Shotcrete, then known as gunite, was invented in 1907 by American taxidermist Carl Akeley to repair the crumbling façade of the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago (the old Palace of Fine Arts from the World's Columbian Exposition). He used the method of blowing dry material out of a hose with compressed air, injecting water at the nozzle as it was released. In 1911, he was granted a patent for his inventions, the "cement gun", the equipment used, and "gunite", the material that was produced. There is no evidence that Akeley ever used sprayable concrete in his taxidermy work, as is sometimes suggested. F. Trubee Davison covered this and other Akeley inventions in a special issue of "Natural History" magazine.