1888.] 559 [Hyatt. 



The life of investigation begun with such energy was not discon- 

 tinued when he entered upon the harassing and absorbing duties of 

 his public post. These duties would have entirely filled the time of 

 a man less endowed with physical power and less gifted with the 

 divine thirst for knowledge drawn from the untrodden fields of orig- 

 inal research. The list of his publications, prepared by Professor 

 Goode, shows unremitting devotion to systematic zoolog}' until the 

 year 1869, a period of nineteen years. 



He was placed by Professor Henry in charge of the organization 

 and superintendence of the Smithsonian department of exchanges, 

 and built up and developed that vast system of communication be- 

 tween scientific societies and individuals, which has been and is 

 now one of the most effective instruments of scientific progress ever 

 devised. He was also placed by Professor Henry in charge of the 

 department of Scientific Exploration which taxed to the utmost all 

 his powers as a man of science and a manager of men, and must 

 have occupied a large proportion of his time. In the performance 

 of these duties it was essential not only to select suitable persons 

 to accompany surveys and do the work in the field, but to persuade 

 the leaders of expeditions that such persons were essential, and 

 then to secure favorable legislation from congressmen. 



He also had charge of the natural history collections of the 

 Smithsonian, which had been started by the deposit of his own col- 

 lections, and which daily grew under his fostering care, and by ac- 

 cessions flowing in from the various government explorations. 



His official occupations would have been ample excuse for not 

 taking part in making known the results of explorations, but this 

 was not his own view of duty. It is not, in our opinion, his least 

 service to science, that he has set before future generations the 

 example of a man, who not only carried on the duties of several 

 bureaus faithfully, but, for nineteen }'ears of this time, steadily 

 pursued his investigations, and actually published works, which 

 have made his name an essential part of the history of original re- 

 search in North America. 



His publications upon vertebrata are standard books and will 

 probably remain such for many years to come. They have gained 

 from such men as Stejneger, Allen and Ridgway the most unquali- 

 fied praise for method and accuracy. Stejneger goes so far as to 

 say, that Baird's methods really began and established an era in 

 the history of vertebrate zoology in North America, and that he 



