74 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



In the earlier years there was very little help to be had, even of a purely 

 mechanical sort, and he did most of the work with his own hands and 

 with the aid of such friends as he could impress into the service. He 

 was even obliged to pack up the Smithsonian exchanges; and for many 

 years all his official letters were in his own hand. The first assistant 

 curator of the embryo national museum was (speaking in wholly un- 

 official language) Mr. Solomon Brown, already mentioned. Appointed 

 about two years after Baird took charge, for the purpose of assisting 

 with the Smithsonian exchanges, this excellent colored man soon learned 

 to skin animals and prepare skeletons, and was for nearly forty years 

 Baird's right-hand man. If the assistance given by Brown lightened 

 one side of the work, the other grew rapidly heavier, and for years it 

 must have been a constant struggle for Baird and his few associates, 

 such as Dr. Girard, to sort and label the specimens, and carry on the 

 official correspondence. As one contemplates the old records, and re- 

 members what was actually done and who there was to do it, it seems 

 amazing that the mere routine work of the museum could be successfully 

 carried on, and if ever a man had a valid excuse for not engaging in 

 original research for lack of time surely that man was Baird. Original 

 research, however, was the purposed end of all the accumulation. The 

 materials obtained must be worked up and that with as little de- 

 lay as possible. Baird was perfectly willing and glad to see this done 

 by any competent person, but while securing cooperation wherever he 

 could, he put his own shoulder to the wheel, and produced in rapid 

 succession a series of works of the first importance. 



This seemingly impossible achievement was due to the way he 

 worked, after hours, during meals, and in fact to the limit of his 

 capacity. Solomon Brown describes him to me as taking his coffee with 

 one hand while he held his notes in the other; he could not stop even 

 to eat. For nearly twenty years he kept this up; but after 1870 his 

 executive duties having become very heavy, and the young men he had 

 trained being well in harness, he ceased to engage in active research. 

 That he felt obliged to do so, no naturalist can help regretting; for 

 though it would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of his 

 labors as head of the Smithsonian and Fish Commission, it is equally 

 impossible to forget what we have lost in the way of illuminating 

 investigations of our vertebrate fauna. It need not be considered an 

 affront to those who came after him, to suggest that if Baird's time had 

 been his own several groups would be in better order than they are 

 to-day. 



The task which Baird accomplished was, in brief, the putting in 

 order of the mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians of the North 

 American continent, with the description of very numerous new species 



