GEORGE BROWN GOODE 399 



raries. The influence of the National Museum for good in the 

 United States has been great in a degree far out of proportion to 

 the sums of money it has had to expend. It has not been a Wash- 

 ington institution, but its influence has been national. 



The first recorded scientific paper of Doctor Goode is a note on 

 the occurrence of the bill-fish in fresh water in the Connecticut 

 River. The next is a critical discussion of the answers to the 

 question "Do snakes swallow their young?" In this paper he 

 shows that there is good reason to believe that in certain viviparous 

 snakes, the young seek refuge in the stomach of the mother when 

 frightened, and that they come out when the reason for their 

 retreat has passed. 



The first of the many technical and descriptive papers on fishes 

 was the "Catalogue of the Fishes of the Bermudas," published 

 in 1876. This is a model record of field observations and is one 

 of the best of local catalogues. Doctor Goode retained his interest 

 in this outpost of the great West Indian fauna, and from time to 

 time recorded the various additions made to his first Bermudan 

 catalogue. 



After this followed a large number of papers on fishes, chiefly 

 descriptions of species or monographs of groups. The descriptive 

 papers were nearly all written in association with his excellent 

 friend, Doctor Tarleton H. Bean, then Curator of Fishes in the 

 National Museum. 



In monographic work, Doctor Goode took the deepest interest, 

 and he delighted especially in the collection of historic data con- 

 cerning groups of species. The quaint or poetical features of such 

 work were never overlooked by him. Notable among these mono- 

 graphs are those of the Menhaden, the Trunk-fishes, and the 

 Swordfishes. 



The economic side of science also interested him more and more. 

 That scientific knowledge could add to human wealth or comfort 

 was no reproach in his eyes. In his notable monograph of the 

 Menhaden, the economic value as food or manure of this plebeian 

 fish received the careful attention which he had given to the prob- 

 lems of pure science. 



