22 AXNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1930 



Born in Cincinnati in 1857, Taft graduated from Yale University 

 in 1878. He took the law course, and after a short period as law 

 reporter for a newspaper, his public career began. In turn assistant 

 prosecuting attorney, collector of internal revenue of the first dis- 

 trict of Ohio, and assistant county solicitor of Hamilton County, 

 he was next appointed judge of the Supreme Court of Cincinnati, 

 and in 1890, Solicitor General of the United States. For eight 

 years beginning 1892 he was United States circuit judge for the 

 sixth judicial district, and in 1901, President McKinley appointed 

 him civil governor of the Philippine Islands. In 1908 came his 

 election as President of the United States, and after the completion 

 of his term, there followed a few years of private life. In 1921 he 

 was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, from which 

 position he had been forced by ill health to resign only a short time 

 before his death. 



Through his many high offices, Mr. Taft had been connected with 

 the Institution for many years, serving as a member of the Insti- 

 tution and its presiding officer, ex officio, and as Chancellor of its 

 Board of Regents. 



GEORGE PERKINS MERRILL 



George Perkins Merrill, head curator of geology, died suddenly 

 in Auburn, Me., on August 15, 1929. Doctor Merrill was born in 

 Auburn on May 31, 1854, and was graduated from the University of 

 Maine with the degree of B. S. in 1879. He pursued advanced 

 studies at Wesleyan and Johns Hopkins Universities which later 

 resulted in the degrees of M. S. and Ph. D. from his alma mater. 

 In 1893 he became professor of geology at Columbian, later George 

 Washington University, continuing his lectures until 1916, and was 

 given the honorary degree of Sc. D. in 1917. 



Doctor Merrill's connection with the National jSIuseum began with 

 the organization of 1880. He served in various capacities in the 

 geological division until 1897, when, under a reorganization, he was 

 appointed head curator of the department of geology, which position 

 he held until his death. The growth of the department from a com- 

 paratively few specimens, resulting chiefly from the United States 

 Land Office and other early Government surveys, to its present 

 position among the notable geological collections of the world, is 

 largely due to Doctor Merrill's ability as an executive and his devo- 

 tion and loyalty to the Institution. He was preeminently a museum 

 man and an artist in methods of display, as can be attested by the 

 harmonious arrangement of the exhibition halls under his charge. 



Doctor JMerrill early became interested in building stones and was 

 regarded as the leading expert on this subject, his opinion being 



