G24 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



American Museum of Natural History and 

 members of their immediate families, has 

 issued a summary of what has been accom- 

 plished since its organization in May, 1917. 

 Among its activities is the work of three de- 

 partments under the Eed Cross which have 

 devoted themselves to the preparation of 920 

 bandages and 28,755 surgical dressings, and 

 the making of 688 hospital garments and 331 

 knitted articles. Eed Cross membership re- 

 ceipts during this period amounted to $313. 

 Garments knitted for other organizations 

 than the Eed Cross totaled 256 sweaters, 108 

 wiistlets, 147 scarfs, 367 socks, and 137 

 helmets. The total amount of money raised 

 from Museum employees and other sources 

 was $2,281.76 of which $1,610.22 was ex- 

 pended in various ways such as for sewing 

 and knitting materials, surgical dressings, 

 comfort kits and knitted outfits for the 

 Museum boys in service, and the support of 

 one French and one Belgian orphan. A 

 balance of $671.54 was reported in the 

 treasury on October 30. The Association 

 has also collected more than two tons of 

 clothing for Belgium and France. 



Close rivals to the wonderful modern im- 

 provements and inventions of warfare have 

 been some almost forgotten weapons resur- 

 rected during the World War. Among these 

 were various forms of armor, as exemplified 

 in the steel helmets and trench shields used 

 by all the armies, — the heavy breastplates of 

 the Germans, the lighter breastplates for at- 

 tack worn by the English, and the armored 

 waistcoats of the Italians. The armor work- 

 shop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art 

 under the supervision of Major Bashford 

 Dean made many experiments in the manu- 

 facture of armor models for our American 

 soldiers. This workshop, unique so far as 

 known, was established originally for the 

 repair and preservation of one of the great- 

 est collections of armor in the world, includ- 

 ing the Eiggs C!ollection which contains some 

 of the rarest pieces on the market since 1850. 

 In the armor collection of the Metropolitan 

 Museum there are about ninety kinds of anvils, 

 several hundred types of hammers, curious 

 shields, and instruments the very knowledge 

 of which has today almost disappeared. All 

 these were studied by American design- 

 ers, and the ancient implements actually 

 were used to manufacture models in the 



workroom. In direct charge of the work 

 under Major Dean, is M, Daniel Tachaux, 

 the descendant of a long line of armorers. 

 His skill is known to collectors the world 

 over. Born in Blois, France, M. Tachaux 

 went to Paris in the early seventies and was 

 apprenticed to the famous Klein, who was 

 Ijrought from Dresden by Napoleon III to 

 clean and repair the armor in the beautiful 

 Chateau of Pierrefonds. Ten years ago he 

 came to New York and was appointed assist- 

 ant to Professor Dean. When war was de- 

 clared and there was need of skilled workers 

 on models of armor, this department of the 

 Museum was placed at the disposal of Secre- 

 tary of War Newton D. Baker. In Novem- 

 ber, 1917, Major Dean, because of his life- 

 long study of the subject, was commissioned 

 Major in the United States Army and sent 

 abroad by the United States Government to 

 study the needs of the army on the Western 

 Front. On his return late in January, he 

 began to work out designs for armor in ac- 

 cordance with his observations and with 

 suggestions from General Pershing and the 

 Ordnance Department. These designs were 

 carried out by M. Tachaux, and no fewer 

 than twenty-five different types of armor de- 

 fenses were made in experimental lots by 

 various factories, numbering from a score to 

 many thousands of pieces. They comprise 

 all that was best in ancient armor. Helmets, 

 shields, breastplates, and even leg guards 

 and arm guards were made. These last were 

 suggested by the study of hospital statistics 

 in France and England, in which it appeared 

 that more than 40 per cent of the casualties 

 suffered were leg wounds and 33 per cent arm 

 wounds. It is interesting to note that so 

 completely were armored defenses studied in 

 the past that there is scarcely a technical 

 feature that was not worked out in elaborate 

 detail by the old-time armor makers. 



The castor bean {Biciiius communis Lin- 

 naBus) has lately attained fame in the 

 winning of the war, owing to the fact that 

 the oil contained in the beautifully mottled 

 seeds is the kind which induces the ma- 

 chinery of an aeroplane to do good work. 

 The United States Government has con- 

 tracted with Florida growers for thousands 

 of acres of castor beans to produce oil for 

 aeroplanes. The best grade of oil is ob- 

 tained by hydraulic pressure. 



