he only
exception, if such it is, is that during the civil war I joined with
other professors in asking that we be put on the same footing with
other staff corps of the navy as regarded pay and rank. So far as
my views were concerned, the rank was merely a _pro forma_ matter,
as I never could see any sound reason for a man pursuing astronomical
duties caring to have military rank.

In conducting my office also, the utmost economy was always studied.
The increase in the annual appropriations for which I asked was so
small that, when I left the office in 1877, they were just about the
same as they were back in the fifties, when it was first established.
The necessary funds were saved by economical administration. All this
was done with a feeling that, after my retirement, the satisfaction
with which one could look back on such a policy would be enhanced by
a feeling on the part of the representatives of the public that the
work I had done must be worthy of having some pains taken to secure
its continuance in the same spirit.

I do not believe that the men who conduct our own government are a
whit behind the foremost of other countries in the desire to promote
science. If after my retirement no special measures were deemed
necessary to secure the continuance of the work in which I had been
engaged, I prefer to attribute it to adventitious circumstances rather
than to any undervaluation of scientific research by our authorities.

IX

SCIENTIFIC WASHINGTON

It is sometimes said that no man, in passing away, leaves a place
which cannot be equally well filled by another. This is doubtless
true in all ordinary cases. But scientific research, and scientific
affairs generally at the national capital, form an exception to many
of the rules drawn from experience in other fields.

Professor Joseph Henry, first secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, was a man of whom it may be said, without any reflection
on men of our generation, that he held a place which has never
been filled. I do not mean his official place, but his position
as the recognized leader and exponent of scientific interests at
the national capital. A world-wide reputation as a scientific
investigator, exalted character and inspiring presence, broad views
of men and things, the love and esteem of all, combined to make him
the man to whom all who knew him looked for counsel and guidance
in matters affecting the interests of science. Whether a