232 The Smithsonian Institution 



publications, the system of international exchanges, and the 

 development of that great system of meteorological obser- 

 vations, the storm predictions, which has since become the 

 Weather Bureau. 



Secretary Baird continued the development of the Museum, 

 which had been under his special charge during the twenty- 

 seven years of his service as Assistant Secretary, secured the 

 erection of the Museum building, gave much attention to 

 zoological and ethnological exploration, and, in connection 

 with his special work as Commissioner of Fisheries, secured 

 the construction of the exploring ship Albatross, and car- 

 ried on extensive investigations in American waters. In ad- 

 dition to his Smithsonian work he will always be remembered 

 as one of the greatest of naturalists, the founder of the United 

 States Fish Commission and of " public fish-culture." 



Under the administration of Secretary Langley there has 

 been renewed activity in the library and exchange work, and 

 a new system has been introduced for the encouragement of 

 original research in physical and biological science. During 

 his administration important donations and bequests have 

 been added to the permanent fund of the Institution. The 

 limit of one million dollars which may by law be deposited in 

 the United States Treasury, at six per cent., has nearly been 

 reached, and Congress has recognized the authority of the 

 Institution to receive and administer other funds beyond this 

 limit, thus making it possible for it to undertake the adminis- 

 tration of financial trusts for any purpose within the scope of 

 its general plan. 



Secretary Langley will always be remembered as the 

 founder of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and 

 of the National Zoological Park, in which his assiduous per- 

 sonal labor was largely instrumental in securing to the nation 

 the most picturesque, and up to this time the largest, tract of 



