February i6, 191 i] 



NATURE 



5^7 



" On the trip Mr. Heller has prepared 1020 specimens 

 of mammals, the majority of large sizes ; Mr. Loring has 

 prepared 3163, and Dr. Mearns 714, a total of 4897 

 mammals. Of birds, Dr. Mearns has prepared nearly 

 3100, Mr. Loring 899, and Mr. Heller about 50, a total 

 of about 4000 birds. Of reptiles and batrachians, Messrs. 

 Mearns^ Loring, and Heller collected about 2000. 



•' Of fishes, about 500 were collected. Dr. Mearns 

 collected marine fishes near Mombasa and fresh-water 

 fishes elsewhere in British East Africa, and he and 

 •Cuninghame collected fishes in the White Nile. This 

 .^akes in all of vertebrates : mammals, 4897 ; birds, about 

 .1000 ; reptiles and batrachians, about 2000 ; fishes, about 

 ); total, 11,397. 



"The invertebrates were collected carefully by Dr. 

 Mearns, with some assistance from Messrs. Cuninghame 

 and Kermit Roosevelt. A few marine shells were collected 

 near Mombasa, and land and fresh-water shells through- 

 cut the regions visited, as well as crabs, beetles, milli- 

 peda, and other invertebrates. 



" Several thousand plants were collected throughout the 

 regions visited by Dr. Mearns. . . . Anthropological 

 materials were gathered by Dr. Mearns, with some assist- 

 ance from others." 



Cambrian Geology and Palaeontology. 



During the field season of 1909 I continued my investi- 

 gations in the geology of the Cambrian and pre-Cambrian 

 rocks of the Bow River Valley, Alberta, Canada, and on 

 the west side of the Continental Divide north of the 

 Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia. 



The measurements of the Cambrian section were carried 

 down to a massive conglomerate which forms the base of 

 the Cambrian system in this portion of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. This discovery led to the study of the pre-Cambrian 

 rocks of the Bow River Valley. These were found to 

 form a series of sandstones and shales some 4000 feet in 

 thickness, that appear to have been deposited in fresh- 

 water lakes prior to the incursion of the marine waters in 

 ■which the great bed of conglomerate and the Cambrian 

 rocks above were deposited. 



Study of American Mammals. 



Through the generosity of a friend of the institution, 

 Mrs. E. H. Harriman, there has been provided a trust 

 fund yielding an income of 2400Z. a year, which is placed 

 under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution for the 

 specific purpose of carrying on scientific studies, particu- 

 larly of American mammals and other animals, the donor 

 ^ecifying Dr. C. Hart Merriam as the investigator to 

 carr\- on the work during his lifetime. 



Biological Survey of the Panama Canal Zone. 



It is gratifying to state that it now seems possible that 

 ^n exhaustive biological survey of the Panama Canal Zone 

 will be undertaken in the winter of 1910-11. Definite 

 plans for this surv'ey have not been decided up)on at pre- 

 sent, but these are now under consideration, and it is 

 hoped that all the arrangements may be completed and 

 4he work put in hand in a few months. 



It is particularly important to science that a biok^ical 

 survey of the Canal Zone be made at this time, as it 

 appears, without question, that it would yield important 

 scientific results, both as regards additions to knowledge 

 and to the collections of the L'nited States National 

 Museum and other museums. While the Isthmus is not 

 so well endowed with large forms as the great continental 

 areas, such as Africa, southern Asia, and some other 

 jegions, yet its fauna and flora are rich and diversified. 

 ;The collecting which has been carried on there has been 

 on such a rather limited scale, and chiefly along trade 

 routes, that an extensive and thorough survey would surely 

 produce new scientific information of great value. 

 . A part of the fresh-water streams of the Isthmus of 

 'Panama empty into the Atlantic Ocean and others into 

 the Pacific Ocean. It is known that a certain number of 

 -animals and plants in the streams on the Atlantic side 

 are different from those of the Pacific side, but as no 

 exact biological surve>" has ever been undertaken, the 

 extent and magnitude of these differences have yet to be 

 learned. It is also of the utmost scientific importance to 



NO. 2155, VOL. 85] 



determine exactly the geographical distrfbution of the 

 various organisms inhabiting those waters, as the Isthmus 

 is one of the routes by which the animals and plants of 

 South America have entered North America, and vice 

 versa. When the canal is completed, the organisms of 

 the various watersheds will be offered a ready means of 

 mingling t<^ether, the natural distinctions now existing 

 will be obliterated, and the data for a true understanding 

 of the fauna and flora placed for ever out of reach. 



By the construction of the Gatun dam, a vast fresh- 

 water lake will be created, which will drive away or 

 drown the majority of the animals and plants now inhaoit- 

 ing the locality, and quite f>ossibly exterminate some 

 species before they become known to science. 



Antiquity of Man in South America. 



In March, 1910, the institution directed Dr. .'\les 

 Hrdlicka, curator of the division of physical anthropolt^v. 

 United States National Museum, to proceed to South 

 America and Panama Canal Zone for the purpose of 

 making anthropological researches, and particularly to 

 undertake investigation into the question of man's 

 antiquity in .\rgentina. Dr. Hrdliclca was accompanied 

 by Mr. Bailey Willis, of the United States Geological 

 Survey. 



The subject of man's antiquity in South America dates 

 from the meagre reports concerning the scattered remains 

 in the Lagoa Santa caves in Brazil, the casual Seguin 

 finds in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, and the 

 Moreno collection of old Patagonian material in the valley 

 of Rio Negro, and it has assumed a special importance 

 during the last decade through a relatively large number 

 of reports by Argentinian men of science, but particularly 

 by Prof. F. Ameghino, of new finds of the remains of 

 ancient man and of traces of his activities. Some of these 

 more recent finds were so interpreted that, if corroborated, 

 they would have a most important bearing, not merely on 

 man's early presence in the South American continent, but 

 on the evolution and the spread of mankind in general. 



Under these conditions, and in view of the fact that 

 some of the reports were not fully satisfactory as to their 

 anatomical or geological details, it was deemed necessary 

 to send down competent men who might subject the whole 

 matter to critical revision. 



The researches occupied nearly two months. Everv- 

 specimen relating to ancient man that could still be found 

 was examined, and every locality of importance where the 

 finds were made was visited and investigated. The 

 evidence gathered, unfortunately, does not sustain a large 

 part of the claims that have been made. The human 

 bones and the archaeological specimens which should 

 represent geologically ancient man agree in all important 

 characteristics with the bones and work of the American 

 Indian ; and the finds, while often in close relation with 

 earlv Quaternary or Tertian.- deposits, bear, so far as 

 observed, only intrusive relations to these deposits. 

 Furthermore, there are specimens the original sources of 

 which are not so well established that scientific deductions 

 of great consequence can be safely drawn therefrom, even 

 though they present some morphological peculiarities. 



The expedition secured numerous geological, palaeonto- 

 Ic^ical, and anthropological specimens, some of which 

 throw much light on the question of the antiquity of the 

 finds to which they relate. These specimens are being 

 identified and described in the National Museum. Dr. 

 Hrdlicka and Mr. Willis will present in due time a detailed 

 report on their investigations. 



Following the researches in Argentina, Dr. Hrdlicka 

 visited several of the anthropologically important locali- 

 ties on the coast of Peru and made large collections of 

 skeletal material, which will help to settle definitely the 

 racial problems of these regions, and will have an 

 important bearing on the anthropology- of the western 

 part of South America. 



Astrophysical Observatory. 



The work of the Astrophysical Observatory during the 

 year has brought two important results : — 



(i) The first result is the establishment of an absolute 

 scale of pyrheliometrv- within three parts in one thousand 

 as the result of a long series of experiments with various 



