1 8 Memorial of George Brozvn Goode. 



as seen in his admiration for the pioneers of American science and his 

 repeated vindication of their services. This passion for history led to an 

 important phavSe of his hterary work. His fane addresses, The Begin- 

 nings of Natural History in America (1886), The Beginnings of Amer- 

 ican Science (1887), The lyiterary Labors of Benjamin Franklin (1890), 

 The Origin of the National Scientific and Educational Institutions 

 of the United States (1890), and An Account of the Smithsonian 

 Institution (1895), .sprang from the same instinct which prompted 

 him to compile the valuable bibliographies of Baird, of Girard, of L,ea, 

 and of vSclater, and to undertake the remarkable genealogy of his own 

 family entitled Virginia Cousins. The time between 1887 and 1895 

 which he devoted to the.se subjects caused .some of his fellow-naturalists 

 anxiety; j^et I fancy this work was largely sought by him for diversion 

 and rest, just as Michael Foster tells us that philosophy and controversy 

 served as recreation to Huxley, at a time when overwork had given him a 

 passing distaste for morphology. 



His trend of life guided b)^ the.se four beacon lights was swayed by 

 two countercurrent.s — first, his strong impulses as an original investiga- 

 tor, and, second, his convictions as to the dut}^ of .spreading the knowl- 

 edge of nature. These currents moved him alternately. The most 

 superficial view of his career .shows that his whole environment fostered 

 his public .spirit and made difficult and at times impossible the retirement 

 so essential to studies in nature. 



Goode's practical and public achievements for natural history there- 

 fore do him even more honor than his writings, because from June, 1870, 

 when he graduated from Wcsleyan University, to September, 1896, 

 administrative .service became paramount, and he was free to devote only 

 the odd intervals of his time to research. Our great gain in the national 

 in.stitutions he has advanced is our corresponding loss in ichthyology and 

 the kindred branches of zoolog3^ 



Goode's .successful work in the natural history counses at Wesleyan 

 led at graduation to a place in the college mu.seum, where in 1870 he at 

 once .showed his great talent for systematic arrangement. In further 

 preparation for zoology, he went to Harvard, and for a few months came 

 under the genial influence of Louis Agas.siz. But the turning point in 

 his life came in 1872, when, working as a volunteer upon the United 

 States Fish Commission, at Kastport, he met Spencer F. Baird. The 

 kind of simple but irresistible force which Abraham Lincoln exerted 

 among statesmen Baird .seems to have exerted among naturalists. He 

 at once noted young Goode's fine qualities, adopted him, and rapidly 

 came to be the master .spirit in his .scientific life. Goode delighted to 

 work with a man so full of all that constitutes true greatness. He fre- 

 quently spoke of Baird as his master, and intimate friends say that he 

 never showed quite the same buoyant spirit after Baird's death — he felt 

 the I0.SS .so keenly. Baird took Goode to Wa.shington in the winter of 

 1872 and practically determined his career, for he promoted him rapidly 



