Book Description

Excerpt from The American Monthly Microscopical Journal, 1888, Vol. 9: Containing Contributions to Biology The opening address was by Garrick Mallery, President of the Philosophical Society. The address upon Professor Baird as administrator was by William B. Taylor, of the Smithsonian Institution. The address upon Professor Baird in science was by William H. Dall. President of the Biological Society. The address upon the personal characteristics of Professor Baird was by John W. Powell, President of the Anthropological Society. Professor Baird was much interested in all the above-named societies. The addresses will soon be published in full. It is hoped that a biography may be prepared by one who appreciated him as no other could. Many public prints record the important events of his life. Congress is apparently about to provide for a bronze statue similar to that of Henry in the Smithsonian grounds. The writer may, perhaps, be permitted to contribute a few personal reminiscences indicative of the character of the man. If one quality was more prominent in his life than others it was his kind ness. He had as kind words for messenger boys as for Senators. He never showed that he felt superior to anybody, and he always appeared to prize the friendship and cordiality of those whom everybody knew to be his inferiors. What often surprised me was that he would spend valuable time in entertain ing those who had no such claims upon him. Some book, picture, specimen, letter, or incident was generally handy to furnish him a text for charming con versation. Some came at length to feel, after his health began to fail, that they ought not to let him use his time thus, for he surely would atone for it in over-work; and so, not compelled by business to confer with him for sev eral days. When one endeavored to lessen the multitude of interviews he was holding, the Professor noticed the absences, and playfully rallied the absentee upon his omissions, as if the former, and not the latter, had been the loser thereby. Whoever 'came into his friendship came to stay, and he never de serted any in adversity, even when they became troublesome to him. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.