198 Field Museum of Natural History — Reports, Vol. IV. 



obtained valuable specimens from the South Pacific Islands, with many- 

 photographs and 66 Japanese and Ainu specimens. These have all 

 been catalogued, labeled and installed in Hall 56. The Ainu material 

 was especially welcome as it supplements the present collection. The 

 Japanese specimens enables the Museimi, with the addition of the 

 material already on hand, to make what may be said to be the beginning 

 of a Japanese section. Even thus, it must be admitted that Japan is 

 very poorly and inadequately represented in this Department, and 

 immediate attention should be given to its development. One of 

 the most significant acquisitions of the year was by gift from the 

 Tuesday Art and Travel Club of Chicago, who presented to the Museum 

 two magnificent ancient rolls painted on silk. One, over 27 feet long, 

 represents one of China's famous paintings, showing the life, traffic, 

 and culture of a mediaeval town at the end of the Twelfth Century; 

 the other picture, 21 feet long, represents one hundred boys at play 

 and imparts a vivid description of China's games and customs, painted 

 in a graceful style during the Ming period Both paintings are exhibited 

 in specially prepared cases in Hall 45, being accompanied by detailed 

 explanatory labels. Mr. John Muir, a missionary at Batang on the 

 Tibetan and Chinese frontier, returned to Chicago with a collection 

 of 165 Tibetan specimens, including a number of interesting paint- 

 ings, books, costumes, weapons, ornaments, and a model of a Tibetan 

 house, all of which form valuable additions to the Tibetan collections 

 obtained by Dr. Laufer. A fine Chinese tapestry, nearly 20 feet long, 

 representing The Eighteen Arhat (disciples of Buddha) in the act of 

 crossing the sea, in the style of the famous painter Li Lungmien, has 

 been acquired by purchase. This notable specimen came to this country 

 at least a century ago through a Chinese family settling in California. 

 A collection of 9 pieces of Han pottery has been purchased from Dr. 

 Buckens, a Belgian physician in the service of the Peking-Hankow 

 Railway, who had exceptional facilities for procuring antiquities exca- 

 vated during the construction of railroads. The mortuary stoves and 

 towers in this collection well supplement the manifold types on hand. 

 There is, besides, a fine piece of Tcang pottery in this lot, an amphora- 

 shaped jar with double dragon handles, made in imitation of Persian 

 ware of the Sassanian epoch. A curious album, with beautifully lacquer- 

 ed covers painted in gold with miniatures, is another valuable addition; 

 it contains 25 specimens of popular art, depicting the life, customs, and 

 industries of Southern China in the beginning of the Nineteenth Century 

 — an interesting ethnological record of the now vanishing culture of 



I 



