Dr. Herbert J. Spinden was elected a Corresponding Member of the Society of Americanists of Paris, at their meeting of November 4, 1919. The American Museum was represented at the fourteenth annual meeting of the American Association of Museums, held in Philadelphia in May, by Dr. E. O. Hovey, Dr. Herbert J. Spinden and Mr. Roy W. Miner. Dr. Spinden addressed the session with reference to the utilization of museum material in industrial art. The American Society of Mammalogists has been organized in Washington. Among the councilors is Dr. W. D. Matthew. Mr. Carl E. Akeley is a member of the Roosevelt Permanent National Committee, appointed for the purpose of choice and erection of a national memorial to the late Theodore Roosevelt. The Aëronautical Society of America, at its meeting of January 9, elected Mr. Carl E. Akeley to life membership in recognition of his important invention of a camera specially designed for use in aëroplane work. At the annual meeting of the American Camp Directors' Association and the Woodcraft League of America, held at Greenkill Camp near Kingston, New York, in May, bird study was conducted by Dr. G. Clyde Fisher, representing the Museum. Dr. Fisher has been made a member of the Council of Guidance of the Woodcraft League. On December 20, the Museum was represented by Dr. Henry E. Crampton at a conference at Albany to consider a biological survey of the State. Dr. F. E. Lutz was the official representative of the Museum at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held in St. Louis from December 29, 1919, to January 3, 1920. Dr. Clark Wissler has been elected Vice-Chairman of the Section of Anthropology and Psychology of the National Research Council. Dr. Pliny E. Goddard has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. HOSPITALITY TO SOCIETIES In spite of reductions in force, the Museum has extended its facilities to many educational and scientific societies during the year, especially to the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Ornithologists' Union, the Horticultural Society of New York, and the National Association of Audubon Societies. On the afternoon of October 4, the King and Queen of the Belgians made an informal visit to the Museum. They were Visit of met by a committee of the Faculty under the direction of Dr. William K. Gregory. The King and Queen were greatly impressed with the attractiveness of the Museum and its educational value to the public. In commemoration of this visit, the Trustees have presented to King Albert two handsomely bound volumes of the first publications of the American Museum's Expedition to the Congo, under the heading "Zoology of the Belgian Congo." These volumes were accompanied by a suitable inscription to the King. Among the societies and organizations that have held meetings at the Museum, in rooms provided for this purpose, have been the following: American Ethnological Society. American Institute of Mining Engineers. American Ornithologists' Union. American Red Cross (booth). American Sweet Pea Society. Aquarium Society. Art Teachers (conference on industrial design). City History Club. Colorado Cliff-Dwellings Association, New York Chapter. Columbia University, Classes. Eastern New York Conference of Educators. Department of Education, New York City (free public lectures, January). Galton Society for the Study of the Origin and Evolution of Man. Horticultural Society of New York. Keramic Society of Greater New York. Linnaean Society of New York. National Association of Audubon Societies. National Research Council (Division of Anthropology and Psychology and Executive Committee on Pacific Exploration). New York Academy of Sciences. Torrey Botanical Club. United States Bureau of Education. SPECIAL GIFTS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS On pages 201 to 220, acknowledgment is made of the many gifts received by the Museum during the year 1919, but we wish here to make special mention of the specimens received from the New York Zoölogical Society and the Department of Parks. Of particular importance also are: The gift by Mr. Edward D. Adams of a framed oil painting by Mr. Howard Russell Butler, showing the corona and prominences of the sun at period of total eclipse of the sun on June 8, 1918, at Baker, Oregon; a gift of pottery and basketry from North America and Africa from Miss Mary Appleton; a series of specimens illustrating coal and its derived products, arranged genetically, from the Barrett Company; seven skins of wolverene, one of white timber wolf, and one of Alaska brown bear, made up as rugs, from Mr. Louis V. Bell; skin of albino deer from Balls Island, S. C., from Mr. Archibald Harrison; a collection of about 11,400 Microlepidoptera from Mrs. W. D. Kearfott; 867 negatives of local wild flowers, from Miss E. M. Kittredge: archæological specimens from the Des Plaines River locality, from Mr. George Langford; a Chinese painting on silk (a kakemono of the last Manchu dynastic period), from Mr. Ogden Mills; 470 specimens of rare marine fishes from Turk's Island and Bermuda, from Mr. L. L. Mowbray; a portrait bust of Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn, by Chester A. Beach, gift of Mrs. Henry Fairfield Osborn; two marble busts with pedestals, one of Aristotle and one of Goethe, gifts of Mrs. Henry Fairfield Osborn; archæological material from Michigan, from Dr. H. G. Otis; 28,270 specimens of Coleoptera from North America, from Mr. C. A. Palm; oil paintings by J. J. Audubon (Sewellel, canvas 16x22, and Spermophile, canvas 12x22), from Dr. Edward H. Rogers; 94 mounted birds from eastern North America, and various sets of eggs, from Mr. Breck Trowbridge; a case of birds of brilliant plumage, from Mrs. F. Vettel, Jr.; five bronze objects from Sumatra, a piece of Samoan tapa cloth, two beaded and two woven pouches from Sumatra, gifts of Mr. Arthur S. Walcott; a lacquered dog house with fittings, from an imperial palace, China, gift of Miss Theodora Wilbour. |