THE INCORPORATORS 1 15 



him. He found it when its operations had extended only from 

 Point Judith to Cape Henlopen, and when he died twenty-five 

 years later its work had extended from Maine to Texas and 

 throughout the Pacific Coast. When asked by members of Con- 

 gress " When will this survey be completed? " he replied " When 

 will you cease annexing territory? " At the beginning of his 

 administration the work of the Coast Survey was not very 

 thoroughly appreciated, but by his talents, and his industry he 

 made it one of the strongest of the scientific bureaus of the 

 Government During the Civil War when the regular opera- 

 tions of the Survey were necessarily suspended, it gave important 

 aid to the Government from the knowledge which as an organi- 

 zation it possessed regarding the coasts and harbors of the 

 country. 



In 1846 Professor Bache was named as a member of the Board 

 of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution in the act of incor- 

 poration, and it was entirely owing to his influence that Joseph 

 Henry was persuaded to become the Secretary of the Institution. 

 He supported Henry in his program of organization, through 

 the operations of which the Institution has attained its unique 

 place among the scientific establishments of America. 



Bache was also Superintendent of Weights and Measures of 

 the United States, and a member of the Lighthouse Board, as 

 well as of the commission of inquiry which preceded it. 



During the Civil War Bache served as Vice-President of the 

 U. S. Sanitary Commission, and also planned the defences of 

 his native city, Philadelphia. He died at Newport on February 

 17, 1867, and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in 

 Washington where an imposing tomb was erected by the 

 officers of the Coast Survey as a tribute to his memory. 



Professor Bache was a leading mind in the formation of the 

 National Academy of Sciences, if not its original projector. 

 It was at his house that the plans for the Academy were formu- 

 lated, and doubtless his sagacity and his knowledge of the con- 

 duct of affairs at Washington, which was probably greater than 

 that of any other man of his time, formed a very important 

 factor in their success. 



