SCIENCE-SUPPLEMENT 



The specimens are shown on three of the four 

 floors and at the top of the building is a com- 

 modious work room given to the cleaning and 

 preparation of the collections for display. Al- 

 though this museum is devoted to delving into the 

 past, it is conducted in accordance with the prin- 

 ciples of modern business efficiency. The in- 

 stallations are in the latest types of cases. Al- 

 ready the storage vaults in the basement are 

 filled, and many of the bulky specimens which 

 can not be shown at present, are housed in an- 

 other building which is almost as large as the 

 museum itself. 



There is a novel system of installation, intro- 

 duced foT the first time in the United States, 

 through which the public can see what is not in 

 open view without asking for it. Under many 

 cases, there are drawers which the visitors may 

 pull out and view objects under their glass tops. 

 The students and the research investigators also 

 have access to the collections in storage, all of 

 which have been systematically catalogued by the 

 director himself. There is not a bit of bone or a 

 potsherd in the whole institution which can not 

 be instantly found for purposes of comparison 

 and research. 



If some one should come in with a fanciful 

 theory that the Australian bushmen and the 

 American Indians had some relationships because 

 both used boomerangs, he would see that such 

 a comparison did mot hold good very far. The 

 Indian rabbit stick is not a boomerang, although 

 it looks a little like that famous weapon, be- 

 cause it really does not come back. Fact can 

 thus be quickly separated from fancy by bring- 

 ing the objects themselves quickly to the study 

 of the investigator. 



"The trustees of the Museum," said Mr. Heye, 

 "wish to make it clear that the objects which are 

 assembled here are of great practical value, aside 

 from the historical and archeological interest at- 

 taching to them. This is realized, for instance, 

 by many manufacturers of textiles who have been 

 making use of ideas gained from our collections. 

 They have been sending their designers here even 

 before the museum was officially opened and they 

 inform us that they have found the inspiration of 

 many new designs that were adapted from what 

 was seen here. We thiok also that the textile in- 

 dustry will find data to guide it in dyeing opei-a- 

 tions, as many of the objects here, centuries old, 

 were dyed with vegetable colors which to all ap- 

 pearances are as fresh as they were when first 

 applied. We believe also that, although modern 

 machinery has outdistanced the Indian craftsmen 

 in speed, the industries of the twentieth century 



wiU find many hints in the synoptic exhibitions 

 of basketry, ceramics and carving which we have 

 installed. In every way the desire to serve the 

 public is uppermost. ' ' 



The board of the museum consists of Harmon 

 W. Hendricks, James B. Ford, F. Kingsbury Cur- 

 tiss, Archer M. Huntington, Minor C. Keith, Clar- 

 ence B. Moore, F. K. Seward, and Samuel Edker, 

 Jr.; Mr. Heye, also a trustee, is chairman. 



AIRPLANE CAMERA SURVEYS MISSISSIPPI 

 DELTA 



Foe the first time the great delta of the Father 

 of Waters, the Mississippi, has been surveyed with 

 true accuracy, is announced by the U. S. Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey. From the air, by using 

 cameras, that great fan-shaped marshy region 

 stretching 600 miles into the Gulf of Mexico was 

 charted, and important shifts of land and water 

 were discovered. 



Formerly it was necessary to survey it from 

 boats, using tall signals and special ladders and 

 tripods, on account of the prevalence of marshes 

 and tall vegetation. Much of it is inaccessible 

 on foot. For these reasons the topography of 

 this area has always been largely a matter of 

 guesswork on the part of surveyors and engineers. 

 A seaplane, camera and men were furnished for 

 the survey by the navy, and pictures were taken 

 of the delta from a height of 8,000 feet. Over a 

 thousand photographs were subsequently formed 

 into a mosaic or composite picture. 



Many totally unknown lakes and ponds were 

 discovered by the aviators. Old stream-beds and 

 changes due to over-flowing banks could be traced. 

 New sub-deltas were found that had formed since 

 the last survey. Some places existing on the last 

 chart have either ceased to exist or have altered 

 completely in form. 



The most important of these changes is in the 

 vicinity of the South Pass, the main entrance to 

 the river. Former surveys showed the west bank 

 of this pass as a marshy area extending out into 

 the gulf for a distance of over four miles. Now, 

 according to this recent photographic mapping, it 

 is merely a narrow strip, so narrow that it is giv- 

 ing the engineers considerable concern as a new 

 ' ' crevasse ' ' may break through at any time, com- 

 pletely altering the mouth of the river. 



Owing to the many forces constantly at work 

 on the delta, changing the contour of the coast 

 line, producing entirely new areas and completely 

 wiping out others, it has been necessary to sur- 

 vey it frequently. . With aerial photography, this 

 can be accomplished in much less time and with 

 more accuracy than by the old methods. As it is 



