“4 
ih 
? 
~ te 
‘ 
SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 275 
Official relations. Incidentally, his noble character’is further 
revealed to the reader, who feels grateful for the opportunity of 
making the acquaintance of a man of such sterling worth. - 
The chapters, entitled respectively ‘1850 to 1865’ and ‘1865 
to 1878,’ are filled with letters from eminent Americans who were 
either scientists or government officials. The contents of these 
letters being mostly of a scientific character, and even that of a 
special phase of the subject, they will not interest most readers 
enough to entice them to peruse the entire collection. The topics 
treated in these letters refer almost exclusively to collections 
that were being made for the Smithsonian Institution. 
A very interesting chapter is that which follows the two 
mentioned in the last paragraph. Few letters find place in the 
text, and a more general interest is found in the varied activities 
of the new secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Besides the im- 
mense work directly or indirectly connected with the Smithsonian, 
Baird’s appointment as head of the U. S. Commission of Fish 
and Fisheries used up much of his energy from 1871, the year 
of the establishment of the Commission. Incidentally, much of 
what he planned and accomplished in this new department is 
narrated in this chapter. 
Another interesting chapter tells the story of the foundation 
of the U. S. National Museum. Baird had long contemplated 
the project of a scientific museum that would be a credit to the 
greatness of the United States, and had for years accumulated 
material for this purpose. Finally the government gave the 
money that had been loaned and repaid by the corporation that 
managed the Centennial Exposition of 1876, toward the erection 
of a building in 1881, and G. Brown Goode, probably the greatest 
expert in the country on conducting museums, was put in charge 
of the new foundation. 
The chapter on ‘The U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries’ 
contains much information of a general character that will be 
very welcome to any reader, whether he is specially interested 
in science or not. The nobility of Spencer Baird’s soul is clearly 
evidenced in the disinterestedness with which he entered this 
new field of labor. He succeeded in getting congress to make his 
appointment non-remunerative, hoping that in so doing only 
worthy and competent men would ever be selected for the position 
of secretary His success in promoting everything he undertook 
