Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-16
Or. BartSCh Gathers 100000
West Indies Specimens
for Museum.
SENDS FL LIVE IGUANAS
HERE BY PARCEL POST
Party Balls for Life as 0akum Is
Forced From Seams of Vessel in
Heavy Weather in Bahamas.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

AAO%ANA0 AN' AASANANAs
4 DR.. Paul Bartsch of the Smithsonian
Institution has just returned to Wash
ington from a four-month geological
expedition in the West Indies, which
yielded one of the moSs valuable incre-
ments ever made in tA9 National Mu-
scum collections.
DR.. Bartsch brought back with him
approximately 100000 mollusks, includ-
ing many varieties hitherto unknown
to science. He also secured about l 900
bird skins and 1000 specimens of rep
tiles, amphibianS and other kinds of
life from isolated little islands which
had not been explored by scientists.
He was accompanied by two WASH
1ngton Boy Scouts, Alva Nye and Ray
Greenfield; Howard Chippick of George
Washington University and Harold S.
Peters of the Department of Agricul-
ture. These were guest members of
the expedition.
Sends Live Iguanas by Parcel Post.
To the Washington Zoo he sent by
parcel post 81 living iguanas, among
the weirdest in appearance of all ami
mails. Some of these reptiles were
more than feet long. This is be-
lieved to be the first time living reptiles
ever were sent through the mails. He
brought back a great many dead
iguanas among which, it is believed,
are some unrecorded species. He also
sent to the Zoo 100 huge hermit crabs
and rare tortoise-shell turtles.
The chief object of the expedition
was to collect mollusks. Scattered
through the West Indies are a great
many tiny islands which once were
Joined to each other or to the larger
islands by land bridges which now are
under the sea. While the land bridges
existed, thousands OF years ago, the
animal life was distributed. Then the
islands were separated and groups were
left Isolated Through the centuries
they have developed changes due to
environment This is particularly true
Of the mollusks, inactive little shelled
creatures whose variations prove fine
index of past history
Most of the hundreds of thousands
of mollusks brought back by DR..
Bartsch are still alive. Placed in the
museum specimen cases, he said, many
Of them will seal themselves up and
blink into state of dormancy which may
continue for 10 years or more, the crea-
lures remaining alive without food or
water. Whenever the cases are opened
and fresh air admitted, some of them
rill awake and begin to move, a re-
lnarkable example OF suspended ANNA
ton.
Believes Collection Nearly Complete.
Due to the intensive work this Sum-
mer, DR.. Bartsch believes, the National
Museum now has collection Of West
Indian fauna which approaches COM
pletion. at least so far as the major
types are concerned. But, he says, the
country IS so rich in variations that
new species and subspecies will con-
tinue TO be discovered there for Gen.
fury to come.
The expedition was attended with
plenty of adventure. 1t set sail from
Miami June 10 and headed across the
Bahama Banks for the Ragged Island
group Of keys, a journey of 30 miles,
requiring two days. ShJrtly aI-erward
the group encountered heavy weather.
and the oakum was forced from the
seams Of their vessel After that one
hour of every three was required for
pumping TO keep the ship afloat. From
here they went to the three islands of
the Fortune group, which were thor
oughly explored, but high seas and coral
reefs prevented them from landing on
all except one of the Plana keys. They
then explored the Caicos Island group,
a rim of little patches of land sur
rounding an atoll so miles long.
Party Worked Day. and Night.
Because of the leaky condition of
the boat, much of the travelling was
done at night, when the water was
calmer. The party literally worked
night and day. spending the daylight
hours collecting and working until late
at night preparing specimens in alcohol
for shipment to Washington. When
they reached the naval station at Guam
tanamo, Cuba, the naval authorities
promptly condemned the boat as I'M
seaSworthy. DR.. Bartsch then found at
Santiago a 32-ton schooner, whose
name, the Jose Enrique, seemed to
augur well for the success of the party
since. translated into English. it was
the Joseph Henry, after the first secre-
tary of the Smithsonian Institution.
With this ship the expedition set out
on August "a to explore the south coast
of Cuba and the Isle of Pines. After
exploring the islands lyin. off the coast,
the expedition headed southwark for
the Cayman Islands. which they found
especially rich in rare species. They
then headed northward again and ex-
plored the Isle of Pines thoroughly by
automobile. DR.. BartSch did not con-
fine his attention to zoology, but
brought back some of the rarer species
of plants.
The West indian keys DR.. Bartsch de-
scribed as an ideal biological labora-
tory, where the hand Of nature could
be seen actually molding new forms OF
animal life Among the mollusks
brought back are some with peculiarly
iewelike shell designs, with delicate
variations within few miles OF each