ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY* RALPH W. TOWER, Curator The department has installed an exhibit entitled "From Wing to Paddle." The specimens illustrate some of the probable steps or stages in the transformation Exhibition of a wing which is used solely for flight, and one-strange as it may seem-which is used only for swimming. From this viewpoint birds could be divided into four classes: those that fly high, soar and remain on the wing for extended periods, as the vulture and the hawk; those that fly rapidly and soar but little, as the swallow; those that fly heavily and do not soar, as the hen and turkey; those that do not fly but use their wings to assist in rapid running, as the ostrich, or for paddles in swimming, as the penguin. The wings of birds are modified according to the shape, area and structure of the supporting bones, while the arrangement and size of the feathers play an important part in the function of the wing. It is interesting to note that in the strong fliers the muscles that lower the wing are more powerful than those that raise it, while in the wing used as a paddle the opposite is true. Another exhibit recently installed is a series demonstrating the adaptation of limbs for swimming. A limb adapted to flying must be light and at the same time strong enough to support the large surface of membrane or feathers needed for flight. The bones of the wing of a bird are hollow, slender and long; on the other hand, a limb adapted to swimming must be strong and furnish the support for a comparatively narrow paddle. The foregoing characteristics are well illustrated in the exhibit. A series of window transparencies illustrate the circulation of the blood. The structure of the ventricles, auricles and valves are shown by photographs taken from the normal heart. The pulmonary and systemic circulation of the blood is described by schematic drawings. * Under the Department of Anatomy and Physiology. PUBLIC HEALTH* CHARLES-EDWARD AMORY WINSLOW, Curator From the standpoint of development in the exhibition hall, the energies of the Department during the past year have been devoted entirely to the development and extenDevelopment sion of the exhibit dealing with the hygiene of the diet. The exhibit that was prepared along these lines in 1918 has been materially improved and expanded and has continued to be a center of inspiration for work along this general line throughout the country. Food Exhibit The work has been given large publicity during the year through the preparation of special articles which have appeared in the monthly bulletin of the Life Extension Institute and in various popular magazines and newspaper Sunday supplements, and a large number of classes and groups of students and others have visited the exhibit for informal talks in front of the cases. At the request of Dr. Gustave Straubenmüller, Associate Superintendent of Schools, the Department has made an extensive study of the possibility of coöperating Circulating with the authorities of the City in their campaign Collection of Food Hygiene against malnutrition among school children. A detailed plan has been prepared for a traveling exhibit to be composed of 15 models of foods which can be used in various combinations to teach the value of different foods in the diet and the composition of an ideal daily dietary, these. models being supplemented by blocks illustrating the detailed composition of certain food stuffs and by a series of diagrams and charts. The exhibit in its compactness and completeness will constitute a novel contribution to educational methods in dietary *Under the Department of Public Health (see also page 219). hygiene. Actual exhibits are now under preparation by the Department of Public Education and will be completed by the spring of 1920. Museum of The Museum of Living Bacteria has continued its invaluable work, and it is interesting to notice that a collection of a similar kind has just been inaugurated in England under the auspices of the Lister Institute. It is to be hoped, however, that the preeminence in the field of systematic bacteriology which our collection has so long held may still be maintained in the future. The total strains now under cultivation are 575, the collection having been gone over and a number of duplicate types eliminated. During the year ending December 1, 1919, 4,137 cultures were sent without charge to laboratories of health departments and universities, making a total of 26,192 cultures distributed since the opening of the laboratory in 1911. All together, 283 institutions have benefited by our service during the year ending December 1, 1919. The monograph on the colon-typhoid group of bacteria, prepared by the Curator, Dr. Kligler and Mr. Rothberg, appeared during the autumn of 1919, and the reviPublications sion of the classification of the Staphylococci, with a final report of the Committee on Classification of the Society of American Bacteriologists, of which the Curator is chairman, will go to press early in 1920. On the completion of his military service Mr. William Rothberg returned to the Museum, and Miss E. I. Parsons Changes in Staff resigned her position in June. Mr. Rothberg resigned in the autumn after completing eight years of devoted service, and his place has been taken by Miss Ada Bancroft, Wellesley, 1912. |