502 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



an illuminated Message of Congratulation 

 bearing forty-six signatures. The text of 

 this message and the signatures were as fol- 

 lows : 



TO 

 HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN 



Your friends, who are hound to you by 

 many years of treasured association, hring 

 this Message of Congratulation upon your 

 Sixtieth Birthday. 



We have followed with increasing admira- 

 tion the progress of your labors during the 

 past forty years in an ever widening field of 

 science. We are proud of the splendid record 

 of your achievements: admirable researches 

 accomplished and in progress, great institu- 

 tions of science and education founded and 

 fostered, high scientific ideals nobly illus- 

 trated and practised. 



May the coming years further expand the 

 orbit of your influence. May your spirit of 

 high enthusiasm, thoroughness and unweary- 

 ing industry, sustained by the cordial sym- 

 pathy and cooperation which you have always 

 shown toward others, become more and more 

 characteristic of American Sciencr. 

 J u gust 8, 1017. 



J. A. Allen 

 L. P. Gratacai' 

 George F. Kunz 



E. O. HOVEY 



IOdmuxd B. Wilson 

 ^\■.^r. H. Carpenter 

 Bash FORD Dean 

 Henry E. Crampton 



Frank M. Chapman T. H. Morgan 



Jonathan Dwight Gary N. Calkins 



Roy W. Miner J. Howard McGregor 



W. D. Matthew W. B. Scott 



Walter Granger Chas. W. Mead 



Barncm Brown Chester A. Reeds 



A. Hermann John Treadwell Nichols 



William K. Gregory Cleveland H. Dodge 



Frederic A. Lucas Madison Grant 



Theodore Roosevelt Perctt R. Pyne 



N. L. Britton W. T. Hornaday 



Geo. H. Sherwood Chas. H. Townsend 



R. W. Tower C. W. Beebe 



Mary C. Dickerson Raymond L. Ditmars 



Pliny Eaei.e Goddard S. H. Chubb 



Clark Wissler Albert Thomson 



Prank E. Lutz E. S. Christman 



Fred H. Smyth A. E. Anderson 



Geo. N. Pindar H. Lang 



The Apache Indian life group, which was 

 opened in May, marks another important 

 step in the American Museum's study of 

 Indian life in its native environment. The 

 scene portrays the semidesert landscape in 

 the valley of the San Carlos Eiver, Arizona. 

 Indians are shown engaged in weapon and 

 basket making and in housebuilding. The 

 background, a canvas eleven feet high by 



sixty-five feet long, was painted by Mr. 

 Howard McCormick from sketches made by 

 him in the Apache country; he also planned 

 the details of the group, and superintended 

 the arrangement of the lighting. The vari- 

 ous figures were modeled and colored by 

 Mahonri Young from studies in the field. 

 The Apaches are nomadic tribes of the 

 Southwest, inhabiting southern Arizona and 

 New Mexico. The name has become widely 

 known through certain divisions of the tribe 

 Avho carried oii warfare against the Mexican 

 settlers for many years, until restrained by 

 the United States government and placed on 

 reservations. All of the Apaches west of the 

 Eio Grande nuake houses having pole frames 

 covered with n thatch of weeds and grass. 

 The poles are set in the ground, and the tops 

 bent over and lashed together, forming a 

 dome-shaped structure, as shown in the 

 group. The Apaches cultivate corn and 

 beans to some extent. They often obtain 

 large crops of wild piiion nuts. The bean- 

 like pods of the mesquite are eaten when 

 green and the dry seeds ground into flour. 

 The amole has a banana-shaped fruit which 

 is cooked in the ashes and afterward dried. 

 The agave, a century plant, also furnishes 

 nutritious food, and many species of cacti 

 have edible fruit. Besides these, berries, 

 seeds of grasses and sunflowers, nuts and 

 bulbs, add considerably to the natural food 

 supply. The Jiearilla Apaches make what 

 pottery is required for household purposes. 

 Their ware is undecorated, except for ridges 

 or points modeled in low relief. Pine bark 

 is used in the firing of the vessels, giving 

 them a lusterless black surface, and when 

 cool they are coated with piuon gum to make 

 them more durable. It is in their basketry 

 that the Apaches display greatest artistic 

 skill. Willow and sumach are used, single 

 twigs for the foundation and split sap por- 

 tions for the sewing material. Designs are 

 geometrical and the colors almost exclusively 

 black and white. Basketry water jars are 

 coated inside with pifion pitch to make them 

 water tight. 



In early summer Dr. C. E. Eastman left on 

 a collecting trip to South America for the 

 purpose of making additions to the series of 

 fossil and recent fishes from that country, 

 and of carrying out some of the plans 

 formed by Dr. Frank M. Chapman in the 

 direction of increased friendly relations and 

 cooperation with scientific institutions in 



