Sidney Irving Smith (February 18, 1843 in
Norway, Maine
Norway is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,077 at the 2020 census. It is home to Lake Pennesseewassee, a recreation area.
History
Fertile soil and abundant fauna surrounding the Pennessewasse Lake supported ...
– May 6, 1926 in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
)
was an American
zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...
.
Private life
Sidney Smith was the son of Elliot Smith and Lavinia Barton.
His brother in law was
Addison Emery Verrill
Addison Emery Verrill (February 9, 1839 – December 10, 1926) was an American invertebrate zoologist, museum curator and university professor.
Life
Verrill was born on February 9, 1839 in Greenwood, Maine, the son of George Washington Verrill ...
.
Smith married Eugenia Pocahontas Barber in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
on June 29, 1882.
The couple had no children, and Eugenia died on March 14, 1916.
Smith suffered from hereditary
glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for aqueous humor, fluid withi ...
, rendering him
partially sighted from 1906, and completely
blind some years before his death.
He died on May 6, 1926 of
throat cancer
Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...
.
Education and career
In his youth, Sidney Irving Smith became expert on the fauna around his home town, and an expert at making collections, particularly of insects.
He studied at the
Sheffield Scientific School
Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffiel ...
of
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
, and received his
Ph.B.
Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's d ...
in 1867.
Yale University conferred upon him the honorary degree of M.A. in 1887. He stayed on at Yale, initially as an assistant, but from 1875 as the first professor of
comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species).
The science began in the classical era, continuing in ...
, a post he retained until his retirement in 1906.
Thereafter, Smith remained at Yale as
professor emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
.
Having begun as an
entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as ara ...
(being State Entomologist of
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
and
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
for a number of years),
Smith changed relatively early in his career to the study of
crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...
s, probably because of his work with the
United States Fish Commission
The United States Fish Commission, formally known as the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, was an agency of the United States government created in 1871 to investigate, promote, and preserve the fisheries of the United States. In 1 ...
. He participated in many field excursions, sometimes in collaboration with Verrill or with
Louis Agassiz. Smith was the chief zoologist during the
dredging of
Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
carried out by the
United States Lake Survey
The United States Lake Survey (USLS) was a hydrographic survey for the Great Lakes, New York Barge Canal, Lake Champlain and the Boundary Waters of the Canada–United States border between Minnesota and Ontario. The Survey's activities began on ...
in 1871, and the dredging in the region of
St. George's Banks in 1872 carried out by the
United States Coast Survey
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
.
In 1884, Smith was elected to the
National Academy of Sciences.
Legacy
Smith produced more than 70 original papers.
His collections are now housed in the
Peabody Museum of Natural History
The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University is among the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It was founded by the philanthropist George Peabody in 1866 at the behest of his nephew Oth ...
at Yale and at the
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...
.
Sidney Irving Smith was honoured in the
specific epithets of a number of species. They include ''Lembos smithi''
Holmes, 1905, ''Metapenaeopsis smithi''
(Schmitt, 1924), ''Oxyurostylis smithi''
Calman, 1912, ''Pandarus smithi''
Rathbun, 1886 and ''Siphonoecetes smithianus''
Rathbun, 1908.
Taxa named by Sidney Irving Smith include:
*''
Callinectes danae''
S. I. Smith, 1869
*''
Cardisoma crassum''
S. I. Smith, 1870
*''
Eumunida''
S. I. Smith, 1883
*''
Eumunida picta''
S. I. Smith, 1883
*''
Eunephrops
''Eunephrops'' is a genus of lobsters, containing four species, all found in the Western Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's s ...
''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Eunephrops bairdii
''Eunephrops bairdii'' is a species of marine lobster, commonly called the "red lobster", endemic to the Caribbean Sea. It is found off the coasts of Colombia and Panama at depths of . It reaches a length of up to , which is equivalent to a carap ...
''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Hepatella''
Smith ''in'' Verrill, 1869
*''
Hyalella
''Hyalella'' is a genus of amphipods found in the Americas. They are mainly found in freshwater habitats.
Species
The following species are recognised in the genus ''Hyalella'':
*'' Hyalella anophthalma'' Ruffo, 1957
*'' Hyalella araucana'' ...
''
S. I. Smith, 1874
*''
Macrobrachium ohione''
S. I. Smith, 1874
*''
Neomysis americana''
(S. I. Smith, 1873)
*''
Orchestia agilis''
S. I. Smith, 1874
*
Parapaguridae S. I. Smith, 1882
*''
Polycheles sculptus''
S. I. Smith, 1880
*''
Uca pugnax
The fiddler crab or calling crab may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae, well known for their sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than the minor claw, while ...
''
(S. I. Smith, 1870)
*''
Xiphopenaeus hartii''
Smith, 1869
*''
Acanthephyra brevirostris''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Admete nodosa''
Verrill & Smith, 1885
*''
Ampithoe longimana''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Ampithoe valida''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Arctus americanus''
S. I. Smith, 1869
*''
Argulus laticauda''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Argulus latus''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Argulus megalops''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Benthonectes filipes''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Benthonectes''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Beringius brychius''
(Verrill & Smith, 1885)
*''
Byblis serrata''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Bythocaris gracilis''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Bythocaris nana''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Colletes perforator''
Smith, 1869
*''
Cymadusa compta''
(S. I. Smith, 1873)
*''
Dyspanopeus sayi
''Dyspanopeus sayi'' is a species of mud crab that is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also become established outside its native range, living in Swansea Docks since 1960, the Mediterranean Sea since the 1970s, the North ...
''
(S. I. Smith, 1869)
*''
Elasmopus laevis''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Elasmopus levis''
(S. I. Smith, 1873)
*''
Ephyrina benedicti''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Ephyrina''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Eucratopsis''
Smith, 1869
*''
Eurypanopeus depressus''
(S. I. Smith, 1869)
*''
Evibacus''
Smith, 1869
*''
Evibacus princeps''
Smith, 1869
*''
Gammarus annulatus''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Hadropenaeus modestus''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Haliporus modestus''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Haliporus robustus''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Heterogenys microphthalma''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Heteromysis formosa''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Heteromysis''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Hippolyte zostericola''
(S. I. Smith, 1873)
*''
Hyalopecten undatus''
(A. E. Verrill & S. Smith, 1885)
*''
Hymenopenaeus modestus''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Hymenopenaeus robustus''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Melita nitida''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Metapenaeopsis goodei''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Metapenaeus goodei''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Munidopsis crassa''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Munidopsis similis''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Mysis stenolepis
''Mysis'' is a genus of mysid crustaceans in the family Mysidae, distributed mainly in the coastal zone of the Arctic and high boreal seas. Several species also inhabit northern freshwater lakes and the brackish Caspian Sea. Fifteen species are ...
''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Neopanope sayi''
(S. I. Smith, 1869)
*''
Neopanope texana sayi''
(S. I. Smith, 1869)
*''
Palaemon ensiculus''
Smith, 1869
*''
Panopeus hartii''
S. I. Smith, 1869
*''
Panopeus harttii''
S. I. Smith, 1869
*''
Panopeus obesus''
S. I. Smith, 1869
*''
Panopeus sayi''
S. I. Smith, 1869
*''
Panulirus echinatus''
Smith, 1869
*''
Parapenaeus goodei''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Parapenaeus megalops''
Smith, 1885
*''
Parapenaeus''
S. I. Smith, 1885
*''
Penaeopsis goodei''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Penaeopsis megalops''
(Smith, 1885)
*''
Pleoticus robustus''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Pontonia margarita''
Smith, 1869
*''
Rimapenaeus similis''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Scyllarus americanus''
(S. I. Smith, 1869)
*''
Scyphacella arenicola''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Scyphacella''
S. I. Smith, 1873
*''
Thyasira grandis''
Verrill & Smith, 1885
*''
Thyasira plicata''
Verrill & Smith, 1885
*''
Trachypenaeus similis''
(S. I. Smith, 1885)
*''
Xiphopenaeus
''Xiphopenaeus'' is a genus of crustaceans in the suborder Dendrobranchiata, the shrimps and prawns.
Two species are in this genus:
*''Xiphopenaeus kroyeri''
*'' Xiphopenaeus riveti''
Likely, more species have not yet been described and named. ...
''
Smith, 1869
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sidney Irving
American carcinologists
American entomologists
American taxonomists
1843 births
1926 deaths
United States Fish Commission personnel
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
People from Norway, Maine
Scientists from New Haven, Connecticut
Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni
19th-century American zoologists
20th-century American zoologists