MUSEUM NOTES 



421 



subject of the high nutritive value of 

 sharks, rays, and other varieties of fish not 

 hitherto consumed by man on account of long 

 standing prejudice against them. Mr. Coles 

 made exliaustive tests of the dietary uses of 

 many kinds of fish during his cruise. He 

 found in all eighteen species of sharks and 

 rays which he pronounced delicious in flavor 

 and very digestible. The average shark is 

 not the scavenger and eater of human flesh 

 that many believe it to be, but leads an exem- 

 plary life and is sometimes very fastidious in 

 its choice of food, as in the case of the ham- 

 merhead shark, which subsists almost entirely 

 on Spanish mackerel. Another variety follows 

 the great schools of sting rays, which are 

 themselves excellent food. The results of 

 these experiments were sent to the United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, 

 D. C, together with samples of the fish, both 

 salted and fresh. Through a new process for 

 tanning, the hide of sharks can now be made 

 into leather, an important consideration in 

 these days when the problem of shoes for our 

 soldiers is becoming more serious. 



The first reports on the fishes of the 

 American Museum Congo Expedition are now 

 in proof. These include a systematic account 

 of the fresh-water species, in which twenty- 

 nine new forms are described and figured. 

 Thirteen characteristic Congo fishes are illus- 

 trated in color from sketches made in the 

 field by Mr. Chapin. It is seldom that life 

 colors of fishes from remote regions can be 

 shown so authoritatively, and both artist and 

 engraver have contributed to make this one 

 of the most attractive features of the re- 

 ports. Some very interesting structures have 

 been discovered in the skull of Hydrocyon. 

 The tooth form of that genus seems to link 

 it with Cretaceous fish-teeth, the relationship 

 of which up to now has been a riddle. The 

 rich material of the Congo fish collection 

 offers fields for morphological and other 

 studies as yet untouched. Fossil material 

 from twelve hundred miles inland forms the 

 basis of an interesting short papei-. 



Yellow River. The specimen is in perfect 

 condition, the best of its kind in the world, 

 there being but two other eggs of this fossil 

 ostrich in existence. Of the great bird which 

 laid the eggs not even a bone has ever been 

 found. The shell has a capacity of more 

 than two quarts, equal to about forty hen's 

 eggs. 



The delicious small food fish, Leiostomus 

 xanthurus, called "lafayette" near New York 

 City, and which in occasional years like the 

 present invades the harbors and rivers in 

 such numbers that thousands of metropolis 

 dwellers obtain pleasure in angling for it, 

 belongs to the drum or weakfish family. 

 Members of this family — among them the 

 esteemed kingfish and big channel bass — fre- 

 quent sandy shores, being especially plentiful 

 southward, and almost without excej^tion are 

 good food fishes. They make grunting or 

 croaking sounds, from which characteristic 

 several have received their common names. 

 Lying at anchor on a quiet evening in some 

 southern bay, one at times hears the "wop," 

 "wop" of a school of the big sea drum, as 

 though they were calling to one another as 

 they swim under the boat. The family has a 

 single fresh-water species in the Mississippi 

 Valley. 



The demand for the three series of public 

 health charts illustrating "The Spread and 

 Prevention of Communicable Disease," "In- 

 sects as Carriers of Disease," and "Bacteria 

 and Their Work in the World," prepared by 

 the departments of public health and public 

 education of the American Museum, has been 

 so great as to necessitate publication of a 

 new edition in order to supply all the public 

 schools of the city. The set consists of fif- 

 teen wall charts, made on heavy white paper 

 backed by cloth and bound with tin at top 

 and bottom. The charts are fully labeled, 

 and in addition a booklet of information 

 accompanies each set. These will be loaned 

 to the schools of Greater New York without 

 charge. 



To the collection of eggs in the l)ird hall 

 of the American Museum has been added 

 that of a gigantic ostrich (StrutJiiolithus 

 cliersonensis) of the Pleistocene period. This 

 egg was found in the province of Honan, 

 China, in June, 1915, by a Chinese peasant 

 who saw it protruding from the bank of the 



The Nicaragua Expedition, in charge of 

 Mr. W. DeW. Miller, assistant curator in the 

 ornithological department, left New York 

 February 18, arriving at Corinto on the Pa- 

 cific coast of Nicaragua March 7. Mr. Lud- 

 low Griscom accompanied the expedition as 

 assistant. Mr. William B. Eiehardson, who 



