33( 



THE AMERICAS MUSEUM JOURS AL 



death. Miss Longman, who is a pupil of 

 the sculptor, Daniel French, has achieved in 

 this tablet a work of art not unworthy to rank 

 among those collected by the lover of art 

 whom it commemorates. 



The permanent endowment of the Museum 

 has been enriched by the receipt of $10,000 

 from the estate of Mr. Emil C. Bondy in 

 payment of a bequest. 



Mr. L. D. Kellogg has been elected a 

 Patron of the Museum in recognition of his 

 generous support of the Crocker Land Expe- 

 dition. 



Mr. George C. Longley has added the 

 specimens resulting from his last winter's 

 archaeological work in the island of Jamaica, 

 to the collection previously presented bj^ 

 him to the Museum. The Longley collec- 

 tion is beheved to be the largest and most 

 representative one from Jamaica in existence. 



The annual convention of the National 

 Education Association, July 1-8, was at- 

 tended by thousands of teachers from all 

 parts of the L'nited States. A luncheon was 

 given by the Trustees of the American 

 Museum to the members of the science 

 department of the Association on Friday, 

 July 7, in the Phihppine hall of the Museum, 

 and the Museum's auditorium was placed 

 at the disposal of the science department on 

 that date. 



The department of public education of the 

 Museum prepared a special exhibition of 

 the American Museum's educational work in 

 connection with the schools and libraries of 

 the city, including the circulating nature 

 study collections, the work for the blind, and 

 the system of loaning lantern slides; this 

 is still on view in Memorial Hall. Also, a 

 special leaflet was printed and distributed, 

 calling attention to the most important and 

 interesting exhibits in the Museum. 



Pnjfes.sor Henry Fairfield Osborn, of the 

 American Museum, addressed the Associa- 

 tion on July 6, at the Metropolitan Museum 

 of Art, and also on July 7, at the American 

 Museum, taking for his subject on the latter 

 occasion, "The Museum as the New Force in 

 Public School Development." 



Mr. Arthur L. Gillam has ciiriclicd the 

 collections of the American Museum by the 

 gift of a considerable series of Florida rep- 



tiles and batrachians. . The new collection 

 numbers two hundred and fifty specimens. 

 It includes many examples of certain of the 

 poisonous snakes of Florida — diamond-back 

 rattlers, water moccasins and coral snakes — 

 and also many alligators, ranging in size 

 from seven feet to ten inches. Mr. Gillam 

 sent the greater part of the material alive, 

 by express, from the field; thus many of the 

 specimens are being used as studies for wax 

 casts which will find place in the Florida 

 reptile group now in process of construction 

 in the Museum, under the supervision of 

 Miss M. C. Dickerson. 



The collections of the American Museum 

 of Natural History are constantly and in- 

 creasingly made use of for study bj' teachers 

 and classes from the schools of the city and 

 from a considerable radius of the country 

 around. In order that full advantage may 

 be taken of the varied and extensive exhibits, 

 without expenditure of much time in pre- 

 liminary study, the ^Museum's department 

 of public education, in cooperation with the 

 staff of the various scientific departments, 

 is preparing a teacher's handbook, indicating 

 the ways in which the exhibits can best be 

 utilized in the teaching of geography, history, 

 natural science, and economics. The com- 

 plete handbook will include sections on the 

 North American Indian collections, the 

 habitat bird groups, mammals, fossil verte- 

 brates, reptiles, batrachians, invertebrates, 

 insects, public health, and other branches 

 of natural science. 



Part I of this handbook, dealing with the 

 North American Indian collections, is now 

 ready, and may be obtained at the Museum. 

 It provides a short ethnological summary of 

 the material to be found in the four Indian 

 halls of the Museum, followed by detailed 

 and illustrated suggestions as to ways of 

 using these in teaching elementary history, 

 English, and geography, taking into consider- 

 ation the school requirements in each case. 

 References to other exhibits in the Museum 

 are indicated where appropriate, and a list 

 of suggested reading for the teacher is pro- 

 vided for each subject, while floor plans of 

 the various halls make it easy to find the 

 designated objects. This section of the 

 handbook has been prepared by Miss Ann E. 

 Thomas, of the department of education, 

 with the advice and criticism of Dr. Plinj- 

 Earle Goddard, curator of ethnology. 



