394 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



Miss Lucy Baird in her reminiscences refers to the 

 death of Professor Henry and the election of her father 

 to the secretaryship as follows: 



''Immediately upon the death of Professor Henry, 

 my father was elected Secretary, in accordance with 

 Professor Henry's expressed wish. During Professor 

 Henry's last visit to England, was asked by some person 

 interested in scientific matters in this country, who had 

 heard with hearty approval the account of how the 

 Smithsonian had been conducted under the management 

 of its first Secretary, whether, in the event of his death, 

 there was any one capable of carrying on the work. 

 Professor Henry replied, 'Yes,' that he hoped his successor 

 would be his Assistant Secretary, Professor Baird, who 

 was in every way fitted for the post. This, Professor 

 Henry himself told my father. The relations between 

 Professor Henry and my father were of the most friendly 

 character, Professor Henry's kindness growing with every 

 year of their official association and my father's affection 

 for his chief increasing steadily until finally the feeling 

 became almost fatherly and filial between the two. I 

 remember very well the pain which my father felt when 

 some persons expressed their congratulations, as he 

 thought, with too great warmth, forgetting the sad loss 

 which led to his promotion. Indeed, honored as he felt 

 himself to be in being elected Secretary, and highly as 

 he felt the fact that so many of his friends were rejoiced 

 that he should be the one to succeed Professor Henry, 

 and much as he felt that Professor Henry would have 

 been as he had himself said gratified at the election, 

 he, nevertheless, so felt the fact that the vacancy which 

 he had been appointed to fill had been created by the 

 death of one of the nearest and dearest friends of his life, 



