Memorial Meeting. 27 



great fire of 1865 as that establislinient conld utilize ; and to the deposit 

 in the Library of Congress of the great collection of scientific books and 

 periodicals, which was rapidly outgrowing all the limits set by his pru- 

 dence. In his determination that nothing should be permitted to divert 

 the progress of the Institution from the lines laid down for it, Professor 

 Henry thought no labor too great, no personal supervision too minute, 

 no just economy too paltr}^ Who shall say that his lofty purposes and 

 unceasing struggles have not been justified by his succCvSS? 



Meanwhile Baird's ambitions and endeavors were leading toward the 

 establishment of a national nuiseum in fact, if not in name. Multitu- 

 dinous expeditions were set on foot for Pacific railway routes, military 

 surveys, the coast survey, the routes for an Isthmian canal, the explora- 

 tion of the Hudson Bay territory, lyower California, and Alaska. From 

 each and all of these a stream of the most precious material for study 

 flowed toward the Smithsonian Institution. The natural sciences all over 

 the world were enriched by the countercurrent of published researches 

 which poured from those Elizabethan towers. A bevy of students, poor 

 in purse, but rich in enthusiasm, in energy and devotion, found shelter 

 there. From time to time, as opportunities came, they sallied forth, one 

 by one, to the ends of the earth, bent on enriching the collection and 

 advancing science, in which they usually succeeded. 



How difficult in such a case to hold the balance true! To preser\^e for 

 study what was needed and yet not to exceed the limits imposed by cir- 

 cumstances. To be loyal and true in spirit, as well as in the letter, to 

 the policy of the chief, and yet to hold securely for the future that which 

 the future ^vould need. Yet this task, so perplexing and so difficult, 

 was successfully performed by Baird. He had for Henry an affectionate 

 loyalty and veneration as strong in its way as his devotion to biological 

 research, and which supplied a never-failing and most elevating example 

 to the younger men about him. 



The establishment of the Fish Commission with its separate income 

 partly available for research somewhat ameliorated the situation. The 

 establishment of a national museum, as urged by Baird and Henry, 

 became a more familiar idea to Congress and the country. With the 

 Centennial Exposition of 1876, came an opportunity of which Baird 

 was not slow to take advantage. He determined that the exhibition 

 made by the United States should bear testimony to what the Museum 

 could do both in the way of material and in its presentation. The 

 Government made a loan of several millions to the Exposition, which 

 no one then supposed would ever be repaid. Members of the appro- 

 priations committee felt quite safe in half jokingly assuring Professor 

 Baird that if the money ever was repaid an appropriation for a National 

 Museum building should not be withheld. The entire staff of the 

 Museum, including several unpaid volunteers, with Goode at their head, 

 gave all their energies for nearly a year to make the Government and 



