Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 265, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1911 — MUSEUN OF LAPLATA ARGENTINA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MUSEUN OF LAPLATA ARGENTINA

LA PLATA, tranquil, dignified and academic, is one of the youngest cities of America, with a university that, like the city of Buenos Aires, has, from an infant, suddenly become a giant. Founded in 1882 by Dr. Dardo Rocha, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires has grown to be one of the most Important centers of population of the republic, not commercially, it Is true, but scientifically. I say scientifically, for that which makes La Plata what It is to us foreigners, at least, is not its halls of government, but its university. There are many capitals In Argentina; but there Is only one La Plata. Its population has increased phenomenally, like that of Buenos Aires; for It is now not far from 100,000, In spite of financial reverses which la the past'befell it. Its sumptuous buildings, wide streets, splendid avenues and beautiful promenades, render this fairy city on the Rio de la Plata one of the finest products of modern renaissance architecture.

The university is younger than the city, for La Plata had existed 23 years, when the former was established on August 12, 1905, Dr. Manuel Quintana being then president of Argentina. It is incredible that within five years such a magnificent institution, with such a wonderful group of buildings should have arisen. One of the finest ornaments and most useful auxiliaries of the university is the museum. What it took the older nations of the world scores of years to accomplish has arisen in La Plata as If by magio. The museum belongs to the faculty of Natural Sciences, to which are joined the schools of chemistry, pharmacy, geography, and the Academy of Drawing. The old museum of Buenos Aires had been founded In 1823 by President Rivadavia, reaching a point of great importance under the direction of Dr. German Burmeister. As it was found Impossible to transport to La Plata the paleontological collection of this museum, the province ceded it to the nation, to serve as the basis of a fed9ral museum. On the other hand, the archaeological and anthropological collections were brought over to the new capital, as the beginning of the museum of the province.

In 1884 Doctor Moreno was chosen by. the governor of the province. Dr. Carlos d’Amico, to establish a provincial museum and to be its director. In consequence of this, he at once donated his private library of -2.000 volumes, mainly of American authors and on natural sciences, to the new Institution. It will thus be seen that the museum antedates the university. The building was at once begun, and within five years it was possible to install the first ’collections. The museum building, occuying the center of a park, is approached through a stately avenue lined otf both sides with shady trees, forming a most agreeable -promenade. The edifice, in classic style, terminates at both extremities in a semi-circle, the whole having an elliptic figure. The central facade consists of a Corinthian portico, wiia six immense columns resting on a platform, to which a flight of steps leads. The decorations, without departing from the Greek lines, possess special features borrowed from archaic American architecture. The great votaries of science. Aristotle. Lucretius, Descartes, Button, Llnaeus. Cuvier, Humboldt and many more are represented by their busts, while such American savants and explorers as Azara, d’Orbigny. Bompland and others are not forgotten. There are two floors in the building, the first one being entirely devoted to the museum, while on the second, in the center of the edifice, are the administration offices, with the Hbrary on one side and tbe section of fine arts on the other, besides other departments. 1 had the pleasure of visiting the museum some months ago. and the Americanists spent a pleasant day at La Plata, as the guests of the university. The great intrinsic value of the museum of La Plata is essentially South American, by the material it has collected for the study of the fauna and flora, fossil, ks well as actual, of the austral regions of the western hemisphere, but especially for the opportunities it offers to make a thorough' study of the American man, from the

earliest prehistoric period. This reconstruction of man’s history is artistically exhibited in the lacge paintings in the lower portion of the rotunda, in which one sees archaic lands, scenes from Terre del Fuego and Patagonia, as well as of other portions of the republic, and restorations of aboriginal and savage life. As regards man, you have every opportunity to study him well and thoroughly, from his skeleton to his modes and habits of life. A section of the science of man is devoted to anatomical anthropology. The museum began with a collection of 1,000 skulls and 80 skeletons, of which nine-tenthß be-' longed to South Amdrica. They represent man from the glacial period down to the most recent Indian. It Is quite probable that man, at various epochs, found himself driven by force of circumstances to the extreme south, and It thus happens that one finds in Argentina the remains of the gigantic Patagonian, such as excited the admiration of Magelhaens, as well as types said td be similar to that of Neanderthal. For Patagonian anthropology the museum of La Plata cannot be surpassed. , * Another branch of anthropology of which the 4 museum makes a specialty Is that of the history of civilization. You will find here implements of the stone age, from Uruguay, from the provinces of Cordoba and Buenos Aires, and from Patagonia, that are quite unique, besides a section 'devoted to the prehistoric man of Europe for comparative study.

These remains of human Ihdustry appear to carry one back to a\very remote antiquity. For instance, at excavations made for the port of La Plata bones of extinct animals were found that appeared to have been carved by man, at aif epoch when the region must have been entirely different from what It now Is, and at Rioja fragments of pottery were discovered at a depth of more than sixty meters. When It comes to determining the antiquity of man, the scientific value of such discoveries may be left to experts who, as a rule, are by no means harmbnious in their conclusions, but further and more positive dqta must be awaited.

Neither has the moment arrived when certain conclusions as to the prehistoric relations between the eastern and western hemispheres can be reached by a comparative study either of skulls or monuments. Yet museums like that at La Plata are accumulating material that may pave the way for such conclusions by its collection of American antiquities with resemblance to those of peoples across the seas. The museum is also rich in material for the study of the prehistoric civilization of the Andes, which stretched down along the eastern slopes of the great chain into what' is now the provirfee of Mendoza and Jujuy, in the Argentine republic. For the study of the pre-Inca civilization of Peru; a very large collection of pottery from the dead city of Gran Chlrau, near Trujillo, may 'serve to cast some uncertain rays upon the dark period that preceded the arrival of the Incas, .the period to which such ruins as those of Chimu. Pachacamac and Cajamarquilla belong. Bringing the study of civilization dawn to the colonial epoch, we find at La Plata a very interesting-collec-tion, gathered from those Argentine provinces, and from Paraguay, which were the scenes of the famous Jesuit missions that lasted to the end of the eighteenth century. The museum of La Plata is constantly increasing in importance, promising in course of time to become one of tie most important in the new world. Buenos Aires is now in direct communication with the principal ports of, Europe and with New York, and as facilities of communication are augmented. as they are bound to be, the museum of La Plata, with Its scleptifle treasures of South America, will become more accessible to scholars from all parts of the globe, to their great advantage and to the glory of Argentina. ■ ii. —i —» -«

LA PLATA WUSEUM