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FIELD MUSEUM NEWS 



May, 19SS 



FILMS OF MAORI LIFE 

 TO BE SHOWN MAY 6 



"The Maori as He Was," an official 

 motion picture made under the auspices 

 of the Commonwealth of New Zealand, will 

 be presented in a special showing in the 

 James Simpson Theatre of Field Museum 

 on Saturday afternoon, May 6, at 3 o'clock, 

 as a supplement to the Spring Lecture 

 Course which ended April 29. These films 

 give an exceptionally fine exposition of the 

 life of these primitive people and bear com- 

 plete explanatory captions to tell their story. 

 The many strange customs of the Maori, 

 who are among the most interesting of 

 aboriginal peoples, are vividly illustrated in 

 these unique pictures. 



Admission is free, and Members of the 

 Museum are cordially invited to attend. 

 No tickets are necessary. A section of the 

 Theatre is reserved for Members of the 

 Museum, each of whom is entitled to two 

 reserved seats on request. Requests for 

 these seats may be made by telephone or 

 in writing to the Museum in advance, and 

 seats will then be held in the Member's 

 name until 3 o'clock on the day of the 

 program. Members may obtain seats in the 

 reserved section also by presentation of their 

 membership cards to the Theatre attendant 

 before 3 o'clock, even though no advance 

 reservation has been made. All reserved 

 seats not claimed by 3 o'clock will be opened 

 to the general public. 



PAPER-MAKING MATERIALS 



By Llewelyn Williams 

 Aasistant in Wood Technology 



The papyrus of the Egyptians, from the 

 name of which the word "paper" is derived, 

 dates from the time of Alexander the Great, 

 about 350 B.C. It was made from a tall, 

 aquatic sedge. The central part of the stem 

 was cut into thin slices, spread out, and 

 moistened. On this a second layer was 

 placed crosswise to form a sheet of con- 

 venient size. The Japanese to this day, 

 by slicing the pith of the stem of an Aralia, 

 produce a similar thin white sheet used as 

 a "paper" for special purposes. 



In Hall 28 there is exhibited a primitive 

 outfit from Siam used for making paper by 

 hand from Khoi bark. The equipment con- 

 sists of a mallet for beating the bark into 

 pulp, and a wooden frame covered with 

 cloth. On this frame a mixture of pulp in 

 water is carefully spread until a sufficient 

 layer is deposited to form the thickness 

 desired. A wooden roller is then passed 

 over the pulp to squeeze out excess water, 

 and the frame is set in the sun until the 

 paper is sufficiently dry for removal. 



The method of making paper by hand 

 in other countries does not differ greatly 

 from this, and, irrespective of raw material 

 employed, the general process of modern 

 paper-making, with all its refinements and 

 use of machinery, remains similar in 

 principle. By mechanical or chemical 

 treatment, or both, the fibers are separated 

 from each other and thoroughly beaten up 

 with water into a cream-like pulp. This is 

 run out in a thin, even layer on a screen 

 of fine wire cloth. On drying, the solid 

 matter, consisting of interlaced fibers, forms 

 a sheet of paper. 



Thus, paper is essentially a sort of felt 

 made from vegetable fiber. Non-vegetable 

 fillers may enter into the pulp, and the 

 sheets may be variously treated or calendered 

 by pressing between rollers or by sizing, 

 but the quality of the paper depends mainly 

 upon the fibrous material used. The most 



important kinds of plant material used for 

 paper-making are shown in three cases in 

 Hall 28. 



The art of making paper from pulp 

 originated in China more than 1,800 years 

 ago, and gradually passed westward through 

 the Mohammedan world into Europe. 

 Towards the end of the eleventh century 

 paper-makers of Spain began to use linen 

 rags, and for a long time these were the 

 principal material used in Europe. The 

 earliest known paper-mill in America was 

 established in 1690 at Roxburgh, near 

 Philadelphia, on a stream known as Paper- 

 mill Run, by William Rittinghuysen. He 

 used linen rags as raw material. 



The French physicist Reaumur (1683- 

 1757) is said to have been the first to con- 

 ceive the possibilities of producing paper 

 from wood when he realized that the nest 

 of the paper wasp consists of wood fiber. 

 Today wood is the most commonly employed 

 material, about 80 per cent of all paper 

 produced in this country being made from 

 it. Basswood was the first wood used in 

 Europe, but eventually spruce became the 

 leading pulp wood. 



In the early years of the pulpwood 

 industry the wood was simply cut and 

 ground into pulp. It was soon discovered, 

 however, that the separation of the wood 

 elements could be aided by chemical means, 

 and so-called chemical wood-pulp is now 

 most commonly used. According to the 

 chemical agent employed the three principal 

 methods are known respectively as the 

 sulphite, sulphate, and soda processes. 



SPECIAL NOTICE 



Members of the Museum who have 

 changed residences or plan to do so 

 are urged to notify the Museum of 

 their new addresses, so that FIELD 

 MUSEUM NEWS and other com- 

 munications may reach them 

 promptly. 



Members going away during the 

 summer, who desire Museum matter 

 sent to their temporary addresses, 

 may have this service by notifying 

 the Museum. 



Chinese Cloisonne Ware 



An exhibit of rare Chinese cloisonn^ ware, 

 some dating back as far as the thirteenth 

 century, has been installed in George T. 

 and Frances Gaylord Smith Hall (Hall 24). 

 Included are some of the most beautiful 

 and intricately designed pieces in existence, 

 in the opinion of Dr. Berthold Laufer, 

 Curator of Anthropology. Among these is 

 a remarkable cloisonne enamel statue of 

 the great religious dignitary Pal-dan Ye-she, 

 known as the Tashi Lama of the Buddhist 

 church of Tibet. This statue, made in the 

 eighteenth century when cloisonne art was 

 at its zenith in China, is a gift from Stanley 

 Field, President of the Museum. A large 

 and un\jsual jar of the fifteenth century, 

 presented by Trustee William J. Chalmers, 

 is another outstanding piece. 



Other objects shown were obtained by 

 the Blackstone Expedition to China. Some 

 of the later examples illustrate the aptitude 

 of Chinese artists in copying designs of 

 French origin. 



A beautiful model of the Taj Mahal is 

 exhibited in Hall E. 



MAY GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS 



Conducted tours of exhibits, under the 

 guidance of staff lecturers, are made every 

 afternoon at 3 p.m., except Saturdays, 

 Sundays, and certain holidays. Following 

 is the schedule of subjects and dates for May: 



Week beginning May 1: Monday — Skeletons, Past 

 and Present: Tuesday — Musical Instruments; Wednes- 

 day — Habitat Grou^js; Thursday — General Tour; 

 Friday — China and Tibet. 



_ Week beginning May 8: Monday — Peat, Coal and 

 Oil; Tuesday — Snakes and Lizards; Wednesday — Rare 

 Birds; Thursday — General Tour; Friday — Pewter and 

 Jade. 



Week beginning May 15: Monday — Egyptian 

 Exhibits; Tuesday — Primitive Pottery: Wednesday — 

 Animal Life of the Chicago Region; Thursday — 

 General Tour; Friday — Masl^. 



Week beginning May 22: Monday — Work of Heat, 

 Wind and Water; Tuesday — Hall of Prehistoric Life; 

 Wednesday — Wood and Its Uses; Thursday — General 

 Tour; Friday— The Story of Man. 



Week beginning May 29; Monday — Animal Life of 

 Eurasia; Tuesday — Memorial Day holiday, no tour; 

 Wednesday— Hall of Plant Life. 



Persons wishing to participate should 

 apply at North Entrance. Tours are free 

 and no gratuities are to be proffered. A new 

 schedule will appear each month in Field 

 Museum News. Guide-lecturers' services 

 for special tours by parties of ten or more 

 are available free of charge by arrangement 

 with the Director a week in advance. 



Gifts to the Museum 



Following is a list of some of the principal 

 gifts received during the last month: 



From the Mengel Company — a board of Honduras 

 mahogany; from Dr. Earl E. SherfT — 160 herbarium 

 specimens, Hawaiian Islands; from Dr. H. W. von 

 Rozynski — 348 herbarium specimens, Mexico; from 

 Ichabod T. Williams and Sons — a board of Peruvian 

 mahogany; from Museo Nacional — 165 herbarium 

 specimens, Costa Rica; from Crystal Fluorspar Com- 

 pany — a specimen of fluorite, Illinois: from James H. 

 Quinn — 13 specimens of Upper Miocene mammals, 

 Nebraska; from L. S. Pyle — a specimen of Orthoceras 

 annulatum in matrix, Illinois; from Walker Museum, 

 University of Chicago — 4 lizards, 2 turtles, and 16 

 skulls and 4 shells of land turtles, Galapagos Islands; 

 from Museum of Comparative Zoology — an alligator, 

 Florida; from Dr. Orlando Park — 5 insects, Illinois, 

 Louisiana, and New Mexico: from F. J. W. Schmidt— 

 3 salamanders, 3 frogs, 3 snakes, and 12 lizards. Wis- 

 consin; from Dr. Wilhelm Filchner — 18 reels of motion 

 pictures of Tibetan dancers. 



NEW MEMBERS 

 The following persons were elected to 

 membership in Field Museum during the 

 period from March 16 to April 17: 



Associate Members 



Miss Jessie Colvin, Mrs. Henry K. Friend, Rudolph 

 F. Kelker, Jr., William Reach, Marcus D. Richards. 



Annual Members 



Mrs. George Adams, George G. Arnold, H. H. 

 Bryan, F. D. Carpenter, Fred V. Coffin, Robert 

 Cunningham, William S. Deree, Mrs. Arnold Epstein, 

 Mrs. H. B. Erminger, Jr., Mrs. Sol. H. Goldberg, Mrs. 

 T. R. Gowenlock, Mrs. O'Bannon L. HufTaker, George 

 D. Ladd, Mrs. Herbert Ross Landes, Miss Mary J. 

 Lawson, Herman J. Mayer, Jr., Mrs. V. C. Sanborn, 

 Miss H. Gertrude Strain. 



Origin of Henna 



Henna is derived from the leaves of a 

 shrub, the sweet-smelling camphire of Solo- 

 mon (Lawsonia alba) of the loosestrife 

 family (Lythraceae). It is cultivated exten- 

 sively in the Orient, and the ground leaves 

 form an article of commerce for use as a dye 

 and cosmetic. In ancient Egypt it was 

 employed for staining the finger nails and 

 throughout the centuries it has retained its 

 popularity as a hair dye. It is one of the 

 vegetable dyes shown in Hall 28. 



Ornamental minerals constitute a special 

 exhibit in the Department of Geology. 



Activities of the James Nelson and Anna 

 Louise Raymond Foundation of the Museum 

 are benefiting more than 250,000 children 

 annually. 



PRINTED BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS 



