M 



useum 



Notes 



Since the last issue of the Journal the fol- 

 lowing persons have become members of the 

 Museum: 



Life Members, Miss Julia J. Pierkepont 

 and Messrs. Gates W. McGarrah and 

 Russell Perkins; 



Sustaining Members, Messrs. Max Her- 

 man and Howard Notman; 



Annual Members, Mrs. H. S. Bowen, Mrs. 

 Gardiner Gayley, Mrs. Paul Gottheil, 

 Mrs. Charles W. Leavitt, Mrs. Banyer 

 Ludlow, Mrs. E. L. Ludlow, Mrs. John H. 

 Lynch, Mrs. James W. McLane, Mrs. 

 Emerson MacMillin, Mrs. George Mas- 

 sey, Mrs. Ponsonby Ogle, Mrs. Charles 

 Albert Perkins, Mrs. Wilijam C. Peyton, 

 Mrs. G. M. Phelps, Mrs. Ernest Poole, 

 Mrs. Howard L. Thomas, Mrs. Catherine 

 D. Vernon, Misses Lulu Benziger, Sarah 

 J. Day, M. E. Kohler, Mary L. Ludington, 

 Ethel L. McLean, Lily S. Piquet, and H. 

 White, Dr. A. A. Brill, Dr. Walton 

 Martin, Dr. Harry H. Weist, and Messrs. 

 C. W. Elmer, James C. Farrell, Henry 

 Heide, Jr., William W. Kelchner, W. G. 

 Keuffel, G. Levor, C. R. Miller, Augus- 

 tus L. Moss, Benjamin Nicoll, Murray 

 Olyphant, Edgar Palmer, William C. 

 Payton, John O. H. Pitney, William L. 

 Ransom, Henry' Schreiter, Bleecker 

 Van Wagenen, and William P. Wain- 

 wright. 



The American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory announces the establishment of a new 

 class of membership in the institution. For 

 some time it has been evident that there is a 

 very large number of people who would enjoy 

 being a.ssociated with the American Museum, 

 yet who, because of remote residence from 

 New York City and infrequent visits, cannot 

 participate in the lectures and various other 

 privileges that come to the Annual Member 

 from his near residence. To enable these 

 friends to become identified with the work of 

 the institution the trustees have just created 

 a new class of membership to be designated as 

 "Associate Members." The only condition 

 of eligibility to Associate Membership is that 

 the candidate reside at least fifty miles from 

 New York City and pay the annual member- 

 ship fee of three dollars. Associate Members 

 receive current issues of the American Mu- 

 seum Journal, a complimentary copy of the 



President's Annual Report, an annual pass 

 admitting to the Members' Room, two com- 

 l)limentary tickets admitting to the Members' 

 Room for distribution by Members to their 

 friends, and the services of an instructor for 

 guidance when visiting the Museum. Al- 

 ready more than one hundred Associate 

 Members have been enrolled from twenty- 

 two different states, as far apart as Vermont, 

 California, Louisiana, and Winnipeg. It is 

 hoped that present members will cooperate 

 with the Museum in making this opportunity 

 known to those whom it may interest. 



Mr. J. P. Morgan has financed in part 

 the excavation by the American Museum of 

 Natural History, of the famous Aztec ruins in 

 the northwest corner of New Mexico. The 

 name "Aztec" has no historical significance 

 in this case but is a part of the folklore of the 

 Southwest, presumably because the first 

 explorers, who were familiar with the Aztec 

 culture of Mexico, assumed that all of the 

 ruins and evidences of higher culture in 

 America were to be attributed to the Aztecs. 

 The ruins are in fact of the well-known Pueblo 

 type, and belong distinctly to prehistoric 

 Pueblo peoples, since these ruins have never 

 been occupied since the discovery of the 

 country by the Spaniards. Notwithstanding 

 their great age the ruins are in an excellent 

 state of preservation and constitute a very 

 rich archa?ological site. Many of the walls 

 are standing to the second story and portions 

 of the timbered ceilings still exist, some of the 

 cedar beams being still in place. The owner 

 of the ruins, Mr. H. D. Abrams, has very 

 carefully protected them from vandalism for 

 many years, so that they are on the whole 

 the best-preserved ruins in the Southwest. 

 An arrangement has been made with Mr. 

 Abrams l)y which the ruins are to be scienti- 

 fically studied and excavated by the Museum. 

 Five seasons will be required for this work. 

 Besides the large ruin, there are five or six 

 smaller ones, and the old reservoir even is 

 preserved. Mr. N. C. Nelson will set out 

 for New Mexico on May 4 to make prelimi- 

 nary surveys, and will be joined there by Mr. 

 Earl H. Morris of the University of Colorado 

 who will assist in the excavations. Mr. Nel- 

 son will also undertake the excavation of 

 pueblo ruins near Zuni, with the assistance 

 of Mr. Leslie Spier. 



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