Publication InformationNOANK,New London Co, Conn. August, 17, 1874.

My Dear Mr Marsh.

I have Yours of the 21 of July, & sincerely hope that your visit to Bonn may give you the desired relief from your physical troubles.

We are still at this Station, carrying on our deep sea work, which is extremely pleasant & productive, & will, I think, in its results, vindicate the propriety of having scientific labors executed by scientific men; not by me particularly but by my Colleagues, such as Profs. Verrill, Hyatt, Bessels etc.

The newspapers came safely and are duly transmitted to Lucy who is at North Conway.

With many thanks for this & other favors, believe me,

Sincerely Yours,Spencer F. Baird

Hon. George P. Marsh,
U.S. Minister,
Rome, Italy.

References in this letter:

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.

A professor of invertabrate paleontology at M.I.T., Alpheus Hyatt (1838-1902) was the editor of the Naturalist and first president of the Woods Hole Laboratory.

The German-American Emil Bessels (1847-1888) was an explorer and naturalist.

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.