CHICAGO 

 NATURAL 

 HISTORY 

 MUSEUM 



N EWS 



Conservation 



Laboratory 



Established 



Mrs. Danziger treats a 

 specimen of primitive art. 



_Lhe first laboratory in the Midwest 

 devoted to the conservation of archaeo- 

 logical and ethnological collections is be- 

 ing established in the Museum under a 

 grant of $33,000 from the Robert R. 

 McCormick Charitable Trust. 



In charge of the new laboratory is 

 Mrs. Christine Danziger, whose appoint- 

 ment as the Museum's first conservator 

 of anthropological collections was an- 

 nounced in the Bulletin last May. 



The collections in the Museum's De- 

 partment of Anthropology contain more 

 than half a million specimens from all 

 parts of the world, representing all eras 

 of human history. These collections 

 provide the raw materials of research 

 not only for the Museum's own anthro- 

 pologists, but also for local graduate 

 students and scholars who visit the Mu- 

 seum from every country of the globe. 



Among the most ancient archaeolog- 

 ical specimens are the crude tools used 

 more than 400,000 years ago by Peking 

 Man; weapons and carvings made by 

 the prehistoric cave men of Europe; 

 Egyptian fabrics, papyrus documents, 

 glass jewelry, bronze statues, and ala- 

 baster urns dating from the 18th to the 

 first centuries before Christ; harness 

 pieces and stucco ornaments from the 

 ancient near East; Chinese bronzes from 

 the Han Dynasty (206 b.c.-a.d. 220); 



Page i FEBRUARY 



Etruscan sarcophaguses of stone; Ro- 

 man frescoes and bronzes from Pompeii; 

 and pre-Columbian fabrics and stone 

 sculptures from Central and South 

 America. More recent ethnological 

 specimens include rare works of primi- 

 tive art fashioned from wood, stone, 

 metal, bone, feathers, and other perish- 

 able substances. 



All these materials are particularly 

 vulnerable to deterioration. Most of 

 the specimens that would be damaged 

 or destroyed if the natural processes of 

 aging and weathering cannot be halted 

 are irreplaceable today. 



Equipment to be installed in the con- 

 servation laboratory will make possible 

 the chemical analysis of substances, the 

 diagnosis of any disintegration processes 

 that may have begun, the removal of the 

 products of corrosion and of the corro- 

 sion-producing agents, and the stabiliza- 

 tion and preservation of the anthropo- 

 logical specimens. 



It is anticipated that the techniques 

 developed and used in the new labora- 

 tory will be of aid to other museums and 

 universities in the Midwest in meeting 

 problems of specimen conservation. 



Aiding in the purchase of equipment 

 for the laboratory is a grant of $4,000 

 from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for 

 Anthropological Research. 



Chicago Natural History Museum 



Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 



Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive 



Chicago, Illinois 60605 



Telephone: 922-9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 



Lester Armour 

 Wm. McCormick Blair 

 Bowen Blair 

 Walter J. Cummings 

 Joseph N. Field 

 Marshall Field, Jr. 

 Stanley Field 

 Clifford C. Gregg 

 Samuel Insult, Jr. 

 Henry P. Isham 

 William V. Kahler 



Hughston M. McBain 

 J. Roscoe Miller 

 William H. Mitchell 

 James L. Palmer 

 John T. Pirie, Jr. 

 John Shedd Reed 

 John G. Searle 

 John M. Simpson 

 Solomon A. Smith 

 Louis Ware 

 J. Howard Wood 



OFFICERS 

 Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board 



Clifford C. Gregg, President 



James L. Palmer, First Vice-President 



Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President 



Edward Bryon Smith, Treasurer 



and Assistant Secretary 



Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President 



E. Leland Webber, Secretary 



THE BULLETIN 



EDITOR 

 E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum 



CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 



Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology 

 John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany 

 Rainer Zangerl, Chief Curator of Geology 

 Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology 



MANAGING EDITOR 

 Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel 



ASSOCIATE EDITOR 



Marilyn J. Arado, Associate in Public Relations 



Members are requested to inform the Museum 

 promptly of changes of address. 



MARCH 

 CHILDREN'S 

 PROGRAMS 



Xilms and demonstrations that will 

 stimulate children to enj'oy the outdoors 

 more fully this spring and summer will 

 be offered by the Museum on two Sat- 

 urday mornings during March. "Na- 

 ture's Wonderland" is the theme of the 

 films to be presented on March 7, which 

 is Camp Fire Girl Day in the Museum. 

 On March 14, Girl Scout Day, the pro- 

 gram is on camping. Demonstrations 

 will be given depicting the kind of camp- 

 ing done by the Girl Scouts of Chicago. 

 Programs begin at 10:30 a.m. in the 

 James Simpson Theatre and are free to 

 all children. 



(Museum News continued on page 8) 



