Last Work. Final Honors 6*) 3 



Oil March 28, Dr. Smith knew that he was " not well. In cvcry- 

 thint; I do 1 have now to be very careful of my heart, which is 

 deuced inconvenient,"' he complained.'""' His last day of studious 

 activity, March 29, was spent reading all day in the Surgeon 

 General's library. For almost a week after that day of pleasure 

 every page of his diary was a blank. On April 6 he passed beyond 

 the world of living forms as earth-born creatures know them. He 

 had said: And since God '" must be like His universe — Because 

 things made reflect the maker's mind — And most of all like man, 

 at least not worse, 1 think that we shall live again in Him, and 

 nobler and diviner then shall find clear light from Him to read 

 what now is dim." The last " of the deep secrets the universe 

 conceals " had been unfolded. He had believed he would go to 

 the " Divine . . . Great Love the one sole thing to satisfy a hunger- 

 ing world ■' and " become just earth and sky." He had written his 

 own epitaph: " Be then my scroll: lies one beneath this sod to 

 whom all nature voiced the living God." 



The Reverend U. G. B. Pierce officiated at funeral services held 

 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, Dr. A. F. Woods 

 gave the eulogy or address of appreciation. Dr. Smith's body was 

 cremated and his ashes scattered over the waters of the " many- 

 islanded and wide, blue sea, the winding shore " at Woods Hole, 

 Massachusetts. 



At the meeting a few days later of the American Association for 

 Cancer Research, the place w^hich Dr. Smith's paper was to have 

 had on the program was " devoted to an appreciation of his 

 character and his work." "" Dr. Mortier F. Barrus, president of the 

 American Phytopathological Society, telegraphed the " sincere sym- 

 pathy of every member " and wrote that " Doctor Smith [had] 

 long been regarded as the Dean of American plant pathologists 

 and his death [brought] a sadness to us all." Every organization 

 and publication with which Dr. Smith had been identified in his 

 work, and many, many American and European scientists, prepared 

 or sent memorials, memoirs, testimonials or tributes. Almost two 

 dozen sketches on his life and work were published in current 

 scientific literature of the world.'"" Dr. A. Besredka, on behalf of 

 his colleagues of the Pasteur Institute, assured Mrs. Smith " that in 



'*' Diary, Mar. 28, 1927. 



"' Letter, Apr. 16, 1927, from Dr. W. H. Woglom to Mrs. Smith. 

 ""' B/og. Mem. Eru-in Frink Stnith 1854-1927, Natl AcaJ. of Sci., op. cit., 21: 69- 

 70 (list compiled by F. V. Rand). 



