38 THE PIvANT WORI^D 



with which he secured footing in many branches of knowledge and at 

 the same time rendered himself a useful and respected member of our 

 scientific community. He was earnest, capable, willing, and kind. 

 That the months of pain and weakness are peacefully ended need not be 

 deplored, but his absence after the interval of a year is still a daily regret 

 to us. 



His mental habits and inclinations led him to approach a new sub- 

 ject from the historical standpoint. He assisted with the greatest 

 enthusiasm in the collection of botanical data from the works of the 

 early explorers of America, and he had already unearthed many impor- 

 tant references which had been overlooked by De Candolle and other 

 writers in this field. The same zeal and industry would surely have 

 carried him far in this neglected borderland between science and human 

 history." 



I met Henry Baum first while working at the National Museum. I 

 was attracted to him at once, not only by his personality, but by his evident 

 desire to be helpful to me in my work. Day after day I would receive little 

 slips in the morning mail , calling my attention to certain passages from books 

 he was reading, relating to the origin of cultivated plants, the history of their 

 discovery, or their geographical distribution. Afterwards, when I was on 

 duty at the Naval War Records Office, just before my resignation from 

 the Navy to enter upon m^^ present work, he visited me at the Depart- 

 ment Library ; and I was impressed with the genuine love he seemed to 

 have for the histories of early voyages and tales of adv^enture. I then 

 had the pleasure of introducing him to two of the finest works of this 

 nature I know : Dampier's " New Voyage Round the World " and Bur- 

 ney's "Chronological History of Discoveries in the South Sea." He 

 afterwards expressed his admiration for Dampier and his appreciation of 

 the sympathetic manner in which Burney wrote of primitive peoples who 

 had the discomforts of civilization thrust upon them against their will. 



During our association in the Department of Agriculture I was often 

 struck with his wonderful memorj^ and his system of keeping a record of 

 all information derived from his researches which might prove useful 

 either to himself or his associates — an index rerum, as well as a catalogue 

 of authors and titles of books. Every day of his absence from office we 

 felt the need of his help. In reply to inquiries, however vague, concern- 

 ing a date, or a locality, or an authority, he would in most cases refer 

 us to the very page of the book we needed. 



Several times during the latter part of his illness he fancied himself 

 strong enough to return to his work. Slowly and painfully he climbed 

 the stairs to his office, stopping to notice that his name was still in its 

 place on the bulletin board, and settling into his chair with a feeling of 

 relief to find that it was not occupied by some one else. Then he would 

 open the drawers of his card catalogue and pick up one of his favorite 



