438 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



From a Biographical Memoir by J. S. Billings read before 

 the National Academy of Sciences, April 17, 1889. 



"The two men who have exerted the strongest influ- 

 ence upon natural history studies in this country are Louis 

 Agassiz and Professor Baird. In many respects they were 

 very unlike; circumstances gave them widely different 

 fields, and they worked on different plans and by different 

 methods. They began their public career in this country 

 almost together; but Agassiz was already famous, as the 

 result of seventeen years' work, while Baird was an almost 

 unknown youth. Agassiz was a born teacher, a fascinating 

 lecturer, gifted with eloquence which won its way every- 

 where; Baird could only speak freely in the presence of 

 a few, and for the most part taught only by the pen and 

 by example. Each of them created a great museum in 

 spite of many obstacles, the first winning the means 

 largely from private contributions, which were a tribute 

 to his eloquence; the second gaining his end more indi- 

 rectly, through his connection with the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution and the Government. Each of them gathered 

 around him young men who were stimulated and encour- 

 aged by his example, who followed his methods, have 

 continued his work, and have taught others, so that there 

 are now observers and workers almost everywhere. The 

 first made great use of the microscope and of embryology; 

 the second very little, for he had to use the material 

 available. The first had a vivid imagination which led 

 him to frame many theories and hypotheses to be verified 

 or disproved by future investigation and research; the 

 second classified the facts before him, but theorized very 

 little. Professor Baird's career as an original investigator 



