78 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



iuvestigatioD lessened, Jind wlio accor(linj;ly used his best endeavors 

 to promote the researches of his fellow naturalists in every pari of 

 the world. 



4. That his kindly disposition, e<iuable temper, sinjj^leness of aim, and 

 unsullied purity of motive, along with his facile mastery of affairs, 

 jireatly endeared him to his subordinates, secured to him theconlidence 

 and trust of those whose iuHuence he sought for the advancement of 

 the interests he had at heart, and won the high regard and warm af- 

 fection of those who, like the members of this Board, were ofticially and 

 intimately associated with him. 



5. That, without intruding into the donniin of private sorrow, the 

 Regents of the Institution would respectfully offer to the family of their 

 late Secretary the assurance of their profound symjiathy. 



6. That the Eegents invite the near associate of the late Secretary, 

 Professor Goode, to jirepare a memorial of the life and services of l*ro- 

 lessor Baird for publication in the ensuing annual report of the Insti- 

 tution. 



The address made by Maj. J. W. Powell, an old and personal friend 

 of the late Secretary, at the memorial meeting held by the scientific 

 societies of Washington January 11, 1888, containe I so just and elo- 

 quent a tribute to Professor Baird's memory, that I feel inclined to 

 quote from it a few words which, it seems to me, will characterize the 

 large purpose and attainment of his life, and its relation to others, bet- 

 ter than any of my own : 



"Baird was one of the learned men of the world. He knew the birds 

 of the air; he knew the beasts of the forests and the prairies, and the 

 reptiles that crawl through desert sands or slimy marshes ; he knew 

 the fishes that s(;a]e mountain torrents, that bask in (piiet lakes, or that 

 journey from zone to zone through the deep waters of the sea. The 

 treasures of the land did not satisfy the desires of Baird ; he must also 

 have the treasures of the sea, and so he organized a fish commission, 

 with its great laboratories and vessels of research. 



"The Pish Commission was an agency of research ; but it was more ; 

 he made it an agency by which science is ap[)lied to the relief of the 

 wants of mankind — by which a cheap, nutritious, healthful, and luxuri- 

 ous food Ls to be given to the millions of men. 



" In the research thus organized the materials for the work of other 

 scientific men were gathered. He incited the men personally to under- 

 take and continuously i)rosecute their inva^tigations. lie enlisted the 

 men himself; he trained them himself; he himself furnished them with 

 the materials and instruments of research, and, best of all, was their 

 guide and great exemplar. Thus it was that the three institutions 

 over which he presided — the Smithsonian Institution, the National 

 Museum, and the Fish Commission — were woven into one great organi- 

 zation, a university of instruction in the methods of scientific research, 

 including in its sco[)e the entire fieUl of biology and anthropology. 



" In his work with his assistants, he scrupulously provided that every 

 one should receive the meed of honor due for successful research, and 

 treated all with generosity. Many an investij^ation begun by himsell\ 

 was turned over to assistants when he found that vuluable conclusions 

 could be reached; and these assistants, who were his warm friends, his 

 younger brothers, reaped the reward ; and he had mon^joy over every 

 young man's success than over the triumphs and honors iieaped upon 

 himself from every quarter of the globe. He was the sympathetic couu- 



