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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



special fund, the income of which is to be 

 devoted to the enrichment of the Museum's 

 collection of birds. The fund has been desig- 

 nated "The Margaret Olivia Sage Fund," 

 and in recognition of the gift the Trustees 

 have elected Mrs. Sage an Associate Bene- 

 factor of the Museum. 



In the forty-seventh annual report of the 

 American Museum of Natural History, Presi- 

 dent Henry Fairfield Osborn lays stress upon 

 the urgent need of the institution for more 

 space. No building has been added since the 

 erection of the southwest wing under the law 

 of 1905, while the collections have doubled in 

 extent, important educational departments 

 have been opened, available space in the pres- 

 ent building is crowded to capacity, and the 

 scientific and educational value of some of the 

 finest collections in the world is lost for lack of 

 a building in which to house them. The esti- 

 mated cost of the proposed new southeast 

 wing and court building is $750,000. It will 

 provide space for the collections of mammals 

 of the sea and fauna of Europe and Asia; 

 for the splendid collections of existing fishes 

 and reptiles, now crowded away in the dark 

 and out of sight; for the superb collection of 

 whales hitherto not exhibited; for other col- 

 lections, and for offices, laboratories and 

 storage room which are seriously needed. 

 Since it seems possible that the finances 

 of New York City will not permit of the 

 building of this extension in the near future, 

 the question is being considered by the Trus- 

 tees of the Museum as to the advisability of 

 raising funds for the new wing by private sub- 

 scription and solving in this way a problem 

 that is rapidly reaching a crisis. 



may throw on certain possible cultural con- 

 nections. The construction and decoration, 

 for instance, of the figurine idols found in 

 caves and near sacred lakes on the Andean 

 paramo, distinctly indicate a cultural bond 

 between Venezuela and Central America. 

 Studies made on the shores and islands of 

 Lake Valencia, along the Orinoco, and else- 

 where, show a series of types such as might 

 be due to divergent regional development, 

 while other features of Venezuelan archse- 

 ology, as for instance, urn burial, indicate 

 customs once prevalent all over this area. 

 These burial urns, containing dessicated 

 human remains in a sitting posture, are found 

 throughout Venezuela, in caves, low mounds, 

 or more generally about two feet under- 

 ground, and the practice probably extends 

 considerably beyond the limits of Venezuela 

 itself. It is known also in Nicaragua and 

 in the southern United States. Dr. Spinden 

 is of opinion that the plastic art of Vene- 

 zuela is identical with the "archaic art" 

 already known in Mexico and Central Amer- 

 ica, and that this archaic culture, always 

 indicating an agricultural people, skilled 

 in the making of pottery and textiles, once 

 extended across northern South America, 

 and will provide a connecting link between 

 the remarkable pottery of Marajo, at the 

 mouth of the Amazon, and the very simple 

 ceramic ware of the Valley of Mexico. Full 

 data and details of this exploration will 

 shortly be published in the Anthropological 

 Papers of the American Museum of Natural 

 History, while briefer reports of Dr. Spin- 

 den's Venezuelan studies in the Journal 

 will come with the usual authority and charm 

 of his articles. 



Advices from Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews, 

 dated from Shanghai, May 18, indicate that 

 conditions in China will not interfere with the 

 carrying out of the plans of the American 

 Museum's expedition there. Mr. Andrews 

 intends to work in Fukien Province, until the 

 arrival of Mr. Edmund Heller, when the expe- 

 dition will proceed into Kweichow Province 

 as previously arranged. 



Dr. Herbert .J. Spinden has recently 

 returned from Venezuela, where he has spent 

 some months in an archaeological reconnais- 

 sance of the northern and central parts of 

 this comparatively untried region, theoreti- 

 cally of great importance for the light it 



At a meeting of the Trustees of Columbia 

 University on May 1, Dr. William K. 

 Gregory was promoted to the rank of assist- 

 ant professor of vertebrate palseontology, 

 and was assigned a seat in the Faculty of 

 Pure Science. Dr. Gregory graduated from 

 Columbia in the class of 1900, and has since 

 been closely associated with Professor Henry 

 Fairfield Osborn in the latter's courses at 

 the University and his researches at the 

 American Museum of Natural History. 

 Dr. Gregory's appointment assures the con- 

 tinuation of the two principal courses on the 

 evolution of the vertebrates and the evolution 

 of the mammals, which were opened by Pro- 

 fessor Osborn in 1892 and have since been 



