resentatives induced Congress to make a special appropriation for the purpose.3 This description of the Fish Commission, although written more than a quarter of a century ago, may stand as a description of the functions of the Bureau of Fisheries of the Department of Commerce to-day. Thus it is seen that in conceiving the idea of the Fish Commission, Professor Baird not only prepared working plans to relieve an immediate and menacing situation, but, by that act, brought into being an organization which is itself a living and growing thing, and, now become a part of the governmental mechanism, grows with the nation's growth and contributes its own peculiar part towards the conservation and increase of the national wealth. More than thirty years ago, our government, through the work of Professor Baird, had already furnished a lesson in preparedness that the civilized world recognized, applauded, and in large measure, copied for its own. The following appreciations of Professor Baird's achievements in this respect are taken from G. Brown Goode's "The Smithsonian Institution," Washington, 1897, p. 188: In 1883, Professor Huxley remarked: "If the people of Great Britain are going to deal seriously with the sea fisheries, . . . unless they put into the organization of the fisheries, the energy, the ingenuity, the scientific knowledge and the professional skill which characterizes my friend Professor Baird and his assistants, their efforts are not likely to come to very much good."' "I do not think," he adds, "that any nation at the present time has comprehended the question of dealing with fish in so thorough, excellent and scientific a spirit as the United States.'' The principal French authority, M. RaveretWattel, wrote: "Nowhere has government given so much enlightened care to the rational cultivation of the waters, and afforded such efficient protetion and generous encouragement." 3 Report of Smithsonian Institution for 1888, pp. 84-85. The importance of Professor Baird's services to fishery economy are, perhaps, more fully recognized in Germany than elsewhere. At the first great International Fisheries Exhibition, that held in Berlin in 1880, the juries in their official report said: "We must thank America for the progress which fish culture has made during the past decade'; and the magnificent silver trophy, the first prize of honor, was awarded to Professor Baird by the Emperor. On the same occasion the president of the German Fisheries Association designated Professor Baird as "the first fish-culturist of the world.' One of the functions of the National Academy of Sciences, which was incorporated by Congress in 1863, is that its members may act in an advisory capacity on scientific questions. It is an important principle that is here recognized, and the country should have benefited more than it has done by this opportunity to secure expert advice. There are some indications that more attention is to be given to this principle than has been the rule in the past. It is therefore timely to suggest that both scientific man and legislator study the history of the establishment of the commission to inquire into the fisheries problem, and to note the behavior of Professor Baird, the man of science, and of the legislators with whom he had dealings. There is to be noted on the one hand sincerity and the absence of self-interest, coupled with exhaustive knowledge of the subject in hand, and on the other an intelligent comprehension of the problem when stated by competent authority, and a genuine desire to improve conditions. Naturally there resulted from this combination practical legislation that has been of acknowledged benefit to the nation and to the world. The friendly relations which grew up between Professor Baird and Congress may be seen from Professor Goode's charming description: The power of his pursuasive suavity was never better seen than when in the presence of the com mittees of Congress before whom he was summoned from year to year to justify his requests for money to be used in the extension of his work. He was always received with the heartiest welcome, and these keen, bustling, practical men of business, who ordinarily rushed with the greatest of expedition through the routine of the day, forgot their usual hurry when Professor Baird was before them, and listened so long as he could be induced to talk, and not infrequently would wander from the business before them to ask him questions upon subjects which his remarks suggested. A very practical evidence of their appreciation was the prompt action upon the bill, passed soon after his death, giving twenty-five thousand dollars to his widow in recognition of the uncompensated services which he had rendered as commissioner of fisheries. The secret of Professor Baird's power rests at bottom on his entire unselfishness, and thorough preparedness. Of such a scientific man as he one could say, and of every scientific man one ought to be able to say, paraphrasing a celebrated letter to certain people of Corinth: He is not puffed up, seeketh not his own, rejoiceth in the truth, and hopeth all things. Around the Smithsonian Institution as a nucleus are clustered the various buildings of the National Museum and Department of Agriculture. Whatever else they may stand for, they are, in an important sense, monuments of such work as that which Professor Baird performed when he enlisted the interest of Congress in scientific questions. With these examples of the generosity of Congress towards science before us it may be asked why take time to argue for an accomplished fact? It is true that a good beginning has been made, and no fault is to be found, so far as I am aware, with the relations which exist between the scientific bureaus of our government and Congress. The life and work of Professor Baird laid broad and secure foundations upon which others have builded well. But there exists between science in this country as represented by laboratories of research in universities and elsewhere, on the one hand, and our state and national legislatures on the other, a gulf that is but inadequately bridged. I remember seeing, a few years ago, in some of our periodical literature, remarks that were meant to be derogratory, about what the writers called "Washington science." Such deliverances were, of course, but little more than evidence of a certain state of mind; nevertheless they are an index of a gulf, or barrier, or unexplored middle ground, between science, as represented by some of our most talented investigators, and members of our law-making bodies who desire to be shown probable practical benefits that are pected to follow legislation which they are asked to favor. Professor Baird, through his own contributions to knowledge, won a place among the first American men of science. By his example and influence he opened up avenues of research and promoted investigations that led to the advancement of knowledge to a greater degree than any other American has done. Science under his direction suffered no loss of purity by being clothed in garments of utility and thus made attractive to minds not otherwise prepared to appreciate her charms. With men equipped as he was to bring before legislative bodies projects in the interests of the public, selfish interests, which thrive on the ignorance of the people, would have little effect in hindering wise legislation. With men like him to the fore unkind remarks, calculated to widen the breach between science and legislation, such as "impractical and visionary scientists," on the one hand, and "pork-barrel politicians," on the other, would not be made. They would not be made because scientific man and legislator would meet on common ground, and, understanding each other, would say to their fellows, and to the pub lic: Here is a man anxious to improve the condition of his fellows; listen to what he has to say. Recent world events make it evident that it is going to become more and more necessary to the life of the nation to conserve all its natural resources, and to coordinate all the energies of the state so that the whole may become available for any contingency that can be foreseen, and that all parts work together with the least possible friction, and with highest efficiency in results. For the proper realization of the development of an ideal life for our nation we must be taught by example. Do we not find in the life and character of this great American, in whose honor we are met to-day, a model and a type? He was thoroughly equipped, both by natural gifts and by patient industry, for the battle of life as it had to be fought out; and he devoted his great powers unselfishly and ungrudgingly to the service of the public. His was the preparedness of mind and heart that must be the ruling traits of the American of the future; of mind that will lead to the successful solution of such national and international problems as arise, without loss of dignity or undue waste of energy; of heart, that even the gates of ambition and selfishness can not prevail against it. Professor Baird, and those members of the House and Senate who learned to understand his sterling worth, together taught the world a great economic lesson. May we not express the hope that their example will be followed in these times and henceforth; that our legislators get the inspiration and information that is to determine legislation from those who know, rather than from those who do not know, even though they may be able to adorn their ignorance with the charms of eloquence that move the multitude. On the nineteenth of August, 1887, amid surroundings which were in large part the realization of his own thought and activity, in the residence building of the United States Fish Commission, at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Professor Baird, man of science and servant of the public, died. I remember the day and the hour. It was afternoon, and the tide was low. I recall a picture of a red sun hanging over Long Neck and reflected in the still waters of Great Harbor, of sodden masses of seaweed on the dripping piles and on the bowlder-strewn shore; and there rises again the thought that kept recurring then, that the sea is very ancient, that it ebbed and flowed before man appeared on the planet, and will ebb and flow after he and his works have disappeared; and a singular, indefinite impression, as if something had passed that was, in some fashion, great, and mysterious, and ancient, like the sea itself. And now, more than a quarter of a century after his death, we who knew him, and were in greater or less degree privileged to be associated with him, are met here to give visible expression to the reverent esteem in which we hold in memory the image of this pure and lofty character, and to our high appreciation of his life and labors for the public good. Mr. Secretary: It is no small honor that you and I share to-day in having our lives for a brief moment fall under the shadow of the name of one of our country's greatest men. My honor it is to present to the Bureau. of Fisheries of the Department of Commerce, of which you are the official head, as the gift of his associates and followers, and in their behalf, this tablet to the memory of the founder and organizer of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, and first 4 Now known as Penzance. commissioner of fisheries, Spencer Fullerton Baird. EDWIN LINTON WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON COLLEGE OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOLAR OF THE LICK OB- THE preparations for observing the total eclipse, including the standardizing of the photographic plates by means of a standard lamp and the loading of the plate holders were completed Friday evening. The weather conditions were not promising Saturday morning, with the sky completely covered with clouds of medium thickness, and these continued throughout the day, except for a short break, which proved to be one of the most remarkable coincidences known to me. The prospects for a clear sky were apparently hopeless during the long hours of waiting, almost up to the time of totality. Fifty minutes before the moon's shadow was due to reach us we noticed a thinning of the clouds near the western horizon. It seemed hopeless to expect that the rift would continue or reach the region of the sky that we were interested in, but it did. A very small area of the blue sky free from clouds had the sun at its center exactly at the center of the total phase, and all other parts of the sky were clouded. This region cleared not more than a minute before the beginning of totality, and clouds again covered the sun less than a minute after the passing of the shadow. All of the instruments and all of the ob Nautical Almanac. We accordingly allowed for this in our program, and totality began two seconds later than Tucker's predicted time. The observed duration, one minute and fiftyseven seconds, agreed perfectly with the Almanac data. DARKNESS UNUSUALLY PRONOUNCED. The eclipse was a very dark one, the darkest of the six observed by me. The reading of newspaper print would have been difficult under the open sky. The chickens retired as if for the night. They were heard to give the morning cock crows before emerging a few minutes later. It was probably the shortest night in all their lives. The eclipse phenomena, both celestial and terrestrial, formed a spectacle indescribably unusual and magnificent. The solar corona was, of course, the center of interest. It seemed brighter than usual, and its general outline was more elongated than we had expected, in view of the fact that we are not far from sunspot maximum. The coronal streamers were visible two and one half solar diameters to the east and west of the sun, but scarcely more than one diameter to the north and south, and the outline form was approximately triangular, with the eastern steamers converging to a sharp vertex at their most easterly point and the western streamers diverging to the base of the triangle at the most westerly points. The photographs thus far developed confirm the naked-eye description and extend the east and west streamers out to more than three diameters. The solar prominences were numerous and large, as we should expect at a time of great sun-spot activity, but these did not concern us greatly, as they can be observed well without an eclipse. However, the prominences contribute greatly to the interest of the photographs, as the arching of the coronal streamers around the prominences is conspicuous, leaving no doubt that the forces which produce the prominences are controlling the forms of coronal streamers in their neighborhoods. A few of the twenty-six photographs, secured with cameras of focal lengths from eleven inches up to forty feet, have been developed, and the details of coronal structure were recorded with admirable sharpness, showing that the instruments were in good adjustment, and, what is equally important, that the earth's atmosphere traversed by the coronal radiations was in a tranquil state. TEST OF THE EINSTEIN THEORY. Four cameras of fifteen feet focus, using plates of 14 by 17 inches, recorded the brighter stars existing in the region immediately surrounding the sun, though vastly further away, with apparent success, but their examination and suitable study can not occur until many days after the plates reach home. It is hoped that the measured positions of the recorded stars will serve as a test of correctness or falsity of the so-called Einstein theory of relativity, a subject which has occupied a foremost position in the speculations of physicists and others during the last decade. If Einstein's hypothesis represents the truth, then the positions of the stars on the plates should be affected during the action of the sun's gravitations upon the rays proceeding from the stars while the rays are passing closely by the sun on their way to the earth. The test as an eclipse problem has never been made before, and it may be the only satisfactory test known to physicists, but whether our work will contribute evidence of value remains to be seen. The same four plates should contribute something of value as to the existence or nonexistence of any known bodies, such as the hypothetic planet Vulcan, in the vicinity of the sun. We expect to find no strange objects in the region commanded by the plates, and that the evidence will be wholly negative, but such comments have no weight a present. Two spectographs were successful in their purpose of recording images of the stratum of green coronium gas enveloping the sun. This stratum is relatively thick over the east and west areas of the solar surface, but thin over the polar regions. The distribution of coronium is very irregular. The accurate position of the green coronium line can be determined with good accuracy from the images obtained with a three-prism spectrograph. The general spectrum was recorded in good strength with two spectrographs. The evidences of polarized light are strong and definite on photographs obtained with two polarigraphs. Just what is the nature of the evidence which they will afford as to the composition of the coronal streamers will depend upon quantitative measures demanding time and discussion. Four photographs were obtained by Miss Glancy, assistant in the National Observatory of the Argentine Republic, for that institution, to serve as a basis for determining the total quantity of light radiated by the coronal structure. She has taken the plates with her for later development and study. It is possible that her results will be affected unfavorably by the clouds which extended close up to the coronal structure, and it is possible that some of our Einstein and Vulcan plates are similarly damaged. We constantly revert in thought and speech to the remarkable coincidence which brought a very small rift in the clouds, the only rift visible in the entire sky centrally over the sun and corona during the three minutes-and the three minutes alone-which interested us. The expedition was composed of Director and Mrs. Campbell, Astronomer H. D. Curtis, Assistant Astronomer and Mrs. J. E. Moore, and Foreman J. E. Hoover, of Lick Observatory; Professor E. P. Lewis, of the Department of Physics, University of California; Mr. A. H. Babcock, consulting electrical engineer of the Southern Pacific Co., San Francisco; Miss Leah B. Allen, instructor in Wellesley College; Miss Estelle Glancy, of the National Observatory at Cordoba, Argentina; Professor S. L. Boothroyd, University of Washington; Dr. Ambrose Swasey, of the Warner & Swasey Co., Cleveland; Dr. John A. Brashear, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Professor Douglas Campbell, Stanford University; Dr. J. S. Plaskett, director of the Dominion Observatory, Victoria, B. C. LICK OBSERVATORY W. W. CAMPBELL |