Memorial and Bibliography xxi 



the Academy in the hands of an individual who acrimoniously op- 

 posed the place of research as a museum function. Even this adverse 

 atmosphere brought no reduction in the research program which Mr. 

 Baker had embarked upon, for nights and holidays were free from 

 dictatorial domination. Some measure of his accomplishment during 

 the Chicago period is available in the larger monographs which 

 punctuated the continuous stream of smaller contributions from his 

 desk. Three of his outstanding volumes were published during the 

 twenty-one years of Mr. Baker's association with the Chicago Acad- 

 emy. These are: two volumes on the Mollusca of the Chicago Area 

 (1898 and 1902) and the monograph on the Lymnaeidae (1911). 

 Another undertaking of particular importance — The Life of the 

 Pleistocene — was virtually completed during the years with the Chi- 

 cago Academy. However, publication of this volume was not afforded 

 until after Air. Baker came to the University of Illinois (1920), and 

 it was then published by the University Press. The work on this 

 volume marked a new epoch in his research program. Stimulated by 

 an intimate and cordial relation with Professor T. C. Chamberlin 

 of the University of Chicago, Mr. Baker's personal interest in re- 

 search swung toward the study of faunas of the past and interpreta- 

 tion and reconstruction of environmental conditions under which 

 they existed. The material which served as the original basis for this 

 study was made available in unusual quantity by construction of the 

 Chicago Drainage Canal. Apparently endless material was exposed 

 by the dredging operations, but much of this opportunity for research 

 would have been lost had it not been for ]\Ir. Baker's close personal 

 attention to the dredging as it proceeded. Exposure which he experi- 

 enced at that time led to infections which affected his hearing. 

 Conditions there established became progressively worse until in 

 later life his hearing was very seriously impaired. 



While with the Chicago Academy, ]\Ir. Baker developed a service 

 feature w^hich has become an important aspect of most public mu- 

 seums today and links them closely with the educational program. 

 He began the construction of small portable displays of habitat 

 groups for loan to public schools, thus taking the educational influ- 

 ence of the museum into the schools rather than depending wholly 

 on the unilateral relation of expecting the schools to send their pupils 

 to the museum. The interest in children, and in education, developed 

 by these contacts always remained with him. In the museums under 

 Mr. Baker's direction, the urchin was as welcome a visitor and was as 

 thoughtfully treated as the scholar. Thus, though he never held 

 formal appointment as instructor in any educational institution, he 

 exerted marked influence, and a number of present-day scientists 

 trace the awaking of their interest to his kindly encouragement and 

 enthusiastic attitude toward the field of science. Graduate students 

 in the University of Illinois always found him inspiring and helpful 

 when they approached him with their problems. 



