The United States National Museum 331 



diverse capacities and opinions. His genius was known to 

 Secretary Baird, but hitherto he had not found a sufficiently 

 wide field for the exercise of his powers. The reorganization 

 of the Museum afforded an opportunity, and Baird gave him 

 free scope for the development of his plans, aiding him as no 

 one else could have done, from the stores of a lifetime of ex- 

 perience along the same lines. 



Out of the heterogeneous materials accumulated by the 

 government, especially as a result of the Centennial Exhibi- 

 tion, Doctor Goode organized, under the approving guidance 

 of Secretary Baird, a public museum of wide scope, attractive, 

 instructive, orderly, and full of the elements of life. He elabo- 

 rated with the greatest pains a philosophical and compre- 

 hensive classification for the collections of the Museum, and 

 planned a complete reorganization of the staff of curators 

 and assistants. He devised an entirely new series of cases 

 and other fixtures, for the installation of both the collections 

 exhibited to the public and those reserved for the use of in- 

 vestigators, adopting the best features then developed in 

 European museums, and adding many of his own invention. 



This regeneration of the National Museum soon made 

 itself felt in similar organizations throughout the United 

 States and in other parts of the world, and the methods of 

 installation and labeling employed in Washington have 

 been widely copied. 



The influence of the National Museum has not, however, 

 stopped here. Already at the Berlin Fisheries Exhibition of 

 1880, with the experience gained during the Centennial Exhi- 

 bition, Doctor Goode was able to secure for the United States 

 Fish Commission and the National Museum the Emperor's 

 prize for the highest excellence of display. Not satisfied 

 with this recognition, and always aiming to advance, he 

 endeavored to install the exhibits of the Institution and Mu- 



