The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-10

wav that he won the title of "Chief," applied to
him by n large and ever-increasing circle of
scientific men, who appreciated MN as the leader
of organized science in America.
His peculiar position gave him advantages
which could hardly be enjoyed by any other sci
entifc man. Visiting each seoboard city fire.
quently in the discharge of his official duties, he
was constantly in personal contact with his
acquaintances, and had every opportunity of
seeing the new men who grew up in each place.
Accustomed to the details of commercial and
political business, he had much broader and
more practical views than those which are some
times the result of seclusion in the study or the
laboratory. The fact of his having graduated
with all the honors of the Military Academy
placed him upon n footing with the officers of
the army and navy, which was of the
greatest advantage to him in his connection with
both branches of the service 1t has always
been usual to detail some army and navy officers
for duty upon the Survey, and it not unfre-
quently happened that Bache had to administer
one of his quiet Teproofs to some young officer,
who, forgetting, or perhaps ignorant of
the fact that his Chief was regular
army man, would attempt to plead 'custom of
the service" or point of etiquette as an obiec-
tion to some distasteful duty. OF that rare power
OF administration which appears to be partly
natural and partly the result of education Mr..
Bache had large share, and the scientific and
business operations of the Survey moved like
clock-work under his guiding hand. He loved
to put the machinery together wind it up. and
then. dismissing il all from his mind, hear the
report at the end of the month or designated
time, when he would take up the thread of the
matter just where he had last left it, and as if he
had thought ofnothing else during the interval. He
understood thoroughly the way of doing nothing
for himself that could be done for him by Others
and thus reserved his time and his powers for
that work which he alone could do. His practi-
cal knowledge of methods OF observation was
extraordinary, and he could pick out interpo-
lated figures in records of work, or tell an as
tonished observer that on such night he had
omitted to examine the level of his instrument
with an accuracy that bordered upon the mar
velous.
His capacity for work was astonishing. Not
contented with the large and ever increasing
labors of the Survey, he was an active member
of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian
Institution; associated there with his warmest
and most trusty friend Professor Joseph Henry,
of the Light House Board, of numerous special
boards on harbor improvements, President of
the National Academy OF Sciences, and ready ut
all times, and constantly called upon, to use his
tongue or his pen to advance the true interests
of science at all points.
It is not common that with those abilities to
which we have referred are combined those So
cial qualities which render their possessor agree
able in ordinary life but Mr.. Bache possessed
them in an eminent degree. Released from his
official duties, about which he was usually very
methodical, he was the pleasantest companion
at the dinner table or in the saloon that young
or old could desire. Extremely fond of society,
open to his friends, who carried away with them
the most charming "reminiscences of its bright
wood fires and sparkling candles. and in his
summer camps there were always some extra
tents for those who were fortunate enough to
receive invitations TO visit him in his wild re-
treats. He spent several months of each year
under canvas, ut the primary triangulation sta
tions, or on base measurement, and returned to
his duties in the capital refreshed and invigO-
rated by the mountain air long strols, and change
nf Rriu i1i GRO of
these mountain camps, with the mornings
writing the midday dinner, the genial face of
the kind hostess, the pleasant chat over the bot
tie of Rhine wine and if there was no observing
in the afternoon, the long rambles down the
hill with the climb back again, the camp being
of necessity very near to the summit, finishing
up with an evening of conversation or reading,
unless the stars were good enough to allow them
selves to be observed.
With never tagging determination to carry
the scientific operations of the Survey up to and
bevond the highest point of excellence attained
in other countries Mr. Bache spared no pains or
thought in perfecting all the details of the
various processes with such success that in every
branch important steps were made. To the APP
paratus for the measurement of bases especially,
as being the instrument upon which the accu-
racy of succeeding work depended he early
turned his attention. and produced Il base mea-
surer which is yet without its equal in the world.
In lS45 he took up the subject and discarding
the principle of using surface marks or dots on
the measuring bars, and bringing them into
coincidence by means OF microscopes,
he applied the contact level already in
vented by Respold for another purpose,
and by thus introducing the method of
end contact, facilitated the comparisons with
the standard bars, the practical working in the
field, and the accuracy of the operations in.
remarkable degree. The extremely beautiful
method of equalizng the conducting power and
consequent rapidity of expansion of the iron
and brass bars of the apparatus, by making their
sections proportional to their conducting powers
and specific heats, and then making the final
and most delicate correction by applying var
nishes of different colors, is an admirable eX-
ample of the care which he bestowed upon the
smallest details
Having found the metrical system in use on
the Survey as introduced by Mr.. Hassler, he
continued it, and always felt deep interest in
the adoption of that, or of some other universal
system of weights and measures, by the civil
lied world. His position rs Superintendent of
Weights and Measures, of course, brought the
subject constantly under his notice. As n mem
Der of the Committee on Weights and Measures
of the National Academy, he also discussed the
matter thoroughly, and ut one time he leaned
evidently towards making an attempt to estab-
lish, by Il Congress OF nations, an entirely RetC
standard. which should be adopted as an uni
versal one. His two general objections to the
metrical system We're; first, the fact that later
observations have shown that the metre is not the
lO,OOO,OOOth part of the earths quadrant; and
secondly, that the actual length of the metre is
not, in practice nearly so convenient that
| of the foot or the ell. The latter is no doubt
! the strongest objection that can be made TO the
! metre an universal standard, and perhaps the
| only one: and later, Mr.. Bache seems to have
! determined that the metric system had too strong
hold to be rooted out by any other where il
already has been adopted, and was prepared to
! give his unqualified support to any measures
| looking to its adoption as an universal system
IL Is little singular that the period of his death