Page Nineteen 



of specialists to investigate different parts of the animal. After the 

 removal of the skin, the body was dissected by Professor Huntington, 

 of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and his assistants. The 

 brain was handed over to Dr. Tilney, Professor of Neurology, who is 

 already well known for his researches on the anatomy of the brains of 

 the great apes and of man. Dr. Morton, an orthopcrdist, and Dr. 

 Gregory are studying the bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments of the 

 feet. Dr. Milo S. Hellman will report on the dentition. Small strips 

 of the skin and hair are being preserved for Dr. Sullivan. Casts of the 

 head and face were made for Professor McGregor. Several other anato- 

 mists will also take part in the investigation. 



Preliminary reports indicate a number of interesting new or little 

 known features of the anatomy. The appendix is curiously human in 

 type, and the same is true of the kidneys, brain and other organs. Im- 

 pressions of the sole of the foot will be studied by Professor H. H. Wilder, 

 the Galton Society expert on ''palms and soles." The general appear- 

 ance of the footprint, although more human than that of the other great 

 apes, has the great toe set off from the other four toes instead of being 

 parallel with them as in man. The delicate ridges of the sole and of the 

 toes differ in many details from those of the ordinary human types, but 

 Dr. Wilder has recorded a single case of a human footprint which has 

 many characteristics of the chimpanzee, and his examination of this 

 gorilla footprint will be awaited with interest. 



The Museum has received several cases of specimens collected by 

 Mr. Brown during the past year, which he has spent in exploring Abys- 

 sinia, Somaliland and British East Africa. The collection contains 

 hundreds of specimens of recent reptiles, amphibians, fishes and insects 

 as well as corals, crustaceans, pelecypods, gastropods and ferns, all of 

 which have been distributed among the various departments interested 

 in the different groups. 



One of the most valuable parts of the collection is the fine series of 

 fossil invertebrates. Comparatively little is known about the geology of 

 Abyssinia and bordering countries. What little has been done in those 

 regions represents the work of British, French and German explorers. 

 The present collection of fossils is probably the first large one to come to 

 an American museum, and the specimens, when described, will constitute 

 a rare and important series of types. Some of the fossils are very ancient , 



