SECRETARY'S REPORT 139 



Dr. R. T. Scholes, of the medical staff of Gorgas Hospital, and 

 Mrs. Scholes, spent considerable time on the island studying the bird 

 life and added many valuable records which will be incorporated in 

 Dr. Eisenmann's list of the birds. They took a splended series of 

 Kodachrome photographs, part of them with a long-range telephoto 

 lens. 



M. Francois Edmond-Blanc and Mme. M. C. Brot, from France, 

 visited the island to study at close range the birds peculiar to the 

 American humid Tropics. 



Dr. C. C. Soper, director of the Tropical Research Laboratory of 

 Eastman Kodak Co., continued and expanded this firm's exposure 

 tests, assisted by Paul Hermle, physicist, and Ismael Olivares, micro- 

 biologist. The results are most gratifying and emphasize the need 

 of such tests to study the rate of deterioration and corrosion. After 

 10 years, the importance of this work is more and more evident, and 

 Barro Colorado Island is particularly well suited for these studies 

 and for the evaluation of biocides. 



Dr. Walter F. Clark, of the Research Laboratories of Eastman 

 Kodak Co. at Rochester, and an authority on infrared photography, 

 revisited the island for his annual inspection and conferences con- 

 nected with the tests under way. He also did considerable experi- 

 mental color photography, particularly under difficult conditions. 



Dr. Alexander Wetmore, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 revisited the island and held conferences with the resident manager 

 on plans for the future of the Area, proposed improvements, and 

 details of the new building, and solution of the problem of an adequate 

 supply of electricity. As in the past, W. M. Perrygo, of the U.S. 

 National Museum, accompanied him. 



John E. Graf, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 likewise revisited the island and held conferences with the resident 

 manager, particularly regarding the plans for the new building and 

 the matter of electricity. He held conferences with electrical engi- 

 neers of the Panama Canal, with Dr. Soper of the Tropical Research 

 Laboratory of Eastman Kodak Co., and others, and made a thorough 

 inspection of the island installations and facilities, discussed opera- 

 tions, and worked on plans for further improvements and expansion. 



Thomas F. Clark, administrative accountant of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, made a special trip to the island to establish the required 

 procedure to be followed in advertising for bids for the new building, 

 the inclusion of additional provisos in the specifications, the opening 

 of the bids, the awarding of the contract, the various bonds required, 

 and other details. 



The resident manager continued his special research problems, 

 particularly the long-term termite-resistance tests, and completed his 

 forty-third report. He also continued the fruit-fly studies, particu- 



