Memoir of Gcori^e Brown Goode. 49 



flowers of the weeds; all the wild birds and their notes, and the insects. His ideal 

 of an old age was to have a little place of his own in a mild climate, surrounded by 

 his books for rainy days, and friends who cared for plain living and high thinking, 

 with a chance to help someone poorer than he. 



He was a lovinj^ and qttick observer, and in these simple, natural joys, 

 his studies were his recreations, and were closely connected with his 

 literar}^ pursttits. 



He was of course first and foremost an ichthyologist, and this through 

 no lack of sympathy with the larger field, but because of the recognition 

 of the fact that the larger field could not be successfully covered by 

 one man. 



His adherence to this subject as a specialty was undoubtedly deter- 

 mined by his long and intimate connection with the Fish Commission 

 during the period of greatest advancement in methods of deep-sea explo- 

 ration, the rich collections of fishes derived from that source being placed at 

 his command. The novelties of structure and environment presented by 

 this material, ever increasing as the work progressed, proved an attraction 

 too strong to be resisted, even in the face of his varied official duties, 

 and caused him to become distinctively a student of the marine forms. 



His observations were not confined to any single branch of the subject, 

 but were given the widest latitude that his time permitted. He was the 

 discoverer of many new and strange species and an acknowledged authority 

 on classification ; but he took perhaps 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 study with 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 the earliest times, and after Professor Baird, was the 

 most eminent exponent in this country of the benefits to be secured 

 to the practical fisheries through the application of scientific teachings. 



Doctor Gill, in reviewing his scientific career, said: 



A Catalogue of the Fishes of the Bermudas,' published in 1876, furnished addi- 

 tional evidence of knowledge of the literature of his subject and ability to use it to 

 advantage in the discussion of mooted questions, and it also evinced his power of 

 observation. 



In the same year, 1876, appeared another work which, to a still greater degree, 

 rendered manifest those same mental characteristics. The work was only a cata- 

 logue, but perhaps from no other publication can some intellectual qualities be so 

 readily and correctly gauged by a competent judge as an elaborate catalogue. Powers 

 of analysis and synthesis, and the ability to weigh the relative values of the material 

 at hand, may make a "mere catalogue" a valuable epitome of a collection and of a 

 science. Such a production was the Classification of the Collection to illustrate the 



' Catalogue of the Fishes of the Bermudas. Based chiefly on the collections of the 

 United States National Museum. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1876 

 ■(S°, pp. (2) 1-82, Bulletin United States National Museum, No. 5). 



NAT MUS 97, PT 2 4 



