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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



rendered the eastern end of the island unsafe 

 for collecting. Fortunately, when the revo- 

 lution broke out, Mr. Anthony was in a 

 locality rich in possibilities, so that in spite 

 of being prevented from moving about 

 freely, he was able, by making the best of 

 this one spot, to secure a number of de- 

 sirable fossils, as well as specimens of the 

 Cuban rat, Capromys, and a small collection 

 of bats. The work was considerably fur- 

 thered by the cooperation of the officials of 

 the Siianish-American Iron Company, Avho 

 gave the party free transportation on their 

 tug and railroad. Also, the members of the 

 expedition were made welcome at one of 

 the mines, Daiquiri, Avhere quarters and 

 horses were furnished free of charge. Most 

 of the material brought back is new to the 

 Museum collections, and some of the fossils 

 will {)robably prove new to science. 



The department of anthropology has re- 

 ceived from Mrs. Wm. Tod Helmuth an 

 ancestor tablet from China. The Chinese 

 keep ancestor tablets on a shelf in the living 

 room, and frequently put before them offer- 

 ings of food and incense. These tablets are 

 regarded with high reverence, because in 

 them is supposed to reside one of the three 

 souls which the Chinese believe each person 

 possesses, while of the other two, one re- 

 mains at the grave and the other goes to 

 the unknown world of departed spirits. On 

 account of their sacred character and family 

 significance such relics are hard to obtain. 

 This tablet, which is about a foot in height, 

 is made of wood decorated with gilded carv- 

 ing. The central panel of the tablet 

 bears an inscription in Chinese characters: 

 "This is the dwelling of the soul of our 

 maternal ancestor named Aunt Khek TJgo 

 whose maiden name was Jap. Her dutiful 

 son Se-choan worships." 



An important recent publication of the 

 American Museum is A Bibliography of 

 Fishes, Vol. I, by Bashford Dean, edited 

 and enlarged by C. R. Eastman. It com- 

 prises 714 pages, and consists of references 

 to the entire scientific literature of fishes, 

 arranged under the names of authors from 

 A to K inclusive. Vol. II, now preparing, 

 will complete the references, the total num- 

 ber of which is estimated to be upwards of 

 forty thousand titles. No other group of 

 the animal kingdom has been so exhaustively 



treated in a bibliographical way as are the 

 fishes in this undertaking, which was be- 

 gun by Dr. Dean twenty-five years ago, 

 and has been steadily carried on by him, 

 largely as a personal matter, ever since. 

 The Museum, out of recognition of the use- 

 fulness of the work, has provided for the 

 publication of the two volumes and of a 

 forthcoming subject index to them. 



Professor Henry E. Crampton has pub- 

 lished, through the Carnegie Institution at 

 Washington, the first volume of an exten- 

 sive and important work entitled Studies on 

 the Variation, Distribution, and Evolution 

 of the Genus Partula. The volume just 

 issued, which deals with the species inhabit- 

 ing the island of Tahiti, is the result of ten 

 years' study. It will be followed by other 

 volumes dealing with the species inhabiting 

 other Pacific islands. Professor Crampton's 

 work is based on personal explorations and 

 observations in Tahiti and the neighboring 

 islands of the Society group, conducted un- 

 der the auspices of the American Museum 

 of Natural History and the Carnegie In- 

 stitution of Washington, during the years 

 1006, 1907, 1908 and 1909, in the course of 

 which extensive collections embracing eighty 

 thousand specimens were obtained from 

 over two hundred valleys in the Society 

 Islands alone. The work was extended in 

 1909 to include the Cook, Tonga, Samoan, 

 New Zealand, Fiji and Hawaiian islands. 

 The land snails of the genus Partula are 

 confined to the islands of the Pacific Ocean, 

 and are especially abundant in the Society 

 group, which is their geographical center of 

 distribution. The various species of the 

 genus exhibit a wide range of variation 

 which is broadly correlated with their de- 

 gree of isolation from the original center of 

 distribution. 



Professor Crampton has studied this 

 genus not only with reference to individual 

 characters, but also in connection with gen- 

 eral biological conditions, geographical and 

 topographical locations, and the meteoro- 

 logical and other external influences having 

 a real or apparent effect on the species of 

 the genus. Professor Crampton's volume will 

 take its place as an important contribution 

 to the study of problems of variation, geo- 

 graphical distribution, and evolution, as 

 seen under natural conditions rather than 

 in the laboratory. 



