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PMt)A?, jfclT 9,1948 Tft* felT'TAtlON
&M History Constructed for Unus
llfi. A J __ 1?. I 1 ' ■ ~~ ■
ident ly
official i
turatdr joi
VAUGHAN, attempt to
PARKS has been
the Mosebm since September, 1045. He has been With the A&M System for 32 years.
urator of the «Museum and hi® secretary,
a plant by comparison with specimens from the S. M. Tricy Herbarium.
oths, Mastodons Vied with Saber -Tooth
rs for Brazos River Bottom Supremacy
number watp life. The first large; muskox lived far vest of the
fossil dominant in this area were j Rockies.
the mastadon and the mammoth. | One very interesting display is
The most pejrfect example of these ’ a case showing the ejvolution of
jj
y BlLLjjROSE- f ‘
TRe i Br: izos RivSt Bottoms have
often ibee n accuse^ of being the,
home ;of wild anijnals by Texas
people; when referaing to Aggies.
iThoote jwai} a day hpjwevef when (the
area was truly ai|no=man's land.
Mammjothte and maitadons compet
ed with saber-todthed tigers to
see whicl was to jrejgrt supreme
/iin the iprdhistoricalj society of Col
lege Station. f j } | . h 1 -
But these bygonja monsters gave
up the glost (whether it was.] the
iadventj of the Aggfes or| not in
dispute bf authorities) and their
, only rtmr ant are t|s.ssils.
Two of the mo4 complete fos
sil ^cpllei fions ev«r amazed in
the Upiled State^ now rest in
A&M?d Huseum. fThey are the
O. bf. Ball collection of plant
fossils- ^nd the 'Mark Francis
collection of fossilized animals.
• 1 1 • i j . i.: l ■ 1' ° -
Brazos County: h|as long been a
happy hutting ground for the fos
sil seeker. At one] time the area
was under the Gull} of Mexico and
the horjesi wer'd waihed down "
the silt from the aorth by inland
rivers.;! Very seldbnk .is a complete
fossil of an animal found and
never jn 1 exas. Thd water assorted
'! them jso that bonds of the spme
weight appear together. '‘For in-
stancej a deposit" fiay contain 3s
many as 50 skulls of animals but
;not a Single other bone.
Dr. Francis obtai ied 4 most of his
!specimens! from Fu leFs earth [pits
dug by cornpanies in tljat industry
near Hryai. All tjhu animals' ini the
Museum a»re from-1 he period When,
jland ajninials first began to Out
J
^arly forbears of the elephant in | the horse. Fossils 1 ; representative
he museum are thought fo have i of each geological agp and each
from [ as far north as the > major change of anatomy are in
Cairo, 111., which was then j the case with comjmenfs made by
the coast oi the Gulfi ] Francis alongside. |
The inexpert museum visitor may
have s‘ome i trouble distinguishing
the mastadOn from the mammpph.j
The best way to separate them is
by their teeth: The flora' of the
time was briush and the mammoth
was a strict vegetarian; ' there-i
fore, his' teeth resemble two wash-
hoards in ofder to grind his daily
hors d’oeuvres. The mastadon on
the 1 -other band was carnivorous,
and his teeth are like those of a'
h °e-.y i L ‘ /■ \ |
i ^ With the; coming of the Brazos
a'new grdup of animals began
to leave their fossils in this vi
cinity. These have been found ;
far inland' probably deposited i
there by. the river which was
ithien 50 miles wide. . ' ,
f i ' j
Some of the more moderp speci-j
mdds whichj the museupi has; on
display are ancient bisons, huge
turtles witlj shells up to ID feet
in diameter, and pre-runners of
the armadiljo. This latter has left;
shells four, inches thick and as I
big as a barrel.
The most rare single item in the':
Francis collection is one of thej
three existing fossils of a musk-; the log would ^explode! with the
ox. is still not understood by noise of a blockbuster. The cura-
paleontologlsts exactly how thej tor and his secretary would never
fossil came jto be in this area. The raise an eyebrow,-bowpver.
- - ' i !
The South Roopi is the per
manent home of Ball's plant
fossils. Not only does this group
contain specimens'of all the ,ma
jor flora in this geological but-
cropping,, but algo Representa
tives of all the major geological
periods from oyer the world.
D.r. Ball spent 20; years gather
ing the plants.
There are two types of fossil
plants. They are either imprints
of the plant rn stone, Qr raised on
the stone by the sjow [exchanging success,
of the plant material with the sil
icon and other numerals of - the
rock. The popular: term for this
.last type is “petrified.” The color
of the imprints Which make the
fossil appear life-ljke comes from
thd minerals which were in the
leaves.
Logs—particularly of palm trees
—up to 70 feet Ibng have been
found nearby and are now ip the
.mOseum. .These palm logs turn
partially to coal arid part to flint,
the outside being [ the coal. One
j such log gave visitors to the mu
seum quite-a shock whenever the
coal would be struck by sunlight.
As soon as it became fairly warm
A&M’s Tracy Herbarium Features One of Best
Native Plant Collections in the [ Southwest
’J. Tl#
Cated -
College Museum, is
collections of nativ,
MARVIljl RICE |:
4L Tracy .Herbarium, lo*
eagtj wing
Museum Originated as Factory 1
For Hog Cholera Serum in 1917
| By CHUCK MA1SEL
Museums are usually noted as points of interest because
of the material inside of them. The most interesting thing
about the A&M Museum however is the building which houses
it. The little squat brown structure arouses little admiration
as an architectural masterpiece, but it has quite a history.
Among other things, this unimpressive looking shrine to
science gave birth to A&M's Veterinary School. | '
The museum was built fi>r what might seemingly be an
insignificant purpose today j— the manufacture of a hog
cholera serum. This was during the first World War and
the serum—whose world supply was at A&M—was hailed
to be as much a scientific miracle as penicillin was in the
recent war.
The project was started by the late Dean Mark Francis
and Dr. R. C. Dunn of the School of Veterinary Medicine.
They had the building—then only one room—erected as far
from the main campus area as possible for fear of infection
spreading among the students. The nearest building was
Francis Hall.
The venture proved so successful that the building was
enlarged many times, which is the reason the rooms today
are arranged in such a haphazard fashion.
The income from the sale of the serum was considerable
—so much that the Legislature passed a bill compelling the
closing dbwn of all such operating projects by state schools
and turning over the formulae to private interests.
Profits Aided Vet School
of thtj
ne of the best
plants in the
Sbuth\yest5 The collfection is large-
M
en-
pd
i
■■f
■r
ly restricted to plants growing in
Texas, but there afe hundreds of
; { Pthers ?at lered fro jn other states.
The ^ar ous plants are grouped
by their r latidnshif into families,
genera anfi species! Each genera
is housed 8n a separate compart
ment vrthin a largi> case and la
beled according toj family. Bach
species of j plant is'mounted on a
separate card, and the name, date
found, and the location are
Ured ejn tjhis card. 1
The Tijacy Herbarium, as ,a i
: f whole, contains approximate y
200,000 species olf plants, ^t
present, ijn the mafin room ptjo-
\ vided, 50j)00 pressed plants are '
ayaila >le ! for instant refe:
The rumdinder a ret all cl4|
and li belled, but are sto
insect-jprobf boxes{ bee;
the lack - of rooiji for-e
housin g. :
The herbarium Represents
Work o njany collejctorfc and
tains sj ecitnens collected and
\ ed by air lost everfy well ’ km
botanis ir the wofld. A nu
of spec imejns were collected
than 2( 0 Vear^ agej and are
. jn excejen ; shape. j ►
_ : The ^rst attempt) to investigate
plants it wasj in 1882, when
a man jby- fthp name of Neely was
employed l»y the College to mjaKe
a collection of grasises within ;the
College arsa. Two j different col
lections wqre made by Neely, and
these t vo ! represent the startVof
the her )aidum at J &M. Most; of
the spe :ihi ens Neel] collected are
still In ;he museuitr.' - v
So -fir, as is recorded, Helge
“Ness, bptatiist for tpe Experinjent
iStationj wi s next t^ Carry on [the
idea of* pjant collejition.
a group of| students gathe
dreds o' siecimens bf flora
Ing in Jra[z(* County, f ,
^Abont a 920, Thi U. 8
partmi nt [of Agrici llture di
that i botanist s lould
pany aach soil surveyor
The retnains of an early Bravos County resident, skull of ancient
mammoth, attracts many visitors to the South Room of the Museum,
j Other large skulls visible are those of mastadons.
f ' - - • ■ ■ ‘ ' j • ■. ■ / • }
lect specimens of the flora in ihd his name was given to the en-
the district being surveyed. This fire collection,
added greatly to the existlftg
collection. Enough funds soon
became available to mount all
the plants and, place them in
standard herbarium cases.
During th s time, the herbarium
of S. M- Tiracy was acquired
purchase -from the
The Tracy collection of 10,000
by
Tracy estate*
• c-
1
Specimens, consist
Gulf Coast plants,
fains specimens fn
world, which Trady
exchange for specimens
n. i. One comes
(See HBRBARITi
primarily of
but also con-
m all over the
obtained in
of his
across plants
M* Pane 4)
Profits that had accumulated were used in the erection
of the entire present day plant which houses the School
of Veterinary Medicine with the exception of Francis Hall.
Most of the equipment used today by the veterinary students
was bought from the fund which had started in this little
structure across from the Administration Building.
The building then begajn to lead a varied existence.
First it was used for severajl years as a storage place for
college equipment. ' At one. lime it was the site of a pri
vately-owned cafeteria for the use of those who grew tired
of Sbisa’s offerings.
Although not open to tjie public for many years the
museum began its history as such when Dean Francis was
instructed on his retirement to,move his massive collection
of fossils to the brick build ng./ It took Dr. Francis and
his co-workers over a year to move the magnificent collec
tion. The better specimens were classified and. stored on
the ground floor while tons of poorer material were discard
ed, given away, or placed in'a vault which lies now sealed
under the floor of the museum. If the floor were to be
removed in future years, the authorities of that day are apt
to think they have discovered another Pompeii so much
museum material has been abandoned there.
Museum Closed—-No Curator
After Dr. Francis’ death, the museum was closed while
the college authorities attempted to find a curator with no
Then in 1937 Dr. Oscar: M. Ball became the first
official curator and served until his death in 1942. Ball
had come to A&M in 1903 as a professor of biology. His
old home across from the Campus Corner is one of the oldest
college landmarks.
Dr. Ball had worked si<jle by side with Dean Francis
in the collection of fossils. (While Francis was interested
primarily in fossil animals, Ball specialized in fossil plants.
He brought with him to the museum one of the finest collec
tions of botanical fossils efer assembled in the United
States.
Following Ball as curator was Curtiss J. Hasse who
first made the museum effort at A&M popular. He was
responsible for most of the additional material now in the
museum other than the two'fossil collections.
H. B. Parks Is Present Curator
The present curator is H. B. Parks, a spry 70-year-old
who has been with the A&M System 32 years. With the
museum since 1945 he has been interested and active in
research on A&M’s own history. Parks is the nephew of
one of A&M’s most famous Commandants—Captain ‘‘Bull”
Sargent. When Sargent die<£, Parks fell heir to all of his
old pictures and letters. The jot includes letters from several
presidents of the college, official memoranda, the earliest
photographs of the college, and other interesting items
which gave a very accurate' picture of the college in its
earliest years. Many of these are now on display at the
museum.
Parks has been quite- thO globe-trotter in his time. In
1902 he went to Alaska where his children were born. He
established a training school^ for native children in Sitka,
Alaska and later became editor of & paper there printed
on a press that had lain idle to? 35 years before his coming.
Although by his own adijhission he is “getting along in
the years” he not only carei for the museum but is kept
constantly busy naming plants for people by comparison
with those of the Tracy Herjaarium of which he is also in
charge. His only help comes from secretary Mrs. L. M.
Vaughan, a student-veteran’gj wife.
“Everything Hjere Is A Relic"
Parks centers his life around the museum. To him it is
a constant source of interest and he never tires showing
visitors about. When a visitor enters, he will probably find
Parks sitting in Dean Francte’ favorite chair behind a desk
belonging to one of the presidents. “Everything here is a
relic,” he, says smiling, “including me.”
The museum is made up of the three main collections
—the Tracy Herbarium, the pall fossil plants, and the Fran
cis fossil animals. There are Tnany other smaller collections
of educational value. Among these is the anthropological
room where there are 101 casts, all taken from living models,
which represent the variations of types of tribes and indi
viduals of the South Sea region. Efich cast is a full portrait
bust and colored from nature to reproduce the actual color
of the skin.
These casts represent, for those who can see beyond the
opaque faces, living and impressive records of studies and
observations. Each face has a timeless living quality that
reveals intimate glimpses of a drama of life and struggle,
of peace and-adventure, a drama told in 101 versions. No
one can look at the collection and fail to he impressed by the
range of details. It is like a travel book with a wide back-
ground. I j ' ~ | ,
Not Enough Visitors
Parks says the museum ; has enough- material to com
pletely: change every display case once a week for 52 weeks,
but that not enough people Visit the museum to warrant
the change.
To the casual visitor the museum might seem small and
its interesting items soon exhausted. To him who under
goes this feeling, the best adyice is to stop in Parks' office
and ask to be shown around. A second abit of advice, though:
don’t go near him unless you hjave the whole afternoon free—
he likes to talk.
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Important item to A&M Fish is “oldest man on the <4
occupant is thought to have been a tax collector, and arc’
2000 B.C. . i. ,
r .l”-f|tH
(gists ! pltti
Egyptian miimmV and case, i The
irthday [as being v jj<
• I Uilii
Museum Collection Includes Egyptian Mummy,
Rare Fossil Collection, Anil Aijitique Beehive
By FRANK WELCH
For centuries man has found the
evidened and customs of his an
cestors an interesting field - for
study and enjoyment. Archeologi
cal societies all oyer the world are
constantly searching for lost civi
lizations and remnants of the
world’s past. It is .not necessary
however to be a Student of the
First Ice Age to enjoy the objects
of interest found at the College
Vluseunh.! / ‘
Many of the exhibits at the mu
seum were built by the college for
use in the Texas Centennial in
1936. One of these exhibits ,is the
Geological Time Scale found jn the
room of . [fossils. This scale, devel
oped through the “radium clock”
method, traces, the existence of
the earth: back to the earliest date.
By determining the amount of
disintegrated radioactive mate
rial in the world, geologists are
able to aproximate the age of
earth as 1,500,000,000,000 years.
This scale also dates the appear
ance of life on earth at about
5,000,000,000 years ago and! the
appearance of vertebrates 2,000,-
000,000 years later.
^Ofither exhibit.- used- in the
Centennial is the late Dr. Murk
Francis' cpllecpon of fossils show
ing. thijr)com0)ete .evolution of the
hgrs£, This. is housed in a glass
case arid is described with draw
ings of the early horses as they
looked millions of years pgo. In
cluded in the collection .is the fos
sil -discojvered by Francis himself
which brought him high acclaim
in veterinary Circles. This skull
tl
and leg formation waj tjhe first
of its kind ever uncc vefed arj|tl
served as a “missing liiklr.in tf
complete study of th d anima^ s j
evolution. J
Another collection tb it Djh f
Francis left to, the col eg 3 is tljiie
huge assemblage of manriial boil'
fossils. These are kept in; severl
tall cabinets of drawers A 1 pieces,
have been checked wit i he MU-1
seum of Natural Histo y in Nefv
York and it fa considered one t
the finest collections in it|e couji
try- i I 1
A German made Ski pJorbeR
hive, which was brought [to thfa
country over a hund td| years
ago is another of the Mi seum^
acquisitions.. Early Ge jnun set
tiers imported the ske| s o Tex
as when they learned hoi ttye
was no way to raise sii gi r her
The early beehive w tic i wai
made of woven grass, : y* stra
and rattan bark, res jMbles a
tyrge wicker basket.
On one of the walls ir It) e builj -
ing is the skin of 19 f( (jt p$tho»
The skin was sent fron[ liumiutri
by Bruno - Winkler, fo |m erly jijf
A&M.
A fine collection of e ijrl Baby
lonian cuniefqrm tablets [is ho|is< 1
In one of the many je? hibitk
cases. CuiTieforHi is the name gi:
en to the writing doic* by th
early Babylonians, ai cl lette
weVe made by impressip ^
shaped, stylug iff, soft c ii)
dry the tablets resembl ><i
rock and were] used for do
dence: Samples include la
for the sacrifice of a cplw
ventory of a temple’s
L
i we
[ Wi
dj'3 Lean (
him [[enter*
ablet used for writing practico
in a jrrade school, and a Ijutcfier’i:
(ill fpr a ram aritj a sheep.
An authentic Egyptian mum
my, complete wit i case, occupies
another comer of thfa room.
To archeologists the case' Hiig-
gesta that . the [mummy, dates
back to 2000 B.Ci The lid is-ius-
pended above tht* other half of
the. [carved covej-ing i enabling
the observer to (fee the remains
of this Egyptian dignitary, prob
ably a tax collector. The in
scrjijtion on the ancient <k»ffin
sounds not unlike present day
epitaphs:
“Miy the decent ed by the graes
f the local Gods who art^ lord (
<f Thinis and whff occupy aVhigl
place [in front of i he chief; God. of
Egypt, Amonn-Re, receive food,
drinjej and clothir g for ever l and
<rver."! ,
Close iriside the entrance to the
(pusipjm are glass dabinqts contain
ing early picturep and data
aAM’is historyOje picturb show i
the first Cadet,; Corps. Anothe
shows the first faculty unde
I resident Gathright. Here is found
letftsr from President Gathright. V
Istter-head hrs an engraving
: first Ibuilc ing with h<> rs
buggy teams' traveling
Jlilthe isRalso a Rare snapshot d
ouse
Kyle taken
d' A&M as a
0 days after ho f
Fish. His rooni
a. sm(ll li-t turned topsy-tqivy undjypiang
res poll - [| l
receipt
an ip
(iqjplies,
is standing
rtiess. Th?
in the mkfat of
laption reads
‘Fish’ Kyle alter a ‘rough
m
(■'■KilllilillWl
Museum Curator Former Edjito
H. B. PARKS, Museum curator, was the
curator of the Sheldon Jackson Museum in
Sitka, Alaska in 1910.
The purpose of the Sheldon Jackson Mu
seum collection was the preservation of
natural history and ethnological specimens
from all over Alaska. In October, 1910,
Parks took over the job of classifying and
cataloguing the specimens which had been
collected during the previous 25 years.
Museum Building was made to represent
the ancient Alaskan house and was built
with money collected by Dr. W. A. Kelly of
the Indian Training School at Sitka.
The Museum exhibits gave tourists
’ r . ii r . •
1910
AlasljiijL
acquainted th
that i lature- J
-4—.
4.
7T
out d
\\
Thlinget’
complete jdea of the native
injUtlulir former conditions,” anti
elm with “the peculiar forms
t in Alaska,” according tc
“The T\hlingit\ , Indian School newspaper
Pi irla pubjlis led The Thlinget in addifckfr
to hi) Y ork ajs museum curator^ "The-mast
head of the j aper, with a 'November, 1910
dateline is pputured above.
Tie Thlinketj is the name the Indians ap
plied to thean se |ves, Parks SlidL and meam
literallyl “t! i; ! People.” The Mbvember is
<n|e lone advertisement set ir
old EhgjlisH Tc, First issue or The Thlin
get wjnfij ptrb i sled on a press tljat had beer
peratjidij for 35 years,
■ .Ui j.—n. | .—.[v—jiv—
i -• r ‘k.
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