Page J, 



FIELD MUSEUM NEWS 



SepUmber, 19SS 



Gold Beaker 



From ancient Peru. 

 Presented by Mrs. R. 

 T. Crane. 



ANCIENT PERUVIAN GOLD BEAKER 



By J. Eric Thompson 



Assistant Curator of 



Central and South American Archaeology 



In memory of the late Richard T. Crane, 

 Jr., Benefactor and for many years Trustee 

 of Field Museum, Mrs. Richard T. Crane 

 has presented a very fine gold beaker to 

 Field Museum. This weighs just under 

 five and one-half ounces troy and is of 

 twenty-karat gold. It is undecorated save 

 for a narrow band in 

 repousse near the rim. 

 This decoration and 

 the beaker shape 

 clearly indicate that 

 the vessel was manu- 

 factured by the 

 ancient inhabitants of 

 Peru. A gold vessel 

 almost a duplicate of 

 the Crane beaker was 

 found at Pachacamac 

 on the Peruvian coast, 

 but this beaker shape 

 is typical of the high- 

 land region from 

 Cuzco to Tiahuanaco. 

 It is very probable 



that both vessels were manufactured in the 

 latter region. 



The Crane beaker is an important addition 

 to Field Museum's collections, for, despite 

 excellent gold collections from Colombia 

 and Panama, the gold work of Peru has 

 been little represented in the Museum. 

 Much of the enormous gold treasure of the 

 Incas was melted down by Pizarro and his 

 followers, while an immense quantity of 

 gold and silver objects was hidden by the 

 Peruvians to avoid its seizure by the 

 Spaniards. The secret of the location of 

 this treasure is lost. Consequently Peruvian 

 gold ornaments are rare in all museum 

 collections. 



The Crane beaker may have been used 

 for drinking chicha, a beverage resembling 

 beer, but made from maize. Its original 

 owner was undoubtedly a person of con- 

 siderable importance, who probably lived 

 some time between a.d. 1200 and 1500. 



The beaker will be placed on exhibition 

 very shortly. 



Dogs and Wolves Exhibited 



All the more important species of larger 

 dogs (exclusive of domestic varieties) and 

 wolves of the world are included in a case 

 just installed among the systematic mammal 

 exhibits in Hall 15. The collection covers 

 the main divisions of the whole family 

 Canidae with the exception of the foxes, 

 which are to be shown in a separate case. 



Among the more interesting species shown 

 are the northern gray wolf and the coyote 

 of North America, the long-legged red- 

 maned wolf and the crab-eating dog of 

 Brazil, the spotted hunting dog, red Abys- 

 sinian wolf and two species of jackals from 

 Africa, and the small reddish wolf called the 

 dohle, which inhabits Asia. 



GOLD MINED BY A DUCK 



An interesting example of placer gold 

 mined by a duck at Cold Spring-on-Hudson, 

 New York, has been presented to the 

 Museum by Frederick Blaschke and is now 

 exhibited with the placer gold in Frederick 

 J. V. Skiff Hall (Hall 37). The specimen 

 consists of particles of gravel mixed with 

 flakes of gold. The gold occurred in a deposit 

 of glacial gravel and was appropriated by a 

 duck as a part of the gravel he needed to 

 assist his digestion. The duck demonstrated 

 more keenness of vision than of intellect 



for the soft particles of gold are decidedly 

 inefficient grinding agents for use in a bird's 

 crop. Mr. Blaschke found the gold in the 

 crop of the duck. 



The ice of the continental glacier that 

 covered the north of the continent during 

 the glacial period originated in the north 

 and traveled south. On its way, when 

 passing over a deposit of gold ore, it some- 

 times picked up a few grains of gold and 

 carried them south mixed with the clay, 

 sand, and rock fragments with which the 

 ice was loaded. When the ice melted and 

 dropped its load to form the mantle of 

 glacial drift which covers the northern 

 United States it also dropped the gold. 

 No worth while concentrations of gold of 

 this origin have ever been found nor are 

 any likely to be, but a few flakes have been 

 found in numerous places in the moraines. 



—H.W.N. 



BIRTHSTONES 



The origin of the custom of designating 

 birthstones according to the month in which 

 a person was born has been traced back 

 some 6,000 years. It had its beginnings in 

 ancient beliefs in magic, according to 

 historians. The story goes that about 4,000 

 B.C. the high priest of Memphis wore a 

 breastplate made up of twelve small objects 

 representing Egyptian hieroglyphics. Priests 

 continued to wear similar breastplates. 

 Later, ancient Hebrews, who had been 

 prisoners in Egypt, made a similar breast- 

 plate for Aaron, their own high priest. It 

 was composed of twelve large gems, on each 

 of which was engraved the name of one of 

 the tribes of Israel. It was handed down 

 from one priest to the next, and as it grew 

 older its magic powers were believed to 

 increase. As time went on, the twelve 

 stones, originally associated with the twelve 

 tribes of Israel, became associated with the 

 twelve angels of Paradise, the twelve founda- 

 tions of Heaven, the twelve apostles, and 

 finally with the twelve months of the year. 

 From the la.st developed the birthstone idea. 

 The wearing of one's birthstone originated 

 in Poland some time during the seventeenth 

 or eighteenth century. 



Examples of the birthstones for each 

 month of the year are on exhibition in 

 H. N. Higinbotham Hall (Hall 31). The 

 recognized list, according to Dr. Oliver C. 

 Farrington, Curator of Geology, is as follows: 

 January, garnet; February, amethyst; 

 March, bloodstone or aquamarine; April, 

 diamond; May, emerald; June, pearl; July, 

 ruby; August, sardonyx or peridot; Sep- 

 tember, sapphire; October, opal; November, 

 topaz; and December, turquois. 



In the middle ages it was thought that 

 each gem had a certain power over its 

 wearer. A diamond was supposed to give 

 courage; an amber necklace to cure a sore 

 throat; a cat's-eye to protect from witch- 

 craft; an amethyst to make its owner shrewd 

 in business. 



Huge Bison Bull Shown 



The uniLsually large and magnificent 

 specimen of American bison bull presented 

 to the Museum a few months ago by Colonel 

 Wallis Huidekoper, owner of the American 

 Ranch at Twodot, Montana, has been 

 mounted and placed on exhibition in the 

 collection of horned and hoofed mammals 

 in George M. Pullman Hall (Hall 13). 

 The specimen is from a large herd kept 

 on Colonel Huidekoper's ranch. It weighed 

 about 2,300 pounds when living. It was 

 prepared for exhibition by Staff Taxidermist 

 Julius Friesser. 



SEPTEMBERGUIDE-LECTURETOURS 



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 

 September: 



Friday, September 1 — Prehistoric Hall. 



Week beginning September 4: Monday — Labor Day 

 holiday, no tour; Tuesday — General Tour; Wednesday 

 — Animal Groups; Thursday — General Tour; Friday — 

 Story of Man. 



Week beginning September II: Monday — Plant 

 Halls: Tuesday — General Tour; Wednesday — Moon, 

 Meteorites, and Minerals; Thursday^General Tour; 

 Friday — Pewter. Jade, and Gems. 



Week beginning September 18: Monday — Marine 

 Life; Tuesday — General Tour; Wednesday — Unusual 

 Plants; Thursday — General Tolu-; Friday — Chinese 

 Exhibits. 



Week beginning September 2.'): Monday — Reptiles, 

 Past and Present; Tuesday— General Tour; Wednes- 

 day—Story of Coal and Oil; Thursday — General Tour; 

 Friday — Birds of Many Lands. 



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 

 MusEtTM 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 Mrs. Richard T. Crane — a pre-Columbian gold 

 beaker, Peru; from Philip M. Chancellor — 49 ethno- 

 logical specimens of the Yaqui tribe, Mexico; from 

 Companhia Ford Industrial do Brasil — 28 herbarium 

 specimens and 9 wood specimens, Brazil; from Mrs. 

 Ynes Mexia — 55 herbarium specimens, Brazil; from 

 School of Forestry, Yale University — 84 herbarium 

 specimens, Colombia and British Honduras; from 

 Darsie A. Green — 2 geodes, Oklahoma; from Paul R. 

 Hedbum — 7 fossil leaves, Illinois: from George Nelson 

 — 7 specimens native copper, Michigan; from Stewart 

 Springer — a rare shark, Mississippi; from Professor 

 H. W. Norris — 5 shark heads. Mississippi; from 

 Metropolitan Museum of Natural History, Nanking — 

 22 small mammal skins with 15 skulls, China: from 

 John H. Robinson — 5 snakes and 2 lizards, Missouri; 

 from G. C. .\llen — skull and horns of white-tailed deer, 

 .\labama; from J. J. Mooney — 2 mouse skeletons, 

 Illinois: from The Charleston Museum — 7 grass 

 pickerels. South Carolina: from John G. Sbedd 

 .\quarium — 105 fish specimens, various localities; 

 from Martin Petersen — a fish; from Dillman S. Bullock 

 — 57 frogs, 87 lizards, and 14 snakes, Chile. 



NEW MEMBERS 



The following persons were elected to 



membership in Field Museum during the 



period from July 17 to August 15: 



Corresponding Members 



Dr. B. P. Georges Hochreutiner 



Associate Members 



Mrs. W. Woodbridge Dickinson, Mrs. Abraham 

 Harris, Joseph J. Homung, Herman C. Nebel. 



Annual .Members 



Miss Minnie Abel, Mrs. George W. Billig, James 

 H. Buell, Mrs. Stanley Clague, Sr., Sigmund W. David, 

 Charies C. Holter, Mrs. Peart Ecker Hubbell, S. C. 

 Jennings, F. W. Kaempfer, Jr.. Charles S. McCoy, 

 Granville Rice, Otto Sauermann, Mrs. Thomas G. 

 Sexton, Harry W. Solomon, Mrs. .\lfred Stem, Mrs. 

 Abner J. Stilwell, E. A. Webber. 



Distinguished Visitors 



Sir John Flett, K.B.E., of the Geological 

 Survey of Great Britain, visited Field 

 Museum August 9 to study the methods 

 of the Department of Geology and of the 

 N. W. Harris Public School Extension, for 

 comparison with the work of the Survey's 

 London Museum. W. Campbell-Smith of 

 the Mineral Division of the British Museum, 

 who is studying exhibition methods of 

 American museums, is another distinguished 

 visitor of the month. 



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