Exhibition Catalogues 8 Book Reviews

Nico la , Norber to ; Sonia Fe r ra ro Dorta; Lu‘cia Hussak van Velthem; Maria He lo isa Fe‘nelon Costa; Lux B. V ida l ; and Ber ta G. R i b e i r o

1982 BraziZian Feather A r t . B r a s i l i a : Pro’-Mem’ria Nat iona l Founda- t i o n . t r a t i o n s . bassy, 3006 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.

Paperback, 76 pp., 40 c o l o r and 11 b lack and wh i te i l l u s - $3.00. Order from D r . Jose‘ Ne is te in , B r a z i l i a n Em-

20008.

[ B i l i n g u a l ca ta logue issued f o r a b r i e f l o a n e x h i b i t i o n i n the Smithsonian o f f i n e 20th c. featherwork f rom 39 t r i b e s f rom 4 B raz i 1 i a n museums and many p r i v a t e c o l l ec to rs . Tex t i s i d e n t i c a l t o t h a t i n Arte PZwna’ria do BraziZ, a b i l i n g u a l cata logue issued i n 1980 by the Museu de A r t e Moderna de SZo Paulo, o rgan ize r of t h e e x h i b i t i o n , b u t t h e l a t t e r has no c o l o r i l l u s t r a t i o n s . Shor t e thno log i ca l essays: i n t r o d u c t i o n , and on featherwork o f Bororo, Karaja, Kayap6, Tukano, Urubu-Kaapor. B r i e f d e t a i l s on each o f 346 i tems i n t h e o r i g i n a l e x h i b i t i o n . ]

W i l l i a m C. S tu r tevan t

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. . Smith , Harvin T. and Mary Elizabeth Good 1982 E ~ r ? t l S<:cfeent% C e n k q G ? m e Trcrde %ci& Zr, tFe Spc:-r;sc ? C ; Y < Z Z

? d e . Publ ished by C o t t o n l a n d i a Yuseum P u b l ications , Greenwood, Ms. Approximately 74 p p . I l lustrated w i t h 4 color plates and 4 black and white photographs. Three maos. $9.50 nost p a i d . P u b - l i ca t ion date imminent. Send orders t o : Cottonlandia Museum Publications, P.O. Box 1635, Greenwood, Ms. 38930.

[This book describes early Spanish beads found i n archaeological s i t e s i n Peru. Discussion includes h is tor ic references t o the early Span i sh bead trade and North American dis t r ibut ion of these early sixteenth century types, as well as a discussion of manufacturing techniques and the place of manufacture. dred twenty-nine var ie t ies of beads a re arranged i n a new clas- s i f ica t ion scheme. These beads are described i n detail and are i l l u s t r a t ed fu l l s ize i n color plates . ]

One h u n -

E D .

Scarce, Jennifer M. 1982 Middle Eastern Costume from the Tribes and Ci t ies of I rm and

Turkey. Published by the Royal Scottish Museum, Ed inburgh . A 40 page booklet, 10 black and white photographs, 10 color plates. Price unquoted. Copies of booklet may be ordered from the Royal Scottish Museum, Chambers S t r e e t , Ed inburgh EH1 1JF.

[ L i t t l e information available on th i s booklet a p a r t from general statements regarding content. Turkey, the Turkomans o f Iran and the USSR, the Kurds of I r a n , and t r ibes of South Iran.]

Contains section on Ottoman

ED.

17

Cantwell , Anne-Marie, James 6. Griffen and Nan A. Rothschi 1 d ( ed i to r s ) P ; e fi9sgc:rch Pg ten t ia l of AnthrcpoZogiml Musem Collecfions. Published by The New York Academy of Sciences, with publica- tion support provided by the Interagency Archaeological Services, Department of the In te r ior . Published as Volume 376 of the Annals. 585 pages. ISBN: 0-89766-141-9. $115.00 per copy; postage and handling $7.50 in the United S ta tes , or $2.00 for Canada a n d foreign countries, f o r each volume ordered. Send remittance or purchase order to: of Sciences, Publication Department, 2 East 63rd S t r ee t , New York, N Y 10021.

1981

The New York Academy

[The ser ies of papers (35 in a l l ) presented in t h i s tome re- present the resu l t of the Conference on the Research Potential of Museum Collections which was held February 25-27, 1981, and sponsored by The New York Academy of Sciences. According t o the brochure announcing t h i s pub1 i ca t ion , the conference had two major themes: t o ca l l a t tent ion t o the wealth of information, v i ta l b u t sometimes ignored, contained in museums; and to indicate, in para l le l , the best ways t o use th i s information f o r contemporary research. While the range of materials and analytical approaches covered in t h i s con- ference are wide, the papers presented focused on the central issue of the meeting: the demonstration of the incredible and often unrecognized potential fo r s c i en t i f i c research in using available materials. The 35 papers presented are grouped into the seven following categories: Museum Collections; Technical Analyses; Problems in Material Culture Analysis and Interpretation; Theoretical Advances in the Analysis of Faunal and Botanical Collection; New Techniques fo r the Analysis of Human Skeletal Collections; Combining Older Collections with Recent Data; a n d The Future of Museum Coll ec t i ons. The l i s t of contributors reads l i ke the Who's Who in Anthro- pology, and the t i t l e s of the papers alone should suff ice t o tempt every museum Anthropologist t o acquire a copy. t o be f i r s t - r a t e , s ign i f icant and very l ike ly t o become a c lass ic . ]

Issues and Problems in the Use of Anthropological

Looks

ED.

18

Anchorage Historical a n d Fine Arts Museum, Anchorage, Alaska.

Anchorage Historical Nuseum a n d Fine Arts Museum, May 3 0 - August 1 , 1982.

Alaska State Museum, Juneau, August 21 - September 25 , 1982.

The Anchorage Historical a n d Fine Arts Museum has mounted a major retrospective on the crusading conservat ionis t /ar t is t / n a t u r - a l i s t Henry Wood E l l io t t whose persistence over many decades of his 1 i f e (1846 - 1930) saved the northern. fur seal (CaiZorf i , in~s a lasca ims) . During E l l i o t t ' s long involvement in t h i s cause he produced many beautiful sketches, drawings, and watercolors, a large selection of which a re included in the exhibit . The Director, Robert L. Shalkop has written an informative catalogue which reproduces many of the ethnographically s ignif icant a r t works in the show and i s a major contribution t o El l iot t iana.

A major aim of the Anchorage exhibit was t o locate the widely disbursed E l l i o t t materials. This has been accomplished, a n d will hopefully lead t o a fu l l scale biography and greater recognition of t h i s key figure in the wildl i fe conservation movement, a man of the same i l k as John Muir, John Burroughs, and William T . Hornaday, h i s contemporaries.

E l l i o t t f i r s t viewed the Pribilof Islands (located in the Bering Sea) in 1872 when he was appointed Assistant Treasury Agent for the Pribi lofs t o supervise the Alaska Commercial Company's management of the seal herd and study the fu r s e a l ' s l i f e cycle. The history of exploitation ("harvesting") of the herd, whose principal breeding grounds are on these Islands, dates back to the Russian occupation in 1786 when the Russians f i r s t imported Aleut labor to herd and k i l l the seals .

piracy, and poaching, corporate greed, corruption and deceit in h i g h places a n d many other ugly aspects of "civi l izat ion" which a l l t o o often surface when the f a t e of a species hangs in the balance.

tional wildl i fe t reaty when, in 1911, the United S ta tes , Great B r i t a i n , Russia a n d Japan agreed t o the North Pacific Sealing Con- vention which prohibited a l l pelagic (open sea) sealing a n d , in an amendment, prohibited a l l hunting o f the nearly extinct sea o t t e r . A five-year moratorium on land k i l l of the Pribilof herd was added by Congress due largely t o E l l i o t t ' s e f fo r t s .

If the reader wants much more detai l on scandalous government malfeasance, corporate greed, a n d the l i ke involving the ba t t l e t o save the northern fur seal I recommend two a r t i c l e s : ( 1 ) "Tho Seals are About Gone" by Jeanne Van Nostrand in American Heritage (June 1963, Volume X I V , No. 4 ) and ( 2 ) "Henry W . Ell i .ott : ing Conservationist" by James Thomas Gay in The AZaska Journal ( A u t u m n 1973, Volume 3 , No. 4 ) . An extensive bibliography on E l l i o t t

E l l i o t t ' s long ba t t le involved him with U.S. and global p o l i t i c s ,

His persistance and courage culminated i n the f i r s t interna-

Grusad-

19

i s i n c l u d e d i n t h e Anchorage p u b l i c a t i o n . I hope t h a t our readers w i l l bear w i t h me f o r a l i t t l e sen t imenta l

touch t o t h i s r e v i e w b u t I f e e l compel led t o end w i t h C e c i l A lexander 's ooem made famous by James H e r r i o t :

A l l t h i n g s b r i g h t and b e a u t i f u l , A l l c r e a t u r e s g r e a t and s m a l l , A l l t h i n g s v r i s e and w o n d e r f u l , The L o r d God made them a l l .

The ca ta logue, Henry blood EZZiott 2846 - 2930, A Retroswect<ve Ezhi5-it ion c o n t a i n s 55 pp., 16 c o l o r photographs and 32 b l a c k and w h i t e photographs. P r i c e unquoted, b u t c o p i e s may be ordered from: Anchorage H i s t o r i c a l and F i n e A r t s Museum, 121 West Seventh Avenue, Anchorage, A laska.

Barbara E. Busch

P h i l a d e l p h i a C o l l e g e o f A r t ,"&issionary ChronicZes. o f A r t and funded, i n p a r t , by p u b l i c monies from t h e Pennsyl- v a n i a Humani t ies Counc i l . 25.4 x 20.2 cm. LC # 82-081163. 32 pages. $6.00 p l u s $1.50 postaye and hand1 i n g . P h i l a d e l p h i a C o l l e g e o f A r t , Broad and P ine , P h i l a d e l p h i a , PA 19102.

1982 Pub1 i shed by t h e Phi 1 adel p h i a Col 1 ege

I l l u s t r a t e d w i t h 18 b l a c k and w h i t e photographs. Send o r d e r s t o :

[!?!issionary ChronicZes i s a "photograph ic documentat ion of t h e human c o n d i t i o n preserved i n t h e h i s t o r i c a l photo c o l l e c t i o n . of t h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t Church, ca. 1900 - 1925." T h i s 32 page p u b l i c a t i o n i l l u s t r a t e s a smal l s e l e c t i o n f rom t h e 350 photographs on v iew a t t h e G a l l e r y l a s t , 4 p r i l 12 - May 15. The s u b j e c t s a r e d i v i d e d i n t o t h e f o l l o w i n g c a t e g o r i e s : American C i t i e s , American Southern Mountains, B lack America, China, L a t i n America, and P o r t r a i t s . Among t h e e s p e c i a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g i l l u s t r a t e d photographs i s t h a t of a d e s t i t u t e Chinese woman s e l l i n g h e r bab ies i n Shanghai (each o f t h e two bab ies i s d i s p l a y e d i n a l a r g e w i c k e r b a s k e t ) and a s t u d i o p o r t r a i t o f an I n d i a n dancer i n La Paz, B o l i v i a . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e c a t a l o g u e ' s p r i c e seems excess ive g i v e n i t s skimpy c o n t e n t s . The G a l l e r y , however, does a major s e r v i c e f o r b r i n g i n g t o l i g h t t h i s enormous a r c h i v e which i s housed a t t h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t General Board o f Global M i n i s t r i e s , New York C i ty , and i s t h e p r o p e r t y o f t h e Educat ion and C u l t i v a t i o n D i v i s i o n of t h e Board. Accord ing t o t h e preface i n t h e c a t a l o g u e t h e a r c h i v e comprises some q u a r t e r of a m i l l i o n photographs which a r e i n two hundred seven albums c o v e r i n g f o r t y - f o u r c a t e g o r i e s of m i s s i o n a r y e n t e r p r i s e . ]

A f r i c a ,

Barbara E. Busch

20

I K C C Q Z gf ?s;'er: ilrf 9" 5ke -?g?czl Court o l Y"er<-n.. Flora S . K a p l a n , ed i to r . 69 black and white p h o t o g r a p h s , 21 pages of t e x t , 10 plates , map, a n d recommended readings . charges. Order d i rec t ly from Museum Studies Program, New York Univer- s i t y , New York 10003.

Published by Yew York University, 1981. 20.4 x 29 cm. 80 pp.,

$1 2.00 p l us $3.00 for mai 1 i ng a n d hand1 i n g

Reviewed by N i 1 o u f e r I c ha po r i a

This publication commemorates an exhibition held a t New York Uni- v e r s i t y ' s Grey Art Gallery from January 23 - February 2 1 , 1981. years in preparation, i t was the f i r s t exhibition of the University 's graduate program in Museum Studies besides being the f i r s t time the courtly a r t of 'Benin was shown in New York. was t o present a "ho l i s t i c view of a major black c iv i l iza t ion t h a t i s very much al ive today" and t o increase the public 's awareness o f t h e ap- preciation of the cultural heritage of some twenty four million Afro- Americans in the United States; t o t h i s end, the exhibition was timed t o coincide with the national observance of Black History Month .

Two

The organizers' intention

Published a f t e r the exhibition i t s e l f , the catalogue has a three- fold purpose. The f i r s t i s t o record the works of ar t displayed; the second, t o place them i n an his tor ical and anthropological framework fo r t h e i r bet ter comprehension; the t h i r d , t o illuminate the philo- sophy and practice of the Museum Studies program under whose auspices the exhibition took form. Limitations of space will confine t h i s review t o a brief discussion o f these three stated objectives.

As a visual record o f the exhibit ion, the photographs of s ixty o u t of a total of s ixty eight exhibited specimens do them great jus t ice . Both photography and printing make f o r maximum c l a r i t y w i t h excej l en t rendering of detai l i n works renowned fo r t he i r horror uaeui ( Wlllet t 1 9 7 1 ) . Twenty one lenders include f ive museums. The rest of the specimens, spanning a period from the mid-15th t o l a t e 1 9 t h centur ies , a re drawn largely from New York col lectors and dealers. selected by the d i rec tor of the exhibition and the edi tor of t h i s volume, Flora Kaplan, with a view t o combining aesthet ic quali ty with a "s igni f icant interpretable dimension." ( p . 5) Many of these objects are rarely i l l u s t r a t ed or exhibited, such as the horse and r ider on the front ispiece, the Ow0 Yoruba mother a n d child ( f i g . 37) or the standing figure o f a captive ( f i g . 68). Each figure in the catalogue has a descriptive caption, b u t the detailed documentation of the his- tory a n d previous publication of the object i s deemed unnecessary in a p o p u l a r pub1 ication.

They were

The second purpose of the catalogue, t o provide a panoramic view of the history and cul ture of Benin, i s served by scholorly essays written fo r the general reader who i s t o be spared ha i r - sp l i t t ing debates on chronology, succession or origin t h a t occupy spec ia l i s t s

21

(Williams 1 9 7 4 , Connah 1975, a n d o thers ) . There are few specif ic c i t a - tions in any of the a r t i c l e s b u t the l i s t of references includes the most useful, readily available works on the subject. The i n t r o d u c t o r y a n d concluding essays are by Flora K a p l a n , an anthropologist, the r e s t by Richard Hull, William Fagg, Rosalind J e f f r i e s , Boniface Obichere a n d George Nelson Preston, from the f i e l d s of history a n d a r t . To help the reader unfamiliar with African his tory, there i s a useful l i s t o f obas, the hereditary rulers of Benin, whose c o u r t consti tuted the centre a n d impelling force f o r the visual symbols of power and pres- t ige on display.

While an interdiscipl inary approach i s generally supposed t o be most f r u i t f u l in presenting a topic, i t s p i t f a l l s can be repet i t ion along w i t h oversight. As an introduction to Benin, the t ex t of t h i s catalogue might have been more effect ive i f i t had consisted of a single essay drawing on as many discipl ines as have contributed t o the subject , b u t t ha t i s a matter of personal preference and more recently, of fashi o n .

Richard Hull draws on oral t rad i t ion and written sources t o provide a sound his tor ical survey of Benin over the l a s t 1000 years, s t ress ing the pol i t ica l and social currents t h a t s e t the stage fo r the Bri t ish Punitive Expedition of 1897 which brought the a r t of Benin to an as- tounded Western world, incredulous t h a t objects o f such opulence, natural- ism and technical sophistication could be the work of black Africans unaided by European influence. actual ly brass, the remainder ivory, wood and iron, a l l made fo r the g lor i f ica t ion of the oba who exercised a firm control over materials and t he i r manufacture by hereditary guilds.

Most of these objects were of bronze,

William Fagg's essay i s a peevish d ia t r ibe against the use of the word "sack" in describing the conduct of the Brit ish Punitive Expedi- tion which he admits d i d loot the palace of about 2000 objects , b u t did not indulge i n indiscriminate slaughter nor s e t the c i t y aflame, t h i s l a t t e r deed being the f a u l t of native expedition porters playing with gunpowder, as a l e t t e r recently come t o l i g h t reveals. I t would have been more useful i f instead of ha i r - sp l i t t ing he could have pro- vided more factual de t a i l s of the i l l - f a t e d unarmed expedition led by Consul Phi l l ips , the massacre of which provided an excuse fo r the cap- ture of Benin and the establishment of Brit ish colonial rule. As Ryder points out (1969) , while the eradication of the human sac r i f i ce for which Benin was notorious was the ostensible motive for Ph i l l i p s ' mission, personal ambition, commercial and t e r r i t o r i a l ambition a l l played the i r part . However, i t i s worthwhile ref lect ing on how the ar t of Benin reached Western museums and private collections because i t i s increasingly the moral j u s t i f i ca t ion fo r demanding i t s repatr ia- t ion , an issue frequently encountered these days.

Rosalind Je f f r i e s br ief ly comments on the importance of ivory as a symbol of the continuing power of the oba, i t s role as a key item

22

i n trade w i t h Europe. meal a c c o u n t of various c ra f t s and guilds connected w i t h the obaship; the importance o f coral i n the regalia of obas a n d chiefs and else- where i n the essay, a discussion of the c i t y of Benin as a source fo r s t y l i s t i c a n d c u l t u r a l influence i n t h e region. George Preston demcn- s t r a t e s the poss ib i l i t i es of interpreting the a r t of an unfamiliar cul ture as a key t o understanding i t , b u t since th i s analysis requires a work ing knowledge of i t s history and symbolic systems, his p o i n t i s n o t quite c lear .

Boniface Obichere offers a fascinating b u t piece-

As p a r t of her introduction, Flora Kaplan recounts developments i n the collection a n d exhibition of African art i n the United S ta tes , w i t h par t icular reference t o those exhibitions of Benin art t h a t have contributed substantially t o our knowledge o f w h a t she sees as a scant- i l y researched area. strength i n the face of discontinuity. o f the obaship of 1914, a f t e r a seventeen year g a p , the a r t s were once more symbols of temporal and sp i r i tua l power. Drawing on the ethno- graphic work of Bradbury and Ben-Amos, she l inks the objects shown i n the exhibition t o t he i r counterparts i n current use, going t o some pains t o explain the i r symbolic content. She does n o t explain the curious inclusion of European figures i n a r t made solely for the use of the Benin court , nor does she say much about the current s t a t e of the a r t s following the introduction o f new patrons, tools and techniques. For information on these aspects of Benin cul ture , one must read Ben-Amos (1976 a n d 1980).

I n her conclusion, she makes the p o i n t of c u l t u r a l Following the reinstatement

As f o r the t h i r d purpose of the catalogue, the illumination of p h i 1 osophy and practice, these are d i scussed i n the introduction , where the edi tor outl ines the guiding principles of the program i n Museum Studies, namely the u n i o n of aesthet ic and academic excellence i n the service of the public rather t h a n a narrow university audience. Moreover, the process i s t o be thought as important as the product, w h i c h i t would have t o be considering the two year lead time for a one m o n t h exhibit ion. During th i s period, students were involved i n every phase of the exhibit ion, w o r k i n g w i t h experts i n the f i e l d , b u t perhaps regret tably, d i d not write more of the catalogue than the specimen en t r ies . Throughout, the e d i tor-director sought t o encourage a sense of self-awareness on the p a r t of future museum professionals who must real ize that "the whole, the in s t a l l a t ion , the works o f a r t , the labels and the t e x t , the slideshow a n d symposium const i tute a statement of purpose and be l ie f . ive model" in set t ing forth i t s objectives and techniques ( p . 6 ) .

The catalogue i s p a r t of the process and the reflex-

I n conclusion, notwithstanding the unevenness of the essays, they do succeed in giving the reader a broad perspective on the cultural context of Benin ar t and i t s function i n buttressing the ins t i tu t ion o f kinship, a l t h o u g h spec ia l i s t s may f i n d few i f any surprises. Where the the catalogue excels i s i n the photographs which represent a wide range

23

of objec ts from the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c heads, plaques a n d tusks t o the ra re a n d unusual. Since many o f these pieces a r e in pr iva te hands or a r e now on the market, t h e i r i l l u s t r a t i o n in t h i s publication makes i t well worth having f o r museums, c o l l e c t o r s and anyone in te res ted in the subjec t .

B i 1 bioaraphy

Ben-Amos, Paula 1976 "'A l a Recherche du Temps Perdu':

Carver in Benin." I n Ethnic and Tourist Arts, Cultural. Expressions From the Fourth Vorld, Nelson H. H . Graburn, ed-.

On Being an Ebony

University of Cal i fornia Press , Berkeley.

1980

Connah, Graham 1975

Ryder, Alan 1969

The A r t of Benin. Thames a n d Hudson, New York.

The Archaeology of Benin. The Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Benin and the Europeans, 1485-2897. Humanities Press , New York.

Wi 11 e t t , Frank 1971 African A r t . Frederick Praeger, New York.

Williams, Denis 1974 Icon and Image:

of African CZassical A r t . New York.

A S tudy of Sacred and SecuZar Forms New York University Press ,

24

A comment and varning on AnthropoZogy in Pusems of Canada and the Unite2 Stx tes by Cornel ius Osgood, as reviewed by James Deetz , CMA Newsletter 6 ( 1 ) ; 18-19.

In general, I am i n to ta l agreement w i t h Deetz's review of Osgood's recent work on Anthropology museums. I regret the general level of proof reading which allowed such errors as "Teganza Anthropology Museum" ( p . 7 ) for the Adan E . Treganza Anthropology Museum, b u t these are minor flaws.*

I am concerned however with what Deetz ca l l s a discussion that some readers m i g h t f ind "somewhat a rb i t ra ry ," t ha t is the section dealin9 with Storage, Cataloguing, Preservation, and Conservation, especially with Chapter 9 , which deals with Preservation and Conservation. Osgood s t a t e s t h a t "This chapter i s not intended as a technical discussion of the more complex aspects o f e i ther the preservation or the conservation of anthro- pol ogical specimens.. .Here I shall be hopeful o f merely bringing together a few fac t s pertaining to the t radi t ional ac iv i t i e s [ s i c ] long required i n caring for collections and then adding a few coments upon them."

extremely dated. F i r s t , the insect group into which the carpet beetles f a l l , the f a m i l y Demestidae, which will consume vir tual ly any protein, consists o f four species o f Anthrenus, three sPecies of Attagenus ( o f which piceus i s n o t one, apparently having been renamed), four species of Dermestes, a n d one of Reesa. Other Dermestidae feed primarily on grains. The clothes moths, Tineidae, consist of three uenera t h a t prey.on 1J.S. museum col lect ions: Tinea peZZioneZZa (Linnaeus) , TineoZa bisse2lielZa (Hummel) a n d Trichophapa tapetzeZZa (Linnaeris).

!+lost frightening o f a l l i s the l i s t o f fumigants: cyanide, carbon d i su l f ide , carbon te t rachlor ide, paradichlorobenzene, and "methydromide" [ s i e ] (methyl bromide). One o f these (as he notes) will k i l l almost i n - s t an t ly , leavtng no room for errors (cyanide), three are extremely toxic: carbon d isu l f ide , carbon te t rachlor ide, and methyl bromide. Carbon d i - su l f ide , which i s a l s o called "carbon bisulfide" ( p . 80) here i s flammable, explosive, and extremely dangerous t o humans. Carbon te t rachlor ide i s also very t o x i c t o humans and i s often fa ta l in cases where alcoholic beverages a re consumed a f t e r exposure. Methyl bromide, not only i s n o t "the l a t e s insect ic ide t o be introduced i n t o more than one museum,"(p. 7 9 ) b u t i s also a potentially f a t a l l y toxic chemical licensed only fo r chamber fumigation. "Pesticides Not Recommended for Use i n Museums" i n Edwards, e t a2. 1981, reviewed i n the same issue of the CMA Newsletter, nt?. 16-18.

Unfortunately, the ' ' facts" under the headin9 "Insects" (D . 78ff) are

Three o f these four chemicals appear i n the section en t i t l ed

Osoood amears n o t t o k n o w t h a t commercially produced vacuum fumiqa - t i o n chambers e x i s t , or t h a t store-rooms sealed w i t h tape do n o t a f um iqa - t i o n char?ber na!:e.

Paradichlorobenzene, a l t h o u g h considerably safer t h a t any of the other substances mentioned, i s n o t somethin9 t o be used l i gh t ly . Osgood notes

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t h a t " i t i s t rue tha t some people complain about the smell of P a r a d i c h l o - robenzene, b u t they are generally those unfamiliar w i t h i t . " ( D . 8 0 ) . PDB causes a variety o f reactions i n humans, including l i ve r and kidney damage and should n o t be used i n open spaces. Furthermore, t o date i t i s not registered f o r use i n museums , ins t i tu t ions , or pub1 i c buildings, a n d thus i t s museum use i s t echnica l ly i l l ega l u n t i l i t s labell ing can be changed.

I am sure t h a t conservators will have some problems with the recom- mendations on "restor ing and protecting" (p. 80-83), b u t I am more concerned w i t h preserving both specimens and s t a f f t h r o u g h safe use of pesticides. Readers of Osgood's opus a re strongly urged t o read Edwards, et al., Psst Con~5-02 in hseums, 1981, the resu l t s of a fumigation conference t h a t arose from concern w i t h just the k i n d of museum misinformation t h a t Osgood so horrifyingly i l l u s t r a t e s .

Mary Elizabeth King

*[Dr. King's reference t o the general level of proofreading here i s t o Os- good's publication and not t o Deetz's review. Ed.]

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