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Showing Collections: 1 - 5 of 5

The $2,000,000 J.P. Morgan gem collection ; Lampreys ; Antarctic animals

 Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 32
Scope and Contents SEGMENT 1: The $2,000,000 J. P. Morgan Gem Collection. Brian Mason, AMNH curator of physical geology and mineralogy, describes the museum's collection of gems, which consists of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. Mason discusses how these gems were cut and polished, using films produced by DeBeers Consolidated Mines Ltd. and E. J. Mauther. The reasons why the stones are so valuable are also examined. SEGMENT 2: Lampreys. Lampreys and their detrimental effect on the fishing industry in...
Dates: 1953

Birds of Peru and northern Chile

 Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 17
Scope and Contents

In 1953 and 1954, Robert Cushman Murphy, AMNH ornithologist, filmed bird colonies of coastal Peru and Chile and the outlying islands. The bird colonies darken the barren landscape by their sheer numbers. Nests and fledglings are everywhere. There is also a sequence devoted to the extraction and exportation of guano. Penguins, boobies, cormorants, gulls, and terns are seen.

Dates: 1953-1954

Bottom of the world

 Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 18
Scope and Contents Filmed during the AMNH South Georgia Island Expedition, 1912-1913. Robert Cushman Murphy, AMNH ornithologist, introduces this film; he presents a map of Antarctica and explains that he went to South Georgia in 1912 for the AMNH while a staff member of the Brooklyn Museum. In South Georgia's Cumberland Bay, a whaling station is filmed, as well as humpback whales swimming in the surrounding sea. Jolly penguins are shown and their life is described by Murphy. Also seen are Cape pigeons, sooty...
Dates: 1912-1913

Spear hunting jaguars ; Kontiki

 Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 37
Scope and Contents SEGMENT 1: Spear Hunting Jaguars. Charles Collingwood, narrator of the Adventure series, interviews Sasha Siemel, a professional hunter for 35 years who makes his living spear hunting jaguars for cattle ranchers in South America. Siemel, who has lectured at the AMNH, shows films of various forms of wildlife around his home in Mato Grosso, Brazil, and also lets the viewers see his hunting activities: capturing a cub in the jungle and spearing a jaguar. (Jaguars are the largest cats in the New...
Dates: 1953

Who rules the world? Insects ; Bird islands of the Pacific

 Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 36
Scope and Contents SEGMENT 1: Who Rules the World? Insects. In this first segment, Mont Adelbert Cazier hypothesizes that someday insects might dominate the earth. His comments on the earth's insect population are illustrated with films of insect activity. The credits and the first part of this segment are missing. A discussion of insect destruction and close-up views of live beetles brought into the studio are also included. SEGMENT 2: Bird Islands of the Pacific. Robert Cushman Murphy, AMNH ornithologist,...
Dates: 1953