NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY-JANNET ANNENBERG HOOKER HALL OF GEMS

This is the second part of the series of my visit to National Museum of Natural History. Janet Annenberg Hooker, 93, philanthropist who gave money and rare jewels to the Smithsonian Institution. A daughter of Moses Annenberg, who founded Triangle Publications, Hooker contributed an estimated $9 million in cash and gems to the museum. Her namesake gallery, the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, which opened in 1997 has a walk-through mine, interactive exhibits and high-resolution videos of earthquakes and volcanoes. Among the gems she donated were the Hooker Starburst Diamonds, a set of rare yellow diamonds, including a 245-carat necklace with 50 rectangular diamonds, a 61-carat diamond ring, and earrings. She also helped to pay for renovations and the redesign of rooms in the White House and the State Department headquarters, and was a donor to the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the New York Philharmonic. Hope diamond The Hope Diamond is a large, 45.52-carat, deep blue diamond, currently housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C.. The diamond is legendary for the curse it supposedly puts on whoever possesses it. The Hope Diamond appears to be a brilliant blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron within the diamond. The Hope Diamond exhibits red phosphoresence under ultraviolet light and is classified as a Type IIb diamond. Marie Antoniette necklace Butterfly blue stone and diamonds blue stone blue stones yellow and other colored diamonds yellow diamonds ruby ruby ruby bracelet emerald necklace emerald and diamond necklace emerald with diamond emerald with diamonds Tanzanian brooch

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY-THE LIVE BUTTERFLY PAVILION

The Live Butterfly Pavilion is located at the second floor of the National Museum of Natural History. You can take a stroll among live butterflies and plants. Ticket is $ 6.00 for adult. This is the place where I experienced with butterflies fluttering close to you that you can touch them. Pity, there is a "no touch policy". LIVE BUTTERFLIES 1 Black with coral spots LIVE BUTTERFLIES 2 Yellow on yellow LIVE BUTTERFLIES 3 monarch butterfly? LIVE BUTTERFLIES 4 Dang, this butterfly is showing off. LIVE BUTTERFLIES 5 Buckeye on Yellow LIVE BUTTERFLIES 6 Butterfly drinking? Black on Orange LIVE BUTTERFLIES 8 Black on green

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY-MAMMALS-MEET YOUR RELATIVES

CLOSEST RELATIVES PRIMATES A primate is any member of the biological order Primates (Latin: "prime, first rank", the group that contains lemurs, the Aye-aye, lorids, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including humans. BATS A bat is a mammal in the order Chiroptera. Their most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of flight (though other mammals, such as flying squirrels, gliding flying possums and colugos, can glide for limited distances). KANGAROO A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning 'large foot'). The largest species from this family are the Red Kangaroo, the Antilopine Kangaroo, and the Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroo of the Macropus genus. The many smaller species which include the wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons and the Quokka, some 63 living species in all. Kangaroos are endemic to the continent of Australia, while the smaller macropods are found in New Guinea. RODENTS FAMILY Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously-growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing. Forty percent of mammal species are rodents, and they are found in vast numbers on all continents other than Antarctica. Common rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, gophers, porcupines, beavers, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, degus, chinchillas, and groundhogs. SQUIRREL Flying Squirrel BIGGEST RAT Fox Fox is a name applied to any of roughly 27 species of small to medium-sized canids, characterized by possessing a long, narrow snout, and a bushy tail, or "brush". By far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), although various species are found on almost every continent. Wolf Most authorities see the wolf as the dog's direct ancestor. Moose or Elk Moose (Alces alces) is the North American name for the largest extant species in the deer family. The same animal is called the Elk in Europe. Rhinocerus The rhinoceros family is characterised by large size (one of the largest remaining megafauna alive today) with all of the species capable of reaching one ton or more in weight; herbivorous diet; and a thick protective skin, 1.5–5 cm thick, formed from layers of collagen positioned in a lattice structure; relatively small brains for mammals this size (400–600g); and a large horn. Zebra Zebras are odd-toed ungulates of the Equidae family native to eastern, southern and southwestern Africa. They are best known for their distinctive white and black stripes, which come in different patterns unique to each individual. Koala The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is a thickset arboreal marsupial herbivore native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae. The Koala is found in coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia, from near Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula. African Buffalo The African Buffalo or Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a bovid from the family of the Bovidae. It is up to 1.7 meters high, 3.4 meters long. Savannah type buffaloes weigh 500-900 kg, with only males, normally larger than females, reaching the upper weight range. Forest type buffaloes are only half that size.The African Buffalo is not closely related to the slightly larger Wild Asian Water Buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear.] Owing to its unpredictable nature which makes it highly dangerous to humans, it has not been domesticated, unlike its Asian counterpart, the Domestic Asian Water Buffalo.

Mt. Vernon-George Washington Mansion

We visited Mt. Vernon, the 50 acre- estate of the late President George Washington in Virginia. It was restored, conserved, preserved by the Mt. Vernon Ladies' Association. It was open to the visitors for more than 140 years now and 70 million people had visited the place. My brother and I are among those people, one Saturday in the month of September, after my minor surgery. So the tour was confined mostly to the Mansion grounds and the mansion itself. Inside the mansion, cameras and videos are not allowed. The scaled model of the mansion shows the different chambers of the three storey-mansion. This is the close-up shot of the third level of the scaled model of the mansion. The bedroom shown was that of Martha Washington which she used after the late President died. There are two dining rooms in the mansion. This scaled model is the large dining room where Washington entertained dignitaries and other guests. This opens to the porch at the backyard. I saw this in a movie which chronicled the life of George Washington. But of course, it was mere re-creation since this place could not be used by anybody. It seems their furnitures (reproductions ) were smaller in terms of size compared to the ones used these days. The chairs at the porch were for watching the sunset and the calm Potomac River. It is believed that the design of the house which was restored by several artisans, architects, miniaturists was done mostly by George Washington. Architecture then was not a estblished profession. The first US President when informed of the criticism made by the media, said "I can truy say that I'd rather be at Mt. Vernon with a friend or two about me rather than to be atteneded at the seat of government by the officers of the State and the representatives of every power in Europe. " The Little Parlor was where the social gatherings that required dancing and music were held. The harpsichord that adorned the little parlor was the original music instrument used by the President's stepgranddaughter Nelly. This is one of the upperbedchambers for guests. Washington's love for trees filled his diary for references as to the trees and shrubs that he planted such as the elm, white ash and tulip poplars. These trees are now centuries old. Home to the birds that populate the estate. Washington built larger structures to replace the small outbuildings as additions to the mansion connected with "pallsades:. He called them the dependencies. Both the exterior of the mansion and these structures made us of the "rusticated" which was a method of applying sand to the newlypainted wooden boards to make them appear like stones. This is one of the collonades that join the outbuildings to the mansion. The outbuildings are the servant's hall, the kitchen, the laundry houses, clerk house and guest houses for the personal servants and slaves of visiting dignitaties and or relatives are located at the mansion grounds. In the movie that I saw, G. Washington talked to her wife about incorporating in his will the grant of freedom to their more than 100 slaves . The will provided for the emancipation after Martha Washington's death, however, one year after the President's death, his wife freed them all. She provided for pensions for the old and infirms. Then she paid the freed slaves, their salaries. Instead of trash bins, this is what you wll find as repository of your gums or food which are not allowed inside the mansion. For physically handixapped people and with guests who have toddlers, these are available without asking.