586 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1431 



expedition, tlie life and customs of ttie people 

 and the interesting features of the country. 

 Mr. J. B. Shackelford, who is perhaps the 

 foremost cinematographer of the United States, 

 is equipped with three remarkable cameras 

 which were invented by Mr. Carl Akeley of the 

 American Museum of Natural History for nat-' 

 ural history work. This camera can be leveled 

 instantly without reference to the position of 

 the tripod and with a turn of the wrist can be 

 swung up and down, from side to side, or in 

 any direction, thus obviating the clumsy pano- 

 ramic device which is one of the most cumber- 

 some features of the ordinary moving picture 

 camera. A battery of lenses of all descriptions, 

 including powerful telephoto lenses, will make 

 possible the obtaining of animal photographs 

 at long distances. Antelope, wild horses, wild 

 asses and wild camels can be run down in the 

 motor cars, and these exciting chases, which 

 are a feature of hunting on the Mongolian 

 plains, can be brought home in all their de- 

 tails. The expedition hopes to lasso many ani- 

 mals from the cars and send some of them alive 

 to America. A complete record of the lives 

 and customs of the Mongols, historically one 

 of the most interesting peoples of the world, 

 has never been attempted and this field has 

 almost unlimited possibilities of the greatest 

 scientific and popular interest. 



Dr. Walter Granger, paleontologist of the 

 expedition, ranks high in his profession 

 throughout the world. Possibly no man is more 

 familiar with the difficult technique of discov- 

 ering and preparing fossils in the field than 

 Dr. Granger. His many years of work in 

 America on the evolution of the Eocene horse 

 has brought to the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History the finest collection of fossil horse 

 material in the world. He also conducted ex- 

 tensive explorations in the Fayum Desert of 

 Africa on the famous expedition under the 

 direction of the distinguished president of the 

 American Museum of Natural History, Pro- 

 fessor Henry Fairfield Osborn. Dr. Granger 

 has only recently returned from Eastern 

 Szechuan, where he has been spending the 

 winter investigating a fossil field not far from 

 Wan hsien on the Yangtze Eiver. This expe- 

 dition has brought together an extremely inter- 



esting collection of fossils among which the 

 primitive elephant Stegedon is particularly 

 well represented. 



Dr. Charles P. Berkey, who is professor of 

 geology in Columbia University, has beeen con- 

 nected with so many important operations in 

 America, and is so well-known to the geologists 

 of the world that special mention of his activi- 

 ties would be superfluous. Dr. Berkey, who 

 has charge of all the geological work of the 

 expedition will carry on a reconnaissance of 

 structural geology and physiography of the 

 areas to be visited in Mongolia and lay out 

 general plans for further geological work. His 

 attention will be particularly devoted to the 

 Tertiary features of the region in relation to 

 its bearing on the problem of the development 

 of primitive man. 



Professor Frederick Morris is a former col- 

 league of Dr. Berkey in Columbia University 

 and until the first of March was professor of 

 geology in Pei Yang University at Tientsin. 

 Professor Morris is an expert topographer and 

 wilL have charge of the mapping and survey 

 work of the expedition as well as assisting in 

 geological investigations. Probably no man in 

 America is better equipped for this work be- 

 cause of his exceptional ability in sketching and 

 his familiarity with map-making and all phases 

 of topographical study. A wireless equipment 

 has been obtained and the American Legation 

 wireless station will send over the correct time 

 each evening at 7 o'clock, so that the exact 

 geographical position of the partj' will be ob- 

 tained. 



Mr. F. A. Larsen, who will act as field man- 

 ager in Mongolia, will bring to the expedition 

 the benefit of his thorough knowledge of the 

 country and its people and be of the greatest 

 assistance in helping to adjust the various 

 difficulties, such as will inevitably arise. 



Roy Chapman Andrews, the leader and or- 

 ganizer of the expedition as well as directing 

 the general operations, will conduct zoological 

 investigations in mammals, birds, fishes and 

 reptiles. 



The purpose of the Third Asiatic Expedi- 

 tion is to carry on a coordinated investigation 

 of various areas in Central Asia which have 

 remained scientifically unexplored. It is the 



