The Three Secretaries 193 



His most lasting memorials, however, are those living 

 monuments which commemorate the activity of naturalists 

 the animals which are named for them by their disciples. Of 

 these there are more than forty, conspicuous among which 

 are Baird's Tapir (Elasmognathus Bairdii), a large mammal 

 of Central America ; Baird's Dolphin (Delphinus Bairdii}, 

 a species found in the Pacific waters of the United States ; 

 and Baird's Octopus, the first conspicuous new form of inver- 

 tebrate discovered in the early explorations of the Fish Com- 

 mission on the New England coast. 



The most modest of men, Professor Baird cared not for 

 public recognition. His indifference to self was his most 

 conspicuous characteristic. He could never be induced to 

 address an audience, something which seems all the more 

 remarkable to his friends, who remember how winning was 

 his eloquence when he talked in the presence of a few. 



The power of his persuasive suavity was never better seen 

 than when in the presence of the committees of Congress be- 

 fore whom he was summoned from year to year to justify his 

 requests for money to be used in the extension of his work. 

 He was always received with the heartiest welcome, and these 

 keen, bustling, practical men of business, who ordinarily 

 rushed with the greatest of expedition through the routine of 

 the day, forgot their usual hurry when Professor Baird was 

 before them, and listened so long as he could be induced to 

 talk, and not infrequently would wander from the business 

 before them to ask him questions upon subjects which his re- 

 marks suggested. A very practical evidence of their appre- 

 ciation was the prompt action upon the bill, passed soon after 

 his death, giving twenty-five thousand dollars to his widow in 

 recognition of the uncompensated services which he had ren- 

 dered as Commissioner of Fisheries. 



