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in other parts of the United Kingdom, and has thus contributed greatly to 

 advance the knowledge of the natural history of particular districts, as 

 well as to spread a taste for this attractive science generally throughout 

 the country. 



On quitting the East-India Company's service, Dr. Baird practised his 

 profession in London for some years, until, in 1841, he accepted an ap- 

 pointment in the Zoological Department of the British Museum, where 

 he remained until his death, on the 27th of January, 1872. 



Dr. Baird's qualifications as a zoologist were of a high order, and his 

 published writings are numerous and valuable : they consist chiefly of 

 scattered papers on various subjects in the 1 Edinburgh Philosophical 

 Journal,' 'Loudon's Magazine of Natural History,' and its successor 

 ' The Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' in the ' Zoologist,' and 

 the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society.' 



His most important work, however, is the 4 Natural History of the 

 British Entomostraca,' published by the Ray Society in 1850. It con- 

 tains an excellent account of the structure, physiology, and habits of the 

 minute Crustacea which swarm in such abundance in our fresh and salt 

 waters, and is justly regarded as a work of great ability and research. 



He was also the author of a popular ' Cyclopaedia of the Natural 

 Sciences,' published in 1858, and of a valuable paper "On Pearls and 

 Pearl Fisheries," as well as one " On the Luminosity of the Sea." 



During the latter years of his life his attention was principally given to 

 the Entozoa, of the known species of which he had, as early as 1843, 

 drawn up a catalogue, which was published by the Trustees of the British 

 Museum. Numerous papers on the same subject were also contributed by 

 him to the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society' and the 'Transac- 

 tions of the Linnean Society.' 



Latterly he was engaged in preparing a new and general catalogue of 

 the Entozoa, comprehending the information acquired up to the present 

 time. With this object he had accumulated a vast amount of material, 

 and, had he lived to bring his undertaking to a close, it would have doubt- 

 less supplied a most valuable contribution to science. 



But it is not merely by his publications that his great attainments must 

 be judged. His knowledge of the various branches of Natural History was 

 extensive and accurate, and his readiness in imparting it to others will long 

 be remembered by those who were in the habit of studying in the British 

 Museum. 



As a man of science he was highly regarded by scientific men, and he 

 was greatly esteemed for his genial and kindly nature by all who knew 

 him. In private life especially he was much beloved, on account of the 

 unvarying amiability of his disposition and the kindliness of his manners. 



Dr. Baird was a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and Member of the 

 Imperial and Royal Botanical Society of Vienna. He was elected into the 

 Royal Society in 1867. 



