1850 TO 1865 335 
and showed them how, by means of their collections, 
their names would become known in the civilized world 
and even printed in books, they seized on the project 
with enthusiasm. 
It gave them a new object in their lives, with almost 
unlimited possibilities of expansion, and time need no 
longer be wasted in futilities. 
For more than ten years collections poured into 
Washington from the North, until those who had been 
inspired by Kennicott retired from active service. The 
names of McFarlane, McDougal, Sibbeston, Ross, Donald 
Gunn, and many others, were permanently inscribed on 
the list of benefactors of science. 
This enthusiasm was naturally fostered by Professor 
Baird, who wrote numerous letters, undertook all sorts 
of commissions, sent numberless papers, pamphlets and 
books, and in every way made himself the friend and 
helper of these inhabitants of the wilderness. 
In 1859 Baird’s work on the Pacific Railroad Reports 
was nearly finished. ‘The birds were printed. The 
printing up to Volume X. included over 2,000 quarto 
pages of original matter. 
The summer vacation was spent at Elizabethtown, 
New York. Then comes another gap in the Journal from 
February, 1859, to January, 1861. 
From Dr. Henry Bryant to Spencer F. Baird. 
Boston, Feb. 5th, 1860. 
Dear Pror, 
I am afraid Darwin in spite of your amiable wish is going to 
make the dry bones rattle a little among the followers of the extreme 
modern school of zoology. 
I do not believe the theory that animals of a different species are 
derived from common parents—and cannot, however plausible the 
