150 THE RETROSPECT OF THE YEAR. 



lections brought together there ; of his great systematic 

 work upon the Birds and Mammals of North America, 

 and of the volumes which contain the results of his re- 

 searches. We know, too, when the labors of administra- 

 tion became so vast that he could no longer give his time 

 to personal research, how he placed with generous hand 

 the means he had accumulated at the disposal of others, 

 and of the impetus he gave to the study of natural history 

 by providing for workers not only the material for research, 

 but salaried positions that they might contiime their stud- 

 ies. He thus fostered research in the broadest manner, and 

 brought up a set of workers in Washington, which has re- 

 sulted in making it the great centre of science in our coun- 

 try, where to-day, nearly five hundred men are profession- 

 ally engaged in scientific work in all departments, and 

 many of these departments were actually created by the 

 foresio:ht and labors of this hard-workinar, self-sacriticino^ 

 man. We know also of his founding the United States Fish 

 Commission, and the truly wonderful results it has attained, 

 not only in a scientific way, but in adding immense wealth 

 to the country by furnishing food for the people, restoring 

 fish to exhausted streams and portions of the coast, and in- 

 troducing species that have become important in our supply 

 of food on both sides of the continent. Had this one work 

 of Professor Baird been his only and life-long eflbrt, he 

 would ever be remembered as a great benefactor, but while 

 this work will ever stand out in prominence, from the great 

 economic results achieved, it is only one of the many far- 

 reaching results which we owe to him. 



Surely, Mr. President, we have lost from our little roll 

 of Honorary Members, two men, whose equals in their re- 

 spective lines of research and influence we cannot hope to 

 see in our time. 



