5 12 The Smithsonian Institution 



possible source of information was neglected by him. The 

 results of all these special reports were received and con- 

 densed by Doctor Goode into seven large quarto volumes, 

 with a great number of plates. The first section of the 

 "Natural History of Aquatic Animals" was a contribution 

 of the greatest value. Although the information it gives 

 was obtained from many sources, through various hands, it 

 was so coordinated and unified that it forms a harmonious 

 treatise, while at the same time the individual helpers are 

 fully recognized. 



All these works, according to Doctor Goode, belong to 

 Lamb's category of "books which are not books." His ex- 

 pressed ambition to write a book not of this kind, one that 

 people would buy and read, found actuality at last. In 1888 

 appeared his "American Fishes," a popular treatise on the 

 game and food fishes of North America, 1 a work without a 

 rival because of its readableness, its scientific accuracy, and 

 the excellence of its text. The work is notable for its quota- 

 tions, which include almost all the bright things which have 

 been said about fishes by poets and anglers and philosophers 

 from the time of Aristotle to that of Izaak Walton and 

 Thoreau. In this book more than in any other Doctor 

 Goode shows himself a literary artist. The love of fine 

 expression which might have made a poet of him was devel- 

 oped rather in the collection of the bright words and charm- 

 ing verse of others than in the production of poetry of his 

 own. While limiting himself in this volume to fragments of 

 prose and verse in praise of fishes and their haunts, it is evi- 

 dent that these treasures were brought forth from a mind 

 well stored with riches of many fields of literature. 



!" American Fishes." A popular treatise and methods of capture. With numerous 

 upon the Game and Food Fishes of North illustrations including a colored frontispiece. 

 America, with especial reference to habits New York, 1888. 



