CHICAGO 

 NATURAL 

 HISTORY 

 MUSEUM 



f euis 



This Month's Cover: 

 "The Web of Life 



in a Michigan Lake" 



Fishermen may get a preview of the 

 sport and "good eating" that await them 

 on their vacation trips — or take a closer 

 look at the "one that got away" — by 

 viewing the Museum's featured exhibit 

 for August, a reproduction of under- 

 water life in a typical inland lake. 



Largemouth bass, bluegills, northern 

 pike, bullheads — names to stir any an- 

 gler's sporting instincts — are among the 

 fishes shown in this habitat group, which 

 is located at the entrance to Hall O, 

 Fishes of the World (ground floor, west). 

 The exhibit realistically recreates a dim, 

 underwater scene that is authentic in 

 every respect. 



As the label makes clear, even in a 

 lake "all flesh is grass," for the plants 

 that form the basic food supply are nour- 

 ished, in their turn, by decayed animal 

 products. Thus plants and animals are 

 linked in an endless cycle of life, death, 

 and renewed life again. A diagram that 

 forms part of the exhibit shows this web 

 of life in the lake, in which plant eating 

 animals are preyed upon by flesh eaters, 

 and even the most aggressive carnivores, 

 when they die, become food for scav- 

 engers. 



The cover photograph of the featured 

 exhibit for August is by the Museum's 

 Division of Photography. 



Round the World 

 Study Trip 



Dr. Alan Solem, Curator of Lower In- 

 vertebrates, embarks this month on a 

 thirteen-months' study trip around the 

 world, to begin a research project on the 

 "Systematics and Zoogeography of Pa- 

 cific Ocean Endodontid Land Snails." 

 This project is being conducted with the 

 assistance of a grant from the National 

 Science Foundation. 



PageS 



Endodontids are the most widely dis- 

 tributed and abundant family of Pacific 

 land snails. They are unique among 

 such snails in that fossil forms from the 

 Miocene to the Pleistocene periods (from 

 twenty million to one million years ago) 

 have been discovered in deep core bor- 

 ings on Pacific atolls. Since these snails 

 have not yet been studied comprehen- 

 sively, the extent to which historical fac- 

 tors, evolutionary rates, adaptive radia- 

 tions, and ecological (environmental) 

 differences have influenced their distri- 

 bution is unknown. During the course 

 of his research, Dr. Solem expects to 

 study the shell structure, soft anatomy, 

 and distribution of the endodontid snails. 

 This information will provide the foun- 

 dation for pursuing the adaptational and 

 ecological studies that are necessary to 

 determine the course of their evolution. 



The National Science Foundation 

 grant of SI 8,000 awarded the Museum 

 for this research will be applied over a 

 period of four years. During the first 

 thirteen months Dr. Solem will travel to 

 Hawaii, the Society Islands, Fiji, New 

 Caledonia, New Zealand, Australia, Ma- 

 laya, Kenya, Egypt, and all through 

 western Europe, gathering specimens 

 and studying collections of endodontid 

 snails. The fossil species found in deep 

 core drillings on Bikini, Eniwetok, and 

 Funafuti atolls will be compared with 

 living forms in order to determine their 

 relationships and gain information about 

 past distribution patterns. 



Radio and Television 



On Sunday evening, August 6, at 8 : 30 

 p.m. the Museum will be featured on 

 "Chicago Portrait," a half-hour program 

 presented each week by Norman Ross 

 over radio station WLS. In an inter- 

 view with program host Ross, Mr. John 

 R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany, and 

 Dr. Kenneth Starr, Curator of Asiatic 

 Archaeology and Ethnology, will out- 



Chicago Natural History Museum 



Founded by Marshall Field, 1S93 



Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5 



Telephone: W Abash 2-9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 



Lester Armour 

 Wra. McCormick Blair 

 ♦Walther Buchen 

 Walter J. Cummings 

 Joseph N. Field 

 Marshall Field, Jr. 

 Stanley Field 

 Samuel Insull, Jr. 

 Henry P. Isham 



J. Ho. 



William V. Kahler 

 Hughston M. McBain 

 J. Roscoe Miller 

 William H. Mitchell 

 John T. Pirie, Jr. 

 Clarence B. Randall 

 John G. Searle 

 Solomon A. Smith 

 Louis Ware 

 ard Wood 



OFFICERS 



Stanley Field, President 



Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President 



*Walther Buchen, Second Vice-President 



Joseph N. Field, Third Vice-President 



Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer 



Clifford C. Gregg, Director and Secretary 



E. Leland Webber, Assistant Secretary 



1 Deceased 



THE BULLETIN 



EDITOR 



Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum 



CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 



Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology 



John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany 



Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of Geology 



Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology 



MANAGING EDITOR 



Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel 



ASSOCIATE EDITOR 



Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations 



Members are requested to inform the Museum 

 promptly of changes of address. 



line the Museum's history, its exhibition 

 program, and its activities in education 

 and scientific research. 



Visitors 



During the month of July, Father 

 Thomas Borgmeier, O.F.M., of Rio de 

 Janeiro, Brazil, spent a week in the Mu- 

 seum's Division of Insects, where he stud- 

 ied guests of ants and termites and Pho- 

 rid flies and conferred with the staff. 

 Father Borgmeier is one of the distin- 

 guished entomologists of South America 

 and has served as editor and founder of 

 two entomological journals. 



{Continued on page 5) 



