December 30, 1922] 



NA TURE 



large groups already prepared and others awaiting 

 preparation. 



The large amount of space, and consequently money, 

 that is required is partly due to the plan on which the 

 American Museum of Natural History is arranged. 

 Our own Natural History Museum has its exhibited 

 collections arranged on a systematic or classificatory 

 basis, but in the American Museum the basis is faunistic 

 or geographical, and an even more serious attempt is 

 made to display the animals in associated groups and 

 under their natural conditions. One of the most 

 striking exhibits illustrated in the present report is 

 an African elephant group (Fig. 1) opened to the public 

 during the past year. This includes a male, a female, 



nearly five months, while studies were conducted upon 

 them. The extinct vertebrates form an important 

 section of the American Museum, and reference is 

 made to many new reconstructions and exhibits. A 

 complete series illustrating the evolution of the horse 

 is being prepared. This section of the report is illus- 

 trated by a photograph of Erwin S. Christman at work 

 upon the model of Brontotherium. We regret to read 

 that Mr. Christman, who had been connected with 

 the department from boyhood as draughtsman, artist, 

 and sculptor, died on November 27, 1921. Another 

 illustration represents a vigorous wall-painting, by 

 Charles R. Knight, of the vertebrates found in the 

 asphalt deposit at Rancho La Brea, and includes the 



Fig. i.— African elephant group in the American Museum . 

 (From .1 photograph kindly supplied by the Dii 



a young one, and a baby elephant, each in a different 

 and characteristic position, and all together forming 

 an impressive assemblage. This is the result of eleven 

 years work by Mr. Carl E. Akeley, who went to Africa 

 in 1 909 to collect the material, and has since been 

 developing and putting into effect a new method of 

 mounting. No sooner was this finished than Mr. 

 Akeley again left for Africa, where he has secured five 

 fine specimens of the gorilla from the Lake Kivu 

 District of the Belgian Congo. Another interesting 

 exhibit consists of models of the marsupial frog oi 

 North America, Ascaphus, a primitive member of the 

 Discoglossidas. This frog lives only at high altitudes 

 among the Olympics and other western mountains. 

 A number of specimens were sent alive to the museum 

 by shipping them in a device allowing water to drip 

 continually upon them. They were thus kept alive 



NO. 2774, VOL. I IO] 



sabre-tooth tiger, ground sloth, Columbian mammoth, 

 and an extinct vulture. 



Space does not allow us to comment on the very 

 interesting reports from all the other sections of the 

 museum, hut we may remind our readers that the 

 building serves as a centre for a large number of 

 societies. So many as forty-three are mentioned as 

 having held meetings, exhibits, or lectures at the 

 museum during 1921. In addition to these the museum 

 was the headquarters of the second International 

 Congress on Eugenics, which Prof. Osborn considers 

 to be the most important scientific meeting ever 

 held in the museum. It was attended by leading 

 eugenists from all parts of the world, and a special 

 exhibit of genetics and racial heredity was prepared for 

 it. Many members of the congress visited the museum 

 to study this exhibit, and it is satisfactory to learn that 



