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6

RECENT VISITORS

During the past month the department of zoology had the pleasure of visits from two zoologists from Europe on their way to the symposium on marine biology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at La Jolla, Calif.

Dr. H. Caspers, of the Zoologisches Museum und Institut, Hamburg, Germany, is a marine ecologist who at the moment is principally interested in the ecology of the estuary of the Elbe River in the vicinity of Hamburg.

Dr. Gunnar Thorson, of the Zoologiske Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, is well known for his work on marine bottom communities and on the larval stages and development of marine invertebrates, especially mollusks.

The division of mollusks recently had visits from Dr. William K. Emerson, who has recently been placed in charge of the invertebrate collections (outside of insects) of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and Dr. John W. Wells, professor of geology at Cornell University and one of the country's leading authorities on corals.

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STUDIES SKULL OF INDIAN CHIEF

When Lewis and Clark arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1805, they met Comcomly, chief of the Chinook tribe.  This chief figures in the founding of Fort Astoria and is mentioned by various travelers to this region in the early years of the 19th century.

After Comcomly died, sometime before 1835, his skull was obtained by Dr. Meredith Gairdner and sent to England where it ultimately was placed in the Royal Naval Hospital Museum in Gosport, Portsmouth, England.

Recently the Catsop County Historical Society in Astoria, Oreg., arranged to have Comcomly's skull returned to this country.  Stanley P. Young of the Fish and Wildlife Service, who is stationed in the National Museum, learned about this skull and suggested to Dr. T. D. Stewart that it might be possible to obtain it on loan for study purposes.

Dr. Stewart followed up this suggestion and is now studying the specimen, which arrived at the Museum on March 23.  He points out that it is unusual to have such full documentation of the skull of an Indian, let alone that of such a famous Indian chief.

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MARRIED

Miss Hilda C. Schmaltz and Dr. Ernest R. Sohns were married on March 24 in Scranton, Pa.  Dr. Sohns is associate curator of grasses.  Mrs. Sohns is a former employee of the Smithsonian.

Miss Elaine Joy Smith became the bride of John E. Knott on February 18.  Mrs. Knott works at the sales desk in the Freer Gallery.  Miss Patsy Stanley, of the Freer office, was maid of honor at the wedding.

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