THE INCORPORATORS IIS 
him. He found it when its operations had extended only from 
Point Judith to Cape Henlopen, and when he died twenty-five 
years later its work had extended from Maine to Texas and 
throughout the Pacific Coast. When asked by members of Con- 
gress “ When will this survey be completed? ” he replied “‘ When 
will you cease annexing territory?” At the beginning of his 
administration the work of the Coast Survey was not very 
thoroughly appreciated, but by his talents, and his industry he 
made it one of the strongest of the scientific bureaus of the 
Government. During the Civil War when the regular opera- 
tions of the Survey were necessarily suspended, it gave important 
aid to the Government from the knowledge which as an organi- 
zation it possessed regarding the coasts and harbors of the 
country. 
In 1846 Professor Bache was named as a member of the Board 
of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution in the act of incor- 
poration, and it was entirely owing to his influence that Joseph 
Henry was persuaded to become the Secretary of the Institution. 
He supported Henry in his program of organization, through 
the operations of which the Institution has attained its unique 
place among the scientific establishments of America. 
Bache was also Superintendent of Weights and Measures of 
the United States, and a member of the Lighthouse Board, as 
well as of the commission of inquiry which preceded it. 
During the Civil War Bache served as Vice-President of the 
U. S. Sanitary Commission, and also planned the defences of 
his native city, Philadelphia. He died at Newport on February 
17, 1867, and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in 
Washington where an imposing tomb was erected by the 
officers of the Coast Survey as a tribute to his memory. 
Professor Bache was a leading mind in the formation of the 
National Academy of Sciences, if not its original projector. 
It was at his house that the plans for the Academy were formu- 
lated, and doubtless his sagacity and his knowledge of the con- 
duct of affairs at Washington, which was probably greater than 
that of any other man of his time, formed a very important 
factor in their success. 
