house but for more than two months could not be seen, although 

 its presence was known by the tracks left on the sand and by 

 the continuous disappearance of chickens. 



Smith's friends throughout the world were saddened by 

 his sudden death on September 29, 1941, from an attack of cor- 

 onary thrombosis. The appraisal of Smith as a scientist and 

 man given after his death in 1941 by L.. Stejneger, Chief Curator 

 of the National Museum, is shared by many zoologists who were 

 privileged to know him personally. "As U. S. Commissioner of 

 Fisheries", writes Stejneger (1941) "Dr. Smith was Baird's 

 worthiest successor .... In my heart two pictures stand side 

 by side, Spencer Fullerton Baird and Hugh McCormick Smith; 

 higher tribute I cannot conceive!" 



Extensive repairs to the buildings and renovation of equip- 

 ment were necessary by 1915. This need is reported in the 

 following excerpt from the annual Report of the Commissioner 

 (Smith, 1917, p. 34) which states: "The Woods Hole Laboratory 

 is the oldest station of the Bureau. Its history and its public 

 service are closely linked with that of the Bureau and the ear- 

 lier Fish Commission for which it once served as temporary 

 quarters. After more than 30 years of usefulness the laboratory 

 building and equipment are not in a commendable state of repair. 

 It is desirable that suitable provision be made for its renovation. " 



In 1916, R. E. Coker was appointed "Assistant in charge 

 of inquiry respecting food fishes", and later on served as tem.porary 

 summer Director of the Laboratory. The effects of World War I 

 and the impending participation of the United States in the conflict 

 began to exert their influence on scientific activities. Various 

 investigations at the Woods Hole Laboratory that were in progress 

 in June 1917, were continued only during part of the year. Before 

 the end of the fiscal year a new policy was adopted with regard to 

 the operation of the Bureau's laboratories because "of the neces- 

 sity of concentrating all efforts, as far as possible, upon the imme- 

 diate increase of aquatic food supply." In the following two years, 

 1918 and 1919, the Laboratory was not opened for general investi- 

 gations, but concentrated its effort on improvement of methods 

 of preserving fish and on a study of nematode infestation, a ques- 

 tion which had a direct bearing on the marketing of fish. 



The laboratory was largely occupied by the Navy in 1917-18, 

 and the investigations normally conducted at the station were dis- 

 continued or transferred to other points. In 1919, the Navy Depart- 

 ment withdrew from the Woods Hole Laboratory and it was reopened 

 under the directorship of P. H. Mitchell. Research activities of 

 this year were concerned primarily with the physiology of oysters, 

 reddening of salt fish caused by bacterial contamination, Edwin 

 Linton was engaged in the studies of fish parasites, and F. E. 

 Chidester carried on laboratory experiments on the behavior of 

 fishes and their migrations. 



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