IX 



THE SECRETARY, 1878-1887 



IN pursuance of his policy of publicity, believing that 

 the more fully the officers of the government and 

 the public were conversant with the work of the Fish 

 Commission and the Museum the more they would 

 approve of it, Baird cordially invited visitors to see 

 both; though he often notes in his Journal that there 

 were so many visitors that he could not get time to do 

 his work. June 5th, 1878, he took President Hayes and 

 a large party to see the hatcheries at Havre de Grace. 



The Fish Commission station this year was at Glou- 

 cester again. A codfish hatchery was established there 

 this season. The Professor arrived there on the 9th of 

 July. On the 2Oth of August he and Mrs. Baird went 

 to Windsor, Vermont, to visit Wm. M. Evarts, Secretary 

 of State, and see Mrs. Baird's birthplace. On October 

 4th, the Committee of the National Academy of Sciences, 

 to advise the Government on the question of a Geo- 

 logical Survey, met at Boston. Baird, as a member, 

 joined in their deliberations, and influenced the report. 



On the 1 5th of October the Gloucester work terminated 

 and the Bairds reached Washington on the 24th. Almost 

 immediately he was called into consultation by a group 

 of scientific Washingtonians who considered the time 

 appropriate for the formation of a social club in the city, 

 which should include in its membership the scientific, 

 literary and artistic members of Washington society. 

 Out of these conferences grew the well-known Cosmos 

 Club of Washington, which now occupies the historic 

 596 



