74 



TEE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



crocodiles collected in the Ituri the most in- 

 teresting is a new genus of crocodile, related 

 to the west African Osteolcemus. The work 

 is in the hands of Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, 

 research assistant in herpetology in the 

 American Museum. 



Professor A. L. Kroeber, of the Uni- 

 versity of California, has come to the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History as associate 

 curator in the department of anthropology. 

 Professor Kroeber will be with the Museum 

 for six months, exchanging with Dr. Eobert 

 H. Lowie, who is now on leave of absence at 

 the University of California. 



That there is an abundance of material 

 in our Museums from which to supply an 

 indefinite number of artistic textile patterns 

 is becoming more and more evident since 

 manufacturers no longer are able to send 

 artists abroad for designs and are forced to 

 use the resources at command in America. 

 The recent exhibit in the west assembly hall 

 of the Museum fully demonstrated this fact 

 by the number and variety of designs. Work 

 was sent to the Museum from the public 

 schools of Paterson, N. J., and of New York 

 City, from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, Teach- 

 ers College of Columbia University, Hunter 

 College, and the Art Department of the 

 Young Women's Christian Association. 



An exhibit of clothing, to which the atten- 

 tion of the costume industry is being espe- 

 cially invited, has been arranged in the 

 Philippine hall of the American Museum for 

 the two weeks from January 3 to 17. About 

 one hundred and fifty handsomely beaded 

 and embroidered garments from the Chinese, 

 Burmese, African, Mexican, Philippine, and 

 American Indian collections are displayed, 

 with a view to demonstrating the artistic 

 possibilities which lie in these products of 

 primitive peoples. 



Notwithstanding the fact that a spider 

 web is so fine and delicate that unless cov- 

 ered with dust or sparkling with dew it is 

 almost invisible, the Museum is now dis- 

 playing a series of these webs, twelve in 

 number, so mounted on dark backgrounds as 

 to be plainly visible. The spiral construc- 

 tion, widening gradually from the center 

 outward, is easily traced. The webs are 

 accompanied by colored plates of the spiders 

 which spun them. Some spiders live in the 

 Aveb they spin; others spend only the nights 



there, hiding during the day in retreats often 

 some distance away, with a single thread 

 leading to the web. One of the larger 

 spiders, Aranea trifolium, for instance, spins 

 a thread from the center of its web to a tent 

 made of leaves and silk. Sitting in this 

 tent, the spider holds the thread in such a 

 way that it knows Avhen the web is shaken 

 by its insect prey. 



A NEW canned fish product, known as 

 grayfish, is on the market and is recom- 

 mended by the United States Bureau of 

 Fisheries. Analyses have shown that the 

 grayfish contains three times the amount of 

 ammonia nitrogen found in an ordinary food 

 fish, and imless this is eliminated in prepar- 

 ing it for the table, the fish is likely to fall 

 short of proper appreciation. This sub- 

 stance can be removed easily by soaking or 

 cooking the fish in vinegar and water before 

 it is finally made ready. In any event, gray- 

 fish should be cooked thoroughly after being 

 taken from the can. Also, it seems that this 

 fish lacks the proper amount of oil. The 

 oil very probably is contained in the liver, 

 which of course is not canned. The fish, 

 therefore, is more palatable Avhen cooked 

 with some fat, such as olive oil, butter, or 

 cream. It may not seem worth while to take 

 so much trouble in the preparation of a new 

 product — which brings to mind the fact that 

 for a time after the potato was introduced 

 into the Old World it was little thought of 

 as a food plant, because people were igno- 

 rant of how properly to utilize it. 



Dr. W. L. Hildburgh has presented to the 

 American IMuseum a very carefully selected 

 collection of archaeological objects from New 

 York State, containing some fine Iroquois 

 pots and pipes. This gift makes the exhi- 

 bition and study collections for New York 

 adequately represented in the Museum. Dr. 

 Hildburgh has resided for a number of years 

 in England and has made a large place for 

 himself among English anthropologists. 



Dr. T. Mitchell Prudden, who has spent 

 many years in the study of the small ruins 

 of southern Colorado, has presented to the 

 American Museum a collection of pottery 

 and other objects acquired during the course 

 of his work. The specimens are accompanied 

 by two models representing the exterior and 

 interior of the small dwellings whose exact 

 relationship to the larger pueblos and cliff 

 dwellings of the Southwest is not yet evi- 

 dent. 



