JOURNAL OF PKOCEEDINGS. XLIil 



establisliinent, for tlio. last nine years as its ehiei" executive officer, under 

 whose sajiacions inanagenient it lias greatly jjrosjx'red and widely ex- 

 tended its usefulness and its renown, 



2. Tiiat the National Museum, of whicli this Institution is the adinin- 

 istratoi', and the Fish Coinunssiou, which is i)ractically atitihated to it — 

 both organized and iu a just sense created by our late Secretary — are by 

 this bereavement depriv^Hi of the invaluable and unpaid services of tiieir 

 indefatigable official head. 



3. That the cultivators of science, both in this country and abroad, 

 have to deplore the loss of a veteran and distinguished naturalist, who 

 was from early years a sedulous and successful iuvesrigator, whose 

 native gifts and whose e:!tperiencoiu systematic biological work served 

 in no small degree to adapt him to the administrative duties which 

 filled the later years of his life, but whose knowledge and whose interest 

 in science widened and deepened as his opportunities for special investi- 

 gation lessened, and who accordingly used his best einleavors to i)ro- 

 mote the researches of his fellow naturalists in every part of the world. 



4. That his kindly disposition, equable temper, singleness of aiuj, 

 and unsullied purity of motive, along with his fa(;ile mastery of affairs, 

 greatly endeared him to his subordinates, secured to him the confidence 

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

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

 tion of those who, like the members of this Board, were officially and 

 intimately associated with him. 



5. That without intruding into the domain of private sorrow the Ke- 

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

 late Secretary the assurance of their profound sympathy. 



G. Tiiat the Kegents invite the near associate of the late Secretary, 

 Professor Goode, to pre])are a memorial of the life and services of Pro- 

 fessor Baird for publication iu the ensuing annual report of the Institu- 

 tion. 



The resolutions were seconded by Dr. Coppee, who made the following 

 remarks : 



Mr. Chancellor, I rise to second the resolutions. 



As I have been to some extent associated with Professor Baird as 

 Regent since 1874, when I found him here as Assistant Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, to wdiich post he was appointed in 1850, it 

 may be i)roper that I should ask your patience while i add a single 

 word to the eloquent tribute of just eulogiuni offered to his inemoiy 

 in the resolutions of Professor Gray and the committee. 



When the distinguished Professor Henry was called to his rest and 

 reward in 1878, amid tokens of grief in yonder Capitol, there was a 

 heart}' concurrence of voices in the Board of Regents to appoint Pro- 

 fessor Baird to the vacant place. At that time, sir, it seemed, in con- 

 tradiction of the maxim of the French j)liilosopher, that he was a neces- 

 sary man. Ills large scientific scope, his great knowledge and success 

 as a specialist in natural history just when that branch of science 

 needed particular attention to meet its expanding claims, his wonder- 

 ful industry, his intimate acquaintance with the system and the details 

 of the Institution, his thorough and brotherly sympathy w'ith its scien- 

 tific workers, and, withal, his great and iiuireasing reputation, formed; 



