established the U. S. Fish Commission as a separate bureau of 

 the government and terminated its formal relationship with the 

 Smithsonian Institution. The bill also authorized the President 

 to appoint the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries and also es- 

 tablished the salary at $5, 000 per year. The bill was approved 

 on January 20, 1880, and Marshall McDonald was appointed Com- 

 missioner. He was a practical fish-culturist and inventor of im- 

 portant mechanical appliances for hatching fish eggs which were 

 widely used in this country and in Europe. McDonald served as 

 Commissioner until his death on September 1, 1895. The Fish 

 Commission continued as an independent, government institution 

 that was responsible directly to Congress until 1903, when it 

 was included in the new Department of Conamerce and Labor. 



Baird's administration of the Fish Commission and of the 

 Woods Hole station was essentially paternal. With the increased 

 activity and greater complexity of administrative responsibility 

 more formal organization became imperative. The duties were 

 divided among several divisions each headed by an "Assistant in 

 charge of the division". During the first year of McDonald's ad- 

 ministration, Hugh M, Smith was appointed an Assistant in charge 

 of the Division of Fisheries. The scope of work of this division 

 covered "all matters specially pertaining to commercial fishing, 

 including statistics". Smith also directed the work of the Washing- 

 ton office and supervised correspondence and preparation of spe- 

 cial records. In 1885, R. Edward Earll directed the preparation 

 of statistics. The fish culture activities remained under the direct 

 supervision of McDonald until 1895. After his death, the Division 

 of Propagation and Distribution of Food Fishes was established, 

 with W. deRavenal as Assistant in charge. 



In the years following Baird's death the major emphasis in 

 the work of the Woods Hole Station was placed on fish culture and 

 routine administration rather than on scientific investigations. 

 Because of this trend the Woods Hole Station became the principal 

 hatchery for artificial propagation of marine fish species. Ad- 

 ministratively, the Station was under the Division of Propagation 

 and Distribution of Fishes, and the Superintendent of the Station 

 became responsible for the operation of the hatchery, maintenance 

 of buildings and grounds, and expenditures of funds allocated to the 

 institution. The Report of the Fish Commission shows that in the 

 year of 1887, C. G. Atkins was Superintendent and William P. Seal 

 was in charge of the aquaria. The scientific work was divided be- 

 tween J. N. Kidder, in charge of the physical and chemical labora- 

 tory, and A. E. Verrill, --assisted by Richard Rathbun--who was 

 in charge of the biological laboratory. Among the 16 persons at- 

 tending the summer session, 10 were engaged in research work, 

 4 can be listed as assistants to the investigators, 1 was an artist, 

 and Vinal N. Edwards was the collector. The division of responsi- 

 bilities as well as the titles of the positions occupied by various 



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