90 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Vol. XXVI, 1919 



museum. The skins were all badly grease-burned and the oldest 

 went to pieces so that it was necessary to cement the twenty 

 odd parts on a modeled form. From this one skin we took over 

 an ounce of oil besides the fat that was removed by the use of 

 alkalies. How many of us are sure that some of the valuable 

 skins that we are putting- into our collections today are not in the 

 same condition? It is not an infrequent thing to have people ask 

 how long these specimens that we are preparing today will last. 

 We like to say, "Indefinitely," and in most cases we can. But 

 the question, "How do you know?" has been a little dif^cult to 

 answer satisfactorily. We know that the animal oils or fats in 

 skins contain acids that slowly destroy the tissue. In our labora- 

 tory experiments we have demonstrated that these oil^ are readily 

 turned to soap by the use of soda, borax, and talc. The soap 

 and glycerine formed by the process are slightly antiseptic and are 

 not injurious to the skin, but if so desired, they may be removed 

 by washing the skins in water. 



We believe that, after the oils have been removed, the skins 

 should keep. Now for the proof! 



It was during the summer of 1915 that I visited the Deseret 

 Museum, Salt Lake City. In that interesting collection taken 

 from the clifif-dweller's huts in southern Utah, I unexpectedly 

 found the proof. This material to which I refer, is said by good 

 authority to be from one thousand to fifteen hundred years old. 

 Among the many notable things are two deer skins and the skin 

 of a small blue-bird, all in a perfect state of preservation, even 

 the feathers on the bird being intact. These specimens were dug 

 from the loose soil forming the floors of the huts. This natural 

 soil (according to geologists who are informed on the subject) 

 contains crude soda, potash, and magnesium, and these ingre- 

 dients have preserved the skins by their action on the oils, the 

 process, although crude, being the same that we are using in our 

 laboratory today. The cliff-dwelling Indian had no idea of per- 

 manently preserving the skins when he buried them there. We 

 go to nature for our art ; we scrutinize every little detail to make 

 our exhibit a success ; and now^ we find that she has set the pace 

 even in the matter of preserving material. To answer further the 

 question of how long organic material may be preserved we have 

 but to visit the tar pits at Rancho La Brea and see the perfect 

 skeletons two hundred thousand years old. 



Is it not the correlation of art and science that will make the 

 museum a success? A man who studies science to the exclusion 



