250 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



correspondence which it has not been practicable to print 

 here, on account of necessary limitations of space. But 

 the portions given, beside illustrating the traits of writers, 

 then or since more or less eminent, will indicate the general 

 character of the work carried on by Baird, the appeals 

 made to him by correspondents, and something of the 

 status of science at the time. A few of Baird's own 

 letters help materially. 



The following letter to Joseph Leidy l relates to the 

 memoir on the microscopic fauna in living animals which 

 was on the way to be published in the Smithsonian Con- 

 tributions to Knowledge; and to papers on fossil verte- 

 brates, especially from the West, a line in which Dr. 

 Leidy afterward became so eminent: 



Spencer F. Baird to Joseph Leidy. 

 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON CITY, Nov. 18, 1850. 



DEAR LEIDY, 



. A rule was sometime since established by the Institution, 

 that no plates should be authorized before the accompanying mss. 

 was completed. This was in view of the fact of there being some 

 twenty or twenty-five plates now completed, without a single line 

 of text being ready. This, of course, involves a considerable loss in 

 the unproductive investment of capital. Can you give any opinion 

 as to the time when you will be ready to print. Where do you have 

 the plates executed, how many do you require and when, and how 

 soon after completion must they be paid for. 



I am glad to hear that you still persevere in your industrious 



'Joseph Leidy, M.D., born in Philadelphia, Sept. 9, 1823; died 

 April 30, 1891. One of the most distinguished naturalists of America, 

 contributing largely to scientific literature on many branches of 

 science. 



