VIII 
1865 TO 1878 
porated by Congress, to consist of fifty members and 
to have as one of its functions an advisory capacity 
to the Government on scientific questions. In the fol- 
lowing year, after the organization was completed, Baird 
was elected a member. He was already a member, or an 
honorary member, of a multitude of societies, domestic 
and foreign. 
But a certain shyness, together with his extreme 
modesty, operated to prevent him from taking much part 
in the meetings of the Washington societies. On the 
rare occasions when he read a paper or addressed the 
meeting, it was quietly and well done; no hesitation or 
embarrassment being visible. 
But he was wont to say, that, what with his gen- 
erally overtaxed condition and the close atmosphere of 
most auditoriums, he found it almost impossible to keep 
awake at the meetings, and disliked extremely to show 
apparent discourtesy to the speakers by this mortifying 
weakness. 
In 1865 the Smithsonian library,—in accordance with 
Professor Henry’s principle that the Institution should 
as far as possible do the things worth doing but which 
no one else is able or willing to do, and eliminate as far 
as possible all functions which can as well be performed 
by other willing agencies,—was with the consent of Con- 
gress deposited in the Library of Congress. Professor 
384 
ie 1863 the National Academy of Sciences was incor- 
