Juty 12, 1918] 
him that he could never be induced to make 
a public address, he spoke easily and fiu- 
ently in the presence of a few, and with the 
pursuasive eloquence of simple and exact 
statement. He soon won interested sup- 
porters to his plan. 
The following brief extracts from his 
correspondence, which are taken from 
Dall’s valuable ‘‘Biography of Professor 
Baird,’’ will, I hope, illustrate something 
of the simple directness of his method of 
bringing the importance of an inquiry into 
the causes of the decrease of food fishes to 
the attention of Congress. 
The first is a letter addressed to the Hon. 
H. L. Daws, M. C., and bears the date De- 
eember 15, 1870. 
Dear Sir: In the accompanying communication I 
give you a memorandum in regard to the subject 
of the decrease of the fish of our coast; though I 
fear I have not expressed my ideas as satisfactorily 
as might be desired. 
In reference to the mode of action to be adopted 
in regard to this subject I have prepared a reso- 
lution which I commend to your consideration. 
If you feel inclined to take immediate action in 
regard to an appropriation to meet the cost of the 
necessary investigation I would suggest that an 
item be introduced in one or other of the bills in 
your hands, providing the sum of, say, five thou- 
sand dollars, or as much thereof as may be neces- 
sary, to be expended by the commissioner under 
the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, in 
prosecuting investigations into the subject of food 
fishes of the Atlantic coast, with a view of ascer- 
taining what remedy can be applied toward secur- 
ing the supply against its present rapid diminu- 
tion. 
The investigation would have to be carried on at 
several points on the coast, for instance, the Vine- 
yard Sound, the coast of Maine, the Bay of Fun- 
day and perhaps the coast of New Jersey; and 
require several years for their completion. 
Yours truly, 
Spencer F, Barrp 
The following extracts are from a letter 
of date January 3, 1871, from: Professor 
Baird to the chairman of the House and 
SCIENCE 29 
Senate Committees on Appropriations. 
They are chosen to show the judicious 
mingling of information which, as a scien- 
tific man, it was his especial province to im- 
part to Congress, with facts touching upon 
certain practical interests concerning which 
members of Congress might be sensitive. 
. . . During my visit of last summer to the Vine- 
yard Sound and other maritime portions of New 
England, I was much impressed by the great dimi- 
nution in the numbers of the fish which furnish 
the summer food supply to the coast, .. . as com- 
pared with their abundance during a previous visit 
in 1863... . The belief is everywhere loudly ex- 
pressed that unless some remedy be applied... 
the time is not far distant when we shall lose, al- 
most entirely, this source of subsistence and sup- 
port. ... The causes assigned are varied,... 
most disinterested persons, however, ascribing the 
seareity to the use of nets of one pattern or another 
and the capturing of the fish on or near their 
breeding grounds before they have spawned; and 
urging vehemently the passage of laws for pre- 
venting or regulating the employment of nets or 
weirs. 
State action has been invoked at various times 
for the purpose of securing a remedy for the evil 
in question; but owing to conflicting interests and 
the influence of powerful parties who are con- 
cerned in maintaining the present mode of fishing, 
little has been accomplished. . . . Before intelli- 
gent legislation can be initiated, however, and 
measures taken that will not unduly oppress or 
interfere with interests already established, it is 
necessary that a careful, scientific research be en- 
tered upon, for the purpose of determining what 
should really be done; since any action presup- 
poses a knowledge of the history and habits of the 
fish, that, I am sorry to say, we do not at present 
possess. We must ascertain, among other facts, 
at what time the fish reach our coast, and during 
what period they remain; when they spawn and 
where; what is the nature of their food; what lo- 
calities they prefer; what agencies interfere with 
the spawn of the fish; what length of time elapses 
before the young themselves are capable of repro- 
ducing; for how many years the function of re- 
production can be exercised; and many other points 
of equal importance. ... 
Cod and mackerel are not concerned directly in 
this inquiry, as they are not captured to any great 
extent in pounds; but since they feed almost en- 
