The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-02-14


Smithsonian Institution and the Ma
tfnnai Museum. The more than eight
thousand vertebrates collected by the
Observation-Disclosures African eHpe-
dition are arriving. and there Is nuch
activity in the preparation, classihca-
Nsfon and cataioging of this great coli
lection. About half OF the big mann
mails, half of the birds and third
81 the small mammals have arrived,
The Others are on their way, coming
in several separate cnnstgnments, ana
are expected TO arrive within the next
month.
In little room In the National
Museum building are collected the
skulls of the mammals that have ar
rived, and one who sees them might
we'll imagine that Noah's Ark of
African animal life had rerisfed and
the skulls of the animals gathered TO-
eetfier in this room. Skulls great and
skulls small. skulls with long horns
and skulls with short horns. ais
az every kind stare at one from every
angie. In front are fourteen skulls
of giant rhinos, some OF them show
ing welI-piaced shots that tell OF
head-on charge and unerring aim,
To the rear are skulls Of hippos and
elephants. To the left are the snarl-
ing heads Of huge African iions, SEEM
Ing SO small In comparison with those
forgets they belong to the mighty
king of beasts On the right are
akulis Of Materhucks. I'm pRlas.- harte-s
heests. gazelles, Glands, kiippesprtng-
FRS giraffes, dik-diks and other
strange and curious animals.
The authorities have a problem
that Is causing them no little worry.
The beautiful teeth of the carnivorous
animals and those of the hippopotami
are shattering to pieces in the dry,
steam-heated atmosphere of the mu-
scum building. A few days ago
while the workmen were engaged in
the task of preparing the skulls. one
of the giant front teeth of a big
hippo skull burst assunder with a
report. and one piece was hurled half
way across the room. The big, flesh
tearing teeth OF the lions are splitting
into little splinters. What causes IL
no one fully understands, but 1t seems
that there Is difference in porosity
In the interior and exterior of the
teeth, and that the uneven drying out
results in their shattering. An ex-
pertinent is being made toward check
Ing Ii. The larger tceth are to be
soaked In bet parassine, In the hope
that they will absorb enough of the
oil to stop the splintering process.
There is O large collection of small
mammal skulls. hundreds of them be-
away in little broad necked bottles Of
from two TO four tablespoon capacity.
Each one has It's little tag, telling
where Ii was found, who prepared Ii
and all other data necessary to its
complete identification. When the
skeletons are shipped 1t is the usual
practice to leave as much flesh on the
bofras as will dry out. This Is to pro-
tect the delicate little bones from In
arfive they are subjected to boiling
process, so that all this dried flesh may
be taken off.
The skins are all arriving in good
shape Heller, who had charge OF
their packing, is an expert. They were
all packed In brine and placed in seal
sd casks Not a single skin has been
Injured In transit. The expedition had
hard work getting assistants for the
SHINING Of the big mammals. The
natives are usually slow and lazy. AT
last group OF men from raw
flesh eating tribe were gathered to-
Rether. and their anxiety TO get the
aainfsest morseig served to make then,
hustlIns workmen. They keep their
teeth filed sharp and eat the flesh
while. yet IL quivers.
The Smithsonian Is deluged with in.
tuiries as to how soon the collector
VIII be placed on public exhibition
The reply is that the work OF pre-
ra-inf exhibits has begun some ot
the skins already having been sen
to the tanneries, but that 1t will b,
matter Of years until ii is completed
WheIi it Is stated that ii may taxi
as long as six months TO mount
single large mammal. 1t is plain tina
To prepare a whole group of exhibit
viii take years
The process by which mounting i
accomplished is an interesting one
First. the aturalist-sculptor make
little model of the animal he pro
poses to mount 1t IL usually on
sale of about one To eighteen. Afte
ne gets his model 10 suit him. in pos
and detail, he submits ii to other
n fer eritieism and suggestion. Afte
the mode, has been worked up TO tn
satisfaction of the responsible author
tiess the task OF making a life sizel
form is begun, wood and paper betny
used principally. When this lis com
pletsQ, the placing Of the skin on tn
model is but a small undertaking II
@ nsirac: great group. like the ia
Eous bison group in the National MI
scum. with all the accompanying nat
ural settings, Is task that require
infinite patience and much ability
AtAS RA@fflI HiPAP AZ TtEaIUtu as on
of the finest mounted animal group
IN the world 1t was done by w T
Hornaday. now head of the Bron
Zoo. He killed the big bull bisol
himself. and declares that when h
shot the splendid creature he felt a
thought he had perpetrated a crue
murder
Not all of the mammals will b
mounted for exhibition purposes. n
they require too much space. Afte
the principal specimens are mounted
IL IL probable that the others VIII b
used as exchanges with various mu
seums OF the country. of course,
good specimen of every species vii
be kept at the Smithsonian and tn
National Museum. DR.. Gerrit Miller
curator OF the division of mammals
National Museum. who has charge o
the animal collection. says that whe
Is big animal IS mounted and place
IN an exhibition case science bid
goodbye to It. The action of tn
light will change the color of its hal,
and other transformations viii TAX
place which end its usefulness I
science.
Not less interesting than the AMI
NAL collections are those OF the bird
About 1900 have been received an