1964 



MEMBERS 1 NIGHT 



MAY 8 



M, 



Luseum members once again will 

 have an opportunity to explore areas of 

 the Museum that are "off-limits" to the 

 general public, and to discuss with Mu- 

 seum specialists the latest developments 

 in the natural sciences, when the Mu- 

 seum holds its 13th annual Members' 

 Night on Friday evening, May 8. 



On that night the entire staff will be 

 on hand to describe their current work. 

 Through special talks, demonstrations 

 and exhibits, the Museum specialists 

 will be ready to provide answers to a 

 variety of questions, including : 



How do geologists determine the ex- 

 istence of fossils in shale and other kinds 

 of rock when the fossil specimens are 

 firmly imbedded in their rock matrix 

 and so deeply concealed that they can- 

 not be detected by the naked eye? 



What is the possibility that micro- 

 scopic plants may someday provide a 

 new source of food? 



How does the museum entomologist 

 extract microscopic insects from the for- 

 est floor for laboratory study? 



What is Central America like today? 

 How do the people live and what is 

 happening to the valuable forest re- 

 sources of the area? 



What are some of the professional 

 secrets used by Museum taxidermists 

 to make exhibit animals look alive? 



A demonstration in the Department 

 of Geology will show how the fossil con- 

 tent of some rocks can be determined 

 only by a stereoscopic X-Ray technique 

 that enables the scientist to see the de- 

 tails and outline of the fossil without 

 risking the damage that often results 

 when a rock is split. In another geology 



Dr. Edward J. Olsen, in the Department of Geology's Chalmers Laboratory, 

 studies a cross-section slice taken from a meteorite. The Chalmers Labora- 

 tory will be one of many laboratories and workshops open to Members on May 8. 



laboratory Members will see how fossil- 

 bearing rock is stained to reveal fossils 

 that are not clearly distinguishable from 

 the rock that surrounds them. 



The food potential of microscopic 

 plants will be described in a display 

 in the Department of Botany. Exhib- 

 ited under microscopes that visitors may 

 use will be certain common phyto- 

 plankton and cellular algae that live 

 in almost every body of fresh water. How 

 these microscopic plants are grown in 

 the laboratory will be explained, as well 

 as how they may be processed in con- 

 centrated form for human consumption. 

 Because these microscopic plants are 

 high in protein, vitamins, and minerals, 

 they are today the object of a great 

 deal of research to see if the plants 

 might be the ideal food for future space 

 travel. Other research is aimed at de- 

 termining whether the tiny plants can 

 be cultivated in such barren areas as 

 the Antarctic and Arctic wastes. 



An illustrated lecture on the people 

 and resources of Central America will 

 also be a Department of Botany offer- 

 ing on Members' Night. The lecture 

 will be based on a plant-collecting ex- 

 pedition that recently returned from 

 that area. 



In visiting the Division of Insects, 

 many Members have been baffled by 

 a row of large metal funnels impres- 



sively set up on a work table in that 

 section. What these funnels represent 

 is a special process that has been de- 

 veloped to extract microscopic insects 

 from materials collected from the forest 

 floor. In the funnels the decaying plants 

 and soil taken from the forest is allowed 

 to dry out, which drives the tiny insects 

 out the bottom of the funnels and into 

 vials filled with preservative. On Mem- 

 bers' Night this process will be described 

 in greater detail, and Members will 

 learn why these insects are the subject 

 of current study. 



V ollowing is a listing, by Depart- 

 ments, of other demonstrations and dis- 

 plays that will be presented in offices 

 and laboratories throughout the build- 

 ing: 



Anthropology 



Asian Studies : How the Museum spe- 

 cialist goes about identifying objects 

 of Asian archaeology, art, and folk- 

 art— examples will be drawn from 

 the Museum's extensive Asian an- 

 thropological collections (Members 

 are invited to bring with them pieces 

 of their own which they would like 

 to have identified); also, a display of 

 Tibetan art and folk-art objects to 

 be included in a new hall. 

 (Continued on page 8) 



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