Chicago NATURAL 



HISTORY MUSEUM 



Qnthropology • • • • ©ofany 





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JANUARY 



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Ice is a mineral, but it is seldom pure 

 because of admixtures of various soluble 

 salts. Its crystallization is hexagonal, 

 and the crystals may be prismatic. In 

 the form of snow, the crystals are often 

 stellate or skeleton crystals, and some- 

 times hollow prisms. 



The hardness of ice is about 1.5 and 

 its specific gravity .9181. It is trans- 

 parent and colorless except in large 

 masses, when it appears bluish. By ap- 

 plying various temperatures and pres- 

 sures to water in the laboratory, ice with 

 seven different crystalline modifications 

 can be obtained, though only one is 

 found in nature. Unlike most sub- 

 stances, when ice crystallizes it expands 

 in all directions — an important factor in 

 the breaking up of rocks and moun- 

 tains through weathering. 



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Each year during Febru- 

 ary, the Hopi Indians of 

 northern Arizona hold a 

 Bean Dance ceremony, last- 

 ing nine days. Its purpose 

 is to prepare for the coming 

 agricultural season by conse- 

 crating the seeds, by sym- 

 bolically protecting the fields 

 against destructive forces 

 such as sandstorms and in- 

 sect pests, and by exorcising 

 the coldest winds of winter. 

 At the beginning of the cere- 

 mony beans are planted in 



the underground ceremonial chambers by the clan chief. 

 By keeping these rooms super-heated during the course 

 of the celebration, the beans are forced to grow. An- 



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other main feature is the initiation of young boys into c k - | „ .{ ,f 



tflP rolicri/Mic; nrnJnif  U.. « I * Mm .* a 



id gifts and the bean plants are distributed. 



All the names of the hepatica — liver- 

 leaf; noble liver- wort — relate to the doc- 

 trine of signatures of the old herbalists, 

 which postulated that plants may pos- 

 sess certain medicinal or occult properties 

 that are revealed by the resemblance of 

 the plant or a part of it to some organ 

 or part of the human body. The three- 

 lobed leaves of this early spring flower 

 thus suggested the lobes of the liver. 

 There is no evidence, however, that the 

 plant has any therapeutic value or effect 

 on this organ. Hepaticas grow in wood- 

 lands from southern Ontario to Florida 

 in the eastern half of the country. Lo- 

 cally they bloom in April. Their white 

 to purplish flowers stand singly on slen- 

 der, hairy stems that rise from a clump 

 of half-hidden, mottled green and red- 

 dish-brown leaves. 



The Aztec solar calendar was com- 

 posed of 18 months of 20 days and an 

 unlucky five-day period at the end of 

 the year. The month, Huei Tozozth, 

 which fell at the end of April and the 

 beginning of May in our calendar, was 

 dedicated to Centeotl, the maize god; 

 Chicomecoatl, goddess of maize; and to 

 the worship of new corn. People drew 

 blood from their ears as a sacrifice to 

 the household gods, who were concerned 

 in various ways with farming. The 

 house altars were decked with new corn 

 plants and offerings of food were made. 

 A procession of young girls carried loads 

 of seed corn to the temple of Chicome- 

 coatl. After being blessed by the god- 

 dess, the corn was then returned to the 

 granaries. 



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MARCH 



Over much of the northeastern quarter of the 

 United States, the swamp tree frog is the first ani- 

 mal to announce the coming of spring. In the 

 latitude of Chicago, around March 15, this little 

 frog begins to call from every swampy meadow and 

 clogged roadside ditch. Though snow 

 and ice may interrupt its breeding 

 choruses, this frog chirps a firm prom- 

 ise of spring to people weary of the 

 long winter. 



Calling and breeding continue until 

 sometime in May, each female laying 

 approximately 500 tiny eggs. The 

 tadpoles hatch in a few days but re- 

 quire about two months to develop 

 into half-inch frogs. Then the young 

 join the adults in feeding on small in- 

 sects and spiders, storing up energy to 

 carry them through hibernation and 

 the next breeding season. 



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© JUNE 



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s m t w t f s Records kept for some one hundred yeai 



I £ j show that more meteorites fall in June than i; 



4 5 6 7 8 9 10 any otner mont h. The reason is not knowni 

 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 some have attributed it simply to the month' 

 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 favorable weather, which lures more observer 

 25 26 27 28 29 30 out-of-doors. It should be noted, however, tha 



June's high count drops to nearly half tha 

 number in July, when the weather is equally pleasant. 



Until man-made capsules were recovered from outer space, meteorite 

 provided our only tangible source of knowledge regarding the univen 

 beyond us. Meteorites can be grouped into three classes: stone, iror 

 stone, and iron, and so far as their structure and composition are cor 

 cerned there can be little doubt that they are of igneous origin. Th 

 most likely theory traces their source to some shattered planet oi 

 planets; other suggested explanations of their origin, whether in cornet^ 

 the rings of Saturn, or the Sun, have not proved entirely satisfactory 



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