SPENCER FULLER-TON BAIRD 69 



tion (then recently established) for the purpose of working up the 

 natural history of southeastern Pennsylvania, and especially for the 

 exploration of the bone-caves already mentioned. This was the first 

 grant for original research made by the Smithsonian ; no large amount, 

 but wisely and well bestowed. 



In 1850, Professor Henry, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, requested the regents to allow him to appoint an assistant secre- 

 tary in the department of natural history, to take charge of the embryo 

 museum, and to aid in the publication and other interests of the estab- 

 lishment. This being granted, he at once selected Professor Baird, who 

 immediately accepted and entered upon his new duties. 4 In doing so, 

 he brought to the museum his own valuable collections, and from that 

 time until his death devoted himself absolutely to performing and 

 assisting scientific work on behalf of the American people. 



The dream of Baird's life had been the creation of a museum, and 

 to this end, as far as the policy of the Smithsonian Institution would 

 permit, he bent his energies. The situation was a difficult' and a 

 delicate one, and we marvel that he was able to completely gain his 

 ends without friction or controversy. Professor Henry, in organizing 

 the Smithsonian, performed an exceedingly difficult task with skill and 

 wisdom. There were all sorts of rival claimants for the disposal of 

 the fund, some wishing to have literature provided for, others different 

 branches of science, and many desiring that the money should be put 

 into a large library. It was perfectly evident to Henry that, if he 

 listened to all these demands, the Smithsonian fund would be frittered 

 away and nothing of much consequence accomplished. He therefore 

 laid stress on Smithson's terms of bequest, in which it was stated that 

 the institution should be for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, 

 and opposed the numerous elaborate plans presented to his notice. It 

 was no part of Henry's intention, when he secured the employment of 

 Baird, that the latter should build up a great National Museum; yet 

 this was the very thing that Baird desired and hoped to do. Both men 

 were right in the light of what they knew; the museum plan would 

 probably have wrecked or crippled the Smithsonian in the hands of any 

 one but a genius like Baird; but as it was, it gradually and naturally 

 evolved, finding for itself public support, and in due course meeting 

 the full approval of Henry himself. Those who were intimately 

 acquainted with the two men speak only of their great attachment to 

 one another, and the total lack of friction in the details of administra- 



* In Marcou's ' Life of Agassiz,' Vol. II., p. 74, the matter is presented in a 

 somewhat different way, but not quite accurately. For example, as I learn 

 from Miss Baird, Geo. P. Marsh was a member of the House of Eepresentatives, 

 not a senator; and he was acquainted with Baird prior to 1848. Furthermore, 

 Henry was of course well aware of Baird's existence and his qualifications. 



