The American Museum Journal 



Vol. VI. JANUARY, 1906. No. i 



I HE chief feature of the current number of the 

 Journal is an article by Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, of 

 the scientific staff of the Museum, describing the 

 development of a mollusk and forming a guide 

 to the series of models which he has prepared to 

 illustrate the development from the egg to the adult stage of the 

 little shell known to the conchologist as Crepidtda. This shell 

 occurs in great numbers along the North Atlantic coast and is 

 commonly known in the United States as the "Boat Shell," on 

 accoimt of its shape and the diaphragm in it which resembles 

 the thwart of a boat. In Great Britain the same shell is called 

 the "Slipper Limpet." This article is also published separately 

 as No. 21 of the Museum series of Guide Leaflets and may be 

 obtained at a nominal price. 



A NATURALLY MUMMIFIED BODY FROM CHILE. 



One of the most remarkable specimens that the Department 

 of Ethnology has acquired in years was obtained by the Museum 

 in November. It is a naturally mummified body which was 

 found in a copper mine at Chuquicamata, province of Anto- 

 fagasta, Chile. The condition of the body shows that the un- 

 fortunate miner, probably a woman, was caught by a cave-in of 

 the roof and partly crushed. The mummification seems to have 

 been produced in part by the action of copper salts and not to 

 have been merely a desiccation due to the dryness of the region. 

 The skin has not collapsed on the bones, as in the mummies found 

 usually in the region, but the body and limbs preserve nearly 

 their natural size and proportions, except for the crushing al- 

 ready mentioned. No analysis has yet been made of the 

 tissues, so that it is too early to hazard any supposition as to 



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