Publication InformationWashington, D.C. May 31, 1871

Page 1

My Dear Mr Marsh.

I received your letter of the 5 of May in due course of time, & at once instituted inquiries relative to the points mentioned; namely, whether the right arm is used among the savage peoples of America in preference to the left, as it is among the whites.The inquiries were directed to Prof. Wyman & Mr Geo. Gibbs, both of whom are competent from their experience to speak on this matter. So far, however, I have received no reply from either, & as I expect to leave home in a few days, I write now to say so and that I will address you again whenever any information from them reaches me.

I have acknowledged, I believe, the receipt of the Italian fishery pamphlet you so kindly sent me. I shall be glad to receive any thing, bearing upon that or similar subjects, coming into your possession.

I hope to leave Washington next Saturday for the scene of my Summer's labors, at Wood's Hole, Barnstable County, Mass., & expect to remain there three or four months. In the course of the Summer we hope to have a visit from Carrie Crane, who has greatly endeared herself to our family, & to the seeing of whom we look forward with great pleasure.

Her residence is only about 20 or 30 miles from Wood's Hole, & we expect to entice her down to our home by the sea, & I wish you & Mrs Marsh could also visit us, as we hope to have a very good time.

I shall of course, be mainly engaged in prosecuting my official duties as U.S. Commissioner; & to this end, have all possible facilities extended to me. I shall have permanently in the harbor, ready for my service night & day, two small yachts, one with steam, & the other, sail, & can also call upon two larger steamers whenever I desire. All the naturalists in the country are coming down, partly to help me in my work, & partly to get a share of the plunder, in the way of material amongst the immense mass of fish & marine invertebrates that I expect to overhaul. Among those expected are the two Agassiz, Wyman, Verrill, Packard & others.

You gave me a blowing up for not quoting the address when my scientific articles were derived. I hope for pardon for that, when I tell you that I expect hereafter to reproduce every thing written during the year, in the form of an annual, to be published by the Harpers, & in which every reference will be duly made. Of course, by such an authentication & by arranging

the articles systematically with suitable indexes, I expect to furnish something so entirely different from the magazine matter, that the possessors of that journal will want the other work beside.

This business has become with me one of considerable importance, & its proceeds constitute an important item in meeting the enormous expenses of living in Washington. My latest en[ter]prise in this line, is, to have completed arrangements for a regular report weekly of the proceedings of the various learned societies in the U.S. & Dominion of Canada, to which I hope to add those of Cuba & Mexico.

Lucy is greatly indebted to you for the autographs you sent her, & hopes, one of these days to thank you in person, & to exhibit the quite appreciable richness of her portfolio.

With much love to Mrs Marsh from all of us, believe me

Sincerely & truly yours,Spencer F Baird

Hon. Geo. P. Marsh.
U.S. Minister,
Florence,
Italy

References in this letter:

Professor of American archaeology and ethnology at Harvard, Jeffries Wyman (1814-1874) was also the director of the Peabody Museum.

The ethnologist George Gibbs (1815-1873) participated in the Boundary Survey of Northwest America and Canada. He specialized in the study of Indian languages and contributed to Smithsonian publications on the subject.

Carrie Marsh Crane, Caroline Marsh's niece, daughter of her brother Thomas, accompanied the Marshs for a number of years during his tenure as minister to Italy. She died in a shipwreck in 1874.

In the 1860s Baird had became concerned about the decline of Atlantic fish populations. In a 1870 report to the House Committee on Appropriations he suggested the appointment of a Fish Commissioner to direct research into the problem. President Grant appointed Baird the first director of the newly formed U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries in 1871.

Swiss born zoologist and geologist, Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) emigrated to the U.S. in 1846 to join the faculty at Harvard where he became a leading figure in American science. He a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian and initially supported Baird but later disparaged his scientific accomplishments and, in 1863, attempted to block Baird's election to the National Academy of Sciences.

Addison Emery Verrill (1839-1926), was in charge of scientific investigations of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. He made important contributions to the classification and natural history of coral and did basic taxonomic work on echinoderms. He is the author of Report upon the Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound and Adjacent Waters. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1874.

Alpheus Spring Parkard Jr. (1839-1905) was an entomologist and founder of the neo-Lamarckian movement in America.

Harper's Magazine. New York: 1850-present. Monthly.

Lucy Hunter Baird, 1848-1913, the only child of Spencer Fullerton and Mary Helen Churchill Baird. She shared her father's interests in the natural world. As a child, Lucy had, as a pet, a large black snake, whose tail touched the ground when held by Lucy, sitting on her father's shoulders. It was her memoirs and reminisces which formed the majority of the William H. Dall biography of her father.