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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



Free lectures by members of the scientific 

 staff of the American Museum of Natural 

 History will be given to public school chil- 

 dren on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 

 at four o'clock, throughout Ajn-il and May. 

 Three courses are scheduled, covering eight 

 talks on geography, eight on United States 

 history, and eight on natural history. These 

 lectures are designed to supplement class- 

 room work and vrill be fully illustrated with 

 lantern slides and moving pictures. 



Dr. Frank M. Chapman, curator of or- 

 nithology, who is second in point of seniority 

 on the scientific staff of the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History, completed on 

 March 1, 1918, his thirtieth year of connec- 

 tion with the institution. He joined as as- 

 sistant curator of vertebrate zoology in 1888. 

 He has, from the first, devoted himself 

 chiefly to ornithology, attaining preeminence 

 in educational and scientific work in that 

 branch. The effectiveness and high ecolog- 

 ical value of the large series of habitat 

 bird groups in the Museum, which it is sairl 

 by competent observers are second to no ex- 

 hibits of birds in the world, are based on the 

 careful observations made during his exten- 

 sive field studies. 



The Geological Society of France has 

 awarded to Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn 

 the Gaudry Medal, which was established by 

 the Society in the year 1910 in honor of the 

 distinguished French palaeontologist, Albert 

 Gaudry. Previous awards of the medal have 

 been to the following palaeontologists and 

 geologists: Albert Gaudry, 1910, Marcellin 

 Boule, 1911, Henri Douville, 1912, Edouard 

 Suess, 191.3, Emile Haug, 1914, Charles D. 

 Walcott, 1917. 



At the annual meeting of the National 

 Academy of Sciences, in Washington, April 

 22, 23, and 24, will be presented the sixth 

 course in a series of lectures organized 

 for the purpose of giving a complete his- 

 tory of the modern aspects of the evolu- 

 tion theory. The foundation of the series 

 was a gift to the National Academy by the 

 children of William Henry Hale, in memory 

 of their father. The first lectures were given 

 in April, 1914, by Sir Ernest Eutherford, 

 F.E.S., followed by Dr. William Wallace 

 Campbell, in December of the same year ; by 

 Professor T. C. Chamberlin, in 1915; Pro- 

 fessor Henry Fairfield Osborn, in 1916; 



and Professor E. G. Conklin, in 1917. Pro- 

 fessor .John C. Merriam, of the University 

 of California, will deliver the present course, 

 his subject being, "The Beginnings of Hu- 

 man History from the Geologic Eecords." 



A NEW General Guide to the Exhibition 

 Halls, edited by Director Frederic A. Lucas, 

 has just been issued by the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History. Numerous illus- 

 trations, together with diagrams of each 

 floor and very full explanations and descrip- 

 tions of groups and specimens, make this 

 volume interesting and instructive to the 

 reader as well as helpful to the Museum 

 visitor. 



Through the courtesy of Mr. Leonard M. 

 Davis and the Canadian Pacific Eailway 

 Company, the Journal has been able to pub- 

 lish as a frontispiece for this number a re- 

 production in color of one of a collection of 

 paintings by Mr. Davis, which will be on 

 display in the American Museum from the 

 miildle of April until June 1. The exhibit 

 includes about fifty small sketches and thirty 

 or more large pictures of scenes in Alaska 

 and the Canadian Eockies. Mr. Davis has 

 made a life study of mountain scenery, and 

 the excellence of his technique and grasp of 

 scenic effects and color give great pleasure. 

 The artist's paintings of Alaskan scenery 

 won for him a silver medal at the Panama- 

 Pacific International Exposition at San 

 Francisco. 



A LETTER from the Eeverend A. Kok, of 

 Li-kiang-fu, Yunnan, China, addressed to the 

 president of the American Museum of Natu- 

 ral History, tells of the cordial relations that 

 existed between the members of the Mu- 

 seum's Asiatic Zoological Expedition and 

 the Chinese people of the regions where the 

 expedition worked, and gives assurance of 

 the writer's desire to aid in every way such 

 undertakings in the future. He says: "Few 

 foreign travelers have left behind such a 

 good reputation among the population of 

 these parts as the members of Mr. Andrews' 

 party have done. To remember this is a 

 pleasure to me, and, if they ever return to 

 these parts they may be sure of a hearty 

 welcome and every possible assistance." 



A GROUP illustrating the nesting habits of 

 hornbills, specifically, of the largest species 

 of hornbill found in West Africa, has been 

 placed on exhibition at the American Mu- 



