I9I5- 



Reviews. 



219 



REVIEW. 



AN AMERICAN NATURALIST. 



Spencer Fullerton Baird. A Biography. By W. H. Dall, D.Sc. Phila- 

 delphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1915. Pp. xii. + 

 462. Price 155. net. 

 Irish and British naturalists in common with their transatlantic col- 

 leagues, may thank Dr. Dall for this valuable account of a worthy life. 

 Spencer Fullerton Baird was born at Reading, Philadelphia, in the year 

 1823, and died at Wood's Holl in 1888. From his earliest youth he was a 

 keen student of natural history, and at an early age was a leading 

 authority on American birds. He was fortunate enough to make the 

 acquaintance of many naturalists, and he carried on an animated corres- 

 pondence with Audubon, Dana, Agassiz, Leidy, and Asa Gray. In later 

 years he did much work at fossil vertebrates, reptiles, and fishes. His 

 chief claim to fame, however, does not rest on his original investigations, 

 though these were considerable, but on his great capacities for organisation. 

 In the year 1850 he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, with the special duty of creating the United States 

 National Museum, and this institution was largely the result of his design 

 and development. In 1871 the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries 

 (now the Bureau of Fisheries) was founded, and Baird was appointed 

 Commissioner. He was amongst the first to appreciate the importance 

 and necessity of adequate scientific investigations as a basis for legislation 

 designed to improve the condition of the fishing industry. A permanent 

 Laboratory for marine research was built at Wood's Holl, Massachusetts, 

 whilst the steamer Albatross began her notable explorations of the deeper 

 waters off shore. By many practical measures he added to the wealth 

 of the American fisheries, and prevented the depletion of stocks through 

 excessive fishing and injurious methods of capture. He introduced the 

 Carp to America, built hatcheries for both fresh -water and marine 

 fishes, and successfully transferred the Shad to the Pacific coast, where it 

 has flourished exceedingly. His attempt to stock the Eastern rivers with 

 Salmon from the Pacific coast, was, however, a complete failure. Many 

 millions of young Salmon were liberated in the rivers of New England, 

 but of them all, after they departed for the sea, not a single one has 

 returned. In 1878 Baird became Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution. He was a hard and conscientious worker, and the ill-health, 

 which terminated in his death in 1888, was largely due to over -work. 

 The inspiring story of his life is well told in the handsome volume now 

 introduced to English-speaking zoologists. 



R. S. 



