136 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



Dr. A. M. Chickering, chairman of the division of science and 

 mathematics at Albion College, Michigan, continued his research on 

 spiders, collecting a large series for further study. This is his fifth 

 visit to the island for this purpose. In Turtox News for May 1951 

 Dr. Chickering published an interesting account of his explorations 

 in the Canal Zone and Panama, particularly on Barro Colorado 

 Island. His estimate of 1,200 species of spiders on the island is 

 indicative of the variety of species in other groups that may be 

 expected to exist. During the past 12 years he has published 15 

 papers on the spiders of this general area, one on the Salticidae 

 covering 474 pages. 



Dr. Eugene Eisenmann, of New York City, returned again to 

 resume his studies of the birds of the island. He prepared an an- 

 notated list of the birds definitely known to inhabit the island, cov- 

 ering 306 species, which is to be published by the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution. In this he includes reference to the many other scientists 

 who have studied the bird life of the island. This will be the first 

 published list of birds of the Area to bring together all available 

 records. The obvious gaps should stimulate interest and further 

 study. 



Dr. Frank A. Hartman, research professor of physiology, Ohio 

 State University, a recognized authority on the adrenals of verte- 

 brates, returned for a more extended stay. With the aid of his assist- 

 ants, Harry Beckman, a graduate-school assistant, and Ratibor and 

 Armageddon Hartmann from Chiriqui, he collected and preserved 

 what is probably the most extensive and comprehensive series of adre- 

 nals ever brought together. Half of the total of 1,447, from birds, 

 mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, are from the Canal Zone, and the 

 rest from the Volcan area of Chiriqui Province. About 200 skins, as 

 well as whole animals in formaldehyde, were prepared, the former 

 for identification and the latter for future anatomical studies. Care- 

 ful drawings were made of the adrenals and also of the thyroids of 

 birds. The preserved adrenals and thyroids will be used for extensive 

 histological and cytological studies. The bird skins will be placed 

 in the U. S. National Museum. 



Dr. Bernard Lowy, of the botany department of the State Uni- 

 versity of Iowa, spent several months on the island studying princi- 

 pally the fungi, making large collections and many observations and 

 taking many notes and photographs (more and more essential in 

 mycology). Of Myxomycetes and Phycomycetes he collected more 

 than 70 species and made a thorough study of his specialty, the 

 Auricularias. He also collected much material from the Ascomycetes, 

 the Basidiomycetes, and the Fungi Imperfecti, as well as lichens, 

 mosses, and liverworts — the last two groups being exceptionally pro- 

 lific. Of the Meliolales more than a hundred species have been de- 



