TROPICAL RESEARCH STATION 



Kartabo, British Guiana 



report for the year, 1921. 

 By William Beebe 



STAFF 

 (1922) 



William Beebe, Director; John Tee- Van, Assistant; Paul G. Howes, Research 



Associate; Henry Seton, Research Assistant; Isabel Cooper, 



Artist; Helen Damrosch, Artist; Ruth Rose, Artist. 



T 



HE work of the Department of Tropical Research during the 

 year 1921 may best be represented in calendar form. 



JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 15 



During this period the expedition continued in the field, each 

 member pursuing- his or her particular line of research. Un- 

 usual discoveries were made in the Director's study of the syrinx 

 of birds, for example that in certain decapitated birds every note 

 can be reproduced by manipulation of the lungs and trachea. 



On February 12 an important trip was made to Kaieteur 

 Falls, the party including Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt and four mem- 

 bers of the Station's staff. Many new and interesting specimens 

 w'ere collected and the ground thoroughly surveyed for the estab- 

 lishment of a sub-station another year. The falls are the highest 

 in the world, eight hundred and ten feet in all, about five times 

 as high as Niagara. Upon return to Kartabo the regular ex- 

 ploration and research was resumed. 



APRIL, MAY. 



The expedition returned to New York in April. Owing to 

 a very serious fire on board the steamer at St. Kitts, the entire 

 collections, instruments and equipment required a thorough over- 

 hauling and repairing. The photographic negatives especially 

 had to be removed from their envelopes and washed, and the 

 microscope boxes reconstructed. 



The collection of live animals brought to the Zoological Park 

 included crested curassow, South American rattlesnake, boa, 



