428 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1082 



was peculiarly his own in conception and 

 organization, he died on August 19, 188Y. 



In selecting material for the chapter on 

 Appreciations from the large assortment of 

 available data, Dr. Dall has exercised admir- 

 able discrimination. It may not be inappro- 

 priate to quote therefrom an extract from a 

 biographical memoir presented to the National 

 Academy of Sciences by Dr. John S. Billings 

 in 1889 : 



" The two naen who have exerted the strong- 

 est influence upon natural history studies in 

 this country are Louis Agassiz and Professor 

 Baird. In many respects they were very un- 

 like; circumstances gave them widely different 

 fields, and they worked on different plans and 

 by diflferent methods. They began their public 

 career in this country almost together; but 

 Agassiz was already famous, as the result of 

 seventeen years' work, while Baird was an al- 

 most unknown youth. Agassiz was a born 

 teacher, a fascinating lecturer, gifted with elo- 

 quence which won its way everywhere; Baird 

 could only speak freely in the presence of a 

 few, and for the most part taught only by the 

 pen and by example. Each of them created a 

 great museum in spite of many obstacles, the 

 first winning the means largely from private 

 contributions, which were a tribute to his elo- 

 quence; the second gaining his end more in- 

 directly, through his connection with the 

 Smithsonian Institution and the government. 

 Each of them gathered around him young men 

 who were stimulated and encouraged by his ex- 

 ample, who followed his methods, have con- 

 tinued his work, and have taught others, so 

 that there are now observers and workers al- 

 most everywhere. The first made great use of 

 the microscope and of embryology; the second 

 very little, for he had to use the material avail- 

 able. The first had a vivid imagination which 

 led him to frame many theories and hypotheses 

 to be verified or disproved by future investi- 

 gation and research; the second classified the 

 facts before him, but theorized very little. 

 Professor Baird's career as an original inves- 

 tigator was hampered and finally stopped by 

 his administrative work, but in proportion as 

 this latter increased he was able to furnish 



materials and opportunities for others. The 

 pupils of Agassiz and Baird are the working 

 naturalists of to-day and the teachers of those 

 who are to come, and the two methods of study 

 are being combined and developed to produce 

 results of which we already have good reason 

 to be proud, and the end of which no man 

 can see. 



" Upon the roll of the illustrious dead of the 

 National Academy of Sciences his name stands 

 out as that of a scientific man of high attain- 

 ments, uniform purpose and indomitable 

 energy, whose work has already added to the 

 comfort and pleasure of hundreds of thou- 

 sands of his fellow men, and bids fair to be a 

 most important factor in supplying the neces- 

 sities of millions yet unborn." 



The merit, the charm, the permanent literary 

 and historical value of this noteworthy volume 

 can not be told in a review such as this. The 

 work is no mere formal biography. It is a 

 sympathetic analysis of the aspirations and 

 labors of one friend by another ; it is an appre- 

 ciation of the work of one scientist by another; 

 it is a simple, dignified, forceful narrative by 

 one whose personal knowledge of the man and 

 his times gave him a right to supplement the 

 statement of facts with authoritative comment 

 and criticism. 



To those who knew Professor Baird, the 

 volume of Dr. Dall comes as a delightful 

 memento. To those contemporaries who had 

 no personal acquaintance with him, it serves as 

 a faithful record of one whose name and work 

 are well known to all. To the generation that 

 has come into being and reached maturity 

 since Professor Baird's death, it is a fascinat- 

 ing history and an inspiring revelation. 



Hugh M. Smith 



Woods Hole, Mass., 

 August, 1915 



Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, 

 Pais and Waxes. By Dr. J. Lewkowitsoh. 

 Edited by George H. Warbueton. Fifth 

 edition, entirely rewritten and enlarged. 

 Volume III. New York and London, Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd. 1915. Pp. 483. Price, 

 $6.50. 



