American Museum of Natural History Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK JOSEPH H. CHOATE THOMAS DEWITT CUYLER JAMES DOUGLAS MADISON GRANT ANSON W. HARD ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES J. PIERPONT MORGAN THE MUSEUM IS OPEN FREE TO THE PUBLIC ON EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR. THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY was established in 1869 to promote the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and it is in cordial cooperation with all similar institutions throughout the world The Museum authorities are depen lent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for procuring needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America and other parts of the world. membership fees are, The THE MUSEUM LIBRARY contains more than 60,000 volumes with a good working collection of publications issued by scientific institutions and societies in this country and abroad. The library is open to the public for reference daily - Sundays and holidays excepted from 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. THE MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS are issued in six series: American Museum Journal, Annual Report. Anthropological Papers, Bulletin. Guide Leuflets and Memoirs. Information concerning their sale may be obtained at the Museum library. GUIDES FOR STUDY OF EXHIBITS are provided on request by the department of public education Teachers wishing to bring classes should write or telephone the department for an appointment specifying the collection to be studied Lectures to classes may also be arranged for In all cases the best results are obtained with small groups of children. WORKROOMS AND STORAGE COLLECTIONS may be visited by persons presenting membership The storage collections are open to all persons desiring to examine specimens for special Applications should be made at the information desk. tickets. stu ty THE MITLA RESTAURANT in the east basement is reached by the elevator and is open from 12 to 5 on all days except Sundays. Afternoon Tea is served from 2 to 5. The Mitla room is o. unusual interest as an exhibition hall being an exact reproduction of temple ruins at Mitla. Mexico The American Museum Journal CONTENTS FOR NOVEMBER, 1912 Frontispiece, A Living Lungfish, Photograph by Julius Kirschner.. Present Condition of the California Bigtrees. . GEORGE B. SUDWORTH Acreage of bigtree forests Where lumbering is in progress replace the old Photographs by the Author Who owns them and guards them from fire- Zoology of the Stefánsson-Anderson Expedition - A Preliminary Estimate.. 226 227 R. M. Anderson in Unexplored Arctic America... 238 With quotations from this zoologist's letters written to the Museum during the past four years Sea worm group made from field studies at Woods Hole, Massachusetts Facts and Theories relating to the Ancestry of Man. W. D. MATTHEW 25.5 Important zoölogical collections from a region of unexplored forests and lakes Museum Notes.. 268 MARY CYNTHIA DICKERSON, Editor Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy A subscription to the JOURNAL is included in the membership fees of all classes of members of the Museum Subscriptions should be addressed to the AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL, 30 Boylston St., Cambridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-Office at Boston, Mass., Act of Congress, July 16, 1894 A LIVING LUNGFISH THE SECOND SPECIMEN EVER BROUGHT TO THE UNITED STATES It came from Africa in a dry clod of earth from the bottom of a dried-up stream and is here shown fully recovered from its months of out-of-water "A Fish Out of Water," page 251 "Lady Lena" bigtree with room cut out and door fitted in the trunk. Diameter 21 feet. Sequoia National Forest, Tulare County, California PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CALIFORNIA BIGTREES1 E By George B. Sudworth [CHIEF OF DENDROLOGY, UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE] VERYONE who has visited California's famous sequoias admits that their real grandeur and the reverence they inspire cannot be appreciated without standing in their presence. Comparisons with other trees fail utterly to give a correct impression of their gigantic size. 1 The Museum's specimen of bigtree collected by special expedition to California some twenty years ago, has been recently moved from the Darwin hall to the west end of the forestry hall. Here it has been newly faced off and put again on exhibition with labels pointing out the centuries of growth from 550 A. D. to 1891 A. D. and relating the history of this growth to that of the development of the world's science and art. Interest in the bigtree is peculiarly great at this time when wood and forest production are recognized paramount in importance to the American nation. Is there a future as well as a past for this tree from prehistoric times, which has the ability to attain a height of 300 feet and an age greater than that of any other living thing, and which has remarkable value whether destined for the timber market or permanently for the mountain side? Can young sequoia forests be made to rise on land bared of their giant forefathers by fire or lumbermen? The question has been a disputed one. Dr. Sudworth's article represents personal investigation in the various California groves. The photographs are by the author.-M. C. D. |