John Paridoso, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service, me(i.sii)i)ig wolf skulls (Canis), with caribou (Rangifer) 

 hanging above. The photograph was taken before 1964 in the Fish and Wildlije area oj the west range, ground floor. 



F. W. Hodge during the first decade of this century. 

 More than a third of a century later, Bulletin 143, the 

 Handbook of South American Indians, was completed. 



Although relationships between the Department of 

 Anthropology and the BAE had been strong when 

 Holmes ran both, they gradually became less satisfac- 

 tory. In addition, for the last half of its lifetime the 

 staff of the bureau dwindled, and in July, 1964, it was 

 merged with the Museum's Department of Anthro- 

 pology to form the Smithsonian's Office of Anthro- 

 pology.'"' At that time its scientific staff of three an- 

 thropologists moved to the Museum of Natural History. 

 During the early 1970s, a major revision of the Hand- 

 book of American Indians North of Mexico was undertaken. 

 William Sturtevant, one of the last former BAE em- 

 ployees on the departmental staff, is in charge of the 

 project, whose budget is distinct from that of the de- 

 partment. 



Systematics Continues 



In the current government science community, system- 

 atics — the differentiation of species, their naming and 

 classification — is given less significance than in the past, 

 in spite of its obvious application to the nation s envi- 

 ronment, food, and fuel. There have been staff in- 

 creases for natural history positions in the Departments 

 of Agriculture, Commerce, and the Interior, but they 

 are slight compared to total growth of these agencies. 



However, the old tradition of the Museum as the 

 place to do systematics for the federal government re- 

 mains. During the early 1960s the Department of the 

 Army joined the club of associated agencies by housing 

 a Southeast Asia Mosquito Project in the Museum. The 

 outside world still confuses the staff members of (he 

 affiliated agencies with those of the Museum, and the 

 Museum continues to provide space for these allied 

 scientists and their valuable collections. □ 



Affiliated Organizations 



53 



