spencer F. Baird. 



29 



As a scientific man Professor Baird en- 

 joyed world-wide fame. Dickinson College 

 awarded him the degree of Doctor of Phy- 

 sical Science, Columbia conferred on him 

 the degree of Doctor of Laws, Melbourne 

 awarded him the silver medal of the Ac- 

 climatization Society, France the gold medal 

 of the Soci^t^ d' Acclimation, the Emperor 

 of Germany the first prize of honor i^Erster 

 Elwenpreis) of the International Fisheries 

 Exhibition at Berlin, and the King of Nor- 

 way and Sweden decorated him Knight of 

 the Royal Norwegian Order of Olaf. He 

 was a member of nearly all the leading 

 scientific associations of the world, and 

 genera and species innumerable have been 

 named after him. Honors and distinctions 

 which other men spent laborious days and 

 sleepless nights in striving for, came to him 

 unasked, unsought ; he allowed himself 

 to be associated with many societies and 

 institutions, simply because he was too kind 

 to reject a courtesy. 



If his genius did not mark him out as a 

 man possessed of powers superior to those 

 of most other contemporary great men, we 

 might be tempted to say that his kindliness 

 of disposition, his gentle consideration for 

 the feelings of others, and his extreme sim- 

 plicity were his leading characteristics, for 

 these traits could not fail to impress them- 

 selves on every one with whom he came in 

 contact. On this subject we cannot do 

 better than quote from the personal remin- 

 iscences of Chas. W. Smiley in the Micro- 

 scopical Journal : 



" If one quality was more prominent in 

 his life than others it was his kindness. He 

 had as kind words for messenger boys as 

 for Senators. He never showed that he 

 felt superior to anybody, and he always ap- 

 peared to prize the friendship and cordiality 

 of those whom everybody knew to be his 

 inferior?. What often surprised me was 

 that he would spend valuable time in enter- 

 taining those who had no such claims upon 

 him. Some book, picture, specimen, letter, 



or incident was generally handy to furnish 

 him a text for charming conversation. Some 

 came at length to feel, after his health be- 

 gan to fail, that they ought not to let him 

 use his time thus, for he surely would atone 

 for it in over-work ; and so, not compelled 

 by business to confer with him for several 

 days, when one endeavored to lessen the 

 multitude of interviews he was holding, the 

 Professor noticed the absences, and play- 

 fully rallied the absentee upon his omis- 

 sions, as if the former, and not the latter, 

 had been the loser thereby. Whoever came 

 into his friendship came to stay, and he 

 never deserted any in adversity, even when 

 they became troublesome to him. 



"I never saw him at all angry, and upon 

 catechising one of his most constant at- 

 tendants upon this point, the most I could 

 learn was that on one occasion, when a 

 beautifully bound book dropped into the 

 mud, virtually ruining it, the Professor ut- 

 tered some mild by-word. When a man 

 came at him with a storm of abuse or of 

 misapprehensions, he would sit perfectly 

 quiet until the storm had spent itself and 

 the bearer had said all he could think of, 

 then in the calmest manner he replied so 

 kindly as always to send his antagonist away 

 happy. His kindness extended to wrong- 

 doers and unfaithful employees. He was 

 never known to discharge from the service 

 for incompetency or neglect any person 

 whom he had know personally. When it 

 became evident that one was not doing well, 

 the Professor would try the person in some 

 other capacity. There are those who have 

 thus made very extended rounds in search 

 for their proper spheres. 



" Next to kindness may be placed mod- 

 esty. As it permeated everything, there 

 could be no suspicion of affectation. Even 

 his dress, always neat, was so unostenta- 

 tious that he was often likened in appear- 

 ance to a well-to-do farmer. His horse and 

 carriage were the plainest that could be 

 seen at the Smithsonian or the White House. 



