DOCTOR WALCOTT AS A PALEONTOLOGIST, AND 



HIS RELATIONS WITH THE CARNEGIE 



INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON 



BY JOHN C. MERRIAM 



Of many relationships to Doctor Walcott those which I shall cherish 

 most in memory are the two concerning which I am privileged to 

 speak on this occasion. One relates to the closely binding tie of 

 common interest in a fundamental subject of research to which his life 

 and mine have been in part devoted, namely, the real significance of 

 the paleontological or life story. The other concerns one expression 

 of Doctor Walcott's interest in creative work, as illustrated in his 

 twenty-five years of service as an organizer and leader in the program 

 of a research agency with which I am connected, that is, the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington. 



It was a mutual interest in the importance of paleontological prob- 

 lems that brought about my first conference with Doctor Walcott. 

 The discussion related to the future of research on the history of life 

 in America. It was by reason of our common interest in application 

 of research results for the benefit of the people that I worked with 

 Doctor Walcott on many enterprises of national scope. It was 

 through a realization in my mind, as in Doctor Walcott's, that the 

 lesson of evolution of the living world suggests the importance of 

 continuing investigational or creative effort, that I came into continu- 

 ing touch with administration of research problems. 



Doctor Walcott's personal contact with research questions, his 

 effective practical grasp of methods of investigation, and his recogni- 

 tion of the meaning of creative effort in terms of human service, 

 made him a critical figure in the initial planning, as through all stages 

 of organization and development, of the Carnegie Institution. The 

 statement in the charter of the Institution defining its purposes, which 

 reads — '' to encourage in the broadest and most liberal manner in- 

 vestigation, research, and discovery, and the application of knowledge 

 to the improvement of mankind " — expressed the specific interest of 

 Doctor Walcott in this agency. 



As one of the original incorporators and a member of the first 

 Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institution, Doctor Walcott served 

 continuously from the time of organization until his death. He was 

 its first Secretary, was a member and Chairman of the Executive 



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