Ot-
sego Lake to record levels, threat-
ening the homes with flooding. Ap-
proval had already been given to an
ill-conceived plan to channel water
from the lake into the Au Sable at a
rate that threatened the river's qual-
ity. Trout Unlimited had come up
with a technically sound and more
moderate plan to relieve pressure on
the lake, but it could not be heard for
the din made by the cottage owners.
Working under the pressure of an im-
minent court hearing on an injunc-
tion, however, the parties did some
hard negotiating. A compromise plan
was developed, accepted by all, and
signed by the judge as a formal court
order.
The Trout Unlimited case con-
veyed a message that was well under-
stood: MEPA not only gave environ-
mental groups a forum, it also gave
them a power position, for if they
could persuade a judge that there was
merit in their case, they would be en-
titled to an enforceable court order.
When the significance of this began
to be widely understood, the statute
took off. Groups that had for years
had their pleas ignored by decision
makers now had a means of making
sure they were heard.
Soon, the law was invoked to stir
public regulatory agencies out of their
periodic episodes of somnolence.
Michigan's Air Pollution Control
Commission, like those of a number
of other states, operated on the theory
that it is better to negotiate patiently
with polluters than to use the coercive
means at its command. This attitude
was a gift to recalcitrant industries.
As one example, a Grand Rapids
foundry had failed to comply with the
Air Pollution Control Commission's
regulations for four years. Tradition-
ally, nothing could be done about
such a situation if the commission did
not undertake formal enforcement
proceedings. Then a Grand Rapids
environmental group took the Air
Pollution Control Conunission to
court in a MEPA suit. The filing of
the case resulted in the installation of
the required pollution control equip-
ment.
While the foundry case set no im-
portant legal precedent, it did create
a precedent of another kind. For the
first time, state regulatory agencies
discovered that citizen groups dissat-
isfied with the way the law was han-
dled could haul agency oflScials into
court to explain their enforcement
programs. The over-all result was
that agencies began to reexamine
their regulatory duties.
Cases challenging regulatory en-
forcement produced another interest-
ing side effect. Because no outside
funds subsidized MEPA cases, most
citizen groups found their ability to
use the law limited. However, the
statute explicitly permitted the attor-
ney general or any other public offi-
cial (such as a county prosecutor) to
begin a suit. Local groups found that
these officials welcomed requests to
bring suit themselves or to join with
citizen groups.
Unpopular local pollution pro-
vided an attractive opportunity for
elected law enforcement officials and
a new and strongly worded statute
gave them a solid legal basis for ac-
tion. Also, local groups often made
it clear that if an official did not act,
the citizens might be forced to do his
job for him, a potential embarrass-
ment. A number of cases ensued in
which the state attorney general and
county prosecutors were plaintiffs.
Until 1973 all the cases had dealt
with companies failing to comply
with established pollution control
regulations. But then the attorney
general, Frank J. Kelly, took a new
direction. He decided it was time to
try a case that claimed the existing
regulations had to be strengthened be-
cause they were not adequate to do
the job.
The test case involved a blunder by
the Air Pollution Control Commis-
sion. The commission had ordered a
large enterprise. National Gypsum
Company, to install new air pollution
equipment. The order, however, was
not sufficiently strong, and initiation
of new proceedings leading to an
amended order would have been
complex and time consuming. The
commission referred the case to the
attorney general.
As the air pollution law stood prior
to the passage of MEPA, nothing
could be done because National Gyp-
sum had not violated the order enforc-
ing the law. But under MEPA the at-
torney general could, and did, go to
court claiming that the commission's
order was too weak and that the stipu-
lations of MEPA required that it be
strengthened. After some preliminary
discussions, the commission. Na-
tional Gypsum, and the attorney gen-
eral renegotiated a substantially
stronger compliance order, which set
a stricter and shorter timetable for
cleanup. The settlement was unani-
mously approved by the commission
and was then made a binding court
order.
The National Gypsum case stands
for more than an upgrading of exist-
ing regulations. It shows the possi-
bility of having a workable system in
which regulatory decision making is
subject to vigorous challenge and ex-
tensive judicial scrutiny. This is a
dramatic and significant change in a
governmental system such as ours,
where enormous deference has tradi-
tionally been given to the judgments
of experts (such as an air pollution
commission).
Other cases moved beyond pollu-
tion to the frontiers of environmental
law, for MEPA is phrased very
broadly — covering not only air and
water but the entirety of "natural re-
sources and the public trust therein. "
Innovative cases included a suit as-
serting that lakefront land, acquired
years previously by the highway
department but never used, had in ef-
fect been dedicated to public recrea-
tional use and had thus become a part
of the public trust. It could not, the
plaintiffs claimed, simply be declared
surplus land by the highway depart-
ment and sold to a nearby motel for
a parking lot. The court found the as-
sertion of a public trust to be appro-
priate but said that, factually, there
had not been sufficient public use over
the years to support the claim of dedi-
cation to public recreational use.
During its first five years there was
hardly a subject within the broad
bounds of environmental law that did
not generate a MEPA case: there
were controversies over Indian fish-
ing rights, deer hunting, land drain-
age, iron mining, a nuclear power
plant, burial of contaminated cattle —
even the construction of a county jail.
Its very breadth predictably led to the
challenge that MEPA was too broad
to provide adequate standards to the
courts. But in a unanimous opinion,
the Michigan Supreme Court deci-
sively rejected any such claim. By the
time this mandate of support was is-
sued in January 1975, MEPA had al-
ready become a major fixture in the
state's system of environmental deci-
sion making.
Cases were not very numerous
(about twenty-five per year), but in a
few areas the law had indisputably
made a mark. Regulatory agencies
such as the Air Pollution Control
Commission operated consciously in
the shadow of a potential legal chal-
lenge as they negotiated with pollut-
The 5-cylinder Mercedes-Benz 300D*
Another engineering milestone that has
quietly inspired a change
in traditional automotive design.
The Mercedes-Benz 300D has
quietly changed the rules of
the automobile game. This 5-cyl-
inder Diesel automobile offers a
unique combination of perform-
ance, luxury, economy and quality.
It is the most powerful, the most
complete and the swiftest Diesel
passenger car ever sold. Since
Mercedes-Benz introduced the first
production Diesel passenger car 40
years ago, that is only fitting.
No tune-ups— ever
Consider the benefits of this
Mercedes-Benz. The 300D uses
economical Diesel fuel. Country-
wide, every gallon averages ^<t'li
less than regular gasoline.
Diesel fijel also has more en-
ergy per gallon than gasoline, so
every gallon not only costs you less,
it takes you farther. And, Diesel
fuel is plentifijl. Thousands and
thousands of stations sell
it ail across America.
T/ie 5-c7lmJcT 300 Dicsc/ achieved EPA
mileage euimates of 28 m/)g (highway)
and 22 mpg icily). While your mileage"
depends on how and where you drive arul
your car's condition, compare these
estimates to any full-sized sedan.
Another plus: With the 300D
you can forget about that expen-
sive automotive custom known as
the conventional tune-up. Because
it has no spark plugs, points, dis-
tributor, condenser or carburetor,
the Mercedes-Benz 300D never,
ever, needs one.
One more thing. While the
300D is not as big, not as heavy
and not as thirsty as most full-sized
sedans, this 5-passenger automo-
bile is every bit as practical and
comfortable. After all, it is a
Mercedes-Benz.
The forerunner's reward
Over the past five years Mercedes-
Benz automobiles have held their
value better than any other make
of luxury car sold in America. It
stands to reason that the 300D will
be no exception. After all, since
this automotive forerunner is years
ahead today, it is bound to be a
sound asset while the others are
trying to catch up tomorrow.
The incomparable Mercedes-
Benz 300D sedan. An engineering
milestone which has
quietly advanced passen-/
get car design a giant step.
Mercedes-Benz
Engineered like no other car
in the world.
©Mercedei^Benz 1976
What the passenger car should be coming to: The incomparable Mercedes-Ben^ 300D.
You Can Now Acquire a Private Library of Distinction
THE GREATEST BOOKS
EVER WRITTEN
Beautifully Illustrated » Bound in Genuine Leather * Decorated With Real Gold
The World's Greatest Books
It isn't difficult to list the world's
greatest books. Their titles spring in-
stantly to everyone's mind, because a
book becomes great only when it is
recognized as being great — genera-
tion after generation.
Melville's "Moby Dick", Dickens' "A
Tale of Two Cities", Chaucer's "Can-
terbury Tales", Plato's "Republic",
Thackeray's "Vanity Fair", Fielding's
"Tom Jones", Hawthorne's "Scarlet
Letter", Bronte's "Wuthering Heights",
Homer's "Iliad", Swift's "Gulliver's
Travels", Dante's "Divine Comedy",
Milton's "Paradise Lost", Mark
Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" and Dos-
toevsky's "Crime and Punishment."
Books like these are the books of
lasting value that each family wants on
its bookshelves. It is these books that
you can now acquire from The Easton
Press.
As Beautiful As They Are
Meaningful
The pride that one feels in acquiring
this edition of the world's greatest
books comes not only from the power
and significance of each literary mas-
terpiece. It comes also from the sheer
beauty of each book. Every volume in
this private library will exemplify the
ultimate in the art of printing, illustrat-
ing and binding.
Genuine Leather Bindings
Today, the cost of genuine leather
bound books and the time required to
create them has made the crafting of
such bindings a vanishing art.
But each book in this collection will
be bound in genuine leather! As with
every detail of these books, luxury in
binding will be the rule rather than the
exception.
Unique Cover Designs of
Real Gold
To further enhance the beauty of
your books, each binding will be dec-
orated with real gold. Each cover de-
sign, which will be uniquely different
for each volume, will be deeply inlaid
with this precious metal. The back
cover and the spine of each book will
be similarly decorated.
Gilt-Edged Pages
Complementing the gold of the
leather cover's design is the gilt edg-
ing of every side of every page.
Beautifully Illustrated Books
Each volume of "The Greatest
Books Ever Written" will be beauti-
fully illustrated. In most cases, spe-
cially commissioned art from noted
illustrators will be created to impres-
sively complement the specific book.
In others, illustrations from the pe-
riod of the literary masterpiece will
be used to give the individual book an
incomparable distinctiveness.
Whether it be finely detailed black
and white etchings or dramatic full
color paintings, the illustrations used
in each book will be carefully selected
to match the mood and meaning of the
author's work.
Elegant In Every Way
As final touches of elegance, each
book will have beautiful endsheets of
the highest quality, contain a bound-in
ribbon page marker and be bound
with a "hubbed" spine that is used in
only the finest books.
The result of all of this careful at-
it has become increasingly important
to establish in each family something
of true heirloom quality. There is no
finer example of such a family treas-
ure than this edition of the world's
greatest books.
A Truly Personal Library
To beautifully identify each book as
part of your own private collection, a
unique personalized nameplate will ac-
company every volume.
This plate is our certification, as the
publisher of this edition, that each vol-
ume was issued expressly in your
name.
The Acquisition Plan
The Easton Press edition of "The
Greatest Books Ever Written" will be
made available only by advance sub-
scription. The books will not be avail-
able in bookstores, nor will they be
offered through rare hook dealers.
They will be made available only to
those who take advantage of the op-
portunity you now have before you.
Comparable books bound in genu-
ine leather sell for as much as S50 to
S75 per volume. However, you will be
pleased to learn the first year's vol-
umes in this collection will be priced
at only $28.50. Future volumes will be
similarly priced subject only to minor
periodic adjustment to reflect varying
material costs.
If you desire, you may return any
volume within 30 days for a full re-
fund of your purchase price. More-
over, you need purchase volumes only
as long as you choose to do so; you
may cancel your subscription at any
time.
R.S.V.P.
To accept this invitation, you need
only complete the Subscription Reser-
vation below and return it to us with
your payment for the first volume.
This simple step is all that is necessary
for you to begin building a private
library of your own that is sure to be
envied by all who see it, and treasured
by all who use it.
tention to luxury and elegance is a
collection of books that brings back
memories of the great private libraries
of the most discriminating families in
days gone by.
Distinctly Different Volumes
Distinctiveness is the watchword
of this private library. No two vol-
umes are the same. The leather bind-
ings will be of many colors and grains.
The styles of type and illustration will
vary. The design on each volume's
cover will be different. Even the sizes
of the books will vary.
A Most Important Family
Heirloom
To acquire this edition of "The
Greatest Books Ever Written" is to
establish a family treasure that will be
enjoyed now and passed on from gen-
eration to generation.
In today's world of impermanence.
SUBSCRIPTION RESERVATION
The Easton Press
Westport, Conn. 06880
Please send me the first volume of "The Greatest Books Ever Written" and
reserve a subscription in my name. Further volumes will be sent at the rate
of one per month. I may return any volume within 30 days for a full re-
fund. Moreover, I may cancel my subscription at any time.
n Payment for the first volume is enclosed at $28.50
(plus $1.25 shipping and handling, total payment $29.75)
Conn, residents please pay $31.83 to include sales tax.
Charge this and future monthly volumes to:
n Master Charge D BankAmericard
Credit Card # Good Thru
Make check or money order payable to The Easton Press
Name
Address
City
State
Zip
Print your name in the space above exactly as you would like it to be shown
on your personalized nameplate in each book. A- 45
ing industries. Recreational homesite
developers — defendants in a number
of vigorously fought MEPA cases —
evidenced wariness in seeking to sub-
divide lakeshore property. Powerful
bureaucracies, such as the county
commission responsible for draining
wetlands for agricultural develop-
ment and the highway department,
were the subject of critical supreme
court decisions.
A case involving the State Depart-
ment of Natural Resources repre-
sented the final recognition of citizen
action as appropriate, rather than ob-
structive. The department was sued
under MEPA for having granted a
land developer a permit to dam a
small, but prized, fishing stream. The
case was not quietly settled, but went
to a full judicial trial , with department
officials — high and low — called to
the witness stand to defend their ac-
tion. Shockwaves went through a bu-
reaucracy that had never before had
to explain how it justified its regula-
tory actions. The case was particu-
larly troubling because it revealed the
real reason for the granting of the per-
mit. Department oflicials felt that
without the permit the developer
would nevertheless seriously damage
the stream and they were reluctant to
test their ability to prevent such an
occurrence.
Although revelations of this sort
were hardly calculated to endear the
department to the public, its director,
Ralph MacMullen, never succumbed
to the temptation to blame MEPA for
his own agency's limitations. Using
the opportunity to rebuff MEPA crit-
ics, he praised MEPA as an example
of environmental legislation that al-
lowed private citizens an opportunity
to dissent in court.
For all its successes, however,
MEPA had never been used in any
legal challenge to the state's major
powers — the automobile, agricul-
tural, or Upper Peninsula mining in-
dustries. This was not surprising for
MEPA was a grass roots law that
brought no money or big-time talent
with it. It was designed for local citi-
zen groups, for the small-town attor-
ney, and for local courts.
The economics of litigation under
the statute reveals the scale of its use.
About 85 percent of the cases were
disposed of without a trial. The cost
of these cases averaged $2,000, but
half of them were under $1,000.
While settlement of controversies at
a modest cost is admirable , budgetary
limitations are a powerful constraint
on many plaintiffs, and some cases
were settled less favorably than was
desirable because the money ran out.
Almost any environmental case re-
quires aid from scientists or techni-
cians, most of whom do not provide
their services free of charge. In some
of the cases, plaintiffs lacked the
basic assistance required to put for-
ward an effective environmental chal-
lenge. The twenty or so cases that
have gone to full trial — at a cost of
about $10,000 each for scientific aid
fees, lawyers, and expenses such as
travel — have been plagued by eco-
nomic problems, and except where
scientists have been available through
public agencies, few trials have been
sophisticated.
One consequence is that most cases
continue to focus on such famUiar
issues as subdivision development,
road widening, and violations of ex-
isting regulatory standards; another is
that plaintiffs are reluctant to chal-
lenge the biggest and most powerful
interest groups in the state. Whatever
disadvantages stemmed from forcing
local citizen groups to foot the bill for
using a law, there was at least one
tactical advantage. Because the law
did not pose a direct threat to the
state's big industries, these groups
never organized to undermine the
statute during its formative periods.
For almost five years, MEPA grew at
its own pace. Well over 100 cases
were initiated with the establishment
of a substantial number of judicial
precedents.
But MEPA's honeymoon could not
last forever, and by 1975 the time was
ripe for an attack on the statute by its
opponents. The combination of fast-
moving inflation and high unemploy-
ment invited a probe to see if the pub-
lic continued to support environ-
mental legislation. Many people in
the state felt that the environmental
movement as a political force was
dead.
The test came with a lawsuit that
used MEPA and involved the Upper
Peninsula city of Marquette. The case
itself was small stuff, but full of polit-
ical dynamite. The Lake Superior and
Ishpeming Railroad Company sought
a permit to build a new coal-unload-
ing dock, extending into Lake Supe-
rior near a part of Marquette that con-
tained a local park and marina. Some
local citizens led by Julia Tibbetts, an
outspoken member of an old Mar-
quette family, wanted to prevent what
they viewed as the further indus-
trialization of that part of the Lake
Superior shoreline.
The dock was to be used to feed the
local power plant, which was being
expanded to supply energy for the re-
juvenated iron-mining industry led by
the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company,
a major stockholder of the railroad
company. A challenge to the installa-
tion of the coal dock was seen as an
attack upon the mining company.
The Upper Peninsula is one of the
tragic places of the United States.
Like Appalachia, but not so well pub-
licized, it was stripped of its riches —
iron, copper, and white pine
forests — by aggressive outsiders and
then left to suffer the burdens of aban-
donment. By the time World War I
ended, the halcyon days of exploita-
tion were over, and long decades of
hard times, chronic unemployment,
and welfare began. The environ-
mental movement never exhibited
much life in Marquette, and when
worldwide economics and new tech-
nology began to make the reopening
of iron mines a reality, the leadership
in the Upper Peninsula encouraged
unrestrained development.
In Lansing, the state capital, legis-
lators from the Upper Peninsula were
able to obtain exemptions for the min-
ing industry from virtually every state
environmental law. The water pollu-
tion statute, for example, contains a
provision that baldly states, "This
Act shall not be construed as applying
to copper or iron mining operations. ' '
An almost identical provision was put
into the soil erosion and sedimenta-
tion law, and there are exemptions for
the mining industry in each of the
basic water use and river manage-
ment acts. The mining industry has
even been authorized to invoke the
state's power of eminent domain to
acquire from private owners land to
be used by mining companies as ore
tailings disposal sites.
MEPA was the key piece of legis-
lation from which the mining industry
was not exempt, and with some nerv-
ousness. Upper Peninsula legislators
watched the unfolding of Julia Tib-
betts's lawsuit. In April 1975, the
first of a series of bills designed to
weaken MEPA was put forward in the
legislature. While the Upper Penin-
sula holds only a tiny fraction of the
state's population, it has a dispro-
portion of legislators with the greatest
seniority. The two principal advo-
(Continued on page 21)
i6
"We hooked into a marlin
that probably went about 250-lbs.
He was magnificent. To tell you
the truth, I was kind of glad s^yr f-
the fish got awayr UrT JU
Bob and Ellie Cagnina
on the Cagninas' second visit to Bermuda.
"We ended up catching a 40-lb.
wahoo. It gave me one heck of
a fight. Absolutely beautiful.
A real
"Next day, we visited St. David's
lighthouse. A spectacular view!
White roofs, color contrasts.
Just beautiful."
Bermuda
Unspoiled. Unhurried. Uncommon.
See your travel agent or write Bermuda. Dept.230:
630 Fifth Avenue, N.Y., N.Y. 10020 or 711 Statler Office BIdg., Boston, Mass. 02116
Jean-Paul Loup Proudly Presents
ORIGINAL LITHOGRAPHS OF AMERICAS
An open field lying fallow beneath a vanishing mantel of
snow ... a solitary mailbox standing at the edge of a
. lonely country road. Such simple, even humble things
speak to us all with incomparable eloquence through the genius
of William Nelson's art.
A young artist who sees clearly and feels deeply, the 34-
year-old Nelson has painted as Homer sang, wandering over
the country wherever nature reveals herself to him. In this pair
of extraordinary works, he takes us into the heart of mid-
America, back to the land with a dazzling sense of time and
place so real we can actually feel the warming sun and smell
the rich earth.
This striking quality of immediacy and vivid detail is the
hallmark of the artist who, in spite of his youth already is
ranked as one of the nation's top living realists.
Admired and acclaimed by critics, collectors and laymen.
Nelson has achieved a popular stature unrivaled in American
art today. He is a traditionalist with the universal appeal of a
truly great and perceptive artist who captures and illuminates
realist with poetic vision.
His works have a permanent place in museums in major
cities across the land and in important private collections. His
recent selection as the exclusive artist for the 1976 Olympic
Games, the first person in history ever to be so honored, is but
the latest of a succession of distinctions bestowed upon him both
here and abroad.
Although the investment potential for works by this un-
common talent is dramatically apparent, the primary reason for
acquiring these magnificent lithographs is for the beauty and
aesthetic pleasure they will add to your life.
Single or as a pair, they are available only from Jean-Paul
Loup, the exclusive worldwide agent for William Nelson
graphics. This special limited edition offering consists of:
"RFD" (Rural Free Delivery) and "Spring Meh", each in
a limited edition of 500 . . . 29"x22" . . . each priced at $150.
Printed on Velin D' Arches (rag paper). No artist proofs were
produced. Each is signed, numbered and supervised by the
artist. Even the mixing of the colors used, was personally done
by William Nelson. Each is accompanied by a certificate of
authenticity signed by Jean-Paul Loup.
To avoid disappointment please fill out and mail the reser-
vation coupon today. Because the editions of these genuine
collector treasures are limited, reservations must be honored in
postmark order received.
By return mail you will receive full particulars including an
order form and beautiful descriptive booklet.
Limited Edition: 500
Actual size 29"x22"
On Velin D'Arches . . . $150.00
"Spring Melt"
5SSSS®eS^S®SSeSgSSSSSSS8gSSS8g8SS®S88®8S88®888S®8S8888S8S8SSS8SS88SSSS8S8SeS8888SSS8S8SS88Sg
HEARTLAND BY William Nelson
An exclusive Limited Edition Offering
"RFD" (Rural Free Delivery)
Limited Edition: 500
Actual size 29"x22"
On Velin D'Arches . . . $150.00
PLEASE DO NOT ENCLOSE
ANY PAYMENT OR
DEPOSIT.
If you have any further questions
regarding this offer, please call our
Toll Free number 800-323-6866—
Illinois residents call Collect
312-366-4662.
Jean-Paul Loup
Editor of Art-Lfmited Editions
400 Lathrop Avenue
River Forest, Illinois 60305
PH. (312) 366-4662
Telex 721-519 Loup Rife
Please send me full particulars, including an order form and descrip-
tion booklet for "RFD" and "Spring Melt".
ADDRESS
CITY
STATE
ZIP
^.»
Please do not enclose
any payment
or
deposit.
We welcome: American Express, BankAmericard, Master Charge
and Diners Club.
SSS8gSSgSSSSSSSS8SSSSS8S8SS8S8S38SSS8gSSS388S8SSSSSS8S8SS8S8S8S8S8SSS8Sg8S8SS8SgSSSSS8SS8SSS
Director -North America, Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, '
251 Post Street, San Francisco, California 941 08. Tel: (415) 391-8476 /
Please send me free illustrated broctiures on Singapore. .
Arirlrpsq '
^ % i"-'»y
/
v^ Rtatfi
/
/
S 7ip
/
/
vM/
SINGAPORE
From collectors' items...
batik...
Hand-drawn motifs on cottons and silks. Choose from
traditional delicate patterns or modern stylized designs.
pewter...
Ornaments. Utensils. Tableware. Tankards, Some designs
are so unique our craftsmen have patented them.
carvings...
Handicrafts from the region in wood, jade and ivory.
From chess sets and figurines to chopsticks and necklaces.
antiques.
Yesteryear's artistry from anywhere in Asia is here.
That rare piece? Search, and you shall find.
...to conversation pieces.
Singapore. A shopper's paradise. An international bazaar where West meets East.
It's an experience that's exciting and rewarding.
Singapore is a tropical island world in a clean, green garden setting.
There's sunshine, blue skies and warm waters. All the year round.
There's the uncommon blend of many races. People with their own languages
and their own beautiful differences. There are the exotic sights.
And the mysterious sounds of the Orient.
There's so much to see. So much to do.
And the wonderful thing about Singapore is that you can ask for anything you
want in English. Plus a language which speaks for itself — a sunny, welcome smile.
^Come Share Our Wbrld
carpets...
Oriental carpets from Persia, Afghanistan and India weave
their own magic in aesthetic appeal and intrinsic value.
jewelry...
Take home oddities, gadgets or relics.
Or something as down-to-earth as a paper umbrella.
(Continued from puf^e 16)
cates of the bills — both Upper Penin-
sula legislators — were the chairman
of the Appropriations Committee in
the House of Representatives, the
committee that controls all public
monies, and the chairman of the Sen-
ate Conservation Committee, which
has substantial jurisdiction over en-
vironmental legislation.
The old network of organizations
that had lobbied to enact MEPA in
1970 now sought to reconstitute itself
but discovered that while the organi-
zations themselves still existed, the
masses of volunteers had disap-
peared. In 1970, hundreds of college
students appeared at environmental
hearings; in 1975 no such constit-
uency existed. A mailing campaign in
1970 had turned out 7,000 letters to
a single legislator; five years later a
similar campaign produced only a
few hundred letters. An even more
ominous sign lay in the Michigan
AFL-CIO's defection from the pro-
MEPA network to the Upper Penin-
sula legislators. At the same time,
these legislators were importuning
the most powerful member of the net-
work, the United Auto Workers, to
take a position "in favor of jobs."
Finally, over the five-year period
there had been a large turnover in the
composition of the legislature. The
majority of those who had voted for
MEPA were no longer in the capital .
No more than a handful of the remain-
ing legislators had deep personal
commitments to environmental pro-
tection. There were a good number,
however, who had no love for the
mining industry or for the hard-driv-
ing legislators from the Upper Penin-
sula.
While the environmentalists were
trying to adjust to the new facts of
1975, the Senate Conservation Com-
mittee approved a bill to weaken
MEPA and the full senate quickly and
quietly voted in favor of it. To make
matters worse, the Upper Peninsula
forces had persuaded a majority of
House Conservation Committee
members to vote to approve the bill
over the chairman's objections. By
midsummer, all that remained was a
vote of the full house and the gover-
nor's signature.
August was a month of seeming
despair. But the environmentalists
still had some unplayed cards and a
few unexplored strategies. One ad-
vantage was a combination of com-
mitment and political expediency.
The Upper Peninsula is represented
by Democrats, and Governor Milli-
ken is a Republican who had always
supported MHPA. This battle gave
him an opportunity to threaten to veto
a Democral-iiispired attack on one of
Michigan's most admired and pro-
gressive laws. For a governor who
views himself as a forward-looking
moderate, the veto threat was an at-
tractive opportunity. Along with Mil-
liken, the attorney general and the
Department of Natural Resources
never withdrew their support of
MEPA.
Another source of hope was the
United Auto Workers. They wavered
but openly retained membership in
the save-MEPA coalition. Between
the UAW and the governor, neither
the Republican nor the Democratic
leadership in the house could give the
bill support. And that meant that indi-
vidual house members were going to
have to stand by themselves and take
a position. They could not take refuge
in a mass party decision.
In the midst of this segmentation,
the environmental coalition played its
essential role. It had only one func-
tion— to make known to a substantial
number of legislators that a good
number of their constituents felt
strongly that MEPA should not be
tampered with.
Whether a core of a few thousand
people existed who could be tapped
to write, call, or visit legislators was
unknown. The traditional technique,
sending out a mail "alert" to organ-
izational members, was abandoned.
A telephone campaign was begun,
using organizational membership
lists and individuals who had already
worked on behalf of MEPA in re-
sponse to earlier appeals. This cam-
paign paid off. Legislators began to
receive large amounts of mail, per-
haps 50 to 100 letters per day. The
campaign also brought out a few
MEPA supporters who were personal
friends or financial supporters of in-
fluential legislators. These people
were called on to obtain commit-
ments against any last-minute defec-
tions, should the Upper Peninsula
representatives try a final, backstage
compromise. The message was clear.
A lot of people cared about MEPA
and opposition would be politically
expensive.
The backers of the bill were not
sitting still in the meantime. But their
actions had the effect of self -entrap-
ment. Their first proposal would have
exempted from MEPA's influence
anyone holding a valid permit to alter
the environment. This would have
had substantial impact all over the
state , for a number (jf the early MEPA
cases had demonstrated the vulnera-
bility of many permits when sub-
jected to environmental scrutiny.
When it became clear that such a bill
would be unpalatable to many legisla-
tors because it violated a right that
their constituents valued, it was
amended to provide exemptions for
only the mining industry. This, of
course, opened up new and fertile
ground for opposition — the general
distaste for special interest legisla-
tion.
The newspapers condemned the
new proposal even more vehemently
than they had criticized the old. The
vast majority of Michigan newspa-
pers outside the Upper Peninsula edi-
torialized frequently and vigorously
in support of preserving MEPA.
Their support was indispensable in
the battle to save the statute.
By autumn it began to look as if
MEPA would be saved after all. But
the persistent Upper Peninsula legis-
lators were able to keep their bill alive
for months. If a vote went against
them, they would arrange to have it
reconsidered at a later date. They
would then begin a new round of lob-
bying, modifying the text of the bill
with claims that previous flaws had
been corrected. Probably they hoped
to win a war of attrition against the
few environmental lobbyists, most of
whom were amateurs.
This tactic also backfired. For as
long as the bill was alive, legislators
continued to receive adverse mail. Fi-
nally, almost everyone realized that
the politically savvy solution was to
dispose of the bill; it only seemed to
produce a bad press and critical mail.
The house finally voted to substitute
an amendment that gave MEPA cases
priority on the court calendars — a
noncontroversial change that would
have simply expedited litigation.
That bill was sent to a house-senate
conference where it appears to have
died a quiet and informal death over
the Christmas recess.
When the legislature reconvened in
early 1976, no one was surprised
when the indefatigable Conservation
Committee chairman. Sen. Joe Mack
of the Upper Peninsula, introduced
yet another version of a bill to scuttle
MEPA. But no one gave it serious
attention. The word in Lansing is that
the environmental movement, at least
for the moment, is still a force to
reckon with. D
A Naturalist at Large
by Jay W. Forrester
Limits to Growth Revisited
A second look at
how, when, and by
what processes
growth will end
Following the publication in 1972
of The Limits to Growth, the press
and many symposia debated issues
arising from industrial growth. But
much of the debate has missed the
most important central issue. Atten-
tion has focused on physical limits
and on whether or not the physical
limits to growth can be overcome,
carrying with it the implication that
if physical limits can be overcome
then the problems are solved. The
problem does not lie alone in physical
limits but also in social limits.
The physical and social limits to
growth are very closely coupled. Pro-
duction has been growing for cen-
turies at a more or less exponential
rate. In exponential growth, doubling
recurs within some fixed length of
time. Recently, physical output in the
United States has been doubling
about every twenty years, while pop-
ulation has been doubling somewhat
more slowly. The rising standard of
living comes from the difference in
those doubling periods, with output
doubling in a shorter period than pop-
ulation. But exponential growth can-
not continue forever. If the present
world population were to continue
doubling every 30 years, the entire
land surface of the earth would reach
standing room only in 350 years. At
some point, growth must level into
equilibrium.
There is almost no disagreement
over the ultimate end of exponential
growth. The debate is over how,
when, and by what processes growth
will end. I will discuss here the transi-
tion stage — the interval between the
growth stage and equilibrium — in
which the upward curvature of pro-
duction gives way to equilibrium or
to peaking and decline. A point of
inflection exists in the middle of the
transition stage where the curvature
changes because sufficiently great
forces are generated in society at that
time to overcome the old mode of
growth. The old traditions, the old
attitudes, and the old economic proc-
esses are overwhelmed.
It is in the transition region — half-
way up the growth curve — that the
greatest social stresses occur, not out
in equilibrium at the end of the
growth life cycle. In the transition re-
gion the pressures become great
enough to change the style and mode
of the social system from upward
curvature to downward curvature. I
believe we are now in that transition
period. One more doubling would
carry growth to some upward limit
even though tens of doublings in the
past have brought us only to the half-
way point. In other words, it takes
hundreds of years to come the first
half of the way, and only one more
doubling for the second half. The
great forces countering growth exert
their influence over a relatively short
period. We are caught unawares by
the sudden appearance of economic
and social forces, even though they
are inherent in the structure of the sys-
tem in which we live.
In the transition region, the dynam-
ics of the goal structure of a society
begin to change, particularly the way
in which goals interact with one an-
other. In the growth mode, there was
plenty of space — geographical space,
enviroiunental space, psychological
space, legal space, social space — and
one aspect of the society impinged
only slightly on other aspects. It was
possible during growth to pursue the
separate goals of the society inde-
pendently.
For several hundred years, if we
could improve each part of the sys-
tem, we improved the system in its
entirety. We have a multiplicity of
subgoals that we have been pursuing
independently. We developed public
health measures to improve health,
not worrying about the consequence
of rising population because popula-
tion could move into new lands. Trac-
tors could increase food production
and the required energy would simply
come from oil wells. Each goal could
be separately pursued. But in the tran-
sition region, the goals become inter-
locked and interdependent. For the
first time, the interrelationships be-
tween technology, economics, poli-
tics, and even ethics and freedom
become very tight. The many goals
impinge on one another in a way that
we have not experienced before.
We have seen some recent ex-
amples of interaction between goals.
Becoming disturbed about pollution
from automobiles, we redesigned en-
gines, increased gasoline consump-
tion, created a fuel shortage, and gen-
erated international political
stresses — all within five years. Medi-
cal advances have increased popula-
tion, leading to the population prob-
lem and to food shortage. The engi-
neering victories of high-rise build-
ings have concentrated population,
increased psychological stress and
crime, and reduced personal free-
To protect your
body, Volvo's body
lias crumple zones
to absorb impact
of collision before it
reaches passenger ^
compartment
To reduce muscle tension,
Volvo's foot rest keeps >
left foot on same ^r
plane as right. ^
' Volvo's
ibucket seats adjusf ~
\jn eight different direction^
^^o satisfy dimensional
__^ requirements of 97%
^of adult population.
f Sitting puts more
pressure on spinal
discs than standing.
To relieve pressure,
\ Volvo has adjustable
\ lumbar support
^ for small of back.
Before the average driver can move his
foot from the gas pedal to the brake in
a panic situation, a car will travel 56 feet
(at55m.p.h.). So Volvo puts power disc
brakes on four wheels, not just two.
VOLVO. THE CAR FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK.
Four limited edition hand engravings in the great Audubon tradition
CENTURY AND A HALF AGO, John
James Audubon began creating his re-
nowned "Birds of America" engravings—
a landmark art collection by any measure.
Now, in honor of the 150th anniversary of that
historic event, the National Audubon Society will
issue a new series of original works of art in the
great Audubon tradition: The Sesquicentennial
Collection of American Bird Engravings.
This is the first and only collection of hand
engravings ever issued by the National Audu-
bon Society— and one of only a very few collec-
tions of bird engravings in existence today.
The collection will consist of four hand engrav-
ings—each one individually mounted and framed
—portraying four of the most beautiful and im-
pressive birds of North America. The American
Bald Eagle. The Screech Owl. The Cardinal. The
Blue Jay.
Each of these works of art has been created—
exclusively for this collection— by the distin-
guished American artist Albert Earl Gilbert. Mr.
Gilbert was selected for this important commis-
sion by the National Audubon Society.
Among art critics and ornithologists alike,
Albert Earl Gilbert is recognized as one of the
world's finest wildlife artists. One of the very few
living artists, in fact, whose works are considered
worthy to stand beside those of John James
Audubon himself.
11)1976 FMGAA
NATURAL HISTORY
The American Bald Eagle
Albert Earl Gilbert's first work in the series of four colored har\d engravings.
THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY
SESQUICENTENNIAL COLLECTION OF AMERICAN BIRD ENGRAVINGS
SUBSCRIPTION APPLICATION
The Franklin Mint Gallery of American Art
Franklin Center, Pennsylvania 19091
Please accept my subscription for The National
Audubon Society Sesquicentennial Collection of
American Bird Engravings, consisting of four hand-
engravings, individually signed and dated by the
artist. These works of art are to be issued to me,
mounted and framed, at the rate of approximately
one every three months.
I need send no money now. The issue price of $120.*
for each framed hand-engraving will be billed to me
at the rate of $40.* per month for three consecutive
months, beginning with the shipment of each work.
'Plus my state sales tax
Valid only if postmarked by June 30, 1976
Mr.
Mrs.
Miss-
Address.
City_
State, Zip-
Signature-
All subscriptions are subject to acceptance.
The Screech Owl
The Blue Jay
The Cardinal
The American Bald Eagle
~t-
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
NO POSTAGE STAMP NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES
FIRST CLASS
PERMIT NO. 1
Franklin Center
Pennsylvania
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY
The Franklin Mint Gallery of Anierican Art
Franklin Center, Pennsylvania 19063
Fine engravings in the Audubon tradition
In creating the works for this collection, Albert
Earl Gilbert will follow the method used by John
James Audubon to produce his famed engravings
150 years ago.
Working directly from life, in the woods and
fields of America, Gilbert has conceived and
created his designs— portraying each bird in au-
thentic and exacting detail.
Then, the master engraver personally chosen
by the artist— Yves Beaujard— will take Mr. Gil-
bert's original art and painstakingly hand en-
grave the master plate.
After the first engraving is taken from the
master plate, Albert Earl Gilbert will add lifelike
colors to complete the work. Master craftsmen
will then apply these colors— one by one— to each
subsequent engraving.
This method of engraving— considered by John
James Audubon to be the only correct way to
create a fine bird engraving— is almost a lost art.
Indeed, very few hand engravings of any kind
are created today because of the amount of time,
skill and care that must be devoted to them.
Yet the result is well worth the effort. For each
engraving is a work of stunning beauty. A work
whose strong, forceful lines, visual depth and
lifelike color can be compared only to the price-
less "Birds of America" engravings completed
by John James Audubon and his engraver a cen-
tury and a half ago.
Individually hand signed
To assure the quality of each finished engraving,
Albert Earl Gilbert will personally examine each
individual work in close detail. Then, when he is
satisfied that it fulfills his artistic intent in every
respect, he will add the final distinctive mark
of his approval by hand signing the engraving
himself.
As astute collectors know, this act of hand
signing is often a key factor in determining the
future value of an engraving— or of any work of
art. For major works that bear the artist's signa-
ture are highly valued and often sought after by
collectors as time goes on.
Mounted and custom-framed
Each engraving in this collection will be double-
matted, professionally mounted, and issued in an
exceptionally handsome black and gold hard-
wood frame. Thus, as each new work is received
by the collector, it can be displayed in the home
from the moment it arrives— to be enjoyed and
admired by family and friends year after year.
In addition, each framed engraving will be
accompanied by a specially-written commen-
tary on Albert Earl Gilbert's work and on the
bird portrayed.
A strictly limited edition
Each engraving will be issued in a single, strictly
limited edition, solely for individual subscribers.
After the edition is completed, the master plates
will be destroyed. And none of these hand en-
gravings will ever be issued again.
There is a strict limit of one collection per
subscriber. Therefore, the total edition of each
engraving will exactly equal the number of indi-
vidual subscribers, plus two for the National
Audubon Society's private collection.
Subscribers will receive their custom-framed
engravings at the rate of approximately one every
three months until the collection of four is com-
plete. The original issue price for each signed and
framed engraving is $120, which will be billed in
three monthly installments. And this very favor-
able price is guaranteed to each subscriber for
each of the four engravings in the collection.
Subscription deadline: June 30, 1976
To subscribe to The National Audubon Society
Sesquicentennial Collection of American Bird En-
gravings, simply fill out the postage paid applica-
tion in the center of this announcement and mail
it to The Franklin Mint Gallery of American Art,
which has been appointed to handle all subscrip-
tions for this series.
No advance payment need accompany your
subscription application. But please remember
that it must be postmarked no later than June 30
to be accepted.
The Franklin Mint Gallery of American Art
Franklin Center, Pennsylvania 19091
Limii: One Collection per Subscriber. Subscription Deadline: June 30, 1976.
Irish Tweed Hat
This easy going inat comes in a wide variety of
subtly colored Harris-type tweed styles, all 100%
wool. Blocked slightly and can be formed to
nearly any style desired. Extremely durable under
any weather conditions. Sizes: S(6%), M(7-7'/e),
L(7'/4-7'/2), XL(7y8). Colors: Green, Gray and
Brown tweed, or pastel plaid Rainbow.
HOLUBAR IRISH TWEED HAT (#4511120,
$16.50 ppd.
Please give two color choices.
Calif., Colo. & Ariz res. add sales tax.
ORDER TODAY!
We Ship Same Day Received!
Enclosed is my check or money order for
$ (plus sales tax)
Please send my IRISH TWEED HAT (451112C)
Size Color
2nd Color Choice
Name _^
Address
City
-Zip.
D Send me your FREE color catalog of fine out-
door clothing and equipment
rhodiJEKiAi
P.O. Box 7
Dept.174H6 Boulder, Colorado 80302
i?^.
Share ihe Thrills
0! Exploring t
ouior Space;
All DYNASCOPES,
including this
superb RV-6, E-incti
available
on easy terms!
Now it's easy to join the thousands of serious
amateurs who have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rewards go on for years! And
it's a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Choose From Many DYNASCOPES®
Picl(ing a telescope to fit your needs and your
pocl(etbook is simple when you select a
DYNASCOPE — the same instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories-and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable facts be-
fore buying any telescope. Mail
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterion Manufacturing Co.
620 Oakwuod Ave,, W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
® TM Registered U.S. Pot. Off
CRITERION MANUFACTURING CO., Dept. NH-69
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Name
Address-
City
dom. So, technology, freedom, and
every other aspect of society become
highly interlinked in the transition re-
gion.
The consequence of independent
goal seeking during the transition
Stage can be quite unexpected. Im-
provement may not occur in the goal
being sought; instead, degradation
may result elsewhere. For example,
in seeking a goal of better housing in
a city, government may build low-
cost housing, attract scores of
occupants, increase the number of
people relative to jobs, and end up
with more unemployment. Or, if we
grow more food in an attempt to re-
duce hunger, this may only lead to
more people, the same percentage of
the population hungry, and social
unrest from crowding. More food
leads to more population, not to less
average hunger. In the transition re-
gion, such compensating side effects
tend to defeat the pursuit of subgoals.
A simplified relationship between
population, environment, and tech-
nology indicates that rising popula-
tion leads to increased pressure on the
environment, which stimulates fur-
ther demand for engineering to re-
lieve pressures, which, in turn, en-
courages additional population.
Technology made large populations
possible, and large populations make
advanced technology necessary. A
feedback loop operates in which pop-
ulation requires technology, technol-
ogy makes more population possible,
and the rising population puts still
greater demands on technology. The
process can recirculate as long as no
limits appear from land shortage,
overcommitment of pollution dis-
sipation capacity, food deficiencies,
or water shortages. The process con-
tinues until it either encounters physi-
cal limits or moves into social limits.
At some point in the growth
process, which many countries seem
to be reaching, we find that crowding
transfers stresses from the physical
realm to the social. Social stresses
manifest themselves in rising crime
rates, drug addiction, aircraft hijack-
ings, kidnappings, mental illness,
psychological trauma, community
breakdown, genocide, revolutions,
and war. Social breakdown becomes
more likely as we put stresses on the
social fabric of society. More and
more persons are pulled away from
producing goods and food and enter
government, law, negotiation, and
arbitration to cope with the social
complexities that come with the fill-
ing up of physical and psychological
space.
We must balance physical stresses
against social stresses. Furthermore,
we must choose a balance between
direct forces limiting growth rate and
the indirect forces of self-restraint in
control of growth. We can control
growth through the channel of self-re-
straint by foreseeing physical stress
and slowing growth or by foreseeing
social stress and slowing growth.
Otherwise, growth continues until ei-
ther physical or social stress directly
stops growth — physical stress in the
sense of starvation or social stress in
the sense of breakdown of social sta-
bility. There are several chaimels for
creating equilibrium in the future.
The choice of continued growth is not
open for long. We must choose one
of the restraint channels or the system
will choose for us a direct application
of physical or social force.
The fundamental question in most
countries is the balance to be struck
between population and the standard
of living. The pursuit of technology
may divert us from facing the funda-
mental question of limiting popula-
tion to both the physical and social
limits of the environment. We are apt
to believe that if we can solve the
technological problems, we will have
solved all of our problems. In fact,
the removal of technological limits
will merely shift the burden of re-
straint to the social limits. Do we
want a distributed set of pressures or
do we want pressures from one direc-
tion only? I believe that pressures
from social stress only will be more
disruptive and dangerous than pres-
sures distributed over both the social
and physical limits.
The question is not can science re-
move the physical limits? Science
probably can. Rather we should ask,
do we want science to remove the
physical limits? An affirmative an-
swer is equivalent to saying we want
growth to be arrested by social stress
alone. When put that way, it is far
from obvious that we wish to solve
the technological limits and thereby
raise the level of stress in the social
area.
Jay W. Forrester teaches manage-
ment at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. This article is taken
from a speech he made at the Franklin
Institute in Philadelphia. Copyright ®
1974 by Jay W. Forrester.
Fedders heat pump
air conditioner cuts
winter fuel bills
Saves on summer cooling, too!
The money you save operating your
Fedders Flexhermetic II heat pump air
conditioner to warm your home in the
winter can pay for the cost of operating the
Flexhermetic II heat pump air conditioner
to cool your home in summer
The Flexhermetic II heat pump air
conditioner is a single system that performs
like two. . .to provide comfort all year long.
In summer it's a super efficient central air
conditioner that removes heat from your
home at an exceptionally low operating
cost and leaves it comfortably cool and dry.
In winter the Flexhermetic II heat pump
air conditioner is reversed automatically
and it becomes a heating system ... a heating
system that uses the natural heat always
present in the outdoor air (82 percent of
heat in the air that was available at 100°F is
still available at 0°F).
Because it uses this natural heat, the
Fedders heat pump air conditioner can
achieve dramatic savings in winter fuel bills
when compared to straight electric heat.
Electric heat has a C.O.P." of 1.0 and pro-
vides 3413 BTUs of heat per kilowatt hour.
Fedders Flexhermetic II model
CKH024B7 A outdoor unit and
CFJ024CQ,A indoor unit provide a C.O.P.
of 2.6 at 47°F outdoor temperature or
8874 BTUs of heat per kilowatt hour. It is
easy to see how savings can quickly add up
to offset the low operating cost of
Flexhermetic II heat pump cooling.
The Fedders heat pump air condi-
tioner is exceptionally reliable and efficient
because of the Fedders Rotor-H com-
pressor that was specifically designed for
heat pump operation. Its smooth rotary
motion with only three basic mo\'ing parts
(less to wear out, less to go wrong), its solid
construction, its special low-friction
Carblucori " bearings (this a spectacular en-
gineering achievement in its own right) set
new high standards of reliabilir\'.
So reliable in fact is the Rotor-H com-
pressor that Fedders makes available a
four-year extended full warrant^^ in addi-
tion to the one year standard parts warrant^'.
The super-efficient Rotor-H compressor is
the heart of a system designed and con-
structed to match its unparalleled
reliability and performance.
So no matter if you re adding on or
replacing, Fedders
makes central air con-
ditioning and heating
more affordable. For
more information
on how you can save
with Fedders, write
Fedders Air Conditioning Sales Co.,
Dept. HB, Edison, New Jersey 08817.
*C.O.P. stands for Coefficient of Performance,
the ratio of heat output to energy consumed.
FEDDERS
the most comforting name in air conditioning
For people
who want to
conquer cities
on their feet.
Soft leather, foam, and an
arch support you can actually feel
make Patricks a great value in
the world of comfortable shoes.
Our Patricks are made exclusively for us in
France. They're the first sport shoe we've
tested that performs as well on a sightseeing
tour of Europe as on an athletic court here
at home. Here's why:
■ Glove-soft leather uppers that move with
every step you take.
■ Cushioned with foam
under the tongue, around . .
your ankle, and under «l|
your foot from heel to toe.
■ An arch support you can
feel for honest comfort.
■ Slit for laces to keep
tongue from side-slipping.
Ovei 100 suction
m Dozens of special air cells cups on each sole
under the insole cushion guard against slips.
each step. You literally walk on a layer of air.
Try them yourself for two weeks.
If you're not completely satisfied, return
them postage prepaid for your money back.
Colors: Navy, brown, or white. Sizes: (Men)
6>/2-12, 13; (Women) 5-10. Price: $28.50 ppd.
^ if leather sport shoes from
France for men and
omen in three
great colors:
navy, brown,
or white.
Order TOLL FREE anytime 800-547-6712
(Excluding Oregon, Hawaii, & Alaska).
Patricks
Qty.
Size
Color
Men's 2730N
Women's 2739N
n Check enclosed D BankAmericard
n Master Charge
(Please include all raised letters and numbers.)
D Please send FREE color catalog.
Address-
City
This View of Life
by Stephen Jay Gould
The Five Kingdoms
_Zip_
The simplistic classification
of life into plants and
animals ignores the history
and importance of
single-celled organisms
When I was ten years old, James
Arness terrified me as a giant, preda-
cious carrot in The Thing (1951).
Two hours ago — older, wiser, and
somewhat bored — I watched its latest
television rerun and this time anger
dominated my reaction. I recognized
the film as a political document, ex-
pressing the worst sentiments of
America in the cold war. Its hero, a
tough military man, wants only to de-
stroy the enemy; its villain, a naively
liberal scientist, wants to learn more
about it; the carrot, along with its fly-
ing saucer, is a certain surrogate for
the red menace; and the film's im-
passioned last words — "watch the
skies" — are an invitation to extended
fear and jingoism.
Amidst all this, a scientific thought
crept in by analogy — the fuzziness of
all supposedly absolute taxonomic
distinctions — and this column was
born. The world, we are told, is in-
habited by animals with conceptual
language (us) and those without
(everyone else) — but chimps are now
talking. All creatures are either plants
or animals, but Mr. Arness looked
rather human (if horrifying) in his
role as a mobile, giant vegetable.
Either plants or animals. Our basic
conception of life's diversity is based
upon this division. Yet it represents
little more than a prejudice spawned
by our status as large, terrestrial ani-
mals. True, the macroscopic orga-
nisms surrounding us on land can be
unambiguously allocated if we desig-
nate fungi as plants because they are
rooted (even though they do not pho-
tosynthesize). Yet, if we floated as
tiny creatures in the oceanic plank-
ton, we would not have made such a
distinction. At the one-celled level,
ambiguity abounds: mobile "ani-
mals" with functioning chloroplasts;
simple cells like bacteria with no
clear relation to either group.
Taxonomists have codified our
prejudice by recognizing just two
kingdoms for all life — Plantae and
Animalia. But isn't inadequate classi-
fication a trifling matter? After all, if
we characterize organisms accu-
rately, who cares if the basic taxo-
nomic categories do not express the
richness and complexity of life? But
a classification is not a neutral hat
rack; it expresses a theory of relation-
ships that controls our concepts. The
Procrustean system of plants and ani-
mals has distorted our view of life and
prevented us from understanding
some major features of its history.
Seven years ago, Cornell ecologist
R. H. Whittaker proposed a five-
kingdom system for the organization
of life (Science, January 10, 1969);
his scheme has recently been cham-
pioned and expanded by Boston Uni-
versity biologist Lynn Margulis in the
latest issue of Evolutionary Biology.
Their criticism of the traditional di-
chotomy begins among the single-
celled creatures.
Anthropocentrism has a remark-
ably broad range of consequences,
ranging from strip mining to whale
killing. In folk taxonomy it leads us
to make fine distinctions among crea-
tures close to us and very broad ones
for more distant, "simple" orga-
nisms. Every novel bump on a tooth
defines a new kind of mammal, but
we tend to lump all single-celled crea-
tures together as "primitive" orga-
nisms. Nonetheless, specialists are
now arguing that the most fundamen-
tal distinction among living things is
not between ' 'higher' ' plants and ani-
30
Use this coupon to send us
yourTricentennial idea.
From:
Address.
City
-State.
^ Send your idea to:
I; Tricentennial
ij Atlantic Riclifield Company
i P.O. Box 2076
■ Los Angeles, CA 90053
! My idea is:
I
I
I
I
■
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
■
I
We have always been a nation more deal by the year 2076. We want you
interested in the promise of the to tell us what you think those
future than in the events of the past, changes should be.
.Zlp_
Here at Atlantic Richfield we see
the future as an exciting time. The
best of times. And we know that all
of us can achieve a splendid future
by planning for it now.
We'd like your help. We need your
vision. America will change a great
What do you envision as the best
way to solve our energy problems?
Should we have a universal
language?
How do you think architecture of
the future can improve on that of
the present?
On if those topics don't appeal to
you, pick one that does.
Please note that all ideas submitted
shall become public property with-
out compensation and free of any
restriction on use and disclosure.
ARCO <>
AtlanticRichfieldCompany
Celebrate America's Tricentennial 100 years early.
Nikon Binoculars.
Worth all the birds
in the bush.
The powerful, featherweight 8x30 and
9x35 are favorites for bird watching as well
as wildlife and nature study. Other Nikon
binoculars are great for sports, travel or boating.
All feature Nikon prism optics that are carefully
matched and precisely aligned so you can enjoy
bright, sharp viewing for long periods without
eye strain. And they cost a lot less than you're
prepared to spend for such ruggedly built, top quality binoculars. See for
yourself, at Nikon camera dealers and fine optical departments. Or write for
Lit/Pak 18, Nikon Inc., Garden City, N.Y. 11530. Subsidiary of Ehrenreich Photo-
Optical Industries, Inc. (In Canada: Anglophoto Ltd. P.Q.) USB
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD-
inDOriESIH-ERST OF BMil
including the fabulous Asmat region of New Guinea.
Nehru has called Bali the "Morning of
the World," After immersing ourselves
in its splendid culture, we shall board
the M.S. Lindblad Explorer* and sail
east to Komodo, where "the dragons"
will meet us. We shall visit Flores, Leii
and Aru of Wallace fame and other
Indonesian islands. We then head for
the exciting Asmat region of West Irian,
where primitive art of museum quality
may be purchased, and where Stone
Age culture still exists. On this cruise
we will find an abundancy of bird.
mammal and plant life as well as beau-
tiful butterflies and fish. Complete
scuba diving gear is available. The
Lindblad Explorer, fully air-condi-
tioned, offers the finest in comfort. Fa-
mous lecturers will accompany us.
Each expedition lasts 23 days includ-
ing the two-week cruise. Departures
are in August and September, The all-
inclusive rate for cruise and land ar-
rangements starts at $2,335 per person,
cabin for two, airfare additional. Write
forourbrochureorseeyourtravelagent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept, NHLE676
133 East 55th Street, New York, N,Y, 10022 • (212) 751-2300
•Panamanian registry
mals; it is a division within single-
celled creatures — bacteria and blue-
green algae on the one side, other
groups of algae and protozoans
(amoebae, paramecia, and so on) on
the other. And neither group, accord-
ing to Whittaker and Margulis, can be
fairly called either plant or animal;
we must have two new kingdoms for
single-celled organisms.
Bacteria and blue-green algae lack
the internal structures, or "organ-
elles," of higher cells. They have no
nucleus, chromosomes, vacuoles,
chloroplasts, or mitochondria (the
"energy factories" of higher cells).
Such simple cells are called "pro-
karyotic" (roughly, before nuclei,
from the Greek karyon, meaning
"kernel"). Cells with organelles are
termed "eukaryotic" (truly nucle-
ate). Whittaker considers this distinc-
tion "the clearest, most effectively
discontinuous separation of levels of
organization in the living world."
Three different arguments emphasize
the division:
1 . The history of prokaryotes. Our
earliest evidence of life dates from
rocks about three billion years old.
From then until at least one billion
years ago, all fossil evidence points
to the existence of prokaryotic orga-
nisms only; for two billion years,
blue-green algal mats were the most
complicated forms of life. Thereaf-
ter, opinion differs. UCLA paleobot-
anist J. W. Schopf believes that he
has evidence for eukaryotic algae in
Australian rocks about a billion years
old. Others contend that Schopf 's or-
ganelles are really the postmortem
degradation products of prokaryotic
cells. If these critics are right, then we
have no evidence for eukaryotes until
the very latest Precambrian, just be-
fore the great Cambrian ' 'explosion' '
of 600 million years ago (see my col-
umn of November 1974). In any case,
prokaryotic organisms held the earth
as their exclusive domain during two-
thirds to five-sixths of the history of
life. With ample justice, Schopf
labels the Precambrian as the "age of
blue-green algae."
2. A theory for the origin of the
eukaryotic cell. Margulis has stirred
a great deal of interest in recent years
with her modern defense of an old
theory, which sounds patently absurd
at first but quickly comes to compel
attention, if not assent. I am certainly
rooting for it. Margulis argues that
the eukaryotic cell arose as a colony
of prokaryotes — that, for example,
our nucleus and mitochondria had
32
You can help save Juiyi Latemoon
for $16 a month.
Or you can turn the page.
t^f^j
,-.':«>!
%
hben.
Descendant of a proud people.
Her ancestors understood
man's harmony with nature.
They were master craftsmen, fanners, and h«%|^.
Now they are a forgotten people '""^^
to whom many promises have been made.
And few kept.
July! is poor but has an abundance of hope.
She needs a helping hand.
And a friend who will understand.
For $16 a month, through Save the Children Federa-
tion, you can sponsor a child like JuIyi so that she will
not be forgotten. Give her the things she must have
to keep her mind, body, and spirit alive. And com-
bined with money from other sponsors, your $16 will
help JuIyi and the people of her community. With a
desperately needed food co-op, income-producing
handicraft programs, vocational training, youth ac-
tivities, clinics, and more. In simple terms, help a
I proud, hardworking people help themselves. For this
; is what Save the Children has been all about since
i 1932.
i For you— educated, involved, and in touch with your
! own heart— there are many rewards. Correspond with
^ a child. Receive a photo and progress reports. Reach
f out to another human being. That's how Save the
; Children works. But without you it can't work. So
[ please: clip this coupon and mail it today. Now you
j can turn the page.
*•' ,
We are indeed proud of our use of your f-jnds. Annual report and audit
statement available on request, filember of the International Union
for Child Welfare and the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for
Foreign Service. Contributions are income-tax deductible.
I Wish to contribute $16 a month to sponsor a D boy D girl D either
a Where the need is most urgent
D Appalachia (U.S.) D Indian □ Korea
D Bangladesh (Latin America) D Lebanon
D Colombia D Indian (U.S.) D Mexico
D Dominican Republic D Inner Cities (U.S.) D Rural South (U.S.)
n Honduras Q Israel
Enclosed is my first payment:
n $16 monthly D $96 semi-annually
D $48 quarterly D $192 annually
n Instead of becoming a sponsor, I am enclosing a contribution of
$_
n Please send me more information.
NAME TEL NO
ADDRESS
CITY —STATE ZIP
David L Guyer, Executive Director
SAVE THE CHILPREN FEDERATION
Westport, Connecticut 06880 nh e/e
FREE!
! "^3350 ORTHOSCOPIC EYEPIECE
WITH PURCHASE OF
m ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE
Oei it with either 'scope. . .
offer ends Juiy 31, 1976
See moon craters, rings of Saturn, double stars
. . . with our deluxe 4'/)" reflector telescope (45x
to 135X) Features a fine f/10 Pyrex" mirror (verified
better than 1/10 wave with a scatter plate interferometer)
o insure performance to theoretical limit of resolution.
e equatorial mount; rack & pinion focusing; aluminum
6X finder, 25mm F.L. 45X Kellner achromatic eyepiece
iarlow lens to double and triple power to 135x ... all the
er that can be used effectively in iVi" scope. Includes:
EE Star Chart and 2 valuable, informative Books. And it
you act now, you get a line $33.50 Orttioscopic Eyepiece
absolutely FREE ol extra ctiarge. Hurry! Otter ends
7/31/76.
Stock No.85,260E (Shpg. Wt. 42 lbs.), Just $159.50 F.O.B.
With Clock Drive
Stock No. 85,261 E (Stipg. Wt. 45 lbs.). Just $199.50 F.O.B.
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
NEW. 172 Pages.
Over 4,500 Un-
usual Bargains
for Hobbyists.
Schools. Industry
JUST CHECK
COUPON!
D SEND FREE
_ 172 PAGE CATALOG "E"
L: Charge my BankAmericard
Tj Charge my Master Charge
Interbank No
Include my FREE $33.50 Orthoscopic
Eyepiece (I'm ordering before 7,'31/76)
with each of the following you send me:
41/4" Telescope(s)
385,260E @ $159.50 ea.$ __
4i/4"Telescope(s)
=85,261E @ $199.50 ea. $
Service and handling charge $ ^1.00
Enclosed is check,
M. 0, in amount of $
Expiration Date
aO'DAY MONEY-BACK GUAR-
ANTEE. You must be satis-
fied or return any purchase
in 30 days for full refund.
Signature-
Name
EDMUND I
SCIEIMTIFIC CO. I
300 EDSCORP BUILDING I
Barrlngton, N. J. 08007 '
(609) 547-3488 I
America's Greatest L
Science • Optics • Hobby Mart helping to develop An/iERicAS technology for over 30 years.
Please Print
City, State, Zip_
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
Lindblad's spectacular Explorers' Tour to
CENTRAL ASIA & MONGOLIA
Imagine spending nights under
the stars on the Gobi Desert in a
Yurt, a Mongolian tent. Imagine
roaming around old mosques and
bazaars in the ancient city of Buk-
hara, hardly changed since five
centuries ago.
Or exploring the wonders of
Samarkand, the "Jewel of the Des-
ert" with its memories of the great-
est Mongol of them all, Tamerlane.
Imagine covering remote regions
of Siberia and Mongolia, meeting
many different friendly races, lan-
guages, customs and styles of
architecture which make up the
complex called the U.S.S.R. And
finally an evening at the ballet in
Moscow. These are only a few of
the highlights of this immensely
popular Explorers' Tour.
AIR-INDIA will fly you there in ex-
travagant comfort. The first of ten
tours in 1976 is scheduled to de-
part on June 8. Please send for
our informative color brochure, or
see your travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHA676
133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022
(212) 751-2300
their origins as independent pro-
karyotic organisms. Some modern
prokaryotes can invade and live as
symbionts within eukaryotic cells.
Most prokaryotic cells are about the
same size as eukaryotic organelles;
the chloroplasts of photosynthetic eu-
karyotes are strikingly similar to the
entire cells of some blue-green algae.
Finally, some organelles have their
own self -replicating genes, remnants
of their formerly independent status
as entire organisms.
3 . The evolutionary significance of
the eukaryotic cell. Advocates of
contraception have biology firmly on
their side in arguing that sex and re-
production serve different purposes.
Reproduction propagates a species,
and no method is more efficient than
the asexual budding and fission em-
ployed by prokaryotes. The biologi-
cal function of sex, on the other hand,
is to promote variability by mixing
the genes of two (or more) individ-
uals. (Sex is usually combined with
reproduction because it is expedient
to do the mixing in an offspring.)
Major evolutionary change cannot
occur unless organisms maintain a
large store of genetic variability. The
creative process of natural selection
works by preserving favorable genet-
ic variants from an extensive pool.
Sex can provide variation on this
scale, but efficient sexual reproduc-
tion requires the packaging of genetic
material into discrete units (chromo-
somes). Thus, in eukaryotes, sex
cells have half the chromosomes of
normal body cells. When two sex
cells join to produce an offspring, the
original amount of genetic material is
restored. Prokaryotic sex, on the
other hand, is infrequent and ineffi-
cient. (It is unidirectional, involving
the transfer of a few genes from a
donor cell to a recipient.)
Asexual reproduction makes iden-
tical copies of parental cells, unless
a new mutation intervenes to yield a
minor change. But new mutation is
infrequent and asexual species do not
maintain enough variability for sig-
nificant evolutionary change. For two
billion years, algal mats remained
algal mats. But the eukaryotic cell
made sex a reality; and less than a
billion years later here we are —
people, cockroaches, seahorses, pe-
tunias, and quahogs.
We should, in short, use the high-
est taxonomic distinction available to
recognize the difference between pro-
karyotic and eukaryotic single-celled
organisms. This establishes two king-
34
NO(yTHERWillM»f
WORKSHARDERONACSALLONOTGaS.
As a wagpnJjuyer, you're a ^
special breed with special
needs. Try Voyager on
foT size. It comes with two
different wheelbases, plus an
■ extended body version that
seats 15 people. Which is three
-niore than any other wagon.
Obviously, the more-people
room, the more cargo room.
^6 HIGHWAY MPG,
18 CITY MP6.
That's according to the latest
estimated EPA test results on
Voyager's Slant 6 with manual
transmission. K you don't think
those are incredible figures,
just compare them with those
of any other wagon built any-
where in the world. Your
In California, see
actual mileage may differ
depending on how and where
you drive, the condition of
your wagon and its optional
equipment.
A TURNING DIAMETER
3-FEET SHORTER?
That's right. 3 feet shorter
m
your dealer for mileage data for California
— than Ford or Chevrolet. Which
means tight U-turns and easier
parking . Especially with optional
power steering. Plus standard
power front disc brakes and
independent front suspension.
HERE'S ^^THE CLINCHER"
For the first 12 months of use,
any Chrysler Corporation
dealer will fix, without charge
for parts or labor, any part
of our 1976 passenger cars
we supply (except Hres) which
proves defective in normal use,
regardless of mileage. The
owner is responsible | ~ 1
only for normal !
maintenance like CHRYSLER
changing filters and
wiper blades,
equipped vehicles.
/hat you
on't see makes
^our movies
lasier to see.
Kodak
Moviedeck
projector
Model 455
There are plenty of things you won't
see when you look at a Kodak Moviedeck
projector. But they're ail there. Things
like automatic threading, rapid reel-to-
reel rewind, permanently attached take-
up reel, elevation control and the capabil- simulated projection.
ity to show both super 8 and 8 mm movies.
You might even miss the special pull-out viewing screen on
Models 455, 465 and 475. It gives you the option of looking at
your movies without setting up a big screen or turning off the
room lights.
What you will see, however, is a movie projector that's well-
designed, dependable and beautifully easy to use. Which should
make the Kodak Moviedeck projector and your movies
look good— any way you look at it.
Model 455 (shown), less than $220. aher models, from less
than $120. At your photo dealer's.
Kodak Moviedeck®projectors
Prices are subject to ctiange without notice.
doms among one-celled creatures:
Monera for the prokaryotes (bacteria
and blue-green algae); Protista for the
eukaryotes.
Among multicellular organisms,
Plantae and Animalia remain in their
traditional senses. Whence, then, the
fifth kingdom? Consider the fungi.
Our Procrustean dichotomy forced
them into Plantae, presumably be-
cause they are rooted to a single spot.
But their resemblance to true plants
stops with this superficial feature.
Higher fungi maintain a system of
tubes superficially like those of
plants; but while nutrients flow in
plants, protoplasm itself courses
through the fungal tubes. Many fungi
reproduce by combining the nuclei of
several individuals into a multinu-
cleate tissue without nuclear fusion.
The list could be extended, but all its
items pale before one cardinal fact:
fungi do not photosynthesize. They
live embedded in their food source
and feed by absorption (often by ex-
creting enzymes for external diges-
tion). Fungi, then, form the fifth and
final kingdom.
As Whittaker argues, the three
kingdoms of multicellular life repre-
sent an ecological , as well as a mor-
phological, classification. The three
major ways of making a living in our
world are well represented by plants
(production), fungi (reduction), and
animals (consumption). And, as an-
other nail in the coffin of our cosmic
arrogance, I hasten to point out that
the major cycle of life runs between
production and reduction. The world
could get along very well without its
consumers.
I like the five-kingdom system be-
cause it tells a sensible story about
organic diversity. It arranges life in
three levels of increasing complexity:
the prokaryotic unicells (Monera),
the eukaryotic unicells (Protista), and
the eukaryotic multicells (Plantae,
Fungi, and Animalia). Moreover, as
we ascend through the levels, life be-
comes more diverse — as we should
expect since increasing complexity of
design begets more opportunity for
variation upon it. The world contains
more distinctively different kinds of
protistans than monerans. At the third
level, diversity is so great that we
need three separate kingdoms to en-
compass it. Finally, I note that the
evolutionary transition from any level
to the next occurs more than once; the
advantages of increased complexity
are so great that many independent
lines converge upon the few possible
solutions. The members of each king-
dom are united by common structure,
not by common descent. In Whit-
taker's view, plants evolved at least
four separate times from protistan an-
cestors, fungi at least five times, and
animals at least three times (the pecu-
liar mesozoans, sponges, and every-
thing else).
The three-leveled, five-kingdom
system may appear, at first glance, to
record an inevitable progress in the
history of life that I have often op-
posed in these columns. Increasing
diversity and multiple transitions
seem to reflect a determined and inex-
orable progression toward higher
things. But the paleontological record
supports no such interpretation.
There has been no steady progress in
the higher development of organic
design. We have had, instead, vast
stretches of little or no change and
one evolutionary burst that created
the entire system. For the first two-
thirds to five-sixths of life's history,
monerans alone inhabited the earth,
and we detect no steady progress
from "lower" to "higher" pro-
karyotes. Likewise, there has been no
addition of basic designs since the
Cambrian explosion filled our bio-
sphere (although we can argue for
limited improvement within a few de-
signs— vertebrates and vascular
plants, for example).
Rather, the entire system of life
arose during about 10 percent of its
history surrounding the Cambrian ex-
plosion some 600 million years ago.
I would identify two main events: the
evolution of the eukaryotic cell (mak-
ing further complexity possible by
providing genetic variability through
efficient sexual reproduction) and the
filling of the ecological barrel by an
explosive radiation of multicellular
eukaryotes.
The world of life was quiet before
and it has been relatively quiet ever
since. The recent evolution of con-
sciousness must be viewed as the
most cataclysmic happening since the
Cambrian if only for its geologic and
ecological effects. Major events in
evolution do not require the origin of
new designs. The kingdom of flex-
ible eukaryotes will continue to yield
novelty and diversity so long as one
of its latest products controls itself
well enough to assure the world a fu-
ture.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science at
Harvard University.
The place: hot
The mood: Ihirsty.
The drink: f^Hwi/^ & Soda.
Ovence. a n ou nee of '
KahlOa, a fill-up of""*- '^ ' '•S'^-.
soda, a squeeze of lime. ■'-->»
A great way to cool it!
For other Kahlua refreshmentSr
send for our recipe book. Free.
'"" I you deserve something nice.
Kahlua 53 Proof Colfee Liqueur from Sunny Mexico Maidslone Impc
on Blvd . Los Angeles Cahf 90048
Lindblad's New East African
WING SAFARr
offers an exclusive window-seat view
of the world's richest wildlife panorama
No need to get trapped in large con-
centrations of minibuses on liot and
dusty roads. Get a wide-angled view
of the African vastness. OurnewWing
Safari, limited to 7 passengers, using
the latest, most comfortable Navajo
turbo-powered aircraft, permits us to
visit far ranging wilderness and game
reserves seldom visited by other sa-
faris. We will fly deeper into the North-
ern Frontier District to see the excit-
ing tribal life of the Samburu, Boran.
Rendilles and Somalis. At night we
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHWS 676 133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022 (212) 751-2300
will occupy the very best hotels,
lodges and tented camps. Our spe-
cially trained hosts will introduce
you, not only to the large mammals,
but also to colorful and exciting birds,
butterflies, plants and flowers en-
demic to East Africa. The Lindblad
Wing Safari is a truly unforgettable
experience. British Airways will fly
you to Nairobi and back in utmost
comfort. Please write for our bro-
chure or see your travel agent.
37
iive you ail idea of diamond values, the piece shown is available for about $1350.
ir jeweler can show you other fine diamond jewelry starting at about $200. De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd.
Now that she is a little past 40,
she says birthdays are made to be forgotten.
^^gj^l^^,^pii|^^^^>^^ she sees how I've forgotten her this yean
A diamond is forever.
A $135 Million Gamble
by Edwin D. Kilbourne
Swine influenza 's death-dealing
past makes the decision to stem
it more than a political one
The epidemiology of most viruses
in man is fairly predictable based on
their relatively stable characteristics,
a result of an obligate adaptation to
human hosts over thousands of years.
From an anthropocentric viewpoint,
viruses can be viewed as predators
because their survival depends upon
their capacity to attack and secure nu-
trients from the bodies of their vic-
tims. More sophisticated than most
predators, their self -perpetuation
usually can be achieved without kill-
ing those they attack.
Several years ago in this magazine
(January 1973) I described influenza
virus as an "adaptable predator" and
emphasized its changeable nature . In
recent years, worldwide influenza ep-
idemics have occurred approximately
every decade (1946, 1957, 1968) and
have always followed the emergence
of major antigenic variants of influ-
enza A, very dillcrcnt from the virus
that had just previously circulated in
the human population.
These major, or pandemic, vari-
ants of influenza virus may originate
in animals — particularly in domestic
species in close contact with man.
One such species is swine, which
does harbor influenza A . but of a type
difl'erent from known human strains.
Such influenza viruses in animals,
however, are rarely transmitted to
man and appear to be restricted to
their specific hosts. If this is true, how
can these viruses cause potential pan-
demics in man? The answer may lie
in the capacity of human and animal
influenza viruses to interact geneti-
cally— a capacity that could endow
the animal virus with genes necessary
for its transmission and replication in
man. Studies in lower animals have
provided evidence on this point.
When an influenza epidemic that
broke out in February at Fort Dix,
New Jersey — killing one person and
infecting hundreds of others — was
found to have been caused by a virus
indistinguishable from swine influ-
enza virus, a chain of controversial
events began. The result was that
within a few weeks the president pro-
posed and Congress approved a mass
immunization campaign that will cost
SI 35 million for the purchase of 200
million doses of swine influenza virus
vaccine. To many, this decision.
Measures to alleviate the 1918
influenza pandemic, which killed
more than 500.000 people in this
country, included laws that
prohibited sneezing in public
places and required the wearing
of face masks. In accordance with
the latter. Chicago street cleaners
line up for inspection.
United Press International
39
THE S.S.ROTTERDAM'S
1977 WORLD CRUISE
FOLLOWS THE SUN AS IT
CIRCLES THE EARTH.
ON OUR 19TH WORLD CRUISE, YOU'LL BASK IN THE SUN IN
BARBADOS, BRAZIL, SOUTH AFRICA, KENYA, INDL\,
HONOLULU, ACAPULCO AND MORE.
On the 18th of January, the s.s. Rotterdam will leave New
York and winter behind to cruise the world on Holland Americas
19th consecutive Grand Tour. (It sails from Port Everglades, Florida,
January 20th.)
The 86-day voyage will bring you to 16 ports in 13 countries
via a relaxing warm-weather route. So you'll enjoy the glorious sun
of Rio de Janeiro and Acapulco and the glorious spectacle of the
Taj Mahal and Mt. Fuji. And you'll visit Bombay and Mombasa,
South Africa and Singapore, Hong Kong, Yokohama and more.
All with no packing and unpacking, no checking in and out of
hotels or getting held up in holding patterns over airports.
And as you cruise, you'll live in a manner to which very few
are accustomed. For the s.s. Rotterdam is truly a luxurious inter-
national resort built to cruise the world in uncompromising
grandeur. So you'll relax in a spacious cabin with all the comforts of
home. Dine elegantly on gourmet cuisine featuring freshly prepared
specialities of the lands you visit. And enjoy a world of leisure at your
beck and call while the world sails right up to you.
So join Holland America and see the world with the world's
most experienced world cruise line. For information, consult your
travel agent or Holland America Cruises, Dept. C, Two Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10001. Or call (212) 760-3880.
The s.s. Rotterdam is registered in the Netherlands Antilles.
Holland America Cruises
\aC«nONS THflT ARE MX VAOVnON SINCE 187Z
seemingly based on sketchy evi-
dence, was difficult to understand; at
the very least, it appeared to be an
extreme overreaction to a minor
threat. What then was the basis for the
vaccine decision and for the concern
behind it?
Although at the time of the deci-
sion infection with swine influenza
virus appeared to have been limited
to soldiers at Fort Dix, this alone indi-
cated that the swinelike virus is
clearly transmissible from human to
human. On indirect but substantial
evidence, the cause of the notorious
1918 pandemic of influenza was a
virus similar in its surface antigens to
the Fort Dix virus. Some students of
influenza believe that the 1918 virus,
which caused 20 million deaths, was
uniquely virulent, although most of
the fatalities probably resulted from
secondary bacterial pneumonia. Al-
though the Fort Dix experience pre-
sented no evidence of exceptional vir-
ulence of the vuns, further transfer of
the virus could augment its virulence
in future epidemics. The second wave
of influenza in 1918 was more devas-
tating than the first, but this cannot
necessarily be ascribed to change in
the intrinsic virulence of the virus.
The world population is virtually
devoid of antibody, and hence immu-
nity, to the swine influenza virus, ex-
cept for those who were exposed to
the 1918 virus during the period from
1918 to 1929 and who therefore are
more than 47 years of age. This lack
of immunity indicates that the swine
influenza virus is different from all
but the 1 9 1 8 human strains and repre-
sents a major mutation of the virus to
a different subtype. This is a cardinal
reason for concern because in the
past, mutations in the virus of this
degree have always been followed by
pandemic spread of the new virus as
it replaced the old. We are nearing the
end of a decade of prevalence of
Hong Kong-like influenza virus; the
disappearance of that virus and the
emergence of some major new
variant had been expected, although
the exact nature of the variant seemed
unpredictable. At least two groups of
investigators, however, had pre-
dicted the reappearance of the swine
virus on the basis of recent recycling
of other past influenza virus antigens.
The basis of concern at this time is
primarily the marked difference of the
Fort Dix virus from present human
strains, rather than its "swinelike"
nature per se.
The Fort Dix swine influenza virus
probably did not originate at Fort Dix
but was imported from other areas.
Indeed, the family of one soldier from
Pennsylvania was found to have ac-
quired antibodies to the virus in the
absence of contact with swine. The
epidemiology of influen/a is such that
sequential infections, sometimes
without symptoms, occur throughout
the year, but recognizable epidemics
are principally winter phenomena.
The Fort Dix virus may persist unrec-
ognized in the human population until
the fall or winter.
Those who advised the president
and the Congress to appropriate funds
for the development of a vaccine
based their decision not only on these
concerns but also on the following;
First, for the first time in history the
early recognition of a major viral mu-
tant provides the opportunity to mod-
ify the course of an incipient pandem-
ic. Second, although presently avail-
able influenza vaccines do not pro-
duce permanent immunity, they are
from 70 to 90 percent effective over
one- to two-year periods. Third, in-
fluenza vaccines are preparations of
inactivated virus that generally are
well tolerated and without serious
side effects. And fourth, officials of
the Bureau of Biologies — the regula-
tors of vaccine control and licen-
sure— established that production of
200 million doses of vaccine by the
fall/ winter of 1976 was possible. The
feasibility of production depended on
the availability of a laboratory hybrid
of the Fort Dix virus that would grow
well in chicken embryos in which
vaccine is produced. A virology labo-
ratory promptly produced this virus.
Yet with all the foregoing consid-
erations in mind, one must admit the
possibility that the Fort Dix outbreak
was a freak occurrence, that further
transmission of virus may not occur,
and that millions of people will be
unnecessarily subjected to vaccina-
tion against a pandemic that will not
come. But if one waits for further evi-
dence of spread, then it will be too
late to immunize the population for
the winter of 1976-77, and once
again we shall stand idly by as influ-
enza kills thousands and incapacitates
millions at an economic cost of bil-
lions. To some of us, the vaccine de-
cision seemed inescapable and the
president and the Congress, on the
basis of this advice, have concurred.
Edwin D. Kilbourne is chairman of
the Department of Microbiology at
the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
You can reach
your goal
with Minolta.
Exciting shots can pass you by on a
moment's notice. A fast-handling Minolta
SR-T will keep them from getting away.
You're comfortable with a Minolta SR-T
from the moment you pick it up. This is the
35mm reflex camera that lets you concentrate
on the picture, because the viewfinder
shows all the information needed for correct
exposure and focusing. You never have to
look away from the finder to adjust a Minolta
SR-T, so you're ready to catch the one
photograph that could never be taken
again.
And when subjects call for a different
perspective, Minolta SR-T cameras accept a
complete system of interchangeable
lenses, from "fisheye" wide angle to super-
telephoto.
If your goal is good photography, a
Minolta SR-T can help you reach it. For more
information, see your photo dealer or write
Minolta Corporation, ^^
101 Williams Drive,
Ramsey, N.J.
07446. In Canada:
AnglophotoLtd., P.Q.
Minolta SR-T
First Prize
Macro/Microphotography
Wild honeycomb
O'Hara Township, Pennsylvania
Virginia A. Phelps
The Perceptive Eye
The prizewinning
photographs from the
1976 Natural History
Photographic Competition . . .
and the categories for
the 1977 competition
In the opening pages of Walden, Thoreau chides his
friends and readers for being impressed by the exotic,
while failing to observe their own environs. He
introduces the section with the comment, "I have
traveled a good deal in Concord."
The winners of the 1976 Natural History
Photographic Competition have traveled a good deal in
their home towns too. As we looked through the
prizewinning photographs, we were struck by the
general absence of foreign scenes, exotic animals, and
unusual subjects. And as we talked to the prizewinners
themselves, one consistent theme emerged: "Oh, I
photographed the tree in a nearby park"; "The plant
was growing on a dirt road near my house"; "The shell
was on a beach where we often camp"; "I thought I'd
see what an ordinary chrysanthemum leaf looks like."
Although these comments often had a defensive ring,
they suggest that more and more people are coming to
understand that photography, like any art form, is not
only a way of recording the spectacular and unusual but
also a way of seeing a subject and communicating
feelings about it.
This viewpoint was summarized by several
prizewinners, including one who expressed his plan to
put a time-lapse camera in his window for a year.
Stephen Diehl, talking about his closeup view of an
apple leaf with ice crystals, commented that he does a
great deal of macrophotography because the area where
he lives — Rochester, New York — does not offer
spectacular scenes. Being forced to get close to his
subject, he must "feel first, fantasize on a minute
level. It's there if you believe it to be."
Echoing these views, Vici Zaremba observed that
"there is so much to see in one place. I go back to a
spot and keep finding things changing. People don't
take enough time to look, especially in winter." Her
Honorable Mention picture of a snow-covered spruce
tree was taken in Mendon Ponds, a county park outside
Rochester, which she visits frequently.
Other prizewinners commented that as a result of
taking pictures, they have learned to see more. One
described the process as that of a laser beam focusing
on a subject. John Sackett became involved with several
generations of a black family through his photographic
experiences. While taking pictures of the children, the
father, and finally the grandmother — his prizewinning
photograph — he developed a rich insight into their
feelings and traditions. Virginia Phelps, whose
photograph of wild honeycomb won First Prize in the
Macro/Micro Category, always has her camera with her
and feels that photography enhances her involvement
with the environment. Intensely interested in
wildflowers, she has been a volunteer in botany and
photography at Shenandoah National Park for many
years.
Like Virginia Phelps — who made a special trip to a
friend's farm to photograph the wild beehive — Nancy
Benham drove especially to a canyon near her Carmel,
California, home because she had heard that some
trillium was growing there. She found two specimens,
the first she had ever seen, and her elegant photograph
of the plant earned Grand Prize in the competition.
For Thomas Wiewandt, a graduate student who is
studying the ecology and behavior of the ground
(Continued on page 59)
42
4^^
.^-v-
,«KL*iK^
'■•" -^1,
v-v..
^m
44
First Prize
A Chronological Sequence
of an Event in Nature
Stages of decay of a tilapia fish
Lago Enriquillo, Dominican Republic
Thomas A. Wiewandt
45
First Prize
The Natural World
Young elephant and elders
Tsavo East National Park, Kenya
Nadine Berlin Stearns
Overleaf
Grand Prize
Trillium
Big Sur, California
Nancy Benham
46
47
Honorable Mention
Apple leaf
Rochester, New York
Stephen J. Diehl
Honorable Mention
Clamshell on beach
Baja California, Mexico
Dorothy A. Todd
a .ii
Honorable Mention
Snow-covered spruce tree
Rochester, New York
Vici Zaremba
Honorable Mention
Katmandu Bazaar
Katmandu, Nepal
James Kittle
52
t •« '\^'
■^^^rtd
\^^
*«r>^.
1N-:^Alh> '
^¥SK
^^■
^ilf^%
:m^
>
'•mmmt^
/
\
■A \-
V_l,.
/
\
\
\
/
: \
\ \
\ \
Honorable Mention
Mrs. Goodwin
Houston, Texas
John D. Sackett
54
Honorable Mention
Starfish larva
Photographed at 40X «
Lester V. Bergman
Honorable Mention
Germinating pollen tubes of lily,
Photographed at 125X
Sanat K. Majumder
Honorable mention
Resorcinol crystals
Photographed at 35X
Lawrence SchaufHer
56
Honorable mention
Upper leaf surface of chrysanthemum
Scanning electron microscope
Photographed at 220X
James R. Swafford
(Continued from pa^e 42)
iguana, photography serves an esthetic as well as a
documentary function. He finds that motion pictures are
a great help in interpreting subtle behavior, but he uses
still photographs for comparison and for answers to less
obvious research questions. Wiewandt was, in fact,
surveying Lago Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic
for iguanas when he took his First Prize-winning
sequence of decaying fish. In addition to portraying a
stunningly imaginative sequence, his pictures tell an
ecological story. The lake, cut off from the sea during
the Pleistocene, is supersaline, with nearly double the
salt concentration of seawater. Because of a hurricane
some years ago, a smaller lake has flooded into Lago
Enriquillo, bringing with it many freshwater species,
such as the tilapia fish, that are unable to survive the
saline concentration. In his depiction of decay and
regeneration, Wiewandt has "speeded up" a natural
process that would take months or possibly years,
photographing five fish at five sites in one day.
Although other prizewinners also use photography in
their work, they felt their entries were not only
scientifically interesting but beautiful as well. James
Swafford, a microbiologist at Arizona State University,
uses the scanning electron microscope in his research on
morphology of unusual organisms and in collaborative
studies with botanists who are analyzing desert plants.
He also teaches a graduate-level course in electron
microscopy. Yet his photograph of the upper leaf
surface of a chrysanthemum was taken, as Swafford put
it, "for its sheer beauty." He was fascinated by the
propellerlike patterns.
Lawrence Schauffler photographed ordinary crystals
bought in a drugstore; through his pictorial
interpretation, however, they have an impressionistic
quality. Schauffler began his microscopic work three
years ago at the age of eighty, as a way of continuing
his interest in photography now that he is unable to
travel a great deal.
One of the few professional photographers among the
prizewinners, Lester Bergman specializes in scientific
work. He has illustrated surgical texts, made films of
microscopic images, and is responsible for time-lapse
advertising films that show greasy spots being washed
out of a new white jacket. His photograph of a starfish
larva, however, was a "self -assignment in enlivening
the microscopic image." He used a purchased
specimen, then worked at the microscope in his
laboratory until he had the picture he wanted.
Overwhelmingly, the prizewinning photographs
reveal a quality of thoughtfulness. Few were inherently
"great shots" or the kind of scene that appears for only
an instant. Rather, the photographs the judges selected
show visual imagination, interpretation, and
involvement. While this was more apparent in the
seemingly ordinary subjects shot close to home, such
personal involvement can also be seen in the
photographs that resulted from foreign travel.
According to James Kittle, whose photograph of a
woman at the Katmandu bazaar won Honorable
Mention, "It would be hard to take a bad picture in
Nepal." Yet Kittle does more than merely take a good
picture: he brings a human dimension to his
photograph. Impressed by Nepal, by the faces of its
people, the smells and colors at its markets, he conveys
all these feelings in his photograph.
Nadine Bertin Stearns, too. combines emotion with
an excellent sense of composition in her photograph
taken at Tsavo East National Park in Kenya. She has
always been involved with animals, but feels a
particular tenderness for elephants. Her First
Prize-winning photograph — showing a young animal
amongst elders — mirrors the disparity between the
elephants" size and their gentleness, the concern of the
big caring for the little.
At a time when depressed economic conditions are
restricting travel, when the brightness of the
environmental movement seems tarnished, and when
Bicentennial fervor is either Uirning people away from
the present to a sentimentalized past or turning them off
altogether, the results of this year's photography contest
are particularly satisfying. In addition to the fourteen
prizewinning photographs, the thousands of other
entries demonstrated that people are becoming
increasingly sensitive to their environments. Whether
on weekend outings, behind the microscope, or walking
to work, they, like Thoreau, are traveling a good deal.
Prizes for the competition are: Grand Prize, $500;
First Prize, $250; Honorable Mention, $100. In
addition, the prize wiiming photographs will be
displayed at a special exhibition at The American
Museum of Natural History.
And next year: The categories for the 1977
Photographic Competition (details to be announced in
future issues) are The Natural World, A Chronological
Sequence of a Natural Event, Microphotography, and
The Human Family. Special awards for Humor and
Urban Wildlife. Toni Gerber
59
Return to Manus
Theodore Schwartz
by Margaret Mead
After a half century of troubled
growth, a New Guinea village
is finding its identity in a blend
of tradition and development
"Did anyone remember you?"
people asked me when, in 1953, I
said I had returned from Pere, the lit-
tle Manus village in the Admiralty Is-
lands where my husband and I had
spent seven months in 1928. "Did
you remember anyone?" they also
asked, and I realized that either the
questioners had never lived in a vil-
lage themselves or they knew little
about what anthropological field
work was like. To the 210 people of
Pere village, we were the kind of
event that would be talked about
again and again, and as long as I tried
to think and write about anthro-
pological problems, the memory of
the people — especially the children,
whom I studied intensively — would
be sharp and clear in my mind, each
small figure etched sharply against
the background of the lagoon where
their pile houses were silhouetted.
Once in a while, as I went back and
forth to the South Pacific, and as
members of other departments of The
American Museum of Natural His-
tory went on their separate expedi-
tions, I would receive some scrap of
news . I heard that soon after we left —
and they had beaten the death drums
as our canoe pulled out of the village,
for they were as sure as we were that
we had left forever — a Catholic mis-
sionary had established himself in the
village and had set up a school in our
house, a house that lacked the good
lines of the native structures because
it had been built to let in more light.
I once met a trader from Manus who
told me reproachfully that several
young men from Pere, who had been
part of the children's group that had
nm my household and made thou-
sands of drawings for my psycho-
logical study of child thought, had
stolen a big canoe and sailed away to
the nearest large island. His voice
suggested that we had been a bad in-
fluence. But he had never stopped to
think about how 14,000 people,
speaking some twenty different lan-
guages, had originally reached that
isolated archipelago, and that thou-
sands of years ago somebody doing
some long-distance sailing had most
likely been blown off course.
Before glottochronology, a lin-
guistic analysis that determines when
a language diverged from a mother
tongue, was developed, we had no
way of estimating how long ago that
trip took place, as no archeology had
been done. We were, however, able
to get a pretty good idea of the way
the different language groups had
specialized over the course of cen-
turies of growing coconuts and taro
on the big and small islands, trading
sea products for land products along
the shores, going on long voyages to
hereditary trade friends to exchange
a turtle or a freshly caught dugong for
a large tree to be used as a housepost
or a canoe. They filled shelves in the
rafters of their big houses with pots
and baskets made waterproof with
gum (parinarium), spears with ob-
sidian points, spider web lures, ladles
and bailers carved by peoples who
were both trade friends as individuals
and enemies in sporadic warfare.
There was respect, contempt,
envy, and hostility among the peoples
of this small world — the only world
they had known until European dis-
Margaret Mead with the children of
Manus. From her first trip to
the Admiralty Islands in 1928, top
left, through a series of visits
(1953, center left; 1964, bottom left,
and 1975, right). Mead has
particularly studied the growth
of children as the area itself has
evolved into a modern state.
Barbara Heatti
6o
John Kilepak (second from right,
above) was one of five boys that
lived in Margaret Mead's house in
Manus during her 1928 trip. These
boys ran the household (Kilepak
was the cook) and provided data
for her psychological study
of child thought. Thirty -five years
later, Kilepak, right, had
become a local leader and, like
many postwar Manus, had
adopted Western dress. In 1969
he visited anthropologist
Barbara Heath at her Carmel,
California, home and spent six
months demonstrating traditional
woodcarving skills, lecturing,
and visiting with her friends
(page 63, top). Now about sixty
years old, Kilepak is an important
elder in Manus (page 63, bottom).
Barbara Meath
CO very of Papua New Guinea. First
the Germans and then, after World
War I, the Australians had preempted
the good, level land for coconut plan-
tations. They imposed a rough sort of
law and order and recruited young
men to work on ships, on distant plan-
tations, or as wharf laborers at the
ports.
In 1928 the adventures of going
away to work as an indentured laborer
had replaced the adventures of war-
fare and the capture of women. Iron
had replaced obsidian and stone in
knives and adzes. Beads made in Eu-
ropean factories had supplemented
the beads made of shell that were used
in trade; for payments for small serv-
ices; for the great exchanges that sur-
rounded and validated betrothals,
marriages, births, and deaths; for re-
distributing valuable imports within
the villages; and for keeping up the
level of food production.
The system that kept men and
women working unremittingly — to
meet obligations that lasted through
generations after each marriage was
contracted — was stimulated by the
addition of the new things brought by
the Europeans. The traders paid in
large packets of tiny beads for each
packet of sago they took to feed the
workers on plantations and the boat
crews that joined the passenger ship
that touched the port of Lorengau
every six weeks or so.
As has happened in so many parts
of the world, the first contact with the
more complex technology and larger
political system of the Europeans was
stimulating. It improved the kind of
fishhooks and tools people had to use;
provided a wider occupational expe-
rience as boat crews, police, and
child nurses; and offered new hori-
zons for the future. They had already
decided that some day soon they
would become Christians. They
would abandon the ancestral ghosts
who hovered close to their preserved
skulls, which hung in every house to
discipline its occupants by making
them sick and to protect them from
the death-dealing malice of the ghosts
of other households. Then they would
learn to read and write and keep ac-
counts to avoid the endless bickering
over how many thousands of dogs'
teeth and strands of shell money had
changed hands and established in-
debtedness. European medicine was
62
still respected for curing ringworm,
cuts, and wounds, but the "doctor
boys," as the medical assistants who
were set up in each village by the
Australian Mandate were called, had
little ellect among a people who be-
lieved that all illness and misfortune
were the result of sin, either sexual
or economic. In their scheme of
things, theft, failure to pay a debt,
and even looking lustfully at a woman
were equated.
Their view of their future and our
view were as divergent as their
clothes and utensils, their beliefs and
ceremonies were from ours. They
saw the world the Europeans were
bringing as one of wider opportu-
nities for trade and adventure, within
which their own lives would go on
essentially unchanged. The entre-
preneurial men and their entre-
preneurial wives would go on initiat-
ing marriages in terms of which the
young, the dependent, and the unen-
terprising would work for them,
while a few sturdy individualists
would opt out of the complex and ex-
acting exchange system and simply
fish and trade at the local market to
keep their families in food.
But we, as anthropologists, fore-
saw a diflferent fate. We saw a culture
that would become impoverished, as
young men accustomed to foreign
ways would come to despise the au-
thority and ghostly sanctions of their
elders. The people would be trans-
formed into a kind of native prole-
tariat, working at low wages for for-
eigners, losing what they had devel-
oped over thousands of years and
gaining very little in return. They
would become economically depend-
ent, subject to capricious outside au-
thority, when they had once been
masters of the seas they sailed.
One of these authorities, insensi-
tive to local marriage customs, had a
few years earlier lined up all the un-
married people in the village and in-
discriminately married them to each
other. It took several years of argu-
ment to regularize those marriages: to
find fictional links so that these mar-
riage arrangements could be attrib-
uted to the proper pairs of contracting
cross cousins, the children of a
brother-sister pair. The children of
these marriages, who were free of
property considerations, would grow
up and live in the "middle," half in
the old system and half in the new,
neither here nor there. They would be
like our schoolboy linguistic assistant
who was the only boy in the village
who had been taken away to school —
to perfunctorily fulfill the demands of
the League of Nations in Geneva.
So when we left, we neither ex-
pected nor hoped to sec them again.
But twenty-five years later, in 1953,
1 went back, accompanied by two stu-
dent apprentices, Theodore Schwartz
and Lenora Shargo, to investigate the
enormous and unexpected changes
that the Second World War had
brought. Manus had been a major
American base; great barracks had
been built, surgeons performed mira-
cles of patching up the wounded, as
big ships and planes came and went.
After the war, Manus was swept by
a cargo cult, whose leader prophesied
that if the people would throw away
all their possessions, the ghosts of
their ancestors would bring them
large supplies of European goods —
airplanes, modern drugs, and tons of
food.
But while most Papua New Guinea
cargo cults had petered out as a result
of government disapproval and disil-
lusioned believers, this political
movement had thrived among the
Manus people. Led by a man named
Paliau, they had rebelled against the
mission and set up a miniature gov-
ernment of their own, complete with
schools, hospitals, "customs,"
"passports," parliament, and their
own version of Christianity, in which
the Lord God, despairing of his Euro-
pean representatives, decided to try
the people of New Guinea them-
selves. The transformation had been
so astonishing that my Australian col-
leagues insisted that I, who had
known what they had been and pro-
jected what they might become, had
to go back and find out what was re-
ally happening.
This was a new experience in an-
thropology. True, field workers had
often returned to the site of their origi-
nal work to follow up old leads, and
field workers had studied in places
where previous field workers had
gone, to quibble over small points or
to look at the people through eyes in-
formed by new theories. But no one
had studied children as I had, and so,
no one had been able to return to find
them as adults in charge. The world
63 J
had never witnessed such rapid trans-
formations from the end of the Stone
Age to the Electronic Age, because
there had never before been such vast
technological gaps to traverse in so
few years.
I found the people vigorously pur-
suing a course of modernization they
felt to be their own — not imposed
upon them — under a leader who was
astute, imaginative, and farsighted.
He had plans not only to eliminate the
petty animosities of the Admiralty Is-
lands but also to include the whole
Bismarck Archipelago in a new fed-
eration of cooperation, moderiii-
zation, and brotherhood. Like other
recurrent Papua New Guinea re-
sponses to European political and re-
ligious ideas, it was to be a Utopia
constructed by adopting modern
ideas — money instead of dogs' teeth,
one God instead of ancestral ghosts
and local place spirits, education in-
stead of the trials of daring demanded
by local warfare and headhunting,
political unity instead of village
feuds, and a rule of law instead of a
rule of angry individual defense of
rights and privileges. The European
law — a law that would be substituted
for feuds, supernatural curses, and
sorcery, that would replace anger
with good-humored friendliness —
this was valued most.
A house was renovated for my use
in their newly built land village, and
my two young apprentices were set
up in a nearby village. Again, I lived
among the Manus for six months
while recording the New Way. One
of the reasons I had consented to go
back, instead of exploring a new field
as I had plarmed, was that I realized
that the world was facing rapid social
change, change in one generation in-
stead of the more usual two- to three-
generation shift from one way of life
to another. We needed to know how
this would work. In Manus I found
perhaps the most successful model
yet recorded. The Manus were practi-
cal, enterprising, interested in how
things worked, willing to take
chances with their children, confident
of their own capacity to cope with
new conditions. There was a good fit
between the older system and the
new, larger system into which they
had no choice but to adjust.
It was possible to say that change
such as had occurred there, in which
64
Theodore Schwartz
With his son Matawai alongside,
Pokanau (page 64) plays
traditional panpipes (1929). When
Margaret Mead saw him again in
1953 he had become the authority
on traditional law and was
called the "lawyer man"; in that
year he gave a speech at a new-
style wedding ceremony, above.
In 1964 he was an old man, left,
who had outlived his strength.
Pokanau died several years ago.
Theodore Schwartz
65
Shell money and dogs ' teeth were part of great family
exchanges, such as this 1928 marriage dance, top.
In 1975 a cash exchange, above, validated a marriage.
Elements of the old and the new can be seen in the women 's
dress (page 67, top) in which Western-style brassieres are
complemented by grass skirts. Wooden slit gongs (page 67, bottom)
abandoned after the war for gongs made from torpedo
cases, are once again part of celebrations, as are old
dances, songs, and oratory.
a whole system was transformed,
could release extraordinary amounts
of energy. Old affinal exchange pat-
terns, exploitative kinship patterns
(in which young men slaved for their
elders), and fear of illness as a
principal sanction for good behavior
were swept away in favor of the im-
petus provided by group achieve-
ment, cooperative action, and pride
in mastering the institutions of the
superordinate culture. It seemed that
self -initiated, complete change was
better and more efficient than piece-
meal change in which people partly
adjusted to partial change, as a man
might limp on a sprained ankle, exac-
erbating the inflammation. From sit-
uations such as I had found in Manus
in 1953, we could take new hope that
the millions of people caught between
the old and the new might make a
smoother transition than we had ex-
pected.
When it came time to leave, they
gave a big farewell feast for me the
same night they received word that
their new political system would have
government recognition. This time
the people bade me farewell with
more depth of feeling, for now I had
witnessed their successes, jjut again,
neither they nor I expected we would
meet again. "Like an old turtle, you
are going out to sea to die," said old
Pokanau, who was, he thought, older
than I. Of course, nobody could be
sure of this, for ages had only been
kept since 1946, the year to which
they trace their birth as a modern soci-
ety.
In 1963 Theodore Schwartz de-
cided he wanted to make an aerial sur-
vey of the twenty different language
groups in the Admiralties, and so we
organized a new three-year expedi-
tion. I went back three times to record
stUl more change. The first new vil-
lage had fallen apart; they had
planned and built another one with a
great open plaza into which a new
government school had to be
crowded. With the new school, all of
their relatives and coimections from
a neighboring village moved in. Al-
most overnight the plagues of the
modern world — crowding into cities,
pollution from deposits of human
waste in the sea, and juvenile delin-
quency— appeared, ten years out of
the first proud modernization effort.
Paliau had built himself a large,
66
ugly modern house out of tin and was
now a member of the new [-"apua New
Guinea Parliament. But his politieal
genius was beginning to be compro-
mised by his lack of English, which
the younger generation of Papua New
Guineans was rapidly mastering. The
first student from Pere had entered the
new university, and young Manus
men and women were entering the
educated sector in large numbers as
teachers, nurses, clerks, interpreters,
and accountants. Younger men were
trying to take over from the Old
Guard who had made the original suc-
cessful social revolution and who
thought everything should remain
just as they had made it.
The people had still not realized
much economic progress because the
island has few resources. They were
investing all their hopes in their chil-
dren, gladly sending girls as well as
boys to the school in Lorengau, and
then on to higher education. Their
version of Christianity was wearing a
little thin with repetition without new
vision. But Paliau had politically in-
tegrated the whole of the Admiralties
so that in 1965 at Christmastime,
which had traditionally been the po-
litical gathering point during the for-
mation of the new society, people
from all over the archipelago came to
Pere. It was hard to get much anthro-
pological work done that year be-
cause people were out in the bush
working sago from dawn to dusk and
everybody went to bed exhausted in
the early evening, saving themselves
and the fuel for their lamps for the big
event.
The next year National Educa-
tional Television sent out a team to
make a film of this small, vigorous
society that had so blithely deserted
the old ways for the new. The film
ended with another "final farewell."
These farewells were like Manus
deathbed scenes: people gather
around illness because they have no
way of knowing whether or not some-
one who is sick will die. There was
no way of predicting whether or not
I would ever be able to come back.
But in 1971 1 went back again with
my colleague Barbara Heath, a physi-
cal anthropologist who had been fol-
lowing the entire population as chil-
dren grew and the mature aged,
showing us how odd traits, such as
one blue eye, repeat themselves in the
Barbara Heath
67
Theodore Schwartz
third and fourth generation. Things in
Manus had taken another turn, as the
people again condensed into a few
years the learning that has taken other
societies decades or even centuries.
They were dissatisfied with schools;
half their children were left in the vil-
lage after finishing school, too small
to work, too young to marry, with no
place in society and no way of obtain-
ing even pocket money, while their
slightly more scholarly brothers and
sisters had gone away for further
schooling. With their usual energetic
way of tackling problems, the parents
discussed what was to be done, strug-
gling with the old idea that the chil-
dren's labor belonged completely to
the parents until they could work their
way free.
The dream of modernization was
failing a little, and now, like people
all over Papua New Guinea, they
were beginning to ponder what was
worth saving from the past before it
was gone forever. The slit gongs,
once abandoned for a gong made
from a torpedo case, were back. Pa-
liau had built himself a new house,
beautifully constructed of thatch and
bamboo. He hadn't even used a
level — "just my eye, to teach the
people," he said. The old dancers
were back also, in old costumes worn
over modern dress, which looked un-
esthetic to our eyes, but not to theirs.
Paliau agreed that once the old ex-
ploitative economic order was gone,
the "pleasures" of the past — dance,
song, oratory, and costume — ^became
acceptable. These changes echoed
events in the wider world, as young
people everywhere were begiiming to
turn from pollution and energy waste
to the traditional pleasures of the out-
doors and activities that neither pol-
lute nor waste, where the imagination
is neither sated nor deadened.
Last summer, 1975, we went back
again, in overlapping visits — ^first
Ted Schwartz, then Barbara Heath,
then 1. 1 stopped first in Port Moresby,
the capital of Papua New Guinea, a
new nation that attained inde-
pendence in September 1975. A north
coast Manus man was now the chan-
cellor of the University of Papua New
Guinea. There, I spoke to excited stu-
dents who argued the pros and cons
of the accounts that I, as an anthro-
pologist, had written of one of their
more than 600 different language
68
groups, complaining that the customs
of their own people had been dif-
ferent. I had a long talk with the son
of Paliau's principal lieutenant, now
minister of housing for the country.
At a dinner party I met a young uni-
versity instructor who came from one
of the remote inland villages and was
just leaving for the United States for
a course in comparative literature.
Twenty-five years before, it was the
coastal and island people who had
taken the lead in higher education,
but now young men and women from
all over Manus were responding to
the high standards that had been set.
I heard that a daughter of one of the
inland leaders was now a special ad-
viser to the chief minister, and that
she was in Manus helping to draft a
regional contribution to the new con-
stitution. When I reached Lorengau,
the capital of Manus, I met her and
we had long talks about the consti-
tutional problems with which she was
wrestling. The plans of the consti-
tutional commission called for the es-
tablishment of electoral districts of
equal size, which would have meant
that villages that had been enemies
for decades and possibly centuries
would have had to choose a single
representative. As an anthropologist
who had studied Manus for almost
half a century, I knew just what com-
plications this plan would create.
(Perhaps fortunately, this attempt to
regionalize was abandoned at the last
minute as politically inexpedient and
too expensive.)
In Lorengau I also met the first
young Manus poet who, after having
traveled in Europe with the Moral
Rearmament Movement for several
years, was now teaching creative
writing in the Lorengau high school.
I met a theological student who re-
turned to find a very poor reception
for the brand of sophisticated theol-
ogy he had learned at a seminary in
Chicago. So he turned his energies to
solving the problem of a polluted
channel . He had persuaded his village
to question the custom of allowing
canoes from many villages to pass
through the channel since the boats
were now equipped with outboard
motors going at full speed.
In the village my house had been
renovated during our two-year ab-
sence. People had taken some of the
floor boards out to reinforce their own
floors, but now brought them back.
The partitions had been improved by
pieces of plywood taken from our
friends' own houses, and the thatch
had been mended. The village was
seething with activity surrounding the
preparations being made for two large
exchanges. These exchanges restored
some elements of the old style of vali-
dating marriages through the "side of
the man" and the "side of the
woman." The social transformation
of 1946 had replaced this form with
anew one called a "play," in which
gambling winnings and European
goods changed hands between
principals who entered into these ex-
changes for pleasure. This differed
from the traditional exchanges,
which kept people working hard to
provide the consumable parts of the
exchange — sago, fish, pigs, and oil.
But in the exchanges we saw last
summer, the production of local food
again played an important functional
part, keeping the people busy produc-
ing food to meet their obligations.
Old Manus customs were also re-
appearing in a new set of sanctions
placed on the young men by their
elders. When the young men went
away to work, the elders threatened
them with curses if they failed to send
remittances home, but the young also
insisted that those elders should not
dissipate the money; rather, they
should put it to good use as invest-
ments for the younger men. And
while the drop-out young boys were
now away visiting their brothers and
sisters in different parts of the
country, some of the educated young
men had returned to the village and
were keeping records, making the
local council more sophisticated, and
resuming their hereditary occupa-
tions of fishing and trading.
The extreme emphasis on moderni-
zation and rejection of the charac-
teristics of an earlier period were now
gone. The society was still distinc-
tively Manus, but with a new sense
of identity, ready to combine the old
and the new. I realized how little we
had been able to learn when we used
to study a people only once, and how
illuminating and unique was this op-
portunity to follow the same popula-
tion— a microcosm of the world — for
forty-seven years, as they farmed out
into the wider world, but retained the
core of their culture at home. D
The first village school (page 68,
top) was in the church and was
taught by a man with limited
education (he had only reached
short division). Today, a new
school with modern desks (page 68,
bottom) has four trained teachers
and prepares children for further
education at the Lorengau high
school and Papua New Guinea
University. When the first
government school was built in
the village, relatives from
neighboring towns moved in and
problems of the modern world —
overcrowding, pollution and
juvenile delinquency — became
apparent. The child shown above is a
member of the fourth generation
Margaret Mead has studied.
69
Wild Goats
of Santa Catalina
by Bruce E. Coblentz
Setting free this herbivore with
the "destructive nibble"
created a landscape of barren
hillsides
Before the advent of refrigeration,
nutritional diseases were common
among sailors, many of whom lacked
fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats
during long ocean voyages. In the
hope of at least partially overcoming
nutritional deficiencies, ships sailing
into remote seas often carried cargoes
of domestic goats, not only to be
eaten as part of a ship's provisions but
to be liberated on virtually every oce-
anic island that was visited. These in-
troductions were for the express pur-
pose of allowing the goats to multi-
ply, thus providing a source of fresh
meat for future seafarers.
This concern with fresh meat was
the primary reason for the spread of
the domestic goat across the oceans.
Surely many a malnourished sailor
profusely thanked both his Maker and
his anonymous seafaring benefactors
when, having put in to shore on an
uninhabited island, he found an abun-
dance of goats for the taking.
Goat liberations were eminently
successful wherever the animals were
allowed to range freely and reproduce
in the absence of large predators. Al-
though basically a grazing animal of
dry uplands, the domestic goat was
Traveling in customary single
file, a bachelor herd of feral
goats heads for a nightly bedding
ground within its home range
on Santa Catalina Island.
Bruce E. Coblentz
adaptable to a wide range of climates
and vegetation types. As a result of
early goat introductions, many oce-
anic islands — most notably New Zea-
land, the Hawaiian Islands, the
Galapagos Islands, many islands off
the Pacific coast of Baja California,
and the Channel Islands off the coast
of southern California — have high
populations of these remarkable ani-
mals.
In a few cases the precise history
of goat introductions is known. Cap-
tain Cook was responsible for intro-
ducing goats to New Zealand in 1773
and to Hawaii in 1778, where they
were originally cared for royally by
the native population.
On other islands, however, the ori-
gin of goats is uncertain. Santa Cata-
lina Island (or Catalina Island), in the
Channel Islands group, has had goats
since at least 1827, when the earliest
known mention of them was made.
Since they were already established
by that date, we can assume that they
were introduced well before then.
Popular theories about the origin of
Catalina Island's goats attribute their
introduction either to early Spanish
explorers, such as Juan Cabrillo and
Sebastian Vizcaino, or English
pirates who later used Catalina Island
as a base from which to carry out raids
against the Spaniards.
More recently, another aspect of
the introduction of goats to the Chan-
nel Islands has come to the fore, and
its importance does not lie in who lib-
erated the goats , but in why they were
liberated. In the early nineteenth cen-
tury, conditions on board ships were
so poor, as was treatment of the sail-
ors, that a ship stood to lose part of
its crew if it approached a mainland
port. Thus, the thinking is that the
goats were liberated on these islands
Pacific Ocean
'■S. ^Ci**^ 19 LOS ANGELES
"^ Santa Catalina
"^ Island »-'=!&
'^'^'^ARAj ISLAHO^
One-week-old kids in a nursery
herd peer over a ridfietop. The
nutritional status of adult males
seems to control the onset of
four annual breeding periods.
so that ships could take on a supply
of meat without having to put into a
mainland harbor.
At present, however, the need to
remove or control goats takes priority
over speculation on their origins. On
most islands the goat population has
already caused serious damage to na-
tive plant and animal life .
For a 22-month period from July
1971 to May 1973, I studied feral
goats on Catalina Island with a two-
fold purpose: to learn more of their
social behavior and to study their eco-
logical effects upon the island. Cata-
lina Island lies about twenty-five
miles offshore from Los Angeles. In
spite of its proximity to this densely
populated area of the West Coast, the
island has only about 2,000 year-
round residents, and the over-
whelming majority of these live
within about one square mile in the
town of Avalon. Most of the island's
remaining seventy-four square miles
consists of undeveloped brushy
ridges and canyons with a few small
grassland areas in the interior. The
rugged topography and semiarid cli-
mate make Catalina an ideal habitat
for goats.
I soon found Catalina Island goats
existed in discrete herds, or popula-
tions, with nonoverlapping home
ranges of one to two square miles.
These home ranges were usually
bounded by a zone perhaps fifty yards
wide on a ridgetop or canyon bottom .
Fences became abrupt boundaries, as
did paved roads.
The nearly 200 goats in the study
area were readily distinguishable by
natural variations in coat color and
pattern, age, sex, and horn shape.
These individual goats had a high de-
gree of fidelity to their own herd home
range. The rare observations of goats
outside of their home range were al-
most always of males of adjacent
herds during the short breeding pe-
riods.
As expected, I found Catalina
goats breed like other members of the
Caprinae, a subfamily that includes
all of the goals and sheep, the cham-
ois, and serows. Large, dominant
breeding males guard single estrous
females from less dominant males.
Once a male successfully breeds a fe-
male, he then guards her from other
males for a short period after copula-
tion, presumably to insure fertiliza-
tion by his sperm; then l^egins seek-
ing other receptive females. As a gen-
eral rule, females only accept one
male, but males breed as many fe-
males as they are able. Although this
is a polygynous breeding system,
serial monogamy is probably a more
descriptive term.
Unexpectedly, each discrete goat
population on Catalina has four rather
regularly spaced breeding periods per
year, which I have termed a quadri-
modal breeding system. This system,
apparently unique among ungulates,
appears to be controlled by the nutri-
tional status of the males. After mat-
ing with numerous females, the en-
ergy level of the male is relatively
depleted. A period of feeding is nec-
essary before his physical condition
peaks again, enabling him to resume
breeding.
Males seem to be able to induce
synchronous estrus among any fe-
males in the population that are in suf-
ficiently good health to be in repro-
ductive condition. The males do this
by producing pheromones, chemical
secretions that produce a response in
other individuals. These pheromones
are presumably released through the
males' urine. By directing this phero-
mone-containing urine into the long
hair of the anterior half of their
bodies, the males, in effect, become
billboards of reproductive induce-
ment. Dominant males exhibit
greatly increased frequency of this
urine-marking when they are in peak
physical condition, the point at wfiich
they have a better chance to breed a
maximum number of females. Fe-
Overbrowsing by goats has caused
severe ecological damage. A fence
erected to exclude goats from the
central portion of the island has
enabled plant life to regenerate.
Bruce E. Coblenlz
73
■Sir
V'
■;vc.^v^
-t'^^
^^> - -i-fit-'"
;/*-
: uj^'^^-X ~ /
'■^*^^~'^ ^t^r^.
males, in turn, begin coming into
estrus two to three weeiss alter the
onset ol the greatly increased rate of
scent urination in males. It is ob-
viously of selective advantage for a
male to be able to cause females to
come into synchronous estrus when
the male himself is in peak physical
condition.
Nutritional control has yet to be
demonstrated through experi-
mentation, but it is suggested by the
lack of breeding period synchrony be-
tween populations across Catalina Is-
land.
Before a male in peak condition
can gain access to receptive females,
however, he must either have already
established high dominance status
with the other males in the population
or he must be physically able to do
so when challenged. Usually, unre-
solved dominance status between two
male goats is determined through
various kinds of threat behaviors,
with the smaller of the two declining
to fight. Only when both potential
combatants are fairly equal in size
might an actual fight develop.
In fighting, males make contact
with their horns. The two basic tech-
niques are as follows: (1) one of the
males rears up on his hind legs and
delivers a hard downward blow to the
braced opponent and (2) males align
in parallel fashion facing the same di-
rection and interlock horns so that the
strong neck muscles can be used to
try to overpower the opponent's neck
muscles. In rearing and clashing, the
goat that is up on his hind legs always
circles his opponent first and stops on
the uphill side. By delivering the
blow from the uphill side, consid-
erably more force can be generated.
Once a male wins the right to gain
access to females, the most difficult
and risky aspect of reproduction is
past . In general , if the male is a domi-
nant individual and the female is in
a receptive state, she will quickly ac-
A wild goat on San Salvador
Island in the Galapagos. As on the
Channel and other oceanic islands,
seafarers released goats to provide
a future source of fresh meat.
cept the male and permit copulation.
When initially approaching a fe-
male, the male performs a series of
preliminary courting gestures. These
appear to accustom the female to
physical contact and simultaneously
test her sexual readiness. A female
signifies her acceptance of a courting
male by rubbing his neck with her
horns. At this point the male aban-
dons his preliminary courting ges-
tures and initiates intensive courtship
behaviors. These lead to mounting
and, eventually, copulation. If the fe-
male does not signify acceptance of
the male, the male will not perform
intensive courtship patterns and may
attempt mounting as a direct transi-
tion from preliminary courtship.
Such attempts at "rape" are invaria-
bly unsuccessful.
Within each herd home range there
is one primary and one or more secon-
dary bedding grounds. These are tra-
ditional areas to which goats return in
the evening to spend the night. Major
bedding grounds are characteristi-
cally situated so that in one direction
there is a precipitous escape route,
leading away from the bedding
ground, while in the opposite direc-
tion there is easy access, generally
along a fairly level ridge.
In the morning, goats always leave
the bedding grounds in large associa-
tions, then break up into smaller
groups for the remainder of the day.
Daily activity consists of a feeding
loop pattern through a part of or, on
occasion, the entire herd home range .
The predictability of both the times
and the places of the goats' activities
made observations relatively easy.
By being virtually tied to a particu-
lar area, goats will essentially bring
themselves to the brink of starvation
without leaving the famOiar area that
provides them with a sense of secu-
rity, even when areas of better forage
are nearby. Certain herd home ranges
on Catalina are in particularly bad
condition due to this characteristic.
In the past, goats seemed to be an
asset in making use of "worthless,"
uninhabited islands; today they are
viewed as a destructive ecological
force that requires control or total
elimination. Wherever they have
been introduced, goats have severely
damaged the native vegetation; in
some cases they have driven particu-
lar plant species to extinction. This is
especially true in insular ecosystems
where the vegetation has generally
evolved through long periods in the
absence of large herbivorous ani-
mals. These endemic insular plants
have generally evolved few physical
or chemical defenses against brows-
ing by herbivores.
It is known that goats have exter-
minated several sp>ecies of plants in
the Galapagos, and many of the forty-
eight indigenous plant species that
have disappeared from Catalina Is-
land were probably eliminated,
wholly or at least partially, because
of the presence of goats. Certain other
species exist on Catalina today only
because the few surviving individuals
grow where it is physically impossi-
ble for goats to reach them.
Only in recent years have re-
searchers h)egun to document the
damage that goats have done to native
vegetation of goat-afflicted islands.
In Hawaii Volcanoes National
Park, a series of exclosures were con-
structed in areas of high goat popula-
tions to determine the response of the
vegetation to protection from goats.
To everyone's surprise, a previously
undescribed plant species began
growing almost immediately from
seeds that had lain dormant in the
soil. We may postulate from this dis-
covery that the seeds of some other
plant species believed eaten to extinc-
tion by goats may also be lying dor-
mant in the soil . waiting for the goats
to be removed before they can begin
to grow.
The danger of uncontrolled herds
of goats goes beyond the mere altera-
tion and suppression of plant species
or communities. Continual overutili-
zation and trampling by goats leads
to severe erosion, which in a semiarid
Mediterranean climate like that of
Catalina Island, rapidly removes vir-
tually all of the thin soil cover. Once
the soil has been lost, hundreds of
years may pass before the habitat re-
covers naturally. The goat has been
blamed for contributing to the current
lack of forested lands in the Mediter-
ranean region and, in turn, possibly
to the semiarid climate that has come
about with deforestation.
In addition to their direct damage
to the vegetation and soil cover in an
area, goats also have a substantial ef-
fect on other animal species. Because
goats reduce both food and cover, an-
I Devore HI; Bruce Coleman, Inc.
75
imals that require dense ground cover
or abundant ground level food — such
as small terrestrial rodents, reptiles,
and ground-nesting or ground-feed-
ing birds — may be excluded rather
quickly. The over-all effect of plant
overutilization, erosion, and compac-
tion also contributes to increased
mortality of trees and to the reduction
of forested areas. This, in turn, tends
to eliminate any animal species de-
pendent upon the forest habitat. As
time goes on, the goats create a habi-
tat that is exceedingly inhospitable
for most other animal species.
In less than 200 years in Hawaii,
the goats have been described as hav-
ing "chewed their way from the sea-
shore to the tops of island peaks and
back down again." On Catalina Is-
land, goats have not only worked
their way from the seashore to the
mountain peaks and back down
again, but some herds travel from the
peaks to the shore on an almost daily
basis. In their daily travels they make
use of any suitable terrestrial vegeta-
tion encountered, and on occasion
they graze on kelp and other marine
algae found in the intertidal zone.
This "destructive nibble" of the
goat is also directed at forage of
poorer quality than that utilized by
almost any other herbivore. Bitter,
oily plants may be taken, almost ex-
clusively, by goats. The problem is
that goats, like any other herbivore,
will take all of the higher quality food
first and only then turn to the lower
quality food. Before the forage in an
area is all of poor quality, the goats
will have removed the forage of suffi-
ciently high quality to sustain other
herbivores. This usually insures that
the goats will be the only large herbi-
vores in an area where they are al-
lowed to increase unchecked for ex-
tended periods.
On Catalina, mule deer were ex-
cluded from areas of high goat den-
sity owing to the lack of food. Deer
were regularly seen in adjacent goat-
free areas, but not in the goat ranges
themselves. Feral pigs were found in
both goat and goat-free areas; how-
ever, the pigs in goat areas were gen-
erally smaller and appeared to be in
much poorer health than those found
elsewhere on the island. Likewise,
litter sizes of pigs were smaller in the
goat areas. One reason for their abil-
ity to live in the goat areas was that
the pigs physically outcompete the
goats for certain seasonally limited,
high-quality food sources such as
acorns and other fruits.
The effects that the goats have had
upon certain passerine birds on Cata-
lina is not certain, but on Guadalupe
Island to the south, they have defi-
nitely brought about the elimination
of at least three species. On Catalina,
the endemic subspecies of California
quail, a ground-nesting and ground-
feeding species, is obviously less
abundant in, or absent from, areas of
high goat density, as are three of the
five endemic terrestrial mammals: the
island gray fox, the deer mouse, and
the western harvest mouse. Only the
ground squirrel seems to do well in
goat-disturbed areas. (The status of
the fifth endemic species, the Catalina
shrew, is unknown.)
Not only do goats denude the areas
in which they live, but because of
their tendency to travel between areas
in single file, they establish many dis-
tinct goat trails throughout their home
range. This concentrated trampling,
and resultant soil compaction, re-
moves a considerable amount of goat
habitat from production and thereby
reduces the over-all productivity of
the area. In most areas where goats
have become established, they travel
along distinct, well-worn, and often
traditional trails. The constant use of
these trails has made the surfaces
nearly as hard as concrete. On fre-
quently used trails nothing grows at
all, while on occasionally used trails
the little that does manage to begin
growing is soon trampled and killed,
if not eaten first.
On a single hillside there can be
many trails, although one or two
always stand out as those most fre-
quently used. The combined area of
all the trails on a hillside can be con-
siderable, perhaps as much as 2 to 3
percent of the area. Goat trails gener-
ally follow the easiest route between
two points and generally parallel a
hillside, although in a few places
trails do run in a more uphill-down-
hill direction. In many such places the
trails have initiated significant gully
formation.
By causing severe erosion and run-
off in an island situation, goats may
also adversely affect the littoral
marine environment. In the absence
of plant cover, soil is rapidly washed
down to the ocean where it can settle
out and perhaps choke the sessile
filter-feeding organisms that are
present. After winter rains, ocean
areas near certain canyon mouths on
Catalina have been observed to be
stained brown from the soil washed
from the land. The amount of particu-
late matter in the runoff of these can-
yons appears to vary directly with the
populations of goats in the particular
canyon drainages.
The goat is perfectly designed for
utilizing the quantity and quality of
vegetation that it does. Like most un-
gulates, goats are ruminants, mean-
ing that they have a four-chambered
stomach, the forechamber being the
rumen. The rumen is greatly enlarged
and acts to facilitate bacterial and pro-
tozoan fermentation. Lacking the en-
zymes required to break down cellu-
lose and other relatively impervious,
energy-containing carbohydrates, the
ruminants depend upon the vast num-
bers of bacteria and protozoans in the
rumen to break down these com-
pounds for them. These microor-
ganisms digest much of the plant ma-
terial that the animal eats and produce
volatile fatty acids as a by-product of
fermentation. The metabolites that
result from the microorganisms' di-
gestion of plant material are ab-
sorbed directly from the rumen and
provide energy, as do sugars in
simple-stomached (monogastric) an-
imals. The microorganisms them-
selves are then digested as they pass
into the animal's intestine.
The advantage of the rumen lies in
the fact that foods of relatively low
quality can be ingested and utilized
by the ruminant, whereas the same
foods might result in starvation for
monogastric animals. There is an in-
verse relationship between the rela-
tive size of a species' rimien and the
diet quality that the species requires
for maintenance. In general, the nar-
rower the ratio of rumen volume to
total body volume, the coarser (less
protein, lower digestibility) the diet
that the species can live on. All mem-
bers of the Caprinae have a narrow
ratio, but that of the domestic goat is
especially narrow due to its relatively
immense rumen. Because of this di-
gestive anatomy, the goat can live on
forage of insufficient quality to sus-
tain other herbivores. Almost as im-
portant is the goat's extremely high
76
threshold for bitter and oily plants,
which most other herbivores will
avoid.
Owing to the goat's unique combi-
nation of abilities to utilize food,
there is essentially no plant species
that is 100 percent safe from utiliza-
tion. No plant species — not even tree
tobacco, prickly-pear cactus, and the
poisonous locoweed, which were
found growing in the goat areas of
Catalina Island — was completely free
from utilization.
In addition to this digestive capa-
bility, the goat is behaviorally
adapted to procure food in situations
that would thwart all but the most
highly specialized herbivores. The
goat is exceedingly surefooted; it can
reach vegetation growing on nearly
vertical clifTs and canyon walls and
climb trees whenever there are low
horizontal limbs or inclined trunks.
On Catalina, it was not unusual to see
goats moving from limb to limb
searching for forage in scrub oaks or
other trees.
Even in normal, everyday feeding,
goats frequently stand upright on
their hind legs and use their front legs
to push vegetation down. They can
literally walk an upright stem down
to the ground and eat the foliage off
the top while standing on it. When
finished, the goat steps sideways and
a considerably denuded stem springs
back to an upright position.
Goats are also individually adapt-
able, as evidenced by the varied
methods used to render a prickly pear
less painful before it is eaten. Some
goats simply paw at the spines to
break them off, while others break the
pad off and then hold it in the mouth
while rubbing the spines off on the
ground. Some goats butt the cactus to
a pulp with their horns and then take
bites out of the crushed plant; others
take bites out of the undamaged pads.
All goats eat prickly pears and, in
fact, go to great difficulty to obtain
them, probably because these
"cactus apples" are particularly pal-
atable. As a general rule, in areas of
high goat populations only those
plants that are too straight or large to
climb, or that grow in the protection
of a formidable patch of prickly pear,
are completely free from utilization
by goats.
The primary problem in control-
ling feral goat populations is that, in
most cases, absolute elimination is
the only viable, long-term solution.
Based on data collected from feral
goat studies in New Zealand, it has
been conservatively estimated that if
a population of goats is reduced by 80
percent, it can recover to 90 percent
of the original number in just four
years. This means that if the popula-
tion to be removed is not completely
eliminated, subsequent control will
be necessary at frequent intervals. In
addition, the New Zealand calcula-
tions were based on the assumption
of a fixed rate of reproduction. In ac-
tuality, we know that reproductive
rate increases as population density
decreases, so that as goats are re-
moved, the reproductive rate of the
remaining goats will increase and the
original population level will proba-
bly be reached sooner than predicted.
In contrast to the reproductive rate
of the New Zealand goats, and the
even higher possible rate of increase
of domestic goats, Catalina goats
have a poor reproductive rate due, ba-
sically, to the poor nutritional level of
goats in areas of high density. Well-
fed domestic goats may give birth to
twins or occasionally triplets every
eight or nine months. In contrast,
Catalina goats average less than one
birth per year (actually less than one
per 16 months) and only about 1.2
young per birth, considerably less
than biologically possible for the spe-
cies. Interestingly, recent evidence
on Catalina indicates that due to a
series of excellent growing seasons
the rate of reproduction is noticeably
increasing.
Although goats are easily found
and removed at first, the greatest
stumbling block to complete goat re-
moval is that the amount of time and
effort required per goat increases
greatly as the population density de-
creases— a sort of diminishing return
on effort invested phenomenon.
When a goat control program was
instituted on Catalina about fifteen
years ago, an attempt was made to
totally remove goats from certain
geographically defined portions of the
island. This objective met with suc-
cess in a large central portion of the
island where there are currently no
goats. The numbers of plant species
and individuals present and the total
production of native vegetation have
recovered to a remarkable degree in
this goat-free area. In other areas of
the island that did not lend themselves
to complete elimination as easily,
small remnant populations have re-
quired frequent follow-up removal
operations to allow the vegetation to
continue recovering.
The contrast between goat-free
areas and areas of high goat density
is now considerable in all seasons, in
terms of the flora and the fauna
present. Not only is the density of
vegetation greater in the goat-free
areas, but due to increased organic
litter buildup and greater moisture re-
tention of the soil , the size and growth
rate of individual plants is also much
greater. Whereas in the goat area wild
oats may reach a height of only a foot
before setting seed, in the goat-free
area the same species will reach three
to four feet. In addition, some spe-
cies, such as California sagebrush.
Saint Catherine's lace, and the pe-
rennial bunch grasses that were elimi-
nated or severely depleted in the goat
areas long ago, have reestablished
themselves in many of the goat-free
areas.
Ironically, the goat has become an
ecological liability because of the
very qualities that made it an asset
and a friend of man for the past sev-
eral thousand years. The utility of the
goat has been threefold: (1) Its fairly
small size and low enough value have
allowed it to be owned even by poor
people. (2) It can survive on forage
of extremely poor quality, such as
that found in harsh arid environments
or in other areas during severe
drought. (3) It has a potentially high
rate of reproduction. Perhaps even
more importantly, the goat has
proved adaptable enough to survive
and reproduce in the humid tropics,
a feat that few temperate zone ungu-
lates could accomplish.
Obviously, an animal adapted to
survive in such a wide range of envi-
ronmental conditions, and whose
adaptability has been rewarded
through selection of the best-adapted
individuals, could be expected to
overtax virtually any environment
into which it was liberated with no
constraints placed upon it other than
food limitation. In the past several
thousand years man has been creating
and perfecting this ecological mon-
ster; now man must impose controls
where natural means have failed. D
Roses Are Red, White, Yellow, Pink . . .
by Patricia W. Spencer
The colors of plants, lon^ a
source of poetic inspiration,
also help assure next year's
fruits and flowers
Deflating though it may be to a
human view of things, the flowers
that bloom in the spring do so for their
own reasons. While winter- weary
souls may be heartened by the bright
yellow of the first crocus pushing
through the ground, that bright color
is also vital to the plant's functioning.
The plant world abounds in color.
Whether in its flowers, fruit, leaves,
or roots, somewhere along its evolu-
tionary pathway almost every plant
has developed the coloration that
brings it to mind — rose, carrot, lem-
on, spinach, blueberry, grape — the
colors of the rainbow from red to
violet.
An aerial rainbow is formed from
sunlight in much the same way that
' 'white' ' sunlight is broken down into
its colors by passage through a prism.
A beam of white sunlight is com-
posed of red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, and violet light, with infrared
above the visible red and ultraviolet
below the visible violet. The same
sunlight that gives rise to the aerial
rainbow produces the rainbow of
colors in the plant world.
Almost all plant coloring is pro-
duced by three types of organic pig-
ments— anthocyanins, carotenoids,
and chlorophylls — which are manu-
factured in plant tissues. That these
pigments produce color at all is the
result of their interaction with sun-
light.
Sunlight is energy. When a beam
of sunlight encounters a pigment mol-
ecule, such as chlorophyll, some of
the sun's energy is captured, or ab-
sorbed, by the molecule. Chlorophyll
appears green because it captures the
energy of red, yellow, violet, and
some blue light. The remaining light
is reflected from the molecule, and
since this is mainly green, we see
chlorophyll as green. The other two
pigments behave similarly with re-
gard to light, absorbing the energy of
some colors and reflecting the rest.
Unlike the aerial rainbow, in which
each color band occupies an equal
portion, the rainbow in the garden is
overwhelmingly green. The most
abundant and important pigment,
chlorophyll, reflects this central color
back to us. But a great variety of
green is produced by this one pig-
ment: celery, lime, olive, avocado,
leaf, moss, fig, and fern are but a few
names that bring to mind a particular
shade or hue of green.
The quantity of chlorophyll present
in the tissue determines the intensity,
or shade, of green in a leaf or stem.
Thus, Swiss chard and spinach con-
tain far more chlorophyll than lettuce
or celery. For the same reason, a
small, newly expanding leaf is a paler
green than a fully mature one. The
hue of green, however, is determined
by the presence of the other two major
pigments. A large amount of the yel-
lowish pigment carotenoid present
with a moderate amount of chloro-
phyll produces a yellow-green, as in
a lime. A deep, almost black-green
results from a large quantity of the
reddish pigment anthocyanin, as in
the leaf of a red maple.
Regardless of its shade, chloro-
phyll performs one vital function in
the plant world: in the process of pho-
tosynthesis, chlorophyll converts the
light energy it has captured into
chemical energy. The plant uses the
captured light energy to produce
simple sugars from carbon dioxide
and water. Since all green plants
depend upon this production of
sugars as their sole source of carbohy-
drates for growth and development,
nearly all aerial plant parts contain
some chlorophyll or the ability to
make chlorophyll. What is but one
color in the aerial rainbow is the re-
flection of the very life of a plant.
Above green in the rainbow is yel-
low and then orange. The second
most abundant and important pig-
ment in nature, carotenoid, reflects
these two colors in the plant world.
Carotenoids absorb the energy of vio-
let, blue, and some green light, re-
flecting yellow and orange light. Two
slightly different forms of carotenoid
are common in plants. One, beta-
carotene (from which the vitamin A
of carrots and other vegetables de-
rives), is responsible for the orange
color of carrots, sweet potatoes,
pumpkins, oranges, and many other
similarly colored fruits and flowers.
The other major form of carotenoid,
xanthophyll, gives yellow to such
fruits and flowers as lemons, golden
delicious apples, corn, grapefruit,
some tomatoes, buttercups, chrysan-
themums, and so on. (A minor form
of carotenoid, lycopene, contributes
a bright orange -red to such fruits as
tomatoes and red peppers. The chem-
ical structure of this molecule is
A handful of plant pigments
produce a myriad of colors, from
the yellow of melons to the red
and green of peppers. Chlorophyll,
the most abundant and vital
pigment, is present in all plants.
X*
^M
k
Thomas D W Fneomann, Pfyjio Reseai
w^
\. .«*■•'•
^1
>s.
:m
Anthocyanin, the pigment that
produces the red of strawberries
(pages 80-81), is also responsible
for the purple of grapes, left. Plant
geneticists, selecting for taste
and growing and shipping qualities,
also strive for pleasing color.
slightly different from either carotene
or xanthophyll and thus interacts with
sunlight slightly differently to reflect
more red light.)
In many flowers, mixtures of caro-
tene and xanthophyll in varying
proportions produce a range of colors
from lemon-yellow to deep-orange.
The more carotene and the less
xanthophyll , the more orange colored
is the flower; conversely, the less
carotene and the more xanthophyll,
the more yellow the flower. Although
most yellow or orange flowers are
colored by carotenoids, a few, such
as snapdragons, are colored by a plant
pigment called an aurone, which has
a very limited occurrence. To detect
aurones in a yellow flower, you can
expose the blossom to the alkaline
fumes of ammonia or the vapor of a
lighted cigarette, which makes it turn
orange.
Almost all plant leaves and stems
contain carotenoids, often in high
enough amounts to alter the over-all
color to yellow-green. Sometimes
their presence is not apparent until au-
tumn, when tree leaves begin to lose
their chlorophyll and the carotenoids
are unmasked, spilling into sight with
brilliant yellows and oranges.
By funneling the light energy they
capture to chlorophyll molecules,
carotenoids play a secondary role in
photosynthesis. Although the transfer
is somewhat inefl5cient, they do pro-
vide some energy. Perhaps more im-
portantly, carotenoids confer protec-
tion to plant tissue. Just as pigment
The quantity of chlorophyll in its
tissues determines a leaf's
shade of green. For this reason,
a small, growing leaf is paler
green than a fully mature one.
cells in human skin darken (produce
suntaii) and protect underlying tissue,
carotenoids, by absorbing and dis-
sipating ultraviolet rays, prevent
damage to plant tissue.
The remaining major pigment,
anthocyanin, colors all the brilliant
reds, pale pinks, sky blues, and deep
purples — colors that contrast most
with the overwhelming greenness of
the plant world. Although anlho-
cyanins are not as abundant as chloro-
phyll and carotenoids, this pigment
type is the most widespread and im-
portant pigment in fruits and flowers.
Anthocyanins color 90 percent of all
reddish leaves, 85 percent of all
fruits, and 70 percent of all flowers.
That this one pigment is responsible
for both ends of the rainbow — red and
purple — with many combinations of
color in between, attests to a natural
parsimony.
The red rose, pink hyacinth, violet
pansy, blueberry, strawberry, apple,
plum, grape, and raspberry are but a
few of the different colors reflected by
anthocyanins. Since the colors pro-
duced by anthocyanins are mixtures
of red, blue, and violet light, they
offer many more shades and hues than
the aerial rainbow. The naming of
each color becomes subjective: what
I call red, you may call rose: what I
call purple, you may call plum.
This variety of color is achieved by
several ingenious means. Antho-
cyanin, for example, like litmus, is a
natural pH indicator. (Litmus is an
organic plant pigment obtained from
various species of lichens.) In acid,
anthocyanin is red, while in alkaline,
it is blue. This can be demonstrated
in flowers containing some form of
anthocyanin: a red dahlia exposed to
the alkaline fumes of ammonia will
become bluish, while a cornflower
exposed to fumes of vinegar or an-
other acid will become reddish.
Since almost all plant tissues are
normally acidic, however, antho-
cyanin would be reddish rather than
blue if there were not other ways blue
could be achieved. In some cases, a
slight shift toward alkalinity, even
though still acidic over-all, is suf-
ficient to impart a blueing effect on
the over-all color of anthocyanin
present in a plant tissue. But in nature
this is a minor cause for blue color.
Anthocyanins can also appear blue
by the binding of metal ions to the
anthocyanin molecule, which
changes the way it interacts with
light. Such anthocyanin molecules
produce the blue color of blueberries
and many blue flowers, such as corn-
flowers. In a similar manner, when
some minor pigments bind to an
anthocyanin molecule, the color re-
flected by the altered anthocyanin
molecule appears more blue.
The most important means by
which this pigment can appear so
varied in color, however, is by subtle
changes in its molecule. Whereas
there are two major forms of carote-
noid (carotene and xanthophyll). four
major forms of anthocyanin exist.
The anthocyanin molecule, a large,
complex one. can be subtly altered
without changing its basic shape. The
addition of an oxygen atom here or
the removal of a hydrogen atom there
is sufficient to change the way in
which the molecule interacts with
light, thus changing the over-all color
it reflects.
The four major forms of antho-
cyanin are cyanidin, pelargonidin.
delphinidin. and malvidin (for sim-
plicity, they are abbreviated here as
cyan, pelar, delph. and malvid). Each
one commands a particular portion of
the rainbow in the garden, although
all of them reflect some red light.
Pelar is the most reddish of the
four, appearing as red. scarlet, or
pink. Pelar colors garden geraniums,
in which this form was first discov-
ered and for which it is named (the
Latin genus name is Pelargonium), as
well as red radishes, strawberries,
and passion fruits.
Cyan is next in redness, with just
a hint of blue or violet, which makes
it crimson or magenta. Cyan colors
apples, blackberries, raspberries,
cherries, currants, and the two most
popular ornamentals, roses and tu-
lips. Cyan is also the main antho-
cyanin in red dahlias, cornflowers,
and blueberries.
Delph is the "blue" anthocyanin,
although since it reflects some red and
violet light, it can appear mauve.
Delph colors the juice of pome-
granate, the skin of eggplant, and
many varieties of grapes. Most blue
flowers, such as the delphinium (in
which this form of anthocyanin was
first found and for which it is named)
are colored by delph.
Malvid, found mainly in dark or
83
black grapes and deep purple flowers,
is the violet or purple anthocyanin. In
addition, malvid is the most impor-
tant pigment in producing the good
"red" color of red wines.
Since many flowers and fruits can
make at least three, and sometimes all
four, of the forms of anthocyanin, the
over-all color depends upon the
proportions of each present. A wide
range of hyacinth and verbena col-
ors— ^from pale pink to deep purple
— is a result of mixtures of cyan,
pelar, and delph.
Several plants, however, can make
only one form, usually cyan. This is
true of the rose (and other members
of the Rosaceae family, such as the
apple, pear, plum, and strawberry).
A clear blue rose is genetically im-
possible unless a chance mutation
leads to the production of delph in the
flower. Plant geneticists, however,
by using the other means by which
anthocyanin color is shifted toward
the blue, have produced somewhat
"bluish" roses.
Plant geneticists are also responsi-
ble for the more vivid colors found in
garden flowers and fruits. Geneticists
have bred the flowers and fruits for
"high" color content, as well as
larger size or other attractive charac-
teristics. Since the quantity and
proportions of pigments produced in
the plant are genetically determined,
many varieties revert to a "wild"
type when left growing wild. The
wild type produces sufficient color for
natural purposes, but appears muted
in color compared to specially bred
varieties.
Although "white" may not be
considered a color in the same sense
as red or blue, plants produce a few
minor pigments that contribute the
whites and creams of flowers and
fruits. These minor pigments absorb
ultraviolet light and reflect almost all
visible light, thus appearing white or
cream. A white flower without these
pigments would be transparent,
rather than white, since light would
not be reflected but would pass
through it. Even in red or blue flow-
ers, small amounts of these minor ul-
traviolet-absorbing pigments can
occur. In fact, the attachment of this
type of pigment to an anthocyanin
molecule imparts a blueing effect to
anthocyanin in some flowers, such as
a "blue" rose.
Since a large number of the fruits
and vegetables we eat are colored by
anthocyanins and carotenoids, it is
fortunate that both pigments are eas-
ily digested and metabolized. This is
not true for one unusual pigment in
the plant kingdom, betacyanin, the
red pigment in beets and other mem-
bers of the plant order Centrosper-
mae. Unlike anthocyanins, which
humans can easily digest and excrete
colorless, betacyanin can present a
problem. About 14 percent of the
population have a genetic disorder
that prevents their digestive systems
from breaking down betacyanin and
rendering it colorless. Following a
dinner of beets, a person with this dis-
order will pass red urine and stools.
Although this condition may appear
alarming, it is not serious.
In the plant world, a substance —
pigment or otherwise — is seldom
produced without a selective purpose
or function. As attractive as reds and
blues are to the human eye, they are
also inviting to other animals, which
points to one function of anthocyanin
coloring — the attraction of pollinat-
ing insects and birds. Bees, for ex-
ample, which can distinguish four
basic colors, are attracted first to blue
and secondly to white flowers or
flowers containing ultraviolet-
absorbing pigments. (A bee can
"see" the UV-absorbing pigment
color even in a red or blue flower.)
Color surveys of wild, insect-polli-
nated flowers in areas serviced by
bees show a predominance of blue
flowers, more than 50 percent of
which are colored by blue delph. And
in Europe, plant scientists have noted
a definite evolutionary trend toward
blue flowers.
Birds, on the other hand, are more
attracted to red than to blue. In tropi-
cal climates , birds are more important
than bees in flower pollination and red
flowers colored by pelar and cyan pre-
dominate. Bananaquits and hum-
mingbirds can be seen visiting the
Before leaves die in autumn, they
lose their chlorophyll, unmasking
bright reds and yellows. These
colors may also aid in protecting
the plant and in producing energy.
bright orange and scarlet-red flowers.
Also, birds are important agents for
seed dispersal from fruits, one reason
for the predominance of red-colored
fruits. Many other animals, including
mammals, are also attracted to red
and, by eating the fruits whole and
eliminating the seeds in far-removed
areas, play a role in seed dispersal.
In plants that are self -pollinated or
pollinated by means other than in-
sects or birds, anthocyanins are of
less importance and, indeed, are less
prevalent. Grasses, which are wind
pollinated, generally have incon-
spicuous flowers lacking in antho-
cyanins. Several self -pollinated flow-
ers also lack anthocyanin, although
the occurrence of the pigment in some
of these points to an ancestry of cross-
pollination by birds or bees.
As far as is known, pigment mole-
cules do not contribute to the smell
of flowers and fruits. Aroma is pro-
duced by small volatile molecules
that escape into the surrounding air
84
and reach olfactory senses at a dis-
tance. Since all pigments are large
molecules and thus nonvolatile, they
do not reach olfactory senses. Some
insects, however, may pick up the
molecules when they pierce the
flower or plant part and may be able
to detect the molecules by a combina-
tion of taste and smell. Certain pig-
ments could then attract the insect or
repel it from further action.
If anthocyanin coloring were lim-
ited to flowers and fruits, the explana-
tion of its functions as given above
might suffice; but anthocyanins are
also present in almost all green leaves
even when not visible. In the growth
cycle of most green leaves, the pres-
ence of red anthocyanin coloring is
evident at two times: during initial
budding and expansion, when the leaf
is tinged with red or purple, and dur-
ing senescence, when anthocyanin is
unmasked by the loss of leaf chloro-
phyll , leading to a pageant of reds and
maroons in autumn leaves. Cyan, the
form of anthocyanin responsible for
93 percent of all red leaf color, is also
the red pigment present in perma-
nently red leaves, such as the red
maple and the flowering plum.
Because it is present in so many
parts of so many plants, a single,
simple explanation for anthocyanin
function seems unlikely. The very
color of anthocyanin, red, may serve
to repel certain insects, especially
from tender budding leaves, just as it
attracts other insects to the flowers.
Also, there is currently some evi-
dence that anthocyanins play a role in
plant disease resistance, especially in
leaf and seed tissues. One recent
study on snap beans showed that red
or spotted varieties of bean seed were
more successful than white-seeded
varieties at warding off an attack by
fungus during germination. Unable to
produce anthocyanins, the white bean
is also unable to produce similar
chemical substances that protect
against fungi. The genetic pathways
to production of these substances and
anthocyanins are identical until the
final steps.
Many aspects of plant growth,
from the initiation of flowering to the
beginning of senescence and death,
are regulated by the quality and quan-
tity of sunlight. Possibly, any pig-
ment that interacts with light, absorb-
ing light energy , can act as a mediator
in some aspect of plant growth.
Chlorophyll absorbs light energy and
converts it into chemical energy.
Carotenoids absorb some ultraviolet
light and thus protect plant tissues
from ultraviolet damage. Perhaps
anthocyanins use the light energy
they absorb for purposes scientific in-
vestigation has yet to determine. The
presence of anthocyanin in so many
plants and in so many parts of a plant
suggests that it has some survival- or
selective value. The rainbow in the
garden reflects more than color, it re-
flects the life and survival of the
plants there. D
'~^"*««^p*^
Is Mars a Spaceship, Too?
by Lynn Margulis and James E. Lovelock
Even if the Viking mission tells
us little that we don't know,
the results will be interesting
One of the most ambitious and
costly scientific projects ever under-
taken will reach a critical stage this
summer when two American Viking
spacecraft enter Martian orbit. The
Viking mission, which currently em-
ploys some 4,000 persons, has been
under way since 1968.
Hopefully, the Viking landers will
descend through the thin atmosphere
and land softly on the red planet's
surface. If all goes well in this ex-
tremely complex and uncertain ex-
periment, the data should start
coming back in July. The remote
laboratories on the Martian surface-
equipped with a battery of ingenious
instrumentation— should send back
information for months, possibly for
more than a year.
The Viking mission has as a pri-
mary goal the answer to one basic
question: Is there life on Mars? A
NASA administrator put it less suc-
cinctly when he said, "Only through
comparative studies of other planets
and their evolution will man truly
begin to understand the forces which
shaped his own being and the world
in which he lives."
Ironically, for centuries we prob-
ably have had a rudimentary under-
standing of "the forces which shape"
life on a planetary scale, and our
knowledge has expanded with recent
findings in biochemistry, physics, and
paleontology. This understanding is
now known as the Gaia hypothesis
(from the Greek gaia, meaning
"earth"). If, as we believe, the Gaia
hypothesis is correct, then we al-
ready know the answer to the basic
question of the Viking mission.
The Gaia hypothesis states that
the lower atmosphere of the earth is
an integral, regulated, and necessary
part of life itself. For hundreds of
millions of years, life has controlled
the temperature, the chemical com-
position, the oxidizing ability, and the
acidity of earth's atmosphere.
The basic idea of the Gaia hypoth-
esis is not new. In 1664, Philip Jacob
Sachs de Lowenheimb used the wide-
ly accepted idea of water cycles be-
tween the heavens and earth as an
analogy to champion William Har-
vey's theory that blood cycles within
the human body. Today the theory of
blood circulation is an accepted fact,
but the significance of Sachs' analogy
for understanding life on earth is
barely appreciated. This may change
shortly, because the Viking mission
is, in effect, a test at a planetary level
of the Gaia hypothesis.
The earth's atmosphere is a blan-
ket of gas, about five miles high, in
contact with the oceans, lakes, and
rivers (the hydrosphere) and the
rocky lithosphere. It has a mass of
about 5,842,000 billion tons. The
mass of the oceans— the other major
fluid on the surface of the earth— is
almost a thousand times heavier.
Since the atmospheric mass corre-
sponds to less than a milHonth of the
mass of the earth as a whole, small
changes in the composition of the
solid earth should cause large changes
in the composition in the atmosphere;
yet the atmosphere seems to have re-
mained dynamically constant over
long periods of time.
Where do the components of at-
mospheres originate? Some, like
those of the outer planets Jupiter,
Uranus, and Neptune, may be re-
tained from the original gaseous
material of the solar system. The at-
mospheres of inner planets probably
formed from gaseous emissions of
magma and rocks during their early
history. The earth's atmosphere prob-
ably began to form from volatile
materials that were retained by gravi-
tational forces. The early history of
the atmospheres of our neighboring
planets. Mars and Venus, was prob-
ably similar to earth's. Although the
atmosphere of Mars is cold and thin
and that of Venus hot and dense,
both consist of qualitatively similar
elements.
In contrast, the atmosphere of the
earth is strikingly different, even
though it presumably shared a com-
mon history with its sister planets. It
is anomalous in its composition, es-
pecially in the amount of oxygen and
probably in its temperature. The
earth's lower atmosphere retains
measurable quantities of hydrogen
and hydrogen-rich gases, such as
methane and ammonia. These are
light and tend to escape into space.
This atmospheric hydrogen exists
with the powerful oxidizing agent
oxygen, and with methane and am-
monia. Yet oxygen is an agent of
their destruction. In fact, the entire
atmosphere of earth consists primar-
ily of nitrogen and oxygen— two ele-
ments that react with each other!
When hit by lightning or other
forms of energy, these elements tend
to form nitrate, a stable water-solu-
ble ion that, with the abundant quan-
tities of water around, ought to dis-
solve in the lakes, rivers, and oceans.
Once dissolved, the nitrate should
form nitrous and nitric acids, which
in turn should lower the pH to far
more acid values than the mildly
alkaline pH 8.2 observed in the
oceans today. If the Gaia hypothesis
is true, we should be able to find evi-
dence that this trend (predicted from
the rules of chemistry and, indeed,
observable on Venus with its hot
acidic surface) is actively counter-
acted on the earth. A maintenance
system, controlled by all organisms
and powered by a great deal of photo-
86
By courtesy of Ihe Wellcomo Trustees
The frontispiece of a 1664 work draws an analogy between blood
circulation in a body and water circulation in the atmosphere.
synthetically derived energy, regu-
lates the reducing gases, the acidity-
alkalinity balance, and many other
features of the earth's atmosphere.
The past history of the earth with
its extensive sedimentary record
(fraught, as it is, with uncertainties
in interpretation) provides some of
the most convincing proof for the ex-
istence of continued biological mod-
ulation. If one accepts the current
theories of stellar evolution, the sun,
being a typical "main sequence" star,
has substantially increased its output
of energy since the earth was formed
some 4.5 billion years ago. Some be-
lieve the sun has increased its output
as much as 100 percent; most astron-
omers accept an increase of at least
25 percent since the earth was
formed. Given solar radiation output
and radiative surface properties of
the planet, until about 2 billion years
ago either the atmosphere was differ-
ent (that is, contained more am-
monia) or the earth was frozen. The
most likely hypothesis is that the
earth's atmosphere contained up to
about one part in 100,000 ammonia,
a good absorber of the sun's infrared
radiation. Such absorbers let light
in, but not out, leading to an increase
in atmospheric temperatures. Other
potential "greenhouse" gases appar-
ently could not have compensated for
the expected lowered temperature
because they do not have the appro-
priate absorption spectra or would
have been required in far too large
quantities.
Atmospheric ammonia is rapidly
photodestroyed (on a geologic time
scale). However, ammonia was re-
quired to build amino acids, which
were needed for life to originate.
Good evidence exists for the pres-
ence of fossil life in the earliest sedi-
mentary rocks, some 3.4 billion years
ago. Therefore, ammonia must have
been produced continuously by
87
microorganisms since early in the
earth's history. There is no geologic
evidence that, since the beginning of
the earth's stable crust, the entire
earth has ever frozen solid or that the
oceans were volatilized. This suggests
that the temperature at the surface
has always been maintained between
the freezing and the boiling points of
water. Conditions have been continu-
ously moderate enough for organisms
ever since the biosphere came into
existence, more than 3 billion years
ago.
At least during the familiar pha-
nerozoic (the last 600 million years
of earth history for which an exten-
sive fossil record is available), one
can argue on paleontological grounds
alone that throughout every era the
earth has maintained tropical tem-
peratures at some place on the sur-
face and that the composition of the
atmosphere, at least with respect to
molecular oxygen, could not have
deviated markedly. That is, there are
no documented cases of any multi-
cellular animals or green plants (out
of about 3 million species) that can
complete their life cycles in the total
absence of oxygen.
All animals and green plants are
composed of cells that divide by
mitosis. The mitotic cell division it-
self requires oxygen. Thus it is highly
unlikely that current concentrations
of oxygen have fallen much below
their present values in some hundreds
of milhons of years. Furthermore,
since concentrations of atmospheric
oxygen only a few percent higher
than we now have lead to combustion
of organic matter, including grass-
lands and forests, the most reason-
able assumption is that the oxygen
level of the atmosphere has remained
relatively constant for long time pe-
riods.
Soils are made and lithified into
sedimentary rocks. The formation of
soil involves weathered rock particles
interacting with communities of gas-
exchanging microorganisms. Typical
sedimentary rocks are known from
the last 2 billion years to the present.
This implies that oxygen and the
other reactive gases have been main-
tained at stable atmospheric concen-
trations for time periods that are very
long relative to their residence times.
(Residence time is the time it takes
for the concentration of gas to fall to
37 percent of its value; it may be
thought of as "turnover time.")
How can these observations, which
go against the rules of chemistry and
physics, be consistently reconciled?
The answer is incessant balanced
production and removal by life— in
other words, Gaia. Even though the
absolute amounts of these gases may
be very different during the history
of the biosphere, the fluxes are re-
markably similar. These reactive
gases are produced and removed at
similar rates. They are formed and
used up primarily by nonhuman bio-
logical processes. Nearly all of them
are produced and removed at a rate
of hundreds of thousands of tons per
year. This extensive gas exchange in-
volves mainly the structurally most
simple microorganisms, bacteria and
blue-green algae. These rapidly grow-
ing and dividing masters of the micro-
biological world make up in chemical
complexity and metabolic virtuosity
what they lack in advanced morphol-
ogy.
Precambrian microfossils suggest
that microorganisms played a similar
role in biogeochemical processes in
the past as they do now. Current stud-
ies of their physiology suggest that
they have an ancient history. The
production and release of molecular
Some of Gaia's Mechanisms for Controlling the Atmosphere
Property Controlled Method of Control
Temperature Absorption and reflection of visible
light and infrared radiation by
earth's surface.
Temperature
Cloud cover by release of water
into atmosphere.
Temperature
Absorption and reflection of visible
light by earth's atmosphere.
Temperature
Absorption of infrared radiation in
the atmosphere.
Temperature
Circulation and heat transfer
within the atmosphere.
PH
Titration of sulfuric and
nitric acids.
pH
Direct.
pH
Removal of carbonic acid.
Oxidation state
Gases released or consumed.
Possible Biological Mechanisms
Physiological control of plant pigments; shadow casting, soil
formation, change of surface textures; darkening by uptake
of water; lichen, algal and moss cover of rocks; trapping and
precipitation of sediments such as limestone, carbon black,
iron sulfides.
Plant transpiration; effect evaporation by excretion of lipid
and detergent coatings on water surfaces; bacterial and algal
scums and slimes on water.
Emission of dust and aerosol precursors, such as terpenes,
sulfur gases, ammonia; excrete salt particles that form from
acid and base precipitates.
Emission and removal of infrared-absorbing gases, such as
NHs, CO2, H2O.
Water evaporation and transpiration; emission of nitrous
oxide and chlorinated compounds that could modify ozone
layer denitrifying bacteria.
Control emissions from ammonia sources.
Some organisms excrete acids and bases (lactic, acetic, uric,
nitric, and so on).
CO2 removal by blue-green algae catalyzes calcium
carbonate deposits.
Photosynthesis, respiration, bacterial production of
hydrogen, methane, hydrogen sulfide.
oxygen into the atmosphere seems to
have been an extremely important
environmental determinant in the
evolution of many forms of life. Dur-
ing the early period of the develop-
ment of life 3.4 billion years ago, the
earth teemed with oxygen-intolerant
microbes. While these organisms
would be termed primitive today,
they performed a wide range of meta-
bolic processes and were probably
capable of greatly modifying the
lower atmosphere. About 2 billion
years ago, a group of microbes, the
blue-green algae, were almost cer-
tainly responsible for the original
change to oxygen-containing atmo-
sphere.
We have tabulated some of the
many possible tricks organisms have
that may be mechanisms of regula-
tion. We can do more than this,
for although we see a phenomenon
(the regulated atmosphere) we can
only guess at the mechanisms of reg-
ulation. It is comparable to our orig-
inal analogy: one can certainly show
that temperature, salts, and bicarbo-
nate ion in the blood are regulated
without having the faintest idea of
how the temperature and composi-
tion are kept constant. But like the
blood physiologists, we begin to
search for reasonable mechanisms
that seem to be keeping the system
in homeostatic balance in spite of
many threatening perturbations.
Gaia probably circulates certain
biologically critical elements— acids
and bases, molecular oxygen, nitro-
gen and carbon and their compounds,
sulfur and its compounds, and some
others— in the atmosphere. We think
microbial gas exchange is mainly in-
volved in the circulation processes.
The nonhuman biological contribu-
tion is generally far larger than the
human contribution to both the
"sources" (where the gases come
from) and the "sinks" (where the
gases are removed to). Sinks include
reactions with surface rocks, removal
by respiratory processes of organ-
isms, and other resting places for
gases removed from the atmosphere.
The cycling times for these major
biological elements must be short be-
cause biological growth is based on
continual cell division, which requires
the doubling of cell masses in periods
of time that are generally less than
months and, typically, days or hours.
On lifeless planets there is no partic-
ular reason to expect this phenome-
non of atmospheric cycling, and on
THIS OLD IRON GATE is the closest iron
will ever get to the water we use for making
Jack Daniel's Whiskey.
Our limestone cave spring runs at 56° year-round
and is completely free of iron. That's w^hy
Jack Daniel built his distillery right alongside it
in 1866. And v^hy folks from neighboring
counties still bring jugs to our Hollow and haul
water home for making
coffee. You see, Jack Daniel
always said iron was
murderous to the taste
of sippin' whiskey. And
from what our neighbors
report, it doesn't do coffee
a speck of good either.
CHARCOAL
MELLOWED
6
DROP
6
BY DROP
Tennessee Whiskey • 90 Proof • Distilled and Bottled by Jack Daniel Distillery
Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc., Lynchburg (Pop. 361), Tennessee 37352
Placed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Government.
ARCHAEOLOGY TOUR
TO MEXICO
January 8 to January 29, 1977
Conducted by
AMERICAN MUSEUM
F NATURAL HISTORY
A trip to see the most recent excavations of famous arcliaeological ruins
in Mexico. The past splendor of ancient pyramids and great temples at
IVialinaico, Tula, Santa Cecilia, Cholula, Tenayuca, TIalteloIco and Teo-
tihuacan. The hilltop city of Xochicaico, and Teopanzoico near Cuerna-
vaca, and Mitia, Monte Alban and Yagul in the Oaxaca area. Collections
in the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City and the treasure from Tomb
7 in the Oaxaca Museum will be studied. Led by C. Bruce Hunter, Lec-
turer in Archaeology at the Museum.
For further information call or write for Brochure B, Dept. of Education, The
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New
York, N.Y. 10024.
An "impressive, ...quite
fascinating,... invaluable"*
last look at the legends of
a culture only recently
emerged from the Stone Age.
721^
i^^S-^
Illuminating this rare volume are
167 exquisite bark paintings and
carved figures photographed in
color and black and white— many
of which have been exhibited in
museums across the country.
$18.95
TIME BEFORE
MORNING
Art and Myth of the
Australian Aborigines
ByLOaiSA.ALLEN
'PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
tllT.Y.
^ New
CROWELL
BUSHNELL 7x35 CUSTOM
Mfg. List $169.50 Postpaid $94.50
This is an example of the deep discount prices on high
quality optics that is found in our FREE catalog. This
catalog lists and illustrates an outstanding selection
of telephoto lens, telescopes, binoculars etc., plus
valuable infomnation on how to properly select them.
Write for it today.
GIL HEBARD OPTICS
COURTHOUSE SQ., KNOXVILLE, ILL. 61448
IffilANTIOCH/NEW ENGLAND
IS ACCEPTING Summer and Fall applications
for its 15 month Masters Program in Environ-
mental Studies. The program offers an experien-
tial and personalized approach to environmental
education. Students plan with their advisors a
program utilizing internships concurrent with
riela and academic work.
Graduates are working in public and private
schools, enviromnental education centers, re-
gional planning commissions, and state and
local enviroimiental agencies.
— program offers teacher certification.
— Financial aid is available — in form of in-
ternships, some stipended loans and work-study
grants.
Contact: Antioch/New England
MST Admissions
One Elm St.
Keene, NH 03431
603-357-3122
the earth it is not expected that gases
of elements that do not enter metabo-
lism as either metabolites or poisons
will cycle rapidly.
Because biological solutions to
problems tend to be varied, redun-
dant, and complex, the mechanisms
of atmospheric homeostasis probably
involve complex feedback loops.
Since, for example, no volatile form
of phosphorus has ever been found
in the atmosphere, and since this ele-
ment is present in the nucleic acids of
all organisms, we are considering the
possibility that the volatile form of
phosphorus at present is totally "bio-
logically particulate." This possibility
is strengthened by the observation
that the decaying bodies of salmon
that migrate upstream to Alaskan
lakes provide the limiting phosphorus
for the algae growing in these lakes.
It is these same algae whose growth
provides food for next year's crop of
young salmon. In this case, the nu-
cleic acid and other cellular phos-
phates of migrating salmon can be
considered the "volatile" form of the
precious element phosphorus.
The earth's anomalous atmosphere
can be best understood by the idea
that it is a regulated integral part of
the surface biology. Mars and Venus
serve as the sterile, nonbiological
planetary controls. If there is life on
Mars, and if the Gaia hypothesis is
correct, then our remote sensors
should have picked up atmospheric
anomalies there. They have not. We
suspect the Viking landers will find
no signs of life on the planet's surface
either.
Failure of the Viking mission to
find life on Mars will not prove the
existence of Gaia, but it will add sup-
port to the hypothesis. Most scien-
tific experiments are designed to dis-
prove a hypothesis; when they fail
the hypothesis is thereby strength-
ened. At great cost and effort, a rare
planetary experiment for the Gaia
hypothesis is now speeding toward a
conclusion.
Given its atmosphere of a thin
blanket of carbon dioxide, a little
water vapor, perhaps argon, and a
total absence of incompatible gases,
we think that Saturday nights on
Mars are not too lively. This summer
we shall see.
Lynn Margulis teaches biology at
Boston University; James E. Love-
lock is a research physicist at Bower-
chalke, Wiltshire, England.
The American Museum of Natural History presents the
ERIC SLOANE COLLECTION
of beautiful, hardcover editions for /Vniericaiia-pliiles
who feci it's not only nostal/^ic — but important l«j remember.
ERIC SLOANE... Historian
artist. In his research, Eric
Sloane develops "a strong
affinity for the man" who
made the actual objects of
early America. He recreates
for future generations the
craftsmanship and artistry
that is part of our country's
memories and traditions.
.*^-:
A. I Remember America
An outspoken defense of our
natural and national heritage by
one who passionately remembers
the American landscape as it used
to be. Eric Sloane's recollections
(illus. by 37 color paintings, 80
drawings) carry his hopes for
rebirth of our country in the future.
$24.00
B. The Seasons of America Past
A year-full of past American seasons
from planting to growing to fence-
building to stump-pulling to strawberry
celebrations. Each phase of the moon
had its own seasonal meanings, too.
Brings life back-to-our-roots, helped by
the author's pen-and-ink drawings and
4 color pages. $9.00
C. American Yesterday
The author explores the craftsmanship
of bygone sawyers, nailers, plum-
bummen, wheelwrights, drovers,
dowsers. Sloane's extraordinary anec-
dotes and highly skilled drawings are
so relevant, they should evoke a deep
call for the quality of workmanship of
yesteryear. $8.50
D. American Barns and
Covered Bridges
Mr. Sloane resourcefully sketches with
both pen and words, America's fast-
vanishing barns and covered bridges.
Cannibalized for their fine old beams,
they're preserved here just as the pio-
neers built them, in drawings and
descriptions of uncommon skill. $8.50
Order Now to Expand your Bicentennial Library !
AMERICAN MUSEUM MEMBERS,
PLEASE TAKE 10% DISCOUNT.
E. The Cracker Barrel
Fifty-four views of American life that
might have come from around a pot-
bellied stove. Told with charm, illus.
with line drawings that are droll, sage,
even wicked. Subjects include hex
signs, divining rods, rebus puzzles,
language origins, apple butter. $11.00
AViERicAfi:
^ A BoYr
F. Diary of an Early
American Boy
The small leather-bound, wood-backed
book found in an ancient house, the
diary of Noah Blake in his fifteenth
year in 1805, is here reproduced and
augmented by Sloane's comments and
pen-and-ink drawings about Noah's
nail-making, shingle-splitting, bridge-
building and ink-making. $9.00 '
G. AN AGE OF BARNS $17.00
H. RETURN TO TAOS $9.00
L LOOK AT THE SKY AND TELL THE WEATHER
J. OUR VANISHING LANDSCAPE $8.50
K. THE SECOND BARREL $9.00
L. A MUSEUM OF EARLY AMERICAN TOOLS $9.00
M. A REVERENCE FOR WOOD $9.00
$10.00
NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
Dept. B812,Box5123
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me the books I have
circled for which I enclose my
personal check or money order
for $
€
B. C. D.
ALLOW 4-6 WKS. FOR DELIVER
F. G. H. I. J. K. L. I
(please print)
ADDRESS
CITY_
-ZIP.
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon The sun moves through the stars of Taurus until June
20. when it enters Gemini just before passing through the summer sol-
stice. It stays in Gemini until Jul}' 20 and then enters the constellation
Cancer. Its northerh- position at this time of year gives us our longest
days and greatest insolation, or received solar radiation. The earliest
sunrise of the year is on Jtme 13: the latest sunset is on Jtme 26; and
the earth is at aphelion, fanhest from the sun. on July 2. The arrival
of the sun at the summer solstice at 1:24 a.m. . EST. on Jtme 21 marks
the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
In June, first-quarter moon is on the 5th. full moon on the 11th,
last-quarter on the 19th. and new moon on the 27th. In July, first-quarter
moon is on the 4th. full moon on the 11th. last-quarter on the 19th.
and new moon on the 26th. The moon will be at first-quarter again on
August 2 and fuU on August 9. Perigee. \"»,-here the moon is nearest to
earth, is on Jtilv 6 and Julv 3 1 . Aposee. farthest from earth, is on June
21 and July 19.
Stars and Planets No planets are shown among the stars on our evening
Star Map for these months, even though four of them v^dll be in the
e\'ening sk}- for aU or pan of the period. The reason is that all four wiO
be so low in the west at stmdo\%Ti that, by the time it grows dark enough
to see the evening stars of the map . the planets will have set. Two of
them. Saturn, in Cancer, and Mars. mo\ing from Cancer into Leo, will
be easUy seen 10%%* in the west at dusk. In June and early July Sattim
is the brighter. Jupiter, in _Aries. is the only planet well placed for
^ie^^^ng. Rising about midnight or earlier, it dominates the earh- morn-
ing sk\' in the east or southeast tiU dawn.
Jtme 15: Mercur\- is at greatest \',esterly elongation, but poorly located
as a morning star.
June 1": \'enus is at superior conjunction, in tine with but be%"ond
the stm. and enters the evening sk}'.
June 23-24: Watch the moon pass from right to left of Jupiter from
the morning of the 23rd to the 24th.
July 1 : Mars can be seen to the right of the moon tonight. The brighter
star to the left is Regulus. in Leo.
July 4—5: The bright star near the moon is Spica, in Virgo.
July 5: Uranus can be easily found with binoculars or a telescope.
about 1" above the moon.
July 15: MercuT}". in superior conjunction, enters the evening sks'.
July 20-21 : Jupiter is near the moon from shortiy after midnight ttU
dawn on both these nishts. Mars is above the moon the niaht of the
21st.
July 28: The Delta Aquarid meteors reach maximtim (up to 20 per
hour but not ver%^ bright).
Julv 29: Saturn is in conjunction with the stm and enters the morning
sk}-.
August 1 : Spica is near the moon tonight.
August ~: \"enus is becoming \isible as an evening star.
August 10-13: Watch for the Perseid meteors on any of these dates
from midnight imtil dawn. The best time will be early morning of the
12th. shortly after the shower reaches maximtim. when you may see
up to 50 meteors per hour, many of them quite bright.
*Hold the Star Map so ihe compass direction you face is at the bottom: then
match the stars in the lower half of the map with those in the skj' near the horizon.
The map is for 12:20 a.m. on Jtme 15; 11:20 p.m. on June 30; 10:25 p.m.
on July 15; 9:20 p.m. on July 31: and 8:20 p.m. on August 15; but it can also
be used for an hour before and after those times.
Helmut Wimmer
Sky Reporter
The Venusian Surface
by S. I. Rasool
Data from soft landings
on Venus have raised
new questions concerning
the planet's history
Seven years ago I wrote a full-
length article for Natural History en-
titled "Venus, Star of Sweet Confi-
dences" (June-July 1969). The
piece, which discussed what had just
then been learned about Venus from
U.S. and Soviet spacecraft missions
to that planet, ended with the sen-
tence: "One [planet — the earth] de-
veloped into a prolific haven for life,
the other [Venus] into a sterile, life-
less inferno."
In the last seven years, Venus has
been visited by seven more spacecraft
(six Soviet and one United States).
All were successful in achieving their
objectives and sent back a great deal
of useful data. From these missions
and earth-based telescopes we have
learned that the surface of Venus,
both in daytime and at night, remains
simmering hot at about SOOT; the at-
mosphere is 100 times denser than
that of the earth and is full of noxious
carbon dioxide; and the planet has a
heavy layer of clouds that may con-
tain droplets of sulfuric acid. We
have also found that Venus not only
rotates backward (west to east) but
revolves so slowly that one rotation
takes 246 earth days. At the same
time, in the upper reaches of the Ve-
nusian atmosphere, winds may rage
at speeds exceeding 200 knots. These
bizarre findings have whetted the in-
tellectual appetite of planetary scien-
tists to such an extent that an entire
American space mission, made up of
probes and orbiters, is now being spe-
cifically conceived and instrumented
to answer some of the questions they
raise. However, every time I talk
about this high level of space activity
concerning Venus, I am almost in-
variably asked. Why so much interest
in Venus when it is a hot, sterile
planet?
Let me try to answer this question.
The principal reason for the scientific
interest in Venus is precisely the fact
that it is such an exceptionally hot
planet. The problem becomes even
more intriguing when we consider
some other facts: Venus is almost ex-
actly the same size and mass as the
earth, it is located at about the same
place in the solar system as the earth
(being our closest planetary neigh-
bor), and Venus and the earth proba-
bly formed at the same time and from
the same mix of material as all the
other planets. If Venus is made of the
same material as the earth, is not
much closer to the sun, and has ap-
proximately the same size and mass,
why is its temperature close to SOOT
while that on the earth averages a
comfortable 60°F?
This fundamental question is re-
lated to the general problems of what
controls the temperature on the sur-
face of a planet? what determines the
climatic change? and how stable is
the earth's climate in the face of man-
made pollution?
As we slowly progress in our ex-
perimentation and measurements on
Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and the earth,
we are beginning to probe deeper into
the mysteries of climate. We have
learned that the angle of the sun's
rays, which determine summer and
winter on the earth, may be entirely
unimportant in the climate of Venus.
Even the day-to-night differences in
temperature that we are so used to on
the earth may be nonexistent on
Venus, despite the fact that the sun
shines over the same side of Venus
This photograph of Venus,
the first close-up of the
surface of another planet
ever taken, was made by the
Russian spacecraft Venera 9
on October 22, 1975.
you want our jf
utnoto
tliTr
The sculpture above was carved in the 8th century in Ellora. We've a
5000-year-oicl pastdistilled in stone and marble and pigment.
A stupendous show.
But to really discover India, you have to be open to the daily life around
you. The best way is to share our everyday experiences. At a camel fair in
Pushkar On the Taj Express. At a bazaar in Old Delhi. A tea shop in Jaipur
A dance recital in Madras. Whenever And, of course, come to our homes,
share our curhes, listen to our stories, tell us yours [in English; it's our
second language].
Meet us halfway and you'll see; India will repay you more than any land
on earth (ask those who've been here).
By the way the trip needn't be expensive. Everything costs less in India.
•)f*:ic*:ic*^*:i(*%*^'*'^*^*^*^*4:*^4'iic*^
India
It sounds like India is for me.
Please send me your brochures.
Address-
City
My Travel Agent is_
Government of India Tourist Office
201 N, Mictiigan Ave , Ctiicago. Ill 60601
685 Market St.. San Francisco, Cat 94105
Royal Trust Tower Dominion Center Toronto. Canada
4t'*Hi*H:*iit*^*^*ik*ik*ik*ik*H:*ilii*H:*ii:*^
for 118 consecutive days. What,
then, controls the climate of Venus?
The answer lies in the chemistry of
the planet's atmosphere: the Venu-
sian atmosphere is about 100 percent
CO2, while the earth's atmosphere is
mainly nitrogen and oxygen.
A carbon dioxide atmosphere has
the special property of letting sunlight
penetrate to a planet's surface, but not
letting the heat escape. In much the
same way as the glass cover of a
greenhouse keeps the plants warm, an
atmosphere made of CO2 can heat up
a planetary surface to a higher tem-
perature than would normally be
achieved by direct sunlight. Theoret-
ically, this mechanism can explain
Venus 's measured high temperature
of SOOT, about 600°F higher than it
would be if Venus had an earth-type
atmosphere. In practice, however,
many of us have had difficulty in ac-
cepting this theory because the actual
situation on Venus appears to be quite
different from a simple, pure carbon
dioxide atmosphere.
Venus is known to have an ex-
tended cloud cover, so permanent in
nature that never in the long history
of telescopic observations have any
of the planet's surface features been
seen. Even the highly sensitive TV
cameras of NASA's Mariner 10
spacecraft, which in 1974 passed by
Venus at a distance of about 4,000
miles, could only delineate patterns
in the clouds, but nothing below.
From a variety of techniques, includ-
ing earth-based radar, precise track-
ing of various Mariner spacecraft on
their passage close to Venus, and the
measurements made by the Soviet
probes, we have been able to con-
clude that the surface of Venus lies
about forty miles below the cloud
tops visible from earth. But such
questions as the following remain:
What are the clouds made of? Do they
extend all the way down to the
planet's surface or do they exist only
as a layer a few thousand feet thick
like the cloud cover on the earth?
What are the optical properties of the
clouds? Does any sunlight filter
through them and reach the surface?
This last question is of paramount im-
portance if the theory of the green-
house effect is to explain the high
temperature of Venus.
Some scientists have argued that
no sunlight reaches the ground of
Venus and that the planet's surface is
shrouded in perpetual darkness. Their
reasoning is as follows: first, we
know that Venus has a substantial
cloud cover; second, the atmosphere
itself is a hundredfold more dense
than the atmosphere of the earth; and
lastly, even if the clouds do not ex-
tend down to the ground, there must
be enough dust and "hot vapors" in
the lower atmosphere to effectively
screen the sunlight from the surface.
Other scientists have argued that
the cloud cover may be thin or "bro-
ken" and the lower atmosphere pure
enough to permit some diffuse sun-
light to reach the surface. The propo-
nents of a dark Venus had trouble ex-
plaining the high temperature at the
surface and they invoked complicated
dynamic processes in the atmosphere
for the transfer of solar heat from the
cloud level to the ground.
Soviet scientists seem to have been
particularly interested in this prob-
lem. They included a light meter on
a Venera probe that soft-landed on
Venus in 1972 and reported that about
0. 1 percent of the sunlight reaching
Venus does penetrate down to the
planet's surface. Intensive scientific
discussion followed on how accurate
these measurements were and what
they mean in terms of the thermal
structure of Venus 's atmosphere.
The Soviets pursued this intriguing
measurement further and equipped
their subsequent Venera probes with
cameras. Not sure whether the light
level would be high enough for pic-
ture taking, the probes carried artifi-
cial illimiination. On October 22,
1975 , Venera 9 soft-landed on Venus
and transmitted the first close-up of
the surface of another planet ever to
be seen by a human eye. Three days
later Venera 10 landed about 1,500
miles from its sister spacecraft and
sent back another picture. These two
photographs are probably the single
most important achievement of the
entire Soviet planetary exploration
program.
What do these pictures tell us about
Venus? First of all the Venera 9 pic-
ture of the surface contained surprises
that have made planetary scientists
reconsider their concepts of Venus.
At a temperature of 800°F and under
an atmospheric pressure of 1,400
pounds per square inch, it was as-
sumed that rocks would long since
have eroded away. What we see in the
Venera 9 picture is precisely the op-
posite: abundant piles of sharp-edged
rocks. Soviet scientists have inter-
preted this to mean that the terrain
shown in the picture is geologically
not very old. Some say that the
spacecraft landed on a mountain
slope and the rocks may be fresh
products of recent volcanic activity.
The Venera iO picture reveals a land-
scape more like the one we expected
to find on Venus — a smooth surface
and gentle slopes with the depres-
sions covered with fine-grained soil.
In addition to taking pictures, the
landers measured the density and
chemistry of the Venus surface. Data
from these experiments show that the
rocks may be basaltic, thus indicating
that both the earth and Venus may
have crusts made of volcanic material
ejected from the interior.
Unfortunately, there is still confu-
sion over whether the photographs
were made in natural solar light or
taken by the artificial illumination
that was available on the spacecraft
but, according to the fiffst reports, was
not used. If the pictures were made
in solar light, how can we explain an
intensity and directionality high
enough to produce sharp shadows?
On the other hand, if the floodlights
on the spacecraft were used, why do
the shadows point toward the
spacecraft rather than away from it?
We hope some of these questions
will soon be answered. But the funda-
mental question of why Venus be-
came such a sterile planet and the
earth a life-bearing one remains the
most puzzling one in the planetary
sciences. The answer will come only
when we are able to reconstruct the
history of planetary surfaces and their
atmospheres. The American Viking
spacecraft that are scheduled to land
on Mars in early July will attempt to
determine whether life ever evolved
there. An entire U.S. orbiter-probe
mission — Pioneer — is currently
being designed for launch to Venus
in 1978 in order to make precise mea-
surements of the state of the Venusian
atmosphere. Accurate measurements
of its composition can be used to re-
construct the gross history of a plane-
tary atmosphere.
As we enter the next decade,
spacecraft will probe Jupiter with the
same techniques. Each one of these
measurements is a small piece of the
big jigsaw puzzle: How did life on
earth originate and what is the place
of the earth in the universe? Hope-
fully, the pieces will soon begin to
fall in place.
An authority on planetary atmos-
pheres, S. I. Rasool is chief scientist
in the Office of Space Sciences at
NASA headquarters in Washington,
D.C.
96
ALUXURYSEDAN BASED ON THE BELIEF
THAT ALL OF THE RICH ARE NOT IDLE.
;e the time of the
sars, the inspiration for
carriages of the gentry
been the blatant,
ridled, unabashed pur-
'it of opulence.
Opulence often to the
exclusion of all else: per-
formance, efficiency, engi-
neering intelligence.
50 70 mph 5 9 seronds high speed
passing acceleration borders on the bril-
liant," the editors of Motor Trend
magazine.
Even today one sees
occasional evidence of this
misguided sense of priorities
—this basic misunderstand-
ing of what it is that consti-
tutes true luxury.
Opera windows that
obscure vision. Mammoth
engines pulling mammoth
cars. Interiors fashioned
more along the lines of a
Persian Pleasure Palace
than a serious driving
machine. Cars made pri-
marily for sitting.
At the Bavarian
MotorWorksit has
always been our conten-
tion that a car ought to
be made primarily for
driving.That when all is
said and done, extraor-
dinary performance is
the only thing that
makes an expensive car
worth the money.
And, in this age of
automotive enlighten-
ment, we believe our
time has come.
POWER TO SAT-
ISFY EVEN THE MOST
POWER HUNGRY,
Beneath the hood
oftheBMW530iisa
singularly
responsive 3-1 iter, fuel-
injected engine that has been
called by no less an authority
than Road & Track magazine
"...the most refined in-line
six in the world."
Patented triple-hemi-
spheric, swirl-action com-
bustion chambers develop
remarkable power from
relatively small
displacement.
And seven main
bearings and twelve
crankshaft counter-bal-
ance weights give the
whole operation a tur-
bine-like smoothness
that never ceases to
astound even the experts.
THE MAN WHO
CONTROLS CORPORA-
TIONS OUGHT TO BE
ABLE TO CONTROL HIS
OWN CAR.
If you're accus-
tomed to the leaning and
swaying one experiences
in the conventional lux-
ury sedan, you will
thoroughly appreciate
the uncanny road hold-
The700Ft. Slalom Test, designed
by Road & Track magazine to
measure lane changing capabilities.
BMW ran the course at a remarkable
51.6 mph.
ing capabilities
oftheBMW530i.
Road holding— driver
control — is largely a func-
tion of a car's suspension
system.
And, to be a bit blunt,
BMW gives you a superior
suspension system. Instead
of the "solid-rear-axle" sys-
tems found in all domestic—
and many foreign— sedans,
the BMW suspension is f ul ly
Results of the :«5oi.jrTrer...) .rooFt.
CircleTesfclearly Miuslratethe
superior road holding abilities of the
BMW. At .82g BMW was still on the
road, other makes were not.
independent on all four
wheels.
And this, combined with
a multi-jointed rear axle,
allows each wheel to adapt
itself independently to every
driving and road condition—
with a smoothness and preci-
sion that wi 1 1 spoi I you for
any other car.
•n
A DECIDED LACK OF
OPERA WINDOW OPULENCE.
While inside, the BMW
530i features as long a list of
uxury items as one could
sanely require of an automo-
bile, its luxury ispurpose-
" nodelectatjie b'Pn cf (brat-e) fade.
The more and harder they're used, the
stronger they seem to get/'The editors of
Motor Trend sum up the results of their
rigorous multipfe-stop brake test
fully engineered to perform a
very significant function:
help prevent driver fatigue.
All seats have an ortho-
pedically molded shape.
Individual seats are adjust-
able forward and back— with
variable-angle seat back and
cushion supports.
All instruments are
clearly visible; all controls
are readily accessible.
For many serious
drivers in all parts of the
world, the BMW 5301 has
redefined the meaning of the
word "luxury" to encompass
something more than a thin
veneer of brocade and
chrome.
If you'd care to judge for
yourself, we urge you to
phone your BMW
dealer and arrange,
to take a thorough
test drive.
The ultimate driving mocliine.
Bavarian Motor Works. Munich. Germany.
all us anytime, toll-free, at 800-243-6006 (Conn. 1-800-882-6500)- Fog lamps, dealer installed option.
Dannoii\bgurt.
If you doift always eat right,
if s the right thing to eat.
Every day, millions of people
give up eating. For snacking.
Well, if you find yourself doing
more eating on the run than at a
table, make sure you're eating
Dannon Yogurt.
Our label shows you that
Dannon is high in protein, calcium and other things
nutritionists say are good for you.
It also shows that, unlike so many snack foods,
Dannon is low in fat, contains no starch, no gelatin or
other thickeners. And none of those hard-to-
pronounce additives. Because Dannon Yogurt is
100% natural. Not just "natural fiavor," but natural
everything. No artificial anything.
Dannon is reasonable in calories, too. Especially
when you consider how satisfying and nutritious it is.
What's more, Dannon gives you the benefits of
yogurt cultures.They make yogurt one of the easiest
foods to digest, and have been credited with other
healthful properties too.
Oddly enough, not all yogurts have any yogurt
cultures to speak of. In some brands— mainly pre-
mixed or Swiss Style — the cultures are often
deactivated by the processing.
We created a whole culture of yogurt lovers.
Dannon outsells all other brands. For a number
of good reasons.
For example, we go out of our way to get the
best natural ingredients: to Eastern Europe
for strawberries, to the West Coast for
boysenberries, and we go to
Canada for blueberries. (Maybe
the reason that other yogurts
don't come close to the taste of
Dannon is that other yogurt
^ makers don't go quite as far.)
And it's the yogurt delivered
direct to your store "from Dannon to dairycase." So if
it tastes fresher, that's because it is fresher.
Dieters aren't the only people who are
big on Dannon!
Today almost everybody's eating Dannon. It
makes a quick, delicious breakfast, a light but filling
lunch, and of course you can't beat it as a high
nutrition dessert or snack. Spoon it out of the cup as
is, or mix with cottage cheese, fresh fruit, peanut
butter, honey, or what-have-you.
A suggestion for beginners: since plain
yogurt may be a bit tart, start with Dannon fruit
yogurts— strawberry blueberry red raspberry, and
others.
For more facts, including some unexpectedly
delicious ways to eat Dannon, write for our booklet,
"Yogurt and You." It's free.
If you are a dieter, by all means write for our
487page guide, "Dieting, Yogurt and Common Sense."
Just send 250 for postage and handling to Dannon,
22-U 38th Avenue, Long Island City New York UlOl.
It win give you more reasons why Dannon is
the right thing to eat— whether you are
counting calories or not.
Books in Review
by Spencer Klaw
The Case of the Counterfeit Mice
The Patchwork Mouse; Politics
AND Intrigue in the Campaign to
Conquer Cancer, by Joseph Hix-
son. Anchor Press/Doubleday .
$7.95; 228 pp.
Some years ago I received a letter
from a gifted young biologist who
was just finishing up his work as a
graduate student at Berkeley, and
with whom I had been talking about
the kind of career he wanted to make
for himself. In the letter he explained
why he didn't want to be just a re-
searcher, but to teach as well. "I
think the instincts that lead a sensitive
researcher to share his knowledge
with others," he wrote, "and to test
his thinking by dialogue with stu-
dents, are certainly sharpened by a
desire to retreat from the aspects of
research, as it is presently practiced,
that are antagonistic to the 'true' spirit
of creative investigation — these be-
ing, primarily, publication without
thorough investigation, covetousness
of experimental data and ideas, and
preoccupation with prestige."
This letter was written in 1966.
toward the end of a golden age for
American science. Radar, penicillin,
and, above all, the atom bomb had
ushered in an era when scientists were
seen (and often saw themselves) as
holding the keys to national power
and prosperity. To be sure, this strik-
ing change in the status of scientists,
who had not previously figured very
highly in the calculations of business-
men or generals or politicians, tended
to corrupt science in the ways that my
young friend found so depressing.
But this corruption was to some ex-
tent contained or olTsel by the gener-
osity with which American politi-
cians were ready to lay out money to
support the purest of pure research.
In those days almost any reasona-
bly talented young physicist or chem-
ist or molecular biologist could get
such money as he needed to support
whatever line of inquiry he chose to
pursue. And he could get it without
having to claim that he was laying the
ground for the swift production of a
new miracle drug or miracle weapon.
Einstein hadn't been trying to invent
the bomb when he worked out his
famous equation, and scientists ar-
gued that the pursuit of knowledge for
its own sake would, in time, pay off
handsomely in practical results. Sci-
entists had. of course, been saying
Insta-Focus lets
you focus inatsatly.
Bushnell's unique Insta-Focus lets you get a clean,
sharp view instantly. And Bushnell's superior optics
give you every feather and feature in a clean
definition.
Bushnell binoculars are the perfect binoculars for
birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts. Good for any
other fast-moving action, too.Thaf's probably why
they are the number one selling binoculars in
America. See them at department stores, camera
and sporting goods stores everywhere. For a free
catalog write: Bushnell Optical Company, Dept.
NH08, Pasadena, California 91107.
Bushnell
Division of Bauscti & Lomb
the Innovators^
Offices in Tokyo, Vancouver B.C. and deaiers \Y\e worid over.
99
Introducing the first
totally new thesaurus
in 120 years.
(Sters
Collegiate
'Xliesaurus
Moretnan 'delated and =° ,,,,,on at e*;.
Thesauruses have not changed
significantly for over a century; most
are merely rearrangements of Roget's
work, first published in 1852. Now
there is a totally new and different
thesaurus that will guide you quickly
to the precise word you want. It's
easier to use, more comprehensive
and more authoritative than any exist-
ing thesaurus. Webster's Collegiate
Thesaurus does what a thesaurus
should have done a long time ago.
• It contains more than 100,000
synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic
phrases, related words and contrasted
words to choose from.
• Its alphabetical arrangement and
the absence of complicated cross-
indexes make word-finding fast
and easy.
• It provides a concise definition
after each main entry that takes the
guesswork out of word selection.
• It presents a brief verbal illustra-
tion of the main entry that further
clarifies word usage.
For home, school or office — for
anyone looking for a better way to
say it- WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE
THESAURUS is an indispensable
guide to more precise and effective
use of the language.
Thumb-indexed. Just $8.95 wher-
ever books are sold.
New from Merriam-Webster.
G.&C. Merriam Company,
47 Federal Street, Springfield,
Massachusetts 01101.
this for a long time. The difference
was that in the 1950s and 1960s
American politicians were for the
first time buying the argument.
But in the 1970s pure science has
suffered a sharp decline in the market-
place. Politicians have been impa-
tiently asking when scientists are
going to stop playing around and get
to work on curing cancer and plug-
ging us into solar energy. In many
branches of science it is not enough
for a researcher to impress his peers
with his gifts as a scientist; if he wants
money with which to exercise those
gifts, he must hit on a project that can
be advertised, however spuriously, as
likely to yield quick practical divi-
dends. In the circumstances, it is not
necessarily the best scientist who gets
the grants, but the one who best
knows how to package, advertise,
and merchandise his ideas.
Promoters and entrepreneurs are
not new to science. More than a gen-
eration ago Einstein wrote that many
who enter the temple of science do so
simply "to make an offering of their
brain pulp in the hope of securing a
profitable return." Under different
circumstances, he added, such scien-
tists "might have become politicians
or captains of business. ' ' But it is ob-
vious that science, and particularly
biomedical science, has become
much more of a promoter's game than
it was just a few years back.
It is this coarsening of American
science, as it manifests itself in the
field of cancer research, that is the
theme of The Patchwork Mouse. Its
author, Joseph Hixson, is an experi-
enced science writer, who at one time
handled public relations for New
York's Sloan-Kettering Institute. He
has chosen to get at his subject by
carefully exploring the scandal that
broke over this world-famous re-
search center in 1974. At that time,
it will be remembered, news got out
that one of the institute's researchers
had been faking the results of certain
transplantation experiments that
had greatly excited scientists both in
this country and abroad. The re-
searcher, a 35-year-old dermatologist
named William Summerlin, had
claimed, among other things, that he
could graft the skin of a black mouse
onto the back of a white mouse in
such a way that the white mouse's
immune system, contrary to all pre-
vious experience, would not reject
the graft. If Summerlin's achieve-
ment could be confirmed it seemed
certain to throw new light on how the
immune systems of mice (and people)
deal not only with skin grafts but with
invading cancer cells.
As Hixson points out, it is still un-
clear whether Summerlin was or was
not on to something significant. What
is clear is that one morning, on his
way to show his boss a cageful of
"If these aren't
the best safari values
of any airline,
I promise to
eat my
pith helmet."
Mr Morley can afford to be rash British Airways knows Alrica better than most airlines so our
safaris can offer extra quality for the money You'll enjoy everything you come to Africa for
(better hurry before il changes) Places teeming with wildlife Endless natural wonders
Cosmopolitan Nairobi where you can dance in an International Casino or scoop up Makonde
carvings and tyiasai beadwork in the shops Safaris include all accommodations,
most meals. You're accompanied by a driver-guide throughout.
In the air and in the bush we take good care of you
Wbnder Safari
1629
Roundtrip from N.Y.
16 days. Best safari buy — the wonder is how we can ao ii at this price You go to the classic
game runs of Kenya and Tanzania : Serengeti, Masai Mara, the Ngorongoro Crater.
Lake Manyara, Amboseli, Tsavo A night at Treeiops Hotel, too.
Grand Safari
'2675
Roundtrip from N.Y.
22 days One of the few safaris at this price that takes you to northern Botswana, too. See
Victoria Falls. Hemingway's Kilimanjaro Cruise up the winding Zambezi river Live on
the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater Spend a night watching animals at the Ark.
East African Wing Safari
*2Sno
C^^\J\J Roundtrip from N.Y.
1 7 days. Our finest safari. Utmost comfort plus adventure in the most exciting wildlife spots of
East Africa Limited to 1 0 people plus your African-expert host You wing from place to place
in a 3-engine private plane, game drive in Samburu, Tsavo. and Serengeti Spend two
nights at Governor's Tented Camp. Visit the Masai in the Masai Mara Game Reserve.
Ride camel back to the Aberdares and the Singing Wells.
In Nairobi you stay at the Hilton
Just 3 from a great British Ainways safari selection. All
available from 8 cities. Remember. British Airways has
more flights to Africa than any other airline. Prices are
subject to a number of restrictions. So you must
read our "Holidays in Africa" brochure for full
details. Or call your Travel Agent or British jt
Airways. We'll take good care of you to
Britain . Af rica . The World .
British Airways. Box 111 . Dept 151-2510
RegoPark, NY. 11374
Telephone: (212)687-1600
Dear Mr Morley:
Please send me the "Holidays in Alrica" brochure
-Zip-
My Travel Agent is
British airways
as a member of
Natural Science
Hunt with a lion.
Discover 37
species of cats.
Discover some sunken
treasure. . .
(Publishers' Prices shown)
45050. THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. Isaac Asimov.
This guided tour of the polar regions explains the vital
role tney play in the life of our planet ... the global
relationships of sun, atmosphere, and ocean ... the
present and prehistoric flora and fauna . . . and much
more. $15.00
58530. LIFE IN FOREST AND JUNGLE. Richard
Perry. In this handsomely illustrated volume, a noted
naturalist explores the forests and jungles of the world
and their strange and interesting wildlife inhabitants.
$9.95
87195. WILD CATS OF THE WORLD. C.A.W
Guggisberg. One of the world's leading authorities on
wild cats offers definitive natural histories of each of
the 37 species of wild cats. $15.95
34515. ARTIFACTS OF PREHISTORIC AMER-
ICA. Louis A. Brennan. Handy, well-illustrated guide
to the identification of over 500 types of American
stone-age artifacts. $14.95
41705. DAUGHTER OF FIRE. KalharmeScherman.
"The last word on Iceland, Iceland's geologic and
social history are here, her arts, her government,
education, and economy, as well as the various and
beautiful moods of her volcanic landscapes and sea-
scapes. . . . Altogether an excellent book." —Annie
Dillard $12.50
78260. SHARKS AND SHIPWRECKS. Hugh Ed-
wards. A captivating look into the mysterious waters
off Australia where the great white shark and sunken
treasure abound. Well illustrated. $12.50
61610. MAYA. The Riddle and Rediscovery of a Lost
Civilization. Charles Gallenkamp. The incredible rise
of Mayan civilization, its glory, its return to the jungle,
its amazing rediscovery A brilliant interpretation.
$12.95
41560. DANGEROUS TO MAN. The Definitive
Story of Wildlife's Reputed Dangers. Roger A. Caras.
Cuts through the rash of fiction masquerading as fact
to evaluate the relative dangers to man posed by
animals ranging from killer whales to boa constrictors
Over 100 photographs. $14.95
87235. WILDWATER TOURING. Scon and Mar-
garet Arighi. A fascinating, informative guide packed
with advice on how to plan and enjoy a safe canoeing
trip, how to run a river, wildwater safety, camp lore,
river photography, fishing and more. $8.95
33435. ANOTHER PENGUIN SUMMER. Olin
Sewall Peilingill. Jr Outsized, richly illustrated volume
offers a light and lively account of the five species of
penguins native to the Falkland Islands. $10.00
85090. THE UNIVERSE. Lloyd Molz. Absorbing
account of modern cosmological theory examines the
origin, evolution, and future of the universe. $15.00
IMPORTANT GUARANTEE! Examine your 3
introductory books for 10 days. If not delighted,
simply return them and your membership will be
canceled. You pay nothing, owe nothing!
77620. THE SECRET LIFE OF ANIMALS. Lorus
and Margery Milne and Franklin Russell. Lavishly
illustrated account of the dramatic discoveries recently
made about the behavior of animals. Includes over
300 full-color photographs. Counts as 2 of your 3 books.
$29.95
61915. MEDIUMS, MYSTICS AND THE OC-
CULT. Milbourne Christopher Down-to-earth exam-
ination of the occult by America's foremost illusionist.
Highlights the feats of Uri Geller, ESP, faith healing,
spirit rapping, and psychic surgery $6.95
61600. THE MAYFLOWER DESTINY. Cyril Leek
Marshall. Richly detailed account of pilgriiii life in
early seventeenth-century America. Discusses their
voyage, culture, religion, family life, medicine, work,
andrelationshipwith the Indians. $9.95
58900. LOOKING AT ANIMALS. Hugh B. Cott.
Containing over 1 50 pen-and-ink drawings and photo-
graphs (many in color), this lavish volume explores
through word and picture the world's richest wildlife
area -East Africa. $15.00
786K0. SNAKKS OK IHK AMKKK AN WKSI.
(ImiIi'\I S/w« ,1,1,1 ShH.lnii ( i,ml:l>rll Iwusklllcil
hLT|icl()ln^',isls L'xpliilc virlu.illy cverylliirig Ihjt is
known ;ib(jul Ihc snakes ul ttiu American wusi — Ironi
Ihcir habils and habila(s, through iheir apiwaranccs
andcharatlcrislics. $12,511
84210. THIS LIVING REEF. Dinmlas Faulkner. Lav-
ishly illustrated word-and-picture masterpiece on one
of the South Pacific's most beautiful island chains
Outsized volume contains 120 pages of glorious six-
color pictures— all with detailed fascinating commen-
taries. Countsas 2 ttl yotii.i bottks. $25.0(1
41585. THE DARK NIGHT SKY. Donald Clayimi
Absorbing new work on cosmology. Delves into the
works of men from Stonehenge to the cosmology ol
Fred Moyle to weave a tapestry of the universe as it is
now perceived, $8.95
73337. THE RAPE OF THE NILE, liriai, Iukuii.
The fascinating story of the plundering, of ancient
Egypt's treasures and the ri.sc of the study of Egyptol-
ogy Filled with more than 250 illustrations. $14.95
87275. WOLF COUNTRY. Ewan Clarkmn. Exciting
account of the one thousand timber wolves that
wander over the wilderness country of northern Min-
nesota and Isle Royale in Lake Superior. $8.95
lake any
3books
(values to $47.45)
for only
99*^ each
if you will Join for a trial parlod and
agree to take 3 more book*— at handaom
discounts— within the next 12 months
86300 I HE WAY THE EARTH WORKS. Pfirr J
I* I //(I' Readable iniroducuon lb the new global gecri-
og> of plate tectonics and ils revoluiionary develop-
meni $12.95
84285. TIDELINE. Erneu Broun Beautifully pho-
tographed and written 9-by-12-inch volume on that
long, thin sinp of wilderness where land. air. and sea
meet Contains almost one hundred full-color photo-
graphs vividly depicting one day's change along the
lidelme $16.50
fWSUVINGREEF
'^^GLASKUxrN™
Take a thousand-mile
nature walk. . .
88041. THE YEAR OF THE KOALA. H.D.
Williamson. Based on four years of observation in the
back country of Australia, this beautifully written
narrative explores one year in the life cycle of two
koalas. $8.95
42680. DONANA: Spain's Wildlife Wilderness.
Juan Antonio Fernandez. Sumptuously illustrated por-
trait of one of the world's most important wildlife
sanctuaries. Stunning 9-by-U inch volume contains
over 240 pages of full-color photographs. Counisas 2 of
yourSbooks. $29.95
36395. BLACK HOLES, QUASARS AND THE
UNIVERSE. Henry L. Shipman. Where do black
holes come from'' What are white dwarfs, neutron
stars, supernovae, and Seyfert galaxies? These are just
a few of the questions dealt with in this atssorbing
exploration ofihe frontiers of astronomy $12.95
32618. ALL THE STRANGE HOURS. Loren
Elseley Autobiography of one of America's outstand-
ing naturalists and scientists reveals the stunning
Eiseley mind focusing on his formative, adventurous
youth, his creative period as a writer and thinker and
his philosophy as a scientist and humanist. $9.95
38900. A CLOSER LOOK. Michael A. Godfrey. A
graceful, lyrical account of doorstep ecology— those
remarkable life processes constantly taking place near
at hand, but usually escaping the eye. Includes 46 full-
color photographs. $14.95
Visix The Mayans
at their zenith. . .
Dive under a
coral reef. . .
57026. JOHN MUIR'S LONGEST WALK: John
Earl, a Photographer, Traces His Journey lo Florida.
Breathtakingly beautiful volume traces John Muir's
1867 walk from Louisville, Kentucky, to Cedar Key,
Florida. Contains over 70 full-color photographs and
excerpts from Muir's classic A Thousand-Mile Walk To
the Gulf Counts as 2 ofvour i books. $30.00
How the Club Operates • The Book Club News,
describing the coming Main Selection and Alter-
nate Selections, will be sent to you 1 5 times a year
at 3-4 week intervals. • If you wish to purchase
the Main Selection, do nothing and it will be
shipped to you automatically • If you prefer one
of the Alternates, or no book at all, simply indicate
your decision on the reply form always enclosed
with the News and mail it so liiat we receive it by
the date specified. • The News is mailed in lime lo
allow you at least 10 days to decide if you want the
coming Main Selection. If, because of late mail
delivery of the News, you should ever receive a
Main Selection without having had the 10 day
consideration period, that Selection may be re-
turned at Club expense. • Continued member-
ship past the trial period brings you the added
benefits of our Bonus Book Plan— an imporlani
way 10 save even more, at least 70% off publishers'
prices.
4-4AF
Natural Science Book Club
Riverside, New Jersey 08075
Please accept my application for membership and
send me the three volumes indicated, billing me
only 994 each. I agree lo purchase at least three
additional Selections or Alternates during the first
year 1 am a member, under the club plan described
in this ad. Savings range up to 30% and occa-
sionally even more. My membership is cancelable
any time after 1 buy these three books. A shipping
and handling charge is added to all shipments.
Send no money. Members are billed when books
arrive.
3 books for 99f each.
indicate by number the 3 books you want.
A few expensive books {noted in book descrip-
tions) count as 2 choices.
. Zip .
(Offer good in Continental U.S. and Canada only.
Prices slightly higher in Canada.)
b___________ — _ — » — — — —
ANTHROPOLOGY
TOUR TO
MOROCCO
April 2 to «
April 16, 1977
Conducted by
THE
AMERrCAN
MUSEUM
OF I
NATURAL
HISTOR¥***^*^
Journey through Moroccan cities and countryside to visit the famous
medieval city of Fes, the souks of IVlarral<ech, and camel markets at
Sijiimassa over the Atlas Mountains and into the Sahara Desert. Visits to
Berber villages; archeological sites and museums in Tangier, Rabat,
Roman Volubilis and Lixus. Led by Paul J. Sanfacon, Lecturer in An-
thropology at the Museum.
For further information call or write for Brochure A, Dept. of Education, The
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New
York, N.Y. 10024.
-a^
Penguins
Past and Present, Here and There
George Gaylord Simpson
"Scholarly based and gracefully writ-
ten. . . . [Simpson's] fascination with
penguins comes through on every
page as he ranges from their early
history, his specialty, to their con-
frontations with modern man. His
chapter, "The Basic Penguin," is a
classic." — Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr.
30 illus. -I- 8 color plates $10.00
Handbook of North
American Birds
Volumes 2 & 3 : Waterfowl
Written in nontechnical language
and organized in a manner that
renders a great deal of information
easily accessible, these encyclopedic,
carefully illustrated volumes will
become the standard reference.
Also available: Volume i : Loons
through Flamingos
Each volume includes maps and
illustrations. $30.00 per volume.
^9^V Yale University Press
nn '^^^ ^'^'^ Station
Ula New Haven, Conn. 06520
The 1975 index for Natural History
may be obtained by writing to: INDEX
Natural History, Central Park West at
79th Street, New York, N.Y. 10024
for executives and professiona/ people
LOANS by MAIL
Any Amount ^10,000
Desired to —
Personal, private. No security required,
signature only. All details arranged rapidly by
^mail. Reasonable rates. Please mail coupon for
fall information. No obligation.
Wilson, Vice President
POSTAL THRIFT LOANS, INC., Dept. 82-06
703 Douglas St., Sioux City, Iowa 51102
Please send complete information in plain envelope.
Name
mice, he committed the unpardonable
sin of taking out a felt-tipped pen and
darkening some of his mouse skin
grafts to make them look more con-
vincing. A committee of his col-
leagues at Sloan-Kettering later con-
cluded that he had also misled other
scientists about his work on other oc-
casions as well, and the unfortunate
researcher was packed oflf to his sub-
urban home on what amounted to ter-
minal psychiatric leave.
Hixson relates in detail the events
that led up to Summerlin's disgrace
and the immediate repercussions. He
examines — and allows the reader to
make up his own mind about — the ev-
idence to support Summerlin's plea
of guilty- with-an-explanation. That
explanation, widely reported at the
time, was that he had been subjected
to intolerable pressure by his chief,
Robert Good, a world-famous im-
munologist who had brought Sum-
merlin to Sloan-Kettering. According
to Summerlin, Good had insisted that
he come up at once with the kind of
spectacular results that would be use-
ful to Good in raising funds for the
institute's research programs. Hixson
also examines the contention of many
scientists that Good was, in a dif-
ferent sense, at least partly to blame
for Summerlin's transgression. In
their view. Good had been so eager
to claim vicarious credit for his
protege's work that he had ignored
the gathering evidence that Summer-
lin was not to be trusted.
Hixson's account of the Summer-
lin affair takes up something more
than half his book. The rest is given
over to a concise history of cancer
research and of the way it has been
funded, leading up to President
Nixon's decision to mount an all-out
attack on cancer — an attack that
many working biomedical scientists
regard as wasteful and premature.
Their argument is that the fundamen-
tal understanding of cancer that
would permit a highly organized
search for its prevention or cure does
not yet exist.
Hixson gives us many interesting
glimpses of scientific entrepreneurs
and politicians at work. He is particu-
larly knowledgeable about the ways
in which an entrepreneur may take
advantage of the news media's appe-
tite for sensational scientific news in
order to gain unwarranted publicity —
publicity that can often be transmuted
into money for the entrepreneur or his
institution.
Yet even though Mr. Hixson
104
knows his subject and has his heart
in the right place, The Patchwork
Mouse is, in the end, disappointing.
We get a lot of gratuitous personal
details about Summerlin and Good,
learning, for example, that "like
Good's brisk baritone, Summerlin's
tenor drawl wrings enthusiasm from
his listeners." We are also informed
that neither man "could or would call
any man Mr. or any woman Miss or
Mrs. after the first three minutes of
conversation. " But the author has lit-
tle of significance to tell us about
Summerlin's downfall that was not
reported at the time. And he has suc-
ceeded only very partially in giving
us what he promises in his preface,
namely, a "behind-the-scenes ac-
count of the politics of cancer re-
search in the United States." His
book, it is true, includes some of the
raw material from which such an ac-
count might be worked up. But too
often, he fails to relate what he is tell-
ing us to a central argument or theme,
and time and again the reader is en-
gulfed in a quicksand of names,
dates, figures, and blow-by-blow re-
ports of bureaucratic sparring.
This is too bad, for the subject that
has engaged Hixson is an important
one. The task we face is not to drive
the scientific entrepreneurs from the
temple of science. There are, after
all, forms of scientific enterprise that
require the mobilization and deploy-
ment of small armies of scientists and
technicians — smashing atoms with
giant machines is a case in point —
and it is hard to imagine how things
could be set in motion without the
talents of organizers and promoters.
What we have to do, if we want
science in America to flourish, is to
see to it that there is also room in the
temple for the untamed, solitary sci-
entist; the scientist who wants neither
to run a big research team nor to be
part of one, and who justifies his dis-
dain for quick practical results on the
ground that man is distinguished from
other creatures, not by the use he
makes of the universe, but by his un-
derstanding of it.
Spencer Klaw is the author of The
New Brahmins: Scientific Life in
America. His most recent book is The
Great American Medicine Show: The
Unhealthy State of U.S. Medical
Care, and What Can Be Done About
It. A frequent contributor to maga-
zines, Klaw teaches at Columbia's
Graduate School of Journalism in
New York.
CORDLESS
TELEPHONE
Operates as any extension phone except
it's cordless. You can take it anywhere,
indoors or out. Pool, yard, basement,
attic, even in your bathtub — anywhere
within 300 feet of your home. Receive
calls or dial out.
EASY TO INSTALL
Your Portaohone operates in conjunction
with all regularly installed telephone
equipment you already have. Installation
takes 30 seconds and you do it yourself
easily and without tools.
100% SOLID-STATE RELIABILITY
Portaphone is manufactured with 100%
space-age solid-state circuitry. No moving
parts to wear out. No tubes to replace.
For years of trouble-free performance.
Guaranteed for 1 year.
REAL COST IS $2.00 PER MONTH
AND IT PAYS FOR ITSELF
If you divide the purchase price by the
estimated 15-year useful life of the Porta-
phone, the cost is only $24.00 per year,
or only $2.(X) per month. It pays for
itself by replacing an existing extension
phone and eliminating another extension.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
OR MONEY BACK
EAST AND MIDWEST ORDERS
SHIPPED BY AIR
S»nd chtck or money order to:
JLR Corp, J S
16200 V«nTur« Blvd. (213) 986-4271
Encino, CA 91436
Plaiu Mnd m« ^CordKu Portaphonsi
■t $395 ••ch, plui poitaga, handling and
Inturanca $5.50. California rnldenti add
6% ulat tax.
Nama
Addrasi
City
ARCHAEOLOGY TOUR
TO MAYA
MESOAMERICA 4^
February 5 to
February 20, 1977
Conducted by
THE AMERICAN
MUSEUM OF
NATURAL ^
HISTORY
An unusual study tour to see the past splendors of the great Maya civili-
zation. The famed sites of Palenque, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Kabah, Sayii
and Labna will be visited. A trip will also be taken to Quintana Roo to see
Tulum and Coba. Villahermosa and the old city of Campeche will be
visited as well as the recently restored pyramid at Edzna. Led by C. Bruce
Hunter, Lecturer in Archaeology at the Museum.
For further information call or write for Brochure C, Dept. of Education, The
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New
York, N.Y.I 0024.
105
A Matter of Taste
by Raymond Sokolov
Best of the Brambles
Although fuzzy skinned
and grainy textured,
the raspberry is the most
delectable of fruits
Unlike most of the more interesting
fruits, the raspberry has no history.
Columbus did not find it on Carib
tables. Pizarro and Walter Raleigh
did not cadge it from Incas or Oyana
tribesmen. No one, to my knowl-
edge, ever thought it was poisonous.
The raspberry, it seems, was always
there, growing around trees in the
Alps and elsewhere in temperate
Europe. But no one paid this queen
of the brambles much mind , and it did
not even have a name of its own until
fairly late in the horticultural game.
The ancients lumped the raspberry
with other juicy, fruiting brambles
now conjoined in the genus Rubus
(family Rosaceae, order Rosales).
They do not seem to have troubled
themselves to distinguish it in ordi-
nary parlance from the blackberry.
Today, we say, with more rigor, that
the various thimble-shaped fruits of
the genus Rubus (raspberries, black-
berries, dewberries, thimbleberries,
cloudberries, wineberries, Himalaya
berries) are alike because they are all
aggregate accessory fruits and not
strictly berries at all. In other words,
they are fleshy and grow in a cluster
of little fruits, or drupelets (pulpy
grains that are miniature versions of
drupes like the peach with its soft out-
side and single, hard stone within),
attached to a receptacle, or core, of
the flower. True berries are small,
simple fruits: grapes, tomatoes,
gooseberries.
As between raspberries and black-
berries, there are two main dif-
ferences. Raspberry canes stand erect
and reproduce vegetatively from
suckers and root sections; blackberry
canes arch over and propagate at the
1 06
tip of the cane. More important, rasp-
berries separate easily from partially
dried receptacles at maturity. Black-
berries have juicy receptacles and
pull away whole, without separating
from the receptacle. Blackberries are
also grainier and they are black. The
black raspberry [Rubus occidentalis)
is also black when ripe. Raspberries
can be yellow too, but the red rasp-
berry we refer to when we say, infor-
mally, "raspberry" is R. strigosus,
a hardy species that supplanted the
species first imported here from
Europe, R. idaeus.
Such precision of nomenclature is,
perhaps, confusing in itself and not
important to a family foraging in
bounteous woodlands. They know
what they like, and a Rubus by any
name is still a berry and a good thing.
But the thicket of Linnaean termi-
nology is nothing compared to the
tangle of popular names for raspberry
that has grown up in European lan-
guages over the years.
No less an authority than Bailey's
Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
asserts that raspberry derives from
rasp, a wood file, and berry. Now,
the surface of our favorite aggregate
accessory fruit does , in a way, resem-
ble the multiple convex surface of a
rasp, but the careful etymologist
should not forget that the first refer-
ence to R. idaeus in modern English,
in 1532, called the red-fruiting bram-
ble a "raspis." This odd word must
descend from raspeium, a term mean-
ing "raspberry," dated to 1290 in
Baxter and Johnson's glossary of me-
dieval Latin drawn from British and
Irish sources. Where raspeium came
from is a mystery. It is not classical
nor is it obviously related to other
words meaning "raspberry" in other
European languages.
Certainly, there is no connection
with the Italian, lampone, or the Ger-
man, Himbeere. The French, fram-
boise, known in Old French of the
twelfth century, undoubtedly is re-
lated to Spanish frambuesa and Dutch
framboos, but where does it come
from? There are those who suggest
that the source is the Dutch word for
blackberry, braambes. Another fac-
tion claims that framboise is a corrup-
tion of /raisierdi; bois, the strawberry
of the forest, or wild strawberry. A
pox on both their houses, and in this
case that pox ought to be frambesia,
the tropical disease known also as
yaws and typified by frambesiform,
or raspberry-shaped, lesions. On sec-
ond thought, perhaps this is too
strong an assault on harmless, if petti-
fogging, etymologists. Instead, let us
resort to giving them the "rasp-
berry," a form of flatulent Bronx
cheer whose name evolved, in this
century and at England's elite Eton
College, into that generalized form of
derision known as "razzing."
Enough of this frambesic jeering.
The raspberry is a serious and won-
derful thing, the stuff of gustatory
reveries. Unfortunately, for the city
dweller without a garden, the rasp-
berry is a midsummer's dream that
rarely comes true any more. The most
delicious of all the fruits of the tem-
perate zone is also the worst adapted
to modern life. The raspberry does
not travel well. Indeed, it is so fragile
that pickers must be careful not to
hold it too long, for it easily turns to
pulp in the hand. Picking raspberries
is also an uneconomical game of
hunt-and-stoop among thorns, in
summer heat. The whole fruit doesn't
freeze well; frozen raspberries are the
next thing to raspberry syrup.
For all these reasons, the fresh
raspberry is a luxury crop. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture does not
even print figures for it in its bible.
Agricultural Statistics. And those of
us who insisted on early raspberries
last season had to go to specialty
D. Overcash; Bruce Coleman, Inc.
■^:^.
41^
<#»
HA
lA detailed portrait of the Ameri- |
I can Indians as seen through their
cultural contributions and varied
I lifestyles. Every region North
America's first inhabitants called
home is explored: the Eastern
Woodlands, Great Plains, Desert
West, Far West, Arctic, and Sub-
arctic. 8 maps. 8 charts 195 illus-
trations. A STUDIO BOOK
lARCHAEODoSrl
OFNOETHAIVffiBICA
The Viking Press
Dept.ATE-NH
625 Madison Avenue. New York, N.Y. 10022
Please send me copies of THE
ARCHAEOLOGY OF NORTH AMERICA
(« $18.95. I enclose % total.
(Please add sales tax where applicable.)
Address-
City
Incredible Africa!
JULY 21, 1976 Join JOHN WIL-
LIAMS on a special 30-day safari in
Kenya featuring rare birds, big game
and wildflowers. $2670.00 plus air
fare.
AUGUST 21, 1976 Unique FAMILY
SAFARI includes best game parks in
Kenya & Tanzania, a trek on Mt.
Kenya, built-in educational features.
ALSO, exciting WALKING SAFARI
for those who wish to see Africa in a
special way. Both 21 -day safaris
$2476.00 including air fare from
New York.
SEPTEMBER 15 & OCTOBER 13,
1976 ROOT & LEAKEY 19-day
natural history tented and lodge safari
in Kenya & Tanzania. $1795.00 plus
air fare. Limited to 16 members.
EARLY 1977 departures January 12
and February 1 6.
Call or write SIEMER & HAND, LTD. Travel Service
One Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, California 94111
(415) 788-7186
EXACT REPRODUCTIONS OF
PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
True copies molded from original
figures solely displayed in Mex-
ico's Museum of Anthropology
Crafted by the Museum's only
pottery workshop and imprinted to
prove authenticity. Each item with
description tag. For item shown -
$62.00, includes postage and
handling. Check or money order
For catalog of collection, send
$1.00, refunded on first purchase.
ARTIQUES LTD., P.O. Box 399NH,
Swormvllle, N.Y. 14146
No. IC - PALENQUE HEAD
grocers and pay $2 a half pint. The
price did eventually fall, and we had
some more, one at a time, with a
small amount of sugar or a dollop of
creme fraiche (heavy cream mixed
with one teaspoon buttermilk per cup
of cream and left to thicken at sum-
mer room temperature for several
hours or overnight).
In late July, I found a handful of
wild raspberries growing in a road-
side patch. It was also possible to
eliminate the middleman and appease
my raspberry hunger, momentarily,
by picking several quarts myself, for
a derisory sum, in the backyard of an
elderly rural couple.
The ideal solution to the raspberry
shortage, however, is to grow one's
own supply. It is too late now to plant
a nursery shrub, but next spring, after
the thaw, pick a plot of well-drained
soil in partial shade. The plants
should go in deep enough to cover the
roots. Set them out in rows, with each
plant two feet from the next. Keep the
rows six feet apart, and try not to use
soil that previously harbored toma-
toes, potatoes, peppers, or eggplant,
since the plot's past history predis-
poses raspberries to Verticillium wilt.
If you plant Everbearer raspber-
ries, they will produce fruit the same
year. Other varieties will not fruit
until the second siunmer. In any case,
when you plant, prune the cane back
to two inches and protect the roots
from dehydration with a six-inch
mulch of peat moss mixed with one
or two handfuls of fertilizer per
bushel of peat moss.
Raspberries do not require cross-
pollination. The standard plant has
perennial roots and thorny biennial
canes. Once the canes have borne
fruit that second year, they should be
pruned away. Good canes should be
pruned to a height of four or five feet
in the spring. Raspberry canes will
stand erect by themselves, but some
people find that it helps at picking
time if they are trained to grow sup-
ported by a five-foot-high wire
stretched between two stakes (or you
could stretch two wires a foot apart,
with canes supported in between).
These instructions apply only to
the raspberry belt from southern Vir-
ginia to the prime northern areas of
New York State and Michigan.
There, the successful raspberry
grower can look forward to as much
as a decade of crops from a healthy
plant. And on a quarter-acre patch, he
can pick from 12 to 35 bushels. Most
people will not be planting that many
shrubs, but even a fairly modest patch
will tend to inundate a single family.
Raspberry jam is an obvious home
remedy. Vera Gewanter and Dorothy
Parker suggest, in Home Preserving
Made Easy (Viking Press), that you
can preserve the taste of the fruit by
heating it almost to the boil, dissolv-
ing sugar in it (5 pounds for every 4
pounds of ripe, washed raspberries),
and then sealing in warm jars.
Raspberries can also be used for
sherbets, pies, Bavarians, mousses,
and souffles. Any large, standard
cookbook will tell you how to make
them. The best raspberry dish of all
is that British jewel of simplicity,
summer pudding (see recipe below).
But, unsurprisingly, most of the com-
plex ideas for raspberries are French.
The Larousse Gastronomique
mentions, among many other extrav-
agances, raspberry beignets, which
are fritters made from a kind of
doughnut batter studded with rasp-
berries lightly sugared and macerated
ahead of time with kirsch or raspberry
eau-de-vie. The same list also in-
cludes pannequets aux framboises:
dessert crepes coated with pastry
cream flavored with raspberry puree,
then sprinkled with whole, macerated
raspberries, rolled up, and heated in
the oven at high heat.
Escoffier invented peche Melba:
vanilla ice cream topped with cold,
poached peaches and sauced with a
finely sieved puree of raspberries.
This can also be done with pears or
with an ice cream made from two
pounds of apricots, crushed, sieved,
sweetened to taste, mixed with 5 ta-
blespoons of heavy cream (whipped)
and 1 tablespoon of gelatin, and then
frozen in the freezer compartment of
your refrigerator. This recipe of the
great Ali Bab (from Practical Gas-
tronomy, McGraw-Hill) is called
abricotine aux framboises and re-
quires 1 pound of raspberries for the
puree, which is sweetened to taste.
At Ammerschwihr in Alsace, the
heart of the French raspberry country,
where the best raspberry eau-de-vie is
made, there is a great restaurant, Aux
Armes de France, one of whose spe-
cialities is a gratin de framboises. In
a greased, fireproof serving dish, they
spread a layer of pastry cream fla-
vored with raspberry eau-de-vie and
lightened with heavy cream. Then
comes a layer of fresh raspberries,
which is sprinkled with chopped al-
monds mixed with a little sugar. Fi-
nally, they cover the fruit and nuts
with another layer of flavored pastry
io8
Laser Beam
Digital watch
Never press another button, day or night,
with America's first digital watch that
glows in the dark.
Announcing Sensor's new Laser 220-
the first really new innovation
in digital watch technology.
It's ingenious, it's simple and it makes
every other digital watch obsolete. Scientists
have perfected a digital watch with a self con-
tained automatic light source— a major scien-
tific breakthrough.
SELF-CONTAINED LIGHT SOURCE
The Laser 220 uses laser beams and ad-
vanced display technology in its manufacture,
A glass ampoule charged with tritium and
phosphor is hermetically sealed by a laser
beam. The ampoule is then placed behind the
new Sensor CDR (crystal diffusion reflection)
display.
The high-contrast CDR display shows the
time constantly— in sunlight or normal room
light. But, when the room lights dim, the
self-contained tritium light source automati-
cally compensates for the absence of light,
glows brightly, and illuminates the display.
No matter when you wear your watch— day
or night— just a glance will give you the
correct time. There's no button to press, no
special viewing angle required, and most
important, you don't need two hands to read
the time.
Replace the battery yourself by just opening
the battery compartment with a penny.
Free batteries are provided whenever you
need them during the five-year warranty.
A WORRY-FREE WATCH
Solid-state watches pose their own prob-
lems. They're fragile, they must be pampered,
and they require frequent service. Not the
Laser 220. Here are just five common solid-
state watch problems you can forget about
with this advanced space-age timepiece:
1. Forget about batteries The Laser 220 is
powered by a single EverReady battery
that will actually last years without replace-
ment—even if you keep the 220 in complete
darkness. In fact, JS&A will supply you with
the few batteries you need, free of charge,
during the next five years. To change the
battery, you simply unscrew the battery
compartment at the back with a penny and
replace the battery yourself.
2. Forget about water Take a shower or go
swimming. The Laser 220 is so water-resistant
that it withstands depths of up to 100 feet.
3. Forget about shocks A three-foot drop
onto a solid hardwood floor or a sudden jar.
Sensor's solid case construction, dual-strata
crystal, and cushioned quartz timing circuit
make it one of the most rugged solid-state
quartz watches ever produced.
4. Forget about service The Laser 220 has
an unprecedented five-year parts and labor
warranty. Each watch goes through weeks of
aging, testing and quality control before
assembly and final inspection. Service should
never be required. Even the laser sealed
light source should last more than 25 years
with normal use. But if it should require
service anytime during the five year warranty
period, we will pick up your Sensor, at
your door, and send you a loaner watch while
yours is repaired-all at our expense.
5. Forget about changing technology The
Sensor Laser 220 is so far ahead of every
other watch in durability and technology that
the watch you buy today, will still be years
ahead of all others.
THE ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT
Other manufacturers have devised unique
ways to produce a watch you can read at a
glance. The new S300 LED Pulsar requires a
snap of the wrist to turn on the display, but
the Pulsar cannot be read in sunlight. The new
S400 Longine's Gemini combines both an
LED and liquid crystal display. (Press a
button at night for the LED display, and view
it easily in sunlight with the liquid crystal
display.) But you must still press a button to
read the time. All these applications of
existing technology still fail to produce the
ultimate digital watch: one you can read
under all light conditions without using two
hands. Until the introduction of the Sensor,
PLENTY OF ADVANCED FUNCTIONS
Sensor's five time functions give you
everything you really need in a solid-state
watch. Your watch displays the hours and
minutes constantly, with no button to press.
But depress the function button and the
month and the date appear. Depress the
button again and the seconds appear. To
quickly set the time, insert a ball-point pen
into the recessed time-control switch on the
side. It's just that easy.
Sensor's accuracy is unparalleled. All
solid-state digitals use a quartz crystal. So
does the Sensor. But crystals change freq-
uency from aging and shock. And to reset
them, the watch case must be opened and an
airtight seal broken which may affect the
performance. In the Sensor, the crystal is first
aged before it is installed, and secondly,
it is actually cushioned in the case to absorb
tremendous shock. The quartz crystal can
also be adjusted through the battery compart-
Would you do this
with your solid-state
watch' Of course not.
Most solid -state watch-
es require care and pampering but not the
Sensor. You can dunk it, drop it and abuse it
without fear during its unprecedented five-
year parts and labor warranty.
ment without opening the case. In short,
your watch should be accurate to within 5
seconds per month and maintain that accura-
cy for years without adjustment and without
ever opening the watch case.
STANDING BEHIND A PRODUCT
JS&A is America's largest single source of
digital watches and other space-age products.
We have selected the Sensor Laser 220 as the
most advanced American-made, solid-state
timepiece ever produced. And we put our
company and its full resources behind that
selection. JS&A will warranty the Sensor
(even the batteries) for five full years. We'll
even send you a loaner watch to use while
your watch is being repaired should it ever
require repair. And Sensor's advanced tech-
nology guarantees that your digital watch will
be years ahead of any other watch at any
price.
Wear the Laser 220 for one full month. If
you are not convinced that it is the most
rugged, precise, dependable and the finest
quality solid-state digital watch in the world,
return it for a prompt and courteous refund.
We're just that proud of it.
To order your Sensor, credit card buyers
may simply call our toll-free number below
or mail us a check in the amount indicated
below plus S2.50 for postage, insurance and
handling. (Illinois residents add 5% sales tax.)
We urge you, however, to act promptly
and reserve your Laser 220 today.
Stainless steel w/leather strap $129.95
(Add SIO for matching metal band)
Gold plated w/leather strap $149.95
(Add SIO for matching metal band)
JSSI^
NATIONAL
SALES
GROUP
The new exclusive laser-sealed tritium and
phosphor light source is a thin solid-state tube
that automatically illuminates the display
when the lights dim.
Dept. NH JS&A Plaza
Northbrook, Illinois 60062
CALL TOLL-FREE . . 800 323-6400
In Illinois call (312) 498-6900
©JS&A Group, Inc., 1976
_TI^1V[AKjCET_
Art
OIL PORTRAITS painted on canvas from photos.
From $49.95 (12x16). Art, Box 11, Keyport, WA.
98345.
Artifacts
ARTISTIC REPRODUCTIONS of Cro-t^/lagnon cave
drawings: individually fiandcrafted stoneware
slabs 1 'x1 ' mounted on birch plaques for hanging
From $40. Brochure available. Art Emporium, 512
S, Myrtle. Monrovia, CA 91016
Books
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK! Join our successful au-
thors in a complete, reliable publishing program:
publicity, advertising, promotion, beautiful books.
All subjects invited. Send for fact-filled booklet and
free manuscript report. Carlton Press, Dept. NHF,
84 Fifth Avenue, NYC 10011
BOOK PUBLISHING— manuscripts and inquiries
invited. "AUTHORS' GUIDE TO PUBLICATION"
free upon request Dorrance & Company, Dept.
AA, 35 Cricket Terrace, Ardmore. PA 19003
ECONOMICS FOR SURVIVAL Challenging ideas.
$2.00 paperback, $3.50 hardcover. Mail order only
from author. Autographed on request. Frank
Peters, Box 192A, Rt. 3, Salem, VA 24153
Crafts
INTERESTED IN HANDWEAVING OR BOOKBIND-
ING? Free catalog available. Dept. NH, School
Products, 1201 Broadway, New York 10001
Employment
TEACHERS-ADMINISTRATORS. Current school,
college openings list: U.S., $5.95; abroad, $5.95.
Leading placement sources, U.S., $3.95; foreign,
$4.95. EIS, Box 662, Newton, MA 02162
Foreign Newspapers
WORLDWIDE ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS. 65 coun-
tries! Sampler: Eight countries— $3.98 FREE BRO-
CHURE. MULTINEWSPAPERS. Box DE-20. Dana
Point. CA 92629
Friendships
MAKE FRIENDS WORLDWIDE through interna-
tional correspondence. Illustrated brochure free!
Hermes-Verlag. Box 1 1 0660/NH. D-1 000 Berlin 1 1 .
Germany
Gifts
ZODIAC KEEPSAKES. Hand-painted hardwood
Mini-charms (%" approximately). $8.50 each ppd.
Specify sign, gold or silver, "tomi originals." Rt. 1
Box 1076, Las Cruces, N.M. 88001
Gourmet Interests
TEA DEVOTEES savor world's rarest select teas.
Free brochure. Grace Tea Importers, Dept. NH 66,
799 Broadway, NYC 10003
1901 CATSKILL COOKBOOK facsimile edition,
unique recipes. $4.00 postpaid, tax-deductible
(rural historic preservation project): West Kortright
Centre, East Meredith, NY 13757
Journals
MUSEUM SCOPE— bimonthly journal for museum
enthusiasts & professionals, $8.00. Suite 5 Box NH.
Strollway Center, Columbia, MO 65201
Magazines
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS, 1888-1976, Any
issue, maps, send wants. Buxbaum Geographies,
Box 465-NH, Wilmington, DE 19899
Optics
OPTIC DISCOUNTS: Binoculars — Tele-
scopes — Brand Names — Free List — Thomas
Manetta, 61 Hoffman Ave., Elmont, NY 11003
Real Estate
PROVIDENCIALES, B.W.I. 1 view acre $48,000.
21/2 acres waterfront $9000. Terms, W. Schmid,
145 E. 15, NY 10003
137 ACRES OR LESS, trees, hills, two streams,
fields, mountain view, possible pond, state high-
way, power wires, few minutes Gore Mountain ski
slope, Hudson River, stores, movie, nightlife,
lakes. 0 Stromberg, N. Creek, NY 12853
Stamps
ANIMALSOR BIRDS ON STAMPS, 25different 300,
plus list of Topical Collections. GEORGE FORD,
Box 5203-N, Gulfport, FL 33737
Travel
NEW HAMPSHIRE MT. COUNTRY INN TENNIS
CLUB. 17 rooms. 3 courts, pro, pool. 200 acres
wildlife trails. 5 minutes Lake Sunapee. Condos
available. Dexters. Box A, Sunapee, NH 03782
(603) 763-5571
ICELAND GEOLOGY SAFARI— Aug 10-24, for de-
tails write EDPA, Aberdeen Rd., Peekskill, NY
10566
EXPLORE MAN'S BEGINNINGS: Imaginative ex-
peditions to Old & New World sites — ^Egypt, East
Africa, Greece, Iran, Israel, Mexico. Central &
South America. Monthly trips, small groups. Em-
phasis: anthropology, nat'l history, archaeology.
Academic credit option Send for brochures.
FORUM INT'L. Dept. N., 2437 Durant, Berkeley CA
94704 415/843-8294
LINEKIN BAY SAILING RESORT, Boothbay Har-
bor ME 04538. Fleet of sailboats, two-masted
schooner, heated salt water pool. Write for folder.
LONDON, ENGLAND— An unique, luxury "pen-
sion central, private and informal. For those who
prefer not to pay "Grand Hotel" prices. NUMBER
SIXTEEN Sumner Place, London SW7
ESCAPE TO THE WILDS OF WYOMING. Vacation
high in the Bighorn National Forest. Write: Spear-0-
Wigwam Ranch, P.O. Box 1081, Sheridan, WY
82801 . (307)674-4496
ROAM THE WORLD BY FREIGHTER! Deluxe Ac-
commodations. Cheaper than staying home!
TravLtips. 163-09NHA Depot. Flushing. NY 11358
DESERT BIRDS. MAMMALS. REPTILES, INSECTS,
CACTI, WILD FLOWERS . . . many resorts have
these. The Wickenburg Inn has professional natu-
ralists to help you see and understand more; spe-
cial wildlife package weeks for beginners and ad-
vanced nature watchers; plus the finest in riding,
tennis, arts & crafts, accommodations and food.
See your travel agent or write: The Wickenburg Inn,
P.O. Box P, Wickenburg, AZ 85358 (602)684-781 1
T-SHIRTS. IMAGES PROMOTING WILDLIFE CON-
SCIOUSNESS: Humpback Whale, "American wil-
derness—work to save it," "Boycott Japanese
Goods until they stop killing whales." Arrapaho
Ghost Dance shirt, leaf prints, other natural visions.
Children and adults. Brochure. 250. CONSCIOUS
DECISION, 54 East 4th Street, NYC 10003
Central Park West, New YorK City
SWIM SNEAKS B£^
ALL ■H^^^HHI
Bathing & Shoiver Shoes
Whalcvcr your pluns, ycju'll want high
quality Italian Imported rubber bathing
shdcs . . . with thick treaded bottoms and
built-in inner soles. Sure-footed protection
on shoreline rocks, pool or boat decks, and
shower floors. Eliminate sore feet on
sharp rocks, shells, or hoi sand. Styled for
comfort and good looks. Flexible, light-
weighl, easy on and off. Great in and out of
walcr. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Sizes: Complete range for men, women,
children. State shoe size & width. Also,
give age for child. Colors; White, yellow,
red, blue for women & children. Men, blue
& while only. Always state alternate
colors. Price: $7.98 per pair. Add shipping
& handling: one pair $1 .25; two pairs $1 .75;
ihrec or more pairs $2.25. Fast delivery.
Color catalog, FREE, with order.
^or§ay^ oept. rb ds
, 240 Kinderkamack Rd
(201) 967-0373| Oradell. N.J. 07649
t of print.scarce.rare NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
rO Bnlany, Z„„l,.pv.
ine^ Orrhldolop.
RDOIC*)* 0™'"'"I''W- Emomolopy
'X>^^>f? lohlhyologv.
H.T,>Vl,.l„p,.,.|,-
CtTAlOBUE AVAlLABti
OilHd P1ice/llKl»il!e Ctnlie, Nnr Turk 11570
Jit ship lists
^^^^ FRFF SHIP TATAI nmiP
FREE SHIP CATALOGUE
info on the voyage SEND
2 STAMPS for Ship Catalogue offering n
ques featuring your name and the earliest landing
HOLMES-COREY, Ltd., Box 786NH, Marco, Fl. 33937
BEETLES. BUTTEHFUES and iNSECTS
froa MALAYSU.
AFRICA. BRAZIL. '
etc.
COMPLETE SCIENTIHC.
P.O. Box 307-N
Round Lake. Illinois 60073
CATCH ANIMAL RAIDERSI
Take them alive, unhurt!
Simple! safe HAVAHART traps catch raiding rabbits,
possums, coons, squirrels, pigeons, sparrows, etc.. without
Injury. Straying pets, poultry released unhurt. Fully as-
sembled. No Jaws or springs to break. Galvanized: many
In use 20 years. Open ends give animal confidence. Sizes
for all needH. Send 25c for valuable Illustrated guide and
price list.
HAVAHART, 158 Water St.. Ossining. N. Y. 10562
Hcre'.s my 25c. Please send price list, trapplni; Rulde.
cream. After being dusted with con-
fectioners' sugar, the ^'rafiVi goes into
a 375-degree oven for three minutes.
For the raspberry pictcer too fa-
tigued to think about any of these con-
coctions. The Standard Bartender's
Guide (Pocket Books) has the an-
swer, a raspberry cocktail . Soak a cup
of bruised, fresh raspberries — the
ones you don't know what else to do
with — in 6 ounces of gin for 2 hours.
Strain and mix with IVi ounces of
kirsch and 6 ounces of dry white
wine.
Summer Pudding
1 small loaf white bread, slightly
stale (see note)
2 cups raspberries
Vi cup red currants
9 tablespoons sugar
1. Cut crust off the bread and discard.
(If you are using unsiiced bread,
slice into quarter-inch slices.)
2. Line the bottom and sides of a
6-cup souffle mold with the bread
slices. Do not leave any chinks.
Push the bread together at the
joins.
3. Mix the raspberries, currants, and
sugar together in a saucepan and
bring to a boil. Reduce heat and
simmer for three minutes. Let
cool.
4. Pour off Vi cup of juice and re-
serve.
5 . Put the cooked fruit mixture in the
bread-lined mold. Cover the fruit
with a layer of bread.
6. Put a plate that is just smaller
than the opening of the mold on
top of the pudding. Set a 3 -pound
weight on the plate.
7. Refrigerate overnight.
8. Just before serving, invert the pud-
ding on a serving dish with a
slightly turned-up rim. Pour re-
served juice over the pudding.
Yield: Four servings
Note: Because of all the tinkering that
has gone into store -bought bread,
staleness comes on slowly and unnat-
urally in most cases. This recipe,
adapted from an old chestnut col-
lected by Elizabeth David, originally
called for day-old bread. If you are
using homemade bread, then one
day is enough. With industrial bread,
you may have to wait longer but don't
wait until the bread is dry and stiff.
Raymond Sokolov's most recent
cookbook is The Saucier 's Appren-
tice, a guide to French sauces.
SPECIAL
OFFER
TOTE&
TRAVEL
BAGS
3 for $5.95
4", 10'
Tough, spacious bags to carry and
protect your valuable jackets, clotliing,
outdoor gear. You'll discover dozens of
uses for them. Nylon fabric is strong and
waterproof. Nylon drav»siring closure.
Inside top flap for added protection.
Folds flat as a pancake for storage when
empty. AssortmenI: one each 4" dia. x
10" high, 8" dia. x 16" high. 10" dia. x 20"
high. Specially priced: 3 tor $5.95 ppd.
r Order Today! Money Back Guarantee!
Enclosed IS my check or money order lor
S [Add sates tax where applicable.)
Please RUSH my 0300 AssortmenI of 3 Tote t
Travel Bags.
Name
Address-
City
Stale
catalog of over
J^&dto/^^ou^^An^
Depl. LNH Thi-3 S
Soft Cotton Terry Cloth Hat
For Men & Women 3 For $15
Our pure cotton terr\- toweling hat is ideal
for travel, golf, hiking, boating ... all out-
door sports. Soft, breathable and absorbent
to keep you cool; ruggedly made for wear
season after season. Use it to mop \our brow
after a strenuous tennis game, or — when
you're fishing — dip it in the lake, uTing out
and replace for a refreshing lift on the hot-
test day. Washable and completely crush-
able, packs easily in pocket or suitcase.
White, maize or sky blue in men's and
women's sizes: S (6%-6%), M (y-TVs), L
(7'/4-7%), XL (7%-?%), XXL (7%-7y8).
n Check Charge : □ M/C Q B/A Q Cable Car Chg.
Bank Card # Exp.
Add Sl. 85 Ship. & Hdlg; Gal. Res. Add Sales Tax
□ Please send catalogue 59060,1
OWL-Ancient symbol of
nlightenment. Smartly
crafted in solid Sterling Silver $9.95
MKarat Gold $25. 12121 472-8733
$1 50 post. • Charge Cards: BA AE MC
FREE CATALOG: Aniient Replica Jewelry
ALADDIN HOUSE LTD.
N776 • 770 Madison Ave. • N.Y. t0021
. COB 66fh Sr.
el presidente
CONVENTO de SANTA CATALINA
Declared a National Archeological
Treasure, the past is preserved through-
out hotel and courtyards. Guest and
public rooms feature original frescos.
Located in the center of a historic city
and nearby to the pre-hispanic sites
of Zachila, l^itla and Monte Alban.
CALL YOUR TRAVEL AGENT
or vjute for color brochure to:
EL PRESIDENTE /OAXACA, Dept.NH
8721 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. 90048
Your Hosts in Mexico
NACIONALQ HOTELERA
^BOOK HUNTING?^
Virtually any book located — no matter how
old or long out-of-print. Fiction, nonfictlon.
All authors, subjects. Name the book — we'll
find Itl (Title alone Is sufficient) Inquire,
please. Write: Dept. 66.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087 ^
NATURE ON STAMPS
The BIRDS & the BEES & the ANIMAL KINGDOM
on GENUINE POSTAGE STAMPS.
^
SAMPLES 8, APPROVALS-SI
Satisfoction Guaronteed
Mil Med Stamps
P.O. BOX 297-NH AURORA, CO 800
cXKXHXxxxxHxxxxyooo^yoooooOf,
oneness
A subtle imking of
i religious symbols,
delicately wedded to-
gether by the artisan.
14k with 2A" chain $37.50
Sterling Silver $16.75
ISAAC SOLTES DESIGN NH
1923 S.McPherrin Ave.
Monterey Park, Calif. 91754
CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ADO 6% SALES TAX
Q Check or Money Order/Money-back Guarantee
^KMXMHMKXWMXMKMXM)
Additional Reading
Environmental Law (p. 10)
Herbert A. Simon's Administrative
Behavior (New York: Free Press, 1965,
$2.95) is a classic study of bureaucracy
in action. Although written more than
thirty years ago, this scholarly work is
still frequently used by schools of public
administration for its illustrative accounts
of decision-making processes and admin-
istrative organization. The Logic of Col-
lective Action: Public Goods and the
Theory of Groups, by economist Mancur
Olson, Jr., (revised ed. Cambridge: Har-
vard University Press, 1971), is a funda-
mental guide to organized citizen action
for the "public good." Patient Earth,
edited by John Harte and Robert H. Soco-
low (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Win-
ston, 1971, $4.95), presents case studies
of eighteen celebrated environmental
controversies, all of which involved citi-
zen participation. The specific issues —
construction of nuclear power plants, the
south Florida-Everglades urbanization
problem, the Mineral King resort project
near Sequoia National Park — graphically
illustrate the interplay of politics, eco-
nomics, and science in environmental lit-
igation. Joseph L. Sax's Defending the
Environment: A Strategy for Citizen Ac-
tion (New York: Random House, 1972,
$1 .95) explains how citizens can use the
courts and the existing legal system in
personal and collective efforts to clean up
the environment.
Limits to Growth (p, 22)
The Limits to Growth, a summary ac-
count of the Club of Rome's Project on
the Predicament of Mankind, edited by
Donella H. Meadows et al. (New York:
Universe Books, 1972, $2.75), has sold
more than four million copies and has
been translated into some thirty lan-
guages. Essentially a discussion prepared
for a general audience, it details the im-
plications of computer-modeling tech-
niques applied to global growth dynam-
ics. Dynamics of Growth in a Finite
World, by Dennis L. Meadows et al.
(Cambridge: Wright- Allen Press, 1974),
is the 7C)0-page technical report of the
project. Dennis and Donella Meadows
have also edited Toward Global Equilib-
rium (Cambridge: Wright-Allen Press,
1973), a collection of papers on environ-
mental and resource issues, several of
which deal with more easily grasped sub-
models— offshoots of the major limits of
growth models. For example, "Popula-
tion Control Mechanisms in a Primitive
Agricultural Society," by Steven B.
Shantzis and William W. Behrens III (pp.
257-88), recounts the application of sys-
tem dynamics in the quantification of an
anthropological description of a primitive
slash-and-burn society. Michael R.
Goodman's Study Notes in System Dy-
namics (Cambridge: Wright- Allen Press,
1 974) will help with the complex method-
ology of model making. In Collected
Papers of Jay W. Forrester (Cambridge:
Wright- Allen Press, 1974), the author
has gathered seventeen of his works, in-
cluding two that are particularly related
to his article: ' 'Counterintuitive Behavior
of Social Systems" (pp. 211-44) and
"Churches at the Transition Between
Growth and World Equilibrium" (pp.
255-69).
Manus (p. 60)
Margaret Mead's autobiography
Blackberry Winter: My Earlier Years
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973,
$2.95) offers a personal perspective on
America's most eminent anthropologist.
Two of Mead's classic works. Growing
Up in New Guinea (1930) and New Lives
for Old: Cultural Transformation —
Manus, 1928-1953, have recently been
reissued (New York: William Morrow,
1975, $3.95 and $4.95, respectively).
New prefaces add global perspective to
cultural changes from the 1920s through
the 1970s. Continuities in Cultural Evo-
lution (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1964, $3.95) contains achapter on
changes in the life of one individual —
Paliau — from living in a Stone Age cul-
ture to living as a "modern" man.
"Peoples of the Pacific," a special sup-
plement in the May 197 1 issue of Natural
History, edited by Margaret Mead and
Preston McClanahan (pp. 34-70), dis-
cusses the variety of cultures found in the
South Pacific. World Enough: Rethink-
ing the Future, by Margaret Mead and
photographer Ken Heyman (Boston: Lit-
tle, Brown and Company, 1975, $17.50),
is her latest book, an examination of the
individual and collective dilemmas fac-
ing the contemporary world, revealed
through Ihc subtle interplay of Mead's an-
thropological insight and Hcyman's
searching photographs.
Catalina's Goats (p. 70)
Wildlife biologist C. F. Yocom's
"Ecology of Feral Goats in Haleakala
National Park, Manii, Hawaii" (Ameri-
can Midland Naturalist . 1967, vol. 17,
pp. 418-51) details the impact of intro-
duced goats on the flora and fauna of an
island ecosystem. In "Goat Management
Problems — Hawaii Volcanoes National
Park: A History, Analysis, and Manage-
ment Plan" (National Park Service Natu-
ral Resource Report No. 2, 1972, avail-
able from Superintendent, Hawaii Vol-
canoes National Park, Hawaii 96718), J.
K. Baker and D. W. Reeser present a
history of the introduction of goats to
Hawaii, describe the subsequent ecologi-
cal damage and attempts at control , and
discuss the public and political pressures
inherent in goat-habitat-people interac-
tions. "The Influence of Feral Goats on
Koa Tree Production in Hawaii Vol-
canoes National Park," by G. Spatz and
D. Mueller-Dumbois (Ecology, 1973,
vol. 54, pp. 870-76), is a study of goat
damage to a specific type of tree, explor-
ing such definitive parameters as tree
height, sucker growth, and regeneration
dynamics. For a detailed description of
goat behavior, see "Some Aspects of So-
cial Behaviour in a Population of Feral
Goats (Capra hircus L.)," by Chris C.
Shank (Zeitschrift fiir Tierpsychologie,
1972, vol. 30, pp. 488-528).
Plant Coloration (p. 78)
Residential Plantings, edited by An-
thony Tyznik (Chicago: J. Philip O'Hara,
1969, $3.95), illustrates changes in plant
and tree coloration throughout the grow-
ing season. Patricia W. Spencer's "The
Turning of the Leaves," (Natural His-
tory, October 1973, pp. 56-63) describes
the emergence of characteristic leaf
colors after the seasonal loss of chloro-
phyll and the internal and external bio-
chemical changes that accompany leaf
senescence. Chemistry and Biochemistry
of Plant Pigments, edited by Trevor W.
Goodwin (New York: Academic Press,
1965), contains an excellent introductory
chapter on plant coloration. Jeffrey B.
Harborne's The Comparative Biochem-
istry of the Flavonids (New York: Aca-
demic Press, 1967), although highly
technical, is a source of information on
the anthocyanids. Advances in the Chem-
istry of Plant Pigments, edited by C. O.
Chichester (New York: Academic Press,
1972), presents a series of papers on plant
coloration, ranging from general over-
views to highly technical accounts. Two
articles in Scientific American will also
be useful: Sylvia Frank's "Carotenoids"
(1956, vol. 194, no. 1, pp. 80-86) and
Sarah Clevenger's "Flower Pigments"
(1964, vol. 210, no. 6, pp. 84-92).
Gordon Beckhorn
Watch. Hear. See. Spy. Shoot!
. . . with wondrous things from the famous Edmund catalog.
More than 4500 unusual finds, and it's offered free.
GIANT
FREE
CATALOG! O
F.ne low p'iceO IR E,e Aim IR ipghi
source makes detailed o&sefvation of ani
mal behavior possible at up to 30 yards at
nighi Out self contained scope has every
thing you need for all kinds of IR deiec
lion 6 01 12 V power ( plugs into you'
cars cigaieile lighter). 6032 I R convener
tube, 1/3 5 objective lens Focuses from
10 ft to mlimlv
Ho. 1659E. . (ll'ld'<.^3 I $285.00 Ppd.
^V A BREAKTHROUGH IH TIME LAPSE
V^ PHOTOGRAPHY.
Ttie Edmund Time Machine converts ai
most any camera to a total time lapse
system, compares to others aiS450 S700
yet costs under S200. Film slanimg flower
growth, animation, star planet and cloud
tracking Portable (34 oz ), continuously
variable Itom 0 5 to 300 seconds: bu'lt m
photocell control, rechargeable power
supply
No. 72.122E . . (6x3^ ;-2 ) $199.95 Ppd.
NEW. 1 72
Pages.
Over 4,500
Unusual
Bargains for Hobbyists,
Schools, Industry. JUST
CHECK COUPON!
Catch sounds never before heard with this
professional, deluxe, Electronic Paroboiic
Mike It has an 18 3/4" transparent re-
flectmg shield and IC.'s m its amplifier-
magnifies signals 100 limes that o1 omni-
directional mikes! Earphones, tape re-
corder output. Automatically cuts oH ear
damaging noises Requires (21 9v bartenes.
Olhersat$149 95(No. 1655E|andS89.50
(No.80,242E)
N0.1649E S299.00Ppd.
^30X. 40X.60X.
Ej"ceilem 60 mm r,arc coated acriromaiic
obiect've tens with hgni gaihenng power
so great il picks out extremely tami ot)fects
under all lighting conditions S^iows stars
10 1 1 th magnitude' A partocai eyepieces on
revolving turret change ai llick of a linger
Compares with models at up to $30 more
No. 70.444E $165.00 Ppd.
Q NASA CHOSE fT FOR APPOLLO/SOYUZ.
Super 20x60 IS our biggest, most powerful
binocular lor distance Far oh obiects come
m big, dear and sharp to the edge through
big 60mm obtective lenses. 173-11 tieW o1
view at 1000 yards Relative brightness.
9 0 Fully coated optics. 20X special de
Sign eye lenses coaled BK 7 Porro pnsm
Extra long all American stvie
N0.1556E(9':x8' : 47 5o; l$99.95Ppd.
0SAVE 50% OH A 8x20 MONOCULAR.
AND WATCH THE BIRDS.
Top quality Spy Scope is a fme sighting
instrument (regular S30 value) Our special
purchase saves you SO^o and you gel
fully coated optics. 393 loot field o1 view.
Just 2 ounces, it slores in pocket, purse,
glove companmeni. Fits m your palm, so
you can peer into hard-lo-see places with-
out your subject knowing you're spying.
No. 1568E (3V:xiVzx2" case) $14.95 Ppd.
©TAKE LONG DISTANCE PHOTOS WITH
YOUR CAMERA & BINOCULAR.
Binocular toCamera Holder ids any camera
for exciting lelephoto pictures. A 35mm
camera with 7x50 binocular brings distant
objects 7 limes nearer, ideal for long-range
photos o1 wildlife. Use any binocular
(monocular) and camera— still or movie,
color or black & white. Good shooting!
No. 7D,223E $17.95 Ppd.
EDMUND
SCIENTIFIC CO.
America's Greatest Sciencet Optics • Hobby Mart
300 EDSCORP BUILDING, Barrington, N.J. 08007 (609) 547-3488
— ^ — — — FILL IN AND MAIL COUPON TODAY — — — — -^
Edmund Scientific Co., 300 Edscorp BIdg., Barrington, N.J. 08007 |
D SEND FREE 164 PAGE CATALOG "E"
Stock No.
Quantity
Price Ea.
TOTAL
□ Charge my' BankAmericard
n Charge my Master Charge
Expiration Date
30-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. You
Add Service and Handling Charge $ ^l-PO
Enclosed is Q Check Q M-O-
in amount of $
City
Lmust be satisfied or return any purchase |
in 30 days for full refund. State Zij ■
HELPING TO DEVELOP AMERICA 'S TECHNOLOGY FOR OVER 30 YEARS
113
Tri-X, J/25 second.
IN DIM LIGHT AT 200 FEET
WITH A QUESTAR
Photographed as he emerged from the
woods at dusk, the fox's eyes reflect the
last rays of the setting sun and every hair
is clearly delineated in the Questar. This
is the famous Questar resolution that delights
the wildlife watcher. To him it means more
interesting views of birds or animals when
they are seen through this versatile and
convenient instrument at distances that do
not betray his presence.
The photograph, an enlarged portion of
a 35 mm. negative, is one of many beautiful
shots of a new neighbor of the Davlses in
Sarasota; the same Davises who have given
us the fine detail of moon and planets that
we have published over the years.
6e/ow, photo-visual Quesfar Field Model wHb
camera aif ached; perfect companion for a
walk in the woods, or for capturing your
wildlife while you sif comfortably in your car.
QUESTAR, THE V/ORLD'S FINEST, MOST VERSATILE
TELESCOPE IS PRICED FROM S865. SEND FOR OUR
BOOKLET IN FULL COLOR V/ITH 150 PHOTOGRAPHS
BY QUESTAR OWNERS. $1 COVERS MAILING ON THIS
CONTINENT; BY AIR, TO SOUTH AMERICA, S3.00;
EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA, S3.50; ELSEWHERE, $4.
QUESTAR
Box 60F, New Hope, Pa. 18938
Announcements
A new permanent hall — The Hall of
Miner^s and Gems — opened in
May. Located in the southwest corner
of the first floor of The American Mu-
seum of Natural History, this is a
most spectacular and elegant hall,
with an impressive array of minerals,
gems, rocks, and meteorites. For a
limited time, it will house a special
exhibit of nine world-famous, Ameri-
can-owned diamonds, including the
Tiffany Diamond valued at $5 mil-
lion, the Eugenie Blue, a heart-
shaped diamond reported to have be-
longed to the Empress Eugenie, and
the Zale Light of Peace. This hall, the
largest in the Museum, treats major
subjects such as properties of miner-
als, mineral-farming environments,
systematic mineralogy, interaction of
minerals and energy, and esthetics of
gems.
This Exhibit in Preparation con-
tinues through July in Gallery 77 of
the Museum. This show gives visitors
a "behind the scenes" look at the
techniques used to create the Mu-
seum's many marvelous dioramas
and exhibits. Graphics, three-dimen-
sional displays, and demonstrations
by artists, taxidermists, preparators,
and model-makers reveal the iimer
workings of the Exhibition Depart-
ment.
The Alexander M. White Natural
Science Center on the second floor
of the Museum is open from 2:00 to
4:30 P.M. Tuesdays through Fridays,
and from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays
and Sundays. This exhibit area is de-
signed to re-create and explain the na-
ture of New York City to children
ages 8 to 12. "Show and Tell" exhib-
its depict how city dwellers get their
food, water, and electricity; how they
communicate (via more than 25 mil-
lion miles of underground telephone
wires); and who their neighbors are
(countless insects, fishes, birds, rep-
tiles, and mammals). It presents the
city's parks, its sounds, and the ecol-
ogy of surrounding bodies of water.
Emphasis is on how these natural and
man-made elements are integrated to
make up the environment in which
urban children live.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the
Museum, "Things That Go Beep in
the Night" continues through June
28. The invention of radio astronomy
in the 1930s opened a new window
to the universe, enabling astronomers
to "listen in" on distant galaxies, ex-
ploding stars, pulsating stars, qua-
sars, and black holes. Starting June
30, "Yankee Stargazers" will con-
tinue into September. This show re-
counts contributions by Americans to
the knowledge of the universe — ^f rom
the first astronomical observation
in the New World (in 1494) through
New York physician Henry Draper's
photographing the sky in the mid-
1800s, Karl Jansky's discovery of
radio waves coming from space in
1932, man's landing on the moon in
1969, and the first landing on Mars
in the summer of 1976. Shows begin
at 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on week-
days with more frequent showings on
weekends. Admission is $2.35 for
adults and $1 .35 for children and stu-
dents (special rates for groups and
senior citizens).
We built this Cutlass Supreme Brougham for Bob Reedy
who feels that being practical is fine-
as long as he can do it in luxury.
At heart, the Cutlass Supreme
Brougham is a practical car:
sensibly mid-sized, easy to
maneuver, a snap to park.
Obviously, these are important
considerations to a man like Bob,
who spends lots of time in his car.
But all that time on the road
makes a body crave comfort and
luxury. And that is why Olds gave
the Cutlass Supreme Brougham
an interior much like that of the
98 Regency.
There's "loose cushion" look
seats with velour upholstery;
sound absorbing deep pile
carpeting; divided front seat with
individual controls.
The 1976 Cutlass Supreme
Brougham. A most practical way
to be self-indulgent.
What's more. Cutlass Supreme
Brougham is surprisingly econom-
ical, too. The standard 250-Six
with manual transmission got 25
mpg in the EPA highway test and
1 7 in the city test. These mileage
figures are estimates. The actual
mileage you get will vary depending
on your type of driving, your
driving habits, your car's condition
and available equipment.
(For California EPA figures and
available power trains, check
your dealer
there. ) y 1^» "^~\,
1976 CUTLASS
SUPREME BROUGHAM
Can we build one for your
8 out of 10 top professional photographers
entrust their talents to Hasselblad.
Here's why.
A market research survey team asked a
representative sample of top commercial
photographers in major markets around
the country: "Which brand of medium
format camera do you presently use
in your work?" Eight out of ten said
Hasselblad. And they named Hasselblad
ten to one over the next leading brand.
Such overwhelming favoritism is
based on good, sound photographic
reasons. Here they are:
Reliability
Every piece of Hasselblad equipment is
built tough, for professional use.
Hasselblad's legendary reliability is
confirmed by its continuing use in NASA
space missions since 1962. Quality
control is rigorous and thorough. Every
unit goes through shutter tests (500
shots). Random samples are rapid-fired
up to one million exposures at the rate
of 2,500 shots per hour.
Flexibility
Hasselblad's three cameras are designed
to meet most all photographic challenges
a professional is likely to encounter.
Hasselblad evolves new equipment
under two criteria: Always anticipate the
professional's needs, and never cause
his Hasselblad system to become obso-
lete. Hasselblad now offers 14 lenses, 9
film backs, 9 view-finders and over 200
accessories. All work perfectly with every
Hasselblad body built since 1957.
Results
The professional photographer demands
outstanding results day in day out. The
rugged Hasselblad system— with its
superb Carl Zeiss optics and versatile
2V4-square format— delivers those
results without compromise. To meet
the boldest photographer's challenge.
Precision
Now, as in the last twenty-five years,
Hasselblad craftsmanship, durability
and performance are legendary. The
secret: precision in design, manufacture,
testing and servicing. Hasselblad sets its
own rigorous standards of quality. For
example, most tools and instruments
used in building and testing a Hasselblad
are themselves designed and manu-
factured by Hasselblad. Hasselblad
insists that these steps are necessary to
maintain the finest quality in what is,
virtually, a hand crafted camera.
Cost
As any professional soon discovers,
"getting by" is a precarious philosophy
when one's livelihood and reputation are
at stake. In the long run, the best invest-
ment costs the least. Hasselblad proves
this. It saves time. It saves work. It saves
repair bills. It saves trading up (obviously).
It always delivers! In fact, that's why
eight out of ten top professional photog-
raphers entrust their talents to
Hasselblad.
HASS€LBLACt
The system preferred by the serious photographer.
For a beautiful full color brochure, wffite Dept. NH-6A, Braun North America, a division of The Gillette Company, 55 Cambridge Pkwy, Cambridge, Mass. 02142.
NATU
HISTOR
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1976 • $1 .25
JL*
Fi ^. mm vol
^lBH!f^
|3y2«S«'^.
Can you think of any other camera that can take
half a million exposures in a row without a single fault?
Can you think of any other camera manufacturer
who'd bother to make such a test?
In a recent study, Hasselblad was named by eight out
of ten top commercial photographers as the medium-
format system used in their worl<. And, it was named
ten to one over the next leading brand. Precision in
manufacture and testing is one of the reasons
Hasselblad is the overwhelming choice of profes-
sional photographers.
At Hasselblad, making sure its cameras live up to
Hasselblad standards of precision— standards pro-
fessional photographers have come to expect— is a
full-time job. Hasselblad cameras are virtually hand-
crafted for reliability. Every camera that leaves the
factory has already undergone extensive shutter
testing (500 shots). Certain cameras never leave; they
are selected at random, brought to the laboratory and
torture-tested on a robot machine. These cameras are
operated indefinitely at the rate of 2,500 exposures
per hour; after every 10,000 exposures, all compo-
nents are thoroughly inspected. It's not uncommon
to reach a half a million exposures without a fault.
The entire Hasselblad system reflects the same
philosophy of reliability. All 14 Carl Zeiss lenses, 9
viewfinders, 9 magazines and over 200 accessories
are interchangeable with all Hasselblads made since
1957, and will continue to be compatible with all fu-
ture Hasselblads. Despite the breadth of the system,
it will never be complete enough for Hasselblad.
Each year, as the photographer faces new chal-
lenges, Hasselblad adds new accessories of the
same legendary precision and reliability.
At Hasselblad, dedication to perfection continues
to be a way of life, as it has been for over a quarter of
a century. And, it's no bother
HASSFLBLAUr
The system preferred by the serious photographer
For a beautiful full color brochure, write Braun North America, a division of The Gillette Company, Dept. NH-8-C , 55 Cambridge Parlway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142.
NATURAL HISTORY
The Oceans
We try to conquer the
ocean . . . claiming it,
killing its creatures, defiling
it with rubbish, probing and
mapping its bottom,
photographing it entirely
from outer space.
Fortunately, for children on
beaches, poets, sailors,
scientists, and the rest of
humankind, we fail. The
ocean remains an awesome
mystery, with challenges and
questions enough for this and
future generations.
Isaac Newton, reflecting
on his discoveries, wrote: "I
seem to have been only like
a boy, playing on the
seashore, and diverting
myself in now and then
finding a smoother pebble or
a prettier shell than ordinary,
whilst the great ocean of
truth lay all undiscovered
before me."
We have, in the few
centuries since, found more
pebbles and shells, but the
"great ocean" remains
untarnished.
This special bimonthly
issue, which appears when
so many people turn to the
shores for vacation, for
re-creation, is dedicated to
the oceans. It looks at some
of the forces that created
them and at those that drive
them. We introduce a few of
the many creatures that play
out their life cycles in the
seas — and every author
admits how little we know
about any species, much less
that vast array of life within
the ocean ecosystem.
Finally, we turn to some
of the basic decisions —
political, economic, and
humanitarian — that the
nations and peoples of the
world must now make about
the future of the oceans.
Incorporating Nature Magazine
Vol. LXXXV, No. 7
A ugust-Septemher 1 976
The American Museum of Natural History
Robert C. Goelei, President
Thomas D. Nicholson, Director
4 Authors
9 A Naturalist at Large Garreii Hardin
f'i.shinf; the Commons
18 This View of Life Stephen Jay Could
The Interpretation of Diagrams
30 Currents of the Sea W. Redwood Wright
Tremendous streams unite all the oceans into a single body of water.
38 Deep-Sea Fishes Bruce H. Robison
Bizarre creatures lurk in the black depths.
46 Sea Otters: Pillars of the Nearshore Community
John F. Palmisano and James A. Estes
The diet of this beguiling animal greatly affects the seascape.
54 Sky Reporter Isaac Asimov
Recipe for a Planetary Ocean
60 Lobster Tales Michael Berrill
Its life often ends in human hands, but we know Utile about its beginnings.
68 Flight of the Sea Ducks Paul A. Johnsgard
The ocean is a vast refuge for the eiders.
74 The Red Sea: An Ocean in the Making David A. Ross
With a little help from shifting plates, this sea is moving toward greatness.
78 Red Tides Beatrice M. Sweeney
Some dancing dinoflagellates contain a deadly poison.
84 Bounding the Main Warren S. Wooster
These may be the final days for the freedom of the seas.
88 The Market
92 Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
94 A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokolov
The Net Result
100 Book Review Niles Eldredge
Creatures from the Primordial Seas
106 Additional Reading
108 Announcements
Cover: The sun sets over the Pacific Ocean, the largest body of water on earth.
Photograph by Bill Silano, Stock Photos Unlimited.
THE m.s.PRINSENDAM
IS NOT THE ONLY WAY
TO GET TO INDONESIA.
IT'S JUST THE ONLY
WAY TO SEE IT.
Indonesia is Bali where Sempidi men make "monkeys" out of
themselves during the Ketjak ceremony. Its Jakarta where todays
freeways take you to the Orient of yesteryear. And it's more, much
more.
And nothing can show you the ins and outs of Indonesia like
a cruise aboard the m.s. Prinsendam. It was built to navigate and
explore the secret waterways of the worlds largest island state. And
the Dutch have been sailing these waters for 4 centuries. While the
islands are the homeland of our Indonesian crew.
And, as you explore, you'll vacation amidst the luxuries of a
royal yacht combined with the facilities of an international resort.
The m.s. Prinsendam's 7 and 14-day cruises leave Singapore
Oct. 25, 1976 to April 11, 1977. To Penang, Belawan, Sibolga, Nias,
Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya. Rates from $665 to $2,180.
All-inclusive tours with 9, 10 and 14-day cruises— 22 to 29
days from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver,
B.C. via Tokyo; 22 to 28 days from New York, Chicago, Toronto,
Montreal, Houston via Amsterdam. Rates from $2,275 to $3,580.
So join Holland America and scrutinize the inscrutable East.
Call your travel agent or write Holland America Cruises, Dept. CP,
2 Penn Plaza, New York 10001, (212) 760-3880.
The m.s. Prinsendam is registered in the Netherlands
Antilles. Rates are per person, double occupancy, subject to
availability. Minimum rates may not be available on all listed cruises.
Holland America Cruises
VACAnONS THAT ARE ALL VACAnON SINCE 1872.
NATURAL
HISTORY
Alan Ternes, Editor
Thomas Page, Designer
Board of Editors:
Sally Lindsay, Frederick Hartmann,
Christopher Hallowell, Toni Gerber
Carol Breslin, Book Reviews Editor
Florence G. Edelstein, Copy Chief
Gordon Beckhorn, Copy Editor
Angela Soccodato, Art Asst.
Diane Pierson, Editorial Asst.
Lillian Berger
Rosamond Dana, Publications Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dean Amadon, Dorothy E. Bliss,
Mark Chartrand, Niles Eldredge,
Vincent Manson, Margaret Mead,
Thomas D. Nicholson, Gerard Piel,
Richard G. Van Gelder
David D. Ryus, Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly, Business Manager
Sue Severn, Production Manager
Ernestine Weindorf, Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe, Business Asst.
Yung-mei Tang
Ann Brown, Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez, Asst.
Harriet Walsh
Publication Office: The American Museum
of Natural History, Central Park West
at 79th Street, New York, N.Y. 10024.
Published monthly, October through May;
bimonthly June to September.
Subscriptions: $10.00 a year. In Canada
and all other countries: $12.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at
New York, N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1976 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be
reproduced without written consent of
Natural History. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American Museum.
Natural History incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History,
420 Lexington Avenue,
New York, N. Y. 10017
Telephone: (212) 686-1234
Change of address notices, undeliverable
copies, orders for subscriptions,
and other mail items are to be sent to
Natural History
Membership Services, Box 6000
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
J
50 PIECE SET... PISTOL-HANDLED
FLATWARE OF 1776 ...Beautifully
reproduced in stainless steel with the
satin-finish look of antique pewter.
NOT $44.95! NOT $34.95! ONLY $22.95!
Your home can reflect the candlelight appeal and gracious atmosphere
of Early American Colonial elegance when you grace your table with
this incredibly beautiful service. Through a special purchase, we can
offer you the famous Pistol-Handled Flatware with all its stunning
Colonial simplicity in magnificent, satin finish stainless steel at just a
fraction of what you would pay for luxurious Sterling Silver. Each
and every piece is a lovely replica of the graceful place settings that
highlighted many a candlelit Colonial dinner. The knives are the
genuine hollow pistol grip handles; the forks are the graceful 3-tined
design. And the entire 50-Piece Set is made of modern stainless steel,
to give you years of carefree service.
LIMITED SUPPLY AVAILABLE AT
THIS VERY SPECIAL LOW, LOW PRICE
Don't be disappointed! Take advantage of this amazing low price
while our supplies last. Order now and we'll send you the complete
service for 8 including 8 Pistol Grip Hollow Handle Knives; 8 Dinner
Forks; 8 Salad Forks; 8 Soup Spoons; 16 Teaspoons PLUS a SPE-
CIAL FREE GIFT of a matching Butter Knife and Sugar Spoon-
50 pieces in all. The entire set is yours for just $22.95 on full money
back guarantee if you are not absolutely delighted. But don't delay.
Due to the rising cost of quality stainless steel, the price of this set will
be increased in the very near future. Take advantage of our truly low
price while current supplies last. Mail coupon today!
Complete Luxury Service For 8
50 PIECE SET ONLY $77^^
While Supplies Last
r,
CROWN-CASTLE Ltd., Dept. PGP-438
51 Bank Street, Stamford, Conn. 06901
Please send me the Stainless Steel Pistol Grip Flatware
I have checked below on full Money Back Guarantee it I
am not absolutely delighted.
(Please add $2.00 postage and handling with each order.)
Check Quantify Desired
D Service For 8 {50-Piece Set) $22.95
D Service For 1 2 (74-Piece Set) 33.95
D Service For 16 (WO-Picce Set) 44.95
D Enclosed is $
Charge my n BankAmericard Q Master Charge
□ American Express
Exp.
_Date-
Signature.
Name
City.
State
L. Conn. Residents Add 7% Sales Tax .
-Zip-
Authors
A former newspaperman and pub-
lic information officer, W. Redwood
Wright is now a senior oceanog-
rapher at the Northeast Fisheries Cen-
ter of the National Marine Fisheries
Service. He switched from public in-
formation to science following two
months on a Danish icebreaker inves-
tigating deep circulation in Greenland
waters. Wright earned his Ph.D. de-
gree in physical oceanography from
the University of Rhode Island
twenty years after completing his un-
dergraduate work at Princeton. He
hopes in the future to spend time at
sea again to gain information about
the variations in continental shelf cir-
culation and their effect on fish
stocks.
An assistant research biologist at
the Marine Science Institute of the
University of California at Santa Bar-
bara, Bruce H. Robison has centered
his oceanic research on the midwater
fishes of three Indo-Pacific seas and
their niche distinctions. He has spent
more than two of the past nine years
aboard a variety of research vessels
on expeditions to many of the world's
oceans and has conducted hundreds
of deep-sea trawl hauls. Of his most
exciting experience — a dive in the
three-man submersible Alvin, which
took him to a depth of more than a
mile in the Atlantic— he writes , ' 'The
textbook image of an oceanic water
column that had been in my mind was
erased as the real thing slid by my
window. It was like going to the
moon in the way it changed my
perspectives."
John F. Palmisano first went to
the Aleutian Islands as part of an in-
terdisciplinary team that was study-
ing the effects of underground nuclear
tests on the marine environment of
Amchitka Island. Interested in the
distribution of coastal marine orga-
nisms, he began to focus his research
on sea otters as he realized their im-
portance in shaping the nearshore
community. This work led to a disser-
tation on otters and to his Ph.D. in
fisheries ecology from the University
of Washington last year. Palmisano is
now an intertidal ecologist with the
National Marine Fisheries Service at
Auke Bay, Alaska. Coauthor of the
article on sea otters, James A. Estes
has been studying these animals since
1970. He, too, has centered his field
research in the western Aleutian Is-
lands, but hopes to study the ecology
and evolution of nearshore communi-
ties in other areas as well. When not
observing otter predation in situ or off
on a Russian ship assessing Pacific
walrus populations — his latest proj-
ect— Estes is a research biologist at
the National Fish and Wildlife Labo-
ratory in Anchorage.
The control center of the Mercedes-Benz 280 — the most cojiied sedan in the world.
What does it feel like
to drive the most copied sedan
in the world?
Eight of the world's major automo-
bile makers have either compared
their cars to the Mercedes-Benz 280—
or have actually tried to copy it. Your
first drive will show you that no one
has copied the 280 at all.
When you take the wheel of a 280
Sedan, the automobile states its own
case. Listen to the engine. It's a sophis-
ticated overhead camshaft six.
Press the 280 into a tight turn. Fully
independent suspension gives you un-
canny road adhesion. And, because
every wheel has its own separate sus-
pension system, bumps or potholes
can affect only one wheel.
It's a different story with most of
the imitators. Their rear axles are single
rigid units. So a jounce on one wheel
produces a bounce on its mate.
You get what you pay for
Others have copied the 280's lines and
many of its dimensions. But few have
attempted to copy the completeness of
its standard features. And none has
matched all of its engineering features.
Features that give you greater safety,
comfort and performance. Features
that account for the 280 Sedan's price.
Finally, consider this financial fact
Based on the average official used car
prices over the past five years, a
Mercedes-Benz holds its value better
than any make of luxury car sold in
America. And even among the
Mercedes-Benz models listed, the 280
Sedan's figures are outstanding.
You get what you pay for in the
280: a unique driving experience that
is the sum of all the reasons
why the 280 is the most copied
sedan in the world.
Mercedes-Benz
Engineered like no other car
in the world.
The 280 Sedan: Rewards you may never have experienced in an automobile.
Animal behaviorist Michael Ber-
rill initially chose mysids, small
shrimplike crustaceans, as his partic-
ular interest but switched to lobsters
when he got tired of explaining what
mysids are. He also decided that lob-
sters "taste too good to disappear, la-
mented but unknown." An associate
professor of biology at Trent Univer-
sity in Ontario, Canadian-born Berrill
is continuing his research on the be-
havioral ecology of freshwater cray-
fish and marine lobsters and will ex
pand the scope of his studies to in-
clude the antipredatory behavior of
these animals. He wrote "Benthic
Life in the Fjords of Nor way , " for the
November 1970 issue of Natural
History.
A prolific writer on ornithological
subjects, Paul A. Johnsgard is cur-
rently studying the taxonomy of
grouse, quails, and ducks. He has
done extensive investigations of wa-
terfowl and his field work has taken
him to virtually all areas of the West-
ern Hemisphere. He is now compil-
ing and editing a catalog of classic
American bird decoys. The Bird
Decoy: An American Art Form,
which will be published by the Uni-
versity of Nebraska Press this fall. A
professor of zoology at the University
of Nebraska, Johnsgard has pub-
lished many articles in Natural His-
tory; the most recent being "Quail
Music" (March 1974).
Marginal seas are oceanographer
David A. Ross's speciality. He has
been on three expeditions to the Red
Sea, two to the Black, and one to the
Mediterranean to study the marine
geology and geophysics of these
basins. Next year he plans to do re-
search in the Persian Gulf and the
Gulf of Aqaba. For the past seven
years Ross has been an associate sci-
entist at the Woods Hole Oceano-
graphic Institution in Massachusetts.
In addition to his scientific work, he
teaches at the Fletcher School of In-
ternational Law and Diplomacy at
Tufts University and at Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology. One of
Ross's hobbies is speed ice skating.
He was second in his age group
(35-39) in the 1976 Senior Olympics
in four distances in that event.
Beatrice M. Sweeney has been
observing red tides off the coast of
southern California, in the West
Indies, and in New Guinea for almost
twenty-five years. She was one of the
scientists invited to give a paper at the
First International Conference on
Toxic Dinoflagellate Blooms held in
Boston in the fall of 1974. A native
New Englander, Sweeney received
her doctoral degree in biology from
Radcliffe College. A long-time resi-
dent of the West Coast, she teaches
in the Biology Department of the Uni-
versity of California, Santa Barbara,
and enjoys snorkeling when time per-
mits.
'> /S
To Kivi' you <jn idcM of diamond vdluc-s. lh<' piiTc «hmvn is dvaibbk'
for <iboul $1600. Your jfwi-lfr can show you other diamond jt-wt'lry
starling; al about $200. Dl- Beers Consohdalfd Mines. iJd.
^ She usually laughs at my anniversary gifts,
but this year, I think she's going to cry.
A diamond is forever.
stand face to face
with danger
Visit The Amazon, land of fierce Stone Age Indians. . .
Retreat behind a stand of acacia trees in Africa's
Rift Valley as a Naivasha hippo crashes like a
bulldozer through Hell's Gate Pass . . .
Shield your eyes as, deep in the Ahaggar mountains
of The Sahara, a sudden sandstorm blots out the sun . . .
These are scenes from THE WORLD'S WILD PLACES -
a bold photo adventure series from Time -Life Books
The world's great wilderness areas come to surging life in this book
series by Time-Life naturalists and master photographers. These aston-
ishing volumes— each containing over 100 spectacular photos and
40,000 words of adventure-story text-transport you to the towering
peaks of The Himalayas . . . through the trackless wastes of The
Soviet Deserts and Mountains . . . undersea in the vast coral
wilderness of Australia's Great Barrier Reef . . .
Brave the wilderness of The Amazon
Start with The Amazon, dwelling place of rnurderous headhunting
Jivaro Indians, where tarantulas grow the size of a soup plate
and Indians ritually eat the dried bones of their dead. Stand in
forbidding rain forests which hide the carnivorous army ant
and camouflage the black caiman, largest of Amazon alligators.
See waters crowded with piranhas, sharks, sawfish, needlefish.
Glimpse the sleek puma alert with the scent of prey.
Now put your imagination to the test and brave a journey
few civilized people have ever taken. Send for The Amazon,
first book in The World's Wild Places series, today. Just mail
the coupon below and we'll send it to you for a 10-day free
examination. Or write: Time-Life Books, Time & Life
Building, Chicago, 111. 60611.
Explore THE AMAZON
free for 10 days
EACH VOLUME: • Actual size: 9 by 10% inches • Durably hard-
bound with cloth spine • Contains 184 pages, with more than 40,000
words of evocative text and 100 lavish illustrations, almost all
in color • Bibliography and Index
TIME-LIFE BOOKS, Time & Life Building, Chicago, III. 60611
YES, 1 would like to examine The Amazon. Please send it to me
for 10 days' free examination and enter my subscription to THE
WORLD'S WILD PLACES. If I decide to keep The Amazon, I
will pay $6.95 plus shipping and handling. 1 then will receive fu-
ture volumes in THE WORLD'S WILD PLACES series, shipped
one volume at a time approximately every three months. Each is
$6.95 plus shipping and handUng and comes on a 10-day, free-
examination basis. There is no minimum number of books that
I must buy. I may cancel my subscription at any time by notify-
ing you.
If I do not choose to keep The Amazon, I will return the book
within 10 days, my subscription for future volumes will be can
celed, and I will not be under any further obligation. C9AF23
Name
Address
Apt. No.
City
State
Zip
Schools and Libraries: Order Library Style Bindings from Silver Burdett Com
pany, Morristown, N.J. 07960. Eligible for Titles I, II funds
rrTMgs
mo
BOOKS
A Naturalist at Large
by Garrett Hardin
Fishing the Commons
A crowded world dictates
the necessity of regulating
the continued exploitation
of ocean resources
As humanity seeks to wrest food
from the sea, species after species of
marine animal approaches extinction .
Since the beginning of this decade the
gross harvest of fish has fallen, an in-
dication that we are exploiting this
resource beyond its point of maxi-
mum sustainable yield. Man's re-
sponse has been to try harder — an ac-
tion more suicidal than sapient.
We are caught in a semantic trap;
the shibboleth of "freedom of the
seas" inhibits thought. It is danger-
ous in our time to question the word
freedom, but we must. Some implica-
tions of the spontaneous phrase
"freedom of the seas" are defens-
ible: the right of passenger ships, for
example, to traverse the sea at will.
But what about the right to pollute at
will? Or to mine sea beds for miner-
als? Or to fish the oceans' populations
to extinction? Surely there are ration-
al limits to these freedoms. Collective
humankind has failed to agree on the
limits. Very well, then, let us admit
our failure and try to discover its
cause. Why have we failed? What un-
examined propositions cause us to
repeat our failure, time after time?
By now it should be clear that no
technological remedy will save the
seas as a source of wealth. Every im-
provement in fishing gear or mining
equipment merely hastens the day of
exhaustion. Our problem is not a
technological one but a social and po-
litical one. We must try to understand
human systems, particularly politico-
economic ones.
Conventional wisdom holds that
the world has two major politico-eco-
nomic systems — one often referred to
as democratic and the other as totali-
tarian. England and the United States
exemplify the first type; Russia and
China the second. The labels given
these two systems are troublesome:
capitalist or private enterprise is as-
signed to the democratic countries,
while centralist, communist, and so-
cialist are used for the totalitarian
ones. Most countries, however, are
mixed economies: Russia has a bit of
capitalism in her system and the
United States is more than a little so-
cialistic. But conventional wisdom
says that in their pure forms only two
systems exist.
Conventional wisdom is wrong —
there are three. The third system is
that of the commons. It is a cryptic
system — seldom named and seldom
recognized. The oceans have always
been governed by the system of the
commons, which may work well so
long as the world is not overloaded
with human beings. But once the
world becomes crowded, adherence
to the commons becomes suicidal .
Suppose the oceans were managed
and controlled by a capitalist nation
as a sort of private enterprise. Sup-
pose nation X possessed the right and
power to exclude entrance to and ex-
ploitation of the oceans. It might well
keep all other nations from fishing.
What would happen to the fish
stocks? If X was farsighted and had
accurate information about the popu-
lation dynamics of marine species, it
would control its fishing efforts so as
to obtain the maximum sustainable
yield, year after year. Any other pol-
icy would be unwise and contrary to
its own long-term interest.
Is ownership of the seas by one na-
tion a responsible method of regula-
tion? Most people, repelled by the
thought of such national ownership,
would call it unjust, and for the pur-
poses of this argument, let us agree.
But if within the framework of this
unjust system, X's decisions are wise
ones, the nation benefits. If they are
unwise, X pays the price, perhaps in
the next generation. The system, al-
though unjust, is responsible and will
reward the nation that makes wise de-
cisions and punish it for unwise ones.
Conceivably, ocean fisheries owned
as a private enterprise could be well
managed indefinitely.
This is also possible for a socialis-
tic system. Without creating an all-
purpose world sovereignty, we may
some day be able to create an interna-
tional agency with sovereignty lim-
ited to marine fisheries. Since the
world's population of four billion
people could hardly come together in
a town meeting to agree whether the
halibut catch should be increased or
the fur seal harvest diminished, na-
tions collectively would have to agree
to turn the management of the oceans
over to a commission.
Most of us would call this a more
just system than ownership by only
one nation. The world population
would either benefit or suffer from the
managing commission's wise or un-
wise decisions. But under this system
it is also conceivable that the ocean
fisheries could be so managed as to
yield abundantly far into the future.
I have emphasized what might be
called the normal physiology of the
two politico-economic systems, but
they also have their pathologies. Pri-
vate enterprise may abuse its power.
Under socialism, managers are not
always honest. By nature, the manag-
ers of a socialistic system usually
have first access to information con-
cerning the functioning of the system.
With the discovery of a miscalcula-
tion, a commission may be sorely
tempted to bottle up the incriminating
information. Freedom of information
becomes a primary problem. Con-
sider the behavior of any nation's de-
fense department — an inescapably
socialistic institution no matter the
nominal form of government. Every
such establishment seeks to prevent
public knowledge of flagrant cost
overruns by suppressing information
How to
get tax-free
income
This 36-page booklet tells
how municipal bonds may
increase your after-tax
investment income by 60
percent or more, depending
on your tax bracket.
It's yours free. Just mail
the coupon. Or call our
toll-free number below.
Free!
'Investing
for Tax-Free Income"
Call toll-free 800-327-4800.
In Florida 1-800-432-7521. Or write:
Merrill Lynch Service Center
P.O. Box 700, Nevada, Iowa 50201
NNH0800TFI
Name
Address-
City-
state-
-Zip-
Home Phone-
Business Phone-
Merrill Lynch
Pleice
Ftenner & Smith Inc.
in the name of national security. The
ancient Romans wisely asked, Sed
quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? —
"But who is to guard the guards
themselves?" To this day we have no
general answer to this problem, but
must improvise as we go along.
The relative merits of socialistic
and private enterprise are not our con-
cern here. Our concern is with the
third political system, the system of
the commons. Both socialism and
capitalism can conceivably work well
in a crowded world. Not so with the
system of the commons, which in a
crowded world inevitably works
toward a tragic end. Today we are
seeing this occur before our eyes in
the death of ocean fisheries. Under
the system of the commons, the ex-
ploitable resource is regarded as com-
mon property but, unlike socialism,
the resource is not managed. The use
of the commons is governed by the
Marxian principle ' 'to each according
to his needs," where "needs" are de-
termined by each person or nation.
This is the system under which the
oceans have always been exploited.
When people were not numerous it
worked. But now that there are four
billion of us this system does not —
and caimot — conceivably function.
Ruin is the end result of the normal
physiology of this system.
Suppose a nation exploiting fish-
eries under a commons system real-
izes that fish stocks are dwindling.
But because it is short of protein, the
nation considers stepping up its fish-
ing effort. Is this a rational policy or
would there be more benefits if the
nation decreased its efforts? The an-
swer is mixed. Increased effort will
bring an increased harvest in the short
run. But in the long run stocks will
decrease, resulting in less catch for
the same effort in subsequent years.
It is important to note, however,
that the nation that initially decides to
increase its fishing efforts will be the
sole one to benefit, whereas all the
nations that fish in the commons share
in the eventual loss. The traditional
doctrine of freedom of the seas neces-
sarily implies (although it is never ex-
plicitly stated) that the decision-mak-
ing nation does not have to answer to
the other affected nations.
Even worse, the nation that makes
a decision that in the long run is detri-
mental to others as well as to itself is
rewarded in the short run. The system
of the commons thus rewards for the
worst decisions. That is the reason
why oceanic fisheries are doomed if
we cling to the notion of freedom of
the seas.
If the system of the commons were
specifically labeled as a system, it
would be open to attack; perhaps this
is the reason it has escaped classifica-
tion. Capitalism branded as such in-
vites attack, as does socialism or, for
that matter , any other ' ' ism ." But the
system of the commons has no recog-
nized ideological label. It is protected
from attack by the rubric ' ' freedom , ' '
which implies that we are dealing
with something that transcends ideol-
ogy. Nevertheless it is an ideology,
and ' 'to each according to his needs"
defines it. And it doesn't work.
Faced with such a situation, invet-
erate optimists may call upon con-
science and wish to appeal to all na-
tions for restraint. In a theoretical
sense, such an appeal is logical; in a
real sense, however, it would be a
weak solution. There are about 150
nations in the world. For a system of
voluntary restraint in the commons to
work, three conditions would have to
be met: accurate factual information;
perfect agreement on the interpreta-
tion of the facts, including propor-
tional distribution of the harvest; and
absolutely no cheating.
In the real world there is little pos-
sibility of all three conditions being
met. For more than a quarter century
the International Whaling Commis-
sion has informed its member nations
that whaling efforts must be reduced,
but to no avail. Scientific data have
been disputed and recommendations
flouted with the predicted result,
namely, depletion of the whale
stocks. Still the carnage goes on.
Now only two whaling nations re-
main— Russia and Japan. Their inter-
nal affairs are governed by the two
opposing classical systems, socialism
and capitalism. But as far as whaling
is concerned, they operate by the
ideology of the unmanaged com-
mons. Only destruction lies ahead for
the whaling fisheries. Neither nation
is willing to prevent this by acknowl-
edging that the future of the industry
necessitates its immediate reduction;
to do so would be to hand all the bene-
fits to its competitor.
If voluntarism does not work when
there are only two countries in the
game, what chance can it have when
there are scores of nations involved,
as is true for the other fisheries? It
takes only one uncooperative nation
to ruin an unmanaged commons. Re-
ality dictates that we reject as un-
workable any politico-economic sys-
Saluniav Review
If you love to think...wrestie with great ideas...
become outraged occasionally...
laugh out loud... and-above all-
be infbrmed...you are invited to
enter a trial subscription to
Saturday Review
In the half-ccntiiry since the Satur-
day Review was born, SR has managed
to persuade an extraordinary galaxy of
world-renowned statesmen, critics, his-
torians, journalists, performers, politi-
cians, scientists, jurists, economists,
nnvplists nnri hiimnrictc tn writp fnr th,»
by Goodman Ace, Cleveland Amory
and Leo Rosten— would be to let it come
into your home every two weeks, so
you can see for yourself. And that is
exactly what you can do right now.
If you will simply use the order form
Review for a six-month trial period-13
issues for only $7. (The regular single-
copy cost of these issues is S9.75.) In
addition, if at any time you decide to
cancel your subscription, you may do
so, and receive a full refund on all the
Use this postage-free card to get
acquainted with today's colorfol
and informative Saturday Review
-at a special trial rate!
Yes, enter my subscription to Saturday Review for one-half year
— 13 biweekly issues— at only $7. (The single-copy price of these same
issues is $9.75.) I understand that if I become dissatisfied with SR at any
I may cancel and will receive a complete refund on all undelivered issues.
(Offer good only in U.S. and its possessions.)
□ Check for $7 enclosed
n Bill me
and
y
I
ddress _
nly
Judith Crist, film critic,
lecturer and professor at
the Columbia School of
Journalism, whose pistol
packin' movie reviews
keep Hollywood on its
toes.
Plus these talented SR
editors: Horace Sut-
ton... Irving Kolodin
. . . Albert Rosenfeld
. . . James Cass . . .
Hollis Alpert . . . Wil-
liam Cole . . . Henry
Hewes . . . Katharine
Kuh . . . Thomas H.
Middleton . . . Walter
Terry . . . Margaret R.
Weiss . . . Roger M.
Williams.
_Zip_
To order by phone, call toll-free (800) 325-6400 (Look for delivery of your first copy in 4-7 weeks.) N670
the magic of Saturday
ce, education, criticism,
is special six-month trial
dahl's explosive "How to Kill an
Ocean," and the incredibly absorbing
special issue, "Inside the Brain: The
Last Great Frontier."
Judge for Yourself— With This Special
Trial Offer
The best way for you to judge Satur-
day Review— with its splendid articles
and myriad regular features that in-
clude reviews of books . . . dance . . .
music . . . film . . . plus delicious humor
ScitUrdCiy Review subscription Oept. box 10007, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
SPECIAL TRIAL OFFER
for new subscribers
Yes, please enter my subscrip-
tion to Saturday Review at the
special trial rate of one-half
year— 13 biweekly issues — at
only $7. (The single-copy price
of these same issues is $9.75.)
I understand that if I become
dissatisfied with SR at any time,
I may cancel and will receive a
complete refund on all unde-
livered issues. N670
n Check for $7 enclosed (Offer good only in U.S. and
its possessions. Look for delivery
D Bill me of your first copy in 4-7 weeks.)
City
Zip
TO ORDER BY PHONE, CALL TOLL-FREE (800) 325-6400
superb aluminum
camera cases
■ZERO
IDURTON
THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE POST-RECOVERY
APOLLO MOON ROCK CONTAINERS
Valuable, delicate equip-
ment deserves the best
transporting and storage
protection. These presti-
gious, ultra-rugged cases
do it superbly! And you
customize the multi-layered
polyester foam to your
exact needs. Blank layout
template, knife and instruc-
tions are included with
each case. Get the best
and relax!
BERKEY MARKETING COMPANIES, INC.
P 0. Box 1102. Woodside. N.Y 11377
In Canada: Berkey Photo (Canada! Ltd.. Ontario
Since 1972, when vire started our
tours, cruises and expeditions for ad-
venturous travelers, many people
have asked us for a safari in East
Africa; we did not wish to compete
with others in this field and waited
until we could offer a program which
is unique and has been carefully sur-
veyed to provide the outdoor living
that inspired Hemingway's novels -
the true way to appreciate Africa, its
people, and its wildlife.
We now invite twelve intrepid travel-
ers to see Africa as did the explorers
before the tourists came, on our
African
Camel Safari
JANUARY-FEBRUARY JUNE-JULY
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1977
A journey on foot with camel support
across the fiercely exciting Northern
Frontier District of Kenya, accom-
panied by a wildlife expert who pro-
vides the protection required on an
expedition of this nature.
The peace and serenity of walking
through the African bush with the
muffled sound of camel bells is an ex-
perience few travelers have enjoyed.
Detailed brochures are available from:
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
55 WEST 42 STREET, NEW YORK. NY 10036
tern that depends on the perfection of
all its decision makers.
Perhaps public opinion can create
the needed conscience among all par-
ticipants in a commons but this seems
doubtful. For some time we have
called the Japanese greedy for killing
whales at so great a rate. Insofar as
they reply, they point out their land-
poor population's need for protein.
"Need creates right' ' is the automatic
assumption of any overpopulated
country.
If the cry of ' 'greedy" is of any use
at all, it is as a means of rallying the
troops of the critics to use other
means of coercion, such as a boycott
of imports from the accused nation.
If this method works at all , it does so,
not through a call to conscience on the
part of the accused nation, but
through an economic pinch.
How is it possible to indefinitely
exploit, and at the same time main-
tain, the ocean's renewable re-
sources? (The mining of nonrenew-
able minerals is a rather different
problem, not considered here.) If we
had a choice , most of us would proba-
bly opt for a socialistic system be-
cause it appears to most easily serve
the cause of justice. But each mari-
time nation feels strongly about its
right to exploit the oceans without re-
striction. And even if the necessary
majority of powerful nations agreed
to a limited encroachment of what
they perceive to be their rights, it is
not clear what principles of distri-
butional justice should be followed
by the management they might elect.
Should land area be the deciding fac-
tor in dividing the wealth of the
oceans? Or should such division be
based on population, wealth, amount
of malnutrition, or tradition? These
are difficult questions and no matter
what options are available, the argu-
ment might be impossible to settle.
At the moment the private enter-
prise approach is likely to make more
progress. For centuries we have ex-
ploited the oceans through a tradition
of national sovereignty. It is easier to
extend an old tradition than to
suppress it — which we would have to
do to create fisheries based on social-
ism. Nation after nation has extended
this tradition by favoring a 200-mile
limit to national coastal waters, in-
stead of the traditional 3- or 12-mile
limit. By this extension, a nearly 200-
mile-wide strip of oceanic commons
next to each maritime nation will be
converted into private property as far
as fishing is concerned. This will not
solve all the problems. A nonmigra-
tory species of fish may be protected
by this change, but not a wide-rang-
ing one. And open ocean species will
be no better off.
Some aspects of the 200-mile limit
are ludicrous. Honduras owns two
islets, the Swan Islands, in the Gulf
of Mexico. On the basis of this tiny
bit of real estate with a population of
22 people, Honduras could theoret-
ically claim exclusive fishing rights to
126,000 square miles of ocean — the
area of the 200-mile radius surround-
ing the islets.
The British island of Dominica and
the French island of Martinique are
less than 30 miles apart. What will
happen to fishing rights in this re-
gion? Presumably a line equidistant
from the nearest points of the two is-
lands would be drawn. Three neigh-
boring islands under three separate
jurisdictions creates a situation even
more difficult to solve. International
lawyers will be kept busy for some
time pondering these complex issues.
Also at issue is the apparent injus-
tice of giving greater fishing rights to
maritime nations than to landlocked
ones. The African country of Upper
Volta, for instance, covers an area al-
most equal to that of the circle drawn
about the Swan Islands, yet Upper
Volta with nearly six million people
would not have any oceanic fishing
rights while the twenty-two Swan Is-
landers would enjoy rights to 126,000
square miles. Is this just?
There are many landlocked na-
tions, and most of them are in Africa:
Mali, Niger, Chad, Central African
Republic, Uganda, Rwanda,
Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Rhode-
sia, Botswana, Swaziland and Le-
sotho. Landlocked nations are among
the world's poorest. Is it just that their
populations should be deprived of
fishing rights?
Most of us would agree on the in-
justice of this possibility; never-
theless, let us explore its conse-
quences. Imagine an ideal world of
no nations and no national bounda-
ries, a world in which people act
merely as individuals or at most as ■
small self -responsible communes. In I
such a world, would one argue that 1
people living in the interior of a conti-
nent, perhaps a thousand miles from
the ocean, have a right to as much
seafood as people dwelling on a
shore? The answer depends strongly
on energy. It takes energy to grow or
catch food; energy to transport food,
marine or other, and to process and
14
store it. The farther the transport the
greater the energy cost. Our future
appears to be one in which energy
will become ever more precious. In-
landers can enjoy an amount of sea-
food equal to that of shore dwellers
only if they use a disproportionately
large amount of energy to transport it.
A just system can be interpreted ei-
ther as equal distribution of the end
product — food — or equal distribution
of the means of getting food to
people — energy. If the former defini-
tion is accepted, the per capita in-
come of people is lowered because of
the inefficient use of energy. Accept-
ing the second definition increases per
capita income, but results in dif-
ferences in diets: inlanders will eat
more grain; coastal people more fish.
Whether this is an equitable system
is debatable.
That the landlocked people of Le-
sotho cannot easily enjoy the delights
of soft-shell clams is no special hard-
ship. Similarly, people in Miami can-
not easily enjoy skiing or people in
the Yukon the delights of tropical
fruits, unless transportation — an en-
ergy expenditure — is involved. End-
product equality can be achieved only
at the expense of efficiency, a cost
that will be acceptable only at a high
level of income. To put it bluntly,
equality is a luxury that only the
wealthy can afford. This is not the
case, however, worldwide. Energy is
scarce. If it is never more abundant
than it is now, it seems unlikely that
people will accept the inefficiencies
of a more equal distribution of the
oceans' wealth than now exists.
If we have the interests of posterity
in mind, our most crucial need with
respect to the biotic wealth of the
ocean is to see to it that we adopt a
politico-economic system that will
make it possible for future genera-
tions to live at least as well as we do.
The national property system embod-
ied in the 200-mile limit may solve
a few of our marine problems, but
most of them will require some other
departure f i^om the system of the com-
mons prevailing in the open ocean.
This must take the form of an interna-
tional organization with suprana-
tional sovereignty in fisheries control.
The crucial question is, can we find
a way to create this needed organi-
zation in time?
Garrett Hardin teaches human ecol-
ogy at the University of California at
Santa Barbara and is the author of
numerous essays on the commons.
Hold a Minolta.
Release your imagination.
A Minolta 35mm SLR will help you quickly and easily translate the
vision in your mind to film.
From the moment you pick it up, a Minolta feels comfortable
in your hands. Yourfingersfall into place naturally Everything
works so smoothly that the camera becomes a part of you.
With a Minolta SLR, you never have to take your eye from the
vievirfinder to make adjustments. So you can concentrate on
creating the picture, without losing sight of even the fastest moving
subject, The image remains big and bhght until the instant
you shoot. And your pictures are always properly exposed because
Minolta's patented "CLC" metering system handles even high
contrast situations with incredible accuracy
You're free to probe the limits of your imagination with a Minolta.
More than 40 lenses in the superbly crafted Rokkor-X and
Minolta/Celtic systems let you bridge distances or capture a spec-
tacular "fisheye" panorama.
Minolta offers a wide choice of electronic and match-needle
SLRs. With features to match your needs and budget.
Regardless of the model you choose, you get the superb Minolta
handling that lets you effortlessly make the transition from
creative vision to captured image.
For more information about Minolta 35mm single lens reflex
cameras, see your dealer or write Minolta
Corporation, 101 Williams Drive,
Ramsey New Jersey 07446.
In Canada: Anglophoto, Ltd., RQ.
Minolta
When you are the camera
and the camera is you.
The glory and anguish of the American past...
Qioose Any Set For
f^OR^KWASlUNr;
Set 137
I
THE •
PRESIDENT
FIRST TERM
James Thomas Flexner's
GEORGE WASfflNGTON
4 Volumes
Publisher's Price $60.00 Aburs For Only $4
Not the marble bust but the flesh-and-blood Washington
— brilliantly portrayed in this celebrated work by a
leading historian. National Book Award.
Special Pulitzer Citation.
Dumas Malone's Pulitzer Prize-Winning
JEFFERSON AND fflS TIME
5 Volumes
Publisher's Price $72.50Aburs For Only $5
From his Virginia youth through his troubled second term as
president. Biography surpassing anything you've ever
read on Jefferson and his world.
1975 Pulitzer Prize.
David Brion Davis'
THE PROBLEM OF
SLAVERY
In Western Culture/
In the Age of Revolution
2 Volumes
Publisher's Price $35.00Aburs For Only $2
"Scholarly, brilliam in analysis, beautifully
wriiten"— The New York Times. Pulitzer Prize
(vol. 1). 1976 National Book Award (vol. 2).
AMERICA
mSTORY
AMERICAN HISTORY
REFERENCE SET
2 Volumes
Publisher's Price $37.95Aburs For Only $2
Encyclopedia of American History, ed. by
Richard B. Morris. "Best one volume encyclopedia
of American Aisrorji"— Chicago Tribune.
Landmarks of the American Revolution,
by Mark M. Boatner, III. Detailed guide to
historical sites in 27 states.
Americaiis
X jliivdO(H^
pocradc
i]q)enaice
Daniel J. Boorstin's j
THE AMERICANS
3 Volumes
Publisher's Price $35.00/Yours For Only $3
A social historian's sweeping trilogy on
the roots of our civilization — the harsh realities
of colonial days, the great trek West,
and the mixed blessings of industrialization.
Pulitzer Prize.
A Dollar A\blume
A NARRATIVE
Shelby Foote's
THE CIVIL WAR: A Narrative
3 Volumes
Publisher's Price STS-OOAburs For Only S3
By a historian who is also a gifted novehst — the opening
shot at Fort Sumter through the surrender at Appomattox.
"A remarkable achievement, prodigiously researched,
vigorous, detailed, absorbing."— \.Y. Times
William F. Swindler's
COURT AND CONSTITUTION
IN THE 20TH CENTURY
3 Volumes
Publisher's Price S37.40A'ours For Only S3
Timely and readable account of how the major Supreme
Court decisions of the last 75 years affect the meaning
of the Constitution todav.
A rare opportunity to enrich your
library mth one of these enduring zvorks,
at a fraction of its usual cost. Savings
up to $72y zuith trial membership.
\X'c gave the world the Declara-
tion of Independence and the Atom
Bomb. Freed our slaves and crushed
our Indians. Elected Lincoln and
elected Xixon
A rich mixture, the American
past — which is one reason it makes
lively reading. And the best of written
histor>' — not only of America but of
all mankind — is the province of Tlie
History Book Club.
N'ow in its 28th year, the Club
provides its members with the finest
new books of history and world af-
fairs—always at substantial savings.
If you've never tried us, you've missed
some great reading and unusual
buys. But none quite like this one.
For a mere dollar a volume, we'll
send you any one of the magnificent
sets pictured — with your first selec-
tion at the reduced member's price
(any book listed below).
If you're less than delighted, re-
turn all the books (we'll pay postage)
and that's that. Or keep them and
take just four more books during the
coming year from the 150-200 of-
fered each month.
They're easy to take at $3, S4, $5
(and more) off bookstore prices. No
stinting on physical quality either;
all our books are the equal of the
publishers' editions. .\nd this Club
has a Bonus Plan that lets you pick
ayiy book we offer, not just certain ones.
Pick one of the fine books below as your
first Selection at the reduced member's price:
(First price is publisher's list. Boldface shov^
858. Napoleon Bonaparte
By Viticeni Croiiiii. Drawing on recently
discovered sources, an inlimale biography
of Napoleon the man. $12.50 S8.50
427. Circles and Standing Stones
B\ Evan Hadmgham. .Megalith mysteries
of early Britain. 150 maps, diagrams,
plans.' $12.50 58.75
138. Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny:
The Founding Fathers
as Revolutionaries
By Richard B. Morris. $10.00 S7.50
347. The Army of the Caesars
By Michael Gram. $15.00 S9.95
486. The Character of John Adams
By Peter Sha-w. Fascinating study of
Adams' innermost thoughts and acts.
$12.95,58.95
104. The Indian Heritage of America
ByAhin M. Josephx, >. $10.00, S7.50
ember's price.)
418. The War Against the Jews:
1933-1945
By Lucy S. Da-criJmvicz. The terrifying
story of Hitler's systematic annihilation of
sin million people. $15.00 S9.95
451. Tom Paine and Revolutionary
America
ByEncFoner. $13.95 58.75
497. Henry V:
The Cautious Conqueror
By .Margaret Vi'ade Laharge. $10.00- 57.75
1 16. A History of the \'ikings
By GTiynJone's. $12.50 S8.50
247. A History of American Law
By Laurence .if. Friedman. $15.95/59.75
457. A True History of the
-Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
and of the Conspiracy of 1865
By Louis \X'eichmann. ' $15.00 59.95
Please enroll me as a trial member and send me
the books whose numbers I'm entering below. Bill
my set at $1 a volume and my first selection at the
reduced member's price, plus modest shipping
charges.) Set ff | ~^ Selection # ] i
THE HISTORY BOOK CLUB • Stamford, Conn. 06904
A note on how the
Club works: Every
four weeks, you re-
ceive our Review and
a dated reply card. If
you want the Editors'
Choice, do nothing:
the book will come
automatically. To
order a different book
or no book, return the
card by the specified
date. You will have at
least 10 days to make
your choice — but if
you get an unwanted
book because of late
mail, we guarantee
return postage.
I may return all the books within three weeks at
your expense and owe nothing. Or I wiU take four
more books within a year, (not counting my intro-
ductory books), always at reduced member's prices
plus shipping. Thereafter, I may resign at any time.
Print Name
Address
City
State
NH-34D
-Zip-
In Canada: Mail to The History Book Club, 16 Overlea Blvd., Toronto M4H 1A6, Ontario.
This View of Life
by Stephen Jay Gould
The Interpretation of Digrams
Is the Cambrian ' 'explosion ' '
a sigmoid fraud?
Roderick Murchison, urged on by
his wife, gave up the joys of fox hunt-
ing for the more sublime pleasures of
scientific research. This aristocratic
geologist devoted much of his second
career to documenting the early his-
tory of life. He discovered that the
first stocking of the oceans did not
occur gradually with the successive
addition of ever more complex forms
of life. Instead, most major groups
seemed to arise simultaneously at
what geologists now call the base of
the Cambrian period some 600 mil-
lion years ago. To Murchison, a de-
vout creationist writing in the 1830s,
this episode could only represent
God's initial decision to populate the
earth.
Charles Darwin viewed this obser-
vation with trepidation. He assumed,
as evolution demanded, that the seas
had ' ' swarmed with living creatures ' '
before the Cambrian period. To ex-
plain the absence of fossils in the ear-
lier geologic record, he apolo-
getically speculated that our modern
continents accumulated no sediments
during Precambrian times because
they were areas of clear seas.
Our modern view synthesizes these
two opinions. Darwin, of course, has
been vindicated in his cardinal con-
tention: Cambrian life did arise from
organic antecedents, not from the
hand of God. But Murchison's basic
observation reflects a biological real-
ity, not the imperfections of geologic
evidence: the Precambrian fossil
record is little more (save at its very
end) than 2.5 billion years of bacteria
and blue-green algae. Complex life
did arise with startling speed near the
base of the Cambrian. (Readers must
remember that geologists have a pe-
culiar view of rapidity. By vernacular
standards, it is a slow fuse indeed that
burns for 10 million years. Still, 10
million years is but 1/450 of the
earth's history, a mere instant to a
geologist.)
Paleontologists have spent a
largely fruitless century trying to ex-
plain this Cambrian "explosion" —
the steep rise in diversity during the
first 10 to 20 million years of the
Cambrian period. They have as-
sumed, universally, that the puzzling
event is the explosion itself. Any ade-
quate theory, therefore, would have
to explain why the early Cambrian
was such an unusual time: perhaps it
represents the first accumulation of
sufficient atmospheric oxygen for res-
piration or the cooling down of an
earth previously too hot to support
complex life (simple algae survive at
much higher temperatures than com-
plex animals) or a change in oceanic
chemistry permitting the deposition
of calcium carbonate to clothe pre-
viously soft-bodied animals with pre-
servable skeletons.
Perhaps paleontologists have been
looking at this important problem the
wrong way round. Perhaps the explo-
sion itself was the predictable out-
come of a process set in motion by
an event earlier in the Precambrian.
In such a case, we would not have to
believe that early Cambrian times
were "special" in any way; the cause
of the explosion would be sought in
an earlier event that initiated the evo-
lution of complex life. I have recently
been persuaded that this new perspec-
tive is probably correct. The pattern
of the Cambrian explosion seems to
follow a general law of growth. This
law predicts a phase of steep acceler-
ation; the explosion is no more funda-
mental (or in need of special explana-
tion) than its antecedent period of
slower growth or its subsequent level-
ing off. Whatever initiated the ante-
cedent period virtually guaranteed the
later explosion. In support of this new
perspective, I offer two arguments
based on a quantification of the fossil
record. I hope not only to make my
particular case but also to illustrate
the role that quantification can play in
testing hypotheses within professions
that once eschewed such rigor.
The day-to-day work of field geol-
ogy is a painstaking exercise in the
accumulation of apparent minutiae:
the mapping of strata; their temporal
correlation by fossils and by physical
"superposition" (younger above
older); the recording of rock types,
grain sizes, and environments of dep-
osition. This activity is often pooh-
poohed by hot-shot young theorists
who regard it as the dog work of un-
imaginative drones.
Yet we would have no science
without the foundation that these data
provide; moreover, many theoretical
advances depend upon new data ac-
cumulated in the old way. In this
case, our revised perspective on the
Cambrian explosion rests upon a re-
finement of early Cambrian stratig-
raphy established primarily by Soviet
geologists in recent years. The long
Lower Cambrian has been subdivided
into four stages and the first appear-
r8
Sometimes Profits
Can Hurt...
You might say Janie is getting an injection
of taxes . . . and it hurts. Her father is dead
and her mother works to support Janie
and an older brother. They can't afford a
private pediatrician, so she's being
immunized against childhood diseases in a
clinic run by the neighborhood hospital.
The serum is paid for by a combination of
local, state and federal funds. Money that
comes from taxes. All kinds of taxes,
including taxes on profits, on wages, on
dividends. In 1974, for example, the federal
government collected $291 billion in taxes.
Of this, business contributed about 40%.
State and local governments collected
even more from business— over $125
billion, about 60% of their revenues.
Taxes on business profits supply revenues
for all kinds of public programs— medical
care, education, assistance for the handi-
capped, veterans' care, loans to enable
students to continue their education, pro-
grams to create jobs for young people in
the ghettos. So, in many ways virtually all
Americans— not just corporate stock-
holders— benefit from the profits
business earns.
But business can return tax money to the
people only if it earns a fair profit. Then,
reinvestment of these earnings will mean
more profits to tax and more funds for all
types of governmental programs.
However, business today is earning a
profit of only about 5% on sales, less than
the rate of 10 years ago. When profits
and expansion dry up, everyone in our
society suffers.
At Allied Chemical we believe that by
helping to build a healthy, vital economic
and social environment, we can insure
survival of the American way of life.
Janie's good health means a better future
for everyone's children. And profits may
turn out to be a girl's best friend.
<?
Ajlied.
Qiemical
Where Profits Are For People
If you'd like to learn more about Allied Ctiemical and how
we're putting profits to work, please write to P.O. Box 2245R,
Morristown, New Jersey 07960.
© 1976 Allied Chemical Corporation
8-Powcr Vision,
Podket Size,
by Nikon.
Meet the Nikon 8x24 Ultra Compact
Binocular. Provides virtually as much daylight
viewing brightness as the biggest glasses you can buy With superb, crisp
viewing clarity— the result of Nikon prism optics, so precisely aligned and
optically matched for equal magnification that you can view for hours
without strain. Plus potent 8-time magnification, ideal for scenic, wild-
life and all-round outdoor viewing. Moisture- and shock-resistant, too.
Yet it bafely makes a bulge in your pocket, weighs just 14ii ounces, and
costs a lot less than you might think. One of seven Nikon binoculars
available at Nikon camera dealers and selected optical departments
Nikon Inc., Garden City N.Y. 11530. Subsidiary of Ehrenreich Photo-
Optical Industries, Inc. (In Canada: Anglophoto Ltd., P.Q.) dSB
Lindblad's New East African
WING SAFARr
offers an exclusive window-seat view
of the world's richest wildlife panorama.
No need to get trapped in large con-
centrations of minibuses on hot and
dusty roads. Get a wide-angled view
of the African vastness.Ournew Wing
Safari, limited to 7 passengers, using
the latest, most comfortable Navajo
turbo-powered aircraft, permits us to
visit far ranging wilderness and game
reserves seldom visited by other sa-
faris. We will fly deeper Into the North-
ern Frontier District to see the excit-
ing tribal life of the Samburu, Boran.
Rendllles and Somalls. At night we
will occupy the very best hotels,
lodges and tented camps. Our spe-
cially trained hosts will introduce
you, not only to the large mammals,
but also to colorful and exciting birds,
butterflies, plants and flowers en-,
demic to East Africa. The LIndblad
Wing Safari Is a truly unforgettable
experience. British Ainways will fly
you to Nairobi and back In utmost
comfort. Please write for our bro-
chure or see your travel agent.
ances of Cambrian fossils have been
recorded with much greater accuracy.
We can now tabulate a finely divided
sequence of first appearances where
previous stratigraphers could only
record "Lower Cambrian" for all
groups (thus accentuating the appar-
ent explosion).
J.J. Sepkoski, a paleontologist at
the University of Rochester, has re-
cently found that a plot of increasing
organic diversity versus time from the
late Precambrian to the end of the
"explosion" conforms to our most
general model of growth — the so-
called sigmoidal (S-shaped) curve.
Consider the growth of a typical bac-
terial colony on a previously uninhab-
ited medium: each cell divides every
twenty minutes to form two daugh-
ters. Increase in population size is
slow at first. (Rates of cell division
are as fast as they will ever be, but
^
^
/
H
1
3
=3
j
a.
/
/
/
/
^
TIME
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHWS 876 133 East 55th Street, NewYorl<, N.Y. 10022 (212) 751-2300
founding cells are few in number and
the population builds slowly toward
its explosive period.) This "lag"
phase forms the initial, slowly rising
segment of the sigmoidal curve. The
explosive, or "log," phase follows
as each cell of a substantial popula-
tion produces two fecund daughters
every twenty minutes. Clearly this
process cannot continue indefinitely:
a not-too-distant extrapolation would
fill the entire universe with bacteria.
Eventually, the colony guarantees its
own stability (or demise) by filling its
space, exhausting its nutrients, foul-
ing its nest with waste products, and
so on. This leveling puts a ceiling on
the log phase and completes the S of
the sigmoidal distribution.
It is a long step from bacteria to the
evolution of life, but sigmoidal
growth is a general property of certain
systems, and the analogy seems to
hold in this case. For cell division,
read speciation; for the agar substrate
of a laboratory dish, read the oceans.
Contents: July 1976 Issue
Prehistoric American Astron-
)niy c. 1054 AD by Von Del
Ihamberlain
Sky Lore ot Indieenous Amer-
cans by Henry J. PTiillips
Cornels & Transits: 16201776
i>y Michael Mendillo
Practical Men, Practical As-
ironomy: 1776-1825 by Michael
iVIendillo
Astronomy Comes of Age;
1825-1840 by Michael Men<fillo
History of Aslrophotography
.y Trudy E. Bell
Astrophysics is Born: 1840-
1900 by David DeVorkin
The Universe Unfolds: 1900-
1950 by David DeVorkin
ASTRONOMY
Ma
Dr
0' Expand.
Price Per Copy: S3.50
Subscribe to ASTRONOMY magazine for $12.00^
and save $5.50 off the regular newsstand price of
$16.50 for 11 copies. IN ADDITION, you will
receive as the 12th copy of your subscription the
July "History of American Astronomy" issue at
the paid subscriber price of only $1.00 — you save
$2.50 off this copy alone.
Your total savings on this 12 issue American
Bicentennial Subscription offer is $8.00 (40%) off
the single copy newsstand price.
Please enter my American Bi-"^
centennial Subscription to AS-
TRONOMY magazine and bill me
for $12. 1 understand I will receive
11 issues (one per month) in reg-
ular subscription sequence, and
that I will get the July "History of
American Astronomy" issue as my
12th copy after I pay my bill.
D
Enroll me instead for 2 years, (including
the July issue) and bill me for $22.
City.
-Zip.
Canada/Mexico add $3, Other foreign $6 per year.
Please Allow 4-6 weeks for Your First Issue.
I
ASTRONOMY
Here's What You Get Every Month
• Gripping features
1 by leading
' authorities
I •Photography in
I Astronomy
• Beautiful full color
I artwork and
I photographs
' • Equipment Atlas
I AStar Dome with
I Close-Up, Eyepiece
I Impressions and
I easy-to-follow maps
• Free ASTRO-MART ads
' •Gazer's Gazette
I •Sky Almanac with
I monthly Planet Finder
• Astro-News
I •Stellar Frontiers
I • Astronomy book reviews
1 ESTABLISHED: August 1973
I Celebrate the H istory of American Astronomy
' And join ASTRONOMY magazine as it begins ii
fourth year of publication. This is the first popular levt
j magazine of astronomy written in straight-forward lai
i guage. Its hallmarks of quality and full color beaut
j make it an invaluable collectors' item.
\ NATURAL HISTOF
Man's Dream of Worlds Unseen
Carl Sagan and John Clark are a
team.
A very unusual team indeed — scien-
tist Sagan and artist Clark working
together to open the complex vistas of
the universe. Kip Thome's black holes
are mathematical concepts at best. But
teamed with Adolf Schaller, artistic
translation gives full color substance
and form to formulae. The result? Cosmic
portraits: man's dream of worlds unseen.
Three years ago ASTRONOMY
magazine established a hallmark of beauty
and readership intimacy seldom found
today. And each month since then it
has followed through with full color
paintings and photographs, clear and
pictorial writing, inviting layout and
design, uncompromised printing quality...
care and committment to you the sub-
scriber. ASTRONOMY makes the
universe appealing. It transforms alienat-
ing theory to inviting, entertaining
discovery.
Join 52,000 ASTRONOMY subscribers
to discover the excitement of space and
astronomy with Fred Whipple (comets),
Joseph Veverka (Mars), Gerrit Ver-
schuur (radio astronomy), David Morri-
son and Michael Ovenden (asteroids),
George Abell (galaxies), William Hart-
mann (Saturn), Thomas Easton (life on
Mars) Jay Pasachoff (sun), Frank Drake
(neutron stars)... scientists of worlds
unseen.
ASTRONOMY'S monthly departments
guide you to astrophotography with
cameras you probably already own — to
the use of telescopic equipment — to
location and observation of planets,
constellations, asteroids, comets, galaxies,
double stars, star clusters... to all the
cosmic beauty awaiting your personal
discovery.
Book reviews guide your astronomy
reading and Astro-News keeps pace with
the latest discoveries, research and
findings... brought to you while they're
still news.
History of American Astronomy
And now, ASTRONOMY proudly
presents a very special bicentennial
celebration issue entirely devoted to the
evolution of astronomy in the United
States.
This exciting full color epic takes
you from the prehistoric astronomy
practiced by indigenous Americans, to
the birth of astrophysics and development
of astrophotography, through 20th cen-
tury American astronomy — the dis-
covery of quasars, pulsars, black holes —
and the start of our nation's third cen-
tury, "Toward Man's Dream of Worlds
Unseen".
Noted authors — Von Del Chamberlain
(Smithsonian Institution), Trudy E. Bell
(Scientific American editor), Richard
Berendzen (American University, Wash-
ington, D.C.), Michael Mendillo (Boston
University), and David DeVorkin (Cen-
tral Connecticut State College) — unfold
the history of American astronomy with
drama and refreshing writing style.
Full color reproductions of American
astronomical art from the 1800s. antique-
brass telescopes and instruments, portraits
of famous American astronomers and color
sky photographs from leading obser\'atories
across the country, are interspersed with
equally historic wood cuts and the first
astrophotographs of the sun, moon and
Milky Way.
We invite you to join us as a subscriber
and receive the July 1976 "History of
American Astronomy" issue as a portion
of your subscription.
Collect ASTRONOMY... treasure this
and every issue of "The World's Most
Beautiful Astronomy Magazine"... no
other magazine of space and astronomy
has ever been able to make so great a
claim — and keep its word.
American Bicentennial
Subscription Offer
Subscribe to ASTRONOMY magazine for $12.00
and save $5.50 off the regular newsstand price of
$16.50 for 11 copies. We'll bill you later. After you
pay your bill you will receive as the 12th copy of
your subscription the July "History of American
Astronomy" issue at the paid subscriber price of
only $1.00 — you save $2.50 off this copy alone.
Your total savings on this 12 issue American Bicen-
tennial Subscription offer is $8.00 (40%) off the
single copy newsstand price.
ASTRONOMY
The World's Most Beautiful Astronomy Magazine
Established: August 1973. Published monthly by Astro Media Corp ,
411 E.MasonSt .6th Floor. Milwaukee. Wl 53202. Per Year.Canada
/Mexico. $15; Other Foreign, $18 Offer expires Dec. 31. 1976
TheLeicaCL.
The incomparable compact.
Although small in size and relatively small in price, the CL
should not be confused with other full frame 35mm compact
cameras. It is the only compact to offer through-the-lens
metering and interchangeable lenses. Moreover, it is a Leica;
and everything you expect a Leica to be. A superbly engineered
camera of unexcelled mechanical precision and optical quality.
In short, it is the finest compact camera in the world.
For information call 201 -767-1 100 or write E. Leitz, Inc.,
Rockleigh, N.J. 07647 Dept. K8. In Canada,
Wild Leitz, Ltd.,Willowdale, Ont. M2H2C9. -»>, j g~g^
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD-
inDonEsin-ERST of bhui
including the fabulous Asmat region of New Guinea.
Nehru has called Bali the "Morning of
the World." After immersing ourselves
in its splendid culture, we shall board
the M.S. Lindblad Explorer* and sail
east to Komodo, where "the dragons"
will meet us. We shall visit Flores, Leti
and Aru of Wallace fame and other
Indonesian islands. We then head for
the exciting Asmat region of West Irian,
where primitive art of museum quality
may be purchased, and where Stone
Age culture still exists. On this cruise
we will find an abundancy ol bird,
mammal and plant life as well as beau-
tiful butterflies and fish. Complete
scuba diving gear is available. The
Lindblad Explorer, fully air-condi-
tioned, offers the finest in comfort. Fa-
mous lecturers will accompany us.
Each expedition lasts 23 days includ-
ing the two-week cruise. Departures
are in August and September The all-
inclusive rate for cruise and land ar-
rangements starts at $2,335 per person,
cabin for two, air fare additional. Write
forourbrochureorseeyour travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHLE 876
133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y, 10022 • (212) 751-2300
'Panamanian registry
The lag phase of life is the slow, ini-
tial rise of latest Precambrian times.
We now have a modest fauna of the
latest Precambrian age — mainly coe-
lenterates (soft corals and jellyfish)
and worms. The famous Cambrian
explosion is nothing more than the
log phase of this continuous process,
while post-Cambrian leveling repre-
sents the initial tilling of ecological
roles in the world's oceans (terrestrial
life evolved later).
If the laws of sigmoidal growth
regulated the early diversification of
life, then there is nothing special
about the Cambrian explosion. It is
merely the log phase of a process de-
termined by two factors : ( 1 ) the event
that initiated the lag phase well within
Precambrian times and (2) the proper-
ties of an environment that permitted
sigmoidal growth.
As Johns Hopkins paleontologist
S. M. Stanley wrote in a recent re-
view (American Journal of Science,
1976): "We can abandon the tradi-
tional view that the origins of major
fossil taxa near the start of the Cam-
brian . . . represent a major enigma.
What remains as the 'Cambrian Prob-
lem' is the delay of the origin of mul-
ticellularity until the Earth was nearly
4 billion years old." We may deny
the Cambrian problem by casting it
back upon an earlier event, but the
nature and cause of this earlier epi-
sode is the enigma of paleontological
enigmas. The late Precambrian origin
of the eukaryotic cell must provide an
important determinant. (I argued in
my last column that efficient sexual
reproduction required a eukaryotic
cell with discrete chromosomes, and
that complex organisms could not
evolve without the genetic variability
that sexual reproduction supplies.)
But we haven't the slightest idea why
the eukaryotic cell arose when it did
more than 2 billion years after the
evolution of prokaryotic ancestors;
we do not even know how it arose.
(I have supported the idea that it de-
veloped as a colony of prokaryotic
organisms and that the nuclei and mi-
tochondria of our cells were once en-
tire prokaryotic creatures — see my
columns of November 1974 and
June- July 1976.)
Previously I advocated Stanley's
/'cropping" theory for the initiation
of sigmoidal increase following the
evolution of eukaryotic cells. Stanley
argues that Precambrian prokaryotic
algae had usurped all available space
in their potential habitat, thus pre-
cluding the evolution of anything
24
Bonanza for browsers
Use this money-saving catalog to shop
for distinguished paperbacks.
If you're an inveterate book-reader, you're prob-
ably also an inveterate book-browser who enjoys
wandering through bookstores, even library slack'.
That's why you should know about an informaiiv<-
catalog pubhshed bv the OuaUty Paperback Hf>i.K
Club.
It's called the QPB Review and fifteen linit-s .1 vl.li
a brand new issue is sent, without charge, to (J['H
members (and to no one else). Each issue fciUurcs a
main Selection which members may buy at a dis-
count of 20% of an established publisher's list price,
followed by page after page of alternate choices —
around 100 or more books in all — many of which are
also available at marked savings, QPB books are im-
portant new paperbacks, fiction and non-fiction alike.
Some are literary classics you've been promising
yourself to read. And some are hard-to-find edition:
editors ha
consideration.
210. THE
WORLD OF
THE PAST
Edited by
Jacquetta
Hawkes.(2
Vols,) Maps
and photos
Pub prices total
SI 1.90
unearthed for your
285. HITLER
by Joachim C,
Pest $8.95
310. THE FORMULA
BOOK by Norman
Stark. $5.95
QUALITY
PAPERBACK
BOOK CLUB
274. X RAYING
THE
PHARAOHS by
Jamct E Harru
and Kcnl R
Weeks Phot Oft
*4.9S
204. THE NEW
YORK TIMES
BOOK OF
HOUSE
PLANTS by
Joan Uc Fausi
llluft >S.9S
103. ABROAD IK 2«I.BIROSOF
AMERICA NORTH
Vititortlolhe AMERICA A
New Nation Personal
1776-1914 Edited Selection by
and ^
Introduction b
Marc Pachter
Co-edtted by
Frances Weln
Photographs
r7.9S
, OF
SHERU3CK
HOLMES and
MEMOIRS OF
SHERLOCK
HOLMES by
A Conan Dovie
(2 Vols )lllui
Pub prices total
151. THE LORD
OF THE RINGS
by J R R
226. PENTIMENTO Tolkien
Hellman. »4,9S
129. BODY HOT
SPOTS: The
Anatomy of Humar
Social Organs and
Behavior by R. Dali
Guthrie. »3.95
179, ALL THE
PRESIDENTS
MEN by Carl
Bernstein and
Bob
Woodward
Photos »4.9S
235. THE
CATALOG
OF KITS by
Jeffrey
Feinman
Photos. $6.95
215. THE
HAMMOND
WHOLE
EARTH
ATLAS. New
Census Editior
Including Zip
Codes. $4.95
251. THE COMPLETE
INDOOR GARDENER
Edited by Michael
" Vols , TvtCAIAlDG
Boxed ) $8.95 Ap l(ITC
Elliot Porter
Pbocographft
M.M
lOS. THE CONSCIOUS
BRAIN by Steven Rote
Updated edition
Illustrated
$4 .95
OF
CATALOGUES
The Complete
Guide to World-
Wide Shoppmg
by MaU bv
Maria De La
Iglesia Photos
$7.95
119. THE
TEACHINGS
OF DON JUAN.
A SEPARATE
REALITY and
JOURNEY TO
IXTLANby
Castaneda- (3
Vols . Boxed)
$8.85
301. THE
OFFICIAL
SCRABBLE'
PLAYERS"
HANDBOOK
Edited bv Drue K-
Conklin $4.95
316. EXILES and
PASSAGE TO
ARARAT
bv Michael J. Arlen
li Vol.) $4.95
307. THE FOLK
.MUSIC
SOURCEBOOK
by Larry Sandberg
AnySbooksor
sets all for only $1
qualify for our Free Book Plan
294. THE
EDEN
EXPRESS: A
Personal
Account of
Schizophrenia
by Mark
Vonnegut- $3.9
304. AMERICA
IN 1876: The
Way We Were
by Lally Weymouth
Designed bv Milton
Glaser $7.95
175. MARILYN
A Biography by
Norman Mailer
More than 100
photos. $6-95
283. BURR by
Gore Vidal
$3.95
278. SUPERSHIPby
Noel Mostert
$6.95
Wright. Illustrated
296. HOW TO
$7.95
FIX ALMOST
EVERYTHING
298. AN
OUTLINE OF
PHILOSOPHY
by Bertrand
Edition. Illus.
Russell $3.95
$5.95
164, ROLL
171. AMERIKA.
JORDAN,
THE TRIAL
ROLL: The
and THE
World the
CASTLE by
Franz Kafka. (3
Eugene D
prices total
$6.85
198. THE BEST
239. PSYCHOTHERAPY
OF LIFE. 680
EAST Si WEST,
photos $8,95
NATUR£,
MAN, AND
312. DAUGHTER OF
WOMAN and
FIRE: A Portrait
THE WAY OF
of Iceland by
ZEN by Alan
Katharine Scherman
Watts. (3 Vols.)
Photographs. $4.95
Pub prices total $5.85
QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB. INC.
Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 6-QB 113-8
Please enroll me as a member of the Quality Paperback Book Club and send me the three books or sets whose
numbers I've indicated in the boxes below. Bill me only $1 for all three, plus shipping. My only obligation is
to purchase six more books or sets during the coming year, receiving a 20% discount, when there is a pub-
price, on every Main Selection 1 take. My membership is cancelable any time after I buy the six
■ sets. A shipping charge is added to all shipments.
addil
al books (
(Please print plainly)
I City &
Stare
Q-35
HOW MEMBERSHIP WORKS
u will receive the OPE Rex
r— about every 3'/2 weeks.
3g describes the Main Si
mately one hundred Ali<
Selection you decide
QUALITY PAPERBACK
BOOK CLUB, INC.
The Book Club of the 70s
l_
iew fifteen limes
This informative
rlection plus ap-
rnates. On any
take, for which
If you want the Main Selection, do nothing,
will be shipped to you automatically. If you
ant one or more of the Alternates —or no book
-just indicate your decision on the reply
' and I
form always enclosed with the /?£■
it by the date specified.
3. Free books. For every book or set you buy
(exclusive of your three introductory choices for
$1), you earn at least one Bonus Point and the
Bonus Points you accumulate entitle you to free
books and sets. (You pay only shipping charges.)
4. Return privilege. If your Review is delayed in
the mail and therefore you receive the Main Selec-
tion without having had ten days to notify us if
you did not want it, you may return that Sel
J
Travel 2500 years in 15 days:
To ancient Persia,
Modern Iran.
Dynamic Modern Tehran, for example, set like a jewel against
snow-capped peaks higher than the Alps. Shiraz, romantic city
that gave roses to the world. And the majestic remains of 2500-
year-old Persepolis. In Isfahan, you'll gasp at the Palace of 40
Pillars with its magnificent reflecting pool. And at the
golden cupolas and minarets in the holy city
of Mashad. You'll have time to shop
in bazaars, watch Persian rugs
being woven, and to savor Persian
delicacies. Capping it off : two
days in London before flying
home. Departures every other
Friday. Call your travel agent,
or Iran Air in New York
at (212) 949-8200 ; Houston
(713) 629-1720; Los
Angeles (213) 274-6336
IRAHI MKR
■TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD-
Where on earth will you find 180,000 more giant
land Tortoises than in the Galapagos Islands?
THE FORGOTTEN
ISLANDS OF THE
INDIAN OCEAN
...that's where!
Just one of many fascinating reasons
you should join us on tfiis voyage of
discovery througli the Indian Ocean.
Its islands, totally different from those
you may have visited in the Caribbean
or Pacific, offer unparalelled serenity
and beauty. The only life you find in
these "forgotten islands," aside from
native inhabitants, are thousands of
animals and birds, tame beyond belief.
World-famous M/S Lindblad Explorer*
will take us into sun-drenched beaches
and exotic atolls where we swim, snorkel
and examine immense varieties of shell
and fish life. We'll cruise through the
Seychelles to Desroches and to Aldabra,
where we encounter the giant Tortoise.
Then on to Glorioso Island, that golden
gem, set in the turquoise sea. We then
visit Nossi-Be and the volcanic Como-
ros. Our cruise ends in scenic Cape
Town. Please join us on this truly excit-
ing voyage of discovery Write for our
brochure or see your travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHLES876
133 East 55th St., N.Y., NY. 10022
751-2300 or toll-free 800 223-9700
'Panamanian registry
more complex by denying a foothold
to any competitor. The first eukaryo-
tic herbivore, in the course of its
copious, if unvaried, worldwide
feast, freed enough space for the evo-
lution of competitors.
Speculation may be intriguing, but
we have little concrete to say about
my first factor — the cause that ini-
tiated sigmoidal increase. We can,
however, do better for the second —
the nature of an environment that per-
mitted it. Sigmoidal growth is not a
universal property of natural systems;
it occurs only in one kind of environ-
ment. Our laboratory bacteria would
not have increased in an S-shaped
curve if their culture plate was al-
ready densely populated or devoid of
nutrients. Sigmoidal patterns occur
only in open, unconstrained systems,
where food and space are so abundant
that organisms grow until their own
numbers limit further increase. The
Precambrian oceans clearly formed
such an "empty" ecosystem — plenty
of space, abundant food, no competi-
tion. (The early eukaryotes could
thank their prokaryotic ancestors not
only for an immediate supply of food
but also for their prior service in sup-
plying oxygen to the atmosphere
through photosynthesis . ) The sigmoi-
dal curve — with the Cambrian explo-
sion as its log phase — represents the
first stocking of the world's oceans,
a predictable pattern of evolution in
open ecosystems.
Animals evolving during the log
phase should show different evolu-
tionary patterns from those arising
later in a regime of self-regulated
equilibrium. Much of my own re-
search in the past two years has been
devoted to defining these differences.
My colleagues (T.J.M. Schopf of the
University of Chicago, D.M. Raup
and J.J. Sepkoski of the University of
Rochester, and D.S. Simberloff of
Florida State University) and I have
been modeling evolutionary trees as
a random process. After "growing"
a tree, we divide it into its major
"limbs" and consider the history of
each limb (technically called a
"clade") through time. We depict
each clade as a so-called Mae West
diagram (pardon the sexism of a pro-
fession still overwhelmingly male —
but the diagrams often wax and wane
in a very curvaceous fashion, and
none of us invented the term any-
way). Mae West diagrams are con-
structed in the following way: Simply
count the number of species living
during each period of time and vary
26
Before the average driver can move his
foot from the gas pedal to the broke in
a panic situation, a car will travel 56 feet
(atSSm.p.h.l So Volvo puts power disc
brakes on four wheels, not just two.
VOLVO. THE
WHO THINK.
NOWYOUCANSEE
A LOT OF INDIA
FOR A LOT LESS
THAN YOU THINK.
Air-India announces some
incredible toui-s to India: 16 days
of pleasure starting- at $1,071.
Wliich includes I'ound-tiip
Excui-sion or Group economy
fare from New York on Air-India,
superior hotels, all gi-ound
ti-ansportation and taxes for
each of two people.
And you'll see a lot of India:
Agi-a and the Taj Mahal, Bombay
Delhi, the red ghost city of
Fatehpur Sikii the pink city of
Jaipur And more.
You'll lo\'e India with its
bustle, serenity wondeiful food
superb crafts and ciystal beauty
Fill out the coupon and we'll tell
you more. Or have your travel
agent fill you ia
.JJR-IXDIA NH-8
666 Fifth Avenue. New York, N.Y. 10019
Please send me tour information
on India.
Name
atx Stale. Zip
Telephone Number
IVavel Apent s Name
the width of the diagram according to
this number.
We then measure several proper-
ties of these diagrams. One measure,
called C.G., defines the position of
the center of gravity (roughly, the
place where the clade is widest, or
most diverse). If this position of max-
imum diversity occurs at the midpoint
of the clade "s duration, we give C.G.
,
/
\
/
^
^:S. .
\/
NUMBER OF SF
'ECIE
3
a value of 0.5 (halfway in the clade "s
total existence). If a clade reaches its
greatest diversity before its midpoint,
it has a C.G. of less than 0.5.
In our random system, C.G. is
always near 0.5 — the ideal clade is a
diamond widest at its center. But our
random world is one of perfect equi-
librium. No log phases of sigmoidal
growth are permitted; a constant
number of species is maintained
through time, as rates of extinction
match rates of origination.
I spent a good part of last year
counting fossil genera and recording
their longevity in order to construct
Mae West diagrams for real clades.
I now have more than 400 clades for
groups that arose and died following
the log phase of the Cambrian explo-
sion. Their mean value is 0.4993 —
couldn't ask for anything closer to the
0.5 of our idealized world at equilib-
rium. I also have as many Mae West
diagrams for clades that arose during
the log phase and died out afterward.
Their mean C.G. is significantly less
than 0.5. They record an atypical
world of increasing diversity, and
their values can be used to assess both
the timing and the strength of the
Cambrian log phase. Their values are
below 0.5 because they arose during
times of rapid diversification. But
they died out during stable times of
NUMBER OF SPECIES
slower origin and extinction. Thus,
they reached their maximum diver-
sity early in their history since their
first representatives participated in a
log phase of unrestrained increase,
but petered out more slowly during
the stabilized world that followed.
A quantitative approach has helped
us to understand the Cambrian explo-
sion in two ways. First, we can recog-
nize its character of sigmoidal growth
and identify its cause in an earlier
event; the Cambrian problem, per se,
disappears. Secondly, we can define
the time and intensity of the Cam-
brian log phase by studying the statis-
tics of Mae West diagrams.
To my mind, the most remarkable
result of this exercise is not the low
C.G. of Cambrian clades, but the cor-
respondence of C.G. for later clades
to an idealized model for a world at
equilibrium. Could it be that the di-
versity of life has remained at equilib-
rium through all the vicissitudes of an
earth in motion, all the mass extinc-
tions, the collision of continents, the
swallowing up and creation of
oceans? The log phase of the Cam-
brian filled up the earth's oceans.
Since then, evolution has produced
endless variation on a limited set of
basic designs. Marine life has been
copious in its variety, ingenious in its
adaptation, and (if I may be permitted
an anthropocentric comment) won-
drous in its beauty. Yet, in an impor-
tant sense, things have been pretty
quiet since the Cambrian — and so
they are likely to remain.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science at
Harvard University.
WE WANT YOU TO HK ABl.K
TO CONTROL YOUR INSKCT
PROBLEMS WITHOUT DAMA(ilN(,
THE ENVIRONMENT
FOR THIS REASON, in our line
of RAID flying insect control
products, we adopted only the
safest of all known insecticides, the
Pyrethrins, plus such non-persist-
ent synthetics as Neopynamin and
d-trans-Allethrin, as active in-
gredients.
To control crawling insects such
as roaches effectively, a product
must have some residual effect.
We make such products for those
who have need of them. But we
make them with carbamate and
organophosphorous active ingre-
dients, all of which degrade rapidly
enough to pose minimal environ-
mental hazards to plant, animal
and bird life.
Further, we recommend that
our products be used onlv for in-
home and near-home situations,
such as private yards and gardens.
Finally, not one of our 14 prod-
ucts sold in the entire U.S.A. uses
any DDT, Lindane, Dieldrin,
or other "hard" chlorinated
hydrocaibons.
ffe want you to be able to control your insect problems.
But not at the expense of our environment.
S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Makers of Raid Insecticides
1975 S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Racine, Wisconsin 53403 Printed in U.S.A. All rights reserved. RAID is a trademark.
30
Currents of the Sea
by W. Redwood Wrij^ht
Propelled by winds, solar
heat, and the rotation of the
earth, the ocean water moves
in chartable patterns
The world's seven seas are really
one global ocean surrounding the
continental land masses. The three
great ocean basins — the Atlantic, the
Pacific, and the Indian — are joined at
their southern extremities by the
Southern Ocean whose waters en-
circle Antarctica. The ocean basins
are connected by currents that flow
horizontally from one region to an-
other and up and down between the
surface and the depths. Movement at
the surface is relatively rapid. The
deep movement is very slow, with a
time scale of centuries, but the
amounts of water involved are mas-
sive.
Like almost everything that moves
on the face of the earth, the major
currents of the world ocean are ulti-
mately driven by energy from the
sun. (Coastal currents, which have a
strong tidal component, are not con-
sidered here.) Solar energy affects the
ocean in two major ways — directly,
through solar radiation, and indi-
rectly, through the winds. Because
the earth rotates from west to east and
because its surface is unevenly heated
by the sun, there is a global wind sys-
tem that consists basically of easter-
lies, or trade winds, that extend
from the subtropics to the equator;
westerlies at the mid-latitudes; and
easterlies again at the high latitudes.
The winds blowing over the ocean
transfer some of their energy to the
sea surface; most of it goes into mak-
ing waves, but a fraction, perhaps 10
percent, imparts to the surface layers
a motion deflected at a slight angle to
the direction of the wind — to the right
in the Northern Hemisphere and to
the left south of the equator. (Winds
are designated by the direction from
which they come; water flow is de-
scribed by the direction in which it is
moving.) There is thus a westward
flow of water in equatorial regions
and an easterly flow in the mid-lati-
tudes, with some tendency for accu-
mulation in between.
Unlike the atmosphere, however,
the oceans have the barriers of the
continents; only in the Southern
Ocean can the West Wind Drift, also
known as the Antarctic Circumpolar
Current, continue uninterrupted
around the globe. Elsewhere the
zonal (westward and eastward) mo-
tions of the water combine with me-
ridional (poleward and equatorward)
flows to form huge rings, or gyres, of
current. The most extensive of these
are the subtropical gyres, which flow
clockwise in the Northern Hemi-
sphere and counterclockwise in the
Southern. In the North Pacific and the
North Atlantic and apparently in the
Weddell Sea of Antarctica there are
subpolar gyres that flow in the oppo-
site direction. Again because of the
earth's rotation, the meridional flows
on the west sides of oceans tend to be
relatively narrow, strong currents,
while those on the east sides are
broader, more diffuse, and slower,
and therefore less amenable to obser-
vation.
In considering this flow system, the
direct effects of solar radiation must
also be taken into account. Radiation
is stronger at the equator than at the
poles. The resultant temperature and
salinity differences affect the density
of the sea surface. Water contracts as
it cools and hence becomes more
dense; salt also increases density.
Normally the changes in temperature
and salinity counteract each other:
31
tropical warming makes water less
dense but also increases evaporation
and hence salinity, and that, in turn,
makes the water denser. In polar re-
gions the reverse occurs, with cooling
opposed by an excess of precipitation
over evaporation. The difference be-
tween the densest water, for example,
that flowing out of the Mediterranean,
and the least dense, such as at the
tropical sea surface, is less than 0.5
percent, but it is very important.
The ocean is vertically stable
nearly everywhere; that is, the deeper
water is denser than the water directly
above it, but there are horizontal dif-
ferences in density. In the subtropical
gyres , a lens of lighter water ' 'floats' '
on the denser water around it; its sur-
face is actually as much as three feet
higher. Polar water tends to sink and
move toward the equator along slop-
ing surfaces of constant density. As
a result of these differences, there are
horizontal pressure gradients that are
balanced by horizontal currents, just
as atmospheric pressure gradients are
accompanied by currents of air. The
combination of vertical and horizon-
tal motions established in this manner
is known as the thermohaline circula-
tion. It is most important in the deeper
layers of the sea but is also significant
in the upper ocean.
Although it is convenient to sepa-
rate circulation into surface and deep
V systems, the distinction is not so
clear-cut in reality. Some of the major
surface currents, such as the Gulf
Stream and the Antarctic Circumpo-
lar Current, have been found to ex-
tend all the way to the bottom, and
most of the so-called deep currents
originate at the sea surface in high
latitudes. In fact, there is a small ver-
tical component to most, perhaps all,
flows in the ocean, with sinking in a
few localized regions and rising else-
where, so that the whole system is
eventually turned over.
The existence of surface currents
has been known and used to advan-
tage by mariners since the earliest
navigators ventured offshore. In the
tenth century, dhow skippers in the
Arabian Sea knew that the currents,
as well as the winds, changed direc-
tion with the monsoons; Polynesian
voyagers knew how to play the cur-
rents and countercurrents of the
Equatorial system; and within a few
years of the voyages of Columbus,
the Spanish treasure fleets were riding
home from the New World with a
boost from the Gulf Stream. Even
today's gigantic but relatively slow
tankers seek out routes that will en-
able them to benefit from the current
or avoid a contrary flow, and Ber-
muda-bound yachtsmen plot the tem-
perature of the sea surface as a guide
to making the best use of Gulf Stream
meanders.
Knowledge of the deep circulation,
however, goes back little more than
a century, to the development of ther-
mometers that could record deep tem-
peratures and retain the reading while
being hauled up through the surface
layers. During the celebrated cruise
of H. M.S. Challenger (1872-76), a
worldwide series of deep temperature
measurements demonstrated that, re-
gardless of the temperature at the sea
surface, deep water everywhere is
cold. It was noted, however, that the
deep temperatures in all the major
ocean basins increased toward the
north, away from the Antarctic. The
Challenger data indicated to contem-
porary scientists that there must be a
slow northward flow from the Antarc-
tic into the world oceans, a view that
has been sustained with minor modi-
fications ever since.
At the turn of the century, the polar
explorer Fridtjof Nansen speculated
on the basis of some deep northern
observations that the Norwegian Sea
is a source of deep water for the abys-
sal circulation. His idea, unfortu-
nately neglected for nearly half a cen-
tury, was not revived until the 1950s.
The contribution of the Mediter-
ranean Sea to deep ocean circulation
was understood, at least in concept,
by a Victorian physician-naturalist
who tried to measure the subsurface
outflow at Gibraltar by lowering a
cannonball below his dinghy.
Such crude methods of direct cur-
rent measurement were all that was
possible until electronic techniques
were introduced during and after
World War II. Oceanographers had
to rely primarily upon indirect means,
inferences based upon widespread
spot observations of temperature, sa-
linity, and other variables, and the
mapping of their distribution. In the
deep ocean such observations take
time — at best, three to four hours per
station — distances between stations
are large and research vessels are usu-
ally small , so that data accumulation
was very slow. As recenfly as 1960
the circulation in the Pacific Ocean
below 16,000 feet was described on
the basis of only 145 stations, each
one representing on average an area
half again as large as Texas. (There
are now about 600 such stations in the
Pacific — for Texas, read New Mex-
ico.)
In addition to analysis of distri-
bution patterns, it was possible to cal-
culate the speed and volume transport
of a current by resolving the "geo-
strophic" equation, a simplified bal-
ance of forces that relates the distri-
bution of pressure in the ocean to the
deflecting effect of the earth's rota-
tion. However, the reliability of the
calculation was — and still is —
severely hampered by the need for
some absolute reference point.
The wartime development of
loran, a radio navigation system,
made possible frequent and precise
position fixing, so that ship drift could
be determined with reasonable accu-
racy. Two other new developments
were the bathythermograph, a diving
thermometer that records tempera-
tures in the upper layers from a mov-
ing ship, and the geomagnetic elec-
trokinetograph, or GEK, which
senses currents by measuring the
electrical potential set up by the mo-
tion of a conductor (seawater)
through a magnetic field (the earth's).
With these devices it was possible to
describe some of the fluctuations of
surface currents. It then became ap-
parent that for most of its length the
Gulf Stream is not a "river in the
ocean" confined to a single path, as
described by Matthew Fontaine
Maury, the nineteenth-century U.S.
naval officer who made the first
worldwide wind and current charts,
but rather a highly variable flow with
huge meanders propagating down-
stream so that the position, speed,
and direction of flow are constanfly
changing.
In the 1950s a tenfold increase in
the accuracy of salinity measure-
ments was achieved when chemical
titration was replaced by machines
based on electrical conductivity.
With these new instruments, fine dif-
ferences between water masses could
be identified and another era of inves-
tigating the deep ocean was inaugu-
rated.
32
-f vc
OCEAN
The interconnectedness of the
world's oceans is apparent
when the earth is viewed from
the poles. The Southern Ocean,
which surrounds Antarctica,
links the Atlantic, Pacific,
and Indian basins. The
Antarctic Circuinpolar Current
in the. Southern Ocean (also
known as the West Wind Drift)
is perhaps the most important
of the major ocean currents.
It is the only one that flows
around the globe unimpeded
by any land masses.
INDIAN a ^^A
si A
The Arctic Ocean, a marginal
sea of the Adantic, is
connected to the Pacific by
the Bering Strait. Shallow
and narrow, the strait permits
only a relative trickle of
water to flow over its sill.
Nevertheless, it is enough
to help maintain the
fundametttal wtity of the
global ocean.
33
90°
120°
150°
180°
150°
120°
90^
ARCTIC
Currents of the World Ocean System
ASIA
Ni '^ N.P R T H P A C / F ^^
NORTH
AMERICA
90°
ANTARCTICA
120°
150°
180
150°
120°
30"
30-=
60
90
OCEAN
60°
30°
30°
60°
90°
Direct current measurements in
deep water have taken two forms: an-
chored meters that measure the speed
and direction of the water flowing
past them, and free instruments that
descend to a predetermined depth and
move along with the flow. Both tech-
niques are time-consuming and ex-
pensive— a single mooring with sev-
eral current meters and a release to
drop the anchor on command can cost
more than $100,000 — and such ob-
servations have consequently been
made in only a few places in the world
ocean.
The first lesson learned from the
new instruments was that the motion
in the deep ocean was not a broad,
slow flow, as had generally been
imagined, but covered a whole spec-
trum of time and space scales that
may be at least as complicated as the
surface circulation. This discovery
has opened up several new fields of
investigation into the small- and me-
dium-scale motions, but it is not yet
clear how these aspects of oceanic
movement relate to the general circu-
lation. It also means that short-term
measurements in any one place do not
tell much about what is going on.
Probably the largest of all ocean
currents is the Antarctic Circumpolar
Current, or West Wind Drift, which
flows eastward around Antarctica. It
is separated from the continent by the
East Wind Drift, a much smaller
coastal current set up by the predomi-
nant easterlies of the polar land mass.
The Circumpolar Current is very
cold at the surface, often less than
0°C near its southern limits. It is also
rich in nutrients and thus full of life,
from tiny plankton to the largest re-
maining populations of the great
whales; countless sea bird rookeries
exist on the otherwise barren and in-
hospitable rocks and islets of the re-
gion. The current is not terribly
swift — perhaps a knot at the surface
and one-fifth of that in the depths —
but it is both broad and deep and has
been estimated to carry about 200.
million tons of water past a given
point each second. To put this figure
in some kind of perspective, it is
about 150 times the combined flow of
all the world's rivers and would fill
the Great Lakes in about two days but
would require more than 100 years to
fill the Pacific Ocean.
In each of the major oceans the Cir-
cumpolar Current is the southern limb
of the subtropical gyre, which
reaches to the equator via a north-
ward-flowing, eastern boundary cur-
rent and a swifter, southbound west-
ern boundary current. Because of
their tropical origin, the western
boundary currents — the Brazil Cur-
rent in the South Atlantic, the
Agulhas in the South Indian, and the
East Australian in the South Pacific —
are relatively warm and saline. The
eastern boundary currents, in con-
trast, arise in high latitudes and tend
to be colder, less salty, and richer in
nutrients. Enhancing this condition,
the winds on the east sides of oceans
generally blow toward the equator.
The surface waters are diverted off-
shore, to the left of the wind direc-
tion, and are replaced by upwelling
deeper water that is also generally
cold, fresh, and rich. The system sup-
ports some of the world's greatest
fisheries, along with associated pre-
dators such as sea birds and humans.
Major fluctuations in eastern
boundary currents can be disastrous.
The region of the Humboldt (or Peru)
Current, along the west coast of
South America, produces about 20
percent of the world fish catch. Some
years, apparently as a result of relax-
ation of the southeast trade winds and
heavy equatorial rains, there is an in-
cursion of abnormally warm surface
water along the coast. Lacking nu-
trients, the entire food chain col-
lapses. Fish die, sea birds go else-
where, and Peruvian fishermen be-
come impoverished. The condition is
known as El Niiio ("the child") be-
cause it has usually occurred at
Christmastime. Fishery scientists
now believe they can predict the se-
verity of El Niiio by measuring upper
air winds over the equatorial Pacific.
The classic picture of the Equator-
ial Current System consists of two
westward flows, the North and South
Equatorial currents, which are driven
respectively by the northeast and
southeast trades, and are separated by
the doldrums and an eastward-flow-
ing countercurrent. But the system is
not that simple. The currents vary
seasonally in position and strength
and may disappear on occasion. The
most consistent of the three flows, the
South Equatorial Current, is strongest
in northern summer; the opposite is
true of the North Equatorial Current,
which actually reverses with the mon-
soon in the Indian Ocean. There is,
in addition, recent evidence of a
South Equatorial Countercurrent
flowing eastward in the Pacific at
about 5° to 10° south latitude.
One of the real surprises of modern
oceanography was the discovery of a
thin ribbon of water flowing rapidly
eastward directly along the equator
and only about 300 feet below the
westbound South Equatorial Current
at the sea surface. This Equatorial
Undercurrent extends about two de-
grees north and south of the equator
and is only about 600 feet thick. It
carries a core of high salinity water.
This unexpected feature was discov-
ered during a long-line fishing expe-
dition in the Pacific Ocean in the late
1950s. The countercurrent was sub-
sequently found to be a worldwide
feature with Atlantic and Indian
Ocean counterparts, but much re-
mains to be learned about its origin
and fate and why it is there at all.
The strongest western boundary
currents — the Gulf Stream in the At-
lantic and the Kuroshio in the Pa-
cific— are found north of the equator.
The Kuroshio carries warm and saline
water past the islands of Japan. Its
extension crosses the Pacific at about
40° north latitude and divides at the
North American coast; part flows
south along the California coast,
where it is considered cold, and part
flows north past Canada and Alaska,
where it is considered warm. The
Oyashio, a cold southward current
along the Asian continent, may be
part of the return flow. The Kuroshio
fluctuates in position and speed and
its movements are important to the
fishermen of Japan.
The Gulf Stream originates with
source waters that flow into the east-
ern Caribbean Sea. The stream flows
northward past Yucatan, generally
eastward through the Gulf of Mexico
past Cuba, and northward again
through the Straits of Florida and up
the east coast to Cape Hatteras. Up
to this point it is still less than 3 ,(X)0
feet deep, often faster, but not appre-
ciably more powerful, than other
major currents, and its path has only
minor fluctuations. Beyond Hatteras
all this changes — the coast turns al-
most due north but the current con-
tinues to the northeast, moving off-
shore where it incorporates the under-
36
lying deep water. Its transport dou-
bles to about 1 50 million tons per sec-
ond, and its speed can be measured
all the way to the bottom. At the same
time its path becomes more erratic,
and great meanders develop north and
south of the mean path. Occasionally
these meanders pinch ofl to form ro-
tating rings of water 50 to 100 miles
in diameter that persist as inde-
pendent entities for months or years
before they dissipate or are reab-
sorbed into the stream. Infrared satel-
lite photography, which reveals sea
surface temperature contrasts, has
helped to map these patterns; there
now appear to be about six such rings
formed each year on each side of the
Gulf Stream.
East of Cape Cod the stream dimin-
ishes and off the Grand Banks of
Newfoundland it is back to its Hat-
teras size. North and east of the Banks
the picture is less clear. There is a
cold, fresh, relatively shallow and
weak flow, the Labrador Current,
running southward along the Cana-
dian coast. There is also a flow of
warm water that ultimately bathes
northern Europe so that palm trees
grow in Cornwall at the latitude of
Newfoundland and even the southern
harbors of Iceland are usually ice-free
and open for shipping year-round.
This flow is generally thought to be
an extension of the Gulf Stream, but
there is persuasive evidence that east
of the Grand Banks the major part of
the stream turns south and recurves to
the west. The flow that warms Europe
may come from the eastern Atlantic
off North Africa rather than from the
Gulf Stream. Whatever its origin,
there is warm and saline Atlantic sur-
face water flowing into the Norwe-
gian Sea, and thus begins the tale of
the deep circulation.
There are only two places in the
world ocean where significant quanti-
ties of bottom water are known to be
produced, that is, where atmospheric
effects make surface water suffi-
ciently dense to sink to the bottom.
These are near the two poles. In the
Norwegian Sea the effect is accom-
plished by winter cooling, so that a
mass of cold and relatively saline
water accumulates in the sea's deep
basins. The Norwegian Sea is sepa-
rated from the Atlantic Ocean by a sill
1 ,500 to 2,500 feet deep that extends
from Greenland to Scotland by way
of Iceland and the Faeroe Islands.
The dense water overflows the ridge
and cascades downslope into the deep
Atlantic. "Cascade" may be too
strong a word, as the speeds are little
more than three kncjts, but the process
is sufficiently turbulent to pick up a
good deal of Atlantic water at inter-
mediate depths. The mixture, known
as North Atlantic Deep Water, is pro-
duced in quantities that are small
compared with the transport of the
great surface currents, perhaps ten
million tons per second, and whether
the flow is sporadic or continuous is
not known.
The other bottom water source is
the icebound Weddell Sea of the Ant-
arctic. The Antarctic Bottom Water
produced there is less saline, but
colder and therefore denser, than
North Atlantic Deep Water; it is dis-
tributed around Antarctica and into
the ocean basins by the Circumpolar
Current. Given the place and the sea-
son, production of Antarctic Bottom
Water is not an easy process to ob-
serve , and there is some debate about
how regular it is or even if it is now
taking place at all. But there is no
doubt about its long-term impor-
tance, for Antarctic Bottom Water
constitutes more than half the water
in the world ocean. It fills the deep
regions of the Indian and Pacific
oceans and the South Atlantic and is
found under the North Atlantic Deep
Water as far away as the latitude of
Bermuda.
Elsewhere, surface effects produce
less dense water masses that circulate
at intermediate depths above the deep
and bottom water. Antarctic Interme-
diate Water is formed by the conver-
gence of warmer, saline, subtropical
water with the chill Circumpolar Cur-
rent; it flows northward at a depth of
about 3 ,000 feet in all the oceans , dis-
tinguished by a salinity minimum.
In the North Atlantic between
Newfoundland and Greenland,
winter cooling forms another, rela-
tively fresh water mass, which
occupies the northern part of the basin
at about 5,000 feet. In the Mediter-
ranean the governing mechanism is
evaporation, which fills the deep
basin with warm but very saline,
dense water. It flows out across the
sill at Gibraltar, much as the North
Atlantic Deep Water escapes the Nor-
wegian Sea, mixes rapidly with the
Atlantic water outside, and spreads
across the (x,can as a saline tongue
centered at about 4,rXXJ feet.
The flow of the deepest water
masses is restricted by bottom topog-
raphy, principally by the mid-oceanic
ridges. Thus, Antarctic Bottom
Water is not found in the eastern basin
of the Atlantic north of about 20'
south; it is cut off by the Wal vis Ridge
that rises some 6,000 feet above the
sea floor between the Mid- Atlantic
Ridge and the coast of South-West
Africa. The coldest North Atlantic
Deep Water is similarly restricted by
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the western
basin of the ocean.
Until recently, the deep-water mo-
tion was imagined to be a broad and
sluggish creep, distributed more or
less uniformly across entire ocean
basins. This simple picmre has been
upset by a combination of careful ob-
servation and bold theory. The theory
is based on the requirement of a slow
upward motion in the oceanic interior
to balance the downward flow of
"new" bottom water. Combining
this upward movement with the ef-
fects of rotation produced the surpris-
ing result that the deep flow over most
of the ocean should move toward the
source at the poles. Such a flow can
only be supplied by relatively swift,
narrow, deep equatorward western
boundary currents.
The deep western boundary cur-
rents are the only part of the theory
currently amenable to testing in the
ocean. In the North Atlantic such a
current has been found along the
North American continental slope; it
flows under the Gulf Stteam at Cape
Hatteras and has been traced as far as
the deep water north of Puerto Rico.
In the western South Atlantic and
South Pacific, deep equatorward cur-
rents have also been identified. The
one in the South Pacific is charac-
terized in part by a slight, but mea-
surable, salinity maximum that can
be traced back to its source in the
northern North Atlantic — a subtle in-
dication of the fundamental unity of
the oceans. Much of the theory re-
mains to be verified; there are tanta-
lizing inconsistencies and surely
more surprises in store, but what is
known feeds the hope that a genuine
understanding of the global ocean
circulation may soon be within
reach. D
Ji.
Deep-Sea Fishes
Text and photographs by Bruce H. Robison
Beneath the reach of sunlight,
bizarre predators stalk,
lure, and ambush their prey
In the cold, dark waters of the deep
sea, the process of evolution has en-
countered a set of harsh and challeng-
ing environmental conditions. Sun-
light seldom reaches depths of more
than 2,000 feet, while the average
depth to the bottom of the world's
oceans is about 13,000 feet. This
means that at least 85 percent of the
marine environment is in continual
darkness. Temperature decreases
rapidly with depth; from 20°C or
more in the wind-mixed surface layer
to 5° or 6°C at 3,300 feet. In some
oceans the water column contains a
zone of low oxygen content. Few
places on our planet offer a more in-
hospitable environment than the vast,
dark waters of the deep sea, where
supply lines must stretch upward for
thousands of feet to the surface.
Despite these conditions, the deep
waters below the open oceans have
been colonized by an array of highly
^ specialized animals.
The deep-sea envirormient exists
out beyond the margins of continental
shelves. The animals that live there,
away from the bottom and not wholly
near the surface, are called midwater
animals. Their free-swimming life-
style is termed "pelagic" by ocean-
ographers, and the oceanic water col-
umn in which they live can be divided
into zones of characteristic condi-
tions. The epipelagic zone is the
upper, productive layer; the mesope-
lagic is the dimly lit transition zone
between about 650 and 3,300 feet;
and the bathypelagic is the deep, dark
zone below 3,300 feet.
Most of the creatures that now in-
habit the deep sea probably evolved
from near-surface forms. Their an-
cient predecessors left the warm, sun-
lit, and productive upper layers be-
cause of competition from an increas-
ing variety of shallow-water species
and because of what I consider to be
the intrinsic drive that compels the
flow of life forms into every attain-
able living space on the planet.
For the animals that entered this
unexploited living space, it was ad-
vantageous to evolve special struc-
tures, physiological processes, and
behavioral patterns as means of cop-
ing with the rigorous conditions.
Their adaptations have resulted in
some of the strangest and most in-
teresting fishes in the sea.
The most abundant group of fishes
in a deep-sea community are
' ' nibblers . ' ' They feed on a multitude
of tiny crustaceans, which "graze"
on the phytoplankton of the sunlit sur-
face waters. Most midwater animals
shun the light of the sun, but at night
many nibbler species swim upward to
consume the crustaceans grazing in
the rich upper layer. In the early
morning, they return to darker,
deeper water. The fishes that prey
upon nibblers are also drawn upward
at night, and the movements of all
these animals contribute significantly
to the cycling of nutrients into deeper
water.
Myctophids, or lanternfish, are
typical nibblers. This family has a
worldwide distribution and consti-
tutes a major dietary item for tuna and
porpoises. They are called lanternfish
because of the luminous organs pat-
terned on their bodies. The charac-
teristic arrangements of these organs
are used by taxonomists to distin-
guish between species, and it is
thought that the fish probably do this
as well. Some of the patterns also de-
note sexual differences, while other
organs may serve to illuminate the
water as an aid in finding prey.
The myctophids are a diverse fam-
ily of about 200 species; by study-
ing the patterns of their diversity
much can be learned about the factors
that influence their lives. Coloration,
matching the light levels of a species'
depth range, is an easily illustrated
example that also correlates some-
what with body composition, behav-
ior, and ecological role. The deepest-
living myctophids (3,300 feet, or so)
are black; they do not attempt long,
upward feeding migrations; and their
bodies seem weak and flaccid. They
depend on nutrients that are trans-
ported to great depths through biolog-
ical systems. In contrast, shallow-
water species are brightly silver, firm
bodied, and commute regularly from
their dim daytime depths (950-1 ,300
feet) to the surface at night to feed.
Between these extremes of color and
depth range are myctophids with in-
termediate characteristics and dif-
ferent ecological roles.
Other fishes and crustaceans share
the deep-sea living space with mycto-
phids and compete with them for the
same general food resources. Among
them are fishes of the genus Cyclo-
thone, the most numerous vertebrates
on earth. These are small, frail-look-
ing fish that do not undertake daily,
vertical feeding migrations; instead,
they occupy relatively fixed horizons
of depth. The various species of this
genus that inhabit a common geo-
graphical area avoid direct competi-
tion with one another by partitioning
the water column into separate depth
ranges. The deeper-living species are
black, protectively matched to the
darkness of their environment, while
the shallower species are translucent
to blend with dim light. Related spe-
cies include the robust fishes of the
genus Gonostoma, which are verti-
cally mobile, and the oddly shaped
hatchetfish family, which are not.
The nibblers are the largest ecological
group of fish in the open ocean; a
group that is itself a food resource that
supports a broad array of predators at
other levels of the oceanic food web.
Lurking in the blackness of the
deep sea, a melanostomiatid
probably lures prey toward its
toothy jaws with the luminous
tissue at the tip of a dangling
barbel. The luminescence
beneath the eyes may be a
sexual recognition character.
I
.38
m
Top, an anglerfish before feeding
and, bottom, after swallowing
a prey fish that it attracted
by wiggling the lure at the end
of the fishing-rod-like appendage
on its head. Distensible stomachs
allow anglerfish to engulf prey
as large as they are. Males in
this group offish serve as little
more than reproductive agents.
They attach themselves to the
body of a female, above right, and
eventually become fused to their
larger mates; in effect becoming
attached testes nourished by
the host female 's blood.
Large, fast-moving predatory
fishes, such as tuna, slash through ag-
gregations of nibblers, scooping up
all within reach. Other predators, liv-
ing at greater depths, ambush
nibblers one at a time. Naturally,
there is a gradation of feeding strate-
gies between these extremes.
In one group of midwater preda-
tors, the fishes' elongate bodies are
covered with light-producing tissue,
and luminescent lures dangle near
their large, fang-filled mouths. Fishes
of the genera Stomias, Idiacanthus,
and Chauliodus, as well as many
from the family Melanostomiatidae
belong to this group. Melanostomia-
tid fishes are endowed with jagged
beds of teeth that fold backward
toward "the gullet, so that a struggling
nibbler caimot escape. Species of
Chauliodus, Idiacanthus, and Sto-
mias are comparably equipped with
teeth. Analyses of the stomach con-
tents of these fishes have revealed that
they feed largely on myctophids and
shrimps with similar depth ranges.
The predators tend to stay deeper than
their prey, however, using the black-
ness of the depths as cover while the
prey are viewed against the lighted
waters above.
The feeding strategy of these pred-
ators is that of the "stalker," closely
tuned to the vertical movements of
their prey popidations. Utilizing
40
proximity and the attractiveness of
their luminous lures, stalkers maneu-
ver a nibbler close enough for a quick
lunge and snap to impale it with their
teeth. Stalkers maintain a degree of
isolation from competing predatory
species by the timing of their activi-
ties and the spatial arrangement of
their distribution in the vertical plane.
They apparently are not segregated
through the selection of specific prey.
The "ambushers" are another eco-
logical group of predatory fishes that
prey upon the hordes of nibblers and
their stalking escorts. Their habitat,
the bathypelagic level of the water
column, is characterized by coldness ,
enormous water pressure, and almost
complete darkness. The only things
visible at this level are clouds, points,
and strings of bluish light given off
by luminescent organisms. Am-
bushers lurk like set traps in the en-
veloping darkness.
Anglerfish are ambushers that ex-
hibit a number of adaptations from
which we can speculate on the nature
of bathypelagic life. All anglers (with
the exception of some sp)ecialized
males) have luminous lures at the end
of elongate fishing-rod-like appen-
dages attached to their heads. Pre-
sumably, an anglerfish attracts prey
to the vicinity of its mouth, playing
the lure (esca) by flexing the rod (il-
licium). The mouths of these crea-
tures are cavernous and their distensi-
ble stomachs allow them to engulf an-
imals as large as themselves. Because
meals may be few and far between in
this environment, each feeding op-
portunity must be seized, whether the
prey is large or small.
The physiology of bathypelagic
fishes is modified to cope with their
austere habitat. Most of them respire
slowly, have lightly calcified bones,
and bodies with low protein and high
water contents. This allows them to
exist for long periods between feed-
ings. Physiologist Jim Childress has
calculated that the caloric value of a
single large myctophid could keep a
medium-sized angler supplied with
enough energy to last for weeks.
Opportunities for mating must be
just as capricious as feeding in deep
water because some anglers have
adopted an equally bold strategy for
reproduction. Males are mere pyg-
mies alongside the females, but they
have no need for extensive feeding
apparatus or size — their sole function
is reproduction. A male seeks out a
female and attaches itself anywhere
on her body by sinking his teeth into
her flesh. The tissues of the two ani-
mals fuse permanently and the body
of the male degenerates to a lump of
tissue surrounding its testes, which
are nourished by the female's blood-
stream.
Anglers have imgainly bodies, and
many species lack webbing between
the rays of their fins. This precludes
rapid swimming, so it seems likely
that they must remain essentially mo-
tionless in the water, awaiting their
prey. This is not to say that they are
completely sluggish, for their feeding
action is a lightning-fast gulp.
Whalefish are another type of am-
busher, but one that does not rely on
limiinous lures. Many species of this
type have reduced, or degenerate,
eyes, and they rely on a system,
called the lateral line, which provides
them with the sensory capability of
detecting low-frequency vibrations.
The lateral line consists basically of
a series of tiny filamentous projec-
tions, arrayed along the head and
flanks of the fish and connected to a
nerve network. Their function is the
perception of changes in the pressure
and displacement of water, presum-
ably related to the movements of
other animals.
41
The lens of this hatchetfish 's
e"e Ills on a tube that directs
tr M. arci The upturned gaze
" . ' lovth are aimed at small
^.i">o >'v "'•ustcceans; a flip of
i\e ,.;/ /.'-J rMlI pivot the body
'f ''U-id the pectoral fins to swing
"a- novt'i. up for o bite.
^m
4 I
Most fishes have the lateral line fil-
aments arranged linearly within a
simple canal, with pores that open
through the skin and scales to the sur-
rounding water. Bathypelagic fishes,
however, live in waters that are very
still and there is correspondingly less
need for the filaments to be insulated
from minor disturbances. Lateral line
systems with exposed filaments in
ladderlike tracks have evolved in
some whalefish. This has occurred as
an adaptive widening of the canals
and an increase in pore size. The in-
formation provided by these special-
ized sensory systems is probably
sufficient to determine the location,
size, speed, and direction of a nearby,
but unseen, moving prey.
The "hunters" are another group
of predatory midwater fishes. These
are active fish that seek and pursue
their prey through the inky depths of
the bathypelagic zone, and well up
into the murky mesopelagic. Because
of their speed and agility, few large
specimens have been collected by the
slow-moving, midwater trawls of re-
searchers. Speculations on the life
histories of midwater hunters are
based on young individuals or adults
of the smaller species.
Daggerlike teeth seem to be a com-
mon hunter adaptation, along with
firm, slender bodies, and well-devel-
oped eyes. Often the teeth are barbed.
completely covering the floor and
roof of a hunter's mouth so that it
cannot be closed. Hunters rely on
both their visual and lateral line sen-
sory systems; compared with their
prey, they are very mobile in both the
vertical and horizontal planes.
Hunters of the family Everman-
nellidae have flat, slender bodies that
ripple with musculature. These are
apparently the only small midwater
fish fast enough to regularly include
squid in their diet. Another family,
the Chiasmodontidae, can stretch
their stomachs to accommodate large
prey. I have often found nibbler
fishes in the stomach contents of
chiasmodontids. Anoplogaster is a
small hunterlike fish whose growth
stages occupy succeedingly greater
depths. The larvae of most midwater
fishes inhabit the near-surface waters
as plankton, while the juveniles in-
habit greater depths wifli increasing
age until sexual maturity occurs and
the descent of depth range is stabi-
lized at the adult level.
These four ecological groups of
midwater fishes, each loosely defined
by depth range and feeding strategy,
are but a portion of the deep-sea
fauna. Many other fishes live in this
environment, with characteristics and
roles that are different from or inter-
mediate to these groups. The group-
ings are artificial, but they do indicate
g ie5leet
a.
«S^33
The water column of the open ocean can be
divided into characteristic zones, as darkness
and cold increase with depth.
Many fish migrate between zones for food.
trends of organization within mid-
water communities.
The practical reasons for studying
midwater ecology are profound. The
deep ocean basins contain the largest
ecosystems on earth, and the numbers
of animals living within them are as
yet incalculable. Midwater fishes rep-
resent a tremendous potential food re-
source because they are lower in the
food web and thus are orders of mag-
nitude more abundant than the com-
mercial fishes traditionally harvested
by man. But we can never hope to
properly exploit any of the resources
of the open ocean without first learn-
ing how its ecosystems work. D
44
Stomias are stalking predators
encased in a gelatinous sheath,
left. The reddish flecks
within the sheath are luminous
tissue that silhouettes the
fish's profile. Females have
bulkier bodies than males and
the lighted profiles may enable
the sexes to recognize each other.
Granular teeth o/Pseudoscopelus,
below, may be an adaptation
for feeding on crustaceans.
J
Sea Otters:
Pillars of the
Nearshore Community
by John F. Palmisano and James A. Estes
By preying on the animals
that graze on kelp, otters
in the Aleutian Islands
affect the structure of the
entire coastal environment
The Aleutian Archipelago of
nearly seventy named islands
stretches for about a thousand miles
in a southwesterly arc from the
Alaska Peninsula into the North Pa-
cific Ocean. Most of the islands are
mountainous and many contain active
volcanoes. All are virtually treeless
except for an occasional willow or
alder, dwarfed by the wind and north-
ern climate. The climate is one of
rain, snow, fog, clouds, and frequent
and violent squalls, but an extension
of the warm Kuroshio Current moder-
ates winter temperatures and keeps
the sea ice-free. In contrast to the
bleak climatic conditions is the abun-
dance of wildlife, most conspic-
uously sea birds and marine mam-
mals. Terrestrial mammals, such as
brown bears, caribou, and lemmings,
inhabit only the easternmost islands
of the chain, which were once part of
the mainland.
At the western end of this island
world lie the Rat and Near Islands
groups. These are ideal study areas,
providing a rich opportunity to exam-
ine ecological relationships in dis-
crete biological communities. Cut off
from one another by deep oceanic
passes, they are also geographically
far removed from both the Asian and
North American continents. These
46
two factors combine to produce iso-
lated biological communities that are
relatively simple in their species con-
stituencies compared with biological
communities associated with conti-
nental land masses. Oceanic passes
serve as barriers, preventing immi-
gration of certain species from conti-
nents to islands, as well as the free
exchange of individuals between is-
lands. Since ecological interrelation-
ships are easier to understand in
simple communities than they are in
complex ones, the western Aleutians
provide an excellent opportunity to
study the role of a particular species.
In this case, we were interested in
looking at how one animal, the sea
otter, shapes the ecology of the near-
shore community.
Upon arriving at Amchitka Island
in the Rat Islands group, we were im-
mediately struck by the dense kelp
beds. The kelp is so abundant that in
many areas we could not see the
rocky ocean floor either from the
shore or when diving in the water.
Yet at the Near Islands of Attn and
Shemya, 250 miles to the west, there
With its powerful jaws and heavy
teeth, a sea otter is well
adapted to feeding on sea urchins.
In the Aleutian Islands, these
small invertebrates make up the
major part of the otter's diet.
Scott Ransom
*--u^&.
"'"mm-''-
^mt
1
V-
»55*^»
-0100^ ■
are only a few scattered kelp beds.
What we did notice here was a dense
carpet of large sea urchins, small in-
vertebrates that live on the ocean
floor or in rocky crevices and feed on
kelp. So completely have the sea ur-
chins grazed the kelp that the ocean
floor appeared light emerald, rather
than dark brown as at Amchitka.
After studying the marine commu-
nities in the western Aleutians, we
believe that the sea otter, which feeds
extensively on sea urchins, is the pri-
mary cause of the differences ob-
served between these communities in
the Rat and Near Islands groups. For
in the Rat Islands, in addition to a
luxuriant growth of kelp, we also saw
a large population of otters — drifting
in the water on their backs, splashing
in large groups, or hauling out on
rocks in stormy weather. By selec-
tively taking the largest sea urchins
available, sea otters reduce the ur-
chins to a sparse population of small
individuals. The resultant release
from grazing pressure permits a sig-
nificant increase in the size of near-
shore and intertidal (that area of the
shore alternately exposed to air and
flooded by the sea) kelp beds and in
the richness of associated communi-
ties. Conversely, the absence or re-
duction of sea otters in areas they for-
merly inhabited (such as the Near Is-
lands) enables sea urchin populations
to increase, causing a significant re-
duction in the size of kelp beds and
the diversity of associated communi-
ties.
Overgrazing by dense populations
of sea urchins has destroyed kelp beds
in many areas. When sea urchins are
removed from an area the marine veg-
etation recovers rapidly. Because
kelp and beds of sea grass provide
food and habitat for a wide variety of
marine organisms, they have a pro-
found effect on the entire structure of
a region. Any reduction of a particu-
lar grazer will affect a variety of other
organisms. Therefore, an animal that
preys on kelp-bed grazers, as the sea
otter does, determines the structure of
the entire marine community.
Prior to the onset of large-scale
hunting in 1741 — the year that Vitus
Bering, a Danish explorer employed
by Russia, discovered the Aleu-
tians— the sea otter ranged from the
northern Japanese Archipelago,
through the Aleutian Islands, and
along the coast of North America as
far south as Morro Hermoso, Baja
California. It was virtually wiped
out by eighteenth- and nine-
teenth-century fur hunters, who val-
ued its dense, rich brown coat, but
has since come back and now inhabits
the more remote portions of its origi-
Although an otter takes most of
its food from the ocean floor, it
surfaces to eat, right, floating
on its back and smashing open
shells against a rock held on its
chest. Kelp flourishes at Amchitka
Island, below, where a large
population of otters feeds on
herbivorous sea urchins. Dense
kelp beds, in turn, support a
variety of other animal populations.
nal range — the Kuril, Commander,
and Aleutian Islands, and parts of
southeastern Alaska. There is also an
isolated population off the coast of
central California, and recent trans-
plants have reintroduced the otter into
Oregon, Washington, and British Co-
lumbia. It seems likely that the sea
otter's range will continue to expand.
The present sea otter population of
Amchitka is about 60 animals per
square nautical mile. Otters stay close
to shore, floating in the sheltered
waters and diving for their food in
waters generally no deeper than 180
feet. Most of their food — crabs, sea
urchins, bottom-dwelling fish, and
octopus — is found on the ocean floor,
but they surface to eat, floating on
their backs while keeping the food oil
their chests. Sea otters have incredi-
bly powerful jaws and heavy teeth to
cope with their shellfish diet, but they
also open shells by smashing them
against stones, calcified algae, and
other shells placed on their chests.
Otters require almost 25 percent of
Jeff Foott; Bruce Coleman, Inc.
their body weight daily in food. Con-
sidering that their average weight is
about 50 pounds, foraging sea otters
at Amchitlca consume about 200,000
pounds of animal biomass (live
weight) per square nautical mile each
year. Obviously, a high-density sea
otter population is an important mem-
ber of the nearshore community.
Sea otters have inhabited the Rat
Islands at these high densities for the
past twenty to thirty years. In the
Near Islands, however, the once
abundant sea otter population was
virtually extirpated by hunting.
Owing to the deep and wide oceanic
passes separating the two island
groups, until recently there were only
a few immigrants from the Rat Is-
lands to the Near Islands group. Since
1959, however, there have been scat-
tered reports of sea otters in the Near
Islands, and during a visit in 1 975 , we
counted more than 250 otters at Attu.
This immigration is probably the re-
sult of individuals leaving the densely
populated Rat Islands. Since we also
saw sea otter pups at Attu, local re-
production is also contributing to the
growth of the Near Islands popula-
tion. At the time we did our study,
however, there were few enough in-
dividuals that the two island groups
could be compared on the basis of
their otter populations.
Despite the physical similarities
and proximity of the two island
groups, there are major plant and ani-
mal differences between the marine
communities of their rocky nearshore
and intertidal areas. In the Rat Islands
a mat of ungrazed kelp extends from
the intertidal region over most of the
rock surface to depths of about 75
feet. Both brown and red algae are
abundant. In turn, the abundance of
kelp affects other marine life, includ-
ing sessile (attached) filter-feeding in-
vertebrates such as barnacles and
mussels, which cannot compete with
kelp for space and are consequently
rare in the Rat Islands. Furthermore,
by sheltering the shore from wave ac-
tion, kelp beds reduce turbulence.
and the accumulating sediments
smother sessile invertebrates.
While kelp-eating invertebrates —
chitons as well as sea urchins — are
small, inconspicuous, and scarce in
the intertidal region of the Rat Is-
lands, relatively high densities of sea
urchins do occur in more protected
cracks and beneath the anchoring de-
vices (holdfasts) of kelp. Beginning
at depths of 30 to 60 feet, sea urchin
densities increase and vegetative
cover decreases with increasing
depth. At these depths, sea otters and
other predators, including diving
birds such as eider ducks, have
greater difficulty taking urchins.
Conversely, at the Near Islands,
the kelp is heavily grazed by dense
populations of sea urchins and to a
lesser extent by limpets and chitons.
In many areas, sea urchins almost
completely carpet the sea floor imme-
diately adjacent to the intertidal re-
gion , although densities decrease dra-
matically in deeper waters because of
the scarcity of kelp. There are also
.r''*
'"^.
.*.i.*^^
r?15i*.
Robert Woolerv
extensive mussel beds and dense pop-
ulations of barnacles in the intertidal
region; whereas in the Rat Islands
these invertebrates average four and
five per square yard, respectively, in
the Near Islands, they average 700
and 1,200 per square yard. Inter-
tidal sea urchins are not only more
dense, averaging eight per square
yard in the Rat Islands and eighty in
the Near Islands, they are also twice
the size (the largest are four inches as
opposed to less than two inches) of
those in the Rat Islands. Chitons, vir-
tually urmoticeable at one per square
yard in the Rat Islands, are abundant
in the Near Islands, averaging forty
per square yard.
Because climate, sea state, tidal
ranges, and mean tidal levels are sim-
ilar at both island groups, and be-
cause we compared only similarly
structured coastlines, there is no
doubt that the differences in marine
vegetation and associated marine in-
vertebrates result from the presence
or absence of sea otters.
More far-reaching consequences
of these relations become apparent
Unlike most marine mammals, otters
lack a subcutaneous layer of fat.
To retain body heat, they roll
in the water, above, trapping air
in their long fur. Underwater dunks,
right, prevent the fur from matting
and losing its insulating qualities.
when we consider the source of food
in these island groups. The energy for
sustenance in any biological commu-
nity must ultimately originate from
photosynthesizing plants. These are
the "primary producers," those that
use light energy to produce food for
themselves (autotrophs), for plant-
eating animals (herbivores), and ulti-
mately for flesh-eating predators (car-
nivores). In the near shore community
of the western Aleutians the primary
producers fall into three groups: ter-
restrial plants, phytoplankton (micro-
scopic algae suspended in the sea),
and kelp. From earlier studies we
know that terrestrial plants and phyto-
plankton contribute little to primary
production in the Aleutian Islands,
whereas the primary production of
kelp is very high. In fact, kelp beds
are among the most productive habi-
tats on earth.
All animals are ultimately depend-
ent upon plant production for their en-
ergy; therefore, by preying on kelp-
eating urchins, sea otters affect many
species that inhabit the Aleutian Is-
lands. Certain animals, such as fish,
are directly dependent upon kelp for
food and protection. Not surpris-
ingly, while scuba diving at Am-
chitka in the Rat Islands we noticed
abundant fish populations, whereas
50
fish are sparse at Attu and Shemya in
the Near Islands. Furthermore, fish
constitute a critical link in the food
web leading to higher-level preda-
tors. Both harbor seals and bald
eagles, for example, are abundant at
Amchitka, while in the Near Islands,
harbor seals are rare and bald eagles
are totally absent. Although we do
not have conclusive proof that these
patterns of abundance and distri-
bution are directly linked to the sea
otter-sea urchin-kelp interrelation-
ships, sea otters and kelp beds, as
well as fish, harbor seals, and bald
eagles, were probably once abundant
throughout all the Aleutian Islands,
including the Near Islands group.
Far from the Aleutian Islands,
along the coast of central California,
these interrelationships between
otters and marine invertebrates have
been the subject of great controversy,
as commercial and sport shellfish
hunters resist the reintroduction of the
otter in California waters. While sea
otters are no doubt incompatible with
hiunan exploitation of such shellfish
as abalone and pismo clams, they do
not cause the extinction of these prey
items. The coexistence of the otter
and its principal prey in this system
is the result of at least several million
years of evolution. Rather, the con-
troversy developed because humans
began heavily exploiting this commu-
nity's resources after the sea otter had
been essentially wiped out through-
out most of its original range. Conse-
quently, some of the abundant marine
resources Europeans first encoun-
tered along the west coast of North
America were probably the result of
a major, human-induced ecological
disturbance, not a community that
had evolved naturally. Without a nat-
ural predator, shellfish aboimded and
could be exploited for both recrea-
tional purposes and economic gain.
Not surprisingly, considerable dis-
gruntlement has accompanied the re-
51
turn of the sea otter in California. In
turn, animal preservationist groups
have entered the arena, arguing that
sea otters are natural members of the
marine community, that while they
deplete invertebrate populations,
they enhance other aspects of the
community, such as primary produc-
tion from kelp beds.
Unfortunately, ecological interac-
tions involving sea otters, inverte-
brates, and kelp are not as clear in
California as in the western Aleu-
tians. For one thing, the nearshore
community is more complex; other
predators of sea urchins, such as s^a
stars and sheepshead fish, inhabit
California waters and we do not know
the importance of their predation or
how their ecological roles have
changed in the absence of sea otters.
Furthermore, there are several com-
petitive grazing invertebrates in Cali-
fornia, such as abalone, sea urchins,
crabs, and snails, whereas in the
western Aleutians, the sea urchin is
the only conspicuous grazer. Finally,
since nearshore communities in Cali-
fornia have been affected by recent
human activities — ^kelp harvesting,
invertebrate hunting, and urban and
industrial pollution — one caimot eas-
ily isolate the role of otters in this
community.
Even so, there can be little doubt
that sea otters are important compo-
nents of nearshore communities in the
waters off California, as they are in
the entire northeast Pacific Ocean.
The loss of this member of the marine
community, however we have ac-
commodated to such a loss or, as in
the case of the shellfish industry, ben-
efited from it, has had a profound ef-
fect on the nearshore ecosystem. The
Aleutian Islands study has clarified
the key role of the sea otter in struc-
turing a marine community; we hope
that we will gain similar understand-
ing of its place in more complex
communities. D
4K
^^W
Holding a mussel against its chest,
an otter drifts in the waters
off Monterey. Otters are returning
to their northern range, but
only an isolated group inhabits
the central California coast.
C^ .>vr'
'»■
VV ^'%
52
.^
.•/ , f>
r^^m.
mt^
^m»,>im,g
M'
^
Sky Reporter
by Isaac Asimov
Recipe for a Planetary Ocean
Strict conditions of size,
temperature, and distance from
the sun must be met if a planet
is to have great seas
The earth is a watery planet. Some
70 percent of its surface is covered by
ocean that is more than six miles deep
in some spots. The land surface pokes
up through the sea in places, but con-
tinents and islands make up only
about 30 percent of the earth's sur-
face. The earth is a solid planet with
a partial liquid cover. Is this a com-
mon situation? Can we expect other
planets to have an ocean? If they do,
will it always be of water as on the
earth or is a planetary water ocean a
rare occurrence?
To answer these questions, let us
consider the requirements for an
ocean. First, it must be made of a
substance that is liquid at the surface
temperature and atmospheric pres-
sure of the planet. Second, the sub-
stance must be made of cosmically
abundant elements so that enough of
it will be found on the planet to form
an ocean.
Starting with the second condition,
only a few of all the elements in the
solar system meet the requirement of
abundance. Since some of these tend
on planets to combine with each
other, a list of the only ingredients
from which a planetary ocean could
be composed can be narrowed to the
following ten substances: hydrogen
(the most plentiful element in the
cosmos), helium (the second most
abundant), neon, argon, methane (a
hydrocarbon), ammonia (a com-
pound of nitrogen and hydrogen),
water, hydrogen sulfide, the silicates
(silicon-oxygen compounds of
various metals, which make up more
than 95 percent of the earth's crust),
and a nickel-iron mixture in the
proportion of one to nine.
These ten ingredients can, in turn,
be divided into three groups accord-
ing to the state — gas, solid, or liq-
uid— in which they might be found in
quantity. The first group includes hy-
drogen, helium, neon, and argon.
These elements have boiling points
below — 170° C and are going to be
gases under all but the most unusual
conditions. They are therefore un-
likely to be ocean-forming sub-
stances.
The second group includes the sili-
cates and nickel-iron. These materi-
als have melting points above 1 ,000°
C and are going to be solids under all
but the most unusual conditions.
Consequently, they too are unlikely
to be ocean-forming substances.
That leaves the third group of in-
gredients— methane, ammonia,
water, and hydrogen sulfide. These
are the only substances that, under
conditions of hydrogen excess, might
be found in the liquid state at reason-
able temperature conditions and that
can be present in sufficient quantities
to form an ocean.
Next, let us take up the conditions
under which planets themselves can
form (and ' 'planet' ' here is meant to
include such smaller bodies as satel-
lites and asteroids). The chief vari-
able in the process is the distance
from the central star around which the
planets orbit. Planets can form either
relatively close to or relatively far
from the star. If a planet forms close
to the star, its temperature will be
comparatively high and all the atoms
and molecules that come together to
form it will be moving comparatively
rapidly. In this situation, the small
and therefore particularly nimble
atoms of helium and neon caimot be
held by the gravitational field of the
forming planet; neither can the small
two-atom molecules of hydrogen.
They wUl escape into space. Since
hydrogen, helium, and neon — ^from
the first group of potential ocean-
building substances — together make
up some 99 percent of all the atoms
or molecules in the original gaseous
mix from which stars and planets de-
velop, a planet forming out of the left-
over material, and therefore small in
size, caimot have a strong gravita-
tional field.
If it forms sufficiently close to the
central star or if it is particularly
small, a planet's gravitational field
caimot even hold the somewhat heav-
ier molecules of the third group of
substances — methane, ammonia,
water, and hydrogen sulfide, often
called "volatiles" because even
when they are liquid they evaporate
easily and turn to gases. All that is
then left are the silicates and nickel-
iron, the atoms and molecules of
which are bound tightly to each other
by chemical forces and do not require
a strong gravitational pull to be held.
This means that particularly hot
bodies such as Mercury, the planet
closest to the sun, and particularly
small bodies such as the moon must
be entirely solid and can have no
oceans.
For an ocean to exist, a planet must
be large enough and have the right
temperature and pressure range for
the purpose. The requirements are
stringent. Thus, Mars, which is larger
than Mercury, is big enough to hold
some volatiles but not enough of them
to make up an ocean. In addition,
Mars is so cool that most of its vola-
tiles exist in the frozen state. Venus,
on the other hand, which is even
54
Advartiiing &uppl«m»n
NATURAL HI STORY
As a trial member of the
BOOKOFTHEMONTH CLUB:
America's
Bookstore,
you can obtain
any one of the
library sets
described
on the
following
pages-at
an extraordinary
saving (up to $202)
The Suggested Trial: You simply agree to buy four Club choices during
the next twelve months at substantial savings on most books you choose
TO SIGNALIZE the 50th anniversary of the Book-of-
the-Month Qub— America's Bookstore since
1926— we are extending an unusually interesting
membership invitation to prospective members this
year. Until now, high retail prices have put the
magnificent works shown here beyond the reach of
many families. However, as a trial member of the
Qub, you can acquire one of these sets at extra-
ordinary savings— as much as $202.
This bounty for booklovers is not a one-time affair
but is a demonstration of a continuing benefit. Not
only wiU you be able to keep abreast of the important
new books you are eager to read, but if you continue
your membership you will enjoy similar savings on
expensive library sets and high-priced reference
works. It's a wonderful way to build a well-rounded
Hbrary and save money too.
CARL SANDBURG'S
ABRAHAM LINCOLN (6 vols.)
WILL and ARIEL DURANT'S
THE STORY OF
CIVIUZATION (10 vols.)
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
PHILOSOPHY (4 vols.)
THE COMPACT EDITION
OF THE OXFORD ENGUSH
DICTIONARY (2 vols.)
See inside for details
CHOOSE ANY ONE OF
as a trial member of the BOOK-OF-THE-MO^
CARL SANDBURG'S
Pulitzer Prize-Winning
ABRAHAM
LINCOLN
The entire six -volume set
I PUBLISHERS <t'|'^^^ I
LIST PRICE tI.^V^ I
The Prairie Years
TVo volumes covering the first 52
years of Lincoln's life— from his log
cabin childhood through his career
as a country lawyer, prairie politi-
cian, husband, father. Congressman-
ending as he becomes President of a
nation beginning to split apart on the
issue of slavery.
The War Years
Four volumes spaiming the entire
period of the Civil War from the first
shot fired at Fort Sumter to the sur-
render at Appomattox. Among the
events are the battles of Bull Run,
Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Lincoln's in-
augural address, the Emancipation
Proclamation, the assassination at
Ford's Theatre, a nation in mourning.
THE COMPACT EDITION
of the
OXFORD ENGLISH
DICTIONARY
The complete contents of
the $395 thirteen-volume set in an
easily readable two- volume set
f^*^ ^1750
only
PUBLISHERS LIST PRICE
$95)
idVa eacn
• All 16,569 pages of the thirteen-vol-
ume edition included in The Com-
pact Edition through a i>hoto-reduc-
tion process which permits printing
four of the original pages on one page
of the new edition
• Bausch & Lomb magnifying glass in-
cluded in special drawer of slipcase.
2" X 3%" lens scientifically designed
to make reduced print easily readable
• Paper is 30-pound Special Diction-
ary White
• Binding is library buckram —
forced and stamped in gold
• You will re
Month Club .
zine publisher
times a year,
the coming S
Alternates, ar
approximate
half weeks.
• If you wish
tion,donothir
to you automa
• If you do nc
or you would
nates or no bt
FHESE VALUABLE SETS
m^l I ID TheSuggestedTrial: You simply agree to buy four Club choices during
V^ L(U LJ the next twelve months at substantial savings on most books you choose.
HE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
The complete contents
of the original eight-
lume $219.50 edition in a handsome four-volume reader's edition
PHILOSOPHY
f^-^ *1750(
•nly
PUBLISHERS
LIST PRICE
*9950
A SMALL SAMPLING OF THE IDEAS AND
PHILOSOPHERS FOUND IN THESE VOLUMES
Will Linguistics Nothing Pragmatism Pain The Absolute Nonsense
sm Humanism TVuth Existentialism Semantics Good and Evil Pleasure
CONFUCIUS • CAMUS • ERASMUS • KIERKEGAARD • SARTRE • KANT
WITTGENSTEIN • EINSTEIN • SPINOZA • PLATO • RUSSELL
THOMAS AQUINAS • LOCKE • NIETZSCHE • DESCARTES • NEWTON
THE STORY OF
CIVILIZATION
Ten matched
volumes
iri^„ I 1^^^ 1^^^ __- ,^^. <' PUBLISHER'S LIST PRICE
only^2250 1*22450
I. Our Oriental HeritaKC. Ancient Egypt
and the Near East. The Far East, ear-
ly to modem times.
II. The Life of Greece. Explores all fac-
ets of Greek life from prehistoric times
to the Roman conquest.
III. Caesar and Christ. The rise of
Rome and Christianity and the collapse
of classic civilization.
IV. The Age of Faith. Christian. Is-
lamic and Judaic civilization, 325 to
1300, including the Crusades.
V. The Renaissance. Italy's golden age.
1304 to 1576. A turbulent world of in-
trigue and great art.
VI. The Reformation. Europe's religi-
ous conflicts, from two centuries before
Luther to Calvin.
VII. The Age of Reason Begins. Europe.
1S58-1646. The age of Shakespeare.
Rembrandt. Galileo.
VIU. The Age of Louis XTV. The bril-
liant era of the "Sun King," Milton,
Cromwell. Peter the Great.
IX. The Age of Voltaire. Europe from
1715 to 1756. The world of Frederick
the Great, Wesley. Bach.
X. Rousseaa and Revolution. Europe
from the Seven Years' War to the storm-
ing of the Bastille.
ACTS ABOUT MEMBERSHIP
: the Book-of-the-
• a literary maga-
the Club fifteen
e News describes
ion and scores of
be sent to you
very three and a
lurchase the Selec-
jd it will be shipped
int the Selection —
one of the Alter-
it all — simply indi-
cate your decision on the reply form
always enclosed with the News and
mail it so we receive it by the date
specified.
• All books distributed by the Book-
of-the-Month Club are identical to
the publishers' editions in content,
format, size and quality.
• If, because of late mail delivery of
the News, you should receive a Selec-
tion without having had 10 days to
decide whether you want it, that
Selection may be returned at Club
expense.
See next page for more details
BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB, INC.
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 1 701 1 6-A113J
Please enroll me as a member of the Book-of-the-Month Club and send me th«
set I have checked in the box below, for which you will bill me. 1 agree to bu>
four Selections or Alternates during the first year 1 am a member, paying in mosi
cases special members' prices. My membership is cancelable any time after I bu>
these four books. A shipping charge is added to all shipments.
D THE COMPACT D Carl Sandburg's D THE ENCYCLO- D THE STORY OF
EDITION OF THE OED ABRAHAM LINCOLN PEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY CIVILIZATION
$17.50 $18.50 $17-50 $22.50
S;l
43
•^■f
loss)
(Please print plainly)
ABt
cm
State Zip..
An extraordinary offer from the
BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB~
America's Bookstore
". . . a monument that will stand forever— a monument
to subject and author alike" —N.Y. Times Book Review
CARL SANDBURG'S Pulitzer Prize-Winning
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ABRAHAM Lincoln • Carl Sandburg's piassive 6-volume biog-
L raphy is more than a portrait of a great American— it is a
tapestry of the American people in crisis and resolution. Win-
ner of a Pulitzer Prize for history, it remains a work of timeless
beauty and humanity— to read and cherish and pass on, with
pride, to the next generation. Praised by one reviewer as "The
truest portrait of the greatest American . . . the best biography
of our day."
". . . a remarkable and unique work" —Saturday Review
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF PHILOSOPHY
THE Encyclopedia Of Philosophy • One of the great reposi-
tories of philosophical information, this is the only major
philosophical reference work published in English since 1901.
The collaborative achievement of 500 philosophers and scholars
from 24 countries, it covers every area of philosophy — ancient,
medieval, modern. Eastern and Western. No thinker or move-
ment is dismissed as too radical, no issue is scanted as too
controversial.
for only *18 50 ( ^ ] for only *1750 [,^Jo]
"The most complete and most scholarly dictionary of
the English language" —T/ie Christian Science Monitor
THE COMPACT EDITION OF
THE OXFORD ENGLISH
DICTIONARY
THE Compact Edition Of The Oxford English Dictionary
Generally considered the final arbiter of the meaning, ori-
gin, history and usage of words in the English language, the
Oxford English Dictionary was until recently available only as
a 13-volume set priced at $395 This 2-volume Compact Edition
—the complete contents— has been hailed by N.Y. Times book
critic Christopher Lehmann-Haupt as "something of a miracle
. . . easier to work with than the original with its 13 separate
volumes."
"Our century has produced no more successful attempt
to narrate the whole common story of mankind"
—Clifton Fadiman
THE STORY OF
CIVILIZATION
by WILL and ARIEL DURANT
THE Story Of Civilization • A monumental 10-volume work
which took 40 years to research and write, this is the life-
work of Will and Ariel Durant. A history of all civilization-
ancient and modem, Occidental and Oriental— it traces the
development of man's economic and political organizations,
science and art, religions and philosophies, customs and man-
ners. Without doubt one of the great literary and historic
achievements of this century.
for only *1750 ( |Sf ) for only *2250 [*f^5o]
Fill in, detach postcard below and mail today!
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
No postage stamp necessary if mailed in the United States
FIRST CLASS
PERMIT No. 224
Camp Hill, Pa.
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY
Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc.
Camp Hill
Pennsylvania 1701 1
CHOOSE
ANY ONE
OF THESE
VALUABLE SETS
and save as much as $202
in a trial members/iip
The Suggested Trial: You simply agree to buy-
four Club choices during the next twelve months at
substantial savings on most books you choose.
See previous pages
larger than Mars and has more of the
volatiles, is so warm that all of them
are in the gaseous state. Under the
thick Venusian atmosphere, the sur-
face of Venus is solid material. The
planet has no oceans.
A planet at least the size of, but
considerably cooler than, Venus
could in theory retain ocean-sized
quantities of volatiles and maintain
most of them in the liquid state. But
under those conditions, which vola-
tile would form the ocean or would
it consist of a mixture of substances?
Suppose a planet is small enough
to lose its free hydrogen but large
enough to retain the volatiles. With-
out free hydrogen, chemical proc-
esses take place that tend to oxidize
the ammonia to nitrogen (which re-
mains gaseous) and water. There is
also a tendency for the methane to
oxidize to carbon dioxide (which re-
mains gaseous) and water. Finally,
there is a tendency for hydrogen sul-
fide to be converted to sulfur, which
is a solid at earthly temperatures and
which combines with other solids in
the planet's crust (if it has one) and
water. Such a planet would be left
with only one volatile in ocean-sized
quantities — namely, water. The earth
is such a planet and that is why it has
oceans.
What about objects that condense
at comparatively large distances from
the central star? Out there, the small
atoms and molecules of helium,
neon, and hydrogen are cold and
therefore sluggish enough to be cap-
tured by the gravitational field of the
developing body, whose mass can ac-
cordingly increase rapidly. With in-
creasing mass, the gravitational field
grows ever more intense and the
small atoms and molecules are held
even more efficiently.
The result is the formation of a
giant planet, such as Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, or Neptune, made up very
largely of hydrogen. Solid compo-
nents, if any, make up an incon-
siderable fraction of the material at
the planet's core, and we have what
used to be called a "gas giant." To
be sure, it is now thought that Jupiter,
although composed mostly of hydro-
gen, compresses that gas into a red-
hot liquid and that the giant planet
may be an enormous liquid sphere. It
might be considered all ocean, but the
liquid is not ocean in our sense of a
partial fluid cover of a solid planet
with dry land emerging here and
there.
The far reaches of a planetary sys-
tem need not contain only giant
planets, however. Minor bodies are
also formed out of leftover cosmic
materials, and these can be as small
as or smaller than any of the bodies
of the inner planetary system. Small
bodies that are distant from the cen-
tral star are cold, but even so their
gravitational fields are not strong
enough to retain the light atoms and
molecules of hydrogen, helium, or
neon. Most of those substances have
in any case been swept up by the giant
planets. Nevertheless, the small
bodies of the outer planetary system
can hang on to the volatiles, but the
temperatures of those objects are so
low that ammonia, water, and hydro-
gen sulfide, if present on them, will
exist only in solid form. In the ex-
treme far reaches, even argon and
methane will be frozen.
The result is that the small bodies
of an outer planetary system are gen-
erally a mixture of ordinary solids,
such as silicates and nickel-iron, and
of "ices" made of frozen volatiles.
In our own solar system, this is true,
for instance, of the satellites of
Jupiter and of the comets. It would
seem, then, that the small bodies of
an outer planetary system cannot
have an ocean either — unless, per-
haps, certain restrictive conditions
are met in just the right way.
The possibility of an ocean existing
on a body that far from the central star
arises in connection with methane,
which boils at a temperature of
— 1 6 1 . 5° C . Objects in the nearer por-
tions of the outer planetary system
would be warm enough to keep the
methane as a gas; bodies in the outer-
most portions would keep it as a
solid. What about the region in be-
tween?
Suppose there were a body at just
the right distance from the central star
to keep methane in the liquid state.
If that body were large enough to hold
methane, but not large enough to hold
hydrogen, it might acquire enough
methane to develop a fairly thick at-
mosphere of that substance — with
some of it in liquid form at the body's
surface. Unlike the other volatiles,
the molecules of methane can, under
certain conditions, combine with
each other to form larger molecules
that can be liquid even though meth-
ane itself is normally a gas. These
larger molecules have properties
rather like lighter fluid.
As it happens, there is a body in
our solar system that might possibly
qualify in this resf>ect. It is Titan, the
largest of Saturn's ten satellites. In
terms of volume, it is the largest satel-
lite in the solar system, even larger
than the small planet Mercury. Titan
has a fairly thick atmosphere — it is
the only satellite known to have a siz-
able one — that contains methane.
Does Titan have a hydrocarbon ocean
covering much of its surface? That is
at least conceivable.
To summarize , for an astronomical
body to have an ocean on its surface,
it must meet very stringent conditions
in terms of size, temperature, atmos-
pheric pressure, and gravitational in-
tensity, with the result that only a
small proportion of the planetary
bodies in the universe could be ex-
pected to have one. On the other
hand, any astronomical body that is
part of a planetary system and hap-
pens to be about the earth's size and
temperature is almost sure to have an
ocean, and that ocean is very likely
to be composed of water.
Conditions for an ammonia ocean
or a carbon dioxide ocean are much
more stringent than for water. If a
planet is cold enough to collect oce-
anic amounts of ammonia, it wUl
probably collect enough hydrogen to
become a giant hydrogen body. As
for carbon dioxide, it is only liquid
at low temperatures and high atmos-
pheric pressures and the combination
is not very likely to exist on a nonhy-
drogen planet.
There is a chance that an earth-
sized or somewhat smaller astro-
nomical body that is much colder than
the earth could have one other variety
of ocean that is possible — namely,
hydrocarbon.
Thus , to the best of our knowledge ,
the score for our solar system is one
water ocean on earth, and possibly
one hydrocarbon ocean on Titan.
Isaac Asimov, who has a Ph.D. in
biochemistry, has written more than
170 books and countless magazine
articles on a variety of subjects, rang-
ing from science to science fiction and
literature.
59
'^^mC^
.'.<^yr
Lobster Tales
by Michael Berrill
The location of lobster
nurseries is still a mystery
Everywhere in the world that there
are lobsters and lobstermen the re-
frain is the same: there are fewer lob-
sters to be caught. You used to be able
to collect a quick dozen from rock
pools in New Zealand or Mexico; in
New Brunswick, farmers fertilized
their potatoes with them. Now they
are gourmet food; a tourist's treat.
With overfishing, poaching, and
loss of suitable habitats due to pollu-
tion and shoreline development, lob-
ster populations are dwindling away.
To halt, and begin to reverse, the de-
cline of this valuable marine re-
source, a series of socioeconomic
problems, which include poaching,
unemployment among lobstermen,
and even the high cost of the animals
to consumers, must be solved.
Most fisheries try to protect lob-
sters so that they may breed at least
once before they are caught and
cooked. But virgin, undersized lob-
sters taste just as good and can be
sold, albeit carefully, for almost as
much as the legal-sized ones — and so
poaching is a global pastime, either
for fun or out of necessity.
Perhaps one of the lobster species
will in time be domesticated and
grown rapidly and efficiently far from
its natural habitat. Or perhaps ocean
ranching, in which managers will
provide lobsters with abundant food
and protection from predators, might
someday become successful. How-
ever, the first technique for meeting
the world's lobster demand would im-
An adult clawed, or homarid,
lobster feeds on a fish head.
The meat in the claws is a
nutritious, but declining,
food resource for humans.
dermine current fisheries and the lob-
stermen involved; the second would
demand an extraordinary degree of
policing.
At present neither possibility
seems more than a promise or a
threat, and this is due, at least in part,
to a surprising state of affairs . Despite
worldwide interest in lobsters, we
know remarkably little of their behav-
ior and ecology, especially of young
ones under a year old.
The lobsters that people eat come
in two varieties. One has large claws
containing meat as sweet tasting as
that in its tail; the other lacks large
claws and has a pair of large, spiny,
but essentially meatless antennae.
Large-clawed lobsters, or homarids,
support thousands of lobstermen on
both sides of the North Atlantic, from
Cap)e Cod and Maine to Ireland and
Brittany. The clawless, spiny lob-
sters, called palinurids, are caught
throughout the warmer temperate,
subtropical, and tropical oceans.
These are marketed simply as "lob-
ster tails."
The two species of homarids and
the approximately twenty species of
palinurids that occur in enough num-
bers and in shallow enough water to
be fished commercially have more in
common than palatability. They all
breed for the first time at about the
same size and age (eight to ten
inches long and about five years old),
and all have at least the potential for
many years of further growth and re-
production. Although the adults of all
species hide in burrows or caves in
the daytime, the palinurids are gre-
garious while the homarids remain
solitary. At night they all forage indi-
vidually, preying upon moUusks,
worms, other crustaceans, and sea ur-
chins. Most of the adults migrate in
and out of warmer, shallower water
during breeding seasons, and mature
females carry their eggs glued in
grapelike clusters to their swim-
merets. The eggs hatch into plank-
Jane Burton; Bruce Coleman, Inc.
6i
tonic larvae that, after weeks or
months at the mercy of surface cur-
rents, molt into miniature versions of
their parents and settle to the bottom.
It is at this stage that virtually nothing
is known of their life in the wild.
Newly settled homarids and pali-
nurids don't appear to move into hab-
itats associated with the adults until
they are one or two years old, perhaps
living in some kind of nursery habitat
until that time. What is the nature of
these nurseries if in fact they exist?
Are the needs, and hence the behavior
and ecology, of the newly settled lob-
sters significantly different from those
of the adults? Domestication, ranch-
ing, or even the simplest management
cannot be successful unless these
questions are answered.
If you cannot find newly settled
lobsters in the ocean, you can attempt
to culture them in a laboratory, ob-
serve their behavior in a variety of
conditions, and then perhaps predict
what they are up to in the wild. I have
raised several hundred individually
isolated homarids from the time they
hatched, through the larval stages,
and until they were two to three
months old. The first three planktonic
larval stages last only a couple of
weeks, and the larvae are hardy and
easy to feed. As a result the culture
technique is simple even if it is time
consuming.
Once each of these larvae molted
into its fourth larval state, it ceased
swimming around its culture jar, set-
tled on the substrate of sand or mud,
and proceeded to burrow. When the
substrate was sand with a pebble
lying on the surface, the stage 4 lob-
ster dug a cave with two openings
under the pebble. When the substrate
was mud, the lobster dug a U-shaped
tunnel that reached about an inch
below its two surface openings. Al-
though some hours or days might pass
before a newly molted stage 4 lobster
burrowed for the first time, its first
burrow was well constructed. Each
dug proficiently using a combination
of techniques: debris was "bull-
dozed" out of the burrow by pushing
loads with the claws and blown out
behind by beating up a current with
the swimmerets; occasionally, an in-
dividual would curl its tail around
debris and scoop it out.
What fourth stage lobsters do so
consistently in captivity they are like-
ly to do in their natural habitat. There
they probably seek out a substrate
they can burrow in: one that is soft
and has surface objects such as stones
or shells under whose edges they can
dig. They should then remain in their
burrows during the first settled stages,
for they are still so small that almost
any foraging predator can handle
them. As they become larger, per-
haps they cannot find enough food in
the region of their burrows or perhaps
the substrate cannot stand up to the
increasingly large-scale excavations.
As they become large enough, the ju-
veniles may be capable of success-
fully defending themselves against
smaller predators. They may then
leave their nursery habitats and in-
vade the environments in which
adults are commonly found.
The problem still remains, how-
ever, that wherever stage 4 lobsters
settle, whether in deep or shallow
water, on mud substrates or else-
where, they have not been found in
any numbers by biologists. My obser-
vations on their behavior in captivity
simply indicate that they ought to be
down there, dispersed on the mud,
tunneling avidly.
Spiny lobsters, the palinurids,
present similar questions, but cultur-
ing planktonic larvae has proved al-
most insurmountably difficult. The
mature female carries her eggs for
only a month or two, and the phyllo-
soma, or planktonic larvae, that hatch
out are all eyes and legs, don't look
much like lobsters, and are less than
one-tenth of an inch long. They
disperse with the currents for as long
as a year, molting perhaps a dozen
times as they grow to several inches
in length. Preying upon other plank-
tonic animals, their own numbers are
no doubt vastly depleted by preda-
tion. The survivors somehow find
their way back to the coastline where
they hatched, there to metamorphose
to the first stage that looks anything
Ramming itself tail first into
a crevice, a spiny, or palinurid,
lobster presents an effective
defense against most predators.
The long antennae are used in
intraspecific encounters.
like a spiny lobster: the puerulus. The
planktonic life is just too long, their
food requirements are unknown, and
the larval stages too intolerant of any-
thing but perfect oceanic conditions
for lab culture of spiny lobsters to be
worth the time, effort, and failures
involved.
The palinurid puerulus, like the ho-
marid fourth stage, is the first settling
stage. The puerulus has short anten-
nae, has lost the long larval legs, but
is still transparent. This stage lasts
about a week before molting into the
first of many postpuerulus and juve-
nile stages. The puerulus and post-
puerulus spiny lobsters are about as
62
hard to find as their homarid counter-
parts. They probably settle into ex-
tensive, dense sea-grass beds or into
rock crevices where grass beds are
absent. In either case, they find
spaces so small and well dispersed
that hunting them is a frustrating and
usually fruitless task.
To capture the pueruli, biologists
have begun to devise traps consisting
simply of a substitute settling sub-
strate, and a variety have been tried
in Caribbean, Australian, and New
Zealand waters with varying degrees
of success. The pueruli are not caught
in enough numbers for commercial
purposes, but captives are numerous
enough to provide information about
the time of year most of them settle
and to provide someone like me with
enough individuals to observe.
Observations of two palinurid spe-
cies in particular, Panulirus argus of
the Caribbean and P. longipes of
West Australia, have led me to a
number of conclusions about the
puerulus and postpuerulus behavior
of the.se species and, by implication,
about palinurids in general.
The puerulus and postpuerulus will
hide in almost anything for protective
cover — under shells and rocks,
among clusters of long-spined black
sea urchins, and among the roots of
sea grasses, for example. They will
even climb blades of sea grass in an
attempt to hide from predators. They
do not dig or burrow but ram them-
selves into spaces, tail foremost. Like
older individuals, they are gregarious
and will share a hiding place even
when other hideouts are available.
This gregariousness is modified by
aggressiveness, for they spread them-
selves out in a hiding place and are
intolerant of close crowding unless
under stress. When disturbed or at-
tacked, however, they cease squab-
bling and tolerate a much greater de-
gree of crowding.
Many palinurid species are no-
stock Photos Unlimited
63 i
J. Boland, SeaLibri
torious for their ability to make harsh,
rasping sounds by rubbing an exten-
sion of the basal segment of the an-
tenna against a shieldlike region of
the carapace below the eye — a kind
of stridulation. These rasps are
thought to have some antipredatory
function.
The puerulus has only the rudi-
ments of the two parts of the sound-
making apparatus and so is silent, but
the organ becomes operative when
the puerulus molts to its first post-
puerulus stage. Using a hydrophone,
1 recorded the rasps of many post-
pueruli and found, not surprisingly,
that the rasps were of higher fre-
quency and much lower amplitude
than those of older individuals. What
did surprise me was that the post-
pueruli rasped only at each other dur-
ing their conflicts over limited food or
space, and that rasps did not occur in
response to attack by a predator. In-
stead, antipredatory behavior con-
sisted of scooting rapidly backward,
followed by an abrupt cessation of
movement, all in silence. When a
predator (usually a small fish in my
experiments) did see a postpuerulus
long enough to catch it, my hydro-
phone picked up loud, crunching
noises, but never any rasps.
It seems, then, that the rasps of the
postpuerulus indicate a rather high-
level aggressive act by one individual
against another. Perhaps even in
adults, rasping is used primarily for
communicating degrees of aggres-
siveness to other individuals and is of
little direct value in antipredatory be-
havior. Alternatively, rasping could
have more than one function, deriv-
ing a second, antipredatory one as the
lobster grows large enough for spines
and antennae to provide it with some
initial protection.
The anteimae of a palinurid are ef-
fective weapons, and this is true even
of postpueruli. In the latter stage, an-
teimae are used, not against preda-
tors, but in aggressive intraspecific
conflicts, and anteimal growth is
rapid compared with growth per molt
of the rest of the body. Just as they
do in adults, the long sweeping anten-
nae can push other, smaller lobsters
away, and insure their possessor
some degree of private space, even in
crowded conditions. Palinurid ag-
An inhabilani of tropical waters, the sand, or shovel-nosed, lobster, left,
uses its truncated antennae to di^ into the sand as an
escape from predators. Related to the spiny lobsters.
the species has been little exploited commercially.
A stage 3 planklonic larva cjf the American lobster, below,
will float in the surface currents of the ocean until its
next molt. At stage 4, it will settle to the bottom to
maturate in nursery habitats that have not yet been discovered.
During the three planktonic stages, the larvae suffer heavy predation.
gression, from postpuerulus to ma-
ture adult, consists mostly of antennal
sweeping and noisemaking and re-
sults in little or no damage to the com-
batants. Such restrictions to damage
are vital if gregarious behavior is to
persist. In contrast, when homarids
are forced into crowded conditions,
which they seldom meet in nature,
they may do much harm to each other
unless their claws are clamped shut.
Of all palinurids, P. argus of the
Caribbean has been attracting special
attention. When the time comes for
the autumn migration into deeper
water, the adults, unique among all
spiny lobsters, migrate by forming
long, single-file queues and walking
off together. Queuing migration is
particularly difficult to account for as
no other lobster is known to engage
in such behavior.
I looked for queuing behavior in
postpueruli and yoxmg juveniles of P.
argus, expecting it to be a behavior
characteristic only of the mature, mi-
grating adults. Instead I found that
when I released them on open
stretches of sand, the small lobsters
would also walk off in single file, the
antennae of one individual touching
the body of another immediately
ahead. Any individual could be a
leader, and the curious queues per-
sisted until they encountered the pro-
tective cover of grass beds or caves,
whereupon they broke up and hid
themselves separately. Since post-
pueruli walk in queues, then queuing
itself seems to be more than just part
of migratory or reproductive behav-
ior. One implication is that queuing
provides some safety from predators.
The most bizarre of my observa-
tions on queuing behavior by pueruli
and juveniles of P. argus concerned
their actions when held in a large tank
with caves arranged along one side.
When one lobster was jostled or
evicted from a crowded cave and
began walking away, the e victor usu-
ally left the cave as well and hooked
on behind the evictee. As the proces-
sion of two walked by the mouths of
other caves, the resident lobsters
were drawn out as if by a magnet, and
another queue was born. The adapt-
iveness of this can only be a subject
for speculation.
Despite their similarities, ho-
65
marids and palinurids differ in some
critical ways. They appear to use di-
vergent habitats as nurseries, they
hide themselves in different ways,
and their aggressive displays have lit-
tle in common. Palinurids don't tun-
nel, presumably because they lack the
equipment for the job and because
they have ample hiding spaces, mak-
ing burrowing unnecessary. The less
damaging conflicts and more elabo-
rate communication of palinurids,
compared with those of homarids, are
probably correlated with their gregar-
ious sharing of hiding places.
Gregarious behavior, wherever it
occurs, from fish schools to wolf
packs, implies some degree of social
organization. Social behavior itself is
now understood to be but one of many
adaptations by an organism to its par-
ticular environmental stresses. For
palinurids to be gregarious and ho-
marids not, the stresses the two
groups face must somehow differ.
However, both groups are solitary
while foraging for food and mating is
not a communal affair. About the
only possibility left is that they have
different sorts of predators and so
have evolved different antipredatory
strategies.
A large lobster, no matter what
kind, can hold off most predatory fish
unless they, in turn, are very large.
Few fish could prey successfully on
a lobster in a burrow or in the back
of a cave. The palinurids, however,
share the warmer oceans with another
kind of predator, one that is efficient,
rapacious, and agile as it forages
upon the sea bottom — the octopus.
Even if it is larger than the octopus,
a palinurid on its own hasn't much of
a chance; its spines and antermae are
of little help. However, a crowd of
palinurids presents a far more formi-
dable joint armor, and smaller indi-
viduals would derive some protection
against the insidious octopus arms.
So palinurid gregariousness may
have evolved in response to the pred-
atory ability of the octopus.
There are some striking coinci-
dences in the distribution of lobsters
and octopods, and one of the best ex-
amples occurs on the eastern and
western shores of the Atlantic.
Octopus vulgaris is the dominant
octopus species on both sides of this
ocean. It lives in relatively shallow
regions and avoids particularly cold
water. On the western shore of the
Atlantic, its range is from North
Carolina to the hump of Brazil: a
range practically identical to that of
P. argus, the only truly abundant
palinurid in the western Atlantic. On
the eastern side of the Atlantic, a
number of palinurid species are com-
mon from the English Channel to the
Cape of Good Hope, and once again
this distribution is perfectly mirrored
by O. vulgaris.
In contrast, the homarid of the west
Atlantic, Homarus americanus,
doesn't extend much farther south
than Cape Cod, and it doesn't meet
up with O. vulgaris. The homarid of
the east Atlantic, however, does
overlap in the south of its range with
O. vulgaris, as well as with the more
northern of the palinurids. Since O.
vulgaris can tolerate colder water
than it is usually found in, it would
appear that its range is effectively
limited by the range of its favored
food; that is, it can prey far more suc-
cessfully on palinurids than on ho-
marids or other animals. Large ho-
marids may be able to defend them-
selves against O. vulgaris by using
the crushing power of their claws.
Although cephalopods dominated
the oceans from Ordovician to Trias-
sic times, the soft-bodied benthic
octopod does not appear in the fossil
record until the Upper Cretaceous.
The first palinurids have also evolved
since then, and so both groups are
apparendy relatively recent forms. A
close relative of present-day palinu-
rids diverged early from the ances-
tral palinurid stock and evolved into
a group of lobsters called scyllarids,
the sand, or shovel-nosed, lobsters.
The phyllosoma larvae of the scyl-
larids are practically indistin-
guishable from those of palinurids,
but adult scyllarids are quite dif-
ferent. Their truncated antermae are
used to dig in sand where they stay
hidden and solitary much of the time.
Sand burial may be a good defense
against an octopus.
And so a theory, based on circum-
stantial evidence and difficult to
prove, emerges. The gregarious day-
time habit of palinurids may be an
antipredatory adaptation specifically
against octopods. Spiny armor and
antermae may have evolved in pali-
nurids to provide them, especially
when grouped together, with a better
defense against octopus predation
than what any individual could mus-
ter. This gregariousness could only
have evolved if much of their antago-
nism toward one another diminished
and more complex communication
mechanisms developed.
The two large homarid species, on
the other hand, remained in cold
northern waters, clawed and solitary,
capable of at least limited defense
against octopods. And the distri-
bution of O. vulgaris spread through-
out the inshore waters where pali-
nurids were common. The octopus
probably developed techniques to
prey on the spiny lobster with
sufficient success despite the latter 's
gregariousness, possibly by captur-
ing them at night when the lobsters
forage individually. The result of
these events would then be the famil-
iar balance of predator and one of its
favored prey, with the behavior of the
prey dominated by a need for a rea-
sonable antipredatory strategy.
In the past few decades, of course,
humans have become rapacious, in-
satiable predators of both homarids
and palinurids. Unlike the octopus,
however, we aren't in balance with
our prey. The socioeconomic and bi-
ological problems currently prevent-
ing the successful management, cul-
ture, and farming of various lobster
species must be solved. To do so,
more must be learned of the behav-
ioral ecology of the various young
stages. Nurseries may be located and
protected and predator-free ranches
established. Someday, domestication
of lobsters will probably become a
reality, and through selective breed-
ing, a fast-growing, disease-resistant
species with fine, savory meat will be
produced. But will lobsters continue
to be the food of the rich, too expen-
sive for the poor and protein starved
to be able to afford even if they catch
them? The human problems, the so-
called socioeconomic ones, will be
far more difficult to solve. D
A spiny lobster, or sea crayfish,
scavenges for food off the coast
of east Africa. Pairs of swimming
legs provide locomotion.
The meat from the abdomen
is marketed as "lobster tail. "
S.C. Bisserot; Bruce Coleman, Incti
66
i*,^
♦^ #•.
■/.
«J'
Flight of the Sea Ducks
Their migration routes have been charted.
Their breeding biology is known.
Their eggs, meat, and feathers have long been used by man.
But eiders at sea remain an enigma.
Nesting in colonies that can number hundreds of birds, the eiders are among
the most conspicuous of tundra-breeding ducks. Although female eiders arc a
study in grays and browns that match the arctic tundra, the males are most
boldly patterned in black and white, with striking green head colors. When the
nesting season ends, the birds disperse over the vastnesses of the northern
oceans, out of range of most human observers. Of the four species of eiders.
the two most abundant and largest have circumpolar breeding distributions and
extensive marine wintering ranges. These are the common eider. Somaieria
molllssima. and the king eider. S. specrabilis. whose flesh, eggs, and feathers
have played a role in the survival of high-latitude human populations for
thousands of years, and whose down has insulating qualities that are yet to be
matched by artificially manufactured substitutes. The other two eider species
are smaller and have much more restricted breeding distributions that center
on the Bering Sea. These are the spectacled eider. S. ftscheri.
*" — "*" ~ by Paul A. Johnsgard
North American Molting and Wintering iVIigrations— King Eider
Post-breeding populations from Victoria Island
westward fly to an area south of Point Barrow,
Alaska to undergo molting. Those birds breeding
east of Victoria Island migrate to the west-central
coast of Greenland. After molting, the Alaskan
birds migrate to their wintering ranges in the
Pribitof and Aleutian Islands. The eastern
populations move to the south of Greenland, and
the coasts ofl-abrador and Newfoundland.
GREENLAND
NEWFOUNDLAND
named for the gogglelike feathering
pattern around its eyes, and the
Steller's eider, Polysticta stelleri,
named in honor of G. W. Steller, the
naturalist on Bering's ill-fated expe-
dition to Alaska.
Steller's eider breeds almost en-
tirely in Siberia and winters primarily
along the coastlines of the Aleutian
Islands and in the vicinity of the Kam-
chatka Peninsula and the adjacent
Kuril Islands. The spectacled eider,
which nests commonly in some parts
of eastern Siberia and in the Kusko-
kwim Delta of Alaska, seems to dis-
appear into the open spaces of the
Bering Sea every fall and is not seen
again until the breakup of ice along
the coasts of Siberia and Alaska the
following spring.
It is the relatively sudden spring
appearance of vast flocks of eiders, as
the pack ice begins to break up near
shore, that provides one of the in-
triguing aspects of these sea ducks.
The flocks appear every spring at
points and headlands along the west-
ern and northern Alaska coasts in
Colonies of common eiders nest
among tussocks on coastal flats.
The males leave the breeding area
on their molt migration before
the females finish incubating.
Olin Pettingill, Photo Researchers
numbers that are simply staggering.
At places like Cape Romanzof and
Cape Prince of Wales on the western
coast of Alaska, flocks of eiders can
be observed passing overhead in al-
most endless northbound streams
between early May and early June.
On his trip to Alaska's Yukon-
Kuskokwim Delta in 1924, naturalist
Herbert Brandt watched the eider mi-
gration across Point Dall and Cape
Romanzof. There the sequence of
spring arrival was evidently asso-
ciated with body size; the relatively
large common eider arriving about
the first week of May, followed in a
few days by flocks of the king eider.
The smaller spectacled eider and the
Steller's eider followed in that order.
One flight, predominantly of king
eiders, began late in the afternoon of
May 14, apparently continued all
night, and persisted all of the next
day. Brandt considered the number of
birds passing over Point Dall and
Cape Romanzof on May 15 as "be-
yond all comprehension." None-
theless, he provided an estimate of
75 ,000 for a two- to three-hour period
on that day. Essentially all of these
were full-plumaged adult birds, indi-
cating that as many or more first-year
immatures must have remained at sea
during the summer. The younger
birds rarely come within sight of land
until their second spring of life.
70
At the time of Brandt's expedition,
three of the four eider species nested
in the vicinity of Hooper Bay, with
the spectacled and Steller's eiders the
most common. The Steller's eider has
apparently ceased to breed in that vi-
cinity, but the spectacled eider has
remained common and this area is the
center of the species' breeding range
in North America.
On a visit to the Hooper Bay area
in 1963, I observed that the specta-
cled eiders were nesting semicolo-
nially, with nests often within fifty
feet of their neighbors. Within a week
or two after the females had begun
their incubation, the males returned
to the open sea. Based on observa-
tions by E. W. Nelson in the late
1800s, it is possible that the male
North American spectacled eiders fly
more than 200 miles north, to the vi-
cinity of Norton Sound, in late June
or early July to undergo a postbreed-
ing molt.
All four species of eiders are
known to undertake such "molt mi-
grations," which can be of remark-
able length. For example, a substan-
tial number of male Steller's eiders
from breeding populations in eastern
Siberia have been banded at Izembek
Bay, Alaska, where they undergo
postbreeding molt. Some of these
banded birds have been recovered
from points as far away as the Lena
Delta in Siberia, nearly 2,000 miles
to the west.
Why birds would migrate so far
prior to undergoing the physiological
stresses associated with molting can
only be explained if the destination
offers an unusual degree of safety and
food. This is indeed the case. The
shallow and plant-rich waters of
Izembek and Bechevin bays on the
Alaska Peninsula provide an abun-
dance of aquatic life sufficient to sus-
tain some 200,000 eiders at one time.
The molting Steller's eiders, which
include not only males but also some
females that presumably were unsuc-
cessful in their nesting efforts, remain
in the vicinity of Izembek Bay from
fall through April.
The molt migrations of king eiders
are also impressive. The North Amer-
ican population breeds along the
northern coastlines of Alaska and
Canada and falls into two groups:
those that fly directly west across the
north coastline of Alaska to a destina-
tion that is probably in the vicinity of
Point Lay, about 200 miles southwest
of Point Barrow; and those that fly
almost directly east to the coast of
Greenland. Virtually entire migratory
flocks are composed of males, includ-
ing both adults and immatures. The
concentration off Greenland numbers
several hundred thousand birds and
includes all of the birds from Can-
ada's eastern arctic, thus requiring a
flight, in some instances, of more
than 1,500 miles.
The king eider populations of Vic-
toria Island and of Canada's western
arctic may number at least a million
birds. Nearly all of these pass by
Point Barrow between mid-July and
the end of August. This is evidently
a migratory tradition of long-standing
for among the most common weap-
ons excavated at Point Barrow are
900- to 1 .400-year-old Eskimo bone
and ivory bola weights used in hunt-
ing eiders.
The first of the massive flocks to
pass over Point Barrow in July is
composed entirely of adult males; but
by mid-August there is a prepon-
derance of unsuccessful female nest-
ers. The later molting period of the
females allows them more time to
complete a nesting cycle. At least
some of the adult females that suc-
ceed in hatching young do not partici-
pate in any of the major flights to the
molting grounds; instead they remain
until their yoimg fledge in late Au-
gust, then undergo their molt on the
breeding grounds. By forming
creches, relatively few females are
required to remain on the breeding
grounds with the flightless young,
thus freeing the rest for their molting
migration.
After the adult eiders have finished
molting, they again migrate. The
eastern king eider population moves
from western to southern Greenland
and the coasts of Labrador and New-
foundland. The Alaskan birds move
south to the Pribilof Islands, Saint
Lawrence Island, and the Aleutian Is-
lands where as many as a quarter-
million birds may winter.
Little is known of common eider
migrations in North America. In
Scotland the movement from the
breeding grounds to the molting area
is only about 60 miles. In Norway
there is enough topographic protec-
tion and available food in the breed-
ing range to allow the completion of
the flightless period there and no spe-
cial molt migration pattern has devel-
oped.
While the eiders in Alaska are still
on their nesting grounds, they suffer
some depredations from humans. At
Hooper Bay I often observed young
Eskimo men collecting waterfowl
eggs and hunting adult eiders with
single-shot rifles. Herbert Brandt,
talking of the same area, said that the
skins of eiders and other ducks, and
also those of geese, provided the fa-
vored linings for parkas, with the
feathered side worn against the face.
On Cape Dorset, Eskimo form organ-
ized egg-collecting forays to the colo-
nies of common eiders, while women
and children set up snares to capture
nesting females.
In contrast to the harvesting tech-
niques used in Canada and Alaska,
the people of Iceland, Scandinavia,
and Sib»eria have developed a tradi-
tion of eider "farming." In eider
farming, down is collected intermit-
tently during each nesting season.
without destroying the nests or killing
the females. When the female is ap-
proximately halfway through the in-
cubation period there is a maximum
amount of high-quality down present
in the nest, and most of this can be
removed without endangering the
eggs. After the eggs have hatched,
the remaining mixture of down and
breast feathers can be gathered, al-
though this collection is of second-
quality and far lower commercial
value. Roughly three-quarters of an
ounce of high-quality down can be
collected per nest, plus an equivalent
amount of poorer quality down.
In Norway and Iceland the birds
have been protected so long that they
are almost domesticated. They are
protected from predators and pro-
vided with specially prepared nesting
sites. Colonies of more than 5,000
pairs have been developed under such
conditions. On some eider farms the
eggs are also taken from the first
clutch, forcing the female to renest
and produce a new clutch that she is
allowed to hatch. In the USSR, eider-
down collection has been a part of the
northern economy for centuries; sev-
enteenth-century documents mention
"bird down" among the goods sold
to Dutch merchants. In 1930 about
1 ,000 pounds of down were obtained
from Novaya Zemlya; on some pro-
tected areas of this archipelago, the
density of nesting birds has been in-
creased to as much as 13,000 nests
per hectare (2.47 acres).
Once the birds have left their
breeding grounds and moved to molt-
ing or wintering areas, their foraging
activities and ecologic relationships
become progressively obscure. The
three larger eiders (genus Somateria)
have virtually identical bill struc-
tures, which can be characterized as
being relatively massive, with a
broad and flattened naillike structure
at the tip, much like that of their near
relatives the scoter ducks. The larger
eiders and scoters are known to feed
Salt-excreting glands
in the forehead of eiders
(male king eider, right)
are an adaptation
for a marine existence.
predominantly on mollusks, particu-
larly such bivalves as blue mussels,
probably the single most important
food of common eiders. King eiders
also feed to a great extent on mussels,
but are believed to forage in some-
what deeper waters and to utilize a
greater proportion of echinoderms
such as sand dollars and sea urchins
in their diet. In spite of its lack of
obvious streamlining or other diving
adaptations, the king eider is able to
dive to great depths to forage, report-
edly as deep as 180 feet. This allows
72
the species to forage farther from
shore than the other eiders or scoters
and reduces foraging competition be-
tween them.
Far less is known of the foraging
ecology of spectacled eiders in their
wintering or migratory areas. Indica-
tions are that the spectacled eider also
feeds on bivalve mollusks. Since it is
scarcely seen near any coastlines in
winter, the implication is that the
spectacled eider must be able to dive
to considerable depths in order to ob-
tain its food.
The Steller's eider is known to
forage in relatively shalh^w waters,
often feeding while wading at the
water's edge, dabbling like surface-
feeding ducks. They evidently prefer
soft-bodied crustaceans, such as am-
phipods and isopods, over mollusks,
and in correlation with this, their bills
have soft, membranous edges and an
inconspicuous bill nail that is ill-
suited to scraping bivalve mollusks
off rocks. Consequently, the Steller's
eider competes little for forage with
other eiders.
The breeding biology and molting
and wintering migrations of the eiders
have brought them into contact with
man. To the people of the northern
latitudes, eiders have been a valuable
resource because of those charac-
teristics of their life cycle that bring
the birds in to shore. But more than
any other group, eiders are sea ducks;
and although not well known, the be-
havioral and morphological foraging
adaptations of the four species illus-
trate the importance of the marine en-
vironment in their evolution. G
K, W, Rnk; Bruce Coleman, inc.
L
73
The Red Sea:
An Ocean in the Making
by David A. Ross
Geophysical signs indicate that
a new ocean is being bom where
the Arabian Peninsula and
Africa are moving apart
According to the newest theory of
geologists, the earth's crust is divided
into a number of gigantic slabs of
rock, or plates, that drift slowly but
inexorably in different directions over
the face of the earth, carrying the con-
tinents or ocean basins upon them.
All the present continents of the
world were joined together about 200
million years ago in one huge
land mass, a supercontinent called
Pangaea. Slowly, over the eons, Pan-
gaea split apart into separate parts, or
continents, which eventually moved
to their present-day positions on the
globe.
There are at least six major crustal
plates today: the Pacific, American
(including both North and South
America), African, Eurasian, Indo-
Australian, and Antarctic. Some of
these can be subdivided into smaller
plates for a total of almost twenty.
Rigid and about 100 miles thick, the
plates are moving in relation to each
other. Their interior portions are
more or less geologically quiescent,
The near jigsaw puzzle fit of
the shorelines is evident in
this photograph of the Red Sea
taken at an altitude of 151
nautical miles on the Gemini
12 mission in 1966. Looking
south from the Sinai Peninsula,
the Gulf of Aqaba is on the left;
the Gulf of Suez on the right.
but at the boundaries where plates
collide, mountain ranges are thrust
upward or deep trenches are formed
and earthquakes occur; where plates
move apart, there is volcanic activity
and new sea floor is created. About
one square mile of new ocean floor
is created each year and an equal area
of trenches is consumed.
This theory of the earth, known as
plate tectonics, presumes that the
globe is in constant flux; that the con-
tinents are moving now, as they have
done for hundreds of millions of
years; and that new oceans are being
opened by the process of sea-floor
spreading, as continents formerly
joined are slowly being separated.
The Red Sea, although only a long,
narrow strip of water, is thought to be
such an ocean in the making. If the
theory of sea-floor spreading is valid,
it is probable that the Red Sea today
resembles the Atlantic Ocean of
about 200 million years ago.
The Red Sea is about 1,100 miles
long, about 100 to 200 miles wide,
and has a maximum depth of almost
10,000 feet. The sea is normally blue-
green, but its northern end is occa-
sionally populated by large-scale
blooms of an alga that can color the
water reddish brown, thus giving the
sea its name. There is geologic evi-
dence to support the idea that the Red
Sea was formed by the moving apart
of the Arabian Peninsula and the Afri-
can continent, a process that began
about twenty million years ago.
The topography of the Red Sea is
distinguished by two major features:
broad, rather smooth continental
shelves and a deep, central trough,
which is itself split by an even deeper
axial valley that ranges from a few
miles to about fifteen miles in width.
The main trough and its axial valley
extend almost the entire length of the
sea. but at the northern extreme, near
the Sinai Peninsula, where the sea
forks into the Gulfs of Suez and
Aqaba. the valley becomes difficult
to detect.
By means of bottom photographs,
drilling, coring, and a technique
called seismic profiling, which de-
pends on the reflection of sound
waves from the bottom, charts of the
underlying structure of the Red Sea
and contour maps of its floor have
been constructed. A series of bottom
photographs made in the axial valley
during a 1971 expedition to the Red
Sea by a research vessel from the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Instim-
tion showed numerous examples of
recent volcanic activity, including
small lava flows, which resemble
toothpaste being squeezed out of a
tube, and volcanic fissures and
cracks. Layers of sediment are rare in
the axial valley except in occasional
small pockets.
The general absence of sediment in
the valley is an interesting finding.
Sedimentation rates in the rest of the
Red Sea are about four inches per
1,000 years. If the axial valley had
been in existence for say ten million
years, then about 3,300 feet of sedi-
ment should be present in it. The
records show no such thickness, al-
though the rest of the main trough and
the flanking shelf regions do show
considerable amounts of sediment.
This information suggests that the
axial valley is a relatively recent fea-
ture of the Red Sea and has probably
resulted from the process of sea-floor
spreading. Additional geophysical
data also tend to confirm that conclu-
sion.
First, there is a higher than average
heat flow from the axial valley. This
is attributed to the rise of deep, warm,
subsurface material to the sea floor.
Second, strong magnetic anomalies
that are due to reversals of magnetic
polarity have been found in the sea-
floor material. As the lava rises to the
surface in the axial valley and cools
off, the magnetic minerals in it ac-
quire an orientation parallel to the
earth's magnetic field. Over the mil-
lennia, the earth's magnetic field has
reversed itself on many occasions; a
known timetable of those reversals,
as determined from studies of land
rocks going back many millions of
years, can be used to deduce the ages
of the sea-floor rocks. The character
of the magnetic reversals found on the
floor of the world's oceans can also
indicate the rate of sea-floor spread-
ing. In the Red Sea, the magnetic data
clearly indicate a spreading rate of
about one centimeter, or a little more
than one-third of an inch, per year,
that began about two million years
ago. Finally, earthquake activity is
relatively high along the axial valley.
This, too, would be expected in an
area where an ocean is being spread
apart.
What appears to be happening in
the Red Sea is that the Arabian and
African plates are slowly moving
away from each other. In that
process, over the last two million
years they have opened up the axial
valley. A striking feature of the axial
valley is that in certain bottom sites
along its length there are pools of
some of the hottest, most saline water
found anywhere in the world. Tem-
peratures of up to 140°F and a salt
concentration of 256 parts salt to 744
parts water have been recorded in
some pools. Ocean water salinity is
typically about 35 parts salt to 965
parts water.
The hot brines found in the deep
pools of the axial valley are consid-
erably enriched in many heavy metals
such as copper, lead, zinc, iron, and
silver. The underlying sediments are
also enriched in these metals. In one
particular area, named the Atlantis II
Deep for the Woods Hole ship that
discovered it in 1965, these sedi-
The movement of global plates with
respect to each other can produce
several different effects at the
plate boundaries. Where plates are
moving away from each other, as
in the North Atlantic, a gap is
created in the ocean crust. Molten
material rises from deep within
the earth to form new sea floor
within the gap — a process known
as sea-floor spreading. The result
is an ocean that is getting larger.
Where plates collide with each
other and one plate includes an
ocean basin, as along the western
coast of South America, the ocean
basin plate, being the heavier of
the two, will be pushed under the
continental plate. One result is
a loss of sea floor and an ocean
that is slowly narrowing. Another
result is the formation of mountain
ranges along the border of the
continental plate.
Where two plates are sliding
past each other, shear zones of
faults can be created. That is the
origin of the San Andreas fault in
California.
Several of these effects can
take place simultaneously along
different edges of the same plate.
The Arabian plate, probably a sub-
division of the Indo-Australian
plate, is an example.
Where the Arabian plate is
moving away from the African plate,
which is assumed to be stationary,
the floor of the Red Sea is
spreading. Where the Arabian
plate is being thrust under the
Eurasian plate, in the area of the
Zagros Mountains of Iran, sea
floor from the Persian Gulf is
being consumed. And where the
Arabian plate is moving past part
of the African plate, shearing is
taking place in both plates.
JL.
nients have an in-place value of more
than Iwo hillion dollars. Despite their
value, it is possible that the metals
may never be mined beeause the cost
of raising the material from its depth
about one mile below the surface of
(he sea and then refining it might be
prohibitive.
The shelves of the Red Sea, unlike
the axial valley, have been shown by
seismic profiling to be underlain by a
layer of rock, known as Reflector S,
which is covered by several hundred
feet of sediment. In 1972 the drilling
vessel Glomar Challenger visited the
Red Sea with two major objectives —
to drill in the Atlantis II Deep area and
to determine what Reflector S was. A
total of three holes reached and pene-
trated Reflector S, and all of them
showed it to be the top of a thick salt
deposit that also included rocks, such
as anhydrite, and other residues of
evaporation. The sediments lying on
top of Reflector S date back five mil-
lion years. Although Glomar Chal-
lenger did not drill to the bottom of
the reflector, its bottom has been
reached by oil wells drilled on land
where the deposit is almost two miles
thick and from twenty-five to thirty
million years old.
The vast accumulation of salt and
anhydrite along the Red Sea bottom
indicates that the sea must have been
a shallow, high-salinity lake, perhaps
like the Dead Sea or Great Salt Lake,
for many millions of years. During
that time there must have been occa-
sional inflows of ocean water to re-
plenish the water lost by evaporation
and to enable the evaporation process
to continue.
The layer of sediment overlying
the salt deposit outside the axial val-
ley (no salt was found in the axial
valley) was found by seismic profiles
to be of almost uniform thickness
across most of the sea. Sediment can
only collect where there is a surface
for it to lie on. New sea floor, such
as that being created along the axial
valley, may be too young to have ac-
quired a thick sediment layer. And,
in fact, it does not have one. But old
sea floor, formed earlier and then
pushed aside as the floor spreads,
should have tapering deposits of sedi-
ment that are thickest at the shoreline
and thin out toward the axial valley.
The finding of a uniform, rather than
a tapered, layer of sediment on the
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
' DEAD SEA
'QULFOFAQABA
SAUDI ARABIA
Main trough
AtlanUt II Deep
Axial vallay
SUDAN
subsurface salt deposit flanking the
axial valley indicates that the spread-
ing of the Red Sea has occurred in at
least two stages: following the first,
which began perhaps thirty million or
more years ago, the thick evaporite
sediments were deposited; during the
second, which began about two mil-
lion years ago and is still continuing,
the axial valley opened up in the sea's
main trough. No one knows why the
sea-floor spreading in the Red Sea
stopped or why it was resumed. Nor
can anyone yet explain what causes
the earth's tectonic plates to drift over
the surface of the planet.
Geophysicists believe that phases
of the history of the Red Sea probably
mirror aspects of the early history of
the Atlantic. About 200 million years
ago, when the continents bordering
the Atlantic were almost contiguous,
as the shores of the Red Sea almost
are today, the resultant body of water
must have been long and narrow like
today's Red Sea. Salt deposits found
buried beneath the edges of the
present Atlantic off the coasts of
western Africa and Brazil, for ex-
ample, indicate that evaporation must
then have been high. And evidence of
past heavy-metal deposits similar to
those of the Red Sea's Atlantis II
Deep have been found by deep drill-
ing into the sediments of the conti-
nental rise ofT the east coast of the
United States. It is therefore not un-
reasonable to suggest that the Red Sea
is an embryonic ocean. If it continues
to spread at its present rate, and there
seems to be no reason why it should
not, in a couple of hundred million
years, even with possible fumre inter-
ruptions, the Red Sea could be as
wide as the Atlantic Ocean is
today. D
I
77
Red Tides
by Beatrice M. Sweeney
This unpredictable phenomenon
of the sea, not really red
or really a tide, is
an ecological curse but
often a visual delight
The plane lifts off the Los Angeles
runway and as it banks around for the
flight to New York, Santa Monica
Bay comes into view. White sailboats
dot the bay, but the water is not blue.
It is pinkish orange. A "red tide." I
am wondering how to describe the
color as we fly eastward over the San
Gabriel Mountains and on to the Mo-
jave Desert. Does it resemble a sun-
set? tomato soup? blood? The yellow
sand and the black lava flows below
give way to the sunlit rocks of the
Grand Canyon aglow in the morning
sun. And there's the answer. The red
tide is the exact color of the canyon's
sunwashed rocks.
The red tide in Santa Monica Bay
on this occasion was unusually exten-
sive. More often, streaks or patches
of reddish water are seen running par-
allel to the coastline. The edges of
these patches can be remarkably
sharp — so distinct, in fact, that from
a small boat one can touch them with
a finger. Even from high up, the
patches of red tide are clearly visible.
Infrared photographs taken from a
U-2 reconnaissance plane flying at
65 ,000 feet show them quite well . In
such photographs, filters are used that
make the land appear a strange pink
but show the sea and the red tide in
their natural colors.
If a red tide is not a true red , neither
is it a true tide. It has nothing to do
with the rise and fall of the water level
in response to the pulls of the sun and
moon. A red tide is simply a streak
or patch of water discolored by the
presence of many small organisms of
a single kind. Unlike true tides, a red
tide is unpredictable, occurring in
some years but not in others. It may
be absent from a region for many
years and then occur two years in a
row. Along the coast of southern Cal-
ifornia, most red tides have occurred
in late summer, in the warmest and
calmest part of the year. Several re-
cent red tides off Los Angeles have
persisted well into the winter. A few
days of high wind and rough water
usually disperse them.
It is a fearful and mysterious expe-
rience to look oceanward and find that
the blue sea to which we are accus-
tomed has turned "red," a color we
associate with blood, pain, and disas-
ter. This frightening aspect may be
why red tides have been recorded
from ancient times. "All the waters
that were in the river were turned to
blood," we read in Exodus 7:20, an
event interpreted as a punishment
from God to Pharaoh, who would not
allow Moses to leave Egypt.
Scientific records of red tides have
been kept at Scripps Institution of
Oceanography in La Jolla, Califor-
nia, since its founding in the first
years of this century. These records
show that this strange sea change is
not new to the Los Angeles basin and
Major Red Tides
of the World
These organisms
cause specific red tides:
1. Gonyaulax catenella
2. Gonyaulax polyedra
3. Gymnodinium
4. Gonyaulax excavata
5. Gymnodinium breve
6. Pyrodinium bahamense (in bays)
9. Gonyaulax polygramma
78
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
presents the CURATOR'S CHOICE Collection ji
for North American Bird Watchers
Smfi
fm^.
A definitive selection by the Curator
for both the Beginner and Advanced bird lover!
.- ■•< .X"
J'«;ii.\iu-ii(
i<
Author of many books and scientific articles himself, Dr. Amadon
lists these as 'must' classics, all hard cover. Feather your bird library
(or a friend's) with this distinctive bookshelf.
1
A. GOLDEN EAGLE
COUNTRY
Richard R. Olendorff
About America's 'other'
eagle, the Golden Eagle. 37'
spectacular drawings. A col-
lector's item.
$14.00
B. AUTUMN HAWK
FLIGHTS
Donald S. Heintzelman
The book for autumn hawk-
watching. Describes sophis-
ticated field study methods.
Surveys hawk lookouts and
migrations.
$31.50
C. BIRDS OF N.Y.
STATE
John Bull
164 breeding and banding-
recovery maps. 86 photo-
graphs, with 11 color plates.
$31.95
D. GROUSE AND
QUAILS OF NO.
AMERICA
Paul A. Johnsgard
Hunting and conservation of
these superb birds. Authori-
tative reference with 140
plates; 52 in color, 7 com-
missioned paintings.
$26.50
E. AT A BEND IN A
MEXICAN RIVER
George Miksch Sutton
Camping-trip adventure re-
cords behavior, call-notes,
descriptions of scores of
Mexican birds.
$15.95
F. HIGH ARCTIC
George Miksch Sutton
Beyond the Arctic Circle to
study shorebirds. Dr. Sut-
ton's mastery of brush and
pen are unaffected by arctic
cold or tropic heat.
$15.95
G. FIELD GUIDE TO
THE BIRDS (Eastern)
Roger Tory Peterson
Original, unique method em-
phasizes characteristics of
birds seen at a distance.
$7.95
H. FIELD GUIDE TO
WESTERN BIRDS
Roger Tory Peterson
Identifies over 700 species
in western U.S., Canada,
Alaska, Hawaii. Above two
books revolutionized bird
identification and promoted
bird watching more than any
others.
$7.95
. BIRDS OF NORTH
AMERICA
Robbins, Bruun and Zim
Most complete field guide
ever published. 700 species
from Mexican border to Arc-
tic Ocean. 2000 illus. Sona-
grams 'picture' bird songs to
help you recognize and re-
call them. The very keystone
of any bird bookshelf.
$7.95
J. CURASSOWSAND
RELATED BIRDS
Delacour and Amadon
Ed. Note: Dr. Amadon did not in-
clude his book in his selection be-
cause of undue modesty, but we
feel it belongs in this collection.
In the centuries-old tradi-
tion of very fine bird books,
this will one day be a collec-
tor's item. A special book
from two of the world's
greatest ornithologists. 95
drawings, photos, and maps.
$22.00
AMERICAN MUSEUM MEMBERS,
PLEASE TAKE 10% DISCOUNT.
NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS,
Dept. B702, Box 5123,
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me the books I have
circled for which I enclose my personal
check or money order for $
rfflojMOf,
A. B. C.
ALLOW 4-6 WKS. FOR DELIVERY.
E. F. G. H. \. J.
CITY_
_STATE_
Prices include postage and handling.
is probably not associated with the
great increase in population there and
its attendant pollution.
What organisms make the sea turn
red? If water is dipped from a patch
of red tide and examined under a mi-
croscope, hundreds of single cells are
seen swimming about in spirals.
These unicellular forms of life are
neither clearly plants nor clearly ani-
mals. Like plants, they have chloro-
plasts and are fully capable of manu-
facturing sugars by photosynthesis.
But unlike terrestrial plants, they are
orange or yellow rather than green.
And like animals, these red-tide orga-
nisms can move about under their
own motive power. The huge num-
bers of minute organisms, as many as
a million in a quart of water, are what
discolor the sea surface. Most of the
organisms in any one red tide belong
to a single species . That characteristic
distinguishes red tides from the an-
nual blooms of phytoplankton that
occur regularly in many places each
spring and consist of a mixture of dif-
ferent organisms.
Most red-tide organisms belong to
one group of phytoplankton, the di-
noflagellates, or "whirling whips."
They all possess two flagella, or elon-
gated appendages: one extending
backward from a groove on the ven-
tral side of the cell and capable of
lashing from side to side; the other
confined to another groove that en-
circles the equator of the cell. All the
dinoflagellates that cause red tides are
photosynthetic; they use visible light
to convert water and carbon dioxide
into oxygen and food, although other
dinoflagellates do not have this ability
and must live as animals do by ingest-
ing other organisms. Many dinoflag-
ellates are very beautiful, being dec-
orated with horns and spines, frills
and vanes. Members of this group are
very common in the upper layers of
the oceans where they constitute an
important component of the total
plant and animal plankton.
Red tides occur in many parts of
the world. The most spectacular ones
off southern California are caused by
Gonyaulax polyedra, which has no
common name. It is a roughly spheri-
cal, unicellular organism about 45
microns in diameter. By means of its
two flagella, it can propel itself
through the water at speeds up to 300
microns a second. There are a few
cells of G. polyedra in the plankton
during most of the year. In response
Laurel A and Alfred A. Loeblich
to some as yet unknown combination
of conditions, G. polyedramay begin
to multiply, reaching more than nor-
mal numbers. At first, faint red
streaks and patches can be detected
near the shore parallel to the coast. As
the days pass, the patches spread,
moving considerable distances along
the coast and becoming more in-
tensely colored. They are most easily
seen after the sun has been up for
some hours. It is thought that during
the day the cells swim upward toward
the light at the water's surface and
spread out or sink at night.
A few other species besides Gon-
yaulax polyedra cause red tides off
southern California. One is a leaflike
orange organism of the genus Proro-
centrum. These two species account
for almost all the red tides seen at
Scripps since 1900.
Red tides seem to be more common
along the west coasts of continents
than off the east coasts, probably be-
cause those are the regions where
seawater from the nutrient-rich bot-
tom wells up to the surface. Red tides
of G. polyedra, for example, have
been recorded off the west coast of
Portugal. The Galathea expedition,
which sailed around the world in the
1950s taking plankton samples,
found an unusually dense red tide off
the west coast of Africa. Gymnodin-
Gonyaulax excavata, the
organism from a 1972 red tide
off Gloucester, Massachusetts,
as photographed by scanning
electron microscopy.
ium, the organism that caused this red
tide, was so numerous that light pene-
trated only a few centimeters below
the surface of the sea. Gymnodinium
is also responsible for red tides off the
west coast of South America.
The east coast of the United States
was relatively free of red tides until
quite recently. In 1972, however, a
widespread red tide due to a species
of Gonyaulax different from that off
California, namely, G. excavata, ap-
peared unexpectedly in the Gulf of
Maine and extended south to Cape
Cod. This happened again in 1974.
Still another organism, Gymnodin-
ium breve, has from time to time
reached enormous numbers off the
west coast of Florida, coloring the sea
and producing devastating effects.
And yet another unicellular orga-
nism, Pyrodinium bahamense, grows
in large numbers all year round in cer-
tain enclosed shallow bays in the Car-
ibbean islands and in New Guinea.
In the tropics, the sea surface often
becomes streaked with red because of
8o
the presence of an organism that is not
a ciinoHagcllate, but a filamentous
blue-green alga in which the red pig-
ment, phycoerythrin, predominates,
Trichodc'smium. as this plant orga-
nism is called, lloats in tangles on the
calm tropical sea surface, the fila-
ments sliding over each other in con-
stant motion. There is evidence that
Trichodesmium is able to fix atmo-
spheric nitrogen, converting N2, the
inert form of nitrogen that makes up
almost 80 percent of our atmosphere,
to a form of nitrogen that can be used
by organisms to synthesize amino
acids. Lack of usable nitrogen is ap-
parently the major bottleneck in the
growth of the phytoplankton in many
parts of the ocean. The phytoplankton
is the food for all animals in the sea,
directly or indirectly. Thus, red tides
of Trichodesmium can be important
in the economy of the tropical seas.
Whatever the cause of a red tide,
its end may come about suddenly,
precipitated perhaps by nothing more
than a windy day. Sometimes all the
cells in the tide lose their flagella and
become resting cysts. Without fla-
gella, the cells cannot swim. They
then sink to the bottom and the red
tide disappears.
Depending on the nature of the or-
ganism that has become plentiful
enough to discolor the sea, red tides
may have unexpected secondary ef-
fects. Gonyaulax polyedra. the
southern California dinoflagellate,
for instance, is able to produce
flashes of light. When disturbed by
the crashing of a wave or the quick
motion of a fish, each cell emits a
pinpoint of blue-green light. During
a Gonyaulax red tide, this blue-green
illumination traveling along a break-
ing wave is readily visible from shore
on moonless nights. Moving through
a red tide of G. polyedra by boat in
the dark is an unforgettable experi-
ence. Illuminated fish tracks streak in
all directions ofT the bow. Off the
stern, the motor churns the water into
a swirling mass of stars, sometimes
bright enough to read by. This phe-
nomenon is correctly called biolu-
minescence. At one time, it was mis-
takenly thought to be caused by phos-
phorus burning in the water and it is
still occasionally referred to as
' ' phosphorescence . ' '
Gonyaulax excavata, of the New
England red tides, is another biolu-
minescent organism. So is Pyrodin-
ium, the "fiery whirler." The "Bays
\bur pictures
never sounded so good.
Musi buautiful piclurcs have
Ix-auliful sounds that no with them
You can K'ft l>olh with Bauer's S lO.'i
new Super K XI. .Macro Camera. .No
separate recorder lo carry. You
record directly onto the film.
Sound is only one of the special
effects you can ^i:\ rixht in the camera.
There are fade in and fade out, and
a 5x power zoom with macro. And
there's time lapse. So you can maki-
the sun come up in a hurry. And as the
sun K'o<'s down you can keep shooting
without liK'hts. The S10.5 has a super
fast f/1.2 XI. Macro lens. Metering is
thru- thelens and fully automatic with
manual override. And Bauer's pal
ented Iwistaway grip makes it a
smaller package to carry.
The Bauer S105 lets anyone
make professional movies with iu^l
one piece of equipment.
Show them on our super T6(J
projector. The only super 8 that
records and plays back stereo. We also
have a 12x zoom silent camera and
a whole line of other fine movie
products. Write for information.
E4C/EI7Super8
Sound Cameras.
AlC Photo, Inc., Carle Place, N.Y. 11514
Bauer is a Reg. TM o( Robert Bosch Photokino GmbH.
ARCHAEOLOGY TOUR TO
SOUTH AMERICA
March 19 to April 10, 1977
Conducted by
THE AMERICAN
MUSEUM OF
NATURAL HISTORY
An unusual Archaeology Tour to
remote regions of Colombia and
Peru. Includes a 6-day excursion
to the important archaeological
zones of San Agustin and
TIerradentro and a visit to the
world famous Gold Museum in
Bogota in Colombia. In Peru
journeys to Chan Chan and
Moche, Cajamarqullla and
Puruchuco to see the remains of
temples and other monuments in
the desert areas. An excursion to
the desert near Nazca to observe
by helicopter the lines that are
possibly astronomical. The high-
light of the trip will be a visit to
the famous ruins of Machu
Picchu as well as other Inca sites
in the Andes. Led by C. Bruce
Hunter, Lecturer In Archaeology
at the Museum, and Adjunct
Professor in Archaeology at
New York University.
For further information call or
write for Brochure D, Dept. of
Education, The American
Museum of Natural History,
Central Park West at 79th Street,
New York, N.Y.
Designed by professional
loafers . . . made
better for us amateurs.
You see them on Alpine guides, profes-
sional hunters, men and women who direct
leisure fun at summer resorts. Tyroleans
are worn by professionals whose work is so
much fun, it seems like loafing.
We've taken the good looking, functional
European design, added American comfort
and practicality, and tailored Tyroleans with
gf~^]W>ip^^ double-stitched seams for
durability. Keeping the
slim look and 4 practical
pockets in front was only
natural. (Men's shorts and
slacks also have 2 rear
pockets.)
Cut for action, Tyrole-
ans are comfortable when
you move — comfortable
when you're just relaxing.
They look slim and trim
all the time and possess
every feature we can think
of for function and wearability.
Tyroleans are also available in slack
length, shipped unhemmed for easy adjust-
ment to your exact leg measurement. Both
shorts and slacks are made of cool, light-
weight Tundra cloth . . . SOVo cotton, 50%
Dacron® polyester. You'll stay comfortable
through warm weather, yet well protected
in cooler conditions. Easy care too . . . just
wash and wear 'em. They rarely need even
touch-up ironing. Color: Tan. Men's even
waist sizes 28-44. Women's even sizes 8-20.
Slacks: $18.00. Shorts: $15.00.
Please add $1 .00 for postage and handling.
Normlhompson
Order TOLL FREE anytime 800-547-6712,
(Excluding Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska)
Dept. 03-20
1605 N.W. Thurman
Portland, Or. 97209
Tyroleans
Qty.
Size
Qty.
Size
Men's shorts
slacks
Women's shorts
slacks
n Check enclosed. Charge to my:
n BankAmericard D Master Charge
Card # _ Exp. Date-
Signature X , .
Name^
-Zip-
CD Send FREE "Escape from the ordinary"® catalog.
of Fire" on the Caribbean islands of
Jamaica and Puerto Rico have be-
come tourist attractions because the
brilliantly bioluminescent Pyrodin-
ium grows there. Oyster Bay, on the
north coast of Jamaica, where Pyro-
dinium can be found throughout the
year, has served as a laboratory for
the study of bioluminescence and of
the conditions that favor the growth
of this dinoflagellate.
The bioluminescence of large
numbers of dinoflagellates in the open
ocean at night was frequently noted
by sailors in the past, before ships
were illuminated by electricity. On
dark nights it is still sometimes possi-
ble to see every wavelet flash light,
a phenomenon described by Cole-
ridge in "The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner":
About, about, in reel and rout
The death fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green and blue and white.
Unfortunately, all the effects
caused by the various dinoflagellates
responsible for red tides are not as
innocuous as bioluminescence. Sev-
eral species of Gonyaulax — ^among
them, G. excavata of the northeast
coast of the United States, G. acaten-
eZ/a of western Canada, and G. caten-
ella, common along the northwest
coast of North America from Point
Conception near Santa Barbara up to
Alaska — ^manufacture one of the
most toxic substances known. When
filter feeders such as mussels and
clams eat these organisms, they
themselves are not generally harmed.
The mussels sequester the toxin in
their digestive glands, the clams se-
quester it in their siphons; the toxin
accumulates in these storage depots
and does not enter the cells of the
shellfish. The shellfish themselves,
however, become very toxic to any
other animals that eat them, including
humans. The poison affects the nerve
cells and prevents the transmission of
nerve impulses with fatal results.
On the West Coast, it is against the
law to eat mussels during the summer
months when G. catenella is common
because of the danger that the mussels
may have accumulated the dinoflag-
ellate's toxin. The Alaskan butter
clam cannot be used as food because
the toxin is sequestered in its siphon.
The poison that has been isolated
from these clams has been designated
"saxitoxin," after the mollusk's sci-
entific name Saxidomus giganteus.
Its chemical structure has recently
been determined and the site of its
devastating effects identified by ex-
periment. The toxin blocks the action
of the sodium pump of the nerves;
this property may prove useful in the
study of the transmission of the elec-
trical impulse in nerves.
Point Conception, about midway
between 34° and 35° north latitude, is
the ecological boundary line between
northern and southern California. It is
there that the ocean current system
changes. Although G. catenella,
found north of the point, is toxic, G.
polyedra, which causes the red tides
in southern California, is not. Bioas-
says and chemical tests of extracts of
G. polyedra have all been negative.
It does not make saxitoxin. No deaths
from eating toxic mussels have been
recorded south of Point Conception.
The presence of toxin in G. exca-
vata, however, proved a serious
problem for public health authorities
during the red tides off the coast of
New England in 1972 and 1974. The
fishing of clam and oyster beds is a
lucrative business along the eastern
seaboard. Nevertheless, it became
necessary to close the shellfish beds
and to post guards to prevent poach-
ing of the clams and oysters that had
become poisonous from the inges-
tion of the Gonyaulax. Because clams
and oysters concentrate the toxin,
shellfish can become toxic even be-
fore a red tide is noticed; therefore the
monitoring of shellfish for toxicity
became necessary. The process re-
quires extracting the meat of the
shellfish and injecting the extract into
mice, an expensive and time-con-
suming procedure.
The story of the Florida red tides
is altogether different. The Gymno-
dinium breve of that area produces
several potent toxins as yet imper-
fectly understood with regard to
structure or mode of action but highly
poisonous to many kinds of fish. Un-
like saxitoxin, the toxins of G. breve
remain in the seawater and are taken
in by fish. The result has been disas-
trous . Huge numbers of fish have died
in the Gulf of Mexico along the south-
west coast of Florida and have then
been washed ashore, forming long
windrows of corpses up and down the
beach. When the dead fish decayed,
the stench did little to encourage the
Florida tourist industry. Worse yet,
ocean spray containing the toxin blew
ashore and humans who breathed this
mist temporarily contracted sore
throats, eye irritation, and some-
times, skin problems.
i
82
Red tides can be troublesome in yet
another way. As long as the cells of
the red tide are healthy, they give off
more oxygen by day in photosynthe-
sis than they consume at night in res-
piration. The oxygen concentration in
the sea is high rather than low during
a red tide. However, when the cells
die for whatever reason, bacteria feed
on them and multiply. When bacteria
are very numerous, they deplete the
oxygen in the water to such an extent
that fish and other creatures die of as-
phyxiation. This occurs most dra-
matically when a red tide is washed
into a shallow bay where conditions
are unfavorable for the survival of
red-tide dinofiagellates and where the
volume of water is small and not
flushed by the tide. Large numbers of
fish have died under such circum-
stances, even when the red-tide orga-
nism was not a toxic one.
Despite considerable research on
the conditions preceding and during
an outbreak of red tide and on the
physiology of dinofiagellates in gen-
eral, very little is known about what
causes red tides. We do know that
with few exceptions only a single or-
ganism is responsible for any one red
tide. This observation tells us that a
general increase in the amounts of nu-
trients in the water cannot be respon-
sible, for if it were, plankton orga-
nisms of many kinds would multiply,
as they do in the ocean blooms of
early spring. Is there a specific chemi-
cal substance that stimulates the
growth of red-tide dinofiagellates to
the exclusion of all other dinofiagel-
lates? Why does one species gain a
growth advantage over its close rela-
tives? Why is it always the same spe-
cies in a given location?
Special combinations of condi-
tions, such as water temperature,
water movement, and other unknown
factors, must occur before a red tide
can develop. What are these condi-
tions? We do not know. In the sea,
where water moves from place to
place with the currents, it is difficult
enough to locate the origin of a red
tide, let alone detect the substances or
conditions that are responsible in any
one instance. Thus we cannot at
present predict red tides with any re-
liability, although prediction would
be most useful. Many questions must
be answered before we can fully un-
derstand these tides. And without un-
derstanding, we cannot hope to con-
trol this mysterious mass production
of organisms, at once beautiful and
cry-on-ics
dangerous.
D
America's Best-Selling Dictionary.
Its where the words live.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary doesn't just define words,
it makes words come alive. It unlocks the secrets of such chillingly
futuristic words as "cryonics," as well as over 22,000 new words
from today's living language. With over 150.000 entries in all, it's
the most vivid, up-to-date dictionary of the decade. Only $9.95.
thumb-indexed.
From Merriam-Webster.
Sprinsf ieid. Mass. 01 101
THE 1
cADIRONDACKS
j Clyde H. Smith |
I Introduction by Lionel A.Atwilli
I Author/photographer Smith's accounts of a I
I white-water canoe trip down the rapids of I
the upper Hudson and exhilarating |
climbs to high peaks are rich with
the excitement of first-hand
experience. 67 color plates.
A STUDIO BOOK.
ITHE VIKING PRESS atenh
I 625 Madison Avenue; New York. N.Y, 10022
Send me copies of THE ADIRONDACKS (S
$15.95 each. I enclose □check Q money order for
$ totaKPleaseaddsalestaxwhereapplicablc
I City State— Zip
Share the Thrills
01 Exploring f
ouier space;
All DYNASCOPES,
including this
superb RV-6, 6-inch
available
on easy terms!
Now it's easy to join the thousands of serious
amateurs who have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rewards go on for years! And
it's a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Choose From Many DYNASCOPES®
Picking a telescope to fit your needs and your
pocketbook is simple when you select a
DYNASCOPE — the same Instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories—and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable facts be-
fore buying any telescope. Mail
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterion Manufacturing Co.
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn 06110
® TM Registered U.S. Pat. Office
CRITERION MANUFACTURING CO., Depl NH-70
620 Oakwood Ave,, W, Hartford, Conn. 06110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Address-
City_
I I
LET HIM GROW WITH A
QUESTAR
A child's wonder at the world about him
can hold a promise, for many a scientist
can remember that his present preoccupa-
tion with the universe began with an
intense curiosity early in life.
Such a child will learn to master many
tools, and the telescope, that prime tool
of science, should be the first. A flawless
tool is an extension of the mind and hand,
and a fine telescope should combine such
mechanical and optical perfection that it
can serve for a lifetime and never become
a frustration whatever the critical job at
hand. Questar, the very finest, is such a
tool and its lovely versatility adds an
extra dimension to many fields: astron-
omy, of course, but also to disciplines
that are terrestrial in nature. Whether it
will be used for research, or simply for
the pure enjoyment of observing wildlife,
even indoors, perhaps, where its high
powers can focus on the web-spinning
of a house spider at a distance of ten feet,
it is a gift for ever. And its easy portability
can take it wherever one travels.
What other tool could you buy a child
that not only would enchant and amuse
him in his early awakening, but would
continue to serve him all his life?
© Questar Corporation 1976
QUESTAR, THE WORLD'S FINEST. MOST VERSATILE
TELESCOPE IS PRICED FROM $865 SEND FOR OUR
BOOKLET IN FULL COLOR WITH 150 PHOTOGRAPHS
BY QUESTAR OWNERS $1 COVERS MAILING ON THIS
CONTINENT, BY AIR, TO SOUTH AMERICA, S3 00:
EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA S3 50 ELSEWHERE, $4
QUESTAR
Box HOG. New Hope. Ph, liW3H
Tho .Standard Questar with its beautiful star c
is shown above. Below, the Field Mode/.
Olympus camera attached, is tripod mounted.
Bounding the Main
by Warren S. Wooster
The negotiators at
the Law of the Sea
Conference are framing
new rules to govern
human activities in
the world 's oceans
The ocean covers most of the earth,
and most of the ocean has been free —
free for transit, free for fishing, free
for research. But these freedoms of
the high seas are being swept away
in a frenzy of national seizures and
international negotiations.
Since 1967, the United Nations has
been attempting to legislate a new
order in the ocean, initially in a long
series of preparatory discussions, and
since 1973 in the sessions of the Third
United Nations Conference on the
Law of the Sea (1973 in New York,
1974 in Caracas, 1975 in Geneva,
1976 in New York). The conference
is distinguished by the number of ne-
gotiating countries (nearly 150) and
by the breadth and intricacy of its
agenda. Its task is complicated by the
unilateral actions of impatient coun-
tries (for example, the recent U.S.
declaration of a 200-mile fishing
zone), by the rapid advances of tech-
nology, and by the political tensions
among the western, eastern, and
southern worlds.
Most of the new maritime issues
have arisen since World War II. The
ocean itself has changed very little in
the intervening time. For the most
part, its minerals lie untouched where
they have rested for millennia. The
fish gather, propagate, grow, and die
in familiar neighborhoods. The ocean
currents pursue their endless course,
their temperatures changing only im-
perceptibly, if at all. Only in some of
the fish stocks and around the edges
of the ocean, in the estuaries and
coastal waters are the harmful effects
of human activities becoming con-
spicuous. More striking changes have
taken place ashore — in the homes,
factories, farms, laboratories, and
legislatures of the world.
The steady increase in human pop-
ulation, particularly in coastal cities.
has increased the demand for food of
all sorts, including that from the sea.
This has led to heightened pressure on
fish populations, building up ever
more rapidly as improved fishery
methods are applied in grander and
more systematic ways. The living re-
sources of the ocean are threatened
both by a more intense fishery and by
degradation of their environment, not
only in the coastal nursery grounds
where urban development is particu-
larly damaging but even in the open
sea where pollutants transported by
winds are deposited. Limitations are
now evident in the capacity of the
ocean's living resources to be ex-
ploited and of the ocean systems to
absorb pollutants.
At the same time, fuels and miner-
als on land are becoming scarce. Al-
ternative sources within and under the
sea are being sought. Whereas juris-
diction of the coastal state over oil
and gas deposits on the continental
shelf is well established, it is not so
clear who owns such deposits, if they
exist, farther offshore on the conti-
nental rise. And the legal status of
deep-sea mineral deposits, such as
manganese nodules, remains to be es-
tablished, this being one of the initial
justifications for reopening the inter-
national debate on the law of the sea .
The role of the ocean in national
security has also changed. Before and
during World War II, the ocean was
an operating theater and battleground
for navies, but its larger strategic im-
plications were limited to transport
and communications. With the devel-
opment of nuclear weapons and the
concealment of the strategic deterrent
beneath the ocean surface, the mobil-
ity and invisibility of missile-carrying
submarines and their hunters have be-
come matters of great concern to the
superpowers.
As the uses of the ocean and its
resources have grown and diversi-
fied, questions of jurisdiction and
management of both resources and
environment have become more criti-
cal . At the same time , there have been
remarkable political changes that af-
feet intergovernmental negotiations.
Tiie number of individual govern-
ments has nearly doubled sinee the
last law-of-the-sea negotiations in
1960. Nearly all of the new eounlries
ean be eiassilied as "developing,"
and they have found a natural atlinity
with other former eolonies. The basic
eonlliel of the present negotiations is
between the "haves," mostly in the
Northern Hemisphere, and the
"have-nots" of the tropics and the
Southern Hemisphere. Of course, the
east-west competition remains, but
on many maritime issues the United
States and the Soviet Union have sur-
prisingly similar inleiesls and posi-
tions. The third world of relatively
poor, nonindustrialized states has
most of the votes, has a long memory
of real or pcieeived abuse and exploi-
tation by the former colonial poweis,
and is awaie that these powers aie
now relatively impotent to force their
will upon others.
Negotiations are complicated by
olhci alignments. For example, thcic
aie 52 coualiies that ha\e little oi no
coastHnes or economic zones These
landlocked and geographically disad
vantagcd countries want access to the
sea and to its resources, which will
othciwise be gobbled up by the
coastal slates.
The political aspirations and atti-
tudes of some 1 50 countries dominate
present negotiations in the Law of the
Sea Conference, if the process
works, a comprehensive treaty will
emerge to govern human activities in
most parts of the world ocean. If
agreement on a treaty proves to be
unachievable, a chaotic world of uni-
lateral action and leaclion, and bilat-
eral and multilateral accommodation,
is likely to ensue.
What then are the major issues that
aflfeet the continued health of the
ocean and man's continued enjoy-
ment of the organisms that live within
it? The issues of national security and
commercial navigation (for example,
passage through straits) are of major
political interest, but the impact of
these activities on the natural system
Easy on the go.
Minolta/Celtic Pocket Bi-
noculars are ideal for peopi'
who like to travel light.
Beautiful lewel-like finisfi,
sturdy construction
and world-famous Minolta
optical quality assure su-
perb performance Image':
are exceptionally clear,
bright and sharp Center
focus design for fast,
easy focusing. Two sizes.
6x20 and 8x20 Each
weigfis only 6 ounces and
folds to fit snugly in
pocket or field pack For
more information. \^_^
write Ivlinolta Corporation,
101 Williams Dnve,
Ramsey, N J 07446
Minolta/Celtic
Pocket Binoculars
The first truly scientific analysis
By ROY P. MACKAL. Ph.D.
After 5 expeditions and 1 0 years of investiga-
tion, the author, a research scientist with a
Ph.D. in biochemistry, is convinced there are
monsters in Loch Ness. This fascinating ac-
count of his search for the monster is bol-
stered by over 165 pages of appendices, in-
cluding a thorough analysis of existing
photos, a list of sightings from 565 A.D. on,
and a computer analysis of the findings. Only
this bool< contains the startling 1972 and
1 976 underwater photos which seem to show
the existence of large aquatic animals in Loch
Ness. 415 pages, 126 photos, drawings, and
charts, 8 maps.
Order your copy now with this handy
coupon.
I
THE SWALLOW PRESS, INC.
81 1 W. Junior Terrace
Chicago, Illinois 60613
Please send me copies of
The Monsters of Loch Ness @ $12.50.
Address
C.ty
Slate Zip
Enclose check or money order. Add 50e for post-
age and handling, Illinois residents add 5%
Illinois state tax. Sorry, no CODs.
85 '
is relatively limited and indirect. All
issues are affected by the mechanisms
proposed for the settlement of
disputes and the extent to which they
are compulsory and apply to activities
in the economic zone. But more sig-
nificant for our purposes are the issues
of protection of the marine environ-
ment, rational utilization of its living
and nonliving resources, and the pro-
motion of marine scientific research.
These issues are tied together by a
new jurisdictional zonation in which
the territorial sea expands from three
to twelve miles, beyond which,
stretching out to 200 miles from the
coast, lies a new "economic zone,"
within which the coastal state con-
trols the exploration and exploitation
of all resources. Much of the debate
has concerned the characteristics of
this zone, whether it involves security
or political jurisdiction as well as re-
source control, and the extent to
which coastal-state jurisdiction will
be shared with other nations.
How will the new law of the sea
affect protection of the marine envi-
ronment? First of all, despite the im-
mensity of the ocean, most pollution
originates on land, beyond the scope
of an ocean treaty. The control of pol-
lution is debated in many forums of
which the sea law conference is only
one. Secondly, the present negotia-
tions are concerned primarily with ju-
risdiction, rather than management;
the treaty, as it evolves, puts off de-
finitive action, even on vessel-based
pollution, for other negotiations.
Ocean-based pollution sources in-
clude deliberate ocean dumping and
tank washing and inadvertent intro-
duction from maritime activities. The
former is already subject to regulation
(which could be more effective), and
until recently the latter has been rela-
tively trivial. But the rapid develop-
ment of continental shelf oil and gas
production, the increased transport of
petroleum products in supertankers,
and the forthcoming exploitation of
deep-sea minerals are likely to have
major environmental impacts. The
evolving treaty, by fixing jurisdic-
tional responsibility for these activi-
ties, should make possible their even-
tual control.
Remember that environmental is-
sues are often viewed differently by
developed and developing countries.
Pollution is a product of modern agri-
culture and industry. In their efforts
to obtain a better life for their citi-
zens, the developing countries wish
to avoid the extra costs of environ-
mental protection now considered un-
avoidable by their more affluent
neighbors.
Who should have jurisdiction over
the marine environment? The
coastal, or port, state or the state
under whose flag a vessel operates?
The question is still unresolved. If the
coastal state is to control living re-
sources in the economic zone, it
would seem appropriate also to con-
trol the environmental quality of that
zone. Yet the arbitrary application of
different standards from country to
country could make navigation a
nightmare. In any case, enforcement
of environmental standards will be
difficult. The flag state has the most
control — yet in the eyes of the coastal
state, it is least likely to exercise it in
the interest of the environment.
Although jurisdiction over deep-
sea mineral resources was the nomi-
nal reason for the present round of
negotiations, fisheries on common
property resources have more often
led to international maritime conflict.
Indeed, the important unilateral ex-
tensions of national jurisdiction in
1947 (Chile and Peru) were directly
related to conflicts over the exploita-
tion of whales and tuna.
Heretofore, living resources sel-
dom confined themselves to the nar-
row territorial sea, and even a con-
tiguous twelve-mile fishery zone was
inadequate for comprehensive man-
agement of an entire stock. Since na-
tional jurisdiction was inadequate, re-
gional and international bodies were
established for management of one or
another species. Occasionally these
organizations have been effective,
but as a rule their recommendations
are difficult to enforce.
The purpose of management also
has to be kept in mind. In the 1958
convention on living resources,
achievement of the maximum sus-
tained yield of a given stock was con-
sidered preeminent. Now it appears
that other goals may be more impor-
tant. In some cases, it may be better
to maximize economic return; in
others, the numbers of fishermen em-
ployed or the opportunities for recrea-
tion. Thus, it is now fashionable to
speak of "optimum sustainable
yields" without specifying which
aspect is to be optimized.
The evolving treaty is concerned
with several classes of fisheries with
different jurisdictional implications.
Sedentary species of the shelf, such
as certain crabs and lobsters, were as-
signed to the coastal state by the 1958
convention. Most oceanic fisheries
operate within a few tens of miles of
the shore and will be managed by the
countries whose economic zones are
affected. Those resources that cannot
be fully utilized by these countries
could be shared with neighboring
landlocked or geographically disad-
vantaged countries, on the one hand,
and with countries that have histori-
cally fished in the region, on the
other.
Anadromous species, principally
salmon, may be caught offshore as
well as in the economic zone of the
host country in whose streams the fish
return to spawn. It is generally agreed
that such countries have both special
responsibilities and special rights.
The highly migratory species — tuna,
billfish, oceanic sharks, whales, and
porpoises — are widely distributed,
and it is difficult to see how they can
be effectively managed on a national
economic zone basis.
The treaty may succeed in tying
down jurisdiction over these classes
of fisheries. But in most cases, effec-
tive management for whatever pur-
pose will continue to require the col-
lective action of the countries in-
volved, both to determine the effect
on the stock and to facilitate the appli-
cation of measures to optimize what-
ever aspect of the fishery is mutually
agreed upon.
Nonliving resources consist of
those on the shelf, principally oil and
gas, but also phosphorite, sand, and
gravel, already under coastal-state
control, and those lying beyond the
shelf as defined in the 1958 conven-
tion, including the possibility of oil
and gas on the continental rise and
manganese nodules on the deep-sea
floor. The new treaty will guarantee
coastal-state control over seabed re-
sources out to 200 miles, even for
narrow shelf countries; that control
may encompass the continental mar-
gin beyond 200 miles for the score of
countries with broad shelves. This
question of ultimate seaward exten-
sion and control over the continental
rise (with some possibility of revenue
sharing in this zone) remains unre-
solved.
The most hotly contested issue
concerns exploitation of mineral re-
sources— at present only manganese
nodules are known to be important —
beyond the limits of national juris-
diction. It was precisely these re-
sources that Ambassador Pardo, in
1967, proposed should constitute the
"common heritage of mankind,"
TH€ /4MGROM MU^GUM
OF tWUkAl HISTORY
^MhOUnCG9
GVjeMIMG LGGTURG SGRIGS
FOR ^DULT^
™RTIMG0GT0BGR,1976.
HUMAN EVOLUTION— 6 Tuesdays starting October 12,
7:30-9:00 p.m. Fee: $25.
In this series, Dr. Harry L. Shapiro, Curator Emeritus of
Physical Anthropology, deals primarily with the reconstruc-
tion of the hominid development leading to modern man. His
extensive field work includes a genetic study of the de-
scendants of the mutineers of HMS Bounty resulting in his
book. The Heritage ot tiie Bounty. His most recent book,
Peking Man, is on the discovery and mysterious disappear-
ance of a priceless scientific treasure.
ANTHROPOLOGY THROUGH FILMS III— 6 Wednesdays
starting October 13, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Fee: $25.
Dr. Malcolm Arth, anthropologist and Curator at the Mu-
seum, has organized a new and rich array of films covering
a range of cultures and experience, from adolescence to old
age, from the supernatural to cultural change.
MAGIC AND WITCHCRAFT— 8 Tiiursdays starting October
14, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Fee: $30.
Paul J. Sanfacon, Lecturer in Anthropology at the Museum,
leads a serious socio-historical inquiry into various beliefs
and practices of magic, witchcraft and sorcery.
Special Tour Of The New HALL OF MINERALS AND GEMS
— 2 Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m., November 1 and 8, re-
peated November 15 and 22. Fee: $10. (Indicate preferred
dates)
Christopher J. Schuberth, Lecturer in Geology at the Mu-
seum and one of the developers of the hall, will personally
conduct this tour and interpret this spectacular exhibition of
some of the world's largest gem stones and finest mineral
and crystal specimens.
IDENTIFYING MINERALS AND ROCKS— /O Wednesdays,
starling October 13. 7 00-8:30 p.m. Fee: $60. (including
laboratory lee). Limited to 25.
Laboratory workshops in techniques of identifying common
minerals and rocks through physical tests of specimens.
Christopher J, Schuberth, Lecturer in Geology at the Mu-
seum.
INSECTS: EARTH'S MOST SUCCESSFUL ANIMALS— 6
Tuesdays, starting October 12, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Fee: $25.
Alice Gray of the Museum's Entomology Department gives
an informal series of slide-illustrated talks on some of the
fascinating aspects of the world of insects.
GREAT AMERICAN WILDERNESS AREAS— 8 Tuesdays
starting October 12, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Fee: $30.
Kenneth Chambers, Lecturer in Zoology at the Museum,
uses color slides to introduce the scenic grandeur and wild-
life of federally preserved areas such as National Parks,
Monuments and Wildlife Refuges, with stress on plant and
animal life, conservation and ecological significance.
PLANT LIFE AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA— 5 Thursdays,
starting October 14, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Fee: $20.
In this slide-illustrated lecture series, Helmut W. Schiller,
Lecturer in Botany at the Museum, explores the tide pools,
wind-swept scrub, and the rocky and sandy beaches of the
Atlantic Coast.
CONVERSATIONAL SPANISH FOR TRAVELLERS— 70
Wednesdays, starting October 13, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Fee:
$50. Limited to 25.
A basic course for those planning travel to Spanish-speak-
ing countries. Students learn the basic elements of grammar
through the audio-lingual method.
Instructor: Celia M. Zelazny.
REGISTER NOW
TO: Department of Education
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79 Street
NewYork,N.Y. 10024
I enclose a stamped, self-addressed
envelope, together with a check (or money
order) for $ payable to The
American Museum of Natural History.
n Ms. n Mrs. D Miss D Mr.
Coufse
Name
Last
First
street Address
City
state
Zip
NOTE: Advance Registration is requested but registration accepted on
ttie opening nigtit if course is not filled. NO SINGLE ADMISSION
TICKETS SOLD.
_TF(E1V[AKgET_
Art
YOUR PORTRAIT in Ceramic Sculpture Skillfully
crafted from pfiotographs Illustrated Brocfiure.
Box 13135, El Paso, TX 79912
"COLLECTOR'S SERIES"™ lithograptis. Wildlife,
Indian, Flowers, American Scenes, Airplane, Au-
tomobile, Railroad Prints, Send $1 00 for catalog.
"Collector's Series", 161 W, Harrison, Ctiicago, IL
60605
Bookplates
FREE CATALOG— Scores of beautiful designs.
Imprinting and special designing. ANTIOCH
BOOKPLATE Co., Box 28C, Yellow Springs, OH
45387
Books
BOOKS ABOUT BIRDS, a monthly newsletter de-
voted to news and reviews of bird books old and
new, $9 per year, sample available. Box 106, Kew
Gardens. Jamaica, NY 11415
BOOK PUBLISHING— manuscripts and inquiries
invited. "AUTHORS' GUIDE TO PUBLICATION"
free upon request. Dorrance & Company, Dept,
AA, 35 Cricket Terrace, Ardmore, PA 19003
SURVIVAL PLAYING CARDS, Outdoor survival
and first aid manual printed on standard playing
cards. $4.95, Environs, Inc., Dept NH, RR2, Box
508, Hood River. OR 97031
Clothing
NATURAL SUEDE LEATHER SHORTS for fiike.
bike. play. Import Specialties. 507-3rd Ave.
#1001, Seattle, WA 98104
FREE CATALOG, WILDERNESS GEAR, CLOTH-
ING, Books. Moor & Mountain D28, 63 Park Street.
Andover, MA 01810
Collector's Items
COLLECTORS AND CRAFTSMEN SPECIAL: Ten
Different Stiells! Choose #R-113 Cones, #R-114
Cowrys, #R-115 Shells for Jewelry $10 each as-
sortment, all three $25 Benjane Arts, 320 Hemp-
stead Avenue, West Hempstead. NY 11552
RECEIVE VALUABLE MINERALS MONTHLY! Join
World-wide Mineral Club. Free Details. Mineral of
the Month Club. Box 487-HO. Yucaipa. CA 92399
SEASHELLS: Illustrated catalogue, 25 cents.
Compare prices on guaranteed specimen quality
shells. Old Shell Game. Box 330722, Miami. FL
33133
FOSSIL PRICE LIST FREE. J. F. Ray's Fossils, Box
1364. Ocala, FL 32670, Mail orders only.
FRANKLIN MINT WILDLIFE MEDALS, Beautiful
Sterling Silver, Personal Collection, Write— Stan-
ford. Box 9494, Savannah, GA 31402
5 OLD BUFFALO NICKELS. $2.25. Coin catalog,
25e. Village Coin Shop. Dept. H. Plaistow, NH
03865
Employment Information
U.S. FIRMS OVERSEAS— Complete information on
hundreds of worldwide companies. $5.75, GLO-
BALEMPLOY, Box 4499-S, Huntsville, AL 35802
AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND WANTS YOU!!! 50,-
000 Jobs! Paid Transportation, latest information
and forms. $1.00 AUSTCO, Box 3623-NH, Long
Beach, CA 90803
OVERSEAS JOBS— Now Hiring, 103 Countries, All
Occupations, High Pay, Free Transportation, Tax
Benefits, Latest Computerized Reports— $2.00
TRANSWORLD, international Airport, Box 90802-
NH. Los Angeles, CA 90009
Energy
SOLAR ENERGY DIGEST, Mind-expanding
monthly newsletter covering frontiers of solar en-
ergy Year, $28 50; sample, $2,40. P.O. Box
17776NH, San Diego. CA 92117
Friendships
MAKE FRIENDS WORLDWIDE through interna-
tional correspondence Illustrated brochure free!
Hermes-Verlag. Box 110660/NH, D-1000 Berlin
1 1 , Germany
Gifts
3000 YEAR OLD JEWELRY, Replicas from Egypt,
Persia, Onent. etc Pendants. Rings. Charms in
Bronze, Sterling Silver, 14K & 18K Gold. Free
Catalog! Write: Aladdin House. Ltd.. Dept. HC-
876, 770 Madison Avenue, NY 10021, (212) 472-
8733. Visit our Gallery: SW Corner of 66th St.— 5th
floor.
UNIQUE GIFT OF LASTING FRAGRANCE: Old-
fashioned potpourri of rosebuds, lavender, dozen
other flowers and herbs in elegant crystal apothe-
cary 45 oz, -$14.95, 24 oz.-$9.99 Postpaid. G&J
Distributors, 4523K Labath, Santa Rosa. CA 95401
WHALE POSTER: Beautiful Full Color, Depicting
14 Different Whales to Scale. 22y2" x 31 Vz", high
quality art paper $7 50 each postpaid No
C.O.D.'s. Calif, residents add 450 tax, Hayashi
Graphics. Dept. N. 5405 Bragg St., San Diego,
CA 92122
ZODIAC KEEPSAKES, Hand-painted hardwood
Mini-charms (%" approximately). $8.50 each ppd.
Specify sign, gold or silver "tomi originals". Rt.
1 Box 1076, Las Cruces, NM 88001
Gourmet Interests
HERBS— Informative Herbal Chart (30 x 40) $5.50
Postpaid Herb Teas Potpourri etc. Free catalog.
Casey's Herbs, Box 901, Woodside, NY 11377
TEA DEVOTEES savor world's rarest select teas.
Brochure $1.00. Grace Tea Importers, Dept. NH
76. 799 Broadway, NYC 10003
VEGETARIANISM: the road to longevity. Sub-
scription $2.00. Four issues of news, ideas, nutri-
tion, medical discoveries. VEGETARIAN REVIEW,
Box 221 -NH, Haverford, PA 19041
Magazines
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS, 1888-1976, Any
issue, maps, send wants. Buxbaum Geographies,
Box 465-NH, Wilmington. DE 19899
Music
RECORDS-TAPES! Discounts to 73%; all labels;
no purchase obligations; newsletter; discount div-
idend certificates; 100% guarantees. Free details.
Fish Market The Bronx
Discount Music Club, 650 Main St., DepI, 25-876,
New Rochelle, NY 10801
KITS! Build dulcimers, guitars, balalaikas, harps,
mandolins, banjos. From $2.95. Finished dul-
cimers from $23.95. Free Catalog. 8665 West 1 3th
Avenue. NH. Denver, CO 80215
Music Instruction
BANJO KITS. Write for free catalog. Stewart-Mac-
Donald Mfg., Box 900 BT, Athens. OH 45701
TICKLE THE IVORIES. Play chord piano first hour!
Leading teacher magazines praise patented
(1973) system. Box 751 -A, LaCanada, CA, 91011
Optics
OPTIC DISCOUNTS: Binoculars— Tele-
scopes— Brand Names — Free List— Thomas
Marietta, 61 Hoffman Ave.. Elmont, NY 11003
FREE BINOCULAR, RIFLESCOPE CATALOG.
Discount Sale. Save 50%. Free Gift with Order.
Write United Binoculars. BN-117. 9043 So. West-
ern, Chicago, IL 60620
Rare Maps
16TH-19TH CENTURY ORIGINAL MAPS Our
handsome 6B-page catalog $1.50. The Windsor
Collection, 111 Canterbury Drive, Wilmington, DE
19803
Real Estate
KENTUCKY FARMS AND ACREAGES, $100 to
$250 per acre. Estes Realty, Box 484G. Edmon-
ton. KY 42129
PROVIDENCIALES. B.W.I. 1 view acre $4800. 2Vz
acres waterfront $9000. Terms. W. Schmid, 145
E. 15, NYC 10003
Rentals
MAINE RENTAL Cozy saltbox Oct. to May. Wal-
doboro on beautiful Muscongus Bay. Furnished,
modern conveniences. 2 bedrooms 2 baths, fire-
place $350 Month Farley. 46 Factory Pond Rd..
Locust Valley, NY 11560 (516) 676-4434
Stamps
50 EUROPEAN PLUS 25 WILDLIFE— 200. All
different. Approvals. Tom Sawyer. Box 472. Dur-
ham, NH 03824
SHELLS, ANIMALS, NATURE on stamps. Write for
approval selection. Southland Stamps. Box 264.
Shreveporl, LA 71162
FREE: Discount Price List for U.S. Stamps. Ste-
vens, Box 610546 J, North Miami, FL 33161
Travel
ESKIMO ARTS AND CULTURE organization,
newsletter, travel being formed. Write S. Barz, 162
East 80th St.. NYC 10021
NEW MEXICO. Guided wildflower-birding tours.
Photography blind. Bear Mountain Ranch. Silver
City, NM 88061 (505) 538-2538
ENJOY SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA: Our area is
secluded and uncommercial. Outstanding bird-
ing. Excellent nature study opportunities. Trails,
wilderness for hiking, backpacking, etc Comfort-
ably mild Chincahua Mountain climate year
around Cottages, apartments, pool. Free bro-
chure, birdlist. Cave Creek Ranch. Portal. AR
85632 (602) 558-2334
EXPLORE MAN'S BEGINNINGS: Imaginative ex-
peditions to Old & New Worid sites — Egypt, East
Africa, Greece. Iran, Israel, Mexico, Central &
South America. Monthly trips, small groups Em-
phasis: anthropology, nat'l history, archaeology.
Academic credit option. Send for brochures.
FORUM INT'L, Dept. N.. 2437 Durant, Berkeiey.
CA 94704 (415)843-8294
BACKPACK THE CANADIAN ROCKIES! TREK to
the base of MT. EVEREST with ODYSSEY, Ltd.
Year-round schedule of wilderness tours under
friendly, expert leadership Excellent foods.
equipment, instruction. No experience requiredi
26 Hilltop, Dept H, Berkeley His.. NJ 07922
(201)322-8414
PARADOR MARTORELL: Fun-Sun relaxing vaca-
tion, near fabulous Luquillo Beach Box 384, Lu-
quillo. Puerto Rico 00673
MEXICO: Private Valley, sun, thermal pools, mas-
sage, gourmet vegetarian cuisine $15 daily in-
cludes meals Ranch Rio Calienle, Apdo. 1-1187,
Guadalaiara. Mexico
ADVENTURE EXPLORE TROPICAL JUi'JGLE
RIVER with US -Costa Rican study team Weekly
treks Information Safaris y Expediciones Ecolo-
gicas. Dept NH-1, 2217 Pontius Avenue. Los
Angeles. CA 90064
ST. JOHN. VIRGIN ISLANDS Rent our two bed-
room beachfront house Attractively furnished,
spectacular view $400/wk in season, $350 out
Write: Seascape. Box 331, Medina. OH 44256
SOUTHWEST SAFARIS Air tours of New Mexico,
Colorado, Utah and Anzona. Camping, hiking,
riding, rafting Geology, archaeology, ecology,
history Brochure: P O Box 945, Santa Fe, NM
87501
MAPS, MAPS. MAPS TO ANYWHEREi New 6000-
map catalog $7.95 Travel Centers of the World
P. O. Box 1673. Hollywood. CA 90028
TRAVELMATES. Like to travel, but not alone? Cor
respond: exchange visits: share vacations Dou
ble your summer fun: halve expenses. Box 59H
Pleasant Unity, PA 15676
CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO— Winter travel-study op
portunities from the University of California A
Cruise Through the Sea of Cortez (Dec 17-24 or
Dec 26-Jan. 2) and California Gray Whale Baja
Cruise (Feb 4-10) both explore remote islands,
bays, lagoons, fishing villages; led by naturalists
Also offered: Mexican Indian Arts and Archaeol-
ogy (Oaxaca and Yucatan, Dec 18-29) Tours
begin and end in San Diego. For brochure, write
Karen Lockwood. Code A/University Extension,
0-01 4/University of California. San Diego/La Jolla.
CA 92093
DESERT BIRDS, MAMMALS, REPTILES, IN-
SECTS, CACTI, WILD FLOWERS . . . many resorts
have these The Wickenburg Inn has professional
naturalists to help you see and understand more,
special wildlife package weeks for beginners and
advanced nature watchers; plus the finest m rid-
ing, tennis, arts & crafts, accommodations and
food See your travel agent or write: The Wicken-
burg Inn, P.O. Box P. Wickenburg, AZ 85358
(602)684-781 1
RATES AND STYLE INFORMATION
$1.50 per word; 16 word ($24) minimum. Display
classified is $1 50 per Inch. Rates are not structured
for agency and frequency discounts or billing. All
adveilisements are accepted at NATURAL HIS-
TORY'S discretion; all must be prepaid. Send
check/money order payable to NATURAL HIS-
TORY for each insertion, including your personal
address and telephone. Mention issue preferred,
suggested heading, and text. Deadlines — 8th of
month, two months prior to cover date. Thus, a
January issue closes November 8. A tearsheet or
copy of the page with your ad will be sent upon
publication.
Box numbers, telephone numbers, and hyphen-
ated words count as two words; abbreviations and
zip codes as one word each. All states are shown
in two-letter codes followed by zip, then telephone
(with area code), if any. An address such as "18
Main St." counts as three words. Occasionally,
slight editing for clarity is required. We trust you trust
us. Thank you!
their benefits ix f>c -Jiaied primarily
ainung the developing countries.
These nodules are seen as an im-
portant source of copper, nickel, co-
balt, and manganese. Several factors
contribute to their political impor-
tance— only a few of the most techni-
cally advanced countries command
the capital and skill to exploit the nod-
ules, and the metals that would thus
be produced are major exports of sev-
eral developing countries, it has al-
ready been agreed that an interna-
tional body will manage the deep
seabed; as a result of developing-
country pressure, it also is likely to
have the power itself to exploit the
seabed and to participate in commod-
ity agreements so as to protect the
economic interests of land-based pro-
ducers of the same metals. The devel-
oped countries . on the other hand . are
seeking economic incentives and se-
curity for the vast expenditures re-
quired. It has not yet been demon-
strated that nodule minerals can b)e
competitive with land-based miner-
als, but the dependability of supply
(lessened dependence on foreign sup-
pliers) is likely to make the product
attractive to U.S. consumers.
Design of the seabed authority and
the division of power between indus-
trialized and developing countries are
major, unresolved issues. The devel-
oping countries constitute more than
two-thirds of those participating in
the negotiations, yet they recognize
that no minerals will be raised from
the depths (and no benefits therefrom
will be distributed) without the partic-
ipation of the few countries with the
necessary technology.
Finally, the conduct of marine sci-
entific research, both in the economic
zone and beyond, has become an
issue. Historically, there were no sig-
nificant restrictions on research activ-
ities beyond inland and territorial
waters until the 1958 convention on
living resources gave the coastal state
control over seabed research on the
shelf. More recently, unilateral ex-
tensions of national jurisdiction have
often included research. Today the
draft treaty threatens to give coastal
states complete control over scientific
research in the economic zone, and
there have even been serious propos-
als that research in the deep seabed
should be managed by an interna-
tional authority.
From the point of view of the gov-
ernment of a developing country, if
resources of the economic zone are to
be controlled, research relating to the
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
NEW. 172 Pages.
Over 4.500 Un-
usual Bargains
for Hobbyists
Schools. Industry
(^^a JUST CHECK j
COUPON' I
EDMUND
SCIENTIFIC CO. I
300 EDSCORP BUILDING I
Barrington, N. I. 08007 '
(609) 547-3488 |
AmehC3's Gieatest i
Science • Optics • Hoftfty Mart
OWN THE BINOCULAR NASA
CHOSE FOR APOLLO/SOYUZ!
For the historic US. -Russian space fhght and
link-up, this powerful 20X60 binocular was
slightly modified. Own the original! It's our big-
gest, most powerful for distance (designed to
help the Astronauts look back at earth from
157 miles out m space). Big 60 mm objective
lenses. 173-ft. field of view at 1000 yards.
• Relative brightness, 9.0. Fully coated optics.
20X special design eye lenses. Coated BK-7
Porro prism. Extra long Ail-American style with
fold-down rubber eyecups. Just rtiAA flC
47.5 oz. (91/4 X 8V2"). Includes ihUll.aU
case and straps. No.1556E just UU PPil-
Reg. 8X30 Binocular, An Unbelievable Bargain
Fully coated optics, European style body (4V2 x
6y4", just 19 oz.). Field of view at 1000 yards,
392 ft. Great for hunting, races. (JAT en
N0.1559E only v/l.oU
COMPLETE AND MAIL COUPON NOW
EDMUNO SCIENTIFIC CO. 300 Edscorp Bldg., Barrington, N J. 08007
S^HKAMERICUO
D SEND FREE
172 PAGE CATALOG ' E '
□ Charge my BankAmericard
QCtiarge my Master Charge
Interbank No .
Card No
binocular(s)
I ]
binocular{s)
No. 1559E
@ $27.50 ea.
Service & handling charge S 1.00
Enclosed is check,
M. 0. in amount of $
Expiration Date
3a-0AY MONEY-BACK GUAR-
ANTEE. You must be satis-
fied or return any purchase
in 30 days for lull refund
Signature-
Name
City, State, Zip
HELPING TO DEVELOP AMERICAS TECHNOLOGY f Ofl OVER 30 YEARS
Jbw. TIME
S 7 MACHINE
^ FOR SALE.
*15 FOR
SIX ROUND TRIPS
Every issue of ARCHAEOLOGY Magazine sends you
on a fascinating voyage to antiquity. Anci every issue is
truly a collector's item. Rich, full page illustrations, lavish
reproductions of ancient art, front-line reports of excavations
and discoveries, and much more. . .are waiting for you right now.
Published by the Archaeological Institute of America.
THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES
ARCHAEOLOGY
ARCHAEOLOGY - Dept. T-6
260 West Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10013
Please send one year's subscription (6 issues) of ARCHAEOLOGY
Check enclosed for $15 Bill me.
Name
NH-1
Address.
City
-State.
-Zip.
exploration and exploitation of those
resources must also be controlled —
and it can be argued that all research
in one way or another has some rela-
tion to the resources in question. Oth-
erwise, the scientist who conducts the
research, and the goverhment under
whose auspices he works, may take
advantage of the coastal state. At-
tempts have been made to distinguish
between resource-related and "pure"
research, on which fewer restrictions
would be placed, but it is difficult to
see how any objective operational
definition can be found.
From the scientist's point of view,
rational use of the ocean and its re-
sources and protection of the marine
environment are utterly dependent on
improved scientific knowledge of the
system. This is particularly true in the
third of the ocean that lies within 200
miles of the coast, where most of the
extractable resources appear to be lo-
cated and where the impact of man's
activities is greatest. And any impedi-
ment placed in the way of his investi-
gation is likely to make it impossible
to carry out. The scientist is fully
prepared to share the information he
obtains, although he recognizes that
not everyone is equally able to under-
stand and apply it.
Any meaningful sharing of infor-
mation requires the evolution of com-
parable marine science capabilities in
developing coastal states, accompa-
nied by programs of realistic scien-
tific collaboration among the scien-
tists concerned. This is likely to lead
to better science as well as to a more
adequate sharing in the benefits of re-
search. A section of the treaty is in-
tended to facilitate this transfer of
technology.
At the end of the spring 1976 ses-
sion of the conference, progress had
been made in the treatment of all
these issues, but agreement on many
of them continues to elude the negoti-
ators. A final 1976 summer session
will be held in New York, during
which it should prove possible to
reach a consensus. Otherwise, the op-
portunity for making sensible ar-
rangements for effective use and pro-
tection of the ocean and its resources
may be indefinitely lost.
Warren S. Wooster is Dean of the
Rosenstiel School of Marine and At-
mospheric Science at the University
of Miami and has participated in the
Caracas, Geneva, and New York
sessions of the Third United Nations
Law of the Sea Conference.
90
The American Museum
of Natural History
invites you to join a select party
linnited to 1 50 members and friends
on a
VOYAGE TO
MAYALIIUM
world of the ancient Maya civilization
in Central America
February 6 to 20, 1977
Sail in comfort aboard the motor yacht ,
ARGONAUT, set on a special course for the
pleasure of exploring and studying remote and
recently uncovered pre-Columbian sites of the
ancient Maya. Enjoy islands of natural beauty
with offshore reefs and seagardens undisturbed
by tourism. Travel in the stimulating company of
our distinguished American Museum scientists
and scholars, Dr. Gordon F. Ekholm, Curator
Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, and
Dr. C. Lavett Smith, Chairman and Curator,
Department of Ichthyology.
Cabin prices range from $1 780 to S21 25.
There is a tax-deductible contribution to the
Museum of $400 per person.
Ellen Stancs
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79tti Street
New York. New York 10024
Please send an itinerary and
other information about the
VOYAGE TO MAYALUUM
^MGRIC/iri
MU9GUMOF
\HI9TORY/
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon The sun will move through the stars of Leo from
about August 10 to September 16. then through Virgo till the end of
October. This takes it gradually southward above the earth, bringing
shorter days and a lower solar path each day. On September 22, when
the sun arrives at the autumnal equinox, it will trace out the path of
the celestial equator in our sky as it moves from due east, up to a point
in the south equal to our distance from the pole, and then down to due
west. The earliest navigators knew that they would arrive at the earth's
equator when they could bring that line — the sun's path at the equinox —
directly overhead.
We have an evening moon the first week of each month through
October. Phases in August are: first-quarter on the 2nd, full on the 9th,
last-quarter of the 17th, new moon on the 25th, and first-quarter again
on the 31st. In September, full moon (the harvest moon) is on the 8th,
last-quarter on the 16th, new moon on the 23rd, and first-quarter on
the 30th. The hunter's moon (full) is on October 7. The moon is at
apogee, farthest from earth, on August 16, September 12, and October
10; at perigee, nearest the earth, on August 27 and September 24.
Stars and Planets Altair, Deneb, and Vega, known to navigators
worldwide as the Great Summer Triangle (although each is in a different
constellation) dominate our summer sky nearly all night long these
months (see Star Map, above the south). Venus will be an easily seen
evening star, in the west each night for a short while after sundown.
Jupiter is shown on the map where it rises in the east about midnight
or earlier. It will be bright and high in the south at dawn. Saturn will
be seen as a morning star in September, low in the east for a short while
before sunrise.
August 10-13: These are the mornings, from midnight on, to look
for the bright Perseid meteors. The morning of the 12th should be best.
August 17: Watch the moon slide from right to left past Jupiter to-
night, from rising (shortly before midnight) until dawn.
August 23: The slender crescent moon may help you see Saturn, just
to its left, about dawn this morning.
August 26-27: The crescent moon and Venus will make an attractive
pair in early twilight. On the 27th, binoculars or a small telescope will
help you find Mercury and Mars between the moon and Venus.
August 28: The moon occults, or covers, the bright star Spica for
nearly an hour between 5:20 and 7:20 p.m., EST.
September 5: Mercury and Venus are in conjunction at 11:00 p.m.,
EST. They will be very close during early twilight, before they set.
September 10: Venus is in conjunction with Mars.
September 13-14: Jupiter rises with the moon several hours after dark
on both nights, as the moon shifts from right to left below the planet.
September 19: Jupiter begins its retrograde, or westerly, motion.
Watch it move to the right relative to nearby Aldebaran, in Taurus, and
the Pleiades.
September 20: Saturn is near the moon this morning.
September 22: Autumn begins at 4:48 p.m., EST.
September 25: The moon is close to Venus early this evening.
October 7: Mercury is at greatest distance to the right of the sun,
well placed in the east before sunrise, from the 1st to the 15th.
October 1 1 : The moon will be very close to Jupiter tonight, moving
away after 8:00 p.m., EST.
if Hold the Star Map so the compass direction you face is at the bottom; then
match the stars in the lower half of the map with those in the sky near the horizon.
The map is for 12:20 a.m. on August 15; 11:20 p.m. on August 31; 10:20
P.M. on September 15; 9:15 p.m. on September 30; and 8:20 p.m. on October
15; but it can be used for an hour before and after those times.
92
''V*^^
'3-iun /
.^"^ T.sn^Hd^o
; ;' °%
^: CAPW^O^^"'/
PISCIS AUSTRINUS
For the fourth year, we invite you to
witness North America's greatest wild-
life spectacle:
The.Seals,
on the Icepack
Each year, in March, in Canada's Gulf
of St. Lawrence, hundreds of thou-
sands of seals end their southern mi-
gration and congregate on the ice-
pack, turning it into a huge natural
nursery as the females give birth to
their babies.
In March 1977, by using reliable heli-
copters, small groups of tourists will
again land on the icepack and see
this dramatic and incredibly beautiful
sight.
Also lor the tourth year, we oiler a
small, selected group ol intrepid
travelers the world's most challer\gir^g
tourist experience:
Greenland
Dog-sledging
Expedition
In April 1977, two weeks are spent on
Greenland's breathtaking West Coast
under the expert guidance of Major
Mike Banks, the leading Arctic ex-
plorer. Travel is by helicopter and
husky-drawn sledges.
Detailed brochures, and a report of
the 1973 Greenlar)d expedition, re-
printed from International Wildlife
Magazine, are available from:
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
55 WEST 42 STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10036
TELEPHONE (212) 354 6634
^BOOK HUNTING?-^
Virtually any book located — no matter how
old or long out-of-print Fiction, nonfiction.
All authors, sublects. Name the book — we'll
find Itl (Title alone Is sufflclent) Inquire,
please. Write: Oept. 66.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087
CATCH ANIMAU RAIDERSI
simple, safe HAVAHART traps catch raiding rabbits,
coons, squirrels, pigeons, sparrows, etc., without Injury.
Straying pets, poultry released unhurt. Fully assembled.
No Jaws or springs to break. Galvanized: many In use
20 years. Open ends give animal confidence. Sizes tor all
needs. Send 25c (or valuable Illustrated guide and price list.
HAVAHART, 158 Water St., Ossining, N.Y. 10562
Here's my 25c. Please send price list, trapping guide.
A Matter of Taste
by Raymond Sokolov
The Net Result
In Laos, different varieties
offish, spices, and
flavorings produce the ' 'taste ' '
of the culture
"If like myself, you take care to be
provided with oatmeal wherever you
go in the world, you will be able to
split open a Pa mak pang, coat it with
oatmeal and fry it thus in the Scots
fashion," writes Alan Davidson,
who is not kidding. He was her Bri-
tannic majesty's ambassador to Laos,
the Land of the White Elephant. He
is also an amateur ichthyologist and
an epicure of the highest order. And
during his tenure in Vientiane, his
Excellency learned everything there
is to know about the pa mak pang, a
shadlike species (Hilsa kanagurtd) of
the Mekong, as well as other edible
Laotian fish.
The main product of Davidson's
studious ichthyomania, of his evi-
dently ceaseless interrogations of
fishwives in Luang Prabang and chefs
at the Laotian palace, of his impas-
sioned lucubrations in the piscatorial
literature of Southeast Asia — the net
result, you might call it, of all this
research in a small but watery land —
is a remarkable book. Davidson's
Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos,
printed, but not widely distributed,
by the Imprimerie Nationale, Vien-
tiane, in 1975, will put plenty of
people to shame if it is ever published
here. (The copy I saw was imported
from Hong Kong by Sandra Faye
Carroll, a Berkeley-based food writer
who saw it in a bookstore and fell in
love with Davidson's genial mixture
of fish scholarship, anthropology,
and culinary precision.)
For the first time, a native English
speaker has translated the cuisine of
a culturally remote country into us-
able language. This ought to have
been one of the goals of anthro-
pologists, who have spent so much
energy and grant money cataloging
other aspects of the material culture
of distant peoples: their techniques
for building homes or making up their
faces. But there has been almost no
anthropological field work done on
cooking, although recipes are ob-
viously significant artifacts of more
than technical interest. They could
even be used to reproduce the ' 'taste' '
of an exotic culture on home soil.
They are documents of universal ap-
peal. They are dinner.
Food writers have also snubbed
most of the world's cooks. Up until
now, most foreign cookbooks (nota-
ble exceptions deal with western
Europe, Hungary, Morocco, and
Mexico) have generally been slapped
together by writers who did not set
down reproducible recipes, did not
take care to identify unfamiliar ingre-
dients so that a neophyte could lay his
hands on them with certainty, and fi-
nally, did not set the food in context
by explaining its place in the life and
folklore of the people who normally
ate it.
Ambassador Davidson has the ad-
vantage of a scientific bent and a com-
pendious subject. He can cover a
great many fish in close detail in a
short space. And even if one never
goes to Laos or hopes to, it is some-
how life-enhancing to know, for in-
stance, that the giant catfish pa beuk
{Pangasianodon gigas) tips the scales
at almost 700 pounds and may be the
heaviest freshwater fish still catchable
in the world's ever more fished-out
rivers and lakes. It tastes like veal (so
does sturgeon when sauteed in thin
steaks). Its eggs, when salted, make
a reddish caviar eaten on rice cakes
at Luang Prabang.
94
The American Museum of Natural History presents the
ERIC SLOANE COLLECTION
of beautiful, hardcover editions for Aiiiericaoa-philes
who feel it's not only noslalj^ic — but important to remember.
ERIC SLOANE... Historian,
artist. In his research, Eric
Sloane develops "a strong
affinity for the man" who
made the actual objects of
early America. He recreates
for future generations the
craftsmanship and artistry
that is part of our country's
memories and traditions.
A. I Remember America
An outspoken defense of our
natural and national heritage by
one who passionately remembers
the American landscape as it used
to be. Eric Sloane's recollections
(illus. by 37 color paintings, 80
drawings) carry his hopes for
rebirth of our country in the future.
$24.00
B. The Seasons of America Past
A year-full of past American seasons
from planting to growing to fence-
building to stump-pulling to strawberry
celebrations. Each phase of the moon
had its own seasonal meanings, too.
Brings life back-to-our-roots, helped by
the author's pen-and-ink drawings and
4 color pages. $9.00
C. American Yesterday
The author explores the craftsmanship
of bygone sawyers, nailers, plum-
bummen, wheelwrights, drovers,
dowsers. Sloane's extraordinary anec-
dotes and highly skilled drawings are
so relevant, they should evoke a deep
call for the quality of workmanship of
yesteryear. $8.50
D. American Barns and
Covered Bridges
Mr. Sloane resourcefully sketches with
both pen and words, America's fast-
vanishing barns and covered bridges.
Cannibalized for their fine old beams,
they're preserved here just as the pio-
neers built them, in drawings and
descriptions of uncommon skill. $8.50
Order Now to Expand your Bicentennial Library !
AMERICAN MUSEUM MEMBERS,
PLEASE TAKE 10% DISCOUNT.
E. The Cracker Barrel
Fifty-four views of American life that
might have come from around a pot-
bellied stove. Told with charm, illus.
with line drawings that are droll, sage,
even wicked. Subjects include hex
signs, divining rods, rebus puzzles,
language origins, apple butter. $1 1 .00
F. Diary of an Early
American Boy
The small leather-bound, wood-backed
book found in an ancient house, the
diary of Noah Blake in his fifteenth
year in 1805, is here reproduced and
augmented by Sloane's comments and
pen-and-ink drawings about Noah's
nail-making, shingle-splitting, bridge-
building and ink-making. $9.00
G. AN AGE OF BARNS $17.00
H. RETURN TO TAOS $9.00
I. LOOK AT THE SKY AND TELL THE WEATHER $10.00
J. OUR VANISHING LANDSCAPE $8.50
K. THE SECOND BARREL $9.00
L. A MUSEUM OF EARLY AMERICAN TOOLS $9.00
M. A REVERENCE FOR WOOD $9.00
NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
Dept. B813, Box 5123,
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
THC
^MeRic/in
Wf£.W\ Of
Please send me the books I have
circled for which I enclose my
personal check or money order
for $ ALLOW 4-6 WKS. FOR DELIVER'
A. B.
D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K. L. M
(please print)
ADDRESS
.STATE.
-ZIP.
Prices include Dostaae and handling.
%e
Qentlemaiis
Jean
by the
Cliesapeake ^ay
Trading Co.
J pan
of jeans with (he look i
the styling that's become so
popular today. Our jeans
are specifically designed for
the adult figure and you wiU
find them comfortable the
instant you put them on.
They are made of very soft
pre-shrunk polyester and
The
dry
machine wash
r need ironing. From the golf c
I back yard barbecue, you will be at
jur new gentleman's jeans. $l69s pp.
Special Offer: Buy two pair and save.
Simply deduct $1.00 for each additional pair
n«n yo" order. — .^^
I Cliesapeakg'^ay Trading Ca%
■ P.O. Box 5879, Pikesville, Md. 21208
Colors* '-'^ni'" h\\ie, faded blue, camel,
■ ■ white, natural, brown
Sizes: 30, 31, 32, 33, 34,36, 38, 40, 42
Prs. Size Length
Name
Address
I' City _
CheckD
ICard#
lnterBank#
Color _
State
Zip_
Charge; MasterchargeD BankAmericardD
. Exp. Date_
■ Signature 1
■D Send me free brochure, NH81 I
THE NEW SUPER-SIZE
SCHOOLBAG
FROM DENMARK
More pockets, zippers, flaps and compartments
make this sturdy classic the best all-purpose
bag ever. Terrifically functional with a great
casual look. A favorite of models, photogra-
phers, artists, students, musicians, dancers,
opera singers, nuns, poets, duck hunters, cy-
clists, plumbers, teachers, filmmakers, pilots,
architects, doctors, reporters and travelers be-
cause there's always a place to stuff one more
thing. A new zippered pleat can expand this
improved version to double the normal width
-now a full 15Vi" x 13" x 8". Perfect carry-on
flight bag. Adjustable shoulder strap, in
squashy gray, chocolate brown or bright Da-
nish blue waterproof canvas. $27.50.
(plus $1 .50 shipping). N.Y. res. add tax. Canada
add $2.00. Send to Dept. NH-8.
THE CHOCOLATE SOUP
249 East 77th Street New York 10021
With Davidson, we are always
rooted in the savory realities of rec-
ipe, place, time, and custom. He does
not merely state that pa kheng
{Anabas testudineus) is a climbing
perch that can walk and even climb
out of water. He quotes an early de-
scription from a classic work and then
adds: "One does not often find a fish
up a tree (although it happens in Cam-
bodia that, when the waters subside
in the forests which are flooded an-
nually some poor fish are caught in
the upper branches of trees, whence
fishermen can pluck them like fruit);
and Anabas itself normally chooses
to scale less dramatic heights." We
then learn that, despite its bones, the
Anabas is an important food fish,
which is usually grilled or, for an ele-
gant fish "tartare," you may follow
directions from the Laotian Escoifier,
Phia Sing, a polymath and chef,
whose cahiers were lent by his widow
and the crown prince of Laos to Da-
vidson.
Phia Sing's recipe uses every part
of the fish, as well as a most elaborate
concoction of sauces, fumet, and
herbs, of chili, ginger, and pounded
eggplant. Indeed, Laotian fish cook-
ery generally reflects the sophistica-
tion common to Thailand and Indone-
sia in the area of herbs and spices.
The food is hot, but that hotness is
skillfully varied with such flavorings
as lemongrass, galingale, and Kaffir
lime leaves (technically Citrus hys-
trix). These oddments are now avail-
able in New York and through the
mail (see below). So it is possible to
cook a la laotienne, especially if you
have access to perch or catfish.
True, the difference in taste and
texture between American and Lao-
tian fish is probably noticeable, or
would be if we could ever arrange for
a blind tasting of fresh samples of
both strains prepared in identical
ways. This will not happen, I think,
and so I will simply make the neces-
sary substitutions, just as I do with
sole (lemon for Dover) or bass
(striped for loup de mer). At least,
one can use the method of the country
of origin. The difference is usually
not unpleasant or a serious clash with
authenticity.
These differences of taste between
different varieties of similar fish and
shellfish are one of the rewards of gas-
tronomic travel. Fish change with the
landscape while meat stays the same.
I defy you to distinguish a pork chop
raised in New York State from a pork
chop fattened in Italy. A pig is a pig
DESTINATION CEYLON
Delight in Sri Lanka's 2500-year-old an-
tiquities, hill stations, beaches. 26 deluxe
days; escorted departures. Sept. & Feb.
Free brochure "H":
CEYLON (SRI LANKA)TOURIST BOARD
- 609 Filth Ave., N.Y. 10017 • (212) 935-0369 .
HEART CHECK KIT
NATURE ON STAMPS
The BIRDS & the BEES & the ANIMAL KINGDOM
on GENUINE POSTAGE STAMPS.
^
SAMPLES & APPROVALS-SI
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Mil Med Stamps
P.O. BOX 297-1
AURORA, CO. 80010
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 30 TO 90 DAYS
Wanted: Book manuscripts in all fields. Expert
editing, design, manufacture, and marketing —
all under one roof. Two FREE books (over
270 pages) give complete details.
Write or ptione Dept : 779D,
EXPOSITION PRESS, Hicksville, N.Y. 11801
(516) 822-5700. Southern ONIce: (305) 722-1040
Take a
magical
journey
through
inner
space!
"Ice caves; sandstone caves;
loess caves; calcite grottoes
and deep well-like 'cenotes';
blue-lit glacier tunnels; cave
bats and eyeless cave fish;
stalactites and stalagmites of
every conceivable size and
shape— a handsome and invit-
ing armchair spelunl<er's guide
to the subterranean world, liter-
ally from China to Peru."
—Kirkus Reviews. 9"x12'/b".
140 spectacular full-color plates.
THE WORLD
OF CAVES
ByA.C.Waltham
At bookstores, or send check
or money order for $12.95,
plus 50(8 postage & handling, to:
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
200 Madison Ave., N.Y. 10016
96
^ for executives and professional people ^
LOANS by MAIL
Any Amount
Desired to —
Personal, private. No security requtrod.
signature only. All details arranged rapidly by
mail. Reasonable rates. Please mail coupon for
information, No oblifjatic
$10,000
'^C. E. Wilson. Vice President
POSTAL THRIFT LOANS, INC., Dept. 82-1
703 Douglas St., Sioux City, Iowa 51102
I Please send complete information in plain envelope. I
Name^
I Add
Address-
iffihate of The St. Paul Companies, Inc
=J
NEW COLOR POUIHWUWplus T}^
Illustrated Catalog $1.00 ,l^t
DOVER SCIENTIFIC ^.Sr*
Box 6011 C Long Island City, N.Y, 11106 •'J» «
MURPHY'S LAWS!
Incomparable "scientific" wit. Colorfully
lithographed on 8" x 10" heavy Parchtext
for framing. A great business or personal
gift! Only $3 (4/$10). Four Corners
Press, Dept. NHA, Hanover, Mass.
02339.
ROAM THE WORLD BY FREIGHTER
Deluxe Accommodations
Cheaper than Staying Home'
TravLlips Freighter Association
163-09 NH-1 Depot Rd.. Flultllng. NY 11358
out of print,scarce. rare NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
^ Botany, Zoologv,
lie^ Orchidology.
milhology. Enlomolopy.
Ichthyology,
Herprtolop.clr.
CATALOGUE AVAILABLE, $1.00
19 Oilofd Place/Roclwille Ontre, New Vert IISTO
oneness
A subtle Imk.ng of
3V man's religious symbols,
delicately wedded to-
gether by the artisan.
i 14K with Z4' chain $37.50
i Sterling Silver $16.75
ISAAC SOLTES DESIGN NH
1923 S.McPherrm Ave.
5 MontereyPark. Calif. 91754
I CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ADO i% SALES TAX
Q Clieck or Money Ofder/Money-back Guarantee
i.s a pig (unless he is specially fed for
prosciulto — but let that be). A
salmon, on the other hand, pulled
from Puget Sound in the spring and
served in Seattle (preferably barbe-
cued Indian-style with alder wood)
tastes different from Scotch salmon or
Alaskan or Scandinavian. Oysters
from different spots on the Atlantic
coast taste different from each other.
Give me Chincoteagues every time,
although I will gladly eat any old
Bluepoint before downing one of
those wretchedly bland west coast
oysters.
Why should these undeniable vari-
ations occur? You may have already
come up with a handful of explana-
tions; different food sources, water
temperatures, spawning opportu-
nities. In other words, fish lead varied
lives. Their environments differ.
They are free of human management.
Or, as D.G. Ginellyof the University
of Kentucky put it in Thailand. In-
land Fisheries: An Overview (quoted
by Davidson): "Nearly all commer-
cially important fish species are wild
animals about which very little is
known." Ginelly sees this as a disad-
vantage. He is thinking about fish as
a protein source for a protein-hungry
world. He, like other planners, would
like to know why the crucially impor-
tant giant herds of anchovy off the
coast of Peru vanished anomalously
not long ago and then came back in
droves. This disappearing act left the
producers of animal feed disastrously
short of fish meal and helped to jack
up the price of feed grains during the
food-price crisis we have just weath-
ered. The Dungeness crab has just
made a similar comeback. We may
hope that the apparently depleted
haddock will follow suit.
Rapacious industrial fishing has al-
ready created scarcities of several
species and has turned the once heroic
life of the fisherman into an agribusi-
ness of the sea. Waterborne factories
are hunting down the diminishing
cod, whose shortage provoked a dip-
lomatic "war" over fishing rights in
the North Sea. Meanwhile, in the Pa-
cific, tuna fishermen are at logger-
heads with conservation groups over
how their particular fish hunt should
be run. It transpires that the tuna fish-
ermen want to continue to find tuna
by following bellwether porpoises
whose habit is to follow schools of
prized yellowfin tuna. Conservation-
ists claim that this dodge led to the
"wanton slaughter" of 130, OCX) por-
poises accidentally netted last year.
The Horchow Collection Christmas
Catalogues give you the pleasure
of unhurried, unharried Christmas
shopping at home with exclusive,
exciting and imaginative selections
of gifts from the practical to the luxe
For your copies, at NO CHARGE,
call toll-free 800-327-8912 (in Florida,
800-432-5024) or mail this coupon to
PC Box 34257, Dept 04015,
Dallas, Texas 75234
NAIvIE
ADDRESS—
CITY STATE ZIP
THE
HOROOV
(DILEaiON
Winner of the
JOHN BURROUGHS MEDAL
tordistinguished writitrg in
the field of Natural Science
RUN,
RIVER,
RUN
A Naturalist's journey
Down One of the Great
Rivers of the West
byAnnZwinger
"A fascinating picture of a
magnificent western river,
the Green River, still fighting
for its own freedom."— Ha/
Borland. Illustrated, $10.95
at bookstores.
, . \Harper&)Row
U ItOB SJrdSI NeitY'-
97
With this kind of fishlust on the
high seas (and mariculture on an in-
dustrial scale already a fact of life
even offshore of desolate French
Guiana), you would think that we
consumers were all as gung ho for
fish as Ambassador Davidson and
SouvannaPhouma. In reality, Ameri-
cans dislike fish. They certainly will
not, for the most part, touch eel, lam-
prey, or sea urchin eggs. All three —
considered delicacies in France and
other civilized places — thrive in
American waters. Lampreys threaten
whitefish in the Great Lakes. If only
Michiganders would eat lampreys (a
la bordelaise, in red wine), they
would turn adversity into pleasure.
But the irony of fishing in America
goes well beyond such marginal con-
cerns. We are a nation fixated on red
meat. We hold our noses at fish. In
most places, specialized fish markets
no longer exist. And supermarkets,
when they sell fish at all , sell it frozen
and cut into ugly little fillets made as
unfishlike as possible.
Should you, nevertheless, come
upon a passel of refrigerated but un-
frozen whole fish, you can tell if they
are fresh enough to take home by
checking to see that the eyes are clear
and bright, the gills red, the scales
shiny and tight to the skin, and the
flesh resilient to the touch and without
a strong smell.
This is James Beard's standard
operating procedure for buying any
kind of fish. It guards against every-
thing but pollution, about which we
can only cry out in dismay and hope
for the best. As a further sign of our
faith and fervor for fish, we might
also carry oatmeal everywhere and/or
follow the custom of Lao women who
wear the severed poisonous tail spine
of the stingray (pa fa lai) in their hair
as a "prophylactic against the Phi
pop, or malign spirit."
Ken Som Pa
The fish soup of Laos, slightly
adapted from Alan Davidson's
Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos.
1 pound fresh fish (pa kho, the snake-
head, is best, but any respectable
freshwater fish will do)
2 or 3 stalks fresh, or 1 tablespoon
dried, lemongrass (citronella)
Vi teaspoon salt
V2 teaspoon MSG (optional)
2 tablespoons nam pa (bottled Thai or
other Southeast Asian fish sauce,
such as nuoc mam from Vietnam)
1 large or 2 small tomatoes, quartered
3 scallions, both white and green por-
tions sliced in thin rounds
2 tablespoons chopped coriander (ci-
lantro or Chinese parsley)
Juice of V2 lime
1. Clean, scale, and wash your pa
kho or other fish. Cut it into sec-
tions about one inch thick.
2. Crush the lemongrass stalks (or
simply measure out the dried lem-
ongrass) and combine with salt,
MSG (if used), and 3 cups of
water in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and
siimner for 10 minutes.
3. Add the fish sections and the nam
pa to the lemongrass broth. Return
to the boil, add tomato quarters,
reduce heat, and simmer gently
for 10 to 15 minutes uncovered.
4 . Take the soup off the fire . Remove
and discard the lemongrass stalks
(it is not possible to remove the
dried lemongrass fragments
unless you take the precaution of
tying them up in a cheesecloth bag
before immersion, this is perhaps
an excessive refinement).
Christmas Cards
in full c.
life pfiott
Wishes'-
Swahili.
envelope
Notelets
Ten different selected Society cards
olour by top East African wild-
jgraphers. "Greetings and Best
printed inside, in English and
Size 4x6 in. with matching
. Air post tt packing incl.$4.50 I
[Rush Order by AIRk.[
stud
lion, leopard, elephant, impel
buck by wildlife painte
Forty-eight sheets 8x3i in
lith matching envelopes,
giraffe,
ila and bush-
Philip Lasz.
mfine bond,
n gift box.
Air post &■ packing inci S9,50
To East African Wild Life Society
Box 20110 Nairobi, Kenya
Name _^_
Address
1977 Calendar
Twelve pages in full colour by Eas.t
Africa's leading wildlife photographers-
this is one of the best calendars ever
produced by the Society. Size 8Jx1 1^ in.
Clearance under the metal rim makes it
easy to cut out for f.aming. Air post &
packing incl. $4.50
Please send ^^
I enclose — —
cheque/ cash for
Calendars $4.50
Boxes of Notelets $9.50
Christmas Card sets $4.50
or charge
D DINERS CLUB.
D BARCLAYCARD
D AMERICAN EXPRESS
5. Garnish soup with scaliion and
chopped coriander.
6. Put a lew drops of lime juice in
each soup plate. Pour the soup in,
making sure that each plate re-
ceives its share of lish, tomato,
scaliion, and other solid ingre-
dients. Stir and eat.
Note: Davidson does not indicate
how many people he serves with this
quantity of soup. My own feeling is
that four people will fare quite well
with the amount indicated if a full
meal is to follow. The exotic ingre-
dients were all available at Thailand
Food Corporation, 2445 Broadway,
New York. In other cities, a Thai or
Indonesian restaurant should be a
useful source. Filipino markets sell
fish sauce under the name patis. Dried
spices can be ordered by mail from
H. Roth and Son, 1577 First Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10028.
Variations
1. In the south of Laos, tamarind
leaves or pulp are often added when
hhe cooking is nearly finished. If you
[do this, do not put lime juice in the
[soup plates.
2. At Luang Prabang, and in the
Isouth, too, chunks of pineapple core
f may be used instead of tomato quar-
ters. This is very economical. The
rest of the pineapple will serve as des-
sert. But the core has relatively little
flavor; I recommend the modest ex-
travagance of using some of the pine-
apple flesh in the soup. Another expe-
dient, useful when tomatoes are not
at their best and mangoes are in sea-
son, is to substitute pieces of green
mango for the tomato.
3 . Those who like fiery dishes will
add to this soup whatever quantity
suits them of freshly ground chili.
4. Some Lao cooks add to the
water, along with the crushed lemon-
grass stalks, one or two "fingers" of
fresh ginger and half a dozen slices
of galingale root (sold in the United
States as "laos"), both of which have
previously been roasted in the oven
or over charcoal. These are later dis-
carded with the lemongrass, but they
leave behind them a subtle flavor,
which does not overpower the soup
but greatly enhances it. I warmly rec-
ommend this variation, worth execut-
ing with the ginger alone if galingale
is not at hand.
Raymond Sokolov's most recent
cookbook is The Saucier's Appren-
tice, a guide to French sauces.
...the ideal way to buy
your presents from
The Metropolitan Museum
rivery three months — four times a year— the Museum will announce
by mail remarkable new replicas — exact copies of Museum originals:
sculpture, decorative objects, tableware, and ornaments.
^•S^ The variety will be extraordinary: ancient jewelry in gold and sil-
ver; Oriental and European porcelain; early American glass in crystal
and rare colors; bronze from Egypt, Greece, China, and the medieval
world; silver, pewter, brass, and pottery from Colonial America.
)il. These copies, often produced by the same techniques used for
the originals, are made by artist-craftsmen working under the Mu-
seum's direct supervision. The care taken in production frequently
limits the quantity, and the majority of replicas can be bought only by
mail or at the Museum. (Above: Hippopotamus, brilliant blue faience
decorated with lotus flowers. Length S", $19.75 plus $1.25 shipping.)
"hi, To receive all of the advance announcements to be issued during
the next year, send the coupon below with one dollar to cover mailing.
'hi' On September 1, you will receive the first of these, the 116-page Christmas
Catalogue. A brilliant array of new presents includes jewelry with scarabs of
lapis lazuli and rock crystal; a medieval ivory hand mirror; early American
flowerpots; igth-century glass in emerald, canary yellow and peacock blue;
a silver brandy warmer and cordial tumblers; a rare French coffee cup; a
quiche dish; art nouveau placemats; stars, snowflakes, hearts, bells and a
treetop ornament in gold and silver; a silk scarf with Chinese butterflies and
another with flowers from a Persian garden; a collection of Museum needle-
work patterns and a new cookbook. To the Queen's Taste. In addition, there
is an unparalleled selection of Christmas cards.
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
255 Gracie Station, New York 10028 kh6
Please send me all advance announcements and catalogues of replicas to be
issued by the Museum during the next 12 months. One dollar to cover mail-
ing costs is enclosed.
ADDRESS-
99
Books in Review
Creatures from the Primordial Seas
Trilobites: A Photographic
Atlas, by Riccardo Levi-Setti. Uni-
versity of Chicago Press, $27.50; 213
pp., illus.
Fewer than 10 percent of all known
forms of life inhabit the marine envi-
ronment. This statistic surely reflects
the fact that we ourselves are land-liv-
ing creatures, biased in our interests
and modes of perception. It is far eas-
ier for us to trap mammals and fruit
files than to sample the mollusks and
ophiuroids living on the floor of the
abyss. Yet the statistic is probably on
the right order of magnitude; despite
our still -primitive deep-sea sledges,
dredges, and underwater photo-
graphic techniques, there really do
seem to be fewer kinds of marine than
terrestrial organisms.
On the other side of the coin, of the
twenty-three or so known animal
phyla, only three (arthropods, mol-
lusks, and chordates) have fully ter-
restrial members; all of the rest of the
phyla are restricted to moist, if not
entirely aquatic, environments — and
most of them are restricted to marine
habitats. The oceans are rich in terms
of the variety of major groups of ani-
mals, but relatively poor in species.
Most of us do not live near the sea.
Those of us who do may be familiar
with some of the invertebrates in the
intertidal habitats — rocky intertidal,
quartz sand beaches, and intertidal
mudflats. Skin divers may learn what
the shallow subtidal fauna is like,
fishermen haphazardly examine life
in the deeper waters of the continental
shelf, but only the biological ocean-
ographer can get a glimpse of life off
the shelf — down the continental
slope, on the abyssal floor, and in the
deep oceanic trenches.
Yet we are all basically familiar
with the many forms of oceanic life.
Phacops rana crassituberculata
by Niles Eldredge
Even living far from the sea, most of
us know what oysters and crabs look
like. We know about them from sea-
food markets, textbooks, and picture
books. And shell shops have distrib-
uted hundreds of thousands of speci-
mens into the hands of collectors.
Readers of Stephen Jay Gould's
column in this issue will learn about,
or be reminded of, the antiquity of the
invertebrate biota of the world's oce-
anic system. Almost since its incep-
tion some 600 million years ago, the
basic flavor of multicellular animal
life in marine environments has re-
mained essentially the same. The
Easily the
most beautiful
Kodak movie
projectoryet.
Kodak
Moviedeck
projector
Model 455
The beauty of a Kodak Moviedeck |
Crojector is more than skin-deep—
ecause it's beautifully easy to use.
Its design features make a Kodak
Moviedeck projector better looking,
dependable and easy to use. simulated projection.
Just study its features— it shows
both super 8 and 8 mm movies, and has automatic threading
and instant replay. There's even a special pull-out viewing screen
available on three models that gives you the option of looking
at your movies without setting up a big screen or turning off the
room lights. Features that make a Kodak Moviedeck projector
beautifully easy— any way you look at it.
Model 455 shown, less than $220. Other models, from less
than $120. See them at your photo dealer's now.
Kodak Moviedeck®projectors
Prices are subject to change without notice.
Ampyxina bellatula
constituent species have changed, to
be sure. And some major groups have
disappeared along the way, while
new ones have appeared. Advanced
crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters
are now with us, while their more
primitive arthropod cousins, the tri-
lobites, are totally gone — unless one
day we dredge one up from some
deep-sea trench, a fantasy still lurk-
ing in the back of the minds of some
paleontologists and marine biologists
I know. But the basic pattern has re-
mained the same: all the phyla we
now find in the oceans were present
in the Cambrian.
But how do we flesh out a mental
picture of these long-gone denizens
of the deep? Are we to be satisfied
with a mere enumeration of species
in Cambrian and younger seas?
What, exactly, is a brachiopod or a
ttilobite?
In a way, we can actually examine
the remnants of ancient marine life
more easily than we can experience
the ins and outs of modern marine
life. Fossils abound by the trillions all
over the continent. Almost every
state in the union has produced
Bushnell's unique Insta-Focus lets you get a clean,
sharp view instantly. And Bushnell's superior optics
give you every feather and feature in a clean
definition.
Bushnell binoculars are the perfect binoculars for
birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts. Good for any
other fast-moving action, too.That's probably why
they are the number one selling binoculars in
America. See them at department stores, camera
and sporting goods stores everywhere. For a free
catalog write: Bushnell Optical Company, Dept.
NHIO. Pasadena, California 91107.
Photo by Don Bleilz
Bushnell
Division of Bausch & Lomb
the hmovators?
Offices in Tol<yo, Vancouver B.C. and dealers the world oven
The No. 1 Compact- Portable Telescope
Cdestrxm'
Among serious amateur astronomers where
the requirement is observatory-size optics phis
carrying-case portability . . .
Among professional astronomers where the
requirement is the sharpest possible images over
the widest flat field . . .
Among casual observers and educators where
the requirement is usability and versatility at a
reasonable price . . .
Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes ai'e
Number One the world over.
For three reasons :
The Celestron 5. A tabletop observatory for
observing or photographing the surface features of
Mars or the ever-changing belt structure of Jupiter
at up to 300X. It weighs 12 lbs. and swings down
to 7" X 8" X 16". (Base price: $595)
The Celestron 8. A suitcase observatory for
inspecting the intricate filamentary detail of
deep-sky nebulae or the central regions of globular
clusters at up to 500X. It weighs 23 lbs. and
swings down to 9" x 12" x 22". (Base price: $790)
The Celestron 14. World's largest one-man
portable, for studying the delicate contrast levels
of the planetary nebulae or the spirals of remote
galaxies. It swings down to 18" x 22" x 44" and
its 40-lb. components travel in two carrying cases.
(Base price: $3,750)
Ask for our free color catalog. It shows why
we're Number One. And still growing.
The Celestron 5,
with automatic star locator
and electric tracker, set up
for tabletop astronomy.
Top to bottom: Saturn, Celestron
lit photo; Lunar craters and Orion
Nebula, both Celestron 8 photos.
Celestron Pacific
2835 Columbia • Box 3578-NC
Torrance, CA 90503
Telephone (213) 328-9560
World's Leading Manufacturer
of Compact-Portable Telescopes
and Deep-Space Cameras
A magazine about
the world's richest history
BritishHistor^
WHERE ELSE CAN YOU —
Cast spells with the
Druids— Fight with the
Saxons— Sail with Drake-
Romance with Nell Gwynn
—Argue with Shaw— Battle
with Montcalm and Wolfe at
Quebec— Join the high
command at Waterloo, Blen-
heim, Trafalgar, and Gallipoli—
settle a continent "down under"—
discover a new world— Build an empire
that will become a great commonwealth
of nations
—all In the comfort of
your own home?
You can with British History Illustrated,
the new bimonthly magazine devoted
to the entire span of the 2,000-year
past of a great people. In the words of
outstanding historians from many
English-speaking nations, and in the
images of drawings, paintings, and
photographs from around the world, you
will see the stories of the great men
and women of country and common-
wealth come to life.
m
BRITISH HISTORY ILLUSTRATED
Subscription Service Center
3300 Walnut Street
Boulder, Colorado 80302
Please enroll me as a subscriber to British
History Illustrated at the introductory rate of
only $7.50 (enclosed), saving me $1.50 over
the cover price of $1.50 per issue, and send
me the next six bi-monthly issues of the
magazine. I understand that if the first issue
does not live up to my expectations, I may can-
cel this subscription without further obligation.
Name
D Payment enclosed D Bill me
This new, completely revised and
updated edition separates fact from
fiction for all the species that have
been considered a threat to man,
and some others that have not been
regarded as dangerous but indeed
are. It is an essential and engaging
book for anyone at all concerned
with global wildlife.
"An excellent survey . . . Some
animal dangers are real, some
imagined, and Roger Caras has set
the record straight with a well-
balanced, well-researched report."
-DESMOND fVIORRIS
"Every hiker, camper or summer
vacationer should read it."
-HAL BORLAND
"Brilliant ... he treats in depth all
the creatures that bite, sting, poison
or electrocute . . . should be on the
bookshelf of every naturalist,
amateur or professional."
-GERALD DURRELL
"There is nothing, as far as I know,
to match its encyclopedic account
of animal dangers, both real and
fancied." -isaac asimov
"A well-researched, comprehensive
work by a skilled wildlife writer. It
combines story interest with
reference value." -victor scheffer
Holt, Rinehart & Winston
marine fossils. The limestone quar-
ries, roadside outcrops, stream
banks, and railroad cuts of the Ameri-
can Midwest everywhere expose
rocks formed from the hardened bot-
tom sediments of ancient seaways
that periodically inundated our conti-
nent. The skeletons of countless orga-
nisms are lying in these rocks, and
pretty much in their original condi-
tion, just where they were left mil-
lions of years ago. However, rela-
tively few books on fossils are avail-
able that are comparable in scope and
grandeur to some of the magnificent
photographic atlases of living inver-
tebrates (particularly mollusks). Now
at last we have a book that reveals in
exquisite detail and admirable depth
the nature of what, to my prejudiced
mind, is the most fascinating of all
forms of ancient life: thetrilobites. In
158 beautiful photographic plates,
Levi-Setti has produced a work of in-
trinsic esthetic charm and valuable in-
formation. I use this book not only
for my own enjoyment but, even
more, to convey to friends what I ac-
tually do for a living.
The classification adopted in the
book is unconventional. Developed
recently by Jan Bergstrom of Lund,
Sweden, the classification contains so
many debatable points, as yet not
fully thrashed out by the scientific
community, that its use in this book
is premature. My other reservation is
the heavy coverage accorded the most
common United States genera and
species: Elrathia kingii, Phacops
rana, and the various virtually identi-
cal species of Flexicalymene are over-
represented, although Levi-Setti
points out that perhaps they deserve
such emphasis merely because they
are so common. I would have pre-
ferred to see more of the rarer ele-
ments of the trilobite fauna.
Trilobites appeared early in the
Cambrian, and breathed their last
sometime in the Upper Permian pe-
riod. Thus the Paleozoic era, nearly
400 million years in duration, can vir-
tually be defined in terms of the strati-
graphic range of the class Trilobita.
This extraordinary group of primitive
arthropods deserves wider appreci-
ation, and I can think of no better way
to find out more about them than to
purchase a copy of this book, open it
up, and just drink in page after page
of pure trilobites.
Niles Eldredge is associate curator of
invertebrate paleontology at The
American Museum.
I
104
Get all the facts on all the
species...plus the heavenly
bodies...even the rocks!
Explode 2000 years of myths
about animal behavior-
Discover the new frontiers
of outer space...and the
fantastic worlds we are
beginning to see!
Walk with a
great naturalist
all the way from
Kentucky to Florida..
Come adventuring. All the worlds of man and nature await you in the
Natural Science Book Club
(Publishers' Pntc^shuwll)
84210. THIS LIVING REEF. Douglas Faulkner One
of the South Pacific's most beautiful island chains
120 pages of glorious six-color pictures -all with
detailed fascinating commentaries. Counts as 2 of your
S books. $25.00
57026. JOHN MUIR'S LONGEST WALK: John
Earl, a Photographer, Traces His Journey lo Florida.
Over 70 full-color photographs. Counls as 2 oj your i
books. $30.00
85090. THE LNWERSE. Lloyd M 012. Examines the
origin, evolution, and future of the universe $15.00
87195. WILD CATS OF THE WORLD. CAW
Guggisburg. Definitive natural histories of each of the
37speciesofwildcats $15.95
78260. SHARKS AND SHIPWRECKS. Hugh Ed-
wards. A captivating look into the mysterious waters
off Australia where the great white shark and sunken
treasure abound. Well illustrated, $12.50
69330. PLANETS, STARS, AND GALAXIES.
Fourth Edition. Siuart J Inglts. Readable, nontechni-
cal account of just about everything astronomers
know or theorize about the solar system, the Milky
Way, and the universe. $14.95
85820. VENOMOUS ANIMALS OF THE
WORLD. Roger Caras. From the common honeybee
and ant to such creatures as the black widow spider.
Countsas2ofyour Sbooks. $25.00
77620. THE SECRET LIFE OF ANIMALS. Lorus
and Margery Milne and Franklin Russell. Lavishly
illustrated account of the dramatic discoveries recently
made about the behavior of animals. Over 300 full-
color photographs. Counisas 2 oj your 3 books. $29.95
34515. ARTIFACTS OF PREHISTORIC AMER-
ICA. Louis A. Brennan. Handy guide to the identifica-
tion of over 500 types of stoneage artifacts $14.95
38900. A CLOSER LOOK. Miehael A. Godfrey A
graceful, lyrical account of doorstep ecology — those
remarkable life processes near at hand. 46 full-color
photographs. $14.95
48630. THE FIRST GREAT CIVILIZATIONS.
Jaiquetia Hawkes. llluminatmg view of life in ancient
Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and tgypt $12.50
32990 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATU-
RAL HISTORY GUIDE TO SHELLS. William K
Emerson and Morris K JuLobson The first definitive
guide for shell collectors 80 pages of photos. $15.00
73530 THE REBIRTH OF COSMOLOGY. Jatiiues
Merk'uu Ponry and Bruno Morando. Siory of IhcOrccii,
classical, and astroplu-sical ages of the study of the
origin and structure of the universe $12.50
Take any 3 books
(values to $55.95)
for only 99^each
If you will join now for a trial period and
agree to take 3 more bool(s— at handsome
discounts— over the next 12 months.
86125. WATCHING SEA BIRDS. RiLhard Perry
Detailed account of the gulls, auks, gannets, and
skuas of two tiny British islands, Lundy and Noss
$10.95
36395. BLACK HOLES, QUASARS AND THE
UNIVERSE. Henry L Shipman. An absorbing
exploration of the frontiers of astronomy $12.95
48470. FIELDBOOK OF NATURAL HISTORY.
By E. Laurence Palmer and H. Seymour Fowler The
most authoritative and comprehensive guide to natu-
ral history available $19.95
41560. DANGEROUS TO MAN. Completely Re-
vised Edition. Roger A. Caras. The whole story of
dangerous creatures, most of which are not lethal. 100
photographs. $14.95
62630. THE MILKY WAY. Fourth Edition. Ban Bok
andPriseilla Bok. A thoroughly updated and expanded
edition of the most popular book on our galaxy. Over
1 25 pictures, charts and diagrams. $15.00
How the Club Operates • The Book Club News,
describing the coming Main Selection and Alter-
nate Selections, will be sent to you 1 5 times a year
at 3-4 week intervals. • If you wish to purchase the
Main Selection, do nothing and it will be shipped
10 you automatically. • If you prefer one of the
Alternates, or no books at all, simply indicate your
decision on the reply form always enclosed with
the News and mail it so that we receive it by the
date specified. • The News is mailed in time to
allow you at least 10 days to decide if you want the
coming Main Selection. If, because of late mail
delivery of the News, you should ever receive a
Main Selection without having had the 10 day
consideration period, that Selection may be re-
turned at Club expense. • Continued member-
ship past the trial period brings you the added ben-
efits of our Bonus Book Plan — an important way
to save more, at least 70% off publishers' prices.
34720. ATLAS OF ANCIENT ARCHAEOLOGY.
Edited by JuiQuena Hawkes lnternationall> renowned
an:haeoiog>sts highlight 170 major si es throughout
the world. $19.50
78680. SNAKES OF THE AMERICAN WEST.
Charles E Shai\ and Sheldon Campbell. Every known
fact — from habits and habitats, to their appearances
and characteristics $12.50
73337. THE RAPE OF THE NILE. Brian Fagan.
The plundering of ancient Egypt's treasures and the
rise of Egyptology Illustrated. $14.95
61610. MAYA. Charles Gallenkamp. Swiftly moving
account of the nse of Mayan civilization and its march
through pride and glory to extinction. $12.95
84285. TIDELINE. Ernest Braun. The long, thin stnp
of wilderness where land, air, and sea meet. Almost
one hundred full-color photographs. $16.50
42680. DONANA: SPAIN'S WILDLIFE WIL-
DERNESS. Juan Antonio Fernandez. Sumptuously
illustrated portrait of one of the world's most impor-
tant wildlife sanctuaries. Over 240 pages of full-color
photographs Counisas 2ufyourj books. $29.95
4-7AF
*" N^urai Science Book Club
Riverside, New Jersey 08075
Please accept my apphcation for membership and
send me the three volumes indicated, billing me
only 99« each. I agree to purchase at least three
addUlional Selections or Alternates during the first
year I am a member, under the club plan described
in this ad. Savings range up to 30% and occa-
sionally even more. My membership is cancelable
any time after I buy these three books. A shipping
and handling charge is added to all shipments.
Send no money. Members are billed when books
arrive.
3 books for 99C each.
I ndicate by number the 3 books you want.
A few expensive books (noted in book descrip-
tions) count as 2 choices.
Name
City.
Zip.
(Offer good in Continental U.S. and Canada only.
Prices slightly higher in Canada )
NEW!
Chamois Cloth
Westerner
This shirt is a real western pleasure to
wear. Soft, friendly feeling nap of the 10
oz., 100% cotton Chamois Cloth make it
the most luxuriously comfortable shirt in
your wardrobe. Durable, densely woven
fabric protects you from wind and
weather. Western styling is implemented
by two slimming back seams and western
front yoke. Square bottom hem. Wear it
tucked in as a shirt or outside as a shirt-
jac. Neck Sizes: S(14-14y2), M(15-15y2),
L(16-16y2), XL(17-17y2). Colors: Navy
Blue or Brown. 1461 Shirt-Jac, $21.00 ppd.
- Order Today! Money Back Guarantee! -
Enclosed is my check or money order for
$ {Add sales tax where applicable.)
Please rush my 1461 Chamois Cloth Shirt-Jac.
Size
Name —
Address -
City
-Colo
>^^:^cle/^a**W>
Depl. MNH, Third i Virginia, Seattle, WA 98124
BUSHNELL 7x35 CUSTOM
Mfg. List $169.50 Postpaid $94.50
This is an example of the deep discount prices on high
quality optics that is found in our FREE catalog. This
catalog lists and illustrates an outstanding selection
of telephoto lens, telescopes, binoculars etc., plus
valuable information on how to properly select them.
Write for it today.
GIL HEBARD OPTICS
COURTHOUSE SQ., KNOXVILLE, ILL. 61448
Additional Reading
Ocean Currents (p. 30)
Joseph L. Reid's "Deep Ocean Circu-
lation" (pp. 203-17) in Oceanography:
The Last Frontier, edited by Richard C .
Vetter (New York: Basic Books, 1973,
$1 1 .50), adds to our understanding of the
interactions between oceanic and atmos-
pheric circulation. Oceanography: Read-
ings from Scientific American, edited by
J.R. Moore (San Francisco: W.H. Free-
man, 1969, $4.50), includes the Sep-
tember 1969 issue — ten articles devoted
to the ocean, such as R. W. Stewart's
"The Atmosphere and the Ocean" — as
well as a number of earlier pieces, such
as Walter Munk's "The Circulation of
the Oceans" and Henry Stommel's "The
Circulation of the Abyss." The first six
chapters in Stommel's The Gulf Stream:
A Physical and Dynamical Description
(Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1965, $10) are a good introduction
to the subject of North Atlantic currents.
Comparable discussions of the North Pa-
cific are found in Kuroshio: Physical
Aspects of the Japan Current, edited by
Henry Stommel and Kozo Yoshida (Seat-
tle: University of Washington Press,
1972). Susan Schlee's The Edge of an
Unfamiliar WoWd(New York: E. P. But-
ton, 1973, $10.95) presents an informal
history of oceanography as a human en-
deavor— the people, ships, politics, and
science of the seas since the early 1800s.
For a nontechnical account of the tools
and techniques of the science, see G. L.
Pickard's Descriptive Physical Oceanog-
raphy (Elmsfotd: Pergamon Press, 1964,
$3.50).
Deep-Sea Fishes (p. 38)
Deep-Water Fishes of California, by
John E. Fitch and Robert J. Lavenberg
(Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1968, $2.25), a paperback field
guide to deep-water fishes of the eastern
Pacific, gives detailed life histories of
representative species. Many libraries
will have a copy of Aspects of Deep-Sea
Biology, by N. B. Marshall (London:
Hutchinson, 1954), one of the first over-
all treatments of deep-water biology.
Marshall presents animal and plant life
histories, the interrelationships of ani-
mals with each other and their habitats,
problems of sampling and studying ana-
tomical and physiological adaptations
(bioluminescence, special sensory sys-
tems), and dozens of color paintings and
drawings. Included in Peter J. Herring
and Malcolm R. Clarke's collection of
papers on general oceanography.
Deep Oceans (New York: Praeger Pub-
lishers, 1971), areN. B. Marshall's "An-
imal Ecology" (pp. 205-24) and J. A. C.
Nicol's "Physiological Investigations of
Oceanic Animals" (pp. 225^6). Paul A.
Zahl's "Fishing in the Whirlpool of
Charybdis" (National Geographic,
1953, vol. 114, pp. 579-618) provides
some of the first photographs of deep-sea
fishes of one area of the Mediterranean,
where upwelling currents bring such
deep-water animal life near the surface.
Sea Otters (p. 46)
"Recovery of a Fur Bearer" {Natural
History, November 1 963 , pp . 1 2-2 1 ) and
"Remrn of the Sea Otter" (National
Geographic, 1971, vol. 140, pp. 520-
39), both by Karl W. Kenyon, an author-
ity on this fascinating mustelid, are well-
illustrated introductions to sea otter biol-
ogy and behavior. Kenyon's 350-page
definitive study of Enhydra lutris, ' 'The
Sea Otter in the Eastern Pacific Ocean"
(North American Fauna, 1969, no. 68),
has recently been republished as an inex-
pensive paperback (New York: Dover
Publications, $4). Adele Ogden's re-
cently reprinted (1975) The California
Sea Otter Trade: 1784-1848 (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1941) is
a detailed survey of the exploitation of
this once important fur bearer. George
and Ellen Laycock's photographic essay
The Flying Sea Otters (New York: Gros-
set & Dunlap, 1970) deals with the rein-
troduction of captured sea otters to parts
of their former range on Alaska's Pacific
coast. The Sea Otter in Eastern North
Pacific Waters is a compilation of recent
information by Alice Seed (Seattle:
Pacific Search, 1972, $1.75). For a
thorough account of the sea otter's prey,
see E. F. Ricketts and J. Calvin's Be-
tween Pacific Tides (4th ed. Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 1968). James
A. Estes and John F. Palmisano's article
in Science, "Sea Otters: Their Role in
Structuring Nearshore Communities"
(1974, vol. 185, pp. 1058-60), gives
more technical details of their work.
Lobster Tales (p. 60)
William F. Herrnkind's articles, "Mi-
I
io6
gration of the Spiny Lobster" {Natural
History, May 1970, pp. 36^3) and
"Strange March of the Spiny Lobster"
(National Geographic , 1975, vol. 147,
pp. 819-32), contain fine photographs
and accounts of adult behavior in the Car-
ibbean species. Octopus and Squid: The
Soft Intelligence, by Jacques Cousteau
(Garden City: Doubleday, 1973), is a
good introduction to the characteristic be-
havior of octopods, a major predator of
spiny lobsters. A rare, but classic, work
on Homarus americanus, is F. H. Mer-
rick's monograph-length study, "Natural
History of the American Lobster" (Bulle-
tin of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, 191 1 ,
vol. 29, pp. 149-^08). Harold B. Clif-
ford's Charlie York: Maine Coast Fish-
erman (Camden: International Marine
Publishing, 1974, $7.95) tells the story
of the lobster from the point of view of
the lobsterman, spinning a tale of the dis-
appearance of plentiful lobsters and a way
of life centered in their harvest.
Eider Ducks (p. 68)
Compilations of eider biology are
found in Paul A. JohnsgEird's Waterfowl
of North America (Bloomington: Univer-
sity of Indiana Press, 1975) and Frank
Bellrose's new and extended version of
F. H. Kortright's classic (1942) Ducks,
Geese and Swans of North America (Har-
risburg: Stackpole Books, 1976, $12.-
95). Both give accounts of each species,
summarizing their biology, ecology, and
behavior, but Bellrose presents additional
quantitative data on population densities
and migratory activities. Wildlife biolo-
gists Daniel Q. Thompson and Richard
A. Person document a late summer molt
migration in "The Eider Pass at Point
Barrow, Alaska" (Journal of Wildlife
Management, 1963, vol. 27, pp.
348-56). A description of a spring migra-
tion of eiders in the 1920s is provided by
naturalist Herbert Brandt's classic vol-
ume, ^/aste Birds Trails: An Expedition
by Dog Sled to the Delta of the Yukon
River at Hooper Bay (Cleveland: The
Bird Research Foundation, 1942). David
Munro discusses commercial exploita-
tion in "The Eider Farms of Iceland"
(Canadian Geographic Journal, August
1961, pp. 3-9).
Red Sea (p. 74)
An inexpensive introduction to the
complex processes of sea-floor spreading
and plate tec'onics is Continental Drift:
A Study in the Earth's Moving Surface,
by Don and Maureen Tarling (Garden
City: Doubleday, 1971. SI. 95). Two
other readable but more detailed accounts
are Continents in Motion, by Walter Sul-
livan, science editor of the New York
Times (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974),
and Debate About the Earth, by H. Ta-
keuchi et al. (San Francisco; Freeman,
Cooper & Co., 1967). For articles deal-
ing with rift systems and relative mo-
tions of continental plates, see "Plate
Tectonics of the Red Sea and East
Africa," by D.P. McKenzie et al. (Na-
ture. 1970, vol. 226, pp. 243^8); "The
Afar Triangle," byH. TaziefF (5c/enf//ic
American, vol. 222, no. 2, pp. 32^0);
"Plate Tectonics," by J. F. Dewey
(Scientific American, 1972, vol. 226, no.
5, pp. 56-68); and "Rifting in the Oka-
vango Delta," by Christopher H. Scholz
(Natural History. February 1976, pp.
34-43). T.D. Allen and C. Morelli's
"The Red Sea," in The Sea: Ideas and
Observations on Progress in the Study of
the Seas (vol. 4, pt. 2, pp. 493-542),
edited by Arthur E. Maxwell (New York:
John Wiley & Sons, 1970), is the most
complete treatment of the area's topogra-
phy, geology, and oceanography.
Red Tides (p. 78)
Proceedings of the First International
Conference on Toxic Dinoflagellate
Blooms (1974), edited by V.R. LoCi-
cero, is available from the Massachusetts
Science and Technology Foundation, 10
Lakeside Office Park, Wakefield, MA
01880. Representative papers are: "Red
Tides I Have Known," by Beatrice
Sweeney (pp. 225-34), and "The First
'Red Tide' in Recorded Massachusetts
History; Managing an Acute and Unex-
pected Public Health Emergency," by
W. J. Bicknell and D. C. Walsh (pp.
447-58). "Red Water in La Jolla Bay,
1964-1966," by plankton biologist Rob-
ert W. Holmes et al. (Limnology and
Oceanography, 1967, vol. 12, pp.
503-12), describes a series of California
red tides. An article for the general audi-
ence is: "Poisonous Tides," by S.H.
HutnerandJ.J.A. McLaughlin (SdeAUi/ic
American, 1958, vol. 199, no. 2, pp.
92-98).
Gordon Beckhorn
For the fourth year, we otter discrim-
inating travelers the finest cruises to
^Discover
Galapagos
For ihose who have icsure. the only
way (o discover the unique Gatapsgoe
Islands is on our intimate two-week
cruises lor a maKimum ot fourteen
passengers m two comfortable molor
yachts, accompanied by naturalist
guides
Six departures of ihese cruises are
scheduled for 1977.
For budget-minded travelers who are
interested m ecology, wildlife and
photography, we are repeating our ex-
tremely popular
Galapagos Islands
Thrift Cruise
in the privately chartered 65-passen-
ger mv Iguana*, accompanied by
eminent naturalist leaders who will
give talks and lead us in the field:
May 28 to June 10. 1977
with Mr Justin K AlUrich
of the New England Aquarium
August 20 to September 2. 1977
with Ms Susan Lock
Vice President of trie Animal
Protection Institute ot America
October 29 to November 1 1 . 1977
with Dr. Jack LaCroIx Throp
Director of the Honolulu Zoo
Before these cruises, we spend four
days m Quito, Ecuador's lovely capi-
tal, with excursions in the Andes, and
then make the spectacular railroad
journey to the coast.
Please send for detailed brochures of
these cruises -we also specialize in
adventure tours to Greenland, the Arc-
tic, the Himalayas and the Andes, the
Papillon Tour to Trinidad and French
Guiana, safaris in Rajasthan and East
Africa, and to other unusual destina-
tions.
' Registered in Ecuador
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
WORLD NATURE TOURS, INC.
P O BOX 693, WOODMOOR STATION
EXOTIC NATURE TOURS. 1976
SRI LANKA (Ceylon) Oct. 30 Three week tour to view rare
birds, tropical flowers, rain forests and parks witfi leopards,
bears, and monkeys. Led by P.B. Kanjnaratne of Colombo
lifluseum. $2016.00 all inclusive.
INDIA/NEPAL/SIKKIM Nov. 18 Join Dr. Bob Fleming, Jr.
of Kattimandu for 25 day tour to see nature reserves,
elephants, tigers, unusual birds, flowers and the spectac-
ular Himalayas. S2919.00 all inclusive.
BHUTAN Dec. 11 One week tour. Be one of the first
westerners to visit this recently opened fascinating country.
Bob Fleming leader. $1287.00 all inclusive.
Some spaces still available on NEW GUINEA: Aug. 19.
AUSTRALIA: Sept. 10, and NEW ZEALAND: Oct. 23. Write
for brochures.
107
Watch. Hear. See. Spy. Shoot!
. . . with wondrous things from the famous Edmund catalog.
More than 4500 unusual finds, and it's offerediree.
GIANT
FREE
CATALOG! Q
NEW. 172
Over 4,500
Unusual
Bargains for Hobbyists,
Schools, Industry. JUST
CHECK COUPON!
Fine iow-priced "I.R. Eye" with I.R. light
source makes detailed observalion o) ani-
mal behavior possible at up to 30 yards at
night. Our self contained scope has every
thing you need lor all kinds of I.R. detec-
tion: 6 or 12 V power ( plugs into your
car's cigarette lighter), 6032 I.R. converter
tube, f/3,5 objective lens. Focuses from
10-ft. to infinity.
No. 165gE. . (11x14V4x3") $285.00 Ppd.
i;% A BREAKTHROUGH IN TIME LAPSE
V PHOTOGRAPHY.
The Edmund Time Machine converts al-
most any camera to a total time lapse
system, compares to others at$450-$700
yet costs under $200. Film startling flower
growth; animation; star, planet and cloud
tracking. Portable (34o2,); continuously
variable from 0.5 to 300 seconds; built-in
photocell control; rechargeable power
supply.
No. 72,1 22E . . (6x3V2x2") $199.95 Ppd.
HEAR AND RECORD A SONGBIRD A
HALF MILE AWAY.
Catch sounds never before heard with this
professional, deluxe. Electronic Parobolic
fVllke. It has an 18-3/4" transparent re^
fleeting shield and LC.'s in its amplifier-
magnifies signals 100 times that ol omni-
directional mikes! Earphones, tape re-
corder output. Automatically cuts ofl ear
damaging noises. Requires (2) 9v batteries.
Others at $1 49,95 (No. 1 665E) and $89.50
(No. 80,242E)
N0.1649E $299.00 Ppd.
30X, 40X, 60X.
Excellent 60 mm hard-coated achromatic
objective lens with light gathering power
so great it picks out extremely taint objects
under all lighting conditions Shows stars
lo 11th magnitude' 4 parfocal eyepieces on
revolving turret change at flick ol a finger.
Compares with models at up to $30 more.
No. 70.444E $165.00 Ppd.
9 NASA CHOSE IT FOR APPOLLO/SOYUZ.
Super 20x60 is our biggest, most powerful
binocular for distance Far-o(f objects come
in big. clear and sharp to the edge through
big 60mm obfective lenses; 1 73-ft. (leld of
view at 1000 yards. Relative brightness,
9.0. Fully coated optics; 20X special de-
sign eye lenses, coated BK-7 Porro prism.
Extra long all-AmerJcan style,
No.1556E(9V2x8V!";47.5oz.)$99.95Ppd.
©SAVE 50% ON A 8x20 MONOCULAR,
AND WATCH THE BIRDS.
Top quality Spy Scope Is a line sighting
instrument (regular $30 value). Our special
purchase saves you 50%... and you gel
fully coated optics; 393 toot field of view.
Just 2 ounces, it stores in pocket, purse,
glove compartment Fits in your palm, so
you can peer into hard-to-see places with
out your subject knowing you're spying.
No. 156BE (3V2X1 V2x2" case) $14.95 Ppd.
OTAKE LONG DISTANCE PHOTOS WITH
YOUR CAMERA & BINOCULAR.
Binocular-to-Camera Holder fits any camera
lor exciting lelephoto pictures. A 35mm
camera with 7x50 binocular brings distant
obiects 7 times nearer. Ideal for long-range
photos of wildlife. Use any binocular
(monocular) and camera— still or movie,
color or black & white, Good shooting'
No.70.223E $17.95 Ppd.
EDMUND
SCIENTIFIC CO.
America's Greatest Sc/ence. Optics . Hobby Mart
300 EDSCORP BUILDING, Barrington, N.J. 08007 (609) 547-3488
r — — — ^ FILL IN AND MAIL COUPON TODAY — — — — — ^
Edmund Scientific Co., 300 Edscorp Bidg., Barrington, N.J. 08007 |
I
n SEND FREE 164 PAGE CATALOG "E"
D Charge my BankAmericard
□ Charge my Master Charge
Interbank No.
Card No.
30-DAV MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. You
" be satisfied or return any purchase
days for full refund.
Stock No.
Quantity
Price Ea.
TOTAL
Add Service and Handling Charge $_
Enclosed is □ Check □ M.O.
in amount of $
Lmust be
in 30 da
Name
Address
{Please Print)
City
State
Zip
Announcements
HELPING TO DEVELOP AMERICA'S TECHNOLOGY FOR OVER 30 YEARS
A new permanent hall — The Hall of
Minerals and Gems — is located in
the southwest corner of the first floor
of The American Museum of Natural
History. This is a most spectacular
and elegant hall, with an impressive
array of minerals, gems, rocks, and
meteorites. It is the largest in the Mu-
seum and covers such major subjects
as properties of minerals, mineral-
farming environments, systematic
mineralogy, interaction of minerals
and energy, and esthetics of gems.
Acoustiguide Tours — Dr. Vincent
Manson, consultant. Department of
Mineral Sciences, is your guide on a
tour of the new Hall of Minerals and
Gems; Dr. Thomas D. Nicholson,
director of the Museum, directs you
to the highlights of the Museum's ex-
hibitions; Dr. Margaret Mead takes
you through the Hall of Peoples of the
Pacific; Dr. Eugene Gaffney travels
back in time via the dinosaur halls;
and Dr. Dean Amadon guides you on
a worldwide ornithological tour. All
Acoustiguide Tours can be rented for
a nominal fee at the Information Desk
on the second floor.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the
Museum, "Yankee Stargazers" will
continue through September 27. This
show recounts contributions by
Americans to the knowledge of the
universe — from the first astronomical
observation in the New World (in
1494) through New York physician
Henry Draper's photographing the
sky in the mid- 1800s, Karl Jansky's
discovery of radio waves coming
from space in 1932, man's landing on
the moon in 1969, and the first land-
ing on Mars in the summer of 1976.
"Follow the Sun" opens on Sep-
tember 29 and will continue through
November. This Sky Show explores
the nature of our nearest star, its
source of energy, the changes it un-
dergoes, some of its influences on
earth, and its place in the universe.
Shows begin at 2:00 p.m. and 3:30
P.M. on weekdays with more frequent
showings on weekends. Admission is
$2.35 for adults and $1.35 for chil-
dren and students (special rates for
groups and senior citizens).
LISTEN TO MILFORD SOUND.
It's the quietest place in the world. And yet,
the sight stuns you h'ke thunder.
This is Milford Sound in our Fiordland, just one
of the many faces of New Zealand. Three million acres
of primev-al beauty, sculpted by Ice Age glaciers.
Ikke "the most beautiful walk in the world" to
Milford, stopping in friendly lodges on the way. Or fly
in over the triple tiers of Sutherland Falls. Or drive
in through hills and tunnels and lush valleys.
Catch your breath in our charming cities. Dunedin,
flavoured with Scotland. Christchurch, lavish with
flowers and laced with the Avon River. jk
Auckland, blended of Pblynesia and Europe.
Our IX>10s fly out from Los Angides every
night to New Zealand. And on to Australia and th
other islands in our South ftcific.
Your travel agent can give you details. Or
vkTite Air New Zealand. Department P, 510 West
Sbcth Street, Los Angeles. Calif. 90014. Or call ou
nationwide toll-free number 800-421-0066; in
California, 800-252-0101.
# air HEuu zEaiann
Gxne home with IIS.
^mi
,,N.^^'
^<^<^'^
Cl^^
dS^
wi^
pHO<
A\V^9
V)V
vco
,6av^
Just put your Kodak color film
in a Kodak mailer and mail
it to Kodak.
Kodak will mail your
slides, prints or
movies back to you.
You can have them
delivered right to
your own home.
That's convenient.
That's First Class.
c^--*" ^ p^^ Kodak, we are dedicated to
processing your Kodak film carefully. Like all
quality processors, we take pride in our work.
And that pride shows up m your pictures.
So, the next time you buy Kodak film, pick
up some Kodak mailers. And start
going First Class — to Kodak.
^
w<
otfl5
NATURAL HISTOK
OCTOBER 1 976 • $1 .2
'« ♦ ■ ? 5 , . _j, f ' > »A 1
tWr
f n ' *'*
mm
[itt' '■ > '■■' t»* t J -■
". %:'//
"■"V"
»J !>,'•** *
^^
%\
J^."
W^ERFORD' ILLUMINATES \OUR LIFE.
NATURAL HISTORY
liK iirpoidli/i^ S'liliin- Mu^uziiw
Vol. LXXXV. No. H
October 1976
The Amcrit an Museum oj Saluiul Hislorv
Robert C. Goelel. President
Thomas D. Nicholson, Director
2 Authors
6 The Web of Hunger David A. Levitsky
Ill-Nourished Brains
AUiii Tcrne.s. Edilor
Thomas Pufic Desifiner
Board of Editors:
Sally Lindsay. Frederick Harlinanu.
Christopher Hallowcll. Toiii Gerher
Carol Breslin. Book Reviews Edilor
Florence G. Edelslein. Copy Chief
Gordon Beckhorn. Copy Edilor
Angela Soceodulo. Art Assl.
Diane Pierson. Editorial Assl.
Lillian Berger
Rosamond Dana. Pnhlicalions Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dean Ainadon. Dorothy E. Bliss.
Mark Charlrand. Niles Eldredge.
Vincent Manson. Margaret Mead,
Thomas D. Nicliolson, Gerard Piel,
Richard G. Van Gelder
David D. Ryiis. Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly. Business Manager
Sue Severn. Production Manager
Ernestine Weindorf. Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe, Business Asst.
Yung-mei Tang
Ann Brown. Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez, Asst.
Harriet Walsh
Puhlicalion Office: Tlie American Museum
of Nuniral History. Central Park We.ll
at 79t!i Street. New York. N.Y. 10024.
Publisltecl montliiy. October ttvougli May:
Ijimontlily June to September.
Subscriptions: $10.00 a year. In Canada
and all otiier countries: $12.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at
New York. N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1976 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be
reproduced witliout written consent of
Natural History. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American Museum.
Natural History incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History.
420 Le.Kinglon Avenue.
.\'ew York. N. Y. 10017
Teleplwne: (212) 6H6-1234
Change of address notices, undeliv
copies, orders for subscriptions,
and other mail items are to be sen
Natural History
Membership Services, Box 6000
Des Moines, Iowa S0340
ruble
24 This View of Life Stephen Jay Gould
Darwin 's Untimely Burial
36 How the Wise Men Brought Malaria to Africa Robert S. Desowiiz
When ivc iry to aid the third world, good intentions are not eitough.
48 Bermuda's Abundant, Beleaguered Birds
Kenneth L. and Marnie Reed Crowell
Can a bluehird find happiness . . . or even a nesting site?
57 America's National Parks: Their Principles, Purposes, and Prospects
Joseph L. Sa.x
A century ago. Congress began setting aside, for all lime, vast scenic tracts. But
it never explained why.
90 The Perils of Prunates Jaclyn H. Wolfheim
These animals have an overwhelming problem: us.
100 Life at the Cloud Line William G. Wellington
For mountain pines, a mild winter is good, but a very cold one is better.
106 Slow Death of Coral Reefs Ralph Mitchell and Hugh Ducklow
The influence of low-level pollution is subtle hut lethal.
112 Announcements
114 A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokolov
The Pumpkin Papers
118 The Market
122 Sky Reporter Stephen P. Maran
Stars by the Cluster
128 Book Review E. F. Roberts
An Energetic Call for Socialism
132 Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
135 Additional Reading
Cover: The Hamadryas baboon is vidnerable to extinction because of its large body size,
limited geographic range, large home range, and specialized habitat. Pho-
tograph by Bruce Coleman, Inc. Story on page 90.
Classic Irish caps
in colorful hand-
woven tweed.
Handcrafted inside and out. . .
each a virtual one-of-a-kind.
Sold only by Norm
Thompson.
Here's a classic cap
for men and women
that reflects a certain
degree of individualit)
and a great deal of
basic good taste. Made
in Donegal Town,
Ireland by a small, ^
family-run hatmaking ., g^^„, ^„j, ,„ „ ^^^^
firm, it's handcrafted wool hat . . . and satis-
inside and out with factioti is guaranteed.
all the time, care, and above all, pride that
is necessary to attain excellence.
Handwoven Donegal tweed.
The luxurious wool fabric used is still
woven on a hand operated loom. It's rich in
lanolin, making it highly weather resistant.
And the lively combination of colors (light
olive overall with subtle flecks of brown,
orange, red and yellow) in the traditional
tweed make this a hat you can wear with
almost any outfit.
Inside you'll discover an equal concern
for quality. It's lined with smooth rayon
twill and banded to insure permanent siz-
ing. Seams are tucked and all loose threads
have been trimmed. Sizes: 61/2-8. $13.00.
Please enclose $1 for postage and handling.
Noimlkompson
Dept. 03-21
1H0.5 N.W. Thurman
Portland, Or. 97209
Order TOLL-FREE anytime 800.547-6712
(Excluding Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska)
Size Qty.
Men 1370
Wc
1379
D Check D BankAn
Card »
"icard Q Master Charge
M/C Interbank »_
Exp. Date
Address—
City
-State-
_Zip_
n Send FREE "Escape from the ordinary®" ctlg.
Authors
"At some period in our lives,"
writes Robert S. Desowitz, "those
of us engaged in research on disease
raise our eyes from the microscope
to view the world around us." Des-
owitz, who had spent twenty years
studying parasitic infections in
Africa, Southeast Asia, and the
South Pacific, became interested in
the ecology of disease when he un-
dertook epidemiological investiga- t
tions in South Vietnam. These stud-
ies were part of the report prepared
by the National Academy of Sci-
ences Committee on the Effect of
Herbicides in South Vietnam. Deso-
witz is currently professor of tropical
medicine at the University of
Hawaii, where he is studying the
immunological aspects of malaria.
Interested in the problems pre-
sented by island faunas, Kenneth L.
Croweli began studying the birds of
Bermuda as part of his doctoral re-
search more than fifteen years ago.
Since that time, he has investigated
competition between two species of
flycatchers in the Caribbean and has
visited the islands of Maine's Pe-
nobscot Bay, where he researched
the dynamics of mouse populations.
His article "Down East Mice" ap-
peared in the October 1975 issue of
Natural History. Croweli, who
teaches at St. Lawrence University,
makes his home in northern New
York State. His wife, coauthor
Marnie Reed Cro-well, is a writer
whose works include Greener Pas-
tures, a description of life on their
farm, and North to the St. Law-
rence, a history of upper New York.
66
The most complete and most
scholarly dictionary of the ^^^^
English language" wf.
■The Cliristuin buciuc Munito
As an introduction to
membership in the
BOOK-OF THE MONTH CLUB
yours for only
Sh'' ^ ijfj Publishers list
nr ■ m ^^^ price $95
THE SUGGESTED TRIAL; You simply as^rce
to buy four Club choices within a year at substantial
savings on most books you choose
THE Oxford English Dictionary is generally re-
garded as the final arbiter of the English language.
Until recently, it has been available only as a thirteen-
volume set, currently priced at $395. Now, through the
combination of an ingenious method of micrographic
reproduction and a fine Bausch & Lomb optical lens,
every single one of its 16,569 pages, fifty million words
and close to two million illustrative quotations ap-
pears, in easily readable form, in The Compact
Edition.
Book critic Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of The
New York Times has said of this edition: "It is
something of a miracle The Compact Edition is
easier to work with than the original with its 13
separate volumes."
Even more extraordinary, as a trial member of the
Book-of-the-Month Club you may obtain the two-vol-
ume set for only $17.50. And as long as you remain a
member, you will receive the Book-of-the-Month Club
News," a literary magazine announcing the coming
Selection and describing other important books,
known as Alternates, most of which are available at
substantial discounts — up to 40% on more expensive
volumes. All of these books are identical to the pub-
lishers' editions in content, format, size and quality.
If you continue after your trial membership, you will
earn at least one Book-Dividend" Credit for every
Selection or Alternate you buy. These Credits entitle
you to obtain a wide variety of books, called Book-
Dividends, at astonishing savings— a; least 70% of
publishers ' list prices.
FACTS ABOUT MEMBERSHIP
• You will receive the Book-of-the-Monih Club
News, a literary magazine published by the
Club fifteen times a year. The News describes
the coming Selection and scores of Alternates,
and will be sent to you approximately every
three and a half weeks.
• If you wish to purchase the Selection, do
nothing and it will be shipped to you auto-
matically.
• If you do not want the Selection— or you
would like one of the Alternates or no book at
all— simply indicate your decision on the reply
form always enclosed with the News and mail
it so we receive it by the date specified.
• If, because of late mail delivery of the
News, you should receive a Selection without
having had 10 days to decide whether you
want it, that Selection may be returned at
Club expense.
COMPACT
^Jonary
^OMPACT
^OFTHE
DICTIONARY
FEATURES
• Boxed set of two volumes.
9-M" X U'/i" each
• All 16,569 pages of 13-vol-
ume original included in the
4134 pages of The Compact
Edition through a photo-re-
duction process which per-
mits printing of four pages
of original on one page of
new edition
• Paper is 30-pound Special
Dictionary White
• Binding is library buckram
— reinforced and stamped
in gold
• Bausch & Lomb magnify-
ing glass included in special
drawer of slipcase. 2" x 3%"
lens scientificaUy designed
to make reduced print easily
readable
BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB, INC.
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17012
Please enroll me as a member of the Book- mrs. V
of-the-Month Club and send me r/ie Compacr miss) (Please print plainly)
Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, bill-
ing me $17.50 (in Canada $19 - publisher's Address
price $105). I agree to buy at least tour Se-
lecuons or Alternates during the first year I
am a member, paying in most cases special City
members' prices. My membership is cancel-
able any time after 1 buy these four books. A y.
shipping charge is added to all shipments. State z.ip..
^
>-*'
'.»**
While studying primates, Jaclyn
H. Wolfheim began to suspect that
many species were in danger of ex-
tinction. Few zoologists were work-
ing on the problem, so in collabo-
ration with the World Wildlife Fund
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice she compiled data on the status
of each primate species for use as
a reference work for scientists. She
has plans to study the composition
and population density of African
forest monkeys and the effects of
loggmg on these primates, many of
whom are threatened. A lecturer in
biology at George Mason University
m Fairfax, Virginia, Wolfheim re-
ceived a Ph D in zoology from the
University of California at Berkeley.
A native Canadian who admits to
an unprofessional love for the high
country, William G. Wellington
has found an ideal outdoor labora-
tory in the mountains of western
Canada. There, he combines his in-
terest in insect behavior and ecology
with meteorology — investigating the
reactions of insects in all kinds of
weather conditions. Director of the
Institute of Animal Resource Ecol-
ogy at the University of British Co-
lumbia, Wellington has not forgotten
the human animal: he is now study-
ing ways in which cloudy regions of
mountainous recreational areas might
be transformed into fly-free zones.
NO MATTER WHERE YOU LOOK
YOU SEE MORE
WITH A QU ESTAR
With Questar Field Model's new Fast
Focus the photographer gets those spur-of-
the-moment shots — from the eye of a fly to
the craters of the moon . . . instantly!
GROUND SQUIRREL PICTURES ARE FROM QUESTARS
NEW BOOKLET CONTAINING 150 NEW PHOTO-
GRAPHS BY QUESTAR OWNERS: $1 TO COVER
HANDLING-MAILING COSTS ON THIS CONTINENT.
AIR TO S.A., $2.50; EUROPE AND N. AFRICA,
$3; ELSEWHERE, $3.50.
BOX Q60, NEW HOPE, PENNSYLVANIA 18938
When Ralph Mitchell sees an oil
slick on the water, he is likely to take
samples of the nearby flora and fauna
to determine if they are diseased.
Usually they are, a finding that helps
him pinpoint his research on how
low-level oil pollution affects micro-
bial processes. Mitchell's initial re-
search involved corals in laboratories
at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution and at Harvard Univer-
sity, where he teaches environmental
biology. Those studies led to work
on coral reef systems in both Ber-
muda and the Red Sea. Mitchell now
plans to use his knowledge of mi-
crobial processes to study the effects
of pollution on fish species. Hugh
Ducklow, a graduate student in bi-
ology at Harvard, is studying the
microbiology of coral reefs.
Making pictures can be more enjoyable
than just taking them
For some people, pressing a button is
not enough.
There is a difference between buying
and doing. To enjoy a fine dinner in a
great restaurant is one kind of experi-
ence. To cook a gourmet dinner in your
own kitchen from homegrown ingredi-
ents is a different kind of satisfaction.
Lots of people today are getting more
satisfaction from photography than
pressing a button and looking at re-
sults. (No more sin in that, of course.
than in dining out.) In lots of homes,
simple arrangements have been made
to seal bathroom, laundry room, or
some unused corner from stray light.
The home darkroom is back. And we
started our business nearly a century
ago by making it unnecessary!
Would you like to process your own
color slides or make your own big
color prints?
We have an interesting way to get
you into it: audio cassettes that talk
you through the processing steps with
just the right timing— even music wMIe
you and the chemicals work.
By packaging your first supplies in
introductory size, we have also made it
cheaper to decide if you enjoy it.
Stop in at a well-stocked photo shop
and ask about Kodeword
Recordings. That's our
trademark for the cas-
settes. Printed literature
available, too.
Now, just in case you prefer to seek challenge elsewhere than in the
darkroom and you want us to make you a 16" x 20" color enlargement
from a 35 mm or 126 color slide or Kodacolor negative, we now an-
nounce that service. (Up to 8" x 10" from 110 size.) Dealers have details.
The Web of Hunger
by David A. Levitsky
Ill-Nourished Brains
Will the world's 400
million malnourished
children suffer
permanent intellectual
retardation ?
Juan, a small, puffy child, sits on
the dirt floor of his one-room house
in a rural village in Mexico. He stares
blankly at the wall, no longer crying
or complaining about the pain in his
stomach. He is cold and weak and
doesn't move. Although five years
old, he is only three feet tall and
weighs about thirty pounds.
Halfway across the country, five-
year-old Jose runs with his friends to
an open lot where they find an old
junked car. They look inside. One
boy discovers the latch to the hood
and Jose opens the hood and peers
curiously inside. He then slips down
to look under the car. While his friend
turns the steering wheel, Jose
watches the rods push the front
wheels from side to side. He traces
the movement back to the steering
wheel. Jose smiles, for now he has
some understanding of how a car
works. He cannot wait to tell his fa-
ther and to come back to the lot the
next day.
Juan, like the majority of children
in the world, perhaps more than 400
million, suffers daily from the pangs
of hunger and malnutrition. Worse
yet, Juan's encounter with severe
malnutrition may cause permanent
damage to his brain, leaving him un-
able to ever reach his intellectual po-
tential. Because of this horrifying
possibility, many government offi-
cials, public health workers, physi-
cians, nutritionists, psychologists,
and other scientists have been work-
ing together to answer some basic
questions concerning the long-term
intellectual and behavioral conse-
quences of childhood malnutrition.
Does malnutrition produce perma-
nent brain damage? Does malnutri-
tion produce mental retardation? If
malnutrition does affect intellectual
development, what are the brain
mechanisms responsible and are the
changes reversible?
Direct answers to these questions
are diflScult to determine and would
require a rigorous scientific study, in-
cluding long-term observation of
children who are clinically mal-
nourished and not receiving treat-
ment. Clearly, such a study is, and
must remain, ethically impossible.
Although an indirect approach has
limitations and requires considerably
more effort to reach a sound conclu-
sion than a direct one, we have
learned a great deal not only about the
long-term consequences of early mal-
nutrition on cognitive development,
but also about the brain's develop-
ment, vulnerability, and functioning.
The idea that the brain may be af-
fected by malnutrition is relatively re-
cent. Early in the history of nutrition,
at about the turn of this century, the
brain was thought to be "spared"
from nutritional insult. Scientists
came to this conclusion because the
brain, unlike other organs of the
body, maintained its weight and com-
position during the course of nutrient
insufficiency. Not until the early
1960s did scientists — working in
South Africa and South America —
find that children suffering from pro-
tein-calorie malnutrition showed
signs of delayed cognitive develop-
ment as measured by standard intel-
ligence and developmental tests. Al-
though the tests were refined to re-
move cultural bias, persistent lags in
cognitive development prevailed in
children who had suffered from early
malnutrition.
Most noticeable was delayed lan-
guage development. Age of speak-
ing, vocabulary, and language orga-
nization are all deleteriously affected
by protein-calorie malnutrition. Tied
to retarded language development
were delays in intersensory integra-
tion— the ability to pair a particular
visual shape, such as a letter, with its
particular sound. The development of
intersensory integration is essential
for learning to read. These studies,
then, contradicted the earlier notion
that the brain was spared from the del-
eterious effects of malnutrition. Be-
haviorally, these children showed the
effects of malnutrition through alter-
ations of brain function.
At about the same time, re-
searchers working with laboratory
animals found that the animal brain
was indeed "vulnerable" to periods
of severe malnutrition, particularly
during the phase of rapid brain devel-
opment— the first two or three years
of life in a child or the first few weeks
of life in the case of laboratory ani-
mals. They found that the brains of
animals malnourished early in life
were smaller and contained less
DNA. Total DNA is taken as an index
of the total number of cells of the
brain. Most importantly, even fol-
lowing long periods of nutritional re-
habilitation, the brain remained
smaller and the DNA content lower.
Was this true also of humans? Un-
fortunately, it appears so. Children
who have been malnourished show
smaller brains, containing less DNA,
than normal children. Thus, by the
late 1960s the findings were fairly
clear and very grim: children who
suffered from malnutrition had
smaller brains and also displayed
signs of retarded cognitive develop-
ment as measured by various devel-
opmental tests. The next question.
Are these independent effects of mal-
nutrition or does the physical change
in the size of the brain produced by
malnutrition cause the cognitive re-
tardation? then became terribly im-
portant. If the brain is irreversibly al-
tered by early malnutrition, then one
must expect that generations of
adults, perhaps entire societies, will
perform at a suboptimum intellectual
level. This would be catastrophic for
developing countries trying to make
technological leaps in a few decades
and requiring highly specialized
learning. These nations, of course,
are the very ones suffering the rav-
ages of malnutrition.
It thus became crucial to under-
stand how malnutrition affects cogni-
tive development. Since we cannot
"«
fbri Niiwcoiiihn
Inn iiina
./ImlilerloiiuhamiJioi
WiiirieiofU<'S,(jpoii
Biid Woriufoiinlf;
\
Professionalism
highlights everything
« John Newcombe does
If on the tennis court. But
when it comes to taking pictures,
he wants a camera that gives
great results, but doesn't take a
degree in math to operate. That's
why he likes the Canon AE-1.
The AE-1 is a fine 35mm
camera that has point-and-shoot
simplicity, and still has the ver-
satility even a pro can love. Its
rapid-fire power winder is great
for sequences— you won't miss
a shot. And the AE-1s electronic
flash is so automatic it's truly
foolproof. Best of all, it does all
this at a price that's just a little
more than what you might spend
on a camera that's a lot less. If
you want to lose your amateur
standing in photography the
Canon AE-1 is the way to go.
For a closer look at the
Canon AE-1, see your local
camera specialty dealer soon.
So advanced, it's simple.
Canon'
Seville
and the quest
for perfection.
An American success story.
Few cars in so short a period of time have
so captured the imagination of the motoring
public as this car Seville by Cadillac. At
its introduction, this was a new kind of luxury
car. ..designed for American tastes but at
home anywhere in the world. The car com-
plete—the first American car to cotnbine
international size and styling with Cadillac
comfort and convenience.
A credit to its engineering.
So well-engineered was it that a number of
Seville's proven design concepts have been
incorporated in the 1977 Cadillacs that we
proudly label the next generation of the
luxury car But Seville remains unique. And
the quest for perfection goes on.
The quest.
Seville was a great car when it was intro-
duced. It is an even more refined car today.
For it is our policy to constantly seek out
ways to enhance Seville— and as we find them
they are incorporated into the car. There
are many such refinements. Some might ap-
pear minor. Some not so minor. Altogether,
they make Seville art even more desirable
car choice for 1977. Examples of these
refinements include the following:
Four-wheel disc brakes.
They are standard equipment. Combined
with a power brake booster, they provide
the braking capability you would expect
of one of the world's best-equipped cars.
A retuned suspension system.
You might never notice the difference. But
we would. So we retuned the suspension sys-
tem. Complementing the suspension system
are special Butyl* rubber body mounts to
provide vibration-dampening qualities —
for both vertical and lateral movement.
Styling refinements.
The timeless styling of Seville has been
enhanced by a new, more distinctive grille.
And you may now select either the vinyl
top or the stylish simplicity of an all-metal
roof. All other styling remains happily
unchanged.
A unique American luxury car.
Most important, it's a Seville— designed and
engineered to be one of the world's great
cars. A car of innovation — incorporating
the latest American technical achievements.
Such as its Electronic-Fuel-Injected Engine
with an on-board analog computer It's a
beautiful road car. As a matter of fact, Seville
just might be the best-performing car you've
ever driven. There's only one way to know.
Call your Cadillac dealer and have him
arrange a test drive for you. Haven't you
waited long enough?
BY CADILLAC
Four-wheel disc brakes.
New! GOOSE DOWN
SHIRT- J AC
This Shirt-Jac keeps you warm when it's
freezing, weightless comfort all year
round. Wear it for hiking, golfing, biking,
skiing, on campus or around town. It's
fashionable and practical at the same
time. Trynyl fabric is a soft, durable blend
of Nylon, Dacron and cotton in the
popular denim look, Zepel-treated to
resist stains and moisture. Snap-closing
front, cuffs, pockets and epaulets. Colors:
Light Blue, British Tan, Denim Blue.
Sizes: Men's S(37-39), M(40-43), L(44-46),
XL(48-50). Sizes: Women's XS(8-10), S{12-
14), M(16-18), L(20). 0021 Goose Down
Shirt-Jac $42.50 postpaid.
GOOSE DOWN SOX
Will keep your feet warm all through the
night in sleeping bag or bed. Great travel
mates that tuck away to occupy little
space in your duffel or suitcase. Bauer
Goose Down is quilted in tough, wash-
able Nylon taffeta. Colors: Red, Winter
Blue, Powder Blue, Taupe. Specify shoe
size and we will send the proper fit.
0123 Goose Down Sox $9.95 postpaid.
r Order Today! Money Back Guarantee! '
Enclosed is my check or money order for
$ . (Add sales tax where applicable.)
Charge my DMaster Charge DBankAmericard
D American Express "Good Thru"
Card No
Please RUSH my order.
D 0021 Goose Down Shirt-Jac
Men's Size Color
Color
n0123 Goose Down Sox
Me
-Colo
DSend me FREE your color catalog of over
1200 unique outdoor products.
J^^^^JUa/^StJuu^OAy^
Depl. PNH, Third S Virginia, Se
measure the biochemical and neuro-
logical events taking place in the
brain of a developing child, we had
to develop an animal model of cogni-
tive development. At least in animals
we can investigate the changes that
take place in the brain during and fol-
lowing severe malnutrition.
But how was one to use the animal
as a model for the cognitive develop-
ment of humans? To study this ques-
tion, Richard H. Barnes, a nutrition-
ist working at Cornell University,
brought together a number of psy-
chologists, physiologists, biochem-
ists, and nutritionists. The early find-
ings of this multidisciplinary research
group were clear. Rats subjected to
severe protein-calorie restrictions
early in life and then nutritionally re-
habilitated over a period of several
months still showed depressed per-
formance in learning difficult dis-
crimination problems. But the re-
searchers, aware that many factors
can affect learning performance and
that differences in learning perform-
ance do not necessarily mean dif-
ferences in the ability to learn, were
cautious in interpreting their results.
When I joined Barnes's research
staff in 1968, we conducted several
studies that clearly showed that early
malnutrition in rats and pigs in-
creased their emotionality, again fol-
lowing nutritional rehabilitation.
This is particularly true when the ani-
mal is placed in a situation that
evokes an emotional response. Its re-
action to a loud noise, a new environ-
ment, or a mild electric shock, for
example, is greater than that of the
well-nourished rat. The animal may
squeal more, defecate or urinate,
show reluctance to enter a novel en-
vironment or to return to one in which
it was frightened.
This increased emotionality fol-
lowing malnutrition occurs in many
different kinds of situations and in
several different species, two factors
that are crucial if we wish to use the
laboratory animals as models for
humans. The effects of malnutrition
on behavior seem to hold for a variety
of mammalian species, including
rats, pigs, mice, cats, dogs, and mon-
keys. Interestingly, protein-calorie
malnourished children are also highly
irritable and susceptible to temper
tantrums.
But to return to our original ques-
tion. Does early malnutrition perma-
nently impair the brain so that it can-
not learn, that is, process cognitive
information? In carefully controlled
experiments neither we nor any other
group has demonstrated any deficit in
the ability of either a previously or
currently malnourished animal to
learn. Does that mean that early mal-
nutrition does not affect cognitive de-
velopment in animals or man? Not
necessarily; it may mean that malnu-
trition affects cognitive development
through mechanisms other than the
ability to learn in typical learning sit-
uations.
As mentioned previously, one of
the long-term behavioral effects of
early malnutrition in animals is a
heightened behavioral reaction in any
emotion-evoking situation. Other
conditions will produce similar- ef-
fects, one of the most powerful being
environmental isolation. Raising
rats, mice, dogs, monkeys — or
humans — in isolated environments
produces long-term changes in
behavior that can be observed in the
adult. In all these cases there is an
increase in behavioral reactivity to
emotion-provoking events.
One explanation of this behavioral
effect was offered by Ronald Melzack
of McGill University, who theorized
that the young mammal is continually
learning about its environment in
order to react appropriately to it. Our
reaction to a novel stimulus is typi-
cally associated with an emotional re-
sponse; we fear what we have never
experienced. To the adult animal
reared in isolation almost everything
is novel and hence it displays exag-
gerated emotional responses in far
more situations.
What is important to us is the con-
cept that the young organism is con-
tinually learning about its environ-
ment, not because the experimenter
forces learning, but because it natu-
rally occurs. Since the effects of early
malnutrition and early emotional iso-
lation produce similar behavioral ef-
fects, is it possible that both condi-
tions, seemingly quite different, are
operating through similar mecha-
nisms?
In an experiment with rats, we
raised groups for the first seven weeks
of life under three sets of conditions:
(1) standard laboratory environ-
ments; (2) environmentally restricted
environments in which the animals
were raised in small lightproof,
soundproof chambers; and (3) envi-
ronmentally "stimulating" environ-
ments in which the animals lived with
littermates, were handled regularly,
and had access to toys and other ob-
jects. In each of these three condi-
I
books or sets whose numbers I''
in the boxes below. Bill me only $3 for all
three, plus shipping. As a member. I am not
required to buy another book but for every
Main Selection I do buy for which there is an
established publisher's list price, I will re-
ceive a 20% discount of such list price. You
will send me the QPB Review for at least six
months with the understanding that you
may cancel my membership at any time
thereafter if 1 have not made— and paid
for
ANY 3
BOOKS OR SETS
FOR ONLY $1 EACH...
for our Free Book Plan
HOW MEMBERSHIP WORKS
1. You will receive the QPB Revie
about every 3'/i weeks. This informs
Main Selection plus approximately
On any Main Selection you decide t
an established publisher's list price, you will receive a dis-
count of 20% of such list price.
2. If you want the Main Selection, do nothing, it will be
shipped to you automatically. If you want one or more of the
Alternates —or no book at all —just indicate your decision on
the reply form always enclosed with the Review and return it
by the date specified.
3. Free books. For every book or set you buy (exclusive of your
three introductory choices for $1 each), you earn at least one
Bonus Point and the Bonus Points you accumulate entitle you
to free books and sets. (You pay only shipping charges.)
4. Return Privilege. If your Review is delayed in the mail and
therefore you receive the Main Selection \vithout having had
ten days to notify us if you did not want it, you may return that
Selection at our expense.
5. Cancellation privilege. You may cancel your membership
whenever you wish simply by notifying us. We will send you
the QPB Review for at least six months with the understand-
ing that we may cancel vour membership at any time thereaf-
ter if you have not rnade-and paid for - at least one
purchase in any six-month period.
6-QB113-10
Business Reply Mail
No Postage Stamp Necessary If Mailed in the United Sta
FIRST CLASS
PERMIT NO. 100
MIDDLETOWN,
PENNSYLVANIA
Postage Will Be Paid By
QUALITY PAPERBACK
BOOK CLUB, INC.
Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057
Why people who don't join book clubs
ore joining the Quolity Poperbock Book Club
i I
i
iwy>T|^n
13-VOL. BqXEDtiJtfr
p^Tini
129.53,96
321.S450
221. THE PILL VERSUS THE
SPRINGHILL MINE DISASTER, IN
WATERMELON SUGAR and TROUT
FISHING IN AMERICA by Richaid
Bcauligan (3 Vols i Piil) piices lolal
S6,45
209, THE SEASONAL KITCHEN by
Peria Meyers S3,95
210, THE WORLD OF THE PAST
Ediled by Jacquella Hawkes
(2 Vols,) Maps aiidpholos Pub
prices tolalS! 1.90
IHECAEAIOG
OFKns
124, FREE TORE, ,, YOU AND ME
Introduced by Mario Thomas, Gloria
Steinem S Letty Collin Pogrebin
lllijstraled,S5.95
279, ZEN AND THE ART OF
MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE: An
Inquiry into Values by Robert M
Pitsig S4.95
341, THE SOUND OF THE ONE
HAND 281 Zen Koans With
Answers, Translated, with a
Commentary by Yoel Hollman
S4,95
263, THE ADVENTURES OF
SHERLOCK HOLMES and THE
MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
by A Conan Doyle i2 Vols llllus
Pub prices loial 57,90
,THi«nDrwtwnKt
THI SPORTS BOOK
QPB is the oniy book club that otiers the best ot the large-size.
well-printed, durable paperbacks being published today, QPB also
gives a 20% discount on most Selections and even greater
discounts on many other t)Ooks.
331, ALMOST HOME: Collected
Stories by Jonathan Schwartz
S3, 95
277, HERE AT THE NEW YORKER
by lirendanGill Photographs and
Illustrations 35,60
237, ARIEL and CROSSING THE
WATER by Sylvia Plalh (2 Vols i
Pub puces total S5, 20
231, TROPIC OF CANCER and
TROPIC OF CAPRICORN by lleiiiy
Millei !? Vols iPulipiices total
S990
112, THE COMPLETE TALES AND
POEMS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE
S6,95
204 PL T PARENI
EFFECTIVENESS TRAINING The
Tested Way to Raise Responsible
Children D( Ui Ihorriss Grjido',
S4 95
171 AMERIKA, THE TRIAL and
THE CASTLE by Fran; Kal>.a
3 Vols Pub unces total S6 85
344 AMERICAN POETRY
ANTHOLOGY Edited by Daniel
HdlH;ll, S5,95
IheEden
pqirKS
...jrk .
yonnequt
320 THE POVERTY OF POWER
Energy and the Economic Crisis Dy
Barry Commoner S4,95
CHOOSE ANY 3 BOOKS
OR SETS FOR ONLY $1 EACH..
with no obligation to buy another book. . .
and as a member you'll immediately qualify
for our Free Book Plan
281, OUR BODIES, OURSELVES: A
Book By and For Women hy The
Boston Women's Health Book
Collective, Second Edition Revised
and Expanded S4,96
315, WASHINGTON JOURNAL
The Events ot 1973-1974 by
Elizabeth Drew S5,96
290,THE COMPLETE NOVELS OF
JANE AUSTEN by Jane Austen
(2 Vols,) Pub prices total 57,90
204, THE NEW YORK TIMES
BOOK OF HOUSE PLANTS by
Joan Lee Faust lllus 55.95
319. NEEDLEPOINT FROM
AMERICA'S GREAT OUILT
DESIGNS. VVritten and Stitched by
Mary Kay Davis and Helen
Giammattei Illustrated 55.96
133. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF
THE ROMAN EMPIRE by Edward
Gibbon Abridgmentby D M low
(3 Vols. Boxed) 54.95
164 ROLL JORDAN. ROLL: The
World the Slaves Made by Eugene D
Genovese S5.95
132. CAT'S CRADLE,
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE and
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS by
KuttVonnegut i3 Vols Pub prices
total S8.35
300. SELECTED LETTERS OF
JAMES JOYCE. Edited by Richard
Ellmann S5.95
229. STRICTLY SPEAKING: Will
America Be the Death ol English''
by Edwin (Newman 54.95
QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOKCLUB, INC.
IvIIDDLETOWN PENNSYLVANIA 17057
The Book Club of the '70s
214 THE AWFUL ROWING
TOWARD GOD and LIVE OR DIE by
Anne Senton 2 Vols : Pub prices
total se.90
183 THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET
OyLavrienceDuirelt i4 Vols .Bonedl
S7 95
268 BURIED ALIVE: Tlie
Biography ol Jams Joplin by Uyia
f .:C"=i 54 50
126 THE FALL THE PLAGUE aail
THE STRANGER by Albert Camus
? Vf.i; Put) prices total S6.55
w ^
270. THE JAZZ BOOK From New
Orleans to Rock and Free Jazz by
Joachim Berendt New Revised
Edition 56.96
332. THE HANDMADE
GREENHOUSE From Windowsill to
Backyard by Richard Nicholls
Illustrated 54.96
339. THE MAN WHO LOVED
CHILDREN by Christina Stead
54.96
345. POWER SHIFT: The Rise ol
the Southern Rim and Us Challenge
to the Eastern Establishment by
Kirkpalricl^Sale 53.95
239. PSYCHOTHERAPY EASTS
WEST. NATURE. MAN. AND
WOMAN and THE WAY OF ZEN by
Alan Watts i3 Vols ) Pub prices
total 56.86
a
THE
APARTMENT
FARMEK
How to buy
beautiful
and unusual
presents from
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
tvery three months— four times a year— the Museum will announce
by mail remarkable new replicas— exact copies of Museum originals:
sculpture, decorative objects, tableware, and ornaments.
/*&> The variety will be extraordinary : ancient jewelry in gold and sil-
ver; Oriental and European porcelain; early American glass in crystal
and tare colors; bronze from Egypt, Greece, China, and the medieval
world; silver, peVvter, brass, and pottery from Colonial America.
/IS, These copies, often produced by the same techniques used for
the originals, are made by artist-craftsmen working under the Mu-
seum's direct supervision. The care taken in production frequently
limits the quantity, and the majority of replicas can be bought only by
mail or at the Museum. (Above: Owl. Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 b.c.
Cast stone, 4V&" x 4I/4", $12.50 plus $1.25 for shipping.)
7iA> To receive all of the advance announcements to be issued during
the next year, send the coupon below with one dollar to cover mailing.
^A
You will receive immediately the first of these, the 116-page Christmas
Catalogue. A brilliant array of new presents includes jewelry with scarabs of
lapis lazuli and rock crystal; a medieval ivory hand mirror; early American
flowerpots; igth-century glass in emerald, canary yellow, and peacock blue;
a silver brandy warmer and cordial tumblers; a rare French coffee cup; a
quiche dish; art nouveau placemats; stars, snowflakes, hearts, and a tree-
top ornament in gold and silver; portfolios with Chinese butterflies and a
silk scarf with flowers from a Persian garden; a collection of Museum
needlework patterns and a new cookbook. To the Queen's Taste. In addition,
there is an unparalleled selection of Christmas cards.
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
255 Gracie Station, New York 10028 ixj6
Please send me all advance announcements and catalogues of replicas to be
issued by the Museum during the next 12 months. One dollar to cover mail-
ing costs is enclosed.
ADDRESS-
tions there were two groups: one fed
an excellent quality diet; the other
maintained on a very low protein diet.
Thus, all nutritional and environ-
mental manipulations occurred dur-
ing the first seven weeks of life. We
then gave all animals a regular diet
and placed them in standard environ-
mental conditions for ten weeks be-
fore giving them a series of behav-
ioral tests.
The results clearly showed the pro-
found effect of early environment on
many different behaviors. The pre-
viously malnourished animals were
hyperexcitable, moved about in
short, quick movements, were more
aggressive, engaged in more fights,
arid were more reluctant to enter a
large open area. More important,
while early environmental isolation
exaggerated these effects, environ-
mental enrichment almost completely
eliminated them. Poorly nourished
animals raised in a stimulating envi-
ronment tested almost as well as those
that were well nourished.
These results raise some important
questions concerning the mecha-
nisms through which malnutrition
may affect cognitive development.
As far as can be determined, the ef-
fect of environment on brain growth
is extremely small compared to the
effect of early malnutrition. The brain
size as well as total DNA content of
the brains of all the malnourished ani-
mals were not significantly affected
by environmental conditions, al-
though their behavior was dramati-
cally affected by their environment.
Thus , even if malnutrition leads to the
reduction in the size of the brain or
possibly the number of neurons, this
does not seem to be the major cause
of the behavioral abnormalities.
This is not to say that the dif-
ferences in behavior do not have a
physical substrate in the brain. In-
deed, there are differences in en-
zymes necessary for the metabolism
of acetylcholine, a brain neurotrans-
mitter, which correlate with the be-
havioral effects of the nutrition-en-
vironment interactions. Rather, the
reduction in the brain size or total
number of brain cells does not appear
to be the critical variable in the pro-
duction of behavioral abnormalities,
and the ability of the animal to learn
is not affected by severe malnutrition.
In order to reconcile these results
and still explain the long-term behav-
ioral abnormalities of animals mal-
nourished early in life, we developed
the concept of "functional isola-
WHATSITSNAME, the completely unique new Edmund Wi" Newton-
ian Richest Field Reflector Telescope. Clearest, brightest, most
spectacular wide angle views of moon, stars, comets, galaxies you've
ever seen. Here are just a few of its outstanding features:
Compact, portable, sets up in seconds. It's pre-collimated and ready
to use. Just pop in the eyepiece, focus . . . and presto! Its fantastic 3V2'
field of view gives you more stars in a single view than any other type
telescope . . . bright, crisp, finely resolved images. For sky gazing and
earth gazing too!
Take it anywhere! Only 17", 10 pounds. Easiest-to-use telescope ever!
Over your shoulder, in your lap, on a tripod. Or just rotate the spherical
base on its own aluminum mount for use on a table, car hood, etc.
Maintenance-free, top quality optical system features 4V4", f/4
parabolic primary mirror (1/8 wave, 17" F.L.); pre-aligned 1/8 wave
diagonal is right on coated optical window that seals optics from
moisture and dust; standard 28mm Ke liner eyepiece (gives 15X, higher
with other eyepiece or Barlow).
Beautiful, colorful, sleek and modern! A real conversation piece and a
joy to own and use. Rugged high impact plastic body, bhght Scharfan-
lan red (doesn't impair night vision); fast, posi-ghp roller focusing
(25' to infinity); adjustable carrying strap and much more! The tele-
scope of the future, here today.
Stock No. 2001E Special Introductory Price $129.95 Ppd.
(Goes to $149.95 Dec. 25, 1976)
CONTEST RULES AND REGULATIONS
1. No purchase required to enter. 2. All entries must be received by
Edmund Scientific Co. no later than November 15, 1976, and
become the sole property of Edmund Scientific Co. 3. An official
entry form, or reasonable facsimile, should t:e used for each entry. 4.
Entries will be judged on originality and practicality. 5. Decision of
the judges will be final. 6. Incaseofties, winning entry will be the one
with the earliest postmark. 7. Winners will be notified by mail, and
their photos and names will appear with the announcement in the
next issue of the nationally distributed Edmund catalog. 8. This
contest is void where prohibited by law. 9. "Name the Telescope"
contest is not open to employees of Edmund Scientific Co., its
advertising agency, this magazine or any judge of this contest. 10.
Every entrant, whether a winner or not, will receive FREE a 1-year
subscription to "Astronomy News".
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.,
300 EDSCORP BLDG.,
BARRINGTON, NJ 08007 (609) 547-3488
A star
is born . . .
name it, win it!
(in time for Christmas!)
GRAND PRIZE: TWO NEW EDMUND PORTABLE
RICHEST FIELD 4V4" f/4 NEWTONIAN TELESCOPES,
INTRODUCTORY-PRICED AT $129.95 EACH.
(One lor you, one (or ihe school or planetarium ol your cnoice.j
rLUo !i)bUU LAon dUNUo one before vou win twoi
2niJ PRIZE SI 00 CASH
3rd, 4th, 5th PRIZES— S50 EDMUND MDSE. CERTIFICATES
EVERYBODY WINS! all entrants get a free i-year
SUBSCRIPTION TO ASTRONOMY NEWS (a S5 00 value). 12
fact-filled issues packed with the latest astronomical news and
discoveries,
* Special introductory price valid lor all orders received by midnight
December 24. 1976 wtien it goes to $149 95 If you re the Grand Prize
Winner, we II refund your $129.95
Get in the contest — it s easy, fun. creative and rewarding! Just
read the description under WHATSITSNAME S illustration for
information and inspiration — then, write yoursuggested name for
Edmund s new telescope on the entry blank below, fill in and mail.
Your brainchild may be the winner' So. give it a go — lots of good
hints in that fact-filled paragraph above WHATSITSNAME S intro-
ductory low price. No purchase necessary to enter, and here s
more good news. If you buy the new scope now (whywa/t to enjoy
it . , , why not own it now, or give it for Chnstmas at the special
introductory price'') and you do become the Grand Prize Winner,
we'll refund your $1 29.95' P/us . . . you II get a S500.00 Gash Bonus
buyer s prize. Okay? Name the telescope'
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY NOVEMBER 15, 1976!
USE THE OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM/ORDER FORM BELOW, OR
REASONABLE FACSIMILE. ONE NAME PER FORM. USE IT
ALSO TO ORDER EDMUND'S NEW SCOPE NOW AND SAVE
$20.00. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO Wlf^l— AND IF YOU
WIN, YOU'LL GET YOUR $129.95 BACK!
If form is missing, send your entry and.'or order on separate piece
of paper (one entry per sheet) to;
CONTESTE
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.
300 EDSCORP BLDG.
BARRINGTON, NJ 08007
Be sure to
include your
Name. Address,
City, State, Zip.
OFFICIAL ENTRY/ORDER FORM— MAIL TODAY!
Contest"E"
Edmund Scientific Co.,
300 Edscorp BIdg., Barrington, NJ 08007
telescope now and
Z Send FREE
164-Page Catalog E
Charge my
J American Express
Z BankAmencard
C Master Charge
Interbank No.
Card No
Expiration Date
— Yes, I m ordering the
saving S20 00, Send me
■WHATSITSNAME', PORTABLE TELESCOPE(S)
NO 2001 E al Special
Introductory Price of S129,95 ea, s
Service & Handling Charge $ 1,00
Enclosed IS Z Check D M,0,
For TOTAL of S
Bjukahericard
30-DAY
MONEY-BACK
GUARANTEE.
You must be
satisfied or re-
turn any pur-
j'smycontestentry.
\bu can hear both sides
of the story ¥fith Bauen
Now you can make films
that sound just as rich as they
look. The Bauer T60 is the finest
stereo sound projector ever made
for super 8. It records and plays
back in stereo, and monaural.
Shoot your scene, then add back-
ground to a second track on your
T60. The sophisticated control
panel lets you mix in your sound.
Stereo music, sound effects or
narration, any way you want it.
There are more things that
made the T60 truly super. It's
super quiet. With automatic
threading and gentle film
handling. And a 16.5mm-30mm
zoom lens.
It handles both super 8 and
single 8 film, too. And records on
both. In stereo, of course.
With the new Bauer T60 you can get professional sound lab effects without
the professional sound lab.
Check out the new Bauer 5x zoom sound camera, too. Or the new 12x zoom
silent, or any of our other fine movie products. Write for information
BAUER T60.
The Supers Projector with Stereo Sound.
(J5i8ipl AIC Photo, Inc., Carle Place, N.Y. U514
I*""" I Bauer is a Reg. TM of Robert Bosch Photokino GmbH.
Lindblad's New East African
WING SAFARI
offers an exclusive window-seat view
of the world's richest wildlife panorama.
No need to get trapped in large con-
centrations of minibuses on hot and
dusty roads. Get a wide-angled view
oftheAfricanvastness.OurnewWing
Safari, limited to 7 passengers, using
the latest, most comfortable Navajo
turbo-powered aircraft, permits us to
visitfar ranging wilderness and game
reserves seldom visited by other sa-
faris. We will fly deeper Into the North-
ern Frontier District to see the excit-
ing tribal lifeof theSamburu, Borani,
Rendilles and Somalis. At night we
will occupy the very best hotels,
lodges and tented camps. Our spe-
cially trained hosts will introduce
you, not only to the large mammals,
but also to colorful and exciting birds,
butterflies, plants and flowers en-
demic to East Africa. The Lindblad
Wing Safari is a truly unforgettable
experience. British Airways will fly
you to Nairobi and back in utmost
comfort. Please write for our bro-
chure or give us the name of your
travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHWS
133 East 55th Street, New York, NY. 10022 751-2300 or toil-free 800-223-9700
tion." The young organism is con-
stantly learning information about its
environment through play, curiosity,
and exploration. This internally moti-
vated curiosity to learn, however, is
inhibited by malnutrition; the orga-
nism becomes "functionally iso-
lated" from the acquisition of certain
kinds of environmental information.
Thus, malnutrition early in life may
affect cognitive development, not by
damaging the brain's capacity to
learn, but by producing behaviors in-
compatible with normal environ-
mental learning. The group of mal-
nourished rats upon whom we
"forced" environmental stimulation
displayed only a minimal residual ef-
fect of malnutrition. When the infor-
mation of the environment was mini-
mal, however, malnourished animals
were much more severely affected,
behaviorally, than the well-nourished
controls raised in isolation.
How does malnutrition ' 'function-
ally isolate" the young organism
from certain aspects of environmental
information? One of the most obvi-
ous ways is the delay of psychomotor
development. The young mal-
nourished child or animal, late in de-
veloping the coordinated movement
necessary for crawling and walking,
cannot explore its environment.
Also, malnutrition restricts environ-
mental learning through its action on
the mother. Young rat pups that are
malnourished either prenatally or
postnatally are smaller and less devel-
oped in motor skills. The rat mother,
reacting to these pups as if they were
younger, has increased contact with
them through the course of lactation.
During the latter part of this period,
pups normally attempt to leave the
nest and explore their environment,
but as a result of their smaller size,
delays in their psychomotor develop-
ment, and increased contact by the
dam, such exploration is delayed.
These effects of malnutrition on the
young and on the behavior of the
mother also occur in humans. Dr. Al-
fonso Chavez of the National Institute
of Nutrition in Mexico has studied the
home environments in a rural Mexi-
can village where the rate of malnutri-
tion in children is quite high. Two
groups of children were matched for
physical, social, and economic char-
acteristics of their parents. One group
received a small food supplement,
starting during the mother's preg-
nancy and continuing for the first
three years of the child's life. During
this time carefully trained observers,
i6
Which Is The Real Rembrandt? X^'IM
LAMBERT STUDIOS expertly duplicates the world's mosi
beautiful paintings with remarkable fidelity and true colors
perfeci,;'e':;r.fd' on Genuine Artist Canvas
Ij heaulijut things have a place in your lije. there is a place Jor them no.-.
in your home, a vacant wall waiting to come alive with the special magic
oj a great painting. Each work is available 3 ways at low direct sale prices.
STRtTCHtD $11.95 CUSTOM FRAMED. . $24.95
Mr hand jirncb and mouol Thr rlrgaoi CU»s>£ Gallery fnmt
each canvas to (he best solid is hand-made of solid wood finish-
wood arTis( stretcher bars, ed in bUck lacquer and tnmmed
18 ' 24 overall, the paint- with a sJver-chromed
ing. stretched, looks even ready to hang and
al oil and suits aov decor
or frame \t
\
308.PICASSO.FEMME.
<\ Simple and sen-
the Blue Period .Only 7.95
STARLIGHT 910. MONET. TULIP FIELD.
■ ■-— ■■ ■ '■— field of
ring green Only 7.95
CREDIT CARD ORDERS BY PHONE!
Can 213-659-0588 and we will ship your order the sa .
^ day by UP S Sorry, no collect calls or C.O.D.'s. Please
e your Masler Charge, BankAmencard or /
Express number and expiral'on date ready. Phone
hours. Men- Sal 9:00a.m, to5.30 p.m P. ST.
LAMBERT STUDIOS DEPT. NHl 910 No. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, Ca ., 90069
PLEASE FILL IN PRINT NUMBER AND TITLE AND C
RCLECORF
ECT PRICE
p,lnl ■
TICIe
FI.1
SIrelcnM
Framed
HANDLING
S
$
7.95
11.95
24.95
7.95
11.95
24.95
POSTAGE AND HANDLING
7.95
11.95
24.95
Flat '1.00 per item
Stretched .'2.00 per item
Framed . . . .'2.50 per item
7.95
11.95
24.95
OR CHARGE:DAMEH. EXPRS. DBANK AMER. D MASTER CHARGE BANK •_
ACCOUNT • EXPIH. DATE_
SIGNATURE —
NAME _ADDRESS^
CITY STATE
California residents please add 6% sales tax
FREE WITH ORDER OR
SEND $1.00
for our catalogue
illustcatiiig in mil
color over 200 dif-
ferent art master-
pieces authentically
reproduced on tex-
tured artist canvas.
Includes decorating
ideas, biographies
of artists, fine art
cards, sculpture.
Collectors plates,
books and coasters.
Paintings 99C-S40.
LAMBERT
(T^ ^
Nikon Binoculars.
Worth all the birds
in the bush.
The powerful, featherweight 8x30 and
9x35 are favorites for bird watching as well
as wildlife and nature study. Other Nikon
binoculars are great for sports, travel or boating.
All feature Nikon prism optics that are carefully
matched and precisely aligned so you can enjoy
bright, sharp viewing for long periods without
eye strain. And they cost a lot less than you're
prepared to spend for such ruggedly built, top quality binoculars. See for
yourself, at Nikon camera dealers and fine optical departments. Or write for
Lit/Pak 18, Nikon Inc., Garden City, N.Y. 11530. Subsidiary of Ehrenreich Photo-
Optical Industries, Inc. (In Canada: Anglophoto Ltd. P.Q.) [IBB
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
The pages of Kipling's classics come to life
on Lindblad's five fascinating journeys through
INDIA
1. Incomparable India 2. Himalayan Nature Tour
3. Palaces and Forts 4. Glimpses of South India.
5. Everyman's India.
In India you will see a greater variety of
humanity and culture than perhaps
anywhere else on earth. You will mar-
vel at its magnificent nature and rich
animal life.You will travel with specially
chosen couriers, who know and love
their land, and who can explain the
manifestations of its many religions
and customs. They will show you great
Indian architecture and give you the
opportunity to meet with its people and
enjoy their ceremonies and way of life.
Any one or all five of these journeys are
bound to fill your appetite for excite-
ment and adventure. AIR INDIA will fly
you there and back in utter comfort.
Write for our brochure or give us the
name of your travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHIN
133 East 55th Street, New York, NY 10022
751-2300 or toll-free 800-223-9700
well acquainted with the villagers,
went into the homes and studied the
child and family for several days at
a time throughout the three years of
the study.
The children receiving no supple-
mental food spent more time in the
crib, slept more, spent less time out
of the home, and were much more
"attached" to their mothers than the
supplemented group. The children re-
ceiving additional food, being more
active, demanded more social in-
teraction from the parents and sib-
lings and thus induced an increase in
the level of "cognitive stimulation"
in the home.
Another mechanism through
which malnutrition may affect cogni-
tive development is through a depres-
sion in the young mammal's delight-
ful curiosity. We are all aware of this
behavior in the young puppy, kitten,
or child. Parents know that a child
may be getting sick because he is not
as playful as usual. This playful curi-
osity is extremely susceptible to nu-
tritional and physiological status;
protein or calorie restriction pro-
foundly alters the tendency of a
young animal to explore a novel ob-
ject placed in its environment. Exper-
imenters have seen this with young
rats, pigs, and monkeys, and clini-
cians frequently note it in mal-
nourished children. While recuper-
ating in hospitals, these children
commonly sit quietly in the corner of
a playroom filled with toys, rarely
touching or trying to work any of
them. They lack the curiosity-in-
duced learning essential for environ-
mental learning and for maximizing
their cognitive potential.
These concepts help to explain a
long-perplexing issue: why malnutri-
tion has a greater effect on children
from countries that are less tech-
nologically and economically devel-
oped than on those from affluent na-
tions. In fact, studies of children from
wealthy countries show no permanent
effects of early malnutrition on cogni-
tive development. During the Dutch
famine winter of 1944/45, when the
Germans blocked all ports, many in-
fants in The Netherlands were se-
verely malnourished. Yet this did not
adversely affect their intelligence, ac-
cording to later studies. Similarly, a
group of middle-class children stud-
ied in Boston, malnourished because
they suffered from cystic fibrosis,
which impairs nutrient absorption,
did not show permanent signs of in-
tellectual impairment.
Ybu can help save Maria Pastora
for ^16 a month.
Or you can turn the page.
Maria Pastora smiled
for tlie camera. But tier
smiledoes not come easily.
Because she lives in poverty,
as does the rest of her tribe.
Once this proud Indian
civilization roamed the foothills
of the Andes. Now, they are a
few? thousand forgotten people.
Maria Pastora's home is one room.
A hut of thatch, mud, and board.
Seven people once lived there.
But Maria's father died.
And two Infants couldn't hold on to life.
Maria's mother farms a muddy half-acre alone now.
Some corn, some beans. Never enough.
Yet Maria Pastora smiled for the camera.
For $16 a month, through Save the Children
Federation, you can sponsor a child like Maria
Pastora. And give her the things she must have to
keep her body, mind, and spirit alive. Combined
with money from other sponsors, your $16 will
help the people of Maria's valley. To reclaim land
for desperately needed food. Provide health, nu-
trition, and education programs. And stop the
physical and cultural disintegration of her tribe.
In short, help her people help themselves. With a
hand up, not a handout. For this is what Save the
Children has been all about since 1932.
For you — educated, involved, and in touch with
your own heart— there are many rewards. Cor-
respond with a child. Receive a photo and prog-
ress reports. Reach out to another human being.
That's how Save the Children works. But without
you it can't work. So please: Clip this coupon
and mail it today. Now you can turn the page.
Save the Children Federation is
indeed proud of the handling of its funds.
An annual report and audit statement are available
upon request. Member of the International Union for
Child Welfare and the American Council of Voluntary Agencies
for Foreign Service. Contributions are income tax deductible.
I wish to contribute $16 a month to sponsor a D tioy Q girl Q either
D Where the need is most urgent
D Appalachia(U.S.) D Honduras Q Inner Cities (U.S.)
D Bangladesh D Indian D Israel
n Chicano (U.S.) (Latin America) Q Korea
D Colombia D Indian (U.S.) D Lebanon
n Dominican Republic D Indonesia D Mexico
Enclosed is my first payment: ^ f^"^^' S°^'h (U. S.)
n $48 quarterly D $96 semi-annually
D $16 monthly D $192 annually
D Instead of becoming a sponsor, I am enclosing a contribution of
n Please send me more information.
ADDRESS.
CITY
David L. Guyer, Executive Director
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION
Westport, Connecticut 06880 nh io/6
There are two roads to
immortality. One for artists,
and one for art lovers.
Luciia Jovanovic's famous
original lithograph
"River Running" is now available.
Only a rare few achieve immortality by creat-
ing timeless art. And only a rare few achieve
immortality by collecting it, enjoying it, and
sharing its beauty with generations to come.
That opportunity is now yours.
Just return the coupon below, and we
will rush our latest catalogue to your home
free. In glowing color, it illustrates museum-
quality masterpieces by some of the world's
great artists. Original lithographs, etchings
and serigraphs pulled in strictly limited edi-
tions and hand-signed by Picasso, Calder, Dali
and other immortals. And all temptingly
priced ... to put immortality within your
reach.
Send for your free catalogue now.
[/
n Please rush me your free newsletter and color catalogue of affordable art masterpieces.
Ori9inal print collectors 9roup,Ltd.
120 East 56th Street, Dept. NHl , New York, N.Y. 10022
City
© 1976 Original print collectors group. Ltd
Zip
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
Lars-Eric Lindblad invites you to
stand in awe before the colossal achievements
of the Inca Empire and prehistoric Polynesians
Incas, Peru & Easter Island
Deep in the heartland of the Andes
and on desolate Easter Island
stand testimonies to cultures of
such glory, that even today we can
only speculate with reverence
about their greatness. We may ask
ourselves how in the world these
architectural and engineering
feats were accomplished without
today'stechnology. Were their civi-
lizations superior to ours? Come
with us to explore and examine the
monumental heritage left us by the
Incas in the Andes. See Cuzco and
Machu Picchu, whose ruins fire
our imagination. Then stand before
the giant Moai stone heads on
Easter Island and wonder how they
ever got there. This is an archaeo-
logical journey that is truly excit-
ing. Please write for our brochure
or give us the name of your travel
agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHIP
133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022
751-2300 or toll-free 800-223-9700
The environmental setting of the
children during the time they were
malnourished is obviously important.
Both the Dutch and Boston children
were raised in highly educated socie-
ties. Even during the war years in
Holland, there was strong emphasis
on education. The Boston children
did not suffer from a lack of intel-
lectual stimulation. Like the labora-
tory situation in which the mal-
nourished rats were forced into a
stimulating environment, these socie-
ties encourage, indeed require, learn-
ing. They do not have to rely on en-
dogenously motivated curiosity.
One of the most encouraging
aspects of this problem is the possi-
bility of rehabilitating the previously
malnourished child. If the functional
isolation model is correct, we are not
talking about a permanently damaged
brain or impaired ability to learn.
Making the child well again should
rekindle the curiosity to learn; at that
time, he can begin to recover the
accumulating store of cognitive infor-
mation lost during the period of mal-
nutrition. Myron Winick of Colum-
bia University has recently accumu-
lated some evidence to support this.
Studying orphaned Korean children
who were malnourished early in life,
rehabilitated, then raised by Ameri-
can adoptive parents, he found no im-
pairment in their IQs. Of course,
"learning resources" — schools,
teachers, books, involved parents,
and a society that encourages learn-
ing— must also be available.
One cannot talk about malnutrition
and intellectual development without
talking about the total environment of
poverty. The economics of poverty
robs the child of good schools, attrac-
tive toys, libraries, books, and educa-
tionally stimulating environments.
Poverty robs the parents of the time
they can devote to playing with their
children and "intellectually stimu-
lating" them. But of all the ills of
poverty, malnutrition is perhaps the
cruelest, for it robs the child of one
of the most precious characteristics of
the young — and possibly one of the
most important for the ultimate at-
tainment of his intellectual poten-
tial— the hunger to learn.
David A. Levitsky, who has con-
ducted numerous studies on the rela-
tionships between nutrition and be-
havior, teaches in the Division of Nu-
tritional Sciences and the Psychology
Department at Cornell University.
WITH YOUR
SUBSCRIPTION,
THIS BONUS BOOK...
1
As soon as your subscription Pf V^^ent is re^
ceived, we will also send you the 140-page
book image. Object and '""S'O" (;;p9^'^„
Drice- $4 50), as a bonus. This anthology of
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN articles Presents re-
cent research into human perception. It denv
onstrates the enduring quality of the
magazine's editorial content.
n
SCIENTIFIC
AMERICATN
415 MADISON AVENUE
NEW YORK, N.Y 10017
Please enter my subscription to the monthly issues
o laENT FIC AMERICAN for the term I have
ciecked I understand that y°" -" ^^oe Ob^
absolutely free— the 140-page book /mage, Obiect
S En (regular price: $4.50), as soon as my
subscription payment is received.
D Bill me D My payment is enclosed
(Subscription rates outside U.S. and Canada:
1 year - $18 2 years - $33 3 years - $45)
MAIL
THIS POSTPAID CARI
TODAY
YOUR
GUARANTEE
and receive a refund for the balance
of your subscription. The bonus book
IS yours to keep.
Natural History
SCIENTIFIC
[ AMERICAIN
FXXX) /VND *;RICII LTU HK
Kj^tmdei/976
Three billion more
people will join us
at the dinner table
between now and
2000 A.D.
How in the world
will we feed them?
That question provides the occasion
for the publication of the September
issue of Scientific American, devoted
in its entirety to ¥ood and Agriculture.
The answers come from a distinguished
group of authors who are otherwise
engaged in implementing their
answers in the laboratory — and in the
gardens, greenhouses, rice paddies,
croplands and ranges of the world.
Pundits and publicists have put
abroad a great deal of misleading infor-
mation on this subject. There is wide
acceptance of the proposition that the
exploding populations of the poor
("xmderdeveloped") countries have
overrun their agricultural resources.
The "lifeboat ethic" instructs the
people of rich ("developed") countries
to be ready to repel boarding parties.
In fact, the peoples of the under-
developed countries have outgrown not
their resources but the subsistence-
agriculture technology that has held
them in misery from the dawn of
history. The demonstrated agricul-
tural technology of the industrially
developed countries could multiply
world agricultural output by more
than a dozen times. It could support
a well-fed population of 40 billion.
This is a much larger number than that
at which, it is now reckoned, the
world population will stabilize some
time in the next century.
What is required is the transfer of
modem agricultural technology from
the developed to the underdeveloped
countries. That is the answer to the
2000 A.D. question. The fact that it is
now technologically possible to banish
hunger from human experience carries
immense force against the political,
economic and social obstacles that
stand in the way.
For regular readers of SCIENTIFIC
American, this September single-topic
issue supplies the latest installment in a
conttnuing story. Starting in 1950, with
"The Food Problem" by Lord Boyd-
Orr, this magazine has reported step-
by-step the revolution in agricultural
technology that helped to double world
food output in the years since.
Our readers have kept abreast of aU
the other developments in science that
have made this period the most mo-
mentous in intellectual history.
Consider what has occurred: the
unlocking of the genetic code; the dis-
covery of continental drift; the proof
of uncertainty in logic; the recognition
of the role of toolmaking in our biolog-
ical evolution; the sudden arrival of
solid-state electronics, the microcom-
puter, the laser; the elucidation of the
nerve circuitry that organizes percep-
tion; the penetration of the structure of
the fundamental particles.
To our readers aU this has been
reported by the scientists who did the
work. (More than 60 Nobel prize-
winners have written for Scientific
American, nearly all of them in
advance of their recognition by Stock-
holm.) The collaboration of our editors
in the preparation of text and illustra-
tion makes this work accessible to a
growing worldwide readership.
Why not join our more than 650,000
regular readers? You wiU learn why
The New York Times calls SCIENTIFIC
American, "This country's and per-
haps the world's outstanding forum
for communication between scientists
and the intelligent public."
Use the adjacent postpaid card to
begin enjoying the diversity of articles
in each monthly issue. A one-year sub-
scription is only $15, a $3 saving on the
single-copy price. A two-year subscrip-
tion, at $27, saves you $9. And a three-
year subscription, at $37, saves you $17.
Send no money now. We'U bill you.
SCIENTIFIC
AMERICAN
Dept. UK, 415 Madison Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10017
^3
Convenient hanging thong
keeps Rod always at hand.
AMAZING
CERAMIC
Sharpening Rod
ends dull knives...
Restores razor-sharpness gently,
without wearing down the bladesi
At last— a sharpening tool that's entirely different and
more effective than any you've ever used ... at about
one-third the cost of a good sharpening steel! The
"secret' ' is in the exclusive ceramic surface that gives
knives a super-sharp edge in just a few strokes—
without harmful grinding or wearing away of blades.
ONLY
95
It's ideal for sharpening any knife, scis-
sors or cutting tool you own. And it makes
a great gift idea too! Measures 13Vi"
long, with solid ash handle tapered for
comfortable gripping, and convenient
hanging thong. ' POSTPAID
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee!
»4
DISCOVERY HOUSE, INC. Dept 670
17241 Murphy Ave., Irvine, CA 92713
Please rush Ceramic Sharpening Roclls) at just $4,95
each*, shipping and handling included. If not completely
satisfied, I will return Rod(s) within 30 days for lull and
prompt refund. Also send FREE Discovery House Catalog
of unique items from around the world.
Check or M,0. for $
Print Name
_enclosed.
Address
City
State
Zip
•Calif. Residents Add 30t Sales Tax.
This View of Life
by Stephen Jay Gould
Darwin's
Untimely Burial
Despite reports to the
contrary, the theory
of natural selection
remains very much alive
In one of the numerous movie ver-
sions of A Christinas Carol, Ebene-
zer Scrooge, mounting the steps to
visit his dying partner, Jacob Marley ,
encounters a dignified gentleman sit-
ting on a landing. "Are you the doc-
tor?" Scrooge inquires. "No," re-
plies the man, "I'm the undertaker;
ours is a very competitive business. ' '
The cutthroat world of intellectuals
must rank a close second, and few
events attract more notice than a proc-
lamation that popular ideas have
died. Darwin's theory of natural se-
lection has been a perennial candidate
for burial. Tom Bethell held the most
recent wake earlier this year in a piece
called "Darwin's Mistake (Harper's,
February 1976): "Darwin's theory, I
believe, is on the verge of collapse.
. . . Natural selection was quietly
abandoned, even by his most ardent
supporters, some years ago." News
to me, and I, although I wear the Dar-
winian label with some pride, am not
among the most ardent defenders of
natural selection. I recall Mark
Twain's famous response to a prema-
ture obituary: "The reports of my
death are greatly exaggerated."
Bethell's argument has a curious
ring for most practicing scientists.
We are always ready to watch a
theory fall under the impact of new
data, but we do not expect a great and
influential theory to collapse from a
logical error in its formulation. Vir-
tually every empirical scientist has a
touch of the Philistine. Scientists tend
to ignore academic philosophy as an
empty pursuit. Surely, any intelligent
person can think straight by intuition.
Yet Bethell cites no data at all in seal-
ing the coffin of natural selection,
only an error in Darwin's reasoning:
"Darwin made a mistake sufficiently
serious to undermine his theory. And
that mistake has only recently been
recognized as such. . . .At one point
in his argument, Darwin was
rriisled."
Although I will try to refute Beth-
ell, I also deplore the unwillingness
of scientists to explore seriously the
logical structure of arguments. Much
of what passes for evolutionary
theory is as vacuous as Bethell
claims. Many great theories are held
together by chains of dubious meta-
phor and analogy. Bethell has cor-
rectly identified the hogwash sur-
rounding evolutionary theory . But we
differ in one fundamental way: for
Bethell, Darwinian theory is rotten to
the core; I find a pearl of great price
at the center.
Natural selection is the central con-
cept of Darwinian theory — the fittest
survive and spread their favored traits
through populations. Natural selec-
tion is defined by Spencer's phrase
"survival of the fittest," but what
24
Dannon Yogurt.
If you dotft always eat right,
if s the right thing to eat.
Every day, millions of people give up eating.
For snacking.
Well, if you find yourself doing more eating on
the run than at a table, make sure you're eating
Dannon Yogurt.
Our label shows you that Dannon is high in pro
tein, calcium and other things nutritionists say are
good for you.
It also shows that, unlike so many snack foods,
Dannon is low in fat, contains no
starch, no gelatin or other thicken-
ers. And none of those hard-to-
pronounce additives. Because
Dannon Yogurt is 100% natural. Not
just "natural flavor," but natural
everything. No artificial anything.
Dannon is reasonable in
calories, too. Especially when you
consider how satisfying and nutri-
tious it is.
What's more, Dannon gives
you the benefits of yogurt cultures.
They make yogurt one of the
easiest foods to digest, and have
been credited with other healthful
properties too.
Oddly enough, not all yogurts have active yogurt
cultures to speak of. In some brands— mainly pre-
mixed or Swiss style— the cultures are often
deactivated by the processing.
We created a whole culture of yogurt lovers.
Dannon outsells all other brands. For a number
of good reasons.
For example, we go out of our wa\- to get the
best natural ingredients: to Eastern Europe for
strawberries, to the West Coast for box'senber-
ries, and we go to Canada for blueberries. (Ma\-be the
reason that other yogurts don't come close to the
taste of Dannon is that other yogurt makers don't go
quite as far. )
And it's die yogurt delivered direct to \-our store
"from Dannon to dain^case." So if it tastes fresher.
that's because it k fresher.
Dieters aren't the only people
who are big on Dannon.
Today almost ever}-body s
eating Dannon. Dannon Yogurt
is quick and delicious at break-
fast, light but filling at lunch, a
high nutrition snack or dessert.
Spoon it out of the cup as is,
or mix with cottage cheese,
fresh fiuit, peanut butter, honey,
or what-have-you.
A suggestion for beginners:
since plain yogurt may be a bit tart,
start with Dannon fruit yogurts-
strawberry, blueberry, red raspberry-, and others.
For more facts, including some unexpectedly
delicious ways to eat Dannon, write for our booklet,
"Yogurt and You."
Dannon, 22-11 38th Avenue, Long Island City,
New York 11101. It's fi-ee and it
will give you more reasons why
Dannon is the right thing to eat— 1 bP^NNON
even if you always eat right.
2.5
does this famous bit of jargon really
mean? Who are the fittest? And how
is "fitness" defined? We often read
that fitness involves no more than
"differential reproductive suc-
cess"— the production of relatively
more successful offspring than other
competing members of the popula-
tion. Whoa! cries Bethell, as have
many others before him. This formu-
lation defines fitness in terms of sur-
vival only. The crucial phrase of nat-
ural selection means no more than
"the survival of those who sur-
vive"— a vacuous tautology. (Tau-
tologies are fine as definitions, but not
as testable scientific state-
ments— there can be nothing to test
in a statement true by definition.)
But how could Darwin have made
such a monumental, two-bit mistake?
Even his severest critics have never
accused him of crass stupidity. Ob-
viously, Darwin must have tried to
define fitness differently — to find a
criterion for fitness independent of
mere survival. Darwin did propose an
independent criterion, but Bethell
argues quite correctly that he relied
upon analogy to establish it, a danger-
ous and slippery strategy. One might
think that the first chapter of such a
revolutionary book as Origin of Spe-
cies would deal with cosmic ques-
tions and general concerns. It
doesn't. It's about pigeons. Darwin
devotes most of his first forty pages
to "artificial selection" of favored
traits by animal breeders. For here an
independent criterion surely
operates. The pigeon fancier knows
what he wants. The fittest are not de-
fined by their survival. They are,
rather, allowed to survive because
they possess desired traits.
The principle of natural selection
depends upon the validity of this anal-
ogy with artificial selection. We must
be able, like the pigeon fancier, to
identify the fittest beforehand, not
only by the a posteriori fact of their
survival. But nature is not an animal
breeder; no preordained purpose reg-
ulates the history of life. In nature,
any traits possessed by survivors
must be counted as "more evolved' ' ;
in artificial selection, "superior"
traits are defined before breeding
even begins. Later evolutionists,
Bethell argues, recognized the failure
of Darwin's analogy and redefined
"fitness" as mere survival. But they
did not realize that they had under-
mined .the logical structure of Dar-
win's central postulate. Nature pro-
vides no independent criterion of
fitness; thus, natural selection is tau-
tological.
Bethel then moves to two impor-
tant corollaries of his major argu-
ment. First, if fitness only means sur-
vival, then how can natural selection
be a "creative" force, as Darwinians
insist. Natural selection can only tell
us how "a given type of animal be-
came more numerous"; it cannot ex-
plain "how one type of animal gradu-
ally changed into another." Sec-
ondly, why were Darwin and other
eminent Victorians so sure that
mindless nature could be compared
with conscious selection by breeders.
Bethell argues that the cultural cli-
mate of triumphant industrial capital-
ism had defined any change as in-
herently progressive. Mere survival
in nature could only be for the good:
"It is beginning to look as though
what Darwin really discovered was
nothing more than the Victorian
propensity to believe in progress."
I believe that Darwin was right and
that Bethell and his colleagues are
wrong: criteria of fitness independent
of survival can be applied to nature
and have been used consistently by
evolutionists. But let me admit that
Bethell' s criticism applies to much of
the technical literature in evolution-
ary theory, especially to the abstract
mathematical treatments that con-
sider evolution only as an alteration
in numbers, not as a change in qual-
ity. These studies do assess fitness
only in terms of differential survival.
What else can be done with abstract
models that trace the relative suc-
cesses of hypothetical genes A and B
in populations that exist only on com-
puter tape? Nature, however, is not
limited by the calculations of theoret-
ical geneticists. In nature, A 's "supe-
riority" over B will be expressed as
differential survival, but it is not de-
fined by it — or, at least, it better not
be so defined, lest Bethell et al.
triumph and Darwin surrender.
My defense of Darwin is neither
startling, novel, nor profound. I
merely assert that Darwin was justi-
fied in analogizing natural selection
with animal breeding. In artificial se-
lection, a breeder's desire represents
a "change of environment" for a
population. In this new environment,
certain traits are superior a priori;
(they survive and spread by our
breeder's choice, but this is a result
of their fitness, not a definition of it).
In nature. Darwinian evolution is also
a response to changing environments .
Now, the key point: certain morpho-
logical, physiological, and behav-
ioral traits should be superior a priori
as designs for living in these new en-
vironments. These traits confer
fitness by an engineer's criterion of
good design, not by the empirical fact
of their survival and spread. It got
colder before the woolly mammoth
evolved its shaggy coat.
Why does this issue agitate evolu-
tionists so much? OK, Darwin was
right: superior design in changed en-
vironments is an independent crite-
rion of fitness. So what. Did anyone
ever seriously propose that the poorly
designed shall triumph? Yes, in fact,
many did. In Darwin's day, many
rival evolutionary theories asserted
that the fittest (best designed) must
perish. One popular notion — the
theory of racial life cycles — was
championed by a former inhabitant of
the office I now occupy, the great
American paleontologist Alpheus
Hyatt. Hyatt claimed that evolution-
ary lineages, like individuals, had
cycles of youth, maturity, old age,
and death (extinction); that decline
and extinction are programmed into
the history of species; and that as ma-
turity yields to old age, the best-de-
signed individuals die and the hob-
bled, deformed creatures of phyletic
senility take over. Another anti-Dar-
winian notion, the theory of ortho-
genesis, held that certain trends, once
initiated, could not be halted, even
though they must lead to extinction
caused by increasingly inferior de-
sign. Many nineteenth-century evo-
lutionists (perhaps a majority) held
that Irish elks became extinct because
they could not halt their evolutionary
increase in antler size; thus, they
died — caught in trees or bowed (liter-
ally) in the mire. Likewise, the de-
mise of saber-toothed tigers was often
attributed to canine teeth grown so
long that the poor cats couldn't open
their jaws wide enough to use them.
Thus, it is not true, as Bethell
claims, that any traits possessed by
survivors must be designated as fitter.
"Survival of the fittest" is not a tau-
tology. It is also not the only imagin-
able or reasonable reading of the evo-
lutionary record. It is testable. It had
rivals that failed under the weight of
contrary evidence and changing atti-
tudes about the nature of life. It has
rivals that may succeed, at least in
limiting its scope (see my column of
December 1975, on the evolution of
selectively neutral traits).
If I am right, how can Bethell
claim, "Darwin, I suggest, is in the
26
The musIc: soft.
The lights: low
The drink.: f^uVf f
- Black Russlani
U^i
^-
lt:#th&t sit back and
relSxtimeof day.
Wh^^^l^ix one
ounc#OTKahlua and 1
4wo ounces of vodka
on the rocks. And enjoy. . . . v'"^
every delicious minute. ■ :;
Why not send for our Kahlua
recipe book. Compliments of the
house. Because you deserve something nice.
Kahlua. 53 Proof Coffee Liqueur from Sunny Mexico. Maidstone Importers, 116 No. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90048.
%ur hands know
idaMinoltcU
You can sense the care and
craftsnnanship that goes into a
Minolta from the moment you
pick one up- It feels comfortable.
The controls are so logically
positioned that your fingers fall
into place naturally Everything
works with such smooth pre-
cision that the camera feels like
a part of you.
A Minolta 35mm SLR lets
you respond instantly to the
images all around you. You never
have to look away from the view-
finder to make adjustments,
so you won't lose sight of even
the fastest moving subjects. The
image remains big and bright
until the instant you shoot. And
Minolta's patented CLC' meter-
ing system handles even tricky
high contrast exposures with
incredible accuracy
For another point of view
with a Minolta SLR, you can
Minolta
When you are the camera
choose from more than 40 lenses
in the superbly crafted Rokkor-X
and Minolta/Celtic systems, ranging
from "fisheye" wide-angle to
super-telephoto.
Minolta offers a wide selec-
tion of electronic and match-
needle SLRs. With a choice of
features to match your needs and
budget. Regardless of the model
you choose, you get the superb
Minolta handling that lets you
quickly and easily translate the
vision in your mind to film.
So see your Minolta dealer
and let him put a Minolta in your
hands. For literature, write Minolta
Corporation. 101 Williams Drive,
Ramsey. NewJersey07446-
In Canada: Anglophoto. Ltd.. RQ.
and the camera is >'0u.
process of being discarded, but per-
haps in deference to the venerable old
gentleman, resting comfortably in
Westminster Abbey next to Sir Isaac
Newton, it is being done as discreetly
and gently as possible with a mini-
mum of publicity. " " I'm afraid I must
say that Bethell has not been quite fair
in his report of prevailing opinion. He
cites the gadflies C.H. Waddington
and H.J. Muller as though they epito-
mized a consensus. He never men-
tions the leading selectionists of our
present generation — E.O. Wilson or
D. Janzen. for example. And he
quotes the architects of neo-Darwin-
ism — Dobzhansky. Simpson, Mayr,
and J. Huxley — only to ridicule their
metaphors on the "creativity" of nat-
ural selection. (I am not claiming that
Darwinism should be cherished be-
cause it is still popular; I am enough
of a gadfly to believe that uncriticized
consensus is a sure sign of impending
trouble. I merely report that, for bet-
ter or for worse, Darwinism is alive
and thriving, despite Bethell 's obit-
uary.)
But why was natural selection
compared to a composer by Dob-
zhansky; to a poet by Simpson; to a
sculptor by Mayr; and to, of all
people, Mr. Shakespeare by Julian
Huxley? I won't defend the choice of
metaphors, but I will uphold the in-
tent, namely, to illustrate the essence
of Darwinism — ^the creativity of natu-
ral selection. Namral selection has a
place in all anti-Darwinian theories
that I know. It is cast in a negative
role as an executioner, a headsman
for the unfit (while the fit arise by such
non-Darwinian mechanisms as the in-
heritance of acquired characters or
direct induction of favorable varia-
tion by the environment). The es-
sence of Darwinism lies in its claim
that nahiral selection creates the fit.
Variation is ubiquitous and random in
direction. It supplies the raw material
only. Namral selection directs the
course of evolutionary change. It pre-
serves favorable variants and builds
fitness gradually. In fact, since artists
fashion their creations from the raw
material of notes, words, and stone,
the metaphors do not strike me as in-
appropriate. Since Bethell does not
accept a criterion of fimess inde-
pendent of mere survival, he can
hardly grant a creative role to namral
selection.
According to Bethell, Darwin's
concept of namral selection as a cre-
ative force can be no more than an
illusion encouraged by the social and
28
/S^6>-/S^^/iy/m/t^j/u.
AUDUBON'S
Monumental
BIRDS OF
AMERICA
The History
The Birds of America are Audubon's most celebrated and im-
portant work.
Today they are found only in the museums and rare print
archives of the world's most prestigious Institutions. One
archivist has described the public trading of this work as a
"trickle so light it can't be felt."
The Birds of America are so intricate in detail, so exacting in
color, that even with the assistance of his two sons, it took
Audubon four full years (1840-1844) to complete the 500
plates which compose this masterpiece.
Working with famed lithographer J. T. Bowen of Philadelphia,
each and every plate was hand-colored and hand printed (an
example of a love of craftsmanship rarely seen in modern
times).
The Octovo Birds of America are an important part of our
history. They have stood the test of time and grown in stature,
until today, over 130 years later, they are recognized as an
American Masterpiece.
The Offer
Audubon is an American legend spanning two centuries.
The most important naturalist artist of all time, his work is as
classical as it is timeless.
This offer of original first edition Octovo Birds of America is
as rare as the work of art itself. There are quite simply, none
left in public circulation.
This offer will likely prove to be the only chance the collector
ever has to personally own an Original First Edition Audubon,
tach print has been handsomely framed in gold wood. The
standard is museum conservation. The matting is 100% all-
rag museum board. Each print is framed to prevent deteriora-
tion and to compliment its' natural beauty.
Each and every print is of pristine quality and mea-
sures 14 X 16" framed.
Each Original First Edition Audubon is $1 10.
The price includes all shipping, handling, framing and in-
surance. Everything.
Applications will be processed and numbers assigned by
earliest postmark with Plate No. 1 going to Subscriber No. 1.
until the 500th Plate Is assigned to the 500th Subscriber.
Should you have a preference in your choice of Bird or in
color or species, please indicate such In the appropriate sec-
tions of the Subscription Application.
The Volair 30-Day Unconditional Guarantee is of course
available should you not be entirely satisfied or wish to ex-
change your print for another.
The Documentation
Each Audubon is delivered with the appropriate Certificate of
Authenticity. This document certifies that the work is an
original first edition Audubon Bird of America, includes the
historical background of the print, and bears the Volair Seal.
eM& <^^temM^ e/^i^t^^^M/ 6^ (^um o/m ^o/^ee&M^
ORIGINAL CHARTER SUBSCRIPTION APPLICATION
Audubon Bird's of America/$110. each framed.
Preferences(Pleaseindicate 2nd choice) Name
No Preference Address -
Song Bird
Bird of Prey _
Water Fowl _
Color
Species
City State Zip
Method of Remittance D Check D Credit Card (MC/BAC/Am. Exp.)
Card No Exp. Date
E&
volair limited
D Payment in Full D Volair Extended Payment Plan. Please enclose $55. We will bill you
for the balance of $55, 30 days after delivery.
NH
120 Water Street South/Kent, Ohio 44240/Phone (216) 673-31 10/Cable: VOLAIRLTD
political climate of his times. In the
throes of Victorian optimism in impe-
rial Britain, change seemed to be in-
herently progressive; why not equate
survival in nature with increasing
fitness in the nontautological sense of
improved design.
I am a strong advocate of the gen-
eral argument that "truth" as
preached by scientists often turns out
to be no more than prejudice inspired
by prevailing social and political be-
liefs. I have devoted several columns
to this theme because I believe that
it helps to "demystify" the practice
of science by showing its similarity
to all creative human activity. But the
truth of a general argument does not
validate any specific application, and
I maintain that Bethell's application
is badly misinformed.
Darwin did two very separate
things: he convinced the scientific
world that evolution had occurred and
he proposed the theory of natural se-
lection as its mechanism. I am quite
willing to admit that the common
equation of evolution with progress
made Darwin's first claim more palat-
able to his contemporaries. But Dar-
win failed in his second quest during
his own lifetime . The theory of natu-
ral selection did not triumph until the
1930s. Its Victorian unpopularity lay,
in my view, primarily in its denial of
general progress as inherent in the
workings of evolution. Natural selec-
tion is a theory of local adaptation to
changing environments. It proposes
no perfecting principles, no guaran-
tee of general improvement; in short,
no reason for general approbation in
a political climate favoring innate
progress in nature.
Darwin's independent criterion of
fitness is, indeed, "improved de-
sign," but not "improved" in the
cosmic sense that contemporary Brit-
ain favored. To Darwin, improved
meant only "better designed for an
immediate, local environment."
Local environments change con-
stantly: they get colder or hotter, wet-
ter or drier, more grassy or more
forested. Evolution by natural selec-
tion is no more than a tracking of
these changing environments by dif-
ferential preservation of organisms
better designed to live in them: hair
on a mammoth is not progressive in
any cosmic sense. Natural selection
can produce a trend that tempts us to
think of more general progress — in-
crease in brain size does characterize
the evolution of group after group of
mammals (see my column of January
1975). But big brains have their uses
in local environments; they do not
mark intrinsic trends to higher states.
And Darwin delighted in showing
that local adaptation often produced
"degeneration" in design — anatomi-
cal simplification in parasites, for ex-
ample.
If natural selection is not a doctrine
of progress, then its popularity cannot
reflect the politics that Bethell in-
vokes. If the theory of natural selec-
tion contains an independent criterion
of fitness, then it is not tautological.
I maintain, perhaps naively, that its
current, unabated popularity must
have something to do with its success
in explaining the admittedly imper-
fect information we now possess
about evolution. I rather suspect that
we'll have Charles Darwin to kick
around for some time.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science
at Harvard University.
The 1977 NatumI History
Photographic Competition
signs indicate a glorious photo-
graphic competition is in the
offing for 1977. Film sales
and photographic proc-
essing reached all-time
peaks this summer.
The sun seemed to
shine especially bright upon
the ever beautiful world of na-
ture. The growing number of
Natural History readers — nearly one and a half million
with this issue — can only mean more Intense competi-
tion than ever. And that means we will all benefit when
the winners are published in a color-packed issue next
June.
For the 1977 competition, the four major categories
— as broad as ever — are: The Natural World; A Se-
quence of an Event in Nature; Microphotography, in-
cluding scanning electron microscopes; and The Hu-
man Family. In addition, special awards will be made
for the single best pictures showing humor and urban
wildlife.
The rules are simple: (1) The competition is open to
everyone, except employees of The American Museum
of Natural History and their kin; (2) Competitors may sub-
mit up to three previously unpublished entries in each
of the four categories; (3) Entries may be transparencies
or prints up to 8 by 10 inches, and each must contain
the name and address of the photographer, because
keeping track of the thousands of entries is a big job;
(4) For each entry, we would like to know the camera
model used; and (5) Include a self-addressed stamped
envelope — we do want to return your pictures to you.
The contest opens January 1 (which still gives you
time to shoot a winner) and closes March 1.
Now for the important detail — the rewards to winners.
In addition to being published in the magazine, First
Prize winners in the four major categories will each re-
ceive $400. The special humor and urban wildlife win-
ners will each get $200. Ten Honorable Mentions will
receive $100 each.
The decision of the judges will be final. The American
Museum of Natural History acquires the right to publish
and exhibit the winning pictures. And the Museum as-
sumes no responsibility for transparencies and prints.
So please sort out your beautiful entries, pack them
carefully, and after New Year's Day mail them to:
Photography Competition 1977
Natural History Magazine
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, New York 1 0024
FREE! TIME'S Special Portfolio Guid
"The American Presidents''
r^r
Just write in the number of weeks you want, detach and mail.
Please send me TIME'S Special Portfolio Guide
"The American Presidents" free,
and weeks of TIME for 50^ a week. I
Minimum: 25 weeks. Maximum: 100 weeks. (TIME is
$1.00 a copy on newsstands, 500 by regular subscrip-
tion.) Send no money now. You will be billed later.
Mr./Ms.
(please print full name)
Address
Signature
If college student, please indicate D undergraduate D graduate
Nanne of College/University
Year studies end Rate good only in the U.S.
October 15, 1976
Apt. No
guish "The American Presidents" make each 800-621-8200. (In Illinois: 800-972-8302.)
• Which three Presidents died
the Fourth of July?
• Who was the first Democrat t
be elected President?
• Which President served the
shortest time in office?
• How many Presidents never t
to college?
• Which President appointed tt
first woman to his cabinet?
• Who was the shortest, who w
the tallest, President?
• Who was the only bachelor
President?
• Which Presidents were orpha
• Which President had 15
children?
• Which Presidents were candi
dates of minor parties?
• Who was the first President ti
deliver a radio broadcast?
• Who was the first President ti
loss in the baseball on opening
day of the season?
Commemorating the 150th
Anniversary of John James Audubon's classic
"Birds of America" engravings. . . .
The
MHPGBIRI>S
OF AMERICA
BeUCoUeetion
D A Series of 12 Bavarian Porcelain Bells depicting America's Most Beau-
tiful Songbirds D Exclusive Original Works of Art D Hand Decorated and
Trimmed in 22kt. Gold D A Limited Edition Available Only in This 150th
Anniversary Year of Audubon's "Birds of America" D Original issue price
guaranteed.
^H-^ irds delight even the most casual observer. They grace our world with beauty and
song and inspire us with their freedom of flight. Now the minstrels of the meadows, wood-
lands, deserts and streams— the songbirds of America— have been captured brilliantly in
a series of frnely crafted porcelain bells.
Honoring John James Audubon
No one in recorded history has ever devoted such enormous energies and talents to
capturing the wondrous beauty of birds as John James Audubon. In his almost life-long
quest he recorded in brilliant watercolors the hundreds of birds native to North America.
To honor Audubon's herculean task in this the 150th anniversary year of his "Birds
of America," the Danbvu-y Mint has chosen 12 of the most beautiful songbirds of America
and portrayed them on fine porcelain bells.
Exelusive Works of Art
One of the nation's foremost American wildUfe artists has been commissioned to execute
the original watercolor enhancing each beU. Jo Polseno, renowned bird painter, has created
the original works of art for the 18 bells in this series. \Yorking directly from life, in the
woods and fields of America, the artist has conceived and created his designs -portraying
each bird in authentic and exacting detail. By following the techniques used 150 years ago by
John James Audubon, Polseno has created birds which seem to come alive. Each brushstroke
captiures the beauty, color and texture of the songbfrds. We believe his achievements are
remarkable. The accompanying full color illustrations demonstrate the painstaking acciu-acy
and style which wHl be characteristic of the original watercolors for this fine collection.
Finest Bavarian Porcelain
The finest Bavarian porcelain has been used in creating this exqixisite series. The shape
of the bell was specially selected to complement the delicate scenes vividly portrayed.
Each beU has been hand decorated with a band of precious 22kt gold. The fine skill of old
world craftsmen has been employed to reproduce the fine detail of the birds on each bell.
Every bell in the series will beai" the hallmark of the Danbury Mint.
A limited Edition At A Guaranteed Price
The Songbirds of America BeO Collection is being issued as a strictly limited
edition. It is available only by advance reservation and only imtH December 31, 1976.
The original issue price of g35.00 per bell is guaranteed to each subscriber throughout
the series. Each subscriber wUl receive a nmnbered certificate of registration authenticating
the status of the individual collection within the limited edition.
-VclmJ size (/fbeUh 5 Ixhcturt* in lun^i
Baltimore OHole
IWdfted TitmoujiMf
Heirloom Collection
Bells of the finest Bavarian porcelain coupled \\1tli the exclusiveness of a strictly lim-
ited edition of original works of art honoring John .James Audubon will establish this
series as a Qne heirloom collectible. Audubon's bird paintings have been prized and highly
valued by collectors and bird lovers for more than a century. Ilie Songbirds of America
Bell Collection may well be equiUly revered by future generations.
Convenient Acquisition Plan
Guaranteed Satisfaction
Subscribers will receive their beUs at the rate of approximately one every two months.
To subscribe to this exciting collection, all you need do is complete the reser\'ation applica-
tion and mail it. Please note it is not necessary to send any payment with your application
at this time. Act promptly! TUs is a limited edition collection and an}' reserva-
tions received after the edition closes nnist be declined and returned.
The Danbury ^Unt I'KKFEUKKD KEKEKVATIO.V AIM'LICATIO.V
10 Glendinning Place N H -3
Westport, Ct. 06880
Please accept my subscription to:
The Songbirds of America Bell Collection. I understand there will be 12 fine porcelain
bells in this limited edition series and that the bells will be issued approximately one ever>'tAvo
months at a guaranteed price of 835.00 each.
1 luiderstant that 1 need remit no money now! 1 wiH be bUled for the first beU 30 days
prior to shipment and invoiced on a pre-shipment basis for each bell ever\' two months thereafter.
1 may cancel this subscription at any time and any bell may be returned for a fuU refund if upon
receipt I am not completely satisfied.
An option to charge my bells to Master Charge or Bank.\mericard wUl be made available at
the time I am Invoiced for mv first beU.
The Horchow Collection Christmas
Catalogues give you the pleasure
of unhurried, unharried Christmas
shopping at home with exclusive,
exciting and imaginative selections
of gifts from the practical to the luxe.
For your copies, at NO CHARGE,
call toll-free 800-327-8912 (in Florida,
800-432-5024) or mail this coupon to
P.O. Box 34257, Dept, 04016,
Dallas, Texas 75234.
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY STATE/ZIP
THE
HORCHOM^
(DUaiON
THE NEW SUPER-SIZE
SCHOOLBAG
FROM DENMARK
More pockets, zippers, flaps and compartments
make this sturdy classic the best all-purpose
bag ever. Terrifically functional with a great
casual look. A favorite of models, photogra-
phers, artists, students, musicians, dancers,
opera singers, nuns, poets, duck hunters, cy-
clists, plumbers, teachers, filmmakers, pilots,
architects, doctors, reporters and travelers be-
cause there's always a place to stuff one more
thing. A new zippered pleat can expand this
improved version to double the normal width
-now a full ISVi" x 13" x 8". Perfect carry-on
flight bag. Adjustable shoulder strap. In
squashy gray, chocolate brown or bright Da-
nish blue waterproof canvas. $27.50.
(plus $1 .50 shipping). N.Y. res. add tax. Canada
add $2.00. Send to Dept. NH-10.
THE CHOCOLATE SOUP
249 East 77th Street New York 10021
How the Wise Men
Brought Malaria to Africa
by Robert S. Desowitz
And other cautionary
tales of human dreams
and opportunistic
mosquitoes
Once upon a time (but not too long
ago) there lived a tribe deep within
the Dark Continent. These people
tilled the soil to raise crops of roots
and grains, for they had little meat to
lend them strength. Illness often be-
fell them, but even so, in this dry land
they were not overly troubled with the
fever sickness brought by the mos-
quito. Now in the Northern World
there was a powerful republic that had
compassion on these people and sent
their Wise Men to relieve the mean
burden of their lives. The Wise Men
said, "Let them farm fish," and
taught the people to make ponds and
to husband a fish called tilapia.
The people learned well, and
within a short time they had dug
10,000 pits and ponds. The fish
flourished, but soon the people could
not provide the constant labors re-
quired to feed the fish and keep the
ponds free of weeds. The fish became
smaller and fewer, and into these
ponds and pits came the fever mos-
quitoes, which bred and multiplied
prodigiously. The people then sick-
ened and the children died from the
fever that the medicine men from the
cities called malaria. The Wise Men
from the North departed, thinking
how unfortunate it was that these
people could not profit from their
teachings. The people of the village
thought it strange that Wise Men
should be sent them to instruct in the
ways of growing mosquitoes.
At about the same time, from 1957
to 1961, that this ecological misad-
venture was taking place in Kenya
(for it was no fable), on the other side
of the world the impoverished vil-
lagers of the Demerara River estuary
in Guyana were enacting their own
calamity. Striving to improve their lot
by converting from subsistence farm-
ing of maize and cassava to cash-
producing rice, they cleared the re-
gion for rice fields, displacing the
livestock that formerly abounded in
the villages. Mechanization on the
roads and fields also progressed,
bringing a further diminution in the
numbers of domestic animals, partic-
ularly of cattle and draft oxen.
The major potential carrier of ma-
laria in the region was the mosquito
Anopheles aquasalis, but since sub-
sistence agriculture created few suit-
able water collections for breeding,
the mosquitoes were present in only
modest density. The wet rice fields,
however, provided an ideal larval
habitat and the vector population in-
creased rapidly. Even so, all would
have been well had there been no al-
teration in the livestock since the ge-
netically programmed behavior of A.
aquasalis directs them to prefer blood
meals from domestic animals rather
than humans. With the disappearance
of their normal food supply, how-
ever, the hungry mosquitoes turned
their attention to people. Intense mos-
quito-man contact now enhanced
malaria transmission to epidemic
proportions. And so the combination
of rice and tractors contrived to bring
malaria to the people of the Demerara
River estuary.
These two stories of ecological di-
saster are not isolated phenomena. In
the endemic regions of the tropics,
many human activities create and
multiply the breeding habitats of ma-
laria-bearing mosquitoes. Thus, in
their very attempts to break from the
bondage of poverty, food shortage,
and ill health, third world peoples too
36
«
M»^
"Ife
SlH^'
\
tjy
vcod^
^^
Just put your Kodak color film
in a Kodak mailer and mail
it to Kodak.
Kodak will mail your
slides, prints or
movies back to you.
You can have them
delivered right to
your own home.
That's convenient.
That's First Class.
At Kodak, we are dedicated to
processing your Kodak film carefully. Like all
quality processors, we take pride m our work.
And that pride shows up in your pictures.
So, the next time you buy Kodak film, pick
up some Kodak mailers. And start
going First Class — to Kodak.
often sow the seeds of disaster in the
form of malaria.
Malaria of humans is caused by
four species of a protozoan parasite
of the genus Plasmodium — P.
falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae,
and P. ovale. While all four species
of parasites can produce debilitating
illness, only P. falciparum is
sufficiently virulent to cause death.
The complicated life cycle is, in the
main, the same for all species. Two
hosts are required: man and a mos-
quito of the genus Anopheles. Infec-
tion in man begins with the bite of the
mosquito, which injects sporozoites,
microscopic threadlike forms, into
the human host. The sporozoites
enter liver tissue, where they divide
asexually to form daughter cells. A
single sporozoite may give rise to as
many as 30,000 daughter cells. After
a sojourn in the liver that may last
from several weeks to months or even
years, depending on the species and
strain of parasite, the cells are re-
leased from the liver and enter the
circulation, where they invade red
blood cells.
Within the red blood cells the para-
site grows, the nucleus divides, and
in a manner analogous to the liver
phase, ten to sixteen daughter cells
are produced. The red cell finally
bursts, freeing the daughter cells to
invade new red blood cells. Since the
cycle is synchronous, it causes peri-
odically recurrent episodes of chills
and fever — hallmarks of malaria in-
fections.
Several days after the onset of the
blood phase, new forms appear
within the red blood cells. These sex-
ual stages, the male and female game-
tocytes, undergo no further change
until ingested by the feeding mos-
quito. A marvelously adaptive
process has evolved in which the ga-
metocytes are mature and infective to
the mosquito for only a short period
of the day. This period of infectivity
occurs at night, matching the time
that most anopheline carriers take
their blood meal.
In the mosquito stomach the game-
tocytes are transformed into male and
female gametes and fertilization
occurs. The fertilized female gamete
penetrates the mosquito stomach
wall, coming to rest on the exterior
surface where it forms a cystlike
body, the oocyst. Within this cyst in-
tense cytoplasmic reorganization and
nuclear division take place, and as
many as 10,000 sporozoites form.
The formation of the oocyst takes
seven to fourteen days, depending on
temperature and other factors. Upon
maturation it bursts, releasing the
sporozoites, which invade the sali-
vary glands. The mosquito can now
infect a human when next it feeds.
The anopheline mosquito is the
critical link in perpetuating the ma-
laria parasite, and the nature of
man-mosquito contact greatly influ-
ences the level of endemism. An im-
portant factor in this relationship is
the life cycle of the mosquito in in-
teraction with its environment. Each
anopheline species has characteristic
biological and behavioral traits that
determine its interaction with man
and other hosts. Thus, the selection
for breeding water, host upon which
to feed, and resting behavior are ge-
netically controlled characteristics,
which may or may not place a particu-
lar anopheline mosquito in proximity
to man. In many regions of the trop-
ics, human activities, particularly
those associated with agriculture,
alter the environment, producing
suitable breeding sites and increasing
the likelihood of human contact with
malarial mosquitoes.
Of all the agricultural practices that
alter the natural tropical ecosystem,
rice culture is one of the most impor-
tant in creating optimal conditions for
malaria transmission. Rice farming
requires large, open areas of water,
also the preferred habitat of many of
the most efficient anopheline carriers
of malaria. These conditions are
especially evident in new rice fields,
where the young .plants are placed
well apart. Also, the generation time
of the mosquito is accelerated in the
sun-elevated temperature of the ex-
posed water, and breeding is prolific.
In addition, a relatively large body of
standing water increases the humidity
of the surrounding biosphere, and the
higher humidity prolongs the mos-
quito's life. The longer a mosquito
lives, the more people it bites during
its lifetime.
A vicious series of events may de-
velop beginning with the intense
man- vector contact. Because rice
culture is seasonal , peak densities of
mosquitoes generally occur for rela-
tively short periods. The limited
transmission period prevents the de-
velopment of a protective immunity.
When farmers are incapacitated by
malaria during the planting season,
crop production suffers, leading to
economic loss and food shortage.
The ecological changes described
above have been excellently docu-
mented in a study carried out on
Kenya's Kano Plain rice develop-
ment scheme. Prior to establishment
of the rice plots, the Kano Plain land-
scape was characterized by villages
of scattered huts, maize farms in-
terspersed with seasonal swamps and
water holes in which Pistia plants
grew. In this unmodified environ-
ment, 99 percent of the mosquito
population were Mansonia, a non-
vector of malaria, while only 1 per-
cent were Anopheles gambiae. After
the land was modified for rice farm-
ing, 65 percent of the mosquitoes
were A. gambiae and 28 percent
Mansonia (the other 7 percent were
another variety). Similar alterations
in mosquito populations following
the introduction of rice farming have
occurred in such diverse areas of the
world as Venezuela, Tanzania, India,
Syria, and Morocco, where until
1949 the French colonial goverrraient
had, for health reasons, banned rice
growing.
In the tropical world the ecosystem
undergoing the most rapid and exten-
sive alteration for human purposes is
the forest. These alterations have fre-
quently resulted in an intensification
of malaria, often out of all proportion
to the small degree of disturbance
created.
Within the intact tropical rain
forest there are relatively few species
of mosquitoes that transmit human
malaria. Not only are there few per-
manent or semipermanent water col-
lections but also the main anopheline
carriers prefer sunlit breeding sites
and avoid shaded conditions. But
breeding conditions abound in the ex-
posed water collections created when
the forest is cleared by the farmer dig-
ging his plot of ground, by tractors
and other machines used for lumber-
ing, and by the rutted roads used to
service the new settlements.
Conversely, on at least one occa-
sion, the creation of forests has also
led to problems. When the cacao in-
dustry was begun in Trinidad, a man-
made forest of immortelle trees was
planted to provide the shade required
by cacao plants. Certain South and
Central American anophelines,
showing the remarkable specializa-
tion a mosquito species may have,
breed exclusively in water contained
in the bromeliad epiphytes of the
forest gallery. When bromeliads col-
onized the high immortelle trees, A.
bellator proliferated, carrying ma-
laria to the plantation workers and
their families.
Take this valuable Bicentennial Limited Edition by
Wedgwood
and enjoy the special privileges of membership in
The Wedgwood Collectors Society
Enroll as a member in the exclusive Wedgwood Collectors
Society for just $1 0. Or start your membership with the pur-
chase of this Bicentennial Limited Edition for $35 and your first
year's $10 membership fee will be waived. In either case, you
will receive with our compliments the Wedgwood Blue and
White Jasperware Membership Plaque (at right) and the special
privileges of membership.
As a member, you will build a truly fine personal collection
of unique Wedgwood pieces. You will be sent — at no cost — a
one-year subscription to the Wedgwood Collectors Society
Newsletter, with word of the latest Wedgwood Collectors Soci-
ety Special Editions being offered, as well as other news from
Wedgwood.
These Special Editions are designed and produced exclu-
sively for the Wedgwood Collectors Society. Each carries the
Society's distinguished backstamp: a portrait of Josiah
Wedgwood, founder of the 200-year-old English Wedgwood
Company whose history is so closely linked with America.
We cannot promise you that the value of any specific item
will increase, but because of the nature of Wedgwood Limited
Editions, the likelihood is great that it will. Traditionally,
Wedgwood items have been sound investments.
Each Special Edition is strictly limited in quantity. No
minimum purchases are required and nothing is ever sent with-
out your affirmative order. There are no further obligations on
your part. Please note, all items are offered subject to prior
sale.
To enroll, please complete and return our coupon to
Wedgwood Collectors Society, 41 Madison Avenue, Dept. NH,
New York, N.Y. 10010
As a new member you will receive a
Wedgwood- Membership Plaque at no
added charge.
Begin your annual membership by com-
pleting the Coupon below, and you will
receive with our compliments a beautiful
4%" Wedgwood Collectors Society
Membership Plaque, executed in hand-
some Blue and White Jasper with the
portrait of Josiah Wedgwood.
WEDGWOOD COLLECTORS SOCIETY
41 Madison Avenue. Dept NH,
New York, NY. 10010
Please check one:
n Enroll me as a Member of the Wedgwood Collectors Society.
My first acquisition is the set of Bicentennial Compotiers for
which I am enclosing $35. Send my Membership Plaque at no
added cost, and waive my first year's S10 Membership Fee.
n I do not wish to acquire the Independence Compotiers. How-
ever, enclosed is my payment of $10 for first year's Membership
Fee, Please enroll me as a Member, and send my Membership
Plaque at no added cost.
STREET .
CITY
(Residents of New York City please add 8% for State and City Sales
Tax. Other residents of New "York State and residents of California,
please add applicable State and local taxes.)
I
"Wedgwood" is the U.S. registered trademark of Wedgwood Limited.
How Intematioiial P^per
helps mother trees have stronger,
healthier offspring
The forester in the photo-
graph is — well, you might
call her a matchmaker.
She's using that syringe in
one of our seed orchards to
make just the right kind of
match: the pollen of one very
special pine tree to the flower
of another.
It's all part of an effort to
grow a better kind of tree — far
taller, straighter and more
disease resistant than its
ancestors.
That effort could be critical
to America's economy.
Nature under pressure
Nature needs help. For two
centuries she has been
supplying America— and other
parts of the world— with all the
trees we needed. Now the
demand is increasing faster
than nature alone can replenish
the supply.
America uses more than
half a ton of wood each year,
for every man, woman and
child. (That's the equivalent of
a 55-foot tall southern pine tree
with a 12-inch diameter for
each of us.)
And, the demand will
double by the year 2000 if we
are to meet our needs for
housing, protective packaging,
communications and other
critical demands of a modern
economy.
So America must grow more
trees — and trees with a lot
more usable wood fiber. That's
where International Paper is
helping.
Breeding better forests
For 20 years now.
International Paper has been
breeding better trees. They're
not only taller and straighter
than ordinary trees. They also
grow faster. And they have
fewer, smaller branches. That
means they contain more
usable fiber.
Our first man-bred tree, the
Supertree, contained 25 percent
more wood fiber. Now we're
breeding a tree expected to
yield 20 percent more fiber than
that — to be grown in forests
managed to give each tree
optimum space for growth.
In fact, our tree breeding
program is so extensive that
by 1978 we expect to replace
every southern pine we harvest
with better, man-bred trees.
Hardwood trees, too
And we've extended our
breeding program to hardwood
trees like gum and sycamore,
so that hardwood lands will be
more productive, too. We've
also developed a Landowner
Assistance Program, to help
small landowners do a better
job of managing their forests.
Right now, there are over
500,000 acres of land involved
in this program.
And there's still more. We're
finding ways to get more wood
fiber out of the trees we harvest.
We're involved in cooperative
nursery programs and tree
farm programs. We're working
to improve tree harvesting
techniques, while protecting
forest soils and forest
watersheds.
More to be done
Will all this be enough to
keep the world's fiber supply
going strong? It will help. But
more must be done.
At International Paper, we
believe forest products
companies, private landowners
and government must work
together to develop more
enlightened policies for
managing America's forests.
The wrong policies can
make tree farming difficult and
force the sale of forest land for
other purposes. The right
policies can assure continuation
of America's forests — a
renewable natural resource.
If you'd like more
information about what has to
be done to assure the world's
fiber supply, please write to
Dept. 200- A, International
Paper Company, 220 East 42nd
Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.
®
INTERNATIONAL
PAPER
COMPANY
220 EAST 42ND STREET NEW YORK. NEW YORK 10017
In an attempt to solve their prob-
lems— overcrowded cities, land
shortage, and the need for establish-
ing a market economy — political and
technical authorities in the develop-
ing countries have opened new lands
to agricultural development. Such
projects commonly begin with the
clearing of the jungle, followed by
resettlement of transmigrants and cul-
tivation of cash crops such as cotton,
tobacco, rice, and corn. But all too
frequently, the ecological alterations
brought about by deforestation, cre-
ation of irrigation systems, and other
human activities eiihance the vector
population. More often than not,
settlers brought into the area have had
little exposure to malaria and have not
acquired sufficient immunity to pro-
tect them from severe attacks. For ex-
ample, within eight months of leav-
ing nonmalarious urban centers of
Java for an agricultural project in
south Sulawesi, 32 percent of the
settlers were stricken with malaria
and the enterprise nearly collapsed.
The ability to protect the settlers by
chemical control of the anopheline
carrier has often been negated by
prior use of agricultural insecticides
such as DDT. Spraying crops to pro-
tect against the ravages of destructive
insects and spraying for the control of
anopheline vectors involve different
and generally incompatible tech-
niques. Where insecticide has been
broadcast for crop protection, the
anopheline population contracts sub-
lethal doses that eventually render it
physiologically or behaviorally re-
sistant. Thus, by the time antimalaria
measures are instituted, the avenue of
mosquito control by chemical means
has been closed.
Cost accounting of the economics
of ecological alteration is difficult,
particularly when the influence of a
single factor, malaria, is traced
through a complicated, interacting
mosaic. One excellent exercise in
ecological-economic sleuthing was
carried out by the Pan American
Health Organization after new lands
had been opened for agricultural de-
velopment in Paraguay. In the first
year of the scheme, malaria seriously
afflicted the settlers and the impact of
the disease reduced the over-all pro-
duction of cash crops — tobacco, cot-
ton, and corn — by 36 percent.
Worker efficiency, particularly dur-
ing the harvest, which coincided with
the height of the malaria season, was
reduced by as much as 33 percent.
Debilitated by malaria, the farmers
devoted their limited energy to their
cash crops, abandoning for subsist-
ence all but the easily cultivated, but
starchy, manioc. As a result, deterio-
ration of their nutritional status was
added to the burden of malaria.
In subsequent years there was re-
duced expansion of farms in the ma-
laria-struck region. Tragically, the
Paraguayan government and its ad-
visers were aware of the health haz-
ards, but having expended a large
amount of capital on land develop-
ment, it had too little left in the kitty
to secure its "beachhead" by provid-
ing the infrastructure of health, edu-
cation, and other social services. The
Paraguayan experience has been
repeated throughout the tropics.
In addition to agricultural develop-
ment, third world governments have
expanded electrical power resources
in their attempts to promote economic
development. But along with the
kilowatts, rice, and fish, these giant
hydroelectric and water impound-
ment schemes also produced malaria.
The seepages and canals have pro-
vided optimal breeding habitats for
malaria mosquitoes in such geo-
graphically diverse projects as the
Aswan Dam in Egypt, the Kariba
project in Zambia, the Lower Seyhan
Let her carry you
to the Cities of the Dawn
From New Orleans, jazziest city
in America, sail to ttie lands of the
ancient Mayans. Prowi througli tfieir
long-abandoned temples. Try to solve
their still undeciphered hieroglyphs.
The Cities of the Dawn are exotic,
exciting, and still nearly unexplored.
At Carras our job is making luxury
more elegant. Our passengers are
usually seasoned travelers. They can
compare us with other cruise ships. And
when you compare us, we shine.
We carry fewer passengers.
That means spacious cabins, each with
a bathroom and a bathtub. Our dining
room is large enough to accommodate
all passengers at one sitting.
Our cuisine is the envy ot famous
restaurants. And our decks, being less
crowded, are delightfully strollable.
We've also added theme cruises:
Sail with the Stars (for movie buffs);
Symphony of Islands and Seas (a
musical feast); The Sea a Stage {the
play's the thing); Away from the
Blues (and all that jazz!).
There's just one thing. We work very
hard to find fascinating ports of call.
But some of our passengers are so
happy on board, it's hard to entice
them ever to leave the ship!
Free round trip flight to New Orleans
from any city in the continental U.S.
or Canada provided by Carras for
selected sailings.
MTS Daphne is registered in Greece,
land of Poseidon, the god of the sea.
DECEMBER 1
(Chi
JANUARY 2
JANUARY 15
JANUARY 29
FEBRUARY 12
FEBRUARY 26
MARCH 12 (Music)
MARCH 26
APRIL 2
APRIL 16 (Theatre)
APRIL 30
MAY 14 (Jazz)
L^arras
TRAVEL AGENT OR
WRITE TO CARRAS
FOR OUR FACT-FILLED
carries you away
75 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA. DEPT. D-1,N.Y.. N.Y.10019 (212)757-0761
42
The Real McCoy!
Webster's SlhickJO-lb.,
2/^00-pg.,400^00-definitioa
3,000-illustration,
^59.95 unabridged dictionaiy
-now only $19.95!
The economy's effect on sales
gave thousands of companies
financial jitters, ours included.
Detroit's rebate boosted sales.
Now, we've found a way to sell
you this great new $59.95 dic-
tionary for a mere $19.95!
Thanks to modern mass mer-
chandising techniques, we were
able to slice a huge $40.00 OFF
THE LIST PRICE!
Actually, mass merchandising
is just a fancy name for reaching
MILLIONS of prospective buy-
ers efficiently. Whereas book-
store sales come in dribs and
drabs, ads like this can produce
thousands of orders, overnight.
And since there are enormous
savings for printing in great
quantity, our cost-per-copy en-
ables us to sell you this superb
$59.95 work for only $19.95,
and still make a profit!
And you'll get a great deal
more than just a fine low price.
The Webster's New Universal
Unabridged Dictionary is a mas-
sive 10-lb. work, with 400,000
definitions, a valuable 256-page
encyclopedic supplement, conve-
nient thumb-indexing and 3,000
helpful illustrations. And there's
still another reason why you and
your family will treasure and en-
joy using it!
It is unmatched for timeliness.
In compiling this work, every
definition was examined, and
thousands of changes were made.
Uniquely, this is one dictionary
that has caught up with all the
rapid advances in the sciences-
wars-the ensuing political and
economic changes-and the hun-
dreds of new words they've
brought into the language. It's the
most up-to-date and complete
dictionary you can buy today!
Suddenly, look-ups are more
helpful!
• 3,000 "spot illustrations" help
clarify the definitions — hun-
dreds are brand new! (Would
you believe some expensive
dictionaries contain NOT
EVEN ONE essential illus-
tration? It's true! )
• Illustrative phrases are used
to make the intended connota-
tion more precise!
• Many Citations from Litera-
ture illustrate the usage of our
finest writers.
• For better comprehension,
many entries are followed by
synonyms or closely related
words.
• Pronunciation was never
easier. A key appears at the
bottom of each spread.
• A concise Outline History of
the English Language was
written for this edition by
Harold Whitehall, Chairman
of Linguistics of Indiana Uni-
versity.
Plus— a fascinating, 256-page
encyclopedic supplement,
featuring:
• Over 50.000 Synonyms and
Antonyms, with more than
4.000 cross-referenced main
entries. (A built-in Thesaurus!)
• Maps of the World- 1 6 in all.
in striking color, one to a
page, extensively detailed. (A
"mini" Atlas, tool! )
• A 96-page, Dictionary of Bio-
graphy—over 15,000 entries,
covering the "greats" of all
recorded history!
• A 32-page Metric Guide! Over
1,000 conversion factors at
your fingertips!
• The 3.800 most useful Abbre-
viations!
• The Language of Music — all
the signs and symbols shown
and explained.
• Expanded Dictionary of For-
eign Words and Phrases. Over
4,800 entries in 6 foreign lan-
guages. (Vive la difference!)
• The Declaration of Indepen-
dence.
• The Constitution of the
United States.
• A glossary of the Environ-
mental Terms most frequently
used by the news media.
• Salary I ables. See how much
you earn by the quarter,
month, week, day, hour and
'/2-hour. (And see how few
work hours it lakes to own
this incredible dictionary!)
• Time Zones! Fascinating 4-
pager charu the world's 24
lime zones!
• Tables: Squares, Cubes, their
roots!
• .Multiplication Table. (When
youngsters see something,
ihey learn more easily. J
• Places of interest in Canada,
Mexico and Central America.
A vivid 32-page words-and-
pictures section.
• Compound Interest Table
computes earnings on any
amount at any rate.
• A 200- Year Calendar!
Superb edition for home or
office
Bone-dry and uncartoned, this
great dictionary weighs 10 lbs.
and measures ll'i"x8'^" just a
shade under 5" thick. Its 2.400
pages are of a premier-grade
stock (opaque white, not ordi-
nary grey ) with Smyth-sewn re-
inforced signatures and rich
gold-stamped covers. The format
is new and modern, and because
the type size is uniquely large for
unabridged dictionaries, clarity
and legibility are excellent.
Thumb-indexed for faster look-
ups. It promises a lifetime of
constant use. enrichment and
pleasure!
Convenience in ordering, too
Charge your purchase, if you
wish, to -American Express. Mas-
ter Charge or BankAmericard.
While you're at it, order an extra
copy for a youngster away at
school. There's no more appro-
priate or useful lifetime gift, and
this fine $59.95 dictionary costs
you only $19.95!
If you believe, as Francis
Bacon did. that: "Knowledge is
power." your next step is easy.
Just complete the coupon and
mail it back right away.
In doing so, you'll be bringing
into your home a lifetime source
of enjoyment and knowledge that
will benefit every member of
your family. The $40.00 saving
may be withdrawn at any time,
so if you want "the real McCoy"
at this unreal low price, better
order now!
Th<
i last dictionary you'll
ever liave to buy!
WEBSTER'S UNIVERSAL PRESS
P.O. Box 488 Murray Hill Sta. • New York, N.Y. 10016
I want to save $40.00 off the list price— SPECIFY;
rush copies of the Webster's New D S-
Universal Unabridged $59.95 Dictionary
_ enclosed.
yuj(W9.95eac*.' (Add $2.50 forpp.& ins.') D Charge to my
□ Special Deluxe-Bound Edition
-just $24.95 -I- $2.50 shpg.
account with
Signature.
Webster's '
Press. 1727 So. Indii
Master Chg. #
Card Expir. Date
(Add applic. Sis Tax)
1 Ave., Chicago. III. 60616
project in Turkey, and early in its his-
tory, the TV A scheme in the United
States. On occasion, the dams and
man-made lakes were not in them-
selves responsible for ecological
change leading to intensified malaria
transmission but, rather, set in mo-
tion a train of events that led to the
situation. Construction of the Kali-
mawe Dam in Tanzania, for example,
extended cultivation far beyond the
original plots. This made it necessary
to graze cattle, the preferred host of
the local A. gambiae, farther from the
villages. When the cows were no
longer kept near houses at night, the
peridomestic mosquitoes were di-
verted to man, and malaria transmis-
sion was intensified.
Ecological alterations have been
caused not only by man's struggles
toward progress but also by his con-
flicts; throughout the course of his-
tory the environment has been a casu-
alty of war. This ecological havoc has
often created conditions conducive to
malaria transmission in both temper-
ate and tropical regions, and epidem-
ics of malignant malaria have victim-
ized military personnel and civilians.
During World War II , for example ,
the bloody fighting near Cassino,
Italy, destroyed dikes containing the
rivers. Anopheline mosquitoes bred
profusely in the flooded areas and
bomb craters. Malaria, possibly in-
troduced by foreign troops, occurred
in its most violent form, with some
villages totally infected and suffering
a mortality rate of 10 percent. But it
was in the Vietnam conflict that a new
and devastating tactical strategy was
applied — the ecosystem became a de-
liberate target of massive destruction.
The use of aircraft-spread herbicides
for the defoliation of forests and de-
struction of crops introduced a new
dimension to the horror of war. Sci-
entists throughout the world were
alarmed, and a number of studies
were conducted to determine the con-
sequences of defoliation.
One such study, that of the con-
gressionally funded National Acad-
emy of Sciences committee, included
an investigation of epidemiologi-
cal-ecological interactions in the de-
foliated mangrove forest south of Sai-
gon, a region known as the Rung Sat.
This area, repeatedly sprayed with
herbicide, had become a desolate,
barren wasteland denuded of virtually
every living tree. Studying an intact
mangrove forest as a control, the
NAS medical ecologists did not de-
tect any breeding sites of anopheline
mosquitoes. Other mosquitoes were
abundant but the Southeast Asian
mangrove ecosystem was not the kind
of real estate suitable for anophelines.
In the Rung Sat, however, the mos-
quito population consisted largely of
A. sinensis and A. lesteri. Malaria
was endemic throughout the region.
Again, rice seems to have been the
final ecological culprit. As people
were deprived of their main liveli-
hood from woodcutting, they turned
to rice culture in the less saline areas
of the dead mangrove. The rice fields
provided ideal breeding sites for the
two anopheline species.
In Vietnam the main foci of ma-
laria are found in the montane forests ,
the vectors being A. maculatus,
breeding in exposed hillside streams,
and A. balabacensis, living in sunlit
standing collections of water. Re-
moval of the forest's shade cover
created new breeding sites for these
mosquitoes. At the time of the NAS
study in Vietnam the temperature of
the war was too hot to permit on the
ground study, but when the study
group flew over the deforested moun-
tain areas, they saw a landscape typi-
cally colonized by these two efficient
vectors. Notably, American soldiers
fighting in the Vietnam highland
forests were severely afflicted by ma-
laria, with the attack rate in some
units as high as 53 cases per 1,000
troops per day.
Paradoxically and cruelly, in the
absence of an effective control pro-
gram, a community's welfare and sta-
bility of ten depend on continuous, in-
tense exposure to malaria. Under
these conditions, as in the agricultural
villages of Africa and Southeast Asia,
malaria accounts for high infant mor-
tality; some 40 percent or more of the
children under the age of five may die
of the infection. Those who survive,
however, develop a protective immu-
nity, and adults, the productive seg-
ment of the community, remain rela-
tively free of the pernicious clinical
manifestations of the infection. Usu-
ally, the high infant mortality is com-
pensated by a high birthrate, and so
a population equilibrium is achieved
in which the workers are sufficiently
healthy to provide the community's
food requirements.
The relatively slow acquisition of
functional irrmiunity to malaria and
its concomitant cost in infant life have
led to several disasters of good intent
and have presented new moral di-
lemmas for discomfited public health
workers. The Western and Western-
trained health professionals have
held, by tradition and education, the
philosophy of the importance of indi-
vidual human life and the right of
every member of the community to
good health. The heroic efforts begun
in the mid-1950s to realize global
eradication of malaria were rooted in
this moral premise. But where these
control programs were successful in
the developing tropical countries,
population numbers increased rap-
idly, while technical-agricultural re-
sources to accommodate the burgeon-
ing community lagged sadly behind.
Following a successful control
scheme in Guyana, infant mortality
was reduced to one-third its former
rate; in one study group, a sugar plan-
tation village, the population rose
from the precontrol level of 66,000 in
1957 to 110,000 in 1966. Some stu-
dents of public health, as well as
health officials, are now beginning to
question the wisdom of instituting
such measures as malaria control
unless they are accompanied by ef-
fective population control programs
or by expansion of resources to feed,
clothe, educate, and house the in-
creased population.
The disasters of good intent are re-
lated to malaria's tendency to return
several years after a successful mos-
quito control program. During this
period the mosquito populations
have once again returned to former
density, and the human population's
collective immunity has waned.
Wherever it recurs under these cir-
cumstances, malaria is explosive and
clinically severe.
It is doubtful whether progress for
the peoples of the developing world,
as we define progress, can be
achieved unless malaria and other
diseases draining their intellectual
and physical energies can be brought
under control. Yet the enterprises of
progress contribute, with monoto-
nous regularity, to the deterioration
of health. What is now required is a
holistic approach. Engineers, agron-
omists, epidemiologists, economists,
ecologists, demographers, cultural
anthropologists, and political leaders
must all contribute to the planning,
execution, and evaluation processes.
In this way, malaria and many other
diseases can be reduced to a manage-
able state if not actually eradicated.
Human needs demand it; human in-
telligence and ingenuity must be
turned to achieving a degree of
progress, rather than disaster, for the
peoples of the third world. D
44
SHOULD A CAR
WITH A REPUTATION
FOR BEING SO SAFE
GO SO FAST?
Over the years,Volvo has become the very symbol of the safe, sane automobile,
designed for people with a rational view of life.
But anyone who slides behind the wheel of a 1976 Volvo 240 may discover its
something more.
As Road Test magazine has put it: "This is one fun car to drive."
This year, Volvo has introduced a new fuel-injected, overhead cam 4-cylinder
engine. It has extremely fast pickup in the 20-55 m.p.h. range where most serious
driving is done.
In a comparison of passing times, a Volvo 242 with a 4-cylinder engine was
faster than a Mercedes 280 with a six.
Volvo also gives you rack and pinion steering to help you take life's curves.
And a spring-strut front suspension designed to keep the car steady and level
even if you take them fast. You get 4-wheel power disc brakes. And you can
order a 4-speed manual transmission with electrically-operated overdrive
(which lets you flip in and out of 5th gear with a simple flick
"' ).
which does, indeed, make Volvo
to drive. But then again, we think
faster a car responds and the better
handles, the safer it will be.
So while many of these new
performance features are nice
to have when you want them,
they're even nicer to have when
you need them. "VOUiVO
The car for people who think.
Get Away
From It All...
as a member of
Natural Science Book Club
See all six of
America's deserts. . .
(Publishers' Pricesshown)
56720. ISLAND OF ISIS. William MacQuitty. A
beautifully written introduction to the culture, re-
ligion, history and geography of ancient Egypt. Illus-
trated with 37 full-color and 81 black-and-white photo-
graphs. $14.95
50360. THE GIRAFFE: Its Biology, Behavior and
Ecology. Anne Innis Dagg and J. Bristol Foster. By
photographically recording pattern blotches for 241 of
these elegant creatures, the authors have come up
with the most definitive work yet on just about every
phase of the life of giraffes. $13.95
48390. FATU-HIVA. Thor Heyderdahl. The author
and his bride's youthful adventures in the South
Pacific's Marquesas — an adventurous and beautiful
idyll— dangerous and liberating. $10.00
58675. THE LIVING WORLD OF AUDUBON.
Roland C. Clement. Superb reproduction of both
Audubon's work and that of present day biologist-
photographers. 128 pages of full-color pictures. Counts
as 2 of your 3 books. $25.00
41550. DANGEROUS SEA CREATURES. Thomas
Helm. Richly detailed guide to the bizarre, captivating,
and menacing inhabitants of the seas of the world.
Offers fascinating descriptions of creatures ranging
from needlefish to killerwhales. $9.95
Discover the warm-blooded
dinosaurs!
Meet some
much-maligned
animals...
Find out how
it came to be...
85090. THE UNIVERSE. Lloyd Motz. Absorbing
account of modern cosmological theory examines the
origin, evolution, and future of the universe. $15.00
84210. THIS LIVING REEF Douglas Faulkner One
of the South Pacific's most beautiful island chains . . .
120 pages of glorious six-color pictures— all with
detailed fascinating commentaries. Counts as 2 of your
3 books. $25.00
41560. DANGEROUS TO MAN. Completely Re-
vised Edition. Roger A. Caras. The whole story of
dangerous creatures, most of which are not lethal. 100
photographs. $14.95
36395. BLACK HOLES, QUASARS AND THE
UNIVERSE. Henry L. Shipman. Where do black
holes come from? What are white dwarfs, neutron
stars, supernovae, and Seyfert galaxies? These are just
a few of the questions dealt with in this absorbing
exploration of the frontiers of astronomy $12.95
87195. WILD CATS OF THE WORLD. C.A. W.
Guggisberg. One of the world's leading authorities on
wild cats offers definitive natural histories of each of
the 37 species of wild cats. $15.95
77620. THE SECRET LIFE OF ANIMALS. Lorus
and Margery Milne and Franklin Russell. Lavishly
illustrated account of the dramatic discoveries recently
made about the behavior of animals. Over 300 full-
color photographs. Countsas2ofyour3books. $29.95
IMPORTANT GUARANTEE! Examine your 3
introductory books for 10 days. If not delighted,
simply return them and your membership will be
canceled. You pay nothing, owe nothing!
84380. TO THE BACK OF BEYOND. Fitzroy Mac-
lean. With the aid of over 100 photographs (many in
full color), a noted English explorer-diplomat probes
the exotic cities and lascinating peoples of Central
Asia. $15.00
78820. THE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF THE BEES.
Charles D. Michener One of the world's foremost
authorities on bees offers the first definitive work on
group phenomena among these most amazing insects.
A publishing classic. $25.00
78260. SHARKS AND SHIPWRECKS. Hugh Ed-
wards. A captivating look into the mysterious waters
off Australia where the great white shark and sunken
treasure abound. Well illustrated. $12.50
78680. SNAKES OF THE AMERICAN WEST.
Charles E. Shaw and Sheldon Campbell. Every known
fact— from habits and habitats, to their appearances
and characteristics. $12.50
62900. MONUMENTS OF CIVILIZATION:
Egypt. Claudia Barocas. The ancient monuments of
Egyptand the culture that built them. $19.95
34515. ARTIFACTS OF PREHISTORIC AMER-
ICA. Louia 4. Brennan. Handy, well-iiluatniunl guide
10 the ideniitication of over 30*) types of Amencan
stone-dge artifaiits. $14.95
42325. THE DISCOVERY OF OCR GALA.W
Charles A. Whanev, A disiinjfuiyhed Han.'ard aairono-
mer recreaies the lives and discovenes of great astron-
omers—frtjm the -iixth century B C to black holes,
pulsars, supemovae. and Seyfengalxies. SIO.DO
34310. ARCHAEOLOGY BENEATH THE SEA.
George F Bass. Exciting account of how the underwa-
ter exploration of a Synan trading ship sunk in 121)0
B.C. off the coast of Turkey paved the way for the
science of u nderwater archaeology. SlUil
lake any
3books
(values to $6a9Q)
for only
99«each
if you will lOin for a tnal period and
?e to take 3 more boohs— at handsome
iscounts - witfiin me neat t2 monttw
Enter the ancient
world of the first
Indian settlers...
Share the culture
of the ancient
Egyptians...
Learn the myth-
shattering facts. .
Visit the mysterious
dties of Central Asia . .
34210. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF NORTH
AMERICA. Dean Snow. Photographs by Werner Far-
man. With nearly 200 photographs, maps and charts,
resurrects the worlds of the North .American Indian,
frotn the first crossings onto this continent 30,000
vears ago to the discovery of the last stone-age man
who died in the 20th century. $18.95
73337. THE RAPE OF THE NILE. Bnan Fagan.
The fascinating story of the plundering of ancient
Egypt's treasures and the rise of the study of Es'ptol-
ogy. Filled with more than 250 illustrations. $14.95
41981. THE DESERT. Russeli D. Burcher .\ beauti-
ful, guided tour of .America's six desert regions, how
they were formed, the persistence of their lite-forms in
intensely fragile ecologies. $17 jO
75710. SCIENCE BRAIN-TWISTERS. PARA-
DOXES. AND EALLAOES. Chnsmpher R Jargodv.
Over 160 puzzles, questions, problems and situations,
each based on scientific principles. Challenging and
fun. $9.95
53583. THE HOT-BLOODED DINOSALRS.
Adrian J. Desmond. A radically different picture of the
dinosaurs, vastly more sophisticated and efficient than
paleontologists have heretofore believed, with care-
tuUy-reasoned scientific evidence to back it up. .A
fascinating book. $12.95
86125. WAICHLNG SEA BISOS. Rjcltaid Perry.
Richly detailed account of the gulls, auks, ganneis.
and skuas of two tiny British islands. Lundy and Noss.
". . .superb sdendlic reportine and a areat addition cc
the birder's library." —Publishers WeeMv $10.95
How the Club Operates • The Bookaulj News,
describing the coming Main Selection and .Alter-
nate Selections, will be sent to you 15 times a year
at 3-4 week intervals. • If you wish to purchase
the Main Selection, do nothing and it will be
shipped Co you automatically. • [f you prefer one
of the .Alternates, orno bookaiall. simply indicate
your decision on the reply form always enclosed
with the News and mail it so that we receive it by
the date specified. • "Die News is mailed in time to
allow you at least 10 days to decide if you want the
coming Main Selection. If. because Qi late mail
delivery of the News, you should ever receive a
.Vlain Selection without having had the 10 day
consideration penod. that Selecuon may be re-
lumed at Club e.xpense. • Condnued member-
ship past the trial period brings you the added
benehts of our Bonus Book Plan— an important
way to save even more, it least ~0^'''i i:?tf nublishers'
prices
Natural ^dencE Book Clnb _
Riverside. New Jersey 080": — ' ^.c-
Pleaseacc^my apuiicancn for ~ ; ~ "TV V : ,-i
send me the chree volumes nc ...... - . - r
only -^Qc eadi. [ agree x Dtitt:-"- : . : .. " vr
addiccnai Selections cr AAtemaiei i-.^r, ." i ".r:'
yearlamimenben under the clue ;:ian ::escr:cec
in this ad. Saving ran^ up to 30*Hi and ccca-
sionally even mote. My membec^np is canceabie
any time afte- 1 buy these dnee bocks. A smnpinc
and handling charge is addKi s: ail ^ptnaits.
Semi ao money. Members arc Miled whoi 'tiooks
arrive.
3 books fiir99« eact
Indicate bv amnber the 3 books voawaiL
.A few expensive bcoks looiBd ill book descrip-
dons) count as I choices.
(Oiler sood in Comineniai L S. and Canada only.
Prices lightly higher in Canada. '
Bermuda's Abundant, Beleaguered Birds
by Kenneth L. and Marnie Reed Crowell
Native creatures have suffered
as man has used and tried to
improve this island paradise
To the casual visitor, Bermuda re-
tained its virgin charm as late as
1945. At that time, the native song-
birds were still abundant and the is-
land cluster was clothed in the deep
green of Bermuda cedars. Now, the
native birds are drastically dimin-
ished and the cedars have all but dis-
appeared. Despite further changes in
Bermuda's environment as a result of
a tremendous increase in the human
population, it remains a vacationer's
paradise because of its lush subtropi-
cal vegetation and climate.
Although Bermuda lies in the
North Atlantic, 580 miles east of
North Carolina, it is bathed by the
warm waters of the Gulf Stream,
making it the world's most northerly
coral reef. Bermuda is only twenty
square miles in area, and like most
oceanic islands it has an impover-
ished fauna and flora, with several
unique or endemic forms.
Through its meager fauna, Ber-
muda provides insights into the dy-
namics of more complex mainland
communities. Ecological relation-
ships that might be overlooked in
continental ecosystems quickly be-
come apparent in an island micro-
cosm. Islands, particularly, reveal
the effects of introduced species. As
landscapes are increasingly altered by
modern technology, the influence of
these alien, or exotic, species multi-
plies. Suburbanization favors those
plants and animals that can take ad-
vantage of disturbed habitats. On
Bermuda, as elsewhere, this is occur-
ring at the expense of native species.
Because of its proximity to the
Gulf Stream, Bermuda's plants were
largely of West Indian origin: pal-
metto and Bermuda cedar and several
unusual hardwoods in the uplands;
saw grass and sword fern in the
wooded swamps or open savannas of
the lowlands. Mangrove thickets
fringed the coastal areas and brackish
ponds. Bermuda has no native am-
phibians and only one reptile — an en-
demic skink, which still survives.
There were no native mammals and
only a few species of birds.
Even before the island was settled,
the natural communities had been
greatly altered. Henry May, an Eng-
lishman shipwrecked on Bermuda in
1593, found it overrun with feral
hogs, descendants of animals lib-
erated by Spaniards decades before to
provide a food source for the crews
of their ships in these distant waters.
The hogs destroyed much of the vege-
tation and reduced the numbers of
ground-nesting birds — particularly
the Bermuda petrel, or cahow.
May and the other survivors of the
wreck of the Bonaventura chopped
down many of the ubiquitous Ber-
muda cedars to build a ship in which
they were able to continue their
voyage. Permanent settlers soon ar-
rived and busily set about changing
the landscape of this strategic outpost
of the New World. With them came
rats from ships and, in due time, cats
to eat the rats — and the island birds,
which previously had had few preda-
tors. At this time one or more species
of endemic finches may have been ex-
tirpated. Although many shorebirds
visited the islands during migration,
only a few, such as the coot, purple
gallinule, and several species of
herons, bred in Bermuda. Among the
nesting seabirds were the cahow, the
white-tailed tropicbird, and Audu-
bon's shearwater. There were hawks,
probably including the kestrel and os-
prey, and there certainly were crows.
The only other native passerine birds
to sing to those hardy early settlers
were the catbird, eastern bluebird,
and Bermuda white-eyed vireo — an
endemic subspecies.
In the years that followed, colo-
nists brought birds from their native
lands to the little island: the ground
dove was probably introduced in
the seventeenth century; the cardi-
nal in the eighteenth century. In the
nineteenth century, settlers brought
the bobwhite, the European gold-
finch, and the house sparrow. In the
twentieth century, the ring-necked
pheasant and the mockingbird en-
joyed limited success and Portuguese
immigrants brought the wild canary
from the Azores. The hawks were
gone, but with the increase in rats and
mice, the cosmopolitan barn owl was
able to colonize in the 1930s. How-
ever, this pest-control agent is now
threatened by commercial rat poison
contained in the rodents on which it
feeds. In early attempts at natural in-
sect control, Bufo mar inus toads were
brought from British Guiana, as well
as two kinds of "whistling" frog and
one species of Anolis lizard from the
West Indies.
Throughout the centuries Bermu-
dians, in efforts to improve on nature,
have introduced more than 1 ,500 spe-
cies of plants, of which about 800
Introduced about 200 years ago,
the cardinal (female, right) is
firmly established in Bermuda. It
nests and feeds in the ornamental
bushes planted by homeowners.
Kirtley-Perkins; Photo Researchers
w
A
.^
50
DavK] Overcasfi. Bnjce Cotemafi.
Common terns, above, nest on the
Bermuda coast. Their reproductive
success can be affected by
insecticides. The purple gallinule,
left, is only a migrant species.
have become naturalized. Such intro-
duced plants as jasmine vine and fen-
nel escaped from garden plots and
took over the new land with the ven-
geance of weeds. The native pal-
metto, originally intermingled with
the cedar, fell to the ax, as did the
yellowwood and endemic olivewood
trees, valuable for their fine-grained
wood. Bermuda cedar was heavily
cut for its beautiful and fragrant wood
and suffered competition from such
aggressive newcomers as fiddlewood
and allspice. In the early decades of
the seventeenth cenmry, however, a
decree proscribing further cutting of
the cedar became the first forestry law
of the New World, while Bermuda
laws protecting the green turtle and
cahow were the first wildlife protec-
tion measures.
M.P, Kahl; Bruce Colem
Ecological disaster concealed in a
shipment of nursery plants struck the
island about 1946. In just three years,
nearly half the Bermuda cedars were
dead or dying. By 1951, 85 percent
had been wiped out. The culprit, a
scale insect, was a notorious pest of
ornamental and citrus plants.
Government officials rapidly im-
plemented control measures by intro-
ducing predatory ladybird beetles and
parasitic Hymenoptera, but they
failed to thrive. A visiting biologi-
cal-control expert hypothesized that
they were falling prey to the nu-
merous small Anolis lizards, which
were only doing the job for which
they had been brought to Bermuda in
the first place. Immamre ladybird
beetles were also being consumed by
two introduced ant species. Although
the ants were in turn eaten by the
lizards, officials recommended intro-
duction of the kiskadee, a large West
Indian flycatcher, to control the
lizards. In 1956/1957, despite the
protests of local conservationists,
some 200 kiskadees were released in
the vain hope that they would eat the
lizards that ate the ladybugs that
51
could not control the scale that killed
the cedars.
Just after these events, we arrived
to study the birds in Bermuda. Star-
lings, apparently strays from North
America, first bred on the island in
1954. They numbered fewer than 200
as late as 1957 and might have been
eradicated. But for once man chose
not to meddle, and by 1970 the star-
ling numbered a messy 50,000.
In 1959 the introduced bobwhite,
wild canary, and rock dove, and the
recently naturalized mourning dove
and starling were all restricted in
numbers and localized in distri-
bution, and the kiskadee was just get-
ting a foothold. Thus, although some
150 species visit the island regularly
during migration, we found only
eight common resident bird species —
catbird, white-eyed vireo, crow,
bluebird, cardinal, ground dove, Eu-
ropean goldfinch, and house spar-
row— most of which are also found
in brushy fields and scrubby wood-
lands of eastern North America.
Compared with similar habitats of the
eastern seaboard, where we found
twenty to thirty species, the Bermuda
52
A Bermuda native, the eastern
bluebird, above left, has declined
due to competition from introduced
house sparrows, destruction of the
native cedar trees in which it
nested, and the use of pesticides. The
kiskadee, far left, was brought
to Bermuda in the 1950s to control
the introduced Anolis lizards,
which were eating the ladybird
beetles imported to feed on the
exotic scale insects that were
killing the cedars. The kiskadee
population is now rapidly increasing.
Another native, the catbird, above,
perching on an exotic fiddlewood
tree that competes with the cedars,
is dwindling in numbers. White-tailed
tropicbirds. left, are surviving
in a fairly large population.
communities were still quite simple.
How does the total density of Ber-
muda birds compare with that of the
more complex continental communi-
ties? To answer this question, we
censused birds in several repre-
sentative Bermuda habitats by count-
ing singing males as they advertised
their territories. Most of our common
songbirds are monogamous, and the
males defend the individual terri-
tories by means of vocal and visible
displays. The number of pairs breed-
ing in the area gives a conservative
estimate of the population size.
We found that most of the eight
resident species inhabited each of our
census plots. There are three reasons
for this. First, there is too little area
of unusual habitat type, such as man-
grove swamp, to support specialized
species, and released from competi-
tion, those generalized species that
are present occupy niches broader
than they could have on the mainland .
Second, there is little contrast be-
tween the various Bermuda habitats
compared with the differences be-
tween those on the mainland. Third,
topographic and soil-related features,
as well as human disturbance of the
land, make the habitats extremely
patchy. Bermuda species have
adapted to these transition areas.
Within each habitat the birds are
less demanding in their choice of ter-
ritory sites than on the mainland. The
corrmion species use the entire area,
rather than occupying only select
sites, and their territories form a
highly packed mosaic. Many of the
species on Bermuda thus attain
greater densities than in any North
American habitat. We found thirty to
fifty pairs per ten acres, compared
with twenty to thirty pairs in similar
mainland habitats. There are fewer
species, but in the absence of compet-
itors they often become extraor-
dinarily common, a characteristic
typical of islands.
High population densities may be
encouraged by the island's benign en-
vironment, which requires less en-
ergy for temperature maintenance or
predator defense. More time and en-
ergy are allocated to increased in-
traspecific competition associated
with high population levels and re-
production is curtailed. We found
Construction of a beach club,
above, has eliminated some bird
habitat. The mourning dove. left,
a recent immigrant, has benefited
from the cutting of trees.
that average clutch size for both Ber-
muda catbirds and cardinals was
lower than in coastal North America.
The favorable environment ap-
parently also allows birds to live
longer. Of nine adult white -eyed
vireos banded in 1960, five were
holding the same territories in 1964.
Age structure of the populations
also differed from those on the main-
land. David Wingate, Bermuda's
chief conservation officer, found that
21 percent of 117 crows shot at roost
were first-year birds, whereas more
than half the crows shot at roost on
the North American mainland consist
of yoimg of the year. Such reduced
turnover of individuals results in a
greater population.
One reason for the success of bird
species on Bermuda is that they are
able to take advantage of food or hab-
itat normally utilized by missing
competitors. This seems to be accom-
plished by increasing the frequency
of certain feeding methods. The
white-eyed vireo, for example, takes
insects on the wing more frequently
on Bermuda. This hawking behavior
is more common to warblers on the
mainland, being only occasionally
observed in mainland vireos. Simi-
Joseph Van Wormer; Bruce Coleman,
55
larly, catbirds in Bermuda spend
more time feeding on the ground, a
niche component shared with the
towhee in North America.
On the mainland there are rela-
tively few common species and many
rare ones. On islands, rare species are
fewer. Rare species may contribute to
community stability. Coevolution of
competitive and predator-prey in-
teractions among the species of an
ecosystem leads to a system of checks
and balances. The more species, the
more complex and sensitive is this
equilibrium. An insular community
with its few excessively common spe-
cies is vulnerable to catastrophes.
This is in part why the cedar scale was
so devastating, why introduced rats,
ants, and birds have all periodically
reached pest proportions on Ber-
muda, and why one third of all extinc-
tions in historic times have occurred
on islands.
For three centuries Bermuda birds
have been affected by changing pat-
terns of land use. Today, open habi-
tats, resulting from the cedar scale
devastation and the clearing of land
for new housing, have tipped the bal-
ance against Bermuda's native bird
species. Our 1960 censuses provide
a base line against which to measure
some of these changes.
When we first visited our study
areas, the burry song of the bluebird
^ was common in the quiet lanes. The
bluebird and the European goldfinch
increased during the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries when woodlands
were turned into fields. Indeed, so
abundant were the bluebirds that they
built nests in the open, as well as in
natural cavities. With the arrival of
the horse-and-buggy days at the turn
of the century, the bluebird began to
find itself pressed by competition.
The house sparrow, able to scavenge
grain from horse droppings as well
as food from dumps and hotel patios,
increased its numbers and conipeted
with bluebirds for nest sites. Blue-
birds suffered a further setback after
the scale destroyed the cedars. Some
200,000 of the trees, in which the
birds had commonly nested, were re-
moved. At the same time, use of agri-
cultural pesticides may have inhibited
reproduction of this valuable insect
eater.
Because no accurate censuses pre-
date the cedar blight, we cannot be
sure of its impact on the birds. The
cedar provided rich cover both for
feeding and nesting, so the bird popu-
lations must surely have suffered, at
least initially. The bobwhite, which
fed extensively on cedar berries, dis-
appeared about 1960.
According to our censuses, 1970
was the first year in which native birds
were outnumbered by the opportunis-
tic house sparrow, kiskadee, and
starling. Only the catbird remained
more abundant than any of the new
arrivals. The soft cooing of mourning
doves now echoes in the lanes. Like
the starling, they colonized naturally
and only became widespread when
they could take advantage of the open
habitats created by the cedar blight.
In 1960 they were not present in any
of our census plots, but by 1970 they
were abundant throughout the island,
an increase that has been paralleled in
suburban and rural areas of the United
States. Similarly, populations of the
rock dove, or common pigeon, small
and localized for a century, are now
reaching pest proportions.
Crows, too, have begun to figure
more prominently in our censuses as
they take advantage of the increase in
man's garbage, waste dairy grain,
and road kills. During the last ten
years the population of 150 birds has
increased to approximately 500, and
the agricultural department has been
forced to undertake control measures.
The omnivorous kiskadee has in-
creased to an estimated 60,000 since
its ill-advised introduction in the mid-
1950s, and its raucous cries make it
seem even more common. The Ber-
muda white -eyed vireo seems to have
suffered not only from the loss of the
cedars but also from direct depreda-
tion on its nestlings by the kiskadee.
By 1970, the vireo, Bermuda's only
endemic land bird, had declined 85
percent from 1960 levels, although in
secondary forests its numbers are in-
creasing somewhat.
More serious than the past changes
in habitat is the current reduction in
the quality and quantity of open
space. In 1974 we found two of our
study plots had been swallowed up by
housing developments. The pace of
traffic on the winding lanes had
stepped up and exhaust fumes hung
in the air. Lot size in housing subdivi-
sions was decreasing. Bulldozers
scraped building sites bare for re-
planting with neatly groomed lawns
and a few ornamentals. The advent of
the power mower reinforced what
amounted to a conspiracy against
Bermuda's vegetation. Noisy flocks
of starlings were everywhere. In cen-
suses of suburban areas of Bermuda
we found that starlings and house
sparrows account for more than half
the birds, hardly surprising since they
even utilize man's buildings for their
nest sites.
In these suburban areas we found
the cardinal, goldfinch, and kiskadee
about as abundant as in our wild
plots. Although nest boxes have
aided the bluebird, the species is still
decreasing in number. But the native
catbird, a denizen of thickets, and the
vireo, Bermuda's only foliage
gleaner, have suffered with the disap-
pearance of undergrowth. The latter
species is threatened with extinction
on the island.
The native birds of Bermuda are
thus increasingly restricted to local-
ized habitats. Maintenance of such
environments is perhaps the key to
survival for most of these species.
Some of these isolated habitats are
now being upgraded and preserved in
the form of sanctuaries, largely due
to the efforts of David Wingate. In
these areas, he is replacing the associ-
ations of alien plants and animals
with thousands of resistant cedars,
native bay grapes, palmettos, and
hardwoods. Today, on Nonsucli Is-
land, one can walk once again under
the canopy of a forest of native spe-
cies— a living museum of Bermuda's
past vegetation.
Such habitat sanctuaries could be-
come more common. Municipal
parks, suburban backyards, and even
industrial parks could all become
sanctuaries if proper planting were
undertaken.
As microcosms, islands show the
consequences of ecological abuses
that we may at first overlook in more
complex mainland communities. Op-
portunistic species everywhere take
advantage of the disturbed habitats
resulting from suburbanization. As
on Bermuda, this usually occurs at
the expense of those unique, special-
ized forms that give a region its par-
ticular character. If we exchange the
richness of our natural heritage for
crabgrass and starlings, we shall be
the poorer for it. D
56
1^ rwf (P' >^
te '
O
O^
o
y[f©@,
u
Off
oill iivO
o o
op
o)sp(t€t;
(tfe)h Lo Sd
'/7
A Natural History Special Supplement October 1976
"It's not just another American convention hotel.
. . . It's a great American castle. ... Ail your
worldly needs are provided for . . . when you go
to the barber or the hairdresser or the gift shops.
. . . This isn't no-man's-land. Or primitive wil-
der.-.ess. This is civilization."
Yosemite National Park is not exactly civilization,
despite these advertising claims of Music Corporation
of America, which took over the park's concessions
in 1973. Like a number of other major recreational
developers, MCA in recent years began looking to the
national parks as a great unexploited resource of one
of America's fastest-growing industries. The National
Park Service has thus been importuned to allow the
building of new hotels, improved roads, ski develop-
ments, aerial tramways, and a host of other such facili-
ties. These proposals raise one of the perpetual issues
in our public lands policy — the purpose of the national
parks. Although "the national parks idea" is a familiar
phrase, the governing statutes speak in very general and
unrevealing language. The founding of the parks is
itself shrouded in a good deal of mystery, but it is there
that our search must begin.
In the midst of the Civil War, on June 30, 1864,
President Lincoln signed a bill granting Yosemite to
the state of California for "public use, resort and recre-
ation." The national parks were born at that moment.
There was no tradition of great scenic parks anywhere
in the world, there was no organized public movement
in favor of parks, and Congress did not seem to have
any particular interest in the idea. Even the most assidu-
ous scholarly efforts over the years have turned up only
fragmentary suggestions of the notion in the writings
of figures such as Jefferson and Thoreau.
The lands themselves were barely known. The Oc-
tober 1859 issue of Hutchings California Magazine
recounted the details of a voyage into the then remote
Yosemite Valley. Visitors had to take a boat from San
Francisco to Stockton, followed by a 16-hour stage-
coach ride to Coulterville, and finally a 57-mile, 36-
hour trek by horse and pack mule into the valley.
Scarcely any definite knowledge exists concerning
the establishment of Yosemite. A bill to turn the land
over to California, to be held by it as a public park,
was introduced in Congress by Senator John Conness
of California. Conness said that he was putting the bill
forward in response to a request from some constit-
uents, whom he described only as gentlemen "of for-
tune, of taste and of refinement." A letter to Conness
from Israel Ward Raymond, recommending the reser-
vation of Yosemite, has been preserved; ail that is
'f»^/±'^t^^
Yosemite Valley ca 1
Yosemite Valley, 1867
Culver P'ciufis
59
known of Raymond is that he was the California repre-
sentative of the Central American Steamship Transit
Company.
Others who are believed to have supported Ray-
mond's suggestion were Jessie Benton Fremont, the
wife of John C. Fremont and the daughter of Senator
Thomas Hart Benton; Galen Clark, a pioneer who lived
in the Yosemite Valley and became its official greeter
and guardian; Thomas Starr King, a well-known Uni-
tarian preacher and author, who had written vivid de-
scriptions of Yosemite in 1860 and 1861; Josiah
Dwight Whitney, the chief of the California Geological
Survey; Judge Stephen Field; John F. Morse, a San
Francisco physician; and Frederick Law Olmsted, who
in 1 863 had come to California to manage the Mariposa
mining estate, following one of his periodic clashes
with the bureaucracy.
Although the Yosemite legislation set a unique legal
precedent, little is known of its background. The lan-
guage of the bill is taken directly from the letter that
Raymond wrote to Conness, yet all it says by way of
explanation is that "it is important to obtain the propri-
etorship soon, to prevent occupation [of the valley by
homesteaders] and especially to preserve the trees in
the valley from destruction." The bill was not debated
in the Congress even though it was the first time that
federal land had been dedicated to a nonutilitarian pur-
pose, a policy that would subsequently be seriously,
although unsuccessfully, challenged in the Supreme
Court on the ground that the federal government was
without authority to promote conservation and recrea-
tion. Not surprisingly, the statute contains no hint of
what (if anything) Congress had in mind about the kind
of recreational experience it thought visitors to Yo-
semite ought to have or about the conflict between pres-
ervation and use, although, as we shall see, that was
already becoming an issue at popular vacation resorts
such as Niagara Falls.
We shall never know exactly how Congress was in-
duced to take so unprecedented a step in fashioning a
new public policy, but the explanation probably lies
in the influence enjoyed by those who supported the
Raymond letter. Josiah Dwight Whitney, whose writ-
ings evidence a powerful attraction to places of scenic
grandeur, was the scion of a prominent American fam-
ily that had founded a great mercantile house and given
three presidents to Yale. Whitney knew Conness, who,
as a member of the California legislature, had written
the law creating the California Geological Survey,
which Whitney headed. He also knew Judge Field and
Thomas Starr King, whose church he attended. Whit-
ney's brother-in-law, who was secretary of the Calif or-
6o
nia Steam Navigation Company, may have been the
link between Whitney and Raymond. A letter emanat-
ing from these sources was nothing less than a message
from the leaders of San Francisco society and would
inevitably be given more than ordinary attention.
Many have assumed that Frederick Law Olmsted
was the theorist behind the creation of Yosemite Na-
tional Park, but no evidence exists to suggest that a
theory preceded the establishment of the park at all.
Olmsted probably was one of the gentlemen of taste,
fortune, and refinement to whom Conness had referred,
and it is true that immediately upon the creation of the
Yosemite Park, Olmsted was named chairman of its
board of commissioners. Laura Wood Roper, Olm-
sted's biographer, calls him "the unsung theoretician
of the national parks movement" because in 1865 he
wrote a report that "formulated the philosophic base
for the establishment of state and national parks."
This report has a history as uncertain as that of the
Yosemite legislation. The first and obvious point is that
it was not written until the year after Yosemite was
established. After being appointed head of the board
of commissioners, Olmsted drafted the report to articu-
late his views on the purpose of the park — and on the
measures to be taken to assure the fulfillment of that
purpose. But the report was suppressed, presumably
Culver Pictures
6i
Frederick Law Olmsted
by Whitney, because it sought state funds that might
have cut into the Geological Survey's appropriations.
According to Laura Wood Roper, who discovered the
report in 1952, there is no evidence that anyone knew
its contents during the eighty-seven years of its disap-
pearance. There were only fragmentary references to
it in the press, and park advocates seem never to have
relied upon it. Olmsted may have been not only the
unsung but also the unknown theoretician of the move-
ment for national parks.
Olmsted's curious position necessarily raises the
question of the origin of support for the creation of the
park system. Speaking of places like Central Park in
New York and the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, he once
made a statement that was equally true of the national
parks:
Parks have plainly not come as the direct result
of any great inventions or discoveries of the cen-
tury. They are not, with us, simply an improve-
ment on what we had before. . . . The movement
... did not run like a fashion. It would seem rather
to have been a common spontaneous movement
of that sort which we conveniently refer to the
"Genius of Civilization."
Yet something about the notion of creating the parks
must have struck a responsive chord in a great many
people, for numerous independent groups of citizens
in various places, a lot of writers and journalists, and
many people in Washington joined in a single
thought — with the result that by 1916, when the Na-
tional Park Service was established, there were already
fourteen national parks in existence.
There has been a good deal of searching for deep
meaning in the scanty information surrounding the es-
tablishment of Yosemite and Yellowstone and the other
early parks. But the most likely explanations are pretty
straightforward. In this period of relentless disposition
of the public domain, it was reasonable to fear that even
the most magnificent scenic sites might soon be turned
over to the plow and to the destructive grazing practices
that John Muir immortalized in the phrase "hoofed
locusts. " The pressures for private settlement were ac-
companied by the prospect of tourism. By 1869, more
than eleven hundred visitors had come to Yosemite.
For all its remoteness, exactly the same prospect was
in store for Yellowstone, established eight years after
Yosemite. It did not take much imagination to realize
that the area's rock formations and geysers, so fantastic
that early reports of them were widely disbelieved,
would become one of the world's great attractions just
62
as soon as decent means of access could be arranged.
Part of the mythology of Yellowstone is that the idea
for the park was conceived by one of the area's early
exploratory parties at an after-dinner campfire in 1 870.
One member of the group is supposed to have sug-
gested a money-rr:^king scheme that involved land
claims near the geysers, when another interposed to say
that private ownership of so wonderful a region ought
never to be countenanced; that it ought to be set apart
by the government and forever held for the unrestricted
use of the public. "This higher view of the subject,"
according to Hiram Chittenden in his early book. The
Yellowstone National Park, "found immediate accept-
ance. ... It was agreed that the project should be at
once set afoot and pushed vigorously to a finish."
The story is an attractive one, but it has been put
in proper perspective by the scholar Hans Huth. In his
book Nature and the American. Huth reports the dis-
covery of some letters written in 1871 by A. B. Nettle-
ton, an agent for the Northern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany. Nettleton passed on a suggestion which struck
him "as being an excellent one, viz: Let Congress pass
a bill reserving the Great Geyser Basin as a public park
forever. ... If you approve this would such a recom-
mendation be appropriate in [the] official report [of the
U.S. Geological Survey]?" Subsequently, the North-
ern Pacific became the principal means of access to
Yellowstone and its first major concessionaire.
The recognition that Yellowstone and Yosemite
would soon become places of great public attractive-
ness created an urgent sense that means must be taken
to protect these treasures from destruction — a concern
that was by no means hypothetical. Only a few years
after Yellowstone National Park had been established,
and before the federal government was yet fully in
control of its acreage, an official report lamented that
hunters have for years devoted themselves to the
slaughter of game, until within the limits of the
park it is hardly to be found ... the ornamental
work about the crater and the pools had been bro-
ken and defaced in the most prominent places.
. . . The visitors prowled around with shovel and
ax, chopping and hacking and prying up great
pieces of the most ornamental work they could
find; women and men alike joining in the barba-
rous pastime.
A similar concern had received wide publicity in
regard to Yosemite. In 1854 some quick-money pro-
moters visited the Mariposa Grove and denuded several
of the sequoia trees of huge portions of their bark.
National Park Servic
63
General Noble Tree 1893
which they shipped to London to be exhibited for a fee.
Ironically, the ^ize of the trees from which the bark
came was, to Europeans, so large as to be beyond be-
lief, and the exhibition, thought to be a fraud, was a
financial failure.
The callous misuse of these natural marvels was
widely reported and sympathetically attended to,
doubtless because there already existed at least one
famous example of a great scenic area that had nof been
preserved as a public park and had suffered badly as
a result.
Until the beginning of the automobile era, the most
famous and popular tourist attraction in the United
States was Niagara Falls. Beginning in 1806, the land
around the falls began to be sold into private owner-
ship, and by mid-century two evil consequences of
private acquisition were already notorious. Entrepre-
neurs, to take advantage of the water power, had lev-
eled large areas, stripped away the magnificent native
foliage, and built a succession of claptrap buildings,
factories, and shops that made Niagara one of the earli-
est victims of American cityscape blight. At the same
time, swarms of petty swindlers took up posts at every
point near the falls; tourists were importuned, cajoled,
lied to .harassed , and abused by hack drivers , landown-
ers, and every sort of self-appointed guide. By the
1860s not a single point remained in the United States
from which the falls could be viewed without paying
a landowner an entry fee. Niagara was already a well-
known lesson when the first western parks were being
created, although it was not established as a public
reservation until some years later.
The idea of national parks was not only a natural
response to the unhappy experience of Niagara, it also
harmonized with a principle that was at the very crest
of its influence in American public-land policy. The
Yellowstone- Yosemite era was the period of the free-
land policy, of the Homestead and Desert Land Acts.
Every American family was to have the opportunity to
own its farm free of monopolization by the rich. The
application of that principle to the great scenic wonders
could not be realized by granting a sequoia grove or
Grand Canyon to each citizen. But it was possible to
preserve the great scenic wonders and prevent their
appropriation by private interests by holding them as
public places to be used and enjoyed by all.
Olmsted put forward exactly that idea in his 1865
report. Those who are rich enough, he said, reserve
for themselves rural retreats as large and luxurious as
those of the European aristocracy. They take the choic-
est natural scenes, and the means of recreation they
provide, as "a monopoly of a very few, very rich
64
people." Unless government intervened to keep the
nation's scenic grandeur in the public domain, "all
places favorable in scenery to the recreation of the mind
and body will be closed against the mass of the
people."
To a reader of Olmsted's report, the most striking
fact is that while the parks movement may have been
initiated by the elite, it was certainly not for the elite.
It is at once obvious why Olmsted's kind of park policy
commended itself to a Congress that had recently en-
acted the Homestead Act. Jeffersonian idealism and a
practical concern with preventing despoliation of great
natural resources conjoined to make the establishment
of the national parks a far less surprising decision than
it might at first appear. And, of course, proposals to
preserve scenic places followed a period of romantic
idealism that had swept the country — the religious nat-
uralism of Thoreau and Emerson, romanticism in the
arts, and nostalgia for what was obviously the end of
the untamed wilderness, already in submission to the
ax, the railroads, and the last campaigns against the
Indians.
The parks also appealed to a tenacious American
desire to measure up to European civilization. What
little discussion one finds in early congressional debates
over the parks is full of suggestions that our scenery
compares favorably to the Swiss Alps and that we can
provide even more dazzling attractions for world trav-
elers. In the awesome scenery of the mountainous west,
America had something with which it could at last com-
pete with Europe on an equal plane.
Beyond this, the parks movement, both in its begin-
nings and later, was extraordinarily fortunate in the
quality of its leadership. Simply to mention three of
the people most prominently associated with the na-
tional parks during their first half -century — Olmsted,
John Muir, and Stephen Mather — is to identify three
of the most effective shapers of public opinion the
country has ever produced. They make an interesting
trio — each very different from the other, yet each an
American prototype.
Olmsted was the model of a respected establishment
figure. He distinguished himself by his intellectual at-
tainments as well as by his administrative and organi-
zational ability. His books on the pre-Civil War South
brought him early and lasting prominence. His leader-
ship during the war, as executive secretary of the U.S.
Sanitary Commission (predecessor of the Red Cross),
together with his struggles with the Tammany mob over
the management of Central Park, established him as
a man of affairs. His success as a founding figure in
landscape architecture gave him enormous professional
Mother of the Forest Tree, ca. 1690
Calitornia Dept. ot Parks ana Recreation
65
stature. And, not least, his comfortable background
and social standing gave him easy access to the rich
and powerful.
Although Olmsted is associated with the national
parks principally as a creator of ideas, he was plainly
an effective shaper of events as well. He was responsi-
ble for the organization and direction of the long and
difficult campaign for the establishment of a park
around Niagara Falls. As early as 1869 he began meet-
ing with influential opinion makers to plan how to com-
bat the desecration of the falls. He directed the prepara-
tion of many magazine articles and of a petition that
contained as dazzling a list of signers as any such docu-
ment has ever had, including the signatures of all the
sitting justices of the Supreme Court. The Niagara ef-
fort ended in success in 1883 when a bill authorizing
creation of a state reservation was enacted by the New
York legislature. Olmsted was plainly one kind of
American hero , an idealist who could translate his ideas
into effective political action.
John Muir was a very different, but at least equally
appealing, figure. Muir embodied a great many of the
personality characteristics of the western fantasy hero:
a lonely, independent, self-reliant figure, sure of his
values and uncorrupted by the softening ways of urban
life. One can hardly think of the national parks without
bringing to mind those photographs of John Muir, lean
and austere, as unyielding in appearance as in prin-
ciple, framed against the no less rugged peaks of the
Sierras.
Muir was a folk-figure, but beyond that he, too, was
a skillful shaper of public opinion. Unlike Olmsted,
who wrote little after his early books on the South, and
that with difficulty and awkward stiffness, Muir was
a master of vivid, descriptive prose. He made the
mountains come alive for millions to whom a voyage
to California was a hoped-for, once-in-a-lifetime aspi-
ration.
John Muir was no less impressive in person than he
was in print. His landmark tour of the high country with
Teddy Roosevelt, a public relations triumph of the
highest order, was only one of many such experiences.
Robert Underwood Johnson, editor of the influential
Century magazine, describes in his autobiography an
1889 meeting with Muir and a subsequent tour of Muir
country under the master's tutelage. Thereafter, Cen-
tury opened its pages to Muir, who used them to very
great effect in the later battles over Yosemite.
Stephen Mather was in no sense a founder; he did
not become a figure in national park history until 1915,
but as the first director of the National Park Service,
he dominates the whole first era of the national parks
Fairfield Osborn
66
system as a governmental institution. A millionaire
businessman, Mather was a disciple of John Muir and
an indefatigable admirer of the Sierra Nevada moun-
tains. And he was the very model of an American sales-
man. He brought to the park service the identical
traits — enthusiasm, imagination, a keen public rela-
tions sense, lavish spending, and an eye for good young
talent — that had made him a commercial success.
Mather perceived that any public enterprise needed
friends in the legislature, frequent and continual praise
in the press, and the goodwill of vast numbers of ordi-
nary people. He set out to achieve each of those goals
and did so with incomparable success and a generous
dose of the personal flair and color that always made
for good publicity. When the government would not
make money available for the construction of the much
needed Tioga Road in Yosemite, he used his own
funds. He drove around the parks in a big black motor-
car with a special and much-photographed license,
"US NFS 1 ." And he went from park to park person-
ally greeting astonished tourists. He was the perfect
opposite of everything that is encompassed in the ex-
pression "faceless bureaucrat."
Perhaps Mather's most characteristic, successful,
and widely known achievement occurred in 1915 as
part of an effort to garner support for the upcoming
congressional consideration of the bill to create a Na-
tional Park Service. The need for such legislation had
long been recognized, for every one of the fourteen
parks then in existence was being run as a separate
entity. There was no central park policy or budget, and
the parks, having been managed to a substantial extent
by the U.S. Cavalry, were in urgent need of both
money and intelligent coordination. Bills had been in-
troduced since 1910, and Congress had held hearings
twice, but no law was brought to the point of enactment
until Mather came on the scene.
To set the stage for the coming legislative session,
Mather decided to have a little outing with some opin-
ion leaders, to imbue them with the mystique of the
parks and persuade them to put their influence behind
the bill to establish the National Park Service, all the
while having a splendid time in the high country.
Among Mather's guests were Fairfield Osborn, head
of The American Museum of Natural History; Emerson
Hough, one of the most renowned writers of the day;
Fred H. Gillett, the future Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the ranking Republican on the Ap-
propriations Committee; Gilbert H. Grosvenor, editor
of National Geographic; E. O. McCormick, vice pres-.
ident of the Southern Pacific Railway; and Burton
Holmes, a travel lecturer. For nearly two weeks, the
Enwrson Hough. 1902
Uev> 'Kjir. Put*>C ..^itlT
67
Culver Pictures
distinguished party saw the best of the Sierras. As one
magazine article put it,
Mather had spared no expense in outfitting his
guests. Each man had a new sleeping bag and air
mattress which combined to make a classy and
perfectly comfortable wilderness bed. There were
horses to carry the men and mules to carry the
supplies, which included a bountiful stock of
fresh fruit, fresh eggs and other delicacies. . . .
As camp was pitched. Tie Sing, a marvelous
camp cook whom Mather had borrowed from the
U.S. Geological Survey for the occasion, would
construct a dining table, usually out of logs, and
then ... a linen table cloth would show up, and
real napkins for everybody. Tie Sing would put
together his collapsible stoves and calmly prepare
soup, lettuce salad, fried chicken, venison and
gravy, potatoes, hot rolls, apple pie, cheese, tea
and coffee.
Just as Mather had hoped, generous support and lav-
ish publicity in favor of the parks began to roll out;
the April 1916 issue of National Geographic was
wholly devoted to the national parks. By August 25,
right on schedule. President Wilson signed the bill
creating the National Park Service and Mather became
its first director.
As one reviews the early history of the national
parks, what at first seems an astonishing anomaly
begins to take shape as a series of events very much
in tune with contemporary American attitudes, helped
along mightily by friends of extraordinary skill , ability,
and influence.
The attractiveness and success of the idea of creating
national parks, however, is easier to understand than
the content of "the national parks idea." In recent
years, as tourism has grown, the parks have been at
the center of many controversies over the question,
What kinds of recreational uses ought the national park
system serve? All agree that the parks are for public
use and that their great scenery must be protected from
destruction. To recognize these fundamentals, how-
ever, is hardly to begin to deal with the questions raised
by the competing claims of the many constituencies of
park users. Should hotels and other accommodations
be permitted within the parks or should they be located
outside the park boundaries? Should the park service
put in more camping facilities and supportive services
to accommodate the ever growing number of people
who want to use the parks or should access and use
be limited so as to provide an uncrowded recreational
Camping Trip, Sierra Nevada, 1915
experience? Is it proper to open the parks to snowmo-
biles or elaborate downhill skiing operations? Other,
less obvious questions arise, such as. Should the park
service permit concessionaires to advertise to attract
business conventions to the parks — even in the ofT-sea-
son when their facilities are not otherwise full?
The usual place to look for answers to such questions
is in the history of congressional enactments establish-
ing the national parks, for it is Congress that is sup-
posed to make national park policy. A detailed exami-
nation of that history, however, would not only be
tedious but fruitless because in the many decades that
have passed since Yosemite was first established. Con-
gress has never resolved or even grappled with these
hard questions.
Congress long ago established that the parks should
be protected against destruction and that they should
be made available to the ordinary citizen, rather than
preempted as a preserve for the rich. But to say that
the parks are for the people is not necessarily to say
that they are for intensive mass recreational use.
All we really know about congressional intent is that
there were some activities that Congress did not want
in the parks. With rare exceptions, mining and dam
building have been prohibited in the parks for many
years. Unlike the national forests, the parks have not
been set aside for multiple use— recreation and graz-
ing, timber harvesting and wildlife conservation. Gif-
ford Pinchot, then chief forester of the United States
and a spokesman for scientific forest management,
fought and lost that battle against the conservation-
ists— he called them "nature fakirs" — in 1916. In that
year, despite Pinchot' s best efforts, Congress enacted
the only general policy mandate it has ever issued for
the parks, and it continues to be the central statement
of park policy today. The so-called Organic Act is a
clear repudiation of those who wanted the parks to be
used for industrial purposes as well as conservation and
recreation, but it says nothing about the balance to be
drawn between preservation and use so as to resolve
the issues that are being raised today by MCA and other
aggressive concessionaires. The Organic Act simply
says:
Mulchings rloiel, Vosemite VallGy, 1879
The [National Park Service] shall promote and
regulate the use of the Federal areas known as
national parks ... by such means and measures
as conform to the fundamental purpose of said
parks . . . which is to conserve the scenery and
the natural and historic objects and the wild life
therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the
same in such manner and by such means as will
leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of fu-
ture generations.
Conservation for posterity is the stated purpose of
the parks, but that hardly tells us whether ski lifts,
winterized roads, and improved hotels are appropriate.
A more recent law, enacted in 1965, adds nothing to
our understanding; it merely says it "is the policy of
the Congress that such development [in the parks] shall
be limited to those that are necessary and appropriate
for public use and enjoyment of the national park area
in which they are located and that are consistent to the
highest practicable degree with the preservation and
conservation of the areas." The intent of Congress is
simply not known. It would probably be more accurate
to say that there does not exist any explicit intention.
To understand national parks legislation, we must
adopt a rarely taken approach. In passing laws, Con-
gress often does not initiate the ideas that it transforms
into statutes; rather it acquiesces in, and associates it-
self with, the views of private citizens who have urged
those ideas on it. Without fully exploring those ideas
for itself. Congress acts to give legitimacy to a point
of view that has captured the imagination of the public.
It would be impossible to appreciate the legislative bat-
tles in England over factory reform legislation in the
70
early decades of fhc Industrial Revolution without un-
derstanding the impact on public thought of an Adam
Smith, on the one hand, or of social-reform novelists
such as Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Gaskell, on the
other. Nor, as scholars of constitutional law have long
understood, can cryptically stated provisions in the Bill
of Rights be appropriately interpreted without a
thorough knowledge of the historical experience out of
which they grew.
Rather than merely picking over the sterile fragments
of official history that have been left us, we should turn
our attention to the aspirations of those who devoted
their lives to persuading the American public of the
efficacy and importance of parks. Within that small but
influential group, one figure, Frederick Law Olmsted,
stands out above all others. It would be impertinent to
insist that Congress must be charged with having man-
dated Olmsted's beliefs into legislation, and it must be
noted, with sadness, that Olmsted's ideas have been
substantially betrayed in each of the places he worked
to save — Yosemite Valley, Niagara, Central Park. But
it is not too much to suggest that the values he sought
to advance in his professional life provide an appro-
priate background against which to test our national
parks policy.
The key to understanding Olmsted's thought is the
recognition that he had more than merely a theory about
recreation — he had a philosophy of leisure. His writ-
ings reveal that he held the same view of urban parks
as of the national parks and, indeed, the same view of
suburban residential developments as he did of urban
and national parks. Every important idea, in his 1865
Yosemite Report also appears in his work on Central
Park, Niagara Falls, and the other places to which he
turned his formidable talents.
Olmsted was not just a builder of parks; he was the
author of a distinctive theory about the role parks ought
to play in a democratic society. Nothing was further
from his view than the now widely held idea that in
a democracy the sole acceptable park policy is to facili-
tate access for the greatest number of people that can
be accommodated and then to establish whatever activ-
ities the popular sentiments of the hour appear to de-
mand. Instead he held to what might elaborately be
called an intertemporal theory of democratic legiti-
macy: that the justification for the use of the parks must
be sought in the long-term judgment of the people and
that there was a legitimate role for leadership in a demo-
cratic society.
Olmsted never had the slightest doubt that he would
be vindicated by history. In what was probably the most
revealing statement he ever made, he reflected late in
Cathedral Rocks. Yosemite, 1877
Overleat: Mirror lake, Yosemite. 1872
New York Public bbrarv
71
^ ^
.. Vf>
i.£v.u ■a*-TBr— ;
Carriages in Central Park, ca. 1860
Bettmann Archive
1B5T. «I1'Y OH NKW YOF?I^. IB'93.
DE PKRTJWfENT OF
'^ denW^paiit^^t
FOUNDED 1857.
CENTBAL PABE CASBIAaE SE&VICE, OSaAlTIZED 1869.
Carriages will leave the Scholars' Gate, 50th Street
and Fifth Avenue, and the Merchants' Gate, 59th
Street and Eighth Avenue, making the circuit of the
Parle, at brief intervals, and may be taken anywhere
on the road.
Fare for Each Passenger for the round
trip, 85 cents. Tickets must be purchased of the
Starter, and they entitle passengers to be put down
and taken up at the Museum of Natural History, Mt.
St. Vincent, Museum of Art and the Terrace Bridge.
Carriages in going take the West Drive, in returning
the East Drive, thus making the tour of the Park.
In going, you are driven past the Museum of Natural
History in Manhattan Square, and the great Croton
Reservoirs. The tower at the lower Reservoir is the
Belvedere, from which a fine view of the Park and the
surrounding city may be obtained. In returning, car-
riages stop at Mt. St. Vincent, Museum of Art and
the Terrace Bridge.
Bettmann Archive
his life that there were "scattered through the country
seventeen large public parks . . . upon which ... I
have been engaged. . . . They are a hundred years ahead
of any spontaneous public demand." To the charges,
made repeatedly during his career, that he was what
we would call an elitist, Olmsted had a two- word
reply — Central Park. The great achievement of his life
was the design of a park that met no extant public
demand because no such park had been conceived of
until he created it. He said of Central Park, "A large
part of the people of New York are ignorant of a park,
properly so-called. They will need to be trained to the
use of it. . . ."
When a question arose in Central Park's early days
about its remote location from the great bulk of the
populace, so that it was accessible mainly to the afflu-
ent, Olmsted coolly responded that the park had been
designed to be in the middle of the city when New York
doubled its size. Long before Manhattan became a
treeless vista of vast towers that dwarfed the individual ,
Olmsted had the dazzling idea that the New York resi-
dent of the future would appreciate nothing so much
as a rural vista. And in 1865, writing about then vir-
tually unknown Yosemite, he could calmly and confi-
dently talk about visitors in the "millions" that the next
century would bring.
His vision, however, was not merely an exercise in
prophecy. He saw the popular demands of the moment
as being principally the product of self-interested ma-
nipulation by those who had much to gain by a deter-
mined shaping of public opinion to their own ends. In
his Yosemite Report, he observes that the governing
classes of Europe had preempted the great scenic re-
sources to their own exclusive use not simply out of
selfishness but because they had persuaded themselves
that the masses were incapable of rising above a brutish
existence. Thus they thought it was pointless to make
available a form of leisure designed to elicit from the
ordinary citizen the exercise of the "esthetic and con-
templative faculties."
The product of such a view was a policy that treated
ordinary people as passive objects to be entertained at
the most superficial level. The mass recreation that ex-
isted was not, in Olmsted's view, a response to popular
demand, but rather the calculated provision by those
in control of a program of "bread and circuses." The
governing elite , Olmsted complained , think it desirable
"so far as the recreations of the masses of the nation
receive attention from their rulers, to provide artificial
pleasure for them, such as theatres, parades, and prom-
enades where they will be amused by the equipages of
the rich and the animation of the crowds." Of course,
74
those who profited from the provision of mass enter-
tainment were more than happy to make such passive
"artificial pleasures" available.
The great test case for Olmsted was Niagara, for the
campaign to "save" Niagara was, after all, a battle in
service of a place that was the single most popular
tourist attraction in the United States. Four years before
the New York legislature authorized acquisition of the
land bordering Niagara Falls, Olmsted responded to
criticisms from those who had been making money
providing tourist attractions and who thus opposed the
park. According to them, Olmsted said, the flow of
tourists had continued to grow despite all the develop-
ments that he and his associates so vigorously con-
demned.
Were all the trees cut away, quarries opened in
the ledges, the banks packed with hotels and fac-
tories, and every chance open space occupied by
a circus tent, the Falls would still, these think,
draw the world to them. Whatever has been done
to the injury of the scenery has been done, say
they, with the motive of profit, and the profit real-
ized is the public's verdict of acquittal.
Just as fourteen years earlier, in the Yosemite Re-
port, he had attacked those who condescended to the
public by providing them with passive entertainments,
here he made explicit his conviction that the public is
perfectly capable of being led and can be induced to
acquiesce in that which is put before them. His re-
sponse was that "the public has not had the case fairly
before it. The great body of visitors to Niagara come
as strangers. Their movements are necessarily con-
trolled by the arrangements made for them. They take
what is offered, and pay what is required with little
exercise of choice. The fact that they accept the ar-
rangements is no evidence of their approval."
To Olmsted, mere public acquiescence was not the
hallmark of democracy. He was sophisticated enough
to see that Niagara as it was represented the imposition
of a standard of taste no less than Niagara as he sought
to make it. In the former case it embodied the standard
of taste imposed by those whose goal was to exact as
much money as possible from the tourist. In the latter
it would reflect the aspiration of those who believed
that an experience of quiet solitude in a setting of un-
trammeled natural scenery could attract and stir the
contemplative faculty in even the most ordinary citi-
zen.
The proof, of course, is now before us. Niagara lost
not a whit of its popularity after the state park was
created and the most obtrusive structures and most stri-
The Mall, Central Park, 1885
New York Public Library
75
h
New York Public Library
Riverbank Niagara Falls
Histoncal Pictures Service
dent hawkers removed from its premises. The national
parks, kept largely untrammeled, have grown in popu-
larity with each passing decade. The wilderness system
has proved itself beyond the most extravagant expecta-
tions of those who struggled for its creation against
continued charges of antidemocratic elitism. At the
same time, the landscape is strewn with the remnants
of once-popular resorts developed down to the last acre
of available land. Is there anyone today who would
trade Glacier National Park or the Everglades for Atlan-
tic City, or who, recoiling today from the power lines
and neon in the vicinity of Niagara, does not believe
that its environs ought to have been reserved in the
national parks model a century and a half ago?
As Olmsted demonstrated, the question in a demo-
cratic society is not the acceptance or rejection of what
the people want. People get the recreation that imagina-
tive leadership gives them. No one wanted Disneyland
any more than they wanted Yosemite National Park.
The question is whether there is a legitimate place in
this society for recreation that is not likely to be suffi-
ciently profitable for private entrepreneurs.
It is to this question that Olmsted provided the dis-
tinctive answer that lies at the heart of his achievement.
The essence of recreational policy in a democratic soci-
ety, he believed, was the willingness to treat the ordi-
nary citizen as something other than a passive customer
to be managed and entertained. Olmsted based his
theory of recreation on what he called "a faith in the
refinement of the republic," a faith in the possibility
of liberation from self-interested manipulation.
Many years ago, he said, before Niagara had become
a tourist industry, "a visit to the Falls was a series of
expeditions, and in each expedition hours were
occupied in wandering slowly among the trees, going
from place to place, with many intervals of rest. . . .
There was not only a much greater degree of enjoy-
ment, there was a different kind of enjoyment. . . .
People then were loath to leave the place; many lin-
gered on from day to day . . . revisiting ground they
had gone over before, turning and returning."
All that had changed by the 1870s; the visitor had
become the object of prepared entertainment. "Visitors
are so much more constrained to be guided and in-
structed, to be led and stopped, to be 'put through,'
and so little left to natural and healthy individual intu-
itions. The aim to make money by the showman's
methods ... is so presented to the visitor that he is
forced to yield to it, and to see and feel little else than
that prescribed to him."
Leisure was the counterpoint of life for Olmsted. It
was the occasion for putting all the busy, filled hours
76
of daily routine into perspective. He fully appreciated
tliat in the hurried pace of urban life in an industrial
age, nothing was more essential than occasions for test-
ing the importance of one's daily tasks against some
permanent standard of value. Like other observers of
the industrial world, he perceived the dangers of a life
of meaningless activity where all that had stood for
permanence and value in the traditional world had been
swept away — the centrality of the church, continuity
of place and position, the binding forces of tradition
itself.
Unlike some great scholars of industrialism,
Olmsted was fundamentally hopeful. He believed it
was possible to engage the contemplative faculty by
inserting in the physical setting of the modern world
a rhythm of nature as a standard of permanent value.
Everywhere in his work one basic idea is dominant —
the idea of contrast. Modern man must have an oppor-
tunity to contrast the pace, setting, values, and activi-
ties that dominate his daily life. He must be permitted
to stir the contemplative spirit by being provided an
experience that literally removes him from all the
forces that impel his daily routine.
We want a ground to which people may easily
go after their day's work is done, and where they
may stroll for an hour, seeing, hearing, and feel-
ing nothing of the bustle and jar of the streets,
where they shall, in effect, find the city put far
away from them. We want the greatest possible
contrast with the streets and the shops and the
rooms of the town. . . . We want, especially, the
greatest possible contrast with the restraining and
confining conditions of the town ... a simple,
broad, open space of clean greensward, with suf-
ficient number of trees about it to supply a variety
of light and shade ... to completely shut out the
city from landscapes. . . . What we want is tran-
quility and rest to the mind.
When Olmsted spoke of "pleasure or recreation,"
he had something quite different in mind from what we
commonly comprehend by terms like "recreation."
Indeed, Olmsted spent a good part of his life fighting
off various attempts to use Central Park for "towers,
houses, drinking fountains, telescopes . . . Aeolian
harps, gymnasiums, observatories and weighing
scales, for the sale of eatables, velocipedes, Indian
work, tobacco and segars."
A park full of human improvements will of necessity
be a place that reflects the fashions and interests of the
moment; it will emphasize and glorify the values of
the moment. A natural park has nothing so much as
Upper American Falls Niagara 1680
77
winter at Niagara Falls, ca. 1860
"/" f(£ROCfi'fSL>
O/H/eLPOOU.
Niagara Falls, 191E
Bettmann Archive
the quality of timelessness. It stands outside the scale
of human achievement.
The provision of parks to make available this sense
of contrast led to the second of Olmsted's fundamental
premises: his unyielding opposition to artifice. It would
be easy to misconstrue this position as simply advocacy
of wilderness, but a careful study of his view makes
clear that Olmsted had something quite different in
mind. He never lost sight of his principle that the parks
were to be designed to accommodate large numbers of
people without depriving them of the kind of experi-
ence for which the areas had been created. Thus in his
1887 Niagara Report he stated the principle as follows:
Nothing of an artificial character should be al-
lowed a place on the property, no matter how
valuable it might be under other circumstances
and no matter at how little cost it may be had,
the presence of which can be avoided consistently
with the provisions of necessary conditions for
making the enjoyment of the natural scenery
available.
In proposing a detailed plan for the Niagara reserva-
tion, Olmsted described his principle of necessary arti-
fice. He thought it quite appropriate, for example, to
equip a train stop with toilets, shelters, picnic facilities,
and the like. And he further recommended the building
of walkways, as well as restorative efforts to combat
erosion and restore barren areas.
He was opposed to fancy landscaping, because "it
is calculated to draw off and dissipate regard for natural
scenery" in favor of an exaltation of human ingenuity.
Since his report was a practical planning document, he
carefully responded to a variety of developmental pro-
posals. One plan urged that a fine restaurant be built
on Goat Island, a wild place just above Niagara Falls.
Olmsted conceded that any structure would to some
degree obscure and distract attention from the natural
scene, but that alone was not sufficient to disqualify
it. Rather, he asked, "will the absence of places of
refreshment cause such hardship to visitors, reasonably
prudent for themselves, as to seriously interfere with
the general enjoyment by the public of the scenery?"
Noting that a modest drive would bring visitors to
hotels and restaurants located outside of the reservation
boundaries, he opposed the planned restaurant.
Probably the most revealing expression of Olmsted's
approach was his opposition to a proposal to permit
people to see the falls without having to leave their
carriages. Olmsted was by no means a wilderness advo-
cate, and for him the question of people being asked
to walk, rather than ride, through the reservation was
78
a serious one. Being a professional planner, he always
had a highly practical response. In this instance, he
began by observing that each carriage took up much
more space than a pedestrian, and in a place where as
many as 1(),(XK) people a day visited, even in the 1880s,
he argued for the exclusion of carriages as an effective
means of enlarging the carrying capacity of the park.
But that was not his principal concern. To experience
the park as a contrast, to get inside the scenic experi-
ence, it was necessary to take some time — to see the
falls at length and at leisure. To design the scenic view-
ing areas to accommodate numbers of carriages would
"interpose an urban, artificial element plainly in con-
flict with the purposes for which the Reservation has
been made." The point is a powerful one. There is
nothing malevolent in seeing the park from a carriage
moving rapidly from one fixed, scenic overlook spot
to another, but Olmsted regarded it as an urban experi-
ence, a man-dominated experience rather than a time-
less experience in which the falls were the over-
whelming presence. Niagara, Olmsted insisted, should
be managed to encourage people to view the falls "in
an absorbed and contemplative way . " To such an expe-
rience, the carriage is an obstruction.
If there is any perspective that dominates contem-
porary thinking about the parks, and about recreation
in general , it is the consumer perspective . To this view-
point, Olmsted presents the elevating contrast of a cul-
tural perception of the uses of leisure. To speak of man
as the measure of all things is not only to state a cliche
but to describe a world in which the rhythm of life is
tuned only to the pace of human enterprise. It is not
that we are necessarily going too fast, but that we risk
losing contact with any external standards that help us
to decide how fast we want to go. It is the function
of culture to preserve a link to forces and experiences
outside of the daily routine of life. Such experiences
provide a perspective — in time and space — against
which we can test the value, as well as the immediate
efficacy, of what we are doing.
Every culture provides institutions that preserve the
possibility of perspective. The Sabbath as a day of rest
provides the opportunity to infuse the relentless pas-
sage of time with meaning. The Constitution, in our
legal system, builds a perspective of time into social
decision making, which by creating a link with the
values that dominated our past acts as a restraining
force on the instincts of the moment. And the museum
collects the experience of our predecessors in a display
of all that has given value to the generations before us
who have experienced the joys and travails of birth,
growth, and death. In short, culture gives context to
Niagara Falli.n 1870
^^^^
^^f^-^St-
Niagara Falls, ca. 1880
79
our lives, and context is the indispensable ingredient
for a life infused with value.
This view puts many contemporary park controver-
sies in proper perspective. It is clear that Olmsted
would have found a golf course in Yosemite Park an
anomaly, not because people do not enjoy golfing in
the midst of magnificent scenery or because golf is a
less desirable activity than hiking, but because the cen-
ter of attention would be diverted from the experience
of nature to the achievements of man. By the same
reasoning, Olmsted had no objection, as such, to build-
ing roads and to the use of vehicles in a park. To
Olmsted, an issue like roads was not an either/or ques-
tion but a question of speed and congestion. To build
highways so that masses of people could be moved
through the parks, catching a glimpse of the scenery
as they passed, or to stop here and there to add to their
list of "things done' ' the observation of a famous sight
was to misconceive the purpose for which the parks
were created.
This perspective tells us a good deal about the kinds
of facilities that are appropriate within the parks. There
is nothing wrong with having some cabins or hotels
within the park boundaries, but they should be designed
to do no more than facilitate the opportunity to experi-
ence the park's scenery. The park is not an appropriate
place to put a masterpiece of human architecture nor
is it a place in which to found a distinguished restaurant
Half Way House at Pikes Peak
80
or a mall of fashionable shops; again, not because it
is inappropriate for people to enjoy these amenities, but
because they divert the visitor's attention to the
achievements of man. This is not to say, of course, thai
one cannot enjoy the scenery during the day and a line
dinner and nightclub afterward; it is simply to say that
the purpose of the parks is to draw people out of the
routine of daily life, to create a total and encompassing
experience, to change the entirety of their pace and
permit the rhythm of the park to take over. This is the
reason Olmsted said, in his Niagara Report, that if "a
costly object of art, like the Statue of Liberty, should
be tendered to the State on condition that it should be
set up on Goat Island; it would have to be declined,
as would a museum or library, worthy as they are."
Here and there in the literature of exploration of the
parks there is an explicit statement of the kind of experi-
ence that Olmsted sought to engender when he spoke
of stirring the contemplative faculty. It is at the heart
of the writings of Thoreau and John Muir. It is to be
found, more recently, in Colin Fletcher's description
of his pioneering two-month walk through the Grand
Canyon of the Colorado:
The rhythm of the rocks beats very slowly, that
is all. The minute hand of its clock moves by the
millions of years. . . . And if you listen care-
fully— when you have immersed yourself long
enough, physically and mentally, in enough space
and enough silence and enough solitude — you
begin to detect, even though you are not looking
for it, something faintly familiar about the
rhythm. You remember hearing that beat before,
point and counterpoint, pulsing through the inevi-
tably forward movement of river and journey.
. . . And you grasp at last, in a fuller and more
certain way than you ever have before, that all
these worlds move forward, each at its own
tempo, in harmony with some unique basic
rhythm of the universe. . . . We all of us experi-
ence this oceanic feeling, I think, at some time
or other. ... I felt, now, a sense of common origin
and direction. . . . And while it lasted nothing
else mattered, nothing else existed.
Fletcher's description, extravagant as it is, none-
theless encompasses the totality of experience that has
underlain the impetus for a system of parks — from the
limited setting of New York's Central Park to the vast
reaches of the great western national parks — the desire
to create a setting in which there can be an immersion
in the natural scene. From this perspective, it is plain
why there has been vigorous objection to the use of
^^^
Grand Canyon, 1903
..♦j .^>*'L:
"■^^
r^'
European engraving ot western landscape
8i
the national parks for conventions, whether or not they
take place in the "oflf-season," and despite the fact that
nothing in the nature of a business convention could
be said to "impair the scenery." A convention tourist
cannot, by the very nature of his or her visit, submit
fully to the rhythm of the place.
The same reasoning explains why there has been
opposition to downhill skiing developments, but no
objection to cross-country skiing in the parks. The dis-
tinction has seemed too subtle to persuade some, but
it is fully in accord with the Olmsted philosophy. Al-
though one of the most delightful leisure activities,
downhill skiing exists today as a magnet sport — draw-
ing large numbers of people together in a small place,
making them dependent upon rather substantial mecha-
nisms for transportation to the top of the run, drawing
a cadre of professional teachers, spawning classes with
elaborate hierarchies of achievers, and turning a great
deal of attention to a vast panoply of equipment and
clothing. The end product, more often than not, is ev-
erything that characterizes an urban assemblage of
people — crowds, striving, economic distinctions, feel-
ings of dependence, time pressures, and the like. This
is the antithesis of everything that the parks were de-
signed to promote.
A failure to appreciate that the parks are more than
simply undestroyed scenery has led to another contro-
versy— the proposed development of only a tiny frac-
tion, perhaps 1 or 2 percent, of the total park acreage.
The difficulty with this argument is that most develop-
ments are proposed for the most attractive and most
accessible parts of the park. There may be a great deal
of unspoiled Yosemite Park outside the valley, but it
is to the valley that most visitors come, especially those
least familiar with the park.
To permit intrusions in such places, however small
in size, is to impair the opportunity to experience the
natural scene in the only places that most first-time
visitors are likely to see. It is especially ironic that
proposals for developments in the park are justified on
the ground that they will provide services for the inex-
perienced, most of whom are leery of the rugged back-
country. Yet if such developments are allowed, the
visitor arrives to find that the only area of the park that
is easily accessible to him is not the celebrated scene
that John Muir depicted, but a congeries of trailers,
shops, restaurants, and cabins.
Even this contradiction is not enough to dissuade
some developers. They respond that the parks cannot
serve Olmsted's aspirations if people do not visit them,
and that it is a necessary part of the educational ambi-
tion of the park system to bring the people to the parks
82
so that these timeless areas can begin to work their
magic on visitors. Even Stephen Mather once sug-
gested that the parks should set out to attract people
by building golf links, tennis courts, and swimming
pools.
There is more than a little irony in reviewing today
that aspect of Mather's approach to the national parks,
for while he spent his life winning friends and popular
support for the park system, the measure of his success
is that the most serious current problem of the parks
isthatthey risk being loved to death. Indeed, from their
very first years, the national parks have grown steadily
in use and popularity (except for temporary remissions
during wartime and economic depression). And they
have grown in use despite the reluctance of the National
Park Service, even during its periods of greatest devel-
opmental enthusiasm, to build facilities such as golf
courses, swimming pools, or tennis courts.
To the extent that the park service has allowed urban-
izing influences to dominate park management, as in
the Yosemite Valley, a quite difi'erent lesson has
emerged. It is that the parks become a magnet for those
who are seeking the kind of uses that these areas permit.
The building of elaborate hotels, shops, and modern
campgrounds attracts more and more people in search
of the kind of recreation those facilities promote. Of
course there are vast numbers of tourists who are in
pursuit of what might be called high-intensity urban
recreation and who are glad to have it in the striking
setting of a Yosemite Valley. And there are many who
want to go to any place where many others are going.
A few years ago, Bryan Harry, the chief naturalist at
Yosemite, said: "People used to come for the beauty
and serenity. Those who come now don't mind the
crowds; in fact, they like them. They are sightseers,
and they come for the action."
The managerial principle seems to be that the parks
become whatever the parks are permitted to be. More-
over, those who come to participate in high- intensity
recreation inevitably create a demand for the supportive
services appropriate to that activity. Olmsted fully un-
derstood this. He knew that even with the most sensi-
tive management the parks would attract more people
than they could reasonably accommodate at a given
time, and in his Niagara Report he explicitly recom-
mended techniques for limiting access. To Olmsted
there was nothing inherently democratic about a crowd.
Perhaps the saddest element in the controversy over
the national parks is that in a sincere effort to make
the parks democratic, we have felt constrained to make
them familiar; and in making them familiar, we have
threatened to deprive them of their distinctive natural
Automobile campers.
Tunnel through sequoia tree, ca. 1910
Bellmann Archive
rhythms. Not many years ago, in a policy report now
happily no longer the dominant view, the park service
was advised that the majority want "the comforts and
conveniences of modern travel and living. It therefore
seems undemocratic and unrealistic not to provide such
housing or camping accommodations as most visitors
desire . ' ' Even as thoughtful and committed a supporter
of the national parks as Bernard DeVoto, writing in
Harper's in 1953, expressed a view of park problems
that indicates how far perceptions of the park purpose
had strayed from its origin. Calling for increased appro-
priations to the National Park Service, he reports:
A middle-aged couple with a Cadillac makes a
formal protest: it is annoying that they must wait
three-quarters of an hour to get a table at Lookout
Point Lodge. . . . Another woman reports that the
toilet at Inspiration Cliff Camp Ground has been
clogged since early last evening. ... A man
pounds the desk and shouts that he hit a chuck-
hole on Rimrock Drive and broke a spring.
These are reasonable enough complaints, but they
are essentially a list of grievances identical to those
people have at home: potholes in the streets, inadequate
plumbing, slow service. They are the urban complaints
of urban denizens, produced by a park system that is
providing an urban experience.
The greatest danger the parks face is the subversion
of Olmsted's vision of democracy by the notion that
the parks must serve the taste for convenience that cities
have spawned. As recently as this year the National
Park Service proposed a mechanical tramway to take
visitors to the summit of Guadalupe Peak in Guadalupe
Mountains National Park in Texas. The reason, it said,
was that "all visitors should be offered the opportunity
to reach such a strategic point, and by a mode of access
convenient to ... the majority." But what shall these
visitors have reached when they attain the top of a
mechanized mountain? Perhaps we can do no better
than leave a final response to the always wise Aldo
Leopold:
Let me tell of a "wild" river bluff which until
1935 harbored a falcon's eyrie. Many visitors
walked a quarter mile to the river bank to picnic
and to watch the falcons. Comes now some alpha-
betic builder of "country parks" and dynamites
a road to the river, all in the name of ' 'recreational
planning. ' ' The excuse is that the public formerly
had no right of access, now it has such a right.
Access to what? Not access to the falcons, for
they are gone.
.'1: : ^
■■ f-''" lift/ ' " "*! •'" - » ■
El Capltan, Yosemlte
Ansel Adams, Magnum
85
Additional Reading
The following is not intended to be a comprehensive
bibliography, but rather a descriptive listing, organized
by subject matter, of the sources referred to or quoted by
the author. For a month-by-month account of what is
going on in the National Park Service (NPS) — and in the
parks — see current issues of National Parks & Conserva-
tion Magazine, Sierra Club Bulletin, and The Living Wil-
derness.
Concessions in the National Parks
The current controversy between commercial conces-
sionaires and the NPS is fully documented in the 5 1 5-page
report of joint hearings held by the Committee on Govern-
ment Operations and the Permanent Select Committee on
Small Business, House of Representatives, 93rd Con-
gress, 2nd Session, 1974. Entitled "National Park Serv-
ice Policies Discourage Competition, Give Concessioners
Too Great a Voice in Concessions Management," the
report contains specific and strong recommendations for
reforming the 1965 Concessions Policy Act, which gov-
erns practices of private concerns operating within NPS
units. It can be found in libraries that serve as depositories
of federal government documents or it can be obtained
by writing to either committee . A summary of the report
appeared in the May 1976 issue of National Parks &
Conservation Magazine ("Congress Blasts NPS," pp.
25-26).
For a historical perspective on the development of this
issue, write to the National Park Service, Washington,
D.C. 20240, for a copy of "National Park Concessions."
an archival document (1948) detailing the effects of the
post- World War II "recreation boom" on NPS manage-
ment policies. Oh. Ranger! a popular account of the NPS
written in 1928 by Horace M. Albright and Frank J. Tay-
lor and reprinted in 1972 (Old Greenwich: The Chatham
Press , $3 .95), includes discussions of very early problems
with concessionaires (mostly railroads and hotels) bent on
developing the resort possibilities of the first national
parks.
The National Parks Idea
The philosophy of preserving selected aspects of the
natural environment is discussed in Hans Huth's Nature
and the American: Three Centuries of Changing Atti-
tudes (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1972,
$2.95) and Roderick Nash's Wilderness and the Ameri-
can Mind (rev. ed. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1973, $3.25). See, also, two other collections edited by
Nash: The American Environment: Readings in the His-
tory of Conservation (Reading: Addison- Wesley Publish-
ing, 1968) and Environment and Americans: The Prob-
lem of Priorities (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
1972), with articles by Hans Huth ("The Aesthetic Em-
phasis") and S.L. Flader ("Aldo Leopold and the Evolu-
tion of an Ecological Attitude"). George Perkins Marsh's
classic treatise Man and Nature (1864), in which he
propounds his ecosystematic view of humankind and dis-
cusses the setting aside of natural areas as a means of
resource management, has recently been reprinted (Cam-
bridge: Harvard University Press, S5.95). Aldo
Leopold's A Sand County Almanac (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1949. SI. 95) is another environmental
classic, with near poetic essays — "Conservation Es-
thetic," "Wildlife in American Culture" — imbued with
the place of man in the ecosystem. Colin Fletcher's The
Man Who Walked Through Time (New York; Random
House, 1972, SI .95), a vivid account of a two-month hike
through the Grand Canyon, explores man's relationship
to nature in a national park, just as Olmsted and other
early park planners intended the experience to be.
F. Eraser Darling and Noel D. Eichhorn's Man and
Nature in the National Parks (write to Conservation
Foundation, 1717 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington,
D.C. 20036) is the result of a 1967 study commissioned
to formulate ecologically sound management policies for
the national parks. One may also write to the NPS for
copies of its official policy statements. For insights into
the NPS's response to the tremendous increase in park
usage, compare the 1970 and 1975 management policies.
A historical perspective on this developing problem may
be gained by reading Bernard De Voto's ' 'Let's Close the
National Parks" {Harper's. October 1953, pp. 49-52);
Steven V. Roberts's "Visitors Are Swamping the Na-
tional Parks" {New York Times, September 1 , 1969); and
the March 1976 issue of National Parks & Conservation
Ma^azme ("Guadalupe: Easy Access vs. Protection," p.
22). Write to the NPS for a copy of "The Workbook,
Yosemite Master Plan, Guidelines for the Design of Alter-
natives," an experiment in eliciting public participation
in the formulation of parks management policy.
History of the National Park Ser\ice
Robert Shankland's definitive, illustrated biography of
the first director of the NPS . Steve Mather of the National
Parks (rev. ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1971,
$8.95), is an appropriate historical starting point.
Mather's own work. Progress in the Development of the
National Parks (Washington: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1916), should be available in many libraries. Ron-
ald F. Lee's "Public Use of the National Park System:
1872-2000." prepared for the NPS in January 1968, is
available by writing to them. Other standard references
are John Ise's Our National Park Policy: A Critical His-
tory (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1961); Jenks Ca-
meron's 1972 monograph. The National Park Service: Its
History, Activities and Organization (repr. New York:
AMS Press, $15); and Paul H. Buck's The Evolution of
the National Park System of the United States (Washing-
ton: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946). An article
by Donald C. Swain, "The Passage of the National Park
Service Act of 1916" (Wisconsin Magazine of History,
1966, vol. 50, pp. 4—20). recounts the official congres-
sional establishment of the NPS.
Three Early Parks
An account of the early development of Yosemite Na-
tional Park is found in Carl Russell's One Hundred Years
in Yosemite: The Story of a Great Park and Its Friends
(rev. ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1947).
Russell , an early park naturalist and, later, superintendent
of Yosemite, also has an article in Yosemite: Saga of a
•86
Century, IH64-I964, edited by Jack Gycr (Oakhursl:
Sierra Star Press, 1964), Hans Huth's "Yosemitc: The
Story of an Idea," in tiie March 1948 issue of the Sierra
Club Bulletin (pp. 47-78), tells of the evolution of NPS
administrative philosophy in Yoscmite. Edwin T. Brew-
ster's Life and Letters ofJosiah Dwi^ht Whitney (Boston:
Houghton Milllin, 1909) is the biography of an early sup-
porter of Yosemite and a prime mover in its establishment
as the first national park.
Yellowstone's early developmental history was re-
corded in 1895 by Hiram M. Chittenden in The Yellow-
stone National Park (repr. Norman: University of Okla-
homa Press, 1971, $1.95). H. Duanc Hampton's Wow //if
U.S. Cavalry Saved Our National Parks (Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1971) is a scholarly history of
the management of our early national parks. Louis C.
Cramton, a contemporary of Stephen Mather and a friend
of the NPS in Congress, provided an insider's view in
his Early History of Yellowstone National Park and Its
Relation to National Park Policies (Washington: U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1932). Aubrey L. Haines's
Yellowstone National Park: Its Exploration and Estab-
lishment (Washmgton: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1974) is another well-illustrated historical treatment.
Primary sources on the early history of Niagara Falls
as a natural park are more difficult to obtain. Two ex-
amples are Charles M. Dow's The State Reservation at
Niagara: A History (Albany: J.B. Lyon, 1914) and J.B.
Harrison's "The Movement for the Redemption of Nia-
gara" {New Princeton Review, 1886, vol. 2, p. 233).
Olmsted's ideas on the founding of a Niagara Falls park
can be found in the "Special Report of the New York
State Survey on the Preservation of the Scenery of Niagara
Falls" (Albany: Charles Von Benthuysen & Sons, 1880)
and the "Supplemental Report of the Commissioners of
the State Reservation at Niagara, Report of Messrs.
Olmsted and Vaux" (Albany: Argus, 1887).
Frederick Law Olmsted
Laura Wood Roper's F.L.O.: A Biography of Fred-
erick Law Olmsted (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity Press, 1974, $15) is the only comprehensive ac-
count of the life and work of this outstanding figure in
the history of the national park movement. This important
book contains the account of Roper's discovery, in a
nearly forgotten file, of Olmsted's long-neglected state-
ment of early park philosophy — his 1865 Yosemite Re-
port. This landmark document — "The Yosemite Valley
and the Mariposa Big Trees" — was first published in the
October 1952 issue of Landscape Architecture. For an
explicit statement of his theory of city parks, see
Olmsted's 1870 book. Public Parks and the Enlargement
of Towns (repr. New York: Arno Press, 1970). Olmsted's
professional papers, collected and edited in the 1920s by
F.L. Olmsted, Jr. , and Theodora Kimball, are now avail-
able in one volume: Frederick Law Olmsted, Landscape
Architect: 1822-1903 (New York: Benjamin Blom,
1969, $15.75). Albert Fein's analytical essay, Frederick
Law Olmsted and the American Environmental Tradition
(New York: George Braziller, 1972, $10), is but one of
the many recent books about America's unsung hero of
the natural beauty of the land.
John Muir
The Wilderness World of John Muir, edited by Edward
Way Teale (repr. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976,
$4.95), provides a broad selection from Muir's writings;
also recommended are two of Muir's books: The Moun-
tains of California (\W4) 'dnd The Yosemite {\9\2), both
of which are available as inexpensive paperbacks (Garden
City: Doubleday, 1961 and 1962). Robert Underwood
Johnson, the editor of Century magazine who enthusi-
astically supported Muir and provided him with an effec-
tive publishing outlet, also provides us with fascinating
insights into Muir's attitudes and activities in his own
autobiography. Remembered Yesterdays (Boston: Little,
Brown and Co., 1923). Holoway Jones's Jo/jn Muir and
the Sierra Club: The Battle for Yosemite (San Francisco:
Sierra Club Books. 1964, $10) is perhaps the best book
available on Muir as a political activist.
An ardent admirer of our national parks , Joseph L. Sax
spends much of his spare time hiking their trails. For the
past ten years he has studied park history , use , and admin-
istration from his base at the University of Michigan Law
School where he teaches environmental law {see "Envi-
ronmental Action: A Passing Fad?" Natural History,
June-July 1976). That decade of research has led Sax to
the conclusion that the statutes governing the use of public
lands are among the least understood and least satis-
factorily executed of any United States laws relating to
natural resources. Sax drew up the model for legislation
that was eventually enacted in 1970 as the Michigan En-
vironmental Protection Act, and wrote a book. Defending
the Environment, that spells out how citizens can use the
courts to combat environmental degradation. His active
participation in a number of national and international
groups dealing with environmental laws led to an award
in 1975 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
87
Yosemite Falls, 1679
New York Public Library
National
parks
or
national
parking
lots?
This question is bound to stimulate
endless discussion among many
who have visited, as well as those
who intend to visit, any of our
national parks.
For one dollar, we will send you a
reprint of the October 1976
supplement on the development of
our national parks.
All Americans have an interest in
our national parks. They should
also have an opportunity to decide:
• Whether the ideals of Frederick
Law Olmsted have become
outdated.
• If our national parks should be
modified to satisfy the desires of
urbanites for creature comforts.
• Where the line should be drawn
(or should there be one) in the
struggle between naturalists and
concessionaires.
Get a copy for your friends ... or
an extra copy for yourself. The cost
is $1 each lor 1-5 copies; 75C
each for 6-10; and 50C each for 1 1
or more copies of the supplement.
To order, send your mailing
address and remittance to:
SUPPLEMENTS
Natural History Magazine
Central Park West at 79th
Street
New York, NY 10024
Indians
in the
rtlieast
Tliel977
Natural History Calendar
deluxe edition published by
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
A photographic celebration of the
unique quality and character of these
handsome people. Brilliant color studies
of current life provide a rich contrast to
stark black and white prints from the
first quarter of this century. 15 in all, and
all deserving to be framed, including 3
full-size 12" X 18" spreads.
Full color, high gloss stock.
Order early for gifts. With
envelope, $4.00.
Natural History Calendar, Dept. C540
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me calendar'^ at
$4.00 each. My check/money order for
a total of $ is enclosed.
(Third Class postage Is included. Add 50c eac
for First Class Mail.)
Name
Address
(please print)
City
State
Zip
Museum members may take a 10% discount.
The Perils of Primates
by Jaclyn H. Wolfheim
An animal 's body size
and range are key
factors in its survival
As the number of endangered and
extinct species continues to grow, an
awareness of the threats to wildlife is
radiating out from traditional conser-
vation circles and into the larger pub-
lic forum. But despite all the publicity
attendant on the release of endan-
gered-animal lists, the interaction of
the factors contributing to the decline
of a species has not received wide-
spread attention.
The primates are a good case in
point. Although authorities differ on
the exact number, there are about 149
species of primates: 33 prosimians,
16 marmosets and tamarins, 25 New
World monkeys, 65 Old World mon-
keys, and 10 apes. Several of these
species, such as the golden-lion
tamarin and the orangutan, are widely
recognized as being endangered, but
a few are considered abundant or pes-
tiferous. The reasons why one species
of primate is threatened with extinc-
tion while another is not apply to vir-
tually all animals, and these reasons
must be understood before any sensi-
ble action can be taken to prevent a
species from disappearing.
The survival status of any animal
is determined by the interaction of ul-
timate and proximate factors. Ulti-
mate factors are those determined by
the genetic information and evolu-
tionary history of the species. In-
cluded in this group are original
geographic range, body size, habitat
requirements, population density
limits, and behavioral traits. These
factors are species specific. They con-
stitute the foundation which has to ab-
sorb the impact of proximate factors
(habitat destruction and hunting).
The most important ultimate com-
ponent of a species' status is the size
of its geographic range. The result of
geologic events, climatic changes,
and migrations, geographic range
size is generally delimited by natural
barriers, such as bodies of water,
mountain ranges , or climatic and veg-
etation zones, which the animals can-
not cross. Among the primates, some
species have relatively restricted
ranges, for example, the gelada ba-
boon with a range size of about 75,-
000 square miles. Others, however,
occupy extensive ranges; the olive
baboon, for instance, is found
throughout an area of more than two
million square miles.
At least 62 species of primates in-
habit ranges of less than 100,000
square miles (smaller than the state of
Oregon). Another 37 species occupy
ranges of 100,000 to 300,000 square
miles (smaller than the state of
Texas). There are also many subspe-
cies, for example, of red colobus
monkeys, guerezas, and lar gibbons,
that occur only within extremely
small areas.
Mountain Gorilla — Endangered
Body size: Large
Geographic range: Limited
Habitat: Specialized
(montane forest)
Habitat alteration: Severe
(logging, livestock grazing)
Home range: Large
Hunting: Meat, sport
Reproduction: Slow
^V!*
4.---- i^V^
Lee Lyon; Bruce Coleman, Inc.
90
'W
t
^.
M'%<
'?#?■"
• *.
>
3ruce Coleman.
Spider Monkey (above) —
Moderately threatened
Body size: Medium
Geographic range: Large
Habitat: General (forest)
Habitat alteration: Severe
(logging, agricultural clearing)
Home Range: ?
Hunting: Meat; collection for
biomedical research
Orangutan (right) — Endangered
Body size: Large
Geographic range: Limited
Habitat: General (forest)
Habitat alteration: Severe
(logging, agricultural clearing)
Home range: ?
Hunting: Meat; collection of
young for zoos
Reproduction: Slow
Although wide-ranging species
may be severely threatened by other
factors, all species with small geo-
graphic ranges are more vulnerable
than similar wide-ranging forms.
Habitat alteration or hunting pres-
sure, which would have an insig-
nificant effect on a widely distributed
animal, may eliminate a species that
is found only within a small area.
Body size is the second most im-
portant ultimate factor influencing the
status of primate populations. Among
the primates, body weight ranges
from two or three ounces (mouse
lemur, pygmy marmoset) to more
than 300 pounds (gorilla). And within
each primate family, certain species
may be many times the size of others:
mandrills are ten times the size of
talapoin monkeys; howler monkeys
are roughly ten times the weight of
squirrel monkeys.
In general, larger animals need
more food and larger feeding areas
than similar smaller animals. This
makes them more vulnerable to habi-
tat disturbance. Larger mammals also
mature and reproduce more slowly
than most small species; hence they
92
are slower to replace lost members of
their population. The large primates
are easier to hunt and are shot in pref-
erence to small ones because their
carcasses provide more meat.
Each species of primate has its own
habitat requirements, including com-
position and structure of the vegeta-
tion it can utilize and the temperature,
humidity, and altitude at which it can
survive. Species with specialized
habitats are more vulnerable than
generalized forms. Specialists are
usually able to survive only within
narrow limits of environmental con-
ditions. Even a slight perturbation in
the ecosystem may be sufficient to
disrupt the adaptive strategy of a spe-
cialized species and decrease its
chances for survival. More than 70
percent of all primate species are re-
stricted to forest habitats. Many of
these species can occupy only certain
kinds of forests — mangrove forest
(proboscis monkey), high-altitude
evergreen forest (Nilgiri langur), or
coastal, gallery, or swamp forest
(collared mangabey).
The population density of a pri-
mate species is influenced by its so-
jM
M.P.L. Fogden; Bruce Coleman. Inc.
cial organization, group size, inter-
group spacing, home-range area, and
distribution of resources — primarily
food, water, sleeping sites, and
cover. Above certain levels, density-
regulating mechanisms will prevent
further population growth; below cer-
tain limits, extinction will become in-
evitable.
Some species of primates normally
exist at low population densities.
Typical gorilla populations average
one to six animals per square mile.
Other species regularly achieve high
densities: 100 to 2(X) mantled howler
93
Bruce Coleman, Inc.
Red Uakari (above) — Severely threatened?
Body size: Medium
Geographic range: Limited
Habitat: ?
Habitat Alteration: ?
Home Range: ?
Hunting: Meat
Lar Gibbon (white-handed) — Moderately threatened
Body size: Medium
Geographic range: Moderate
Habitat: General (forest)
Habitat alteration: Severe (logging, agricultural clearing)
Home range: Small to moderate
Hunting: Meat; collection for pet trade
94
monkeys may be found per square
mile of suitable habitat. Certain spe-
cies live in small groups, consisting
of one or two adults and their off-
spring (angwantibo, night monkey).
Some primate species are commonly
found in large groups, numbering
more than fifty individuals (talapoin
monkeys, olive baboons). Among
mobile species, groups may occupy
home ranges of more than twenty
square miles (patas monkeys, rhesus
macaques). Groups of sedentary spe-
cies may stay within home ranges of
less than 0.5 square miles (red colo-
bus monkeys, red howler monkeys).
In general, if all other factors are
constant, species with low population
densities, small group sizes, or large
home ranges should be more vulnera-
ble than species that can exist at high
densities, in large groups, or in small
home ranges. For most species of pri-
mates, we do not have the critical data
regarding typical population densi-
ties, group sizes, or home-range
areas. But two examples from among
the apes illustrate the importance of
demography in determining the sur-
vival potential of a species.
Orangutans wander over long dis-
tances and are normally s(j|itary, the
mother and her young offspring form-
ing the only consistent group. De-
forestation can severely allect popu-
lations by preventing long-range
movements because the animals will
not cross cut-over areas. When popu-
lations are concentrated in remaining
patches at unnaturally high densities,
reproduction may be adversely af-
fected.
Gibbons live in small family
groups consisting of one mated pair
and their immature offspring. These
groups defend nonoverlapping terri-
tories with vocal displays against
other groups of the same species.
Thus a large area is needed to support
a population of gibbons.
Certain behavioral traits may affect
a species' ability to withstand pres-
sures of habitat alteration or hunting.
For example, an animal that does not
cross open ground (blue monkey) is
more vulnerable to deforestation than
one that will travel across treeless
areas to reach or leave isolated
patches of trees (olive baboon). Spe-
cies that have effective predator
95
ifL
■ymi
^L
avoidance strategies, such as wari-
ness, lootcouts, defense reactions, or
tiie ability to learn to avoid human
beings (guenons, macaques, and ba-
boons), are more diOicult to hunt than
less responsive species, such as red
colobus or howler monkeys. These
behavioral traits, with the other ulti-
mate factors, are the determinants of
which species will be threatened with
extinction. But they do not directly
cause the decline of populations.
Proximate factors are those imme-
diately responsible for the decline,
expansion, isolation, or merging of
populations. Naturally occurring
events, such as changes of climate,
topography, soil, or riverbeds, can
cause changes in the status of popula-
tions. But today, human activities are
overshadowing, exaggerating, and
hastening natural processes. Thus the
most important proximate factors af-
fecting primate populations are
human enterprises. These may be
broadly classified as habitat alter-
ation, such as deforestation, agricul-
tural expansion, and grazing; and
human predation, such as hunting,
killing for crop protection, and col-
lection of live animals.
Habitat alteration is the most
serious threat to primate populations.
Most commonly it begins with the
cutting of trees. Nearly all species of
primates require trees in their habi-
tats, and some require trees of partic-
ular species or shapes. Any removal,
reduction, or change in the composi-
tion of trees in an area will affect resi-
dent primates. Most wild primates
cannot survive at normal densities in
areas largely denuded of trees; most
cannot live in monocultural commer-
cial forests or plantations of exotic
crop trees.
Every forest-dwelling primate for
which sufficient population informa-
Long-tailed Macaque — Abundant
Body size: Medium
Geographic range: Large
Habitat: General (mixed forest;
open areas; edges)
Habitat alteration: Minor (logging)
Home range: ?
Hunting: Meat; collection for
biomedical research
tion is available (about 98 species)
can be shown to be declining due to
disturbance of its habitat. In some
countries, extensive deforestation is
achieved by clear-cutting; the re-
moval of all timber from an area. On
productive soils, forests are replaced
with farms. Peninsular Malaysia, Su-
matra, and coastal Cameroon are ex-
amples of regions in which large ex-
panses of primate habitat have been
deforested for agricultural use.
In many areas of the tropics, shift-
ing cultivation is practiced. Patches
of forest are cleared, cultivated for
one or more seasons, and then left
fallow for several years while nearby
patches are cleared and cultivated.
The impact of shifting cultivation can
be significant. In the Ivory Coast, 30
percent (2,8(X),0(X) hectares) of all
forested land was cleared in this way
between 1956 and 1966. In some
areas, secondary succession quickly
recolonizes abandoned fields adjacent
to forests. The resultant thick, brushy
vegetation provides favorable habi-
tats for some primates, such as goril-
las, talapoin monkeys, and cotton-
topped tamarins. These species may
actually benefit from limited rota-
tional agriculture in which patches of
forest are left intact.
Abandoned fields that are far from
forests , of poor soil , or that have been
overexploited or exposed to heavy
rains and direct sunlight are not rein-
vaded by trees. Leaching and erosion
make such fields unsuitable for forest
plants, and they are thereafter un-
available as primate habitats. This
process is occurring over large areas
of the tropical forest zone.
Selective logging, especially
where only a few trees per acre are
removed, is generally less harmful to
primate populations than clear-cut-
ting. Certain species, such as long-
tailed macaques, maroon leaf mon-
keys, and guerezas, can tolerate se-
lective logging and may even benefit
from the increased undergrowth pro-
moted by limited removal of canopy
trees. Many species, however, can
survive only in undisturbed, mature
primary forest and are eliminated
even by selective logging. These in-
clude Diana monkeys, gray-cheeked
mangabeys, and Kloss' gibbons.
Over-all, the number of species
whose available habitat is being de-
creased and whose populations are
declining due to the cutting of forests
far outweighs the few that may bene-
fit from limited logging.
Arboricides arc sometimes applied
to selectively logged forests and com-
mercial tree farms in order to hasten
regeneration of commercially valu-
able species by eliminating '"unde-
sirable" plants. But these undesir-
ables often provide major food
sources for resident primate popula-
tions. Thus arbtjricide use tends to re-
duce the carrying capacity of primate
habitats. This practice has been im-
plicated in the decline of primate pop-
ulations in Uganda and Japan.
Another major cause of deforesta-
tion is warfare. Bombing and the use
of military herbicides have deforested
large areas of Vietnam, Laos, and
Cambodia. No direct evidence is
available, but it is highly likely that
the habitats of twelve species of pri-
mates, including the little-known
douc langur. Tonkin snub-nosed
monkey. Francois" leaf monkey, pi-
leated gibbon, and lesser slow loris,
have been severely damaged.
Reforestation with rapidly growing
exotics such as eucalyptus, cedar,
and pine has been practiced exten-
sively in South America, Africa, and
Asia. Most primates cannot survive
in these forests. Blue monkeys,
rhesus monkeys, and Japanese ma-
caques are three primates whose de-
cline is blamed, in part, on the intro-
duction and spread of exotic trees.
Certain types of moist forest, such
as gallery, swamp, or mangrove
forest, are dependent upon the supply
and distribution of surface water.
These habitats can be destroyed by
water-control projects — dams, diver-
sion of rivers, and swamp drainage.
When this occurs, primate species
that are specially adapted to these
moist forests cannot survive. Such
species include the red colobus mon-
key, DeBrazza's monkey, talapoin
monkey, and proboscis monkey.
Although forest-dwelling primates
have been the ones most severely af-
fected by habitat changes, primates
living in woodland, savanna, grass-
land, and scrub have also been in-
fluenced by habitat alteration. Most
of these species need some trees for
protective cover and sleeping sites.
Their refuges, primarily riverine
woodland and scattered trees in sa-
vanna, have been cut extensively for
M.P. Kahl; Bruce Coleman. Inc.
97
fuel and lumber. Even such abundant
and adaptable forms as olive baboons
and rhesus macaques are declining
because of the cutting of trees.
Woodland, savanna, and grassland
are also being converted to cultivated
fields or used as pastures. Primates
may thrive by eating cultivated foods
but only if natural vegetation remains
nearby for refuge and if farmers are
tolerant. Livestock may denude the
soil of vegetation by trampling and
compete with native primates for
scarce water supplies, thus exacerbat-
ing the effects of drought, as in sub-
Saharan Africa and India. In a few
cases, the addition of artificial water
sources may improve arid habitats for
such primates as chacma baboons and
patas monkeys, which drink from cat-
tle troughs and irrigation ditches. In
general, however, human activities
reduce the ability of nonforest habi-
tats to support primates.
The destruction of habitat over-
shadows all other proximate factors
that influence the survival of primate
populations. No degree of adapt-
ability or regulation of trade in ani-
mals can save a species if all of its
habitat has been bombed with
napalm, razed by bulldozers, or
planted in soybeans. Conversely, it is
difficult to hunt a species to extinction
if its original habitat is left intact.
All of the other proximate factors
that adversely affect primate popula-
tions are forms of human predation.
Primates are killed or captured to pre-
vent them from damaging crops or
property, to obtain their meat and
pelts, or to sell them alive to others
who wish to use them.
Some species of primates are con-
sidered to be damaging to agriculture
and are subject to extermination
drives by shooting, trapping, or poi-
soning. These include most of the ba-
boons and macaques, vervets, red tail
monkeys, white-collared manga-
beys, patas monkeys, white-fronted
capuchins, and chimpanzees.
Chacma baboons are sometimes shot
because they kill lambs and vandalize
automobiles and campsites. Blue
monkeys are harassed where they
damage exotic tree plantations.
Most primates that are considered
to be crop pests are not persecuted
severely. Thus this factor alone
would not be expected to seriously
alter the status of a primate popula-
tion. However, if the species has a
small geographic range or is already
being affected by habitat alteration,
as is the case with the pig-tailed ma-
caque and the white-colored manga-
bey, crop protection can have a
serious effect upon populations.
Because domestic livestock do not
thrive in many regions where pri-
mates are found, sources of animal
protein are scarce and often limited to
wild game. Traditional hunting with
primitive weapons and traps, as well
as with modern firearms, persists
even in areas where other protein
sources have been introduced. Pri-
mate meat is considered a delicacy
in many regions and is often highly
valued.
Hunting can severely deplete pop-
ulations of primates with large body
size and slow recruitment rates, small
geographic ranges, or disturbed habi-
tats. Species experiencing heavy
hunting pressure include drills, man-
drills, chimpanzees, mantled howler
monkeys, and Humboldt's woolly
monkeys.
In parts of Asia and Africa, reli-
gious or traditional precepts forbid
the killing or eating of certain pri-
mates. These taboos have protected
several species from hunting pres-
sure, such as rhesus macaques, gray
langurs, chimpanzees, and lar gib-
bons. Today, however, in the face of
increasing food shortages, reverence
for these species and tolerance for
their crop destruction are decreasing
and traditional protection is waning.
Certain species are hunted not
solely for their meat but for special
coveted attributes. Guerezas are
killed in large numbers for their
skins, which are made into rugs and
wall hangings. Nilgiri langurs are
hunted for their flesh, glands, and
blood, all of which are valued for
their presumed medicinal and reju-
venatory powers. Some species, such
as gorillas, are considered challeng-
ing prey and so are hunted for sport.
Another major type of predation by
humans is the collection of live ani-
mals for sale, primarily to users in
industrialized, temperate countries.
Live primates are collected for use as
subjects in biomedical research and
drug testing, as pets and entertainers,
and as exhibits in zoological gardens.
The losses sustained by natural popu-
lations due to collection are often
much greater than the number actu-
ally received by these institutions.
High postcapture mortality and
wasteful capture methods — such as
the killing of adult females in order
to obtain their young — can result in
from four to six or more deaths for
each animal imported. Collection can
exert significant pressure on a species
with a small geographic range, large
body size, or disturbed habitat.
According to a recent survey by the
Institute for Laboratory Animal Re-
search, biomedical research and the
pharmaceutical industry in the United
States in 1973 utilized primarily
rhesus macaques (about 20,000), ver-
vets, owl monkeys, and squirrel mon-
keys (more than 2,000 of each), and
long-tailed macaques and mous-
tached tamarins (more than 1 ,000 of
each).
The pet industry does not consume
as many primates as do research pro-
grams and drug production, but sev-
eral species have been affected, some
heavily, by the pet trade. In the
United States, New World monkeys
are sold as pets more frequently than
other primates. Species that have
been imported for the pet trade in
large numbers include spider mon-
keys, tufted capuchins, white-fronted
capuchins, Humboldt's woolly mon-
keys, squirrel monkeys, Goeldi's
monkeys, common marmosets,
pygmy marmosets, and cotton-
topped tamarins. In general, primates
make poor household pets. They
carry diseases, are often morose or
short-lived in captivity, and may be-
come unruly or dangerous as adults.
Zoological gardens are another
major recipient of imported primates
in the United States. Almost every
species of primate is represented in at
least one American zoo, and many
popular forms are present in nearly
every zoo. For example, more than
100 individuals each of gorillas,
chimpanzees, and orangutans were
on exhibit in thirty-six major Ameri-
can zoos in 1972. More than 50 indi-
viduals of such rare species as drills
and lion-tailed macaques were also
on display. In general, birth and sur-
vival rates of primates in zoos are sus-
pected to be low and death rates high
in relation to the number of animals
received. To maintain a stable popu-
lation, zoos must continually import
more individuals from the wild.
Some zoo advocates contend that
zoos can save endangered species by
breeding them in captivity and rein-
troducing them into suitable habitats.
This procedure seems to have a low
probability of success for most spe-
cies of primates. First, it has been dif-
ficult to breed endangered primates.
Most of them are specialized species
and usually do not reproduce well in
captivity. Breeding success has been
achieved with some endangered spe-
cies, but in many cases animals born
in captivity have not bred; thus col-
lection of wild animals must continue
to supply breeders. Second, the
premise that captive-bred primates
can be reintroduced into their native
habitats has not been tested. Since
many primate behavior patterns are
learned through experience, it is
probable that many captive-reared
animals could not survive in their nat-
ural habitats. Attempts to rehabilitate
confiscated pet orangutans have not
only met with a high rate of failure
but also entail the risk of introducing
human diseases into wild orangutan
populations.
If any suitable habitat remains for
a species, it would be safer to leave
the animals in the wild on the chance
that they might survive rather than to
deplete the population for a captive-
breeding program. Captive breeding
in zoos and laboratories is necessary
to provide primates for exhibit and
research. It can help to conserve a
species by preventing the collection
of wild animals. But it probably can-
not save a primate species on the
brink of extinction.
Over-all, 54 species (36 percent of
the 149 species of living primates) are
severely threatened. The apes, Afri-
can and Asian leaf -eating monkeys,
Madagascan prosimians, and other
island species have the highest repre-
sentation in this category. Twenty-
seven species (19 percent) are moder-
ately threatened. Several of these —
the chimpanzee, spider monkey, and
red colobus monkey — are severely
threatened in parts of their range.
Altogether, 81 species (54 percent
of all primates) are severely or mod-
erately threatened and in need of im-
mediate protection. As field research
continues, more species will proba-
bly be found to be threatened to some
degree.
Such a high proportion of primate
species are threatened with extinction
because, in general, they are subject
to a number of ultimate factors that
increase their vulnerability. Many
primates are large animals, at least as
compared to other arboreal animals
such as birds or squirrels. Most repro-
duce slowly; hence their populations
cannot withstand heavy mortality or
adapt rapidly to changing conditions.
They are also relatively specialized to
forest conditions. These inherent
traits — combined with the proximate
factors of widespread destruction of
tropical forests, hunting, and collec-
tion of wild stocks — represent a com-
posite picture of primate vulnerability
to extinction.
No action to protect primates can
have much effect on the ultimate fac-
tors influencing population status.
These factors change only through
the slow process of evolution and are
usually not affected by man's activi-
ties. Most biologists do not favor the
translocation of populations or the in-
troduction of artificial food sources to
increase the carrying capacity of hab-
itats because such attempts to alter
natural communities are potentially
dangerous. Any disturbance of a nat-
ural ecosystem is likely to upset bal-
anced components and lead to unex-
pected disasters. Although no actions
to change ultimate factors are recom-
mended, further research into the
ecology of primate populations
would greatly facilitate conservation
decisions.
Most of the proximate factors
threatening primate populations are
directly caused by human activities
and so are subject to modification.
Protection of remaining nonhuman
primate populations would require
some major changes in economic
practices on a worldwide scale.
Clear-cutting of tropical forests
would have to be eliminated, with
low intensity, selective logging per-
mitted only in certain areas. Com-
mercial foresters would be required to
replant with assorted native tree spe-
cies and to discontinue the use of her-
bicides. The market demand in afflu-
ent countries for hardwoods and
products (such as coffee, tea, ba-
nanas, and rubber) grown in tropical
forest areas would have to decrease.
Another helpful development
would be recognition of the value of
native vegetation for watershed pro-
tection, soil conservation, and wild-
life reserves. Governments would en-
courage the preservation of natural
areas by economic rewards to land-
owners who leave areas undevel-
oped. Responsible authorities would
also institute educational and medical
programs and economic incentives to
promote family-size limitation, slow-
ing rates of population growth and de-
creasing the pressures for agricultural
expansion. These programs, coordi-
nated with the introduction of alter-
nate protein sources and methods of
utilizing them, would reduce hunting
pressure on primates and other wild-
life.
As part of this Panglossian world,
biomedical researchers, pharmaceu-
tical companies, pet dealers, and zoos
would refuse to purchase any threat-
ened species, large numbers of any
species, and any primate that may
have been captured by killing the
mother (any dependent infant). All
users of primates would substitute
local or domestic animals wherever
possible and establish self-sustaining
breeding colonies to provide animals
for their own use.
The prospects for achieving even a
portion of this ideal world are not
bright, but a few recent developments
are encouraging. In October 1975,
the U.S. Department of Health. Edu-
cation, and Welfare restricted the im-
portation of primates to institutions
needing the animals for scientific, ed-
ucational, and exiiibitional use only.
This virtually eliminates the United
States pet trade and enables stricter
regulation of the importation of pri-
mates. In April 1976 the Department
of the Interior proposed the addition
of twenty-seven primates to its list of
endangered and tiireatened species. If
approved, this would bring the total
number of primates covered by the
U.S. Endangered Species Act to
sixty-two.
The current, most crucial arenas in
the struggle for primate conservation
are in the attainment of reserves,
changes in forest management prac-
tices, and decreases in the rate of agri-
cultural expansion. Created and po-
tentially controllable by man, these
proximate factors — so influential to
the survival of remaining primate
populations — must be acted upon
soon. Time is running out for most
primates. D
99
Life at the Cloud Line
by William G. Wellington
Along the sharp weather
gradients of mountains,
plants and insects adapt
to a precarious existence
The air is restless over mountains.
Within loose constraints imposed by
the time of day, the season, and the
type of regional weather, the local air
currents swirl in patterns set by the
salient features of the terrain. Clouds
grow where currents rise and dissolve
where the air descends again. These
clearing and clouding patches of sky
mark places where the influence of
the surrounding topography often
equals, and sometimes exceeds, the
effects of regional weather systems
on local temperatures and precipi-
tation.
Mountains also compress into a
few thousand vertical feet several
bioclimatic zones, which in flatter
country stretch poleward for hun-
dreds or even thousands of horizontal
miles. By exploiting the combination
of bioclimatic compression and topo-
graphic influences that mountains
offer, a researcher can find an area
small enough to be quickly covered,
but so topographically diverse that it
may simultaneously offer two dif-
ferent kinds of weather in adjoining
places. While the sun shines in one
spot, rain may fall nearby. That kind
of outdoor laboratory has much to
offer a biometeorologist who wishes
to observe free-living populations in
their own habitat, which is why I
often choose the high country to study
the effects of weather on insect be-
havior and survival.
The rugged terrain of the Cana-
dian Rocky Mountains affects all
levels of the meteorological hierar-
chy, from the microscale of the leaf
and twig climates where insects
dwell, to the subcontinental scale of
the great weather systems that sweep
through the North Temperate Zone.
The speed and direction of these huge
traveling storms, with their attendant
warm and cold fronts, are scarcely
affected by ordinary features of the
underlying terrain. But the high spine
of the Rockies hinders all those
weather systems that enter the conti-
nent from the North Pacific or Alaska.
Weaker systems may be so disrupted
that only their higher cloud layers sur-
vive to cross the main ridges. Even
the active systems that eventually
reach the Bow and Athabasca valleys
in Alberta must first enter those val-
leys through the passes that breach
their western walls. As they invade
those passes and valleys, the various
kinds of frontal systems behave dif-
ferently, with inevitably different bi-
ological results.
When a Pacific or Alaskan cold
front blusters into the Bow Valley, it
unceremoniously shoulders aside all
the old air lying there, scouring it out
from ridgetop to valley bottom. In
comparison, a Pacific warm front
seems self-effacing. Unlike the cold
front's towering storm clouds, the tat-
tered forerunners of the warm front
discreetly bob along the top of the
layer of old air filling the valley. Even
a day or so after frontal passage, most
of that old air may still lie in the valley
bottom, mixing only slowly with the
new layer of milder air above it.
The depth of the old air varies,
depending on the size and shape of a
valley and its connecting passes.
Within one season in a particular val-
ley, however, the depth changes little
from front to front. The most obvious
difference occurs between summer
and winter, when the temperature and
density differences between existing
and incoming air masses are greatest.
The boundary between the new and
old air masses is better defined in nar-
row, steep-sided valleys, such as the
Bow, than in very broad valleys, such
A cloud forms over Mount
Pilot in the Canadian
Rockies. Clouds from such
mountains drift away in
lines and drop bands of
rain on adjacent valleys.
as the Athabasca. In a narrow valley,
the location of the air mass boundary
is revealed by wisps and thin rolls of
clouds that linger on the slopes as the
postfrontal cloud deck thins and
begins to lift above them. This phe-
nomenon is not so apparent in a broad
valley, where the steplike series of
benches rising from the river tends to
block the view of the middle slopes.
But there is a biological indicator that
can be used to locate the boundary in
either type of valley. "Red belt.'" the
winter damage to the foliage of
lodgepole pine that occasionally ap-
pears in the eastern Rockies, is a
product of the air mass interface.
Many suburban gardeners have
found that their prized ornamental
pines can withstand prolonged cold
better than alternating thaws and
freezes. During the spring following
a midwinter thaw, the needles of the
affected trees suddenly turn reddish
brown, revealing hitherto unsus-
pected winter killing. The pines
crowding the slopes of the Bow and
Athabasca drainages are not exempt
from comparable winter damage.
After winters in which the valleys are
alternately invaded by mild Pacific
and frigid Arctic air, large numbers
of pines redden. The damage is less
noticeable after mild winters and
even rarer after very cold winters.
The extent of red belt varies with
local topography, but the name
comes from the narrow reddish bands
that suddenly appear on the steep
flanks of the narrowest valleys in
springtime. On very steep slopes,
there may be only two or three trees
between the top and bottom of a band,
so not many trees are affected, even
where the bands are several miles
long. Often, the bands are not notice-
ably deeper in wider valleys, but
since many more trees crowd the
gentler slopes of abroad valley, there
may be thousands, instead of hun-
WJIIiam G. Wellington
After a warm front has passed.
wisps of clouds continue
to linger at the top of
a residual layer of cold
air in the Bow Valley.
dreds, killed or damaged there, even
when the bands are no thicker than in
the narrow valleys.
The bands occur near the top of a
valley's winter air pool. Red belt
seems to be produced in the boundary
layer that separates each incoming
warm air mass from the residue of the
last cold invasion. Even in summer,
the association of the damage with the
air mass boundary is easy to see.
Whenever a Pacific warm front over-
runs a residual layer of cool air, scud
rolls, which hug the slopes after fron-
tal passage, always form near the
marks of the previous winter's red
belt.
The physiological basis of the
damage has not been established.
Perhaps the pine needles die because
the warm chinook winds from the Pa-
cific remove too much moisture from
the exposed crown while the roots,
inactive in the still frozen ground, re-
main incapable of replenishing the fo-
liage's water supply. Alternatively,
even brief exposure to higher temper-
atures may make the foliage more
vulnerable to freezing if the cold air
suddenly returns. Whichever is in-
volved, the close association of the
injury with the boundary layer deeply
implicates the rapidly alternating
winter temperatures occurring there
during successive onslaughts of
warm Pacific and frigid Arctic air.
Following the most serious epi-
sodes of red belt, other kinds of vege-
tation replace killed pines, and the
habitats of insects and other animals
living in the air mass boundary zone
begin to change. But far more sudden
and drastic changes in habitats can be
produced by the same air mass in-
teractions that lead to red belt. Many
of the late winter rockslides and ava-
lanches that strike high mountain val-
leys are caused by the sudden rain or
rapid thawing brought by the warm
air to the slopes above the boundary
layer. The resultant shifts in the rocks
or snowpack spell disaster for the
William G Wellington
overwintering plants and animals
below, as the slides destroy every
habitat they traverse.
A variant of that winter havoc is
occasionally unleashed farther west,
when warm Pacific air overruns a
shallow layer of Arctic air in the
coastal valley and canyon of the
Eraser River in southwestern British
Columbia. When rain from the warm
air falls through the shallow Arctic air
in the valley, it freezes on every sur-
face. During such "silver thaws,"
the weight of the accumulated ice
brings down roofs, trees, and power
lines. In the canyon the warm air
bathes the snow-covered slopes
above the cold layer, causing ava-
lanches severe enough to block the
roads and railways that cling to the
canyon walls below. On such occa-
sions, when the existence of every
lifeline on which coastal city dwellers
depend for food and warmth is threat-
ened, we are forcibly reminded how
vulnerable animal populations are to
montane winters.
Animals need not lose their food or
shelter in avalanches or silver thaws
to lose their lives. The lethal threat
can be more direct. The caterpillars
of the lodgepole needle miner, for ex-
ample, overwintering inside the
needles of the Bow and Athabasca
pine trees, are even more susceptible
than their hosts to the severity of
mountain winters.
When many fronts pass during the
winter, the valleys are blanketed by
frontal and postf rontal clouds most of
the time. Since these clouds reduce
outgoing radiation, there is no drastic
radiant cooling to create massive in-
versions of air temperature at valley
bottom. Instead, air temperature usu-
ally decreases normally with height.
Ambient temperatures for the pine
needles and their small inhabitants
therefore are usually no harsher near
the valley floor than they are on the
upper slopes.
The overwintering caterpillars of
the needle miner die when the tem-
peratures of the pine needles hover
near -30°F for much more than a day.
In winters when many fronts pass,
such very cold periods are usually
brief. In addition, the fresh snow that
covers the pine boughs after each
storm insulates the dormant insects
from the harsh surrounding tempera-
tures. Consequently, not many die of
cold anywhere in the valley, although
a few more may succumb on the
higher slopes than on the lower ones.
In contrast, during winters in
which Arctic air is dominant, a great
cell of high pressure may stagnate
over the region for weeks after the
passage of a cold front. Steady radi-
ant cooling through virtually cloud-
less skies creates temperature inver-
sions that can chill the valley bottom
30 to 40 degrees below the tempera-
ture of the middle slopes, where the
top of the inversion lies. (Above that
level, temperatures again fail oil nor-
mally with height.) In such cold
weather, even the "high" tempera-
ture at the top of the inversion is sev-
eral degrees below freezing. The tem-
peratures at the bottom of the inver-
sion and on the slopes above it thus
fall far below the needle miner's
lethal temperature while the inversion
lasts. During such winters, all of the
insects in the valley bottom and most
of those on the higher slopes die.
Consequently, the hibernating insects
on the middle slopes are the only ones
that survive to repopulate the valley
pine stands.
The peculiarities of mountain
weather have placed the lodgepole
needle miner in a curious situation.
Although in summer the insect may
deposit more eggs and develop faster
at low elevations, where it is not so
affected by the winds and rain-soaked
foliage found more frequently up-
slope, it often suffers its greatest
winter mortality in the lowest places.
But even though its overwintering
survival is occasionally better on the
upper slopes than in the valley bot-
tom, its moths rarely lay enough eggs
at high elevations to produce a signif-
icant population.
The middle slopes therefore pro-
vide a refuge in which the insect is
most likely to survive the worst
weather and from which it can later
repopulate less tolerable places. The
continuing existence of the insect in
the Canadian parks thus is dependent
on the midslopc refuges, although
neither egg laying nor rate of devel-
opment are as good in the refuge zone
as they are in the other habitats.
Like the lodgepole needle miner,
the black pine-leaf scale also sutlers
drastically from the eflecls of air
masses interacting in narrow valleys.
This insect lives on the needles of
several kinds of pines in western
North America, where its more north-
ern populations are often decimated
by winter cold. In northeastern Wash-
ington virtually all of the scale insects
near valley bottom are killed when
prolonged inversions of temperature
develop in Arctic air. Like the needle
miners, the scales higher on the
slopes survive because they live near
the top of the inversion. In Washing-
ton, however, drainage of cold air
from one valley into another some-
times rearranges that vertical distri-
bution of mortality.
The worst mortality among the
scale insects at valley bottom occurs
when they are suddenly subjected to
an autumn invasion of Arctic air be-
fore they have become acclimated to
low temperatures. In some low-lying
valleys, however, the insects in the
valley bottom are subjected to recur-
rent drainage of cool , but not lethally
cold, air from higher, adjoining val-
leys earlier in the fall. The ability of
these insects to withstand very cold
air improves after each such expo-
sure. Throughout the autumn, there-
fore, they are slowly acclimated to
lower and lower temperatures and
thus become more resistant to cold
than insects living higher on the
slopes. Once that conditioning
process is complete, a sudden influx
of very cold air has much less effect
on the winter-hardy scales at low ele-
vations than it has on those higher
upslope. In one recorded episode,
virtually all the scales at higher eleva-
tions were killed, whereas only 40
percent died at the lower levels — a
dramatic reversal of the usual pattern
of winter mortality.
Such insects as the pine-leaf scale
and the lodgepole needle miner go
through sessile stages during which
they are attached to plants. Once set-
tled on their hosts, these insects can-
not evade the weather; they can only
endure or perish. How effectively
their motile stages disperse to new lo-
calities is, therefore, vitally impor-
tant to their persistence in a region.
Wc have already seen that needle
miner moths, like other winged in-
sects, successfully disperse and lay
eggs in new localities only when am-
bient temperatures and moisture
levels permit. But the scale insects
and their sessile kin (the woolly
aphids. for example) do not produce
winged females. Their major dis-
persal takes place when the tiny
haichlings drift away on air currents.
Common sense suggests that dis-
persal by drifting must have evolved
in a setting where hosts were plentiful
and uniformly distributed. Other-
wise, prohibitively high losses
among the vulnerable flotsam would
have soon disposed of the habit and
its unsuccessful practitioners. But
that brand of common sense may be
more relevant for would-be aeronauts
in level terrain. Different rules apply
in the mountains. The progenitors of
sessile montane insects must have
had a special opportunity that is still
open to their descendants — the
chance to become effective, though
unwitting, exploiters of the cross-
valley transport system that is part of
the daily circulation pattern in high
valleys.
In many valleys one side is warmed
by the morning sun while the other
side is still shaded. The most familiar
products of this unequal heating are
the clouds that soon appear over the
sunlit side of the valley. Less famil-
iar, because it is invisible, is the bulk
of the cloud-forming mechanism, the
cross-valley circulation.
As the warmed air begins to rise up
the sunlit side of the valley, it is re-
placed by air from the valley floor and
the opposite shaded slopes. Unless
clouds from an incoming front appear
early enough in the day to disrupt the
process, a return crossflow develops
above the ridges to compensate for
that near the valley floor, and the
whole circulation strengthens as the
sun's warmth increases.
Cross-valley circulation may be
disrupted at midday if both sides of
the valley are sunlit then. Whether a
reversed circulation develops there-
after depends on the size and location
of the clouds that formed during the
morning. If very large cloud shadows
still cover most of the west-facing
slopes after midday, there will be in-
103
sufficient surface heating for a reverse
flow to develop, so a difi'erent circula-
tion pattern will evolve over the val-
ley as the afternoon sun wanes.
While the earlier cross-valley cir-
culation persists, however, it can
transport tiny aeronauts from their
original bioclimatic zone on one side
of the valley to the comparable zone
on the other side. Thanks to the strati-
fied vegetation on mountain slopes,
that cross-valley transport system
makes drifting in montane environ-
ments a more predictable enterprise
than a casual observer would expect.
Although such dispersal can become
hazardous if frontal weather alters the
circulation while many insects are
airborne, it remains profitable for spe-
cies that are sufficiently fecund to ab-
sorb these occasional losses.
Because of these losses, however,
even highly fecund species are rarely
destructive in their native habitat. If,
however, they are introduced into
less rugged terrain that also supports
a uniformly distributed food supply,
their dispersal area suddenly becomes
much larger and far less channeled.
If other aspects of their new environ-
ment are equally favorable, their
numbers will inevitably increase. In
extreme situations, such insects can
become unbridled pests in their new
habitat.
The balsam woolly aphid achieved
just that status when it was introduced
into North American forests. Un-
doubtedly, several aspects of its new
environment, including some possi-
bly less resistant hosts, contributed to
its increased stature as a pest on this
continent. But its prior adaptation to
cross-valley transport, which has
scarcely been considered, must also
have played a major role.
In European mountains where the
woolly aphid still persists, the inter-
mittent hazards and recurring benefits
of cross-valley transport would inevi-
tably have affected its coevolution
with its original hosts. Although it
must have been an occasionally
serious pest on those hosts, it clearly
was not an overwhelming one. On the
gentler, fir-carpeted hills and plateaus
of our northeastern region, the bal-
sam woolly aphid was freed from its
circumscribed cross-valley transport
system. The larger circulation pat-
terns of the great North America
weather systems gave it infinitely
wider access to a larger supply of sus-
ceptible hosts.
Increased food supply and less
channeled dispersal of drifting young
have more than once combined to ele-
vate other insects (including, per-
haps, even the infamous gypsy moth)
to greater pest status in new habitats,
whether or not they came from mon-
tane regions. Transferring any drift-
ing species from a region in which the
major weather systems that transport
it travel along only one or two routes
to another region with a greater vari-
ety of storm tracks will inevitably af-
fect its dispersal pattern. But the sub-
continental scale of storm-track
weather obscures the important com-
ponents of the aerial transport
process. The smaller scale of mon-
tane processes makes these compo-
nents easier to identify and analyze.
Studies of montane situations can
help to shape our understanding of the
biometeorology of aerial transport.
Some components of the valley cir-
culations that transport drifting in-
sects also provide the contrasts in
weather that biometeorologists can
use as an outdoor laboratory. A few
ridges and peaks, for example, are
especially good cloud generators,
spawning clouds earlier and support-
ing them longer than neighboring
heights. These generators are the
major producers of the lines of clouds
we often see drifting over valleys,
flattening and dissolving as they
move farther from their sources of
support. Although the clouds in these
lines are ephemeral, the paths they
follow remain remarkably constant
during many different kinds of
weather. Consequently, their routes
can be plotted on a map, which in turn
can be used to identify places in
which the local climates will differ
predictably from those just outside
the cloud-line boundaries.
The dividing line between such cli-
mates can be remarkably sharp. One
day I worked near a pole-top shelter
erected by a telephone lineman to
shield him from the weather while
he repaired a transmission line.
Throughout the afternoon, a series of
small clouds drifted by, sprinkling
light rain as they passed. The dividing
line between the wet strip under the
clouds and the dry area beyond their
edges was so precisely drawn that one
side of the lineman's platform was
constantly wet, while the other side,
only three feet away, remained dry.
Colonies of tent caterpillars were
growing on the willow trees on either
side of that boundary. During most of
the afternoon, the insects under the
line of clouds were too wet to feed,
whereas those outside the boundary
remained dry and continued to eat the
willow foliage. For more than a
month during that spring, the cloud
line developed almost daily in that lo-
cality. Eventually, the recurring rain
and lack of solar heat so hampered the
growth of the caterpillars under the
cloud line that most of them died be-
fore the end of their larval stage. In
contrast, the caterpillars living
beyond the edge of the cloud line
grew sufficiently well to complete
their development.
Although not every cloud-line
boundary is so precisely drawn, the
predictable recurrence of cloud lines
in many kinds of weather makes them
invaluable during experiments with
insects in natural settings. In a pre-
vious article on the responses of in-
sects to polarized light ("A Special
Light to Steer By , " December 1 974) ,
I described how drifting clouds could
be used as a kind of ' 'on-off ' ' switch,
alternately passing and blocking po-
larized light from the zenith. The
same type of switching mechanism
can be used to determine the efl^ects
of rainfall or solar heating. When the
clouds are sufficiently large, they can
even be used to study the effects of
the rapid fluctuations in atmospheric
pressure that accompany their pas-
sage.
There are so many biometeorologi-
cal possibilities, in fact, that cloud
lines and the mountains that spawn
them offer unlimited research oppor-
tunities. They have certainly pro-
vided me with a lifetime of fasci-
nating observations, each trip to the
high country stimulating new ques-
tions about this special environment
and the animals that inhabit it. D
Alternating winter invasions
of Pacific and Arctic air
damaged lodgepole pines
along this red belt above
a Jasper Park campground.
William G. Wellingloi
104
The Slow Death of Coral Reefs
by Ralph Mitchell and Hugh Ducklow
As each polyp attempts to
free itself of oil, myriads
of bacteria invade it
Coral reefs are among the most
productive and diverse of all known
ecosystems. Thousands of species of
fish, mollusks, crustaceans, worms,
and algae depend on these complex
coastal habitats built up by myriads
of coral skeletons. In the reef, masses
of these skeletons, often hundreds of
feet deep and miles long, are covered
by a delicate layer of living polyps.
This sprawling, living surface carries
out the normal activities of life —
feeding, growth, reproduction — all
the while secreting limestone skele-
tons upon which other corals may
grow in the future.
The surface of a coral reef is fragile
and even slight disturbances may
upset it. When this occurs the tightly
knit reef ecosystem may disappear.
Natural disturbances such as unu-
sually low tides or the influx of a new
species may result in significant alter-
ations to a reef community, but such
disturbances are infrequent.
Man's activities, however, fre-
quently threaten the coral reefs. In
some parts of the world, outright de-
struction of reefs has occurred, for
example, the dynamiting of coral by
the cement industry in Sri Lanka
(Ceylon), but elsewhere the threat of
pollution is far more insidious. In
Hawaii and the Virgin Islands, sew-
age effluent discharged near reef areas
has resulted in the enrichment of the
normally low-nutrient-level reef
waters and the consequent death of
corals. Thermal pollution resulting
from the release of power plant cool-
ant in Hawaii has killed off coral
reefs there. Sediments disturbed dur-
ing dredging operations are choking
the reefs of the Florida Keys (see
Natural History, August-September
1973). Some coral species in Ber-
muda are dying off as a result of a type
of bacterial infection that causes a
progressive line of black slime on the
corals that are being killed. South Pa-
cific reefs are being devoured by the
crown-of -thorns starfish, which is ex-
periencing an enormous population
explosion. The cause of the increase
has not been determined, but scien-
tists have not ruled out man's activi-
ties. And a proposed sea-level canal
through Panama could expose the
Caribbean corals to an invasion of the
predatory starfish.
No reef has yet experienced a large
oil spill, but many reefs are exposed
to chronic oil pollution. Recent re-
search has indicated that even very
low levels of oil or pesticides can set
in motion processes fatal to corals.
In the past few years several groups
of biologists, including scientists
from our laboratory at Harvard Uni-
versity, have focused on the pollution
ecology of the Red Sea coral reefs at
Elat, Israel, on the Gulf of Aqaba.
These reefs contain more than 100
species of corals, and certain areas
possess the most diverse collections
of coral species anywhere. The diver-
sity is regulated by periodic cata-
strophic low tides — a result of the
interplay between lunar cycles and
randomly fluctuating meteorological
and hydrological factors — which pre-
vent a few dominant species from
taking over the whole reef. The tides
are unpredictable and seem to occur
several times each century.
One important aspect of pollution
research at Elat concerns the impact
of the city on the reefs. Surrounded
by the barren Sinai and Negev des-
erts, the Red Sea is not subject to ter-
restrial influences. In the absence of
such influences, we have been able to
pinpoint the various kinds of urban
pollution and their effects upon the
coral reefs at Elat. Situated in the
Sinai peninsula, the ancient port of
Elat is Israel's gateway to the Indian
Ocean and the East. From this rapidly
expanding port city, Israel exports
phosphate fertilizer from the Dead
Sea works and imports oil from Iran.
The Gulf of Aqaba, which is only a
few miles wide, is thus exposed to oil
and phosphate pollution from tanker
and freighter operations.
The recent growth of Elat has al-
ready resulted in the death of one
mile-long reef tract near the port.
Ironically, this reef was originally set
aside as a nature reserve. This status
prohibited the collection and destruc-
tion of corals by bathers; never-
theless, the reef remained vulnerable
to oil drifting in from the nearby ter-
minals. Similar operations imperil
the reefs near Flat's sister port city of
Aqaba, on the Jordanian side of the
gulf. These reefs are being destroyed,
not by large oil spills or simple oil
toxicity, but by the subtle effects of
chronic low-level pollution.
Marine biologists working with
Prof. Lev Fishelson of Tel- Aviv Uni-
versity have investigated the effects
of oil pollution at Elat. One of Fishel-
son's colleagues, Yossi Loya, has
documented the effect of oil on the
I
1 06
ability of coral reefs to recover after
an abnormally low tide. Normally,
the corals remain underwater at low
tide or are only briefly exposed to the
air. During Septemb)er 1970. how-
ever, the combination of low tides
and unusually strong monsoon winds
exposed coral heads for two hours
each day over a period of four to five
days. The hot desert sun caused
desiccation and massive mortality.
After such a kill-off, repopulation is
effected through the release by
deeper-water corals of larvae that set-
tle in shallow areas.
Loya monitored the recovery of
these shallow reefs as the corals
recolonized the barren area. By com-
paring polluted with unpolluted reef
areas, he found that oil and phosphate
pollution in the Gulf of Aqaba pre-
vented the corals in the polluted areas
from returning to their former abun-
dance and diversity. The unpolluted
reefs, however, fully recovered their
former state in only five years. One
reason for this difference is that phos-
phates— from fertilizer blown over
the reefs from the port area — ap-
parently stimulate the growth of
benthic algae that prevent the settle-
ment of coral larvae. Corals are fur-
ther prevented from recolonizing the
A series of abnormally low tides in
1970 killed most of the corals on
this reef near Elat. (The living
corals are dark brown.) Due to oil
pollution, coral larvae cannot
repopulate the reef.
A new idea that's 140,000,000 years old
The Birontosaiirus
In Sparkling Clear, Genuine Swedish Crystal
A strictly limited edition...a unique work of art...
from famous Kosta Glassworks exclusively for
The American Museum of Natural History
The Brontosaurus. This 70 foot long,
30 ton, plant-eating dinosaur of the
Jurassic Period has captured the seri-
ous curiosity of scientists, the imagina-
tion of school children, the interest of
visitors to the American Museum of
Natural History and other great
museums.
Now, the amiable spirit of this popular
dinosaur has been captured in a solid
sculpture of genuine, clear Swedish
crystal.
Make Room in Your Home
For A Brontosaurus
Whatever the decor, wherever you
place it, the Brontosaurus sculpture
will capture attention with its lucid bril-
liance, its fluid lines. This is neither a
laboratory model nor a gimcrack
souvenir.
It is a work of fine art!
The Brontosaurus sculpture was creat-
ed for the American Museum of Natu-
ral History exclusively by Svenskt Glas
and is being produced in a limited edi-
tion by Kosta Glassworks of Sweden.
Connoiseurs of crystal collectibles will
readily acknowledge the reputation of
Kosta among the world's great crystal
makers. Their name assures the quality
of the full-lead crystal and the excel-
lence of the hand craftsmanship.
The Sculptor: Paul Hoff
The Brontosaurus sculpture was creat-
ed by Paul Hoff whose works are
represented in museums and galleries
on three continents. He has combined
scientific evidence with the artist's
prerogatives to form pure crystal into
a sculpture of fascinating beauty.
A Strictly Limited Edition
This one time edition of the Bron-
tosaurus sculpture will be limited to
10,000 perfect pieces. Once this
number has been realized, the patterns
will be destroyed— never again to be
made anywhere in the world.
A Certificate of Authenticity will
accompany each sculpture. It will bear
the serial number of that particular
sculpture in the edition.
Integrity is Assured
The hand scribed signature of artist
Paul Hoff, together with the hallmarks
of The American Museum of Natural
History, Kosta Glassworks and
Svenskt Glas etched on the base
further attest to the validity and quality
of each sculpture.
The beauty of the sculpture, the quality
of the crystal, the limited nature of the
edition and the hallmarks on the base
combine to make the Brontosaurus
sculpture a most prudent investment.
Historically, sculptures of this
quality show satisfying
appreciation over
the years.
7 inches long;
3'/2 inches high;
2Vi pounds of
solid Swedish
crystal.
A Treasure to Own.. .A Gift
Of Memorable Proportions
The Brontosaurus crystal
sculpture is available only
from Natural History
Sculptures. The price
is $77.50. However, if you
are an Associate Member
of The American Museum
of Natural History, you
IM are entitled to a discount of
^M ten percent; your price is
(m^ $69.75. Shipping, insurance
MKk and all custom duties are
fVk included. Satisfaction is,
', '^^V. °^ course, assured.
*" ^^^■- Prompt action will
be well advised.
American Express account valid thru.
MIMURM ^flSTORV SCULPTURGS ^.^:^^^.o
Please send me crystal sculpture(s) of I prefer to charge this amount to my
the Brontosaurus
I am a member of The American
Museum of Natural History and am, there-
fore entitled to a 10% discount making the
price $69.75.
I am not a Member and will pay the
regular price of $77.50.
Enclosed is my check money order
in the amount of $
I II { 1 1 1 I I
.Siqnaturfi
Send to; (Please print)
.t^tfltfi
Zip
MMURM hUSTORY SCULPTURGS
Dept. G-200, Box 5123
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
denuded areas because the chronic
low levels of oil (fewer than l(X) parts
per million) inhibit the formation of
reproductive organs and production
of larvae by the corals. The Gulf of
Aqaba has not yet experienced a
major oil spill; if one were to occur,
the reefs would not only be destroyed
but their recovery would be retarded
or prevented by the constant low-
level pollution.
While Fishelson and Loya have ob-
served that low-level pollution ellcc-
tively prevents a reef's recovery, our
investigations of the reefs suggest
how low concentrations of pollutants
can affect the delicate relationship be-
tween corals and marine bacteria.
Under normal conditions, coral pol-
yps are constantly bombarded by
sand and other sediments, which are
churned up by wind and water cur-
rents as well as by fish and other
marine animals. Polyps continually
release mucous compounds of poly-
saccharides, proteins, and fats that
act to clean the sediments ofT their
surfaces and to free their feeding ten-
tacles.
The mucous secretions, in turn, at-
tract bacteria that feed off them; in-
deed, healthy corals always harbor a
specific population of bacteria. The
bacterial decomposition of this mu-
cus provides an additional food
source for other reef dwellers, such
as zooplankton. Thus, within the reef
there exists a microcosm of coral
polyps, zooxanthellae, mucus, and
bacteria.
Bacteria are extremely important
organisms in the breakdown of or-
ganic matter and the recyclying of ni-
trogen, phosphorus, carbon, and sul-
fur. An average drop of seawater con-
tains about ten thousand of the orga-
nisms. About half of these possess
long, thin appendages, or fiagella,
which beat against the water, propel-
ling the bacterial cells along. Most
bacteria capable of movement react to
chemicals — a phenomenon called
chemotaxis — by moving toward the
source. Bacteria rely on chemotaxis
to find dead food such as mucus from
corals, to track down living prey, and
to detect and move away from poi-
sonous chemicals.
Corals exposed to chemical pollu-
tants react the same way that they do
if swept over by sediments: they se-
crete mucus to rid themselves of the
foreign substances. However, there is
a difference. The secretion of mucus
does not relieve the irritation. The
pollutant in the water continues to ir-
Why the superb
Pentax K2 will
automatically take
better pictures for you.
The 35mm SLR camera has long
been considered an excellent but dif-
ficult to use instrument. The main
problem has always been human
error in setting proper exposure. But
now, Asahi Pentax has developed a
space-age exposure control system
that solves the problem. It automat-
ically takes better pictures for you.
Amazing breakthrough
The K2 uses an astonishingly small
integrated circuit to control its expo-
sure system. The fast-reacting light
meter "reads" the light reflected from
your subject. Our incredible "mini-
computer" circuit then instructs the
metal shutter to stay open for just the
right amount of time to give you con-
sistently good pictures, automatically.
Better pictures easily
All you do is aim. focus, and shoot.
You get superior quality 35mm SLR
photography without the hassle.
Superb super-multi-coated lenses
give you vibrant colors. Bright,
through-the-lens viewing helps you
focus for razor-sharp detail in your
pictures.
So go to your favorite dealer and
ask to test shoot a K2. See how easy it
is to aim. focus, and shooL Or we can
send you some very informative litera-
ture on the K2 and the other mem-
bers of its impressive family.
Yes, I'm interested in more informa-
tion about your amazing electronic
wizard. Send information to:
ADDRESS .
crTi'
Mail coupon to: Honeywell Photo-
graphic. P.O. Box 22083, Dept. 113-
900, Denver, CO 80222.
Honeywell Photographic
JGST
PRESS
HERE.
109
FOR AN EXCITING AFTERNOON
VISIT THE WEIV, GREATLY EXPANDED
collector's cabinet
THE NATURAL DEPARTMENT STORE L
featuring countless thousands of the Treasures of Mother Earth
now conveniently located at
153 East 57th Street (between 3rd and Lex. Aves.)
• JEWELRY — Meteorites from Outer Space, Fossils, Scenic Jaspers, Malachite,
and dozens of unusual Gemstones custom-mounted for us in Sterling Silver.
• WILD ANIMAL SCULPTURES - by Louis Paul Jonas - the largest permanent
exhibit of these superb 1/10-scale animals — from the Anteater to the Zebra —
and, exclusively, a series of 24 Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Mammals by this
noted sculptor. Send for our free illustrated brochures listing over 300 models.
• SEASHELLS and CORAL — Exotic and colorful shells from the Seven Seas,
decorator Corals, Sea Urchins, Starfish, giant Barnacle Clusters. Send $1.50
for 2 catalogs listing our stock of over 1500 species of shells, with over 200
illustrations.
• MINERALS and FOSSILS — Fine Crystal groups, sparkling Amethyst clusters,
Geodes, Precious Gemstones, Half-billion-year-old fossils, coffee-table-size Petri-
fied Woods and Sahara Desert Fossil slabs. Dinosaur Footprints. Mineral ash-
trays, penstands, bookends, clocks, paperweights, bowls, boxes, eggs and spheres.
• BUTTERFLIES — The world's largest display of exotic butterfly frames and boxes.
• EXOTIC ITEMS from all corners of the world to decorate your den or library —
PIRANHAS, SHARKS, POISON BUFFER FISH, SAWFISH BEAKS, SCORPIONS
and TARANTULAS!
• HAND-COLORED NATURE PRINTS - from the 18th and 19th Centuries. Wild-
flowers, Birds, Fish, Mammals, etc.
SEND 50(4 FOR OUR NEW 1977 FULL-COLOR CATALOG FOR
DOZENS OF EXCITING GIFT AND DECORATOR ITEMS.
Branches: GREENWICH VILLAGE (38 W. 8th St.); PHILADELPHIA; WASHINGTON, D.C.;
CHADDS FORD, PA.; DANIA, FLA.; NEW ORLEANS (Nahan Gallery); PORTLAND,
ORE.; SPRINGFIELD, VA.; SYRACUSE, N.Y. Also at BLOOMINGDALE'S and
other fine department stores nationwide. (FRANCHISE INFORMATION KIT $2.00)
THE COLLECTOR'S CABINET, Box NH, 153 East 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10021
Hours: Mon. thru SaL 10 to 6. Open Thur. until 9 P.M. Tel. (212) 861-4133
It wasn't Yamaha.
Because besides our jewel-like polished i'
ebony, we make grand pianos in 3 other fmishes
Including gleaming white.
In fact, when it comes to variations on the
theme of pianos, nobody makes more fine
pianos in more exquisite finishes than Yamaha.
Whefi vou '5top bv your nearest Yamaha
dealer \ou 11 soo what «e mean when we say
"iamaha sees thrngs m not just basic black, but
also white, and everything in between.
Any questions?
Just write us.
Keyboard Division, Dept. I • Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622
^YAMAHA
When there's a better piano to be made, Yamaha will make it.
ritate the polyps, which respond by
secreting more and more mucus.
The huge quantities of mucus thus
produced act as a magnet for marine
microflora, and a large and diverse
population of bacteria converge on
the corals through chemotaxis. These
predatory bacteria consume the mu-
cus and, as the population grows, at-
tack the coral surface, killing the
polyps. Within a few days the dying
coral is a mass of bacterial slime,
which forms black lines similar to
those seen on coral reefs off Ber-
muda. In both cases excessive growth
of bacteria on the coral tissue proba-
bly depletes the oxygen on the surface
so that hydrogen sulfide forms. The
sulfide reacts with iron to produce a
black line of ferrous sulfides. This
coloration is not the cause of disease
but only a manifestation of the result.
This type of disease is not unique
to corals. We have also induced dis-
ease in seaweed and mud snails by
adding chemical pollutants to water
in laboratory tanks. Dover sole
caught in polluted areas off the Cali-
fornia coast have a much higher than
average incidence of fin rot, suggest-
ing that the phenomenon may be
widespread. One wonders if seaweed
and fish subjected to stress excrete
chemicals that attract disease-causing
organisms such as bacteria. If they
do, then a much more subtle effect of
pollution will have to be fought.
In the next half century, the
world's coral reefs will probably suf-
fer increasingly from the adverse ef-
fects of cfironic pollution. Some of
the largest and most productive reefs
are still untouched by human activi-
ties; however, this condition will
probably soon disappear. We will
need to use the most sophisticated
monitoring techniques available to
modern chemistry if the coral reefs
are not to become another victim of
our attacks on nature. D
WHEN YOU WRITE TO
NATURAL HISTORY
about a subscription renewal, billing, or any
kind of adjustment, please include your present
address label.
Moving? Please notify 6 weeks in advance.
Send your present address label along with
your new address to Natural History Member-
ship Services, Box 6000, Des Moines, Iowa
50340.
Name
City.
Attach Label
Says Miss Dietrich: "Brazil isn't a country. It's a poem." In Brazil, you
itnd the most beautiful baroque churches in the Western Hemisphere and
the world's most startling modem architecture. You experience the pan-
demonium of a Rio soccer game and the perfect peace of jungle rivers
where the only sounds are birds. Brazil is yesterday— colonial towns
that have remained in the 17th century. And it's Brasilia, a surrealist's
dream. But mostly it's people who move Like dancers, talk like songs,
and smile like friends. Travelers don't simply
like Brazil, they go mad for the place.
You can spend seven nights m Bio for
as little as $63Ct including roundtnp
airfare, first class hotel, full Brazilian
breakfasts, transfer services and
sightseeing tours. See your travel agent
For this beautiful 112 page booklet
on BrazU call 800-447-4700 (toll free).
In Illinois cal 800-322-4400.
In Canada write: Brazilian Travel Offer,
Box 3900, Peoria, Dl. 61614.
©EMBRATUR/BRAZILIAN TOURISM AUTHORITY
*Baseclon Miami departure. Similar tours available for departure from New York ($674)
and Los Angeles ($804). Rates are per person, double occupancy.
NOW-You can own this skillfully crafted
replica of the "Priceless Original" found
in the 18th Dynasty tomb of King Tulank-
hamun. With the King TUT exhibit here
from Egypt, you'll want to wear this spec-
tacular 3000 year old amulet, commemo-
rating the world's most famous archaeo-
logical find. Give his protective amulet as
a treasured gift to those you love!
• King TUT 3" amulet with 24"rope chain,
Descriptive certificate in jewelry box.
Gold Plated or STERLING 14 KARAT
Silver Toned SILVER GOLD
Pewter $15. $49.50 $495.
$1 50 insured postage. • Money back guarantee.
PHONE ORDERS: (212) 472-8733 • Charge: BA, AE
■ J:ljJrtl^*rf\»M^ Picturing a large collec-
tion of Replica Jewelry inspired by Antiquity!
aiaddin taocise, Ltd.
770 MADISON AVE. N.Y. 10021 • Depl. N-1076
ATT: Director-My King TUT Pendant order is
In G.P. or ST. Pewter @ $15.00
In Sterling Silver @ $49.50 each
In 14 Karat Gold @ $495 each
Enclosed: Q Check D CHARGE: D BA D AE
Card NO. ^"P
Signature — —
NAME.
ADDRESS-
CITY-
il(llini>'s
(V))
by Mary Leister
Photografihs by Robert Wirth
All the little lives of marsh and field,
woodland and pond, are the subjects of
this illuminating, beautiful new book, of
which Annie DiUard (Pilgrim at Tinker
Creekl says: "Marfi Leister is one of the finest
nature writers ami observers in the worlil
today. . .she knows everything! don't Itnow
and want to know."
Clothbound, ISBN 0-91614-06-2
$8.95
At your booksellers, or send check
(including 75it postage & handling) to
Dept. NH
Stemmer House
Publisliers, Inc
2627 Caves Road/Owings Mills, Maryland 21117
i ""n SEND ME YOUR FREE GIFT CATALOG.
UiiLjU.iii:iJ.iiiJ:iii4uij.i].iii.i.ii.Liwjmamim!ii
TIME
^ f MACHINE
*J FOR SALE,
ns FOR
SIX ROUND TRIPS
Every issue of ARCHAEOLOGY Magazine sends you
on a fascinating voyage to antiquity. And every issue is
truly a collector's item. Rich, full page illustrations, lavish
reproductions of ancient art, front-line reports of excavations
and discoveries, and much more. . .are waiting for you right now.
Published by the Archaeological Institute of America.
THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES
ARCHAEOLOGY
ARCHAEOLOGY - Dept. T-6
260 West Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10013
Please send one year's subscription (6 issues) of ARCHAEOLOGY
Check enclosed for $15 Bill me.
Name
N-7
Address.
City_
-State.
-Zip-
Announcements
The new, permanent Hall of Miner-
als and Gems, located in the south-
west corner of the first floor of The
American Museum of Natural His-
tory, is a most spectacular and elegant
exhibit, with an impressive array of
minerals, gems, rocks, and meteor-
ites. The special gem exhibit has been
extended through November and in-
cludes the Bicentennial Diamond
Necklace , crafted in 1776 by order of
George III of England (nearly 500
diamonds totaling 330 carats); the
Flaming Star, a flawless pear-shaped
diamond weighing 18.52 carats: and
the Golden Hope, a naturally colored,
yellow cushion-cut diamond of 44.35
carats set in a diamond, gold, and
platinum pin.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the
Museum, "Follow the Sun" con-
tinues through November. This Sky
Show explores the nature of our
nearest star, its source of energy, the
changes it undergoes, some of its in-
fluences on earth, and its place in the
universe. People of antiquity wor-
shiped the sun as a god. They fol-
lowed its motion in the sky with great
concern. Frightened that the sun
would not rise the next day, plunging
the earth into perpetual darkness and
cold, they performed elaborate rituals
in the hope of gaining some control
over its activities. Today, astron-
omers with their sophisticated solar
instruments follow the sun hour-by-
hour. They watch for outbursts of
magnetic storms, giant eruptive
prominences, and violent solar flares,
which send large amounts of danger-
ous radiation into space. Shows begin
at 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on week-
days with more frequent showings on
weekends. Admission is $2.35 for
adults and $1 .35 for children and stu-
dents (special rates for groups and
senior citizens).
Note: The main auditorium of the
Museum will be closed to the public
through January 1977 (due to renova-
tions and the installation of air condi-
tioning). Weekly film programs will
be held in the Education Hall.
I want to give ^
NATURAL HISTORY for Christmas
Enter my gift (a one-year Associate Membership in The American
Museum of Natural History and 10 issues of NATURAL HISTORY
Magazine) for the people listed below. Bill me later at $10 for each
membership.
I understand that each membership-subscription includes: free
admission to the Museum plus two bonus gifts a year and discounts
at the Museum Gift Shops.
My Name
City
Zip
Enter my own subscription, too: I ^New i — ^Renewal
I prefer: D 2 years at $1 7 D 3 years at $24
Send gift subscription to: ^^^Send gilt subscription to:
Zip
I prefer to give: Lj 2 years at $17 ! ^ 3 years at $24 A I prefer to give: I I2yearsat$17 I — l3yearsat$24
Outside U.S.A., please add $2 per year
FIRST CLASS
PERMIT NO. 4946
DES MOINES. IOWA
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
No Postage Stamp Necessary if Mailed in the United States
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BV-
NATURAL HISTORY
p. O. Box 5000
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
'ik
"I guess for a man and wife
to come to Bermuda to play-
golf is about as relaxing as it
could be anywhere. We felt like we
were all alone in the whole worlds
Paul and Hope Forsman on the Forsmans' second visit to
Bermuda. (They played four of our challenging courses.)
"Anytime you want
to play, you play. You
don't have to worry
about people waiting
or pushing you
from behind."
"The key to the whole island is
relaxation. Playing golf or
going shopping, you do it. You
just let it all go, and you relax."
Bermuda
Unspoiled. Unhurried. Uncommon.
See your travel agent or write Bermuda, Dept. 430
630 Fifth Avenue, N.Y., N.Y. 10020 or Suite 1010, 44 School St., Boston, Mass. 02108
Bermuda has nine challenging courses,
both public and private, within 21 square miles.
Ask your hotel or guest house manager about
an introduction to the private ones.
"There's more beauty here than the eye
can retain. Every view is greater
than the last."
From the shores ofGitche-gumee
MINNEHAHA
WILD RICE
Longfellow's legend of Hiawatha and
Minnehaha is a poetic classic of the Sioux
and Chippewa. Long before Longfellow, these
Indians had found wild rice, mahnomonee,
and made it the basic vegetable in their diet. ,
Minnehaha's people considered wild rice
a perfect food: highly nutritious and richly
delicious. They were right: 100% natural
wild rice has five times the iron of white rice,
twice the potassium and protein, and
ten times the vitamins B-1 and B-2.
Once, wild rice grew from the Gulf of
Mexico to Hudson's Bay, from the Atlantic to
the Rockies. Today, it grows only along the
Minnesota-Canada border.
Minnehaha Wild Rice is the finest
quality of this rarest of grains. Enjoy it with
fowl and game, fish and beef ... the perfect
touch at any meal.
We have held the price of our wild rice for
three years: $5.90 per pound, in five-pound
shipments, postpaid.
Each pound is poly-sealed and placed
in its own distinctive muslin bag, with our
recipe brachure.
So fine a food makes a grand gift.
Free gift card and mailing — attach signature
instructions and address list to your order.
MINNEHAHAWILD RICE. INC,
WCCO Radio Building— Suite 420
Minneapolis, Minn 55402
Please send, postage paid;
Jive 1-lb bags @ $29 50'stiipment $_
(Singly boxed pounds, add $1 per shipment)
One- four lb shipments @ $6,85'lb, $_
check IS enclosed for total: $
NH— 1
I Name.
Address.
City
I
I State.
Zip-
I (Remember: enclose gift mailing instructions)
A Matter of Taste
The Pumpkin Papers
An investigation into
the true botanical nature of
this giant orange gourd
Nearly thirty years ago, my pater-
nal grandfather coaxed the normally
trailing vine of Cucurbita pepo to
climb up a cherry tree and grow a
pumpkin. It was not a very large or
pretty fruit, but it was mentioned on
the garden page of the Detroit News.
Since then I have always thought I
had inherited special insight into
pumpkins. Lately though, after look-
ing into the subject more thoroughly
(my research until this summer had
consisted almost entirely of eating
pumpkin pies and carving jack-o'-
lanterns), I am not so sure.
Perhaps more than any other edible
plant, the common field pumpkin,
which shines from every right-think-
ing American's living room window
on Halloween, illustrates the clash
between colloquial naming and
official botanical nomenclature. And
that is only the beginning of the
pumpkin enigma. Although you may
resist the vulgar error of thinking of
pumpkins as vegetables, can you so
easily adjust to the scientifically unas-
sailable notion that these giant gourds
are berries?
They are, formally, berries be-
cause they are fleshy simple fruits,
formed from a single pistil of the
flower. They have no stones or papery
cores. Grapes, tomatoes, and blue-
berries are typical berries: they are
m^:i^ " '^i^^-^'^^ji '' 'JK^li^*^ i^.
,V;-: ^C^.
Audrey Ross; Bruce Coleman, Inc.
by Raymond Sokolov
fleshy throughout and their outer
layer (exocarp) is a thin skin. The
pumpkin, however, is not a typical
berry because it has a hard rind.
Along with its cousins, the squashes,
and its second cousins, the melons
and cucumbers , the pumpkin is a kind
of berry known as a pepo (rhymes
with cheapo).
Indeed, the pumpkin is the ideal
type of the pepo. You have noticed,
of course, that pepo is its species
name as well, but it is also the case
that the vernacular name of the fruit,
"pumpkin" itself, derives in a
straight and provable line from the
Greek word pepon. This hoary word
has meant pumpkin or melon down
through the centuries. It began, in
Homeric times, with the basic sense
of sun-ripened or soft, was extended
to mean "soft" as a term of endear-
ment, but then settled down as the
generic term for pumpkin.
But the pumpkin, you object, is not
soft. It is not a summer squash picked
before its rind hardens. No, it is a
late-maturing, hard-edged squash. I
pass over the pettifogging question of
whether it is a squash or some sepa-
rate category of cucurbit, since
"squash" is an Algonquin term and,
it seems to me, we only confuse the
issue further when we try to define it
too systematically. We ought also to
avoid another nomenclatural puzzle:
Is the pumpkin — our hard-skinned,
orange field pumpkin — a winter
squash? In horticultural practice it is
treated like one, and it feels like one.
But other varieties of the species C.
pepo are summer squashes. And they
grow in "bushes," not on vines.
Without wishing to strike a chau-
vinistic note, 1 think it is fair to say
that our gargantuan native American
pumpkin does not seem to fit either
the "soft, sun-ripened" pepo role or
match its summery species-mates be-
cause it is a latecomer to a diverse and
easily hybridizing European clan.
The taxonomic and colloquial strands
are now too tangled ever to sort out.
NEWEST IN OUR KAZMAR PORCELAINS — "THE RED FOX"
Introducing, in our East Room Gallery, the superb "Red Fox".
A great new piece by the Ka<fmars. Beautitully modeled,
and such an expression! Sly and obviously pleased with his
latest caper. Three ways to charge; Halls Charge Acct.,
Mastercharge and Bank Americard. Sales lax where applicable
'^'
Size: 9"x6V2" high. Issue ol 500,52711.
Write for a full color catalogue ol illustrations
and descriptions of the Complete Kazmar Collection.
211 Nichols Road, Kansas Citv, Mo. fi-1112 iHlhi 274-3224
4M^
' I PLAZA.
Never look down wjir
nose at a berry again.
Only extra-special berries go into our famous preserves, jellies and syrups. Hand-picked,
hand-selected and hand-sorted, the very top of our superb Pacific Northwest crops. Since
Grandma started our family business at her kitchen stove way back in 1897. The Dickinson
Family has won awards and medals and customers and generations of friends with our products.
But. just like in '97, we still start with the very best Northwest berries. Then Grandma's secret
recipes and our small batch, kettle cooking take over . . . producing the best tasting, finest eating,
100% natural preserves ever put in jars.
We don't preserve a whole bunch. Usually just enough for the Northwest. But this year's
crops gave us more perfect berries than usual. So we've made up some beautifully packaged
gifts. Two of our customer favorites are right here, ready for you to order now for Christmas
giving. They'll arrive for sure before Christmas. Plus, we unconditionally guarantee that the
gifts you order will be the best you've ever tasted — naturally good, with no coloring, artificial
flavoring, nor preservatives added. If you don't agree that they're the best money can buy (or
people can make), we'll refund your money. Immediately.
Please use a separate sheet for your gift list. Enclose your own card, or we'll put one in for you.
D GRANDMA DICKINSON'S FAVORITE, Gift #688
Tfie caviar of preserves, 28-oz, of Marshall Strawberry
Preserves in a huge container imported from France.
$7.50 Delivered
a OREGON'S BREAKFAST DELIGHT, Gitt #625
Two 11V.1-0Z Fruit Syrups — Boysenberry and
Blackberry — plus 12-02 lars of Marsfiall Strawberry
Preserves and Orange Marmalade, S12.50 Delivered
D Here's my check or money order for $
D Cfiarge my purchase: D BankAmencardD Master Chargi
Bank Card #
Exp Date
Signature
NAME
ADDRESS
GITY/STATE/ZIP .
D SEND YOUR FULL COLOR GIFT BROCHURE!
Mail to: The Dickinson Family
7325 S.W. Bonita Rd, Tigard, OR 97223
(503) 620-4144
I
115
clustthetiJD««fiis.
Soar away in a BWIA Sunjet to two of the Carib-
bean's most tlirilling and romantic islands. Two
islands, one country: Trinidad & Tobago. Where
steel bands, calypso and the limbo were born. And
where you meet and mingle with a vibrant, friendly
people whose origins span half the world.
Ibinidad
it's Port of Spain. It's cosmopolitan. It's exciting.
It pulsates with the sounds and sights of its
unique blend of peoples and traditions. Outside
the city, the scenic drive to Maracas Bay winds
through emerald mountains. Through view after
view you descend to a glistening sea and a
perfect, white sand beach. See Gasparee Caves
where rock formations sparkle with color and
light. The Caroni Bird Sanctuary, where the
Scarlet Ibis' fly home in the setting sun. Hear a
steel band. Dance to a calypso beat. See the
limbo. Feast on a dozen cuisines. Play golf or
tennis. Or share the excitement of a cricket match
or horse race. Shop for international bargains.
All this is Trinidad.
Tc^bagD
Our "other half" is a tranquil paradise. With a
very exciting history. It changed hands between
the French, Dutch and English no less than 31
times. Today, flowers and rare birds throng its
serene shores and mountains, and rainbow fish
dart through its translucent seas, and provide the
setting for a perfect holiday.
Scuba or snorkel at famous Buccoo Reef and
swim in the Nylon Pool. See historic forts. Golf.
Play tennis. Or just make your own discovery— a
silken beach millions of miles from the rest of the
world. Fly on BWIA, our international airline. And
ask your travel agent or BWIA about our attractive
packages.
Like to know more? Contact the Trinidad &
Tobago Tourist Board, 400 Madison Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10017. Or call (212)838-7750.
BWIA
For the tourlh winter, we invite
adventurous travelers to join our
Himalayan
Trek in Nepal
November, 1976
February, 1977 & November, 1977
These expeditions are unique not only
due to the expert leadership but be-
cause they combine a trek on foot in
the Annapurna region with a trek on
elephant back through the Terai
jungle, and a canoe trip on the Rapli
River, Between the treks, first class
hotel accommodations are provided;
and the expedition ends with five
days In Northern India, visiting Delhi,
Agra and Jaipur,
Our new Himalayan summer program
was wonderfully successlul, and we
repeat it next year:
LadakhTrek
July and August, 1977
These expeditions include a trek
through the lovely valleys and moun-
tains of Kashmir into the remote
country of Ladakh, which was until
recently closed to visitors. Before and
after the trek, first class hotel and
houseboat accommodations are pro-
vided in Delhi and Srinagar,
We also repeat the enormously popu-
lar and unusually interesting outdoors
program to South America, where small
groups, capably led, venture on our
Inga
Trek in Peru
July, August and September. 1977
These expeditions provide the stir-
ring experience of walking along the
ancient Inca trail from Cuzco high
above the lovely Urubamba Valley, at
a leisurely pace over three passes
and through fabulous Andean scenery
to tvlachu Picchu, the most dramat-
ically spectacular archaeological site
In the world. Before and after the
trek, first class hotel accommoda-
tions are provided In Lima and Cuzco.
Please send lor the detailed bro-
chures of these treks- we also spe-
cialize in cruises in the Galapagos
Islands, safaris to Rajasthan and East
Africa, and adventure tours to Green-
land, the Arctic,, and other unusual
destinations.
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
NATURE ON STAMPS
The BIRDS 8. tt>e BEES & the ANIMAL KINGDOM
on GENUINE POSTAGE STAMPS.
^
SAMPLES & APPROVALS -SI
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Mil Med Stamps
.0 BOX 297-NH AURORA. CO 80010
Even in Europe, chaos reigns. Are
French pe(jple sure what they mean
when they say course and cilrauille
and poliron? Greeks lump together
all the edible gourds as kolokithia.
Perhaps we should do this too and
give up trying to remember what dis-
tinguishes pattypans from Hubbards
from cocozelle from crooknecks from
zucchini. But even were we to aban-
don these colorful terms and fall back
on the gastronomically useful if im-
precise distinction between hard and
soft skins, we Americans would still
all know one variety "by heart."
Pumpkinus americanus is simply
unmistakable. The largest commer-
cial strain. Big Max, generally
reaches 150 pounds. But 300-
pouriders are not unknown and the
400-pound barrier is apparently not
far otT, Even the smaller pumpkins
we buy at this time of year are so big
and distinct, you don't need a botani-
cal background to identify them at a
roadside stand. In fact, this is one
case where the less botany you know,
the more likely you may be to locate
a genuine P. americanus.
Any child knows what to do next.
Make a circular incision around the
stem, angling the knife so that this
"scalp" can be replaced and won't
fall in. Then scoop out the seeds,
carve a face on one side of the rind,
put a candle inside, and use it to scare
away the dead spirits that rise up from
the ground on Halloween. This
apotropaic rite battens on the pump-
kin because of its skull-like shape.
This similarity has also inspired the
derisive term, "pumpkin head,"
meaning dolt. Likewise, the Latin
satire on the deification of the em-
peror Claudius is titled the "pump-
kinification." This is a translation of
the original title, Apocolocyntosis, a
pun on apotheosis (deification), in
which the root for the Greek word for
"gourd" replaces the root for the
word for "god."
Not all pumpkin metaphors are de-
rogatory. "Pumpkins" are also
VIPs. And Boston has been called
Pumpkinshire, presumably from the
number of pumpkins Bostonians con-
sumed. New England remains a cen-
ter of pumpkin cookery, and you will
still occasionally find thin slices of
pumpkin dried and hung on strings in
houses there. This harks back to colo-
nial days, when the pumpkin was a
valued staple. Indians used it for
flour.
Today, in America, pumpkins are
eaten almost exclusively in pies in the
^yj^WGDDCRAFT
2000 TOOL CATALOG
This new full color catalog features
J wide selection of the finest qualit)'
imported and domestic woodworking
tools and accessories. Tools for Cab-
mctmaking, Woodcarving, Marquetr;-
and Veneering. Finishing and >X'ork-
bcnches fill out the traditional line.
Specialty tools range from Gun
Checkering to Musical Instruments
.ind Miniature Craft tools. A selec-
tion of Design Books, How-to Books
and Early American Measured
Drawings make this catalog a valu-
able aid to a woodworker's shop.
Catalog 50c in Coin or Stamps
WGDDCRAFT
Dept. NA106 S13 Montvale Ave.
V WOBURN, MASS. 01801 /
The
Qentlemans
bythe
Cljesapeakg '^Bay
Trading Co.
you too can ou'n a pair
ot jeans with the look and
the styling that's become so
popular today. Our jeans
are specifically designed for
the adult figure and you \viU
find them comfortable the
instant you put them on.
Thev are made of very soft
pre-shrunk polyester and
machine
r need ironing. From the golf course to the
es to a back yard barbecue, vou will be at
home in your new gentleman's jeans. $18^'^ pp.
Special Offer: Buy two pair and save.
Simply deduct SI. 00 for each additional pair
I Cliesapeakg'^ayTiading Com
P.O. Box 5879, FikesviUe, Md. 21208
Colors* '-'^™''^ blue, faded blue, camel,
white, natural, brown
Sizes: 30, 31, 32, 33, 34,36, 38, 40, 42
Prs. Size Length
Name
I Address
Color _
Color.
TF(ETV[AI?KET_
Art
FOR CHRISTMAS; OIL PORTRAITS painted on
canvas from photos. From $49.95 (12 X 16). Van
De Mark, 1275-J5 Rock Avenue, Nortti Plainfield
NJ 07060
"COLLECTOR'S SERIES"™ lithographs Wildlife,
Indian, Flowers, American Scenes, Airplane, Auto-
mobile, Railroad prints. Send $1 GO for catalog
"Collector's Series", 161 W. Harrison, Chicago, IL
60605
YOUR PORTRAIT in Ceramic Sculpture. Skillfully
crafted from photographs. Illustrated brochure.
Box 13135, El Paso, TX 79912
GREAT HORNED OWL, BENGAL TIGER, African
Elephant, Young Prairie Falcon, limited edition
prints. Singing Sparrow, P.O. Box 4156, Boulder,
CO 80302
Artifacts
ARCHEOLOGISTS— 10,000 outstanding Charrua
(extinct Uruguayan Indian) artifacts available for
museum or private collection; Arrowheads (includ-
ing 14 famous fishtail heads), knives, perforators,
hammers, etc Slides available Write; Bench, 196
Bell Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583
Astronomy
SKYWATCHER'S ALMANAC 1977. Sunrise, sun-
set, moonrise. moonset, and phases custom-com-
puted for your latitude and longitude anywhere in
worid. Also planetary phenomena and selected
star coordinates Wall calendar format. In use by
schools, planetariums, newspapers, amateurs and
professionals everywhere. $9.00 US. currency.
Foreign orders specify geographical coordinates
Californians add sales tax. Astronomical Data Ser-
vice, 1901 Old Middlefield Way, Suite 14C, Moun-
tain View, CA 94043
Book Publishers
BOOKS PRINTED from well-typed pages. BIOG-
RAPHY PRESS, Rt. 1-745, Aransas Pass, TX 78336
BOOK PUBLISHING— manuscripts and inquiries
invited. "AUTHORS' GUIDE TO PUBLICATION"
free upon request Dorrance & Company, Dept.
AA, 35 Cricket Terrace, Ardmore, PA 19003
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK! Join our successful au-
thors in a complete, reliable publishing program;
publicity, advertising, promotion, beautiful books
All subjects invited- Send for fact-filled booklet and
free manuscript report Carlton Press, Dept. NHJ,
84 Fifth Avenue. New York 1001 1
Books
MOCKEL'S DESERT FLOWER NOTEBOOK. Soft
cover, 165 illustrations, 54 full color. Two indexes;
Common and Botanical Names. $6.95 postpaid.
Artist— Henry R. Mockel, P.O. Box 726. Twentynine
Palms, CA 92277
Clothing
FREE CATALOG, WILDERNESS GEAR, CLOTH-
ING, Books. Moor & Mountain D28, 63 Park Street,
Andover, MA 01810
Collector's Items
"APACHE"
STONE ARROWHEADS
25 - $5.50
100 -$15.00^
COUNCIL HOUSE RM 1239
Apache Junction, AZ 8S220
GEM STONES: Amethysts, aquamarines, sap-
phires, diamonds, etc. Buyer's agent. Inquiries in-
vited. Kimberlil, P.O Box 585, Greenport, NY
11944
ROCKS IN YOUR HEAD"? You'll love us! Join Wortd-
Wide Mineral Club Free Details Mineral of the
Month Club. Box 487-HP, Yucaipa, CA 92399
Employment Information
AUSTRAL! A— NEW ZEALAND WANTS YOU ! ! I 50.-
000 Jobs' Paid Transportation, Latest information
and forms $1 00. AUSTCO, Box 3623-NH, Long
Beach. CA 90803
OVERSEAS JOBS— Now Hiring. 103 Countries, All
Occupations, High Pay, Free Transportation, Tax
Benefits, Latest Computerized Reports — $2 00
TRANSWORLD, International Airport, Box 90802-
NH. Los Angeles. CA 90009
Energy
SOLAR ENERGY DIGEST. Fascinating illustrated
newsletter covering woridwide solar energy devel-
opments Sample, $1 00. P O. Box 17776NH, San
Diego, CA 921 17
Friendiships
MAKE FRIENDS WORLDWIDE through interna-
tional correspondence Illustrated brochure free!
Hermes-Verlag. Box 110660 /NH, D-1000 Berlin
1 1 , Germany
ages 8 to 80 Choose English, French, or Spanish
edition. $4.50 per deck Ampersand Press, Dept.
H9, 2603 Grove St., Oakland, CA 94612
UNIQUE JEWELRY; Gold or silver cloisonne rings,
pendants with naturalistic animal or floral motifs.
Made to your design or mine. Call Thea. (212) 787-
7599
POSTERS OF THE PAST
1,000 fascinating posters and tiandbills of IStKand 19tti cen-
turies. Reproduced from originals, tracing America's social
and political history. Unusual, decorative, informative. Most
under $1. Send 25* for complete catalog.
BUCK HILL ASSOCIATES
Dept. NH Garnet Lake Rd., Johnsburg, N.Y. 12843
Gourmet Interests
Gifts
UNIOUE GIFT OF LASTING FRAGRANCE; Old-
fashioned potpourri of rosebuds, lavender, dozen
other flowers and herbs in elegant crystal apothe-
cary. 45 oz— $15 00. 24 oz.— $10.00. Postpaid. G
& J Distributors. 4523K Labath. Santa Rosa. CA
95401
NATURE'S PLAN IN A GAME. PREDATOR, the
Food Chain Card Game. Great gift for nature lovers
HERBS— Informative Herbal Chart (30 x 40) $5.50
Postpaid. Herb Teas, Potpourri etc Free catalog
Casey's Herbs. Box 901 , Woodside. NY 1 1 377
TEA DEVOTEES Savor world's rarest select teas.
Brochure $1 00 (applied to first order). Grace Tea
Importers. Dept. NH 86, 799 Broadway. NYC 1 0003
Magazines
BACK ISSUE MAGAZINES. Over 200 titles. 1890
to 1976. Send stamped envelope. Free List. Every-
body's Bookshop Dept. NH. 317 West 6th. Los An-
geles. CA 90014
Herbalist Lima Peru
Ii8
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS, 1888-1976, Any
issue, maps, send wants Buxbaum Geographies,
Box 465-NH, Wllminglon, DE 19899
WILDLIFE MAGAZINE International in scope, au-
thoritative, informative, colourful. Aimed at enlliusi-
asls, enjoyed by the whole family Described by
one American reader as "the most beautiful and
educational magazine in the world." Also, buy your
books through our carefully selected monthly list-
ing Send lor sample copy to Wildlife, 243 King's
Road, London SW3. England
Music
RECORDS-TAPES! Discounts to 73%; all labels; no
purchase obligations; newsletter; discount divi-
dend certificates; 100% guarantees. Free details.
Discount IVlusic Club, 650 Main SI , Dept 25-1 076.
NewRochelle, NY 10801
YORK, PA. UNUSUAL TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS
CAROLS Played on 100-year-old Factory Steam
Whistle. 7", 33y3 LP Album $4.50, Cassette Tape
$6.00. MARLIN L. RYAN, 331 Harding Court, York.
PA 17403
Musical Instruments
BANJO KITS Write for free catalog. Stewart-Mac-
Donald Mfg.. Box 900 BT, Athens, OH 45701
KITS! Build dulcimers, guitars, balalaikas, harps,
mandolins, banjos. From $2.95. Finished dulcimers
from $23 95 Free Catalog. 8665 West 13th Avenue
NH, Denver, CO 80215
Music Instruction
FASTEST PIANO COURSE IN HISTORY! Uses pat-
ented system. Send tor free information. Box 751 -A.
La Canada, CA 91011
Optics
OPTIC DISCOUNTS; Binoculars — Telescopes —
Brand Names — Free List — Thomas Manetta, 61
Hoffman Ave., Elmont. NY 11003
Photography
STOCK PHOTO AGENT looking for nature material
to represent to photo markets Color trans-
parencies and b/w photos All subjects. Write
TAURUS PHOTOS, 1 18 East 28th St., New York. NY
10016. Phone; (212) 683-4025
16MM FILMS. Beautiful photography from Antarc-
tica, the Galapagos Islands, and undenwater expe-
ditions in the Caribbean For sale. Send for informa-
tion. Tulsa Films, P.O Box 7745 Southside Station,
Tulsa, OK 74112
Ftare Maps
16TH— 19TH CENTURY ORIGINAL MAPS. Our
handsome 68-page catalog $1.50. The Windsor
Collection, 111 Canterbury Drive. Wilmington. DE
19803
Real Estate
DIGBY. NOVA SCOTIA— 83 ACRES, Ocean View,
utilities. $16,500, terms. Steven Jaffe, 160 E. 89th,
NYC 10028 (212) 831-7886
Seashells
SEASHELL SAMPLER 200 Assorted Shells for
craftwork or collectors! Plus SHELLCRAR IDEA
BOOKLET and illustrated Seashell catalog. $1 3.50
BENJANE ARTS. Dept. KTA, 320 Hempstead Ave, ,
W Hempstead, NY 11552
SEASHELLS; Illustrated catalogue, 25 cents. Com-
pare prices on guaranteed specimen quality shells.
Old Shell Game, Box 330722, Miami, FL 33133
Stamps
ANIMALS OR BIRDS ON STAMPS. 25 different—
750. plus list of Topical Collections. GEORGE
FORD. Box 5203-N, Gulfport, FL 33737
FREE; Discount Price List for U.S. Stamps. Stevens,
Box 610546-J, North Miami, FL 33161
SHELLS, ANIMALS, NATURE on stamps Write for
approval selection Southland Stamps, Box 264,
Shreveport. t-A 71162
BIRDS ON STAMPS Beautifully mounled; original,
decorative pages $2,95 Marvin Cohen. 37 Acker-
man, Sulfern, NY 10901
Travel
CIRCLE Z RANCH— Horseback riding, fantastic
bitding, tennis, heated pool, historic unspoiled
area. November through fulay Limit 40 guests Bro-
chure; Box 194, Patagonia, AZ 85624
ENJOY SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA Our area is
secluded and uncommercial Outstanding birding
Excellent nature study opportunities Trails, wilder-
ness for hiking, backpacking, etc Comtonably
mild Chiricahua Mountain climate year round Cot-
tages, apartments, pool Free brochure, birdlisl
Cave Creek Ranch, Portal. AR 85632 (602) 558-
2334
ESCAPE TO THE WILDS OF WYOMING Vacation
year round high in Bighorn National Forest Plenty
of horses, fishing, big game, and cross-country ski-
ing Spear-0-Wigwam Ranch. Box 1081 . Shendan,
WY 82801 (307) 674-4496
MAPS TO ANYWHEREi Beautiful city and country
maps Free brochures. Travel Centers of the World.
P O Box 1673, Hollywood, CA 90028
MEXICO Private valley, sun, thermal pools, mas-
sage, gourmet vegetarian cuisine $15 daily in-
cludes meals RanchoRioCaliente, Apdo 1-1 187.
C3uadalajara, Mexico
NEW MEXICO Guided witdflower— birding tours.
Photography blind. Bear Mountain Ranch, Silver
City, NM 88061 (505) 538-2538
WILDLIFE VACATIONS IN SCOTLAND April-
November. Viewing, photography Write INTERNA-
TIONAL AIRMAIL; Caledonian Wildlife Services.
Kingsmills Gardens. Inverness IV2 3LU SCOT-
LAND
WINTER EXPEDITIONS TO BAJA CALIFORNIA
Study birdlife, seals, whales, natural history of Pa-
cific islands and lagoons Other unique expeditions
worldwide Wnte; Nature Expeditions International,
Dept. NC, Suite F, 4546 El Camino Real, Los Altos
CA 94022
TROPICAL EXPEDITIONS in January and Febru-
ary You explore the wilds with naturalist guides
Strong ecological emphasis Choose 9 or 17 days
in Guatemala; a week in the Everglades, Big
Cypress Swamp or Cumberland Island, WILDER-
NESS SOUTHEAST, 4405 Paulsen. Savannah, GA
31406(912)355-8008
RATES AND STYLE INFORMATION
$1.50 per word; 16 word ($24) minimum. Display
classified is $1 50 per inch. Rates are not structured
for agency and frequency discounts or billing. All
advertisements are accepted at NATURAL HIS-
TORY'S discretion; all must be prepaid. Send
check/money order payable to NATURAL HIS-
TORY for each insertion, including your personal
address and telephone. Mention issue preferred,
suggested heading, and text. Deadlines — 8th of
month, two months pnor to cover date. Thus, a
January issue closes November 8. A tearsheet or
copy of the page with your ad will be sent upon
publication.
Box numbers, telephone numbers, and hyphen-
ated words count as two words; abbreviations and
zip codes as one word each. All states are shown
in two-letter codes followed by zip. then telephone
(with area code), if any. An address such as "18
Main St." counts as three words. Occasionally,
slight editing for clarity is required. We trust you trust
us. Thank you!
late fall and winter. This is a shame
in many ways. Excellent canned
pumpkin puree is, or ought to be,
available year-round. And the pump-
kin is too versatile and delicious to be
relegated to one ceremonial dessert
and otherwise fed to livestock.
Once it has been pureed, pumpkin
can be treated in much the same way
as potato (see recipes below). The
seeds, of course, should be eaten as
a snack . To prepare , simmer in plenty
of salt water for a half hour, drain,
dry on paper, and toast in a low oven
until lightly browned. Other interna-
tional recipes for pumpkin are now
available in Sheryl London's new
culinary treatise. Eggplant &
Squash: A Versatile Feast (Athen-
eum. S12.95). London mentions
West Indian pumpkin chips, sweet
and sour pumpkin. French pumpkin
soup with Grand Marnier, leek and
pumpkin soup from Italy, an English
cream of pumpkin with ham. pump-
kin ring, Indian pumpkin curry,
pumpkin amandine, Armenian
pumpkin and lamb shanks with mint.
North African pumpkin stew with
meat and cabbage. Jamaican and
South American stuffed pumpkins,
pumpkin jam. three pumpkin breads,
and a host of pumpkin desserts.
This does not begin to exhaust the
pumpkin repertoire. Moroccans
make a pumpkin couscous. French
provincial cooks have been known to
puree shrimp and pumpkin for a milk-
based soup. In the Netherlands An-
tilles one can find pumpkin pancakes.
Mexicans fill quesadillas (tortilla
turnovers) with a preparation made
from pumpkin blossoms.
So much can be done with pump-
kin puree that it makes an ideal me-
dium for personal experimentation.
Start with small pumpkins, however,
because the puree will sour more
readily than most vegetables and
there is no particular advantage in
making up a huge batch ahead of
time. Peel the pumpkin, discard seeds
and strings, and cut the flesh into
chunks. Cook in simmering water to
cover for 20 minutes. Drain. Mash or
puree in a blender. Like mashed po-
tato, pumpkin puree can be seasoned
according to your whim, and you can
quite easily give it the flavor of what-
ever culinary region the rest of your
menu may conjure up. Garlic and
oregano give you Italian pumpkin.
Butter and cream take us north to the
He de France. And so on.
And so I give you the pumpkin,
enigmatic fruit, gourd of all seasons.
119
M-
snare me MIS
of Exploring f
outer space;
All DYNASCOPES,
including this
superb RV-6, e-inch
available ^^^ ?15 Crating
on easy terms! ^ Cliarge
Now it's easy to join the thousands of serious
amateurs who have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rewards go on for years! And
it's a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Choose From Many DYNASCOPES®
Picl(ing a telescope to fit your needs and your
pocketbook is simple when you select a
DYNASCOPE-the same instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories—and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable facts be-
fore buying any telescope. Mail
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterton Manufacturing Co.
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Corn. 06110
S TM Registered U.S. Pat. Otfi
CRITERION MANUFACTURING CO.Depl. NH-71
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Name
Address .
Classic, Indestructible
Drizzler Travel Hat $11
Handsome'Drizzler" travel hat with the
classic 2" brim is virtually indestructible.
Soak it, crush it, pocket it ... no matter
how you treat it, the Drizzler will spring
back to its handsome pre-blocked shape.
Dacron polyester and cotton poplin is
lightweight and water repellent. Heal for
travel, golf, leisure. British tan, navy or
yellow in sizes 6% to 8.
D Please send catalogue
Mail Orders: Cable Car Clothrers/Robert Kirk. Ltd.
No. 1,50 Post St.. S. F. Cal. 94108 (415) 397-7733
Item Hat (71002) Size Colour(s) ' Qty.
D Check Charge: D .M/C D B/A D Cable Car Chg,
Bank Card # — ^ Expires
Add $2.00 Ship & Hdlg: Cal. Residents Add Sales Tax
But before you embark on an all-
pumpkin diet, I wish to counsel even
mildly profeminist cooks against fall-
ing into the vulgar and ideologically
regressive trap of serving soup inside
a whole pumpkin. On first glance,
this will seem a spectacular mode of
presentation. But reflect. The whole
pumpkin is a symbol of female peon-
age and confinement in a male world.
Remember Cinderella's midnight hu-
miliation. Or recite to yourself:
Peter, Peter Pumpkin-Eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her.
He put her in a pumpkin shell.
And there he kept her very well.
Giraumonade
(Martinican Pumpkin Puree)
2 tablespoons oil or lard
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
2 sprigs parsley, chopped
1 pinch dried thyme
2 basil leaves, chopped
1 fresh chili pepper, chopped or
1 dried chili, crumbled
1 pound pumpkin puree
1. Heat the oil or lard in a skillet.
Add all ingredients except pump-
kin. Saute until browning begins.
2. Stir in pumpkin. Mix well and
serve as a side dish.
Yield: 4 servings
Pumpkin and Leek Soup
3 cups well-washed, sliced leek
(white and tender green parts)
1 pound pumpkin puree or
1 pound raw pumpkin chunks
Salt
Pepper
1 cup yogurt, sour cream, or heavy
cream
1 . Combine leek and pumpkin with
1 quart water in a large saucepan.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and
simmer until solid ingredients are
very soft, about 20 minutes.
2 . Put through a food mill or blender .
3. Season to taste. Serve hot or
chilled. You may stir in the yo-
gurt, sour cream, or heavy cream
before serving (at which point ad-
just seasoning) or pass a bowl of
it separately so that it can be dol-
loped on by individual guests at
the table.
Yield: 6 servings
Raymond Sokolov's most recent
cookbook is The Saucier 's Appren-
tice, a guide to French sauces.
Carry TEN TIMES
a Wheelbarrow Load
with INCREDIBLE EASE!
These BIG, strong carts are perfectly balanced
on two huge wheels — roll easily over lawns
and gardens — carry up to 400 lbs. of load
— huge volume capacity means you make
fewer trips — you'll save time and steps.
If you are still struggling with a wheelbarrow
or inadequate cart (with tiny wheels) send for
FREE Cart Catalog. Build-it-yourself kits, too.
GARDEN WAY RESEARCH, Dept 60350^
Charlotte,
Vermont
05445
DESTINATION CEYLON
Deligfit in Sri Lanka's 2500-year-old an-
tiquities, hill stations, beaches. 26 deluxe
days; escorted departures. Feb. & Sept.
Free brochure "H":
CEYLON (SRI LANKA)TOURIST BOARD
. 609 Fifth Ave., N.Y. 10017 • (212) 935-0369
Brain Puzzler's Delight
Us
ft
By E. R. Emmet
A treasury of unique
mind-stretching puzzles
that can be solved by
straight, logical thinking
and reasoning. No special-
ized math. Offers the pleas-
ures of discovering solu-
tions through use of
ingenuity, imagination, in-
sight, and logic. Stimulates
and refreshes the mind.
Fascinating, entertaining
puzzles, arranged in order
of difficulty, with (some
amazing! ) solutions and
full explanations at end of
book. ILLUSTRATED
S6.95, plus 60? handling, 10-Day Money Back Guarantee.
EMERSON BOOKS, Inc., Dept. 429C
Buchanan, N.Y. 10511
^BOOK HUNTING?-^
Virtually any book located — no matter how
old or long out-of-print. Fiction, nonfictlon.
All authors, subjects. Name the book — we'll
rind Itl (Title alone Is sufficient.) Inquire,
please. Write: Dept. 66.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087
for executives and professional people
LOANS by MAIL
De"s^r^5^?o""A $10,000
Personal, private. No security required. Your
signature only. All details arranged rapidly by
^maiL Reasonable rates. Please mail coupon for
^^I^Jj^ormation.^^o^J^tion.
Wilson, Vice President
POSTAL THRIFT LOANS, INC., Dept. 82-10
703 Douglas St., Sioux City, Iowa 51102
Please send complete Information in plain envelope.
Name-
Address-
City-
iffiliate of The St. Paul Companies, Inc
=J
The American Museum
of Natural History
invites you to join a select party
limited to 1 50 members and friends
VOYAGE TO
MAYALUUM
world of the ancient Maya civilization
in Central America
February 6 to 20, 1977
Sail in comfort aboard the motor yacht ,
ARGONAUT, set on a special course for the
pleasure of exploring and studying remote and
recently uncovered pre-Columbian sites of the
ancient Maya. Enjoy islands of natural beauty
with offshore reefs and seagardens undisturbed
by tourism. Travel in the stimulating company of
our distinguished American Museum scientists
and scholars. Dr. Gordon F. Ekholm, Curator
Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, and
Dr. C. Lavett Smith, Chairman and Curator,
Department of Ichthyology.
Cabin prices range from $1 780 to $21 25.
There is a tax-deductible contribution to the
Museum of $400 per person.
Ellen Stancs
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, New York 10024
Please send an itinerary and
other information about the
VOYAGE TO MAYALUUM
MU^GUMOI^
Sky Reporter
Stars by the Cluster
Dark clouds and recently
discovered X-rays associated
with dense aggregations of stars
perpetuate the mysteries
surrounding these objects
About 120 globular clusters have
been found in our galaxy. The bright-
est ones are visible to the naked eye
as fuzzy patches of light. Telescopes
reveal them to be huge aggregations
of stars, among the most spectacular
sights in the heavens. Edmund Hal-
ley, the British astronomer for whom
the famous comet was named, was
one of the first to speculate on the size
of these objects. He thought that a
cluster might occupy a region "im-
mensely great, and perhaps not less
than our whole solar system." Mod-
ern observations prove that a typical
globular cluster is larger by far than
this eighteenth-century estimate and
may include hundreds of thousands or
even a few million stars within a ra-
dius of 100 light-years.
The stars on the outskirts of a glob-
ular cluster are sufficiently far from
each other to enable us to photograph
and study them. But in the central
core, the stars are packed so closely
together that our best telescopes can-
not resolve them. A typical star in the
center of a globular cluster may be
only a third of a light-year away from
its neighbors. (By contrast, the sun is
four light-years from its nearest star,
Proxima Centauri.) In some very
dense cluster cores, the stars are still
closer together. Because of the com-
bined illumination of the surrounding
stars, the inhabitants (if any) of such
a region would experience evening
skies much brighter than earthly
nights illuminated by a full moon.
In 1714, H alley discovered the
brightest globular cluster of the north-
ern sky. He described it as just a ' 'lit-
tle patch," but a later telescopic ob-
server wrote, "Perhaps no one ever
saw it without uttering a shout of
wonder." Called M 13, this object in
the constellation Hercules gave rise to
a long controversy over dark matter
in globular clusters, which began in
1850 when William Parsons, the
wealthy third earl of Rosse, examined
M 13 with his private telescope at Birr
Castle, Ireland. This reflector, with
its six-foot-diameter metal mirror,
was then by far the largest telescope
ever made. With it. Lord Rosse also
discovered the spiral arms of galaxies
and the filaments of the Crab Nebula.
On May 6 of that year he first noticed
a dark streak across M 13. He ob-
served and sketched the cluster again
in 1851 and 1855 and noted two more
dark lanes. One sketch, which was
shown to the Royal Society, reveals
three dark lanes that meet at a com-
mon point at roughly equal angles,
making a pattern like an upside-down
Mercedes-Benz emblem. This pat-
tern was seen again forty years later
when M 1 3 was photographed at Lick
Observatory in California.
The Lick investigator was Edward
S. Holden, a well-known American
astronomer who also served as pres-
ident of the University of California.
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
by Stephen P. Maran
He took seven photographs of M 1 3
in 1 890 and 1 89 1 . The best one , made
on July 28, 1891, was so good that
copies of it were sent to leading ob-
servatories of the day. Holden con-
firmed the three-armed dark pattern
and claimed he found many more ex-
amples within the cluster of three
dark streaks meeting at a common
point at approximately equal angles.
He also found some instances of two
dark streaks. He thought that the dark
lanes were true channels, "empty of
stars," and seemed to regard the pat-
tern as a structural element, recurring
at least a dozen times throughout the
cluster like the leitmotiv of a Wagner
opera.
Holden believed that the points
where the dark lanes met were "cen-
ters of force" related to unknown
processes that had formed the star
cluster. He expected that better pho-
tographs, when they could be ob-
tained, would reveal additional three-
armed sets of dark lanes in M 1 3 . In
1899, when improved photos were
made at Lick, they failed to confirm
his expectations. In fact, on the best
of the 1899 pictures, a careful search
of Holden 's dark lanes showed that at
least five dim stars were present in all
but two of the lanes.
A swarm of more than half a
million closely packed stars,
47 Tucanae is a bright globular
cluster in the southern sky
some 13,000 light-years from
the earth. Seen here as
photographed with a four-meter
telescope in Chile, the cluster
is about 12 billion years old,
making it one of the oldest
objects in our galaxy.
THIS BIG VAT, and what's inside it, is the
reason Jack Daniel's Whiskey is sippin' smooth.
We own 24 of these vats that run the height
of a good-sized room. And each one is filled
with tiny pieces of hard maple charcoal. Well,
every drop of our whiskey is slow-seeped
through one of these vats before aging. And
more than anything, this trip through the charcoal
accounts for Jack Daniel's
smoothness. Of course,
the whole process takes
time. (Just making the
charcoal requires four
days.) But you'll notice
the difference it makes in
one sip of Jack Daniel's.
CHARCOAL
MELLOWED
6
DROP
6
BY DROP
Tennessee Whiskey • 90 Proof • Distilled and Bottled by Jack Daniel Distillery
Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc., Lynchburg (Pop. 361), Tennessee 37352
Placed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Government.
123
GOOSE DOWN WATCH CAP
The shape is a long-time favorite . . . Bauer
goose down adds new warmth. So light
you'll hardly know you're wearing it, and
so compact it stuffs easily into your
pocket. Water-repellent Nylon taffeta with
stretch-knit turn-down brim. Sizes:
3(61/2-7), M{7Vb-7Va), 1(73/5-71/2), XL(7y8-
8). Colors: Camouflage, Red, Black, Dark
Green. 0135 Cap $9.95 postpaid.
BLIZZARD-PROOF
BALACLAVA
Wear one hiking,
climbing, back-
packing, hunt-
ing, fishing,
cycling, skiing
or on vacation
trips. Sherpa-
style hat is
100% brushed
wool. Wear it
rolled up as a
cap or rolled
down to protect
ears, forehead,
neck and chin. Small visor and jaunty top-
not. Sizes: One size fits all. Colors: Red,
Orange, Dark Blue, White, Green. 1750
Hat $4.95 postpaid.
SPORTSMAN'S CAP
Warm at sub-zero and comfortable at 50°
because it "breathes." Crown and turn-
down storm flaps are insulated with Bauer
Goose Down quilted in Nylon/cotton fab-
ric. Sizes: S(6y2-7), M(7y8-7y4), L(7%-
7y2), XL(75/a-8). Colors: Red, Olive,
Autumn Tan, Camouflage. 0138 Cap
$13.95 postpaid.
f Order Today! Money Back guarantee! -\
Enclosed is my ctieck or money order for
$ (Add sales tax where applicable
Please RUSH my order.
n0135 Watch Cap
Size Color
ni750 Balaclava
Color
□ 0138 Sportsman's Cap
Size Color
Name
Address
City
State Zip
□ Send me FREE your color catalog of <
1200 unique outdoor products.
^.^3c^<i2/^Xc*i2/l^
! Dept. PHY, Tiiird S Virginia, Seattle. WA 98124 !
The nature of the lanes and other
dark regions in globular clusters has
been much debated and the argu-
ments have been revived with new
vigor in the past twenty years, during
which time many more dark clouds
have been found in globular clusters
under study. Holden's concept of
mysterious centers of force has been
dropped and the idea that the lanes are
simply accidental gaps in the spacing
of the stars has also found few advo-
cates. Most astronomers favor the
theory that at least some of the dark
regions are due to absorption of light
by dust clouds. The controversy now
centers on the location of these dark
nebulae. Are they actually in the clus-
ters, that is, true "intraglobular mat-
ter," or are they foreground objects,
closer to us in space but seen against
the bright surfaces of the distant clus-
ters? There seem to be fundamental
objections to both possibilities.
If the dark regions are foreground
dust clouds , then the fact that so many
of them are observed against the glob-
ular clusters leads to an estimate of
the number of dark nebulae near the
sun that is far too high. On the other
hand, if the dark regions are actually
intraglobular dust clouds, then one
expects to find a great deal of gas in
the clusters, because studies of the
gas and dust in the galaxy have con-
sistently shown that where diffuse
matter exists in space, there is typi-
cally 100 to 1 ,000 times as much gas
as dust. This gas is mostly composed
of hydrogen. In a globular cluster, the
hydrogen atoms might be electrically
neutral, in which case they would
emit radiation at a wavelength of 2 1
centimeters , which could be observed
with radio telescopes. Or, alterna-
tively, the hydrogen might be electri-
cally charged, in which case radio
waves would be emitted at wave-
lengths of only a few centimeters and
there would also be a dim, red glow.
Yet several teams of astronomers,
using sensitive modern instruments,
have searched since 1970 for each of
these emissions in a number of globu-
lar clusters, and in no case has any
radiation been found.
Also since 1970, five X-ray
sources have been located in globular
clusters by two NASA satellites. Dur-
ing 1975/76, these sources were in-
tensively studied with five other
spacecraft, including one Dutch sat-
ellite carrying an American X-ray
telescope in its payload. These obser-
vations have caused a furor among
astrophysicists. Most known galactic
SAVE MONEY! ^..^V.^lZs'^L
BETTER-VUE
35mm slide
PROTECTOR
PAGES
Made of heavy, clear vinyl plastic.
Twenty separate pockets per page.
Best protection for slides and trans-
parencies. Pages (8V2 x 11) fit all
standard 3 ring binders. Write lor
otfier sizes and low prices.
pages hold
1,000 slides
ONLY
Send check or M.O. FREE postage
JAY PLASTICS, INC. Dept NH
^ 1515 Fifth Industrial Court, Bay Shore, N.Y. 11706 _j
PIATIGNUM ITALIC SET
1^ Contains a fountain pen, five
/]\ italic m(ii, and instruction
l';-'^ manuaf aff for onfy ^5.50...
At art matcriafSr'pcn sfiops,
cof[c(]C ^ 00k stores... or scmC
c(\cck to 'Pentafic Corj)., 132
West 22 St., N.y, N.y loon
Add ^0 cents for fiandfina.
1976-1977 ARCHAEOLOGICAL
TOURS TO ISRAEL
Professor YIGAEL YADIN
Israel — 10 days
Dec. 21 -Dec. 31, 1976
Professor CYRUS GORDON
Israel and Jordan
(including Mt. Sinai & Petra)
Jan. 10-Jan. 27, 1977
Professor ELIEZER OPEN
Israel
April 24-May 8, 1977
Including Mt. Sinai
for information;
Archaeological Tours of Israel
424 Madison Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10017
212-758-0500
AUTHORS WANTED BY
NEW YORK PUBLISHER
Leading book publisher seeks manuscripts of all
types: fiction, non-fiction, pwetry, scholarly and
juvenile works, etc. New authors welcomed. For
complete information, send for free booklet W-82.
Vantage Press, 516 W. 34 St.. New York lOOOl
out of prinl.scarce.rare NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
|-^ Botanv. Zoolopv.
jfie^ Onhidolop'.
OO]<^0r^Uho.o,v.En,
^*^-^-*-^rj Irhttiyology.
CATALOGUE AVAILABIi, $1.00
19 Oiford Placc/RKlnille Ontre, New Tork 11570
BIGFOOT
Expedition for Hikers, Backpackers and Snowshoers
You search for Bigfoot witti a scientist/naturalist/
tracker in wilderness areas of California and Oregon.
All year. Men and women of all ages. Limited space.
Write lor detailed catalog: BEAMER EXPEDITIONS
Dept. N96, P.O. Box 285, Canoga Park, CA 91305
124
HAKG
a bit of
natural
history
From the Hall
of Minerals
& Gems, a
handsome
21"x31"full
color poster which
commemorates the opening
of the hall. Photo composite of
gleaming copper and black opal
on a lustrous black background, A rich
memento, a welcome gi't-^jH^^
Only $3.50 including ^^^9%
shipping and handling. ClCpUllifiSl
Natural History Poster, Depl. PSIO^'*'''^
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me _ posters at
$3.50 each. My check/money order for a
total of $ is enclosed.
Name
Address
(please print)
Citv
Slate
_._. ___ ._?iP .
2
/%
>
/ jj
H
1 'M
C
^.
X
I i.'w''"^^^
m
fm^m^M^k^
m
x.l
f^/luseum members may take 10% discount.
<
o
z
^ a:
'^^DITIONS INt^
Vacations witti education in anthropology, natural
tiislorY and nature photograptiy lor Itie non-
specialist lo unique environments of ttie world.
Winter and Spring
Expeditions 1977
Pacific Islands and Lagoons
of Baja California
East Africa • New Zealand
Galapagos Islands
Mexico • Nepal
Yucatan and Guatemala
Sea of Cortez • Hawaiian Islands
Nature Expeditions International ■ Dept. N
4546 El Camino Real, Suite F" Box 1173
Los Altos, CA 94022 ■ (415) 941-2910
X-ray sources arc either supernova
rciiinauts (like the Crab Nebula) or
so-called X-ray binary stars, and nei-
ther of these are thought likely to still
exist in globular clusters. The globu-
iars, as a class, are among the oldest
objects in our galaxy and thus lack
any source of young stars of the type
that give rise to these two short-lived
classes of X-ray source, (A super-
nova remnant lasts for about 1 00, (XX)
years, while an X-ray binary expires
in only 10, (XX) years or so. A typical
globular cluster, on the other hand,
inay be 10 billion years old. Thus,
any X-ray sources that formed when
the cluster contained young stars
would have vanished long ago. ) If the
known types of X-ray sources do not
exist in the clusters, then the cluster
X-ray sources must represent physi-
cal phenomena of new types , It is log-
ical, therefore, to assume that they
result from the unique conditions in
the centers of globular clusters.
Many of the theories developed to
explain the X-rays from globular
clusters invoke colliding stars or
black holes or both. At one time, a
near collision between the sun and a
passing star was proposed as the ori-
gin of the earth and other planets in
our solar system. This idea was re-
jected when calculations showed that
the chances of such a collision taking
place are infinitesimal. By contrast,
stars in the core of a globular cluster
are so close together that collisions
undoubtedly do occur. Calculations
by University of Michigan astron-
omers indicate that a star confined to
the core region has a 3 percent chance
of colliding with another star during
the cluster's lifetime. In the densest
known cluster core, that of the globu-
lar M 80, this probability is a whop-
ping 41 percent. About 2,700 colli-
sions have occurred in M 80 accord-
ing to the Michigan calculations. It is
believed that some of the stars that
undergo collisions must be black
holes, since these massive objects
should be concentrated at the heart of
a cluster.
A black hole is the final stage of a
large star that imploded when its nu-
clear fuel ran out and the star could
no longer generate enough energy to
support its outer regions. Under such
circumstances, the huge mass of the
star is compressed into a tiny volume,
and the surface gravity becomes so
intense that not even a ray of light can
escape. Any matter that falls into a
black hole is trapped forever and sim-
ply increases the mass of the hole.
§:
(D
"n
-O H
o
3
v:
o
c
3'
(y) <
JQ
C
5!
(0
in
H rn
r
S
r
0
^33 1 > - 0
33
'r^ 3:
'- m ^ ^ > -V
H
5 cr
i zl ^ ^ '■ >
O
C
SO
cr
3 H
^ 3D
15
s 0 ^ > 'B ^
^ > 5 Z 1 S
^
Z '
F Z 2= 2 7
00
ON
i >
- -o
2_
sr m R p 2.
= 30 ? ~
vC
C£ Si ' '-
^ to
o
n
fO
o
>
o
Ql
Q-
(t)
3
n
1-
CU
en
O
3
■^
J
125
Free
outdoor
catalog
endorsed
by the
experts.
Send for REI's free outdoor catalog. It's
packed with over 1800 top-quality items for
your year-round sports enjoyment. Inside
you'll find gear and clothing for winter
camping, downhill skiing, ski mountaineering,
ski touring, cross-country skiing, backpacking
and more! And it's all available at low
REI Co-op prices.
For a one-time $2.00 membership, you'll get
all our upcoming catalogs and an annual
dividend on money you spend at
Recreational Equipment.
Last year, $1,900,000 was declared in
dividends to our members.
Shop REI in Seattle, Berkeley and now in
Portland, Oregon. Use coupon below or call
■ tol I free for your catalog, (800) 426-0351 .
n I want to be a MEMBER enclosed is $2.00.
D Please send me FREE color catalog only.
NAIvlE
ADDRESS
CITY
NH-10-C
■ Hecreat:iofnal Equipment: Ir-ic.
L "The Original Outdoor Cc-oo— Est 193B |
^^ P O, Box 22090, Seattle, WA 981 22 ^^ I
Historic Glass G^Uection
Discoveied After 100
Years in Museum Cellar
Over a century ago, an exquisite collection of flint
glass Jars was fiand-blown one by one to fiouse and
display the remarkable collections of tfie noted 19th
century naturalist Louis Agasslz.
For a hundred years they remained In the museum he
had founded at Harvard University. When new contain-
ers were purchased, we acquired the antique glass-
ware, and are now releasing them to Interested parties.
Ranging In height from three Inches to over three feet,
each Is unique, with Its specially ground and fitted
glass stopper. Prices range from $5.00 to over $300.00.
Each Is sold with an illustrated history of Agasslz's
work, and the historic New England Glass Company
(1818-1888), where the )ars were blown. A certificate
signed and numbered by our curator accompanies each
piece.
Our shop Is at 254 Newbury Street In Bos-
ton, or you can write for the free color
catalog and historical booklet. Examples
are now In many major museums; less
than half the collection remains, and we
can never obtain more. The Jar Collection,
Suite 3-A, 254 Newbury St., Boston, MA
02118.
&- ^
Since a hole is invisible, it must be
detected by indirect means and only
one such detection has been generally
accepted thus far — an object called
Cygnus X-1. Nevertheless, physi-
cists are confident that many black
holes exist, and point to neutron stars
(also the condensed remains of im-
ploded stars), which were predicted
by similar calculations and have been
found to exist in considerable num-
bers.
Two kinds of black holes, "giant"
and "ordinary," have figured in
globular-cluster theories. The giant
hole, with a mass of up to several
thousand times that of the sun, might
be primordial, that is, left over from
the birth of the cluster itself, when a
huge cloud condensed to form many
stars, perhaps also producing the
black hole at its center. Or it might
be composed of many lesser black
holes that collided and merged with
each other and with normal stars. If
a giant black hole were present in the
heart of a cluster, it would suck in gas
from surrounding space that was ei-
ther shed by stars as part of normal
stellar life {see "Missing Matter,"
Natural History, January 1976) or lit-
erally ripped off passing stars by huge
tides raised on their surfaces by the
gravitational force of the hole. As the
gas flowed toward the black hole, it
would be compressed and heated,
producing the observed X-rays.
Theories of this type have been pub-
lished by scientists at Princeton Uni-
versity, the Institute for Advanced
Study, and the University of Califor-
nia at Berkeley.
An ordinary black hole is one with
about ten times the sun's mass. If lo-
cated in a binary star system, it can
generate X-rays when matter flows
toward it from its companion star.
However, X-ray binaries of this type
should not exist among the old stars
of globular clusters, as mentioned
above. Thus, researchers have raised
the question. Can new X-ray binaries
be forming among the old stars of
these clusters? According to George
W. Clark of MIT, an authority on
cosmic X-rays, the answer is yes. He
points out that since even ordinary
black holes are much more massive
than the average star, they will tend
to "lurk" near the cluster centers.
There, a black hole may occasionally
capture another star in a near colli-
sion, thus forming a new X-ray bi-
nary. Clark believes that the potential
exists for one X-ray binary to be
formed in every cluster, although
QUESTERS f
WORLD OF -^^
NATURE TOURS
You may find :
' tours similar to
fessional travel company specializing
nature tours. Tour parties are small, the pace
leisurely, itineraries unusual, and the leader-
ship expert. Areas covered include Mexico,
Guatemala, Hawaii, Alaska, Indonesia, Ir
East Africa, Iceland, and Australasia. We
not tell you here, however, about all the tours,
or all the wildlife preserves, archaeological
sites, museums and temples you will visit, but
our current Directory of Worldwide Nature
Tours can. Call or write Questers or see your
travel agent today for your free copy!
Questers Tours
AND TRAVEL, INC.
DEFT. NH-1076, 257 PARK AVE^aIE SOUTH
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10010/(212) 673-3120
BUSHNELL 7x35 CUSTOM
Mfg. List $169.50 Postpaid $94.50
This is an example of the deep discount prices on high
quality optics that is found in our FREE catalog. This
catalog lists and illustrates an outstanding selection
of telephoto lens, telescopes, binoculars etc., plus
valuable information on how to properly select them.
Write for it today.
GIL HEBARD OPTICS
COURTHOUSE SQ., KNOXVILLE, ILL. 61448
Shells
Fossils
Minerals
^i^^\
NEW COLOR PORTFOClfTplui >\
Illustrated Catalog $1.00 W^
DOVER SCIENTIFIC JSP^
Box 6011 C Long Island City, N.Y. 11106 '.K? #
CATCH ANIMAL RAIDER8I
CatchM mora!
Eaiy to umI
simple, safe HAVAHART traps catch raldlns rabbits,
coons, squirrels, pigeons, sparrows, etc.. without Injury.
Straying pets, poultry released unhurt. Fully assemble<I.
No Jawe or springs to break. Galvanized; many In use
20 years. Open ends give animal confidence. Sizes for all
needs. Send 25c for valuable Illustrated guide and price Hat.
HAVAHART, 158 Water St., Ossining, N.Y. 10562
Here's my 25c. Please send price list, trapping KUlde.
126
only five globular cluster X-ray
sources have been found. An expert
on star collisions. Jack G. Hills of the
University of Michigan, disagrees,
but suggests that an X-ray binary
might be formed when a black hole
encounters a normal binary, captur-
ing one of its member stars while the
other escapes. Hills also claims that
binaries are not needed to explain the
globular cluster X-ray sources, since
he calculates that the tidal disruption
of passing stars by an ordinary black
hole can produce sufficient X-rays.
Massive black holes in globular
clusters (if any exist there) might help
explain the absence of gas, which
puzzles observers who search for in-
traglobular hydrogen . At the center of
a cluster, the interstellar material
could be drawn into the black hole,
producing the observed X-rays. In the
outer regions, say two University of
Maryland astronomers, the gas could
be heated and blown out of the cluster
in a great "stellar wind" driven by
the combined ultraviolet light of the
cluster stars. This might account for
the presence in globular clusters of
dust clouds lacking the usual large
amounts of accompanying gas. Thus,
there may be a link between the old
problem of dark matter in globular
clusters and the recent discovery that
they produce powerful X-ray radia-
tion. The occurrence of black holes
would also mean that centers of force
exist in the clusters, although not in
the form imagined by Holden eighty-
five years ago.
In the past year, a new series of
findings poses additional mysteries
concerning globular clusters. The
Dutch satellite and SAS-3, one of
NASA's, have detected rapid X-ray
bursts (lasting only seconds) from
cluster sources, and Soviet astron-
omers now say that in 1971 they ob-
served similar events in two clusters
with their Cosmos 428 spacecraft.
Further, similar bursts have been re-
corded from directions in space
where no globular clusters are seen.
Attempts thus far to explain these
bursts have been most unsatisfactory.
It appears that additional discoveries
raise more questions than they answer
as astronomers extend their studies of
the remarkable globular clusters.
Stephen P. Maran is at the University
of California in Los Angeles on tem-
porary assignment from NASA 's
Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland, to study stars.
iii]ffipi?as@s
BONSAI JUNIPER
Nature in minialure - ihis liitle Ifce
is already three years old. yet |ust 6
inches high. Planted in a special clay
pot; comes with 96-page handbook on
the ancient and subtle an of Bonsai.
Available all year.
Order Gift No. 261 ... $1395 delv'd
ROYAL RIVIERA' PEARS
So big and juicy they'll eat 'em with a
spoon - so rare, not 1 person in 1000
has ever tasted them! Beautifully gilt
packed and sent with your personal
greetings. Perfect arrival guaranteed!
Net wt. 6-3/4 lbs. Order now lor
Christmas delivery.
Order Gill No. 1 $945 delvd
CHRISTMAS CROCUS
Completely pre-planted and ready to
grow in a genuine handpainted Delft
planter! Nothing to add but water -
includes 12 top $i;e bulbs. Do order
NQWfor Christmas delivery!
Available Dec. IOtoFeb.14.
OrderGilt No 801 . $1195delv'd
The Original, One-and-Only
Jfuit^of theoWonth Club
Since 1936, America's favorite family club. Month after month, a parade of the world's rarest and
finest fruit sent direct from the orchard. Each gift box with your greetings. All announced by a
handsome, gold-embossed Certificate of Membership.
Christmas - Royal Riviera Pears
Jan - Crisp Mountain Apples
Feb - Royal Grapefruit
March - Royal Oranges
April - Hawaiian Pineapples
May - Wild 'n RareS'Prcserves
June - Home-Canned Fruits
July - Giant Kiwi Berries
August - Exotic Nectarines
Sept - Oregold* Peaches
Oct - Alphonse LaValle Grapes
Nov - Royal Beurre* Bosc Pears
3-BOX CLUB Surprise them with gorgeous gift
boxes for Christmas, January and February!
Gift No. in . . . S2495 delv'd
5-BOX CLUB Keeps coming and coming! Christ-
mas, January, February, May and September.
Gift No. 141 ...S3995 delv'd
8-BOX CLUB Delight them to pieces again and
again! Christmas, January, February, May, August,
September, October and November.
Gift No. 151 ... s6695delv'd
12-BOX CLUB Flabbergasting! A gorgeous gift
every single month of the year.
Gift No. 201 ...$9995 delv'd
We guarantee your complete satisfaction in every respect ... or your money back!
Every year folks write to tell us
how pleased their friends are with
gifts from Harry and David. Our
"secret"? It's the personal touch
that's part of every gift we make.
Harry and I grow our own fruit,
bake our own cakes, put up our
own preserves - even make our
own baskets. If you could see the
care with which our gifts are put
together, you'd know why the
quality is guaranteed.
EASY TO ORDER Use the order
blanks at right, or just send us your
list. Enclose check or money order
(no C.O.D.'s please). Tell us howto
sign your greetings for each gift.
Allpricesincludedelivery.
f ™ " " ■• Order here or send us your list"
SHIP AS
^YGIFT TO
Box 522-A/ Medford, Oregon 97501
©1976, Harry and Oavid
STREET.
CITY
Quantitv
Name of Gift
Gift No
Amount
$
'^:::^n
Greetings to read:
a
STREET.
CITY
Quantity
Name of Gift
Gift No.
Amount
$
Ship to Arriver-l Ship to
fo' Christmas LJ ArnveOnlDate
Greetings to read;
rfnciole D
(tvlax 3V, X 5)
Ordered By
Address
-Zip-
irHEMMm
RUSSELL D. BUTCH RR
Introduction bv Morris K. Udall
Here is the American desert . . .
its rare wildlife, its unique
^ flowers, its extraordinary
landscapes. In 64 pjges of sgec-
Butcher explores its infinite
variety to reveal its wonder
and mystery.
Selection of Natural Science
Bookclub. A STUDIO BOOK
$17.50
THE VIKING PRESS
625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 111022
The complete natural history of
a vanishedlce Age predator
With authority and a consuming
personal interest, a leading pale-
ontologist explores in fascina-
ting detail the mighty European
cave bear and its relationship to
primitive man— from discovery
of the early bear caves through
the cave bear's evolution to its
extinction about 10,000 years
ago.
THE CAVE
BEAR STORY
Life and Death of a Vanished Animal
byBjornKurten
author of The Age oi Mammals
llluslrated $8 95 al bookslores or from
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
1 36 South Broadway, lr^/lnglon. New York 10533
Books in Review
An Energetic
Call for Socialism
The Poverty of Power, by Barry
Commoner. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.,
$10.00; 382 pp.
The first law of thermodynamics
ordains that the total amount of en-
ergy in this universe of ours is con-
stant. Energy can neither be created
nor destroyed. A weight falling
toward the floor builds up energy yet,
splat, there it ultimately lies immo-
bile. The energy account remains in
balance, however, because an equiv-
alent amount of heat was generated
by the impact. Ah, suppose that we
could harness that heat and use it to
raise the weight, let it fall again,
harness the heat — why, we may be on
to perpetual motion. We are never
going to do it.
Why should we not succeed if en-
ergy is a constant? Because what we
intend to do is to get work out of en-
ergy, at which point we run afoul of
the second law of thermodynamics.
That is to say, uncoordinated energy
does not spontaneously transform it-
self into coordinated energy. We
shall have to harness the heat to get
work out of it, which requires an en-
gine. Even our most perfect engine
will lose some of the heat between the
source and the final drive shaft. While
no energy is lost by the universe, we
mortals, of necessity, waste a great
deal of energy trying to put it to work
for us.
Our conventional sources of en-
ergy , oil and coal , are in finite supply .
We should use them so as to get the
most work we can out of every ton
we consume. "Waste not, want not"
is simple Yankee prudence. Better
yet, such a strategy will improve the
environment because the energy we
waste tends to turn up in such forms
as thermal pollution. What we need
to do then is to match fuels to the jobs
we have in mind. It makes little sense
to burn tons of oil to produce elec-
tricity and then, after the generating
plant releases untold amounts of
waste heat into the atmosphere and a
great deal of the electrical energy is
lost in the transmission process, use
the resultant electrical energy to heat
a house. It is absurd to build a nuclear
reactor to boil water to create steam
to power a generator to produce elec-
trical energy so that some homeowner
can turn around and use the resultant
product to boil water on his electric
stove. We don't need all this fuss and
waste in order to create heat all over
again. We should employ electricity
where we need it, as in the case of
powering motors. Thus Dr. Com-
moner articulates his own axiom:
"Energy is elficiently used when the
quality of the source is matched to the
quality demanded by the task."
What should we be doing? First
and foremost, we should not despair.
We have on hand domestic oil re-
serves to see us through the next fifty
or sixty years if we don't fritter them
away. Efficiency dictates then that we
replace the oil burner with the diesel-
powered heat pump to heat homes.
We must make more use of electric
trains to transport commuters. With
both expedients we can actually use
what has hitherto been waste to gain
added dividends. We can tap the ex-
haust from the heat pump's diesel
motor for extra heat and we can chan-
128
129
by E.F. Roberts
nel the exhaust of coal-powered gen-
erating plants to heat center-city
apartment blocks.
These tactics, designed to buy
time, are not calculated to see the
emergence of a plutonium economy.
Uranium being itself in finite supply,
nuclear energy ultimately entails reli-
ance on reactors powered by pluto-
nium. Plutonium is so dangerous a
substance that, let loose into the en-
vironment by an accident, the conse-
quences cannot fairly be gauged.
Worse yet, it can be made into a bomb
by people working with material
available at their local hardware store
and an ordinary laboratory-supply
house.
Our ultimate strategy should be
calculated to see us obtaining our en-
ergy from renewable resources fifty
years hence. The only renewable
source of energy is the sun. But isn't
this a pipe dream? Not according to
Commoner, who presents a case for
the proposition that we can ultimately
"obtain all, or nearly all, of our en-
ergy from the sun." This is not all.
"When the facts are known, how-
ever, it turns out that solar energy can
not only replace a good deal, and
eventually all, of our present con-
sumption of conventional fuels — and
eliminate that much environmental
pollution — but can also reverse the
trend toward escalating energy costs
that is so seriously affecting the eco-
nomic system."
We reach a critical point with this
reference to the economic system.
What I have done up to now is try to
illustrate the exciting flavor of Com-
moner's discussion of energy and its
PolyNEsiA's
SacrecI
IsIe
Edward Dodd
The mysterious and lovely little South
Pacific island of Raiatea, the holy land
of ancient Polynesian
civilization and home of the
unique flower, the tiare
apetahi, is explored through
its mythology, geology,
botany and people. 'A fas-
cinating portrait of an exotic
culture and a
romantic place."
—Publisher's Weekly
200 photographs. $10.00
79 Madison Avenue
New York. NY 10016
Naturalists, conservationists, and
pond watchers alike will thrill to these
splendid color photographs of small
animals and insects in their
natural settings. Photo-
graphing Nature provides
intimate glimpses of a
microscopic world few of
us ever see — and puts macro-
lotography within the reach of
most camera enthusiasts with
practical tips on equipment
and shooting.
PHOTOGRAPHING
NATURE
From the Magnifying Glass
to the Microscope
by C. Nuridsany
and M. Perennou
Translated by J. W. Steward
With 116 full-color photos,
drawings $17.95
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
200 Madison Avenue
New York. NY. 10016
129
From Italy . . . The Ultimate in
HISTORIC SHIP
REPLICA KITS
Frame and Plank Construction
V
World famous SERGAL and
MANTUA kits; large magnificent
replicas (up to 51" long) witfi
beautiful walnut planking and com-
ponents and cast-brass details.
Virtually museum pieces when
completed. Large-scale plans, En-
glish Instructions, all materials in-
cluded. Also, hundreds of other
superb Italian kits, plans and ac-
cessories.
Send for our 88-page,
full-color catalog,
only $3.00 —
refunded witfi your first order.
(For purctiase of ships, major
credit cards accepted.) Mail check to
our new US Warehouse address:
MODEL EXPO, INC.
Dept. NH-10 / 230 Second Street
Dunellen.N.J. 08812
uses. There is much more to the book
than that, however, because he also
examines why we should have come
to be involved building nuclear reac-
tors in order that people can brew
their breakfast tea. It boils down to
a strong case for the proposition that
we have no rational over-all energy
program. What we do have are pro-
grams designed by oil companies and
electric utilities to merchandise their
products in order to make a protit.
The future may be even bleaker if we
continue to treat energy resources as
mere commodities to be exchanged
for profit. Extracting oil and coal is
going to require ever increasing in-
vestment in plants and equipment,
and the necessary capital is already
being exacted from consumers as a
hidden increment in the escalating
price of fuel. We shall all ultimately
be colder, poorer, and likely jobless
because our industrial society cannot
continue to function without rela-
tively cheap energy.
Recall now that Commoner fore-
sees the sun as the ultimate solution
of the energy problem. Solar energy
is going to become extremely valu-
able to us. Social need will create this
value so that, unlike oil, we should
not recognize solar energy as any-
one's private property. In short, we
need to socialize our energy sources
if we are not going to make another
hash of it. So excited does the good
doctor become on this score that he
seriously treats with Marx and comes
out foursquare for socialism in lieu of
capitalism. This part of the book, ob-
viously, has not been met with rave
reviews. The headline writers for the
New York Times have unwittingly
distilled conventional wisdom if we
read the daily and weekend editions
of their wit seriatim: "Thermo-
dynamic Socialism: Read it for the
science, pass up the economics."
What is one to make of all this? On
the one hand, it may be that Com-
moner has authored a self-fulfilling
prophecy. The economist Joseph
Schumpeter did predict, after all, that
capitalism would collapse precisely
because people would cease to be-
lieve in it. On the other hand, the au-
thor's "socialism" may be a fad. In
this regard the reader should reflect
on an axiom of sociologist Henri Le-
^
Language sets man apart from other animals. Or does it?
Do animals have intentions or mental images? How can we be sure?
144 pages, bibliography
Indexes $8.95
For your copy, write:
The Question of Animal Awareness
EVOLUTIONARY CONTINUITY OF MENTAL EXPERIENCE
by Donald R. Griffin
proposes some answers to these and many other questions. This challenging book
takes a bold, fresh look at current research in animal communication and suggests
the possibility of developing "a truly experimental science of cognitive ethology."
Dr. Griffin is a professor at The Rockefeller University, and an internationally recog-
nized authority on animal communication. His new book will attract the attention
of specialists in linguistics, behavior, and ethology. Nonspecialists, too, will find
food for thought in this little volume.
Order Service, The Rockefeller University Press, 1230 York Avenue, N.Y. 10021
130
I'ebvre, someone actually familiar
with Marxism. "Thus the bourgeoi-
sie swings wildly. . . . Malthusianism
is its ideology in periods of depres-
sion. . . . Technological snobbery be-
comes its ideology in periods of ex-
pansion. . . , Both ideologies rellect
the current level of productive
forces."
Read the book — it is a "must" —
and make your own judgment. Let me
reveal my own reaction. Com-
moner's urge to order worries me in
light of his own reliance on the sec-
ond law of thermodynamics. After
all, that law paraphrases entropy, the
notion that the universe is becoming
less and less ordered. Humankind can
stand only so much disorder before it,
by hook or crook, imposes some fab-
ricated notion of order, I am re-
minded, therefore, of Rubashov's re-
flections in Koestler's Darkness at
Noon. "A people's capacity to gov-
ern itself democratically is thus
proportionate to the degree of its un-
derstanding of the structure and func-
tioning of the whole social body.
. . . The mistake of socialist theory
was to believe that the level of mass-
consciousness rose constantly and
steadily." If entropy functions to
complicate the economic and social
world so that, increasingly, people
lind it difficult to understand, then Ru-
bashov's dictum has to be taken
seriously if we posit "socialism" as
an answer to our problems . It is worth
noting that it is the United Kingdom
and the Soviet Union that are produc-
ing SSTs, so that "socialist" socie-
ties are not necessarily environ-
mentally superconscious societies.
Frankly, 1 have been very worried
for some time at how sincere concern
over the environment can lead to a
belief in "right" answers and a wish
for a government able to impose those
right answers. The behavior of the en-
ergy merchants merits the lambasting
they get from Dr. Commoner. 1 feel
uneasy here, however, because Com-
moner's certainties may be a prelude,
not to democratic socialism, but to
national socialism.
E.F. Roberts is a professor at Cor-
nell University Law School, where he
teaches environmental law and land-
use planning.
L.L.Bean
Chamois Cloth Shirt
'S^
sl
For Men and Women
Sueded cotton Looks
and feels like hign
jiade cfiamois leather
Machine washable and
IS more durable than
wool Mr Bean per-
sonally used this shirt
on his hunting and fish-
ing trips Colors, Navy
Blue. Tan, Bright Red,
Forest Green Ladies
sizes 10 to 20 Mens
sizes U^i to 19.
L, Send Free Catalog
Ship Ladies Chamois Cloth Shirts
@$12 35ppd
Size Color
Ship Mens Chamois Cloth Shirts
(a $12 50ppd
Size Color
□ Check Enclosed
D BankAmencard
Z Master Charge
a American Exrpess
Name
Street
City-
Zip -
Outdoor Sporting Specialties
LL. Bean, Inc.
622 Main St., Freeport. Maine 04033
What adiffeFeiice albshica makes.
that sells for ai=
picture on the r
the Yashica Electro-35 GSN which
sells in the same price range. The
difference is obvious.
The Yashica is small, compact
and surprisingly simple to operate.
because you know tne re^i
be superior.
Pick a Yashica and discc
difference the pros have kt,
about for years. ■;
More importantly, Yashica v/A CLJI/^ A '"'ashica Inc., 41 1 Sef
gives you full-frame 35mm YAorll\-/A Paramus, N.J. 076$
Yashka cameras.
Firom under ^100
tooverM*
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon After crossing over the equator in late September,
the sun continues to move rapidly southward above the earth. It is in
Virgo throughout the month, passing into the stars of Libra by November
1 . On October 23 , it encounters the new moon, producing a solar eclipse,
total along a narrow path extending from east Africa to southern Austra-
lia, and partial in a broad area of the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The moon will be a prominent evening object through the first ten
days of October; a morning object from then until about the 20th. It
will show up again in the evening sky from late October through the
first week and a half of November. It will be full on October 7, last-quar-
ter on October 16, new on October 23, and first-quarter on October 29.
In early November, full moon is on the 6th, last-quarter on the 14th.
The penumbral eclipse of the moon on November 6 (when the earth
blocks some sunlight from the moon) occurs mostly after moonrise in
North America, producing little discernible change in the moon's ap-
pearance.
Stars and Planets Jupiter, in Taurus, is the only planet one can see
on the evening Star Map. It rises shortly after sundown and remains
visible throughout the night, brighter than any other starlike object.
Venus — the prominent object you see in the west during twilight — is
brighter than Jupiter, but it sets too early to appear on the map. Mars,
although still an evening object, is not in a good position for viewing.
Mercury and Saturn are morning stars. Saturn can be seen in the east,
in Cancer, any morning after midnight; look for Mercury low in the
east during morning twilight until mid-October.
October 7: Mercury is at its greatest distance to the right of the sun
(a very favorable morning elongation). Today's full moon is the hunter's
moon.
October 10: Moon at apogee, farthest from earth.
October 11: The bright object near the moon tonight is Jupiter. The
two separate slowly during the night.
October 18: At dawn, look for Saturn above the crescent moon.
October 21: The Orionid meteor shower (about 25 per hour, often
bright) reaches maximum this morning.
October 23: Eclipse of the sun, not visible in America. Perigee moon,
nearest earth, occurs eight hours past new, so look for strong tides
(perigee spring tides).
October 24: Communities on daylight time move clocks back one
hour this morning, returning to standard time.
October 24-25: The crescent moon moves from right to left above
Venus.
October 27: The star near Venus is Antares, in Scorpius.
November 4: The weak (15 per hour) and dim Taurid meteors reach
maximum.
November 6: Moon at apogee. Penumbral lunar eclipse.
November 7 : Jupiter is again very near the moon. Mercury , at superior
conjunction (in line with but beyond the sun), enters the evening sky.
* Hold the Star Map so the compass direction you face is at the bottom; then
match the stars in the lower half of the map with those in the sky near the horizon.
The map is for 11:15 p.m. on October 1; 10:20 p.m. on October 15; 9:15 p.m.
on October 31 ; and 8: 15 p.m. on November 15; but it can be used for an hour
before and after those times.
132
aaddia aiun,*-,.'
^•,^ \^'^Of?OMfo^
. ,..^^^^
133
Cumberland Electric
Membership Corpora-
tion is a rural electric
cooperative which pro-
vides light and power
for more than 37,000
farms, homes, busi-
nesses and industries
in a five-county area
of middle Tennessee.
Cumberland averages
8.3 meters per mile of
line; the national
average for rural elec-
tric systems is four.
Nationwide, some 1000
consumer-owned, non-
profit rural electric co-
operatives and public
power districts serve 25
million consumers in 46
of the 50 states. They own
and maintain nearly two
million miles of line—
42yo of the nation's total.
If we don't deal now
with the energy
problem in its
entirety, we may
soon be facing
an even bigger
problem-how to
sustain our economy
and our social
structures when
there's not
enough energy
to go around.
John R. Dolinger, manager of
Cumberland EMC, Clarksville, Tenn.,
is president of the National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association, through which
America's rural electric systems formulate
and espouse policies on national issues.
Annually, delegates
from each of the
nation's rural electric
systems meet to for-
mulate policy. For a
statement of their
positions on energy,
write to "Energy Pol-
icy", NRECA, 2000
Florida Avenue,
N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20009.
We've said it before; we're saying it again. The longer we delay
development of a comprehensive national program to ensure adequate energy
for the future, the more unmanageable the problem becomes.
The problem is multi-faceted, highly complicated. The answers aren't
all that easy to come by. But in every critical situation, there's a point where
debate must give way to decision — and action. With energy, we think that point
has been reached.
In the weeks ahead, we're going to be speaking out on some of the tough
decisions that must be made . . . pushing for commonsense, people-
oriented approaches.
It is our responsibility to do so, as meaningfully and forcefully as we can.
America's rural electric systems
Additional
Reading
Malnutrition and lA-arnin^ (p. 6)
Malniilrilion, Learning and Behavior.
edited by Nevin S. Scrimshaw and John
E. Gordon (Cambridge; MIT Press,
1968, $15), is a good entry point into the
disparate literature of this field. Review
articles on relationships between nutri-
tion and intellectual development include
Bonnie J. Kaplan's "Malnutrition and
Mental Deficiency" (Psychological Bul-
letin. 1972, vol. 78, pp.' 321-34), "Nu-
trition and Learning," by H. F. Eichcn-
wald and P. C. Fry {Science. \969. vol.
163, pp. 644^8), and "Protein-Calorie
Malnutrition in Children and Its Relation
to Psychological Development and Be-
havior," by Michael C. Latham (Physio-
logical Reviews. 1974, vol. 54, pp.
541-65). "Nutritional and Environ-
mental Interactions in the Behavioral
Development of the Rat; Long-Term Ef-
fects," by David A. Levitsky and Rich-
ard H. Barnes (Science. 1972, vol. 176,
pp. 68-71), and "Malnutrition and En-
vironmental Enrichment by Early Adop-
tion," by Myron Winick et al. {Science.
1975, vol. 190, pp. 1173-75), show the
potential for environmental compensa-
tion of nutritional deficits. The Mexican
study described by Levitsky, "The Im-
portance of Nutrition and Stimuli on
Child Mental and Social Development,"
by Alfonso Chavez et al. , was published
in Early Malnutrition and Mental Devel-
opment, edited by J. Cravioto (Stock-
holm; Almqvist and Wiksell, 1974, pp.
211-25). In their contribution, "Early
Undernutrition, Brain Development and
Behavior," to Ethology and Develop-
ment, edited by S. A. Barnett (London;
William Heinemann, 1972), John Dob-
bing and J. L. Smart critically reviewed
! the effects of malnutrition on structural
and functional changes in neural organi-
zation.
Malaria and Economics (p. 36)
Malarial biology is covered in P.C.C.
Garnham's Malaria Parasites and Other
Haemosporidia (Oxford; Blackwell Sci-
entific Publications, 1966) and in his
paperback text. Progress in Parasitology
(Atlantic Highlands; Humanities Press,
1 97 1 , $3 . 25 ) . The battle against this dis-
ease is documented in Greer Williams's
The Plague Killers (New York; Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1969, $6.95) and Mal-
colm Watson's African Highway: The
Battle for Health in Central Africa (Mys-
' Elegance in illumination is act-
this graceful oil lamp of handblown gle
A patented design created by Jon Wolfard,
gj^^ it lends an aura of warmth and hospitality to any home.
When filled with a quality lamp oil, the lamp is odorless. Or you
may prefer to use a gently scented oil, either clear or in color.
Available in three sizes, this handsome lamp makes an ideal gift.
Should you not be delighted with your purchase,
you may return it within ten days for a refund.
Please allow three weeks for delivery.
^.- )
•J
3134 Coffey Lane • Santa Rosa, California 95401
Please send me:
15-inch lamps (j
California residents please add
!$3S 6 percent sales tax $
: 12-inch lamps® $28 Enclosed is my check or
sr money order for $
9-inch lamps® $24 AH prices include delivery.
Name
Street
City _
Zip.
135
Ready to
Assemble and Finish
18" Century Furniture
One of 24 Bartley classics, in hand crafted
solid mahogany, oak or cherry. Totally
authentic in design and beautifully
constructed. Each kit is easily assembled
and finished in your own home without
tools. All pieces also offered completely
assembled and hand finished. A $5.00
coupon included with catalogue.
17
Pie
end
youi
illus
ated
n
catalogue of 18th century antique
furniture reproductions available
in kit form or hand finished. 1 am
enclosing $1.00 to cover postage
and handling.
j City/State/Zip
I TheBart}eyGollection,%i. j
747 Oakwood Ave., Dept. 12, Lake Forest, II 60045
'An extraordinary document
of natural history."*
Horses of
the Camargue
photographs and text
by Hans Silvester
Preface hy Konrad Loreuz
"Truly one of the most beautiful
photo-essays of this season, a
celebration of the wild horses,
living today ... in the fertile,
isolated Camargue region ot
southern France. —P//A/«/:'fr,( Weekly
94 full-color photographs.
A STUDIO BOOK $27.50
THE VIKING PRESS
f.2i M.uiison AxcnuL'. N\.-« ^'l)rl^. N,>'. 1(H);
tic: Lawrence Verry, 1953). The Care-
less Technology: Ecology and Interna-
tional Development, edited by M. Taghi
Farvar and John P. Milton (Garden City;
Doubleday, 1972, $25), the proceedings
of an international conference, deals with
the disruption of naturally balanced eco-
systems by the implementation of plans
aimed at economic development. "Ef-
fects of Irrigation on Mosquito Popula-
tions and Mosquito-borne Disease in
Man, with Particular Reference to Rice-
field Extension," by G. Suttees (Interna-
tional Journal oj Environmental Studies.
1970, vol. 1 , pp. 35^2), illustrates prob-
lems that can arise from such develop-
mental schemes.
Bermuda Birds (p. 48)
Kenneth L. Crowell's "Reduced In-
terspecific Competition Among the Birds
of Bermuda" (Ecology. 1962, vol. 43,
pp. 75-88) provides additional details of
his field studies of this island habitat;
"Down East Mice" (Natural History.
October 1975, pp. 34-39) deals with an-
other facet of .Crowell's research on is-
land biogeography and population dy-
namics. C. S. Elton's The Ecology of In-
vasions by Animals and Plants (New
York; John Wiley & Sons, 1966, $5) ana-
lyzes the impact of new species on eco-
system diversity. Richard A. Slaughter,
in Birds in Bermuda (Hamilton; Ber-
muda Bookstore, 1975), complements
at
This is a complete recoriling, delivered by Louis
Zoul, of Edward Fitzgerald's 5tli version, and i
the cumulative effort of three men ot genius.
It is followed by a few comments and compari-
sons, and also Pedro Calderon de la Barca's The
Dream Called Life and Life is a Dream.
Lastly, beginning with Hamlet's soliloquy, there
is some of Shakespear's best.
Among the kudos we've received, this came from
a prolessor in Ethiopia:"lt is beyond compare!" A
Brooklyn ladywrote:"iplay It over and over. It is
my tTeasure."While from Canada a gentleman re-
quested: "Because the record is such a beauty,
send another one."
A super/oriVe delivery ot superlative poetry
$10.00
Now there is also available a companion book.lt
is hand bound and printed on high bulk long life
archive book paper. Estimated duration-500yrs.
$15.00
Plus Applicable Sales Tax
(o«ly for N.Y. SInlf re»idt„l,)
Available Only By Mail
PUBLIC OPINION
Box N -4044 Long Island CHy,
New York 11104
MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON'S
NATURAL HISTORY
'77
FOR DETAILS & AN ITINERARY,
PLEASE WRITE:
DIRECTOR OF TOURS
NATURAL HISTORY SERVICES
MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY
LINCOLN, MASS. 01773
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 30 TO 90 DAYS
Wanted: Book manuscripts in all delds. Expert
editing, design, manufacture, and marketing-
all under one roof. Two FREE books (over
270 pages) give complete details
Write or phone Dept 779D ,
EXPOSITION PRESS, Hicksville, NY. 11801
(516) 822-5700
RARE ENDANGERED SPECIES
■H 1 ON EXQUISITE NOTE CARDS
■' f,...|" Markhor. Japanese Crane, Imperial
■i"^' Woodpecker, Leadbeater's Pos-
^ sum, Maned V\loll, Darwin's Finch
— six beautiful, original drawings
■^ , iL by noted artist, Lonna Snedecor,
\ I ! I on large, quality note cards with
- •■'•'\ ,' i ecological data. Skillful lithography
shows every accurate detail and
subtle shadow — each magnificent
animal seems truly alive.
Send a "living" conservation message whenever you write.
Boxed assortment makes thoughtful gift — 12 cards (folded to
4 1/4" X 6 1/8") with envelopes. $3 95 Add 55c shipping.
Save moneys order 2 or more boxes, we pay shipping to your
home Fast UPS delivery (6 days), 48 States. Calif res. add
6% tax Send check or M 0, Order Box B
Yarra Ltd., 74-391 Old Prospector Trail, Palm Desert, CA 92260
Before You Go Anywhere...
BE A TRAVEL EXPERT!
9si know- the WOBIO TRAVEL DATA service. Save HUNDBEDS olj
kM%, %%%, avoid costly errors, vacation-rurntng blunders. Be travel •
^^K^ wise- join knowledgeable travelers sharing tlie inside secrets*
®^Sv, of low-cost, comfortable global travel. Be continually t
j^'sj?*-,-— .m. glL updated on current conditions,*
fe'..I/- ]'M|jp*B»^gWff latest changes. Write: •
IS'> W.f. I. ,164"?), Vain* StVoVpt, CML* OraVge.'cA 92668* '
BRAIDED CALFSKIN BELTS
These pliant comfortable belts are hand
braided fronn sixteen strands of specially tan-
ned calfskin. The width is one and one-hall
inches, the color natural tan. The distinctive
dees in the closure are sand cast brass.
No. 817 1Vz inch $13.50 ppd.
Send lor our unique catalog
^AUSTRAL ENTERPRISES
Box 70190. Seattle. Washington 98107
136
FURL
a bit of
natural
history
Whale and dinosaur
ride high while you
keep dry. Umbrella
is quick-drying
nylon and ideal size
for men and women.
With a light-weight
wood handle,
grooved to give
you a good grip
on things. Beige with
brown motif or navy
with beige. $16.00
including shipping
and handling.
Natural History Umbrella, Dept. U100^
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me Beige Navy
umbrellas at $16.00 eacti. My cfiecWmoney
order for a total of $ is enclosed.
Name
Z!P__
Museum members may take 10% discount.
f\N
^
WOODWORKERS:
The Best Is arifJ^Economy
Do Better Woodwork
with Garrett Wade Tools
Your woodworking tools are your constant
companions in yowt leisure hours. Pick them
as carefully as you do your friends — for
their good qualities and compatibility.
Your friendship with your Garrett Wade
tools will last for years, whether you make
your own furniture, carve, sculpt, do oc-
casional repairs, or are a cabinet-maker.
Garrett Wade offers you "a beautiful and
extensive line of imported hand tools" and
"the most complete selection" of work-
benches in the U.S. (Popular Mechanics,
March, 1976.)
It takes fine tools to do your best wood-
work. Get your copy of Garrett Wade's
Yankee Wood Craftsman Catalog — packed
with exciting gift ideas, and information for
beginner and expert.
SEND TODAY FOR FREE 64-PAGE FULL-
COLOR CATALOG/WOODCRAFT iVlANUAL
Garret Wade Company, Inc. , Dept. N H
302 Fifth Avenue, New York 10001
DYes, I want a FREE Garrett Wade Cat-
alog.
Dl'm in a hun-y; send it first class mail.
I enclose $1.00 postage and handling.
Name
Address
^,^ity St ZIP y^
his cxccllcnl photographs with a poetic
pica lor maintaining the integrity of natu-
ral ecosystems. David B. Wingate's A
Check lAsI and Guide lo the liirds oflier-
inudu (Hamilton: The Island Press,
1973), an annotated list of the island's
breeding birds, also contains detailed
charts ol the occurrence ol all 320 tran-
sient and resident species.
National Parks Supplement (p. 57)
See pages 86-87.
Primate Conservation (p. 90)
Thomas T. Struhsaker's "Rain Forest
Conservation in Africa" iPrimate.s.
1972, vol. 13, pp. 103-9) stresses the
need for rain forest parks to preserve the
natural habitats of many endangered pri-
mate species. Several Natural History m-
ticles.such as R. D. .Martin's "Ascent of
the Primates (March 1975, pp. 52-61)
and "Strategies of Reproduction" (No-
vember 1975. pp. 48-57) and Katherine
M. Homewood's "Monkey on a River-
bank" (January 1975, pp. 68-73), have
addressed the ecological strategies of
threatened species. Primate Utilization
and Conservation, edited by D. Lindburg
and G. Bermant (New York; John Wiley
& Sons, 1975), collects nearly a dozen
papers from a symposium, which are ex-
emplified by primate ecologist J. Stephen
Gartlan's "The African Coastal Rain
Forest and Its Primates: Threatened Re-
sources" (pp. 67-82) and Orville A.
Smith's "Production of Specialized Lab-
oratory Primates, with Consideration for
Primate Conservation" (pp. 127-39).
"Problems and Potentials for Primate Bi-
ology and Conservation in the New
World," by Paul G. Heltne and Richard
W. Thorington, Jr., is representative of
the papers in Neotropical Primates: Field
Studies and Conservation, edited by
Thorington and Heltne (Washington, Na-
tional Academy of Sciences, 1976), a
symposium directed to conserving New
World species and their ecosystems.
Mountain Biometeorology (p. 100)
Maurice G. Brooks's The Life of the
Mountains (New York: McGraw-Hill,
1967) provides a general biological sur-
vey. Climates of North America, edited
by Reid A. Bryson and F. Kenneth Hare
(New York: American Elsevier Publish-
ing, 1974), includes excellent descrip-
tions of the effects of mountain ranges on
weather systems. Eric Sloane's slim vol-
ume. Clouds. Air and Wind (New York:
Devin-Adair, 1941), provides more in-
formation on cloud forms than many
newer, more formal texts. In a paper
coauthored with W. R. Henson and W.
G. Wellington, Ronald W. Stark reports
on the "Effects of the Weather of the
Coldest Month on Winter Mortality of
the Lodgepole Needle Miner in Banff
National Park" (Canadian Entomologist.
1954, vol. 86, pp. 13-19). Information
Shikari Kit Bags.
One of the most
practical forms
of luggage
you can
own.
.Available in three
runveriient sizes for
t arjy fjartdng need.
Easy to pack, super strong.. .
a different type of duffle sold
only by Norm Tbotnpson.
We've taken the basic duffle bag design
and turned it into one of the most practical
pieces of luggage you can own. Our .Shikari
Kit Bags are made of lOO''^, cotton canvas
. . . strong, yei \cry lightweight. They're
designed to withstand the rigors of camping,
huiuing. Ol a backwoods pack trip. --Vnd
.Shikaris arc good looking enough for a city
hole! or luxury rcsorl.
Here's what to expect.
■ Packing is quick and easy, c\ en for large,
bulky items. Jam-proof main zipper opens
the entire length of the bag. Side zipper
opens a handv comparlment for easy access
lo things you want to get at in a hurry.
■ Checkable on all airlines, ships, and trains.
■ Virtually rip-proof . . . stitched with da-
cron cotton thread that wont rot out.
■ They're water-repellent . . . actually float.
■ Glove-soft leather carrying handles . . .
secured by an exclusive Safety Cirip Lock.
■ Rust-proof, jam-proof zippers. ■ Nickel
end "D" rings for lashing bags lo cartop
carrier, boat, or pack saddle. ■Permanent
calfskin name patch for easy ID. ■ Easy to
store when not in use . . . fold up compact.
Super-Large Bag . . . 34" long with 3 storage
compartments; main. side. and end. Weight:
48 ozs. Diameter: Ij'/o". S35.00. Utility Kit
Bag (shown) . . . 30" long with 2 compart-
ments; main and side. Weight: 32 ozs. Di-
ameter: 13". $25.00. Personal Kit Bag . . .
21" long with 2 compartments; main and
side. Weight: 16 ozs. Diameter: 91/2". $19.00.
Please add SI. 00 for postage and handling.
Normniompson Bs^B^ii^s^
Older TOLL-FREE anytime 800-547-6712
(Excluding Oregon, Hawaii, and .\laslia)
Shikari
Bag(s)
Size
Oty.
Super-large (No. 148)
Utility (No. 146)
Personal (No. 142)
D Cliect; D Bank.\mcricard n Master Charge
Card » M/C Interbank «
Exp. Date Sig. X
Name
Address , —
City
.Zip-
D Send FREE "Escape from the ordinary®" ctlg
137
Electronic Digital RAIN GAUGE
^, Never Needs Emptying
and gives remote, indoor reading!
This beautiful, remote-reading electronic digital ram
gauge accurately measures rain up to 100 feet away, by
tenths of an inch up to 999.9", and empties itself. Ac-
cumulate total rainfall count for an hour, day, week, etc.
To start a new counting period, just push the reset button
on the indoor counter There's no need ever to empty or check the hermetically
sealed outdoor collector! The collector is easily mounted on a fence, roof, deck,
patio— anywhere up to 100 feet away— witVi 2 ordinary screws. To know whether
your plants, shrubs, lawn and garden are getting an adequate supply of water, just
read the indoor counter' The unit runs on a 9V transistor battery (not included)
which has a minimum of one year's life. Waterproof wire (30 ft.) is included. A great
gift for gardening hobbyists, farmers, home owners and ..
weather buffs! And great to own! STOCK N0.72,165E Just $49 95 Ppd.
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
(or Hobbyists
Schools, Industry
f^^X JUST CHECK m
COUPON' I
EDMUND
SCIENTIFIC CO. I
300 EDSCORP BUILDING
COMPLETE AND MAIL COUPON NOW
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO. 300 Edscorp Bldg., Barnngton, N. ). 08007
Please Send Me
Electronic Digital Rain Gauge(s)
No. 72.165E@ $49.95 ea S_
SEND FREE ■■
164 PAGE CATALOG "E
Charge my American Exp "^'^
BankAmericard Maslei Cng ^M
Interbank No
Card No
Expiration Date.
Enclosed IS
n check, G
.Service & tiandltng charge S ^ QQ
n amount of $
30-DAY MONEY-BACK GUAR-
B.irrinr>tnn M I Honni I *NTEE. You must bc satis-
arrington. N. J. 08007 j ,,^j „, ,^^^,„ 3,^ ^^,,^35^
(609) 547-3488 '
Signature.
Name
in 30 days for full
City
Amehcs's Greatest t—
Science • Optics • Hobby Mail helping to develop America s TECHNOLoay for over 30 ^ears.
Lose weight, not performance.
Minolta/Celtic Compact
Binoculars provide
magnification comparable
to full-size binoculars,
but without the weight or
bulk. Superb Minolta
optics bhng in clear, bright
sharp images. Center
focusdesign for rapid, easy
focusing Three sizes,
6x20, 8x20 and 10x20,
give you a choice of
magnification to suit your
needs. Ruggedly built
to go anywhere. For more
information, write
Minolta Corporation,
101 Williams Drive, Ramsey,
New Jersey 07446.
Mindta/Celtic
Compact Binoculars
about the red belt phenomenon is found
in Walter R. Henson's "Chinook. Winds
and Red Belt hijury to Lodgepole Pine in
the Rocky Mountain Parks Area of Can-
ada ' (Forestry Chronicle. 1952, vol. 28,
pp. 62-64). Cloud-line studies are re-
ported in William G. Wellington's Cana-
dian Entomologist article; "The Use of
Cloud Patterns to Outline Areas with Dif-
ferent Climates During Population Stud-
ies" (1965, vol. 97, pp. 617-31).
Coral Reef Pollution (p. 106)
Two beautifully illustrated introduc-
tions to coral reefs are Jacques Cousteau
and Philippe Diole's Life and Death in a
Coral Sea (Garden City: Doubleday,
1971, $9.95) and Douglas Faulkner's
The Living Reef (New York: Quadran-
gle, 1974). "Trophic Structure and Pro-
ductivity of a Windward Coral Reef
Community on Eniwetok Atoll," by
Howard T. Odum and Eugene P. Odum
(Ecological Monographs. 1955, vol. 25,
pp. 291-320), is a landmark study in reef
research, demonstrating that a coral reef
community functions as an "oasis" in a
nutrient-poor ocean. Peter Garrett and
Hugh Ducklow discuss bacteria-coral in-
teractions in "Coral Diseases in Ber-
muda" (Nature. 1975, vol. 253, pp.
349-50), and an account of reef destruc-
tion is found in Gilbert L. Voss's
"Sickness and Death in Florida's Coral
Reefs" (Natural History. August-Sep-
tember 1973, pp. 40^7). Research de-
tails from the Red Sea sites described in
the current Natural History piece may be
found in Yossi Loya's "Possible Effects
of Water Pollution on the Community
Structure of Red Sea Corals" (Marine
Biology. 1975, vol. 29, pp. 177-85) and
"Recoionization of Red Sea Corals Af-
fected by Natural Catastrophes and Man-
made Perturbations" (Ecology, 1976,
vol. 57, pp. 278-89) and Lev Fishelson's
"Ecological and Biological Phenomena
Influencing Coral-Species Composition
on the Reef Tables at Eilat (Gulf of
Aqaba, Red Sea)" (Marine Biology,
1973, vol. 19, pp. 183-96).
Gordon Beckhorn
0<M>OH>CH)H>0<><H><>-0<H>00<KH>0-0-0-Oq
oneness |
A subtle linking of |
s religious symbols,
delicately wedded to-
gether by the artisan,
;d descriptive booklet.
14K with 24' chain . . . $37.50
Sterling Silver . • . $16.75
ISAAC SOLTES DESIGN NH
192 3 S.McPhemn Ave.
Monterey Park, Calif. 91754
CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ADD 6» SALES TAX
Check or Money Ordef/Money.back Goarantee
°0<MXKMX>OH>0<M>0<MK>0<! "'^
Cybis ' "Poko" — America's Master Burrower, 8 inches high and 8 inches long
from the Animal Kingdom and Woodland Collection . . . $245.
There's an art to surviving the bacldash
of the ecological kick.
You wouldn't think a loveable
guy like the American Prairie Dog
could turn the ecological tide.
But sad to say, he has.
It's all because the wily little
burrower — with millions of miles
of underground mazes to his
credit— has dug his way into
the human consciousness. He's
Infected us humans with fear and
morbid love. And as if he knew
exactly how to catch us off
balance, he's gotten us to fash-
ion a plethora of clay prairie
dogs. Deceived us into thinking
we could keep him from extinc-
tion by making an idol of him.
At Armstrong's, we're as ecology-
minded as the next fellow. But
we can't see turning prairie dogs
into idols. Not if it means reduc-
ing Nature's human custodians
to a pack of pagans. And Art to
mediocre menageries that would
take centuries to recycle.
With the help of our friends at
Cybis we're holding the line
against the critter's backlash.
Our Prairie Dog is a true work of
art. A celebration of the life force.
A noble expression of the human
spirit. And what is that spirit if
it's not the spirit of survival.
Without it, IVian would be a
graven image maker or a taxi-
dermist at best. And where would
that leave our prairie dog?
We 've immortalized the chipmunk,!too.
Cybis' "Chipmunk with Bloodroot" —
an issue of 500 sculptures — 8 inches
high by 9 inches long — from the
Animal Kingdom and Woodland
Collection . . . $625.
150 EAST THIRD STREET D POMONA, CALIFORNIA 91766 G (714)622-4535
Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday D Closed Sundays and Mondays
^-70
lectures. Pmnto!
Polaroichs light little automatic,
for the new Super Color film.
Pronto! puts SX-70 pictures
into everybody's hands.
This is our easiest instant
camera ever. Just set the
distance, frame and press the
button. This little camera's
12,000 r. p.m. motor propels a
big SX-70 picture into your
hand, already developing. In
minutes, you'll have a beautiful
finished color print.
Pronto! uses the new SX-70 film with Colorlock
dyes. These colors are among the most fade-resistant
ever in photography. (The battery is built into the film
pack. Fresh power every time you load.)
Pronto! also uses the SX-70's 1 0-shot FlashBar. When
the FlashBar's used up, the camera won't shoot. When
the film's used up, the FlashBar won't shoot.
An electric eye and electronic shutter set all
exposures automatically, even for flash. And you can
even get Pronto! accessories such as a tripod mount
and self-timer, so you can get into your own pictures.
This 16-ounce camera shoots
from 3 feet to infinity. You can take it ,
anywhere. What d'you say? Pronto!
Onty^66
NATURAL HISTORY
NOVEMBER 1976 • tIJ
m
Ent^
Ai\feVe made our finest camera even better.
How could we top the
original SX-70 Land cam-
era? It does things no
other camera can do:
You focus from infinity
to 10.4", closer than almost
any other camera without
a special lens.
You look through the
viewfinder and see right
through the lens, so you
know precisely what you'll
get. (It's an SLR system.)
You press a button and a
12,000 rpm motor delivers
into your hand an already
developing picture, hard,
flat and dry. In minutes,
^ou have a big, beautiful
finished 31/8" X 31/8" print.
In daylight, an electric
eye automatically reads
the light and sets the
aperture and electronic
shutter speed for you.
But we didn't stop there.
We've added a monitored
flash that makes final cor-
rections in exposure, to
give you better indoor
flash pictures. You can
even use flash in daylight
to fill in shadows and
eliminate harsh light.
And our new Superclear
SX-70 film with Colorlock
dyes gives you better color,
crisper detail and a wider ■
temperature range. It is
one of the most fade-resis-
tant films in all photography.
The new Alpha 1, in gen-
uine leather and a velvety
chrome finish, folds into a
flat, elegant shape to fit
into pocket or purse. A
leather neck strap makes
it even more portable.
Polaroid's SX-70 Alpha 1.
It's our finest camera, now
even better.
© 1976 Polaroid Corporation "Polaroid" and "SX-70"'
You can get this close with the Alpha 1
without a special lens...
while this is the closest most other
cameras will let you get.
tm
vimsssmimmimtant:
^ ^% ^0
$1 1 .50 for authentic Waterford?
True. Indeed, the only piece on this
page that costs more than $25 is the
^— -.,,, lamp. Imagine. rSo matter
' >^^ \^ what you spend, whether
^'^^^^i it's under $1 2 or over
i^j ^ A $1 200, each piece of
'^-^y^- n Waterford Crystal is a real
"*— -^ investment. Still blown by
mouth and cut wholly by hand,
it captures the fire of the sun.
To light up your life. Waterford.
The affordable treasure.
QRD ILLUMINATES MOUR LIFE.
NATURAL HISTORY
Incorporating Nature Magazine
Vol. LXXXV, No. 9
November 1976
The American Museum of Natural History
Robert G. Goelet. President
Thomas D. Nicholson, Director
Alan Ternes, Editor
Thomas Page. Designer
Board of Editors:
Sally Lindsay, Frederick Harlmann,
Christopher Hallowell
Carol Brestin, Book Reviews Editor
Florence G. Edelstein, Copy Chief
Gordon Beckhorn, Copy Editor
Angela Soccodato, Art Asst.
Diane Pierson, Editorial Asst.
Lillian Berger
Rosamond Dana, Publications Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dean Amadon, Dorothy E. Bliss,
Mark Chartrand. Niles Eldredge,
Vincent Manson. Margaret Mead,
Thomas D. Nicholson, Gerard Piel,
Richard G. Van Gelder
David D. Ryus, Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly, Business Manager
Sue Severn, Production Manager
Daniel White, Marketing Manager
Ernestine Weindorf, Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe, Business Asst.
Laurie G. Warhol
Ann Brown, Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez, Asst.
Harriet Walsh
Publication Office: The American Museum
of Natural History, Central Park West
at 79th Street. New York, N.Y. 10024.
Published monthly, October through May;
bimonthly June to September.
Subscriptions: $10.00 a year. In Canada
and all other countries: $12.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at
New York, N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1976 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be
reproduced without written consent of
Natural History. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American Museum.
Natural History incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History,
420 Lexington Avenue,
New York, N. Y. 10017
Telephone: (212) 686-1234
Change of address notices, undeliverable
copies, orders for subscriptions,
and other mail items are to be sent to
Natural History
Membership Services, Box 6000
Des Moines, Iowa S0340
5 Authors
12 Spirits of the Makassae Shepard Forman
Who did cause the horrendous fire ?
20 A Naturalist at Large Bernard Nietschmann
Drift Coconuts
32 This View of Life Stephen Jay Could
So Cleverly Kind an Animal
40 A Resurgence of Kites Lee Waian
These aggressive birds become quite chummy at night.
48 The Ape in Stateroom 10 Kenneth A. R. Kennedy and John C. Whittaker
America's first gorilla, fragile and doomed, had a permanent impact on
science.
54 The Turbulent Sun
A special Natural History supplement presents some of the greatest pictures
and latest findings of our own star, with five separate articles:
"Sunspots" by John A. Eddy; "Holes in the Corona" by J. David Bohlin;
"Solar Flares" by Peter A. Sturrock; "Waves on the Sun" by Roger K. Ulrich;
and ' 'The Sun 's Missing Particles ' ' by John N. Bahcall.
88 Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
90
An African Ethic of Conservation Hussein Adan Isack
The roots of wildlife preservation run deep.
92 The Market
96 The Fruitful Wasteland Denis Hayes
Two-thirds of the world uses less energy than the United States now wastes.
101 A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokolov
Kwakiutl Cuisine
106 Book Review Edward Abbey
Ah, Wilderness!
112 Additional Reading
115 Announcements
Cover: A jet of hot gas erupts from an active region on the sun 's surface.
This color-enhanced black-and-white photograph was taken at Big Bear
Solar Observatory. "The Turbulent Sun" begins on page 54.
JThe
Chevrolet
More head room. MOfC rear seat leg room,
More trunk room. More manageable in city trotfic. |
More sound isolation. More corrosion protection.
More ease of entry and exit More appropriate for the times.
All of that and More, compared to the 1976 full-size Chevrolet
Now that's more like it.
Authors
One of the most pleasant aspects of
Shepard Forman's fifteen-month-
field work experience among the Ma-
kassae in Portuguese Timor was
learning self-sufficiency. Isolated liv-
ing conditions and a subsistence
economy made it necessary for For-
man, his wife, and their two young
children, to raise virtually all their
own food. Forman also built their
bamboo house, as well as a garage for
a temperamental army Jeep , a veteran
of several World War II campaigns.
Forman now teaches anthropology at
the University of Michigan. He plans
to continue studying the history of the
colonization of Timor, as well as the
religious ideology of Brazilian and
Portuguese peasant societies, a proj-
ect that he began four years ago.
Lee Waian reports that "after ob-
serving the big 'white hawk' hover-
ing over the coastal fields of southern
California, he dropped a budding ca-
reer interest in marine ecology and
began studying the white-tailed
kite." His ongoing research into the
behavioral ecology of this bird of
prey began in 1965. An independent
environmental consultant, Waian is
also investigating other grassland
predator-prey relationships. Among
his avocations, film making ranks
first, followed by a near addiction to
fly-fishing.
The history of the first live gorilla
brought to this country came to light
entirely by accident when John C.
Whittaker (right), then an anthro-
pology student at Cornell University,
happened upon the gorilla's dusty and
unmarked file while gathering mate-
rial for a thesis on Cornell's anthro-
pological collections. Now a gradu-
ate student at the University of Ari-
zona, Whittaker collaborated with
Kenneth A. R. Kennedy (left) in
sorting through the details of the go-
rilla's life and the body of scientific
knowledge that resulted. Kennedy, a
biological anthropologist, teaches at
Cornell University, where his major
lields of study are primate evolution
and the history of early man in South
Asia.
Born in 1957, in Marsabit District,
Kenya, Hussein Adan Isack, a
member of the pastoral Borans, spent
his early youth tending his father's
cattle and sheep. At nine, he was
taken to primary school away from
home. He writes, "Everything was
new to me — lorries, shops, ciga-
rettes, sewing machines." A strong
interest in wildlife developed when
he began his studies at the Kangaru
Secondary Boys School in the Embu
District, where he is at present in the
fourth form. He is a member of the
Kangaru Wildlife Club and has joined
the President's Award Scheme,
which tests young people's endur-
ance under harsh conditions. He re-
cently won the Award Scheme gold
medal in the expedition category.
Isack hopes to go on to college to
study wildlife management and con-
servation. His article in this issue won
first prize in the Wildlife Clubs of
Kenya Annual Essay Competition.
An active outdoorsman, Denis
Hayes has worked for the environ-
mental movement since graduating
from Stanford University in 1969. He
was national coordinator of Environ-
mental Action, Inc. , which organized
the first Earth Day in 1970, and
served as director of the Illinois State
Energy Office. At present, Hayes is
a senior researcher at Worldwatch In-
stitute, a new, globally oriented en-
vironmental organization based in
Washington, D.C. His search for
"benign and sustainable energy op-
tions" as alternatives to nuclear
power led him to investigate ways in
which waste can be recycled into pro-
ductive energy. The research will be
published in a forthcoming book,
Rays of Hope, from which this article
is excerpted.
John A. Eddy has been on the staff
of the High Altitude Observatory in
Boulder, Colorado, for thirteen
years. That time has been largely
spent in making observations of the
sun and in teaching astronomy at the
University of Colorado at Boulder. A
graduate of the United States Naval
Academy, Eddy also has a Ph.D. in
astrogeophysics from the University
of Colorado. He will shortly join the
Harvard College Observatory/Smith-
sonian Astrophysical Observatory as
a visiting fellow to conduct a research
program on the behavior of the sun
during the last hundred years. In addi-
tion to his work on the sun, Eddy has
investigated astroarcheology and the
use of medicine wheels by early
American Indians. He served as
consultant on the Sun Supplement in
this issue.
J. David Bohlin is a research
physicist in solar astronomy at the
Naval Research Laboratory in Wash-
ington, D.C., where he is currently
engaged in the analysis of Skylab
solar data with an emphasis on
coronal holes. Bohlin did his under-
graduate work at Wabash College,
Crawfordsville, Indiana, and ac-
quired a Ph.D. in solar physics from
the University of Colorado. He has
done field work at the solar patrol
telescope in Tel Aviv, Israel, and at
Big Bear Solar Observatory in the
San Bernadino Mountains of Califor-
Peter A. Sturrock is professor of
space science and astrophysics at
Stanford University. Born in Eng-
land, although now an American citi-
zen, he did his undergraduate and
graduate studies at Cambridge Uni-
versity from which he received a
Ph.D. in mathematics in 1951. Stur-
rock first became interested in solar
flares in 1963, when he participated
in a symposium on the subject held
under the auspices of NASA. Among
the organizations to which he belongs
are the International Astronomical
Union, the American Physical Soci-
ety, the American Geophysical
Union, the American Astronomical
Society, and the Royal Astronomical
Society.
Roger K. Ulrich is an associate
professor of astronomy at the Univer-
sity of California, Los Angeles. A
1963 graduate of the University of
California, Berkeley, he obtained a
Ph.D. in astronomy from that univer-
sity in 1968. A graduate seminar on
solar oscillations initially aroused his
interest in the topic, which he has
been investigating for several years.
He is also engaged in research on the
formation of stars and the origin of
X-ray stars in particular. Field work
has taken Ulrich to Sacramento Peak
Observatory in Sunspot, New Mex-
ico.
John N. Bahcall is on the faculty
of the School of Natural Sciences of
the Institute for Advanced Study in
Princeton, New Jersey. He was an
undergraduate at the University of
California, Berkeley, and received a
Ph.D. in physics from Harvard Uni-
versity in 1961. Bahcall has been
concerned with what he calls the
"solar neutrino problem" for about
fifteen years and plans to continue his
efforts to solve it. He was elected to
the National Academy of Sciences in
April of this year.
America's Bookstore has the
books you most want to read
and a convenient, economical
to obtain them
way
iPuh pri
Pholonraphs
(Pub price S7.951
397 A MAN CALLED
INTREPID: The
Secret War Ar
WILLIAM STEVI-.NSON
Photos & Mans
(Pub price 512.95)
604 A COMPLETE
GUIDE TO THERAPY
From Psvchoanalysis To
Behavior Modification
hv JOEL KON'LL, M.U.
(Pub price 5101
213 THE DAMNABLE
QUESTION: A Study
in Anglo-Irish
Relations hv
GEORCL
DANGERFIELD
(Pub price S14.95I
606 AS I SEE IT
The Autobiography
o( J Paol Getty
Ptiotographs
(Pub price 51 0.951
174 DICTIONARY OF
FOREIGN TERMS /.!•
360 A CHARLES
DICKENS CHRISTMAS
A Christmas Carol,
The Chimes and
The Cricket on
the Hearth II Vol.)
With illustrations
by WARf^EN CHAPPELL
(Pub price 514.951
127 THE POETRY
OF ROBERT FROST
Edited by
EDWARD CONNERY
423 IT CHANGED MY
LIFE Writings on the
Women's Movegient
/jiiii I n 1 mi nvN
(Pub price 5101
438 THE RUSSIANS
bv HEDRICK SMITH
(Pub price 512.501
Illustrated
(Pub price 5151
208 WHERE THE
MONEY WAS ir
WILLIE SlITTON
(Pub pri
5101
601 THE CREATIVE
BALANCE: Government
Politics, and the
Individual in America's
Third Century
by l:l-LIOT
(Pub price 512.951
554 THOIVlAS
JEFFERSON: An
Intimate History by
603 THE LANGUAGE
OF FEELINGS: The
Time-and-Money
Shorthand ol
Psychotherapy by
DAVID VISCOTT, M.D.
(Pub price 56.951
BOOK- OF -THE MONTH CLUB""
invites you to choose
ANY FOUR
FORONLY$l
THE SUGGESTED TRIAL: You simply agree to buy four Club choices
within a year at substantial savings on most books you choose.
FOR READERS whose enthusiasm about good books
far exceeds the time they have to find them, the
Book-of-the-Month Club offers the ideal solution. It
not only keeps you informed about all the important
new books published, it delivers the ones you want
straight to your door. No wonder busy book readers all
ove.r the country have found it such a time-saving
service. Once you become a member, you'll be
glad you decided to take advantage of the many
benefits of at-home shopping in America's Bookstore,
the Book-of-the-Month Club. Why not give it a
try right now by choosing any four of the extraordinary
books on this page for only SI? Continued membership
makes you eligible for our unique Book-Dividend*
plan, a wonderful way to save more money — up to 70%
of the publishers' list prices.
SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
Prices sho wn are publishers ' U. S.
prices. Outside the U.S., prices are
generally somewhat higher
• In addition to getting four books
for $1 when you join, you keep
saving substantially on most of the
books you buy.
• And these are true savings be-
cause every book offered is identi-
cal to the publisher's edition in
content, format, size and quality.
• You'll learn about the coming
Selection and Alternates in the
Book-of'the-Month Club News^.
literary magazim
every three and a half
• If you want the Seli
(approximately
need do nothing-it will be shipped
• If you do not want the Selection-
or you'd Uke one of the Alternates
or no book at ail-simply indicate
your decision on the reply form
enclosed with the News and mail
it so we'll receive it by the date
specified.
• If, because of late mail delivery
of the News, you should receive a
Selection without having had 10
days to decide whether you want
it, that Selection may be returned
449 THE DEEP
*r PrTtK BCNCHLFV
I ("ub price S7.95
■Pub priee S12.50i
207 THE HAMMOND
A'ORLD ATLAS-
Superior Ettilion
I Pub price $12l
190 A SEA CHANGE
hi LOIS OOLLD
'Pub price SS.SSl
6-A1 13-11
BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB, INC.
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17012
Please enroll me as a member of the Book-of-
the-Month Club and send me the four volumes
whose numbers I have indicated in boxes be-
low, billing me $1.00 for all four volumes. I
agree to purchase at least four additional Se-
lections or Alternates during the first year I am
a member, paying in most cases special mem-
bers' prices. My membership is cancelable any
lime after I buy these four books. A shipping
charge is added to all shipments.
INDICATE BY NUMBER THE FOUR BOOKS YOU WANT
MISS) (Please print plainiy)
Address Apt..
State Zip..
Leave behind the frantic turmoil of civilization and come
back with us to the real America. Still the land of the
eagle, the buffalo, the mountain lion and elk. Still spa-
cious, sprawling, majestic. Where garlands of water tum-
ble from sheer rock cliffs... mountains stretch as far as the
eye can see... vibrant flowers speckle the meadowland.
Yes, now you can experience the freedom and serenity still
to be found in the natural wonders of our land. Thanks to a
publishing landmark from Time-Life Books A 27-volume
picture library of THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS. And
we'd like to invite you to sample a volume of it without cost or
risk... and then, if you wish, join us as a subscriber.
A rare adventure awaits you . . .
As a subscriber, you'll feast on scenes from our land's forbid-
den canyons, powerful rivers, majestic peaks, awesome des-
erts: Florida's Shark River with its mangrove mazes; the state
of Washington's lush Enchanted Valley, walled in by cliffs
and clouds 1,932 feet above sea level; the mile-wide 450-foot-
deep MacDougal Crater just south of the Arizona border.
You'll delight in little-known animal life... the bright-eyed
golden marmot of The Snake River Country, the sea cow of
The Everglades who eats 200 pounds of vegetables
a day.
Through the stirring text and lavish photographs in these
books, you'll visit Wild Alaska — home of huge bears and of
wolves who devour 25 lbs. of meat at a single feeding. . .T/ie
Grand Canyon, where rocks of the Vishnu Schist go back 2
billion years. . .Hau'aa', land of fire-spewing volcanoes,
Eden-like forests, enchanting coral reefs... Baja California,
where ruined missions, bleached bones and abandoned mines
testify to one of man's unsuccessful attempts to rape a natural
land.
Start with The High Sierra FREE for 10 days
Begin your tour of THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS with a
10-day free examination of the first volume in the series, The
High Sierra. Explore the Sierra's 400 miles of cliffs and
forests and meadows. . . home of the giant sequoias, the site
of Yosemite, and a last stronghold of the West's big cats.
Then decide if you want to keep The High Sierra. You may
do so for only $6.95 and continue to receive other books in
the series as described in the coupon. There is no obliga-
tion to keep any book, and you may cancel at any time.
Mail our bound-in card today (no stamp needed). Or, if
card is gone, use coupon on the opposite page.
American Wilderness Library
• The High Sierra is written by avid outdoors-
man Ezra Bowen with noted conservationist
Martin Litton as consultant
• Oversized 9 x 10% inches, hardbound
• 184 pages and over 40,000 words of text
• More than 100 illustrations — photographs,
paintings, maps, including 87 pages in
full color
• Books shown here are just some of the
exciting volumes
T/ie M
Pra
How venture into
Tlie Higii Sierra FREE for 10 days
Explore
The High SierrS
free for 10 days.
Last
SironS^"
,a for «»'e Big Cais
Enzn
LIFE
Time & Life Building
BOOKS Chicago, III. 60611
Yes. I would like to examine The High Sierra.
Please send it to me for 10 days' free exami-
nation and enter my subscription to THE
AMERICAN Wn.DERNESS. If I decide to
keep The High Sierra. I will pay $6.95 plus
shipping and handling. I then will receive
future volumes in THE AMERICAN WIL-
DERNESS series, shipped a volume at a time
approximately every other month. Each is
$6.95 plus shipping and handling and comes
on a 10-day free-examination basis. TTiere is
no minimum number of tooks that I must
buy. I may cancel my subscription at any time
simply by notifying you.
If I do not choose to keep The High Sierra.
I will return the book within 10 days, my sub-
scription for future volumes will be canceled
and I will not be under any further obligation.
Print BRB9S3
Name .
Canadian reildenis: Please mail this fomi in an
envelope. Schools and llbrariet: Order Library-Style
bindings from Silver Burdett Company. Momstown,
"' J. 07960. Eligible for Titles I. 11 hmds.
ij^.-^sLsi&aija:.,?*; :
^«S!!JKaZ)S«5^,^H;*'-j.?
^CQ
^?
§ *"
IS
■Sm
w<0
JO)
la
zm
s ^
S P-
s ■<
^5
:::fek
IP
<o
a
S'
3
-n
-n
a.
O
3-
-1
3
en
o'
3_
^
a
{U
o
(Q
Z
o
O
"^
>
^
to
CO
rv>
03
The Great Divide...
Visit these and other areas in
Start with The High Sierra
yours free for 10 days
TIME-LIFE BOOKS
Time & Life Building, Chicago, Illinois 60611
uld like to examine The High Sierra. Please send
t to me for 10 days' free examination and enter my sub-
ption to THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS. If I decide
to keep The High Sierra. I will pay S6.95 plus shipping and
handling. I then will receive future volumes in THE
AMERICAN WILDERNESS series, shipped a volume at a
time approximately every other month. Each is $6.95 plus
shipping and handling and comes on a 10-day free-examina-
tion basis. There is no minimum number of books that I
must buy. I may cancel my subscription at any time simply
by notifying you.
If I do not choose to keep The High Sierra, I will return
the book within 10 days, my subscription for future vol-
umes will be canceled and I will not be under any further
obligation.
I Schools and libraries: Order Library-Style bindings from
I Silver Burdett Company, Morristown, N.J. 07960. Eligible
' for Titles I, II funds.
Pinot Chardonnay.
An exquisite
Napa Valley white
wine from The
Christian Brothers.
Certain of the gravelly soils and
micro climates near our Napa Valley
Novitiate and Winery are particu-
larly kind to the Pinot Chardonnay
This varietal grape which produces
the white burgundies of France has
gained exquisite subtle flavor and
fragrance here in our vineyards.
In recent years, new methods of
vinification enable us to capture more
of this delicate taste.
I believe you will find The
Christian Brothers Napa Valley
Pinot Chardonnay one of our most
memorable wines. As with all our
table wines, it is blended from various
harvests and vineyard locales so that
each botding has all the body and
varietal complexity we seek.
Pinot Chardonnay is laid down
in our cellars to give its delicate
bouquet a chance to develop. And
though it is ready for your table when
it leaves here, this is one white wine
that keeps on improving and may be
put away in your own cellar to
enhance it even further.
Our Pinot Chardonnay is a de-
lightful accompani-
ment to fish,
^poultry and lighter
meats. And like all
white wines, it
should be served
chilled.
If you would
like to know more about The Christian
Brothers wines, please write to me.
Cellarmaster
The Christian Brothers
Napa Valley California 94558
Worldwide Distributors; Fromm and Sichd, Inc..
San Francisco. California.
Spirits of the Makassae
by Shepard Forman
The vengeful dead hasten
an anthropologist's departure
The Makassae, like many other in-
habitants of the Lesser Sunda Islands
of Indonesia, invoke a strict taboo
against naming the dead except in rit-
ual contexts. This was made clear to
me shortly after I began my fifteen
months of field work in Portuguese
Timor. For many of those months I
applied myself to the difficult task of
mastering the Makassae language,
observing day-to-day activities in the
preparation of gardens and rice pad-
dies, and collecting kinship termi-
nologies for living kinsmen.
Yet the dead were all around us,
buried in prominent gravesites at the
ancestral hearths and invoked as the
spirit causes of most contretemps.
Then, too, I was often invited to
witness Makassae rituals, where I
was encouraged to tape-record the in-
cantations and the names of the spirits
as each was called upon to receive his
share of a sacrificial pig, water buf-
falo, chicken, or sacred rice.
The content of these ceremonies
piqued my anthropological curiosity,
and I longed to know the relationship
between the living and the dead. My
language teacher and cicerone, Na-
nai'e Nau Naha — a venerable old
man who was ' 'guardian of the myths
and traditions" for the suku, or politi-
cal domain, in which my family and
I lived and worked — teased me with
allusions to the links between the
spirits and his living kinsmen. He of-
fered his hints with a knowing smile
that only whetted my appetite for the
unknown. But in this case, it was also
unknowable, I thought. For ethical
reasons, and mindful of Makassae
traditions, I refrained from asking the
hundreds of questions that buzzed in
my head and from the customary tak-
ing of genealogies.
Occasionally, I even had to remind
Nanai'e of the taboo. Once, for ex-
ample, he began to explain to me his
relationship as the closest descendant
of a one-time wife-giver to the lin-
eage of a dead man to whose funeral
he had been called. Whether he had
actually intended to name names or
not is a moot point. At the time, he
commended me for my appreciation
of the ways of the Makassae and jok-
ingly told me that one day he might
make me his apprentice.
Nearly eight months after we had
settled in Makassae territory, high in
the Mate Bian mountain range
"where the spirits dance," Nanai'e
told me that he wanted me to learn
fully and correctly the ways of his
people. He said that he and the other
elders wanted to teach me and that he
would start by giving me genealogies
and clan histories so that I could begin
to understand what it meant to be a
Makassae. This occurred just after
my family and I had returned from a
month's stay in Australia. Upon their
return to the field, anthropologists are
often greeted as long-lost friends or
at least as objects of greater trust.
Somehow , coming back stands as tes-
timony to one's commitment.
Aware of this, and of the pecu-
liarities of our relationship to a sub-
ject people who have undergone cen-
turies of colonial domination, I again
cautioned Nanai'e about the breaking
of taboos in our behalf. He responded
that he had already consulted the lin-
eage elders in the suku and that they
all agreed that he should be my in-
structor. At the proper time, he said,
the names would be secreted again in
a special ceremony at Turanaba'a, the
mythical origin site of the Makassae,
where I would be asked to sacrifice
a ram to Moon-Sun and his descend-
ant spirits.
Two weeks later, my lessons be-
gan. Nanai'e recited the origin myth,
in which a rock wren appeared from
the top of Mate Bian, kicking back
the floodwaters that covered the land
so forcefully that it broke its leg and
was transformed into a rock. The
wren-turned-to-rock — now moss
covered and sacred — stands in the
hollow of a giant banyan tree that
grows on the side of the abutment on
which Turanaba'a is built. Nanai'e
recounted the birth of the founders of
the original Makassae clans from her-
maphroditic ancestors, themselves
In practically no time at all, the
Aspen sedan has accomplished
what many have tried to deliver.
le unbehevable
Dodge Aspen.
European style with a big-car feeling.
car feeling ... at a very appealing
Wice. Its well-bred European
pjks are not deceiving. For
/Vspen's comforts include total
interior room that exceeds that of
a Cadillac Seville. And the Aspen
ride — based on its unique susjJen-
sion system — surprises with a'™,
comfort and smoothness youJ&i
expect from a larger, more expln-
sive automobile. But the original
idea behind Aspen was to give
you just that; a smaller car with all
the civilized big-cartouches.
seats and windows to aut
speed control. And most l
lievable of all is the Aspen
low base price. It's as unbei
as the Aspen sedan itself. I
lease one today and see.
spewn forth from the mountaintop.
The son of Moon-Sun appeared first
and was reborn as brother and sister
who cohabited and produced an off-
spring who was again reborn as
brother and sister. Their youngest son
was given to the childless founder of
Ka'o Si, Nanai'e's own house of ori-
gin. Beginning in this way with his
own agnatic lineage, he then care-
fully reconstructed his genealogical
ties to other lineages through ances-
tors who moved down the mountain-
side with their immediate kinsmen in
a process of fissioning that gave rise
to the present clusters of Makassae
descent groups.
When Nanai'e did not know a par-
ticular sequence of events, he called
in another lineage elder to check the
details. He also asked the "guardians
of the myths and traditions" from
other lineage groupings in other sukus
to tell me their own origin myths. The
cosmological universe became
flooded with names of sacred sites;
with accounts of warfare between a
female moon and a male sun, the de-
feat of the moon by fire, and the do-
mestication of the cock; and with
tales of ancestors ascending to the sky
on areca palms and siring children
who descended to earth through the
seven vulvas of a particular configu-
ration of stars. I was instructed in the
Makassae paradigm of life — the gen-
eration of the crops by father sky and
mother earth — and its relationship to
the reproduction of human life, now
symbolized in gifts and countergifts
of bridewealth and dowry payments.
I was invited to witness the sowing
of the sacred rice as a prelude to the
most important of Makassae rituals,
"the making of the dead," in which
the soul of the deceased is finally
dispatched to Mate Bian where it will
live forever among the ancestral
spirits .
Field work was suddenly an an-
thropologist's dream. For nearly two
months, people came to our house
site daily and offered to record their
versions of the myths or to comment
on those given to me by others. Men
and women sat on the veranda and
laughingly told about the sexual com-
ponent of their house -building cere-
monies, about their marriage ex-
changes and mortuary rituals. The
pace was fast, the work fun and intri-
guing, and my notebooks were filling
up with extraordinary data. Each
night I would review my notes or lis-
ten to a tape recording.
Each morning, Nanai'e, leaning
heavily on his staff, would hobble
down the mountain path that con-
nected his house site with ours, and
I would confront him with the many
questions I was just beginning to for-
mulate. He seemed to delight in the
process of my learning. One night
after a funeral, he led me down to a
freshly covered grave to perform a
ritual that had previously only been
done in private, joking to his clans-
men that I had indeed become his ap-
prentice. He also urged me to write
down everything in Makassae, as
well as in English, so that his children
would never forget the ways of their
people.
One morning, just after I had mas-
tered the complexities of a particular
exchange relationship between a dead
man's kin, Nanai'e suddenly fore-
closed. He said I had learned as much
as I needed to know and told me to
acquire a ram "whose horns turned
twice" and to bring it to Turanaba'a
for sacrifice on the following Thurs-
day morning. I was disheartened. Al-
though I felt I needed to know much
more, I was now under constraint not
to ask. Still, I sent one of the gar-
deners who worked for me in search
of a ram and while awaiting the spe-
cial name-secreting ceremony, satis-
tadi
ealbslika makes
-0-35 GSN which
ifference is obvious.
The Yashica is small, compact
ind surprisingly simple to operate.
Aore importantly, Yashica- X /A C
because you know the results will
be superior.
Pick a Yashica and discover the
difference the pros have known
about for years.
Aore import.antly, Yashica x/A CM ll/"^ A Yashica Inc. ,441 Sette Drive,
ives you full-frame 35mm YAotllV/A Paramus,.:N, J. 07652
From under HOO
tooverHJi
fied myself with constructing a ques-
tionnaire on social life and econom-
ics. Nanai'e helped willingly.
On Thursday morning at the crack
of dawn, I set out with the gardener
and the ram for Turanaba'a, the ori-
gin site where the sacrifice was to take
place. For more than an hour we
climbed up the steep mountain paths,
passing several lineage compounds
enclosed by palms and banana trees.
Ultimately, we climbed through a
thick grove to what, at first, seemed
an impenetrable abutment on which
ten houses were perched. Con-
structed of wood and thatch high up
on wooden piles, they appeared to
blend earthen color into the dusty
ground. In contrast to other ancestral
hearths I had visited, Turanaba'a was
stark and barren, an excavated hilltop
on which nothing grew. The
bleakness was broken only by several
stunning rock formations and, on the
far side, the crown of the sacred ban-
yan tree growing about fifty feet down
on the hillside below.
Closest to the edge of the flattened
abutment, and connected by a treach-
erous path to the tree in whose hollow
the wren-turned-to-rock now sits,
was the sacred house of Moon-Sun.
Unpretentious in itself and not readily
distinguishable from the house of any
other ancestor, this most sacred of all
Makassae places was the locus of tre-
mendous activity. Two huge stones,
the table and chair of Moon-Sun,
served as an altar, laid out with a large
palm leaf, a sacred sword, and sev-
eral small woven baskets containing
cooked rice and meat and small quan-
tities of betelchew, which would be
used to call the spirits.
Next to the altar, on an enormous
stone grave, sat Nanai'e with two
other elders. He beckoned me with a
wave of his hand, and I walked
slowly toward him, past a clutch of
women who squatted at the outskirts
of the site, anticipating a ceremony
from which they were ritually ex-
cluded.
Arriving at the grave site. 1 was
greeted with the now-familiar hau
tni'i, a common Makassae salutation
that simply means "come sit with
us." 1 did — in the open place nearest
to me. Nanai'e at once looked scorn-
ful, and Koo Rubi, the ritual special-
ist of Turanaba'a, a shy and re-
strained man who had always greeted
me with caution, now shouted at me
to get up. I jumped to my feet, apolo-
gizing and at the same time asking
what I had done. "We cannot tell
you," Koo Rubi said. "The names
have been secreted again." I had ob-
viously done something very wrong
(I later learned that I had sat on the
headstone of Moon-Sun's son, osten-
sibly the first of the Makassae ances-
tors), but the occurrence seemed to be
immediately forgotten. The three
elders shifted their places somewhat,
and 1 sat elsewhere on the same grave
site. We talked for a while, mainly
small talk about life in America and
the poverty of Timor. Koo Rubi
called the spirits with offerings of
meat, rice, and betelchew, and
Nanai'e asked me to tape the follow-
ing special chant in which they called
on the ancestors to forgive us for
speaking their names and recounted
the reasons for having done so.
This stranger came and we were
obliged to speak your names so that
he could write them in his notes
and books. 1 told this American,
"Ours are sacred. We cannot
speak them idly. After speaking
them we must secrete them again.
We must make them sacred
again." Therefore, this American
bought this ram and brought it here
to our hearth to speak your name.
Now we will put your name in its
Let her carry you
to the Cities of the Dawn
From New Orleans, jazziest city
in America, sail to the lands of the
ancient Mayans. Prowl through their
long-abandoned temples. Try to solve
their still undeciphered hieroglyphs.
The Cities of the Dawn are exotic,
exciting, and still nearly unexplored,
At Carras our job is making luxury
more elegant. Our passengers are
usually seasoned travelers. They can
compare us with other cruise ships. And
when you compare us, we shine.
We carry fewer passengers.
That means spacious cabins, each with
a bathroom and a bathtub. Our dining
room is large enough to accommodate
all passengers at one sitting.
Our cuisine is the envy of famous
restaurants. And our decks, being less
crowded, are delightfully strollable.
We've also added theme cruises:
Sail with the Stars (for movie buffs);
Symphony of Islands and Seas (a
musical feast); The Sea a Stage (the
play's the thing); Away from the
Blues (and all that jazz!).
There's just one thing. We work very
hard to find fascinating ports of call.
But some of our passengers are so
happy on board, it's hard to entice
them ever to leave the ship!
Free round trip flight to New Orleans
from any city in the continental U.S.
or Canada provided by Carras for
selected sailings.
MTS Daphne is registered in Greece,
land of Poseidon, the god of the sea.
carries you away
75 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA. DEPT. D-2. NY.. N Y. 10019 (212) 757-0761
15
For people
who want to
conquer cities
on their feet.
Soft leather, foam, and an
arch support you can actually feel
make Patricks a great value in
the world of comfortable shoes.
Our Patricks are made exclusively for us in
France. They're the first sport shoe we've
tested that performs as well on a sight-seeing
tour of Europe as on an athletic court here
at home. Here's why:
■ Glove-soft leather uppers th.it \\Mt\c with
every step you take.
■ Cushioned with foam , _i
under the tongue, around ■• | .^ r k .
your ankle, and under v" |
your foot from heel to toe
■ An arch support you can
feel for honest comfort.
-I jif-Ur
Over 100 suction
lips on each !
m Slit for laces to keep
tongue from side-slipping
i Dozens of special air cells
under the insole cushion Kuaid a^amst slips
each step. You literally walk on a layer of air
Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.
Colors: Navy, brown or white. Sizes: (Men)
6'/2-12, 13; (Women) 5-10. Price: 28.50. Please
add $1 for postage and handling.
Soft leather sport shoes from
France for men and
>men in three
great colors:
navy, brown,
or white.
Dept. "'-'i
1805 N.W. Thurman
Portland, Or. 97209
Order TOLL FREE anytime 800-547-6712
(Excluding Oregon, Hawaii, & Alaska).
Patricks
Qty.
Size
Color
Men's 2730N
Women'.s 2739N
D Check enclosed
n Master Charge
Card #
Interbank #
Signature X
n BankAmericard
D Please send FREE color catalog.
Name .
Address—
City
place again and we will put your
word in its place again. Your name
is sacred again, and also your per-
son.
The rams were slaughtered, along
with ten chickens, each of which was
quietly suffocated in the name of a
lineage founder whose genealogy I
had been given. While the meat was
being slaughtered and cooked and the
entrails divined, I was invited to see
the sacred banyan tree and the wren-
turned-to-rock in its hollow.
Few Makassae have descended the
path to where the forbidden tree and
rock stand. I was the first stranger to
do so. In the circumstance, it was an
awesome sight, and the power and
mystery of their beliefs took on new
meaning for me. I asked if I could
take some photographs while Koo
Rubi recited the origin myth and
made an offering at the site. He
agreed, but insisted I use film for
slides. (I had previously explained a
critical difference between black-
and-white film and slides. Black-and-
white film could be developed lo-
cally, and I frequently gave out prints
to those I had photographed. Slides,
on the other hand, only projected an
image and could not be possessed.
Koo Rubi obviously preferred that I
photograph the rock and tree in
slides, lest anyone possess their most
sacred object.)
Having viewed the rock and tree,
the solemnities over, we climbed
back up to the clearing where an enor-
mous feast was laid out. Nanai'e,
Koo Rubi, and the third elder ate at
the altar, and I sat nearby on the
ground with two "lords of the land,"
secular chiefs who had joined the
party. The men of the lineage sat be-
tween us, devouring the meat and
guzzling ma buti, the wine of the sago
palm. The "lords" and I drank ma
sabu, a distilled version that is far
more potent, and talked and joked
until the sun dipped behind the hills
to the west. We parted with the warm-
est of Makassae leave-takings, two-
handed clasps all around, my gaffe
seemingly forgotten.
For two weeks thereafter, I con-
centrated (with Nanai'e's help) on
filling out the questionnaires we had
prepared. People volunteered to sub-
mit to my two and a half hours of
questioning, and I completed nearly
twenty forms, which provided me
with considerable sociological and
economic information. My family
and I were confident in our relation-
ships with the Makassae and comfort-
able in the setting we had made for
ourselves.
Then one Saturday afternoon, as
my wife nursed a cold in bed and the
children played on the veranda, I en-
tered the main room of our palm-
frond house and spotted an object
curled around my sweater. I reached
for the sweater, but quickly with-
drew. A pit viper! It was the most
deadly snake in the region, and the
Makassae have a developed folklore
about it. They believe it lives in trees,
hurling itself against horses and cattle
and invariably blinding them. A man
dare not go near one, for its bite will
kill in twenty-four hours.
' 'Cobra! ' ' I shouted, as the Makas-
sae word completely eluded me. It
dropped to the floor and slithered
quickly away from me as I ran toward
the door on the opposite wall.
"Snake!" I yelled to my children,
who fled the veranda lest the dreaded
viper exit through a space in the
loosely joined wall. One of the gar-
deners and some of the household
staff came running to the house,
where the snake was now curled
around our shortwave radio on a
table. Baneleke! they yelled, ob-
viously sharing my excitement and
fear. They asked me if they should
kill this highly venomous creature.
"Kill it, indeed," I ordered, and ten
minutes later it was over, at least the
heroics of it.
After the dead snake — dangling
from the end of an extended dibble
stick — had been removed, people
began gathering at the house. They
entered into animated conversation
about the snake, its character and be-
havior. One thing they agreed upon;
it was unheard of that the snake
should appear in a house. One young
man ventured that it was a kina, or
sign, an omen that someone had it in
for us and had planted poison around
our house. Once stepped upon, the
poison would takeeflect, killing us in
an indeterminate amount of time.
"Some poisons take weeks. Others
months. Others years. You never
know ." He left quickly , promising to
send his uncle to perform the appro-
priate countermagic. He never came.
In the meantime, Anu Loi, one of
our gardeners, returned from the rice
market, arriving just as the snake was
being buried in a small clearing near
our garden. "You killed it!" he pro-
nounced, obviously troubled by what
i6
WHATSITSNAME, the completely unique new Edmund 4Vi" Newton-
ian Richest Field Reflector Telescope. Clearest, brightest, most
spectacular wide angle views of moon, stars, comets, galaxies you've
ever seen. Here are just a few of its outstanding features:
Compact, portable, sets up in seconds. It's pre-collimated and ready
to use. Just pop in the eyepiece, focus . . , and presto! Its fantastic 3^2°
field of view gives you more stars in a single view than any other type
telescope . . . bright, crisp, finely resolved images. For sky gazing and
earth gazing too!
Take it anywhere! Only 17", 10 pounds. Easiest-to-use telescope ever!
Over your shoulder, in your lap, on a tripod. Or just rotate the spherical
base on its own aluminum mount for use on a table, car hood, etc.
Maintenance-free, top quality optical system features 4V<i", f/4
parabolic primary mirror (1/8 wave, 17" F.L.); pre-allgned 1/8 wave
diagonal is right on coated optical window that seals optics from
moisture and dust; standard 28mm Kellner eyepiece (gives 15X, higher
with other eyepiece or Barlow).
Beautiful, colorful, sleek and modern! A real conversation piece and a
joytoownand use. Rugged high impact plastic body, bright Scharfan-
lan red (doesn't impair night vision); fast, posi-grip roller focusing
(25' to infinity); adjustable carrying strap and much more! The tele-
scope of the future, here today.
Stock No. 2001E Special Introductory Price $129.95 Ppd.
(Goes to $149.95 Dec. 25, 1976)
CONTEST RULES AND REGULATIONS
1. No purchase required to enter. 2. All entries must be received by
Edmund Scientific Co. no later than November 15, 1976, and
become the sole property of Edmund Scientific Co. 3. An official
entry form, or reasonable facsimile, should be used for each entry. 4.
Entries will be judged on originality and practicality. 5. Decision of
the judges will be final. 6. Incaseofties, winning entry will be the one
with the earliest postmark. 7. Winners will be notified by mail, and
their photos and names will appear with the announcement in the
next issue of the nationally distributed Edmund catalog. 8. This
contest is void where prohibited by law. 9. "Name the Telescope "
contest is not open to employees of Edmund Scientific Co., its
advertising agency, this magazine or any judge of this contest. 10.
Every entrant, whether a winner or not, will receive FREE a 1-year
subscription to "Astronomy News".
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.,
300 EDSCORP BLDG.,
BARRINGTON, NJ 08007 (609) 547-3488
A star
is born . . .
name it, win it!
(in time for Christmas!)
GRAND PRIZE: TWO NEW EDMUND PORTABLE
RICHEST FIELD 41/4" f/4 NEWTONIAN TELESCOPES,
INTRODUCTORY-PRICED AT 3129.95 EACH.
(One for you. one for ttie school or planetarium of your choice j
rLUo obUU UAoH bUNUo one before vou win twc
2nd PRIZE $100 CASH
3rd, 4th, 5th PRIZES— S50 EDMUND MDSE. CERTIFICATES
EVERYBODY WINS! all entrants get a free i-year
SUBSCRIPTION TO ASTRONOMY NEWS (a S5 00 value). 12
fact-filled issues packed with the latest astronomical news and
discoveries.
■ Special introductory price valid for all orders received by midnight
December 24, 1976 . when it goes to SI 49 95 If you re ttie Grand Prize
Winner, we II refund your S12995
Get in the contest — it s easy, fun, creative and rewarding! Just
read the description under WHATSITSNAMES illustration for
information and inspiration — then, write your suggested name for
Edmund s new telescope on the entry blank below, fill in and mail.
Your brainchild may be the winner! So. give it a go — lots of good
hints in that fact-filled paragraph above WHATSITSNAME S intro-
ductory low price. No purchase necessary to enter, and here's
more good news. If you buy the new scope now (why wa/f to enjoy
it . . , why not own it now. or give it for Christmas at the special
introductory price?) and you do become the Grand Prize Winner,
we'll refund your$129.95!P/us . . you'll get a $500.00 Cash Bonus
buyer s prize. Okay? Name the telescope!
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY NOVEMBER 15, 1976!
USE THE OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM/ORDER FORM BELOW, OR
REASONABLE FACSIMILE. ONE NAME PER FORM. USE IT
ALSO TO ORDER EDMUND S NEW SCOPE NOW AND SAVE
$20.00. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN— AND IF YOU
WIN, YOU'LL GET YOUR $129.95 BACK!
If form is missing, send your entry and/or order on separate piece
of paper (one entry per sheet) to:
CONTESTE"
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO.
300 EDSCORP BLDG.
BARRINGTON, NJ 08007
Be sure to
include your
Name, Address,
City. State, Zip.
OFFICIAL ENTRY/ORDER FORM— MAIL TODAY!
Contest"E"
Edmund Scientific Co.,
300 Edscorp BIdg., Barrington, NJ 08007
and
3 Send FREE
164-Page Catalog E
Charge my
D American Express
Z2 BankAmericard
Z Master Charge
Interbank No,
Card No
Expiration Date
D Yes. I'm ordering the new telescope no
saving S20-00. Send me:
■WHATSITSNAME' . PORTABLE TELESCOPE(S)
NO 2001 E ai Special
Introductory Price of S129 95 ea
Service & Handling Charge
Enclosed is □ Check D M.O
For TOTAL of
BankAheriijird
30-DAY
MONEY-BACK
GUARANTEE.
G No. I'm not ordering the new telescope now, but here's
My entry for the name of the telescope is:
nycontestentry.
we had done. He immediately sat
down on our veranda and began to
divine. Putting the index finger and
thumb of his left hand together, he
placed them on his right wrist, then
slid his extended thumb along his
forearm and drew up his index finger
until it touched the thumb. When the
fingers touched, he muttered the
name of a spirit or an enemy. He
repeated these steps as he moved his
fingers slowly up toward his
shoulder. He then started back down
his arm until his thumb and index
finger finally reached the crook of his
elbow. There he stopped. The name
he spoke was Turanaba'a.
The snake was a messenger from
the people of the origin site, Anu Loi
explained. It was sent to remind me
of my error when I sat on Moon-Sun's
son's gravestone and to urge me to
make another sacrifice, this time of a
pig. Not wanting to act precipitously,
I sent for Nanai'e, who didn't arrive
for several hours. He consulted our
staff and huddled with the diviner.
Eventually, he concurred. The snake
was a messenger from Turanaba'a. It
had entered our house as an ant, and
once inside, it took on the appearance
of a snake. Instead of killing it, we
should have called for a charmer who
would have lured it out of the house
with sweet rice. Then it would have
returned to Turanaba'a of its own vo-
lition. It meant us no harm. A new
sacrifice was in order, but we would
have to wait until Koo Rubi told us
the time was right.
Nanai'e sent for Koo Rubi, who
arrived one hour later. He, too, delib-
erated with everyone there. Anu
Loi's reasoning was correct, he an-
nounced, but we could not act until
we had another sign. "Wait," Koo
Rubi told us, "another snake will
come to affirm the message."
We hardly slept that night and
woke the next morning with consid-
erable trepidation, knowing that we
would have to face an inquiring popu-
lace at the Sunday market. At about
9:00 A.M., we left our house and
started up the path to the marketplace .
Suddenly, a woman began to wail
and, dropping her basket of tubers,
ran past us toward the mountain. Men
and women alike began to drop the
produce they carried on their
shoulders and heads and turned to run
back along the path toward their
homes. We turned and stood watch-
ing, speechless. At the top of the
abutment behind our house, flames
were leaping upward from the thatch
roof of a house. Within minutes the
entire hillock was ablaze. A strong
wind came up off Mate Bian and car-
ried the flames to Sai Oma, Nanai'e's
own lineage house, and from there to
Bui Lo, and on through a thicket of
bamboo to Olale, finally engulfing
Turanaba'a and the house of Moon-
Sun itself.
In the dryness of the intermonsoon,
the fire spread quickly, and before the
first man could reach it, the entire ori-
gin site, two additional ancestral
hearths, and twenty-one lineage
houses had been completely de-
stroyed. In the pathetic recounting
that later took place , more than a hun-
dred families told of losing their most
important possessions.
Anu Loi lost everything but one
pair of shorts and a store-bought
cloth. Our goatherd, Koo Laka, also
lost everything he owned, save his
unharvested rice. Saba Loi, whose
ninety sacks of rice were burned, ap-
peared that afternoon at the cock-
fights in a loin cloth so that everyone
could see that he was left with noth-
ing. His eyes were red from smoke
and from private tears.
While three major fires had oc-
curred in Turanaba'a in living mem-
ory, this was by far the worst. Blame
had to be set, so a divination was an-
nounced for dawn of the following
morning. The immediate cause of the
fire was known to everyone. Sahe
Raku, a distant kinswoman of
Nanai'e, had left her cooking fire
burning when she went to market,
and a gust of wind from the mountain
carried a spark to the roof of her
house. But eflScient cause is not
sufficient cause for the Makassae , and
a divination was necessary to know
why the fire had to occur at all and
which ancestor had to be placated so
that it would not occur again.
Nanai'e, who had suffered among the
greatest losses in the conflagration,
insisted that I attend.
Well before dawn the next morn-
ing, I began the climb back up to
Turanaba'a where the divination was
to take place. I arrived in time to see
Nanai'e laying out a circle of stones,
measured equidistantly with a cord
from a sacred spear placed in the
ground at its center. He walked
around the circle, pointing to each of
the stones in turn and designating
them as ancestor spirit or enemy who
might have had cause to provoke the
disastrous fire.
One of the stones in the circle was
named for the founder of Sahe Raku's
house, where the fire began and
which was said to have been in need
of roof repair. Another was named for
Sahe Raku's son, who had been ac-
cused of stealing rice from his
mother's brother and had been or-
dered to make amends by slaughter-
ing a pig, but never did. I waited
somewhat anxiously while twenty-
six stones were named in all, and was
relieved that none bore my name or
Nanai'e's or, as far as I could discern,
the names of any of the important an-
cestors who had figured in my les-
sons.
Then, just as the first rays of sun-
light fell on the circle of stones, a
young rooster that had not yet sung
was hand-fed a few grains of sacred
rice and held up to the fading moon
and the rising sun. The end of the cord
that extended from the spear was
looped around one foot. Nai suma!
( ' ' choose a name ! " ) he was told , and
with a sudden gesture his head was
severed from his body and he was left
to writhe in the circle of stones until
he died atop the telltale one or in the
center, which marked the area of
Moon-Sun's will.
In a moment, it was over. The
young cock died astride the two rocks
named for Sahe Raku's unrepaired
house and for her son. While clusters
of men and women began to debate
whether or not to chastise her and
how, Nanai'e looked at me, smiled
wanly, and winked. Later, I asked
him about that wink and about his
failure to name a stone that might be
associated either with our lessons or
with my sitting gaffe. "I know how
that would have come out," he said
solemnly, "and I could not bear the
responsibility."
The implications of my respon-
sibility were, nonetheless, on ev-
eryone's mind, and thereafter field
work became a heavy burden. People
were polite, as always, but our areas
of mutual concern turned away from
ritual and belief and back to planting
and technology. No more question-
naires were completed. When the
first house post was set for the re-
building of one of the burned-out lin-
eage houses, I was conspicuously not
invited; instead, the villagers sent me
a loin of pork, the usual gift to an
outsider of authority. The names had
been secreted once again, as had the
persons. My wife and I planned our
withdrawal and took leave of the Ma-
kassae soon after, the smoldering em-
bers of the fire in the hearth seared
forever in our memories. D
i8
BACCHUS/ god of wine and fertility.
Lawrence Beall Smith's limited-edition
masterwork of bas-relief sculpture.
In pure silver (.999),
finer than sterling.
Original bas-relief sculpture commissioned by and offered
by the International Treasury of Fine Art. Individually
framed, hallmarked and registered. Personally signed
by the artist. Edition strictly limited to 5,000.
Original issue price: $150.
1 k'lc is Lawrence Beall .Sniiih's iniauiiiaiivc inierpretation
(iT Bacchus, the classic mythological god of wine and
leitilily. The superbly spirited Bacchus image emerges
beautifully from the interplay of light and tiark in the
deftly sculptured grape motif. This Llistinclive, richly
detailed bas-relief is sensitively wrought in pure (.W-) fine)
silver, and specially treated to resist tarnishing. The
work is individually eustiim-mounied in an exquisite
antique silver-finished frame with a hand-turned \el\et
liner, and measures 15" x 15".
A single, strictly limited edition.
The Bacchus is being issued in only one edition, strictly
limited to just 5,()(X) sculptures. Once the supply of this
edition is exhausted, you will never again have the
opportunity to obtain the work unless an original owner
elects to offer it for sale at a later date. In that event,
you will be obliged to pay whatever asking price is dictated
by market conditions at the time.
Attestation of authenticity.
Each bas-relief sculpture is signed by the artist, indivi-
dually hallmarked, and registered with the collector's
own edition number. Your investment is additionally pro-
tected by a certificate of authenticity affixed to the re-
verse side of each sculpture. This bears the owner's
name, the artist's signature and an imprint of the regis-
tered edition number.
Our tradition.
Many notable sculptures now on exhibition in museums and private
collections the world over were produced by the International
Treasury of Fine Art. Through the years, it has been our privilege to
work in close association with talented contemporary artists and to
display their work in our gallery in Plainview. New York.
Our guarantee.
Because only your personal inspection can truly convey to you
the rich details and sensitive craftsmanship which distinguish this work
we invite you to examine the Bacchus in your own home. If you
are disappointed for any reason, return it within 30 days of receipt and
your remittance will be refunded in full (or your charges cancelled).
How orders are filled.
Pre-Christmas delivery is guaranteed on all orders received by
December 1 , 1976. Later orders will be filled within 3 to 4 weeks of
receipt. However, any orders received a/'/t?;- this limited edition
is completed must be respectfully declined and returned. It is there-
fore strongly recommended that you mail the accompanying
Drder form as soon as possible.
About the Sculptor
Lawrence Beall Smith was commissioned to create
the Bacchus. His works are in the permanent collec-
tions of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Fogg
Museum, the Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection
of American Painting, and the Library of Congress.
International
Treasury of Fine Art
International Treasury of Fine Art
100 Fairchild Avenue, Plainview, New York U803
AG
Please enter my order for llie Bacchus limited-edition silver sculpture
hy Lawrence Beall Smith. 1 understand that, if not completely de-
li.s^hted. I may return it within 30 days for a full refund or cancellation
of charges.
D I enclose: checli or money order in the amount of 5150 as pa\meni
in full (including postage and insurance).
D Please charge to: ( ) American E.xpress I ) Master CharLie
Credit card orders also accepted by phone— 516-938-7233
Card Sr ( ALL digits) Expires
n I enclose: check or money order in the amount of 525 and will pay
the balance in two consecutive monthly payments of 562.50 each,
after 1 receive the Bacchus. (There is no interest charge.)
Buyer's Name (Prinll-
Owner's Name (Print)-
(New York Slate residents add applicable sales tax.)
cerlificale.)
Apt. .
Zip-
Suhjeci lo acceptance by Inlernationai Treasury of Fine Art. Inc.
A Naturalist at Large
Drift Coconuts
On the beach with a field
researcher — who must fight off
rats, pigs, and his own cultural
load to get the data
Seventy-five yards from the beach,
just at the edge of the first surf break,
an almost submerged coconut bobs
and rolls in the water. Borne by the
currents and winds of the Caribbean,
it has drifted from an unknown source
until by chance it has arrived offshore
of the Miskito Indian village of
Tasbapauni in Nicaragua. The coco-
nut is a self-contained, long-distance
drifter. An impervious green skin
shields it from marine elements; its
thick, fibrous husk gives buoyancy;
and its well-protected seed can retain
germination powers for months.
Closer to the beach, a large swell
catches the coconut, sucking it into
the water wall as the wave form
builds and breaks and sends the
husked flotsam into foam-speckled
shallow waters. Each breaking wave
carries the coconut a little closer to
shore. Stranded partway up the beach
by the ebbing tide, it glistens and
dries in the tropical sun. That night,
a full-moon spring tide and a heavy
wind-generated surf carry the drift
coconut high onto the debris-strewn
beach, beyond the limit of normal
wave reach. It has finally come to rest
on the eastern shore of Nicaragua
after an uncharted journey.
Lodged in loose sand at the edge
of wind-sheared coco plum and sea
grape thickets, long trailing runners
of beach morning glories , and strand-
line rows of domesticated coconut
palms, the sea-fresh pioneer is ten-
uously established in its new environ-
ment. Days of wind, rain, and hot sun
pass, and the young green colors fade
and weather to earth brown.
Some four months after falling and
drifting from its parent tree, the coco-
nut's dark brown, desiccated husk
may send forth a leafy shoot, while
its roots continue to grow inside. If
undisturbed, the roots will eventually
break through and start to anchor the
palm to its new site.
But the morning after a strong
storm, the drift coconut has disap-
peared from the beach. Damp sand
and flotsam mark where storm waves
undercut the beach berm, scalloping
cutouts in the margins of strand-line
vegetation. Carried out to sea again
before it could be anchored, the drift
coconut may soon be washed up on
another shore by tides, winds, and
currents . Its brief spell on this beach
left no marks or indications that it
ever passed this way.
In the Miskito language, a drift co-
conut is called kuku awra, a term that
also is used to refer to any foreigner
who has come to their shores. Vaga-
bonds, transient visitors, culturally
and economically displaced persons
are all kuku awra to the Miskito. They
suddenly appear from unknown
places, transported by chance and
strange fates to lodge with the Mis-
kito. Most stay but a short time before
drifting to another place. Yet these
kuku awra leave a wake, a trail, and
memories. And even though only
briefly established on Miskito shores,
they take with them something too.
Since 1968, I have made several
research trips to eastern Nicaragua.
Along with my wife, son, and an oc-
casional graduate student, I have
studied the Miskito subsistence econ-
omy: how it was, how it is changing,
and consequent impacts on social and
economic relationships; agricultural,
hunting, and fishing productivity;
diet and nutrition; use of resources
and impact on fauna and flora; and
how economic inflation and out-mi-
gration have affected village liveli-
hood. We have also spent a good deal
of time studying sea turtles: their be-
havior, ecology, and exploitation. In
turn, the Miskito have studied us and
drawn their own conclusions — thank-
fully still unpublished.
It takes a lot to surprise the Mis-
kito, but then we often did a lot of
surprising things. Equipped with
scales of various shapes and sizes, we
weighed food crops, food in the pot,
and food just before it went into their
mouths. It's amazing that they put up
with us. With tables and chemicals,
we analyzed water, food, and soil
samples. We caught or purchased
what, to the Miskito, were valuable
sea turtles; weighed, measured, and
tagged them; then let them go. We
brought big aluminum cases filled
with gear: still cameras, underwater
cameras, 16mm cameras, and video-
tape cameras. Things were weighed,
photographed, categorized, and
filed. Questioners gave question-
naires to questionees on household
budgets and composition, births,
deaths, social relationships, and the
like. Back home, copious field notes
were cross-indexed, tabulated,
keypunched, and fed into computers.
Significant relationships were ana-
lyzed and conclusions drawn. But
much of what I learned isn't con-
tained in the books and papers that
resulted from this research. For the
first time, I'm going to try to tell how
it really was.
The first Miskito Indian I talked to
was about 45 years old and had been
eyeing me curiously as I walked up
the trail to his village. The little diesel
boat that brought me had pulled away
from the landing and chugged off
across the lagoon. I gathered up my
belongings and cautiously navigated
my way along the muddy path. Sit-
ting on the porch of the first house in
the village, legs swinging back and
forth, the man watched my every
move and, embarrassingly, every slip
I made in the mud. I was apprehen-
sive about meeting the Miskito and
wanted the first encounter to be so-
cially correct. I wanted to explain to
someone in authority, a respected
leader in the village, why I had come
to this particular village.
"How is it," I asked him, using
the Creole phrase for "hello."
"Right here," he answered, im-
passively.
"That's good. Tell me, where can
I find the oldest man in the village?"
"Oldest man? Oldest man? Oldest
man, him dead!"
I cherish that moment. It was one
of the many philosophical rewards of
living with the Miskito. I wrote about
that encounter some years ago, but I
didn't learn until later that the Miskito
of Tasbapauni had also recorded that
first meeting as part of their own ver-
bal chronicles.
I ran into my First Miskito on a
by Bernard Nietschmann
subsequent trip. "So you come
again, Mr. Barney."
"That's right. How is it this time,
Mr. Clemente?"
"Fine. Right here, same as
always, life spare. You still looking
for the oldest man?"
Studying the particular topic at
hand is the easiest part of doing field
research. What is difficult is to
reorient your cultural load, establish
some sort of perceivable role, and
maintain body, mind, and equip-
ment. It is impossible to prepare for
the many cultural, philosophical, and
psychological challenges to your pre-
conceived notions of doing field
work. One must cope with frequent
frustrations, blind alleys, misgivings,
disenchantments, boredom, startling
contradictions, and unexpected set-
backs. Nor can one prepare ade-
quately for the specific problems that
will be encountered: how to deal with
a situation in which a person who you
thought was your "good friend," the
personification and embodiment of
the "noble savage," is really culti-
vating an economic relationship
aimed at acquiring the watch your
parents gave you for graduation; how
to maintain and repair light meters,
cameras, typewriters, and the addi-
tional discipline-related mechanical
contrivances upon which your re-
search depends, but whose reliability
factor is nil beyond the place of pur-
chase; or how to live in a fishbowl
where privacy doesn't exist; where
your every act, mistake, and relation-
ship are immediately known by all,
and strange explanations for what you
are really up to are manufactured and
disseminated with great imagination
and speed.
Providing for cooked food, trans-
portation, good health, and occa-
sional private moments are the most
time-consuming and frustrating prob-
lems involved in field research. But
one quickly learns to adapt and cope
and persevere. There are other things
more bothersome.
Living in the rainy humid tropics
and right next to the sea brings with
it a host of small-scale challenges.
You soon discover that you have been
raising secret zoos and gardens. All
MR. JACK DANIEL put his distillery by this
Lynchburg cave spring, even though it meant
shipping whiskey from Tullahoma.
You see, there wasn't any
railroad in Lynchburg. But
there was this iron-free
spring that was just right
^ for making whiskey.
Mainly, the spring and Mr. Jack's charcoal
mellowing process have
accounted for Jack Daniel's
uncommon smoothness for
the past 111 years. A sip,
'we believe, and you'll be
glad we still don't mind
hauling our whiskey
over to Tullahoma.
CHARCOAL
MELLOWED
6
DROP
6
BY DROP
Tennessee Whiskey • 90 Proof • Distilled and Bottled by Jack Daniel Distillery
Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc., Lynchburg (Pop. 361), Tennessee 37352
Placed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Government.
Bauer Goose Down
Warmth For Winter
WATCH CAP CLASSIC
The shape is a long-time favorite . . . Goose
Down adds new warmth. So light you'll hardly
t<now you're wearing it, and so compact It stuffs
easily into your pocket. Water-repellent nylon
taffeta with stretch-knit turn-down brim. For men
or women. Sizes: S(6y2-7), M(7'/e-7y4), L(7%-
1V2). XL{7=/a-8). Colors: Camouflage, Black,
Dark Green, Red. 0135 Watch Cap, $9.95 ppd.
FOUR-SEASON LIGHTWEIGHT
Goose Down Sportsman's Cap Is warm at sub-
zero; comfortable at 50° because It "breathes."
Fully insulated crown and turn-down storm flap.
Tough long-wearing nylon and cotton fabric.
Sizes S(6V2 7) mjVi-lVi) L(73/8 IVi) XL
(75/8-8) Colors Red Autumn Tan Olive Cam
ouflage 0138 Sportsman s Cap $13 95 ppd
GOOSE DOWN SOX
KEEP FEET WARM
Slip on a pair of these to keep your feet warm in
sleeping bag or bed. Great travelmates that take
little space In your duffel. Bauer Goose Down
quilted In tough, washable nylon taffeta. Col-
ors: Red, Winter Blue, Taupe, Powder Blue.
Specify shoe size and we will send a proper fit.
0123 Goose Down Sox, pair $9.95 ppd.
p Order Today! Money Back Guarantee! -|
Enclosed is my check or money order for
$ , (Add sales tax where applicable.)
Please RUSH my order
n 0136 Watch Cap
Size Color
D 0138 Sportsman's Cap
Size Color
n 0123 Down Sox
lyien's Size
Women's Size _
Name
Address
City
_ Color
_ Color
D Send me FREE your color catalog of c
unique outdoor products.
„-^&:^<i2/^*c*ija^
Dept. ONH, Third & Virginia, Seattle. WA 98124
leather materials quickly begin to
sprout greenish fungal patches, and
cockroaches delight in living in, and
dining on, the insides of radios and
tape recorders. Books start bowing
and ballooning in the high humidity,
writing paper takes on the structural
rigidity of a wet dishcloth, envelopes
self-seal, hinges rust and separate,
cameras turn into expensive paper-
weights, and clothes are always damp
and mildewed.
During most of the year, too much
water is the problem, while the oppo-
site is true during the short dry sea-
son. Then the wells run dry and avail-
able water has to be carefully and ju-
diciously used. For example, I
learned how to do the following with
the same three cups of water: brush
teeth, wash hair, sponge bathe, and
shave. There is a secret to this, in-
volving split-second timing, taking
out a cup of water at one stage and
adding it later, and great restraint not
to look at the water. These are but
insignificant nuisances. They give
character to a place and make every
day a little bit more interesting. I
often think I miss them.
There were two things I will never
miss. I didn't cope with them too well
nor did I ever adapt to them. I believe
that much of my inability to become
accustomed to them results from
strong childhood impressions left
from reading about the rat torture in
Orwell's 7984 and learning how pigs
ran things in his Animal Farm.
Every house in Tasbapauni has a
few rats living in its thatch roof; in
the thick palm fronds, they burrow,
cut tunnels, raise families, and do
other rat things. During the day, they
are usually quigt, confining them-
selves to the safety of their elevated
perches. Nighttime is another thing
entirely. They scurry about — ap-
parently playing tag — squeak, search
for food, and generally take over the
house. Every so often, enthusiasm
exceeds ability and they slip off one
of the narrow poles that cross-brace
the roof. This is why I don't like rats.
The second night I spent in a Mis-
kito village coincided, unfortunately,
with the "rat Olympics" being held
directly overhead. I listened to their
activities for a while, but fell asleep
partway through the jousting event,
in which two rats at opposite ends of
a rafter pole run headlong at each
other. A sudden heavy thump on my
chest awakened me, and I looked
down to see a groggy three- or four-
pound rat clenching my T-shirt, star-
ing back, whiskers at my neck, heart-
beat racing in its warm rodent body.
Dazed and frightened, it held
desperately to the cotton cloth, resist-
ing my efforts to roll it off. I couldn't
take the T-shirt off, and, envisioning
a death lunge at my throat, I took the
only alternative left: panic — sheer,
unadulterated, glorious, screamy
panic. The rat departed.
The room I slept in was only sev-
enty-five yards or so from the beach,
and the sea breeze was strong enough
to keep mosquitoes away, so there
was no need to sleep under a net.
Nevertheless, I did from then on, just
to keep the rats off. Every so often,
a rat would fall, hit the net, and
scamper down the sides. It happened
often enough that I began to wonder
what was happening in other houses.
I decided to do a study.
A house-to-house survey revealed
that although there were plenty of
rats, they seldom fell. I began to feel
singled out. Perhaps the rats enjoyed
the trampoline I'd put up for them.
Various people told me that they
had noticed an increase in the number
of rats. They complained that some
of' their cats died after each visit by
the SNEM malaria personnel (Ser-
vicio Nacional de la Erradicacion de
Malaria) and the spraying of houses
with a solution of DDT, water, and
kerosene. Cats are notoriously sensi-
tive to DDT; in their constant preen-
ing they had probably ingested small
but deadly amounts of the insecticide
picked up from around the house.
Fewer mosquitoes and less malaria
also meant fewer cats and more rats.
Several weeks later, I went to clean
out the rain barrel we'd been using for
drinking water, only to discover a
complete rat skeleton at the bottom.
I started to take a definite dislike
toward rats. I sent away for large
spring traps and passed them out to
all who wanted to reduce their house-
hold rat population. I experimented
with various baits and found that the
best was guava jelly. Some Miskito
remember me only from those spring
traps and guava jelly. My first tangi-
ble role in the village was as a rat
exterminator.
The antirat campaign was fairly ef-
fective, enough so that one"^ Miskito
family got mad at me. From their
point of view, it was a case of "just
when you really need a rat, you can't
find it"; and they couldn't find a rat
because of me. The reason they
An American Portrait 2076.
Several months ago we started our Tricentennial
Program by asking for your thoughts on life in
America by the year 2076. Instead of a lot of ideas
about space ships and robots of the future most of
the more than 50,000 responses we ve received
have been about people's visions of our future
as a nation.
The main point that came through, letter after
letter, was that most people believe a lot of the
things that made America what it is today will
shape our future as well.
An overwhelming number of you - ninety-one
percent-told us you want the family to remain
our basic social unit.
Sixty-two percent feel the nation will be better
off when there is no racial, sexual, or religious
discrimination.
Seventy-three percent of you told us you expect
a reaffirmation of religion and faith by the time of
our Tricentennial.
Nearly three-quarters of you are in favor of a
slower paced, more rural life.
What's better than statistics is the feeling that
the majority of people believe that life in the
future can be better than it is today. But we've
always been like that. It's what s been called the
American Dream.
You've shown us that the future of America lies
not in the land or the technologies we master
but in the hearts and minds of the people, our
greatest resource.
We didn't intend to do a scientific survey but
your responses show significant insight into the
problems and opportunities that face our nation.
We plan to make those thoughts available in a
book reflecting many of the interesting letters
we've received.
Please note that all ideas submitted shall
become public property without compensation.
Tricentennial P.O. Box 2076, Los Angeles,
California 90053
There is a strong desire -almost two-thirds -
more individual participation in government
through better communication.
for
ARCO <>
AtlanticRichfieldCompany
Thank you for helping us celebrate America's Tricentennial 100 years early.
SOUTH AMERICA
BY MAUPINTOUR
MAUPINTOUR'S care and manage-
ment assures you see everything you
should see, comfortably. Join us for
this new travel adventure. 22 days.
BEST HOTELS, good dining, unique
events, and Maupintour's own expert
Tour Ivlanager accompanies to make
sure all is satisfactory.
LEARN the significance, historic, con-
temporary. People. Scenic marvels.
Inca treasures, Pisac, Machu Picchu,
Rio, Valley of Volcanoes, Vina del
Mar, more!
ASK YOUR TRAVEL AGENT for
[Vlaupintour's new South America tour
folder or mail the coupon below now.
Maupintour, 900 Massachusetts St.,
Lawrence, Ks. 66044. 913/843-1211.
quality
touring
since 1951
,®Maupintour
Asl< about these Maupintour escorted holidays:
D Africa DAIps D British Isles D Colorado
D Asia O Central America D Egypt D Europe
D France D Greece D Hawaii Q India D Iran
n Italy D Mexico D Morocco D North Africa
D Orient D Portugal n Scandinavia D Spain
D S. America D S. Pacific D USSR/E. Europe
Easy on the go.
Minolta/Celtic Pocket Bi-
noculars are ideal for people
who like to travel ligtit.
Beautiful jewel-like finish,
sturdy construction
and world-famous Minolta
optical quality assure su-
perb performance Images
are exceptionally clear,
bright and sharp. Center
focus design for fast,
easy focusing. Two sizes,
6 X 20 and 8 X 20, Each
weighs only 6 ounces and
folds to fit snugly in
pocket or field pack. For
more information, -i^^^^^^^i
write Minolta Corporation''
101 Williams Drive,
Ramsey, N, J, 07446,
Minolta/Celtic
Pocket Binooilars
wanted a rat was because one of their
children had whooping cough, and rat
soup was a sure-fire cure for it. I
tended to disagree, but they would
have none of it. They wanted a rat.
A live one. I checked my rat-
frequency map of village houses and
suggested they try a particular house
not far from theirs.
All furniture was taken out and
placed on the grass outside. A platoon
of young children armed with sticks
and brooms came into the house. The
mother and father of the sick child
then began to beat and poke the thatch
roof with long poles, driving the rats
from their lairs, down the walls, to
confront the gantlet of child-held,
poised sticks. After a great deal of
running about, everyone yelling in-
structions, children colliding with
each other , and near misses , a rat was
finally cornered, dispatched, and
handed to the grateful father.
To make rat soup, you need a
freshly killed rat. The first step is to
singe the hair in a wood fire and then
scrape the remaining charred hair
from the body with a dull knife. Next,
place the rat at the edge of the fire,
but not in it. Slowly turn the rat until
a clear oil begins to collect on the
skin. Scrape this off and save (you'll
get about one half to one teaspoon
from the average-sized rat). Now the
carcass can be eviscerated, cleaned,
and chopped into one-inch pieces.
Place the meat into a pot of boiling
water over a medium heat and cook
until it's reduced to a thick soup. Be-
fore serving, float a few drops of the
rat oil on top of each portion. Later
the parents told me that the soup
worked; the child recovered from
their diagnosed whooping cough.
Pigs posed a more personal prob-
lem for me. There were many pigs in
the village; young ones that ran in
packs, and large ones, 100 to 175
pounds, that sometimes roamed by
themselves and other times grouped
together for safety and cooperative
ventures. Few of the pigs were
penned despite the complaints of non-
pig owners; pigs simply eat too much
for a family to supply all their food.
Instead, they are allowed to roam at
will, feeding on whatever they can
find. They are free -foraging, self-
maintaining bank accounts. The Mis-
kito keep pigs not to eat, but to sell.
A full-grown pig is a valuable ani-
mal. Buyers from Bluefields, a small
city down the coast, often come to
"look pig," and a big specimen can
be sold for as much as $50. A Miskito
24
Annually, tlclcj^atcs
liom Amcrita's
nearly 1,000 rural
electric cooj)erativcs
and public power
districls which serve
some 25 million
|)eople across the
nation, meet to
lormulate and adopt
policies on national
issues.
The simple fact is that conservation
makes it possible to stretch out
the world's dwindling energy resources
while we develop new technologies
More doctors, water and
sewer systems, and
improved housing are
todays community
development targets loi
rinal electrics, longtinu'
leaders in spearheading
better social and
economic programs for
local citizens. Robert
Mace, manager of San
Luis Valley Rural
Electric Cooperative,
Monte Vista, Colo., is
president of one of the
state's five Health
Maintenance
Organizations.
Flint Electric Membership Curpui aiion.
Reynolds. Ga., has grown from just over 2.800
members in 1944 to more than 30,000 in 1976.
Meter readers use an electric car (dressed up for
the bicentennial ) to get to some of the homes,
farms and businesses in the 15 counties where
the consumer-owned cooperative serves.
So far in this country we've taken only small steps toward a real
program of energy conservation.
Efficient use and management of all forms of energy are now
imperative. Public awareness of this need must be greatly increased.
People's consumption patterns will have to be altered; industry
must make changes, and government policies to encourage and
require wiser use must be implemented.
Conservation does not mean austerity nor a lower standard of
living. On the other hand, without it as part of a comprehensive
energy policy, energy shortages could in the long run severely
restrict the opportunities and advantages we now enjoy, and limit
oiu- ability to pursue our traditional hopes and dreams for a
better life.
America's rural
electric systems
Write the National
Rural Electric
Cooperative
Association, 2000
Florida Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C.
20009, for your copy
of "Energy
Conservation and the
American Consumer."
VVcdk one mile
and 200 years into history*
Williamsburg's mile-long Duke of
Gloucester Street leads you deeply
into America's past.
At one end, you'U find the oldest
academic structure in continuous use
in British America, the Wren Build-
ing at the College of William and
Mary. At the other, the Capitol, stately symbol
of the Crown's power in its largest colony.
In between are taverns and townhouses,
craft shops and quiet gardens.
During this, the Leisure Season, give your-
self time to walk this historic mile. And to
continue your journey through the past, enjoy
the timeless pleasures of a Colonial Williams-
burg hotel. Here in the midst of the Historic
Area, you'll find gracious accommodations,
festive dining and the enjoyment of golf
and tennis.
Discover the past, for a bright new pres-
ent, this winter in Colonial Williamsburg.
COLONIAL
WILLIAMSBURG. VIRGINIA
Make reservations no'w. Inquire about our special
Leisure Season plans at Williamsburg Inn, Lodge, and
The Motor House. Write Reservations Manager, Box CN,
Williamsburg, Va. 23185; or call(804) 229-1000; New
York, (212)246-6800; Washington, 338-8828.
is quick to sell a pig for money but
won't eat it even in times of severe
meat scarcity. This is because a pig
is worth too much money to eat and
because they are rather indiscriminate
foragers. To the Miskito, a pig is not
only a dirty animal but its meat is also
considered unclean. When they sell a
pig to a Spanish-speaking buyer, they
are happy to get the money, but may
grin and wink a bit more than would
be expected over just another eco-
nomic transaction. That's because
they know the pig's feeding history
and its ultimate fate: the restaurants
and family tables of what they con-
sider unsuspecting Bluefields folk.
I was quickly repulsed by pig din-
ing habits. There were only three out-
houses in the village, all built under
the direction of different missionaries
for the "mission houses" where they
stayed during visits. As visitors we
were offered the use of one of the
nearby outhouses. For this we were
grateful, as one of the most difficult
things that we were trying to adapt to
was the nocturnal scheduling of Mis-
kito toilet habits. Ready access to an
available toilet is so common in our
society that we were quite unprepared
for a different waste regimen among
the Miskito. One went at night, either
on the beach or in the bushes. If mis-
chance should befall you during the
day, it was a long and exposed walk
to the bushes. That's why we were
happy for access to the outhouse,
which served as an emergency safety
valve during our time of readaptation.
It was because of the outhouse that
I became interested in pigs. The out-
house was about twenty-five yards
from where we were staying. Built in
the ubiquitous style, it stood on wood
pilings some two feet off the ground.
This elevation, I soon discovered, of-
fered protection from more than just
the wet ground of the rainy season.
What was, at first, a disagreeable
discovery soon became a testable
hypothesis: pigs can tell the dif-
ference in your intent before you
reach the outhouse. For the sake of
the more puritanical readers, I will
use the common euphemisms to illus-
trate this: number one (Nl) and num-
ber two (N2). If our intent was Nl,
the roaming pigs displayed no inter-
est. However, if itwasN2, they came
running. They seemed to be able to
tell within five or ten yards of our
walk to the outhouse. And pigs are
fast; they'd beat us there, crawl
under, and be waiting. Some would
stand on their hind legs, snouts thrust
26
As a new subscriber to
America's weekly newspaper
Save
Over 40%
off the full newsstand price of $10.00
with this trial subscription rate
20 weeks for only $5.77
OBSERVER
: Reform Is a Flop j^,y,,.„j,ft.:i?^''
I A T I O N A L
OBSERVER
I I YES. Please send me 20 weeks of The
' — ' National Observer and bill me S5.77.
□ I prefer 1 year (52 issues) for $15.00.
(Compafable newsstand price ot S26.00)
□ Belter yet, III take your BEST BUY:
2 years (104 issues) for $25.00.
(Comparable newsstand price of $52.00)
OHer good in US. and possessions only.
The dog
that sings.
tS^.
t City
Zip
If, after reading the first issue, I am not com-
pletely satisfied, I will write "cancel" across
the bill, return it and owe nothing.
Send no money- just this card
leyou
uldn't
wait to tell your friends?
J. here are few things quite so nice as
looking up from your newspaper and
thinking, "Now that's something I didn't
know or understand before."
And then there are few things quite so
satisfying as sharing that new insight
with a friend.
That's the kind of experience The Na-
tional Observer offers its readers with
every weekly issue.
The National Observer goes behind the
obvious headlines to dig out stories that
make the world more interesting when
you read them . . . and make you more in-
teresting when you re-tell them.
Person-to-person journalism.
For instance, do your friends know that
the Romans invented the frisbee? That
we have "two" brains in our head? That
tacos aren't just hot— they've also got the
hottest sales?
And do they know about the contro-
versial new gun that shoots "electric
shocks"? And the "outdated" form of
transportation that is coming back? And
the place in A-uerica where voodoo is
still practiced?
(The answers are: The taser. The
blimp. And Oyo-TVinji, South Carolina—
where it seems to work!)
The National Observer is written this
way because we believe in the kind of
journalism that says: "Talk to the reader
one-to-one. Tell a story as if the reader
were sitting next to you."
We bring you the out-of-the-ordinary.
When we report sports, we go beyond
baseball, basketball and football.. .and tell
about Shirley "Cha-Cha" Muldowney,
the only woman ever licensed to race a
top fuel dragster.
When we look at the world, we go be-
yond today's news to spot the trends that
may make tomorrow's news... like how
Italy's Reds (of all people!) are trying to
make capitalism work.
Plus sometimes, after other newspa-
pers think a story is over, we take a sec-
ond look. ..at why the tourists didn't come
to Mother Seton's hometown.
Regular sections with
irregular news.
One nice thing about reading The Na-
tional Observer week after week is our
regular sections. But you can never count
on what's going to be in them.
For instance, in the "Your Consuming
Interests" section, we explored how con-
ventional rubdowns survive despite the
growth of sex parlors.
In our "Lively Landscape" section,
you can read about the furor in Charles-
ton, S.C. when the city council ordered
horses to wear diapers.
You'll find surprises to
share in every issue of
The National Observer.
OBSERVER
lU-Un-m Is a Flop
And our "Off-Hours" section reports
on a lady welder who also finds time to
paint, sculpt, write a novel and plant
fruit trees.
We love a good zany story, like the one
about the dog named Buckypoo who sings
to piano.
We're full of new shopping buys, book
and movie reviews, and "how-to's" on ev-
erything from better health to tomato
jam.
And, in everything we do, we get our
readers so involved, they write back.
Our "Letters to the Editor" section is
one of our biggest— and liveliest. (We take
it seriously. We once devoted the whole
front page to reader gripes.)
And we even run reader plebiscites on
major issues.
That's what person-to-person journal-
ism does: We try to find things that will
make our readers rush out to tell their
friends. And they rush back with things
they can't wait to tell us!
Enjoy The Observer for
less than 290 a week.
Now you can get an introductory sub-
scription to The National Observer at
the low rate of just $5.77 for 20 weeks.
That's more than 40% off the newsstand
price!
Just complete and return the bound-in
reply card. Send no money. We'll bill you
later, after we start sending you The
Observer.
Then, if you're unhappy, simply write
"cancel" on your bill and return it with-
out paying or owing a cent.
Mail the card today. If the card is miss-
ing, write: The National Observer, Box
2A 142, 200 Burnett Road, Chicopee,
Massachusetts 01021.
THE m.s.PRINSENDAM
IS NOT THE ONLY WAY
TO GET TO INDONESIA.
IT'S JUST THE ONLY
WAY TO SEE IT.
Indonesia is Bali where Sempidi men make "monkeys" out of
themselves during the Ketjak ceremony. Its Jakarta where todays
freeways take you to the Orient of yesteryear. And it's more, much
more.
And nothing can show you the ins and outs of Indonesia like
a cruise aboard the m.s. Prinsendam. It was built to navigate and
explore the secret waterways of the worlds largest island state. And
the Dutch have been sailing these waters for 4 centuries. While the
islands are the homeland of our Indonesian crew.
And, as you explore, you'll vacation amidst the luxuries of a
royal yacht combined with the facilities of an international resort.
The m.s. Prinsendam's 7 and 14-day cruises leave Singapore
Oct. 25, 1976 to April 11, 1977. To Penang, Belawan, Sibolga, Nias,
Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya. Rates from $665 to $2,180.
All-inclusive tours with 9, 10 and 14-day cruises— 22 to 29
days from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver,
B.C. via Tokyo; 22 to 28 days from New York, Chicago, Toronto,
Montreal, Houston via Amsterdam. Rates from $2,275 to $3,580.
So join Holland America and scrutinize the inscrutable East.
Call your travel agent or write Holland America Cruises, Dept. CP,
2 Penn Plaza, New York 10001, (212) 760-3880.
The m.s. Prinsendam is registered in the Netherlands
Antilles. Rates are per person, double occupancy, subject to
availability. Minimum rates may not be available on all listed cruises.
Holland America Cruises
VACAnONS THAT ARE ALL VAGOION SINCE 187Z
through the wooden hole. That was
a bit disconcerting. Somehow they
were able to decipher our body lan-
guage . I began to try to fake thern out .
I imitated what I thought was a good
N2 walk, when it was really an Nl
mission. Nothing. Oh, perhaps a
grunt or two from one of the larger
pigs and a half-hearted trot from a
young one, but nothing of any conse-
quence. Try as I might, they never
fell for a fake walk. Unerringly, they
knew the difference.
To cope with their amazing dis-
criminatory ability, each of us de-
vised different defensive strategies. I
made a club, a "pig stick," iy2
inches in diameter and V-h feet long.
With this, I could strike from within
the outhouse and inflict enough dam-
age to discourage pig congregations
for periods of up to five minutes,
especially if accompanied by my loud
imitations of aggressive pig sounds.
My wife, Judi, hit on an alternative
strategy. She posted me outside the
outhouse as "pig guard." I'd go
ahead carrying the pig stick and sig-
nal when the field was clear. It was
my job to keep the pigs at bay. Our
son probably coped with the situation
best. He fancied himself a bombar-
dier and enacted modern versions of
"Thirty Seconds Over Tasbapauni."
I finally decided to follow the pigs
in retaliation; all in the name of ecol-
ogy, of course. Anything is grist for
the inquisitive mind. I took notice of
their group behavior and dynamics,
home and foraging ranges, and terri-
toriality. The thing that interested me
most was their foraging patterns and
range. During the day, the pigs con-
centrated on the village itself, making
sweeps in small bands around every
back kitchen, where refuse and vege-
table wastes were thrown at fairly
predictable times. Their only compet-
itors for this food supply were
chickens. Pigs fared poorly, how-
ever, when competing with dogs for
waste from butcherings of turtles,
deer, and other wild animals. The
dogs took the best, and the rest was
up for grabs between turkey vultures
and pigs.
The periphery of the village was
one of the most important foraging
zones for pigs. Surrounded on tfiree
sides by bush-rimmed forest and on
the other by the beach, the village
edges were used by the Miskito as
nocturnal dumping sites. Pigs pa-
trolled these areas at dusk, two or
three times during the night, and in
30
early morning. During these times,
most of the pigs continually circled
tiie village, around and around on the
Tasbapauni Beltway.
Pigs make the major contribution
in keeping the village clean, but tur-
key vultures, dogs, and chickens also
help; consequently, waste materials
do not last long on the ground. There
are no waste disposal problems in the
village. All organic debris are recy-
cled. The Miskito have no problem
with cans, bottles, papers, and the
like because they are rarely used —
and seldom thrown away. My still un-
published research study came to the
conclusion that pigs were the most
important consumers in the detritus
chain. The pigs were obviously effec-
tive garbage engineers, providing a
valuable service for the villagers, one
that was ecologically and economi-
cally sound. They made day and night
pickups, didn't belong to a union,
never went on strike, were extremely
efficient, and could be sold before re-
tirement age.
After many such field trips to the
Miskito villages strung along the
eastern coast of Nicaragua, I came to
know something of the people and to
appreciate their life-styles. Coming
from an academic background , where
many of my colleagues write about
native women breaking rocks with
wet clothes, I found that it was neces-
sary to reevaluate my first impres-
sions of the Miskito — and their pigs
and rats.
The etchings of our scientific incur-
sions are probably as indelible to the
Miskito as they are to us. They inves-
tigated us, as we did them — each try-
ing to figure out what was really be-
hind the other's strange behavior.
There is a lot of interest in a kuku
awra who weighs carefully what is
abundant, writes detailed notes on
what everyone else considers obvi-
ous, has a rat fetish, and follows pigs
around. The undecipherable visits of
such a character will eventually be
fitted into some logical local context.
For this drift coconut, the memories
of landing on those shores remain
perfectly clear and the lessons learned
have proved useful on excursions to
other parts of the world as well as at
home.
Bernard Nietschmann, associate
professor of geography at the Univer-
sity of Michigan, is currently working
out of Australian National University
as a senior research fellow.
Why the superb
Pentax K2 will
automatically take
better pictures for you.
The 35mm SLR camera has long
been considered an excellent but dif-
ficult to use instrument The main
problem has always been human
error in setting proper exposure. But
now, Asahi Pentax has developed a
space-age exposure control system
that solves the problem. It automat-
ically takes better pictures for you.
Amazing breakthrough
The K2 uses an astonishingly small
integrated circuit to control its expo-
sure system. The fast-reacting light
meter "reads" the light reflected from
your subject. Our incredible "mini-
computer" circuit then instructs the
metal shutter to stay open for just the
right amount of time to give you con-
sistently good pictures, automatically.
Better pictures easily
All you do is aim, focus, and shoot
You get superior quality 35mm SLR
photography without the hassle.
Superb super-multi-coated lenses
give you vibrant colors. Bright,
through-the-lens viewing helps you
focus for razor-sharp detail In your
pictures.
So go to your favorite dealer and
ask to test shoot a K2. See how easy It
is to aim, focus, and shoot Or we can
send you some very informative litera-
ture on the K2 and the other mem-
bers of its impressive family.
Yes, I'm interested in more informa-
tion about your amazing electronic
wizard. Send information to:
ADDRESS .
crrv
Mail coupon to: Honeywell Photo-
graphic, P.O. Box 22083, Dept 113-
901, Denver, CO 80222.
Honeywell Photographic
JUST
PRESS
HERE.
31
DINOSAURS!
s
— a
DC
o
o
u
u.
Ocoo
m
m
u
0)
H) -t; w ii «
oca •;S a
a. a o. § ji;
^ ~ .£
O Q O
o
V OS
DC
3
0)
•K fl, C3 (U V.
•^2 >i! u N :S
. S 6 -f S oo
§82
J3 3 '5b
£? o 'C ° «
S tH ^ ON
.s ^ o ■» X
DC
a
u "t! « ,', C ji
"a 3 C nj 13 tn
't. >< o o ff
3|>,g8S
K O Z E 3 T3
This View of Life
So Cleverly Kind an Animal
Basic human kindness may
be as "animal" as
human nastiness
In Civilization and Its Discontents,
Sigmund Freud examined the agoniz-
ing dilemma of human social life. We
are by nature selfish and aggressive,
yet any successful civilization de-
mands that we suppress our biologi-
cal inclinations and act altruistically
for common good and harmony.
Freud argued further that as civili-
zations become increasingly complex
and "modern," we must renounce
more and more of our innate selves.
This we do imperfectly, with guilt,
pain, and hardship; the price of civili-
zation is individual suffering.
It is impossible to overlook the ex-
tent to which civilization is built up
upon a renunciation of instinct,
how much it presupposes precisely
the non-satisfaction ... of power-
ful instincts. This "cultural frus-
tration" dominates the large field
of social relationships between
human beings.
Freud's argument is a particularly
forceful variation on a ubiquitous
theme in speculations about "human
nature." What we criticize in our-
selves, we attribute to our animal
past. Brutality, aggression, selfish-
ness— in short, general nastiness —
are the shackles of our apish ancestry.
We strive (with pitifully limited suc-
cess) for a better future based on rea-
son and kindness — the mental tran-
scendence of our biological limita-
tions.
Little more than ancient prejudice
supports this common belief. It cer-
tainly gains no justification from
science — so profound is our igno-
rance about the biology of human be-
havior. It arises from such sources as
the theology of the human soul and
the "dualism" of philosophers who
sought separate realms for mind and
body. It has roots in an attitude that
I have often attacked in this column:
our desire to view the history of life
as progressive and to place ourselves
on top of the heap (with all the prerog-
atives of domination). We seek a cri-
terion for our uniqueness, settle (nat-
urally) upon our minds , and define the
noble results of human consciousness
as something intrinsically apart from
biology. But why? Why should our
nastiness be the baggage of an apish
past and our kindness uniquely
human? Why should we not seek con-
tinuity with other animals for our
"noble" traits as well?
One nagging scientific argument
does seem to support this ancient
prejudice. The essential ingredient of
human kindness is altruism — sacri-
fice of our personal comfort, even
our lives in extreme cases, for the
benefit of others. Yet, if we accept the
Darwinian mechanism of evolution,
how can altruism be part of biology?
Natural selection dictates that orga-
nisms act in their own self-interest.
They know nothing of such abstract
concepts as "the good of the spe-
cies.' ' They "struggle' ' continuously
to increase the representation of their
genes at the expense of their fellows.
And that, for all its baldness, is all
there is to it; we have discovered no
higher principle in nature. Individual
advantage , Darwin argues , is the only
criterion of success in nature. The
harmony of life goes no deeper. The
balance of nature arises from interac-
tion between competing teams, each
trying to win the prize for itself alone,
not from the cooperative sharing of
limited resources.
How, then, could anything but
32
by Stephen Jay Gould
selfishness ever evolve as a biologi-
cal trait of behavior? If altruism is the
cement of stable societies, then
human society must be fundamen-
tally outside nature. There is one way
around this dilemma. Can an ap-
parently altruistic act be "selfish" in
this Darwinian sense? Can an indi-
vidual's sacrifice ever lead to the per-
petuation of his own genes? The an-
swer to this seemingly contradictory
proposition is "yes." We owe the
resolution of this paradox to the
theory of "kin selection" developed
in the early 1 960s by W . D . Hamilton ,
a British theoretical biologist. It has
been stressed as the cornerstone for
a biological theory of society in E.O.
Wilson's Sociobiology. (I criticized
the deterministic aspects of Wilson's
speculations on human behavior in
my May 1976 column. I also praised
his general theory of altruism, and
continue this theme now.)
The legacy of brilliant men in-
cludes undeveloped foresight. Eccen-
tric English biologist J. B.S. Haldane
probably anticipated every good idea
that evolutionary theorists will invent
during this century. Haldane, arguing
about altruism one evening in a pub,
reportedly made some quick calcula-
tions on the back of an envelope, and
announced: "I will lay down my life
for two brothers or eight cousins."
What did Haldane mean by such a
cryptic comment? Human chromo-
somes generally come in pairs: We
receive one set from our mother's
egg; the other from our father's
sperm. Thus, we possess a paternal
and a maternal copy of each gene.
Take any human gene. What is the
probability that a brother will share
the same gene? Suppose that it is on
a maternal chromosome (the argu-
ment works the same way for paternal
chromosomes). Each egg cell con-
tains one chromosome of each pair —
that is, one half the mother's genes.
The egg cell that made your brother
either had the same chromosome you
received or the other member of the
pair. The chance that you share your
brother's gene is an even fifty-fifty.
Your brother shares half your genes
and is, in the Darwinian calculus, the
same as half of you.
Suppose, then, that you are walk-
ing down the road with three
brothers. A monster approaches with
clearly murderous intent. Your
brothers do not see it. You have only
two alternatives: Approach it and
give a rousing Bronx cheer, thereby
warning your brothers, who hide and
escape, and insuring your own de-
mise; or hide and watch the monster
feast on your three brothers. What, as
an accomplished player of the Dar-
winian game, should you do? The an-
swer must be, step right up and
cheer — for you have only yourself to
lose, while your three brothers repre-
sent one and a half of you. Better that
they should live to propagate 150 per-
cent of your genes. Your apparently
altruistic act is genetically "selfish,"
for it maximizes the contribution of
your genes to the next generation.
According to the theory of kin se-
lection, animals evolve behaviors
that endanger or sacrifice themselves
only if such altruistic acts increase
their own genetic potential by bene-
fiting kin. Altruism and the society of
kin must go hand in hand; the benefits
of kin selection may even propel the
evolution of social interaction. While
my absurd example of four brothers
and a monster is simplistic, the situa-
tion becomes much more complex
with twelfth cousins, four times re-
moved. Hamilton's theory does not
only belabor the obvious.
Hamilton's theory has had stun-
MAMMALS!
- 3 _ ^
ll-.-n???!'
-.■g i
§S.f
< o =r. • —
oa
CD
\ .— 5; - t; -I p
=S 3 B Go -
'^ N',g -don'
•'3 ere -.»; '2
n
m:
33
\bur pictures
never sounded so good.
Most beautiful pictures liave
beautiful sounds that go with them.
You can get both with Bauer's S 105
new Super 8 XL Macro Camera. No
separate recorder to carry. You
record directly onto the film.
Sound is only one of the special
effects you can get right in the camera.
There are fade in and fade out, and
a 5x power zoom with macro. And
there's time lapse. So you can make
the sun come up in a hurry. And as the
sun goes down you can keep shooting
without lights. The S 105 has a super
fast f /1.2 XL Macro lens.. Metering is
thru- the-lens and fully automatic with
manual override. And Bauer's pat-
ented twist-away grip makes it a
smaller package to carry.
The Bauer S105 lets anyone
make professional movies with just
one piece of equipment.
Show them on our super T60
projector. The only super 8 that
records and plays back stereo. We also
have a 12x zoom silent camera and
a whole line of other fine movie
products. Write for information.
fi4l/EI7Super8
Sound Cameras.
fpigl AIC Photo, Inc., Carle Place, N.Y. 11514
I"""! Bauer is a Reg. TM of Robert Bosch Photokino GmbH,
There's a touch
of the grand
in all our pianos.
Some things never
change and shouldn't. Like
the feel of a grand piano.
The 10 mm key dip feel
that's been universal for
over 100 years.
It is the touch for the
maestro. Yet comfortable
for a beginner.
So, at Yamaha, we won't
change. No matter what
size or kind the pianos are .
Our uprights and consoles
and grands all offer the
same grand piano standard.
The 10 mm key dip.
In keeping with a true
candelabra tradition.
SYiUHAHA
Keyboard Division, Dept. 1,
Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622.
When thenes a better piano to be made,
Yamaha will make it.
ning success in explaining some per-
sistent biological puzzles in the evo-
lution of social behavior in the Hy-
menoptera — ants, bees, and wasps.
Why has true sociality evolved inde-
pendently at least eleven times in the
Hymenoptera and only once among
other insects (the termites)? Why are
sterile worker castes always female in
the Hymenoptera, but both male and
female in termites? The answers
seem to lie in the workings of kin se-
lection within the unusual genetic
system of the Hymenoptera.
Most sexually reproducing animals
are diploid; their cells contain two
sets of chromosomes — one derived
from their mother; the other from
their father. Termites, like most in-
sects, are diploid. The social Hyme-
noptera, on the other hand, are haplo-
diploid. Females develop from ferti-
lized eggs as normal diploid individ-
uals with maternal and paternal sets
of chromosomes. But males develop
from unfertilized eggs and possess
only the maternal set of chromo-
somes; they are, in technical par-
lance, haploid (half the normal num-
ber of chromosomes).
In diploid organisms, genetic rela-
tionships of sibs and parents are sym-
metrical: parents share half their
genes with their children, and each
sib (on average) shares half its genes
with any other sib, male or female.
But in haplodiploid species, genetic
relationships are asymmetrical, per-
mitting kin selection to work in an
unusual and potent way. Consider the
relationship of a queen ant to her
sons and daughters, and the relation-
ship of these daughters to their sisters
and brothers:
1. The queen is related by Va to
both her sons and daughters; each of
her offspring carries Va her chromo-
somes and, therefore, Vi her genes.
2. Sisters are related to their
brothers, not by Vz as in diploid orga-
nisms, but only by Va. Take any of
a sister's genes. Chances are ¥2 that
it is a paternal gene. If so, she cannot
share it with her brother (who has no
paternal genes). If it is a maternal
gene, then chances are Vi that her
brother has it as well. Her total rela-
tionship with her brother is the
average of zero (for paternal genes)
and Vi (for maternal genes), or '4.
3. Sisters are related to their sis-
ters by %. Again, take any gene. If
it is paternal, then her sister must
share it (since fathers have only one
set of chromosomes to pass to all
daughters). If it is maternal, then her
34
sister has a fifly-fifty chance of shar-
ing it, as before. Sisters arc related by
the average of 1 (for paternal genes)
and '/2 (for maternal genes), or %.
These asymmetries seem to pro-
vide a simple and elegant explanation
for that most altruistic of animal be-
haviors — the "willingness" of sterile
female workers to forego their own
reproduction in order to help their
mothers raise more sisters. As long as
a worker can invest preferentially in
her sisters, she will perpetuate more
of her genes by helping her mother
raise fertile sisters (% relationship)
than by raising fertile daughters her-
self ('/2 relationship). But a male has
no inclination toward sterility and
labor. He would much rather raise
daughters, who share all his genes,
than help sisters, who share only Vi
of them. (I do not mean to attribute
conscious will to creatures with such
rudimentary brains. I use such
phrases as "he would rather" only as
a convenient shortcut for "in the
course of evolution, males who did
not behave this way have been placed
at a selective disadvantage and gradu-
ally eliminated.")
My colleagues R . L . Trivers and H .
Hare have recently reported the fol-
lowing important discovery in
Science (January 23, 1976): They
argue that queens and workers should
prefer different sex ratios for fertile
olTspring. The queen favors a 1:1
ratio of males to females since she is
equally related (by Vi) to her sons and
daughters. But the workers raise the
offspring and can impose their prefer-
ences upon the queen by selective
nurturing of her eggs . Workers would
rather raise fertile sisters (relationship
%) than brothers (relationship Vi).
But they must raise some brothers,
lest their sisters fail to find mates. So
they compromise by favoring sisters
to the extent of their stronger relation-
ship to them. Since they are three
times more related to sisters than
brothers, they should invest three
times more energy in raising sisters.
Workers invest energy by feeding;
the extent of feeding is reflected in the
adult weight of fertile offspring.
Trivers and Hare therefore measured
the ratio of female/male weight for all
fertile offspring taken together in
nests of 21 different ant species. The
average weight ratio — or investment
ratio — is remarkably close to 3:1.
This is impressive enough, but the
clincher in the argument comes from
studies of slave-making ants. Here,
the workers are captured members of
)ito®@@aiii
wiih ntwu/ OMi
)i]Qi?g)i?as©g
BONSAI JUNIPER
Nature in miniature - this little tree
IS already three years old, yet just 6
inches high. Planted in a special clay
pol; comes with 96-page handbook on
the ancient and subtle art of Bonsai.
Available all year.
Order Gift No. 261 . . . $1395 delv'd
our famous
ROYAL RIVIERA^PEARS
So big and |uicy they'll eat 'em with a
spoon - sorare, not 1 person in 1000
has ever tasted them! Beautifully gift
packed and sent with your personal
greetings. Perfect arrival guaranteed!
Net wt. 6-3/4 lbs. Order now for
Christmas delivery.
Order Gift No. 1 $945 delv'd
CHRISTMAS CROCUS
Completely pre-planted and ready to
grow m a genuine handpamted Oelft
planter! Nothing to add but water -
includes 12 top si?e bulbs. Oo order
NOW for Christmas delivery'
Available Dec. lOto Feb. 14.
Order Gift No. 801 ... $1195 delv'd
The Original, One-and-OnI
%itJoftiiCcMoiithClul)
Since 1936, America's favorite family club. Month after month, a parade of the world's rarest and
finest fruit sent direct from the orchard. Each gift box with your greetings. All announced by a
handsome, gold-embossed Certificate of Membership.
Christmas - Royal Riviera Pears
Jan - Crisp Mountain Apples
Feb - Royal Grapefruit
March - Royal Oranges
April - ffawaiian Pineapples
May - Wild 'n Rarc®Prescrves
June - Home-Canned Fruits
July - Giant Kiwi Berries
August - Exotic Nectarines
Sept - Oregold*'Peaches
Oct - Alphonsc LaValle Grapes
Nov - Royal Beurre* 8osc Pears
3-BOX CLUB Surprise them with gorgeous gift
boxes for Christmas, January and February!
Gift No. Ill ... 52495 delv'd
5-BOX CLUB Keeps coming and coming! Christ-
mas, January, February, May and September.
Gift No. 141 ...$3995 delv'd
8-BOX CLUB Delight them to pieces again and
again! Christmas, January, February, May, August,
September, October and November.
Gift No. 151 ... S6695 delv'd
12-BOX CLUB Flabbergasting! A gorgeous gift
every single month of the year.
Gift No. 201 ...$9995 delv'd
We guarantee your complete satisfaction in every respect ... or your money back!
Every year folks write to tell us
flow pleased their friends are with
gifts from Harry and David. Our
"secret"? It's the personal touch
that's part of every gift we make.
Harry and I grow our own fruit,
bake our own cakes, put up our
own preserves - even make our
own baskets. If you could see the
care with which our gifts are put
together, you'd know why the
quality is guaranteed.
EASY TO ORDER Use the order
blanks at right, or just send us your
list. Enclose check or money order
(no C.O.D.'spleasel.Tell ushowto
sign your greetings for each gift.
All prices include delivery.
Send your \
orders to; E^J
f/oAAe/ QMel J&amc/'
Box 522-B / Medford, Oregon 97501
*V ©1976. Harry and David
" " ™ ■ Order here or send us your list'
SHIP AS
MY GIFT TO
CITY
STATE
ZIF
Quantity
Name of Gift
Gift No-
Amount
$
rn
Greetings to read:
Use Card p,
I enclose LJ
CITY
STATE
21F
Quant. ty
Name of Gift
Gift No.
Amount
$
Ship to Arrive,—, Ship to
for Christmas LJ Arrive On (Date
i;eD
Greetings to read:
Ordered By:
Address
City
35
The magnificent /*^
MONT^
BLANC
Diplomat 149... $95
Also, the
^^^^ Classic 146... $79
^.i^TlfrAN^ f^Q Other fountain pen is
"built" like the magnificent
MONTBLANC Diplomat!
Man-size to fill a man's grip,
take a man's handling. Extra-
large 14-karat gold point as-
sures super-smooth writing
action and gives a man a new
"personality on paper". Giant
ink capacity is a man-pleasing
feature too!
Many pen experts here and
abroad consider the Diplomat
to be the finest pen ever de-
signed. It's Europe's most
prized pen, unmatched in
writing ease. Nib sizes fine
to broad.
The Classic 146 is a slightly
smaller version of the Diplo-
mat 149. For full-color bro-
chure describing the com-
plete line of world-famous,
luxury Montblanc writing in-
struments, write to Koh-I-
Noor Rapidograph, Inc., 201
North St., Bloomsbury, N.J.
08804. Beautifully gift boxed.
At fine stores, stationers, college and
pen stiops everywhere, including:
Atlanta: Britches of Georgetowne, Sam
Flax; Berkeley, Cal.: AIko Office Sup-
ply: Beverly Hills: Alfred Dutihill;
Boston: Bromfield Pen Center, Shreve
Crump and Low; Chicago: Abercrombie
& Fitch, Alfred Dunhill, McLennon's;
Dallas: Alfred Dunhill, Neiman-Marcus;
Detroit: Snider's Pen Shop: Houston:
Fountain Pen Hospital, Neiman-Marcus:
Los Angeles: The Fountain Pen Shop,
The Pen Shop, H. G. Daniels Co.;
N.Y.C.: Abercrombie & Fitch, Alfred
Dunhill. Arthur Brown & Bro., Bloom-
ingdale's, A. I. Friedman, M. C. Flynn,
Sam Flax; N. Hollyvood, Cal.: Pens
Plus; Philadelphia: A. Pomeranlz;
Providence, R.I.: Morrison Typewriter
Co.; San Antonio: Paul Anderson Co.;
San Francisco: Abercrombie & Fitch,
Alfred Dunhill, J. D. Browne, Golden
Gate Pen Co., Henniker's; Summit, N.J.:
Slegel's Stationery; Washington, D.C.:
Britches of Georgetowne, Fahrney's.
Other species. They have no genetic
relationship to the daughters of their
imposed queen and should not favor
them over the queen's sons. Sure
enough, in these situations, the fe-
male/male weight ratio is 1:1 — even
though it is again 3 : 1 when workers
of the enslaved species are not cap-
tured but work, instead, for their own
queen.
Kin selection, operating on the pe-
culiar genetics of haplodiploidy,
seems to explain the key features of
social behavior in ants, bees, and
wasps. But what can it do for us?
How can it help us understand the
contradictory amalgam of impulses
toward selfishness and altruism that
form our own personalities. I am will-
ing to admit — and this is only my in-
tuition, since we have no facts to con-
strain us — that it probably resolves
Freud's dilemma of the first para-
graph. Our selfish and aggressive
urges may have evolved by the Dar-
winian route of individual advantage,
but our altruistic tendencies need not
represent a unique overlay imposed
by the demands of civilization. These
tendencies may have arisen by the
same Darwinian route via kin selec-
tion. Basic human kindness may be
as "animal" as human nastiness.
But here I stop — short of any deter-
ministic speculation that attributes
specific behaviors to the possession of
specific altruist or opportunist genes.
0\ix genetic makeup permits a wide
range of behaviors — from Ebenezer
Scrooge before to Ebenezer Scrooge
after. I do not believe that the miser
hoards through opportunist genes or
that the philanthropist gives because
nature endowed him with more than
the normal complement of altruist
genes. Upbringing, culture, class,
status, and all the intangibles that we
call "free will," determine how we
restrict our behaviors from the wide
spectrum — extreme altruism to ex-
treme selfishness — that our genes
permit.
As an example of deterministic
speculations based on altruism and
kin selection, E.O. Wilson has pro-
posed a genetic explanation of homo-
sexuality {New York Times Maga-
zine, October 12, 1975). Since exclu-
sive homosexuals do not bear chil-
dren, how could a homosexuality
gene ever be selected in a Darwinian
world? Suppose that our ancestors or-
ganized socially as small , competing
groups of very close kin. Some
groups contained orJy heterosexual
members. Other included homosex-
uals who functioned as "helpers" in
hunting or child rearing: they bore no
children but they helped kin to raise
their close genetic relatives. If groups
with homosexual helpers prevailed in
competition over exclusively hetero-
sexual groups, then homosexuality
genes would have been maintained by
kin selection. There is nothing illogi-
cal in this proposal, but it has no facts
going for it either. We have identified
no homosexuality gene, and we know
nothing relevant to this hypothesis
about the social organization of our
ancestors.
Wilson attempts to affirm the in-
trinsic dignity of a common and much
maligned sexual behavior by arguing
that it is natural for some people —
and adaptive to boot (at least under
an ancestral form of social organi-
zation). But the strategy is a danger-
ous one, for it backfires if the genetic
speculation is wrong. If you defend
a behavior by arguing that people are
programmed directly for it, then how
do you continue to defend it if your
speculation is wrong, for the behavior
then becomes unnatural and worthy
of condemnation. Better to stick reso-
lutely to a philosophical position on
human liberty: what free adults do
with each other in their own private
lives is their business alone. It need
not be vindicated — and must not be
condemned — by genetic speculation.
Although I worry long and hard
about the deterministic uses of kin se-
lection, I applaud the insight it offers
for my favored theme of biological
potentiality. It extends the realm of
genetic potential even further by in-
cluding the capacity for kindness,
once viewed as intrinsically unique to
human culture. Sigmund Freud ar-
gued that the history of our greatest
scientific insights has reflected,
ironically, a continuous retreat of our
species from center stage in the
cosmos. Before Copernicus and
Newton, we thought we lived at the
hub of the universe. Before Darwin,
we thought that a benevolent God had
created us. Before Freud, we imag-
ined ourselves as rational creatures
(surely one of the least modest state-
ments in intellectual history). If kin
selection marks another stage in this
retreat, it will serve us well by nudg-
ing our thinking away from domina-
tion and toward a perception of re-
spect and unity with other animals.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science
at Harvard University.
36
fws^^^
t^l^
•^--^^l -'
'^o'*-,«
VCO
,<jaV^
^1^
Just put your Kodak color film
in a Kodak mailer and mail
it to Kodak.
Kodak will mail your
slides, prints or
movies back to you.
You can have them
delivered right to
your ov\^n home.
That's convenient.
That's First Qass.
cN"^ '^'**' ' At Kodak, we are dedicated to
processing your Kodak film carefully. Like all
quality processors, we take pride in our work.
And that pride shows up in your pictures.
So, the next time you buy Kodak film, pick
up some Kodak mailers. And start -. r^-QS
going First Class - to Kodak. .v^ U^ \^^
\ot
\Bfi
An American Success Story.
They found their car.
Every day, more and more people are
discovering that Seville is the luxury car
they've been looking for all along.
In fact, during the first full year fol-
lowing its introduction, more Americans
chose to own Seville than any other
sedan with a manufacturer's suggested
retail price over $12,000.
What's behind Seville's remarkable
success ?
The answer's in the driving.
To understand Seville's acceptance you
must drive it. Feel its responsiveness.
Corner it. Maneuver it in city traffic.
With its 114-inch wheelbase, it is sized
to help take the hassle out of city traffic
and parking. There's Variable Ratio Power
Steering for easy parking and cornering,
while retaining a feel of the road. Front
and rear stabilizer bars to help reduce
body roll during cornering. And stan-
dard 15" steel-belted radial tires and
Automatic Level Control to help keep
the car level with changing loads. It just
might be the best-performing car you've
ever driven.
A credit to its engineering.
Seville is so well-engineered that a num-
ber of its design concepts have been incor-
porated in the 1977 Cadillacs . . . the cars
we proudly label the next generation of
the luxury car Seville is also a car of
innovation — incorporating many of the
latest American advancements. Such as
its 5.7-Litre, Electronic-Fuel-Injected en-
gine with an on-board analog computer.
A retuned suspension system which is
complemented by Butyl* rubber body
mounts to provide lateral and vertical
vibration dampening qualities. Totally,
a car that unites advanced technology
with tasteful elegance.
What makes Seville unique?
Seville IS designed for American tastes —
but is at home anywhere in the world.
It is a car complete. The first American
car to combine international size and
styling with Cadillac comfort and conve-
nience. And engineered to be one of the
finest production cars built anywhere in
the world. Service is another Seville
strength — with over 1,600 Cadillac deal-
ers across the U.S.
The Quest for Perfection.
Seville was a great car when it was intro-
duced. It is an even more refined car today.
Seville now has four-wheel disc brakes as
standard equipment. Combined with a
power brake booster, they provide the
smooth braking capability you would
expect from one of the world's best-
equipped cars. Seville's timeless styling
has been enhanced by a new, more distinc-
tive grille. And now you may select
either the vinyl top or the stylish simplic-
ity of an all-metal roof.
On-board analog computer.
It's the only way.
You must get behind the wheel of a Seville
and drive it . . . if you want to discover
why so many very particular Americans
are choosing to own this car. That's why
your Cadillac dealer invites you to drive
Seville for yourself— by yourself. It's
really the only way.
BY CADILLAC
A Resurgence of Kites
by Lee Waian
The fall and rise
of a semisocial
bird of prey
Several hundred yards from where
I was parked, a few white-tailed kites
were perched on a telephone wire that
stretched across the backyards of a
row of tract homes. The birds were
gathering to spend the night at a com-
munal roost located in an avocado
grove adjacent to the Santa Barbara
housing development. The California
fall sunset was magnificent. I checked
the remaining sky light with a light
meter and noted the time, 5:33.
The time and light were right for
the arrival of more kites, and within
fifteen minutes at least seventy had
flown into the area, circled, and
landed on the same wire, one every
two feet or so. The line of kites
sparmed three backyards.
Suddenly, a gunshot sent the birds
up from the wire and out over the avo-
cado trees. The kites circled the hous-
ing tract, several emitting high-
pitched screams. My five years of ob-
serving kites in the field helped as I
blocked out groups of airborne birds
and counted 84 silhouetted shapes.
I moved quickly when I heard more
shots. When I reached the area from
which the shots were coming, I saw
a man with a .22-caliber rifle aiming
intently and firing into the sky. He
was concentrating so hard that he
started when I asked him what he was
doing. Regaining his composure, he
said, "I'm scaring those damn
chicken hawks away." I asked him
why he thought they were chicken
hawks. "I know they are," he
snapped, adding, "What business is
it of yours, and why are you trespass-
ing?"
I foolishly tried to reason with him.
I told him that my research on kites
and systematic studies by my col-
league Rey Stendell had not revealed
bird bones or feathers in the pellets
cast by kites. We had found that kites
in the Santa Barbara area lived almost
exclusively on three species of small
rodents — predominantly California
voles, with fair numbers of house
mice and a few harvest mice. But the
man insisted the kites had been eye-
ing his chickens, and he swore he was
going to shoot a few if they didn't
stop landing on the telephone wires
above his yard to check out his
chickens. He said the kites made his
chickens nervous. When he pro-
ceeded to wave the gun at me, I left.
(A subsequent visit by a game warden
revealed that the gentleman's
chickens were indeed valuable. He
had an impressive group of color-
ful— and illegal — fighting cocks.)
Fortunately, such a shooting inci-
dent is not as frequent an occurrence
as it once was. Statutes that prohibit
shooting have proved beneficial to the
North American white-tailed kite
{Elanus leucurus majusculus)
throughout its range in California.
This protection and, even more im-
portant, changing patterns in land use
have helped account for a recent up-
surge in the populations of this once
severely threatened bird of prey.
In the eighteenth and early nine-
teenth centuries, white-tailed kites
were apparently common in most of
the grasslands and woodlands of Cali-
fornia. Their original range covered
the coastal area from Sacramento to
Central America and all of the gulf
coast from Texas to Florida. Al-
though historical records are vague,
white-tailed kites may have ranged as
far north as Ohio and North Carolina.
By 1900, however, the species had
been virtually extirpated in the United
States and only remnant populations
survived. Its current resurgence is
therefore all the more dramatic. In-
creasing numbers of kites are being
seen in the western Sierra Nevada
foothills, along the northern Califor-
nia coast, and occasionally in south-
ern Oregon.
This fall and rise of the white-tailed
kite in California has been well docu-
mented and may typify a pattern
throughout the present range of these
striking birds.
Dr. Heerman, a medical doctor and
naturalist for a railroad route expedi-
tion of the United States Geological
Survey, noticed during an 1859 trip
that kites were quite common along
the California coast and flew in
' 'small flocks' ' around the marshes of
An adult white-tailed kite lands
on a perch near its nesting site.
Males do the hunting during the
nesting period, bringing their
catches of voles and mice to the
females, who feed the young.
40
N
y^^K'" Vs
, v*- ^ JiV
upper San Francisco Bay. But the
rapid influx of settlers to the region,
which followed annexation of Alta
California to the United States (after
the 1846 war with Mexico) and the
discovery of gold, brought a variety
of pressures to the kites.
Egg collecting became a popular
enough endeavor to pose a threat lo-
cally to some bird species. By the end
of the nineteenth century, egg collec-
tors had established white-tailed kites
as a prized species, for not only did
they build many of their nests in eas-
ily climbed live oaks, but their egg
colors were highly variable . A collec-
tor could gather one set of nearly
white eggs in the early spring, and
about a month later, he could return
and collect another full clutch of five
eggs beautifully speckled with earth
tones. One could never have enough
kite eggs. In addition, kites, like
hawks, were a favorite target of gun-
ners of all sorts. Farmers thought they
ate poultry; hunters thought they ate
game birds. And their conspicuous
white markings made them easy tar-
gets. Certainly egg collecting played
a part in reducing the kite population.
But even more devastating to the
birds than either this activity or casual
shooting was the ability of a gunner
to systematically kill large numbers
of kites as they came into one of their
communal roosts.
The presence of settlers may have
had another and more deleterious ef-
fect on the white-tailed kites. Before
the end of the nineteenth century,
massive overgrazing by domestic
stock had nearly eliminated the native
perennial grasslands, the habitat of
the kites' preferred prey species. Cat-
tle were first brought to California by
42
Spaniards in the latter part of the
eighteenth century. A tough, wiry
breed capable of living in extreme en-
vironments, these cattle thrived in
their new environment. By the mid-
nineteenth century, huge free-roam-
ing herds had developed, along with
burgeoning herds of wild horses. By
1862, California's cattle population
was in excess of three million. Up
until the middle of the nineteenth cen-
tury, most of the cattle were of the
Spanish stock and were raised pri-
marily for their hides. When Califor-
nia became a United States territory
and the gold rush of the 1850s began,
a new breed of cattle was brought
west — a fatter, less mobile animal,
important not just for its hide but also
for its meat. Sheep, too, arrived in
large numbers.
Several severe droughts contrib-
uted to some fluctuations in the size
of the free-roaming livestock herds,
but the pattern toward larger and
larger herds continued. No one
knows for certain what the natural in-
terrelationships in the 22-million-
acre native California prairie were
like, for there are only scanty records
and no large grasslands left to study.
However, it is certain that the huge
domestic herds profoundly disrupted
the ecological fabric of the grass-
lands, especially when they were
concentrated in the wetter areas, such
as the margins of marshes and sea-
sonal springs, in times of drought.
Because these wetter areas are ideal
California vole habitat, they are also
ideal kite habitat.
Late in the nineteenth century,
fences were erected to protect the
growing agricultural community
from cattle roaming freely across
croplands. The advent of fence lines
provided vestiges of grassland habitat
around the fields and so were of some
benefit to the kites. Seasonally wet
lands were drained, filled or diked,
and fenced, and these rich, marshy
vole/kite habitats were transformed
into grain, rice, or vegetable fields.
But again, some suitable kite habitat
may have been created in the drier
grassland areas that were coming
under irrigation, providing wet,
grassy "edges." Such wet habitats
must have supported small popula-
tions of voles and thereby helped sus-
tain the surviving kites.
Other changes in the grasslands
during the nineteenth century also
may have helped the white-tailed kite
hang on as a species. Sometime near
the end of the eighteenth or early in
Four about-to-fledge kites
huddle in their ample nest
situated in a tangle of brush.
About a month after fledging,
they may be driven out of the
vicinity by their parents.
the nineteenth century, the house
mouse (Mus musculus) was acciden-
tally introduced to west coast ports by
ships carrying grain and other sup-
plies from Europe. The mice quickly
expanded their range beyond the
docks to the towns and fields. The
further spread of the house mouse
was undoubtedly facilitated by the
radical change of the grasslands from
a primarily perennial ecosystem dom-
inated by bunch grass to an annual
ecosystem dominated by introduced
vegetation. How quickly the house
mouse spread to the fields no one
knows. What we do know is that the
house mouse was eminently success-
ful and exists today in all types of
grassland habitats in California,
thereby providing the kites with an
alternative prey species.
These changes were occurring dur-
ing the period when the white-tailed
kite was being severely reduced in
number by killing, habitat destruc-
tion, and excessive egg collecting.
The presence of an alternative prey
species in fields during periods of
meager vole availability may have
helped maintain enough of a breeding
stock of kites to get them through cri-
tically low population levels during
the first third of the twentieth century .
California vole popialations undergo
localized cycles of abundance, rang-
ing from one to more than three hun-
dred per acre during a period lasting
about four or five years.
Historically, the introduced house
mouse may have helped prevent the
disappearance of white-tailed kites,
but voles remain their staple food
throughout most of their California
range, and the behavioral ecology of
kites suits them perfectly for exploita-
tion of these one-oimce morsels.
Kites are nomadic and semisocial.
They roost and sometimes feed to-
gether and often nest in proximity.
They also move from area to area,
much like snowy owls and jaegers, in
order to locate "hot spots" where
food supplies are superabundant.
Every fall and winter during my
research, a fifty-square-mile area of
coastal plain north of Santa Barbara
had one communal roost that served
more than forty birds. Although the
birds used the same roost throughout
the season, various locations were
used in different years. Almost in-
variably the roost would be within a
43
u<
mile ol the largest vole habitat area
in the fifty square miles.
Kites utilized the roost only at
night; they arrived as singles, pairs,
or loose bands of six or seven birds
over a fifty-minute period at sunset
and left en masse at the first hint of
morning light. During the day the
birds occupied defended hunting ter-
ritories scattered throughout the study
area. They hunted on their way to and
from the roost and could therefore
benefit from a relatively high vole
population in another bird's hunting
territory if the occupant had not yet
arrived from the roost or had left for
the day.
The roost population increased
steadily from late September, peaked
in January, and usually dropped to
near zero by early April when the
birds tended to remain at their nest
sites. During four of the five summers
of my research, few birds remained
in the study area. There were no com-
munal roosts and vole populations
were relatively low.
It appears that communal seasonal
night roosting has several functions.
The regularity and timing of the fall
and winter roosting patterns suggest
a relationship to pair bonding. Chas-
ing, calling, and other signs of in-
traspecific attraction are frequent be-
haviors at the roost sites during these
two seasons. Communal roosting is
also a key factor in the efficient
exploitation of the California vole.
Selection of the roost site is usually
related to localized, cyclical vole
population peaks. And birds can hunt
fields with high prey densities as they
travel between the roost and their
daytime hunting territories every
morning and evening.
Another aspect of white-tailed kite
behavior helps to explain the phe-
nomenon of conmiunal roosting in
this species: While in their hunting
territories during the day, the birds
exhibit aggressive behavior toward
Juveniles (captive bird shown)
often join together in loose
bands after leaving their parents '
territory. Some juveniles
establish hunting territories
four months after their first flight.
intruding kites, but at the roost they
are gregarious.
On the average, an adult kite has
to eat two and a half voles or about
four house mice or at least five harvest
mice each day, as it needs about three
ounces of food daily to maintain its
weight of approximately eleven
ounces. California voles are active
twenty-four hours a day, but more ac-
tivity occurs at dusk and dawn. Har-
vest mice are mostly nocturnal, and
house mice fall somewhere in be-
tween. Kite hunting behavior mainly
reflects the daily rhythms of voles as
the birds hunt most often in the morn-
ing and evening.
When hunting for prey, kites hover
20 to 100 feet in the air. With a forty-
inch wingspan, a white-tailed kite can
remain in a stationary, hovering posi-
tion for half a minute; then — having
spotted a vole or mouse — it folds its
wings above its body and drops al-
most vertically to the ground.
No one knows how kites actually
strike and kill their prey. We have
studied slow-motion photography of
their descent, which can be best de-
scribed as a parachute drop at a
slightly acute angle. During the last
few feet before touching the ground,
the kite's head tilts lower than its tail
and the speed of the drop increases
dramatically, but the critical last
inches get lost in the grass. When a
hunt has been successful , the kite will
usually stay on the ground for several
seconds before carrying its kill to a
favorite eating perch. If a hunt is un-
successful, the bird is up quickly and
often flies to another hover position,
searching the ground for whatever
clues it uses for finding its prey.
I have tried to figure out what these
hunting clues are by climbing trees in
fields over which the birds were hov-
ering. Except for fields having ex-
tremely high vole populations, I
never saw any voles in even moder-
ately high grass, even with the help
of binoculars. One clue may be that
voles move the grass in a telltale man-
ner as they forage.
The male kite does not always eat
what he kills. Part of kite courtship
ritual follows a pattern similar for
many bird species in that the male
provides food for the female. Often
the male will fly to where the female
is perched and the vole or mouse will
be transferred there. On other occa-
sions the male will fly up with the
female and the prey will be ex-
changed in flight. The female adroitly
snatches the morsel by tilting upside
down beneath the male as he hovers,
dangling the vole or mouse in his
talons. These spectacularly precise
maneuvers continue throughout the
nesting period, because it is the fe-
male that usually feeds the young
while the male makes the kills.
Young kites normally remain in
their parents' territory atx)ut a month
after fledging. The adults continue to
feed the young at increasingly longer
intervals; and the parents, usually the
male, will sometimes drive the young
out of the vicinity when they are
about ten weeks old if they don't
leave voluntarily. The young may
then join loose bands of roving birds
or they may set up individual hunting
territories. A juvenile may establish
a defended territory as early as four
months after its first flight.
Kite breeding behavior reflects the
seasonal pattern of rain, growth of
grass, and resultant increased vole
populations in the Santa Barbara
area. Annual grass seeds begin to ger-
minate after the first major fall rains:
however, grass growth is usually
slow through the short days of winter.
The grasses begin to grow rapidly by
late February or early March. The
California vole breeds nearly year-
round, but population peaks gener-
ally occur from late fall to spring as
fresh grass shoots become increas-
ingly available for forage. The kites
also nest nearly year-round, but the
majority of successful nests occur
during the spring.
The behavioral repertoire of the
white -tailed kite suits it well to the
natural patterns of perennial grass-
land growth and vole and mouse ac-
tivity and abundance. Man abruptly
disrupted the patterns and mindlessly
persecuted this bird of prey. But the
hunting and breeding adaptations of
the kites have made it possible for the
birds to stage a comeback under
today's more favorable conditions.
Most present-day southern Califor-
nia grasslands are dominated by ei-
ther introduced annual grasses and
wild oats or by several species of
Bromus. These annual grasslands
provide a "fast food service" for
kites because of the voles and mice
they support. Even when they are
Tom Myers; Photo Researchers
45
plowed, successional patterns are
such that within a couple of years
there is enough forage for significant
rodent populations, and so the land
develops into a hunting area for kites.
Another phenomenon has led to a
relationship between man and kites
that is not without a touch of irony.
Since the Second World War, Cali-
fornia land speculators have gobbled
up tracts of agricultural land near
metropolitan areas. More often than
not, agricultural practices are reduced
or abandoned while the speculator
waits for land prices to go up (and
incidentally gets a tax write-off on his
losing agricultural operation). As
these lands go fallow, habitat for
many native grassland species in-
creases. Since kites build their rather
haphazard nests in almost any kind of
tree, even in coyote brush less than
six feet off the ground, they are able
to utilize many of the fallow fields as
feeding and nesting territories.
The greatest period of human pop-
ulation growth and housing expan-
sion occurred after World War II,
through the 1950s, and into the early
1970s, overlapping the increase of
the kite population. The lull between
purchase of agricultural land by spec-
ulators and development of these
lands partially explains this paradox;
one that became increasingly impor-
tant as farms became larger and more
mechanized, thereby eliminating
many of the habitat edges along fence
lines.
There is one other bright spot for
the future of the white-tailed kite:
fire. Fires have been vital to the natu-
ral cycles of a variety of California
habitats. Of importance to kites is fire
in chaparral communities. Several
million acres of California coast and
inland ranges are covered with chap-
arral, much of it within national forest
boundaries. After a fire in these
dense, brush-covered slopes, which
do not support voles or the right spe-
The distinctive white underbody
and the habit of communal roosting
made the white-tailed kite
an easy target for shooters.
Protective legislation has
reduced this threat to the birds.
cies of mice for the kites, wild grasses
predominate for a few years in the
successional pattern back to chapar-
ral.
Prior to the arrival of European
man, fires occurred naturally in chap-
arral communities at regular inter-
vals. But we have become proficient
in preventing the smaller fires, and
now when there is a burn it often be-
comes a widespread conflagration
due to the accumulation of large
amounts of litter and dead under-
growth. To prevent the potentially
catastrophic erosion resulting from
the torrential rains of winter that fol-
low a typical late-summer or fall fire,
fast-growing grasses are sown by hel-
icopter. This combination of natural
succession and artificial seeding of
grasses following a chaparral fire has
proved beneficial for the white-tailed
kite.
Several colleagues and I have car-
46
ried out vole- and mouse-trapping in-
vestigations in burned-over chaparral
plots and adjacent unburncd areas.
We found that grassland vole and
mouse populations of the right spe-
cies for kites were present in signifi-
cant numbers in the burned areas
within a few years after the fires.
Kites move in to hunt and establish
territories in burned-over chaparral
communities, areas unsuitable for the
birds prior to the burn.
Not all chaparral tires are natural or
unintentionally set. There is a grow-
ing interest in California in controlled
burning of chaparral. Carefully de-
signed patchwork burning of chapar-
ral keeps fires from reaching cata-
strophic proportions. The grassy
areas that are a by-product of con-
trolled burning will increase forage
for cattle; kites will also benefit from
these efforts.
The recent increase in the popula-
tion of white-tailed kites in California
augers well for the future of the spe-
cies because it has resulted in part
from a beneficial relationship with
man's activities. Land-use patterns,
controlled burning of chaparral com-
munities, legislative protection, and
a greater awareness of the value of
birds of prey should make the white-
tailed kite an increasingly familiar
sight over the housing tracts and open
fields of California. D
47
The Ape in Stateroom 10
by Kenneth A.R. Kennedy and John C. Whittaker
The first gorilla ever brought
to this country launched
American research into this
genus; its pickled brain
is all that remains
The young passenger's sneezes
and coughs competed in volume with
the foghorns sounding off the banks
of Newfoundland as the S. S. Pa-
vonia steered a course through
choppy waters and heavy mists. It
was the steamer's spring voyage from
Liverpool to Boston. When the ship
reached port on May 2, 1897, the
focus of attention on board was the
welfare of the sickly youth in state-
room 10. Several eminent Boston
physicians were called in to treat him,
his respiratory difficulties having ad-
vanced to an acute state of pneumo-
nia. Quinine had been administered
during the journey but without effect-
ing any improvement in the patient's
condition. The situation was becom-
ing critical, for the patient was a VIP,
or more properly, a VIG (very impor-
tant gorilla), the first representative of
this genus of anthropoid ape to be im-
ported alive to the United States.
The gorilla's companion and nurse
during the crossing was a Mr. Ed-
wards, one of two brothers well
known as "ape fanciers" because of
their success in transporting live
orangutans and chimpanzees to me-
nageries in Europe and America.
While in Liverpool, Edwards had
heard that a gorilla had recently been
brought to that city by a hand on an
African trading ship. With the help of
a local animal dealer then in posses-
sion of the creature, Edwards located
the seaman, who enthusiastically re-
counted how he had acquired the go-
rilla, a prize that earned him £100
(about $500).
The gorilla had been brought down
the Congo River by a party of native
hunters who had found the six-
month-old infant clinging to the body
of its dead mother. According to this
account, the mother had been killed
"by a windfall that had fallen over the
lower part of her, apparently as she
was asleep." The weak and crying
survivor of this tragedy was fed water
and plantains, then taken to the hunt-
ers' village where he regained his
health and was enjoyed as a pet. By
the time he was a year old, he was
traded to the sailor in exchange for a
bolt of red cloth.
The new owner could not tell Ed-
wards the exact location along the
river where the gorilla had had his
home, but he did provide the curious
piece of information that the gorilla
mother had measured 4 feet 8 inches
in body length and was very broad
across the chest. Since it is unlikely
that the hunters would have made
such a precise observation, the sailor
himself had probably killed the adult
gorilla for sport, thereby obtaining
the infant, which he knew could be
sold upon his return to England. Ed-
wards decided to buy the animal .
Certainly Edwards's motives in
owning the animal were as commer-
cial as the sailor's, for the day after
he had made his purchase, he turned
down a generous offer from the direc-
tor of a Paris zoo who attempted to
negotiate a sale. Edwards speculated
that the gorilla infant would be
"worth thousands" once he was dis-
played at carnivals, on lecture tours,
and in zoos throughout the United
States and Canada. The American
public had only seen large male ba-
boons, which were misrepresented as
gorillas by ignorant or unscrupulous
keepers. By importing genuine chim-
panzees from Africa, the Edwards
brothers had enhanced the excitement
of a visit to the Central Park Zoo in
New York City. Hundreds of specta-
tors came to see and enjoy the chim-
panzees, who were affectionately
known as Crowley, Chiko, Johanna,
and Kitty. After their deaths, these
apes were exhibited as mounted spec-
imens in The American Museum of
Natural History. The large Asiatic
ape, the orangutan, was also seen in
America before 1897, another contri-
bution of the Edwards brothers.
The gorilla, however, was still a
creature of mystery, and Edwards
knew that the debut of his latest pur-
chase in this country would be a sen-
sational affair — one that would attract
public interest and prove to be a
sound financial investment as the ani-
mal matured into full adulthood.
Within a few years the gorilla would
weigh several hundred pounds, exer-
cise tremendous physical strength,
and acquire those impressive sexual
characteristics of massive cranial
crests and ridges that give the male
gorilla its ferocious appearance. Even
at twelve months of age Edwards's
gorilla stood two feet high, had an
arm span of three feet, and weighed
fourteen and a half pounds. The
stakes were high for Edwards as he
enjoined the elite of Boston's medical
profession to do all that was humanly
possible to cure his precious charge.
More is involved in this story than
merely a sentimental reflection on an
ailing ape. The incident occupies a
modest place in the history of science
with respect to the importance ac-
corded the anthropoid apes by nine-
teenth-century proponents of Dar-
winian evolutionary theory. The go-
rilla is the largest of the African apes
and the primate most closely resem-
bling man in stature and body size.
In The Descent of Man, Charles Dar-
win suggested that our apeman pro-
genitor must have evolved in Africa
because the most nearly manlike apes
inhabited that continent.
Apart from its popularity among
evolutionary biologists, the huge
creature was a source of fascination
to all people for its power to incite
awe, in short, its "monster appeal."
Many years before King Kong roared
across our movie screens, travelers'
accounts, novels, and representa-
tional art had popularized tales of the
gorilla's ferocity and its compulsion
to abduct human maidens. But the
Cornell University ArcfiJVi
49
Travel accounts of equatorial Africa
by Paul Belloni Du Chaillu, a
nineteenth-century explorer-author,
described gorillas as fierce and
aggressive — a reputation proved
false only several decades ago.
primary source of the fervor for goril-
las during the last century lay in the
very novelty of the beast. Before the
year 1847, the gorilla was unknown
to scientists in Europe and America.
The circumstances that brought the
existence of the gorilla to the atten-
tion of the Western world began with
a visit by the American missionary
Dr. Thomas S. Savage to the Rever-
end J. L. Wilson, senior missionary in
West Africa. Their meeting took
place in 1844 in the region of the
Gabon River. The Reverend Mr. Wil-
son showed his visitor a large ape
skull and told him that the beast was
called enge-ena by local inhabitants.
Savage promptly set about collecting
some skeletal specimens of his own,
engaging a famous native hunter to
kill a male and female enge-ena for
him. In time he possessed the skulls
and some postcranial bones of males
and females of different ages.
From his own observations and
those of persons he deemed trust-
worthy, Savage compiled detailed
notes on this unique ape's manner of
expressing aggression, its nest-build-
ing habits, social interactions, and
other behavioral data. These notes
and his assemblage of osteological
specimens were shown to Jeffries
Wyman, professor of anatomy at
Harvard University. In December
1847, Savage and Wyman published
their study of gorilla anatomy and be-
havior in the Boston Journal of Natu-
ral History, under the title ' ' Troglo-
dytes gorilla, a New Species of Orang
from the Gaboon River."
Today we would not refer to goril-
las as a species of orang, but the dis-
tinction between the African ape and
the large ape of Asia was not under-
stood until a few years after the ap-
pearance of Savage and Wyman's
study. The name gorilla was chosen
to honor Hanno of Carthage, who
may have encountered the largest of
the African apes, which he called
"gorillas," while exploring the West
Coast of Africa in 470 B.C. Between
that date and a.d. 1847, a number of
other Western explorers may have
observed gorillas in the African
forests, but their reports were rele-
gated to the realm of myth. The first
live chimpanzee was brought to
Europe in 1641, a gift to the Prince
of Orange, and the orangutan was in-
troduced a short time thereafter, but
for the next two hundred years the
gorilla's existence remained unsub-
stantiated.
Following the armouncement of
Savage's discovery there was an ac-
tive effort to import gorillas into
Europe, but the poor beasts often ar-
rived dead or dying from the stresses
of shipboard confinement. Some go-
rillas reached Europe preserved in
spirits, usually rum, or already
prepared as skeletons. Of the few that
came into port alive, most died after
a few months in captivity. In 1855 the
first live gorilla, a female, was
brought to England. She became the
property of a showman, George
Wombell, but ironically he mistook
her for a chimpanzee. The young ani-
mal's life in Wombell 's traveling
circus was brief, and she died on tour
to Warrington. Another captive go-
rilla was exhibited at the Berlin
Aquarium in 1876, but that animal
lived only a few months after reach-
ing its new home. Replacements for
this Berlin specimen were dispatched
from Africa in 1881, 1883, and 1885.
In France, two preserved speci-
mens of young gorillas were brought
to the Paris Museum of Natural His-
tory in 1851. These treasured speci-
mens were later exhibited at the inter-
national exposition in Paris in 1867.
A gorilla skeleton reached Paris as
early as 1849; others arrived in 1853,
1854, and 1855. The first published
account of the natural history and
anatomy of apes to include the gorilla
appeared in 1854, the work of the
French biologist Paul Gervais. A few
years later the English published the
work of Richard Owen, superin-
tendent of the natural history depart-
ment of the British Museum and a
distinguished anatomist.
The first gorilla skeleton brought to
America was procured in 1 85 1 by the
Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia
through the offices of the medical
missionary Henry A. Ford. Addi-
tional skeletal specimens, which
came into this country soon after-
50
^^"f^l^^^.-ii
ward, found their way into the major
osteological collections of museums
and universities, including The
American Museum of Natural His-
tory, the Smithsonian Institution,
Case Western Reserve University,
and Johns Hopkins University. Prior
to 1897, however, only Americans
who had visited certain zoological
gardens or museums in Europe could
describe to their countrymen the na-
ture of the newly discovered ape.
Therefore , when Edwards brought
the first live gorilla to this country
some eighty years ago, the curiosity
over this "new ape" was still fresh,
especially as little was known of the
animal's behavior in its natural habi-
tat. This situation is apparent in an
announcement that appeared in the
News Bulletin of the New York Zoo-
logical Society for October 1897.
The gorilla is one of the rarest ani-
mals ever shown in zoological gar-
dens. In captivity it is sullen and
lymphatic, and its objection to ex-
ercise is so violent and deeply
rooted as to suggest the line of de-
scent whence has come that arch
enemy of all labor — the American
tramp. The gorilla's sullen disposi-
tion and pernicious inactivity pre-
disposes the animal to indigestion,
loss of appetite and an early death.
Owing to the extreme infrequency
with which gorillas are captured
alive, and to their refusal to harmo-
nize with Iheir environment when
caught, their months of life in cap-
tivity are, in every case, but few.
. . . Despite all the efforts of show-
men exerted to obtain genuine go-
rillas, and also to palm oft cheap
and common old dog-faced ba-
boons as genuine Troglodytes, no
live gorilla has ever reached the
American continent until the
present year.
The ape imported by Edwards was
particularly appealing because of his
tender age, small size, and demon-
strations of afl'ection to his handlers.
At the prestigious studio of Elmer
Chickering, in Boston, he sat for his
photograph. In one pose he is walking
on the knuckles of his forelimbs, the
characteristic locomotor pattern of
the African ape. Scientists observed
the little gorilla's grooming behavior
and his other activities, details of
more than passing interest, for rela-
tively little was known about gorilla
behavior beyond what had been re-
ported by Savage, visitors to certain
European zoos, and readers of the
sensational book by Paul Belloni Du
Chaillu.
This eccentric French-born,
United States explorer-author had
been reared on the West Coast of
Africa where his father was a trader
in Gabon. From 1855 to 1865 he jour-
neyed extensively throughout west
Africa, hunting apes (some of his ape
specimens were forwarded to Wyman
who carefully examined their anat-
omy) and collecting data for his
book, Explorations and Adventures in
Equatorial Africa, published in
1861.
Du Chaillu 's own accounts of go-
rilla behavior, however, were fre-
quently exaggerated and, all too
often, untrue. His lack of scientific
training was obvious to reputable
biologists who had seen his book.
This flaw in his education might have
been forgiven, but he was charged
with gross distortion of data, tamper-
ing with exhibit specimens, and hav-
ing such an insouciant disregard for
objective observation that his narra-
tions bordered on dishonesty. His
book, dismissed by serious biologists
as the work of anegomaniacal adven-
turer, nonetheless gained great popu-
lar support for its sensational treat-
ment of the venerable theme of the
ape's ferocity and sexual aggressive-
ness. A century was to elapse be-
tween the date of publication of Du
Chaillu's book and the first exhaus-
tive study of gorilla behavior in the
wild, the work of American zoologist
George Schaller, author of The
Mountain Gorilla (1963).
In Boston, hopes for the recovery
of the young gorilla were abandoned
as the uncommon visitor grew
weaker. While Edwards described
him as "strong as a little lion [who]
fought right up to the last." his ward
died within five days of arrival in
port. The body was purchased by
Cornell University for S50. On May
21,1 897 . when the ice-packed corpse
arrived in Ithaca, the Ithaca Daily
Journal reported that
the brain was removed at once and
found to be perfectly preserved. A
specially satisfactory observation
was made as to the existence of the
metapore, or foramen of Magen-
die, an orifice in the membranous
root of the fourth ventricle. This is
usually regarded as peculiar to
man, but Professor Wilder demon-
strated its existence in the orang
four years ago, and believes that it
exists also in the chimpanzee and
in certain monkeys. All parts of the
viscera, and indeed the entire
body, will be preserved. Among
other interesting organs is the ap-
pendix of the cecum, which occurs
in no other monkeys excepting the
four tailless apes; the gorilla,
chimpanzee, orang and gibbon.
These four apes therefore enjoy
with man the doubtful privilege of
liability to appendicitis.
On the gala occasion of the go-
rilla's arrival in Ithaca, a select com-
pany of Cornell University savants
greeted it. Among them was the insti-
tution's president. Dr. Jacob Schur-
man, who had been Susan E. Linn
Professor of Christian Ethics and
Mental Philosophy before assuming
his administrative duties in 1892. At
the time Schurman inspected the go-
rilla he was negotiating the establish-
51
mentof the Cornell Medical College;
hence his interest in the specimen was
as pertinent to the matter of establish-
ing collections for anatomy classes as
it was directed philosophically to the
issue of the gorilla's anatomical dif-
ferentiation from man.
The most dynamic member of the
company at the gorilla's reception
party was Burt Green Wilder. To
have succeeded in convincing the
university's board of trustees to allo-
cate $50 for a dead gorilla might seem
sufficient cause for fame, but Wilder
had other distinctions. During the
Civil War, he was a distinguished
surgeon with the Fifty-fifth Massa-
chusetts Infantry, a black regiment;
he was a graduate of Harvard Medical
College; a scholar praised by natural-
ist Louis Agassiz as his most out-
standing student; and the scientist ap-
pointed in 1867 by Cornell's first
president, Andrew Dickson White, to
be professor of comparative anatomy
and natural history.
Wilder's interest in the gorilla
brain relates to a preoccupation of
certain nineteenth-century anato-
mists, who hoped that an inspection
of ape brains would reveal significant
structural differences that would dis-
tinguish humans from apes in a more
definitive way than earlier compara-
tive studies of nonneurological or-
gans and philosophical debates had
done. Some advocates of this position
went so far as to suggest that the de-
fective mental functions of human
idiots had their counterparts in spe-
cific anatomical features that were en-
countered in the brains of normal
apes.
But the Cornell professor had little
patience with such ideas, siding in-
stead with those of his colleagues
who were supportive of Darwinian
evolution and who recognized that
upon careful comparative analysis,
anatomical features of human and ape
brains always turn out to be continu-
ous variables, never isolated traits
unique to one kind of primate and to-
tally missing in the other.
Wilder's passion for brain anatomy
bordered on the obsessive. In stock-
ing a study collection, he once dis-
tributed copies of his specially
printed Brain Bequest Forms to fel-
low scientists attending a banquet.
The postmortem contributions of
those people he influenced came in
time to lie beside the bottled brains
of sages and sinners, two-headed
calves, and fossils of Pleiosaurus, all
proud furnishings of the Natural His-
tory Museum in Cornell's McGraw
Hall. In the basement of that venera-
ble building also lived the howling
cats whose destiny it was to be chlo-
roformed and pressed into service in
Wilder's laboratories in comparative
anatomy.
Generations of Cornell under-
graduates were influenced by Wilder,
whose career at the university ex-
tended from 1 867 through his retire-
ment in 1911 and for many years
beyond that date. The students were
delighted with the gossip about his
unruly menagerie , which legend says
once contained a bear; his unabashed
lectures to freshmen on hygiene and
what every young gentleman should
know; his efforts to bring about re-
forms to insure civil liberties for
black people; his ardent support of
the temperance movement and con-
cern with the vices of rum; and his
fruitless pleas to the administrative
officers of his institution to abolish
intercollegiate sports because of the
time they absorbed in the lives of true
scholars. Wilder's classes on com-
parative anatomy were extremely
popular, and his pupils could always
count on beitig shown the latest ac-
quisitions of the Natural History Mu-
seum.
Wilder's diary for 1897 conveys
his excitement at procuring Ed-
wards's gorilla. Between May 21 and
May 28 he removed the brain and
made the observations reported in the
local newspaper. The brain was
found to have a volume of 322 cc and
to be about 5 percent of the animal's
total body weight. (For a mature go-
rilla brain, body weight ratios are
about 1 : 300 . For an adult human male
the ratio is closer to 1 :45.) Wilder set
the commercial value of the carcass
at $125. The skin was prepared for
mounting, the viscera were removed
and parts preserved in bottles, and the
skeleton was set aside for maceration.
During that same week, Wilder
lectured to the Cornell community,
comparing the brain of the young go-
rilla to that of an adult brain of one
of his donors. The latter might well
have been the gift of a certain "Dr.
B.," whose cerebral presence is
noted, along with the newly acquired
gorilla brain, among the entries in
Wilder's diary for that hectic week in
May. Perhaps these lectures stimu-
lated certain members of his audi-
ences to consider following in the
footsteps of the generous Dr. B., but
this detail remains unknown to us
today. For many years the stuffed go-
rilla sat perched on Wilder's lecture
In the final scene of the remake
of the film King Kong, the
huge ape dies after plunging from
New York's World Trade Center.
52
table in his laboratory; it can be re-
cognized in Cornell yearbooks dating
well into the present century. The ani-
mal was posed in the manner assumed
in one of the pictures taken in Boston.
Although Wilder does not seem to
have published a description of his
new acquisition, his interest in gorilla
anatomy continued through the years .
In 1906 and again in 1911 he wrote
letters to the New York Tribune cor-
recting their statements about gorillas
and proudly asserting that his was the
first gorilla to arrive in the United
States. He was interested in advances
of primate behavioral research, and
had he lived to see the progress made
by psychologists Robert and Ada
Yerkes with primate colonies at Yale
University and at Orange Park,
Florida, or the work of their German
colleague Wolfgang Kohler in the
Canary Islands and Southwest
Africa, his enthusiasm would have
known no bounds. He was aware of
the discovery in 1 902 of a new variety
of Gorilla in the volcanic highlands
of Uganda — G. gorilla heringei —
distinct in various ways from the
western lowland G. gorilla gorilla of
Savage and Wyman and the G. go-
rilla manyema of the eastern low-
lands.
Wilder may also have discussed
with the young Henry Cushier Raven
the latter 's prospects for a field recon-
naissance of gorilla distribution in
Africa, which Raven later undertook
United Press International
and described in his monumental
study of gorillas published in 1944.
Raven must have been acquainted
with Wilder's gorilla when he was at
Cornell in 1918 and 1919, holding the
position of curator of the Natural His-
tory Museum and the Department of
Zoology. The collections that Raven
assembled for The American Mu-
seum of Natural History and Colum-
bia University constitute the core of
the gorilla materials available for
scholarly research today.
What has happ>ened to the baby go-
rilla whose place in the history of
science we have been considering?
Curiously, the specimen is not men-
tioned in the works of Raven, al-
though the Yerkeses had heard about
it in 1928 through a communication
from W. Re id Blair, director of the
New York Zoological Park. But since
Blair's narration of how and when the
Edwards's gorilla was acquired is in-
complete and inaccurate, the facts of
the matter are not properly repre-
sented in the Yerkeses' famous book,
The Great Apes. Nor is the specimen
noted in the records of any major os-
teological collection in this country or
abroad. Perhaps the skeleton, the bot-
tled organs, and the mounted figure
lie in some dark corner of an ancient
building, maybe they grace the
shelves of a private collector, or pos-
sibly they have been destroyed.
But one vestige of the baby gorilla
has survived — the complete cerebel-
lum and the right hemisphere of its
brain. This bottled specimen bears
the original Cornell University cata-
log number of 3561, the only name
by which the little gorilla is known to
us, although he must have been given
pet names by his various owners and
by Wilder's students, who saw the
mounted specimen every day in his
laboratory.
The brain now rests in its stoppered
glass bottle in the company of the pre-
served heart of P.T. Barnum's circus
elephant Jumbo, the grotesque terato-
logical monsters, the brain of a man
who slew his wife in a moment of
pique, the brain of a highly moral pro-
fessor emeritus of mathematics, and
nearby the cerebral member of the
founder of the collection, Burt Green
Wilder himself. To this professor and
his gorilla, American scholars can
trace the beginnings of gorilla re-
search on this continent. D
53
'>mn
#
i^s,drpmsrrt(7',
magnetic lines of force in actv
regions and returns to the sunl
siirfdce. These regions, which areVreas
sites where sunspots, solar flares,
prominences, and other manife. "
of solar activity originate. 1
The Turbulent Sun
Edited by Sally Lindsay
I
'^fm^''
Introduction
How much do we know about the
sun and how much do we still have to
learn? Not many years ago solar
physics was deemed a "mature sci-
ence" in which basics were under-
stood. For more than a century we
had examined the sun's surface with
the tools of spectroscopy and modern
physics. We knew how much heat the
sun put out and how little that radia-
tion varied; how old the sun was and
of what it was made. We knew of
the eleven-year sunspot cycle, which
seemed to click on like a clock. And
from generations of experience in
watching them, we knew the sun's
varied signs of activity and called
them by name: sunspots, promi-
nences, and flares. Since 1851 we had
photographed the sun at eclipse, and
we thought we had come to know
its slowly changing corona. We even
presumed that we knew the unseen
sun— the vast interior where the pro-
digious solar energy is created.
Then came a few surprises. When
physicists were finally able to measure
direct atomic particles from the cen-
ter of the sun, in order to confirm the
accepted nuclear process of solar
energy generation, the expected par-
ticles were not there. An experiment
that set out to measure the roundness
of the sun found that it was not a
quiet sphere of gas at all, but one that
quivers.
Skylab, launched in 1973 to tackle
some of the remaining solar ques-
tions, uncovered a whole realm of new
phenomena, like the gargantuan bub-
bles that are blown out almost daily
from the sun and grow larger than
the sun itself. With Skylab's help, we
have learned some, but not all, of the
secrets of coronal holes, which prom-
ise to be one of the most important
of solar phenomena because they
control the flow of solar wind that
streams against the earth.
As if these surprises were not
enough, recent reappraisals of solar
history and of fossil radiocarbon data
have shown that the eleven-year sun-
spot cycle may be less like a clock
than a rickety machine. For two peri-
ods since the time of Columbus,
totaling more than 150 years, the
cycle seems to have nearly stopped.
And in 1 976, as though the sun were
nodding "yes" to claims that we do
not yet understand it, we find our-
selves in another "anomalous" solar
cycle— at a prolonged minimum of
solar activity that should have ended
a year ago if the sun were on a regular
eleven-year cycle.
We know far more about the sun
than ever before, but untold ques-
tions stiU remain. The history of
science has shown that from every
new instrument and endeavor we can
expect a few answers and an even
greater number of fresh questions.
That is the way we learn. And of the
one star that controls all life and
energy on earth, can we ever know
enough?
J.A.E.
HP
^
•^^^
11
^^^H
*^
>
12
r
1
Naval Research Laboratory and NASA (Color-enhanced photograph)
CHROMOSPHERE
PHOTOSPHERE
/CORE
CORONA
Resume for the Sun
The sun is a gaseous sphere. Unlike the earth and other rigid
bodies, its period of rotation is more rapid at the equator than at
other latitudes. Energy is generated in the solar core by thermo-
nuclear reactions that convert hydrogen to helium. The energy is
then transported outward to the sun's visible surface, the photo-
sphere, a thin layer with a granulated texture. Just below the
photosphere is a region known as the convectivezone, in which
columns of hot gas rise, lose some of their heat to the cooler
surface, and descend to be heated again, creating convective cur-
rents in the process. Above the photosphere is an irregular region
of the sun's atmosphere known as the chromosphere, and beyond
that is the corona, which has no outer boundary. A solar wind of
atomic particles blows continuously through the corona and out-
ward toward the planets. Between the chromosphere and the
corona is a narrow zone called the transition region, in which the
temperature jumps abruptly. Temperature on the sun is hottest in
the core and decreases slowly toward the surface. A minimum of
about 4,300° K is reached in the low chromosphere, above which
temperature rises again, reaching more than 1 .000.000° in the
corona. This increase in temperature in the outer solar atmosphere
is caused by the energy of matter moving in the chromosphere and
the transition region. The thicknesses of the photosphere, the
chromosphere, and the transition region are exaggerated here.
Age: About 5 billion years
Distance from the earth: 93 million miles (about 1 50 million
kilometers)
Mass: 333,000 times that of the earth
Radius: 432,000 miles (about 700.000 kilometers)
Solar energy incident on the earth: 1 26 watts per square foot
Core temperature: 1 5.000.000° K (about 27,000,000°F)
Photosphere temperature: 6,000° K (about 1 1 ,000°F)
Chromosphere temperature: 4,300° to 50,000° K (about 7 700° to
90,000°F)
Coronal temperature: 800,000° to 3,000,000° K (about
1,500,000° to 5,400,000°F)
Rotation: Once every 27 days at the equator; once every 3 1 days
near the poles, as seen from the earth
Chemical composition: About 74 percent hydrogen, 25 percent
helium, and 1 percent traces of all other
: ■ , known elements
Photographs from High Altitude Observatory and
Sacramento Peal< Observatory: inset by Alan D. Iselin
ahoiit 350,000 miles of the sun's
surface and outer atmosphere, took
•*<
^^^^ \,J^
— /
v-^
V
%
X*-
: -/-i?*S
#-
% -*
H
•"''• f*^*-
'y-<- ^>7^
N
•4^ I / y^-^^w «"<:.• wSji fpc
::?.
^A!^
\
'2).Z?.
/
i
/
n
'^-t <*«»;</
X,,^^./),;..-!/. >* <'J*//Vm.
.i>f« y,'. '■;
f"M«
\
National Library, Rorence
62
Sunspots
by John A. Eddy
These black dots associated
with powerful magnetic fields
do not always come and go in
the expected eleven-year cycles
For many, the feature most com-
monly associated with the sun is
sunspots. It is surely the best known
of all solar terms and one of the few
words from astrophysics that have
won their way into common use and
understanding. There is even a
Sunspot, New Mexico (zip code
88349), which, not by accident, has
a renowned solar observatory. For
thousands of years, beginning long
before the introduction of the tele-
scope, sunspots have held the atten-
tion and wonder of man. They were
surely the first clue that the sun, and
therefore the universe itself, was not
a perfect creation, but a place of tur-
moil and constant change.
The largest sunspots can be seen
with the unaided eye at sunrise and
sunset, when the sun's brilliance is
dulled and reddened by absorption in
our atmosphere, and we find scattered
reports of dark objects on the face of
the sun in historical accounts as early
as the fourth century B.C. They seem
to have been most thoroughly re-
corded in the Orient, but the record
is sparse: fewer than 100 sightings are
known from China, Japan, and Korea
in 1,800 years preceding the intro-
duction of the telescope. Fewer still
are found in European accounts.
When the telescope was invented,
in about 1610, the sun was among the
first objects examined and sunspots
began to be clearly seen. In popular
accounts, Galileo is often credited
with the "discovery" of sunspots; in
truth, at least three other European
scientists examined the details of
sunspots with telescopes at about the
same time, in 1611.
On close inspection these black
Galileo was one of the first
scientists to observe sunspots by
telescope. He made these drawings
and notes in 1612.
dots are seen to have a distinct, dark
center known as the "umbra," or
shadow, surrounded by a lighter rim,
or "penumbra." Under the best ob-
serving conditions, the penumbra can
be resolved into separate strands that
radiate outward from the umbra like
threads of embroidery, being bright-
est at their outer ends. Careful obser-
vation of the dark umbras reveals a
dim pattern of blobs, or cells, which
are apparently a darkened version of
the bright granulation cells that cover
all the rest of the sun.
The number of spots seen on the
sun varies from time to time: there
may be up to several hundred at once
or none at all. Even when the sun is
most spotted, however, the spots
cover less than about 1 percent of the
solar surface. Still, by terrestrial
standards, individual spots are very
large. An average sunspot (if there is
such a thing) is about the size of the
earth, and the largest could swallow
Jupiter, which is about ten times
earth's size.
Many sunspots are round, but ob-
long and amoeba-shaped examples
are also common. Sunspots custom-
arily occur in groups, rather than sin-
gly, and are restricted to bands of the
middle and low latitudes on the solar
surface. The simplest group consists
of a pair of spots about equal in size
and slightly separated in longitude —
a "leader" and a "follower." But
usually there are many more in one
group and of all sizes, some of them
intercoimected by their penumbras.
Like the earth, the sun rotates on
an axis, although in a longer period
of about 27 days. Sunspots are carried
along with this rotation. We see them
first at the left (east) edge, or limb,
of the sun where they seem to be flat-
tened by the curvature of the solar
sphere. About a week later the same
spots appear at the center of the solar
disk, where we can see them best. In
about another week they disappear
around the right, or west, limb of the
sun. If the spots are very large, they
will probably reappear in about two
weeks when they will round the east
limb of the sun again. Smaller
sunspots last from a few days to a
week; larger ones persist for several
weeks and sometimes months. Spots,
and groups of spots, slowly drift and
change their shape as they rotate with
the sun.
The same details we see in sun-
spots today were apparent to those
who looked at the sun with the first
small telescopes: the distinction be-
tween the umbra and penumbra, the
varied shapes and sizes of sunspots.
and the patterns of change on the solar
surface. Implicit in these findings was
a significant fact: sunspots are mark-
ings on the sun itself, and not, as
some had proposed, obstructions in
our own atmosphere or small planets
circling near the sun. That revelation
shattered medieval concepts of the
composition of the sun and stars and
marked the dawn of modern astro-
physics. To seventeenth-century
minds the solar nature of sunspots
was a disturbing discovery for it indi-
cated that the sun was not, as thought
and taught, a perfect fire. This, in
turn, had religious implications that
were serious enough to cause a Ger-
man Jesuit who was one of the codis-
coverers of sunspots to publish his
discovery under a pseudonym. Gali-
leo was also hesitant to announce his
first observations of sunspots and de-
layed publishing them for nearly two
years.
The early theological objections to
blemishes on the handiwork of God
were soon assuaged by the ration-
alization that sunspots were only
clouds that floated over an otherwise
perfect solar surface. Still, astron-
omers continued to watch sunspot
comings and goings and to wonder
what the spots really were. By 1769,
improved observation had found that
sunspots appeared more like depres-
sions in the sun than clouds above it,
and in 1801 , the eminent English as-
tronomer William Herschel con-
cluded that sunspots were indeed
holes in a white, incandescent cloud
deck that covered the entire sun.
Through the umbra of each hole, he
63
claimed, we could see the darker,
cooler surface of the sun below. This
lower surface, said Herschel, just
might be inhabited.
Conjecture about the physical na-
ture of sunspots gave way to another
The anatomy of a sunspot is clearly
visible in this photograph. The
black heart-shaped region, about
twice the diameter of the earth,
is the umbra; the surrounding
fringelike halo is the penumbra.
The white area at the left has a
magnetic polarity opposite that of
the sunspot. Lines of force, which
connect this area to the spot, are
followed by dark fibrils of matter
reaching to the umbra. A new
65-centimeter telescope, which may
be flown on the space shuttle
Enterprise, took the picture in the
Hydrogen Alpha wavelength on
August 4, 1976.
startling discovery in 1843, when
Heinrich Schwabe, a German phar-
macist and amateur astronomer,
pointed out that the number of sun-
spots, when counted as annual
averages, seemed to rise and fall in
regular cycles. Professional astron-
omers, who had previously dis-
counted notions of sunspot periodic-
ity, soon confirmed and extended
Schwabe's finding and established
the nature of what came to be the best-
known aspect of sunspots: the eleven-
year cycle between their maximum
numbers. The designation of eleven
years is, in fact, just an average, since
cycles of eight to fifteen years have
been observed.
It took 232 years from the tele-
scopic discovery of sunspots to the
realization that their numbers were
clearly cyclic. Why so long? Impor-
tant among the possible answers is a
recent finding that the sun's behavior
may not have been constant during
the centuries between Galileo and
Schwabe. This possibility was first
pointed out in 1889 by a German as-
tronomer, and soon after by E. Walter
Maunder of the Royal Greenwich Ob-
servatory in London, who searched
historical records to show that
sunspots had almost entirely disap-
peared for at least seventy years of the
period in question — from about 1645
to 1715 — during the so-called
Maunder Minimum. In 1890, how-
ever, astronomers were so convinced
of the regularity of sunspots that they
paid little heed to dusty history.
New evidence that has come to
light in the last few years seems to
confirm the reality of a Maunder Min-
imum in sunspots and has offered a
picture of a sun far less constant and
regular than previously supposed.
Extended work on past solar behav-
ior, utilizing terrestrial radiocarbon
as an indirect tracer, suggests that in
the last 5 ,000 years the over-all level
of solar activity (and presumably the
dominance of the eleven-year sunspot
Big Bear Solar Observatory
64
cycle) has varied considerably,
through a dozen fluctuations of the
severity and duration of the Maunder
Minimum. This recent finding im-
plies that the present, regular behav-
ior of the sun may be transitory and
perhaps unusual over the relatively
brief span of historical time.
Meanwhile, the twentieth-century
tools of astrophysics and the genius
of the American astronomer George
Ellery Hale had solved the age-old
riddle of what sunspots really are:
why they are dark, why they appear
in pairs and groups, what the umbras
and penumbras consist of, and the
connection between sunspots and
other aspects of solar activity. Hale
suspected that sunspots were really
magnets, and in 1908 he perfected a
method capable of measuring mag-
netic fields on the sun, 93 million
miles away. It employed a powerful
spectrograph to measure the effects of
strong magnetic fields that can split
certain lines in the spectrum of the
sun. In the spectra of unspotted solar
areas. Hale found only weak and di-
lute magnetic fields, but when the slit
of the spectrograph was placed over
a sunspot, the spectra showed the
clear and unmistakable signature of
magnetic fields of overwhelming
strength — up to a thousand times
stronger than those in the neigh-
boring, undisturbed regions of the
sun. Pairs of spots were found to have
opposite magnetic polarity. Magnetic
lines of force emerged from the leader
spot and reentered the follower spot,
breaking through the sun's surface to
form magnetic arches connecting the
pair. Continued studies with Hale's
magnetograph showed that every
twenty-two years the patterns of
sunspot polarities alternated between
positive and negative in a cycle ex-
actly twice the length of the common
eleven-year cycle of sunspot activity.
The picture of sunspots, clouded
for 300 years, suddenly cleared.
Sunspots are gigantic areas of con-
centrated magnetic fields, created by
motions of the electrically charged
particles that make up the gases of the
hot solar atmosphere. One can hardly
exaggerate their strength; there are no
other magnets of comparable power
anywhere else in the solar system.
The earth's own magnetic field is
more than 1,000 times weaker than
that of a sunspot. These powerful
magnetic fields on the sun cover areas
larger than the earth, and in the
seething, boiling cauldron of solar
gases — hotter than an acetylene
flame — they control and shape local
conditions to produce what we see as
sunspots.
Sunspots look darker than the rest
of the sun's white photosphere,
which is 6,000 degrees Kelvin, be-
cause they are cooler, about 4,300°K
in the umbra and 5,500°K in the pen-
umbra. They are cooler because the
presence of the intense magnetic field
tends to block the normal convective
flow of hot gas to the surface of the
sun. The umbra is the most intense
region of a sunspot magnetic field ; the
embroidery stitches of the penumbra
are lines of magnetic force that arch
upward and outward from the edges
of the umbra. Streams of particles
caught in magnetic lines of force soar
high into the solar atmosphere to con-
nect spots of opposite polarity and
other magnetic regions. We can see
the arched lines when we isolate the
higher regions of the solar atmo-
sphere— the chromosphere, transi-
tion region, and corona. The mag-
netic fields of sunspots appear before
we ever see the spot and persist long
after; it is the magnetic fields that are
fundamental to solar activity and not
the spots themselves, which are only
one manifestation of the constantly
changing configuration of magnetic
fields on the sun.
We now know that almost all other
forms of solar activity — solar flares,
prominences, coronal streamers — are
related to solar magnetic fields and
are created, molded, and finally de-
stroyed by them. The prodigious en-
ergy of disruptive solar flares, equal
to the sudden explosion of a million
hydrogen bombs, is derived from
strong, localized magnetic fields. The
flower-petal form of the corona seen
at eclipse, and the patterns of loops
and arches over the sun seen in pic-
tures of the lower corona made in
X-ray wavelengths by telescopes
aboard Skylab, are all caused by mag-
netic lines of force, manifested in the
lowest layer of the solar atmosphere.
Modern-day solar research thus
centers on the study of the sun's mag-
netic fields and considers sunspots to
be one clue to their locations,
strengths, and changes. Since sun-
spots can be seen from the surface of
the earth with simple telescopes, they
will probably always be used as storm
warnings of the solar system . No mat-
ter how large or magnetically strong,
sunspots cannot reach down directly
to earth. But they are the most con-
venient indicator of the day-to-day,
month-to-month, and year-to-year
changes in the solar energy and par-
ticles that hammer our upper atmo-
sphere. These changes produce the
aurora borealis, disturb the earth's
magnetic field, and disrupt world-
wide radio communications.
The relationship between the elev-
en-year sunspot cycle and variations
in the earth's weather and climate has
long been under investigation. Exten-
sive studies have shown that any
direct effects of the cycle on daily
weather are probably small, but the
longer-term changes in solar activity
may well affect the longer-term ter-
restrial climate. At the time of each
of the major changes in gross solar
behavior in the last 5.000 years, the
earth's climate seems to have
changed, offering perhaps the best
clue yet to a sun-climate connection.
For example, the prolonged absence
of sunspots in the late seventeenth
century coincided with the worst cold
of the Little Ice Age. which numbed
Europe and caused the Norse colony
in Greenland to perish. This line of
research on the relation between the
sun and terrestrial climate will surely
be pursued in the future.
We have come a long way in our
understanding of sunspots from the
early days of the telescope. The
superstition then surrounding them
has been replaced by an appreciative
awe for their power. Yet some mys-
tery still persists. We think that
sunspot magnetic fields are caused by
motions of electrically charged par-
ticles in the sun, and that the eleven-
year period in sunspots results from
the interaction of these magnetic
fields with other motions in the solar
atmosphere. But there is still no com-
plete explanation for the observed
sunspot cycle nor can we predict the
exact start and end of any given cycle.
I suspect there are still other secrets
of sunspots and the solar cycle whose
disclosure will be as surprising in
their way as was the first clear look
at sunspots through a telescope and
Hale's discovery of their strong mag-
netic fields. D
65
A color -enhanced composite
portrait shows the sun 's corona
as it appeared from earth
during an eclipse and the nonpolar
coronal hole, photographed in X-rays
from space, reproduced on the following page.
American Science and Engineering and NASA (Color-enhanced photographs)
68
Holes in the Corona
by J. David Bohlin
When matter escapes from the
sun, it forms the solar wind,
which causes geomagnetic
storms on earth
The vocabulary of solar physics,
like that of most scientific disciplines,
has its share of strange names for
various phenomena. One of the
newest of these is coronal hole. Ironi-
cally, this feature, under another
name, has been mentioned in the lit-
erature of astronomy for almost four
and a half decades. What makes this
particular solar phenomenon espe-
cially interesting is its direct effect on
the earth, where it causes recurrent
geomagnetic storms, that is, pertur-
bations in the strength and direction
of the earth's normal magnetic field.
The corona is the outermost part of
the sun's atmosphere. It is normally
visible from earth only during total
solar eclipses, when the moon passes
between earth and the sun, blocking
from view the sun's disk, which is a
million times brighter than the co-
rona. Then for a few minutes the
pearly white corona can be seen sur-
rounding the black lunar silhouette.
The cold, impersonal jargon of mod-
ern science fails to convey the ethe-
real beauty of a solar eclipse. One of
my favorite descriptions is the
simple, but eloquent, Babylonian ac-
count of the July 1062 b.c. event:
' 'On the 26th day . . . day was turned
to night, and [there was] fire in the
midst of heaven. ..."
Although the corona has been sci-
entifically studied for 100 years, in-
terest has centered almost entirely on
bright coronal structures — streamers
and condensations above the sun's
active regions — where there are
r/ie development and life history
of a boat-shaped coronal
hole near the sun 's equator can
be traced in a series of
photographs taken at 27 -day
intervals — the period of the sun 's
rotation — with an X-ray telescope
on Skylab. The first image was
made on June 1, 1973.
strong magnetic fields. Some note
was made of the sun's much darker
polar caps, where graceful, faniike
arrays of polar plumes are frequently
seen, but for the most part, these
areas of lessened coronal intensity at
the solar poles were regarded only as
incidental features. No serious
thought was given to the possibility
of similar features existing at lower
latitudes. It was not until the mid-
1950s that a Swiss solar astronomer
using a special solar telescope at
mountain altitudes was able to detect
extended gaps in the corona at times
other than during eclipse. He ob-
served large and frequently persistent
areas of decreased light intensity
in the corona in nonpolar regions and,
appropriately enough, called them
Locher, German for "holes." As is
sometimes the case in science, his
discovery went largely unnoticed.
Like the herald of a new age, the
1970 solar eclipse afforded astron-
omers the finest view of a lower lati-
tude coronal hole seen to date. This
was a long, east-west oriented hole
located right on the southwest solar
limb, with no coronal streamers in
front or behind to mask its presence .
This coronal anomaly was so dark
that one astronomer derived from it
a model based on the total absence of
all plasma, or gaseous matter, in that
part of the corona. He also dubbed the
observed phenomenon a coronal
hole. As its name implied, a coronal
hole was then thought to be a place
where the solar corona ought to be,
but apparently wasn't.
It is fair to say, however, that gen-
eral recognition and full appreciation
of coronal holes did not occur until
a few years after that eclipse. In the
short period from 1971 through 1973,
publication of the findings of several
nearly simultaneous, but largely in-
dependent, lines of investigation es-
tablished the major physical proper-
ties and significance of the holes.
These studies showed that coronal
holes are regions of very low density,
although probably not a total absence
of matter. Pictures of the sun taken
in X-ray and extreme-ultraviolet
wavelengths from rockets or satellites
traveling above the earth's atmos-
phere, through which most of this ra-
diation does not penetrate, revealed
that while equatorial coronal holes
are not nearly as common as active
regions on the sun. neither are they
rare. It was also inferred for the first
time that the magnetic field within a
coronal hole was probably open,
rather than closed as are most mag-
netic fields. That is. the magnetic
field lines in coronal holes stretch ra-
dially outward from the sun and do
not arch back to connect to an area
of opposite magnetic polarity on the
solar surface. Not only was the gas
density within a hole much lower than
normal but the temperature was too.
The typical corona has a temperature
of 1.5 to 2 million degrees Kelvin:
extreme-ultraviolet data showed the
temperature in a lower latitude hole
was only about one million degrees.
An important connection was also
established between coronal holes
and the solar wind. The solar wind is
a continuous stream of particles ac-
celerated by the extremely high tem-
perature of the corona to supersonic
speeds that enable them to escape
from the sun's gravitational pull. The
wind had been theoretically predicted
as long ago as 1958 and its existence
was confirmed by the first definitive
in situ measurements made by the
Mariner 2 spacecraft on its trip to
Venus in mid- 1962. These same
measurements also showed that the
solar wind did not blow outward at a
constant speed. Within it were high-
velocity streams moving at about 1 ,-
500,000 miles (2,400,000 kilome-
ters) per hour, approximately twice
the speed of the steady-state, or nor-
mal, wind.
Although it had been shown that
these high-speed solar wind streams
were directly related to geomagnetic
storms on earth, their solar origin
could not be established from the
usual contemporary visible-light pic-
tures of the corona taken from the
earth. The key to the mystery came
when a coronal hole observed in X-
rays by a rocket telescope in 1973 was
shown to coincide with a well-identi-
fied high-speed wind stream.
69
To recapitulate, coronal holes are
fairly large-scale areas in the solar
corona. The plasma gas density in the
holes is lower by a factor of ten or
more than in the rest of the corona and
the temperature is lower by perhaps
a factor of two. The magnetic field
lines in coronal holes are predomi-
nantly open and extend more-or-less
straight out from the sun. Because
their magnetic fields are relatively
weak and their field lines are open,
the holes do not trap the coronal
plasma, which thus pours outward
into space as high-speed solar wind
streams that interact with the earth's
magnetic field to produce terrestrial
disturbances known as geomagnetic
storms.
This last feature of coronal holes is
significant because of the numerous
attempts to identify the solar source
of recurrent geomagnetic storms. At
the beginning of this century, solar
astronomer E. Walter Maunder had
pointed out that major disturbances in
the earth's magnetic field can recur
regularly with the same 27-day period
that characterizes solar rotation. Such
storms, which last a few days and
occur once in every solar rotation,
manifest themselves as a sudden in-
crease in the earth's magnetic field,
followed by a less abrupt decrease
and gradual recovery to normal. The
appearance of northern lights — the
aurora borealis — and interference
with short-wave radio reception in the
earth's polar zones often attend these
disturbances.
Following the 1973 study that ini-
tially established the association of a
coronal hole with a high-speed wind
stream, a number of other investiga-
tions using increasingly sophisticated
data have been completed, leaving no
doubt about the relationship between
them.
The importance of coronal holes
was appreciated well enough in 1972
to lead to a comprehensive program
for their study on the Skylab space
mission, which included an elaborate
array of solar telescopes. Skylab ex-
tended from late May 1973 through
January 1974, at just the right phase
of the most recent solar cycle to as-
sure the appearance of geomagnetic
storms. During that time a variety of
coronal holes were observed in great
detail and much of our new knowl-
edge about holes stems directly from
Skylab data. Three of the major solar
experiments on Skylab made use of
X-ray or extreme-ultraviolet tele-
scopes, which can see and pho-
tograph the hot, million-degree co-
rona projected directly against the
solar surface. The sun's surface is not
hot enough to emit radiation in those
wavelengths, and hence, what looks
like the sun's surface in X-ray pho-
tographs is really the hot corona
above the surface.
One of the most spectacular find-
ings to come from the Skylab mission
was that coronal holes outside the
polar caps can dominate sectors of the
sun near the equator, appearing as jet
black voids between adjacent clouds
of glowing coronal gas. Holes seem
to be permanent features of the polar
caps, at least during the end of the
sunspot, or solar, cycle. In addition,
polar plumes, those enigmatic struc-
tures first noted during eclipses a cen-
tury ago, are now recognized as being
an integral characteristic of polar
holes. Among other facts learned
from the Skylab films is that holes,
including those at the polar caps, can
cover up to 20 percent of the solar
surface at one time; holes outside the
poles, which come and go, can last
up to nine months, although four to
six months is more common, making
them among the longest-lived of any
solar feature. Nonpolar holes occur
only in the centers of large areas of
unipolar magnetic fields; and their
areas grow and also decay at a remark-
ably uniform rate of about 20 mil-
lion square miles per hour. These
studies of the topology of lower lati-
tude coronal holes indicate that the
overwhelming majority of them ei-
ther develop as extensions of the
holes at the polar caps or else acquire
a connection to a polar hole subse-
quent to their births at lower latitudes .
The sun's surface is divided into
large regions of a single magnetic po-
larity, giving it a patchy look. One
scientist has suggested that the rela-
tionship between lower latitude holes
and polar holes results from the evo-
lution of these large-scale unipolar
magnetic regions. The development
of the holes is thus hypothesized to
be controlled by a type of solar ' 'plate
tectonics" in which unipolar mag-
netic regions, any one of which can
cover from 10 to 15 percent of the
solar surface, are the plates. Accord-
ing to this theory, the gradual separa-
tion of two magnetic regions of the
same polarity enlarges the interme-
diate magnetic region of opposite po-
larity in which a hole can then form.
Conversely, the gradual merging of
two regions of the same polarity will
choke off a hole in the intervening
region of opposite polarity when the
converging regions get close enough
to each other.
An alternate theory rests on obser-
vational data, all of which indicate
that the birth of a coronal hole always
follows the emergence of major bipo-
lar sunspot groups. Prior to Skylab it
was thought that the positive and neg-
ative magnetic areas within one ac-
tive region were connected only to
each other. Skylab observations
clearly show that this situation is true
only in the earliest stages of sunspot
development. After a few days, areas
of one polarity tend to connect with
any area of opposite polarity in their
vicinity. The connections between
unipolar magnetic fields thus tend to
be made all over the sun, from one
active region to another but always
from one polarity to that of the oppo-
site sign. If, in this process, some
fields cannot connect with others,
their lines of force become "open"
and a coronal hole is formed. This
evolutionary pattern was followed by
the three best-observed holes during
Skylab, and accounts for the fact that
all lower latitude holes were adjacent
to large active regions rather than in
the quietest portions of the sun.
No matter which theory of the ori-
gin of coronal holes turns out to be
correct, their very existence and their
intimate connection with terrestrial
geomagnetic activity insure that
coronal holes will remain a lively
topic of research for some time to
come. Among the major topics yet to
be studied are the occurrence of holes
during the maximum phase of the
solar cycle, and whether or not active
regions themselves may have "min-
iature" holes in the centers of their
most intense areas of magnetic field.
In addition, there is the intriguing
question of whether the solar wind
over the polar holes moves at uni-
formly high speed, as at the lower
latitude holes. If so, the structure of
the interplanetary medium at high
solar latitudes might be quite different
from what we assume it to be. D
70
Solar Flares
by Peter A. Sturrock
We do not know what triggers
these explosions in the
sun \s atmosphere
Without special equipment we can
only glimpse the sun for a fleeting
moment — unless it is partially ob-
scured by clouds, by haze at sunrise
or sunset, or by the moon during an
eclipse. These cursory views give the
impression of the sun as a perfectly
smooth ball. With the help of a piece
of smoked glass, however, we can
examine the sun more carefully. We
then find that sometimes there are
small dark spots — called "sun-
spots" — on the seemingly smooth
solar surface.
It has been known for at least 100
years that certain natural events on
earth occur more frequently when the
surface of the sun is marked by spots.
For instance, the aurora boreal is may
be seen at lower latitudes than usual
when the sun is very spotty. In addi-
tion, there are certain technologically
important eflects, for example, short-
wave radio communication may be-
come noisy or completely useless at
such times.
Are sunspots directly responsible
for these effects? This seems un-
likely, since sunspots do not always
produce these disturbances. More-
over, sunspots may persist for
months, and yet disturbances — when
they occur — are comparatively short-
lived. This suggests that auroras and
radio disturbances are not due to the
sunspots themselves but to some
event that can occur on the sun's sur-
face, or in its atmosphere, when the
Lockheed Solar Observatory
solar surface is marked by sunspots.
The first hint of what this event
might be came from observations
made in 1859. Two English astron-
omers, R. C. Carrington and R.
Hodgson, were independently study-
ing a large group of spots on the sun
when they witnessed a remarkable
event. As described by Carrington,
"two patches of intensely bright and
white light broke out. " " These patches
of light lasted about five minutes, in
which period they traveled a distance
of about 35.000 miles across the
sunspot group. Not only was this
event followed by an aurora of excep-
tional brilliance visible at quite low
latitudes but. in addition, the earth's
magnetic field was disturbed for some
days afterward. Such events, called
"solar flares," have in recent years
become quite familiar.
A solar flare is now recognized as
a cataclysmic explosion occurring in
the sun's atmosphere near a sunspot
or a sunspot group. It is somewhat
similar to a lightning stroke on earth,
but whereas a lightning stroke in-
volves a sudden release of electrical
energy due to an electrical charge ac-
cumulating on a cloud, a solar flare
represents the sudden release of mag-
netic energy due to electrical currents
flowing in the sun's atmosphere. The
amount of energy released in a single
solar flare can be enormous — enough
to supply the entire needs of the earth
for over 100,000 years.
This still incomplete picture of the
solar flare phenomenon has emerged
in recent years as a result of both ob-
servational and theoretical advances.
Systematic study of solar flares was
made possible by the invention of the
spectroheliograph by the American
Igniting suddenly, like an
explosion, solar flares reach their
fullest extent in one or two
minutes. When recorded in the
Hydrogen Alpha region of the
spectrum, they show up as patches
of bright light. The scale of this
photograph is such that its width
represents about 100,000 miles.
71
astronomer George Ellery Hale in
1926. This instrument, which came
into full operation at Mount Wilson
Observatory in California in 1931,
forms an image of the disk of the sun
using a filter tuned to a very narrow
band of the spectrum of light waves.
Most work on solar activity is carried
out with a filter tuned to a small part
of the red region of the spectrum — the
so-called Hydrogen Alpha, or Ha,
line — produced by atomic hydrogen
when it is raised to a temperature of
about 10,000 degrees Centigrade. In
this way, it is possible to observe a
thin layer of the sun's atmosphere
called the "cfiromosphere," which
lies above the part of the sun we see
by eye — the "photosphere."
All flares disturb the chromosphere
and can therefore be observed by the
spectroheliograph, but very few
flares disturb the photosphere. The
large flare observed by Carrington
and Hodgson was exceptional in this
regard. During the peak of the eleven-
year sunspot cycle, astronomers
nowadays may detect several small
flares in the course of a day; on the
other hand, they would need to wait
many years to make observations in
the visible, or white, light of the pho-
tosphere similar to those of Carring-
ton and Hodgson.
The advent of spacecraft has made
it possible for us to observe the sun
and other astronomical objects in
parts of the electromagnetic spectrum
that are not accessible at ground
level. For instance, most ultraviolet
light and all X-rays from the sun are
absorbed high in the earth's atmo-
sphere. By mounting suitable equip-
ment on a rocket or on a satellite or-
biting the earth high above the atmo-
sphere, it is possible to observe the
sun in ultraviolet light or in X-rays.
When this is done, we can examine
still higher levels of the sun's atmo-
sphere: the X-ray emission comes
mainly from a very hot and extended
region high above the chromosphere
called the "corona." The ultraviolet
radiation comes partly from the
chromosphere, partly from the
corona, and partly from a thin zone
(the "transition region") in between.
A detailed comparison between an
X-ray picture of the sun and a picture
taken at the same time in Ha light (the
red line of hydrogen) shows a close
correspondence, indicating that the
Ha emission comes from the region
of the chromosphere directly under-
neath the large hot mass of gas pro-
ducing the X-ray emission.
By analogy, if we were observing
the earth from space and took pho-
tographs of both a rain cloud and the
moisture content of the earth's sur-
face, we would note that the earth is
wet directly underneath the rain
cloud. The same relationship exists
between the hot solar cloud produc-
ing X-rays and the thin layer of the
chromosphere producing the Ha
emission. This is attributed to a
downward flow of heat from the hot
cloud to the cooler layers of the sun's
atmosphere.
That a flare, when it occurs, begins
very suddenly (it grows to almost its
fullest extent in one to two minutes),
strongly suggests that flares are some
kind of explosion. In other words, we
may imagine that a "bomb" is ex-
ploding in the sun's atmosphere. Is it
a chemical explosion, a nuclear ex-
plosion, or still another type?
The current answer to this crucial
question hinges on the fact that flares
normally occur near sunspots. The
true nature of sunspots was first real-
ized by George Ellery Hale who, in
addition to the spectroheliograph, in-
vented and used another important
solar instrument called the "magne-
tograph." Lines like the Ha line of
hydrogen are influenced by a mag-
netic field; by suitably modifying a
spectroheliograph, one can map the
magnetic field strength on the surface
of the sun. Such maps have been
made regularly since 1953, but the
first measurement of the magnetic
field of a sunspot had already been
made by Hale in 1908. As a result of
these studies, we know that there is
invariably a strong magnetic field
(several thousand times the strength
of the earth's field) at the center of a
sunspot. We have also learned that
the peculiar shapes exhibited by solar
flares are determined by the magnetic
field pattern of the region in which the
flare occurs. This and related lines of
evidence have led to the view ex-
pressed earlier on: a solar flare is now
regarded as the sudden explosive re-
lease of magnetic energy in the sun's
atmosphere. The nearest analogue on
earth (one to which Hannes Alfven,
the Swedish Nobel laureate in phys-
ics, has drawn attention) is perhaps
the bright arc produced by a circuit
breaker at a power station when a
generator is suddenly disconnected
from the circuit to which it was sup-
plying power.
Although this general and highly
simplified picture of solar flares is
widely accepted, much remains to be
understood concerning their detailed
behavior and the effects they produce
on earth. Flares occur in a bewilder-
ing variety of magnetic field patterns
and produce all kinds of radiation:
radio emission, gamma rays, and par-
ticle fluxes, in addition to the visible
light, ultraviolet light, and X-rays al-
ready mentioned. One is tempted to
hope that a sufficiently detailed theory
would enable us to predict what types
of radiation to expect from a flare oc-
curring in a specified magnetic field
configuration. This is a major — and
still distant — goal of solar flare re-
search: predicting not only whether
and when a flare will occur but also
its properties when it does occur.
The effects of solar flares on
auroras and the earth's magnetic field
have been known for many years, but
we are now learning more about the
impact of a solar flare on tech-
nological devices. A flare interferes
not only with radio transmission but
also with radar operation. In recent
years it has been recognized that a
major solar flare produces such a
strong disturbance of the earth's mag-
netic field as to affect the operation of
power distribution networks. Some
power outages are caused, not by in-
creased demand and not by malfunc-
tion of the distribution system, but by
solar flares!
Although solar flares have been
studied for their intrinsic interest and
for their important effects on the
earth's environment, they are in-
teresting for yet another reason. We
know that explosions occur in gal-
axies and quasars. Although their
scale is vastly greater than that of a
solar flare, these phenomena are in
many qualitative respects similar to
flares. It is indeed quite possible that
a solar flare is a small, homely ex-
ample of an explosion that occurs in
strange and massive objects billions
of light-years away. By improving
our understanding of the sun, we will
not only learn something about other
stars but we may also find a clue to
the mystery of quasars. D
72
Waves on the Sun
by Roger K. Ulrich
Newly reported — and as yet
unexplained — gigantic
oscillations of the sun may
provide clues to the
star's structure
A casual impression of tiie sun
leads one to believe that it is quite
still. Apart from local disruptions,
such as sunspots, prominences, and
flares, there was no evidence to chal-
lenge this idea until Robert Leighton,
professor of physics at CalTech, and
two of his graduate students began a
careful search for relatively slow-
moving matter on the solar surface
about a decade before the Skylab mis-
sion. In 1962 they discovered that the
surface of the sun is actually in con-
stant, rapid motion. The speed of mo-
tion involved is great on a human
scale — 1,000 miles per hour — but
small compared to the speeds of 25,-
000 to 50,000 miles per hour found
in other stars that pulsate.
The CalTech researchers discov-
ered two types of short-period solar
motion; the one that primarily con-
cerns us here is an up-and-down vi-
brational movement like that of a
sound wave or a spring balance.
These oscillatory motions probably
represent a complicated form of solar
pulsation. The pulsations that are best
known take roughly five minutes.
During this time, the solar matter
moves vertically through a total dis-
tance of 700 to 1,400 miles. The
whole surface of the sun was not ob-
served to move up and down as a
single unit, as some stars are known
to do. Instead, small localized por-
tions of the sun's surface were found
to pulsate independently of each other
on their own time scales, although the
entire surface is constantly covered
with oscillatory motion. It is tempting
to call these pulsations sunquakes,
but that would be misleading. They
more nearly resemble ocean waves.
The period of five minutes that
characterizes these motions is more
or less an average. A given section of
the solar surface may have a period
of three minutes for a while, then six
minutes, and still later, five minutes.
The over-all effect makes the surface
of the sun resemble the chaotic sur-
face of a choppy sea, with no easily
discernible pattern to the motion.
Although the (ivc-minute oscilla-
tions are extremely complicated,
their complexity is not unlimited.
Each type, or mode, of oscillation or
pulsation that the sun undergoes can
be classified in terms of period and
horizontal scale— 1,000 to 100,000
miles (1,600 to 160.000 kilome-
ters)— and thus theoretically under-
stood. The great complexity in the
five-minute oscillations comes
mostly from the fact that there are
about one million ways in which the
sun can pulsate and they are all occur-
ring simultaneously. A few years ago
I analyzed a mathematical model of
the sun and found that its oscillations
could be arranged in groups that can
be distinguished from one another by
careful observation. In addition to the
complex five-minute oscillations,
computations made as long ago as the
1940s indicated that simpler, longer-
period oscillations, moving up and
down through smaller distances and
at a slower rate, could also theoret-
ically be occurring. These relatively
simple pulsations, perhaps best de-
scribed as global oscillations, would
be distinguishable from the five-min-
ute oscillations by their longer pe-
riods, which are calculated to be from
fifteen minutes to one hour.
Although waves on the sun have
been known and studied for fifteen
years, their use as a probe of solar
structure received little attention until
recently. It was then realized that
solar oscillations can , in principle , re-
veal information about the solar inte-
rior, much as the study of seismic
waves generated by earthquakes has
allowed us to learn most of what is
known about the interior of the earth.
Seismic waves in the earth travel at
a speed that depends on the composi-
tion of the matter they encounter. By
measuring the time it takes waves to
travel from the site of an earthquake
to the measuring instruments, the de-
tailed internal structure of the earth
can be deduced. Even though the
matter in the sun is entirely gaseous
instead of solid, as on the earth,
waves still travel through it and the
speed of these waves is influenced by
the distribution of the temperature
throughout the solar interior. The
study of solar pulsations can thus help
us understand the sun's interior.
The photosphere of the sun is too
opaque to allow us to see anything
that goes on beneath it . The solar inte-
rior is therefore hidden from direct
observation. Most of what we now
believe about the interior of the sun
has come from the calculation of
mathematical models based on the
laws of physics and assumptions
about how the sun was formed and
has behaved since then.
Among the more important as-
sumptions that astrophysicists nor-
mally make are the following: ( 1 ) the
chemical elements were all distrib-
uted uniformly throughout the sun
when it formed; (2) any magnetic
field initially present in the sun de-
cayed rapidly and is now negligible;
and (3) the matter in the solar center
has not mixed with matter at the solar
surface. These assumptions and
others cannot be tested by conven-
tional means. If our assumptions
about the sun are incorrect, the be-
havior of the sun predicted by the
mathematical models based on these
assumptions would also be incorrect.
For example, if intermittent mixing
between the center and surface of the
sun has taken place — a violation of
the third assumption above — the
amount of solar radiation received on
earth would vary, with possibly dire
effects. This has not happened in re-
cent times, although some scientists
propose it as a cause of past ice ages.
In the effort to substantiate or dis-
prove our theories about the internal
structure of the sun by means of solar
waves, we meet one problem not
faced by earth scientists. The origin
of terrestrial seismic waves is
known — earthquakes. But we do not
yet understand what causes any of the
solar oscillations. For some time after
the discovery of the five-minute oscil-
73
lations, it was generally believed that
they were caused by convection cur-
rents, consisting of the upward flow
of hot material and the downward
flow of cooler material, which were
striking the solar atmosphere. There
are two drawbacks to this idea: the
convection currents actually ob-
served on the sun are much smaller
than the oscillations they are sup-
posed to cause; and when the veloci-
ties on the solar surface are exa-
mined, the oscillations do not seem
to follow the convection currents in
the way we would expect. Instead, it
now seems likely that the five-minute
solar oscillations are caused by the
flow of energy through the layers of
changing temperature in the atmos-
phere of the sun, as in pulsating stars.
As energy flows outward from the
core, it becomes bottled up in the hot,
less transparent layer just beneath the
solar surface until it bursts out, caus-
ing an oscillation.
The study of solar oscillations is
currently entering a very exciting
phase, in which we hope that sophis-
ticated new instruments will enable
us to answer many important ques-
tions about the sun. These observa-
tional efforts are being pushed in two
different directions. First, observa-
tions are being made to verify the ex-
istence of the predicted simpler forms
of oscillation that have periods of fif-
teen minutes to one hour. And sec-
ond, the complexity of the five-min-
ute oscillations is being unraveled by
the continued gathering and analyz-
ing of data, including new observa-
tions from space.
Conclusive detection of simple,
long-period forms of solar oscillation
postulated years ago would be truly
fundamental. These oscillations pen-
etrate to the core of the sun whereas
short-period oscillations pass through
only about the outer one third to one
half of the sun's structure. Conse-
quently, the study of long-period
oscillations would allow us to deduce
the sun's complete structure. One im-
portant advantage that the simple
forms of oscillation have over the
five -minute oscillations is that only a
small number of their modes have
similar periods. Individual configu-
rations of long-period oscillation can
therefore be isolated and investi-
gated. Determining the particular
form of any of these oscillations.
however, is somewhat more difficult
than determining the form of the five-
minute oscillations because the scale
of their action is comparable to the
solar circumference and the entire
surface of the sun must therefore be
studied.
There have been several recent re-
ports that these long-period oscilla-
tions have been detected. In the mid-
1970s Henry Hill, a physicist at the
University of Arizona, was the first
to produce such evidence. By meas-
uring with great precision changes in
the visible diameter of the sun, he
found indications of oscillations with
periods of up to one hour. Although
Hill's data are suggestive, it is not yet
entirely clear that the effect he sees —
the apparent change with time in the
sun's diameter — is due to solar oscil-
lations rather than to possible changes
in the transparency or brightness of
the solar atmosphere, to something in
the earth's atmosphere, or to noise in
the instruments. Calculations of solar
models suggest that the periodic
changes in the sun's diameter ob-
served by Hill must be the result of
actual up-and-down motion of the
photosphere. If that proposition is ac-
cepted, it is then possible to calculate
how fast the outer layers of the sun
must be moving to match Hill's ob-
served long-period oscillations. But
the speed of motion of solar matter
can also be measured by observing
the shift of dark lines in the spectrum
of the sun. The speed measured in the
second way is about ten times less
than is consistent with Hill's observa-
tions and this discrepancy raises
questions.
A second problem with the data
Hill has reported is the lack of stabil-
ity and predictability of the motion.
A graphic display of waves
on the surface of the sun is
produced by means of modern
technology. Sensors in a telescope
translate the motion of matter
into light and dark areas. The
image is regenerated on a
television screen by a computer
and the TV screen is then
photographed. The light
areas in this display represent
matter that is moving upward;
the dark areas, matter
that is moving downward.
Such a large fraction of the sun's mat-
ter is involved in the long-period
oscillations that a powerful force is
required either to stop or start the mo-
tion. If the phenomena that Hill has
observed are truly of solar origin, we
74
should be ahic to predict exactly
when the sun will reach a maximum
diameter. Until Hill can demonstrate
that the oscillations he has observed
are predictable in this fashion, I feel
we must be cautious in using his ob-
servations to probe the structure of
the sun. Conversely, a demonstration
of predictability would establish the
reality of the simple, long-period
oscillations beyond a doubt.
The outer layers of the solar struc-
Sacramenlo Peak Observatory
ture can also be probed by means of
the five-minute oscillations, provid-
ing their complexity can be unra-
veled. In an effort to do just that, I
have measured the speed of motion of
matter on the solar surface about 200
million times, working with two
other astronomers at UCLA and the
Sacramento Peak Observatory in
New Mexico. This vast quantity of
measurements was made automat-
ically by a large number of detectors,
which resemble the light meters used
by photographers, and the results of
each measurement were stored on a
computer tape. To date, we have fed
40 million of these measurements
through the UCLA computer.
The results we have obtained so far
are very promising. We have been
able to resolve the complicated mass
of short-period oscillations into
groups in just the way that the theoret-
ical calculations indicated. (In an in-
dependent analysis, a German astro-
physicist working at the Fraunhofer
Institute in Freiburg has also resolved
the five-minute oscillations into ex-
actly the same groups.) We are able
to determine the precise period of
each group — whether it is three, five,
or six minutes — with enough accu-
racy to enable us to set significant
temperature limits on the layers of the
outer half of the sun. These limits will
help us test the basic assumptions
mentioned earlier that are made in
calculating the internal properties of
the sun.
Our preliminary results lead us to
the tentative conclusion that those as-
sumptions are correct. But we are not
completely confident about this con-
clusion because most of our measure-
ments have not yet been analyzed and
there are more complexities in our
logic than we would like. We are
therefore planning to continue the
analysis in order to further test and
resolve the five-minute oscillations
into groups.
Concurrently, the observational ef-
forts to use long-period solar oscilla-
tions as a probe of solar structure are
being pushed by several research
groups in addition to Hill's. There is
a good prospect that within a year or
two we will know with certainty
whether the long-period oscillations
are of solar origin. If they are, we will
be able to deduce the structure of the
sun all the way to the core. D
75
The Sun's Missing Particles
by John N. Bahcall
The unexpected results of an
ongoing experiment raise
basic questions about
how the sun shines
Recent experimental results sug-
gest that we do not understand as well
as previously believed how the sun
shines. Astronomers and physicists
have thought for many years that they
knew in detail how the sun produces
the radiant energy observed on earth
as sunlight. But they have been sur-
prised by the results of an experiment
carried out by two chemists at Brook-
haven National Laboratory, Ray-
mond Davis, Jr. , and John C. Evans,
Jr. There is a large, unexplained dis-
agreement between their observa-
tions and the predictions of the sup-
posedly firmly established theory of
solar-energy generation. This dis-
crepancy has led to something of a
crisis in the theory of stellar evolu-
tion; many prominent scientists are
now openly questioning some of the
basic principles and approximations
that were previously standard in all
textbooks on astronomy and stellar
aging. In fact, some of the best-
known theoretical astronomers have
been led to publish speculative ar-
ticles in staid scientific journals that
ten years earlier they would have dis-
cussed only jokingly at cocktail par-
ties with their colleagues.
The sun is the nearest and best-ob-
served star. We know its mass, ra-
dius, age, luminosity, and chemical
composition much better than that of
any other star. Moreover, the sun is
in the simplest and best-understood
stage of stellar evolution — the quies-
cent, so-called main sequence phase.
Scientists believe that stars like the
sun, in their stable main sequence
stage, derive their energy from ther-
monuclear reactions that fuse the
light element hydrogen into the heav-
ier helium, thus converting mass into
energy in much the same way that a
hydrogen bomb works. In stars like
the sun, the conversion of hydrogen
into helium to provide energy is sup-
posed to occur in a steady fashion, a
gigantic, continuous, but controlled
thermonuclear explosion. The theory
of stellar evolution and aging by ther-
monuclear burning is widely used by
astronomers in helping to construct a
large-scale picture of the universe in
which we live; many of the details in
our current picture of the universe,
such as its age, size, and chemical
composition, are based in part on this
theory of stellar evolution.
We would like to test experi-
mentally the extent of our under-
standing of stellar evolution and nu-
clear burning in stars, but this is
difficult to do directly because the
sun's thermonuclear furnace is deep
in the interior where it is hidden by
an enormous mass of cooler material.
The nuclear reactions that are ulti-
mately responsible for the sun's radi-
ant energy occur in the hottest and
innermost solar regions, where they
are effectively hidden from conven-
tional astronomical instruments that
can only record light emitted by the
outermost layers of the sun (and other
stars). One cannot take a picture with
ordinary light of the sun's deep ther-
monuclear furnace.
Among the elementary particles re-
leased by the assumed thermonuclear
reactions in the solar interior, only
one — the neutrino — has the ability to
travel unimpeded from the center of
the sun to the surface and escape into
space. Neutrinos are uncharged sub-
atomic particles, familiar from labo-
ratory physics studies, that are given
off in nuclear reactions. The principal
characteristic of neutrinos for our
purpose is that they interact very
weakly with all matter. An ordinary
neutrino, of the kind we are discuss-
ing, can pass through the entire sun
with only one chance in ten billion of
being absorbed. It can traverse the en-
tire earth with only one chance in a
thousand billion of being absorbed.
Thus neutrinos offer the unique possi-
bility of "looking" into the solar in-
terior and testing directly and quanti-
tatively the theory of nuclear-energy
generation in stars like the sun.
The conventional explanation of
how the sun shines, that is, of the
process of solar-energy generation.
ascribes the phenomenon to nuclear
fusion reactions, similar to those
under study today for use in terrestrial
thermonuclear fusion reactors that are
designed to produce clean, cheap
power by the year 2000. The basic
solar process is the fusion of four hy-
drogen nuclei (called protons) to
create a heavier helium nucleus. In
this process, two neutrinos are pro-
duced and a certain amount of energy
is released. The energy released in the
fusion process ultimately appears at
the solar surface as sunlight. The neu-
trinos come directly out of the solar
interior and, traveling at the speed of
light, reach the earth about eight min-
utes after they are produced deep in-
side the sun's thermonuclear furnace.
In order to calculate how often, and
with what energies, neutrinos are pro-
duced, one must make a detailed
model of the interior of the sun using
a fast electronic computer. The tech-
niques for constructing such models
are now standard and the physics in-
volved is relatively simple. It requires
that at each point in the computer
model the gravitational attraction of
the sun's mass on itself be exactly
balanced by the pressure of the hot
gas and light particles that are bounc-
ing around inside the sun. The rates
of energy generation and neutrino
production are calculated by using the
known rates of the relevant nuclear
reactions, which are derived from
laboratory measurements and stand-
ard theoretical calculations.
Energy is transported in the solar
Intense solar activity — probably ^
flare — was viewed in ultraviolet
light by a spectroheliograph on an
unmanned satellite on August
2, 1972. Received in digital form,
the picture was reconstructed by a
computer-driven color television
system. The white regions at the
left represent the areas of highest
temperature. The yellow and red
clusters denote slightly cooler
areas. This "solar storm"
disrupted communications and
power systems around the world.
76
77
interior, for the most part, by par-
ticles of light known as photons. This
is the same mechanism whereby en-
ergy is transported in the earth's at-
mosphere via light radiation through
electrically charged, or ionized, gas
particles. Thus, familiar relations can
be used in modeling the sun's inte-
rior. It is conventional to assume that
the sun's primordial chemical com-
position was homogeneous through-
out and that its observed surface
chemical composition at present is
the same as it was when the sun was
born. One then makes a sequence of
successive solar models with a com-
puter, requiring that the calculated
flow of energy be equal to the ob-
served solar luminosity at a model
age of five billion years, the believed
present age of the solar system.
To detect the neutrinos theoret-
ically produced in this process of
solar-energy generation, a giant neu-
trino trap has been operated by Davis
and Evans for a number of years in
a rock cavity deep below the surface
in the Homestake Mine in Lead,
South Dakota. The trap is a tank filled
with 100,000 gallons of an ordinary
cleaning fluid containing an isotope
of chlorine. The trap, referred to as
the Brookhaven detector, can capture
elusive neutrinos by means of a reac-
tion involving an isotope, chlorine
37, that is present in great quantity in
the cleaning fluid. The neutrinos cap-
tured by chlorine produce a radioac-
tive isotope of argon, argon 37,
which can be counted with standard
techniques once it is extracted from
the tank by purging with helium gas.
Davis and Evans have so ^rfected
their chemical techniques that they
are able to isolate and count even the
few radioactive argon atoms that
might be produced in the 100,000
gallons of cleaning fluid. They can
find a few atoms in a tank about the
size of an Olympic swimming pool!
An enormous solar eruption,
which lasted several hours, was
photographed in extreme-ultraviolet
light and then processed in false
color — shown here — to indicate
different densities of matter. The
darker the color, the thicker the
eruption. The sun's limb can be
traced along the top of the
white areas.
78
Naval Research Laboratory and NASA
79
Extreme skill is required in order to
detect any solar neutrinos since the
very fact that neutrinos escape so eas-
ily from the center of the sun implies
that they are difficult to capture.
About fifteen years ago, I first cal-
culated the rate at which solar neu-
trinos would cause chlorine 37 to
change to radioactive argon 37 in the
Brookhaven tank. I also made esti-
The hump on the sun 's surface,
clearly seen in the photograph
below, is part of an active
region that erupted 90 minutes
later, forming the stream of
gas in the second picture from
the left. At its maximum height,
this spikelike eruption reached
hundreds of thousands of miles
into the corona. The third
picture was made 34 minutes after
the second, and the fourth was
made 13 minutes later. The entire
sequence was taken in the
extreme-ultraviolet wavelength
by a telescope on Skylab.
mates of the solar neutrino production
rate using conventional computer
models of the sun. The theoretical
predictions are most conveniently ex-
pressed in terms of a unit that, as an
inside joke, I originally named a
SNU, pronounced "snew." A SNU
is one solar neutrino unit (10~^®
captures per target atom per second).
This corresponds to one neutrino cap-
tured every five days in the Brook-
haven tank. The typical prediction of
conventional solar models is that the
rate of capture of neutrinos in the
Brookhaven detector should be about
5.5 SNU, or about one a day.
A set of fourteen experimental runs
has been carried out in the neutrino
tank by Davis and Evans over the past
few years. To our consternation, their
results are clearly inconsistent with
the rate predicted by standard models
of the sun. In view of the various un-
certainties in background processes,
their findings have been interpreted as
showing that the neutrino production
rate is probably less than 2 SNU, or
about one every IVi to 3 days. How-
ever, the last several experiments per-
formed by Davis and Evans have
yielded a slightly higher rate than the
average of the previous observations.
The origin of this upward trend,
which could be due to statistical fluc-
tuations (my guess), experimental
changes, or even solar variations, is
not yet understood and another year
of experiment may be required for an
adequate explanation.
This conflict between observation
and standard theory has led to much
speculation about the solar interior,
which has been advanced because
proponents believed that the subject
is in a state of crisis. Some scientists
have speculated that the sun is not
currently generating as much energy
by the nuclear fusion reactions that
produce neutrinos as they previously
thought. It has also been suggested
that the sun contains a black hole in
its center and that more than half the
observed solar luminosity comes
from energy radiated as the surround-
ing gas is drawn into the hole. It has
been further suggested that the sun is
Nava] Research Laboratory and NASA
8o
in a transient piiase during wiiich the
interior luminosity produced by nu-
clear reactions is much less than the
observed luminosity, which results
from photons, or particles of light,
slowly diffusing out from the sun's
interior to its surface.
These suggestions have not been
widely accepted because they require
the sun to be in an unusual state dur-
ing the observations with the Brook-
haven neutrino trap and also because
there is no evidence from theoretical
calculations that the dynamical be-
havior of the sun would be as required
by these speculations .
Many astrophysicists have pro-
posed technical scenarios in which
the solar interior may be somewhat
cooler than previously believed, thus
inhibiting neutrino generation by cer-
tain nuclear reactions, while still per-
mitting the observed solar luminosity
to be produced by other nuclear fu-
sion reactions.
The explanation I have put forward
with my collaborators is the possi-
bility that the sun's surface contains
many more heavy elements than dons
its interior, where the nuclear burning
occurs. This suggestion is ad hoc and
in conflict with some of the basic as-
sumptions of the theory of stellar evo-
lution since it negates the premise of
homogeneous solar composition.
Other radical assumptions about the
solar interior that have recently been
oifered include the existence of very
large central magnetic fields in the
solar interior, and a critical tempera-
ture below which hydrogen and he-
lium are immiscible. One cosmolo-
gist has even suggested that the exte-
rior half of the sun's mass has an en-
tirely different composition from the
interior half and was added about five
billion years ago.
In addition to the many specula-
tions about radical changes in the
theory of stellar evolution, it has also
been suggested that neutrinos may
behave differently in traversing the
enormous distance between the sun
and the earth— 93,000,000 miles
(about 150,000,000 kilometers)—
than has been postulated on the basis
of laboratory measurements made
over small distances of less than ten
meters (about 33 feel). It has been
proposed, further, that a neutrino can
decay, that is, transform itself into
apparently unknown and undetected
particles. This suggestion has not
been taken very seriously by most
physicists.
The attitude of many physicists
toward the present discrepancy be-
tween theory and observation is that
astronomers never really understand
astronomical systems as well as they
think they do, and the failure of the
standard theory in this simple case
just proves that physicists are correct
in being skeptical about the astron-
omers' claims. Many astronomers
believe, on the other hand, that the
present conflict is so basic that it must
be due to an error in the physics rather
than in our astrophysical understand-
ing of stellar evolution. Obviously
more experiments will be required to
settle the issue of the missing neu-
trinos and whether our astronomy or
our physics is at fault. D
8i
misun 5 disk blocked out to
'■BWts an artificial eclipse and
color added to indicate different
levels of brightness, the sun 's
corona, as seen from the earth,
looks like an abstract painting.
The bulge on the right is a cloud
of gas billowing outward through
the corona into space.
High Altitude Observatory and NASA
■. -^w
iM'Xf '** ' ^
*-*.
1^
•' t..
' ^^
>r*
«v
^*.^M
I :-.'^>
t,**^
A'
^r-
* •* > .
The Nation's Foremost
Precious Metal Miniaturist
THE JEMEZ BUFFALO DANCER
re shown approximately actual size) $375
Mikael Redman, born in the In-
dian country of northern Arizona,
and schooled in the venerable
European traditions of precious
metal miniature sculpture, has
achieved a unique blend of Old
World craftsmanship and New
World vigor.
His work, derivative of such
masters of miniature as Cellini
and Faberge, requires hundreds
of hours of the most detailed and
meticulous sculpting. As only a
master of the "lost wax" process
could, Redman imparts breath-
taking reality to his pieces by cap-
turing the most minute of details.
Fingernails, sinews, folds of cloth mere millimeters in size reveal in their
exactness a skill, patience and dedication to anatomical accuracy rarely
found amoung contemporary artists.
It is not surprising that Redman miniatures command prices as high
as $10,000, and are found in many public and private collections around
the world.
THE JEMEZ BUFFALO DANCER is representative of Redman s
Southwestern Indian Series. Each of the eight native ceremonial dancers
in the series exhibits the vitality, intricacy and devotion to authenticity
that is Mikael Redman's signature among art critics and discriminat-
ing collectors.
Others in the series are The Pueblo Hoop Dancer, The Tesuque Eagle
Dancer, The Apache Gan D£mcer,The Yaqui Deer Dancer, The Hopi Snake
Dancer, The Navajo Yei Dancer and The Zuni Rain Dancer.
THE AHOLA KACHINA is the first of Mikael Redmans Kachina
Spirit Series. To the Hopi Indians of the Southwest, the Kachinas are
supernatural beings embodying the spiritual essence of living things and
also the souls of ancestors who have died and reunited with nature.
Redman's interpretation of these magical spirits is at once beautiful
and haunting.
Other classic examples of Hopi Kachinas in this series are Soyal,
Kaletaka and Mastop.
Rendered with the same exquisite care and artistry that has made
Redman miniatures internationally famous, the series of four Kachinas
adds to and extends his previous body of work, increasing all in impor-
tance and value.
MIKAEL REDMAN
THE AHOLA KACHINA
(Figure shown approximately actual size) $47!
Both series are cast in solid .999
fine silver with 24 carat gold vermeil
accents, rhodium clad to prevent tar-
nishing. Each figure of the South-
western Indian Series is mounted on
an uncut turquoise base of no less
than 250 carats. Nuggets vary in
size and shape. Figures in the Ka-
china Spirit Series are mounted on
either a silver or turquoise base.
Sculptures are presented in a suede-
lined, oiled walnut display case which
may be used as a shadowbox. Each
sculpture is accompanied by a Cer-
tificate of Authenticity signed by
the artist.
The Southwestern Indian Series
— signed and numbered in a limited edition of 900 — individual sculptures:
$375. The series of eight: $2550. Due to limited quantity, The Tesuque Eagle
Dancer and The Apache Gan Dancer are only available in series purchase.
The Kachina Spirit Series — signed and numbered in a limited edition of
500 — individual sculptures: $475 on silver base, $500 on turquoise base. The
series of four: $1600 on silver, $1700 on turquoise.
Each sculpture is also available in solid, multi-hued, 18 carat gold. Lim-
ited to an edition of 12 — from $3200.
Convenient terms are available for purchase of either of the complete series.
These original sculptures may be ordered directly from The Mikael Redman
Galleries, 7110 Fifth Avenue, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251.
For those desiring additional information or wishing to order by credit
card, please call The Mikael Redman Galleries toll-free at 800-528-0291.
Mikael Redman's sculptures are also available at selected galleries through-
out the country.
The Mikael Redman
Galleries
R.
7110 5th AVENUE
SCOTTSDALE. ARIZONA
THE TURBULENT SUN
Additional Reading
Modern Astronomy , by Ludwig Oster
(San Francisco; Holden-Day, 1973); In-
troductory Astronomy and Astrophysics,
by Elske P. Smilh and Kenneth C. Jacobs
(Philadelphia; W.B. Saunders, 1973);
and Astronomy , by Franklyn M. Branley
et al. (New Yori<; Thomas Y. Crowell,
1975, $14.50), are introductory books
with sections on the sun. Our Sun. writ-
ten for the lay audience by astronomer
Donald H. Menzel (rev. ed. Cambridge;
Harvard University Press, 1959), re-
mains one of the best sources of back-
ground material . Early Solar Physics, by
A. J. Meadows (Elmsford; Pergamon
Press, 1970, $8.50), is a nontechnical ac-
count of the historical roots of solar stud-
ies. The Quiet Sun. by scientist-astronaut
Edward G. Gibson (Washington; U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1973), pro-
vides an introduction to solar physics
prior to the launching of Skylab. E. N.
Parker's "The Sun" (Scientific Ameri-
can, September 1975, pp. 42-50) de-
scribes recent findings (and mysteries) re-
vealed by spacecraft-based solar observa-
tions. John A. Eddy's A New Sun (to be
published in early 1977 by the U.S. Gov-
ernment Printing Office) is meant for a
popular audience and will be heavily il-
lustrated with black-and-white and color
photographs from Skylab. The Annual
Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics
(ARAA) frequently contain expert ar-
ticles on solar phenomena.
Sunspots (p. 62)
R. J. Bray and R. E. Loughhead's
Sunspots (New York; John Wiley &
Sons, 1965, $16) is a semitechnical work
useful to amateur astronomers for its clear
exposition of observational methods.
"The Maunder Minimum," a compre-
hensive article by John A. Eddy (Science,
1976, vol. 192, pp. 1189-202), relates
the contemporary revolution in solar re-
search to past observations of sunspot ac-
tivity. The information on sunspots in
Harold Zirin's The Solar Atmosphere
(Lexington; Ginn & Company, 1966)
typifies the working literature of astron-
omers— technical, but readable if you
skip the mathematical equations.
Coronal Holes (p. 69)
Edward Gibson's The Quiet Sun
(1973), Eihar Tandberg-Hanssen's Solar
Activity (Lexington; Ginn & Company,
1967), and J. Pasachoff's "The Solar
Corona" (Scientific American, October
1973) contain background information on
coronal holes. Coronal Expansion and
Solar Wind, by Arthur J. Hundhausen
(New York; Springer- Verlag, 1972), al-
though technical, is written in a lucid
style. Two well-illustrated, key papers
on these phenomena are "A Coronal
Hole as the Source of a High Velocity
Solar Wind Stream ," by Allen S . Krieger
et al. (Solar Physics, 1973, vol. 29, pp.
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
NEW, 164 Pages
Over 4.500 Un-
usual Barga.ns-
for Hobbyists
Schools, Industry
JUST CHECK
COUPON'
EDMUIMD
SCIEIMTIFIC CO.
300 EDSCORP BUILDING
Barrington, N. J, 08007
(609) 547-3488
Ametica's Greatest
Science • Optics • Hobby Ulsrl
OWN THE BINOCULAR NASA
CHOSE FOR APOLLO SOYUZ!
for the historic U S Russian space flight and
link-up, this powerful 20X60 binocular was
slightly modified. Own the original! It's our big-
gest, most powerful for distance (designed to
help the Astronauts look back at earth from
157 miles out in space) Big 60 mm objective
lenses 173-ft. field of view at 1000 yards
* Relative brightness. 9 0, Fully coated optics
20X special design eye lenses. Coated BK-7
Porro prism. Extra long All-Amerlcan style with
fold-down rubber eyecups Just (hf|A flC
47.5 02, (9'/4 X 8V2"), Includes |(||||J.aJ
case and straps No.l556E just |||| Ppd
Reg. 8X30 Binocular. An Unbelievable Bargain
Fully coated optics. European style body '4V2 x
5' 4". |ust 19 oz,). Field of view at 1000 yards.
392 ft Great for hunting, races
N0.1559E only , .
'"Ppd,
COMPLETE AND MAIL COUPON NOW
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO 300 tdscorp BIdg,. eartmglon. N 1 08007
$00.05
LUpnd,
No, 1559E tinocularlsl
__ @ S29S5 each S
,. ,, ^ ... ^1, \'ni service S haniJIing ctiarge Sl.OO
- BankAmeticard Master Chg 'JM Enclosed is check
Interbank No
Charge rny ., American Exp
Card No
Eitpiration Date
_M. 0. in amount of
Signature
Name
30'DAr MONET-BACK GUAR-
ANTEE, You must be satis
lied or return any purchase
I in 30 days lor lull refund
Address.
HELPING TO DEVELOP AMERICA S TECHNOLOGY FOR OVER 30 YEARS
FOR AN EXCITING AFTERNOON
VISIT THE NEW, GREATLY EXPANDED
collector's cedMnet
THE NATURAL DEPARTMENT STORE
featuring countless thousands of the Treasures of Mother Earth
now conveniently located at
153 East 57th Street (between 3rd and Lex. Aves.)
• JEWELRY — Meteorites from Outer Space, Fossils, Scenic Jaspers, Malachite,
and dozens of unusual Gemstones custom-mounted for us in Sterling Silver.
• WILD ANIMAL SCULPTURES - by Louis Paul Jonas - the largest permanent
exhibit of these superb 1/10-scale animals — from the Anteater to the Zebra —
and, exclusively, a series of 24 Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Mammals by this
noted sculptor. Send for our free illustrated brochures listing over 300 models.
• SEASHELLS and CORAL — Exotic and colorful shells from the Seven Seas,
decorator Corals, Sea Urchins, Starfish, giant Barnacle Clusters. Send $1.50
for 2 catalogs listing our stock of over 1500 species of shells, with over 200
illustrations.
• MINERALS and FOSSILS — Fine Crystal groups, sparkling Amethyst clusters,
Geodes, Precious Gemstones, Half-biilion-year-old fossils, coffee-table-size Petri-
fied Woods and Sahara Desert Fossil slabs. Dinosaur Footprints. Mineral ash-
trays, penstands, bookends, clocks, paperweights, bowls, boxes, eggs and spheres.
• BUTTERFLIES — The world's largest display of exotic butterfly frames and boxes.
• EXOTIC ITEMS from all corners of the world to decorate your den or library —
PIRANHAS, SHARKS, POISON BUFFER FISH, SAWFISH BEAKS, SCORPIONS
and TARANTULAS!
• HAND-COLORED NATURE PRINTS - from the 18th and 19th Centuries. Wild-
flowers, Birds, Fish, Mammals, etc.
SEND 500 FOR OUR NEW 1977 FULL-COLOR CATALOG FOR
DOZENS OF EXCITING GIFT AND DECORATOR ITEMS.
Branches: GREENWICH VILLAGE (38 W. 8th St.); PHILADELPHIA; WASHINGTON, D.C.;
CHADDS FORD, PA.; DANIA, FLA.; NEW ORLEANS (Nahan Gallery); PORTLAND,
ORE.; SPRINGFIELD, VA.; SYRACUSE, N.Y. Also at BLOOMINGDALE'S and
other fine department stores nationwide. (FRANCHISE INFORMATION KIT $2.00)
THE COLLECTOR'S CABINET, Box NH, 153 East 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10021
Hours: Mon. thru Sat. 10 to 6. Open Thur. until 9 P.M. Tel. (212) 861-4133
"May well be the best book
Ogbum has written." — hal Borland
The master work of a great nature
writer — winner of the John
Burroughs Medal for 77ie Winter Beach.
"My immediate reaction . . . was
tingling excitement, anticipation,
and near uncontainable pleasure."
—ELLIOT PORTER
$10.95
e
_ ^ Cliaiiton Ogl)iirn
Mwiitii]^
/^^
WILLIAM MORROW
Within 2 or 3 years of retirement?
DISCOVER THE BEST
THAT LIFE OFFERS IN
DEL WEBB'S SUN CITY
A Fabulous Arizona Resort Vacation
for one or two people: Just $ 1 25*
Get ready for a fun-filled vacation in
America's most famous resort-retirement
community! Golf, tennis, swimming and
special parties are just a few of the things
you'll be invited to enjoy. Plus you'll stay in
a beautiful air conditioned apartment with
a completely egjipped kitchen, color TV,
attached carport and private patio.
♦INTRODUCTORY RATE:
S125
17400 N. Del Webb Blvd.. Sun City, AZ 85351
Del E. Webb Development Co. Dept. NZ-1176
P.O. Box 1725, Sun City, Arizona S5351
Send complete details on $125 Vacation
Special plus a beautiful full-color Sun City
brochure to:
Name
Address
City_
.Zip.
Offer limited to availabilities and to vacationing
L parties with one member 50 years of age or older
and no member under 18. I
Del Webb's Sun City is NOT a lot sales development
A one-of-a-kind copper relief master-
work by noted sculptor Michael
Lantz. Conceived and signed by A
the artist . . . serially num- .^V
bered. Since each relief
hand-finished, quanti-
ties are strictly
limited. 10x14" kO>
Brewster, N.Y.
10509
CdnTposition backed. Ready to
hang. $39.50 plus $1.50 ship-
ping and handling. (NYS add tax).
30 day money back guarantee.
Allow 3-6 weeks for delivery.
505-25), and "The Structure and Evolu-
tion of Coronal Holes , " a nonmathemati-
cal description by Adrienne F. Timothy
et al. {Solar Physics, 1975, vol. 42, pp.
135-56). For a historical perspective on
coronal holes and the solar wind, see John
M. Wilcox's "The Interplanetary Mag-
netic Field: Solar Origin and Terrestrial
Effects" (Space Science Reviews, 1968,
vol. 8, pp. 258-328) and M. Wald-
meier's "The Coronal Hole at the 7
March 1975 Solar Eclipse" (Solar Phys-
ics, 1975, vol. 40, pp. 351-58), in which
the Swiss discoverer of coronal holes ana-
lyzes a recent observation in light of his
previously unnoticed work on coronal
phenomena.
Solar Flares (p. 71)
Zdenek Svestka's Solar Flares (Bos-
ton: D. Reidl Publishing, 1976) is a
highly technical, comprehensive review
of observational data. Peter A. Sweet's
"Mechanisms of Solar Flares" (ARAA,
1969, vol. 17, pp. 149-76) discusses
processes of flare production. Peter A.
Sturrock's "Magnetic Models of Solar
Flares" (Progress in Astronautics and
Aeronautics, 1972, vol. 30, pp. 163-76)
examines the phenomena from an astro-
physicist's point of view. Solar physicist
Eifiar Tandberg-Hanssen's books. Solar
Activity (1976) and Solar Prominences
(Boston: D. Reidl Publishing, 1974) may
prove easier to read.
Solar Oscillations (p. 73)
Charles F. Richter's Elementary Seis-
mology (San Francisco: W.F. Freeman,
1958) provides a grounding in analy-
ses of earthquake-produced movements
of the earth's crust — analyses that have
been applied by analogy to waves on the
sun's surface. Robert B. Leighton's
"The Solar Granulation" (ARAA, 1963,
vol. 1, pp. 19^0) describes the tech-
niques used to discover and analyze solar
oscillations. "'Waves in the Solar Atmo-
sphere," by Robert F. Stein and John
Leibacher (ARAA, 1974, vol. 12, pp.
407-36), discusses the ways in which
oscillations are observed and interpreted
today. R.J. Bray and R.E. Loughhead's
Solar Chromosphere (New York:
Halsted Press, 1973) contains several
sections on solar oscillations.
Neutrinos and Solar Energy (p. 76)
JohnN. Bahcall's "Neutrinos from the
Sun" (Scientific American, January
1969, pp. 29-37) discusses the solar neu-
trino problem prior to the troublesome
present-day findings ." Solar Neutrinos , ' '
by Bahcall and R. L. Sears (ARAA,
1972, vol. 10, pp. 25-44), has become
a standard reference work on the subject.
"Solar Neutrinos:A Scientific Puzzle,"
by Bahcall and Raymond Davis, Jr.,
(Science, 1976, vol. 191, pp. 264-67),
summarized the results of a fifteen-year
collaboration between theorist and ob-
server and includes a working diagram of
the solar neutrino trap. G.B.
86
YOU DECIDE
Juddenly, the common bobcat is uncommon —
hounded and trapped to the vanishing point in many
areas. Even tiny bobkittens are being trapped for their
pelts, which go to Europe to become high fashion furs.
Defenders of Wildlife is leading a campaign to pro-
tect the bobcat as an endangered species. Just as we
led the fight to save Alaska's wolves, to prevent the
drowning of porpoises in tuna nets, to halt predator
poisoning.
We've been fighting such greedy cruelties for half
a century. But we need new strength: yours.
Join with us. Your reward will be the satisfaction
of making the world better for other creatures. Also, the
outstanding bimonthly magaz\nej)efenders, with its en-
lightening coverage of natural history and conservation,
its educational supplements, and first-rank writers and
artists. (Recent contributors include Loren Eiseley,Lewis
Thomas, Tony Auth, Hope Ryden, Jeff MacNelly, Faith
McNulty.)
Without help from those who can speak, the crea-
tures that cannot are doomed. Join the fight while there's
still time.
ZWant To Be A Defender . .
Name
Address
City
State
Zip
Please enter my membership for ( )1year — $10( ) 2 years — $18 ( ) 3 years — $25
Defenders of Wildlife, 1244 Nineteenth Street, Washington, D.C. 20036
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon The sun continues its southerly drift above the earth,
an apparent effect of the earth's motion in orbit around the sun and the
inclination of the earth's rotational axis. The result brings continually
shorter days and longer nights to the Northern Hemisphere and a shorter,
lower path for the sun each day. In Libra until November 23, the sun
then moves into the stars of Scorpius, but for less than a week. On
November 29, the sun's motion takes it into the constellation Ophiuchus.
Although that constellation is not formally counted among the twelve
constellations of the zodiac, the sun (and the moon and planets as well)
spends more time among its stars than it does within the boundaries
of the zodiacal constellations.
Moonlight dominates the evening hours through the first week or so
in November and December and the morning hours through the mid-
November period. We will have an evening moon again toward the
month's end. Phases in November are: full on the 6th; last-quarter on
the 14th; new on the 21st; and first-quarter on the 28th. In December,
the moon will be full on the 6th; at last-quarter on the 14th. A penumbral
eclipse of the moon (during which sunlight will be partly obscured by
earth) will occur on the 6th after moonrise, but will attract little notice.
Stars and Planets The weather may not as yet take on a wintry
appearance, but the evening Star Map is already beginning to assume
the look of that season, with Orion and the bright stars of other winter-
time constellations showing above the eastern horizon at the times for
which the mapwas prepared. The only planet on the map is Jupiter,
in Taurus, rising at about sunset and visible for the remainder of the
night. Although not shown on the map, two other planets will appear
in the evening. Venus will be very bright and easy to see in the west-
southwest until it sets toward the end of twilight. And Saturn will rise
in the east before midnight, easy to see among the dim stars of Cancer.
Mercury and Mars are not in good positions to be seen.
November 4: The weak Taurid meteors reach maximum.
November 6: Moon at apogee (farthest from earth). Penumbral lunar
eclipse.
November 7: The moon passes very near Jupiter, covering it (an
occultation) in the sky over South America. Mercury, at superior con-
junction, enters the evening sky.
November 13-14: The bright object near the moon is Saturn.
November 16: The Leonid meteor shower reaches maximum. Do not
expect to see more than 15 to 20 meteors per hour, but some can be
very bright.
November 18: Jupiter is at opposition from the sun.
November 20: The moon is at perigee (nearest earth) only half a day
before new moon, resulting in stronger perigee spring tides tonight and
tomorrow.
November 23-24: The crescent moon passes above Venus. Mars, in
conjunction with the sun, enters the morning sky.
November 28: Saturn begins its retrograde (westerly) motion, causing
it to move away from (to the right of) the star Regulus in Leo.
December 3: Apogee moon.
December 4: The moon is again very close to Jupiter, covering the
planet over South America.
December 11: Saturn rises near the moon tonight.
* Hold the Star Map so the compass direction you face is at the bottom; then
match the stars in the lower half of the map with those in the sky near the horizon .
The map is for 11:10 p.m. on November 1; 10:15 p.m. on November 15; and
9:15 P.M. on November 30; but it can be used for an hour before and after
those times.
-#-{; / •
%5 \
Solid brass
kerosene lamps
from the coal
mines of Wales.
An uncommon collector's
item . . . virtually unchanged
since the 1800' s.
This is definitely
not a "light- ^^'
weight" repro- •""^
duction. Its the
real thing . . . crattcti
from more than three
pounds of solid brass in
a way that's remained
virtually unchanged for
more than a century.
Lamps like these have
played an integral part
in the life and liveli-
hood of Great IJritain's
coal miners and are
actually responsible for
saving thousands of
lives.
Originally used as a
safety device.
At first glance it may
appear that the lamp's
primary function was
that of a light source.
Although it gives off
light in much the same
manner and intensity of the early-American
hurricane lainp, its most important function
was the dctectiini of methane gas. 15y reading
variations in the light given off by the kero-
sene wick, an experienced miner could actually
tell when a dangerous level of inethane gas
was present. It was one of the most reinarkable
advancements in mining safety ever developed.
In fact, it was so sophisticated for its time,
many are still being used in the mines today.
A handsome addition to any setting.
The lamp measures 10" in height, S'/s" in
diameter, operates on kerosene and burns a
standard size wick. Each is equipped with a
solid brass hook for hanging or it can be set
on a book shelf, coffee table, desk, mantel, fire-
place hearth . . , the list is endless. Not only
will they add a special "character" to your
home or office today, but we honestly feel their
value as a collector's item will increase with
time. And since the lamp is solid brass (not
plated), it can be engraved, making it a great
gift item.
As always, your complete satisfaction is
guaranteed or your money back in full.
Along with each lamp, we'll send coinplete
operating instructions and a fascinating his-
tory. (Please add .$1 for postage and handling).
Price $67.50
lly
Act
many are still used
iH the mines today
Normllionipson
Dept. 03-24
1805 N.W. Thurman
Portland, Or. 97209
Order TOLL FREE anytime 800-547-6712.
(Excluding Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska)
No. 9300 Brass Miner's Lamp: Qty._
□ Check □ BankAmericard □ Master Charge
Card # MC Intbk #
Sig. X_
Name
Address_
City_
_Exp. Date_
_State_
.Zip_
D Send FREE "Escape from the ordinary®" ctlg.
An African
Ethic of Conservation
by Hussein Adan Isack
For a young Kenyan, wildlife
protection is rooted in the
customs of his people
The Boran people live in northern
Kenya. This nomadic tribe, with its
large number of domestic animals,
roams in search of pasture over vast
areas occupied by wildlife. They are
always armed with spears and other
weapons used for defense against
wild animals and fighting neigh-
boring tribes during cattle raids. Oc-
casionally, animals are hunted. But
although this has gone on for a long
time, a high population of wildlife
has managed to survive due to several
factors — one factor being the tribal
customs.
Customs and beliefs are closely re-
lated, for it is beliefs which develop
into customs. To the Boran tribe, they
have the same meaning. Wars have
been mentioned because war between
tribes is a customary challenge that
lives with the tribe. It is considered
a deciding factor in determining
heroes of the tribe.
The customs of the Boran, most of
them practiced even today, protected
some species of wildlife from being
harassed or killed. Insects, plants,
reptiles, birds, and mammals shared
these protections.
It is believed that the killing of
some birds like crows and wood-
peckers can cause ill luck to the per-
son concerned. The crow is not killed
because it informs people of their
coming visitor by sitting on or near
the hut crying. If one killed the crow,
it is believed one's visitor may be met
by misfortune on his journey. The
woodpecker is saved because it warns
people of dangers while in the bush
by producing a loud ticking noise.
Killing of the honey guide is be-
lieved to cause someone permanent
inability in finding any wild beehive
containing honey. Bee sting will also
become fatal for him. Nobody, there-
fore, dares to kill a honey guide.
Eagles, hawks, kestrels, and sev-
eral other birds of prey are not killed
because it is believed that their death
causes the killer to go berserk. The
security of the birds' eggs and young
ones is insured by not allowing
people, especially children, to pass
below a colonized tree in fear of ring-
worm. Although the tribe believed
that they could gain by following
such customs, they were also, in ef-
fect, saving many wild birds.
Certain animals like warthogs,
zebras, ant bears, porcupines, ele-
phants, hippos, and all carnivores are
classified as unclean animals by the
tribe and are therefore not eaten.
Anybody seen eating one of these is
considered as unclean too and be-
comes an outcast. Such a person is
not allowed to live with anybody or
marry anybody's daughter. Therefore
apart from a few unfortunate animals
that fall in the hands of people who
kill them without a genuine reason,
these animals are never hunted for
food. Until recently, eating of fish
was also considered "bad."
Bringing meat from wild animals
into the village where there are cows
is believed to have a bad effect on the
cows. It is believed that the cows will
catch a strange disease and die, leav-
ing the owner poor. Many epidemic
diseases are associated with such be-
liefs. This therefore reduces the num-
ber of animals being killed for food
by a large number.
Sometimes special trees are pro-
tected for their importance to the
tribe. A big tree that provides shade
at a particular meeting place is never
cut down, and a person seen doing
this can be tried before a tribal court
of law and heavily fined in terms of
cattle. Other plants are protected for
their important usage to the people.
They are discouraged from cutting or
Reprinted with permission from the Spring 1976 issue of African Wildlife Leadersfiip Foundation News.
90
The American Museum
of Natural History
invites you to join a select party
limited to 1 50 members and friends
VOYAGE TO
MAYALUUM
world of the ancient Maya civilization
in Central America
February 6 to 20, 1977
Sail in comfort aboard the motor yacht ,
ARGONAUT, set on a special course for the
pleasure of exploring and studying remote and
recently uncovered pre-Columbian sites of the
ancient Maya. Enjoy islands of natural beauty
with offshore reefs and seagardens undisturbed
by tourism. Travel in the stimulating company of
our distinguished American Museum scientists
and scholars, Dr. Gordon F. Ekholm, Curator
Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, and
Dr. 0. Lavett Smith, Chairman and Curator,
Department of Ichthyology.
Cabin prices range from $1 780 to $21 25.
There is a tax-deductible contribution to the
Museum of $400 per person.
Ellen Stancs
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York. New York 10024
Please send an itinerary and
other Information about the
VOYAGE TO MAYALUUM
THG
MUONOF
\ HISTORY.
_TF(ETV[ARgET_
Art
"COLLECTOR'S SERIES"tm lithographs Wildlife,
Indian, Flowers, American Scenes. Airplane, Auto-
mobile. Railroad Prints. Send $1.00 for catalog.
"Collector's Series", 161 W. Harrison, Chicago, IL
60605
ESKIMO ARTS, CULTURE newsletter, travel
CHARTER subscription information. Barz. Dept
NH. 162 East 80th Street. NYC 10021
HOW TO INVEST IN ART— $2.95. Satisfaction
guaranteed LAK Communications, Box430361-H,
Miami, FL 33143
FREE CACTUS SEED with "Cactus Collector's
Handbook" (500 identification photographs.)
$3.00 postpaid. Infobooks, 5001 NH, San Angelo,
TX 76901
WANTED: Old toy trains, Lionel , Ives, etc. Pre WWII
T. W. Sefton, P.O. Box 1871 , San Diego, CA 921 12
Decoupage
LUSTROUS PLAQUES GUARANTEED! Mail Natu-
ral History pages flat. $9,95 Postpaid Presenta-
tions, Box 772. Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
SEE AMERICA AS IT WAS. Rare 19th century en-
gravings of western landscapes, Indians, wildlife.
Catalogue $1 .00. Flanigan's, 1728 E. 1500 North,
Logan, UT 84321 ^
Astronomy
SKYWATCHER'S ALMANAC 1977. Sunrise, sun-
set, moonrise, moonset, and phases custom-com-
puted for your latitude and longitude anywhere in
world. Also planetary phenomena and selected
star coordinates Wall calendar format. In use by
schools, planetariums, newspapers, amateurs and
professsionals everywhere. $9,00 U.S. currency.
Foreign orders specify geographical coordinates.
Californians add sales tax. Astronomical Data Serv-
ice, 1901 Old Middlefield Way, Suite 14C. Mountain
View, CA 94043
Birdwatchers
THE BIRD FEEDERS SOCIETY welcomes your in-
quiry and membership. Write to; The Bird Feeders
Society, Dept. A, P.O Box 225. Mystic, CT 06355
BIRD SEED SAVINGS DAY— Now you can get high
quality bird seed at bulk prices through partici-
pating Nature Centers. Write: NSYF/CO-OP, 16
Holmes Street, Mystic, CT 06355
Book Printing
BOOK PRINTING. Ouality work— lowest cost.
Paperbacks or hard covers, 250 copies up. Free
catalog and prices. Adams Press, Dept. NH, 30
West Washington, Chicago, IL 60602
Ecology
Books
BIRDS OF NEPAL, Fleming Field Guide. 150 color
plates, 741 species. $14 postpaid. Mrs. Sally
Beieler, 1028 Crestwood, Wenatchee, WA 98801
MOCKEL'S DESERT FLOWER NOTEBOOK. Soft
cover, 165 illustrations, 54 full color. Two indexes;
Common and Botanical Names. $6.95 postpaid.
ARTIST— HENRY R. MOCKEL, P.O. Box 726,
Twentynine Palms, CA 92277
NATURALIST'S ALMANAC— FIFTH EDITION now
available. If you love nature, this book is a must for
you. Enrich your understanding of the seasonal
wonders around you. Hard cover — $4.95. At your
bookstore or write; Natural Science for Youth Foun-
dation, Dept. M, 16 Holmes Street, Mystic, CT
06355
IZAAK WALTON: THE CONTEMPORARY ANGLER
AND HISTURBULENT TIMES. J. Lawrence and An-
geline J. Pool. Stinehour Press. First edition; illus-
trated; 152 pages, $12.50 prepaid. J. L. Pool, Box
31, West Cornwall, CT 06796
Clothing
"SHARE THE EARTH" handprinted T-shirt. Wild an-
imal design. S, M, L, XL, $4.00. Ivy River Arts, P.O.
Box 925-A, Leicester, NC 28748
Collector's Items
AUTHENTIC ARROWHEADS. Frame, trade, resell,
25— $5.50, 100— $15.00, 1000— $80.00. Council
NH1239, Apache Junction, AZ 85220
THE CUTTY SARK— Once the world's fastest clip-
per. Model features carved wood hull, cloth sails
and brass pins. Simple instructions included 15" —
$14.95. Satisfaction guaranteed. Alak's Ltd., 23
Oxford Street, Bethel, CT 06801
GIFT CERTIFICATE: SAVE A SPERM WHALE-
PLANT JOJOBA (ho-ho-ba) Jojoba oil can replace
sperm oil. $1.00 plants one seedling in your name.
ESP:JOJOBA, P.O. Box 2749, Tucson, AZ 85702
Education
COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC offers an environ-
mentally concerned and intellectually demanding,
accredited, 4 year college curriculum. Students
earn a B.A. in Human Ecology in an interdisciplin-
ary, problem solving approach to Environmental
Planning and Design, Human Studies, and Environ-
mental Science The program includes: seminar
courses, field study, workshops, and internship ex-
periences, with an 8:1 student/faculty ratio. For a
catalog, write to: College of the Atlantic, Box NH,
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
Embroidery
EMBROIDERY TRANSFERS CATALOG, Early
American, Jacobean, Hungarian, our own designs.
Floss, supplies, and more. 500, refunded with first
order. Crewel Elephant, Box H-217. Silverton, CO
81433
Employment Information
AUSTRALIA— NEW ZEALAND WANTS YOU ! 1! 50,-
000 Jobs! Paid Transportation, latest information
and forms. $1.00. Austco, Box 3623-NH, Long
Beach, CA 90803
OVERSEAS JOBS— Now Hiring, 103 Countries, All
Occupations, High Pay, Free Transportation, Tax
Benefits, Latest Computerized Reports — $2.00.
-^^^i^aiv.
Cold Drink Stand, Manhattan
92
I want to give
NATURAL HISTORY for Christmas'
Enter my gift (a one-year Associate Membership in Tlie American
IVIuseum of Natural History and 10 Issues of NATURAL HISTORY
Magazine) for the people listed below. Bill me later at $10 for each
membership.
I understand that each membership-subscription includes; free
admission to the Museum plus two bonus gifts a year and discounts
at the Museum Gift Shops, '^g^^^^^^^^^^^^m^^^^^m,-
prann
^v
My Name
Enter my own subscription, too: j JNew [I Renewal
prefer: i J 2 years at $1 7 Ql 3 vea'^s at $24
Send gill tubscrlplion lo:
Name
J- 187"^
Address
City
State
Zip
1 prefer lo give:
[~\ 2 years
at $17
D
3 years at $24
Outside U.S.A., please add $2 per year for postage.
FIRST CLASS
PERMIT NO 4946
DES MOINES. IOWA
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
No Postage Stamp Necessary if Mailed in the United States
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY-
NATURAL HISTORY
p. O. Box 5000
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Transworld, International Airport, Box 90802-NH,
Los Angeles, CA 90009
U,S, FIRMS OVERSEAS— Complete information on
tiundreds of worldwide companies. $7 GO Global-
employ (LNDA), Box 4499-S, Huntsville. AL 35802
Foreign Newspapers
WORLDWIUE ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS. 65 Coun-
tries! Sampler Eight countries— $3,98, FREE BRO-
CHURE MULTINEWSPAPERS, Box DE-20, Dana
Point, CA 92629 _^_^
Friendships
IVIAKE FRIENDS WORLDWIDE tinrough interna-
tional correspondence. Illustrated broctiure free!
Hermes-Verlag, Box 1 10660/NH, D-1000 Berlin 1 1 ,
Germ.any
Games
MOTHER GOOSE AND FATHER CHRISTMAS^
fiand in fiand. Learning witfi Motfier Goose, an
Ideal game— $9,95, Games of ttie Nortti American
Indian, Culin Reprint of 1907 Smitfisonian Bulle-
tin— $9 95. An Introduction to the Study of Mayan
Hieroglyphics, Morley Dover Reprint of 1915
Smithsonian Bulletin; 1975 introduction by Mayan
scholar Thompson— $4.00. Iron-on Transfer Pat-
terns for crewel and embroidery (Early American),
Weiss — $1 50, Brochure available, Ecuadorean
Imports. Mailing: Under $6.00. add 95e; up to
$15,00. add $1.75; up to $26.00, add $2,25, Lewis
Games, Dept. NH, 905 Grape Ave., Boulder, CO
80302
NATURE'S PLAN IN A GAME, PREDATOR, the
Food Chain Card Game. Great gift for nature lovers
ages 8 to 80, Choose English, French, or Spanish
edition $4.50 per deck. Ampersand Press, Dept.
H10, 2603 Grove St., Oakland, CA 94612
Gifts
UNIQUE GIFT! BOOMERANGS, World's finest—
$5,00 FREE catalog .25 types. Boomerangman,
31 OB Park, Monroe. LA 71201
UNIQUE GIFT OF LASTING FRAGRANCE; Old-
fashioned potpourn of rosebuds, lavender, dozen
other flowers and herbs in elegant crystal apothe-
cary. 45 oz.— $15.00, 24 oz— $1000 Postpaid
G & J Distributors, 4523K Labath. Santa Rosa, CA
95401
Gourmet Interests
HERBS— Informative Herbal Chart (30 x 40) $5,50
Postpaid. Herb Teas Potpourri etc. Free catalog.
Casey's Herbs, Box 901, Woodside, NY 11377
TEA DEVOTEES Savor world's rarest select teas.
Brochure $1.00 (applied to first order), Grace Tea
Importers, Dept NH 96, 799 Broadway, NYC 1 0003
■Magazines
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS, 1888-1976, Any
issue, maps, send wants. Buxbaum Geographies,
Box 465-NH, Wilmington, DE 19899
WILDLIFE MAGAZINE, International in scope, au-
thoritative, informative, colourful. Aimed at enthusi-
asts, enjoyed by the whole family. Described by
one American reader as "the most beautiful and
educational magazine in the world". Also, buy your
books through our carefully selected monthly list-
ing. Send for sample copy to Wildlife, 243 King's
Road. London SW3. England
IVIusic
YORK. PA, UNUSUAL TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS
CAROLS Played on 100-year-old Factory Steam
Whistle. 7", 33V3 LP Album $4.50, Cassette Tape
$6 00, MARLIN L. RYAN, 331 Harding Court, York,
PA 17403
Musical Instruments
KITS' Build dulcimers, guitars, balalaikas, harps,
mandolins, banps. From $2.95. Finished dulcimers
from $23 95, Free Catalog, 8665 West 13th Ave-
nue-NH. Denver. CO 80215
Optics
HUGE DISCOUNTS!! BUSHNELL, B & L BINOCU-
LARS and Scopes. Free Catalog/Price List Write
MARIGOLD. Drawer M-31. South San Francisco
CA 94080
OPTIC DISCOUNTS: Binoculars— Telescopes
—Brand Names— Free List— Thomas Manetta, 61
Hoffman Ave . Elmont, NY 11003
Real Estate
SMALL COTTAGE on national seashore bird sanc-
tuary island (water, fireplace; no telephone, elec-
tricity) $10,000 Wnte: Adier. 241 West 97th Street
NYC 10025
Stamps
ANIMALS OR BIRDS ON STAMPS. 25 different^
75(j, plus list of Topical Collections. GEORGE
FORD. Box 5203-N, Gulfport, FL 33737
FREE. Discount Price List for US Stamps Stevens,
Box 610546-J, North Miami, FL 33161
SHELLS, ANIMALS, NATURE on stamps. Write for
approval selection Southland Stamps, Box 264
Shreveport. LA71162
Travel
CHRISTMAS EXPEDITION TO EAST AFRICA De-
luxe tenting safari to study natural history and pho-
tograph wildlife Other unique expeditions world-
wide. Write; Nature Expeditions International, Dept.
NC, Suite F, 4546 El Camino Real, Los Altos. CA
94022
CIRCLE Z RANCH— Horseback riding, fantastic
birding, tennis, heated pool, historic unspoiled
area. November through May Limit 40 guests. Bro-
chure: Box 194, Patagonia. AZ 85624
CROSS-COUNTRY "SKI YOURSELF CRAZY"
TOURS — Yoho, Aspen, Yellowstone, Adirondacks,
Catskills, Greens! Food, lodging, equipment, in-
struction at tiny price. Transportation from Eastern
points No expenence required Odyssey Ltd.. 26
Hilltop, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922 (201 ) 322-841 4
ENJOY SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA: Our area is
secluded and uncommercial. Outstanding birding
Excellent nature study opportunities Trails, wilder-
ness for hiking, backpacking, etc. Comfortably
mild Chiricahua Mountain climate year round. Cot-
tages, apartments, pool. Free brochure, birdlist
Cave Creek Ranch, Portal. AZ 85632 (602) 558-
2334
ESCAPE TO THE WILDS OF V\/YOMING. Vacation
year round high in Bighorn National Forest. Plenty
of horses, fishing, big game, and cross-country ski-
ing, Spear-0-Wigwam Ranch, Box 1081 , Sheridan,
WY 82801 (307) 674-4496
MEXICO: Private valley, sun, thermal pools, mas-
sage, gourmet vegetarian cuisine. $15 daily in-
cludes meals. Rancho RioCaliente, Apdo. 1-1187,
Guadalajara, Mexico
I^ATURAL HISTORY EXPEDITIONS. Baja's Pacific
Coast Islands. San Ignacio Lagoon. Marine Mam-
mals. Migratory Birds First trip — December! BIO-
LOGICAL EDUCATIONAL EXPEDITIONS. FISHER-
MAN'S LANDING, 2838 Garrison, San Diego, CA
92106(714)222-0391
NEW MEXICO Guided wildflower— birding tours.
Photography blind Bear Mountain Ranch, Silver
City, NM 88061 (505) 538-2538
SCOTLAND'S HIGHLANDS are the last real wilder-
ness areas of Britain. See its magnificent wildlife of
mountain and coast with enthusiastic guides, and
stay in comfort and style in our Victorian "Castle"
Inclusive weekly cost £98 Send $1 00 for air-
mailed brochure to Lister-Kaye, ""annich, In-
verness-shire, Scotland
WILDLIFE VACATIONS IN SCOTLAND. April-
November. Viewing, photography. Write interna-
tional airmail; (Caledonian Wildlife Services, Kings-
mills Gardens, Inverness IV2 3LU SCOTLAND
uprooting medicinal herbs and plants.
It is believed that if one uproots a me-
dicinal herb without any purjxjse, he
will be attacked by the disease the
herb is used for. This has developed
into a custom, and as a result it is only
on rare occasions that one finds such
plants being damaged without pur-
pose.
Some animals are saved because
they are a sign of good luck to the
person who sees them. Many snakes,
excluding a few poisonous ones, are
left in peace when seen while on a
journey. It is believed that they are a
sign of a safe journey and, therefore,
killing them would be killing one's
good luck. This may result in an un-
safe journey. A snake that enters a
young couple's hut is a sign that they
will have a baby. Such a snake is
never killed.
Wasps making their mud nests in
one's hut are also believed to have the
same meaning as a snake. They too
are left alone. Should its nest be acci-
dentally broken into fragments in the
process of packing the hut up when
moving, the pieces of the broken nest
and the larvae are collected together
and placed in a safe corner. Milk is
then poured on for forgiveness.
There is another belief that the kill-
ing of one spider attracts many more
to the scene. Of course, inviting
many spiders by killing one spider is
looking for trouble because a person
might be bitten. So spiders are left
alone.
Another queer fact is that some
people are immune to the pain of
scorpion stings. It is said that if a
scorpion stings a pregnant woman,
the baby will never experience any
pain from a scorpion sting unless he
or she kills it. Once such a person
kills a scorpion, his or her immunity
to the pain will cease. It is also be-
lieved that the intensity of the pain
one feels after a scorpion sting
depends on the number of scorpions
he or she has killed. In fear of this,
scorpions are not frequently killed.
Insects like safari ants are consid-
ered useful because their presence is
a sign of rain. It is believed that if
anybody disturbs the long line of the
ants, the giver of rains will be an-
noyed and this may result in shortage
of rain. This is another way by which
a tribal custom saves wildlife.
Sometimes tribal customs protect
the habitat of a species of wildlife.
Such customs vary from clan to clan.
An example of such a custom is the
one which prohibits making a cattle
93
Goose Down
Bootees for
Frigid Tootsies
For Men ll
and Women J,
'"','!*?»•■,•',..
For instant old-fasliioned fireplace warmth, just
ease those chilly feet into the luxurious softness
of Bauer Goose Down quilted in long-weanng.
Expedition Nylon. Soft leather sole. Insulating
foam insole. Specify shoe size and we will send
a perfect fit. Colors: 0146 Men's Taupe, Red,
Navy; 0149 Wonnens Powder Blue, Red, Navy
Bootees, $17.50 postpaid.
r- Order Today! Money Back Guarantee! -^
Enclosed is my check or money order for
$ . (Add sales tax wtiere applicable.)
Please RUSH my Goose Down Bootees.
0146 Mens Size Color
0149 Women's Size Color
Name .
Address .
City
D Send me FREE your color catalog of <
unique products.
^-^^:^oa^^5U*i2A^
! Dept. QNS, Tilird S Virginia, Seattle, WA 98124 j
Bats have
changed little
since this bat
fell into a lake
in Wyoming
50 million
years ago.
THE WORLD OF THE BAT
by Charles E. Mohr
Some bats hove wingspans of almost six
feet, others are no larger than a hand-
span. Some roost in remote caves, others
hang beneath the eaves of tall buildings.
Some have excellent eyesight, others navi-
gate by sonar. Some ore mild-mannered
recluses, a fev^ can be killers.
This newest addition to LIVING WORLD
BOOKS takes you into the world of the bat,
examines its habits and habitats, explores
its distinguishing features and the annual
phases of its life. Order THE WORLD OF
THE BAT with the coupon below.
J.B.UPPINCOTT COMPANY, Dept. SS NHn76
E.Washington Sq., Pfiilodelphio, Pa. 19105
Please send me copies of THE WORID^OF THE BAT
<S> $6.95. My poymeni of is enclosed (plus 75« for
shipping). If I am not completely satisfied, I may return
the book within 10 days for full, prompt refund.
D Send information on other LIVING 'vVORLD BOOKS.
Na
AdHr««
City,Sfote,Zip
Rsiidents ot AR,
WA, ond Wl plgoi
CA,
B od
ID,
NJ, NM,
NY, NC,
ND.
PA.
TN.
boma on a place where dik-dik feces
(pellets) are abundant. The signifi-
cance of this custom is not well de-
fined but it has something to do with
the well-being of the cattle — perhaps
there is a fear of parasitic insects that
might be living in the pellets and that
can affect cattle. As the Boran tribe
is nomadic, the people move from
place to place several times every
year. It is during these countless shift-
ings and settlings that this custom
works. Frequent interference with
any animal habitat can upset their life
cycle and can be detrimental to any
animal community. Animals likedik-
diks and impalas will be forced to
take refuge in a new territory. More
than this, we still have to consider the
less conspicuous creatures that in-
habit such an area. These include even
the worms that stay in the dik-dik
dung.
Settlement very close to a water
source is also prohibited — or not
liked. This is just a safety precaution
from thirsty and often desperate wild
animals like elephants and buffaloes
which come to drink water. This cus-
tom saves wild animals more than the
tribe itself, because the advantage is
not only gained by the big name ani-
mals but also smaller and shy animals
like gerenuks, impalas, gazelles, and
oryx. Also, children who could dis-
turb the water and the aquatic crea-
tures in it are kept at bay.
Another important custom that
saved, and still saves, plant and ani-
mal habitats is the one that prevented
people from penetrating into a certain
area of land believed to be inhabited
by evil spirits that had been removed
from a person possessed. When a per-
son suffers from some strange illness,
a witch doctor is called. After he finds
that the person is under the influence
of some evil spirit, he takes him or
her to a far place away from any home
to "curse and chase away" the evil
spirit into the bush. This evil spirit is
believed to dwell in that place hence-
forth.
In fear of the spirit, people stop
visiting or walking through that area.
This area therefore remains quiet,
free from any interference by people,
and the animals and plants in that area
live safely. The particular tree under
which the person has been "freed"
from the evil spirit is believed to be
the actual living place of the spirit,
and it is usually fenced all around to
prevent strangers from resting under
it. Such privacy makes the tree a
splendid nesting place for birds. It in-
AN ENDURING GIFT OF CHARACTER
$59
The classically styled
IN-BRIEF . . . for you. Handcrafted,
100% leather, legal size. With shoulder strap $62
Bearing original ranch brand $86. Branded initials
add $5. Add $2.50 shpg/hndlng. Belt buckles and
other unique leather goods available. Free brochure.
Order today from
(^S^^Classks
P.O. Box 729, Dept. Nil, Boulder, CO 80302
PAINTING^HALES
^■Q^B ^^PC&T''^"' BEAUTIFUL FULL COLOR
V^H^^r ^ \ REPRODUCTIONS OF A WATERCOLOR PAINTING
1^^^^ DEPICTING 14 DIFFERENT WHALES TO SCALE.
22Vi" X 31'/i" HEAVY, TEXTURED ART PAPER SUITABLE FOR FRAMING.
CALIF RESIDENTS ADD 45' TAX. NO C 0 D s SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
HAYASHl GRAPHICS
DEPT. NH • 5405 BRAGG STREET • SAN DIEGO, CA 92122
ROAM THE WORLD BY FREIGHTER
Deluxe Accommodations
Cheaoer than Staying Home!
TravLtips Freighter Association
163-09 NH-2 Depot Hd., Fluthing. NY 11358
out of print,scarce,rare NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
"^ Botanv, Zoolopv.
ifie^ Orchidolopv.
'.*^ ^^ ■*• TTj Irhthyology.
•ml..,
CATALOGUE AVAILABLE, $1.00
19 Oiford Ptiu/Rocli«il!e Centre. New Tort 11570
NATURE ON STAMPS
The BIRDS 8. the BEES & the ANIMAL KINGDOM
on GENUINE POSTAGE STAMPS.
w SAMPLES*. APPROVALS-SI
*'» Sotisfoction Guoronteed
Mil Med Stamps
P.O BOX 297. NH AURORA, CO. 80010
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 30 TO 90 DAYS |
Wanted: Book
manuscripts
in all
elds.
Expert
editing, desigr
, man
jiacture, and
marketing- |
all under one
roof.
Two
FREE
books
(over
270 pages) g
ve con
nplete
detail:
Write or phone
Dept.:
779D,
EXPOSITION
PRESS
, Hie
isville,
N.Y.
11801
(516) 822-5700
NORTH AMERICA'S
WEASEL FAMILY
by Delphine Haley
Beautiful and deadly—all
about the furbearing mink, skunk,
marten, wolverine, fisher, badger, otter
^ and rare black-footed ferret,
extraordinary color photos. 128 pp.
At bookstores or from publistier:
PACIFIC SEARCH BOOKS
715 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA 98109
Send copies @ $5.50
94
sures a hundred percent safety of the
nests and their contents from man;
and such trees are always covered
with nests.
From time immemorial , there have
been tribal wars and clashes between
African tribes, including the Boran.
Such wars were waged to raid and
take home the enemy's cattle. In the
olden days, and in fact even today,
bringing home other tribes' cattle
after a raid is considered a big
achievement for any young man.
Every young man yearns for such an
achievement to gain tribal distinc-
tion. Such raids sometimes result in
bloodshed and destruction and mostly
afTect the people near the tribal
border. To avoid this, each tribe re-
treats and lives far from the tribal
boundary.
A good example is the situation be-
tween the Boran and Samburu tribes.
The boundary between these two
tribes passes halfway between Isiolo
and Merti towns. Each tribe, in fear
of each other, has retreated from the
border by as much as fifty miles. As
a result, there is a stretch of shrubland
about one hundred miles wide devoid
of human settlement separating the
two tribes. Traveling from Isiolo to
Merti, it is common to see herds of
elephants, lions, zebras, oryx, im-
palas, gazelles, and many other kinds
of mammals and birds. The animals
in this vast land live safely, increasing
in population from year to year. This
has resulted in the establishment of
Shaba-Merti Game Reserve in this
area in 1974.
Land in Boran territory is not de-
marcated and therefore it belongs to
the whole tribe. As the tribe is no-
madic, they do not value land as they
value their animals. Farming, which
was introduced only in the last five
years, is still considered as dirty and
irksome work that does not progress
alongside with cattle rearing. There-
fore it has been the people's custom
to keep and care for animals only.
This has saved wild animals and
plants in some ways. In farming, the
land has to be cleared, cutting down
all plants. Wild animals have to be
kept away from destroying the
crops — often by killing them. Not
only are they killed but also their hab-
itat is colonized permanently by man.
Therefore, because the tribal customs
did not favor farming and land demar-
cation, they prevented all the above
problems from occurring and hence
saved wild animals, plants, and their
habitats. □
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD-
IpnnnESio.ip^T p gpiji
including tlie fabulous Asmat region of New Guinea.
Nehru has called Bali the "Morning of
the World." After immersing ourselves
in its splendid culture, we shall board
the MS. Lindblad Explorer* and sail
east to Komodo, where "the dragons"
will meet us. We shall visit Flores, Leti
and Aru of Wallace fame and other
Indonesian islands. We then head for
the exciting Asmat region of West Irian,
where primitive art of museum quality
may be purchased, and where Stone
Age culture still exists. On this cruise
we will find an abundancy of bird.
mammal and plant life as well as beau-
tiful butterflies and fish. Complete
scuba diving gear is available. The
Lindblad Explorer, fully air-condi-
tioned. offers the finest in comfort Fa-
mous lecturers will accompany us
Each expedition lasts 23 days includ-
ing the two-week cruise Departures
are in August and September The all-
inclusive rate for cruise and land ar-
rangements starts at $2,335 per person,
cabin for two, air fare additional. Write
for our brochureorseeyour travel agent.
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept NHLE
133 East 55th Street, New York N Y 10022 • (212) 751-2300
■Panamanian registn/
From the world's greatest marine photographer —
a thrilling journey through the mysterious
undersea world of ocean life.
An extraordinary exploration of the living, thriving world that exists beneath
the dark blanket of the ocean, led by the cameras of Douglas Faulkner, re-
nowned marine photographer whose work has appeared in National Geo-
graphic, Audubon, Life and Smithsonian magazines among others. From
the North Atlantic coast to the Caribbean, the Galapagos and the waters
of the Indo-Pacific, his sense of discovery becomes the readers own with
each detailed photograph of the creatures he encountered. Dr. Bany Fell,
Professor of Invertebrate Zoology at Harvard University and a curator in
Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology writes lucidly about the structure
and behavior of the various forms of marine life photographed and their
relationship to the total aquatic environment. A beautiful, remarkable book
that successfully combines skillful and stunning photography with a lively
and informative text. 192 pages, UW x liys',' 121 pages of full-color.
No, 0619 $35.00 ( $40.00 after January 1st, 1977)
DWELLERS
IN THE SEA
YOURS FREE
with any book purchase
The worid's most complete catalog o1
photography A cinematography books
For CATALOG ONLY send SI. which
will be applied to your first order.
f\ Photographic Book Catalog
, * ^Wh'
Photos by Douglcis Faulkner
Text by Dr. Barry Fell
_ a check D m
D Master Charge
D Amen
CHARGE TO MY
D BankAmericard
jn Express ■
1
P n;.tP
1
Zip
ack Guarant**.
1
ID Day Money B
..''U
95
MBver befars
have you seen
micrO'
photography
like this!
In these books, for the first time,
you can observe insect and under-
water life as they are known to the
field biologist. Through photographic
processes unique to Oxford Scientific
Pilms — hailed by the London Times
as "the most technically advanced
biological film unit in the world" —
even micro-organisms are shown in
their true environmental surround-
ings and with full-color detail never
before possible. The texts are scru-
pulously accurate presentations by
writer-scientists in each field. Each
book has nearly 300 full-color photo-
Ttie WoridTOu NevcrSce
Underwater Lif
graphs, many full-page size. Knowl-
edge and beauty have seldom been
so successfully combined.
UNDERWATER LIFE
By Peter Parks
A view of both ocean and fresh
water! life,, from micro-organisms in-
side a drop of water to the greatest
depths of the ocean.
8%" XIIV2" 128 pages $9.95
INSECT LIFE
By Theodore Roland-Entwistle
Reveals how insects use color as
camouflage, presents whole life cy-
cles— including mating and repro-
duction— from larval forms to
metamorphosis into the adult stage.
8%"xllV2" 128 pages $9.95
Wherever books are sold
iRandMCNally
P.oTBox 7600 • Chicago, Illinois 60680
The Fruitful Wasteland
by Denis Hayes
Buried in your garbage
are rich fertilizers, electric
power, and fuels to cook
tomorrow's dinner
For most of human history, the
thrifty husbandry of resources was
valued highly. Possessions were built
to last and were passed on with pride
from one generation to the next.
Equipment was repaired, clothes
were mended. Nothing was thrown
away before it had been wrung of all
possible use.
The industrial revolution brought
an end to this conservation ethic.
With the virgin resources of a rich
continent to exploit, the United States
economic system developed as a one-
way process: raw materials entered
the economic stream, were proc-
essed, used, and quickly discarded.
Over the years the debris of our
throw-away society has mushroomed
into a $6 billion annual problem. Few
cities know with confidence where
they will dump their trash more than
a few years hence . Garbage is becom-
ing a significant energy consumer in
the United States. Collecting and
disposing of garbage costs more than
5 million Btu for each of the more
than 125 million tons we produce
each year. (A Btu, or British thermal
unit, is the quantity of heat required
to raise the temperature of one pound
of water one degree Fahrenheit.)
While earlier cultures wisely re-
turned human and animal excreta to
the soil, Americans substituted en-
ergy-intensive chemical fertilizers.
We then either flushed our sewage di-
rectly into the waterways or con-
signed it to sewage treatment plants.
These Stygian waste streams could
serve as resource streams. In fact, the
organic material that constitutes the
bulk of our urban garbage and all of
our residential sewage is a rich poten-
tial source of energy. Feedlot wastes,
agricultural residues, and the by-
products of forest industries are other
rich energy sources. This energy can
be harnessed for human purposes
in various ways: direct combustion,
anaerobic digestion (feeding the ma-
terial to methane-producing bacte-
ria), pyrolysis (decomposing the or-
ganic matter by baking it at 1 ,000°F
in the absence of oxygen) , and hydro-
gasification (treating the material
with hydrogen at a high temperature
to form a gas).
After the energy stored in organic
compounds has been recaptured, the
residue can often be used as a valu-
able agricultural fertilizer. Our an-
nual production of organic wastes
totals about 700 million dry tons,
containing more than 1 1 quadrillion
Btu, or approximately one-seventh of
our entire national energy budget. Of
this, more than one quadrillion Btu is
contained in urban garbage.
Opinion differs over the net energy
recoverable from organic waste. We
must, of course, consider the energy
cost of collecting, transporting, and
converting waste into fuel. A study
for the Ford Foundation Energy Pol-
icy Project suggests an upper limit of
just over 4 quadrillion Btu, or about
5.5 percent of our total energy budg-
et, on recoverable energy from crop
residues, feedlot manure, and urban
refuse. This figure, expected to more
than double over the next twenty-five
years, does not include any of nearly
2 quadrillion Btu of high-quality, ac-
cessible forestry wastes. Nor does it
allow for the development of
biomass-harvesting schemes for
growing and processing "crops"
solely for their fuel value.
Currently, there is little energy re-
covery from crop residues. The Ha-
waiian sugar industry uses the residue
from sugar cane, known as bagasse,
for fuel and as a component of insula-
tion, but most other crop residues are
eventually plowed under. While re-
cent studies have focused on this po-
tential energy source, many claims
are overstated. If all crop residues
were harvested for fuel , soil fertility
and structure would soon be ad-
versely affected. Moreover, the crop-
land would be prone to erosion.
Nonetheless, within limits, some of
this energy can be intelligently
tapped.
To examine the large-scale genera-
tion of methane from feedlot wastes,
several experiments are now under
way. Era, Inc., of Lubbock, Texas,
96
is under contract with People's Gas
Company to convert S(),(KH) tons of
cow dung into methane each year,
and Calorific Recovery Anaerobic
Process, Inc. , of Oklahoma City, has
a similar contract with People's Gas.
These two contracts should provide
the gas utility with about 100 million
cubic feet of methane a month.
Such arrangements are technically
possible and economically viable
only at large feedlots , but recent grain
price rises have led to a substantial
decline in the use of feedlots. A more
sensible strategy for the long term
might consist of range feeding cattle
as long as possible and then dispers-
ing them in small herds (up to 1 ,000
cattle) to grain-region farms for fat-
tening. Their wastes could provide
methane for the farm or else be used
directly as fertilizer.
About 14 million tons of human
sewage (dry matter) are produced in
this country annually. While sewage
has some potential as an energy
source, and is used in India as stock
for methane generators, its high
moisture content as it emerges from
the American sewage system makes
such use difficult. In lieu of redesign-
ing our basic approach to sewage, the
best use of this material is probably
as fertilizer. Substituting sludge for
energy-intensive chemical fertilizers
conserves energy for other purposes.
The Metropolitan Sanitary District
of Chicago (MSD) has pioneered in
the use of sludge as an agricultural
nutrient in this country. MSD sludge
has proved to be a valuable nutrient
material for strip-mine reclamation.
The MSD's reclamation project in
Fulton County, Illinois, applied
sludge to about 3,000 acres of rav-
aged land in 1975. MSD pays real
estate taxes on this property and
hopes eventually to restore about 40,-
000 acres of strip-mined land to agri-
cultural productivity.
There is one problem, though.
Since industrial wastes and human
sewage are usually blended in com-
mon lines, sludge used as fertilizer
may contribute to a buildup of poi-
sonous heavy metals common in in-
dustrial waste.
There are three techniques for
direct application of sewage on land.
The first is to heat raw sewage to
about 1,400°F until the water has
evaporated, leaving a granular sub-
stance. This produces a high-grade
fertilizer that is in great demand, but
the process is highly energy-intensive
and expensive. A second approach is
TRAVEL THE WORLD OF LINDBLAD
mmJttt^l^^-
The pages of Kipling's classics come to life
on Lindblad's five fascinating journeys through
INDIA
1. Incomparable India 2. Himalayan Nature Tour
3. Palaces and Forts 4. Glimpses of South India.
5. Everyman's India.
In India you will see a greater variety of
humanity and culture than perhaps
anywhere else on earth. You will mar-
vel at its magnificent nature and rich
animal life. You will travel with specially
chosen couriers, who know and love
their land, and who can explain the
manifestations of its many religions
and customs. They will show you great
Indian architecture and give you the
opportunity to meet with its people and
enjoy their ceremonies and way of life.
Any one or all five of these journeys are
bound to fill your appetite for excite-
ment and adventure AIR INDIA will fly
you there and back in utter comfort.
Write for our brochure or give us the
name of your travel agent
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
Dept. NHIN
133 East 55th Street. New York. NY 10022
751-2300 or toll-free 800-223-9700
1 1 OxAJL&CI/U
LIGHTWEIGHT, WARM, AND
STYLED FOR CASUAL WEAR.
Enjoy the lightweight comfort of the ALCAN
PARKA. The Goose Down fill weighs only 12
ounces, yet you II stay warm in temperatures to
-30' (F). Its perfect around town, at the stadium,
or anywhere outdoors. Features include 4 cargo
pockets, hand warmer pockets, a drawstring
waist, and a two way zipper Available in Forest
Green, Navy, or Tan. Women s Sizes: XS(8-10);
8(12-14); ru1(16-18). Mens Sizes: 8(34-36);
M(38-40); L(42-44); XL(46-48) #1030930
ALCAN PARKA. $79.00 ppd. OPTIONAL HOOD
in matching colors, #103036A S17.00 ppd.
Colo.. Calif., and Ariz, residents add tax.
BankAmericard
[vlasterCharge and
American Express
honored.
FREE!
FALL/WINTER
CATALOG
$79.00
ppd.
/ILLTHE H/ORLD'S WILDLIFE
IS YOURS TO ENJOY EVERY
MONTH IN
The world's best writers and photographers of
wildlife entertain and inform you in Britain's
colorful, authoritative magazine. Editorial
board includes Roger Tory Peterson and Sir
Peter Scott. Annual subscription only $13.00.
Orders received before 31 December 1976
will bring you the March 1976 special issue
featuring Loch Ness Monster stories &
photos — as a FREE bonus. Also, gift cards
sent with gift subs, at your request.
Wildlife, c/o 133 E. 55 St, NY, NY 10022.
Please send Wildlife for 12 mos. I enclose
check for $13.00 payable to Wildlife.
NAME
ADDRESS
ZIP
97
THE
UDUBON
WILDLIFE
TREASURY
Edited by
Les Line
Loren Eiseley, Hal Borland, andjoseph Wood
Krutch are among the contributors to this
celebration of the wavs and wonders ot
wildlife Twenty diverting and thought-
provoking articles from past issues of
AUDUBON MAGAZINE explore every-
thing from ancient animal legends to wild
boar in suburban Geneva, Switzerland. Two
lavish portfolios of full-color illustrations
byAUDUBON photographers plus exquisite
halftone drawings by Chuck Ripper enhance
the text, A sequel to AUDUBON'S recent
volume THE PLEASURE OF BIRDS Ideal
gifts for nature lovers everywhere
IjBLIPPINCOTT COMPANY NHin6
: E Washinj-ton Sq , Philadelphia, Pa 19105
se send me the following AUDUBON hoob
copies THE Audubon wildlife i reasur y :
@$1595
; copies THEPLEASURE0EBIRDS@$I4 95
closed, plus 75c for shipping
! Citv, State, ZiD .
KimJchtmiIAK (. AID, NJ.NM ■
nk'ist jdd suit jnj liul iasus
It means resplendent land. Sinbad the
sailor valued our island country in the
Indian Ocean, knowing it as serendipity.
Moderate year 'round temperatures,
lush valleys, high mountains, miles of
beaches and tropical forests. Centuries
of art and archeology— fire dancers and
fiery drummers— elephants and trout.
Exotic adventure. Pageants and wildlife
preserves. Sea sports— all activities at
magnificent resorts or roughing it. Rice
and spice. Shopping spree for gems,
batiks, handicrafts. Ceylon tea. Friends.
Value. 6S% more on a dollar. You'll
value Sri Lanka in more ways than one.
for details write:
Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Tourist Board, oept.o
609 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10017 J
2007 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles,CA 90057J
to pile up the sludge and let it dry in
the air for a period of years . The final
method is digestion for about four-
teen days at 95°F, producing a liquid
containing about 4 to 6 percent solids.
This sludge can be sent by barge,
pipeline, or rail to agricultural land.
The energy for these processes can
be obtained from digester gas — a
mixture of methane and other gases
given off from heated sewage. Until
forty years ago, when cheap natural
gas was substituted for this somewhat
corrosive fuel, sewage plants were
often powered by digester gas. Now
that natural gas prices are climbing,
digester gas is staging a comeback; in
southern California it has fueled some
sewage plants for a decade.
The energy-recovery process most
widely used today is the production
of electricity from urban refuse.
Since trash disposal is a major nation-
wide problem, cities can afford to pay
a premium for energy-generating
processes that reduce the volume of
residual waste. Although urban trash
lacks the consistency of agricultural
refuse or feedlot wastes, it has a low
sulfur content and a caloric level
competitive with much coal .
The practice of mixing garbage
with other power-plant fuel in order
to reduce solid waste volume, recover
useful energy, and lower the average
sulfur content of fuel has been com-
mon for a half century in Holland,
Paris, and Copenhagen. Several areas
here are now using it as well.
Milwaukee has begun construction
of a plant to handle the entire city's
garbage. The plant will collect alumi-
num, steel, and glass, and provide
supplemental boiler fuel. Saint
Louis, which has been experimenting
with energy recovery from garbage
since 1972, has committed itself to a
$70 million plant that will burn shred-
ded garbage with pulverized coal to
produce electricity. Cormecticut has
begun a $250 million, ten-plant proj-
ect to convert 84 percent of the state's
solid waste into 10 percent of the
state's electricity.
Even the Tennessee Valley Au-
thority is studying a means of obtain-
ing about 7 percent of its power from
garbage. A $35 million plant in
Saugus, Massachusetts, burns gar-
bage from about twelve towns, pro-
ducing steam that is then sold to a
nearby General Electric plant.
Even though it generally requires
more energy to refine virgin ore than
to recycle scrap metal, several mil-
lion tons of refined metal go out with
West Africa has been the influence of thi;
design by Tzivia Horiuchi. 3 inch soul-carrie
disk, vi^ith raised stylized turtle, hangs from ;
chain 18 inches around, all finished In 2'
karat antique gold.
$36.00 ppd. This price reflects the
member's discount. Please
add the applicable sales tax
Museum Shop
American Museum of Natural History
79th Street & Central Park West
New York, N.Y. 10024
Please send me: (Write in quantity)
I am enclosing check Q Money Order Q
State.
the garbage in America's cities each
year. At least 7 million tons of iron,
400,000 tons of aluminum, and 100,-
000 tons of copper could be economi-
cally recovered and recycled, with a
net savings of about 400 trillion Btu.
This excludes metals found in build-
ing demolitions and scrapped auto-
mobiles. About 6 million automo-
biles are retired annually, and the
average car now on the road contains
well over 3,000 pounds of ferrous
metals and 50 pounds of aluminum.
Assuming that two-thirds of this
metal can be recovered and recycled,
6 million tons of iron and 100,000
tons of aluminum, as well as about
300 trillion Btu, would be saved.
Using existing technologies, about 1
percent of our national energy budget
can be saved by metal recycling.
The practical objection to a grow-
ing national commitment to energy
extraction from waste is that we may
develop a vested interest in unneces-
sary waste. Avoiding an unneeded
wrapper is clearly preferable to
throwing it away and recovering its
energy potential through inciner-
ation. Using standardized, returnable
glass containers is clearly better than
using one-way cans — even if the
metal from the cans is recycled. In
France a recent report by the minister
of commerce notes, "It is preferable
to incorporate energy and raw materi-
als in an object that lasts a long time
rather than manufacture a dozen
things to be thrown away almost im-
mediately." The report calls for high
taxes on goods with short life-spans,
including all packaging, and would
require manufacturers to supply spare
parts for their products.
The best approach is to save energy
directly, by eliminating some of the
bulk in our solid waste. Archeology
students in Tucson, Arizona, recently
excavated fresh municipal garbage
and calculated that between 10 and 15
percent of all food was thrown away.
Since the energy value of the fuel
used to grow, harvest, process, retail,
transport, and prepare food is several
times greater than the food's caloric
value, we would obviously do better
to consume the food (or cut produc-
tion) than to recover its energy in a
utility boiler.
Even if we return to our ancestors'
conservation ethic, societies will
always generate streams of waste.
We must recapture what we can of
that waste and put it to use again for
human benefit. Proverbially, wasting
less may mean wanting less. D
Lindblad's New East African
WINC SAFARI
offers an exclusive window-seat view
of the world's richest wildlife panorama
No need to get trapped in large con-
centrations of minibuses on hot and
dusty roads. Get a wide-angled view
of the African vastness. OurnewWing
Safari, limited to 7 passengers, using
the latest, most comfortable Navajo
turbo-powered aircraft, permits us to
visit far ranging wilderness and game
reserves seldom visited by other sa-
faris. We will fly deeper into the North-
ern Frontier District to see the excit-
ing tribal life of the Samburu. Boran.
Rendilles and Somalis. At night we
will occupy the very best hotels.
lodges and tented camps. Our spe-
cially trained hosts will introduce
you, not only to the large mammals,
but also to colorful and exciting birds,
butterflies, plants and flowers en-
demic to East Africa The Lindblad
Wing Safari is a truly unforgettable
experience, British Airways will fly
you to Nairobi and back in utmost
comfort. Please write for our bro-
chure or see your travel agent.
Dept NHWS
LINDBLAD TRAVEL, INC.
133 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022 (212) 751-2300
A classic now in
paperbacli...
"John K. Terres is a man with an
inquiring mind who uses the
English language to recreate
color, sound, and the daily drama
of life in forest, field, and swamp."
—Elizabeth 8. Austin, The Auk.
"A work of art... we are held in
its spell in a timeless world."
—New York Times Book Review
Paper $3.95 at bookstores
HAWTHORN BOOKS
Animal Kingdom
Sculptures
Three animal sculptures — lowland
gorilla, great Indian rhinoceros, and
orang-utan— are being offered by the
New York Zoological Society in an
exclusive, limited edition of no more
than 1,000 numbered castings in cold-
cast bronze. Every piece is cast and
finished with toning to suggest the ani-
mal's natural coloring. Proceeds from
the sale of these sculptures will assist
the NYZS in preserving endangered
species throughout the world.
Write for descriptive information:
Animal Kingdom Sculptures,
New York Zoological Society, Bronx,
N.Y. 10460 Attn: Dept. N
99
For those
with an eye
for art
and a head
for value.
Natural History Magazine invites you to enjoy some
delectable collectables. Remarkable replicas cast
from the originals on display at the American
Museum of Natural History. It is difficult to tell these
fine reproductions from the unique originals because
each one is hand-cast and hand-finished by
artist-craftsmen to duplicate the exact personality of
the original. Right down to its precise size, texture,
color and patina. Each replica comes with its own
descriptive history. All jewelry is gift-boxed. Here
truly are unusual gifts for those with an eye
for art and a head for value.
•--%•."■•: NH HON
r'
AMERICAN
MUSEUM MEMBERS,
PLEASE TAKE
10% DISCOUNT.
Order Now
...for a friend
...for yourself
NATURAL HISTORY
NATURAL HISTORY REPLICAS, Dept, A400, Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
. NH 78N Akua'ba Doll Necklace. West
Africa. 27/8" H. -Golcl. $13.50
. NH HON Coptic Cross Necklace. Ethiopia.
■Silver 2-1/8" H. $9.50
-NH 113 African Fertility Doll with bead
eanings, necklace, anklet. 14" H $40.00
. NH 109 African Dahomey Woman
Statuette. 'Gold. 71/4" H. including walnut
base. $30.00
-NH SIN Pre-Columbian Eagle Necklace.
Costa Rica. "Gold. 2" wing span. $11.00
, NH 56N Pre-Columbian Monkey-Faced
Men Pendant. Costa Rica. "Gold. 3-5/8"
wide. $26.00
, NH 65P Pre-Columbian Llama Pin. 'Silver
1-3/4" H. $9.50
_Please send me the Replicas I have checked, for which I
enclose my personal check or money order for $_
_J prefer to charge American Eixpress. valid thru
*
D
Signature ,
Name (please print) .
City. State, Zip
"Gold or silver electroplated pewter. (Prices include average o( $1.00 for
jewelrv. $2.50 for sculpture, postage and handling.) ALLOW 4-6 WEEKS
FOR DELIVERY
A Matter of Taste
by Raymond Sokolov
KwakiutI Cuisine
A simple larder did not
suppress the culinary impulse
of Indian women
Faithful readers of this column will
recall several harangues against the
anthropological community, damn-
ing it for its neglect of food in the
cultures it studies. I should have
lumped myself and other food writers
in the indictment, for we also turn up
our pampered noses at the wealth of
ethnographically interesting cookery
still practiced in native American
kitchens across the land.
Even at a time like this, the eve of
the first Thanksgiving of the first year
of the country's third centennial, you
will read only passing, and most like-
ly condescending, references to the
crucial Indian contribution to our na-
tional feast. Food editors gabble glib-
ly enough about Squanto and the les-
son in organic fertilization he gave to
Pilgrims breaking ground for their
first corn crop. And when white
American gastronomes really want to
bear down in earnest on the early his-
tory of their subject, they trot out a
conveniently short list of Indian
dishes that some non-Indians still eat:
succotash, file gumbo, Indian pud-
ding, hominy, and the seafood
steamed in seaweed at clambakes.
In a way, these cursory tributes
amount to a respectable enough hom-
age. They show as much knowledge
of, and reverence for, national culi-
nary origins as, say, French epicures
exhibit toward their folk cuisine of
the eighteenth century . What is more ,
we can boast (as I have recently
learned from David Brose, an anthro-
pologist in Cleveland) of at least one
extraordinarily thorough American
monograph on the food of a North
American Indian people.
George Hunt, a "mixed-blood"
Kwakiutl of Fort Rupert, British Co-
lumbia, collected data on all aspects
of Kwakiutl life at the beginning of
this century. Hunt was a protege of
Franz Boas, the father of American
anthropology, and he was fluent in the
Kwakiutl language. His research was
published as a long paper, edited by
Boas, in the thirty-fifth annual report
of the Bureau of American Ethnology
(dated 1913-14, but printed in 1921
as "Ethnology of the Kwakiutl").
Hunt seems to have gathered his data
verbatim from local informants
among the roughly 2,000 Kwakiutl
speakers still living in more or less the
traditional way on Vancouver Island.
He was helped in this task by Mrs.
Hunt, who, as Boas put it in the pref-
ace, "was born in Fort Rupert, and
who was thoroughly familiar with the
duties of a good housewife ' ' in those
days.
The result is a trove of hundreds of
pages of transcript (printed in English
and Kwakiutl) of directions for pre-
serving food and of recipes for cook-
ing it. The Hunts and Boas captured
the life of a vanishing civilization in
the most concrete way possible —
through its food.
The recipes meticulously record a
whole galaxy of solutions to the prob-
lem of survival in the Pacific North-
west. The Kwakiutl were fishermen
and foragers, but the simplicity of
their larder and their technology did
not limit them to uncomplicated cook-
ery. Modern salmon lovers will feel
profligate when they read the intri-
cate description of what the Kwakiutl
women did with salmon tails and
backbones, tying them two at a time
by the tails and hanging them close
to the fire just under the salmon flesh,
which was also slowly drying. Even-
tually, they separated the smoked
tails from the backbones and stored
them both in special cedar-bark bas-
kets for eventual soaking and eating
in winter.
Equally specific instructions were
necessary for splitting and preserving
the flesh of the dog salmon. It had to
be cut away from the backbone down
to within "four finger-widths from
the place where she broke off the
salmon's tail." The backbone was
discarded, leaving a Y-shaped double
fillet joined at the "tail-holding-
TWO GREAT GIFT IDEAS
AND A BAG
TO CARRY THEM IN
Gokcys Mahnomen Wild Kice. Wild nee was
called "mahnomen" by the Indians — literally
"good berry". Which is a perfect description of
Gokeys own top-grade wild nee.
It's harvested in its natural state in the
North Country by Indians using traditional meth-
ods. 1 lb. bag, $6.50.
O
/^^S
Gokeys Droll Yankee Seed Saver. Here's a
bird feeder ihat adjusts to bird size. It consists of
a dish. 7" in diameter by 1-3 4" deep, plus a 10"
cover over the dish which can be raised or
lowered to allow different size birds. It can be
hung, or the bottom has a threaded socket for
pipe mounting. $11.95.
Gokeys Suede Tote Bags. The perfect all-
around bag for carrying sporting goods, books,
supplies or other items. Made from genuine
sueded split-leather cowhide, it combines both
fashion and durability. Handles are reinforced
with brass rivets. The one bag everyone can use.
Small [lP/,"x5'/."xll%"), $19.00; large (14V,"x7"
xl6"), $26.00.
-Gokeys
Enclosed is my check for _
small large Suede Tote Bag(s).
(Add $1.50 for shipping and handling)
Satisfaction Guaranteed
D Please send me New Christmas Catalog, free.
Addres
City_
Sta
GaKE]YS
^ Dept. 0062, 21 W. Fifth St., St. Paul, MN 55102 J
For the fourth year, we invite you to
witness North America's greatest wiid-
lite spectacle:
The.Seals ,
on the Icepack
Each year, in March, in Canada's Gulf
of St. Lawrence, hundreds of thou-
sands of seals end their southern mi-
gration and congregate on the ice-
pack, turning it into a huge natural
nursery as the females give birth to
their babies.
In March 1977, by using reliable heli-
copters, small groups of tourists will
again land on the icepack and see
this dramatic and incredibly beautiful
sight.
Also tor the fourth year, we otter a
small, sefected group ot intrepid
travelers the world's most challenging
tourist experience:
Greenland
Dog-sledging
Expedition
In April 1977, two weeks are spent on
Greenland's breathtaking West Coast
under the expert guidance of Major
Mike Banks, the leading Arctic ex-
plorer. Travel is by helicopter and
husky-drawn sledges.
Detailed brochures, and a report 0/
the 1973 Greenland expedition, re-
printed from International Wildlife
Magazine, are available from:
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
55 WEST 42 STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10036
TELEPHONE (212) 354 6634
Shells • Fossils
Minerals
COLOR PORTFOLIO"
plus Illustrated Catalog $1.00
DOVER SCIENTIFIC
Box 6011 C Long Island City, N.Y. 11106
cfli/c lUiniJEVI BUY DIRECT
OHVCmunCI. from the manufactur
BETTER-VUE
35mm slide
PROTECTOR
PAGES
Made of heavy, clear vinyl plastic.
Twenty separate pockets per page.
Best protection for slides and trans-
parencies. Pages {BVi x 11) fit all
standard 3 ring binders. Write lor
other sizes and low prices.
Send check or M.O. FREE postage
JAY PLASTICS, INC. Dept nh
^ 1515 Fifth Industrial Court, Bay Shore, N.Y. 11706 ^
together." This configuration was
hung tail-end down for three days and
then tail-end up for three days. There
ensued various other stages of boning
and rubbing and hanging. Eventually
the "tail-holding-together" was split
off and stored separately from the fil-
lets, which were called, collectively,
the "split-down."
Kwakiutl cookery lacked a sophis-
ticated spice shelf; indeed, it lacked
spices altogether, unless we count the
salt of seawater and the natural sugar
of berries. Nevertheless, the Hunts'
recipes show the culinary impulse at
work. The Kwakiutl palate must have
relished taste and texture differences
between those separately stored tails
and backbones and fillets of salmon.
And we may assume that connois-
seurship entered into their cuisine as
it does in ours, with certain cuts and
portions holding pride of place. This
certainly was the case with seal
heads, which were the prerogative of
steersmen and chiefs. They were bar-
tered at the rate of five pairs of blan-
kets for 100 heads. And chiefs re-
served these heads for old people,
who ate the blubber on them. It was
boiled for a long time, removed with
tongs, and eaten in strips with dried
salmon or halibut.
Many of these recipes are of no
current use. Our chiefs have no seal
heads to pass along to senior citizens.
Few of us would consume eelgrass or
even clover, either for pleasure or out
of curiosity. No doubt, this is a mis-
take, a sophisticated error. We do,
however, still value the marvelous
savor of salmon when it is grilled in
the manner of the Indians of the
Northwest (a method also recorded
by the Hunts), which is to say, at-
tached to wood tongs set upright at
the side of a campfire.
Perhaps even salmon guts and
some of the other more exotic-sound-
ing recipes of the Kwakiutl would de-
light us if we tried them. "Flounder
eaten with spoons" might be a good
place to start. It consists of flounder
eaten with the water in which it has
been boiled, with a little oil added.
The flounder is cleaned and then
boiled whole until its flesh will break
up when it is stirred in the pot. This
dish is somewhere between a fish
chowder and fish cooked in a court
bouillon, or flavored liquid. And if
we could find as fresh a flounder as
the Kwakiutl could, it might make an
acceptable fish dinner.
All the same, I do not think the
value of the Kwakiutl study rests on
BUSHNEIL 7x35 CUSTOM
Mfg. List $169.50 Postpaid $94.50
This is an example of the deep discount prices on high
quality optics that is found in our FREE catalog. This
catalog lists and illustrates an outstanding selection
of telephoto lens, telescopes, binoculars etc.. plus
valuable information on how to properly select them.
Write for it today.
GIL HEBARD OPTICS
COURTHOUSE SQ., KNOXVILLE, ILL. 61448
0<H3-0-0<H>00-0-0<K)-0<)-CM>CH>0-0-CKH)-Oq
oneness
A subtle linking of J
^ religious symbols,
delicately wedded to-
gether by the artisan,
.d descriptive booklet
14K with 24" chain $37.50
Sterling Silver $16.75
ISAAC SOLTES DESIGN NH
1923 S McPhernn Ave.
Monlerey Park Calif 91754
CAllfOBNIA RESIDENTS ADD 6% SALES TAX
D Chech or Money Oriler/Money back Guarantee
PLATIGNUM ITALIC SET
r^ Contams a fountain vcn, five
il\ Otalic niSs, and instruction
|';^\j manuaC af[foronfy $fSO...
At art mattnaCSr'pen sf\ovs,
co((c(jC iiookstcnrts...orscntC
ckcck to 'Pentafio Cory., i}2
West 22 St., N.y, N.y. lOOll
AcfcC ^0 cents for fiandfina.
ARCHAEOLOGY NEWSLEHER
New finds and discoveries-
facts betiind ttie classical
myths— tiighlights on pagan
manners & mores— the truth
about those "astronaut gods"—
photos— more. "Authoritative
. . . packed with fascinating in-
formation," says Libraty Jour-
nal. Our 12th year. Gift card on
request. Send $9.00 for 8-issue
subscription (ca. 2 yrs.) to O.N.
Reiss Co., 243 East 39th Street,
New York, N.Y. 10016.
AUTHORS WANTED BY
NEW YORK PUBLISHER
Leading book publisher seeks manuscripts of all
types: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scholarly and
juvenile works, etc. New authors welcomed. For
complete information, send for free booklet W-82.
Vantage Press, 516 W. 34 St., New York lOOOl
sterling Silver Jewelry Inspired by Ancient
Mexican Designs.
A Double Masl< Pendant. Bas relief cut
from a single piece of silver.
$40,00 ppd.
B Tigereye or Obsidian Pendant. Please
specify choice of stone. $31.00 ppd.
C Obsidian Head Pin/Pendant.
$16.00 ppd.
Tfie above prices reflect ttie member's dis-
count. Please add the applicable sales tax.
Pendants do not include chain. Imported
by Dorothy Weiss, Inc.
Museum Shop
American Museum of Natural History
79th Street & Central Park West
New York, N.Y. 10024
Please send me
: (Write in quantity)
A
Tigereye
Obsidian
C.
1 am enclosing
check n Money
Ord
Br D
^lame
'Address
:ity
State
Zip
its popular acceptance by practicing
contemporary cooi<,s. For one tiling,
they would wear themselves out gath-
ering l<elp and weaving baskets for
blubber. But even if no one ever
cooks anything from this encyclope-
dia of "primitive" cuisine, the work
was worth the trouble because it
shows, in a way everyone can appre-
ciate, how diverse and imaginative
and joyful tribal life could be. More
specifically, it shows that Indians,
with a cuisine limited to a very small
number of raw materials and tech-
niques, construed their gustatory
processes in terms as rigorous and
scientific as any modern home econo-
mist.
In our own "advanced" food cul-
ture it has taken centuries of fumbling
and inaccuracy to arrive at a style of
recipe writing that is clear and that
will enable the neophyte to duplicate
the results of the expert writing the
recipe. Home economists perfected
modern recipe style in the United
States in this century. Before them,
cookbooks were essentially aide-me-
moires, without specific quantities or
cooking times or instructions for find-
ing and dealing with ingredients.
There were exceptions of a sort, but
generally speaking, to use cookbooks
published before the First World
War , you had to proceed by guess and
by gosh. Either the authors were
chefs writing handbooks for other
chefs or they were casual amateurs.
The famous Boston Cooking-
School Cookbook by Fannie Farmer
(first edition 1896; modern facsimile
published in paperback by Plume) was
an early attempt at scientific recipe
writing. The dishes had all been tested
by the author and they were supposed
to be reproducible in the average
home, just as scientific experiments
can be reproduced in laboratories.
Mrs. Farmer's recipes do list meas-
ured amounts of flour and other ingre-
dients and they are fairly clear. Her
touch with foreign recipes is unsure
(did she really whip egg whites for
omelets?) and she did love canned
vegetables. But her triumph was to
anticipate most of the questions cooks
would ask themselves. Today we
have gone even further, and such
masters of explication as Julia Child
have sometimes anticipated more
puzzlement than normally ever ex-
ists. But the most extensive expatia-
tions of Mrs. Child do not exceed in
elaboration the orderly expositions of
the Kwakiutl women interviewed by
the Hunts. They knew what you had
Corduroy Lederhosen Straight Leg
Travel Slacks For Men & Women
These handsome European style Lederhosen
slacks have been long-time favourites for travel,
leisure, all casual wear. Authentic, rugged detail-
ing includes 6 pockets . . , t\v'0 in back, four in
front, deep enough for a passport. Good-looking
in tan, light blue or bronze cotton corduroy. Also
available in no-iron Dacron and cotton poplin in
white, light blue or (an and in faded blue cham-
brav cotton denim. Waist sizes 28 to 4-4, lengths
28 to 34, $20. 'Also, women's 4-pocket slacks,
sizes 8 to 20. colours & fabrics as above, $20.
Mail Orders: Cable Car Clolhiers/Robcrl Kirk. Ltd.
No, 150 Post St.. S.F. Cal. 94I0S (415) 397-7733
Item Slks.iHS33U!Fabric
D Check Charge: Q M/C Q B/A D Cable Car Chg.
Bank Card # Expires
Add S2.no Ship. & Hdlg. Cal. Bcsidenls Add Sales T.|»
O Please send catalogue 591101
103
Since 1972, when we started our
tours, cruises and expeditions for ad-
venturous travelers, many people
tiave asked us for a safari in East
Africa; we did not wisti to compete
with others in this field and waited
until we could offer a program which
is unique and has been carefully sur-
veyed to provide the outdoor living
that inspired Hemingway's novels-
the true way to appreciate Africa, its
people, and its wildlife.
We now invile twelve intrepid travel-
ers to see Africa as did the explorers
before the tourists came, on our
African
Camel Safari
JANUARY-FEBRUARY JUNE-JULY
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1977
A journey on foot with camel support
across the fiercely exciting Northern
Frontier District of Kenya, accom-
panied by a wildlife expert who pro-
vides the protection required on an
expedition of this nature.
The peace and serenity of walking
through the African bush with the
muffled sound of camel bells is an ex-
perience few travelers have enjoyed.
Detailed brochures are available from:
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
55 WEST 42 STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10036
A Henry Ford Museum Reproduction
Chippendale
Ready to
Assemble and Finish
18" Century Furniture
One of 24 Bartley classics, in hand crafted
solid mahogany, oak or cherry. Totally
authentic in design and beautifully
constructed. Each kit is easily assembled
and finished in your own home without
tools. All pieces also offered completely
assembled and hand finished. A $5.00
coupon included with catalogue.
■n
catalogue of 18th century antique
furniture reproductions available
in kit form or hand finished. I am
enclosing $1.00 to cover postage
and handling.
I TheBartieyGollection,%i. j
747 Oakwood Ave., Dept. 13, Lake Forest, II. 60045
to do, from gathering wood to wash-
ing your hands when the meal was
over. They calmly laid out their
whole homely technology, step by
step, without a stutter of imprecision,
except perhaps to add, parenthet-
ically, what to do with hanging
salmon when the weather threatened
rain. (Move it indoors.) And they
were fine storytellers, even if they did
indulge the vice of repetition so heav-
ily that Boas complained of it. But
these Kwakiutl cooks had never heard
of a cross-reference. And many mod-
ern cookbook writers would be better
off if they were as repetitious and did
not send us flipping around madly for
a missing step partially expounded in
each of three previous pages.
The Kwakiutl were nothing if not
straightforward. Here for example, is
an excerpt from the Kwakiutl recipe
for roasted salmon:
Now I shall talk about the salmon
speared at the mouth of the river
when it is still phosphorescent.
When the man who spears the
salmon gets one, he goes home as
soon as he has speared it. His wife
at once takes an old mat and
spreads it over her back; then she
takes her belt and puts it on over
the old mat on her back. Then she
takes along a large basket in which
to carry the dog salmon on her
back. She goes to the canoe of her
husband and puts four dog salmon
in her carrying basket. Then she
goes up the beach to the place
where she is going to cut them. She
puts them on an old mat, which is
spread on the ground outside the
house. As soon as she has thrown
them on the ground, she takes her
fish knife and sharpens it; and after
she has sharpened it, she cuts off
the gills of the dog salmon. . . .
And so on for two and a half more
pages of cleaning and roasting, com-
plete with directions for entertaining
guests and the sensible suggestion
that it is unwise to eat salmon speared
at the mouth of the river in the morn-
ing, because "it makes those who eat
it feel sleepy the whole day long, for
it is very fat." Finally, feminists will
be glad to hear that the Kwakiutl hus-
band cleaned up when the feast was
over: "He gathers the bones and the
skin left by his guests, puts them on
a mat, and throws them into the sea
on the beach. This is all about the
salmon speared at the mouth of the
river. ' ' And this is all about Kwakiutl
cookery, except for a wistful, back-
CATCH THEM ALIVE AND UNHURT!
Catches morel
Easy to use 1
Amazing HAV AHART trap captures raiding rata, rabbits,
squirrels, skunks, pigeons, sparrows, etc. Takes mink.
coons without Injury. Straying pets, poultry released
unhurt. Fully assembled. Easy to use — open ends give
animal confidence. No ]awa or springs to break. Galva-
nized. Sizes Tor all needs. Send 25c tor your booklet on
trapping secrets.
HAVAHART, 158 Water St., Ossining, N.Y. 10562
Here's my 25c. Please send price list, trapping guide.
N»me
QUESTERS
WORLD OF
NATURE TOURS
You may find :
' tours similar to ours in
fessional travel company specializing solely in
nature tours. Tour parties are small, the pace
leisurely, itineraries unusual, and the leader-
ship expert. Areas covered include Mexico,
Guatemala, Hawaii, Alaska, Indonesia, India,
East Africa, Iceland, and Australasia. We can-
not tell you here, however, about all the tours,
or all the wildlife preserves, archaeological
sites, museums and temples you will visit, but
our current Directory of Worldwide Nature
Tours can. Call or write Questers or see your
travel agent today for your free copy!
Questers Tours
AND TRAVEL, INC.
DEPT. NH-1176,2S7 PARK AVENUE SOUTH
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10010/(212) 673-3120
"Keep an open mind"
"Many of his handsome designs are fantasy interpretation of human
forms." New York Magazine
Sterling Pendant $4y,U0; Sterling Key Cham $45,00 plus tax
Kenny Goodman, wood sculpture and jewelry
201 East 31st. Street N.Y.C. 10016 N.Y. 532.4163
D Check □ Master Charge, M.C, #
Expires four digit bank no
free brochure available
^BOOK HUNTING?-^.
Virtually any book located — no matter hOw
old or long out-of-print Hctlon, nonflction.
All authors, subjects. Name the book — we'll
find It! (Title atone Is sufficient) inquire,
please. Write: Dept 66.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087
BIRD MODEL KITS
Barn Swallow S3.95
Kingfisher $4.95
Little Owl $5.95
All three for $13.00
coLons
ARIEL Dept.N. 2894 Meadowbrook, Cleveland Ohio 44118
MURPHY'S LAWS!
Incomparable "scientific" wit. Colorfully
lithographed on 8" x 10" heavy Parchtext
for framing. A great business or personal
gift! Only $3 (4/$10). Four Corners
Press, Dept. NHB, Hanover, Mass.
02339. ^^_^__
104
ward glance and a terse, but practical ,
iiiodcrii American version of grilled
salmon for home use at any time of
the year and at any meal other than
breakfast.
Grilled Salmon
4 salmon steaks, about 1 inch thick
Oil
Salt and pepper
1. Preheat broiler.
2. Oil the steaks and the surface of
the broiling pan.
3. Put the steaks in the pan and run
under the broiler about 2 inches
from the heat source. If you are
doing this over charcoal, oil the
top of the grill and arrange it so
that the fish will be two inches
from the coals.
4. Turn the steaks carefully after five
minutes. Cook another five min-
utes or until the flesh is flaky. Sea-
son to taste with salt and pepper.
Do not throw leftover skin and
bones in river or ocean.
Yield: 4 servings
Raymond Sokolov's most recent
cookbook is The Saucier's Appren-
tice, a guide to French sauces.
WHEN YOU WRITE TO
NATURAL HISTORY
about a change of address, renewal of sub-
scription, billing, or any kind of adjustment,
send the present address label.
Moving? Please notify 6 weelts in advance.
You can use this form to tell us about a move
or order a subscription
Chiange of address — attach your address
label in the dotted area and fill in your new
address below, clip and mail to Natural History
Ivlembership Services Box 6000. Des Moines,
Iowa 50340
E !!
° S- S.Z S Q
A full-color Kazmar catalogue is available for SI. 00.
Use your Shreve, Master Charge or American Express Card
Furnish all nos. and expiration date.
Toorder call Toll Free 800-225-7062, 10:00to 5:00PM weekdays.
Mass. customers call Colled 617-267-9100.
NEWEST ARRIVAL
INCUR
PORCELAIN GALLERY
"Golden Eagle
Fledgling"
A superb new sculpture
by the Kazmars! Every detail
beautifully executed.
Design and coloration is
truly outstanding. A
• lilighlful gift or the start
■ I vour own collection.
I Jclpverv limited this Fall.
I el us reserve your piece
now. Kazmar subjects are
low in issue number
and they go very quickly.
\umbered issue of 700
Height is 5'/,! inches
Length is 7 inches
S180. plus tax where
applicable. Add 53. mailing.
SHREVE.
CRLMP&'
LOW CO.
ESTABLISHED 1800
330 BOYLSTON ST., BOSTON, MASS 02116 (617) 267-9100
AND THE MALL AT CHESTNUT HILL
•^^ r-^V
THE TALL SHIPS'
Official Commemorative Print
Two years in the painting and meticulously accu-
rate in nautical detail, this high-fidelity lithograph
(21 X 28 inches) in magnificent color, by the re-
nowned marine artist Kipp Soldwedel (Tall Ships
artist of record) will delight all who admire fine
art. Depicted are the Blue Nose (Canada), Dan-
mark (Denmark), Segres (Portugal), Christian
Radich (Norway), and the Gorch Fock II (Ger-
many), winner of the International Trans-Allantic
race. A nostalgic memento.
Handsomely framed in silvery metal as shown,
ready to hang. $20.00. add $2 handling and sliipping
Signed by the artist and framed. $55.00.
add $2 handling and shipping
Unframed. $10.00. add $1 handling and shipping j
American Ajax, Inc., Dept. NH-11-76
P.O. Box 256, Norwood, N.J. 07648
Please send framed "Tall Ships" prmt(s) ^ $20.00 each
plus $2 handling and shipping.
Pl:ase send framed and signed "Tall Ships" print(s) (o
$55.00 each plus $2 handling and shipping.
Please send unframed ''Tall Ships" print(s) @ $10.00
each plus SI handling and shipping. No C.O.D.'s
Okay to charge it. Fill in credit information.
n American Express n Diners Club
D Bank Americard D Carte Blanche
a Master Charge interbank #
My credit card #
Expiration date
Signature
105
"If you buy only one
book this Christmas in
the fields of Americana,
art, Indians, history
or natural history,
this has to be the one."
-PETER FARE
•N " In 1833-34
the German naturalist,
Prince Maximilian of Wied, and
his Swiss-born artist companion,
Karl Bodmer, went up the Missouri
River and recorded, in words and
pictures, life among the Plains In-
dians in their final days of glory.
The Bodmer watercolors, among
the most beautiful Indian paintings
ever done, are reproduced here for
the first time. Writing of this spec-
tacular book of art and adventure,
Peter Farb continues: "I don't
know which to praise most: the
availability at long last of Maxi-
milian's perceptive travel journal,
the wealth of ethnographic data
about the Indians of the northern
Plains, or the bonanza of the Bod-
mer paintings which have previous-
ly been known only to specialists."
84 color plates. 54 halftones.
256 pages. lO'A" x 1 2'4" format.
$25.00 until Jan. 1, 1977
$29.95, thereafter
People
of the
First Man
EDITED BY
DAVIS THOMAS AND
KARIN RONNEFELDT
Sk
dutton
201 ParkAve.South,N.Y.,N.Y.10003
Books in Review
Ah, Wilderness!
WooDSWOMAN, by Anne LaBastille.
E. P. Dutton & Co. , $10.95; 277pp. ,
illus. A World of My Own, by
Mike Tomkies. Reader's Digest
Press, $10.95; 273 pp. The Year-
Long Day, by A. E. Maxwell and
Ivar Ruud. /. B. Lippincott Com-
pany, $8.95; 240pp., illus.
Three books, three lives. A book
is an offering. "Here is my life," the
author says, "take it." Take me.
Take me to your heart. Or, take me
apart. (Critics feed on art; the fresh
new author is the reviewer's favorite
breakfast food. The critic-reviewer is
to the book as the orchid is to the tree:
a parasite.) If more authors under-
stood how nakedly they reveal them-
selves in the writing of a book, there
Anne LaBastille
io6
by Edward Abbey
would doubtless be not so many
books. The egocentric exhibitionist
is, of course, the most pathetic case
of all. Behind every book lies the au-
thor's belief that his life, her life, or
some part of it, is of such importance
that it must be of interest to us all.
Such audacity and innocence. But
justified. I cannot conceive of any
human life that, fully described from
within, would not be of totally ab-
sorbing significance. The clerk-typist
at Time-Life, the shopgirl at Wool-
worth's in Melbourne, the fellow
who figures out what's wrong with
your Volkswagen (sometimes cor-
rectly)— each leads a life as intricate,
strange, mysterious, rich, and terrible
as the world itself; indeed, each life
15 a world in itself. Transmuting that
private world into a coherent world of
words, however, is a difficult opera-
tion. Generally speaking, it is impos-
sible.
The three books here under review
are modest endeavors. None makes
any pretense at the creation of a
world. Each in its own way, with
varying degrees of success, reports
on a kind of personal achievement
that appeals to a fantasy most of us
have entertained but lack the gump-
tion to make real. LaBastille and
Tomkies went out in the woods and
built themselves log cabins — habita-
ble homes. Ivar Ruud lived the life of
hunter and trapper in the Arctic, ski-
ing back and forth between two
cabins. Each of the three sought free-
dom, self-sufficiency, independence
— ideals that, in the more-or-less real
world of today, seem as fantastic as
any other dream.
Of the three, Anne LaBastille ap-
pears to have come closest to estab-
lishing her relative independence on
a workable, permanent basis. In
j Woodswoman she tells how she dis-
' covered and fell in love with the
Eagle al 30 II.
Photographed
by W. Beecher
>ith ihe Celet-
Iron 1250mm,
1/10 Multlpur-
Telepholo
The Celestron 8 (base
price: $790), most popular
of the Cetestron line of com-
pact portable telescopes and
mirror-lens telephotos. is
shown here set up for star-
gazing. For a closer look
at this and other Celes-
tron products, ask for
your free color
catalog and free
telephoto book.
Live A Little.
If life is about any one single thing, it's about
getting closer to the things that interest you.
Celestron Telescopes help you get closer.
Whether the subject is the muscular
structure of an eagle's eye at 30
feet. Or the planet Saturn —
one hour, 1 1 minutes away
at the speed of light. If you
want to get closer, look into the
world's best-selling modern telescopes.
Live a little.
Celestron International rs g x
2835 Columbia, Box 3S7S-N CS/eSIf OH
Torrance, Calif. 90503
EdwinV\^y Teale
THE AMERICAN
SEASONS
A beautiful one-volume harvest of chapters
selected by Edwin Way Teale from his now-classic
American Seasons set— North With the Spring,
Autumn Across America, Journey Into Summer and
Wandering Through Winter —which culminated in a
Pulitzer Prize. With 65 pages of Teale photo-
graphs and a fascinating introduction by
the author of the story behind his
works, this book will delight the hosts of
Teale enthusiasts who recognize him as this
country's outstanding nature writer
Designed by Avery Fisher
A Literary Guild Alternate $l7 50
107
A new idea thats 140,000,000 years old
The Brontosaiinis
In Sparkling Clear, Genuine Swedish Crystal
A stricth) limited edition...a unique work of art...
from famous Kosta Glassworks exclusiveh; for
The American Museum of Natural History
The Brontosaurus. This 70 foot long,
30 ton, plant-eating dinosaur of the
Jurassic Period has captured the seri-
ous curiosity of scientists, the innagina-
tion of school children, the interest of
visitors to the American Museum of
Natural History and other great
museums.
Now, the amiable spirit of this popular
dinosaur has been captured in a solid
sculpture of genuine, clear Swedish
crystal.
Make Room in Your Home
For A Brontosaurus
Whatever the decor, wherever you
place it, the Brontosaurus sculpture
will capture attention with its lucid bril-
liance, its fluid lines. This is neither a
laboratory model nor a gimcrack
souvenir.
It is a work of fine art!
The Brontosaurus sculpture was creat-
ed for the American Museum of Natu-
ral History exclusively by Svenskt Glas
and is being produced in a limited edi-
tion by Kosta Glassworks of Sweden.
Gonnoiseurs of crystal collectibles will
readily acknowledge the reputation of
Kosta among the world's great crystal
makers. Their name assures the quality
of the full-lead crystal and the excel-
lence of the hand craftsmanship.
The Sculptor: Paul Hoff
The Brontosaurus sculpture was creat-
ed by Paul Hoff whose works are
represented in museums and galleries
on three continents. He has combined
scientific evidence with the artist's
prerogatives to form pure crystal into
a sculpture of fascinating beauty.
A Strictly Limited Edition
This one time edition of the Bron-
tosaurus sculpture will be limited to
10,000 perfect pieces. Once this
number has been realized, the patterns
will be destroyed— never again to be
made anywhere in the world.
A Certificate of Autfienticity wi
accompany each sculpture. It will bear
the serial number of that particular
sculpture in the edition.
Integrity is Assured
The hand scribed signature of artist
Paul Hoff, together with the hallmarks
of The American Museum of Natural
History, Kosta Glassworks and
Svenskt Glas etched on the base
further attest to the validity and quality
of each sculpture.
The beauty of the sculpture, the quality
of the crystal, the limited nature of the
edition and the hallmarks on the base
combine to make the Brontosaurus
sculpture a most prudent investment.
Historically, sculptures of this
quality show satisfying
appreciation over
the years.
7 inches long;
3'/2 inches high;
2% pounds of
solid Swedish
crystal.
A Treasure to Own.. .A Gift
Of Memorable Proportions
The Brontosaurus crystal
sculpture is available only
from Natural History
Sculptures. The price
is $77.50. However, if you
are an Associate Member
of The American Museum
of Natural History, you
are entitled to a discount of
ten percent; your price is
$69.75. Shipping, insurance
and all custom duties are
included. Satisfaction is,
of course, assurted.
Prompt action will
be well advised.
\iP\jum. msTORY sculpturcs
Please send me crystal sculpture(s) of
the Brontosaurus
I am a member of The American
Museum of Natural History and am, there-
fore entitled to a 10% discount making the
price $69.75.
I am not a Member and will pay the
regular price of $77.50.
Enclosed is my check,
in the amount of $
.money order.
I prefer to change this amount to my
American Express account valid thru.
Signature
MWURM HISTORY SCULPTURGS
Dept. G-300, Box 5123
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
For the fourth yoar, we offer discrlm-
inafing travelers the finest cruises to
^Discover
Galapagos
For those who have leisure, the only
way to discover the unique Galapagos
Islands is on our intimate two-week
cruises for a maximum ol (ourteen
passengers in two comfortable motor
yachts, accompanied by naturalist
guides.
Six departures of these cruises are
scheduled for 1977.
For budget-minded travelers who are
Interested in ecology, wildlife and
photography, we are repeating our ex-
tremely popular
Galapagos Islands
Thrift Cruise
In the privately chartered 66-passen-
ger mv Iguana", accompanied by
eminent naturalist leaders who will
give talks and lead us In the field:
fvlay28to June 10. 1977
with Mr. Justin K. Aldrich
of the New England Aquarium
August 20 to September 2. 1977
with Ms- Susan Lock
Vice President of the Animal
Protection Institute of America
October 29 to November 11, 1977
Before these cruises, we spend four
days in Quito. Ecuador's lovely capi-
tal, with excursions in the Andes, and
then make the spectacular railroad
journey to the coast.
Please send for detailed brochures of
these cruises -we also specialize in
adventure tours to Greenland, the Arc-
tic, the Himalayas and the Andes, the
Papillon Tour to Trinidad and French
Guiana, safaris in Rajasthan and East
Africa, and to other unusual destina-
tions.
* Registered in Ecuador
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
The BUSHMAN by AKUBRA^^
The Bushman is the outdoorsman's hat
from Australia— the true bush hat. Made
in Al<ubra's finest Imperial Quality pure
fur felt, fully lined 3% inch brim. Shown
with the unusual ridge-braid leather
band.
Color Nullarbor Tan
Ribbon Band $29.50 ppd.
For ridge braid band add $8.50
State size— 6=/«— 7'/8
Send for our unique catalog
^AUSTRAL ENTERPRISES
Box 70190, Seattle, Washington 98107
"North Woods" ot the Adirondacks,
how she found a place of her own,
built a cabin on it with a little help
from friends, made a home. A profes-
sional ecologist and journalist, she
earns her income and subsistence
from the world "outside," but her
cabin and 22 acres on the shore of a
lake she wisely leaves unidentified
provide her with the substantial home
base that every human needs. (Even
R. Buckminster Fuller with his arm-
load of wrist watches and global
credit cards would be lost without the
firm footing of a Boeing 747.) LaBas-
tille recounts her love affairs with
trees (of how it is possible, for ex-
ample, to draw strength from a good
spruce tree by embracing it; in this
she is absolutely correct, I'm sure,
though I'm a bristlecone pine man
myself), with the birds and animals
of her elected place, and with men.
Forced to choose between her home
and her lover, she gives up the man.
This choice, lightly touched on in the
book, is nonetheless moving to the
reader. She defines the good life as
consisting of health, work, and love.
Though familiar with loneliness,
she wants the love on terms compat-
ible with her way of life. The world
changes. One must respect her cour-
age and wish her good luck. I shall
permit myself just one minor critical
outrage: with so open and vulnerable
a book it would be ungentlemanly to
point out flaws.
Mike Tomkies is or was an Eng-
lishman. Or is it impossible to be an
ex-Englishman? No matter. At least
1977 Sierra Club
Calendars
Mike Tomkies
sierra Club WUtaife Catendar 1977
Sierra Club Engagement Calendar 1977
The perennial favorite — with 59 all-new.
full-color photos facing weekly calendar
listings. 6'^ X 914. $4.95
Sierra Club Wilderness Calendar 1977
The popular wall calendar — with 14 all-
new, lull-color photos facing the months
of the year, 10 1/2 x 12 '4 . $4.95
Sierra Club Trail Calendar 1977
14 full-color photos plus line illustrations
and literary selections. lOVa x WVi. $4,95
Sierra Club Wildlife Calendar 1977
14 full-color photos of some of North
America's endangered species. lOVt x
8'^. $4.95
New this year!
What the Forest Tells Me
The 1977 Sierra Club Calendar
and Almanac for Young People.
Each day is a treasury of nature facts,
writings, lore, crafts, poetry and drawings,
with 13 color illustrations plus project
pages. 88 pages. 10 y4 x 10 M. $4.95
All calendars individually packed
in self-shipping envelopes.
■ ^ ^ At your bookstore or order from ^ ^ ■
Charles Scribner's Sons, Dept. AS
597 Fifth Avenue, New York 10017
Please send me
Sierra Club Engagement Calendar
1977
Sierra Club Wilderness Calendar
1977
Sierra Club Trail Calendar 1977
Sierra Club Wildlife Calendar 1977
What the Forest Tells Me
Name
Address _
City
State.
-Zip..
109
TIME
MACHINE
FOR SALE.
15 FOR SIX
ROUND
TRIPS
Every issue of ARCHAEOLOGY Magazine sends you
on a fascinating voyage to antiquity. And every issue is
truly a collector's item. Rich, full page illustrations, lavish
reproductions of ancient art, front-line reports of excavations
and discoveries, and much more. . .are waiting for you right now.
Published by the Archaeological Institute of America.
ARCHAEOLOGY
THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES
ARCHAEOLOGY - Dept. N-8
260 West Broadway, New York, N.Y 10013
Please send one year's subscription (6 issues) of ARCHAEOLOGY
Check enclosed for $15 Bill me.
Check enclosed for 2 years for $27 Bill me.
Name
Address
City
N-7
. State _
.Zip_
An extraordinary exploration!
DWELLERS
IN THE SEA
DOUGL.4SFAF
Photographs by Douglas Faulkner
Come on an unforgettable voyage. ..from the North Atlantic
Coast, to the Caribbean, to the Galapagos, and the Indo-Pacific
with the great Douglas Faulkner as he records this
extraordinary world on film.
Text by Dr. Barry Fell of Harvard University.
$35.00 untilJan. 1, 1977
READER'S DIGEST PRESS $49.00 thereafter
he does not write like an Englishman;
he writes like a Canadian. His book,
A World of My Own, is subtitled Ad-
venture and Personal Renewal in the
Wilderness. Okay. According to Mr.
Tomkies he was a highly successful
journalist in England and Europe,
jostling elbows and spilling drinks
with "the rich, the illustrious, the
swift" in London, Paris, Rome, Ma-
drid. And then, suddenly, at the age
of forty (like Henry Miller), he gave
it all up in disgust, including the
glamorous women, homesteaded a
few acres on the rockbound coast of
British Columbia, and built him-
self— a log cabin. With the help of a
neighbor, in this case a wise old ex-
logger and carpenter with quaint
speech mannerisms: " 'Hoysters are
good for you,' he said emphatically.
. . . 'Hoysters, heggs and honions!' "
Once he gets a roof over his head the
ex-journalist sits down to complete
his novel, while the northwest rains
pour down all winter long on his
shake roof. Suffering from loneli-
ness, he falls in love with a dog. His
novel is rejected by four different
agents. Not publishers, agents. Natu-
rally dejected, he goes off to watch
grizzly bears with another crusty old
character. Pappy Tihoni, the locally
famous Indian, who mrns out to be
a bigger windbag than Carlos Caste-
nada's Don Juan. Pappy Tihoni talks
like this: "Laddie, one can love hu-
manity only when one is not too
closely involved with it, because then
it becomes a huge, tragic-comic
joke." And so on. Was it Chekhov
who said, "There is no bore like the
provincial celebrity"?
But this is not a bad book. Despite
the cliches that keep raining down,
like the skies of British Columbia, the
author's earnest accomplishments
compel admiration, while some of his
wilderness adventures, as reported,
have the ring of plausibility. At the
end of the book, Tomkies, his spirit
renewed and refreshed, announces
his readiness for a return to "what is
loosely called civilization." He
doesn't say where he is going next but
I can guess: Los Angeles.
The Year-Long Day: One Man 's
Arctic is a work of collaboration be-
tween three people: Ivar Ruud, a
young Norwegian who lived for six
years on Norway's Spitzbergen Is-
land in the far North, and Ann and
Evan Maxwell, professional free-
lance writers and journalists. The
year-long day of the title refers, of
course, to the prolonged days and
Ivar Ruud
lights of the Arctic summer and
ivinter.
Mr. Ruud's life in the Arctic was
irduous, adventurous, and hazard-
Dus. The book describes his work as
i trapper of foxes and as a hunter of
iucks, geese, seals, bears. He travels
3y boat, by skis, by dog team. He
survives blizzards, storms at sea, the
loneliness and boredom of the long,
iark winters, and several hair-raising
encounters with polar bears. The con-
stant struggle with cold and wind
strikes me as a miserable way to make
i living, but Mr. Ruud found it to his
liking and would be there yet, he tells
js, on that bleak and ice-covered is-
land, if the Norwegian government
lad not closed it to hunting and trap-
ping. The book is illustrated with
striking photographs by the protago-
nist; the pictures of polar bears are
especially impressive. Mr. Ruud now
lives in Los Angeles. Can't blame
lim.
Three modest books, as I said. But
Ihe lives they portray, the nerve and
:he daring they reveal, can only
inspire in most of us, slothful
ireamers that we are, feelings of re-
spect and envy.
Edward Abbey is the author of The
Monkey Wrench Gang, a novel, and
several other books.
NOW IN PAPERBACK!
THE CREATION
by Ernst Haas
GENESIS: The Slory ol the Creadon
lold in a series of slunninK. lull color
pholoKraphs by the worlds loremosl
color photographer ErnsI Haas 106
lullcolor plates arranged m llowne
sequences lollowing the opening chap
ters ot the Book o( Genesis: the ele
ments. the seasons, the creatures
these images are a hymn m praise of
the beauty of the earth which man has
inherited and must ardently seek to pro
ted. Already established as a classic
work in hardcover, THE CREATION, is
now reproduced in a high-quality paper
back edition at the incredible price ol
No. 4426 Only $8.95
No. 4417 S35.00 hardcover
BUTTERFLY
MAGIC
The ifide^cenl beauty ol the butterlly s
wings phologfaphed by National Science
Foundation photographer. Kjell B. Sandved
bursts across these pages like brilliant
abstract paintings in harmonious com-
bination with a thorough, fascinating
text by Dr, Michael G, Emsley, Prolessor
ol Biology at George Mason University
76 lull-color photographs
No, 4472 S12.95
VOLCANOES
by Peter Francis
The volcano phenomenon in all it's aspects clearly
explained m this absorbing and well-documented
study A thought-provoking and up-to-date study
of both terrestrial and submarine activity. Illus-
trated with charts, drawings, plus 64 black &
white photographs
No. 4439 S4.95
YOURS FREE
with any book purchase
Ada 75c postage 4 handling charges
for 1 book plus 25C for each aoodionai
I_ Please send me /our Laurel Phoio-
gracfiic Book CATALOG ONLY Enci .s
CHARGE TO h
"„ BankAmeri
ard D Atnencan Enpress
E.D Date
(No CODS
1 0 D»y Moowy Back Gu<f frt—. 275
rip-off
America's Best-Selling Dictionary.
Its where the words live.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary is so vivid the words seem
to come alive. Over 22,000 new words like "rip-off' and "cryonics"
make instant sense to anyone. And crusty old words you could never
quite understand— like "objurgation" — suddenly become child's
play. In fact, everything about it makes words easier to use than
ever before. Which may explain why it's the best-selling dictionary
ever. At only $9.95, it's practically a steal. For your family, office,
or as a gift.
From Merriam- Webster.
Portraits
from
North American
Indian Life
Reproductions of 88 memorable photogravure prints of Edward
S. Curtis portraits bound togetfier into a book, incorporating many of
the best specimens of his "loving and poetic monument" to the North
American Indian. Fascinating cap-
tions describe each Indian life. study,
composed from Curtis' own personal
impressions, his notes and field
records. Insightful introductions by
A.D. Coleman and T.C. McLuhan. 12"
X 9", soft cover $8.50, covers
shipping and handling.
te'MMK^
Selected portfolio of 5 impressive
historic prints, among them a well-
known portrait of the famous
warrior Chief Joseph. Each print is
reproduced directly from the orig- - "- ^
inal Curtis photogravures— ^8" x 14", on high quality stock and
ready to frame. $17.00, covers shipping and handling.
I Natural History Selections, Dept. M100
Box 5123, Des IVIoines, Iowa 50340
Please send me:.. Books at $8.50 each
J Portfolios at $17. OOeach
n My check/money order.payable to Natural History. is enclosed
O I prefer to charge to American Express
Valid ttiru
Signature
fCity
Zip
I MUSEUM MEMBERS, please take 10% discount.
IQCtieck for FREE broctiure. IVIake your own selections of any
5 prints from tfie 24 poetic Curtis prints available, lor same price
as our featured portfolio. No obligation. Send today.
Additional
Reading
Spirits of tiie Dead (p. 12)
Several autobiographical accounts of
field anthropologists' experiences, which
have appeared in Natural History are col-
lected in part 3, "On Natives and Na-
ivete," oiAnts, Indians, and Little Dino-
saurs (New York; Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1975, $8.95). Hortense Powder-
maker's Stranger and Friend: The Ways
of an Anthropologist (New York: W.W.
Norton & Company, 1966, $2.65) gives
accounts of field work in four diverse cul-
tures. The Savage and the Innocent, by
David Maybury-Lewis (Boston: Beacon
Press, 1968, $2.95), recounts his expedi-
tion to central Brazil and the effects of
mutual misinterpretations, distrust, and
other difficulties on his studues. Arnold
Schneebaum's Keep the River on Your
Right (New York: Grove Press, 1969,
$ 1 .95) is a powerful tale of self -discovery
while living among a previously undis-
covered tribe in Peru. Tristes Tropiques,
by Claude Levi-Strauss (translated by J.
and D. Weightman, New York: Athen-
eum Publishers, 1974, $3.95), provides
insights into the author's feelings during
an anthropological and intellectual odys-
sey to South America.
White-taUed Kites (p. 40)
Two sources of background informa-
tion on kites and their place among the
other raptorial birds are Leslie Brown and
Dean Amadon's Eagles, Hawks, and Fal-
cons of the World (New York: McGraw-
Hill Books, 1968) and Arthur Cleveland
Bent's Life Histories of North American
Birds of Prey, published in 1937 as part
of a monumental 23-volume series on the
natural history of our avifauna and now
available as an inexpensive reprint (New
York: Dover Publications, 2 vols., 1958,
$4 each). "Natural History of the White-
tailed Kite in San Diego County, Cali-j
fornia," by J.B. Dixon et al. (Condor,^
1957, vol. 59, pp. 156-65), reports on i
long-term study of nesting, communa
roosting, and other aspects of kite behav-j
ioral ecology. "Range Expansion and
Population Increase in North and Middle!
America of the White-tailed Kite {Elanus
leucurus) , " by Eugene Eisenman (^Amer-
ican Birds, 1971, vol. 25, pp. 529-36),
describes the species' ecological adapta-
tions and its response to habitat changes.
"Recovery of the White-tailed Kite," by
Just Published!
BOILING
VA7HTERS
inouelby
SRRflHfl.MnSSOUR
In this two-part narrative novel, the
author relates in an hypnotically
captivating style, the great mythical
and historical events associated
with the Indians of the Southwest.
Combines vivid legends with
historical fact and fictional charac-
ters. $5.95
At your bookstore or
postpaid from:
VANTAGE PRESS, Inc.
516 W. 34 St.. New York. N.Y. 10001
This Is a complete recording, delivered by Louis
Zoul, of Edward Fitzgerald's 5tli version, and is
the cumulative effort of three men of genius.
It Is followed by a few comments and compari-
sons, and also Pedro Calderon de la Barca's The
Dream Called Lite and Life is a Dream.
Lastly, beginning with Hamlet's soliloquy, there
Is some of Shakespear's best.
Among the kudos we've received, this came from
aprofessor In Ethiopla:"ltls beyond compare!" A
Brooklyn lady wrote: "I play it over and over. It is
my treasure. "While from Canada a gentleman re-
quested:"Becausethe record is such a beauty,
send another one."
A iuperlalive delivery of tupertafive poetry
{10.00
Now there Is also available a companion book. It
is hand bound and printed on high bulk long life
archive book paper. Estimated duration- 500yrs
S15.00
riii5 Applicable Sales Ta»
lo;ly lor N.Y.SIrrI- re,iderl,)
Available Only By Mail
PUBLIC OPINION
Box N -4044 Long Island Crty,
New York 11104
Donald R. Fry, Jr., (Pacific Discovery.
1966, vol. 19, pp. 27-30), discusses ;.
study of one large roosting population in
relation to game managemenl problems
l^c Waian and Rey Stcndell's "The
White-tailed Kile in California, with Ob-
servations of the Santa Barbara Popula-
tion" (California Fish and Game. 1970,
vol . 56, pp. 1 88-98) gives further details
of the kite studies described by Waian in
his present article.
The First GorUla (p 48)
George B. Schaller's The Year of the
Con'//a (Chicago; University of Chicago
Press, 1964, $2.95) recounts his years of
careful field work and his discoveries on
the behavior and ecology of the mountain
gorilla — many of which disf)el the myths
surrounding this giant ajje. Carl E. Ake-
ley's early attempts to study the gorilla
in the wild are described in the Sep-
tember-October 1923 issue of Natural
History ("Gorillas — Real and Mythi-
cal," pp. 428—47). Gorilla mythology
may be traced through Ramona and Des-
mond Morris's Men and Apes (New
York: McGraw-Hill Books, 1966) and
W.C. McDermott's The Ape in Antiquity
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1938).
Paul B. Du Chaillu's Explorations and
Adventures in Equatorial Africa (1 86 1 )
was perhaps the greatest generator of mis-
information concerning gorillas in the
wild. It has been reprinted a number of
times (for example, by Negro Universi-
ties Press, Westport, Connecticut) and
should be available in many libraries.
Two recent books dealing with the great
apes and gorillas are The Apes, by Ver-
non Reynolds (New York: Harper &
Row, 1971, $3.45), and The Gentle
Giants: The Gorilla Story, by Geoffrey
H. Bourne (New York: G.P. Putnam's
Sons, 1975).
Energy from Waste (p. 96)
Wilson Clark's Energy for Survival:
The Alternative to Extinction (New
York: Anchor Press, 1974, $4.95) deals
with a wide range of energy tech-
nologies— from conventional sources
(oil, gas, coal) to the more esoteric (nu-
clear, solar, wind, tides, ocean currents).
The Energy Conservation Papers, edited
by physicist Robert H. Williams (Cam-
bridge: Ballinger Publishing, 1975),
brings together six seminal studies of en-
ergy conservation strategies, including
one on energy from organic waste.
Harold H. Leich's "The Sewerless Soci-
ety" (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,
November 1 975 , pp . 38-44) describes ' ' a
quiet revolution in disposal methods,"
including alternatives to the ubiquitous
flush toilet. A Time to Choose: America 's
Energy Future, by the staff of the Energy
Policy Project of the Ford Foundation
(Cambridge: Ballinger Publishing, 1974,
$3.95), is the final report of a multimil-
lion-dollar study of the growth in U.S.
energy consumption.
Gordon Beckhorn
L.L.Bean
Bean s Chamois
Cloth Robe
Our popular Chamois Ctoth in
a slightly heavier weight
Makes an exceptionaUy soft
and warm knee length
bathrotie. Chamois Cloth is
a rugh graoe lOO".. ootion
flannel thicWy napped on toth
sides Abswtient and long
Jjm wearing, it gels softer and
. <S more comfortable with age
I L^B Macfurw washable
nS Well tailored arxl fully ptopor-
' ^^" tioned t>y one ol the oountr/s
(inest t>athrobe makefs.
Traditional wraparound style
with sash and belt loops Dou-
ble shawl collar, lull length
Sleeves with cuffs and two
roomy waist level pockets-
Breast pocket Length about
13 Weight about i lb 10 oz
Colors Tan and Bright Red Mens sizes Extra Small (34)
Small (36), Medium (38-40), Large (42-44), Extra Large (46).
Smaller sizes lit most women Price. S33.00 postpaid.
n Please send FREE 128-page Fall. 1976 Catalog. Please
Snip Postpaid.
_ Chamois Cloth Robe o $33.00
Size Color
~ Check enclosed ^ Master Charge
^ BankAmericard _ Amencan Express
Name
Address .
City
State
L.L. Bean, Inc.
624 Main Street. Freeport. ME 04033
i^.
Share ttiems
ot Exploring I .
ouier Space; ^
All DYNASCOPES,
including tliis
superb RV-6, 6-incli
available ^''^ *15 Crating
on easy terms! " Charge
Now it's easy to join the thousands of serious
amateurs v/ho have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rev^ards go on tor years! And
It's a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Ctioose From Many DYNASCOPES®
Picking a telescope to fit your needs and your
pocketbook is simple when you select a
DYNASCOPE-the same Instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories—and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable facts be-
fore buying any telescope. Mail
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterion Manufacturing Co.
620 Oakwood Ave.. W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
S TM Registered U.S. Pat. Office
CRfTEfllON MANUFACTURING CO.Dept, NH-72
620 Oakwood Ave,, W. Hartford. Conn. 06110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Name
Address
C ity State_
113
If you're not
afraid to get
a little dirt
on your hands:
That's just about what it's going
to take to perk up the health of our
ailing planet.
Wishing won't make it so. Neither
will pretending that environmental
problems don't exist. That "things
ain't so bad." Nor that there's
nothing one individual could do
about them even if they were.
What our environment needs are
a few realistic, level-headed folks
who are willing to roll up their
sleeves and get down to work in a
thousand small, practical, workable
ways.
And if you'd like some specific
examples, we'd like to send some to
you — free of charge — in the
latest issue of ENVIRONMENT
ACTION BULLETIN, the action
newsletter that's had its shoulder to
the environmental wheel since the
movement's very beginning.
OUR HEAD'S IN THE OZONE,
OUR FEET IN THE TOPSOIL
You'll be surprised when you
see just how much an individual
like you can do to make things
better. In your own backyard. Your
community. And in the course of
your normal, daily life.
And you'll be surprised at just
how much EAB can help.
That's because every single issue
of EAB is especially written to help
your every action have greater
environmental impact.
We'll help you keep a watchful eye
on government and big business.
Recently the FDA approved the
acrylonitrile bottle. EAB was the
very first publication to assess the
dangers of this substance, to dig out
and publish the research indicting
acrylonitrile as an endocrine sys-
tem poison. We gave our readers
the facts and names so they could
add their voice to the call for more
study and an FDA reassessment.
We'll help you solve environ-
mental problems at your local level.
From radioactive waste spills in
Nevada to PCB pollution in Lake
Superior, EAB brings you behind-
the-scenes of the environmental
stories in your area. You'll get the
names of the people and organiza-
tions fighting the good fight in your
own backyard . . . and details of
how you can help.
We'll put you in touch with some
of the sanest, most innovative thinkers
in the world today. Up in Massa-
chusetts for instance, there's a
State Commission on Organic Waste
Recycling. This agency is working
now to reclaim sewage sludge for
use on the land and to compost
urban waste for fertilizer. Couldn't
your state use an agency like that?
Couldn't you help get one started?
And what about the environ-
mental dangers of genetic engi-
neering? Did you know that re-
searchers have put together a never-
before-seen virus that causes cancer
in the highest primates — and per-
haps in man? EAB tells you who's
doing this kind of work and how you
can fight for safety.
And more. Much more, in fact.
Diet, health, agriculture, legislation,
economics — EAB covers the entire
inter-connected environmental
world.
TRY THE LATEST ISSUE ON US
EAB is folksy enough for the
farmer, cogent enough for a college
professor and practical enough for
today's aware business community.
Want to get your hands soiled a
bit?
Send for the latest
issue of EAB — with-
out obligation to ^
subscribe — and '^ 1'
we'll show you
some dandy jf*f /
ways. Just mail
the coupon be-
low.
FREE SAMPLE ISSUE ^ ^
□ Send me the latest issue of ENVI-
RONMENT ACTION BULLETIN
and enter a subscription for 26 biweelcly
issues I'or me. If I decide to receive fu-
ture issues, I agree to pay you $4.95. If
I do not want to receive future copies, I
need only write "cancel" return the in-
voice and owe you nothing. The first is-
sue is mine without obligation.
□ Payment enclosed to save paper and
resources. Send me a full refund if I
decide to cancel. E80003
NAME
STATE.
-ZIP.
ENVIRONMENT ACTION
BULLETIN*
Organic Park, Emmaus, PA 18049
ENVIRONMENT ACTION BULLETIN is a
biweekly newsletter from Rodale Press, pub-
lishers of ORGANIC GARDENING AND
FARMING® and PREVENTION® maga-
zines.
Announcements
A permanent exhibition, the first of its
kind in the world— The Hall of the
Sun — will open at the American Mu-
seum-Hayden Planetarium in late No-
vember. The hall's exhibits, created
through models, graphics, and light-
ing, will explain the sun's role in the
universe and its influence on our daily
lives. Visitors to the hall will first
enter a red- and orange-hued gallery
where they will learn how the sun in-
fluences climate, how it creates wind
and produces food, and how its en-
ergy can be utilized. Using levers and
wheels , visitors will be able to manip-
ulate many of the exhibits. The hall's
second gallery will explain the sun's
role in the universe. Rotating models
of the sun and earth at either end of
the gallery will show the comparative
sizes of these two bodies. A laser
beam encased in lucite and running
between the two models will mark off
their distance from each other. Exhib-
its using lighting reflected in mirrors
will simulate the surface and interior
of the sun. Other exhibits will explain
the sun's energy capacity and its his
tory. The hall will also have a small
theater where continuous films will be
shown.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the
Museum, "Follow the Sun" will
continue through November 29. This
Sky Show explores the nature of our
nearest star, its source of energy, the
changes it undergoes, some of its in-
fluences on earth, and its place in the
universe. Ancient societies wor-
shiped the sun and followed its mo-
tion, often performing elaborate ritu-
als in an attempt to gain some control
over its activities. Today, astron-
omers follow the sun hour-by-hour
with sophisticated solar instruments
and record outbursts of magnetic
storms, giant eruptive prominences,
and violent solar flares that send large
amounts of radiation into space.
\rchitect's model of The Hall of the Sun
QUESTAR PHOTOGRAPHS
THE FACE OF THE SUN
This photograph, taken some years ago
during a peak of solar activity, not only
shows great detail in the enormous
sunspot, but reveals the "orange peel"
or "rice groin" texture of the surface, so
familiar to experienced sun observers.
Photographing the sun's detail, with Its
granulations that measure only 1 to 2
seconds of ore, should be a job for the
great mountointop observatories, where a
giant telescope can avoid sighting through
the worst of the earth's heot-agifated air.
However, this picture was taken with the
7-pound portable Questor at midday, right
through the earth's entire atmosphere, at
sea level! Exposure, 1/1000 second on
35 mm. Microfile film; effective focal length
over 50 feet. Our photographic print fails
to show all the beautiful tracery so plainly
visible on the negative.
For totally safe observation of the sun,
Questor 20 years ago developed its
patented filters which keep more than
99% of the damaging heat and light from
entering the telescope. This was the first
thought anyone had given to keeping
these rays out of the instrument itself since
Galileo sighted through his first telescope
in 1609!
© QUESTAR CORPORATION 1971
Send lor the Questar booklet describing the
world's finest, most versatile telescope; in full
color with 1 50 photographs by Questar owners.
$1 covers mailing on this continent. B/ air,
to South America $3.00; Europe and North Africa,
$3.50; elsewhere, $4.00.
QUESTAR
Box 60 New Hope, Pa. 18938
Indians
in the
Northeast
The 1977
Natural History Calendar
deluxe edition published by
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
A photographic celebration of the
unique quality and character of these
handsome people. Brilliant color studies
of current life provide a rich contrast to
stark black and white prints from the
first quarter of this century. 15 in all, and
all deserving to be framed, including 3
full-size 12" X 18" spreads.
Full color, high gloss stock.
Order early for gifts. With
envelope, $4.00.
Natural History Calendar, Dept. C550
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me calendars at
$4.00 each. My check/money order for
a total of $ is enclosed.
(Third Class postage is included. Add SOgeach
for First Class Mail.)
Name
Address
(please print)
City
Stale
Zip
Museum members may take a 10% discount'.
Shows begin at 2:00 p.m. and 3:30
P.M. on weekdays, with more fre-
quent showings on weekends. Ad-
mission is $2.35 for adults and $1.35
for children and students (special
rates for groups and senior citizens).
The following Field Study Tours are
scheduled for 1977.
Anthropology Tour to Morocco —
A journey through Moroccan cities
and countryside to the famous medi-
eval city of Fes, the souks of Marra-
kech, the camel markets at Sijil-
massa, and into the Sahara Desert;
visits will be made to Berber villages
and to archeological sites and muse-
ums in Tangier, Rabat, Roman Volu-
bilis and Lixus.
Geology Tour of Iceland and
Greenland — Iceland, a land of ice
and fire that straddles the Mid- Atlan-
tic Ridge, continues to be reshaped
by crustal movements, volcanic ac-
tivity and glaciation. Greenland has
some of earth's oldest rocks as well
as North America's largest single ice
mass. Visits will be made to Eskimo
coastal villages.
Other tours are Archeology Tour to
Mexico, Archeology Tour to Maya
Mesoamerica, Archeology Tour to'
South America, Wildlife Tour to
Alaska: Giant of the North, East Afri-
can Geological Safari, Field Geology
of the Grand Canyon, Weekend Field
Trip for Bird Enthusiasts, and Week-
end Field Trip in Geology. For details
on fees and dates write to Museum
Tours or call 873-7507.
The Special Gem Exhibit of the Hall
of Minerals and Gems on the first
floor of the Museum has been ex
tended through November. On dis
play are the Tiffany Diamond, the Eu
genie Blue, the Zale Light of Peace
and three new additions: the Bicen-
tennial Diamond Necklace, crafted in
1776 by order of George III of Eng-
land, which contains nearly 500 dia-
monds totaling 330 carats; the Flam-
ing Star, a flawless, exceptionally
rare pear-shaped diamond, which
weighs 18.52 carats and fluoresces
with a vivid red glow; and the Golden
Hope, a naturally-colored, cushion
cut yellow diamond weighing 44.35
carats and set in a diamond, gold, and
platinum pin.
Note: The main auditorium of the
Museum will be closed to the public
through January 1977. Weekly film
programs will be held in the Educa-
tion Hall on the first floor.
ii6
Says Miss Dietrich: "Brazil isn't a country. It's a poem." In Brazil, you
find the niost beautiful baroque churches m the Western Hemisphere and
the world's most startling modern architecture. You experience the pan-
demonium of a Rio soccer game and the perfect peace of jungle rivers
where the only sounds are birds. Brazil is yesterday— colonial towns
that have remained in the 17th century. And it's Brasilia, a surrealist's
dream. But mostly it's people who move like dancers, talk Kke songs,
and smile like friends. Travelers don't simply
like Brazil, they go mad for the place.
You can spend seven nights m Bio for
as little as $63Ct including roundtnp
airfare, first class hotel full Brazilian
breakfasts, transfer services and
sightseeing tours. See your travel agent
For this beautiful 112 page booklet
on Brazil call 800-447-4700 (toll free).
In Illinois cafl 800-322-4400.
In Canada write: Brazilian Travel Offer,
Box 3900, Peona, 1. 61614.
(^EMBRATUft /BRAZILIAN TOURISM AUTHORITY
MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE
'Based on Miami departure. Similar tours available for departure from New Yorl< ($674)
and Los Angeles ($804). Rates are per person, double occupancy.
'**■: -'^-
The 1977 Lincoln Continental sets a
high standard for luxury cars. Full-
sized, full-luxury, to give you the
pleasures of space, of comfort, of su-
perb handling on the highway.
That's because it's a Continental. Un-
mistakable from its redesigned front
end to its winning Lincoln ride.
For 1977, some luxury cars are smaller
than last year.
For 1977, Lincoln Continental retains
its traditional luxtiry car size.
We believe it's a luxury car that meets
your standards.
Lincoln Continental. A standard
by which luxury cars are judged.
LINCOLN CONTINEr
LINCOLN-MERCURY DIVISION ^
NATURAL HISTORY
DECEMBER 1976 • $1.26
It odds something to your life to possess
these beauties of nature. By Aynsley whose
heroic achievements as a Stoke-On-Trent
potter have been hailed since 1775. Even
this year, the Queen of England celebrated
America's bicentennial by bringing a
noble Aynsley eagle to Boston. There's o
whole porcelain jungle of animals & birds
sculpted by Aynsley Write for free full-color
brochure Aynsley Bone China, 225 Fifth
Ave, New York, NY. 10010. (It's the English
member of the Waterford Crystal family]
"*"*'
;-^P^'' .
NATURAL HISTORY
Incorpuralitin Nutun' Mufiuijru
Vol. LXXXV. No. 10
December 1976
llw Amt'ri( an Museum of Natural History
Robert C. Goelet. President
Thomas D. Nicholson. Director
Alan Ternes, Editor
Thomas Page. Designer
Board of Editors:
Sally Lindsay, Frederick Harttnann,
Christopher Hallowell
Carol Brestin. Book Reviews Editor
Florence G. Edelstein. Copy Chief
Gordon Beckhorn. Copy Editor
Angela Soccodato. Art Asst.
Diane Pierson. Editorial Assl.
Lillian Berger
Rosamoi^d Dana, Publications Editor
Editorial Advisers:
Dorothy E. Bliss. Mark Chartrand,
Niles Eldredge, Margaret Mead
Thomas D. Nicholson, Gerard Piel,
Martin Prinz, Francois Vuilleumier
David D. Ryus, Publisher
L. Thomas Kelly, Business Manager
Sue Severn. Production Manager
Daniel White, Marketing Manager
Ernestine Weindorf, Administrative Asst.
Eileen O'Keefe, Business Asst.
Laurie G. Warhol
Ann Brown, Circulation Manager
Elvira Lopez, Asst.
Harriet Walsh
Publication Office: The American Museum
of Natural History, Central Park West
at 79th Street. New York, N.Y. 10024.
Published monthly, October through May;
bimonthly June to September.
Subscriptions: $10.00 a year. In Canada
and all other countries: $12.00 a year.
Second-class postage paid at
New York, N. Y. and at additional offices.
Copyright © 1976 by The
American Museum of Natural History.
No part of this periodical may be
reproduced without written consent of
Natural History. The opinions expressed
by authors do not necessarily reflect the
policy of The American Museum.
Natural History incorporating
Nature Magazine is indexed in
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Advertising Office: Natural History,
420 Lexington Avenue.
New York. N. Y. 10017
Telephone: (212) 686-1234
Change of address notices, undeliverable
copies, orders for subscriptions.
and other mail items are to be sent to
Natural History
Membership Services, Box 6000
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
2
8
16
20
24
33
38
48
58
68
70
74
86
88
93
102
104
Cover:
Authors
A Native Replies John L. Gwaltney
Informants reply differently when the questioner is a blind Black anthropologist.
A Naturalist at Large George M. Woodwell
Managing the Earth 's Surface
Letters
This View of Life Stephen Jay Gould
The Advantages of Eating Mom
A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokolov
An Even, Gentle Heat
The Bubble Trade Horace Beck
Along the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, smuggling is an honorable, if
not legal, profession.
A Pelican Synchrony Fritz L. Knopf
For their young to survive, these large water birds form into timed breeding
colonies.
Master Design of the Inca Craig Morris
The transport network of this carefully planned empire rivaled the roads
of the Romans.
Celestial Events Thomas D. Nicholson
The Search for the Culloden Henry W. Moeller and Steven A. Giordano
Curio-hunting divers continue to plunder our maritime heritage.
Golden Trout in Trouble Margaret F. Gold and John R. Gold
"Coffee pot" transplants nearly a century ago have confused the heritage of
this beautiful California fish.
The Market
Sky Reporter Stephen P. Maran
The Splitting of Comet West
An Exhibit in Review Gerald Oster
The Deceiving Eye
Additional Reading
Announcements
Its nuptial crest feathers and the "horn" on its bill signify that
this North American white pelican is in breeding condition.
Photograph by Herbert Clarke. Story on page 48.
IntroducingThe
Christian Brothers
Estate Bottled
Select NapaWley
Napa Fume.
We are still a bit old-fashioned
about many of the steps in making our
wines here in our Napa Valley
winery. But through the years, we, and
others, have added immensely to
our knowledge and methods.
We are now pleased to introduce
a wine we believe draws on the best of
the old and the new: our Napa Fume.
This is a pale gold wine, made
wholly from Sauvignon Blanc grapes
grown in our own vineyards. These
grapes, among the first to ripen, have
a delightful fresh taste and fragrance.
To capture this quality, we fer-
ment the juice in special temperature-
controlled cooperage at 50? This cold
fermentation keeps the fruitiness and
aroma in the wine. It also enhances
the trace of "fuming" or smokiness
that inspired the descriptive name.
Afterward Napa Fume is ma-
tured and then bottle aged in our own
tradition until it is ready for your
table.
I believe you
will find our Napa
Fume one of the
great white wines
of the Napa Valley
and an ideal com-
panion to light meats, omelettes, fish,
fowl, and cheese dishes. If your wine
merchant does not have it available,
you may write to me.
Cellarmaster
The Christian Brothers
Napa Valley, California 94558
V\Jor\d.%x}\d.e Dhivhutors,- Fromm and Siche/, Inc.,
San Francisco, Ca/i/omia.
Authors
While sailing his sloop in the Car-
ibbean in 1970, Horace Beck discov-
ered that smuggling, a predominant
activity among the islanders, was
closely tied to their folklore. Beck,
who teaches American literature at
Middlebury College, has researched
maritime folk cultures for more than
30 years, sailing along the coasts of
New England, eastern Canada, and
west Africa, as well as several Euro-
pean countries. His love of sailing has
brought him into close rapport with
the people of maritime societies, who
are often well versed in their native
folklore. Beck's next project will be
a comparison of indigenous whaling
methods at Saint Vincent in the West
Indies with those of the Tonga Islands
of the South Pacific.
The decline of the brown pelican —
mainly because DDT weakened its
eggshells — first raised Fritz L.
Knopf's concern about these large
water birds. When he found that little
was known about general pelican bi-
ology, he began a study of the natural
history of white pelicans. At present
he is investigating the food habits and
foraging sites of both pelicans and
cormorants at Pyramid Lake, Ne-
vada. Knopf, an assistant professor in
the Department of Ecology at Okla-
homa State University, also plans to
do a comparative study of ecological
relationships of pronghorn antelopes
in short- and mixed-grass prairies.
His avocation is photography.
Craig Morris became interested in
the vast network of Inca roads and
cities while researching the complex-
ity of Inca storage facilities for his
doctorate in anthropology. He began
to study Huanuco Pampa, one of the
largest settlements, in 1965. Now a
curator of South American arche-
ology at The American Museum of
Natural History, Morris estimates
that his research on Huanuco Pampa
will take at least three more years of
sorting, classifying, and cataloging.
Besides unraveling the details of Inca
organization, Morris likes to cook,
renovate old houses, and listen to
classical music while working in his
laboratory.
wmam
Why people who don't join book clubs
ore joining the Quolity Poperbock Book Club
QPB is the only book club that offers tfie best of thie large-size.
well-printed, durable paperbacks being published today. OPB also
gives a 20% discount on most Selections and even greater
discounts on many other books.
274. $4,96 112. S5.95
345. POWER SHIFT: The Rise ol
the Southern Rim and lis Challenge
to the Eastern Estahllshment by
KirkpalrickSale S3, 95
304. AMERICA IN 1876: The Way
We Were By Lally Weymoulh
Designed by Milton Glaser S7.95
275. AN ALMANAC OF WORDS AT
PLAYbyWillardR Espy S6 95
371,56.95
364. S3.95
Against
rwEN^i
IWDMEN
' AND
^ ■ *
_RAPE
W-
RnmnmlliiT
»
175. MARILYN: A Biography by
Norman IMaiier More Inan 1 00
photographs. S6.95
179. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
by Carl Bernstein ant) Bob
Woodward Photos S4.95
307. THE FOLK MUSIC
SOURCEBOOK by Larry Sandberg
and Dick Weissman S7.95
347, ILLUSTRATED ANTHOLOGY
OF SORCERY. MAGIC. AND
ALCHEMY by EmileGrilioldeGiviy
S795
296 HOW TO FIX ALMOST
EVERYTHING bv Stanley Schuier
New Reused Eoilion iiluslraled
S595
348, PEANUTS JUBILEE: My Lite
and Art with Charlie Brown and
Others by Charles M Schuiz S7.95
361 PORTRAIT OF PASTA by
Anna Del Come Phologiaplis $5.95
114 THE COMPLETE GRIMMS
FAIRYTALES Iniioduciiori by
Padiaic Coium liiuslialed S5,95
129 BODY HOT SPOTS: The
Anatomy ol Human Social Organs
and Behavior by R Dale Guthrie
S3 95
228 sn 90
261 S895
'.fit
290, THE COMPLETE NOVELS OF
JANE AUSTEN by Jane Austen 2
Vols I Pub prices loialS7.90
132 CATS CRADLE
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE and
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS Oy
KurtVonnegut (3 vols i Pub prices
total S8.35
253 THE ADVENTURES OF
SHERLOCK HOLMES and THE
MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
by A Conan Doyle 2 Vols lllus
Pub prices totals? 90
252 PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK
by Annie Dillard S3.95
Letp t^^ eac^ o't^icx'
CHOOSE ANY 3 BOOKS
OR SETS FOR ONLY $1 EACH...
with no obligation to buy another book . . .
and as a member you'll immediately qualify
for our Free Book Plan
366. S6.95
355. S4.50
i
239. PSYCHOTHERAPY EAST &
WEST, NATURE, MAN, AND
WOMAN and THE WAY OF ZEN by
Alan Wans 13 Vols I Pub prices
lotai S5.85
360. APARTMENT GREENERY
Growing Plants in Unpromising
Places by Jean F. Blashlield
Illustrated. S4.95
270. THE JAZZ BOOK From New
Orleans to Rock and Free Jazz by
Joachim Berendt New Revised
Edition, 35.95
305. THE CONSCIOUS BRAIN by
Steven Rose. Updated edition
Illustrated. 54.95
171.AMERIKA,THETRIALand
THE CASTLE by Franz Kafka
(3 Vols.) Pub prices total S7.35
Jjl® QUALITY PAPERBACK
OoO BOOK CLUB, INC.
V^ 0*«9' The Book Club of the 'TOs
Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057
QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB, INC.
Middletown. Pennsylvania 17057
6-06113-12
ose numbers I've indicaled
)er. t am not required to bi
an established publishers
e the OPB Review for at le
•ship at any time thereafter
ilh period. A shipping chat
le Quality Paperback Book Club and send me the three books or
n the bo.xes below. Bill me only S3 for all three, plus shipping- As
i\ another book but for evei^- Main Selection I do buy for which
ist price. I will receive a 20% discount of such list price. You will
1st six months with the understanding that you may cancel my
if I have not made — and paid for — at least one purchase in any
2e is added to all shipments.
INDICATE BY NUMBER YOUR
THREE BOOKS OR SETS
HOW MEMBERSHIP WORKS
I. You will receive the QPB Review fifteen times
S I each), you earn at least one Bonus Point, and
a year — about everv 3' ;> weeks. This informative
the Bonus Points you accumulate entitle vou to
catalog describes the Main Selection plus
free books and sets. (You pav only shipping
approximately one hundred Alternates. On any
charges.)
Main Selection you decide to take, for which
4. Return Privilege. If your Review is delayed in
there is an established publisher's list price, you
the mail and therefore you receive the Main
will receive a discount of 20% of such list price.
Selection without having had ten days to notify
us if vou did not want it, vou may return that
2. If vou want the Main Selection, do nothing, li
Selection at our expense.
5. Cancellation privilege. You may cancel your
will be shipped lo vou automatically If you want
membership whenever you wish simply by noti-
all—just indicate your decision on the reply
fying us. We will send vou the QPB Review for
form alwavs enclosed with the Review and re-
at least six months with the understanding that
turn It by the date specified.
we may cancel your membership at any time
3. Free books. For every book or set you buy
thereafter if you have not made — and paid for —
(exclusive of your three introductory choices for
at least one purchase in any six-month period.
LET HIM GROW WITH A
QUESTAR
A child's wonder at the world about him
can hold a promise, for many a scientist
can remember that his present preoccupa-
tion with the universe began with an
intense curiosity early in life.
Such a child will learn to master many
tools, and the telescope, that prime tool
of science, should be the first. A flawless
tool is an extension of the mind and hand,
and a fine telescope should combine such
mechanical and optical perfection that it
can serve for a lifetime and never become
a frustration whatever the critical job at
hand. Questar, the very finest, is such a
tool and its lovely versatility adds an
extra dimension to many fields: astron-
omy, of course, but also to disciplines
that are terrestrial in nature. Whether it
will be used for research, or simply for
the pure enjoyment of observing wildlife,
even indoors, perhaps, where its high
powers can focus on the web-spinning
of a house spider at a distance of ten feet,
it is a gift for ever. And its easy portability
can take it wherever one travels.
What other tool could you buy a child
that not only would enchant and amuse
him in his early awakening, but would
continue to serve him all his life?
© Questar Corporation 1976
QUESTAR, THE WORLDS FINEST, MOST VERSATILE
TELESCOPE IS PRICED FROM S865 SEND FOR OUR
BOOKLET IN FULL COLOR WITH 150 PHOTOGRAPHS
BY QUESTAR OWNERS SI COVERS MAILING ON THIS
CONTINENT: BY AIR, TO SOUTH AMERICA, S3 00:
EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA, $3 50 ELSEWHERE, $4
QUESTAR
Box BOG, New Hope. Pa, 18938
The Standard Questar
ts beautiful star c
e Field Model,
; tripod mounted.
Marine botanist Henry W.
Moeller discovered the wreck of the
Cu/Zoden entirely by accident. Part of
his work as a researcher at the New
York Ocean Science Laboratory in
Montauk, Long Island, is to assess
the potential of growing Irish moss on
a commercial basis. While skin div-
ing off the tip of Long Island in search
of varieties of the plant, Moeller hap-
pened to spot some of the ship's
timbers lying on the sea bottom. A
teacher at Dowling College in addi-
tion to his duties at NYOSL,
Moeller's avocation is marine ar-
cheology and Long Island marine his-
tory. In pursuing his hobby, he has
sighted a dozen wrecks. Steven A.
Giordano, a marine technician at
NYOSL, has assisted Moeller with
both his seaweed experiments and his
archeological interests.
Margaret F. Gold worked with
her husband, John, in the Little Kern
River basin of California's Sierras,
collecting specimens of golden trout
and doing general surveys of the fish
populations and the physical charac-
teristics of trout streams in the area.
A naturalist. Gold spent this past
summer completing a field study on
the ethology of the'Belding's ground
squirrel. John R. Gold is an assistant
professor of genetics at Texas A & M
University, where he is studying the
genetics and evolution of fishes. He
plans to research the cytological
aspects of speciation in North Ameri-
can freshwater fishes and the system-
atics and evolution of Pacific North-
west trouts. From 1973 to 1975, he
investigated hybridization between
endemic golden trout and introduced
rainbow trout in the Sierras.
¥)ur hands know it^s a Minolta,
You can sense the care and c
manship that goes into a Minolta
tronn the moment you pick one up. It
feels comfortable. The controls are
so logically positioned that your fin-
gers fall into place naturally. Every-
thing works with such smooth
precision that the camera feels like a
part of you.
A Minolta lets you respond in-
stantly to the images all around you.
You never have to look away from
the viewfinder to make adjustments,
so you won't lose sight of even the
fastest moving subjects. The image
remains big and bright because the
lens stays wide open until the instant
you shoot. And Minolta's patented
"CLC" system accurately handles
even tricky high contrast exposure
problems.
For another point of view with a
Minolta SLR, you can choose from
more than 40 lenses in the superbly
crafted' Rokkor-X or Minolta/Celtic
systems. They range from 7,5mm
fisheye to 1600mm super-telephoto,
and include some exceptional macro
and zoom lenses. All attach with flaw-
less fit to Minolta's patented bayonet
mount. And
interchange in sec-
onds without ASA in-
dexing orf/stop realignment'
Minolta offers a wide range of
electronic and match-needle SLRs.
With a choice of features to match
your needs and budget.
Electronic Minoltas have smooth,
quiet shutters that automatically ad-
just speeds up to the i nstant you shoot
for unparalleled exposure accuracy
Three models, the professional XK,
the deluxe XE-7 and the economical
XE-5 let you select from a host of
creative and convenience features
such as interchangeable finders and
focusing screens, speedsto1/2000th
of a second, multiple exposure capa-
bility and built-in hot shoe,
Minolta SR-T cameras offer a
broad range of features at remark-
ably low prices. All have match-
needle exposure adjustment, shutter
speeds to 1 /1 000th of a second and
Minolta's traditional human engineer-
ing for fast, effortless handling. Mul-
tiple exposure capability, built-in hot
shoe, self-timer memo holder and
film safe load signal are among the
feature choices available with the
SR-T 202, SR-T 201 and SR-T 200,
Regardless of the model you
choose, you get the superb Minolta
handling that lets you quickly and
easily translate the vision in your
mind to your film.
So see your Minolta dealer and
let him put a Minolta in your hands.
For literature, write Minolta Corpora-
tion, 101 Williams Drive, Ramsey New
Jersey 07446, In Canada: Anglo-
photo, Ltd PQ
Minolta
When you are the camera
and the camera is you.
^.T-^
Introducing the Continental Mark V.
In the tradition of excellence
of the original Continental...
Continental Mark II. ..Mark III... Mark IV.
Continental MarkV.
A Mark of tradition.
CONTINENTAL MARK V
LINCOLN-MERCURY DIVISION C
For people
who are still
individuals . ,
the Irish country hat
Each Irish country hat is hand-
crafted with pride by skilled artisans
on the wild, western coast of Ireland.
These hats are created by individuals,
not production
lines, and are de-
signed to become an
extension of your
own personality.
Shape your Irish
hat to suit yourself, j
The style of your
hat can say a lot.
That's why the Irish ^^'"''t'rln'c'c"''''
hat leaves the final " '
shape up to you.
The hand-woven
tweed is extra thick,
and fully lined in
the crown. It sheds
rain, protects from
the wind, and can
give you a comfort-
able shade from the
sun.
Irish country hats
are made exclusively for Norm
Thompson, and come in grey or
broivn tweed mixes. Sizes: 6I/2-8. Sat-
isfaction guaranteed. Each: $16.50.
Add $1 for postage and handling.
You have full return privileges.
IDept. 03-25
1805 N.W. Thurman
Portland, Ore. 97209
Order TOLL FREE anytime 800-547-6712
(excluding Oregon, Hawaii & Alaska)
Irish Hat(s) Qty.' Size Brown Gray
llonn1lioinpson>
Men's 1200B
Women's 1209
n Check enclosed D BankAmericard
D Master Charge
Card # Interbank #
Sig. X Exp. Date
D Send FREE catalog. "Escape from
the ordinary" ®
Name
Add ress
City
_Zip_
A Native Replies
by John L. Gwaltney
If any hearts and minds are to
be won, anthropology must
accept a diversity of views
The native replies to the living lie
of the colonial situation by an equal
falsehood.
Frantz Fanon
I was certainly born a native of the
natives as a kindly fortune saw fit to
deposit me in a great, extended Black
American family. Like most people,
I suppose, I felt that I had been fortu-
nately situated by the great god
chance. The only disadvantages I was
sensible of as a child were those that
were the necessary consequence of
blindness. It was to minimize this dis-
ability that my mother, who held the
portfolios for defense and foreign re-
lations in our family, initiated a
lengthy exchange with the demon
officialdom. Eventually these negoti-
ations reached White House level as
our "first lady" believed Eleanor
Roosevelt to be a member of a piti-
fully small company for whom a Cau-
casoid status had not proven to be an
insurmountable moral impediment.
All this summitry culminated in the
decision to dispatch me to what were
then known as sight-saving classes.
Because such classes were conducted
in schools located beyond the bound-
aries of my Casbah, my formal edu-
cation involved an inordinate amount
of dealing with foreigners.
In school I learned, among other
things, how White people distort his-
tory— and then I came home and
learned, among other things, how
Black people distort it. Much of what
I learned in school was not designed
to reinforce my conviction that I had
been born at least as well as anyone
else, but those worthy and reverend
Black elders who were quietly intent
upon the forging of my soul drew me
out with such consummate grace that
the hurt sustained by my native mind
was often assuaged before I was fully
aware of the pain. It did not require
much time or sagacity to arrive at the
sacred conclusion that native (Afro-
American) and settler (Euro-Ameri-
can) views on almost any issue of
substance, not to mention a Fundy
tide of trivia, were diametrically op-
posed. I cannot recall a time in my
conscious existence when I was not
aware of an astronomical dichotomy
between "the people," my people,
Black people; and Buckra, Charlie,
or "the Man."
More than the shadow of this
schism had been cast upon my pre-
school consciousness by the most
reverend of those Black elders, my
paternal grandfather, who was a saga-
cious, self-taught classicist and
Hausa scholar whose equanimity, in-
tegrity, and encyclopedic knowledge
made him the leader of a large
kindred. He, like most Black elders
I knew , held privately but tenaciously
to the view that White people were
genetically incapable of the broad
process of civilization. He did not
question the Caucasoid capacity as a
perfectly adequate tribe of smiths and
tinkers, but he did entertain formi-
dable reservations about the ability of
White men to use the strange and
awesome fruit of their forges with
anything like wisdom and deliber-
ation. The existence of individuals
and groups that seemed to validate
Caucasoid pretensions to more than
purely mechanical sufficiency was at-
tributed to the antiquity and perva-
siveness of the practice of "passing"
or charged to that reprehensible
treasure!
iiesday, December 7
p.in./7 p.in. Central*
in Public Television
Gulf welcomes you to another
exciting National Geographic
Season on PBS.
Last year Gulf Oil Corporation made it possible for two great
Amencan institutions to bring you some of the seasons most
exciting television.
Gulfs three-year commitment to the National Geographic
Society and the Public Broadcasting Service goes beyond the usual
corporate grant. We not only want to bring high-quality programs
to the American audience; we want to strengthen Public
Television, too.
The eight new specials you'll see over the next two years are
onginal American-made documentaries produced by the National
Geographic Society and WQED/Pittsburgh, a PBS production
center.
Gulf funded the project because we believe that the future of
Pubhc Television depends on creating as well as broadcasting
exceptional programming.
We're also commiitted to bringing a wider audience to PBS.
So we've provided funds to promote the National Geographic
Specials on both a national and local level. Judging from the
response to the first season, millions of Americans are now more
aware of the exciting programs they can see only on Public
Television.
Now we're ready for the Second National Geographic Season
on PBS. We hope the millions who enjoyed the National
Geographic Specials last year will be back this year.
It's another exciting season on Public Television.
mania for co-optation that had moved
Europeans to "whiten up" the Lower
Nile Valley and every other square
centimeter of the historically better
neighborhood.
About two decades before my
birth, W.E.D. Stokes, a once well-
known southern White horsebreeder
and sometime contributor to the basi-
cally racist eugenics fad, concluded
that the best future that bountiful na-
ture held out for Blacks was that of
a "satisfactory servant class." My
grandfather and Mr. Stokes consid-
ered essentially the same evidence
and arrived at equally erroneous con-
clusions. Natives and settlers have
been doing that since the fluctuation
of power occasioned the distinction
between the two.
Native speculation about the defi-
ciencies of settlers is ever rife. The
question, "What is wrong with this
man"?'' has engendered at least as
much in the way of lively exchange
among Blacks as that sophistic query,
"What do they really want?" pro-
vides among settlers. Both questions
are surface manifestations of deep
currents of ethnocentrism. Among
natives, settlers are presumed to be-
have the way they do because of the
way they think. As settler behavior
often displays a kind of rampant in-
sensitivity and barbarism, it is a com-
mon native assumption that settlers
are incapable of "correct" thinking.
The most wretched of natives is
convinced by intercommunal daily
life that natives are better people than
settlers. This general feeling of moral
supremacy is not just the workings of
ethnocentrism, but a necessary con-
sequence of the settler monopoly of
power. Arrogance and rudeness, con-
scious and otherwise, flourish in
equality's palmiest days, but become
truly rampant as indispensable con-
comitants of the institutionalization
of unfairness. Natives and settlers see
everything, from the heavens to the
hells, differently. The children of
guilty wardens and the heirs of those
who have survived the transgenera-
tional concentration camp of slavery
cannot possibly take the same view of
their common history. When I was a
child I thought the omnipresent diver-
gence was immutable because the
disparity between native and settler
was a natural chasm.
Even when education diverges
least from indoctrination, it is danger-
ous stuff. It was on a Wednesday
morning in the fifth year of my service
in the elementary galleys that I expe-
rienced my first secular revelation.
Dr. Margaret Mead was piped into
our classroom, courtesy of CBS. On
first looking into Mead's Oceania, I
was impressed by distant places and
the alliterative ring of Melanesian
and Polynesian names, but the truly
astounding thing about that presenta-
tion was the idea that the acquisition
of knowledge of other people for hu-
manistic, rather than strategic, con-
siderations was an acceptable en-
deavor. My interest in geography ex-
panded geometrically. Life hardly
ever links currents with single,
clearly definable sources, but that
series of broadcasts, and more espe-
cially Dr. Mead's introduction to an-
thropology in them, acquainted me
with a humanism above mere com-
munalism. If there is an honorable
medium that can assist natives and
settlers to see each other as people
worth listening to, and learning from,
anthropology still seems the most
likely candidate to me.
During the course of my training
for a place in this discipline, and dur-
ing the decade or so that I have been
trying to teach people its salient
premises, I have not met one anthro-
pologist, native or settler, who has
not manifested a desire to see anthro-
pology as a medium of human toler-
ance and understanding. I have never
met an anthropologist who would
publicly subscribe to the notion that
anthropology should content itself
with being just another representative
chip off the old hierarchical block.
Indeed, there is a palpable recogni-
tion that social science has a high ob-
ligation to exceed the limits of a mo-
nodimensional social cult. Yet, every
other native and many a settler I
know in this profession senses a flaw
in the discipline. In a word, it is pa-
rochialism. The settler view predomi-
nates. Often natives do not recognize
their ethnicities as conventionally de-
scribed in the largely settler-gen-
erated literature. One reputable na-
tive anthropologist, William S.
Willis, Jr., has even suggested that
"ethnographic monographs are sim-
ply novels and that theoretical con-
cepts are but daydreams." A settler-
skewed anthropology does not appear
to be the most likely discipline to
avoid the disorder and early sorrow
that seem the reward of parochial
cults, especially those with univer-
salist pretensions.
Recently the Social Science Re-
search Council held a conference that
assembled a large sample of social
scientists of widely varying, power-
disadvantaged ethnicities. They were
unanimous in the belief that they ex-
perience much greater difficulty in
getting into print than do settler social
scientists. Many of these scholars
were of the opinion that certain of
their concepts would never be ac-
cepted for publication, not because
those ideas were silly or beyond sane
consideration, but because they were
anathema to conventional settler
ways of thinking. The American An-
thropological Association's Commit-
tee on Minorities and Anthropology
conducted a study of the condition of
minorities in anthropology and con-
cluded in its 1973 report that
The non-European anthropologist,
thus, faces a double bind. He is in-
vited to come into anthropology
because he has a different perspec-
tive. When he expresses this view,
he is punished by having his grade
lowered or by being criticized.
The student's spontaneous percep-
tions are, in this manner, discour-
aged or kicked out of him, and he
is expected to fulfill the role of ap-
prentice by incorporating the ac-
cepted perspective. These prob-
lems were referred to by some of
our respondents as the "psychic
pitfalls" in anthropology. Ways
have to be developed wherein the
student is encouraged to express,
and the professional not discour-
aged from publishing, the minor-
ity perspective, even if it does not
fit the usual manuscript category
which comes across the editor's
desk.
The most recent personal example
of this kind of "psychic pitfall" is a
three-page paternalistic jeremiad and
tyro's catechism which came to me
courtesy of the editor of a journal of
medium obscurity. After a whole-
some harangue on the respon-
sibilities and canons of the profes-
sional life, there was a kindly assur-
ance that my article was indeed pos-
sessed of the possibility of profes-
sional merit and a generous predic-
tion that I might even make valuable
contributions to social science. The
solicited manuscript was deemed
praiseworthy in every respect save
one, but true to his settler patriarchal
responsibility, this prince among ed-
itors did not shrink from his duty to
inform me that any merit I might at-
tain was very directly dependent
upon a change in my logic, which
was deemed to be utterly lacking.
(
The mood: cozg
The company: delightful.
The drink: j^HuV) & Coffee.-
I
/^
^^^X^ "■'^'
\ll
'.^Va, s. a. g^^
Think about it. Kahlua in
steaming hot coffee If you
like, add a twist of lemon
or lime. What a delicious
way to spend, or end, a day
While you're in the mood . . . send
for the Kahlua recipe book. Our
pleasure. Because you deserve something nice
Kahlua, 53 Proof Coffee Liqueur from Sunny Mexico IVIaidstone Importers, 116 No Robertson Blvd , Los Angeles, Calif 90048,
|$|)ui: $ilOO. Your jeweler can show you other:diai|
jifat about $200. De Beers Consolidated Mines, d
and she said she had nothing to wear.
A diamond is forever.
There was more than a closing hint
that if I could recast that deficient
aspect (and I was generously ofiered
assistance in these necessary
repairs), all might be well. This cav-
alier catechist also took it upon him-
self to supply me with the names of
other native social scientists to
whom he had been moved to apply
the righteous rod of his salubrious re-
jection.
I have yet to meet a native scholar
who would advocate the automatic,
uncritical acceptance of native specu-
lation simply because it is native
speculation. As the American An-
thropological Association's own
Committee on Minorities put it three
years ago.
It is not being suggested that non-
minority professors accept uncriti-
cally the opinions of minority stu-
dents and colleagues. But there is
a difference between forcing a per-
son to defend a position and dis-
missing a position as unworthy
even of discussion.
The committee also emphasized that
more than the shadow of that perilous
gulf between the Third World and the
North Atlantic Basin is cast in the an-
thropological distinction between na-
tives as field producers of raw data
and settler scholars as refiners of that
crude data.
The minority ethnologist Francis
Hsu has ascribed these negative ten-
dencies to what he calls the "psycho-
cultural bondage" of settlers — that
is, a propensity to regard their own
perspectives and logical models as
some kind of absolute standard. An-
thropologist Magoroh Maruyama's
advocacy of the acceptance of alter-
nate systems of logic, what he calls
the "polyocular" view, springs from
his belief that the serious consid-
eration of non-Occidental, tribal, or
peasant logical perspectives may re-
duce the margin of absolutist error not
only in antfiropology but in most
areas of human existence as well.
Among the most perilous divi-
dends of a monopoly of power is the
ultimately pyrrhic opportunity to de-
cree consensus. The most cursory re-
flection upon the massive difference
a proper regard for my own commu-
nal opinions would have made in
American foreign policy alone is
enough to demonstrate the merits of
genuine consensus. Having experi-
enced tyrannical oppression at home
and witnessed its baleful operation
abroad, we are much more opposed
to the general despotic condition than
we are to any bloc manifestation of
it. As a people, we are less inclined
to accept Stephen Decatur's dictum
about the automatic primacy of na-
tional self-interest. Our view of lib-
erty and justice inclines toward the
indivisible and hence militates
against excessive pride in the national
record or a demonic assessment of the
deficiencies of others.
The profound sense of invisibility
that is an integral part of every na-
tive's existence is rooted in the
settler's ability to ignore our perspec-
tives. One reason why so many na-
tives, with the best will in the world,
often cannot recognize their cultures
in the standard literature is that settler
social science, like settler life in gen-
eral, has so bent our souls to its own
conceit that they bear scant resem-
blance to reality as we perceive it.
Settlers generally ignore what natives
think of themselves and create the
kind of native that answers their ro-
mantic requirements. Natives are not
generally bemused by this prestig-
ious pretense and often liken it to the
game played by children in which
they hide their faces and are con-
vinced that because they can see no
one, there must not be anyone to be
seen. A choice and master major
league baseball umpire, whose name
escapes me, is said to have declared
in reference to pitching, "It ain't
nothin' till I calls it!"
We all know how the genuine prin-
ciples of equanimity were suborned
by a purely settler view of eligibility
and justice in the largely segregation-
ist history of the national sport. To
natives it seems that settlers are
prepared to amend the Berkeleyan ab-
surdity to read; to be is to be per-
ceived by settlers. Confidence in the
existence of our own merit, in the
People's Republic of China, and in a
number of other realities, which
settler perception either denies or
perceives but dimly, inclines us
toward different views not only of
foreign policy but of most of the im-
portant questions of existence.
A couple of years ago, through the
greatly appreciated subsidy of the Na-
tional Endowment for the Humani-
ties, the scope of this divergence was
graphically reinforced in my mind. I
conducted a number of folk field sem-
inars in several Black communities.
We considered the nature of our own
cultures and evaluated some salient
premises of ethnology. The same
grave doubts of my grandfather's
From the shores of GItche-gumee
MINNEHAHA
WILD RICE
Longfellow s legend of Hiawatha and Mmnefiafia is
a poetic classic of tfie Sioux and Chippewa. Long
before Longfellow, these Indians had found wild
rice, mahnomonee, and made it the basic veg-
etable in their diet.
Minnehaha's people considered wild rice a per-
fect food: highly nutritious and richly delicious.
They were right. An excellent source of niacin,
thiamine and riboflavin, Minnehaha Wild Rice has
more than four times the iron, magnesium and
phosphorous of white rice; twice the potassium and
protein; plus 100% more fibre.
Once, wild rice grew from the Gulf of Mexico
to Hudson's Bay, from the Atlantic to the
Rockies. Today, it grows only along the Minnesota-
Canada border.
Minnehaha Wild Rice is the finest quality of this
rarest of grains. Enjoy it with fowl and game, fish
and beef ... the perfect touch at any meal.
We invite you to order your holiday requirements
of Minnehaha Wild Rice. now. Our prices are the
same as they have been for three years: $5.90 per
pound, postpaid, in five pound shipments.
We will gladly fill your gift orders — Minnehaha
Wild Rice in its distinctive muslin bag is indeed a
unique gift. Simply list the names and addresses
of those to whom you want Minnehaha Wild Rice
sent, the number of pounds per addressee and
when you wish it to arrive. We do the rest, includ-
ing signing your name to an attractive gift card.
Unconditionally guaranteed Minnehaha Wild
Rice. Perfect at holiday time, any time.
MINNEHAHA WILD RICE, INC.
WCCO Radio Building— Suite 420
Minneapolis, Minn. 55402
Please send, postage paid:
Ten 1-lb. bags @ $57.00/shipment $_
Five 1-lb. bags @ $29.50/shipment $_
(Singly boxed pounds, add $1 per shipment)
Under 5 pounds, $6.85/pound $
My check is enclosed for total: $
Name
Address
City
State.
-Zip-
(Rememben enclose gift mailing instructions)
13
generation are still firmly fixed in
Black popular perceptions of settlers.
There is a general awareness of the
short shrift Black views are most
often accorded. The firmly held opin-
ion that settlers are incapable of a dis-
interested, let alone sympathetic,
consideration of our points of view is
as applicable to anthropology as it is
to any other area of life.
A pervasive sense of the futility,
indeed the peril, of intercommunal
communications is general among
the people whose candor and gra-
ciousness sustained my field re-
search. Miz Rosa, who was among
the first to hear of my fifth grade en-
lightermient, is still dispensing her in-
comparable buttermilk pie and timely
admonitions. "Son," she counseled,
you take a fool's advice and mind
what you tell these whites. Now
they ain't nothin' but meat men
like the rest, but they do not like
to hear what they don't want to
hear. They will not thank you for
not lying to them.
Seth, the short-order man, recover-
ing in a diabetic ward from overexpo-
sure to his own noble cooking, of-
fered much the same advice.
Look, man, this is a good gig you
got, so if you know what I know,
you will tell this man what he want
to hear. He ain' gon' believe
nothin' else and he will hang you
up if you try to tell him anything
he don' want to dig.
Gabriel, the root doctor and ma-
chinist, offered this variation, which
reverberated slightly in his newly ac-
quired empty chapel.
Chahlie just ain' no niddygriddy
man. He cannot get with natural
numbers .He's bad enough to make
anything into a big number. Now
he has been doing that for so long
that he don' know how to tell how
good or how big anything really is.
I mean he ran this game on hisself
trying to do a number on us. Now
if you had done such a number,
would you want to hear about it?
Well, he don't either.
The relative powerlessness of
Black people to influence the foreign
and domestic course of their lives
finds expression in observations that
touch upon a wide range of subjects.
Graciela, the only one of her Domini-
cano father's "outside children" too
Black to be integrated into his legiti-
mate Latino family, is already far too
wise in ways that should never con-
cern a nine year old.
You know something? Miz Lula
says it will rain down fire that will
kill the wicked . Every night I pray
that the fire will come. I don't care
if it gets me too as long as it gets
them.
Flood broils pork ribs and flatfish,
which he serves with sweet white
bean sauce to the nonfastidious few.
His grill is an abandoned bedspring,
and his most frequent domicile is a
vacant lot where those who are lost
in cheap wine conduct the intermi-
nable sessions of the SALS, the
Standing and Leaning Society. We
exchanged pleasantries and gifts.
Two ducks for a long pan full of ex-
quisitely grilled butterfish. At my in-
vitation, a number of people assist in
the leisurely assault upon the butter-
fish and a seminar is launched. Flood,
the founder of what grew to be a gen-
uine symposium, offers the following
comment.
First you got to remember that it
is not in the color. Now Holt is as
White as anybody need to be, and
if I wrap a towel 'round my knob,
I'm home free. It is power. Last
night there was much moon, I
mean uku moon! Now we say,
what kind of thing could call his-
self a man and pis on the revern'
moon? But anybody that don't
have somebody to call his hand
might do some trick like that.
Right now the whitefolks got the
sayso and they doing what most
people do when they got the
sayso. Now that's why they gon'
blow it, everybody knows that.
I'm out here in this damn lot now
because nobody couldn't tell me a
damn thing. I know that's why
most of us are doing what we are
doing. My brother comes down
here and tries to talk sense to me
but I don't pay him no mind be-
cause I don't have to! Now it's the
same way with the man.
Though surely not attributable to
any genetic incapacity, the manifest
deficiencies of monodimensional
consensus by decree occasion griev-
ous loss for settler and native alike.
Anthropology could be a vital part of
that interethnic entente that is an in-
dispensable condition of the human
future. The relevance of anthro-
pology in a postimperialist society
will probably be established by the
current exertions of anthropologists
to make our discipline a precursor of
a better way of life.
I do not mean to imply that the inte-
gration of perspectives in theory
building is necessarily going to lead
to an unprecedented burgeoning of
instant enlightenment. Over the long
course it seems a reasonable expecta-
tion that a number of views are at least
as likely to carry us in the general
direction of truth as a single perspec-
tive. Quite apart from the probability
of enrichment, we might do more to
foster a climate of honorable integra-
tion in theory and staff because our
best instincts tell us that this is what
the sanest human future demands of
us. It will require a democratic, hu-
manist act of will for natives and
settlers to really listen with respect to
each other, even in the limited con-
text of anthropology.
I know a number of anthro-
pologists from native and settler cul-
tures who have mastered this as-
tounding accomplishment. As any
native or settler who has managed it
can affirm, a number of heritages is
an improvement on any one. It is
equally certain that the individual or ,
nation arbitrarily confined to the stric-
tures of a single way of being human j
is incalculably poorer for that isola-
tion. Is it not a matter of cosmic trag-
edy that we will never hear Robeson,
Hayes, Maynor, and Anderson as
principals in a well-recorded Bach
and Handel oratorio series? Would
we not all have been cosmically de-
prived if the vagaries of war or preju-
dice had confined the glory of Hugues
Cuenod, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, or
Aksel Schi0tz to their natal corners?
How many natives, secure in their
garrison solidarity, will shield them-
selves against beauty because it pro-
ceeds from the same direction as so
much misery? How many settlers will
live and die without perceiving the
same loss? Imagine! Never to have
heard Jim Bartow sing Dunbar or
Dowland songs!
If there is hope for the civil sur-
vival of our species, in all its
glorious diversity, it resides in the
certainty that my grandfather's
"gene for civilization" was one of
those social mirages made more ap-
parent than real by the pain he bore
and the position he held on the riether
millstone of caste.
John L. Gwaltney is associate pro-
fessor in the Department of Anthro-
pology at Syracuse University.
14
Polaroid's finest
is now even better.
TTienew ^
SX-70AMml
Take the finest camera
Polaroid has ever made,
the SX-70 Land camera:
You can focus from
infinity to 10.4 inches
(closer than you can get
with almost any other
camera in the world with-
out a special lens).
You vievv through the lens,
so you can focus and frame
your picture precisely.
A 12,000 rpm motor
propels the already devel-
oping picture into your
hknd, hard, flat and dry. In
minutes, you have a big,
beautiful finished 3V8"x
3^8" color print.
In daylight, exposure is
controlled automatically
by an electric eye which
reads the light and sets
both the aperture and
shutter speed for you.
A velvety chrome finish.
A genuine leather wrap.
A slirn elegant shape that
folds flat to slip into your
pocket or purse.
Add features like these:
An adjustable leather
neck strap, to make it
even more portable.
A monitored flash that
makes final split-second
corrections in exposure.
A built-in tripod mount.
Our new Superclear =
SX-70 film for brighter,
sharper colors in minutes.
And you have the new
^SX-70 Alpha 1. Polaroid's
finest camera, made
even better.
© 1976 PolarQid Corporation."Polaroid" and "SX-70"*
A Naturalist at Large
Managing the Earth's Surface
The environment must be
thought of as a closed system
Georges Bank is a large shoal area
off the Massachusetts coast. It is one
of the world's richest fishing grounds
and a spawning and nurture area for
many of the fish that are caught in the
northwestern Atlantic. Georges Bank
is also one of the two or three most
promising sites for oil exploration on
the eastern seaboard. Almost no one
believes that oil wells in the area will
enhance the fisheries; some believe
the development will be disastrous.
The controversy over the prospect
of oil wells on fishing grounds em-
bodies one of the classic conflicts of
our time — the confrontation between
the demands of an oil-hungry indus-
trial system and the need to preserve
a basic living resource. We have not
yet found a general solution for this
kind of conflict, which daily grows
more serious.
Spokesmen for oil development
represent a wealthy and politically
powerful industry. American fisher-
men are largely individual entre-
preneurs whose catch comes from a
poorly managed natural ecosystem
that is being rapidly degraded by
overharvesting and such other fac-
tors, quite apart from oil, as pollution
and the destruction of marshes. Ac-
cording to the values set by our eco-
nomic system, the fisheries are less
important at present than the oil.
The situation seems paradoxical.
Fish are potentially an infinitely re-
newable source of protein and are ob-
viously needed in a world in which
starvation is becoming increasingly
common. How can the value of in-
dustrialization so far exceed the value
of food?
The reasons are complicated. They
include the argument that the oil will
be used to increase agricultural yields
in excess of any losses in fisheries.
But quite apart from this doubtful
thesis is the simple fact that those who
are hungry are hungry because they
are poor. They are not participants in
the international commerce in food.
Their needs are not a factor in the
controversy except as goverrmients
choose to make them so. The rich,
those who have energy and can use
it to expand their control over other
resources, are not yet short of food.
And the economic systems of the in-
dustrialized countries have put the
prices of energy and food into a bal-
ance geared solely to the demands of
world markets. In that marketplace,
food appears to be cheap for those in
industrialized nations, but it is well
beyond reach for the world's poor,
who consequently go hungry.
Two perspectives dominate discus-
sions of this controversy. If we take
a world view and are moved by nor-
mal compassion for our fellow
beings, we would conclude that the
fishery is more needed than the oil.
If our view is a coldly objective na-
tional one, we might choose the oil
as necessary for the maintenance of
our international posture in politics
and conmierce. Because the United
States has enough food at the mo-
ment, we can afford to lose the fish-
ery, even if the cost should be that
high. But the issue is still further po-
larized. Certain technologists, politi-
cians, and economists believe in sal-
vation through technological growth
that, it is claimed, will feed economic
growth indefinitely. Energy is the key
resource in that philosophy; with
cheap energy, proponents are con-
vinced, we can produce whatever
other resources we require, poten-
tially even food. On this basis, a no-
holds-barred approach to energy de-
velopment in support of industry is
justified.
Others argue with equal force that
technology has produced no new
basic resource; it has simply made
possible the transformation and trans-
portation of other resources, such
as food, around the world — in forms
and to places convenient for humans.
These partisans would not abandon
technology, far frorri it, but they do
assert that the benefits of industrial
growth are finite and cannot be
equally shared by all of the earth's
current four billion people, let alone
the billions more to come. Their argu-
ment also contends that the benefits
of growth are now outweighed by en-
vironmental costs that are not yet
properly tallied. Further, the arith-
metic of exponential growth of all
kinds — in population and in demand
for food, energy, and other re-
sources— coupled with the recogni-
tion that oil reserves and agricultural
production have their limits, assures
that our lives will change in the ap-
proaching years at an accelerating
rate. Exponential growth also assures
that collisions between shoi^t-term
profit and long-term maintenance of
biotic, or organic, resources are
bound to become steadily more
serious. Unfortunately, there is no
evidence that our present means of
managing these resources can cope
with the challenge.
The pattern of environmental pro-
tection practiced at the moment in the
United States, and frequently else-
where, is largely based on the clearly
false assumption that resources are
large in proportion to the pressures
placed on them and that this relation-
ship will hold indefinitely. A corol-
lary has been the concept of an "as-
similative capacity," the assumption
that the environment can absorb a cer-
tain amount of waste and other man-
made pollution without ill effects.
An assimilative capacity can pre-
sumably be divided among different
polluters and redivided as potential
polluters increase in numbers. The
putative capacity is vague and elu-
sive, however. A stream may have
the capacity for oxidizing organic
matter at a certain rate and be as-
signed an assimilative capacity. But
that does not necessarily mean that
other substances, introduced with the
organic matter, will be rendered in-
nocuous at the same rate, if at all. The
concept of assimilative capacity en-
courages a pattern of air and water use
that virtually assures progressive deg-
radation by encouraging the idea that
some degree of pollution is accept-
able. The sources of pollutants may
be large and the political and eco-
nomic pressures to allow pollution to
continue may be almost irresistible.
i6
by George M. Woodwell
A government's burden of regulation
could become virtually impossible.
The alternative is clear — in a world
condemned to soaring population and
even more rapidly soaring demands
on resources, the environment must
be treated as a small, closed system.
In practice, this means that countries
would not befoul the air or water held
in common; cities would recirculate
their water, nutrients, metals, and
other resources; industries would ac-
cept the same responsibility for their
waste products that they now do for
their salable products; agriculture
would not poison the air or waterways
with pesticides or fertilizers; and
power companies would not usurp
public bodies of water in the produc-
tion of energy. This approach to the
management of the surface of the
earth, Utopian as it may seem, is part
of the cost of preserving living re-
sources under intensified use. The
basic principle is not pollution within
limits, but preservation of the physi-
cal, chemical, and biotic integrity of
the earth. A version of that objective
has already been applied to the man-
agement of national water resources
and appears as the policy statement in
the Water Pollution Control Act
Amendments of 1972.
No one expects a transition to
closed systems to occur immediately.
Indeed, the transition will probably
not even begin until its feasibility has
been demonstrated through research,
which in turn will obviously be com-
plex and require several years. It will
doubtless include much of the work
already under way in support of cur-
rent patterns of regulation, but it will
also require entirely new explorations
of the question of how to achieve
growth within limits.
Meanwhile, three topics seem to be
of overwhelming importance in aid-
ing this new effort. The first involves
carbon, the basic element that sup-
ports human life. It is fixed in photo-
synthesis and thereby made available
in various forms for human use.
There is abundant evidence that the
world carbon budget is being grossly
affected by human activities. The
NOT EVEN A TENNESSEE WINTER
changes the temperature of Jack Daniel's
Hmestone spring water.
Our spring runs year round at exactly 56°
(Our ducks are glad of that.) And it's totally
iron-free. Our stiller is glad of that, because
iron is murderous to whiskey. That's why
Jack Daniel started our
distillery here over a
century ago. And we've
never seen fit to change
anything Mr. Jack
started. After a sip of
our whiskey, we trust,
you'll be glad of that.
CHARCOAL
MELLOWED
6
DROP
6
BY DROP
Tennessee Whiskey • 90 Proof • Distilled and Bottled by Jack Daniel Distillery
Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc., Lynchburg (Pop. 361), Tenn. 37352
Placed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Government.
Ifour pictures
never sounded so good.
Most beautiful pictures have
beautiful sounds that go with them.
You can get both with Bauer's S 105
new Super 8 XL Macro Camera. No
separate recorder to carry. You
record directly onto the film.
Sound is only one of the special
effects you can get right in the camera.
There are fade in and fade out, and
a 5x power zoom with macro. And
there's time lapse. So you can make
the sun come up in a hurry. And as the
sun goes down you can keep shooting
without lights. The S 105 has a super
fast f /1.2 XL Macro lens.. Metering is
thru- the-lens and fully automatic with
manual override. And Bauer's pat-
ented twist-away grip makes it a
smaller package to carry.
The Bauer S105 lets anyone
make professional movies with just
one piece of equipment.
Show them on our super T60
projector. The only super 8 that
records and plays back stereo. We also
have a 12x zoom silent camera and
a whole line of other fine movie
products. Write for information.
BAUER Supers
Sound Cameras.
AIC Photo, Inc., Carle Place, N.Y. 11514
Bauer is a Reg. TM of Robert Bosch Photokino GmbH.
SOLVE YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFT PROBLEMS
By VISITING THE NEW, GREATLY EXPANDED
collector's cabinet
featuring countless thousands of the Treasures of Mother Earth
now conveniently located at
153 East 57th Street (between 3rd and Lex. Aves.)
* o^JJ'h'"''^ ~ Meteorites from Outer Space, Fossils, Scenic Jaspers, Malachite,
and dozens of unusual Gemstones custom-mounted for us in Sterling Silver
' ^vhih-t'^'t'^.'^'- SCULPTURES - by Louis Paul Jonas - the largest permanent
exhibit o these superb 1/10-scale animals - from the Anteafer to the Zebra -
and, exclusively a series of 24 Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Mammals by this
noted sculptor. Send for our free illustrated brochures listing over 300 models.
* 5f^®"5^^o ^1** 9.°"^': ~ ^''°^'"^ ^"'^ colorful shells from the Seven Seas,
decorator Cora s. Sea Urchins, Starfish, giant Barnacle Clusters. Send $1.50
for 2 catalogs listing our stock of over 1500 species of shells, with over 200
Illustrations.
* r^^nH^^^o ^"'^ ''°SSILS - Fine Crystal groups, sparkling Amethyst clusters,
?!^^f|• Pi'ecious Gemstones, Half-billion-year-old fossils, coffee-table-size Petri-
t^l non f ^H ^^^^'^y^^,^'^ ''°^^'' ^^^^^' Dinosaur Footprints. Mineral ash-
trays, penstands, bookends, clocks, paperweights, bowls, boxes, eggs and spheres.
> BUTTERFLIES - The world's largest display of exotic butterfly frames and boxes.
' fm^^TISJI^^,^.^/?'" all corners of the world to decorate your den or library -
and TARtNTULAsl^^' ''°'^°^ ^^^^^^ ^'®^' SAWFISH BEAKS, SCORPIONS
%S;^RVH"^i' i!'^!""^ '?""'^S - "°'^ ^^^ 18th and 19th Centuries. Wild-
flowers, Birds, Fish, Mammals, etc.
SEND 500 FOR OUR NEW 1977 FULL-COLOR CATALOG FOR
DOZENS OF EXCITING GIFT AND DECORATOR ITEMS
Branches: GREEN^WICH VILLAGE (38 W 8th St.); PHILADELPHIA; WASHINGTON, D.C.;
S^^°°|p^°R°^PA' DANIA, FLA; NEW ORLEANS (Nahan Gallery); PORTLAND
,? '.^ ^'^^^'^^^^ ^*' SYRACUSE, N.Y. Also at BLOOMINGDALE'S and
otner fine department stores nationwide. (FRANCHISE INFORMATION KIT $2.00)
THE COLLECTORS CABINET, Box NH, 153 East 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10021
Hours: Mon. thru Sat. 10 to 6. Open Thur. until 9 P.M. Tel. (212) 355-2033
i8
major manifestation is the accumula-
tion of carbon dioxide in the atmo-
sphere. The concentration is now in-
creasing at the rate of 0.8 to 1 .5 parts
per million per year and the rate itself
seems to be going up.
The cause of the increase is gener-
ally believed to be the combustion of
fossil fuels, but the destruction of
forests and the oxidation of humus are
probably also contributory causes.
Despite the fact that two-thirds of the
surface of the earth is water, two-
thirds of the total photosynthesis on
earth occurs on land; most of it is at-
tributable to forests. There is good
reason to believe that the total amount
of photosynthesis on earth is dimin-
ishing, although there is at present no
detailed analysis of the question. To
the extent that photosynthesis is a
measure of the healthy functioning of
the biosphere, a worldwide decline in
the process would be a serious matter.
There is, moreover, the possibility
that increasing amounts of CO2 in the
atmosphere could lead to climatic
changes that would alter agricultural
productivity over large areas. There
is, accordingly, a need for increased
understanding of the human influence
on the world carbon budget with spe-
cial emphasis on the interactions of
living systems with atmospheric
CO2. This should probably be a major
international scientific effort that
might ultimately recommend control
of the emission rate of CO2.
The second topic, an appraisal of
changes occurring in the populations
of the earth's flora and fauna,
emerges from a detailed consid-
eration of the first. Chronic or long-
lasting changes in the physical or
chemical environment can cause pre-
dictable changes in the structure of
natural communities. Those popula-
tions favored by adverse environ-
mental changes are hardy, small-
bodied organisms that have high re-
productive rates — populations that
include our so-called pests. Regions
dominated by these populations are
extremely difficult ones in which to
maintain human life. The stages, ex-
tent, and causes of this pattern of bi-
otic impoverishment, currently
largely ignored, are thus appropriate
matters for investigation.
The third topic is in some ways the
most important because it is the first
step in adjusting modern cities to the
recognition of a finite earth: the re-
covery of the water and nutrients in
sewage. The pattern of sewage dis-
posal developed over the past century
in the Western world is totally incon-
sistent with an ever more intensive
use of natural resources. The current
tendency in urban areas, for instance,
to install large sewage collection sys-
tems that release treated sewage into
the coastal oceans is counterproduc-
tive. It aggravates shortages of fresh
water and of the chemical compo-
nents of fertilizers and increases the
pollution of the coastal seas. To the
extent that industrial wastes are incor-
porated into sewage, serious toxic
hazards to humans may be associated
with this treatment.
Recent research has raised hopes
that living systems — combinations of
ponds, marshes, and plant communi-
ties— can be used to purify the water
in sewage and recover the nitrogen,
phosphorus, potassium, and other
elements normally lost. The utiliza-
tion of living systems under con-
trolled conditions would offer the
possibility of a number of relatively
small and inexpensive treatment fa-
cilities to serve small municipalities
or segments of larger ones and restore
the water for local reuse.
The issues involved in the manage-
ment of the environment seem ex-
traordinarily complicated. But they
are complicated only if we wish them
to be so. The central principles of the
science of environment are no more
complicated than the central prin-
ciples of any other science or of lan-
guage or arithmetic. What is impor-
tant is that we see with some clarity
what is happening to the environment
and proceed to solve the problem of
its degradation. To the extent that we
continue to accentuate the trends of
the past decade, we ourselves become
causes of degradation rather than
cures. There is a powerful argument
at present that much of the technical
and scientific effort of the country,
including that at some of its major
laboratories, is more detrimental to
the environment than constructive.
The real lesson from the controversy
over mixing oil and water on Georges
BarJi is that to date we have neither
a solution for the management of the
environment nor the research that
could lead to a solution. Changing
this situation will require powerful
political leaders. And the time to
make that change is long overdue.
George M. Woodwell is director of
the Ecosystems Center at the Marine
Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole,
Massachusetts.
YOUR NEXT
VNCATION WAS
A LONG TIME IN
THE MAKING.
PIAS EGYPT
Nefertiti was antiquity's great-
est beauty. But in the eye of the
Sphinx she, you, Alexander and
Caesar are all in a lifetime. It's
the time of your life, touring
Egypt, cruising the Nile, shop-
ping Cairo's bazaars, walking
among ageless, awesome land-
marks. Take off on a PI A 747,
with people who know the
country. Ask your travel agent,
or use the coupon.
.fe^'PIA
^^^ Great paopte to fty with
PitUstan International One o< ihe ,vorid s mosi successful airlines
PIA TOUR MANAGER
545 Fifth Avenue, New York, S.Y. 10017
Gentlemen: Please tell me more about your new
Tour of Egypt — "Passages into Antiquity."
STREET.
CITY
Lose weight, not performance.
Minolta/Celtic Compact
Binoculars provide
magnification comparable
to full-size binoculars,
but witfiout thie weigfit or
bulk. Superb Minolta
optics bring in clear, bright,
sharp images. Center
focus design for rapid, easy
focusing. Three sizes,
6x20, 8x20 and 10x20,
give you a choice of
magnification to suit your
needs Ruggedly built
to go anywhere. For more
information, write
Minolta Corporation,
101 Williams Drive, Ramsey,
New Jersey 07446.
Minoha/Celtic
Compact Binoculars
19
MONT
BLANC
For full-color literature
describing the com-
plete world-famous
Montblanc line, write
to Koh-I-Noor
Rapidograph, Inc.,
100 Nortii St., Blooms-
bury, N.J. 08804,
exclusive U.S.
representative.
noDesse
Noblesse is crafted
with traditional ■
Montblanc perfection.
Deep engravings
through layers of
precious metals create
a brilliant relief of
enduring elegance.
• Noblesse fountain
pen $75, ballpoint and
pencil, each $36. In
14 Kt. heavy gold
electroplate or gleam- ■
ing rhodium electro-
plate. Individually or
in sets, beautifully
gift boxed.
Incomparable flexibility
of the all new long-
profile 14 Kt. gold
fountain pen nib
■ accentuates thf writing
style of every person-
ality. Choice of extra-
fine to broad nib. Each
fountain pen is
provided with six
Montblanc ink car-
tridges and an Inter-
changeable converter
for alternate piston
filling as desired.
Letters
Primates in Peril?
In "Perils of Primates" (October
1976), Jaclyn Wolf he im states that
zoological gardens are major recipi-
ents of primates. Nothing could be
less true. Of the thousands of pri-
mates that enter the United States
each year, only a minor percentage
(perhaps as little as 0.1 percent) are
acquired by zoos. Furthermore, no
gorilla or orangutan acquired from
the wild has legally entered the
United States since 1970. As for lion-
tailed macaques being imported,
nothing could be further from the
truth. Most lion-tailed macaques now
kept by zoos are captive born from
wild-caught parents imported in the
1950s.
The statement that survival and
birth rates of zoo-kept primates are
"suspected to be low" is nonsense.
Most primates breed well in captivity
and surplus primates are now com-
monly available. Primates thrive and
live long in most captive situations
(all physical needs are met and hope-
fully social needs are also met).
Today zoos are breeding their own
stock, with excess animals being pro-
vided to other zoos.
Allen C. Parker
Silverdale, Washington
The Author Replies:
Zoos do import fewer primates
than biomedical users, but zoos
prefer exotic and rare species that are
least able to withstand further deple-
tion. These vulnerable species, in-
cluding all of the great apes, do not
breed well in captivity. Successful
captive breeding through several gen-
erations has been achieved only with
the common, hardy macaques and ba-
boons. If zoos actually produce a sur-
plus, then the annual importation of
more than 20,000 primates for nonre-
search purposes should be unneces-
sary.
Jaclyn Wolfheim
Tragedy in Timor
Shepard Forman, the author of
your interesting article "Spirits of the
Makassae" (November 1976), shares
my deep concern about a problem
now threatening all the people of East
Timor. Their emergence from four
centuries of Portuguese colonial rule
has met a new obstacle: invasion by
thousands of Indonesian troops. Ac-
cording to a New York Times report
of February 15, 1976, more than 60,-
000 people have died in these attacks
by Indonesia, a nation of 130,000,-
000, against a people numbering only
650,000.
The United Nations has twice
called for the complete and immedi-
ate withdrawal of all Indonesian
forces from East Timor and a demo-
cratic process to determine whether
the people of that country truly want
"integration" as Indonesia's twenty-
seventh province (U.N. Decoloniza-
tion Committee Document No. 76-
36163). Of particular concern to all
Americans is surely the $46 million
in military aid given this past year to
the military government in Indonesia.
For further information may I draw
your readers' attention to a docu-
mented publication by concerned
Americans, East Timor: The Hidden
War, which can be obtained for
$1.25 from East Timor Defense
Committee, 166 Fifth Avenue, New
York, New York 10010.
Dr. Richard W. Franke
Harvard University School of
Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts
A Predator Proposal
In reference to your article in the
June/July issue regarding the goats of
Santa Catalina Island, mention was
made about the difficulties encoun-
tered in eradicating goats from island
situations of this kind. I am always
curious why no one considers intro-
ducing natural predators in such situ-
ations . (At considerably less cost than
hunting programs, which have ap-
parently proven to be of little value.)
I suppose the usual response to
such a suggestion would be that it
would throw the natural ecology out
of balance. In this particular case, my
The American Museum
of Natural History
invites you to join a select party
limited to 140 members and friends on 3
VOYAGE TO
lAYALUUl
world of the ancient Maya civilization
in Central America
February 6 to 20. 1977
Sail in comfort aboard the motor yacht.
ARGONAUT*, set on a special course for the
pleasure of exploring and studying remote and
recently uncovered pre-Columbian sites of the
ancient Maya. Enjoy islands of natural beauty
with offshore reefs and seagardens undisturbed
by tourism. Travel in the stimulating company of
our distinguished American Museum scientists
and scholars, Dr. Gordon F. Ekholm, Curator
Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, and
Dr. C. Lavett Smith, Chairman and Curator,
Department of ichthyology. The trip has been
arranged by the noted travel experts,
Raymond & Whitcomb Co.
Cabin prices range from $1780 to $2125.
There is a tax-deductible contribution to the
Museum of $400 per person.
The MTS ARGONAUT
Eilen Stancs
The American Museum of Natural History
Please send an itinerary and
other information about the
VOYAGE TO MAYALUUM
THG
MUOMOF
\ HISTORY.
O
CHRISTOPHER
J. SCHUBERTH
Adjunct Professor of Geology, C.U.N.Y.
and formerly Lecturer in Geology at
the American Museum of Natural History
presents his 10th Annual
FIELD «EOLO«y OF
THE «RAND CANYON
June28-July9,1977
A 10-day, 300-mile raft trip through the Grand Canyon
on the Colorado River, biggest and fastest Whitewater
river in the country. Study of the first 1 and % billion
years of Colorado Plateau history. Then, on to scenic
Zion and Bryce Canyons nearby to study the remaining
250 million years for this region for the last 3 days.
For further detailed information, call or write:
CHRISTOPHER J. SCHUBERTH
54Haring Street
Closter, New Jersey 07624
Telephone: (201) 768-6471
THE NEW SUPER-SIZE
SCHOOLBAG
FROM DENMARK
More pockets, zippers, flaps and compartments
make this sturdy classic the best all-purpose
bag ever. Terrifically functional with a great
casual look. A favorite of models, photogra-
phers, artists, students, musicians, dancers,
opera singers, nuns, poets, duck hunters, cy-
clists, plumbers, teachers, filmmakers, pilots,
architects, doctors, reporters and travelers be-
cause there's always a place to stuff one more
thing. A new zippered pleat can expand this
improved version to double the normal width
-now a full 1SV:" x 13" x 8". Perfect carry-on
flight bag. Adjustable shoulder strap. In
squashy gray, chocolate brown or bright Da-
nish blue waterproof canvas. $27.50.
(plus $1 .50 shipping). N.Y. res. add tax. Canada
add $2.00. Send toOept. NH-12.
THE CHOCOLATE SOUP
249 East 77th Street New York 10021
This photo is the Crystal Skull from pre-
historic Mexico and is only one of the features
in this magazine about world-wide archeology.
Some of the subjects are the pyramids of
Egypt, finding the Monitor, pueblo ruins of
the American Southwest, Paleo-Indian sites,
Roman and Greek archeology, current events
in American archeology, the scientific methods
used in archeology and opportunities for ama-
teur and professional field work. This coming
year will feature a column entitled "The Un-
explained". Popular Archaeology, in an easy-
to-read and well illustrated presentation, brings
you the "Mystery and Excitement of the
Search and Excavation." Edited by profes-
sional archeologists, each issue brings you
factual material about the history of our civi-
lization. Subscription is $9.75 per year, and
a second one-year subscription for a gift to a
friend is $7.50.
POPUIAR
ARCHMOIOGV
P.O.Box 421 1 Arlington, Virginia 22204 U.S.A.
response to that would be, "What
natural ecology?" If man must create
an imbalance in the first place, surely
a natural check is the most obvious
answer.
I am a little sympathetic to the
goats anyway. They were the first Eu-
ropean settlers in a way, and if they
could be controlled naturally perhaps
they could remain. Much smaller
numbers would cause much less dam-
age. They don't require the whole is-
land . . . surely, some small place is
suitable for them.
Bud Lawhead
Los Angeles, California
Freezing Raspberries
Raymond Sokolov's "Best of the
Brambles" (June/July 1976) was
timely and nostalgic. However, I dis-
agree with his statement that raspber-
ries do not freeze well: "The whole
fruit doesn't freeze well; frozen rasp-
berries are the next thing to raspberry
syrup."
We have one hundred and fifty feet
of the luscious Canby variety raspber-
ries and they yield to ourselves and
friends at least thirty pounds each
year. I immediately freeze the whole
berry after picking, in any handy
plastic carton, without any sugar.
When these beautiful berries are de-
frosted over several hours — if left in
the refrigerator overnight — the ber-
ries are firm and as delicious as fresh
ones. The secret probably is freezing
them without delay and omitting the
sugar until ready to eat.
Eunice C. Burnett
Portland, Oregon
Diagrams
In your August/September issue,
in the interesting article "The Inter-
pretation of Diagrams," Stephen Jay
Gould refers to "so-called Mae
West" diagrams and then adds, "par-
don the sexism of a profession still
overwhelmingly male . . . and none
of us invented the term anyway." If
Mr. Gould realizes the offensiveness
of such a term, he should stop using
it, and encourage his colleagues to do
the same. „ n
Sheryl Rose
Los Angeles, California
A Bouquet
A word of appreciation for Stephen
Gould's essays. I hope you'll con-
tinue his contributions indefinitely.
Ronald S. Fishman, M.D.
Potomac, Maryland
SONY
PRESENTS
THE
NEXT THING.
m^^HB^^H
^^^^■HfilB
IB
9-- ^^g
^B m
^
e H
i|
c
9H ^t Sony's Betamax Video-
ItJ H tape deck It lets vou
1 SONY 1
^^ ^m see shows you would
^_-S havemjssed
You're looking at Betamax,
a revolutionary new product from Sony that
plugs into any TV and enables you to see
programs you would have otherwise missed.
We'll explain.
First off, let's take a situation where there
are two shows on opposite each other and you'd
like to watch both of them. Well, believe it or not,
now you can. Because Sony's Betamax deck
can actually videotape something off one
channel while you're watching another channel .
Then, when you're finished watching one show,
all you do is push
some buttons and
you can play back
a tape of the show
that you would
have missed.
Pretty incredible, huh? Well, listen to some-
thing else Betamax does that's equally incredible.
Let's say you have to go somewhere, or do
something, at a time when there's something on
TV you want to see. Well, Sony's Betamax is
equipped with a timer that can be set to auto-
matically videotape that program while you're
not there. Then, whenever you want, you just
play back the tape — and again you see what
you would have missed.
(Our one-hour tapes, by the way are
reusable— just record over them and use them
over and over again.)
Imagine. With Sony's Betamax, you'll never
again miss a program you want to see.
Ah, progress!
Betamax plugs mto any
TV, even if it's not a Sony
(though you '11 be missing
a lot li It's not).
Model SL-7200 Videolape Player/Recorder.
BETAMAX
IT'SASOITK'
© 1976 Sony Corporation of America.
SONY and Betamax are trademarks of Sony Corporation.
Goose Down Sox
Keep Feet Warm
These whisper-weight hand washable Sox
are fuliy insulated with Bauer Goose
Down quilted in tough Nylon tafteta. Per-
fect to wear around home, make toasty
warm bed sox, great travel mates that
take little space in your duffel bag. Sizes:
Specify f^/len's or Women's shoe size and
we will supply proper fit. Colors: Red,
Winter Blue, Powder Blue, Taupe. 0123
Goose Down Sox $9.95 postpaid.
r Order Today! Money Back Guarantee!
Enclosed is my ctieck or money order for
$ (Add sales tax where applicable.)
Please BUSH my 0123 Goose Down Sox.
Men's Size
Color
Citv
State
-Zip
J^&£iB/^^«j>j^JiAj'
Dept. RNH, Third & Virginia, Seattle, WA 98124
i^.
Share the Thrills
0! Exploring f
All DYNASCOPES,
Including this
supers RV-6, G-lnch
available
on easy terms!
Now it's easy to join the thousands of serious
amateurs who have discovered the excitement
of exploring our mysterious universe. Your en-
joyment begins right from the start, yet the
challenges and rewards go on for years! And
it's a hobby that can be shared at modest cost.
Choose From Many DYNASCOPES®
Picking a telescope to fit your needs and your
pocketbcok Is simple when you select a
DYNASCOPE-the same instruments used by
more than 150 schools, colleges and observ-
atories—and your satisfaction is guaranteed
by a full-refund warranty.
FASCINATING GUIDE
YOURS FREE!
Read these valuable facts be-
fore buying any telescope. Mail
coupon or postcard for your
complimentary copy of this
helpful guide.
Criterion Manufacturing Co.
620 Oakwood Ave., W Hartford, Conn. 06110
® TM Registered U.S. Pot. Offici
CRITERION MANUFACTURING CO., Dept. NH-73
620 Oakwood Ave., W. Hartford, Conn. 06110
Please send your free Telescope Guide.
Wamp
Address _^
City_
L ~ . J
This View of Life
by Stephen Jay Gould
The Advantages
of Eating Mom
Some insects have evolved an
effective life strategy:
forget father and consume
mother from inside
Since man created God in his own
image, the doctrine of special cre-
ation has never failed to explain those
adaptations that we understand intui-
tively. How can we doubt that ani-
mals are exquisitely designed for
their appointed roles when we watch
a lioness hunt, a horse run, or a hippo
wallow? The theory of natural selec-
tion would never have replaced the
doctrine of divine creation if evident,
admirable design pervaded all orga-
nisms. Charles Darwin understood
this, and he focused on features that
would be out of place in a world con-
structed by perfect wisdom. Why, for
example, should a sensible designer
create only on Australia a suite of
marsupials to fill the same roles that
placental mammals occupy on all
other continents? Darwin even wrote
an entire book on orchids to argue that
the structures evolved to insure fertil-
ization by insects are jerry-built of
available parts used by ancestors for
other purposes. Orchids are Rube
Goldberg machines; a perfect engi-
neer would certainly have come up
with something better.
This principle remains true today.
The best illustrations of adaptation by
evolution are the ones that strike our
intuition as peculiar or bizarre. Sci-
ence is not "organized common
sense"; at its most exciting, it refor-
mulates our view of the world by im-
posing powerful theories against the
ancient, anthropocentric prejudices
that we call intuition.
Therefore, I was not surprised that
my passing comments on the life his-
tory of cecidomyian gall midges
(May 1976) inspired several readers
to ask for more details. For these tiny
flies conduct their lives in a way that
tends to evoke feelings of pain or dis-
gust when we empathize with them
by applying the inappropriate stand-
ards of our own social codes.
Cecidomyian gall midges can grow
and develop along one of two path-
ways. In some situations, they hatch
from eggs, go through a normal se-
quence of larval and pupal molts, and
emerge as ordinary, sexually repro-
ducing flies. But in other circum-
stances, females reproduce by par-
thenogenesis, bringing forth their
young without any fertilization by
males. Parthenogenesis is common
enough among animals, but the ceci-
domyians give it an interesting twist.
First of all, the parthenogenetic fe-
males stop at an early stage of devel-
opment. They never become normal,
adult flies, but reproduce while they
are still larvae or pupae. Secondly,
these females do not lay eggs. The
offspring develop live within their
mother's body — not supplied with
nutrient and packaged away in a pro-
tected uterus but right within the
mother's tissues, eventually filling
her entire body. In order to grow, the
offspring devour their mother from
the inside. A few days later, they
emerge, leaving a chitinous shell as
the only remains of their only parent.
And within two days, their own de-
veloping children are beginning, lit-
erally, to eat them up.
Micromalthus debilis, an unrelated
beetle, has evolved an almost identi-
cal system with a macabre variation.
Some parthenogenetic females give
birth to a single male offspring. This
larva attaches to his mother's cuticle
for about four or five days, then in-
serts his head into her genital aperture
and devours her. Greater love hath no
woman.
Why has such a peculiar mode of
reproduction evolved? It is unusual
even among insects, and not only by
the irrelevant standards of our own
perceptions. What is the adaptive sig-
24
5 Myths
Things are never quiet for
the leader in any field.
Whispers abound and what
starts as idle chatter eventually
becomes unarguable fact.
Take, for instance, some of
the curious myths which have
grown up around the Steinway.®
Myth#l. It^ too expensive,
A comparison of price lists
will surprise you. Some other
makes are actually higher priced.
Still, first cost is no true
measure of the real cost of a
Steinway or any other piano.
Remember depreciation, and
that a Steinway suffers less of it
than other pianos.
Think about maintenance,
and the fact that /
your Steinway
will perform
better, longer,
were no name at all on the fall
board would still be the ultimate
piano.
MythttS.Theyre asking a lot
for a piece of furniture.
Steinway cabinetwork and
finish are breathtaking. But
what you're buying is hardly
a piece of furniture (see . .
Myth #2). /^
And today Steinway pianos
are still built under the personal
supervision of the Steinway
family as they have been for
123 consecutive years.
Myth #5.
A piano is
a piano.
All mod-
ern pianos now
between service calls
than a lesser instrument.
And, of course, the
Steinway's sensitive
touch and sheer musical-
ity can be purchased
nowhere else, regardless
of price.
In fact, a Steinway
turns out to be the least
expensive piano you can
buy because it is the best
investment.
Myth #2. You're paying for
the name.
Actually, you're paying for
the instrument behind it.
An instrument which is the
product of over a century's
innovation and development.
An instrument with features
found in no other piano.
An instrument built with
fantastic precision, as no other
piano is built today.
An instrument which if there
Myth #4.
Today it's big business.
The personal touch is gone.
Today every Steinway piano
is still an individually hand built
instrument.
The craft has hardly
changed in the past himdred
years, so that in 1977 Steinway
will complete virtually the
same number of instruments as
in 1877.
share design
principles
which were
pioneered by
Steinway.
But from
soimdboard to
action rail to the
fine details of fit and finish, the
Steinway still contains much
that is unique.
It is these details and features
which make the difference be-
tween a Steinway and everything
else.
So much for 5 myths.
For literature about the
Steinway write to one: John H.
Steinway, 109 West 57 Street,
New York 10019.
Steinway & Sons
8-Power Vision,
Pocket Size,
by Nikon.
Meet the Nikon 8x24 Ultra Compact
Binocular. Provides virtually as much daylight
viewing brightness as the biggest glasses you can buy. With superb, crisp
viewing clarity— the result of Nikon prism optics, so precisely aligned and
optically matched for equal magnification that you can view for hours
without strain. Plus potent 8-time magnification, ideal for scenic, wild-
life and all-round outdoor viewing. Moisture- and shock-resistant, too.
Yet it barely makes a bulge in your pocket, weighs just 14H ounces, and
costs a lot less than you might think. One of seven Nikon binoculars
available at Nikon camera dealers and selected optical departments.
Nikon Inc., Garden City, N.Y. 11530. Subsidiary of Ehrenreich Photo-
Optical Industries, Inc. (In Canada: Anglophoto Ltd., P.Q.) 11(30
EGYPT
BY MAUPINTOUR
MAUPINTOUR'S care and manage-
ment assures you see everything you
should see, comfortably. Join us for
this new travel adventure. 15 days.
GOOD HOTELS such as Aswan's new
Oberoi, Luxor Winter Palace, and
Mena House resort beside the Pyra-
mids and Sphinx. Spectacular views.
LEARN the significance, historic, con-
temporary. People. Scenic marvels.
Incredible antiquities, art treasures.
See Abu Simbel raised from the Nile!
ASWAN
LUXOR
CAIRO
WHAT YOU DREAM Egypt should be
begins every Thursday. Ask your
Travel Agent for Maupintour's Egypt/
Middle East folder or send coupon.
Maupintour, 900 Massachusetts St.,
Lawrence, Ks. 66044. 913/843-1211.
quality
touring
since 1951
©Maupintour
Asli about these Maupintour escorted holidays:
D Africa DAIps O British Isles D Colorado
D Asia n Central America D Egypt D Europe
D France D Greece D Hawaii D India Q Iran
D Italy D Mexico D Morocco D Nortti Africa
D Orient D Portugal D Scandinavia D Spain
D S. America D S. Pacific D USSR/E. Europe
nificance of a mode of life that so
strongly violates our intuitions about
good design?
To answer these questions, we
proceed by the usual mode of argu-
ment in evolutionary studies: the
comparative method. (Louis Agassiz
did not act capriciously when he gave
to the building in which I work the
name that has puzzled so many gener-
ations of visitors to Harvard — the
Museum of Comparative Zoology.)
We must find an object for compari-
son that is genetically similar, but
adapted to a different mode of life.
Fortunately, the complex life cycle of
cecidomyians provides us with a key.
We do not have to compare the asex-
ual , larval mother with a related spe-
cies of uncertain affinity and genetic
resemblance; we may contrast it with
the genetically identical, alternate
form of the same species — the nor-
mal, sexual fly. What then is different
about the ecology of parthenogenetic
and normal forms?
The cecidomyians feed and dwell
on fungi, usually mushrooms. The
mobile, normal fly fills the role of dis-
coverer: it finds the new mushroom.
Its offspring, now living on a supera-
bundant food resource, reproduce
asexually as larvae or pupae and be-
come the flightless, mushroom-eating
form of the species (a mushroom can
support hundreds of these tiny flies).
We know that parthenogenetic repro-
duction will continue as long as food
is abundant. One investigator pro-
duced 250 consecutive larval genera-
tions by supplying enough food and
preventing crowding. In nature, how-
ever, the mushroom is eventually
used up.
German biologist H . Ulrich and his
coworkers have studied the sequence
of changes in response to decreasing
food in the species Mycophila spey-
eri. When they have abundant food,
parthenogenetic mothers generate all
female broods in four to five days . As
the supply of food diminishes, all
male and mixed male and female
broods develop. If female larvae are
not fed at all, they grow into normal
flies.
These correlations have a fairly un-
ambiguous adaptive basis. The flight-
less, parthenogenetic female stays on
the mushroom and feeds. When it ex-
hausts its resources, it produces
winged descendants that find new
mushrooms. But this only scratches
the surface of our dilemma, for it does
not address our central question: Why
reproduce so quickly as a larva or
26
This advertisement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation oj offers to buy any of these securities.
The offering is made only by the Prospectus.
NEW ISSUES October 28, 1976
$400,000,000
Marathon Oil Company
$150,000,000
7.65% Notes Due 1983
Price 100%
plus accrued interest from November 1, 1976
$250,000,000
8.50% Sinking Fund Debentures Due 2006
Price 99.50%
plus accrued interest from November 1, 1976
Copies oj the Prospectus may be obtained from, any of the several underwriters,
including the undersigned, only in States in which such underwriters are qualified
to act as dealers in securities and in which the Prospectus m,ay legally be distributed.
The First Boston Corporation
Morgan Stanley & Co. Goldman, Sachs & Co. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Salomon Brothers
Incorporated Incorporated
Bache Halsey Stuart Inc. Blyth Eastman Dillon & Co. Dillon, Read & Co. Inc.
Incorporated
Donaldson, Luf kin & Jenrette Drexel Burnham & Co. Hornblower & Weeks-Hemphill, Noyes
Securities Corporation Incorporated Incorporated
E. F. Hutton & Company Inc. Kidder, Peabody & Co. Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Lazard Freres & Co.
Incorporated
Lehman Brothers Loeb, Rhoades & Co. Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis
Incorporated Incorporated
Reynolds Securities Inc. Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. Warburg Paribas Becker Inc.
Incorporated
Wertheim & Co., Inc. White, Weld & Co. Dean Witter & Co.
Incorporated Incorporated
pupa (many insects have flightless,
adult forms) and why self-destruct by
a supreme sacrifice to one's children?
I believe that the solution to this
dilemma lies in the phrase "so
quickly." Traditional evolutionary
theory concentrated on morphology
in framing adaptive explanations.
What, in this case, is the advantage
to mushroom feeders of a persistent
juvenile morphology in reproducing
females? Traditional theory never
found an answer because it was pos-
ing the wrong question. During the
last fifteen years, the rise of theoret-
ical population ecology has trans-
formed the study of adaptation. Evo-
lutionists have learned that organisms
adapt not only by altering their size
and shape but also by adjusting the
timing of their lives and the energy
invested in different activities (feed-
ing, growth, and reproduction, for
example). These adjustments are
called "life history strategies."
Organisms evolve different life
history strategies to fit different types
of environments. Among theories
that correlate strategy with environ-
ment, the theory of r- and K- selec-
tion, developed by R. H. Mac Arthur
and E. O. Wilson in the mid-1960s,
has surely been the most successful.
Evolution, as usually depicted in
textbooks and reported in the popular
press, is a process of inexorable im-
provement in form: animals are deli-
cately "fine tuned" to their environ-
ment through constant selection of
better-adapted shapes. But several
kinds of environments do not call
forth such an evolutionary response.
Suppose that a species lives in an en-
vironment that imposes irregular,
catastrophic mortality upon it (ponds
that dry up, for example, or shallow
seas ripped up by severe storms). Or
suppose that food sources are ephe-
meral and hard to find, but superabun-
dant once located. Organisms cannot
fine tune themselves to such environ-
ments for there is nothing sufficiently
stable to adjust to. Better in such a
situation to invest as much energy as
possible into reproduction — make as
many offspring as you can, as quickly
as you can, so that some will survive
the catastrophe. Reproduce like hell
while you have the ephemeral re-
source, for it will not last long and
some of your progeny must survive
to find the next one.
We refer to evolutionary pressures
for the maximization of reproductive
effort at the expense of delicate mor-
phological adjustment as r-selection;
organisms so adapted are r-strategists
(r is the traditional measure of "in-
trinsic rate of increase in population
size" in a set of basic, ecological
equations). Species that live in stable
enviroimients, near the maximum
population size that the environment
can support, will gain nothing by pro-
ducing hordes of poorly adjusted
progeny. Better to raise a few, finely
tuned offspring. Such species are K-
strategists (K is the measure of envi-
ronmental ' 'carrying capacity' ' in the
same set of equations).
The parthenogenetic larval gall
midges live in a classical r-environ-
ment. Mushrooms are few and far be-
tween, but superabundant when
found by such a tiny fly . Cecidomyian
gall midges therefore gain a selective
advantage if they use newly discov-
ered mushrooms for building up their
population as rapidly as possible.
What, then, is the most efficient way
to build a population quickly? Should
the midges simply lay more eggs or
should they reproduce as early as pos-
sible during their lives? This general
issue has inspired a large literature
among mathematically inclined ecol-
ogists. In most situations, the key to
rapid increase is early reproduction.
A 10 percent decrease in age at first
reproduction can yield the same ef-
fect as a 100 percent increase in fe-
cundity.
Finally, we can understand the pe-
culiar reproductive biology of cecido-
myian gall midges: they have simply
evolved some remarkable adaptations
for early reproduction and extremely
short generation times. In so doing,
they have become consummate r-
strategists in their classical r-environ-
ment of ephemeral, superabundant
resources. Thus, they reproduce
while still larvae, and almost immedi-
ately after hatching, they begin to
grow the next generation within
themselves. In Mycophila speyeri,
for example, the parthenogenetic r-
strategist undergoes only one molt,
reproduces as a true larva, and manu-
factures up to 38 offspring in five
days. The normal, sexual adults re-
quire two weeks to develop. The lar-
val reproducers maintain a phenome-
nal capacity for increase in popula-
tion size. Within five weeks after its
introduction into a commercial
mushroom bed, Mycophila speyeri
can reach a density of 20,000 repro-
ductive larvae per square foot.
We may again pursue the compara-
tive method to convince ourselves
that this explanation makes sense.
The cecidomyian pattern has been
followed by other insects that inhabit
a similar set of environments.
Aphids, for example, feed on the sap
of leaves. A leaf, to these tiny insects,
is much like a mushroom to a gall
midge — a large, ephemeral resource
to be converted quickly into as many
Gall Midges, family Cecidomyiidae
David Overcash; Bruce Coleman, Inc.
28
■» T
'W
pNlno-lime
Wimbledon champion
Winner o( y.SOpen
and World TonniB
Championship
.,>i
Professionalism
highlights everything
« John Newcombe does
(f on the tennis court. But
when it comes to taking pictures,
he wants a camera that gives
great results, but doesn't take a
degree in math to operate. That's
why he likes the Canon AE-1.
The AE-1 is a fine 35mm
camera that has point-and-shoot
simplicity, and still has the ver-
satility even a pro can love. Its
rapid-fire power winder is great
for sequences— you won't miss
a shot. And the AE-1's electronic
flash is so automatic it's truly
foolproof. Best of all, it does all
this at a price that's just a little
more than what you might spend
on a camera that's a lot less. If
you want to lose your amateur
standing in photography the
Canon AE-1 is the way to go.
For a closer look at the
Canon AE-1, see your local
camera specialty dealer soon.
^t
Canon
J^
So advanced, it's simple.
Canon
A new idea that's 140,000,000 years old
The Birontosaiiinis
In Sparkling Clear, Genuine Swedish Crystal
A strictly limited edition...a unique work of art...
from famous Kosta Glassworks exchisively for
The American Museum of Natural History
The Brontosaurus. This 70 foot long,
30 ton, plant-eating dinosaur of the
Jurassic Period has captured the seri-
ous curiosity of scientists, the imagina-
tion of school children, the interest of
visitors to the American Museum of
Natural History and other great
museums.
Now, the amiable spirit of this popular
dinosaur has been captured in a solid
sculpture of genuine, clear Swedish
crystal.
Make Room in Your Home
For A Brontosaurus
Whatever the decor, wherever you
place it, the Brontosaurus sculpture
will capture attention with its lucid bril-
liance, its fluid lines. This is neither a
laboratory model nor a gimcrack
souvenir.
It is a work of fine art!
The Brontosaurus sculpture was creat-
ed for the American Museum of Natu-
ral History exclusively by Svenskt Glas
and is being produced in a limited edi-
tion by Kosta Glassworks of Sweden.
Connoiseurs of crystal collectibles will
readily acknowledge the reputation of
Kosta among the world's great crystal
makers. Their name assures the quality
of the full-lead crystal and the excel-
lence of the hand craftsmanship.
The Sculptor: Paul Hoff
The Brontosaurus sculpture was creat-
ed by Paul Hoff whose works are
represented in museums and galleries
on three continents. He has combined
scientific evidence with the artist's
prerogatives to form pure crystal into
a sculpture of fascinating beauty.
A Strictly Limited Edition
This one time edition of the Bron-
tosaurus sculpture will be limited to
10,000 perfect pieces. Once this
number has been realized, the patterns
will be destroyed— never again to be
made anywhere in the world.
A Certificate of Authenticity will
accompany each sculpture. It will bear
the serial number of that particular
sculpture in the edition.
Integrity is Assured
The hand scribed signature of artist
Paul Hoff, together with the hallmarks
of The American Museum of Natural
History, Kosta Glassworks and
Svenskt Glas etched on the base
further attest to the validity and quality
of each sculpture.
The beauty of the sculpture, the quality
of the crystal, the limited nature of the
edition and the hallmarks on the base
combine to make the Brontosaurus
sculpture a most prudent investment.
Historically, sculptures of this
quality show satisfying
appreciation over
the years.
7 inches long;
3y2 inches high;
2'/t pounds of
solid Swedish
crystal
A Treasure to Own. ..A Gift
Of Memorable Proportions
The Brontosaurus crystal
sculpture is available only
from Natural History
Sculptures. The price
is $77.50. However, if you
are an Associate Member
of The American Museum
of Natural History, you
are entitled to a discount of
ten percent; your price is
1.75. Shipping, insurance
and all custom duties are
included. Satisfaction is,
of course, assured.
Prompt action will
be well advised.
hWURIM HISTORY SCULPTURCS
Dept. NH-400, Box 51 23
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me crystal sculpture(s) of
the Brontosaurus
I am a member of The American
Museum of Natural History and am, there-
fore entitled to a 10% discount making the
price $69.75.
I am not a Member and will pay the
regular price of $77.50.
Enclosed is my check money order
in the amount of $
I prefer to charge this amount to my
American Express account valid thru.
D
U
Signature
Send to: (Please print)
Address .
City
.Zip.
mKmof
maw
MtMURM hUSTORY SCULPTURCS
Dept. NH-400, Box 5123
Des Moines, Iowa 50340
aphids as possible. Most aphids have
alternalc parlhenogcnctic forms —
wingless and winged (they alscj have
an overwintering, sexual form, which
need not concern us here). As you
have probably already guessed, the
wingless form is a Hightless feeder.
Although it is not a larva, it retains
many features of juvenile morphol-
ogy. It also maintains a remarkable
capacity for early reproduction. Em-
bryonic development actually begins
in a mother's body before her own
birth, and two subsequent genera-
tions may be telescoped within each
"grandmother." (Aphids, however,
are not consumed by their offspring.)
Their capacity for rapid increase in
population size is legendary. If all its
offspring lived to reproduce, a single
female of Aphis fabae could produce
524 billion progeny in a year. Winged
aphids develop more slowly when the
leaf is used up. They fly off to a new
leaf, where their offspring revert to
the wingless form and begin their
rapid cycling of generations.
What at first seemed so peculiar
now seems eminently reasonable. It
may even be an optimal strategy for
certain environments. This much we
cannot claim, for so many aspects of
cecidomyian biology are entirely un-
known. But we can point to the un-
canny convergence upon the same
strategy by a completely unrelated or-
ganism, the beetle Micromalthus de-
bilis. This beetle lives and feeds in
wet, rotting wood. When the wood
dries out, the beetle develops a sexual
form to search for new resources . The
wood-dwelling, feeding form has
evolved a set of adaptations that
repeats the features of cecidomyians
down to the most complex and pecu-
liar detail. It also is parthenogenetic.
It also reproduces at a morphologi-
cally juvenile stage. The young also
develop within the mother's body and
eventually devour her. Mothers also
produce three types of broods: fe-
males only when food is abundant
and males only or males and females
when resources diminish.
We humans with our slow develop-
ment (see my column of May 1975),
extended gestation, and minimal lit-
ter size are consummate X-strategists
and we may look askance at the stra-
tegies of other organisms, but in their
r-selective worfd the cecidomyians
are surely doing something right.
Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology,
geology, and the history of science
at Harvard University.
NATURE IN PORCELAIN by BURfUCS
BUF^ues
YOUNG WALRUS
(Odobenus rosmarus)
Languidly basking in the sun on his own ice floe.
9" wide X S'/z" high, an issue of 950, S225.
183 Spruce Sireel. Lakewood. New Jersey 08701. (201) 363-1527. Write Dept. W.
for complimenlBry copy of brochure, illusfraling other memorable sculptures
by BURGUES. Send $3 for full color catalogue
Japanese Art
Calendar M^^
JAL's 1977 art calendar features a stun
ning collection of Japan's rarest art
treasures. Shown is the December selec
tion, the 1 1-faced Buddha, Jijichimen
Kannon. All illustrations are in full color
and the large format (1 2" x 17") makes
them suitable for framing. To order,
send only $4.50 with the coupon below
The edition is strictly limited, so avoid
disappointment by returning the
coupon with your check today.
(No cash, please.)
UAPAN AIR LINES
Japan Air Lines, P.O. Box 777, Burlingame California 94010
1 enclose $ ($4.50 per calendar. No cash, please.)
Please rush calendar(s) postpaid by first class mail.
Name.
Address-
City
_Tel.
-State.
_Zip_
31
was-sail
From Merricim-Webster,
Americas best -selling dictioncury.
Its where the words live.
Merriam-Webster's newest desk-top dictionary
doesn't just define words. It brings words alive. So
anyone can get the tangy taste of "wassail". And the
full impact of "chopper". And at last make sense
of "cryogenics".
How does Webster's New Collegiate accomplish
such a feat? With over 3,000 quotations from poets,
comics, critics and presidents. With over 24,000
phrases showing you how a word is used in context.
And with scores of illustrations, charts and tables.
Altogether, over 150,000 words spring vividly
to life.
Including 22,000 new ones like "bummer" and
"dashiki" as well as the grand old Melvillian poly-
syllables.
In short it's the dictionary that makes all other
dictionaries obsolete. Which makes it about the
most up-to-the-minute gift you can buy for just
about anyone on your list. Only $10.95 thumb-
indexed, wherever books are sold.
Merriam-Webster Dictionaries, Springfield, MA. 01101
A Matter of Taste
An Even, Gentle Heat
by Raymond Sokolov
The oven, in various forms,
has been with us since
prehistoric times
The first time I lit an oven, in a gas
range with no pilot light, it responded
with a small explosion that singed my
eyebrows. Ever since, I have ap-
proached all ovens with respect, even
flame-free electric models. This is ir-
rational, no doubt, and probably
derives from the same primeval fear
of hot, enclosed spaces symbolically
expressed in the Hansel and Gretel
tale or by Lear's "sulphurous pit."
I leave it to your own post-
Freudian imaginations to speculate
on the meaning of this widespread
phobia and hasten to add that, what-
ever its cause, oven-fear is based on
a fundamental misunderstanding.
The purpose, the essential virtue of
ovens is that they keep fire at bay:
they disperse its danger, spread out its
power, and tame it. What, after all,
is an oven, but a large pot with heavy
walls?
We don't, in fact, know how or
why the first oven was invented. The
oven is prehistoric. Many early cul-
tures had them: Egyptian, Sumerian,
and Greek, to name only well-known
examples. But even if we cannot lo-
cate the exact route that led to the first
oven, it is fairly obvious from proto-
ovens, and other simple methods of
slow, enclosed cookery surviving in
contemporary use, that ovens
evolved in one of two ways. The pot
is one model; the pit is another.
Once you know how to make fire-
proof pots, you can heat them over a
fire and then use the retained heat to
cook with. This method is shown on
a tomb built about 2500 B.C. in Saq-
qara, Egypt. It is a short step from
these oven-pots to the larger, beehive
ovens made from clay and brick that
were the normal form of oven in the
Near East until quite recently.
The alternate route to the oven is
even simpler. It uses heat-retentive
stones and/or embers and a hole in the
ground. The New England clambake
began this way. The Indians dug a pit
and further insulated it with wet
seaweed, which protected the clams,
steamed them, and gave them a spe-
cial flavor. A quite similar method
was reported in 1959 by Rev. Wil-
helm Rechnitz from Murray Island in
the Torres Strait between Australia
and New Guinea. The islanders build
a wood fire and cover it thickly with
stones the size of a fist. When the fire
burns down, they use long wooden
poles to spread the stones over a cir-
cular area. Over the stones go parcels
made up of sliced yams, sweet pota-
toes, pumpkin, and shellfish or meat
mixed with coconut milk and
wrapped in banana leaves. Then
comes a layer of palm branches and
slightly dried banana leaves, then
sackcloth, and finally plenty of sand,
which completely covers the earth
oven, or kap mauri. After two or
three hours, at least, the oven is
opened up and the parcels are served
on plates. Mixed vegetables prepared
in this way are called sopsop, accord-
ing to Rechnitz, who adds that "Eu-
ropeans who visit the Islands always
enjoy it."
The Maori also developed a steam-
ing pit of a similar type, which they
call by various names, among them
hangi and umu. And we may imagine
that sophisticated Western visitors
enjoy food baked in them as well as
they do sopsop. The Maori also have
a method of cooking called turchu, in
which they bury birds in wet earth,
then build a fire over them. Alterna-
tively, the Maori put food in a vessel,
place it in the pit, and bury it.
All these methods of what might be
called burial cookery hark back to
what must have been the original
mode of oven cuisine: food roasted in
the embers of a campfire. We do this
today with potatoes in their jackets
and unshucked corn, foods that come
to us encased in their own natural
"ovens." It is virtually certain.
EAST AFRICAN WHO llffSOCKTY
■htp{USf10 00) goesc
con*«n^#tion p<oiecis. «i
(0 "DvcrhMdsV
EASTAFRICAN WILD LIFE SOCIETY
Anti Poaching Th
needed by ihe loc3
coniinued well being
An.
T>a) Research Environm
eni ond ecolo-
gica
surveys Ql nearly every
ma)Or species
whe
her threatened or not
"las been under
take
n by the Society m order
o plan lor the
con
ervaiion of these species
Animal Rescue
: Sometimes referred to as
Iranslocalion
ihis activity IS one of the
ways in which
the Society can help save
species threaten
ed by agricultural settlements
As an example
ihe moving of herd of Roan
Antelope
Educat
on: A long rar
ge proi
Cl which IS
equally
urgent in the
short
erm. is Ihe
c^allv'h
on of the peopi
e youth -to the
= of Eas
-veallh b
Africa -espe-
Olh economic
and cul
ural of Ihe witc
ife whic
1 abounds m
the -eg
on While government
realises the
imporia
nee ol Wildlife i
can not
36 effectively
conserv
ed until Ihe people ih
mselves see
the nee
essily of fuller
cooperai
on with the
auihori
les
TheSoc
lety makes fman
cial grants and gifts ID |
Ihe Wildlife Clubs of
Kenya
as well as
educati
nal equipment
EAST AFRICAN WILD LIFE SOCIETY
Box 20U0 Nairobi Kenya.
I enclose US. 51 0.00 for my year's
membership. Please enrol me.
Na
As a member of the Society you will
also receive a year's subscription to
AFRICANA quarterly wildlife magazme.
33
A SatimentalJcxjmey
The autobiographical log of Buckley's transatlantic voyage
from Miami to Marbella aboard his 60-foot schooner
"An affecting chronicle of self-discovery...
quieter drama [is] reflected in the relationship between
father and son, social frictions of crew members
and learning to cope with the sea and oneself."
Photographs -'PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
-^^^^ . . MACMILLAN
moreover, tliat the oven concept was
discovered accidentally when some
foodstuff fell into a slow fire and was
discovered, probably the next morn-
ing, deliciously cooked and still
warm.
The ur-Escoffier who first hit on
burial cookery would probably smile
to see the most innovative chef in
modern France proclaiming this
method as a paradigm of up-to-date
culinary sophistication. Paul Bocuse
likes to bake the truffled cervelas sau-
sage of Lyons in aluminum foil. He
first pours in a half liter of Beaujolais ,
then twists the foil tightly shut, wraps
it in wet newspaper, and buries the
entire contraption under wood
embers for forty-five minutes. Bo-
cuse also recommends roasting
chicken interred in seven pounds of
sea salt inside a cast-iron pot. And
like many French (and Thai) chefs, he
cooks fish in a paper or foil envelope,
en papillate, for a delicate effect.
These last two dodges are particu-
larly refined, for they take place in-
side a modern oven, which itself has
been carefully designed to produce an
ideally even and gentle heat that radi-
ates toward the food from all sides.
Something close to this sort of ther-
mal sophistication has been around
for a long time, of course, but without
the exactness of temperature that we
take for granted. Any number of so-
called primitive peoples could boast
of permanent outdoor masonry or
earthwork ovens. Adobe ovens sur-
vive in daily use in the Andes. I re-
cently ate bread baked in an outdoor
communal oven in a Swiss village in
the hills above Ascona. In Israel, reli-
gious families still take pots of cho-
lent, the bean dish that is the cassoulet
of the Jews, to a communal oven just
before the Sabbath and leave it to
bake slowly until they retrieve it for
lunch the next day.
I have been unable to determine if
housewives on the isle of Guernsey
in the English Channel continue to
carry a similar dish, Guernsey bean
jar, to their village oven. On Atlantic
Avenue, in Brooklyn, however, one
can get a taste of what this old-
fashioned community oven was like.
Under the sidewalk in front of the
Near East Bakery, a long and shal-
low brick, gas-fired cave of an oven
bakes Levantine meat pies . The baker
pulls out fresh batches at lunchtime
on a long-handled peel, the oar-
shaped wooden tool that was the em-
blem of medieval bakers. When you
eat one of those pies, it is easy to
I
34
imagine that you have stepped back
into the village life of an earlier time.
The transition from communal to
domestic ovens has taken quite a
while and it has not been complete.
Commercial bakeries still bake most
of our bread. Home ovens will also
do the same job, but they are pri-
marily what the French call fours de
cuisine, kitchen ovens designed to
perform a multiplicity of tasks, one
of which is a relatively new wrinkle
in the long history of ovens; roasting
large cuts of meat.
Until the last century, the leading
method for roasting legs of lamb and
loins of pork was to turn them over
an open fire on a spit. As recently as
1892, Lucien Tendret, the great gas-
tronomic writer, insisted that the an-
tique spit was the instrument of
choice for roasting. Ovens, he argued
with some real merit, tend to dry out
the meat: "To claim otherwise is a
heresy condemned by all the councils
of the Fathers of the table." Tendret
had lived through the technological
change from the magnificent, clock-
work spit mechanisms of the past to
the far more accurate roasting ovens
whose descendants we take for
granted today. He contended that fat
dripping from meat in the enclosed
space of an oven eventually
vaporized and reattached itself to the
meat as a burned taste . To avoid this
defect (chimerical though it may
seem to our perhaps degraded palates
today), he was willing to put up with
the notorious difficulty of accurate
spit roasting. Those glorious ma-
chines (one marvelous example of
which is on display at Mad Ludwig
of Bavaria's fairy-tale nine-
teenth-century castle, Neuschwan-
stein) apparently required a special
knack.
That is why Brillat-Savarin wrote
that "men learn to be cooks but they
must be born knowing how to roast. ' '
Nevertheless, spit-roasting does sur-
vive, in miniature, electrified form as
an adjunct to some outdoor barbe-
cues, while the Greek gyro machine,
now in vogue in this country, is a ver-
tical spit. Even so, the roasting oven
has overwhelmingly carried the day
against its more picturesque anteced-
ent.
The man behin^ this little-known
revolution in the kitchen was Benja-
min Thompson of Woburn, Massa-
chusetts, who emigrated to Europe
and became a world-famous scientist
under the name of Count Rumford.
About 1800, he experimented with a
with noAAiJ QMcl Aicwid
/ '...-j'of. ol U L- F r^M ot n.f Mor.lK Club
our famous
ROYAL RIVIERA* PEARS
So big and luicy they'll eat em wiih a
spoon —so rare, not 1 person in 1000
has ever tasted IhemI Beautilully gift
packed and sent with your personal
greetings Perfect arrival guaranteed'
Net weight 6-3/4 lbs Order now tor
Christmas delivery
Order Gilt No 1 $945 delv"d
GIANT AMARYLLIS
blooms in |usi 4 to 6
weeks' Flaming red.
supersi?ed flowers up to
6 inches across' Exotic
show lasts for
weeks — bulb car
be stored lor year
after year blooms
Completely pre-
planted nothing
to add except water
GUARANTEED TO
GROW AND BLOOM'
Available
Nov 1 to Jan 20
Order Gilt No 806 $695 delv'd
W
FIRESIDE FAVORITE
WoflO's mosi nutrilying ftiiKlufe
— Englisn WALNUTS, CalHornia
ALMONDS, sweei, woodsy Oregon
FILBERTS, BRAZILS Iron Brazil anO
PECANS so Dig and perleci they re
not sold in sioresi Handsome handwoven
wicker tiasket, nutcracker and picks are
all included Net wt 1-2/3 lbs Available
Oct 15 to April 10
Order Gilt No 412 $895 delvd
The Original, One-and-Only
%itjtb^ntliflul)
Since 1 936, America's favorite family club. Month after month, a parade of the world's rarest and
finest fruit sent direct from the orchard. Each gift box with your greetings. All announced by a
handsome, gold-embossed Certificate of H/lembership.
Christmas - Royal Riviera Pears
Jan - Crisp Mountain Apples
Feb - Royal Grapefruit
March - Royal Oranges
3-BOX CLUB Surprise them with gorgeous gift
boxes for Christmas, January and February!
Gift No. Ill ...S2495 delv'd
5-BOX CLUB Keeps coming and coming! Christ-
mas, January, February, May and September,
Gift No. Ul . . .S3995 delv'd
April - Hawaiian Pineapples
May - Wild 'n Rare^Preserves
June - Home-Canned Fruits
July - Giant Kiwi Berries
August - Exotic Nectarines
Sept - Oregold*''Peaches
Oct - Alphonse LaValle Grapes
Nov - Royal Beuire* Bosc Pears
8-BQX CLUB Delight them to pieces again and
again! Christmas, January, Februarv, May, August,
September. October and November.
Gift No. 151 ... S6695 delv'd
12-BOX CLUB Flabbergasting! A gorgeous gift
every single month of the year.
Gift No. 201 .. .S999S delv'd
We guarantee your complete satisfaction in every respect ... or your money back!
Every year folks write to tell us
how pleased their friends are with
gifts from Harry and David. Our
"secret"? It's the personal touch
that's part of every gift we make.
Harry and I grow our own fruit,
bake our own cakes, put up our
own preserves — even make our
own baskets. If you could see the
care with which our gifts are put
together, you'd know why the
quality is guaranteed.
EASY TO ORDER Use the order
blanks at right, or just send us your
list. Enclose check or money order
(no C.O.D.'s please). Tell us how to
sign your greetings for each gift.
All prices include delivery.
Box 522-c/ Medford, Oregon 97501
^V ©1976, Harry and David
™ " " Order here or send us your list"
IP AS
'GIFT TO
STREET.
CITY
Qiiantity
Name of Gift
Order No
Amount
$
Ship to Arrivei— . Ship to
for Christmas LJ Arrive On ( Date
Greetings to read:
r:n<?;o;e n
STREET.
CITY
Quantity
Name of Gift
Order No
Amount
S
Ship to Arnvep-, Ship to Use Card p.,
for Christmas LJ Arrive On I Date) I enclose LJ
(Max 3'/. X SI
Greetings to read;
Ordered By
Address
City
35
Adventure in a
frost-covered landscape.
A wintry landscape may appear dormant,
but careful observation reveals a v»ealth of
plant and animal activity. This illustrated
field guide explains what to look for in the
hightly-knit ecosystems of the winter world.
Roger Tory
Peterson says:
"For many years
I have wished for|r
a book like this.. A?
This book will be a
joy to those woods-
walkers and strollers
who have been puz-
zled by the skeletal
remains of the herba-
ceous plants they see
in winter."
Weeds
in
Winter
Written and Illustrated Yi-
By Lauren Brown
SH.ilS Ml ^ill bijok.slori^s i^
I Norton ihi>MHl*JfMi^%'!!>zr:f
WW NORTON S COMPANY INC
'500 Fifth Avenue. New York 10036
cylindrical metal roasting oven.
Rumford was generally occupied
with the problem of making kitchens
more thermally efficient, and with his
oven, he was able to save energy and,
he argued, to cook better as well. To
prove his point, he conducted what
may have been the first modern exper-
iment in home economics.
Rumford cut two legs of mutton of
equal weight from the same carcass.
Without explaining to his kitchen
staff that something special was
afoot, he had them roast one leg on
a spit and the other in his new oven.
The oven-roasted leg came out
weighing 6 percent more than its spit-
roasted twin. A subsequent tasting is
supposed to have demonstrated that
the oven produced juicier meat than
the spit.
Since then, the roasting oven has
triumphed and evolved into an even
more efficient instrument. Light-
weight insulation and thermostatic
heat give any modern amateur chef
more exact control of roasting and
baking than the chef Careme had
when he cooked for Napoleon and
Talleyrand. Our ovens are not, how-
ever, perfect. Generating large
amounts of heat, they turn our kitch-
ens into miniature infernos on sum-
mer days. And they must be pre-
heated for fifteen minutes or so if they
are to reach the temperature we call
for with a fiick of the dial. (Inciden-
tally, it does no good to dial up to 550
degrees when you want to preheat
most ovens co, say, 350 in a hurry,
because the typical thermostatic pro-
vision for preheating has the oven
burner running full blast anyway,
until a temperature somewhat above
the designated one is reached. This
"preheat overshoot" is built in to ac-
count for a heat loss when the oven
door is opened for the food to be put
in.)
Absolutely cool and instantaneous
oven action can, of course, now be
obtained with microwave devices.
But some experts are still worried
about radiation leaks from micro-
wave ovens, and these "radar
ranges" do cost more than their
somewhat limited usefulness merits
(they do not, for instance, brown
meat). Nevertheless, they do look
like what you might call the wave of
the future. Some day soon, they or
their modified versions will no doubt
replace thermal ovens. And future
historians will have to explain what
Harry Truman meant when he said,
"If you can't stand the heat, stay out
of the kitchen." By then, of course,
there may no longer be large cuts of
meat.
Cholent
This is an adaptation, with eggs
added for an Israeli touch, of a
recipe in The Best of Jewish
Cooking, published by The Dial
Press in 1974.
1 cup dried lima beans
3 tablespoons rendered chicken fat
3 medium onions, peeled and
chopped
2V2 pounds beef brisket or chuck
2 teaspoons salt
4 large potatoes, peeled and quar-
tered
V2 cup raw, coarse barley
1 clove garlic, peeled
Black pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1 bay leaf
6 uncooked eggs, in the shell
1. Soak lima beans overnight in a
generous amount of water.
2. Drain the beans the next day and
set aside.
3. Heat the chicken fat in a large,
heavy saucepan or Dutch oven.
Saute onions in hot fat until trans-
lucent. Remove and set aside.
4. Brown the meat in the remaining
fat until all sides have turned a
rich, caramel brown.
5. When meat is completely
browned (beige doesn't count),
but before it burns, remove the
saucepan from the burner (or turn
the burner off if you cook with
gas) and pour the beans over the
meat. Next come the potatoes,
then a layer of barley, then the
onion.
6. Add garlic and sprinkle on the sea-
sonings. Finally, add enough cold
water to cover the ingredients. Ar-
range eggs in the water.
7. Cook over low heat for one hour.
Near the end of this period, turn
on oven to low, that is, set the dial
at whatever is its lowest marking.
Traditionally, cholent is put in the
oven, covered, before sundown
and left to cook slowly until
lunchtime the next day.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Raymond Sokolov's most recent
cookbook is The Saucier 's Appren-
tice, a guide to French sauces.
36
Christmas pictures. Color by Kodak.
For the first time in an instant.
Imagine! The color of Christmas,
Christmas day. Lush, inviting color by
Kodak, yours in clean, dry self-timing
instant pictures. Pictures that develop
in minutes, the image protected by
an elegant, textured Satinluxe™ finish.
Imagine, two new Kodak instant
cameras. Both with automatic exposiure
control and electronic shutter.
See them now at your photo dealer's.
Prices start at less than $54. And give
someone a real first: the first instant
Christmas with color by Kodak.
Give Kodak instant
cameras and film.
NOTE; PRIO instant film (made by Kodak) can be used only in
Kodak instant cameras. Price is subject to change without notice.
mm^i^ifimvmf^^mi'i'iimmvmi^m^vm^imt
The Bubble Trade
by Horace Beck
In the lesser Antilles, where
there are few opportunities
for economic betterment,
success in smuggling leads
to respect and status
In the Lesser Antilles, an island
chain in the West Indies that arcs
southwestward from Puerto Rico to
the northeast shoulder of South
America, smuggling is a way of life.
The inhabitants of these islands are
mostly of African stock, the descend-
ants of slaves brought years ago from
the coastal areas of present-day Ni-
geria and Dahomey. Despite some in-
terbreeding with the Carib Indians
and with the small populations of
Scots and Irish that had settled there,
their culture remained predominantly
African. Following emancipation in
1834, and the abandonment on some
of the islands of the great estates on
which they once worked, these
people evolved a society based partly
on folklore, cults, and poverty.
Theirs is mostly a subsistence
economy — they grow some vegeta-
bles and fruits or gather them in the
wild. Fishing provides their chief
source of protein. Opportunity for
economic advancement is very lim-
ited and the possibilities for change
are few — unless one can enter poli-
tics, where the rewards are astonish-
ing. Money is scarce and knowledge
of business management is rudimen-
tary. For the most part, the West In-
dian can look forward to owning a
rum shop or a small trading schooner
or to boat building, goals only a few
can achieve.
Despite this, the West Indian is
anxious to advance his status. Since
he cannot easily improve his financial
situation, he attempts to increase the
respect accorded him by the commu-
nity. But because it is so difficult to
38
gain respect through traditional eco-
nomic means, many West Indians
have entered the smuggling business
as a way to gain both economic and
social status. Not only is smuggling
beneficial to those who trade in con-
traband but it also makes goods avail-
able to friends and neighbors at prices
they can afford. Some of the products
smuggled to various islands would be
legally unobtainable due to protective
laws and tariffs.
For both economic and geographic
reasons, it is no accident that smug-
gling has proliferated in these islands.
At the northern end of the chain. Saint
Martin and Saint Barthelemy (Saint
Barts) are duty-free ports where
goods can be purchased at a fraction
of the price charged elsewhere. Tariff
rates and prices vary from island to
island, and smugglers commonly buy
on one island and sell on another that
has a higher tariff.
In the Lesser Antilles, the wind
usually blows from the east. The is-
lands break the force of the Atlantic
seas and gales, allowing smugglers to
sail in the relatively protected waters
off leeward shores. Sailing from one
island to another is usually rapid and
smooth. Almost any indentation on
the leeward coasts provides the seclu-
sion necessary for the safe discharge
of cargo, which smugglers generally
store and distribute in the security of
the nearest rum shop.
No one knows the exact number of
Much of the contraband in the
West Indies originates from Saint
Barts, a duty-free port. Liquor,
one of the principal smuggled
is transported to other
islands by sailing vessels.
^
itf^Viiivi^
^
n
t^
f^
"/v
^
if
i
\
fK
Large sailing vessels such as
this schooner frequently take on
contraband in Saint George's,
Grenada, for transport to Venezuela.
people who smuggle, but it is proba-
ble that up to 80 percent of the male
population have taken part in the
trade at one time or another; 5 or 10
percent pursue it full time. Of all the
imported goods sold on the islands,
perhaps 30 percent are contraband.
And most of the area's cigarettes,
whiskey, and rum are smuggled from
island to island.
The implications of smuggling go
far beyond traditional economics or
providing communities with illegal
goods. West Indians are extremely
serious about achieving respect and
have developed a straightforward
value scheme for recognizing and
evaluating it. Successful smuggling
plays a great role in this scheme. The
concept of courage is foremost. A
man is either brave or cowardly, and
a coward only invites disdain. The
desire to be thought of as brave is so
strong that expressions such as
"please" and "thank you" are sel-
dom used because they indicate
weakness. One may demonstrate
courage in a number of ways — by
facing danger, by demonstrating
physical strength, or by exposing
oneself to, and enduring, super-
natural powers.
A second and closely related value
is cleverness as opposed to intel-
lectual brilliance. Albert Einstein
would have been shown little respect
in this culture but a clever thief is ad-
mired. The thief shows courage in
risking exposure and cleverness by
not getting caught.
Sexual prowess is another impor-
tant means of achieving respect. The
man who can seduce many women
must be physically strong, clever,
Fishermen in small, open boats
often smuggle to supplement their
income. The contraband is usually
concealed under the day's catch.
and brave enough to risk the wrath of
irate husbands and lovers. And his
offspring oiler irrefutable testimony
to these traits. One of the most
famous men on one island achieved
his reputation by sailing a whaleboat
in the night across live interisland
channels, accompanied only by a
woman. His respect stemmed from
his claim that he had had sexual inter-
course with the woman three times in
each channel.
Yet another cultural consideration
is a deep-seated belief in the super-
natural world. The dead play a large
part in the attitudes of the living — ad-
vising, aiding, and directing. When
the dead are needed, they are called
through the rituals of obeah, a type
of sorcery used by West Indians to
assist them in achieving an objective,
be it to help or to hurt someone.
Within the West Indian economic
and cultural framework, there is a
day-to-day flow of tranquility, in-
terspersed by short spells of intense
physical activity that often involve
the kind of danger that brings respect
and status. Ordinary days revolve
around harvesting coconuts and vege-
tables, milling cassava, fishing, and
turtle hunting. The principal recrea-
tional activities are cock fighting, dog
baiting, and playing cricket. During
these periods of calmness many of the
men spend long hours with their
neighbors recalling sporadic mo-
ments of danger when courage and
cleverness were at a premium. Most
of these times focus on the "bubble
trade," the name West Indians have
given to smuggling because contra-
band occasionally includes sparkling
wine.
The small, ancient, and beamy
sailing vessels used in this trade gen-
erally have rotting hulls and lines,
patched sails, and engines with de-
funct cylinders. Most of them leak
and their rusted exhaust pipes are apt
to fill the cabins with carbon monox-
ide. Their "galley" is usually a bra-
zier, which not infrequently sets the
ship afire. The boats lack fire extin-
guishers, life lines, life preservers,
radios, radio direction finders, logs,
compasses, charts, watches, or sex-
tants. The windlass is usually
inoperative and the cable too short to
anchor in many places. The boats are
kept afloat only through the combined
efforts of cockroaches and termites
holding hands and wheezy, worn-out
pitcher pumps, which, in Sisyphean
fashion, recycle the Caribbean
through the hull. To make matters
worse, almost no aids to navigation,
such as lighthouses or buoys, exist in
the Lesser Antilles. Finally, the ves-
sels are so overloaded, they float on
their deck beams.
Such a dearth of equipment or
maintenance seems to be of little con-
cern to the smugglers. They are not
accustomed to safety devices and few
know how to navigate. Radio direc-
tion finders have almost no stations on
which to home and should a boat have
a radio and send out a "mayday" for
assistance, only a foreign yacht
would answer the call, for sinkings in
the West Indies are so common as to
elicit little interest on the part of the
authorities. Moreover, no one
transporting contraband wants to be
rescued by the coast guard.
To the West Indian, courage lies in
undertaking the long voyage and en-
countering the natural and super-
natural hazards of nighttime sailing.
In the dark, squalls rise quickly and
without warning, sometimes washing
sailors overboard; bearings are easily
lost; and an unmarked coast in the
murk of rain is a constant danger. The
night also brings ghost ships, phan-
tom lights, jabless (a kind of she
devil), and spirits. One man re-
counted an all-night chase by a phan-
tom longboat manned by ghostly
pirates seeking the blood of his crew.
The dangers of sailing at night are
increased by the presence of obeah,
which works best in the dark.
Or so West Indian folklore has it.
Actually the dangers are slight if one
does not take into account the poor
condition of the boats. The
smugglers' course is in the lee of the
islands; it is only while crossing the
channels that the boats feel the weight
of the ocean swells and the full force
of the heavy trade winds.
Most of the island governments
pay no attention to smuggling. Mar-
tinique and Guadeloupe, however,
are exceptions; here smugglers are
hunted with a vengeance. Contraband
boats passing these two islands must
keep out of sight of land. Not only
does this make for hazardous naviga-
tion but by venturing so far out, skip-
pers leave the protective lee of the
islands and the boats' rotten canvas
41
\
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
PUERTO
RICO
.SAINT MARTIN
-^ SAINT BARTHELEMY
GUADELOUPE
CARIBBEAN SEA
MARTINIQUE
'>> GRENADA
and shaky cordage can ill bear the
weight of the trades. Also, by going
offshore, vessels are forced to sail
against the wind to return closer to the
islands. As a result, they pound, leak,
often become lost, and sometimes
sink.
One tale that West Indians fre-
quently retell concerns this very haz-
ard. Several years ago a small sloop
set sail for Saint Barts from an island
about four hundred miles to the south.
Various members of the community
entrusted the skipper with several
thousand dollars with which to pur-
chase contraband. Some of the
money represented not only the life
savings of the people involved but
also a degree of courage, for no West
Indian wants to lose money or face.
The best the sloop could hope to do
was about a hundred miles a day, with
an additional day for procuring and
loading the cargo, but so eager were
the people of the community, that
after five days, they set a watch on a
high hill and eagerly scarmed the ho-
rizon. A week went by and the boat
did not appear. The islanders began
to worry; and after ten days their
worry turned to anxiety. Just before
dawn on the twelfth day, a sail that
looked like that of the sloop was
Cock fighting is a popular sport
on Saint Lucia and Martinique.
Before each fight on Saint
Lucia, handlers lick the birds'
claws to prove that poison has
not been daubed on them.
42
sighted low down in a squall. The
watch thought the boat would come
in after dark. But she did not come
that night. By the following after-
noon, when everyone was sure all
hands had "gone bottom," a call
came from Nevis, three hundred
miles away. The message was that the
vessel was at anchor there and that the
crew were flying home. On their ar-
rival, they were not well received.
West Indians do not like to accept
the blame for any misfortune, so the
skipper and crew had to provide a rea-
sonable explanation. They said that
the vessel had arrived on schedule at
Saint Barts, taken on its cargo, and
begun the return journey. But far olf
the lee shore of Guadeloupe, the wind
backed south and blew hard, bursting
the main sail and blowing out the jib.
The engine could not push the boat
against the waves and wind, and be-
fore long the fuel supply was ex-
hausted. Finally, in the gloom of a
stormy dawn and five days behind
schedule, they raised their home is-
land. But before they could make
land, the weather turned worse, forc-
ing them to run before the wind away
from the island. By the next morning,
the gale had blown out the rest of the
sails and the boat began to drift down
on a revenue cutter — but not before
the crew threw ail the contraband
overboard. The cutler towed the dis-
abled but empty boat to Nevis. The
crew evaded all questions asked by
the revenue officers and returned
home. This demonstrated raw cour-
age. The islanders were satisfied —
the men were brave.
I am convinced that a sloop with
sails in tatters could not run three hun-
dred miles in thirty hours. I believe
the boat probably never reached Saint
Barts; that it was disabled off Guade-
loupe, where it was rescued by the
cutter and towed to Nevis. When I
learned that this was the skipper's
first voyage, 1 became even more
skeptical of the crew"s story.
Another tale recounts the 25-day
\oyage of a large vessel from Saint
Barts to her home island, a distance
of less than five hundred miles. The
crew said that they had approached
from out of sight of land, and without
any knowledge of navigation, had hit
their island dead on. Closer investiga-
tion revealed the true story. They had
missed their island by three hundred
miles, raised South America, sailed
back, misidentified another island,
and finally blundered home.
Those engaged in the bubble trade
face yet another hazard — revenuers.
Sometimes, officials are bought off in
advance or have a part share in the
vessel or, in rare cases, feel that the
trade benefits the island or that the
protective tariffs are unjust. Still,
there are a sufficient number of offi-
cials who for various reasons — per-
sonal spite and malice, insuflScient
bribes, a misguided sense of duty, or
hopes of early preferment in their
calling — feel they must enforce the
laws. To be willing to risk capture by
these authorities, no matter how min-
imal that hazard may be, is to display
courage. To escape capture requires
cleverness. The methods used often
have morbidly humorous overtones.
Years ago a boat named the Artful
Dodger was about to unload cargo
when a spying revenue officer was
found hiding under a rowboat
propped up on shore. The props were
kicked away and the captain and mate
sat on the dory and regaled the reve-
nue officer with a running account of
the contraband being discharged.
When all was over, the crew lashed
the rowboat to the beach and sailed
away.
43
Recently the police commissioner
of Grenada decided to put a stop to
the only business on the island of Pe-
tite Martinique — smuggling. He or-
dered his constabulary to go to the
island and search it. His men, how-
ever, were so sure that the smugglers
would harm them that they would not
carry out the orders. In a rage, the
commissioner went to the island him-
self, where he was met by a polite
delegation and invited to a party.
Asking what the event was, the com-
missioner was told that the people
were going to celebrate his death and
had already dug his grave. He quietly
withdrew and smuggling remains the
main enterprise on Petite Martinique.
Not all smuggling stories have
such an amusing end. One of my in-
formants told me of an adventure he
had while working as a cook on a bub-
ble boat. Having just discharged the
cargo, the crew began to sail for home
when a revenue officer stopped the
boat and boarded her . After a fruitless
search for contraband, the officer de-
manded some food, specifying that it
had to be hot. The cook told me that
he fried up some fish and sprinkled it
with bitter powder. As the officer
prepared to leave after having fin-
ished his meal, he told the boat's cap-
tain, "keep away from these
waters." The captain assured him
that their paths would never again
cross. Three-quarters of an hour later,
the revenue officer was dead, poi-
soned by the bitter powder.
Although the bubble trade can be
a rough game, many smugglers try to
avoid trouble by resorting to obeah.
Crews anoint boats with various oils,
powders, and potions to make them
swift, to ward off bad weather, to pro-
tect them from wraiths and sea devils ,
and to make them invisible to the
coast guard. Some smugglers place
thorns from a silk-cotton tree under
the boat's tiller, similar in concept to
putting a burr under a horse's tail to
make it gallop faster. There is a be-
lief, however, that such doctored ves-
sels will capsize at midnight; thorns
are thus ordinarily used only for short
hauls. A more sinister concoction,
which is spread on the vessels, is a
salve said to be made from human
livers and other organs collected from
hospital morgues.
Obeah is a superstition whose
strength has not suffered with the pas-
sage of time. I was told the following
story in all seriousness. Although the
events could hardly be possible, it is
significant that some West Indians be-
lieve in the authenticity of such tales.
A few years ago, the police, suspect-
ing that a boat was engaged in the
bubble trade, slipped seven men
armed with flashlights and rifles
aboard her to trap the crew when they
came aboard. Learning of the surrep-
titious activity, the captain sought out
an obeah man, who promised to man-
age the matter. The crew never
boarded the boat, but the waiting po-
lice suddenly saw the windlass turn
and crank in the anchor chain. Then
the sails were hoisted and the boat
began to gather headway. The next
morning the captain went aboard and
found seven rifles and the flashlights
but no police. They had long since
jumped overboard and swum ashore.
Smugglers also call upon obeah to
deal with informers or those who hap-
pen upon a bubble boat in the midst
of being unloaded. The problem can
usually be dealt with by paying ofl" the
intruder, whose demands are usually
low — a carton of cigarettes, a bottle
of rum. But sometimes they become
exorbitant and then smugglers will re-
sort to violence or threaten obeah. In
the long run, obeah is the most effec-
tive deterrent.
Long ago, a woman in Dominica
discovered the Granville Lass un-
loading in a quiet bay one night and
insisted on about a third of the cargo
to keep her from iivforming the po-
lice. The captain gave her a couple of
bottles of rum and threatened her with
instant death if she did not leave. The
woman departed but returned with the
police thinking she would receive a
reward. The police captured and
jailed all but one man who jumped
overboard and escaped. Anxious to
free his cofnpanions, he contacted an
obeah man who agreed to help. This
conjurer advised each prisoner to say
"freedom" before the judge at the
arraignment and the escaped man to
say the same word to the woman.
The next morning each of the ac-
cused pleaded freedom and the judge
immediately dismissed the charges.
After the last riian had been released,
the man who had escaped stood up in
the courtroom, pointed a finger at the
woman informer, and said "free-
dom." Her lower lip suddenly began
The names given to boats
in the West Indies reflect not only
the desires of their owners but
also their belief that vessels will be
assisted by supernatural powers.
to grow until it reached an enormous
size. Henceforth, she was considered
the ugliest woman in Dominica and
her village became known as pays
bouche ("village of the mouth"), a
name used to this day.
The police are not exactly indif-
ferent to the wealth derived from
smuggling. Once, I was watching
some smugglers unload a cargo and
carry the contraband to a rum shop for
storage. As a police boat approached,
the smugglers worked faster and fas-
ter in an effort to hide as much of the
cargo as possible so they would not
have to give the policemen a large
share of the goods. Fortunately for
the smugglers, they managed to put
all their booty in the rum shop. All
that was left in the vessel's holds were
fish that the smugglers had used to
conceal the contraband. The police,
in their starched white uniforms, fu-
tilely searched through the fish.
After a successful voyage, a
smuggler is a desirable catch for any
woman. He has demonstrated his
cleverness, has change in his pocket,
and liquor, perfume, cloth, and
various pretties in his sea bag. Suc-
cess with women is proof of his viril-
ity. Sometimes this sexuality can lead
to serious problems. Captain B. was
such a successful smuggler that he
had two mistresses as well as a wife.
One of his mistresses gave him some
money with which to buy her some
contraband rice. When the captain re-
turned from his next voyage, he sold
all the cargo but did not give the
mistress any rice. Instead, he gave
presents to the other mistress. An-
Even though they may profit greatly
from their trade, many smugglers
continue to live in ramshackle
huts. In this way, they hope to
avoid suspicion by the police.
44
wWm
^'Sffk
\ I
*
»
>^>»
''^'i^
gered, the first mistress informed the
authorities in Dominica of Captain
B.'s activities and told them when he
was coming. When he arrived on the
island, his vessel was seized and all
hands flung in jail.
The owner was forced to pay not
only part of the value of the vessel but
the fines of the crew as well . Captain
B. sailed for home with empty holds,
and when he arrived the owner had
two checks ready — one for the crew's
pay and another for the captain's sev-
erance. He also had informed the cap-
tain's wife of her husband's activities
and she promptly left him. The cap-
tain's two mistresses also severed
their relationships with him.
Although smugglers make a good
profit from their trade, earnings are
tainted and must be rapidly disposed
of. Tradition has it that unless a
smuggler spends half of what he re-
ceives, he may well be destroyed by
the devil. The West Indian admires
the spender and rewards him with re-
spect. Conversely, invectives are the
reward of the saving man.
Small fortunes have resulted from
the bubble trade. The richest man on
one island is said to have made in
excess of a million dollars. But to dis-
play conspicuous signs of such
wealth is to court disaster. Those who
have profited by the trade must con-
tinue to live in their meager houses
and dress like the poorest fishermen.
A change in life style could bring hard
questions from the police. The suc-
cessful smuggler is thus caught in a
social trap and must dispose of his
wealth in ways that make its source
look legitimate. If he spends his
money, he is in constant danger of
being arrested; if he hoards it, he is
subject to the criticism of his neigh-
bors. Walking this thin line, the only
real respect he receives is through his
courage and cleverness while on an
actual smuggling voyage. D
Most smugglers sail their boats
along the Lesser Antilles without
the aid of navigational equipment.
Often in poor condition and
overloaded, the vessels easily
founder in a storm or when out of
the protective lee of the islands.
46
A Pelican Synchrony
by Fritz L. Knopf
Survival of chicks is a reward
for meshing breeding activity;
good fishing is a reward
for nesting in colonies
Birds nesting in colonies pose
some intriguing questions. Some ad-
vantages to colonial nesting, such as
mutual defense against predators,
seem obvious, but so do some disad-
vantages. Why, for example, build
nests in localized, high densities,
which appear to maximize competi-
tion for nest sites and materials? To
try to find some answers, I decided to
do a field study on the spectacular
white pelican, which nests colonially
on a remote island in Great Salt Lake,
North America's inland sea.
The North American white pelican
(Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) is one
of six recognized species of pelicans
found throughout most of the world.
Five of the species are basically white
and live in freshwater environments;
the marine-living brown pelican is the
exception.
Unlike the brown species, the
white pelican has not experienced the
deleterious impacts of pesticide con-
tamination on eggshell thickness and
reproductive behaviors. Levels of
DDT and its metabolic derivatives,
DDD and DDE, have remained com-
paratively low in North American
white pelicans and their eggs. This
disparity in pesticide contamination
levels between the two species is due
to their nesting site locations. White
pelicans nest primarily along the
shores of lakes in near-desert and
A chick delves into its parent's
gular pouch for a meal of
regurgitated fish (left). By the
time of fiedging. the chick will
be almost 20 percent heavier than
an adult. The extra Vi-eight enables
young pelicans to survive the
period when they must learn to
secure their own food. White
pelicans nest in discrete colonies
on Gunnison Island. Great Salt
Lake. Utah (below). Islands free
of mammalian predators, with
level, open areas for takeoffs and
landings, are required for pelican
colony formation.
/
!->'
^,-. , -
/
^
/'
/
V
/
northern prairie regions, which are
not agriculturally or industrially de-
veloped. Brown pelicans nest along
the heavily populated and developed
western and gulf coasts of the United
States, where pesticides (and other
wastes) leach into the ocean from ag-
riculturally developed land.
Historically, the continental popu-
lation of white pelicans declined with
the draining of the extensive wetlands
of the northern prairies. By the early
1960s the population had stabilized at
just over 30,000 birds. A 1972 survey
indicated this population nested at
fourteen sites on the continent. A fif-
teenth site was added in 1976 with the
colonization of islands in Honey
Lake, California, by an estimated
2,000 birds.
A majestic bird, the North Ameri-
can white pelican has a wingspan of
about nine feet, only slightly smaller
than our largest native bird, the Cali-
fornia condor. The large wingspan,
along with a relatively light body
weight of fourteen pounds, is an ad-
aptation for soaring on thermal air
currents; an ability that aids the birds
in ranging widely between food re-
sources by reducing the need for ener-
getically costly active flight.
The major morphologic feature of
pelicans is their large gular pouch,
which is used as a dip net to scoop
up fish. This distensible pouch has
two other functions. By vibrating one
of the pouch's structures, a pelican
can cause the tongue to flutter. The
fluttering promotes evaporative cool-
ing from the inner surface of the
pouch, which in these birds is an en-
ergetically more efficient cooling
mechanism than panting. The pouch
also plays a role in the social life of
pelicans. Distension and lateral dis-
play of the pouch, accompanied by
soft grunts, occurs when mated pairs
meet after an absence. Such behavior
appears to be an essential part of the
mate recognition process.
The first of the more than 5,000
white pelicans that nest annually in
the Great Salt Lake region return to
Utah in early March from their win-
tering grounds in western Mexico,
50
Using rising thermal air currents
for lift, pelicans circle to gain
altitude. Enroute to their feeding
grounds 40 to 60 miles away, birds
from the different colonies on
Gunnison Island may join together
and function as feeding flocks
upon arrival at their destination.
soon after the ice melts in the exten-
sive marshlands along the lake's east
shore. The pelicans visit the tradi-
tional nesting site shortly after their
spring arrival and lay their first eggs
at the beginning of April. Late arriv-
als come into northern Utah and lay
eggs through the end of June.
On 150-acre Gunnison Island in
Great Salt Lake, pelicans nest in dis-
crete colonies on low, flat areas,
avoiding steep and rocky slopes. Col-
onies range in size from the definable
minimum of two nests to more than
six hundred nests, with as many as
thirty-five colonies on the island in a
given year. Nests within a colony
average slightly more than a half yard
apart, and the nests of one colony are
often only a few yards from nests in
another colony.
Within a colony, the reproductive
activities of pelicans are highly syn-
chronized. Egg laying, hatching, and
fledging of chicks, for example,
occur within cycles of five to nine
days for all nests. In contrast, repro-
ductive activities in the pelican popu-
lation as a whole are highly asyn-
chronous. Progressive stages in the
reproductive cycle are often sepa-
rated by four to eight weeks in neigh-
boring colonies. On many days 1
could easily observe the entire spec-
trum of reproductive activities — from
pair formation through incubation
and brood raising — by scanning dif-
ferent colonies on the island.
An aspect of the colonial nesting
habit of birds almost totally ignored
by researchers is colony formation.
With the white pelicans, I found that
sexually aroused, unmated birds of
both sexes are especially attracted to
those displaying courtship behaviors.
The result is a flock of courting birds.
With each succeeding day, individ-
uals in the courting flock acquire
mates, defend territories, construct
nest mounds, and ultimately lay eggs,
while birds seeking mates continue to
join the flock for an additional five to
nine days after the flock has settled in
a given site. (The timing of these
events assures that reproductive
synchrony is maintained throughout
the nesting period.) Coming together
as a flock, the courting birds are, in
etteci. the precursor to the establish-
ment of a colony of nesting birds at
the site. Different flocks, and then
colonies, are established as new birds
arrive in the area. There may be a half
dozen or more courting flocks on
Gunnison Island in any week during
the breeding period.
When a sexually active female first
enters a courting flock she charges
among the massed bodies of unmated
males loitering on the periphery. Jabs
delivered by the bills of the males im-
pede her progress until she stops and
assumes an elaborate bow posture.
The closest males respond to her bow
with a more subtle bow and overt ag-
gressive behaviors by the surround-
ing birds diminish. After the ex-
change of bows, the female usually
recommences her attacklike move-
ment toward the center of the flock
until she is again forced — or
chooses — to stop and bow. Her
movement tfirough the flock, together
with the high-density social environ-
ment she encounters, seems an essen-
tial, sexually excitatory stimulus.
Males attempt to keep up with a fe-
male, and through the course of a few
days, one male successfully main-
tains his position by rebuffing other
males and a pair bond is established.
Usually neither bird leaves the flock
during this period, even to feed.
Bow posturing appears to be a sex-
ual, not an appeasement, behavior. A
male only bows in response to a fe-
male doing so first, but her bowing
stimulates him to do likewise. An
over-all effect of this posturing is to
reduce the level of aggressiveness be-
J.C. Stevenson; Animals, Animals
Feeding flocks of white pelicans
line up to herd fish into shallow
water. Working the fish, the birds
form a semicircle that blocks
the escape of their prey. Fish
are then scooped up in the birds '
pouches. Wintering birds in San
Diego Bay, California, shown.
51
White pelicans seldom raise two
chicks successfully; those that do,
tend to be neighbors. The suspicion
is that they are older, more
experienced birds. Adult on right
nest is merely scratching its wing.
An adult incubating its eggs kills
a wandering chick with a single
blow to the head. Such incidents
are rare as the synchrony of
breeding events in a colony usually
insures the breakdown of territorial
nest behavior by the time chicks
are old enough to stray from nests.
Fanning their pouches and emitting
soft grunts, mates exchange
greetings at the nest as one
prepares to relieve the other of
tending their offspring. In 24
hours, they will again switch.
52
53
'- - .N*.
?;?^-
^Ml
.^^.^v^^re
.v! . W>^^
twecn the two. After pair formation
and nest site selection, the bow of the
female becomes the invitation for
copulation.
Once paired, the two birds pro-
gress farther into the center of the
flock, until they encounter other pairs
already defending their nest sites.
The newly mated birds move within
about a half yard of the territorial
birds, select, and then defend their
own nest site. Substrate features gen-
erally receive little, if any, consid-
eration in the nest site selection
process; proximity to other pairs ap-
pears to be the major criterion.
Aggressive behaviors between
pairs of birds are frequent and violent
during activities associated with
courtship, mating, and especially,
defending a nesting territory. I no-
ticed, for example, that the rate of
aggressive encounters per pair of
birds (they respond together to chal-
lenges from neighbors) peaks at bet-
ter than 200 encounters per hour dur-
ing the initial period of nest-site de-
fense.
During the breeding season, white
pelicans have an unusual morpholog-
ical structure that I speculate directs
an agonistic blow to an area where it
will do the least harm. Both males
and females develop a hornlike,
deciduous maxillary protuberance,
which drops off during egg incuba-
tion— by which time territorial
boundaries have been resolved. This
structure seems to serve as a target for
aggressive jabs, with 95 percent of all
agonistic blows being directed at the
"horn" on top of an opponent's bill.
Just as mountain sheep perform a ri-
tualized combat of head-on clashes
and possess highly pneumaticized
skulls to absorb such blows, pelicans
resolve their conflicts without exces-
sive injury to participants.
Once the selected nest site has been
successfully defended, the pair copu-
An adult in breeding condition
sports a ' 'horn ' ' on its bill that
serves as a target for the
agonistic jabs of other colony
members. The horn, a little the
worse for wear, will fall off
during the egg-incubation period.
UTAH
0
Gunnison Island L,
'
i,^ Great I
\salt V^v^
Uake ^
\7\ (^
• Ogden
Great Sail Lake Deserl
n \^
I
V
• Salt Lake
city
late for four to five days. The first egg
appears on the fifth day. On the fourth
or fifth day the male leaves his mate
to visit feeding grounds in marshes
along the eastern shore of Great Salt
Lake, forty to sixty miles away, and
returns three days later when the two-
egg clutch is complete.
As more males temporarily leave
the courting flock during egg laying,
the density of the flock is reduced, the
intensity of excitatory stimuli asso-
ciated with courtship, copulation,
and territorial nest defense declines,
and a greater proportion of the flock
assumes the appearance of an estab-
lished colony of incubating birds.
The flock becomes less attractive to
later arriving, unmated birds, which
congregate at other sites where court-
ing birds are more in phase with the
newcomers' physiological state.
Pelicans attend their nests contin-
ually throughout incubation (about 30
days) and until the chicks are three to
four weeks of age. The male takes the
first turn incubating the eggs, ena-
bling the female to go off for her first
meal since the pairing process began.
During incubation, the male and fe-
male exchange places on the nest at
72-hour intervals. They switch to a
24-hour schedule after the eggs
hatch. A bird coming to the island to
relieve its mate lands near the colony,
preens for a moment, then walks di-
rectly to the nest. After exchanging
bows and greeting behaviors, the
birds switch places; the bird from the
nest walks outside the colony,
stretches and preens briefly, then flies
to the distant marshes to feed.
At four weeks of age the nutritional
demands of the chicks require the
full-time ettorts of both parents to
feed them. Chicks are often left to
wander about unattended as both
parents go off to hunt for fish (mainly
carp). The chicks are capable of flight
at about twelve weeks. At fledging,
a chick may weigh as much as 20 per-
cent more than its parents, this excess
weight likely representing a meta-
bolic reserve to buffer the lean period
when the chick must learn to secure
its own food.
During late incubation and the
nestling period, both adults undergo
a molt of their head feathers. The
flowing, white crest feathers of the
nuptial plumage are replaced by
short, gray or black plumes. The
striking aspect of this new plumage
is that virtually no two adult pelicans
look exactly alike. When pelicans re-
turn to the island to feed older chicks,
they return to the site of the colony
and wait to be approached by their
own chicks. The variability in plum-
age on the heads of adults may pro-
vide visual cues that facilitate the ini-
tial recognition process for chicks.
This is similar to the system used by
royal terns; but in these terns, the
chicks display the highly variable
plumage patterns and the adults vis-
ually screen the nursery for their off-
spring.
One of the more intriguing ques-
tions about bird colonies is why they
tend to be synchronized. Recently,
there has been much speculation that
colonial nesting and synchrony
within a colony promote the opportu-
nity for birds to share information on
the location of food resources. Birds
that nest in colonies typically exploit
food resources that occur in variable
William B, Robinson; AnimaJs, Animals
55
abundance at unpredictable loca-
tions. This "information center"
hypothesis has received some support
from recent work with great blue
herons in British Columbia. Observa-
tions of these herons revealed that
birds on neighboring nests exchanged
places with their mates at about the
same time, and birds leaving the colo-
nies departed together in small
flocks. This information cannot be di-
rectly applied to the situation in peli-
can colonies, however, since nest ex-
changes are not synchronized be-
tween neighbors in a colony. Ex-
changes in a pelican colony occur at
only a third of the nests each day.
I believe, however, that coloniality
does enhance the ability of white peli-
cans to locate and exploit food re-
sources. The white pelican is a social
feeder — small feeding flocks work
cooperatively by forming a line and
herding schools of fish into shallow
water where they can be captured,
dip-net fashion, with the pouch.
When relieved at the nest by its mate,
a pelican flies directly from Gunnison
Island toward the feeding grounds,
joining other birds enroute. Upon ar-
rival at the feeding grounds, the bird
will either join other pelicans already
foraging or select a new foraging
area. Being in a feeding flock likely
facilitates selection of a good forag-
ing site, as inferred from the observa-
tion that birds rarely leave to feed on
their own. By nesting in a colony,
pelicans can readily join feeding
flocks, and individual members,
especially younger ones, can benefit
from the combined fishing experi-
ences of all birds in the flock.
For pelicans, synchronization of
reproductive events within a colony
has at least one observable adaptive
value. When parents leave their
chicks after the nestling period, the
chicks are still awkward and uncoor-
dinated. They wander from the nest
site and , on extremely hot day s , move
to the island's shoreline, where they
stand in the water as a means of regu-
lating their temperature. In an un-
usual instance, I watched such a chick
wander within reach of a territorial
pelican that was still incubating its
eggs. The adult struck the chick on
the top of the head and killed it with
a single blow. Survival of chicks
when they first leave the nests is de-
pendent upon a synchronous break-
56
down of adult territorial behavior.
Nests in small colonies exhibited a
mean productivity similar to that of
large colonies. Pelicans, which select
their nest sites based upon the social
environment, do not appear to benefit
from belonging to a larger colony.
The social environment (at least as far
as its impact upon successful nesting
behavior) seems limited to the in-
teractions between neighbors.
Pelicans may be very selective of
their neighbors, however. Although
the average productivity of a nesting
attempt is only .85 chicks, about 11
percent of the attempts do result in
both eggs of the clutch leading to
fledged chicks. Interestingly, more
than 70 percent of the nests producing
two chicks are situated near or next
to nests from which two chicks also
fledged. It may be that older birds
more experienced in raising chicks
tend to select similar neighbors.
The colony formation process of
pelicans forces us to dispel some his-
torical opinions about the species. Al-
though these birds tend to nest on the
same islands in subsequent years, the
predominant role of the social envi-
ronment in the selection of a nest site
implies that white pelicans are capa-
ble of establishing a breeding colony
wherever a sexually active flock en-
counters a barren, predator-free is-
land with open, flat areas, which the
birds need as runways for their awk-
ward takeofis and landings. Such a
colonization occurred in a reservoir
near Fort Collins, Colorado, in the
early 1960s, and at Honey Lake, Cal-
ifornia.
The future of the white pelican ap-
pears secure at present. The conti-
nental population has stabilized and,
in the absence of further human en-
croachment on the availability of
feeding grounds and islands for nest-
ing, appears capable of coexisting
with man.
Efforts to establish white pelican
colonies on artificial islands are under
way at some of the lakes and reser-
voirs of eastern Colorado. Encour-
aging pelicans to nest at additional
sites may result in increased numbers
of these birds. More significantly,
new nesting sites would provide sup-
plemental breeding populations to
buffer future human impacts on suc-
cessful reproduction at any of the cur-
rent pelican colonies. D
L.T Rhodes: Animals. Animals
>w»W"t'5|f**'' "**■
aft-^-^T-twii*?
""■siSSiS^..
by Craig Morris
Design of the Inca
Hundreds of preplanned towns
and cities and an intricately
engineered highway network
held this society together
When the Spaniards interrupted the
expansion of the Inca empire in 1532,
it stretched some three thousand
miles along western South America
— ^from today's Colombian-Ecua-
dorian border south to central Chile.
The Inca called their empire Tawan-
tinsuyu, "the land of four parts."
Few preindustrial states had ever
grown to such size and the process
must have presented immense
difficulties. Within the empire lay
some of the highest mountains and
most difficult terrain in the world, but
the Inca traveled it without benefit of
either horse or wheel and conquered
its diverse peoples, who spoke
dozens of different languages.
Some of these conquests were of
large, powerful, and wealthy king-
doms. The Chimu, the builders of
Chan Chan on the coastal desert, are
one example. The Lupaca, who lived
with their vast herds of llama and al-
paca on the altiplano near Lake Titi-
caca, are another. Even more remark-
able was the rapidity with which these
achievements were carried out. If re-
ports by Europeans are correct, most
of the empire had been formed in the
century immediately preceding its
discovery by Pizarro and his soldiers.
But strong armies and victories do
not by themselves produce an empire .
Conquest in faraway places depends
upon reliable communications and
supplies. An enduring state requires
capable administration and organi-
zation— a link between ruler and
As a form of labor tax, the Inca state required its subjects
to work in urban centers. These buildings
at Hudnuco Pampa once housed hundreds of workers who
came to the city on a rotating basis.
,:^:^
ruled. The vital element in the ability
ol the Inca to conquer and control was
the extensive system of roads that
bound the diverse parts of the empire
together. The Spanish soldier-ex-
plorer Pedro Cieza de Leon well rec-
ognized the importance of this trans-
portation network. In his Chronicle of
Peru, which brought Europeans their
first major description of the Inca only
two decades after the conquest, his
admiration of the roads led to some
of his few moments of extravagance.
In the time of the Incas there was
a highway, built by man's hands
and labor, which left this city
[Quito, Ecuador] and extended all
the way to Cuzco, and from there
another began as large and magnif-
icent as this which went to the
province of Chile, which is more
than 1 ,200 leagues from Quito. On
these highways every three or four
leagues there were very fine and
well-built lodgings or palaces of
the ruler, richly furnished. ... In
the memory of people I doubt there
is record of another highway com-
parable to this, running through
deep valleys and over high moun-
tains, through piles of snow, quag-
mires, living rock, along turbulent
rivers; in some places it ran smooth
and paved ... in others over
sierras, cut through the rock, with
walls skirting the rivers, and steps
and rests through the snow; every-
where it was clean swept and kept
free of rubbish, with lodgings,
storehouses, temples to the sun,
and posts along the way.
Although the Inca roads repre-
sented an impressive engineering
feat, it was the centers built along
them, which supported military
operations, royal travel, and adminis-
trative functions, that lay at the heart
of the Inca ability to rule such an im-
mense land. The extent of the net-
work was recorded in about 1615 by
The Inca built most settlements
and roads on the vast plains along
much of the length of the Andes.
The flat terrain made transportation
easier and the high-altitude, cold
temperatures helped preserve food.
Guaman Poma de Ayala, an Andean
of native ancestry. In a 1,200-page
"letter" to the Spanish king, Poma
wrote of his travels along the Inca
road system and listed hundreds of
towns and cities built by the empire.
Some of these centers are still very
evident, especially those in the alti-
plano, vast grassy plains that occur
along much of the length of the
Andes.
Preliminary investigations of the
highway centers took place in 1964
and 1965 in a project directed by John
V. Murra of Cornell University and
the Institute of Andean Research.
During this period, traveling on foot
and horseback, we covered a sixty-
mile section of the road in the Peru-
vian altiplano and examined several
large sites accessible by Jeep. The
evidence from that survey suggested
that the centers along the road were
of two types: small way stations
about 25 miles apart and larger com-
plexes at 75- to 125-mile intervals.
We investigated two centers, one
of each type. Built during the reign
of Topa Inca Yupanqui in the latter
half of the fifteenth century and aban-
doned shortly after the Spaniards
overthrew the Inca government, both
centers are situated at an altitude of
more than 12,000 feet on the main
Inca highway from Cuzco to Quito.
That the Inca built the greater part of
the highway at this altitude may have
been a calculated decision. Not only
is the altiplano relatively flat, a char-
acteristic that would have facilitated
road building, but it is also the natural
habitat of the llama, the beast of bur-
den so important to the Inca. Another
factor favoring the highway at this al-
titude concerned the transportation
and storage of food. At 12,000 feet,
nighttime temperatures are usually in
the thirties, and food, such as pota-
toes, could have been preserved for
long periods.
Although the Inca name for the
larger site is uncertain, we called it
Huanuco Pampa. It is located only
about 75 miles across the Andean Cor-
dillera from Lima. But by the circui-
tous land road, the only current
access, it is more than 300 miles dis-
tant. The small center, known as Tun-
sukancha, which I investigated with
Delfin Zuniga, a Peruvian archeolo-
gist, is about 25 miles to the south of
Huanuco Pampa.
The most prominent feature of
Tunsukancha is a 2(XJ- by 400-yard
plaza, surrounded on three sides by
long narrow buildings that were prob-
ably used as lodgings for travelers.
The fourth side of the plaza is par-
tially closed off by a long wall. West
of the plaza, a separate walled com-
pound is divided into three sections
containing ten small buildings and a
bath. Excavations revealed evidence
of cooking, such as ashes, bones, car-
bonized food remains, and shards
from decorated vessels, in some of
the buildings. The complexity of the
center's architecture and the decora-
tion of the cooking vessels suggest
that the smaller buildings were part of
a high-status residence area.
Only the section at the western ex-
tremity of the compound lacks evi-
dence of cooking fires. Here, the Inca
had lined a small pit with dressed
stones to make a bath. Cieza and
other sixteenth-century chroniclers
record that special quarters were
maintained for the Inca ruler at every
center along the road. That this sec-
tion had no shards or signs of fire,
but contained a finely architected
bath, the only one in the site, suggests
that it may have been reserved for
royalty. The two other subdivisions
may have been used to house those
responsible for administering the cen-
ter and for the preparation of food not
only for the residents but also for roy-
alty and other travelers privileged to
enter the compound.
The remains of twenty-four circu-
lar storehouses are located on the
eastern periphery of the center, and
a hundred or so crude structures —
some circular and others rectan-
gular— were situated between these
storehouses and the main plaza. Ex-
cavations in one of these small build-
ings revealed ash and broken cooking
pots. But almost all the ceramics here
were undecorated, utilitarian wares,
quite different in style from those
found within the compound. The
building seems to have served as a
residence — perhaps of one of the
people who helped maintain the way
station. A small, inconspicuous
structure (now badly destroyed) stood
between the main plaza and the
houses that probably lodged royalty.
Its remains were ordinary except for
its floor, which was strewn with thou-
sands of potsherds. A small test pit
6i
resulted in almost as much broken
pottery as earth. The extensive vari-
ety suggested that the shards origi-
nated from many parts of the Inca em-
pire. Expanded excavations revealed
many vessels, some nearly whole.
Some contained charred maize and
potatoes and had been placed next to
a nearby altar, the food apparently
serving as an offering.
The materials left behind by the
Inca at Tunsukancha are very much
what one would expect for a way sta-
tion that had provided the needs of
soldiers, officials, bureaucrats, and
others traveling the royal roads. Roy-
alty was sheltered and fed in compar-
atively elegant facilities, while com-
mon travelers lodged communally.
The role of the small building with the
altar is somewhat puzzling. It had
been heavily used, yet no special ef-
fort had been expended on its con-
struction and no particular promi-
nence given to its location. Attention
to the material and religious needs of
travelers appears to have been the
sole function of Tunsukancha. There
is no evidence of manufacturing or
agriculture, of permanent barracks or
any large-scale administrative opera-
tion, or of a resident population
beyond that needed for the service of
travelers. It was simply one of the
many establishments that made long-
distance travel and communication
feasible and efficient.
Huanuco Pampa, on the other
hand, looks like a city, suggesting
that at least some Inca centers in the
provinces served as far more than
communication, transportation, and
supply stations. The great variety of
activities in these urban develop-
ments formed the foundation for a
complex and peculiarly Andean sys-
tem of statecraft.
The city was founded no earlier
than 1450, and perhaps as late as
1480, meaning that it had been
occupied for no more than some
eighty years before the Spaniards ar-
rived in 1532. The sheer rapidity of
its construction and peopling sug-
gests large, perhaps forced, move-
ments of people. Excavation results
and artifacts suggest that between
10,000 and 15,000 people may have
inhabited the city. The ruins of more
than 3 ,000 buildings are spread over
a high plain. On a nearby ridge, there
were almost 500 additional buildings.
in which the Inca could have stored
just over one million bushels of pota-
toes, maize, and other foods
transported from other parts of the
empire. The entire city covered al-
most two square miles, making it at
least ten times the size of Machu Pic-
chu, the magnificent Inca city north
of Cuzco.
Certainly Huanuco Pampa was one
of the major Inca centers in the prov-
inces, much of it showing evidence
of elaborate planning. Excavations in
the planned sections have revealed
the foundations of cruder buildings,
suggesting the evolutionary develop-
ment and constant replanning of the
city. Enough of these foundations,
both crude and well masoned, have
been preserved to give us an accurate
plan of the city, the only Inca settle-
ment where this has been possible. (It
is also the only Inca center that has
received intensive archeological in-
vestigation.)
In spite of enormous differences in
size and in function, Huanuco Pampa
and Tunsukancha had two important
common purposes. First, they were
both on the Inca road and therefore
part of the same over-all network.
Second, the architecture and much of
the pottery in both centers show de-
liberate imitations of the Inca capital
at Cuzco. Except for the vessels
around the altar, most of which were
probably left by travelers, the materi-
als, techniques, and styles of the pot-
tery at Tunsukancha and Huanuco
Pampa are identical. The contrast
with the pottery of local villages is
obvious, leaving no doubt that the
way stations and urban centers on the
road were planned by Inca adminis-
trators from Cuzco. So complete is
the exclusion of local pottery styles
in the centers along the highway that
it appears an imperial design imitat-
ing that of Cuzco was always used,
despite the fact that each local non-
Inca village had its own style.
This bath, constructed in the midst
of Huanuco Pampa 's finest buildings,
was probably used by Inca royalty.
Water flowed into it through
stone pipes from a nearby spring.
62
One possible reason for the marked
dislinclions in pottery and archi-
tectural styles is that the centers were
built and populated almost entirely by
pet)ple transplanted from other areas.
Under the Inca system, most labor
was done by peasants who worked on
a temporary and rotating basis. This
form of labor, called mil'a, was es-
sentially a labor tax. Some of the in-
habitants of Huanuco Pampa were
probably brought from Cuzco; others
from local villages. Sometimes this
involved moving entire communities,
essentially as colonies, from one part
of the empire to another. Most of the
people in Huanuco Pampa thus re-
mained only as long as their state
duties dictated, the population con-
stantly shifting as one group of labor-
ers replaced another.
In 1965 I studied the storage com-
plex at Huanuco Pampa, excavating
almost 120 buildings. From 1971
through 1974 I directed an archeolog-
ical team that conducted topographic
work for a detailed plan of the city,
making more than a thousand excava-
tions and recovering at least five tons
of pottery, animal bone, and other ar-
cheological material . The analysis of
this material is not yet complete, but
a preliminary map has been drawn
and a tentative picture of Huanuco
Pampa is emerging.
The city was planned in four areas
around a large central plaza. In the
center of the plaza, a 200- by 250-foot
platform of dressed stone stands al-
most 20 feet high. The eastern section
is the most rigorously planned and ar-
chitecturally spectacular. To one
side, a high terrace overlooks a small
artificial pool enclosed by a long
trapezoidal wall. To the west of the
terrace, a group of six dressed-stone
buildings stands near a stone-lined
bath, another artificial pool, and three
less finely built structures. Unfortu-
nately, the Spaniards altered the area
to such an extent that we cannot tell
how the Inca used it. The bath and the
fine quality of the construction, how-
ever, lead me to believe that this area
may have been reserved for the Inca
ruler himself — a more elaborate ver-
sion of the complex discovered at
Tunsukancha.
A series of thirteen long halls ar-
ranged around two spacious plazas
are contiguous with the bath and
pools. The plazas are connected by
COLOMBIA
Lake Titicaca
BOLIVIA
ARGENTINA
63
gateways of dressed stone and are
part of the painstaking planning of the
entire sector. We had expected that
these large structures were probably
devoted to state administration. But
when excavations directed by Pat H.
Stein, one of the members of our
team, produced an abundance of food
remains and literally tons of culinary
pottery, we had to search for a dif-
ferent hypothesis. The entire area ap-
pears to have served as an enormous
kitchen complex where chicha — the
native maize beer — and a wide vari-
ety of foods were prepared and
served.
The location of these cooking and
dining areas in the city's most elabo-
rate buildings near the royal quarters
suggests that eating and drinking was
a vital element in the Inca provincial
administrative system. The relation-
ship between the Inca rulers and the
populace was to a great extent cere-
monial, involving feasting and festi-
vals. Ritual was essential to adminis-
tration of this system. While no
records exist of such affairs taking
place at Huanuco Pampa, Cieza
wrote about one such ritual held in
Cuzco, and his description may typ-
ify such events in other centers.
Thus they say that it was the cus-
tom of the Incas of Cuzco to have
all the statues and figures of the
idols in the huacas, which were the
temples where they worshipped,
brought into that city each year.
They were transported with great
veneration by the priests . . . and
guardians. When they entered the
city, they were received with great
feasts and processions and lodged
in places set aside and appointed
for that purpose. And people hav-
ing assembled from all parts of the
city and even from most of the
provinces, men and women, the
reigning monarch, accompanied
by all the Incas and . . . courtiers,
and important men of the city, pro-
vided great festivals and taquis
[drinking bouts] .
And so, making the people joy-
ful and giving their solemn ban-
quets and drinking feasts, great
taquis, and other celebrations such
as they use, completely different
from ours, in which the Incas show
their splendor, and all the feasting
is at their expense, where there
were vessels of silver and gold, and
goblets and other things. . . .
This kind of pomp was probably as
political as it was religious in nature,
serving to solidify and impress the
many laborers necessary to support
the Inca system. There is evidence,
however, that other means were em-
ployed to supervise some workers.
On the northern side of the city's
main plaza, the remains of a series of
fifty buildings are neatly arranged
within a walled enclosure. In these
ruins we discovered more than 300
spindle whorls and numerous bone
awls and tools used for manipulating
threads in a loom. A study of the en-
closing wall disclosed that this area,
apparently the city's cloth-making
center, had only one entrance. Any-
one entering the compound had to
pass through the opening in the outer
wall, cross a courtyard, and pass
through a small building. No other
sector in the entire city, except for the
area probably used to house the ruler
himself, had such thorough control of
access and egress.
Excavations in and around the
buildings in the compound uncovered
several of the copper pins used by An-
dean women to fasten the mantles
they wore about their shoulders. The
pins and the tight security of the area,
plus the fact that spinning in the
Andes was — and still is — usually
done by women led me to believe that
we had found a residence and work
compound used by the akllakuna —
the "chosen women" or "virgins of
the sun." Early Spanish observers
usually emphasized the religious role
of these women, but also reported
that they made cloth and chicha. The
finding of huge amounts of pottery
from large vessels suggests that brew-
ing may also have been an activity in
the compound.
If our reconstruction of the nature
of the enclosed group of buildings is
correct, we have evidence of an un-
usual way of organizing production.
The akllakuna served the state under
tight security, passing much of their
time isolated in the compound — spin-
ning, weaving, and perhaps making
chicha.
The kinds of goods produced in
Huanuco Pampa are just as note-
worthy as the manner in which their
production appears to have been or-
Only a small part of Huanuco
Pampa was constructed of stones
cut to fit tightly together. The
Inca used such masonry
techniques in building their
most important structures.
ganized. Several years ago John
Murra spelled out the extraordinary
significance of cloth in the Andes,
noting its pervasive use in rituals and
ceremonies. It was involved not only
in an individual's rite de passage but
was also of considerable political im-
portance, since the incorporation of a
newly subdued people into the empire
was usually accompanied by gifts of
cloth. Cloth was also issued to sol-
diers, making it militarily important.
Since cloth was of such crucial po-
litical as well as economic value, it
is not surprising that the state would
take measures to assure itself of a sub-
stantial and growing supply. The
more cloth it had, the more effec-
tively it could raise and control
armies and other workers, and the
more successfully it could consoli-
date and control conquered areas.
The growth of the state depended in
part on its ability to increase and con-
trol the supply of textiles. The estab-
lishment of a production facility
under direct state control was proba-
bly a very effective means of insuring
the supply of such an important com-
modity. Such centers as Huanuco
Pampa provided an ideal setting for
the controlled, standardized produc-
tion of textiles in the styles that sym-
bolized the Inca and their state.
Some archeologists and historiaris
have characterized the Inca as a
purely rural people because evidence
of their cities is scanty in comparison
with other civilizations. Part of this
attitude is a result of the destruction,
at the hands of the Spaniards, of many
of the Inca's larger urban complexes.
The remains of almost 500 round
buildings where maize and potatoes
were stored follow the contours of
the hills near Huanuco Pampa.
64
'W
4
X>
.^J*^*?!.?!
m-'^
Va<3^~"^ ^--^."^^^
ri-^.
^>^"
Those that survived, like Huanuco
Pampa, did so because of their re-
moteness, a factor that has also con-
tributed to the lack of archeological
knowledge about such sites.
Some reservations about referring
to the Inca as an "urban" civilization
are warranted. As an example of an
urban area, Huanuco Pampa had cer-
tain peculiarities. One was its fragil-
ity. Its maintenance was so dependent
on the Inca state that when the gov-
ernmental organization was thrown
into disarray by the murder of Ata-
hualpa by the Spaniards, the center
was quickly depopulated.
The critical point is that the focus
of Inca urbanism, if we are to call it
that, was not the individual city. In-
stead it was a meticulously planned
network, which included small way
stations, large administrative centers,
and other kinds of installations not as
yet identified. Each center performed
certain functions in the interest of the
over-all success of the empire. The
emphasis was not on an individual re-
gion made up of a city and its support-
ing hinterlands, but rather on an en-
tire realm tied together into a single
political and economic entity. Thou-
sands of miles of roads and hundreds
of settlements, large and small, were
built to accomplish the task. In sev-
eral of the sites we investigated,
many buildings were unfinished, and
some of the completed buildings at
Huanuco Pampa had not yet been
used. The system was still growing
and probably did not yet function as
smoothly as the Inca rulers wished.
But however incomplete and flawed
it may have been, it demonstrated a
master strategy of empire building
unparalleled in the ancient New
World, and matched in the Old World
only by Rome and perhaps China.
How fascinating it would be to know
what would have happened to this
empire if the Spaniards had stayed
home in 1532. D
This twenty-foot-high platform
dominates a vast plaza in the
center of Huanuco Pampa. It was
probably used as a reviewing
stand by Inca administrators
during ceremonies.
66
Celestial Events
by Thomas D. Nicholson
Sun and Moon The sun moves into Sagittarius (the constellation,
not the sign) on December 1 7 , reaching the winter solstice at 1 2 : 36 p . M . ,
EST, on December 21. It will then be at its most southerly point in
the sky above earth, bringing the shortest day and the longest night of
the year to the Northern Hemisphere (but not the earliest sunset and
the latest sunrise). The sun remains in Sagittarius past mid-January, but
by then it will have moved perceptibly northward and sunsets will occur
noticeably later (although the time of sunrise will not have changed).
The moon will be showing up as a pretty crescent in the southwest
along about Christmas Eve. From the 23rd until the 25th of December,
it will be near Venus (by then a very distinctive evening star), and
together, the two will make a memorable celestial decoration appropriate
for the holiday season . The moon will remain a prominent evening object
through the first week of January, becoming a morning object thereafter.
New moon is on December 20, first-quarter on December 28, full moon
on January 5, last-quarter on January 12.
Stars and Planets The evening Star Map includes Jupiter (near the
border between Aries and Taurus) and Saturn (between Leo and Cancer).
It does not show Venus, our most prominent evening star, because
Venus sets too early to be included. At dusk, you will see Venus brilliant
and low in the southwest; Jupiter well up in the east. Saturn will rise
in the east shortly after dark. At daybreak, Jupiter will be low in the
west; Saturn high up in the south.
Although the winter stars of the Northern Hemisphere are among the
brightest and most beautiful of the year, those living in the north miss
the advantages that accrue to inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere
at this time of year. Far below the equator, where residents still enjoy
our bright northern stars of December and January, they also have the
southern branch of the Milky Way, with the Southern Cross and its
surrounding region, high in the sky. And on their long winter nights,
which come in July and August, they also have the magnificent region
of the sky near the winter solstice high above them. We see it only low
in the south on our short summer nights.
December 16: Before dawn, you will see the crescent moon approach
Spica. It covers the star (an occultation) to the north.
December 19: Moon at perigee, nearest to the earth.
December 20: Mercury is at greatest easterly elongation, but not
favorably placed as an evening star.
December 21: Winter begins in the Northern Hemisphere.
December 22: The weak and dim Ursid meteors reach maximum.
December 23-25: Look for the moon and Venus each night.
December 31: The moon is at apogee, farthest from the earth, and
passes very near Jupiter this evening, covering it.
January 3: Earth is at perihelion, nearest to the sun.
January 4: Latest sunrise occurs.
January 6: Mercury is in inferior conjunction, passing between the
earth and the sun, becoming a morning star.
January 7: Look for Saturn near the moon.
January 1 5 : Jupiter is stationary with respect to the stars . It now begins
to move east (toward Taurus).
* Hold the Star Map so the compass direction you face is at the bottom; then
match the stars in the lower half of the map with those in the sky near the horizon.
The map is for 11:15 p.m. on December 1; 10:20 p.m. on December 15; 9:15
P.M. on December 31; and 8:15 p.m. on January 15; but it can be used for
an hour before and after those times.
68
Helmut Wimmer
69
The Search for the Culloden
by Henry W. Moeller and Steven A. Giordano
Marine archeological excavations often become
frustrating battles against artifact-seeking scavengers
On a cold January day in 1781, the
Culloden, a 74-gun British ship of the
line, set out from Gardiners Island off
New York's Long Island to intercept
French vessels that were about to sail
from Newport, Rhode Island. A good
part of the British fieet was wintering
off Gardiners Island that year to pre-
vent colonists from seizing eastern
Long Island from the British, who
had held it since General Howe
landed there in August 1776.
Soon after being dispatched, the
Culloden and two companion ships,
the Bedford and the America were
lashed by a northeaster. Aborting the
chase of the French vessels, the three
ships headed for the open sea to
weather out the gale winds and driv-
ing snow. The America successfully
cleared Montauk Point at the eastern
end of Long Island and was swept
south to the North Carolina capes
where she rode out the storm.
The Culloden and the Bedford
plunged eastward out to open sea, but
after midnight the weather thickened
and the two ships became separated.
Both were driven toward the north
shore of Long Island. When the Bed-
ford was almost aground her crew
managed to set an anchor north of
Montauk Point and in a final effort to
save the ship, cut away her masts.
Although defenseless, the Bedford
was able to weather the fury of the
storm while anchored just off the
rocky beach.
The Culloden fared worse. Like
the Bedford, she struggled as tons of
foaming water crashed upon her
decks and gale winds blew her sails
to shreds. At court-martial proceed-
ings held two months later, Ralph
Grey, the ship's fourth lieutenant,
testified that just before daybreak on
the day the ship went aground,
"some person gave an alarm of land
and breakers upon our lee bow. I im-
mediately ran to leeward and saw the
land on the lee beam ... at this mo-
fnent I heard Captain Balfour give
orders to Cut away the anchors and I
immediately repeated the orders, but
before the order could be complied
with, the ship struck."
Captain George Balfour reported
during the inquiry that soon after she
went aground, the ship's rudder
broke in two and was lost. As hail and
snow continued to fall, small boats
were launched to make soundings
around the ship. According to Grey,
"At eight o'clock the ship payed off
with her head to the northwest, and
she then came broadside to and there
struck fast." As the tide came in, the
crew attempted to free the ship from
the beach, fully expecting that the
copper sheets sheathing her hull had
protected her from serious damage.
To lighten the load, all twenty-eight
of the ship's massive 32-pbunders
were probably thrown overboard. But
a giant boulder prevented the ship
from paying off and may have seri-
ously damaged it. Six to nine feet of
water filled the ship's holds. The
captain instructed the crew to get the
ship's stores and provisions ashore,
lest they fall into enemy hands.
For three weeks — marked by
squalls, gales, and snow — the crew,
many of whom were sick, transferred
most of the stores as well as twenty-
eight 18-pound cannon and eighteen
9-pound cannon to three ships, in-
cluding the dismasted Bedford,
which was then being refitted for sea
duty once again. Her rigging was also
transferred aboard the Bedford.
The youthful Culloden, six years in
construction and requiring at least 60
acres of oak forest, was then burned
to the waterline to prevent the colo-
nists from salvaging her. She had
been launched at His Majesty's ship-
yard in Deptford, England, on May
18, 1776, less than five years before
her career ended. One of the nine
largest ships lost by the British in the
American Revolution, the Culloden
was a third-rate man-of-war, with a
length of 170 feet and breadth of 47
feet. She had three decks and carried
a complement of 650 officers and sea-
men. The fire destroyed her down to
the level of the third deck, leaving
intact fifteen feet of hull below the
waterline.
The Culloden was just one of more
than 500 ships that have met their end
off Long Island's Montauk Point in
the past 200 years. Long Island juts
120 miles into the Atlantic and much
of New York's ship traffic to or from
the north and east passes close to
Montauk Point, the easternmost end
of the island. Here, winds and ocean
swells pound the coast, and the three
shoals lying just off Montauk Point
have accounted for the loss of many
ships, even though a lighthouse has
perched there since the end of the
eighteenth century.
Despite British efforts to destroy
71
the wreck, historical documents indi-
cate that the Ciilloden did not sink
into immediate obscurity. After the
winter of 1781 had ended and the
British had left Long Island, Joseph
Woodbridge of Groton, Connecticut,
salvaged sixteen of the Culloden's
32-pound cannons and offered them
for sale to George Washington and
the Continental army. Although
Washington was interested in the
offer, the purchase was never made
and the cannons' eventual disposition
is not known.
Other attempts were made to sal-
vage the Culloden. In 1796, the care-
taker of Gardiners Island apparently
led people from eastern Long Island
and Connecticut in salvage opera-
tions that removed the ship's iron fit-
tings, copper bolts and sheathing, and
remaining rigging. And in 1815 a
man named Jeffers lowered a diving
bell from his sloop and recovered one
32-pound cannon from the wreck
site.
After the early nineteenth century,
however, the precise whereabouts of
the Culloden were lost. Over the dec-
ades, sand had gradually accumu-
lated over her remains and salvage
crews, having removed the ship's
commercially valuable parts, had no
interest in maintaining her location.
One hint, however, remained. For
many years a piece of ship's timber
had protruded above the surface of
the water off Culloden Point, an
elbow of land near Montauk Point
where the ship had gone aground. But
because four other ships had also
gone aground off this point, histori-
ans were not certain whether the
timber was a part of one of these ships
or of the Culloden.
During a storm in the 1950s, the
timber worked itself free and washed
ashore. Some 60 feet long, it was
curved in the shape of a ship's prow,
which led historians to believe that
the piece was originally part of an
apron — reinforcing timbers ordinar-
ily attached to the inside of the stem.
Before archeologists could examine
the piece carefully, however, pic-
nickers used it as fuel for a campfire.
Whether the apron was a part of the
Culloden or of some other ship will
never be known.
Not until 1971 did more clues turn
up. In the early summer of that year,
while scuba diving in ten to fifteen
feet of water off Culloden Point, we
came upon pieces of wreckage lying
in the sand on the ocean bottom.
Winter storms had apparently
scoured away a level of sand in the
shallow water, revealing the ancient
timbers that had previously been
buried. Curious about the timbers, we
asked an associate at the New York
Ocean Science Laboratory
(NYOSL), where we are doing re-
search in marine biology, and two
other divers to accompany us in a fur-
ther exploration of the site.
That dive far exceeded our expec-
tations. Digging in the sand next to
the large beams, we uncovered a
brass gudgeon (a socket attached to
a ship's sternpost to receive the rud-
der) with, ironically, the Culloden's
name misspelled on it; one / was
missing. The name of the ship
misspelled or not, this find virtually
confirmed the location of the Cullo-
den. We also found an iron ballast
bar, small pieces of copper sheathing,
and a few nails. Not long afterward,
we also discovered part of the split
rudder that Captain Balfour had men-
tioned in 1781. These artifacts are
now in the East Hampton Marine Mu-
seum.
By law, the excavation of any ar-
cheological site in New York State is
illegal unless permission is granted
through the state's Department of Ed-
ucation. Until this permission was
forthcoming, we were forced to desist
from further exploratory excavation.
Other divers, however, ignored the
restriction and proceeded to excavate
without our knowledge. A major
finding was a 9 Vi -foot-long iron can-
non. Probably cast in Scotland in the
1760s, it is stamped with a lavishly
scripted "GR," for "Georgius Rex
II." Another stamp on the cannon is
shaped like a broad V, signifying that
it belonged to the crown.
One of the divers took the cannon
to his backyard where it drew consid-
erable attention from both the press
and small children. Word of the dis-
covery quickly spread, and in the
months that followed, the wreck site
became a haven for scores of week-
end scuba divers. They quickly
stripped all accessible wreckage and
walked away with metal artifacts and
50-foot-long pieces of timber. Fortu-
nately, the state took title and owner-
ship of the cannon, and in coopera-
tion with the town of East Hampton,
scientists at NYOSL are now taking
steps to preserve it. Once the preser-
vation work is completed, the cannon
will be displayed so that any number
of people can study and enjoy it.
The state has granted to NYOSL
permission to excavate the site, and
local and state police are attempting,
somewhat futilely, to bar unauthor-
ized persons from the site. Never-
theless, numerous pieces of the Cul-
loden have already been lost, proba-
bly forever. If the remainder of the
hull is ever excavated and restored,
these missing parts will make the ar-
cheologists' job even more difficult
than it already is.
The Culloden is just one example
of the potential fate of most under-
water wrecks. Almost 98 percent of
these ships in the Western Hemi-
sphere lie in water less than thirty feet
deep, making many of them easily
accessible to a scuba-diving popula-
tion that in 1975 had increased by 25
percent over the previous five years
and totaled between 500,000 and
750,000 people. Not all of these
divers, of course, seek wreck sites,
but when a diver does come upon
one, his or her excitement at the dis-
covery often makes it difficult to re-
frain from taking artifacts.
Long Island wrecks are now begin-
ning to disappear from the ocean,
only to turn up in bits and pieces on
front lawns, patios, and doorsteps.
Not long ago scuba divers brought up
a mast from the Franklin, a side-
wheel steamer bound for New York
from France in 1854 when it struck
a sandbar six hundred feet off the
town beach of Center Moriches,
Long Island. As soon as they had
maneuvered the mast to shore, the
divers stripped the hardware from it.
Later the bare mast was carted off to
the dump after townspeople com-
plained that it interfered with activi-
ties at the town's boat ramp.
An even more drastic case of plun-
dering concerned the Black Warrior,
a sail-rigged steam packet that sank
in 1852 in thirty feet of water off
Rockaway Beach. Her identity re-
mained a mystery until 1961, when
divers found pieces of silverware
bearing the imprint "Black War-
rior— officers" scattered off the
beach. Shortly after this discovery,
divers stripped the wreck of all re-
72
movable melal. In one instance, Iliey
recovered the intact copper smoi<e-
stactc and when they had it on shore,
bactced a dump truck over it to flatten
it, then sold it for scrap to a local
junk dealer.
The Franklin and the Black War-
rior are just two of the hundreds of
wrecks that lie on the ocean bottom
off Long Island. Scuba divers are
bound to discover others, and their
fate, once located, is extremely un-
certain. Some of these wrecks are of
enormous archeological value. The
Savannah, for example, lies in the
water oft' Brookhaven where she sank
in 1821. Two years earlier she had
crossed the Atlantic under steam, the
first ship to have done so. An under-
standing of her construction would be
of great archeological and historical
interest, especially since none of her
original plans were preserved.
Another ship that foundered was
the Finian Ram, Jr.. a steel subma-
rine designed by John P. Holland,
one of this country's two pioneer sub-
marine architects. This submarine,
one of a series he constructed in an
eHort to perfect the use of water bal-
last and horizontal rudders for diving,
was lost olf Long Island in 1883 while
under tow.
What will happen to these and
other wrecks when and if they are dis-
covered? Federal and New York
State laws to prevent plundering of
archeological sites are explicit but
hardly enforceable. Even if discov-
ered wrecks are reported and inves-
tigated by marine archeologists, ef-
forts to recover and preserve artifacts
are slow in coming. The problem is
ordinarily a lack of finances. Even
those public agencies or private orga-
nizations that could provide financing
are often reluctant to do so because
of the typically slow progress of a
marine excavation. In marine arche-
ology, instant gratification — an im-
petus to sponsors to continue fund-
ing— does not come often. An excep-
tion to the usual lack of financing, of
course, is the discovery of a ship that
might bear treasure. In such a case,
the excavation might not only pay for
itself but could also bring income into
state coffers through taxation of the
treasure. States such as Florida,
whose waters hold gold-bearing
wrecks, have been far quicker to re-
spond to archeological projects than
states with sites that have no mone-
tary value, such as the maritime cem-
etery oft Montauk. But even treasure
hunters admit that the sea floor is not
strewn with treasure, only visions of
it. Florida treasure hunters covered
120,000 square miles of sea bottom
before locating the Spanish treasure
ship Atocha.
For the most part, the treasures
consist, not of gold and silver, but of
rusted and misshapen artifacts whose
major value is the substance and de-
tail of history, a value which far sur-
passes monetary considerations. Our
history is sparsely dotted with tangi-
ble examples of the past. Now that the
technology exists to recover and pre-
serve artifacts, we should not permit
the remaining details of marine his-
tory to be consigned to backyards and
doorsteps, where they will be almost
as hidden from the public as they
were during all the years they were
on the ocean bottom. D
An eighteenth-century British battleship similar to the Culloden
73
Golden Trout in Trouble
by Margaret F. Gold and John R. Gold
A dubious ancestry and an
unhelpful boost from fishermen
have cast a shadow over a
most beautiful fish
Fed by melting snows, the head-
waters of California's Kern River
form in the shadow of the towering
Sierras. Many streams tributary to the
Kern also arise from a snow birth.
Dropping rapidly away from the cra-
dling heights of the Sierra Crest and
Great Western Divide, they flow
down wooded slopes and through
meadows, uniting, growing, and fi-
nally joining the southerly progress of
the Kern. In these streams lives
Salmo aguabonita, the golden trout
of the High Sierra — possibly the most
beautiful of all the many forms of
western North American trout.
Originally, goldens were found
only in the upper Kern River drain-
age. Their narrowly restricted distri-
bution was due, in part, to a cul-de-
sac formed by mountain barriers and
to an adaptive response to cold and
swiftly flowing streams. Through the
intensive stocking efforts of nu-
merous people, golden trout distri-
bution now includes many Sierran
waters. Nevertheless, dating from the
advent of the first naturalist on the
Kern River plateau, concern has been
expressed — with good reason — for
the future of these magnificent fish.
Today the golden trout is a threat-
ened species despite a long history of
management intervention. Remedies
for this near-tragedy will have to be
based partly on an understanding of
the past mistakes that contributed to
their present status, but equally im-
portant will be historical and biologi-
cal knowledge of the golden trout.
Although scientific interest in these
fish dates from the late 1800s, little
is known about their evolution, be-
havior, and habitat.
The flow pattern of streams drain-
ing into the upper Kern River resem-
bles that of a pinnately veined leaf.
Several large veins, specifically the
Little Kern River to the west and
Golden Trout Creek and the South
Fork of the Kern River to the east,
radiate from the midrib — the Kern.
These major tributaries are inter-
sected many times by smaller streams
arising from melting snow, rain, and
the seepage of underground springs.
Pure populations of endemic
golden trout are found only in waters
located in the higher portions of the
Little Kern and the South Fork re-
gions. Naturalists have long distin-
guished between these two regions of
the upper Kern River drainage.
i'lii Kocky Basin Lake, Tulare County, Califoinia
74
I
Briefly, the South Fork of the Kern
River and the Golden Trout Creek
drainages lie on a plateau known gen-
erally as the "South Fork"; the Little
Kern River drainage is essentially a
basin and is called the "Little Kern."
The headwaters of each region origi-
nate at altitudes of more than 1 1 ,000
feet and are separated, in part, by the
Great Western Divide.
Streams in the upper, plateau por-
tion of the South Fork region are char-
acterized by a gentle gradient as they
fall toward the Kern River. Much of
the plateau consists of meadows sur-
rounded by sparse pine forests. Like
steps on a gigantic stairway, each
large meadow gives way, often with
a short, steep descent through forest,
to yet another meadow. Sagebrush is
encroaching on many of the mead-
ows, largely as a result of overgrazing
by domestic stock and the subsequent
erosion and lowering of the water
table. The soil in this region is pri-
marily coarse, decomposed granite,
and vegetation along the stream
banks is scanty. Although geo-
graphically a part of the South Fork
drainage region, the area surrounding
Golden Trout Creek is, in contrast,
distinguished by denser riparian
cover and evidence of volcanic activ-
ity. The stream substrates of many
South Fork tributaries are composed
of granitic sands and dull-red gravel,
while the substrate of Golden Trout
Creek contains light lemon-yellow
tufa, a by-product of vulcanism.
The upper portion of the Little
Kern basin is steep and thickly
forested by pine and fir. The streams
that race down these steep slopes are
shaded by dense growths of young
willows, alders, and cottonwoods. At
higher elevations in the basin, meta-
morphic rocks overlie the granitic
batholith and multicolored surfaces
are in evidence along the stream beds .
There may be some connection be-
tween the coloration of these sub-
strates— the red, orange, and lemon-
yellow hues found in section of both
upper Kern River drainage regions —
and the brilliant colors of golden
trout.
Evidence of extensive glaciation
persists in the higher reaches of both
regions, where the granite peaks are
scoured and polished. The retreating
glaciers left hanging troughs with
steep stream gradients, or waterfalls,
which are impassable barriers to in-
vading trout. Until they were artifi-
cially stocked, the lakes and streams
above these barriers were devoid of
fish life.
The streams in both the Little Kern
and South Fork regions exhibit char-
75
acteristics similar to that of other
Sierran streams with granitic sub-
strates— notably a pH above 8 and a
lack of chemical nutrients. Gener-
ally, streams with more than a quarter
of a cubic foot per second flow (Au-
gust-September minimum) are suit-
able for golden trout. The amount of
water flowing in the upper Kern River
drainage streams is determined by
precipitation, mostly in the form of
snow, ranging between 30 and 40
inches annually.
Golden trout do not tolerate warm
water temperatures. They are not
found in water exceeding 75°F, sug-
gesting that their critical level of tem-
perature tolerance is approximately
70° to 74°. Water temperatures opti-
mal to golden trout range between 40°
and 60°. During the dry summer and
fall months when ambient tempera-
tures occasionally surpass 80°, cool
snow water seeps from underground
springs and feeds into the streams.
Nights, even in the summer, are cold.
In the winter, surface temperatures
often drop low enough for ice to form
on the streams.
Golden trout have adapted well to
this high mountain habitat. Averag-
ing about five to six inches in body
length, they are small and sleek, fully
able to swim the shallow, cold
streams and easily jump small, natu-
ral barriers. Goldens seem to be op-
portunistic feeders, dining on terres-
trial insects in the summer and early
fall. In the winter and early spring,
they probably subsist on a limited
supply of water fauna, such as caddis
fly and midge fly larvae and small
crustaceans.
Like most trout, goldens spend
much of their time in pools. There is
little evidence of dispersal to other
stream sections as a direct result of
the aggressive behavior of golden
trout within their home territory.
Some movement away from the home
pool may occur during the winter or
during the spawning season, but this
could be related to population density
and food supply. When one pool is
filled to its carrying capacity, excess
trout must find adequate food else-
where. Generally, it is the juvenile
goldens that emigrate in search of
other suitable living space.
Very little is known about the
spawning behavior of stream-dwell-
ing golden trout, as they generally
Golden Trout Creek. Tulare County, California
spawn before the heavy snows have
diminished sufficiently to allow
biologists access to the upper Kern
River drainage. Nevertheless, exten-
sive information on spawning has
been gathered at the inlet and outlet
streams of the Cottonwood Lakes by
fisheries biologists collecting ferti-
lized eggs for artificial propagation in
hatcheries. Although goldens were
artificially introduced to these lakes,
their spawning habits there probably
differ little from those of the stream-
dwelling forms. In both instances,
swiftly flowing, cold streams with
gravel beds are necessary to the suc-
cessful spawning and hatching of
golden trout.
Spawning among lake-dwelling
goldens usually begins at the end of
their third year. The coloration of the
males intensifies and an enlargement
of the upper jaw, or maxillary, be-
comes noticeable.
The female constructs a redd — a
slight depression in the gravel of the
stream floor — and deposits her eggs
as the male extrudes milt. The num-
ber of eggs deposited is dependent on
the body size of the female. Females
of 8 . 5 inches produce about 300 eggs ,
while 12-inch females produce about
700. The redd is then covered with
gravel. Swift, cold water (between
45° and 55°F) aerates the eggs.
Within this temperature range, the
water contains enough dissolved oxy-
gen for the developing embryos, but
76
it is not St) cold as to slow down their
metabolism.
By the end of twelve days, the de-
veloping eye shows as a black dot
through the egg membrane, and the
eggs usually hatch in twenty days.
The small fry lie helpless in the
gravel, gradually absorbing nourish-
ment from a yolk sac attached to their
abdomens. Within eighteen days
after hatching, the yolk is absorbed
and the fingerlings, now almost one
inch in length, emerge swimming
freely from the gravel.
Growth during the first summer is
rapid while the fingerlings dine vora-
ciously on microscopic organisms.
Thereafter, the growth of a fingerling
into an adult is dependent on the
availability of larger aquatic and ter-
restrial organisms and, to a lesser ex-
tent, on water temperature. M(At
streams in the upper Kern River
drainage exhibit a low level of pri-
mary productivity owing to their high
pH and lack of nutrients. Moreover,
insects and larvae are not abundant.
Golden trout in the upper Kern drain-
age grow slowly and remain small,
never attaining the body size of trans-
planted goldens living in waters with
more favorable conditions.
It is unfortunate that golden trout
have not been studied, behaviorally
and ecologically, to the same extent
as many other species. But this is
often the case when man's attention
is focused on the pursuit of his own
pleasure — in this instance, the sport
of capturing a rare and beautiful fish.
Until recently, much of the interest in
golden trout was expressed by puz-
zling over their taxonomic status and
by directing their preservation and
propagation as a desirable game fish.
While sometimes beneficial . this tele-
scopic altruism has confused scien-
tific understanding of golden trout
and has resulted in many of the unfa-
vorable conditions that now threaten
them.
Historical and zoogeographical re-
lationships among the original, iso-
lated populations of golden trout in
the upper Kern River drainage are
confounded by the so-called coffee
pot transplants of the late 1800s and
early 1900s. Cattlemen carrying sup-
plies and equipment to their summer
camps in the high meadows of the
Kern River plateau would pause to
catch golden trout for the purpose of
releasing them in nearby, presumably
barren streams. It is not known
whether all of these streams were, in
fact, barren of other trout nor are the
extent and location of these trans-
plants known. However, golden trout
travel well, and one can assume that
many of these fish survived a variety
of conveyances, such as coffee pots
and frypans, to populate streams near
the stockmen's campsites.
In papers written during the early
twentieth century. B.W. Evermann
of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, sub-
stantiated numerous transplants of
golden trout. Perhaps the most signif-
icant transplant — the source of the
only brood stock used in artificial
Two subspecies, or races, of golden
trout are now recognized by
ichthyologists: Salmo aguabonita
aguabonita and S . aguabonita whitei.
Perhaps only one pure population of
S.a. whitei survives in an isolated
location in the Little Kern River
drainage, where it has not been
exposed to rainbow trout. Pure
populations of S.a. aguabonita,
endemic to the South Fork of the
Kern River and Golden Trout Creek,
are threatened by beavers and
livestock grazing (habitat
destruction) and by introduced
brown trout (food competition).
An uncontaminated population of
S.a. aguabonita, transplanted from
Mulkey Creek in 1876, lives in a
glacial lake near Cottonwood Creek.
11
AMAIiNG & HARD-TO-FIND SCIENCE BUYS!
AttERNATE ENERGY • SPACE AGE • HOBBIES
^
NEW WIDE FIELD TELESCOPE
Enjoy clearest, brightest, most
spectacular wide angle views of
stars, moon, comets witti our
unique, easy-to-use portable
4V4" Newtonian reflector. Only
17", 10 lb.!
No. 2001E $129.95 Ppd. ^
Save $20! Will be $149.95 on 12/25/76 J
SAVE 50%I 8 X 20 MONOCULAR
Top quality Spy Scope, a $30
value, now $14.95! Special pur- , ^^^-.^ ^
cliase saves you 50%. 100% J^K^^^ ^k
coated optics; 393 ft. field of tl^^M^^f
view. Only 2 oz. — stores in
pocket, purse, glove box.
No. 1568E $14.95 Ppd.
NASA-CHOSEN FOR APOLLO/SOYUZ
The Astronauts used ttiis super
20X50 binocular (modified) to
view Earth! Big 60 mm objective
lenses; 173-ft. field of view at
1000 yds. Relative brightness,
9.0. Fully coated optics, more!
No, 1556E (9y4X8'/2 ; 47.5 oz) $99.95 Ppd.
7 X SO BINOCULAR CAMERA
Clear, sharp telescopic viewing
PLUS fast hi-resolution shoot-
ing. Superb instrument uses
35mm film, handles w/ease of
binocular. Use for sports
photog., security wk.
No. 1580E $395.00 Ppd.
CAN'T SLEEP, RELAX? TRY THIS!
Electronic sound conditioner
simulates 4 kinds of soothing
sounds of ocean surf & ram
"white" sound helps mask on
wanted noise. Medical tests
proved analgesic effects!
No. 71.997E .... $89.95 Ppd
QUALITY DETECTOR UNDER $40
Our fully transistorized BFO unit
can locate a quarter at 18
Powerful 6 trans. -oscillator-
amplifier circuit. Comp to
others priced 50% more! Alumi-
num, just 2 lb.
No. 8a,222E .... $39.95 Ppd
GIANT FREE
CATALOG!
NEW. 164Pages
Over 4,500 Un-
usual Bargains
for Hobbyists,
Schools. Industry
JUST CHECK
COUPON!
EDMUND
SCIEIUTIFIC CO.
300 EDSCORP BUILDING
Barrington, N. J. 08007
America's GiBatesl
Science • Optics • Notiy Matt
COMPLETE AND MAIL COUPON NOW
EDMUND SCIENTIFIC CO. 300 Edscorp Bldg., Barrington, N. I. 08007
ri Send me the following:
Stock No. Quantity Price Ea.
Add handling charge $_
Enclosed is check,
M.O. in amount of $_
Expiration Date
30-DAY MONEY-BACK GUAR-
ANTEE. You must be satis-
fied or return any purchase
in 30 days for full refund.
City, State, Zip-
HELPING TO DEVELOP AMERICA'S TECHNOLOGY FOR OVER 30 YEARS.
Over 175 magnificent
photographs, some of
which have been made
directly from Curtis' own
glass-plate negatives
and original prints.
Text by
Florence Curtis Graybill
and Victor Boesen
From 1904-1930 Curtis
sought out the Indian
from the deserts of the
Southwest to the ice-
bound Arctic. With
camera and pen he
recorded the life and
culture of more than
eighty tribes. Passion-
ately he struggled to
achieve "transcriptions
for future generations."
This volume, with 175 of
his photographs and an
account of his life drawn
from the notes and re-
collections of his
daughter, is brilliant
proof of his success.
S29.95 until Dec. 1. 1976:
$35.00 thereafter
T.Y. CROWELL
666 Fifth Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10019
propagation of golden trout — was
made by the Stevens brothers, who in
1876 captured golden trout from Mul-
key Creek, a tributary of the South
Fork of the Kern River, and
transported them to a site in Cotton-
wood Creek adjacent to their saw-
mill. Soon these entrepreneurs were
joined by anglers and sportsmen's
clubs in transplanting golden trout.
In 1909 the California Fish and
Game Commission began to take an
active role in the transplantation of
golden trout to barren waters. Their
efforts, along with those of private
individuals and groups, were praised
in several articles and a popular book.
Fear ran high that these remarkably
beautiful fish would be exterminated
in their limited and fragile habitat.
Expanding their distribution seemed
desirable and was encouraged. It was
only in later years, as pressure to
stock grew and rainbow trout were
introduced into some original golden
trout streams in the Little Kern drain-
age, that this somewhat indis-
criminate policy was seen to be work-
ing against its stated aims.
Taxonomic splitting — the giving
of separate species names to each new
discovery — has also confused our un-
derstanding of the historical relation-
ships among golden trout. In 1875,
biologist H. W. Henshaw caught a
trout of exquisite beauty from the
South Fork of the Kern River. He
identified it as Salmo irideus, an early
name of the rainbow trout; his 1878
report on this fish is the first scientific
record of what we now call the golden
trout. When David Starr Jordan, then
president of Stanford University, in
1892 received three specimens of a
similar fish from Cottonwood Creek
in the nearby Owens River drainage
(stock presumably derived from the
Stevens brothers' transplant), he
christened them S. mykiss aguabon-
ita. Following the nomenclature of
the time, this indicated that the
golden trout belonged to the cutthroat
series. However, within a few years,
other works of Jordan placed it with
the rainbows.
At the request of President Theo-
dore Roosevelt, Evermann led a
group of scientists into the upper
Kern River drainage. Based on obser-
vations made in the summer of 1904,
Evermaim described three species of
golden trout that he considered part
of the rainbow trout series: Jordan's
S. aguabonita, native to the South
Fork of the Kern River drainage; S.
roosevelti, of Volcano (now Golden
78
Trout) Creek, named by Evermann in
honor of the president and called the
"real golden trout"; and S. while i ol
the Little Kern River drainage.
Throughout this taxonomic his-
tory, there was no question among
scientists that golden trout belong to
the genus Salmo, which includes,
among others, the rainbow and cut-
throat trout. However, relationships
among the goldens at a species level
still are confused by the variety of
designations given them by early sci-
entists. Confusion also arises when
one considers the frequently obscure
and overlapping phenotypic criteria,
such as coloration and spotting,
which were described in the effort to
distinguish different species. For in-
stance, Evermann said of S. roose-
velti, "[it] is the most beautiful of all
the trouts ... the delicate golden
olive of the head, back and upper part
of the side, the clear golden yellow
along and below the lateral line, and
the marvelously rich cadmium of the
underparts fully entitle this species to
be known above all others as the
golden trout. ' ' He contrasted this spe-
cies with S. aguabonita, the golden
trout of the South Fork of the Kern
River and its tributaries. Although the
two "species" are lightly spotted
above the lateral line, Evermann rea-
soned that geographical isolation, in
conjunction with differences in color
and spotting intensity, was sufficient
to warrant calling them different spe-
cies. In reality, these differences are
so slight that many trained observers
have experienced difficulty in distin-
guishing between populations of
golden trout and even between certain
populations of rainbows and goldens.
In 1935, biologist Brian Curtis
eliminated much of this confusion.
He noted that tremendous variation in
color and spotting existed among
golden trout in the five Cottonwood
Lakes. Had Curtis not known that the
originally barren Cottonwood Lakes
were stocked with golden trout from
Cottonwood Creek in 1891, and that
the Cottonwood Creek trout were
derived from the original Stevens
brothers' transplant of goldens from
Mulkey Creek, he would have been
convinced that he was observing two
different species of golden trout,
roosevelti and aguabonita. He con-
cluded that the two species were one
and the same and that any differences
between the two types could be attrib-
uted to the wide range of color varia-
tion found in golden trout.
Today, most ichthyologists recog-
TIME
MACHINE
FOR SALE.
15 FOR SIX
ROUND
TRIPS
Every issue of ARCHAEOLOGY Magazine sends you
on a fascinating voyage to antiquity. And every issue is
truly a collector's item. Rich, full page illustrations, lavish
reproductions of ancient art, frontline reports of excavations
and discoveries, and much more. . .are vk/aiting for you right now
Published by the Archaeological Institute of America.
ARCHAEOLOGY
THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES
ARCHAEOLOGY - Dept. N-9
260 West Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10013
Please send one year's subscription (6 issues) of ARCHAEOLOGY
Check enclosed for $15 . .Bill me.
Check enclosed for 2 years for $27 Bill me.
Name
Add ress
City
N-9
. State.
.Zip.
Visits to scenic wilderness areas to view thrilling
Alaskan animal life. Cruise through fabulous
Glacier Bay. Explore beautiful Mt. McKinley Na-
tional Park. Fly to the remote Pribilof Islands. See
moose, bears, enormous herds of fur-seals, rare
sea and shore birds, whales, migratory caribou,
white mountain sheep, eagles — and much, much
more. Led by Kenneth A. Chambers, Lecturer in
Zoology at the Museum.
Conducted
by the
AMERICAN
MUSEUM OF
NATURAL
HISTORY
For further information
call or write Dept. of Edu-
cation, American Muse-
um of Natural History,
Central Park West at 79th
St., New York, N.Y. Tele-
phone 212— 873-7507
79
Portraits
from
North American
Indian Life
Reproductions of 88 memorable photogravure prints of Edward
S. Curtis portraits bound togethier into a book, incorporating many of
thie best specimens of fiis "loving and poetic monument" to tfie Nortti
American Indian. Fascinating cap-
tions describe eacfi Indian life. study,
composed from Curtis' own personal
impressions, hiis notes and field
records. Insightful introductions by
A.D. Coleman and T.C. McLuhan. 12"
X 9", soft cover. $8.50, covers
shipping and handling.
Selected portfolio of 5 impressive
historic prints, among them a well-
known portrait of the famous
warrior Chief Joseph. Each print is
reproduced directly from ttie orig-
inal Curtis photogravures— ^8" X 14", on high quality stock and
ready to frame. $17.00, covers shipping and handling.
I Natural History Selections, Dept. M150
I Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me: Books at $8.50 eacti
Portfolios at $17.00 each
l\Z\ My check/money order. payable to Natural History. is enclosed
□ I prefer to charge to American Express
City
Zip
i MUSEUM MEMBERS, please take 10% discount.
Q Check lor FREE brochure. Make your own selections of any
5 prints trom the 24 poetic Curtis prints available, for same price
as our featured portfolio. No obligation. Send today.
nize only one species of golden trout,
S. aguabonita, consisting of two
subspecies, or races: S.a. aguabon-
ita, endemic to the South Fork of the
Kern River and Golden Trout Creek;
and S.a. whitei, native to the Little
Kern River drainage.
Nevertheless, despite the years de-
voted to positive statements regard-
ing the golden trout's position in tax-
onomic classifications, their origins
and relationships to other members of
the genus Salmo remain open to spec-
ulation.
Theories now advanced to explain
golden trout origins are founded, by
and large, on a small, but growing,
understanding of relationships among
present-day populations of Salmo.
One school suggests that the two
subspecies of golden trout in the
upper Kern River drainage originated
from "two independent invasions by
already divergent forms of the golden
trout complex." One invasion, sup-
posedly giving rise to S.a. aguabon-
ita, originated in the lower Colorado
River system; the other, ancestors of
S.a. whitei, came from the north and
aie thought to be similar to the "red-
band" trout of northern California
and southern Oregon.
Based on a different interpretation
of Pleistocene geography, another
school holds that migration of trout
from the southeast was unlikely and
suggests that both golden trout
subspecies stemmed from a single an-
cestral form that originated in the
north and entered the Kern River
drainage from the Sacramento and
San Joaquin valleys.
It is also possible that the golden
trout ancestor was hybrid — origi-
nating from a cross between ancient
forms of the cutthroat trout (now
known as S. clarki) and the rainbow
trout (now know as S. gairdneri).
There are close affinities among these
three species; many of the genetic and
morphological characteristics of
golden trout are found in either rain-
bow or cutthroat trout or in both.
Because of the sketchy fossil
record and the difficulty involved in
tracing golden trout antecedence, one
can only speculate about the true age
of goldens as a presumably distinct
species. It is known that reproductive
isolating mechanisms among most
species of Salmo are far from com-
plete. This invariably raises the ques-
tion of whether the golden trout is
truly a distinct species. If one accepts
the criterion that a species must be
isolated reproductively from all other
species, then the golden trout is not
a separate species nor, for that matter,
is the rainbow trout or the inland cut-
throat trout. These three groups of
trout can interbreed, and their hybrid
oflfspring are fertile.
Yet golden trout are distinct from
other species of Salmo. For example,
they difTer in size, body shape, scale
number, coloration, spotting pat-
terns, and chromosome number. On
the basis of these important charac-
teristics, taxonomists classify golden
trout as a separate and distinct spe-
cies. Perhaps, given time, goldens
would have evolved according to the
so-called biological definition of a
species — that of reproductive isola-
tion. That is, if it were not for the
coming of man.
Certainly it appears that man's ac-
tions have been directed, for the most
part, toward insuring the future sta-
bility of golden trout. Taken at face
value, most published data argue
against the possible extermination of
goldens. As a result of the artificial
propagation of fertilized eggs har-
vested annually from trout in the Cot-
tonwood Lakes, transplanted golden
trout are abundant throughout many
Sierran waters. Moreover, their num-
bers appear to be relatively stable in
the upper Kern River drainage,
despite heavy fishing pressure in eas-
ily accessible areas. But underlying
the "stability" of golden trout are
ominous signs. Two very real and
pressing threats to the golden trout
confront biologists and fishery man-
agers— species elimination and spe-
cies contamination.
The threat of species elimination
stems from the artificial distribution
of animal species with which golden
trout cannot compete. Goldens are
threatened directly by competition
from eastern brook trout in lakes, dec-
imation of their juvenile populations
by predacious brown trout, and de-
struction of their stream habitat by
beavers introduced into the South
Fork region in 1950.
The apparent abundance of golden
trout in streams and lakes outside
their native habitat is illusory because
their numbers are regularly aug-
mented by hatchery-reared finger-
lings. Golden Trout Creek and South
Fork of the Kern River goldens, S. a.
aguabonita, are threatened by beaver
damage to their stream habitat and
spawning beds. Golden trout require
shallow, gravelly areas in which to
spawn and cannot tolerate the heavy
siltation of their spawning beds that
A magnificent collection of some
never-before-published paintinj^s and
commentary by the Indians who fought
at Little Big Horn.
"The most memorable and tragically beautiful work on this subject to
date." — Publishers Weekly
Here, 100 years later, is both the dramatic and sensitive Indian view of
Little Big Horn, through the eyes of 15 who were there.
Through this extraordinary group ofSS beautiful full-color paintings and
drawings, you can reHve the drama and ,\, y„;,r b.joksell.;r ur from,
re-create, step-by-step, this crucial "rfllT V rROWFI I
event in the history of the Old West. >1|' "nki.' ■V'tV.':.'^. .r"
$29.95 before Christmas; $35.00 thereafter W li/nBh.',
D.-pt
c^ Om**: T^hayv*"'
This is a complete recording, delivered by Louis
Zoul, of Edward Fitzgerald's 5tli version, and is
the cumulative effort of ttiree men of genius.
It is followed by a few comments and compari-
sons, and also Pedro Calderon de la Barca's The
Dream Called Life and Life is a Dream.
Lastly, beginning with Hamlet's soliloquy, there
Is some of Shakespear's best.
Among the kudos we've received, this came from
aprofessor in Ethiopia:"lt is beyond compare!" A
Brooklyn lady wrote: "I play It over and over. It is
my treasure."While from Canada a gentleman re-
quested:"Becausetbe record is such a beauty,
send another one."
A super/otive delivery of luperloUve poefry
$10.00
Now there Is also available a companion book. It
is hand bound and printed on high bulk long life
archive book paper. Estimated duration- 500yrs.
SI 5.00
. Plus Applicable Sales Tax
(c«ly for N.Y. Slatr rt.ider,!,)
Available Only By Mail
PUBLIC OPINION
Box N -4044 Long Island CKy,
New York 11104
w^w^'i^'H
Authentic
"Tibetan Prayer Wheels
A limited quantity of these t)eautifully
hand carved prayer wheels are now
available. Each one is a unique
example of the wood-carver's art.
(No two are exactly alike.)
Each comes with the traditional
handwritten prayer inside the
cylinder and an explanation of its
use, mystery and sexual symbolism.
$29.95 each
Argus Trading Co.
RO. Box 192, Los Angeles, Ca. 90036
Name
Address
City
State/Zip
enclosed □ cash D check D M.O.
Calif, residents add 6% sales tax.
Volcanoes of
the Earth
By Fred M. Bullard
Volcanoes— the causes of eruptions, their effects on the
environment and people of the earth, the mythology and
superstition that surrounded this most awesome of natural
phenomena in ancient times
An eminent volcano specialist surveys current knovi/iedge
about volcanoes, describing the great historic eruptions and
focusing on theory, cycles, utilization, and environmental
effects For the uninitiated or for the student of geology,
Volcanoes of the Earth provides the best introduction avail-
able. Generously illustrated with photographs and figures in-
cluding 24 stunning color plates
Volcanoes of the Earth is a revised and enlarged edition
of Volcanoes: In History, in Theory, in Eruption. Texas Press,
1962. 616 pages $26,95
University of Texas Press Box 7819, Austin 78712
ANTHROPOLOGY
TOUR TO
MOROCC
April 2 to
April 16, 1977
cted by
THE t*
AMERICAN
MUSEUM
OF 4
NATURAL
HISTOR^****^
Journey through Moroccan cities and countryside to visit the famous
medieval city of Fes, the soul<s of Marral<ech, and camel markets at
Sijilmassa over the Atlas Mountains and into the Sahara Desert. Visits to
Berber villages; archeological sites and museums in Tangier, Rabat,
Roman Volubilis and Lixus. Led by Paul J. Sanfacon, Lecturer in An-
thropology at the Museum.
For further information call or write for Brochure A, Dept. of Education, The
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New
York, N.Y.I 0024.
results from dam construction by
beavers. Moreover, beavers alter the
complexion of the cool, swiftly flow-
ing shallow streams native to golden
trout in this drainage by destroying
riparian cover, damaging timber, and
clogging the waterways. Predacious
brown trout, with their insatiable ap-
petite for other, smaller trout, have
noticeably reduced golden trout num-
bers in the South Fork of the Kern
headwaters.
Programs of control and eradica-
tion are being undertaken against the
beaver and brown trout and studies
are under way to determine the effects
of overgrazing by livestock and re-
sultant erosion of stream habitats in
meadows of the South Fork plateau.
Another cause for great concern is
the threat of species contamination
arising from hybridization between
golden and rainbow trout in the Little
Kern River drainage. Restoration and
protection of S. a. whitei in their na-
tive southern Sierra waters is of small
long-range value unless goldens of
pure stock can be definitively identi-
fied. From 1931 to 1941, streams in
the Little Kern River basin were
planted annually with 85 ,000 to 100,-
000 rainbow trout. Although a cessa-
tion of rainbow trout stocking was
recommended in 1941, when the
danger of possible hybridization be-
tween goldens and rainbows was rec-
ognized, the damage had already
been done. Goldens and rainbows did
hybridize, and the resultant hybrids
were viable and fertile.
Geneticists at the University of
California at Davis are working to de-
termine relationships among popula-
tions of S. a. whitei and to develop
parameters whereby pure strains of
golden trout may be identified. A por-
tion of the trout analyzed in these
studies are sacrificed immediately
and preserved for future cytogenetic
(chromosomal) and biochemical
analysis. The remaining trout are al-
located for studies of their morpho-
logical and meristic characteristics.
The data from these studies are gath-
ered and fed into a computer. Elabo-
rate printouts of results are subjected
to complicated statistical analyses.
These critical results indicate that it
is possible to distinguish pure forms
of golden trout. Moreover, it is now
known that small, isolated popula-
tions of these pure forms are in exist-
ence above natural stream barriers
that prevented migration and subse-
quent contamination with hybrids.
The dilemma is complicated — that
82
can help sqve Juiyi Latemoon
for $16 a month.
Or you can turn the p(^
July! Latemoon.
Descendant of a proud people.
Her ancestors understood
man's harmony with nature.
They were master craftsmen, farmers, and i
Now they are a forgotten people
to whom many promises have been made.
And few l<ept.
Juiyi Is poor but has an abundance of hope,
She needs a helping hand.
And a friend who will understand.
For $16 a month, through Save the Children Federa-
tion, you can sponsor a child like Juiyi so that she will
not be forgotten. Give her the things she must have
to keep her mind, body, and spirit alive. And com-
bined with money from other sponsors, your $16 will
help Juiyi and the people of her community. With a
desperately needed food co-op, income-producing
handicraft programs, vocational training, youth ac-
tivities, clinics, and more. In simple terms, help a
proud, hardworking people help themselves. For this
is what Save the Children has been all about since
1932.
For you— educated, involved, and in touch with your
own heart— there are many rewards. Correspond with
a child. Receive a photo and progress reports. Reach
out to another human being. That's how Save the
Children works. But without you it can't work. So
please: clip this coupon and mail it today. Now you
can turn the page.
We are indeed proud of our use of your funds. Annual report and audit
statement available on request. Member of the international Union
for Child Welfare and the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for
Foreign Service. Contributions are income tax deductible.
I wish to contribute $16 a month to sponsor a D boy D girl D either
D Where the need is most urgent
D Appalachia (U.S.) Q Honduras
D Bangladesh Q Indian
□ Chicane (U.S.) (Latin America)
D Colombia D Indian (U.S.)
n Dominican Republic D Indonesia
Enclosed is my first payment:
□ $16 monthly □ $96 semi-annually
□ $48 quarterly □ $192 annually
□ Instead of becoming a sponsor, I am enclosing a contribution of
□ Inner Cities (U.S.)
□ Israel
□ Korea
□ Lebanon
□ Mexico
□ Rural South (U.S.)
□ Please send me more information.
NAME-
ADDRESS-
CITY
David L. Guyer, Executive Director
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION
Westport, Connecticut 06830 ^^ ^
BOOKS
From The American
Museum of Natural History
NATURALIST'S COLOR GUIDE
FRANKS. SMITHE
Part I: Pocket-sized binder with 86
measured color swatclies for pre-
cise description and identification of
birds and other animals. $9.00.
Part II: Supplement explains how the
colors and their measurements were
derived. $5.00.
Both Parts I & II together $12.00.
CURASSOWS AND
RELATED BIRDS
JEAN DELACOUR &
DEAN AMADON
Curassows, guans, and chachalacas
are tropical gamebirds described in
this authoritative work, with thirty
color paintings and many drawings,
maps, and photographs.
Cloth $20.00.
COSTUMES OF THE EAST
WALTER A. FAIRSERVIS, JR.
The clothing of the peoples of Asia.
Beautiful color photographs and de-
tailed drawings and maps illustrate
the costumes and their functions.
Paper $5.95, cloth $15.00.
ANCIENT MEXICO AND
CENTRAL AMERICA
GORDON F. EKHOLM
The sculpture and architecture of
the precolumbian cultures of Meso-
america. Color and black-and-white
photographs by Lee Boltin.
Paper $5.00.
BUTTERFLIES OF THE
AMERICAN TROPICS
WILLIAM PHILLIPS COMSTOCK
The genus Anaea is detailed in this
definitive text, with thirty color
plates and hundreds of drawings.
The book is a collector's item.
Cloth $25.00.
Museum members may take a 10%
discount. Send check or money
order to;
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
BOOK ORDERS, DEPARTMENT N
77 WEST 77TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10024
of use versus preservation. Golden
trout have existed for perhaps thou-
sands of years, gradually migrating,
adapting, and changing in accord
with the eccentricities of nature.
Man, in less than one hundred years,
has disrupted this course of evolution
and changed the conditions favorable
for their existence.
Another possible evolutionary
disruption may be at work if a
"founder's effect" obtains for those
goldens artificially propagated from
stocks in the Cottonwood Lakes.
These stocks are derived from the
original transplant of a few goldens
(5. a. aguabonita) from Mulkey to
Cottonwood Creek by the Stevens
brothers in 1876. Trout from this lim-
ited gene pool are distributed an-
nually in streams and lakes through-
out the Sierra. Although they are defi-
nitely golden trout, it is possible that
they have begun to differ genetically
from other populations of S. a. agua-
bonita within the South Fork drain-
age.
As the popularity of the golden
trout and of the southern Sierra high
country increases, so too does man's
impact. In this land of thick forests,
delicate meadows, and spectacular
mountains, the golden trout thrives —
eminently suited to the cascading
streams of the upper Kern River
drainage. This fragile land must be
protected. The success of programs
designed to restore and preserve na-
tive golden trout populations is de-
pendent on this protection. A Golden
Trout Wilderness Area was proposed
and studied by U.S. Forest Service
personnel, but unfortunately, in
1973, the Little Kern drainage region
was deleted from the proposal. Cru-
cial to this administrative decision
was pressure from logging interests
and Mineral King developers seeking
to advance their own opportunities
for profit by utilizing portions of the
Little Kern basin. This conflict has
yet to be resolved.
Little is known about the natural
history of golden trout despite the at-
tention paid them by conservationists
and scientists in recent years. The im-
plementation of studies on their be-
havior and ecology, as well as further
scientific inquiries into the genetics
and evolution of golden and other
closely related trout species, is vital
to any program designed to restore
and protect golden trout and their
habitat. Surely golden trout, so beau-
tiful, rare, and still threatened, merit
this consideration. D
t of print,scarce,rare NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS
rg „ BoU.„,. Zoology.
iXie^ Orrhidology.
CATALOGUE AVAIUBLE, S1.00
19 Oilofd Plicc/RHkiiNe Centre, ltn> Torli 11570
NATURE ON STAMPS
•K-
SAMPLES & APPROVALS- $1
Mil Med Sfantps
P.O. BOX 29
BEETLES. BtTTTERFUES and INSEfTTS
froB MALAYSIA.
AFRICA, BRAZIL. ^
etc.
COMPLETE SCIENimC
P.O. Box 307-N
Round Lake. Illinois 60073
BIRD MODEL KITS
Barn Swallow 53.95
Kingfisher $4.95
Little Owl $5.95
All three for $13.00
ARIEL Dept. N. 2894 Meadowbrook, Cleveland Ohio 44118
MURPHY'S LAWS!
Incomparable "scientific" wit. Colorfully
litfiograpfied on 8" x 10" tieavy Parctitext
for framing. A great business or personal
gift! Only $3 (4/$10). Four Corners
Press, Dept. NHC, Hanover, Mass.
02339.
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK IN 30 TO 90 DAYS
Wanted: Book manuscripts in all fields. Expert
editing, design, manufacture, and marketing —
all under one roof. Two FREE books (over
270 pages) give complete details.
Write or phone Dept : 779D ,
EXPOSITION PRESS, HIcksville, N.Y. 11801
(516) 822-5700,
Sail a tall ship
i\ to small Caribbean islands.
6 or 14 days from $290.
Wiite for free Adventure Booklet.
Box 120, Dept, 225. Miami Beach, Fla. 33139
iMAOTCIIIIIlMf 0^^
HoMfoof 'Cnibcr ^
FREE INFORMATION
AUTHORS WANTED BY
NEW YORK PUBLISHER
Leading book publisher seeks manuscripts of all
types: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scholarly and
juvenile works, etc. New authors welcomed. For
complete information, send for free booklet W-82.
Vantage Press, 616 W. 34 St., New York 10001
For those
with an eye
for art
and a head
for value.
Natural History Magazine invites you to enjoy some
delectable collectables. Remarkable replicas cast
from the originals on display at the American
Museum of Natural History. It is difficult to tell these
fine reproductions from the unique originals because
each one is hand-cast and hand-finished by
artist-craftsmen to duplicate the exact personality of
the original. Right down to its precise size, texture,
color and patina. Each replica comes with its own
descriptive history. All jewelry is gift-boxed. Here
truly are unusual gifts for those with an eye
for art and a head for value.
NH HON
r'
AMERICAN
MUSEUM MEMBERS.
PLEASE TAKE
10% DISCOUNT.
Order Now
...for a friend
...for yourself
NATURAL HISTORY
NATURAL HISTORY REPUC AS. Dept. A45Q Box 5123. Des Moines. Iowa 50340
- NH 78N Akua'ba Doll Necklace. West
Africa. 2 7/8" H. -Gold. $13.50
. NH HON Coptic Cross Necklace. Ethiopia.
•Silver 2-1/8" H. $9.50
. NH 113 African Fertility Doll with bead
earrings, necklace, anklet. 14" H. $40.00
, NH 109 African Dahomey Woman
Statuette. "Gold. 7-1/4" H. including walnut
base. $30.00
, NH 51N Pre-Columbian Eagle Necklace
Costa Rica, 'Gold. 2" wing span. $11.00
. NH 56N Pre-Columbian Monkev-Faced
Men Pendant. Costa Rica "Gold. 3-5/8"
wide $26.00
. NH 65P Pre Columbian Llama Pin. "Siluer
1-3/4" H, $9.50
Please send me the Replicas I have checked for which 1
enclose mi,- personal check or money order for $_
.1 prefer to charg*? American Express, valid thru
•
D
Signature .
Name (please print) .
City, State. Zip
'Gold or silver electroplated pewter (Prices include average of $1.00 ior
lewelry. $250 for sculpture, postage and fiandling.) ALLOW 4-6 WEEKS
"OR DELIVERY
F(E1V[AI^ET_
Art
QUALITY POTTER'S WHEELS, Many models. Kits
from $57, Professional electric $315, Catalog; Box
1407 N. Ferndale, WA 98248
10,000 COLOR SLIDES depicting arctiaeology of
ttie world, available for purchase. Catalogue and
four supplements $2,00 prepaid Write: Slide Ar-
chives NH1, Archaeological Institute of America,
260 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013 (212)
925-7333
Astronomy
SKYWATCHER'S ALMANAC 1977, Sunrise, sun-
set, moonrise, moonset, and phases custom-com-
puted for your latitude and longitude anywhere in
world. Also planetary phenomena and selected
star coordinates. Wall calendar format. In use by
schools, planetariums, newspapers, amateurs and
professionals everywhere, $9,00 US, currency.
Foreign orders specify geographical coordinates,
Californians add sales tax. Astronomical Data Ser-
vice, 1901 Old Middlefield Way, Suite 14C, Moun-
tain View, CA 94043
Automotive
BE INFORMED BEFORE YOU PURCHASE A NEW
CAR. Send for dealer cost quote — $3,00 could
save you hundreds. List make, model, options
wanted. Consumer Automotive Brokerage Ser-
vices, Box 351. Burlington. MA 01803
Book Publishers
PUBLISH YOUR BOOK! Join our successful au-
thors in a complete, reliable publishing program;
publicity, advertising, promotion, beautiful books.
All subjects invited. Send for fact-filled booklet and
free manuscript report. Carlton Press, Dept, NHL,
84 Fifth Avenue, New York 1001 1
Books
BIRDS OF NEPAL, Fleming Field Guide. 150 color
plates, 741 species. $14 postpaid. Mrs. Sally
Beieler. 1028 Crestwood, Wenatchee, WA 98801
IZAAK WALTON; THE COMPLEAT ANGLER
AND HIS TURBULENT TIMES. J. Lawrence and An-
geline J. Pool. Stinehour Press. First edition: illus-
trated; 152 pages. $12.50 prepaid. J.L. Pool, Box
31 , West Cornwall, CT 06796
MOCKEL'S DESERT FLOWER NOTEBOOK. Soft
cover. 165 illustrations, 54 full color. Two indexes;
Common and Botanical Names. $6.95 postpaid.
Artist— Henry R. Meckel. P.O. Box 726, Twentynine
Palms, CA 92277
PYRAMIDOLOGY; Extensive book and product
catalogue, 25e please. 8143-NH Big Bend, Web-
ster Groves, M063119
THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY celebrat-
ing fifty years of publication with Special Anniver-
sary Issue; reprints of ten articles of lasting signifi-
cance, introductory notes, special articles, and se-
lected book reviews. $9.95 before 1/1/77, $12.50
thereafter. $1 .00 extra for foreign shipment. THE
QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY. SUNY. Stony
Brook, NY 1 1 794 USA
Collector's Items
AUTHENTIC ARROWHEADS. Frame, trade, resell.
25— $5,50, 100— $15.00, 1000— $80.00. Council
NH1239, Apache Junction, AZ 85220
FREE CACTUS SEED with "Cactus Collector's
Handbook." (500 identification photographs.)
$3.00 postpaid. Infobooks, 5001 NH, San Angelo,
TX 76901
Education
COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC offers an environ-
mentally concerned and intellectually demanding.
accredited, 4 year college curriculum. Students
earn a B A. in Human Ecology in an interdiscipli-
nary, problem solving approach to Environmental
Planning and Design, Human Studies, and Environ-
mental Science. The program includes; seminar
courses, field study, workshops, and internship ex-
periences, with an 8;1 student/faculty ratio For a
catalog, write to: College of the Atlantic, Box NH,
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
Employment Opportunities
AUSTRALIA— NEW ZEALAND WANTS YOU ! M 50,-
000 Jobs! Paid transportation, latest information
and forms. $1.00 Austco, Box 3623-NH, Long
Beach, CA 90803
OVERSEAS JOBS— Now Hiring, 103 Countries. All
Occupations, High Pay, Free Transportation, Tax
Benefits, Latest Computerized Reports— $2.00,
Transworld, International Airport, Box 90802-NH,
Los Angeles, CA 90009
TEACHERS-ADMfNISTRATORS: Current school,
college openings list in U.S. $5.95, Abroad $5.95.
Leading placement sources, US— $3.95, Foreign
£4.95. EISF, Box 662, Newton, MA 02162
U.S. FIRMS OVERSEAS— Complete information on
hundreds of worldwide companies. $6.96 Glo-
balemploy (LNDA), 704 Mira Vista, Huntsville, AL
35802
Energy
"SOLAR AGE" Magazine. Monthly articles in depth
covering homes hardware where it's at in all solar
energy areas, by recognized solar experts. $20/yr.
(12 issues) Sample $2.00. Solar Age, Box 288, Ver-
non, NJ 07462
Friendsliips
MAKE FRIENDS WORLDWIDE through interna-
tional correspondence. Illustrated brochure free'
Hermes-Verlag,Box110660/NH, D-IOOOBeriin 11.
Germany
Gifts
BUTTERFLY POST EARRING, 14K gold. $12,00.
Sterling, $4.00 Postpaid. Free catalog. Barker
Jewelry, Bow Street, Northwood, NH 03261
JADE BROOCHES, Shaped like an opened um-
brella, with gold-plated tip and handle, $9,95 each,
Connie Beckwith, 660 Evermann, Bloomington, IN
47401
LATENT IMAGE NOTE PAPER, 10 Removable na-
ture photographs with envelopes, $6,00, Kenneth-
Ehnenn. 102 Pomona Road, Suftern. NY 10901
NATURE'S PLAN IN A GAME. PREDATOR, the
Food Chain Card Game. Great gift for nature lovers
ages 8 to 80, Choose English, French, or Spanish
edition $4.50 per deck. Ampersand Press, Dept.
H1 1 , 2603 Grove St., Oakland, CA 94612
UNIQUE GIFT OF LASTING FRAGRANCE; Old-
fashioned potpourri of rosebuds, lavender, dozen
other flowers and herbs in elegant crystal apothe-
cary. 45 oz— $15.00, 24 oz— $10.00. Postpaid.
G & J Distributors. 4523K Labath. Santa Rosa. CA
95401
86
Gourmet Interests
TEA DEVOTEES Savor world's rarest select leas.
Brochure $1 .00 (applied to first order). Grace Tea
Importers, Dept, NH 106, 799 Broadway, NYC
10003
Literary Services
SEARCH BY COMPUTER! Access to Information,
Inc., is a non-profit information clearingfiouse, $25
provides 50 latest citations on your question
ACCESS, 11 708 Camino Delora, Santa Fe, NIvl
87501
WRITERS: "UNSALABLE" IV1ANUSCRIPT? Try AU-
THOR AID ASSOCIATES. Dept. NH, 340 East 52nd
Street, NYC 10022 (212) 758-4213
Magazines
CROSSING CULTURAL BOUNDARIES? Tfie
Bridge, cross-cultural affairs journal, hielps you
cope. Also contains foreign data summaries, re-
lated literature lists/mail-order service, overseas
adaptation resource inventory, book reviews.
Quarterly, $10/yr. Center for Researcti & Educa-
tion, Drawer N, 2010 E. 17tti Ave., Denver, CO
80206 ^^
WILDLIFE MAGAZINE. International in scope, au-
tfioritative, informative, colourful. Aimed at entfiusi-
asts, enjoyed by tfie whole family. Described by
one American reader as "the most beautiful and
educational magazine in the world." Also, buy your
books through our carefully selected monthly list-
ing. Send for sample copy to Wildlife, 243 thing's
Road, London SW3, England
Musical Instruments
KITS! Build dulcimers, guitars, balalaikas, harps,
mandolins, banjos. From $2.95. Finished dulcimers
from $23.95. Free Catalog. 8665 West 13th Ave-
nue-NH, Denver, CO 80215
Needlec rafts
EMBROIDERY TRANSFERS CATALOG. Early
American, Jacobean, Hungarian, our own designs.
Floss, supplies, and more. 508, refunded with first
order. Crewel Elephant, Box H-217, Silverton, CO
81433
Optics
HUGE DISCOUNTS! I BUSHNELL, B & L BINOCU-
LARS and Scopes. Free Catalog/Price List. Write
MARIGOLD, Drawer M-31, South San Francisco,
CA 94080
Real Estate
IRISH FARMHOUSE on southwestern coast with
house for guests, three outbuildings, all modern-
ized, mature orchard. $45,000. Grant, Kilcrohane,
Bantry, Cork, Ireland.
Seashells
SEASHELL SAMPLER. 200 Beautiful shells for
craftwork or collectors! Plus SHELLCRAFT IDEA
BOOKLET and illustrated Seashell Catalog.
$13.50. BENJANE ARTS, 320 Hempstead Ave.,
West Hempstead. NY 11552
SEASHELLS: Full color catalogue. 250. Compare
prices on guaranteed specimen quality shells. Old
Shell Game, Box 330722. Miami. FL 33133
Stamps
ANIMALS OR BIRDS ON STAMPS, 25 different 350.
plus list of Topical Collections. GEORGE FORD,
Box 5203-N Gulfport, FL 33737
FREE: Discount Price List for U.S. Stamps, Stevens,
Box 610546 J, North Miami. FL 33161
Travel
ANTHROPOLOGY, NATURAL HISTORY and pho-
tography expeditions to unique environments
worldwide Write Nature Expeditions International,
Dept. NC, Suite F, 4546 El Camino Real, Los Altos,
CA 94022
BIRDING GUIDEBOOKS: Sweden, Denmark, and
Mallorca $3 90 each, including postage, from M.
Philbrick, Box 83, Vashon, WA 98070
BREATH OF THE CRUISING LIFE! Live aboard
classic yachts sailing Central America Reef Ecol-
ogy, Seamanship, Scuba Courses. OCEANUS
Box 43IN, Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423
CIRCLE Z RANCH— Horseback riding, fantastic
birding, tennis, heated pool, historic unspoiled
area. November through May Limit 40 guests Bro-
chure: Box 194. Patagonia, AZ 85624
ENJOY SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA Our area is
secluded and uncommercial Outstanding birding
Excellent nature study opportunities Trails, wilder-
ness lor hiking, backpacking, etc Comlortably
mild Chiricahua Mountain climate year around
Collages, apartments, pool. Free brochure, bird-
list. Cave Creek Ranch, Portal, AZ 85632 (602) 558-
2334
ESCAPE TO THE WILDS OF WYOMING Vacation
year round high in Bighorn National Forest Plenty
of horses, fishing, big game, and cross-country ski-
ing. Spear-O-Wigwam Ranch, Box 1081 , Sheridan,
WY 82801 (307) 674-4496
IOWA MOUNTAINEERS EAST AFRICAN EXPEDI-
TION. July 8-31 . Superb sightseeing; ascend Kili-
manjaro; visit Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Write:
Africa, P 0. Box 163, Iowa City, lA 52240
MEXICO: Mountain resort and hot spnngs — sun,
swimming, massage, tropical buffet — $1 3.85 daily
Rio Caliente, Apdo 1-1 187, Guadalajara, Mexico
NEW MEXICO. Guided wildflower, birding, cliff
dwelling tours. Bear Mountain Ranch, Silver City,
NM 88061 (505) 538-2538
REMOTE MAYAN RUINS: Usumacinta float trip,
March 7. Wilderness World, 1342 Jewell, Pacific
Grove. CA 93950
ROAM THE WORLD BY FREIGHTER! Deluxe ac-
commodations. Cheaper than staying home!
TravLtips. 163-09NHA Depot, Flushing, NY 11358
SCOTLAND'S HIGHLANDS are the last real wilder-
ness areas of Britain. See its magnificent wildlife of
mountain and coast with enthusiastic guides, and
stay in comfort and style in our Victorian "Caslle."
Inclusive weekly cost £98. Send $1.00 for air-
mailed brochure to Lisler-Kaye. Cannich. In-
verness-shire. Scotland
TEXAS PHOTO SAFARIS: Texas coast and Big
Bend region. January, February, March. For details
write: Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, 1603 West
Clay, Houston, TX 77019
TRAVELMATES. Like to travel, but riot alone? Cor-
respond, exchange visits, share vacations. Meet
fellow members at weekend get-togethers. Box
59H, Pleasant Unity, PA 15676
UNFORGETTABLE, PERSONALLY CONDUCTED
wilderness vacations. Very small groups. John
Lammers, YUKON WILDERNESS UNLIMITED. Box
4126. Whitehorse. Yukon Y1A3S9. Canada
WILDLIFE VACATIONS IN SCOTLAND April-
November. Viewing, photography Write interna-
tional airmail Caledonian Wildlife Services, Kings-
mills Gardens Inverness IV2 3LU SCOTLAND
RATES AND STYLE INFORMATION
$1.50 per word; 16 word (324) minimum Display
classified is $1 50 per inch Rates are not structured
lor agency and frequency discounls or billing All
advertisements are accepted at NATURAL HIS-
TORY'S discretion; all must be prepaid Send
check.money order payable lo NATURAL HIS-
TORY lor each insertion, including your personal
address and telephone Mention issue preferred,
suggested heading, and text Deadlines — 8lh of
month, two months prior to cover date Thus, a
January issue closes November 8. A tearsheet or
copy of the page with your ad will be sent upon
publication
Box numbers, telephone numbers, and hyphen-
ated words count as two words; abbreviations and
zip codes as one word each All slates are shown
in two-letter codes followed by zip, then telephone
(with area code), if any. An address such as '18
Main St." counts as three words. Occasionally,
slight editing lor clanly is required. We trust you trust
us. Thank you!
Ownership Statement
Statement of ownership, management, and circu-
lation (required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) of Natural
History, published ten times a year at The Ameri-
can Museum of Natural History. Central Park
West at 79th Street, New York. N. Y. 10024. for
October 1 . 1976. General business offices of the
publisher are located at Central Park West at 79th
Street, New York. N. Y. 10024. Publisher.
David D. Ryus; editor, Alan P. Temes. Central
Park West at 79th Street. New York, N. Y.
10024. Owner is The American Museum of Nat-
ural History, Central Park West at 79th Street,
New York, N. Y. 10024. Known bondholders,
mortgagees, and other security holders owning
or holding one percent or more of total amount
of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: None.
The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of
this organization and the exempt status for federal
income tax purposes have not changed during
preceding 12 months (Section 132.122, Postal
Service Manual). The average number of copies
of each issue during the preceding 1 2 months are:
A. Total number of copies printed: 416, 423; B.
Paid circulation: 1 . Sales through dealers and car-
riers, street vendors, and counter sales: 251; 2.
Mail subscriptions: 402,692; C. Total paid circu-
lation: 402,943. D. Free distribution by mail,
carrier, or other means: 8,723. E. Total distri-
bution: 411,666. F. Office use, leftover unac-
counted, spoiled after printing: 4,757. G. Total:
416,423. The actual number of copies of single
issue published nearest to filing date are: A. Total
number of copies printed: 440,400. B. Paid cir-
culation: 1. Sales through dealers and carriers,
street vendors, and counter sales: 1 ,991 . 2. Mail
subscriptions: 424,854. C, Total paid circula-
tion: 426,845. D. Free distribution by mail, car-
rier, or other means: 7,424. E. Total distribution:
434,269. F. 1. Office use, leftover, unaccounted,
spoiled after printing: 4,381. 2. Returns from
news agents: 1,750. G. Total: 440,400. I certify
that the statements made by me above are correct
and complete.
L. T. Kelly, Business Manager
87
Sky Reporter
The Splitting of Comet West
This 1976 comet was not only
brighter than predicted but
also exhibited the phenomenon
of a multiple nucleus
In February and March of 1976, a
bright comet was the object of intense
scrutiny by astronomers at optical, in-
frared, and radio observatories and
was also examined by ultraviolet in-
struments launched aboard NASA
rockets. These studies led to new
findings on the composition of the
cometary nucleus and to a better ex-
planation for the shape of comet tails.
But the most provocative results
came when the solid nucleus of the
comet split apart in stages, providing
researchers with the rare opportunity
to observe four separate nuclei in a
single comet.
The new comet was first pho-
tographed on August 10, 1975, with
a one-meter Schmidt telescope at the
European Southern Observatory
(ESO) in Chile and subsequently on
August 1 3 and September 24 with the
same instrument. On each occasion,
two photographs were actually taken,
but the faint cometary images were
not noticed until November 5 , when
the glass negative, or "plate," of one
of the September photographs was
examined by Richard M. West, a
Danish astronomer at the ESO head-
quarters facility in Geneva, Switzer-
land. On this plate, which had been
Joint Observatory for Cometary Research
by Stephen P. Maran
exposed at the telescope for one hour,
he found the small, dim comet, more
than 200 million miles from earth in
the inconspicuous southern constella-
tion Microscopium. Although still far
outside the orbit of Mars, the ap-
proaching comet, later named for
West, had already developed a dis-
tinct tail. West was able to locate
weaker images of the comet on the
August plates.
Computations based on the
comet's positions in August and Sep-
tember showed that it would move to
the north through the fall and winter,
becoming well placed for observation
from the Northern Hemisphere after
approaching within 19 million miles
of the sun at perihelion on February
25, 1976. When this information was
reported, astronomers everywhere
began planning studies of the new
comet. By late December 1975,
Comet West, although still a dim tele-
scopic object, was distinctly brighter
than predicted by the computations.
This trend continued in January, and
The tail structures of Comet
West, as shown in a mosaic of
Schmidt telescope photographs,
stretched more than 30 million
miles into space. On March 9,
1976, when these pictures were
taken, the comet was 83 million
miles from earth and heading
back out into the far reaches
of the solar system. Exposed
to bring out faint details of
the tail, this mosaic is
necessarily overexposed in the
region of the comet's brilliant
head and thus the four nuclei
present at the time cannot be
distinguished here.
by early February, sightings had been
reported from Australia, New Zea-
land, South Africa, Japan. Arizona,
and elsewhere. The comet had al-
ready been spotted through binocu-
lars and was approaching naked-eye
visibility. On February 5, perhaps
mindful of the earlier public disap-
pointment over Comet Kohoutek ( see
"A Funny Thing Happened to Comet
Kohoutek," Natural History. March
1974), the director of the Central
Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
warned astronomers that the excess
brightening might not continue into
the prime viewing period after perihe-
lion on February 25 .
However, in keeping with the ca-
pricious nature of many comets. West
actually reached a maximum bright-
ness perhaps twenty times greater
than that originally predicted. Atop
Kitt Peak, west of Tucson, Arizona,
I had a fine view of it shortly before
sunrise on a late February morning.
In the distance, many of the lights of
Tucson were still on, and early risers
driving along State Highway 86 had
not yet extinguished their headlights.
But the eastern sky above the Santa
Catalina Mountains was already so
bright that no stars were visible when
Comet West's brilliant coma, or
"head," came into view. A short
length of the tail could also be seen
despite the breaking dawn. A week or
so later, the comet was fainter but
much better positioned for viewing in
the night sky several hours before
sunrise. Under these conditions, I
saw it easily from a residential street
in heavily light-polluted Los An-
geles. Also about this time, in early
March, mountaintop observers and
viewers aboard aircraft reported that
West had developed a long, broad
dust tail, with prominent curved
bands that led some astronomers to
report the presence of multiple tails.
An authoritative
lew illustrated
reference
luide
CROWS OF THE
By DEREK GOODWIN, a Princi-
pal Scientific Officer in the De-
partment of Zoology in the
British Museum (Natural His-
tory). In this generously illus-
trated one-volume reference
guide an eminent ornithologist
offers complete information on
all living corvid members, from
birds as familiar as the Blue Jay
and the fVlagpie to little-known
birds such as the Sooty Jay and
Bush Crow/.
After a thorough discussion of
the general characteristics of
ten groups, the author provides
descriptions of the 116 known
species, with a synopsis of the
behavior and biology of each.
Nearly every one of the species'
descriptions is accompanied by
a distribution map and a scru-
pulously accurate line drawing
by Robert Gillmor.
Based on the author's many
years of study and rich personal
experience with corvids,
this distinguished book
will be a welcome ad-
dition to your book-
shelf. Send for
your copy
ii .-^1^^
I MONEY-BACK COUPON
fCORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
124 Roberts Place,
Ithaca, N.Y. 14850
Please send me at once, postpaid,
copy(ies) of CROWS OF THE WORLD
@ $28-50 per copy. (NY. Stale resi-
dents please add sales tax.) If not
completely satisfied, I may return the
book within 10 days for full, prompt
refund.
I enclose S n Check □ f^oney
or Order
Charge my order, adding postage;
G BankAmericard D Ivlaster Charge
Acct. No Exp. date
Master Charge Interbank No
Address
Citi
Himalayan
Trek in Nepal
February and November 1977
These expeditions are unique not only
due to the expert leadership but be-
cause they combine a trek on foot in
the Annapurna region with a trek on
elephant back through the Terai
jungle, and a canoe trip on the RaptI
River. Between the treks, first class
hotel accommodations are provided;
and the expedition ends with five
days m Northern India, visiting Delhi.
Agra and Jaipur.
Our new Himalayan summer program
was wonderfully successful, and we
repeat it next year:
LadakhTrek
July and August, 1977
These expeditions include a trek
through the lovely valleys and moun-
tains of Kashmir Into the remote
country of Ladakh, which was until
recently closed to visitors. Before and
after the trek, first class hotel and
houseboat accommodations are pro-
vided in Delhi and Srinagar.
We also repeat the enormously popu-
lar and unusually interesting outdoors
program to South America, where small
groups, capably led, venture on our
Inga
Trek in Peru
July, August and September, 1977
These expeditions provide the stir-
ring experience of walking along the
ancient Inca trail from Cuzco high
above the lovely Urubamba Valley, at
a leisurely pace over three passes
and through fabulous Andean scenery
to Machu Picchu. the most dramat-
ically spectacular archaeological site
in the world. Before and after the
trek, first class hotel accommoda-
tions are provided in Lima and Cuzco.
Please send lor the detailed bro-
chures ol these treks- we also spe-
cialize in cruises in the Galapagos
Islands, safaris to Rajasthan and East
Africa, and adventure tours to Green-
land, the Arctic, and other unusual
destinations.
HANNS EBENSTEN TRAVEL, INC
55 WtST 42 STREET, NEW YORK, NY H)03(i
ILLLPHONE (212) 354 6634
ARCHAEOLOGY NEWSLEHER
New finds and discoveries-
facts behind the classical
myths— highlights on pagan
manners & mores— the truth
about those "astronaut gods"—
photos— more. "Authoritative
. . . packed with fascinating in-
formation," says Library Jour-
nal. Our 12th year. Gift card on
request. Send $9,00 for 8-issue
subscription (ca, 2 yrs.) to O.N.
Reiss Co., 243 East 39th Street,
New York, N.V. 10016.
Its appearance now reminded one
senior comet expert of the Great
Comet of January 1910, whose dis-
play surpassed that of the more
famous Comet Halley in the same
year.
Although the coma, which consists
of a cloud of escaping gas, may be
many tens of thousands of miles in
diameter and the tail may stretch for
millions of miles into space, the nu-
cleus of a comet such as West is prob-
ably no more than a mile or two in
diameter. According to the famous
' 'dirty iceberg' ' theory of comets, the
nucleus is composed of frozen gases
and water ice, interspersed with mi-
croscopic rock particles known as
dust grains. There may also be a large
rock at the center, but no one knows
for sure. Two rocket-borne instru-
ments, launched on March 5, 1976,
detected ultraviolet light from carbon
monoxide gas in the coma of Comet
West, and an analysis by physicists
at Johns Hopkins University has since
confirmed that frozen CO was a
principal constituent of the nucleus.
As a comet approaches the sun
from deep space, it is warmed and the
frozen water vapor and other iced
gases of its outer layer evaporate into
space, blowing the dust along with
them. The dust grains are then subject
to two additional, competing forces:
gravity, which pulls them toward the
sun, and a counterforce caused by the
tiny particles of sunlight called pho-
tons, which pushes them away. The
latter force is the dominant one, and
as a result comet tails usually point
away from the sun, so that the tail
follows the head when the comet is
bound toward the sun, but leads the
way when the comet heads back out
again through the solar system.
The distribution of frozen gas and
dust in the nucleus may not be homo-
geneous. In that case, as successive
layers evaporate, different amounts
and kinds of substances are released
into space. An example of that
process is the slightly curved forma-
tions— known as synchronic bands —
seen in the dust tail of Comet West.
According to existing theory, each
band is composed solely of dust par-
ticles that were released at the same
time (hence, "synchronic"). If the
cometary nucleus were homogeneous
and released matter into space in a
fairly uniform manner, then the dust
tail would be composed essentially of
an infinite number of adjacent
synchronic bands, each corre-
sponding to a particular instant of
ejection. In that case, one band would
blend into the next one , so that the tail
would have an over-all homogeneous
look. On the other hand, if the ejec-
tion of dust occurred in a small num-
ber of separate bursts, then one dis-
tinct band, well separated from the
next, would be present for each burst.
Along the length of a synchronic
band, the dust particles closest to the
head of the comet are the most mas-
sive ones; they are repelled least ef-
fectively by sunlight. The far reaches
of a band are composed of the small-
est particles, which are correspond-
ingly repelled most rapidly.
The problem with this interpreta-
tion of comet tail structure is that the
orientations of the synchronic bands,
as computed from theory, do not
always correspond to the form of the
bands as actually photographed. This
is especially true of some of the prom-
inent bands in the dust tail of Comet
West, which showed a pronounced
tilt with respect to their calculated ori-
entation. This problem was investi-
gated by Zdenek Sekanina, a special-
ist in comets at the Center for Astro-
physics, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
who studied a number of the early
March 1976 photographs of Comet
West. Sekanina, who has already
written several significant papers on
this comet, discovered that the ob-
served orientation of each tilted band
could be accounted for if the band
originated when a single large dust
particle that had been blown out of the
nucleus later disintegrated to produce
a large number of microscopic grains .
Thus, it is reasoned that all of the ma-
terial in a tilted synchronic band did
leave the nucleus at a given instant,
but the pressure of sunlight did not
begin to act on the individual micro-
scopic grains until the larger particle
burst apart.
During the same March week in-
vestigated by Sekanina, when the
synchronic bands were seen in Comet
West, telescopic observers discov-
ered a much more exciting phenome-
non. On March 5, two nuclei were
seen, and the news spread that the
comet had split. By March 11, four
nuclei had been reported. They were
promptly labeled A , B , C , and t) . Ap-
parently, Comet West had split, not
once, but three times. Although it is
not a very common event, nuclear
splitting has been observed in pre-
vious comets. If a comet gets too
close to the sun or to Jupiter, past
experience shows that tidal pull ex-
erted by those bodies may rip the nu-
90
cleus apart. However, some comets,
like West, have split when tiiey were
too far away Irom any large celestial
object for tidal force to have played
a role. Such splittings have been
ascribed to a variety of causes — from
vapor outbursts, chemical explo-
sions, and heat shock to break-up as
a result of the nucleus spinning too
fast.
The actual splitting of Comet West
was not seen, since the fragments
were initially so close together that
they could not be separately distin-
guished by earthbound observers.
Nevertheless, by studying the mo-
tions of the four fragments, Sekanina
was able to extrapolate their trajec-
tories backward in time and to esti-
mate the dates on which the disrup-
tions occurred. It appears that on at
least one, and perhaps two, of these
dates, the splitting was accompanied
by an extensive ejection of dust,
which produced enhanced infrared
radiation recorded at the University
of Minnesota's O'Brien Observatory,
and on the third date, radio emission
ascribed to the ejection of a cloud of
ice grains, each perhaps a few milli-
meters in diameter, was recorded by
two NASA astronomers at the Na-
tional Radio Astronomy Observatory
in West Virginia.
Nucleus A was clearly the main, or
original, nucleus, for it followed the
predisruption orbit most closely and
was usually the brightest of the four
objects, whose brightnesses fluc-
tuated. Nucleus C, which apparently
separated from A on March 5 , was the
smallest nucleus, with a diameter that
may have been less than 300 or 400
feet. By March 27, according to a re-
port from Arkansas, C had faded to
one-hundredth the brightness of A,
and by the end of March it had van-
ished, perhaps as a result of further
fragmentation. A, B, and D, on the
other hand, were still going strong
when last photographed in August
1976.
When a comet splits, its nuclei
gradually move apart. The rate at
which a new , or " daughter , ' ' nucleus
moves away from its parent was as-
sumed in the past to be determined by
the velocity of the daughter at the mo-
ment of separation. But Sekanina re-
cently proposed a new theory that
ascribes the motion of separation to
the so-called nongravitational force.
A planet moves through the solar sys-
tem primarily under the influence of
the gravitational attraction of the sun,
with some minor effects exerted by
the gravitation of the other planets.
Comets, (jn the other hand, olien fol-
low trajectories that cannot be fully
accounted for by gravitation. Instead,
it appears that the outflow of gases
from the comet nucleus acts like a
rocket exhaust, propelling the nu-
cleus in the opposite direction in ac-
cordance with Newton's law that for
every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction. (A comet is thus
much like an interplanetary
spacecraft such as the Viking, which
travels most of the way from earth to
its target planet on a ballistic trajec-
tory determined by gravity , but which
occasionally modifies its path when
small jets are fired to make mid-
course corrections.)
If gas evaporated equally from all
parts of a comet's nucleus at a given
moment, the gas would stream
equally in all directions and there
would be no propulsive effect. How-
ever, there is much more evaporation
on the side of the nucleus that faces
the sun than there is on the opposite
side, and this difference generates the
nongravitational force. When Sekan-
ina tested his new theory on the exten-
sive set of observations of the four
Comet West nuclei that have been re-
ported by astronomers, he found ex-
cellent agreement of theory and
measurement, confirming that the
nongravitational force is the domi-
nant effect that separates the nuclei
once a comet has split. Nevertheless,
the actual cause of the nuclear disrup-
tion remains unknown.
When Comet Kohoutek failed to
perform as anticipated in early 1974,
a New York T//ne5 columnist referred
to it as "The Comet That Couldn't."
By contrast, Comet West in 1976 ex-
ceeded its predicted maximum
brightness by a comfortable factor,
displayed a tail worthy of the Great
Comet of January 1910, and capped
the display with a threefold nuclear
splitting. New findings resulting from
studies of the comet amply rewarded
the attention lavished on it by astron-
omers. Yet, like many happy events,
the new comet's exhibition went
largely unrewarded by editorial atten-
tion, even though West, which is due
to return in about one million years,
has surely earned the sobriquet, ' 'The
Comet That Could!"
Stephen P. Maran is studying stars at
the University of California in Los
Angeles on a temporary assignment
from NASA 's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Kw
If you have
a special
little niece,
a grandson
or other
favorite child H|^
Give the gift ^
that turns on ^ w
a child's mind. ^
Give- uiGHLiGHT.s, the worlds most
honored magazine for children 2 to
12. Eleven big issues a >ear, each
at least 42 pagea and illustrated in
color. Stories, games, articles, crafts,
hidden pictures . . . fun. But fun
with a purpose: to help pre-readers
to pre-teens learn to read and reason.
-/4ig h llg htS for Children
■2aiM W. r,{h Ave., P.O. Box 269,
Columbus, Ohio 43216
Please Bend iiighughts as my gift to:
ne(B) and age(s)
city stale
Sign gift catti "From
• address
your city state zip
S enclosed p Bill me (no need
to pay tin Jan. It
For immediate service, call toll-free
800-848-8993
(in Ohio call 614-459-1434).
ALHEH/ORLD'S WILDLIFE
IS YOURS TO ENJOY EVERY
MONTH IN
The world's best writers and photographers of
wildlife entertain and inform you in Britain's
colorful, authoritative magazine. Editorial
board includes Roger Tory Peterson and Sir
Peter Scott. Annual subscription only $13.00.
Orders received before 31 December 1976
will bring you the March 1976 special issue
featuring Loch Ness Monster stories &
photos — as a FREE bonus. Also, gift cards
sent with gift subs, at your request.
Wildlife, c/o 133 E. 55 SI, NY, NY 10022.
Please send Wildlife for 12 mos. I enclose
check for $1 3.00 payable to Wildlife.
NAME
ADDRESS
ZIP
91
SVIOS1977
A new art reprint calendar from ASTRONOMY
Cosmos 1977 carries into its
fourth year a tradition started
when ASTRONOMY magazine
was born — to provide you the
most visually stunning view of
the universe possible.
This year's calendar brings
our promise to you in its ulti-
mate form. Cosmos 1977 is a
collection of 13 full color var-
nished reproductions of some
of the best cosmic art and pho-
tographs that have appeared
12 13
18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 3L
in ASTRONOMY. From the
surface of the red planet Mars
and glowing tail of comet West,
to worlds beyond at the heart
of a distant star cluster, the
colorful, pictorial universe is
displayed in a format that
"begs" that the subjects be
framed.
Each illustration, printed on
coated 80 lb. paper, is sur-
rounded by a 1/4" white border
for greater ease in framing. As
with last year's calendar, com-
plete framing instructions are
provided. Cosmos 1977 is spiral
bound and hole punched so
that the calendar may be con-
veniently hung. (Both hole and
wire spiral are within the white
border away from the
illustrations.)
Hallmarks of ASTRON-
OMY'S quality and beauty epi-
tomize this distinctive calendar
whether the illustrations are
framed immediately or the cal-
endar hung and used through-
out the year.
Exciting
Features Include:
• Full color, varnished
art & photos
• Framing instructions
provided
• Punched for
hanging
• Planet oppositions
& special sky events
noted
• Room to Jot birthdays
and other appointments
• 1977 Calendar
An Outstanding Christmas Gift
only $4.50 each
(Include 75C per order for shipping & handling.)
We will start shipping orders for COSMOS 1977
on Monday, Nov. IS, 1976.
ASTRONOMY
411 E. Mason St., 6th Floor,
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Please send me
Enclosed is
copies of ASTRONOMY'S Cosmos 1977.
-(including 75c for shipping and handling).
Send check or money order to:
ASTRONOMY
411 E. Mason St., 6th Floor
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Name
Address .
City
- State/ Prov._
. Zip_
An Exhibit in Review
by GeraJd Oster
The Deceiving Eye
Perspective, distortion,
and experience shape
the image we think we see
Do we really see what we think we
see? Take, for example, a wheel. A
wheel is really circular, but it only
looks so when viewed straight on.
When viewed obliquely, a wheel
looks elliptical — and the more ob-
liquely it is viewed, the thinner is the
ellipse. What falls on our retina is the
image of an ellipse; what occurs to us
in our mind is a transformed ellipse,
a circle. From previous experience
we know that the ellipse we see is a
distortion, a transformation, of the
circle. We know that a wheel must be
circular if it is to be a good, nonbump-
ing wheel.
Nature abounds in transformations
that we readily recognize. Thus the
Anamorphoses:
Games of Perception
and Illusion in Art
This exhibit will be at
The Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn, New York
December 17, 1976-
February 13, 1977
Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, Ohio
March 30, 1977-May 15, 1977
Museum of Science and Industry
Chicago, Illinois
June 15, 1977-September8, 1977
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C.
October 20, 1977-
January 15, 1978
The High Museum of Art
Atlanta, Georgia
March 1, 1978-May 1, 1978
relative growth of portions of our
body changes continuously as we
pass from the fetal stage to adulthood.
But the rate of growth is not uniform.
Great growth spurts with pronounced
transformations take place, for ex-
ample, during puberty. The biologist
Julian S. Huxley appreciated the im-
portance of relative growth (allom-
etry), which he expressed mathe-
matically in terms of geometrical
transformations. Allometry has ap-
plications to many areas of biology
and has b)een applied to the forms of
plants in various ecological situa-
tions, as with the shape difference be-
tween alpine and valley plants of the
same species.
Transformations occur not only in
growth but also in the evolutionary
process. Thus the skull of the adult
baboon can be regarded as an elon-
gated human skull . The late zoologist
D'Arcy Thompson used transforma-
tions to demonstrate the evolution of
one species into another. But later,
Julian Huxley was to caution against
the applicability of transformation ar-
guments in evolution unless compari-
sons are made of the animals at the
same stage of growth. Thus the skull
of the baby baboon resembles the
adult himian skull, but the skull of the
adult baboon differs markedly from
that of the adult human. This, indeed,
has caused some confusion among
anthropologists when on a few occa-
sions the skull of a "missing link"
has turned out to be the skull of an
ape.
Experience forms an important
part of our judgment of distance. We
learn that things look smaller when
they are at a distance; larger when
they are close by. But how can we be
sure that the object we are seeing is
actually nearby and is really small?
Here again, experience helps us make
the choice. Thus, shown a drawing in
which an adult and a two-year-old
child are the same size, we would
have the impression that the adult is
farther away than the child. We rec-
ognize the form of a child and know
that it must be smaller than the adult.
A study has been made of how Pyg-
mies interpret depth perception.
When brought for the first time to an
open field. Pygmies, who live deep in
the dense forest of Africa, regard a
distant large tree as being simply a
nearby small tree.
In the Miiller-Lyer arrow illusion,
which is also thought to be governed
by our experience, the figure on the
93
D'Arcy Thompson's demonstration
that the teleost Diodon is related to
the sunfish Mola. The rectangular
coordinates have been transformed
to the curvilinear coordinates.
The objects in Jan Beutener's
The Room have been carefully
constructed so that they appear
normal only when viewed
through a peephole.
left is reminiscent of the corner of a
room and seems closer to us and
hence larger looking. The right-hand
figure, which is reminiscent of a
corner of a building, suggests that the
corner is farther away from us than
the corner of the room and therefore
appears smaller. If there is validity to
this theory, then people without a
similar experience in perspective
should not sense this illusion. A study
of such people, the Zulus (who live
in round houses), was actually under-
taken. Statistically, the Zulus ap-
peared uncertain as to which vertical
line in the illusion appeared longer.
(I suspect, however, that the incon-
clusive response of the Zulus was
merely an expression of their incredu-
lity that Europeans would waste their
time on such trivia.)
The diminishing size of distant ob-
jects is widely used by artists to im-
part a feeling of depth to the surface
of the painting to which they are re-
stricted. This urge to create a three-
dimensional illusion on a surface has
existed in artists since tiie Stone Age.
Thus in a Paleolitiiic etching on bone,
the feeling of space is created by
showing the legs and antlers of rein-
deer as if seen beyond the fully
sketched animals of the foreground.
Artists of ancient Egypt expressed
depth in a highly stylized manner.
They showed two aspects of the
human figure. The face was given
only in profile, but the shoulders only
as a front view. This practice, which
was continued by the Egyptians for
more than three thousand years, was
modified in the 1940s by Pablo Pi-
casso, who showed in some of his
paintings a face simultaneously in
various angles of observation. The
Persians of the Middle Ages seemed
to have mixed feelings about repre-
sentations of depth. When a rug is
depicted in their drawings it is seen
without perspective so as to present
the design of the rug without spoiling
its beauty.
Perspective drawing, the most per-
suasive means of creating the illusion
/Christmas
IS a moving
experience.
Enjoy the good times again and again
with a Kodak Moviedeck'projector.
What a convenient way to show your family Christmas movies. The
Kodak Moviedeck projector has many easy-to-use features. Like auto-
matic threading, automatic rewind except on Model 425, instant rerun,
and the capability to show both super 8 and 8 mm movies.
Models 455, 465, and 475 feature a special pull-out viewing screen
that gives you the option of showing your movies without setting up a
big screen or turning off the room lights. Model 455, with 22 mm//1.5
lens (shown), less than $220. Other models from less than
$120. See your photo dealer now.
This is one Christmas gift that keeps on reiving as your
family keeps on growing. PUces are subjecl ,o change without notice
deluxe edition published by
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
The 1977
Natural History Calendar
A photographic celebration of the
unique quality and character of these
handsome people. Brilliant color studies
of current life provide a rich contrast to
stark black and white prints from the
first quarter of this century. 15 in all, and
all deserving to be framed, including 3
full-size 12" X 18" spreads.
Full color, high gloss stock. ^Hmai
Order early for gifts. With KlaM
envelope, $4.00.
Natural History Calendar, Dept. C 600
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me calendars at
$4.00 each. My check/money order for
a total of $ is enclosed.
(Third Class postage i
for First Class Mail)
eluded. Add 50g each
Museum members may take a 10% discount.
Name
Address
(please print)
Citv
Stale
Zip
of depth, reached its culmination with
its codification by the fifteenth-cen-
tury Italian artist Paolo Uccello. In
so-called one-point perspective, the
artist chooses a vanishing point where
all the parallel lines of the real world
converge at a point. Thus, the rails of
a railroad seem to converge at the ho-
rizon. Traditionally, the artist guides
himself toward the vanishing point by
occasionally holding up his thumb at
arm's length and looking beyond it
with one eye. In Leonardo da Vinci's
Last Supper, the vanishing point is at
the head of Christ; this has the effect
of focusing attention there. In his
painting The Card Players, Cezanne
places a vanishing point at the table
as if to enhance the attention of the
players.
The Renaissance painters were
taxed to their limit when required to
transform linear perspective to the
curved surface of the domed ceilings
of churches. One late-seven-
teenth-century artist, Andrea Pozzo,
managed to transform linear perspec-
tive so that his mural inside the hemi-
spherical dome of the church of Saint
Ignazio in Rome seems to be painted
on a flat surface.
A related transformation is en-
countered by map makers. Correctly
representing the surface of the earth
on the flat map is a formidable prob-
lem. Most maps are transformations
of the curved surface of the earth onto
a cylinder, the rolled-upmap. Merca-
tor, the sixteenth-century Flemish
cartographer achieved this, but not
without some compromises. The
polar regions are expanded out of
proportion while the equatorial coun-
tries appear somewhat squashed.
Mercator carried out a conformal
transformation so as to preserve
angles between the coordinates ex-
pressing the latitudes and longitudes.
With the Mercator projection a navi-
gator pursuing a fixed course on the
compass need only make sure that he
crosses successive meridians at the
same angle.
Perspective, like so many tech-
niques in art, can be carried to the
point of extreme. Some examples of
Renaissance paintings, especially of
long palace courtyards, use perspec-
tive to such an extent that it has a
disturbingly unreal quality. Indeed,
the technique has been used in our
century by Chirico and Dali to
achieve a dreamlike or surrealistic
quality. In the fifteenth century,
Leonardo da Vinci, in a break with
tradition, distorted some of the fig-
96
urcs in his drawings so that they only
appeared realistic when looked at
i'roni the edge of the paper. (The tech-
nique of distorting a scene so it ap-
pears correct when appropriately
viewed is cnct)untercd in most stage
scenery.) Fifth-century B.C. Athenian
architects employed the device
known as entasis, a slight convex cur-
vature, whereby the columns of a
temple were modified so as to look
correct to a viewer standing in front
of it. In the most notable example of
the use of entasis, the Parthenon,
these slight transformations imparted
a vitality and overcame the inward
sagging illusion of the columns.
Distortions in paintings can be
used to conceal their contents. In the
painting The Ambassadors, by Hans
Holbein the Younger, there is an
unrecognizable diagonal streak that
turns out to be a human skull if the
painting is viewed from its right-hand
edge. Holbein is said to have con-
cealed the skull to serve as a reminder
that death is always present. The Chi-
nese concealed figures (usually in
erotic situations) in an ingenious way
that influenced a number of seven-
teenth-century European artists. In
order to properly see the figures in the
painting a cylindrical mirror was re-
quired. Examples of this technique
are known as anamorphic art (from
the Greek ana, "again," and
morphe, "form"). These works of
art are distorted in such a manner that
they can be viewed properly only
from one oblique angle or with the
use of a corrective accessory such as
a cylinder, cone, or pyramid shaped
mirror. To render the painting iniclli
gible, the viewer must see it at the
appropriate angle or with the appro-
priate mirror.
Anamorphosis was revived in this
century, notably by Salvador Dali.
Recently the technique has enjoyed a
vogue, especially in Holland. An ex-
hibit of anamorphic art prepared by
Joost Elllers and Michael Schuyt has
enjoyed considerable success in
Europe and is now being shown in the
United Stales. Among the newer fea-
tures of the exhibit is an anamorphic
room by Jan Beutener. The room con-
tains some hanging cloth and discon-
nected pieces of wood; viewed
through a peephole, however, it be-
comes a normal, furnished room.
When someone walks through the
room it appears, through the peep-
hole, that the person is actually walk-
ing through solid furniture.
One could make anamorphic art
utilizing lenses. One lens would dis-
tort the object; when viewed through
a compensating lens, however, the
object would appear normal. After
all, people with astigmatism are
always seeing distorted objects until
they put on their glasses. It has been
conjectured that El Greco painted di-
To view concealed pictures on
pages 98-100. roll a sheet of
Mylar or other reflecting
material into a cylinder and
place on indicated circles.
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN
VACATION
YEAR ROUND LIVING
Lakes • Golf • Tennis • Heated
Pool • Guest Naturalist Often
Write for Information:
The Audubon Colony
P.O. Box 156 (n.h.)
Cedor Mtn., N.C. 28718
(704)885-2091
AN ENDL'KING(,lfTOr CH-AHAfTKH
$59
TheclassicaUystvled
IN-BRIEF forvou Handcrafled.
100<"i leather, legal size With shoulder strap $62
Beanng original ranch brand $86 Branded initials
add $.5. Add $2,50 shpg hndlng. Belt buckles and
other unique leather goods available- Free brochure-
Order loday from
(j^^S^fflClassics
P.O. B.,.\ 729. Dept. N12. Boulder. CO 80302
Porlrail of a Man Standing Before a Balustrade. Johann Kbnig (?) ca. 1630.
Universitatsmuseum, Uppsala
97
Photographs on pages
Sleeping Venus Uncovered by Amor. Henry Kettle, ca. 1770. Collection Schuyt, Amsterdam
99
A Couple. Jean-Frangois Niceron, ca. 1635. Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
CATCH ANIMAL RAIDER8I
Incredible Africa!
JANUARY 12, 1977 R(XJT &
LEAKEY 19-day natural history
tented and lodge safari in Kenya
& Tanzania, $1795.00 plus air-
fare. Limited to 16 members. Ad-
ditional departure February 16.
MARCH 17, 1977 )oin JOHN
WILLIAMS on a special 30-day
safari in Kenya following bird mi-
gration. JULY 21, 1977 Another
lOHN WILLIAMS departure fea-
turing rare birds, big game and
wildflowers, 30 days in Kenya.
$3165.00 each plus airfare.
Call or write
SIEMER & HAND, LTD.
Travel Service
One Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, California 941 11
(415) 788-7186
^BOOK HUNTING?-^
VIrtuilly any book located — no matter how
old or long out-ofprint. Rctlon, nonflctlon.
All authors, tublects. Name the book — we'll
find Itl (Title alone Is sufficient) Inquire,
please. Write: Dept. 66.
BOOKS-ON-FILE
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY 07087
CRUISE
INLAND
FLORIDA
Relax 6 days on the Lazy Bones plus airboal and swamp
buggy jaunts in Everglades country, $217 complete, Nov,
thru April, Featured in leading publications. For brochure,
write Capt, Stan Maurer, Shanty Boat Cruises, Rt, 14, Box
434 Z. Ft, Myers. Fla. 33905,
NEW COLOR PORTFOLIO plu
Illustrated Catalog $1.00
DOVER SCIENTIFIC
Box 60110 Long Island City, N.Y. 11106
SAVE MONEY' ^^^ direct
OHVCmunCI. from the manutactur
BETTER-VUE
35mm slide
PROTECTOR
Made ol heavy, clear vinyl plastic.
Twenty separate pockets per page.
Best protection for slides and trans-
parencies. Pages iSVi x 11) fit all
standard 3 ring binders. Write for
other sizes and low prices,
Send check or M.O. FREE postage
JAY PLASTICS, INC. Dept nh
^1515 Fifth Industrial Court, Bay Shore, N.Y. 11706 _j
PAGES
#
agonally elongated figures because of
his uncorrected astigmatism.
An element missing from the ana-
morphic art exhibit is that oii motion.
Objects in motion appear diHerent
from when they are stati(jnary. Of
course, an object will appear blurred
if it is moving so rapidly that it is
perceived in less than one-twentieth
of a second. At slower speeds, how-
ever, it will appear compressed in the
direction of its motion. This compres-
sion due to motion can be regarded
as the visual analogue of Einstein's
theory of special relativity. In relativ-
istic theory an object cannot move
faster than the speed of light (analo-
gous to the blurring of the very fast
moving object). At speeds less than
the speed of light, the object is trans-
formed into a compressed object. The
Hold figure at arms length and
move from side to side. Notice
how compression opens angles in
the direction of motion. The same
compression effect is achieved
by holding the page obliquely.
object is more compressed the closer
its velocity approaches the speed of
light. In perceiving a moving object
there seems to be a certain finite time
(about one-twentieth of a second) for
the nervous system to perceive the
object. During that time the object
will have already moved. The same
transformations postulated in Ein-
stein's theory therefore apply to this
simple perceptual problem. My guess
is that animals in the wild instinc-
tively use the Einsteinian transforma-
tion when making a single strike at a
rapidly moving prey.
Gerald Oster is professor of bio-
physics at the Mount Sinai School
of Medicine of the City University
of New York.
1 •llva. unhurtt
MIAKT lr«pH lalcti raldlnu mbWU,
ilrn-lh, plKcoiiB. spwrowh, elc , wuiiout
Injury. HlraylriK [H-lu. piitjltry relt-aw-d unliurt, Fully lu>-
!M'ffible<l, No JftWh or n[tr!tiK« to t^ri-uli *;iJviintM-d, runny
In UM^ 20 yfarH, Oiten ftitin Klve KtitfiiiiJ curindt-ncir H\ut,
lor all net^H t^titi 2!ie lor valu&ble iliur-trated Kulde and
prlcf IIM
HAVAHART. 158 Water St., Ossining, N. Y. 10562
-A
WELSH DRAGON Pendam or Pir
■ DcJraig Goch or me flea D'agcr: is ir.e nai.on
'ales tican beuacea toihestanaatfl.
t appeared {
T 01 Wales
one ol the Rorr^an Legic
GfiHin Boldly rendered m <
Sterling nec
State c
□ AUSTRAL ENTERPRISES
6o« 70190 Seattle Washington 98107
^>^
.1
QUESTERS
WORLD OF -^
NATURE TOURS
You may find some tours similar to i
other programs. But Questers is the only pro-
fessional travel company specializing solely in
nature tours. Tour parties are small, the pace
leisurely, itineraries unusual, and the leader-
ship expert. Areas covered include Mexico,
Guatemala, Hawaii, Alaska, Indonesia, India,
East Ahica, Iceland, and Australasia. We can-
not tell you here, however, about all the tours,
or all t"he wildlife preserves, archaeological
sites, museums and temples vou will visit, but
our current Directory of Worldwide Nature
Tours can. Call or write Questers or see your
travel agent todi2y for your free copy!
Questers Tours
AND TRAVEL. INC.
DEPT. NH-1276, 257 PARK AVENUE SOUTH
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10010/(212) 673-3U0
BUSHNELL 7x35 CUSTOM
Mfg. List $169.50 Postpaid $94.50
This is an example of the deep discount prices on high
quality optics that is found in our FREE catalog. This
catalog lists and illustrates an outstanding selection
of telephoto lens, telescopes, binoculars etc, plus
valuable information on how to properly select them.
Write for it today,
GIL HEBARD OPTICS
COURTHOUSE SQ., KNOXVILLE, ILL. 6T448
Bill Thomas
Nearly every swamp in America is sub-
ject to the pressures of civilization. A few
still survive. Mysterious, inhospitable,
possessed of a lonely beauty, they are
the last refuge of a number of species of
flora and fauna.
Bill Thomas's breathtaking photographs,
over three hundred of them in color, re-
veal the beauty, the moods, and the
diversity of this world that few ever see.
From New Jersey's Great Swamp to the
Okefenokee, to the remote Alakai in
Hawaii, he shows details of life in the
swamp that the casual visitor might
overlook. The accompanying text pro-
vides a wealth of information on the
natural history of each swamp dis-
cussed, and the fascinating legends and
historical events associated with them.
The fate of the extraordinary wild places
shown in these pages is uncertain. This
book shows us how much is at stake.
$19.95 until 12/31/76; 124.95 thereafter
SAVE: use coupon to order your copy today!
I
I
1 ^•='
THE SWAMP by Bill Thomas at $19.95. If not completely
satisfied I may return ttie book{s) for full refund. I enclose
$ check or money order
City_
Additional Reading
Please add applicable sales tax.
Bubble Trade (p. 38)
Don M. Street's A Cruising Guide
to the Lesser Antilles (New York:
W.W. Norton & Company, 1974,
$15), a yachtsman's handbook of
waters also plied by smugglers, con-
tains a number of anecdotes about il-
legal trading. "Reavers, Privateers
and Smugglers" is a 40-page chapter
in Horace Beck's Folklore and the
Sea (Middle town: Wesleyan Univer-
sity Press, 1973, $14.95), a compen-
dium of superstitions, customs, and
beliefs expressed in the folklore of the
Caribbean. See also Folk-Lore of the
Antilles, French and English, edited
by Elsie Clews Parsons (New York:
American Folklore Society, 1943);
Parsons was an anthropologist who
collected vernacular accounts of the
folklore of New World blacks. Al-
though dealing mainly with Jamaican
customs, Robert Dirks 's "Slaves'
Holiday" {Natural History, De-
cember 1975, pp. 82-90) provides
much of the background from which
present beliefs arose throughout the
Caribbean. Henry H. Bell, once the
governor of Grenada, mentioned
smuggling in his book, Obeah:
Witchcraft in the West Indies, pub-
lished in London in 1889 and re-
printed by Negro Universities Press.
Pelican Colonies (p. 48)
William H. Behle's The Bird Life
of Great Salt Lake (Salt Lake City:
University of Utah Press, 1958,
$4.50) and the Handbook of North
American Birds, edited by Ralph S.
Palmer (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1962), both describe the gen-
eral biology and life history of the
white pelican. For more specific in-
formation, see George B. Schaller's
"Breeding Behavior of the White
Pelican at Yellowstone Lake, Wyom-
ing" {Condor, 1964, vol. 66, pp.
3-23). David Lack's Ecological Ad-
aptations for Breeding in Birds (New
York: Halsted Press, 1968, $13.50)
contains general material on colony
nesting. F. Fraser Darling's classic
work. Bird Flocks and the Breeding
Cycle: A Contribution to the Study of
Avian Sociality (Cambridge, Eng-
land: The University Press, 1938),
stimulated much research on the eco-
logical and behavioral adaptations of
colonially nesting seabirds. Ex-
amples are "Size of Breeding Colony
Related to Attraction of Mates in a
Tropical Passerine Bird," by N.E.
Collias and E.C. Collias {Ecology,
1969, vol. 50, pp. 481-88); "Adap-
tive Significance of Synchronized
Breeding in a Colonial Bird," by
S. T. Emlen and N. J. Demong
{Science, 1975, vol. 188, pp.
1029-31); "Colonial Nesting and
Social Feeding as Strategies for Ex-
ploiting Food Resources in the Great
Blue Heron," by J.R. Krebs {Behav-
iour, 1974, vol. 51, pp. 99-134); and
"Late-blooming Terns," by Paul A.
and Francine G. Buckley {Natural
History, April 1976, pp. 46-55).
Inca Highways (p. 58)
Peru Before the Incas, by Edward
Lanning (Englewood Cliffs: Pren-
tice-Hall, 1967, $2.95), and The
Peoples and Cultures of Ancient
Peru, by Peruvian archeologist Luis
G. Lumbreras (trans, by Betty J.
Meggers, Washington: Smithsonian
Institution Press, 1974, $15), provide
background on ancient Peru. In The
Incas of Pedro de Cieza de Leon
(trans, by Harriet de Onis, Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1969,
$8.95), Victor W. von Hagen has
edited a native Peruvian chronicler's
first-hand observations of the period
just after the Spanish conquest. See
also John H. Rowe's article, "Inca
Culture at the Time of the Spanish
Conquest," in the Handbook of
South American Indians, vol. 2, The
Andean Civilizations, edited by Jul-
ian Steward (Washington: Bureau of
American Ethnology, 1946, pp. 183-
330). A number of articles provide
specific information on the economy,
administrative control, and road sys-
tem of the Incas: John V. Murra's
"Cloth and Its Functions in the Inca
State" (American Anthropologist,
1962, vol. 64, pp. 710-28); Craig
Morris's "State Settlements in
Tawantinsuyu: A Strategy of Com-
pulsory Urbanism," in Contem-
porary Archaeology, edited by Mark
P. Leone (Carbondale: Southern Illi-
nois University Press, 1972, pp.
393^01), and "Reconstructing Pat-
terns of Non- Agricultural Production
in the Inca Economy," in Recon-
structing Complex Societies, edited
by Charlotte B. Moore (Cambridge:
American Schools of Oriental Re-
search, 1974, pp. 49-68); and Murra
and Morris's: "Dynastic Oral Tradi-
tion, Administrative Records and Ar-
chaeology in the Andes" (World Ar-
chaeology, 1976, vol. 7, pp.
267-79). Victor W. von Hagen's
popular book Highway of the Sun
(New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce,
1955) is based on an early survey of
the Inca road system.
Marine Archeology (p. 70)
Based on findings of underwater
archeological explorations, Navies of
the American Revolution, by A.
Preston et al. (Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice-Hall, 1975), is an informa-
tive popular account of this period in
American history. Preston is an ar-
cheologist-historian at the National
Maritime Museum in Greenwich,
England. George P. Bass, a pioneer
in the use of scuba-diving techniques
in underwater exploration, has
edited, with Richard K. Winslow, A
History of Seafaring Based on Un-
derwater Archaeology (New York:
Walker Publishing, 1972); this vol-
ume contains such accounts as Men-
del Peterson's "Traders and Priva-
teers Across the Atlantic:
1493-1733" (pp. 253-80). Bass has
also written Archaeology Beneath
the Sea (New York: Walker Publish-
ing, 1975) and Archaeology Under
Water (Baltimore: Penguin Books,
1972, $1 .95). History Under the Sea:
A Manual for Underwater Explora-
tion, by Mendel Peterson (Washing-
ton: Smithsonian Institution Press,
1965), discusses exploration tech-
niques, preservation methods, and
dating of underwater artifacts. The
InternationalJournal of Nautical Ar-
chaeology and Underwater Explora-
tion is a quarterly publication devoted
to this relatively new science. A book
has also been written on the main sub-
ject of our article: F. P. Schmitt and
D. E. Schmid's H.M.S. CuUoden
(Mystic: Marine Historical Associa-
tion, 1961).
Golden Trout (p. 74)
Barton W. Evermann's "The
Golden Trout of the Southern High
Sierras" (Bulletin of the U.S. Bureau
of Fisheries, 1905, vol. 25, pp. 1-51)
is a comprehensive, yet elegant, ac-
count of the life cycles and special
habitat requirements of the golden
trout, and offers a turn-of-the-century
recommendation for their protection.
Stuart E. White, a contemporary of
Evermann, provided historical ac-
counts of the discovery of golden
trout in his writings. Two, from 1902
and 1904, which have been reprinted,
are Blazed Trail (Boston: Gregg
Press, $12.50) and Blazed Trail
Stories and Stories of the Wild Life
(New York: Somerset Publishing,
$9.50). Charles McDermand's
Waters of the Golden Trout Country
(New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons,
1941) is a fisherman's book, contain-
ing descriptions, supplemented with
maps and photographs, of the area
where these trout are found. Hal
Roth'sPaf/iM'a_y in the Sky: The Story
of the John Muir Trail (Berkeley:
Howell-North Books, 1965, $8.50)
contains excellent photographs of the
Sierras — their geology, flora, and
fauna — including color pictures of
golden trout. For recent accounts of
the status of the golden trout, see
Peter B. Moyle's "Fish Introductions
in California: History and Impact on
Native Fishes" (Biological Conser-
vation, 1976, vol. 9, pp. 101-18) and
his book, Inland Fishes of California
(Berkeley; University of California
Press, 1976). and C. B. Schreck and
R. J. Behnke's "Trouts of the Upper
Kern River Basin, California, with
Reference to Systematics and Evolu-
tion of Western North American
Salmo ' ' (Journal of the Fisheries Re-
search Board of Canada. 1971 , vol.
28. pp. 987-98).
Anamorphic Art (p. 94)
Richard L. Gregory's Eye and the
Brain (2nd ed. New York: McGraw-
Hill Books. 1973. $2.95) is a stimu-
lating popular account of the psychol-
ogy of seeing. Gerald Oster's "Opti-
cal Art" (Applied Optics. November
1965. pp. 1359-69) is a technical ac-
count of the biophysics of vision ap-
plied to the interpretation of art. An
inexpensive abridged edition of
D'Arcy Thompson's classic discus-
sion of transformations applied to
evolution. On Growth and Form,
edited by J.T. Bonner, is now avail-
able (New York: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 1961, $4.95). Another
classic. Problems of Relative
Growth, Julian Huxley's treatment of
the topic of allometry, has also been
reprinted (2nd ed. New York: Dover
Publications, 1972, $3.50). Hidden
Images: Games of Perception, Ana-
morphic Art, Illusion, text by Fred
Leeman; concept, production, and
photographs by Joost Elffers and
Mike Schuyt (New York: Harry N.
Abrams, Inc., 1976), is a profusely
illustrated account of this art form
from the Renaissance to the present.
Included is a large section on anamor-
phic puzzles and a reflector to aid the
reader in deciphering them. One im-
portant section of Illusion in Nature
and Art, edited by Richard L. Greg-
ory and Ernst H. Gombrich (New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973,
$9.95), illustrates how predatory ani-
mals employ illusion as a weapon,
while their prey use illusory color-
ation and behavior for protection.
Gordon Beckhorn
I03
a bit of
natural
history
Whale and
dinosaur motif
on natural
canvas. Rein-
forced and roomy
enough to carry all
your sundries as you go about your
business and pleasure. And smart
enough to take anywhere.
Strap length is right for shoulder
orhandcarrying. 1 4 V2"x17"x6". A terrific
buy for yourself or some deserving
friend at $1 1.00 including
postage and handling.
Natural History Tote, Dept. TT10
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340^
Please send me totes at
$1 1.00 each. My check/money order for
a total of $ is enclosed.
Name
Address
(please print)
Gitv
state
Zip
Museum members may take 10% discount.
FURL
a bit of
natural
history
Whale and dinosaur
ride high while you
keep dry. Umbrella
is quick-drying
nylon and ideal size
for men and women.
With a light-weight
wood handle,
grooved to give
you a good grip
on things. Beige with
brown motif or navy
with beige. $16.00
including shipping
and handling.
Natural History Umbrella, Dept. U150^
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me : Beige . Navy
umbrellas at $16.00 each. My check/money
order for a total of $ is enclosed.
Address
(please print)
City
State
Zip
Museum members may take 10% discount.
Announcements
The Museum's 25 -foot-high artificial
Christmas Tree, decorated with
hundreds of origami figures made by
Museum volunteers, will again grace
the Roosevelt Rotunda until January
1 . In past years, the figures have rep-
resented various animals, flowers,
fruits, stars, and minerals. New fig-
ures this year will include black-and-
white animals such as pandas,
skunks, and penguins, as well as rep-
resentations of people, insects, and
mollusks.
Places are still available on the Mu-
seum-sponsored Archeological
Tour to Mexico, January 8-29,
1977, which will be led by C. Bruce
Hunter, lecturer in archeology at the
Museum. The itinerary will include
some of the most famous archeologi-
cal sites in Mexico, such as the pyra-
mids and temples at Malinalco, Tula,
Cholula, and Teotihuacan. The tour
will also visit the hilltop city of Xo-
chicalco, as well as the ruins at Mitla
and Monte Alban, and participants
will have an opportunity to visit the
Anthropology Museum in Mexico
City.
At the Hayden Planetarium of the
Museiun, "Star of Wonder" will
open on December 1 and run through
January 3, 1977. After looking at the
brilliant skies of winter, the plane-
tarium projector will journey back
through time to the first Christmas to
examine the astronomical possi-
bilities of the star that led the Wise
Men of the East to Christ's birthplace
nearly 2,000 years ago. Was it a
comet? a bright meteor? a nova? Sky
Shows begin at 2:00 and 3:30 p.m.
on weekdays with more frequent
showings on weekends. Admission is
$2.35 for adults and $1.35 for chil-
dren and students (special rates for
groups and senior citizens).
Note: Due to renovations, the main
auditorium of the Museum will be
closed to the public through January
1977.
HANG
a bit of
natural
history
From the Hall
of Minerals
& Gems, a
handsome
f*tr^ia-isffi5»=-— 21 " X 31 " full-
®b81»** color poster which
commemorates the opening
of the hall. Photo composite of
gleaming copper and black opal
on a lustrous black background. A rich
memento, a welcome gift. ^
Only $3.50 including J
shipping and handling.
Natural History Poster, Dept. PSIS''
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me posters at
$3.50 each. My check/money order for a
total of $ is enclosed.
Name
Address
(please print)
Citv
State
Zip
Museum members may take 10% discount.
Tyrannosaurus Rex —
rampant on a field of
navy or maroon I Woven
in France of wrinkle-
resistant polyester
and fully lined. Good
looking, good handling.
A perfect gift. And
while you're thinking
about gifts, don't
forget yourself. $10.50
'including shipping^
and handling./
Natural History Tie, Dept. T100
Box 5123, Des Moines, Iowa 50340
Please send me ties in TJNavy
DMaroon at $10.50 each. My
check/money order for a total of
$ is enclosed.
Name
Address
(please print)
City
state
Zip
Museum members may take 10% discount.
104
1^
Send me
NATURAL
HISTORY
D I want to join The American Museum of
Natural History and get, witli my one-year
membership, 10 issues of NATURAL
HISTORY for $10.
D I prefer 2 years for $17.
D 1 prefer 3 years for $24.
I understand that each membership-
subscription includes: free admission to the
Museum, plus two bonus gifts a year and dis-
counts at the Museum Gift Shop.
My Name
Address
r.ity
State
Zip
Please allow 7
Outside U.S.A.
weeks for shipment of first copy,
add $2 per year for postage.
Says L. T: "The wonders of Brazil are what the other wonders of the
world try to live up to" In Brazil, nature is awesome. In places our rivers
are so wide they resemble oceans. Our mountains are so grand that
geographers are not certain we have yet found our highest point. Birds
and butterfbes exist m nearly countless vaneties. Our waterfalls dwarf
Niagara. And the comforting thing is that in the midst of all this wildness
are some of the most luxunous hotels m the world. Travelers don't simply
like Brazil, they go mad for the place.
You can spend seven nights m Rio for
ashttle as $630*, including roundtnp airfare,
first class hotel, full Brazilian breakfasts,
transfer services and sightseeing tours. See
your travel agent
For this beautiful 112 page booklet on
Brazil call 800-447-4700 (toU free).
In Illinois caU 80a322-4400.
In Canada write; Brazilian Travel Offer,
Box 3900, Peona,m. 61614.
(MBMBRATUR /BRAZILIAN TOURISM AUTHORITY
MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE
'Based on Miami departure. Similar tours available for departure from New York ($674)
and Los Angeles ($804). Rates are per person, double occupancy.
Irteif toeverume tm&mmm
%it^marSSmd. Brtrij Scotland
!ditet'
©EWAR'S
"Whilu i^uuui
The Scotch that never varies.
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11