MEMOIR OF GEORGE BROWN GOODE, iSsi-iS(,6.

MEMOIR OF GEORGE BROWN GOODE,

iSsi-iS(,6.

SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY,

Srcretar]' S)iiit/isoiiiaiiInstitnlioii

.

3J)

MEMOIR OF GEORGE BROWN

(;001)E, 1851-1890

By Samuel Pierpont

IvAngley, Secretary,Sinifhsoiiian Institution.

George Browu Goode was

born at

New

^{Alban}^} Indiana,

on February

13, 1851,

and

died at his

home

in

Washington on September

6, 1896, after a Hfe of forty-five years, than

which few human

hves

have

ever

been

better filled.

In thosej^ears

he won

the

warm

affectionof a

wide

^circleof friends

and

the trust

and

confidence of amultitudeof subordinatesinthe position to

which

his

own

abilities

had

carried him.

He

interested himself

and

interested others in ever-

widening

^circles of research,

and

.suchvaried

work

that it

seemed

to those

who knew what he was

doing, incompre- hensible that

one man

could accomplishso nuicli in one single life;

and when

this

came

to

an

end,its cessation

was

likethelo.ssofapart of

them-

selves to those

who knew him

best,

by whom he

^is

remembered with an

affection

which men

rarely gain

from

oneanother.

He was

the .son of Francis Collier

Goode and

vSarah

Woodruff

Crane.

The Goode

family trace theirancestry in this country to

John

Goode, of

Whitby, who

.settled in Virginia prior to 1661.^

While

still .settled in Virginia,

many members

of the

Goode

family

went

to the

South and West

to

do

pioneer

work

in building

up

villages

and towns on what was

then the outskirt of civilization.

Doctor

Goode

's father, Francis Collier Goode,

was

bornin

Waynes-

ville,Ohio,

and was

a

merchant

in

Ohio and

Indiana. In 1857^{^^^}retired

from

business,

removing

to

Amenia, New York

; subsequentlyto

Mid-

dletown, Connecticut,

and

later to Arlington, Florida,

and

occa.sionally .spent winters in the

Bernmdas,

Tennessee,

North

Carolina, Virginia,

and Washington

City.

'ReadbeforetheNational

Academy

ofSciences, April21, 1897.

^Thehistoryof thisfamilyhas been carefullytracedbyDoctorGoodeinVirginia Cousins:

A

Studyofthe Ancestryand Posterityof John ^{Goode, of Whitb}^a Vir-} giniaColonistof the Seventeenth Century, with notes uponrelated families,akey

tosoutherngenealogyanda^hi.storyoftheEnglishsurname Godc, Goad, Goode,or

Good

from1148to 1887,byG. BrownGoode, withaprefacebyR. A. Brock, Secre- taryofthe Virginiaand Southern HistoricalSocieties. Richmond, Virginia, _J.

W.

Randolph

&

English,

MDCCCLXXXMI.

41

42

^Menioi'ial

of George

Bi^ozvn Goode.

His

mother,

Sarah Woodruff

Crane,

was

a descendantofJasper Crane,

who ^came

to

New ^England

^{during the first} ten yearsof thefirst settle- ment,

and was one

of the pioneers of

Newark, New

Jersey.

Doctor

Goode was

thus of sturdy

American

parentage

on

both sides,

numbering among

his ancestors the foundersof the Virginia,

Massachu-

setts, Connecticut,

and New

Jersey colonies.

The

family

was

singularly free

from

foreign mixture, not loper cent of the marriages

among

the

numerous

descendants

having been

with persons

whose

ancestors

came

to

America

later

than

1725.^

He

^{passed his earlychildhood in Cincinnati}

^and

^{his later childhood}

and

early

youth

in

Amenia, New York, where he was

prepared for col- lege

by

private tutors.

His

father

was

a

man

of studious habits

and

not devoid of

an

interest in science.

He had

assembled inhis library a set of the

Smithsonian

Reports,

which young Goode

read asa boy. It

was through

these

volumes

that

he was

^first attracted to science

and

to the

Smithsonian

Institution, his boyish ambition beingto

become

con- nected

with

^it

and

to .study

under

Professor Baird.

He

entered

Wesleyan

University at

Middletown,

Connecticut, in 1866,

and was

graduated in 1870.

Although

scarcely

more

than fifteen

when he

enteredcollege

and

alittle over nineteen years of age at the timeof hisgraduation, beingthe

youngest member

of theclass, his

work

in the studies of the natural history

group was

so satisfactory as toattract the favorable notice of his teachers.

The

yearsat

Middletown foreshadowed

the strong love fornature, the

museum

^interest, ability in classification,

and even

the literary talent,

which were

the distinguishing features of all Doctor

Goode's

later career.

When he went

tocollege,hisfather

removed

to

Middletown and became

a neighborto

Orange

Judd, the pioneer of agricultviraljournalism in this country

and

closelyidentified

with

the

advancement

ofscientificagricul- ture.

There sprang up between

the

daughter

of Mr.

Judd and young Goode

a friendship

which

ripened into love

and

resulted in their marriage, of

which

I speak here because Doctor

Goode

himself felt that the friendship

with Mr.

Judd, thus

brought

about

through

his daughter,

had

the largestsharein determining hisfuture career.

The two young

people

had

similar tastesinnatural history

and

outdoor life.

As

early as 1869 Doctor

Goode commenced

to record in the College

Argus and

the College

Review

his outdoor rambles.

He was

at this time a 3'oung

man

of stout

frame and

vigorous health,

engaging

in all of the athletic sports

known

tocollegestudentsof thatday.

In 1870

he

entered

Harvard

Universityas apost-graduate student

under

Professor LouisAgassiz,

whose

genial influence

he

glowingly describes in his youthfulletters.

Mr.

Judd had

presented to

Wesleyan

University a building

known

as the

Orange Judd

Hallof NaturalScience.

This

building

was

inprogress

'VirginiaCotisins,p. xiv.

McDioir of George ^Brouni

^Goode.

43

of erection during Mr.

Goode'

s student years

and was

dedicated in the

commencement week

^of 1871.

Before thattime [saysProfessor Rice] the natural historycollections ofWesleyan Universitywerescatteredin severalbuildings, very imperfectly labeledandarranged, and mostinaccessibletostudents orvisitors. ThespaciousroomsinJudd Hallfirst

gavethe opportunitytoarrange anddisplaythese collections insuchmanneras to givethemthe dignityof a museum.

The work which

Doctor

Goode had done

while a .student

under

Pro- fessor Agassizcau.sed an invitationto be

extended

to

him

to

undertake

the

arrangement

of this collection,

and

in.1871,

when

l)Ut a httle over twenty,

he was

given the titleof Curatorof the

Museum, and undertook

the installation of thecollections. It

was

in this

work

that

he

^''fir.st

showed

that genius for

museum

administration

which he was

destined afterwards to display in the larger field."

He

retained his official con- nection with

Middletown

until 1S77, although the greater part of these years

was

spent eitherin

Washington

orin the field.

During

a portion of this time, although absent

from Middletown, he

received a salary

from Wesley an

University,

and was

allowed in

exchange

tosend to the

Museum

^{duplicates of} natural history specimens in the

Smithsonian

Institution, as well as the duplicates of the collections

which

he

made.

He

alwaysretained a strong feeling of affection for his

alma

mater,

and founded

the

Goode

^prize, intended to stimulate

an

interest in biologic studies.

He was one

of theeditors ofthe 1873

and

1S83 editions of the

Alumni Record

of

Wesley an

University,

and

received the

honorary

degree ofDoctorof

Laws from

that institution in 1893.

Doctor

Goode's mother

died inhisinfancy,

and

he

found

inhis father's second wife an affectionate

and

sympathetic helper,

who was

a .strong believer in thepossibility ofhis future .scientificcareer.

To

her

he owed

his introductionto Professor Baird,

whom he

first

saw

atEastport, Maine, in 1872,

and

this

meeting was

the turning point of his professional life.

Through

it

he

not only got the larger opportunities for natural hi.story

work

^afforded

by

the Fish Connnission

and

theSmith.sonian Institution, but Professor Baird singled

him

out almost

from

the ^firstas his chief pupil, his intimate friend, his confidential adviser,

and

his assistant in all the natural history

work

in

which he was

engaged.

The

splendid advantages

which

Professor Baird accorded his

young

friend

were

repaid l^y

an

intense devotion.

Mr. Goode

.saidonce that he could lay

down

his lifefor

such

a

man, and

indeed

he

almostdid so,for hisoriginallyrobust health

was

impaired

by

this devotion to Professor Baird's service, particularly at theCenten- nial Exposition of 1876,

which

he left invalided,

and

the effects of his

overwork

ⁱⁿ

which

left

him

a

weaker man through

his after life.

The

death ofProfessor Baird in 1887 affected

him

.so deeply that it

was

not until 1895 ^that

he was

once heard to .say that he

had

but just recovered

from

theloss.

44

^Memoi'-ial

of George Broivn

^Goode.

He became

in 1872 avolunteerinthe

United

States Fish

Commission,

the year after the organization of that Bureau,

and he

continued this

work, making

collections in 1872 at Eastport, Maine, in 1873 in Casco Bay,

and

in 1874 ^at

Noank, on Long

Island

Sound. The

years

from

1872 to 1878

show

collectionsof fishes

made by him

atthe points

named,

as well asin

Bermuda,

Florida, Connecticut,

and

other places.

Nearly twenty

papers

and

articlesrelating tothe Fish

Commission and

tofish- eries appeared

from

his

pen

duringthe ^first four 3'ears of thisvoluntary association

with

the Fish

Commission. He was

interested not only in the scientificside of ichthyological

work,

but devoted great attention to the

economic

side. It

was

in 1877 ^that

he found

his first

specimen

of a deep-seafish

and

laid the foundation of the studies

which

culminatedin the splendid

memoir on

Oceanic Ichthj'ology

by

himself

and

Doctor Bean.

During

these years

with

Professor Baird

he became

experienced inall the

work

oftheFish

Commission, and upon

hisdeath

was

appointed

Commissioner

of Fisheries

by

the President.

The

position

up

to this time

had been an honorary

^one, but

Mr. Goode

^informed President Cleveland that the

work had grown

to such

an

extent that it

was

not possible for

any

person

who was

actively

engaged

in the

Smithsonian

Institution orelsewhere tocontinue it. President Cleveland

urged him

several timesto

permanently

accept theposition of

Commissioner

ofFish- eries,

and

the

Committee on

Appropriationsof Congress

had

provideda salary

which was

larger thanthe

one which

Mr.

Goode was

receiving or everdidreceive,but heresolutely declined, asserting that hislife'sambi- tion

had been

to

become

associated

with

the

Smithsonian

Institution;

that hisheart

was

in the

Museum, and

that

he

could not give it up.

As

related to his

work

inthe Fish

Commission,

the facts

may

be

mentioned

that in 1877

he was

emploj^ed

by

the

Department

of State

on

statistical

work

in connection

with

the Halifax

Commission, and

in 1879

and

1880

he was

in charge of the Fisheries Division of the

Tenth

Census.

His

administrative abilities

were

strongly

brought

out in the organization of this work. Professor

Henry

F.

Osborn

describes his

method

as follows:

Specialagentsweresentout, toevery partof the coastandtotheGreatLakes,to gather information. Goode worked atithimself on CapeCod,and manifested the sameenthusiasmas inevery other pieceofworkhe tookup.

He

interestedhimself in getting together a collection representingthemethods ofthefisheries and the habitsofthe fishermen. Neglectingneitherthemosttrivialnorimportantobjects, branchingoutintoeverycollateral matter,heshowedhisgraspboth of principles andof details.

He was

United States commissioner to the Internationale Fischerei Ausstellungin 1880 at Berlin

and

tothe International Fisheries Exposi- tion held at I^ondon in 1883.

From

circular order

No.

139, isstted

by Commander

J.J. Brice,

United

States

Commissioner

of Fish

and

Fish- eries, I extract the followingsentences:

DoctorGoodeisbest

known

for his researchesand publicationsonthefishesand

fisheriesofthe United States,on which subjects he came to be recognized asthe

Memoir

of

George Bnnvn

Goode.

45

leading authorit}-. , . .

He

has been one of the mostfruitful and valuedcon- tributors to the reportsandbulletins of the FishConiniission,and in hisdeaththe fishing interests ofthecountryhave sustained a severeloss.

As

I

have

beforesaid, hisconnectionwiththe Smithsonian Instittition followed shortlyafterthe acquaintance withProfessor Baird,

who

invited

him

to

spend

thewinterof 1873ⁱⁿ

Washington

forthe ptirpose ofarrang- ing the ichthyological specimens

and with

the understanding that as a

payment

for thissendee

he was

to be allowedto selectduplicates forthe

museum

atMiddletown.

At

thattime

he had

thetitleofAssistantCura-

tor,

which was

later

changed

to Curator,

and

although the relations to

Middletown

continued,thetieswiththe Institution

were becoming

stronger

and

stronger.

He now met

Professor

Henry

forthefirsttime,

and became one

ofthe smallcoterieof

Smithsonian men who

atthat time lived inthe

Smithsonian

building

and formed

apart ofthehospitablehousehold

which

Professor

Henry

maintained. In these early days the staff

was an

extremely small one, being only thirteen persons, including

honorary

collaborators

and

subordinates. Doctor

Goode threw

himself into this

work with

uncalculatiugdevotion. Professor Baird's duties

were becom-

ing

more and more numerous, and

after

he became

Secretaryof theInsti- tution Doctor

Goode

took the

Museum work upon

hiswilling shoulders.

In 1881,

when

the

new Museum

building

was

completed

and

the

United

StatesNational

Museum

reallyorganized, ]\Ir.

Goode,

then thirty years ofage,

was made

Assistant Director. Inthatyear

he

prepared acircular,

known

as Circular

No.

ⁱ of the National Mtiseum,

which

set forth a

scheme

ofadministration forthe

Musetim

so

comprehensive

in itsscope, so exact in its details, so practical in its ideas that it is with but

few

modificationsstilltheguideforthe

Museum

.staff.

On January

12, 1887, Professor Baird,

whose

health

was

then failing, appointed Mr.

Goode

as AssistantSecretaryofthe

Smithsonian

InstitutioninchargeoftheNational

Museum, and from

that timeuntil his death

he had

theftillest chargeof theentire administration of the

Museum.

It is hard to say

whether

Mr.

Goode was

best

known

as a

museum

directorora naturalist. I, ofcourse,

had more

occasion to see his

work from

the administrativeside. It

would

be impossible tounderstand his success in this field withotit thinking of the character of the

man, and

here I

may

repeat

what

I

have

said elsewhere, that if there

was one

quality

more

than another

which formed

the basisofhis characterit

was

sincerity

—

a sincerity

which was

the

ground

of a trttst

and

confidence

such

as could be instinctively given even

from

the first only to

an

absolutely loyal

and

trttthftil nature.

I

do

not

know whether

a

power

ofreading characteris

more

intiiitive or acquired, Ixtt at

any

ratewithoutit

men may

be governed, but not in

harmony, and

nuist be driven rather than led. Doctor

Goode was

in this sense a leader, quite apart

from

his scientific competence.

Every

member

ofthe force

he

controlled, not only

among

his scientific asso-

46 Memorial of George Broivn

^Goode.

ciates,but

down

to the

humblest employees

ofthe

Museum, was an

indi- vidual to him,

with

traits of character

which were

his

own and

not another's,

and which were

recognized in all dealings,

and

in this Ithink

he

w^as peculiar, for I

have known no man who seemed

topossessthis sympathetic insight in such a degree,

and

certainlyit

was one

of the sources ofhis strength.

I shall

have

given, however, a

wrong

idea of

him

if I leave

anyone under

the impression that this

sympathy

led to

weakness

of rule.

He knew how

tosay

"no," and

saidit as often as an}^other,

and would

rep- rehend,

where

occasion called, in terms the plainest

and most uncompro-

misinga

man

could use, speakingso

when he thought

itnecessary,

even

to those

whose

association

was

voluntary, but

who somehow were

not alienated as they

would have been

b}'

such

censure

from

^{another. ''}

He

often refused

me what

I

most wanted,"

said

one

of hisstaff to

me;

" but

I never

went

to sleepwithout

having

in

my

o\\\\

mind

forgiven

him."

I

have spoken

of

some

of the

moral

qualities

which made

allrely

upon him and which were

thefoundation of hisability to deal with

men. To them was

joined that scientific

knowledge

without

which he

could not

have been

^a

museum

administrator; but

even with

this

knowledge he

could not

have been what he

was, except

from

the fact that

he

loved the

Museum and

its administration

above

every other pursuit, even, I think,

above

his

own

special

branch

of biological science.

He was

perhaps a

man

of the widest interests I

have

ever

known,

so that

whatever he was

speaking of at anj^

moment seemed

to be the thing

he knew

best.

It w^as often

hard

to say, then,

what

love

predominated

^; but I think that

he

had,

on

the whole,

no

pleasure greaterthan that inhis

Mviseum

administration,

and

that, apart

from

his family interests

and

joys, this

was

the deepest loveof all.

He

refused

advantageous

offers to leave it,

though

I

ought

to gratefully

add

here,that his

knowledge

of

my

^reliance

upon him and

his unselfish desire to aid

me

w^ere also

among

his deter-

mining

motives in remaining.

They were

natural ones in such a

man.

What were

theresults of this devotion

may

be comprehensively see*n inthe statement that in the year in

which he was

first enrolled

among

the officersof the

Museum,

theentriesof collections

numbered

less than 200,000,

and

thestaff, including

honorary

collaborators

and

all subordi- nates, thirteen persons,

and by comparing

these early conditions with

what

they

became under

his subsequent

management.

Professor Baird atthe first

was

an active

manager,

but

from

the time that

he became

vSecretary of the Institution

he

devolved

more and more

ofthe

Museum

duties

on

Doctor

Goode, who

for nine yearspreceding hisdeath

was

practically in entirecharge of it. It is strictly within the truth, then,tosaythatthe

changes which have

takenplacein the

Museum

in that time are

more

his

work

than

any

other man's,

and when we

find that the

number

of persons

employed

has

grown from

thirteen toover

two

hundred,

and

the

number

ofspecimens

from

200,000toover3,000,000,

Memoir of George Brown

Goode.

47 and

consider that

what

theAlnseuni

now

is, its

scheme and

arrangement,

with

ahnost all

which make

itdistinctive, are chieflyDoctor Goode's,

we have some

oftheevidence ofhis administrative capacity.

He was

fitted to rule

and

administerboth

men and

things,

and

the

Mnsenm under

his

management

was, as

some

one has called it, "

A ^house

^full of ideas

and

a nurseryof living

thought."

His success of administration [says ProfessorOsborn] also came partlyfrom an instinctiveknowledgeof

human

nature. . . .

He

soughtout the oftenlatentbest qualities of the

men

around

him

anddeveloped them.

When

thingswere outof jointanddid not

move

hisway,hewaited with infinitepatiencefortheslowopera- tion oftime and

common

senseto setthemright.

He

wassingularh^ considerateof opinion, . . . fertileof originalideasandsuggestions,fullofinventionandofnew expedients,studyingthe best models at

home

and ^abroad,butneverbound by any

traditions of sj-stem or of classification.

... To

all hiswork also he brought arefinedartistictaste,shown inhis methodsof printingand labeling, aswellas in hisencouragement of the artistic, and,therefore,the truthfulandrealisticdevelop- mentof taxidermyinthearrangementof naturalgroupsofanimals.

To

crownall, like Baird,heentered into thelargestconceptionof thewide-reachingresponsil^ili- ties of his office under the Government,fully realizing that he was not at the headofa university orofametropolitanmuseum,butofthe

Museum

of agreatnation.

Everyreasonable requestfrom another institution met a promptresponse. . . .

Not the advancement of Washington science, but of American science, was his dominatingidea.

There was no

subject in connection with the administration of the

Museum

to

which he

did not at

some

time or otlier give his personal attention.

He had

a quick eyeforcolor

and

forform, understood theart ofdecorating

and

case building,

and had

besides a special

knowledge

of subjects .so widel}'

remote from

his

own

biologic interests that it isa question

whether

a

new

species or a

new

mu.sical instrument

gave him

the greater pleasure.

So

fullycould Irely

on

his

judgment

inallthings, that

even

inmatters not connected with the

Museum

I frequentlj'sought the benefit of his advice,

and

this

was

suretobe sound,

whether

it related to the

typography

or paperof a

new volume

of the publications, or to

some weighty

question of policy. It is difficult tosingleout

from among

the manifold matters relating to the Institution proper

which were

con- fidedto

him one

singlething. Icannot,however, but recallthefactthat

he seemed

tome, both becauseof thesoundness ofhis

judgment and

the

wide domain

ofsciencewith

which he was

acquainted, the fittest person toplace inchargeofthe

Hodgkins award made two

years ago.

To

this entire work,

from

the time of Mr.

Hodgkins'

s gift

down

to theclosing ofthe award, Mr.

Goode gave

unremitting

and

zealous attention,

having

served as

chairman

bothof thepreliminary connnittee

and

the

committee on

award.

The

field of natural history, of antiquities, of art, of books, is so vast that a

mere

assemblage of objects, of l)ooks, of ])rints, of engravings, is

not in itself .significant. Collectingis an art

which many

e.s.say but few attain. Mr.

Goode was

eminentlya collector.

As

early as 1872

we

find

48 Memorial of George Broivn

^Goode.

him

collectingthefivShesofthe

Bermudas, which he worked up

ina cata- logue,giving ineachcase, in addition to characteristicspreviouslynoted, descriptions of the colors ofthe fisheswhile living, notes

on

thesize

and

proportions,observations of habits, hints in reference tothe origin

and meaning

of their popular names,

and

notes

upon modes

of capture of

economic

value.

The same

careful

methods

of collection

he

followed in thesubsequent expeditions

which he undertook

in the field. It

was

not alone innatural history,however, thatthistalentforcollectingdisplayed

itself.

Every

possible sort of

specimen

or information

which was

at

hand he

collected.

He would

bring

back from

every exposition

which he

attended methodicalcollections,frequentlyof materials overlooked

by

others.

Every

visit to a foreign countryresulted in thebringing

back

of a collection, not of miscellaneous objects, but of a series

which

could themselves be placed

on

exhibition.

These might

be musical instru- ments, ecclesiastical art,early printed books, medals,orivories,

and

the

same

taste

and

discrimination

and good judgment were

displayedintheir selection.

He

collected, however, not onlyobjects, but also

words and

ideas.

From

theassembling of the

common names

ofplants

and

animals in

America

there

grew

a large collection ofAmericanisms, probablylarger

than any

single collectionpublished. Portraitsof scientific

men,

portraits of

Washington and

Jefferson, autographs. Confederate imprints,

Ameri-

cana,

American

scientific text-books

—

these are but a

few

of the fields in

which

Doctor

Goode

collected.

He was

anaturalist in the broadest sense of that word, following in the footstepsof Agassiz

and

Baird.

He

had [says DoctorGill] acquaintance with severalclassesof the animalking- dom, andespeciallywiththevertebrates.

He

even published severalminorcontri- butionsonherpetology, the voicesof crustaceans,andothersubjects. . . . The flowering plantsalsoenlisted

much

of his attention,andhisexcursionsintothefields

and woodswereenlivened by^aknowledgeofthe objectshemetwith.

The designation naturalist [saysProfessor Osborn] was one which Goode richly earnedandwhich heheld mostdear,andourdeep sorrowisthathis activityas nat- uralistextended onlyover a quarterofa century.

...

Asa naturalistGoodedid notcloseanyofthewindowsopeningoutintonature. His breadthofspiritinpublic affairsdisplayeditselfequallyinhismethodsoffieldandseawork andinthe variety of hisobservationsandwritings. While fishes becamehis chief interest, he

knew

alltheEasternspeciesof birdsafteridentifyingand arrangingthe collectioninhis college museum.

He

loved plants,and in the later years of his life took great pleasureinthe cultureoftheold-fashionedgarden aroundhishouse. . . .

Many

of his brieferpapers deal directlywith the biological problemswhichattracted his interest, especially

among

reptilesandfishes, touching such questionsasmigration, coloring, albinism, mimicry,parasitism,feedingand breedinghabits,therelation of forestprotectiontothe protectionoffishes.

Perhaps no one

can be a "naturalist" in the larger .sense without being directly a lover of

Nature and

of ^all natural sights

and

sounds.

One

of hisfamily says:

He

taughtusallthe forest trees,their fruitsand flowers inseason, and to

know

them

when

bare of leaves by their shapes; all thewayside shrubs,and even the

Memoir _{of Geo}

j'^eBro7V)i Goode.

49

flowersof theweeds^; all thewild birdsand their notes,andtlieinsects. Hisideal of anold agewastohavealittleplaceof his

own

inamildclimate, surronnded by hisbooksforrainy days, andfriends

who

cared forplainlivingand highthinking, withachancetohelpsomeonepoorerthanhe.

He was

a loving

and

quickobserver,

and

in these simple, natural joys, his studies

were

his recreations,

and were

closely connected

with

his literary pursitits.

He was

of course first

and

foremost

an

ichthyologist,

and

this

through no

lack of

sympathy

with the largerfield, but becauseof the recognition of the fact that the larger field could not be sticcessfuUy covered

by one man.

His

adherence to this subject as a specialty

was undoubtedly

deter-

mined

b}' his long

and

intimate connection with the Fish

Commission

duringthe period ofgreatest

advancement

in

methods

of deep-sea explo- ration,the richcollections of fishesderived

from

thatsourcebeing placedat his

command. The

noveltiesofstructure

and environment

presented

by

thismaterial,everincreasing asthe

work

progressed,

proved an

attraction toostrong to be resisted,

even

in the face of hisvaried official duties,

and

caused

him

to

become

distinctively a stttdent of the

marine

forms.

His

observations

were

not confinedto

any

single

branch

of thesubject, but

were

given the widest latitude that his timepermitted.

He was

the discoverer of

many new and

strangespecies

and an acknowledged

authority

on

classification; but

he

tookperhaps the greatest interest in questions regarding the geographical

and

bathymetrical distribution of fishes, a

field in

which

his opportunities for investigation

had

been unexcelled.

The

color of fishes

had

also

been

^{a favorite} studywith him,

and he had

paid attention to

many

points in their

morphology and

in the functions of special organs.

He was

especially well versed in the literature of ichthyology

from

theearliest times,

and

after Professor Baird,

was

the

most eminent exponent

in this countryof the benefits to be secured to thepracticalfisheries

through

the application of scientific teachings.

Doctor Gill, in reviewing his scientificcareer, said:

A

Catalogueof the Fishesof the Bermudas,' published in 1S76,furnished addi- tionalevidenceof knowledgeofthe literatureof his subjectandabilit}'touseitto advantage in the discussion ofmooted questions, and italsoevinced his powerof observation.

In thesame year, 1876, appeared anotherworkwhich,to a still greaterdegree, rendered manifest those same mental characteristics. The work was only a cata- logue, but perhaps from noother publicationcan some intellectual qualitiesbe so readilyandcorrectlygauged byacompetent judgeasanelaborate catalogue. Powers ofanalysisandsynthesis,andtheability toweightherelativevaluesofthe material athand,

may make

a"merecatalogue" avaluableepitomeof acollection andofa science. SuchaproductionwastheClassification of the Collectionto illustratethe

'Catalogueof theFishesof theBermudas. Basedchieflyonthecollections ofthe United States National Museum. Wa.shington: Government Printing Office, 1876 (8°, pp. (2) 1-82,BulletinUnitedStates National Museum,No.5).

NAT

MU.S 97,

TT

2 4

50 Memorial of George Broivn

^Goode.

AnimalResourcesof theUnitedStates,'aworkof 126 pages; three3'earslater this catalogue servedasthebasis forand waselaboratedand expandedinto alargeCata- logueofthe Collection to illustratetheAnimal Resourcesand the Fisheriesofthe UnitedStates,^{=^}avolumeof351 pages. Thesecatalogueswereforthetentativeand adoptedarrangementofmaterial exhibited bytheSmithsonian Institution andthe UnitedStatesFishCommissionatthe International Exhibition, 1876.

Itwastheabilitythatwasmanifestedinthese cataloguesandtheworkincidental to their preparation that especially arrested the attention of Professor Baird and markedtheauthor as onewell adapted for the directionof a greatmuseum. For signal successinsuch direction special qualifications are requisite. Onlysome of

themareamindwell trainedinanalytical aswellas synthetic methods,anartistic sense,critical ability, andmultifarious knowledge, but abovealltheknowledgeof

men

and

how

todealwith them. Perhapsno one hasevercombined in morehar- moniousproportions,suchqualificationsthan G.BrownGoode. In

him

the National

Museum

of theUnitedStatesandtheworldatlargehavelostoneof the greatestof

museum

administrators.

Asanaturalist,the attentionof DoctorGoode wasespecially directedtoandeven concentratedonthefishes. Hismemoirs,contributedmostlyto theProceedingsof theUnitedStatesNationalMiiseum, werenumerous andchieflydescriptive of

new

species. (For

many

of thesehe had, asa collaboratorDoctorTarleton Bean, then the curatorof fishes oftheUnitedStatesNationalMuseum.)

Some

ofthememoirs, however,dealtwithspecialgroups, as the

Menhaden

_(1879), Ostraciontidse_(1880), Carangidae (1881), theSwordfishes(1881),and theEel (1882). His monographof the

Menhaden

{Brevoortia tyrantius) contributed originally to theReport of the United StatesCommiissionerof Fisheries3andthen publishedasa separate work-t

—

a largevolumeof nearly 550pagesandwith 30plates

—

^is a modelof critical treat-

mentof information collectedfromallquarters. But hismostimportantcontribu- tionswere publishedasofficialGovernmentreportsandweretheresultsof investiga- tions especially undertaken for such reports. Especially noteworthy were the volumes comprisingtheresults of thecensusof 1880.

The

1880censuswasplanned andcarried out onan unusualscale. Forthefish- eries theUnited States Commissionof Fish and Fisheries cooperated and Doctor Goode had general chargeof theentirework. The assistants and special agents

'International Exhibition, 1876. Board in behalf of United States Executive Departments. Classification ofthe Collection to illustratetheAnimal Resoixrcesof the United States.

A

^{list of} substances derived from the animal kingdom, with synopsis of the useful and injurious animals and a classification of the methods

of capture and utilization. Washington: Government PrintingOffice. 1876. (8°

pp. 126,aSecondeditionwith supplementarytitle as Bulletin No. 6, UnitedStates NationalMuseum).

2International Exhibition, 1876. Catalogue of the Collection to illustrate the AnimalResourcesandthe FisheriesoftheUnitedStates,exhibited at Philadelphia in 1876bytheSmithsonianInstitutionandtheUnitedStates Fish Commi.ssion,and forming a partof theUnitedStates National Museum. Washington: Government PrintingOffice. 1879. (8°,pp. 351. (i)

—

^BulletinUnitedStatesNational Museum, No. 14).

3The Natural and Economical Historyof the American Menhaden. In Report UnitedStatesCommissionofI'ishandFisheries,Partv, 1879,AppendixA,_{pp. 1-529,} pis.i-xxxi

(xxx

canceled),_pp. 194-267by Professor

W.

O. Atwater.

»American Fisheries.

A

History of the

Menhaden

byG. Brown Goode, with an accountof the AgriculturalUsesof Fishby

W.

O. Atwater. ^{. . .}

And

an intro- duction, bringing the subject

down

to date. Thirty plates.

New

York: Orange Judd Company, 1880. (8° pp. x (i),iii-xii, 1-529(i); 31pis., pi. 30canceled).

Memoir of George

Broivti Goodc.

5^

were consequently selected \s\W\ judjrmcnt and the results were very valuable.

The huge mass of statistics was digested and condensed in seven large quarto volumes representing five sections separately devoted to special branches of the subject.'

Doctor Goode's cares w-ere mainly concentrated on the firstsection, treatingof theNattu-alHistoryofAquatic Animals, which was discussed in over 900pages of textandillustrated by 277plates. Thiswork was by farthemost complete survey of theeconomicalfishesof thecountrythat hadever appearedand hassincebeen themostprized; itledtoanother.

After theappearance ofthecensusvolumes, DoctorGoode wasurgedtopreparea work for popular use. His consent to do so was followed byavolume,entitled

American Fishes,

A

Popular Treatise upon the

Game

and Food Fishes of North America,^ published bythe Standard Book

Company

of

New

York. Inasmuchas

noneofthe previouspopularworksontheAmericanfisheshad emanatedfrom

men

of scientificeminence,itscarcelyneed be addedthat the

new

work hadnorivalin thefield,so far asaccurateinformationanddetailsofhabitswereinvolved.

A

shorttimepreviouslyDoctorGoode hadalsopreparedthe texttoaccompanya series of twenty large folio colored portraits byan eminent artist, IVIr. S.A. Kil- bourne, of the principal

Game

FishesoftheUnitedStates.^

Neverhadinvestigationsof thedeepseabeen conducted with suchassiduit}^and

skill as during the last twodecades. Thechief honorsof the explorations were carried off by the British and American governments. As the fishes obtained by the vessels of the United States Fish Commissionwere brought in,tlie}^ were examined by Doctor Goode (generally in company wdth Doctor Bean)andduly described. At lengthDoctorsGoode and Bean combined together data respecting all the

known

forms occurring inthe abysmal depthsof theoceanand alsothose of theopen sea, andpublished ar^sumdof the entiresubjectintwolargevolumes entitledOceanicIchthyology.^•*

Thiswasafitting crown to thework on which theyhad been engaged solong andthe actual publicationonly preceded Doctor Goode's deathb}'afew weeks.

Butthe publishedvolumesdidnot representalltheworkofDoctorGoode on the abyssalianfishes.

He

had almost completed an elaboratememoir onthedistribu-

'TheFisheriesand FisheryIndustryof theUnitedStates. Preparedthroughthe cooperationof theCommissionerof FisheriesandtheSuperintendentof theTenth Census.

By

GeorgeBrownGoode,Assistant Directorof theUnitedStatesNational Museum, andastaffof associates. Washington: GovernmentPrintingOffice, 1884 (-1887, 5 sections in 7volumes). Section ^I, Natural Historj- of Aquatic Animals, wasmainly preparedby DoctorGoode.

=American F'ishes.

A

PopularTreatise uponthe

Game

andFood Fishesof North America, withespecial referencetohabitsand methodsof capture,. B}'G. Brown Goode. With numerousillustrations.

New

York; StandardBook Company. 1888.

(8°, XVI

+

^{496pp.,colored}frontispiece.)

3

Game

FishesoftheUnitedvStates. ByS.A. Kilbourne. TextbyG.BrownGoode.

New

York: Published by Charles Scribner's Sons. 1879-18S1. (Folio,46 pp., 20 platesand map.

—

^{published in ten parts, eachwith 2 plates,} lithographs inwater color, andfourpagefolio of text.

)

''Smithsonian Institution. United States National Museum. vSpecial Bulletin.

Oceanic Ichthyology.

A

^Treati.seonthe Deep-seaand PelagicFishesof the World, basedchieflyuponthecollections

made

bythesteamers Blake, ^Ubatross,and Fish HazvkintheNorthwesternAtlantic,withanatlascontaining 417figures,byGeorge Brown Goode, Ph. D., LL. D., and Tarleton H. Bean, M. D.,M. S. Washington:

GovernmentPrintingOffice. 1895. 2 vols.,4°; I,xxxv

+

^26*,553pp.;^{II, x.xiii}

+

^26*

pp., 123^pis.

5²

Memorial of George Brozvn

^Goode.

tion of thosefishes,and, contrarytothe conclusionsof formerlaborersinthesame

field,hadrecognizedforthemanumberof differentfaunalareas. Itistobe hoped thatthis

may

yetbe giventothe world.

Morphologicalanddescriptive ichthyologywere not cultivated tothe exclusion of what is regarded as more practical features. In connection with his official dutiesasanofficerof theUnitedStates FishCommission hestudied the subjectof piscicultureinall itsdetails.

Among

his

many

contributionstothe subject areone onThe FirstDecadeof theUnitedStatesCommission, itsplanofwork andaccom- plishedresults, scientificandeconomical (iS8o), another treatingof theEpochs in theHistoryof Fish Culture ₍i8Si), and twoencyclopedicarticles

—

TheFisheriesof theWorld (1882),andtheoneentitled Pisciculture, intheFncyclopediaBritannica (1885).

The greatworkof hislife,Oceanic Ichthyology [saysDoctorJordan],was,how-

ever,written during the periodof hisdirectorshipoftheNationalMuseum, andit

was published buta

month

before his death. Almostsimultaneously withthiswere other important publications of the National Museum, which were his also ina sense, fortheywouldnever have been undertaken exceptforhisurgent wish and encouragement. If a personal word

may

be pardoned, The Fishesof North and Middle America, which closely followed Oceanic Ichthyology, would never have been writtenexceptfor

my

friend'srepeated insistenceandgeneroushelp.

ThefirstrecordedscientificpaperofDoctorGoodeisanote'

On

theOccurrenceof theBill-fishin freshWaterintheConnecticutRiver. Thenextisacriticaldiscus- sionoftheanswerstothe question

Do

SnakesSwallowtheirYoung? In thispaper heshowsthatthereisgood reasontobelievethatin certain viviparous snakes,the young seek refugeinthe stomach of the mother

when

frightened,andthatthey comeoutunharmed

when

thereasonfortheir retreathaspassed.

Thefirstofthe

many

technicalanddescriptivepapersonfisheswastheCatalogue ofthe Fishesofthe Bermudas,=published in 1876. Thisisamodel recordof field observationsand^isoneofthe bestof local catalogues. DoctorGoode retained his interest in this outpost of the great West Indian fauna, and from time to time recorded the various additions

made

tohisfirstBermudancatalogue.

After this followed a large number of papers on fishes, chiefly descriptions of species ormonographsof groups. The descriptivepaperswerenearlyallwrittenin associationwithhisexcellentfriend.DoctorTarletonH.Bean,thenCuratorofFishes intheNationalMuseum.

InmonographicworkDoctorGoode took the deepest interest,and hedelighted especially in the collection of historic data concerning groups of species. The quaint orpoetical featuresof suchwork were never overlooked byhim. Notable

among

thesemonographsarethoseofthe

Menhaden

,the Trunk-fishes,andtheSword-

fishes.

Theeconomicsideofsciencealsointerested

him

moreandmore. Thatscientific

knowledgecouldadd to

human

wealthorcomfortwasno reproachin his eyes. In his notablemonographofthe

Menhaden

'the economicvalue asfood or manureof thisplebeian fishreceivedthecarefulattentionwhich hehadgiventothe problems ofpurescience.

Doctor Goode'spowerinorganizingandcoordinatingpracticalinvestigationswas shown in his monumentalwork'*on theAmerican Fisheriesfor the Tenth Census

'AmericanNaturalist, V, p.487.

"BulletinNo.5, UnitedStatesNationalMuseimi.

3TheNaturalandEconomical Historyof theAmericanMenhaden. InReportof UnitedStatesCommissionofFishandFisheries, Part5. Washington, 1879.

•tTheFisheriesandFisheryIndustryoftheUnitedvStates. Preparedthroughthe cooperationof theCommissionerof Fisheriesand theSuperintendentof theTenth Census, Washington, 1884.

Mcnwir of George

Bro7V7i Goode.

53

in 1880. The preparationofthe recordofthefisheriesandassociatedaciuaticindus- trieswasplaced in hishands 1)}'FrancisA. Walker,vSuperintciident of theCensus.

Under Doctor Goode's direction skilledinvestigatorswere senttoevery partofthe coastandinlandwatersofthecountr}-.

His American

Fishes,apoptilar treatise

upon

the

game aud

foodfishes of

North

America,

pubhshed

iu 1888, is deserving of a special

mention

both becauseof the

charming

literarystjde in

which

it is written as well asitsscientific accuracy

and

excellence.

The

wealth

and

aptness of the chapter headings of this

book show

that Mr.

Goode's wide

reading

was

associated

with

everything

which

could illustrate liis science

on

the literary side.

He had

a

knowledge

of everything even remotely con- nected with his ichthyological researches,

from

St.

Anthony's Sermon

to Fishes, to the literature of fish cookery, while in one of his earliest papers, written at nineteen, his fondness for Isaac

Walton and

his familiarity

with him

are evident.

While

never claiming the title of anthropologist,

he was

j'et a close student of the anthropological

and

ethnological

work

in thiscountry

and

abroad,

and

it is not too

much

tosaythat

no

professional anthropologist

had

a higher ideal of

what

his science

might come

to beor exercised a

more

discriminating criticism

on

^itspresent

methods and

conditionsthan did Doctor

Goode. He

was, moreover, not only interested in the bio- logical

problems

of the anthropologist,but iu technolog}'

and

the history of art.

The

historyof

human

invention

and

archaeology

were

equallyin his mind,

and

hissuggestiveness ineach of these fieldscouldbe attested

by

all ofthe anthropologists

with whom

^he

came

incontact.

Itwouldbe difficult [says Professor Mason] to find

among

those

who

are pro- fessional anthropologists a

man who

had a more exalted ideaof whatthisscience oughtto be. Thereisnot, perhaps,anotherdistinguished scholar

who

has endeav- ored to collect into one great anthropological schemeallof the knowledgeof all

men

inallagesof theworldandinall stagesof culture.

Doctor

Goode was

peculiarly related to the

management

of expositions

and

did

more

than

any

other person in

America

to engraft

upon them musemn

^ideas

and widen

their scope

from

the merelyconnnercial

and

indtistrial to the educational

and

scientific.

His

first experience in this field

was

in 1876, at the Centennial

Exhi-

bitionheldin Philadelphia. ProfessorBaird

was

inchargeof the exhibits of the

Smithsonian

Institution

and

P^ish Commi.ssion,

and

l)eing nuich occupied atthe time with other matters, the greater part of the installa- tion

and

other

work

connected with the exhibit

was

placed tuider the

immediate

stipervision of Mr. Goode.

The work done by

the Smithso- nian

and Govennnent

departments at this exhibition

was

pioneer work,

itbeingthefirst internationalexhibition in

which

the UnitedStates

Gov- ernment was

engaged. It is not too nuich to say that the

arrangement

of the vSmithsonian exhilnt at Philadelphia

was

the

model on which

all

subsequent exhibits of the

kind were

based,

and

that the classification, the installation,

and

the

arrangement have had

a lasting influence

on

54 Memorial _{of George} Broivn

Goode.

exhibition

work

everywhere.

But

ever}^ administrative activity of this sort

was

sure to result in

some

hterary product, so that

we

find in 1876

Mr. Goode pubhshed A

Classification of the Collections to illustrate the

Animal

Resources of the

United

States:

A

^list of .substances derived

from

the animal

kingdom,

with synopsisof the useful

and

injurious ani- mals,

and

aclassificationof the

methods

of capture

and

utilization.

This work was

afterwards published in

an

enlarged

form

as a bulletin of the National

Museum.

His

servicesas commissioner for the

United

States

Government

atthe FisheriesExhibition of Berlinin 1880

and

I^ondonin 1883

have

already

been

alludedto. These,too,resulted inseveralarticlesin

German and

in a bulletin of the

Museum,

while several addresses

and

papers delivered at the Conferences of the International Fisheries Exhibition in

London were

published in the papersof the conferences,

and

full reports

were made by

Doctor

Goode on

his return to this countr}'

and

published at the

Government

Printing Office.

He was

the representative of the

Smithsonian

Institution at all the subsequent exhibitions held in this countr}-

—

lyouisville, 1884;

New

Orleans, 1885; Cincinnati, 1888; Chicago, 1893, ^{'^'^^^} Atlanta, 1895

—

servingalso as a

commissioner and

fora time acting

Commissioner- Gen-

eral to the

Columbian

Exposition held at

Madrid

in 1892.

The

exhibits

made under

his direction

were

never repetitions.

Each one

contained

new

material never

shown

^before,

and

exhibited the prog- ress of the Institution

and Museum,

as well as the advances

made

in the arts of taxiderm}^, installation,

and

labeling. Mr.

Goode,

too,

always

bore in

mind

the local interest,

and endeavored

to

show

speci-

mens and

materials

which would

be instructivetopersons residinginthe

neighborhood

of the place at

which

the exposition

was

held.

Thus

at Cincinnati objects

were prominent which

related to the

Ohio

Valley, for

Madrid he

prepared

an

exhibit to illustratethe conditionsof

human and

animal life in

America

at the time of the

Spanish

discovery,whilst at Atlantaespecial stress

was

laid

on showing

thefauna, flora, archaeology,

and

mineral resources of the

South

Atlantic States.

He

prepared the report

on

the

Madrid

Exposition,

and

at the request ofthe

Governfnent Commission drew up

a provisionalclassification forthe

Chicago

Exposi- tion, which, while not formally accepted,

was

used

throughout

in the

official classification,

many

pages being copied without a change.

For

the Chicago, as well as the Atlanta Exposition, he prepared a carefully written catalogue,

and

forthe latter

an

excellently

condensed

sketch of the

Smithsonian

Institution.

Nowhere were

Mr.

Goode'

s administrative talents

more

strongly

shown

than in

an

exhibition.

The

plans of the floor space, thecases, the specimens

were

all carefully arranged in advance.

Boxes were

especially

made

of

lumber which

couldbe utilized forcases or platforms.

Cases

were marked, and

not very long beforethe

opening

of the exposi-

Memoir of Groroe Brown

Goode.

55

tioiithe entire

mass would

be deposited

on

the bare space assigned to the

Smithsonian

exhibit. Usually other exhibitors

had

their material halfarranged

by

this time,

and

the fear

was

expressed

by

sympathetic bystanders that the

Smithsonian would

not be ready.

The

cases

would

be

unpacked and

the specimens put in

them

in

whatever

position they

happened

to stand,

and up

to the last

day

all

would seem

to be incon- fusion; but Doctor

Goode knew

his resources

and

his

men

as a general

knows

his army.

Suddenly

all detailed

work would come

to

an

^end,

and

inthe course of a

few

hours, asif

by

magic, the entire exhibit

would

be putin place.

He had

apardonable pride in this sortof generalship, for

whether

at

Chicago

orAtlanta it

had

never failedhim,

and

itearned thehighest

encomiums

at Berlin, I^ondon,

and

Madrid.

Doctor

Goode

's services at these various expositions

were

recognized

b}^ diplomas

and

medals,

and from

the

Spanish Government he

received the orderof Isabella the Catholic,

with

thegrade of

commander.

I

have

already

spoken

ofMr.

Goode's

administrativequalitiesas

shown

in his

management

of the National

Museum

; l:iut his contributions to

museum

administration

and

the history of

museums were

not confinedto his

own

work.

From

all parts of

America and even

as far distant as Australia his opinion

was

sought with regard to the plans for

museum

buildings as well as

on minor

matters of installation. All requests for

such

information

and

advice

were

fully

answered

in

minute

detail.

It

was

into hispapers

on museums

that

some

ofhis bestthoughts went,

and

it

was

there that

we

find

epigrammatic

statements

which

are con- stantlyquoted

by

all interestedin thematter.

The

firstpaper

by him on

this subject appearedin theCollege Argus,

March

22, 1871. It

was

entitled

Our Museum, and was

a description of the collectionin

Judd

Hall.

This

^article indicated plainly the

museum

instinct, for it

was

largely intended to

make known

thedeficiencies in the collection,

and

pointed out

how

students

and

professorscould

make

these

good on

their

summer

excursions.

He

alsopublished a guide to this

museum.

In 1888

he

read beforethe

American

Historical Association a paper entitled

Museum

Histor}-

and Museums

of History.

Here

he traced the

growth

of the

museum

idea

from

the beginning

down

to the present time, repeating his

now

oft-quoted phrase,

"An

efficient educational

museum may

be described as a collection of instructivelabels, each illus- trated

by

a well-selected .specimen." Atlases of ethnological portraits

and works

like those of

Audubon he

described as ^''not books, but

museum

specimens,

masquerading

inthe dress of books."

Even more

forcible

was

a lecture delivered before the

Brooklyn

Insti- tute in 1889, entitled

Museums

of the Future.

"The museum

of the past,"

he

wrote,

"must

be set a.side, reconstructed, transformed

from

a cemeteryofbric-a-brac intoanurseryoflivingthoughts. " . . . "

The

people's

museum

should be

much more

than a

house

full of specimens