of the Acclimatization Society of Melbourne in 1878, and the 

 gold medal of the Society of Acclimatization in France in 187 9. 

 The honors bestowed by these European organizations clearly 

 show that artificial propagation of fish, including oceanic fishes, 

 was considered to be practical and should be encouraged. These 

 ideas greatly influenced the work of the Woods Hole station and 

 its laboratory. 



Numerous papers in the annual reports of the Comnoissioner 

 of Fisheries describe many technical improvements in the method 

 of hatching eggs. One of the earlier papers on oyster culture by 

 Ryder (1887) summarizes the results of practical experiments, 

 made at Woods Hole and in other parts of the Eastern Coast, in 

 obtaining oyster spat. 



Since 1873, Baird had suffered from irregular heart action. 

 This did not prevent him from leading an extraordinarily active 

 life and personally conducting many sea explorations around Woods 

 Hole. The increased burden of work overtaxed his strength during 

 the period of the station construction. His periods of sickness 

 became more frequent, and in the summer of 1886 his doctors 

 recommended that he reduce his work as much as possible. In 

 July 1886, the Bairds, as usual, went to Woods Hole and here 

 held the last four informal receptions in the Residence for the 

 members of his staff. During the following winter his condition 

 became worse and he was advised to take a complete rest for at 

 least a year. Retirement to the Adirondack region in the State of 

 New York somewhat improved his health, and in July 1887, he 

 returned to the Woods Hole Laboratory. 



The last days of Baird are described by Mayor J. W. Powell 

 in his address at the memorial meeting of Scientific Societies of 

 Washington in January 1888 (Dall, 1915). Three days before his 

 death, Baird asked to be placed in a wheelchair and moved around 

 the pier past the vessels and through the laboratory. For everyone 

 he had a word of good cheer, though he knew it was the last. He 

 died on August 19, 1887, and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in 

 Washington, D. C. A granite boulder with a bronze tablet, in 

 honor of the first United States Commissioner of Fisheries and 

 founder of the Woods Hole Station, was placed at the station in 

 1902 by the American Fisheries Society; it remains in its original 

 location. 



At the time of Baird's death the scientific work of the Woods 

 Hole Laboratory was already on a sound foundation. Research was 

 conducted along several principal lines which can be grouped under 

 the following general headings: taxonomy and distribution of fishes; 

 composition of communities of bottom organisms; reproduction, 

 embryology, and movements of principal food animals of the sea; 

 fish culture as a means of maintaining the abundance of fish 

 populations; parasites and diseases of fishes. The work was balanced 



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