NATURAL 

 HISTORY 



Vol. 103, No. 1, January 1994 



Cover: with flukes raised, a right whale sails across the bay — whales often do this 

 repeatedly — at its wintering grounds near Argentina's Peninsula Valdes. 

 Story on page 40. Photograph by Iain Kerr. 



2 Letters 



4 State of the Museum: 1994 



The New President's Vision of Science and Society 



6 Losing Game Allyn Maclean Stearman 



Tales about fearsome natives in remote Bolivia may have been 

 apociyphal, but the arrow in the settler's thigh was real. 



12 This View of Life Stephen Jay Gould 

 Cabinet Museums Revisited 



22 This Land Roben H. Mohlenbrock 

 Paxton Cone, New Mexico 



26 Sex, Drugs, and Butterflies Michael Boppre 



The stronger the chemical perfume of a male butterfly, the more alluring he is to females. 



34 Young Lizards Can Be Bearable Richard SMne 



In cold climates, moms give their young a head start — at a price. 



40 Among Whales y?oge/- Payne 



On calm, sunny mornings, sleeping whales "are scattered throughout the bay like 

 drifting logs, with the sounds of their snores filling the air." 



48 Wings on Their Fingers Rick a. Adams and Scott C. Pedersen 



To earn their wings, young bats face a steep, often fatal, learning curve. 



56 A Fly in Ant' S Clothing Gregory Paulson and Roger Akre 

 Beguiled by the shape and odor of a parasite, 

 ants welcome it into their home with open arms. 



60 Science Lite Roger l. Weisck 



Spring in the Air 



62 At the American Museum 

 of Natural History 



66 Reviews Paul D. Spudis 



Vanished Greatness 



70 Celestial Events Gail s. cieere 



Lost but Not Forgotten 



72 A Matter of Taste Raymond Sokoiov 



Pyramid Power 



76 The Natural Moment 



Photographs by Seiichi Meguro 

 Ghost in a Snowstorm 



78 Authors 





