Alexander Wetmore on Pearl Islands, 1940s, Smithsonian Archives - History Div, Alexander Wetmore (1886-1978), ornithologist and sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian, on the Pearl Islands, on a collecting trip with Watson M. Perrygo. Wetmore is sitting in a jeep. Wetmore conducted annual field trips to Panama to collect specimens for his four volume work, 'The Birds of Panama.'.