630 
sophical Society, and in his private ob- 
servatory began that series of magnetic 
observations with which his name is so 
honorably connected. 
His services in establishing the Girard 
College, of which he was the first president, 
and his development of the publie school 
system of Philadelphia while filling the 
offices of principal of the high school and 
that of superintendent of the public schools, 
are best described in the statement that 
‘‘the result of his labors in regard to the 
schools was the establishment of the best 
system of combined free education which 
had, at that time, been adopted in this 
country. It has since generally been re- 
garded as a model, and has been introduced 
as such in different cities of the Union.” * 
Bache’s great work, however, was in con- 
nection with the United States Coast Sur- 
vey, to the superintendency of which he 
was called in 18438, and of his relation to 
that work I again quote from his biog- 
rapher : 
When Professor Bache took charge of the 
survey, it was still almost in its incipient stage, 
subjected to misapprehension, assailed by un- 
just prejudice, and liable, during any session of 
Congress, to be suspended or abolished. When 
he died, it had conquered prejudice, silenced 
opposition, and become established on a firm 
foundation as one of the permanent bureaus of 
the executive government. * * * He divided 
the whole coast line into sections, and organ- 
ized, under separate parties, the essential oper- 
ations of the survey simultaneously in each. 
He commenced the exploration of the Gulf 
Stream, and at the same time projected a series 
of observations on the tides, on the magnetism 
of the earth, and the direction of the winds at 
different seasons of the year. He also insti- 
tuted a succession of researches in regard to the 
bottom of the ocean within soundings, and the 
forms of animal life which are found there, thus 
* Eulogy on Professor Alexander Dallas Bache, 
late Superintendent of the U. S. Coast Survey, by 
Joseph Henry. Smithsonian Report for 1870, p. 98. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Von. X. No. 253. 
offering new and unexpected indications to the 
navigator. He pressed into service, for the 
determination of the longitude, the electric 
telegraph ; for the ready production of charts, 
photography ; and for multiplying copper-plate 
engravings, the new art of electrotyping. In 
planning and directing the execution of these 
varied improvements, which exacted so much 
comprehensiveness in design and minuteness 
in detail, Professor Bache was entirely success- 
ful.* 
In Washington, as in Philadelphia, he 
was foremost in every movement, public or 
private, that tended towards the advance- 
ment of science. Besides being ex-officio 
superintendent of Weights and Measures, 
he was a member of the Lighthouse Board, 
and a regent of the Smithsonian Institution 
from its inception till his death. Nor can 
I omit mention of the fact that he was a 
Vice-President of the United States Sani- 
tary Commission, and first President of the 
National Academy of Sciences. Professor 
Bache presided over the Charleston meeting 
in 1850, and also over the New Haven 
meeting in August, 1851, and over the Cin- 
cinnati meeting in May of the same year. 
It is difficult at this time to determine 
when the unwritten law of the Association 
that a representative of the natural sci- 
ences should be chosen to succeed a repre- 
sentative of the physical sciences in the 
presidential chair came into existence, but 
with the election of Louis Agassiz, in 1851, 
as the successor of Bache, the principle was 
clearly indicated. 
AGASSIZ. 
With the possible exception of the elder 
Silliman, the influence of Louis Agassiz on 
the development of science in our country 
has been greater than that of any other 
single man. The extraordinary personal 
qualities of character as well as the talents 
and attainments of this great naturalist 
* Henry’s Eulogy on Professor Alexander Dallas 
Bache, pp. 100, 101. 
