May, 19SS 



FIELD MUSEUM NEWS 



Pages 



AMERICAN SONG BIRDS 



A new exhibit of North American song 

 birds has been installed in Hall 21. About 

 one hundred species of flycatchers, wrens, 

 thrashers, jays, swallows, etc., are shown, 

 including all the species belonging to these 

 families that occur on this continent north 

 of Mexico. One of the most interesting is 

 the vermilion flycatcher from the deserts of 

 the southwest, which makes its living as 

 other flycatchers do while clothed in the 

 brilliant plumage of a tanager. Also shown 

 are the violet green swallow which has the 

 same iridescent colors in its plumage as oil 

 film on water; Leconte's thrasher from the 

 desert, which is one of the birds most 

 perfectly adapted to living on dazzling sand 

 under a bright sun; and many species of 

 jays and magpies whose blue, green, black 

 and white feathers make a pleasing contrast 

 to their more somberly colored cousins, the 

 crows and titmice. Birds in the exhibit 

 which are seen in the state of Illinois are 

 especially marked with a red star. 



The birds were mounted by Taxidermist 

 Ashley Hine, of the Museum staff. 



economic aspect of the trade in tobacco 

 grew in importance and has steadily con- 

 tinued to grow. Tobacco now forms an 

 important part of the agricultural production 

 of many lands, especially the United States. 

 The tobacco plant is a member of the 

 nightshade family which includes such food 

 plants as potatoes, tomatoes and pimentoes, 

 as well as various poisonous plants, such as 



TOBACCO PLANT EXHIBITED 



By B. E. Dahlgren 

 Acting Curator, Department of Botany 



Tobacco is of American origin. The 

 earliest mention of it was made by Columbus 

 and the first description of the plant and 

 its use was that of Romano Pane, a monk 

 who accompanied Columbus on his second 

 voyage. He described how the Indians made 

 a roll of the dry leaf, lighted it at one end, 

 and, holding the other in the mouth, puflfed 

 clouds of smoke which, he supposed, were 

 intended to drive away mosquitoes. Such 

 cigar-like rolls, enveloped in corn husk, the 

 inhabitants called tabaco and this Carib 

 word has passed practically unaltered into 

 the vocabularies of all western peoples. 



Seeds of tobacco were carried to Spain 

 where the plant was grown as a curiosity 

 and as a remedy of great repute. It was 

 called "herba santa," "herba panacea," and 

 "divine tobacco." Soon afterwards it was 

 introduced into France by Jean Nicot, the 

 French ambassador to Lisbon, whose name 

 has been given to the genus, Nicotiana, to 

 which tobacco belongs, and thence to 

 nicotine. 



It did not take long for mariners, and 

 settlers in the New World, to adopt the use 

 of tobacco, and its cultivation was under- 

 taken by Spaniards in Haiti, Portuguese in 

 Brazil, and Englishmen in Virginia. 



Smoking was introduced into Spain by 

 sailors in 1570, and into England from 

 Virginia soon afterwards. It did not become 

 prevalent until the beginning of the seven- 

 teenth century. The cultivation of tobacco 

 was begun in Holland in 1615 and after- 

 wards in other European and in Asiatic 

 countries. 



Use of the herb for narcotic purposes 

 encountered great opposition, especially 

 from the church, and in several places severe 

 penalties were imposed. In Russia it was 

 forbidden on pain of slitting the nostrils of 

 offenders, and later even of death. The 

 herb was officially and ecclesiastically cursed 

 in various countries as being unclean and 

 an invention of the devil. 



The denunciations and prohibitions, how- 

 ever, were ineffective, and the popularity of 

 the "detestable" smoke of the North Ameri- 

 can Indians and the snuff of the South 

 American tribes rapidly became almost 

 universal. Asiatic smokers began to mix 

 tobacco with their hemp. The Chinese 

 quickly became devotees of the weed. The 



Tobacco Plant 



Reproduction exhibited in Hall 28, prepared by 

 Stanley Field Laboratories of the Museum. 



datura, belladonna and hyoscyamus. The 

 genus Nicotiana, typically and almost exclu- 

 sively American, includes some forty-five 

 species, many of which are attractive garden 

 plants. 



By far the greater part of the world's 

 tobacco crop is derived from one species, 

 Nicotiana tabacum, and its varieties such 

 as Virginia and Turkish tobacco. Another 

 species, known as Hungarian peasant 

 tobacco, Nicotiana rustica, furnishes a part 

 of the tobacco of Asia and South America. 

 The Levantine cigar tobacco is said to be 

 Nicotiana crispa. 



A reproduction of a typical plant of the 

 species Nicotiana tabacum in flower has been 

 added to the Museum's exhibit of tobacco 

 in Hall 28. It is the work of Emil Sella of 

 the Stanley Field Plant Reproduction 

 Laboratories. 



Lacquer Ware from China 



An exhibit of Chinese lacquer ware, 

 including rare pieces hundreds of years old, 

 some artistically carved, has been installed 

 in George T. and Frances Gaylord Smith 

 Hall (Hall 24). Among curiosities in the 

 collection are sets of lacquer trays with 

 pictures which serve as illustrations of 

 ancient Chinese novels, and an elaborate 

 picnic set of lacquer bowls and plates which 

 fit into each other and into a small globe. 



WOOD CARVING WITHOUT METAL 



By Albert B. Lewis 

 Assistant Curator of MeUnesian Ethnology 



Metal has become so necessary to our 

 modern civilization that we find difficulty 

 in imagining that mankind could ever have 

 accomplished much without it. With the 

 prehistoric stone ages we associate the cave 

 man, and seldom think of him as possibly 

 living, during the later periods, in well- 

 constructed wooden houses, and making 

 and using numerous wooden utensils of 

 various kinds. 



Yet proof that man is able to accomplish 

 much without metals is found not only 

 in remains of neolithic times, but also in 

 the achievements of the natives of New 

 Guinea and other South Pacific islands. 

 Their large, finely carved houses and well- 

 constructed seagoing canoes have been 

 described by many early voyagers. Not 

 only was the woodwork well done, but the 

 decorative carving was often very elaborate, 

 as, for example, in New Zealand and many 

 Melanesian islands. 



The superiority for woodworking of iron 

 over stone, bone, tooth or shell, was speedily 

 recognized by these peoples, and at the 

 present time not much of the early work 

 remains except from regions where the 

 natives have acquired iron only recently. 



In Joseph N. Field Hall (Hall A) there 

 are many examples of such work, especially 

 from the Admiralty Islands and New Guinea. 

 The workmanship is equal, if not superior, 

 to that done by the same people after they 

 began to use iron, so that it is often difficult 

 to tell from the specimens themselves what 

 tools were used. AH too frequently, however, 

 the natives ceased their wooden manufac- 

 tures after contact with Europeans, and the 

 ancient art degenerated or disappeared in 

 spite of better tools. The old artisans 

 and artists died, and there were no younger 

 ones to take their places. 



Before the advent of metal tools, stone 

 and shell axes and adzes of different sizes 

 were common, and many examples can be 

 seen in the Museum's exhibit. Stone or 

 shell blades were fastened to straight 

 handles and used as chisels. For smaller 

 chisels bones were sometimes used. Many 

 carving tools were made of teeth, either by 

 using a portion of the jaw as a handle, or 

 by setting them in a handle of wood. Boars' 

 tusks were very commonly used in this way. 

 The finer carvings were smoothed and 

 polished with some rough substance such 

 as a piece of shark's skin. Some of the 

 best examples of the old work may be seen 

 in the large circular wooden bowls from 

 the Admiralty Islands, the wooden figures 

 and masks from the Sepik River and the 

 north coast of New Guinea, and the bowls 

 and pillows from Huon Gulf. 



Field Museum's ethnological collection 

 from Madagascar, in Hall E, is one of the 

 most complete ever assembled. 



Exhibit of Cork 



Cork is obtained from the soft, spongy, 

 and elastic bark of a stout, medium-sized 

 oak tree {Quercus suber), native of southern 

 Europe and northern Africa. As the tree 

 grows the bark thickens and becomes firmer 

 and denser. At certain periods of growth 

 it falls naturally from the trees. For com- 

 mercial purposes, however, it is removed, 

 care being taken not to wound the inner 

 bark or cambium layer. The outer matured 

 bark is taken off in large sheets, soaked in 

 water and then flattened by pressure. An 

 exhibit in Hall 28 shows the entire bark of 

 a cork oak as it appears when stripped from 

 the tree trunk. 



