MUSEUM NOTES 



433 



United States history. The geography and 

 natural history course will include the fol- 

 lowing: Chief Cities and Countries of the 

 World, 5 lectures: Natural History Stories, 

 4 lectures; Physical Geography and Astron- 

 omy, 3 lectures. Subjects for the United 

 States history course will be: Discoverers 

 of the New World, 2 lectures ; Old and Mod- 

 ern New York, 4 lectures; Colonial History, 

 4 lectures; Current Events, 2 lectures. 



Mr. Roy W. Miner, of the department of 

 invertebrate zoology, spent the greater part 

 of July and August in the marine biological 

 laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 

 for the purpose of studying marine inverte- 

 brates with especial reference to procuring 

 observations, sketches, and other data for the 

 construction of a "sound bottom group," 

 based upon the invertebrate fauna and sea 

 flora of the bottom of Vineyard Sound, in 

 the neighborhood of the Devil's Bridge, off 

 Gay Head, Massachusetts. This is to be an- 

 other unit in the series of window groups 

 which are being installed in the Darwin liall. 

 Mr. Miner Avas assisted in this Avork by 

 Messrs. Shimotori, H. Mueller, and C. E. 

 Olsen, as preparators. 



A SERIES of indoor and outdoor gatherings 

 for the purpose of discussing the conserva- 

 tion of New York State's natural resources, 

 particularly the vast forests of the Adiron- 

 daeks, was held at the Lake Placid Club 

 from September 4 to 8. This "forest Aveek" 

 Avas conducted under the auspices of the Ncav 

 York State Forestry Association, of Avhich 

 Mr. Herbert S. Carpenter is president, in 

 cooperation with the State Conservation 

 Commission, the NeAV York State College of 

 Forestry at Syracuse, the forestry depart- 

 ment at Cornell University, and the Lake 

 Placid Club. An interesting prelude to the 

 business of the conference Avas an Indian 

 council fire on the first evening, folloAved by 

 "Indian Day" with speeches by Seneca and 

 Iroquois Indians. The afternoon sessions of 

 the conference were devoted to field trips to 

 places of interest in the vicinity under the 

 direction of well-knoAvn botanists, foresters, 

 and geologists. 



The American Museum War Relief Asso- 

 ciation in its Red Cross and Na\y League 

 branches has made a creditable shoAving for 

 the three months ending August 31, as the 



display in McMuorijil Hall attests. During 

 this period sewers aiui knitters turned out 

 245 separate pieces, consisting of 61 surgical 

 shirts, 5.3 pairs of pajamas, 12 SAveaters, 16 

 scarfs, and 23 pairs of Avristlets. An appeal 

 made to the men of the Museum by the Sol- 

 diers' Aid Committee brought a generous 

 response from many, and Avith a portion of 

 the funds thus secured three of the soldiers 

 from the American Museum have been sup- 

 plied Avith small outfits of useful articles. 

 It is the Avish of the Association to keep in 

 touch Avith all of the American Museum men 

 who have been called into military service 

 and to supply them as far as possible Avith 

 things they may need. 



An important exhibit of human crania, 

 Avith much information of value to students 

 and those interested in anthropology, has 

 been installed in the southAvest wing of the 

 Museum on the second floor, under the super- 

 vision of Mr. Louis R. Sullivan, assistant in 

 somatology. This exhibit aims to point out 

 some of the principal measurements and in- 

 dices in Avhich the various races of man 

 differ from one another. The method of pro- 

 cedure for taking each measurement is indi- 

 cated and the differences illustrated by typi- 

 cal skulls. One section is devoted to the 

 descriptive features and elementary anatomy 

 of the skull. Tavo charts introduced into the 

 exhibit give a short history of craniometry 

 and an exj^lanation of the measuring points 

 on the skull. 



Mr. Harry Watkins, a member of the 

 American Museum's recent zoological expedi- 

 tion in Peru, which, in cooperation Avith the 

 National Geographic Society and Yale Uni- 

 versity, made a biological reconnaissance in 

 the Urubamba Canon, is continuing the 

 Avork of this expedition in an attempt to dis- 

 cover Avhether the divide betAveen the Titi- 

 cacan and Amazonian drainage at La Raya 

 exercises any influence on the distribution of 

 bird life in that region. In prosecuting his 

 researches from La Raya to Urubamba, he 

 Avill complete the survey of the Urubamba 

 region. 



An American Museum exhibit of interna- 

 tional fame is the series of horse skeletons 

 mounted by Mr. S. H. Chubb and installed 

 in the hall of the age of man. The series at 

 present includes the skeletons of the draught 



