152 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



The Council of the American Anthropological Association under the chairman- 

 ship of Professor Alexander F. Chamberlain of Clark University, met recently at the 

 American Museum of Natural History. In an informal discussion Professor R. S. 

 Woodworth of Columbia University gave a report on the psychological investigation 

 of primitive races, which was followed by remarks on methods of research in physical 

 anthropology, archaeology, art, linguistics, and technology. Among those who took 

 part in the discussion were Professor Chamberlain, Mr. Frederick W. Hodge, 

 the ethnologist-in-charge of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Professor Franz 

 Boas of Columbia, Professor Alfred M. Tozzer of Harvard, Drs. Clark Wissler, 

 Pliny E. Goddard, and Robert H. Lowie. In honor of the non-resident anthropolo- 

 gists attending the council session, the American Ethnological Society gave an in- 

 formal dinner at the Hotel Endicott, after which all returned to the Museum for the 

 regular monthly meeting of the local society. At the evening session Mr. N. C. 

 Nelson spoke on the Galisteo Pueblos, while Dr. Herbert J. Spinden and Mr. Alanson 

 Skinner discussed the folklore of the Tewa and Menomini Indians respectively. 



At the March meeting of the Section of Biology, New York Academy of Sciences, 

 Mr. George G. Scott of the College of the City of New York, summarized his own and 

 other investigations on osmotic pressure of the tissues in aquatic animals. In marine 

 invertebrates the internal osmotic pressure varies with that of the external medium; 

 in the higher fishes it is more stable, responses to changes in the medium being limited 

 in range; in the lower fishes (sharks) intermediate conditions are observed. Dis- 

 cussion of Mr. Scott's communication brought out the principle that osmotic phe- 

 nomena had played an important role in evolution, especially of the respiratory organs, 

 circulatory system and skin of vertebrates. 



The hall of public health in the American Museum will be opened April 16, the 

 event marked by a public meeting in the interest of the campaign for civic cleanliness 

 instituted by the New York City department of health. Addresses illustrated with 

 moving pictures, will be given by Dr. Ernest J. Lederle, Mrs. Edward R. Hewitt 

 and Prof. C-E. A. Winslow. At a reception following, there will be exhibited an 

 enlarged model of the house fly prepared at the Museum during the past year and 

 models of other specimens dealing with the relation of insects to the dissemination 

 of disease. 



The Museum will this summer have three field parties in search of fossil verte- 

 brates, continuing the systematic exploration of regions which last summer and in 

 previous years have yielded very important additions to our collections. Mr. Bar- 

 num Brown will continue work on the Cretaceous of Alberta, Mr. Walter Granger 

 in the Eocene of New Mexico and Wyoming, Mr. Albert Thomson in the Miocene 

 of Nebraska. While it is not expected that the unusual success of last summer will be 

 duplicated, we look forward to securing valuable specimens of Cretaceous dinosaurs 

 and Eocene and Miocene mammals. 



Mr. Russell J. Coles of Danville, Virginia, has presented to the Museum many 

 interesting specimens of fishes from the coast of North Carolina, notably sharks and 

 rays. His intimate acquaintance with the Cape Lookout region enables him to 

 navigate its treacherous waters in a small sailboat and thus gain first-hand knowledge 

 of little-known species. During the coming season Mr. Coles will continue to collect 

 for the Museum and among other specimens hopes to capture a porpoise of doubtful 

 identity previously observed in the region. 



