REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 21 



History. — The art material accessioned by the division of history in- 

 cludes a water-color sketch, painted in 1918, by Georges Scott, emblem- 

 atic of the cordial relations existing between France and the United 

 States. For the numismatic collection the Treasury Department for- 

 warded a number of California gold tokens, coins, and examples of the 

 bronze, nickel, and silver coins struck at the Denver, Philadelphia, and 

 San Francisco mints in 1941. The philatelic material was increased by 

 1,301 specimens, which were transferred from the Post Office Depart- 

 ment. Among these are stamps for countries now occupied by Ger- 

 many, including German stamps overprinted "Luxemburg," and stamps 

 issued by Germany for Poland. 



EXPLORATIONS AND FIELD WORK 



Explorations by members of the Museum staff have produced val- 

 uable information and highly useful series of specimens in various 

 fields. The work has been made possible mainly by funds provided 

 by the Smithsonian Institution, and by interested friends. "With 

 the entry of the United States into the war in December, the pro- 

 gram of field activities was definitely curtailed. The expeditions 

 from that date were those already in the field, or those that were 

 required because of commitments previously made. Though the 

 scope of the work has been decidedly less than in normal years, 

 valuable results have been obtained. 



Anthropology. — ^^Valter W. Taylor, Jr., honorary collaborator in 

 anthropology^, completed archeological explorations around Cuatro 

 Cienegas in Coahuila, northern ^Mexico, which he inaugurated during 

 the previous fiscal year. He conducted excavations in Fat Burro 

 Cave and in Nopal Shelter, in Canyon de Jora, about 21 miles west 

 of Cuatro Cienegas. He then moved camp to Sierra de San Vicente, 

 20 miles southeast of Cienegas, where he excavated a large site called 

 Frightful Cave, located in the only through canj^on in the San Vi- 

 cente range. In this cave, which measures about 200 feet long and 

 tapers in width from 30 feet at the entrance to 3 feet at the rear, the 

 deposits ranged in depth from 10 feet to 3 feet, and consisted of 

 compact floors, over which were superimposed strata of fire-cracked 

 stones, ash, and fiber. Noteworthy specimens recovered from Fat 

 Burro Cave consist of an atlatl, or throwing-stick foreshaft, with an 

 arrow attached by sinew; a series of split-twig loops, comparable 

 to those from the Big Bend area in Texas; stone projectile points 

 similar to those from caves along the Pecos River, Texas ; and a few 

 pieces of split-stitch basketry. From Frightful Cave he recovered 

 twilled woven bags filled with buckeyes, grooved clubs, four dis- 

 tinct types of fiber sandals, twined woven mats, and aprons. All 

 the material collected was packed and transported to Mexico City 

 for inspection by the scientists of the Instituto Nacional de Anthro- 



