Miscellaneous Intelligence. 95 



the leader, Mr. George Borup, caused a postponement in its depar- 

 ture till 1913, when it left New York under the leadership of Mr. 

 Donald B. MacMillan. The grounding of their vessel in the 

 Straits of Belle Isle, in July, 1913, involved an expense of some 

 $11,000, which explains a considerable part of the large sum now 

 needed. The " George B. Cluett," the hospital and supply auxili- 

 ary schooner belonging to the Wilfred T. Grenfell Association, 

 has been chartered and will proceed to Etah next summer and 

 bring the members of the Expedition and their collections back 

 to New York. 



Checks should be made payable to the American Museum of 

 Natural History and sent to the chairman of the committee in 

 charge. 



4. Spencer Fullerton Baird. A Biography, including selec- 

 tions from his correspondence xoith Audubon, Agassiz, Dana, 

 and others ; by William Healey Dall. Pp. i-xvi, 1-4 62, with 

 19 illustrations. Philadelphia and London, 1915 (J. B. Lippin- 

 cott Company). — Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-1887), father of 

 the U. S. National Museum, the U. S. Commission of Fish and 

 Fisheries, and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Wood's Hole, 

 received his B.A. degree from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn- 

 sylvania, when he was seventeen years of age. Even at this time 

 he was an industrious collector of birds and in correspondence 

 with Audubon about a new species of flycatcher ; long before his 

 call to the Smithsonian Institution he was known to all natural- 

 ists in the United States. At the age of twenty-four, Baird was 

 apprised by James D. Dana of the possibilities at Washington, 

 and by him recommended to Henry, then secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, as keeper of the natural history cabinet. 

 However, because of difficulties in erecting the building and 

 because of shortage of funds, the appointment of Baird as assist- 

 ant secretary did not come until July 5, 1850. For thirty-seven 

 years thereafter he was intensely active in upbuilding American 

 natural history and in laying the foundations which led to the 

 establishing of many of the scientific departments of the Govern- 

 ment bureaus at Washington. 



The present biographer of Baird, Doctor Dall, became 

 acquainted with him in 1802, and in 1865 was attached to the 

 staff of the Smithsonian Institution, Avhere he is still actively at 

 work. He is, therefore, well qualified to be Baird's historian and 

 to tell us how he lived and worked, with glimpses of his relations 

 to his contemporaries, to the promotion of science, and to great 

 public services. We are here also introduced to nearly all of the 

 pioneer American naturalists, and told how the Smithsonian 

 Institution came to be through the munificence of the Englishman, 

 James Smithson, and how Baird, appointed its assistant secretary 

 at an annual salary of $1500, gradually developed the IT. S. Na- 

 tional Museum and the Commission of Fisheries. These great 

 institutions were being built up with little money and scant sym- 

 pathy from the Government, and we learn that the Commission 



