398 LEADING AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



with them. Perhaps no one has ever combined, in more harmo- 

 nious proportions, such qualifications than G. Brown Goode. In 

 him the National Museum of the United States and the world at 

 large have lost one of the greatest of museum administrators." 



The most striking character of Doctor Goode's scientific papers 

 was perhaps their scholarly accuracy and good taste. He never 

 wrote a paper carelessly. He was never engaged in any contro- 

 versy, and he rarely made a statement which had later to be 

 withdrawn. Yet no one was more ready to acknowledge an error, 

 if one were made, and none showed greater willingness to recog- 

 nize the good work of others. The literature even of the most 

 out-of-the-way branch of zoological research had a great fascina- 

 tion for him, and he found in bibliography and in the records of 

 the past workers in science a charm scarcely inferior to that of 

 original observation and research. In his later years administra- 

 tive duties occupied more and more of his time, restricting the 

 opportunities for his own studies. He seemed, however, to have 

 as great delight in the encouragement he could give to the work 

 of others. 



The great work of his life Oceanic Ichthyology was, however, 

 written during the period of his directorship of the National 

 Museum, and published but a month before his death. Almost 

 simultaneous with this were other important publications of the 

 National Museum, which were his also in a sense, for they would 

 never have been undertaken except for his urgent wish and encour- 

 agement. If a personal word may be pardoned, The Fishes of 

 North and Middle America (of Jordan and Evermann) which 

 closely followed Oceanic Ichthyology, would never have been 

 written except for my friend's repeated insistence and generous 

 help. 



In the earlier days of the scientific activities of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, there was scarcely a young naturalist of serious pur- 

 poses in the land who had not in some way received help and en- 

 couragement from Professor Baird. With equally unselfish effect- 

 iveness and lack of ostentation, Doctor Goode was also in different 

 ways a source of aid and inspiration to all of his scientific contempo- 



