72 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



project so as to make it a scientific expedition to the Pacific 

 under Lieut. Charles Wilkes 22 of the navy. 



Dana, Pickering, Peale, and other men of science 

 were among the scientific staff, which also included J. P. 

 Couthouy, 23 an enthusiastic conchologist, who enlisted in 

 a minor capacity, to avail himself of the unusual oppor- 

 tunities offered by the expedition. Wilkes was an ener- 

 getic and capable officer, though something of a martinet; 

 the expedition was remarkably successful. New charts 

 were made, new Antarctic lands discovered, and enormous 

 collections obtained and sent home at each available 

 opportunity. These were unpacked and stored in the 

 Patent Office, which also housed the library and collec- 

 tions of an association known as the National Institute, 24 



22 Charles Wilkes, the Commander of the United States Exploring 

 Expedition, was born in New York, April 3, 1798, entered the navy 

 and rose to the rank of Admiral. His abilities were recognized as 

 of a very high order. His services in the Civil War were valuable 

 and he derived much popularity from his action (afterward diplo- 

 matically disavowed) in seizing the Confederate commissioners 

 Mason and Slidell, from a British vessel on the high seas. He died 

 in Washington, Feb. 8, 1877. His mansion, formerly the "Dolly 

 Madison house," is now occupied by the Cosmos Club. 



23 Joseph Pitty Couthouy, born in Boston, Jan. 6, 1808, a ship- 

 master by profession, was appointed by President Jackson to a post 

 on the Scientific staff of the Exploring Expedition and his notes, 

 drawings and collections form the basis of the report on the shells 

 of the expedition prepared by Dr. A. A. Gould. He volunteered in 

 the navy during the Civil War, and while in command of the U. S. S. 

 Chilicothe off Grand Ecore, Louisiana, was shot from ambush and 

 died April 4, 1864. He was an excellent naturalist, and fuller details 

 may be found in regard to his life, in the Proc. Biological Soc. of 

 Washington, volume iv, pp. io8-m, 1888. 



24 For an exhaustive account of the relations of the Institute to the 

 Smithsonian see "Genesis of the National Museum," by G. Brown 

 Goode. Ann. Rep. U. S. Nat. Museum for 1891, Washington, 1893. 



