114 PROCEEDINGS OF THE REGENTS. 



Saturday, April 7, 1860. 



The Board of Regents met this day at 10 o'clock a. m. Present: 

 Hon. James A. Pearce, Hon. S. A, Douglas, Hon. W. H. English 

 Hon. Benjamin Stanton, Hon. George E. Badger, Professor Bache, 

 and the Secretary. 



Mr. Pearce was called to the chair. 



The minutes were read and approved. 



Mr. Pearce presented the Report of the Executive m Committee 

 which was accepted, and the estimates for the year 18G0 adopted. 



On motion of Mr. Douglas, it was 



Resolved, That the Executive Committee invest the five thousand 

 dollars now in the hands of the Treasurer, belonging to the extra 

 fund. 



The Secretary laid before the Board the eleventh volume of Smith- 

 sonian Contributions to Knowledge, which had just been issued. 



The Secretary brought before the Board the subject of the pay of 

 the assistants; which, after some remarks, was referred to the Secre- 

 taiy and the Executive Committee. 



Professor Bache made the following remarks : 



Mr. Gustavus Wurdemann, in charge of the tidal observations of 

 the Coast Survey on the Florida reefs and Gulf of Mexico, died at 

 his home in New Jersey on the 30th of September. His health had 

 been failing for some years, and during the last year he had discharged 

 his duties with great difficulty, owing to great physical debility. Mr. 

 Wurdemann entered the survey under my predecessor, and served, 

 throughout a somewhat extended career, with a fidelity and single- 

 ness of purpose that has never been exceeded. Exact truthfulness 

 was the leading trait of his character, and his observations, even 

 the most minute, were always reliable. It is easily seen that it 

 is no exaggeration to say that such a man was invaluable in his 

 place, and an example worthy to be held up as the type of faith- 

 fulness. During the discharge of his laborious duties he found time 

 and opportunity to make collections in natural history, which have 

 been acknowledged by the Smithsonian Institution as among the 

 most valuable contributions to the knowledge of the fauna of Florida. 



On motion of Professor Bache, the following resolution was unani- 

 mously adopted: 



Resolved, That the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution have 

 learned with regret the decease of Gustavus Wurdeman, tidal ob- 

 server in the Coast Survey, whose collections of specimens from the 

 coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and especially of the birds of Florida, 

 liberally furnished to the Smithsonian Institution, have proved of 

 great importance in increasing our knowledge of the natural history 

 of the southern part of the United States. 



